The SVE Club

44. Fireball

    White Flame watched the fight casually, not wanting to participate or be seen. If the ISH students saw him hanging around now, who knew what they'd do?

    He wasn't supposed to be here. Obviously. But he couldn't sit back and watch the SVE club do this. Someone needed to stop them, shake them up. He knew Midas' game. He knew what he was doing here. He wouldn't allow this to go on any longer.

It was time show himself.

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Rachel sat in the corner of the elevator, arms crossed, fuming. The door slid open and she glared at the others. "Took you long enough," she mumbled, scrambling to her feet.

The SVE Club silently joined her in the elevator. As they descended, Rachel tapped her foot impatiently.

"Well?" she said. "Did you get it?"

Midas held up a flash drive. "We're halfway done. Next we get the serum and I say we can call it a night."

"Fine by me," Taro sighed, leaning against the wall. "This heist business is more strenuous than I thought it would be."

"Guys..." Willow said suddenly. "What are they gonna do with us if... if they catch us?"

Everyone was silent. They had all wondered the same thing, but nobody had dared ask it out loud. They instinctively looked to Midas, who couldn't meet their eyes.

"We can't worry about this right now," Midas said. "We're not going to get caught. That's all that matters."

"But say we do get caught," Evan pressed on. "What happens to us?"

"Midas, are you guys heading to the lab now?" Sam suddenly said.

"Yes, we're done here. How's our path to the lab?" Midas asked, grateful for the distraction

"All clear so far. I'll keep you posted," Sam said chipperly. "In the meantime I'll look for some new music..."

"You do that," Midas said. The elevator doors opened and Rachel pushed past him to get out of the elevator.

"Thank God," she breathed dramatically. "I thought I was going to suffocate in there."

"No time to waste," Midas said, ignoring her as they headed for the door. "Let's move!"

The group headed back out into the dark campus. There were even fewer students about, and dubstep now pounded from the PA system. As they raced towards the lab, Taro pointed over at the front building.

"Looks like Overdrive's been busy," he said.

On the roof of the building, they could just make out Overdrive's silhouette against the grey, cloudy sky. The facility was torn to shreds in some areas, a result of Overdrive's grav-glove weapons.

"She's a trooper," Midas said. "I'll give her that."

"Hey, Midas? Guess what?" Sam said in a monotone.

"Another problem?"

"You bet," Sam said, laughing sharply. "There's someone hanging out by the lab entrance. Not doing anything, just... I don't know, loitering."

"Of course," Midas muttered. "We're going to give the lab entrance a hundred feet. Hide out, see if they leave. There's a hedgerow just ahead."

"Sounds good."

Midas led the team in jumping over the hedgerow that lined the sidewalk and crouching behind it. Making sure everyone was with him, Midas put a finger to his lips and peeked out at the lab just down the path. With a sigh, he recognized the figure that leaned against the building.

"It's Iron Ice," he whispered to the others. "We can't just do what we did with Phoenix. He's too strong."

"So what do we do?" Evan asked.

Midas glanced at Evan. "Come with me. Quietly. I have a plan."

Evan nodded and followed Midas, both of them crawling on their hands and knees towards the corner of the hedges. Once they reached the other side, Midas began to unclip his spray paint from his belt. He glanced up at the entrance. Iron Ice stood by the door, looking bored. Midas shook his head in distaste. The guy had never been very industrious; he wasn't surprised to see him loafing around while a fight was going on.

"Get out that paper I gave you," Midas whispered to Evan. "You can hit a moving target, right?"

Evan nodded. "What's my target?"

Midas held up the spray paint. "I'm gonna throw this in his direction. When the plane hits it, I'll explode them both."

Evan looked at him like he was insane. "First of all, that sounds ridiculous. Second, we're not trying to kill the guy."

"It won't kill him. He's a forzatac. They're tougher than they act."

"Okay, but-"

"Will you just trust me on this?" Midas pleaded.

Evan stared him down for a long moment before sighing and nodding. "Whenever you're ready."

Midas took aim with the spray can. "On three?"

Evan shook his head as he folded the plane. "On one."

"Alright. One." Midas lobbed can in Iron Ice's direction. Before the super had even seen the object hurtling towards him, Evan sent the plane swiftly on its way, quickly ducking for cover under the hedges. As the tip tapped the cylinder, Midas mentally ignited it.

The explosion seemed to unfold in slow motion as the can split open and what could only be described as a cherry blossom firework erupted in midair. Midas watched as it bloomed into the sky, unable to tear his eyes away.

Then came the blast, sending the pink paint droplets soaring in every direction.

Oh no, Midas thought, ducking behind the hedge as fast as he could. He felt the hot paint fleck his forehead for the half second before he was covered entirely by the bush. There were several bangs and rattles before a fire alarm could be heard.

Oh. No. Midas thought again, slowly standing up from his hiding spot. Iron Ice was nowhere to be seen now, but that was the least of his problems now- the lab was on fire. The entire front section of the building was lit up with yellow and orange flames. Thick gray smoke billowed into the sky and a burning smell filled the air.

    Midas felt as if his heart were beating in his throat.

The lab- where the precious super serum lie- was on fire. And without the serum...

I'm Insomnium's next weapon, Midas thought.