Jɪɴx ➪ 𝙡. 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯

Corny One-Liner

chapter twenty-one; Corny One-Liner

JINX WATCHED in confusion as Leo whispered something and broke open the fortune cookie. 

She frowned. Did he really think now was a good time for cracking open cookies to see your fortune?

"Is everything alright?" Jinx asked. "Did you get hungry? 'Cause, I'm not sure if you noticed, but we have bigger problems." 

Leo didn't bother turning back to glare at her, so she had a feeling he was in the process of discovering something nerdy that could get them out of their predicament. 

"If friends do not matter to you, perhaps you need more incentive. Perhaps I should destroy these scrolls instead—priceless works by Archimedes!" The Wolf Head said. 

He had really stooped down from threatening their friends to pieces of old paper. 

The sphere that Leo had been working with sprang to life, even Jinx could feel the small ripple in time the sphere made. 

"That's a strong object." She muttered, eyeing it suspiciously. 

Leo turned with the sphere, focusing it on a golden sphere in the main room. Jinx rubbed her eyes, not believing that the thing in Leo's hands made the gold sphere grow a tripod of legs and move towards the Taser ball. The thing that was hurting Hazel and Frank. 

"I can't believe you just did that." Jinx voiced her thoughts aloud, watching a tiny circular saw pop out of the gold sphere's head and began tearing a part the Taser ball.  

Leo tried to activate another orb. This one burst in a small mushroom cloud of bronze dust and smoke.

"Oops," he muttered. "Sorry, Archimedes." 

But he didn't sound that sorry. Instead, he sounded too excited to feel sorry. 

He was weird, Jinx concluded. A moment ago she felt his despair and now she can feel his bubbling excitement. 

"What are you doing?" Wolf Head asked. "Stop your foolishness and surrender!"

"Oh, yes, I surrender!" Leo said. "I'm totally surrendering!"

"T-totally!" Jinx said, half-heartedly stabbing at the gates. 

He tried to take control of a third orb. That one broke too.

"Wow." Jinx snickered, "so much for all of the history here." 

Leo finally looked at her in annoyance. "I'm not doing it on purpose." 

The fourth try went better. A ruby-encrusted orb popped its top and helicopter blades unfolded.  The ruby orb spun into the air and sailed straight for the cubbyholes. Thin golden arms extended from its middle and snapped up the scroll cases. The ones that Leo cared so much about, and Wolf Head threatened to trash. 

"Enough!" Wolf Head yelled. "I will destroy the—"

He turned in time to see the ruby sphere take off with the scrolls. It zipped across the room and hovered in the far corner.

"What?!" Wolf Head cried. "Kill the prisoners!"

She flinched at the words being said, but hoped that Leo had it under control. As of now, she was unfit to do anything. 

 Leo's gold sphere was sitting on top of its sawed-open head, picking through its gears and wires like it was scooping out a pumpkin. 

The Taser ball had no intentions of listening to Wolf Head, not while Leo was in control. 

 Hazel and Frank began to stir and Jinx almost cried out in relief. After all of what happened, she was starting to wish that she was one of the ones that passed out instead of being spared.

"Bah!" Wolf Head gestured to Lion Head at the opposite gate. "Come! We will destroy the demigods ourselves."

"I don't think so, guys." Leo turned toward Lion Head. His hands worked the control sphere, and he felt a shock travel through the floor.

Lion Head shuddered and lowered his sword.

Leo grinned. "You're in Leo World, now."