Chapter 12

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"Petir!" Tanah jogged over to Petir's seat, out of breath. The teen was reading a book like usual, though, surprisingly, it was a novel. "Are you okay?"

Petir looked up and closed the book swiftly. The book looked like it'd been owned by him for some time, but it was taken care of. "Yeah. Why?"

Tanah sat on the chair across his desk. "You were almost akumatized," he said. "Also, I'm sorry! I completely forgot to bring your lunch!"

Petir shrugged, waving him off. He shoved his novel into his drawer, uninterested in the promise they made.

It seems that they broke their promise anyway. Tanah forgot about the lunch, and he'd talked to him in school. At this point, nothing's really surprising.

"Doesn't matter to me one way or the other." Petir crossed his arms and leaned on the wall. "Aren't you supposed to be busy?"

Tanah's cheeks coloured. He still had to get back to Cahaya and Daun. "Well, um-"

"Then go." Petir reached for his book again. He opened the novel, the page filled with endless words.

It's not a novel at all. It was a book about psychology, about reading someone's expression and mood.

So, Petir was into psychology? That's interesting. He remembered seeing him with the same book when he first saw him in school. He must like it a lot.

"So?" Petir asked, without looking up. His eyes were blank, yet they moved with every sentence read, as if remembering something in the words. "You're still here?"

Though there was no venom in his words, Tanah can't help but feel a little dejected. On top of Petir's rejection to communicate with him in his hero form, it turns out that he had no regard for his civilian self either.

The question rose in his mind again. Detachment from others... no empathy...

It was almost like Nightsong's behaviour.

Still, looking at the isolated teen, he couldn't bring himself to believe that he would be the cause of all their destruction. After all, he could be jumping the gun a bit too much. Leaping to conclusions would help no one.

Tanah left the class. For now, only time could prove his theory wrong.

He prayed he was wrong, matter of fact.

But if he were true, then he would have to tell the other heroes. Petir could very well end in jail, or even executed, despite being a minor. Nightsong had been a wanted criminal for many generations.

Argh! Tanah almost slapped himself, but refrained. What am I thinking!? Nightsong is an adult, a middle-aged man! Petir's the same grade as ME!

Like always, he overthought. He looked up to the direction of his class, and quickly left back to join Daun and Cahaya.

They were doing their own things. The chemistry between them was interesting, nothing like anyone that Tanah had met. While they were close, there wasn't a visible dynamic, nor any restrictions. Their behaviour reminded him of a couple that constantly argued, yet capable of tolerating each other's presence in silence.

That couldn't be, right?

His eyes fell on Cahaya's hands, where he was holding a colourful, thin book with various illustrations and minimal words. Tanah wasn't aware that Cahaya liked comics.

"I'm back." Tanah dropped to his seat, flushed from overthinking everything. "So, anything you two want to do?"

Cahaya closed the comic and shoved it in a hard-covered folder, then slid it into his bag. It took up almost fifty percent of space.

"Rintis High doesn't have a hall of fame, does it?" he clarified.

Tanah shook his head. "Never had the need to. Besides, no one has time to refurbish it."

"Then do you have a yearbook? Something that records any winnings from any competitions."

"Huh. I think there's a few copies of it in the student meeting room," Tanah suggested. "I could get it for you tomorrow if you'd like."

"Is it open now?" Cahaya quizzed, suddenly interested as he turned to the prefect. Though, he seemed tired, as if he were wishing something that was impossible. "I need something on it for a report. Just in case."

Tanah nodded. "There should be no one using it. Do you want to follow, or wait for me here?"

"I'll follow." Cahaya turned to Daun, who was invested in the mystic arts of stacking pencils atop each other. The tower was so high that Daun was standing on a chair to continue putting even more pencils on top. "You coming with?"

Daun whirled around, the astounding tower of pencils raining down onto the table. Some of them landed on his head and bounced off by the fluffy volume of his hair.

"Of course!" he hopped down from the chair, landing perfectly on his feet. "Where are we going again?"

The walk to the room was a short one. Despite the room being in another floor, their journey was short-lived. An amok, a sentient creature made by the Bat miraculous, burst from a school building like a very violent baby chick bursting out from its egg.

The ground quaked, and the lights burst with the shockwave. Students nearby either ran away screaming, ran in stunned silence, or just squatted down and cowered under tables.

Next to them, the storage net for worn-down basketballs and footballs snapped apart, causing the equipment to spill out around them. Shrieks erupted around them, all disorientated and chaotic.

"EVERYONE, RUN OUT THE SCHOOL!" Tanah screamed, dodging falling shards of glass and Styrofoam panels. He covered his head with his hands, squeezing his eyes shut as he struggled to get to the exit.

He looked ahead, a terrible snap echoed in his ears. Above, a block of concrete threatened to fall, right above a junior that was paralyzed with fear.

"Watch out!" Tanah lunged towards the junior, tackling him away just before the debris collapsed, barely missing his skin. He could feel the graze of concrete powder on his jeans, but otherwise he was fine.

The junior beneath him squeaked a thanks, but not before Tanah pulled him to his feet. "Get out of here now!" The junior nodded and scrambled for the exits, yelping as more objects fell by his sides.

Tanah's head whipped to the monster. It had emerged fully from their building, but it had left the foundation weak and crippled. This building was going to collapse any minute.

Everyone in this school knew the drill. Most people already evacuated, but not everyone knew about it.

He whirled around to look for the two elite students, but they were gone, just like they were never there in the first place.

For a moment, he panicked. He began to reach for his kwami, who remained faithfully in his pocket, but his instinct decided against it. They must have found somewhere safe, he thought, hand leaving his pocket.

As of the moment, the monster was priority. The kwami flew out from his pocket, looking around in supressed shock. He was calm and collected, but damage of this degree was rare.

"Gempa, I have to transform," Tanah told him, gritting his teeth as the ground beneath him cracked. "Now!"

Gempa hovered closer to his face. "You don't have to ask me every time you transform! Just say the words!"

Tanah nodded. The watch around his wrist shimmered black and gold. "Gempa, Shield Ri-"

The ground beneath him gave out, shattering into pieces as Tanah felt his back falling in air.

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