Cody P.O.V
Heroes are supposed to save the day. But that day, they were worse than the villain. Seeing the brightly clothed heroes, relief seemed to flood throughout the room; faint cheers erupted as my classmates were filled with a sense of safety, thinking that people were here to combat the raging villain.
The two heroes, one pyrokinetic, the other with super-strength, quickly launched an assault against my father. In a flash, the streets were devoured in flames. The cars parked on the curb immediately caught flame, dark smoke mixing with the wide-spread flames. I watched as my father glanced down at the heroes, his facial expression hidden beneath his mask. I shouldn't have looked away from the heroes because the next thing I knew, burning cars were being thrown at my father. My father dodged the cars, each thrown with horrible accuracy. The flames proceeded to spread to the point that nearby buildings were starting to catch on fire, some because of the street, others because of the dodged cars.
"Students, please evacuate through the nearest exits and proceed to get as far away from the flames and destruction as possible; I repeat, please evacuate through the nearest exits and proceed to get as far away from the flames and destruction as possible." In seconds, all of the relief from the arrival of the heroes disappeared as everyone started running towards the emergency exits, well, everyone but my table. None of us moved, though I seemed to be the only one that noticed. The newbies and Hannah were still sat, staring at the fight outside.
Unlike my human peers, I had no reason to be afraid. My father would never hurt me; if anything, the biggest threat to me at that moment was the heroes. I don't think my father knew that he was fighting right outside my school, and I don't think the heroes cared. Isn't that horrible? The heroes are causing damage as fast as my father is, but no one will care since they are heroes. Just another reason to hate superpowers.
When the superheroes ran out of cars, they moved to throwing pieces of the building that were on fire, pieces that had crumbled to the ground. The effect of the fight was getting closer and closer to the school, as flaming debris started landing on the front of the school grounds, threatening to catch the school on fire. Hannah seemed to snap out of it, finally acknowledging the overhead announcement and just how dangerous the situation was. She turned sharply, clearly not expecting me to be still sitting there. I logically should have been planning my escape, but I couldn't leave Hannah behind.
"We got to go!" She stood sharply. I gave a final glance towards my father, fighting midair against the two pitiful heroes, before following Hannah's suit. My calmness in such a situation should have been a red flag, but they seemed too preoccupied to notice. I should be happy that they weren't paying me any attention; if they did, they'd definitely notice that I wasn't freaking out as any normal person would be in this situation. Heck, even Hannah, who I knew for a fact had super abilities, was freaked out, even though she was attempting to conceal it.
The school was empty as we ran through the hallways. It had turned into a ghost town during the span of the few minutes that we had remained in the cafeteria, lost in the fight. I had been convinced that we'd manage to get out of the school unscathed and get away without a hitch. That is what should have happened, anyway.
We had just made it onto the second floor when overhead, a loud cracking noise could be heard. We all stupidly halted, glancing up only to see the ceiling above us, the floor we had been on moments prior, beginning to collapse. I leaped backward as the ceiling directly in front of me crashed down, a mixture of metal bars and desks fell. Within seconds of realizing what happened, fire and dust filled the air.
"What the f*ck?" I flinched, startled by the voice, before remembering that I hadn't been alone. Hannah. I panicked, looking around, hoping to see her. I didn't. The part of the ceiling that collapsed created a blockage in the hallway.
"Hannah?!" I called out, hoping that she would call back. Hoping that she would answer so I would know that she was okay. I would have attempted to break through the blockage to make sure she was okay, willing to risk revealing my powers to make sure she was not trapped underneath the rubbish, and I would have, had she not called out moments later.
"We're okay!" She called out, the voice faint and muffled. I had admittedly forgotten about Dylan during my few seconds of panic. I was relieved to know that she was okay. I glanced over to Zach, who seemed to get stuck with me on this side of the blockade.
I had to stop and think; there would be no way for the four of us to reunite inside the school with them stuck on the other side of the blockade. It wouldn't be safe for us to stay here with the building collapsing the way it was. The smell of burning smoke was slowly filling the air, warning me that the building was catching on fire.
"Find a way out of the building, and we'll meet up outside!" I shouted to the two on the other side, receiving a faint okay in return. I turned towards Zach, gesturing for him to follow me. Between the two of us, I knew the building layout better. I had to think fast since the building could collapse at any moment or be completely engulfed in flames.
"You know the way out, right?" Zach asked. I would have glared at him and given a sarcastic response if I thought we had time to deal with his stupidity. I realized that to save time, the best course of action would be to ignore any stupid question that Zach could conjure.
There were two staircases that lead down to the first floor, and eventually, safety. Since we could no longer access one of them, we were left with the back staircase. It wasn't preferable since it was the farthest from us, but we didn't have any other option. We could only hope that the stairs weren't blocked too. Otherwise, we'd have to jump out of a window, and I'd prefer that we didn't have to do that unless necessary.
We didn't have to see outside to know that the fighting was now taking place right outside of the school. The sound of crashing and the shaking kind of gave it away.
"I wonder what set him off," I heard Zach mumble under his breath. I knew without asking that he was talking about my father, Nihilo.
"Me too," I murmured, continuing to run, knowing that the path might be clear now, but who knows if it would remain that way. Although a few lockers had been knocked over, nothing had stopped us from making it to the second staircase.
"I didn't even know that this was here," Zach said, referring to the staircase. I wasn't surprised. The staircase was a part of the older half of the school, which was mainly used for storage at this point. The nicer, new staircase was the one students were encouraged to use. He was new and likely didn't have classes on this side of the school.
"Most don't."
We ran down the staircase as quickly as we could. I knew that we would have an entirely different struggle once we managed to get out of school. If they were still fighting above the school when we got out, we would be screwed. Would my father stop fighting if he knew I was down here amid the destruction? I wasn't sure, and that worried me. We would struggle to find Hannah and Dylan since we have no idea where they are now. I can only hope that they've safely gotten away.
In terms of destruction, the first floor seemed unscathed. Compared to the other floors, the first looked like the battle outside didn't exist. Everything was still in its place, but I knew it wouldn't be that way for much longer with how things were going. Things were still hovering in the air, and the sound of destruction lingered. If the school was on fire, like I suspected it was, there might not be anything left.
"We need to hurry," I said after a thunderous crashing sound happened overhead. Whatever caused the crash made the entire building shake, causing dust to rain from above. We both broke into a run when the shaking started again, worsening with each passing moment. It was almost as if an earthquake was happening, but this was not an earthquake. This is what happens when heroes and villains fight. Damage and destruction follow suit, leaving nothing good behind.
We were steps away from the front door when a body came crashing down to the ground. The pavement broke underneath the hero's body, revealing the extreme force that had been used to toss him. Amongst the rubble of the newly created crater was the hero with super-strength, groaning in pain as he slowly stood. Before I knew what was happening, Zach ran out of the school, rushing to the hero's side. He assisted the hero in standing while I watched from inside the school, shocked. I didn't think that Zach would be the type to help a hero; he didn't have that vibe.
"Kid, you need to get out of here; this place is too dangerous," The hero attempted to warn Zach, pushing him away, hoping that Zach would heed his warning and getaway. I wish that Zach would have heeded his warning; maybe things would have turned out differently if he had.
"Yeah, kid," Everyone else tensed up as another person crashed down, landing delicately before the two. "Get out of here," My father growled; the world around us began to shake as his anger unfolded. That was what was scary about my father; his power was a dangerous one, a powerful ability. My father approached the pair, his black villain suit shining gently underneath the lightly obscured sun. Smoke filled the air as the nearby buildings continued to burn, a large fire spreading through the block. Even with all the chaos taking place around us, my eyes were locked on my father, who seemed to have no idea that I was there, watching.
You need to run away, Zach.
I wanted to scream at him. Was he not aware of the situation that he was in? Could he not see how badly things could end up with how this situation seemed to be unfolding? The hero attempted to push Zach behind him in a protective way, which only seemed to tick off my father more. I saw a couple of scenarios flash through my mind of what could happen. My father could attempt to attack the hero without harming Zach, or he could proceed to attack regardless of the boy's presence. If that happened to be the case, what would I do? I didn't know Zach very well, and in many ways, disliked him. Even so, would I stand by and watch him get attacked when I know for a fact that I could stop this if I intervened? Well, stop is a strong word. I might be able to prevent an attack just long enough for them to get away. I only had mere seconds to decide because, at any moment, my father could snap.
In the end, it wasn't me that decided to reveal myself.
It was my phone ringing.