"I have no idea what you're talking about, Darien," Seth fibbed, looking away to hide his red face. He changed into his gym shorts, preparing himself for bed.
"Oh, but you do," Darien said. "I just want to know why. Are you okay in general?"
"Stop. It's none of your business," Seth said.
"I'm just worried about you, Seth."
"You don't have to be. I'm fine and I don't want to talk about it, okay? Is that what you want to hear?"
Truthfully, Darien was unsatisfied with his roommate's response, but he decided he pushed too much for the night. He made his way to his own clothes and began to change for bed.
"I'm sorry, Seth."
With no response, Darien crawled into bed, and looked over at Seth, who was already curled up in his. After studying him for a moment, he reached over to the lamp and clicked it off.
***
When he woke up, Seth was missing, and he had an alert on his cellphone explaining that classes had been cancelled due to the awful storm. Awful it was, indeed. The sky was black as night even though it was eight in the morning. Rain pelted the windows and lightning colored the sky in brief bursts. The trees danced in the wind to the sound of the thunder. Darien wondered why the weather had taken such a bleak turn when it had been beautiful outside for days. His phone alerted a tornado warning.
Where was Seth? He should be in the dorm and not outside in Mother Nature's wrath. Darien didn't have Seth's phone number, so he couldn't call or text him. He quickly got dressed and made his way down to the bathroom and showers, which was mostly empty, to see if Seth had gone to shower. No, that wouldn't be smart of him. The electric currents outside could easily electrocute someone in the shower, and none of the showers were running in the first place. They were vacant.
Darien went back to his room and grabbed a coat with a hood before running outside to the building directly across from the dorms. By the time he was inside the dining hall, he was drenched from head to toe. Maybe Seth got hungry and didn't want to risk driving anywhere?
After scanning the ghost town of a dining room, it was clear that Seth wasn't there, and there was no sign of him in the kitchen, either. Feeling defeated, Darien bought some granola and fruit yogurt and sat down in the dining room for breakfast.
He turned on the television, raising the volume so he could listen to the weather report, but what he got was much more interesting.
"I'm Amy Garcia with your morning news, but this morning isn't a good one," the news anchor began. "The Phantom has struck again in down town city areas, swirling up the storm and winds that are becoming a danger to you and your families. You heard it here first, this is not the work of Mother Nature. We're advising that everyone stay inside, don't go near any windows or doors, and stay safe. Keep first aid kits nearby and try to stay below ground if possible. Do not go on the roads unless it is absolutely necessary in the case of an emergency. The storm hasn't caused any casualties, but the number of people injured is slowly increasing. Further information will be released later on."
Darien shut the TV off. He had seen enough. Without hesitation, he threw out the remainder of his breakfast and took off across the court to his dorm. Seth still hadn't returned, so he changed into his costume in the open before putting his regular clothes on over top of it and shoving his mask and boots in an empty back pack.
He put the back pack on first, and then his jacket, in order to keep the back pack from getting soaked. He dashed down the stairs and darted out of the building, running down into the vacant streets to the downtown area, twisting and turning through the walkways and buildings.
He stopped in an alley way and took off his jacket and backpack, grabbing the mask and putting it on. He took off his normal shirt, pants, and Converse and slipped on his boots. He shoved his clothes in the bag and put it under a piece of a building that would keep it from getting completely drenched, and rendered it out of sight to any curious person that would be crazy enough to walk out in the storm.
When he was sure no one was watching him, he got a running start before he took flight, speeding through the air and following the noise of the chaos. He heard people screaming and the sound of glass breaking, and large bangs and pounds of crumbling building parts. It had been a while since he last fought a villain. Was he really ready for this?
That didn't matter. What mattered was getting the people safe. No one's lives had to be in jeopardy because someone decided to throw a big tantrum. Through all his thinking, Darien made it through some fog, and there he was, in plain view. The Phantom.
He wore a black suit with a cape and belt to match, black boots and gloves, and a white mask that was completely white with black fabric over the eyes. It was creepier than anything Darien had ever seen. He didn't even know what to do to grab his attention.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he blurted out. Shocked, the Phantom turned around to face him.
"Who the hell are you?" he fired back.
"Your worst enemy," Darien said boldly and smirked through his mask. He began to conjure electricity in his hands, building up power-- colored neon blue. Before the phantom could react, Darien fired at him with all his might.
***
Seth's chest grew hot and tight, overwhelmed so much from the blast that it knocked the air out of him. The force of the hit was so strong, it pushed him down onto the concrete, sliding an additional ten feet or so.
Shit, he thought. Who is this guy? Why would he even think about messing with me? Everyone who's ever seen the news knows how dangerous I am. Then again, he's powerful. Cocky, too. I'm going to have to up my game.
Seth took a moment to get back up, but easily got his head back into focus.
"You shouldn't have done that," he said, picking up a car with his telekinesis, hurling it towards the Blue Warrior. It hit him in the legs, knocking him out of the sky and into the bushes below.
Damn it! he thought. Why couldn't he have hit the concrete too?
Foolish news reporters showed up to the scene with their trucks and cameras, ready to live stream the fight.
"Amy Garcia back at the scene again but with a brighter piece of news. It appears that L.A. has a hero! That's right, what appears to be a man in a blue and black suit is fighting the Phantom! We can only watch to find out if he's fighting for us, or fighting for the power," the reporter said.
The Blue Warrior climbed out of the bushes while Seth threw warning bricks at the news truck, forcing the reporters to hide inside of it to avoid getting hit directly. Seth's chest felt hot again, forced back by another lightning strike.
"Damn it!" he shouted. The Blue Warrior smirked, but that was easily wiped away when Seth began to fade, utilizing his invisibility.
It was quiet for a moment, much too quiet for Darien's liking. The storm continued to rage on, howling and growling and whistling. He paced in circles, tense, ready to fight, but was easily struck down by Seth's punches. The Blue Warrior tried his best, swinging, hoping to hit his enemy at least once so he could recover. Seth got a few more good punches in, making Darien fall to the ground. He slowly came back into view.
"I told you, you shouldn't have done that," Seth growled.
"I'm not giving up," Darien threatened.
"Your mistake," Seth said. He continued to beat up the hero, visibly this time. He wasn't holding back; he threw more and more punches to the masked man.
Darien continued to try and conjure up some more bolts, but it was more difficult with Seth slowing him down. He wasn't going to let up, he was going to finish the fight. Darien tried his best to kick off Seth, who was still beating on him.
Seth began stepping on Darien's chest, slowly pressing more and more pressure into it.
"Don't you think you should give up?" he taunted.
"That's the last thing on my mind," Darien breathed out.
"Suit yourself," Seth said and added immediate pressure to his chest.
Darien struggled, using both hands to try to push Seth off, but it wasn't doing any good. Instead, he took the hurt and tried once again to bring up his power.
"Stop, it's too late for that," Seth growled.
"It is not," Darien struggled, firing up a storm from his palms. Seth shouted and stumbled backwards, grabbing his chest. Darien jumped up on his feet, throwing punches at the villain.
"I said, it was too late!" Seth shouted, hurling a cement block at Darien, hitting him in the stomach and sending him sliding across the concrete. Both boys stopped, panting. Darien couldn't get up immediately, he had been hit too hard.
"This isn't the last you'll see of me," Seth warned and took off, leaving Darien in the raging storm unknowingly.
He made his way across the city, hiding in a little blocked off area that he slipped through, taking his cape off.
Shit, that put me back a lot, he thought. I need to get back and hope Darien isn't there waiting for me.
He rushed his way back to the dorms, making sure the coast was clear, going into his empty room.
"Good, Darien isn't here yet," he said. He hid his costume in its usual place and rushed down to the showers to clean up the dirt and mud off his body.
He locked the shower door behind him, watching the grime go down the drain. He looked down at his chest, bruised black and blue from the blasts. It was sore at the touch, and he winced each time.
He felt refreshed once he was all clean and no wounds were visible. He put his clothes on and took the walk back down to his bedroom. When he opened the door, Darien was sitting on the bed, drenched and sweaty and bleeding.
"Darien? Oh my god, what happened to you?" Seth said, immediately concerned. He put his towel down on the bed and stepped over to his roommate.
"I.. I got caught up in the storm," he lied.
"I can't believe you, Darien, why would you go out like that?" Seth scolded.
"I was looking for you," he said. Seth's face grew into a sad frown.
"I'm so sorry, Darien. This is my fault. I didn't mean to make you worry," he said, pulling the boy into a tight hug. "Let's get you cleaned up."
Seth helped walk Darien to the showers and assisted him with his clothes and towel. Afterwards, he helped him clean up his cuts and scrapes, gently disinfecting his soft skin.
"There," Seth said. "You'll be okay."
"Thanks, Seth," Darien said and looked up at him to study his face.
Seth watched the light dance in his roommate's eyes. He focused a little too hard on it, then moved his eyes to the boy's cheeks as they turned bright red.
"You're welcome," Seth finally said, sitting on the bed next to him.
Darien stared down at his own hands, still blushing hard. He looked over at Seth.
"Next time, don't be dumb enough to go look for me," Seth said and smiled.
"I won't," Darien said and grinned back.
Seth's heart was racing, and he couldn't figure out why. It was so stupid and aggravating. He looked away from his roommate.
"I think you should get some rest. You could have gotten a cold out in that rain," Seth said.
The rain only happened because of you, remember that, Seth thought.
"I think you might be right," Darien said, curling up in his blankets.
"Sweet dreams, okay?" Seth said. Darien was already falling asleep, so he smiled and shut the light off for him.