Story Time - Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - Lightning
Slander, Crankdat - Kneel Before Me (feat. Asking Alexandria)

    A surprise performance? That wasn’t something that Sam was expecting at this hour and day. He noticed the slip of paper on one of the school’s bulletin boards, broadcasting to all who passed by it that there was to be a little “concert” the next day at Bill Graham Auditorium, featuring such prominent EDM artists as Above and Beyond, The Glitch Mob, Knife Party, Illenium, Seven Lions, and Gryffin. It was sure to attract a majority of the school’s population to at least listen to their music, although there were certainly those who would actually go and rave to this kind of music. He could technically go to this event…but he still felt highly suspicious of something like a rave being advertised at school. Almost as if something would go down.
    Sam called Jerry to the bulletin board at that very instant.
    “You trying to come? Perhaps there might be useful information regarding the fourth paddler. After all, I know for sure that a LOT of us go to raves, so, uh...I’ll definitely consider investigating.” he brought up.
    Jerry answered, “Eh, not really, but sure I guess. Especially if something’s gonna happen, then...”
    “I guess I will be seeing you tonight, then. But how are we gonna hide, you know, the weapon?”
    “Good question.” Sam paused for a second, and then resumed, “I’m pretty sure we can summon these things at will, just like our armour.”
    At that, they separated and prepared their outfits for the event that was to happen that day. Both of them chose long-sleeved shirts (white for Sam, black for Jerry) and trademark Adidas track pants, Sam electing to wear also a simple white hat in addition to the chosen attire. The duo headed onto the bus and prepared for something more than a night of hard headbanging and crying girls, each having yet another box of spicy chicken wings.
    On the way there, they noticed a flash of yellow light above the auditorium where the rave was to be held. Loud EDM banged so loudly that all within at least a kilometre could hear a little too clearly. By now, the sky was dark - perfect to hold a rave at. By now, the masterminds had finished their boxes of chicken wings, and Jerry was on the phone with Daven, instructing him to come also. Fortunately for the both of them, Daven was already at the venue, albeit headbanging and putting his hands up at the DJ’s command.
    Sam tapped Daven on the shoulder. “Let’s move.”
    He followed that command exactly, and so they ventured closer and closer to where the DJ currently was standing. Along the way, they noticed a fellow paddler, Izzy, taking a pill before starting to rave even harder than she did before. She was known as “the rave person” on LDB, clearly showing by her wearing her scarlet lingerie and cream-coloured fanny pack. Sam knew her instead as one of the most approachable people about music, even though their tastes varied quite a bit. But he didn’t have time to think about it at the moment. He had to see the DJ.
    The three leaders finally made their way into the auditorium. This was where the music was at its loudest, the lights were the most colourfully blinding, and the ravers were doing the most...questionable of things, to say the least. Pushing their way past the dancing crowd was immensely difficult simply due to the sheer number of people and the sheer amount of decibels currently flowing through the place. Jerry, always trying to experiment with something new, tapped a spot behind his right ear. Immediately afterwards, a set of soundproof headphones materialised over his head. He motioned to Sam and Daven to do the same thing, and they complied. Clearly they didn’t want to have ringing ears for their next encounter.
    It must have been twenty-one hours by the point the three finally saw exactly who the DJ was. His name was Justin, Jerry spoke through a hidden microphone that detected only his voice and could only be heard by the four heroes. Justin didn’t choose to wear his armour, but Sam knew that he, like the other three heroes, could call it at his command. He had on a yellow jersey, one that anyone could buy off a popular DJ’s Instagram bio. He was quite thin, yet still almost towered over a lot of the people there. His earbuds felt almost menacing, if anyone got close, they could hear the very explicit rap music over the booming simp EDM at that moment. None of that was important, however. The trio patiently waited for the song and his pre-rave set to end before approaching him. And then, a long fifteen minutes later, he sent everyone off, and then the four of them materialised their armour.
    Justin’s armour wasn’t so much different from Sam’s, Daven’s, and Jerry’s. He had the very same bodysuit, except the differently-coloured stripe was gold. His helmet was the most different part of all his armour, as he preferred to go for a more Roman Empire-esque soldier’s helmet. But the appearance didn’t matter, as it had all the same functionalities as the more normal black helmets the other three sported. He summoned his very own carbon-fibre paddle out of a golden portal, and it came out with that familiar yellow glow at the top.
    “So you’re the other three. Hmph.” he said quite bluntly. “I thought I’d see the CYC and Lowell captains wielding armour and weapons such as yours.”
    “Justin, we need a little bit of help with…” Jerry began.
    “I know, and I am definitely willing to help you. But I want to know that ALL of you are capable of. Why don’t we spar outside, right now?”

    After making sure the area was clear, the four of them stood in a square formation outside the auditorium. The sky was completely black during this time. It must have been zero-hundred hours somehow. All four of them connected their glowing T-grips together, creating a ten-metre square barrier of flame, each side being one colour of blue, red, yellow, and purple. Subsequently, they all activated their armour lights, making it so that whenever they moved, a silhouette of their colour moved behind them a few milliseconds. And so their “spar” started.
    Daven took apart his paddle, revealing two razor-sharp edges on either end. He charged toward Justin, steadily picking up speed with each step he took. Purple exploding orbs released from one part of his paddle, while the other seemed to glint with sharpness. He somersaulted into the air about half a metre away, firing more orbs from above, before slamming down into the ground and causing a ripple in that ground. Justin noticed this intended manoeuvre almost instantly, and nimbly dodged each orb as they were falling, jumping the very instant Daven collided with the ground.
    This gave enough time for Jerry to summon another thing from outside, or so he thought could happen.
    “It doesn’t work! What happens inside here stays inside here. I can only guarantee that no one will die tonight!” Justin shouted before drop-kicking Daven and twirling his paddle rapidly, which slowly began to form a yellow ring of energy. “So take this instead of what, the katana you’re trying to summon?”
    He pushed his paddle towards Jerry, sending the deadly ring spinning at him. Jerry held the blade of the paddle at it to deflect it towards the sky. He then vaulted over Justin, swiping at his armour rapidly before moving in for a good stab. Justin felt that quite clearly, yet there was no actual blood loss due to the conditions of the spar. Then his eyes began to change colour, first the pupils, then finally the entire thing to deep yellow. The white lines on his helmet glowed yellow, and then all of his armour shimmered.
    Justin clasped his hands together and screamed loudly as his appearance change rocked his body and another yellow glow enveloped it. By the time it subsided, he appeared completely as the Roman soldier from the mythology books they all read back in Year 8. Except this time, the typical spear was his paddle, pulsing several different shades of yellow. The plume on his helmet was comprised of three colours, those being white, black, and primarily red. A legion of smaller versions of himself followed behind, mimicking his every move. He shot a yellow beam into the air, illuminating the sky directly above the square all four heroes were standing in.
    All the miniature clones of him began charging at Sam this time. He was appearing to fire blue energy beams from his paddle to keep them at bay, yet it seemed like there was always more of them coming up for him. He started to leap and bound across the completely-transformed Justin, continuously firing his beams. Yet it didn’t seem like he took any notice of that. Sam noticed Jerry almost running out of options dealing with the fight at hand, and Daven seemingly getting beaten down at the very same time. This wouldn’t do…
    Daven shot a glance at Sam, nodding his head ever so slightly before being overtaken by Justin himself. Immediately, Sam’s face began to darken with rage, leading him to scream, “This won’t be the end of it!”
    The moment that statement was complete, his eyes shone a piercing blue out of nowhere. Time began to slow down around him as the white lines on his helmet began to glow a dark-blue colour. The mark on his paddle shone with a blinding midnight blue, pulsating with his own heartbeat. His white sheet lengthened out as the wind picked up around him. A roll of thunder, then multiple in quick succession boomed across the sky while the rain came down upon all four of them in a torrent. His eyes closed, and three bolts of lightning flashed down behind him.
    “The storm is coming in...thunder rattles the bones beneath my skin...and now the lightning comes and strikes with no mercy!” he chanted, opening his eyes and wrapping the sheet around his paddle.
    Jerry noticed Sam’s now-complete transformation, and smiled ever so slightly.
    Daven turned to Sam and flashed a thumbs-up to him.
    Sam raised his paddle towards the sky and fired a bolt of lightning toward Justin’s yellow beam, then, with his now-electrified paddle, traced a larger and larger arc around him, completely and utterly incinerating Justin’s miniature clones. Sam then twirled his paddle above him, causing a thundercloud to form underneath his feet and raise him higher off the ground. And indeed, the storm was ferocious at this point.
    Justin gasped in awe, knowing that the paddlers were indeed worthy of bearing the weapons and armour of legend. Breathing heavily, he slammed his paddle blade into the ground, all the rest of them following suit. This made the flaming barrier disappear, and with it, all the damage caused by everything happening inside.
    “I never knew you could awaken your power just during this one encounter...that’s all that I needed. I will notify our captains to have them join your teams in practice.” he quietly spoke, retracting his armour entirely.
    “Thank you, Justin. We won’t disappoint.” Daven replied back, putting the two pieces of his paddle back together.
    “Let’s go back home. It’s already zero-two thirty hours,” Jerry briefly spoke. “Plus, he,” pointing at a completely exhausted Sam, “needs to rest up. Let’s talk over practice.”
    So they all dispersed, tired but satisfied due to their new, now-complete alliance.