The school began evacuation as the building creaked once more. Unlike the previous alarm, there was no calm or excitement in the students as they ran for the exits, only panic. As the girls began to evacuate, Eda noticed Nephele was still pacing near the tables. Running back to her, Eda grabbed her arm and tried to pull her towards the exit.
"Come on!" Eda yelled at her. "We have to leave!"
"No!" Nephele resisted, "I have to wait for him. He… He will come back."
"What the hell is wrong with you! You've been acting super weird tonight."
"I-I… No… I'm…" Nephele was struggling to say what was on her mind.
"Eda! Nephele! What's going on!" Lailah yelled at them as the others were nearing the now crowded doors.
"No. He'll be back! I have to wait for Master." Nephele was resolute.
"Why are you calling him master?! WE'RE LEAVING NOW, NEPH!"
At the shouting, Nephele started crying but finally gave in as Eda yanked her through the crowd. After clearing the building, a deafening 'CRASH!' came from the parking lot. A plume of smoke began to flow, and the night was given a yellow glow from the now blazing fire. Eda found the other girls, who waved her down.
"Where did you guys go?!" Thea was outraged that they'd gotten separated. "You were right behind us, then not!"
"I don't know what's going on with Neph, but something's definitely up." Eda told her.
"Neph, what…? Where's Neph?" Lailah, was looking around.
Eda looked around and saw that Nephele had slipped away from her. Another 'CRASH' came from the parking lot. Many students were heading to the commotion. Eda noticed this and led the others into the fray, When Thea stopped them.
"Transform. We need to help stop whatever's going on." She told her friends.
"What about Neph!" Lailah was clearly concerned.
"Thea, can you look for her while we handle this?" Eda asked.
"I can, but I'm not leaving Masuyo's side either. She's not doing well."
"Fine. That good for you Lailah? You me and Alessia will go help, they'll look."
"But…"
"No time for 'buts', people may need help. They can handle Neph. We have to do our job. Understand?!"
"Y-yes."
Eda led Alessia and Lailah away from the crowds, and once sure they were alone, the three transformed into Frosty, Kai, and Hooves. The they quickly flew over to the area where the crash had happened. As they got close enough to see the commotion, they recognized one of the two figures standing in the newly made hole in the lot. This caused all three to stop in midair.
"Shit! It's him!" Hooves shouted to the others, as they saw the Grey Knight standing below them.
"What's he even doing here?!" Kai lamented.
The second figure was a bit shorter than the Grey Knight. He was wrapped in a gaudy golden armor and had just thrown what appeared to be purple javelins towards the Grey Knight. Instead of dodging, The Grey Knight tried to block them with a shield. Each attack went straight through, hitting him. As the golden armored person approached, the Rangers stayed put, still a distance away in the air.
"Is that guy a hero or a villain?" Hooves asked.
"I don't know, but the Grey Knight is involved. Maybe we should call this in and ask for orders before we attack." Eda said.
She never got to make that call. As the golden fighter reached his hand towards the Grey Knight, the vigilante moved faster than the Rangers could react. The reaching hand hit the ground with a sickening 'plop'. The gold body suit quickly returned to an expensive looking tailored suit. Blood gushed from the stub that used to be his hand, and multiple groups let out a variety of screams and shouts.
"AHH! H-how?! How did you resist?!" They could hear Quil yell as he clutched his stub of a hand trying to stop the bleeding.
"Oh SHIT!" Kai exclaimed
The Grey Knight then stood up, completely towering over him. Quil began to cower back, and the crowd followed his example.
"BECAUSE, VILLAIN, I'VE BEEN CONTROLLED AND TORMENTED BY REAL DEMONS. COMPARED TO THAT, YOU'RE NOTHING BUT EMPTY THREATS."
"Empty threats?! I'll show you a threat you fool. And I'll make sure to take great pleasure in it!" Quil seemed to drop his voice, so the girls couldn't hear what he was saying next, but he ended whatever he said, by laughing maniacally.
The Rangers took off straight towards them, but they were too far away to make a difference. The Grey Knight placed the scythe on Quil's shoulder and in the blink of an eye, Quil's laughter was abruptly stopped by a 'GLAHG!'. As his body fell forward, his head fell back. The Grey knight cleaned his scythe off on Quil's back, picked up the severed hand, and removed the gold ring. The crowd was shocked, and silent.
"AHHHH!!" A deafening scream of anguish exploded from the crowd. '{Air Blade Cutters}!' Nephele screamed as two slashes of magic and air came right for the Knight. He was able to block one of the attacks with his scythe, though it broke in the process. The second landed into his chest, seeming to cut into his armor. He roughly landed on his feet.
"S-STAY AWAY FROM MY MASTER!" She shrieked.
"HE ISN'T WHO HE SAID HE WAS!" The Grey Knight shouted back holding the side of his chest that was hit. "HE IS A FAMILY MEMBER, QUIL ARMINCH!"
The crowd got very silent after his declaration. Nephele didn't even react. She jumped at him firing shot after shot of wind and NRG. This time however, he was able to dodge each of them.
"HE TRIED TO KILL YOUR FRIEND. HE POISONED HER!"
She stopped in her tracks, "No, no, no!" She stumbled a bit. "AHHHHHHHHHGGH…!" She screamed grabbing her head. "THAT'S…! NO…! HE…" She fell over on her side, passing out.
Masuyo and Thea pushed their way through the stunned crowd, rushing to Nephele's side. Seeing Nephele taken care of, Frosty launched a magical attack right at the Grey Knight '{Ice Barrage}' He dodged the attack, leaving an area of icicles sticking in the ground where he was standing. Frosty produced her '{Sword of Ice}' and swung. He blocked this attack with a shield thought the force of the collision caused him to slide back. Kai dropped in next with a heavy strike. He blocked this attack too, but the shield warped at Kai's strength. The Grey Knight dropped the damaged shield and it disappeared before it touched the ground. Hooves attacked with an NRG beam and hit causing the Grey Knight to stumble down to his knees. The three Rangers quickly surrounded him as he stood back up.
"YOU SHOULD BE TAKING CARE OF YOUR FRIEND THERE." The Knight gestured towards Nephele, with Thea and Masuyo at her side.
Our friend?! Eda had bolt of panic go through her.
He then pointed to the building on the other side of the parking lot, with dust and smoke still billowing from it. "THERE ARE ALSO THREE PEOPLE ON TOP OF THAT BUILDING WHO NEED HELP."
When everyone turned to where he was pointing, he stomped the ground, sending a large cloud of dust all around them and obscuring everyone's vision. A few seconds later…
"Look out!" A chorus of shouts came from the crowd.
Frosty instinctively moved to the side as a large slab of concrete blew past her. She wasn't sure if that would have hit her even if she hadn't moved, but she was pissed at the attempt. She aimed her palm towards where the slab came from and fired. As the dust was blown away, the crowd was left shivering. Frosty surveyed the area but it didn't seem like her '{Icy Gale}' attack had hit its target. Masuyo and Thea were huddled over Nephele, who was still out cold. Thea looked around, and the sea of smartphones were recording everything. Thea picked up Nephele to move her out of there.
***
"Oh my god. He's real!" "I'm uploading this right now!" "Dude did you see how fast he was?" The crowd was buzzing with fear and excitement as Hooves and Kai were going their best to keep the crowd away. Frosty approached Quil's body. Next to Thea, Masuyo was still on the ground catching her breath. She looked towards the remains of Quil. What the Knight said,she thought to herself, could he be telling the truth? Quil was the one who attacked me, the one who poisoned me? Thinking back while seeing his head in front of her it clicked. It WAS him! Thea stood Nephele and was heading back to the building to find medical personnel. Masuyo staggered up and stumbled towards her friend.
As Thea saw her approaching, she yelled at her. "Masuyo, you should rest! We'll come get you after…"
"Quil…he…," she wheezed and strained herself to continue, "he was with Daniel!"
Thea's eyes grew wide, and panic began to sink in. He said there were three up there…no…! Her worst nightmares began to play through her head.
"Frosty!" Thea yelled as Frosty placed a covering over the deceased's remains. Once she placed the cover, she rushed over. "Take me to the rooftop now! Please!" She pleaded, pointing to the damaged building.
Masuyo's legs finally gave out, and she fell to her knees, not being able to move anymore. She punched the ground, then took a ragged breath. "I'll watch Nephele. Go find him." She offered. As Thea put their friend down, Masuyo grabbed her arm. "Find him." She repeated, a dead serious look on her face. Thea nodded, and Masuyo released her.
"We will." She promised. Then looking at Frosty she explained, "Daniel may be up there. Please help me find him."
"Of-of course." She led Thea, and both flew towards the rooftop. A few of the students who could fly started to follow. Frosty looked back at them and warned, "Hey! Please stay away from here! The building is in bad shape!"
"Why bring Prez then?" "Why let her up there?" "Huh?" The students ignored her and kept following.
After they arrived on the rooftop, the students started searching around the collapsed area. Soon, one of the students screamed. Thea ran over to find the remains of someone who'd been folded in half by a slab of ceiling. Thea examined the body. The damage had crushed their face, but she found the clothing on the corpse didn't match Daniels. She stood up.
"Not him." She was relieved but a shot of guilt hit her as she realized she was happy it wasn't Daniel but hadn't taken the time to think about the fact that someone had died.
"Found another one!" a shout came from the stairway leading to the roof. A pool of bile, blood and body parts were all they found, but it was once again enough to verify it wasn't Daniel.
Two down, and both dead. Thea's worry intensified and she began to fear how she'd ever face Masuyo again if she found him, and he was dead.
There was another scream that Thea and Frosty bolted towards, slipping on a slick substance as they turned the corner. At their hurried approach, the frightened student pointed to where Thea had fallen. She'd slipped on a small pool of blood and saw the hand of the presumed victim sticking out from the rubble. Together, the three lifted the rubble covering the person and saw a school uniform.
"I think it's him!" His face wasn't facing towards them, but they noticed a piece of rebar pierced through his shoulder. Carefully removing him from below the rubble, Thea held him in her arms. It was Daniel. His breathing was very shallow, and the bleeding from his shoulder looked bad. He looked almost as pale as Masuyo was earlier. Thea and Frosty healed him as much as they could to stop the bleeding. Soon, more heroes reported to the school to help. The students on the rooftop, including Thea, were forced to leave the area, and were properly evacuated from the school.
Daniel, Masuyo and Nephele were taken to the hospital. Thea accompanied Daniel, Nephele was under observation at the hospital psych ward. She occasionally regained consciousness, but was experiencing 'hysteric episodes' then almost immediately passed out again. Masuyo, being the 'best off' of the hospital trio, was put in a private room with an IV set up to help with her extreme dehydration. The TV was playing the news, specifically the footage her schoolmates had recorded. The internet was flooded with videos and pictures of The Grey Knight in action, Nephele's attack, and Frosty driving him off. The attack was listed as having killed four, seriously injured three, and eight were found to have minor injuries. All were said to be the fault of The Grey Knight. Quil, a second year student, one of her classmates, and the driver of a limo were those listed as the deceased. No names were given for any of the other victims, but Nephele, Daniel and Masuyo were obviously the seriously injured. Masuyo heard almost nothing about Daniel's condition since they were moved from the school. All she'd gotten was that he was alive but doing very poorly.
[We now go live to the Heroes Council, with an official word from Councilwoman, Sarx.] The picture cut to the council chambers. The woman standing in front of a podium was the same one that a few weeks back had sentenced Thea and Nephele to their suspensions. She was wearing a blue business suit, and bifocals framed her blue/green eyes. [Fellow citizens, it has come to our attention there was a brazen attack on one of our distinguished schools this evening, by a villain, under the guise of the alleged urban legend, "The Grey Knight". We would like to dispel this notion that this is anything more than some copy-cat attempting to use an infamous and false name to gain quick fame and establish himself. This is in not new to the council, as we recently confirmed him as the perpetrator of the building collapse a few weeks back. We also have reason to believe he may have been a part of one more incidents prior, but even if he tries to call himself 'The Grey Knight', we only see him as a villain and advise the public to do the same. We at the council would like to commend the heroes this evening that not only saved countless students but were able to force this villain away. We'd especially like to send our thanks to The Magical Ranger Girls' recently changed leader 'Frosty', who was instrumental to the protection of all the students and in finding and saving those who were affected by this copy-cat's vindictive path of destruction. Even though the Ranger's were short handed due to their former leader 'Phoenix's' personal time, whom we all hope returns promptly, they excelled at their job this evening. Lastly, we send our deepest condolences to the families of Quilliam Thomas Forsole, James Steven Richardson, Marshal Herold Simmions, and Gregory Alister McGregor, who tragically lost their lives in this senseless act of unprovoked savagery. The council will organize a vigil in their honor, so their families and friends can pay their respects, and we can all honor the true heroes who fell to evil.]
Masuyo was grumbling under her breath. "they're honoring the dick who almost killed me and Daniel. Meanwhile, the Counsel throws Thea under the bus to save face from us being shorthanded due to their stupid choice to suspend her."
The news cut back to their report at the school, but Masuyo stopped paying attention. A vibration came from her handbag. Eda had messaged. [The Council just contacted me. Thea's suspension has been ended. We're also barred from talking about tonight till they give us an official story. We're just finally getting done here. How are you? Hear from Nephele yet?]
She responded, [I'm doing better. No word on Neph]. She didn't feel like arguing about the rest. She was exhausted. No, 'exhausted' was two hours ago when she was finished puking her guts out, now she was just done. Quil could walk through the door as a corpse at that moment and she'd just go, "Just get it over with, please." With that thought in her mind, the door opened, and her heart rate shot up for a second.
"Oh, you're looking much better than I was told." A woman in a purple cloak, a matching pointed hat and a wrap around visor entered. She looked almost exactly the same as the last time they met but had a stethoscope around her neck. Her bubbly personality was also completely opposite from Masuyo's last encounter with her. "I'm one of the doctors here, I'll be checking up on you this evening." Her smile was almost blinding.
"H-hi…"
"You are… Masuyo Yuno, correct?" She cocked her head slightly and looked at her clip board with a slightly concerned look while maintaining her smile.
"Ya, that's me."
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Yuno. I'm…"
"You're Whimsy Witch. I know."
"Oh! I guess my reputation precedes me!" Her smile seemed to become bigger, but Masuyo could feel a twinge of inauthenticity to it. "So, you have a relationship with Miss Nephele Zeph… um Zepher…" she was looking at her board sounding it out.
"Zepherino. Yes, she's a really close friend."
"Awe… She said the same thing about you."
"So, does that mean she's okay?!"
Whimsy put her finger on her chin. Her expression hardened a bit as she tried to answer. "Well, 'okay' is kind of relative, especially in terms of this scenario. Physically, she has had a few minor injuries, and a bit of magical overexertion, but nothing life threatening. However, mentally… from the analysis we've been able to piece together, it's seeming like she was put under some particularly strong mind controlling magic. Repeatedly. Her mind and body look like they were put under some severe conditioning and other techniques. "
"What do you mean?"
"It's not exactly something I feel comfortable talking to a school kid about, but it was bad. Normally if the magic gets severed between the two, the victim is set free, but we've made sure there is no magical connection, and she's still struggling, a lot."
Masuyo's face went dark. Everything fit together perfectly, and they'd all ignored the signs. Some friends they were.
"Oh kid, don't worry. We, here, are doing everything to help. I'm sure she'll recover. It just may take some time, so please be patient with her. I actually came to see if you could possibly give us some help."
"What can I do?"
"This may be a difficult question, but do you have any idea who could have been the one to do this to her? This was particularly strong and… unethical magic, so we need to find out who did it. Whenever we tried asking her, she seemed to have trouble breathing and becomes unresponsive. Is there anyone you may suspect that could have done this to her?
"From what The Grey Knight said, it was her boyfriend, um… former boyfriend. He said his name was actually Quil Arminch." Masuyo exhaustedly explained.
"Arminch? Wait, The GREY KNIGHT?!" Her eyes got wide and her smile broke. "He was there?"
"I…I guess you haven't seen the news." Masuyo pointed at the screen behind Whimsy, showing another video of The Grey Knight. "He's the one that killed that guy there, Quil. He also said Quil was the one who poisoned me, and that Quil's last name was Arminch."
Whimsy had to peel her eyes from the news. She then looked Masuyo up and down. "It definitely sounds like you've had an extremely interesting night." She placed her hand on Masuyo's forehead, and a calming wave flooded her senses. She felt like her body was floating. In a flat, almost cynical tone Whimsy advised her, "Kid, do yourself a favor and pretend tonight was just a bad dream."
The calming magic, along with her heavy exhaustion, brought Masuyo quickly to sleep with Whimsy's last words clinging to her mind.