Barcode: Legend of Apollo (41 page)

I watch him closely, but he doesn’t budge. Monte, Stephanie, and Trinity bulldoze their way to the front.

“What’s going on?” Monte asks loudly.

“Your brother’s blocking the exit.”

Suddenly, I see a row of soldiers marching up the street. I’ve never seen an actual army before. Gladiators are strong men that armies often recruit if a war breaks out. Yet these men seem like they’re on a different level all together. Their suits are camouflaged, their guns are large, and the gear looks heavy.

A fight breaks out behind us with students chanting Eli’s name. These mortal level gladiators pull out their weapons and stab various students trying to defend themselves.

The leader of the group is the infamous Mystery. He has won twenty-four matches since his first fight, an all-time record for any mortal in one season. Between the screams, I sense several students dying at his fist. A few are demigods. That guy must seriously be strong. I wonder if that helmet is actually a slave mask.

Snapping at Stephanie and Trinity, Monte asserts, “Shut them up. Now.”

I’m not sure what level of power Eli’s men have, but they’re not strong enough for the duo. The two girls put the two dozen revolters to sleep within minutes. When I hear a sound similar to a can being crushed, I assume that Mystery was crumbled in his suit. I’d check, but I’m fighting Angie, Hannah and Monte to get a look through my peepholes.

A massive helicopter closes in on the school. Angie finally bumps me out of the way and stares at the men walking towards us.

Looking back at Angie while talking to me, Kode says, “Do me a favor and tell my brother to remove his chest plate. I don’t want him to die.”

“Why would I do that? I don’t know if you’re helping or trapping us.” Kode doesn’t reply, which only aggravates me. I turn to Monte, “Your stupid brother wants you to take off your chest plate. He said some lovey dovey crap.”

Monte aggressively approaches me, but the women block him. “Stop playing around. I didn’t see him write one message on that phone.”

“I can hear him.”

“No one can hear through Tartarus.”

Angie unstraps Monte’s armor as he’s arguing. With a motherly tone, she says, “He can, Monte. Now, lift your arms a bit.” Something’s obviously changed between them over this year. Angie’s “superior” tone has deflated to a caring one.

The chest plate falls and I see Monte’s frightening tattoos. Though the ones on his arms make him more distinguished than any other student, his chest is fully covered. He’s holding an illegal amount of power that would have easily crushed me during our Final Exams. Unlike Kode, he’s both buff and ripped. I’m starting to wonder which of the two are actually stronger.

Kode stretches and begins approaching the army. Angie shouts, “Kode come back inside and we can fight them together.” He neither replies nor returns.

“What did he say Spencer?”

“Nothing, Angie. He didn’t say a word.”

The men in the approaching army fire off a few shots before Kode runs into close range and begins taking them out one-by-one. Though he’s doing a fine job, they’re still advancing towards the school. Angie shrieks a few times when he’s hit.

The helicopter sounds as though it’s stopped, but I can’t see it anymore. That means it’s reached the center of campus.

The Nubian warrior takes off towards the battlefield, and everyone follows. When we make it to the center of the stadium, men from Eli’s army slide down ropes from the chopper and spread out across the field.

I assume that Angie’s going to attack them, but she doesn’t. Instead, she hops the walls and runs up the stairs of the stadium. Hannah and I follow, but once we make it over the wall, we’re halted by a shot from a soldier.

“Monte,” I shout, pointing from the first row in the stands. The brute removes a compressed version of his ax from his pocket and transmutes it before launching it at the soldiers. They open fire on him as he collects air. A lot of air.

Hannah and I eventually catch up to Angie as she stares from the top of the arena. Kode’s still fighting off the soldiers, but there are too many. He’s struggling with the thirty in range, and a few hundred more are marching up the street.

That’s when I see something incredible. Kode seems to vanish and appear behind each soldier at the same time. Either I’m losing it, or he just killed thirty people at once. My eyes cross and I feel woozy.

Hannah vomits on one of the seats and Angie digs her nails deeply into the Colt Stone. We each felt whatever energy he just let off.

Kode drops to his knees to catch his breath. He holds his mask tightly and moans. Though no one can hear his pain besides me, it’s visibly obvious that he’s hurt. His body convulses as though it were possessed.

Whatever he did required a lot of energy and it’s taking him too long to recover. The second wave of soldiers are closing in on him, and he’s still holding Tartarus. That’s when I remember him telling me that the mask drains his power. Could he really do more damage than killing thirty men at once?

Angie places one foot on the outer wall, and I shout, “Are you crazy?”

“I have to save him,” she cries. I grab her arm and she begs me to let her go. “Spencer, I know he came here to kill you. I knew all along.” My eyes widen. My own cousin betrayed me. “He started half the problems that you guys have, but I helped him.”

“Angie. You’re trying to kill me.”

She shakes her head, and violently blurts, “I would never do that. Ever. I always hoped you two could get over the rivalry and see how much you could help each other. Whether you have or haven’t, I need to get to him. Now.”

“That drop can kill you.”

“I know, but...” Angie trails off. “But if it were Michelle, would you follow her?”

Does that mean she’s in love with Kode? Hannah watches me closely. I can finally sense her emotions, but reading her aura’s enough. Her heart’s broken. I’ve given myself completely to Michelle, and everyone knows that, even Angie.

My cousin fights my grip, and I watch Hannah leap down the wall towards Kode. Shocked, I let go of Angie, and she follows.

Hannah hits the ground hard and I can hear her legs snap from seven hundred feet up. Angie releases a huge force to break her fall. Then, she chases after Kode.

They fight brilliantly together. It’s like watching two veteran dancers tango.

A loud snapping noise continues popping from Hannah’s area. Her bones are healing themselves. While waiting for them to complete, she whips out a gun with a barrel about the length of her arm, and plants it into the ground. She fires a strong amount of data at the army. When the soldiers begin firing back, she creates a shield around her gun.

The entire school breaks out into a war zone. Helicopters drop off more men, as though there weren’t enough from the first set.

Student-teacher groups form, defending their territories and entrances into the locker rooms and hallways. Before I begin my assault, I command other students to hide inside and strike any enemy that manages to make it in. Casey’s training pays off.

I search the field for Selena. The timid girl had her own story to tell because she’s not ducked in a corner. Instead, she’s using her ears to direct Patrick’s sniper rifle.

“Selena. What you’re doing is great,” I say and a smile lights across her face. I’ve never seen the Gothic chick actually smile. “But I need you on the inside. Take Patrick with you. If you hear any soldiers make it on the inside, take them out with a long shot.”

Patrick slowly rises to his feet, and avoids looking me in the eye.

“It’s my fault and I’m not telling anyone,” I say before rushing to the field.

Andvari and I smash through any and every enemy that comes into sight. In my first war experience, I take on the role as a leader of my peers, promising myself that I won’t enter Hades in the process.

While blood spills on both sides of the battlefield, I continue pushing the soldiers back to the furthest side of the stadium. I don’t want them gaining any leverage in this fight. I wonder where Dennis, Vincent, and Casey are, but I’m sure they have their own areas to protect when something like this occurs.

As Professor Jules and Malik drag three students past me, I wrap my chain in a shield to cover them from stray bullets until they enter a gate that leads directly to the hospital.

Once they’re safely inside, I rush past a set of doors and hear loud cracks from Patrick’s gun. From then on, I hear several shots every ten minutes. It seems that he and Selena work well as a team.

Though we’re doing a great job of stopping them from taking over the inside of the school, all of my classmates and instructors are being worn down. Eli’s army causes more damage than I assumed they could. Their guns are killing us at long range.

The soldiers come for hours, dropping off more men and returning again.

I see a large purple cloud of smoke at the rear end of the school, that’s Dennis. I forgot that it’s his responsibility to guard the outskirts of the arena when under attack. That means Vincent and Casey are covering the sides. Arnold was listed as the forth guard, but I assume that Kode and the girls are making up for that loss.

Monte and I cover our own ends of the field, defending ourselves against anyone that we can. When it finally seems over, and the last few of Eli’s men are killed off, the students cluster in the center of the battlefield and cheer in victory.

Only, our moment is short lived.

Seven helicopters, each larger than every chopper that dropped off fifty men at a time, fly towards the school. I hear a beautiful explosion and one of the helicopters is hit by a missile, causing the others to scatter. When I turn around, my eyes zoom between several buildings and I see Michelle sticking her tongue out from the tallest skyscraper in the area, our home.

She destroys four more choppers before one fires back and it seems to hit her. When the dust clears, Michelle’s motionless and not breathing. Eventually, she rolls over, but doesn’t have much longer to live.

Her pain causes me to laugh hysterically. All the suffering I caused her was for nothing.

My body trembles so roughly I can hardly stand. When I look around, all of the students and professors are staring at me. My sanity. I’m losing it.

The laughter I cause to echo throughout the amphitheater evolves into a roar. I enter Hades. Only, my barcode shines bright enough to illuminate the people and obstacles in my way.

My data has merged with the afterlife, but my eyes still see the world before me. An extreme power surges through my body. When I release a fraction of it, the defenders of Colt Arena get thrown back. They’re all knocked unconscious and three students hit their heads hard enough to lose their lives. Because of my power, only those on the outside and myself are left to end this war.

The two surviving helicopters drop off their remaining passengers, and they’re being led by Eve Payne. It was her helicopter that struck Michelle.

As they set up and surround the perimeter, I collect my chains from the field. One soldier holds his gun at me as I walk directly in front of him and pick up the last ball and chain.

Andvari is now completely gold and lighter than a feather. Codes appear along the chain that beg for my energy. I slam all three chains into the ground, which crumbles under their power. Then, I supply the data they request.

The soldier stares in amazement as the smallest ball and chain breaks in half and each piece wraps around the other two chains. As the energy flows into the two links, they transmute into a mysterious material that seems to have some life to it. Now, I possess two whips with sharp golden daggers at the end that’s much easier to control and retract.

Even my whips have small fragmented daggers that appear a split second before they cut through the soldier pissing his pants in front of me.

Everything about Andvari sings death, and my armor does the same. It seems that the Moreno gear has reached its last stage of evolution. My chest plate and shoulder pads have vanished and all that remain are wraps. Charcoal gray bandage-like material fully covers my arms and stretches across certain parts of my torso. They make an X-pattern across my chest and back.

My pants are lightweight and baggy. I jump up and down to test the weight out and notice that they absorb air and allow me to float for a second longer.

Wrapping a bit of the whips around my forearms, I breathe heavily and wait for the very last soldier to exit the aircraft before allowing Andvari to feast on their flesh. Not even the surrounding helicopters escape my wrath.

I twirl and spin my blades and whips as they cut through men and women like butter. This time, I make sure to avoid damaging any of my comrades.

Eve jumps over or uses her sword to defend against Andvari’s fangs. Though I’ve torn through hundreds of soldiers’ steel, her weapon seems to be on the same level as mine.

When all her soldiers are dead, she claps and shouts, “That’s magnificent Apollo.”

“Shut the hell up.”

Eve is the final obstacle standing between me and Michelle.

When I look down, I’m covered in blood with my eyes spread widely and my arms trembling. I can hardly contain myself. Though my thoughts seem clear, no matter how hard I try, I cannot restrain my anger. I’m pissed. It’s not just Eli or Eve. I’m upset with the world.

I hate pain; it’s around every corner. I hate joy; it’s temporary. I despise Dennis, the police that help him cover up murders, and the gladiator system of death.

There are people who are crying for help right now that want someone to save them from being raped, or others that just need to be understood and loved despite their sexual preference or life decisions. Everything in our world is wicked and evil.

The one bit of light I’ve found was just shot down.

“Ahhhhh,” stretches from my mouth.

Eve tilts her head and says, “Wow. You are in a bad mood. I’m actually disappointed you’re alone. My barcode doesn’t really kick in until there are multiple people to fight against, but it looks like you’ll have to show me that fearsome power.”

“Why are you doing this?” The words come from my mouth, but they sound deep and muffled. Demonic.