The Girl With Metal Claws

Burn

ELLIOTT

"What do you mean you can fix this?" Isis asked as they walked through the empty corridors.

"It's a long story. I need to find Meraki first." Elliott said, his restless eyes looking around.

"That girl who went all wrestle mania on Sandra?" Nish said. Isis looked around her at the unknown voice.

"Who? Who's talking?" Isis said.

"That's Nish. She's invisible." Elliott sighed.

"So all of this is actually happening," Isis replied, waving her hand all around her because she didn't know where exactly Nish was.

The walk through the corridor felt neverending.

"But what if I.. don't want to fix this?" Isis said, after a pause, with a longing gaze.

"What do you mean?" Elliott stopped walking and turned to her with a confused look.

"Uh.. what if I want to.. keep it? You know?" Isis said, looking away.

"Did you just not experience what those powers are capable of? I don't know about you but I don't want to be more invisible than I already am." Nish said with an irritated tone. "Elliott, do something."

"These powers, I'm sure they're controllable," Isis said, staring at her hands.

"Get your head out of Netflix, I guess?" Nish said in her cocky tone.

"I don't even have money for Netflix," Isis replied, still flipping her hands and scanning them.

"Then go rob a convenience store. Simple." Nish replied, throwing shade at Isis.

Isis looked up for a little and then started chuckling lightly. She wasn't the kind to get offended especially.

"The principal! Move!" Elliott announced and all three of them entered an empty classroom, trying to hide.

"Why are you hiding?" Isis whispered.

"Maybe because I'm not used to the fact that I'm invisible now," Nish said. The three of them barged into the classroom, closing the door behind them.

That's when Elliott heard noises of shuffling and heavy breaths from behind him. He turned behind and his body froze.

"ROSE?" Elliott said as he saw Rose and a guy making out on one of the backbenches.

Rose flinched when she saw him and pushed the guy away from her, shocked and embarrassed.

"Wait... Is that..?" Nish said, her voice had a hint of shock too. Her voice was low. Just as she said that the guy turned around to face them and waved a little.

Benjamin stood beside Rose, smiling through the pain of being caught like that.

"Uh... Just check if the principal is gone. I wanna be out of here. Now." Nish said.

"Who's talking? Where's the voice coming from?" Benjamin said on hearing Nish's voice.

No one said a thing except staring at each other awkwardly. Suddenly, Nish reached out and pinched Isis's arms startling her.

"Ou- uh- me. I was talking." Isis said. Benjamin and Rose frowned and exchanged glances.

"Elliott, it's not what it looks like." Rose took a step forward, trying to convince him.

"You don't have to justify your actions. It's your life, Rose." Elliott replied. He wasn't budged by the fact that Rose and Benjamin were together, he was just a little taken aback.

Elliott looked outside the door through the panel to see that there was no one in sight. So, following his lead, the three of them walked out of the room.

Just as they were about to move further, a voice spoke from behind them.

"Where do you think you lab rats are going?" A deep voice said.

When they turned around, they saw Mr Morgan, the principal standing behind them with his hands inside his pocket.

"You three are sneaking around. It is very suspicious that I might as well assume that you have something to do with today's events." He said, his eyes accusing them.

"No sir we don't have... wait... you can see me?" Nish asked, taking a step forward. Elliott turning to look at Nish was when he realised she wasn't so invisible anymore. Her blue outfit and her ponytail were visible which made him wonder if the powers wore off.

"I don't have time for this. If you don't want to get blacklisted, go to the lecture hall. We are investigating this matter now that things have cooled down. Now leave." Mr Morgan said, holding back a yawn.

"Yes sir," Nish said while the other two just kept staring everywhere other than the principal.

As they walked away towards the lecture hall, they heard Mr Morgan shriek.

"What the hell are you two doing? I don't get paid enough for this..." Mr Morgan wailed which meant Rose and Benjamin were at it again.

And were caught, again.

~

The lecture hall was strangely quiet even if the seats were full. Everyone who didn't escape was gathered inside, their faces concerned. Some students were even laughing at it because they didn't witness any of the incidents.

The teachers were grouped up discussing something while keeping an eye out for everyone. Because the students were the school's responsibility, safely getting them out of school was also their job. So till the situation outside was normal, the students were being kept together.

The three of them found some empty seats in the middle row and sat down.

"How do you know that another girl has powers like us too?" Nish asked, looking around.

Elliott couldn't risk telling them things in front of that many people. He also needed assistance to break out the secrets to the girls.

"I'll tell you once I find Meraki," Elliott replied. That's when a doubt hit him. Elliott had witnessed both Nish and Isis coming in contact with the potion but not Meraki. What if she threw all her food right after she found the watch? What if...

"The situation outside is under control now so we'll escort you back home by ourselves. You are requested to stay together and not -".

Someone barged in right as the principal was speaking and yelled out.

"The infirmary is on fire and it has spread into the storeroom too." The janitor said. Everyone gasped and shrieked in fear of not being able to survive this.

But Elliott was relieved because Meraki was successfully under the effect of the potion.

The whole room jumped to their feet and started scattering apart to save their lives. The teachers tried to make them listen but no one cared anymore.

"Let's go," Elliott whispered in between the chaos and the three of them ran out of the exit without getting spotted.

While everyone ran towards the main exit of the building, Elliott and the girls ran towards the infirmary. They jostled past the people and finally reached in front of the infirmary. The room was bursting with ever-growing flames.

"We have to stop the fire," Isis said, looking out for a way.

"We just need to find Meraki and leave," Elliott replied, not being able to think of anything else.

"What about the school then?" Isis replied, frowning.

"It's the school's responsibility," Elliott said, again.

"So we are just going to overlook it?" Isis said. She did have a point. By the looks of it, the fire was increasing massively.

"Please just let's get this over with," Nish said, walking between them.

Meraki was nowhere near their sight but if she was inside the room, she was in grave danger. And if something happened to her, Elliott and his team were done for. Forget the license renewal.

"Why would you save the city, if you don't even care about the people?" The words came ringing to his ear, clear and alive. Elliott looked up at the burning fire and then at Isis. Her eyes looked concerned while Nish looked unsure.

He turned back around and started running towards the principal's office. On the wall beside his door, a fire extinguisher was attached. He pulled it out and ran back to the infirmary.

It might not be of any help but he held the black pipe up and the white foamy smoke came out of it. Elliott started extinguishing the fire while he walked further into it. But the moment he stopped the fire of the doorway of the infirmary, he saw all of it was an illusion.

The fire on the outside was so great that it made the things that the inside was burning bright as ever, but instead, the inside was burning slow and twice smaller than the ones outside.

Elliott tossed the extinguisher to Nish and Isis as they followed him in. He walked past the empty and burnt out beds in the school infirmary to see someone lying unconscious behind the nurse desk.

Meraki Knight was the only one inside, lying on the ground. Elliott kneeled and held her up to see that she wasn't unconscious. Her eyes were open and she was breathing, she was just exhausted which might be from too much usage of her powers. Due to the smoke and dust, she was coughing.

"It isn't burning much inside. Is it because she's almost unconscious?" Isis asked, checking Meraki's body temperature.

"It is possible. Maybe if she...", Elliott was just about to complete his sentence when suddenly startling everyone, Nish hit Meraki's head with the back of a half-burnt broomstick.

Meraki's eyes immediately closed and her head fell back.

With wide eyes and mouths dropped open, both Elliott and Isis looked at Nish in absolute shock.

"What did you do?" Elliott snapped, shaking Meraki and checking her pulse. Nish hesitated as she threw the broom away.

"She's alive right?" Nish asked, her face turned in fear.

Elliott could feel Meraki's pulse beating and that she was just unconscious judging by the fact that her head wasn't hurt.

"Yes, but she could've died." Elliott sighed as he sat down on the ashy floor in relief.

"I thought her being completely unconscious would end the fire," Nish said, grunting a bit.

"That's too impulsive," Isis said, trying to stifle a laugh. That's when she looked around her and her eyes landed outside the room. She tapped the others and asked them to follow her gaze.

The fire was gone. Nothing except the ashes and dust remains on the ground. Whatever Nish did, it worked.

"The queen, bitches." Nish said, standing up and bowing down.

Elliott stood up quickly and the three of them carried Meraki out of the room as soon as possible.

They wondered why the management of the school wasn't there yet but it was lucky for Elliott. Before anyone caught them, the four of them exited the school building and ran away somewhere safer.