“…What test?”
“You have to get out of this cell, Teddy,” said Rain Dancer. “You’ll only have a few minutes to do it. Just use your powers at full strength, get the door open, and you’ll be safe. Easy, you know?”
“But… but…” Teddy was shaking his head. “I can’t!”
He reached out to grab Rain Dancer as the demon turned to leave. Rain Dancer knocked him to the floor with a push. He started to turn toward the door, and Malcolm realized that he needed to hide, fast.
Malcolm jumped, pulling the wind underneath him and propelling himself toward the ceiling. The hallway was just narrow enough for him to wedge himself into it by pushing his hands into one side, and his feet into the other.
He watched Rain Dancer walk out, praying that the demon wouldn’t look up. Rain Dancer didn’t even notice him. He watched as Rain Dancer closed the door to Teddy’s cell, and slid a heavy latch into place before turning a key to lock it from the outside.
Malcolm waited until Rain Dancer disappeared down the hall, and then let himself fall to the floor. He tried the door, finding it solidly locked, and then gave it a gentle knock.
“Hey!” he hissed. “Teddy? Can you hear me?”
Malcolm heard a startled cry come from the other side.
“Who… is it?” asked the boy.
“A friend,” he said. “I’m Wind Runner. I’m with the Champion Authority.”
“You’re… Wind Runner?” Teddy’s voice was practically reverent. “You! I… can’t believe it. When I first got my powers, all I could think of was being like you…!”
Well, he kind of ended up in the same situation I was in yesterday, so there’s that.
“We have to get you out of here,” said Malcolm. “Do you know where the key for your door is?”
“He said I have to get out of the cell on my own,” said Teddy. “He said… Oh god!”
Malcolm heard a new noise, something that didn’t make any sense. It sounded like a waterfall had just burst into existence on the other side of the door.
“He’s filling the room up with water!” shouted Teddy. “There’s a pipe in the top! He’s… going to drown me.”
Malcolm swore under his breath.
“How fast is the water filling up?” asked Malcolm.
Teddy screamed in reply, which seemed like answer enough. Malcolm tugged at the door. It was heavy metal, and the latch locking it was a stiff iron bar.
“Wind Runner!” screamed Teddy. “Do something!”
What am I supposed to do? Rain Dancer has the key. I’ll lose if I try to fight him for it.
“Teddy, use your power!” said Malcolm. “Try to push from that side, and I’ll try to shake the door from this one.”
“A…Alright.”
Malcolm kept one hand on the door, feeling it jiggle slightly from Teddy’s efforts. He tried to force wind into the lock. The door was airtight, and there was no way for him to get his wind manipulation to the other side.
“Try pulling, Teddy!” said Malcolm. “Can you pull the door toward you? Does your power work that way?”
“I can try,” he said. “Hurry! The water is… it’s up to my waist!”
Malcolm took a couple of steps back from the door. He took a deep breath and reached out, summoning as much of the wind as he had the strength to. He threw it forward in a massive, directed blast, trying to hit the door in a way that would knock it loose by breaking the hinges.
He knew he was taking a risk. Already, the euphoria from overdoing it with his powers was surging into him. It felt almost like a challenge, a goal in a video game. Get the door off the cell to save Teddy’s life. Time was ticking away, and only he could save the day.
I need to stay focused. I can’t lose myself, not with this kid’s life on the line.
“Wind Runner!” Teddy was coughing on the other side of the door. “I… I can’t.”
Malcolm gritted his teeth. He felt something dangerous twist inside him as he let loose with another wind blast. He was chuckling, drunk on his powers, but the strength he was putting into his efforts went beyond anything he’d done before.
The door shook, shifted forward an inch or two, and then fell off its hinges and into the hallway. It was followed by several thousand gallons of water and an extremely waterlogged and grateful teenage boy.
“There,” said Malcolm, taking deep breaths. “Come on. We have to find my other friend, and then we’re getting out of here.”
“That’s enough.” Rain Dancer stepped into the hallway. “You’re a fool, Wind Runner. You just murdered one of our allies by sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
Malcolm didn’t waste time on words. He summoned the wind, still feeling the flutter of the euphoric body load from what he’d just done. There was still water pooling on the ground nearby, and he had a theory about what Rain Dancer’s weakness might be.
Drop anything electrical into water, and it short circuits!
He splashed Rain Dancer with a solid, wind propelled, scoop of water. Rain Dancer just laughed.
“Not a bad try,” he said. “Not even close though.”
Rain Dancer threw his hand forward, hitting Malcolm with a burst of electricity intense enough to make it feel like the fillings in his teeth were about to explode. Malcolm fell to the ground without enough breath left in his lungs to so much as scream.
“The kid is useless to us,” said Rain Dancer. “Weak powers. He doesn’t know anything about the Champion Authority. I wanted to see if he’d make an interesting spryte or demon, you know, but because of you… I’ve changed my mind.”
“What?” screamed Teddy. “No!”
Lightning shot forth from Rain Dancer’s hand, crackling across Teddy’s soaked body. Malcolm sat up and tried to push Rain Dancer back with the wind. It was hopeless. He couldn’t summon the energy, and barely managed to shake Rain Dancer’s clothing.
“The water in the cell was a test,” said Rain Dancer. “If this little champion recruit had reached for his full potential, reached his turning point, he might have become something useful.”
Teddy’s screams went on until he ran out of breath. Malcolm made another attempt to push Rain Dancer back, and received a painful electric burst in return.
“I would have done the same to you, you know?” shouted Rain Dancer, raising his voice to be heard over Teddy’s screams. “Tortured you, gotten all of your juicy information. Unfortunately, you and Ms. Shadow Spryte come as a package deal, and I think it’ll be more fun for me to stay on her good side.”
Teddy’s head and limbs seized wildly on the ground. Smoke was coming off his clothing, even though he was still wet.
“You’re… going to kill him,” Malcolm managed. He tried another attack, but was only able to summon a weak breeze, his powers drained from exposure to his weakness.
“Yup,” said Rain Dancer. “He would have gone on to become a champion, you know? Would have killed people like me, Shield Maiden, Rose. And eventually you.”
Teddy’s body suddenly erupted into flame. Rain Dancer kept electrocuting him, pumping in energy, literally melting off the boy’s skin and turning him into dust and bones.
“You evil bastard!” Malcolm roared and sprinted toward Rain Dancer.
If I can get close enough, I can take his power!
Rain Dancer just laughed. The lightning hit Malcolm full in the chest. He gasped, and then everything went dark.
CHAPTER 23
Malcolm felt cold. He blinked to make sure his eyes were open. It was still dark, and he was lying on his back. Wherever he was smelled of dust and mold, like a dank closet gone unopened for many years.
Focus. You were fighting Rain Dancer, and…