The Changes

Part 19: We Meet Again

    I was too frightened to speak. My body trembled. This was what we were up against? He didn't look like much, but he obviously was.

   "This is what we had so much trouble looking for?" laughed Vladmir, gesturing towards us. "These children! They don't seem like much at all!

   "Since you're all going to die anyway, I'll let you in on my secret. I have the power of speed, but no one knew that, until today. I have always hidden it in fear of people hunting me down. You might think Kaleiron can pause time and then you guys can just gang up on me, but he is already drained from all the energy he used." 

   Amber, Barry, Ashton, and I exchanged looks. "Harrison Wells!" we squealed. I know, wrong time to get geeky, when some evil dude was trying to conquer the world, but hey, I was me.

   Vladmir gave us an amused look.

   "Well, no point in wasting time talking." he looked at us all and gave us a devilish grin before speeding behind me, grabbing my stick and hitting me in the back. I crumpled. Again?

   I heard Barry and Amber yell behind me and the sound of another body falling onto the pavement. How come Kaleiron's family had such amazing abilities? This could be a bad and good thing. Ashton the dragon roared in defiance and I heard the sound of his wings beating, but obviously, Vladmir hadn't even been touched.

   Ethan was rushing around, healing people, but he was going to get hurt soon. When he touched me, I felt healthier. I turned into a spider, and he nodded. Vladmir nailed him in the back, and he keeled over in pain. Leyna was still standing, though I saw her body tremble in fear. She had her hands out in front of her, ready to set anything on fire, but I know she didn't want to hit any of us but accident. I crawled away, right when Leyna yelped in pain. I didn't see what happened to her, but I knew I had to help them. Ashton was batting aimlessly at the air.

   I crawled into a small place behind a few pieces of plywood.

   Vladmir let out his crazy laugh. People behind us were still running in fear, being chased by other Mages and terrorists. "Too easy, nephew! Now it's time for you to face your end."

   "I won't give in that easily," Kaleiron replied through gritted teeth. He froze time for a split second, and punched his uncle in the face. Then time unfroze and he scrambled out of the way, just in time for his uncle to kick at the air, looking like a loser. 

  "Someone get the stone to the White House!" yelled Kaleiron. "I'll keep him busy."

   "Oh, I'd hate for you to win," smirked Vladmir. 

   Suddenly, the enemy surrounded my friends, who were still tired and disoriented. I scuttled out of my hiding spot in turned in an elephant (*requested haha), and kicked all of them out of the way as I could. Some fired at me, and being an elephant made it hard to dodge all the attacks. I turned into a robin. Since I still hadn't mastered the art of flying, I, um, flew- fell. Luckily, I turned into a cat just in time. I landed on my feet. This gave my friends just enough time to get up and start fighting again. I guess Ashton was okay. He just seemed sort of dizzy from hitting oxygen and carbon dioxide. 

   "Amber and I will go and return the stone. These waves will never end!" I shouted over the commotion. I gestured Amber to follow me. As we ran away, some baddies started chasing us, but Amber mostly knocked them over with winds. I'm not saying I was any better, but the terrorists who fired at us had terrible aim. I was actually trying not to run in a straight line since I did not want to die today.

   "Veronica!" Kaleiron shouted. We weren't very far away from them yet since we had to avoid the Mages and terrorists. He pointed a finger in my direction. I turned around, and saw a big swirling portal. I nodded in thanks, and Amber jumped in, and I followed suit.

----

   We arrived in front of a tall, grand white building. "Damn, I haven't seen this in a while," said Amber.

   "Me neither, but we aren't here for sight-seeing," I reminded her.

    "Alright, alright," Amber rolled her eyes.

    We ran towards the entrance, Amber lugging her backpack behind her. Apparently, Vladmir had taken my rod. Probably because it was so cool. So I was pretty defenseless as a human. At least I had Amber. She was a black belt in judo. 

   We ran to the front of the long line. We tried to sneak past the security, but one man grabbed my arm. "Where are you kids going?" I tried to pull away, but I couldn't break his strong grip.

   "We, um, we have something important to deliver," I said, choosing my words carefully. He was armed, with a gun and one of those black sticks that all cops carry around with them. It looked like a oversized hot dog.

   "What would that be?" he asked testily. 

   Amber pulled the precious stone gingerly out of her backpack, the sun causing it to shimmer in different shades.

   The guard's eyes widened. He let me go. "Hurry. You don't have much time."

   We rushed into the White House. 

   "Where in the world are we going to find a place for this? It's huge!" Amber exclaimed. The entrance hall was huge. A long red carpet lead to a small doorframe with curtains behind it. There weren't many people in there, probably due to the fact that many were being harmed in the middle of the city. Just then, a man in a navy blue hoodie bumped into me and handed me a slip of paper. 

  I looked behind me and thought I saw a glint of blond hair, and wild electric blue eyes. 

  "Isn't he going to say sorry?" scowled Amber.

   "He doesn't need to," I replied grinning. I showed her the piece of paper. It was folded into four pieces and when I opened it up, it revealed a map. 

   "Wait- was that the guy we met on the first day of our wild trip?" 

   "Yep."