Not Gonna Die (A Skybrine Fanfic)

|Chapter 19| Two Months

Sorry about the lack of chapters, I had a bit of a problem with my internet.

          Everyone was very relieved when Adam, Ian, Mitch, Seto and Ty rode through the gates of the Team Crafted base several days later and Jerome, Jason and Quentin were even more relieved when they found Adam well and magic-free. In a matter of hours, it was virtually impossible to tell that over half of the leading group had left for close to two weeks. Autumn arrived in gusts of brown and red leaves and a dying sun, bringing with it the Games, a full week of friendly competition.

          Mitch narrowly won the sword duel competition, although he did limp around a little for a few days afterwards. Jerome and Mitch won the partner duels with minimal effort (many jokingly complained how the two should be banned from entering since they had been fighting side by side since they were young) and Ian did fairly well in the knife throwing. Ty always sat out the Games, instead refereeing several matches and Adam did the same this year. He felt the need to just relax a little.

          Very little happened in the weeks after the Games. The delegation from the east had sent news that they would be arriving a few weeks late due to a strain of the flu going around that part of the country and a broken arm, and there was a little skirmish with an advance scouting party from Lord Vikk, which was sent packing with minimal effort. They didn't send their own attacking party into his territory as that would be an offensive gesture, but when the lord's force was sent back the way they had came twice more, he seemed to decide to abandon the cause for now and they were left alone.

          Now that it was nearing winter, the annual break out of flus and colds slowly gripped the base. Not even the Generals were immune to its effects. Jason was out of action for a few days with a virus and Jerome was constantly sniffing for close to a full week. Even Adam started to feel feverish and his head felt full of stuffing as he no doubt came down with the flu too. Jerome told him to go back to bed when he stumbled out of his room one morning and Adam was only too happy to oblige.

          It was one of the worst feelings to be running a training session when you were sick but Adam only stayed in bed for a day before he forced himself up and stumbled down to the private kitchen the Team had. He was feeling less horrible than he had been that morning but still pretty crap. It appeared that he wasn't alone. Mitch was in the kitchen, holding a steaming cup as Quentin put away the honey back into the cupboard and Ty was standing next to him, a half-eaten sandwich in his hands.

          "And sleeping beauty's awake," Ty said with a grin. "How are you feeling?"

          "Like crap," Adam said bluntly. "But Mitch looks worse than me."

          "I feel worse, that's for sure," Mitch mumbled, taking a sip of his drink.

          Adam stood at the bench next to Mitch and Quentin turned back to the cupboard to take out the honey again. "I'll make another drink for you," he said to Adam. "Are you sure you don't want one Ty?"

          "Nah, I'm not a fan of lemon," Ty said, munching down on his lunch.

          While he waited for his drink, Adam's legs started to shake and his stomach, probably from the lack of food he had eaten that day, started to growl and he almost felt like he was about to throw up. He went to move to take a seat but his legs gave out and he fell to the side, grabbing the bench beside him to steady himself as his head felt like it was splitting apart.

          "Adam, are you okay?" Mitch asked, jumping off his seat and holding Adam's shoulder to steady him.

          Faster than he could react, Adam twisted his arm around and grabbed Mitch's shirt. With apparently little effort, he bodily threw him across the kitchen and the man crashed into the opposite wall, instantly falling limp to the ground, head lolling.

          "Mitch!" Ty said, going to run past Adam to check on Mitch. Adam's hand lashed out at him and he ducked, the fist clipping his head and making lose focus for a second, in which Adam's other hand had grabbed him and pinned him to the wall.

          "Adam, what the heck?" Quentin asked but Ty had seen what Quentin hadn't. Adam's facial expression was strangely blank and slack with no trace of recognition or even emotion. With a flash of fear, Ty felt Adam's hand start to close on his throat.

          "SETO!" Ty yelled as loud as he could before his air was cut off. He grabbed Adam's arm, trying to prise his fingers away from his throat. He lashed out with his legs but Adam acted as if he didn't even feel the kicks.

          "Adam, stop!" Quentin ran over to them and yanked on Adam's arm, forcing his fingers from Ty, whose face was going red and his kicks were growing weak. With a grunt, Quentin pulled Adam's fingers free of Ty's throat. Ty instantly collapsed to the ground, taking rasping breaths and coughing.

          But Adam had turned his attention to Quentin who rapidly backed up, hand running along the bench top. Adam's blank expression freaked him out but more so were the steady steps he took as he almost strolled towards Quentin. His hand brushed something hard and cool and without thinking, Quentin picked up the knife and threw it at Adam. Adam's hand snatched up, grabbing it and holding it, centimetres from his shoulder. Quentin's heart thumped faster; not only had he almost killed his best friend, but Adam had caught it.

          With a flick of his fingers, Adam reversed the blade and threw it at Quentin, who ducked with a yelp and the knife clattered off the stone wall behind him. Quentin ducked around the kitchen bench and backed into the middle of the room. Adam had moved with him and he swept his feet, knocking Quentin off his and putting a foot on his chest, holding him down.

           Someone entered the room and with a blast, Adam was thrown away from Quentin. Quentin pushed himself up and hurriedly backed up towards the wall. Seto was standing framed in the doorway, both of his hands glowing purple. Adam was already standing on his feet, his expression still curiously blank. Seto barely hesitated as he fired a glowing purple sphere at Adam but he cast it aside with a bare wave of his hand and then golden fire spat out of his hand and roared towards Seto, who took cover behind the kitchen bench, the edges of his cloak smoking.

          He jumped up again almost instantly and threw a pulsing purple bolt at Adam. He threw up a shield to block it but as soon as his vision was obscured by the golden shield, Seto threw two more bolts. When Adam dropped his shield, his hand wreathed in fire, both bolts smashed against his chest, throwing him backwards. His head smashed against the corner of the kitchen bench and he instantly dropped to the ground, limp.

          "Are you okay?" Seto asked instantly, running to help Ty.

          Ty massaged his throat and nodded. Purple bruises were started to form around his neck and he was blinking a lot as if he was trying to get the world into focus. Mitch was still out cold but his pulse was steady when Quentin checked it.

          "What happened?" Seto asked, helping Ty to stand.

          "No idea," Quentin said. "One moment Adam was fine and the next he was trying to kill us all."

          "It wasn't him," Ty croaked. "He didn't act normal, he was just... blank."

          "You both need to go and get checked out," Seto said. "Quentin, are you okay to take them down?"

          "Yeah. Ty, give me a hand with Mitch."

          Together, Ty and Quentin carried Mitch out of the room, leaving Seto with an unconscious and possibly deadly Adam. A small bit of blood had oozed from where Adam had hit his forehead but it didn't appear to have caused any major damage when Seto looked at it. He bit his nail, looking at Adam and thinking for a moment. With a huff, he positioned the unconscious man's hands behind his back and bound them together with magic strings as makeshift handcuffs. Then he dragged him over and propped him up against the wall, his head lolling to the side. Seto leant against the kitchen bench and waited for the man to wake up.

Next chapter's coming out tomorrow!