Altered Cosmos

Chapter 25; Rematch

About two days later, the entire S class were in a plane on its way to the Southern Index HQ for a field trip. Levi sits beside Felix and Hana in the plane.

He scrolls through his interface when he suddenly gets a contact info from a girl in the A class with the tag, ‘Can we hang out?’. He sighs and Felix stretches over to read the message with a little chuckle. “You should totally hang out.”

Levi rolls his eyes and swipes the info aside to turn to Felix. “You know. I ‘was’ looking forward to being a low-key guy.”

Felix shrugs and Hana giggles beside him. “Yeah. That idea flew right out the door since your whole snow white look.” Felix chuckled.

“Plus, it’s not every day your classmate gets kidnapped by the Web and escapes.” Hana commented and Felix gestures to him.

“Whatever.” Levi grumbled as he relaxed into his seat with his eyes gazing out the window beside him. “Plus, I’m not really interested in a relationship right now.”

“Why?” Felix asked and Levi chuckles as he turns back to him.

“I don’t know.” He mumbled and Felix raises a brow at him. Levi chuckles and smacks Felix’s arm as he spoke. “What of you?” The moment he said that, Levi notices a slight change in Hana’s expression.

“I have a horrible history when it comes to relationships. I don’t think it’s meant for me, now.” Felix chuckled and Hana’s expression darkens a little.

“Ok. What about you, Hana?” Levi asked and Hana flinches with embarrassment.

“Me? I’m… I’m not interested in it, too.” She said and Levi plants a smile on his face as he leans forward.

“So you don’t like ‘anyone’?” Felix glances at Levi with a sceptic look while Hana adjusts her glasses, her cheeks reddening.

“I didn’t say…… It’s… I.” Levi grins widely as Hana stammers with her fingers pressing against each other.

“You ‘do’ like someone.” Levi mumbled and Hana blushes deeper.

Felix’s eyes light up and he gives Hana his full attention. “You’ve been holding out on me, huh. So, who is it?” He inches toward Hana and she stammers more as he stares directly into her eyes.

“Come on, Hana. We tell each other everything.” He inches closer and Hana looked as red as a tomato. Her mouth hesitates before slowly opening……

“Strap down, class.” They all turned to Jerry who stepped out of the cockpit with a serious look on his face. “The plane’s about to land.” He said as he entered the cabin and Hana lets out a very relieved sigh.

Levi stifles a chuckle at her and straps his seatbelt to his body as the plane began to descend.

An hour later, the class were being escorted through the one of the major labs of the Southern branch. “Wait here.” Jerry said as he moves away from the class to the reception.

As they wait, Levi looks up as he felt a presence and sees a group of scientists moving with a certain blonde among them.

“Nina?” Nina stops and smiles when she sees him. After speaking to the men, she struts over to Levi and MJ. “Good to see you.”

“Same.” She chuckled before looking at the rest of the class. “So where’s the rest of my squad?”

“Here.” Veronica said as she steps out with folded arms and Jake appears beside her with hands in his pockets. 

“So what’re the chances we meet here?” Jake asked and Nina smirks at him.

Levi turns to her when he recalled her words from a few days ago. “This lab is where you’re supposed to guard, isn’t it?”

Nina smiles and points a finger at him like a gun. “Bingo.” She twirls the lollipop in her mouth and chuckles. “But so far, the only criminal activity I’ve seen is how nasty the food here is.”

They all share a laugh with Jake just smiling as Jerry appears again.

He notices Nina and walks over to her. “Agent Target. It’s an honour to finally meet you.”

Nina raises a brow at him and extends a hand to him. “I take it you’re Agent Sparrow. The so-called ‘Conductor’…” The students share some confused looks just as Nina chuckles while shaking his hand.

“Heh… you’re not the S class pro agent I imagined.”

“Ex-agent.” Jerry chuckled as he lets go of her hand and gestures to the class. “Now, I’m just Mr Jerry. The S class lecturer.”

Nina nods. “Alright then. I’ll leave you to your job.” She turns to her squad and smiles. “See you at the next debrief.” She ruffles Levi’s hair and pats Veronica’s shoulder as she walks away with MJ throwing a little wave.

“Now then.” They all turned to Jerry who adjusts his glasses with a smile. “Shall we?” He gestured to two scientists in bright white lab coats with the Index logo imprinted on the chest pockets. 

Almost 10 minutes later, the class were walking through the massive lab. The scientists pointing and explaining all the important technology and inventions they meet.

One tech that got Levi’s attention was an experimental booster like invention that can enhance the release of photron energy in a tron.

<Dope.> He thought as the class moves ahead. Levi looks over to Hana who was occasionally staring and chuckling at Felix in front who overemphasizes or exaggerate his reactions at the mind-blowing tech.

Levi moves forward and controlled his pace to walk beside her but she didn’t notice as she continues to stare. “He’s so weird.” 

Hana turns to him, a little startled before giggling at Levi’s words. “Yeah. He can be…” She glances at Felix who was escorted away from a section for trying to touch the live experiment.

“…strange.” The way she looked when she said that made Levi smile even more.

“Yeah. But at least he’s strange enough to make you, you know… ‘like-like’ him.” Hana stiffens and turns to Levi with a shocked expression written on her face. 

“I don’t…It’s not…” She trails off as Levi continues to stare at her with raised brows until she finally lets out a defeated sigh. “Is it that obvious?” She whispered and Levi pats her shoulder.

“Pretty much.”

“Not to him anyway. So that’s a good thing.” They both turned to Vivian who smiles beside them. “Sorry, couldn’t help overhearing.”

“Viv…” The blonde girl holding Vivian’s hand said with a little pout on her face. She turns to Hana and smiles. “Sorry. My girlfriend here needs to know her boundaries.” She squeezes Vivian’s ear and Vivian laughs, apologetically as she rubs it.

“Thank you, Amanda.” Hana said and Amanda nods as she pulls Vivian away.

“So how long have you been crushing on him?” Levi whispered and Hana glances at Felix with a smile on her face.

She smiles as she pushes a strand of hair over her ear. “Since we were kids.”

“And you’ve never told him?”

Hana blushes as she looks down, her fingers pressed against the others again. “I’ve always…had problems telling him.”

Levi stares at Felix for a moment and shrugs. “I think you should tell him.”

“I…I…don’t…know.” She stammered, her face getting red a little in embarrassment and something hits Levi’s arm.

He turns to see MJ glaring at him. “You think it’s that easy to tell a guy if she likes him?”

Levi raises his hands in defeat and speaks. “Isn’t it?”

MJ rolls her eyes and turns to Hana. “Don’t listen to this creep. Just take your time.”

Levi chuckles. “So ‘I’m’ the creep?” MJ nods with a laugh as she looks at him. “At least I don’t have a dozen freaky dolls in my room.”

MJ rolls her eyes as she snaps her fingers at him. “Whatever.” She grumbled as she moved forward and Levi and Hana laughs…just as a sudden jolt of pain hits Levi’s head.

Hana looks at him in concern as he groans, rubbing his temple. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He rubs his head a little more but the pain strangely disappears, leaving him a little confused. “I’m good.”

Hana nods at him with a smile just as Jerry’s voice pierces the room. “I’m hearing a lot of chit-chat at the back. Anyone wants to take over the class?”

The class suddenly goes silent and Jerry nods. “I thought so. Please continue, Dr Figgs.” The scientist nods and continues to teach the class while Levi shares a giddy smile with Hana as they continued.

As they continued down the class, Levi continued to feel those sudden headaches again and this time, they seem to get stronger and stronger as they move further.

He rubs his temple with a grunt. <Ugh…Not again. I thought I was past this.>

“Hey.” Levi looks up to notice Felix walking beside him. “You okay? You look like you just got a hangover.”

“I ‘feel’ like I have a hangover.” Levi grunted as he felt the pain jolt again and Felix gives him a concerned look.

“Is it that stuff again?” 

“Yeah.” He grunted as he felt the pain again, rubbing the bridge of his nose and Felix places a hand on his shoulder. 

“Maybe you should sit down.” Felix said as they gradually slowed down, moving behind the class as they head to a new location. After a while, Levi suddenly stops and Felix turns to him in confusion.

“I…just…need…a minute.” Levi began to sweat profusely and his breath quickened with heavy pants. 

Felix glances at the class which moves past the corner and turns back to Levi who was hunched over, his groans and breath increasing further. “Maybe we should call Mr Jerry.”

Levi takes a long moment before finally responding. “Yeah. We should-” Levi’s eyes widen as a powerful pain surges in his head and he clutches his head with a curdling shout.

“Levi?” Felix stares in fear as Levi continues to scream grabbing the attention of the few scientists in the hallway. “Levi.”

Felix reaches out to Levi…when a sudden electrical spark shocks him and he steps back as Levi’s photron energy began to go berserk… blue energy and electricity flying across the room making Felix back away.

Felix looks at the blinking lights and the escaping scientists with concern before turning back to Levi who was now on his knees, his eyes wide with blue energy radiating from it.

“Levi! Snap out of it! Hey!”

Meanwhile, Levi couldn’t hear Felix at all as his mind was only filled with pain and several flashes of images, the most prominent being the red light he always dreams about…and the image of a small human figure…flickering and screeching in his mind like a damaged tape recorder.

He lets out a louder scream as the pain intensifies……just as the wall across the hallway bursts open as a sudden explosion occurs on the opposite side.

Levi’s screams stop and he places his hands on the ground, sweat dripping down his tired head as he catches his breath.

“What the hell?” Felix grumbled as he looked at the wall which opened into a burnt looking lab just as the hallway flashes red with blaring fire alarm sounds.

“We gotta get out of here.” He mumbled as he grabbed Levi whose energy level had resided. “You good?”

Levi looks up and nods but his expression quickly changes as he senses something wrong on the other side of the wall. He turns to the burning room and speaks up.

“There’re…people…in there.” Levi was about to move forward and Felix stops him.

“Levi. You were literally on your knees a second ago.”

Levi glances at Felix, determination burned in his eyes. “Forget about…me. We gotta help them.”

Felix stares at Levi in confusion as all signs of fatigue seemed to have just disappeared from his face and body.

Another sudden explosion in the room gets their attention, filling the room with more fire and smoke. “Felix!”

“Alright!” Felix said as he turned to the room with heroic eyes. “I’ll take care of the fire. Go.” He said as he raised his hands up, red energy radiating from it.

Levi nods and turns to the room, blue electricity crackling around his body as he takes off his school jacket while his Static shell activates.

He then zooms forward into the room which was so thick with smoke that he closed his eyes and relied solely on his Area Scope. He flips a large boulder over and sees a lady coughing and covered in soothe.

“I got you.” Levi scoops her up and speeds out of the room in a second, gently placing her in the hallway outside.

As he runs back into the room, he glances at Felix who stands outside the broken wall, the hot inferno in the room being sucked like a vacuum into his palms along with some smoke.

Levi grabs two more scientists, drops them in the hallway and goes back all within some seconds.

Three more civilians later, Jerry quickly approaches followed by about three guards, Hana and MJ.

“Felix!” Hana shouted out and Felix turns to them, fire still being drawn into his hands.

“You’re okay.” MJ sighed in relief as they stopped beside him and Jerry looks around as the guards approached the affected scientists.

He turns to Felix with a serious glare. “Where’s Levi?”

Felix turns back to the room with a serious expression. “He’s getting the civilians out.”

With a surge of Felix’s energy, the last of fire flies into his hands with some fire embers hanging in the air. He looks at his sizzling palm and burnt sleeves with a sigh.

“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about that syrup stain anymore.” He mumbled as he closed his hands, snuffing out the smoke on his palm as Jerry speaks again.

“How long has he been in there?”

“A couple of seconds.” Felix mumbled as he glanced at the rescued scientists before turning back to the still smoky room with a concerned expression.

Meanwhile, Levi coughs as he moved another boulder aside and his face falls when he sees a figure with the head completely smashed…

“Damn it.” He grunted and coughed a little before noticing another figure close by. He moves over and picks up the unconscious man with one arm completely blown off.

He turned towards the exit and prepares to dash forward when he felt the headache again and turned to the ground…where something metallic stands out among the debris.

He moves over and stares at the small arc-like steel structure with burnt marks. It seemed to…glow but the smoke was still thick enough to barely make it out but it looked…red.

“Levi!” He looks up and recalls the bleeding man in his arms before dashing out of the room with a flash of lightning, leaving the mysterious item on the ground which slowly lose its glow until it went dead……

Almost 30 minutes later, the entire class waits in anticipation in a waiting room in the building, just as the door to the room opens and Felix and Levi step in with Jerry behind them.

Both of them covered in soothe, Levi especially with his dirtied jacket swung over his shoulder and Felix with his burnt up collars.

“Did you do something with your hair?” Veronica said sarcastically, pointing at Levi’s hair which was now messy with ashy spots. MJ elbows her in the side with a serious stare. 

Murmurs then spread out in the class and Jerry releases a surge of energy completely silencing and getting their attention. “Alright. This was an…unfortunate turn of events.”

“What happened? Some kind of science accident?” Craig asked and Jerry adjusts his glasses with a sigh.

“Seems like. We have some injured, a few unscathed and one deceased.” Levi’s face falls when he recalls the victim and Felix places a hand on his shoulder for consoling. “Anyway. If it weren’t for these two, the mortality figures would be worse.”

He gestured at the two boys and class cheers for them. Levi and Felix share a proud smile and Jerry speaks again.

“That’s exactly what we’re here for. The people. Not exactly the lesson I was going for but I’ll take it.” He shrugs and the class laughs a little. 

After a moment, Jerry speaks again. “Anyway. The lab is on alert now so this means our little field trips’ over.”

Some students celebrate while others complained but they were both shut up by Jerry’s voice.

“The bus is on its way so for now, you’re free to do what you want as long as it remains in this room. That is all.” Jerry turns back to Levi and Felix and patted their shoulders with a scary smile on his face.

“Good work but next time, make sure you’re actually ‘in’ class before going hero.”

“Sorry.” Levi mumbled and Felix rubs his neck in embarrassment as Jerry nods, walking away without another word. Levi lets out a relived sigh and Felix nudges his shoulder with a concerned look.

“Hey. You okay? You seemed like you were going to explode back there.”

“Yeah. That hurt like hell but…” He rubs his head with a confused expression and shrugs. “I feel completely fine.”

“Really?” Levi nods and Felix raises his brows in awe. “Freaky.”

“Very freaky.” Levi mumbled just as a hand lands on Levi’s shoulder and he turns to see Vivian grinning at him.

“Way to go, roomie.” She said and they turned to the class who approached with excitement.

Comments and questions fly around with Levi and Felix feeling proud of themselves… They both then turn to the sound of clapping and see Nina smiling at them.

“Heard you saved some lives today. Nice job, kid.” She said and Levi chuckles with pride. “You too.” She said to Felix who nods with a smug on his face and Nina chuckles just as a sudden explosion shakes the entire building.

Craig stumbles a little and glares at the ceiling. “What are these guys experimenting with?” Another explosion resonates and Levi’s eyes slowly widen when he senses the cause.

He turns to Nina who had the same knowing look in her eye. “The Web.” She mumbled and murmurs go round as Nina turns to walk away while Levi follows. “You’re not going anywhere, kid.” She said as she throws an arm out to halt him but he glares at her.

“If she’s here, then she must be after me.” He said with a determined stare and MJ steps up with a sceptic expression on her face. 

“By ‘she’, do you mean…?”

Veronica sniffs the air and growls slightly. “Spectre. She’s here… It’s faint but I recognize that scent.” Veronica sniffs the air again, her brows furrowed. “And she’s getting closer… fast.” 

“And that’s exactly why you should stay here. If the Web gets you again, it’s not going to look good on my record. I’ll take care of her.”

“Aren’t we supposed to help people?” Hana asked and Nina gives her a little glare which makes her shrink a little.

Nina then glances at the determined faces of some of the other students before finally sighing. “Fine. Do what you can but do yourselves a favour and don’t get killed.”

A sudden door flies open across the room, drawing their attention and Craig waves at them with a sly smile.

“Way ahead of you.” He said as he suddenly speeds away and the entire class went into a frenzy, some heading for their own safety while others heading towards the action to help. 

Nina takes a separate path, heading towards the most crucial point of attack with inhumane speeds. As she runs across a red-light blaring hallway, she sighs and speaks up. “You really shouldn’t be here, kid.”

Levi following her from behind speaks up. “It doesn’t matter where I stay. She’ll still come for me. Besides…” They skid to a stop in a large indoor parking lot and gaze at the figure before them. “There’s no turning back now.”

Spectre turns to them, completely inhumane and seemingly lifeless as she slowly steps forward. Her left hand dripped in blood and bloodied corpses sprawled out around her.

“I’m here to escort you back to the Web, Subject Prime.” She stops several metres from them, red light piercing through her mask.

“Come quietly and no more blood must be shed.” She swipes her hand to the side, sending a splat of blood to the concrete.

Nina steps forward, ready to fight but Levi steps in front of her, already in his combat stance. “What are you doing, kid?”

Levi looks over his shoulder and gazes into her eye. “What you taught me.” Nina catches the knowing look in his young blue eyes and after brief moment of thought, sighs.

“Fine. She’s all yours but if you mess up, I’ll end this myself. Got it?” Nina asked and Levi smirks as she backs away. Levi turns to Spectre with a focused stare.

Spectre glances at Nina who stands with arms folded at the side before turning back to him. “Can I assume you surrender freely?”

Levi remains silent with an unwavering stare just as his blue lightning springs out of his body, crackling over his skin.

Spectre glares at Levi and red electricity sprouts from her body as well. “Very well.”

The entire area around them drains away as Levi focuses all his senses on her. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Show time.”

He whispered to himself as he opened his eyes again, Spectre still standing before him and just like that……they were both gone followed by the sound of a powerful thunderclap with Nina cracking a small smile as she watches.  

Above the ground, two blurry figures speed towards each other until they meet… with a gush of wind, debris and a bright flash of lightning.

Levi glares at Spectre whose kick connected with his and after a split second, they separate and began speeding around the large room in a flurry of red and blue lightning strips.

Levi dodges several lightning bolts before diving through an opening in a machinery like a corkscrew and skidding backwards…just as Spectre appears in front of him and in a flash, they began to exchange impossibly fast attacks. 

Levi jumps back towards a wall and bounces off it, throwing a punch which Spectre deflects downward, but Levi plants his hands to the ground, throwing two kicks at her which she evades before following with several quick jabs which she continues to evade or dodge.

Spectre then throws a punch forward but Levi anticipates this, sensing the sudden change in her energy output and flow.

He counters with a quick ankle hit, destabilizing her and dealing a palm strike to her gut. She grunts in pain and Levi attempts to throw a kick but she vanishes instantly. 

<It worked.> He thought as he turned to the side where Spectre gears to charge again. <I can do this.>

A smile forms on his face and his school shoes screech on the concrete as he moves forward with Spectre aiming at him as well.

Some minutes later, Jake along with some Index agents rushed into the warehouse and stopped to see an impossibly scary fight.

“What the hell?” Jake commented and Nina lets out a proud laugh as she continues to watch from the side.

“Damn, kid.” She said with a wide grin as the two powerful electrical figures flash across the room, destroying and frying anything that unluckily gets in their way.

And amazingly even though Levi was sustaining injuries and bruises, he actually manages to deal some damage to her as well. 

Levi lets out a shout as he fires a wide barrage of lightning bolts but the red streak zips between them, some slicing her clothes and skin but she continues forward, reaching Levi in an instant.

Before Levi could even recover, she throws a quick hook to his face, sending some blood spilling out which falls in slow-motion due to their ridiculously enhanced speed.

Levi grunts as he swings an arm at her but his eyes widened when his hand flies through the afterimage and Spectre appears behind him, an electrifying fist incoming……just as Levi ducks, swinging a heel into her chin with a slight crunch.

He then spins, sending another kick into her side and sends her sprawling. As she flies back, she grunts and fires a powerful lightning bolt which splits into several bolts all aiming for him.

Levi jumps back in a defensive position as some of the bolts rip through his skin and clothes while others flew into other building structures, destroying and ripping through them with ease. 

“Damn it.” Levi grumbled in pain as he prepares to land……when Spectre appears in front of him again.

In slow motion, Spectre raises a hand for an electrifying chop and Levi grunts as his foot nears the ground with Spectre’s fingers were already millimetres from his face……

Thankfully, Levi’s foot finally connects with the ground and he quickly ducks as Spectre’s fingers sliced some of his hair.

In that moment, Levi releases his energy, creating a bright powerful field of lightning that traps them both. The current causes Spectre to groan, immobilizing her and Levi grabs both of her arms before jumping upward.

“Got you!” He shouted out as he suddenly pulled her arms down, causing her head to fly face-first into his knee and further cracking the mask which Nina scratched earlier.

Spectre steps back, groaning in pain and Levi prepares to give a kick when his static shell gives out and his body freezes in pain. 

“Damn.” He barely blocks as Spectre sends a powerful electrifying punch into his gut, sending him flying back but he quickly flips to his feet before collapsing to a knee.

He tries to stand again but his entire body screams in pain and he stumbles back down, breathing heavily.

<I…got carried away.> He thought, glancing at his hand twitching with blue electrical sparks before looking up at Spectre who clutches her face in hunched over position, her mask broken and crumbling to the ground. 

<She’s distracted.> He pulls himself up and throws his hands forward, more electricity crackling around his arm and Spectre began to look up.

<Take…this…> His thoughts slowed to halt and his entire body freezes in place with the electricity around him completely fizzled out as he sees Spectre’s face.

She looked about 24 years of age with skin as dark as Levi’s but what really made Levi stop and the words that followed when he saw her face.

“Mum?”

Levi stares in complete shock as Spectre, the woman sent by the Web to capture was staring right at him, some blood dripping down her nose and her entire face……. identical to Rose West, Levi’s mother…….