Even though Horas's plan had failed, he was not worried about Reed. He was not foolish enough to use regular inhibitors on her since she was a blood manipulator.
Horas had used something far superior to a drug, he had used the liquified ability on Reed. It was a special liquid he and Mark had discovered that could extract others' abilities and utilize them later.
It was this small invention that allowed Horas to be confident that he would be able to take on Reed this time.
Reed looked annoyed and she extended her hand. Blood followed her command, bending around the corridor as Horas ran away from it. It was nearly impossible to outrun the bloody behind Horas but he had a plan.
'I hope this is the right one.'
Horas took out a small vile from his system and broke it. The blood stopped following him, falling flat on the ground once again.
The ability capsule Horas had used would allow him total immunity from Reed's abilities for a limited amount of time. And time was ticking away fast for him.
Reed noticed the lack of abilities as well but that did not stop her from coming after Horas. She was a good-hand combatant as well and Horas did not want to take his chance with her.
He quickly took a detour, deciding to run down and start heading toward a space in the city. Reed was capable of mass destruction when she felt like it and the media had not quite about her usage of her powers.
"Shit kid. I was trying to avoid running into you as soon as I knew you were on this mission. I even changed the timing of my visit, only to have you appear in front of me."
Reed sounded annoyed as she came after Horas. He hoped that it was a signal that she did not want to kill him.
There was about one minute left before Reed would gain back her abilities. Horas needed to use it well. He also knew that the news about Reed would have spread all around by now.
They ended up in the side park with trees all around. It was the best place for Horas to hide since he had a lot of covers available. He was easily able to navigate his way around, trying to lose Reed's chase.
"Horas, come out right now. You don't want me to go after Howard, right? I might just go after him if you do not come out right this second."
Reed warned him and Horas could not ignore her. Especially not after all he had gone to keep Reed away from Howard. It would be counterproductive for him.
Reed threatened to take a step back, showing that she was not bluffing and Horas instantly shot near her feet to halt her.
They were both fighting a battle of wits where the one who would remain calm would win.
'Tsk, so annoying. Reed knows my weakness well and she's holding me by the nose.'
Horas had no other choice but to show himself in front of Reed now. Her threat was more urgent and even she knew it.
So Hors slowly came out of his hiding spot, his hand raised and his gun up in the air. He had lost this round but he had not lost the war yet.
"Are you still hoping that an adventurer would come to your rescue? Humans are pathetic creatures by nature and most of them don't have any want to protect other people."
Reed was speaking from personal experience. She had not lived a happy life and it showed in her attitude. But the kindness she had been shown by Horas surely made her softer all around.
She was not killing him outright.
Horas was paying attention to her, but he was also paying attention to the radar on his system. And despite Reed's claims that no one would come for him, he could see a lot of adventurers closing in.
"Reed, you are my friend so I want to give you a warning. It would be better for you to run away now if you do not want to be caught by the authorities. I can see them coming for you."
Horas had known that the authorities would have no choice but to put pressure on the adventurers after a villain had been seen to hear the normal territory. The people in power did not want to lose
votes after all.
It took a second for things to sink into Reed's mind but her laugh was bitter when she realized why the authorities were coming.
"Those greedy people. Do they think they can catch me if they come after me? I don't know why you told me about these authorities but I am thankful. I will make good use of this information."
Reed promised this before she used her blood to make a wall between herself and Horas. She was gone before Horas could ask her any more questions.
Reed had gotten much faster than before, she was able to escape the forest. There was ability-canceling smoke that was slowly creeping up the area and Horas was starting to feel dizzy.
"Hey kid, keep hanging on. I need to ask you questions before you fall asleep-"
Horas was out of it before the officer could finish speaking. The ability to cancel smoke had been too strong since it was made for a villainess. Horas was not able to handle it.
The last thing he saw was the light-filled forest clearing he was standing in.
………………………
Horas woke up back at the academy, in his bed. He had been sent back by the authorities.
This was the standard practice by the government for the most part and Horas understood why this practice existed. He was so happy to be back in his room as well.
"There truly no place like home. I love this comfortable atmosphere."
Horas spoke softly to himself. He did not notice another presence in the room with him until the other person closed his book and stood up.
"If you like this room so much then you should stay in more often. I cannot believe you came back because you got caught in a villain's attack. So, what did you do this time?"
Mark sounded impatient and not happy with Horas. It was a given since he was Horas's guardian in all but name.
"Would you believe it if I said that it was not my fault this happened?"
Horas tried to plead his case but his words did not have a lot of weight. Mark looked unimpressed with him and even gave Horas an annoyed look.
"Somehow, I don't believe your words. Even when it's not directly your fault, these kinds of situations happen because of you"
Horas was not even surprised at this point. Mark knew him too well and he was also well aware of the fact that Horas was a trouble magnet without even meaning to be one.
"I will be more careful next time Mark. But I do have some good news to share with you as well. Do you remember the small camera we were testing? It has proven to be workable."
Horas looked almost proud of himself and he knew that Mark would be proud of him as well. But Mark just looked pained at Horas's words.
"Horas, just rest for now. We will take a look at those cameras of yours later when we have time to look at it. For now, why don't you go back to sleep?"
Horas did not think much of what Mark said to him or how Mark acted. It was not like he did not know why Mark was behaving like this. He very well knew that Mark was worried about his mental health.
'Sorry Mark, but I need to act oblivious if I don't want to attract your attention to other things I am hiding. I will tell you what is going on with me one day.'
But for now, Horas was going to rest. Tomorrow was class day and Instructor Harris would not be letting him off easily. Instructor Harris had no concept of taking it easy, no matter what happened.
Horas was almost asleep when he remembered that he needed to check on Howard and what happened to him. Did Reed end up making contact with Howard again? How was the flow of the original story going?
'Darn it. If only my mind was not in a hyper situation, I could finally fall asleep. I just want a good night's sleep.'
