The rain had hamred Springvale City for over four and a half hours, but luckily, the university town where Springvale University sat was built on high ground, so the flood barely covered their shoes.
The aftershocks from the "quake" earlier had finally settled. The campus sports field was almost deserted. Magnus checked his phone - twelve minutes left.
He was already suited up in a black riding outfit and helt. On the back of the Morsi SUV were four boxes of pesticide and three barrels of gasoline - gifts from that chubby truck shop manager who thought a few freebies could win over a regular like Magnus. A nice try, but far from enough.
He pulled out his phone and tried calling Emily again - still off. He was getting anxious. She was the school dic, yet nowhere to be found in the infirmary, and her phone had been off for hours. Where the hell could she be?
Above, the dark clouds began vanishing unnaturally fast. Rain turned into drizzle - and then ca sunlight. A clear sign... the second teor storm was on its way.
Magnus’s nerves tightened. Seven minutes left. He jumped into the SUV, gunning it toward Dorm 3.
"Excuse ! Have you seen Miss Ward? The school dic? Did she co this way? I really need to find her!"
He held his phone tight, the countdown ticking. He’d just reached the entrance booth when -
"Don’t move! Hands up!"
His body tensed. He spun around - three cops, guns aid. Two of them pounced, pinning him hard to the ground, already frisking him.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Magnus shouted.
"What’re we doing?" the lead officer scoffed, full of disdain. "You want to list it out? Kidnapping? Robbery? Illegal confinent? Attempted assault? Take your pick - or just own it all!"
Emily...
Magnus’s heart sank. Sure enough, once they yanked him up with cuffs behind his back, he spotted Emily, and behind her, Sarah and Taylor. All three huddled behind the cops, faces pale, staring at him like he was a monster.
"I was trying to save you! And you called the cops on ?!"
He shouted at them, his voice raw with rage. Just as the officers started dragging him away, Magnus exploded - he ramd his shoulder into the two nearest, rolled across the ground like his life depended on it, then bellowed with every ounce of strength:
"Five minutes! The teor storm hits in five minutes! Just five more minutes! If it doesn’t happen, shoot dead right here - I won’t fight it!"
The other three officers rushed him again, slamming him down. One of them glanced at the squad leader, eyes wide. "Sir, is this guy nuts?" He tapped his own head.
The lead officer frowned. Magnus wasn’t faking this - it showed in every move, every shout. Just as he was about to speak, Magnus roared again:
"My phone! It has the countdown! Just wait five minutes!"
Then he turned his eyes to Sarah and yelled, "Sarah! That birthmark - you know which one! Did I get it wrong? Emily! I told you the storm would hit fifteen minutes after the rain started - it rained five hours straight! Was I wrong?! And Taylor - your parents wanted a boy. After you were born, your mom miscarried over and over. Your grandparents always favored boys, kicked you out of the house when you were a kid - am I lying?! Tell them! Am I wrong?!"
"Officer!" Magnus was pinned to the ground, straining to turn his head toward the lead cop. "If you all think I’m crazy, fine - but ask them! Was I wrong about any of it? Just give five minutes, I - "
Before he could finish, Emily stepped forward. Her gaze was ice. She glanced at Magnus with a flicker of disdain, then turned to the officer. "Sir, I believe his ntal condition is no longer suitable for remaining on campus."
Right after lending Magnus her vehicle, she’d quietly tailed him. Everyone thought the aftershocks and chaos justified things. Magnus had been in too much of a rush to notice. After he left the underground garage, she slipped in and pulled out Sarah and Taylor, then called the police.
When Magnus went down to the garage, he hadn’t checked on the girls for fear the driver might notice. Still thinking of Emily, he decided to co out and look for her - and that’s when the police showed.
"Emily! You son of a - " Magnus barked, nearly choking on the fury. The officers gave him no ti to yell further, dragging him toward the patrol van around the building.
He kept tracking the ti in his head. Just over a minute left.
"Officer," Magnus said low, desperate. "Just one minute. That’s all I’m asking. If the quake hits in a minute, please - just unlock these cuffs. Just that."
One cop snorted. "Sure. If there’s really a quake in a minute, I’ll call you my ancestor!"
Irritated, he shoved Magnus hard into the van.
It was a compact Benz patrol van. Shackled, sitting between two officers, Magnus kept his eyes on the countdown in his mind. The vehicle exited Springvale University’s main gate - 17 seconds left.
Then - boom after boom, the ground jolted violently again.
The van had just hit the main road when a panicked SUV slamd into it from the left side. The van rolled.
Magnus had been bracing since the final countdown began, protecting his temples as best he could. When they flipped, he was ready. Quick as lightning, he snatched the keys from one officer’s belt and freed himself.
"You little bastard, trying to run!?"
The cop, the one who clearly hated Magnus from the start, hadn’t realized it was an earthquake. Still pinned in the wreck, he lashed out blindly and kicked Magnus hard in the head.
A ringing filled Magnus’s ears. Then ca the rush - a tingling explosion from spine to limbs. Body numb, strength drained. He knew it - his power was awakening.
It didn’t take long.
In less than ten seconds, heat flooded his body. He felt a surge, like he could tear mountains apart.
He kicked the yelling cop square in the crotch.
The cop’s scream was piercing.
Magnus climbed from the overturned van and looked up.
Blood-red beams shot down from the clouds.
Mosquitoes the size of palms. Centipedes as long as wagons. Spiders bigger than iron pots. Crawling and flying out from the red light.
The scream of tal, collisions.
Human shrieks.
Alarms wailing.
The end had begun.
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