Chapter 8 — Out of Control
"FELIX! Stop yelling! Don't worry, I'll fix everything!"
"Lauren? Is that you? You're going to fix everything?"
"Yes."
Lauren looked around at the destroyed school.
"Everything is already destroyed... So I'll finish it and free you from this pain."
"Lauren, what are you doing?!"
The sky suddenly grew dark.
Heavy clouds gathered overhead as a gigantic storm formed, accompanied by thunder and relentless rain.
Lauren began forming hand signs.
A massive hurricane rose around him, swallowing what little remained of the school.
"HOLD ON!" Professor Nando shouted.
Lauren raised his hands.
"Die, all of you... and end your suffering."
He paused.
"FIRESTORM!"
A torrent of flames erupted from Lauren and merged with the hurricane.
The flames spread throughout the swirling winds, splitting the massive storm into five blazing fire cyclones.
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" a student screamed.
Suddenly, a distant blur appeared.
It was moving at incredible speed.
Ryuzo.
He flew straight toward Lauren.
Before Lauren could react, Ryuzo struck him hard on the side of the neck.
Lauren's eyes rolled back.
His body went limp.
Ryuzo caught him before he could fall from the sky and landed safely on the ground with him in his arms.
Beatrice came running toward them.
"Lauren?! What happened?! I saw a hurricane made of fire!"
"Mr. Ryuzo, what are you doing here?!"
Ryuzo looked down at Lauren with a grave expression.
"It seems Lauren let his hatred consume him."
He paused.
"He ended up transforming."
"How did you know there was a hurricane?"
"I could see it from far away. I rushed here as soon as I realized something was wrong."
"Okay, but Felix is seriously injured!" Beatrice said urgently. "Take him to the hospital. I'll carry Lauren!"
Ryuzo carefully handed Lauren over to Beatrice.
Then he picked up Felix and rushed toward the hospital.
After Ryuzo left, Beatrice walked toward the school principal.
"Are you the principal of this school?"
"I was," the man replied bitterly. "But the school has been completely destroyed."
He looked toward the ruins.
"And the money the government is offering won't be enough to rebuild it in less than four years. Everyone will be on leave until then, if that's what you came here to ask."
"No," Beatrice replied calmly.
"That's not what I came to ask."
She opened her backpack and pulled out a large bag of money.
"I was wondering if this could help."
"WHAT?!" the principal shouted.
He stared at the bag in disbelief.
"Is this serious?! This is more than we need! This is an enormous amount of money!"
He looked back at Beatrice.
"Are you sure you want to give us all of this?"
"Don't worry," Beatrice said casually.
"I didn't even give away my entire allowance."
The principal stood there completely speechless.