Alright, Darryl, you've got this. I got my setup for tonight's game complete. Damn it, I missed one villain fight, I'm not getting cut out on this again. I set up Go Pros around the gym, which was pretty easy to excuse since I could just tell Coach that Marcus asked me to. He was really enthusiastic about it after that. I managed to get things set up for Aimee and Brad too, cause I mean, I'm an obvious nerd. No one even checked my bags past seeing A/V equipment in them. Now, if I could just get Michelle to stop hanging on top of me and touching me, I could get this done a lot faster.

This was gonna be awesome. A real supervillain fight, and yeah, it's scary, but like... roller coaster scary. According to the file, Reaver didn't bother with baselines, it was only interested in powers, not people. As long as it could be certain that it would get what it wanted, Reaver wouldn't try to wipe us. No point, it would net nothing according to its own methodologies.

Okay, so this might all go down fast, so I set up the cavalry text ahead of time. All I would need to do is hit send. I went through settings, changed things up so the phone wouldn't lock up, and hooked it up to power. I may have also set up a playlist. I mean, come on, how often am I ever getting this kind of chance?

And then... it got super boring. We were all set up, people were coming in for the game, and yeah, it was just a high school girls' basketball game, a JV game at that. Our team, the Huskies, was crushing it, and that had a lot to do with Marcus. He'd helped a lot, even if his time was brief working with the team, making it look like the other girls were just standing still. He'd taught them to do no-look short-passing, keeping anyone from knowing where the ball was heading. Rather than focusing on any individual member, it wreaked havoc on trying to establish a defensive play. The Ducks couldn't key on anyone, and couldn't cut off the offense. They were getting demolished in the first half, and although they were getting points on the board, the Huskies were scoring almost every time they got the ball, and the Ducks were getting burned out.

I was getting pretty impatient as we went into half-time, and the cheerleaders took the court... and that's when it happened. Suddenly, everyone froze in horror as Reaver materialized mid-court. Michelle next to me got ready to run, but I grabbed her arm as I hit send.

No one was moving, all trapped in the same mute horror.... wait, no, crapbaskets. Some sort of fear aura, but me and the A/V nerds were fine. Radial limit. We were outside the radius, but if we went downstairs from the booth, we might blunder into it. Reaver, however, was just getting ready to begin, when that rasping voice came out, projecting to the whole gym even without a mic, "Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, tonight you bear witness to fate itself! Can the hero Aegis stop the Reaver?! Or will my apotheosis come to fruition?!"

Okay, it should only take a few minutes for Marcus to get here, and all I had to do was sit still... and instead, I'm hitting the A/V booth mic, "Reaver, Aegis is coming for you!"

Reaver let forth a maniacal laugh, "AH, the sidekick. Good, let us make this special."

You know, I should be worried about him knowing me, but like, sidekicks are pretty cool... I may need to consider therapy after this. Reaver, for its part, wrapped a tendril around the neck of a cheerleader, and hoisted her off the ground, "Now, I do believe this girl's parents are in attendance. Please, take a stand!"

The audience was released from the grip of the fear aura, and some people were clearly looking to bolt. I screamed into the mic, "FREEZE! He can kill all of you before you make the doors! He just wants Aegis. Do as he says, Aegis is coming."

People had become conditioned to superheroes. We had drills in school for this. Stating that the hero was coming settled some of the nerves, and aside from two people, everyone sat back down. The girl was Becky, one of Aimee's friends, and those two must be her parents. Reaver regarded first me, then the parents, "So good to have someone with sense helping me out. Lock the doors, except for that one."

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Her parents complied, begging him not to hurt Becky. All according to cake. With all but the center door locked, Reaver let Becky down, "Now, let's clear the stage, shall we?"

Becky and the rest of the cheerleaders got off the court, and suddenly, everyone froze again under the aura. A moment later, I heard the bang of the outside doors of the gym. Marcus was here. Ah, fuck it. It was the purest level of vanity, but we could all be dead men, so let's have some fun with it.

**********

The building was essentially a combined gym and cafeteria, so stepping inside, I could see up to the gym doors. And then I heard... music?! Damn it, Darryl!

I moved as fast as I could, opening the center door, and came in to the first lyrics of the song:

Some legends are told

Some turn to dust or to gold

But you will remember me

Remember me for centuries

Fallout Boy... I could die here with Fallout Boy playing.

Reaver's laugh rang out as I stepped in, "Welcome... Boy scout."

Everyone's having too much fun with this shit, and also, I need to put together a super-suit if I'm gonna keep doing this, "You know what? I'll give you that one."

I was still playing to Reaver's need, drawing on its belief that this was just how the thing was done. No one seemed hurt, but everyone was paralyzed, and I could feel something pressing lightly on my mind. An aura, "Alright, Reaver, you wanted this fight, you got it. Release the hold!"

"Oh, of course. What better than to have an audience to this, the moment of my ascendancy!"

I could see people relax, and I caught a slight nod from Aimee. Alright, deep end it is. I started walking forward, and took my cover off, tossing it over to Aimee along with my neckerchief. I took a neutral stance, and looked to Reaver, no doubt making its puppet smile behind the mask, "Take your best shot."

He started his charge, and I started mine, darting across the court at each other. Just as I got within the reach of the scythe, he swung, the arc coming in at waist height. I leaped, clearing his head and bells, and he disappeared, porting to slash in the air at me. I balled up, and both feet hit the flat of the blade, using it as a springboard, and slung an arm around the puppet's neck, but as expected, his blipped out again, and I felt the tendril wrap my ankle. In air, strength didn't matter, I didn't have the leverage, and one yank brought me back down. I didn't bother trying to fight the pull, instead using it, rolling then jumping over another swing of the scythe. We stayed in constant motion, a war of counters. If I got a hand on Reaver, it ported immediately, so I had no chance of disarm. Reaver's laughter intensified, it loved this.

There is a flaw, and it's the same between the two of us. It doesn't really matter how skilled, or how perceptive you are, if you're not maintaining attention, if you become distracted, you're vulnerable. The fight raged on, five minutes, ten minutes, and neither of us could get or maintain an advantage, firing back and forth around the court. Reaver seemed to have decided that the lines equaled the ring, keeping us contained... damn, how long was Darryl's playlist?!

That one got me caught, and I felt the air get blasted out of my lungs as I hit the court from a tendril throw. Reaver reappeared standing over me, and raised the scythe high, "And now hero, you-"

He never finished the statement as his whole body seized and fell, two tiny wires protruding from his back as Aimee stood, holding the tazer at the other end of those lines. The scythe hit the ground, and I kicked it away, signaling Aimee to release the trigger on the tazer. Strictly speaking, they weren't legal, but I figured given the circumstances, no one would kick up much fuss. I took a moment to get my breath back and stood up to people loudly cheering. Cops were called, and I checked the body that Reaver had been inhabiting. He had a pulse, and I took the mask off to check his breathing. He was essentially fine. Cool.

One last thing to take care of. I went over to Aimee, and we held each other tightly for a moment, "You alright?"

She laughed, "Am I alright?!"

We did take a moment to laugh, and as people flooded out of the gym, I walked over to where the scythe lay on the ground, and looked over to the other side of the court, "Brad! Phase Three!"

I grabbed the scythe and felt it as dark energy washed over me, swallowing me while Brad fished out his own tazer.