Winal was currently in the Sparring Room receiving a play-by-play by his Spirit Hands of what was going on outside. It was obvious where Winal had gone. Other than the obvious trail of clues he left behind, there was literally nowhere else for him to hide. But, that was the plan.
"Stop fooling around and come with me!" Uchronia called out to Gus.
While Uchronia stomped her way to the sparring room, mumbling and grumbling under her breath, Gus as per usual lightened the mood with his antics. He refused to use his paws to walk, instead choosing to hop. Those paws were reserved for stuffing his face with muffins he kept pulling out from Cor knows where.
As they made their way over, Winal began his preparations. He ran from the door to the other end of the room, purposefully leaving a trail of dark scorch marks wherever his feet touched the ground. With that done, he summoned out another pair of Spirit Hands. Using the wonderful ability to combine skills, he Mixed them with Fire Blasts. Now the Spirit Hands had a red tinge to them, with a special bonus of shooting fire out of their wrist. More importantly, it allowed them to pick up Winal in his Fire Soldier Ant form without turning into cinders.
But, there were still more things to set up. It was another round of Mixing with Fire Blasts, but instead of Spirit Hands, it was with his Spirit Feet. Like their handy counterparts, they gained a slight red tinge and the ability to propel themselves with flames that erupted out from their heels. The Mixed Spirit Feet stood at the end of the room, pacing about as they awaited their master's orders.
The Mixed Spirit Hands, on the other hand, lifted him up. Flames jettisoned out of their wrists, flying at speeds which more than surpassed their non-mixed variant. They brought him back toward the entrance of the Sparing Room, but he didn't wait in front of the door, no that would be far too ridiculous even for Winal. Instead, he waited above the door, waiting for his friends to burst in.
Uchronia and Gus, mostly Uchronia, charged through the doorway scanning the area for signs of an ant on fire. Little did they know that he was literally right above them, holding his breath, hoping they wouldn't look up. Thankfully, the trail of black scorch marks caught their attention. Once their eyes were fixated on it, tracing the path toward the other end of the Sparring Room, he ordered his Mixed Spirit Feet to let loose.
Flames shot out their heels as they began to run up and down their side of the Sparring Room. The sudden eruption of flames was enough to catch the duo's attention, forcing their heads upward toward the commotion. Uchronia casted Haste on herself and Gus before they dashed toward the runaway fire.
Now was the time to move. Winal took one cautious step at a time, crawling down toward the top of the door frame. Pausing for a moment, he looked back toward Uchronia and Gus, making sure that they were still chasing after the flaming decoys. Indeed they were, Uchronia yelling at them to stop. The flames obscured the Spirit Feet leading her to think it was Winal. Once he felt the coast was clear, he crawled through the door back to the classroom.
As the Spirit Feet continued to distract his pair of friends, Winal continued to make his way through the classroom. He strolled on the ceiling, taking his time from a victory well earned. He had successfully made it out without having to hit his friends. Now, that required ingenuity. If Milvus saw what he had done, he would surely rank him higher than Uchronia—the person he had just tricked. Speaking of the Potted Sprout monster, the Spirit Feet had something to say to him.
"The scary lady's got us! Run away, master! Run away!" it communicated in a series of erratic toe wiggles transmitted through their mental connection.
That mental connection was immediately severed once Winal heard the news. Yup, now was the time to bail. Winal dropped down from the ceiling, his Mixed Spirit Hands shooting out a thrust of flames that allowed him to hover midair. Once they had found their balance, they directed the flames behind their master, propelling Winal out of the room.
Just as he reached the exit, he heard a yell from behind him," Come back you good for nothing ant. What did you do with Alwin and Mr. Milvus!"
"Nothing!" he yelled back.
Winal flew out into the hallways, a smile plastered on his mandibles as he soared toward freedom. That smile was ripped off when he noticed that Uchronia was hot on his abdomen. She zoomed through the hallway running at speeds comparable to his Mixed Spirit Hand branded jet thrusters. How could a Potted Plant with two tiny little legs made out of roots run so fast? Haste. It was probably thanks to Haste or worse—an upgraded version of it.
If only he had a bunch of banana peels, then he could throw it down behind him and hope for her to slip on one of them. Alas, he didn't have any bananas, but he did have the next best thing—Bombs. Spirit Bombs to be exact. But, bombs were a bit too risky. He didn't want Uchronia to get hurt if one blew up in her face. No, that was beneath Winal. Even though she had no qualms over beating the lights out of him, he couldn't bring himself to intentionally hurt her. Only mentally. The best way to hurt her mentally would be to get away scot-free without ever laying a hand on her.
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Since Winal couldn't lay a hand on her, he'd lay a hand on the school. Spirit Bombs and Spirit Hands left his Core, but he didn't allow any explosives to crash onto the ground. Instead, he relied on the tried and true skill—Mix! Bombs and hands orbited about each other, spinning faster and faster till they fused together. The result was a Spirit Hands in a comical shade of black rather than its usual translucent blue. What did Winal just make? He had just created homemade guided missiles. Though they had none of the sleekness or aerodynamic features of regular missiles nor did they have the pure destructive capabilities of a regular bomb, they definitely had an explosive personality.
As they rocketed toward their target, they flipped the bird at Uchronia—it was extra mental damage. Winal's new creation crashed into the wall sending smoke flying everywhere, but sadly no debris. These Academy walls were tougher than they looked. Winal continued his Mixing, creating explosives that blew up the wall, benches, or if they were daring enough, the floor right in front of Uchronia.
Explosions, smoke, and tons of shouts filled the hallways as Winal rampaged about. It was working. For every explosion that sent dust billowing everywhere, she slowed down whether subconsciously or not. That gave Winal the few seconds he needed to create more Spirit Hand brand jet thrusters. First, it was two, then four, finishing off with a grand total of six! Six magnificent jets were attached to his body as he blasted his way through the academy's halls.
But even though the distance between them kept increasing with every explosion, Winal knew he wouldn't be able to escape as long as he was trapped in the confines of the Academy.
Hoping to make a left turn, Winal banked hard into the corner. Steering wasn't exactly easy when you didn't have a steering wheel. He slammed into the wall, scratching his chitinous shell, yet that was the least of his concerns. Behind him came Uchronia. As fast as ever.
The Mixed Spirit Hands didn't have to be told twice. They grabbed Winal and jetted off as fast as possible. Pouring out as much fire as they could muster to get away from this psychopathic Potted Sprout.
Crashing open the huge double doors of the Academy, they emerged outside into the bright daylight, the sun bearing down on them with its glorious warmth. Too bad they couldn't enjoy the weather, because of a certain someone.
Winal continued to throw out his explosive-laced Spirit Hands, sending dirt, rubble, and dust skyward, obscuring Uchronia's view. Thanks to these controlled detonations, the gap between them grew wider and wider. Finally, they reached the town. With the help of a few explosions here and there, causing chaos amongst the crowd of monsters, Winal managed to lose her. She was too busy shoving everyone out of the way, costing her precious amounts of momentum.
The coast wasn't clear. Not yet. It would only be clear when Winal the Fire Soldier Ant was no more. There was too much risk Devolving in the middle of town. What if someone saw him and realized that the Fire Ant causing chaos was also a Yin-Yang Slime, if that happened Alwin would have to vanish as well, leaving Niwla in his place. It was a terrible name, so he would do everything in his power to prevent it from happening. He had to find somewhere private. Somewhere safe to Devolve. But, where?
MOM's Cafe.
Of course, that was the perfect place. That was also the only other place that he knew, but who cared about the details? His Mixed Spirit Hands blasted off toward MOM's cafe, leaving trails of smoke in their wake. And a lot of screams of terror from the other civilian monsters as his Bombing Spirit Hands continued to create destruction in its wake. The important thing was that no one was hurt. At least, physically. Finances were a different story.
Winal burst into the cafe. Another round of screaming ensued due to the sudden appearance of an ant on fire flying through the air with the help of flames propelled by a bunch of hands. While others might consider Winal causing a bunch of mayhem and destruction to be a menace to society, he preferred to think of it as entertainment. What better way to liven up the atmosphere than by making people fear for their lives?
Justifications aside, Winal flew straight down the stairs into Lapis' hidden laboratory. Right as he entered, a wave of mouthwatering, savory-sweet aromas hit him.
"Hi, slime boy apprentice of mine! How was the test? Did it go well?" Lapis asked, unconcerned about her student barging in on his homemade rockets while also ignoring the screams of terror bleeding in from the stairway back up to the cafe.
"It went well!" Winal shouted back.
"That's great! I made cookies to celebrate if you passed! I also made cookies if you failed. Basically, I made cookies," said Lapis, her drones balancing a tray full of cookies atop its diamond-shaped head.
Cookies! Yum yum in his tum tum. But, first something more important. Winal crashed into the white training room, his Mixed Spirit Hands throwing him on the ground. It wasn't because of malice to their master, no they cared deeply for him, so deep that they surpassed their limits. The red tinge which normally accompanied this version of Mixed Spirit Hands was gone. Their flames were extinguished. One by one they faded out of existence, waving goodbye to their master.
A single tear dripped out of his eye at the sight of their sacrifice, only for it to be evaporated away by the heat which surrounded his body. He would honor their sacrifice, never forgetting their noble efforts at getting him here safely. A flash of light engulfed him and the flames which surrounded him were gone. Now all that remained was a black and white jelly, whose stomach was rumbling. Alwin the Yin-Yang Slime was back! And he was hungry for some cookies.
He summoned out some Spirit Hands, the same Spirit Hands that had just sacrificed themselves. They waved hello, happy to see their master in tip-top shape. Without any hesitation they flew out of the white training room, glad to grab some cookies for him. But, they came back with something unexpected. Vegetables! Yuck.
They had brought back Uchronia.