This was out of his pay grade.

Alex pounded the water in the fountain. He was really getting tired of being wet. As his fists tore through the water he paused. There was something about the water that wasn’t as bad as it had been. Something almost soothing. He shook the thought from his head as he turned back to the fight.

To call it a fight was a gross misevaluation. It was really a beating. Derek was on the ground, his knees tucked under him with his arms up in a vain attempt to shield his head from the strong air blasts. Small cuts and red welts littered his face and arms.

“It’s almost justice.” Alex thought, “But it’s gone too far.” He lifted his right leg to step out of the fountain.

Derek pushed himself up. Flames oozed off of his body, eating through his shirt and jumping off of his shoulders. He swung his arms together and shot the inferno at Alicia.

Alicia jumped into the air over the hungry flames. She hovered there as she flexed her arms and blew the flames toward Alex.

Alex’s eyes bulged and he dove back into the fountain. He raised his arms in front of his face in a vain attempt to block the fire. He felt the heat from the flames and heard sizzling, but didn’t feel his arms burning. He slowly spread his arms apart and stared in astonishment at two arms of water that were mimicking his own arm movements. He grinned as he moved his right arm up and down. The water arm mimicked the motion. He looked down at the water in the fountain and realized that he could feel all of the water in it.

Alex’s glee was interrupted as a blast of air knocked him face-first into the water. He picked himself up and glared at Alicia. He raised both hands and two water arms shot out of the fountain, dosing both students and knocking Alicia out of the air. He picked up more water as he walked out of the fountain and advanced on the students.

Alex glared at both of them. “This fight is over.”

Derek let out a labored breath. He held up his hands then limped over to a picnic bench and fell onto it.

“No.” Alicia wheezed. She looked pathetic. Her hair was dripping. Her clothes had burnt holes and were stuck to her. She looked like a bathed cat that needed to shake itself.

Alex pulled the water closer to himself, “Please don’t do this.”

Alicia’s eyes bored through Alex, “No one is ever going to hurt me again.”

Alex took a cautious step toward Derek, “He won’t hurt you anymore.” He tried to soothe his voice. It sounded scratchy to his ears. “I won’t let him.”

Alicia pointed at Alex, “You hurt me.”

Alex held up his hands, “I stopped you from hurting him worse!”

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The wind picked up. Strands of Alicia’s hair stuck to her face as she raised her arms and spread out her fingers.

“Don’t do this.” Alex pleaded, “We don’t have to fight.”

“Yes.” Alicia began pumping her arms, “We do.”

Gusts of wind blew holes in the water that was in front of Alex. Alex stepped back closer to the fountain so he could repair the arms in front of him.

“Stop!” Alex shouted as he stepped into the fountain.

The wind picked up and was spraying water into his face. Alex twisted, picked up water from the fountain, and threw it at Alicia. The wave arced up ten feet in the air and rushed down like a pack of sled dogs.

Alicia screamed as she was dosed a second time. Alex ran out of the fountain and tackled her. He pushed her over and squeezed her legs together between his knees. He grabbed both of her arms and pinned them above her head.

“STOP!” Alex said as she struggled to buck him off. “You can’t hit me with air if you can’t move your arms.” He locked eyes with her, “Calm down.”

Alicia’s eyes promised murder. “Let me go!”

A blast of wind hit Alex in the chest and knocked him off her. The soft lawn wasn’t very soft as it scraped at his elbows and left green stains on his legs. He stopped rolling when a picnic table was nice enough to stand in his path.

Alex rolled onto his knees. His back was bruised, his arms were cut, and he was pretty sure that his right ankle had been twisted. The water that he had been throwing around was everywhere thanks to the wind. The entire courtyard looked like it had been the site of a small hurricane.

Whimpering from behind the picnic table caused Alex to turn around. The oak tree that had been shading the picnic table had been blown over. Hidden in its branches was another student. It was impossible at the moment to tell if he was trapped, or was hiding under the branches by choice. The student was clenching his phone tightly between both hands. It couldn’t be a call for help. Chances were that there would be no signal with all the interference.

“I’ve got this.” Alex flashed a fake smile that felt like he had drawn it with a knife. He turned around to face Alicia. She had forgotten about him and was walking towards the student center, where Derek had just entered. In the event of a disaster like what was happening around them, protocol would be to take all the students to the basement under the student center. If she stayed on her destructive rant, lots of people were going to get hurt.

“I’m not finished with you!” Alex pointed at a puddle and threw the muddy water at Alicia’s back. The slap was louder than he anticipated and the force of the blow made her stumble.

As Alicia turned around Alex pushed off with his left foot and half hobbled, half ran towards the fountain. He dug both hands into the water and yanked as much of it as he could up. Rotating with his hips, he slung most of the water from the reservoir through the air.

Alicia didn’t stop advancing. With one gesture of her hand a gust of wind hit the water and sprayed it back the way it had come. Thousands of tiny droplets stung Alex as they raced by.

Alex tried to stop to stop the water, but it was moving too fast and it was too spread out. He dropped back into the fountain as the welts left by the impact began to tip his pain tolerance past what he thought was possible. He tried to breathe deeply, but no air came into his lungs. His eyes bulged as he saw Alicia standing over him.

“Don’t” Alex squeaked as black spots sprouted across his vision.

Alicia knelt onto the lip of the fountain and leaned down next to Alex’s head, “You used to be nice, so I was going to let you live.” Alicia kissed Alex on the cheek, “But since you insisted, you can be my first.”

Alex’s arms were getting cold. He couldn’t feel his feet and everything was moving like he was in a dream. He thought about all of the students that Alicia was going to hurt, or even kill after she finished him. A tingle ran up his arm. He blinked as it ran up again.

Alex focused on the last ounce of determination that he had and shot one last blast of water at Alicia. Screaming was the last thing that he heard before blacking out.