As soon as the bolt of whatever left his hands I acted. I braced the bottom of my seat with one foot, leaned forward and grabbed the far edge of the table top and hurled myself up and back.

The whole table went with me. Since the seats were attached to the table cafeteria style the table didn't sit up on the long edge like I'd pictured in my head. Instead it canted back towards me more like a ramp than a wall. I crouched there next to it, first clenched and muscles ready. The plan was when he stuck his head over I was gonna come up in one explosive movement like a shot put and try to take his damn head off.

He'd apparently already forgotten about me, because louder than all the screaming from the dude who got fried and the general sounds of panic as people struggled to de-ass the cafeteria, I could hear Kevin rant.

"It's a new world order. You. Will. Stop. Laughing at Me!"

He punctuated that last yell with a waive of force that lashed out around him in a circle. I hadn't expected it, and the table I'd set as a barrier crashed back into me and sent me sprawling. I lost track of what was going on as I scrambled back to my feet.

As soon as I was up and looking around I dove to the ground as half of a table came whirling past me. I was already on the linoleum before I realized it wouldn't have hit me, and as I rolled over I saw it deflected by a translucent red panel floating in front of Kevin's left hand.

The table deflected towards a huddle of panicking freshman and suddenly Meghan the lacrosse chick was there. Her skin had taken on a metallic sheen, and she absorbed the blow from the table like it was a nerf ball.

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"Holy shit."

I barely had time to register what I had seen before a brown and blue blur in my peripheral vision whipped my head around as I tried to track it. She slowed down when she got closer to Kevin, and I realized the blur was Tina. She had broken records in hurdles and the 200 hundred meters, but she'd never been this inhumanly fast.

She darted in and threw a punch at Kevin, just barely shying away at the last second as he swung a sword made of light at her. She ran wide around him in a circle then came back in from behind, barely juking away again as another sword materialized from thin air and swiped at her.

Kevin spun to face her, a half dozen swords appearing and waving around him as Tina circled him like a shark. It was crazy how fast she could move, and somehow still managed to keep up as well as throw an occasional lightning bolt out towards the spectators.

There were a lot less of us now. People were fleeing the room as Tina bought us time. I was up on my feet again, slowly backing to the east door. I couldn't make myself look away from the fight, although I don't know what I would have done if Kevin had thrown some offensive magic in my direction.

Then it happened, Tina was finally able to connect and punched him in the ribs. He let out an explosive grunt and lurched back, but she'd slowed down to assess and it cost her. One of the swords flashed down as she was moving back out, and there was a spray of blood that jetted across the room as she screamed.

Tina lurched to the left and fell over as her right leg from the quad down toppled in the other direction. The extra swords disappeared leaving him holding a single blade. Kevin started to laugh as he brandished the last glowing blade over his head.

"Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The..."

POP, POP, POP

Kevin's head disappeared in a mist of red chunks and bone fragments as the school resource officer dumped a magazine into it from the hallway up towards main administration.