The Ludicruos League

Captured

Inang ran as fast as she could to match the pace of Zhanshi, who was half carrying, half dragging Jino. She was unaware of her newfound vigour. As she ran, her feet seemed to be above the ground, and the wind whistled past her, giving her the same feeling inside a speeding car with open windows. Momentarily amazed, she stopped midair and came tumbling down.

They escaped the youth pursuing them, but there was another problem.

Jino was having an asthma attack.

Meanwhile, Zhanshi was already ahead of her. Right in front of him was a gape into the cornfields. He glanced behind him to check on her. His eyes widened when he saw her sprawled on the ground.

He braked, dropped Jino unceremoniously unto the ground, and made a u-turn. He ran back and scooped her over his shoulder. She let out a loud shriek and wrapped her arm around his neck, hanging for dear life.

Then the strangest thing happened. They were floating on air a few meters above the cornstalks. Zhanshi was mouthing something, but she couldn't hear him as the wind swept past them.

Zhanshi tugged at her hand around his neck. Eventually, she heard him shout. "Turn back. Turn back. Jino! We can't leave him behind. He's not dead yet."

Inang braced herself, and they stopped, and the two collapsed on the ground, squashing several cornstalks flat to the ground. She laid on her back, gasping for breath. Her chest was on fire.

She became aware of Zhanshi hacking his way frantically back towards his friend. She scrambled to her feet and ran after him.

Zhanshi fell on his knees beside Jino, catching his breath. The latter was crouching the ground with his face between his knees. He placed a trembling hand on his shoulder. "Bro, are you alright?"

There were no signs of the kids who were pursuing them earlier. After a few seconds, Jino stirred. He had a ventolin inhaler in his palm. "D-do y-you hear m-music in the a-air?" he asked.

"Huh? What mus—?"

Inang released a breath she was holding. Thank goodness he was OK. She didn't mean to say it out loud. Jino raised up one arm to silence her.

"Sounds like angels singing," Zhanshi said.

"I hear nothing."

Their eyes met momentarily. Jino hastily avoided her questioning gaze, but not before she noticed his cheeks turning several shades deeper. Maybe it was from the effort he did fighting his asthma attack earlier. It was short of a miracle that he was breathing normally again. But where did he get the inhaler?

"Have we met before?" She asked him.

Jino started, looking up, meeting her eyes again briefly. "N-no, no. N-never."

Zhanshi looked from one to the other. "That's right, missy. You don't go to All Saint." It was more a statement than a question.

"I go to MIS."

"Holy shit, that's so fancy! What's your family into to afford all that?"

Inang shot Zhanshi a hard glance. "We should be focusing on how to get the hell outta here!"

"Chill, missy, just asking. Bro, you okay now? Good. Hey, missy. Did we really float back there? You actually have a superpower?"

Inang shook her head. "I don't know. I don't remember doing anything at all."

"Do it again."

"Huh?"

"Do your floating thingy. Let's get outta here before something else attack us." Zhanshi involuntarily shuddered, perhaps recalling his earlier mishap with the electric shock from the kid's wand.