His mind raced, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. When had the switch happened? How had it happened? He'd been holding the fruit the entire time, hadn't taken his eyes off it for more than a few seconds at most.
Then it hit him like a bullet to the chest, the realization slamming into him with physical force.
"He's got powers!" Liam shouted, his voice rising to a near-scream. "That son of a bitch has powers too!"
The words echoed across the courtyard, bouncing off the dorm walls, carrying implications that made everyone freeze.
Panic Sets In
The others froze, their confident postures dissolving into uncertainty.
"What?!"
"Elric's a super too?"
"Wait, what do we do?!"
The questions came rapid-fire, voices overlapping, panic spreading through the group like wildfire. They'd been so certain of their advantage—eight against one, with Liam's barrier ability as their trump card. But if Elric had powers too, if he'd been hiding abilities this whole time…
For a split second, no one moved. The tableau held, frozen in uncertainty.
Even the cocky ones—Derek and Marcus who'd been so eager to threaten violence moments ago—suddenly didn't look so sure. Their eyes darted between Elric and Liam, looking for guidance, for reassurance that everything was still under control.
Elric just smiled wider, his expression infuriatingly calm. He tossed the stolen fruit once in his hand, catching it with casual ease.
"You should've kept your mouth shut, Liam."
The words were soft, almost conversational, but they carried a weight that made several of the surrounding students take an involuntary step backward.
Liam's pulse spiked, adrenaline flooding his system. His earlier confidence had evaporated completely, replaced by something much more primal—fear mixed with desperate aggression.
He didn't hesitate any longer. Couldn't afford to hesitate.
He slammed his palms together in the activation gesture he'd practiced dozens of times over the past day.
A pulse of green light burst from his hands, crackling with energy. The air itself seemed to warp and shimmer as a transparent energy dome snapped into place around Elric with a sound like shattering glass played backwards.
Thoom!
The barrier materialized in an instant, a perfect hemisphere of force that sealed everything inside—including the air, including any chance of escape.
That was Liam's ability—Force Shield.
A perfect defense when used on himself… and a perfect trap when used on others.
The dome was roughly ten feet in diameter, giving Elric just enough room to move around but not nearly enough space to build up any real momentum or leverage. The translucent walls glowed faintly with that same green light, pulsing in time with Liam's heartbeat.
Inside the barrier, Elric blinked, looking around at the walls closing in on him. His expression remained neutral, analytical, as if he were examining an interesting puzzle rather than facing a life-threatening situation.
"Ah," he murmured, his voice slightly muffled but still audible through the barrier. "So this is that 'protective shield' you bragged about."
He tightened his grip on the fruit—Liam's fruit, stolen right out from under him—and jabbed it hard against the barrier.
BANG! BANG!
Two sharp impacts echoed through the dorm courtyard, the sound bouncing off surrounding buildings. The fruit struck the barrier with considerable force, enough that it should have at least cracked a normal glass surface.
But not even a hairline fracture appeared. The barrier held perfectly, absorbing the impacts without so much as a tremor.
Liam smirked, his confidence flooding back now that his prey was caged. This was more like it. This was how things were supposed to go.
"You didn't really think I was bluffing, did you?" His voice carried the self-satisfied tone of someone who'd just won a decisive victory.
He stepped closer, his face illuminated by the eerie glow of the shield, casting strange shadows that made his features look almost demonic.
"Let me teach you something, Elric." He spoke slowly, savoring each word, wanting to see the moment when despair finally registered on that infuriatingly calm face. "This dome isn't just a prison—it's airtight. Completely sealed. In three minutes, maybe four at most, the oxygen inside runs out. You'll start feeling dizzy first, then your vision will blur. You'll black out, and then…"
He shrugged, the gesture exaggerated and theatrical. "Well, we'll just take our time looting what's left. Your apartment key's in your pocket, right? Maybe we'll even move into your place. I bet it's nice and cozy in there."
The other students laughed nervously, emboldened by Liam's confidence, their earlier fear starting to fade. Yeah, this was fine. Liam had everything under control. They'd get the supplies, maybe even get their own powers if there were more fruits hidden somewhere.
This was going to work out perfectly.
Elric's expression didn't change. He just stared through the translucent wall, calm as ever.
His eyes moved slowly, tracking something.
"Go ahead," Liam grinned, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of mock encouragement. "Struggle. Scream. Bang on the walls. It'll make it more fun to watch."
The words were barely out of his mouth when it happened.
Liam blinked, his smile faltering. "Elric…?"
Before he could finish the question, before his brain could even begin to process what he was seeing, Elric's silhouette inside the dome flickered—
—and vanished.
Just gone. As if he'd never been there at all.
"What the hell—?!"
The laughter died instantly, choked off mid-sound. The group turned toward each other, confused, frightened, looking for answers that no one had.
The Switch
Until they realized that someone else was suddenly inside the dome.
But it wasn't Elric.
It was Jenna.
The athletic girl with the high ponytail—the one who'd been standing quietly at the back of the group a moment ago, not really participating but not objecting either—was now trapped inside the shield.
She stood there, frozen, staring around in utter confusion at the translucent walls that had suddenly materialized around her. Her hands came up instinctively, pressing against the barrier, and her eyes went wide with panic as she realized she was sealed in.
"What— What's happening?!" Her voice was muffled but clearly terrified.
Liam's heart stopped cold. His entire body went numb, as if someone had dumped ice water directly into his veins.
"Elric… what did you—?!"
And somewhere behind them, from the shadows of the mist, drifting lazily back like a ghost's whisper, came Elric's voice:
"Trade's over."
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