#nr4

Curio and Roland sat at the table at back, watching the rest of the first year students.  

“You are spoiling them, Cure” Roland said as he took another bite of the ice-cream in from of him.

“I made them a promise” Curio said “Can’t go lying to the first years”

Roland snorted.  “Oh please...” he said “ You’re just a giant softly, that’s all”

Curio pulled a face at him as he ate the ice-cream.  “Shut up...” he muttered.  

Grinning Roland continued eating.  “You know this is the only reason that they like you, right?” he said. 

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad...” Curio said with a smile.  

Roland shrugged and shook his head.  

Before anyone could say a word, a group of men stepped into the small restaurant.  They all had weapons in their hands, and those that did not, had their abilities surrounding them.  

The two third years quickly got to their feet.  

“What is going on here?” Roland asked.

Curio just motioned for the first years to get behind him.  He kept his breathing even, holding on to the power that now ran just beneath his skin, burning to be released. 

One of the men levelled his gun at Roland, “Take a seat boy” he said “Before we put a bullet in your head”

There was a sound of lightning outside the restaurant.  Curio put a hand on Roland’s shoulder.  “Easy now...” he said quietly before turning to the people in front of them “We don’t want any trouble.  We’re just students”

“Then you just students, can go sit down” the man said, snapping his weapon to Curio. 

Curio nodded to Roland for them to sit down.  The two walked a few steps towards the first years, before Curio turned back to the men that came in. 

“Oh...  Sorry, one more thing” he said “If you hurt any of the students, I promise you hell will rain down on you”

With that he turned and took a seat.

“What the hell was that?” Roland muttered “Do you want to get shot?”

Curio shook his head.  “We’re hostages..” he said “And it’s just fair to give them warning about what will happen if they touch anyone”

“Yeah, well...  Things like that is what will get you killed” Roland growled at his friend “And you want me to tell Shaw that you died from dumb ideas.  Don’t make he go through that...  He will take my head off”

Shrugging slightly, Curio’s eyes followed the people.  He shut of the moment the people started talking, explaining what they wanted.  

“Annoying...” Curio whispered.

Roland kicked him under the table.  “Are you trying to get us kill?” he asked.  

Curio shook his head, but one of the robber walked over to them and hit the teen through the face, almost throwing him from the chair he sat on.  Immediately he tasted blood, a few sparks of lightning flashed around him, but he managed to get his power back under control.  

The teen rubbed his jaw, blue eyes flashing towards the man that just hit him.  He tisked, but did not say anything.  

“Keep your mouth shut you brat” the man snarled at him and Curio just lifted his hands slightly.

“Sorry...” Curio said.

“You got it under control?” Roland whispered to his friend as he felt the power rising from his friend.  

“For now” Curio said, his voice slightly strained, but still calm.  

Roland nodded.  

“We need to get the first years out of here” Curio muttered under his breath.  

“You’re just pushing it today, aren’t you?”

“I’m the one that brought them here...  I have to make sure they get back safely” Curio said quietly, his eyes following the men in the restaurant “The academy should have been notified of what is happening”

The moment the sound of the security forces and heroes, came from outside, chaos erupted from around them.  The group of men sealed of the restaurant.  

Curio watched them.  The moment they stepped towards the younger students, he got to his feet and stepping between the men and the students.  

“Do you want to be shot, boy?” one of the men asked, pressing the barrel of his gun against Curio’s head.  The blue eyes watched the man without fear, almost like he was used to it.

“Don’t touch my juniors” he said, voice steady “If you want to threaten the heroes and security force with someone, take me....  But you don’t get to touch my juniors”

“Well now...” the man said “It looks like we have hero on our hands”

“I’m just giving you a fair warning” Curio said, lifted his hand and pushed the gun barrel away from his head “Now you either kill me or leave the other student alone”

“Kill the brat and take one of the others” another man said.

Curio’s eyes snapped towards the man.  He tilted his head slightly, as lightning started to flash around him.  “You can try” he said coldly “But I promise you, you will not get out of this unscathed”

“We have a power user...” one of the men said “What school are you from?”

Slowly Curio looked at the man that spoke.  “Heroes academy” he said coolly.  

The man cussed.  “We should just kill all of them” he said.  

Lightning formed a wall behind Curio and in front of the other students.  “Just try it” he said coldly.  

“Calm down, children” another man said, looking like the leader “Now’s not the time to argue”

Curio watched the man, but he could see Roland out of the corner of his eye.  He was going to be in a lot of trouble when Shaun hears about this.  That will be if he manages to get out of this.

“Fine then” the leader said “They can leave, but you will stay right here”

Curio nodded and dropped his lightning shields.  

***

Curio stumbled as the robbers pushed him forward.  He hands were tied behind his back.  It was like they thought he wouldn’t be able to use his power if he couldn't use his hands.

Again one of the robber pushed him forward.  

He still had the taste of blood in his mouth.  There was a painful throbbing in his back of his head where they already hit him a few times.  

The security force and heroes were all lined up in front of them.  He could make out Shaun and Roland between the heroes and some of the other students.  Looks like he was going to have an audience.

They pushed him forward.  “Don’t move, you brat” the leader said.

Curio shrugged slightly.  “I’m not an idiot” he said “But if you keep on pushing me, it’s going to be hard not to move”

“You’re being a smartass, you brat” another one snapped, as the bullet tore through Curio’s shoulders “Keep your mouth shut, unless we ask something of you”

“You’re annoying” Curio muttered under his breath.  It hurt.  His arm throbbed painfully.  There was nothing else that he could do.  If he kept this up, they were going to shoot him through the head.  With preparation he’d be able to stop the bullet from killing him.  

It would be better for him to get started on that preparation, before he ends up in a body bag.  

The men forced him down with a kick behind his knees.  

Curio flinched slightly as he went down, his eyes focused on Shaun’s angry and scared expression.  He kept his expression blank, making sure not to give anything away of what went on in his head.  

Not only was he going to be in trouble with Shaun and Roland, but since there were cameras, his parents were also going to come down on his head.  That was not something that he was looking out to.  If he had a choice, he’d rather die here than having to face them and their screaming and accusations and blaming.

The sound of the safety being clicked off, pulled him back to the present.  He could feel the lightning running over his skin, almost like he was charging up.  Getting shot in the head, was going to hurt, but he could still control if he’d die or not.  

Since he did not pay any attention to what was going on between the robber and the security forces, he didn’t know what was happening.  

He watched as Shaun’s eyes widened and Roland were being pulled back by one of the heroes.  

The sound of the gun firing behind him, almost made him jump.  

Then the pain followed and his vision tunneled in before the ground rushed to meet him.  For a moment he thought that he might have made a mistake, but he knew that his power was strong enough to deflect the bullet.  

The darkness swallowed him and he felt the lightning that ran over his skin, going out of control.  As the darkness pulled him down, the last thing he heard was the thundering of lightning around him.

***

The throbbing in his head was what woke him up.  It felt like his head had been slammed into concrete.

As the door creaked open, the sound ripped through his head, making him notice the throbbing in his hands.  Slowly he turned his head so he could try and see the door since his vision kept on going in and out of focus.

Shaun slipped into the door, followed by Roland and Fiona.

“Just look who decided to wake up” Shaun said as he walked over to the bed “You bloody scared the living crap out of us!  What were you thinking, Cure?”

Curio blinked at him like he couldn’t understand what was going on.

Fiona stopped a few steps away from Curio’s bed.  He looked terrible.  Face pale, dark bags under his eyes and a bandage around his head.  

“It was...” Curio started.

“If you say it was the only way, I swear I’m going to throw you out the window” Shaun snapped.

Curio gave him a slight smile before lifting his hands slightly so he could see what was going on with them.  

Both his hands were bandaged.  It felt like he burned them again.

“What happened?” he asked quietly as he looked at Shaun and Roland and lastly at Fiona.

“You almost got shot through the melon” Roland said, tapping his head “The lightning defected the bullet, but you have a really bad concussion.  Also your power went out of control and you gave yourself second degree burns on your hands’ 

Fiona smiled slightly at him.  “We’re just glad that you’re alright” she said softly.

“They caught the robbers after you lightning came back under control” Shaun said, arms crossed.

“Sorry for scaring you...” Curio muttered as his eyes started closing again.