Hikaru couldn't hide his surprise.
He should be doing time in Belle Reve. What's he doing here?
"Students of H.I.V.E. Academy." Blood's voice carried without microphones, resonating through the auditorium with unnatural clarity. "Your education has been... adequate. But incomplete."
The students sat frozen, captivated or terrified or both.
"Your former Headmistress has stepped down." Blood's smile was cold, devoid of warmth. "I am Brother Blood, and I am now your headmaster."
Confused whispers rippled through the crowd.
"Under my guidance, you will achieve true greatness." He spread his arms wide. "You will become legends."
His eyes began glowing red—psychic energy radiating outward in palpable waves that made Hikaru's skin crawl. Students gasped as the oppressive presence washed over them, a mental weight that promised both power and absolute submission.
Some students looked scared. Others awed. All were silent.
"We begin immediately." Blood gestured, and a holographic projection appeared behind him—complex blueprints for some kind of weapon, all sharp angles and ominous energy cores. "A new class project: the Ion Amplifier. A device that will ensure H.I.V.E.'s dominance over our enemies."
The blueprint rotated, showing intricate components and power systems that made Hikaru's stomach turn. This wasn't a training exercise. This was a genuine weapon.
"You will build it. You will test it. And you will prove yourselves worthy of the power I offer."
Blood's red eyes began scanning the auditorium methodically, studying faces, searching for something. His gaze swept across rows of students, pausing occasionally on individuals with particularly strong abilities or useful talents.
Then he stopped.
Directly on Hikaru.
"You." Blood pointed with one crimson-gloved finger. "Come forward."
Hikaru's heart stopped.
Does he know?
The students around him shifted, creating a clear path down the aisle. Three hundred pairs of eyes turned toward him. Hikaru stood slowly, maintaining his composure despite the panic screaming through his mind, and walked down the aisle toward the stage.
Each step felt like walking toward execution.
Near the front, Jinx's eyes widened fractionally—the only reaction visible on her carefully controlled expression.
Hikaru climbed the stairs. Blood waited center stage, studying him with those glowing red eyes that seemed to pierce through flesh and bone.
"What is your name?" Blood asked, voice deceptively gentle.
"Lucian."
"Lucian." Blood circled him slowly, like a predator examining prey. "You have unusual energy. Very unusual."
"Yes?"
"But there's something else." Blood stopped directly in front of him, close enough that Hikaru could smell the incense clinging to his robes. "Something you're hiding."
Hikaru felt the mental intrusion—telepathic fingers probing at his thoughts like icy needles. His nephilim physiology wasn't something that a mere mortal could penetrate.
But those defenses were the exact thing that gave him a way.
The cult leader's eyes widened suddenly.
"You're not one of us," he said, voice dropping to barely above a whisper that somehow carried through the entire auditorium.
The holographic projectors flickered. Hikaru felt the technology struggle against Blood's psychic assault, the rings on his fingers heating up as they fought to maintain the disguise. His devil horns glitched, displaying brief flashes of his real blonde hair underneath.
Students gasped.
"SEIZE HIM!" Blood commanded, voice booming with unnatural resonance.
H.I.V.E. guards rushed from the wings, weapons drawn. The holographic disguise shattered completely—horns disappearing, black hair reverting to light blonde, red eyes becoming gold.
And his white wings burst out, tearing through the back of his jacket.
"That's Seraph!" someone shouted. "From the Teen Titans!"
Hikaru didn't hesitate.
He moved—not at at his enhanced physical maximum but at light speed. His body crossed the distance to the nearest guards in a blur of motion. He swept their legs, sent them crashing to the stage floor, and created a light sword.
More guards approached from both sides. Hikaru spun, blade singing through the air as he parried their weapons. His training took over—elegant footwork, precise strikes, economical movements that used their momentum against them.
One guard swung a baton. Hikaru ducked, swept his legs, kicked him into the orchestra pit.
Two more rushed him. He blocked the first strike, deflected the second, and slammed the pommel of his practice sword into the closer guard's solar plexus.
Blood watched with cold amusement.
"Impressive," the cult leader said. "But futile."
Hikaru felt the psychic pressure intensify, expanding like a wave. Around the auditorium, students' eyes began glowing red—Blood's mind control spreading like a virus through their ranks.
Angel stood, blank-faced and empty-eyed.
Kyd Wykkyd followed, expression going even slacker.
Shit—
"Kill him," Blood commanded.
Dozens of students moved as one unified force.
Hikaru's wings spread wide, launching him into the air above the stage as energy blasts and projectiles converged on where he'd been standing. He twisted mid-flight, dodging, analyzing, calculating.
More guards poured into the auditorium—armed, trained, coordinated. And the students were beginning to surround the exits, blocking every possible escape route with their bodies and powers.
Blood laughed, the sound echoing through the auditorium. "There's nowhere to run, Seraph. My children will ensure that."
The guards opened fire.
Hikaru turned into light deciding to head straight for Blood. He reformed just in time to knock him to the ground disrrupting the mental control.
"Its over, I don't know how you got out, but you're going right back in."
He held his light sword to Blood's neck. But zealot just chuckled at the threat. His relaxed attitude gave Hikaru pause.
What's he planning?
The realization hit a second too late.
Blood gestured with his free hand, and ten students collapsed simultaneously, empty vial clattering to floor along with them. It only took a few seconds for their bodies to start seizing, foam bubbling at their lips, eyes rolling back as they convulsed on the auditorium floor.
"Poison," Blood said calmly, examining his fingernails as if discussing the weather. "Fast-acting. They have perhaps ninety seconds before permanent brain damage. Two minutes before death."
Blood drained from Hikaru's face.
Blood sent out a telekinetic wave in the split second he was distracted, knocking Hikaru away. He smiled, red eyes glowing with malicious satisfaction. "So tell me, Seraph. Do you save them?" He raised his other hand, energy building into a psionic sphere that encased him. "Or do you stop me?"
People were dying. Blood was escaping. Hikaru had seconds to choose.
Can I capture Blood before the poison kills them? Can I move fast enough to do both?
He looked at Blood across the stage, telekinetic barriers already fully formed, clearly prepared to defend and counter any attack.
He looked at the students—scattered across the auditorium floor, convulsing, dying.
Damn it.
Hikaru's wings flared, light form carrying him across the auditorium. He materialized beside the first victim—a girl he didn't recognize, foam bubbling from her mouth as her body seized violently.
Behind him, Blood's laughter echoed.
"How predictable."
Red energy flashed. When Hikaru looked up, Blood was gone—teleported away in a wash of crimson light, leaving only destruction and poisoned students in his wake.