"Helen of Troy," Chloe said, raising her hand.
"Yes, Helen of Troy," Teacher Dikes began, his voice faltering. "She was a beauty who caused conflict between two nations—uh—"
He clutched his chest and began coughing violently.
"Teacher Dikes, are you alright?" Lana asked, standing up with concern.
Before she could finish, Dikes spat a thick, yellow substance onto his desk. It smelled strongly of oil paint, startling Lana so much she shrieked. Chloe quickly caught her before she fell.
"Ugh!" Dikes groaned, coughing again, then spewed a deep blue paint onto the desk. The yellow and blue mingled, forming a strange and chaotic pattern. The students froze, unsure what they were witnessing.
Adrian stood silently, observing, his expression unreadable.
Dikes's eyes glowed with an eerie light. He picked up a paintbrush, dipped it in the paint he had expelled, and began painting on the blackboard. Thick, erratic strokes formed the outline of a giant, unsettling eye. Then he moved to the walls, scrawling madly as if possessed.
"What… what's wrong with him, Adrian?" Clark asked, wariness in his tone.
"He's possessed," Adrian said coldly.
"Possessed?!" Clark's eyes widened. "By… Devourer of Heaven?"
"It seems so," Adrian said, activating super speed. In the next instant, he was in front of Dikes. The Star Scepter flew from Clark's backpack into Adrian's hand. With a swing, a brilliant beam of light struck Dikes's chest, sending him crashing into the wall. The students gasped, unsure what they had just seen.
But Dikes did not stay down. He rose, roaring like a monster, charging toward Adrian.
"The Star Scepter isn't enough?" Clark muttered.
Adrian shook his head. As Dikes lunged, Adrian grabbed him by the neck, twisting violently.
Crack!
Dikes's neck snapped. He collapsed to the floor, lifeless. The classroom fell deathly silent.
The students stared at Adrian, fear and disbelief gripping them. Some thought he had killed Dikes outright. Others were paralyzed by terror, afraid to move, hearts pounding in their chests.
On the blackboard, the eye painting shifted, the thick lines wriggling as if alive. A viscous, dark substance oozed along the strokes. Faces emerged, writhing and roaring, while a strong wind whipped through the classroom. Students screamed, trying to back away, but the dark mass grew like a tumor across the ceiling.
"Oh my god! What is this?!" Chloe screamed, her eyes wide with terror. She ran to the back door, Lana close behind her.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The wind ripped open storage cabinets along the walls, revealing horrifying images. Chloe froze. One cabinet showed her mother, confined in a mental hospital, accusing her of neglect and betrayal.
"No! No! No!" Chloe screamed, retreating further, terror etched across her face.
Lana, too, confronted a vision of her worst fear: her Aunt Nell, bloodied and furious, berating her for ruining her life. Both girls collapsed, overcome by hysteria.
Amid the chaos, Adrian's eyes glinted with a fierce, unyielding light. He stepped forward, unaffected by the illusions, while Clark gripped the Star Scepter, keeping himself grounded.
"Welcome to hell," Adrian said, voice low and menacing, raising a fist.
The black tumor continued spreading, a tangible threat, moving across the classroom ceiling. Clark glanced at Adrian nervously.
"What do we do?" he asked.
"We deal with it," Adrian replied, cold and decisive. His Heat Vision flared, piercing the tumor with precision. The black substance sizzled and seared, parts of it collapsing to the floor.
Clark followed suit, firing his Heat Vision to strike the moving mass. The tumor writhed and dodged, retreating into the hallway. Adrian activated super speed, chasing it, with Clark close behind.
The aura of the entity weakened, becoming faint. Adrian paused, considering the possibility of a disguised lure, and returned to the classroom.
There, Teacher Dikes was now entirely covered in a black, viscous substance, bloated and writhing like a living shadow.
"Venom," Adrian muttered, observing the horrifying transformation. Dikes's eyes glowed crazily, reflecting the overwhelming power inside him.
"You are beings who do not belong to this world," Dikes hissed, locking eyes with Clark. "Just like me. Born in Shadow Land, born elsewhere—you are the same type of existence."
"Oh really?" Adrian's lips curled into a cold sneer. "I'm very interested in creatures like you. Perhaps I can keep you in a lab, watch you grow like an experiment."
He fired Heat Vision, striking Dikes violently against the wall. Clark joined in, firing his own beams. Adrian retrieved the Star Scepter, sending a concentrated beam of light at the black tumor covering Dikes.
Three beams of energy converged, dissolving much of the malignant mass. The classroom, though still tense, began to feel the first signs of relief.