Chapter 108: Marked
"How do you plan to find the person? Since it’s long range you can’t really tell who used it, except they use it in front of you or something" Selena asked standing next to Nicholas.
The others had returned to the pool, since there wasn’t much they could do and thanks to Nicholas taking up the job, they saw no point bothering about it. However, everyone was more careful.
Dana had warned them all. After what happened to Catboy, it was clear their competitors had no intention of playing fair.
Although everyone still got along quite well on the surface, the subtle competitive hostility still lingered.
Selena on the other hand didn’t seem interested in playing the ball with the others anymore and was keen on finding out what happened with Nicholas, knowing how much this tournament meant to her, Nicholas didn’t find it strange.
"It seems they’re after weakening the team and making it hard for us to gain points for the tournament. And if I’m not wrong, the race alone won’t be enough to put us down completely. So they’ll make another move soon enough, then I’ll be able to tell who’s at it" Nicholas said still scanning the area with the third eye, he still had yet to see the horseshoe again. He could only let off a sigh.
"That’s true, they’ll most probably still try to put out more of our members" Selena said with a frown, "... Also, how exactly did you figure out that he was attacked by someone? How did you see the ability?" Selena asked.
Nicholas paused for a moment.
’That’s right... Selena should know about abilities.’
He’d almost forgotten she was a supervisor, having spent time with several heroes one thing they were good at was noticing patterns and similarities between abilities and knowing what type of ability someone manifested.
That wasn’t possible with himself though, because his ability was much different from the usual.
"I have an ability that allows me to see other things others can’t see and before Catboy fell, I saw something..." Nicholas went on to explain the horseshoe he’d seen standing above Catboys head.
Selena frowned, she rubbed her chin, as she collected her thoughts.
"Horseshoe?"
"Yes that was what I saw"
"Horseshoew... They usually symbolize badluck. Seeing it on top someone’s head? The ability we’re dealing with will most likely be a curse type ability. The person must’ve cursed him with bad luck" Selena’s frown deepened, "To curse someone they have to interact with the person one way or the other. So it must’ve been one of the heroes Catboy interacted with before coming here"
Hearing Selena’s explanation, things made much more sense to Nicholas.
’It’s a rather unique ability... And if the person has to interact with you to mark you with it, that means we all have to watch out for who we talk to or interact with’ Nicholas thought a frown on his face.
Just then, a ball rolled to the front of his feet.
"Phantom! Help us with the ball!" Julie yelled from the pool.
"How did you throw it here!" Selena snapped back at her.
"It was a mistake" Julie said with a pout.
"Everything gets on your nerves. Sometimes I wonder how you became a supervisor with that temper." Nicholas said as he tossed the ball back to Julie.
"You—I... Tsk" Selena dragged a deep breath and casually folded her arms over her chest, "Whatever, we have to find the person fast before they curse more people. It’s probably a sneaky brat" Selena scoffed.
There were tons of heroes in the arena, and the main purpose of the entire convention was interaction. Sneaking in someone with an ability like that, made it almost impossible to tell who it could be.
"I saw what happened to your teammate... Hope he’ll be fine"
Nicholas snapped out of his daze turning his gaze to the group that had just approached them.
Jackson stood in the front, wearing his Victorian shirt as he walked towards the two, behind him stood Miss Mercury, her gaze cold and distant and next to her a small fragile girl stood, she locked gazes with Nicholas for a moment, before shyly glancing away.
"Sadly, he won’t be participating in the event anymore. His injury was far worse than we expected" Selena replied back.
"Sheesh, from a short fall like that? Did he have any leg issues before the fall?" Jackson asked with a worried face.
"He went through a checkup before being picked for the tournament, so that’s unlikely."
"That’s strange... any idea what happened?"
"No, we don’t really know what happened" Selena replied, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"That’s rough. I hope you figure out what to do soon enough, cause the tournament will be starting soon. Well we were just about to leave, but I just thought to formally introduce these two stars to Phantom before leaving" Jackson said as he moved to the side.
Mercury walked forward, "Don’t know if you’ve seen her before, but this is Mercury"
Mercury looked at Nicholas with a sharp scrutinizing gaze, "Hope you’re ready to lose, Phantom." She said with a scoff.
"I’ll be going to my room Director J" she continued walking past Nicholas.
His eyes followed her as she moved past him, ’Doesn’t look like her.’ even with the third eye, he didn’t notice anything strange with her.
Jackson gave an awkward laugh, "She’s a really ambitious and distant type. But hey, Furry is a complete opposite. She’s a lot nicer too!"
The girl timidly walked forward, offering Nicholas a handshake, "It’s nice to meet you Phantom"
Nicholas glanced at her hand for a moment before taking the handshake.
Right after she pulled back her hand with a soft smile, "Well that’s for the introduction, we should be heading off. We’ve got to prepare well so we’ll beat you with ease!" Jackson said with a grin, "And you take care of yourself Phantom" He added giving him a soft pat of his shoulder before walking away with Furry, who shyly glanced back at him as they moved.
"I doubt they’d be the ones behind the fall, Aussies are always calm and friendly.... Well, I don’t know about Mercury" Selena said.
"No one’s calm and friendly in an investigation Selena" Nicholas said as he tore his gaze away from Jackson and Furry.
"Help!" Julie’s loud voice tore through the air. Selena’s gaze snapped in her direction.
"How the heck did that short twerp get there!" Selena cursed, seeing Julie in the deeper part of the pool.
All the others who’d been swimming had already begun coming out of the water, but Julie remained and for what reason, no one knew.
Julie struggled helplessly as the water swallowed her.
Nicholas let out a sigh as he quickly ran toward the pool, diving in with the precision of a dolphin. With a burst of speed, he stroked through the water with practiced ease, swam over to Julie, pulled her under one arm, and quickly made his way back to the side of the pool.
"Your hand" A Brazilian hero who stood by the side of the pool said offering a hand.
Nicholas paused for a second, activating Third eye. He frowned for a brief second before taking the hand.
As they were both pulled out of the water, Julie immediately dug her hand into her clothes "My camera!" She yelled as she checked, "Oh it’s safe..." She let out a breath of relief, "Thanks Phantom"
"Don’t tell me you went back in alone just to get the camera" Selena said rubbing her forehead as she reached the two.
"Well...." Julie had a wry smile on her face.
Selena let out an exasperated sigh before turning her gaze back to Nicholas, "Thank you Phantom" she said, but she noticed the stillness.
The way he stood, staring at his palms as though hypnotized.
Selena walked up to him, "What’s with the face? What’s the issue?"
Without looking away, he spoke, his voice unusually cold.
"I’ve got the mark"
He said staring at the horseshoe mark hovering above his hands.
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