Retaliation

“the

power of friendship”- Various.

  The sounds

of birds and distant vehicle filled the air, as Damien and Conner made their

way down the street.

  They seemed to both be lost in their own

worlds. With Damien being immersed in his music. And Conner tapping away on his

screen making plans for the party later that day. It was clear that the outside

world didn’t matter to either one of them – especially after they walked passed

a large tree that sat in the middle of the road, where a half-asleep Dean was

seated, dossing off as he awaited their arrival.

  Dean’s look that morning was simple but

effective, as it matched his shorter yet toned body type efficiently. He had:

short spiky grey hair that was trimmed on its sides and grey eyes, similar in

colour to those of Damien’s, that glistened in the early morning sunlight, with

his crisp dark blue shirt, red hooded jumper, black skin tight cargo pants,

black trainers and a single gold chain around his neck, with the ones around

his wrists being double looped, helping to amplify the look of exhaustion on

his face. In an effort to stay wake by zipping in and out of sleep, he gained

consciousness long enough to spot the two walk on adjacent sides of the street

as they passed him.

“Sap ladies!” Dean sleepily muttered

enthusiastically to grab their attention. An act that stopped them dead in

their tracks as he rose to his feet and gave them both a lazy fist bump,

extending Damien’s greeting with a pullback that ended in a high five. “So what

brings you outta hibernation so early? Isn’t this the time you spend hyping

yourself up to bomb in front of Stacy?!” He asked with an air of exhaustion

while he stretched up and down to relieve the stress in his cracking joints.

  Hearing the

claim for the second time that day, Damien decided to simply brush it off.

However, the implicit look on Dean’s face as Conner tried to hold in his

laughter was enough to trigger a long scowl – but unfortunately for him, it

only helped to fan the flames of their amusement.

  Dean and Conner became hysterical as Damien’s

attempts to hide his irritation only made it that much funnier. His defensive

nature and attempts to prevent a blush were all too irresistible, making it

very apparent that something needed to be done.

  With a yank

of his headphone jack, Damien pulled the sets from his ears and attempted to

use the cord to try and whip the sense back into the both of them. But this

only led to an increase the duo’s hysterics as each time he swung, his swings

lacked effort and force.

“I’d cut that out of I were you!!!” Damien spouted authoritatively

in a calm but disgruntled tone, as he tried to regain his composure and began adjusting

his blazer out of embarrassment.

“Make me dweeb!” Dean yelled in response as he ran

up to Damien and used his right hand to mess through his hair, in an effort to

trigger an even more amusing response.

“Zip it pest!” Damien remarked in his usual unfazed

tone as he stretched his right arm out to his side, spawned a weak fireball,

and flicked it in Dean’s face – causing the tips of the hair that hung over his

forehead to slightly scorch.

  Dean

squirmed anxiously in fear as he quickly pulled Damien’s arm down in an attempt

to hide it. “You idiot! What if someone see’s; do you wanna end up on ‘D.E.A.D’s’

raider?!! …’ He whispered frantically in a muffled tone as Damien and Conner

exaggeratedly rolled their eyes to the side.

“Relax man, all that time alone in your room at night’s

got you stressing. This entire neighborhood is owned by and populated with

members of the ‘C.O.R.E ‘remember!” Damien smugly replied as he pulled his arm

back and turned around to face them, continuing along the route in reverse.

“Yeah but!--” Dean insisted.

“But nothing; they’re all out on assignments anyways

so their homes are pretty much empty. Hence there’s no need to stress about it

bruh!” Damien asserted in his interjection, as he maintained his smug yet

laid-back demeanor.

“I hate to agree with the numbskull but he’s right

you know; no stress my guy!” Conner stated reluctantly, as he too began to pace

in reverse, mimicking Damien’s stance as they both faced a still agitated Dean

with suggestive expressions.

  Finally giving in, Dean decided to embrace the

mood instead, as he shrugged off his concerns and followed suite. “In that

case; since we’re in Rome!” He uttered as his expression turned sinister and he

quickly dashed between the two – as he delivered a heavy slap to their backs.

The force stunned through their bodies, as the strong pulse resonated around

within them and planted their butts firmly on the tar mark in rapid succession.

But just as they seemed to be through the worst, he made a cone with his palms

and yelled through it, as a strong shock was sent through the air and nearly

deafened the two.

“What the hell man; you could’ve hurt somebody!!!!”

Damien yelled agitatedly as he rubbed his ear to restore his hearing.

“But there’s nobody around dummy!!” Dean yelled back

sarcastically to mock him, “It’s not my fault you guys can’t take the smoke!!”

He stated as he taunted them with a childish grin.

“Yeah bit me!!” Conner spouted aggressively,

determined to punish Dean as he rose to his feet and began to chase him up the

street, as Damien zoned out because of the ringing.

“Hey save some for me!!” Damien yelled out as he

came to his senses and followed behind.

  Two boys

approached from the opposite direction, Luke and Gerard, as they slowly made

their way down, seemingly headed to the tree where the duo had encountered Dean.

The two seemed to be lost in a conversation of their own, blissfully unaware of

the chaos that would ensue as Damien, Dean and Conner raced towards them.

  Appearance

wise, Gerard was built thoroughly, with an impressively muscular physique. He

had light blue eyes and a fair complexion. He was dressed in a pair of baggy

blue pants that tightened by the ankles, a baggy red sports vest, red high

tops, a sleek silver analogue watch on his right arm, and a grey fedora that covered

the majority of his flowing black hair – leaving the rest to drop down along

his neck.

  Whereas Luke

on the other hand, was decked out in a more formal attire that clung to his

athletic form. As his red eyes and medium length blond hair resonated well with

the white trainers and snug fit suite that pulled his outfit together.

Additionally, a red bandana hung from his waist, circling around it as its longest

end dropped to his knees – finishing off the look with the two black headed red-rings

he wore on each index finger.

“Help me out here guys!!! These losers have finally

lost it!!!!!” Dean cried out frantically at the top of his lungs to Luke and

Gerard as he came into view and rushed to take cover behind them.

  The two opted

to spread their arms out in anticipation for the approaching threat – but to their

dismay, the only things that came into view were an angered Damien and Conner,

who seemed to be on the war path.

“What did you do this time pipsqueak?!” Luke uttered

as he turned back to Dean and towered over him. His disappointment was immense,

as he watched Dean cower behind them in fear.

“Hey bold of you to assume this is my fault!!” Dean

yelled back defensively.

“Since when is it never!?” Luke countered, as he

pressed his index and middle fingers to his own temple and let out a heavy sigh.

Though he wasn’t one for outbursts, the action helped to sooth his heightened

state of tension.

“Hey I’m serious!!! Those two just went batshit on

me for no reason at all!!” Dean replied forcefully as he tried to victimize

himself. “I’m the victim here!!” he cried out as he rose to his feet and

pointed to Damien and Conner to distract them as he attempted to run off – but unfortunately

for him, Gerard saw the escape coming and caught him by the collar, lifting him

off the ground and stopping him dead in his tracks as he tried to squirm for

freedom.

“Right?!!” Gerard exhaled sceptically as he watched

him flail and squirm, as he hung inches from the ground, gripped in his left

arm and unable to get down, “And the victim is running away because??” he asked

politely as Dean tried to avoid direct eye contact with him, which inevitably

led to Gerard shaking him so violently that he unexpectedly fell unconscious. Although

he was concerned at first, he grew irritated by what he thought was an attempt

to evade punishment and resorted to take his anger out on Dean’s now

unresponsive body. He shook his body harder and harder in an effort to revive

him, as everybody present stood back and watched with blank expressions, trying

their best not to intervene and get caught in the cross hairs. “Hey numbskull!!

Wake up!!” he yelled vexingly before tossing him away like how one would treat

a crumpled up piece of paper they intended to discard. With the throw gaining

an impressive ten metres in height, as he fell into a nearby tree. “Weak!!” Gerard

sighed off as he started to dramatically pick his nose and flick the mucus

balls around.

  The

unconscious Dean hung upside down from the top of the tree dazed and

unresponsive, as the brunches that held his body began to creek and break.

“Well damn, that’s just brutal,” Conner stated bluntly

in an impressed demeanour as he stared at Dean’s current predicament, “Hey!!!

You ok??!!!” he yelled out with no response.

“Wow!! You know sometimes I forget how strong you actually

are!” Luke chuckled as he scratched his head in disbelief, “So what do you

think D!? Doesn’t that set the record?” He asked optimistically to a

disgruntled Damien who had his back to them, nudging him repeatedly in an

effort to get a response.

“No it doesn’t ok!!” Damien begrudgingly responded,

his gaze lost on the ground as the fire in his eyes turned passionate. “And

besides!! I was supposed to set the new record! Not cool man!!!” he yelled as

he pointed at a seemingly uninterested Gerard who shrugged him off.

  As a shock

to no one, Gerard only escalated the situation further. As he found the moment

of weakness from the otherwise un-phased Damien irresistibly hilarious. The

thought of slowing whilst he was ahead was one he could not accept, milking his

triumph as he pulled a toothpick from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth

whilst he relaxed with his arms crossed behind his head – egging on Damien’s

rage with a hundred percent effectiveness. “Awwr! Is the birthday boy upset?!

You know; I could have thrown him further if I didn’t hold back!!” Gerard

remarked with a cocky smirk as his response threw Conner into an uncontrollable

laughing fit, as the interaction triggered a short but aggressive outburst of a

dense aura that burst out from Damien’s back.

  Despite not

causing any actual harm to any of the boys present, the ferocity of the aura

was still on another level, as it seemed to consume the life from the plants it

came into contact with. Its darkness seemed to cancel the light that penetrated

it, and its viscosity meant nothing could be seen beyond it. But just as it

seemed to appear, it vanished, as what seemed to be a glitter on his chest and

the clench of his jaw completely nullified it – without leaving a single trace.

As the only people to notice it happening were Dean and Luke, who acted as

though it was a normal occurrence and paid it no tribute.

“So that’s the cap you’re going with hunh?!!” Luke

sceptically yelled out in an attempt to defuse the tension of the situation, “We

all know it was a fluke!! And besides, the rules of Idiot Toss clearly state

that only brute strength alone is permitted; but I bet if we bring ‘The Noise Machine’

down, then we’ll definitely find some traces of sand and earth on him!” he

uttered with even more scepticism as he conveyed both authority and confidence,

“You know; unless you’re scared that is?!.....” he added on as he walked closer

and whispered into his ear – giving him the exact result he desired.

  Though it soothed his ego, Gerard mistakenly gave

in to the intentionally insulting request. He let his pride take over, letting

out a deep sigh of dissatisfied compliance as he clapped his palms together and

held the stance at chest height.

  Waves of a brown-orange

like aura with slight traces of sediment particles enveloped Gerard’s lower

wrists, as it completely encased his hands in the thin tentacle like energy

coating. His eyes darkened, as the light blue hue of his irises turned

neon-brown just as he stretched his arms outward in a grabbing-like motion.

  The group

observed as the atmosphere around Gerard drew thicker and sharper, as the

multitude of micro-dust particles that laid the environment around them began

to swarm in response to his actions. A large dust cloud formed from the swirl

in less than a second, taking on a vivid appearance that heavily resemble human

arms, as the appendages seemed to originate from his back and grew to a six-foot

margin. Without so much as a word, Gerard grunted, as the out stretching motions

he made were mimicked by the extra appendages, enabling him to pick Dean’s

unconscious body from the tree and set it on the ground with relative ease. “Sigh!!

There! You happy now?!!” Gerard asked pessimistically, facing Luke as the

sediment that orbited his body dissipated outwards – as his eyes and aura slowly

returned to normal.

   However, Gerard’s satisfaction would be quite

a ways off, as Luke only gave off a smile in response. Strongly relishing in

the realization that the ploy he had wagered on and succeeded at helped feed

his sense of superiority. With the slight left-tilt of his head, he gave off a

satisfied grin that made his success feel all the more, sweeter. “Very!” he

remarked sadistically in response, as the direct eye contact the two shared

made Gerard realise the position he had willingly placed himself in.

  Conner on

the other hand, was not concerned with the formalities of the game, as the

anger that blistered with in him earlier took hold as he stepped forward. Still

feeling irritated by the whole thing, Conner approached Dean’s body, kicking

him lightly in the gut to turn him over and angle his face to the sky. “Hey

idiot; wake up!!” he grunted over his teeth nihilistically as he proceeded to

step on Dean’s face. “C’mon, we all know you’re not out cold; so hurry up and

move or we’ll be late!!” he stated as he ground his foot in harder.

“Can’t we just leave him here?!” Gerard sighed

expressing his annoyance with the situation, as he shrugged his shoulders,

slung his backpack, and began to walk away.

“Hey a**hole; where do you think you’re running off

to?!! Don’t forget this is all your fault to begin with! You wake him up!!!!”

Luke insisted aggressively as he grabbed a hold of Gerard’s backpack and lifted

him off the ground.

  Meanwhile,

Conner grew more inpatient as his efforts to awake Dean drew fruitless, leading

him to succumb to his rage as his eyes turned neon-blue and a deep-blue frosty

aura began to emerge from his clenched fists and curdled breathe. It turned the

air around him colder and darker, as the moisture on the tar mark slowly began

to harden and freeze into ice.

“Let’s just incinerate him and take the ashes to

school instead; I mean it’s not like they’ll be much of a difference anyway?!”

Damien suggested, rolling his eyes as he clenched his fists and cracked his

knuckles.

“No way!! I already called dibs on this one!!”

Conner spout back defensively in response to the suggestion as he rapidly fired

out ice shards from the palm of his outstretched right arm, faster than the eye

could see, in Damien’s direction.

  For a moment

though, it was as if Damien was blinked away. He seemed to vanish as though

somebody had quickly flicked a light switch off and on. His presence faded off

as quickly as it reappeared, as when he returned, all the projectile shards that

had been sent at him were held firmly in his left arm. They stopped inches from

penetrating his chest and piercing his heart, as he seemed to appear unfazed by

the whole ordeal – noted by his right hand tucked into his trousers and the air

of minimal effort he gave off. “Hunh fine; we’ll kill him together then!!”

Damien grunted whilst he attempted to suppress his rath, as his eyes turned

deep neon-crimson and the sweat that dropped from his brow vaporized. With the

heat that emanated from his appendages being enough to scorch the ends of his

jacket and pants. “We go on 1! 3; 2; --!” he counted as his elevated right fist

was enveloped in a thick dark golden-like orange flame.

  But just before

the countdown could be completed, Dean jolted to his feet and threw himself into

the air in an attempt to make a quick escape – were it not for his plans being

thwarted by Luke, who took to singlehandedly lifting him off the ground by the

back of his collar to pacify him.

  With Dean in

his right hand and Gerard in the left, Luke let out a deep sigh of relief, as

the opposing factors to their progress had thoroughly been neutralized. “Sigh; finally,

we can now get a move on!”

“Hey put me down; this isn’t fair!!!” Dean insisted

as he tried to get free of Luke’s hold.

“And whose fault is that I wonder?!!!” Luke replied

ferociously with no hesitation, taking no time whatsoever to give a burning

response. “Sigh! Why are short people always such a nuisance!” he pondered aloud

as he faced the ground in shame.

“Hey I’m not short! I’m 5’6” and you know it!!” Dean

stated proudly in an effort to preserve his pride.

“And I’m 5’7”; Damien and Conner are 5’8”, and

Luke’s 6’1”! Sigh!! Heck even Stacy and Rosetta are 5’8” and 5’9” between them!!!!

Face it man, you’re a pipsqueak!” Gerard proclaimed in a tone that was both

logical and agreeable, as he dangled half a metre off the ground.

“This is abuse!” Dean muttered to himself as the

feeling of defeat overwhelmed his self-esteem. “Just put me down, I’m too

depressed to run.” He insisted as he flopped to his butt once Luke let him free.

“Finally; sigh! We can get going!!’ Damien let out

like an excited child in a sudden shift of personality upon checking his cell

phone. As both his eyes, as well as the flames and heat he had generated, were

reverted to normal and dissipated. In the process of which he accelerated the

pace at which he was moving, creating a sizeable distance between himself and

everybody else in the group.

  Although

they were all rightfully shocked and uneasy, Dean, Gerard, and Conner, who had

just deactivated his abilities, followed suite after him. Choosing not to

question the shift to avoid quarrels. An effort that failed to account for one

person.

  Finally

broken by all the excessive antics that had transpired that morning, Luke snapped,

snapping his fingers and pulling them all back to him with a large gust of

wind. He opted to hold them in place a few metres off the ground until he could

slowly catch up to them and all get moving at the same pace, eventually putting

them down as their formation filled up the width of the street – with Damien

and Conner at the centre, Dean to Damien’s left, and Luke to Conner’s right. With

Gerard walking cross armed behind his head, ahead of them. As Damien scold

intensely from their slow pace.

“Somebody’s in a rush. Could it be because you wanna

see Stacy so badly?!!” Dean stated suggestively as he gave off a sinister grin.

With his right index finger to his chin, leaning in towards Damien, he began to

make kissy faces and moan exaggeratedly.

  The sudden

and unexpected teasing was more than Damien’s nerves could take, as his

attempts to hide his embarrassment only worked to fuel the laughter and

hysteria that would follow from the group. Which led him to pace faster in an

effort to escape the shame.

“So you didn’t even make a game plan? That’s some

weak shit my man!!” Gerard laughed while he patted Damien’s back as he walked

passed him frantically. Slowing Damien slightly.

“That’s what she said!!!” Luke, Dean, and Conner

said in unisons, as it led to the hysteria they were engulfed in growing

louder.

“I guess great minds think alike!!!” Conner stated,

amused by the shared train of thought.

“What great minds?! I only see the three of you!!”

Gerard delivered almost immediately, shutting them up as he chuckled with

pride.

“Well damn!!” Damien responded as he covered his

mouth in amusement.

“Leave it.” Luke grunted as he rolled his eyes.

“Anyways back to business. So why not just ask her

out at the party tonight?!!” Gerard asked Damien, as his tone was one of

confidence.

“Yeah; cause that’s the bestest chance you can get!”

Dean added on enthusiastically.

“Bruh bestest isn’t a word in the English language?!”

Luke followed up with a look of disgust.

“And wimp ain’t a word in the Wade vocabulary; but

here we are!!!” Dean stated vicariously to drive his point home.

“Sorry man but he’s right!” Conner stated agreeably

as he nodded his head and stroked his chin with his right hand.

“Fine!! I’ll do it alright!” Damien yelled out, as

he finally gave in to their taunts.

“That’s the ‘Moon’ we all know and love!!” Luke

exclaimed proudly as he patted Damien on the shoulder.

“Good call; otherwise I wouldn’t have had a choice.”

Gerard stated optimistically as he smirked sinisterly and looked upward as he

walked.

 “You

wouldn’t?!” Damien responded as the shock filled his face.

“If you forced my hand.” Gerard replied in a snarky

response.

“I’m so lost; what are we talking about??!” Conner

asked in confusion.

“That idiot was planning on turning himself into

that other idiot!!!” Dean explained in a mellow tone as he waved his right

index finger between the two with the roll his eyes.

“Wait, but he’s got an earth nature; plus I didn’t

know he had enough ‘SHI’ for that to begin with!?!” Conner shockingly

exclaimed.

“Well every nature shares the same basic applications,

just different methodologies. Take transformation for example; normally for a

perfect one, you’d need a high enough amount of ‘SHI,’ or ‘Magic Designated

Energy.’ However, by tapping into the basics of your nature you can induce the

temporary creation of ‘VI,’ which would let you apply a transformation by using

your element as a basis!” Gerard explained with an air of enthusiasm.

“So you were paying attention during MR. Ronin’s

classes weren’t you!!?” Luke stated with an air of pride in him.

“Sorta; but my brother filled in most of the gaps

for me!” Gerard chuckled with his right hand behind his head, as he embraced

the positive enforcement.

“Good idiot! Though we both know Rosetta would sniff

you out from a mile away and probably decapitate you for trying to impersonate

her hubby!” Dean replied enthusiastically with a chuckle as everybody fell into

laughter – everybody except Luke, who stared down with an empty smile as they

continued along the route in conversation.

  After a

couple of blocks and some random discussions accompanied by hysterics, the boys

finally made it to their destination. The bus stop where Stacy and Rosetta had

been conversing as they awaited both their, as well as the school bus’s arrival.

Though they were still a bit of a ways off, they were close enough to make out

partial images of one of the girls, as a tree obscured the bench they had been

waiting at.

  Rosetta was

seated on the bench, as she patiently attempted to tie her long pink hair into

a small and manageable bun, as her warm brown eyes seemed to glance back and

forth in anticipation of something. She wore: a black and white checked skirt

that measured to slightly above her knees, a white shirt, a yellow crop top

jacket with two blue suspended strip tags on each side, and a pair of yellow

and black print high-top sneakers that all extenuated her thin, fit pear-like

figure. She sat and listened, as Stacy rambled on about a random topic to pass

the time, agreeing indiscriminately to whatever thought process her older

sister chose to use to justify her mental position.

  While her

violet eyes reflected the early morning sun, they inadvertently acquired a

mesmerising glow that ensured all attention was fixed on them. It was clear

that Stacy was upset about something, as she stood beside Rosetta and leaned on

one of the side posts that held up the shelter’s roof. Although her back, as

well as the soul of her right foot were the only things to make direct contact

with the pole, she still managed to unwind, as she vented out her remaining frustrations

through her ramble, twirling her long black hair with her right index finger to

pass the time. Despite what seemed to be a terrible morning, her style still

managed to somehow merge the various aspects of her personality, shedding light

on her numerous physical and personal traits, as her fit triangular-type build was

not easily matched. She was dressed in: a tight white crop topped shirt with a

black stripe under the right arm and a thigh length skirt to match, a blue crop

topped hoody with the tag ‘Armerdale’s Most Wanted’ pasted over the chest, a

black chocker, and a pair of blue high-topped sneakers. With a netted sleeve on

her right arm and leg, and a netted fingerless glove over her left wrist.

  Rosetta let

out a large sigh of relief, as she finally managed to loop her unruly hair into

a bun. With an intense feeling of satisfaction, she glanced over to Stacy in an

effort to convey the good news, although to her surprise, her attention seemed

to already be preoccupied.

  With an ecstatic

grin on her face, Stacy glanced outward, as her vision fixed in the direction

from which the guys approached.

“Oh; is your boy toy finally here?!” Rosetta leaned

forward to taunt her, as her cheeks turned bright red and she grinned

suggestively.

“Hey you know it isn’t like that, Damien and I are

just friends!” Stacy responded, as she tried to hide the fact that her

heartbeat began to increase rapidly.

“Mmhung Mmhung! Who ever said I was talking about

Damien Wade?!!” Rosetta defended cheekily, as she let out a light chuckle.

“Cause he’s all you ever talk about kiddo!” Stacy

implied with the picking her backpack off the floor as she straightened her

posture and corrected her hair.

  Of course Rosetta

took note of the action as she rose to her feet, stretched her hands above her

head as she proceeded to strap on her side bag. “That’s cause I’m always

routing for you sis!” she said, as she jumped on Stacy’s back and nudged her

towards the oncoming group, which caused Stacy to trip and almost fall over, as

she was caught by Damien on the last second.

“Whoa; lucky I was here hunh?” Damien stated

confidently with a blush on his face as he helped Stacy back to her feet.

“Sigh! I don’t know if luck’s the word I’d use!” Stacy

passive aggressively uttered as she glared daggers at Rosetta, who responded

with a tauntingly satisfied grin, “But thanks anyway!” she stated, as she tried

her best not to stare directly into what she perceived as his piercing eyes.

“Did you really have to push her that hard? ....” Conner

asked enthusiastically as he whispered into Rosetta’s right ear.

“Bold of you to assume I had anything to do with it.

I just have a clumsy older sister that’s all.” Rosetta muttered back as she

attempted to fame appal.

“Right!” Gerard blurted out sceptically with immense

disbelief, “-- And I thought that was supposed to be my line!” He murmured interrogatively.

“Well the beautiful do tend to do as they please

after all.” Luke stated with assurance as he barged into the conversation – as

it resulted in a barely visible blush to emerge on Rosetta’s face at the drop

of his comment.

“If only the flower desired the bee’s pollen….” Dean

whispered laughingly into Gerard’s left ear while the group came together as a

whole to convers. Leaving Conner, who had overheard the conversation, to freeze

with a look of uneasiness on his face.

  The topics

were mostly menial, as they mainly went over their mornings and the previous

day’s assignments – that was, until Luke brought up the fact that it was Damien

and Conner’s birthday.

  Without much

of a warning, Conner felt a strong electric shock run down the back of his

neck, as he felt a strong feminine hand slowly grasp it from behind. With a

slight tilt of his head, his worst fears were verified as he saw her irises

turn neon-white. It was bad – Stacy was out for blood and he was her current

target.

“Shit!! What was that for you crazy She Demon?!!!”

Conner cried out in retaliation as he created some distance between them and

attempted to uncover the source of her rath.

“Don’t get cocky you glorified Refrigerator!! You

knew what you were supposed to do and you blew it!!” Stacy stated angrily in

response, as the electrical build-up generated in her currently heightened

emotional state began to cause her hair to rise up. Helping to enforce the

direness of the situation that was glorified by currents that’s flowed out from

her completely enveloped eye sockets.

“We got here early didn’t we!!?” Conner yelled back

defensively as Damien was blissfully unaware of the reason the two were

bickering.

“You call this early?! You barely missed the freaking

bus!” Stacy replied in a logical tone that helped enforce the validity of her

claim. Slowly but surely aiding to quell her bubbling rath as well. To which Conner

was utterly oblivious.

“Blame Dean, he’s the one who decided to take a cat

nap!” Conner replied nervously, lifting his arms in the air to signify he

wasn’t a threat.

  Stacy

glanced back at Dean with murderous intent as she heard the claim. Though his attempts

to cower behind Rosetta were promptly thwarted as she stepped out of the way.

“C’mon Rosy I thought we was cool; your sis’s gonna

kill me!!” Dean quivered in a panic as everybody else stepped back, clearing a

direct path for Stacy to approach him.

“I get enough of this at home! Time to meet your

maker like a man little dude!!” Rosetta laughed nervously, holding eye contact

with him as she slowly backed away in Stacy’s direction to take cover.

“R.I.P my guy!!” The boys said sympathetically in

unisons as they did a cross prayer ritual and slapped their palms together.

  As Stacy

approached Dean, the static electricity in the air began to build up more,

leading the split ends on everybody’s heads to rise up. It was the feeling of emptiness,

as Stacy grabbed his collar with her right arm and enveloped her left fist in

an electric ball so strong it could stop an elephant’s heart with a single

touch. “You’re dead pipsqueak!” She snarled as she got ready to strike.

  Nevertheless,

although Dean knew that he would most likely survive the impact, the thought of

the intense pain he would have to experience was enough to make him quake in

place. His eyes shook rapidly in his face as he closed his sockets in

anticipation and attempted to pray his way out of it. Lost in thought, he

searched for an answer, going as far as opting to actually seek divine

intervention. “-- Can anybody up there

hear me; Please; I’ll do whatever minimal thing I have to if you toss me a

bone; I’ll even give up gaming for a month!” He thought from the depths of

his mind.

  Just then,

as Stacy was about to strike, a horn was heard that forced them all into action.

From the end of the curve just slightly out of view, the school bus began to

approach. It was a standard yellow school bus, with the tags ‘Voco Technical High

school’ pasted on its sides, as well as a ‘Red Star-like Crest’ over the front

bonnet.

“Power down, it’s time to go!” Luke said

authoritatively as he grabbed Stacy’s hand upon sensing the urgency of the

impending situation.

  Annoyed by

the sudden revelation, Stacy reluctantly powered down, resulting in the static,

as well as everybody’s hair reverting to normal, as Dean breathed a heavy sigh

of relief. “This isn’t over!” Stacy insinuated with an even more violent

undertone as she cracked her neck, knuckles, and stretched her legs with side

lunges.

  Less than

five-seconds later, the school bus pulled into the terminal and they all began

to board. By order of appearance, the first two on-board were Stacy and Gerard,

with Damien and Conner embarking thereafter as the entire bus burst into cheer

and celebration, with the words “Happy Birthday!!” echoing most prevalently. Last

to get on were Rosetta, Dean, and Luke, who had to fight against the swaying of

the bus in order to get to their seats at the rear end.

“Since when are you terrors ever existed for

school?!!” The old bus driver snickered comically to the students as he pushed

a bottom on his dashboard to close the doors and carefully pulled into the

road.

:

:

:

   Christopher

stood alone, calm and collected at the centre of what appeared to be an expansive,

dark and empty conference hall.

“-- Get him out of here!!! -- Yeah this is all your

fault!!! -- You failed your position!!! -- He brings shame to the title of ‘Grand

General’!!! -- Humans should have never been given such powers!!!--” and other

aggressive and dissatisfied taunts could be clearly made out from the abyss

that surrounded him. Though the words weren’t enough to elicit a reaction from

him, the lack of veracity and quick succession of the clams was enough to make

Christopher clench his fist behind his back.

“If the weak are done exercising their traps, I

suggest we return to the matters at hand; how do we plan to handle the sudden

upset in the balance of ‘Divine Authorities’?!” Christopher stated, not showing

any hint of emotion or concern from his demeanour.

“We have reason to believe his primary objectives

will be to seek aid from ‘The Seven Great Demon Households,’ as the ‘Demon

Lords’ that possess the authority of a ‘Sin’ tend to have greater military might!”

A figure from the crowd validated, as their heavy voice commanded a sense of authority

that brought all the background chatter to a halt.

“I see you’re as late to information table as usual

Alexander; although that should be expected from a filthy ‘Arione!’ The

movement in the ‘Demon Domains’ was verified over a month ago. Hence it only

stands to reason that their next target would be ‘The Planet Earth’!!” Another

figure, one situated parallel to the previous, remarked, making their

oppositions clear as their sinister vocal patterns instigated a sense of unrest

as their words sparked further background deliberations from the unseen

audience.

“Silence!!!!” A third figure yelled out, bringing a

stop to all the chatter once more. “This is why my faction suggested we

eradicate the entirety of the ‘Milky-way Galaxy’!! Besides being an eyesore, wiping

the galaxy from the map would effectively take care of a good portion of the

threats that place the universe on the thin line between order and chaos!” The

figure continued to point out, as its tone was simple yet convincing. “As the

head of the ‘C.O.R.E’ and ‘The Council of Light’, it is your responsibility to

do what’s best for the universe as a whole. Regardless of your current

affiliations and allegiances!!!”

“That’s not gonna happen.” Christopher stated,

conveying both authority and bloodlust towards everybody present. “The deal was

that I had 24 hours to handle any attention worthy threats before they became a

council matter, and as far as I can remember, my time doesn’t run out until 6

am tomorrow morning,” He said bluntly as he reached his left arm into his

pocket and used the right to pick his briefcase off the floor, “So unless you

firmly believe you could all take me on at once and live, I highly suggest you

refrain from making any reckless decisions!” Christopher finished off, leaving

the room in a panic and disarray as he lit a lighter and vanished into the

large flame that erupted from it.

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