Alkalians

by Caleb S. Bugai

  Cain squeals while raising his arms to protect his face. Before Nicholas sends his fist forward, James, rejoined into one man instead of two, appears next to them and cries, “Nicholas, stop! As much as he deserves it, you can’t attack him like that when he’s out of morph, you would be breaking college rules!”

  His fist locked back from James’ interjection, Nicholas growls out his frustration between his clenched teeth. Glancing past Cain, he notices the other students staring back at him, their eyes big, clothes dripping wet, and bodies shivering from cold and fear. Then, his narrowed eyes widen with shock. The anger in his face fades away, his right arm lowers itself down, and he lets go of Cain, dropping him to the muddy ground with a soft thud.

  While both Cain and James are astonished by his sudden change in behavior, Nicholas mutters in a quiet voice, “I have to go now. Excuse me.” His gaze low, he walks away, leaving the crowd of students behind and setting off into the empty fields.

  Watching him leave with startled expressions on their faces, Cain and James don’t notice Buster come up behind them until he declares, “Well, once again, Nicholas Narqailein vanquishes all who are captured in his sea of fury. It’s so expected of it always, freaking happening, I would love to meet the guy who finally defeats him.”

  Shifting over onto his knees, Cain admits, “Yes, he is due for someone to take him down. He’s just a big jerk, anyway, it would probably have been for the better if he did hit me, just so I could get him suspended for it! Heh, how refreshing that would have been, right, James?”

  Looking up to him, Cain’s attempt to brighten up is denied when he sees James leering down at him. He rebukes, “You’re full of conceit to the bitter end, aren’t you? It was a good thing I stopped Nicholas from slugging you, it would have been tragic to see someone like him lowered to your stature.”

  Stepping over to James’ right side, Buster shows his grimace while speaking down to Cain, “You truly are pathetic. You not only tried to use the Wrecking Wave to do your dirty work, but you failed even at that. Hey, wait a minute.” He thinks back to what Nicholas had said and exclaims, “Did, did Matt beat him? Oh, if he did, I’m gonna sock him for doing it when I wasn’t around to see it!”

  “No, no, that couldn’t be,” objects Cain with a snarl. “No student here can defeat the Drowning Dread, everyone knows that. More likely, the freshman freak begged him for forgiveness after he got crushed, and that somehow moved him with pity. Now, if it had been me in Nicholas’ place…”

  “Which is even more unlikely, since you won’t dare go within a hundred yards of Matt, you would have probably gloated over him and spat in his face. Am I right?” Cain, about to snap back at him, is reminded of the glare on Buster’s expression. “Oh, and let me warn you…” He tugs on the blue badge on his chest, identical to the one on James. “Once you get to the tournament finals, if you get to the finals, you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

  With his mind spoken, Buster turns and walks away, shouting to the students still standing around, “Okay guys, the show’s over! Go back to your cabins and change into some warmer, dry clothing. If anyone here volunteers to help me get the unconscious to the infirmary, however, they get a round of drinks at the casino, all on me!”

  While Buster stirs the other students into action, Cain and James glance back at each other. Holding out his hand, Cain wryly smiles and asks, “Can I get a helping hand, cousin?”

  His leer like stone upon his face, James replies, “Help yourself. I tried, and failed, to help you years ago.” He walks past him without a second glance, wiping strands of hair off his face while a stunned Cain looks on after him.

  A moment after he leaves, and after noticing nobody else moving to help him, Cain pounds the ground near him with his left fist, bitterly thinking to himself why every plot he thinks of to bring Matt down only makes him look worse, and how he is left alone. Well, almost alone.

  ***

  Two days later, Sean wanders the casino’s halls, looking for something to do. Yesterday, he was so busy challenging people and winning points off victorious battles he was exhausted by the end of the day. Upon checking the score on the back of his badge, he concluded he had gathered two hundred and forty-seven points. Therefore, he decided to take a break before the final day of battling tomorrow.

  Just like he remembers from last year, Sean sees the casino isn’t as busy as it usually was, due to most of the students fighting all over campus. He walks about through the eerily quiet building, not sure what to do as one of the few using the casino. Soon, he comes into the swimming pool section. When he sees it mostly absent of people, he’s about to leave when something grabs his attention. Someone is swimming in the main pool all by herself, and the tanned skin, flowing red hair, and sudden attraction toward her tells him it’s Cynthia. Not conscious of doing it, Sean comes closer to the water as she is exits the pool.

  Before wrapping herself in a towel, Cynthia’s current appearance is fixed into Sean’s vision. The only clothing she has on are brown-colored bikini bras. The rest of her visible body is tanned a beautiful shade, curiously more bronze then instead of garnet, and her long red hair gleams like liquid ruby when she doesn’t dry it off. Almost in a trance from her appeal, Sean doesn’t realize he’s gotten a few steps away from her.

  When she finishes drying the most of herself, Cynthia turns to notice Sean. Surprised, she says, “Well, you’re being the most quiet I’ve ever known you. How are you, Sean?”

  Sean, slowly escaping his day-dreams, replies, “Oh, fine. I was, looking for something to, take up my time.”

  “Ah, you’re not working on your project right now?” asks Cynthia with a sweet tone. “Me, too. I fought all day yesterday, and even had a few matches along the way here.”

  “Ah,” Sean responds. “Yeah, fighting for hours can be a lot of work. This is my first time in such a situation, you know, and it’s tougher than I thought. In fact, I lost a few battles from taking on too many people in a row and a guy would only need to hit me once to make me demorph.”

  “You mean you don’t know the recovery trick?” Cynthia asks him. When Sean gives a clueless gesture, she explains, “After a battle, if you demorph and remain human for enough time, your morph regains whatever health it lost at a fast rate. So when you have low health energy, just stay out of morph for a few minutes, re-morph, and you’ll be fully healed for another match!”

  Sean smacks his forehead and says, “Of course! That’s what they meant in science class when they talked about the Combat Cycle. The time you’re out of morph must be the interphase!”

  “Exactly.” She and him pause for a moment, each of them not sure what else to say. Then she asks, “Want to go for a walk?”

  Caught off-guard by the question, Sean stammers before answering with, “Uh, sure. I’ll just, wait here while you change into some warmer clothes.”

  Cynthia chuckles before telling him, “Actually, I didn’t bring any clothes besides the ones I’m wearing.” After Sean stares at her in disbelief, she passes by him and gets him to follow with a finger motion, a sly smile on her delicious red lips.

  ***

  Shortly after they leave the casino, Sean and Cynthia walk through the open fields. If anyone had seen them, it would have been an odd scene. A fully dressed man walking beside a woman clothed only in towel and barefoot. The autumn day is particularly cold as the northern wind deepens the chill.

  Cynthia acknowledges the current temperature when she admits, “Like I said, I came through here in my battle morph. I didn’t feel the cold while I was in morph.”

  “Uh-huh,” says Sean. “And you would be in your morph again right now, if I wasn’t here.”

  “Yeah. I would probably go out of my way just to find a few battles, too.”

  “Indeed. Hey, do you have your badge with you?”

  “Hah, of course.” She reaches down between her towel and herself, pulling out a green badge. “It’s a shame I didn’t get red, it would have
gone better with my fashion, you know.”

  “Right. Did you have it on you when you were swimming?”

  “Oh, no, but I suppose I could have, if I didn’t care. It was with my towel. After that first year Nicholas took the community by storm and won the whole tournament, they’ve made the badges waterproof.”

  “Really? I didn’t know that, but that makes sense. Considering the wake the Wrecking Wave leaves behind, people would want their badges waterproof. As for when they weren’t, what happened then?”

  “Oh, it was a near disaster. Over half the student community would have failed the project portion if the staff hadn’t made an emergency event of handing out new badges to replace their broken ones. For the tournament portion, however, the damage was done. Some of those expected to get high scores and gain a place didn’t make it, and so the unexpected came to replace them. A few even turned out to be dark horses in the competition. There was that Magician guy whose spells cast illusions and mirages, and that’s when James Iroshen came into the spotlight as a fighter. In the end, however, the extraordinary, exotic battle morph of the freshman Nicholas was the victor, alongside the senior Saul, the Black Dragon from Riaquen.”

  “Dang. That must have been an eventful year for all of you.”

  “Hah, sure was! Nobody was the same after that year. The seniors and I of today, freshmen back then, had lost our innocence, you could say. Oh, speaking of Nicholas, I’ve heard rumors going around that Matt had fought with him, and may have defeated him. Do you know anything about that?”

  Sean snuffs and replies, “Would I? Of course. Rose and I were there to witness it! Matt literally turned the tide, I tell you, and he smoked that Whale out of the water!”

  “Wow, that’s, that’s amazing! When everyone knows of it, that’s sure to make Matt appear evermore greater than Cain.”

  “Oh yes, that it will. I’m betting the whole community will know the truth of it by the time the battle royale is over.”

  “I would bet differently there, Sean. I would bet you double that everyone will know by tonight.”

  “Oh? Now why would you say that?”

  “Because I could go tell my girls to spread the word like wildfire.”

  “Hey, that’s cheating! You would fix it in your favor!”

  “But of course I would, Sean. I am Lady Luck, after all, remember?” When he pouts, she chuckles. Seeing they are still alone in the field with no one seeing them together, Cynthia decides to bring up another subject. “Out of all the boyfriends I’ve had, do you know why I’ve liked you the most?”

  Completely and honestly surprised, Sean asks, “I’m your boyfriend? When did this happen?”

  Cynthia laughs before saying, “Did you think my flirt with you before was going to end there? Anyway, it’s just because of what you do naturally.”

  “…What am I doing naturally?”

  “You make me laugh! I’ve always had to put on tough impressions with anyone else dating me, but you let me relax and enjoy myself by just being yourself. Plus, you wouldn’t care who’s in charge of our relationship, you’d be happy just to be with me. Am I right?”

  “Ah, sure, I guess. Although, you do scare me yet.”

  She laughs again, assuring him, “Don’t worry, we’ll just have to be together more, and then you’ll get used to me. Would you like that?”

  “Hmm, you sure it’s okay? I mean, considering your reputation and the class divide between us…”

  “Pff, I don’t care about any of that anymore, the way times have changed. I don’t want to be plotting or manipulating anymore, I just want to have fun. And I have fun with you, I’ve found out. You see, Sean, we both satisfy the other. We’re mutual.”

  A deeper meaning of those words sets into them both for a moment before a cold wind blows by, causing Cynthia to shiver. Then, upon inspiration, she opens up her towel and stretches it along her arm. Taking the hint, looking at her for the nod of approval, Sean comes closer and lets her put her arm around him, having them both in the towel. After a few steps together, she says, “Hey, I feel warmer already.”

  “Uh, glad to hear it. I am as well.”

  “That’s not surprising,” she remarks, smirking as he squirmed shyly. She then suggests as she presses him against her body beneath the towel, “How about hanging out at my cabin for the evening? I could show you my recent sculptures, and, a few other things.”

  Considering her words, and the wink she gives him, Sean throws his anxiety to the wind, saying, “Yeah, you know what? I would love that.”

  “As would I.” After their eyes look deeply into each other, with no more delay, they romantically kiss.

  Chapter 11

  Sinister Shadows

  ***

  That same day, in the college’s main building, Matt runs through the halls, being chased by several students. They call after him, all wanting to fight him, and Matt can’t figure out why they wanted to. Desperate to get away from them, he turns into the library and hides. The pursuers follow him in, look about earnestly, but are unable to find him and leave while grumbling. When they are all gone, Matt reappears from where none of the students expected someone would be, laying down underneath a shelf.

  As he walks away from the bookshelves, dusting his clothes off, he notices someone studying in the back of the large library. When he recognizes her as Lyn, Matt heads over to her curiously. While getting closer, he sees Lyn is reading through a folder of filed papers.

  Lyn already knows who was coming to her without seeing him, as the other students had made a great fuss searching around her. She says, “Having fun being target number one?”

  “Not really,” Matt tells her as he sits down in a chair next to her. “What I can’t understand is why everyone even wants to fight me now. I thought most people were afraid to fight me!”

  “The Royale Project is when most students get the nerve to challenge the top students of battle,” Lyn explains to him. “They think since people like you will be battling so much to get the most points, they can get a good score off you when you’re tired out.”

  “Oh, so they don’t want to give me a break, is that it?” Matt nods as he understands, and asks, “What’s your score, right now?”

  “Uh, let’s see.” Lyn takes off the badge on the belt at her waist, checking the back of it. “Three hundred twenty-six points. And you?”

  Matt pulls his badge off his green jacket, checking the back. “Five hundred forty-two.”

  Lyn blinks. “Wow, that much already? You’ve been busy! I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing still, or not, that we have the same badge colors now, haha.”

  “We do? Oh yeah, look at that. What a coincidence!” They both laugh before he looks back to the files out before her. “What are those papers about?”

  “Oh, these are the files on the cases my father’s been involved in for Tirez. In most of my spare time, I look at my father’s work and review all the news about his battles and the criminals he went after. It just helps to remind me how important and hard his job can be.”

  “Ah, that’s cool. So, if you don’t mind me asking, has there been any criminal your father didn’t catch?”

  “Actually, there was one, and the only one, who he couldn’t capture.” Lyn grabs one paper from the folder, and reads it out loud while Matt follows along. “Fifteen years ago, Fenrir Arcterus led an investigation upon rumors of Shadow Core terrorist activity in the southern provinces of Tirez. His squad soon found the cavern in which the terrorists were located and got into full-out battle with them. At first, it seemed like Fenrir and his men would defeat all of the criminals without any difficulty. However, further along into the fight, he realized someone was taking out his own men, one-by-one, then retreating into the darker spaces of the cave.

  “He followed this particular character, and discovered this Dark Warrior was a Beast, Snake style, and was very skilled in combat. It was Fenrir’s hardest match he had ever encountered, and yet neither co
mbatant could land a finishing blow. Then, he discovered there were explosives hidden throughout the cavern, and realized the open battle with the S.C. was a trap. Fenrir managed to escape right before the bombs detonated and the cave collapsed, being the only one of his squad to survive. As for the terrorists, it is believed that none of them got out alive.”

  After Lyn finishes reading, she turns to Matt and says, “I’m curious to know whom that Beast Dark Warrior was, since even my father couldn’t overcome him. Ironically, I’m actually disappointed one like him was lost so easily to a cave-in.”

  Matt is deep in thought, remembering something, and says, “You know, something like that sounds familiar. I think my own father had a run in with this same Dark Warrior. Plus, this Alkalian must have been a she, not he.”

  “Really? What happened?”

  “Let’s see. He said it was years ago, probably just before your father got involved. He was doing border patrol and came upon some Tirez officers questioning a lone woman. Suddenly, the woman morphed into a huge serpent and started fighting them all at once. Without receiving a scratch, she forced them all into demorphing! Then, before she could kill them, my dad finally jumped in and distracted her while the officers got away. However, even my dad had trouble with this woman. Not only was she a Dark Warrior, but her attacks were so relentless and possibly deadly, any one mistake could have been his last.”

  “How did it end?” Lyn asks.

  Matt sighs before answering, “At some point in the battle, she vanished. My father couldn’t find her afterwards, nor could he reason why she would have retreated. But he was glad she did. They both had been wounded, but my father was worse-off from what he remembered.”

  Lyn is astonished. “Wow, what a character this person must have been. To think she fought both of our fathers, and neither of them could best her. And in the end, she lost her life to no Alkalian, but a force of nature. What a way to leave her mark.” As she puts the papers back into the folder, she asks Matt, “Anyway, what shall we do now?”