“What do you mean?”
“Oh, well it’s just that-”
A chime reverberates through the room, signaling someone was at his door.
Literally saved by the fucking bell…
He gives Stefani a smile, then scurries off to answer the door. On the other side he finds both Dan and Maggie waiting. Not surprisingly Dan gives the typical reaction of his jaw hitting the floor, with Maggie grabbing his hand to pull him in.
“Hi! I hope we aren’t late, being late is the worst. Ooh, what smells so good? Is that Stef? We are totally late, aren’t we? I told you we didn’t need to get your stupid alcohol! Dan close your mouth and move your feet or I’m going to hit you!”
Despite these people reserving his room as their own personal entertainment hub barely with his permission, there was something calming and familiar about the frenetic bursts of speech Maggie was prone to. In a time where it seemed like everyone was trying to ruin his life, kill him, or both, it was nice to have something normal to cling to.
Deciding she was tired of babysitting Dan, Maggie leaves him to Anaar, as she runs up to Stefani to give her an excited hug.
“Oh my gosh isn’t this place amazing? To think he doesn’t like anyone knowing where he lives! One room is bigger than our entire place, right?! Can you believe he has guest rooms? The beds are sooo comfortable!” When she sees the puzzled look on Stefani’s face, she speeds back over to Anaar, slapping him on the arm. “I can’t believe you didn’t give Stef a tour! You are such a terrible host! Seriously what is that smell? I wasn’t hungry before but now my mouth is watering!”
“Well I was just about to give her a tour when you guys showed up. This is good because now I don’t have to do it twice.”
Dan, finally coming to his senses, “Damn, who ya gotta fuck to get a place like dis?” After only receiving blank stares from both Maggie and Anaar, he holds up the bag in his hand. “I got liquor!?”
Leaving him to scurry after them, Maggie and Anaar go to rejoin Stefani. Taking them on the tour, Anaar stops in the kitchen to introduce them to Harston.
“Everyone this is Harston. Just think of him as my overprotective uncle that is totally cooking a feast even though I simply asked what was in the kitchen to eat…” Giving him a squinted, annoyed look, Anaar turns from the kitchen to continue onward.
As they all exit out of the kitchen, Dan leans over to whisper to Maggie, “Is dat who he fuckin’ to get dis room?” Receiving a disgusted glare and a slap on the arm, he simply responds, “They got more of ‘em? They takin’ applications?” Seeing he is being ignored and left behind, he rushes to catch up grumbling to himself. “Seem like a good ass deal to me…”
Finishing up the tour, the crew is all a buzz about how it should be their new designated hangout spot.
“Nope.”
“Aww come on man!”
“No.”
Smiling sweetly, Stefani grabs his hands, clasping them in hers. “Please?!”
“Absolutely not.”
“There are three of us and one of him, I’m sure there are ways to get him to comply…”
“Seriously, no more hanging out with Codi for you!”
After they all continue to sulk and gripe about Anaar being stingy, he finally raises his voice to a bellowing roar surprising them all. “We have gone half the school year without you knowing where I lived, and we have been just fine! At the end of the day this is my room! I don’t see anybody trying to make Dan’s room their hangout!”
“My room dirty as hell. Good luck.”
“Hard pass.”
“Dan, we love you, but no thanks!”
“What about you Stefani? You have a room in Tempest. That makes it a great spot and it has a view!”
When the attention suddenly is placed on her, she becomes nearly mute. “I have tons of instruments, and you never know when Sophia might show up. She’s very protective and people might get shot.”
Anaar shudders for a moment and then nods in agreement. “Ok, that is actually a very valid point. She will seriously shoot people for anything. Scratch Stefani from the list.” Turning to face Maggie, “So what about you?”
“No! Of course not! That is my personal space! What if I have like laundry to do, or I’m trying to study, or workout, or-”
“Generally live your life in solitude away from others for a while? Yeah, my point exactly. Now do you see why there is no way in hell we are turning my room into a hub?”
With more grumbles as if they were trying to find some way to come up with a good rebuttal, Maggie raises her finger, only to be stopped by Anaar before she can speak.
“And if you show up unannounced, I’m going for a shoot first, ask questions while shooting kind of mentality, except people will be losing limbs. Do I make myself clear?” Maggie looks at him horrified to which she simply gets a shrug in response. “What? You aren’t the only one who has been getting bad influences lately. Blame the ever trigger happy Ripp.”
With everyone finally dropping the subject, Dan meekly raises the bag with alcohol to Anaar. Giving him a look that says, ‘Really?’ he grabs the bag from Dan, taking it into the kitchen to put into the sub-zero freezer. As Dan trots happily along behind Anaar, he spots something delicious on the counter. Reaching to grab one of the tasty treats, his hand is swatted by Harston who gives him a menacing parental glare as he points, signaling them to leave the kitchen. Pushing the hurt Dan out of the kitchen, he turns back Harston, mouthing “Sorry.”
Back in the Receiving Room, Maggie is doing weird jumping motions which gets Anaar’s attention. As he gets closer, he hears her saying something in tune with the jumping.
“Open sesame! On, on TV! Holoprojection power!”
“What in the hell are you doing?!”
“How do you turn on the cool screens?!”
“Have you ever thought simply asking Hobb to do it might be the answer?”
“Oh. That makes a lot more sense.”
“Hobb turn on the screens!”
“Apologies Ms. Osorio, you do not have permissions to access this functionality.”
“Anaar! Why can Phavian do it but I can’t?! First you invite him over before us, then he gets free reign to the place like he lives here! It is already 1:41! We are missing the Melee!”
Giving a mental command, Anaar brings up a series of holoscreens, the two largest ones following Codi and Phavian. Grabbing his violin so he can return it to his room, he stops by the kitchen to thank Harston, apologizing for his friends. Disregarding his apologies, Harston gives him a rundown of all the dishes he has prepared before he takes his leave, wishing them a fun time. When Anaar asks him if he would like to stay and watch, he respectfully declines, indicating that he had other matters to attend to. Nodding in understanding, Anaar sees him off, returning his friends.
“I ain’t ever seen Codi for real try to hurt nobody before. Is they supposed to be steamin’?”
Walking over to the screen, Anaar sees the hapless person in question, on the ground, with a cloud of smoke rising from them as they twitch slightly. “Yeah no…. I don’t think human bodies are supposed to smoke like that. They are definitely down for the count.”
“She had his ass sizzlin’ like bacon in da fryin’ pan!”
Everyone looks over at Dan simultaneously, giving him exasperated stares.
“What? Don’t tell me y’all ain’t never fried up no bacon before. You cain’t tell me dat ain’t what it’s like!”
Shaking his head, Anaar heads back into the kitchen to bring out some of the dishes Harston had made along with some drinks.
“Where da booze?”
“Go get it yourself.”
“What if I don’t know how to work dis fancy place?”
“If you can’t open a door you are beyond redemption.”
Looking back sullenly, “Alright… Stef you in?!”
“Umm… Sure, why not.”
Throwing his hands in the air, Dan jumps up scream
ing, “Woohoo!! Partay!!”
◆◆◆
Hiking through the Forest zone, Codi takes special care to be in a constant state of absorbing energy. Though she had been preparing for days, her body could only sustain so much additional current in its reserves before she started to become a walking bug zapper. Over the years it seemed like her internal battery had been ever expanding, but it did not change the fact she knew there was never any telling what could be waiting around the corner and how much juice she would need to use. Constantly fluctuating when to store energy, or simply manipulate ambient energy in the atmosphere, she had grown rather adept at utilizing both so that she would be able to kick out some extreme voltage if necessary.
Checking her Vizer to see that there were 53/88 participants remaining, she was pleased the Melee was progressing so quickly. At only three hours in, if the pace kept up, they would be done well before nightfall. Nothing gave away a location better than bright flashes of electricity in the darkness. After how well Maggie and Anaar worked together, she was surprised Phavian had not once even attempted to set up a way for them to team up.
Given his drastic mood swings as of late, she was beginning to wonder if he had not somehow obtained a menstrual cycle. His latest setting of always angry was worse than his setting of always mopey. Mopey she could deal with. He at least would talk to her. Angry, he shut her out and refused to let her in. Angry scared her because she was never sure if he would lash out at her and really mean her harm.
For the first time, she was not sure if she even wanted to get to being number two, because there was a serious possibility he would not even let her concede, and instead proceed to hurt her badly. Crossing into the Plains zone, she could immediately feel more ions in the air for her to use and absorb which made her happy.
Coming upon one of the small farmlike settlements in the Plains zone, she remembered what happened to her one year, so she began absorbing charge as quickly as she could, channeling it into a small, but dense ball just to the side of her. Though her bangles and piercings had begun to grow extremely uncomfortable, she knew some people were all too predictable.
Almost as if she had seen the event before it happened, the humming ball to the side of her that was practically dragging her along now, served its purpose, catching the silent bullet that was intended to take her out before she could even close the distance. Grumbling to herself, she immediately takes off in a sprint toward the farmhouse.
“Fucking Merrin! Does this bitch ever learn any new tricks? What kind of sniper takes up the same post twice?!”
Realizing Codi for some reason had not been hit, which was unsettling, as her aim had greatly improved since Freshman year, she immediately runs to the side of the roof, trying to find the best way to get back down. Though she was a visual Synestate that could aim with amazing precision as her eyes were natural scopes, she knew her greatest advantage was keeping people at a distance. Somehow the annoying little brat had deflected her shot, as there was no way she missed.
Cursing herself for not planning a better escape route, as she had simply planned to stay hidden if any of the class’ top ranked Titans crossed her path, and no one else should be able to take a high caliber bullet to the chest, she finally was able to hang from the edge, swinging just enough to catch the sill of the window. Opening it up, she knew what she had to do. She only needed to hide until she could make a clean break for the City, finding a new post there.
Diving through the now open window, she was met head-on by a crackling orb of electricity which threw her right back out the window. Convulsing, she landed hard from the second story window. Not leaving anything to chance, a few more arcs of current hit the girl, leaving her prone, unmoving on the ground.
Looking out the window for a while longer, Codi takes a seat on the rough pallet, pulling out a bottle of water once she sees the portal for the medical team open. Taking the opportunity to fix her piercings, she looks herself over in the mirror before setting off again.
◆◆◆
“Whelp, it look like Codi done got another one of them bitches.”
“Dan, shut up and drink your alcohol.”
Dan having no problem complying with the second part of her statement, raises his glass to Maggie, taking a swig of the brown liquid. “Wut?! I mean she did… I ain’t know she could do shit like dat thar…”
Wow, it is like he has a built-in gauge for how drunk he has gotten. The drunker he becomes the more his accent comes back. Note to self, if he fully reverts, it is time to kick him out before he pukes everywhere.
“Of course she can! Her powers are capable of a lot more than just zapping people! You really think she would seriously hurt her friends? That is like some of us with pepper shakers…” She cuts an evil eye over at Anaar.
“I stand my ground. Technically both times you asked for it.”
“Even still… Codi isn’t number 8 in her class for no reason. She got there all by herself. I don’t know if I could say I would have gotten to number 3 on my own…”
Sliding down in the seat next to her, Stefani gives her a little hug. “You were amazing Maggie, don’t sell yourself short. Sure, you and Anaar make like, the ultimate team, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t capable on your own.”
Giving her thigh a squeeze, she leans her head into Stefani’s. “Thanks Stef.”
“Why you ain’t try to meet up wit us? Dat shit ain’t fair?!”
“Was that… all supposed to be a question?”
“Whateva man. Let’s jest git back to da show. Phave whoopin’ on sum ass too!”
“What did you expect? He’s number 1 in his class. That is like saying Anaar was dominating people. It is just expected.”
“Well Scrotes is ackshully…”
Heads snapping in his direction all at once, “Shut up Dan!”
Raising his glass defensively he grumbles, “Don’t shoot da fuckin’ messenger…”
Stefani looks around at everyone, deciding whether what she is about to say would be considered bitchy. Though not nearly as inebriated as Dan, she had partaken in some alcohol herself, making her wonder if she would normally say something so mean. Figuring she was amongst friends she makes her choice to ask the question.
“Is it me, or is the Junior class kinda… regular?”
Looking up from where she was nestled up against the girl, Maggie is first to ask for clarification. “What do you mean by regular?”
“I don’t know, it just seems like their class is full of people who don’t seem to be Quintessences, but just have strong traits specific to their attunement. There seems to be a lot of Titans in their class. Compared to ours…”
“Their class is just representative of what the world really looks like. Theirs and pretty much all the others to be honest. If you are trying to compare the other classes to ours, don’t. Though we are the smallest class, we make up not only the largest number of Quints, but also the largest number of rare or particularly unique manifestations. Not to mention we have two completely new manifestations sitting amongst us alone. Gramps made mention that he had never seen a class as diverse as ours in all the time he has been here. Whereas most classes are not Quintessences, most of our class is. So yeah, it wouldn’t be fair to compare us to the rest of the school. Maybe that is why our class is so small.”
“Maybe our class is so small because one of us can equal the whole rest of the class, Mr. I Easily Destroy Rocks The Size of People’s Townhouse!”
Everyone looks over at Anaar as Maggie gives him the stink eye. “That was barely coherent, are you sure Dan hasn’t spiked your drink?” She looks down shocked as Dan simply grins. “Also, this is coming from the girl that generates craters and seismic activity with a strike of a hammer. The fact of the matter is we don’t fit the standard mold in any situation.”
“Look errybody! Phave done found some more bitches! Anaar get out ya pom poms!”
Giving him a look cold enough to freeze magma, Anaar sighs, regrettin
g his decision to allow alcohol.
“Phavian seems a bit off, doesn’t he? Normally he is so sweet and nice to everyone. It seems like he is being particularly cruel today, isn’t he?”
To everyone’s surprise, Maggie is the one to come to his defense. “During the Melee it is do or die. Even if you start out thinking you won’t be brutal, you find yourself becoming someone completely different as things progress. Especially depending on what you experience…”
With Maggie’s somewhat ominous defense of Phavian, everyone turns their attention to the screens as the reigning champion of the Junior class approaches his next victims.
◆◆◆
Pleased with his fortune at being placed so closely to the City, Phavian steps confidently through the streets, senses primed from years of martial arts training, for even the slightest hint of movement that would give away someone’s location. Carrying only his beloved Haymana with him, he had contemplated bringing a firearm, but thought better of it, primarily because their class’ overwhelming number of Titans, both skilled and unskilled, would all for the most part be capable of shrugging off gunfire. No, he had something far better in mind for his classmates.
Thinking back to when he first took up his staff, little did he know that it would be the best type of weapon to counter the bulk of his class. Though Titans were formidable, the bulk of their defense came from the dermis and outer layers of their muscle, then somehow skipped to their bones, making the already tough substance nearly unbreakable. The viscera, all the sensitive organs inside, were only marginally affected, perhaps to allow them to continue their function accordingly. Either way, this made Titans particularly susceptible to blunt force trauma, as even the toughest Titan had a hard time withstanding their brain being scrambled. Things that could penetrate these defenses, or perhaps bypass them altogether was what made the difference in a force that went up against well trained Titans.
As he passed by an alley, something caught his attention. There was a dumpster that looked as if the lid had just closed. Mistake. As he closed in on the dumpster, the metal began to creep with hoarfrost until the once blue container was a solid greyish-white. Thinking he may have been wrong, he trusted his instincts, delivering a spinning kick that shattered the container’s walls to pieces, causing a shivering man to come spilling from the debris.
Divulgence (Song of Sophangence Book 2) Page 11