“The hell do you mean our lesson begins now?”
"C'mon Tenshi, haven’t you watched enough anime to know. This is the part where we go through a killer training arc and become absolute units."
“…Umm. What’s he talking about?”
“Not sure. He’s been this way since we were kids.”
***
“Alright. Using your Hoshi, you two will keep a constant body temperature and survive out here until midnight.”
The word "midnight" echoed through my head like an empty room.
(There's no way I heard that right. Until midnight? Yeah, no way. I'm hearing things.)
"I'll come check up on you after midnight."
(Alrighty. I was NOT hearing things. She plans on killing us.)
"I want you to know, woman... If we die out here, that’s on you."
“...Hmm. She took a moment to think before finishing: “I don’t think I care.”
Then she slammed the door shut.
"So, what do we do now?... Do we just die here?"
"Fu-fu. Play it cool man. I have a plan."
"And that plan is...?"
“...”
“…”
"PLEASE LET ME IN. I DON'T WANNA DIE OUT HERE, PLEASE. ALICE IS OUT THERE WAITING FOR ME; YOU CAN’T DO THIS!!”
I pleaded and banged that door like there was no tomorrow. But there was no answer.
“JUST KILL THIS DAMN BALDIE AND SAVE ME! PLEAASSEE!!"
“The hell?! What did I do!”
Obviously my pleas didn’t get through to her. I should’ve realized this woman didn’t have a heart, much less any mercy. To make matters worse, a thick layer of gelatin-like substance trapped the hideout and emitted a small shockwave that blew Tenshi and I away from the door and off our feet.
The hideout continued discharging bursts of waves, as if it were telling us we couldn’t get any closer.
“…Damn. That hurt like hell. Why’d it push me too? I wasn’t even the one begging.”
“This. This is your fault.”
“Huh?! Clearly our common enemy is the woman who left us out here.”
“You’re wrong. I can see right through this…”
“What are you even talking about?!”
“I know a twelve-episode romance plotline when I see one. Clearly Rin’s a tsundere and she’s got the hots for you. And this is her pathetic attempt at making you fall in love!”
“Huh?!!”
“JUST CONFESS YOUR LOVE TO HER ALREADY YOU DAMN LOSER M.C.!!”
As I shouted those words, I charged the bastard with a fist that had his full name written on it. By this time, he’d given up on asking questions and accepted my duel with a punch of his own.
***
Rin Ark
“I sure hope they don't die. Maybe I should have been a little more specific… Nahh, they’ll be alright.”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
(Might as well take a short nap while I wait. Just a short one though.)
My eyes flickered as I slowly lost myself in comfort. Before I realized it, I was fast asleep and dreaming about the past. Or maybe it would be better to say having nightmares.
I was about 10 years of age. At first, I was running in a field of beautiful, freshly bloomed flowers. The scent was like a sunrise. I felt nothing but happiness as I danced in their arms.
My mother came to me from a distance and joined me in my dancing. We had a wonderful time, laughing and playing in the field.
Until it all ended abruptly.
The field of flowers -originally a beautiful white and green- were now covered with a deep red. The smell of iron was all around me. And next to my feet was my mother’s lifeless corpse. When I look up, I see my father crying his eyes out, as he clenched a bloody knife in hand. He dropped to his knees as the insanity ate him away, and he let out a wild roar. Laughing as they watched this all unravel, is the figure of a man. A monster that I would come to despise with every fiber of my being.
I didn't even jolt awake. At this point, I was used to having that same old dream. However, I did have a cold sweat coming down from my forehead.
I guess I wasn’t quite used to it yet.
***
“*Pant *Pant”
“*Pant *Pant”
{The two laid flat on their backs as they desperately begged the air for oxygen. Their bodies furrowed the snow beneath and with each inhale they felt the freezing atmosphere trail down their respiratory system.}
“Have you… had enough yet?”
“Huh?... Clearly, I won that.”
“Like hell you did. I kicked your ass so hard you fell into the snow.”
“You’re in the snow too, idiot.”
“You totally fell first.”
“…”
“…”
“So, what do we do now?”
“Great question.”
As we both mustered our energy to sit up, I tossed the question in the air:
“So, what do we do now?”
“I literally just asked that question. You even replied.”
“Details Shmetails… Y'know if this was some anime, we would sit on those hills and meditate or something. Clearing our minds from all thoughts or something cliche like that.”
That’s when we had a revelation.
We both looked at each other and without even sharing words, we knew exactly what the other was trying to communicate.
***
I felt as if a desert were in the back of my throat. The thought of getting a glass of water crossed my mind when suddenly:
“Wait, what time is it? Oh no, the boys!”
I rushed to the door to check on Tenshi and Akuma. And there I saw a rather interesting sight.
It’s hard to say if I was more surprised, or worried.
Meditating on a hill of snow to the left, Akuma -who should have been reduced to a frozen corpse- had successfully wrapped himself in a thin layer of starlites and was shielded from the elements.
(Oh wow. I’m amazed he did it so quickly. And my instructions were so vague too.)
On a hill to the right, however, was someone who didn’t seem to share such prodigious traits. Though meditating, he seemed to have skipped the hoshi and instead trapped himself in a block of ice.
I palmed my face from the sight of him. It was actually kinda funny if I’m being honest.
Before helping Tenshi, I felt that I needed to test Akuma's defenses. A way to see how sturdy his wall was, without disturbing his state of mind.
I raised my right hand and aimed it towards Akuma. A collection of glimmering stars bounced around my palm and formed a weapon. It took the shape of a pistol, but with a silencer attached to its beak. And with one pull of the trigger, I shot right at Akuma’s shoulder. Just in case it penetrated.
The bullet traveled through the snow and was headed right for the boy. It was meant to rip right through his shoulder and zoom into the distance, but to my surprise it was crushed. Completely pancaked by his defenses. And even through all of this, he remained focused.
To get his attention, I let out a roar that could be heard across the entire arctic.
“WAKE UP!!!”
He jumped from my sudden shout. With his mind disrupted, the layer of energy that surrounded him faded away.
“It’s about time for you to come back in” I told him.
He stood up and looked over to Tenshi’s hill. He seemed a bit speechless, but he didn't look too surprised.
“What about him?” I asked him as I pointed to Tenshi.
“The hell am I supposed to do? Aren’t you the wizard?”
His response kinda ticked me off, but I managed to hold my cool.
{She did NOT hold her cool}
I welcomed him back to the entrance with a bright smile, or so he wished. I waited for him to step into my range and when he did, I sent him flying with a right kick straight into his gut.
"Oh, I'll show you a 'wizard' alright."
Being the “wizard” I am, I conjured another weapon. But this time, it wasn't any pistol, shotgun or anything of that nature. An entirely different beast. A bazooka.
Smoke released from one end, and on the other end came destruction. It completely decimated the hill of ice and snow, and erupting from the impact was a grand hellfire.
The ice that trapped Tenshi at once melted and exposed him to the flames. They howled out in pain but all for naught.
The only person in sight had zero thought of helping them. Not yet anyways.
The flames calmed and then vanquished. It revealed a spot of tartars and two crisped bodies.
“Hmph. Serve you clowns right... Now. Tamashi Empower: Vitality.”
Without moving a step from my spot, I conjured another pistol and quickly shot two bullets.
As the bullets contacted the bodies, they regained their lost muscles, and skin. Everything burnt was regenerated to a state twice as better than it started. Even better than new.
They gasped as they sat up. The expressions they wore were of someone who had somehow escaped certain death.
“Now get in, there is much to discuss.”
I slammed the door shut after those words, sat at a table, and awaited their arrival.