(Octavian 29, 59 / 7:27AM)

The four of them let their boots blister their heels against the white concrete ground beneath them.

Swinging their arms back and forth, the four of them noticed a ginger-haired elf that ran through the somewhat busy sidewalk. Near his tail, the four of them pushed their legs to their limits, their stomachs all squeezing and stiffening from the sudden sprinting that they forced on their bodies.

As they didn’t feel like this for an entire month.

(Luke’s thoughts) We should’ve done at least some training during the past month. I sort of feel sluggish now…

Despite the lack of stamina they all now have, the muscles that already were formed and defined still gave them the chance to push forward. Even though the elf was starting to slowly fade away into the distance, Luna however had an advantage like no other.

Being second in front, Luna closed her eyes as her breathing continued to intensify. Gripping the edges of her batons, she allowed her feet to relax for just a split second.

Until she vanished.

Popping up right in back of Sean, he quickly glanced at the blessing that he hadn’t seen for a long time. Letting out a smile, he moved to the right to avoid a hit from her batons.

The trickles of hair being felt from just the simple swing alone from Luna, his entire body tightened like a calf during leg day. Continuing to let out a sly grin, a bit of sweat rolled down from his cheeks as the sun battered its morning heat.

(Sean) Woah, that almost got me.

Making a hard turn right, his chest started to thicken from the pain that so wanted to take a break. But right in back of him, that break would have to wait as he plowed through a wide-open alleyway littered with empty beer bottles and trash.

As rats and mice scattered into the deepest pits of the shadows, Sean noticed a dead end that took the place of a large stone wall.

Instantly stopping, his face was mere inches away from the wall, along with his palms putting pressure on the littered stone. Having his back literally against the wall, he saw the four Dark Angel members who finally managed to catch up to him.

(Sean) And now you finally have me.

Raising her right hand, she still held the metal baton similar to that of a blade. Pinning her eyes onto his stomach, Luna then thrust the baton onto the area of his body where his liver was located.

But sure enough, her metal baton passed through the seemingly ginger-haired elf like nothing.

The baton denting the stone wall that was in front of her made a simple click along her fingers feeling the reverberation of the clank. Tightening her grip on the metal further, the elf in front of her started to glitch and wither like a hologram, the same as before.

(Luna) That bastard!

(Luke) Is he going to keep doing this?

(Sean) I don’t know, am I?

And right in back of them, Sean tossed up and down a simple green apple with his right hand.

Seeing the many glares the four of them were making, Sean cocked his head to the left while letting out a small chuckle. Looking directly at Luke, he walked toward the center of the front of the alleyway, the burning rays of the morning already tanning his pale neck.

(Sean) I mean, I’m tossing this apple up and down, so is this split image of me the real deal or just a hoax? Sometimes, you just got to experiment, you know?

(Luna) I don’t give a shit!

Spreading both feet apart, Luna lunged straight toward the teasing Sean who was wide open for her. Placing her left baton back onto her holster, she then extended that same hand as her fingers started to shake erratically.

Unlike before, Sean lunged to the left, sprinting in full force while biting down on his green apple. Dodging through the many citizens and pedestrians on the sidewalk, he got stared down heavily as people made way for him, but not because he’s popular, but rather…

(Random Citizen #1) Damn, elf!

(Random Citizen #2) Don’t touch me!

(Random kid) Mommy! Mommy! An elf!

(Random Citizen #4) Yes dear, just this once, you can look.

Ignoring their complaints and prejudices, Sean looked back to see the four of them hot on his trail yet again, with Luna already trickling down with sweat. Clenching her jaw shut, she quickly vanished yet again as she popped out right in back of him.

Extending her left hand, she finally grabbed hold of the back end of Sean’s jacket.

Like stopping at the edge of a cliff, the motion of which Sean ran was put to pause in the snap of a finger. In one particular frame, his legs and feet moved forward while his upper body allowed them to swing up like a cartoon.

A bead of sweat rolled down his temple, he tried to look back, using his peripheral vision as some bits of his ginger hair were in the way.

(Sean) You finally got me huh, bummer.

(Luna) Oh, you’re not getting away easy…

(Sean) You won right? And you know the rules. I get to play a second round right?

Using her left hand that gripped his collar, she motioned it to put the elf down by slamming him onto the ground. His face and upper body being the first body parts to slam onto the concrete in full force, many of the pedestrians and citizens watched stoutly with wide eyes.

Noticing the tanned woman put down was none other than an elf, the citizens walked away rapidly, not wanting to be a part of their business.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Luke and the others arrived next to her, he placed his hand on her shoulder, his boots barely touching Sean’s legs.

(Luke) Hey, not too hard.

(Luna) Oh, please. You were urging to punch him in the face. Don’t make me the bad guy.

(Luke) But…

Sean glanced up at Luke, his eyes bloodshot red with a small stream of blood flowing out from both corners of his eyes. Tightening his eyes on the young man, Sean grit the ends of his teeth despite Luke and Luna not having the angle to see them.

Luke looked down at the elf that grumbled underneath Luna’s left hand, his eyes pushed down as his hands began to shake.

(Sean) You…

(Luke) I’m sorry Sean but you’re drawing too much noise.

(Sean) Damn you…

Luke knelt on the same level as Luna, his knee grinding against the pavement that began to blister his skin. Tapping Luna’s shoulder with his fingers, Luna slowly withdrew her left hand that held Sean in place.

For the elf that grumbled, he remained motionless on the ground, feeling the bits of dust and pebbles that he was all too familiar with. His chin showing a bit of bone, he put it right onto the pavement, keeping his head up as he spread both of his arms and legs wide.

(Sean) Why do you guys hate me so much… I never did anything to you guys…

(Luke) You’re too unstable. Out of everyone, you cause the most issues, like a walking disaster.

(Sean) That’s … cough cough … your reason?

(Luke) Look, you don’t think about your actions. Consequences are pretty much the last thing you expect.

Luke placed his other knee down on the ground, as well as having both of his palms hovering over the dusted sidewalk. Keeping in mind the lack of pedestrians and civilians that left because of the racket they did, the ambiance of people walking with boots and heels was dramatically dimmed to a freezing point.

The elf pinned his eyes onto an alley to the left of him, keeping his eyes remaining on it which caused Luke to place both of his hands onto Sean’s cheeks. Turning his head, Sean now saw himself in Luke’s red left eye.

(Luke) And don’t try to summon your clone too.

(Sean) Just tell me…

Sean had his palms flat on the ground, pushing himself up with his elbows wobbling back and forth. Continuing to cough, a bit of dried-up blood smeared against his top and bottom lip as he looked up at the man two years younger than him.

Instead of tears, Sean scrunched up his eyes, letting the dust and dirt get inside as it slowly began to sting like miniature bees.

(Sean) Why can’t you just let me be me?

Luke let go of Sean’s cheeks, having them formed into fists while placing them on the ground.

Pushing up his face, Luke let out a soft exhale of air from out of his lungs. Like a deflated balloon, he tilted his head down as the side bang that covered the right side of his face blocked Sean from seeing it.

Using both of his heels, he pushed himself up from the pavement, not even bothering to clap his hands to get rid of the dirt and rubble from his palms. Still maintaining his hardened knuckles, miniature scrapes were present along the border between his front and bottom hand.

(Luke) You’re not bad Sean, but that recklessness of yours will end up killing us.

(???) Oi! What’s going on!?

Running down the street was a man the same age as Jack.

The man had a cowlick on the right side edge of his dark brown hair, with a scar latched on top of his left eyebrow. Wearing a brown outdoor jacket, a few bits of loose string and fabric were seen from the ends of his sleeves. He wore typical khaki pants, along with black leather boots that were really similar to that of what the Dark Angels wore. His skin being a shade darker than Luna’s, the man also had light brown eyes.

Raising his right hand and arm, he waved at the four of them that surrounded Sean.

(???) What are you doing to Sean?!

(Luna) It’s none of your business.

(Luke) Luna, let me handle this.

Luke raised both of his hands toward his shoulders, causing the man wearing the brown outdoor jacket to also raise both of his hands in return. Stopping right in front of the group, the tanned man looked to see Sean staring blindly at the alleyway, his eyes pushed down with a hint of sadness in them.

(Luke) Do you know Sean?

(???) He works for us. He gets into fights, but he’s useful in a good way. But why body slam him into the concrete?

The man let his left hand be placed into his brown outdoor jacket, while his right hand was laid motionless to his side. In return, Luke slowly lowered his hands, but having them point onto the sidewalk.

Luke darkened his eyes, extending his left hand so that his fingertips latched onto Luna’s right shoulder. Squeezing it tightly, Luke used whatever strength he had to give Luna a push forward, which sent her to almost trip as she glanced back with a devilish glare.

Yet despite her teeth clamping down at the sudden nudge, her glare toward the tanned man softened, her frown still prevalent on her nonchalant face.

(Luna) He pissed me off. I don’t like it when people piss me off.

(???) That’s why you body-slammed him?

(Luna) Do you have a problem with it?

(???) … I’m not looking for any trouble.

Placing his right hand into his pocket, the man lowered his head despite his back being straightened out.

Luna took a few steps forward to confront the man, as his height was similar to that of Luke’s. Being a few inches taller than her, he was also a lot thicker than Luke, but not so much as Miles or Benn.

Despite her mean glare, his feet weren’t letting him back down, as he didn’t draw away from her stance.

(???) But nor am I going to walk with my eyes blinded. Explain now.

Inside his pocket, the man curled up his hands into tightened fists, hiding them away to appear less threatening to Luna.

Luke and the others surround Luna from the back, with him being the one to tug back Luna’s right shoulder.

(Luke) Luna listen to him. I could explain to him what happened. He doesn’t want trouble.

(Luna) So what? Sean has been nothing but a pain in the ass—

(Luke) But we caused him too. Come on Luna, just this once, forget Sean’s punishment.

Taking a glance throughout the street and block, there were no signs of pedestrians or civilians at all since they all scurried off. Being some of the only people on the street, it was enough for Luke to gaze across every corner and alleyway that he could see.

As if someone was still watching him.

Having his hands tugging back at Luna, she slowly let the motion of Luke’s pull be brought to her, allowing her to be drawn back. Still having her eyes glaring at the tanned man, the man soon released both of his tightened knuckles from his pockets, yet he kept them in there.

(???) Now what did he do?

(Luke) It’s a long story, but before he worked for you, he used to be a part of our group.

(???) Again, what did he do?

(Luke) Oh … he challenged us to a game of tag and then threw a smoke bomb underneath our feet. Me and everyone else just wanted to catch him normally and put an end to it, but Luna here…

(???) sighs … I see.

The man walked forward, trying not to bump into any of them as he made his way toward the plastered Sean. Kneeling on his left knee, he hovered both of his hands onto Sean’s collar, his fingertips on the verge of making contact with his black leather jacket until…

The man looked to his left, noticing an entire group of Sean’s just watching them.

(???) What are you doing Sean?

(Sean) Just a little payback…

Everyone soon noticed the group of Sean’s that walked out of the dark alleyway, all holding glass bottles and wooden bats. Luke, whose soul started to shake from a reverb service bell, instantly jolted up to hover both of his hands on his hips.

Miles and Hope all did the same, as Luna took it a step further to draw out her own blades in return. Pitting his upper jaw with his lower, he soon brought Sean’s face close to his, his eyes widened with red strains forming along his sclera.

(???) Drawback now!

(???) Need any help, Christian?

A pair of old teens stopped right in back of the Dark Angels, as the group all pinned their eyes on the two of them.

One of the teens was a girl the same age as Luke, her skin being much darker compared to Christian, but a shade lighter than Miles. Having a bob hairstyle, the tips of her hair reached down onto her collarbone, and the shade of color was light black. Being an inch taller than Hope, she was thinner compared to her.

The other teen was a boy two years younger than her, his skin being the lightest tan completed amongst the three. His hair was messy, along with bits of leaves that strangled his scalp, his shade of hair was the same as Luke’s. Only a couple of inches shorter than him, he also has the same body type as Luke, slim and muscular.

But the two wore the same outfit as the man with the cowlick, brown outdoor jacket with khaki pants and black leather boots.

(Christian) I didn’t tell you guys to be here.

(???) I told you, Chris. What did I say? I say I say what did I tell you!?

(Chris) Shut up. You don’t make sense at all Pacifica.

With a group of Sean’s wielding bats, two old teens wearing the same uniform as Christian, along the street being completely open to who knows what.

Luke and the others remained silent, as the worst had finally dawned on them.