(Octavian 29, 7:35AM)

(Luke’s thoughts) So now what?

Luke pinned his attention onto the two teens that folded their arms, their heads cocked to the right as they formed devilish grins.

Being the only member to be hot-headed at that moment, Luna pointed her sword straight at the two new members of the conflict. Having her other sword point toward where the group of Sean’s were, her frown soon began to churn softly as her eyes began to sharpen.

Christian, being the mediator of the group, stuck out both of his arms onto both Luna and the two old teens.

(Christian) I said I can handle this.

(Chris) Looks to me like they're annoying you brother.

(Miles’s thoughts) Brother? Are they all related?

Being near Luke, Miles leaned his head close toward Luke’s ear, his lips centimeters away from the tip of his earlobe. Keeping his eyes pinned on the two teens who seemingly radiated an aura of confidence, Miles also placed his right hand on Luke’s left shoulder.

(Miles whispering) Got anything cooking up Luke?

(Luke whispering) Well if we fight, then we’re never going to lie low…

Placing both of his hands on his eyes, he put enough pressure on him to see lines and shapes that glowed in the dark.

Stuck in this darkness, just how long would he keep digging until he reached the bottom of the pit?

Would he reason? Talk?

Fight?

Slowly pulling out both of his palms from his eyes, he exhaled a huge amount of air that was trapped within his lungs. Letting his hands motionless to his thighs, Luke pinned his attention onto Christian, coughing once as he thumped his chest with his left hand.

(Luke) Look, we don’t want to fight. Me and you both want what’s best for our friends—and family.

(Christian) I know, but my brother and sister though… You also have a gang of Sean’s waiting for you too.

(Luke) … I think I thought of something.

Pacing his steps on the sidewalk, Luke kept his eyes peeled onto both the two old teens and the group of bloodthirsty Seans that gripped their metal bats in an iron hold. Having his hands low to the ground, hovering over his thighs, he carefully got into the raptor’s den as both predators were in attacking distance.

His hands shaking, his knees buckling.

Luke let out a wry smile, his face already drenched in a heap of sweat that started to coat his white shirt. Having mostly his attention on the two teens in front of him, Luke placed both of his feet together while making a Clastine bow.

Which involved him bowing at a 90-degree angle.

(Luke) I’m sorry for what my group has done. As punishment, you two can take a single strike anywhere you want…

Miles, Hope, and Luna widened their eyes at the sudden pacifist route that Luke decided to take.

Hope placed both of her hands on Luke’s back, her fingers trailing along his jacket with a bit of tears in her eyes. With Miles unable to speak, since his breath was caught in his own throat, he had no choice but to look at Luke and the group of Seans and two teens with bugged eyes.

But Luna clenched her fists, stomping her way right next to Luke as she turned him around to see her face. Her nostrils flaring upward, her eyes turned bloodshot red from the anger that soon began to release yet again.

(Luna) Don’t you dare do that!

(Luke) Sorry Luna, but it’s for the best. Besides, someone has to take the blame.

(Luke’s thoughts) Since everybody wants to blame it all on somebody.

Luna grabbed a hold of Luke’s left wrist, digging her fingernails into his skin as he soon dropped down onto the ground. Looking up, her face was covered by her hair that didn’t allow a shed of light to drop in, causing Luke to shut his eyes.

But a hand grasped onto Luna’s left wrist, a hand smooth yet rough as its fingertips barely were able to dent her skin.

Noticing the lack of strength that the fingers had, Luna took note of the black leather jacket sleeve, with the person’s forearm being smaller than most.

(Luna) You can’t get out of this! Ain’t no way you’re going through with it!

(Luke) Ow ow, let go! Just this once, I’m ordering you to let go.

(Luna) Trying to order me?! You know I hate it when you try to be dominant!

A hand grasped around Luna’s ankle.

She looked down to notice a ginger-haired elf who looked up toward her with bloodshot eyes. With most of the dry blood evaporating from his nostrils and lips, Sean used his elbows to try to hold his upper body up.

Both Miles and Hope took a step back from the groveling Sean, with the two teens making deadpan faces that didn’t suit the mood of the scene. Luke, despite having his hand held by Luna, looked over toward Sean.

(Luke) Sean…

(Sean) Do you think I’m going to beat somebody to a bloody pulp, for revenge?

(Christian) Then explain why your group of clones have nothing but beer bottles and metal and wooden bats.

(Sean) I’m angry … cough … because I want to continue playing …

Luna swiped her feet away from Sean, having him let go as he continued to gaze upon her slanted angered eyes. Christian, who kept inside a multitude of air, put both of his hands onto the back of Sean’s shoulder, lifting him with ease.

Barely having stability on the ground, Sean kept his eyes on Luke, extending his finger straight at Luke.

(Sean) If you are sorry, then … cough … allow me to rejoin.

(Luke) I … well …

(Chris) Wait, so we’re not fighting?

(Pacifica) Didn’t I tell you boy that we came here for nuthing!

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Pacifica grabbed Chris’s ear, as she was only just a couple of inches shorter than Chris. Having his head pulled by her intense grip on his ear, he closed his left eye shut while raising both of his hands high in a pitiful surrender.

Yet despite the two teens seemingly realizing that fighting would be meaningless, the main threat was in front of the alleyway. Seeing that Sean still had his clones wielding a barrage of weapons on standby, Luke scratched the back of his head, his fingers digging into his scalp.

(Luke) That depends, because … you see Sean … we’re not as liked as before …

(Jack) No way …

At long last, the group of five young men stood right along the street, facing the group of Seans and Luke. Their breaths were out of place, they all held their hands or palms right along their chests, with some of them closing their eyes to escape the pain.

Being in the front, Jack swiped away an abundance of sweat from his forehead, using his right sleeve that was glistened with heat.

(Jack) Is that Sean?

(Luke) Jack! Did you guys follow us!?

(Jack) No, but Boris wanted us to get over here. He said that you would run into someone you would know.

(Luke) So Boris knew that Sean was here…

Luke looked over back to the group of Seans, his feet pointed toward them with his hands still motionless to his thighs. The heat-trapping them in the middle of the stone jungle, all of them started to feel as if their mouths were filled with sand, as the hot blowing wind soon began to caress their skin.

Walking toward the real Sean, his legs were barely able to hold himself together, as the lack of water in general was starting to take a toll. Extending his hand out, Luke put on a resting face, the corners of his lips not curling upward or downward.

(Luke) Look. I’m going to give you one more shot. If you mess this up, then I’ll leave Boris or David to decide what to do with you.

(Sean) Do you think I want to create a disaster for the group? I just want to liven up the group, that’s all.

(Luke) About that…

(Stan) And who are these guys?

Stan and his friends all took in the three other new characters that wore brown outdoor jackets and khaki pants. Noticing that all three of them were tan-complected, Stan kept his eye on the man with a cowlick on the right side of his hair.

The man seemed to have gel, with bits of strands of his hair reaching up toward the air, which caused Stan to scoff at the cool hairstyle that Christian was blessed with.

(Stan) Do they work with Sean?

(Luke) Christian, do you want us to take Sean back? If it’s up to you I mean.

(Christian) Hey, one less person to keep track of, so it’s fine by me.

(Sean) Hey!

Both Chris and Pacifica kept their eyes on the five men.

Chris noticed Stan's pointed ears and ginger hair, which were similar to Sean's except that Stan had bigger cheeks and Sean had a more chiseled face.

Pacifica on the other hand let out a sly smirk, placing her right hand on her cheek. Keeping her eyes on Stan, he felt the unnatural presence of being watched like a mouse being stalked by a snake.

(Pacifica) My oh my. What do we have here~

(Stan) Uh … hello.

(Christian) Don’t worry about her, one of her fantasies is to meet a ginger-haired elf that is six feet tall.

(Sean’s thoughts) Wait … I’m over six feet! And me and Stan are elves! So why not me!?

An old luxury car pulled up toward the other side of the street from where they stood.

Stopping the car, the door to the driver's side opened wide to let out a man wearing a brown cowboy hat. Pushing his hat with his pointer and middle finger, he adjusted it so that his eyes and face allowed everyone who stood in silence to look at him.

Not just him, but the passenger side of the car also came out wide, letting out a chubby man who wore a tuxedo and fedora. The two of them walked toward the group, they allowed their hands to be placed firmly inside of their pockets.

(David) This could’ve been a lot worse than it could’ve been.

(Boris) I reckon that we already have to get going now before news starts to spread.

(Luke) I’m sorry sir.

(David) At ease son. Take pride that there wasn’t a full-blown fight.

David turned his attention onto the trio of siblings, all of them letting their jaws drop while taking many steps back. Being the oldest one of siblings, Christian straightened his back in less than a second, placing his right fist onto the center of his chest to form a salute.

Chris and Pacifica followed suit, both of their legs on the verge of buckling from the man that came into their presence.

(Christian) Drakos sir. It’s an honor to meet you.

(David) Just call me David son.

(Christian) Yes sir—I mean David. I heard a lot about you, so I’m a little surprised that’s all.

(David) I get that a lot.

David looked around the area, with a single droplet of sweat running down his right temple coming into play. Followed by strands of his hair being laced onto his forehead and above his eyebrows, he jerked his head to the left, giving Luke a signal.

(David) Come on. We got to go to the place we’re staying.

(Luke) We parked the van near the gas station.

(David) I asked Benn to drive it down here, so he should be arriving any minute.

Not even a minute has passed, nor not even a couple of seconds as the sounds of rubber scraping off the stone street can be heard.

Gulping a load of saliva down his throat, Jack clenched both of his hands as he noticed his job as a driver being overtaken by Benn. Both of his eyebrows slanted downward, the ends of them were barely touching each other on the center of his forehead where his nose ends.

(Jack) He’s driving it wrong!

(Luna) Shut up Jack. Not everyone is as good as you.

Making a brake-stomping stop right in front of them, Benn put the van’s gear into park mode, all the while keeping himself inside of the van. Not wanting to make his presence known, he jerked his head to the right, maintaining eye contact with Luke in the process.

Luke, who got Benn’s signal, raised his right hand upward to get everyone’s attention.

Even Christian, Chris, and Pacifica were all staring at him, with Christian making a simple nod.

(Luke) Alright. Let’s head out while we can.

(Stan) About time. I’ve started to already hate the weather here, and it’s not even midday.

Being the first one to reach the back door, Luke pushed the buttons on the black keypad, the doors making a simple click. Opening the door wide, Luke let out an exhale from his mouth as he took in eight seats altogether in the back, with four on the left and four on the right.

Tilting his head down, he let in an excess of air inside of his lungs, his eyes darkening as he slowly looked back behind him.

As he tallied the number of people to be 12, including him.

(Luke) Looks like three of us are going to have to sit on the floor…

(Jack) I mean, how hard can sitting on the floor of a moving vehicle be?

(Sean) You know what, I want to see how this goes.

The trio were the first ones to enter inside the van, noticing a pile of just suitcases that still littered the floor. Along with a large cabinet that seemingly ended up in there, Luke made a deadpan face as he stared at Stan and the others.

Furrowing his brow, Luke rubbed the back of his head not in the way of which he was nervous. Not only that, but Luke kept in mind that not a trace of snacks or water was found inside the floor or in bags at all.

(Luke) Why did you guys buy that?

(Stan) We’re using it to store the snacks.

(Luke) Ok … I guess …

Stan and his group found their usual seats that were latched onto the right side of the van, their suitcases grazing against their shoes. As for Hope, she set her sights on the middle seat between the driver and passenger, going through the passenger side door to set herself in.

Christian took out both of his hands from inside of his pocket, his eyes set on the passenger seat.

(Christian) I could be on the passenger if you—

(Miles) I’ll be the passenger, you could give us directions.

(Christian) But—

(Miles) I’ll explain later…

Raising both of his hands in surrender, Christian only let out a simple nod to Mile’s nervous words. Making his way into the back, he and his younger siblings found seats on the left side of the van.

Being the last one to enter, Luna found herself in the back seat of the van to the left, being right next to Pacifica.

While Miles shut the door from the passenger, his arms touching next to Hope’s.

(Miles) Damn, David and Boris are already having a head start.

(Benn) Hold on to something.

(Miles) Wait what—

With just a simple stomp on the gas pedal, everyone in the back jerked to the back.

The tires, already burning their delicate rubber, squealed and screamed against the freshly paved cobblestone road that was empty in front of them. Driving at full speed, Benn grabbed both ends of the steering wheel with an iron grip.

But for the three men that were in the back…

They were all pushed down onto the back van doors, all having their backs slam against the metal.

(Jack) Are you trying to kill us here?

(Luna) Oh, you’re fine!

(Luke) Hey Benn, can you tone down the speed, please?

(Luna) Hey Benn, learn how to drive!

(Jack) Are you kidding me!?

Driving like a maniac, Benn jerked and turned the steering wheel with some of the wheels seemingly about to levitate off the ground. With the motion of the van, everyone in the back felt the wave, as Gary and Diego put their hands on their lower stomachs.

As their cheeks puffed up, their faces clouded in a whitish glow.

(Gary) Oh no…

(Diego) I think I’m going to be sick

(Stan) Jesus, is Benn in a race?

Finally finding the old luxury car that Boris drove in, Benn continued to put the pedal to the metal while noticing a hill that the car was driving on.

A hill that they had no choice but to traverse.

Hitting the maximum speed that the van can go, the van slowly started to tilt back as the beginning part of the hill started to dawn on them. As the more the van went up, the more the suitcases that had their belongings in slowly started to slide in the back, piling near where Luke, Jack, and Sean were barely holding on.

As the rest of the men and women grabbed hold of the edge of their seats, a wooden creaking sound came from the cabinet.

In which it finally started to be accustomed to the motion of gravity.

And because Luke, Sean, and Jack were right in the center of the van, the three noticed that the cabinet…

(Luke, Sean, and Jack’s thoughts) Oh shit…

Started to slide right toward them.

Which caused the three of them to hold onto each other, all letting out a girlish-pitched scream that rivaled any girl they came across.