The ride going back was eerily quiet, not a word came out of anyone's mouth. But everyone's more somber faces told stories. I looked over to the girls who were sitting in the back. They had their heads in their phones, and Val looked a bit hurt. I wanted to say something to make things better, but that definitely wasn't my department.

I looked over to Leo, he was the one I was really worried about. He hadn't said a word since he walked over to us. And it was like he was staring at something specific up in the sky, like there was something we weren't seeing. And even Zack was brooding on Bean's head like Batman!

I sighed and leaned against the railing. I guess I should give zack credit for his comedic relief abilities. I literally had no idea what to do here…

"So Stryder, you and Elizabeth official now?" Alexis blurted out from the silence.

I jumped a little at the question. My mind immediately becoming a tsunami of thoughts. I tried to talk but I just ended up coughing. What!? Me and Elizabeth!? Why would they think..? Suddenly the memory of the diner came into my mind, and then the hug goodbye, plus her kissing me. I bet everyone thinks we're together!

"Yeah seriously! You really are trying to steal the promised land of booty from me!" Zack cried.

"Idiots.." I heard Leo sigh.

"Oh shut it! Wait till your voice drops! I bet you'll be singing a different tune by then."

"Whatever." Leo sighed again. "You gotta be blind to not know what's going on."

"Well Stryder, what exactly is going on?" Alexis chimed in.

I looked around, and suddenly everyone was staring at me with wide eyes. You gotta be kidding me. Was everyone on edge because of that!?

"W-well, of course me and her aren't a thing! She just kissed me unexpectedly is all.."

Alexis snickered.

"Well, I can sense some feelings you have lingering about her. So are you really sure?"

I blushed a bit, my eyes glancing at Valentina. She seemed really into this too...

"Look, I-

"Answer it shield boy! Do I gotta tell sis her knight has fallen for the pirates!?"

His tone was different. It's probably nothing no one else could pick up on. It was clear he was having a hard time keeping the joking persona.

How should I answer this? I can upset Zack and probably Annual too, plus Valentina.

'What kind of person do you want to be.'

Jack's words rang back into my mind. What kind of person do I want to be? I promised I'd be honest, didn't I?

"Look, me and Lizbeth aren't a thing. I won't lie and say I'm not attracted to her, nor will I say I never thought about more with her. But if I'm being honest when I'm with her. I don't feel like I could be more than friends."

"Do you like someone else right now?" Alexis hummed.

And I felt the warmth rise to my chest as she asked.

"I-Its complicated," I mumbled.

Everyone was still squinting their eyes at me. But they seem to pull back.

"Can we end the teen melodrama already? It's making me sick." Leo groaned.

"Your hot dragon breath is making me sick. But you don't see me complaining." Zack fired back.

"You're worried about such frivilish things. You should be focusing on the swordsmen we just learned about. Not Stryders love life."

Zack grumbled.

"Who the hell asked-"

"No, Leo has a point. While I was asleep, my goddess did tell me a bigger threat planned to come our way. And we may not be as lucky as this time to meet mostly normal people. The next guy could kill us."

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"Ppfft, will just respond! Easy peasy." Zack shrugged.

"Yeah, we can always just try again after that," Alexis added.

That's when Leo sat up and turned to the group.

"Are you two really that oblivious!?" Leo snapped.

"What are you on about now!?" Zack roared back.

"Don't you think Stone would've come back for a rematch by now if he responded?"

Everyone grew silent, as Zack's face slowly grew more serious.

"You gotta point actually…" Zack mumbled.

"Leo's right, this isn't the time to relax. We need to prepare and train. No one's guaranteed, the rules for coming back are subjective to our-"

I had to stop myself. I almost forgot the one rule.

"Subjective to whom?" Valentina asked.

We all grew silent.

"Secret, sorry no normies allowed." Zack huffed.

"O-oh… " Valentina mumbled.

She looked a bit hurt. And that's when we all felt Bean descend.

"Look, we need to do some research on the Adventurer swordsman, and-"

"The super Batman!" Zack chimed in.

"Right...super batman…"

"Those are our most likely next attackers. I'd assume the adventurer one isn't the attack first type. But as for 'Super Batman'," I cringed as I said that. "We need to be on high alert."

Everyone seem to nod in agreement. Then Bean finally landed.

"Well, this is your stop ladies! Thank you for riding Airline Wizard. Please don't forget your belongings or Bean just might eat them."

I just shook my head as Alexis gave us a smile and waved.

"Right!" Alexis cheered. "See ya boys!"

I looked over to Val, and she seemed still out of it. That's when Alexis snatched her hand and dragged her off. I wonder If what Zack said really hurt her? Just as I was about to go try and ask her. Zack took off.

I quickly turned back to him.

"Zack can you-"

"I'm still not okay." He blurted out over me.

I blinked a few times.

"What do you mean?"

"Annual, I still want her happiness over anything else. So when she kissed you. I got really bitter. Because I know if she saw that, that would crush her spirits."

I nodded.

"I figured it was something like that."

"Just date Annual already. You know that would make her happy and-"

"Zack I can't just do that."

He squinted his eyes and sat back.

"And why the hell not?"

"I promised I'd never look back and keep moving forward. And that means I have to acknowledge my feelings."

"Are you over her?" He snapped back.

"Not exactly, it's just not the same."

"What does that mean?"

"Were not the same people we were years ago. I've changed a lot and I'm sure she has too. And sometimes people just grow apart. However, I still get butterflies when we talk. So I don't think I'm over her persay. Plus I think, I think I'm really falling for Val. She's on my mind a lot too."

"The glorified hall monitor!?"

I smiled some and nodded.

"Yeah, and I haven't figured out how I really feel. So I won't make any hasty decisions. It's my choice after all." I said confidently as I looked back into his eyes.

He blinked a few times, he looked shocked. But soon he just started to chuckle.

"I see, so you're learning to fly all on your own now huh?"

"Yeah, and I'm not done going yet."

"Good to hear. I've been getting tired of pulling all the wait ya know." He teased.

I just rolled my eyes.

"By the way, why don't you and Annual move in next to me? Apparently it's empty over there."

He groaned loudly and leaned back.

"Because my wonderful baby sister has caught the justice."

"I'm sorry?"

"She wants to stay home and help out the folks. She says she has faith in mom, or something like that."

Leo seemed interested now. He had one eye opened and was looking over to Zack.

"Well do you?" I asked.

He looked away from me.

"Like I give a damn about them." He mumbled. "They still act like they're in their freaking twenties partying all the time."

"I think there's a chance it could do some good. However I also think them seeing you two on your own might spark something too."

"Maybe she'll listen if you talk to her. Because apparently a Gremlin wouldn't understand."

"I find myself more surprised every day by how many words you actually know," Leo added.

"Hey! You want to fight you littl-"

"Hey Zack, by the way. I've been thinking."

He stopped his growling and looked back to me.

"What?"

"I want a rematch, to see how much has actually changed."

His eyes grew wide. But he soon smirked in delight.

"Oh yeah? Think a couple months you've grown to the level of the destroyer of worlds?"

I smiled at him.

"Who knows, I just want to find out."

"Fine, tomorrow afternoon. I'll flombay you again."

"Will see."

"You know. I really missed this feisty side of you." Zack snickered.

….

Ya know, with all the action, romance and drama. I almost forgot about how horribly I was failing math. My teacher kept me after school again to yap my ears off about how much of a degenerate I've become with missing assignments. Luckily I was made aware that Val was already at my place with Lux. Going over some info she gathered about the adventurer. I think I let my combative side take over too much when I asked questions. I'm starting to remember how dangerous for other people this can actually be. I let it out a couple of times and it's already corroded my brain. So now I needed to play pick up...

As I walked into my apartment I was hit with the aroma of beef stew. It smelled heavenly. Couldn't be Lux, guess Val decided to cook.

I shut the door behind me and walked into the kitchen. And I was surprised by the sight before me. The kitchen table was filled with notes and photographs. But I was more distracted by Valentina.

She was wearing a cute white sweater dress with knee-high boots. She glanced back to me, and I could see her wearing makeup. I don't think I’ve ever seen her with makeup before. Huh, come to think of it, her hair was shiny too. She sat up from her work and immediately fixed herself. Geez she looked good in her dress...

"Oh, hey Hercules I'm making lunch." She chimed.

I chuckled at the nickname.

"Where's Lux?"

"Jack swooped her away, and Leo is eating and brooding in your room."

I shook my head.

"Of course he is."

As I walked over to the table, she immediately shot up from the chair. She looked like she was about to say something, but she ended up knocking all the papers over.

"No!" She squealed.

She dropped down and quickly started to grab them.

"Let me help."

As I kneeled down an alarm started screaming in the kitchen. I could see the panic in her eyes as she hurried from the floor to the kitchen.

"Might wanna slow down Val."

But she ignored me and opened the oven. And she reached in barehanded. When her hands touched the pan she jumped back.

"Ahh!"

"Val!"

I dropped the papers and ran over to her.

She jumped up and hit the handle of her brewing pot. And all of the brown contents spilled onto the counter, floor, and her sweater.

"No! Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll clean it up now! And-" She started rambling.

She looked extremely worried like she just got caught in a murder. I ran over to her and pulled her from the ground and grabbed her burnt hand.

"Look at me," I demanded.

She stopped talking and looked at me in a panicked frenzy. It was like she was gonna cry.

"Calm down, we can order a pizza. For now you're hurt. Let's handle the burn and then I have some clothes you can try on."

She looked away and nodded.

"I'm sorry I'm so useless.."

Useless?

I didn't question it. I just got the medkit and got some ointment out. Once that burn was handled, I gave her a shirt and my blue hoodie. She had on some shorts underneath, so luckily she didn't have to wear baggy pants. Once she was dressed she sat down on the couch and started going on about Arrow, but I stopped her.

"Valentina, you are not useless. You looked off last night, and it's my fault for not following up."

"No it's fine I-"

"I'm your friend. I should've meddled a bit. So talk to me, what's going on?"

She looked away. Her eyes seemed watery and her arms shook.

"I'm just normal. I don't have powers like Alexis, Zack, or you. I don't have any real history with any of you. And I'm not as pretty or charming as Elizabeth. I'm just some one-shot Straight A student. Who can't even pass a Spanish test! I just, I just want to provide something for the team. I, I want you to notice me.."