This is something. Never imagined I'd be back here again, but I guess there are worse places to be. Or better, depending on what side of the sticks you were on.

I was at New Haven a university in New Dawn City that taught a variety of subjects but was meant to be an elite school. That was one thing it failed at. The campus was grand, better than a lot of top-tier academies within the states, but that was only on the outside. The school was full of promising talent that could or gave up on matching the top talents across the country. Only the freshmen who had hopes of making it out of this place still treated it as paradise. For anyone else that has spent more than a year here, we all knew what was up. Heck, even the professors spent more time in their offices than in the actual classroom.

My badge still working said a lot. Gone for nearly a year, transferred schools, and I still had access to this place. Great for me, terrible for security. Anyone who left could easily return and do more harm than good. While I was not interested in that, I knew of others that would be.

Security was nowhere to be seen which made me wonder if they dropped them to keep their costs low. It wouldn't surprise me if they did. This place should be running at a loss so it's a miracle that it is still around. Has been ever since the rebirth of this town.

In my opinion, the old town was better for everyone. That was saying something since I never actually lived in Ventari, the city before it was renamed to New Dawn City. I only saw pictures and a few old movies about it, but from the small bits of information I gleamed there was a lot more to see. Crime on the other hand was about the same.

I headed to Brewer's Hall which housed all the general studies courses where I would find Buttons. She sent me a list of where she would be today so I could find her anytime I decided to show up. It was still early in the morning so she would be attending Applied Sciences which we both had an interest in. Her for the science and me for all the questions in my mind. It was one of the many classes needed if you wanted to do anything beyond this small blue planet of ours.

★★★

Mr. Lynuss was this short old man with just a patch of grey left on his head. It looked ridiculous and given his posture when walking with his cane it did not help him one bit. He was nice though but should have retired a decade ago but never got around to it. With no kids and a dead wife, he had no one left for him at home. That's why he taught here, to pass the time and I think he enjoyed the conversations. That's mostly what all old people wanted at their age, a conversation.

He was among the few professors that actually attended his lectures and did not use any aides. Nor was his class difficult so everyone enjoyed being there. I'd say it was the only class I never skipped, which was saying a lot considering my school attendance record was nothing to gawk at.

When I walked into class he simply smiled at me as if I was still one of his students but said nothing. No one truly cared what class you attended as long as you did not interrupt what they were teaching. University was more about paying for the degree that said you completed school and not the actual classes you took.

Mr. Lynuss was not giving a lecture at the moment, everyone had a tablet on their desk going through the material. Well, not everyone as some were making small talk.

I spotted a cutie with brown curly hair fiddling with her tablet. She had a nose ring like Buttons, but it was rose gold and not silver. I slid into the seat right behind her as it was the closest one to me and the first one I saw that was open. She looked up at me as I walked past and I gave her a smile.

"Haven't seen you before." She said in a whisper.

"Yeah? Haven't seen you before either." I replied. "New?"

She furrowed her brows. "No."

"Me either. So there's a problem here." I told her.

She looked amused. "Oh yeah? And what is that?"

"Well, neither of us are new, and clearly we don't know one another. So someone here is lying or we just keep missing each other somehow."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes but the look on her face told me she was still enjoying this.

"Guess we just kept missing one another then." She played along.

"Guess so. Rayvon Bishop, but everyone calls me Raven." I introduced myself with an outstretched hand.

She shook my outstretched hand and introduced herself. "Julia Rhodes, but everyone calls me Julia."

I instantly noticed that this young woman was the one that One-Eyed Joe told me about. His daughter. I imagined her to be younger and not the same or similar age as me. She clearly did not take after his looks, which made me wonder who her mother was and what One-Eyed Joe did to get with her.

"Not big on nicknames I take it?"

She shrugged. "Just never had one that stuck."

"Well, we need to change that."

"No, I think I'm fine with Julia. Sounds authentic."

"And you think Raven doesn't? Com'on, it has something to it, you can't deny that."

"Not sure I'd want to be named after a bird."

I tried to make it look like I was shocked she would say that. I mean she was right, I did pick up the name after a bird but that was another story. "How do you know it's from the bird and not the hero?"

"Well, that'd be strange considering you're not a girl and this isn't a superhero story."

I shrugged at that remark. "Well, that's up for debate don't you think?"

"Alright 'Raven' call me when you're out there bashing in heads and stopping crime."

"Will do, I'll even have a signature costume, cape and all."

We both laughed at that. Julia and I spent the next few minutes talking before my attention was on the door that opened up. I saw Ricky enter and he paused as he saw me in the classroom. It was only a second but I noticed. We locked eyes and he went to his seat.

"What's up with that? You two aren't on the best of terms?" Julia asked me as she motioned towards Ricky.

"Nah, we're good. Just a bit of unfinished business is all."

I didn't stay on that topic as I felt she did not need to know about it. It was my own problem not hers, so no need to drag her in it.

"I saw armed security along the roads to get here, know what is up with that?"

She nodded seeing that I was trying to change the subject. Luckily she did not mind or played it off like that. "Yeah, there's been a steady decrease in attendance due to the kidnapping that has been happening lately. Most if not all of those that vanish have been found dead later with their gems harvested. The armed security is to help the students feel safe so more people will attend."

That never once crossed my mind. I guess people of our age were prime targets for that type of thing considering our gems were mature enough to be taken out. There was also a large supply of dumb university students that were anything but street-smart. This reminded me of the news I caught a glimpse of last week.

"Didn't think they cared about the university or our attendance."

"They don't, but enough people stop coming and people start to notice and ask questions."

"Who'd care?"

"Randel Corp. for one. They support the university to keep it running, along with Sun Rise and a few other companies. How would it make them look if the university they sponsor has terrible attendance and bad grades?"

"They can just pull their funding, why keep tossing money away?"

Julia shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me. The people that work for those companies usually keep a tight lip."

"My dad worked for Sun Rise, he never mentioned anything about this before. Then again, I never asked." I rubbed the back of my head as I digested what Julia said. "You like conspiracies huh?"

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"Kind of my thing, along with a few side hobbies."

Something hit the back of my head. I heard whatever it was hit the ground so I took a glance to see what it was. It was a sheet of balled-up paper. I saw Buttons who was sitting in the back waving at me with a grin on her face. She pointed at her phone.

Mines was either on vibrate or silent, it never rang out loud. I forgot I had it on silent. Never did like people calling me in the middle of the night for something random or to give me news. I had enough of that lifestyle and would rather not go back to it. But it wouldn't be too long before I drifted back down that road.

'Already loving your first day back huh? Moved on from Em and set your sights on Julia?' I didn't even reply back to the message.

I gave her the universal finger that spoke volumes. I could even hear her giggle from my seat which told me everything.

Julia was giving me a strange look as I lowered my hand.

"We're friends, have been for a while." I somehow felt the need to defend my action.

"Oh, I wasn't going to say anything about that. Just interested is all." Julia said.

"In?"

"You. First Ricky, and now Buttons. You must be in Blackout huh?" She said it as a statement more than a question, but I could tell that she was thoroughly curious.

"Something like that," I told her as I did not feel like going down the memories of my past.

"Then it's odd that we've never met."

I shrugged. "Been away for eight months or so, so I haven't been around really."

There was a pause in our conversation as I felt the need to ask her about One-Eyed Joe. She looked a bit confused at the name and I wanted to give her an award for best actress. But, she wasn't fooling me.

As I was about to ask a question, the alarm rang throughout the room. Red lights flashed on and off as a metal door closed off the only exit to the room we were in. Mr. Lynuss hopped out of his seat from behind the computer he was typing on just as alarmed as we all were.

"Isn't that-"

"The armed shooter siren? Yeah."

A while back all schools implemented alarms for when someone carried out a shooting on school grounds. Steel doors two inches thick automatically came down to forbid anyone from entering or exiting until the situation was under control. All the windows here were bulletproof so there was no need to worry about them. Unless the shooter was carrying a high-caliber weapon capable of penetrating the window. Then we'd have to worry.

Gunfire echoed throughout the halls followed by explosions. The metal door vibrated causing me to sweat a little bit. Was I scared? Yeah, kind of. I was unarmed and in a confined space. Not the best way to go out if you know what I mean.

"What's going on?" One of the students attending class asked. His face was full of sweat and his breathing was out of sync. I wouldn't be surprised if he pissed himself within the next few seconds.

"Stay calm, the authorities will have the situation under control shortly." Mr. Lynuss sounded as calm as he could be, but the old man's legs were shaking like a stripper. He fooled no one.

"Alright, what bullshit have you dragged us into?" Another student glanced at Ricky who sat across from Buttons.

"The fuck? Why you asking me?"

"No surprise that you and your friends are in a gang. We all know yall are in deep shit so it was only a matter of time before something was bound to happen."

"Bitch what'd you say?" Ricky shot up from his seat.

"Ayo, calm down." Buttons stood up after him.

If looks could kill, the young woman would have died multiple times by now. I could tell he really wanted to give it to her. He would too, as he was not the type to care one bit about gender.

"Fuck this," Ricky said. "Hope you burn in hell."

"Right after you." This young woman was really pushing his buttons. If I had some popcorn I'd love to watch what would happen next. I was just that type of person. The one who loved chaotic situations and enjoyed watching other people suffer. Yeah, I have a dark and screwed-up mind, but what can I do about it?

Instead of fighting with the young woman, Ricky pointed his hand toward the wall. The ring on his hand shined for a moment before a streak of lightning struck the wall. It surprised everyone present except for a few people. I noticed the ring when I encountered him the first time so this was no shock to me. I was just surprised at how calm Julia was.

"Let's go." He told Buttons after he glanced at his phone.

"Mr. Richards, you can't blow a hole in school property, nor can you leave." Mr. Lynuss said in a less than authoritative voice.

"Tell the school to send me the bill." He told the professor.

Ricky jumped out of the hole he made. We were on the second floor so it was not that far from ground level but no one would willingly jump from this level. If he was equipped with that ring he could easily stop a person with a gun. But, that was not who he was. Charity work was not something he would willingly do.

"I'll catch you later Ray. Julia, take care of him." Buttons said as she sent me a two-finger salute before following after Ricky.

Students quickly got up to see how the two of them handled the fall. I could tell that some thought about going after but were afraid of actually doing the action. Saying it was one thing, doing it was another.

I took a glance out the window only to see there were a couple of bodies littered across the grass. A pool of blood soaked the ground around them and sirens roared off in the distance.

Who was this crazy and stupid to shoot on the school campus?

The gunfire was louder as the shooter seemed to be coming closer to our classroom. The students that were already terrified began to panic even worse than before. There was nothing better for a shooter than a scared bunch of people in a single space. Easy targets that were not thinking.

Someone either jumped out of the hole that Ricky made or was pushed. Whatever the case may be they fell in an awkward way which caused them to break their leg. Their right one to be more specific as it snapped and bent in a way it was not supposed to go. The bone was visible from where we were which was saying something.

After that incident, people backed up from the hole.

All I heard was the sound of bullets hitting the metal door that locked us in. It sounded like some sort of machine gun by the rate of fire, but I couldn't tell which. The door did its job by holding steady until a large explosion blew the hinges off of it. Smoke clouded the entrance and everyone backed up. Someone ended up falling out of the hole but I had no clue if they made it safely down.

When the shooter walked in I saw who it was. A guy I was fairly familiar with given we went to the same high school together and even had a class here at the university together. He was a silent guy that minded his own business but had a wart on the top of his lip that gave him hell from others. It didn't help that he had a high-pitched voice either that reminded me of that old kids show sesame street. He and Elmo could be related due to their similar voices.

"Charlie?" Mr. Lynuss asked in a confused tone as if he were looking at the young man for the first time.

Yeah, I was just as stumped by his appearance as well.

"Holy, what's a guy got to do to get that shredded?" Little Charlie isn't so little no more." I thought to myself.

"Dude, really?" Or so I assumed because I must have spoken out loud when Julia responded to me.

I shrugged.

"What are you doing? You aren't this type of person." Mr. Lynuss told Charlie.

Charlie's face was flushed red with bulging veins that looked as if they would burst at any moment. Even his eyes were bloodshot, it was safe to say that he was on something.

"Where's Ricky?"

"Fuck! I knew it was his fault." The woman from earlier was all too eager to speak up. Either from the adrenaline rushing through her body or the need to voice that she was right.

"And yours," Charlie said before he turned her into Swiss cheese.

The sudden gunfire made everyone scream and when the body hit the floor things went sideways. People rushed forward shoving and pushing one another out of the way trying to run past Charlie. Others tried to take their chances going through the hole Ricky made prior.

Charlie was having a field day as he mowed down people left and right. His muscles looked strained carrying the M134A Minigun a multiple-barreled machine gun capable of firing six-thousand rounds per minute. He was not carrying that much on him, but who is to say considering he was firing up a storm earlier when the alarm rang.

Julia pushed me behind her as a wall of ice rose up in front of her. It stopped the bullets from turning us into mush and I was able to catch sight of her earrings. It was embedded with a gem bluish in color and I would have never noticed it due to her hair hiding it. This caught me off guard more than Ricky's display.

Never would have guessed she had the funds to purchase one of them or undergo the surgery needed to extract it.

"Damn it!" Charlie cursed as the gunfire ceased.

Peaking around the corner of the ice wall Julia conjured I saw he was having trouble with the machine gun. Rushing out from cover I slid across the table with the mindset of stopping him before he could do more harm. Not my brightest moment, and not something I would normally do. I'd much rather be holding a gun than using my fists, but beggars can't be choosers.

Charlie noticed my rapid approach and dropped the machine gun. He reached behind his back to pull out a Glock and aimed it at me. At least he knew switching to a secondary was faster than reloading or dealing with a jam. I was already sliding with no way to stop or no real cover, it was about to be open season on me.

Then I saw something streak past me.

Charlie's green eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body shook multiple times. There was a red scar that wasn't there before on his face. It looked like a tree to me with multiple lines that branched off in different directions.

Looking back I saw Julia pointing a finger at him. Guess that solved my question.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?" I asked her.

"I wasn't trying to kill him." She replied back before she shook her head. "And what were you thinking? Trying to get yourself killed?"

"No, didn't imagine he'd have a secondary," I told her as I reached down to pick up the Glock. There were still rounds in it sixteen to be exact with one in the chamber. It wasn't anything special, but the rounds were. They were HEIAP meaning they'd penetrate walls with ease and depending on the type of weapon used to fire it, car doors and even bulletproof glass were not much help. He had three more magazines tucked inside an ammo pouch that he had attached to his waist belt. I secured all of them because these type of rounds were hard to come by, but the gun was not. It was free though as he would not be needing it.

"That was still stupid." She said as she knelt down next to the body after coming over. She glanced at me with a look of worry. "You alright?"

I took a moment to look down at myself and I was soaked in sweat. My heart was beating out of control, but I kept a calm composure. "Yeah, I'm good. What are you looking for?"

"This," Julia said as she pointed towards a small black disk that pulsed with a red light.

"What is it?"

"Guessing you left before the incident. Whatever though, no time to explain. The gist of it is that this little thing lowers a person's rationality while increasing their rage. Augmenting their natural abilities with the fuel from their gem."

"That's dangerous, raw gem power is unstable until it gets extracted. You're more than likely to die than achieve anything else."

Julia nodded. "Yeah, but this tech is supposed to change that."

"How do you know this?"

The sirens we heard were much louder than before. Probably only a few seconds away from making it here.

"New Dawn City isn't the same anymore a lot has changed. I got to go, but I'll catch you around 'Raven'."

"Wait," I said. "Why'd you protect me? You could have escaped but you stayed."

"Isn't that obvious? Buttons told me to look out for you."