Pov Shift: Steven

The next day had come. It was Saturday, so there wasn’t any school. It was around 12:50, and Steven was watching a documentary on the history of civilization. “Cato told me to watch this but…I’d rather do literally anything else.” Iris was watching online videos about first dates. Seven was playing a game on his phone, messaging Felicity from time to time. And Marty was with Spencer walking to the room where they fought Lacey and Evelyn yesterday. Marty opened the door, and Lacey was sitting on a new desk in front of the window. The one way mirror was fixed. “Hello Marty and Spencer. Since it’ll just be me and the Stem Assassin at this meeting today, he made it earlier to 1 pm. Go to the door nearby, it’ll lead you to the other side of this room. Don’t make any noise when he comes here, I’ll tell him that I’ve done the job.” The two went to the other side of the room. Marty was sitting at a desk, tapping a pencil on it. Spencer was pacing around the room with a fearful expression on his face. Marty asked, “You okay?” Spencer worried, “Well…this guy’s a trained professional. I don’t feel like we’re skilled enough to fight him.” Marty took his phone out of his pocket, “I’ll message some friends to come, if that would help.” Marty looked at his messages, and saw he was added to a group chat with Cato and Steven. Cato had sent a message a few minutes earlier, “Marty! I don’t know much about you, but this online channel covers the history of sports, if that interests you.” Marty sent a message, “Hey guys, you said that you encountered a tire signature user? Please come, we’re about to fight that guy. We’re currently at B-215.” Immediately, as soon as he sent it, the door slowly opened. It was a boy wearing a jeans blazer. On his hip he had a belt with two objects that looked like bags with rope wrapped around them. He had black hair that reached his shoulders. However, his face looked extremely feminine. This wasn’t through make up, but the way that it was formed. Without asking, most people wouldn’t be able to tell whether he was a girl or not. He asked Lacey, “How did it go?” Lacey smiled, “They’re gone for good. No problem for us anymore.” He walked up to Lacey, and asked, “Where’s your friend?” Lacey answered, “She’s at a computer club meeting right about now.” The boy told her, “She was supposed to be here. But since you guys are finished with your job, I’ll allow it.” He took out a card from his pocket, “Your money is at the location on the card. I am leaving now.” He walked forward, but stopped at the door. “Did you hear that, by the way?” he asked Lacey. “Hear what?” “I swore I just heard someone breathing, with a muscle moving. It was low and sounded too far to be you. If I had to take a guess, it must’ve been an arm movement by a student around my age. Probably a boy with how the muscles sounded. Is there someone behind that one way mirror?” Lacey forced a laugh, “Come on now, that was probably someone in another room nearby. Why would anyone be on the other side of the mirror!? We’ve already done our job, why would we jeopardize our reward. I’ve had fun with this, so why stop it now? There is no one on the other side of that mirror.” The boy was unamused, “You are a terrible liar.” Lacey didn’t know how to respond. “Let me be clear. I will go to the other side of this room. If anyone is in there, I am not going to leave you alive.” He began to walk to the door. Lacey looked at the mirror, with a scared expression. She then took a deep breath, and charged at the boy from behind with a key. Without looking behind him, the boy turned to the side to block the key and put his leg out to trip Lacey. As she was falling, he kicked her up in her stomach. He then gave two more kicks to her head before giving a heavier kick, which sent her flying to the wall. When she hit the wall, she fell unconscious. The boy sighed, and took out a grape cluster from his pocket. He put it in his mouth, and ate all of the grapes on it. He pulled it back out, and dropped the stem on the ground. He looked at the mirror, “I’d advise you to come out right about now. If you’ve done your research I assume you already know I’m the Stem Assassin. I got that name because I drop grape stems before I kill someone.” He then pulled out a pistol with a silencer on it. He aimed it at Lacey. Spencer ran up to the mirror, and broke it with a forward kick. It shattered into a million pieces, and Spencer, still in the air, was gonna kick the boy. However, the boy jumped up and put his leg up. His leg met with Spencers, and canceled it out. They both fell to the ground. Spencer had landed on his tailbone, hurting it. “Damn…” He groaned. The boy landed smoothly on the ground and stood up. “There you are,” he said to Spencer. He looked up at Marty, “Marty Morpho. Your signature is Lose Yourself which allows you to turn into a butterfly only when no one is looking.” Marty asked, “How do you know my signature?” The boy answered, “A bird told me. Anyway, I’ve noticed you have something in your pocket. By the shape and size it must be a phone, more specifically a ThreeStar Galaxy T4 released in 2012…no, 2013. I heard the sound of a finger pressing on what I had to assume was a phone screen before I came in here. The T4 makes a distinct sound compared to more modern phones, such as the Orange oPhone X, which I believe Spencer must have in his pocket right now. Your finger presses could not have been anything other than you texting someone. As a trained assassin, I have to assume you texted someone to come over here. That someone must’ve been the self-proclaimed ‘Hyper Analyst’ Steven Scriptum. Therefore, I’ve sent my signature after him once again. It allows me to make a tire chase anyone of my choosing. I call it…Hotstepper.” Marty and Spencer both looked at each other in silence. Spencer, sitting on the ground, told the boy, “Well, for such an observant guy you seem to have missed the fact that your right pocket is slashed open.” The boy looked down, and realized that what Spencer said was true. He looked at Spencer with fear in his eyes. Spencer shuffled his body a bit, and picked up a card he was sitting on. He looked at the card, and read, “...Pirello Chance…what kind of name is that???” He tossed the card to Marty, as the boy clenched his teeth. Marty looked at the card, and it was the boy’s ID card. It had his name, “Pirello Chance,” and a picture of him next to it. Marty laughed, “How’d you miss this? I thought you were supposed to be a good assassin.” Pirello defended himself, “I was too busy trying to protect myself. As an assassin, while I would feel it, a slight scratch to my clothing wouldn’t be much. And since I had heard you too, I was occupied with the fact that…” He stopped. “You two are stalling. You’re waiting for Steven to arrive. I am not a fool.” He pointed his pistol at Marty. Spencer jumped at Pirello. Pirello hit Spencer with his forearm, knocking him to the ground. Marty took the opportunity to turn into a butterfly. Spencer started spinning and kicked up. Pirello dodged it, and pointed his gun at the blue butterfly hovering in front of him. He shot his bullet straight through the butterfly’s wing. Pirello blinked, and Marty fell to the floor, with a large hole in his right arm. “GRAHHHHHH!” He screamed as he held onto his arm. Spencer started rapidly spinning at Pirello. He kicked Pirello’s hand, which was holding his gun. His gun dropped out of his hand. Pirello grabbed onto Spencer’s foot, and then grabbed onto his thigh. He then pushed the two in opposite directions. “CRACK!” He broke Spencer’s leg. “OOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” He cried, as Pirello let go and he fell to the ground. “This…feels oddly nice,” Pirello looked at his palm, “I have never felt this way about going after a target...maybe it’s because I have more incentive than money…” He turned to the two on the ground, “It’s a shame, Steven will come here seeing two of his friends dead.” Marty got up, holding onto his unusable arm. “The only thing Steven will see here is me laughing in victory.” Pirello turned his head, “Ambidextrous? Whatever, you still can’t beat me. Spencer, you kicked my gun out of my hand because you didn’t want to use it, yes? Although I could easily pick it back up, I’d like to show you why you would still lose if I didn’t use my gun.” He put on thick yellow gloves, and took out a jar from his pocket. The jar had a mixture that seemed like water inside of it. He poured the mixture on his gloves. He then took a matchstick out of his pocket, and lit his gloves on fire. He didn’t seem to be getting hurt. Pirello explained, “This jar is filled with a mixture that allows my glove to be lit on fire without burning me. I learnt it from many years of being an assassin.” Spencer hit the ground in frustration, “Damn…I can’t get up.” Marty thought hard. “These things on my belt,” Pirello pointed to the two white bags with rope wrapped around them, “These are grapeshots. Do you want to know why they call them that?” He picked up one of the bags, “Each bag has a cluster of small balls tightly packed together.” The bag started catching on fire from his glove, “And what happens to the ball when the bag is burnt?” He threw the bag forward, and a bunch of balls inside burst out, “THEY SCATTER!” The steel balls began moving all in seemingly random directions. They were bouncing all around the room, occasionally hitting Marty and Spencer. Marty tried dodging them, but they were too fast for him. Pirello was simply standing there, with the balls narrowly missing him. He told them, “As an assassin, I’ve learnt how to use my weapons to the fullest. To learn how to use the grapeshots, I’ve learnt their trajectory. I know the path of every ball. I’ve thrown it in a way in which I am never in those paths. You all are not only in the path of the balls…but you’re also in my path to…freedom.” The balls kept hitting Marty and Spencer. Marty observed the balls and how they were moving. He thought to himself, “Have I found out the trajectory…” A ball was heading in his direction. He was able to dodge it, and caught it with his left hand. He threw it at Pirello, who was hit by it in the head. “What the hell…” He mumbled. Another ball was heading to Spencer. He caught the ball, and threw it at Pirello once again. Pirello caught the ball, and moved his arm back to dodge a ball that whizzed past him. The ball in his hand was now on fire. Pirello walked through the madness, dodging all of the balls. Marty tried to throw another ball at him, but Pirello dodged, and threw the burning ball at Marty. Marty was hit by it, and knocked to the ground. Marty laughed, “I guess I can be smart when I want to…” Pirello was confused, “Huh?” Marty told him, “I was looking at how the balls were shooting about…Where you're standing right now is right where I want you.” Pirello thought intensely, “What???? I’m not in the path of any of the balls.” Marty smirked, “Exactly.” A ball passed right in front of Pirello’s eyes, and in that split moment his sight of Marty was obscured. When the ball completely passed him, He saw a blue butterfly fluttering about. “Damn…Who the hell are you?” The butterfly flew up and towards Pirello’s direction. A ball hit the butterfly, and once it fully blocked the butterfly from Pirello’s sight, turned into Marty. Marty held onto the ball, and answered, “The victor.” He then slammed the ball on the side of Pirello’s head. Pirello stumbled back, and was hit by another ball. He fell to the ground. As Marty landed, he noticed the balls began to slow down due to the decrease in momentum. “Huh…” He thought to himself. Pirello stood up, “Don’t get cocky. You haven’t won yet…” His face turned to a sinister smile, “Here Comes The Hotstepper.”

Pov Shift: Pirello

6 years ago

Pirello was born into a wealthy family. He lived in a large mansion, with a number of servants attending chores. His mother would often be in her room. His father would often be at work, doing his job as president of a huge family company. And Pirello, on this day, was laying in the large backyard field. He was eating an apple, and looking up to the sky. Then, a butler had called to him, “Pirello! Your father is home. He instructed me to bring you to his room. He wants to go over your inheritance of the company.” Pirello sighed. He finished his apple, and dragged himself over to the butler. As they were walking through the mansion to his father’s room, the butler saw that Pirello had a somber expression. “Pirello, what’s wrong?” “Well…to be honest, I don’t really want to inherit the company…but, I don’t know what I want to be. I don’t want to let my father down.” “Pirello. I’m sure you aren’t gonna let him down for that refusal. Even if you don’t know what you wanna be, you still have time to figure that out. You are a fine young man, so I’m sure that your father will understand.” Pirello felt comforted, “Thanks.” They walked up to his father’s room door. Pirello knocked, and his father opened. His father was a tall man with short black hair and a beard. “Thanks for bringing him, Dunlap.” Pirello and his father walked into his room, and his father closed the door behind them. His father started, “Well, Pirello, you’re getting older. You’re gonna have to inherit my company to keep the legacy going. How do you feel about that?” Pirello tried to explain, “Well…father…I don’t really want to inherit the company.” His father was confused, “What?” His father then sighed, “Pirello, you’re our only hope. Your mother told me a few days ago…she’s got an incurable disease. She can’t have children anymore.” Pirello looked down, “Well…I guess…if that’s what would make you proud.” His father was happy, “That’s my boy! I know what will cheer you up. I’ll show you some pictures of when I first got the company. Stay right here!” His father left the room. Pirello laid on his fathers bed. He closed his eyes, “I only wish to be free in this world…” Then, he heard a loud “BLAM!” sound in the mansion. It scared him. He heard another, “BLAM!” Then, some of the servants started screaming. He realized what was happening pretty quickly. It was a home invasion, by two men with shotguns. Pirello hid under his father’s bed, crying as the gunshots continued. After what felt like an eternity, the shots died down. There was only the sound of footsteps around the house. Then, one of the men slammed the door open to the room. He looked around, and the other man entered. “I think we’ve done everyone in. The big man, wife, and exactly 30 servants. But I’m sure there is supposed to be a boy.” “Well, if we can’t find him it won’t bring any issues. He’ll probably chalk this all up to the boogie man.” “Don’t say that. Anything can happen. I’m gonna check around to recount the servants. Check to see if there’s any noteworthy stuff here.” One of the men left, and the other put his shotgun down on the desk. He began looking through the room, and into the bathroom. Pirello realized that eventually he'd look under the bed, and he'd be found out. Pirello sprung up from under the bed and grabbed the shotgun that was on the desk. The man that was in the bathroom went back into the room after hearing the sound. Pirello aimed at him and shot him. The other man came in with his shotgun. Pirello turned to the man and pointed at him, and the man pointed back. They looked at each other, then the man looked at the other's dead body. "Woah...you did that?" Pirello didn't respond. The man lowered his shotgun, "How old are you again? Normal kids don't shoot people." Pirello kept his silence. "This must be the work of something deep inside you. This must be your resolve. Resolve like this is only ever seen in a small number of adults, let alone children. You've killed my comrade, and would kill me too if I weren't speaking right now, right?" Pirello slowly nodded. "A boy with resolve and respect. What do you want to be when you grow up?" Pirello didn't answer. "Ah, nevermind. Maybe you're too young to think about that. Well, if you'd like...I could train you to become an assassin like me, and join the organization. What do you say, kid?" Pirello thought, until finally "Okay, I'll do it…" The man put his gun down, "That's great. I'll teach you about how to use these bad boys-" he pointed to two grapeshots on his belt. "I'll also teach you how to fight. You probably won't start assassinations until you turn ten. You're gonna go to a special orphanage filled with assassin kids like you. None of them have the kind of resolve you do, but I hope you can still make friends. Also, the way back is long so let's start heading there now. What kinda food do you like?" Pirello answered, "Grapes…" "I'll have to get some grapes then. You'll make a fine assassin, I just know it."

4 Years Ago

Pirello was sitting in a room. He seemed to be waiting for something. Then a man came in. This was an older man. “Pirello Chance?” Pirello said, “Yes sir.” The man told him, “I’ve called you here today to send you on your first assassination. How do you feel?” Pirello said in a low voice, “Ready…” “Good. I’ll have you meet your partner, then.” He opened the door, and on the other side was a boy around the same age as Pirello, with purple and green hair. “Pirello, this is Carlonoah Argilago. Carlonoah, this is Pirello Chance. You both are the same age, so you may be able to understand each other. Carlonoah put his hand out, “Well, Pirello, I hope we can be friends.” Pirello shook his hand, “I appreciate the thought, but I don’t care for friends.” Carlonoah was offended by the response, but didn’t let Pirello see that. The man instructed, “Go to the chauffeur in front of the building. He’s in a sedan with gold tires. You’ll know it when you see it. Contact me when the two of you are done.” Pirello and Carlonoah went inside the chauffeur's car. They stopped a ways away from their target's house. Pirello and Carlonoah got out of the car, and looked in the trunk. Pirello picked up a silencer, and Carlonoah picked up a shotgun. They started walking to the house. Carlonoah sighed, “I hate that I got partnered with one of the girls…ugh…” Pirello corrected him, “I’m a boy.” Carlonoah scoffed, “You don’t seem like it. You better better not be tricking me. I’ll pull your pants down if I have to. I really really will do it. Don’t think I won’t do it just because you look like a girl. And you seem to have quite quite the attitude talking to me like you did back at the orphanage. I will not will not tolerate rudeness!” Pirello huffed him, “You talk too much. Why don’t you shut up and take this seriously.” Carlonoah didn’t know how to respond. “Tch. Whatever. You better be interesting.” They walked up to the house door. Pirello pressed his ear against it. “There’s nine people in here, all in the living room. None of them are armed and they all seem to be adults. One of them is older than the others, I assume it has to be the target.” Carlonoah asked, “How can you tell without even going in there?” Pirello answered, “Because I heard it.” “Well duh, but most people can’t hear like that. How do you do it?” Pirello sarcastically answered, “Girl power.” He put on thick yellow gloves, and poured a solution on his hands. “The hell…” He then lit his hand on fire, and burst the door down. He then threw the grape shot in the room and it bounced around hitting all of the people. They all were knocked unconscious, and Pirello shot all of them with his pistol. He then ate a grape cluster, and dropped it on the ground. “What is that for?” “To show that I’ve successfully completed an assassination. Think of it as a calling card.” “Yeah but…why?” “Because I can. We’d better get back to the chauffeur.” Pirello walked to the chauffeur, Carlonoah stayed for a little bit. “Damn…maybe I was wrong about that Pirello…he seems like a really really interesting guy.”

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

2 Years Ago

Pirello and Carlonoah were walking on the sidewalk back to the orphanage. Pirello had his pistol in his pocket, and Carlonoah had his shotgun on his back. “Hoo boy,” Carlonoah yawned. “Another successful day, huh? Man, things have happened so so fast. It feels like just yesterday, and now you’re everywhere on the news. People call you a cool name, The Stem Assassin, and now you’re on the same level as Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer!” “Nonsense,” a voice from behind said to them. They looked behind, and saw a boy with purple spiky hair. “Pirello Chance, I know you’re the great Stem Assassin. And Carlonoah Argilago, I know you’re his accomplice. My name is Saturn Sumoku. Chance, the world has changed because of you and I am astonished by your work. I…am your biggest fan.” Pirello scoffed, “How the hell…shoot him Carlonoah.” Pirello started walking away, and Carlonoah aimed his shotgun at Saturn. Saturn looked at the barrel, “I’m not afraid of death, but let me say something before you shoot me. Chance, here we are in Florida, but I was raised in Los Angeles, California. When I learnt of you, I was absolutely starstruck. I found my purpose in life…to serve you. So, I killed my parents and went on an investigation. I’ve been looking for you in Florida, and now here you are.” Pirello asked him, “What is your point?” “If I, a 12 year old, could find out who you were, imagine a whole police force. I can help protect your identity.” “...” Carlonoah was silent, and turned to Pirello. Pirello thought, “...The organization might like you-” “No. I won’t join your organization.” Carlonoah grimaced, and thought in his head, “Ugh…” “Fine,” Pirello conceded, “However, you need a home. You can come to the orphanage. The organization won’t allow you to have your own room since you aren’t a part of it, so you can live in my room.” “...Thank you…”

2 Weeks Ago

Pirello, Carlonoah, and Saturn were all in Pirello’s dorm room. “So, Pirello, I’ve got this cool cool signature. I’ve called it Magalenha. It allows me to do…this!” He dropped some clay clumps on the ground, and they animated into people. “It’s a very interesting signature, very very.” Pirello nodded, “It is, and it seems powerful. Okay, what about yours, Saturn?” Saturn turned his arm into smoke, “I can turn my body into smoke. I call it Paparazzi.” Pirello said, “That seems versatile.” Saturn asked, “What about yours?” Pirello took a tire from the corner of the room, and dragged it to the middle of it sideways. He put his finger in the middle of the hole, and the tire started spinning. “It makes a tire move on its own, and tracks down a specific person.” He took his finger out the middle of the hole, and the tire got up. It jumped at Saturn, who turned into smoke before it could hit him. “I’ve named it Hotstepper.” The tire then fell back down, and Saturn turned back into human. “Saturn, could you please go buy me some more grapes?” Saturn nodded, and headed out the room. Pirello turned to Carlonoah, “I sent him out so I could talk to you about something…” Carlonoah said, “I could tell, your behavior has been different lately.” “To put it simply…I don’t want to be an assassin anymore. I’ve grown tired of it, and the government is trying to catch me. I don’t know how, but I need a way to make them stop. Don’t tell Saturn about this though.” Carlonoah chuckled, “Interesting…Alright.”

10 Minutes Ago

Pov Shift: Steven

Steven was watching a documentary, eating the bread that Marty gave him on the Great Western Food Day. He got a call from Cato, “Hello Steven. How are you enjoying the documentary?” “I’m not.” “For real? I guess people like you need to be eating to make things more entertaining. Are you eating popcorn right now?” Steven looked down at his bread, “Close enough.” “Listen, I’ve got a better documentary if you’d like. It’s a bit outdated, so you might find some of the things it says false.” “When was it made?” “Umm…It’s in black and white…and silent.” “Why would I want to watch that? At least give me something with real facts. I bet it says that Pluto is a planet.” “Actually…it doesn’t mention Pluto…since it wasn’t discovered yet.” “What the hell? Are there any online channels with documentaries?” “Actually, there are a couple. And they’re more…layman friendly than the professional ones. I’m walking around the hallway right now, come and we can discuss this further.” Steven walked out of his room, and Cato was standing right in front of his door. “Hi. Alright, now there’s a good few I think you’d love. There’s DogHogger. I hate his name, but he’s really funny. He makes videos on the history of a lot of things, some of his most popular being sports. I’ll send the channel link to you.” Steven told him, “Okay. You should send it to Marty too, he’s into sports.” Cato nodded, and sent the link. They then got a message from Marty. Cato looked at Steven, “They know who it is…” Steven laughed, “Oh yes, we’re gonna fuck him up! Let’s go!” They left the building, and read the text again, “Alright…second floor of the b building.” “Mhm” “Mmmmm” Cato looked around, “Oh hell no…” A tire came out from a bush and started chasing after Steven. Steven started backing away, “Damn, we gotta get to the user.” Cato looked at the tire, “It’s a different brand this time. Last time it was some random no-name, but now it’s a Michelin tire.” “Yeah…I’d recognize that marshmallow bastard anywhere.” “The tire is way faster than before. Steven, I’ve got a plan.” He started running away. “Try to get to the room! I’ve got to get something.” “The hell…” The tire jumped at Steven, and Steven dodged. He started running to the building, but the tire was catching up. He took out his pistol, and shot at the tire, “BANG BANG BANG!” The tire quickly got back together, and kept it’s chase. Steven kept shooting at the tire, while walking backwards to building B. However, while walking backwards he tripped on a rock. He winced in pain, and when he looked up he saw the tire over him in the air. He blocked it with his arms, as it was spinning and trying to get through. He threw it away, and ran to the door. However, he realized he wouldn’t have enough time to open it since the tire was swiftly catching up to him. He ran around building B to the back, and the tire jumped at him once again. It was right over his head. He took out his tommy gun, and started shooting it, “ATATATATATATA!” The tire was shredded into a bunch of pieces, and fell around Steven. In the middle of it’s descent, it began reattaching quickly. It was reattaching around Steven’s stomach, and started crushing him. “Oh shit shit shit…” He tried to push the pieces off of him, but it didn’t work. Then, Steven heard a “Trrrrrrrr” sound approaching him. He turned and saw it was Cato riding a motorcycle. Cato held his hand out as he passed Steven. Steven caught his hand, and got on the motorcycle. The tire pieces were being flown off from the speed, and turned back into the whole tire behind the motorcycle. It was slowly catching up, as Cato drove farther from the building. “Cato…I think you’re going the wrong way.” “Nope. This is part of the plan!” He drove through the hedge that surrounded the school and turned around at a thin tree. He scoped out the area, while the tire got closer. “Uh…Cato. Might I remind you that we’ve got a little issue.” Cato took a deep breath, “We’ve got time. If this plan works, this is gonna be the coolest shit ever. Cooler than the American victory of the revolutionary war.” The tire got closer. “But if this fails…we’re in a world of hurt. You understand Steven?” The tire got closer. “OKAY I GET IT DRIVE ALREADY!” Cato drove towards the thin tree. He made the motorcycle jump a bit, and it made the tree bend down a little. He drove on the tree, with the tire following. The tree was being bent even more and when Cato was almost about to drive off of it, it sprung up like a rubber band. It flung Cato and Steven high in the air, with the tire also being flung up, though lower. Meanwhile, in B-215, Pirello had a sinister smile. “Here Comes The Hotstepper.” Then, Cato and Steven burst through the window of the room. Cato yelled, “ENVELOPMENT OF 900 KNIVES!” and threw a bunch of kitchen knives at Pirello. Pirello did a backflip to dodge most of the knives, but when he was landing some hit him and he fell on his back. When Cato and Steven landed in the room, the tire followed them and Steven backed away from it. Cato ran and slid on the ground to Pirello. Cato pinned him on the ground by his neck with his hand. He used Toxic to start spewing poisonous gas from his hand. Pirello held his breath. The moment Cato closed his eyes to blink, Pirello kicked up and knocked Cato back. Cato tried throwing a few more knives, but Pirello blocked them with his gloved hands. He then jumped forward and kicked Cato towards the window. Cato was about to fall out of the building, “Waowwww!” Steven shot the tire with his tommy gun, “ATATATATATA” and once the tire was deflated, he turned to Pirello. “Here you go, you stay puft bitch.” He started shooting at Pirello, “ATATATATA!” Pirello threw his grapeshot at Steven, which blocked some of the bullets. He jumped out of Steven’s aim, and the grapeshot burst. The balls were bouncing around the room. Cato looked shocked, “Grapeshots. Weapons of war from the 18th and 19th century. Usually they’re supposed to be used as cannon ammo but-” A ball had hit him. The balls kept bouncing around and hitting all of them as they did before. It hit Steven’s tommy gun away. Marty was watching the balls, dodging some of them. He caught one, and tossed it to Steven. “Do your letter thing, Steven!” Pirello looked at Steven, “Eclipse. It allows you to put information you learn into books.” Steven said, “I guess…” He wrote on the ball with a marker, getting hit by a few other balls in the process. He then threw the ball at Pirello, in a particular way. Pirello ducked down to dodge the ball. On the top of the ball, read “How many milliseconds this ball has been directly over the user of Hotstepper.” Then, tally mark symbols started violently printing themselves on the ball. I then another I then another, it kept going. The force of it all sent the ball flying downwards at such a high speed that it passed straight through Pirello’s upper torso. Pirello held onto his chest, as blood was coming out. He stumbled around, barely dodging some balls that went his way, getting hit by most. Pirello looked around. He saw Marty catching another ball, Steven getting ready to catch it, and Cato throwing knives at Hotstepper to stop it from getting back up. Pirello was heavily breathing, thinking about his next move. And then, it came to him. He dashed out the door, and ran away. Marty exclaimed, “THE HELL?” He looked out the door, and saw that he had already run through the hallway. Marty looked at Lacey and Spencer’s unconscious body. “Shit. There’s no point going after him, we gotta bring these two to the healer.” That’s exactly what they did. As the healer was healing the two, Seven and Iris came into the hole. “Uhh, guys, what happened here?” Iris asked, noticing Spencer’s broken leg. “Long story,” Steven told him. Steven noticed that Seven and Iris were both holding envelopes. “What are those?” Steven asked. Seven was confused, “Huh, you guys didn’t get these?”

5 Minutes Ago

Pov Shift: Seven

Seven was playing on his phone, when he heard a knock on his door. He went to open it, but saw no one there. He then looked down, and saw an envelope. He picked it up and went back inside. He opened the envelope, and it read “Warehouse behind the Festa Fantasia on Citrus St. Be there at 1:20. We need to talk. - Just. Justice” Seven was perplexed, and heard another knock at the door. He opened it, and it was Garlic. He was holding his hand up to his bruised eye. “Oof, Seven, ya got an ice pack or some shit? I feel like my head’s about to split.” Seven looked concerned, “Come in, come in. I should have one in my fridge. Garlic walked in, and Seven closed the door behind. Seven opened the fridge, “How did you even get like that?” “I got socked by this bitch when I tried stealing her purse.” Seven took out an ice pack, “Oh, so it was…kinda deserved. Why not go to the healer?” “She said the same thing as you!” “What??” Seven passed him the ice pack. Garlic put the ice pack to his eye, and explained, “Alright alright, let me tell you the story. So yesterday, I was just walking around the front of the school. However, I saw this peculiar girl with a purse walking. It had money out and everything, she may as well have a damn sign on her head saying “I wanna be robbed.” No, instead actually she had this… silver crown? With seven big spikes on it. So there I am, running past tryna get a buck or two, and she quickly turns around. All I see is a fist in the air, and ‘Wap!’ My ass is on the ground fumbling like a fucking fool. That was no normal punch, in fact I could swear I saw her fist…doing that thing mirrors do with the sunlight…what was it called…” “Reflecting?” “That. Anyway, now that I’m on the ground she starts yelling a bunch of nonsense that’s incoherent to me. All I’m hearing is a ringing in my ear. It was all fun till she tried slapping a handcuff to my right arm. And that’s when my dumbass realized. I looked at her, and she was holding up a police badge, yelling that ‘You have the right to remain silent’ shit. I got caught. I had no weapon, no plan, I didn’t expect this…so I bit her and hauled ass. She didn’t follow, but I bet she was tryna get the rest of her ops. After that, I ran to the healer. And you know what she told me? ‘I’m sorry, I cannot heal you. Your bad actions have consequences.’ Isn’t that fucked, Seven? I was on death’s door man!” “A little.” “Yeah! So then I asked, ‘What bad action?’ Then she was like ‘Stealing,’ then I was like ‘Yo, what? I am not the kind to steal…Only permanently borrow by force,’ then she was like ‘You cannot lie to some people…Now leave.’ And I left. Pissed me off.” “Maybe it was because of her signature?” “Tch…I don’t even care anymore. So I decided to walk it off, the pain would get better, right? Wrong. Today I woke up and it hurt like hell on Earth.” “In a way…this is kind of hell on Earth…” “Why do you say that?” “We live in Florida.” “...Good point. Anyway, it got way worse. I decided to come to you, for an ice pack. But you know, as I’m telling the story, I remember that name on the police badge and where I heard it from. Ms. Lection was always calling someone who barely came to class because she had ‘work.’ Makes me even more mad, she must’ve had at least $100 on her. Her name was very alliterate…It was Justine Justice.” “WHAT?!!?!!” “...I think you’re overreacting. Names like that are common in School Almanac, I mean mine is Garlic Gar-” “That’s not why I’m shocked…Did anything else seem odd about her?” “Well, uhhh, she had her hair in a ponytail?” Iris knocked on the door, “Seven, I got this odd letter…” Seven went through the door, “Iris, I got the same thing. I bet Steven and Marty did too. Let’s go get them.” He turned to Garlic, who was still in the dorm room, “Thanks for the info, Garlic. I’ve got somewhere to be. Don’t steal my stuff while I’m gone.” He then left with Iris, and immediately Garlic started rummaging through his drawers.

Present Time

“You guys weren’t in your dorm rooms, but I saw with Slide Zone that you guys got letters too. Let’s go,” Iris said. “Where do we even go?” Asked Steven. Seven answered, “The warehouse behind Festa Fantasia. What’s the time right now?” Cato checked his watch, “1:10.” Iris told Cato, “You, Spencer, and that girl should probably stay here. You guys didn’t get an invitation. Time’s running out, come on Steven and Marty. Let’s go, we have to hurry.” Mr. Noronake then came out of nowhere, “Students needing to get somewhere? I can drive you guys there in no time.” Steven asked, “Were…you watching us the whole time.” “I’m not required to answer that! Now come on, let’s get in the car.” Steven, Marty, Iris, and Seven went in the car, and Noronake started driving. While Noronake was driving, he told the students, “So…I have something I probably should have told you guys earlier. I have a son going to this school, he’s the same age as you guys.” Steven asked, “You have a son?” Marty asked, “You’re that old?” Noronake sighed, “That was extremely rude. I should stop the car right now. In fact, I will.” He stopped the car. Iris, who was sitting in the front, said, “Of course you did, we’re at a red light.” Noronake rolled his eyes, “Whatever. Anyway, yes, I do in fact have a son. And he does have a signature. I’ll let that be a surprise for you guys. I sent him to this school for that exact purpose. Ohohoho, I felt like a mad scientist when he told me.” Seven asked, “Aren’t you scared for him? I mean, the school is filled with people who are a little…insane.” “True. He’s not gonna be spending most of his time in school for that reason. He’s taking most classes online.” “You can do that?” Marty asked, as the light turned green and Noronake started driving again. “Yeah. Most people don’t do it because it’s super hard, but he doesn’t mind. He’s the only one who’s doing digital though, so it’s kind of lonely. But…he gets to travel the world with his mother, so I guess that’s nice.” They pulled up to Festa Fantasia, “This is your spot guys?” “Yeah,” Steven answered, “Thanks Mr. Noronake.” “No problem.” They walked past the restaurant to a warehouse that was about a football field away. It was gray, rusty and obviously hadn’t been used for years. Inside were two high platforms on opposite sides of the building, with railings and ladders going up to them. There were also a bunch of lined up shelves on wheels through the entrance that they came from. The lighting was pretty bad, with the only light coming from the windows on the wall. Once they get past the shelves, they see someone standing there. She had a brown ponytail, and a silver crown with seven spikes, just as Garlic said. She had a police uniform on as well. Her face was veiled by the darkness. She told the four, “So, you’ve come to face your justice…”