“You can starve a soldier on the battlefield, but make damn sure you feed him during the rest of the war.”

-General Patrick Campbell Of The Kingdom Of Ireland

One Full Day

It is said that it is easier to fight on an empty stomach than to sleep on one. Hunger was one of the core desires that all humans had. The inner forces that motivated people to do all the stuff they did. To build a home and make friends. To train and learn. Sure, a lot of people worked for goals outside of their basic instinct, but give a man all the books in the world and see how long until he starts eating the pages. Food was something everyone understood to be good, and that sharing food was something special. Every society that ever tied sticks and leaves together to sleep under also had the eating circle. From the ancient fire pits cavemen cooked meat over to the modern dining room with fancy engraving. To eat together was to bond. To become more than just people around each other. To make a family. Warriors can fight hungry, but give him the world to fight and see how long until he invites his enemy to a meal. This was something the Largge Family knew well.

“Yeehaw!” Anthony Largge shouted out over breakfast. “Baby, my baby, you done gone and made the best damn breakfast a man can ask for. And you know I can’t lie worth a spit can full of nothing!”

“Yeah Mom, it’s really good.” Semy Largge said in agreement, “Can I get seconds?”

The Largge household was a full-sized house that sat on its own street block. Such a feat was a sign of great wealth, which Anthony Largge had gained through his career as a Civil Guardian. A public figure who was called upon to handle situations that arose from the nature of having thousands of powerful beings in a densely populated area. Sure, the Department of Demi-Humans handled most issues, but they were more of a preventive force. Trying to act before the chaos fell out onto the mundane lives of the average citizen, but whenever gangs, or cults, or a random overpowered hooligan catches the eye of the public, that’s when they have to deal with the likes of Fat Bastard.

“You gonna stop at seconds?” Anthony laughed, “I might slowed down after fifths myself.”

“Of course, you can have seconds.” Abigail Largge said as she bought out another platter of breakfast foods.

This prompted a voice from the kitchen, “Oh go ahead. Spoil the boy like I did mine. See where that gets you.”

To this another voice called back, “A house big enough for a king? Sounds fine to me.”

The voices belonged to the two oldest women of the house. Granny Largge, who was the mother of Antony Largge, and Granny Small, who was the mother of once Abigail Small, now Abigail Largge. It often took the three of them arguing over every dish to feed the whole table of ten. Starting at the end sat Anthony, as the head of the house. To the left was where Abigail sat, though it was currently empty. After that was Semy’s seat who was filling his plate with seconds. Then was Grandpa Small, who had stayed quiet until then.

Grandpa Small huffed, “Big enough for a king. Bah, king of what? Whales!”

This sent Anthony into laughter. From the kitchen Granny Largge also laughed. But just past Granny Small’s unique seat, Grandpa Largge huffed back, “Watch it Small. If you know what’s good for you.”

“Oh, I’ll watch it alright! I’ll watch it like I should have watched that zapper take your head off back in the invasion. Then I could have introduced my Abby to a proper gentleman. Instead of your mutated boy.”

“But then you wouldn’t have us!” countered a tiny girl across the table. On the other side, left of Grandpa Largge, was Granny Largge’s seat and then Uncle Matthew Largge who was somewhere unknown. Finally, in the last two seats sat the twin siblings Charles and Amanda Largge. Named after their maternal grandparents, both of whom saved the lives of their paternal grandparents during the Horde Invasion.

“Well,” Grandpa Small nodded, “You’re right about that, Lil Amy. So I guess you’re off the hook this time Largge.”

The two continued to glare at each other with death stares of friendship.

“Hey. What about me?” Semy laughed, “I’m your grandson too, Grandpa.”

“And you’re making this old dog right proud. Wish my own papa and grand papa could see you. A Small Man through and through.”

“What are you talking about? There ain’t nothing small about the boy!” Antony laughed. Which was true. Semy was the second tallest kid in class, and was in the running to be the tallest one if his own father’s seven-and-a-half-foot height was to have a say.

From upstairs the final member of the Largge family came down. Agent Largge, Uncle Matthew to his family, was wearing his suit and tie get-up. “Morning everyone. Can’t stay. Work called. Gonna go.”

“You and your boyfriend got a date?” Antony tensed his younger brother as he shook hands with the older men then gave his mother a hug and brother a rude gesture.

“Fuck off, Tony. That’s stopped being funny after I was best man at his wedding.” And out the door he was.

“Daddy,” Lil Amy said, “Uncle Matthew says that you and him have the same job.”

“Kinda, we both fight bad guys, but I have more fun with it.”

“Uncle Matthew also gets paid more.” Lil Charlie added. Antony furrowed his brow.

“Maybe in salary.” Semy said in laughter, “But pops here makes big bucks from the merchandise he sells. Everybody loves The Fat Bastard.”

Everybody in Progress City knew who Fat Bastard was, and they all knew he was Antony Large. Hiding the identity of a public superhero was like hiding the identity of a movie star. Possible if he never showed his face in public, but not really worth the trouble. After all, punching through and getting punched through walls was about the highest-profile career you could have. Now DDH agents were a different matter. They were also public employees, but they were able to be more secretive with their identity. Not giving interviews and always working quickly and cleanly did that.

“They sure do.” Antony slapped his belly making it jiggle, “Yeah, little Matt might play around in the background, but I fight the big dog. My powers are way stronger than his after all.”

“Dad. When are our powers going to come?” Lil Charlie asked.

“Soon enough little man. You and your sister are going to be lift cars in no time.” Antony laughed.

Semy finished off the last of his plate and unleashed a mighty belch. “That was some kind of good mama.”

“You’re welcome.” Granny Largge said, “We did most of the work.”

The whole table laughed. This was The Largge Family. Their spirits couldn’t be crushed. They weren’t always laughing. They fought, and yelled, and screamed. They had their times of strife. Still, they filled every moment, the sweet and the bitter, with love. They were family.

Semy slapped his belly. A large round mass that jiggled when he smacked it, “Alright, that should be more than enough for the day.”

“You sure? You need to get what you need while you can. Trust me.” Antony said jiggling his own large deposit of fat.

“Oh yeah. Carl wants us to train after class, but that never takes much.” Semy explained. His team leader, Carl Star, often had the team meet up after classes whenever possible. A task made just a bit difficult by two members being opposed to sunlight and another being opposed to socializing in general. Then there was Melissa, but Jennifer kept her in check. This resulted in most sessions being just him and Carl either sparring or just hanging out. “He’s probably just want to do block runs around the forest.”

Just then a voice started yelling from outside. The whole family stopped to listen. It was a loud booming voice that shouting rude taunts. Semy was the one to recognize it. “Is that Adrian?”

Semy went to the front door and there he was. The Half Demon Jerk Of Class J. “There you are fatso. Get your ass out here and fight me!”

“What?” Was all Semy could say. Adrian was the biggest jerk in the class, and possibly the freshman grade, but Semy liked the guy. He was mean-spirited and rude, but he always fought fair and lost with grace. Something that was common due to him picking fights with bigger and stronger opponents on the regular. That was respectable.

“I said fight me!” Adrian said slapping his chest, “My little brother wants to see me deliver a beat down and you’re the only one who fun to beat.”

Semy looked behind Adrian. There was a motorcycle that looked like it was built for battle and on it was a young kid. Semy smiled, “Yo, is that Ambrose? What’s up lil dude!”

“Not your face when my big bro is done with you.” He shouted back pumping his fist in the air.

Semy laughed and walked down closing the door behind him, “Well sorry to say, but I don’t have time for a fight. Neither do you Adrian.”

“Class doesn’t start for over an hour.” Adrian waved him off.

“Homeroom is a class to itself, man. That’s when they give announcements and stuff.”

“Whatever. You’re scared.”

“I sure am.” Semy smiled, “Of being late.”

Semy laughed loud. His voice cracked under the strain, but he continued on until Adrian punched him in the gut.

“Oof, cheap shot man.” Semy rubbed his stomach, “I’ll tell you what. How about a race instead?”

“A race? Your fat ass can run?” Adrian asked half honest half taunt.

“Well sure, how do you think I catch the ice cream truck?” Semy laughed again at his own joke and was joined by the giggle of Ambrose.

Adrian only chuckled, “Whatever, doesn’t matter. I can’t do it. I got to take Ambrose to school after this and I can’t be ditching my bike either. So a foot race is a no-go.”

“That’s fine. You can use your bike if you want.”

“What? You got your own motorcycle around here?” Adrian scanned the front of the housing block looking for a possible place to store a bike.

“Nah. I’ll go on foot.” Semy offered.

Adrian narrowed his eyes, at least that’s what his face seemed to say with his eyes hidden behind the dark shades he always wore, “What is this? You know some shortcut through Otherside? That’s not allowed.”

“Nope. I’ll go on foot right here on Earth. I’ll even use traffic lanes only. No footpaths.” Semy smiled ear to ear and extended a hand, “Promise.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow, “Alright then, what are the terms?”

“No terms. Here to school. First one there wins. Motorways only.” Semy explained.

Adrian took the handshake, “Okay. This better be interesting at least.”

The two lined up. Semy stretched out his muscles readying for the run and Adrian got his bike in place. Adrian didn’t wear any protective gear. Anything that could hurt him wouldn’t be stopped by a helmet. Ambrose on the other hand wore both a full-face helmet and a leather jacket that had a zipper going from the wrist to the neck on both sides. Semy focused some power into his eyes and looked closer at the leather. It wasn’t cow leather, or any other mundane hide. This was something that could possibly take bullets, which meant the zipper was for if the arm broke. Normal metal wouldn’t cut it.

“Damn, lil dude. That one cool jacket.” Semy gave a thumbs up.

“Thanks. Adrian got it for me. My pants too.” Ambrose said and his pants were indeed made of the same tough hide. Even his shoes seem to be more heavy-duty than standard. Semy smiled to himself. Adrian was a jerk, but he was still a good guy.

“Enough hyping our fashion. I start after you. You’ll need the head start.” Adrian revved the motor into a roar.

“Thanks.” And Semy squatted into a runner start, “Ready. Set.”

Semy’s “Go.” was accompanied by his bolting launch into the street. He ran using almost nothing but his legs. Something most people don’t understand is that running is a full-body activity. It uses your arms, torso, and even your head. However, Semy was incredibly fat. Which for him was good since his mutant power was to amplify his physical output at the cost of taking extra energy from his body. Some people were confused by how this worked. After all, plenty of mutates had super strength or super speed and didn’t need to pack on the pounds. But Semy didn’t have super strength or super speed. He had Super Everything. Just like his dad. Anything he wanted his body to do he just focused power into it and he did it. So it was when Semy ran at fifty miles an hour he had to hold the rest of his body still to keep it from shaking out of control. Which meant all his speed was coming from just his legs moving at breakneck speeds.

Semy chuckled to himself when he heard Adrian bike up behind him. He looked to see the half-demon gritting his teeth. Ambrose looked like he was having the greatest day ever. They zoomed across the city streets weaving around the few cars and trucks that dotted the early morning in the time where most had gotten to work but not yet started working.

Semy kicked it up a notch to keep up with Adrian. Which pulled more energy from his reserves. This was the downside of his powers. Mutant power took up extra energy but for most, the body adapted to increase the efficiency of the powers used. His didn’t. Increasing his output always required more energy and increasing it further required even more energy and at a faster pace. If thirty miles an hour required one unit of energy, then forty needed two units, fifty would take three, and to double the original speed would cost four times the energy. Luckily for Semy he also had Super Fat Storage. Every pound of fat on his body held a magnitude of calories for him to draw from. All two hundred pounds of it.

Unluckily, this didn’t stop Semy from sweating. Which left him soaked by the time he came to a stop in the school’s courtyard with Adrian beside him. He huffed and puffed, and then he focused power into his lungs to make them expand without drawing in air. This caused a cooling effect which helped lower Semy’s body temperature. “Thanks for the head start Adrian. I would have lost without it.”

Adrian grumbled, “That was a cheap shot, and you know it!”

Semy laughed, “You think? Well, at least we’re both on time to school.”

“Guess again,” Adrian hooked a thumb to Ambrose, “Got to take Ambrose to his school.”

“Oh dang, you’re right.” Semy blinked before bursting into another laugh, “I guess my brilliant plan didn’t work after all.”

“Whatever.” was all Adrian said before revving his bike and speeding off.

Semy chuckled to himself and rubbed his legs. They were sore. A downside of being human. He had strained his body and now it wanted to rest and repair. That at least was something everyone experienced. It was another core desire that motivated people. Shelter and safety.

Semy went inside and headed to Class J and took his seat with a sigh of relief from his legs. Homeroom started, the role was taken, and announcements were made. One of them being a reminder that vehicles of any kind were not allowed on school grounds without approval.

The day went on from there like any other. Adrian arrived only a few moments before Mr Mirmen did. Kevin fell asleep a few moments after.

“Alright class,” Mr Mirmen starts, “Today we’re going over political speeches. First off, what constitutes a speech? Raise of hands. Mr DelSegugio.”

“A speech is a spoken essay imparting objectively subjective topics such as morals, ideals, or legality. As opposed to a lecture, which imparts objectively objective topics such as scientific observations, historical accounts, and the actual law.”

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“Very good. Today we’ll be covering speeches that cover the objective topic of human rights. Which might be confusing given the objective subjective stuff. But it is very simple. While our human rights are subjective in reality by them being ultimately a decision of thought rather than a reaction to existence, they are objective because of a decision of thought to make them objective. Can anyone here sum it up an easy-to-understand analogy? Mr Largge?”

Semy lowered his hand as he quoted the famous novelist. “To put simply, rights are like gravity. You can fight it, but you can’t argue with it, and unless you got fuel to burn you’re going to lose and die.”

“And how do rights parallel the blunt force of gravity in a fatal fall?” Mr Mirmen asked setting up the rest of the quotes.

“By me cutting your throat Senator.” Semy chuckled finishing the exchange between a famous novel writer XYZ and an American senator made soon after the world ended its three-decade era of war.

“Yes. Exactly. Our rights are objective, because we make them so, and those who disagree are wrong and will die if they dare jump off their tower of grandeur.” Mr Mirmen quoted another post-war figure, “Many figures in history spoke out about the inherent rights of people. Human rights are something that everyone around the world seem to agree on. The disagreement has always been about who counts as people to which the rights were entitled to. It was only recently that the answer was finalized as everyone. We’ll be going over a few speeches made both for and against this conclusion.”

Mr Mirmen called out a book page and the class started going over the long-winded arguments made years ago. After they went over more biology with Ms Turner, their super genius science teacher, until lunch came. Lunch would have likely been Semy’s favorite subject if not for the extra class he took. Held in the school’s kitchen was ‘Culinary and Ration’ class where he and a dozen other students learned the art of food prep and survival. Today’s lesson was a complete history of bread, with real examples of all of them.

“Man oh man.” Semy sat at one of the tables lining the field yard. “You really don’t realize how many kinds of bread there are until your grade depends on it.”

“How many are there?” Carl asked.

“I don’t know. I was too busy eating the assignments to take notes.” Semy laughed which brought a smile to everyone.

Carl had managed to wrangle all of Team Two and was now addressing the table. As well as the awing that Argento and Donovan stood under. Even though they both could stand in sunlight, Argento being a Catholic Vampire and Donovan being just a werewolf, they still didn’t like it. In fact, Carl was only able to strong-arm them here because the weather forecast was going to turn cloudy soon.

“Well everyone start getting ready, because when Mister Doom and his husband Mister Gloom lose the right to bitch we’re doing battle drills. Any questions?” Carl opened the table to which Donovan raised a hand.

“Yeah, I am Mister Doom or Mister Gloom?”

“Does it matter?” Carl asked.

“Yes.” Argento answered, “We’ll be bickering over it like the old married couple we apparently are.”

Carl rolled his eyes, “You’re Gloom because you’re more depressing.”

“Does that imply I’m more deadly?” Donovan followed up.

“No. It implies you’re more likely to get a beat down from pissing me off. Now shut up and stretch or whatever. That goes to all of you. Including you Melissa.”

Melissa tsked, “Why? I’m always ready to fight.”

“That’s true. I’ve never seen anyone throw down as fast as you.” Semy laughed. “Not even Adrian.”

“Don’t compare me to that jerk.” Melissa jabbed Semy in the arm.

“I didn’t. I contrasted you to him.” Semy laughed. Melissa’s mundane punches weren’t much.

“I don’t understand what that means, so I’m not going to acknowledge it.” Melissa crossed her arms.

The clouds eventually came over and blocked the sun. Shadows lost their edge and became blurs. Carl clapped his hands, “Alright then. Let’s make pairs and review some basic moves.”

“The only move you need to know is how to turn and run.” Adrian shouted as he walked up to Team Two with his own Team Four in tow, “Beat it. We’re taking this spot.”

“What are you talking about? There’s plenty of room.” Jennifer chimed in gesturing to the whole field yard. There were two different classes at different corners and dozens of other students across all the classes doing something, but there were still empty patches big enough to practice anything. Also, there was the courtyard in the front, the track field just further back, the forested area it surrounded, and the gymnasium which was an entire building itself. “More than enough room for all of us.”

“It’s not about the where,” Gwen said in a whisper. “It’s just about pushing us around.”

“Fuck off Adrian.” Carl said with a rude gesture, “We’re staying here and you can play in a ditch.”

“Sure, trench warfare is fun, but we’ll be basing here. Now get going.” Adrian hooked his thumb over his shoulder.

“I said fuck off!” Carl shouted.

“Carl, come on. It’s nothing. We can go just over there.” Jennifer offered pointing to another empty spot.

“I’m with Carl.” Semy said standing, “I like this spot. I want to stay here.”

Adrian smiled at that, “Is that so?”

Semy smiled back, “It is so.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Adrian cracked his knuckles.

“Ask pretty please?” Semy chuckled.

Adrian laughed at that like the joke it was before answering, “No.”

“Well, I tried the nice way. Guess I got to knock you across the fence.”

This declaration brought a sigh to Runesir who rubbed his eyes, “I would like to note that the time wasted on this could have been used on actual practice and that everyone here knows this.”

“Noted and acknowledged.” Adrian said, “Let’s go. You and me.”

“I’m the leader of Team Two you sulfur breathing fuck!” Carl stepped up, “You don’t get to decide who does the fighting on our team.”

“Didn’t Semy make the challenge?” Lucas said, “So he’s the one deciding to fight.”

“That’s my point, so shut the hell up!” Carl barked, “You jerks don’t get to say anything about how we decide things.”

“Jeez, come on man. Now you’re just stalling.” Kevin said, “I think Adrian is being stupid too, but you’re just dragging things out now.”

“I don’t see you stepping up to hurry us up. Scared, zapper tech?” Carl sneered.

The shift in Kevin was palpable. His normal laid-back and uncaring demeanor turned to an angry and hateful expression. He balled his fist and gritted his teeth, “It’s Zapotec, tu jodida joder! And I don’t have to prove anything to you!”

“I know that. That’s how the rules work after all.” Carl said which caused Kevin to cock an eyebrow.

“What?”

“You don’t have to prove anything. You can just coast by on the sideline.”

“What are you trying to say?” Kevin was yelling. An angry growl lined his voice.

“I saying weak asses like you can’t be expected to stand against real fighters, so just hang back until you’re useful.”

“You fucking!” The air started to buzz as Kevin seem to be near exploding, “You and me! Now!”

“Hey now!” Ashley Smith stepped up. “Adrian and Semy said they were fighting first!”

“Yeah Kev, wait your turn.” Adrian chuckled.

“Fuck you, Adrian. And fuck you too blondie! I’m fighting now!” Kevin slammed a fist into his hand and a sound of thunder crackled out.

“Hey, step-” Adrian started but turned to his friend and saw the rage that was running through him, “Yo Kevin, come on man. Chill.”

“Fuck no. Would you chill after that?” Kevin said, “No, you would kill the fucker. So step off.”

“Alright then, you can have this one.” Adrian lifted his hands in surrender.

Carl took a step forward but was blocked by Semy’s large hand, “Hang on. Just because they tagged out doesn’t we’re swapping.”

“What? No!” Kevin shouted, “It’s me and him.”

“Sorry man, but Carl said it best. You don’t get to decide who does the fighting on our team.” Semy smiled and took a step forward, “I’m the one fighting. That’s that.”

“That’s bullshit. He’s the one who was talking shit. He’s the one who is going to eat shit.” Kevin shouted.

“Well would help if I called you a punk?” Semy grinned ear to ear, “I wouldn’t want to disappoint you after all. I could even ask Melissa for some good insults if you want.”

“You think-” Kevin sneered at Semy, “Fine, let’s go.”

Kevin turned and stomped out to a starting position. Semy turned to his team and meekly asked, “Any chance one of you knows what he can do?”

They didn’t. Semy then looked to the rest of Team Four, the same question on his face. Adrian chuckled, “Sorry Semy. We are friends, and I would tell you how the half-pint jerk managed to beat me a dozen times, but that half-pint is also my friend. So get fucked. Consider it payback for this morning if you want.”

“Cool. Thanks man.” Semy tried to laugh, “Guess I’ll just figure it out myself.”

Kevin took a spot and turned ready to fight. Semy took a spot counter to him and thought about everything he had heard about Kevin. Which was nothing. Apparently, he could fight well enough being his team’s flanker. Which meant he most likely had a more mobile fighting style than Adrian’s direct attacks. Which made Semy think that this was a mistake. Maybe he could still tag out with Carl.

Unfortunately, Ashley yelled out “Brawl!” and the fight was on.

Semy focused power across his whole body. Including his brain to increase the rate he saw the world. Like this, a few seconds was like a minute. Which was how Semy was able to see exactly how Kevin’s powers worked. Sparks of electricity shot around his body and gathered in his hand to fire out at Semy. It was a direct hit. The bolt entered into Semy’s chest. Which wasn’t as bad as one would think. People think that electricity can kill, and it can, but so can a lot of stuff. A stab to the chest can kill, but it has to get through the ribs to damage the lungs and heart. For electricity, it has to pass through the muscles and fat and jump over. Which wasn’t so easy when muscles would rather conduct the electricity through itself which was how nerves were able to power entire tendons. Additionally, fat was more insulating which kept the shock from passing into the muscles. So instead of doing any real damage to Semy, the lightning bolt just hurt like hell.

“Sweet Fucking Mercy.” Semy grasped his chest. He couldn’t dodge lightning. His dad’s fastest speed was near three hundred miles an hour, but lightning was over mach three hundred. Which is why when Semy stepped to the side just before another bolt fired past him he wasn’t dodging the actual attack, but rather Kevin’s set up for the attack. The bolt hit the school across the field. Kevin seemed to need to physically aim his power, which made sense. Like anything else, power was a part of the body. You had to position your limbs to use their strength on the world. So it was for the extra power that demihumans often wielded. Even those who did stuff with their mind. They could summon and mold the energy without moving, but it was like lifting without bending your limbs. Not as strong, and Kevin wasn’t holding back.

He was already lifting his other hand to send another bolt at Semy which showed the critical weakness to exploit. Kevin’s attacks were lightning-fast, but he himself was still limited to mundane human speeds. Semy was not. Kicking into third gear he reversed course and got to the other side of Kevin and took a swing. A low power left jab. The kind that normally would just push the target rather than hurt them, but at Semy’s increased stage it knocked Kevin away as he blocked the attack just before the hit. Semy started to shift down and try a grapple or maybe a throw to knock Kevin around, but Kevin had already gathered another attack and fired it. Another direct hit, but this time Semy focused power into his body’s pain damper and then focused on blocking the pain from his mind. Blocking pain wasn’t a mutant power. It was a skill learned through tutelage and experience.

Semy charged through the attack into a leaping punch. Kevin simply doubled up his power and fired a massive blast into Semy which broke the pain blocker and made him stumble. It was at this time Semy really realized that Kevin was in fact an amazing fighter. You don’t jump into a big attack right after blocking a sucker punch without at least a few notches in your belt. That’s when Semy decided to not hold back anymore.

His power was an active process. He had trained himself to not need to think about it to maintain it, but it wasn’t that simple. More power took more energy. So using full power would burn away all the energy he stored as fat. So it was he trained to maintain specific rates of power. Which he called gears. The lowest was first gear, and was rated at about peak mundane performance in all ways. On par with every gold medal Olympian. Every gear after that was a multiple of that rate with the increased strain that came with it. Semy could push it to fourth gear with little problem thanks to the teachings of his father who had developed the system over his years of brawling.

Semy pushed forward and landed a hit into Kevin’s ribs knocking the air out of him and dealt another jab into his face and still before his body could move away Semy grabbed an ankle and overhead whipped Kevin into the ground. A One Two Slam that was the move to end the fight in many cases. Not this one though. Kevin bounced from the slam and before he landed he counter-attacked by wildly sending out power around him. It seemed somewhat aimed at Semy as multiple sparks landed on him launching him away under the reflexive power of his increased strength. Recovering mid flight Semy regained his sense, rebuilt the pain blockers, and repositioned his body to land on his feet. He set his sights on Kevin and realized he had made a critical mistake.

Like a moronic novice who had never been in a real proper fight before. Semy had thought he figured out Kevin’s deal. That he was a ranged fighter that used lightning bolts and electric charges to attack from a distance. This however was only one of his styles of which he had more. A fact proven by how he managed to cross the field in only a second to deliver a punch with so much speed and power it caused a sonic boom straight into Semy’s face. The force rippled through Semy’s head and rattled his brain. Something he knew because he was still using his super thinking and could feel the upset inside his skull. Not a concussion, but close enough to need medical attention. In addition to the ribs Semy felt break in his chest as Kevin sent another booming punch into the center of his chest.

Apparently, Kevin could also imbue himself with power to increase his speed. If this also increased his reaction speed was unknown as Semy grabbed Kevin’s forearm. Before he could start sending off sparks Semy slammed an uppercut into Kevin’s chest followed by a second and third and then a jab to the face and a hammer blow on the shoulder. Semy waled on him switching between punches until Kevin caught his fist. He took a deep breath in and yelled unleashing a massive wave of electricity. The majority flying up through Semy’s arms and rest still finding the rest of him. The pain was blinding. Semy couldn’t see or hear anything past the voltage coursing through him. Still, he held on and summoned enough sense to whip his forearm around and get his hand around some part of hopefully Kevin. He pushed his arms apart until they were wide enough for a bear hug and the leaned back as much as he could before swinging forward into a headbutt.

The shocking shocks stopped and Semy was able to regain his senses. He saw he had managed a direct blow from the mark in the direct center of Kevin’s forehead. It was bruised and bleeding and Kevin was still recovering allowing Semy to snap his hands around to get better grips on Kevin’s forearms. Semy’s arms were longer than Kevin’s, and his raw strength was leagues ahead even at base level. Kevin couldn’t break the grip with physical strength.

“Go ahead and send more.” Semy said, “I’ll just pound your skull with mine until one of us breaks.”

Kevin didn’t respond. He just gritted his teeth as a booming sound came from the sky overhead. The calm cloudy sky had turned darker and with flashes of light shooting through them. Semy felt a drop of water hit him as rain started. Semy looked up to the sky. The forecast had said the rain was going to come after sundown. How long had they been fighting? It was still bright. The sun must still be up. Was the forecast just that wrong? Regardless, the fight was over. With the rain coming down no one was going to train and thus the facade fighting over the spot was pointless.

“Well, I guess we’ll call it a draw?” Semy said and dawned his usual cheery tone, “Unless we want to play in the mud, right?”

Kevin did not respond. He gritted his teeth as his body started to shake.

“Voy a,” Kevin said full of rage. The air around him started to buzz again lifting hair and clothes up. Semy gawked as the air filled with more buzz. He only barely recognized the Spanish and that it was unfinished which stunned him into confusion. He tried to talk to Kevin, but he snapped the rest, “fucking matarte!”

An explosion of sparks fired off Kevin and sent Semy off from the force. He balanced the landing prepared to go on the defensive, and scanned the ground for Kevin but found him in the air. About fifty feet in the air electricity was flowing around him like it was water. The booms of thunder above grew. Streaks of lightning circled overhead. Or rather over Kevin’s head as he extended an arm to aim at Semy and yelled out like a command, “Die.”

Lightning is a common event on the earth with thousands of strikes around the world every minute of every day. Every single minute, of every single day. It was also a powerful force. So much so that many other beings tap into it to gain the power to rule over their domains. Because it’s so common and so powerful thousands of people get killed by lightning every year. Just random discharges that found them and sent millions of volts through, though most people do actually survive. Random strikes that is. Very few survive meaningful and aimed bolts. Even with Semy’s natural toughness a direct bolt of pure lightning was likely to cook his insides through until dead.

Which was probably why Adrian had stepped in to take the attack. He seemed to appear just as the bolt flashed out and struck him directly in the chest. He focused his demon energy to create a channel for the bolt to be grounded out into the earth below. Alongside that, Runesir had also joined in casting some spell that was increasing the efficiency of the current into the ground. Adrian tanked the attack until a bang sounded out. It was the sound of a gunshot muffled by the roar of the lightning that stopped after that allowing a second to boom out at full volume. The shots were from Mr Mirmen who had hit two rounds into Kevin. The first in his arm and the second to a leg. Kevin cried from the pain as blood started coating his limbs, but he wasn’t able to fully react before the frame of Mr Hall leaped up to him to sink a punch into the side of his head and rode it down to the ground. Mr Hall grabbed Kevin uninjured arm and twisted it into a hold.

“You are out of line young man!” Mr Hall screamed as he pulled the arm to its limit, “What in this world were you thinking! Using an attack like that on another student! On anybody!”

“Are you two okay?” Mr Mirmen asked as he holstered his gun to check on Semy and Adrian. “Medics are coming now.”

“Why?” Adrian coughed out between heavy breaths, “That was… nothing.”

He then collapsed. Gwen came up and checked him. “Alive. Semy, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t be if not for Adrian.” Semy said standing up.

“And he likely wouldn’t be alive if not for my grounding spell.” Runesir walked up and started to check on Adrian. “Ms Bell, I know you’re a healer and a medic as well, but I would ask you to not tend to him.”

“Please don’t.” Lucas said as the rest of the teams joined, “I do not want to hear him bitch about being healed by a fairy. All offense is directed at him.”

“I agree. Don’t heal him, Gwen.” Melissa added, “Hopefully he’ll die and we’ll be free from his asshole self.”

“He’s going to be fine.” Gwen said as she pulled a salve and started applying it to Semy’s worse injuries, “Half demons like him usually survive anything that doesn’t kill them outright.”

“That’s good to hear.” Carl said with a sigh, “Would have felt terrible if he would have died. Since I was the one who pissed Kevin off to begin with.”

“Yeah, well, don’t worry.” Mr Mirmen said waving over a group of student medics, “There’s no excuse for Mr Zapotec’s actions.”

“Yeah, about that.” Nazuri chimed in, “What the fuck? Has he always been that powerful?”

“No.” Lucas started explaining before Mr Mirmen could, “Kevin’s power comes from his connection to the natural world. In fact, he’s not even classified as a magic user. Something even Adrian has on his record. Even with it being entirely brute force. But because he gets his power from nature he can tap into it easier and use it directly. In short, none of that was actually Kevin. That was all mother nature aimed at one spot.”

“Cool.” Ashley said as he finished, “So he can only do that when it rains?”

“Yes,” Lucas confirmed.

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Semy laughed, “Just got to make sure to only tease him when it’s sunny out.”

“This is not a laughing matter.” Mr Mirmen snapped, “He should know better than to ever channel power like that without a justified reason and schoolyard squabbles are not enough. He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t get detention until he graduates and beyond.”

“Speaking of, where did Kevin go?” Jennifer asked pointing to where Mr Hall had pinned Kevin but now was missing.

“Mr and Ms Steinfaust came and got him.” Argento explained walking up, “Donovan and I are the strongest here. We’ll take Adrian to the infirmary. We should all be getting out of the rain.”

As if to agree the sky unleashed a bolt of lightning and thunder, but it wasn’t an agreement. It was just a normal random bolt like the millions of others that happen every day. Semy limped behind them as they carried Adrian and set him into a bed and took the next one over. The Nurse called their home and asked for both to be held overnight. Neither family objected. So it was, Semy found himself laying in bed his whole body in a pain that made that morning’s simple fatigue feel like a soothing massage. Yet, as he laid there and allowed his body to relax a wave of relief came over him. A feeling much greater than the one caused from resting that morning. It was the compounding of having every core desire being satisfied at once.

The desire for food was still met by the meal he had eaten only an hour ago, and the school’s infirmary was one of the safest places in the world meeting the desire for shelter. He was accompanied by one of his good friends, even if currently unconscious, which met the need for companionship. Lastly, he had just finished an incredible brawl fulfilling the human desire to deliver brutal violence onto one’s fellow man. These four desires were known, and even debated, to be the driving forces for humans. Food, sleep, friends, and enemies. What more can a man ask for?