“Oh ye of little faith. You all should know. Even if you turned every star against me, you will never break me. For even with all the power of all the gods of all the heavens, a man’s will shall rise above them up to knock it down. For gods may never die, but man shall never yield.”

-Unknown

A Mama’s Boy

“Do we really have to go in today?” I asked no one out of annoyance.

“Yes.” Was Mary’s answer. “It’s a school day. Just like any other.”

“Oh, no it’s not!” Adrian said chuckling. “I’ve been over hearing a lot of upper class men. Today is the final field day of the semester.”

“So what?” I asked. We had just suffered four straight days of advance quizzing about all the stuff the teachers had lectured us about. At least I assumed that’s what the tests were about. I just knew it was six hours of mental torture, but for whatever reason Adrian was excited.

“Oh, I’m not going to spoil it.” Adrian smiled his evil grin.

“Whatever.” Was my response. We were riding the bus with the whole team as we had started a morning study group at the local library to review possible questions. All under the orders of our Team Leader Mary. There were no tests scheduled for today, but we still met up and were now heading to school together.

“Aw, man. Now I’m curious.” Ashley moaned, “Tell us Adrian.”

“Nope. You’ll just have to wait and see.” Adrian chuckled as we arrived at the school’s bus station and walked the final block. We were earlier than usual and it showed as the courtyard was sparse with bodies. We didn’t bother chatting with anyone as we headed straight inside. We were starting to get a reputation as ‘The Bad Kids’, mostly because of Adrian despite the efforts of our team leader.

“I have sources that have hinted to the nature of today’s activities.” Runesir said in his standard smug ass tone. Which reminded me to put the payment for the stupid loan I let him give me in the mail. Wizards apparently do business through the mail when possible. He turned his head to grace us with his glorious gaze, “Adrian’s certainty brings concern that they might be correct.”

“Oh! What is it?” Ashley asked nearly jumping each of her steps. “Tell us! Tell us!”

“No. It’s rather too dreadful to think about.” Was Runesir’s response as he turned his head away. As if he believed just speaking the idea of today’s activities, whatever they were, would force the universe to make them happen, which he likely did believe, The Fucker.

“Mary! Make them tell!” Ashley whined to our team leader who rubbed her temples in annoyance.

“Ashley, no. I don’t care what today is about. We made it through exams, and that’s what matters. Whatever happens today, happens. Now shush.”

Ashley loss her bounce and pouted turning to Lucas, “Lucas, be on my side.”

“Do as our team leader says.” Lucas said with no tone or inflection causing Ashley to slump in defeat.

“Honestly,” Nazuri added in just as we got to class, “I agree with Mary full on. So long as the testing torture is over, I’m golden.”

“Oh my god!” Ashley whined at the top of her voice, “You guys suck!”

We all took our seats, except Nazuri who sat by Mary talking until forced to go to her own seat. After everyone was seated our teacher came into the class. It was still unbelievable, but there he was. The Mr Galacto. Earth’s greatest hero. A high school history teacher. It was such bull.

“All right class. Listen up.” Mr Galacto was already taking a swig off his flask, “Today is the last day before autumn break, and the last field day. So be noted that today is going to be a big one. Now let’s go ahead and start making our way to the field.”

The feeling through the class was mixed. Adrian and Semy were hyped up, but others like Alice and Jennifer were clearly nervous. I leaned in forward and whispered, “Hey half-pint, do you know the score here?”

Samuel York said back without turning, “I’ve made a number of predictions, but with no evidence to base anything on it would be pointless to share.”

Translation, I wouldn’t tell you if I did. York was a real dealer, so I knew better than to push it. I just stood and started to head to the back of the school. There, every freshmen class had been gathered, much like the first week of school, but everything was different. Back then everyone was nervous and unsure. Taken from a environment that was barely made to accommodate them, and put somewhere they could be themselves. They went from freaks of nature to regular people in just a couple months, and it showed.

“Alright you brats, listen up!” Coach Sarge yelled and we all listened, “Today is the last day of class before break. You all have been training and learning how to handle yourself, and today you’re going to show how far you’ve come.”

The crowd started to vibrate with excitement in pockets throughout. Looking around I saw that one source of buzz was Adrian. He was smiling with all his teeth, and suddenly I knew what the score was. Honestly, I was an idiot for not guessing it.

“Today you will be dropped off around the forest and then on the signal, you will go into the forest and brawl!” Coach finished and the cheers exploded. It was only from selective parts, but there was more excitement than dread.

“Wait! Hold on!” Samantha VonBec shouted out over the cheers, “Is it just a free for all?”

This actually quieted the crowd as everyone waited for the answer from Coach, “Kind of. You will be allowed to engage anyone you want inside the forest. Winning will net you points, except from those in your home class. Beating your classmates is worth zero points.”

“But still allowed, right?” Adrian shouted with a hand raised.

“Yes. We won’t stop you, but to hopefully promote cooperation and get you lot to go for new challenges, you will not be rewarded for taking down your own classmates.”

Adrian slammed his fists together and mumbled with an evil chuckle, “Like that gonna stop me. I don’t need points.”

Coach Sarge shouted orders for us to file into formation for our teachers to take to our starting positions. We piled into a series of motor carts as Mr Galacto drove possibly the shortest.

“Aw man!” Adrian said rubbing his palms together, “This is going to be so good. First thing first, I got a score to settle.”

“No!” Mary shouted and flicked Adrian’s ear, “You are not going after Gwen! Do not even think about it!”

“What! I wasn’t going to go after the fairy girl,” Adrian defended, “Though I heard a rumor she’s way tougher than she’s letting on.”

“I don’t care. Leave her alone.” Mary ordered.

“Fine,” Adrian waved her off, “Not like she’s even worth it. All glitter, no grit with her.”

Mary rolled her eyes. That was the best she was going to get from him and she knew it. We’ve all picked up on Adrian’s little quirks, and one of them was that he was a bully to pick fights. He hated fairies with a passion, but his passion for brawling was brighter. So the fairy girl was mostly safe. Especially with the whole class holding him to his word.

“That’s what I like about you, Adrian.” Said Jerry one cart forward. We all turned to look at him, “Always wearing your heart on your sleeve.”

Adrian scowled at Jerry. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

“Just as I said. You got a good heart Adrian.” Jerry said as the tram came to a stop, “You should follow your heart, even against your better sense.”

We all just looked as Team Three got off the tram. The skinny spell slinger commenting, “You sure that’s good advice Jerry? Man doesn’t have much sense to begin with.”

No one disagree as Adrian made a rude gesture at them. We got off and huddled away far enough from the rest to talk.

“Adrian. What was Jerry talking about?” Mary asked.

Adrian just shrugged, “How am I suppose to know? That Jerry is a complete weirdo. Almost impossible to read. Probably just trying to psyche us out.”

“Why?” asked Nazuri, “He doesn’t gain anything. We got no scores to settle with him or his team.”

“Maybe he was being sincere.” Offered Ashley, “Jerry is a strange guy, but he’s nice. And he’s right Adrian. You act like a bully, but you’re a great guy when the moment calls for it.”

“Oh please,” Adrian tsked and crossed his arms, “My mom just raised me right. That’s all.”

“Regardless, be aware.” Runesir said, “I doubt there’s anything insidious at play, but caution is never a vice.”

At that we agreed and got ready. We would split into two teams. A forward team of me, Adrian, and Runesir, and the rest in a Find-a-place-and-stay-out-of-danger team. Which was fine by me. Mary’s power was useless in combat. Nazuri seemed to reject whatever her deal was, which I understood. Lucas was just a bodyguard for Ashley, and Ashley was practically mundane. We didn’t know what her deal was.

So that left just us three. An arrogant wizard, a headstrong bully, and a human thunder storm. What a match up.

“So what’s the strategy?” I asked scanning through the woods. I saw movement in the distance and soon the sounds of battle rolled through, but we were safe for the moment.

“You point them out, I knock them down.” Adrian declared.

“And after they finish thoroughly beating you into the ground. What’s the plan then?” Runesir asked fairly. It wasn’t that Adrian wasn’t strong or tough. In fact, he was one of the strongest and toughest, but only one of, and knowing him he would set a bee line straight to the biggest, baddest bastard in the woods. So having the next step in the plan would be important.

“We’ll figure it out.” And like that the plan was set. Weather we agreed or not. Though to be fair to Adrian, we had been practicing frequently throughout the year, so I liked our odds.

We went through the woods with Runesir navigating with his magic senses. I tracked and marked the paths keeping a mental map in my head. Adrian ripped through the brush whenever we didn’t feel like walking around. Runesir and I noted targets when they came up and Adrian would jump out and ambush them. Mostly duos or trios that were able to hold their own, some even drawing blood off Adrian, and some even needing Runesir or me to jump in, but ultimately getting beat with Adrian cheering over them.

“This fucking rules!” Adrian shouted. “Hope we do this before every break.”

He was stomping and laughing, ruining any chance of stealth. This resulted in us getting ambushed a few times, but it didn’t matter. Even with the advantages reversed Adrian was still one of the top brawlers here. We were set to be in the top rankings by the end of the day.

“Stop.” Runesir called and we did. He stared off into the middle distance, focusing more on his magically senses. I started looking around opening my own senses. My eyes and ears were sharp, but I also have the ability to feel out energy currents if their were defined enough, but I was getting nothing.

“What you got Runey?” I asked keeping my guard.

“Something’s out of place here. I don’t quite know, but there’s a different feeling in the air. Like an ice cube in oil.”

Adrian and I just looked at each other. Wizards were impossible to understand, but we both seemed to get the gist. I asked, “Should we check it out?”

“Depends, is it dangerous? If so, then hell yeah.” Adrian decided.

“I’m still unsure on what this is,” said Runesir, “which I consider very dangerous. We should investigate.”

It was agreed on. We started to head toward the strange energy signature which led us to a giant tree marking the start of the deep woods. I remember passing one weeks ago when I had planned on cutting through the woods to finished the race faster. I also remember the thing I encountered on my second pass coming back.

“Guys, be careful. It could be bad.” I warned the others just as the wave of power came over me. A kind of repulsive force that was trying to push us away from the center of the forest. I unknowingly felt this weeks ago, but now I could sense that this area was off limits. The thought came to me that this might be what Runesir was feeling, but before I could bring it up I heard a sound. I couldn’t tell at first, but as we got closer I heard it again and again until I could understand what I was hearing, “Is the tree crying?”

“No.” Runesir answered, his vision returning to material world, “Someone is inside the tree.”

We walked around until an opening was revealed. The inside of the tree was hollow and nested inside was some guy sobbing his head off and a gal trying to comfort him. She saw as we came into the internal of the tree. Pulling out a seemingly simple stick and pointing it at us she spoke with a firm and demanding tone, “Go away. Leave us alone. We’re not fighting anyone today.”

“Why the hell not?” Adrian asked, “That’s what today is all about. Why even show up if you’re not going to brawl? And what the hell is this punk crying about?”

“None of your concern.” The girl stood and lifted the stick with energy coursing through it causing runes to glow over it. Adrian lifted his hands in placation.

“Whoa there. Truce. We’re guest in your,” He looked around, “tree, so relax. We’re not going to attack. At least not yet.”

She didn’t seem satisfied by that. She scowled and seemed ready to unleash power at us, but the guy spoke up first. “It’s okay, Rina. If they swear to peace, then I believe him.”

Rina slowly but steadily lowered the stick. “Alright, Milo, but say the word and their gone.”

Adrian laughed at that and sighed, “So again, what’s the punk crying over?”

This sent the punk Milo into another wave of sobs. Rina death glared Adrian and scowled, “Did no one teach you matters?”

“Sure, but I’m also an impatient kind of guy.” Adrian slammed his chest.

“I apologize for my friend’s blunt attitude,” Runesir stepped up, “But we are curious as to why you are sobbing in the middle of a battle field.”

“The Deep Woods repel casual wanderers. So it’s fairly safe here.” Rina explained.

“I see, that explains why your energy signature was so pronounced.” Runesir also explained, “On top of the contrast from the raging fury surrounding the area, having the repellent aura of the Deep Woods push others away made you stand out. Ironic, the desire to cry in solitude is what brought us here.”

“But why is he crying?” Adrian asked again, “Just what the hell can be so damn depressing as to stop you from enjoying a brawl?”

“My mom is dying.” Milo sobbed into his knees.

He continued to sob as Rina knelt by him and placed a hand on his shoulder. All the while glaring at us. Adrian nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. A look of sympathy lined his face, “Yeah, I guess that’ll do it.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“The doctors don’t know how long she has left.” Milo said between sobs, “But I have a feeling it’s not long. She’s gotten a lot worse. She was barely there this morning.”

“Your mom is in the hospital, and you’re here at school?” Adrian recapped with as few words as possible. He huffed and slammed his fists together with a boom drawing everyone’s eye. The look on his face was absolute rage, “This is bull!”

We all looked at him unsure. There were few things that could really set Adrian off, and this apparently was one of them. He pointed his finger at Milo and yelled at him. “You shouldn’t be wasting your time here! You need to go be with your mom! Now!”

Milo just stared back dumbstruck only managing to half mumble, “But the rules say-”

“Fuck the rules!” Adrian cut him off, “There are things more important that rules and a man being there for his mother is one of them. We’re going. Now.”

“The fuck you mean ‘we’?” I yelled back. The guy was my best friend, but he had a bad habit of lumping others into his ideas. The fact that it work most of the time didn’t help. He just looked at me with his serious face.

“Come on Kevin. This is the real deal. We have to.” He said, and I felt my eye twitch before bauing an agreement. He turned to Runesir, “I assume I can count on you too.”

Runesir tsked, “Your incredible boldness would be misplaced, if not for its self producing force. I will help.”

“Alright then. Come on punk,” Adrian turned and headed out of the tree. Milo picked himself up like he was in a daze, but then something shifted in his eyes. He was on board.

He rushed out behind Adrian and fell into stride next to him, “So what’s the plan?”

“Get you to the hospital your mom is at.” Adrian said as the rest of us, including Rina, followed. “Virginia Central Hospital I assume.”

“That is an objective. Not a plan.” Rina noted, “We need a plan on how to leave the school.”

“First, walk out the forest.” Adrian listed off, “Then, walk out of the school.”

“And if a teacher catches us?”

“Tell them fuck off.”

“And when they use force to stop us?”

“Make them fuck off.”

Rina gasped in shock, “You mean fight them? You think you can just take on a teacher? Just like that?”

“Sure. Maybe not in a one-on-one beat down, but we’re not trying to beat anyone.”

“You mean retreat at the first opportunity?” Runesir said with a nod, “Noble.”

“Whatever. Just a matter of priority.” Adrian said and we continued our way out the woods. It was decided that we would go over on the fencing between the different gates. We were nearing the edge of the treeline when Rina spoke again.

“You do know Milo is fairy kin, right?” Rina asked and we came to a stop, “A first generation half fairy. His mother being a full fairy. I know who you are, Adrian Priest. You hate fairies. Furiously. So did you know Milo is a fairy?”

Milo nerve seem to be shaken at this and looked to Adrian. Adrian didn’t turn or look back, “Yeah. I could smell it when we stepped into the tree, and yeah, I was kinda mad at finding some cry baby fairy punk.”

“So why help him?”

Adrian tsked, “I have my priorities, and putting fairy folk in there place just ain’t that high on the list. It’s just that simple.”

Adrian continued on stepping out of the tree line and into the clearing surrounding the forest. We checked to see if the coast was clear and went to the fence. Adrian lifted everyone over and then jumped over himself. We were now on the track field circling the forest facing the massive wall that marked the school ground border. We could have gone over, but Runesir and Rina both pointed out that the walls were lined with counter measures. Jumping would signal the school and surrounding authorities, which I saw as overkill.

“Alright, now let’s try to stealth this.” Adrian said acting again out of his known character, “Runesir, you got something for that?”

Runesir nodded and focused to form a spell. With a few magic words he sent it out and over the three of us, leaving Milo and Rina out of it, “This is the best I can guarantee if we’re facing school staff. I assume the two of you have your own means.”

They did. Milo and Rina both shaped power around them similar to Runesir’s spell. We continued down the track towards the school keeping an eye out for teachers and other students. Dipping down into the ditch that was even further out when we passed gates. It was smooth sailing. We were slipping by without a problem. Which set my nerves on end. The smoother the start would go, the rougher the end would come.

We made it off the track and back to the back field. It was completely clear. The freshmen classes were all in the woods brawling and the rest of the school was taking their own final test of the week. We headed around the building at near a sprint. Rounding the corner we saw our goal. The front gate, still wide open.

“They got anything on the front gate?” Adrian asked.

“Yes,” Runesir answered, “the same counter measure as the rest of the wall, except not as extreme. When we step over that line the whole school will know we’re leaving, but not until then.”

“Then we’ll have to book it when we do. Come on!” Adrian shouted and started to the gate with the rest of us following. We were half across the front field when a voice called out.

“Excuse you! Student should be in there assigned area!” Looking we saw it was the female disciplinary officer, Ms Steinfaust. She was marching towards us with the clear intend to stop us, “Report back to your class now!”

“Book it!” Adrian shouted and we bolted towards the gate only for Steinfaust to zoom in front of us. With the smoothest grace she elbowed Adrian in the face knocking him back, trip slammed me to the ground, and grappled Milo into a throw hitting Runesir. Only Rina was left standing since her slower pace left her out of range.

“Hey! You can’t do that!” She shouted, “You’re the disciplinary officer for the girls!”

Ms Steinfaust cracked her knuckles, “Don’t worry. I won’t hold back on you like I did with them.”

She took one step forward and I reached up her thick coat, past her high boots, until I felt skin. Before she could react I unleashed my full power. I was trying to down her in one attack, and knowing she was tough enough to handle the students of the school I didn’t hold anything back.

She screamed as I sent lightening up her leg. Her heavy leather acted as an insulator keeping the flow inside the metal lined materials. Sparks flew out of the neck and wrist as the bulk of my attack coursed back and forth through her body. She was completely stunned. For around a full second. She regained her nerve and turned to launch a kick straight into my chest. The force was enough to lift and send me over ten feet away breaking my grip.

As I coughed my lungs back into place Adrian regained his footing and managed to sucker punch her knocking her a step back. He started for a punch commenting, “Weird fighting a girl.”

He threw the punch hard only for Ms Steinfaust to catch his fist and twist it. “You get use to it as you grow up.”

Lifting a foot she pulled Adrian in and push kicked him away with enough force to cross the field and into a wall. Rina tried her hand next. Lifting her rod she shouted a spell that unleashed a blast of force directly into Steinfaust knocking her off balance for a moment. The two ladies stared at each other. Rina’s face an expression of terror and Steinfaust with an expression of annoyance. Rina tried to offer an apology but didn’t have time before Steinfaust leaped over and uppercutted her stomach causing her to drop everything and fall over in pain.

Milo took the opening to leap at Steinfaust with a short bladed weapon. She knocked the blade away, grabbed Milo by the wrist and flipped him over head and slammed him down into the ground adding a hammer blow into his chest. It was seemingly over. Ms Steinfaust had managed to down all of us. Even as I got back to my feet I knew I couldn’t win this. She wasn’t only more skilled and experienced than us, she was also somehow stronger and tougher than all us combined. We couldn’t overpower or outlast her.

Then so be it, I said to myself. As hopeless as it was, I didn’t go down easy. She was going to win this, but she was going to have to earn it. I refocused my power reaching into my inner will and brought it to the surface. I yelled as electricity started to course around and through me as apart of my body. I aimed my attack and she readied herself.

“Stone Shackle Cage!” The ground around Steinfaust erupted and shot up pinning her in place. Behind her I could see Runesir pushing magic into the earth. “Go now! I won’t be able to hold her long!”

Adrian had recovered and took the opportunity. He tapped into his rarely used speed and rushed over to grabbed Milo and Rina packing them on one shoulder each.

“What the hell is going on out here!” Demanded the other disciplinary officer, Mr Steinfaust, from the front door of the school.

“Kevin! Come on!” Adrian yelled and booked it to the gate. I fired my gathered energy into Mr Steinfaust and bolted as well. We crossed the threshold and kept running. It was a full on sprint and we were both out pacing casual traffic. Adrian’s demon blood gave him incredible strength, durability, and speed. My power didn’t increase my physical power directly, but it did give me the ability to push myself beyond any limit. We pumped our legs with everything we could, but we could only sprint for so long. A minute later and a mile away our bodies had started giving out. We dived into an alley way and huffed in exhaustion.

“Whoa,” Milo said as Adrian set him and Rina down, “That was amazing! I’ve never seen anyone go that fast on foot before!”

“Yeah.” I huffed, “And don’t ask us to do it again.”

I checked the area around us. I had never been to this part of the city. We were still in the outer most ring of the city were none of the buildings went high enough for an elevator. Which meant we weren’t any closer to the objective.

“You know this area Adrian?” I asked as I scanned the street for cops and gangsters since we didn’t want to deal with either of them, but Adrian didn’t say anything from the alley. I looked back to see he was still collapsed on his knees heaving. I looked to Milo and Rina, “Hey, you two go recon. Find out where we are and how to advance.”

They tried to protest, but I yelled them off and went to check on Adrian. He was taking deep breaths and I could feel the heat wave coming off them. I could see hidden in the shadow of the alley his skin had shifted to a deeper, near pinkish shade. I knelt by him, “You good man?”

He took one final deep breath and seemed to regain himself. He stood up dusting himself, “Yeah. I just drew on my demon nature a bit much.”

“Is that bad?”

“Can be, but that’s for later.” Adrian turned away and heading out the alley, “Come on. Let’s find the punk pair.”

I followed and we found the pair looking over a bus schedule overlay on a city map. The Progress City Public Transit went all over the city and even the surrounding areas. It would be the most convenient way to get to Virginia Central Hospital.

“The next bus leaves in five minutes and get is there in just over an hour.” Milo reported.

“Good pace, but” Adrian stepped up and poked a finger to the map, “If we ride to here, get off and book it over east, and make this bus, we be there in under thirty minutes.”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” Adrian nodded, “I know these routes. It’s a three minute gap, but I know I can make it easy.”

“You can make it easy.” Rina said, “But that’s not as easy for us.”

“I can make it.” Milo said, a spark of determination in his eye, “I will make it.”

With that settle we boarded the bus and took the moment to rest. Nobody bothered us or even looked our way. A few people whispered between each other and I heard a few loose words. Mostly calling us delinquents. Which make sense since Adrian was the only one not in the school uniform. Still, they left us alone and the soreness of overexertion came over me. It felt like my whole body was turning into lead. I would need a whole day to recover from our minute sprint, but I only had a few minutes as the next stop came. I summoned my will and lifted myself to follow the others.

“We don’t have to run, do we?” Rina asked.

“No, just hustle.” Adrian said walking at full stride, which was a jog for the rest of us. “We just need to cut through central park and it’s just a block away.”

We walked along side traffic filled with more cars and trucks than usual being the busiest part of the day. This resulted in us having to stop more than once to wait for lights to change. Adrian was getting impatient with every stop. Each time he seem to debate just going through and facing the cars head on, but instead he eventually started pulling out a pocket watch to check the time. This was new to me. How long had he been carrying a pocket watch. It was a bronze piece and looked well kept. I wanted to ask, but it wasn’t the time.

Eventually we made it to the park. It was near empty which was strange. The few times we’ve came there were people everywhere, but now no one was in sight. Which only made the feeling of dread that washed over me go deeper. We were about halfway through when the feeling came down on us. We all felt and started looking around.

“What is that?” Milo asked with a shaking voice.

“A super high power level.” Adrian answered.

“It feels like an earthquake.” Rina remarked.

“It’s an intimidation tactic. Nothing more. Come on!” Adrian tried to rally us and he manage to get us a whole step forward before we were stopped by a figure in our path. A gritty looking man in a beige long coat was in front of us, and it was clear he was the source of the energy signature.

“Well, well, well.” The man spoke with a control bass, “A bunch of punk ass brats thinking they can skip class whenever they like. In need of a proper education you lot are, I say.”

“And just who the fuck are you?” Adrian demanded with honest fury.

“The name’s Mister Agent Danforth. I’m your substitute teacher here to part a lesson in brutal reality straight from the curriculum of hard knocks academy.”

“Oh I bet. Got a stack of spare notebooks in your pocket?” Adrian taunted back.

“No. You should have brought your own from home,” Agent Danforth readied a pose similar to a standard spellcaster, “because I will not be providing any paper, pencils, or mercy”

His power level rose again. We were clearly outmatched. Our chance went from guaranteed to hopeless in a flash. We couldn’t win, but surrender was never an option. I started drawing what was left of my power ready to go down with at least one solid hit in, but Adrian had other plans. Under his breath he whispered to us, “I’ll hold him. You go ahead.”

“What?” we all said in sync.

“No arguing. We don’t have time. Go now.” Adrian words were orders, and we could only follow. On cue Milo jumped high into the air, over two stories directly over the agent.

“Idiot.” The agent tracked Milo as he rose and bent his knee readying his own jump only for Adrian to bull rush him. Adrian was drawing demonic power as he burst over like a bullet and kneed the agent in the stomach. Adrian followed that with multiple punches which seemed to effect the agent until he backhanded Adrian sending him flying back pass me as I bolted forward. Slamming my fist into his face landing my solid hit the agent smiled and grabbed my wrist, “Nice punch, punk.”

He jerked me forward and slammed his face to mine headbutting me back next to Adrian. I quickly regained my footing and senses and readied for another attack. I could see Rina in the distance. She had ran pass the us to join Milo. It was just me and Adrian against a man possibly twenty times our power levels. “You weren’t talking to me when you said run, were you?”

Adrian smirked at that, “Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn’t really thinking. Glad you knew better.”

I gave him a sharp nod, “Of course, man. So what’s the plan?”

“Well, we can’t win.” Adrian correctly noted, “So, we keep losing for as long as possible.”

“War of attrition then. Got it.” I readied myself pulling all my will and power. I was pushing a limit I wasn’t use to, and so was Adrian. I could smell the hint of sulfur coming off him as it mixed with the scent of ozone I made. The air was starting to shift and wave around us. All the while the man waited unimpressed.

When we were ready Adrian leaped forward to make a swing only be stopped by a jab to his chest. I followed this up by shooting around them to his unguarded side to sent my own jab, but I couldn’t make contact as The Agent side-kicked me away turning my punch into an energy bolt which got him in the face. It seemed to work. He stumbled back grabbing his face giving Adrian an opening to uppercut him into the air. I tried to recover and attack but the agent regained his own sense before me and launched some kind magic fire attack midair. A wave of burning heat washed over me, scorching my breath, and knocking me to my knees.

When I recovered I saw Adrian and the agent trading swings like boxers. The scene showed the agent was probably a light weight, but he was beating Adrian’s heavy weight frame like it was nothing. Adrian’s punches either missed or got blocked without effort from the agent. As oppose to the hits he drilled into Adrian. Each punch boomed and crackled. I could see blood was coming from his mouth and nose and small patches of blood were growing on his chest. Who knows how many of his ribs were broken.

Between the blows I noticed something. That the agent wasn’t paying attention to me. An opening. I stayed low and waited for the chance to take. When the agent dodged under one of Adrian’s arms he put his back to me and I took the opportunity. Firing myself at my full lightning speed I slammed into his back wrapped myself into a full nelson hold. Before he could react I unleashed everything I had. Thunder roared as electricity flowed around and I felt the force of Adrian punching the agent through his body. We were holding the upper hand, but it didn’t last.

The agent powered through the pain to grab Adrian’s fists in his and delivered an impossible kick that launched Adrian high into the air. He slammed both his elbows into me breaking my grapple. Then spun a roundhouse kick to my head before grabbing me and jumping into the air after Adrian. My senses were shot and I couldn’t do anything as we joined Adrian at the apex of his flight. The agent grabbed my ankles and summoning another fire burst to propel us, spun around to slam me into Adrian sending us both shooting down into the earth.

That was it for me. My body and power were spent and my will was exhausted. As I tried to keep my senses I could hear Adrian was groaning and coughing under me and felt him trying to recover. He soon gave up.

“I think I’m spent.” He coughed out.

“Same here. Can barely stay awake.” I coughed back.

“At least it was fun.”

“Fuck you.” Was the last thing I managed before slipping into darkness.

I didn’t have any dreams in my beaten down state and simply woke up in a hospital bed. My whole body was still sore, and I could tell I pushed my power past my self tolerance feeling static tingles in my limbs. Which made me ask myself why I hadn’t gotten some pain killers if I was in a hospital. I lifted my body and looked around. On one side was Adrian in another bed also coming to, and on the other was Mr Galacto sitting patiently in a chair.

“You’re up. Good.” Was all his said before pulling out his flask and taking a gulp.

“What the hell happened?” I asked trying to get out of the bed with mixed results.

“You got your ass beat.”

“I’m aware of that part. After that.”

“Agent Danforth bought you here to Virginia Central in pursuit of the other two truants. I arrived with Mr Thompson and we took custody of all of you. I decided to put you two here to rest.”

“What about Milo and his mom.” Adrian asked getting to his own feet.

Mr Galacto didn’t answer. Instead he stood up and escorted us out the room, “Let’s go regroup with the others.”

We walked, more limped, out into the hall until we heard the sound of Milo sobbing. We came up to a window looking into a room were Milo was crying over a bed with nothing but a bundle of dusty looking flowers on it. Rina and Vice Principal Thompson were with him.

“So where’s his mom?” I asked confused.

“When fairies die, their bodies decay incredibly quickly.” Adrian answered, “They don’t even leave bones behind.”

With that explained I just stood there and waited until the moment passed. When it did we were all lined up in the hall and got the score dealt to us.

“While your actions were understandable and even admirable,” Mr Thompson said looking over us, “We can not reward this behavior. You four broke the rules, and disciplinary action is needed.”

“It was all me. They did nothing.” Adrian said, “I forced them all into this.”

“Mr Priest, are you confessing to kidnapping?” Mr Galacto asked.

“Sure. I made them skip class and come here.” Adrian confirmed, and a well of fury roared in me.

“The fuck you did!” I shouted at him, “I came here on my own accord! Fuck you!”

“Mr Zapotec, I believe Mr Priest is trying to take the fall for you.” Thompson said.

“Yeah, I know, and I’m not going to even pretend like I did this under your will! I did all this because I wanted to! Put it in the record, I choose all of this!”

Everyone was looking at me after my outburst with various expressions. Adrian burst out in rolling laughter, “Alright man. Sorry about that. I should know better. Kevin came along on his own, but it was all my plan. Milo and Rina didn’t have a choice.”

“Hmm, are you sure about this?” Mr Thompson asked and both Adrian and I nodded, “Very well. Mr Evans, Ms Anderson, you’re off the hook. Mr Priest, Mr Zapotec, you two, along with Mr Runesir who also took full credit for his actions, will be serving a great number of detentions. For truancy, unreasonable assault of staff, and now for malicious persuasion of other students. That one will double your time.”

Adrian just saluted in acknowledgment. After awhile a hospital staff member came by with a jar holding the remains of Milo’s mom, and we left to head back to school by bus.

“Thank you, Adrian.” Milo said while we rode, “I can’t tell you… Thank you.”

“Whatever.” Adrian waved him off, “It’s just how things should be. Nothing more.”

“Well, I hope this means we could be friends.”

“What?” Adrian said in shock and laughed, “Like I would ever be friends with a fairy!”

Milo seemed dishearten by that. He looked to me, and all I could do was shrug. Adrian told the guy before all this happened, he had his priorities, and this was above his hatred of fairies. Luckily the guy had Rina to comfort him. I was just happy the day was almost over.