"We need a plan." President Jin declared to his people. Today, he stands not as the valiant member of the inquisition but as a noble statesman. His mere presence emanated the aura of a competent leader.
"I understand that this is an urgent matter but do you really need to wear that?" The ever silent Jiang unusually questioned.
It was then that Jin's narcissistic perspective ended. "It's me imposing myself as an authoritative figure. And will you please not interrupt me, can't you see I'm delivering an important message."
"You look silly Jin." David quipped.
"Stop, ruining my speech. Moving on. My minister, please relay the important news." Jin pompously proclaimed.
Shin, on the other hand, pinched the bridge of his nose in vexation. "For the last time Jin, I am not your minister. And you better stop this fiasco or else."
"Pft. Or what?" Jin scoffed.
"Forget it." Shin sighed. "We all have heard it. There will be some festival or something. Standard stuff. And we need to think of a gimmick or else we'll not be attending the tournament."
"That's a good idea! We should not bother to attend." A random student shouted.
Although the option was tempting, Shin couldn't help but shake his head in sadness. "If you don't want to die, start contributing ideas. Do you want me to remind you of her?"
"Oh, oh, yeah. Oh, you just did it. But well, I'm sorry."
"Any more ideas?"
"Why don't we just do a café of some sort?" Alice raised.
"Hmmmm." Jin contemplated, the others also followed suit. "First of all, you've watched too much anime. And lastly, I like that idea!"
"Okay, we have a plan. So where do we procure the food? What's our theme?"
"We have a lot of attractive people here so a maid/butler café would do well," David said. "That theme is an instant hit for suckers. As for the food, the school won't allow a concessionaire. It means we'll have to make our food. So who could cook here? Don't worry if it doesn't taste that good, we must remember that our target customers are suckers. Anyone?"
There's only one hand raised amongst all the students.
"Only one? That might be a problem, but maybe we could buy microwaveable food." David thought. "To the one who raised his hand, please come into the front to be recognized."
"It turned out to be Ye Han-"
"Jiang here has a wonderful suggestion."
"We could do a play, I already have a script in hand."
"What about the café?"
"That's wonderful! What's the story about?"
"Hey, guys."
"Just read the script."
"So who's in favor of a play?" As soon as the words left Jin's mouth, every single student raised their hands. There was never a café suggestion, it's just that it was too much of a hassle for all of them and not because Ye Han is the one to cook.
"Give me the script," Jin asked towards Jiang. He, of course, complied looking very proud of his creation. Jin snatched the paper while also giving Jiang an unbelieving look.
'I should read this as a sign of respect. There's no way I'm settling for a play. I'm sorry Ye Han, it not us, it's you.' Jin casually flipped through the whole stack of papers. He intends to read a couple of ages before calling off the script. 'The time this drama-loving mummy could write a decent play is when the Hero herself descends and becomes a high school student.'
"Achooooo!"
"Are you okay Ye Han?" Alice asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Ye Han replied while rubbing his nose. 'Who's talking behind my back?'
Moving back to Jin, his nonchalant expression turned serious as he flipped the pages one by one. "Come here guys, take a look."
The same as Jin, the other 3 also appeared to be shocked by what they are reading. "Is this legit?"
"I don't know."
"Let me make a call." Ahmed whipped out his phone all the while maintaining an accusing look at Jiang.
*doot doot doot*
"Hello? Is this the Literary Police? Yes, I'd like to report a case of…" Ahmed took a long pause as he took a breath. "… plagiarism." The last word came out in a venomous hiss.
"That's my work. I plagiarized nothing!" Jiang tried defending himself but the other 4 are relentless on their assault.
"Confess criminal!" Shin said pointing at Jiang.
"What the-"
"This doesn't need to escalate even further. Look here Jiang, if you just tell us the truth no will get hurt."
"You're trying to hurt me! What kind of friends are you?!"
"It's a friend's job to bring back his friend from the wicked path he took."
"For the last time, I did not plagiarize anything!"
"*sigh* we could've avoided this. You brought this upon yourself, Jiang. Don't worry, we'll leave you with an intact body."
"I'll light up incense for you every year."
"I'm not Buddhist!"
"Candles then?"
"Stop this. We must bring our friend to justice. Ready!"
Like a rehearsed performance, each one of them took their stances. A 1 vs. 4 battle.
Shin removed his glasses as his eyes turned bright blue with a golden ring around it. The air around him turned heavy. Some students who accidentally caught a glance of his eyes felt an indescribable chill in their souls.
Golden pillar of light enveloped David. He emerged with a brand new look, his hair now longer and white with hints of yellow streaks scattered throughout. Golden sparks of lightning crackled around him. The lightning looked like roaring dragons, ready to tear asunder those who oppose them
Smoke converge around the body of Ahmed. He closed his eyes chanting silently as the smoke grew thicker and sinister. Deep inside the, a roar of something ancient and deadly burst out. As the smoke diminished, two humanoid shadows stood beside Ahmed giving off a murderous aura.
Jin cast away his presidential cape. He slowly floated on the air. Two opposing auras emanated from him, holy and evil. A pair of wings sprang out of his back. His right side had a feathered wing that glowed in holy light. To his left is a demonic wing, tattered and full of holes. His eyes took a different color of each other, red and yellow.
"What?! You all are hell-bent on hurting me?! So this is what our friendship amounted to? Very well. Enkidu, come!"
Jiang's transformation sequence did not lose out to the first four. The bandages wrapped around his fingers came undone as it gathered around him forming a cocoon surrounding him. Ancient runes lit up the cocoon as it slowly broke apart revealing Jiang himself but with chains floating all around him. At the end of each chain are sharp golden daggers gleaming in bloodlust.
As the Mexican standoff continues, all the students can be seen chewing on popcorn that came from underneath their desks. They contained zero motivation to stop the inevitable fight, treating it as a show. In their minds, there's only 1 thing going on, 'who elected these buffoons?'