The next day in class…
"Hey Adam, I haven't seen you around lately." [Orion]
Adam looked at him blankly.
"What do you mean?" [Adam]
"You've only been with us until lunch each day." [Brandon]
Finally understanding what he meant Adam waved them off.
"That's not really my fault. I'm part of the student council, remember?" [Adam]
"Then I have a proposal." [Alex]
With only a single sentence, he captured everyone's attention.
"Shoot." [Adam]
"How about you come hang out at a karaoke box with us after school?" [Alex]
"...Karaoke ...Box?" [Adam]
"That's a great idea!" [Brandon]
"Then let's get everyone in. Felix! Sora! You guys want in?" [Orion]
"I'm up for it." [Felix]
"Eh…? Uh… I'll join." [Sora]
("Looks like Sora has loosened up a bit from the time he transferred.") [Adam]
"Before you all get excited, can you tell me what a Karaoke box is?" [Adam]
"You can't be serious…" [Orion]
"Do you live under a rock?" [Brandon]
Adam scratched the back of his head nervously.
"What can I say? I just don't know things alright?" [Adam]
"Haa… It's basically a place for singing. It's one of the few things that stayed after the Great Collapse." [Felix]
"You're not leaving us out of this are you?" [Jessica]
She had appeared behind the group without them noticing.
"Uh… its homie time?" [Orion]
"Don't give me that, if you're inviting Sora aren't you?" [Katherine]
"He's a boy though." [Orion]
"I would hardly call that a boy." [Katherine]
She pointed at Sora who was somewhat flustered from the attention he was getting.
"Don't deny him his manhood!" [Brandon]
"What manhood does he even have?! If Sora is a guy, what does that make me?!" [Katherine]
"Third-rate." [Orion]
His words cause the room to fall silent.
("Things are looking bad…") [Adam]
They locked eyes, staring each other down without a single word.
"W-well, how about you guys calm down for a second…" [Alex]
"Lets just take the girls along. That won't be a problem would it?" [Brandon]
"Hmph!" [Orion] [Katherine]
The two crossed their arms and turned away.
"I suppose that would suffice." [Katherine]
"At least don't cause any trouble." [Orion]
"..." [Adam]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
As they had planned, the students met up afterschool. It didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination.
("Lung Buster…") [Adam]
He read a flashing sign above the store before him. Upon entering, he was greeted by the store clerk.
"How many?" [Store Clerk]
"Uh… let me see…" [Alex]
After taking a moment to find a headcount, he spoke to the clerk.
"Eight." [Alex]
"How many hours would you like?" [Store Clerk]
"What do you guys think?" [Alex]
Seeing as they need to reach a consensus, the group whispered among themselves.
"You think an hour is good enough?" [Brandon]
"Look at how many of us there are. There's no way an hour is enough." [Katherine]
"How about three hours?" [Adam]
"That sounds reasonable." [Felix]
Reaching a conclusion, they passed on the message to Alex.
"Three hours please." [Alex]
"That will be $120.32." [Store Clerk]
("That's… quite a lot of money…") [Adam]
"You guys have the money?" [Alex]
Each student took out 20 dollar bills and paid the store clerk. Afterwards, they split up the change evenly.
"Your room B3 is down the hall." [Store Clerk]
After being given a basket holding a book listing a number of songs along with three microphones, they went into their assigned room. The room had a long marbled table in the middle of the room with three large couches aligning the walls. On the wall had a large screen embedded in it along with a dial underneath it.
"Dang~ It's a lot fancier than I thought it would be." [Orion]
"I only picked the best. Of course, at an affordable price." [Alex]
He took a seat and opened up the book the store clerk lent him.
"What are you guys doing? Take a seat." [Alex]
Although awkward, the rest of the group sat down as well.
"Aight, so who's going to sing first?" [Orion]
"Me!" [Jessica]
She raised her hand and swiped the large book. Running her finger through it, she decided on a song.
"Katherine, want to sing a duet with me?" [Jessica]
"Of course!" [Katherine]
The two stood up with microphones in hand.
"Oh, before you guys start." [Alex]
He rummaged underneath the table and brought out a multitude of musical tools.
"What… are those?" [Adam]
"These? Something to make this place a bit more fun." [Alex]
He handed them out to everyone before giving further instructions.
"You guys know the drill right?" [Alex]
Adam looked around him. It didn't take long to realize that everyone, but him was nodding.
("Should I… speak up…?") [Adam]
He settled on a decision after contemplating his choice of words.
"No clue." [Adam]
"Then just follow the crowd." [Alex]
As the screen began to light up with lyrics, Jessica and Katherine brought the microphones to their mouth.
"A-" [Jessica]
The screen shut down abruptly. The lights went out and a siren blew.
"Wh-what's going on?!" [Brandon]
"Warning. Level 7 threat has been detected in the area. Please evacuate immediately." [Speaker]
"A void attack!" [Felix]
The building shook. It felt as if the building was taken a hold of.
"We gotta get out now!" [Alex]
The group rushed out, only to meet a crowd at the door.
"What's going on?!" [Brandon]
"Damn! The door is closed shut!" [Customer A]
"Just break the damn thing!" [Customer B]
People banged on the glass door, but there wasn't even a scratch. Resorting to drastic measures some of them tried throwing objects at the windows.
"I think we'll need to find another way out..." [Alex]
The floor trembled. A large gray foot stepped in front of the building, scaring the customers back into the building.
"It's here?! Why is it here?! There's like 50,000 other buildings it could pick from!" [Brandon]
"Hush!" [Alex]
He motioned to the group and hid. Watching his actions, other customers scrambled to find their own hiding spot.
("Please just pass by…") [Adam]
After a minute of deafening silence, the voidling moved onwards. Only until its footsteps thundered away could the people inside breathe a sigh of relief.
"Is.. Is it gone…?" [Customer]
Suddenly, the building trembled.
"Get down!" [Aelx]
The ceiling crumbled, revealing a blue giant towering over them. Its features were made up of six arms along with eyes within its palms. Unlike its hands, it's head held only a singular closed eye.
"Holy…" [Orion]
"What the hell is that?!" [Brandon]
The crowd froze from fear. The voidling's eyes darted around, selecting its next snack.
("Those eyes… It's hunting!") [Adam]
Realizing that it would attack at any time, he made the first move.
"Get moving! Pressure Cannon!" [Adam]
Pressurized air was fired at the giant's palm, crushing one of the voidling's many eyes.
"GRAAAAHH!!!" [Blue Giant]
It roared in pain as it clutched it's eye. The rest of it's remaining eyes locked onto Adam with a raging fire within.
("What is he doing?!") [Felix]
Seeing that the giant was beginning to move, he took command.
"What are you all doing?! RUN!!!" [Felix]
The crowd scattered. Climbing over the walls and each other to get out.
("Its attention is on me, I just have to distract it until everyone gets away.") [Adam]
"Implode!" [Adam]
Using bursts of air, he flew the opposite direction of the crowd.
"GURGH…" [Blue Giant]
It had its arms outstretched, flailing as it chased after Adam.
("Is there anywhere I can fight it at?") [Adam]
He scanned the area, searching for a place without bystanders.
("Right here should be good.") [Adam]
After confirming that there was no one within range, he faced the voidling.
"Alright, come at me!" [Adam]