Once I reached my stop I headed out of the door, adjusting my uniform and fixing my hair. Them knowing I slept on the train ride wasn't a good look.
I reached the 10th Ward's Pre-Tertiary School Courtyard and looked around, it was a piece of heaven that fell from above compared to the rest of the ward.
It's a walled off part too. It was divided by a wall from the rest of the city, it had elaborate gardens stretching to the 10 feet tall double rectangular doors at the entrance, both around 15 feet in height themselves. A beautiful garden that had different types of flowers, fruit and vegetables on the sides of the large, central marble pathway. Students were even allowed to pick them with a teacher's permission. But, none really asked, so there were obvious patches all over the, probably synthetic grass.
On the pathway, students all in the same outfit: a grey sweater vests, black dress shoes, and either dark blue slacks or skirts were in their groups conversing in cliques. I usually wasn't much for talking to people but my mom kept telling me I needed more friends. I'm always telling her that I don't mind her being my only friend, but she insists. She even offered to fully pay for my first ever first date with my first partner. So I guess it would be best to try and gain some sense of social capital. Better late than never.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked one group of girls with the most convincing smile I could conceive. They only ignored me and snickered at my contorted lips.
"Any news on the Voyager Organization?" I mentioned to two guys walking by. Like the girls, they simply ignored me. I sighed. It's like I always say. Trying is for the foolish. If something is simply not in your ability, just don't try and do it. I did what I could to socialize but nothing seemed to work. Probably because my mom changed our last names after the divorce and no one believed me when I said my dad was the CEO of PlaSma. Especially with a last name like XIN.
I once told it to a kid in my class that my dad: Charlie Baxter, AKA CEO of PlaSma Tech, was in fact my father, and naturally they didn't believe me. My dad's last name isn't Xin. It's Baxter.
But if I graduated from Jurock Academy? I would be able to have a new chance at gaining respect, but most importantly, gaining some money for my mom, so I could finally move her to the 6th Ward, where people lived fairly lavishly. Wards 5 and up were reserved for government officials, but 6 was as high as normal civilians could go.
That was probably the only thing I've had going for me since getting disowned by my dad. I can't blame him for it though.
"Hey Darla?" A familiar voice said from behind me as a rough palm slapped into my back. I turned around to see that it was Ned Ikari.
"Uh, hey Ned, what's up?" I asked him. Jack suddenly went off in my head.
"Why is he the only one talking to you? You're the son of Necros! You should have top notch gals falling at your heels and answering every beck and call." Jack said
I ignored him and shrugged him off. "Uh hey, so you ready for the aptitude tests? Ya feeling worried?" I asked quickly, trying to make some sort of small talk. Ned Ikari was the guy I always wanted to be. He stands at 6'1, had fiery red hair, and was rumored to have a Kolstenlo Voyager father who could control fire. If my 5'6 self ever stood at his height, I would be worshipped. But I wasn't, so I have to work with what I had.
"Well, I'm really nervous. I'm not the best at the whole violence thing," he said as he smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. I scoffed.
"What makes you say that? Your huge.
The Program may as well accept you now from bias alone. Be happy you aren't my height," I explained, averting eyes from his gaze.
"Than-," Ned began to say, but he was interupted as an arm swung over my shoulder and the person laughed behind my head.
"Well, we definitely got the better side of the gene pool!" They said. I looked behind me to find that one of Ned's posey had arrived. "Right Ned?" He asked at a high and unnecessary volume.
"Y'know Renjin, being able to speak doesn't necessarily make you a form of intelligent life," I sneered under my breath.
"Ha! Says the half-pint! Tell me, how does it feel to sniff my shoelaces?" He hollered as he extended his 6 foot tall stature and towered above me.
"I may be short, but I can still rip out your chest cavity," I said quietly. He smirked and took a step back in response.
"Really now? Well try it!" He shouted as he brought up his foot and kicked me square in the nose before placing his foot on my shoulder and pressing down. "Well?! Enlighten me! How do my shoelaces smell?" He said as he chuckled.
While squirming to remove his foot with little to no success, I looked for Ned, but he seemed to have already gone inside the school building. Well darn, I thought. Guess I couldn't count on him having a change of heart last second huh?
"Like the best thing since PlaSma Tech," I squealed under his foot. "J-just please don't hurt me more," I said, faking my stutter to make him get off, by stroking his ego. He smirked right as three security bots surrounded us to stop the fight.
"Don't worry authorities! No fight here! Just a nice BEATING!" He hollered as he used his pressed foot to kick me in the chin one last time. This time I'm sure he drew blood. As he was led away by the security drones, students passing by snickered, while i slowly sat up and wiped my face. How idiotic of me.
How very idiotic of you.
"Shut up," I said out loud. I guess Ned was still doing the neutral observer character trope. "Can't stand that damn people pleaser," I mumbled as I trudged past the school doors.
...
After my last day of Pre-Tertiary classes, I was in the locker room getting ready for the Aptitude Test. I was simply supposed to get into combat gear, get the hand injection, and then go out onto the field and fight some combat drenugs, or some dummies. "Can't be that hard right?" I thought
I had finally attached the Ward badge to my combat hear suit. Which was a bit loose on my honestly. A shield-shaped badge that was cut diagonally and the number 17 showing on the top written in in a grey, robotic font, covered my heart.
You don't really need all of this just for powers. Just release your Limiter.
"If that was the case, I would probably be running around with fire powers or something. Would be nice," I said outloud. " But that's not the case, is it?".
I looked up to see a group of seven to eight guys already padded up, looking at the screen of one of the boy's phone while they were seated on the far side of the locker room. While strapping on my elbow guard I walked over and tried to look over the shoulders of the boys who had their eyes glued to the screen. They were making large and dramatic interjections, some were even running away from the group clutching their stomachs and mouths about to project vomit on the closest person, wall, or hole.
"Hey, mind if I check that out?" I asked. No one seemed to hear me over the sounds of blood and guts spilling. So I asked louder.
Two of the guys turned around, looked me up and down and smiled. "Hey! It's shoeshine! Sure you can see it. If you can hold your lunch in," one of them said in a sing song voice. I glanced at their chest. Their Ward badge number said 9. He probably wasn't used to seeing stuff like this. At least, as much as I was.
I sauntered into the center of the circle and bent over a little to see the video on someone else's PlaSma Orient screen. He tapped the center of the video to play it.
On the screen, was the blurry feed of a security camera where three Red Color Gang members around one guy already bloody and beaten scraping away at the wall trying to get away. "No! No! Please! I will pay him back I promise! I just need a little more time! That's it. Just one more cycle and I swear to Overalpha he'll have it. I've been paying it little by little," He cried as he turned around abruptly and stuck his back against the wall like glue to his brown suit blazer.
His salt and pepper hair was a sweaty, greased mess, and his face was pale, bruised, bloody, and drooling.
"You've had an entire extra lunar cycle now. The King requires his compensation. He gave you tons of chances! Now it's time for you to pay up with a sacrifice, it's not like we want to do this, its just that you didn't keep your part of the agreement. Which is only justification since we really do wanna do this," the middle gang member said.
"N-no! Please, at least tell me what he's doing with all of the Vonixen blood!" He hollered out, but none of them answered.
One of the members reached behind the man's head and took a handful of the man's hair and smashed his nose against the wall. Another pulled out the man's arm and brought his elbow down into his forearm. The crack would have been loud enough to wake up someone in a post-final-exam-slumber.
The man fell, screaming in pain."Yenlo, have your way with him," the leader said.
"Aye aye cap," Yenlo giggled. He was the member to the right of him.
Yenlo walked over to the man next. "Who said you could kneel down scheisse?" He said as he picked up the man off his knees and feet by the collar. With his free hand he threw a qucik hook that broke his nose also making him stumble again, his chest exposed, blood running down his nose, as he put his hands up trying to put up a defense, "Please! I have a daughter and my wife left me, I just need time. This is warning enough!" he said while coughing blood.
He was no match Yenlo. He closed the distance between them in less than a second punched him and cursed his name "I want you to beg. Now grovel you waste of energy!" throwing an upper cut, he kicked him while he was on the ground and steped on his chest. However, he seemed to have broken Scheisse's jaw because he said nothing else. Yenlo activated his power, forming a blade on the end of his arm, stabbing it directly into Scheisse's skull. Finally putting an end to his life in a slow and painful death.
The head of the man showed a hole where it went, blood splashing and splattering from the wound onto Yelo's shoe's which got him mad, Yenlo then kicked Scheisse's head breaking his neck and making sure he stayed dead. It almost flew off of his body, as the brains and blood inside of his head began to spill out from the hole Yenlo had made as it flew.
With that, the video cut as the other gang member seemed to break it somehow. For some reason, the guys around me were smiling, laughing, and others were even nauseous. While I was a bitqueezy, it wasn't enough to unsettle me visibly.
They were wasting time. All of them. "You guys are acting like you've never seen a gang shakedown," I said. I couldn't blame them though. Most of their parents were rich. Even if they totally bombed this test, they would still have chances at cushy jobs at those buisnesses. Constantly protected from the natural horrors of the 17th Ward.
"This is what you guys were gagging about?" I sighed. They all looked at me. As I expected the lowest that oje of the guys surrounding him was, was from the 11th.
"Ugh, alright sure thing Dexter," the guy holding his stomach said as he rolled his eyes. He was from the 6th Ward. Some people snickered. I heard one guy whisper "This is why nobody talks to you, fuckin' weirdo. Always playing the tough guy. Like you could do anything on your own anyway,".
The guy who whispered looked up at me to see if I heard him. I had. And I looked at him dead in the face. I quickly averted my eyes. I didn't want to be rude. I wanted to think of a comeback, but I figured it wasn't worth it to do such. Especially after this morning's altercarions.
I watched the video and it didn't affect me. But apparently, that reaction wasn't enough for them. Nothing was ever enough for any of them.
As I turned to walk away one person with blonde hair turned me around by grabbing my shoulder and started cracking his knuckles. "Oh come one, at least have some sort of reaction! They'rejust unsettled by you is all. You never talk to anybody else out loud but Iraki anyway," the guy said. But I recognized this "guy".
Xavier Nixum. Star student and kipball player. But damn could he be stupid sometimes. Like now, talking to me instead of contemplating literally anything else. Always wasting their time.
"You can save it for the drenugs Nixum. You'll just waste your time on a beanpole like me," I said as I smiled and stuck my hands up while shrugging my shoulders to seem unthreatening and reveal my skinny figure.
He nodded in agreement. But then he walked by and patted my shoulder way too hard. Pretty sure he gave me a dislocated shoulder, but it was better than getting into two losing fights in the same day day.