"Woah, chosen one?" Lainey yelled, stepping back.
"Yes, you three seem to fit the description. A blonde boy with hope in his eyes, a boy with dark hair, and a girl with an incredible backstory. So, cutting to the chase, will you be willing in an alliance to destroy the demons?"
"I mean, sure. Destroying the leader of the demons, I'm in." Lainey responded.
Vivian's eyes slightly widened. "A leader, you say? I wasn't aware of this, care to provide a description?"
"Well, I don't remember much. All I remember was that he was huge. Like, seven feet at least. And he was able to punch me out of a portal, and that was with me blocking the hit. Kinda like something from a crappy comic book."
"I…see." Vivian responded. "Well, this makes sense, anyway. If we have a god looking over us, the demons must have someone looking over them, too."
"So, what's the plan?" Ulrich asked.
"Our current mission is to retrieve four gemstones, and once we do that, we will all be ready to defeat the leader. And our first one lies in Buckingham palace."
"Buckingham?" Ulrich yelled out. "You mean to tell me that out first mission as a group is to raid a castle, surrounded by guards, all because of some prophecy?"
"Well, yes." Vivian replied. "I know it seems like a problem, but the two of us could probably do it if needs be, and the other two will hopefully awaken to any powers during the operation."
"Oh, I can fight for myself." Lainey quietly piped in. "Let me show you."
She opened her guitar case, casually leaving a spare pizza slice on her expensive-looking guitar, and after a few seconds, her own personal demon came out. She turned around, smirking at Vivian and Gene. Gene gave an enthusiastic, if slightly shaky thumbs-up…
…but Vivian was horrified. Her boredom turned into what seemed to be genuine fear.
"Pray tell, just why did you bring that…that thing here?" She stepped back, and Ulrich noticed her gloves were glowing. She fired a shot directly at the guitar, and Ulrich stretched a hand out in front of the guitar case, hoping to counter her ice with some fire.
Well, that didn't happen. Instead, Ulrich ended up getting several shards of ice shot directly into his right hand. They were like glass, and he felt like screaming out, but instead, directed it towards Vivian, who looked even angrier than before
"What the fuck is your deal?!" Ulrich began screaming. "First you leave me to die, then you try to kill her method of defence? What kind of god are we even working for?"
Suddenly, Vivian let her hand down, shooting the last of her ice onto the floor, and silently walking up to Ulrich and Lainey, let out a hushed yell.
"I'm letting you two go. It appears we got it wrong, and this was a mistake on my part. But just know, that we want you to stop your advance now. And if we find you, we won't hesitate to kill you." She put a hand on his shoulder, and let out a smile and voice in the exact same tone back in Florida.
"Okay?"
Ulrich didn't respond, he just let out a panicked gasp, and clung to the wall. The inside of his whole body felt cold, and his lungs ached as if they were about to collapse. He wasn't sure if it was her powers, but he just had to run. He ran out of the house at a speed faster than he ever ran, and Lainey followed soon after.
When they got away from there, Ulrich just looked over at the house, panting.
"So, what do we do now?" Lainey asked.
"Good…question." Ulrich replied, in between heaves. He felt like vomiting, and his organs felt like they were going to collapse. The two of them just stood in a large patch of grass, under a grey cloudy sky.
"Ah, crap." Lainey yelled. "Ulrich?"
Ulrich turned around, then his eyes widened. The door from the next house opened, and the neighbour walked out. Ulrich and Lainey just shot panicked glances at each other, until he approached them.
"Uh, that noise just now. Was that you?" He asked, in his slightly gruff British accent, scratching his head.
And…holy shit. This was probably one of the most unique people Ulrich had ever seen. First off, he towered over the two of them, being at least six foot, despite looking the same age as Ulrich, and his blonde spiky hair that was clearly not cut in at least six months only added to that, the type that had either no planning, or extremely excessive planning. And on top of that, he was wearing a neon blue Demon Ball X shirt.
"Uhh, landlord kicked us out." Lainey responded. "We had weed on us, guy went insane."
"Yeah, I heard." The guy replied in disbelief. "When did you move in, anyway? Haven't seen you around anywhere."
"We moved here around three days ago." Ulrich quickly responded.
"Huh. So, what's your plan now?"
"Beats us. Probably gonna head to Buckingham Palace tomorrow. See what happens then."
The tall guy perked up for a second. "Huh. I actually have plans to go there myself. If you wanna stay the night at my place and go together, that'll be fine."
Ulrich looked at Lainey, who shrugged.
"Your parents okay with that?" Lainey asked.
"They have work stuff, so they're gonna be gone for the next few days. So why not? I'll order a pizza, play façade 4, and go in the morning."
"Uh, you down?" Lainey asked.
"I mean, my ex had façade 3, and that game was pretty good." Ulrich replied. "Sure, but you can hold the pizza. We had enough of that."
"Alright, sounds good!" The guy yelled. "Names Dominic, by the way."
"Ulrich."
"Lainey."
Once they went into his house, The two noticed just how different the atmosphere was compared to Vivian's house. First off, the walls were a deep purple. And second of all, while Vivian's place had a shelf with old books on it, he had anime figures. And alongside that, framed anime posters, which Ulrich noticed.
"Yo, is that a Planets Mightiest poster?" Ulrich asked."
"Yeah guy, it is." Dominic confidently responded. "A Japanese original from the first release in 1990. Got it in an online auction."
"Nice." Ulrich responded, high fiving him. "Yo Lainey, what you think?"
"Yeah, I don't watch demon ball." She said back, looking at the figurines of busty anime chicks in miniskirts. "Jesus, what creep is into this stuff?"
"So, you wanna get to façade 4? Just got it today." Dominic asked.
"Sounds good." Ulrich replied.
And so, the three played the game, a murder mystery about teenagers who could summon ghosts, and played that for a few hours, engrossed, but eventually brought out by a knock on the door.
"Who's that?" Ulrich asked, slightly scared.
Lainey peered out the window, and Gene was there, holding something in his hand. No signs of Vivian, so she reluctantly opened the door.
"Uh, hey." Gene started sheepishly. "Is Ulrich here?"
Ulrich walked up, and Gene threw his package at him out of panic, and immediately started up a conversation.
"That's a new hoodie for you, since the weather here is way different than Florida." And then he got faster.
"Ulrich, I know you must be thinking about going to Buckingham, but please don't. Vivian knows you're staying here, and she says she won't hesitate to kill you if you show up."
"Well." Ulrich sighed. "I'm going. Look, you're a smart guy, so I'm telling you now. Ditch that girl. She is bad news."
"Well, at the first sign of something bad, I'll leave. But I can join you, right?"
Ulrich looked at him for a second, before getting a look of complete disgust on his face.
"No. Hell no. You're supposed to be a legendary chosen one, find someone else."
"But-"
"But nothing! I am fucking done being the sidekick! You get the better grades, you get all the girls, and now the entire fate of the world apparently relies on you! So tell you what. You can sit back. This demonic invasion can be left to me and Lainey. "
Ulrich stood, shaking slightly, feeling what he would say next. Gene was shocked, this was it, the final part.
"And the most important part, I'm doing this without you!"