"Phew, glad the rain stopped."
Elmira observed the sun setting as the humid air seeped through the city streets. "I can't believe I had to wait two hours inside the faculty building due to the damn rain!" She pulled out her phone and pressed the power button, with the dead battery icon blurting out at her. "Only if my phone was still alive, I would've been at home sleeping by now..." She could envision herself calling up the other club members for assistance, only for her to blur out that vision moments later.
In all honesty, Elmira was actually offered an umbrella earlier that day by Keisha. She quickly shot down Keisha, stating, "I doubt I'd need an umbrella; I'll just finish up training before the rain comes!" Further, that plan was ruined by Chad during their sparring session. Gripping onto her used rag tightly, she clenched it with all her might out of frustration before throwing it onto the ground. "That damn student council president! I should've never asked for help!" She pouted in frustration, screaming at the innocent rag that she violently tossed. Remembering the scenes previously when she woke up from the sparring match, the amount of humiliation could not be accounted for. Covering her face, she screamed out loud again, knowing that her perfect image in the school was ruined.
Finishing her venting, she let her hands loose from the grasp of her face, only to see an elderly couple staring at her from outside the school gates. Elmira was shaken, knowing that not only did they stop to observe her, but had remained silent throughout her silly little tantrum.
Her stress piled up, making her break down in tears. Sobbing in a pathetic state, she crouched down against the wall behind her. "I can't handle it anymore!" she said, with a depressing whimper.
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Wearing a bathrobe, she exited her shower. Because there was so much steam building up in the room, the mirror became foggy. Clearing away the mist, she gave herself a good stare in the mirror. Cringing at what transpired earlier that day, she slapped herself multiple times before rushing out of the bathroom. She dressed up before opening up her phone in an attempt to clear her mind. "T-That's right, I'll just ask Niantha for the answers to the homework! Keisha and I desperately needed them." Opening up her phone messages, a message had been lying in her inbox for a while now.
[Sent 2 hours ago.]
The text reads: "yo elmira u wanna watch that scary movie or nah"
Earlier that day, Shoka offered to watch the newest thriller movie that came out recently. It was a hit worldwide and a name that was known to many. It was called The Dungeon and it revolved around a rat barging into a person's home, only to realize that the homeowner hated rats to their core. They hated rats so much that they designed their interiors to torture rats to death, leaving the main character having to escape the house they snuck into.
The premise sounded intriguing at first, but Elmira was quite uncertain about the poor ratings that followed. Shoka kept insisting they watch it due to it sounding really goofy, but Elmira didn't want to bother. "I mean, she did beg me to watch it with her, so I might as well." Replying with a text, she nearly pressed the "send" button, only to halt last moment as a text came up in her messages. It was from Niantha, sending her the location of an apartment complex. Confused about why she suddenly sent the location of a random apartment, Niantha followed up with another text right after. "Assistance needed; come to room 220."
"Jeez, I just took a shower and got comfortable in my bed! I have to dress up again and get all icky again?!" She placed her phone on the small wooden table by her bedside, only to begin rushing to change her clothes soon after. Her choices varied in what she wanted to wear, seeing the piles of clothes in her closet. Wanting to be quick about this trip, she thought of going with a more casual and easygoing outfit. Lingering her fingers over the clothes, a thought rang in her mind. Wait, wouldn't people from our school see me?! she thought. The imagination of rumors that revolved around her scared her, making her fingers quickly avert to a more proper attire. "I-I might as well treat this as a girl's night out!" Dressing up in haste, she left in a hurry to the apartment, not trying to waste any time on her sleep.
Meanwhile, in Bright City, lie two skyscrapers that tower over all. In the upper echelons of the tower was a room for only the highest executives in the company. This room held a meeting of high secrecy, only for the most powerful to partake in.
They made small chats but were not of much importance to the main purpose of this meeting. The head of the company wasn't there, so there was not much discussion to bring up in the first place. It was until the man of great presence entered, leaving the room silent in the focus of the man.
"Our world—Safiaro—is quite bizarre, is it not? A world filled with people who have great blessings and others who weren't so lucky. 50/50, balanced as such." The lines were said by the boss of this enterprise, a man named Deacon Bright. His hair was slicked back in black, and he wore a black and white suit tailored at its finest. He was only 24—quite a young age to be the boss of one of the biggest companies in the world—Terrestria. People doubted the sheer power and greatness that he held amongst his peers quickly shut him down. Undoubtedly, he was something unnatural in this world's order; some even considered him the main character of his own story.
Slowly trotting around the meeting table, he went to where his seat lay in the very front of it. Continuing his sentence, he spoke, "Some stand above others, and some are underneath our shoes. At the end of the day, I'm the man who will always BE above the others. That's who I am, absolute power." He sat in his chair, not a single person denying his words.
"But even then, a king cannot build a kingdom without a proper foundation, am I wrong?" Deacon asked, turning to his leading commanders of the enterprise he built. One of the three commanders spoke out, "No boss, you are not wrong." He was a man named Leon Rook, and he was seated beside the other commanders of the company, Tai Hutchins and Bob Everenes.
The sky was pitch black and the city lights were vibrant underneath the tower. Deacon, standing up, looked through the giant glass window in the room. The moonlight overpowering the night sky shined upon Deacon as he gazed down at the masses. "So, how is your progress so far in getting the Cerrux Squad?" Deacon questioned.
"We attempted to apprehend one of the girls, but she was accompanied by an unknown acquaintance." Leon replied.
"And? Did you manage to get her?"
"No boss, they managed to escape. But that's okay; we have other methods of capturing them."
"What about the individual who was by her side? I would also like to know more about them."
"Apologies, boss, but we have no information about them. They shouldn't concern you at all as they couldn't even defeat Cecil."
Deacon gave Leon a stern look, displaying his disapproval. "I want to know the whole extent of everything relating to the target, regardless of whether it is a helpless idiot or a simple rodent. A small fracture in a wall might get bigger than you imagine."
Leon bowed his head, saying, "Okay, boss, I'll start looking into them right away."
Deacon looked out the window again, at the moonlight streaming through the city streets. "Good."