THINGS FINALLY CALMED DOWN in the house.
Stephen was compelled to stay in Allison's room while the other sisters cleaned up the mess. When she came in, they had a serious conversation.
"I won't let you ride," she declared. "Whatever you're thinking, don't, because I'm confiscating your Dyna Blades…"
Stephen furrowed his brows. The idea that one of his roommates would go as far as banning him from riding was too much to swallow.
"At least toss me an explanation," he pleaded. "You guys were the ones who kept them a secret from me."
Leaning against her dresser with her arms crossed, she replied, "I could've accepted you just riding, but forming a team and registering for Wheels War was crossing the line…"
"So why am I the only one in the house being treated unfairly?"
Allison could see his frustration mounting. He tried his best to contain it while sitting by her bedside. Her answer was, "It's fine for them because they're part of the Tennyson family."
"You're joking!" Stephen exclaimed, standing up. "Just because I'm not a part of the family, I'm not allowed to ride! Mila's not even in middle school, and she's riding."
His voice grew louder, but Allison maintained her composure. At the volume they were speaking, the others in the house could clearly hear their conversation.
"If you want another reason," she said, "Vicky, Kim, and Mila are allowed since they are elite riders."
Stephen could not believe what he was hearing. He coughed at the answer. "In other words, you're saying I'm incapable?"
"For you, Dyna Blades are just another way to get from point A to point B, so forget it!" she yelled.
Stephen held his anger in check. Instead of raising his voice again, he turned around to head out of the room. The instant he touched the doorknob, however, his vision was forced to the ceiling as Allison placed him in an advanced headlock with her arms.
The two then erupted into a fight, destroying a lot of the furniture in the room. When Allison finally had enough of his antics, she slammed him down so hard that it almost caved in the floor!
"We have such lively neighbors," the old lady below their apartment remarked, happily sipping her tea.
To break the tension, she continued her tea with a smile.
The next day, Stephen called for a team meeting at the school.
They asked if what he texted last night in the group chat was really true. When they noticed he didn't have his Dyna Blades on, they believed him.
"What're you gonna do, boss?" Willis asked.
Nagini, who didn't even own a cell phone, wasn't aware of the situation. Meanwhile, Willis announced he was going on a family vacation for the summer.
It was only for a couple of days, so he assured his teammates that he would be back soon. This news couldn't have come at a worse time.
Right now was the worst time for Stephen to be without his Dyna Blades. Assuming another team declared war on his turf, Castiel and Maxwell would be defending.
Perhaps one of them could lend him their Dyna Blades, but they were all customized to their liking. Retuning them without knowing what tomorrow would bring was a bad idea.
"Boss, don't stress," Castiel said. "From what I can tell, there are no major teams around here."
He then pulled out his laptop to confirm that while Willis was guarding the school, Team Sabretooth was the only remaining opposing threat. Pulling out a map, Castiel marked down all the territories he remembered each of those teams were from.
To Stephen's surprise, Team Toris controlled both the school and a large surrounding area.
"Well, I'm not stressed," Stephen said. "As for my plan, I think it'd be better to show my roommate that I'm not some pushover on Dyna Blades."
The group departed, with Stephen commanding Castiel and Maxwell to follow him to his house. With Willis and Nagini out of town for a few days, it was imperative he retrieve his Dyna Blades before they returned.
But he couldn't simply rebel against the people providing a roof over his head. While Dyna Blades were fun, they weren't worth causing a significant commotion over.
At least that's how Allison was treating them.
In the apartment complex, Stephen instructed the two to wait outside and signal him if any of his sisters came by. Mila was sleeping in, while Victoria had gone to the gym.
The beating she received last night made her feel weak. As for Allison and Kimberly, the two had headed to Liberty Park to discuss Stephen's punishment.
After retrieving his Dyna Blades from where he knew she hid them, it was the perfect opportunity to meet the two at the park and prove to her that he was an able rider.
As he approached the park, Stephen waited for the moment to display his skills.
"So what's this about?" Allison asked Kimberly.
The two were walking along the sidewalk of Liberty Park near the central area. There was barely a cloud in the sky, and the birds chirped unusually loudly in the tranquil setting.
"After I made you mad yesterday, I figured I'd apologize by taking you out," she replied.
Despite Kimberly's kindness, Allison could read her like a book. She smirked, asking if this was really about Stephen.
"Sister Ally, I know what you said last night, but Steph really does have potential. In fact, I believe his wings are the biggest out of any rider."
"Kim, I'm sure you think you're helping him, but that doesn't mean you know what's best."
Allison continued to explain that she didn't belittle Stephen out of spite; she did it to encourage him to give up trying to fly. Stopping in their tracks, she said, "When you fly higher, it simply means you'll fall harder when your wings break."
Kimberly understood exactly what she was hinting at. She knew her older sister well, including her past. If Stephen realized what riding Dyna Blades had cost Allison, he might never want to ride again.
For what Kimberly saw behind Allison's back were damaged wings held together by vines.
As the two continued conversing in the middle of the park, Stephen and his friends were hiding behind a nearby tree. His plan was to perform an advanced trick that no ordinary rider could manage. Combined with his incredible air time, it was sure to change Allison's mind, he hoped.
"Boss, you really gonna grind up the tree?" Maxwell asked.
"Ride is more like it," he replied.
Stephen waited for the right moment for the two to settle into the perfect spot at the park. Ready, he backed several feet away from the tree. Burning out his wheels on the ground, he dashed forward. The moment he was close to the tree, he leapt up and began riding its trunk.
Allison and Kimberly heard the sound of Dyna Blades, so they turned to see Stephen at the top of a high tree that loomed fifty feet above the ground. All he needed to do now was jump off a branch.
'That caught your attention, huh, Ally?' Stephen thought. 'Now!'
At the highest branch, he pushed off with all his might. Rather than soaring upward, however, he found himself plummeting to the ground!
Kimberly, Castiel, and Maxwell shouted out his name when they saw the branch snap beneath him. The height he was falling from would undoubtedly result in a severe injury. And since he was already in a downward motion, he couldn't adjust his body to save himself.
Just as he was about to crash down, Allison swooped beneath him and caught him!
They rolled several times upon landing before finally coming to a halt. The impact left him with a headache, but it would have been far worse without Allison's timely rescue. Before he could rise, Allison pinned him back to the ground. He braced himself for a punch, closing his eyes.
Instead of a hit, though, he felt liquid warm against his cheeks. Opening his eyes, he saw Allison shedding tears.
'Why is she crying?' he wondered.
Allison released him, allowing him to sit up. He was about to say something when Castiel and Maxwell rode by, dragging him away from the scene. As he looked back, he caught the saddened expression on her face, which made his heart feel heavy.
It was the first time he had ever seen anyone cry for him like that.
In the aftermath of the incident, rather than returning home with Kimberly, Allison decided to take a cab somewhere else. Things were stressing her out.
It seemed like the perfect opportunity to speak to someone who might offer her guidance. After all, there weren't many people she could confide in for help.
"Elric!" she yelled, knocking on an apartment door.
The area wasn't the best in the city; it was considered the ghetto side. Many drug dealers and street thugs were often seen here, not to mention the high police activity. On the first floor of a rundown neighborhood, Allison stood waiting in front of someone's house.
"Elric, are you home?"
A Korean man opened the door. He was sitting in a wheelchair and said, "Today, just take a step in the right direction."
Elric Bo Park was a young man with platinum-colored, medium-length hair. Wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, he rolled onto the ramp. Despite his handicap, he never let it affect his mood.
"What a blast from the past," he said with a smile. "You said you needed to talk about something, so I'll assume it's probably about Steph, right?"
"Why do you think that?" she asked, getting behind him. The two then made their way onto the streets, enjoying the fresh air as the sun set behind them.
"Because I know," Elric answered. "The only thing that gets you worried these days is your brother."
"Am I really that predictable?"
Elric smiled, noting that Allison never recognized her own habits. Blushing, a memory surfaced.
She had been barely a teenager when Stephen's father had delivered him to her doorstep. Her parents were hardly around, but they accepted the large sum of money Mr. Huntley offered to take care of the boy.
Once she turned eighteen, her parents decided to move out of the country for their retirement. However, Allison wanted to stay in Salt Lake City. Consequently, they left her with a decent amount of money before departing. They weren't too charmed by Stephen, so they didn't concern themselves with what would become of him.
Years later, Allison would once again meet Mr. Huntley. This time, he delivered three more children, who everyone would come to know as the Tennyson sisters. Having found her a place at an affordable rate, she accepted his offer to care for her new family in their current apartment. Among all her siblings, Stephen was the most difficult to handle.
"Do you know what the tallest mountain near the city is?" she asked Elric.
"Do you think I don't know my town?" he answered. "As if… Kings Peak."
Allison went on to explain that Stephen loved climbing that mountain. One moment she would never forget was when he jumped off it. Allison stood at the bottom, ready to catch him. But when she looked up, she felt goosebumps.
The sun slightly blinded her vision as a giant bird flew overhead. All she could see was a pair of enormous wings behind Stephen's back. The only direction he appeared to be focused on was upward. But what captured her heart the most was that she had never seen him smile like that before.
"Exactly how you used to be," she said to Elric. "Instead of thinking how incredible that was, I felt scared for him."
Deep down in her heart, she believed that if Stephen truly grew wings, he would fly away. The more he soared in the wind, the more she became convinced that she wouldn't be able to catch him.
Unlike the others who had witnessed him fall from the branch that day, she was the only one to notice the vines tangled around his Dyna Blades at the last moment. Without those vines, the branch might not have broken off.
"I hear you," Elric commented.
"Even if he ends up hating me for it," she said, determination settling in her voice. "I'll be the villain if I have to, because he's the only little brother I have!"