"Ladies and gentlemen, the graduates of Darkley School Batch 2015!"
Lloyd could not believe it. He was finally a graduate of Darkley! Goodbye middle school, goodbye Darkley, goodbye The Darkley Gang...
"Congratulations, Lloyd," a voice said from behind him. Lloyd turned around and saw Gene, the leader of The Darkley Gang.
Gene U. Seville, the evil mastermind of Darkley. He was the baddest of the bad boys, and more often than not he would refer to himself as an evil genius. This was a boy who craved attention, and would do whatever it takes to get it. He was basically the most popular boy in school.
He opened his arms as if gesturing for a hug. "Congratulations to you too, Gene."
Instead of a hug, Lloyd received a headlock from his leader. "The Darkley Gang lives on, right?"
"Yeah, yeah," was Lloyd's response. "Darkley Gang forever."
Gene releases his grip from Lloyd. He grabs him by the collar and pulls him close. "I heard from Brad that you have doubts about being bad. Is that true?"
Lloyd shook his head. "Of course not!" That was a lie. He really felt like he did not want to be bad anymore. The past three years in middle school was not something he wanted to remember. He did some pretty terrible things the past years but he would rather not look back to them.
"Do whatever you want," Gene sighed as he shoved Lloyd away. "I'll see you tomorrow at the farewell party."
When Gene left, Lloyd looked around. He saw a man with long, dark red, side swept hair, and a woman with light brown hair tied in a side braid. He recognized these people as his parents, Marmaduke Wellington Garmadon and Misako Garmadon.
"Lloyd!" his mother said as she ran to him and wrapped him in a tight embrace. "Congratulations! You're going to be in high school!"
"Mom, let go," he whispered. "You're embarrassing me."
"Congratulations, Lloyd," his father said. "So, where do you want to have dinner? Fast food? Or would you rather be in a fancy restaurant?"
"Anywhere is good," Lloyd replied as he finally escaped his mother's grip. "Anywhere but home, though. I'm alright with Burger King and Domino's."
The family headed out of the auditorium and walked to the parking lot.
"Make up your mind now, Lloyd," his mother told him. "We need to know where you would like."
Lloyd thought long and hard and finally he knew the one place he loved to eat at. "How about Mister Chen's?"
0-0-0-0-0
"Four Swords Repair Shop, how may I help you?"
A boy with spiked brown hair and tan skin turned his wrench and tightened the bolt. He did not need to see that there was a new customer because he heard the chimes from the door.
"Kai Smith?" came the sound of a young female's voice.
He looked up and saw a girl with long blond hair. This woman caught his attention and he fixed himself up. He stood and gave the girl his best smile.
"What can I do for you?" he asked the girl.
She blushed. "My dad asked me to get this thing repaired. I don't know what it is, but I'm sure you do."
"Is that all?" he continued, this time switching on his flirtation mode. "Is there nothing else you came here for?"
"No..." the girl replied, obviously getting bashful. "I'd like to know if you wanna go out with me."
That was pretty obvious. Girls from school always approached the repair shop because they knew he worked there. That was okay because he loved the attention.
"Where and when, babe?" he asked in his best flirty voice.
Her face was red now. That was the effect he had on all the girls. "I'm okay with any place, as long as you choose it."
That was the response he gets from all the girls. Not quite the exact phrasing, but the concept is exactly the same. Of course he will choose one of the least romantic restaurants anyone can ever choose.
"Chen's Noodle House."
0-0-0-0-0
A loud boom could be heard. It was small, but the sound spread around Ed and Edna's Scrap n' Junk. There was no denying that this sound was from an explosion.
"Jay?" asked an old woman. "Are you alright?"
A young man with brown hair with just the tiniest hint of red turned around and showed the woman his blackened face. "Hey...mom..."
"Oh my! What happened?" she asked him.
He stood up. He took a towel from a table and he wiped his face. "I was trying to fix this device I found which appeared to be a brand new plardin smart digibox signal capacitor. When I noticed the wires were busted and melted I decided to cut them and replace them with wires I found lying around. I was unaware that the blue wire of this device is different from the blue wire I found. I plugged it to this generator I found which was fixed and then BOOM—ow!"
He dropped the towel and flinched in pain. "What was that?"
"Son," Edna said in surprise. "You're bleeding!"
"I am?" Jay asked as he picked up the towel.
He noticed that within the black soot covering the towel there was a red blotch on it. Remembering where he felt the pain, he put his hand on his right eyebrow. It felt wet and sticky. Once he removed his hand from it, he looked at it and screamed.
"MOMMY I'M BLEEDING WHAT DO I DO?!"
"Calm down, Jay!" his mother said as she tried to reassure him. "We have a first aid kit, remember? I will get you cleaned up and take care of your wounds for you."
Jay took a deep breath and smiled at his mother. "Can we go to Mister Chen's after this? All this work is no fun with an empty stomach."
"Of course we can, dear," Edna told him. "And we're bringing your father, too."
0-0-0-0-0
"And a five, six, seven, eight!"
It was intense in the studio. The movements of the four similarly built slightly muscular men were a lot more powerful than any of the dances that had ever been performed at the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts. Punches were thrown, legs were kicked, jumps were executed. All this and more while the young boy in the middle attempted to perform one of the most impossible dance moves know to man: the Triple Tiger Sashay.
The three boys fell in line in front of the boy with long black hair right before he jumped. He stepped on the head of the first boy. He then turned and touched the head of the second boy. He turned again and his head touched the one of the third. Lastly, he finished his full somersault, landed on the dance floor in a crouching position, and swung his arm as if to scratch with a claw.
"ROAR!" he yelled.
A man clapped his hands slowly. "Well done, gentlemen. You have done an exceptional job. Everyone except for you, Cole."
The boy with long black hair stood up straight and looked at the man. "What did I do?"
The man walked towards him and circled him like a vulture. "Your build is still not toned enough, your posture needs to be fixed, and your roar needs more energy. Could you at least pretend that you want to be here?"
"Why do you always do this to me?" the boy asked, clearly enraged. "You nitpick on every little mistake I make and you turn it into something great like it's such a big deal. You know I executed every single move really darn good. Why can't you focus on those?"
Silence filled the studio. The three other boys felt awkward within the tension of Cole and the man. The man sighed. Cole was distraught.
"You boys can have the day off," the man sighed. "I'll see you all again tomorrow."
The three boys picked up their bags from one end of the studio, bid their goodbyes to Cole, and exit the studio.
Cole stood face to face with his worst critic—his father.
"Am I not good enough, dad?" Cole asked, rage evident in his voice. "Am I not good enough for you?"
"Son," his father said coolly. "Let's not talk about this."
"No!" Now he was filled with wrath. "I want to talk about this. Why do you have to criticize every single thing I do? I do my best and all you do is throw garbage in my face!"
"Do not talk to me that way!" his father snapped at him. "I am your father!"
This made Cole swell up with anger. "And I am your son! Why don't you treat me like it?"
"I'm just doing what is best for you!" his father yelled, clearly unsure of his words.
Cole looked down but not in defeat. Rather, he looked down in silent anger. "Best for me, or best for you?"
He walked towards one end of the studio, picked up his bag, and marched to the door.
"Where are you going, Cole?" his father asked, still angered at his own son.
Cole turned his head just the slightest bit around, and answered in a menacing tone before finally exiting the studio.
"Chen's."
0-0-0-0-0
"I'm at Mister Chen's Noodle House at the moment, Pixal. Do you want me to order something for you?"
Zane Roberts walked into the restaurant with a smile. "I've always loved noodles and dumplings."
"Do you know if they still sell Puffy Potstickers? The last time I checked they were discontinued. This I know because some man ranted about it in his blog."
"Do you ever get off your computer?" he asked as he approached the counter.
A giggle could be heard. "Only when I am in school. You know I'm always on my computer. Do not pretend like you forgot. I am on it right now."
"You're right, you always are," he replied. "Do you still sell the Puffy Potstickers?"
The man at the counter shook his head. "Sorry, kid. They've been discontinued.
Zane put a hand on his Bluetooth earpiece. "Did you hear that?"
"Yes, I did," Pixal replied. "Just get me some siomai. Pork, not any other kind."
"With soy sauce and the small green fruit?" Zane asked.
The man at the counter was confused. "What do you want with soy sauce?"
"Calamansi? Yes," Pixal answered happily.
Zane looked at the man. "An order of four-piece siomai with soy sauce and calamansi, and two asado pork buns, no sauce, to go."
The man punched in some keys on the register. "That would be eight hundred yen."
Zane opened the satchel that hung from his shoulder. He got his wallet and handed over a thousand yen bill to the cashier. "Here you go."
The cashier got the money from him, put it in the register, and gave Zane two hundred yen. "Thank you, just give me your name so I can call you when your food is ready."
"Zane," he replied with a smile.
He walked to the chairs where customers usually wait to be seated. There he watched as various people entered the restaurant: a happy family with the son in a graduation toga, a couple around his age who look like they were going on a date, another family but the son has a bandage above his eye, and a tall boy he figured looked like the emo stereotype he saw in school.
"Are you still there?" he asked Pixal.
The tall boy looked at him, confused. "Are you talking to me?"
Zane noticed the boy and was surprised at his reaction. "Oh! Pardon me. I'm on the phone with my girlfriend. I didn't notice that you were passing by."
The boy rolled his eyes and went to the furthest table from the front entrance.
"Well that sounded awkward," Pixal said from the earpiece.
Zane sighed. "It was. I wish I had asked that once that boy had passed by me."
0-0-0-0-0
"For our graduate, let's get you the graduation platter!"
Lloyd smiled at his parents. It felt so great to see them happy together.
He never really knew his father when he was younger, but he knew that he was a very evil guy. His evil reputation is what got Lloyd enrolled in Darkley School. Lloyd wanted nothing but to be noticed by his father, even though he was separated from him and his mother. Their separation killed Lloyd on the inside, thus letting him stoop to a low where he actually joins the Darkley Gang.
But more on that later.
"I'd love the graduation platter!" Lloyd exclaimed. "I'm starving!"
However, their joy is short lived when Lloyd saw three burly men enter the restaurant.
"Hand over the money, gramps," one of them said to the cashier.
Lloyd stood up from his seat but his mother stops him.
"Don't do it, Lloyd," she told him. "It's too dangerous!"
He looked back at his mother and gave her a reassuring smile. "Someone has to help, mom, and that someone is gonna be me."
Much to his surprise, another guy has approached the three men. He was a rather tall and slightly muscular guy with dark brown hair spiked up. He had tan skin and scars underneath his eye and on his eyebrow.
"Hey!" the guy yelled out. "It's not nice to pick on old people. Pick on someone your own age."
One of the three men looked at him. "What's your problem, kid?"
"You guys sicken me," he replied as he spat on the ground.
"That action is unsanitary," said a blond guy who was sitting on the waiting bench.
The biggest of the three guys walked to the back of the room. Lloyd watched as he tried to talk to the guy in black. "Hey you."
The guy looked upset and seemed like he would rather not be disturbed.
"Hey!" he yelled. "I'm talking to you!"
He looked angry now. He turned to the ruffian with disgust. "What?"
"Gimme your money, big boy."
He shook his head. "No."
This made the man pissed. He grabbed the boy by the collar and punched him in the face. The boy collapsed and fell to the floor.
"That would teach you not to mess with me."
"Leave them alone!" someone yelled.
Lloyd looked to the direction of the voice and saw a scrawny boy with a bandage on his eyebrow. Is everyone trying to help?
"Yeah, leave everyone alone!" Lloyd yelled.
He felt eyes on him. For once he felt empowered to do the right thing. And that right thing was to stop this conflict.
"Look guys," the smallest of the men pointed out. "It's a wimp and a pipsqueak!"
The men laughed, but the blond guy stood up from the bench.
"That's not very nice, gentlemen," he said calmly. "Do not speak ill of them. They mean no harm."
"Who asked you for your opinion, nerd?" one of them asked.
Much to their surprise, someone approached the man and knocked him out. Lloyd looked at their savior and saw the guy with black hair.
"It takes more than one blow to take me down," he said as he pushed his hair back and tied it in a ponytail. "So, who's next?"
The other men were shocked. "You were unconscious..."
The boy took off his hoodie and tossed it to his table. "It's called 'acting'. You should try it some time."
Lloyd found this as his cue to attack. In a swift motion, he ran to the men and kicked one of them, but not on the location he had originally intended. Lloyd ended up kicking the man in the groin.
The man grabbed his crotch, lay down on the floor, and cried in pain.
"Oops," Lloyd said nervously. "I was going for your head."
Just then, the bandaged boy brought out a device, aimed it at the last standing thug, and pulled the trigger. The man appeared to have been electrocuted.
"Nobody calls me a wimp," the boy said as he pulled the taser's pins from the now unconscious thug. "Unless you called me a pipsqueak, then nobody calls me that, too."
The five boys—Lloyd included—gathered around the unconscious men and the man holding his manly parts.
"Did we do this?" the prim and proper blond boy asked.
The one with the scars nodded. "Yeah, I think we did."
The guy in the ponytail stepped on the grieving man's head. "This is my favorite restaurant. If you ever come back here, I'll be sure to whoop your sorry butts again."
"He's scary," the bandaged boy whispered to Lloyd.
"And hot," the one with scars added.
Lloyd gave the brunette a confused look, and so did the redhead. "What did you say?"
"It looks like we have succeeded in defending this restaurant," the blond said with a smile. "I would love to look forward to doing this with you four again. However, it seems that my order is ready and my girlfriend is waiting for me. Goodbye!"
The blond left, leaving the other four by themselves.
"I'll eat somewhere else today," the ponytailed boy said as he walked to the back table. He gathered his belongings, put his hoodie back on, and untied his ponytail. And with that he left.
A girl approached the boy with scars. "Did you just say that a boy was hot?" she asked rather angrily.
"Well," he began. However, before he tried to explain the girl slapped him in the face and left. This caused him to look down in embarrassment and to leave the restaurant without another word.
The only people left in the restaurant now were the scarred boy, Lloyd, and their parents.
"Shall we eat somewhere else, son?" an old man asked.
The bandaged boy shook his head. "Thanks to what happened here, I'd LOVE to eat here more often!"
Lloyd giggled at him. "Mom, dad, I'd like that platter."
0-0-0-0-0
The five did not know each other, neither did they introduce themselves to one another.
Fate had decided to keep themselves from each other for the time being. However, fate has other tricks up their sleeves.
This encounter was not a coincidence. It was fate's first step in showing each other their true potential. The five boys haves proved themselves worthy of meeting each other again, but in the strangest way possible.
But more on that later.
