Being Chapter the Fourteenth.

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The next day, Fin knocked on Caleb's door as she cuffed the sleeves of her coat in a hurry. Caleb opened the door, looking equally as rushed, and slung his backpack over his shoulder. They both knew they were late for class.

"You again?" Caleb asked with surprise.

"Etrigan is rather busy hanging out with his new best friend Pogue," Fin snorted with displeasure. "I'm covering you again for today."

"Is Reid feeling any better?"

"With Ro acting as his nurse, he'd milk it for a whole other day, at least," Fin replied as they walked together. "But I made Ro force him to come with. I'm more worried about Pogue. To be honest, I sense strongly that he feels he has something to prove to Etrigan. And Etrigan is not the kind of man you can ever live up to. Ever."

"Pogue's not trying to prove anything to Etrigan," Caleb stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "He's trying to prove it to you."

Fin wanted to deny this accusation with everything in her, but her senses had been telling her that since the beginning, thus she had no way to argue.

"How do you figure?" she asked instead.

"Well," Caleb chuckled. "Pogue's never been one to hide his feelings well."

Caleb hit the button for the elevator, and together they impatiently awaited it. A sly smile grew out the edges of Caleb's mouth, as he peered at her out the corner of his eye.

"I'm in love with Etrigan," Fin insisted, her face deadpanned.

"I didn't ask," Caleb countered right back.

"You didn't have to." Fin shot him an angry look of warning, and decided she would take the stairs.

"He's really a great guy…!" Caleb called after her. "Why don't you give him a chance?!"

"Give it up, Caleb!" Fin advised as she turned around the corner.

Caleb sighed and walked on with her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his corduroy peacoat. But when he came around the hall, he nearly bumped into Fin, who had stopped abruptly in the middle of the walkway, her face frowning in wonder. Caleb followed her line of sight to Kitty, who was holding hands with Tyler, while they both stared quite fondly at one another. But no, Caleb noticed, Fin wasn't looking at them. Her eyes were on Reid, who was sprawled out on the couch with his head contently on Ro's lap as she stroked his hair with her gloved hands.

"What is this-- Date a Chosen One Day?" Fin muttered under her breath, more in surprise than irritation.

"Something wrong?" Caleb asked her with concern.

Fin frowned even more. What was wrong was that Ro was a walking hazard, not only emotionally but physically now as well, AND not to mention Reid was a potential traitor, AND Sybilla had warned against them falling in love. This was not good.

"Yes, something's wrong!" Fin said, a little angrier than she meant. It was probably just as well she fake her annoyance to make sure Caleb got the point. "Just try and keep your flirty little Covenant's hands off my Syrens, alright Boy Scout?"

"What?!" Caleb said with offense. "You keep your sleazy little Syrens' hands off my Covenant!"

Caleb's voice was a little loud to ignore, so the two couples behind them stopped what they were doing to listen.

"Oh, you did NOT just ho-afy my friends!" Fin said, putting her hands on her hips and staring way up at the tall Caleb.

"LOOK at them!" Caleb said, pointing to his side but keeping his confrontational eyes on Fin. "They ho-afied themselves!"

Ro gasped in offense, while Kitty rushed in front of Fin to intervene.

"Fin, calm down…" Kitty coaxed. "Think of your temper…"

"Screw my temper!" Fin yelled. "Let me at the punk!"

"Yeah?" Caleb taunted. "You want a piece of this, midget? Go for it!"

Caleb took a step back, letting his eyes go black and putting his hands up in preparation for anything to come. Fin's eyes ignited with fire immediately. Ro rolled her eyes.

"Now you've done it…"

Kitty yelled in protest.

"Fin, no!"

But it was too late. Fin had already launched the first blow, sending Caleb into a bookcase behind him, making a picture on a nearby wall crash to the floor, along with several books. Caleb wasn't down for long, already forming baseballs of energy in each hand, and throwing them at Fin one after another. It was the only chance he'd get.

"HEY!" Etrigan stepped in-between the two, the spheres of launched energy dissipating into his chest, absorbing it like a sponge to water. "Chosen One or not—I don't like the kind of man that hurts girls. And you just happened to pick on the wrong girl."

"Etrigan, I don't need you to fight my battles," Fin snorted.

"Both of you stand down!" Ro said getting into the mix too. Her strength was the only thing holding Etrigan back from tearing Caleb to pieces. "I don't care who hurt whose pride. But we have a job to do, and if ya'll can't do it…"

"What for?" Etrigan growled. "Suddenly Roarden getting a hold of these fools doesn't sound so bad… A few days of torture and Roarden ripping their Power out through their noses might teach them a little appreciation. I'm done with them."

"Etrigan!" Fin called after him, but he had already snorted at each boy of the Covenant in disdain and sauntered off.

"I don't think he's coming with us today," Kitty stated the obvious.

"I'm sorry, Fin," Caleb said to the redhead sincerely. "I don't know why I said that."

Fin glared at Caleb, not ready to forgive him just yet. The person that dared insult her friends was not going to mend it with a simple apology.

"Whatever," Fin rolled her eyes. "Let's go drag Lysander out of his sick bed. I'm sure he'll be real happy about going back on duty."

-

"I can't believe this-- What an outrage! I was hurt in the line of duty, and I still can't get an honest day's rest? I mean, really…!" Lysander fumed all the way back through the portal.

"Com'on, stop whining, Lys," Tyler said with a grin. "You'll be back in fair lady Dahlia's arms soon enough."

Kitty giggled, and Lysander was immediately furious.

"You can't mean the vampiress?" he scoffed. "Despicable notion! I suppose now would be as good a time as any to educate you on the fact that vampiresses around here are commonly associated with whores. They have no sense of discretion. It's torture to even be close to a vile monster as her."

"Torture because you won't let yourself be with her, you mean," Caleb added on. Lysander snorted in displeasure.

"I will say no more on the matter."

"Hey, it's your dirty little secret," Tyler threw his hand up in surrender. "Not ours."

"Give it up, Tyler," Ro laughed. "Lysander's more stubborn than a redwood root."

Lysander folded his arms indignantly, but didn't pursue it.

"Ahhh," Reid rubbed his hands together as they all emerged out of the storage closet. "It's good to be back in the real worl--"

"Oh, no," Fin interrupted suddenly, staring disdainfully off into the distance. Ro quickly followed her line of sight.

"Oh, hell no," Ro agreed. Kitty and all the rest were the next to see the foul group of boys off in the distance.

"Aww, who gave those buttheads a portal?" Kitty whined.

Caleb frowned at the boys standing distantly in the otherwise empty hallway. It wasn't hard to guess why the girls didn't like their presence—they were dressed like hoodlums and looked ready to rob the nearest gas station, minus the ski masks.

One of them was abnormally short and a little greenish in skin tone, with a wide face and long sandy hair. He was deathly thin, his stick-legs with kneeholes worn into his jeans. His stance was slouched and hunchbacked, like he carried a heavy burden on his skinny shoulders.

"Morty Fisher," Kitty pointed out.

Another was a large contrast to the first. He was massive, largely round and bald headed, dressed in military themed clothing. His feet were like that of an elephants, his hands like cinder blocks, and his every movement shook the earth beneath him.

"Duke Hamilton," Kitty went on.

The last was a James Dean-esque man, lean and toned, with a leather jacket and tight, cuffed jeans. His brunette hair was slicked back like he just came from the fifties era, and his brown eyes mocking them with their cool glare.

"And last but certainly not least," Kitty said as the group of boys began to make their way over. "Dominic Byrnes."

"Who are they?" Tyler was the first to ask.

"The Hoods."

"Does every magical group have to have a name?" Reid said cynically.

"They're just punks out to spoil our day," Ro replied. "They work for Roarden. No doubt they're here to nab you four when our backs are turned. How did they find us?"

The boys spotted them as well, and Dominic waved for the others to follow him over to greet them.

"Stand back," Fin said, stepping out in front of them protectively. "Don't respond to them, it's what they want."

"Fin, Fin, Fin…" Dominic called out, strutted over to the group of Covenants and Guardians with a cocky, leaned back stroll. "And, Kitty and Ro too! So we have Spicy, Cutie and Sexy all here, what a treat."

"Hey there, shnookems—miss me?" Morty said with batting eyelashes at Kitty. He puckered his lips and made kissing noises as he stood on his tiptoes to reach her mouth. Tyler frowned and moved to interfere. Kitty beat him to it.

"Ew, icksome!" Kitty exclaimed, pushing Morty back by the forehead roughly.

"Get used to seeing a lot more of us," Dominic warned, pulling out a student ID card from his pocket. "We're credible students."

All three mouths of the Syren girls dropped in shock and horror.

-

Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue