Chapter 21: Playing Catch-up
I woke up right on the dot, so I didn't feel the need to rush. I knew I had plenty of time to prepare myself. Me and Ringo left for Suzuran High after the usual. I decided to talk to her while we walked. "Hey Ringo, I've been thinking…" "Yeah?" "You're friends with Arle and Amitie, but I want to know how you three met." "You sure, Dave? It's kind of a long story, especially with how much we did together as a trio…" "Yes, please tell me." "Okay… It all started back when I was in junior high…" "So, middle school… right?" "Idiot, don't interrupt me with something like that." Ringo puffed her cheeks out to show her slight frustration. "S-sorry… continue." I pleaded. "Anyway, we met one day because of a phenomenon that was happening. Arle and Amitie ended up in Suzuran after being transported by portals. At first it seemed like a good thing when I met Arle, but then… something was messing with her. She became a puppet for one that I spoke of before, Ecolo." "E-Ecolo? You mean, this is also how you first knew him?" "Yeah, he used her to lure us into doing what he wanted. Lacking a physical body, he possessed Arle and set up specific places throughout my world… all so he could bury the planet in an astronomical amount of Puyos. He was also obsessed with me for some reason, I never figured out why he was so interested in me. In any case, I hated his guts for the longest time. We beat him, and for a while… that's how things were. I don't know why... I don't hold much disdain for him anymore. I'm not sure if he's still like that these days since he is the current keeper of dimensions. I haven't seen him beyond the day that me and Tee came to Ex in the farthest edge of spacetime. It's crazy, I'm actually kinda worried about Ecolo… even a being as positive as him might miss being with others." She released a puff of breath and stopped. "Ringo, I understand you… as far as I see it, he doesn't seem to be a bad guy. Did he ever do anything that was truly evil?" "No, he was just one that created mischief. Never once was he rude to anyone, he just wanted fun." "I see…" Both of us didn't say a word until we arrived on school grounds. We saw Lemres and Feli, they waved to us and smiled. Joining up with them, we headed into the cafeteria to wait for the school bell. "So, how're you this mornin'?" Lemres asked. "We're just fine, how about you two?" I replied. "Pretty much in the same boat I guess." Feli said.
The four of us sat and talked for a bit, then Risukuma appeared. "Oh! Ris, what held you up? I was wondering where you were…" Ringo stood up. "Ringo, I had a… uh… little… mishap. Worry not, it isn't anything to get worked up over. So, it looks like... even I will have to get myself up to speed." He stumbled. "Ris, how has that ant bite been coming along?" I asked him. "Oh, it's gone now, thank goodness for that. It was seriously distracting my from my studies." He responded. "I'm glad for you then, you're my friend you know." He nodded to my words. I turned my head over to Lemres. "Oh yeah… Lemres, I was meaning to ask you something, but I never got the chance." "Sure Dave, what is it?" "It was about what you were whispering to Schezo, back when we were going that beach. Just what did you do to make him come along?" Lemres hesitated for a brief moment, then sighed. "Alright, but you're the only one that I'll tell… come here." We walked away from the girls and Risukuma to be alone. "What I told him was that if he didn't come with us, then I would reveal his entire porn collection to the girls. He REALLY didn't want it to be since he's always defendin' himself from being known as an actual pervert. In other words, he did not want the girls to get the wrong impression in his mindset." "Wow, no wonder he was freaking out quite a bit… I never knew that he had one." "Welp, we could continue to talk about this, but… time to wait out for the bell…" I nodded and we sat back down. "So Dave, how are you gonna fair in English?" Feli asked me.
It didn't take me long at all to answer that question. "I think I'll do fine there, after all... I'm an intelligent writer and I know many different words. In the case that you were worrying about me regarding that, don't. I'm concerned for Lemres, he struggles with anything that isn't magic… This being a factor in all of this doesn't help *sigh*." I pinched the area between my nose and forehead with my finger and thumb, then closed my eyes. "Yeah, that's a hurdle in it of itself… sorry for bein' a liability to you guys." Lemres said to us. "It's not your fault Lemres, we don't blame you for this." Ringo grabbed his hand. "Hmm… I think I have an idea." The comet warlock said. "What is it?" I wondered. "We could just band together as a team of five after school, getting ourselves up to speed with info." He suggested. "Yeah that's kind of what me and Ringo thought for us to do… Question is though, where do we meet?" I brought up. "Hm, maybe me and Lemres can come along with you, going to Suzuran and meeting back up with Ringo…" Feli proposed. "That does seem to be our best idea at the moment…" I continued. "Yeah, that's good… but what about you Ris? Don't you have stuff to speed through too?" Ringo asked the bear. "Hm, yes… but I'll do fine. I'm one who usually finishes early with stuff, it won't take me that long." He replied. "Well okay then…" When Ringo finished speaking, the bell rang. "And… that's our cue, come on Ris..." I stood up and he followed me to biochemistry.
Class began, and I discovered that me and Risukuma weren't really missing much information there. The other students must have been doing lab stuff during the past week. Fast forwarding to calculus, I missed a few big concepts, and Ringo didn't even worry. We both knew she was a god when it came to math. "My brain hurts, Ringo…" "It'll be fine, just tackle one thing at a time… That was how I was eased into numbers and such beyond that." She assured me and I smiled. Calculus ended ten minutes after that. "See you later." I said to Ringo. She nodded and I left for my next class, English 11. "Yo." Lemres greeted me. "Alright, let's make sure that you are prepared, Lemres." I responded. "Yeah, we're all friends here… we help each other." Feli added. Class began, and I pieced together what had been around when I was gone. I knew that I was prepared for whatever came next in this case. English ended with not really any issue from me. "Good, it seems like so far, I only have to worry about things in Calculus…" "Dave, there's still a chance that History will get us caught up in a loop." Feli mentioned. "Yes… in fact, I believe there's an eighty-five percent chance that what we will get is a lecture that came after a few others." I responded. "Then let's go already." Lemres advised us. We nodded and headed over there for our last class before lunch. Just as we assumed, there was a lecture. Unlike others from History, however... this one was boring and felt inconsequential. I didn't see it as important, and it wasn't even related to the other ones prior. I never knew why our teacher decided to go over that. It was basically about the founding of Suzuran as a landmark, as well as the development of the city over the years.
It was heading in a slightly more political direction, hence why I became bored as hell. I was never one who cared for politics, for good reason. Everything is so insipid and too needlessly complicated, to the point where most people, I'm sure, wouldn't give a flying fuck. Hell, it was so boring, Lemres fell asleep, and even I was on the brink of passing out. This was one test of endurance that I despised. Feli was surprisingly awake, but she didn't really pay attention. In my mind, I sighed and continued to wait until the bell kicked in. "Mmm, Thank God that's over with…" I stretched. "Hey Lemres, get up." Feli shook him. "Oof, I passed out… sorry, you two." He apologized. "Don't worry, it wasn't anything important. Anyway, let's go to lunch." I told him. We grabbed our things and proceeded onward. Moving on ahead to where we found a table to eat, we found the time to talk about that lecture. "Ugh, that lecture was fucking cancer." Feli complained. "Yeah, it generated boredom faster than watching a cow eat grass." I agreed. "Heh, that's one helluva comparison you've made, Dave." Lemres chuckled. "You should be lucky that you didn't get yelled at for sleeping in class, Lemres." I replied. "Yeah, I should be…" He agreed. "What bothered me the most about it, was that it had nothing to do with the other lectures. It feels jarring to go into an unrelated topic like this." I expressed my bewilderment. "Nevertheless, it's not like we HAD a choice to deny learning that…" Feli muttered. We stayed silent for rest of lunch, unenthusiastic to talk any further.
It was that time of the school day again, us leaving lunch to go to Primp Magic. We noticed that something was off today, arriving at the stop. "What in the…?" I stopped. The vehicle was supposed to be here already, but it wasn't. "The vehicle's not here…" Feli said. "Why though?" Lemres wondered. We decided that it would be best to ask other half-students if they knew what was going on. Unfortunately, we were unable to get anything, they didn't know either. Then an announcement came through all around the school grounds. "Attention to all half-students currently on the premises, the vehicle that normally takes you to Primp Magic School... is broken down and is in need of repairs. Until it is fixed, you are to arrive there by yourselves." The message ends and we all groaned from this. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" Feli complained. "Damn, that sucks ass." Lemres frowned. "Well, we're just going to have to deal with that issue." I pulled myself together. My friends nod and Lemres creates a portal to send us away. At least with this, it was just us three enjoying ourselves. We flew through the portal and talked to get our spirits back in shape. Our discussion was great and smile producing. We each held on tight so no one would drift off to be lost. Some time passes through and we arrive at Primp. "Looks like we still got some time left." Lemres saw, relieved. "Thank God, I hate being tardy." I said. So we paced to our potions class with minor haste, appearing in time. Class began with a message from the instructor. "So class, today we are going to start learning how to make a special potion. This one is known as a charge vial, it provides the consumer temporary energy in accordance to how strong they are. Obviously, the stronger you are, the more potent this effect will be. This should really only be used when you are in a pinch. Otherwise, this stuff could have... let's just say… nasty side effects." I heard other students murmur in response to the part about side effects. "*ahem* Anyway, it's made of ingredients that are quite rare. As to be expected, they won't be just laying around. Your task for today... is to go in that forest and find one of each of the following." She told us.
She went on to show us what we need to nab for this. "So that's what you'll be doing today, and tomorrow is when you'll make a charge vial. For the sake of convenience, you guys will be in groups of three. You can choose who you want to be with, as long as they help you forward things along. Any students here who happen to not have any friends and are singled out, you can stand by me, and I'll arrange trios of my own volition. And one more thing: Should you fail to collect all of the required items before class ends today… you'll automatically fail this assignment. I would be quick with group making if I were you, children." The instructor finished. Lemres and Feli waved to me, signaling me to join them. "It's great that we can do this together… but man, this first half of the assignment is strict…" I sighed. "You'll get used to it, it's only a little more than what I usually go through." The comet warlock mentioned. "There's nothing that we can't handle if we're together, so don't worry, Dave." Feli assured me. "Well if you two are confident… let's get a move on then, we don't have all class period to do this." I said, heading outside. "Ugh, when did it get so hot?" Feli questioned. "Gh- This heat… it's unreal." I stumbled.
It must have been at least ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit. It was worse than what was around in the Puyo Isles. At least over there, it was a tropical region. Without the increased humidity, it doesn't rain as often in Primp. Therefore, there's less of a chance of the local being cooled. "Here you two, stay right by my side." Lemres told us. We shrugged in confusion, then decided that we should take his word. "Hey… I don't feel hot anymore!" I realized. "Me as well… What is this, Lemres?" Feli followed up. "This is my heat absorption shield. Not only does it protect us from the surroundin' heat, but it also deflect any rays that the sun happens to direct on us. And lastly, the shield cools us here inside, like an air conditioner. The only downside to this is that it drains my magical power out quite a bit over time. I won't be able to sustain it for too long… So Dave, I need ya to supply me with power when I get low." "Uh, how do I do that exactly, Lemres?" "I maintain magical power by eatin' or drinkin' something sweet and filled with sugar. There's a pouch where I keep candy, but I won't be able to use either hand to grab a piece. This shield requires both of my hands for it to hang around. I would've asked Feli to do this, but she's a bit too short to toss candy into my mouth." He finished. "Hey! That's not very nice Lemres…" Feli pouted at him. "Look, I wasn't tryin' to be rude, okay?" He made his case. "Guys, we're running out of time, we can't afford to be bickering like this." I reminded them. "Oh yeah, sorry." They said. I thought we wouldn't make the quota, but we somehow did. Finding everything that we needed and returned to the instructor. "Ah yes, you three did a great job with this part. I'll hold on to those for now…" She said.
Class ended soon after and we separated, me going to Accord's room for my last period of the day. "Okay, settle down, kiddies." Accord acknowledged. I stared at her as she said that. "..." "Oh, and young adult." She finished. I felt better and paid attention to her. "So, now that we are back from the trip, we will resume class as normal. Today, you will…" I noticed that she was hesitating on saying anything more, almost as if she had things laid out on the fly. This wasn't like Accord, she's usually prepared for most things. "Ah. Today you will observe the fighting strengths and styles of your classmates. Doing this will help you understand one another more than before. You will do so by via combat, that's right. You'll fight each other outside of the classroom. Of course, it's not going to be serious, because that would endanger yourselves. I'll call things off if I believe that their enough. Dave is going to be testing the rest of you on magical power." "Wait, me…?" I felt unsure about this. " *giggle* Why of course, you ARE my strongest pupil after all." She told me. "I don't know…" "Don't worry, Popoi will suppress you, if it's needed." "Oh right, I almost forgot that Popoi can do that." I felt better about doing this after I was reminded. I didn't want to hurt my friends too badly by accident. We left to go outside, in a single-file line. "Let's start things off easy… Lidelle, you will go first." "M-Me?" I was surprised too, but I suppose that it made sense. "Lidelle, do me a favor…" I requested her. "W-what is it, Dave?" "Hit me as hard as you can with magic and don't chicken out, I'll be fine from whatever you do." "I-I don't know…" "Do you want to become stronger?" "..." "Well, do you?" I waited for her response. "O-okay, I-I won't hold back…" "Excellent, give me everything you got." Lidelle breathed in slowly as I watched her. "... Whirling Typhoon!" I see a tornado manifest from her energy. "!" I kept my feet planted to the ground the best that I could. By the time that this crazy wind dissipated, my legs were shaking, to the point where I could collapse at any given moment. I was forced to sit down to give them a rest. "Oooooh… my legs, they feel like jelly…" To me, this was now starting to look like I was the one getting tested, rather than my classmates. "D-did I overdo it?" The girl asked me, worried. "Nevermind about that, you did great. There's not many things these days that flat-out debilitate me. So look at that, you brought me into submission without doing any damage, you should be proud of that." I smiled. "Ah! Th-thank you so much, Dave." She blushed. Accord stepped in to congratulate Lidelle. "You can watch the others for this rest of this." She told her.
After a few minutes, my legs were feeling normal again. "Alright, who's next?" I eagerly asked the others. "Looks like it'll be me." Tarutaru said. "Very well Tarutaru, let's see what you can do!" I pumped myself up. "Ball Morph!" He yelled. "?" I didn't know what was going on at first. Then, I saw his body modify into the shape of a ball. "! W-what the-?!" He made himself start rolling toward me with surprising speed and velocity. I knew that I couldn't just dodge, I was only able to prepared for impact. "Oof!" He slammed me pretty hard and I fell to the ground. "Heh, not bad at all." I cracked a snicker, impressed. "I always start off strong, Dave." He replied. "Now, here's one of my attacks. Lightning Clap!" Tarutaru cleverly thought on his feet, quite literally. He used his shoes to shield himself from my electrical spell. "Incredible, you used the rubber material from your shoes to avoid getting shocked! So you have a great attack, as well as a defense plan." I was shocked. "It is as they say, "The greatest offense is defense, and the greatest defense is offense."..." "So, you take that saying to heart?" "Yes, most definitely." I tried coming up with a new strategy to catch Tarutaru off guard. But, it seemed that each and every attack that I attempted, he would counter with a move of his own. "Looks like I'll have to kick things up a notch…" I panted for a little bit. "Hrrrah!" I applied on my first level of dragon armor through transformation. I felt physically stronger, and that was all that I was looking for. My bigger suit of dragon armor was too dangerous to use here. After all, this was nothing more than a friendly fight of sorts. I went in to try and punch the guy. Considering that he's bulky though, he threw out his fist too. Both of our fists connect upon impact. I had more strength in the end and managed to knock him down.
Immediately, my hand hurt from that and I shook it a little to ease the pain. "Ah… ouch, that hurt a bit…" I commented on my own internal injury. He got up and prepared another attack. "Fault!" Tarutaru stomped the ground and made a crack in the earth, which headed toward me. "!" I rolled out of the way. That was though, nothing more than a distraction. He used the opportunity to strike me. "Stomp!" *snap* "GH- AAAAGH! *pant pant*" Bones in my rib cage began to crack a little from the force of his stomp attack. Had I not worn even the weaker dragon armor, I'm sure that my ribs would just be gone and likely other bones. Of course, that would mean death from a few, simultaneous factors. Excessive internal bleeding, punctured heart and lungs, and a disconnected spinal cord. "St-stop…" I pleaded. "That will be enough, Tarutaru." "Yes, Ms. Accord." Tarutaru had ceased. I laid in pain and slight paralysis as Amitie panicked. "N-no! Are you okay?!" She prayed for my life. "Amitie, my rib cage has broken up… I need medical attention right away." "Ms. Accord, we have to do something!" Amitie held on to me carefully and Lidelle was frightened by my condition. "I'm well aware, Amitie… I'm somewhat disappointed in you, Dave. There was more that you could have done to prevent this." "Wh-what the hell are you... talking about? I was holding back, sure... but not too much so." "That's not what I mean, you didn't use the strength that you did HAVE to the fullest." I didn't understand what Accord meant by saying that, at the time. "Anyway, Dave needs help. Tarutaru, if you would, please carry him back." "Yes, I suppose the responsibility falls on me." After hearing that line, I passed out.
I rise from a black and hazy mind, my vision was blurred. I felt that there was no longer any pain around my chest. I shook my head to kick my senses into gear. "Ugh…" "Hey, he's waking up." I looked around to know where I was, it was classroom. "A-Amitie…" I tried to get up, but I became dizzy from the attempt. "Damn… my head. How long was I out for?" I asked. "About forty-five minutes." Klug answered. "Shit. Combine that with the time that I spent "fighting" with Tarutaru, it should be almost time." I looked at the time to double-check. "Like I thought…" I sighed at my misfortune. "It seems that you pass out quite a few times in this class, Dave." Accord frowned. "Ah! That reminds me, my chest, it feels like brand new." I finally noticed. "Yep, thank the school nurse for that!" Amitie smiled, but then lost it when my face looked sad. "Dave, what's wrong? You look so… glum." She wondered. "... … … Maybe I'm… not cut out for magic-" I said before getting smacked on the face. *smack* "M-Ms. Accord...?" "No student of mine should ever give up like this, especially when they are my strongest. You have unimaginable potential, Dave... however, you have to learn to be more aware of what's coming. I know how your mind operates now, its reaction time is a little slow. Had you been less surprised by Tarutaru's "Fault", you might have noticed his next attack and dodged in time. Besides that, even the best of magic users make major mistakes. Don't feel too bad about this and learn from your own mistakes." "Ms. Accord… Wait! Wha-?! It feels like I sense something coming in to attack us!" I stood up, but my legs shook constantly in frailty "...! My legs…!" I reacted. "Dave, you haven't recovered fully yet, your body needs more time!" Klug put me down. "Just what would come to attack us now... and why?" Amitie raised the question. "I do not know kiddies, but if what Dave just said was true, then it's best that we be on our guard." Accord the others. *crash* Through the wall came a bunch of Puyos from outside. "Puyo puyo!" They hollered. "P-Puyos?!" Klug panicked. "Th-they look awfully angry…" Lidelle noticed. "But the question is... why though? What did WE do to them?" Raffina thought. "Perhaps… this because of that battle from earlier… Tarutaru, remember that second to last attack you did today?" "Yes, Ms. Accord... But what of it?" "That might have unintentionally provoked them and they manually searched out the source of it, you." I clenched my teeth in frustration hearing that, but what had come next, had me stop doing that.
Author's Notes: Dave and his friends are suddenly attacked by enraged Puyos. The reason why they were so angry was unclear, but they at least knew what caused them to be this way, roughly. What is to become of our characters in their classroom as they fend off the Puyos? Next chapter, Chapter 22: Feverish Puyos.