Chapter 3: X-Men
TEASER
The bell rang and the students streamed out of the classroom happily.
"It's finally Monday. I love Mondays." Eric said.
"Who doesn't?" Bernice asked sarcastically. "I'll just be wasting three hours waiting for my club to start."
"What's your club?" Eric asked.
"Alchemy Club." Bernice said.
"Oh." Eric smiled. "Bye then." He walked out of the school.
"I'll be so bored." Bernice said.
Someone asked her from behind. "And why would you be?"
"Who are you?" Bernice turned back and saw a guy with blond hair.
"My name's Morgan." The guy said. "I'm the chairman of the Alchemy Club."
"Oh. Hi. My name is Bernice." Bernice said.
ACT 1
The students streamed out of the classroom. It was already late in the evening.
"Bernice, where do you stay?" Morgan asked.
"Near the North Gate. Why?"
"I stay there too." Morgan said. "Lets' go home together."
Bernice hesitated for a while, thinking what motive Morgan had. She then decided that making friends was a good thing, especially since they were in the same club. "Alright then." She replied.
Bernice and Morgan walked home along the dark street. It was dimly lit.
"Bernice, do you find your teachers interesting?" Morgan asked.
"Kind of. They have such interesting names too, like Ms. Nee Acuity." Bernice.
"But she's quite nice, isn't she?" Morgan asked fiercely.
"Ye…" Bernice stopped. "Why the change in voice?" She turned around and saw that the irises of Morgan's eyes were gradually turning white. His head was changing to the shape of a cat and a metallic layer was slowly covering his body.
"Help!" Bernice shouted. She ran in the opposite direction.
"It will be of no use." Morgan snarled. He leaped forward at Bernice as his fingers turned into long white claws.
"Oh no!" She screamed. A fuzzy layer of air appeared in front of her and pushed back Morgan who was still leaping. He fell onto the floor.
"Someone help me!" Bernice cried out. She ran while looking back at Morgan. Morgan threw his claws at her. The layer of air behind her turned fuzzy and deflected all the claws. Suddenly, she bumped into someone. "Help me!" She screamed as she turned around to look at who she bumped into.
"Alright. I will end your suffering." The person said coldly.
"What?" Bernice asked. The person or thing, rather was a dog standing upright. It also had claws for hands.
"What's happening now?" Bernice screamed. Suddenly, the two animals slowed down to a halt. She did not know what was happening but she ran away quickly.
Under the dim lamppost, a shadow could be seen. The voice seemed to belong to a cold-blooded assassin. "Cannis and Chattus, you wish to claim credit for yourself? Not so fast!" The person said ruthlessly.
Bernice hurriedly unlocked the door of her home and entered.
"Mom, help!" Bernice cried out.
"What is it?" Her mom asked from the living room. Bernice ran in and saw her mother with cucumber slices over her eyes, and with a mask over her face.
"Monsters are chasing me, and all you can think of is doing a facial?" Bernice asked incredulously.
"What monsters? I'm tired." Betty asked.
"There were two of them. One of them was like a cat, the other one looked like a dog." Bernice said anxiously.
"You mean… you met Cannis and Chattus?" Betty asked.
"What are you talking about?" Bernice asked. Just then, she heard the door being slammed wide open.
"Oh my god." Betty said. Just then, the dog leaped onto her.
"Mom!" Bernice cried. Suddenly the dog was flung right off her mother.
Betty held Bernice's hands as they whirled into a huge tornado that moved towards Cannis and Chattus, pushing both of them onto the floor. The tornado gradually changed into a breeze.
A mass of withered leaves swirled around each other in the attic. The swirling suddenly became more violent until a tornado was formed. Betty and Bernice appeared.
"Mom, why did you bring me here?" Bernice asked.
"I didn't want to reveal this to you, but there is actually a book of spells in our attic." Betty said.
"So we can use a spell to defeat a monster, like the legendary Harmed Ones?" Bernice asked.
"No. The Harmed Ones have spells to defeat specific monsters, and we don't know how they got these spells, since there is only one of each monster and it would be of no use to write down the spell to defeat it since you only have to use the spell once. The spells in our book are general spells." Betty raised her right hand out, palm up, and a book flew from nowhere onto her hand. She flipped the cover open. "Look, this is the incantation to create a shield."
(Cannis and Chattus)
ACT 2
"I sense them." Cannis said.
"With your dog's nose, of course you can sense them." Chattus insulted.
"How dare you!" Cannis growled and pouncing on Chattus.
"It's true, you are a dog." Chattus said, dodging him.
"Oh yeah, you are right. They are in the attic." Cannis said.
Both of them ran up the stairs.
(Betty and Bernice)
"With the blessing of Heaven's power,
I protect myself from a monster's glower,
The monsters will have it sweet, salty and sour,
This shield is as strong as a tower." Betty and Bernice read out at the same time. A red glow moved through their bodies as the shield took effect.
"Found you!" Chattus said as he leaped onto the attic. "And no, you are not going to use the same trick on us."
Betty and Bernice smiled, as they turned into a tornado once again, disappearing together with the book.
"Or maybe you are going to use the same trick." Chattus cried out.
Bernice and Betty appeared outside the house again.
"Did I ever mention to you that a witch's house is the epitome of all magic?" Betty asked. "Once you trap a monster inside your house, you can run out of the house and kill the monster with a simple spell."
Cannis and Chattus were walking about in the attic.
"I wonder where they are now." Cannis asked.
"Maybe they are…" Chattus wanted to say something, but then he stopped.
"Where is it?" Cannis asked.
"I just remembered something." Chattus said. "A witch's house is the epitome of all magic. If we stay in it, and they decide to recite the spell of a monster's death, then we'll be dead."
"Easy. Just jump through this glass window." Cannis said, pointing to the window that Greedius had thrown Bernice out of."
"But we lose our powers with glass." Chattus cried out. Both of them started running down the stairs.
Betty flipped the book open to a page. The top of the page read "Spell of a Monster's Death."
"A thousand powers near and far,
Concentrate on this house from afar.
The monsters' powers this house will mar,
The monsters' powers this house will bar."
Cannis and Chattus were running through the living room when suddenly, a ring of fire surrounded them. They cried out as the floor they were standing on was raised and they were crushed under the floor.
ACT 3
Betty and Bernice smiled, reentering the house.
"Why did the monsters want to kill me, mom?" Bernice asked.
"I'm not sure either." Betty said. "but I know that these monsters are part of the faction called the X-Men, which contains 13 strong monsters. To my knowledge, these are the 2 weakest monsters within the faction."
"Let me have a look at that book." Bernice said, snatching the thick leather-bound book from Betty's hands.
"Alright." Betty said, walking toward her room.
"Ooh, what's this spell?" Bernice wondered out loud, reading.
"Solely me,
Only me,
I love Money,
Let the richness affect me." She said. Money began tumbling down from the ceiling and falling all over the house.
"OK… that is enough. I'm rich enough." She said as the money continued tumbling down to waist level. She noticed that the money didn't stop tumbling down. "Mom!" She cried out.
"Coming…" Betty said, walking out of her room and money flooded her room as she opened the door.
"What happened?" Betty asked.
"I read the spell for money." Bernice said.
"Honey, that is a spell that is forbidden." Betty said.
"Why is it in here then?" Bernice asked as a shower of coins hit her heads.
"Lets' undo what has been done,
To end what has begun." Betty chanted. The money flew back up into the ceiling and disappeared.
Betty explained. "This spell was added here by one of the vilest ancestors ever, Babette Cicero."
"She sounds familiar." Bernice said.
"Yes, she is famous, but she was evil. She was a killer." Betty said.
"Why?" Bernice asked.
"You're asking me that? Are you blonde?" Betty asked.
"Well… When was she born anyway?" Bernice asked.
"She was born in 1825." Betty said
"Oh my, that was, like, 300 years ago." Bernice opened her mouth in horror.
"I know. I have to let you know why we cannot use our magic for personal gain. I have to take you to see her." Betty said calmly.
"Are you mad?" Bernice asked. "We might… we might be killed."
The doorbell rang.
"Come in." Bernice said, using her power to open the door.
"Hi." Eric said.
"Why, Eric. I just had a stressful day." She said.
"Of course. Monday is such an awful way to waste one seventh of your life." Eric said, walking into the house. "I…"
Bernice stopped him. "The facts, though interesting, are irrelevant." She said. "Now, mom wants me to go to the past to see one of my idiotic evil ancestors."
"When did I say I wanted you to go to the past?" Betty asked. "I just wanted you to see how she's doing in Monsteria."
"Ah! Monsteria. That's so much safer." Bernice said sarcastically.
"Spirits from the wind,
I summon you to sing.
Take our spirits to Monsteria." Betty chanted. Suddenly, there were three loud thumps. Their bodies lay slumped on the floor.
"If anything happens to Eric, you're gonna take full responsibility." Bernice said as they appeared in the Underworld semi-transparent.
"Where are we anyway?" Eric asked.
"We are here as observers." Betty said.
Suddenly, a vicious looking woman walked out of the cave.
"Ew!" Betty shouted.
"She looks like, Hoebe." Eric said, covering his mouth in disgust.
"This isn't Babette." Betty said.
Bernice, Eric and Betty reappeared in their bodies.
"I must absolutely check the Registrar of Reincarnation." Betty said.
"What? There's a Registrar?" Bernice asked.
Betty walked into the room and took out a laptop, entering in Babette Cicero.
The screen flashed, with the words Reincarnated – 25 years ago.
"Oh." Betty said. "That's just too sad."
"I guess I've learnt my lesson." Bernice said, shrugging.
(Ending)
Inside a dark cave
A boy, no more than fifteen, stood on a throne and observed the X symbol which was directly in front of him. One of the ends of the X symbol exploded.
"Cannis and Chattus – Failure resulting in death." He said coldly.