Chapter 2… Here we go!
Thank you StoryWriter2015, sebku ssj3, and KeyOfVoid for reviewing! Whether it is criticism to help me improve my story or simple praise, all of your reviews mean a lot to me and I appreciate the support!
Decently long chapter for chapter 2 by the way. On average the chapters will usually be a bit less than this.
(4 April 2019, New York City)
My classmates really are… a bunch of morons. I understand why they were excited. A World-class pop singer suddenly becomes a student at your school but still… this was going too far. The entire class chanted Sonia's name as she tried to get to Mr. Shepar's class. Even Luna, who despite looking not as enthusiastic as the others, was clearly trying her absolute best to control herself.
It took a whole five minutes through constant shouting for Mr. Shepar to quiet down the class. Even after Sonia finished introducing herself, the class started to ask her questions, as if it was a Q&A session.
"Why did you decide to go to school?"
"What song are you going to release next?"
"Can you give free tickets to your next concert?"
"Can I get an autograph?"
Only about ten minutes were left in the period when the chaos stopped and Sonia plopped down in a desk next to me, clearly exhausted after being interviewed and crowded once, probably thinking about the next five times that was going to happen today. Mr. Shepar went back to teaching the class, savoring the few minutes he had left to spare.
"Thank you."
Sonia said. At first, I didn't realize she was talking to me but she turned towards me and smiled.
"You're the only one who didn't swarm me while I was walking to class."
"Don't need to thank me for that. I was in this class for first-period as well."
"Even so, it's not like you jumped in your seat when you saw me arrive."
"I'll admit it definitely was surprising to see a world-renowned pop singer suddenly become one of my classmates. But I'm going to see you every week from Monday to Friday right?"
Sonia nodded. She looked relieved as if she finally found a regular person to talk to. I took out my hand, offering a handshake.
"My name is Geo, Geo Stelar."
Sonia smiled at me and accepted the handshake.
"Nice to meet you! And well… you already know who I am."
"Why did you decide to go to school? Especially a fairly average one like this."
I asked Sonia. She looked out of the window behind me, as if she was searching for an answer.
"I dunno… I guess I kinda want to know how it feels to live a normal life."
"And what's wrong with the life you have right now?"
"I feel like there's so much pressure on me to perform and create new albums… right now I'm so uninspired I just feel like taking a short break."
I nodded. However, I really couldn't understand how she felt. After all, I was just a random boy in a city populated by millions. Just the thought of being famous almost made me crack a smile.
"Oh! By the way, Sonia, we are going on a trip tomorrow to the Murian Museum. Can you come over here and fill out some information for me please?"
Mr. Shepar asked, interrupting our conversation. Sonia waved at me as she hurried over to the front of the room, by Mr. Shepar's desk.
"What do you think you're doing, Geo?!"
I turned around and saw a panic-looking Zack staring at me.
"Doing chemistry… in chemistry class?"
I replied back in a confused look. Zack's panic look remained until he reached my desk. He eyed me suspiciously.
"Are you flirting with Sonia?"
"W-What? Of course I wasn't. I was just having a normal conversation with her, something everyone in this classroom apparently failed to do."
My face turned red. How could Zack say such a thing? All I really did was greet her. Before Zack could interrogate me any further, the bell rung.
"Whatever… Just a few more periods until I can head to AMAKEN."
I never really talked to Sonia after Period 2. We did have some classes together but our seats were so far away, we couldn't really make conversation without the teacher noticing.
Of course, the most exciting time of the day for most students was after school was over. I parted ways with Zack and Luna at the end of the school day. I rarely ever go straight home from school, one, because Mom doesn't come home from work till later in the day and two, because of the AMAKEN Observatory.
AMAKEN is a huge laboratory located in downtown Manhattan owned by Aaron Boreal. Mr. Boreal was my dad's best friend growing up and the two were practically inseparable… except when it came down to their career choices. My dad decided to become an astronaut while Aaron inherited AMAKEN Labs from his father.
While Aaron's intelligence comes from his father, he didn't respect his old man too much. After all, his father was one of the lead scientists of the Manhattan Project and the one who helped create the atomic bomb. When Alexander Boreal died 15 years ago, Aaron became the sole owner of AMAKEN and changed its course from a weapon's manufacturer to a laboratory, dedicated to improving technology and the overall lives of everyday people.
As I walked up to the stairs to the labs, a chubby uncle-like person waved at me.
"Yo! Fancy seeing you here Geo!"
"Thanks, Mr. Boreal! It's not like I was here yesterday, and the day before."
"Ahh of course!"
Aaron said, chuckling. Mr. Boreal was a second father to me. Even when Dad was still around, I would always hang out with Mr. Boreal and when Mom and Dad went on vacation alone, I'd often find myself waking up in the Observatory due to falling asleep overnight. Honestly, if it weren't for Mr. Boreal, I may have ended up in a depressed, isolated state when Dad disappeared but Aaron always gave me hope that he is still out there.
"Cmon Geo. Let's go inside."
The interior of AMAKEN Labs always took me by surprise, even after visiting this place hundreds of times. The lobby of this facility was gigantic and filled with amazing art and sculptures, all relating to the science of astronomy. AMAKEN Labs was also a museum on its first floor. The laboratory and 's office was located on the second floor, the observatory on the third floor.
"I suppose you're going to head up to the place you always go to?"
Aaron asked, referring to the observatory. I nodded. Mr. Boreal and I walked to the observatory together.
The observatory basically took up the entire third floor of AMAKEN Labs and contained information and data of all of the stars and planets that we know of in the universe. However, besides Earth, only one planet in the observatory was known to contain living beings. That planet is known as Planet FM.
As I scrolled through the planets on a tablet beside me, holographic images of the planet appeared in front of me. I clicked on Planet FM and sighed. Was "The Peace Project" really a smart move by the NSA and the American government? Sending a peace signal to the very species that tried to kill and conquer our planet… it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that the Peace Spaceship did succeed in arriving in Planet FM but the people aboard were immediately killed afterward.
Aaron must have noticed the increasingly intense look on my face as he patted my shoulder.
"I think if Kelvin was really dead, we would have felt it by now, right?"
Aaron said. He smiled as he looked at the holographic planet. I couldn't help but smile and agree at Aaron's optimistic and non-scientific view.
"You're right. I should put more faith in dad."
"That's the spirit, Geo!"
Looking at my watch, I realized that the time was 6:00 pm and I had to leave for home. Saying my goodbyes to Mr. Boreal, I ran out of AMAKEN Labs, heading straight for home.
That night, I had another odd dream. I was floating aimlessly and endlessly above the clouds. As for why I was here, I did not know again. But when I looked above me, I saw it again: the same sword, shining in an everlasting, brilliant light. But the gleaming sword and its elegant light were quickly overshadowed by darkness and as the clouds turned black, I plunged into a dark abyss.
(5 April 2019, New York City)
What was wrong with me? These dreams… was it a coincidence that the same sword appeared twice in a row, followed by an overshadowing darkness? I asked myself these questions as I waited in Mr. Shepar's class. Once all of the students arrived, the entire class would be heading to the Murian Museum for our school trip.
"Are you ok, Geo?"
I jumped up in my seat, the image of the titan still fresh in my memory from two days ago, but when I turned it was only Luna, her head tilted in a confused manner.
"Oh, sorry Luna. It's just… a bad dream, that's all."
"A bad dream, huh? Well, anyways we are going to split into three groups on the trip. I was hoping you wouldn't mind joining mine."
"No, I don't mind."
"You wanna join my group as well, Sonia?"
Luna asked the pink-haired girl beside me. I was so focused on my past couple of dreams, I haven't even noticed almost everyone was already in their seats, talking about the trip. Another thing I noticed was that no one was swarming around Sonia today, she was extremely quiet and she looked considerably... scared? Something was off about Sonia today who was usually always cheerful.
"Sure! It would be an honor to join your group!"
Sonia said in a joyful tone nonetheless. But, when Luna was satisfied with Sonia's answer and walked away, the pinkette's excitement swiftly turned back into concern. Curious, I decided to start a conversation with her.
"Is everything alright, Sonia?"
Just like I had a few minutes ago, Sonia had also jumped out of her seat, surprised by the sudden conversation. When she had noticed it was me, she heaved a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry about me, Geo! I'm fine!"
Sonia replied in a cheerful manner. But it was clear that smile was just a mask. She looked visibly shaken, as if she'd experience something horrific the night before…
"I had a bad dream, I'm fine."
A bad dream. That's the same thing I told Luna just minutes before. Could it be shes also experienced the same dreams I've experienced in the past two days? I quickly dismissed the thought. Perhaps it was just a mere coincidence.
"Are we all in groups?"
Mr. Shepar asked. Again without even noticing it, the entire class was now in the room, ready to leave to the trip to the museum. As we headed for the museum, I occasionally looked at Sonia's face. The frightened face did not go away.
"And here we are! You guys can split up with your groups. Just remember to get back here before the main tour starts!"
Mr. Shepar said to the class as we entered the museum. Splitting off as a group offered more freedom than the main tour later on as we could go wherever we wanted but without a tour guide, we often found ourselves lacking in information, particularly in this museum about a civilization we knew almost nothing about. Only Zack knew a decent amount about the history of the Murian but even that wasn't enough to explain the relics and artifacts in the museum. Dissatisfied after wandering aimlessly for fifteen minutes, we headed back to the entrance, waiting for the main tour.
After another ten minutes, the tour guide finally came and we were ready to start the main tour.
With the help of the tour guide, a lot of the artifacts in the museum were made clearly and she explained what they were and what they were used for, but there were a lot of things about Murian society that even she didn't know about. Some questions that students like Zack asked was often answered by an "I don't know."
Finally, we arrived at the last stop on the tour. It was a massive room right behind the lobby of the museum. All around the room was glass cases, displaying different kinds of weapons.
"These are what the Murians called 'Divine Weapons'. They were supposedly weapons so technologically advanced, it even surpasses the weapons of our time."
That's when I saw it. Out of the dozen 'Divine Weapons' in the room, one stood out to me. It was the same sword I saw during my dreams in the past couple of days, only extremely rusty to the point where it seemed like it was chiseled out of stone. I walked towards the sword, almost involuntarily.
What did this all mean? There's no way all of this was just a coincidence. To have the same sword appear in my dreams twice in a row and then once again in real life. I reached out to the sword with my hand, staining the glass surrounding the sword with my fingerprints.
"I believe that sword is called the Infinity Blade."
The tour guide walked up to me, noticing my interest in the sword.
"Infinity Blade."
I looked at the tour guide and then back at the sword. I felt as if I've heard that name before. But where?
"The blade washed up to shore last week I think. We've recently put it on display just two days ago."
So it wasn't just a coincidence. There has to be a reason for all these images of the sword appearing in my dreams. Looking to my right, beyond the tour guide, I noticed another person staring attentively at another sword. That person was Sonia Strumm.
Suddenly, a sound was heard in the main entrance. This sound, however, was not that of a human. They were the sounds of gunshots.
Looking through the massive door that connected the main lobby of the museum and the room that we were in, I saw a man, armed with a pistol as he fired on multiple people in the lobby. The security guards were instantly dropped dead, a few more staff members killed as well. The man stood in the middle of the lobby. Looking around, he stared at the class of terrified students through the door, and walked towards us, a psychotic smile plastered on his face.
"What's wrong?"
The man said. The creepy smile remained on his face, clearly enjoying the fear being emitted from the students surrounding the room.
"Ahh! The bright young generation of tomorrow! Today, I'm going to teach you all a lesson!"
I cowered in fear. Was this really how my life was going to end? All of the students were visibly shaking. Phones were even taken out to record the madman's speech, but the man ignored it as if he was embracing the attention. Finally, as he looked around, he noticed Sonia sitting beside me.
"Oh my! If it isn't the pop star Sonia Strumm!"
His murderous eyes lit up and he walked towards Sonia and forcefully grabbed her… and started to beat her.
"I was once like you kids. I'm sure all of you want to make lots of money right? Find a good job and become famous?"
The entire class stood silent at his question. Everyone was too scared to even move a muscle.
"I used to be just like you guys. But this cruel country, this cruel world, took everything away from me!"
This guy was absolutely crazy. Any sort of sanity this man once had was certainly gone. And then he reached into his pocket and pulled out something else. It wasn't another gun, nor was it any sort of killing device. It was worse. What he pulled out was a symbol of fear that enveloped the entire Western Hemisphere since the invasion of Dark Phantom.
He held out a simple playing card that featured the King of Diamonds. He was a member of Dealer.
"Hmm… maybe after I kill everyone in this room, I'll be promoted to a higher rank!"
Suddenly, I heard a small noise behind me. I turned around and stared at the rusty sword, that appeared in my last couple of dreams. Was the sword calling to me? Is a sword, a melee weapon, really how I'm supposed to defeat a psychotic criminal with an armed pistol.
I grabbed the fire extinguisher behind me and smashed it onto the glass covering the stone sword. The glass broke in an instant and I held the sword in both hands staring directly at the criminal.
What a stupid decision I just made. Trying to fight a gun with a sword when we were a dozen feet apart. Nonetheless, I hid my fear and stood firmly.
"Oh? So one of you has the guts to fight? To save the rest of your pitiful selves? The lesson I came here for! There is no such thing as heroes."
With that, the man laughed, his gun pointed at me and shot me in my left shoulder.
I staggered back and cried at the pain. An immense burning sensation came from my left shoulder, which now had a gun wound and blood flowing out of it. I fell back onto the floor, my right arm now covering my left shoulder to stop the bleeding.
I stared at Sonia, who was visibly beaten by the crazed psychopath. She was crying and stared back at me as if she was apologizing. Her right hand reached out to me and I could only do the same. This blissful moment between Sonia and I didn't last long. Soon, the man pulled Sonia by the hair and tossed her aside.
It was Sonia's scream that pushed me to my breaking point.
A wave of sudden anger grew within me. This bitch… this son of a bitch had the audacity to kill, torture and then lecture about a cruel world? For a moment, I considered staying down, but I realized this man wasn't here to steal any of these artifacts. He was here to kill and he wanted to make sure the world knew about it. After he was done and was tired talking, he would surely kill everyone in the room and send the recording through social media.
I slowly stood back up, the Infinity Blade in my right hand. The pain in my left shoulder suddenly disappeared.
"You have no right to say anything, you sick bastard."
"You still have the energy to fight? I'll tell you what, after I'm done killing you and the rest of your friends in this room, I'll take this pretty little popstar and take good care of her."
He grinned as he licked his lips, implying something truly disgusting and horrendous.
"And maybe, I'll keep you alive as well so you can watch!"
No. I've had enough of him. An instinct started to control my body. I stood in a sword fighting stance, my left arm in front and my right hand, armed with the Infinity Blade, in the back. The blade, which looked as if it would break of decay at any second suddenly shimmered in blue light, just like it did in my dreams. But I didn't care about it anymore. All I cared about was the man in front of me. I wanted him dead.
Despite watching me stand back up, he didn't raise his gun to my face. He was still playing around, certain there was no way I could close the gap between us with just a sword.
I lunged and shot my right arm forward, sword aiming at the man.
Chapter 2 is done! Let me know what you guys think of the chapter! Again, the fanfiction is not going to be the same as the games or anime in any way as made evident by this chapter. Please review, follow and fav if you've enjoyed the fanfiction. I usually post one chapter every two weeks but the next chapter might take a little bit longer since I have finals coming up (the chapters will always be posted on a Saturday).
