Author's Notes:

I do not own Starcraft or any of its characters.

Thanks to Warchief for beta reading.

Enjoy!

Different communication, thought patterns and sounds:

"Speaking"

'Thinking or speaking mentally'

*Sound effect*

Starcraft: A New Generation

Chapter 4: Rise of a new alpha

'Shit!' Terra thought, as 8-year old Lily Atkins passed by her. The child ran with fear written all over her face.

It meant that she had seen Dylan. It always did, she feared him like nothing. And anyone else would be smart enough to get out of his way. Especially Terra herself.

'I need to get out of here!' she thought, before she quickly turned and bumped into someone, nearly falling over.

It took her by surprised, she hadn't known that someone was behind her. It was not Dylan. It was the masked figure in the cloaks, from the previous day.

"Whoa, careful there," the newcomer said, as she steadied herself, holding onto a small bag that hang to her left side, with a strap going over her right shoulder.

"I…" Terra muttered, but couldn't say anything else.

'She was behind me, and I didn't even feel her!' she thought, baffled.

The masked figure looked at her for a moment.

"I'm fine, don't worry," she said, with her rasping metallic voice.

"Then again, I did hide my presence. So, I'm sorry about that."

"Uh… What… " Terra muttered.

In fact, she didn't know what to say. Technically she was the one who had bumped into her, so an apology from was not what she expected. Especially since it was her, almost no one ever apologized to her.

"Not the talkative person, huh?" the masked girl said, with a hint of teasing in her tone.

"I'm Catherine. You are?" she asked as she held out her hand, with her extra long finger edges clearly visible.

Terra looked at her with narrowed eyes. A lot of things felt strange about this character, aside from the outfit. She was sceptic. People were not her strong suit, for obvious reasons, and the newcomer didn't make it much easier.

"I'm Terra," the blonde said finally, as she grabbed the hand and shook.

"So, Terra, what got you-" Catherine began, but was interrupted by a loud taunt from behind the blonde.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the almighty coward!"

'Oh damn it!' Terra cursed in her mind, and gritted her teeth. It was only a brief moment, and she had completely forgotten about Dylan.

That masked figure really was a big distraction.

"Fancy that I find you here, I thought you ran away in fear yesterday," he continued his mocking.

'Not this, not now!' the blonde thought to herself.

She turned around and tried to keep calm, but the anger in her face was betraying her. However, Dylan looked beyond her and spotted the masked figure in cloaks.

He stepped closer, with his two loyal followers staying behind.

"So… You're the new freak they're talking about. The one who hides her face!"

His two friends chuckled at the remark, as he stepped closer to the masked girl.

"So, what is it with that ugly mask of yours?" he laughed and pointed at her.

"What, are you so ugly that you're afraid to show it to the world?"

"And just who are you?" Catherine asked, though much colder, with the friendliness in her voice fully absent.

Dylan now stood face to face with Catherine, and he leaned forward, trying to hover slightly above her mask.

"You're worst nightmare," he hissed in an intimidating manner, that would make most other people shiver.

He leaned back and continued.

"I am the king of this place. Remember that, freak," he said, before he left, motioning to his friends to follow.

"Welcome to hell, freak!" one of them taunted as they passed the girls.

As Dylan disappeared around another corner, Terra let out a sigh of relief. She had been really lucky this time, since Catherine had drawn his attention. Then again, most likely it meant bad luck for the said girl, but Terra didn't really care. It wasn't her problem.

"What's his problem?" Catherine wondered, looking down the hallway Dylan and his followers had disappeared into.

"To put it bluntly: He's the number one bully on the Academy. And he gets away with it."

"Is that so?…" Catherine trailed off. She turned and looked at Terra again.

"So, Terra, we're in the same class, aren't we?"

Terra looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

'You just got noticed by Dylan, and you don't seem to care. If you haven't realized what he'll do to you if you're careless, you better soon.'

"Say, Terra, we still got over 20 minutes before the class begins. Why don't you show me around? I've only seen your classroom, and I'd like to see the rest of the Academy," Catherine said, with a hint of excitement in her metallic voice.

"Uh… Sure…" Terra slowly nodded.

The cloaked girl followed the blonde, as she led her around and showed whatever she could think of. What does one show to a newcomer? Except for the most central places, such as the cantina, the administration? The direction to the training halls?

She felt really stupid as she led the cloaked girl around, pointing out the said areas, having never done this before. Yet, the newcomer didn't seem to mind her lack of school-guide skills, somehow she felt the newcomer slightly enjoyed it.

As they passed the different hallways, it was soon crowded with arriving students, and everyone stared at the pair as they passed by. The looks, often hostile, was something Terra was used to, as people usually whispered behind her back whenever she passed by, but she quickly noticed that most people ignored her now. Instead, they all mostly stared at the masked newcomer beside her.

The word had quickly spread around the Academy about the new girl, and many whispered among themselves about the newcomer. Many asked themselves the same questions Terra had in her mind the previous day: Why was she wearing the mask? Was she horribly scarred? Was she alien? Protoss? Was she the result of an experiment?

'One freak finds another freak,' some of them thought. It annoyed Terra slightly, but she managed force her anger at bay and ignore it.

Catherine on the other hand didn't seem to even care for the comments, or for the commotion at all, if she knew what they were thinking. Though one couldn't deny that when someone arrived clad as her, she really had to be all in for it.

Along the way they passed the headmaster's office, and Mr. Glendale had just exited the door when they came by.

"Ah, Miss Wiggins! And Miss Catherine! How are we this morning?" he nodded to greet them.

"I'm very well, thank you!" Catherine answered him. Several students stood nearby, listening in to the conversations, and the figure's metallic voice threw them back.

'I knew it! She's a cyborg!' a 14-year old nearby male student thought.

"I'm good," Terra muttered.

"So, how was the class yesterday?" the headmaster asked.

"Oh, it was good. Mrs. Sullivan was very eager during the lecture. And… well, she seemed on the edge. More than her usual, if I'm guessing right?" Catherine said.

Terra couldn't help but smirk at the remark.

'Spot on!'

"Oh, you must forgive Mrs. Sullivan," Mr. Glendale chuckled.

"She's a person of strong habits and prefers a very predictable environment. She is easily thrown off whenever something unexpected occurs."

"Like me," Catherine stated.

"Yes, well, as I explained to the class yesterday, your arrival was very sudden to them. I hope it was not of inconvenience for you?" Mr. Glendale asked.

"No, not at all," the cloaked girl shook her head.

"I'm glad to hear it. Now, if you excuse me, I have an appointment in a few minutes. I hope you two will enjoy yourselves today," he said, as he gave his respecting nod to the two girls.

They nodded back, as the headmaster turned continued down the hallway.

"We should get to class before the bell rings. Just follow me," Terra said.

— Location: Outside classroom 329 —

A few minutes later they reached the classroom. Outside stood the rest of the students, as they waited for the clock to reach 8:30 A.M., when the bell would ring.

Lone Annabelle stood at a nearby corner, and turned her head in their direction as they approached. She gave off a smile, something Terra noticed to her slight surprise. Annabelle smiled? Though she quickly waved it off, as she remembered seeing Catherine with her yesterday. It was meant for her. Still, Annabelle had smiled, that was something.

They stopped close to the group of other students, all turned towards the duo. Two of them stepped forward.

One had long red wavy hair, reaching down her back, and she wore a forest green top with darker green trousers. Some said she could have been a forest maiden.

The other fit the description of what people would have called Afro-American back at ancient Earth. He was tall and well-built, but also appeared to be a lax type of person, whenever someone looked at him.

"Hi, I'm June" the red-haired girl said, as she held out her hand, and shook Catherine's.

"Hey, name's Michael" the boy smiled.

"I'm Catherine. Nice to meet you," the masked girl said.

The bell rang, and they walked into the class room.

'Sit with me,' Catherine spoke mentally to Terra.

'Uh… Okay?' the blonde responded back, slightly surprised by her urging.

When would someone ever volunteer to sit by her?

They found their places in the front row, with Catherine in the middle and Terra to her right. June approached and made clear her intention to sit at her left. She was more or less the unspoken leader of the class, and clearly intended to make sure the newcomer was welcomed and felt comfortable, but Catherine interjected.

'I'm sorry, but I'm already holding off this seat for someone else,' she spoke mentally to her.

The red-hair hadn't expected this, but nodded and took the seat on the row behind. Moments later, Annabelle approached the newcomer and sat down at the said spot, beside Catherine. This didn't go unnoticed by June or her other classmates.

'I saw them together yesterday,' June thought. 'What happened? And I saw her with Terra now just earlier. I better warn her.'

First lecture today was in social studies, with politics as main topics.

A white-bearded man named John Wright had the lecture. He wore a flat cap, and bright green shirt under a black west, and looked like a bohemian. An educated teacher and a free thinker, he was in earlier days a known voice for civil rights under the Confederacy, something that awarded him a cell in New Folsom, until Raynor's Raiders broke open the place 16 years ago. After Valerian assumed the throne, Mr. Wright continued leading the civil rights movement, advocating for free speech and civil rights. Though what he ideally envisioned would be something close to a full democracy, much progress had been made under Valerian Mengsk's rule, and with the people content, there was little interest in removing the Emperor as a ruler.

Now he was teaching in social studies at the schools in Augustgrad these days, both at the Psionics Academy and the other schools for common children.

Mr. Henry was also present for the teaching, to make sure that the new student fit well in. Wright's lecture today was, to little surprise, about the ideas behind the different types of governance.

"But Mr. Wright?" June asked during class, as the teacher had reached the topic of democratic governance.

"Doesn't less power to the ruler and more power to the people also slow down the government? After all, as Emperor, Valerian Mengsk was the supreme leader of the Dominion during the war, and he personally led a branch of the army during our defence. Afterwards, he rallied all the people and helped rebuilding Augustgrad. Would that have worked, if a large group of people were to argue about how to make the important decisions?"

The teacher smiled at the question. How he loved when young people were able to think for themselves and question every thought, even if he disagreed. He also knew that June not necessarily disagreed, she was a bright mind who explored every side of the rock.

"A good question, young lady. First of all, there is a clear difference between military leadership, and running a society. Let us look at the later, and save the military for later. Now, there was a famous man in Earth's modern era that said: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." His name was Churchill, and led the old English into victory against the Germans, a people who's tyrant ruler imprisoned and even massacred innocent civilians if they even lifted a resisting finger. That was over five hundred years ago, during the rise of democracy. I don't deny that our current Emperor, Valerian Mengsk, has done good, but what about his father? Would we look upon him with the same positive light?"

The class was silent. The teacher had a point. An empire could be better than democracy in certain aspects, but could also be far worse.

"Heheh…" Michael chuckled.

"Something you'd like to add, Mr. Ridges?" the teacher asked, looking at the dark-skinned boy with anticipation.

"Nah, sorry, don't mean to be disrespectful and all that," he said, waving his hands, causing June to roll her eyes.

'Why does he always have to joke around that much?' she thought.

'It's just that…' he continued.

"If full democracy was the best, then how did Earth end up with the United Powers League?"

Again, there was a silence, with the teacher smiling at the student.

"Touché," he voiced up, acknowledging where the young student went with this.

The man had no problems in admitting weaknesses and faults, and given that the class was full of psychics, he couldn't hide much either. But he was one of few non-psionics who had truly had earned their respect. He treated them as equal individuals, with no heed to the psionic difference between them.

The class continued with the student discussing with the teacher. Terra was not too interested, but she did notice that Catherine sat still and focused, somehow knowing that she paid full attention. In spite of seeing her sitting twisted due to the giant hunchback she had, which actually was a funny sight when thinking of it, she somehow could sense that Catherine was giving this her full attention. And Annabelle too, more than usual.

Following a double lesson in social studies, a double lesson in mathematics and science, came had gone straight ahead, and fetched her own food plate, and decided to sit outside today, where she found a spot of her own. No one even bothered her today, apparently Catherine was all on their minds.

After lunch, she walked along the hallway. The next on program was training in psionics, the one part that really mattered to her, and they were heading to one of the training halls where they learned and practiced the use of their psionic powers, as well as physical exercise and basic self-defence. So far the day hadn't been that bad. Catherine seemed to have taken an interest in her, and had someone ended up at her side in the lessons, along with Annabelle, throughout the day. The lunch was the only exception. And there was another bonus: everyone was talking about the at the newcomer, while letting herself be. Terra had since long ago learned to ignore the stares, but it felt surprisingly good to avoid that attention altogether. One less annoyance. For now…

"Hey, Terra!" a metallic voice sounded behind her. She turned around and saw Catherine quickly stepping up to her.

"You need to show me way. Or were you going to leave me behind?" Catherine asked, in a friendly teasing voice.

"I showed you the way this morning, you know where our training hall is. Can't you find it out yourself?" Terra shrugged.

"Oh, I probably could. But you're my guide today, so I'm asking you."

Terra would have been annoyed by this remark, had she not realized that Catherine was just joking with her in a friendly way. She shook her head a little.

"Alright, follow me then" she said, as she turned to go the right direction.

"So… Much exciting going on here?" Catherine asked as they walked.

"Not sure if exciting is how I would word it…" Terra muttered.

"You're not a very talkative person, are you?" Catherine asked back.

"Do I have to?" Terra sighed.

"Look, 'social' is not my strong spot. Take it or leave it."

"I guess I'll have to step in and lend an aiding hand then," Catherine replied.

Though Terra usually would have been annoyed, she figured that Catherine was only trying to make a conversation, and she was only teasing her a bit. No reason to get angry, yet…

Though she could feel it, an unusual wave of… she would describe it as amusement and kindness radiating from the cloaked girl, directed at her. Was this her way of communicating a smile? Wait, hold on, she was probably was smirking behind the mask.

Was it so that she couldn't show her face, and therefore had developed a different way to communicate her body language, through her psionic powers? The idea itself even made Terra feel slight pity for the masked girl.

"Wait…" Catherine said, as she stopped up.

"Do you feel that?" she asked.

'Feel what?' Terra wondered.

Terra closed her eyes, and began to stretch out her senses. She usually kept her senses to herself, knowing that she would very easily pick up on the disdain other students had for her. But except from that, she did have good senses for a 13-year old student on the Psionics Academy. Had it not been for her own problems, she could have been one of the top students.

She began to reach out, and not surprisingly, many thoughts and emotions were directed at them. Though instead of her, most were focused on Catherine, trying to understand the newcomer. Questions about her and her mask. There were many mixed feelings and thoughts out there.

Terra stretched out her senses even further. These reactions were to be expected, Catherine must have picked up on something else. She reached throughout the rest of the Academy as best as she could. What came to her was a chaos. So many thoughts. The common pattern of whatever she could pick up, seemed to revolve around next lesson, the rumors about the new girl, and people watching out to avoid Dylan. She focused hard, trying to fight through it.

There! Something stood out in the middle of the large crowd of thoughts, emotions and what else she could feel. A tingling feeling that differed from the rest. A feeling of terror. Fear. Dread. Panic. Despair.

'Yeah, I sense it. Someone is afraid. Very afraid… It actually chills me to my bones. Wait a sec… I know this presence…'

"Catherine, I-" Terra quickly shot up her eyes, and turned only to see Catherine quickly disappear around a distant corner further.

"Hey! Wait!" she shouted as she ran after her.

"Just where the hell do you think you are going?" Terra asked as she caught up to her, but Catherine gave no response as she quickly walked through the hallways, drawing the attention of everyone they passed, as they saw the masked girl with the large hunchback pass quickly by, accompanied by a somewhat confused Terra. Some of them followed to see what the commotion was all about.

They quickly passed down another hallway, and turned around the corner. Terra froze as soon as she saw what had drawn Catherine.

Lily Atkins, surrounded by Dylan and his companions.

'Oh shit! I knew it, it was Lily!' Terra thought.

Others who had followed Catherine and Terra backed off immediately, seeing who the culprit was. There was no staff nearby either to intervene. Lily was backing up against some wall lockers, looking up at Dylan in pure terror. Tears were threatening to spill, and she was holding onto her own bag for her life.

"Oh, tiny Lily is gonna cry?" the bully taunted.

"So, what am I in mood for today, hm?" he said, pretending to be thinking loudly.

"You know, I feel a little hungry. Why don't you give the lunch that's in your bag?"

"But… B-But mommy made for me!" the girl shivered.

"Oh how sad, is mommy going to cry for her girl too?" Dylan smirked.

"Now give it to me!" he demanded.

Lily was so afraid that she couldn't even move, it kept her arms clenching onto her bag. Dylan knew this, and enjoyed every second of it, reveling in the fear Lily gave off, but nonetheless made his next move.

"Fine then, have it your way!" he growled.

He grabbed the little girl by her chest, and moved back his right arm and was about to hit his fist into the young child's face. He didn't get that far, as something grabbed him by his elbow. He quickly turned and saw a gloved hand holding him. The fingers were longer than usual, in fact they seemed a bit sharp on the edges. He looked beyond his shoulder, and saw the masked girl behind him.

"You…" he growled.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" her metallic voice growled back at him.

She had moved quickly to grab him, something that took everyone who witnessed by surprise, especially if they had guessed her being slow due to her large hunchback.

'Catherine, what the hell are you doing?!' Terra thought, shocked over what Catherine had done.

'He's going to come after you for this!'

The tension in the room increased. All nearby students, everyone who had followed to see the commotion, slowly backed further off, worried about what would happen. Dylan could do anything at this point, and they didn't want to get caught in the cross-fire.

'Now she's done it!' one thought.

'He's going to make life hell for that one,' another thought.

Dylan let go of Lily, and turned slowly, fully facing Catherine. He looked at her with disdain radiating from his eyes.

"You think you are someone special, freak?" he growled.

Catherine didn't answer. For what people could tell, she seemed calm, focused, but that could also be something due to her mask giving her a statued figure.

He leaned closer inn, his head near the side of her head.

"You see the girl behind me?" he whispered towards where he assumed her ear was.

"Look at her. Pathetic and weak. Not good for anything. Worthless! Just like you. She fears me, she fears what I can do. She is right to do so, for within these walls, I am the devil. I enjoy their misery to no end, and I will on yours. I will show you why everyone is so afraid of me, as I'll make your life a living nightmare."

He leaned back and looked straight at her mask.

"Prepare yourself, freak," he finished, before he walked away. His companions followed behind him.

"I'll look forward to it," Catherine muttered in a silent voice.

All the eyes followed Dylan as he disappeared down the hallway, before they turned back at the masked girl in disbelief. She was either insane or totally ignorant.

Terra turned back at Catherine as well.

"You idiot! Do you realize wh-" she said, but was interrupted by as Lily had slid down to a sitting position and began to cry.

Catherine moved over to the 8-year old girl, and gently lowered herself down to Lily's height.

"Ssshh, it's okay. It's okay," she whispered to the girl as she gently put her hand up to stroke the girl on her shoulder.

"He's not around anymore. It's going to be fine," she whispered, as she slowly moved Lily closer to herself.

Lily slowly embraced the masked figures and let her sobs out on her chest. Even if she had been spared this time, her fear for Dylan stuck very deep within her soul, after nearly two years of abuse. As a matter of fact, several students were making bets these days on when she would pass her breaking point, and to disappear from the Academy, forever. Dylan's previous favorite target didn't last that long, before his parents finally got him pulled out of the Academy, and Lily was next.

Terra walked over to her, while many of the students muttered among themselves, whispering of what they had just witnessed.

"Do you realize what you have done? He'll come after you now!" the blonde spoke at her, angry.

The masked girl payed no heed to the blonde, and slowly stood, helping up the crying girl, while embraced into her arms.

"Terra, please, show me the quickest way to the headmaster's office," her metallic voice called out to the blonde.

Terra rolled her eyes, as Catherine apparently didn't care at all about the situation with Dylan. She was so screwed now.

"Fine," she muttered.

"And pick up her bag too," Catherine added.

Terra let out a growled sigh, as she did what Catherine asked.

— Location: Headmaster's office —

Lily sat in a chair within the entrance to the outer office, accompanied with the secretary who sat down by her and handed her a cup of hot chocolate. The girl had stopped crying, but kept silent as she stared on the floor in front of her, holding the cup with both hands.

Catherine gazed at her for a moment from within the headmaster's inner office, through his open door, having just finished explaining to Mr. Glendale what had happened. Terra was also present, though she hadn't said much. When they first arrived, Mr. Glendale knew at once that Dylan was involved. The secretary had called the girl's mother, who was at work.

It was not known whether she would take long or not, sometimes a colleague gave her a lift in a private hovering transport, other times she had use public transport, delaying her further.

Catherine looked back at Mr. Glendale, and popped the question:

"What is the thing with this Dylan? I hear he bullies other children, greatly, and no one is stopping him."

Mr. Glendale let out a groaned sigh when he heard the question. He walked over to the window, and beheld the view over the city.

"Dylan Hagders is a… very difficult case. You see, his father has great influence within the Senate, which he invokes whenever his son is involved. Somehow he has convinced the right people within the authorities to allow Dylan to continue, in spite of anything he does. We are forced to keep our hands away, while Dylan continues as he pleases. I'm sorry for what you had to see, but I'm afraid that my hands are tied in this case," he explained, saddened over the fact.

Terra frowned at the explanation. Like most people, she knew Dylan's father was involved, while she on the other hand faced the chopping block.

"Sounds like there is a corruption in the system, somewhere," Catherine said.

Mr. Glendale looked back at the cloaked girl.

"Maybe so, but to this day no one has ever been able to prove if he's been acting illegally. Most of what Mr. Hadgers is up to, remain only as rumors. Though if any of them are true, the man covers his tracks very well. But for the sake of your own well-being, I suggest you let this be, Miss Catherine."

"I'm sorry if this experience makes you think less of us at the Academy, or the people of Korhal, this really hasn't been exemplary," he added.

"Everyone has good and bad times," Catherine shrugged.

"I've seen the best of terrans many times before, so don't worry about it."

The headmaster gave her a smile, glad that she could see beyond this episode. Terra raised an eye brow, however.

'Why does she say 'terrans'?' she wondered.

The headmaster then handed Catherine a note for the teacher, explaining why they now would be late for the next lecture. He then gave them a nod, telling that they could leave. As they headed towards the door, the headmaster spoke up.

"I suggest you try not involving yourself with young Mr. Hadgers, if you wish your exchange to have as little problems as possible."

She stopped, and looked over her shoulder.

"I think it's too late now," she replied back.

"But I don't fear him. You know that."

Catherine then stopped by Lily for a moment, and lowered herself down to her height. She stroke a hand at the little girls shoulder.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked her.

Lily looked up on the masked figure in front of her for a moment. Most people would be disturbed by the sight of her, but in contrast to a certain bully, she radiated a calmness and care that felt soothing to the young girl. And confidence. The 8-year old was perhaps young, not having developed her gifts deeply yet, but she didn't go to the Psionics Academy for nothing.

She nodded slowly at the figure in front of her, who gently stroke a few fingers at the girl's face, before leaving.

"You know you're in huge trouble, right?" Terra asked as they left the headmasters office.

"He's gonna come for you."

"Terra, why is everyone so afraid of him?"

"You don't get it!" the blonde snapped at her, and they halted in the now empty hallway.

"Dylan is the strongest student here at the Academy, maybe the strongest in a very long time. Everyone who has tried to stand up against him has suffered for it, and he always gets away with it."

"Gets away with it?" Catherine asked.

"What about the parents? Don't they complain?"

"Didn't you hear what the headmaster said about his father?! A lot of parents have, but they always back off. People say that his father uses everything to keep Dylan safe. I've heard some really bad rumors about what happened to some of them…"

Terra finished there. Talking about Dylan served only to frustrate her, as it did to a lot of others. And besides, just bringing up the word 'parents' brought up something painful inside her, that she quickly pushed it away.

Catherine stared at her for a moment, before finally letting out a small laugh.

"What, you think it is funny? Is this all some joke to you?" Terra growled, flaring up her anger at the masked girl.

"No, I just imagined his father trying to mess up with…" she began, but stopped.

"You know… just forget what I was saying," Catherine waved it off.

"Shall we go?"

They headed for the direction of their next lecture: psionic training, at their designated training hall.

They passed a woman on the way. She was in her mid-30s, had short white hair, and wearing dirty orange technician clothes, with her face overly dirty. Straight from the factory.

The woman stopped for a moment, and stared at Catherine with a surprised look on her face.

Back at the headmaster's office, Mr. Glendale sat at his desk, drinking from his tea cup. His assistant entered the office with some documents for the headmaster.

"Sir?" Chris asked, as he noticed that his superior was in deep thought.

The headmaster was dwelling on the last words that had come from Catherine.

'But I don't fear him. You know that,' her voice rang in his head.

His mouth formed a sly smile, as he looked over at Chris.

"You know, Chris, maybe a solution has finally presented itself to us, regarding young Mr. Hadgers."

"I don't follow, sir," the assistant replied.

"You know, young Mr. Hadgers acts like he's some sort of alpha in our Academy. Don't you agree, Chris?"

"I guess. He does have the means to do so, sir," Chris answered, still not sure where the headmaster was going with this.

"Then again, there are times when a new alpha arises to challenge the position, and the old one is forced down by the new," Mr. Glendale continued.

"Sir?" Chris asked, confused over his words.

After a moment of thinking, he began to connect the pieces.

"Wait… You're talking about the new exchange student? But what can she do?!"

"Oh, you have no idea," Mr. Glendale grinned.

Author's Notes:

There, done with the fourth chapter. Not much else to say for now.

Until next time!