The Rising Fire (Last episode in first person POV until Welcome to The Jungle)

Oh yeah, one of my novel characters, Chevy Monroe, is featured in here now! Poor sympathetic, sweet Chevy. :3

It was Perfect Mason… once again. I threw my hands up angrily, trying to understand why he was so irritating all of a sudden, like he was trying to keep an eye on me. His annoying little friend wasn't helping either. In fact, I would love to bash in either of their faces. It had only been yesterday that I made my first trip to Quarton, and already it seemed Chooki was stalking me to see if I was Brillius. If Chooki wasn't Lydendor, I don't know who could be. He fit the bill as far as I'm aware, with his annoyingly perfect athletics, and his annoyingly perfect voice, and that flawless attitude of generosity that I knew Lydendor must have had since he tried to help me up.

I slumped into my seat as soon as I got to Ms. Finwick's class, but for some reason, I had thought that my seat was beside Ceylan Jones! He looked over and said, "I thought you said you weren't part of team Bravuton."

"I'm not sure why I'm sitting here," I mumbled, pulling out that sketch of Guren to finish it before class started.

He commented, "You look like you ate the breakfast burrito, dude."

"It's Perfect Mason! He keeps following me around and stalking me today!" I sighed.

Ceylan said, "I have no idea who that is."

"Chooki?"

"Who?"

"Chooki!"

"Is that some new lunch item?"

"You mean you don't know about Chooki Mason."

"Is that some sort of crime?" He demanded.

I nodded, "He's the absolute most popular kid in school!"

The blue haired boy said, "You shouldn't know that if you never talk to anyone."

I said, "The guy and I have a bit of a score to settle."

"So, you're arguing with the most popular guy in the whole school? That's not smart…" He mumbled.

I sighed and admitted, "I don't have a real reason to hate the guy. I just don't like him."

"You should actually try to be nice to him then. Popularity goes a long way." The blue haired you leaned back, placing his feet on the desk.

I snapped, "Don't even start. I don't like him, he doesn't like me, and his friend is annoying too, even if I haven't met him!"

"Whoa," Ceylan held up his hands, "That's just guilt by association."

I rolled my eyes and completed my drawing of Guren, but then a certain pale hand came into voice and snatched it away. He toyed with it for a moment before passing it to Guren, who was studying. The red-and-black haired boy looked surprised by the appearance of his own image on paper.

"You!" I snapped, "Give it back!"

Guren seemed confused, "You drew me?"

"Yeah, I know- whatever!" I held out my hand, "And if you must know, it's because of your hair. It's interesting."

He nodded, handing it back, "Oh, thanks… I think. Anyways, I thought you didn't want to be part of our team."

"I don't. I just don't have anybody else who won't make me feel like hiding in a burlap sack all day and hope they forget about me." I said.

Guren said, "Alright. But still, we should probably figure this whole Lydendor-Valorn mystery before we meet them again. Hey, could I get your number."

"Lydendor is definitely Perfect- I mean, Chooki- Mason. They have the same voice, same attitude, and same overall manner of movement." I declared, eyes filled with certainty, handing over my contact on a slip of paper..

Ceylan sighed, "You know way too much about the guy, it's like you're stalking him."

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about exactly, but if it involves me…" I immediately went stiff as I heard that same annoying voice that was absolutely faultless and smooth.

I whipped around, "Perfect Mason!"

"Brittany Brooks." He replied, cool as a cucumber.

I snapped, "Mind your own business, stop stalking me."

"Stalking? I don't stalk people." He said, an earnest smile on his lips, "You, on the other hand, do. You know way too much, just as this guy said."

Anger began to fill my veins, staring at him. Those bright shining green eyes, his brown hair drawn back into a ponytail, his bangs a golden star. He was everything. He had the whole school wrapped around his slender fingers, with every girl desiring his company for her own, every boy wanting to be his best friend. He was a quick learner, and he was smart to boot. He was a natural born athlete, graceful and strong. That didn't label his flawless personality, which was generous, kind, and forgiving. His family was wealthy, too. He was handsome.

That was seriously still getting on my nerves. I was a loner which didn't bother me so much, and he had known me from the day he moved to Benham City, so it wasn't like he didn't know my secret of being a girl. He was an angel, and I was a demon- we can't get along. He was handsome, I was nowhere near that. He was studious, and the only reason I passed was that I had nothing better to do. He was graceful, I was lucky to go a full day without tripping over my two left feet. He was sweet and forgiving, and I hated everyone I knew, not to mention I held grudges like they were lifelines. I was also really, really shy around people I wasn't familiar with, while he was outgoing and talkative.

"Get over yourself, Mason." I growled, "You've been following me around since I left my house."

Chooki looked surprised, "Really? You noticed?"

"Trust me, I notice things. You and your little green haired midget friend have been following me around the whole town. So, what did you want, Chooki?"

"Nothing. Enjoy your misery, dude."

Chooki walked out the door easily. Ceylan asked, "Was that 'Perfect' Mason?"

"The one and only…" I groaned.

Ceylan stared after the athlete, then said, "Dude's a total jerk."

"You," I gasped out, "You just made my day. Gimme five!"

We slammed our hands together, laughing and cracking jokes about him. Ceylan actually agreed that Chooki was a pain in the neck, which was awesome. Guren didn't seem as enthusiastic about our entertainment sacrificing Chooki's already oversized ego and his pride. He shook his head and closed his eyes. I got out an orange and began eating it. After a minute, Guren realized something.

"Didn't Chooki call you 'Brittany'?" Guren asked, confused.

I immediately tried to cover it up. "We hate each other, so he pretends I'm a girl. That's all."

"Okay…" He conceded, but then class started.

"If I were a Tenkai Knight, where would I be…?" Guren muttered to himself.

Ceylan growled, "You are a Tenkai Knight, and you'd be wasting your time looking for other knights when we already have three! You, me, and Brett, remember?"

"Genius. I already told you, Chooki is definitely Lydendor. I'm thinking that green midget friend of his might be Valorn, too." I decided easily. I was snacking on a bag of Skittles.

Guren said, "We don't know for sure."

"I've got a mystery of my own," Ceylan muttered, "Where does Brett keep getting all that food?"

I shrugged, "I keep a stash in my vest. I get hungry, I eat a lot, I write a lot. My life consists of this clipboard, paper, a pencil-" I hold up the clipboard in my left hand as we cross the street, a pencil between my fingers, "- and a bunch of food."

"I think I'm amazed." He admitted.

Guren interrupted us, "Hey, maybe we can use our core bricks to find the others!"

"Great idea." Ceylan declared loudly.

We walked to the park, where Ceylan pulled out his core brick, playing with it for a little while. I looked around, shoved the empty Skittles bag (and several Snickers, Whatchamacallits, and a bag of popcorn) into my jacket, then pulled out a Subway foot long. Both boys looked at me like I was going to whip out an elephant next. I broke it in half, then the other half in half, and offered them a quarter each. They both refused, so I started eating.

"Go Tenkai!" Ceylan yelled, hoisting his core brick above his head. It didn't work, so he started doing a bunch of weird motions, "Tenkai locator! Go go Tenkai!"

I mumbled through a mouthful of salami, banana pepper, ham, and bread, "You look like a moron."

"Sh-shut your face hole." Ceylan said, glaring.

Guren gave a grimace, "I think you need to work on your dance moves, dude."

"You couldn't do any better…" He mumbled.

Guren nodded, "Well, I've got a better ide-"

"No! I've got this, it's under control."

I looked at Guren, offering a quarter of a sandwich again, "I have a feeling you'll want to eat this or hit Ceylan with it."

"Thanks…" The dual-colored boy sighed, face palming as he accepted the sandwich and took a bite, "How old is this sandwich, anyways?"

I said, "I bought it just before I met up with you guys, like ten minutes ago."

"Alright, let's go follow Ceylan…"

After waiting several minutes for Ceylan to get out of the bathroom (Guren and I were now eating Kitkats), he came out of there and took us to the mall. We stopped just in front of it and tossed our trash, then waited for Ceylan to unveil his plan that is more likely to fail than me in a professional football game. I hated waiting, so I started pacing around them like a moon circling a planet. Even when he started speaking, I continued to orbit them.

"Did you know that scientists can tell how a dinosaur looked from the smallest finger bone?" Ceylan asked.

I nodded, "Just tell us the plan."

"Well, okay. Lydendor was yellow, and he was swift. So, on Earth, he's probably a tall, skinny guy with blond hair. Valorn was stockier and… greener. So maybe he's short, and he likes to eat spinach…" The blue haired male stated.

I said, "Description one, I can agree with. Description two, not even."

"Yeah, I think I have a better plan." Guren agreed, "One where we don't look crazy."

I asked, "Does it involve eating food? I have money. I want food."

"Do you ever stop eating?!" Ceylan demanded.

I replied lazily, "Nope. I came, I ate, I left."

"Do you have any drinks in that vest of yours?" Guren asked, "We might be here a while."

I pulled out a few juice boxes, a soda bottle, and two boxes of Cracker Jacks. I kept the soda, a juice box, and a box of Cracker Jacks, giving the rest to him. We sat on a bench and watched Ceylan ruin his dignity, asking people whether they had been to a square planet before or not. I got out the last box of Cracker Jacks and the last juice box in my vest. Hey, even I can't have an infinite supply of food! I've got nothing else, and I was expecting to be home and eating something by now! We quietly watched him come over, looking defeated. I handed him the juice and the snack, and he took it. Ceylan munched on them, and chugged the juice, then closed his eyes.

"You beat?" I asked.

He nodded, "I mean, I thought my plan would work! It was good in theory…"

"It wasn't even good for a parody." I countered his words.

Guren said, "Now we can try my idea."

"Does it involve food?" I repeated myself to him.

He smiled, "Yes, actually!"

"Awesome! I'm digging your plan already, doll." I exclaimed.

Both of them looked weirded out. "Doll?"

"Shut up and roll with it, dudes. Now to wherever we need to go!" I declared.

Guren led us to just out front of the Shop of Junk- I mean, Wonders. I noted the fact there was a burger joint just out front of the antique shop, and that if we got a window seat, we could easily see what was happening at the storefront. The Shop of Wonders didn't look like a place Perfect Mason would be at for any reason besides being Lydendor, so I felt pretty confident that we were going to meet him and his green haired buddy on Quarton if they went in. Ceylan, however, apparently didn't understand the concept.

"Mr. White already said that he wouldn't tell us, Guren." Ceylan sighed.

I snapped, "Stakeout, dude! We'll watch the place from this burger joint!"

"Exactly, Brett! And, you get to have food." The dual shaded boy explained.

I drooled,"Bacon and avocado burgers…"

"That sounds disgusting…" Ceylan mumbled.

I rolled my eyes, "Don't knock it 'til you try it. Now, let's eat!"

I officially hate waiting more than I hated it before we got here. My legs were itching at the bone, my face has been pressed against the glass way too often, and I've tripped over several chairs in the past ten minutes. Guren and Ceylan both seemed just as bored, so I bought my sixth avocado bacon cheeseburger tonight. I was jamming it into my face for a while, but then it happened. I was sitting there, eating it, when Ceylan began arguing with Guren. I saw Perfect Mason and his mandatory midget walking side by side to the shop.

"Guys, I see them." I said.

They simply kept bickering like an old married couple.

"Guys!" I shouted.

They both stopped and looked at me in surprise, "What?"

"Perfect Mason and his friend are about to go into the junk shop." I said.

We threw away our drinks, I shoved my whole burger into my face and started running with a full mouth, Guren muttering that I would choke We passed Mr. White, everyone but me greeting him swiftly, while he just smiled, entertained. We ran into the back and went into the portal room, sliding to a stop when we saw the portal crackling with energy. It had already transferred Mason and company. I narrowed my eyes and finished my burger.

"Told you they came this way." I said.

Guren agreed, "Yeah, you did. We would've missed it if you hadn't said something- now let's go!"

"Right!" Ceylan and I called out in sync, going into the portal.

"… consists of clear and concise steps to reach a specified goal!" Valorn snapped once we arrived.

Lydendor tossed his head and called back before splitting up, "Try not to get debotified!"

"Great, we were right. They did come here." Bravenwolf said, then jumped down, "I think they might need a hand, though. Brillius, help Lydendor."

I snorted as we parried shots from the lame Corrupted goons, "No way! He's Perfect Mason!"

"I'll take Lydendor, then! You just go help Valorn. Tributon, lay down cover fire." The red and white robot snapped, annoyed.

Suddenly, I saw Slyger blasting lightning into the sky, one of which hitting Lydendor, and another throwing Valorn halfway across the battlefield. Just as he said, Bravenwolf went to that stuck up athlete's aid. I went over to Valorn, slashing several Corrupted with my katana, then reached down. He took my hand and allowed me to help him up, saying a curt word of thanks, then rushed off. I followed him to the area where all the knights had gathered.

"Lydendor, our Tenkai Energy's flatlining. We need to get out of here." The green knight said.

Lydendor nodded, but he sounded reluctant, "I know, I know! We'll get our bots debotified if we don't. You guys think you can handle it?"

"Don't worry, Perfect. We can handle anything you can't." I said, a snarky attitude appearing just hearing that perfect voice.

The duo retreated while we stayed, fighting off Corrupted. Occasionally, a stinging sensation hit me, but otherwise I was fine. Nothing to get my undies in a bunch over. As soon as the last Corekai had escaped, we made like a French stereotype- to be honest, I know a pretty epic French guy, he kicked serious butt- and ran away. Once we got out of the portal room, though, we had an entirely different battle to be fought. Chooki Mason and his midget were standing there, blocking light. They both looked pretty intense, as if we had ruined their lives by existing. It made me pretty happy to see that expression on Chooki's face, but I didn't want to anger his friend.

"Brittany." He growled

I replied, equally infuriated, "Chooki."

"Hey, don't be strangers. We've all met before." Ceylan teased.

The midget snapped, "I don't recall asking for your tech support."

"Well, if we hadn't saved your sorry bots, you'd be Tenkai toast for toaster face back there!" The blue haired boy snarled.

The green haired male shouted, "Ever heard of a strategy?!"

I stepped in, "Alright, Ceylan, shut your stupid yap or I'll remove your face on Quarton. And Napoleon? You said it yourself, a plan needs steps. You didn't have one, fruit loop."

That seemed to defuse the situation between them, both relaxing because they both got the same treatment. However, we still had to undo the anger between Chooki and I, which was an improbable idea. I turned to him, making eye contact with him as he got into my face, trying to intimidate me with his height of 5"6, while I was only 5"2. My fingers wrapped around my sleeves, my sharp nails tearing into the fabric. My brain was a puddle of mush, ignoring that sense of pure kindness and any shy tendencies I had. I hated it. I hated him.

"I thought you said you weren't working with Bravenwolf and Tributon." Chooki said, taking on a cool disposition like he always did.

I replied, "I found out Ceylan and I thought you were a mutual jerk. I'm just hanging out with them, though. We aren't a team."

"Mmm. So you still don't have any friends?" He commented.

I closed my eyes, "Shut up."

"I'm sorry, is that a sore subject?" Chooki smiled, looking both amused and annoyed.

Guren tried, "Hey, let's just calm down and stop being like this."

"Why were you guys stalking us anyways? We know you were, we could see you in that burger joint." Chooki said.

I snapped, "Revenge for sending your little minion over there after me, of course!"

"Little?! I'm not little!" The green haired boy screamed, his nose wrinkling.

I apologized, sardonic. "Sorry, I meant shrimpy. undersized. young."

Chooki caught him by his tiny vest when he tried to throw himself at me, "Toxsa, she's playing offense. You're trying to play offense too. We can only have one team playing each position."

"Toxsa? Is that his name?" I asked, "You're hanging out with the school's nerd."

The athlete nodded, "Look, just give me my answer."

"We wanted to see what you were like. If you were willing to join our team." Guren said.

Chooki shook his head, "No chance. Not one she's on, and not when we like our team just the way it is."

I snapped, "Don't worry, I'm not part of these two. Like I said last time: B-man is out, losers."

Before I could leave, I heard that brunet laugh. "You aren't a boy. You can dream all you want, but you'll never be a guy."

"Who said I wanted to be one?" My voice was deepened by anger.

Chooki said, "Either way, you don't want to be acknowledged as a girl. Still, we don't have to hate each other."

"Yes… We do." I sighed, then left.

I wanted to laugh at myself, knowing that I had given no thought to how to reply to Chooki's jab at both my femininity, and my tendency to be left with no friends. I just didn't know how to respond to the truth all that well. I didn't cry, though. I never did, even when my life got hard. i just got a good poker face, and punched a hole in the wall when I got home. My dad had a lot of holes in the wall to fix when he got home in another six months… I heard my phone ring, so I picked up.

"Hello?" I said, going into my bedroom and flopping onto the bed.

The voice was my dad's. Speak of the devil. "Hey kiddo. It's dad."

"Hey dad. How's your top secret work been?" I mumbled, sounding happy because that's what he wanted.

He replied, "It's been boring, a long couple of days. But, uh…"

"You're going to have to stay there for a year." I said, dull. When he didn't answer, I said, "It's okay, I made a couple new friends. They'll help me out."

Dad said, "That's nice. It's good to hear you made friends. Just remember, kid, you tend to push people away. Try to keep yourself in check, alright?"

"Yeah," My voice cracked, "Yeah, okay. Listen, dad, it's Thursday. I have school, so I need to go to sleep."

He sighed, "Alright, kiddo. Love you and miss you."

"Love you, miss you. Bye dad."

"Bye."

I closed my eyes, not even bothering to sit up. My fingers scrunched around the blankets, and I let myself want to punch a wall. I grabbed my notebook and started writing. Conveniently enough, I was writing a scene where one of the protagonist's friends started pushing people out, and didn't want to be friends anymore. His reason was that he was afraid to be hurt again. Hurt like he was when he lost his brother. Just enough to be hurt like I was when my brother left. Of course, in the story, he recovered. I didn't think it was possible for me to do the same.

"Hey, Brett?" Guren said as we jogged around the track, "Chooki said something weird yesterday. That you were a girl. Is it true?"

I grunted, "Yeah. Doesn't matter."

Ceylan agreed, "Dude, chick, whatever. She's still not trying to blast us into itty bitty Ceylan and Guren cubes."

"Well, I'm not trying to offend anyone. I just wanted to know why you hid it." The red-and-black haired boy commented.

I felt myself slip on the waxed floor, slamming my face into the floor without catching myself. I got back up, rubbing my nose gently, then caught back up, muttering about why I hate running. I couldn't find it in me to explain my reasoning for deceiving them, mostly because it would sound lame to tell them I was insecure about my looks, so I just let it hang in the air. I saw somebody drop his book bag off on the floor, and that made me wonder who would be doing that. I saw him pull something out of his pants pocket, and that something was…

An orange shape hidden by his hand.

He wasn't exactly a normal kid, from the looks of it. A new guy, obviously, just like Guren, but he seemed to have some sort of hidden secret. He had dirty blond hair that was combed neatly and was chin length. It stuck up a teensy bit at the front. He was wearing a leather jacket that was unzipped to look casual, an orange t-shirt that opening of the jacket revealed, a pair of nice looking jeans, and black boots. He probably didn't have P.E. clothing yet, since he started running the track in those clothes.

"Let's talk to him." Ceylan suggested, only for him to pop up on the right of said boy.

I said, "Uh, hey. You are…"

The dirty blond smiled, "Chevy. Chevy Monroe."

"Well, I'm Brittany," I explained, introducing myself, then the others, "Red and black hair over there is Guren, and Ceylan is the one on your left."

Chevy gave them a grin, "Good to meet you, dudes."

I nodded, "Likewise. Hope you settle in well."

"Thanks, I will. S'cuse me!" He said, then moved around us at a speed to rival Chooki Mason, trying to move to the front of the crowd at a dash.

I smirked, "Perfect'll hate this guy- friendly, fast, and quite a looker."

"What's not to hate about that guy? He doesn't even seem boastful!" Ceylan groaned, then snickered, "Chooki will be miserable to find somebody like him."

Guren scolded us, "Stop trying to mess with him."

I heard the door open, and saw Perfect Mason walking towards me. I moved away from team Bravuton immediately, trying to keep that athletic jerk from making some comment about my desperation or whatever. I don't care what he said yesterday, about not having to be enemies. He was just going to mess with my head. People like him don't desire friends like me with no skills besides major grudge holding.

"Brooks?" Chooki Mason called, looking directly at me.

I slowed down and walked over, "What is it, Mason?"

"You dropped something in History. I wanted to give it back to you. You might miss it a lot." He commented, holding out several pages.

I took them and gasped when I realized that they were pieces of my manuscript, "Oh dude, thanks!"

"Yeah," Chooki nodded, "I thought you'd freak if you lost that."

I glanced up at him, then turned to the last page. He had written something on it: "We don't have to fight". I looked at him and shook my head, trying to ignore the cursive I barely deciphered, then stomped on his foot.

"Yow!" Chooki gasped, flinching in pain.

I snapped, "You wrote on my manuscript- in cursive! I can't read cursive very well. You suck."

Chooki crossed his arms and shook his head, seeming disappointed by something. My reaction probably didn't go up to his prank's expectations, since he was trying to convince me of his will to befriend me, only to reject me for the fun of it. I wouldn't play his game, leaving him no enjoyment for his efforts. I lovingly checked my babies- I mean, pages and characters- for any damage, only to find they had been well taken care of. I placed them back into my clipboard's file, then hid it under the bleachers.

"Dude, Chooki-" Guren began, but Ceylan interrupted him.

Ceylan asked, "So wait, Chooki called you a girl. What's your name, then?"

"Brittany." I snorted, then jogged away from them.

It was a darker evening, one where all I did was sit at the Shop of Wonders, trying to ignore that feeling of sadness and anger flowing through me as I wrote. I could almost feel it, sitting at the counter while Mr. White repeatedly made terrible tea for me to check until he got it right. I was snacking on a gigantic bag of Cheetos, feeling them crunch between my teeth. I noticed a heavy glow from my core brick, and I dropped everything and stood just as the door crashed open. First it was a shocked Toxsa and an irritated Chooki, but less than a few seconds later, two surprised dolts named Ceylan and Guren came in. I was too busy glaring at Chooki intensely.

"You…" We both growled out.

I snapped, "I was here first, Perfect, so I call dibs."

"Yeah, well, there's only one of you and there's two of us." Chooki retorted.

I threatened, "Want another split lip, Mason?"

"Hah, you got one lucky shot on me and it goes to your head. Typical." He snapped.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm on my way to Quarton. Later, loser."

"Wait."

I shank back as a gigantic robot appeared. Oh man, that was really making me want to drop my tough girl exterior and leave, but sticking around was my best bet. Mr. White walked over and made a grim expression, as if to indicate that this was a serious situation- that one called for a "no duh, Sherlock"- but I simply was too freaked out to do anything but gawk at the giant mechanical man. The others were also unsettled, from what I could tell, but they had obviously seen this thing before.

"Before you go, you should know something." Mr. White commented, then asked, "By the way, do they know yet?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, now stop stalling and do something!"

"Alright." He muttered.

The robot said a lot of crazy cosmic stuff, showing us the past of his world and all that, and- to be honest, I didn't actually listen. I also didn't happen to care all that much, either. Either way, I would still have to work with Perfect and his stupid midget, and tag team with Guren and Ceylan again. After we came back to the shop, I looked at the others, who seemed to have a begrudging acceptance.

"I guess we'll all go, then." I muttered.

Chooki glared at me, "Yeah, I guess so."

After but a moment, we all averted our gazes, slowly making our way to the portal. I dug my nails into my palm so deeply that I saw scarlet beats forming just before we got into the portal. The neon light show started up again, making me taking that pose of disgust, but I grinned, since Chooki looked so stupid. He was just blankly staring off into space, pose truly the opposite of epic.

"Tenkai Power!" Guren shouted.

Ceylan called out, "Tenkai Speed!"

"Tenkai Strength!" Toxsa had a bit of a rasp in his voice when he shouted out the words.

Chooki, never one to be bested, boastfully yelled, "Tenkai Agility!"

"Tenkai," I hesitated only a moment before calling out my second part, which was a significant trait I had, "Endurance!"

Once we all ended up on Quarton, we all seemed annoyed with each other. We hadn't even started talking, and yet our tempers were all riled up for no reason. I was about ready to use the katana in my hand to slice off Lydendor's pointy ears without even flinching, and I could tell he wanted to stab my face with his chain blade. Immediately, the rivalry began.

"I bet Bravenwolf and I can get the dragon cube first!" Tributon

Valorn laughed and said, "You're on."

"I'm game." Lydendor agreed, then added in a bit of a taunt, "That is, if Brillius can keep up with us."

I snapped, "I'm my own team, stupid!"

"Sure you are." He teased.

Bravenwolf sighed, "This is serious, guys."

"Knights! I am very glad to see you," Beag called as we saw the same goon as before- Slyger- approaching, "We are grateful for your help."

Lydendor boasted, "You came to the right duo."

"Yeah," Tributon agreed, "Bravenwolf and I will get this done no problem."

Bravenwolf said, "We're all one team, guys. We need to work together, I have a plan!"

"I'm not on anyone's team," I said, getting in his face, "And I don't take orders from you, Redshirt!"

Tributon agreed, "See, Bravenwolf? Even Brillius is picking a fight. We need to show who the top dogs are."

"Uh, can we hit the play button and get started, or are we going to be AFK this whole fight?" Valorn asked, sounding bored.

Lydendor replied, "Let's just play ball."

I knocked both of their feet out from under them, making my way onto the battlefield. I began slashing through Corrupted warriors like a hot knife through melting butter while they started trying to recover. Lydendor was up first, and he rammed straight into my left side. I shoved back with a shoulder check, and soon we were mostly just shoving one another around the battlefield instead of actually fighting bad guys. Bravenwolf yelled at us to stop fooling around and beating on each other, but we ignored him.

"Yo, Lydendor, it's a replay!" Valorn said, nervous.

i knew what that meant, and so did he. We cut off our shoving game just in time to dodge a bolt of lightning, only for it to come down again and actually hit Lydendor. Without really thinking about it, I whipped around to save him, banishing my katana for now. I grabbed him by the side, dragging him to his feet and half carried him to the shelter of an overhanging rock formation to prevent him from being struck again.

"Wh-why'd you-" He seemed surprised.

I interrupted him, "No time to explain here, I'll tell you when this is over. Just take a minute to collect yourself."

I got up and summoned my katana, darting back out into the war zone, hacking apart the enemy as I made my way around the lightning. For once, being short isn't the worst thing that ever happened to me, since the cannon wasn't landing hits on me. I dove next to Valorn and Bravenwolf, as well as Tributon.

Valorn immediately asked, "Where's Lydendor?"

"I hid him away. He was struck by lightning." I explained.

Bravenwolf growled, "There's no way to get at Slyger."

"Yeah, I mean, we can't just run at him." Tributon agreed.

Bravenwolf realized, "That's what they expect the least. We should do that!"

"No, we shouldn't, that is a very bad plan, dude!" I called, but he ran directly at Slyger anyways.

After a long moment, Tributon sighed, "Guess we should back him up… Even if he is crazy."

"I guess." I said, running around the side while Tributon and Valorn began firing their weapons.

Lydendor ran up to me for what I thought would be a hip check, making him move on. Instead, he ran just behind me and body slammed a Corrupted warrior that I hadn't seen, then fell in beside me. He made something akin to a disdainful snort at that warrior before turning his head to look directly at me. I gave him an acknowledging nod, then gave him a gentle bump.

"Thanks for that," I told him, "He would have been a bit of trouble."

Lydendor waved it off, "It was just to get even, okay? I would never help you unless I owed you."

"Sure, let yourself believe that. Why'd you do that save, though?" I asked.

He said, "No time to explain here, I'll tell you when this is over."

"Reflecting my own words back at me." I snorted.

"Let's do this!"

We were behind Slyger now, which could only lead to either being a distraction to him, or taking him down. Lydendor and I rushed up behind him. Lydendor did a tackle, throwing him into the ground. I slashed that super weapon in half, hearing it crackle with energy. I bolted, feeling the sting of the occasional shot, but most of them seemed to have attended the storm trooper academy for shooting. I made it over there, only to have something large, black, and mostly yellow thrown at me. Lydendor landed on me and we both tumbled to the ground.

"Fatso." I groaned, trying to push him off my chest.

He rolled off me, "Thanks for the cushion."

"I hate this guy so much, you have no idea." I growled, sitting up.

I saw Bravenwolf totally decimate Slyger's bot, so I just sat there, tapping my robotic toes together by rolling my legs. Bravenwolf, Valorn, and Tributon walked over as we got up. We all stood there for a minute, then Beag came over, praising our clever idea. I kind of tried to blot that out, since we were about to be toast only a couple minutes ago. Things seemed to blur. We got the dragon cube, and we were off Quarton before I really knew what was happening. Maybe this whole "team" thing wouldn't be so bad, even if it meant working beside Perfect Mason. Once we were back on Earth, I immediately went to leave, but a set of fingers caught my wrist.

"Hey," Chooki said, "You still owe me an explanation. Why'd you save my bot?"

I rolled my shoulders, "It wasn't because we're friends, 'cause we're not. I just couldn't watch anyone bite the dust when they're defenseless."

"Alright. I tackled that guy for a reason too, but not because we're friends. It was just instinct to help you." He admitted, releasing my arm as we all went to the shop area.

Guren said, "We made a pretty good team out there, guys. All five of us. We should team up."

"I guess that'd be alright." Toxsa said, "On this planet, you can call me Toxsa."

Chooki said, "I'm Chooki, but I think we have that figured out."

"You guys already know me, and I think that Toxsa learned it from Chooki. But, hey. Brittany Brooks is the name." I told them as I grabbed my clipboard off the desk, "And I guess working with you dudes won't be as bad as I thought.

Ceylan nodded, "So, I guess we're, like, bros now?"

"It's better than foes, I think!" Chooki laughed.

Mr. White smiled, "It's great to see that you're all getting along. Sometimes five is more than two plus two plus one, am I right?"

"Right. Well, I'm starved, dolls. I need something to eat…" I complained.

Guren smiled a little, and said, "We should all head home. Our parents are probably worried sick."

I ignored that last sentence, since mine weren't home. We all left the shop, and I looked up on my way home. The stars were starting to twinkle above me. Suddenly, I realized somebody was walking next to me. I looked over slowly, realizing it was just Chooki.

"Why're you following me?" I asked, trying to sound amiable.

Chooki replied, "I live down this way too. Besides, a girl shouldn't go home alone at this time of night."

"Right, I'll walk you to your house. Then I'll head to mine." I joked, a hint of banter in my voice.

"Very funny."