Time passed by so fast, and in a blink, two months have come and gone by for Dark Sun in Yelan. He was walking to school with Ezart as usual in the morning, with the latter quite grumpy because he didn't get nearly enough sleep last night.
Yesterday, Eloise, Eli, and Elian dragged Ezart and himself to the new amusement park that opened in the middle of the city. Ezart complained all the way, muttering something about missing his 'job' for this, and his boss being pissed. Dark Sun didn't need quite as much convincing. For some time, he hasn't realized it, but he's grown to look forward to Eloise and her teammates dragging them around for fun. Every time there was something new. Every time he felt a bit lighter and happier. Every time he felt like he can escape from his dull, controlled, orderly life.
Eloise somehow shoved all five people into a ferris wheel cart that had only three seats. Dark Sun laughed as Elian and Eli were so squished to the side that their faces were plastered to the window. Eloise took up a seat all by herself, assuring her friends that ladies were given priority. Ezart opted to stand than to squeeze into the bundle of people in the seats. Dark Sun didn't mind. He found that he didn't hate human contact quite as much as he thought. Eloise took pictures of the city's night view. Dark Sun had to admit, it was quite a breathtaking sight.
Then Eloise challenged the haunted house. Of course, not without accidentally punching every scary thing that popped out at her. Good thing the entire house was automated machines, or else quite a few actors might've gotten more than just a bloody nose. The pink haired girl shrieked and screamed, then grabbed hold of her friends with a cling that could kill. Dark Sun almost felt the breath squeezed out his body when it was his turn. When Eloise jumped and reached for Ezart, the orange haired teen instinctually dodged her hand and ran as far from her as he could. Elian and Eli both agreed that Eloise's hugs were weapons of mass destruction that should be avoided at all costs.
Then the group entered the arcade, where Elian challenged Dark Sun to a sing-off. This reminded Dark Sun of when Eloise and her friends first took him to a karaoke station. He was quite nervous about it beforehand, so while Elian was playing some songs for him to choose from, Dark Sun recorded all of the singers' voices. Then when he tried to sing for the karaoke, his voice was the exact replica of the singer's. Elian and Eloise stood there in shock, while Eli just scratched his head in confusion. In the end, Dark Sun learned that 'recording' and then 'playing' the voice wasn't singing. He realized that he could sing with his own voice as well. Believe it or not, he'd been practicing at home ever since. Devon had bought for him his personal karaoke machine a long time ago. He's just never bothered to use it.
Eloise always said that his voice sounded great. But last night, the group of friends sang one song after another in the arcade's karaoke booth. Dark Sun's voice somehow attracted quite a few people, and soon more and more people gathered. Eloise was shocked at how many girls there were in the crowd, but the audience refused to be broken apart. Elian wasn't backing down either. His voice was perfect for lyrical songs. He had the energy, the emotion, and vocal range. Ezart even stepped up for a few of his favourite rock songs. In the end, Eloise and Eli broke under the peer pressure and sang a duet together. The audience cheered. It didn't feel like just a karaoke booth anymore. More like a stage. Dark Sun really was happy that night. He smiled, laughed, and even shed a tear when this one girl brought him flowers after his song, and told him her appreciation for brightening up her evening.
Because of the informal concert, the group of friends ended up leaving really late from the amusement park. It wasn't until the staff came to check out all the commotion near closing time that the crowd was forced to disperse. Elian's face was covered with lipstick stains, and he staggered around as if half drunk with happiness. Eli and Dark Sun both got quite a few numbers written on both their hands and arms. Eloise obtained a whole parade of male followers while Ezart just realized his singing ability wasn't actually half bad.
And that was all just last night. Dark Sun had been out almost every night of the week, coming home only when it was past midnight. Theodore never really noticed his absence after all, for the scientist almost never leaves his lab nowadays. Devon was usually at work late at night as well and couldn't come home. So off Dark Sun goes to explore the city with his newfound friends. And they really were people he would gladly call friends.
He's been to the race tracks, where everyone rented 3D simulation race cars. It was great fun to watch Ezart crush Eloise's Ferrari with his monster truck. Elian chose a shiny red lambourghini and Eli rode beside him. Of course, Dark Sun chose a motorcycle, and no matter how hard Ezart tried to crush the silver haired teen's ride, Dark Sun was always agile enough to evade him.
Then there was the time they went hiking on a nearby mountain. Ezart strangled a passing bear because it was found stealing their food. Eloise got mad and refused to give Ezart any of the food as punishment, so Ezart cut off the bear's leg and ate that instead. The orange haired teen eventually gained a great fur jacket with a pelt he skinned from the bear itself. Eloise was never able to look at Ezart the same way again after that.
And don't even mention the time where they all went to the water park, and Eloise brought her camera along to take 'friendship photos' for the entire group. Dark Sun couldn't get Eloise to stop taking pictures of him that day, and all Elian and Eli could do was look at the silver haired boy with pity. They were just glad that Eloise wasn't focusing on them. In the end, Ezart had to step in and stop the camera flashes. It was blinding his eyes. Eloise was extremely displeased. It wasn't every day she'll get to see Daren topless. The next day, Dark Sun found pictures of himself on the school poster boards, which titled: 'Yelan Beautiful Men' along with some other unfortunate male students that caught the eyes of the stalker princess, Eloise. The board became infamous in a day, and it was all the talk in spring. Girls sided with their favourite men, and a whole commotion started within the school. Elian and Eli thanked their secretive ECS identities that Eloise didn't put them on the list. Poor Dark Sun couldn't walk anywhere without getting bombarded by girls for a few weeks. Looking back on it, the silver haired teen couldn't help but smile with frustration.
"Hey," said Ezart, punching Dark Sun back to Earth from his daydreams, "Fight me today in the battle simulators. My fists have been itching for a good brawl."
Dark Sun smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Elian's reserved me for today. He's been bugging me for a match ever since last week."
Shocked, Ezart continued, "But you just fought him a week ago!"
"But people would always interrupt halfway. Elian said he just wanted to fight to the end once. I couldn't say no."
"Do you actually have a schedule or something?"
Dark Sun nodded. "You want to see it? I'm taken all of this week. I can do next week Tuesday and Thursday though, but if you can't, I can squeeze you in after-"
Ezart shushed the boy. "I can't believe you sometimes. You come find me when you're free."
"... Alright."
Dark Sun really was very busy. It was just recently when he met the ECS trio in the battle simulations with his real identity. He had on a different suit, and different weapons, but still proved himself to be powerful opponent. Eloise was surprised more than her companions at the strength of the silver haired teen. He wasn't any weaker than Ezart, and can hold his own with even Elian. D Class just got another monster to deal with. After Elian found out Dark Sun's battle potential, he's taken a special interest in trying to pick a fight in every simulation. However, with his secret ECS identity, their battles always had to be discreet, and had to be stopped every time some students passed by. Of course, Dark Sun also actively participated in the battle simulation tournaments, which were often broadcasted throughout the entire school. In a matter of days, he was recognized as one of the top combatants, next to Ezart. Gradually, more students came to test their skills with the silver haired teen, and Dark Sun would usually accept, welcoming a chance to fight. So many challengers came to him in the end, that he was forced to create a schedule just to keep track of them all.
"I'm pretty sure its him."
"Who?"
"Daren! I'm pretty sure he's the 'angel' and 'devil' we met in the simulation from the beginning!" came Elian's concerned voice.
Eloise grunted. There was no way they were going to have this conversation again. She just wasn't in the mood after this morning. "Look Elian, I understand you feel bad about failing our mission that time. We all felt bad! But that doesn't mean you have to blame Daren for it! I mean, do you really think that he can just sprout wings and fly?"
"But just look at the evidence pointing towards him! Same silver hair, great fighting skills, similar physique! And we had the battle simulation on the day that Daren first came to this school. Then what happens? On the same day, an awesome fighter appears mysteriously in the simulation with those similar traits!" argued Elian, "There's no way that can all just be a coincidence!"
Eli added, "And I've tried to read the angel's mind before in the simulation. Every living being should have some form of thoughts. But there was nothing there for me to read, no feelings, emotions, ideas. Only dead people can be that quiet. Then when I first met Daren, I got the same result. I was shocked to find that he's alive. I'm also convinced that Elian is right."
"Argh!" shouted Eloise, stomping her feet stubbornly, "I don't get it! If the angel was Daren, how could he have wings? The simulation isn't equipped with that! With the 99% realism, it would mean that in real life he has humongous metal wings flapping about in broad daylight. I think after hanging with him for such a long time, one of us would have seen it."
"Maybe he's not human. Maybe Antonias thinks he could be the culprit we're trying to find."
Gasping, Eloise warned, "Elian!"
"I was just giving you a possibility, that's all."
Eloise crossed her arms and raised her voice with anger. "I can't believe you two! After being through so much, you're suspecting Daren of being a cruel, heartless monster? Do you really think that Daren would be the type of person to do those sort of things? I thought we were all going to be friends together! Mission or not, I've always thought of Daren as being one of my best friends!"
"Wait, Eloise, that's not what I meant. It's because I think of him as a friend that I worry about him. He's giving himself away too blatantly. I'm sure that Antonias has already came to the same conclusion as to who the mysterious 'angel' could be. What if he's suspecting Daren, and that's why we were told to find out his identity?"
Nodding, Eli continued, "The old man was absolutely livid today. You know how much he cares about this school. Now he's trying to cover up a manslaughter! We were called to tow away the body. You saw how gruesome it was. Only the 'devil' could be capable of something like that. And you've seen Daren's performance in the simulation. He really was nothing less than the devil.
Eloise, fading into silence, closed her eyes to try and erase her memories from this morning. At 5AM the trio was called to an emergency meeting by Antonias to the school. After coming home from the concert, Eloise dragged herself out of bed with only four hours of sleep. Then after coming to Yelan, she was faced with something she thought was only from forensic movies. She'd dealt with dead bodies before, but not like this. This pile of flesh and blood was all thats left of the poor student. Organs were spilled everywhere. She could still remember Elian petting her back to try and ease her nausea. Antonias gripped his fists tight, and showed the identity of the student to them. He used to be a student from D Class, a classmate of Daren and Ezart. Their second job was to clean up the mess before school starts and find the killer. This was a top secret mission, meaning the incident couldn't be found out by the student body.
Eloise distinctly remembered wiping off the blood from the windows. They wouldn't come off. Elian and Eli took care of the actual, more gruesome body. They found teeth marks on wounds, but couldn't find the head. Antonias stormed back into his office and hasn't appeared since, no doubt pulling strings behind curtains in a rage. The whole hallway smelled of blood and rot, as the body had been left there over the weekend. The ECS trio had to spray the entire place with alcohol to remove the odour. Despite being tired, Eloise just couldn't comprehend the idea of a killer being loose in Yelan. This was a battle academy, yes, but violence like this has never happened before. Sure, the D Class students go off and beat each other into pulps, but never to the death. Never. It was an iron clad rule that should've never been broken. But now, she couldn't promise the safety of the rest of the students.
It had seemed like Antonias thought the same. As the ECS trio finished the first half of their mission, they saw several hooded figures walking among the students of Yelan. They looked familiar because they were all ECS members. Looks like the old principal has really pulled out all the stops. From the number of the hooded figures, it looked like the entire ECS was here patrolling the school. Of course, the actual students didn't know what was going on, nor would they notice. Who would realize an extra thirty heads walking among a sea of people?
After cleaning up, Eloise spent forever trying to clean the bottom of her shoes. They left red marks and were sticking to the ground. She shuddered at the memory.
Coming back to present time, the hooded ECS trio was walking among the students in the cafeteria, helping with patrolling. Not far away, Elian caught sight of Dark Sun. The silver haired teen seemed to have noticed the extra additions to the school, and was eyeing the hooded figures nervously until he recognized Elian's face. Eloise saw Dark Sun walk up to them, and breathed nervously.
Quietly, Dark Sun asked, "What's going on today? I've noticed quite a few suspicious people walking around. Are you part of some event?"
Eloise tried to smile, "No, this is just going to be a temporary thing. All the A Class students are doing a secret survey right now. You don't have to pay too much attention to it."
Dark Sun wasn't that easily fooled. He had a hunch the hooded figures were all ECS members. But he didn't pursue it further.
"You should lay low for a while," suggested Elian, "Don't go to the simulators, maybe take a week's vacation."
"What? Why?"
Patting Dark Sun's shoulder, Elian continued, "Trust me, don't draw too much attention to yourself right now. Its not the best time."
The silver haired teen looked at him with disbelief and curiosity. Usually Elian was the first one to ask for a fight in the simulators. Before any more questions were asked though, Ezart popped by and ruined the silence.
"Hey brat, I'm going to get barbecue. Wanna come?"
Raising an eyebrow, Dark Sun closely examined each of his three friends' faces. With dark eye bags and tired looks, it seemed they didn't want to tell him any more than that. Sighing, he replied, "Yeah, I'm coming!" and ran after Ezart.
Eloise, Elian and Eli all let out a sigh of relief.
Antonias slammed his fist onto his desk. With a mighty swing he cleared the entire office table's contents onto the floor. Vases broke, staplers hit the window, and an uneaten muffin splattered apart. Still huffing and puffing with anger, the old principal kicked the wall and grasped his face with both hands.
How dare they?
He slammed the table again.
How DARE they?
How does ANYONE dare to murder a student in HIS school?
He will make them pay.
He sighed, trying to calm himself down. Breathe.
He will find the killer. And. Make. Them. Pay.
The troublesome part is, Antonias had no idea who the culprit could be. It could be anyone! An outsider, or even a student from the school! But from the looks of the crime scene, it looked like it was done by a beast more than a human. No human can have those teeth marks. Perhaps this was going to be deeper than he thought. Maybe it might have to involve something else altogether. He had to solve this quickly though, before the killer made his next move. Even with deploying all 30 ECS members, the principal still couldn't rest at ease. 30 people just wasn't enough to look after the entire student body. No, he might have to call in somebody else. He picked up his phone.
"Hello? Sin?"
"Tsk, old man. What do you want?"
"I want you to go contact someone called Daren. I'll send over his info and picture to your cellphone later. Tell him to come meet me as soon as possible, and bring Ezart. You can come too."
"What? I'm an errand boy now?"
"Oh just do it."
"Tsk," came the voice before hanging up.
Antonias breathed out with a temporary feeling of relief. Maybe if he set both of 'them' to the task, the situation might be resolved faster. Hopefully.
Alright, so several things that need mentioning about this chapter.
1. Daren does this whole karaoke incident much like I described, in the sequel 'No Hero'. I found it absolutely hilarious. I encourage you to go read the original if you can.
2. I'm going to introduce an OC in the story. I'm sorry for those who don't like OC's. I'm sorry. But he's going to be interesting. Just wait. I've gotten his whole story planned out.
3.I didn't get to reach Devon in this chapter. Darn. He'll definitely get some time in the next one though!
4. YAY Sin's here. :)
Let's just say life isn't going to be very plain from now on for Dark Sun and peeps. The next chapter might take a while. Vacation time is ending and I've yet to get any real work done. Sigh.
Review and give me cookies!