Chapter 4: First Day at Monster High
I woke up the next morning to my custom alarm set through the Gaia sleep tube lid's heads-up display. After I opened my eyes, the Gaia Energy completely dissipated, leaving the inside of my sleep tube clear and unclouded by Gaia Energy. After I opened the lid to the stasis tube, I grabbed my clothes for the day, which was the outfit that my favorite video game character had on in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Then I climbed into the shower that was next door to my room on the right. After about fifteen minutes of showering, I got out, dried off, and got dressed. Afterward, I went downstairs and walked over to the dining room, since I could smell breakfast being cooked. As soon as I arrived in the dining room, Lala's uncle Vlad was there, cooking breakfast, which looked like it was New York Strip steak and scrambled eggs.
"Hey there, Mr. Vlad." I greeted as I sat down. Vlad looked surprised for a moment like I had appeared from nowhere. But then he smiled and nodded toward me.
"Good morning, Lt. Marksman." Vlad said with a smile. "How did you like sleeping here last night?"
"It was a pretty pleasant sleep." I said with a smile. But then I looked down in serious thought as I said, "But something is bothering me about a dream I had last night."
"What about, Lieutenant?" Vlad asked me.
I just shook my head and said, "I have no idea. All I know is that Clawd was in my dreams last night, weakly asking for my help. After that, I saw a form of him, but made of a mist-like darkness, fuse into Clawd and that's when he became mean, except that I think that that is just a ruse for his evil side's intentions."
"Are you sure?" Vlad asked, looking at me like he had already knew about that. I looked at him with a confused look on my face.
"Do you know something that I don't, Vlad?" I asked of Lala's uncle. He looked downed, saddened, and nodded.
"Yes, the rest of my family and I knew this long before you arrived, even though it was after Clawd had turned." Vlad said. "But we were not sure if it was because of some evil force or something different entirely. And then that's when my brother, Dracula, had a dream that he was talking to your father. He said that your dad told him that you would arrive and that you were the only one withing a 1 trillion universe-radius that would have the power to stop the evil force that was possessing Clawd and free Clawd in the first place.
"But your dad then appeared to my brother shortly after you arrived and said that by now, Clawd had been infected with the Dark Power." Vlad continued to say. "And your dad said that even if you free him, he'll die shortly after, though his soul will be freed."
"That must be why I saw Cylar instead of Clawd when he tries to fire his Gaia Gamma Pulse arm blaster at Lala and Frankie but I'm the one who takes the hit." I said, scratching my chin thought. "But I still get the feeling that my dad is withholding information from me that would be vital to this mission."
"I'm sure your father has his reasons for withholding that info from you." Vlad said. "By the way, we, the rest of my family with the exception of my brother and Lala, overheard your conversation during your video call with my brother. We overheard that you were going to turn my brother and my niece into Armenthians like you so that way, when they die, the three of you will be on the same side of what you called spectrum and the three of you will all go to heaven. The rest of my family and I discussed it among ourselves, and we want you to do the same for us, if it's not too much trouble, Lieutenant."
"Of course it won't be too much trouble, Vlad." I said, smiling at my possible future uncle-in-law. "I'd be happy to put all of us on the same side of the spectrum so we all could go to heaven together."
Just then, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, though I first noticed the footsteps coming from approximately the room to the left of mine when you stand outside my bedroom door. I noticed that they went into the bathroom, in which I heard the shower running. Then I heard the same footsteps coming out of the bathroom, back to the bedroom they came from, then now coming down the steps. Of course, I already knew who it was: Lala. So after I swallowed the last of my breakfast, I handed my plate to Vlad, which he washed, and walked towards the steps. When Lala came around the stair post at the bottom of the steps, she jumped slightly, a little bit scared. I smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of my neck nervously.
"Sorry, Lala, didn't mean to scare you." I said, truly remorseful. She smiled in acceptance and stepped on the tips of her toes and we shared a kiss.
"It's okay, Aaron." Lala said, hugging me, of which I returned the gesture. "I just didn't realize you were already awake from you Gaia stasis sleep."
"I've been up for the last fifteen minutes." I said in reply as we stopped hugging and went into the dining room, where she had a can of mixed vegetables and a veggie burger since she was the first vegan vampire in the history of vampires.
"Your uncle Vlad here told me that he and the rest of your vampiric family had been eavesdropping on my conversation with your dad yesterday." I said as she ate.
After she swallowed a mouthful of her veggie burger, she asked, "Why did he and the rest of my family do that for? I've told him and my family a million times that I wanted you to have some privacy when discussing stuff like the prophecy of my death to my father."
"It wasn't his or your family's fault." I said. "He said they just happened to be right there. And they overheard me telling your dad that I was going to turn the both of you into Armenthians like me. And he said they discussed it among themselves, and they decided to have me turn them into Amrenthians when I turn you and your dad into Armenthians as well."
"You would do that for the rest of my family too?" Lala asked, a little surprised. I simply smiled and nodded.
"Of course I would, sweetheart." I said, bringing Lala into a loving embrace. "If you and I get married in the future when our relationship gets far enough, then I will definitely turn the rest of your family into Armenthians like me after I turn you and your dad into Armenthians as well. And to make the wedding extra special, we'll make sure that it's on a special day of significance to you and I'll turn the rest of your family into Armenthians on that day as a gift."
"Okay." Lala said with a smile. Then she looked at the clock on her iPhone and looked back at me a second later, saying, "Well, it's time for us to head to school. If you got your things for school ready, we'll head over there now. Homeroom class before the first period is in half an hour."
"Okay, give me five minutes and I'll meet you in your car." I said, walking towards the staircase. "I got something I wanna grab out of my room first."
"Okay, I'll meet you in the car." Lala said, after which when I reached the top of the steps, I heard the front door close. After I walked back into my room, I packed my notebooks, mechanical pencils, as well as regular lined sheet paper in case I used up all of my notebooks and then, after I zipped up my backpack, I walked over to my PC computer that Mr. D bought for me to play games and burned a music CD for Lala and I to listen to on the way to school. After five minutes, the 27-song CD was burned, with the first track being the instrumental version of my favorite Rick Astley song, 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. After the CD was ejected a minute after it was done burning, I grabbed it and teleported with my Gaionic telekinesis to outside on the porch. After I reappeared on the outside front porch, I walked over to Lala's Escalade and got in on the passenger side. Lala smiled as soon as I got in and buckled up.
"What took you so long, Aaron?" Lala asked.
"I got a surprise for you. Play the very first track on this CD." I said, handing her the CD that I burned. "It's an instrumental version of Rick Astley's one-hit wonder, 'Never Gonna Give You Up'."
"I've heard of that song, but I've never heard it when it came out." Lala said, sticking the CD in her car stereo. "What's the surprise, Aaron?"
"You'll see." I said, smiling slyly. "Just start driving to Monster High and just trust me when I say that you'll love the surprise."
"Okay." Lala said, backing out her house's driveway and driving out of Radcliffe Way. Then, as we began driving towards Downtown Salem, Oregon, she pressed the 'play' button on her car stereo, and then the song began playing three seconds after she hit the 'play' button. Then, after the first eighteen seconds had passed, my cue to sing began.
"We're no strangers to 'Love',
you know the rules, and so do I.
A new commitment's what I'm thinking of,
you wouldn't get this from any other guy.
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling,
gotta make you understand.
Never gonna give you up,
never gonna let you down,
never gonna turn around and,
desert you.
Never gonna make you cry,
never gonna say 'goodbye',
never gonna tell a lie,
and hurt you.
We've known each other,
for so long.
Your heart's been achin' but,
you're too shy to say it.
Inside we both know what's been,
goin' on.
We know the game and we're,
gonna play it.
And if you ask me how I'm feeling,
Don't tell me you're too blind to see.
Never gonna give you up,
never gonna let you down,
never gonna turn around and,
desert you.
Never gonna make you cry,
never gonna say 'goodbye',
never gonna tell a lie,
and hurt you.
Never gonna give you up,
never gonna let you down,
never gonna turn around and,
desert you.
Never gonna make you cry,
never gonna say 'goodbye',
never gonna tell a lie,
and hurt you.
Ooooooh,
give you up.
Ooh ooooooh,
give you up.
Ooh ooooooh,
never gonna give, never gonna give,
give you up.
Ooh ooooooh,
never gonna give, never gonna give,
give you up.
We've know each other,
for so long.
Your heart's been achin' but,
you're too shy to say it.
Inside we both know what's been,
goin' on.
We know the game and we're,
gonna play it.
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling,
gotta make you understand.
Never gonna give you up,
never gonna let you down,
never gonna turn around and,
desert you.
Never gonna make you cry,
never gonna say 'goodbye',
never gonna tell a lie,
and hurt you.
Never gonna give you up,
never gonna let you down,
never gonna turn around and,
desert you.
Never gonna make you cry,
never gonna say 'goodbye',
never gonna tell a lie,
and hurt you.
Never gonna give you up,
never gonna let you down,
never gonna turn around and,
desert you.
Never gonna make you cry,
never gonna say 'goodbye',
never gonna tell a lie,
and hurt you."
By the time the last of the instrumental part of the music had faded away and the song ended, we had parked in the student parking of Monster High. After I took the music CD out, I looked at Lala, smiling slyly at her surprise of my singing with Rick Astley's voice. The look on her face from her surprise... priceless.
"I take it that you liked how I executed the lyrics?" I said in a mock-expectant tone of voice, though inside my thoughts I was laughing because I could sense that she couldn't quite get over her surprise. Then she shook her head and smiled.
"That was beautiful, Aaron." Lala said, leaning over toward me after she unbuckled and hugged me, of which I returned the gesture. "You we're as good as my friend Melody when she sings."
"That's comforting to know that I'm as good as someone that I've only read about in the novels based on this world." I said, kissing Lala on the forehead. Then I unbuckled myself and grabbed my backpack, got out of Lala's Cadillac Escalade, and turned to her and said, "Well, let's head inside. Need to stop by the student affairs office and pick up my class schedule."
"Already done, Aaron." Lala said as she got out and, after closing her door and activating the security system, pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. When I opened it, I saw that it was my class schedule. Lala pulled hers out as well and showed me hers side-by-side with mine. And, when I looked at both of them in still photos in my cerebral implants side-by-side, I saw that they were identical for the whole school year, even though I was a last-minute enrolled student thanks to Mr. D. I looked at Lala with a sly but loving smile.
"Let me guess, you had my schedule set up to match yours for the whole school year?" I said when she opened her mouth. She just looked at me with a surprised look and nodded, after which I laughed and smiled broadly, saying, "I already knew you were going to do that, Lala. You didn't need to keep it a secret from me. And I can sense that you had the Gaia stasis tube placed next to you in all of our classes."
"Yeah, I did." Lala said, looking down in embarrassment. I simply laughed warmly.
"No need to be embarrassed, Lala." I said, putting my right arm around her shoulders as we began walking up the steps to the front hall of Monster High. But then my eyes went unfocused when Lala looked up at my face. She looked concerned.
"What is it, Aaron?" Lala asked. I simply shook my head and looked serious.
"Clawd's coming up from behind us." I said, gritting my teeth. "Even though he hasn't said anything yet, I can already sense what he is going to say to you, which is what's pissing me off. I haven't felt like this since I was disowned by my own family and cursed to wander the Sierra Nevada Desert." As I used the micro-camera in the back of my head to look at Clawd while my eyes continued to look forward. "Just try to ignore him. If he tries to attack me, I won't hesitate to defend myself. Just stand back when I do so. For now, don't look or pay any attention to Clawd, okay, sweetheart?"
"Okay, I'll try." Lala said, concentrating on not looking at her mean ex-boyfriend. After we got up the steps and in to the hotel lobby-like front hall, that's when I heard his voice for the first time, which sounded exactly like it did in the animated movies based on this universe.
"Hey Lala the Slut, did you pickup another man to be a hired prostitute for?" Clawd asked in an evil, mean-sounding tone of voice. "I feel sorry for you, new guy. Being boyfriend and girlfriend with a slut is bad for your health, if you know what I mean."
"No, I don't know what you mean." I said as I let go of Lala's shoulders and turned around to face Clawd, a serious and determined look on my face. "Why don't you enlighten me, Clawd the Asshole! Because if you keep calling my girlfriend that, when she was nothing but good to you, then you'll come to regret saying those things about her from before I arrived in town."
"Is that a challenge?" Clawd said, bearing his teeth at me and growling like a dog. I just turned around and grunted, putting my right arm back around Lala's shoulders, beginning to walk away.
"I don't fight with assholes like you." I said as Lala and I walked away from Clawd. "I fight only in self-defense and the defense of others across the Multiverse, just as my Armenthian brethren have in millennia past."
That's when I heard when seemed like Clawd roaring like an animal and I felt what seemed like sharp claws tear into the flesh of my well-muscled back. I fell to the ground, knocked out from the blood loss. About ten seconds later, I woke up hearing Lala screaming at Clawd.
"Clawd, are you crazy?!" Lala screamed. "You killed him! You attacked him when he was only speaking from his mind? You're nothing but a big coward!"
"He deserved it for calling me an asshole." Clawd sneered. But then he said, "What the hell?!"
I was getting up during his little tirade, already feeling my wounds regenerating, my light-headedness going away and strength coming back as my body also regenerated my lost blood content. I also felt my clothes seal up the tears that Clawd had caused from his claws. I then turned around after my clothes and body were mended and faced Clawd.
"You'll regret doing that, Clawd Wolf." I said. When he roared again he then charged at me, his claws ready to tear into my flesh again. But I just stood my ground.
Then, when he got close enough, I karate-kicked him in the stomach, making him fly back about ten feet. He landed on the ground outside the front door. When he landed, he hit his head against the concrete of the top of the steps. He was knocked out for a few minutes. Then he came to three minutes later, rubbing his sore head, and looking at me with a look of death in his eyes. I was simply staring at him while I had my arm around Lala's shoulders again.
"If you ever attack me again, I won't hesitate to use my full strength. Count on it." Then Lala and I walked to our homeroom class before the actual school day began. But what I didn't noticed was Clawd talking to himself.
"I'll have to keep a sharp eye on this one." Clawd said. "He'll definitely hinder my plans for this universe and the rest of the Multiversal Republic. And I could've sworn that I destroyed all of the Armenthians within a 1-trillion-universe radius from the Alpha Universe. Something seems unsettling about this Lt. Marksman. Though his last name sounds familiar, I can't remember much because I had been locked away in Gaia sleep in the Void Dimension's Gaia Stasis Jail for the last 3,000 years. Like I said, I'll have to keep an eye on this Lt. Aaron Marksman."
And after saying that, Clawd walked back into the school and walked to his 1st-period class. But while he listened to his lessons, he was secretly plotting to destroy Aaron Marksman since he knew that even though Aaron was an Armenthian, he had a strong aura about him that told Clawd that Aaron would be able to defeat him. And so he begins hatching a plot to kill him and destroy the rest of the Multiversal Republic like he's been trying to do for the last 10,000 years.
And if Aaron couldn't be killed, then he would kill anyone close to Aaron. He would make sure of it.
Meanwhile, During Aaron's and Lala's 8th-period history class, Aaron was quietly sleeping in the Gaia Stasis chamber next to his girlfriend, Lala, while a monitor attached to the heads-up display showed his face on the monitor, of which he talked to the teachers through and even had a special game show-like buzzer to tell the teachers that he was, in effect, raising his hand to answer their questions to the class.
"And in 1865," The history teacher said, "the American Civil War was ended by a peace treaty signed at what courthouse in what town and state? Anyone?" When no one answered, I used my cerebral cybernetic implants to activate the game show-like buzzer to, in effect, raise my hand. When the buzzer sounded, the history teacher, Professor Wilcox, looked at the video screen on my Gaia Stasis chamber and said, "Yes, Mr. Marksman?"
"The peace treaty was signed at Appomattox Courthouse in what used to be Clover Hill, Virginia." I said through my video self on the screen through the speaker attached to it. "It was signed in the presence of representatives of both the Union and the Confederacy by General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee, after which the American Reconstruction began and the Confederate States of America were brought back into the Union after the final battle of the American Civil War when their economy collapsed and they could no longer support the Confederacy."
"Very good, Mr. Marksman." Professor Wilcox said with a appreciative smile that I was taking an interest in the history of the United States of America. "You seem to be the only one who is paying the most attention, unlike other RADs in this class."
"Well, Professor, even though I was always into video games when I was younger, I began to mature when video games no longer interested me and I began taking an interest in some of my other favorite things that did not pertain to video games and fanfiction and worked on trying to crack the legendary Unified Field Theory of physics."
"I'm impressed." Prof. Wilcox said. "You're smarter than you look, Mr. Marksman."
"Thanks, Professor." I said, using the avatar program that was portraying my video form on the screen to imitate blushing, since I was feeling a little embarrassed that I was slightly smarter than all of the other RADs in my class.
That's when the bell for the end of school rang and Prof. Wilcox said, "Alright everyone, class dismissed. I'm expecting each of you to right a report on each of your families' histories for part of history class next week on Monday. I expect it to be hand written and not typed, since I don't believe in all of the advanced computers of today. I'll make an exception for you. Mr. Marksman. since you can easily transform your thoughts into text like you were writing it by hand and store it away in your cerebral implants, you can easily bring up the file and read it while looking at the class."
"Okay, Professor." I said, saluting him like I would my CO, as was my custom when acknowledging an order from someone with authority over me.
"Okay. Go home, Mr. Marksman." Prof. Wilcox said to me. After I saluted my history teacher one last time through the video screen, I awoke from Gaia Stasis and the chamber opened, releasing me from Gaia Stasis completely and I walked out of the classroom, into the hallway to a waiting Lala as she waited for me out in the hall. After I met her in the hallway, we walked down the hallway to the front lobby of the school with my hand around her shoulders. I also noticed that she had a concerned look on her face. I stopped and turned her towards me.
"What is it, Lala?" I asked my girlfriend. "What's on your mind?"
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing." Lala said, shaking her head after she looked at me confused for a few seconds.
"Lala, I know when something's deeply troubling you." I said, looked at my beautiful girlfriend with a gentle but serious look. "Remember the family motto that I created for our future family when we get that far?"
"There are no secrets in this family, only truths, no matter how brutally honest the truth is... I know." Lala said, sighing a worried sigh. "It's just..."
"What? You can tell me." I said, gently urging her to tell me. "If you don't want to talk about it right now, I can wait. Just tell me when you feel ready."
"No, I'll say what's bothering me." Lala said, looking deeply sad about something, though I had a hunch about the cause though I chose to let her tell me herself instead of reading her mind. "But before I talk, I need a double-decaf latte with mocha sprinkles. Then I'll talk while we're sitting there."
"Fair enough." I said, smiling that she was willing to tell me. "You look like you need some rest though, but I'll settle for a coffee. I'll drive us to Starbucks, though."
"But you don't have a license, do you?" Lala asked me. I showed her my driver's license from just before I arrived in her world. She was shocked at how much different I looked in that picture than I did in reality.
"I can assure you that that is what I looked like before I came to your world." I said, looking down in embarrassment. "I was overweight, I had a mental disability, my left arm was skinnier than the right due to undetectable brain damage, and I had breathing problems up the wazoo, having been a very sick child ever since I was born. That much I do remember about my past, though it was only because it was before I put myself in self-imposed exile. But either way, I can assure you that it is not a counterfeit ID. It's very real. So while we drive to Portland an hour away from here, just get some rest while I drive us to the Starbucks in Downtown Portland."
"Okay." Lala said, climbing into the passenger side this time. "Wake me up when we get there."
"I will." I said as I got into the driver's side, after which Lala handed me the keys. "Just get some rest while we drive to Portland."
"Okay." Lala said, leaning the passenger-side seat back and falling asleep. It was a particularly cold day today, so I created a blanket of Gaia energy to keep her warm. After she fell asleep, I drove towards Portland. She looked deeply troubled about something. And I hoped she would tell me what was bothering her when we got to the Portland Starbucks.
