Time for another.
How did you know?
Originally done by yayleo
Redone by LuxUmbra2012
Chapter 5
Icy Chill. Part 1 of 2
The month is November
Leo's POV
All of us were angry over what happened to Dante… I personally swore revenge. No one messes with us and get away with it. But that time would come later; cause now, Spencer and his gang were officially on our tails about what happened when Dante hacked his PC and e-mail account. Poor guy. He was admitted to the hospital for his injures, and due to his broken arm, he couldn't perform any school work, and his leg took some damage too, so he was removed from school until he healed, which would be a month from now. Damn you Spencer. I swear I'll get you one day… But now, I shouldn't worry about Dante's condition, I should worry about this DAMN MATH TEST! I gotta pass this thing; otherwise I'm in big trouble!
Aeris' POV
That's a trick question. The answer is B. This test is way too damn easy. Well for me, it is. I can see the idiot groaning as he tried to answered the questions with what little ability he had in this field. How stupid can ya get? But I did have to remember the profile I developed on him. He just chooses to be stupid. Well, even though I gave him a hand when it came to studying yesterday for the test, he still had problems. That made me ask myself, 'Is he dyslexic?" That was a possibility considering his grades, or maybe he didn't practice like I said due to distractions, or maybe he just stuck true to my theory and was just an idiot. Most likely the last one. I'd be surprised if it was the other options. Oh, looks like times up. I smirked, knowing full well what my grade was going to be, since I studied for this. Not sure what he'd get. Probably something on the edge of passing and failing. Since we had time, the teacher took the time to grade our papers and decided to announce our grades.
"Dante Riley?"
Spencer sneered when that name was mention, then spoke up, "He had an 'accident' and isn't coming to school for a while."
'FUCK YOU, SPENCER!' I screamed in my head. When I turned to see Leo, I swear he's seeing red right now.
"Spencer. 79."
Leo laughed, catching Spencer's attention, and the cheetah just glared at Leo with hatred burning in his eyes. Truthfully, it served Spencer right. He IS a jackass, like Leo said. And I hope that Spencer rots in hell for what he did to Dante. Sure, I hardly know the enigma but he's polite where politeness is required, not to mention he's the smart guy, so basically, we're both in the same position when it comes down to it. Two smart people surrounded by nerds, but we're nerds as well.
"Aeris. 100."
Yes! Just as planned. No one can beat me grade wise. No one!
"Leo, 97."
WHAT THE HELL!?
"HAH!" Leo laughed louder than last time. "I guess you're the dumbass now, Spence!"
As much as I don't want to admit it… He's right. I guess Spencer is the new dumbass. Purest irony, granted I'm gonna have to ask Leo how in the absolute hell did he get a 97 when I saw him panicking like absolute hell during the test.
"Class dismissed! Go get your lunch."
Finally… Been waiting for this for a while. It's hard sitting around a pack of idiots who don't know basic calculus, and I can say that. After all, Leo is the supreme king of them. No. I have to stop speaking so poorly of him so often. He wouldn't pull off such a complicated plan if he was stupid by default. I just have to remember, that he chooses ignorance. It must truly be bliss for him since he continues to choose it over common sense. In any case, with class dismissed I grabbed my things, and headed out. But before I did, Spencer stopped Leo just outside of class when he took a swing at him. Thankfully, Leo dodged it. The last thing I wanted was for another friend of mine to wind up in the hospital, especially Leo of all people. Why him? I don't know. Maybe because he's been my childhood friend and things would just get boring without him around. Surprisingly, Leo didn't react back at Spencer. He just walked away, much to Spencer's ire. Good for him. Normally, I would expect for him to start a fight he definitely couldn't win since I know Spencer is pretty strong, as Shawn tells that they are the top in their P.E. class. No wonder the others didn't want to physically cross him, especially since he alone took down Dante like that. But now's not the time for me to worry about Spencer. I'll save that for another time. But before I could go, I was stopped by the cheetah himself.
"Hey babe. Sorry about missing the mall date. Slipped my mind. Let me make it up to you." Spencer spoke, having some dumbass grin on his face, that smug air of confidence just radiating off of him. He makes me sick. "Sure." I smiled sweetly to him, looking through a small crack in my eyes, waiting for the chance. He dropped his guard. "You can make it up with THIS!" And with no further warning… I smashed my leg clean in his crotch, catching everyone's eyes. "WHAT THE FUCK- OWW- WAS THAT FOR?" Spencer yelled while falling to the floor, holding his crotch in anguish. "I saw you with that other girl, Claudia. Fucking cheat. Keep your disgusting hands away from me." I spat, literally on him, and then left, some girls glaring at Spencer, some at me for doing that to him, but then I saw Vanessa…. Laughing? She opened her eyes for a moment, recovering from her fit of laughter then… thumbed upped me? What the hell is going on here? This is getting confusing. I'm outta here.
Later that day…
The end of fall meant only one thing: The coming of the frozen blankets of snow that signified the start of Canada's notoriously cold winter. Oh winter, such a beautiful time for many, the holidays, the cheer, the peaceful winter air, the-
"YO, AERIS!" Well, scratch peaceful… because here comes Leo.
"What was that you did to Spencer!? That was hilarious!" He shouted, rather loudly, as he approached me. Fortunately, no one, not even the gang, was around to comment on his little outburst. I sighed, somewhat missing their company, yet relieved since I wanted to relish my little victory alone. Guess I'm gonna have to share, since shaking him off is like telling him not to play video games. He can't last a day without going insane… well, more insane than usual.
"So I kicked him in the balls, what else did you expect?" I replied to him. He chuckled.
"Still funny every time you DO kick someone. The reaction face is priceless. I only wish I could've seen Spencer's. Oh, the guys are gonna have a field day when they hear about this! You've basically just avenged Dante by doing that to him! Man, he'll be so proud."
"I didn't say I did it for him. That was for going with Claudia instead of me."
"Oh well… Still priceless though. Bet his nutshot face looked painful."
Typical Leo. Always talking about the dumbest things that happen every day. But, that's who he is, I guess… Better humor him then.
"His face looked like this." I scrunched up my face as best as I could to resemble Spencer in pain, at least from what I saw. He started laughing when he saw my face. I must look ridiculous. "Man, than must've been painful! Great job, Aeris!" Leo complemented as he recovered from his laughing fit. What's with him complementing me? I only kicked a guy in the balls. So, what else is new? "In any case, Leo, I have a question for you." "Shoot." "How the hell did you get a 97 on the test?" "I had the smartest person I know tutor me the day before the test." Now THAT was a complement… a very nice one… I never get quoted on my brains, aside my intelligence being cannon fodder at the table. (Not that I minded… much.) At least he was considerate enough to even say something so nice. Perhaps he isn't a COMPLETE moron… he still is, don't get me wrong, but not a complete moron. "Thanks. I appreciate that." I spoke in reply. "So… ya wanna talk on the way back? No one else showed up so I guess it's you and me." "Might as well. Try not to bore me this time around." He pouted childishly. "Come now… when do I bore you?"
The walk back in the nippy weather wasn't as bad as he and I spoke about various things, ranging from today's incident with Spencer, some of his goons hassling Ronny and Shawn, Vanessa thump upping me, even last month's food fight on Thanksgiving. That, despite my ass grounded for 2 weeks for causing that was still pretty fun and honestly, even I couldn't deny that. We both mused over why Vanessa would even support that action. She's in the same league as Spencer when it comes to social status, so why would she even… Leo just gave a crazy ass version of why, something along the lines of Van being replaced by a parallel version of herself where she comes from an alternate universe where everyone is their exact opposite except she's a couerl dressed up as a wolf. Of course I slapped him upside the head for such a stupid explanation, but lowered the strength level just a bit, since he accomplished something not videogame related. "Oww! Just saying! I mean, it would make sense when you- *whack* OWW!" Typical Leo…
That weekend…
"So I heard Leo finished building his man-cave down in his basement." Ronny said as the 6 of us were trekking towards his house. We all received a message from him saying 'The Cave is open. Free Passes to be used, NOW!' Man-Cave? Since when was Leo building a man cave?
"Yeah! That's why we're here! We get first invites! He and Ternaldo have been working on it for weeks!" Now I was intrigued. Knowing the both of them, they probably stuffed it full of video games and Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards… Knowing them. So here I am, walking with Ronny, Shawn, Ashley, Shannon, and Clarissa, wondering what this 'man-cave' was going to look like. Since his parents went out, that left him, Ternaldo, and Tommy alone, so I guess he wanted to take the chance to show us. 5 bucks I won't be impressed… "I'm excited! I've never seen a man-cave before!" Ashley declared. Why am I not surprised… She's such a girly-girl compared to the rest of us. Granted, I can't say that that's a bad thing. She's just too sweet for her own good sometimes. "This outta be good. I've seen a few demo pictures and I'm betting they really are gonna blow us away with the new cave. Least we don't have to head to Ronny's for a group gaming romp all the time now." Shawn said. He does raise a point… Leo's place is within walking distance of my own so it benefits me more than the others. "Up yours! My place is bigger!" "Yeah yeah, keep talking, rich boy." Of course, Ronny would complain since he's the farthest from Leo's by several miles, but he shouldn't. Every time we meet up one place's, usually at Ronny's, making us all drive there. So he should just shut up and check this place out like the rest of us. So now here we are, standing in front of his place, waiting for the door to open… Oh, there it is. And there stood Tommy, looking at the lot of us in glee.
"You're here! Ready to see the cave?"
They nodded, some of them eager to see it, but not me. I'm just along for the ride, I guess. Tommy walked aside and led us inside, shutting the door behind them. As the group began walking through, Tommy started guiding them upstairs first. "Um… Why up here first?" "Big brother wanted to show you something first. His room." "We've all seen his room." "Not this version… Ladies first." Timmy spoke, trying to be suave and impress us. Oh, how I am going to whack Leo hard for trying to teach another to follow his footsteps… But as I opened the door, I saw Leo and Ternaldo sitting on the bed… in his clean room… Good Lord. It's sparkling in here! What did he do with all of his stuff!? This place was a junky wreck every time I saw this room! "Why hello, honored guests." Leo said, while bowing politely. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, ladies and gentlemen." Ternaldo spoke, bowing as well but adding an unfamiliar Cockney accent.What the hell is up with the accent? Probably a knockoff of Leo's dad's legit Cockney accent. "DUDE! What happened to your room? You hired someone to dig through this mess!?" Ronny shouted. "It looks very nice in here…" Clarissa said. I forgot that she barely joined up with us recently, so she hasn't seen his room at all. "Why thank you, madam. But let's dispense with the kindness and get on with the real entertainment… If you will follow us, please." The two stood up and left the room, beckoning us to follow them. We did so, me taking point behind them. I can already tell that I won't be impressed by their efforts… As we walked downstairs, everything sank into darkness as Tommy closed the door to the basement behind him. Oh, scary… Someone hold me, I can't see… Not. I'm a cat goddammit, so it's easy to see in front of me while the others slowly made their way downstairs. It also helps that you've been here several times in your life, so going through here in the dark is purely second nature. I saw Leo grab the light switch as he stepped at the bottom of the basement. "You guys ready for this?" "Whatever Leo, just throw the-" "SURPRISE!" He yelled, and then flicked on the lights. Adjusting to the sudden brightness was a bit of a pain but after the small period, I saw the basement, now converted into a video game man cave… Everything I said about it being suckish, I take back now. Posters of the greatest games ever created lined the walls of the basement; a massive couch set was down here where Leo immediately took a seat on the wide one. There was a couch, a loveseat I think, in the center that had a sign next to it that said, "Reserved for the Almighty King/Queen of gaming. Probably for competitions and stuff… A huge 40 inch flat screen Vizio TV was in the center of everything, speakers and surround sound included. All of the games that Leo ever possessed in his life, and those that still worked, were placed in display cases, showing off his collection. All of them were even organized from console to console, year to year, and alphabetically as well. And the black and red color scheme for everything down here gave it a rather serious look. There was even a table lined out with snacks, like chips and sweets and… AND!?
"TASTYKAKES!?"
"Yup, imported from Philadelphia. Cost a bit, but SO worth it."
I kind of had this big weakness for TastyKakes ever since a trip to Pennsylvania… I especially love the peanut butter chocolate cakes and nearly gorged myself on them when I first had them. Ironically, it was Leo who introduced me to them. And thank god, they were there! I almost got giddy in front of everyone since my favorite snack of all time was there, but kept my composure due to everyone's else's presence. Eventually, after everyone marveled over the new gaming station, as Leo called his man cave, we started enjoying the comforts of our new hangout. Never thought a basement would be turned into something so cool. I gotta give those two their dues for all their hard work on this little project of theirs. We spent the remainder of the day, enjoying the comforts of our new hangout and me enjoying the treats. Sure I got a sneaky look from Ronny, but a punch on the shoulder shut him up quickly. We had a little tournament in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, to commemorate the return of Captain Olimar, who I was told will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Universe. Truth be told, Leo was giddy as a schoolgirl when he heard MegaMan will be joining the fray. For me, at least the blue bomber finally got put in something major that didn't get put on hold, like MegaMan Legends 3. (Oh wait… that was cancelled indefinitely.). So I participated, despite my dislike of fighting games. The others fought each other and where some succeeded, others lost, till n the end, I surprisingly made it to the last round… Against Leo. Lord help me… I HATE fighting Leo. He is SUCH AN ASSHOLE AND NEVER SHOWS MERCY TO ME IN FIGHTING GAMES EVEN THOUGH HE KNOWS HOW BADLY I SUCK AT THEM! Ugh… better get this over with and prepare for his inevitable gloating…
It was down to the final life. He got too overconfident and I made him pay for it during the midst of our fight, taking all but one life from him, while he did the same to me early on in the beginning of our battle. Fortunately, 2 pieces of heart (Legend of Zelda) dropped by after I took his fourth life and I was healed to near perfect condition. As he dropped from the recovery platform, I saw anger burning in his eyes. The egomaniac, I've officially pissed off. Sure I was fast, but I needed my Power Suit… I was much stronger in it and stood a better chance in it. But I needed to get a Smash Ball, and Leo has been taking all except one, which I used to blow his ass off the stage and killing him earlier, which is which I'm in the Zero Suit. A sliding crate fell in front of Leo in which he roared, "FALCON PUNCH" and smashed the thing, sending it flying at me. I jumped it, but Leo jumped at me, charging another Falcon Punch. I evaded him at the last millisecond, thanking myself on remembering how to dodge in midair during my earlier fights. Turning round, I lashed at him with the Paralyzer Whip, whacking him in the back of the head. He snarled at me, and shoulder tackled me as a responsible before double punching me, then kneeing me in the stomach, chaining it with several lightning fast punches. That crap hurt, while he laughed all the while. Setting and explosive edge to the Whip, I lashed out at him again, the explosive tip catching him and knocking him a small bit away. He still was angry and did a small hop, kneeing me in the face. I grabbed the edge of the stage (Final Destination) and kicked the approaching Leo in the gut. He simply snarled again. He's starting to get irrational. After all, he claims to have never lost a match against any of us, and he refuses to lose to a talentless noob like me. Oh how I'll kill him, metaphorically and literally, for that… He charged again, but I did a rather graceful backflip, and kicked him in the back. He turned around after recovering from that and jumped over the Paralyzer Shot I fired and stomped hard on my head, causing me to bounce off the floor. "BOUNCE LITTLE KITTY!" He taunted at me before somersault-kicking me off the stage. I used the Whip to grab the ledge, saving my life from certain doom. I still had fight left in me and I refused to lose here, not after a victory chance presents itself! I shot the whip out and roped him in, kneeing him a few times in the groin before tossing him up with the whip; I jumped up and smashed my foot in his chest, sending him into the air very high. I thought he would past the blast boundary, but he descended with a vengeance after regaining control of himself mid-flight. He tossed something that landed on my waist. A gooey bomb, which was set to blow up any moment now. I raised my shield to cushion the blast, but at the same time, Leo Falcon Punched the shield, breaking my concentration and stunning me. I felt so dizzy from the crash as I held my head in pain when I staggered to my feet.
"FALCON PUNCH!"
A flaming fist slammed into my face, sending me flying through the air. I thought I was finished while Leo taunted me from the platform and the audience cheered from the impact. But I didn't cross the blast line. I made my way back to the stage, barely grabbing the edge while the audience gasped. I saw why. It wasn't because of my return to battle… The Smash Ball had finally appeared… The two of us shot forward to break it, Leo in perfect range for a Falcon Punch, which he didn't hesitate to use… I thought for sure the ball would break and the immense power would be his, but even though he scored a direct hit… the ball didn't break… I jumped off his head and shot the ball with my Paralyzer… It broke and the immense energy flooded into my body.
"GIVE ME THE POWER, AERIS!" Leo yelled before running at me.
"Too late…" And I let all of it loose. The release had sent massive currents of electricity throughout my body, Leo getting too close and electrocuted as a result. I felt it, the suit returning to me…
(Weapons systems check… Scanning… Missiles Loaded… Super Missiles Loaded… Bombs Active… Charge Shot Active… Booster Active… Screw Attack Ready… Varia Suit Fully powered, Combat Ready. Warning! Health Critical!) "Thanks for the late tip…" But now I had the suit back… "IT DOESN'T MATTER! I'LL STILL BEAT YOU!" I heard Leo yell.
(Target sighted, Target's Health: Critical, Initiating Charge Shot Weapon.) The Arm Cannon started gathering massive amounts of energy as a maintained the shot posture, just in case Leo would charge me and I would have to make a premature release. Fortunately, the weapon fully charged by the time he reached me and I sidestepped out of the way of his tackle. "I'll save this shot for the right moment." I thought to myself as I axe kicked Leo. He wasn't taking this well. I shot a Super Missile at him, which he jumped over again, and cocked back his fist for another Falcon Punch. I jumped over him and slammed him into the ground with a swipe of the Arm Cannon. Landing just behind him, he stood up and primed another Punch, but I got in front of him, and then fired the Full Power Charge Shot in his face, sending him into the skies itself.
"NO FUCKING WAYYYYYYYYYY!" *DING*
GAME SET!
"OOOOOOHHHHHHHH! NO WAY! LEO LOST! YOU JUST ENDED THE STREAK OF THE KING!"
Everyone cheered for me as I was quickly ushered towards the royal chair, Ronny tossing Leo out of it before I sat down in it.
Ronny: "All hail our new queen!"
And then he started bowing to me, which the others playfully joined in on it. I felt pretty proud. I've NEVER defeated Leo in a fighting game in the past, and I'm suddenly hailed as a hero for beating him. Everyone stopped when Leo stood in front of me… Before he fell onto a knee and actually admitted his defeat. Today was a great day for me. I spent the rest of the time there, sitting in the royal chair, feeling invincible and that nothing could possinly ruin my day… Eventually, the others had to leave, leaving me and him.
"Had fun?"
"Definitely. I must say, this place is much better than I originally thought it would be."
"Thanks. By the way, I let you win."
"Liar. I know you lost legitimately so don't try to say otherwise."
"… Yeah, I guess…"
"Maybe next time you'll win, if I ever decide to fight you again which might be never again."
He turned to look at me with a stupid grin on his face when I said that.
"Oh, I'll win… Consider yourself fortunate that you managed to win. YOU HAVE NOT HEARD THE LAST OF ME!"
And from the sullen, defeatist attitude to his stupid self, he returns. So I humored him by doing this overly dramatic speech about my invincibility. That got him riled for another round. Easily cheered up idiot. He was back to his old self in no time, and wanted to start another Brawl, but I refused, only because I was tired after today. Of course, I decided to go home after that, but he walked me back, under the pretense that it was night and I needed some big and strong muscle to protect me if anyone comes along. I slapped him for that. But nevertheless, he walked me back home in the darkness of the night. All while claiming how his victory will go. I just said "Whatever…" as I approached the front door. As I opened it, he told me that the Game Station was available to me 24/7. I asked about the others, but he said that they never beat him so they don't deserve the privilege as he calls it. Granted, I don't think I would mind spending a day or 2 down there… It was just so much fun today. I said my goodbyes as I shut the door, the sounds of running footsteps being heard as I shut it. He must've took off running. Truth be told, I didn't expect today to be so much fun. Leo and Ternaldo, more Leo, so he claims, have really outdone themselves in constructing our new station. Sure, he was still an idiot who acted out the fighting techniques of video game fighters, but still I have to give him credit. He isn't as much of an idiot than I originally thought. Better put this in the 'Shining moments of Leo not being a dumbass' notes… alongside the nice things he said about me…
"So… how was it with your boyfriend, big sis?" Vincent suddenly appeared and said that to me.
A sharp blush shot across my face as he said that. I was so embarrassed when he ONCE AGAIN said that, then it turned into fury…
"VINCENT!"
Vincent took off running the moment I yelled out like that. He knew full well what would happen if I caught him, which he also knows I WILL do in a little bit of time… So I took off after him, my little brother screaming in terror as I closed in on him.
Leo's POV
Why… why did I allow Aeris to win? I knew a punch right then and there would leave me vulnerable but why? I don't get it! I should've demolished her like I always do! But it didn't feel right to do it. It just didn't feel right to beat her like that, so something made me lose on purpose! UGGHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! My head is such a jumble right now… I don't understand… I made my way inside the house. Mom and dad were still out for a while so I reheated some leftovers and sat in the station while Tommy was playing Mortal Kombat 9. A Scorpion no less, the most bad-ass character, EVER!
"Big brother? Why did you lose to Aeris?"
I guess he noted what happened…
"Don't know, Tommy… Guess my head wasn't in the game."
"I'll say. You never Falcon Punch so many times in a Brawl Match. And that last one when Aeris shot you in the face. Even you knew she would do that, but you still primed a punch."
"Like I said, Tommy… My head just wasn't in the game."
"Do you like Aeris, Leo?"
…Wha?
"If you do, then that probably shows you didn't want to be mean to her."
"I beat her countless times in the past on all fighting games. I've been whooping her ass before you were even born, Tommy."
"But maybe you just didn't want to be a jerk to her this time."
"…"
"See? You just didn't want to be mean."
"The story will be different the next time, Tommy. I just lost once. That's all."
"Whatever you say, big brother. But I think you like her."
"You're kidding me? Aeris has been my best friend since before you were born. There's no way that I 'like' her. (It's just my goddamn puberty making me do stupid things… Ok, stupid-ER things.)"
Tommy just shrugged his shoulders, his sign of, 'I tire of the conversation because you are denying the truth to yourself'. So, I snuck up on him, ruined his fatality input, and started noogie-ing the kid on his head with my knuckles. He scrambled hard to get out of my grip as I kept noogie-ing him until his next match started. At that, I left, just as mom and dad entered the house. My task of staying up until they return was finished, so I resigned myself to bed now. Today was long, and my feelings are such a jumble. Maybe some sleep would help… Unfortunately, my dreams that night DID NOT HELP REGARDING MY FEELINGS CAUSE I WAS STUCK IMAGING GIRLS IN BIKINIS! I FUCKING HATE MY PUBERTY!
And with that, Chapter 5 is complete. Sorry for the delay. Left home to visit family, then came back to learn that my old dog is suffering from cancer… Basically, my muse was killed for a while, but the good times served to bring back my inspiration. I'll have another chapter out before the month is over. This is LuxUmbra2011, still alive btw, saying, once again, "Ja'ne"!