Chapter 2
Lex walked out of Home Economics with a heavy sigh. She found out that she had a majority of her classes with the Cunningham boy, which wasn't all bad. She was his lab partner in Science, helped him (gave him answers) in Math, and he helped her with a batch of cupcakes in Home Ec., though it resulted in the burning of his cream puffs. Lex sped to her locker and grabbed her lunch bag and map before setting off for the cafeteria. It was a huge room filled with blue tables where the rest of the student body ate and chatted. She looked for an open seat, though failed to find one. Until she spotted Randy again, who waved at her and pointed to the seat in front of him. She grinned and hurried over to the table.
"Thanks Cunningham!" She said, gratefully taking a seat.
"So, you're the new girl?" Asked a redheaded boy with navy blue eyes sitting next to Randy. He was a bit chubby and wore a light blue jacket over a blue shirt.
"That's me." Lex replied.
"Randy told me about you! Name's Howard!" He introduced.
"Nice to meet you!"
"So, since you're new, we've allowed you to sit with us!"
"Howard! Sorry about that! You can sit with us anyway!" Randy apologized.
"It's fine. I planned on sitting here, especially if he said I couldn't."
"So, where'd you come from?" Howard asked as he stuffed his mouth with chips. "Bushmeadow High. It's not far from Norrisville High, but not exactly close either. Their education system and such sucked, so my parents made me transfer to Norrisville High." Lex answered simply.
"C'mon! It couldn't have been THAT bad!" Randy said.
"You haven't seen it! They have one of the preppiest, in-your-face schools in the state! And don't get me started on their uniforms! Do you know how short those skirts were? And the teachers were either dull or stupid. Should I continue my rant?" Randy shook his head.
"How short were the skirts?" Howard asked. Lex glared at him and Randy smacked him.
"Ow! I was just curious! Sheesh! Can't a guy tell a joke?" Howard complained.
"Depending on the offensiveness of the joke, yes." Lex stated, taking a sandwich out and took a giant bite.
"So, you talked back to Bash?" Howard asked with interest.
"That doofus? Of course I did. He's not that scary. Or at least, when he isn't trying to make me or Cunningham become part of the wall."
"You're pretty brave! Randy usually avoids being hit in the face because of his ninj-" Randy nudged Howard.
"I mean ninjutsu skills! Yep! He's pretty skilled!" Howard chuckled nervously.
"Is he now? Didn't look like it, and his black eye proves otherwise." Lex chuckled lightly. Randy blushed and tried hiding his eye behind his hand.
"Hey loser! Where's my lunch?" They all turned to see none other than Bash bullying a thin blond boy in a band uniform.
"I-I-I forgot it..." He stuttered nervously.
"You know what that means don't you?" Bash grinned and gave the kid a mega wedgie. Bash laughed idiotically as the kid whimpered and ran off.
"Who's next?" He spotted a goth boy with purple hair and clothing who yelped. Bash grabbed someone's food and threw it at him, hitting him square in the face. The boy grumbled in protest, but still looked hurt. Bash continued his terror spreading until Lex stood up.
"Why don't you knock it off, you big oaf!" She yelled, earning a collective gasp from the cafeteria.
"Ooh, look! The new twerp! Feeling brave girly?" He laughed.
"What did you call me?" Lex asked, her brow twitching.
"Aww, girly doesn't like it! I'm so scared! She's going to throw her makeup at me!" More jocks laughed along with Bash.
"If only she wore some!" One laughed. Lex growled and walked to Bash. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it so he was face to face with her.
"DON'T call me girly." She let go aggressively.
"I'll call you what I want to!" Bash shouted, shoving Lex back.
"It's cool, just stop picking on everyone else, got it?"
"Let me think. Not a chance!" Bash smacked away another kid to emphasis his point. The kid seemed angry this time and his eyes glowed a menacing red. He started to grow in size and his skin turned purple. His hands became claws, he grew a long tail with a mace-like tip covered in spikes, and his eyes were bright red slits over a mouth filled with dagger sharp teeth. His feet became longer and clawed as well, and his body huge. He roared once he'd finished transforming and everyone looked up at him in astonishment and terror. A few other kids Bash had just beaten up shifted as well, each into a different monster.
"What the juice?! Now?! Really?!" Randy complained, running out of the cafeteria.
"What the heck?!" Bash screamed like a girl and hid under a table.
"What just happened to them?!" Lex asked when Howard grabbed her hand and dragged her into the hallway.
"Oh, you know. Puberty. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED TO THEM?! They just mutated into giant monsters!" Howard replied impatiently. A monster spotted them and busted through the doors, knocking over a wall in the process.
"Got a plan?" Howard asked hopefully.
"Just one: RUN!" Lex shouted, sprinting down the hall. 'I have to get to my locker! It's our only hope!' She thought urgently. 'I just hope Randy's okay.'
*Meanwhile with Randy*
Randy pulled on his mask and was the ninja once more.
"Smoke bomb!" He shouted, instantly appearing in the cafeteria. A monster that was once Bucky (the blond band boy) screeched and slashed at "the ninja", who dodged it quickly.
"Cold ball!" Randy threw an ice bomb at Bucky, freezing him instantly, though Randy knew it wouldn't last for long. A spider thing that used to be Julian (the goth boy) hissed and shot spiderwebs at Randy, successfully sticking him to the wall.
"Oh c'mon!" Randy muttered, trying to search for something that would get him free. Just as Julian came toward him, Randy grabbed his ninja sword and sliced the webs.
"Back! Back spider-monster-thing!" Rand ordered, pointing the sword at Julian. He hissed and backed up, right into the part of his web that wasn't destroyed.
"Two down! Just...one, two...one's missing!" Randy looked around in alarm, trying to find the other monster.
"And smoke bomb!" He disappeared from the cafeteria and ended up in the hallway outside the cafeteria.
"Something tells me it went this way..." Randy said, looking at the destroyed walls, lockers, etc. he looked on the floor and immediately spotted something; Lex's lunchbox.
"Oh no!" Randy ran down the hall, looking for Lex and Howard. The farther he went, the more damage he saw.
"Getting closer." He heard a girlish scream and ran towards the source. At the end of another hallway, he spotted Howard screaming behind Lex, who was struggling to open her locker. The monster was coming towards them and hissed menacingly.
"Ninja kick!" Randy lunged at the monster, kicking him full in the face. The monster fell down, slightly dazed.
"Don't worry! I'll take care of this!" Randy said to them. He noticed Lex's eyes widen at the sight of him and then she looked behind him. The monster kicked Randy across the hall, sending him through a wall. 'Bad impression...' Randy thought. 'Ninjas don't lose fights.' Randy jumped up and brought out a red ball.
"Fetching ball!" He threw it and the beast immediately ran after it. It picked it up and, wagging it's spiky tail, ran back to Randy like a dog.
"Good monster! Go get it!" Randy threw it again, farther away this time, and the monster grabbed it. The ball blinked a few times and exploded, sending the monster out the window and down the building.
"Are you two okay?" Randy asked, turning to Howard and Lex.
"Yeah...can't say the same about the school, though." Lex answered.
"Yeah, sorry about that!" Randy chuckled.
"That was awesome! But, that monster probably needs to be changed back." Howard stated.
"You're right about that! If only I knew how to do that this time."
"Well, think!"
"Are you two really thinking about this?! It's so simple! Destroy the source! What do all the kids who were just stanked have in common?" Lex said, tapping her foot impatiently.
"They had no social lives?" Howard guessed.
"They were all beat up by bozo Bash and probably very, very humiliated. So, unless we want to destroy the bully, we have to find something that will make them return to their original forms."
"Like what?" Randy asked, astonished at Lex's intelligence. 'Geez, she could be the Nomicon with that brain.'
"Well, victims of bullying like to hear two things; apologies or that the bully himself got in some sort of trouble. So, to stop the monsters, you have to stop the bully." Randy and Howard looked at each other and grinned.
"Okay, but I'm going to need a distraction." Randy said.
"Leave that to me!" Lex said, "You get Bash to apologize, if that doesn't work, figure out how to get him in trouble." Randy and Howard nodded, running off.
*Back to Lex*
"This should be easy. I hope." Lex opened her locker and dug through her backpack. She brought out a black mask with dark indigo markings.
"Let's do this!" She put it on and automatically the markings on the mask glowed. A suit started to form around Lex until she was standing there in a ninja suit. A long indigo ribbon was tied around her neck, part of the mask covered her mouth, and a hood hung loosely at her shoulders. Another ribbon tied her hair up in a messy high ponytail. She was now a ninja.
"Now to deal with ugly." Lex jumped for the hole in the wall and landed feet first on the ground near the monster, which stood up and shook its head.
"Hey! Over here!" Lex yelled. The monster turned to her and screeched, thrashing its tail at her. She jumped and threw a electric ball at the beast, sending an electrical charge through him. It growled and attempted to kick Lex, who dodged and brought out a long chain.
"Taste iron!" She turned the chain in her hands and threw it at the monster's legs, wrapping it around them and making it fall to the ground.
"Done yet, or are you hungry for more?" The monster growled and swung his tail, causing Lex to fall to the ground. It wrapped its tail around her and stood up, clawing away the chains around its legs.
"Anytime now, ninja guy!"
*Randy*
"Bash, I'm going to need you to apologize to all the monsters that you beat up earlier." Randy said to Bash, who was still cowering under a table.
"What?! No way! Why would I do that?" Bash shouted.
"Because if you don't, Bucky and Julian might just eat you." Howard explained, pointing to the monsters that were slowly trying to escape.
"Eep! Fine! Fine! I'll do it!" Bash stood up, shaking like a chihuahua.
"Nerd!" Randy glared at Bash, who cleared his throat.
"I mean Bucky! I'm...sorry." Bucky broke the ice that imprisoned him and looked at Bash curiously. He growled lightly, but began to shrink down until he was Bucky again.
"What happened?" Bucky asked, holding his head.
"A lot. Now apologize to Julian." Randy ordered. Bash groaned and walked over to Julian.
"Sorry."
"Like you mean it!" Howard said at the same time that Julian hissed.
"I'm really sorry!" Julian shifted back into himself.
"Great! One left to go!" Randy ran out with Howard and Bash following closely behind. They burst through the front doors of the school and Randy looked around for Lex. 'I hope she isn't hurt...' He thought worriedly.
"Anytime now, ninja guy!" He heard a familiar voice yell and ran towards it.
"Slow down, will you? You know what, I'll just wait here for you!" Howard panted, sitting down in the grass as Randy and Bash ran ahead of him. They rounded a corner and saw the monster, a girl ninja wrapped in its tail. 'Where's Lex?!' Randy thought.
"There you are! I could use a bit of help, if you don't mind!" The girl ninja yelled as she struggled, the spikes on the monster's tail scratching her. 'No time right now!'
"Ninja throwing star!" Randy threw the star at the monster, making it turn to him with glowing red eyes.
"Apologize!" Randy told Bash.
"I'm very sorry!" The monster stopped for a second, then growled and dropped the girl. It ran towards Bash with a hunger for vengeance in its eyes.
"Why the juice isn't it working?!" Randy said, jumping out of the way when the monster ran towards him. Bash shrieked and jumped into a bush.
"I'm pretty sure the girl from earlier gave you two options!" The girl ninja stated.
"Are you okay?" Randy ran towards her.
"Slight bruising, but otherwise fine." She stood up and looked where Bash was.
"I'm going to need you to get the monster to look at me, okay?" Randy nodded and ran to the beast.
"Hey! Stupid-saurus!" The monster growled and hissed, turning his head to Randy.
"Look over here!" He jumped next to the girl, who just brought Bash out form behind the bushes.
"Now what?" Randy whispered to her.
"You'll see." The girl whispered back.
"I'm sorry about this." She said to Bash.
"Sorry about wh- OW!" She gave him a super wedgie and the monster stopped in front of them. It burst out laughing and slowly shrank. In no time at all, the monster turned into a small boy who was rolling in the grass laughing.
"That's one way to solve a monster problem." Randy chuckled.
"That's my way to solve a monster problem. Yeah, might wanna see the nurse about that..." The girl laughed to Bash, who whimpered and walked back inside.
"So, who are you?" Randy asked the girl.
"It's funny, since I was about to ask you the same thing." The girl chuckled, bringing out a smoke bomb.
"The Ninja. You?" He said.
"Kasumi. It's a bit more original than 'the ninja', so I like it better." The girl ninja smiled and threw the smoke bomb. When the smoke cleared, she was gone.
"Wow. I can't believe there's another ninja!" Randy said.
"I can't believe she's a girl." Howard said.
"Time to be Randy again!" He took off the mask and was himself again, just as Lex came toward them.
"Hey guys!" She said with a wave.
"Lex! Where were you?" Randy asked with concern.
"Inside. The monster...threw me inside and I was knocked unconscious. Gave me a nasty cut, too." Lex said, taking off her jacket to reveal a long cut on her right arm. "What did I miss?"
"The ninja! That's what you missed!" Howard said.
"So that was his name? Interesting." Lex commented.
"There was also this girl ninja. She said her name was Kasumi." Randy added.
"Really? Man, I was missing out today! I did see her though. When I was being a distraction, she kinda just helped out." Lex looked curiously at Randy.
"Speaking of disappearances today, where were YOU?"
"Me? I-I-I was..." Randy stammered, looking for an excuse.
"The bathroom! He was REALLY scared, so nature called." Howard finished.
"Really?" Lex laughed at this and Randy glared at Howard.
"So we both missed out. How unfortunate. I was really hoping on being helpful!"
"You were, though you should've been more careful."
"And you should've been a bit more brave, Cunningham." Lex chuckled again, making Randy blush in embarrassment.
"So, I'm assuming school is done for the day?" Lex said, looking at the destroyed building.
"Most likely." Howard stated.
"Students, due to property damage, school is canceled for today. And probably tomorrow." The principal said through the intercom.
"Well, that settles it!" Lex walked inside with the boys trailing behind her. They went to their lockers and grabbed their stuff before setting off.
"So I'm assuming we live near each other since we're still going in the same direction." The three were in the suburbs now where Randy and Howard lived.
"Yep! I'm in the big green house around the end of the street." Lex explained.
"Near the big red house at the corner?" Howard asked. Lex nodded and he grinned.
"Looks like we're somewhat neighbors! You, me, and Randy here!"
"That's great!" Randy said.
"Here it is now! See you guys in two days, I guess." Lex said, pointing towards a mint green house near the end if the street and beginning to walk away.
"Wait! Maybe we could meet up tomorrow? If that's alright with you!" Randy said nervously.
"That sounds cool. See you both here tomorrow at 1:00, 'Kay?" Lex said with a small smile.
"Sounds great! See ya then!" Randy said, waving as Lex walked into her house.
"Hi sweetheart! You're home early! How was your day?" Lex smiled at her dad who was in the kitchen.
"Great! Also, I don't have school tomorrow! Don't ask why...it's a long explanation."
"If you say so. So, did you make any new friends at school?"
"Just two. Randy and Howard."
"Talking to boys has always been your strong suit. Which is fine as long as nothing happens to you!" Lex laughed at her dad's comment and put her bag on a chair at the table.
"Dad, I don't think a boy would think about coming near me with you around."
"I'll take that as a compliment!"
"Where's Veronica?" Her dad sighed and turned to Lex.
"Alexandria, she's your mother. Can't you just call her mom?" He asked hopefully.
"She's NOT my mom." Lex growled.
"You're going to have to accept her one day." Her dad sighed, setting a plate with steak in front of Lex.
"And that day won't ever come, hopefully."
"Just to answer your question, she said she was going out tonight. It's her night out after all."
"Don't you ever wonder where she goes?"
"I am well aware that she goes to the pub, Alexandria."
"And drinks her money away." Lex muttered to herself as she ate.
"Anyway, is Mordea home yet?"
"She came home not long ago and went to her room."
"Got it." Lex's dad sat down next to her and they ate in silence.
"Hey dad, I also told my friends I'd hang out with them tomorrow. Is that okay?" Lex asked.
"Of course sweetheart. I don't see why not!"
"Thanks dad!" Lex smiled and put her plate away and got out her sketchbook.
"I'm gonna be on the porch, okay?"
"Okay. Have fun!" Lex walked out on the porch and began to sketch.
"Hm. The Ninja, huh?" She smiled, sketching out the Ninja.