It was a Small classroom that he walked in. Placing his binder on the teacher's desk as he looked around. Each student desk was two wide, colourful blue frame with a white top. There were four columns of desks, in four rows. At most there would be thirty two students. Sitting down at the teacher's desk he flipped open the binder. The intimidatingly large man examined the official lesson plans as students silently filed in. He drew some odd glances but no-one said anything as they took their seats. Mr. Cabberin recognised about a third of the students. But he continued examining the lesson plan for the last class before the holiday. Four chairs were empty when he finally spoke. "Is this everyone?" The teens looked around before a couple nodded. "As I'm sure you've all noticed, I'm not Mr. Winberr." He smiled, remaining seated at the desk. "I'll be filling in for him today, My name is Mr. Cabberin. Some of you may know me from your sciences classes." Several of the students nodded. Most of the others simply watched him. One had his head on the desk and eyes closed. The girl next to him went to shake the boy who was already clearly in a light sleep. "Oh, let him sleep. This is the last class before the holidays and is officially a review lesson." He smiled, opening the top draw on his right to look through the papers. "Mr. Winberr didn't leave me any notes on what he paid a lot of attention to. So I can only go off the official lesson plan." One of the girls raised her hand, and upon being nodded to, asked her question. "Ah, Well he called in sick." The large man smiled. "But I wouldn't blame him if he wanted an early start to the holidays. Would you?" some laughter, not much. With the large grin he closed the draw and opened the one beneath it. He faultered for a moment but kept his smile as he slowly looked up from the desk. "Has Mr. Winberr ever teased or threatened any of you?" Some confused looks as the kids shook their heads and looked amongst themselves. "Good. Don't know him myself is all." He smiled comfortingly as he slowly half-closed the draw, always keeping the pistol in his peripheral vision.
"So. Because today is review." He started, standing up beside the teacher's desk and towering over the students. "You can either do some personal revision by examining your textbooks." He nodded to a couple students who had already taken the book out and opened to apparently random pages. "Or you can ask me any questions you have. I'll try my best" He leaned on the desk, easily resting his upper legs against it. "I can't guarentee I'll have all the answers, but I'm sure if I don't; some of you will be able to help me out." He beamed at them. History wasn't his thing. He preferred the subjects with definite answers, but he knew enough about the subject to help. Five hands went up, picking one at random he listened to the question. "Right, So from what I remember, there's a lot of dispute about what exactly ended the great war." He looked at one student who had their book open but was paying him more attention than the pages. The boy nodded at him. "Oh good, Let's see, it was either; a third army, an acid storm, an insanely powerful pokemon, a virus, or the king's great machine." A couple student's nodded. The one teen wanted a little more information on the machine. "Ah! See, that I can help with. Who here knows about Devon Corp's new energy system 'Infinity energy'?" A couple nods but mostly blank stares. "Right, well Infinity Energy is just another name for the power that pokemon use for evolution and their moves. An entity back then, only known as 'The king', built a giant machine designed to use large amount of Infinity Energy to influence life force of people and pokemon in the area." He was sitting on the desk already, most of the kids seemed to be keeping up. "Some historians believe that this machine increased the power of Yveltal to draw away the life energy of all people and pokemon in the area. Killing thousands and ending the war." He nodded solemly at the rather appauled looks. "We get most of this information from the King's journal itself. Which is why there is a lot of dispute about it's veracity."
"According to 'the king', who's name isn't known which is why a lot of people don't trust his records, the great machine needed a tremendous amount of power to even start. That's not including the power needed to charge it for use. Just to turn it on used lots of energy." The teacher looked around the class, gauging if the class would be okay with the next part. Deciding it would be okay enough, he continued. "So, as some reports around Cyllage and Geosenge actually do corroborate, the king slaughtered pokemon in the area now called Menhir trail. This released enough 'infinity energy' to start the machine." Yes, slaughtered. At least fifty pokemon. "Some people think the Menhir stones are related to Mega stones. It's true they have similar energy readings. But it's still undecided which came first; Menhir or Mega." How was it used, why was it made? "Well, the king claims he made it to amplify the powers of Xerneas, to bring back to life his favourite pokemon. Who left his company later anyway, The king claims it was angry at him for killing pokemon to bring it to life." Mr. Cabberin didn't blame it, he would hate to have that sort of thing on his conscience. "After the pokemon left him, he grew angry and bitter. And began to blame the warring factions. In an attempt to punish them and himself. The king used the conflict itself to turn on the machine." So the notes claim. "And he used it to amplify the power of the other powerful legendary of the time; Yveltal. To kill everyone in the war."
"Xerneas? Is that part of your course?" He looked around after asked to go into more detail about the legendary beast. While some of the students with their books out shook their heads, the others didn't seem to care, and wanted to hear about the legendary pokemon. "Well, Xerneas is thought by some people to be the origin of our current tree of life mythology." He smiled, picturing it in his mind to better describe it. "Most drawings put it's back at about my lower chest. So quite tall." He measured the non existant creature against himself as he stood at the front of the class. "Mostly dark blue fur, with seven long pale antlers on its head." He looked down at one girl sketching on a little pad. "A more uniform spread and a bit flatter to start with, curving up about two thirds of the way." He watched her drawing. "That's very good Ivonne, mind if I show the class?" It was a quick sketch, but was about as accurate to most murals as he could ask for in the span of a minute. She rathered he didn't so he left the page infront of her. He lifted his head as a student spoke. "Yes, that's right. Xerneas is the basis of the seven branched tree symbol you see on maternity wards. It was said that when Xerneas went to sleep, it would transform into a magnificent tree that no-one who looks upon it would want to harm." Of course, this long into a class the kids usually got rowdy, though simply standing there with his hands behind his back quietened them quickly enough. "Like most legendaries, when it was first discovered, people revered Xerneas as a deity. I know there are reports of couples who would pray to Xerneas for a baby, and even some who would plant trees as an offering." He looked around the class, stopping himself from launching into a discussion further about how this pokemon was considered a deity.
"Yveltal. Well of course that's next." The teacher rolled his eyes, sitting back down at the desk, intentionally not looking in the draw. Instead of starting a full description of Yveltal, he instead asked for any guesses. After a minute of the student's discussing he finally called for attention. "Right, so Yveltal's name literally translates to 'God of death'" The opposite of Yveltal. "People use to live in fear of it. One legend even says that should it die, it would steal the 'breath of life' from all that lived." Some murmurs, but Yveltal was obviously the more famous of the two. "Where Xerneas was said to grant life. Yveltal took it away. Many people use to pray that Yveltal would leave their families alone when they were sick. And would even create charms and amulets in an attempt to ward him off." Humans always feared death. It was the reason to fear other things. Death was paramount, and the legends Mr. Cabberin went into about Yveltal, showed just how true this was. "Of course, you can't say that all legends of Yveltal are bad. My personal favourite is that instead of taking everyone in one hit, it takes people every day. The old, those who are sick and dying anyway. I think many of you might agree with me that it's at least a little nicer to think that this beast, if it exists, is feeding on natural death. Than the idea that it kills to eat." He smiled weakly. It wasn't really the most comforting thought. But when it came to this creature, That was about as good as you were going to get. "What does it look like? Well most drawings depicted it as simply a shadow passing over an area. A large shadow with a long body and two huge arms with three claws each. The colour and size is never really shown."
"Menhir trail?" He shook his head slowly. "We'd be getting into Geography or Pokemon Sciences. This is suppose to be your history class." The uproar was more than he expected. Apparently he was going to talk about Menhir trail if he wanted to or not. "Well, it's your last lesson before the break. I suppose you can do revision yourself during your little holiday. So if you're sure, I'll talk about Menhir trail." A wave of nodding and 'yes's sealed him in. "Okay, well all of you should probably have heard of it even if you don't know where it is. Menhir Trail is a path marking the south entrance to Geosenge Town." He should know, he smiled to himself. "Lined with Sixty Four large vertical stones that look almost like pillars. They are roughly evenly spaced and arranged in a sixteen by four grid." 4-5 was the one he knew best. "People use to think they were the graves of pokemon sacrificed to power the ultimate weapon. With the recent discovery of the energy they give off; this is becoming less and less likely." He nodded, encouraging a question from someone who'se hand was already high in the air. "Yes, and Devon Corp researchers seem to believe that's why. Pokemon like Staryu, Growlithe and Eevee are common sights there because this energy may be able to make them evolve." He smiled, taking another question, this one considerably more personal though it may not seem it. "Yeah, that is a tradition at Geosenge. Most people just have the number tattoo'd, though some fools go so far as to have large proper tattoo's made. What they do is chisel pieces off a stone, and grind it up into a fine powder that is then mixed with the ink for the tattoo. It's a very old tradition." Ivonne seemed to know, and of course asked the question that would follow for anyone who knew Mr. Cabberin's history. "Yes I do. Yeah, I'm one of those fools who went for a full tattoo. Though legally I'm not allowed to show you." The class laughed. "Yes, it does hurt. And at times it does allow me to simply touch and evolve some pokemon, but this is an incredibly rare side effect that most people who get one of these tattoo's don't experience. They just get the excrutiating pain." He grinned. "So no, I don't recommend it."
A loud bell rang for lunch. Most of the kids hadn't taken anything out, but those who did stowed their equipment. "Well, we went way off topic, but I hope you all enjoyed." He smiled at each of them as they stood up, swinging their bags over their shoulders and filing out of the room. "Have a good vacation" He waved back to a couple that waved at him. Turning back to the room away from the door, he saw the one boy still asleep at his desk. Rolling his eyes the large man stood up and walked over. 'sitting', though it'd more accurately be called leaning, on the adjacent desk, he gently shook the lad. "Come on, class is over." The boy blinked, yawning as he sat up, apologising profusely. "It's alright. Holidays start tomorrow. Just try not to fall asleep on anyone else until the last bell, alright?" The boy nodded, grabbing his bag and standing up to walk out. When the lad apologised again, the teacher only gave him a stern look that melted into a smile as he left. "What was his name, should probably warn his teachers for the rest of the day." Mr. Cabberin mumbled to himself as he opened the binder and flicked to the seating arrangement page. 'Peter Salem.' was the listed name for the boy who'd fallen asleep. With the door closed, and the blinds shut, the stand-in walked around to the draw of the desk to properly investigate the gun. Pulling the magazine out he found it was loaded, though the safety had been on, he did not trust the thing. And found himself wondering why a teacher would have one in his desk. None of the kids at this school were dangerous. A little rowdy at times and kind of mean to each other but that's kids. A firm hand is all it takes to- his train of thought was interrupted by a series of loud claps and shouting from outside.
Shouting, crying, screaming, gunshots. Gunshots. Without thinking about what he was holding, the large man rushed out the door into the hallway. Two different sources of noise greeted him. The panic and screaming of kids running past him to the left, and more gunshots and shouting to the right. Turning right, Cabberin ran down the hall and out into the courtyard. The scene instantly changed the moment he threw the doors open. No-one ran out here. A small circular fountain sat in the middle of the courtyard with a collection of kids knealing in a circle around it. The large teacher could even see a couple of his colleagues knealing with the kids, each and every one of the painted with a look of absolute terror. Standing not three meters away from them was Mr. Winberr. "Adam! Adam what the fuck is going on?" Cabberin shouted as he marched into the courtyard. "I thought I heard-" And there it was, a small machine gun. He didn't know the differences between many kinds of guns, but he did know this was what people called a 'submachine gun'. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Stay back Ryan. Another step and I fucking kill someone" Mr. Winberr, an old but obviously very pissed off man shouted back.
The large teacher raised the pistol in his own hands to point at the older man. "This isn't right Adam. You're better than this." He held the gun in both hands, levelled at the older man. But though his head pointed to the threat, his eyes looked to the woman knealing with the students. A flick of his eyes and she nodded. He turned his attention back to the other man. "Put it down Adam. Adam don't hurt them." Mr. Winberr focused all his attention on Ryan. And the moment he did, the woman stood. With a shout from her, all the children began to run away, and Ryan lost control of the situation. Adam Winberr spun at the hip, swinging the gun around wildly to point at someone, anyone. Then bang. Mr. Cabberin shot first. He saw the blood splash from Adam's neck. As a reflex, the other man's fingers clenched and sent a spray of bullets. 1, 2, 3, It was slow motion. Ryan could almost see the trajectory of each bullet. 4, 5, 6, People were still running. Winberr fell to the ground. 7, 8, 9 the gunshots stopped as the old man lay on the ground, writhing and coughing with the sound of a person drowning.
As the crowd thinned, he could see three people laying on the ground. Two students nearby to whom the large man charged immediately. He dropped to his knees, unable to reach both at once. The little girl, Ivonne, had been shot in her shoulder and her upper chest. Immediately his hands covered the holes. Placing pressure on the wounds as he looked over at Peter. Ryan could clearly see almost black blood coming from the boys belly. The boys arm, riddled with bullets as it was, was weakly swinging in the teacher's direction. Despite his shoes, Ryan could feel the fingers brushing against his feet. Biting his own teeth, the large man kept pressure on her wounds as he reached to try and get Peter as well. "Come on" He growled to himself, forcing himself not to look at the other man, who was thrashing at the time, holding his own throat. Ryan could feel the tattoo on his back searing with pain the more he tried to help both children. "FUCKING DO IT" He shouted at himself, pounding the ground with his foot as he reached with a leg to try and get the boy to him. He wasn't a doctor. All the medical knowledge he had was general anatomy and the basic education everyone got. But he wouldn't give up.
"What the fuck is wrong with you people" He yelled at the crowd that had encircled the courtyard. He couldn't see the shimmering of the light at his back. Couldn't feel the immense heat eminating from him. "You!" He pointed to the woman he'd looked at earlier. "Call an ambulance." She didn't move. His grip tightened on Ivonne as he shouted at her. "Call a fucking ambulance you daft woman!" He screamed, she stumbled backward blinking in suprise before shaking herself to her senses and hurrying away. "It's okay, I'm here, you're going to be okay." He whispered to the girl, unable to shake the look in her eyes from his own vision. No matter where he looked, the fear in her glassing eyes was always there. He moved from one to the other every couple minutes. Bandaging the holes as best he could, pressing them to stop the bleeding. Lifting their heads and chests, trying to get the blood flowing. But no-one approached to help him. The large man, couldn't see the fire on his back. He did not care. His eyes stung from boiling tears, and the blood on his hands was spread on his face as he kept trying to wipe away the sweat. When the police finally arrived, he was dragged away to let the paramedics attend to all three people. Two people. Person. He was held back as the sheets were drawn over all three corpses. Looking down, Ryan could see the blood on his hands. Shining, Glimmering, Accusing.