Hello to everyone either re-reading or reading this for the first time. This is the chapter for the rewrite of "Locked and Loaded in Another World." Due to how works I will be unable to fix any time gaps that exist between older and newer rewrite chapters. Since I extent and retract the length of some chapters making some sections lack context that are not rewritten if reading for the first time. Also, any new chapters will mostly be towards the rewrite and will be moved down to do so, further context and info will be at the end.

Please enjoy reading Locked and Loaded in Another World!

Key:

"Talking"
"Thinking"

'Emphasis or Reference'
[SMS System or Spells]
Author Talking

~~~ (Timeskip)

Walking down the hallway has never been so stress-inducing as right before. It was Thursday, a B day for me and many other of my fellow classmates as we walked haphazardly towards the bulletin board down the corridor. Mrs. Johnson was known to be cruel, but ever since her attempt of 'motivating' us has been in effect, I feel like more than anything it is a tool to torture us.

"Hey, Alex! I almost did not see you there," A familiar voice spoke up, "wait up!"

"I don't think I'm going particularly fast, if anything I'm actually going slower from the dread of test score day, whatever."

I slowed down my pace from a slowed walk to basically a crawl to let them catch up.

"Hey, Alex!" The voice finally caught up, "What are you in a hurry for?"

"As much as the voice that came up towered over me it belonged to my… friend…? I think a close acquaintance would be a better way to phrase it. Then again now thinking about it his lack of any real muscle is made up with the height advantage he holds over me."

"Hurry? If anything you're the one being unnaturally calm," I said in a puzzled tone.

He gave me a rather confused look as he raised an eyebrow.

"I keep forgetting he is prone to just straight-up forgetting things sometimes."

I rubbed my jet-black hair in annoyance, "It's test score day," I explained.

"And…?" He questioned, seeming more confused than before.

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder how Branden even made it to high school to begin with."

"Mrs. Johnson's test day," I reiterated in slight frustration.

"Ooooooh, yeah I forgot about that," He said in his signature laid-back tone.

"Now it was my turn to be confused, what was his deal? Well, knowing him he probably cheated or something now thinking about."

"You cheat or something? I'm honestly surprised you keep getting away with that," I sighed in annoyance.

"Actually, I did not cheat this time for your information," He said matter of factly.

"Wait a minute, something is off. Branden not cheating, and also not being panicked for test score day? Did Branden get replaced by a skinwalker or something?"

"Wait, so… let me get this straight," I stopped walking, "Did you actually stu-"

"Hell no," He interrupted proudly, "You think I have time for that? I already knew I failed the second I opened the packet."

"Oh, that explains it."

I began walking again, catching up to where he was, "Ah, well that would make sense," I sighed.

He only shrugged dismissively, "What did you expect? Me, studying? Not in a million years, especially with how unreasonably hard she makes the tests."

"You actually bothered to try to understand the questions? I thought you would just put down whatever first came to your head," I chuckled.

"Nope, you take me for a hard worker? I'm flattered," He said shamelessly, "But really I just glance over to you when we are taking our tests and see that very strained face you put on when you try too hard. That's enough to entertain me while I wait for everyone to finish."

"Shut your mouth! just because you won't try does not mean I won't!" I barked jokingly.

He only gave another dismissive shrug, "Power to you I guess, never said you won't. I just don't find the need to stress myself out unnecessarily."

I gave him a dirty look for a moment before turning away and continuing our walk through the somewhat crowded hallway.

"I still don't know how he is able to pass with a C. I mean it is said God works miracles, but those are to the deserving, and considering how I'm 90% sure he sells dope after school, he definitely does not deserve it. Anyways back to the topic, her tests were already notoriously hard, and getting a grade higher than a B was near impossible."

"What do you think you got then Alex? If you studied soooo hard to pass," Branden teased.

"Of course, he says this as he does not have to worry about her flashing around your grades as if it were some sort of contest, it only forces us to try even harder so as to not be made fun of. At least before you could just silently sulk in your not optimal grade, but now you get laughed at by others for failing. It doesn't even matter if they did not pass as some just mock you for the kick of it!"

"I don't know, I would hope at least a B, though considering how I got a C last test I would not exactly get my hopes up," I said dejectedly.

"No matter what I try to do, Math is always the subject I struggle with the most. Even with the amount of studying I do, whenever it comes to the test my whole brain decides to forgot everything."

"Oh yeah!" Branden suddenly exclaimed, "You studied for how long… like basically the whole weekend only for you to still get a C, the look on your face that day was priceless," He laughed.

I turned my gaze on Branden and gave him a nasty glare. He noticed it immediately as he tried to ignore it by turning his gaze forward once more.

"He isn't wrong, I was very very upset that day. I'm pretty sure I did not even go to soccer practice that day as the Coach said to take the day off. I still should thank Coach JJ for that, it helped. I can't get mad about this now, it's been a month…"

Seeing as the cheery mood fell apart, me and him only walked in silence as we turned a corner to a different corridor of the school. The ambient conversations people were having were the only thing stopping me from staying fixated on what Branden said. As uninteresting as most sounded from the bits I heard, it's better than counting the tiles on the plain white floor.

"Say Alex, were you invited to Avery's birthday party? From the invitation I got, it's tomorrow, but considering how everyone but you is talking about it, I was just wondering," Branden spoke up as he avoided a group of students walking past him.

"Looks like he is trying to move on but this just changes one issue with another, I could say no and try to avoid this conversation altogether. But as much as I take Branden for an idiot and a methhead, he still has enough of a gauge on Avery's character to know it would have been an anomaly if I was not invited. After all her being the bright star of the class was not a coincidence, maybe even the grade with her looks."

"So…?" Branden asked once more, probably due to the fact I remained silent longer than one normally would to respond.

"Yeah I was," I said with a sigh before shrugging weakly, "It's not like I'm going to go or anything anyway."

"As I finished saying that I expected Branden to jump in and urge me to go, though weirdly, he did not."

"Hm?" I grunted slightly as I raised my head to look up at him.

He turned his head over his shoulder and only gave me a perplexed look of confusion.

Since he was not getting the message I moved my arms to motion for him to continue speaking, though he just seemed to get even more confused as he turned his head.

"Maybe he really was replaced by a skinwalker… However, there really is only one way to find out."

"Are you not going to say something?" I asked in an expectant tone.

"Why would I say anything? After all, it's your choice to go or not," He said rationally surprisingly.

"Yeah, something is definitely not adding up here. Usually, he would protest immediately and say something about me not getting bitches and how this is a chance for me to get a girlfriend or something along those lines. As if I'm super invested in that kind of stuff as he is apparently."

"Well you would normally say something like, 'It's not like you have anything better to do, why don't you come?'" I bluntly stated.

It seems like that made the Lego bricks in his brain finally click as he gave the impression he recollected something.

"Oh yeah, well you're not wrong," I said with a small chuckle, "But-"

He quickly sidestepped to the side pushing me into the wall a little as he made way for a duo of girls to walk by. I let one of my hands holding the small amount of books I was carrying turn to stop me from kissing the vibrant yellow wall. He waved his hands and muttered something I could not hear very well as there were a lot of students nearby chatting and doing other stuff. As they got a bit more distance away, I weakly shoved my elbow into Branden's side.

"Ah-, you know your hits don't hurt at all right?" Branden said jokingly.

"Well, that's because I'm not trying" I snarky replied as I lightly moved him to get me off the wall practically crushing me between him and it.

He gave in rather easily as he made room for me to walk once more. Luckily I was not carrying anything heavy on me so the sudden shift in balance did not topple me. Still, though, it's not the first time he has done this, and only once did it end up in a mess for me.

"Sorry Alex, but you know I have a reputation to maintain, after all as the star player of the basketball team it's only a matter of time until a cutie falls into my lap," He said full of himself.

"You know you are still on the bench right?" I spat back rather coldly with a small glare, before softening my tone and face, "Albeit you are usually first or second pick whenever a substitution is needed, so there is that I guess."

Branden gave me a hard look, I couldn't exactly tell what he was thinking but it definitely was something not nice.

"Alex, even with your rather calm and collected demeanor you try to maintain, you can get rather… how do I say this… malicious, and cruel at times."

"Well, he isn't wrong, the well-spoken and mature demeanor I try to maintain with my classmates usually washes away once someone pushes my buttons. Though it happens rarely the few times I do are usually with people who I can call close acquaintances at the minimum. Not that I'm malicious at heart or anything, it's just that I can flip from 1 to 100 on a dime."

"True, but if that really bothered you, you would not be talking nor be in a 50-meter radius of me would you?" I said as I slightly grinned.

"Right," He said as he playfully pushed his body against mine, "It's not like you're like this all the time anyways, and someone would really need to push your buttons for you to seriously have an outburst, and-"

He cut himself off unexpectedly, seemingly frozen in speech and place as he slowed to a stop before he fully turned around a corner. He was mesmerized by something, I slowed to a stop as well then peeked over following his line of sight, and landed upon his target, Avery. She and her group of friends were around the bulletin board on which the test day results were posted. I just retracted my head and slightly slouched my posture.

"I honestly don't know how people have the energy to just gawk at people not even talking to them or anything but just gawking, if anything it just seems weird. But that's just me though, maybe that's a normal thing, but then if it was normal even I would do it or I would get weird looks for not doing it if that makes sense."

I waited for a few more moments, but as I glanced up at Branden I could see he was still in la la land without a care in the world.

"Earth to Branden," I mumbled in an annoyed tone as I waved my left hand in front of Branden.

That seemed to have gotten his attention as his head snapped back at me.

"Oh- Sorry Alex, I was just…," He began to whisper more quietly as he shot a few glances at Avery and her group.

I could only sigh in exasperation at what this guy was saying.

"Like I could understand being mesmerized once or twice but every single time you got a look at them? That's just weird. Don't get me wrong Avery is very good-looking, if I was to try to gauge her looks by a number I would say it's a good 9.5/10. That along with her very cheery attitude she seems to carry makes it so that she is very popular, both with the boys and girls. But… even so, I just can't get behind trying to follow her, I just… can't… Not sure how to explain it."

"Um, what was I saying again Alex, I forgot," Branden said as he turned his gaze away from Avery finally and gave me an embarrassed look.

"Uh, something about my personality, I think," I shrugged.

"He was talking specifically about how I get pretty malicious, but even I could tell the somewhat chill atmosphere we had was completely destroyed moments ago."

"Oh yeah! Sorry, where was I again-"

"Good afternoon Branden!" an awfully familiar cheery voice spoke up suddenly.

Branden immediately jolted to his side to see Avery and her friends had approached him in the time that he turned to talk to me.

"Judging from his reaction he most likely did not expect her to walk up on him like that, but that sure is an Avery thing to do after all."

"Oh um, hi Avery! Good morning to you too!" Branden said in his best attempt to conjure up a happy mood.

"For such a self-proclaimed woman wooer, he does seem to fumble the bag when it comes to it."

I began to unconsciously smirk to myself as I imagined Branden in many other situations where he would stammer and fumble his words when talking to girls.

"Branden…," Avery chuckled lightly, "It's the afternoon, not the morning, lunch is coming up soon."

"O-oh right!" Branden corrected himself embarrassed.

"While normally in stereotypical and fabricated environments of high schools, the popular girl and her posse would by no means interact with such a person like Branden, even with his status on the Basketball team his background seems to have become known. Not known enough to get in trouble and nobody has anything concrete but you get the point."

"So…," Avery cooed softly, "What brings you here?"

"That's one of the few gripes I have with her, she seems to be somewhat flirty with everyone at some kind of level. While being flirty is alright, I just don't like it, especially with those rumors of her having a boyfriend outside of school."

"Oh uh… I was just here to check out the test scores for the math test!" Branden stammered out.

"But those after all are just rumors, her confirming them would lower her popularity but even so people by no means reject her advances as most get the false impression that she is interested in them. Not sure if it's just her personality or if she just likes messing with people… eh, I could care less."

"Oh?" Avery said as she raised a brow, "Have you finally decided to take your studies seriously Branden?"

"While this is all going on, she seems to have not noticed me as I was around the corner, enough so I could see them but they would have to be looking for me to notice me, after all, I pride myself in being passive. Well sorta. I only care about attention when I need it, and now I definitely did not need it."

Branden let out a weak laugh, "You know me Avery… just chugging along…," He rubbed the back of his head with a flushed face," …no. I just came here at the urging of Alex as he was the main one who wanted to check out the grades."

"Of course, he had to bring me up…"

Avery oddly perked up at the mention of my name. She turned her head from side to side as if on the some frantic search to find me. I tried to sulk back into the wall in some attempt to hide but that was for naught as I could see her signature strawberry blond hair pop out slightly around the corner.

"Gee, thanks a whole lot Branden."

She fully emerged from the side rather abruptly her long hair swinging from the slight momentum, Branden made space for her as she walked a little closer as she brushed away some of the hair that got on her face.

She got a fair bit away from me and gave a friendly wave, "Good afternoon Alex, sorry I did not notice you here," she said apologetically.

While I could tell that she was easily in high spirits, her two friends looked otherwise. A pair of two girls were trailing her, that being Samantha and Anastasia, though they prefer to be called Sammy and Ana by their friends. Too bad I'm relatively certain they do not consider me a friend, their names are wordy enough as is.

"All good, I was just heading to check out the test scores for Mrs. Johnson's last test," I plainly explained.

"It was not odd that Avery was here, after all, everyone who cared even a little about their grades would come to check out their grade. She may not be the brightest but she puts in a solid effort at the minimum, which for that I can applaud her for."

"Me too!" She chirped cheerily, her tone then turned sheepish as she continued, "Though as much as I studied I did not exactly get the grade I wanted."

"That much is to be expected, even the top students struggle with her tests. Not that I consider myself a top student but I'm definitely not average, as was apparent in my grades I'm somewhere between top and above average. I feel like if I really put in a great effort I could reach that prestige top few spots, held by the likes of Julia, Ramon, and Lucas… but I don't like that kind of attention."

"I probably got a similar result I'm not exactly the best with Math," I shrugged.

"Due to their top positions, they are basically near constantly being pestered by those who struggle in their classes academically, that or those who just want to cheat. And it's not like they can just flat-out reject them since doing so would make you get dirty looks from the likes of Jayson and Keith."

I gave a quick glance towards Samantha and Anastasia, quick enough so I would not be noticed doing so.

"Probably them two along with that, Avery would be upset with you for ruining class unity, and anyone who makes Avery upset is practically an enemy of the whole school year."

"Is that so…" Avery muttered as she seemed to be thinking of something.

"I'm not surprised this school is filled with wannabe white knights who suck up to Avery thinking they have a chance with her, though simp would be a better word to describe them if anything."

"Alex…?" Avery said curiously, "... Is there something on my face?" She began to rub her face to see if there was something on her.

I hadn't realized I was unconsciously imagining the many white knights sharing their feelings of love with Avery only to get rejected, which in turn made me smirk at seemingly nothing on the outside.

"She probably thinks I'm smirking due to something on her person, and while it was definitely amusing to see her slightly flustered and panicked, it was not it."

I waved my free hand in a motion to put her off, "No. no, It's just an old joke I thought of don't worry."

She gave me a rather pleading which said 'Are you sure?' To which I responded by giving a slight nod, which was enough for her to perk up once more and her trademark smile to return.

"Oh alright, sorry for misinterpreting that," she said still slightly flustered.

"No worries," I said nonchalantly as I brought my hand back to support my books.

There was an awkwardly long moment of silence between us as she sort of fidgeted and I just stood there with nothing much to say. As she was still standing there not really doing anything I just remained blank-faced and continued to stare at her.

"Even I will admit that the emerald eyes she has fit her very well. Though not the same could be said for me, however…"

I felt the glares of two pairs of eyes land upon me as I slightly glanced at Samantha and Anastasia who were just now peering around the corner. One was slightly obstructed by a pair of glasses that I'm pretty sure they only wore for looks, not sure how that works out but I'm not exactly caught up with the fashion scene to say anything about it.

"Ah- Right, I just wanted to say thanks for helping me and the others out with the math test, it was a huge help… even if I was not able to get the grade I wanted I still was able to pass thanks to it," Avery said appreciatively as she toyed with an end of her long hair.

"I guess that's where this conversation turns to next, I would not exactly say I helped her out in any meaningful way like tutoring, that would have probably gotten me a couple of glares in the hallway. But I just compiled a rough draft of all the formulas and what to remember and gave it to Avery for her to study a few days ago. However, that's not the main thing that she said that caught my attention."

"No problem, it really was nothing much…," I shrugged, before trailing off, "Though my memory serves me right then I recall only giving you a copy of that study sheet."

"She mentioned how I helped others, I'm certain I did not give anybody else a copy of the sheet, so that would mean…"

She squirmed in place frantically, "Oh- Sorry! I forgot to ask you if it was okay with you to share it- but by the time I already sent it and- I really should have told you!" She stammered frantically while fiddling around in embarrassment.

"Wait it was his document-"

"I thought for sure it was Lucas's or someone else like that-"

I could vaguely make out that Samantha and Anastasia were whispering quietly to each other behind Avery's back.

"Not sure if they intended for me to hear it or not, but that kind of hurt me… sorta. While normally I would be pretty upset with something like this, seeing her squirm around kind of pathetically made me realize she really did not mean it. Well her intentions were good after all then I guess I don't mind her doing it."

I raised a hand in front of Avery to signal to get her attention. She calmed down slightly and looked back up at me.

"Don't worry about it, it's not like you did it on purpose-

"As I was saying this I could tell Avery would not listen and would insist on making it up to me. It's a very her thing to do. Looks like I'll have to switch approaches."

I bit my lip and changed my tone to a more, unnatural for me at least, happy tone.

- Plus, if it helped out our class in the end it's all right… right?"

"I was unsure if this was enough to move Avery, but it would save me a lot of fuss if it did."

"You're right," She calmly said as she slightly slouched, "Sorry I did not tell you again," She sighed in dejection.

The dirty glares I was getting from Samantha and Anastasia seemed to pick in their intensity, it's not like I was the one who made Avery like this, If anything she did it to herself. Though I felt the presence of another glare as I could roughly make out one coming from Branden, not surprising as he himself is a pseudo-white knight/simp.

"Please, don't worry about it, we all make mistakes, even me," I said in an attempt to cheer Avery back up.

"Leaving her like this would just make me seem like an ass, I have to at least attempt to make her feel better, or else I'll be ostracized by the whole class for the rest of the day."

I gave a very quick glance at the three pairs of beading eyes stabbing holes into me before giving a quiet exhale.

"Though for some it seems my ostracization has begun."

"Really? I don't know if this is a bit stereotypical but I always assumed people like you were usually the ones who aced everything they tried at," she hesitantly spoke up.

"People like me? What does that mean? Also, what does she mean aceing everything I try, I definitely mess up a lot, it's not like I have full A+'s, even she should know I only just barely scrape by with either a B+ or A-."

"Well you seem to be assuming a bit much, even you should know I mess up," I questionably pointed out before continuing, "Plus I'm pretty sure you have been the soccer games a few times and people have definitely outmaneuvered me during games."

"Really…? Sorry but the few times I do go to the games I'm usually chatting with friends or there just helping out with concessions," she muttered, before suddenly perking up once more and pointing a finger at me, "But don't you have the nickname of the 'Demon Defender?' I remember quite vividly some of the opposing team's players mentioning that and your jersey number."

"I guess the nickname that George gave me stuck and has been spread around huh? As edgy as it sounds I actually kind of like it, though I will admit it fits with my crimson red eyes and jet-black hair, as in a game you would only see a red-eye figure rapidly rushing toward you. I'm not that scary though… right…? I thought I moved past that…"

I raised one of my eyebrows, "You sure that was me?" I questioned, before stepping a bit closer, "Do you even know my jersey number?"

She slightly shuffled back a little, did I scare her? Though her face slightly flushed due to me getting close, not sure if that's just a thing she does or what but I paid no mind to it.

"U-um, yeah…," she muttered quietly, "You're number 14, correct?"

"She is right, never knew she would pay so much attention as to remember jersey numbers and their players."

I gave a short sigh before responding, "Right, I'm 14, the 'Demon Defender', though I'm pretty sure that's more or less due to my looks than my actual skill."

"I'll admit as much as I enjoy soccer and practice I'm still not the best, a good defender? Yeah, a decent midfield? Probably, but it's not like I'm excellent. I'm above average at best being completely frank."

I slightly jolted back as now she took a step forward, now standing only a foot or two away.

"Reeeallly…?" She inquisitively said as she slightly leaned closer to me, "You're not scary or anything, if anything you seem…" She trailed off as she began to stare up at me.

I wasn't much taller than her by a lot, though the expression and pose she held made it seem like she was looking up at someone both literally and figuratively, odd. I paused for a few moments in silence, though seeing as how she took a bit I decided to take the initiative.

"Seem… what?" I spat out kind of rudely.

"Shit that came out wrong."

"Never mind," she muttered in a nonchalant tone before returning back to a more cheery look.

"Did I piss her off or something-"

"Oh right! Sorry, before I forget, are you coming to the party I'm hosting tomorrow?" Avery chirped suddenly.

"Did not expect the conversation to jump like that but who am I to say anything, the way girls converse is something completely foreign to me. I barely understand Branden and a few of my other friends as is."

"Eh…" I mumbled off as I gave a weak shrug.

Avery gave a pout and approached me, this time I backed up slightly to give her space, but also to not get potentially kicked by her military-esque, but stylish boots she has on. However she took full advantage of it by getting a few more steps closer to me, so there really was no point in moving back to begin with.

"Why not?!" She quietly demanded as she visibly began to put more effort into her pout.

"Even as she tried to be quiet a few onlookers gave me and Avery a couple of glances, along with that, a few passerbys slowed down to better hear what was going on. This isn't a show for crying out loud! This is going to drag on for longer than I want, if I had to guess I have around 4 or so minutes until class starts."

"I just don't want to, is that reason enough," I blankly said as I tried to sidestep Avery completely and continue my trek to class.

However, as I tried to briskly walk by I felt a soft hand suddenly grasp my right arm, not strong enough to yank me and make me drop my stuff but enough to slow me down. I turned around to see Avery being the one to be stopping me. I could only give out a sigh in annoyance.

"This is causing me too much trouble already, I forgot why I was even here, to begin with."

"No! That won't do!" She exclaimed, this time speaking up so that others could more clearly hear us.

"This little-"

Predictably, many of the only slightly curious onlookers got our full attention as they turned to see what the ruckus was about. After all, seeing Avery upset is not something you see often, and considering it's her it's only a matter of time for this to be misinterpreted as me making her upset for some reason.

"She was using this as a weapon against me, that sly weasel…"

"Listen I have some… stuff going on at that time so yeah I can't go sorry," I spoke firmly as I turned my head once more intending to continue, though I paused at the feeling of another soft hand grasping my right arm.

"What stuff do you have going on at 8 pm at night?" She pressed further in frustration.

"Why is she making a whole big deal about why I'm not going?! She should know by now I'm not that kind of person. Like I'll admit whenever I get really passionate about something I flip on the dime to practically a different person, like in soccer, or debate club, but not… partying. Especially not with classmates who some I don't even know well or who might not even like me."

I carefully breathed in and out to calm my nerves, as the number of eyes on me steadily increased. Along with that the start of some whispering beginning to be heard, I couldn't make out what they were saying but whatever they were I needed to make sure they stopped festering

"It's only a matter of time until the 2nd Simp Battalion descends upon me at this rate. I think I just need to take the easy route and deal with the ramifications later."

"Y'know what never mind, I'll go," I sighed in submission.

"Eh?" She suddenly murmured out in surprise.

As I turned around to face her once more, which prompted her to release her soft but ultimately feeble grip on me.

"If I really wanted I could have pushed past her, I may not have a lot of upper body strength but plenty of lower body for my size at least to make up for it. But if I did that I would definitely get called out about it for 'hurting Avery' or something dumb along those lines. After all, she isn't exactly well built athletically, though for a girl I heard she maintains good shape by going to the gym every once in a while. Which would explain her seemingly perfect figure with some emphasis more on the chest and hips if you get what I'm saying."

"I'll go, is that enough to satisfy you?" I spat in an annoyed tone.

"Shit, I really have to watch my tone."

Her face was slightly taken aback for a moment, probably due to me just suddenly giving her a response after a long silence. Either way, she gave off the look that she was not buying this, don't tell me she intends on dragging this out-

The sound of what one would assume would be a loud phone alarm reverberated across the hall. The electronic bell which alerts the students in the hallway they have only 2 minutes left before class starts. Many of the onlookers began to hightail it out and finish their commute to their respective classes.

"While it's great that mostly everyone left, my class is still a ways away and I'm bogged down here. I just wanted to see my score and dip but I guess that went out the window."

I clasped my hands together under my books in a pleading gesture along with my face, to which I assumed she understood by softening her face and giving a weak nod.

"Alright, sorry for taking up much of your time," Avery said dejectedly as she began to turn toward her posse once more.

"Well shit, now I feel like an ass… I guess she was just looking out for me if anything, I mean when it pertains to school stuff she knows I'm not very talkative and I'm on the more introverted side of things."

"Avery," I spoke up.

She turned her head over her shoulder as I called her name.

"Mind telling me really quickly what I got on the test," I said with a small smile as I rubbed the back of my head.

"While normally this would seem like a bad time, knowing Avery she will instead…"

"Sure!" She happily obliged as she turned back around and walked towards me, "I don't remember off the top of my head though, would you mind giving me your number so I can text it to you? I don't want to be late for class either," she mummed the last part sheepishly.

"Wow, me getting Avery's number, what a ride this whole conversation has been. While normally I would have tried to deflect, doing so now would just make it seem like I'm a horrible person, though I'm accepting due to that and that only, well also because I want to know my grade. I know many others would be overjoyed by having Avery's number for a different reason."

I felt the glares of the two girls soften slightly, and the knives being stabbed by presumably Branden increased exponentially.

"Such as him."

I quickly gave her my phone number and she nodded once I confirmed she inputted the right one. She then repeated the same process for me as I saved her contact information.

"Huh, Avery has a rather old model for someone like her, interesting but that is not my worry right now."

"Again sorry for bothering you Alex, I'll see you next time!" She waved as she and her posse went off down the hallway opposite of us.

There was a brief moment of silence as I watched her turn a corner a hallway down and get out of sight. Though I should definitely address the elephant in the room.

"So Bran-"

I felt the feeling of a hand roughly holding my shoulder interrupting my speech. I turned around only to see Branden looking absolutely livid.

"It's my turn to speak, mind explaining what that was all about…?" He quietly questioned with a hint of malice.

"Hell if I know," I shrugged as I peered over his side to the direction of my class.

"Looks like the hallways are clear if I sprint I might be able to make it on time."

I could hear some grumbling coming from Branden as I turned back up to him. He was rubbing his rugged brown hair rather aggressively, I don't exactly blame him but I don't care enough at the moment to pester the thoughts any further.

"We are not done here," He mumbled, as he turned around and began to jog down the hallway.

Taking that as my cue I turned around and began my mad dash down the hallway. Even while it was different then soccer due to me needing to hold my books, I was able to make do with my experience.

Too bad it was not enough to not get marked as tardy in the end.

Before I knew it the school day was nearing its end, with the last class of the day being the final thing to surpass before freedom. I honestly expected myself to get a few nasty glares due to me having my small argument with Avery a few blocks ago, but I was proven wrong. Well except for Branden, but that's a whole other situation.

I'm not complaining, but I'm just surprised, the last person that made Avery even a little upset with them got pretty much segregated from the rest of the class for a whole month. Wild shit.

"Hey, George are we having practice later today? Checking the weather app there seems to be a storm rolling in soon, just wondering," I called out to George who was getting some stuff from his locker.

"Uhhhh," he pondered to himself while scratching his blond hair, "I don't know man, I do know for sure we are doing at least something as we have that game on Monday."

"I guess that makes sense, probably since we have the game coming on. This whole season has been heavily contested, and letting up on our training will make us topple out of qualifiers."

"Probably films or something like that, Coach JJ usually pulls those out whenever the weather gets rough and he feels like our sorry asses are getting lazy," I shrugged.

"Heh, you're right," He nodded as he lightly closed his locker, before facing me while he held a small stack of history books," Coach has been rather rough on us recently, it would not be out of the ordinary for him to make us do at least something, especially with the game I mentioned coming up."

"True," I shook my head in agreement, "Though it would be better if we could watch like the King's League or even past footage of the last global cup. I'm not sure what he thinks we can learn from old footage from the 1900's and someone should definitely tell him that," I complained jokingly.

"Maybe on how to discern which team is which in black and white footage?" He chuckled, "Either way it's not like we can complain, Coach JJ loves us for sure but because of that he won't hesitate making us run laps for questioning him."

"He isn't wrong, people like Keith even as high and mighty as they think of themselves can only tremble in the presence of an angry Coach JJ. Last time this one new guy complained of him getting no game time Coach JJ forced him to run laps for the remainder of the 1-hour game."

I gave a small grin.

"He quit a week or so after that incident. Serves him right."

"You're thinking about Lee, the guy who joined a few months ago and was forced to run laps in the game right?" George said with a smile.

"Looks like he was able to read my expression and guess what I was thinking about. Smart fella, too bad it's only for social and sport stuff, not really academics."

"Yeah, that guy. I did not bother learning his name, nor his jersey number, nor what grade he was from," I shrugged dismissively, "I didn't exactly like him that much," I plainly stated.

"I don't blame you, I had to as Co-Captain however, regardless of feelings," He explained, "Though if it was up to me I would not have let him join to begin with, for an underclassman he does seem to have a massive ego," George grumbled in frustration.

"Brother was bitching practically all of practice about at least one thing, from the temperature to the drills to even our uniforms for some reason. That guy was just an ass in general, luckily I don't seem to cross paths with him in the hallway."

"Either way that guy is gone, it would have been more of a detriment if he was still on the team, especially now with us being the qualifiers," I agreed with a slight nod.

"Most likely…, but hey even if he was still on the team, it's not like we would get scored on with the 'Demon Defender' on our side," He teased with a hearty laugh as he nudged me slightly.

"Oh hardy har har," I sighed in disappointment, "I still can't believe you spread that edgy nickname of me, I've heard even other school's teams have begun calling me that," I said in exasperation.

"I can understand spreading the rumor to the school and the team, but other schools? Like what is he posting clips of me playing on Instasnap or MeTube reels? I don't exactly use social media that often so it would be hard for me to find out."

"What can I say, I have my ways, "He shrugged with a smirk as he began to slowly walk towards his presumed class, "But hey if anything, them using that nickname just validates it further."

"How?" I jumped slightly as I caught up next to him.

"Our next classes are in the same general direction so we should be able to chat for a bit longer."

"I mean, if they did not then they would just call you by your jersey number, but instead they call you the 'Demon Defender," He elaborated, "You ever wonder why near the last 30 minutes or so of the game the enemy team just stops trying to push the ball down your side?"

"I mean he does have a point, I just found it to be more of a coincidence as the enemy team switches up strats and all when losing. But with the way he is phrasing it…"

I turned to him to seem him holding a look that said "I told you so."

He jested, "Am I right or am I right?"

"Well…"

"I guess you're right," I conceded.

"Thought so," he said with a smug smile.

"As much as I have a love-hate relationship with that nickname, it seems like it's here to stay."

"On that note," he abruptly spoke up.

"Hm?"

"A little bird told me how Avery was talking to you about your nickname, 'Demon Defender,'" he teased as he gave another slight nudge.

"Looks like word annoyingly got around. It's to be expected of course, a good number of people saw the interaction between me and Avery, and considering her popularity it's no wonder that it would be brought up at some point at least."

"Call me by my actual name please," I blankly stated, "Unless you want me to just walk off to class right now," I finished with a small threat.

"It's annoying enough as it is that Avery decided to bring attention to me. She should know how much I dislike that, soccer is tolerable as that's a team sport and I can shift the victory to a team victory. For this? Not so easy to do so."

George gave me a little space in an effort to show him stopping.

"Sorry, Sorry, didn't know you had something to hide," He teased with a chuckle.

I looked down on him ever so slightly and gave him a weak glare.

"I want to tell him to drop this whole thing, but with how unpredictably George might act I might as well tolerate the pestering for a little to satisfy him. Worst case scenario is him using these 'Connections' to spread rumors. I highly doubt he would though since he is my friend, but you never know with people…"

"Alright, Alright. I'll stop now," he said, clearing his throat forcibly, "I didn't know you became such a hot shot with the ladies Alex that's all," he joshed.

"I didn't become a hot shot George," I grumbled as I rubbed my forehead, "Me and her were just talking about some upcoming school event and how she needs help with it."

"Now thinking about it I probably could have told him I was talking about my Test Scores for Mrs. Johnson and not lie, but whatever."

"Uh huh," He uttered, clearly not believing a word I said, "I also heard it got pretty heated, I'm not exactly sure but I'm fairly certain school event planning or whatever does not get that intense."

"Probably the outburst she was having about me not going to her party. Speaking of which, I need to formulate what I am going to say to cancel it at the last minute…"

"She just wanted me to help her plan it out and when I refused, she heavily urged me to do so," I sighed.

"Why would you refuse, after all, helping her out means you might get some alone time between you too~" He prodded teasingly.

"Well, he isn't wrong there, lots of guys in this school would do some questionable things to get some one on one time with Avery. If only I could tell him what actually went down, but if I did it would only create more rumors and that is a big no."

"That's not the point George," I said with an exasperated sigh, "It's not a big deal, I promise you."

"I see," he mumbled quietly.

There were a few moments of silence as me and him just resumed to walking in class in silent. Avoiding collisions with several students walking to and fro from different classes through the hallway.

He suddenly spoke up, "So did you agree to help?"

I turned my gaze slightly down to George and gave him an annoyed side-eye. His only response was him giving me a face that I assume says something like "I can't help it."

I gave another large exhale before responding, "Yeah I did, that's enough to satisfy your curiosity?" I said annoyed.

He responded with a happy nod, I'll take that as a yes.

As I took my focus back on walking I could see that the intersection where we would need to split to reach our classes was rapidly approaching.

"How convenient our conversation ends here as we split, albeit an annoying one."

I turned to George and raised my right hand to signal goodbye as I was about to turn the corner to the other hallway.

"Don't let Avery talking to you make you begin to slack now Alex," I could overhear George chuckle as he walked off.

"Thanks Avery, now I'm going to have to deal with this teasing for the rest of the week. I would be more annoyed if the weekend was not coming up soon, since because I don't use social media super often I can just put my phone on silent and forget about my school worries."

I could only lightly graze my slicked-back hair in annoyance for now. Whenever I get the appropriate chance with no onlookers I'll be sure to ask Avery on why she had that whole outburst one me.

"Actually, I have her number, I could just contact her like that… It would be better to do it after school than now, I don't want to start messaging her and then for me to coincidently come across her in the hallway, that would be… bad. Whatever, I'll have plenty of time to think on what to say once school finishes."

"Wait I just realized, did she not even send me what I got on the test yet?"

End of Prologue Pt 1

Authors Notes:
This is going to be a long one, so strap in folks.

Firstly, I wish to say apologies for the unannounced hiatus. I will admit part was due to lack of motivation but a larger part was due to dissatisfaction with my own work. I felt like what I was writing could not be to the best of my ability for now. Due to this I halted any further progress on new chapters and began to rewrite older ones. I hope you all enjoy the new style I have implemented, if you have any suggestions or questions please don't be afraid to ask.

Secondly, is the new writing schedule going forward. Currently I plan on rewriting all chapters to at least some extent up till the latest one barring this one. Due to this, I have devised a new writing schedule that would work best for both new chapters and rewriting old ones. For every new chapter, I will rewrite two older ones. With this I should be eventually catching up with the latest releases, said latest releases will also be in the new style so I won't have to rewrite them.

Thirdly, to all the new people reading this, I just wish to say sorry for kind of screwing you all over with the rewrite. You of course can still read the later chapters, but for those coming after I post part II, you might or might not be a little confused. I apologize for this. I plan on having the rewrite up on AO3 separately with only rewritten chapters, in which I'll update you all on whenever that is up down the line.

Fourthly, this rewrite's purpose is mainly to give more depth to Alex and the world he was put in. It's not to change the story whatsoever, anything that was said in the later chapters will not be changed, possibly the process of getting it and whatnot, but everything at the end should still be the same. I have planned 1 or 2 things in which I will edit from the original, but it's nothing major.

Fifthly, I am planning on adopting a Bi-weekly schedule for posting. This is mainly due to wanting to keep my current standard set for writing and having a weekly schedule will not allow me to do so realistically. However, from time to time I might do some Omakes on holidays for fun little skits which are not exactly canon to the story but just for the giggles, so keep an eye out for that!

Finally, I hope you all continue to bear with me with this rewrite. Of course, I know you all don't have some sort of obligation to me but I do earnestly hope you will like these changes for the better. I for sure am satisfied with this and I hope you all are as well. Anything you seem confused or might want to have a comment on be sure to leave a review on it, if not you can always join the Many Worlds Project Fan Server to talk to me directly, I don't mind.

This is all for now, I will post prologue part II next week, I hope to see you all there, thank you all for reading!

MWP Server:

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