Chapter 10:

Leon sees this and was shocked to the core, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he yells furiously.

Suddenly, he starts glowing green again and another shockwave was released causing the giant lizard to stop in its tracks. It turned around and sees that Leon standing. He had nullified the effects of the paralysis and is now looking at the beast with such fury in its eyes.

In a blink of an eye, Leon managed to get Barbara out of the way as he stood in front of the armored lizard. The silhouette of a lion appeared, towering over the lizard, and it roared so loud, it caused the giant lizard to be thrown across the street, and crash into the ground.

The giant lizard was on the ground, unable to move. "Wh-what in the world just happened?" the beast muttered to itself, "It's so fast…" It then slowly leaned forward, trying to get up but it let out a gasp as it looked ahead of it.

Leon, still in this somewhat berserk state, stood there a few kilometers away from the beast as the lion silhouette is just behind him. The aura around them is so intimidating that the giant lizard couldn't find the strength to move!

"Now, now! Let's talk about this!" the giant lizard stuttered, 'I just need a few minutes to recover and escape' it thought to himself before it continued, "You win, okay? Can we be friends? I'm sure we can, right?"

No response from Leon. None except him drawing his twin blades from his back with a menacing look in his eyes, followed by the low growl of the lion above him.

"Oh crap," The giant lizard mumbled meekly. Just before the creature could make a run for it, Leon charged straight for it as the giant Lion silhouette pounced and blocked the lizard from going anywhere and Leon slides it to ribbons! SLASH!! BOOM!!

However, it was too late. As the smoke cleared, the giant lizard was nowhere to be seen, except for a charred leg and tail it left behind before being blown away by the wind, turning into ash.

Leon took several breaths as he was exhausted. He felt all the pain around his body just as he came to. His armor shifted back to his old clothes as his blades disappeared as well as the Lion silhouette.

As he breathed heavily, he looked around trying to see if anyone was there. Hoping to call for help, he tried to yell but choked and began coughing a lot. His exhaustion took over him as everything around him at that point went black but not without hearing a faint voice of a girl saying, "Someone's injured!... Over here!"

A couple of hours go by and Leon, still unconscious, can somewhat hear slow beeping sounds. Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep. He couldn't make out what he heard but felt needles piercing his skin as he slowly moved his fingers. As he slowly opens his eyes, he squinted for a bit as he saw a blinding light above him. He leaned forward for a bit and his vision starts to clear when he found himself in a hospital bed.

Leon was confused, 'How did I--' his trail of thoughts stopped when he sees Nicole sleeping with her head right next to the bed and Barbara who was curled up in the chair near the window.

He then tried to sit up which woke up Nicole and had her surprised for a split second before helping him sit up, "How are you feeling?" she asked,

Leon winced for a moment as he felt a bit of pain in his chest but after a few breaths, he replied, "A little dizzy. What happened?"

"They said they found you trapped under a rubble " Nicole explained. she glanced at Barbara and continued, "Barbara and I were escorted away but we insisted on finding you, and now here we are."

Leon leaned his head back onto the pillow as he took a moment to process all that. He opened his eyes as he remembered something. "But what about--"

"I already informed your parents and the dean said that the school will take the month off." Nicole replied, "That's probably enough time for you to recover."

Leon nodded and sighed as he looked up at the ceiling, though he squinted his eyes as the dim light touched his face. He then turned to Nicole and said, "How long do I have to be in here?"

Nicole was scrolling through posts on her phone as she replied, "Assuming that you recover fast enough, I'd say about two weeks. If not, then add a week or two."

Barbara woke up soon after and wiped her eyes while yawning, "**yawn** What time is it?" she asked,

Nicole looked up from her phone then at Barbara before checking her phone for the time, "It's around 3 in the afternoon." she said as she stretched her arms a little, "I'll just go out and get some air." She then stood up and looks at Leon, "Don't go anywhere, alright?"

Leon snorted, "How can I when I'm stuck here till I can go?" he retorted back,

Nicole nodded and went out of the room. About a few minutes have passed, Barbara got up from where she sat to stretch her arms and started pacing around the room as if she was tired of sitting on one spot.

Leon got bored as he lay on the bed. He tapped his finger on the side of the bed as if counting how many seconds had passed. Bored, he looked around to see if he can do anything. His gaze then fell on the table right next to his bed, his jacket neatly folded in a stack while his phone and wallet were sitting on top of it all.

He leaned over to try and get his phone but Barbara noticed him at the corner of her eye. Thinking that he couldn't reach it, she quickly walked over to give it to him. However, both Leon and Barbara reached for the phone at the same time, their hands sort of overlapped the other.

The phone slipped from the counter and dropped to the floor. Leon leaned forward to get it but his head collided with Barbara's as she knelt to get the phone for him. Bonk!

"Ow!" they both said in unison. They then looked at each other as they rubbed their heads and chuckled nervously at their sudden clumsiness.

"Oh man, sorry 'bout that," Leon said, "I didn't mean to hit you,"

Barbara shook her head, "No, no. I thought you needed help but I guess we both ended up being clumsy, hehe." she replied. She handed the phone to Leon, "Here,"

Leon nodded and took the phone. "Thanks," he said,

As he reached out and grabbed the phone, Nicole suddenly walked in. "Hey I'm back," she said while holding a bag filled with chips and some drinks until she saw Leon and Barbara. In her eyes, it looked like the two were exchanging social media accounts.

"Did I miss anything?" Nicole asked,

Leon noticed her and realized that he was still holding his phone. "Uh, just bored and I wanted to use this," he explained,

"Yeah! I saw him reach for it and so I, uh, helped him out, that's all." Barbara added,

Nicole blinked as she looked at them. "Oh, okay," was her reply as she placed the bag of snacks on the table near the window.

Leon couldn't tell but he was sure that he saw Nicole smirking as if she thought she knew what was going on when she was away but he brushed that thought aside and began scrolling through his phone and started playing his game.

After they had their dinner, Nicole turned on the TV. The news broadcast featured what happened to the museum, now broken to rubble and it looked like an old broken city.

As Leon watched the news, he suddenly remembers the battle where he fought the giant lizard. He rubbed his chin as he ponders on some things but as he did so, he felt like something was clasped around his wrist. He then noticed a silver bracelet with an emerald at the center with a silhouette of a lion inside the gem.

'How did this get here?' he thought to himself as he was shocked to find the bracelet on his wrist,

Barbara was watching the TV when she noticed Leon looking down at something. "Is something wrong, Leon?" she asked,

Startled by her words, Leon looked at Barbara and said, "Huh?"

Barbara knitted her eyebrows, "You okay? You look a bit pale,"

Leon shook his head, "I'm fine." he said as he scratched his head, "I just felt like it's chilly in this room. C-can you pass me a water bottle please?"

Barbara blinked. She shrugged and reached into the bag and handed the water bottle to him, "Here,"

"Thanks," Leon nodded as he twisted the cap open and took a sip.

"Want me to change the temp?" Nicole offered as she picked up the remote to the air conditioner.

Leon shook his head as he twisted the cap back on the bottle, "No, no. I'm good. Just thirsty,"

Nicole looked at him then shrugged her shoulders, "Alright, if you're sure about that," she said as she placed the remote on the table. "But let me know if you change your mind,"

"Got it," Leon replied, "Anyone up for a movie?"

Nicole leaned forward, "Do you have an HDMI cable to connect it to the TV?" she asked,

Leon thought about it for a moment and shook his head, remembering that he only brought his laptop as his extra gadget.

Nicole nodded, "It's okay." she said, then turned to Barbara, "Wanna watch a movie with us, Barbs?"

Barbara looked at Nicole, "Uh, what movie are we watching?" she asked,

Nicole looked at Leon, "Got any good ones in your hard drive?"

Leon looked around and found his backpack right next to him. He unzipped it and took out his laptop, "I might have some good ones," he said as he booted it up, "Oh yeah, you haven't watched that new Spider-man movie, right?"

Nicole thought about it, "Oh yeah! It was released a month ago but it was on the day of our midterms, I think."

Leon smirked, "And guess who downloaded it?"

Nicole's eyes widened, "Is it in HD?

Leon nodded,

"Then whattaya waiting for?! Come on!"

Leon chuckled, "Then carry this drawer over here and place it in the center. And grab a seat as I try to prep up the movie,"

A few minutes later, the setup looks like this; Leon on his med bed and to his left was Barbara and Nicole respectively while the laptop was placed on the table in front of Barbara just enough for them to view the screen while each of them has their own nacks.

"Did you bring your pocket wifi?" Nicole asked,

Leon shook his head as he pulled out his phone from his bag, "The hotspot is on." he said, "I only have 3 days left to use the data,"

Nicole nodded, "Got it."

Barbara leaned forward to the laptop, "Movie starting... Now," she clicked play and the movie began.

**Editor's Note: Not gonna spoil it to those who haven't watched it but if you did, then good for you :-) **

An hour later, Nicole and Barbara were at the edge of their seats as the movie reached its climax. Leon continued to watch the movie and even though he already watched it, he still enjoys it nonetheless.

A little while later, the movie ended after being followed up by a few more scenes. Nicole was still in a sort of amazement. Barbara, on the other hand, got up and scooted over saying, "I gotta pee." before she rushed to the restroom and locked the door behind her.

Leon covered his mouth as he yawned. "I might end up downloading more movies in the future."

Nicole nodded as she rest her head on her hand. "What movies do you plan on downloading?"

Leon rubbed his chin, "Not sure. It could take a while for the new releases to be in HD format." he replied,

"Any anime on that?"

"Maybe. I haven't watched a ton of it lately,"

Nicole shrugged her shoulders and tapped on the armrest of her chair. The room suddenly became a bit quiet except for the airconditioner's louvers moving up and down slowly. She then leaned closer to Leon and whispered, "So, whattaya think of Barbara?"

Leon didn't look at her as he replied, "She seems nice."

Nicole nodded, "She looks cute, doesn't she?" she added,

Leon sort of smiled at the thought of that, "Yea--Wait a minute," he then looked at Nicole suspiciously,

Nicole met his gaze and looked at him innocently. "What?"

"Why are you asking me those questions?"

Nicole shrugged, "Just curious of what you think about her. That's all." she replied, "Why so defensive?"

"I-uh..." Leon was speechless but before he could reply, Barbara went back into the room, "I'm back," she said,

Leon didn't say much afterward. He was drowsy so he got comfortable for a bit before closing his eyes to rest.

Two weeks have passed and all of the students who were recovering from the hospital were discharged and are scheduled to be driven to their designated schools but before that, they had at least 2 hours to prepare before the buses were ready.

Some of the students were waiting around outside the hospital while a few stayed inside to sit down as they wait. Barbara, Nicole, and Leon were among those who waited in the lobby. As the two girls casually chatted, Leon was checking his things in case he forgot anything. Most of his stuff wasn't damaged which was a good thing.

Nicole noticed Leon and said, "How many times have you checked your stuff?"

"Right now, it's my 4th time," Leon said. He zipped up his bag and held on to its straps. "All of 'em are here."

"That's good," Nicole said.

They then noticed that the buses were already parked in the parking lot outside of the hotel. As the students were already heading outside and going to their respective buses, Barbara and Nicole hugged each other saying their goodbye.

"Take care of yourself, okay Barbs?" Nicole said,

Barbara chuckled, "You too, Nikki," She let go and looked at Leon. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Leon,"

Leon looked at Barbara and nodded, "Likewise, Barbara." he replied. He extended his hand out to Barbara offering her a handshake in which she shook his hand in response,

"Let's meet up again at a later date," Nicole suggested, "Maybe after the finals of the 3rd semester we can have some fun together,"

"I hope so," both Leon and Barbara said. They smiled as they looked at each other for what felt like hours until someone called out, "Barbara Gonzales? Where is she?"

Barbara snapped out of her daze and let go of Leon's hand, "I gotta go. Bye!!" she said as she waved her hand at the two while heading inside her designated bus.

Leon blinked and placed his hands down as he watched her leave, "Uh, bye," he muttered silently as he snapped out of his daze.

Nicole noticed all that and narrowed her eyes as she smirked, "Miss her already?" she teased,

Leon was about to nod when he widened his eyes and looked at Nicole, "Dude, we're gonna be late to the bus!" he quickly said as he shouldered his bag. Nicole had a smug look on her face as she followed him towards their bus. They sat in the same spot just in time before the door closes and the bus drove off.

Many days have passed and it was already around April. It was already the start of the finals exam for the 3rd semester. Of course, most of the students at this point were stressed. Leon was just reading his notes and trying to remember each of the terms while helping out Nicole on her queries in time before the first test began.

Two to three or maybe even five hours later, to which some may think that time has gone by fast, the written exam portion was finished. Then next came the practical exams; meaning performance tasks, group and solo presentations, etc., are the things that needed to be completed

Leon and his groupmates were doing their last-minute preparations, reciting their lines silently while the other groups were being called one by one. They were wearing their smart-casual attire as it was part of the requirement.

As soon as their group was called to present next, Leon checked the time... It's around 3:30 pm. He and his groupmates took deep breaths as they entered the room where the three judges were lined up in their seats. After setting up the presentation onto the projector, they presented their case.

After discussing their topic for around 10 minutes or less, none of the judges replied as they were taking notes based on the presentation.

About thirty minutes of deliberation, the judges gave them good remarks and some adjustments to the data being presented, saying that the target audience would be limited. Other than that, the group left after getting their stuff.

As they walked out of the room, they made sure that the door was closed behind them before letting out a huge sigh of relief, knowing that they had done it. They gave it their best.

Leon stretched his arms out and let out a sigh of relief as he loosen his necktie just a bit. All of a sudden, he gets a text from Nicole. He checked it and it read, "Ya guys done with the presentation?"

Leon replied, "Yep. Stressful but we managed to pull it off"

"Yey!!"

"Ehehehe"

"Meet me by the hut outside of the building."

Leon was about to reply when..."Hey Leon!" Gary, one of his group mates, called out to him, "We're gonna go to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. Wanna come with?"

Leon smiled as he shook his head, "Thanks but I got somewhere to be,"

"A date already?" Bella, another one of his groupmates, teased, "Alright then, stay safe!"

"You too y'all," Leon said. He checked his phone one more time as his groupmates already left to do their own thing. He then went to the bathroom to change into his casual shirt and jeans, putting all of his smart casual attire neatly folded in his bag but keeping his sleek black shoes on because he left his sneakers at home.

Leon went out of the building and it was surprisingly calm weather with a little bit of breeze mixed in. He found Nicole sitting in one of the three huts stationed there for those who wanted to sit down for a while. He sneaked up on her and said, "BOO!"

Nicole jumped from her seat and yelled, "AGH!" She quickly turned around, realizing that it was Leon, and slapped him on the shoulder, "I hate it when you do that!"

"Do what?" Leon asked innocently,

Nicole glared at him to which Leon chuckled as he raised his hands saying, "Alright, alright! Sorry. Force of habit."

Nicole calmed down a bit and said, "So, how did it go with your presentation?"

Leon shrugged, "Meh. It was alright." he said, "What about you and your group?"

"It wasn't that bad either. Though we got like 5 or 6 mistakes on the paper." Nicole explained, "I played my part and I think I did well."

"Cool," Leon said. Suddenly the wind began to blow, even more, letting in the cool air flowing around.

"Ah man, wasn't it hot earlier?" Nicole wondered,

"Yeah but at least we got some fresh air to cool off," Leon replied, "I got enough time before I leave so, I'm gonna go grab a drink."

"Wait a sec!" Nicole handed him a hundred bucks, "Buy me one of those milkshakes, please! Cookies and cream or Mocha would be fine"

"Got it and I'll give you back the change," Leon said as he took the money, "Large as usual?"

Nicole smiled, "Yes, please! Thank you!"

Leon placed his bag on the table. "Guard it for me 'till I get back,"

"No problem,"

Leon went on ahead after getting his wallet and got to the nearest cafeteria where they also sold milkshakes. After thinking about what he should buy, he went for the milkshake. One Cookies and Cream for Nicole while he had the mocha flavor.

By the time he returned to the hut, Nicole was on her phone. Leon placed her Cookies and Cream milkshake on the table to which she immediately took it and began to drink it. Leon then gave the exact change to her and she placed it in her tiny pouch where she kept her spare change.

Leon sat down on his seat adjacent to her and he began to take sips of his drink.

After chilling in the hut for what felt like a few minutes, Leon checked his phone and realized that it was around 4:45 pm. He put his phone in his bag and grabbed his stuff. "I gotta go." he said, "Still planning on gaming later?"

Nicole looked up from her phone, "Oh for sure," she said, "But I might end up having to rest for the day. This exam day is exhausting."

"I know, right?"

After saying goodbye, Leon left and walked out of the school grounds and was about to get his bike when a 2014 F-150 stopped just in front of him. The window slid down revealing it to be his Uncle, Jerry,

"Heya champ!" he said, "Need a ride?"

Leon blinked, "Yo, Unc--How did you afford this?? That is such a sweet ride!!"

Uncle Jerry smirked, "Yeah! Just rented this for 3 months. Just thought I'd pick you up after the exam,"

"Thanks, Unc," Leon said as he hopped into the passenger seat after placing his bike in the back.

They then drove back to the house where Leon's parents prepared lunch and they sat to eat their meal. After that, Leon washed the dishes while the rest of his family went on to do their own thing. By the time he was done washing the dishes, he wiped his hands and headed for the bathroom to freshen up before heading to his room.

Leon walked out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his head as he got himself a change of clothes; a black undershirt with a swirl design on it and shorts. He continued to wipe his head but as he was about to head upstairs, his mom called out to him from the living room.

He got to the living room and said, "Yes?"

His mom was watching TV and she turned to her and said, "If it's not that much of a trouble for you, do you mind spending time with your brother?"

Leon thought about it for a moment, "Sure, mom. I'll think about it," he said,

His mom nodded and Leon went back upstairs and went inside his room, locking it behind him. He slumped over his bed and began scrolling through posts on his phone to pass the time. However, after going through a few random posts, he suddenly felt so tired, he plugged his phone into his charger and closed his eyes. He didn't feel tired at first but he eventually dozed off.

He initially thought that his dream would be calm for a change... but he couldn't be more wrong.

In this dream, he found himself standing on a grassy plain. It was peaceful at first but the winds began to blow even more and Leon began to cough as the air slowly morphed into smoke and the sky above turned crimson red. He then noticed that the grassy plain that he was standing on had turned into dried up or burnt grass and the trees he saw were now withered and without any leaves on them.

Before he could figure out what was going on, chains sprouted from the dried-up land and clasped themselves around his arms and legs. Leon noticed them and tried to break free but the chains refused to budge.

'And I think this is the part where I should be pulled into the ground and I'll wake up' his dream self thought.

Suddenly, he noticed something glowing above him. He couldn't make out what he saw as it was too bright but it felt scorching hot like he was melting under the sun. As the large glowing object was getting closer, he saw a flash of crimson red eyes staring at him before quickly fading into the light. It was as if he was paralyzed by fear. He couldn't do anything as the glowing object crashed on top of him and everything went black.

Leon quickly sat up and was breathing heavily as sweat formed on his forehead as if the heat of the moment got to him. He shook his head as he wiped the sweat off his face.

'What the heck what that??' he thought to himself,

He checked the time on his alarm. It was 3:25 in the morning. He didn't bother going back to sleep as he was wide awake now so he resorted to scrolling through his phone to keep himself from thinking about that weird dream he had but to no avail. He still remembered the crimson eyes he saw.

Later that day, he just chilled in the house as everyone went by their day like normal.

Days go by fast and I mean it literally. When it comes to semester breaks or any given academic break, they go by fast like a snap of a finger.

During those days, Leon managed to get himself enrolled for the next semester in full. Soon enough, it was the opening of the classes.

The first one was Homeroom. And as you can imagine, it can be as chill as it can be given the circumstances. It was the same homeroom teacher as it was said that the homeroom teacher would not change until the end of the school year.

Leon sat in the same spot near the window. He didn't have much to do other than stare at nothing and daydream all day.

The homeroom teacher cleared her throat and said, "Okay class. Before we start our day, let me just say that we have new students that transferred from different schools and have chosen to enroll in this academy." she explained,

One of the students asked, "How many enrolled?"

The homeroom teacher looked at her clipboard, "Too many to count" she said, "But one of them have been assigned to this section, and uh... I don't see them but she should be here right about... Oh, there she is,"

The rest of the class was confused and at the same time, curious as to who was gonna be their new classmates.

The girl walked into the room, carrying a small bag but big enough for her to fit in the stuff she needs. She had her hair down but with a hair clip on the right side of her hair.

Leon looked ahead to see who was the new student but his eyes widened as he was shocked to find out who was his new classmate.