Chapter 187: Names?

The girl ran from the alleyway, hearing the sounds of -of well something she would rather not describe- pleading, begging, and eventually the sound of something akin to lightning striking.

She exited the alleyway out of breath after the man gave her a death stare backed by something uncanny she couldn't explain. But it was something that had power behind it. Once out she bent, her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath.

When she rose looking out into the street she saw a school bus, in front of it something she couldn't explain.

"I-is that a man made out of… Electricity? No…lightning…?" she studdered.

"Oh him? That's Stevie!" a boy shouted from the window of the bus hanging out of it, "He doesn't talk, but he's cool."

"Stevie…?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, we all just call him Shiny though. What's your name? I'm Landin," Landin answered.

"Charlotte…" she said warily.

"Well Charlotte, what are you ganna do now?" a voice asked from the alley, "And I told you kids to stop hanging out of the windows! It's harder for Stevie to protect you if you do that shit, stay in the damned bus!" Drake shouted, "And stop calling him shiny! You know how hard I had to work to make him…."

A scream came from the bus. The head of a small girl with pink hair and animal ears poking out of the window next to Landin.

"D-Drake! Help me! They are animals! Animals I tell you! S-Sav-" Natto shouted but was cut off being sucked back into the bus with the cheers and laughs of children.

"Ignore her. Well, what's it ganna be? You can either come with us and I keep you safe while I sweep the rest of the city. Or you can take your chances on your own and maybe find another Mr. Touchy Feely again."

Charlotte looked at the being of light and then over to Drake.

"W-what is it?" she asked first.

"He doesn't talk, and he is not a he. It, or Stevie is a magic spell," Drake replied.

"Magic?"

"Yes magic, like in cartoons, movies, anime. You kids still watch that stuff don't you?" Drake asked, snapping his fingers and forming a puff of fire in his hands.

"W-what? That can't be real…"

"Oh, it's very real. You're real aren't you Stevie?" Drake smirked, moving his mask to the side.

The Elemental spell moved over next to Drake. Standing emotionlessly.

"I don't understand… What is going on, where are the rest of the kids on the street, the people? Why is it snowing! It was just fall a moment ago!" Charlotte's face went through a series of swift emotions, confusion, fear, anger, then desperation, "I-I have to get to my brother, he's all home alone!"

"Ok."

"No, you don't understand! He's- What?"

"I said, ok. Where is he, will go pick him up before we hit the rest of the city," Drake said evenly.

"W-what do you want in return?" Charlotte asked pensively.

"Ugh. Gross. I… Let's just say I have a soft spot for helping people. I'll explain what happened later, but the jist of it is the world has changed. And… how old are you?"

"I'm 15…"

"That's… I don't know if that is a blessing or a death sentence for you…" Drake said his eyes softening, "When you turn 16 you will be indoctrinated into the system. I am a survivor of one of the system tutorials and I will protect you until you know what you want to do or where you need to go to find your family. All those kids in there," Drake pointed to the bus with his chin, "Are in your same situation, they came back when the tutorials were over. Their parents, siblings, guardians, all gone."

"I don't understand…"

"You don't have to understand the full scope of it now. But you need to stay safe, and I'm providing security. You just have to decide. Do you want to go get your brother and keep him safe? Or do you think you can do it on your own against more people like that guy in the alley," Drake asked, pulling down his hood.

Charlotte's face hardened, and she nodded walking to the bus, but turned around as her hand went to the open rail of the door.

"Wasn't your hair red earlier?" she asked.

Drake smiled, shifting his hair colors, "Magic."

Charlotte's face slackened in amazement, "Magic huh…."

—----------

Both Charlotte and Drake entered the bus, the place more rambunctious than Charlotte would have thought after what she had witnessed happening recently, as well as what Drake had said before.

"Pipe down you little animals!" Drake roared from the front, "Where's Natto?!"

The kids quickly calmed down, all of them ranging from a few years old to 15 like Charlotte.

Charlotte clamped her hands over her ears from Drake shouting right next to her and winced, moving down the aisle to find a place to sit. Until she saw someone wave to her to sit down.

It was the boy from earlier Landin. He had dark skin, and short hair and was wearing a shirt that said 'Old Soul' on it. But before she had a chance to sit down, a desperate voice came from the back of the bus.

"S-Save me… No more… I beg of you Drake…"

"Ah, there you are. You can't handle some kids? Some help you're going to be when we actually have a town…." Drake smirked, walking down the aisle to her.

Charlotte squeezed into the seat with Landin letting Drake pass as she followed him with his eyes.

"These are not children! They are savages! They have stolen my food and worst of all! My candy!" Natto screamed pushing forward through the aisle.

"That wasn't even yours to start with you little glutton. And you need to learn to share, we have more than enough food to go around. That reminds me, Charlotte, are you hungry, thirsty?"

Charlotte flinched slightly at being addressed, "Uh no I'm fine… thank you."

Drake shrugged and brought Natto to the front, her complaints louder than the children on the bus.

"Drake's alright, he's a bit weird and he can do the magic thing but he's good people," Landin said from Charlotte's side.

"O-oh! I mean he saved me… but it just it's a lot to take in…" she answered.

"It is, take your time. You're totes safe with Drake, He's protected us against anything that's come so far. Low key, we were even more devastated than you when he found us…" a girl said from the other side of the aisle.

Charlotte turned her head to see a girl with light brown hair holding a baby who was somehow sleeping in her arms.

"Oh! A baby..? Are they yours?" she asked.

"Mine? No, this is another one that Drake found on his sweep through the city. It looks like all of the adults are gone… All of our parents. He found Cid and me in a house that was crumbling, we were attacked after by something Drake called a Mana Worm? We've seen at least 10 of those disgusting things so far."

Charlotte's face darkened, "I'm… I'm so sorry," she said looking down at the baby, "I'm Charlotte. It's nice to meet you…?"

The girl smiled and stuck out a hand, "I'm Janey," she pointed with her thumb to her brother behind her who was looking out of the window, his face a scowl, "That's Cid. And this little guy… We don't know what his name is.. So we just call him baby for now."

Landin snickered, "Drake wanted to call him Gohan."

Janey frowned, "We aren't letting him name anyone. His sense of names are so far off! It's like awful really!"

Landin scoffed, "You know he was joking right? He's been making references to movies the entire time we've been here. He even called this the magic school bus. He tried to tell us Natto's name was Miss Frizzle."

Charlotte's face screwed up in confusion, "Like the kids' cartoon from the 90s?"

Landin pointed at her, "Exactly. I think it's funny."

Janey scoffed, "More like ancient. It's totes lame…"

Charlotte looked at Janey, "How old are you?"

"14. You?" she replied.

"15," Charlotte answered turning to Landin.

"15, but I have an old soul," Landin smiled.

Charlotte gave an awkward grin, "R-right…"

Janey rolled her eyes loud enough for them to hear it until the speakers turned on overtaking the noise in the bus.

"Alright, you young whipper snappers. This is your captain speaking" Drake said over the intercom from the front of the bus, "If you would look to your left there is nothing, if you look to your right there is also nothing. But now look to your left again, there are now 10 Earth Magic Circles."

Drake quickly summoned the circles outside of the bus to the left, out of them bodies of Elementals just like Stevie were forming.

"These will be your escorts for the remaining of your ride, please treat them kindly and tip well since they don't get paid and I don't offer health benefits!"

The bus went into an uproar as they cheered at the magic.

"What is this about?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh hell yeah!" Landin cheered as well, "These are some of his magic spells, like Elemental Summons? Stevie is special I think, these look like they're made of earth. But their black so maybe something like iron? But either way, better-"

"Correct young Landin!" Drake shouted over the intercom pointing at him, "Fasten your seatbelts!" Drake smiled, his hair turning blue, "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

"And we are not done yet! Please look to your right now!" Drake added.

To the left of the bus, 10 more magic circles formed, bathed in brilliant yellow light as 10 bird-like entities formed slowly from the circles.

"These are my Thunder Birds, do not touch or feed them, they will bite and zap you worse than Pikachu did to Ash. But they will also take care of anything mean or nasty that comes within spitting distance of this bus. Good? Great! Let's get going!"

"What's spitting distance?!" a child shouted from the back.

"No questions!" Drake snapped.

"I think I may have made a mistake…" Charlotte whimpered.

"He is a little weird isn't he," Janey agreed.

"He's like a child! Where was that cool, cold guy that saved me in the alleyway?"

"Oh, I think he does that to stay sane… He's killed quite a few people since we got here…" Landin said pursing his lips.

"W-what do you mean?" Charlotte asked.

"You aren't the only one who has tried to be taken. I don't know why, but most of the kids here are being forcefully moved for some reason. I was almost snatched up by some crazy lady in a store… But Drake stopped her. And well… She wouldn't let me go."

"That's awful! But to-"

Landin cut her off, "No," his face turning serious for the first time since they had talked, "You don't know what she was like, or what she was going to do to me. You experienced it yourself, right? Did that man who tried to take you? Did he deserve to live after what he was going to do to you? That woman… She was crazy. And she was strong. If Drake wasn't there…" he shivered.

"I.. But to take a life!" Charlotte yelled. Only to feel eyes on the back of her head.

She turned around, Drake kneeling next to her, his eyes soft but solemn.

"The world you knew, is gone," Drake said, looking right into her eyes, "I know what I've done. And I will do it again to protect every one of you. I am not righteous justice, but right now I am judge and jury, and you can hate or fear me for it if you want to. But you only get to do that while you're still breathing. This new world you kids are being thrown into… I'm sorry, but it is harsher than anything you could imagine. But as long as you are under my care, I will do my best to keep it from you. Until, well, until I can't anymore."

Drake stood up, the bus surprisingly silent, as if a calm had come over the place.

"If you still wish to leave I won't stop you. But if you want to get to your brother, find him, and protect him. You are going to need my help for now. Murderer or not."

"I-I'll stay… I don't have much of a choice," she answered biting her lip, "If there are more psycho's like that out there…" then she felt a pang in her chest, looking at Drake, his eyes cold but strained.

"T-thank you, again. For saving me…" she said looking him in his eyes this time.

"Don't worry about it. It's an adult's job to protect kids, just relax. Nothing will hurt you while I'm around."

Drake turned going to the front of the bus again his jovial demeanour returning.

"Alright, you brats! We're off!" the bus lifted into the air, the Earth Elementals had lifted it up only for it to halt, "Wait, wait, wait… Charlotte," Drake sighed pointing to her, "Where is your brother?"

Charlotte blushed, being addressed out of the bus again answering in a soft voice, "55-5th Ave…. The last house on the right…."

Drake thumped his staff on the ground, saying one last thing into the intercom, "Remember to put your seatbelts on. Or I'll bring out my belt like my mother did to me!"

"That's child abuse!" someone shouted.

"Only if the bruises show! Now sit down Johnny!"