106 Chapter 106: Decathlon (4– Final)
(Sorry for the late chap. I threw my back out and had to recuperate for an entire day. Eid Mubarak everyone!)
[General POV]
Irritated by the paparazzis sneaking photos of Edward Newgate's Decathlon team, the Franklin Middle School team failed to answer the next question, allowing Atlas Middle school to gain the lead with 10 points ahead.
Alex helplessly clicked her tongue and glared angrily at the paparazzis before she stood up and shouted, "Staff member! DO something! They are giving me a headache and interfering with the game!"
"I agree. Please stop your flash photography while we are inside the venue. Better yet, get lost." The old moderator ended his sentence in a cold voice, striking fear inside the self of the nerds there.
Rajesh stood up and said, "Yeah. Get out. Or we will call the police."
The paparazzis ignored them and continued their selfish behavior, when suddenly all of their cameras stopped working.
"Huh? What is happening?" A drug-addled, sly looking paparazzo muttered as he tried to test his camera a few times, only to find out it had been broken. "Fuck! What about the storage!" He cursed and took out his memory card from the camera to check it on his laptop, only to find that his laptop had broken too.
"FUCK! WHO DID THIS?!" He cursed out loud. Not only him, but all 20 paparazzis there also found out that all of their electronics had been fried, and they had lost all data they had in their laptop storage and also their cameras.
That meant, a lot of black materials had been destroyed, leaving them with no source of income, and no defensive items to protect themselves from the retaliation of those they had blackmailed before. They got horrified at the conjecture, and hurriedly moved out of the venue one by one before anyone else could find out what had transpired here today.
Amidst the chaotic venue, Mrs Henderson walked back slowly to her audience seat, but her steps paused as she saw a sullen company senior standing right in front of her.
The korean man in a black suit frowned and said in a cold tone, "Henderson. You have broken the Afterlife rule."
"It's a stupid rule to follow." The teacher rebuked, not showing regret for her actions.
"Nonetheless, it is a rule. You cannot interfere with the affairs of the living. I had turned a blind eye when you offered help to the kid you're observing, but to protect an ordinary kid? Why do you have to go so far to meddle in the mortal's fate?"
"..." Henderson paused for a while, as even she did not know why she did that. She pursed her lips and replied, "You put me in this world…as a teacher."
"And?"
"A teacher will protect her students."She said and snapped her finger once more.
"So. You're not satisfied with one offense, and you thought making two offenses, one witnessed by a senior agent, could finally give you satisfaction?" Gong Shin said sarcastically.
"I'm not afraid of punishments. I just want to do what I think is the right thing to do." Henderson replied before walking past the frowning Gong Shin and sat back at her seat. Unbeknown to her, the senior manager in the Afterlife corps showed a slight smile before turning his face stoic again and sat next to the teacher.
He handed her a disciplinary notice, and said, "I already arranged for you to be pulled back to the company, but now…I guess you have to stay in this world for a little bit longer."
"Right now, I just hope that kid doesn't make so much trouble." Mrs Henderson said helplessly before willingly accepting the disciplinary action without even trying to defend herself.
"Oh right, you still haven't told me the story." Gong Shin asked in a friendly manner.
"Which story?" Mrs Henderson asked, confused.
"The story of the best and most disciplined angel demoted because she ran a karmic draw for a 1 year old kid."
Mrs Henderson opened her mouth a few times in disbelief, before she frowned and said, "I don't want to talk about it."
On the other side of the city, a red Porsche was being pursued by 4 police cars in a high speed chase. The roaring of the engine startled the passerby on the street, especially a realtor who had just gotten out of a supermarket with grocery bags in both of his hands.
"Oh my god, kids today had watched too many speed racer movies!" Phil Dunphy exclaimed as he watched the red sports car pass by in awe.
Inside the red car, Edward was cursing his luck. "Damn it. Why is the police so active today?" (E/N: 5 stars bro )
While driving, the songs played by his earphone raised his heartbeat up, and also his reflexes as he made a few difficult maneuvers on the streets.
♫♪♫♪Wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo♫♪♫♪
"PLATE NUMBER, D. U. D. E. E., PULL OVER! RIGHT NOW!" The cops shouted using his megaphone to make Edward stop his reckless driving.
♫♪♫♪If you see me then you mean it
Then you know you have to go♫♪♫♪
"Sorry, I got a thing!" Edward shouted back at them and shifted the gear before drifting at the last minute at an intersection, losing 2 cop cars because they were too late to react.
♫♪♫♪Fast and furious (Drift, Drift, Drift)♫♪♫♪
"PULL OVER! PULL OVER I SAID!" The cop said urgently.
"Wait. Is that Buddy?" Edward looked behind using the back view mirror and was feeling helpless as he saw an acquaintance here today.
"I really can't stop now.." Edward clicked his tongue while trying to contact Jenna, but she didn't pick up the phone.
♫♪♫♪Fast and furious (Drift, Drift, Drift)♫♪♫♪
"Fuck it!" Edward swerved his car and changed his position to face the cop car as he put the gears in reverse.
Buddy screamed in horror and pressed his brake, but the collision he expected didn't come. He was only tricked by Edward, who in turn took another corner, and managed to disappear from the police chasing him.
"I could get addicted to this. COME ON. COME ON. Jenna! Pick up!" Edward muttered anxiously as he feared the worst. But then, Jenna picked up the phone.
"Jen. What is happening? Are you alright?" Edward asked hurriedly.
"Y-Yeah. I'm hiding inside my mom's closet. They are still here, trying to find me. Apparently most of them are dumb, so I'm still safe." Jenna hushed her voice and said in disbelief after she miraculously managed to escape pursuit from the bad man's goons. One forgot to tie his shoelace and tripped. One suddenly got a phone call and decided to answer it instead of following her, and so on.
"I already called for help. So tell me, is the front gate open?" Edward asked in a calm manner as to not increase the pressure on the young girl.
"I-...I think so." She replied anxiously.
"Good. I will just drive my car straight in. Don't hang up the phone, and tell me what's happening."
While Edward was speeding to get to Jenna's mansion, Alex was currently inside a predicament with almost no way out of her troubles.
"We have…one question left… One chance…to turn this all around." Alex muttered while biting her fingers. "And the last question is going to be…the hardest of them all."
"Come on guys. It's not that bad!" Enid tried to cheer the team up, but no amount of effort could raise the team's spirit. "What about that paper?"
"I don't know. Ed's notes I guess." Alex replied before opening the paper. She was suddenly infatuated with the neatly written formula and explanation that the paper showed, and almost forgotten to focus on the last question.
The moderator was changed to Rajesh as the paparazzis had caused him to be unwell and had to sat down and rest
"Now…it's time for the final question. A question that will decide…whether the Franklin Middle school team could surpass Atlas Middle school, or will Atlas remain at the top, and become the champion for these 3 month championship games." Rajesh said ceremoniously. "ARE YOU READYYY!?"
Both of the team were confused by the sudden change in atmosphere, and were looking at him in confusion. "Nevermind." Rajesh said dispiritedly before reading the final question. "The last question will be a change of pace from all of the science stuff. It will be a History question…and It will be worth 100 points!"
Alex stopped biting her fingers and wiped the non-existent sweat on her forehead as she looked at the score. 320 points for Atlas. And 310 points for Franklin.
The crowd murmured at the change, but Rajesh ignored them and asked, "What is-"
"WAIT!" Alex suddenly shouted.
"W-W-What?" Rajesh turned to Alex, but as she was a girl, his mutism appeared again, and he quickly hid away from her. Alex rushed to the judges table and slammed the papers on the panel's desk.
"We caught the snitch." She declared.
…
[Edward POV]
As I drove to the mansion, a hot, burning anger spread out from my chest to my entire body. An orphan boy, unadopted till I reached adulthood and was kicked out of the orphanage… the only comfort I had right then was to know I was not alone. There were a few children like me, unwanted by society. We consider ourselves the bottom members of society, and decided to look after one another.
( E/N: And so I had to become the hero Gotham needs not the one they deserve) or however that line went lol)
But…One by one, we fall prey to the darkness of human society. One orphan girl was tricked into doing pornography, and died from drug overdose. One married a rich man, and was choked to death. We tried to save them, but we were always one step too late. In the end, we all went our separate ways, as it was too painful for us to keep sticking together.
(A/N: TOO DARK!)
"Please… PLEASE! I don't want to be late again!" I muttered as I pressed the pedal, driving 150 miles an hour at a 70 miles per hour speed limit street.
I finally arrived at Jenna's house, and stopped the car directly behind the black SUV parked in front of the door. I jumped out of the car without even turning off the engine and ran to the door. It was locked, but I broke it with a kick.
The sound startled the goons loitering nearby, and they turned their gazes towards me.
"Hey. I'm not late, right?" I asked with an angry smile while cracking my fist as I walked slowly towards them.
A lanky old goon tried to stop me by raising his hand to my body. "Kid. Get the fuck out- OWW OWW OWW!"
I pulled his finger back, almost breaking it. The other goon nearby tried to intervene, but I did a full kick right to his head, causing him to fall into the floor and lose his will to fight immediately.
I turned to the goon who was kneeling in pain as I was almost breaking his finger and asked, "Where is Jenna? Why are you guys here?"
"Th-THE Boss. Has a movie part! It'll help her! He wants to offer it to her! "
"You mean, force her?" I said menacingly as I pulled his finger back a bit further, snapping it out of its joints. He screamed in pain, but I grabbed a new finger and stared at him to get the answers.
With tears and snots on his face, the man said, "I don't know. I just got here. I don't know what the fuck is happening-"
I put my hand on his head, and slammed it towards my knees, making him lose consciousness. "If you want to lie. Do it better."
I made my way up the spiral staircase quickly and entered Jenna's mom room.
"COME OUT KID!" A tall, muscular latino man was banging on the closet door as he had finally found where Jenna was hiding. He broke the closet door quickly and grabbed Jenna's wrist to drag her to his boss.
"I don't know whether I'm fashionably late, or exactly on time, but I really am grateful that I can be both." I muttered with a sense of relief, causing both Jenna and the man to turn in my direction. I was at ease as the thing I feared hadn't happened yet, and although it was presumptuous of me to let my nerves down, I know that the only thing I needed to do today, was to get here in time.
"Who the fuc-" Before the man could speak, I hit him using Kennichi's shotei technique, a soft yet hard strike with the bottom of the palm directly at his solar plexus. All the air in his lungs was pushed out,and he fell on his knees, gasping for breath.
"Where is your boss?" I yanked his hair back and made him face me as I asked.
Drool came out of his mouth, and he was in shock. He opened his mouth a few times, and said, "He's…He's at the guest room."
"What is he doing there-"
Before I could get the answer, Jenna abruptly hugged me. I was baffled, but I could sense she was shivering.
"I was so scared!" She broke down and cried in my embrace. I brushed her back lightly as I took a deep breath to calm myself down and said, "You're all right. I'm here now. It's over."
I calmed her down with the sound of the man dry coughing beside us. When he could finally speak, he said, "I'm going to sue you for assault!"
Maybe he thought I would be scared of the flimsy threat, but he showed an evil grin as if his words meant something.
"You know. After you guys intrude in this house, that means you guys have already lost all moral high ground. If we are in the south, I could even shoot you to death, and there will be no repercussions."
I raised my fist up, and punched him right in the jaw. He fell to the floor unconscious, and I slipped the car key I used before into his pockets. I also took a few of his hair and pocketed it before I held Jenna's hand and said, "Follow me. We're getting out of here."
She nodded and followed me obediently, her tiny hand grabbed onto mine, and wouldn't let go.
[General POV]
"FUCK! How hard is it to capture a child!" The fat and sleazy producer yelled after waiting for so long in the guest room.
"Have you guys found out where she kept her files yet?!" He screamed again. One of the reasons he came here today was to delete the blackmail material Jenna's mom has against him.
After he tried to make a move on Jenna before , her mother went ballistic and threatened to destroy his life.
Even his wife was filing for divorce. If his wife got those files, then his life would actually be destroyed. He tricked Jenna's mom into thinking he was backing down, and offered her a chance to audition at one of his friend's new movies, before deciding to take some dark material of her daughter to exchange for his own.
He bribed the police into ignoring everything that was happening around the area, and also bribed the driver who regularly took Jenna to school to get her schedule.
"But, my men are fucking useless!" He shouted angrily. He stood up from the bed, while pitching a tent from the viagra he swallowed before, and walked outside the door to find the girl on his own.
His anger doubled when he saw the girl being led away by a teenage boy the moment he walked out. He gritted his teeth and pulled out his gun before aiming at the boy.
"Stop right there!" He said. Edward widened his eyes as he didn't think he would cross paths with the madman. Jenna shivered in fear and hid behind him.
"You think you can be a hero you little- Wait. I know you. You're the famous Edward Newgate! HAHAHA… You should learn more about this industry kid. That way, you would know NOT TO MESS WITH ME! That girl is mine!"
But to his confusion, Edward smiled even though he was pointed at by the gun. "You're late." Edward muttered.
The producer shivered in fear as he heard a gruff voice coming from behind him, "There's a madman racing on the street. It caused a traffic jam. But Lucky for me, I saw Buddy on the road and told him everything." Dwayne said as he lightly picked up the gun from the frozen man's hand. "And dude, you're going to jail."
Buddy the cop stood beside Dwayne and handcuffed the producer's hand before he could even process what was happening.
"I heard your confession, and even recorded it with my body cam. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you…"
As Edward watched the producer and the goons being escorted away by the cops, he narrowed his eyes and said, "He must have something in mind to still be so calm."
"Ed…Will you be alright?" Jenna asked with a shaky voice.
"Ed. Were you the one who raced around the streets today? You're giving me so much stress!"
"What? No. I didn't? And also, this car?" I said before I cheekily hopped onto the driver seat of the red Porsche and pretended I was driving it while simultaneously scattering the unlucky goons hair inside the car.
Buddy narrowed his eyes and asked, "If it's not you, then who?"
"I don't know. You should look into those guys. Not me." Edward said in an innocent tone. Although a bit distrustful, Buddy the cop sighed and internally forgave Ed as he knew why he was rushing to get to the mansion.
Buddy led the kids back to Edwards house, where Jenna would wait for her mother to come pick her up later. He left the house after leaving his female subordinate over there to watch over Jenna and comfort her after the traumatizing experience.
A little later when he found out that the goon was actually the one driving, he was extremely elated as the chase had racked up more than 50 thousand dollars in damages.
Not only that, a few officers suddenly stood forward and confessed that they had received a bribe from the producer, and provided a lot of evidence for his prior crimes. Tens of victims of the producer also stood forward and accused him. Although Buddy knew someone was behind all of this, he was elated to see that there was no way for the man to get out of the offense right now.
"I wonder who he had offended?" The police captain of the district Buddy was in, sighed after he got a call from the higher ups to make sure the man would go to jail.
"Is it the Mckenzies? He tried to touch the last daughter of the family after all." He muttered as he took out a file from 14 years ago, where Alexandria Karlson decided to report her family for neglect and abuse after her husband died. The cause of death, the celebration of their first night together as an 80 year old husband and 20 years old wife was too much for said old man.
Back at Edward's house, Jenna was still shaken from the entire experience, and refused to part from Edward.
[Edward POV]
There wasn't much place to stay in the reconstructed house with all of the equipment around. I sat in the second living room near the couch while Jenna cuddled into my arms, she had already fallen asleep after the whole ordeal.
I patted her arms to comfort her as she was still distressed by the entire thing, but my phone suddenly rang. I answered it quickly and spoke in a hushed voice.
"Hello. Alex?" I guessed.
I was wrong.
"ED! WE WON! 810 POINTS TO 320! WE WON BY A LANDSLIDE!" Enid shouted in excitement from the other line. A wide grin broke out of my face and I said, "NICE! I knew we could do it!"
But then, Alex grabbed the phone and asked urgently, "What about Jenna? Are you guys alright?"
I could hear Enid ask with a concerned whisper, "What about Jenna?"
"Something happened, that's why Ed left early." Alex explained briefly.
"We're all okay now. Did we get a trophy?" I replied and changed the subject as I didn't want to share anything without talking to Jenna first.
"WE GOT A GIANT TROPHY!" Enid shouted from the other line. "We're going home now. Meet you back at our place?" Alex asked. I turned to Jenna and looked at her sleeping face before replying, "Not right now. I will meet you guys tonight? We can go to Shaw's diner. My treat."
"Okay. I will tell everyone." Alex replied before ending the call. I threw the phone to the side, and opened up my laptop to dig up some dirt about the dirty producers and orchestrated a few things.
But, even hours after the incident, Jenna's mother never came to pick her up.
She had woken up from her nap, and still didn't have the courage to separate from me for so long. I sat her down and asked her calmly, "Do you want Elsa to come and stay with you? Or, do you want to come with me to the diner?"
The question was because I couldn't get in contact with her mother, not because I wanted to go out and celebrate.
Jenna hesitated for a while before saying, "I…Can I just stay with you?"
"Of course you can." I replied instantly. She brightened up a bit and gave me a hug before whispering something I couldn't hear.
"You're welcome. And Hey, if you ever need me again, just give me a call alright?"
She nuzzled into my embrace, but I stopped her and said, "Hey don't run your hand all over the place."
"I didn't-" She widened her eyes in disbelief, and then realized I was making a joke and smiled.
"Finally. I haven't seen your smile all day. I've started to miss it." I said with a smile, causing her to blush.
"You know what, today gave me an idea for a song. Do you want to hear it?"
Her eyes lit up and she asked, "A song…about the incident? Or about…us?"
"A little bit of both kind of a promise about us too." I replied with a slight shake of my head as I pretended to think.
She released me quickly and said in excitement, "Well. What are you waiting for? Go write it down before you forget about it!"
"I don't need to write it down. I can just play it-"
"Then do it!" Jenna exclaimed, desperately needing something to distract her mind away from the whole incident.
"Alright. Lemme check the piano first." I stood up and walked to the piano nearby, and Jenna followed me like a baby duck . I gestured for her to sit next to me on the piano long chair.
"Also Jenna, if you got your panties wet while I sang, don't throw it at me like you did at the concert yeh?"
She blushed in embarrassment and hit me slightly on the bicep, "Who exposed me?'
"I will not name the witness…you know… protect your sources and all that."
She pouted but her excited eyes betrayed her. "Just sing."
"Okay. After that, We're going to eat."
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
[One call away– Charlie Puth]
My fingers gently tapped the piano keys as I looked Jenna in the eyes.
"♫♪ I'm only one call away. I'll be there to save the day! Superman got nothing on meee~! I'm only one call away. ♫♪"
She blushed in embarrassment and avoided my eyes.
"♫♪Call me, baby, if you need a friend. I just wanna give you love~
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon♫♪"
She covered half her face with her slender hand as she peeked at me through the gaps of fingers.
"♫♪Reaching out to you, so take a chance
No matter where you go, know you're not alone♫♪"
My intentions were conveyed to Jenna, and she couldn't help but shed tears again as she heard the song.
"♫♪I'm only one call away♫♪"
I sang with a decisive tone as I wanted her to know I would always be there if she needed me. Even if I was far away, I would definitely try. After all, she is one of the few precious friends I have in this life.
"♫♪I'll be there to save the day! Superman got nothing on meee! I'm only one call away♫♪"
We went to the diner together, with her sitting at the backseat of my bicycle as I stressfully pedal away to the restaurant.
♫♪Come along with me and don't be scared
I just wanna set you free.
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon♫♪
We meet with Enid and Alex, who gave Jenna a hug the second they saw her.
♫♪You and me can make it up, anyway…
For now, we can stay here for a while…
Cause you know, I just wanna see your smile♫♪
Jenna shared with the girls what happened, and shared the tales of my heroism with an excited tone and a sincere smile on her face. We ordered a lot of food as we waited for the others.
♫♪No matter where you go, know you're not alone
I'm only one call away
I'll be there to save the day♫♪
Sanjay and Haruna came to the diner with a big grin on their faces as they raised the 0.5 meter tall silver-white trophy up high in the air. The whole restaurant applauded to congratulate us as Enid announced our win to everyone.
♫♪Superman got nothing on me
I'm only one call away♫♪
Jacob was agitated and wanted to destroy the producer after Jenna opened up and shared the whole story to Elsa and him. I had to grab him by his pants to keep him in the restaurant.
♫♪When you're weak I'll be strong
I'm gonna keep holding on♫♪
In a way, for me to run over there to save Jenna today, was also a redemption for me who was always late in saving my friends in my previous life. While Jenna was afraid of letting me go, I too felt the same way. We went back to my place after celebrating, and the group decided to let me keep the trophy for a while before donating it to the school.
♫♪Now don't you worry, it won't be long
Darling, if you feel like hope is gone
Just run into my arms♫♪
♫♪I'm only one call away
I'll be there to save the day
Superman got nothing on me
I'm only one, I'm only one call away♫♪
"Hey Ed." Jenna stopped me from walking by tugging at my shirt. I turned to her and asked, "What is it?"
I finally knew what she whispered before this. She looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "Thank you."
I smiled and patted her head lightly before casually saying, "Anytime."
"♫♪I'm only one call away
I'll be there to save the day
Superman got nothing on me
I'm only one call away
I'm only one call away…♫♪"
(A/N: New way of writing the song. Wdyt?)
