xChapter 11 - Gabriel Griffon Attacks

At Burrito Bistro, Mesto-Presto is sitting at the counter chatting with the owner of the store, Cedro Garcia.

"Hey Garcia," Mesto-Presto began to say as he sorted through the register, "today's been a pretty slow day, huh?"

"Yeah, things really slowed down after that Griffon guy left," Garcia began, "I wonder what he's up to."

"Well if you ask me, Garcia, I wouldn't want to know. I know a lot of people really liked him but something about him just didn't sit right with me. Maybe it was the fact that he was just too good at chopping up meat."

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Ronnie & Elizabeth are in Starlight High's kitchen as Griffon lunges towards them as he holds two items in his hands. Despite it being two against one, the two instinctively knew to keep Griffon a safe distance away from them. As Elizabeth hopped over the counter & Ronnie ran towards the wall, Ronnie switched on the lights, however as he flips them, he turns to see Griffon right next to him about to hit him with the weapon he's holding in his hand.

"You're too predictable," Griffon states as he goes for an attack.

However, before he can land the hit, Elizabeth comes in with a roundhouse kick on Griffon causing him to drop one of his weapons, which was a pair of tongs.

"Thanks for the save, I didn't know you knew taekwondo," Ronnie began to say before Elizabeth cut him off.

"Ronnie, we need to focus, I tried to cause him to drop his other weapon but I couldn't," Elizabeth states as she starts to sweat.

"What's the other weapon?"

"A knife."

Ronnie freezes up as he looks over to Griffon. Griffon chuckles before revealing the other weapon he is holding is a pizza cutter.

"Close but no cigar," Griffon smirks, "Don't worry I'll only use the sharp side!"

Griffon runs at Elizabeth and swings the pizza cutter at her, instinctively, Elizabeth dodges it, however, that was all Griffon's intention as he uses his other fist to land an uppercut on Elizabeth. Ronnie quickly runs over to Griffon and kicks him in the chin. Griffon steps back a bit before tossing the pizza cutter at Ronnie. Ronnie catches it but Griffon manages to get close and he puts Ronnie into a chokehold. As Ronnie tries to catch his breath, Elizabeth rushes over and performs a back kick on Griffon causing him to let go of Ronnie.

"A-Are you alright?!" Elizabeth asks

"N-never better," Ronnie states as he tries to catch his breath.

Gabriel Griffon stares at the two as he begins to pick up a frying pan. Ronnie & Elizabeth begin to try and get ready to fight back but they're already too exhausted and the adrenaline is fading quickly.

"I really didn't want things to get so bad, but you really leave me with no choice, I need to finish what I started!" Griffon yells.

Griffon goes to swing the frying pan at the two kids' heads when a big hand grabs onto Griffon's shoulder. Griffon tries to move but their grip is too strong

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" The person holding Griffon roars.

Griffon tries to say something but the man punches Griffon with all of his fury, a punch so powerful Griffon is left unconscious. Ronnie & Elizabeth look stunned as they see that the person who defeated Gabriel Griffon, was the teacher aide Ray Ramirez.

"You kids alright?" Ray asks as he wipes a muffin crumb off his face.

Ronnie & Elizabeth look to see that the door leading to the teacher's lounge is open with the chemistry teacher, Sam Penningberg, on the phone with the police.

"I'm okay, th-thanks for the help," Elizabeth murmurs.

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Elizabeth & Ronnie are sitting on the steps outside the entrance to Starlight High as they watch Gabriel Griffon get taken away by the police. As it does so he tries to struggle.

"You need to let me go!" Griffon shouts, "You don't know what's in there! You don't understand anything! ANYTHING!"

Griffon gets shoved into the car and is taken away. As that happens, Ray & Sam are standing next to Ronnie & Elizabeth.

"Are you kids alright? I would offer a beer but you aren't old enough for those," Ray asks concerned.

"Don't worry about me, I'm all fine," Elizabeth says, before looking over to Ronnie who seems to be lost in thought.

"It's funny really," Ronnie began to say, "I thought that I was finally strong enough to be able to protect someone, but I could barely even hurt that guy. I guess I'm still the exact same person I was back then."

Elizabeth is silent as she doesn't know what to say however Sam clears his throat, "You're taller now right? You can run faster, too. Regardless of what happened in the past, you're a different person now. And you'll continue to change and grow, it's better to move forward than to look back at the past."

"I- I guess, thanks Mr. Penningberg," Ronnie says.

"Just doing my job, though I would really appreciate it if you didn't get into any more fights."

As Ronnie & Elizabeth sat on the steps, they began to wonder if they would eventually have to fight someone again. Obviously, they would at one point in their lives, but they'd have no idea of knowing how much stronger their next opponent would be, and if they'd be as lucky as they were today. As the rest of the day went on, that question rang through their head all day.

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Later that day, in Mr. Amnestor's classroom. Ronnie & Elizabeth sit at their desks as they wait for other club members to show up. However, the person that enters the classroom next isn't Marcus or Alex but rather Hamster, with Bennet sitting in his hair. Hamster is also holding a big round Tupperware container. Hamster sets it down on the table next to the door.

"Oh hey, Hamster!" Ronnie begins to say before Hamster runs over to him & Elizabeth and gives the two a big hug.

"I'M SO SORRY YOU GUYS GOT HURT!" Hamster begins to cry, "ALL BECAUSE OF MY DUMB MIRACLE!"

"Woah woah, it's okay Hamster, it isn't your fault," Ronnie replies as he tries to hand Hamster some tissues but Bennet the hamster grabs them to wipe his watery eyes.

"Look on the bright side, we figured out who stole the muffins!" Elizabeth says trying to cheer Hamster up.

Hamster lets go of the two as he wipes his teary eyes, "Yeah... yeah! You guys did do that! You're all so incredible!"

The compliment causes Ronnie & Elizabeth to smile. As they do so, the door to the classroom opens as Marcus & Alex enter.

"Sorry we're late, we got held up with that English test, what did we miss?" Marcus asks the group.

"We'll uh- tell you about that later," Ronnie states.

Alex looks over at the table and sees the Tupperware, as he opens it he asks, "What's this for?"

"Oh- uh- so as a way of trying to show my appreciation to this club," Hamster began, "I decided to try and give you guys my attempt at recreating those muffins!"

"Wait really? You can bake? That's awesome!" Ronnie says as he grabs a muffin.

"I'm a man of many talents," Hamster remarks as he rubs his nose & Bennet the hamster snickers.

Alex, Marcus, & Elizabeth also grab a muffin and each Miracle Club member takes a bite out of the muffin.

"I know my baking skills aren't good," Hamster began to say, "so I'm sorry if it isn't that good."

"Are you kidding me?" Alex roars as he chews his muffin, "THIS IS AMAZING!"

"I can't believe you made this, when did you have the time today?" Ronnie asks as he enjoys the muffin.

"Oh, I worked on this during cooking class and thought you guys should have some," Hamster replies sheepishly.

"I understand why everyone was so crazy about these muffins," Elizabeth remarks.

"To be honest, I'd go as far as to say these muffins blow the school ones out of the water!" Marcus says.

"R-really?!" Hamster asks stunned, "Th-thanks for the compliments! If you ever want me to bake you anything then I'm your man!"

As the club meeting continued with everyone enjoying some well-deserved food, the more bitter memories that were made just a few hours ago began to be ignored in favor of remembering this moment. Some time from now, whenever Ronnie & Elizabeth would look back on this day, they wouldn't think about all of the "what if" scenarios about what could have happened during that fight, but they'd rather reminisce on this moment. A moment in time when they were able to enjoy some wonderful food with friends that they cherished. Friends who they would only become closer to as the months went on.

See You Next Chapter!~