Chapter 10 - Plans with Opposition

"As you all probably know," the old professor in his white labcoat explained, "[Powers] are stemming from a mostly unknown variable in our genetic pool. We call this variable 'H Gene'," he pointed at the whiteboard behind him, where the basic theory of this was already scribbled down, "We don't really know where this gene comes from, but we know the first source: Heracles, hence the name. As you might know, this gene is very fickle, and has a tendency to develop different changes in the body, that we can't entirely comprehend. This is what we call [Power].

Now, this gene is recessive, and thus it is really hard to predict which one will be the dominant in any offspring. Also, very contradictory to that, we have realized, that sometimes, the two original genes sort of merge, and thus create a new [Power] altogether. Because of this, it is common practice between heroes, to marry other heroes, who'd complement their own powers, thus creating an even stronger offspring. Some of you might be accidents like those! Huhuhuhuu!"

After class, Bauldeer and I were standing in front of the classroom, sort of gazing out of the window, into the courtyard of our school facility. We have been standing like this for a few minutes, knowing that our class wouldn't start for another ten or so minutes.

"Do you have any plans?" I asked.

"For what?" he asked back.

"For when we can leave, you know."

"I just wanna go to the sea again. Go back to my life as a fisherman. Crime's not the best, really," he said. I could hear the regret in his voice.

"That's a shame. I could really use someone like you," I told him without thinking about it too much.

"Isn't that kinda rude? You'd want to use me?" he asked back, sort of jokingly, sort of seriously.

"I meant it as I could use your help," that was true. He's kind of a giant as well. Threatening my enemies with his prowess wouldn't be bad. Not like I have many enemies though.

"What's yours then?" he asked back.

"My plan? Revenge, mate. Revenge," I told him honestly. Justin and his bitch will have to pay for what they'd done to me. I accidentally paid back one of them, but two still remains.

"What did they do?" he asked, like he know what I was thinking. Or, just logically thought about it, and drew the conclusion, that I probably have an agenda against a smaller group of people, rather than the entire world. Why would a teenager be that edgy?

"They bullied me for being weak. After that, they managed to get me into jail," I started, "I also might've killed one of their friends in an accident..." I mean it technically was an accident, I wasn't lying, right?

"So that's what you did, huh? I thought it was weird to see li'l crybaby Danny in prison," a familiar, yet unfamiliar female voice said.

I turned around, and I saw an absolute beauty. Long red and curly locks swung around her, down the way to her hips. And ooooh boy those hips. Her crimson eyes pierced my heart at first sight, and her slim face burned into my soul.

AS IF! I know this chick.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly.

"Danny can speak up now? That's weird... I thought you're best at shutting up, and crying in the corner," she said.

"Like I care about what you say anymore, Andy," I called her by the one name she hated most.

"Don't you DARE call me that!" she exclaimed. I could see the fury in her eyes sparkling, as she tried to deal with embarrassement.

"What was that? You wanna go out and play soccer, Andy?" I teased her again.

I'm no better than Justin at this point.

Who cares? I have a right to do this.

"Oh I can see you want a fight. Shame you won't last a second," she said.

"You wanna test it?" I took her bait.

"Stop, both of you!" Baulder jumped in just as she was readying her claws.

"Who the hell are you?!" Andy shouted at my little giant.

"Name's Baulder. I guess I'm Dan's friend, or something," he said, as his shyness crept up on him, "And, uh... You?"

"Andromeda Lawlett. Danny's elementary school bully. And friend," she said. She was right. We've been friends back then, but she always picked on me for being weak.

She wasn't the worst bully I've ever had, rather a memorable one. We'd hang out, and she'd tease and pick on me all the time. Never understood her motive, though. The wird part about how she would bully me, was that she never said anything about my [Power] though. She'd always call me weak. Even though I was a [Low-Tier] and she was a [Mid-Tier], she'd never make fun of me for being lower than her.

"How've you been, Meda?" I decided to quit the harrassment, it wasn't worth a fight.

"I ended up joining the gang," she said. I knew full well what she was talking about.

Back in eighth grade we both admired this group of delinquents. We both wanted to join them, just to screw with our parents. I was laughed at, but they found Meda intriguing. Her [Power] is, well, more than unique.

She's a descendant of a [Lineage] of [Werebeasts]. At least that's how they are categorized officially. They all have the same general type of Power. It let's them partially turn into a type of animal, hence the naming. Meda, in particular, is a rare type. She's a [Lioness], which somehow also describes her personality quite well.

Usually these powers tend to only affect the limbs, ears, eyes, mouth and hair of their users, as well as occasionally adding a tail into the mix, depending on their [Species]. 'Common' species include: cats, dogs and rabbits. Sometime through history, [Lineages] were born. These Lineages tend to specialize around a certain Species, thus having an either different form, and distinguished abilities. The Lawlett family in particular is a family of lions.

"And I guess you ended up here?" I asked.

"We ran into a hitch. Turns out, we had a snitch, so I ran over the bitch," she said without even biting her tongue.

"What, you became a rapper?" I joked.

"Shut up," she replied, slightly embarrassed, turning her head to the side.

"After all, both our parents are likely going through a rough patch after all," I said, "Both of us became murderers after all."

"Yupp. You're right! I should look on the bright side of being in prison," she laughed. I joined in.

Seemingly Baulder didn't quite understand the situation, so he shyly started to laugh as well.

We ended up saying goodbyes, as we were sure that we'd meet again here, and we went back to class.

At the end of the day, I got back to my cell. Old Man Halla was sitting in his usual spot. I wonder if he ever gets bored?

"How was your day?" I asked him.

"Same as always. How was yours?" he asked back.

"I met an old friend. Didn't know she'd be in here as well," I said. Frankly, I was still surprised to see her.

"You're smiling a lot. That's good," he said.

"I guess, yeah. Haven't seen her in years."

"Good to hear she's okay." he laughed, and he turned towards the wall, getting ready to sleep.

I wonder if I got to meet Meda thanks to fate. She was always a ray of sunshine in my shit life, even though she was still an ass about it... Everyone has some people that they just can't hate, right? For someone like me, that was something to be cherished. Even if I didn't hate someone, I just didn't care about them. When we graduated from elementary, I felt like a part of me was lost forever, and everything that occured since didn't really help me out either.

----

This place is just part of my everydays, I guess. Purple, hazy, yadda yadda. You know the drill.

I walked past the usual pond, all the way down the path, and finally I reached the Throne. I looked upon it, and I really mean Upon it, with a capital U. This thing just got lifted up to a pedestal, and now I really had to climb up to reach it. I started climbing up the stairs, but before I could even touch the Throne itself, I heard a familiar voice.

"What makes you think, that the time has come?" said the echoey deep voice.

"Who are you?" I shouted. No answer came.

"What do you want?" I shouted once again.

"You." he whispered into my ear.

Chills ran down my spine. I looked around, and I saw a a floating face, sort of like an emoticon, without the actual head part, but only the mouth and the eyes, glowing in a purpley white light.

"I want you." he laughed.