New Enemy

They spend a few hours training, Damien getting overpowered by both Randell and Veronica. Every time Damien tries to close the gap Veronica always puts him back down and Randell sweeps him off his feet.

"You may have more control and power, but you lack martial arts and fluidity Damien." Randell says as he slams Damien on the ground.

"Your raw power is leagues above us, but you have no way of using it properly." Veronica sends Damien into a wall. 

"Ah!" Damien smirks, "yo-you guys are good. Let's go again!" Damien charges at them again but this time he able to get past their defenses, he jumps when Randell tries to trip his legs. He slams his feet into Randell's chest, sending him to the ground. Veronica tries to unleash her magic and force Damien into the wall again, but Damien flings himself at Veronica fast and gets behind her. 

He places his hand on her back, "This is how you do that." He sends a pulse and flings Veronica into the wall. He stops her momentum right before she hits the wall, by using his warping magic. 

"Not gonna let it happen again." He says with a smile. 

Class ends and Damien rushes over toward both Randell and Veronica, as they pick themselves up from the ground.

"Damn, wasn't ready for that. Ha!" Randell says as Damien approaches.

"Yeah, thanks for stopping me, Damien." Veronica says.

"You're welcome and thank you both for showing my weakness and allowing me to overcome it. You guys put some heat and damage on me. Can't wait for the next one!" Damien says as he helps both up.

"Class is over now, so, I'm going to head back to my dorm room and get changed then meet up with Ariel." Damien says as he starts heading toward the exit.

"Who's Ariel?" Randell asks.

"My sister, and Damien's friend." Veronica follows behind Damien.

"Ahhh. Alright. Won't ask anymore." Randell says as he follows behind. 

Damien returns to his dorm room and takes a shower and gets dressed. He heads for the hospital.

At the hospital, Damien goes to Ariel's room. 

"Hey!" Damien says as he walks through her door. "How are you doing?"

"Eh, I could be better. I want to get the fuck outta her." Ariel says with a exhausting tone. "This place just takes the life outta you, kinda ironic ain't it. HA."

Damien sits by her bedside. "How much longer you got?"

"The doc said a few more days. I'm able to stand up on my own now but it's hard to move." Ariel grips her bed sheets as she struggles to say, "t-those fu-fucking bastards really m-messed me up..." 

Damien reaches out and touches her hand, "Now, you're safe and they won't be doing that anymore. Tyler got what was coming to him after what happened to you and everything else." He gives her a smile and Ariel struggles to smile back.

"I made a quick stop on my way here and got us some games to play!" Damien brings out some small handheld gaming devices and gives one to Ariel. "Here. I got the game Kart-racer." Damien says with a mischievous smile. 

Ariel laughs. "HA! Time to get my revenge!" They turn their games on and begin playing.

Damien and her play for what seems to be a couple of hours, the score going back and forth throughout the time they've spent together. 

"Damn, Ariel, have you been practicing?" Damien loses the final match.

"Ha, ha, ha! You suck. Now I own your ass in every game." Ariel says, sticking her tongue at Damien playfully.

"Yeah, yeah. It was just this once, you just wait." Damien says as he puts his game away. "Want something to eat? I'm starving." 

Ariel nods, "Yeah. This hospital food tastes terrible." 

"Alright I'll be back soon." Damien gets up and leaves.

A few minutes go by, and Damien returns with a bucket of chicken and some drinks. 

"Thank god there's a fast-food place nearby. Hope you don't mind some chicken." Damien says as he places the food between Ariel's legs on the bed. 

"I love it!" She grabs a big thigh and starts chewing down on it.

"Easy girl, it ain't going anywhere." Damien laughs lightly as he sees Ariel devour the food in front of her.

"I-If ydoud hdad tdo edadt tdhde fodod hedre to ydoud bde ddoding tdhde sadmde tdhindg." Ariel says with a mouth full of food.

"Alright, say that all over again next time you don't have a mouth full of food..." Damien says.

A few seconds go by and Ariel swallows her food. "I said, If you had to eat the food here too you'd be doing the same thing." 

"Ah, alright maybe. ha" Damien laughs as he takes a few bites of his own piece.

They finish the bucket and drink their drinks.

"Thanks Damien, that was tasty!" She says rubbing her belly.

"You're welcome, just don't tell the doc." Damien says leaning back in his chair.

A few minutes of silence go by before Ariel breaks it up.

"How are you doing with, you know, everything?" She says.

Damien looks at the ceiling for a few minutes as he is still leaning back, and then leans forward and looks at Ariel. "Well to be totally honest, I've had better days. You girls make it much better not gonna lie. But you know, it had to be done. He didn't stop. If it happened again I would do it all over again as many times as it took." 

"So, you really did put a stop to it all?" Ariel says leaning forward on her bed watching Damien.

"Just him, they're still out there. But it's not over in just a single night and you're more important than them too me. Besides, I got dragged into the Dragons Duel now." 

"The Dragons Duel?! Incredible. Be careful Damien. I don't want you to get hurt." Ariel says with concern in her voice.

"No worries. I've been training and Randell and Veronica have been helping me too." 

"Veronica?! That's surprising, you must have broken her cold exterior. Well, if anyone could it'd be you." 

They both laugh. Night falls and Damien starts getting sleepy. 

"Well Ariel, I'm gonna get some blankets and get some sleep." Damien opens the closet and pulls out some blankets and a pillow for him and makes a bed on the couch for himself.

"Alright Damien, sounds good. I'm getting quite tired myself." 

Damien walks over to Ariel and gives her a kiss on the head. "Good night." 

As Damien was about to walk away Ariel grabbed his hand. "Wait."

Damien turns around, "What is it?"

"Come here." Ariel pulls Damien close to him and Ariel kisses Damien on the lips.

"This was a thank you for saving me and being you." 

Ariel turns around and pretends to fall asleep.

"Ha. If I get a thanks like that, I'll always be there to save you, Ariel." Damien lays down on the bed and falls asleep. 

The next morning Damien wakes up earlier than usual. 

Ariel's still sleeping, Damien walks over to her, gives her a kiss on the head and exits the room shortly after.

As soon as Damien enters the academy, he spots Randell walking in. Damien runs over to him and asks Randell, "Are you up for some sparring today? I'm feeling pretty good!"

Randell laughs "Ha, of course. Gotta prepare for the Dragons Duel." 

"Are you participating too?" Damien asks.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" 

"I had no idea. Looking forward to seeing you fight!" 

Damien and Randell rush into the the training arena and begin sparring.

Randell puts up a better fight than yesterday but ultimately Damien overcomes him and by the time they finish its already after school hours.

"Damn, time just flies by when we are having fun." Damien says.

"Yeah, I almost had you a few times." Randell says as he gets up from the ground.

"Hey, Damien. I have a few questions for you."

"Yeah, what's up?" Damien comes around to Randell.

"There's been a few issues happening around town recently, ever since Tyler disappeared. And I was wondering if you wanted to help me put a stop to a few of them." Randell says.

"Sure." Damien says as the two of them start walking toward the exit.

The two of them start wandering the streets when they come across a couple of people harassing a store owner. It just happens to be Jessica's favorite sweet store too. 

"Let's go see what's going on!" Damien rushes over with Randell following behind. 

When entering the store Damien sees both Spencer and this other guy whos bigger, he's leaner but his size is almost twice that of Spencer's. He has black hair and a tanned appeal. 

The big guy turns toward Damien and Randell entering the store. 

"Oh, shit... Fuck." Randell says when he sees both Spencer and the big guy.

"What's the matter, Randell?" Damien asks.

"That's Sebastian. The number one strongest magic user in our year." Randell says as he slowly backs away.

"Shit. Well, no stopping now. It's both of us!" Damien turns toward both Spencer and Sebastian. 

"Hey shitheads, you can't be doing this anymore! Leave now." Damien says as he walks toward the two.

"Ha, who does this guy think he is." Sebastian says. 

Spencer twitches from remembering what Damien has done to him a few times. "This is the guy that done in Tyler and fucked up our operation." 

"Oh... Interesting." Sebastian looks of superiority turns to a look of interest. "Now, you are something else. I'm going to enjoy breaking you." He takes a few steps toward Damien and now they are standing toe-to-toe.

Damien throws a headbutt but Sebastian slams Damien into the floor so fast Damien wasn't even able to react. The floor shatters beneath Damien's face. 

Sebastian picks him up by the back of the head holding him straight out. Blood oozing from Damien's face. 

"Pathetic, for Tyler to be done in by a weakling like you." Sebastian gets slammed in the gut my Damien's foot. 

"Damn... that fucking hurt." Damien releases all his magic power and charges at Sebastian. Flinging himself behind Sebastian. Places his hand against his back and releases the strongest pulse he can. 

Sebastian twists around Damien's arm in almost a unnatural way and the back of Sebastian fist slams against Damien's head, sending Damien flying through the store window into an oncoming car. 

"Got yourself some speed but you ain't good enough." 

Randell charges at Sebastian but Randell gets repelled by Spencer.

"I'll handle Randell." Spencer charges him. 

"No need. This fights over. Look." Sebastian points toward the car where Damien is lying unconscious in. 

Randell runs over to Damien. "Wake up!" He lets out a small groan as Randell shakes Damien.

Randell carries Damien away. "We gotta get outta here, we aren't his match." 

As Randell runs with Damien on his back all he can hear is Spencer's laughter in the distance.

"Damn it..." Randell says.