Chapter 3 - Ned

Ryan walked inside the hallway of the school. His eyes carried black bags as he didn't catch any sleep last night. He was too excited about the Omnitrix.

He looked down at his wrist and smiled. He wore a long smooth jacket similar to Ben. He picked this inside his father's closets. The color was a mix between Blue and White.

A long sleeve covered the Omnitrix but not completely. He opened his locker and took out his notebook.

The Physics lesson messed up his brain with a lot of homeworks. As he closed the locker, his eyes caught some sight. 

A group of teenagers forming a circle around a fat kid. Ryan frowned. They were obviously bullying that kid.

Surprise. Surprise. The leading bully was Flash.

Ryan listened to their conversation. 

" Here is your work. Finish the homework tonight. If not, you will eat some sandwich from me." Flash snorted as he slammed his hand on the wall.

" Got it Ned." He asked clearly not wanting to hear an answer from Ned.

Flash's friends also gave their books to Ned. They didn't threaten Ned but their action was even worse in Ryan's eyes. They just treated Ned as a homework machine. Their interests were completely about themselves.

Ned remained silent throughout the entire exchange. He kept staring down, clenching his hands.

" Now, Get lost." Flash pushed Ned to the side. The force of his caused Ned to stumble to the floor.

Then laughter echoed from the group.

" This fatwas can't even stand up."

" Yeah. Look at him."

" Anyway, did you guys see Spiderman?"

" Loser."

" I saw him flying. He is so cool."

Amid the laughter, Ned struggled to get up as he got hurt from the falling. Ryan walked toward Ned and offered him a hand.

He helped Ned get up.

" You okay?"

Ned nodded. " I am fine. Thanks."

He then went to pick up the books. Ryan helped with that task as well.

" Those are all your books." Ryan asked.

" Kind of. For now, it is all mine." Ned answered.

Ryan chuckled. " Hey, do you like Lego? I am thinking about buying the slasher set for next month's theme. You know. Halloween, Spooky season."

Ned's eyes shone with excitement. " I have some suggestions for you. I am somewhat expert in that field."

" Really. Today must be my lucky day. Haha. My name is Ryan."

" I am Ned. How many sets do you have?"

" None." Ryan spoke in sadness. " I couldn't bring that many boxes with me. So I sell all my Lego in a garage sale. That is why I want to buy some Lego right now."

Ryan stopped and his eyes staring at the books in Ned's hands. He grabbed the books forcefully. 

" Give it to me. I will take care of those books for you." Ryan walked at a quick pace.

He arrived in front of Flash.

" Hey." He called out the group's attention. As soon as the group looked at his direction, Ryan threw the books at their feet.

" Just do your homework.Are you guys retarded? Maybe something is wrong with your brains. Mr Johnson gave very easy homework for the weekend. I don't know how you guys are struggling to do some homework." 

Ryan spoke in a somewhat loud voice. He intentionally raised his voice so that he could gather more attention on this small quarrel. The more eyes he drew, the more delighted he became.

Ryan was too familiar with the bully. And he was much older than these teenagers. Before coming into this reality, Ryan was a military student, studying advanced solutions in the military school. 

As an adult, the action of these teenagers was childish to him. Although he could not use force during his day in previous reality since that would result in a lawsuit, this time it was different. He was also a teenager like them.

Flash stepped forward, his arms beaming with tight muscles as he crossed his arms. He stood about over 6 feet but compared with Ryan they were both the same.

" This is not your concern." Flash spoke. He pointed his head toward Ned. " Hey loser, come pick up your homework."

Ryan stepped on the homework and said in a nervous tone. " I am so sorry about that."

Flash was speechless by his action and was stunned. After a few seconds, anger formed inside his heart and he glanced at Ryan.

Ryan waved his hands and patted at Flash's shoulder. " Easy buddy. You are scaring the girls. Look. I don't want trouble. It is my second day here. But if you decide to do something stupid,you will know the trouble I want to avoid." 

He warned with a sweet smile but Flash didn't take him seriously.

***

" Seriously. The Principle is too harsh on you." Ned complained. Ryan simply shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

" Can't blame him since Flash's mom is yelling her ass out in the principal's room." Ryan said. 

The two friends were on the side of the road walking toward the toy store. The sun was setting in as the stars were starting to form in the sky.

Ryan beat up Flash in the school. They fought obviously. Although getting into a fight was not on Ryan's plan, having cheats made him change his plan. At first, he was going on the academy route and became a professor in some university. 

But being hosted by Omnitrix fueled his ambition. Ryan was a normal human with a normal heart. He was not a saint but he wanted to help people if he had the power to do so.

" So what is your punishment?" Ned asked as he lifted his backpack.

" Two weeks of school work. Helping teachers and some stuff. And writing apology letters toward Flash. That is it." Ryan answered.

" Phew… I thought the punishment would be severe." Ned sighed. " Like expelling."

" Haha." Ryan laughed. There was no way the principal would expel a bright student like him. And he was not in the wrong either.

" Forget about me. You got good news. For now, you will not be their homeworks machine."

" Thank you for that." Ned said. He was grateful for Ryan's action.

Ryan stopped his steps as he found something unusual. He looked up at the sky and frowned.

Ned, seeing Ryan's expression, asked. " What is wrong?"

Ryan pointed the finger at the sky and said. " There is a fire."

As soon as he said those words, the ground trembled and a horde of smoke came out across the streets. There was no wind so the smoke was just forming like a big balloon.