Christmas Special: Happy Holidays!

"Aw man! It was just about to get good!" whined Jarun.

I got up from my seat. "Dude, it's been like, three months since last chapter. Besides, looking at myself in pain isn't all that great. Couldn't you take a break from reading?"

"Chapter-schmapter. Who needs breaks anyways Andrew? I'm having a good time as it is."

I looked down at my watch. "Man, wouldn't you know. It's already Christmas. C'mon dude, let's get outta here and go have some fun."

Before Jarun could say a word, I stopped time and dragged him outside. The dorms were decorated with vibrant colors of red, green, yellow and blue lights. A tree stood tall in between the dorms and the academy, with lights and a star shining at the top. There was a handful of people out and walking, but other than that it was just Jarun and I standing in the early morning sun.

"Woah, you were right. I thought you were just saying those things just to try and get me out of the theater. But no, it's actually Christmas," Jarun said, amazed.

I smirked. "Yeah. Now, let's go find Ziya—"

"What about me?" Ziya said, as if she were innocent. Jarun nearly jumped out of his skin. I wish I didn't do the same.

"Bro, you can't give us a heart attack like that. God dayum," I complained.

She grabbed both of us by the shoulders and shoved us in the direction towards the dorms. "Don't be such a dunce then, yah idiot!" she laughed. "Anyways, I'm off now. You guys should check in with Sebastian."

Then, just like that, it was just Jarun and I once again. We looked at each other.

"The fuck just happened?" I asked.

His smooth cheeks were the color of roses, which I doubt was from the cold. I still wasn't used to his human form, even after all those months. It felt like yesterday that the three of us were on Jaguer.

Jarun's jaw was still open, so I had to close it just so that it wouldn't freeze.

I sighed. "Never mind."

Before we could step foot in the dorms, Sebastian bumped into us at the entrance. A big grin formed on his face.

"Andrew and Jarun! Long time no see, eh?"

"Yeah, long time no see. How'd the infirmary treat you?" I asked.

Jarun raised an eyebrow. "Infirmary?"

"Oh, that's right. You weren't there when it happened, but he went ham on a bunch of guys in our class—"

"And that's enough!" Sebastian cupped my mouth with his hand. "My knuckles healed up nice though, so I should be good to go next chapter—"

His hand was stuck to my face like glue. I yanked it off before covering his mouth with my hand. "Shhhh! Can't let ya give away spoilers."

Jarun pulled my arm away from Sebastian's face just as it was turning purple. He gasped for air, finally able to breath. Guess I was stronger than I thought, huh?

Wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, he spoke. "Welp, Merry Christmas, you guys! I gotta go catch up with Ziya. For some reason, she wanted me to meet her down by the training area. Anyways, see ya later!"

Suddenly, Jarun took off running towards the academy. "Just realized I had to go do something Andrew! I'll talk to you later!"

And with that, I was alone in front of the entrance. No place like the dorms for the holidays.

As I wiped off the snow from my boots inside, I was slapped on the back of the neck so hard that my face crashed into the carpet.

Angrily, I turned around to face the giant of a teacher, Mr. Jovic. He roared a boisterous laugh, one that shook the building. "Merry Christmas kid! Whatcha doing all by yourself?"

Diffusing my anger, I smiled. "I was just heading back to my room."

He clapped me on the back. "Well that's no fun, isn't it? Why don't you and me spar right here?"

"Oh, well that sounds like a blast and all—what the hell is that?" I pointed behind him. As he turned around to see what was behind him, I took the chance to run through the other side and towards our room. I could hear the sound of his voice far away as I slammed the door shut behind me. With a sigh of relief, I slumped down against the door with my eyes closed.

"So what brings you here?" said a girl's voice. Startled, I looked up to find a girl bending down over me. I keep forgetting that it's not just Jarun, Sebastian, Ziya and I that lives here. Avery is so quiet most of the time that I just hardly notice her presence anywhere.

I pointed behind me at the door. "Mr. Jovic."

"I see," she said. Straightening herself up, she began walking to the living room.

After sitting herself down on the couch, she motioned me over to come sit next to her.

I smiled. "Just the two of us, aye?"

A knock came from the door.

"I know you're in there punk. Come out here and lets talk like men—with out fists."

How the hell did he even find me? Panicking, I ran for the kitchen. Searching through the dishes, I found the one weapon that works one hundred percent of the time: a good old cast-iron skillet.

He knocked again, Avery watching from the couch like it was some Saturday night comedy.

"Ight, Jovic. Just gimme a sec, okay?"

But to his surprise, I opened the door right then and threw the pan. Luck must've been on my side, because it nailed him directly in the forehead, leaving a nasty bruise.

Without hesitation, I jumped back inside the dorm, yelling, "Later Jovic! Might wanna go to the infirmary with that one!"

There was a grunt, then the thunderous stomp of his boots as they faded away into nothing. I sighed with relief.

"Not so fast, punk."

Before I could even call out time stop, Mr. Jovic grabbed me by the back of my collar and slammed me onto the wooden floor. All I could see was the black around the outside of my vision and the face of the big man, who had somehow gotten inside the house. I tried gasping for air, but my lungs wouldn't let anything in. My back felt like it was crushed.

"Can't get me with a cheap trick like that, kid. You can have your pan back by the way," He grinned, dropping the pan right in the pit of my stomach.

Laughing, his final words were, "Take a hit." And with that, he left just like that.

After my vision came back, I made sure to lock the door and take a seat, where Avery was giving a snorting laughter.

"Oh shut up. At least you weren't the one who was reverse judo flipped."

This only spurred her laughter on. Looking at her, I realized that her laugh was nothing like her appearance. I started noticing details about her, like her thick brown hair to her pretty hazel eyes. From head to toe, she was pretty, and at most a few centimeters shorter than me.

"Let's go," I said.

"Hm?", she said, puzzled.

I cleared my throat. "What I meant was let's go, as in let's get go find Sebastian and Ziya. I heard they were at the training area."

"Oh, yeah. Of course. I'll get my jacket, you go on ahead. I'll catch up, don't worry," She smiled. Her teeth were as shiny and white as pearls.

"Alright."

I went out the door and began the journey. Within a few minutes, I heard Avery's familiar voice call out to me to wait up. Sure enough, by the time she caught up, we were already close to the training area.

I thought today couldn't have gotten any weirder, but there was always a surprise in store for me. Outside the academy was Jarun and Sebastian, who were both tied up with a very familiar silver string, hanging from the ceiling like bats. A web of the string connected from wall to wall, like a trap.

"Oh hey Andrew," Ziya said cheerfully. Her gaze shifted to Avery. "Who's that?"

"Our roommate, duh. Who was the idiot again? Anyways, what's going on here?"

"I was using a new technique I made."

I stared at her cautiously. "Huh."

After a couple of hours trying to get the two down and untied from Ziya's string—which she refused to release—the sun had already started to set in the distance. The lights on the giant Christmas tree in the distance seemed to be getting brighter and brighter.

Deciding to stand by the tree, a lot of people began gathering as well. Soon enough, Mr. Jovic came out with a megaphone.

"Alright punks," blasted his voice, which was already loud enough, "the fireworks show is coming soon, so sit down or somethin', I don't care. But y'all know when curfew is. We got training early tomorrow morning, so get some good sleep! I'll see ya punks later."

With a chuckle to himself, he disappeared until the next chapter.

Suddenly, a high pitched whistle shot out of nowhere. Then, the sky exploded into a multitude of colors. Green, red, yellow, blue: the sky was loaded with designs. Simple fireworks, Santa shapes, bell shapes, snowflake shapes. The list could go on and on. Amazing could barely describe it.

"What a good day," I said to myself. Without realizing it, Avery had been sitting right next to me the entire time. So when she answered me with a "yes", of course I was slightly startled.

I turned my head to look at her. I couldn't get over how such a pretty girl would end up in a military camp. I was about to ask her something when I heard what sounded like a firework go off right next to my ear. I was close: it was Sebastian's voice hollering.

"Man, check out these fireworks!" He said, sitting down in between us. "Christmas can't get better than this, right?"

I sighed. Well, at least I could tell the reader Merry Christmas—

"Oh, and Merry Christmas to the readers too!" Sebastian said, looking at the handsome and beautiful readers that read webnovel stories.

"You devious motherfucker—"

Before I could do anything else, Jarun ended the Christmas special with one sentence. "That's a wrap!"