Chapter 2: Shade Alley

The bell rings throughout the halls, signaling the end of another tortuous day of school at Chicago High School. Burr and Volt quickly pack their bags, running out long before any of the students. As they exit the school gates, Burr turns around, noticing a new visitor along with them on their journey home.

"You're walking home with us, Colosal? Do you live in this direction?" Burr asked haphazardly.

"O-Oh? W-what no - I mean yes - I mean..!" Colosal stuttered as held out both hands in defense as he had no idea that both Burr and Volt were in front of him.

Burr grabbed his hand and wrapped his arm around Colosal's shoulders, "Les go."

"Wah-?!" Colosal tried to reject, but Burr was having none of it, strengthening his hold much to Colosal's disdain.

As all this borderline harassment was going down, Volt is focusing on reading his manga called 'Chainsaw Man'. Completely ignoring the two idiots that were right beside him; although occasionally he would sneak a glance at them.

Soon, they passed by a foreboding alleyway. The afternoon sun casts long shadows into the alley, making it extremely hard to see.

"Are you going down Shade Alley?" Burr interrogated as Colosal nodded in response.

"Damn, you're ballsy! Shade Alley's infamously dangerous, ya know. Want us to walk you down?"

Volt, however, raised a few objections. "Why do I have to do that? If you wanna walk him home, do it yourself…"

"That's not the winner's spirit," not allowing any further arguments, he grabs both of their wrists and drags them to the alley. "Think of this... as a test of courage! Don't be a b*tch!"

The further they continued down the alley, the more the shadows concealed; eventually, nothing but the dimly street tiles were visible. Colosal clutched his backpack straps with even greater care, scared of what might be lying ahead.

"This place just looks like a normal back street alleyway to me..." Burr complained as he surveyed the area for anything suspicious, unfortunately, nothing out of the ordinary could be recorded.

The trio continued further down, by now a large portion of all the tiles were also enshrouded by the darkness. They could have stepped on something completely gross and wouldn't have even seen it.

A crinkle of metal reverberated throughout the alley ahead of them, echoing louder with each bounce. Hearing the loud noise Colosal looked at the other boys and yelled, "Aw j-jeez! We gotta get out of this place!"

Colosal stumbled back, his hands trembling. Meanwhile, Volt had already turned around and was ready to escape the scene full speed at any second.

Burr smirked as he tapped Volt on the shoulder and whispered, "Don't freak out."

Volt nodded meekly as Burr promptly screamed. His voice echoing off the concrete walls. Colosal fell to his knees, and crawled back towards the safety of the other boys.

"Wh-what was that…." Colosal choked out, exasperated. The next moment a loud thump echoed throughout the alleyway. That was the last straw, Colosal who was already terrified bolted out the alleyway, as if he was running for his life.

Volt and Burr stared at each other in disbelief, as Burr confessed "I didn't think I would scare him that badly.."

"What was that thumping sound you made?" Volt asked, still a bit amazed at his friend's supposed noise-making talent. "It was really quite creepy."

"The thumping? It wasn't me who made the noise," Burr admitted.

"Wait, what? Volt's eyes suddenly constricted. "You're saying you weren't the one who made the thumping? Then… Who did?"

Burr shrugged, as the light soon left Volt's eyes. Volt turned around immediately and bolted full speed in the opposite direction; racing out of his peripherals just like Colosal.

Burr stood alone in shock, he didn't think his homie who he knew for years was such a b*tch.

A few seconds had passed and Burr still stood alone, still shell-shocked at the size of the pussy that his friend Volt was. When Volt didn't return, he too rushed out of the alleyway, chasing after Volt. "Hold up bro, stop coping so hard!"

After all three of the boys had exited the alleyway a third echoing thump chirped deep throughout the narrow street aisle.

Both Colosal and Volt were already lying on their backs panting for air by the time Burr rushed out. "Is this an asthma party or what?" Burr subconsciously blurted out once he saw the other two desperately gasping for air.

"S-shut the f*ck up," Volt said as he gasped for air. Meanwhile, Colosal was non-responsive, most likely contemplating his terrible life choices right now.