SC-Trigram; Chapter 2 - Race Against the Machine

It was just a broken record. One boy had surpassed Willy’s previous record of the 50 and 100 meter dash. To Willy, that was a big deal. A huge deal. He had been beat, he had lost. He couldn’t accept losing, losing meant failure. Where there was failure, there was room for improvement. Yes, Willy was a crazed, nearly obsessed perfectionist. It was his life, it was what he did.

He felt stomped on, trampled to the ground. He couldn’t let that go on, he wouldn’t feel right until he at least tried to retain the record. If Sidian did it so easily, he had no reason to believe he couldn’t either, he knew he could. Unlike some people, when they were beaten, they may get discouraged, that was motivation for Willy.

Willy took the initiative to train. At his current pace, he knew he couldn’t beat Sid. He ran around the block, the entire 30 block the rest of that day, nearly overtaxing himself, to the point Willy’s older sister lectured him about his well being, demanding he take at least two days for rest and rejuvenation.

Three hours later, Willy was sprawled across the concrete sidewalk, scrapping his knee while tripping over a fracture in the cement. His right knee, scrapped pretty badly, was treated by his sister. Willy, once again, claimed he was fine, and continued to move on, continuing his training to ultimately beat Sid and claim back his record.

---

Willy arrived at school later than usual, walking slowly among the sidewalk, his leg nearly giving out along the way from beneath him. He attempted not to falter or show signs of weakness that was the last thing he wanted to do, show or demonstrate to anyone he was weak. Upholding the strongest title in the school for the century, he had way too much at stake. It was probably him over thinking things, but he couldn’t take any chances, and would leave nothing to falter. Above all else, he refused to give Sid the satisfaction of seeing him ‘lose.’ He felt he was watching him, he knew he was watching him.

Willy walked down the hallway after 2^nd period. The bells rang in a resonance over the school that echoed in Willy’s head. In 3^rd period, next period, would be U.S. History I, which he wasn’t looking forward to. He wasn’t as angry with Dew, but he really didn’t feel like talking to him. Knowing Dew, he would only make Willy feel worse by rubbing it in his face that his records were beat. Dew was that type of guy, he never could keep quiet about anything. Willy knew that if he knew, he would never let him forget; constantly reminding him and laying out a list of all of the reasons he sucks. It wasn’t entirely like that in actuality, but it may as well have been.

Willy arrived in History class, continuing on to the American Revolution. Willy didn’t particularly care too much, in fact he intended on taking yet another nap in class. As he laid his head down to rest, a rather obnoxious presence loomed over him, slapping his desk. Willy wasn’t startled, only annoyed. He glared up at Dew with a hefty scowl.

“’Sup my man?” Dew said, speaking casually as if nothing had happened yesterday. Dew was like that.

“You know, thinking,” Willy said, resting his cheek against his hand, staring out of the window.

“I looked on the wall of fame earlier,” Dew remarked. Willy sighed. Here it comes. “Looks like you’ve been bested… by the new kid!”

Willy grunted. “Right.”

“You’re not gonna take that, are you?” Dew leaned over Willy’s desk, practically getting in his face. Willy stared at him apathetically. “He beat your record, you set yourself up so hard to beat. Don’t let him get away with this, take it right from under his feet! Go for it, with both feet!”

“Thanks Dew,” Willy said indifferently. “Appreciate the pep talk.” Dew perked an eyebrow and stood up straight.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What’s wrong?” Dew inquired, folding his arms. Willy merely sighed.

“Forget it, Dew,” Willy replied harshly in a slight snap. Dew simply backed up and sat at his desk beside Willy.

The middle-aged teacher walked in the classroom, five minutes before class started, as usual. As he sat down and assorted through his boos and notes, he stood up, cleared his throat, and faced the class.

“Good morning, class,” the teacher spoke up firmly. The class dropped all of their conversations like a barbell, instantly giving their undivided attention. “We have a special guest in the class today. Our student council president, Lara Willman, would like to speak to the class as a whole.”

Willy’s eyes perked up slightly. He had heard his sister mention something about campaigning some cause or fundraiser or whatever across the school, but he didn’t care enough to ask for the details. He didn’t expect to see her here.

Sure enough, the white haired older girl walked in the classroom, accompanied by two students alongside her on the council, two boys, much taller than her, as if serving as representative guards. The students rose up and clapped as a sign of respect, as if this was actually a very serious and political matter.

The girl had vivid apricot eyes, her skin and overall complexion were breathtaking. As the light from the window shone an intense light over her body, her white hair dazzled brilliantly within the light. Most of the boys in the room instantly had a crush on her. Willy just felt the need to crush something else.

“Good day, my fellow peers,” Lara spoke with a smooth tenor and with a very authoritive edge. Those who knew her knew she was a natural born leader, and always demanded to be in control, yet was also one of the nicest people you would ever meet. Just like Willy, however, she was immensely competitive. This often led to a lot of brawls, figuratively, between the two. Lara was also one of the only people in the school, and probably the world, who could compete with Willy athletically. She never had a chance to due to her busy schedule at school and filling up a part-time job at a cheese factory. Willy even began to think she was slipping up. Yet her personality was always the same to her.

The others were seated instantly, paying their absolute attention to the class president. One of the representatives beside Lara handed her a small briefcase. She took it, opened it, revealing a large compilation of fliers. At the top, in bold print, probably 48 point size, read ‘SCHOOL FUNDRASIER.’ The tall boys took a stack respectively of the fliers and began passing them out among the class. Lara placed aside the case and smiled, folding her arms.

“It’s time for the annual school fundraiser. In an effort to raise awareness and inspiration, we are hosting a horde of events and competitions, ranging from races, hurdles, obstacle courses, and more. Entry is one dollar per person. This will be a public wide event, so guests will be welcome. If you wish to enter, please fill out the forms attached to the fliers and send your form to room 204B.” Lara ended her short speech with a polite wave to the class, which had them literally out of their seats, hunched over with heart throbbing proposals. Lara and her representatives left the room. Lara peeked her head back in, looking inside of the classroom, she waved back once more, this time, not looking quite as professional.

“Hi Willy! I’ll pick you up at 4:30 p.m. I’ll pick up your liniment beforehand,” Lara grinned with a nod, then left the room. Willy simple stared, facepalmed once, and flushed slightly, and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms, refusing to look in the back of the classroom where anyone could see his face.

---

“A school fundraiser, huh?” Jesse said in between bites of his burrito. Willy and Jesse typically only talked at lunch this semester, since they shared no other class together. Willy nodded. Right now, Jesse was much more tolerable to be around than Dew. He still wasn’t completely satisfied with Jesse, but Jesse at least knew when to drop a ball. “Yeah, I think some of the student council visited my Algebra class today, but I wasn’t interested. They probably didn’t have the answer I wanted to achieve the Seven Spellings of Catastrophe, so I didn’t care.”

“I’m gonna enter,” Willy said calmly with an incredibly durable resolve. Jesse looked up, opening his mouth to speak with a mouthful of burrito meat.

“Well, okay,” Jesse said with a shrug. “Sounds intense.” Clearly, Jesse didn’t see the big deal. This sort of diminished Willy’s will to continue talking to Jesse. Alas though, he continued.

“I need to make sure he’s there,” Willy said, a rock solid stance in his glare. Jesse could even sense what he meant. He was really wanting to go to war with Sid. The bastard showed him up, he wasn’t getting away with that.

“Man,” Jesse swallowed. “What are you up to now?”

Willy looked at Jesse, as if he were at a federal case. Jesse looked on impassively, finishing up the rest of his lunch.

“I’m going to reign as the king,” Willy replied with a snaring glare. “I’m going to be the best. I was only one record away from having the most amount of records within the school. Two of those were taken so easily. I want my title back. If I’m going for the top, I can’t leave a single hole open in my trail.”

“I see,” Jesse said. “Just be careful. That new guy… I’ve seen him a few times around. He’s kinda chilling, you know.” Willy looked up slightly. For even Jesse, not interested in much of anything outside of the Deck Monsters card game and a regular otaku who mainly acknowledged the 2-D world, to call out another man as ‘chilling’, was something Willy didn’t expect to hear. Regardless, his determination didn’t falter, he knew he had to do this.

“He’s not much. Just a poser,” Willy said. “We’ll see who wins the crown.”

---

The annual fundraiser kicked off within a week’s time exactly. It was an after school event that took place in the back field of the school, in the football field which was also covered by the black track surrounding it. The gates were open for all to enter, paying the measly one dollar fee to enter the games and/or watch from the bleachers outside. The competitions were hot, as things ranged from a three-legged race, a jump rope competition, an obstacle course, several actually, and a water-balloon wet-off (whatever that was. Looked fun, though, especially since only girls entered the competition with white see-through T-shirts. Even Willy had these thoughts).

What Willy was particularly interested in, was the Quick Dash, or more specifically the mile long race along the track. Most people were the most excited for this event, and it was the only one Willy had signed up for. What would be more humiliating to Sid, that Willy would break his record he broke for Willy, in public where everyone would witness? The thought nearly made Willy mad with excitement. He jumped up; he was pumped up, the adrenaline flowing long before the match. Willy was more than just obsessed with revenge, he wanted, he needed that record.

A large, harsh pat on Willy’s back. Dew appeared, strangely dressed in black and blue shorts and no shirt, the ladies in the background awing over him. He posed and beamed a cocky smirk, pointing at Willy. Willy attempted to hide his face, wanting everyone around to know he didn’t know this guy. Right now he wished he didn’t.

“My man Willy! Glad to see you’re entering the competition! Here for the Quick Dash?” Dew smirked. Willy looked up slowly and nodded.

“Please don’t touch me…” Willy walked away, staring ahead at the track. Dew shrugged and stood beside Willy.

“So am I. Should be fun,” Dew smiled. Willy nodded his head.

Willy looked through the crowd of entrees, looking for any sign of that man he was expecting, he wanted to see here. He knew he would show up, that guy had a lot of pride as well. He knew his type; he was similar to himself and Lara.

Speaking of the devil, Lara appeared on stage in the center of the football field, a blow horn in hand, a horde of council members standing next to her side. “Now, this is what you all have been waiting for most eagerly! It’s time for the main event, the Quick Dash competition will begin! I request all participants please step onto the track in single file!”

Willy stepped up to the starting line at the track, stretching his legs, arms, back, even extroadinarily weird stretches that probably wouldn’t benefit him in the race at all. Next to him, lined up in a row of seven, were five other contestants. Willy looked on, noticing, strangely, Sid wasn’t in the lineup. Willy glared on. He knew he wouldn’t miss an opportunity like this to show Willy up. Sid should have assumed, as much as Willy assumed, that he would be there, and that they both would give it their all. All with only one goal, to win.

Dew stood next to Willy, stretching his legs outright. Willy heard Dew’s fan girls scream from the bleachers, some even trying to cross the gate in the school. As one girl escaped over the fence, hearts decorating her trail, she was suddenly tripped from underneath her feet. Her arms pinned behind her back, she sprawled in pain, spitting out a small bit of grass.

Lara got up, standing up tall and proud. As she did, security personnel took the girl outside of the field. As Lara casually walked on, everyone else stared in alarm. Willy only grinned, he expected no less anyway.

Lara lifted her horn, holding it over her face. “It’s time to kick off the Dash! Competitors, get ready!” they took their stances over the line. Right at the last second, the dark, ominous boy took the final line. Willy glared over at the boy as he appeared with a resolute scowl. The boy looked over with his dark eyes, leaned down, placing his hand on the track, and grinned mercilessly, baring his sharp fangs.

“Three…”

The intensity was driving up. Willy leaned farther down to assert himself in his position.

“Two…”

Everyone else followed his lead.

“One…”

Sid looked Willy’s way, cocked his head back with a boastful tilt, clearly mocking Willy for all he stood for. Willy was now infuriated.

“Go!”

They all dashed off, running full throttle across the track, except a few people in the back who merely ran at a comfortable pace in no rush. Willy sprinted forward, the blood pumped through his legs, he felt his adrenaline completely kick in, and he stormed off through the track. Even during the turns, his moves didn’t falter. He kicked up his pace during the straight ways, his arms moving in a fluid pace along his body. He looked back for a split second, noticing he was behind literally everyone… even Sid. In fact… Sid was all the way in the back, not far away from the pacers.

Willy grunted and frowned. What the hell is that bastard up to now? Willy knew he was up to something. Until then, he had to keep up his pace. He could do it, he trained himself day and night for days like this. It was time to reclaim his title, he would do it now, in front of a standing ovation, everyone would see Willy, and acknowledge him. He didn’t care so much for popularity really, but if people saw just what he could do, it would only further increase his chance to do anything he wanted with himself, and be proud for what he could do. He wanted no one to even touch him in his records. Standing at the top of the world, was his only goal.

Lara watched from inside of the arena, casually standing among the platform in the center. The vice-president of the council, a freshmen with an extremely calm disposition, blue hair that adorned sort of wildly among his face, cold sapphire eyes that appeared to have little interest in anything… outside of the 2-D world.

“Is this a hereditary trait in your family? Ape-shit status activation?” Jesse, the vice-president, asked somewhat sarcastically. Lara only glanced at Jesse with a short glare. The only reason she didn’t pummel him when they first met, or even allow him to be on the council, was because he and Willy had been friends for so long, she at least respected that. And even so, he was a very productive member in the council, in his own strange ways. He could be series and diplomatic when it mattered.

“Oh Willy…” Lara simply sighed, yet narrowed her eyes and smiled. “There is no beacon that illuminates as lively as you.”

Willy continued his sprint across the track. Completely confident in his victory now, only two more laps to go until the end. He had only broken a little sweat, while he had lapped some people twice, even Dew once. In fact, he was coming up on a lap on Dew again. Willy sprinted behind Dew, only a few meters away. Dew looked back, sweating like a banshee, panting like a fat pig.

“Willy… you’re coming back… say, wanna run the rest of these laps for me?! I think… I’m about to pass out…”

Willy closed in on Dew as he slowed down, smiled. “Of course!”

“My body… is glistening with sweat!”

Suddenly, in a swift move forward, a new figure appeared next to Willy as he ran. Willy’s eyes widened, he looked over, noticing the dark haired boy, his face hanging down, his black hair covering his face. He looked up, dark eyes piercing through Willy, and even Dew was startled, nearly falling out of the track and ultimately out of the face. Dew regained his composure and kept running. Willy and Sid both took off immediately, picking up their pace and passing Dew greatly.

“Go Willy…! Kick his ass…!!” Dew spun around once for virtually no reason, and began running backwards. “My trajectory… totally off course!! I’m gonna… fall… and lose…”

Lara observed from her post in the stadium, watching the two boys clash heads and go at it full throttle. Lara looked on in shock. “Unbelievable… he’s keeping up with Willy? That’s insane…”

Jesse folded his arms and observed next to Lara. “That is quite intense,” Jesse said with a somewhat nod of acknowledgement. “This is getting interesting…”

“Willy has competition, huh?” Lara smiled. “Go for it, Willy. You’re amazing, you know.”

Willy and Sid both came to the turn. Sid skillfully maneuvered past Willy as he nearly lost his footing. Sid literally rolled beneath Willy’s feet as he began to fall. The crowd even gasped as Willy nearly fell face first on the track. Sid looked back apathetically. Willy caught his balance in a handspring, and continued his ultimate pursuit; an intense expression painted on his face, followed by Sid’s narrowing eyes, and his calm yet daunting demeanor. Willy noticed that Sid had literally not broken a sweat. This pissed Willy off slightly, but he would not hesitate. He who hesitates is lost. That was a proverb Willy lived by.

Willy caught up with Sid, directly behind him, approaching the finish line, only one lap to go.

The coach and overseer of the race took their time, raising his arm with his stopwatch, he announced. “Lap Nine! One more lap! Go!”

Willy and Sid immediately picked up their pace. The crowd was practically raving at their showdown. Willy struggled to keep past Sid… but Sid appeared to not be fatigued at all. What the hell, was he even human? Was he in that perfect physical shape that even surpassed Willy’s? No way Willy would stand for this.

Sid once again passed Willy. Willy faltered slightly, tripping off of the track, he rolled throughout the field in an amazing fury, crashing into a barrel of accessories… even being impaled in the arm by a rake. Willy screamed, his arm began bleeding. The crowd gasped, the coach moved forward. Sid merely looked back… yet dropped his pace…and continued running.

Willy forcefully pulled the rake out of his arm. He groaned in pain. Lara and Jesse from afar looked horrified. Lara’s eyes widened and shrunk. “Willy! Stop the race!!”

“DON’T YOU DARE STOP THIS RACE!!” Willy exclaimed, clenching his fists, his resolve completely took over. Lara shook slightly, even Jesse appeared shaken. The coach stepped back, only looking ahead.

“Son… you need to seek medical help immediately! Come with me-“

“Don’t touch me!!” Willy glared ahead, immediately got back on the track. He ripped off his shirt, literally ripped it off by the collar, throwing it aside across the track. Blood began to splatter upon his body from his wound.

Willy had trained himself to defeat his stamina by subjecting his mind to his primal instincts. He still hadn’t perfected the art yet… but it was taking over. Willy’s expression nearly became blank, as he launched himself forward in a blind rage. When Willy was in a dire situation, often impossible odds placed against him, he had an involuntary habit of kicking into ‘overdrive’, or basically allowing his primal instincts to take over. He doesn’t think anymore, he just does. He ignored his injury, it didn’t even matter. All that mattered, was winning this damn race.

Sid looked back, tilted his head back with an arrogant smirk and kept going. It appeared as though, through this scene, Sid was completely manipulating Willy, which Willy was unaware of right now. Sid was controlling the race, he had been the entire time. Sid was losing at the beginning, because he chose to lose. He’s winning now, because he chooses to win.

Willy attempted to defy these laws, and moved forward, going across the last turn, he lapped Dew once again. Dew appeared, running alongside Sid. Willy appeared in between the three, a somewhat blank expression among his face. His eyes appeared lifeless now, only focused on the goal ahead. Yet he was still aware of his surroundings, and acknowledged Sid and Dew.

“You’re good, Willy,” Sid said calmly and coldly, yet with a bitter sarcastic edge. “However, my victory is already certain,” Willy growled.

“That’s not for you to decide!” Willy attempted to pass, yet couldn’t outmaneuver and outrun Sid, blocking his path. Dew looked on from ahead.

“Is it not?”

“Okay guys… I really need to take a breather…--“ Dew faltered, as Sid passed him by in a burst of speed, he literally left him in his dust. Dew tripped… and toppled down. His body collapsed… over Willy’s. Willy, attempting to maneuver out of Dew’s falling reach, was caught by Dew, tripping over him, he flipped himself up, once more, yet he didn’t anticipate just where he was coming down.

Willy’s eyes widened. It was too late, he fell straight into a curve, by attempting to regain his balance and stand upright… his knee completely gave out. SNAP. That dreadful echo throughout the field. Willy fell straight down… his leg wobbled beneath him, tripping over the curve and a large bucket on the side. Drenched in his own blood, his body rolled across the field.

“Call 911! Get the medical unit over here now!” Sirens sounded inside of the arena, already prepared in case of any scene like this.

Lara covered her hands with her mouth, Jesse gritted his teeth. Lara ran for Willy, as Sid crossed the finish line. Sid stopped, began panting slightly, and looked on by himself. Sid looked nonchalantly toward the commotion, a dark glare plagued his face. Lara looked over at Sid… and glared with a death glare. Sid returned with narrowing his eyes, and smirked smugly, waving Lara off… he walked out of the arena, as if nothing had happened at all. Lara knew who that gesture was meant for.

SC-Trigram; Chapter 1 - Homecoming 0

The crowd raved and stomped in an uncultivated chant, their screams echoing in his head, between both ears, getting to him. Sweat dripped on the floor, forming small puddles beneath him. They followed him, carving his path on the court. He began panting; sweat hanging on by a small thread on his nose, finally falling down in a swift, yet slow trajectory. The intensity was on; the heat was nearly as intense, the atmosphere was thick, not only with the immense heat, but the pressure that was pressed upon this man. It was up to him, no one else, to score this goal. With the game at 74-76, he needed that three in order to win. He just had to win.

He subjected his mind to his primitive instincts, no longer thinking or acting in an accorded fashion. He blitzed down the court, moving at an unparalleled speed. He dribbled the ball with such precision and talent; he was a one man crew on the court. His teammates called from across the court, no one was open. The crowd’s cheers got louder. Three seconds on the clock.

An enemy came from the right, getting in his way. The boy swiftly moved aside, faking a pass to the right, spinning around the man in an ultimate school, using that less than one second moment to get away. He approached the line. He glared up, his face burning with a deep, courageous inferno. His heart pumped, serving as his humble guide. He followed his heart. He shot the ball, the clock ticking. 73 miliseconds to go. The enemy player went up for a guard, yet ultimately missed his chance. He went over the boy, tumbling over him in absolute defeat. The boy unintentionally tripped over the man…

SWISH

The ball swished straight into the basket, the crowd roared with exhilaration. The whole gymnasium shook, in what was the most exciting game of the decade. The boy fell down, yet his hands stayed up, raising them in victory.

“Good game.” He mumbled below the man, as before he fell on the concrete gym floor… his reality was warped straight from underneath him, folding around himself into he was gripped outside of his dream and into reality.

“’Ey, Willy, what’s the happs?” the familiar voice rang annoyingly beside Willy’s desk. Willy looked up groggily, the entire classroom was empty, even the teacher had left, only the homework left up on the board for reference. Willy sighed glumly, rubbing his face with his imprinted hand, imprinted with his hair from where he laid on it. The feeling was just starting to escalate back into his hand actually.

“...” Willy finally oberserved the classroom. “Where is everyone?”

“Lunch,” Dew said, leaning against the opposite desktop, folding his arms with a smirk, tilting his head. “You fell asleep about 30 minutes ago. Figured I’d come by and wake your sluggy ass up.”

Willy stood up, packing up his bags, walking out of the room. His face, always so cool and casual for the 14 year old, not caring in the slightest he missed out on an important lecture about English Colonization in North America. Was a big snore to him anyway, it already happened ages ago, why did he care about it now?

Willy walked down the hallway alongside Dew. Compared to Willy, Dew was much more fit and muscular, and a little bit taller too, yet Willy was always the most popular among the two. Sort of why Dew hung out with Willy, Willy always thought. Gave him a good image. Willy didn’t care though, he didn’t care about much of anything, school especially last on his list. Being a hard person to genuinely please, Willy only looked ahead. He only cared about his future, his issues, and his demeanor. Well, not really his demeanor, he didn’t care about his attitude or appearance much at all. Most may consider Willy a blah with unrealistic dreams of reaching the heights of his basketball career, Willy always referred to himself as an positive activist. Most of all, he always wore that giant imprint on his face, the nonchalant, blank gaze. The only reason people looked up to Willy was for his athletic prowess, breaking nearly six school records since his Freshmen year, which was this year.

Dew however, was the total opposite of Willy in those regards. Compared to Willy, he was a rather happy-go-lucky individual. He didn’t care much about his future at all, only a ‘in-the-now’ kinda guy. He was popular amongst the female population, and was asked out on dates nearly everyday, all of which resulted in Dew taking on more than he could chew (he always said yes, if he found the girl attractive). He was known as the Tri-Knocker for taking three girls to the movies at once, and not getting caught. Dew was quite a ladies man, yet his ambitions were clearly not set in stone, unlike Willy, who only had one single motive and ambition, be the best at what he does.

Willy arrived at his locker, rummaged through his bag, looking for his history book. Willy groaned upon the realization he had left it in the classroom. “Darn.” Willy said shortly. Dew stood next to Willy stylishly upon the locker, slicking up his pure black hair, stretching his masculinity to new heights. Dew turned to Willy rather nonchalantly.

“’Sup?” Dew asked. Willy sighed.

“Left my history book in the classroom. Be right bac-“

“No worries, my man Willy. I got this covered, for both of our sakes!” Dew exclaimed with a wink and a pointed index finger. Willy looked on with a blank gaze. Dew raised his hand.

“Attention, ladies!” Dew called, posing stylishly beside Willy at the locker, his finger pointed toward the sky as if ready to disco. Everyone turned to Dew, most as if he were crazy, most of the girls in admiration. Dew smiled, pointing down. “My friend Willy here has a passionate issue! He left his history book in the classroom, yet has no desire to beckon forth into Hell’s doors! Will one of the bravehearts summon all of your courage and passion to retrieve this young man’s history books from the clutches of the devil himself?!”

Most people looked on blankly, while a few girls were instantly hypnotized. With hearts decorating their every move, they ran toward the classroom, or at least, that’s certainly what it seemed like, leaving a trail of glittery hearts behind, decorating the hallway. Some even exclaimed a declaration of admiration for Dew. Dew smirked, flipping up his hair coolly, posing in front of Willy. “Woman are very fertile creatures, you see, and very useful. Just like a program, only as useful as the programmer.

 Willy blankly looked at Dew, closing his locker door, he stared ahead in a straight stare. “You don’t say?” Willy said, with a forced look of inquiry. It was just that though, forced, and Willy was never good at hiding his true feelings. Most of the time, he just didn’t have anything worthwhile to say, or so he felt. Dew frowned, hugging Willy by his shoulders, much to Willy’s dismay.

“See, my man Willy, what you need is a little enlightenment!” Dew exclaimed with a large batch of fresh air, exhaling noisily, which Willy found kind of disgusting. Or it may have been because he was hugging Dew by his armpit. “You need to go out there, make yourself known, ya know?! You really want people to recognize you as the guy with a constant scowl on your face? Even if you’ve broke records, socially, you’re not adept.” Dew said as if he were a powerful and wise guru.

“That’s not for you to decide. I don’t care about any of that,” Willy said, narrowing his eyes, forcing Dew off of him. “And please don’t do that… ever again.” Willy nearly gagged. Dew shrugged with a cocky smile. “Look, I appreciate what you’re… trying to do, but I’m not interested. I’m content the way I am. I’m me, that’s all that matters. Don’t like it, don’t deal.” Willy said, walking away. Dew merely looked on and sighed.

“Come on man, this is exactly why I’m your only friend! You’re a loser!” Dew exclaimed, yet shut his mouth manually. He regretted saying that the moment he said it. Willy stopped mid-walk. He didn’t look back, only looked down slightly, and walked on. Dew watched Willy, and sighed.

---

The next day at school, Willy leaned against his locker, getting ready for gym class. The bell had already rung. Strangely, he hadn’t talked to Dew all day. Willy hadn’t really cared though, from their fallout yesterday. It wasn’t too intense, but he didn’t care much for Dew’s comments. It made Willy think though; was he really a loser? As far as he was concerned, he was content. Not happy, but content. He was breaking all of the athletic records in gym, and was close to breaking the long jump. His coaches always praised him for his prowess, and insisted he take it to the next level. Was that really enough?

“I’m living the dream,” Willy said slowly, looking down at the floor tiles. “That’s all I need; my talent. It will take me to… the top.”

As Willy shut his locker, he looked ahead. He heard footsteps approaching from the empty hallway, hollow footsteps, it was weird. Willy raised a brow as he turned to the source. A lone kid, black hair stranded in small spikes down his face, covering a large portion of his upper face. His fashion sense was something Willy couldn’t consider anything other than crude, with chains sporting down his black baggy pants which were a little too big to be worn by him in the first place. He had a sluggish, uncaring demeanor about him, and a chilling aura. He had a rebel sort of feel, which Willy instantly liked, at least somewhat about him. He seemed to be the kind of man one couldn’t answer to.

He was also holding a schedule in hand, glancing at it in a very unorthodox, yet uncaring method. Willy leaned against his locker coolly as he finished packing all of his gym clothes in his bag. Technically, he should have already dressed out and been waiting in the gym, but he had a lot on his mind today.

Willy wasn’t planning on speaking to him at first, but he seemed lost, or perplexed, something weird. The young man took strange strolls around the hallway, as if looking for something, yet nothing. It didn’t make much sense to Willy why he was doing what he was doing, which was probably one major aspect that interested him. Directionless, for lack of better terminology.

Willy stood up tall, approaching the boy casually, a rather blank look upon his face as usual. Willy wiped his nose uncaringly, and waved. “Hey.” Willy simply said. The boy looked up, staring at Willy with a side gaze of very interesting, black as night eyes. The boy simply stared back, in a similar ordeal as Willy.

“Hello. Can I help you?” the boy asked in a tone that was significantly smooth. It was weird, how the boy just turned the tides on his original intentions, questioning him if he needed help? That was really… strange. Willy scratched his chin, his eyes widened suddenly as he spoke up.

“Well, not exactly. But you look rather… perplexed,” Willy said in a flat tone. “Or straight up weird. Whichever fancies you more,” Willy waved his hand to the side insensibly. The boy seemed not phased at all, in fact, he actually chuckled. Willy smiled slowly, for the first time in the week. “What class you got next? I can probably hook you up.”

“Ah, yes. My schedule,” the boy said, holding up his schedule. He took a short glance at it and looked back up at Willy from within the paper strangely. “Gym.”

Willy shot the boy an interested look, and grabbed him on the shoulder. The boy looked at Willy rather weirdly, but accepted it nonetheless. “Nice man. That’s my next class too.”

The boy beamed a small smirk, “Fascinating.”

After a small moment of silence, the tardy bell resonated in the hallway. Willy looked up and shrugged. “Right. We’re already late. Might as well get going.”

The boy nodded, “I agree.” The boy followed Willy. Willy looked back, cutting his eyes back to the strange man as they walked down the narrow hallway to the locker room.

“I didn’t catch your name,” Willy said, introducing himself. “Names Willman. Call me Willy.”

The boy nodded. “Sidian, Sid is fine.” He grinned, his teeth were abnormally pretty sharp. Willy opened his mouth to beam a smile at Sid’s beaming mouth.

“Got some pretty nice choppers on you, eh?” Willy teased lightheartedly. Sid closed his mouth, looking ahead with a strange conduct.

“Hereditary,” Sid replied, staring at Willy rather peculiarly, yet an interesting curiosity, so it appeared. Willy thought nothing of it and continued on his way. Willy led Sid into the locker room where they would change and be geared up for gym.

---

The gym class as an entirety stood by the open bleachers, some students sitting chatting amongst themselves in their own crowd, others already shooting hoops and challenging one another inside. Willy usually sat out during gym, having the option to do so. Because of a deal he struck with his gym coach at the beginning of the semester, he was allowed a free pass to gym any time he chose. As long as he showed up, he automatically passed. The choice of dressing out and participating was only optional to him. Most days he would dress out however, in the fact that he’d rather be on his feet and pumped up getting up his adrenaline than sitting down and doing nothing, watching everyone else. Willy always considered himself the best in the court, and truthfully, he was. No one beat him.

Willy was also a competitive person by heart, so with this trait, whenever he played, he took it seriously, often screaming across the court. When his team got behind in points, his game increased even more proportionally. That was how Willy was, he was the guy most people wanted on their team, due to the competitive nature of gym class as a whole. While the coach always stressed that gym was about having fun and sportsmanship, Willy honestly didn’t care. He just wanted to win. He simply hated losing.

Willy walked inside of the gym alongside Sid, the new kid on the block, the mysterious newcomer no one knew a thing about. Obviously, with this new interaction, people started talking when they seen Willy and Sid together. Sid paid them no mind, but Willy was slightly curious just what it was they were talking about. Seeing their heads turn as Willy looked their way, chatting among their group of friends. They were definitely talking about him and Sid.

Willy and Sid approached the majority of students, waiting for the coach to arrive. Being already late, it was suspicious the coach was not already in the gym taking roll, at the least. The students turned to Willy and Sid as a duo, someone snickered. Sid turned an ominous eye toward his way, which suspiciously, made the guy back off immediately. Everyone else saw it too; there was something dark and subtle about Sid. While everyone else saw a menace, Willy saw a prodigy.

Willy turned to Sid indifferently. “Yo, Sid, you a basketball fan?”

“I’m familiar with the game,” Sid replied with a short spoken tone.

“Ever played seriously? Like for a team?”

“Never interested in the concept.”

“I see,” Willy looked ahead.

The coach finally entered the gym. He wasted no time, gave no explanation for why he was late. He blew his whistle, ordering the students to get in line to take roll. As the coach came across Sid’s name, he looked at him rather peculiarly before continuing. Willy cut his eyes to Sid’s way for a brief moment, then back at the coach in that allotted time. This was starting to get a little strange. Something was up with Sid, he knew that much. Everyone seemed to realize just what it was, except Willy himself…

---

Willy walked out of the school cafeteria, carrying a small bag of Cheetos and a cold ham sandwich. He walked through the school grounds, with a blank, straight face, carrying his lunch bag across his shoulder. He sat down at the nearest picnic table outside, right beneath a large hardwood tree. Willy didn’t eat right away, he had a lot on his mind at the moment. Focusing on just Sid. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was about him that was so perplexing, but it dragged him down with him and made him want to learn more. He had only just met him, and it was like he was being hypnotized. It was a strange feeling, almost a controllable feeling. Willy shook his head slowly, and began to bite down into his sandwich, until he heard rummaging at his table. Willy looked up, his eyes beaming upward nonchalantly.

Sitting across Willy was a rather small boy, Willy’s age. His eyes were crystal pool clear with a sharp sapphire edge. His blue hair was neatly kept, yet fairly spiky and eccentric, and he was carrying a large stack of playing cards at his disposal, shuffling them skillfully with both hands, flipping the cards beneath his fingers as if he had practiced for years for this. He placed down the card trendily, and grinned cockily.

“New card, Dark Lord Ha Des. Attack Power 4300, and comes with a unique special monster effect that paralyzes all monsters on the field. He also has the power to suck out the opponent’s life force. Limited edtion, finally got my hands on this bad boy,” the rather geeky boy said as if he had just achieved the greatest accomplishment of his life. Willy smiled lightly, taking a short glance at the card before turning back up to the young man.

“Raw card, Jesse,” Willy replied with a fake smile. Jesse leaned back, rubbing the back of his head with a casual smirk. “How much did you spend on this one?”

“It was actually a prize,” Jesse responded hysterically, a large, big teethed pompous smile.”I won a draw at the last comic con! Unbelievable, man. You have no idea how many bitches I’m gonna pawn with this card. The whole Deck Monsters community will be sprawled before my feet, sucking my d-“

“Right, but man…” Willy looked around both sides briskly before turning back to Jesse, “Mind putting those away before someone sees us?” Willy looked on, his cheeks began to flush as he looked a certain way. Jesse’s brow perked with intrigue, clearly not catching what Willy was.

“Suddenly embarrassed to be seen with me? You should be proud, homebrew! Honestly Willy, some of the things you say are just—“

Suddenly, a large pair of breasts overwhelmed Willy’s head. Willy cut his eyes up without moving his head, looking up at the jade haired girl with a loosely trimmed shirt revealing a large portion of her breasts, and a pair of jeans, hugging her waist. Jesse looked up, as if he had just instantly gotten a boner, yet looked away just as instantly. Jesse was still extremely shy around girls, not getting out much outside of school. Willy actually found it funny. However, what he didn’t find quite as funny was the girl delving straight into their business, looking at the cards.

“Willy! I didn’t know you still played cards,” the girl said. “Aren’t those for like, middle schoolers?”

“It’s not that it matters,” Willy said, sliding away from the girl. He looked up at her. “And these cards aren’t mine, Cynthia.”

Cynthia smiled delightfully, tugging Willy by his nose, much to his annoyance. He swatted her hand away. She looked over his shoulder. “Something bothering you?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” Willy said bluntly. Cynthia pouted, and turned away. She closed her eyes and shrugged.

“If that’s so, I guess I’ll be on my very merry way!” she began skipping off. Willy made no attempt to stop her, which was probably what she was expecting him to do. Willy was fairly good at reading people, especially someone as predictable as Cynthia, a girl he had studied since middle school as a favor for his longtime friend Jesse. He and Jesse had been friends ever since 5^th grade. As a favor, Willy promised to be ask Cynthia out for Jesse, which she initially misunderstood as Willy asking her out. Ever since, Willy has refused her, and she continues to bug him, because all along, she had a crush for him, yet Willy didn’t want to make a move on her for consideration of Jesse. Jesse even seemed at unease when she approached just there. Jesse sighed miserably.

“Dude, she totally wants you,” Jesse said. Jesse was a fairly enigmatic person to most people, yet to Willy, he showed his true colors. He was actually a fairly rude, loud mouth guy, yet to the public he remained quiet. He was a huge smart ass, yet extremely shy, not having come out of his shell yet. Willy also promised to help him with that… we’d see.

“Honestly, she’s not my type,” Willy said matter-of-factly. “Besides that, I’m not interested in a girlfriend right now.”

Jesse looked up between his cards. “Still going for the long jump record?”

“I have to,” Willy said. “But above that, I plan on going to the big leagues. Jesse, I’m gonna do it. I can do it,” Willy said, completely sure and confident of himself. Jesse leaned back in his seat and grinned.

“At the cost of your social life and grades, anything is possible,” Jesse said. Willy looked down at Jesse. There was the side he was just waiting to hear. He had just received a similar ‘lecture’ from Dew the other day. Was Jesse really planning on going there too?

“What are you trying to say?” Willy said, staring at Jesse rather seriously, sipping on his Hi-C Juice drink. Jesse closed his eyes for a brief moment, opening them back up, holding his new Dark Lord card in the ridges of his index and middle finger.

“You’ve become so obsessed with your goal to make it somewhere in the big shot leagues, a goal that, realistically, 95%, statistically, of people, only dream of, that you’re spiraling down a path of self destruction,” Jesse said bluntly, placing the card upright on the table, looking back up at Willy.

“I can do this, man,” Willy said calmly, placing down his Hi-C drink, staring at Jesse rather intently. He was honestly getting slightly offended, because just like Dew, Jesse was implying he was a loser, albeit in a different manner. “I’m special.”

“You’re human,” Jesse corrected. “But let me just ask you one thing,” Jesse folded his arms. Willy perked up listening. “What are you going to do if this doesn’t work?”

“It will,” Willy said, narrowing his eyes.

“It’s good you’re a dreamer, but dreams are only dreams, they won’t sail you to reality,” Jesse callously said.

“Dream hard enough, I’ll sail across reality,” Willy said, still not losing his adrenaline edge. “I’ll make it, Jesse. I’m doing it, that’s all that matters. I’ve put my life on the line for this. It’s my only passion in life… it’s all I got!” Willy said intensely, as he slowly stood up, walking away from the table. He was done with the conversation. He didn’t care enough to hear Jesse’s reply. He just wanted someone who would support him for his dreams. Not even his two best friends would do that.

Jesse sighed, collected up his Dual Monster cards, and walked off.

---

The next day at school, Willy walked down the school path. He walked slowly, as to not arrive at school too early, yet too late. He always had that certain ritual. His sister always left earlier than he did, being a senior and a very productive and involved member of the school. Unlike Willy, who only lived for his one ambition, she had many things going for her, and was socially popular. Willy didn’t care too much, though. He only cared about him.

As Willy arrived inside school, there was a lot of talk and gossip floating about. Willy paid no attention at first, until he saw a bunch of kids, mainly athletes, lined up at the award hall. This part would entice Willy’s curiosity. As Willy approached the crowd, he stood behind at first, waiting for the crowd to hear. Inside of the crowd, he heard these words uttered.

Incredible, Record, New

Willy’s eyes shot up. He fought his way through the crowd, pushing people aside. As he reached the leaderboard, or the award wall, his eyes widened in alarm. He stepped forward, looking over the 50 meter and 100 meter dash records, two records he held.

They were broken.

The new frame replacing Willy’s.

Sidian Shamal.

Willy clenched his fists, perked up his chin, and fought his way through the crowd. In one day, something he had worked and devoted a whole month to defeating… was defeated in an entire day by one boy. Willy’s complete competitive edge took him over… he was angry. At first, he stopped by the gym.

Upon finding Sid crouching beside his locker on the floor, staring at the people walking by peculiarly, Willy approached Sid. Sid looked up rather boredly, and nodded in simple acknowledgement. Willy tightly held the basketball in hand, hurdling it Sid’s way. Using surprisingly quick reflexes, Sid looked up briskly, his eyes widened, as he caught the basketball, yet slid against the floor. Sid used the basketball as leverage to flip himself up, and used the nearby array of lockers for support as he crouched on the basketball itself, staring up apathetically at Willy. Willy stared down with an intense glare, not seemingly impressed by his display, in fact, he took it as a challenge.

“You got the message?”

Sid nodded.

“It’s on.”

Chapter 15 - United We Fall

Momodore Island, little west of California within the Pacific Ocean, was one of the islands within the pacific islands. Not entirely an island, merely a mass a land that was home to Vault for nearly a decade, a secret organization until K.I.’s reign that attempted to support global help to the world by means of small, petty tasks to huge threats. Their actions were simple and swift, yet their intentions were always far from crystal clear. Now today, IMO intended to wipe Vault off of the map in a similar fashion. They never existed.

The Subsido fired a barrage of missiles for the island border, crashing and crumbling through the island’s land in a fiery blaze. The smoke pierced through the heavens. Vault were prepared for any foreseen attack in the future, but on such a mass scale, even Sabre never imagined this foregone annihilation so swiftly. It all appeared too late, too fast. The Subsido was performing its task down to the last gruesome detail, no longer caring about the initial plan to take out the ice that was long gone. Now the objective was to sink the island by any means necessary. So far it was working.

“Guh… the operation is finalizing.” BigFoot said, glaring up ahead at the hillside, where a lone figure stood atop of the rocks. His partner and companion, Erasus, was using his shoulder as a leverage for BigFoot’s face, despite being nearly three feet taller than him by a long margin.

“Thank you, BigFoot, I needed that,” Erasus replied quite despicability. He cupped his hands slowly over his eyes, and nodded in confirmation. Erasus took the gesture as a silent indication, leaping over the hilltop, landing behind the Lieutenant General of IMO; her fuchsia hair fraying elegantly through the blustery air. She folded her arms within her coat, unbuttoned at the collar revealing a small portion of her upper chest. She merely grinned at the beautiful sight of Vault from above. At first, she took no notice of the new underlings behind her, yet she recognized them from the mile away at first.

“Lieutenant General Velvetti,” Erasus said with a bow of respect. Velvetti looked back, cutting her crimson cherry eyes back to his. Her petrifying look, so innocent, yet always punctured through his spirit. She had a disturbing concoction of innocence and violence about her, never sitting well with neither of the two. Their commander, Axill, was just violent, only one end of the spectrum. “Everything is going exactly as according to the plan.”

Velvetti smiled ahead, gazing blankly next to the two, as if clearly taking no interest in them or what they were saying. “Adequate job, boys. And of Axill?”

“Ah yeah, he stayed behind us to deal with a troubling member of the Vault scum,” Erasus replied.

“Very well,” Velvetti adjusted her IMO coat, buttoning it back up to the collar. “We will be on our way, then.”

Erasus and BigFoot immediately plastered with a look of alarm. It wasn’t so much for the both of them that Velvetti was willing to abandon the mission at the end phase, it was that she had personally asked for Axill, yet intended on leaving him on the island. At least, that’s the way they both took it together. Mostly everything they did was together, including their admiration for their commander and comrade.

“Lieutenant General Velvetti, with all due respect—“ Erasus began, BigFoot finished.

“We can’t leave our commander and comrade on the island! It’s about to collapse!”

Both Erasus and BigFoot were imprisoned by a petrifying glare from the Lieutenant General of IMO. A glare that easily cleansed away any retaliation and/or rebellious thoughts they had planned. Their hearts both skipped a beat as Velvetti stepped forward, a slight twirl to her steps as if she were a ballerina by heart.

“Right,” Velvetti smiled innocently with a twinkle in her eyes. She walked toward Erasus, caressing his face with her delicate, smooth hands, captivating him in her touch. What other woman was able to frighten her comrades, then entice them the next second? “You still have your sentimental feelings for Axill.” She said with a slight sarcastic edge, which neither Erasus nor BigFoot found humorous. She smiled playfully, and began talking as if what she was saying was no big deal at all, yet the words were heavier than spoken.

“Abandon them, if you want to live. Or you can choose to die with him. Your choice.”

 Erasus clenched his fist, BigFoot growled, yet they both understood what she really meant. The island was going to collapse long before they found him, and they would probably sink within the deep blue along with him. It was a simple matter of the question; rescue your comrade or save your own hide?

They cowardly accepted her offer, which made Velvetti grin. Not a satisfied grin, however, just a grin out of expectedness. Exactly what she predicted the cowards to do, most likely.

“Alright,” Erasus said. “We will go.”

Velvetti nodded forward, and began walking back, an innocent smile plastered upon her face the entire time. Erasus and BigFoot, ever so shamely, followed…

---

Willy stood tall, staring up blankly at the island ahead. As much as he cared for the island, this wasn’t the time to grieve. The lives of his teammates, along with the life of his fellow Vault members were top priority. He began walking away, until he felt a clutch at his leg, nearly breaking this his skin with such a firm grip. Willy grimaced as he looked down.

Dew glared up at Willy, his head drenched in blood, dripping down his body. He clutched at Willy’s leg, attempting to drag Willy down with him. “Don’t think for a second this is over… my man Willy…”

Willy narrowed his eyes as he looked down with a slight sense of pity. Despite his upbringing with Dew, the two were practically brothers. Dew was always the older of the old Ballpark Trio.

“Dew…” Willy said slowly. Dew glared up.

Willy kicked Dew across the head with his free leg. Dew’s head jerked back, his eyes widened, as he was downed instantly by Willy’s ‘actual’ final attack.

“I wouldn’t ask for anything more, Dew.” Willy said with a strange smile and a tilt of his head. Yuki observed Willy and Dew’s moments with a nonchalant gaze.

Willy began walking forward. Yuki followed behind.

“Willy,” Yuki began. Keeping his walk up, Willy cut his eyes back to Yuki curiously, gesturing her she had his attention.

“Dew will die if he remains on this island. You know that,” Yuki said with a to-the-point mindset. “Are you really okay with that?”

Willy smiled, looking ahead toward the sun, as it finally had fully set. It was as if a powerful symphony was settling, waiting to be reborn another day.

“If he really means it, he’ll come find me.” Willy said with a confident smirk. He knew Dew more than most. “He’ll survive, and he’ll come to me. When that day comes, I’ll be right here, ready for round two.”

Trav groaned, rubbing the back of his head, sitting up from his short nap. He gritted his teeth in pain. “Damn, who hit me in the head with a 5 ton zucchini?”

Willy looked back and grinned. He walked toward Trav, holding out his hand for Trav to take. Trav looked up and grinned. “Willy-man. You’re alright.”

“That’s my line,” Willy said.

Yuki smiled at Willy’s comment, and kept moving with him. They picked up their pace with a fairly sized sprint, realizing time was not on their side.

---

Rubie clutched her stomach, wiping off the blood coming from her mouth with her other hand. She placed her hand on the ground, on her knees, panting heavily, her breathing becoming more rigid. The stab wound she received from Axill was settling in. She was rarely ever injured much physically, so she wasn’t used to this kind of pain. Her hand was drenched in a layer of her own blood. Ten, as a head, watched Rubie with wandering, yet sensitive eyes.

“Please, Rubie, don’t push yourself,” Ten’s monotone robotic voice spoke up. His eyes dimmed lightly. “Your body can’t handle it. You’ve already pushed yourself too hard by using the Devil Mimicry.”

“Don’t worry… Ten,” Rubie said in between gasps of breath. It pained Ten seeing Rubie under so much pain. She always appeared headstrong and daring, ready to take on anything and everything, spilling everyone’s shit just because they looked at her and her team the wrong way. Rubie forced an open smile. “I’m gonna… get you out of here.” Rubie coughed up a new batch of blood. She clutched her stomach once again, falling upon the ground. The pool of blood beneath her began to grow into a bigger pond of sanguine.

“You should tend to your own wounds first, Rubie. You can’t go on like this…” Ten said. Rubie clenched her fists, attempting once again to force herself up. She didn’t notice at first, the shadow looming above her. Rubie turned her head to her right, turning her eyes to look at the figure standing above her. Her vision was beginning to distort, so she couldn’t tell at first who it actually was.

Willy crouched down, applying his first aid kit immediately. He flipped her body around without her consent or not. Willy acted briskly, removing Rubie’s red cape and violet shirt. Her cherry/black bra was all that adorned her upper body. Marked all around her torso were a set of tribal-style tattoos. Many undecipherable markings appeared. Willy didn't seem phased, he had already seen it before, yet he never knew what they were. Rubie never cared to talk much about it. Still this wasn't the time for that query.

“This is gonna sting a bit. Bare with it.” Willy said. Rubie nodded. He immediately applied a moist medicine over Rubie’s wound, an antibiotic. As he rubbed it over her skin, she moaned lightly, her body jerked where she tried holding her place. Willy applied a clean dressing over Rubie’s wound in order to stop the bleeding. “You’ve done well, Rubie. All of you have.”

Rubie finally relaxed, taking deep breaths. Trav stood back, watching the scene unfold. Yuki stepped up next to the two. Willy looked to his left, noticing Ten with his severed head. Willy looked on in shock.

“What happened to you…?” Willy asked, walking closer. Ten looked up at Willy with a simple stare.

“Long story. I’ll explain later.”

“Allow me to take it from here, Willy. I was built as a support model. I will handle her treatment now,” Yuki said. “Go and find the others.”

“Right, but you two head for the southern docks first. We need to get off of the island before anything else,” Willy said, turning back to Trav, who remained silent during the scene. “Go with Yuki and Rubie, Trav,” Willy leaped forward with what little strength he had left. Yuki picked Rubie up with both arms and went on her way.

---

Willy dashed across the suburbs of Momodore Island, checking for any survivors on the scene. There was no one there; almost every platoon of the Vault had been completely purged, most probably done by the damned 1^st squadron of IMO. A few instances of IMO remained, which Willy handled like a champ. Willy was on his vitality’s limit, he knew he couldn’t go on much longer, his fight with Dew had drained way too much out of him. With the island tumbling over and collapsing by the second, the island began to level. Willy, along with Team Willy and the remains of the Vault, realized that this was it. Momodore Island was no more; there was no possible way it could be saved now.

The lives of his comrades were far more important, though. Willy understood and accepted the consequences; this was the harsh reality that was befalling upon him, and upon his family. At the very least now, he wouldn’t allow them to fall with him, if it came to that. Willy wouldn’t allow anyone to die on his watch, if they could still be saved.

Along the center of the island, buried beneath a crevice in the earth, probably newly formed from the island’s demise, was Kaidoh. Kaidoh was knocked out, with three gaping holes across his torso at different angles. He didn’t appear critically injured however, and his wounds were sealed up, mysteriously, as well. Only further led Willy to believe it must have been a plasma/laser type of technique. Willy carried Kaidoh across his left shoulder as he continued his journey. Since Kaidoh’s wounds were already sealed, there was nothing more Willy could have done that first aid couldn’t cover.

Willy stopped mid-stride, as a sense of insecurity began to plague him, a rather unusual feeling for him. Willy’s eyes plastered around the island… he glared ahead, and kept moving, thinking nothing else of it. Must have been a looming revelation he couldn’t quite catch.

As Willy made a leap, he very faintly saw a glimmer of light approach him, it appeared to wrap around his body like a blanket. The light swirled and made clear, heavenly wisps around him. Willy’s body lit up, his eyes glimmered within the light. He closed his eyes and nearly tripped over his own foot. Willy caught his fall, yet lost Kaidoh mid-fall. Kaidoh’s body swung down a hill. Willy looked down and clenched his fists, gritting his teeth and cursing under his breath. Still confused though, he didn’t care about the light or whatever it just was at the moment.

“Kaidoh!” Willy made a break for the hill, until he stopped… Kaidoh’s body suddenly vanished as quickly as it had come into Willy’s sight. Willy’s eyes widened, a sudden jolt of shock overcoming him as he felt a light thud behind him, along with a new thud accompanying it. Kaidoh’s body sprawled next to Willy, physically scratched from the bruises and cuts he received from the rocky downhill.

Willy looked back; a glowing body appeared behind him, nearly entrapping him in a tunnel of never-ending light. If Willy didn’t know better, he could swear there was an angel on his shoulder. The woman smiled, revealing her IMO coat, her pink strands of hair tied in a red butterfly piece, pink lips carving into a smile, and her… emerald green eyes staring down at him. As Willy stood up, he looked at her, only slightly taller than her. She cupped her hands into a net, continuing to smile, as if greeting an old friend.

Willy recognized her, he knew her from somewhere, and he felt he had just recently met her too. When she greeted him, it instantly came to him.

“Arabella?!” Willy looked up in a slight shock, not expecting to find a clutz like her here of all places, especially adorning a… IMO uniform? Not only that, the Lieutenant General of IMO? The girl who clumsily lost her purse on the roof on a random rooftop only a day ago?

“Ah… you remembered me, Willy! I’m so happy,” ‘Velvetti’ said enthusiastically with a large smile, cupping her hands now on her cheeks, blushing gently from Willy’s mention of her name. “Who would know that fate would beckon its doors upon us once more? After so many days and months of…”

“We only just met yesterday,” Willy said, narrowing his eyes, clearly not sharing her feelings of ecstasy. In fact, he was kind of peeved by this revelation. “What are you doing working for IMO? You’re a high ranking officer as well…” Willy said slowly, interrogating her as if his life depended on it. As far as he was concerned, it may have. Far more could have been at stake for what it was worth… especially with the island’s impending doom.

“They call me Lieutenant General Velvetti in the IMO HQ,” Arabella spoke softly, looking up into Willy’s eyes. “Although, it isn’t exactly what it looks like… if you let me explain—“

“Actually, I don’t really care,” Willy said blankly, turning his back on Arabella, which nearly broke her heart. She clutched her chest as so. “I just need to get off of this island.”

Arabella smiled. “I see,” she said, her voice carrying the soft remedy that could easily be mistaken for an angel. “Then, I will take you to them.”

Willy looked up, clearly confused. He had no idea what was going on. This woman was really confusing to him. “Uh…” he began. Arabella cut him off by placing her delicate finger between his mouth.

“I can take you to your friends,” Arabella began. “All you have to do is promise me something.”

Willy perked up with an inquisitive stance.

“Meet me once again. I’ll be waiting for you,” Arabella said. Willy perked up a brow.

“I see,” he said simply. “Why would I want to meet you again?”

“When you meet me again…” she said, putting much emphasis on me. “You will be standing at the top of the world.”

Willy remained silent. Right now, he didn’t have much time to really ponder what she was saying. With the island now at the verge of splitting apart and sinking remnant at a time, he simply nodded, as in a ‘yeah, okay, whatever,’ sort of way. Arabella smiled delightfully… and traced her hands in an elegant trace, revealing her majestic crystal orb that reflected the shining illumination of the stars…

---

The ocean completely froze over, encasing the Subsido in a frozen prison. Jesse sat atop of the frozen ocean like a boss, his legs crossed casually, resting his right arm over his right knee. He blew a cloud of chilled air from his mouth, his body temperature beginning to return back to normal. His flesh appeared fleshy again. He took a deep breath, looking over the horizon of the island, he noticed a small group appear at the border. Jesse closed his eyes, looked down, and smiled.

“Humph,” Jesse stood up, walking among the ice. He reached the border of the island, where he met Yuki, a head trauma’d Trav, a wounded yet recovering Rubie, and the severed head of a kind android. “You guys look like shit.”

“Shut up, dumbass,” Rubie said; her breathing now more fluid and controlled. She sat up with her shirt off, only revealing her stripped cherry/black bra and a large bandage wrapped around her stomach. “What took you so long?” she asked, clearly mocking him. Jesse smiled emptily.

“What ruby-hard girl takes a sword wound to the stomach?” Jesse asked, folding his arms nonchalantly.

“What ice-man nearly drowns in water?”

Jesse smiled. "I'm glad you're alright."

“By the way…” Ten chimed in. Jesse and Rubie turned to his head. “Is this really all that’s left of us? Even Willy…?”

Jesse and Rubie looked at each other somewhat awkwardly. Jesse looked back to Ten.

“What happened to the rest of you?”

“It’s a long story. Painful one, too,” Ten said. Rubie looked down. Jesse appeared at unease. He sighed and turned back.

“Aaaah!!”

They heard the familiar voice behind them. Everyone turned (except Ten), and saw Willy and Kaidoh roll down the hill, landing next to the rest of the crew, just like that. Rubie smiled happily, Jesse smiled while folding his arms, as if expecting nothing less. Willy sat up, coughing. He looked up at the rest of his crew looking down at him (and Kaidoh). Trav looked down at Kaidoh, and gasped.

“My God! Is he dead?! We need a doctor! Guys!!” Trav freaked out, pumping on Kaidoh’s chest like a retard. Rubie slowly moved toward Trav, punched him in the head (causing more head trauma), and growled down at him.

“Idiot! He is the doctor!” Rubie exclaimed.

“We need a doctor for the doctor!!” Trav crawled back toward Kaidoh. Yuki walked forward, picked up Kaidoh, and walked toward the frozen ocean Jesse had carved. Jesse turned back, placed his hand on the frozen ocean. The ice began traveling along the ocean, carving and making its path all the way to the land of California… a day’s walk from where they were. He created an ice road, just like that. Jesse began panting.

They all understood just of the severity of the situation. Picking on each other, just trying to have a light hearted conversation somewhat helped them grieve. When it would finally sink in...

“Let’s go, guys…” Willy said, looking up with a hint of disappointment yet remained strong. “We may have won the battle… but…” everyone looked back with Willy, unifying them as one team. All that remained of the Vault… was right there, traveling on the icy road.

“We lost the war, this time. We fall in unity.”