Sigma/Star

Chapter 16: Evolution

"Well I mean I might have gotten a little help from a cheat sheet or two but the results are what matter right?" Chase could see Ardwen's eyebrow twitching just above the papers.

"Argh you can't cheat on a test Chase! What if this happens in real life? What if you don't know the answer in a combat situation?!" Ardwen tried to leap the table and Raul sprung up with lightning speed to get between the two as a wrestling match ensued between Raul and the boys.

Nami poked her head into the room to stare at the group fight happening and sighed. She was about to walk down the hall when a thought struck her. Porter and Chase were rivals weren't they? Equally dumb, equally brash, equally lazy. Yes, Chase would fit into her plans quite nicely. "Hello boys," she announced as she stood in the doorway.

The quarrelling pair froze up in mid-punch and stared at the little girl with the cat-like eyes. "What's with the loli?" Chase asked.

"Don't know, she must be looking for Porter," Ardwen answered, and then the two resumed beating each other up. Nami's face shattered and was replaced with a look of frozen shock. She teetered for a moment before falling over in a faint. The boys couldn't hear it over the sound of their war.

* * * * *

Porter was strolling down the hall, feeling a bit confident with himself for finally shaking off Nami. Yes, she was potentially the only friend he had at this moment but he was in a squad now. Ardwen seemed to like him for saving their butts, and Raul appeared neutral towards him, which was good for Raul. It was within this dreamlike state of happiness that Porter was yanked aside into a small room.

"Hey what the-?!" He lashed out in the darkness and thought he caught something, maybe clipping some fabric but he couldn't seem to hit anything concrete. However he must have gotten somebody because he was immediately met with a hard object smacking him across the face repeatedly until he was too dazed to resist.

A small glow-orb was lit, its luminous glass body casting an eerie light around the small room akin to an ancient candle. The newly-revealed Mr. Shotuku released Porter from his grip and sat down on a small pillow, motioning for Porter to do the same.

Unsure if he was really complying or if the trauma to his head was just too much for him to bear standing up, Porter folded his legs on the cushion and tried to focus on his teacher (and the two other, fuzzier teachers who floated around the first). Each word Mr. Shotuku spoke sounded as though the both of them were underwater. "Porter, you have a great gift you have awoken within yourself. But I fear you will not contain it properly, nor channel it. The raw energy you produced in combat was fierce but without anything to guide it, it will be next to useless against any stronger foe. I have seen to it that you will have a reduced class load for the rest of the year, while you will be taking private training with me. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Porter mumbled.

"Very good. The training will begin tomorrow during lunch. You are to report to this room for meditation." The elderly teacher opened the door for Porter. As the student was leaving he slipped in a final warning. "Porter, make sure you aren't late. I know your track record for that sort of thing. You will be in for a far more painful greeting than today's if you are." Porter gulped in recognition of the aches and bruises across his face and stumbled back out into the hallway.

Sure he was shaken and yes he may have just stupidly agreed to a psycho conditioning program set by a madman but at least he had gotten rid of stalker Nami for a while. And maybe he could finally beat up Chase after his super training regimen. This wasn't so bad after all.

* * * * *

Riya sat in the cafeteria and stared at the boys fighting in the centre. Nami's body had been carted over to the side where she still lay in her shock-coma. Riya shook her head at the young girl. Nami was so boisterous around the school. She really hadn't been hit with all of life's burdens yet.

There was a little tremor in the air around Riya and she got a strange feeling of being watched. For a moment she heard a little buzzing in her ear, but with a rub of the lobe it cleared and she shook her head. She was obviously still in a bit of recoil from the battle. Getting into her Goliath was so tough on her. If only those admirers knew the cost of driving that thing.

She had the sense that she was being watched once more, but it seemed different than the last. Whereas the other time had been a little chilling, the frightening paranoid feeling creeping up her spine, this time it seemed as though she were being observed for a different, less sinister reason. As though it was for entertainment or exploitation, to pass the time or to fill a void in someone's life story. Maybe someone just couldn't think of anything better to do than just shift their focus onto her. She almost hated it as much as the creepy feeling. She wasn't used to being the centre of attention but she had a nagging suspicion she was going to be a part of it soon...

A/N: Nami has decided on Plan B in the getting Porter scheme while Porter finds himself trapped in a horrific training program! And can Chase and Ardwen stop fighting for just one minute?!

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