Alkalians (21 page)

***

Later that night, in a dark-lit room,
Cain paces back-and-forth near a long table. Mumbling things to
himself, he stops his pacing and lifts his wide-eyed gaze to three
individuals entering the room, stopping at the other end of the
table. The guests consist of two men and a woman around his age,
their appearances obscured by the bleakness of the room.

“
You may know why I called
you here,” begins Cain, motioning for them to sit down. The three
take their seats as he goes to his own on the far side of the
table. “That freshman, Matt Calamos, is becoming a threat to our
society. Not only has he openly declared he’s a Dark Warrior, but
he dares to tell those who are obviously above him that he will not
bend to our will. Now, how shall we deal with him?”

The only answer is cold stares from
the three until one of the men says, “Is this really such an issue?
I mean, he may have beaten you because you greatly underestimated
him, but there are other strong students around here who
could…”

“
It’s not just the fact
he’s strong, Buster,” remarks Cain. “He actually voiced our system
of supremacy an evil, and if he gets more people in the same mind
set, generations of hard work and organization will be ruined. My
spies say that not only has Lyn got him under her wing, but Dante
Goros has already made contact with him, so it’s only a matter of
time.”

“
Yes, and not to mention
the fact that, indeed, he is a Dark Warrior,” speaks up the second
man. “The community so far has been uneasy about his presence, just
because of rumors, but when the word gets out that he really is one
there’s sure to be some kind of mass panic around here.”

“
A good point, James,”
agrees Cain before he thumps the table with his fist. “Which is why
we need to put him back in his place as soon as
possible!”

“
I really don’t see the
problem here, Cain,” interjects the woman. “My sources say he was
only talking about himself when it came to defying a superior. Why
exaggerate his words and thereby force him into representing the
rest of the students, as well?”

“
Oh, but don’t you see,
Cynthia? Even if he’s not thinking about it now, he WILL take up
that idea, soon!” Stabbing his fingers about in the air, he tries
to explain with an upset look on his face, “If he hangs out with
that Lyn and her skanks long enough, then they’ll poison him with
the idea of trying to overthrow our organized rule. He would become
their ultimate weapon, striking fear into our own people or other
students who dare to face him! Or even Dante, I always knew he’d be
trouble sooner-or-later, with his background in royalty, he has a
way with words, and he could easily get that empty-headed fool
thinking that he should bring about chaos and havoc all over the
college, just to make things easier for him to take
over!”

Thumping the table hard
one more time, Cain shouts, “Don’t you all understand!? It’s about
taking care of the threat,
before
he’s the threat! We must snuff out the single
candle of ignorance, before it becomes a wildfire of
rebellion!!”

There is a moment of uneasy silence
after Cain’s ranting outburst before James brings up, “Another
problem with all this is what’s happening to those most near him.
His roommates, Rose Alamence and Sean Wyseinburg, are also being
recognized as ‘special’ students. The creepy thing is how Sean, the
failed freshman, was harmless days ago, but tonight he just trashed
one of your best henchmen.”

“
Well, what’s the problem
with that?” objects Buster. “It’s about time he figured out his
morph’s powers. Think about it, a guy with an unnatural thing for
luck at gambling, and women, able to back himself up with his
battle morph? We could use a guy like that in our employment, at
the casino, to…”

Cain snaps at him, “How
easily you forget that he’s also Matt’s
roommate
!!” Slamming the table in
rising fury, he exclaims, “Anything that becomes of that pestilent
boy will spread to his own roommates, I guarantee it! That’s why
Sean suddenly growing a backbone is a
bad
thing, not a
good
thing! Fire Spirit burn you,
don’t you even think about these things, you block-headed
brute!?”

While Buster’s body tenses at the
insult Cain threw at him, Cynthia quickly speaks up, “Do you think
they may have a stash of illegal drugs? That could easily explain
the rapid growth of their strength and skill. Perhaps Matt’s
abilities are merely from the drugs, and now Sean and Rose are
gaining them, as well.”

Cain considers the idea, and says,
“That is a possibility. Yes, I like that theory.” Standing up to
pace the floor behind his chair, he rambles on, “If we could have
all three of them bagged for illegal drug possessions, yes, that
would be great, oh yes, that would demolish their figures! And yet,
no, it’s not enough, we can’t rely on authorities going easy on
them, because they’re freshmen, no, we need something, something
more certain, of their, demise…”

After the three of them exchange
impatient glances, James asks, “What do you have in mind,
Cain?”

He stops his pacing and
addresses the three of them, a crazy look in his eyes. “Let me tell
all of you here something. Think hard about this situation. Yes,
I’m the only target of Matt’s wrath right now, but what will happen
next if he
does
end my reign? What if his beliefs inspire more rebellion
against
your
companies? Like I said before, this isn’t just a threat to my
organization, but the whole ideals that have served as pillars to
our student society are in jeopardy. That is why I have brought you
here for discussion. We must join forces to stop Matt and his
growing cult, before we ourselves are ruined!”

The other boss students glance at each
other in silent communication, confirming that Cain was losing his
mind, but they did have to worry about any potential threat to
their organizations. Buster asks, “So, what’s your plan? How are we
going to stop him. Take him down in an all-out battle
together?”

Cain begins fidgeting and cackling.
“Oh no, that would only make things worse. If all of us ganged up
on him, it would only prove how tyrannical we are and add fuel to
his fire. However, ah, yes, hehe, I’m already figuring it out, yes,
yes, that’s good. They’ll fall right into that, haha! Yes, yes, I
know how we can bring Matt and his friends to the ground, with
their faces shoved into the dirt by our feet, without even using
our morphs. Hehe, yes, if this plan is carried out perfectly, no
one will ever dare object to our rule again, I swear
it!”

Chapter 4

Flirting and Fury

***

The weekend passes by, and the next
week of classes begins. A typical day of studies carries itself
out, and Matt finds himself walking down the empty halls of the
college, heading for Lyn’s study hall.

Throughout the day, he has noticed the
fear and scorn of fellow students around him reach new levels.
Groups of them upon seeing him would either gasp and move away or
mutter curses or obscenities under their breath while he passed by.
Expecting that since he announced he was a Dark Warrior, the only
thing that worries him is whether any of the meaner-acting students
may get ideas about ganging up on and beating down on him. That is
one of the reasons he was going to visit Lyn and her friends again,
to ask for their help in watching his back around campus. The other
reason was he had a lot of alchemy homework assigned to him, and
was willing for aid in completing it.

As he comes to the door, Matt knocks
on it a few times before a familiar female voice says, “Come in.”
He opens the door and, to his surprise, the study room is empty.
The only person there, to his greater surprise and interest, is
Amelia, sitting on the couch reading from a magazine. Looking up to
see him enter, she smiles, sets the magazine aside, stands, and
walks over to him, saying, “Welcome back to the study hall, Matt.
Did you need help with homework or something?”

“
Uh, yeah, I had a bunch
of alchemy homework here, and…” Unable to contain his curiosity, he
asks, “Where are Lyn and the others?”

“
Oh, they’re outside on
campus, supporting your cause.” When Matt raises an eye brow, she
explains, “See, after your incident with Cain at the casino, Lyn
was sure he, and other jerks around here, would try to catch you by
surprise and trample all over you. So, she and the others are going
around warning everyone that whoever messes with you messes with us
as well. In the meantime, she’s left me here in the study hall,
trusting in me to help anyone who comes in with assignments to be
done.”

“
Ah, I see. That’s really
kind of Lyn, to go and do that before I could ask her
to.”

“
Well, Lyn is a kind
person. It’s only in her nature.” The two of them stand for a
brief, awkward moment before she gestures to the table and
suggests, “So, shall we see about that homework?”

“
Uh, right, of course!” He
and Amelia head over to the table and sit down in chairs next to
each other, and he fishes around in his book bag to pull out a
textbook, notebook, and pen. Keeping the notebook and pen, he hands
the textbook to Amelia and asks, “Could you read out loud from the
pages I need to go over, while I jot down notes summarizing
them?”

“
I would be happy to,
Matt.” Taking the book from him, she opens it up and flips through
the thick pages. “Where do we start?”

“
Um, hang on here. Page
186.”

“
Alright.” As she makes
her way to the designated page, she says, “May I ask you, Matt, how
it felt crushing Cain like you did in the pit over the
weekend?”

“
Well, I don’t know, I may
have been a little harsh and reckless in what I said, but I guess
it did feel good, humiliating a boss student like that.”

“
Hah, I would say so!”
Amelia arrives on the page, and asks, “Shall I start,
Matt?”

“
Um, yes. I’m
ready.”

“
Okay, then.” While Matt
scribbles down notes, she reads out loud from the textbook. “One of
the basics of alchemy transmutation, the ability to change one
substance into another, is having the knowledge of the kind and
amount of particles in the object one wishes to transmute. One
measures how many particles are in an object by running energy
through it, feeling the particles ripple and rattle as the energy
waves move past them. The specific element or compound of the
particles can also be identified by how the particles react to the
energy, whether they cool, heat, ripple fast or slow, tickle,
sting, etc. Therefore, once one knows enough identities of the
elements or compounds, as well as the number of particles in the
specific object, the alchemist can transmute the object, such as a
lump of granite, into a…”

***

“
Traitorous bitch!” The
man in a brown suit spits at Lyn as they confront each other, each
of them leading a group of students, Lyn’s seven cohorts behind her
and six other men behind him, in an open field near the main
college building. “How dare you protect that monster from the
retribution he deserves? You know, as well as we know, that he’s a
Dark Warrior, and that has to make him a terrorist. And a terrorist
attending college can’t be a good thing!”

While the man is red in the face, Lyn
is pale and calm as she states, “Someone being a Dark Warrior does
not prove that he is also a Shadow Core terrorist. The only thing
you’ve got against him is the fact he put Cain in his place over
the weekend, and he’s sent cronies like you to unfairly ambush and
assault him. But as long as Matt is with us, you’re going to have
to go through us before you can get to him.”

“
You, you, you would
defend that villain when he’s clearly a threat to this entire
community!? In case your feeble little mind hasn’t notice, but the
other students are on the verge of mass panic with him still
roaming the halls beside them! Would you let him cause the whole
community to erupt into chaos by his mere presence?”

“
I would let him, because
he won’t. As long as he does nothing to them, they will soon
tolerate his presence and not mind him anymore. If anything,
they’ll be afraid to fight him, only, and that’s fine.”

“
Grr, well, Cain can’t
afford to take that chance! For the sake of the community’s
stability, he must be put down.” The man then morphs, appearing in
thick, brown armor with a large, double-bladed ax in his hands and
helmet on his head. “And if you stay in our way, then we’ll put you
down, first!”

Shrugging at the challenge, Lyn says,
“Very well, then. If you want to put yourself in the infirmary, so
be it. However, why don’t we try to keep this a civil
confrontation, without having it erupt into chaos like you’re so
afraid of. Our best fighters here from each side, one-on-one, and
the loser’s side stands down and leaves. Sound reasonable to
you?”

“
Uh, fine, we’ll do it
that way! I will represent my side. Which one of you will I get to
slaughter?”

Smirking, Lyn replies, “If you’re
asking about who you’re going to fight, that would be me, of
course.” Taking a few steps back, while her associates and the Ax
Warrior’s partners back off further, she enters a flash of white,
reappearing as a large Wolf. Her fur is snow white with a silvery
blue tinge at some points, and her icy pale eyes have deepened in
color, sapphires that gleam at her opponent as she stares him
down.