Orion High – The Next Morning
The classroom buzzed with quiet chatter and half-asleep yawns. The Nova Rangers—Kael, Lyra, Zayn, Rayna, and Jett—sat scattered across the room, sore but satisfied after defeating Nyra.
Kael (stretching): "Still can't believe we pulled that off last night…"Lyra (smiling): "It was either that or wear a cursed bridesmaid dress."Rayna: "Let's never speak of it again."
Just then, the classroom door swung open.Mr. Brannix, their stern (and suspiciously alert) science teacher, strode in with an armful of papers.
Mr. Brannix (cheerfully): "Surprise test today!"
The entire class groaned.
Jett (whispering): "We saved the world last night. This feels like punishment."Zayn (already solving question one): "Battle strategies and quantum formulas are the same thing. You just lack sleep."
Kael (wide-eyed): "Wait—there was homework?"
Rayna facepalmed.
Test Chaos Ensues
Jett tried to cheat with a mirror on his shoe.Kael stared blankly at the page like it was in ancient alien language.Lyra doodled a Void Bride in the margin.Rayna finished first—of course.Zayn corrected a typo in the test and handed it back with a suggestion.
Mr. Brannix: "Remind me again why your group is always tired?"
They all exchanged glances—but said nothing.
Bell Rings
They stumbled out into the hall, heads spinning.
Kael: "We fight cosmic monsters... but math is what finally breaks me."Jett: "Give me a shadow beast over algebra any day."
They laughed.
But none of them noticed the faint tremor beneath the school floor.
To Be Continued…