Is she for real right now? Myelin broke out his aura, his friends following suit. Wasting no time he leaped forward, swinging his sword right out of the sheathe on his waist. He was going to chop her in half before anyone in the room could even blink an eye. Myelin felt his aura crash into the maroon; sharp, solid, and unrelenting as it was, it was no deterrent to him as he brought his white saber shining brilliant blue to the mentor's energy. Anticipating the connection, he was taken aback to feel his nose flatten instead.
Myelin's brain went on vacation as his legs went limp. He found himself staring right up at the swiveled basketball hoops on the ceiling again, only this time his butt was hugging the floor. When the shock kicked in, he scurried back to Dambe and Noor.
"You good, Myelin?" asked Dambe, his voice cracking.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Must've slipped," responded Myelin.
"You got punched in the face, you bum," Noor chimed in. "Let me handle this."
Noor blazed her way to Mentor Twine. Fiery red clashed on the steadfast maroon; Myelin strained his eyes to keep up. The mentor swung her sword at Noor, cutting the air in one clean stroke as Noor ducked under. And from under she leaped into an uppercut, roaring as Myelin could spot the beginnings of her special power flicker atop her fist. It was like an unsteady bomb of destructive black light ready to explode in Mentor Twine's face. Man, she is cool.
The volatile fist raised up while the mentor leaned back. That made Noor even angrier. She swung her arm in wide arcs, desperate for a connection to no avail. Twine slipped past every aimed attack at her with slick ease before grabbing Noor's arm. The flicker on her fist died out. Mentor Twine lifted her arm with Noor's in her hand and threw her like a baseball.
The blazing red flew right in between Myelin and Dambe as they followed the trail of light with their heads. And when they turned right back they saw the pathologically calm face of Mentor Twine slowly encroaching on them. Myelin gripped onto his sword; his hands swayed unsteady so he held on even tighter.
Mentor Twine feinted a swing at Dambe, to which he quickly dodged to the floor faster than gravity could even have taken him. It was then that his face met her foot as she punted him way back to a Noor who was just barely peeling herself off the fall. The mentor's attention was back on Myelin, with her sword pointed right at him.
"Is that it?" she laughed. "All bark but you can only bite the dust. Call it quits, you were never meant to be a bastion." Her face was dead serious now.
"Like hell I care," snarled Myelin. "I'm here to get my damn brother back!" He swung first overhead with all his weight into it.
"And that's not your damn job," Mentor Twine blocked overhead. "You really think we'd let the mind demon roam loose as a bastion of all things?" She stepped forward putting the pressure of the clash to Myelin. Their two swords firm against giving way to another, their wielders unrelenting all the same from their heads to their feet. But Myelin couldn't hold, no. He could feel the pressure building in the clash of the swords, forcing his hand to push harder only to still get pushed back. The weight of his body went from being planted on his front foot to his back; he felt his body lean away under the pressure. Once again the mentor sent him flying back.
Myelin crash landed right next to his friends, numbness made him almost unaware of the pain. Instead, he felt frustration ooze from his bruises and hate with each pulse of his headache. Get up, now. He thought in an unfamiliar voice, and as he stood up he saw Noor and Dambe jolt right up with remarkable confusion painted all over them as they rose.
"What the—" said both Dambe and Noor, staring at Myelin.
"I don't know either, hurry up, what're we gonna do about this?" said Myelin, nodding his head towards Mentor Twine.
"Oh hell no, you needa explain that right now," demanded Noor, offense so written over her face.
"Mind demon stuff, okay?" Myelin wanted to elaborate, but the encroaching maroon energy had a pressure he could feel in his bones. He understood Noor realized that too, as she turned pale and stood ready for what was to come.
"Well. What are we gonna do?" said Dambe, his voice going octaves up and down like a rollercoaster.
The silence spoke that nobody had any answers, and that sent Myelin's heart into overdrive. Every step the mentor took sounded heavy, the squeal of her sneakers on the hardwood floor got closer, and the relaxed breathing gave Myelin the reality check that they were the ones being hunted down.
Shoot if I don't think of something, we're dead meat! What to do man, think! THINK! Why am I not thinking? UGH! We've got numbers... three on one. I used to fight all the time back in Neo York, shoot, it was so easy. Before this mind demon junk... mind...
Myelin found an epiphany in the crevices of his skull. In one specific crevice, was Myelin's neurattachment. He hadn't used it much since he left the moon. Myelin tapped the button on the side of his head, making sure it was on. After the standard Hira bootup logos faded out, an ad for some music had come on by default.
"Damnit, Skip!" yelled Myelin, to which everyone looked at him like he had gone insane. Dambe actually skipped once before awkwardly taking a few steps back.
"Have you gone deranged, you damn cave dweller?" asked Noor, taking a few steps back as Mentor Twine got closer. "Don't tell me that demon thing is hardwiring your brain." Myelin didn't bother responding. Not verbally, at least.
Text from Myelin - "Ouch, Noor. Demon cave dweller? That sounds almost racist" - The messages would appear floating in the corner of his periphery. The three had a way to talk privately.
Text from Noor - "Oooo. My bad. This is kinda smart Mylie!" - Noor was smirking, Myelin could see the color returning to her face.
Text from Myelin - "Mylie..." -
Text from Dambe - "HEY FOCUS SHE ALMOST SNAPPED MY NECK" - If Dambe's facial expression could look like caps lock was on, it did.
Text from Myelin - "Okay so far, plan is to jump her. Three at once." - Myelin shrugged in real life.
Text from Noor - "and?" -
Text from Myelin - "and.." -
Mentor Twine now stood in front of the trio. Her aura was impressive, as if it was compressing Myelin's own back into his skin. To even lean forward felt as if you were swimming against the waves of an ocean. The blue, gold, and red glows of the three were faint. The room may as well have been polarized into a maroon hue.
Text from Dambe - "No time. Let's go for it. Soon as one of us bites the dust we gotta reconvene." - Huh, funny he's the one thinking good under pressure. Myelin and Noor liked the message, took one good look at another, then pounced into the fray.
The mentor's sword came swinging straight to his head. Myelin raised his own to clash in time. He could feel the scraping of the swords as he tried to hold it still. I can't even hit back, it's like her sword weighs a million tons. Suddenly his arms went weightless, the mentor's arms swinging the other way, the attention was back on Noor.
His view only obscured by Mentor Twine herself, he could make out that Noor was getting ready to punch her way through the sword swings with brute force. Can't imagine the splinters she's about to get. Myelin looked off to the side and only to see Dambe rocking into a step and out.
Text from Myelin - "Dambe we're going for this NOW" -
Myelin waited for him to confirm by liking the message before bringing down his sword. Three attacks at once had to be the way out of this, Myelin was sure, and yet when he brought his sword down it was most certainly met by the unrelenting impact of swords once more. Across from him Noor was now puking on the floor, and to his side, he saw nothing as Dambe had somehow been thrown up to the roof.
Myelin grit his teeth and began swinging down repeatedly, not leaving his blade in place any longer than a second. Sure enough the mentor was on her toes, brushing aside strikes with ease, but slowly taking one step back at a time. Myelin pressed onward; he was bringing the fight to her with frustration lashing in every motion.
"You're not gonna stand in my way," said Myelin, baring his fang saber down, sinking it faster and stronger as if he was biting down his foe. "I'm not someone you can push around!"
Mentor Twine's face remained unphased, a still spot in a river of emotions. She met every blow of Myelin. Every strike he swung hard down, she would block so lightly and elegantly. It became clear that no matter the force he put out, he was simply not strong enough; it was as if he was attempting to pull free from chains he was destined to be bound in.
You're pathetic, child. The demon's voice once again taunted Myelin.
Shut up! His eyes burned now with sweat dripping down into his eyes. His heart was beating fast. Mentor Twine began to swing back at him once more; his heart was beating faster. All he could do was helplessly dodge, swinging wildly like a cornered animal. The mind demon was faintly laughing just out of reach in the back of his head. Meanwhile, the front of his head was pounding with tension, like his brain wanted to leap out and leave the situation.
Text from Myelin - "I need you guys back here. Now." -
Text from Noor - "Okay. Throw up break over... I think." - She was stumbling over like a drunk, her legs going left, her arms going up, her head down, and her scarf blowing right. Myelin could tell she wouldn't dare bring out that flickering power of hers. Not unless she wanted to throw up her stomach itself. He was happy enough to see that fiery red aura of hers come up once more as she approached the fray once more. Once again, Dambe nowhere near the situation at hand.
"When you're ready to give up, let me know please," said Mentor Twine in the midst of a yawn. The two of them were desperately swinging at a target that could not be hit, like trying to put the same end of magnets together, narrowly missing each time. A few times Myelin almost hit Noor and Noor almost punched Myelin in the face.
Text from Dambe - "Just a little to the left, c'mon guys" -
Huh, hold on. Dambe you might be a genius! Myelin was now intentionally missing, guiding the fight to one side. Noor was still confused, not getting the nonverbal facial expressions Myelin was making to go left. She, instead, opted to verbally yell at him to stop trying to shimmy out of the way.
Text from Dambe - "Okay stop! On a count of five, Noor hit low, Myelin hit middle, and imma come in hot." -
Myelin's ears were no longer being berated by Noor, and he began counting down from five. He faked a swing up high that Mentor Twine tried to block. Four, he reared his arms back across his body. Three, he stepped forward moving his body weight towards the mentor. Two, he drove his arms forward, his whole body beginning to tense. One, he felt his blue energy steam out from every pore, as if he became an engine driving full throttle as he leaned all his will into this one swing.
He heard the air part as Dambe came crashing down faster than anyone could ever fall, and beyond that he heard his roar. A roar that crashed faster and harder across the room more so than any person ever could. To see even his sheepish friend Dambe so strong willed in the moment squashed any doubt in his mind; Myelin had found a friend he could count on to brave any storm that came their way.
He saw Noor bringing her fist down like a hammer, and to his surprise it was sparking as it did before. Had her mouth not been puckered so as not to puke once more, he could have heard another roar instead of the muffled grunt of anger coming from his friend. To see even his stubborn friend Noor push past her limits squashed any doubt in his mind; Myelin had found a friend he could count on to fight till their very last breaths.
Myelin roared from his chest, extended his arms, and waited for the connection between blade and flesh as his sword centered forward. It was at that moment that his vision turned upside down. Then the ground started traveling underneath him like he was on a train. He felt like he was being carried by his ankles. And sure enough when he looked up, or down depending on your perspective of the situation, they were tied together. Wrapped around his legs was a thin but rigid maroon string, whipping his whole body backwards.
When he hit the wall, so did Noor and Dambe. The three of them colliding with so much of the power and momentum aimed at Mentor Twine sounded off like a bomb going off. It might as well have been, as Myelin picked himself up off of the cratered wall coughing up plumes of dust. His ears rang and the world spun everytime he tried to focus his sight. He saw Noor and Dambe, the friends he now trusted with his whole heart, groaning, unable to push themselves up off the floor with their arms alone. His own legs began to fail underneath him too. He tried so hard to balance on them, stiffen them out, but they caved in like his bones were turned to greenjelly. Myelin hit the ground.
He vaguely heard the door open, seeing the shadow of two men walk in. They're probably here to wheel us out. Atal. I was doing this for you, man. I tried so damn hard, but I got freaking nowhere. What the hell else am I supposed to do? What can I even do?
You know. Myelin understood the demon's cryptic remarks, and had almost found it tempting, lost in his own thoughts. I can leave this stupid school behind, screw this process. I can do this on my own. Just me! If I give in...
From the floor he could only stare at what appeared to be Mentor Twine, however, one thing was different about her: her calm smirk was strained into a pant, her brows up in shock, sweat gleamed down her forehead, and an ever so thin streak of red blood dripped down her left arm. It was almost invisible, however, when she brought her maroon aura back in, it became evident that she was bleeding. But we... we almost.
Text from Myelin - "Ya'll see that? She's tired! We almost got her! HA! Suck it!" - Myelin could barely speak from the fatigue, but a neurattachment text would do fine.
He began to chuckle, even though it hurt his diaphragm. Alien demon aside, he wasn't alone. It warmed Myelin's heart, that although he had lost, he got somewhere and did something with the people he could count on. Even if they lost, he wasn't alone, he didn't have to do this on his own. His friends, now laughing as much as they could without teetering over the border of unbearable internal pain, flopped over and sat up with proud looks painted on their faces.
One of the men entering the room whistled.
"I think that constitutes a pass in my book, I don't know about you guys?" He was young, brash, and familiar. Of course Myelin recognized him, he was one of the men who wheeled in the punching machines a while back. Yet something in his voice sounded close to home.
Alongside the man was head councilman Cain. Nodding his head looking at the damage left across the walls and floor. "Most definitely, it's one well earned," said Cain, coughing, "and should be treated as so no matter how stubborn said mentor assessing the situation should be."
"Mind your own business, they didn't earn anything," murmured Mentor Twine. "I told you I have no interest in taking students."
"You can't go at everything your own way, c'mon," said the young man. "You rejected every single group of students that's come up."
"And you must take pupils under your wing," said the head councilman. "You want to move up? Then you must teach."
Myelin wore a dumb grin so wide you could've stuffed a banana sideways in his mouth. He darted his head back and forth between Dambe and Noor, each sharing their own goofy smile with bright eyed looks realizing they might've been in just the right fortune. He saw the young man scoot closer to Mentor Twine.
"Look I get how you feel, but you gotta do this. I did it," the young man murmured to her. "Do it for me at least." The man looked at her with puppy dog eyes, then took a glance at Myelin. The heck's he looking at? Do I know you?
Mentor Twine sighed. "Alright," she said.
Myelin, Noor, and Dambe rose to their feet. High fives all around and cheering turned to jeering as they laughed at the mentor.
"Did you just get played by a bunch of 12 year olds?" laughed Noor.
"We for real would've gotten you if we had like five more minutes," said Dambe.
Myelin simply stuck his tongue out along with a not so polite finger. He noticed the head councilman quietly exit after his interference, making sure to give Myelin a wink before shutting the door behind him. It was reassuring to Myelin that he had chosen the right path. That being a bastion, whatever that may mean, was meant for him. Someone had his back.
Mentor Twine did not take their taunts so kindly. "You want me to take it back you little bi—"
The young man kicked her on the ankle. "Congratulations! That might've been one of the best performances I got to see today, kids. You guys did good, seriously," he said. "You guys are officially, now, say it with me..."
"Officially bastions," murmured Mentor Twine. "Under my supervision, so don't just go doing whatever you idiots do." She was sure to emphasize the last part.
"Great, now what!" said Dambe.
"I'll send out a message on where to meet, etcetera, etcetera. Training starts tomorrow, I'll make it a special hell, don't worry. Class dismissed," said Mentor Twine, looking like she was probably beaming at the thought of how she was going to torture the trio.
The trio's happiness mixed in with apprehension as the laughs stiffened. They began to make their way out, ready to call it a day when it was still early in the morning. Myelin almost felt like crashing onto the floor at the very moment, really, and he could tell his friends could've too. But, he still felt energized; it was the joy of not only victory but that of overcoming the odds together. Between them and the head councilman, he felt like he was in the right place, even after getting all bruised up.
"Except you, Myelin, you stay," said the young man.
Myelin paused in his step. Shrugged at his friends and turned back around.
Text from Dambe - "Good luck in detention buddy." -
Myelin rolled his eyes.
"For what exactly?" said Myelin, his mind overclocking trying to connect how this man knows who he is.
"For starters we need to discuss what's going on in there," said Mentor Twine, pointing at Myelin's brain.
Right, that does make sense. I've got more than enough questions for you two.
"I'll handle it, relax Whiney Twiney. Now, don't tell me you don't recognize me, Myelin," said the young man with his hand outstretched.
It was then that thoughts in his mind sparked together in the blink of an eye. He was taken aback when he realized it was nearly the splitting image of what Aunt Laura looked like in her final moments reaching out for Myelin's hand. Starting at him was a relic of his past, nearly outgrown Myelin's idea of who he was. It was the boy Aunt Laura had saved every last penny to come visit, the same one he was told that took care of Myelin when he was too young to remember. It was her son, Geep.