(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 9

Exhaustion swept over Dre as he slowly opened his eyes. "Congratulations, guys. You've completed your first experience of the arena." Dre slid off of the bed, landing chest first on the concrete floor. His group all looked like they had just woken from a yearlong nap. Each of them had Fruit of Marathon beside their beds. "I'd advise that you all eat your Fruits, unless you want to feel like this for the rest of the day."

Almost instantly, the group began devouring the Fruits, not minding the juices dribbling from their mouths. Ichi laughed. "So, how was your first experience?"

"It sucked," Megumi said with a mouthful of the fruit. She swallowed before continuing, "I had to fight my daddy in there."

Ichi raised his hands in surrender. "Don't look at me. I didn't have control of the A.Is. They went after the ones they saw fit."

"Is that why Hiro went after me?" Dre asked after he gulped down the remainder of his fruit.

Ichi quickly shushed him as his eyes scanned the area. Fortunately, they were the only group left. "You shouldn't bring that up around public places. People don't need to know what you are yet."

"Do you really think that people would be able to figure it out just from an A.I going after him?" Michael asked, giving his half-eaten fruit to Keiko.

"You never know. There could be people just as smart as me listening to us. Heck, they could be even smarter than me," he said, snickering in his hand. No one else found it funny. "At any rate, there is no telling why he went specifically for you. Coincidence, perhaps."

Coincidence, my eye.

"The rest of your classes are dismissed. We'll meet here every other month to make sure that you properly trained on the battlefield. You can all go home, if you want. That, or stay up here and train at the Edge Walker's forest. God knows you need it."

Megumi gave a droll stare at Ichi. "Funny. I'm going home. Probably sodomize my mind with eons of gaming. You all can do what you want."

"Ooh, ooh, can I come too?" Kim asked.

"Sure. You remember how to get to my house?"

Kim nodded before she and Megumi ate their candies and disappeared.

Tilting her head in confusion, Keiko asked, "Michael, what does sodomize mean?"

For the first time, Dre saw Michael blush. His eyes were the size of quarter dollars as he looked at Ichi. "You're the science guy, Ichi. You tell her."

Ichi widened his eyes, glancing at the rest of the team. "Um... Distraction!" He quickly ate his honey drop and vanished.

"No fair." Keiko pouted. "Why can't you tell me, Michael?"

"I'll uh... I'll tell you when you're older."

"But I'm eighteen! I'm older than you!" She huffed as she said, "Fine then. If you won't tell me, then I'm going to Megumi's house and find out." She swallowed her honey drop, ignoring Michael's plea.

"She doesn't even know where Megumi lives," he sighed. "Do any of you guys know where her house is?"

"Yeah, for sure," Ian said, trying not to laugh. "Where do you want to meet up at?"

"It doesn't matter. The school's fine." They both ate their candy and vanished.

Dre and Rose looked awkwardly at each other. Shrugging, Dre asked "Group meeting at Megumi's?"

"Sure. I do not have anything else planned. I assume it is in Prescott?"

"Yeah, on the outskirts of the city. Do you want to meet up at the school? It's pretty easy to get lost."