"it's gonna be okay"

~27~

As usual, Dave wanted to murder someone.

He did.

This time, it was one of the lower level kids- he was around twelve or thirteen, with the ability to create shadows.

Apparently, he'd been making trouble with the older kids.

See, Dave ran his base a bit like a- uh, military.

There was him at the top.

Then, his closer friends.

From there, four divisions, ranked by age and ability.

And each division was overseen by a few higher ranked people.

But back to the kid.

Apparently, he- Harrison, got in an argument with some other kid, Dylan.

They'd gotten in a big fight, with the kid having shadows, and Dylan being able to throw firework-like projectiles at him.

After the two had eventually been separated, Dave learned that the Harrison kid got mad at him because he refused to call him Darklord, his chosen nickname.

A few teens were holding Harrison back, as Dylan picked himself off the floor.

"Harrison," Dave said, "You want to be known as Darklord?"

The kid spat at him and nodded.

"Yeah," he replied, looking down.

"Alright then. Earn it. Kill him."

He pointed at Dylan, who was standing across from the boy, nursing a bloody nose.

"K-kill him?"

"You heard me. You wish to be known as Darklord? Earn the name. Kill him."

The guys released him, but the boy didn't move.

So Dave decided to give him a little nudge.

He entered his mind and made the kid reach out to the shadows. The black tendrils wrapped around Dylan, until he was engulfed in a cocoon of inky darkness.

Leaving his mind, and just hanging on to make him keep his grip on the other, Dave rolled his eyes, sighing.

This was definitely taking too long.

Harrison blinked a couple of times, reorienting himself.

"Go on," Dave said. "Do it."

Harrison shook his head.

"I don't wanna," he said, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

"Kill him."

"I can't."

Dave let out an annoyed sigh.

God, this was giving him such a headache.

He let his hold on the boy's mind go.

Dylan dropped to the floor, Harrison falling backwards, landing on the floor with a hard thud.

"Kill them. Both of them."

With a wave of his hand, the guys previously restraining Harrison turned their guns on the two kids.

He turned and started to walk away before the gunshots sounded.

Soon after, one of Dave's friends, Phil, approached him.

"Dave?" he said. "We might have . . . a slight problem."

He followed him, down several hallways, and to a white door.

Behind it, he could hear someone talking to themselves, their voice constantly switching pitch.

"Just brace yourself. This one is kinda annoying."

Phil pushed the door open, Dave following him inside.

Chained to the wall was a tiny girl, dressed in a princess gown.

"Shift back, please,"Phil said with a sigh. "For everyone's sake."

The little girl frowned, and morphed into a tall boy with dark brown hair.

"He was stealing rations. Turned himself into another kid, took their portion, shifted back."

"Want me to do a girl?" he cut in. "I do a fantastic e-girl!"

His hair grew, becoming a coppery orange. His clothing morphed into one of those ridiculous sexy christmas outfits, complete with a santa hat.

"Oh my god, this is so dumb," Dave said, with a sigh.

He rubbed his temple, feeling a raging headache start to creep into his mind.

He reached out into the shapeshifter's mind, forcing him to morph back into his original form.

"Aw, come on man, I liked my hair!" he protested.

"I don't have the braincells to deal with this," Dave said. "Remind me to come back later. What's your name?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Because if you don't, you'll be killed."

"Fine. Jude, but most people call me Finn."

"Okay, Finn. Do you know what we do to thieves?"

Finn shook his head.

"I make them cut off their own hands."

"Dude, that's disgusting."

"Yeah. But today- today I already had to deal with a border dispute and a petty fight between two kids, as well as lookout shifts, and currently have a headache. So you get to keep your hands for today. But tomorrow, you're dead."

With that, Dave turned to leave.

He hoped that after tomorrow, it would be the last he saw of the shapeshifter.

Little did he know of what was to come.

a/n: e-girl finn is prettier than me like seriously its not fair.