“Rey! Attack from your left!” Sana commanded. Late at night in Daredevil City, Sana and Rey were up against a dark beast down in the alley of St. Franken Street. This dark beast looked similar to a jaguar, with its spots being a bright red color. Rey, in his beast form, attacked the dark beast directly into the wall, holding it down as much as possible.
“Quick! Give it a fireball attack!” Sana ordered. Rey nodded as he let out a mighty roar, emitting a fireball attack at the dark beast. The dark beast fell to the ground while Sana drew out her wand, tapping it to transform it into her trishula. She spun her trishula around in the air and plunged it into the ground, sending a fiery path towards the dark beast. The flames consumed the dark beast, destroying it completely.
With that, Rey transformed back into his human form. Once he transformed back, he noticed Sana got down to the ground on her knees, looking very exhausted. Rey went towards her, lending her a hand.
“Need help?” he asked. Sana looked at Rey’s hand, grabbing it as Rey helped her get up.
“You okay?” Rey asked.
“Yeah. I’m probably just tired.”
“Let’s get back. Besides, we have classes in the morning.”
And so, Rey and Sana began to head back towards the academy. But Sana stalled for a moment, turning around to see a dark tower ahead of the city.
“Sana, what are you waiting for? Let’s go,” Rey told Sana. Sana turned back and nodded and then left along with Rey.
***
The next day, at the girls’ dorm house of the Ringmasters Training Academy, Krystal was in deep slumber in her own room. She slowly woke up, stretching out her arms as she let out a yawn. She turned to the alarm clock on her nightstand and gasped.
“Oh, damn! I overslept!” Krystal cried.
She immediately got out of bed and dashed off to the bathroom, brushing her teeth vigorously. After she did so, she opened her closet, going through the many outfits she had. She finally changed into an orange dress with a V-shaped neck and paired it with a pair of orange-colored pumps. Krystal then brushed her straight hair and grabbed her orange-colored purse, putting a granola bar inside. Krystal left her room, locking the door as she rushed down the halls, leaving the building and heading into the academy.
“Damn it. I know I’m gonna get in trouble with Professor Luna,” Krystal said as she ran down the hallway. She finally made it to the classroom, barging inside while Professor Luna was in the middle of teaching.
“Ms. D’Cruz, you are late!”
“Look, I’m sorry. My alarm didn’t ring.”
“But you certainly had the time to put on that expensive dress.”
“Hey! This is designer wear. It costs a fortune. I can’t just let such expensive clothes sit in my closet.”
“Really?! In that case, how about you start off the week with detention. You and Mr. Blake can report today after school.”
“What?! And why Prince, too?!”
“You know the rule of this school. Whatever befalls one student, the partner receives the same. Now, sit down.”
Krystal walked in frustration as she then sat down at her seat next to Prince, throwing her bag under the desk.
“Nice job, Krystal,” Prince told Krystal, rolling his eyes as he chewed on a watermelon-flavored candy cane.
“Shut up, Prince,” Krystal snapped.
“I guess I should’ve woken you up then,” Sana said to Krystal, turning around.
“You think?!” Krystal exclaimed.
“Speaking of tardiness, where are Rey and Neil?” Professor Luna asked.
Sana and Heer turned to each other. Sana knew that Heer had the same thing on her mind. Rey and Neil were up to something.
“They’re probably out sick today, Professor Luna,” Heer replied, trying to keep her cool.
“If they show up late, I’ll have more detention to give!” Professor Luna exclaimed.
Where are those morons?! Sana thought, shaking her head.
***
“So, you sure about doing this?” Rey asked Neil. Rey and Neil were standing outside of Aiden’s office in the main hall. And at this time, Aiden was alone inside, completing some work.
“Of course, I am. It’s the only way to settle the old score I got with that chump,” Neil whispered.
“I don’t know why you hate him so much.”
“That’s nothing you need to know. Are you in or not?!”
“Well, duh. I’m ready to take this guy on. I’ll be the coolest guy in the academy if I can beat the school’s mentor.”
“We’ll attack once he comes out of the office.”
At that moment, Aiden had opened the door of his office. Rey and Neil stood near the walls while Aiden walked out from the room.
As he walked, Rey shouted, “Hey, Mr. Mentor!” Puzzled, Aiden turned around, seeing Rey and Neil standing before him. “You think you’re so tough, don’t you?!”
“Oh, it’s just you idiots,” Aiden shook his head.
“Who you calling an idiot?!” Neil shouted. “Last time we couldn’t fight. But this time we’re both going to pummel you to the ground.”
“You can’t be serious,” said Aiden.
“Hell yeah we are!” Rey exclaimed. “Ready, Neil?!”
“Of course, I am!” Neil agreed as he drew out his wand, transforming it into his bow and arrow.
Rey transformed into his tiger form. Aiden maintained his guard while Rey and Neil made their way to attack. As they came towards Aiden, Headmaster Devil came before them and said, “What are you two doing?”
The sight of Headmaster Devil shocked both Rey and Neil, making them fall to the ground with a thud. Rey transformed back into his human form while Neil’s bow and arrow changed back into a wand. The two immediately got up and said, “Headmaster Devil!”
“What were you two planning on doing?” Headmaster Devil inquired.
“Us?!” Neil asked. “We weren’t doing anything!”
“Yeah! What he said!” Rey agreed.
“Really?” Headmaster Devil said. “Because it looks like you two have cut class. And you were about to attack Aiden.”
“Um,” Rey and Neil mumbled. “Well…”
“Don’t bother. You know the penalty. The two of you will report to detention along with your partners,” Headmaster Devil ordered.
“Detention?!” Neil said, shocked.
“You’re seriously going to give us detention?!” Rey asked.
“Of course. You both have broken school rules,” Headmaster Devil said. “And if you both don’t show up, I’ll see to it you get even worse punishment. Do I make myself clear?”
Rey and Neil gulped and nodded in response. Headmaster Devil walked down the hall, while Aiden followed, eyeing Neil at the same time.
“Oh, great! Now we have to go to detention!” Neil whined. “Heer won’t be happy about that.”
“Please. Sana’s going to kill me now,” Rey sighed.
***
“You moron!” Sana yelled as she smacked Rey in the head, making him crash to the floor. It was lunch time where the gang were all seated at a round table in the cafeteria. And that was when Sana and Heer were informed about the detention notice they had received from Headmaster Devil.
“Could we lose some of the violence?!” Rey shouted back at Sana as he got up.
“I should get more violent on you! How can you two be so stupid?! Never once have I gotten detention before!” Sana shouted. “The library incident was one thing. Now you repeat previous mistakes and land us with real punishment. God, you two are such idiots!”
“Did you really have to try and sneak attack Aiden?” Heer asked Neil.
“Hey, I was just going to give my lousy brother a piece of my mind,” Neil retorted.
“Well then. Looks like the whole gang is going to be at detention tonight,” Krystal said.
“This whole thing started with you anyway,” Prince told Krystal.
“Shut up! All I did was oversleep. That professor doesn’t understand the value and time put into carrying off such expensive clothes every day,” Krystal replied.
“To hell with the drama,” Prince said.
“Where is the detention room anyway?” Rey asked.
“It’s supposed to be in the basement of the school if I’m correct,” Heer answered.
“And we’re going to be there for at least two hours,” Sana sighed. “And I have a ton of homework to do for my Elemental Study class.”
“Looks like we’ll just have to get through this together,” said Krystal.
“Not looking forward to that,” Prince said quietly.
***
At the end of the school day, while students had gone back to their dorms, Sana, Rey, Krystal, Prince, Neil, and Heer headed down into the basement of the academy for their session of detention. “So, what room are we going to?” Rey asked.
“Room two,” Sana replied. The gang made their way down the hall until they reached the room. Sana was just about to open the door until it opened by itself, freaking out the others. They went inside the room. But there was nothing inside. It was just a huge empty space with white walls and a white floor.
“This is the detention room?” Neil asked. “Is this the right place?”
“That’s what it says on our detention slips,” Sana replied.
“Then why is there no one here?” Rey asked. “Or nothing here to say the least.”
“Maybe they forgot! I say we get out then!” Krystal exclaimed.
As Krystal turned to leave, the door of the room had immediately closed shut.
“Okay…this just got even weirder,” Sana said.
The group turned around as a puff of black smoke emerged within the room. As the smoke faded, they were stunned to see Aiden standing before them.
“It’s Aiden!” Krystal exclaimed.
“What’s he doing here?!” Neil asked, annoyed.
“More importantly, where is everyone getting these smoke effects for entrances?” Rey questioned.
“Um…are we in the right room?” Heer asked Aiden.
“You are,” Aiden replied.
“Then where are we supposed to sit?” Sana inquired.
“That’s not the kind of detention you all are being put in,” Aiden said.
“What are you talking about?!” Rey shouted
“Watch,” Aiden said.
Within an instant, the group was surrounded by fumes of black smoke, which made Aiden disappear as well. Everything changed within seconds. No longer were they in the same empty room. The group had been teleported into an eerie looking version of a classroom where the six of them were all strapped to seats, unable to move. Aiden stood before them in front of a blackboard, holding a pointer to the board.
“Okay seriously, am I the only one who’s wondering where these special effects are coming from?!” Rey exclaimed.
“Welcome to MY version of detention,” Aiden announced. “It’s time for you all to learn a lesson.”
Copyright © 2021 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 