ã€ŠRagnarok Cycleã€‹


 (Blastboarders Arc) Chapter 1: The Beginnings

    Chapter 1: The Beginnings

    A lone boy ran along the side of a climbing street, he wore a red t-shirt and dark shorts that extended slightly below his knees. He seemed fairly well-built, tall and had on a stern face with black hair and grey eyes around which the sweat came down in several drops. He seemed to be around fourteen years and recently moved to this area. It was situated on an artificial island built by Dr. Genevieve Hailing as a counter-measure to Earth''s increasing population on natural land. He kept pumping his muscles to the beat of the music as he climbed the hill and half up he heard severe panting from behind him and turned around only to see a wiry shorter fourteen-year-old try to get up to him. Out of kindness and yearning for some company Ned stopped. The wiry shorter boy was Connor, Ned''s first friend on this island and they lived next door to each other, Ned with his older sister and Connor with his uncle. Both boys shared a common trait in that their parents were no longer with them. In Ned''s case, they were on mainland, his dad managing his business and his mom keeping him company.

    "Why the hell would someone put a hill on an artificial island, as if there weren''t enough of those on the mainland," huffed out Connor catching up and bending over to catch his breath.

    "They wanted to make this island as realistic as the real deal, I think," answered Ned as he lifted his shirt to look at his jogging tracker.

    "Why''d you come out?" he asked as he pulled his shirt back down.

    "When I looked out the window you looked real lonely so I decided to come out to keep you company," said Connor still huffing.

    Ned sighed as he looked at the still-to-be run up hill and he grinned, "Why''d you really come Connor, we both know you''d much rather prefer it in the sheets."

    "We do?" asked Connor. "Yeah we do, but my uncle doesn''t, why''d you have to pick this specific time to run anyway mate."

    "I usually run at this hour, is there a problem."

    "Nothing other than the fact that he kicked me out to do my running, according to him I''m lazing off," said Connor only to receive a condescending smile from Ned which made him continue. "I''m not by the way, I eat, I sleep, I watch TV sometimes and I sit most of the time, these are all things I have to do and that makes me a very busy boy, but d''you wanna continue or d''you wanna just go somewhere, sit and maybe talk cause if you''re running then I have to follow and you don''t want me panting after you, it gets real ugly after ten minutes of this and I didn''t even bring a sick bag."

    Feeling pity for Connor and himself because he had Connor follow him once and he did exactly what he threatened to do since the near start of the run which was vomit horrendously, Ned said "Fine, yeah let''s sit but not here, your uncle walks past here on his way to work, it''s not like I''m losing much anyway it''s just one day."

    "That''s my boy, I knew you weren''t a fitness freak contrary to common rumors."

    "Wait there''re rumors about me being a fitness freak?"

    "Yeah, I made them up by the way, you can thank me later for giving you such a high opinion at school."

    "You''re an ass but let''s go I''ll make up today''s worth tomorrow, just have to run extra."

    Ned walked up the hill followed by a Connor dragging his legs and panting heavily still not calming down.

    "You know if I have to run with you tomorrow then you can find me in the mortuary the day after so please no matter what, run this route, take a different one, hell buy a treadmill, everyone these days owns one right."

    "I''d love to but you just can''t get the feeling of cold fresh air in your house, all enclosed."

    "Blast the damn air con or something, its air and its cold, I can''t exactly guarantee the freshness."

    Ned reached the precipice of the hill and waited for Connor with his extremely slow pace to catch up.

    "Thanks man¡­" said Connor catching his breath and he looked so eternally grateful as he once again bent over to catch his breath but Ned grinned and then turned and bolted down hill leaving Connor to whisper in pants. "You ass¡­"

    [Paragraph Break]

    Ned bolted at full speed downhill not even bothering to control himself or brake for that matter and Connor up on the hill got farther and farther away. It was a feeling of absolute exhilaration for the moment as the air blasted at its face cooling him down and letting him relax, he had not thought about the problem of how to brake but that was something that was the farthest on his mind. His heaven was shattered when he heard a loud honk, every out of control downhill runner''s worst nightmare, a car. It was coming up hill at a speed at which it should not be climbing, or rather it might''ve been Ned reaching it quicker due to his excited pace. Anyhow he tried to brake but for some reason his muscles did not respond and he couldn''t stop, the momentum was far too much. The car honked again but for reasons unknown it showed no signs of stopping and Ned turned from an exhilarated bright face to a very pale and frightened one and he could just picture the headlines, maybe more like an imaginary headline ''Boy under a Car'', a stupid headline for a stupid case. What was the car not doing, stopping, it very clearly was about to run into him? With a finality in his tone he shouted out, to the car driver''s obliviousness.

    "STOP!" shouted Ned but it went upon deaf ears.

    It was at this moment his will to survive kicked in and he dived to the side as the car came up and headed a wall and with a crunching sound it impacted painfully and dull pain ran through his head right down to his heels and he fell to the side of the road as the car whizzed up past him. After the car went past him he with shaking resolve got up and looked at himself and then at the car and then he looked at himself again and then Connor caught up with him.

    "Dude, that would''ve totally been more awesome if you didn''t hit your head and fall," said Connor smiling, he was panting a lot less now and he seemed really happy. "Karma''s a bitch isn''t it."

    "No, it isn''t, that driver''s crazy that''s all and what the hell was he even looking at," said an angry Ned as he felt around his head and found something sticky.

    "He was very clearly looking at you, maybe he hoped to run over you, save you the trouble of dying y''know," said Connor smiling more widely until he lost a slight of it when he looked at Ned. "Jesus Christ, you''re bleeding¡­"

    "Yeah, figured that out myself," said Ned feeling around again and finding the same sticky patch and wincing as he rubbed his hand across it.

    "Y''know I was really happy about that but this kind of, slightly puts a damper on things," said Connor as he got closer to see the injury.

    "Well if I had a died, damper wouldn''t be the only thing that would be put on," said Ned gulping as he realized how close he was to being buried six-foot underground.

    "Gee, yeah, d''you think the best man suit I used at my brother''s wedding would work for the funeral?" asked Connor as he looked genuinely interested.

    "No, it would not work and I haven''t died yet Connor and I don''t think I''ll be dying before you," said Ned as he winced again after rubbing his wound slightly.

    "Yeah you''re right," said Connor and Ned looked surprised. "I don''t think that suit would fit me anymore, so it wouldn''t work."

    Scowling at this Ned looked around, "I think we should go somewhere to get this treated, the hospital maybe, but they''re going to call my sister and she ''d kill me, we could go to my house though but she''d kill me again, what about yours Connor?"

    "Well, that is a workable idea," nodded Connor. "Yeah, first I''d get killed and then after my uncle calls your sister, you''d be dead as well."

    "What do you wanna do, I mean it''s bleeding, seriously."

    "We could go to Tom''s¡­" said Connor thinking. "Yeah, it''d work, I mean he''d treat you all, these days all human beings I''d think possesses a first aid kit and if you feel faint or something we''d have him take you to the hospital and we could ask him not to mention this but if you wanna hide this the bandage on your head is a dead giveaway, y''know that right."

    "Yeah but by the time she finds out, it''d be around evening and I can make up a lie, maybe something that happened at school and anyhow, it sounds a lot better than running at a car then diving out the way and hitting your head."

    "Well yeah, I s''pose, then let''s go," said Connor. "It''s a just a couple of rounds from here right."

    Ned remembered the antiquary Tom ran, a decorated shop just a few streets across from the housing district, it was a place where anyone could sell anything useless, Tom accepted it all meaning he was either a nutjob or planning something brilliant, the boys liked to think he was a bit of both and he was an ancient history fanatic as well. The boy''s first met him a couple of years ago when he was trying to trap a cockroach out on the streets to the side of his house with a cardboard box, they helped of course and Ned ended up crushing it under his feet which he felt left Tom quite a bit upset and Connor later brilliantly speculated that the cockroach might actually have been Tom''s pet, which was still a feasible idea. Anyhow the boys became friends with him after they found out he was quite a strange man.

    "By the way d''you know who that was that just tried to run you over?" asked Connor frowning as they stopped at an intersection to let several vehicles pass.

    "No, I don''t," said Ned and as an afterthought he added. "Do you?"

    "Think so, I mean that car and that number plate, it should be Hailing, you know, that guy from Ebony Street," said Connor looking back Ned visibly paling. "It''s no wonder he didn''t stop y''know, if you hadn''t died, we''d be scraping you up off the pavement in bits of red."

    "Is he even old enough to drive, I thought he was around us and where''d he get that car from?"

    "He''s Jason Hailing, does it really matter?" asked Connor with a smirk and Ned shook his head appropriately.

    Ned''s world spun slightly as he was about to cross the road something which Connor picked up.

    "Is it the wound?" he asked and Ned stabilized himself by holding onto a nearby light post.

    "I feel really sick for some reason, is that normal?" asked Ned as he felt himself about to hurl on more than one occasion.

    "If that''s the case then it shouldn''t be the injury, it should be just shock," said Connor and he moved to support Ned.

    "Thanks," said Ned sighing as he felt himself to about hurl again.

    "It''s no problem but please don''t vomit cause if you do then I''ll do it as well, I''m a sympathetic vomiter and it''s not going to be good," said Connor just as Ned again battled to keep his food in.

    "We probably should go to a hospital, get this professionally checked out, I mean you were almost run over," said Connor again as he looked Ned visibly worsening.

    "No¡­don''t¡­she''ll kill me," muttered Ned as Connor dragged him along.

    "I understand this but Ned, if you faint or something then she''s bound to find out and we''ll both be in trouble but fine, guess I''ll get you to Tom''s hopefully he''ll be able to help and don''t faint ''cause I can''t carry you, you''re way too heavy man," said Connor, reddening slightly as he strained with the effort of lifting one half of Ned''s weight as he dragged his leg along. "It''s all that muscle you''ve put on, you gotta be like me cause I''m easily carriable see."

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "Connor¡­"

    "What?" asked Connor not looking back as he led himself along the footpath.

    "Can you shut up for a moment, you''re making me more nauseated."

    "Yeah I prolly should, sorry¡­"

    Connor turned a street and ended up at the edge of the housing district where the housing district met with the market district and it was where Grey Tom''s Antiquary was located, a most weird shop with bricks that took the shape of and color of polished wood. It had fancy grey and gold letters and was written in bold letters. It had two large windows to either side and a fancy looking but most likely cheap ornate double door with windows on them as well at the front. The windows were covered with blinds to be pulled up when the shop opened. On the door''s interior hung a close/open sign inside the blinds.

    "Hey they might be asleep inside don''t you think?" asked Connor dropping Ned unawares as he went to knock and Ned fell to the ground with a thud and groaned.

    Connor turned with an apologetic look, "I''m so sorry, I was just a little flustered, you are really heavy y''know."

    "Stop being an ass and help me," voiced out Ned in between groans.

    "I will but I''m bound to drop you again so just lie down there and let me knock, I''ll help you up after¡­" said Connor as he turned to knock again but then he turned back. "In case you need to vomit, there''s drain a few feet behind you, it''ll work¨C"

    "Just knock will you!" muttered Ned in a slightly loud voice which had him bend over.

    "Yeah got it¡­"

    Connor knocked on the door twice and waited. Ned too apprehensively stared at the door. Connor knocked again.

    "Tom, it''s me Connor and there''s Ned here as well, could you open the door," shouted Connor in a voice loud enough to be heard by those inside but not loud enough to become a nuisance.

    Just then they heard shuffling inside the Antiquary and the door to it opened. From in it a musty smell came and hit Connor.

    [Paragraph Break]

    "Yes, what is it?" asked the man and he looked really funny in his long gown and pyjama pants along with blindfold. His hair was messy and bits of it were grey.

    This was Tom and his face showed every sign of ageing with wrinkles and grey hair and he stood there not even taking the blindfold.

    "Tom, it''s us, Connor and Ned, can we just come in for a sec, ''cause we need help," said Connor and he could see Tom very clearly frowning.

    "Boys¡­" he started. "This is ridiculous, what are you doing up so late and what time is it, like midnight?"

    "Yeah Tom, it''s midnight¡­" said Connor and he pulled the blind off making him squint. "The moon just came down to Earth, that''s why it''s so bright see."

    "Oh¡­ oh god¨C ." Tom looked shocked as his squint unraveled. "What time is it¡­?"

    "It''s not time to open shop yet," said Connor handing the blindfold back to Tom. "But we need help."

    "Help?" Tom looked sharply at Connor who himself seemed a little pale. "Where''s Ned, you told me he was with you."

    "He is¡­" said Connor. "Just uh, step out for a sec yeah, he''s um lying down."

    "Lying down¡­?" Tom stepped out of his shop with curiosity and was shocked to see Ned sprawled on the ground at the sidewalk next to the drain with a clammy look and a cut forehead.

    "Oh my god, what happened." Tom rushed forward to help Ned of the floor. "We need to get him to a hospi¨C"

    Connor abruptly interrupted Tom cut in and said, "We were hoping you could patch him up see."

    It was just luck that Tom in his state of lightened surprise didn''t drop Ned again, "Me patch him up, you boys are crazy, I''m not a doctor while it is true that I studied to become one, I completely failed there¡­ we need a proper doctor, or hospital."

    "Wait, you wanted to become a doctor," Connor was surprised as well. "I need to hear more about this¨C."

    Just then cutting across Connor, Ned groaned out loud and like drum slamming into the silence they all preparedly jolted back to reality.

    "Tom¡­ it''s just a minor cut, it''s more from the shock, just patch up the cut will you, and I''m kind of thirsty," said Ned shakenly.

    "If it''s a minor cut, why''re you so shaken?" asked Tom rhetorically.

    "It could be brain damage, y''know I''ve heard of people getting brain damage from thing like this," said Connor either pretending or thinking deeply and it made Tom pale visibly.

    Ned sighed and groaned. "Connor, you''re not helping here and if it was that easy to suffer damage to the brain then I would''ve lost a few points of my IQ by now just from hanging around with you."

    "That was good, that was decent I mean, it wasn''t good but it was decent for a comeback," said Connor nodding his head and Tom shook his head in frustration and dragged Ned inside.

    Connor followed inside, into the darkened store room. Here the lightheaded Ned was greeted with a strong musty smell, somewhat combined with cats. The smell indeed seemed slightly overpowering and the antiques inside were all over the place, there was a counter to right strewn with little items obscuring the register books and the PC. They went to the corner of the store room and there was door, unseen perhaps at first sight but it was there nevertheless obscured by a several chairs sitting on top of a table upside down. On the way there Ned knocked into a chair which slid slight across the table.

    "Careful, it''s my livelihood, don''t mess with it," said Tom cautioning Ned and pulling him away.

    They went into this room only to be greeted by a row of books and a long table. Ned was lain there on the table.

    "This is just first aid, if I had first choice in this you''d be in a hospital by now and I''m still telling you we could go to the hospital, just to be safe but if we''re going to do this just relax and don''t puke," said Tom and he went to the side and moments later came back with glass of what appeared to be cold water.

    "Drink this and calm down a bit, it''s not just pure shock but your head was hit hard and you''re a bit shaken up." Tom turned around and went to the cabinet under the row of books and opened it up and out of it he got out a bandage and tape and along with it iodine and alcohol swabs.

    "Wow, you actually seem to know what you''re doing, I''m wondering why you didn''t actually finish your medical course?" Connor asked with care as he watched Tom gather a whole lot of equipment.

    "Because, you need to know more than just patching up cuts to pass a full medical course," Tom replied without haste as he placed all he had gathered next to the laid Ned.

    He then went over to fill a metal basin up with lukewarm water and placed that next to Ned as well and then he proceeded to clean the wound gently with the lukewarm water after which proceeded to dry it all the while Ned winced nonstop.

    "This might hurt a little bit more than that last one," said Tom as he took an alcohol swab out.

    "Oh ouch, yeah I''ve been on the receiving end of one of those before, they sting absolutely, wow just watching that is kind of hurting me." Connor got closer to look at the wound and he saw a gash and he thought he might''ve seen a bit of white. "Ok, is that bone cause if that is then I need a sink, no wait even if that isn''t I might vomit here."

    "Not right here you won''t, there''s the sink, it''s all yours to use." Tom progressively worked cleaning it with a swab and then spreading iodine on it after which he layered a bandage folded on top of it which was then sealed set with tape.

    "Oh, that hurts a little less now and I can see the world without swimming vision," said Ned getting up.

    "You are fine right, no other injuries, you''re not feeling any dulling pain in your head, maybe something else because if you are then we are going to the hospital right now," said Tom all the while packing away his stuff.

    "Yeah, thanks Tom, you''re a real lifesaver," said Ned standing as he felt the bandage over his wound.

    "He is too, we probably should get home, don''t wanna get lectured at before school and you buddy, how are you going to sneak in without your sister noticing and then get out without being seen by her as well?" asked Connor looking at Ned''s bandage and Ned seemed to turn a shade of blue when he thought about what his sister would say.

    "I should probably avoid getting yelled at, Connor help¡­please" said Ned imploringly, looking at him with huge eyes.

    "Well yeah, I would but I don''t wanna get caught in the crossfire between you and your sister," said Connor as he played with the knob of the tab at the sink.

    "There won''t be any crossfire, you''re helping right?" said Ned as he looked further imploringly at Connor.

    "That''s true as well, but, yeah fine, there''s nothing much to lose I guess but if you get caught you''re on your own, I don''t want to get lectured twice before going to school and don''t think for a second I''d stick up for you ''cause I''ll run," said Connor moving away from the sink with a thoughtful look clouding his face meanwhile Tom had decided to just ignore the two and leave the room.

    "Yeah, that''s fine too, so let''s go," said Ned.

    Connor too was about to follow him but stopped and held back Ned as well, "You''ll have to climb over the fence at the side and then jump onto the window latch so if you fall you''re on your own there as well ''cause I''ll be feeling absolutely no sympathy."

    "That''s cruel¡­but¡­fine as well I guess," said Ned and Connor nodded and he moved forward.

    "Let''s go the, come on," said Connor and overtook Ned.

    They made their way out of the room and into the store room where behind the counter reclined Tom.

    "Finally done with your plans are you?" asked Tom as he relaxed back.

    "Yeah, it''s done, thanks again Tom," said Ned and Connor nodded his thanks as well.

    "Sure, just drop by anytime but not when you''re injured, seriously this is a onetime thing," said Tom to which Ned nodded.

    They both got out Grey Tom''s Antiquary to make their way back to Ned''s house, just before the center of the housing district.

    "Good to see you don''t have brain damage Ned," said Connor. "Though I was wondering what more damage could be done to that brain of yours, seriously taking off at full throttle downhill."

    "It''s something I wanted to do, I survived didn''t I?" asked Ned. "What''s the matter?"

    "Oh, let''s think here Ned, the fact that you were nearly dead, does that matter, or maybe the fact that you hit your head so hard that you were swooning, or maybe the fact that you felt very nauseous for a couple of minutes, you need to think before you do these things, honestly I feel like I''m compensating for both our brains."

    "Oh see, that''s why my head feels lighter, you have my brain with you," said Ned jokingly and Connor scowled.

    "See that''s not funny, it might be funny when I say it but you''re not the funny type and you need to get slightly better come backs, come on man, there were at least three different things you could''ve said there that would''ve been more of a comeback than what you said just now," said Connor shaking his head.

    "Jeez, I''m sorry man, didn''t know you felt it that much," said Ned.

    "Well from the look of things currently Ned, you felt it much more than I did, so I''m pretty fine with the end results," said Connor laughing and Ned scowled this time as they walked back to their houses.

 (Blastboarders Arc) Chapter 2: Bright Lights

    Chapter 2: Bright Lights

    A killer glare from the sun had struck all the houses in the housing district and it almost felt like the morning was getting hotter, almost comparable to the noon of a day. It was almost like the middle of summer again right at dawn. Only a couple hours of ago was it cold but now the exceedingly sweaty Ned and Connor with his shirt off staggered their way back to Ned''s house.

    "Jesus Christ, what''s happening¡­ an hour ago it was cold as hell and now it''s burning like fire," said Connor. "I can''t tolerate this weather pattern, I just can''t, it feels like my skin is burning and then peeling, I feel like I''m being steamed in a cooker or something."

    "I agree with you, this is hot and my cut stings," said Ned shutting his eyes tightly for a second whilst continuing to follow the staggering Connor.

    "Y''know what they should do to this, island, they should make like an island wide air con system and then everything would be fine, I mean they created an artificial island and all, is it so hard to create an air con, it''s annoying that they can''t think of something so simple," said Connor while spinning his shirt for perhaps a wisp of cold air.

    It appeared that they weren''t the only people to feel like this as very few people were out of their houses, they were no doubt inside blasting their air conditioners at the lowest possible Celsius.

    At long last finally Ned''s house was in sight.

    "Should we just enter through the front, in this dire heat I''d be surprised if your sister notices you, let alone your cut and please let''s just show up at school late today, better yet actually let''s not turn up at all, let''s sit in your house and blast all air cons in there at the lowest temp, this heatwave''s killing me and I''ve never even heard of a heatwave just suddenly making an appearance," said Connor as he struggled to Ned''s front gates and leaned against it and the scalding heat made him struggle to keep himself from falling down.

    "Don''t think that would be an option, though it''d be great if it was but seriously, d''you think I should just go in front door or what?" asked Ned looking slightly nervous and excellently drenched.

    "Look at the heat, your fence is made of metal to climb, in this heat and a metal fence, you''d be lucky if a third degree burn is all you get, seriously I feel the searing heat even now passing through my clothes, its literally burning me but I can''t stay up if I don''t lean like this so still just staying, for god''s sake man, just go in through the front," said Connor sighing as he leaned further back against the gates and positioned his body so he didn''t receive as much heat.

    "Fine, yeah sure, why not," said Ned slightly agitated. "No problem, I got to face this like a man."

    "That''ll be the day," snorted Connor looking and Ned gives him a blistering look which he does not notice.

    Ned pushes the gates and Connor gives a short cry before collapsing on his back and he snickers at the upturned Connor staring directly up at the sun.

    "You¡­complete and utter ass, I''m literally burning my back off now and my face, seriously why can''t the sun just give us the light and stuff up the heat or something, I give up, just help me up here man," said Connor raising his hand whilst using his other to shield his face.

    "You deserved that one," said Ned as he brought his arm forth and grasped Connor''s arm and raised him up.

    Connor stood up and Ned went over to door and pushed it open to feel a wave of cold which instantly calmed him down.

    [Paragraph Break]

    "Oh my god, I''m in heaven, I''m in literal heaven," said Connor spreading his arms out wide as he pushed Ned in. "Seriously, there''s no need for even angels, this cold is fine."

    Saying this he entered and closed the door then slumped against it giving a satisfied look.

    "I can die happy, knowing that I felt this way," said Connor as he closes his eyes and enjoys the atmosphere.

    Ned''s house itself wasn''t that big, it looked normal enough at least but interiors were all new but then again having it built several months ago, nothing less was expected.

    "Yeah that feels good," said Ned feeling extremely comfortable until he heard footsteps coming down from upstairs.

    "Ned, is that you?" called out a voice that came down the stairs.

    His sister arrived at the landing of the stairs and looked at both of them and Ned had his back turned to them. His sister looked around the same as him but with more delicate features where as his was all sharp. Her hair was let loose and she wore her work suit.

    "Ye¨Cyeah it''s me sis," stuttered Ned as he wondered what would happen if she saw the bandage on his head.

    "I''m here too Ned''s sis," said Connor from the floor.

    "What are you doing here, Connor and don''t tell me you of all people were jogging as well, because jogging itself is hard enough for you but with this heat?" Kathleen voiced out her disbelief.

    "Yeah, the heatwave pretty much killed me, I''ve done enough jogging to last me several years now actually," said Connor and he added on as an afterthought. "How are you Ned''s sis?"

    "I''m fine Connor but have you ever thought of changing the way address me, Ned''s sis is not very comforting," said Kathleen as she fumbled further with her tie.

    "Right Ned, am a little busy now, breakfast is on the table, and get to school on time, I''ll see you," said Kathleen appearing behind Ned and turning him around, she kissed him on the cheek and moved back when she noticed his bandage.

    "That''s a new addition," she said frowning and Ned felt his heart sink as he looked Connor.

    Connor took a little longer to discover the cue and he stood and bounded across and in a few steps he was next to Ned.

    "It''s just a light scratch sis, not even hurting very much," said Ned smiling awkwardly as he lied straight out.

    "Really, a light scratch, I can see the blood showing through the bandage¡­" started Kathleen and she seemed slightly upset.

    "Let me reinterpret it for you Ned''s sis," said Connor sighing and also slightly shaking for some reason and Ned felt strange. "What he means by light is hard and by scratch he means a gash, in other words he hit his head very hard against a brick wall and he''s right, it didn''t hurt much, how could it when he was nearly fainting."

    "Oh my god," gasped Kathleen and she looked horrified. "Are you alright, tell me exactly what happened."

    "It was a car¨C, "started Ned but stopped when Kathleen gasped. "Don''t worry it didn''t hit me, I dived out of the way and happened to hit my head, it''s all fine now and Connor snorted to the side.

    "Yeah obviously, if it had hit you, she''d be seeing you under very different circumstances Ned," said Connor interrupting.

    "Shut up for a moment will you¡­" said Ned giving Connor the evil eye and he raised his hands and backed off.

    "I thought you were going jogging, not car dodging," said Kathleen raising her voice slightly.

    "Look Ned''s sis, you have every right to be angry with him, I mean he was acting a little stupid," said Connor in an understanding way. "I mean not a little stupid but so completely stupid, I mean who the hell runs at the full speed down a hill anyway¡­"

    Connor just then noticed the slightly horrified look Kathleen was giving Ned and the completely horrifying look that Ned was giving so he changed tact.

    "Look, the point is, nothing too bad happened and it wasn''t his fault anyhow, the car just came at full speed and it was Jason Hailing, so we can''t completely blame the car either."

    "You mean that boy, from Ebony Street?" asked Kathleen frowning and Ned nodded.

    "Yeah, he just came at me fast and was about to run me over, the guy is completely crazy."

    "It''s fine now right?" asked Kathleen concerned as she went to touch the wound and Ned dodged back.

    "Yeah totally fine, there''s no problem, I''m feeling picture perfect, not a problem at all," said Ned displaying a charming false smile.

    Connor snorted and said under his breath. "Aside from nearly fainting there''s nothing wrong at all."

    This earned him a kick in the back of the leg from Ned which had him wince and Ned looked at him precariously which forced him to put in a false smile as well. Kathleen frowned again looking at Ned''s bandaged head.

    "Ned''s sis, you''ve gotta be going now, don''t you, you''ll be late for work otherwise," said Connor pointing at the clock.

    At this point Ned''s sister too looked at the clock at which point afterwards she shrieked.

    "Oh god, Ned, Connor, both you boys get yourself to school on time and behave, I''ll see you later," said Kathleen as she rushed for her handbag on the couch and ran to car porch in her high heels.

    "Thanks man, you really helped," said Ned. "You were going on all about keeping it a secret, funny how you changed tact."

    "I don''t know where you were looking when she came in, but I saw her and she gave me the evil eye, there was nothing I could do, she would''ve skinned me alive," said Connor shivering as he thought back to that moment when unknown to Ned she looked downright scary straight at Connor. "I felt like my soul just left on a leave."

    "I did not see that," said Ned looking at him shocked. "When the hell did this happen, holy shit man, I am so sorry."

    "I as you friend am expected to do at least this much," said Connor shaking head. "But my legs are still shaking."

    Ned looked down at Connor''s legs and funnily and scarily enough he could actually see it, the slight shiver running up Connor''s legs and feeling this he himself felt a chill run down his back. He had not seen that terrifying evil eye, he didn''t know what was more frightening, the fact that she did it so hidden and silently or the fact that a look of hers could scare the living daylights out of his friend. He shook his head clearing it off unnecessary thoughts.

    "You gonna get home or what, need to change for school man, oh and don''t forget breakfast," said Ned looking down at Connor on his couch.

    "Hmmm, I just feel like lying here and passing out," said Connor smiling blissfully.

    "Really, should I tell your uncle that?" asked Ned at which point Connor sat up abruptly and his smile faded.

    "No¡­oh shit no," said Connor gasping as he got off the couch and ran for the door. "Ned, buy me a six-foot casket and a nice gravesite, and respect my dead body, I''m thinking a white tux, I am so dead."

    [Paragraph Break]

    Connor rushed away after saying that leaving Ned to shake his head stupidly. Anyhow Ned went upstairs and stood in an absolute cold shower for around five minutes after which he grabbed the uniform for school from his cupboard and made his way back to the bathroom. Hailing Isle Public School''s uniform consisted off a blue blazer with red that ran across its collar and down with school emblem and slogan on the pocket on the left, this went along with a red tie with blue stripes, the shirt itself was white with again the school emblem and slogan on the pocket on the left. The pants itself was grey-black and you were supposed to wear black shoes. In the previous schools Ned went to no uniform was necessary, just free dress but now in this one, Ned found the uniform extremely constricting and also the fact that right now a heatwave was occurring outside. Ned looked through his window outside and as he did so he saw something strange happening almost like the sun outside was getting brighter. The heat then permeated inside the house and he felt it, it was completely negating the air conditioner''s effects, and it got hotter. The sun turned brighter further and it was almost like it was going to explode and the heat was becoming near unbearable. It was almost like Ned was standing inside a steaming volcano, his skin was tingling and burning.

    "What in the name?" gasped Ned as he showed visible discomfort and started sweating in drops again. "What the hell''s happening."

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.He dropped the school uniform he was going to change into as he felt to his knees. Even his insides were burning up now, it was like he was being boiled.

    "Ahhh, god, I''m gonna die," Ned gasped out as he clawed at his chest.

    He looked up at the sun and the light filled the entire sky, it was too bright to even look at and at that point he had a feeling of combusting as the heat became unbearable and he fell to his side and closed his eyes. Ned speared in space of vast darkness now, he was most surely dead, the heat from the sun had combusted him into flames and even now his body was most likely burning up. It was only for a moment that he saw the darkness until something pulled on him, the very suction force of it was powerful, like he was something small that it was sucking in. Finally, after catapulting through the darkness it was like he was brought back to where he belongs and he opened his eyes gasping and saw a white ceiling.

    "Heaven¡­?" he queried but then he sighted Hailing Isle Public School''s uniform next to him, surely no heaven would have H.I.P.S''s school uniform.

    "What the hell happened?" he asked to himself again as he got up and looked out at the sun, it was fine now, it had dimmed and there was no abysmally scalding heat anymore.

    "A dream maybe," said Ned, either that or the knock on the head had made him go mad and he was inclined to believe his first option. "Yeah, it should be that, but it was more like a nightmare, combusting into flames isn''t the most pleasant death."

    He shivered again as he thought about how he had felt the heat, the unbearably scalding heat, he couldn''t even breathe properly. He picked up the uniform and looked at the time and it showed 8:20 AM and he frowned scratching his head. He had looked at the time and it was 7:55 AM last time he had checked and that after coming out of the shower, it felt like time had skipped forwards without him. It was like he had lost around twenty-five minutes, surely he could not have taken that long searching for his school uniform, yet that was the only possible explanation unless he actually went and passed out for around near twenty-five minutes, a terrifying thought. He shook his head as he looked at the time again, 8:20 and his heart skipped a beat¡­school. He was going to be late for school and hadn''t even ate breakfast yet.

    "Oh my god, I''m so screwed," he shouted as he rushed to the bathroom with his uniform and hurriedly threw them on and then went down for breakfast.

    He found a rather large bacon muffin and milk waiting for him. He gulped down the milk and grabbed the bacon muffin and it brought a tear to his eyes. He couldn''t even enjoy the bacon muffin. He went upstairs and threw several books into a bag and took the money his sister kept near his lamp and rushed down wolfing his bacon muffin along the way.

    "Dammit, this day has been screwy with me since the moment I woke up," as he came down the stairs he slipped on third last step with a bag full of books on his back and he fell forwards.

    His eyes widened as he crashed into the stairs and expected the pain but nothing came, he felt as fine as before. Either he didn''t fall as hard or he was strangely more durable than before but then he looked at his muffin laying on the carpet next to him and he shut his eyes in agony.

    "No¡­no¡­no." He wept for it like a dead relative, it was his breakfast, he couldn''t enjoy it and now he couldn''t even eat it.

    "My day just keeps getting worse," muttered Ned as he got up with his bag and picked up the muffin and nibbled on the ends of it, maybe of the carpet was clean he could eat it without bothering but it had been two weeks since the carpet had even been cleaned, it was a loss for him.

    He then looked at the time again and it kept skipping ahead without him. He bit back several curse words and chucked his muffin in the bin and then put on his shoes and wandered outside expecting the abysmal heat but what he was met with the relatively warm almost cool temperature he was accustomed to during this season.

    "Well, surprise, surprise, something is going my way at least," said Ned as thought back to his bacon muffin and he forced down a groan.

    He with terrible mood made his way to Connor''s house grumbling along with way which did gather some attention on to himself. The streets were slightly livelier now and he frowned again, thinking he''d missed something. He had at first thought it was a dream, that point in his house when he combusted but now that he looked around the street he couldn''t be too sure. It felt like he really had passed out for some time there. He felt his head again where the bandage still stayed and hoped it had nothing to do with that. He gripped the strap on his bag and sighed, there were too many things to process and sort out, things that happened just this morning, this had perhaps been his most eventful morning since coming to this island. He walked over to the James'' Household where a car came out of the car porch.

    [Paragraph break]

    He moved out of the way as Connor''s uncle stopped the car right next to Ned and rolled his window down.

    "What happened there?" he asked looking at Ned''s bandaged head.

    "Nothing too big Mr. James, just a slight scratch, how''re you doing by the way?" asked Ned feeling his bandage again as he smiled awkwardly.

    "Yeah, well did anything strange happen to Connor while he was out?" asked Mr. James frowning and Ned was slightly taken aback.

    "I don''t think so, at least not anything I know," said Ned. "Is he fine."

    "Asides from his usual he appeared to be fine when he came back but then it''s like he''s turned stranger, he keeps going on about everything going so slow and something else about time, I have no idea what''s running through that boy''s mind, I have no idea whether there is anything running through his mind at all," said Mr. James sighing as he pulled up his window. "Just talk to him alright, I have no idea what''s going on, I need to go now."

    "Alright, see you Mr. James," said Ned nodding and the car pulled out of the drive way and went on its merry way.

    Connor being strange wasn''t anything strange to him, he was usually hyperactive, abysmally talkative and stupidly annoying but for some reason he felt apprehensive, the dream or rather hallucination he had still stayed stuck on the back of his mind as he went up to the door and knocked. It took maybe three second before Connor opened the door out wide and he was panting heavily.

    "Oh god, Ned, thank god you''re here," gasped Connor. "I thought I was going crazy, absolutely crazy."

    "What are you talking about?" asked Ned frowning as he was thrust straight into a conversation which he had no idea of how to respond with Connor.

    "I saw everything Ned, it was all slowing down, everything slowing down, there''s no explanation for this other than I''m going crazy, or maybe it was hallucination?" said Connor taking a step back and frowning.

    "What, what are you talking about?" asked Ned. "What slowing down, what hallucination, just take it from the start and can you please explain."

    "Yes, yeah I can, it was absolutely crazy, I came home and then after I showered when I came out, there was nothing too remotely strange until I noticed these couple outside, like they were walking so slow, like so slow, y''know a slow motion effect in movies, well it was slower than that they were even smiling so slow and so I yelled out what they were doing but it was like they hadn''t even heard me but it was fine y''know I s''pose I interrupted their romantic walk or something so they ignored but then I saw the birds outside in the sky¡­" Connor breathing in deeply as he placed a hand on his head and Ned looked disbelievingly at him. "Yeah it was the birds, they were driving me crazy as well, it was like everything had turned slow motion, even the birds were flying so slow, like literally if I could fly I could just get up there and pluck it out of thin air and I had no idea what I could do, I rushed downstairs and even my uncle who was tying his tie at the time was just doing it like one step at a time, I shouted at him though and he couldn''t hear me at all at which point I just went absolutely crazy and the last thing I remember after that was me screaming I guess and then I just passed out."

    "Connor¡­" started Ned frowning. "You''re sure you''re alright, right, no mental problems¡­cause what you just said to me wasn''t just ridiculous but absolutely and insanely insane."

    "Yeah, I know, it was insane, it was exactly how I was feeling, it was like everyone was so stupidly slow, like they had all the time in the world or something," said Connor stepping back again as he clutched his hair and pulled slightly.

    It was an absolutely ludicrous of a story but then what happened to him came forth in his mind.

    "This¡­uh thing you felt, it seemed like a hallucination of a sort did it?" asked Ned and Connor nodded.

    "I don''t know I''d call anything of that caliber a hallucination of sorts but yeah that''d be the only explanation, I mean there''s another one and that''d be that I was mad but that''d have me locked up the funhouse and I do not want that to happen," said Connor.

    "Well Connor, if it was hallucination then I''ve had one of my own¡­" said Ned looking carefully at Connor as his expression changed from anxiousness to disbelief.

    "Are you serious now, what you''ve had everything slow down as well?" asked Connor but Ned shook his head.

    "Mine was slightly different, I just felt the brightness and intensity of the sun increase and then I literally combusted into flames and I died," said Ned explaining it in very simple terms.

    "Oh¡­oh wow, yeah that''s completely different from mine, wow how was it though getting burned up?" asked Connor walking around Ned looking, no doubt for burns.

    "It hurt, it just hurt like hell and then I passed out like you did," said Ned.

    "Is this like the start of some sort of disease or something, I mean I don''t feel any negative effects on my body apart from a lot of frustration and anxiousness," said Connor walking back and sitting on the arm rest of his couch.

    "Wait, a disease, no, that can''t be right, I mean what could we have from hallucinations, I was just thinking it was me and something momentary that happened possibly as side effect of hitting my head," said Ned and Connor nodded then he turned to look at the clock.

    Ned watched Connor''s eyes widen in shock and he looked at the clock himself and his eyes too widened in absolute horror, the time displayed now was 8:40 AM.

    "Ned, we are so screwed, so damn screwed," said Connor getting up and diving over the couch for his bag.

    "Can we make it?" asked Ned as Connor got up with his bag.

    "Think positive, we have to make it or it''s not gonna be good," said Connor slinging his bag over his shoulder fast as he rushed for the door and Ned followed him.

    "Oh and by the way Ned I do think we''re gonna be screwed, just in case I hadn''t made my side too clear," said Connor and Ned took a deep breath in.

    The morning had been made very bad for him and if this happened like Connor said then it would just go from a bad morning to a bad day.

    "I wouldn''t worry, I think I can make it Connor, can''t say the same about you though can I, that''s my side on this by the way," said Ned as he overtook Connor making him scowl.

    "Traitor."

    "Speed up," said Ned.

    With the time now 8:40 AM school was the first priority on their mind and the weird hallucination they both experienced were put away safely tucked away in a deep recess of their minds. They ran towards school hoping they would not be late and the gates would not have already shut.

 (Blastboarders Arc) Chapter 3: Bright Eyes

    Chapter 3: Bright Eyes

    There was bad news and good news when they arrived at the gates to their school Hailing Isle Public School. The bad news was that the gates were locked, they had arrived at 9:00 AM and the gates locked at 8:50 AM. It was a mandate policy at H.I.P.S and they were stuck outside the gates. H.I.P.S had many such policies and though it was a public school, it was pretty extravagantly built, with a green grass lawn, mowed every evening and two fountains on each lawn with a way at the center that led from the gates straight to an arch. Past the arch was a large tree on the interior lawn and the building surrounded, around it were benches and past this there were many more blocks. H.I.P.S was a school known for its innovativeness and tough standards and it prided itself on it all. It was as expected though of all students to adhere to these standards or they would be expelled. Ned and Connor came late by ten minutes, the standards of H.I.P.S had not been adhered to. It didn''t matter that they could never make it from their houses to the school in ten minutes they were thoroughly screwed. They could get in at early break when the teachers came to open the gates again and then they had to visit the principal and get their punishment. They were looking pretty depressed when the good news suddenly appeared. It was the sound of wheels at first but suddenly around the corner of the road came a group of people that could only be described in one word ''cool''. Their style of even wearing a normal school uniform was astounding and they all road skateboards. They were called the Blastboarders, mainly due to the fact they rode skateboards and due to the fact they were a mini wrecking group, riding around town, spray painting over walls, both public and private property, shop lifting and in some rare instances, destroying or vandalizing both private and public property and by destroying the common definition to them was either taking a crowbar or a baseball bat to it. They called themselves the Blastboarders, a somewhat strange name by all means but it pretty much fit their description.

    "Holy hell, I''ve heard they rode skateboards, but I didn''t know every single one of them rode skateboards," said Connor and Ned too turned around to focus their attention.

    "They''re late like us, wonder what''s going to happen," said Ned as he looked at them riding to the gates.

    At the gates they stopped and Ned and Connor moved out of the way. One of them, a tall lanky boarder that neither Ned nor Connor recognized despite going to the same school slid of his board and propelled up into the air which caught in an amazing fashion.

    "Wow, these guys are amazing," said Connor looking at every single one of them especially the tall lanky dude. "Don''t even know him but he''s the most amazing."

    "Admittedly they are but what are they going to do, if they rode all the way here and then stopped, that''d be a little um¡­how to put it fruitless maybe," said Ned.

    "I think the better word would be anticlimactic here Ned," whispered Connor over as they noticed some of them looking at him.

    The tall lanky dude frowned for a second then used the end of his board and smashed the lock and Ned and Connor''s eyes widened in surprise.

    "Erickson, come over here and push the gates," said the tall lanky dude and a buff and even taller dude with blonde hair came over to help, they both of course realized who it was, Kevin Erickson, a sports buff, and excellent at what he does.

    "Ned, he''s so on steroids, there''s no way anyone can end up even remotely looking like a bloody incredible hulk without steroids," muttered Connor examining Kevin as he pushed forth with hid board tucked under one arm.

    Kevin got to the gates and grasped them and then pushed and again the tall lanky dude smashed his board against, this time taut lock and Ned saw it visibly splinter.

    "They''re so rebel, aren''t they," whispered over Connor whilst Ned still watched the show.

    "Don''t think it''s going to be good for them despite their uh ''rebelness''," said Ned and after another smash the lock fell apart.

    "This reminds me Ned, we''ll bring a saw next time and next time we''re locked out we''ll saw through the lock, but smashing is admittedly more rebelling," said Connor nodding that he was impressed.

    "There''s not going to be a next time Connor, cause from now on we''re not going to be late," muttered Ned as the Kevin pushed open the gates.

    The Blastboarders gang strode on inside and without further ado Ned and Connor decided to follow them though for safety reason after inside the school they decided to take a very, very different route from the Blastboarders gang and as they strode away from the gang, one boy Kevin looked directly at Ned and Ned stared back and he thought for a moment he saw something happening to Kevin''s eyes like it turned bright blue for a second and he also saw Kevin''s hairs stand on end as if jolted, fairly strange as it was he had seen stranger and explained it off as nothing more than his eyes over perceiving things.

    [Paragraph Break]

    "Which class do we have first?" asked Ned stopping at a water fountain and Connor stopped as well, remembering back their time table.

    "It can''t be chemistry, ''cause we have that last, and maths isn''t on today kind of thankful for that, then there''s modern history, that''d be around third period, I''d reckon a double period of English maybe, just a guess," said Connor and Ned too nodded, he had done the same process of elimination.

    "It''s that substitute teacher right, he''ll let us in," said Ned. "Let''s go."

    They ran around the block to the stairs and raced up.

    "The lessons shouldn''t have started, maybe a roll call though¡­" murmured Connor as Ned took up a foot above him.

    They reached their classroom, a double doored large classroom with ornate door frames, indeed every classroom was similar to this in the Literature Block, the classrooms design itself bended to the theme of the subject it was being used for. The Science Block had a futuristically technical design and the Maths Block, there was no other way to put it, it was just plain boring. There were other blocks of course as well, similarly they adhered to the theme of the subject that the classroom was being used for.

    Ned reached the classroom a couple of seconds earlier than Connor and he went to knock, as he did so he felt a strange burning sensation much like how it started when he combusted into hallucinatory flames. He felt something hot around the tip of the spine, just below his neck. It was feeling like it was getting warmer and at first it felt slightly good but it got hotter all of sudden that he winced and the hand he raised to knock the double door stayed paused. Connor caught up to him and sighted his friend being stuck in a motion and he thought back to what had happened at his house and suddenly got anxious.

    "Ned¡­" whispered Connor hoping he would answer or at least have some reaction.

    Ned heard the call and he moved around and Connor breathed in a sigh of relief. The heat Ned felt at the connecting point between the spine and the neck made him shudder.

    "Is there something wrong?" asked Connor frowning as he clearly caught all of his friend''s actions.

    "It should be nothing man, I just felt unwell for a moment, can you knock?" asked Ned and he moved back.

    Connor moved forth to knock and Ned reached around and felt back of his neck, he felt nothing strange, the heat though still stayed there, it was this time that relaxing heat he felt. Connor knocked twice on the door and waited. He heard footsteps across in the classroom and went to knock again but he didn''t need to because the double door budged and with a scraping sound it pulled open to reveal a class inside laid out in what appeared to be a very unique setting, where the tables all connected to form a large table for each row and they sat on benches with back rests, all the tables were made from wood and at the front was the traditional blackboard, of course above it if you noticed clearly you''d see the projector hangings and up on the ceiling was the projector. The front also contained a teacher''s desk and the class room was rather large with fancy arch windows that let lots of light in, there was no need to turn on any lights. To the side behind the teacher''s desk was three bookshelves stacked to the brim with books.

    "Hi, Mr. Trevor, sorry we were a little late, you don''t mind letting us into the class do you?" asked Connor putting on a winning smile.

    Mr. Trevor seemed to consider it for a second then sighed and moved to side to let Connor through. Ned was still there though he was in a daze of sorts from the heat and when Connor felt Ned wasn''t following through with him he turned.

    "Ned¡­get in here, now," he hissed as he moved forth to drag Ned in.

    "Mr. Caesar, do please stop daydreaming and come in, I''ll mark you off the roll just this once but don''t expect me to do this a second time," said Mr. Trevor. "Though I am a substitute teacher I have been made aware of the standards at this school."

    Ned snapped out of his daze as he was dragged in by Connor and everyone in the classroom was looking at them.

    "Right sir, I''m sorry," said Ned apologizing and he went to the back bench and sat down next to Connor.

    Mr. Trevor nodded and went to the front again. Ned placed his bag on the floor next to him and got out his English related books and placed them on the table.

    "Wow, look at her, sitting in class without a though in her mind, it''s like she''s the queen or something," said Connor nodding at a girl near the front center and Ned immediately recognized who it was, Alexia Hailing.

    She was quite good looking, graceful and all but the fact that made her interesting was that she was Jason Hailing''s sister. The very Hailing that tried to run him over this morning.

    "She''s got the right you know," said Ned as placed his hands on top of his books and leaned forward. "Her mother owns this island."

    "Yeah, what I don''t get though is that how that Jason guy and she can be brother and sister, they contrast each other so well that I''d reckon her mother had an affair or something," said Connor kind of venomously.

    "Well, it''s common to hate people in power, you know that right," said Ned.

    "It''s common to hate hateful people in power," said Connor nodding towards Alexia as he thought back to Jason.

    "Let''s not go there alright, she didn''t have anything to do with nearly running me over and I seem to recall at one point you having a desperate crush on her," said Ned smiling lightly.

    "That one point would be the important word Ned, at one point¡­ seriously though she''s so cold towards everyone, I don''t get how she can even have any friends."

    When Mr. Trevor turned around though they immediately stopped their conversation. The double period of English lessons went without a hitch yet the thing that still worried Ned was the still warm to hot feeling he had in his back. He slept through the latter half of the second period, considering what was going on was pretty monotonous. Mr. Trevor just stood up in front of the class speaking and writing on the board and soon it was time for the small break and they left the classroom. When Ned got up to leave the constant heat he felt on his back suddenly flared up scalding him, it felt like something was drilling into that point there and he stumbled and gasped. Connor turned to look at him and he seemed concerned.

    "Ned, seriously are you sure, you''re alright, you''ve been acting strange since you came here," said Connor grabbing a hold of Ned, to stop him from shivering.

    "It''s burning, I feel like there''s something drilling right below my neck, if anything its painful," said Ned as he felt cold sweat run down his forehead.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation."Seriously, maybe we should get it checked out or something," said Connor as he looked at the area to which Ned spoke about.

    "No, there''s nothing there, I felt it, I''m only feeling it and I don''t know what''s wrong," said Ned. "I don''t know if I''m hallucinating or not but it really hurts."

    "Ned, sit down, now, you''re sweating bad and you''re shivering like really really badly," said Connor forcing Ned down. "Just calm down and we''ll go maybe to the nurse''s."

    "No, no nurse''s, I don''t want to go there, seriously there''s nothing wrong, I think I''m just feeling it," said Ned but the pain flared up again and Ned fell forward on to the desk and he slammed his hands down to support himself.

    He looked up at Connor making him gasp aloud.

    "That''s freaky," said Connor looking straight at Ned leaving him confused but Connor continued. "Stop doing that¡­"

    "What are you talking about?" asked Ned as the pain went down slightly and he raised his head to a level.

    "The eyes Ned, it''s the eyes, they''re turning gold," said Connor.

    "What''re you talking about, I thought I was going crazy but you seem pretty up there yourself."

    "Oh for god''s sake Ned," said Connor and he pulled out his phone and switched it onto camera and then pointed it directly at Ned.

    What he saw in the camera was exactly as Connor described, his eyes or rather the irises had turned gold, like shiny gold.

    "What the hell?" Ned exclaimed in fright. "What''s happening?"

    "I don''t know Ned, seriously," said Connor his disbelief layered with anxiousness and fright. "It''s turned back now."

    Ned grabbed the camera and pointed it at himself and he saw it, they were now his normal irises but then the pain flared up again and he saw it once more, those shiny gold irises, they were frightening and they looked cold, not at all like his usual ones. Ned shook his head as he looked again and they were still gold.

    "What the hell am I going to do?" asked Ned in panic. "Connor, I can''t go around with gold irises, that''s abnormal to downright crazy."

    "You can''t so don''t get out of the class," said Connor. "Just wait, they turned back once so they should turn back again."

    "That''s not the point Connor, what if they turn back, they can easily turn again into gold, what in the hell is even happening," said Ned as he placed his head down on the desk.

    [Paragraph Break]

    By then most people had already left and the only people left were two kids and Mr. Trevor.

    "I just need to ask Ned, did you eat something like magic mushrooms or something, ''cause there''s no other way other contact lenses to turn a person''s eyes gold like yours, it''s crazy," whispered Connor as he saw Mr. Trevor looking.

    Just then the two students that were asking him questions too made their way out of the classroom via the side door and Mr. Trevor glanced at them and then stacked his books and slowly he came over. Ned was about to lift his head when Connor slammed it back down onto the table.

    "Keep your head down dammit, we don''t know whether they''ve turned back or not," said Connor.

    Ned groaned from beneath, "It''s not that, it''s my eyes they feel like they''re burning up as well, it feels like they''re about to pop out of their sockets."

    "Ned, just keep your head down and grit through it," said Connor smiling awkwardly to Mr. Trevor.

    "Boys, everything is fine I gather?" he asked doubtfully as he looked at Ned.

    "Oh, yeah everything''s fine Mr. Trevor," said Connor. "Just that Ned''s feeling a little sick."

    "Oh dear, does he need to go to the sick bay?" asked Mr. Trevor concern layering his voice.

    "No, no that''s not necessary, he should feel fine in a moment, you see he nearly got run over by a car this morning, it should be just after shock or something along those line," said Connor and he muttered under his breath. "If after shock even exists."

    "Ned, do you need to go to the sick bay?" asked Mr. Trevor this time to Ned directly.

    Ned didn''t answer back immediately and it required a light stomp from Connor onto Ned''s foot for him to groan again.

    "No, it''s fine Mr. Trevor, I should be fine in a couple of minutes, just need to stay here, sorry," said Ned and he groaned off again.

    "Oh that''s quite alright then, please lock the door when you exit," said Mr. Trevor lightly smiling. "I do hope you get better soon, well then I''ll see you next lesson."

    "See you too Mr. Trevor," replied Connor and left Ned to reply with two short groans.

    As soon as Mr. Trevor left Connor got up and turned with Ned looking up at him half-heartedly after which he put his head down. This time when Ned looked up his golden eyes had vanished.

    "Take of your shirt," said Connor and startled he looked up again, this time with slightly more vigor.

    "Why?" he asked.

    "Because, I need to see this, you''re eyes are turning gold and you say you''re in so much pain, I can''t make heads or tails of this situation," said Connor. "Take of your shirt."

    "What¡­no, I''m not going to do that."

    "Dude, Ned, just do it, there''s no one here, apart from me."

    "It''s a classroom, and it''s not even locked, forget about it," said Ned sitting up straight.

    "The classroom''s empty, so take of your shirt," said Connor. "I gotta see this."

    "No!" said Ned putting his foot down.

    "Why¡­you got something on your body, don''t tell me it''s an illegal tattoo or someth¨C"

    "It''s not an illegal tattoo alright, there''s nothing wrong with my body," said Ned sighing.

    "Apart from being in constant pain, yeah there''s nothing wrong with it," said Connor as he moved forward to force Ned if necessary. "Just do it, it''s just us and it''s just taking off your damn shirt Ned, now do it."

    "Why¡­ I already told you, I felt nothing around there when I touched it," said Ned shaking his head.

    "Fine, don''t take it off, just loosen it slightly so I can see below your neck," said Connor trying for compromise.

    Ned took a deep breath in closing his eyes, the pain had slowly numbed down.

    "Fine, I''ll do it," said Ned and he stood and loosened his tie then unbuttoned the first two buttons on his shirt and pulled his shirt back.

    Connor moved to Ned''s back and looked and whatever he had found there had him startled, Ned heard the audible gasp.

    "What is, is it like burned?" asked Ned preparing possibly for the worst. "Is it bleeding or something."

    "Dude, it''s not bleeding but when did you get this tattoo, is it fake?" asked Connor as he touched it. "It feels pretty real."

    "What tattoo, are you talking about," said Ned through gritted teeth as his patience ebbed away. "I''ve got no tattoos on my body."

    "Yeah well, either this is a tattoo or I''m hallucinating which is a definite possibility," said Connor as he took out his phone again.

    Ned heard Connor switching it into camera and then took a few snaps.

    [Paragraph Break]

    It was at that time though the unfortunate happened. The door to the classroom they were in opened. Both Ned and Connor were shocked and Ned didn''t get enough time pull his shirt up because just then with her dark brown hair, turning darker further at the roots, waving behind her Alexia came in and the first sight she saw was Ned with his shirt loose and Connor behind holding a camera and taking a picture. She looked at them strangely and they both looked flustered.

    "This is not what it looks like," said Ned as the awkwardness in the room rose.

    "What are you doing?" she asked. "Why are you still here?"

    "Why did you come back here?" asked Connor who after the initial look of fluster had chosen to take a much more seething look.

    "I forgot a book of mine, I just came back to get it," said Alexia. "What about you, what are you doing here?"

    "I uh was just feeling a little sick," said Ned.

    The numbing pain chose just that moment to flare up again as Ned closed his eyes and fell to one knee.

    "Dude¡­" said Connor moving forward to support him.

    Ned opened his eyes and Connor got a sinking feeling in his heart and Alexia breathed in stunned.

    "Your eyes, dude, they''ve turned again," said Connor and Ned too got a sinking feeling in his heart.

    "Is that contacts?" asked Alexia moving forward but Ned couldn''t answer because he got that familiar feeling of his eyes popping out of his skull again and he covered his eyes while gritting his teeth.

    "You should probably get him to the sick bay," said Alexia which forced and seething look from Connor.

    "No he''s fine," said Connor layering his voice with a tinge of mockery, something which Alexia chose to ignore.

    "Connor, this all started with that hallucination thing in the morning, I thought I was just imagining that maybe it was a hallucination but what if it really happened," said Ned groaning again and he didn''t see Alexia take a step back biting her lower lip as he said this.

    "What, no that can''t be ''cause I felt something similar as well, why isn''t this happening to me," said Connor still supporting Ned.

    This time Alexia took a step forward and said, "I''m sorry, did you say hallucinations, this morning, was it around eight maybe."

    At this Ned suddenly looked up shocked, it appeared as though she knew what had happened then. Connor too who had been seething around looked stunned ever so slightly.

    "Yeah, yeah it was around eight, don''t tell me you know what this is?" said Ned looking surprised but hopeful.

    "No, I don''t know what it all is," said Alexia shaking his head at which Ned looked down again and Connor smirked. "But I felt something similar, I thought it was hallucination as well."

    This time both Ned and Connor looked shocked, absolutely more than the last time.

    "What, did you see?" asked Connor

    "I saw everything going in slow motion, like time was slowing down or something along those lines but that wasn''t all, it also felt like my senses were heightened, I could pick up the sound of individual heart beats from a fair distance away, and I could also pick up individual scents of people, it all seemed strange until I saw like a fair distance away, maybe half a kilometer or more, my eyesight just seemingly out of nowhere improved and then I felt this sharp pain on my forehead and after that I don''t remember anything," said Alexia frowning as she tried to think of anything more that had happened.

    "Wow, that''s pretty detailed," said Ned as the pain in his back seemed to have numbed down again and so had the pain in his eyes.

    "Y''know I think this might be the longest sentence you''ve ever said since the start of this year," said Connor nodding at Alexia and she instantly turned stone faced again. "But this is strange, all three of us had the same hallucination, and I also felt the time slowing down, if that was even what it was."

    Alexia looked sharply at the thoughtful Connor.

    "Your gold eyes are something new by the way, even for me," said Alexia nodding at Ned.

    Ned felt panic climb his throat and he croaked out, "It still hasn''t disappeared?"

    "No don''t worry, it''s gone again now but it pops up at the most random times and we all have no idea what''s happening," said Connor and he took out his phone. "You wanna see the tattoo on your back."

    Ned nodded and Alexia too came forward, three people in the most unlikely of circumstances. Connor slid open the photos and Ned saw it, no they all saw, a photo strange by no means but due to familiarity of it and also due to the face Ned had never remembered it on him they all felt surprised. It was an arrow, thick and bold that started at the base of his neck and went down a fair way. It was the tattoo of a straight up arrow, something that seemed normal by all means but also something he couldn''t remember being on his back.

 (Blastboarders Arc) Chapter 4: Air of Strangeness

    Chapter 4: Air of Strangeness

    Whilst they were still looking at the picture the door to the classroom opened again. They had no prior notice it just happened so abruptly as Mr. Trevor came strolling in. What he found was Ned, Connor and Alexia kneeling on the floor looking at Connor''s phone.

    "Boys, Alexia, what would you be doing?" asked Mr. Trevor looking at them curiously.

    They looked up to see Mr. Trevor standing above them. Alexia quickly got up and cleared her throat then went to get her book leaving Ned and Connor to fend for themselves. Mr. Trevor watched Alexia get her book and then leave through the door.

    "Told you she can''t be trusted, the snake," whispered Connor whilst Mr. Trevor was looking away.

    "Mr. Edward, it seems like you''re feeling better," said Mr. Trevor.

    "I am, actually, I''m feeling fine now, it was just a small problem that''s all," said Ned smiling as he got up and went back to his desk and Connor followed suit.

    "Mr. Edward, please button your shirt properly and tighten your tie," said Mr. Trevor again and Ned looked at his attire.

    It was still in the loose fashion he had earlier placed it in. He had forgotten to button up and tighten up his tie again and he was slightly embarrassed.

    "Yes sir," he said as he fixed up his attire.

    Mr. Trevor went back out again but before he did, he gave one extremely strange look at Ned''s back before he went out.

    "She cannot be trusted, that witch, she just left us here," said Connor clearly seething in rage. "She was clearly interested in this just as much as us."

    "Forget about it man, she might''ve just not wanted any trouble," said Ned as he packed up his books.

    "No trouble, yeah right, she schemes like a proper villain," said Connor as he too stuffed his bag angrily.

    "That symbol though Connor, do you know what that even means?" asked Ned as he hung his bag on one shoulder and waited for Connor.

    He clearly saw Connor frowning, perhaps from deep thought.

    "I meant to tell you this earlier but yeah I''ve seen that symbol somewhere before," said Connor. "Definitely somewhere before."

    "Seriously, where, I mean how, when?" asked Ned getting excited. "Actually I meant, finally something actually works out."

    "Well see Ned that''s the thing with saying somewhere, I don''t where I''ve seen it before," said Connor as he too pulled his bag up without noticing the look of annoyance that covered Ned''s face. "But I can definitely say it''s recently, fairly recently anyhow."

    "Wonderful, great, so now what?" asked Ned clearly frustrated. "Am I just supposed to deal with the fact that my eyes turn gold and there''s a weird symbol on my back because the symbol I can hide but the eyes, I can''t hide the eyes."

    "Have you ever thought of getting shades," said Connor. "Does wonders in the sun and also you can''t see your eyes turning gold, perhaps we should consider something like that."

    "I''m not going to wearing shades everywhere I go," said Ned mortified at the thought. "I''ll look like an idiot."

    "Well it''s better than your eyes just randomly turning gold," said Connor and he chuckled to himself as he thought of Ned wearing a huge set of shades everywhere he travelled, even in classrooms.

    "I''d just rather walk around with my eyes closed thank you very much, at least I won''t look stupid," said Ned sighing.

    "No, you''ll still look like an idiot walking around with your eyes closed, but the more important thing is you''ll feel like an idiot as well, not even able to see where you''re going," said Connor earning a scowl from Ned.

    Ned moved out of the classroom and Connor followed and then outside Ned waited for Connor to pull the doors shut and turn the lock.

    "We completely missed the early break, I can''t think of anything sadder," said Connor looking around as they saw students slowly walking back to their respective classes upon the ringing of bell drawing ever so near.

    As they walked down the stairs they heard a crackle through the P.A system and they both stopped and so did the majority on the campus. With another crackle the P.A system burst to life and a voice resounded across the entire campus. A list of names was called out and they all were asked to report to the principal''s office, the list of names concluded with Kevin Erickson and they knew instantly what this was about. They recognized the majority of the people called out and they were all in the Blastboarders gang. There was a high probability it was about the incident at the school gates and they were half expecting their names out there any second but the P.A announcement ended and the anxiety they felt ebbed away as no sound of their name came forth from it.

    "Guess we avoided that narrowly," said Connor. "I''m still half expecting them to call us, wonder if it really is about the gates."

    "Probably not, they do other things that warrant the school''s attention like last week I heard they broke into this family''s house," said Ned shaking his head. "They''re too destructive for it to be just about the gates of the school."

    "Yeah but doesn''t change the fact that they''re still cool," said Connor as he still remembered when they rode in.

    "Connor, I just need you to pay close attention to my eyes, we''re in kind of public here and I don''t want my eyes turning gold and then everyone seeing it as well," said Ned looking at Connor.

    "Yeah, will do," said Connor. "But that tattoo of yours I still can''t get it out of mind, it''s tugging at the back of head, I''ve seen it somewhere before but I don''t know where, it''s frustrating."

    "Well, I suppose if you''ve seen it once there''s a high chance you''ll see it again, or you might remember where you''ve seen it," said Ned.

    [Paragraph Break]

    They walked out to the inner court yard and saw to their surprise Alexia waiting near their usual hangout spot and instantly Connor screwed up his face as the rage of it all washed over him.

    "The nerve of her, that''s our spot," said Connor as he prepared to rush forward but he was held back by Ned with a surprisingly strong grip.

    "Don''t be stupid, it''s not our spot, we just usually sit there and right now she''s the only one we know in the same boat as us, don''t go angering her," said Ned which had a small calming effect on Connor but his face remained unchanged of the rage.

    "Fine, but she just left us at that classroom, didn''t even bother to help us with Mr. Trevor," said Connor. "She''s an absolute snake."

    "We didn''t need help with Mr. Trevor and yeah I do agree with you her personality then was slightly snakey," said Ned and he walked up to Alexia.

    Connor was just about to lay into her and Ned could tell and he was about to hold him back when Alexia said," Sorry."

    That one word completely caught them off guard. Connor looked a little dazed with his mouth still left open and Ned looked at her with a frown.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t stay behind, it''s just that, I had enough troubles without being caught by the teacher, I didn''t want to add more to it," said Alexia.

    Connor once again layered in rage, "In case you haven''t noticed, we all have troubles, just this morning I had trouble with my perception of time, uh that''s another matter entirely but the fact is, you just left us there, what about the trouble we''d get ourselves into, it''s no wonder you don''t have any friends."

    Alexia bit her bottom lip as it quivered and she seemed upset.

    "Connor, how about a little tact here," whispered Ned into Connor''s ears and then he said to Alexia. "It doesn''t matter, seriously, there was no trouble from Mr. Trevor, though we''re wondering if you''d seen or ever known about that mark on my back, you know the arrow, what is it about and all."

    "I''m sorry, I''ve seen plenty of arrows before and I''m pretty sure they only have one meaning which is to point the direction, I honestly don''t know why it showed up on your back," said Alexia and saying that she turned around and left.

    "See that, you see that Ned, no proper courtesy, no manners whatsoever," said Connor pointing at her. "I don''t understand, I really don''t."

    "Calm down, it''s fine, she didn''t want to be friends with us, she was just curious about our relatable incidents," said Ned. "Or maybe you''re still hiding a crush for her Connor, what about it?"

    "Me and her¡­ seriously, an elephant might sprout wings sooner," said Connor gritting his teeth.

    "Well then that''s that," said Ned turning around to sit down on the bench next to them.

    As he was about to sit, the bell rang, into the noisy courtyard and silencing for a moment all the people there. As soon as the bell finished its short burst and about two to three seconds later the familiar chatter that accompanied the courtyard started again.

    "I didn''t even get my early break," said Connor groaning. "You know this is your fault right Ned, if your eyes hadn''t been bloody turning gold, I''d have enjoyed my golden early break, something that I was s''posed to enjoy by the way."

    "Yeah but now you get the satisfaction of helping a friend," said Ned standing tall again and thumping Connor on the back making him cough several times.

    "Well, I don''t know about satisfaction but for the first time since I''ve been on this island, things are kind of getting interesting, this''s like a whole juicy mystery of sorts we''d have figure out," said Connor feeling elation. "I''m not being an ass here but I''m kind of glad that this is happening."

    "Well, I certainly am not," said Ned thinking again about what would happen if his eyes changed color in front of everyone. "I preferred my eyes at their normal color and as for this tattoo, I don''t even know when it got there."

    "We need to go Ned," said Connor. "Class''s about to start."

    "Hmmm, yeah." Ned had a deep look on his face. "Let''s go, as I said Connor, keep a close eye on me, in case something happens."

    "Yeah sure, but y''know I can''t do anything if your eyes turn gold in the middle of class or something, the best way still would be to wear shades," said Connor.

    "Do you have a set?" asked Connor as he turned to walk to his next class.

    "No," said Connor as he too followed Ned.

    "Then let''s not talk about this," said Ned.

    [Paragraph Break]

    As they entered the class that resembled a museum, the Modern History teacher, an old woman stood at the front. She was like a mindless drone, just blathering like it was lecture throughout the lesson and the student were supposed to listen and take notes. Of course most students weren''t too keen on that, they had their minds set much more on sleeping through it and Ned too was one of those people unwillingly. Just then next to him he heard Connor groaning. Ned turned to look at his friend in visible distress.

    "What is it?" he asked waking from his sleep and looking at the paling Connor.

    "I¡­I feel really uhhh¡­" groaned out Connor but could not complete his sentence.

    "Connor, what''s happening?" asked Ned. "You''re going very, very pale."

    "I think I''m about to vomit, I feel something in my stomach, the entire world''s spinning," said Connor and he couldn''t stay upright any longer and his head slammed down onto the desk for which they were spared a glance by the old history teacher.

    "Connor¡­" said Ned trying to support him from sliding of his chair.

    "I''m going to vomit, seriously urghhh!" groaned Connor softly.

    Connor opened his eyes and Ned saw it, the strangeness that had happened to him, it was happening a little differently to Connor, notable the color. It was a bright shining silver blending in with the whites of his eyes and for a moment Ned thought Connor had passed out.

    "Connor, it''s happening to you too," said Ned shocked.

    "What''s¡­happeni¡­ng?" asked Connor in a wide groan. "Wha¡­t¡­a¡­rre aarrghhh!"

    Connor and Ned were spared another glance by the history teacher and Ned noticed another person looking intently at them. It was Alexia, she looked quite interested in the happenings that were currently occurring.

    "We need to get out of here," said Ned deciding and he stood up.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Again he was spared a glance this time an irritated one by the history teacher.

    "Ms... Connor''s not feeling very well," said Ned. "I was wondering whether I could take him to the sick bay."

    She sighed and came over and was taken aback to find a groaning, collapsed, clammy Connor barely hanging on the chair.

    "What''s happened to him?" she asked her disinterest turning into surprise then shock.

    "I don''t, he just started feeling sick a couple of moments ago," said Ned.

    "Well then, what are you waiting for, quickly taking him to the sick bay," said Mrs. Newen snappily.

    "Thanks," said Ned and he grabbed Connor, who was feeling very light to the physically fit Ned.

    When he raised Connor up he found that his friend couldn''t even put one foot in front of the other.

    "You need some help Edward," said Mrs. Newen recognizing the fact that Connor couldn''t even walk properly and Ned nodded appreciatively.

    "I volunteer," said a voice from near the front of the classroom. "I''ll help Edward take him to the sick bay."

    It was of course none other Alexia Hailing again, she seemed to be popping in and out of Ned and Connor''s life today that right now even Ned felt slightly annoyed.

    "Alexia¡­?" said Mrs. Newen, she seemed slightly surprised but then regained her control after a short while. "Very well, help him, go quickly now."

    Alexia nodded and got up off her seat and moved to Connor''s other side.

    "Snake¡­" whispered Connor barely hanging on and Ned found it kind of funny that even in the condition Connor felt some sort of anger towards Alexia.

    They carried him together out of the classroom but Ned changed direction halfway through and instead of going to the sick bay they went to the boys'' toilets.

    "What are you doing?" asked Alexia. "Aren''t we going to the sick bay."

    "We would¡­" said Ned. "¡­but I don''t want to show them something that''s happening to him."

    "What?" asked Alexia slightly confused.

    "Connor, will you please look up and open your eyes for a moment," said Ned shaking him lightly as they still carried him to Ned''s intended destination.

    "Wh¡­y?" muttered Connor as he looked up at Ned with his eyes open and what Alexia saw then made her gasp.

    "He''s got it too, his eyes changing color?" said Alexia. "Why¡­and he''s feeling sick as well, similar to you."

    "No, it''s not similar to me, mine was more of a burning feeling, he feels like he''s about to throw up," said Ned and they stopped as they came to their destination.

    "Why''re we here?" asked Alexia looking at the lavatories.

    "We''re going to the boys''," said Ned turning to go in but was stopped.

    "Perhaps you haven''t noticed but I''m not going in there," said Alexia frowning as she looked at the entrance and then at Ned.

    "Why¡­oh¡­oh I see," said Ned realization dawning. "But we need to go in, he can''t stay out here in the open and besides its third period and the chances that people will be coming here are short."

    "I am not entering the boys'' toilets," said Alexia putting her foot down. "Forget about it."

    "For god''s sake, we can''t be arguing here all day, the third period will end soon, now come on," said Ned with obvious rage stemming from frustration.

    "Fine then, let''s go into the girls'' toilets," said Alexia pointing at that one.

    "Are you crazy, no!" exclaimed Ned. "Absolutely not, I''ve already got enough rep. without being branded a pervert."

    "What about me then," said Alexia looking with the same obvious frustration at Ned.

    They were both oblivious to Connor''s groans.

    "We can do one thing, there''s a sports locker, it''s unused and it''s a fair distance away from the commotion here, we can go there how about that," said Ned trying to compromise.

    "Well if there was such a place then why didn''t you just take us there in the first place," said Alexia shaking her head.

    "You are frustrating, so very frustrating," said Ned gritting his teeth as he dragged Connor around to go to his new destination.

    "I''m not the one being impossible here, it''s you," said Alexia. "Honestly leading us into the boys'' toilets, couldn''t you have thought of this better place then."

    "Well if I did, that''s where we''d be, I thought this was enough," said Ned as he picked up pace. "The toilets were enough; it''s just you being so damn determined to make this even longer than it possibly has to be."

    "Yeah right, let''s move faster already, seriously I''m tired of arguing with you," said Alexia.

    "Same here," said Ned huffing as he picked up pace again.

    They literally dragged Connor along on a speed walk as they moved to the abandoned sports locker. As they walked along to the sports locker, the felt a strange vibration occurring. At first it was considered nothing but then the intensity increased linearly and all of the stopped.

    "What''s happening?" asked Ned frowning as he felt his jolt lightly in the vibration.

    "I don''t know," said Alexia and just then Connor groaned and with an almighty burp he unloaded the contents starting from last night''s dinner to this morning breakfast right in front of him and Alexia screamed and stepped back letting go Connor.

    Reeling from the sudden shock Ned alone was left to hold onto Connor and keep himself and Connor from falling into the disgusting, white and yellow puddle of sick that had been the contents of Connor''s bowel while at the same time he had to stop himself from throwing up.

    "I¡­feel slightly better," said Connor as he looked and he still had that bright silver eyes, they weren''t disappearing like Ned''s.

    "Connor, your eyes, they''re still silver," said Ned leaving Connor to groan again.

    "I said I was slightly better, but I feel it happening agaaaiiinnn!" exclaimed Connor and in between that he did a double take and threw up again, this time what came out was a little less than the last time and this time Ned truly and completely dropped Connor and he fell to his knees clutching his stomach.

    "I think I''m about to vomit as well," said Ned as he felt his stomach in an upheaval.

    "Well¡­ that''s plainly disgusting," said Alexia taking several more steps back.

    Connor turned to look at Ned and Alexia who were both a fair few meters back from him and in front of their very own eyes Connor''s silver colored eyes vanished to be replaced with his own normal ones.

    "It''s back now," said Ned. "Your eyes, they''re completely normal."

    "Thank god," said Connor as he collapsed backwards onto his bottom a few feet away from the puddle of sick. "Oh¡­ that feels better already."

    "Are you listening to me, I said your eyes it had turned silver and now it''s disappeared again," said Ned repeating what he said in case Connor hadn''t heard.

    "Yeah, I heard you, still that felt really satisfactory, honestly you wouldn''t really care about silver eyes when you feel like you need to unload through your mouth," said Connor and just then the light vibrations they had felt moments ago had gotten further intense.

    [Paragraph Break]

    They had forgotten all about it in the event of things happening but they now clearly felt the vibrations growing stronger. It felt like everything was shaking.

    "What is happening?" asked Ned. "It feels like an earthquake or something."

    "No, that can''t be right," said Alexia frowning as she came forward after she felt safe enough to do so.

    "What do you mean, we''re on an island right, so why can''t there be earthquakes?" asked Connor as he got up amidst the great vibration of the floor.

    "This is an artificial island, it''s not connected to the tectonic plates, therefore we cannot experience earthquakes of this magnitude," said Alexia. "You did read the brochure for this island before you came here right?"

    "Yeah absolutely, my brochure knowledge is A ok," said Connor nodding his head and then as a side note he added to Ned. "You''ve read this brochure thing she''s talking about right."

    "Yes Connor, I have read it," said Ned and just then it stopped from being vibration and transformed into an intense shake out.

    Above them they heard several windows shattering.

    "Well if this isn''t an earthquake something is shaking this island like mixer," said Connor. "It feels great and all y''know but are we going to die."

    "This can''t be right, this shouldn''t be happening on this island," said Alexia shaking her head.

    "Well unless we''re all having a very massive hallucination, which I''m not ruling out here, then this island is really shaking like a bull," said Connor.

    More windows shattered from upstairs and Ned looked to the side and to his absolute horror he found the support beams that held the building above them in place creaking and bending, they also found the poles to the side bending as well as the world shook like there was no tomorrow.

    "We need to get out from under here," exclaimed Ned with deep panic. "It''s not going to crumble on top of us."

    Ned was warily watching the support beams as one by one several of them gave away and just then the P.A system with a sudden burst and crackle tuned to life and out of it quickly came a very urgent message.

    "Would all students and staff please report to Oval 2 on the eastside of the school in a calm and orderly but quick manner, repeating, would all students and staff please report to Oval 2 on the eastside of the school in a calm and orderly but quick manner."

    "Seems like it really is a disaster," said Ned and just then he saw a beam crumbling and the bit above him came down on top of him and he with fright stood there still.

    Connor dived for him and Alexia screamed and the next thing he knew was he was out from under the shaded area, laying sprawled in the courtyard and Connor knelt next to him, his eyes silver and with one hand on his chest. Ned was shocked, not just shocked but flabbergasted. He had no idea what had happened but just then he saw another part of the holdings crumble and Alexia was still inside.

    "Shit, get out of there, now!" screamed Ned getting up and running towards her.

    Just then something passed by him with lightning speed quickness and he saw Alexia thrown away from the holdings as the thing now crumbled on apparently Connor who had suddenly appeared there in place of Alexia. He slowed his run to a stop as he was confused again. Connor then quickly moved out of the way of the collapsing holdings, by quickly it was more like disappearing from one place and appearing in another, it was simply non-believable almost like magic.

    "What in the hell''s happening?" he asked to himself and then he shouted to Connor. "Connor, what did you do!"

    Connor turned to look at him with those bright silver eyes, "I don''t know, but I¡­ just when everything was about to happen¡­ I felt everything slow down like what happened this morning in my hallucination y''know and well I just ran over that''s all."

    "That was not just running over, it was more like teleportation or something unless I''m dreaming," said Ned and just then he saw another holding collapse.

    "Watch out¡­!" shouted Ned but he knew it was too late, Connor noticed it too late.

    He ran over with all his might and jumped at Connor and tackled him and as he did so he raised one arm unconsciously to stop the falling holdings. Just then he felt something creeping into his eyes and his back burned ever so slightly and he gritted his teeth preparing to be squished beneath the holdings like a bug but it did not happen. He instead found himself blocking the holdings from falling with one hand whilst the other had pinned Connor to the ground and he saw Alexia on the floor some meters away looking at him in disbelief.

    "Ned, your eyes, they''re gold," said Connor looking up at him.

    Ned was comparably more shocked as he looked up and saw himself keeping a large piece of metal holding that probably required several men to hold and it wasn''t even costing him any effort.

    "How are you doing that?" asked Alexia disbelievingly as she stared at the mass held by Ned.

    "I don''t know..."

 (Blastboarders Arc) Chapter 5: Grey Tom

    Chapter 5: Grey Tom

    Ned held up all the holdings single handedly as more fell on it. His eyes were radiating now bright gold and he looked down at Connor whose silver eyes had all but disappeared.

    "Get out now, Connor," said Ned pushing Connor back.

    Connor didn''t bother questioning or speaking anything, he crawled out of the wreckage of what was once a beautiful shaded area. With Connor out of the way Ned, pushed out and landed on the grass the holdings he had held up collapsed behind him.

    "What the hell?" said Connor standing up.

    Ned looked at his hand, the hand that had held up the holdings and it all seemed fine. At the same time, he felt something receding from his eyes, as if some pressure was taken off it.

    "What the hell just happened to the both of us?" asked Ned as he looked at the absolutely shell shocked Alexia and the surprisingly dumbfounded Connor.

    "It¡­it apparently seems that I somehow managed to reach a level of human speed that makes the Olympic runners seem a joke and you somehow reached a strength that would put professional weight lifters to shame," said Connor. "Yeah just a normal earthquaky day."

    "But this shouldn''t be possible," said Ned shaking his head. "Is this really another hallucination, a dream maybe, someone punch me or hit me or something."

    Though he did say that Ned never actually expected anyone to do it but Alexia walked up and kicked him in the face whilst Connor slapped in the opposite cheek, normally it would be something that would severely hurt but Ned didn''t even feel those two blows, not just that, he wasn''t even knocked back, he sat there like an immovable rock and both Connor and Alexia backed off in surprise.

    "It apparently doesn''t seem like a dream," said Connor. "Ned, you seriously seem like a rock, can exercise do that for you?"

    "No Connor, it bloody well can''t turn me into this," said Ned standing up. "If it could then the world would be a lot more violent."

    "Granted, but what about me, do I have this thing as well?" asked Connor looking at his hands.

    Ned stood up and he looked at Connor who seemed slightly curious. He walked closer and then took back his right hand and laid hooker right on Connor''s cheek. He was only expecting Connor to stagger back a little but as soon as he landed the punch he felt the familiar creeping sensation around his eyes and he felt his back heat and he knew he had made a mistake. Connor literally flew several feet away and landed on the ground and then slid a few more for good measure and the calm and collected Alexia screamed.

    "Oh my god," said a shocked Ned as he ran over to Connor who lay on the ground several meters away releasing a light groan.

    "I am sorry, I did not mean for that to happen, it was just supposed to be a punch," said Ned as he rushed forth and knelt next to an apparently dazed Connor and he again felt the familiar feeling of a pressure relieving of his eyes.

    "Well¡­Ned¡­where am I?" asked Connor dazed. "Am¡­I¡­still alive?"

    "Yeah, yeah you are," said Ned looking at the still dazed over Connor.

    "Oh¡­I thought I was a goner?" said Connor still groaning as the light came back to his eyes.

    "How do you feel, nothing broken right," said Ned and Connor shook his head and got up.

    "I feel like a truck just crashed into me, what the hell was that?" asked Connor. "That was a punch right?"

    "It was supposed to be," said Ned and Alexia came over.

    "What is happening to the both of you?" she asked.

    "I wouldn''t have a clue?" said Ned.

    "Do you feel sick?" asked Connor looking at Alexia. "We all had the same hallucinations and then both me and Ned felt really¡­really sick, so wondering are you feeling sick by any chance?"

    "No, I can''t say that I am," said Alexia frowning.

    "Well just be wary, I have a feeling this is all connected somehow," said Ned. "This so above her heads, we are in completely blind here."

    "Yeah, if only I could remem¨C." It looked as though Connor had started say something when he struck dumb all of sudden and a look of sudden remembrance was written on his face. "Oh my god Ned, I remember, I remember where I saw that symbol, it was in this old book at Tom''s place, it was sitting on the shelf at that room where you got your head treated, I saw that exact same symbol and then another damn word I can''t pronounce."

    "Tom''s place¡­you saw this symbol at his place?" asked Ned again looking, his face looked half relieved and half anxious. "What was it about?"

    "I don''t remember that bit," said Connor. "I actually don''t know anything about it at all but it was there this arrow symbol and there was some sort of word under it, I clearly remember it now, it''s there Ned."

    "It''s just an arrow?" said Alexia. "What could an arrow mean?"

    "Lots of things I think, pointing being one of the primary ones," said Connor.

    "We need to get there," said Ned. "Like now¡­ I need to know what the hell is going on."

    "What¡­no, we can''t go there now, the entire school''s evacuating to the grounds," said Alexia interfering.

    "Yeah, we can''t just go there now," said Connor. "It''s an evacuation, we need to get the hell to that oval, it''s a damn earthquake."

    "I told you, earthquakes do not happen on this island!" exclaimed Alexia exasperated.

    "The entire island is shaking alright, if that''s not an earthquake then I don''t know what is," said Connor now exasperated.

    "I don''t bloody care about the evacuation, I just need to know what''s happening to me," said Ned stubbornly.

    "We can''t go Ned, not now anyhow," said Connor. "We can''t just walk out on an evacuation?"

    "I''m going," said Ned and he got up and started walking the other way.

    Both Connor and Alexia looked at each other vexed.

    [Paragraph Break]

    "Well if he''s going then I''m going as well," said Connor and started following Ned, leaving Alexia to stomp in frustration and then she too started following them.

    "If we get in trouble, I''m blaming this all on you," said Alexia as she caught up to them.

    "Oh sure¡­yeah just do that, y''know we didn''t force you to come," said Connor angrily. "If you wanna go back then just do it."

    "Like I want to go back now," said Alexia. "I want to know what this all about too."

    "It''s only a book, we can''t expect Tom to know anything about it," said Ned. "I just want the book."

    "Well yeah sure, but suppose if Tom does know about it," said Connor presenting his hypothesis.

    "Well then we''ll ask him and he''ll tell us," said Ned his face hardening slightly.

    "Dude you cannot threaten Tom, he''s like a friend to us," said Connor. "That is seriously going to be messed up."

    "WELL WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!" shouted Ned suddenly blowing his lid as he stopped in his tracks. "JUST A FEW HOURS AGO I WAS VERY NORMAL, A FEW HOURS AGO THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS ON MY MIND WAS HOMEWORK AND NOW¡­!"

    Connor and Alexia seemed to have taken a step back perhaps him shock.

    "Dude, calm down," said Connor eyeing him warily. "Your eyes just turned gold again."

    Ned frowned, this time he hadn''t even felt that creeping feeling in his eyes, the anger had just came over him. He did feel it though when it receded.

    "I''m sure if we ask him he''ll tell us what''s going on," said Connor. "This has gotten me pretty confused as well, it''s all I can do to keep myself from blowing up like you."

    "I''m sorry¡­" said Ned apologizing and he continued walking again.

    "It''s fine," said Connor. "But you need to understand Ned, it isn''t just you with these problems, I''m trying to make some sense of this too, which I''m failing at by the way."

    "Strange," said Alexia frowning as she stopped and Connor stopped too and a little while later Ned turned around to look annoyed.

    "What''s strange?" asked Connor.

    "Well the apparent earthquake''s stopped but I still feel like something''s wrong," said Alexia. "I can''t exactly point out what''s wrong, but I can just feel it."

    "What you got a sixth sense or something now," said Ned looking around severely cross and finding nothing wrong.

    "That''s possible," said Connor. "I mean you can lift past the limit of a professional weight lifter and I can run fairly fast, sixth sense isn''t entirely impossible."

    "So wait, now sixth sense is possible as well?" asked Ned looking at Alexia then at Connor disbelievingly.

    "Well I wouldn''t exactly call it sixth sense, I mean what is really sixth sense," said Connor. "Perhaps she can see danger or something like that."

    "Yeah but we both ended up so severely sick before we got our uh¡­strange whatevers and as far as I can tell she hasn''t been sick, that or she''s really good at acting, enough to cover up feeling severely sick," said Ned. "I don''t see her eyes changing color, speaking on that line either."

    "Wait, now hold on, we don''t even know what we have currently, you can''t just base it all off of somethings that just happened to us," said Connor still looking closely at Alexia as she seemed to be in a world of her own.

    "Well we don''t even know anything about anything, so you''ll excuse me if I try to wrap my tiny head around what''s currently happening based on what''s currently happening," scowled Ned. "Besides look at her, she looks like she''s in lala land."

    "I am not in lala land, which I am assuming is what I assume it to be and I really do feel something, there is something severely wrong like with the ground we are standing on," said Alexia frowning again.

    "What, is it another earthquake?" asked Connor with panic layering his voice and Ned seemed fairly frightened as well.

    "No, at least I don''t think so," said Alexia and Ned heaved a sigh of relief.

    "Well if you don''t know what it is, I''d like to go Tom''s now," said Ned turning off and walking again. "That book Connor says he saw is bound to have something of this thing that''s happening to me and Connor."

    "I''m sorry for asking this late but I would like to know who this Tom is?" Alexia asked.

    "He owns an antiquary down near the end of shopping district," said Connor. "It''s a pretty cool place."

    "I see and you say he has this book which had Edward''s tattoo on its front page, and you assume this will provide you with information you need," said Alexia.

    "Yeah that pretty much sums it up," said Connor.

    "I don''t have anything against your reasoning and I personally don''t have any insight into these strange happenings but would a book contain all we need to know?" she asked.

    "It needs to contain enough," said Ned with a clenched jaw. "Just enough for me to understand what''s going, enough for me to figure the rest for myself."

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings."I see¡­" said Alexia and she stopped talking.

    When they reached the school gates they found it padlocked with several new locks.

    "That''s not good¡­" said Connor. "They''ve added more locks."

    Ned gritted his teeth. "Connor can you take care of the camera."

    "What do you want me to do?" asked Connor looking straight at the camera but it seemed to be off because the red light that was usually on wasn''t on anymore.

    "Ned¡­I don''t think its recording," said Connor getting up closer to look at it straight."

    "The quake must have knocked it out," said Alexia as she got closer to it too.

    "Good," said Ned and he gripped the gates.

    He pulled on it and of course it wouldn''t come free that easily but just then he felt that familiar creeping feeling in his eyes. He could feel his strength surging and he gripped it tightly and then pulled and the gates didn''t just open, it came of its hinge with a creak and a bang.

    "Holy hell," said Connor. "Alright, destroying the locks was cool and all earlier, I mean it looked so uh rebel but you just pulled it off its hinges."

    "Apparently I did," said Ned shrugging. "I wasn''t expecting this."

    "Neither was I," said Connor.

    "You can control it?" asked Alexia. "That eye changing and the super strength and all."

    "Right now I feel like I can," said Ned. "Well it''s not really controlling it, it just seems to come at times when I actually really need it."

    "And you really needed it for pulling out the school gates?" asked Connor.

    "Well yeah, it helped didn''t it," said Ned.

    "The word help doesn''t exactly convey how you pulled the gate of its hinges," said Connor looking closer at the actual hinges and finding that it was bend and ripped.

    "How much strength do you actually have?" asked Connor seriously.

    "I don''t know," said Ned and he chucked the gates away, literally, it landed a few feet back with a solid thump.

    "Really kind of ridiculous," said Connor shivering slightly as he thought back to the hit Ned had planted on him and wondering what would''ve happened if he had used the strength he used to pull the gate out then.

    "I''m glad I didn''t get you too angry," said Connor nodding. "Really glad."

    "Let''s go now," said Ned.

    "Y''know I feel really stupid walking all the way back to Tom''s place just for a book in the middle of school," said Connor.

    "There should be preparation for mass evacuation going on," said Alexia furrowing her eyebrows. "It seemed like the entire island was about to go down."

    "Yeah I was thinking that too," said Connor. "But aside from the lack of people on the streets there appears to be nothing severely wrong."

    "Yeah well, looking around, even aside the lack of people the environment seems to have changed," said Ned looking around.

    The trees that surrounded the place seemed to have fell over, it''s very roots becoming free of the soil and there were cracks on the road and building sides, overall it looked to be really unstable situation.

    "Ned, d''you even reckon Tom''s going to be there, I mean with the earthquake and all," said Connor.

    "Well the earthquake''s stopped now so what''s the problem?" asked Ned.

    "Well you appear to be extremely brave all of a sudden," said Connor. "But Ned there is such a thing as an aftershock and in some instances the aftershock is stronger than the original earthquake."

    "Look we don''t even know if this is an earthquake," said Alexia.

    "Really, no, the entire island is shivering because of a cold," said Connor snorting.

    "I was just saying, no need to bite at me," said Alexia taken aback.

    "What part of that was biting at you," said Connor disgruntled. "That was clearly a sarcastic remark meant to humor your remarks about this not being an earthquake."

    "Guys, take a look at that," said Ned pointing at a large crack extending from a building premises to around the center of the road, talking to the bickering Connor and Alexia.

    "Mother will certainly have the time of her life trying to fix up this mess," said Alexia snorting and Connor too jointly snorted.

    "Mother?" asked Ned, not understanding and Connor looked at him in disbelief.

    "Ned, tell me you are joking," said Connor. "Her name is Alexia Hailing, Hailing¡­Hailing Isle, her mother''s the woman that invented this island."

    "Oh¡­" said Ned. "Wow, well you certainly know a lot more than you''re given credit for."

    "You are abysmally stupid, I just realized," said Alexia shaking her head and trying not to crack into a smile at Ned looking foolishly.

    "How was I supposed to know!" said Ned indignantly and his rage slowly dimmed replaced with a feeling of extreme stupidity.

    "No, everyone just happens to know," said Connor as a matter-of-factly. "It''s not that hard to make the connection."

    "No they didn''t," said Ned and he nodded to Alexia. "There''s no way everyone knew that her mother invented the artificial island."

    "I''m giving up," said Connor sighing. "I can''t believe it, I really can''t believe you didn''t know, how could you not know?"

    [Paragraph Break]

    In all the commotion and with Ned looking absolutely foolish they reached a shop that didn''t really resemble a shop anymore, it looked as though it would cave in from a simple touch, the letters on the sign ''Grey Tom''s Antiquary'' had nearly all fallen off and the glass on the windows and door had all but shattered. It seemed unbelievable that the shop they had visited just earlier would be in such a sorry state. To the side of the shop a disheveled man crouched weeping and looking at him Ned felt sorry that he ever thought to threaten him.

    "Oh dude, that is¡­ devastating," said Connor moving forward and he touched a protruding concrete part and suddenly that fell apart and the slab on top of it fell to the floor with a loud thump and a louder weep came from the crouching Tom at the side and Connor jumped back looking guilty.

    "Tom¡­" said Ned wondering what to say.

    Tom turned around to look at the three kids and he got up. He then fell on top of Ned with a loud weep and started crying there on Ned''s shoulders and strangely enough despite a large man crying on Ned''s shoulders he felt no weight pressure, or perhaps that was because Tom was so thin. Connor and Alexia came up, Connor still had a guilt ridden face on him and Alexia had on a sympathetic face.

    "It''s gone Ned, completely gone," said Tom. "All of it, my pristine collection of mythological action figures, all of it gone."

    Connor''s shock transpired somewhere between shock and laughter at these words whilst Ned just looked at the crumpling shop dumbfounded and Alexia face crossed from sympathetic to indignant.

    "My three gorgons, the figure of Kronos, Loki and Thor," said Tom and he cried even harder. "All of it gone, I can''t believe it."

    "Uh¡­Tom," started Ned but he stopped again when Tom wept all the more and he looked at Connor signaling for emergency help but Connor shrugged as he too did not have any idea what to do but nevertheless he stepped forward.

    "Tom¡­" started Connor this time. "I''m sure your figures are fine, at least if you''re lucky they should be fine."

    As Connor said this Tom''s crying went up another level which Ned didn''t think was possible and now he felt some pressure not because of the weight but because of the high sound. Tom was weeping right in Ned''s ears and he looked angrily at Connor.

    "Tom, I''m sure it''s going to be fine," said Ned patting him very awkwardly on the back and at this Connor burst into a short laughter.

    After a while more weeping and some deep gloomy looks Tom finally calmed down enough to be seated on a piece of rubble.

    "What did you come here for?" asked Tom wiping away his tears.

    "Well¡­" said Ned unsure of how to start. "We umm¡­ seem to have run into a small problem."

    "Oh, what sort of problem?" asked Tom looking interested but then he paled. "It''s not another injury is it, because if it is then you can forget about it, even if I wanted to, I can''t do anything with my shop in this state."

    "Oh, no, no, it''s not about an injury," said Ned quickly. "It''s a problem with my eyes."

    "Your eyes?" frowned Tom and he moved forwards to look Ned''s eyes closely.

    "Your eyes seem normal," said Tom. "Nothing wrong, but if you want an expert opinion you need to visit an optometrist."

    "No, there''s nothing wrong with my eyes, I mean there is something wrong with my eyes, just not, what you think." said Ned again quickly, he just couldn''t explain it, how was he supposed to explain that his eyes turned gold and he gained super strength.

    He looked at Connor again pleading for him to help. He even looked towards Alexia as if she could possibly help him. Alexia shrugged at him, not knowing what to do and sighing he turned towards curious Tom in an attempt to explain again but this time he couldn''t even form sentence coherent enough to make Tom think he wasn''t mental. Connor just then who was looking around for something on the ground stood up again after he had apparently found it.

    "Ned¡­" said Connor and at that same moment he threw a sizeable chunk of rubble straight at Ned and it happened just as he turned around.

    Both Alexia''s and Tom''s eyes widened as a concrete chunk the size of a large brick flew straight at Ned to crash into his head. Ned quickly raised up his arms and he caught the chunk of rock with inhuman reflexes and he felt his anger being born again in the pits of his stomach, with a snarl he crushed the chunk thrown at him with one hand leaving Tom flabbergasted. Connor and Alexia had already witnessed Ned''s superhuman strength so there were less surprised.

    "Ned¡­you," said Tom and just then Ned turned to look at him and his eyes shone with gold.

    Tom looked straight at Ned his eyes and mouth widening. The color of Ned''s eyes was gold, shiny and cold, devoid of warm emotions. It was a completely different Ned.

    "It happened," said Tom getting up and after the initial look of surprise he looked quite calm, almost eerily so.

    Ned was so surprised that the gold in his eyes retracted. "You know what''s happening?"

    "Yes I do Ned," said Tom and just then when he looked at Ned he saw Tom''s eyes, the glow of a dark purple emanating from it, if Ned''s gold eyes seemed like a barrier devoid of warm emotions then Tom''s eyes were an endless chasm with that dark purple swirling deeply, like a mix of the deepest emotions. "It''s finally taking effect¡­"

 (Blastboarders Arc) Chapter 6: The Truth and Chaos

    Chapter 6: The Truth and Chaos

    "You!" exclaimed Ned. "Your eyes."

    Both Connor and Alexia seemed pretty shocked as well.

    "What''s happening, it''s happening to your eyes as well," said Connor stepping forward and Tom sighed.

    "Well earlier Ned you said you don''t how to explain," said Tom. "Now, I don''t know where to start either, it''s so complicated."

    "Just the truth would be fine," said Ned. "I have no idea what''s happening with myself and I don''t like it."

    "It would''ve been more fortunate if I was given more time," said Tom as he gazed up at the sky.

    "What is going?" asked Alexia. "I''d like to know as well and you seem to know all the answers."

    "Well Ned, Connor and¡­ I don''t know what your name is?" said Tom looking at Alexia.

    "Alexia¡­Hailing, that''s my name," said Alexia and Tom looked surprised.

    "You''re Genevieve''s daughter?" asked Tom and this time it was Alexia''s turn to look surprised.

    "You know my mother?" she asked but Tom shook his head.

    "Not personally, no."

    Connor and Ned feeling like the odd one out of this conversation looked back and forth as Tom and Alexia traded speech and finally Ned interrupted.

    "Tom, you were going to explain to us about all this," said Ned prompting him.

    "Right," said Tom. "Well since you don''t know anything about what''s happening now, let''s start with what you know¡­"

    At this Ned, Connor and Alexia paid close attention.

    "Do you know of the mythology of gods?" asked Tom surprising all of them. "Like Norse, Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Celtic etc."

    "I know some stuff," said Connor nodding. "Just some names and all."

    "Well aside from what you just spoke and what I''ve seen in movies and all I know nothing," said Ned.

    "Well that''s a start Ned," said Tom. "Look our ancestors, the Ancient Greeks and Romans, Vikings and all they worshipped these beings like gods from them the various mythologies spouted and new worlds begin to form and right now these''re considered false beliefs but every tale has a beginning does it not."

    "I don''t get what you''re getting at," said Ned frowning.

    "I think what he means is that every falsity has an ounce of truth behind it," said Alexia. "But to think that gods like those are real, that''s a bit far-fetched isn''t it uh¡­ Mr. Tom."

    "Please call me Tom, no need for any honorifics," said Tom. "But yeah to think that such things exist in this day and age is far-fetched, because we''ve expanded our own capacity for miracles and those being worshipped as gods were not gods anyhow, though it is true they stand above us."

    "You mean those things exist?" asked a shocked Connor still disbelievingly.

    "That''s utter bullshit," said Ned but he still couldn''t help but believe a little.

    "Is it really Ned, what you can do," said Tom and then he in turn looked at Connor and Alexia. "What I suspect they can do as well¡­ it might be hard to believe but they really do exist, but they are not by any definition of the word gods but they do possess far more power than we ever have."

    "Well¡­ I can''t say I believe you completely," said Alexia. "But maybe a little but what does that even have anything to do with what Ned and Connor can do."

    "These beings they exist on a plane far higher than ours, they make different civilization to ours, they wield more powers than us, they are far more powerful than we could even ever dream off but they like us are a creation, maybe even human to some extents," said Tom. "Now that I believe that you believe a certain extend of this, let''s get to the point of how you became like this¡­"

    "I still don''t believe this," said Connor but Ned shook his head.

    "I kind of do," said Ned. "The more ridiculous it sounds the more plausible it becomes."

    "Are you kidding me," said Connor. "This is not plausible at all, this is the exact opposite plausible, this is implausible."

    "Keep quiet for a second," said Alexia to Connor. "He''s still getting to the part about how what''s happening now."

    "No, no please talk, sort it out, if that makes this more believable then so be it," said Tom nodding to them.

    "No, it''s fine, we''re done, please explain further," said Alexia giving Connor an evil eye much similar to what Kathleen threatened him with this morning.

    "Fine, ok I''ll continue," said Tom looking at the three of them carefully. "I have reason to believe, no rather, I know that something devastating happened in that realm of beings, something so bad and all of them in that plane were I am guessing going to be killed but instead of that, they performed a piece of magic, no it can''t really be called magic on their world, it might be similar to how our technology is a sort of magic to people who don''t know about it but what happened then is the most unbelievable thing of all, they came across planes into our planes in separate ectoplasms of powers and right now they''re in each of us, or rather we host them."

    "That¡­" started Ned but he couldn''t continue, he didn''t know where to continue, it was absolute ludicrous and he didn''t even know what ectoplasm meant.

    "It''s absolutely ridiculous," said Connor but his face showed otherwise.

    "I''m tempted to agree with Connor in this case but what Tom just said explains what you did," said Alexia looking at Ned and then she looked at Tom. "So then what you''re saying is we possess these higher beings'' powers but it is temporary and by ''us'' how many possess these powers."

    Ned looked amazed at Alexia, she was certainly taking this calm and Connor seemed to be repeating the word impossible over and over again with such conviction that he might''ve though if he said it enough times it might become impossible.

    Tom too looked amazed at Alexia calm appearance. "I don''t exactly know how many possesses these powers but the beings that transfer their powers onto a human have to be similar to the human''s own personality and I can also safely so only the people on this island have access to these powers and as for further I can''t explain why but yes we do possess their powers, and Ms. Hailing yours appear to not have awakened yet."

    "I have them as well?" asked Alexia taken aback.

    "Sure you do, you saw it too right," said Tom. "The visions are the first stage and then when the powers bond with your physical body you''re bound to feel a little sick, or even pain, Ned''s and Connor''s have already bonded but yours appear to be taking its time."

    "What about yours?" asked Ned. "When did yours bond or whatever and did you get these visions as well."

    "Mine is a little different," said Tom scratching his disheveled hair. "It was under slightly different circumstances for me."

    "Can you explain further?" asked Ned, he felt a little relieved, he didn''t know why, perhaps it was the fact that he wasn''t trying to walk around blindly in the dark anymore.

    Connor seemed to have finally given up on saying impossible and looked up very pale.

    "You still haven''t answered whether its temporary or not," said Connor.

    "Right now, its temporary but I can''t say how long that temporary goes for, but yes one day these powers will most definitely disappear from this world, I just can''t say when, rather I don''t know when," said Tom.

    "Wow, yeah, that¡­" started Connor but he was lost for words similar to Ned. "I mean it should be nice and all but I get the feeling this isn''t done, what about that thing that happened with their realm, that great devastation."

    "It was caused by a single being," said Tom shivering all of a sudden. "The entire plane they lived in was turned into darkness, but I don''t know any further than that, or rather the one I''m hosting doesn''t allow me see any further than that."

    "So if these are gods of the various mythologies then they should all have names shouldn''t they?" asked Alexia and Ned nodded at this.

    "Yes they do," said Tom. "Ned, you host the Baldur the Golden Son, the being''s death that singly started the second Ragnarok and Connor, you host Hermes the Light Fingered, thief and traveler and as for Alexia she hasn''t awoke yet so I don''t know."

    "How do you know this?" asked Ned. "Is it just a guess or are you thorough."

    "It''s one of my powers," said Tom. "I''m host to a god that hungers for information, his eyes can profile a human so thoroughly so yes I am thorough."

    Ned suddenly felt vulnerable when Tom looked at him again.

    "I know Hermes is in Greek mythology so you say I host a god of thieves," said Connor slightly upset.

    "Not just thieves but also travelers," said Tom noticing the upset look that Connor had.

    "This Baldur guy, what''s he like?" asked Ned. "I mean is there anything I should be aware of besides super strength?"

    "Your information is slightly harder to profile Ned, Baldur''s golden radiance blocks my eyes, but I can still see a little and as for your powers I can''t really say," said Tom. "I''m new to this as well, though I may be slightly more experienced than you are."

    "Wow this morning when I got up I wasn''t expecting this," said Ned sighing as he too sat down, he just needed a little time to process this.

    "Well it is at this time I would offer you refreshments but¡­" Tom looked apologetically at Ned and nodded at the shop.

    "No¡­no need for anything, I''ll feel fine in a second," said Ned. "But since this is my power now, sort of, can I control it?"

    "Yes you can and there is so much more you need to know so keep everything under wraps for now," said Tom. "Damn it if only my shop wasn''t destroyed."

    Ned suddenly thought of the symbol on his back, it was when Tom mentioned his shop he remembered it again, whenever his eyes turned golden his back around that tattoo also slightly heated up.

    "I have just one more question," said Ned suddenly getting up and he unbuttoned his shirt and Tom took a step back.

    He pushed his shirt down and revealed to Tom the tattoo of the arrow on his back. "I don''t know if this has any relation to what you just said but it isn''t just an arrow, I can feel that much and I certainly didn''t tattoo this."

    Tom looked closer and he gasped and took a step back making Ned very nervous. "What is it, did something bad happen, is that not supposed to exist."

    "Of course," said Tom and this left Ned in a direr situation and he was feeling very anxious. "I was wondering why, Baldur''s golden radiance shouldn''t be able to so completely block out Odr''s eyes of truth but this makes sense now."

    "What is it?" asked Ned again. "Is it dangerous or something?"

    "No, no, it isn''t dangerous," said Tom. "Quite the opposite in fact, that''s a rune Ned, to be more specific the rune of Tyr, Tiwaz, the war rune, you see most mythologies or sources don''t mention this but Tyr was the first All-Father, King of Norse Gods, both Vanir and Aesir bend to this will and then after the first Ragnarok he lost importance and Odin took his place as the second All-Father and I''m merely guessing here but the third All-Father after the second Ragnarok cycle should be your god."

    "Wow, so it isn''t dangerous," said Ned and his spirits rose. "Does that mean that this Baldur character I host is really powerful."

    Connor scowled to the side. "He gets a bloody All-Father, whatever it is and I get the god of thieves."

    "Well you got what you deserved," said Alexia pointedly and both Ned and Tom chuckled.

    Connor stood up slightly enraged. "What''s that supposed to mean, I have stolen very little things from the day I was born to now, I mean sure I might''ve stolen some things, or borrowed but why did I end up hosting the god of thieves, I''m sure his personality is not similar to mine, can this egg-to-plastic thing make mistakes?"

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation."It''s called ectoplasm Connor and it could be used as another term for a ghost," said Tom and Connor suddenly stood up aware.

    "Ghosts you say," he said warily. "They''re not the creepy type on those horror movies and shows are they?"

    "No, well most aren''t but still there are some," said Tom and it seemed to be an attempt to provoke a reaction from Connor who already seemed slightly scared.

    "They can attack you in the middle of the night and all?" said Connor looking around this time very warily.

    "Why would they even attack you," said Alexia. "At the rate you''re going all they would need to do is show themselves and you would possibly die of a heart attack."

    "Alright that''s it," said Connor stopping his wary looks and staring straight at Alexia. "What''ve you got against me?''

    "Nothing," said Alexia shrugging and she got up and then she asked Tom. "This island shaking, does it have anything to do with what you just said?"

    "It shouldn''t," said Tom. "But then again I can''t be sure."

    "Ok I''m going," said Alexia. "Are you boys coming?"

    "Going where?" asked Ned still trying to comprehend everything that had just transpired.

    "Well I need to get to school, unlike you other people actually notice when I''m gone," said Alexia and Connor gritted his teeth.

    "Well people notice when I''m gone as well," said Connor trying very hard to hold back from possibly punching her.

    "I agree," said Alexia leaving Connor with a disgruntled expression that couldn''t be used. "So are you coming or not."

    [Paragraph Break]

    Just then they heard the rolling of wheels, it wasn''t a car and there were more than one.

    "The Blastboarders Gang?" said Connor not understanding what was happening.

    "They must''ve pulled a fast one like us when the quake happened," said Ned sighing as he looked at them.

    The tall lanky dude that appeared to be the leader rode past them without paying a glance and the other followed. The one taking the rear end was a tanned buff boy that both Ned and Connor knew. It was Kevin Erickson and he seemed to be having trouble keeping up.

    "Why would a dude that muscled up ride a board," said Connor shaking his head. "He doesn''t even fit in."

    "No, he does," said Tom suddenly surprising all of them.

    They all looked at him and he shrugged. "They all host gods, I just read their information when they rode past, all of them thunder or sky gods and that tanned boy whom I assume you were looking at is also a sky god Horus, Egyptian mythology, he might be comparable to you Ned."

    "Wait did you say all of them host gods?" asked Connor shocked and he really did seem pretty shaken.

    "What''s wrong?" asked Ned standing up.

    "Well think of the damage they cause when they''re just normal people," said Connor and he shuddered as he said the next part. "Now think of the damage they could cause and every single one of them hosts a good."

    Alexia herself seemed pretty concerned as Connor said and Ned thought about it, several teenagers part of a destructive gang all wielding godly powers, it wasn''t just going to end in disaster, there could very well be lives put in danger.

    "Are they that dangerous?" asked Tom and he seemed fairly concerned as well.

    "Well there was this house at the end of our street," said Connor looking at Ned and he suddenly remembered. "This gang went there and that tall dude that rides as the leader, he felt a little insulted because of an old lady that lived there and next day the old lady went out shopping and when she came back, what she found wasn''t her house but a spray painted wreck, a mash of wood and bricks."

    "My god," said Tom and he looked slightly frightened. "Surely they wouldn''t do something like that again and they''ve all awakened too, this could be a disaster."

    "No perhaps more than that," said Connor.

    "This isn''t going to end well for anyone who gets on their wrong side," said Ned.

    "What about the police, perhaps we should inform them," said Alexia and she seemed very concerned now.

    "Tell them what?" asked Connor. "They host gods now and we suspect they could do some real damage to the community using their new powers so please stop them, besides would the police even be able to stop them?"

    "Oh no, that''s not good what now?" asked Tom and he genuinely felt anxiety, a group of teenagers running around abusing their god-given powers was the last thing this artificial island needed.

    "I don''t suppose there are any peaceful gods in their haggle, like maybe god of grass or something, I mean grass is pretty peaceful isn''t it," said Connor hopefully as he looked at the ashen Tom.

    "No, they''re all gods of thunder or sky, all highly destructive gods, if they went on a rampage we''d all be in trouble," said Tom.

    "Well, I still haven''t got anything so don''t even bother asking me to do anything," said Alexia as a matter of factly.

    "We can''t really do anything to them directly that''d get us in trouble," said Ned and he was looking scared as well.

    "Well this is brilliant," said Connor nodding. "I was thinking that this was a very amazing situation and all, I mean we''ve got all these great godly powers and all but it''s funny isn''t how a situation just turns on its head in a matter of seconds."

    "Well, I wouldn''t worry about it yet," said Tom unconvincingly. "They''re not all psychotic are they?"

    "No, not all of them," said Connor. "But enough to make a mess of Hailing Isle I''d wager."

    "It doesn''t matter, nothing''s started yet," said Ned sighing. "We can''t really worry about things that could possibly appear, we don''t even know the extent of this situation and so we can''t deal with it yet."

    "Well put," said Tom smiling. "By the way didn''t you guys have school or did they let you off because of the quake."

    "No, we were under an evacuation drill," said Alexia and she looked pointedly at Ned. "Until someone decided he couldn''t wait to come here and ask what the hell was going on."

    "I wasn''t the only one who was interested in this," said Ned trying to defend himself.

    "Yeah but you were the only one desperate enough," said Connor chuckling.

    "Fine, I admit I was a little desperate," said Ned. "But I was freaking out seriously, I had no idea what was going on."

    The information they had just been filled with needed probably several hours, if not a day to process. Ned needed do some thinking to himself, some severely serious thinking.

    [Paragraph Break]

    It was a destroyed house, the property was to be pulled down any day now and to be rebuilt again. The reason it was coming down was not because of any natural reasons such as old house, or other imperfections but rather the Blastboarders had made this their gathering. They had ruined this house for that sole intention and now this was coming down. Inside the house currently resided all the Blastboarders and their leader a lanky, tall boy named Jeremiah, he had a very peculiar face and a scar just to side of his right eye and when he smiled, it twisted the scar up and his face looked cruel beyond recognition and if one paid close attention they could see several of his teeth had lost their homes in his mouth. Jeremiah had created the Blastboarders, a gang free of all natural law and order, the police and other authorities, it was a paradise meant for him and slowly that paradise extended. Jeremiah sat on a red torn couch inside the broken house, it was the only one of its kind in the house and the rest of his gang either stood or sat on old chairs. He was cackling madly as Kevin Erickson was trying to say something to him.

    "Jeremiah, we''ve always worked outside everyone''s controls, that''s what you said our policy was," said Kevin. "It''s why the Blastboarders exist."

    Jeremiah cackled madly and then turned his insane eyes at Kevin and he shivered. "Policy, really, I made the policy Erickson and besides me and The Echo have similar ideas for this island so it''s not that I''m being controlled or obeyed, it''s a mutual partnership."

    The Echo, that was the topic of their discussion. It was maybe a few weeks ago that Jeremiah came to them with orders from a new boss above him. Jeremiah didn''t point him out as the controlling figure yet from what they''ve done to what this ''Echo'' character had said anyone could see that Jeremiah was being controlled by this mysterious character. It was there all black and white. Kevin Erickson had disagreed from working with the ''Echo'' in the first place however Jeremiah had put his foot down and most of the Blastboarders were too afraid of Jeremiah and sided with him and there were few in the gang like Kevin and most of them didn''t bother to speak up, because they couldn''t really be bothered but Kevin did. He felt unnaturally homely here with the gang and he had a feeling that now the gang was heading down a bad path and he had try his best to stop this from happening. The Echo, that was the entire reason behind this mess. The Echo was the reason they attacked the old English teacher at H.I.P.S on her way back from school and put her in a hospital and though no one had been able to track this back the Blastboarders and Kevin felt unusually guilty.

    "We shouldn''t take orders from this Echo or whatever," said Kevin strongly. "We are a group of our own, we need to stand for our own beliefs and not do what some voice is telling us."

    "Kevin, you''d better watch what you say," said Jeremiah his cackling face suddenly disappearing to be replaced with a frightening expression however Kevin didn''t fear him. "You are only a member of this gang, I''m the leader."

    "That''s why I''m telling you, this partnership, if it is even that, with this new character, we need to cut it off," said Kevin. "We don''t even know who it is, we don''t know what he''s capable of."

    Jeremiah got up of his couch and he looked around scowling. "You''ll all stay here, right here, I know what he''s capable of and I know what I''m capable of, this is a good for both us and them and if anyone leaves I''ll cut them down."

    Jeremiah took out his switchblade as he said so and at that moment a clear shining blue hue passed through his eyes along with a trace of lightning, it wasn''t seen by anyone else but Kevin who facing Jeremiah directly saw it.

    "Jeremiah, I''m begging you, reconsider," said Kevin pleading again and Jeremiah walked down to him twirling the switchblade between his fingers.

    "There''s no need to be scared Erickson," cackled Jeremiah. "Please feel free to wet your damn pants."

    Kevin looked angry for a moment. "I''m saying this for your own good."

    Just then Kevin felt a sharp pain to side of his stomach and he gasped. He looked down and he saw a most horrendous and unbelievable sight. Jeremiah''s switchblade was sticking out of his stomach''s side and the shirt he was wearing was slowly wetting itself in red. He hadn''t thought Jeremiah would actually do it, attacking a member of his own gang.

    "No one needs to say anything for my good, Erickson," said Jeremiah and grimaced as he twisted the switchblade making Kevin gasp further audibly in pain. "No one gives me orders; no one should even attempt to it."

    Jeremiah pulled out the switchblade and Kevin collapsed and the blood hue that circled around his shirt spilled onto the floor and he clutched his found trying not to pass out from the pain. The last thing he saw was that familiar shining blue hue passing through Jeremiah''s eyes and the spark of lightning and then he lost consciousness.

 (Blastboarders Arc) Chapter 7: Injuries and Betrayal

    Chapter 7: Injuries and Betrayal

    That night at home Ned went to sleep very late. He was up past 12 looking into the details of Baldur and other related features. He had no school tomorrow because the higher ups had it shut down for several days it takes stabilize the city. His house was in a much better condition than the ones close to the Isle''s center. There was a small radio announcement in the afternoon due to the TV cables being knocked out of order that the quake was not actually quake but rather something had gone wrong with the Isle''s core thereby having it slowly sink into the ocean. It had been stabilized now and everything was going back to normal. His sister had turned up in a gruff mood that evening mainly due to the fact that she was on the Isle Core''s maintenance team and they had to work overtime so after telling Ned this and having a very quick dinner she rushed back out. Ned''s research on Baldur proved to be highly frustrating as nothing aside from the fact that Baldur had been killed by his brother Hodr had been mentioned in the webpages he had visited and he had just skimmed over them. He was hoping to find out more but the searches proved futile. All that information given by Tom about the Ragnaroks had him totally confused. Giving up on his searches he finally went to sleep before he did he did hear ambulance sirens and police sirens but it was something common around the housing district where for some reason people for the smallest things seemed to take an ambulance. Next morning, he woke up without the sound of an alarm ringing next to his ear at approximately nine. It was a nice day to sleep in anyhow so he turned around and tried to go back to sleep again. As he was about to drift off again the doorbell rang and his stupor was lifted. Annoyed and grumbling he got up and the doorbell rang again. He stretched a little and walked down in a groggy manner when the doorbell started ringing without interval and at that instant Ned had a clue of who it was. He rubbed his eyes and opened the door to find a very hyperactive boy waiting outside, his best friend Connor.

    He seemed to be in a slight panic. "Ned you''ll never guess what happened."

    Ned was swinging back and forth in his groggy mood as he tried to process what Connor had just said and Connor noticed it too.

    "Did you just get up?" asked Connor.

    "No, I woke up a little while ago but then I went back to sleep again," said Ned as he shook his head and cleared his eyes.

    He tried to focus to get his brain running again.

    "Well, Ned I''m a little sorry but can I come in?" asked Connor as he looked over Ned''s shoulder to inside Ned''s house.

    "Feel free," said Ned and he turned around to walk away from the door.

    Connor jumped in and shut the door and Ned saw that he seemed very wary and slightly panicked as well. Ned walked over to the couch and collapsed on it whilst Connor came in and sat on one edge. He then looked around the room for a little and turned to Ned.

    "What''s going on?" asked Ned. "Did something happen?"

    "Yeah, things did happen," said Connor. "You remember the Blastboarders?''

    "Well yeah kind of hard to forget them," said Ned and suddenly his groggy eyes widened. "Wait¡­ did, no, they didn''t do something did they?"

    "Oh yeah, they did something alright," said Connor. "So much for hoping they wouldn''t try anything, a family''s in hospital and their house was burned down last night around midnight."

    "Oh, oh no, that was the siren I heard yesterday," said Ned remembering back to the time when he heard just before he went to sleep ambulance and police sirens. "They did this?"

    "Well yeah they''re like suspects in this, but I heard it during the morning news, though there was a fire the family seemed to have been struck unconscious with mini electrical charges according to the radio news anyhow, the TV''s aren''t working so I can''t know anymore," said Connor. "But seriously you heard what Tom said right, they all host either gods of thunder or air and I do have my very strong suspicions."

    "No seriously, they wouldn''t hurt people would they, I mean I''ve seen them doing some wrong things but this¡­" said Ned as he found it hard to believe.

    "I know I didn''t think much of it either until the police mentioned that they caught someone there related to the Blastboarders and also that family being electrocuted," said Connor. "I might be trying too hard to fit a puzzle in to make the picture right but y''know I usually have a sixth sense about these kinds of things."

    "What do we do?" asked Ned. "We can''t go to the police; we can''t tell anyone except Tom either unless Tom''s already heard."

    "Well that''s the problem isn''t it, we can''t do anything," said Connor sighing.

    "We can go see Kevin, maybe talk to him a little," said Ned looking hopefully and Connor instantly screwed up his face.

    "There''s no way I''m going to visit him," said Connor. "No way, absolutely not."

    "He kind of used to be our friend," said Ned trying again.

    "I said no, no way, there''s no way and besides would he even talk to us, I''d bet he doesn''t even know us," said Connor.

    "Come on, he was good, remember when he used to hang out with us," said Ned.

    "Yeah but that was before he hit puberty and turned into a frickin'' giant, he looks like he''s on steroids now," said Connor. "Besides we just sort of fell apart, there''s no way he''d listen to us, we''d just be embarrassing ourself."

    "Yes but we don''t have to tell him all about the other stuff," said Ned. "Just talk to him a little and maybe he can calm down that other guy and the Blastboarders a little, I mean this is going to get serious in a little."

    "Why do you even care about this?" asked Connor. "It''s not like this is something we should be dealing with anyway, the police, I''m sure''ve got it all handled."

    "Yes but Connor, he can use powers just like us," said Ned. "We know that fact and if we don''t do something about it then I don''t know, it just doesn''t feel right, I''m not talking about fighting the guys, maybe a peaceful talk."

    "Yeah right, if those guys were so sane as to sit for a peaceful talk up then they wouldn''t burn down a damn house," said Connor. "We move into this and we''re all gonna be in danger, and that leader guy, he looks absolutely and positively insane."

    "Well we don''t have to talk with him, we can talk with Kevin," said Ned and Connor seemed to be in thought for a moment. "What do you think?"

    "¡­Fine, but you''re gonna be talking, I''ll just be standing back and watching and if he pisses me off then I''m gonna leave like that second," said Connor obstinately.

    "Well fine," said Ned. "That''s fine, we just need to talk a little that''s all, I''ll do it."

    "Well good, then we''d better get this out of the way as soon as possible," said Connor.

    "Fine just wait here, I just need to go shower and all," said Ned sighing.

    He went upstairs to finish his daily morning grooming, showering and brushing and then around past half an hour he came down again to see Connor leaning back on the couch and looking blankly at a turned off TV. It wouldn''t have seemed strange if the TV was actually but Connor was just as much attention to the blank TV screen as one would pay to active TV screen.

    "What are you looking at?" asked Ned sneaking up behind Connor unintentionally and he jumped nearly a foot into the air.

    "Holy hell!" gasped Connor as he clutched his chest, he felt like he nearly had a heart attack.

    "You seem to be watching something interesting," said Ned. "What are you watching?"

    "Screw you Ned, really," said Connor still gasping a little. "You could''ve just walked up like a normal person and come in front of me, bloody sneaking up behind¡­"

    "Well yeah but then I wouldn''t have seen your current expression, and it''s priceless by the way, a pity I didn''t take a snap," said a chuckling Ned to a scowling Connor.

    "Why don''t we go now." Connor was annoyed, he had been in deep thought and that was taken advantage and he was frightened.

    "Well yes, let''s go," said Ned as he adjusted his shirt and combed his hair sideways.

    "Fine, do you remember where his house is?" asked Connor.

    "It hasn''t changed has it?" asked Ned, he couldn''t be sure, it had been a long time since he had been to Kevin''s house, a very long time, approximately two or three years.

    "I don''t think so, but how would I know?" said Connor annoyed, he was still pissed at going to Kevin''s.

    "Well we can just go to his house and then if it isn''t errr¡­ his house then we''ll his proceed from there," said Ned and Connor shrugged.

    "Sure, whatever you say."

    Since the house was a fair way away and was closer to the school and since Ned didn''t feel like walking he decided to take his bike and Connor climbed on behind him.

    "Do go carefully and I''m saying this because I know your reckless nature, if you decide to pedal fast down a hill then this time we''ll both be screwed," said Connor remembering yesterday when Ned bolted down.

    "Don''t worry, I won''t pedal that fast but just in case, if something happens you''re free to jump off," said Ned. "You''ve been warned."

    [Paragraph Break]

    Ned pedaled out of his house''s driveway and surprisingly, or not so surprisingly now, it didn''t take that much effort for him to pedal two people''s worth especially up a hill, he had no doubt it was because of his powers. He was physically fit no doubt but there was no way he''d be able to pedal himself and Connor up a hill as steep as the one that came up a few meters from his house, the hill on which Connor''s house resided in with his normal effort. Even though at first he had found this almost freakish he was starting to like the benefits his powers gave him.

    As they pedaled up the hill Ned asked Connor a question. "Did you use your powers again after that time at the school?"

    "Not really man," said Connor. "But it does feel like I''ve become a lot more hyperactive, my uncle noticed it yesterday when I was acting up a lot more yesterday than usual days."

    "Well, I don''t think that''s your powers or anything Connor but still¡­" Ned had reached the crest of the hill and he looked down.

    "No, Ned, don''t," warned Connor warily but he hadn''t even closed his mouth after speaking that sentence when they went over the crest at speed.

    Ned didn''t bother applying any breaks and behind him he could hear Connor screaming as he whistled down the slope with a highly exhilarating feeling.

    "NED YOU ASS!" screamed out Connor as bike picked up further speed on the slope.

    "It''s all about the thrill," said Ned laughing out loud.

    This time they luckily reached the bottom without any mishaps and Connor''s heart rate was beating twice as fast and he tried to calm down. No accidents had happened and he was eternally grateful for that.

    "Ned, your super strength doesn''t come with super invulnerability does it?" asked Connor leaving Ned to chuckle.

    "I don''t know but we could try if you want," said Ned and Connor could sense he was gearing for something further reckless.

    "No, no, don''t worry about it," cried out Connor abruptly stopping Ned. "Just, let''s go to Kevin''s,"

    "Yeah sure," said Ned and he pedaled this time at a normal pace forwards.

    As they pedaled past Grey Tom Antiquary they could still see its destruction, the rubble pieces, it hadn''t shifted much from yesterday. Ned stopped the bike to look around for Tom, if Tom was here then he could tell the news unless he had already heard it. Unfortunately, it seemed there was not even the remotest movement of people around the crumbled area of the shop, it was all quiet. Ned hadn''t expected Tom to be here anyhow, his shop was destroyed and his shop was also his house so naturally he would go in search of temporary shelter.

    "Lucky for us the damage didn''t extend into the housing district," said Ned sighing and continued pedaling with Connor behind.

    "Well yes it is, a devastated house does not make good living quarters," said Connor as he still looked at the destroyed Grey Tom Antiquary.

    "What are they doing for the repairs?" asked Ned. "Do you know?"

    "Well just bits of information I got from my uncle, they''ve dispatched teams out to separate districts to assess the damage and all," said Connor. "So far they''ve only done reparation to the school, my uncle says it''s in a real bad state."

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version."Well that makes it no more school for a couple more days, at least until the surrounding area around the school''s fixed they wouldn''t dare open it," said Ned.

    They rode on towards Kevin''s house. Despite Kevin being a juvenile gang member his family was rich and mildly influential on Hailing Isle, they had seen his house back when they were still friends and it equivocated to a small estate rather than a house. The central district''s outer ring fast approached as they rode past a semi-devastated H.I.P.S and the house was spotted from a fair distance away. A large whitewashed house that sat in the center of a very grassy garden which surrounded it. It was maintained throughout the years by a gardener the Ericksons hired, strangely the gardener was also an excellent cook. They pedaled up to the gates of the house and paused.

    [Paragraph Break]

    "Wondering now if this was a bad idea," said Ned nervously as he looked at the gated estate.

    "Well I did tell you," said Connor and he slid off the bike.

    "We came here, we have to go in," said Ned his voice still tinged with layers of nervousness.

    "No we don''t, we can just ride back, we don''t have to do anything," snorted Connor.

    "Here just hold this bike," said Ned as he got of it and pushed it onto his friend.

    Connor grabbed the bike and stabilized whilst Ned walked up to the gates. As he expected an old man came out, he wore a frayed white t-shirt, well the t-shirt was supposed to be white but it looked more brown in color. He wore slightly ripped pants and was around maybe half a head taller than Ned. He had a face with wrinkles from always smiling, indeed whenever Ned used to see him in the past this gardener always had this light smile on his face. His name was Fen, well that was what Kevin told him and Ned never knew his real full name and he had gotten used to Fen too much by then to even ask what his real name was. Fen looked over Ned with curiosity and then smiled, he seemed to have recognized who Ned was despite the long two-year gap.

    "Mr. Caesar, a pleasant surprise," said Fen as he smiled. "It has been a long time."

    "Things changed," said Ned still edgy, it felt so unfamiliar to talk to Fen like this again.

    "Of course, I assumed as much, a pity young master''s current company isn''t as pleasant as you were, where''s Mr. James?" asked Fen.

    "Connor''s here with me as well," said Ned and he hurriedly motioned for a disgruntled Connor to rush forth.

    Despite his unwillingness he came forth and he found it hard to keep his disgruntled look in front of Fen the kind gardener.

    "Speaking of it all, where''s Kevin?" asked Ned curiously as he peered inside the gates.

    Fen''s smile disappeared all of a sudden to be replaced with a grave look. "I''m afraid young master nor his family are here today, they''re at the emergency hospital set up after the recent incidents."

    "They got injured?" said Ned surprised, he had seen Kevin clearly skateboarding past him during his talk with Tom and so he assumed it was maybe a family member.

    "Not they Mr. Caesar, he did, young master Kevin got injured yesterday," said Fen and this time Connor revealed his surprise as well.

    "But Kevin was nowhere near the main events of the quake after the core malfunctioned," said Connor. "How could he get injured in the quake."

    "Yeah, we saw him riding away from the school as well," said Ned chiming in.

    "It would be slightly more bearable if the quake was the cause of his injuries," said Fen sighing. "I''m afraid this is a different case; young master Kevin was stabbed."

    "Stabbed¡­" trailed off Connor. "Holy hell, how, I mean where, when?"

    "I do not know," said Fen. "I only heard the vaguest of details, his family in its entirety rushed out immediately upon receiving the news last evening."

    "Oh my god¡­ stabbed of all thing in the quake," said Ned frowning and he turned Connor.

    "Yeah it could be them, Blastboarders, they also have a mean streak even to their own members," whispered back Connor and Fen seemed to have caught several words for he looked curiously at both of them while asking them a question.

    "Do you know who hurt young master Kevin?"

    "Errr, no Fen, I''m afraid not," said Ned. "You said he was at the emergency hospital?"

    "Yes Mr. Caesar."

    "Thanks," said Ned smiling back.

    "Yeah thanks," Connor repeated nodding.

    "It''s no problem at all Mr. Caesar, Mr. James," said Fen.

    "We should probably get going then," said Ned. "We need to go visit Kevin."

    "Well then I''ll hopefully see both of you later," said Fen and both Ned and Connor nodded their thanks again.

    Connor handed a thoughtful Ned back his bike which he unconsciously grabbed. Kevin had been stabbed, there was no doubt this had to have something to do with the Blastboarders, if his family received news last evening then that midnight Kevin was not at the scene of the latest suspected Blastboarders crime.

    "Well what do you think happened?" asked Connor.

    "I''m thinking internal struggles," said Ned. "In fact there''s a high chance of it."

    "Same here, though what caused it?" asked Connor.

    "We''ll ask him when we get to the hospital," said Ned and sure enough Connor nodded, he seemed a lot more interested in visiting Kevin now.

    Connor climbed on the back of Ned''s bike again as Ned pedaled to the emergency hospital. It was a vacant spot near the Hailing Isle Public Hospital, a space commissioned for emergency uses on the off chance a disaster such as this struck the Isle. Tents would be set up there in which the doctors would operate until the hospital building was safe again. The hospital was set in the central district along with other major businesses and after the central district was the core area where Ned''s sister Kathleen worked.

    "It''s been a real long time since we''ve talked," said Ned and when Connor didn''t say anything Ned continued. "It''s going to be very awkward."

    "Why''re we going to chat with him?" asked Connor. "We''ll just ask what we need and then get out."

    "Anyone ever tell you that you hold your grudges too seriously?" asked Ned sighing, he had seen many a times when Connor held deep resentment for the littlest of things, he was very sensitive that way.

    "Everyone holds grudges, I just hold them a little better," muttered Connor. "Besides I''m right in hating him a little, even after he split from us he could''ve gotten better friends."

    "You were the one harping on about how cool the Blastboarders were," said Ned.

    "True but that''s only as an observer, I wouldn''t want to join them," retorted Connor.

    "Ok, but still I can''t believe that he''d actually get stabbed, Blastboarders have up till now held themselves back to hurting people outside their gangs but now they''re even fighting amongst themselves."

    "They''re all crazies, it''s been some time coming but that tall guy needs to be locked up," said Connor. "In fact all of them needs to be locked in a mental institution, they''ve gotten away with too much."

    "I agree on that point," said Ned.

    As the pedaled past further they saw the utter devastation of some buildings whilst others were left completely intact, a surprising fact to anyone who didn''t know how this island was set out but the buildings that were devastated lay above the caverns that extended from the core of the island. These caverns were used to contain and redirect residual energy which was used to keep this island afloat. Ned had learned all of this from his sister an engineer at the core. It was just plain unlucky that the hospital sat on top of one of those caverns and also very lucky that the school was on top of a cavern as well. Ned and Connor pedaled to what was once a glorious ten storey hospital split into three separate divisions. The main division had a crack running through the center. One of the divisions, the one to the left stood but it looked to crumble any moment and the other was all a mess. The area was cordoned off and men in orange jackets circled the scene along with the police. Several police cars had their sirens on. Just a little past that area, actually a fair few meters past that area where the place was considered safe was the emergency hospital set up to treat patients temporarily until the main hospital was fixed which could take several months. Connor saw his uncle standing there next to a policeman. He himself was a member of Hailing Isle''s Winged Order, a private police force recruited from real policemen on mainland, it co-existed with the main police force on this island but acted on the whims of the board of Hailing Isle which contained all the people that ruled over this island. Mr. James was wearing a very formal suit and tie as he chatted with the policeman and he looked seriously professional. Ned turned to Connor who seemed more unwilling to see Kevin now. Mr. James as he slowly turned from his chat to the policeman spotted them and he was naturally curious. He said a few words to the policeman he was chatting to and then ran over to Ned and Connor.

    [Paragraph Break]

    "Boys¡­ what are you doing?" asked Mr. James.

    "Hello Mr. James, we were just here to see a friend," said Ned smiling politely.

    Connor snorted. "Ex-friend, he''s not our friend anymore though he might need re-consider his current friendship."

    "Connor, please¡­" said Ned pleading.

    "I see, well then, what is this friend''s name?" asked Mr. James, for some reason he seemed unconvinced.

    "His name''s Kevin," said Ned. "We uh heard, he''s been brought in, he was stabbed."

    "He deserved it by the way but yeah he did get stabbed," said Connor. "Where is he uncle?"

    "Oh, that boy," said Mr. James his unconvinced look replaced with a look of realization. "Talk to the receptionist, but I''m surprised, a stabbing of all thing during the quake, not that it''s an alone case but it''s still more surprising when it happens you fourteen-year-old."

    "I''m not surprised at all, with his personality it''s a wonder he only got stabbed," said Connor annoyed.

    Mr. James frowned as he looked back at me and then at Connor again, he seemed unconvinced again.

    "Don''t worry Mr. James," said Ned laughing nervously. "Connor''s just slightly pissed, that''s all so, so we just need to talk to the receptionist right ¡­?"

    "Yes, that''s right, you can talk with the receptionist," said Mr. James pointing to a temporary building set up as the supposed reception.

    "You''ve got a reception in an emergency hospital?" asked Connor surprised. "Talk about priorities."

    "Well after the quake the visitors just flooded in, all here greet people near and dear, so we needed to make reception to process them properly, it''s not about priorities, we were in desperate need of one," said Mr. James slightly defensive.

    "Well yes, we''ll be going now Mr. James," said Ned and he pedaled away with Connor on the back of his bike.

    "You could be more sensitive to stabbed people," said Ned as he pedaled towards the temporary reception building.

    "I''m very sensitive to stabbed people, stabbings make me want to puke, along with a majority of other things that involve human blood but in his case he so thoroughly deserved it," said Connor.

    "It feels like you''re just holding vengeances these days, first it was Alexia and now it''s Kevin," said Ned sighing.

    "And you don''t hold anything against anyone, that''s not good," retorted Connor.

    They stopped outside the reception and were about to walk in when they saw that tall lanky person and Ned parked his bike next to the reception building platform. The leader of the Blastboarders, the tall lanky guy, he was coming out of the reception as Ned put his bike on its stand and then used the chain to lock it into place and as he saw them he seemed to break out into a mad smile which sent shivers down both Ned''s and Connor''s spines. Ned focused in on the boy''s eyes and he saw it the madness and a hue of bright blue as lightning passed through them and it seemed Connor noticed it too as they both took a step back.