20.

“You said you guys aren’t neck hickey official, right?” Albert said as he stood next to Elliot. He was commenting on the fresh, purple hickey that was visible just above Elliot’s collar.
Elliot dropped his head as his face heated up. He had made that comment less than a day ago and now here he was.
“See, what had happened was,” he said with an embarrassed grin on his face.
“Oh trust me I know what had happened,” Albert responded before they both laughed.
“Pay attention Vasquez and Haynes,” Professor Klein said from in front of them.
It was 8 a.m in the morning and instead of sleeping off yesterday’s debauchery, the team had to be here on the mountain pass for training. Professor Klein had told them before the M-Week festival started that she was moving their training sessions to an earlier time this week, since classes were canceled and the festival would be going later into the evening.
Elliot looked up at Sheree’s back as she hovered above him and Albert. Just Josh was to her right on his personal cyclone. The two of them weren’t close enough to talk quietly to one another, so Elliot figured they weren’t speaking.
“Your view is so much better than mine,” Albert said as he looked up at the back of Just Josh.
“Seems perfect for you,” Elliot said and smirked.
Not having a good comeback, Albert simply flipped Elliot off and remained silent. The gesture just made Elliot laugh harder. They walked along the windy, dirt path in silence for a few minutes. Until Josh saw something.
“We got something, oh wait, it’s just a goat,” he called down.
The team halted when he spotted it, but continued moving forward when he exclaimed it was just a goat. The mountain pass training area was the same dirt path from the woods. It started at the exit of the woods and went up to the top of the mountain. It stopped at the entrance to the dungeon. It was home to some of the stronger creatures that you saw in the woods, but mostly carnivorous creatures lived there. The higher you went on it the higher in Rank they became. Elliot shivered as he thought about the Mountain Lion that had attacked him, if it survived its injury, it lived somewhere on this mountain. He didn’t know how he would feel seeing it again.
“Remember, even a goat can be dangerous, if it feels threatened. Nothing on this mountain is less than a rank of F1, but we don't know what the highest ranked creature here is. So stay vigilant,”Professor Klein said.
“Do things ever come out of the dungeon?” Albert asked as he looked around, he was paranoid because of what she had just said.
“The entrance is sealed with a thick wall of steel. Apparently something came out a long time ago and it was so powerful, it slaughtered everything it encountered until a group of teachers, including the campus president, took it down,” Professor Klein answered.
Elliot looked at Albert with wide eyes and mouthed holy shit.
“What was it that came out?” Albert asked, anxiety audible as he spoke.
“I’ve never gotten a clear answer, some people seem to think it wasn’t a creature from earth, I don’t believe that garbage though,” Professor Klein said just before something huge and black appeared in the air above them
Its enormous body cast a shadow so large it looked like night had fallen suddenly. Two yellow feet with three dark, razor sharp claws sat in the air below the massive mound of black and brown feathers. One of the feet tried to close around Josh just before Sheree pulled him away from the creature’s reach. When the creature’s talons closed, two waves of blue energy formed and traveled to the ground. They easily sheared through any tree that stood in their way, removing the top half of a tree.
Albert sped in front of Elliot as the chunk of tree fell toward him. Elliot took a different approach.He threw a left hook in the air toward the tree, he hit nothing, but the crackling after effect of his punch hit it in a series of rapid explosions. Splinters and leaves were all that was left to rain down on them.
“Bro!” Albert said with his arms raised above his head.
The waves of energy hit the ground behind the group slowly and created large, deep, diagonal craters in the ground. Sheree and Josh landed with the rest of the group.
“What do we do now?” Josh said looked from Professor Klein to the giant bird.
Sheree scanned it, the words bald eagle rank B9, shown in the air below its talons.
“Whoa, that thing is a rank B,” Albert said shocked.
“So are you, Josh said.
His tone of voice made Albert wonder if he was being sarcastic. He said it in a weird, slow way.
Elliot made a face and looked from Josh to Albert. Albert took that to mean that he caught it too.
“Professor, what should we be doing?” Sheree asked as the bird landed in front of them. Its body looked like a mountain range itself.
The professor didn’t say anything in response.Her eyes had gone completely white as she stood statue still. It was at that moment that Elliot realized the bird had also stopped moving. Its round, piercing eyes also as white as snow, as it stared off into the distance. Sensing that the danger was over, at least for the moment, Albert decided to question Josh.
“What was with that comment just now?” he asked, his posture was tentative.
“What, I just pointed out that you’re supposed to be a B-rank too,” Josh said nonchalantly with a shrug.
Ellliot’s face betrayed his thoughts again and he scrunched up his nose at Just Josh’s wording.
“See, it’s not just me, you’re taking shots at me. Like what do you mean by I’m supposed to be a rank-b? If you have something to say, then say it,” Albert said and stepped closer to Josh. He had to look up at the much taller Josh, but he didn't care.
“Really, you want to fight, ask Elliot how that's going to end for you,” Josh said with a cocky smirk.
Elliot threw a punch and his arm stopped in mid-air, frozen in place, he looked at Sheree. She slowly shook her head back and forth.
“He’s an asshole, but he did almost kill you,” Sheree said calmly, displaying that cold logic Elliot hated.
“She can’t stop me!” Albert said as he rushed forward so fast no one could have reacted in time to stop him. He hit Josh so hard with the right hook that it sent him stumbling backward. He landed in the dirt on his hands and knees.
“You little bitch,” Josh yelled and began rising into the air on a wind geyser.
“Nope,” Albert said as he sped at Josh again. This time he jumped at the airborne Josh and knocked him out of the air with another right. Josh landed flat on his back.
“Run your fucking mouth some more, A-rank!” Albert yelled as he stood over him.
Behind them Elliot and Sheree quietly cheered for Albert, which felt strange to them both, but right. The moment ended abruptly when a broken tree branch smashed into the back of Albert’s head. The impact of it made him fall on his back cradling his head. Elliot ran over to him as Sheree watched in horror as Josh sat up and positioned a jagged piece of the wood over Albert. She caught it when he began driving it straight down on Albert’s unguarded abdomen. Elliot checked Albert to make sure he was ok, while Sheree and Josh stared at one another. She threw the weapon as far as she could,just before the bird’s head erupted like a volcano. Blood, bones, feathers and brain matter rained down on the team, as Professor Klein dropped to her knees in the dirt.
“What is going on?” she said and looked them all over wearily.

Chapter end