Disclaimer: The name Ken McKay belongs to Robert Frezza. The name Kane Fletcher belongs to Johanna Linsay. The name John Hawk belongs to Simon Green. The character of Roger McClintock and the Bronze Battalion belong to David Weber and John Ringo. All Sailor Moon references and characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, TOEI, Kodansha & Pioneer.
Damien's fist landed right in the middle of Ken's broken face sending the Rodent leader to the floor.
"You really do need to learn how to duck, Ken," said Hawk hauling the half conscious Ken back to his feet.
"Jesus. You could have just said, 'Thank you,'" muttered Ken, holding his face with both hands.
Honestly, Damien hadn't meant to hit Ken. It was reflex and the fact that the whole day was finally catching up to him. It was stupid. He was Damien Hellspawn, leader of Satan's Saints. He was not going sit there like a lost puppy whimpering for its mother. He was not going to allow his rivals to know that they had him both very confused and, for lack of a better word, frazzled.
He gave them his lazy, I'm indifferent to the world voice. "It's not like I didn't warn ya." He flexed his fingers. "You were right. I can punch anything I like now."
"That is so cold."
"Alright, kiddies, playtime is over." This was from Kane, who had remained quiet for some time. "The auditorium is what we call a strategic retreat. It was by no means a victory. Icesealia will be back. Roger's managed to piss her off quite nicely. This is no time to relax."
"On the contrary," interrupted Roger, "I think this is the perfect time to relax. Icesealia's lost all her goons. She needs to regroup. That gives us at least a few days. Besides we need to get back to class anyway."
"Class?" scoffed Hawk. "You're worse than a teacher. A gang leader who's afraid of missing a little class. What's the world coming to?"
"I've explained this before, but I'll repeat myself for the Hellspawn's benefit," said Roger irritably. "When we're in class we can monitor the teachers and students. It's the best way to scope out the next attack."
The next attack? "That reminds me," interrupted Damien. "Why the hell was I called down to the auditorium, if they were after you?"
"As a gang leader, you were the easiest target. Icesealia needed an innocent, someone who wasn't involved."
"A hostage," Damien supplied.
"Sort of," piped in Ken, his voice slightly nasal from the double smashing of his face. "You weren't involved. You didn't know anything about them or us. Icesealia didn't think we'd reveal ourselves if you were around."
"Like you'd really roll over and die. I'm guessing Icesealia is Artisa?"
"You got it."
"Who is she, really? And who are you for that matter? This still makes no sense at all. How did you all become 'superheroes'?" He made sure the quotations around the word superheroes were audible.
"It's not something we became. It's something we have been since birth. Some sort of past life experience or something. We haven't exactly worked it out yet."
"And Icesealia?"
Ken ran his fingers through his hair. "We're not real sure about her either. We know she's some sort of ice demon who's scouring our school for someone or something."
"First superheroes and now demons? Cut the crap."
Ken frowned. "Believe what you want, but I saw that bitch touch my brother and freeze him solid. I've seen her shatter windows by dropping the temperature in a room to below zero in the matter of seconds. We don't know what she's after, we just know she needs to be stopped."
Damien thought for a moment. Ice demons and superheroes? Teachers and gang leaders? How does it all fit together and why did the perceived good and evil switch sides. Teachers are the embodiment of right, discipline and knowledge. Gang leaders, however, are considered evil, greedy and unjust. How did the two switch sides? What was wrong in that picture?
"What about the other teachers? The ones with Artisa?"
"We're hoping that beating the living shit out of them will break Icesealia's hold over them."
"But you don't know for sure." It wasn't a question. "I'm getting a sense you don't know much."
"We're doing the best we can. Hawk's heard of a group similar to us that operate in Tokyo. It's a group of five junior high girls, though. Imagine how bad they must have it."
"Don't feel too sorry for them," said Hawk. "According to the Axe database they've been at it for about four years. They seem to know a lot more than we do and they are a hell of a lot more powerful."
"Leave it to Japan to have superheroes," Damien mumbled. "Now, what about me? I'm not a superhero and I'm not a demon. What do I do?"
"Nothing," replied Roger. "This isn't your fight. Just keep your eyes open and if you see any of us hauling ass, run in the opposite direction."
"Uh uh." Damien climbed to his feet. "That isn't what I asked. What do I do? I'm not letting a teacher take over my school. At this point I don't care if she's a demon or not."
"Fine then," agreed Roger. "Keep your eyes open. Let us know if you see anything out of the ordinary."
"And Artisa?"
"She'll be there. Act as if nothing has happened and she'll do the same. We've been playing this game for two years."
"Right."
"Right, now can we all get back to class?"