*DDDDIIIIIIIIIIMNNNNGGGG DIIIIINNNGG*
Bright and almost blinding light lit up a school hallway, revealing dozens of students wearing neat and tidy uniforms rushing out of their classrooms, jovial and ready to go home as the last school bell rang.
In the middle of this crowd was a 10-year-old boy. The boy had shiny, sky-blue hair, about medium length, longer on his sides, along with a messy but not unkempt top reaching down to his eyelashes.
In contrast to his bright appearance, his eyes were a deep black, onyx-like, and yet, shining just as bright as his appearance, accurately portraying his personality.
While everyone else was rushing out of the school, the boy with the sky-blue hair was walking slowly while fiddling with his backpack, almost like he was waiting for something.
"HEY SHRY, LET'S HANG OUT," a different boy's voice called through the hallway, sounding wobbly as he ran.
Hearing his name called out, the blue-haired boy instinctively looked in the direction of the voice even though he was busy with his backpack.
Right as the other boy caught up to Shry, he immediately hooked his hand on Shry, purposefully hanging on him, making Shry carry him as they walked.
"You were waiting for me, weren't you?" the boy said with a beaming smile.
The boy looked completely different from Shry, his personality different as well. Strangely though, if someone were to look at the both of them, people might think that they were brothers.
The boy had light hair just like Shry, but looking at them side by side, with that description, one would even say that Shry's hair color looks half-baked compared to Tiy's angelic white hair, which swirled and twisted around in a way that made it look spiky and maybe even menacing.
That wasn't the only thing that matched either, because, looking into both of their pairs of eyes, they share the same dark color, though they each have a different sheen, the minor difference originating from how they carried themselves.
"LET'S GO TO THE DUMPSTER, TIY!" Shry matched the boy's energy.
After saying that, since Shry had control over both of their movements, he slowly began walking toward the direction of the school's entrance, presumably ready to drag his friend to where that supposed dumpster was.
"Nope! We aren't going anywhere close to where this mystical dumpster is; we're going to hang out properly this time!" Tiy argued, raising his voice in slight aggravation.
With that said, Tiy stomped on the ground and directed his weight toward his legs so he could lock Shry in place, not allowing Shry to pull him along to some random location again.
"What's wrong? We're just going to th-" Shry was about to justify his action when he suddenly stopped, as he felt something foreign flying into his field of sense.
...
"That's the kid who can't use Node, right?" A random boy in the hallway whispered to the girl close to him.
"Yeah, and I heard all his friends abandoned him too. I wonder why" The girl confirmed as she added an unnecessary dash of gossip into her words.
"Do you think it's because he has some kind of disease or something?" Another kid jumped into the conversation, speculating from a rumor he heard.
"Shouldn't we stop that guy from talking to him then!" The first boy responded in horror, as well as concern for the people that walked near Shry.
Almost like the universe heard the boy, a small, finger-sized object drilled through the air, somehow passing everyone else in the hallway and heading straight toward Shry's head.
*Zeeel* the flying object, sounded as it zoomed through the air.
Five centimeters away, four centimeters away... and as it arrived at the 2-centimeter mark, that was as far as it got.
Almost like Shry had felt it long beforehand, he coolly tucked his thumb into his fingers, and in the next moment, he lifted that same arm and positioned it next to his ear.
*Peeew ukkk*
Immediately after, Shry's hand locked into position. With as much power as he could muster, Shry released his thumb and perfectly parried the incoming object, redirecting its trajectory to the hard wall.
"OH NO, I'VE BEEN ASSASSINATED!" Shry screams dramatically.
Immediately after deflecting the flying object, Shry switched the hand that was balled into a loose fist to spreading it on his face in an expression of surprise, overdramatizing his movements so much so it almost looked like he was dancing.
"We'll be going to laser tag today and not some random alleyway with a waterfall like last time!" Tiy continued their conversation, completely ignoring what Shry was doing.
(How does he even find those places anyway?) Tiy thought to himself as he reminisced about the last excursion they had, still perplexed by Shry's odd ability to find odd places even after years of knowing him.
"Noooo... But those guys are bullying me; I want to stay." Shry whined as he pointed at the opposite end of the hallway they're in.
Hanging out there was a group of kids, all with mean faces and scruffy fashion that looked expensive, but that just made them look more pretentious than anything else.
"Like the usual..." Tiy muttered habitually, but then his mind began to wander in a devious direction.
(I know Shry doesn't want to confront them; god knows how many times I have done that, and they still come back... But) Tiy thought to himself as he put heavy emphasis on the but.
"Hehehe, let's walk away and ignore them while laughing. I bet that'll get a fun reaction out of them." Tiy chuckled maniacally, grinning evilly as he suggested the idea to his friend.
Hearing what his friend suggested, Shry himself gained the same devious expression. And to add more fuel to that fire, Shry prepared an extra scheme of his own, making sure that he drew out as much anger as he possibly could.
"Hey Tiy, I'm thinking of THROWING a party this weekend. Can you get Cal and the others to HIT up my place?" Shry smugly told his friend, making sure to emphasize two specific words out loud.
(This is really funny), Shry thought internally as he laughed heavily on the inside and almost laughed out loud.
*PAKKK PAAKK PAKK*
Following their provocation, sounds of swift footsteps began to become more audible as the group of bullies angrily tried to chase them down while pushing away dozens of other students that were in his way.
"Oiii! YOU GET BACK HERE, YOU WORTHLESS SCUM!" One of the bullies shouted as they got closer.
Even with that, neither Shry nor Tiy even batted an eye at the bullies. Knowing exactly how to handle them
Ever since Shry started school, after the Resonance Day, unruly rumors about Shry's Resonance Path situation had been going around his and even the other schools near them. So, almost like a packaged deal, as the rumors got more and more ludicrous, bullies began to appear.
However, contrary to the expected outcome, the first ever bully that went against Shry didn't even last a week before he completely gave up, and like clockwork, this pattern kept on, to the point where it was like he was the one doing the bullying instead, despite Shry not doing anything directly.
"So, were you actually serious about the party thing? Because I really can't tell" Tiy asked in curiosity.
"Ye—hold on a minute." Shry held back his answer.
In a swift motion, Shry clasped his left hand into a loose fist that made his fist look bigger than usual. While his remaining hand searched through his shirt pocket, bringing out a small disk the size of a coin as the result of his search
Without giving attention to anything other than his conversation with Tiy, Shry repeated a familiar routine in rapid succession.
Shry slammed his clasped right hand against the coin-shaped device on his left, and right before they completely slammed together, he unraveled his fist, and quickly a gust of Natural Node was received.
Entering the coin-sized device he had in his other hand, the device began to emanate a light blue glow.
The light grew brighter and brighter with each second that passed; getting stronger and evermore blinding, the glow acted like a timer for a ticking time bomb.
"YOU! STAY RIGHT THERE!" The bully yelled with venom, getting more and more angry the longer Shry and Tiy refused to acknowledge their existence.
THING the sound of a fingernail hitting metal sounded
Unexpectedly, instead of dropping the device on the ground on its proper side, Shry chose to flip it instead, lowering the probability of success to 50 percent.
*TANG TANG TANG*
The coin-shaped device landed on the ground behind Shry, its light becoming blinding until it finally reached its climax.
Glowing almost as bright as the sun, it was the moment of truth. Everyone except for Shry and Tiy stood still, stunned by the light, and...
*WANG*
A metallic-ish noise sounded, and the light that pretty much engulfed the whole hallway disappeared in a flash; in its place was a metallic wall, blocking the line of pursuit for the bullies, as well as some unattended victims.
...
"Yeah, why not? I like parties," Shry casually continued his conversation.
"Oh yeah, and you better convince those traitors to come, or else it's just going to be me, you, and Yuwwe there," Shry added playfully.
As soon as Tiy heard Shry's statement about the traitors, he immediately felt irritated, angry even; he knew that Shry was joking, but he couldn't help but compare it to what really happened between Shry and their group of friends.
"Yeah, I'll definitely get them there; they will come" Tiy said, with slight aggression in his voice, his fist scrunching up just by thinking about it.
(I can't believe the others followed Cal and abandoned Shry, especially Cal himself... They were best friends.) Tiy spoke to himself internally, as he remembered what had transpired during the past 3 years after their Resonance Day.
"Seriously, I can't believe Cal got up and left you. What a great best friend he was, hah!" Tiy verbally complained, half asking a question, more to Cal, who wasn't here, than anyone else.
"Where is this laser tag place we'll be going to?" Shry suddenly asked, completely glossing over what Tiy just said.
"Eh... Huh?" Tiy felt shocked for a moment, feeling like the clouds of his gloomy vibe suddenly swiped away, Shry's immaculate brightness completely enshrouding it.
"Or maybe... we can visit one of the new mysterious places I discovered recently," Shry. Rubbed his hands as a puffy smile appeared on his face.
"No, no, no, we're not going to some mystical dumpster. We're going to that one place on Hrangsil Street." Tiy rebuked, quickly answering Shry's question before their conversation spiraled.
With that said, Shry didn't bring up the subject again, unless it was to change the subject as they headed out of their school from the gate and then to a nearby veranda with dozens of bicycles beneath it, all of them new and technical-looking, except for one.
"Are you not going to upgrade that bike with that Natural Node technology you bring around everywhere?" Tiy said as he got on his bicycle.
Tiy's bicycle was red to a tee, with dozens of designs, clearly hand-drawn with care and purpose, giving his whole bicycle a warm and fiery look, kind of like a fireplace in the middle of winter.
"Actually, that might be a good idea... But Mom and Dad and Mr. Luftra are all busy developing a bunch of other more important stuff" Shry deflected, giving a reason but also not completely denying that he didn't want to do it.
Vuu
Putting his hands on the handle of his bicycle, Tiy flared up his Node, making his hands glow vibrant orange, creating a noise as Node began to travel out from Tiy's body to every connected wire that was spread throughout the entire bicycle.
"You didn't answer my question. Why don't YOU make it?" Tiy emphasized a word as he tried to convey his idea.
(I don't know... Can I really make something like that with what I have and know?)
After hearing his friend's message, clearly laid out in front of him, Shry couldn't think of a response instantly. He ruminated over the idea, thoughts flashing by, telling him the reason why, as well as a separate folly of thoughts telling him otherwise.
(Wait, maybe I do have the materials!) Shry's thoughts went toward the storage house that stored a bunch of their old experiments, filled with recyclable materials, left untouched after they served their purpose.
"Maybe I can..." Shry responded dazedly as he got on his manual bicycle.
"If you need any help, you can come to me first!" Tiy excitedly said as he finally got the answer he wanted to hear.
With that conversation over, Shry and Tiy cycled off into the distance, heading toward their main destination for today.
...
"WHY AM I BEING SENT OUT THERE? I SHOULD BE HERE TO HELP WITH EVACUATION DEVELOPMENT," a teenager about the age of 18 yelled and raged.
The teenage boy had red-orange hair, like the colors of the sky during a vibrant sunset. His eyes reflected the same colors, with the same vibrancy but also an additional dark hue that created a slight contrast difference between his eyes and hair. He also wore a sleek uniform colored in black with white designs that almost made it seem like his uniform was glowing.
The person the teenage boy was yelling at was pretty young as well, though through a pretty loose definition in the broad spectrum of adulthood.
This person was the teen's superior as well as his overseer; he wore the same uniform, but its color scheme was completely different, the total opposite of the colors on the teen's uniform.
"Haaaa... Ren, disasters like the erasure of Pertice don't just happen every day," the teen's superior refuted frustratingly, sighing as he did so.
"Mr. Haze, with all due respect, what if one happens tomorrow and I'm not here? It's already been 3 years since the last... I can feel it; every time the clock ticks by, the next erasure of whatever city comes closer!" Ren argued, his voice getting more drastic and paranoid with each word he muttered.
Haze, hearing Ren's answer, could only feel unsettled by what Ren said. He understood how Ren felt, but his logical thinking told him otherwise, though an unsettling feeling still remained.
"It's for your training; you're still too inexperienced, even with your Origin Phrase, and you're likely to encounter Slettes more at the edge of the world than anywhere else," Haze explained, finally giving Ren the explanation he wanted.
"I..." Ren wanted to rebuke, but found himself with no basis to refute his superior's words.