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"So… thunder…?"

"Well, not exactly…" David said, trying to explain the feeling of sheer power he felt after he had sang. It wasn't easy. How could he explain such a sensation? It had come from inside him and had overpowered him in a way he could hardly have words for. But then again, Kris wasn't his best friend for nothing.

"Okay, you sang a song, then something came out, fired from your hands, blasted you to one side, blasted the other dude to the other side, and then you blacked out?" Kris asked.

"Well, yeah. That's… basically it, I guess" the dark hair boy shrugged "But it's really much more complicated than that, you know."

"Guess so, but you got to admit it's pretty cool" Kris turned with a twinkle in his eye "Can you do it right now?"

"What?"

"Can you sing and shoot something from your hands?"

"We- I- I mean, I don't know. I- I don't even know how I did what I did before"

"Hey, man" Kris knocked on David's head "Just to make sure. You didn't just fall or something and dreamt all of that, did ya?"

David dodged Kris' knuckles "Of course not! You don't know what it was like. It couldn't have been a dream!"

"Okay, okay!" his friend held up his hands in surrender "I was just kidding, man"

David kept on walking and Kris came up behind him "Look, man. I'm sorry. But you got to admit that even if I believe most of the stuff people tell me, it's kind of hard to believe what you told me."

David slowed down "I know" he looked at his best friend "I wish you could see though, you'd be pretty amaze- GET DOWN!" David grabbed Kris and threw him to the ground along with him.

Kris was about to ask what was going on, but then he saw his answer. A fireball passed right above his head burning the tips of his blond hair. The fire landed a few feet away from them and burned right through the sidewalk. Kris didn't notice his mouth was agape or that he still had a few burning tips of hair or that David had stood up to face what had attacked them.

David's eyes roamed the place trying to guess where the fireball had come from. A faint song, almost the same as the one he had heard before came from the house right in front of him. David saw a shadow there, but it wasn't the same one, the fireball this time had been the color of normal fire. He tried to see who it was this time, but then another ball of fire came at him and Kris.

"RUN!" David yelled, grabbing and lifting by the arm the still stupefied Kris. They hid behind the nearest house waiting to see if the shadow attacked anymore.

"You-I-him-f-fireball" Kris said confused and pointing simultaneously at David, the fireball, and the shadow. "H-how?"

"If only I could answer that" David told him, but then froze as he heard singing again.

"Hey, Dav-"

"Shh… He's singing" David whispered, trying to find where the signing was coming from this time.

Kris stayed quiet for a moment straining his ears, then he shook his head "Who's singing?"

David's green eyes turned to him "You can't hear it?" he said in disbelief.

"Uh… no?"

"But then why..." David was cut short by an explosion two feet away from him. "Okay... um... okay, w-we have to get out of here"

David pushed Kris to the back of the house, another explosion near where they had been told them that the shadow didn't know of their whereabouts anymore. They slipped away silently until they were sure they were far away enough and then bolted out of there.

When they were far enough they both stopped, panting as if they had run a marathon, although it had been less than a mile. The Physical Ed teacher had never really been happy with them. They stood there for a moment just trying to catch their breath, Kris was the one to speak first.

"I don't know... about you... but I'm definitely... not making fun... of football players anymore..." He stopped to breathe more "Dude, they run like hell all over the field!"

David just nodded in agreement then looked at the way they had come from.

"You're not hearing things again, right?" Kris said apprehensively.

"No, I just wanted to make sure we didn't get followed" He tried to get this dilemma out of his system with a big sigh "Well, I guess we can just take a shortcut from here and go to school"

Kris' blue eyes turned to him horrified "You're actually going to school?! The heck? This has got to be one of the best excuses to be absent! Why would you want to go?"

David gave him a look "Come on, would you rather be in a populated place where it'll be harder for whoever that was to attack us, or at home where you'd be all alone and vulnerable to attacking?"

"Five points for 'populated' and yeah" The Kris shrugged "I guess you're right"

"Well, come on" David started walking to the shortcut he had mentioned. He walked a few steps until he realized that he had no one following him.

David turned to see what Kris was up to, but raised an eyebrow when he saw that he was just standing there "Kris?"

Said boy just turned his eyes to his right side, as if trying to look behind him, then he looked at David with a look that very clearly said 'Look behid me now!" That was the moment David heard the high pitched sound.

He looked behind Kris just in time to see the thinnest of creatures appear from the shadows. The being was tall, about eight feet tall, incredibly skinny, as if he didn't have any fat at all. The muscle in his body was there, but it was only to give him some shape, nothing really massive. His skin was the color of burnt sienna and looked to be dry, really dry. He had no hair and his eyes were small like two little dots carved into his skull. His body was covered in a beige suit that fitted almost exactly to his body and the only things accesorizing him were two knife belts which were on his forearms and a pouch in his waist.

The creature lifted one of his hands to where David was and suddenly there was a loud, high-pitched sound. The sound came from the being and it pierced David's ears. David tried to cover his ears, bu then a freezing cold came over him and instead his arms went around him in an attempt to stop his shivering body. The high sound changed a bit and then David's feet felt colder than the rest of his body. He looked down to see that ice was starting to form around them. He then realized that Kris had his feet in ice too, probably the reason why he hadn't followed him.

David tried moving his legs, but they had gone numb already. He had no idea what to do. He closed his eyes 'Please don't tell me this is how we're going to die' he thought.

And that's when their savior came in the shape of their first enemy.

A fireball hit the tall creature right in his face. It was thrown back a few steps, but that was just enough for his effect over David and Kris to disappear. The temperature changed completely to the normal cold of their neighborhood's winter which now felt like the warmest of weathers after what they had just felt.

The ice being recovered rather quickly from the direct attack and looked to be mad at having been interrupted. Another fireball came at him, but this time it dodged to the right and the attack missed him. Instead of the attacker coming to them and finally revealing himself, the ice creature ran to where he was. It was surprisingly fast, and it went quickly out of sight, although the sounds of a new fight began, fading to the distance as it went a different way.

David and Kris just stood there, never really wondering how their clothes were now dry as if that dead-cold ice had never been there. Still struggling to believe that they had actually lived through that. They stood there for what seemed hours, but it had really been just three minutes. Then David looked at Kris, and Kris looked at David. In silent agreement they both begin walking slowly to the shortcut.

They walked in silence for a long while, but then right before they went inside the school from the back entrance that nobody guarded, David finally spoke up. His eyes looked at Kris' sadly.

"I'm sorry, Kris. I didn't know what to do" he said quietly, stopping as he said it.

Kris stopped with him "I'd be surprised if you did" he said sympathetically "Even if you're supposed to be chosen or whatever, remember you're barely new in the game"

"But we could've died!" David turned to him, his eyes showing he was still scared from that possibility "You could've died and I wouldn't have been able to do anything for being too scared! It's just... I don't think I can do this..." he finished in defeat.

"'Course you can" Kris put a hand o David's shoulder "Next time one of 'em freaks show up, you're going to sing until they go home screaming like banshees. Pssht, even if you weren't chosen they'd probably go home screaming from just hearing you sing!"

David couldn't help but smile at that, some of his worry gone, even if most was still there. He nodded to the entrance and Kris smiled too, knowing his friend felt better.

They went to class and came in together making up an excuse of being left by the bus and having to wait really long for the next. They were excused since the teacher thought it was too early in the morning for making more trouble than was necessary. David finally took out his MP3 player. This was the first time ever since he had gotten it that he had not listened to his music from the moment he woke up. He put on the earphones and put some soft classical music on. He really didn't feel like having his adrenaline pumped anymore by his music.

Their first period passed as normal as it had always been, so did their second, and their third. It seemed as if the weirdness of the morning was finally fading. Lunch came and both David and Kris tried making small talk, but never really succeeded. The bell for their fourth period rang and it begin as normal as the others. Everything seemed normal again, with David listening to his MP3 all day and Kris just being his normal weird self.

About ten minutes into his class David changed the song to something with just a bit more rhythm. It started out with the acoustic guitar and went on to having some drums added for just a bit more punch, in about three seconds the guy would start singing and- "Get out of there"

David's jump would have been seen by everyone had he not been sitting in the far corner all the way in the back. The sudden voice he had not expected to hear again had just spoken.

"Get out of there"

David got that horrible feeling again and decided to get out of the classroom as soon as possible. 'Not again' David thought. He excused himself by going to the bathroom. He went inside and checked if all of them were empty. When he had comfirmed that, he just leaned on the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. He waited for the voice to tell him something else again. Why had he listened to it anyways? He had no idea why it spoke to him. Was it to help him? Well, the first time it had saved his life, but he couldn't trust just like that, right?

Five minutes passed and David thought that it was about time to return to class since nothing had happened. He went out into the hallway and saw that it was completely empty. He walked back slowly, taking his time, trying to calm himself from the sudden panic. He breathed slowly from his nose and let it out through his mouth. His beating heart was starting to calm.

Then came the song. A song he was now familiar with and that he wished he wouldn't be able to hear it.

David stopped on his tracks and tried to hear where it was coming from, all previous calmness was beginning to fade. A certain pitch on the tone and David instinctively jumped to another hallway. Once again, fire almost grazed his skin, but to no avail. It did however do a number on the hallway lights and suddenly everything became just dark enough to call the place a bit creepy. David looked back to where it had come from and saw Shadow standing right there. He was too far back to make anything but a silhouette out of him. David was really starting to get tired of being attacked by an anonymous being.

The teen decided that the hallways were not the right place for a fight. He saw Shadow getting nearer although he seemed to be trying to stay out of sight. David recalled a mental map of the school and in three seconds had a plan that would've made Kris proud of him. 'I just hope it works out better than his zoo plan last year' he thought, and then went straight for it.

He sneaked his way through a parallel hallway and came back around behind Shadow. He looked to the exit and back at his enemy again. He could simply try to escape... but then again, the guy would stay here trying to look for him, that would do no good to any other student that crossed his path. He took a deep breath, this was it.

"HEY!" he yelled and saw Shadow turning sharply around "I think we need a little scenery change, don't you?" He smiled and suddenly turned and ran to the exit. He looked back once and saw Shadow running after him, more fire ready at his hands. He doubled his speed and saw his intended destination just a few meters away.

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Back in class, Kris was just beginning on a new masterpiece. He would call it... "The Epic Paper Gloves of DOOM!". They would go very nicely with his paper sandals and the emphasis on "doom" was a very ingenious idea, if he said so himself.

The teacher, like all the others, just ignored him. She knew better than to try to call his attention. The last teacher to have tried to do that had put herself in a psychiatric hospital. Let's just say Kris' weirdness knew no boundaries, although he was being kind of quiet today, she wondered why...

Kris on his end was as happy-go-lucky as someone who had just been on a life and death situation could be. He took a glance at the window 'Hmm... Besides the morning, it's actually a nice day today. The sky is blue, the birds are singing, my burrito is going down nicely, and David is running like a maniac across campus with a fire-throwing guy tailing him..." Kris' eyes bulged out on his last thought. He looked back to the classroom to see if anyone had looked out of the window and seen the spectacle. No one, everyone was paying attention. 'Sheesh, and they call me weird!' He raised his hand.

Mrs. Bianchi stopped and raised an eyebrow at Kris, she had never know him to actually ask something... "Yes, Kris. Do you have anything to say?"

"Um... Can I go to the bathroom?"

"As soon as David comes back you may go" Mrs. Bianchi said.

Kris rolled his eyes at the generic teacher answer "Yeah, actually, it's kind of an emergency" he said, looking out of the window again.

The raised eyebrow stayed there "I'm sure you can hold it until he comes back Mr. Dekker"

"But I really, really, reallyneed to go! I mean, come on Mrs. Bianchi!" He was already putting his stuff away on his backpack.

The teacher sighed "Fine, but only because this is the first time you have actually asked for permission. I do believe that we're making progress, maybe you can also start paying attention in-"

"Yeah, that's good and all, see ya!" Kris ran to the door leaving the teacher in the middle of her sentence.

She just sighed deeply and shook her head. Someday, someday she would get through... or go down in history as the second teacher to go the asylum.

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Outside of the classroom, David crashed through the gym doors, hurting his shoulder very much. He gritted his teeth in pain and briefly wondered just how those stunt stars could do that kind of stuff. He quickly got over it and went behind the bleachers. From there, he could see Shadow stand on the doorway.

David thought about hiding here until he left, but he knew that the guy had seen him run here. There was no denying that he had to fight, he didn't want to, but if he didn't it would be all over for him and who knew what other people or creatures could come to his neighborhood. David sighed, he really had no other option. There was no where else to run and he was running out of time.

He let Shadow walk past where he was hiding so he had the exit near him, then decided this was a good time for suicide and stepped out from his hiding place a bit. He tried to remember how he had done what he did before. it was a bit hard since he had been concentrating on keeping himself alive... Oh, right. His mp3 had spoken to him, it had told him to sing. Maybe that's all he had to do this time too. But last time he had sang something that was actually hard. Even if he had sang without any instruments to accompany him, the song had been punk rock. Maybe that's why the attack was so powerful? It could be, what if this time he sang something that was not so hard?

David tried to remember some song that was like that. He went through a list of songs in his head before finally choosing one. The lyrics didn't sound like something for a fight, but he had to try. Then he sighed and readied himself for whatever happened. He inhaled and, finally, sang his second song for a fight.

Walking these streets down the road
making sure my rhythm flowed
To the same corner I saw you yesterday
For a chance to meet you and maybe say...

There it was again, that feeling. The power he had felt within started to move once again. His hands felt as if they were burning, his head filled with the music he was singing, but not the actual music, more like the power that came from it. He directed his hands to Shadow and continued singing.

The world is alive every time you're here
The world is alive every time you're near
Most of this world doesn't know we exist
but, in my world, this is what you mean to me

Blue energy, just like last time, started building up and forming a sphere in his hands. David then heard Shadow's song, he looked up and saw red and gold light from the other side of the gym. He knew who that was, he had to act. David saw the sphere in his hands. It wasn't getting out of control, maybe it had worked, but how was he going to shoot it?

"Come on... start, go, blast!" Nothing was happening.

He heard a laugh from where he knew Shadow was. "You are new..." The voice said, it sounded very soft and calm, something which surprised David. "You will die..." The red and orange light became brighter and brighter until there was what appeared to be a ring of pure heat surrounding the figure.

Now, for the first time, David could clearly see what his opponent looked like, and what he saw surprised him yet again. He was young, maybe two or three years younger than him. His clothes looked like a combination of samurai and a S.W.A.T soldier's uniforms. His hair was a very pale brown, and his eyes were blacker than anybody else's eyes he had ever seen. His skin seemed to be really pale, although at the moment it was being given color by the fire surrounding him. There was almost no expression in his face, although he could see a bit of amusement in there.

"May I know the name of the one who will die?" he asked, as calm as he always seemed to be.

David gulped "I-I want t-to know yours first" he said, trying to buy a bit of time. How the heck did this thing work?!

The other boy nodded "My name is Jaleth, fighter for the Fifth Kingdom." he nodded again to signal David's turn.

David gulped again "My name's... David, fighter of, um... Earth?" He knew he sounded dumb.

"Then by my hand you shall end, David, fighter of Earth" Jaleth said solemnly, and faster than David's eyes he brought the fire around him to an astounding size. Soon, it begin to take the shape of a tornado. Jaleth sang a few notes and the fire tornado started forwading toward David.

David's eyes became bulged out. He looked down to his small sphere. Maybe Heavy Metal should have been the right choice...

Kris ran into the gym in time to see what was happening. He saw the attack and David in its path 'Oh, no' he thought. He had to think of something to do!

David looked at him and then back at his sphere. 'Oh, no' He couldn't let Kris see him like this! He had power just like the other guy, but how could he control it?! 'Come on, come on, come on... there's got to be a way to escape!'

The mp3, which had been left forgotten in David's pocket, turned on by itself. A sign of some kind was in its screen and the faint sound of chanting could be heard from the earphones...

"Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

Description
"So… thunder…?"

"Well, not exactly…" David said, trying to explain the feeling of sheer power he felt after he had sang. It wasn't easy. How could he explain such a sensation? It had come from inside him and had overpowered him in a way he could hardly have words for. But then again, Kris wasn't his best friend for nothing.

"Okay, you sang a song, then something came out, fired from your hands, blasted you to one side, blasted the other dude to the other side, and then you blacked out?" Kris asked.

"Well, yeah. That's… basically it, I guess" the dark hair boy shrugged "But it's really much more complicated than that, you know."

"Guess so, but you got to admit it's pretty cool" Kris turned with a twinkle in his eye "Can you do it right now?"

"What?"

"Can you sing and shoot something from your hands?"

"We- I- I mean, I don't know. I- I don't even know how I did what I did before"

"Hey, man" Kris knocked on David's head "Just to make sure. You didn't just fall or something and dreamt all of that, did ya?"

David dodged Kris' knuckles "Of course not! You don't know what it was like. It couldn't have been a dream!"

"Okay, okay!" his friend held up his hands in surrender "I was just kidding, man"

David kept on walking and Kris came up behind him "Look, man. I'm sorry. But you got to admit that even if I believe most of the stuff people tell me, it's kind of hard to believe what you told me."

David slowed down "I know" he looked at his best friend "I wish you could see though, you'd be pretty amaze- GET DOWN!" David grabbed Kris and threw him to the ground along with him.

Kris was about to ask what was going on, but then he saw his answer. A fireball passed right above his head burning the tips of his blond hair. The fire landed a few feet away from them and burned right through the sidewalk. Kris didn't notice his mouth was agape or that he still had a few burning tips of hair or that David had stood up to face what had attacked them.

David's eyes roamed the place trying to guess where the fireball had come from. A faint song, almost the same as the one he had heard before came from the house right in front of him. David saw a shadow there, but it wasn't the same one, the fireball this time had been the color of normal fire. He tried to see who it was this time, but then another ball of fire came at him and Kris.

"RUN!" David yelled, grabbing and lifting by the arm the still stupefied Kris. They hid behind the nearest house waiting to see if the shadow attacked anymore.

"You-I-him-f-fireball" Kris said confused and pointing simultaneously at David, the fireball, and the shadow. "H-how?"

"If only I could answer that" David told him, but then froze as he heard singing again.

"Hey, Dav-"

"Shh… He's singing" David whispered, trying to find where the signing was coming from this time.

Kris stayed quiet for a moment straining his ears, then he shook his head "Who's singing?"

David's green eyes turned to him "You can't hear it?" he said in disbelief.

"Uh… no?"

"But then why..." David was cut short by an explosion two feet away from him. "Okay... um... okay, w-we have to get out of here"

David pushed Kris to the back of the house, another explosion near where they had been told them that the shadow didn't know of their whereabouts anymore. They slipped away silently until they were sure they were far away enough and then bolted out of there.

When they were far enough they both stopped, panting as if they had run a marathon, although it had been less than a mile. The Physical Ed teacher had never really been happy with them. They stood there for a moment just trying to catch their breath, Kris was the one to speak first.

"I don't know... about you... but I'm definitely... not making fun... of football players anymore..." He stopped to breathe more "Dude, they run like hell all over the field!"

David just nodded in agreement then looked at the way they had come from.

"You're not hearing things again, right?" Kris said apprehensively.

"No, I just wanted to make sure we didn't get followed" He tried to get this dilemma out of his system with a big sigh "Well, I guess we can just take a shortcut from here and go to school"

Kris' blue eyes turned to him horrified "You're actually going to school?! The heck? This has got to be one of the best excuses to be absent! Why would you want to go?"

David gave him a look "Come on, would you rather be in a populated place where it'll be harder for whoever that was to attack us, or at home where you'd be all alone and vulnerable to attacking?"

"Five points for 'populated' and yeah" The Kris shrugged "I guess you're right"

"Well, come on" David started walking to the shortcut he had mentioned. He walked a few steps until he realized that he had no one following him.

David turned to see what Kris was up to, but raised an eyebrow when he saw that he was just standing there "Kris?"

Said boy just turned his eyes to his right side, as if trying to look behind him, then he looked at David with a look that very clearly said 'Look behid me now!" That was the moment David heard the high pitched sound.

He looked behind Kris just in time to see the thinnest of creatures appear from the shadows. The being was tall, about eight feet tall, incredibly skinny, as if he didn't have any fat at all. The muscle in his body was there, but it was only to give him some shape, nothing really massive. His skin was the color of burnt sienna and looked to be dry, really dry. He had no hair and his eyes were small like two little dots carved into his skull. His body was covered in a beige suit that fitted almost exactly to his body and the only things accesorizing him were two knife belts which were on his forearms and a pouch in his waist.

The creature lifted one of his hands to where David was and suddenly there was a loud, high-pitched sound. The sound came from the being and it pierced David's ears. David tried to cover his ears, bu then a freezing cold came over him and instead his arms went around him in an attempt to stop his shivering body. The high sound changed a bit and then David's feet felt colder than the rest of his body. He looked down to see that ice was starting to form around them. He then realized that Kris had his feet in ice too, probably the reason why he hadn't followed him.

David tried moving his legs, but they had gone numb already. He had no idea what to do. He closed his eyes 'Please don't tell me this is how we're going to die' he thought.

And that's when their savior came in the shape of their first enemy.

A fireball hit the tall creature right in his face. It was thrown back a few steps, but that was just enough for his effect over David and Kris to disappear. The temperature changed completely to the normal cold of their neighborhood's winter which now felt like the warmest of weathers after what they had just felt.

The ice being recovered rather quickly from the direct attack and looked to be mad at having been interrupted. Another fireball came at him, but this time it dodged to the right and the attack missed him. Instead of the attacker coming to them and finally revealing himself, the ice creature ran to where he was. It was surprisingly fast, and it went quickly out of sight, although the sounds of a new fight began, fading to the distance as it went a different way.

David and Kris just stood there, never really wondering how their clothes were now dry as if that dead-cold ice had never been there. Still struggling to believe that they had actually lived through that. They stood there for what seemed hours, but it had really been just three minutes. Then David looked at Kris, and Kris looked at David. In silent agreement they both begin walking slowly to the shortcut.

They walked in silence for a long while, but then right before they went inside the school from the back entrance that nobody guarded, David finally spoke up. His eyes looked at Kris' sadly.

"I'm sorry, Kris. I didn't know what to do" he said quietly, stopping as he said it.

Kris stopped with him "I'd be surprised if you did" he said sympathetically "Even if you're supposed to be chosen or whatever, remember you're barely new in the game"

"But we could've died!" David turned to him, his eyes showing he was still scared from that possibility "You could've died and I wouldn't have been able to do anything for being too scared! It's just... I don't think I can do this..." he finished in defeat.

"'Course you can" Kris put a hand o David's shoulder "Next time one of 'em freaks show up, you're going to sing until they go home screaming like banshees. Pssht, even if you weren't chosen they'd probably go home screaming from just hearing you sing!"

David couldn't help but smile at that, some of his worry gone, even if most was still there. He nodded to the entrance and Kris smiled too, knowing his friend felt better.

They went to class and came in together making up an excuse of being left by the bus and having to wait really long for the next. They were excused since the teacher thought it was too early in the morning for making more trouble than was necessary. David finally took out his MP3 player. This was the first time ever since he had gotten it that he had not listened to his music from the moment he woke up. He put on the earphones and put some soft classical music on. He really didn't feel like having his adrenaline pumped anymore by his music.

Their first period passed as normal as it had always been, so did their second, and their third. It seemed as if the weirdness of the morning was finally fading. Lunch came and both David and Kris tried making small talk, but never really succeeded. The bell for their fourth period rang and it begin as normal as the others. Everything seemed normal again, with David listening to his MP3 all day and Kris just being his normal weird self.

About ten minutes into his class David changed the song to something with just a bit more rhythm. It started out with the acoustic guitar and went on to having some drums added for just a bit more punch, in about three seconds the guy would start singing and- "Get out of there"

David's jump would have been seen by everyone had he not been sitting in the far corner all the way in the back. The sudden voice he had not expected to hear again had just spoken.

"Get out of there"

David got that horrible feeling again and decided to get out of the classroom as soon as possible. 'Not again' David thought. He excused himself by going to the bathroom. He went inside and checked if all of them were empty. When he had comfirmed that, he just leaned on the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. He waited for the voice to tell him something else again. Why had he listened to it anyways? He had no idea why it spoke to him. Was it to help him? Well, the first time it had saved his life, but he couldn't trust just like that, right?

Five minutes passed and David thought that it was about time to return to class since nothing had happened. He went out into the hallway and saw that it was completely empty. He walked back slowly, taking his time, trying to calm himself from the sudden panic. He breathed slowly from his nose and let it out through his mouth. His beating heart was starting to calm.

Then came the song. A song he was now familiar with and that he wished he wouldn't be able to hear it.

David stopped on his tracks and tried to hear where it was coming from, all previous calmness was beginning to fade. A certain pitch on the tone and David instinctively jumped to another hallway. Once again, fire almost grazed his skin, but to no avail. It did however do a number on the hallway lights and suddenly everything became just dark enough to call the place a bit creepy. David looked back to where it had come from and saw Shadow standing right there. He was too far back to make anything but a silhouette out of him. David was really starting to get tired of being attacked by an anonymous being.

The teen decided that the hallways were not the right place for a fight. He saw Shadow getting nearer although he seemed to be trying to stay out of sight. David recalled a mental map of the school and in three seconds had a plan that would've made Kris proud of him. 'I just hope it works out better than his zoo plan last year' he thought, and then went straight for it.

He sneaked his way through a parallel hallway and came back around behind Shadow. He looked to the exit and back at his enemy again. He could simply try to escape... but then again, the guy would stay here trying to look for him, that would do no good to any other student that crossed his path. He took a deep breath, this was it.

"HEY!" he yelled and saw Shadow turning sharply around "I think we need a little scenery change, don't you?" He smiled and suddenly turned and ran to the exit. He looked back once and saw Shadow running after him, more fire ready at his hands. He doubled his speed and saw his intended destination just a few meters away.

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Back in class, Kris was just beginning on a new masterpiece. He would call it... "The Epic Paper Gloves of DOOM!". They would go very nicely with his paper sandals and the emphasis on "doom" was a very ingenious idea, if he said so himself.

The teacher, like all the others, just ignored him. She knew better than to try to call his attention. The last teacher to have tried to do that had put herself in a psychiatric hospital. Let's just say Kris' weirdness knew no boundaries, although he was being kind of quiet today, she wondered why...

Kris on his end was as happy-go-lucky as someone who had just been on a life and death situation could be. He took a glance at the window 'Hmm... Besides the morning, it's actually a nice day today. The sky is blue, the birds are singing, my burrito is going down nicely, and David is running like a maniac across campus with a fire-throwing guy tailing him..." Kris' eyes bulged out on his last thought. He looked back to the classroom to see if anyone had looked out of the window and seen the spectacle. No one, everyone was paying attention. 'Sheesh, and they call me weird!' He raised his hand.

Mrs. Bianchi stopped and raised an eyebrow at Kris, she had never know him to actually ask something... "Yes, Kris. Do you have anything to say?"

"Um... Can I go to the bathroom?"

"As soon as David comes back you may go" Mrs. Bianchi said.

Kris rolled his eyes at the generic teacher answer "Yeah, actually, it's kind of an emergency" he said, looking out of the window again.

The raised eyebrow stayed there "I'm sure you can hold it until he comes back Mr. Dekker"

"But I really, really, reallyneed to go! I mean, come on Mrs. Bianchi!" He was already putting his stuff away on his backpack.

The teacher sighed "Fine, but only because this is the first time you have actually asked for permission. I do believe that we're making progress, maybe you can also start paying attention in-"

"Yeah, that's good and all, see ya!" Kris ran to the door leaving the teacher in the middle of her sentence.

She just sighed deeply and shook her head. Someday, someday she would get through... or go down in history as the second teacher to go the asylum.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside of the classroom, David crashed through the gym doors, hurting his shoulder very much. He gritted his teeth in pain and briefly wondered just how those stunt stars could do that kind of stuff. He quickly got over it and went behind the bleachers. From there, he could see Shadow stand on the doorway.

David thought about hiding here until he left, but he knew that the guy had seen him run here. There was no denying that he had to fight, he didn't want to, but if he didn't it would be all over for him and who knew what other people or creatures could come to his neighborhood. David sighed, he really had no other option. There was no where else to run and he was running out of time.

He let Shadow walk past where he was hiding so he had the exit near him, then decided this was a good time for suicide and stepped out from his hiding place a bit. He tried to remember how he had done what he did before. it was a bit hard since he had been concentrating on keeping himself alive... Oh, right. His mp3 had spoken to him, it had told him to sing. Maybe that's all he had to do this time too. But last time he had sang something that was actually hard. Even if he had sang without any instruments to accompany him, the song had been punk rock. Maybe that's why the attack was so powerful? It could be, what if this time he sang something that was not so hard?

David tried to remember some song that was like that. He went through a list of songs in his head before finally choosing one. The lyrics didn't sound like something for a fight, but he had to try. Then he sighed and readied himself for whatever happened. He inhaled and, finally, sang his second song for a fight.

Walking these streets down the road
making sure my rhythm flowed
To the same corner I saw you yesterday
For a chance to meet you and maybe say...

There it was again, that feeling. The power he had felt within started to move once again. His hands felt as if they were burning, his head filled with the music he was singing, but not the actual music, more like the power that came from it. He directed his hands to Shadow and continued singing.

The world is alive every time you're here
The world is alive every time you're near
Most of this world doesn't know we exist
but, in my world, this is what you mean to me

Blue energy, just like last time, started building up and forming a sphere in his hands. David then heard Shadow's song, he looked up and saw red and gold light from the other side of the gym. He knew who that was, he had to act. David saw the sphere in his hands. It wasn't getting out of control, maybe it had worked, but how was he going to shoot it?

"Come on... start, go, blast!" Nothing was happening.

He heard a laugh from where he knew Shadow was. "You are new..." The voice said, it sounded very soft and calm, something which surprised David. "You will die..." The red and orange light became brighter and brighter until there was what appeared to be a ring of pure heat surrounding the figure.

Now, for the first time, David could clearly see what his opponent looked like, and what he saw surprised him yet again. He was young, maybe two or three years younger than him. His clothes looked like a combination of samurai and a S.W.A.T soldier's uniforms. His hair was a very pale brown, and his eyes were blacker than anybody else's eyes he had ever seen. His skin seemed to be really pale, although at the moment it was being given color by the fire surrounding him. There was almost no expression in his face, although he could see a bit of amusement in there.

"May I know the name of the one who will die?" he asked, as calm as he always seemed to be.

David gulped "I-I want t-to know yours first" he said, trying to buy a bit of time. How the heck did this thing work?!

The other boy nodded "My name is Jaleth, fighter for the Fifth Kingdom." he nodded again to signal David's turn.

David gulped again "My name's... David, fighter of, um... Earth?" He knew he sounded dumb.

"Then by my hand you shall end, David, fighter of Earth" Jaleth said solemnly, and faster than David's eyes he brought the fire around him to an astounding size. Soon, it begin to take the shape of a tornado. Jaleth sang a few notes and the fire tornado started forwading toward David.

David's eyes became bulged out. He looked down to his small sphere. Maybe Heavy Metal should have been the right choice...

Kris ran into the gym in time to see what was happening. He saw the attack and David in its path 'Oh, no' he thought. He had to think of something to do!

David looked at him and then back at his sphere. 'Oh, no' He couldn't let Kris see him like this! He had power just like the other guy, but how could he control it?! 'Come on, come on, come on... there's got to be a way to escape!'

The mp3, which had been left forgotten in David's pocket, turned on by itself. A sign of some kind was in its screen and the faint sound of chanting could be heard from the earphones...

"Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"