#Also can’t remember but im pretty sure axels the only one who can give you bonus missions | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lunawings · 4 years

Text

King of Prism All Stars Prism Show Best 10! Initial thoughts/summary/review

So I’m going to be splitting this post into several sections with space in between to make it easier for people maybe to skip over spoilers they don’t want to read.

Table of contents is as below: 1.) Day 1 Greeting Show Live Viewing brief event report 2.) Weekly theatrical video (week 1) 3.)1-10 Ranking and my personal thoughts 4.) New content (intro, ending, in-betweens, etc) 5.) Shin’s new show

1.) Day 1 Greeting Show Live Viewing brief event report

They had a live viewing for one of the greeting shows in Toyko. It was attended by Junta Terashima (Shin), Masashi Igarashi (Minato), and Takuma Nagatsuka (Leo).

The day 1 greeting shows are always kinda awkward. Especially if it’s a live viewing and ESPECIALLY if it’s before the show because they aren’t allowed to give spoilers.

Masashi Igarashi seemed even MORE pumped and emotional than usual. You could tell he really wanted to talk about Minato making it into the ranking, which should be a surprise for no one because he was really high in the preliminary ranking, but he still wasn’t allowed to talk about it.

So he had to like dance all around it with wide hand gestures about how.... these ten shows.... and how amazing it was...... that these particular shows...... hahah ahhh man you could tell it was torture for him and torture to watch.

Naganyan said that if by chance Leo made it in, he wanted us all to shout IIZE! for him.

At one point the showed off kanji they wrote to symbolize the new year (a Japanese tradition). Junta said he wrote 変 I think (the first kanji in “change” but it also means strange) but he didn’t have the board with him for some reason so I wonder if he messed it up backstage and they didn’t have another one? Haha. Naganyan wrote 華 (flower). Masashi wrote 手 (hand) and he talked about how hands can symbolize a lot of things, like holding hands and “taking that first step” but then he was like “wait that’s feet....” And it was said in a way where it was difficult to tell if he only just realized that now or not. Judging from Junta and Naganyan’s reactions maybe it wasn’t on purpose hahaha. But then he doubled down on it, and as he was explaining why hands are significant he kept forcefully grabbing Junta’s hand and being like “See? Don’t you feel something??” while Junta was just kinda looking at him like “ummm”.

I love these dorks so much they’re my favorite. EVERY SINGLE TIME I see them at an event together, Masashi Igarashi just goes on this HUGE rant about something and Junta Terashima is like “...........................................what?” (And Takuma Nagatsuka, if he is there, is like slowly inching away from them.)

I CAN’T WAIT to see them for real in Nagoya next weekend AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

2.) Weekly theatrical video (week 1)

So King of Prism movies always have rotating intro or ending videos exclusive to the theater. (The first movie had the characters appealing to be in the Prism King Cup, Pride the Hero had the regional dramas, and SSS had shorts after the credits.) Best 10 has “Prism Star Interviews”. Basically, you hear audio of one character interviewing another which plays to a static image of the characters.

Week 1 had Shin interviewing Hiro, Yu interviewing Kouji, and Taiga interviewing Kazuki. It was fairly low key. Hiro talked about getting his driver’s license, Kouji talked about sending weird food photos to Minato from abroad, and while Taiga was interviewing Kazuki someone (implied to be Kakeru) slipped him the question “Which do you prefer, tigers or dragons?” After going back and forth for a while, Kazuki ultimately says he likes them both because they are both strong. Taiga is not too happy about this.

Something to note about the intro videos is this time is they have four weeks’ worth planned, but there are only three courses of the movie. This means the course and intro video are not necessarily connected and as time goes on it will get out of sync and you won’t be sure which intro video you’ll see. I feel like this was probably done on purpose. After a while we never knew what intro videos we would get for the first movie and it was kinda exciting.

3.) 1-10 Ranking and my personal thoughts

10.) Yu / Shiny Stellar (SSS) 9.) Taiga / Fly in the sky (SSS) 8.) Shin/Shine / Platonic Sword (SSS) 7.) Yukinojo / Hyakkaryouran (SSS) 6.) Leo / Twinkle Twinkle (SSS) 5.) Kazuki / Freedom (Thunder Storm ver.) (Pride the Hero) 4.) Minato / Sailing (SSS) 3.) Kakeru / Orange Flamingo (SSS) 2.) Shiny 7 Stars [SePTENTRION] / Brilliant Oath (SSS) 1.) Hiro / pride (Prism King ver.) (Pride the Hero)

So I think the voting for this was actually pretty fair. Basically, people who bought the SSS soundtrack CD got a code which could be used to vote only once. So although it would technically be possible to buy hundreds of CDs to try and sway the vote, I kiiiinda doubt that happened? It’s not like event tickets.

First of all, I was surprised at how low Taiga ranked considering he’s always been the most popular SePTENTRION member. But then again, although I really like him too, there are several SePTENTRION member shows I would have voted for before him. I guess that’s because I would assume everyone else would vote for Taiga so he doesn’t need my help? So maybe everyone else thought that way too that’s what happened.

I’m also shocked at how high Leo is. He beat Yukinojo. HE BEAT TAIGA. After his ranking was announced the first time I actually started crying during his performance just because I hadn’t seen it in a while, and also I had literally JUST finished translating this.... so I was just like..... MY SONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN IM SO PROUD OF YOU (....dammit I forgot to yell IIZE. MY SONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN)

Platonic Sword is at 8 which is OK sure. But you know, to be honest, although I was so distressed by this show at first I’m actually kinda diggin’ it now that I’m used to it because it’s a whole lot easier to enjoy out of context (I don’t have to see Shin crying every time). But it’s just really weird to have THAT smacked right there it at number 8, right in the middle-ish. This supposedly 0 karat show.

0 karats my ass.

AND MINATO AT NUMBER 4 AHHHHHHHHHHHH

I can’t believe it. After all this time. He finally FINALLY got the recognition he deserves. The only SePTENTION member who ranked higher than him is Kakeru and I have no complaints about that because I definitely agree Kakeru deserves that number 3 spot. (You know, I wonder if this means Kakeru actually surpassed Taiga at some point to be the most popular SePTENTION boy? I’m just so used to it being Taiga, but..)

Hiro at number 1 feels right. I’m happy with it. It would be the same in-universe too. (Actually in-universe it would be like ALL Over the Rainbow but y’know.)

It’s really crazy how all of SePTENTION made it in (if you count Platonic Sword for Shin, although they did credit it as Shin/Shine which was nice). I think that’s part of what Masashi Igarashi was trying to say at the theater greeting: To think that the new cast could have come this far. To think that exactly four years ago I left the theater after seeing the first movie for the first time, and I couldn’t even remember over half their names... and look where they are now!!

Although I am certainly not unhappy with the results, and I know the SSS shows are... objectively better, it did make me a little sad that nothing made it in from the first movie at all though. Because those shows had a bigger emotional impact on me overall. I don’t regret using my vote for Minato, because I feel better having contributed to him getting the recognition he deserved than I would have if I had voted for something that didn’t stand a chance. But at the same time, Shin’s Over the Sunshine at the end of the first movie is probably the most important prism show to me, in actuality.

But they are doing different courses to show the prism shows that didn’t make it in. The first week they are showing a montage of all of Over the Rainbow’s shows. Watching them back-to-back with the SSS shows in this movie really highlighted how old they look in comparison, especially the Hiro/Kazuki Boy Meets Girl. Back when the only texture they used was for Hiro’s stomach...

But anyway, the credits revealed the other courses will show Alexander, Joji, The Shuffle, and Louis’ shows. It is also rather sad that none of the Schwarz Rose boys made it in. Especially since Alec is so popular! I wonder if Alec fangirls didn’t vote for Survival Dance in protest since Alexander has never gotten an original song. I felt the saddest about Louis though... because Shota Aoi and his voice and...... (C.... Can I just slip in the back room, cut out Platonic Sword, and edit in I know Shangri La?)

PS. I think the shows were pretty close to the same versions we saw originally. One notable change is that they added in some subtitles for cheering. Specifically “SHISHO!!!” in Yukinojo’s show and “YO! Daddy I did it!” in Kakeru’s. So I guess we were originally supposed to yell that. (Oops.) As I hoped it would be, Brilliant Oath was also stitched together without that long break in the middle, so in this version it just looks like SePTENTRION created the goddess on their own with their prism jump. But hey! It’s nice to have a complete version. Also Platonic Sword was missing the Prism Axel. (Maybe that’s another reason I could enjoy it this time around.)

As is tradition, the credits are set to a new SePTENTRION song. This one is called Love Gravity.

4.) New content (intro, ending, in-betweens, etc)

There are two new, very brief, traditionally animated segments. The first one is a cold open of SePTENTRION as power rangers fighting Alexander. What makes this even more hilarious is it basically starts right where the original Prism Show Best 10 left off. They even used the exact same background I think!? Some of the boys’ ranger costumes are... interesting... Kakeru’s (and I’m afraid this won’t translate that well to English so I might as well explain it now) is missing the entire backside. The joke is about the contrast between his two sides (business and party: lit his front vs back in Japanese). I think this segment also has the first ever anime/movie reference to Alexander being weak to Leo. (It’s referenced in Prism Rush all the time.)

The second new traditionally animated segment is at the end, and it involves SePTENTRON in the bath discussing different genres of dramas or movies they could do now that their careers have taken off. I’m pretty sure it’s a metaphor for “So much has happened in King of Prism, what now?” After all the discussion of different genres, Shin starts to get worried it means they won’t do prism shows together anymore. But they all agree that of course they will.

Then there are the Dorachi and Torachi segments. They are simplified and look as though they were animated in flash. In addition to counting down the Best 10, Dorachi and Torachi also have two language teaching sessions. First Dorachi teaches us some “useful” English phrases, i.e. Alexander’s “Go to hell!” etc. Then Torachi teaches us Aomori dialect. What makes this sequence so hilarious is how seriously they take it. Like, as seriously as you could imagine a chibi tiger and chibi dragon teaching you something would be. The Aomori dialect was pretty challenging too, and Torachi actually broke down the sentences, pointing out where the intonation was different and like.... IT WAS ACTUALLY EDUCATIONAL. LIKE..... I ACTUALLY LEARNED SOMETHING. The first two sentences we practiced in Aomori dialect were Taiga’s dad asking him if he thinks his grades can get him into high school, and that random background character saying the nebuta floats won’t be ready in time. But then we got a completely new Taiga line of him confessing to someone which needless to say was NOT in the show BUT...... the background was clearly the scene from the end of episode 3 when Taiga was trying to tell Kazuki something. Pfff.

There is also a longish short anime during the intermission done in the same style. Torachi finds Dorachi out of power, and the two get lost together trying to find a power source to charge him. Meanwhile Taiga and Alexander don’t come looking for them until after dark because they are too busy fighting. Moral of the story: Dorachi and Torachi are secret BFFs and Alexander and Taiga are terrible parents.

5.) Shin’s new show

My...... heart............................... my heart felt so full............. nnnghghhgphhhh.........

The context is that Shin is finally performing the song Yu wrote him in the costume Leo made for him at the Rose Party. So it’s taking place chronologically after SSS.

Daisuki Refrain is a very heavy audience participation song. Perhaps the most intended participation in a King of Prism song we have had so far? There is a beat to clap to, callouts, and even a dance in the middle and it’s pretty clear even during your first viewing what you’re supposed to be doing at all times.

Also, as I guessed from seeing Junta Terashima perform at the CD release event, Shin’s hat is a huge part of his choreography. What I did not guess is that it’s also a magic hat that grows and you can ride on it if it fills up with prism sparkle hahahah.

Ahhh man.............

....Okay. If you have seen it, I know you’re probably expecting me to talk about that.... one part...... So. I will. Okay. Here goes.

At one point in his performance, Shin partially obscures his right eye while his left eye shines red. W......Why is that in there WH--okay I kinda know why. I think Shin has been gaining a lot of popularity recently since the end of SSS specifically because of Platonic Sword, and because he has that edge now. So although they gave him a happy, fluffy, traditional Shin show, they still put in a little fanservice for the fans who like the edge. A little reminder that he’s still in there. While I’m like.... YOU... YOU STAY IN THERE. IM WATCHING YOU. Ahahaha.

One thing though, I could have sworn in the preview showing that Shin’s right eye (the one which would be yellow if he was Shine) was completely obscured. But when I saw it again on the premiere day, I could see it was only partially obscured and it was clearly the normal red. So. Surely I was just so surprised that they did that in the first place that I just didn’t fully register it. It’s not like they changed it in between the preview and the premiere, right..... RIGHT?

Right.

Okay moving on sorry that was too long. Haha seriously that scene is like 2 seconds and Shin’s show is SO CUTE AND SO GOOD. I really REALLY did like it and I’ve been singing the song all day.

And his new prism jump......................

I........

Nnngfdnnnphhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I really don’t want to spoil itttttttttt..... while I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you just wait and experience it for yourself firsthand like I did, at the same time.... not gonna lie... I also really want to talk about it. Because Shin. So I’m gonna end this post here but also write about it at the end anyway. So if you absolutely must know. It’s down there.

But.

Thanks for reading! READY SPARKING!

.........

...................

..............................

.............

.....

...........

.............................

............

......

Okay so Shin’s new prism jump. It’s called Mugen Hug Together.

And it’s basically.

A reverse Mugen Hug.

So Shin Mugen Hugs the crowd, but then the crowd reflects it back to him and he’s like AAAAUUUGH and, of course, it takes all his clothes off.

(And then there’s like an uncomfortably long black screen. Where it’s like.... did we kill Shin?)

(Did we kill him? With our love?)

(We did not.)

(I guess he needed time to get his clothes back on.)

Shin has one of his speeches where he says he’s embarrassed about how he wanted us to feel good but the opposite happened. Then the second part of the jump starts (or I guess it may technically be a second jump), part of which can be seen in the trailer. The part where you take Shin’s hand and he gets wings. Then he takes you around the world.

The end.

#king of prism #kinpri #king of prism best 10 #prism show best 10 #king of prism all stars #king of prism spoilers #kinpri spoilers

27 notes · View notes

mellz117 · 4 years

Text

Mellz plays KH Re:CoM part 4!

Hi welcome to my text based commentary on Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories on the Playstation 2. Right below are my previous entries

One

Two

Three

Check out the continuation of Sora’s campaign under the read more!

—I had a bunch of stuff written out in part 3, but tumblr mobile crashed on me and didn’t save it. Here’s my attempt at trying to remember it all. Can I do better than Sora?

I went to the Hollow Bastion. Off to a great start!

Hm something seems off I wonder what it is lol. Lovers’ quarrel? Can’t be that simple. I really appreciate how ready to play hero Sora is. Such a wholesome boy.

I dunno know, there’s a whole-ass community who will happily give their love to you. I myself would appreciate a hug from a fuzzy beasty boy.

—

Isn’t that how you’ve lived most of your life anyway? Books and your dad? Wow that reminds me of Meggie and Mo. I’ve been reading the Inkheart series recently.

I SERIOUSLY don’t remember any of this. Beast’s heart is full of uwu love for Belle so Maleficent wants HIS heart, Belle gets zapped with witchy magic and loses her heart trying to protect the Beast. Oh look at that, she does care. Maleficent tried going two for two and our favorite big dragon lady lost to a 14 year old who’s barely into puberty. I liked the mcguffen card, makes Maleficent too easy.

Belle and Beast are too cute omg

—Time for Vexen to introduce himself to Protagonist

“Who are you?!” Sora’s ready to throw hands with just about anyone at this point isn’t he?

Vex you’re full of shit. So this first fight with him. My death counter was 4? How fitting… The fight got super nerve wracking. I had poor card management and barely won with 3 cards left.

So despite MARLUXIA being dubbed in KH2 “The Graceful Assassin” on his… gravestone? AXEL seems to be the head hunter. He’s told to kill Vexen, sent to get rid of Roxas, I’m pretty sure if memory serves in 358Days he was told to kill Xion? Right? It’s been a while.

I want to run my fingers through Marly’s hair tbh. We got two of the hottest members of Org13 here talking about murdering their colleague, as you do.

—Upon arriving at Twilight Town, Sora tells a story from when he and Namine were little, a meteor shower scared Namine and Sora says he’ll protect her. How cute and wholesome! Too bad it’s more fake than a YouTube apology video! OOOOOOoooHH! Anyway, Twilight Town is my favorite world in this whole series and I WISH KH3 specifically had more to explore!

Next fight with Vexen. Like immediately after the first. How vexing haha. Death Count so far: 4. I’m getting really frustrated and my hatred for him just grows exponentially

Loading my deck up with 0 value cards to– oh WAIT I DONT HAVE ANY! Because stupid me decided theyre more trouble than theyre worth. OK time to pay the Christmas moogle a visit and kick an old man’s ass!

I died.

That’s 5 so far. Need to grind more! I’m level 41! I don’t remember having such a difficult time before. Then again I remember very little about my experience way back when.

I got further in on the fight though! Vexen even used his ice sword thing out of desperation! It was kind of badass, I like it. Except he beat me again making my death count 6…!

—MY DEATH COUNT ENDED UP BEING 10 IN THIS FIGHT! TEN! GET! FUCKED! IM SO FUCKING PISSED. I LOADED MY DECK WITH FIRE AND CLOUD CARDS, I LEARNED VEXENS WIND UPS AND BECAME A DODGING QUEEN! GET FUCKED!

I felt sorry for Vexen in his death scene but NOT TODAY! NOT TODAY! I can’t recall the last time I was so utterly pissed off at a video game. IM ON STANDARD why was I struggling so much?! I probably just have bad technique tbh. If I struggled this much with Vexen how will I ever stand against Axel again? I’m so done with this game and I still have another campaign to do after this!

—I didn’t even leave Twilight Town before bed. I relished in my victory, Axel finished Vexen off (RiP), Sora got scared, then mad, Axel had a tad bit of existentialism, and I went to bed.

So now Larxene and Marluxia think they can trust Axel. Larxene honest to god thinks, even IF Axel were on their side, they’d have a chance to overthrow XEMNAS, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Demyx, and Luxord together… OK definitely Dexyx but the rest won’t go down so easilly. I don’t remember what Zexion and Lexaeus are doing at Castle Oblivion at this time but that’s irrelevant right now.

LEAVE HER ALONE!

Repliku again. Oh no, he and Sora have the same memory of Namine and the meteor shower! They fight about it.

“You can’t both be right, it doesn’t make sense!” say Donald and Goofy.

“Oh so I’M wrong?!” Sora replies, angry that his friends don’t believe him. Where is that undying faith in one another? Sora wonders, heartbroken.

“Maybe you should take a moment to think things though” Goofy suggests in a ironically frequent moment of clarity.

Sora overreacts to everything he’s told. “So you want me to ABANDON HER?!” Now he’s putting words into his allies’ mouths, like a stupid baby.

—Axel shows he’s a sneaky sneak and not in fact loyal to Bloo- I mean Marluxia, and indirectly tells Namine he’s letting her go like “lmao NO ONE WHO’S CURRENTLY IN THIS ROOM wants to keep you here”. And Namine peaces out.

We now, sorry just Sora now, because Donald and Goofy aren’t with him, go to the Destiny Islands. We meet up with Riku, well not really, just a memory of Riku. An inaccurate memory of Riku because during this time he would NEVER trust Sora to keep a girl safe all by himself. “HER” being not Kairi but Namine because that’s the theme.

Sora fights the Darkside, not from Star Wars but Star Wars + Kingdom Hearts is a cool idea and could be realized. Hop to it, Square Enix! We fight the big Heartless and it was easy. The McGuffen card showed up only near the end so it was pointless.

Namine shows up! But it’s just a memory of Namine.. but wait she was never there it was Kair— Right Sora doesn’t know this! Even if it’s not real the pure joy Sora expresses upon finally getting to see her is so sweet but also super sad.

BUT THEN! A SECOND Namine appears behind Sora! And now the two Namine’s are both talking to him, and he is confused because how is anyone else supposed to even comprehend any of this?

—See you in part 5!!!

#mellz plays kh recom #kingdom hearts series #kh recom #kingdom hearts re:chain of memories #square enix #Playstation 2 #mellz post

3 notes · View notes

challengewriterssoul · 6 years

Text

Story 4

Prompt: “The murders, the fighting, everything that I remember. Is it real?” “No. We installed false memories in you. It was the only way we could ensure your compliance.”

“Zara, it’s time for breakfast,” I heard.

“I’m coming, dad,” I responded.

I grabbed my bookbag and I walked out of my bedroom and down the hall. I could hear the loud music coming from Axel’s room. I knocked on his door.

“What,” I heard as the music was turned down.

“Breakfast, Axe,” I said.

“I’ll be down in a bit,” he called.

I just nodded and continued on my way. I walked down the stairs and I could hear the giggling of my little sisters and brothers. I dropped my book bag by the front door and I walked into the kitchen. I saw my dad entertaining my sisters and brothers with his poor excuse of pancake art. I saw mom rushing hurriedly around the kitchen, gathering her things so that she could rush out the door to get to work. I smiled at her frantic running.

As I sat down at the kitchen island next to Jane, Max, Melody, and Ben, mom kissed dad and then proceeded to kiss all of us on the way out the door of the kitchen.

“MOM,” I heard Axel squeal loudly.

“See you tonight,” she called as we heard the door close.

I turned to look at dad and he had a dopey, lovey, mushy face. I knew that he loved mom very much, but I didn’t need to see it all of the time. I cleared my throat and he looked at me and grinned.

“Good morning, rosebud,” he said, “Could I interest you in some scrambled eggs and bacon?”

I looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:30 am. Axe and I had to be at school by 7:30 and it only takes Axe ten minutes to get there, but I knew he wanted to see his bandmates and his girlfriend, so I replied, “I’ll take two bacon sandwiches and an apple. I have to make sure that I am ready when Axe is so he doesn’t leave me behind.”

Dad just nodded and made my order and I made my lunch.

“Axel what would you like,” Dad asked.

“Same as Z, please,” Axe replied.

Dad handed me my bagged sandwiches and Axe’s sandwiches and I kissed him on the cheek.

“Love you, dad,” I whispered in his ear.

Then I walked over to Axe and said, “We’re ready to go.”

He stood and then said, “Later.”

“Have a good day you two,” dad called out as we walked to the front door.

___

When we got to school I gave Axe his breakfast and then I left him. He didn’t say anything to me, as per usual. He, being a senior, didn’t want anything to do with his sister who is a lowly freshman. I rolled my eyes as he headed towards the group that was sitting on the raised flower bed right in front of the school. I followed a pace and a half behind Axe. He had told me my first day of high school that I wouldn’t associate with him during the day and that even though his friends knew me I wasn’t allowed to say anything to them.

“Do you have to drive the robo-sis,” one of his friends asked.

I just ignored them.

“Unfortunately. If I don’t the rents get shirty with me,” Axe confirmed.

“She is such a drag. I don’t get how such a lame person could be your sister,” Axe’s girlfriend said in her high pitched baby voice. (Think Kristen Chenoweth)

“She isn’t even pretty,” said another of Axe’s friends.

I hated his friends. I kept walking to the front door. I was low-key livid. My own brother wasn’t even sticking up for me. But I kept my face quite blank as I made it to the door.

“Yeah, she is so fat. No one would ever want her,” Axe’s girlfriend stated as if it were fact.

I went inside and I kept going to my favorite spot in the school. I was in one of the old lecture halls. It was one of the halls that are no longer in use due to it not having enough room for people. It was a room that was almost never used. I sat in one of the plush red velveteen seats and as I ate my breakfast I cried. I hated my brother sometimes. I couldn’t understand what his problem was. But I knew that if I narc’ed on him, that he would make my life a living hell. As I finished my breakfast, I pulled out my sketchbook and I began to sketch. I lost myself in the sketching.

“There you are Z,” I heard.

I looked up and I saw my friend Cooper coming into the hall. I smiled. I was glad to see him and secretly in love with Cooper. He was tall, big; line-backer big – muscles, red hair; fashionably mussed, and big green eyes looking at me. He, of course, was carrying his book bag, gym bag, and his lacrosse stick. He dropped most of that at the door to the hall and headed in my direction.

“Morning, Coop. How are you,” I asked as he sat down next to me.

He just sat looking at me. I knew that he was reading me in the only way a best friend/secret crush can.

“I’m ok, but who made you cry this morning. No don’t tell me, I have three guesses and the first two don’t count,” he replied.

I looked away and sighed.

“Axel is a dick and his friends and harpy of a girlfriend are just as bad, if not worse. I hope you don’t believe anything they say,” Cooper raged.

He put his hand on my shoulder and turned me back to look at him.

“Z, you are an amazing girl. You are so wonderful that you are way above them. Don’t let anyone make you feel less,” he exclaimed looking into my eyes.

My heart fluttered and I felt like if I wasn’t careful I would spill just how much I really liked Coop. I smiled at him. Then we started chatting. He was telling me about his lacrosse practice and not that I really understood the rules and what he meant by the plays, but I did appreciate that we were talking about normal things.

“You know, you are my real best friend. You are so strong,” Cooper said randomly.

“Where did that come from,” I questioned.

“Well, unfortunately, some of my teammates have seen us hanging out together and were really speaking badly about you and I fought with a couple of the guys,” He complained.

I felt my internal emotions and my inner voice begin the degrading comments and emotions.

“You shouldn’t get into fights over me. We can hang out in secret like we are to…” I started.

“WHAT?! NO?! I will not let those assholes pull us apart. You are my girl! You are the one that will let me vent about stuff. You are the most beautiful girl inside and out at this school. I will not let them ruin what we have. You are my rock! So us being on the D.L. is not going to happen, ever,” He hollered.

I put my hands up in surrender. Internally I was still doubting, but there was this naggy part of me that hoped that something might come of this that I would really like. But Coop wasn’t like that.

“Okay, whatever you say. Just don’t fight anymore,” I consoled.

Just as he was about to respond the bell rang and we had to get to class.

___

It was lunch time and I was headed to the lecture hall, my favorite quite place at school. I entered the hall and I began to read a book and eat my lunch. I stayed in the hall for my entire lunch. It had been so peaceful. I didn’t have to worry about anyone making fun of me or staring at me.

As I was headed back to the Art studio, I heard screaming and saw students running. I heard gunshots. I blanked and froze. Then I saw the students with guns. I turned and headed to the nearest room, which unfortunately for me was my empty lecture hall. I felt my cell phone in my pocket vibrate. I knew that I had to get to safety before I answered it. But as I was turning the corner to get to the lecture hall, I saw two other students with handguns. I had no-where to go. There weren’t many rooms in my end of the hallway, because of the lunchroom and kitchens. So I hurried back into the lunchroom and I quietly snuck into the kitchens and I hid. I could hear the dishwashers going and water running. I didn’t hear anyone speaking. I took out my phone, dimmed the screen so it wasn’t full brightness, and I looked at my alerts.

There was a text message from the building principal telling us that we needed to remain in lockdown because of four gunmen. He also said that the police had been contacted and parents had been contacted as well.

There was a text from my mom and dad. They were both asking me if I was all right. I knew that I couldn’t call them, so I sent them a text back.

There was a text from Coop.

-Are you safe? Where r u??

I texted back: Im in the cafeteria kitchen.

A quick response returned to me: -WHAT?! There aren’t any locks on the doors to the kitchens. Please tell me that you are at least hiding in a closet or a cooler.

I texted back: No time. Both sets of gunmen were headed this way. I was cornered…nowhere else to go. I don’t know where the coolers/closets are, so I have to be very quiet and I am hiding.

The PA system crackled to life. I could hear some screams and gunshots over the PA. I could feel myself pale.

Then I heard a voice, “Good afternoon Deville High. Excuse the interruption. Would someone send Zara McMahon to the office? She has an early dismissal.”

I saw the Lunch ladies looking at me. I was wide-eyed.

Then another took over, “If you send her down we will allow the rest of the school to go free. We just want her.”

My phone vibrated with two text messages. The first one was from a number I didn’t recognize and it said: If you don’t come down to the office, we will have to go in search of you and kill anyone who is hiding you. Do you want blood on your hands? Because that is what will happen. I promise that we will find your friend Cooper Grayson first. Give yourself up.

The second text was from Cooper: Don’t you dare move! I will never forgive you!

I texted back: They said they would come for you and kill anyone who hinders them. I can’t let that happen. I’m sorry. I have to do it. The lunch ladies are still here and they don’t deserve to die because I was too cowardly to face these jerks.

A response came to me quickly: Zara, please. I beg of you. Don’t do this.

I answered: Should I survive this, I have something to tell you. I’ll see you later, Coop.

I sent off my last text and I turned off my phone. I took a breath and I looked at the lunch ladies. Then I stood up, put my phone in my back pocket of my jeans. Then I began to head for the door of the cafeteria. I felt like I was in one of those pivotal movie moments. When the protagonist is walking to confront the antagonist and the dramatic music is playing in the background. Although this was much too real for me and there was no soundtrack for me to walk to.

As I walked up the hallway towards the office, I could hear muffled yelling. I heard several gunshots. I felt upset. I hated that these terrorists were taking out people in the office. I hurried up my steps and as I got closer to the office I felt all of my fear melt away. I knew that I had to delay these monsters so that the police could get here and take care of them. I turned down the main hallway and I saw the doors to the main office. My heart was thundering beneath my breastbone. Each step I took felt like I was walking through molasses. Time felt like it was slowing to a snail’s pace.

I entered and I saw the four gunmen and I saw a fifth just sitting in the principal’s chair like he was the king of the school.

“Well, well, well, look who is here boys. The fat girl has become brave,” one of the gunmen said laughing.

“Oh dear. Well, it looks like we can’t shoot her boyfriend,” another gunman said sarcastically sad.

“Boys,” the terrorist in the chair said, “Get on with it.”

I recognized that voice. I heard that voice every day.

“Axel?! What,” I said shocked.

But before I could finish my question, I heard a gun go off, and I felt a pain in my left knee. I fell to the floor in pain.

“Awwww robo-sis has figured us out. I guess we are gonna finally get rid of her,” gloated one of the gunmen who turned out to be my brother’s cronies.

“Let them listen,” Axel said.

I looked at him and I felt betrayed. I wanted to scream at him and tell him that he was a fool. What was his issue? But I couldn’t I was too enveloped in my pain that I couldn’t deal.

I heard the PA system click on.

“So guess who showed up to the office. That’s right. It’s your girl Zara McMahon. She decided to save you all with giving up her life. So Zara, tell them your last words,” one of Axel’s friends said as one of the other friends dragged me over to where the PA handheld mic was.

“Speak, ugly,” the friend said as he hit me in the head with the mic.

“Please,” I gasped in pain.

“Please what,” that friend grinned while saying, “Oh I love it when you beg. It gets me so hard. Beg some more.”

Internally I was disgusted with his ugly words. I was hit again and I groaned in pain.

“I’m waiting,” he demanded.

I was still trying to catch my breath. I looked around the office through hazy vision and saw that the secretaries and councilors were dead and the principal was knocked out. I heard the gun go off and I screamed as it ripped through my right shoulder. I could feel my vision begin to blur more.

“Nope, you aren’t allowed to pass out yet,” he said as he slapped my face, “Get me the alcohol and pour it on her wounds. That will wake her up.”

A few minutes felt like an eternity but then my whole body felt like it was lit on fire. I screamed. I couldn’t hold it back.

“There she is,” he grinned and said.

“Enough Dev,” I heard Axel state, “Finish it. We’re going to have company shortly.”

I didn’t see the response but I did feel my hair get pulled so I wasn’t slumped over and the mic was shoved into my face.

“Last words,” Dev said.

I took a breath and looked right in Axel’s eyes and said, “Axel McMahon, Devon Newton, Rafe Ainsley, Jaxon Willis, and Chase Tobin. I’m sorry. I love you.”

I was promptly thrown to the floor and I felt the rain of bullets hit my body. My hearing muffled and it was hard to breathe. Dying wasn’t easy. I was gasping for breath and choking on my own blood. Finally, my vision blacked and I felt all of the tension leave my body.

___

I heard beeping. Steady beeping. I wiggled my fingers and felt something on my pointer finger. I opened my eyes slowly and I felt a nose cannula wrapped around my head feeding me oxygen. I saw that I was in a hospital bed. I tried to pick up my hand and found that I was shackled to the bed. I heard the door open and I saw two armed men, a nurse, and a doctor.

“Welcome back Miss Erye,” the doctor said.

“That’s not my name,” I croaked out in a lower octave voice.

I was shocked at just how low and sexy my voice was sounding. It was probably from being unconscious.

“You might be feeling a bit confused. Your name is Lillith Erye, Mistress of Death. Or at least that is what our files say you are called,” the doctor informed me.

“No, my name is Zara McMahon. I was in a school shooting. I was shot several times. The school was Deville High,” I said slightly panicked.

“I’m sorry Miss Erye, but you are in a black facility after Dark Warden stopped your dastardly plan and captured you. We put you into a simulation to rehab you,” the doctor stated.

“The murders, the fighting, everything that I remember. Was it real,” I asked devastated.

“No. We installed false memories in you. It was the only way we could ensure your compliance,” the doctor replied.

I turned my head away and cried.

#writing #my writing #prompt challenge #trigger warning #not for the faint of heart #fiction

0 notes