Normally, moonlight complemented the beauty of certain things. Lady Skyber would likely agree. It bounced off her lustrous black suit, the rim of her top hat almost mimicking a halo on a first quick glance. It enunciated her presence as she walked, the highlights and lowlights shaping themselves into her likeness. It shone on her first as she stepped outside into the cold, dark campus.
The goddess had just walked out of her last class of the week. Mathematics never interested her. She thought that integral formulas should be left to the mathematicians. It was like a different language she had to learn—a mortal’s faulty understanding of the confusing world she created—which bore her all the same. Or, were they chemical formulas? Was it actually a Chemistry class? Well, it didn’t matter now. She was finished for the rest of the week, and now was not the time to think of more schoolwork.
The moonlight did its usual magic. Skyber took a deep breath. She couldn’t help but feel at comfort, especially on nights like this one. The stillness of the air left a calm silence aside from her own footsteps, and the faint whispers of a few students around the corner. It was a-
Wait.
Whispers around the corner?
Skyber stopped in her tracks. Who could be here at this hour?
Her back hugged the wall. Normally she couldn’t care less about the mundane affairs of others, but something like this could potentially be important. If it was nothing interesting, she’d leave it alone, leave it to the kids to be rounded up by the officers after curfew. But the unmistakable voice of one of the kids made her think otherwise.
“Of course I know what time it’s at! I’m no flake!” a feminine voice whispered. Undoubtedly Splats.
Another masculine voice she couldn’t recognize spoke. “I didn’t fuckin’ say you were. I’m just telling you not to miss it.”
“Yeah, like I would miss something like this. Moron.”
Skyber considered peeking around. Miss something like what? What could Splats be planning this time?
“Hey, don’t give me that crap. It’s not my fucking fault you always go back on your word. You should be lucky I’m taking time outta my day to remind you.”
“And what’re you, my boyfriend? Like I need your reminding. And news flash, this means a lot to me too, y’know.”
“Then you better act like it. They’re already making bets about you being a no-show. And if you don’t come, I’m gonna lose my fucking money.”
“And I’m supposed to care because…?”
The student scowled. “Look, bitch. For everyone’s sake, I better see your ass there Friday night, or you’ll be seeing the number of jawbreakers I lost in broken ribs. I’m not fucking around.”
Skyber couldn’t stay snugly behind her wall after hearing that. Whatever could that mean? She would’ve known of something so big that would warrant broken ribs over. Something was off, and she wasn’t about to let it slide. She peered over. Splats came into view, of course, as well as a tall boy with deep blue hair. She was sure she saw his face before. What was his name again…
“Wait a minute, do you see something behind that wall?” the boy asked. Splats turned around.
“Huh? What the heck are you talking about? There’s nothing there.”
Skyber had ducked back just in time. That was far too close. Something in the back of her mind wished the moonlight paid a little less attention to her at night.
“Whatever. We’ve already been talking too long. I’ve wasted enough time here anyways,” the boy said, then disappeared into the darkness.
As Splats was mid-rolling her eyes, the shadow of the goddess descended in front of her. Skyber’s wings folded into a cape as she dramatically opened her eyes to illuminate splats in her violent, violet aura.
“Skyber!” Splats jumped before assuming her calm and smug facade, as she usually did when encountering the dragon. “What are you doing out here so late? Shouldn’t you be putting Nova to bed or something?”
“Likewise. A little too cold and too late to vandalise the academy walls—and a little birdie told me you were talking about something very interesting with a certain blue haired boy. Mind sharing your tales?” Skyber smirked as she could see Splats’ irises dilate.
The girl stood silently for a moment too short for Skyber’s suspicion to rise before she spoke up. “Wow, I couldn’t imagine my sex life would interest literally God! I don’t know if I should feel flattered or blessed.” Splats donned her usual smug-filled grin to the face of the dragon lady, who wasn’t entertained.
“Both you and I know it was not about that.”
“Oh really? Figures you’d know what I shove up my ass better than I do.”
Skyber grimaced. “He was threatening to break your ribs.”
“I’m really into that sort of stuff,” she dragged out the sentence, “It makes me all wet and-”
“SILENCE.” A few resting birds took their flight as the goddess’ voice echoed through the woods that surrounded the campus. “I’ve heard enough of this nonsense. Go to sleep, I don’t want to see you out here at these hours.”
The redhead shrugged with a coy smirk as she turned to the dorms. “Whatever you say Skybie, goodniiight…”
The goddess only exhaled as a response and took flight into the night sky. She was already convinced something was very wrong. And no sexual innuendos Splats could ever muster would drive her off. She just needed a different approach.
Skyber opened the door to her living quarters. She was met with a wave of heat from the near-overworked radiator and the gentle strums of an acoustic guitar. Something to finally give her peace after a long, exhausting week.
“Hey Skyber!” Nova piped in, dropping from above the door frame and sliding onto the floor like jelly. “How were your night classes? Did you fall asleep again?”
“Not this time, although I fear it didn’t really matter whether I fell asleep or not.”
“Huh?” Nova tilted their head with their fingers firmly placed on their chin, bubbles coming out of
a smoking pipe sitting in their mouth.
“Well for one, I can’t remember half of what the teacher said, it all sounds the same if you ask me. Second…” Skyber looked at Pearl who seemed to be busy with her guitar. She would have butted in by now if it weren’t for the headphones in her ears. Instead, she simply waved. “I think Splats got herself into something troubling, or she’s at least involved with said troubling matter.”
“Like every Monday and Thursday?”
“No no, it’s more concerning. There may be broken ribs involved.”
Nova placed their hand over their mouth in shock. “A Tuesday…”
“Correct.” Skyber decided to not question the allegories Nova was using, as she was used to it not making sense in the slightest. “I fear if we don’t intervene, something terrible might happen.”
“I thought you didn’t care for Splats, or as you like to call her…”
Nova pulled out a scroll which went down to the floor and rolled across the entire room, finally stopping at Pearl’s legs. Nova put on a pair of reading glasses. They cleared their throat.
“A redheaded, good-for-nothing bolthead, a waste of oxygen, bone matter, and my valuable time and patience, a steam-brained, horrid example of humanity-”
“You can stop now.”
“Okay!” The scroll quickly rolled unto itself and disappeared into thin air.
“What I meant is, I fear it goes beyond that hormone-driven idiot—” Nova added said phrase to a notebook. “She was speaking to another student whom I do not recognize, and he seemed rather upset with her backing out of something. It appears there is money involved. Something which may affect the school as a whole. But the moment I thought I got her-”
“SEX!”
“..yes. As if I were talking to a brick wall.”
Nova placed their hand on their chin and stroked their beard which got bigger with every subsequent stroke. “What do you suggest we do? By the looks of it I don’t think you’ll manage to get anything out of her. Do you want me to talk to her instead? I’m great with people!”
“No, no. She’ll know I sent you. You’ll get the same response from her as I did.”
“Hm… well, what if we ask someone else to snoop around for us? But I don’t think anyone would be as dedicated to the cause as you are. Or more likely just say you sent them.”
“With no doubt, I could handle it myself. It’s just she knows my intentions, or even if she doesn’t she just doesn’t want me involved or around whatever it is that she is doing.”
At this point Nova’s beard reached the floor. “So you’re telling me that if you weren’t you, you could solve the case?”
Skyber tapped her chin for a moment. “I suppose you could put it that way, yes.”
Nova grinned as their beard rolled back unto their face. “Well buddy, that can be arranged!”
“Wait. You don’t mean-”
“You know I do! Come on, it’s the perfect plan! She’ll never see it coming!”
Splats found herself poking the mashed potatoes on her plate. Not that they were unappetizing, the academy’s cafeteria was certainly better than anything she used to have back in the shelters. Especially better than juvie. Last night still hung over her, a dreary reminder of the thing she hated the most: responsibility.
It wasn’t as if she had to come, she could bail like usual. But she didn’t feel like owning up to Xander with some beating, or some other favors he may or may not want. So the question remained: Did she want to get beat up by Xander, or by her opponent, likely with a better Electi ability for this sort of thing?
Her train of thought was cut short by a cute voice she couldn’t quite recognize.
“Hey there!” The voice belonged to an unfamiliar girl that stood before her. The girl was about Splats’s height, maybe a little shorter. She sported blonde hair tied into long pigtails that reached down to her shoulders. Her feminine attire was made up from fuzzy looking clothing: a thick red sweater, a long striped scarf, ankle boots, and thigh high socks that almost came up to her skirt.
“You looked kinda down, so I thought I should ask if you’re alright, if that’s alright with you?”
“Uh, yeah, no problem. I’m all good,” Splats said as she snapped out of her thought bubble. Fortunately, it seemed there was now something more important to focus on than last night. “You have to be new here, right? I don’t recognize you, and trust me, I know everyone!”
The girl practically jumped out of her seat and stood before the blonde.
“My name’s Splats! I can turn the walls into cat piss! What’s your name?” The girl looked as confused as Splats expected her to be.
“Um.. my name is…” Just like that, she froze. She looked like she had forgotten something important. Unbeknownst to Splats, the unassuming girl began to have a very nervous inner dialogue:
What’s wrong?
I didn’t think about a name, it completely flew by me.
What?! Isn’t that like, the most important thing?!
Don’t make a fuss, I got it covered.
The girl looked to the side as she spotted Pearl sitting down at a table with her boyfriend and his roommate, who was trying to stop the resident mummy scientist from blowing up his seat.
“My name is… Clam- urm, Clementine! But you can call me Clem. It’s nice to meet you!” Clem offered her hand to Splats, who instantly shook it vigorously.
“Cute name! It’s nice to meet you too!” The lonely girl who stared at her potatoes seemed to have completely vanished off the face of the earth, replaced by this walking ball of energy that bounced off everywhere it touched. “Forget food, we can eat later! Come on, there’s so much I need to show you!”
With that, the hand that shook Clem’s a second ago yanked her out of the cafeteria and into the obligatory official-unofficial Splats Tour™.
“So, what’s your ability?” The redhead asked as the two walked down the main hall, significantly slower in pace per to Clementine’s request.
“Oh, my ability? Um… I can…”
As they walked, Leaf passed by the two of them. “Hi Splats, h-hi girl I don’t know..?”
“‘Sup, Leaf,” Splats waved casually.
“Hello there,” Clem said.
“Heya foxma- !!” A second voice came from Clementine. The scarf on her neck placed its ends on itself, as if it was covering its mouth. Clem looked as shocked as Splats and Leaf as her hands froze in the air. Before anyone could say anything, Clementine spoke.
“S-Scarfy! I can’t believe you finally spoke to a stranger!” Clementine seemed overjoyed as she held her hands with a gleeful grin on her face. Splats still looked confused.
“This is my Electi ability! I can make a piece of clothing come to life! Well, I can do it for almost any small inanimate object, but I like Scarfy the best! He’s extremely shy, but he finally spoke to someone new today! This is the best, I’m so proud of you!” Clementine hugged the scarf, or Scarfy, rather.
“T-Thanks, Clem.. It was really hard..” Scarfy spoke again.
Splats and Leaf stood in silence, completely in awe to what transpired. It wasn’t impressive or anything. Just really weird.
“I think I’m gonna go now... See you later guys,” Leaf excused himself from the situation and slipped away to the cafeteria.
Splats remained dumbfounded for a short while, then finally burst into laughter. “That’s your ability?! It’s so stupid! What are you, five?”
Clementine placed her hands on her hips, visibly pouting. “It’s not stupid! Scarfy’s my best friend and I wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world! Not fire breathing, not shapeshifting, nothing! You should apologize to him!”
She wiped the tears of laughter out of her eyes, still mildly giggling to herself. “Alright, alright. Sorry Clem. Sorry Scarfy.”
“Hmph. Figures this would come from a person who can turn walls into cat piss. What kind of power is that?” Clementine argued, the expression on her face only soured further as Splats kept giggling. Then, she burst into more laughter, but at least tried to stop herself. To not much success.
“Okay, I wasn’t totally serious about that. I mean, I can turn the walls into cat piss, but Skyber would actually kill me if I did. That is, if I get caught,” she snickered to herself.
“Who’s Skyber?” Clementine tilted her head. She held one of her hands behind her back as it shook violently.
“Oh right, I forgot you’re new here! Skyber, or should I say Lady Skyber,” Splats said mockingly, “is this giant ass dragon chick with HUGE tits that thinks she runs the place because she’s god or whatever. But she’s stupid strong so I kinda do whatever she wants, or at least make her think that so she won’t turn me into barbecue. Oh yeah, and she pukes fire. Should’ve mentioned that.” Splats shrugged. “It’s fun to mess around with her, you should try it! She gets all mad and stuff, it’s hilarious!”
“She doesn’t sound very nice…” Scarfy whimpered.
Clementine looked to the side for a little bit. She seemed uncomfortable for a moment before looking back at Splats. “She sounds rather awful to you. Is she like that towards everyone…?”
“Nah, it’s mostly just to me because I annoy her all the time. She’s such a control freak she loses her shit when someone doesn’t obey her. But I’m sure she wouldn’t have a problem with you. It’s not like she orders people to bow or crap like that.”
You might as well be.
Oh, shut up.
Clementine was looking into her scarf seeming out of it, as if her mind were somewhere else. Noticing this, Splats nudged her shoulder playfully.
“What, did I scare you with all that Skyber talk? Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the big scawy dwagon. Well, if not me then Nova, since they seem like the only thing holding her back from literally voring people. But enough about her, let’s go see other stuff!”
After a lengthy tour of the Academy, the two reached the dorms. Splats planned to knock on each dorm to introduce Clem to everyone, but she seemed rather tired from all the walking. Hell, everyone must’ve been busy with something, since even Skyber and Nova were gone for some trip as Pearl informed her, and Pearl herself was too busy making noise with her Ukelele. The other dorms were either unresponsive or dismissive of Splats altogether.
Splats placed her hands on her hips, proud of another tour well done. “Well, I think that’s all of it!” she exclaimed happily. “Guess I’ll have to move the meet and greet to another day, but just so you won’t go off empty handed and empty friended, aside from yours truly, we can go see my roommates!”
Splats led Clem down to the last door in the corridor. The door itself was covered in different paints and a large sign that read:
Here Live Happily
Splats
Knowledge
Ca-..r..
It looked like the last name was poorly erased.
“Ugh, again?” Splats whined. “She keeps removing herself from the fucking sign and I have to re-add her every morning!”
“That is because I do not live happily here.”
Carrie hijacked the conversation from inside the dorm. She opened the door to face Splats and Clementine, the former jumping in her place and taking a step back in shock as her scarf audibly whimpered.
“How could I live happily here, having to share my personal space with such a foolish heathen as yourself, and an inconvenience as the Cyclopean One? It would do me no good to spread lies, would it?”
At this point, she noticed Splats was not standing alone. She thoroughly examined the blonde girl. The staredown was long and awkward for everyone but the masked girl.
“…What is this creature who lay before my eyes?”
“Carrie, don’t be rude! This is Clem, a new student here and-“
“Silence!” Carrie shouted, ignoring her words completely.
Carrie stepped forward pushing Splats aside as she stood before Clem, her third eye emitting a worrying glow.
“You think you can fool me, do you not? You believe putting on a pretty little face and acting all innocent would keep you safe from my vision? Fear me, young one, for I can uncover your darkest secrets, and find out your corrupted desires!”
“Uhm.. C-Clem? I’m getting a little worried..!”
Scarfy whimpered as Clementine took a step back, only for Carrie to spring forward. She covered her mouth with Scarfy once again.
“How now, wretched fiend! You need not run from me! Lest you have something to hide!?”
Beneath the scarf, a toothy scowl formed on Clementine’s face.
Don’t even think about doing it!
You don’t know what I want to do to her.
I don’t need to guess, I know what it is and I’m telling you don’t do it! All that we’ve done would be for nothing!
“Hey, I’m hearing Carrie yelling. Did you add her name on the list aga-“ Knowledge peeked her head out of the door, only to be met with the unusual scene. That is, one more unusual than normal.
Splats pushed Carrie away from Clementine before things could escalate. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! She’s just a normal girl!”
“Yeah, Carrie!” Knowledge added. “You can’t just freak out like this over the new student!”
“Stand back, fools! That is what she wishes you to think! You’re falling straight into her putrid claws! This woman is not who she perceives to be, and soon you will suffer for ever believing a word that slipped off of that false tongue!”
Splats and Knowledge looked at each other in confusion, holding back Clem and Carrie respectively. They turned to glance at Clementine trying to hide herself entirely within her scarf, to no avail.
“Yeah, we’ll suffer alright! Like all the other times you said some messed up shit and got us all into trouble,” Knowledge cried from within the room.
“I will not let you fall to ruin as a result of your own dense minds! I will end it myself if I have to! I shan’t let that thing roam here freely!”
The masked girl began to push against Splats, who had a surprisingly tough time holding her back, especially considering she was trying to keep Clem protected at the same time. The moment she thought she couldn’t hold her anymore, Carrie’s mask began to float. The crazed roommate shrieked as she desperately tried to keep her face hidden.
“BETRAYAL! How could thou commit such act?!”
Using this diversion, Splats managed to push Carrie back into the dorm. Knowledge ceased her levitation on the mask and quickly ran to the door, gripping a firm hold onto Carrie. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her! You two should go, it’s been nice meeting you, Clem!”
“GET OFF OF ME! YOU ARE ONLY ENABLING HER!”
As Carrie said this, Knowledge slammed the door shut, leaving Splats and Clem safe outside… for now.
The two stood in complete silence, aside from the muffled yelling through the door.
“…Well that sucked. Uh… maybe you should go rest a bit and we can meet up later?”
“S-sure! Thanks for protecting me, I thought I was done for!” Clementine peeked through her scarf.
“…this is why I-I don’t speak to strangers…” Scarfy said meekly, whimpering in Clem’s embrace.
Clementine held Scarfy tightly, petting him gently to ease his worries.
“I will never get used to that! Listen, I got something better for us to do than meeting my crazy roommates! Let’s meet up on the rooftop in like, an hour or something!” With that, Splats opened the door to her chaotic room and swiftly closed it behind her, leaving Clementine on her own in the hallway.
Is this how she usually greets new students?
Clementine stared at the door intently. The worried expression she donned disappeared to one of bored curiosity.
I sure hope not, any student wouldn’t be able to sleep at night for days, or just live here peacefully.
Hm. I might have to keep a closer look at her later on.
I don’t think she likes having you around, but maybe it’s important that you do… You don’t think she saw through our disguise, do you…?
…No, of course not. It’s just like you said: this plan is perfect.
Clem took her time making it to the main building. Although Splats never told her the directions, she knew she needed to take the stairs all the way up to get to the roof. Scarfy did a great job keeping her warm on the cold afternoon, the colors of his fabric matching the sky’s mixed hues of orange and dark blue as the sun began to set. She figured this was the perfect time to walk in silence and think about what to do next. Until she suddenly heard the barking of a dog.
Not too far from them, a tall, tired-looking blond boy passed by, taking his cloudy furred Shiba Inu out on a walk. Or rather, was the Shiba was taking the boy on a walk? The dog barked at Clementine as he went to her.
“Hello there!” Clementine greeted, placing her hands behind her back as she gave the two a warm smile. “My name is Clementine, it’s nice to meet you!”
Lucas blinked at the girl. He thought he should laugh or at least be slightly amused, but he felt more disturbed by her hammy acting.
“Skyber, Nova, what the fuck are you both doing?”
“Hey Lucas!” The scarf waved to him, now that the jig was up.
Clementine’s cheerful expression vanished in an instant.
“I should have known you’d see right through it,” Clem admitted, “I almost feel embarrassed trying to fool you. But if I may ask, what exactly gave it away?”
For me, Deg barked, which the three only heard as his echoey voice, I’d always recognize you two in any form! What friend would I be if I couldn’t even do that?
“For me, it was when you said, ‘My name is Clam.’”
“Yes… of course.” Clem didn’t even bother to question how Lucas knew that. “Though you have to admit, this disguise is impressive, isn’t it?”
“Eh. You’re way less intimidating looking all dolled up like that. Doesn’t suit you at all,” the boy shook his head.
And it’s quite unnerving… Deg yipped.
“Yeah, it’s also creepy as hell.”
Clementine gruffed, crossing her arms.
“Hey come on you two, she’s really trying hard to help the school! She’s having a hard enough time keeping this act up for everyone’s sake!” Scarfy waved the scrunched up end of the fabric, as if wagging a finger at them.
“Thank you, Scarfy,” Clem patted the scarf tenderly, “you have no idea how hard it is for me to not break my character. Especially after recent events.”
“No, no, I gotcha,” Lucas said. “Real noble and all—but is there really no other way you could do it? This is just.. how should I say it..”
Overkill? the Shiba barked.
Clementine rolled her eyes and sighed. “I didn’t come here for this, I have places to be.”
“Try not to push her off the building!” Lucas called out as Deg barked goodbye and led the boy away.
“Try not to spoil our plan!” Scarfy called back, Clem mustering back into character and leading the both of them into the main building.
Lucas scoffed and shook his head. Like he’d ruin the plot just to be a snitch.
Splats sat by the chainlink fence atop the roof. She looked off into the distance, watching as students went into their dorms after a long day or off to the shopping district for an evening hangout. She couldn’t focus on anything, her mind only fixated on Friday night. She felt every hour that passed brought her closer to her deadline.
“Hey there..”
Splats’ shoulders jolted. The girl turned around only to sigh in relief as she saw Clementine coming towards her.
“Are you alright?” Clem asked worryingly, tilting her head as she leaned towards her. Her steps were weary, Splats could feel the tension from her.
“Y-yeah, I’m cool. I just, didn’t expect anyone to be here at this hour. Or at all now that I’m thinking about it.”
“Huh? But weren’t you the one that invited me here in the first place? Did you forget already?” An uncomfortable smile came to her face.
Splats looked to the side, avoiding Clementine’s gaze. After a few moments of contemplating, she spoke. “I… didn’t really expect you to come here, after everything that happened with Carrie and all that. I… didn’t think you’d want to be around me anymore…”
Clementine stood silently, looking aside. She wanted to say something but she couldn’t think of anything. Her fists began to shake as embers began to emerge from the slits of her teeth.
Hey, Skyber, buddy, you doing alright there?
… I can’t think of anything to say. I don’t care about her issues, I had enough of this.
Skyber?
I should’ve just beaten the answers out of her and whoever that blue-haired punk was. Instead, I chose to publicly shame myself like an idiot. And now I have to deal with her emotional baggage.
To keep things peaceful! You can’t forcefully take what you want!
Yet I don’t think I can muster hearing her whining voice without my fuse blowing. I might burn the whole place down and be over with it.
Let’s not do that! Keep your cool, I’ll do the talking! And no fire!
…Fine. No fire.
Okay! Great, now sit down and focus on breathing.
Clementine slowly came to sit by Splats’ side, crossing her legs as she looked over the campus.
“H-hey, it’s alright Splats… it wasn’t your fault!”
Scarfy said, moving himself to “face” Splats. “Carrie being her… err… unique self, doesn’t have to do anything with you.”
Splats groaned. “Yeah, I know. It’s not just that. The past few days have been awful. Carrie thought Clem was some kind of monster and attacked her, Skyber tried to do her all detective shit at me again because she caught me talking to Xander, and now I got a whole load of shit with him because that stupid fighting ring is the one problem I can’t suck dick out of because HE’S GAY!”
”..what?” If Scarfy had a face, it’d be dumbfounded.
“…Yeah? I guess you don’t know Xander, but he came out a while ago.”
“A fighting ring?” Clem finally looked at Splats.
The redhead stared blankly at the two, then with widening eyes smacked her own forehead. “God fucking damnit- UGH, YOU SHOULDN’T KNOW THIS!” She scowled, getting up from the floor and pacing around frantically. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck, I can’t believe I teased Brown not to spill any beans and ended up doing it myself, I’m such an idiot!”
“C-Calm down Splat-“
“If this gets out I won’t hear the end of it!” Splats cried, holding her long bangs of hair. “Skyber will bitch at me to the end of times and probably burn everything down like the fucking monster she is, Xander will actually kill me if she won’t, and then Nova won’t look at me in the eyes anymore! They’ll just nag at me ‘til I fucking graduate! What am I gonna do?!”
Suddenly she grabbed Clementine’s shoulders, holding her tightly in panic. Beneath the red sweater scales sprang from her skin, the girl’s teeth sharpening in rage. Nova could barely stop her eyes from turning black again.
Don’t lose it, don’t lose it!!
I WILL SHOW HER A BLOODY MONSTER IF SHE SO DESIRES IT!
I know! I know! Just hold it together!
“I can trust you, right? You won’t tell anyone will you?” Splats looked at her shuddering new friend, a desperate tone in her voice.
You can do it Skyber! Don’t let it all go to waste here!
…
…
UGH! Fine… I got this.
“O-of course!” Clementine put on the most earnest smile she could muster. Nova sighed in relief. “We’re friends after all!”
Splats looked at Clementine with a gleeful smile before pulling her into a tight hug. “Thankyou-thankyou-thankyou! You can’t believe how much this means to me!”
Clem chuckled nervously, hugging her back.
“I can imagine.. w-why is this fighting ring such a big deal anyway, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Splats pulled back from the grateful embrace.
“Oh. Wellllll, I kinda had this Xander guy I was talking about bet for me in the fighting ring because I was outta cash and sorta.. thought I could suck his dick and get away with it, but turns out he’s gay. So I have to get in there myself and get the money to repay him.”
“Is this why you were bummed at the cafeteria earlier?” Clementine tilted her head. Skyber was grinning internally.
“Yeah… I’m afraid I’ll get my ass kicked in the ring and I’ll lose my money and my ribs. On top of that, Xander will never back me up on anything again! And he’ll break my ribs too!”
“Do you even know where you’re having this fight?” Scarfy asked with a curious tone, fully intending it to be a targeted question.
“Remember that abandoned building I showed you before? It’s in there, the basement.”
“What time?” Clem added, catching on with Scarfy’s subtle interrogation.
“Around the evening, it’s never really solid wh- hey, wait a minute. You aren’t thinking about coming there, are you? How can I even know I can trust you with this info?”
“I never told you, but my last school had a sort of fighting ring as well! Well, they knew it as the wrestling club but we all knew what was going on.” She giggled, holding her arms behind her back.
“S-still, you shouldn’t go. It’s gonna be wayyy too dangerous for a newbie like you. Promise me you won’t even think about it.”
“B-But-“
“No buts! I’ll be fine. I can’t even think about you getting hurt because I slipped up.”
“…Alright, fair enough. I promise I won’t think about it,” Clem raised her hand in oath. As she did this, Scarfy tied himself by the ends behind her back. It almost looked like a pair of fingers crossed.
“Good! Guess that’s settled! You should probably get some rest now, it’s been a long day!”
“Y-yeah, my legs are all tingly.. well, I’ll see you later Splats! And good luck!” Clementine waved off to her, walking down the stairs. Her eyes turned dark as a toothy grin grew across her face.
“Got you.”
The abandoned building wasn’t hard to find, considering Clem, or Skyber rather, had already been here one too many times. Friday night had finally arrived, the moonlight shining on her once again. She pulled Scarfy closer, inspecting the outside of the facility from the front. It looked as eerie and intimidating as always. She hoped Splats wasn’t dead just yet.
Breathing in, Clem stepped up to the front door, peering inside the empty lobby through the broken door window. The still atmosphere inside made her doubt for a split second whether Splats was actually telling the truth about a fight ring just one floor under. However, a stray piece of taffy on the floor quickly erased her doubt. It was still fresh; a sign that someone had been here not long ago.
Slowly, she opened the door, trying not to make any noise once she finally stepped inside. She walked over to the dropped candy, picking it up and squishing it between her fingers. Soon, she’ll be able to stop this whole fight ring dead in its tracks, and the academy would be safe again. Their goddess would save them all once more. The thought brought a smirk to her face. All she needed to do was find the stairs.
The basement was packed. Posters cluttered the walls, people pushed against each other trading money and candy, and not one student in the room didn’t look on edge. A small fighting ring was hastily established in the middle of the room, made up of wooden crates, a giant tarp cloth, and thick ropes around the edges.
Splats felt butterflies in her stomach. Actually, they felt more like rocks than butterflies. Maybe even boulders. How did she manage to get herself in shit this deep? All it was was a stupid bet. She didn’t expect to risk dying over it!
Her inner turmoil was briefly distracted by something out of the corner of her eye. A familiar young man with dark blue hair bumped his way over to greet her.
“Guess you finally lit a lightbulb in that brain of yours and listened, huh?”
“Piss off, Xander.”
“Cut the shit, already. You knew this was stupid to begin with. You got yourself into this mess, and now you gotta climb yourself out. You can’t run away like you always fucking do.”
“I know! I know already, just, give me a second, okay?”
“Whatever. You’re up next, anyways. Don’t make me lose my bet.”
“Hey! You didn’t have to bet on me winning, y’know!”
“Wow. You really are as dumb as Saki says you are. If I bet on you, and you don’t show up, the entire market will know you’re a little pussy that runs away when shit hits the fan. They’ll throw your ass out of the market for good like the damn rat you are. But now, you can’t run away. Should’ve thought twice before thinking you can get away with everything.”
Before Splats could say anything, the speakers went off. The crowd grew quieter—though not by much—to listen in on the upcoming announcement. The match was about to start.
“Alright people, you know what we’re all here for! Hope the bidders are happy with their choices! And for the upcoming losers? Sucks to be you! Next up on the ring: He’s big, he’s mean, he’ll fuck your shit up if you look at him funny, and he’s been in our market since longer than half of you were enrolled here! Make some fucking noise for Cristofer!”
A large young man with fiery red hair stepped into the ring, already gesturing his victory. The bigger men in the audience cheered considerably louder than anyone else.
Splats’s stomach sank altogether. How am I supposed to fight this guy? she thought. Might as well count me dead already. God, why did I ever sign up for this bullshit? Why can’t I just run away? I’m such a fucking idiot.
“And in the other corner: she’s got the mouth of a liar and a heart of fire! She’ll kick your teeth in faster than she can suck your dick! Ladies and gentlemen and everything in between, give it up for Splats!”
Her introduction received mixed reactions. Some cheered, some laughed, some booed, and others simply gave none. Someone behind her pushed her into the ring, seeing as the redhead couldn’t move herself. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.
I can’t do this, she thought, her heart pounding out of her chest. Maybe there’s still time to forfeit! Maybe I can just bribe the announcer to let me off! God, just please don’t make me go in there!
As Splats began to lose hope, a familiar voice called from the stairs of the basement.
“You call that a match?!” Clementine shouted. Her voice was surprisingly loud, but Splats was too in the moment to pick up on her booming voice.
Within seconds, the young blonde climbed into the ring, holding her arms out. “This guy is nothing. And I’ll prove it! I’ll take him on!”
A loud murmuring struck up throughout the audience. Who the hell was this girl?
“Is this some kind of joke?” Cristofer raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll make you wish it was,” the blonde smirked to him. “If you take me on that is. Or are you afraid of getting your ass handed to you by a pretty girl like me?”
Her taunt was obvious, and the crowd seemed to eat it up with various calls and cheers.
“Clem! What the fuck are you doing here?! You promised not to show up!” Splats yelled.
“I crossed my fingers. Well, Scarfy did for me.” She giggled to her with a guilty smile on her lips.
“But-“
“Fine.” Cristofer gruffed, cracking his knuckles. “I’m an advocate of true gender equality. I got no problem with doling out a drop kick to a female opponent. Don’t think I’ll go easy on you!”
Scarfy giggled at the reference, which no one else seemed to get. Who knew such a big guy was also such a big weeb?
“Well well, it seems we got a surprise contender, and a feisty one at that! Give it up for Clem!” The announcer screeched as the crowd howled and yelled. Some extra drama was never unwelcome to events like these.
“Now before we start, we’ll go over the simple rules of our arena here: No kicking of any balls, or vaginas in this case. No accessories to slip up on, which includes your scarf, big girl-“
“Wait, wha-“ Before Clementine could do anything, the announcer yanked Scarfy away from her.
Skyber instantly grew worried. Her form without Nova was a stable as a house of cards in a hurricane. One strong enough push and Clementine was as gone as dirt, leaving Skyber exposed in all of her divine glory—and their plan in shambles.
“-and finally, Electi Abilities are all fair game here! Just, try to not to kill your opponent? It’s incredibly hard to hide a shark body, am I right folks?”
Several boos waved through the crowd. “Too soon,” one said. The announcer waved it off.
“Alright! Without any further ado, let’s see some fucking action!”
The contenders took to their corners, riling up the audience again. Splats slowly climbed back out of the ring in shock. Sure, an easy way out was what she wanted, but at what cost? The poor girl doesn’t even know what was coming. How could she even touch that talking wall of pain and testosterone?
A whistle blew, and the announcer shouted, “BEGIN!”
Just like that, the fighters were already at their throats. Cristofer swung with a hard right, though just slow enough for Clem to duck under and return a nasty uppercut to his chin. He staggered, wiping the blood off and coming back with a headbutt, his hair now ablaze. Clem sidestepped and gripped him into a headlock, striking the back of his neck and throwing him headfirst down to the cold hard tarp floor.
The crowd exploded into cheers and applause. Clem thought of kicking him while he was down, yet decided against it out of pity. He hadn’t bored her yet, might as well give him a fighting chance.
“Come on, then, you’re doing some mighty embarrassment to yourself out here. You didn’t lay a finger on me!” Clementine grinned, a cocky look in her eyes which glimmered just a little too much purple.
Cristofer slowly got to his feet with gritted teeth and seething rage. He fell for her taunts and let his guard down, and he hated every second of this humiliation.
“And I won’t have to!” The flamehead smirked, holding his arms out. “Play with fire, and prepare to be burned!”
He opened his hands and, in an instant, roaring flames blasted through his palms, burning and penetrating the air, clawing their way to the girl who simply stood there—on the verge of laughter.
Not an inch before the fire would’ve reached her, its path diverged. As if her mere presence cut the flames in half like a knife to hot butter. The fire roared for a few more moments, completely missing her, and turning purple before disappearing into the air shortly after.
Cristofer stood in complete shock. So did Splats, and just about most of the crowd watching. The girl was completely fine, not a single burn mark on her clothes or hair. Her expression was as smug as the redheaded vandal herself—and coming right towards him.
Before he could recollect himself, Clementine threw herself into a dropkick that silenced the entire crowd. The man flew from the impact, falling behind the rope at the edge of the arena. And most likely not getting up anytime soon.
Clementine stood victorious, the urge to strike a powerful, domineering pose, spread her wings, and roar fire upon her victory almost taking over her. But instead, she struck a cute pose with one hand to her cheeks and the other holding a peace sign.
The announcer fumbled with the microphone before speaking again. “…C-Cristofer is out! This match goes to Clem! Flawless victory!”
The crowd erupted.
“That was a kick-ass fight if I do say so myself,” Clem dusted off her hands, winking to Splats.
She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but something about Clem seemed different than before. Her attitude seemed to have changed. She was cocky, energetic, and she was showing off left and right—a far cry from the shy girl she met a few days ago. How could Carrie scare a fighting machine like this shitless?
Before she could confirm anything, the whistle blew again.
“The night isn’t over yet, folks! We’ve still got one more fight to settle, and one more contender to step into the ring!”
“Wait, what?!” Splats shot up and ran to the announcer, pushing several students rudely aside. “I thought Clem was taking my place tonight!”
“What? Hell no! She was just an additional contender! You never actually forfeited the match, stupid!”
“But, but-”
“Better get your ass in there before the folks get antsy!” The announcer grabbed Splats by the wrist and dragged her into the ring once more. She started trembling again.
“And for our last fight of the day, we got Splats finally entering the ring! You’ve heard of her before, but how about the ones you could never see coming?! On the other side of the ring stands Clem, our surprise contender and unexpected adorable powerhouse!”
The crowd seemed to have chosen the right evening to go to the ring. They knew tonight’s match would undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest the market has ever hosted, and they did everything in their power to let it be known. Cheerings and howls rang through the basement high and low, multiple shirts were thrown in the air, and drinks and candy were spilled as the hype blew through the ceiling. They were lucky nobody actually checked the abandoned place at night. The contenders once more took their places on the ring, preparing for the next fight.
Splats nervously stood at her corner, staring at Clementine who simply stood there, smiling warmly to her. It didn’t feel warm at all. She could barely recognize Clementine in that expression of hers—it didn’t belong to her. Yet, it felt so familiar.
Before she knew it, the whistle blew yet again. “BEGIN!”
Nerves racked, Splats knew standing in place won’t do her any good. She hesitantly walked towards her opponent, guarding her face with her raised fists.
Clementine went in for the punch, her fist firing through the air straight towards her face. Her opponent braced for impact. But suddenly, she looked as though she lost her footing. She tripped on Splats’s leg, causing herself to miss the punch, let Splats gain her footing, and make it look as if the redhead dodged the attack.
“Wha-what are you doing?” Splats cried to Clem, who only gave her a confident smile.
“Saving your sorry ass.” She replied as she retreated, standing with her fists raised. “Better make it look legit, or else I’ll really have to kick your shit in.”
“Huh?” Splats couldn’t contain her absolutely perplexed expression. She quickly snapped out of it once Clem bounced back to deliver another blow. She tried ducking out of it, but ended up headbutting the blonde straight in the gut, knocking her and the wind from her lungs to the floor. More cheers rang out.
Clem was laid on the floor, holding her stomach in one hand and getting herself up with the other. She looked back at Splats with her head down. Her expression remained unphased, for she was simply acting beaten up and weakened.
Splats couldn’t understand what was happening, until she noticed a few purple embers escaping from the blonde’s mouth and her irises began to emit a faint, violet glow.
And then it clicked.
Clementine did not exist.
It was the goddess herself, disguised as a cute girl all this time, and throwing the entire match for her sake.
“Wa… wha- I… huh… w-wait…” The girl’s last functioning brain cells failed to form the right words to accurately describe her sheer and utter bamboozlement.
The brief moment Splats had to recollect herself passed as Clementine made one last charge. The redhead panicked, and in the blink of an eye threw all of her strength into a sucker punch which crashed straight into Skyber’s cutely masked face.
The crowd silenced once again. Splats held her post-punch pose, too shocked to do anything otherwise. After a solid minute of Clem face-down on the tarp, it didn’t seem she would be able to get up. With that, the announcer sprang to life while the tarp began to brown from the heat of the hidden embers.
“S-Somehow, Clem is out of the match! Splats wins! Another flawless victory! Un-fucking-believable!”
The audience melted into sheer, deafening noise. Splats became surrounded by the crowd pouring into the arena, with Clementine almost instantly forgotten—and unfound. Splats couldn’t find the girl anywhere she tried to look, until her gaze fell onto a tall, winged figure that made her way out of the basement with her fuzzy friend.
The beanie-wearing vandal climbed the stairs to the rooftop as quickly as she could, her breath having long since ran out. When she finally made it to the top, she was met with the view she expected she would see.
Skyber and Nova stood on the rooftop by the chain-link fence, talking to each other with Nova bursting into giggles after every couple of words. The two silenced as they noticed the breathless newcomer. Nova smiled brightly to her while Skyber glared her down, as per usual.
Splats stood still for a moment to catch her breath and stepped forward not long after. She approached the god and her devil, standing before them.
”..Why?” Splats finally spoke.
Skyber and Nova looked at each other and then back at the girl.
“Because we care for you, dummy!” Nova lightfully punched Splats’ shoulders.
“Moreso for the academy as a whole,” The dragon corrected, her tone as cold as Splats knew it would be. Nova looked up to Skyber and frowned, crossing their arms as their foot tapped the floor.
Skyber sighed, her irises turning away from blank void of their eyes. “…I could have easily burned down the place, as I you said I would do. But… I came to see how important this whole event was for you. We overheard your conversation with that Xander fellow. Both of them, actually. The debt you were in, the struggles you went through, the risks you took. If I were to simply burn it down, with no doubt you would’ve fallen in the same trap and continued the cycle.”
“We figured you probably wouldn’t listen to us, so we took a different direction!” Nova clapped their hands, their form shifting to that of the scarf that never existed.
“We apologize for deceiving you, but we hope you understand we did this for your sake.” Skyber said lowly, only for Clementine to appear in her stead.
“…and mine.”
Splats blinked. Then, she snorted, her smug grin plastered back on.
“Like I needed help from you two dorks! I mean, as if anyone would actually go through all this effort, just to make me a new friend, a-and be there for all my stupid vents, and, and throw t-he most important match of my life j-just to save my reputation and make me happy, and, and… a-and…”
She ran out of words to say. Tears were already streaming down her face. The only thing keeping her composure was her grin, which, too, faltered in a moment’s time.
Clementine stood in silence as Scarfy nudged her towards the sobbing young woman. The divine blonde sighed and went to Splats. Not a moment after she wrapped her arms around her, Splats was already crying on her shoulder. Scarfy managed to wrap around the two to comfort the redhead as well.
As much as Clementine—no, _Skyber—_tried, she couldn’t keep a cold expression. A soft smile grew on her lips as she gently patted her back.
Nova was once again right.
This was definitely better than beating her for answers.