Serendipity & the Serpent

The Great Escape

The moment the principal shut you all behind that door, Johnny bolted to your side. His attitude was completely different then it was before as he squeezed your shoulders and planted a kiss on your cheek.

"Let's bust out of here."

Shocked, you pulled away. "What?!" You whispered through gritted teeth.

He nodded his head across the way, gesturing to the nerd. Your eyes on him made the brainiac stop what he was doing in his tracks. He was putting the clip end of the pencil on his lip, and he gulped as the two of you looked toward him.

"The dork over there is gonna help us get out of here undetected." Johnny whispered in your ear.

"Johnny... I can't."

"Why? Too afraid of the consequences."

"Yes, Actually."

"Well don't be," he laughed, "this guy has us covered." He raised his voice a little higher so that the brainiac could hear him. "Don't ya, nerd?"

"Yes. Anything you need." He gulped.

Something told you that he hadn't heard a word Johnny had said.

"And why would he do that?" You asked Johnny.

"Because," he shrugged as if it were obvious, "he's scared of me."

To prove his point, he walked over to the poor kid and towered over him. He waited, pausing for only a small window of time. After a few seconds of standing completely still, he lunged forward just an inch. But it was enough to make the kid almost fall out of his chair.

"Go pick the lock on the far back window, near the science fiction section."

The classmate nodded his head wildly before sprinting out of his chair, almost falling over it in the process. As he disappeared from sight, you got an overwhelming, unsettling feeling about all of this.

"Johnny, we're only going to get into more trouble if we leave."

"Relax, princess," he smirked, "loosen up and have a little fun."

"You call getting another detention fun? You're already loaded up on Saturday detentions for the next two months. What will your sensei think when you lose training time?"

You had wondered why that question crossed your lips, but then you understood your craving to know more about your uncle. If you could just find out how he treated students like Johnny, you could see him for who he truly was. For all you knew, he was a monster.

"He may have my head," Johnny grew wearisome, "but I'll make it up to him somehow. I'll sacrifice a few hours in the middle of the night to practice if it'll make him happy."

That was just it. Kreese was a psychopath who only cared about the trophy and the title. Johnny going great lengths to please him in such a way made you grimace. The cobras were in a cult.

You opened your mouth to say something, but nothing came out. What was there to say anyway? It's not like you could tell him the truth about your family.

Luckily for you, the brainiac came sprinting back toward you both, out of breath. He gestured behind him before folding over and placing his hands on his knees. Johnny slapped his back and let out a chuckle. "Good work, buddy. Don't work yourself too hard next time."