(Outdated) The King of Elements

Out of the Frying Pan

"Oh, my God, it's the sign of the apocalypse!" McManus called as Dre and Kimmy walked into the classroom, making the few students in the class stop chatting and turn their attention to the both of them. "Dre McTardypants is actually here on time!"

"Tee hee. My poor ribs. They ache from your hilarity, Mr. McManus," Dre said as Kimmy shrunk behind him. She was obviously still too shy to have the complete attention of the class, but to Dre, this was just another day.

McManus laughed, handing both Dre and Kimmy a thick book: Amity: The Divided Planet of the Guardians by Eddy Valentine. "Sit anywhere you like, we aren't staying in the classroom for long."

"What do you mean?" Dre asked as Kimmy shuffled to the middle seat of the first row and hid her reddening face under her hood.

"There's a special place I want to take you all," he began, smirking under his glasses. "See, I believe that in order to really understand our history, I've got to show our most important historical artifacts, painting and weapons and such, and luckily for us we have a museum at the edge of the Wayward Marketplace-"

Dre inhaled sharply, as if the words "Wayward Marketplace" struck him like a dagger. McManus looked up at him, perplexed. "Problem?"

"Nope. Just excitement," Dre lied. The only time that he had stepped foot in the Wayward Marketplace was during the small invasion of the Edge Walkers and the chilling grin of Mr. Kimachi. He willed himself not to shudder. Considering Ichi was in the cafeteria an hour ago, Dre believed that the invasion had been dealt with. But for how long?

He took a seat beside Kimmy, who continued to study her desk. How could he relay that they were going into hostile territory without raising suspicion from McManus? The students began speaking among themselves again, breaking Dre's already fickle focus.

More students began filing in, speaking amongst themselves as they took a book from McManus's desk. The growing voices of the students made it much harder to concentrate, until he finally gave up. His teacher is a nature master, so he should be able to protect them, right?

Shortly after, McManus promptly stood up and shut the door. "Welcome, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Amian History course. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mr. Demetrius McManus, you new favorite teacher." He bowed before he leaned against the desk. "Just so you know, this class is an hour long, and is about the history we were able to recover. There is still plenty that we don't know about, so don't be too surprised if things changes in your books.

"Speaking of books, you won't be needing them today. We're taking a little field trip to the Hall of Legends museum in the city, just to give you a little sample of our history." Dre could feel the eagerness radiating from the students, however he himself knew better. McManus was unknowingly leading them into a death trap, and he was the only person who knew about it. He'd have to be on guard. "Let's head out. Our headmaster is waiting for us. Question?" He asked as a girl with a short, boyish haircut raised her hand.

"Is Headmaster Toney coming as well?"

"No, but he wanted to show you all how he keeps the sword from overflowing. Yes?" he asked as another hand, one that belonged pale young man with curly red hair, shot up.

"What do you mean, 'keep the sword from overflowing?'"

McManus grinned. "I'll explain once we get there. We're already running late, and Toney can be a very impatient man." He gestured for the door. "Let's roll out."