Prism Core

The Red Scarfs Are Coming!

A couple months passed since we registered the club, which the school abbreviated to the ASC on the club list. We were initially annoyed because none of the other clubs' names were shortened, but the name grew on us, and so we made the term "ASC" official. The students at Prisma High thought the name was pretty neat. But no one joined. The only people in the club were the ones who started it, and for the most part, that was fine by us. We liked to have a little place for ourselves anyway.

I was walking to my locker after class with Kate. We were chatting about the most important thing in existence: art. "Oh yeah! Riley is gonna be at ArtCon this year! I'm so psyched!" Kate squealed as she went through the ArtCon website on her phone. "Wow, THE Riley!? At ArtCon!? The three hundred dollars were so worth it!" I said. It's sad to admit how much we spent every year on ArtCon tickets, which I may add is in freaking Los Angeles, just to meet one artist. Every single year we hoped to see our favorite animator, and every time the panel is full and we end up missing it. But this time we got exclusive tickets for reserved seats at the animation panel. Riley Ortiz created the animated film series Golden Dunes, which are about a group of explorers lost in an endless desert full of terrifying creatures. It was pretty awesome. "Oh my gosh! I need to take ONE picture. That is all I need. Then I'll be satisfied with my life!" Kate started humming the theme song to the film series. I laughed as opened my locker. I then stared in utter disbelief. I dropped my backpack, which was hanging from my shoulder, and it landed loudly on the carpet floor. Kate looked at me in confusion. "What's wro-" She cut her sentence short as she looked at the inside of my locker. It was spray painted red, with the initials BV.

BRAD

I arrived at the science room, which is where our club resides, and entered yelling "LET's A-GO!" To my surprise, only Mr. V and Gabe were there. Sitting at the front desk, the teacher was playing some pretty epic rock and had not heard my grand entrance, but he smiled and nodded his head to the desks. I mouthed thanks and sat next to Gabe. "Nice to see people are dedicated to our meetings," Gabe said. He was reading a book, and he had his hand covering the front cover. I grew curious. "What are you reading?" I asked. Gabe turned red. "Nothing!" He quickly said, hiding the book behind his back. I grew more curious. "Come on. Tell me!" I reached for the book, but Gabe quickly held it high above his head. "It's nothing!" He said. I then poke him under his arms, and he laughed and dropped the book. I caught it with my other hand. "Got it!" I looked at the cover. "It's not what you think!" Gabe yelled. I stared. "It's the Element Warriors series!" I then held the manga delicately with my hands. Gabe looked surprised. "You LIKE the series? It's horrible!" I looked at him. "Why are you reading it then?" I asked. Gabe turned red again. "It's a guilty pleasure of mine..." I understood. I loved the series. It was written by Mirai, a mysterious author who vanished for a whole year. After her return, she began writing the series about warriors on a distant planet, trying to survive from dragons. It also had a lot of fan service, which was sorta common in manga and anime. "I have the whole series!" I pulled out all ten volumes from my backpack. "Don't pull those out, someone might see you!" Gabe said. I snorted. "Who cares what people think, I-" Suddenly, Mr. V started to rush out of the room. He stopped a few inches out of the door. "Um, guys, we have a situation. Gabe can you come with me? Brad I need you stay here and look after the class." Gabe nodded and stood up. "You can count on me!" I said, posing like an Element Warrior. Mr. V smiled in a confused manner. Gabe rubbed his forehead with his hand in embarrassment. They then rushed out of the room. I hummed to myself. Rock music was still playing in the background. I grew bored immediately.

RYAN

We sat in the principal's office, patiently waiting. The seats were uncomfortable, hard, and sticky with bubblegum. Kate kept looking at the exit. "Are you thinking of leaving?" I asked. She looked at me. "No, I'm afraid they'll walk in." We were silent. The spray paint was a warning. The Bloodveil gang was targeting us, and that was a scary thought. They have sent people to the hospital with concussions and cracked ribs. Kate was an experienced fighter, she took self-defense classes. But even then she was no match for metal bats and hammers. "How do you think he's like?" Kate asked. I looked at her. "What?" "The principal, how do you think he's like?" Kate repeated. That was a good question. We had never really seen the principal. Nor have we needed to. "I'm sure he's a nice guy." I knew what she was thinking. What if the principal was just as crazy as the attendant? We sat in silence for a few minutes. The clock ticking felt like they had hour gaps between them. Kate's foot was tapping in rhythm. "Okay, where the heck is the principal!?" Kate blurted. I jumped at her sudden outburst. She then walked to the window. "Hmm. You can see the whole campus from here." The office was in the top floor. I walked to it and looked outside too. "Hey, there's Cora," I said. We looked closer. She was carrying a large box. "What is she doing?" Kate asked. My mind suddenly went back to the first day of the ASC. "I'm sure she has stuff she needs to do," I said quickly. Kate gave me a look. It looked like the kind of face Holmes would make. "Let's investigate, Watson," Kate said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She began to walk out. "Wait! We can't leave! We have to talk to the principal!" I protested. Kate rolled her eyes. "It's fine." She then walked out. Hesitantly, I followed. Then, we were running down the stairs, and out the front doors. "Kate, slow down! We're being hunted remember!?" I yelled. Kate looked at me, wide-eyed. "Brilliant! Cora must be secretly working for the gang!" I felt a huge slap in the face from that statement. "Have you gone mad!?" I screamed. "Stop wasting time, let's follow her," Kate said. We walked in the general direction in which we had seen her. I was annoyed, but I didn't say anything. Kate had not looked happier than in the current moment. There was a slight breeze, and the pavement was littered with blossoms from the trees. It was getting cloudy... "I don't see her," I commented. Kate sighed. "Let's go back. She doesn't seem to be here anyway," She finally said. I smiled, and nodded. We began walking back to school. We looked ahead. "Wait, what's that?" There was a crowd surrounding the school. "Ryan, let's hide! Now!" Kate yelled. She pulled me into a nearby bush. I was confused. "Why are we hiding?" I asked. Kate looked terrified. "Look closely!" I stared at the group. I gasped. All of them had a red scarf around their neck. "It's the Bloodveil gang," I gasped. "They brought the ENTIRE gang! They're serious about killing us!" Kate said, already starting to panic. "I'm sure they have something bigger in mind. There is no way they would try so hard for just us!" I said. "We have to tell someone," Kate said. We looked at the group for a little bit. The leader, which people called Blade, was giving a speech. It was difficult to hear what he was saying. "Today....liberation.....the other side...burn it down..." Kate and I looked at each other. We then saw that many of the gang members were carrying gasoline. "They're going to burn the school down!" We yelled.