The Crowned Rejects

Chapter One: Bounty On Crowned Rejects

Romee's POV

Connor sits lazily in his chair, spinning it back and forth as he reads the bounty issue declared on our heads. Henry taps his knee, his eyes darting in sync with Connor spinning in his chair. "Why'd we leave the reading to this asshole?" Henry gets up, glaring as he moves in to read the issue for himself. It takes him barely a minute to go off; a typical routine by this point. "What is this bullshit?!" Both Kim and Alice take off from their reading, staring at Henry in their half cautious and half annoyed gaze. They were careful in displaying how they felt, only showing enough so they wouldn't have to tolerate more. "Yet another pathetic move from those cowardly humans." Henry continues.

Kim gives up, tossing her book aside. "We're humans too," she painfully mumbles to herself. Alice puts down her list of convicts, looking at Kim with the usual show of empathy; as a crowned reject, something like being human or not is a sensitive topic. Kim advances to leave the room, her head consumed by her clouded thoughts. Alice follows suit, grabbing Kim's book along with her.

"I'll take care of her," Alice whispers to me. I nod my head, turning to Henry as she leaves the room. Connor points at the door, a gesture for an explanation. Henry busies himself with the bounty issue, reading further into the odds lawfully declared against us. I sigh, eyeing between Henry and Conner. With the convicts Kim and Alice have to handle by this week, it's no gain to carry on personal matters. Glitches can go off haywire and erratic; in this case, for Kim.

Henry turns from the screen, his fist engulfed in azure blue flames. I stand straight, looking at Connor to sort out Henry's active crowned mark. Connor shrugs, looking at Henry just as I am. "Hey, I don't know if you're aware, but you're using your crowned mark. You're making my room feel like the desert," Connor says. Henry aims his flames, frying Connors Laptop. Connor jumps from his chair, staggering back to barely avoid a burn. "What the hell, Henry! Are you insane?! You could've melted me along with my laptop!" Connor aggressively pushes Henry backward, managing to slightly move him from his spot.

Henry disintegrates his flame, glaring at Connor with those infamous red eyes of his. "Yeah, looks like my aim needs work. I'm confused myself as to why you're still alive," Henry scowls, walking past me and Connor; he leaves the room, provoking yet another twin dispute. Connor scoffs, slumping back on his chair and mourning over his laptop.

I walk over to sit at the edge of Connors bed, loudly contemplating about possible glitches. "Kim is upset with what Henry said, and Henry is upset with the bounty declared on our heads. We can't afford to behave this way with the schedule we have set for this week." I look at my list of convicts. "All of us have murderers alongside criminals that participate in criminal acts for fun; a glitch in our crowned marks can be a fault in our plan." Connor sighs, yet to stop looking at his laptop. "Why not just use your crowned restoration mark?" I suggest.

"It can only be restored once. Kim is going to have to make me another laptop. Who knows when that piece of ass will melt it with his flames again. Honestly, I call this real abuse in power," Connor complains. "It must've been because of what he read. I'm a slow reader; he might've read something he didn't like that I didn't get to." I get up from Connors bed, walking up to his laptop as it's hastily being restored. The laptop sits plainly, morphing back to its intended form within seconds. Connor opens his laptop, going back to the public page on 'Crowned Rejects'. I lean in, reading snippets as Connor scrolls where he left off.

The issue of the page answers to the public, revolving around the public's concern with crowned rejects being on the loose. The government declares a supposed bounty vote on our heads. The page is considering to the public to have us put in confinement; the bounty being fixed only by careless votes made by people that are unable to accept crowned rejects. Connor's fist goes icy as he reaches the end of the page. He closes his laptop, giving me hardly anything to grasp the reason for Henry's attitude. "Open the laptop, Connor." Connor adverts his gaze, the frost on his hand slowly traveling to his laptop. "Destroy it completely why don't you," I say, moving away with annoyance.

Connor looks at me, in a way that makes it seem painful to do so. "The bounty, why are they placing this on us? We're fucking innocent!" Connor kicks his desk from under, cringing quickly afterward.

I furrow my brow. "Hey, it's fine. This has happened before. The bounty is put up to a vote. I'll take care of it," I assure him. Connor shakes his head.

"No, you don't understand. This isn't about me or Henry, or even Kim and Alice," Connor says.

"Well, if it has to do with me, don't worry about it. Just focus on putting your twin dispute with Henry at a pause. Anything that hurts me, less for you to worry about if I deal with it on my own," I say, coming off more rough than intended.

Connor looks at me dumfound, scoffing at my words. "Are you serious?" I look at him perplex. "I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself but, how do you think we feel about it? You think the rest of us feels nothing while you're in some kind of crisis? What if there comes a day when you're weak like a mother fucker to those people that are against your very being?" Connor pauses, his iris going red. "The rest of our bounties may be put up to a vote but yours, they're not. We give a damn about you just as you do about us." Connor gets up from his chair, heading for the door. I watch his back, letting him leave like the rest of them.

I sit back down on his bed, rubbing my head with distress. "And Connor is upset with me, what next?" I mumble, laughing to myself at the mess of it all. I should've seen it coming. Of course, my bounty would be guaranteed this time. I am, after all, the most dangerous of us five.