Alien Watch in a Monster School

The Descent of Darkness

Beep, Beep, Beep!

Zack's hand slammed down on his alarm clock as he forced his eyes open, letting out a heavy groan when he spotted the rays of the sun streaming through the curtains. Summoning the strength to free himself from his sheets, he began his morning routine. After thirty push-ups, a quick shower and the general grooming that kept him looking so good, he sat down for a strawberry pop tart, scoffing down the delicacy in seconds before making his way for the door.

"Today is gonna be a good day," he said, looking up at the sunny sky before moving down the halls of the boys' dorm, whistling the tune from Game of Thrones, a show Christian had recently introduced him to which he'd fallen in love with.

The teen made his way outside, eager to catch Lala before she could pull another disappearing act like she had been doing the last few days. The pinkette had gained an enjoyment of teasing him. At times she made him chase her across campus to find her. Whilst he could not deny it was sometimes fun, he did often get annoyed by her childishness. However, that was part of her charm.

After a few minutes of waiting, it became clear the princess had indeed flown the coup, so it seemed he would be on his own again today. Stuffing his hands into his coat, he sauntered off down the path. He knew Christian and the others would probably already be at the Newspaper Club as they had been leaving a little earlier than normal to avoid any potential Monstrel attacks. Personally, he didn't really care to be precautious. He knew that if he was attacked, he could repel them. He would punish all of them in order to ensure they never hurt his friends again.

"No..." he mumbled, shaking his head to cast away the dark thoughts. "Never again." Despite his Ultramatrix having stabilised and his sanity back intact, there were still moments when he felt the odd spark of rage. It had especially been strong when Kotsubo snapped Christian's neck. Despite being able to quickly quell it and move on, it was still a worrying occurrence. Although, it did remind him of what had happened after Christian had been taken away to the hospital after the fight with Mido.

XXX

Inner Moka watched as Ruby used her wings to carry Christian's unconscious body out of the remains of the abandoned school building, Kurumu, Yukari, Mizore and Lala all following. However, the vampire girl still needed to collect one thing. Walking over to the small crater where the carnage had begun, she headed to where the Rosario had dropped, only to see that Zack was already there and holding the silver cross.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" he asked.

Inner Moka scowled, putting out her hand expectantly. "Give me the Rosario, Orion. Now." Her eyes were fierce, and it was clear she was not in any mood to be messed around with. That wasn't going to stop Zack, so it seemed.

"Not until you tell me why you thought killing Christian would be a good idea! He has been there for you whenever you needed him! Protected you, defended you. Hell, he almost died for you! So, what do you do when he needs you? You try to kill him!"

"It's not as simple as that," Inner Moka protested. "I had no way of saving him this time. I didn't know how the Omnitrix functioned! For all I knew, he was going to continue trying to kill people until he timed out and died. I...I couldn't let him do that. He would never forgive himself." She once again tried to move for the cross.

"And would you have forgiven yourself? Would the Outer you?" Zack asked, causing the vampiress to pause. "You can say whatever you want about not really caring about us, but we all know the truth. We saw what happened. Your hand was shaking. You wouldn't have gone through with it." Inner Moka growled in response. However, she couldn't deny his words. Before she could reply, Zack walked forward and placed the Rosario in her hand. "Our friends, we're a family. We look out for each other. Remember that."