Shock & Awe

Chapter 6: Pursuit of Happiness (Part 1)

We begin by seeing nothing but darkness as we hear a female voice calling out to AJ and Thomas.

"AJ! AJ! Where are you?! Thomas!"

AJ is then spotted chained to a wall as he's forced to stare at a monitor as it shows Thomas in pieces... before showing BloodLust being placed in a container labeled. Idai (Greatness) AJ cries out for his brother. The screen then shows as C-X4 is being put into a pod as he's trying to struggle away but is unable to while the body of Jack is being hung from the ceiling swaying side to side lifeless. Before the screen shows Senketsu being torn to shreds and he watches Ryuko wearing pure white with rainbow hair standing side by side with Satsuki, a girl in pink with twin tails and another woman with rainbow colored hair as they stare down B.B. who's calling out to AJ. "AJ! AJ! Help me!"

AJ awakens in a scare. He takes a deep breath and looks towards B.B. An alarm then goes off as AJ gets up and grabs B.B. and walks out. The pair then walk out of the building walking into the city the duo while walking spot a giant crowd of students. As they walk to their side C-X4 and Jack walk along fences and power lines, shortly after Mako approaches them whilst swimming in the crowd. AJ turns to Ryuko.

"Got your guitar case?"

Ryuko glances to AJ. "Yeah? Why?"

"We're going to surf this crowd."

"You're insane."

"But it beats walking."

"You're not wrong."

Seconds later the pair are seen sitting atop the guitar case playing ro-sham-bo, Mako eventually reaches them clinging onto the side of the case.

"What's with this mass migration?" Ryuko asks Mako.

"It's the day when all of Honnouji Academy's No-Stars put their entire youth on the line when they go to school. That day has dawned! Today is that day! This is No-Late Day!"

"Huh?" Ryuko questions. "'No-Late Day'? What the heck is that?"

Suddenly a part of the slums is destroyed to reveal the muscle of Satsuki's elite four. Ira Gamagori Which launches Thomas from the building he was standing on, into the air. "Fuck."

"I can sense that you are confused, Ryuko Matoi, AJ Mankoi." Gamagori shouts.

"You're that Elite Four jerk-" Ryuko shouts but is interrupted by him shouting over her.

"Disciplinary Committee Chair and one of Honnouji Academy's Elite Four. Ira Gamagori, allow me to explain! No-late-day is a school event that comes once a semester, in which the Disciplinary Committee spring surprises on slacker No-Star students to whip them into shape.

AJ rolls his eyes. "So basically, it's to try to indoctrinate people to be more like you and Kiryuin to have sticks up their asses. Thanks but no thanks. I'll pass and be on my way to the school now."

"And if you arrive late, they'll be expelled on the spot." Gamagori starts to insult Thomas for being in his pajamas even though he's in BloodLust and a pair of sweatpants that say "Hey tomorrow fuck you! And your friend yesterday."

Thomas sighs and walks away. "Don't care moving on."

Gamagori presses a button that causes the area to transform. "Behold the Disciplinary Committee's mighty barrer!"

Mako in amazement grabs Ryuko's shoulders. "Look, Ryuko, AJ, the whole city's been turned into an amusement park! I've never seen anything like this! And there's only three hours until our first class, Ryuko, AJ!"

"The people here sure do love to hear their own voices. It gets annoying, well off we go." AJ leaps forward as Gamagori gives the go ahead, all the students rush the defenses. As the stairs everyone's running up suddenly turns into a slide downward. AJ pulls out his dagger and impales it into one of the cracks as Thomas's traveling by jumping from telephone cables and electrical cables as well. C-X4 is simply jumping from roof to roof with Jack. Ryuko is holding onto Mako with her scissor blade planted into the slide.

Ryuko grins. "A trap right off the bat, huh?"

"I'm falling! I'm falling!" Mako cries.

"Up you go!" Ryuko then throws Mako up who hits the checkpoint as AJ sees Ira taking a lift to the school.

"Congratulations on passing the first checkpoint." He laughs at their 'futility' AJ amused simply shoots some electricity at the cable causing Gamagori to plummet as his lift disconnects from the cable taking him upwards. "Mankoi!"

"Bye! Have a great time!"

"Ryuko, AJ! There's another 999 of these to go! That's more than usual!"

"We've got 999 problems but now he ain't one."

Ryuko sighs. "Come on, Mako!" Just then some one barely even taps into Ryuko and falls over screaming.

"Ow, that hurts so much!" Neither AJ or Ryuko recognize the person, though both are immediately put off by them.

Mako however, recognizes them. "You're our classmate, Maiko Ogure!"

Maiko Ogure

"Are you okay! Your arm is hurt!" Ryuko asks.

"Why, it's Mankanshoku! And you're Matoi, and Mankoi, the transfer students! Yes, I hurt my arm in that trap just now. But I'll live! I can't give up over something like this!" Ogure speaks.

"Hey, don't overdo it!" Ryuko shows concern to the red eyed girl.

"Hey, Ryuko. Since Maiko is hurt, let's take her with us to school."

"Well how about it AJ?" Ryuko asks. She turns around to see AJ having already left and past most of the obstacles already near the end of the course. "How?!" She then looks to see Thomas already on the walls of the school with Jack and C-X4 on the walls of the school as well both of them beating the crap out of One-Star students. As AJ's at the last obstacle a small team of one stars and no stars along with a single two star student approaches him.

"And what do you all want?"

One of the one star students punches their own hand with a grin, "You dead!"

"Pfft, okay joker."

"Joking? Please a No-Star like you won't be a problem." A second one star student growls.

"Alright. How do your families want the bodies." AJ stops smiling.

LWhy would our families want your body." A third one star student asks.

"Not my body. Yours. Cremated or Well-done. Or would they rather little bits and pieces. Or maybe a closed casket. Well, no matter what it'll be closed casket."

"You think your so tough! Let's get him." The first student rushes forward leading the others.

Several of the no stars surge forward being easily fought off that is until a person falls from the sky acting live a dive bomb, the person a female with pitch black hair and bright red eyes. When she lands a large amount of the ground is kicked up, AJ rolls his eyes as he fights off several of the students, the girl does the same the pair fighting back to back. After a moment he sends a wave of lightning bolts as two of the one stars are burned to a crisp immediately their Goku uniforms disintegrating as their life fibers are absorbed into the back of AJ's shirt. Before he ducks a sword aimed for his neck and stabs the fourth one star with his blade into the kids crotch. The girl standing beside him, gets punched back by the two star student, who when he approaches her prepares to beat on her but his body drops the students eyes having rolled to the back of his head. He helps the girl up letting her dust herself off, after a moment she looks at a watch on her wrist before running off leaving a dust trail behind her. AJ shrugs and walks to class at a nice pace. He sits patiently as C-X4 and Jack are already seated. Awaiting the arrival of Ryuko and Mako. The group wait quietly as Mikisugi is calling attendance and arrives at Ryuko.

"Let's see, next up is... Matoi. Ryuko Matoi." He silences himself as the schools lift crashes into the class revealing Ryuko in it. She simply gets out grabs a desk and chair that went flying with the other (filler) students and sits next to AJ.

"Ryuko Matoi?"

"Present."

AJ glances to Ryuko his hair now disheveled "What. The. Fu-"

Chapter End.