Tales of the Eighth.

TALES OF THE EIGHTH

THE CAKE QUEEN, 11/6/2015
THE CAKE QUEEN
It was a new day for the 8th grade as they get ready for their math class, which was their first of the day. People were quietly conversing with their neighbor, getting out books and putting away their backpacks. Ms. O' Connor was at her seat, as usual, occasionally gently telling others to be quiet as she writes the date on the whiteboard.

Just another day.

Khang suddenly has a pounding pain in his head. He feels it again. He knew immediately what it was, got a tissue, rolled it up and stuck it up his aggravated nostril. He excuses himself from the classroom and heads for the bathrooms.

Except he goes into the wrong one.

Well, from an outsider, it would be.

Khang opens the door to the girls' bathroom carefully, staying silent to detect any movement. He checks the pink walls, which had stickers scattered about. He heads for the last stall, the one that always was a little squeaky when it opened.

Then, he locks the door behind him.

He kneels on the floor, takes out his mechanical pencil and closes his eyes, lipping a hymn.

"My Queen...what have I wronged you now?" Khang slowly opens his eyes, now in a world of white and sky blue. Clouds were the floor, and the sky was an endless horizon with no disturbances, even no sun. The light seemingly came from all directions, with no single, central source.
Khang walks down the field of clouds with a sense of serenity. He remembers setting down this path for years now, and a path of worn down cloud went on and on, stretching over a few hills. After a few minutes of walking, he meets with a mighty throne of baked goodness.

There sat a dazzling queen enrobed in a white, iced dress. She had a scepter in her gloved hand, and a strawberry sat on top of the golden scepter. Her crown was lined with candied jewels and glossed vanilla gold.

She looks down to Khang and smiles.

"Mr. Nguyen. I believe you have found my invitation?" Khang bows, kneels and nods.

"Yes, my Lady."

"Now, I wanted to address...an issue with you." Khang, still on his knees, nods coyly. She smiles benevolently. "It seems to me there is another...anomaly...in hand."

"Yes?"

"The Baked Goods are moving up the front lines, and the Frozen Beef have made a move up the Syrup River."

"Are we prepared for another attack?" She shakes her head solemnly.

"I do not believe so, General Nguyen. We have had issues with our PIE-19 Tanks, and they do not work well in such muggy conditions."

"What about our ground forces?"

"The Gingerbread Men are trying their hardest. We plan on getting a defensive push on the eastern rim by tomorrow. Do you care to join us?"

"I apologize, my Lady, but I have an arithmetic lesson to attend to."

"I'm sure the fate of our nation is at a larger stake than your silly mortal math is. Board your battle bunker. We set foot tonight!"
The tank treads creak and squeak as it rolls down another cloudy hill. The environment was much colder than what was expected that midnight. The ground was hard and coarse, with rocks occasionally flying up.

"We have contact with a few frozen packages up north! Awaiting further commands!" Khang is filled with determination, and lines his men for battle.

After three hours of pushing the beef back, their cannons eventually outgun them, and the enemy retreats behind the river. All is well, for today, but both the Queen and Khang know that more is to come soon. The fight is not yet over.
Later that morning in the Cake World, Khang is kneeled down in front of the Queen.

"You may return to your World now, General. I will contact you when you are needed."

Khang nods and recites the same hymn silently. When he opens his eyes, he is back at the girls' bathroom, his mechanical pencil in hand. The battle had taken him much longer than he had expected (Bovine Battles are harder than Fruit Fights), and Khang surmises that he has already missed math class.

When he enters the room, the class had just started. He was underestimating the passage of time in between worlds.

And as usual, no one payed much mind, knowing exactly where he had just been and why he was doing so.

To take care of his nose bleed, of course.

When he was out at recess, he was playing four square with his best buds, applying his ordinary "Ryan Tactic" as he had come to call it, when felt the same head pounding as this morning.

So, he excused himself out of the game, snuck past the 6th grade classroom, down the stairs and into the same stall that he had always been in. Khang returns to the Cloud World and walks down the same path, meeting again with the Elegant Cake Queen.

"General! I am glad you have returned!"

"At your service!"

She laughs to herself. "I am very honored to have such a loyal and punctual leader as you!" Khang lightly blushes, not a single muscle moving.

"However, it is time we take care of business. The welfare of our Kingdom is contested. One of your friends is a so-called traitor!" Khang blinks. In his class? Back in the other world?
"Yes. It sounds irrelevant, but it is someone within your 8th grade class. That Alison girl. She is part of the bovine army. Take her to me at once!" Khang was troubled. How will he take someone like her, show her his secret, and then have her questioned by the Cake Queen? How will she take that?

"Go. Now. I want her now!" Khang nods and recites his hymn, returning to the stall.

He knows what he must do now.

Back in the other world, Khang scopes the playground, trying to subtly find the target the Cake Queen searched for. As he picks out the familiar classmate, his mind rattles with possibilities. What was the Cake Queen going to do? Why was the Cake Queen looking for her? Sure, the Bovine Guerrilla had always been a military threat for Central Cake, but this was the expense of Alison. However, he knew that he had to follow orders. One of his friends, a distant one from the third grade, decided to disobey the Cake Queen. The order was regarding the life of his own, and he was never heard of again, and not even in the Cake World. It was a nightmare that haunted Khang to this day. He never really knew how he got to know the Cake Queen in the first place, but now that he has, he's had to stick with her ever since.

He thought of a plan to convince Alison into the bathroom as he makes his way to the cluster of red.

"Hey, Alison!" She turns around, her friends ignoring Khang.

"Yeah?"

"Can you uh...come here real quick?" She frowns in worry, but follows Khang into the hallway, past the Office, back down the 6th Grade and in front of the bathrooms downstairs.

"What...what are we-" she says for the umpteenth time.

"It's important..." Khang rushes out. For some strange reason, Alison never really questioned Khang too much. Wasn't it a little strange that he was taking you to the solitary bathrooms?

'Whatever, it's just Khang' she thought, not giving any merit to the consequences of being caught by themselves without a teacher.

Khang opens the girls' bathroom door, and this was when Alison began to question his motive. "Uhhh..." she says, but decides to not go on. 'He's on a mission...' she thinks, eyeing his every move. Every step was a determined one. He had a plan, and while she didn't know it, she took a gamble and knew that he wouldn't hurt her.

"Stay here," he commands softly, going into the last stall. Alison waited outside the door, still utterly confused about what'll happen next. She looks up at the staircase. This was the time for her to escape. It was her only opportunity. "Alright." She whirls around, startled at his voice. Khang motions her to follow him.

'Well, there goes my only chance...'

In the stall, Alison stands by Khang, who was fervently saying a prayer while kneeling. Suddenly, a rush of serenity, silence and peace overcame them.

NEVER AWAKEN THE BEAST (11/7/2015)
NEVER AWAKEN THE BEAST

Mr. Smith looks up from his hand, which was buried in his face.

As usual, the class was in chaos.

Alex, Abel and Elyssia were arguing about world issues, Dominic was annoying Gili, embarrassing dares were being made by Teiya, Michael was having a trigger seizure, Khang was trying to shush everyone, and practically everyone else was talking.

Except for one.

Maria stared forward blankly as if nothing was going on around her. As a member of this boisterous bunch, she had gotten used to being in a catastrophe. It was an occasional phenomena that even teachers can't handle at times.

But she kept her cool, ignoring every curse word, laugh and bit of gossip that reached her ears. It was absolute bliss for her. The eye of the storm. Of course, this didn't mean she was deaf or shut down from the world, she just didn't care.

Another day. The usual.

However, something was different. This was not your average yell-hole (get it? Hellhole? Okay...). A war was being waged. The class went silent. The only thing that was focused on was the fight between Elyssia, Alex and Abel.
This kind of thing always happened discretely, never usually to the extent of such violence. But today was different. Elyssia was triggered, and triggered hard. She fought relentlessly while numerous others defended and argued against her statements. It was a permanent deadlock that would never end intrinsically.

In fact, it was so bad, the Fallout Shelter was in use. Luis, Tri, Khang and Michael all hunkered down under the table with canned goods as they watch from a safe distance. Others watched in excitement as if it was a sport, and others got under their desks as if it would get physical quick. Nevertheless, the flame war persisted, ringing from the room and even attracting the teachers next door.
There was one thing that these arguers forgot.

Maria.

Her patience was exponentially larger than many in the class. Ordinarily, they would react in favor of a certain emotion, whether that be fear, anxiety or eager anticipation. But Maria, being her good ol' self, didn't do anything. Like other times where this happened, she remained quiet and reserved, away from the whole thing.

But now, they've exhausted that. Their yelling was getting out of hand, and even the principal had no authority over the situation. Everyone was either under a desk or behind one as they watch on. More people and classmates took sides, while others continued to cower in fear.

Maria's face was hardened with annoyance. Her patience was running thin, and there was little time to stop the train ready to bust out of her. But as usual, they left her aside, which was where she usually resided in situations like this.

Now was the time her true form was released.
The ground trembled, and an ominous, low grumble resonated from the ground. Many thought it was an earthquake, and assumed their positions.

Maria stands up, her face red with anger. She spews fire from her mouth with ease, each little articulation and argument on point.

But Elyssia fearlessly (and foolishly) tempts her. "You don't know what you're talking about!! You know nothing! You're just like them, aren't you?!"

The ground shakes violently, and the lights swing back and forth. The Fallout Shelter was getting more and more packed as they watch Maria and Elyssia battle it out.

They both arm themselves with swords, and Elyssia arms herself with a shield.

Maria whirls around, stopping when she had on a cape that covered her like curtains.
"I guess this is what it has come to?" Maria says, smiling smugly at Elyssia.

But Elyssia wasn't the only one who was fighting her. Gili steps into the battle. "This is a real issue, and I don't think you should-" She was silenced with a glancing blow to the chest, an exit wound the diameter between your wrist and elbow shaped open as Maria draws her longsword.

"SILENCE!!" she bellows. The sky outside darkened with maroon clouds, and it rained blood from the heavens. "THE ANGELS WEEP TONIGHT BECAUSE OF YOUR WRONGDOINGS!! SURRENDER NOW AND WE SHALL NOT TAKE THIS FIGHT FURTHER!
"Yeah, sure. Like you would-" Maria's sword swings to the left, but Elyssia blocks it reflexively. "Nice try!" Elyssia makes a cut on her own. "But my arguments are more picked out! You don't know much of the femin-"

"IT MATTERS NOT OF THE CONTENT. IT MATTERS OF PURE STRENGTH!!" Maria's body explodes as a white hot spirit in the shape of a fire floats above it, sword in hand. "YOU PUNY, PUNY MORTAL!! HOW DARE YOU QUESTION MY WRATH! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MY TRUE FORM, YET!!"

Elyssia swings to Maria, but she counters, sensing Elyssia's sword out of her hands.

"You need more than a blade if you want to destroy me!" Elyssia spins around and turns into a mage. A robe of sparkling purple and black covers her as she dons a crooked triangle hat of the same color.

"You have taken this too far!" Giselle cries.

"Please, surrender now, Elyssia!" Alison pleads.

"Stop! Put down your weapons!" Dominic shouts.

The teachers were too scared to do anything.
"Summoning FeministFacts.org!" A ball of hot magic spills out of Elyssia's hands, only for it to be crushes by the sword of Maria.

"YOUR TRIVIAL FACTS MEAN NOTHING TO ME!" Maria swoops her cutlass down, but Elyssia blocks it with an indifference spell.

"Summoning Pew Research Group!" Minions pop out of the ground, only to be stepped on by Maria. Her sword lashes down on Elyssia, and it nearly cuts off the tip of her hat! "So that's how we're going to play, is it Maria?"

"DON'T YOU DARE TAUNT ME, LITTLE GIRL!!"

"Little girl?" Elyssia gasps. "Did you seriously just call me that?! For your informatiooonnnn, I'm a strong independent woman who is obviously better than you, you little-"

"DON'T!!"

"..."

The class bites their fingernails  as they await her next word.

"You little-"

"ELYSSIA!!"

"Li-"

"ROSE-MARIE!!"

"-ttle-"

"FITZSIMONS!!"
"BITCH!!"

The class drops to the floor. The teachers perform the sign of the cross. Her mother signs up for the next flight to the ISS.

Maria's spirit melts from a white hot flame into a true beast. The embodiment of power and authority oozes from her skin as she roars, blasting off the roof and letting the blood rain from the crimson skies.

"That's right! I just called you that!"

Maria's gargantuan hands outstretch, with a fist over her palm. "FINAL. SPELL."

"Gladly!" Elyssia assumes the same position, their four hands ready for battle.

"Rock!"

"PAPER!"

"Scissors!"
"SCISSORS!"

"SHOOT!!!"

"Tie!" Elyssia grumbles, their palm facing sideways, resembling  a sheet of paper.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"Tie!" She announces, their hands both in the shape of scissor blades.

"ROCK, paper, SCISSORS, shoot!"

This time, Maria's top hand was a fist, and Elyssia's hand had two fingers outstretched.

"ROCK. WINS!!"

Elyssia's face grows pale.

"I BANISH THEE, ELYSSIA, FROM EVER AGAIN..." Maria scratches her chin. "...uhh...LISTENING TO ONE DIRECTION FOR ALL ETERNITY!! And also you'll never be able to use magic. IN THE NAME OF MARIA!!"
Lightning crashes from the clouds, and the blood rain pours. Wind picks up and lightning strikes Elyssia. She floats up into the sky, and finally, a glowing ball floats out of her chest, turned into dust and blown away by the wind. Her eyes roll back as everything returns to normal the moment she hits the carpet floor, now soaked in blood.

The roof was back, the sky was blue, and no sign of blood was anywhere. Teachers and students gingerly crawl out from their shelters. Maria was at her desk, her patience restored and collecting her books for social studies. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

Elyssia was lying on the ground with her eyes closed. Everyone (except Maria) surrounds her as she first stirs awake. "Elyssia, are you okay?" Alison squeaks, receiving glares.

"My heart...it broke..." she gets up, clutching the spot where her heart should be. "Lesson learned...good game..."

"Never awake the beast." Maria opens the door and heads down the ramp, books and binder in hand.

END