When Joan came to school on Monday, the sea of students parted for her. She walked down hallways unobstructed and was the subject of many admiring and spiteful gazes.
She feigned obliviousness, not wanting to deal with the extra stress, and continued through her day nonchalantly.
"Hey, apparently she's going to be the new Jack," a boy whispered to his friend.
"Her? The hell? A girl has never been a Jack. How'd she get the spot?" His friend asked back. He snickered as he asked, "Think she slept with some guys?"
"For sure."
The accusations bounced off of Joan as she packed up her bag at the end of the day. But instead of rushing out of the classroom immediately, she patiently stood at her seat, waiting for the Grimm Bros and Navier.
However, a dark figure near the gate of M High School caught her eye. The figure wore a black hood and cargo pants. Nervously, he looked at his watch and then back up at the M High School building.
He was waiting for someone. And the stir in Joan's gut told him he was waiting for her.
"Don't get yourself into unnecessary trouble," PK reprimanded as Joan rushed out the door, ignoring Navier's calls to wait up.
"It's not unnecessary. I'm investigating something," Joan replied as she pushed open the front door of M High School.
"And just what are you investigating?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
Joan silently shut the door behind her. Stealthily, she tip-toed to the gate and peeked around the corner.
Her surprise appearance made the boy jump back in astonishment. The lower half of his face was covered with a black mask, and a black cap under his hood cast a shadow over his eyes.
Joan looked him up and down. He indeed was a suspicious character.
"Who are you?" she asked.
Instead of giving her an answer, the boy growled and leaped toward her with his fist raised.
Joan scoffed, "Too slow." With ease, she caught his arm with both hands and twisted as hard as she could.
With no curious eyes to watch her, she could freely use, however, much strength she wanted. The boy shrieked painfully as he twisted his body to follow his arm.
"Who are you?" Joan repeated stoically.
The boy bit his tongue, refusing to answer Joan's question.
"Which gang are you from?"
He stayed silent.
Joan twisted his arm further, eliciting a groan of pain. His body trembled from the shockwaves of fire.
"Eagles," he whispered hoarsely.
Although Joan could hear him perfectly fine, she decided to play with her prey a bit. "What did you say?" She continued to rotate his arm slowly.
"Eagles! Eagles! Eagles! Please let go!" he gasped as he flailed his free arm uselessly.
Joan narrowed her eyes. It seemed like her intuition was even more spectacular than she thought it was.
"What did you come here for?" she hissed.
"Let go of me first," the boy begged as he rapidly tapped her arm.
But Joan ignored his desperate pleas, instead putting him through more pain than ever. Her grip contracted around his wrist, making his flesh painfully bulge around her fingers.
The boy squealed and writhed, but Joan was deprived of the satisfaction of seeing his face contort because of the mask hiding his face.
Eventually, Joan let go of his wrist after he refused to say anything.
"Let's hear it then, huh?" Joan taunted. "I let go. What you got to say?"
The boy timidly looked up at Joan. His entire body trembled, and he winced at the memory of Joan's iron grip. He stared at her for multiple seconds in silence before turning on his heel and sprinting away from her.
Joan scoffed, but let him be. If he refused to say anything while being tortured, he would refuse to say anything while she was merciful.
But before he ran away, she made sure to engrain the slight intonations and accents of his voice into her head.
From a window in the school building, an intrigued girl stared at Joan's figure with interest. Her small yet muscular figure contrasted her innocent and gentle facial features. Her eyes rounded down softly, and her glowing skin was every dermatologist's dream.
She lazily sucked on a lollipop and swung her feet as she watched the scene play out before her.
After transferring here, she had been looking for some excitement. It seemed that she had found it.
A soft smile played her lips as she rested her cheek on her hand.
"Rem Oaks, huh?"
***
"Did you see last night's MMA match?" Navier excitedly asked the Grimm Bros. "Wow, Mike Evans is something else." He imitated Evans's flying roundhouse and patted his chest proudly when he was finished. "Watch me. I'll be up on the stage, too."
Turner chuckled at him as he walked behind Joan on the way to Boom Arcade. "Sure thing, kid. I'll be cheering for you." Turner punched the air to show his enthusiasm, which brought a smile onto Navier's face.
Not too far behind them, Amarya Owenby tagged along. She walked with a hop, and her ponytail swung in sync with her footsteps. An amused smile graced her face as she overheard the conversation.
Joan had noticed a presence following them since they left M High School, but made no move to scare the girl away. She was in public, and the last thing she wanted to do was attract unnecessary attention to herself.
But Joan couldn't shake the familiarity of the person behind her. Just who were they? Joan resisted the urge to turn around a catch a glimpse of their face.
When Joan turned into the Boom Arcade with the Grimm Bros and Navier, the person behind them followed as well. The person followed, even when Joan headed to the Mortal Strike modules.
Joan narrowed her eyes as she turned and caught a glimpse of the person. The girl was slender, short, yet her frame was packed with muscle that rippled under her uniform. She had a high ponytail that accentuated her innocent facial features.
She was so familiar, yet Joan couldn't quite place her finger on it.
Amarya locked eyes with Joan and sent her a million-dollar smile comparable to that of Helen of Troy's. She fearlessly stepped forward, unintimidated by Joan's harsh glare and rigid figure.