Teamwork

Inside the classroom of fourth year students, homeroom time, their adviser, Mr. Fajardo is checking the attendance. Several boy students have not arrived yet, including Ken. Mr. Fajardo speaks disappointedly. “Oh great! We have plenty of late students again today. Most of them are from the basketball varsities again. Ken is late again. What is happening to them? I thought I told them that I didn’t like late students in my class, especially, that I’m the first period teacher.”

Joed speaks. “Sir, Ken will be here soon. He was so tired last night. Maybe he woke up late.” Mr. Fajardo replies. “I didn’t have enough sleep either, and my house is far from here.” Joed chooses not to argue with Mr. Fajardo because he knew that it would not make it any better.

After a few minutes, Ken and the other late students arrive and enter the classroom. Ken speaks and jokes. “Sir! I’m not late.” Mr. Fajardo just shakes his head and waits for the bell to ring.

Joed talks to Ken while Glenn comes near them. “So, Ken, how was it?” Ken replies. “It is not finished yet. But may be later it will be done.” Glenn responds. “So, when are we going to hunt?”

Before Ken and Joed could reply, Mr. Fajardo speaks again. “Reminder class, do not forget to review for your periodical examination in Elective Mathematics. I already have given you sample problems that you can refer to. Please study so I can get confidence in teaching you. Remember that your grade on your report card will be based also from your performance in your periodical tests.”

Ken and Joed get worried because they were busy on something and they forgot to review. Today is the first day of their first periodical tests. Ken speaks. “Have you studied in Filipino and Regular Mathematics?” Joed replies. “A little. Many of the topics are easy anyway so I didn’t choose to study when I get home from your house last night.” Ken agrees. “Yes, you are right. But the test tomorrow will be difficult because one of them is Elective Mathematics. I don’t want to fail in that subject especially that Mr. Fajardo is the subject teacher.” Joed replies. “I will study the examples that he gave last week. I think it’s very easy too.” Ken responds. “I know. However, we still have monsters to hunt remember? And I have to finish our tool to be used against them.” Then the bell rings. It is time for the first test of the day.

After the tests, Ken, Glenn and Joed rush to go because they are only required to stay up to the end of the second test which is 10:30 am. When they are at the gate of the school, they go in separate ways. Ken speaks. “Hey the two of you! You must come to my house sooner.” Joed and Glenn respond. “Okay.”

Ken goes immediately. He walks faster so he can reach his house early. He does not notice a boy following him from a distance. He continues walking. When he reaches a street with no people, the boy suddenly makes a noise. Ken stops and quickly looks behind him. He sees the boy from the last time who is still possessed by the possession demon. The boy speaks. “What’s the rush Novel Blue Soul Blood?”

Ken did not show any fear. He responds to the boy. “Oh nothing. I am really hungry that’s why I’m walking fast. What about you? Where is your big bully brother made from dirt and your two daddies?”

Ken is referring to the earth monster, Macabro and Mico. The possessed boy walks towards Ken. While walking, he speaks. “They are not needed here. I alone can take you. This boy is a martial arts expert. You won’t stand a chance.”

Ken prepares himself for a fight as he speaks. “Okay! Give me your best shot.”

The possessed boy runs then jumps towards Ken. He does a drop kick attacking Ken’s chest. Ken steps to the side quickly so he will not be hit. The boy does not hit Ken. When he lands on the ground, he does a karate chop attacking Ken’s face. Ken immediately uses his hand to block the attack. But the possessed boy is quick and makes a side kick on Ken’s . Ken is hit but he manages to control his balance.

The boy continues his attack. He punches Ken in the face. But Ken blocks the boy’s fist. Ken counter-attacks. He grabs the boy’s hand and does a whirlpool throw. The boy falls on the ground. Ken follows his attack with an axe kick but the boy rolls to prevent him from being hit. Then the boy quickly kicks Ken’s lower abdomen. Ken is pushed back.

The boy quickly stands up and does another kick on Ken. But Ken dodges it. He finds an unguarded part of the boy. Ken quickly does an uppercut to the boy. The boy is hit on the nose and steps back.

The boy yelled as he is holding his nose. “Ahhh…” His nose bleeds. He gets something from his pocket. It is a tissue. Then the boy speaks. “Ahhh… luckily this filthy creature always brings tissues.”

The boy wipes his bleeding nose. Then he throws the tissue to Ken as he speaks. “There Ken… Take his blood. It’s red not blue. Hahaha…” Ken catches the tissue with the blood of the boy and speaks. “I thought I told you to give me your best shot.”

The boy raises his hands forward. Then from the ground, four little demons arise. They look like a football with one eye, mouth, two legs and two arms. They quickly grab Ken’s feet and arms. The boy laughs as he speaks. “Hahaha… You boastful man. Try to escape that.”

Ken tries to remove the four little demons but they grip so tight. While Ken is struggling, one of the little demons holding Ken’s feet is hit by an electricity ball. It releases Ken and the little demon is thrown away.

It is Glenn who shot the little demon. Then Glenn shoots the other little demon that is holding Ken’s hand. It also releases Ken and has been thrown away.

The boy is surprised. Then from somewhere, the other little demon holding Ken’s foot is kicked by Joed who is in his invisible state. The little demon is also thrown away. Then, Ken punches the remaining little demon. It releases Ken’s hand as it is thrown away too.

The boy is more surprised this time. Then, Joed returns to his normal state. The boy suddenly feels afraid and runs away. Joed and Glenn try to chase him but the four little demons release dark smoke from their mouth and block their way.

The little demons jump away to follow the possessed boy. Ken stops Joed and Glenn from chasing as he speaks. “Hey! Let him go. We have plenty of things to do.”

Joed and Glenn go besides Ken. Ken continues to talk. “Joed, did you bring the phosphorus powder?” Joed replies as he brings it out from his pocket and gives it to Ken. “Yes. Here it is.” Ken responds as he takes the powder. “Very good! Let’s go.” The three walks towards Ken’s house.

When the three arrive at Ken’s house, they eat lunch first and then they proceed to Ken’s room. Ken brings out many tools and materials. While Ken is preparing, Glenn asks. “Ken, are you sure that this plan will work?” Ken replies a joke while still preparing the materials. “No. I think we all are gonna die.”

Joed laughs and helps Ken in preparation. “Hahaha…” When everything is set, Ken starts to do his work. Glenn asks again. “What are you making again Ken?” Ken replies. “This is a portable battery for the device to be used against the earth demon.”

Joed gets the wall drill and give it to Ken. Ken disassembles it. Glenn asks a question again. “Does your father know this? I mean, if he knows that you have disassembled your wall drill, he may get angry with you.” Ken responds. “Don’t worry about that. Just focus on how to defeat our enemies.”

Glenn continues his questioning. “Did you review for our exam for tomorrow? Elective Mathematics is a pain. But I know I will pass.” Ken responds. “No. Not yet. I plan to review later at night.” Glenn continues. “Mr. Fajardo was angry with the late students this morning, especially to those varsities.” Ken speaks. “I know. He also hates me because I am always late these past couple of days. But they don’t know why I was really getting late. We are saving the world but none of them can see it.”

Joed gets in to the conversation. “I don’t think that Mr. Fajardo hates you Ken. He might be angry because like he said, he didn’t want us to come late.” Ken gets a little annoyed. “None of them can help us defeat the enemies now. Why don’t you two just focus on helping me and stop those nonsense questions.” Joed and Glenn feel embarrassed and do not argue anymore. They continue on helping Ken.

After an hour and a half, Ken finishes the tool. Then he brings out the pen that can emit a very bright light. It was broken during the time he found out that he was a Novel Blue Soul Blood. It is very hard to repair because the parts are very small. Ken needs concentration to fix it.

After another hour, he finally fixes the pen. Ken sets aside the finished tools and brings out the phosphorus powder. He mixes it with water then put them in a small plastic container. Then, Ken prepares all the tools and materials that they will be needed in the fight.

The three starts their plan on how they will be fighting all the enemies. Ken explains. “Joed, you will be the one to bring this drill. Don’t come near us. Macabro and Mico will be yours, Glenn.” Glenn cannot believe. He asks. “What? Are you sure? Those two are very powerful demons.” Ken continues. “Yes, I am sure. You have the range power. If I will be the one to deal with them, I’ll be dead even before I get near them. But don’t worry. You will just need to get their attention while I’m dealing with the possessed boy and the earth demon. Once I already mark the earth demon, it will be for Joed to do his job.”

Joed agrees. “Okay. But make sure that the two of you won’t die.” Ken laughs and jokes. “Hahaha… Weeds cannot die easily. But a horse like Glenn is the best in the world.” The three laughs simultaneously. They continue their plans. They do not leave anything behind. After the plan, the three prepares their stuffs, materials and tools.

Joed remembers something before they go out the house of Ken. He asks. “How are we going to find where they are? Manila is big?” Ken replies reluctantly. “Don’t worry Joed. I already have taken care of that.”

Ken brings out the gadget that can find the location of a person with the use of a part of the body or a thing that comes from the body to be located. Joed asks. “Do you have anything that came from any of those demons?”

Ken brings out the tissue with the blood of the boy that was thrown to him. It is the boy’s blood that came out from his nose when Ken hit him with an uppercut. He speaks. “This came from him this morning. It came from his nose and he threw it to me.” Joed smiles then replies. “Nice.”

Ken put the tissue with blood of the boy inside the compartment of the device. Then he pushes the button and a light comes out, showing the direction of where the boy can be. The three follow the light and haste.

It is dusk. Somewhere in Apacible Street, they find the possessed boy together with his little demons. He is creating chaos with the people around by creating damages in the place. The little demons have controlled four persons already. The possessed boy is laughing and speaks. “Hahaha… Go my minions. Damage this place.”

Ken and Glenn show themselves to the possessed boy. The possessed boy grins and speaks. “Ah! The Novel Blue Soul Blood. Are you here to stop us? I’m telling you. You will fail.”

The boy signals the little demons that are controlling the four people. The four little demons release their hosts and jump together in front of Ken and Glenn. They unite and form a big monster that looks like a big football with two legs, two arms with claws, one eye and a mouth.

Glenn charges his hand with electricity. Before Glenn can shoot it to the monster, the monster jumps forward to attack the two with its claws. But before the monster hits them, Ken and Glenn dodge in opposite directions.

Ken gets a pen-like device made of metal from his pocket. He throws it to the monster like a dart. The monster is hit in the eye. Glenn releases his electricity ball and shoots it through the metallic pen-like device. The device explodes when it was hit by the electricity. The monster is staggered and gets blinded.

Ken runs towards the monster and grab its hand. He lifts it and spins around. He releases it towards the possessed boy. The possessed boy dodges before he is hit by the monster. But he did not notice that Ken has run towards him. Ken punches the possessed boy in his face. The possessed boy is pushed backward.

Ken tries to attack again. When he is getting nearer to the boy, an energy ball hits him. He is thrown back and falls to the ground. It is Macabro together with Mico who shot Ken.

Macabro speaks as he is walking towards the possessed boy. “You fool Novel Blue Soul Blood. You can’t defeat us now. The last time was a mistake. But this time we will see to it that you will suffer in agony.”

Mico summons the earth demon with the caliginous gateway inside it. Only Ken can see the caliginous gateway and the element demon inside the earth demon because it is covered by rocks and soil.

Mico commands the earth demon. “Attack those two, my monster.” The earth demon that looks like an ogre with a baseball bat-like weapon runs towards Ken and swings its weapon.

Ken quickly stands up and gets three small capsules from his pocket. He throws it around the monsters, the possessed boy, Mico and Macabro. It quickly explodes and a smoke comes out and shrouds the enemies.

Mico laughs as he speaks. “Hahaha… That old trick again?”

Mico creates a whirlwind from his staff. It repels the smoke. But before the smoke is completely gone, electricity balls hit Mico and Macabro. The two yelled in pain as they are hit. “AHHH…”

Glenn continuously hits Mico and Macabro with electricity balls. The two are pushed away from the earth monster.

Mico waves his hands upward. A dark smoke appears in front of them and shielded the two. Macabro creates an energy ball and shoots it to Glenn. Glenn falls on the ground as he is hit.

Ken gets the pen that can emit a very bright light from his pocket then he shouts. “Now!” As Ken shouted, Ken and Glenn wear sun glasses. It is already night time.

Macabro laughs and speaks. “Hahaha… What are you doing with that sun glasses? Is the sun up?” Ken responds. “Yes.”

Ken presses the button of the pen and a very bright light is emitted from it. Macabro and Mico stagger because they cannot see anything but the light.

The earth monster is not affected with the light so it begins to attack Ken with its baseball bat-like weapon. Ken dodges it. He runs at the back of the creature then he brings out the container with mixture of water and phosphorus powder. He puts some on his hand and gets near the earth monster. He puts some of the mixture on the back of the chest of the earth monster then he runs away from it.

After dealing with the earth monster, Ken rushes near Macabro and Mico. Then, he turns off the pen. The bright light is gone and Macabro and Mico begin to see the surrounding again. Mico speaks after he opens his eyes. “Ahhh… That light is very bright.”

But Mico is surprised to see Ken in front of him. Ken grins and punches Mico’s face. Mico falls down after being hit by Ken. Mico yelled in pain. “Ahhhh…”

Then, Macabro recovers from being staggered and opens his eyes. But what he first sees is Ken sitting down in front of him. Before Macabro can even move, Ken rises and uppercuts Macabro. Macabro feels the intense pain caused by the uppercut of Ken. Macabro shouts in pain. “Ahhhh….” Macabro is thrown and falls on the ground.

While Mico and Macabro are lying on the ground, they hear something drilling. Then, after a few seconds, the sound of the drilling is gone. Mico speaks while still lying on the ground. “What is that sound?”

Mico rises and commands the earth monster. “Attack them now.” But in his surprise, the earth monster is not moving. Mico is confused. He commands again. “What is wrong with you? I said attack them.”

Still, the earth monster is not moving. Ken grins and speaks. “Tsk tsk… He can’t move anymore.” Mico is astonished and looks at the earth monster. He sees on its back a tube stuck on it with antenna at one of its tips. Mico, confused, asks. “What is that?”

Ken shouts. “Glenn! NOW!” Glenn releases an electricity ball and hits the antenna of the tube. The electric current enters the tube and then it explodes. The earth monster is destroyed and left the caliginous gateway.

Macabro also saw what happened. He stands up and commands the monster that looks like a big football to attack Ken and Glenn. But since it is blind it divides itself back to the four small little demons. Then, they attack Ken and Glenn.

But before the little demons could hit the Ken and Glenn, Joed reveals himself and grabs the caliginous gateway. The caliginous gateway closes. Then, the little demons fade. The light coming from the gateway hits the possessed boy and the possession demon comes out of the boy. Glenn quickly shoots the stone on its forehead with electricity ball. The stone breaks and the possession demon is gone like a smoke in the air.

Mico and Macabro cannot believe of what happened. Joed and Glenn go beside Ken. They remove their sunglasses together. Mico asks. “But how?” Ken explains. “Joed has been with us since the start. He was in his invisible state, waiting for my command and waiting for the two of you to appear. When the time was right, I used the pen to distract you two so I could mark the location of the elemental demon inside the earth monster. I could see it even if it is not visible to others. I used the phosphorus powder to mark it so Joed can see where to dig. Then, when it was marked, I turn off the pen and the marked part glowed. That was the time for Joed to use my invention, the tube with a wall drill and an antenna. The wall drill was used to reach the location of the element demon inside the earth monster. When it was hit, its control to the earth was gone, but it was not completely destroyed. The antenna was used as a path for the electricity to enter the earth monster. Then, you know what happened next.”

Mico and Macabro cannot believe of the tactics. Macabro speaks angrily. “You tricked us.” Ken replies. “Yes. But that is what we learned. It is called teamwork.” Mico raises his staff and speaks. “We will see each other again Novel Blue Soul Blood.” Then, a whirlwind engulfs Mico and Macabro and they disappear together with the whirlwind.

Joed, Ken and Glenn do high fives with each other. Then, they carry the boy who was possessed and places him at a safe place. After that, they walk away.

While walking, Joed speaks. “It is a good feeling you know. We defeated another enemy.” Ken replies. “Yes. But that was tiring. I had lack of sleeps because of creating that drill device.” Glenn responds. “Yes. But it is worth.” Joed agrees. “Yes, Ken. You should be proud of yourself.” Glenn speaks again. “It is time to review for the test tomorrow.”

Ken is surprised when after hearing Glenn. He speaks. “Oh no! I have not reviewed yet. It will be English and Elective Math, right?” Joed and Glenn answer. “Yes!” Glenn continues. “I am confident that I will perfect my tests tomorrow. Hehe…” Joed responds. “I’m not sure I can perfect it but I hope I won’t fail.” Ken replies. “Yah. Me too.” Then they continue walking. They reach the way where they have to go in separate ways. Each bids goodbye to one another and goes home.

In their house, after dinner Ken prepares his stuffs to review. But he turns worried when he realized that he left his notebooks and books in their classroom. He scratches his head as he speaks. “Ahhh… Why have I forgotten those things?” He opens his computer and goes to his Facebook account. He does not see Joed or Glenn online. He chats his other classmates about the topics to be reviewed for the test tomorrow. But only a few helps him because the others are busy reviewing too. Then, he sees that Mr. Fajardo is online. He chats him to ask for the topics to be studied.

Conversation Box (Ken and Rodel)

Ken: Sir

Rodel: Yow

Ken: What are the pointers to review for Elective Math?

Rodel: I wrote them on the board. Have you not copied them?

Ken: I forgot my notebook in the classroom.

Rodel: Congratulations!

Ken: Sir please!

Rodel: @.@

Ken: Those we reviewed, will all of them be included in the test?

Rodel: What do you think?

Ken: Can you teach me now?

Rodel: @.@

Ken: Please sir!

Rodel: @.@

Ken: Please I don’t want to fail.

Rodel: Congrats!

Ken: Please!

Rodel: @.@

Ken: Aw

Rodel: @.@

Ken: :-( aw. Okay sir. Thanks anyway for your time. :-(

Ken is annoyed of Mr. Fajardo’s responds. But he cannot review anything because he has left all his references in the school. He is very tired because of the fight and he has not slept enough these past couples of days because of planning and innovating to defeat the earth monster. He lies on his bed and thinks. ”Anyway, I understand the review last time. I hope it will retain in my head up to tomorrow.” Then, he eventually falls asleep.

The next day, during the review period before the test, Joed, Glenn and Ken reviews. Glenn speaks. “Elective Math and English will be easy.” Joed responds. “Hopefully!” Ken speaks. “Hey guys! Can we also have teamwork here during exam? Hehe…” Joed replies. “I don’t think that that will work. Remember last time when Tiyow was too noisy during exam? Mr. Fajardo deducted him points. However, there was nothing to deduct from him because he got zero on his unit test.” Ken replies. “That was just a joke. I know the rules during exam.”

Suddenly, the bell rings. Start of the first test, English. After an hour, the first test is finished. They have twenty minutes recess and after the recess, they go back to their classroom. It is Elective Math time. Many are busy computing. Most of the varsity players are sleeping because they have nothing to answer.

After ten minutes, Ken is still not answering. He forgot how to do the first step to solve the problem. After a while, he is surprised because Mr. Fajardo is already standing beside him and staring at his paper. Ken speaks quietly. “Sorry sir. I forgot the first step.”

To his surprise, Mr. Fajardo points the number one problem and speaks. “Get the common monomial factor first. Then, look at your index card for the list of trigonometric identities. Simplify the factor, then, you’ll get the answer.”

Ken’s face brightens. He remembers how to solve the problems. He starts on answering. Then after forty-five minutes, he finished the test. He is confident this time that he will get a high score. When the bell rings, the students submit their test. Ken asks Santiago of his answers. He compares them and most of his answers are the same as him. Santiago is very good in mathematics.

Joed, Ken and Glenn go out together. Joed and Ken notice that Glenn looks so serious. Joed asks Ken first. “So, Ken, how was the Elective Math?” Ken replies. “I thought I would fail. But Sir Fajardo helped me to do the first process of solving them. Then, I remembered everything we reviewed.” Joed responds. “See! I told you. Sir Fajardo is not angry with you. If he was, he wouldn’t have helped you in your test today.”

Ken smiles and agrees. “Yes, you are right Joed.” Then they turn to Glenn. Ken asks Glenn. “What about you Glenn? How was your test?” Glenn, worried, answers. “I got mental blocked. I forgot to answer most of them.”