Chapter 10

FIFTEEN MONTHS EARLIER ...

His feet were numb and his being quivered in pain as he made his way across this mountainous terrain, he was worn out and his mind's focus was waning, but he just couldn't stop. The turbulence arose from behind him, and those exploding sounds made the earth quake. Trying to quicken his pace - a futile effort though - he managed to keep going, his heart pounding in his chest.

That halo fell behind him a few yards away, ducking behind a boulder he allowed the explosion blow past, then rising onto his feet again, he continued the run.

Another volley fell from behind, with solid structure to take cover with, the explosion swept him off his feet sending him crashing to ear. His dark armour now worn and torn, he stripped it off, now left with only a dark pair of clothes, having done this he resumed his run.

Those interstellar chariots, five in all, emerged from behind, they chased after him. Knowing that he had been spotted, he forced himself onwards. A volley of halos fell upon him, resulting in him getting engulfed in a massive explosion of white. The flames cleared away, but he was nowhere to be found.

Resting behind a boulder, his breaths slow and deep, he fell into a state of unconsciousness. The ground began to give way creating a lengthy and jagged hollow in the earth, falling into it, spouts of water gushed out of every corner and soon a stream was formed. Floating on its surface, the earth closed once again concealing him within it along with the stream.

It was raining heavily, and this lone road held no incoming vehicle, but one soon came into view. Its headlights turned on as it maintained a reasonable speed limit. It suddenly swerved as though it had avoided hitting something in its path, with its tyres screeching as it came to a stop. Those in the car alighted, running to see the unconscious body lying on the road. The person was dressed in strange dark clothes and wearing metallic boots, his hair extending over half his face.

FIFTEEN MONTHS LATER...

He at his desk not paying attention to what was going on around him as the class teacher distributed the marked test sheets bearing each students score.

"John Judith," the teacher called, walking past his desk, "sixteen."

A girl squealed from behind.

"She's been the highest so far," the female teacher said, "and from the previous tests she always maintained her position as my number one physics and mathematics student."

The entire class apart from him applauded.

"No, not yet," the teacher stopped," let's see if that'll be the same today, we have more names and it's not over until the fat lady screams."

"John James," she called, "six."

The entire class fell into a frenzy of laughter.

His thoughts were distant, he heard a few names get called and the teacher approaching him from behind kept repeating a name which sounded familiar to him.

"Kayode Henry !" The teacher called for the eighth time, "who is Kayode Henry ?"

All fingers fell on the brooding boy who was tapping his pen on the desk. Her palms landed on the his desk with a frown on her face. He lifted his head calmly to confront her gaze, his brown eyes not blinking, his tightly knit lips not twitching, and the only thing which stopped was the tapping of his pen.

"Kayode Henry," she finally said, a smile wiping away her frown, "twenty, he's number one for today. Henry will you please stand up for the class to see you."

Something flashed through his head as he stood up, something which he felt about things like these - hypocrisy !

The class applauded until the teacher ordered them to stop.

"Judith," the teacher called, "it seems like you have a new rival."

He finally caught sight of her at the back of the class, her furious eyes stabbing him with envy, he had seen eyes worse than hers, eyes that would make her run crying to her mom, that was if her mom even waited. A funny thought flashed through his mind, it seemed like he stepped into hostile territory, something which he always did.

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Henry got his things into his bag as the school day came to an end with the completion of the final subject - Physics.

"Henry !" The class teacher called him to her desk. He felt someone a few inches taller prod him in the ribs, but he didn't care walking towards the desk.

"How was your first day ?" She asked.

"Fine" Henry blurted.

"I hope you still remember my name ?"

Her first name was Mrs Nora and the last, hoh ! Henry didn't care. She was both their Physics and Maths teacher, you know, the one who turned him into a class clown.

"It seems like you're a genius in Physics."

Henry's thoughts flew, he didn't solve Physics, it was a mockery of his status, he only did things like cosmic sage genetics and stellar configurations that could take you beyond time.

Henry shrugged not wanting to say anything "stupid".

"I'll take that as a yes," she said, "I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable with your new environment."

Comfortable with his environment ! What was wrong with this creature ? He didn't need to be comfortable, he was capable of surviving and adapting to any condition.

"You can leave now," she said, " and have a good day."

Stepping onto the balcony, his brand new and well ironed uniform glistened under the rays of the afternoon sun, he could hear someone calling him from behind. Henry didn't care who it was, he just wanted to get home and do something more "fun", something worth his capabilities.

"New guy !" The person placed his hand on his left shoulder, Henry shrugged it off, there was only one person worthy of holding that spot.

"Can't you be a bit friendly," the voice moaned, "I just wanted to talk."

"Leave him alone James," a female voice called from behind, "he thinks he's too cool to make friends with anyone."

He could guess who the female voice belonged to - haters - Henry grinned. Lifting his gaze forward, he saw a group of boys standing a few meters away from the stairway which led to the ground floor of the building, there were all a foot taller than him, and their glaring eyes made him realize that they had picked him as their victim. Why did they always pick on him ? Henry wondered, he wasn't scared, he just hoped that he didn't kill them.

"Don't go there !" Henry heard the boy from behind warn, but he kept walking.

Wanting to go through their centre, he felt a hand brush his chest pushing him backwards.

"Oh oh ! He's in for trouble." James gasped.

"He's the cause of his own doom," Judith snarled, "I've never seen anyone so arrogant, especially a boy."

"You're jealous," James accused, "not only because he beat you in the test on his first day at school, but he also didn't come running to you foolishly like other boys, I'd be happy honest, I like his style."

"Liar !" Judith growled, her eyes drifting towards the pack of boys surrounding Henry, she watched expectantly as their leader - Sam - stepped forward, she silently prayed that they taught him a lesson.

"Hello Henry, don't mind the alliteration," Sam said chuckling, "but you didn't pay homage to the overlord - which is me - for topping the class just on your first day at this school green horn."

Henry stared boldly into Sam's eyes, his brown eyes glistening fiercely, and his tightly knit lips scowling, "Just keep on with it Henry", Henry's thoughts said to him, "the fool will soon break. Does this scum even know what it meant to be a true overlord ? When dealing with some people, Henry admitted, he'd wish Novic were in his place to trash some sense into such fools, just like the one standing before him."

"I guess you're dumb, isn't that so ?" Sam said, his palms trying to grab Henry's collar, who brushed it away with his hand.

"You think you're tough punk," Sam grinned foolishly, "I want you to do it again."

Sam tried grabbing Henry's collar again, but Henry stretched his hand forward, unknown to Sam, it was just a reflex to see how he'd react. Sam sent an already anticipated punch at Henry who dodged. Grabbing Sam's arm as he lost his balance, Henry spun around placing Sam's armpit over his shoulder, then taking him over his back, Henry sent the bully crashing face first on the ground. Not bothering to see if his victim was even conscious, Henry gracefully strode away.

"Badass !" James gasped, "that was so cool."

Spinning are he said to his sister, Judith.

"Did you see that ? I've never seen anyone teach Sam a lesson, Henry isn't that bad for his size, is he ?"

"Let's go moron !" Judith yelled disappointed with what she has seen, "the bus will soon be leaving."

"Wait for me Judith !" James yelled after her.