Chapter 47

              Simon walks into Wind Ensemble on Monday, and his friends are immediately anxious to talk. They go over to him as he heads for his chair.

            “Dude, what’s going on with this other you?!” Julian whispers loudly as Simon sits down.

            “Shh…!” Alex and Bryan say to hush him.

            “But, he’s obviously a clone, right?” Alex asks.

            “Yeah,” Simon says.

            “And he wants to fight you on Friday?” Bryan asks.

            “Yeah.”

            “And you’re going to actually fight him?” Julian asks.

            “One way or another, yeah.”

            “Wait what do you mean by that?” Alex says.

            “Let’s not worry about that right now,” Simon says. “I’m just working on getting stronger before then.”

           

            After class, Simon hangs back, and goes to Mr. Reese’s office.

            “Oh, Mr. Michaels,” Mr. Reese says. “What can I help you with?”

            “Um, the thing is, Mr. Reese,” Simon says. “I think I need to back out of the band.”

            “Really? Why?”

            “I’m just not sure I have time for everything anymore,” Simon says. “And I’ve noticed how I’m slipping. I think I should just move aside for now and let others move up in the seats.”

            “Well, alright,” Mr. Reese says. “I think I can keep this from affecting your semester grade, but you will have to still come in tomorrow so I can give you the withdrawal form, and then you can get it to me on Wednesday with your parents’ signatures.”

            “Right, of course,” Simon says.

            “It’s a shame that you’re leaving,” Mr. Reese says. “You were a good lead chair for the second row.”

            Simon just quietly nods and leaves the office to put his clarinet away and continue onto to First Block.

            When Simon arrives for World History, Zoey is already getting to her seat. There’s some awkward tension as she moves aside so he can take his seat.

            “Good morning,” Simon manages to say.

            “Good morning,” she nervously replies.

            The two sit down and Ms. B stands in front of the class.

            “Before we begin,” she says, “I’m sure a lot of you saw those videos over the weekend. But we all need to focus on our work.”

            “But what if he’s right?” someone in the back says. “What if The Spektrum’s been alive all along? Why didn’t he show himself sooner?”

            “I bet his IS a coward!” another person says.

            “No he’s not!” Zoey says, almost standing up. “He’s not a coward! What do any of you know about The Spektrum? What would any of you do if you died but came back?”

            “Are you saying you know he’s actually back?”

            “We know now that he had issues!”

            “Didn’t you punch another girl just because she insulted The Spektrum?”

            “Please, everyone, this is what I was trying to prevent,” Ms. B says. “Let’s just calm down and worry about all of this later.”

            The others grumble but say no more. Zoey frowns as she sits back down. She and Simon glance at each other while getting their notebooks out. He simply smiles and she smiles back.

            Science class is roughly as tense, students having muttered conversations about Siro and The Spektrum. But as Simon walks in, what’s hard is facing Cyndi again. She sees him and looks away quickly. Simon and Zoey take their seats, and Zoey nervously glances between him and Cyndi.

            Zoey looks over her shoulder to see Mr. Gugel is still busy organizing things. She quickly tears a small piece of paper from the back page of her notebook and writes on it. She just as quickly shoves it at Simon, which is completely obvious to him, to Cyndi, and to the others sitting next to them. Simon takes the note with that confused look again and reads it.

                Talk to Cyndi

            Simon looks up at Zoey and lets out a sigh through his nose. He looks over at Cyndi, who pretends not to know what’s going on.

            Simon hesitates to speak, not sure where to begin. He turns towards Cyndi but Mr. Gugel puts away the papers.

            “Alright, everyone,” he says, “I have your tests from Friday.”

            Zoey groans, because now things have gotten worse for her. She dreads what her grade is as Mr. Gugel calls everyone up in order.

            Simon is before Zoey, and he got an A. He’d be happier about that if not for everything else going on. Zoey gets her test back, and she’s blown away by getting an A-!

            “This is thanks to you guys helping me study,” she says with a big beaming smile.

            “That’s great!” Cyndi says as she sees the A-.

            “No need to thank us,” Simon says. “You’re better at science than you think.”

            Zoey smiles again as she puts her test away. Simon and Cyndi smile as they look at each other, but Cyndi stops herself and looks back down at her book. She’s not really reading it, though. She’s just staring at the picture of a salt molecule.

            “Cyndi, c’mon,” Simon sighs. “Siro posted another video, by the way.”

            Cyndi can’t hide her surprise as she looks at him with wide eyes, but stops herself from saying anything about it. She turns back to her book and turns the page to still not read anything.

            “So you don’t care that he says The Spektrum is alive?” Simon asks her. “That he wants to fight The Spektrum? Are you not going to talk about it during the club meeting? Are you even still going to have the club meet?”

            Cyndi doesn’t know what to say to any of those questions. She still can’t get around what Siro said with Simon’s voice, and that Simon didn’t deny any of it.

            “Do you think… The Spektrum will fight him?” Cyndi asks.

            Cyndi looks at Simon with such a stern yet still very upset expression.

            “Yes,” Simon says. “Because he has to.”

            Cyndi looks even more upset, which confuses Simon and Zoey. But before she can say anything, Mr. Gugel calls her name and she picks up her test. She also got an A.

 

            As class ends and lunch begins, Cyndi reluctantly goes up to the front of the room to address the gathering club members.

            “I know everyone wants to talk about everything that has happened on Friday, and over the weekend,” she says. “For those still unsure, what we saw on Friday during Third Block was not the Spektrum. This apparent clone has already confirmed as much. This clone calls himself ‘Siro’, S-I-R-O, and claims to know that The Spektrum is still alive, despite what we saw back in December.”

            “Is he?!” someone shouts from the middle of the room.

            “Yeah, is he?!” another shouts as the room starts getting rowdy.

            “I…” Cyndi hesitates, glancing at Simon. “I don’t know.”

            The others start booing and groaning.

            “How could you not know?” someone says. “Don’t you know who he is?”

            “Yeah!” someone else says. “You were the one who ran out to him the day he died! Or, at least we thought he died.”

            “I… I don’t know him!” Cyndi says. “I thought I did, but with Siro’s promos…”

            “Promos?” someone repeats.

            “It’s a wrestling thing!” Cyndi says in frustration. “His videos, what he said, all of his anger, I… I really don’t know anything about him. And until that fight on Friday… The Spektrum Fan Club will not be meeting.”

            Everyone is shocked! They all ask why, but Cyndi doesn’t give an explanation. She simply packs up her things and leaves the room.

            “Cyndi!?” her friend, Jenny, says. “Wait!”

            “Cyndi?!” Simon says as Jenny hurries after her. “Wait! Ugh.”

            Simon gathers up his things to follow them, and then Zoey gathers up her things to follow him.

            “Cyndi, why are you shutting down the club?” Jenny asks.

            “I’m not shutting down the club,” Cyndi says. “I’m just… having it take a break.”

            Cyndi goes to the stairwell and heads down, but the others still follow.

            “Why?” Jenny asks. “Shouldn’t we use this time to talk stuff out? To prepare for that fight? Or, maybe to prepare for what happens if it doesn’t happen?”

            “Well apparently it’s happening,” Cyndi says as she stops to look back at Jenny.

            Cyndi then looks behind Jenny to see Simon and Zoey. Cyndi frowns and continues down. Jenny looks back to see Simon and Zoey, too.

            “Do you know what she means by that?” she asks them.

            “She certainly hasn’t told me anything,” Simon says.

            “How could you not know?” Jenny says as she continues to follow Cyndi. “Aren’t you her boyfriend?”

            “I’m not sure anymore,” he says. “You’ll have to ask Cyndi!”

            Cyndi looks back long enough to scowl before reaching the bottom of the stairs.

            “Wait, what happened there?” Jenny asks.

            “It doesn’t matter,” Cyndi snaps as she pushes the door open.

            “Not if you’re this mad at me,” Simon says as Jenny reaches the bottom.

            “Cyndi, what happened?” Jenny asks as she follows through the doorway.

            “Just leave it alone, Jen!” Cyndi says. “We can’t talk about it here, anyway.”

            “You mean, like at school?” Jenny asks back.

            “Yes,” Cyndi says. “And don’t ask Simon, he can’t talk about it, either!”

            “Really?” Jenny asks him.

            “Yeah, technically,” Simon says, hesitating as he thinks it through, “can’t talk about it.”

            “What the Hell happened that you can’t talk about it?” Jenny asks.

            “Well we can’t talk about it, obviously,” Zoey says.

            “How are you involved?” Jenny asks Zoey with some attitude.

            “Hey, I am their friend, okay?” Zoey says back. “I know things.”

            “Well I don’t know about you, but we’re having lunch with our friends,” Cyndi says.

            She heads for the main building and Jenny, though confused and hesitant, still follows. Zoey scoffs before turning away.

            “What did I do to deserve that?” Zoey grumbles.

            “Well, if you want,” Simon says, “you can join me since I’m going back to my friends.”

            “Might as well,” Zoey says. “The only people I really know here are you and Cyndi.”

            “Well, uh, this way then,” Simon says.

            Zoey follows Simon along the outside of the science wing to the bleachers.

            “He returns!” Julian says as the group spots Simon coming around the corner.

            “Why aren’t you in the fan club?” Alex asks.

            “And who is this?” Nick asks as he adjusts his glasses.

            “Don’t,” Simon says sternly.

            “Hi, I’m Zoey,” she introduces herself. “Oh, I recognize Alex from World History class. Simon and I are basically all in the same classes, but um… How should I put it? We’ve known each other before having classes together.”

            “How so?” Bryan asks.

            “Um,” Zoey says, looking to Simon.

            Simon takes a moment to think.

            “She’s like me,” he says. “Zap zap.”

            “Oh! Snap!” Julian says. “Wait is she…?”

            “Meow,” Zoey says with a smile.

            “Oh, cool,” Bryan says.

            “Here, let’s sit down,” Simon says to Zoey.

            Simon takes a seat on the bleacher’s front row, and Zoey ends up right beside him. Zoey says hi to Michelle and her friend as they sit by her.

            “What was that about ‘zap zap’ and ‘meow’?” Michelle’s friend, Erin, asks about.

            “Um…” Zoey says as she looks to Simon again.

            “So, wait, why aren’t you upstairs in the club room?” Alex asks.

            “Cyndi shut the club down for the time being,” Simon says.

            “What? Really?” Bryan asks. “Why?”

            “It has to do with Siro,” Simon says. “And that The Spektrum is still alive.”

            “He is alive?” Erin asks. “And, actually, who is ‘Tyler Garrett’? He died and came back?”

            “Um, hey, Erin,” Michelle says. “Could you come with me to the restroom?”

            “Oh, um, yeah, ok,” Erin says. “But didn’t we just-”

            “Don’t worry,” Michelle cuts her off. “I’ll explain when we get there.”

            Michelle leads Erin away and Zoey already knows it’s to share the secret. It seems Simon let more people in on it than Zoey did.

            “So Cyndi quit because of an evil clone?” Bryan says. “That doesn’t seem right.”

            “Nope, it’s not,” Simon sighs.

            “But it’s understandable,” Zoey says, “given… certain things.”

            “What things?” Simon asks.

            “Things I shouldn’t have even brought up,” Zoey says, feeling stupid for talking. “It’s confidential stuff that you should really talk out with Cyndi.”

            “But I can’t do that if she’s not willing to talk to me,” Simon says.

            “Very true,” Zoey says. “So for now, let’s just eat lunch.”

            Zoey takes out her tuna sandwich and takes a big bite to keep her mouth full. Simon is again rather confused, but also turns his attention to his sandwich and eats.

 

            Third Block comes around again, so Simon and Zoey go to the locker rooms. Zoey encounters Cyndi as they walk through the double doors, but they don’t say a word as they go to their lockers and change into their PE uniforms.

            “Hey,” Gina says as she enters the locker room. “What’s with all this clone bullsh-”

            “Shut the hell up, Gina!” Cyndi shouts at the same time Zoey shouts, “Urusei, mesuinu!”

            “What did you call me?!” Gina shouts at Zoey.

            “Yeah, what did you call her?” Cyndi asks out of curiosity.

            “Calm it down, ladies!” Ms. Tingley shouts from the office door. “Get dressed and get into the gym. It looks like it might rain again.”

            The students all file into the gym from both sides. The classes sort themselves out so the teachers can take roll call. After that, the teachers gather at the front of the gym.

            “Alright, everyone,” Coach Ashby says. “Form rows and give each other plenty of space. We’re going to all warm up together before we move on to rainy day activities.”

            The students spread out around the gym, going from a few feet from the stage all the way to the back. Gina and her friends want to stand near Zoey and Cyndi, but the female teachers stop and separate them. The same goes for Gina’s brother, Robby, wanting to stand near Simon, and the male teachers keeping them apart.

            Coach Ashby and Ms. Tingley stand on stage while the other teachers are among the students to keep order as well as keep everyone participating. The students are all led through making circles with their arms, bending down to touch their toes—in which teachers have to make sure students keep their eyes off other students—and of course, jumping jacks.

            “Alright,” Coach Ashby says after the warm-up exercises. “The activity for this rainy day, despite our better judgment, is dodgeball.”

            The class is almost equally divided between those who are excited and those who are unwilling participants.

            “We’ll have two even teams,” Coach Ashby says. “One side by the stage, one by the doors. When you’re hit out, you come over here to stage right.”

            Coach Ashby points to the north side of the gym where the collapsible bleachers line the wall.    Students sort out, and Robby and Gina stick together to be on the side opposite Simon, Cyndi and Zoey.

            “You know they’re going to be gunning for us,” Zoey says to the other two.

            “Obviously,” Cyndi says. “But what’re we supposed to do about that?”

            “Get the ball first,” Simon says.

            The teachers set out the balls, which are volleyballs and not red rubber “dodgeballs,” and keep the students back with their arms stretched out and hands up. The tension mounts as the teachers slowly move away to the side.

            “Go!” Coach Ashby shouts as he puts his hands down.

            Simon and Zoey bolt for the line of balls, as many others do. Cyndi heads for the back instead.

            Gina’s faster than Robby and she gets there a half second before Simon and Zoey. Gina goes to throw at Zoey but Zoey shove-throws her ball into Gina’s stomach. Gina still throws her ball at Zoey!

            “Hey!” Zoey protests as she gets hit in the leg.

            “No, Gina!” Ms. Tingley says. “You’re out. That doesn’t count. Zoey stays in.”

            Zoey sticks her tongue out at Gina as Gina goes to the sidelines. Simon chuckles, but then sees Robby with a ball! Robby throws but Simon gets clear. Simon throws and Robby gets clear, but there’s no ball.

            “Gotcha,” Simon says as he holds it out to Robby.

            Now Simon throws for real and gets Robby in the knee as Robby turns to dodge again.

            “No fake outs!” Coach Ashby says. “Simon, you’re out. Robby stays in.”

            “Seriously?” Simon says.

            Simon grumbles while Robby shakes out his leg.

            “Got a bad knee, huh?” Simon says as he walks away. “Good to know.”

            Simon goes to the sidelines and watches the game continue.

            Volleyballs go flying, with some students dodging and others getting hit. Robby is one of the ones eliminating other students, but Zoey avoids elimination with her new feline flexibility. Cyndi stays save by staying way in the back.

            “Hah!” Zoey says. “I caught one!”

            “I’m back in!” Simon says before anybody else makes a move.

            Simon jumps back in while the person who threw the ball is out. He waves Zoey over as he approaches.

            “I have an idea,” Simon says to her in a hushed tone.

            She looks in his eyes to see they’re hazel, not brown. Zoey starts to understand.

            “What do we do?” she asks.

            “Collect the volleyballs.”

            The two split up and watch for what the other team does. Robby and others throw but Zoey easily catches one of them out. Simon makes sure to avoid Robby’s ball to then scoop it up after it hits the ground.

            “Pass,” Simon says to Zoey as he waves.

            She tosses her volleyball over and Simon catches it to pass to another teammate. Zoey catches other balls to get more of Robby’s team out and then she and Simon pass them to their teammates. Soon, everyone on Simon’s team has a ball while Robby really only has a couple friends and no balls.

            “Get them!” Simon says as his eyes flicker blue.

            Everyone throws the balls at Robby and the other jocks, and obviously they get hit at least once. Simon makes sure to hit Robby in the leg, and the *POOM* sound echoes through the whole gymnasium.

            “We won!” Zoey says.

            She offers a high-five, and Simon holds his hand up. She completes the high-five while the teachers gather the volleyballs. Cyndi rolls her eyes as she excuses herself to the restroom. Cyndi doesn’t really need to go, she just wants out of the gym.

            As she walks in the hall, she looks outside. There’s no rain at all, despite the skies being overcast, so why keep everyone indoors?

            The second round of dodgeball begins as the balls are reset and the teachers move aside. Zoey rushes forward and grabs a ball, to hike it back to Simon like a football. Simon, eyes flickering blue, throws it right at Robby to *POOM* off his chest! Robby staggers and drops to a knee as he works to catch his breath. Meanwhile, Simon chuckles while Zoey covers her mouth with a hand to hide her laughter.

            “That’s not funny,” she says as she turns away from looking, still snickering.

            Gina throws a ball while Zoey’s back is turned, and it hits her in the head!

            “HEY!” Zoey shouts as she turns around.

            “Gina, out! No headshots!” Ms. Tingley says.

            Zoey picks up the ball and throws it back at Gina’s head! Gina gets her hands up to block but that only makes her hands hit her in the face.

            “Zoey, you’re out!” Ms. Tingley says. “No throwing balls at someone who is out!”

            Gina picks up the ball and throws it back but Zoey swats it down. Zoey quickly grabs the ball as Gina goes for another. Zoey takes aim as Gina scoops one up.   Gina turns around but Zoey has already thrown her ball, and it *POOM* hits off Gina’s hip!

            “Zoey,” Simon says.

            He tosses her another ball and she catches it.

            “Thanks!” she says.

            “Stop it!” Ms. Tingley shouts as Zoey takes aim. “Stop or you’re getting detention!”

            “But she threw a ball at Zoey first!” Simon says, standing up for her.

            “No, she’s right,” Zoey says. “I shouldn’t hit Gina back just because she’s a stupid cheating cheater!”

            “You’re both out for the rest of the game,” Coach Ashby says to the girls. “Zoey, you go sit on stage. Gina, you just stay on the sidelines in the far corner.”

            Zoey huffs and puffs while Gina grumbles. Zoey walks past everyone else on her team and manages to hop up onto the stage. Gina leans against the wall in the corner by the doors.

            Simon walks to be at the back of the court and let everyone else throw the volleyballs. He leans up against the stage near where Zoey sits.

            “Mission accomplished,” Simon smirks, eyes flickering hazel.

            “What?” Zoey says. “No way.”

            “Well, Gina’s out of the game completely,” he says. “And while you’re also out of the game, at least now I can back out now that I’ve knocked the air out of Robby while also messing with his knee.”

            “That’s not nice,” Zoey scolds despite her giggle.

            Cyndi finally returns and sees Gina, and Gina sees her. Gina glares with arms crossed while Cyndi walks away from Gina while also still going back to her team. Cyndi holds up her hands in a letter T formation.

            “Don’t hit me,” she says. “Just passing through.”

            Cyndi makes it back to the other side safely and hurries away from the frontlines. But she sees Simon and Zoey as she walks along the wall. She obviously can’t hear them from here with all the noise of the game, but she can see them giggling and smiling, and she starts feeling conflicted.

             I’m bothered by his anger, but… I’m jealous because he and Zoey are growing closer?

            Cyndi’s brain starts to hurt from how her emotions aren’t making sense. She just ignores them, her emotions as well as Simon and Zoey, as she stands in the corner on the south side of the gym.

 

            Fourth Block isn’t very eventful. Simon and Zoey focus on taking notes in their Pre-Calculus class while Cyndi frowns at using Simon’s FST notebook. She decides to take her own notes, so that she can at least read her handwriting the first time.

 

            After school, Zoey and Simon go to where they normally meet up with Cyndi, but naturally Cyndi avoids them. She can’t stop being spotted by them as she heads for the exit, so Simon sighs and follows at a distance. They all end up on the same path anyway, going down Bancroft Avenue headed northwest.

            “Are you going to try and talk to her?” Zoey says. “You may have four days until Siro shows up to fight, but that doesn’t mean you can just waste time.”

            “But she’s the one who doesn’t want to talk!” Simon says.

            “I know, but that just means you’ve got to try harder,” Zoey counters. “Go, catch up to her!”

            Simon grumbles as he reluctantly speed walks to close the gap between him and Cyndi.

            “Cyndi,” Simon calls after her. “Cyndi, c’mon. Can’t we talk about this?”

            “Talk about what?” she says, turning around and stopping. “Your anger issues?”

            “My anger issues?” he says as he stops, too. “I don’t… I don’t have anger issues!”

            “Yes, you do,” Cyndi says. “You have repressed anger. If you didn’t have these issues, maybe Siro wouldn’t be who he is. As weird as it’d be, he’d just be another you. Though, I suppose he’s just you if you were angry.”

            “I…That’s not fair. How do we know it isn’t just something about him being the, oh I dunno, evil clone?”

            Cyndi just scoffs at Simon and continues down the sidewalk. Simon looks back at Zoey with a hand pointed in Cyndi’s direction, shoulders shrugging and eyes wide, as if to say, “See? Didn’t matter.”

            “At least you tried,” Zoey says with an apologetic smile and shrug.

            The two continue walking together with Cyndi still several yards ahead of them.

            “Guess I should check in with my cousins,” Zoey says as they near their neighborhood. “Maybe we can start training this afternoon?”

            “I was going to ask, actually, I just wasn’t sure how,” Simon says.

            Zoey takes out her phone and speed dials Seth. She holds it to her ear as she walks and waits as it rings.

 

            At this time in Alameda, Zoey’s cousins are dealing with more street thugs causing trouble. Jeff ducks one thug’s wild punch to send him into Seth, who just stays solid and lets the guy *PING* off him.

            “Just give it up, guys,” Jeff says, only slightly muffled by his mask. “If you couldn’t beat Catgirl when she was alone, you definitely can’t beat both of us.”

            “We should applaud their efforts, though,” Seth says.

            *brrrr* Seth’s phone vibrates as a call comes in. It distracts him as a thug comes up behind him with a chair from a classroom. The metal legs hit off Seth’s head with a *DONKLE* as the plastic seat rattles. Seth staggers forward, but he doesn’t fall.

            Jeff looks over as Seth slowly straightens up. The thug’s face shows the realization of how badly he just messed up. In one motion, Seth twists and turns away from the thug to then come back around and hit him upside the head with his heel! The *PING* sound reveals Seth hardened his foot into steel, but the thug falling to the floor in a heap also gives it away.

            Seth stands on both feet again and finally checks his phone. He answers when he sees it’s Zoey.

            “Yo,” he says. “Sup?”

            “Fighting thugs, huh?” Zoey asks with a smirk.

            “Yep,” he says. “Make it fast.”

            “Could you guys pick me and Simon up? We were hoping to do more ‘studying’, what with his ‘appointment’ on Friday.”

            “Yeah alright,” he says. “Be there soon.”

            “Thanks!” she smiles.

            They both hang up, and Jeff finishes the last thug with his Taser Tag.

            “Ikanakya <We gotta go>,” Seth says.

            Jeff and Seth hurry out of the Junior Hall and the coast is clear as they duck behind the pool area. They change back to themselves and regroup with Zoey’s friends in the parking lot.

            “Thank you for watching our stuff,” Jeff says to Karina.

            “You’re welcome,” she says as she and Alicia hand over Jeff’s and Seth’s things.

            Jeff gives Karina a kiss on the cheek and she smiles and giggles.

            “We’re off to San Leandro,” Seth says. “Gotta pick up Neko ‘n’ Niji.”

            “Is that your nickname for them?” Marina asks with a chuckle.

            “Oh it should be,” Karina says. “It rolls off the tongue.”

            “Karina, don’t start that again,” Alicia says.

            “Start what again?” Jeff asks.

            “Alicia and I had a discussion last night,” Karina says.

            “We had an argument,” Alicia translates.

            “About the possibility that things might be in Zoey’s favor,” Karina says.

            “With Tobey?” Marina asks.

            “His name’s Simon, Marina,” Chloe says. “And what about Cyndi?”

            “Well that’s just the thing,” Karina says. “Since Cyndi didn’t like the whole Siro video thing, maybe she and Simon break up, and then Zoey can swoop in there and they can both be each other’s second relationship!”

            “Wait for it,” Alicia mutters to Seth.

            “And then best of all,” Karina continues. “We can have triple dates!”

            “What?” Jeff says.

            “Wait, triple?” Alicia says. “You went up a notch. I thought you were just going to double date. You, Jeff, and them.”

            “Well yeah but you guys would probably have to drive us anyway,” Karina says as she motions to Alicia and Seth. “So you guys might as well come with and make it a triple.”

            “Plus…” Karina says as she leans in with a smug smirk.

            “Speak another word and I slap those buns out of your hair,” Alicia says under her breath through grit teeth.

            Karina keeps the smug smirk as she stands back up from the lean.

            “We’re gonna get going now…” Seth says, confused.

            The Takagaki brothers go to Seth’s car while Alicia leads the girls away to hers, and the two take off in different directions.

            Simon drops his things off at home and changes from a long sleeve to a t-shirt.

            “Let mom and dad know I’m hanging out with Zoey and her cousins,” he tells his brothers as he heads back out.

            “Uh-huh,” his brothers say while they’re playing Supreme Fighting King.

            Simon crosses the street and turns onto Maud. He makes his way back to Zoey’s house and hurries up the stairs to the porch. He rings the doorbell, and Zoey answers a moment later. She also changed clothes but also has a light jacket on.

            “Wow, you’re quick,” Zoey says as she walks outside. “My cousins still won’t be here for a bit.”

            “And we’re not going to wait inside?” he asks as she closes the door.

            “Well, uh,” she says nervously. “I don’t think my parents would like us sitting alone in the living room without them around.”

            “Oh. Yeah, that’s fair. That’s fair.”

            Simon steps aside to lean back against the porch railing. The two watch the street quietly as they wait. Minutes pass quietly like this, and it obviously feels awkward. Especially the space between them. As The Spektrum and Catgirl, they always seemed to stand close to each other. And of course, there was the SUV escape in Brooklyn, when they ended up sitting shotgun together.

            Simon finds his eyes drifting towards Zoey as he remembers sitting with her on his lap. It was different as The Spektrum, but thinking about it now makes him nervous and even a little bashful. He gets his mind off it, only by thinking of something more recently.

            “Hey…” he speaks up. “About yesterday, after Darklite and the others left.”

            Zoey starts to straighten up and her eyes look away.

            “You were saying something about Cyndi, and me, and you,” Simon continues. “You were talking kinda fast, but I’m pretty sure I understood you when you were going back and forth there, about not being my girlfriend but not being against it?”

            “I, I uh, I don’t,” Zoey stammers with a nervous smile and darting eyes.

            “Are you holding back because of Cyndi?” he asks.

            Zoey stops being nervous and starts being conflicted.

            “I mean, I don’t really know what’s going to happen with me and Cyndi,” he says. “And I don’t want to assume stuff, but… I’m not exactly a catch, or whatever other slang exists, so I’m not really used to girls liking to me first. And, you’ve been trying to help me and Cyndi patch things up, so that’s also kinda confusing.”

            “You shouldn’t worry about any of that,” Zoey says. “It’s not really important right now. You need to focus on getting ready to fight Siro.”

            Zoey doesn’t look up from the street, so Simon just nods and stays quiet.

            Zoey’s cousins arrive and only pull into the mouth of the driveway. Zoey and Simon enter from the driver’s side passenger door, and sit with the middle seat between them.

            “No Cyndi…?” Jeff asks as he looks at Simon behind Seth.

            “Nope,” Simon says.

            “Okay…” Jeff says.

            Jeff glances at Seth, and they both think about what Karina was just going on about.

            Another drive back to Alameda and these four return to the Takagaki Dojo.

            “The weekday karate kids haven’t arrived yet,” Jeff says as they walk along the walls. “How about we just use this space for a moment?”

            “But the teachers will be coming in first, right?” Simon asks. “If we fully transform, they’ll definitely see something.”

            “Why would we need to fully transform for sparring?” Seth asks.

            “Well, we need to get serious, don’t we?” Simon says. “This isn’t just training for me to be ready for Siro. You guys need to be ready, too.”

            “Why?” Zoey asks. “You’re going to beat him.”

            “But what if I don’t?” Simon asks back.

            “But you’re going to,” Zoey says insistently. “You said you wouldn’t fail.”

            “But there’s still a chance I do fail,” Simon says, even more insistent. “Even if Siro and I were even, with all five Color Codes, I don’t know I could beat him.

            “There was something about him when fighting Craig. He was incredibly aggressive, no matter what color he was. That’s why we all need to be at our best. That means we need to fight fully activated. We need to know what it’s like at full power.”

            “Alright,” Seth says. “And we better make it fast, we’re running out of time.”

            Simon activates Code Silver while Seth’s and Jeff’s hair change colors and Zoey lets out her cat ears and tail while her hair turns bright pink and her eyes turn golden yellow. Her jeans become her pink shorts and she has long socks to keep her legs covered.

            “Why do you get to have clothes changing powers?” Jeff mutters.

            “And actually,” Spektrum says as he looks at the three. “This works out really well to prepare for the primary colors. Kid Lightning has the speed, Steel Fox has the durability, and Catgirl has the flexibility. Which gives me an idea…

            “After I unlocked all five Code, I found a way to switch between them without ever turning back into myself.”

            “Yeah, that’s obvious,” Jeff says. “Your point?”

            “I need to be ready for unpredictability,” Spektrum says. “Siro could easily switch between Red, Yellow and Blue, in whatever way he wanted. I need you guys to tag in and out of the sparring match at random and I’ll do what I can to keep up.”

            “Another pro-wrestling thing, huh?” Seth says. “Tagging in and out.”

            “Of course,” Spektrum smirks. “You guys figure out who goes first.”

            Spektrum steps away while Zoey and her cousins huddle up.

            “It probably doesn’t matter who starts,” Seth says, “but we really need to figure out how we’re supposed to switch in and out.”

            “It wouldn’t do any good to shout each other’s names, would it?” Zoey asks.

            “Nope,” Jeff says. “And we need to keep it random. If the pattern is too obvious, he’ll just figure out who we’re sending in next, and it’ll defeat the purpose.”

            “We’ll use code words to say who goes next,” Seth says. “Something in Japanese or that only we would understand.”

            “But it shouldn’t be too complicated,” Zoey says. “We need to be able to shout it quick and get out of the way.”

            “Right,” Seth says. “It’d be too obvious if we shouted ‘neko’ for you, though.”

            “I have an idea!” Zoey says.

            She has her cousins come in even closer, and she whispers even quieter as she explains the system.

            “Ready,” Zoey says as she puts her hand in.

            Her cousins look at her flatly.

            “What?” she says. “This is a huddle, so we gotta have the break.”

            Her cousins sigh and put their hands in.

            “Break!” the three of them say.

            The first one to step up to Spektrum Code Silver is Catgirl Zoey.

            “Wait,” she says. “Shoes off.”

            Everyone takes off their shoes before Spektrum and Catgirl walk onto the mats.

            “Ready,” Seth says. “Go!”

            Catgirl strikes her fighting stance while Spektrum loosely has his hands up.

            “I know your 10-Hit combo, so no point in trying it,” he smirks.

            Zoey smirks back.

            “Then try…” she says before she swings an open-hand uppercut!

            Spektrum leans back just in time, but then she throws another open-hand uppercut from the other side! That gets him in the chin, then she throws a straight right, left hook, and spins to backhand AND uppercut in a row! Spektrum goes staggering from this 5-hit combo, hands going to his jaw.

            “Oh, um, are you okay?” she says, concerned. “I honestly thought you’d block something in there.”

            “Trust me, I tried,” he says as he comes back. “But I could feel how sluggish Silver was in responding. And I guess I should remember that as a 2D Fighter, you’re strike heavy. Let’s go again.”

            “Ready,” Seth says as Spektrum squares up with Catgirl again. “Go!”

            Catgirl left uppercuts but Spektrum gets clear of that. The jab gets him on the cheek, then she steps in to spin her left leg back. Spektrum gets his guard up for that, and stays put as her heel and calf make contact.

            Catgirl staggers forward from the recoil, and Spektrum grabs her legs with his legs. She catches herself with her hands as Spektrum rolls to trip her up with the drop toehold. He sits up, hooking his feet to to lock in the hold.

            “You have cat paw pads on your socks,” he says.

            “Really?” she says as she looks over her shoulder. “Ohmygosh, I do! So cute~!”

            Catgirl then quickly somersaults, but Spektrum holds on and now the two battle, their hands propping them up. She tries to pull her feet free but he keeps them caught between his shins. She keeps trying to pull free, but Silver’s strength holds her legs down with ease. He even smirks at her about it. Spektrum then turns into her pull and she ends up falling back! He scoots up and gets a leg over each of her shoulders, but this creates the awkward positioning of her legs on each of his shoulders.

            “Uhh…” her cousins both say.

            “One!” Spektrum counts for himself. “Two!”

            Catgirl lifts and twists and kneels beside The Spektrum to pout.

            “What?” he shrugs. “It’s called a sit-out pin.”

            Catgirl swats him in the head, much like a cat might, and Spektrum lets out an “Ow!” as he puts a hand to the spot.

            “Aka!” Catgirl says as she cartwheels away.

            Jeff cartwheels in right to where Zoey was, and then kicks Spektrum, shin to chest! Spektrum clenches his jaw while the blunt smack echoes out.

            “Ooof,” Seth and Zoey let out.

            “You good?” Jeff asks.

            “I’m good,” Spektrum grunts.

            “Then have another!” Jeff says as he kicks again.

            Another blunt smack can be heard as Jeff hits Spektrum in the chest again. Spektrum clenches his jaw again but he lets air out through his nose. Jeff swings a third, and it makes contact, but Spektrum wraps his arms around the leg!

            “Please don’t twist it again,” Jeff says as Spektrum stands up.

            “Don’t worry about that,” Spektrum says.

            Jeff sighs in relief, but then Spektrum starts turning, and he pulls Jeff along! They pick up speed, and The Spektrum is now swinging Jeff around! They rotate over and over, and Jeff lifts off the ground higher and higher as the momentum builds! The Spektrum stops after roughly 20 rotations, mostly because he’s dizzy. To be fair, Jeff is dizzier, and even Seth and Zoey got a little dizzy watching.

            But then The Spektrum yanks Jeff up off the mat and walks forward to flip him over. The Spektrum then pulls the leg back and kneels to keep Jeff down.

            “Single Leg Boston Crab!” he declares as he looks over at Zoey and Seth. “I’m going to put on a clinic today! Also, I’m going to keep looking at you guys because hoo, the room is spinning.”

            “Could you let up a little?” Jeff grunts from below. “Kinda hurts.”

            “Think of it as incentive to get out,” Spektrum says back.

            Jeff pushes up with his arms, but The Spektrum cranks back on the leg to bring him back down. They keep going back and forth and it’s clearly a deadlock.

            Jeff stops trying to push, and just reaches back to give a little zap to The Spektrum’s calf!

            “Ow!” he lets out as he stands back up. “Hey! Not fair!”

            “Your Codes have extra powers, we have extra powers,” Jeff says. “It is fair.”

            “Okay, that’s true,” Spektrum says.

            The Spektrum suddenly reaches down to grab Jeff’s collar and use it to yank him up off the ground! Jeff lets out a shout as The Spektrum brings him right out of this deadlift into the fireman’s carry. The Spektrum prepares his slam from day one but Jeff flails and slips down off The Spektrum’s shoulders. Jeff kicks the same leg he zapped, then scrambles away.

            “Aoi!” he shouts out.

            Seth moves up to be where Jeff was, and Jeff joins Zoey on the sidelines. Seth is already making his arms into steel as he takes his own fighting stance. Spektrum stays light on his feet as he and Seth approach.

            Seth leads with his left leg but kicks upward with his right! The Spektrum gets clear of the foot, because it might be metal. Seth keeps his forward motion as he punches with his right. The Spektrum ducks that and grabs Seth around the waist. He can feel that Seth’s sides are steel, too, but the new weight isn’t too much for Silver’s strength. The Spektrum lifts Seth and then drops with him to the floor for a classic back suplex. Seth’s extra weight does make him hit the mats with a harder thud, but he seems just fine as he gets up.

            Seth and The Spektrum circle again. The Spektrum and Seth seem to both be waiting for the other to make the first move. The Spektrum rushes in, aiming at Seth’s stomach, but the tackle doesn’t work as Seth sprawls his legs to stay standing. Seth turns The Spektrum’s momentum against him as he turns and throws him off. The Spektrum rolls but Seth just stays right where he is.

            “Karate kids!” Jeff shouts as cars start pulling up.

            Everyone deactivates and regroups on the sidelines.

            “Hi…!” Zoey says with a nervous smile and wave.

            “Hi!” a few kids wave back.

            “Let’s go to the back room,” Seth says quickly and quietly.

            They all grab up their shoes and head into Grandfather Takagaki’s private study dojo. But this time, Grandfather Takagaki isn’t around.

            “Good, he’s finally sleeping at home again,” Zoey says.

            “Took a lot of convincing from Dad,” Jeff says. “If we had room in the new place, we could have him move in with us.”

            “But then we’d be giving up the Takagaki house,” Zoey says sadly. “If anything, it’s a shame you guys didn’t get moved in with him.”

            “One day, we’ll talk about all of our parents with him about this,” Seth says. “But for now, let’s start again.”

            Everyone reactivates and, after taking shoes off again, The Spektrum and Seth step onto the mats.

            “Ready,” Zoey says. “Go!”

            The Spektrum immediately leaps right onto Seth! Seth falls over and The Spektrum starts throwing wild haymakers from both sides! Seth covers up his head and the steel skin returns. The Spektrum bangs his hand on the steel and rears back as he shakes it out. Seth gets a foot up and shoves The Spektrum away with it.

            “Aka!” Seth signals. “Boru!”

            Jeff runs back in and leaps while rolling to bowl The Spektrum over! The Spektrum would say he realizes “boru” is just Engrish for this kind of “bowl,” but the air gets knocked out of him.

            Jeff gets up and then drops a leg across The Spektrum’s face.

            “How was that, brother?” Jeff says in his best Hogan voice.

            The Spektrum gives a thumbs-up. Jeff then covers The Spektrum for the pin.

            “One!” Zoey counts. “Two!”

            The Spektrum sits up, cradling Jeff in his arms! He then rolls back and lifts Jeff right up to his shoulders for the fireman’s carry. Jeff scrambles again and gets down, but The Spektrum planned for that, and he throws a big back hand! It hits Jeff in the head and he wobbles, and The Spektrum reels him in with an arm. In one motion, The Spektrum scoops Jeff, turns his body and drops with Jeff into the mat, for a “spinning powerslam!”

            “Ow…” Jeff groans. “Why am I always the one getting thrown?”

            “Because you’re very small,” Seth says.

            Jeff kicks from the floor and gets The Spektrum in the head. The Spektrum staggers back and Jeff rolls away.

            “Aki!” Jeff shouts. “Kikku!”

            Zoey returns to the match with a sprint and a flying kick! It gets The Spektrum in the chest and floors him!

            “Good thing your shoes weren’t on, or that would’ve hurt,” The Spektrum jokes through his own groan.

            The Spektrum sits up as Catgirl Zoey rolls back to her feet. He gets up and she runs over to kick him again! But The Spektrum swats the kick away and that turns her sideways. He catches her in a waistlock and pops her up onto his right shoulder. He keeps hold of her with arms wrapped around her thighs as he starts spinning!

            Zoey lets out a wailing yell as she goes around and around.

            “Staaahp~!” she says. “My shiiirt~!”

            But The Spektrum doesn’t stop, so Zoey can only grab at her shirt to keep it down. The Spektrum slows down when he’s dizzy again, and then stops to let her down off his shoulder. She’s also dizzy, and her tail swishes with lurching, herky-jerky movements.

            “A…” she says as she wobbles towards her cousins. “A…! Aki…!”

            “Aki janai! <Not aki!>” her cousins respond.

            “Ah, sodesu… <Oh, that’s right…>” she says with a woozy giggle.

            Zoey turns around on wobbly legs, to see The Spektrum rush her! He puts up his arm to clothesline, but she falls back with a startled yelp. He then drops down to cover for the pin.

            “One,” he counts. “Two.”

            But Zoey slips out with that uncanny flexibility, feet firmly planted and the rest of her curling and straightening up to match.

            “Whoa, that was like those floppy tube men,” The Spektrum says. “Y’know, the kind where the air flows through it and it looks like it’s flailing its arms.”

            “Thanks, I think,” Zoey says with a curious smirk.

            Then she ducks and sweeps to clip him in the arm! He lets out a shout as she hops over him.

            “Aoi!” she says. “Doroppu!”

            Seth runs back in and drops with his full weight like a cannonball on The Spektrum’s back!

            “Ohh…” Jeff says as The Spektrum is flattened to the mat. “Maybe we should take a break?”

            The Spektrum coughs a few times before groaning, “Maybe…”

            The Spektrum sits up before powering down to Simon, and the others also deactivate before they sit down.

            “Why didn’t you use Code Black during any of that?” Zoey asks.

            “Because,” Simon says awkwardly.

            But then he doesn’t say anything else.

            “Because…?” Zoey asks.

            “Because that’s who Siro was the entire time he fought Craig,” Simon says. “He may have been different colors, but in his mind, he was always Code Black. I could tell just from watching him, both fighting Craig, and talking in his promo videos. He was so intense. He embraced that anger inside and was using it with all the Codes. That alone is going to give him the edge against me. That’s why I can’t be sure I’ll win. But, it’s also why I don’t want to use Code Black. I don’t want to be like him.”

            “But you can’t hold back against him,” Zoey says. “You need to use everything you have!”

            “But what if that’s not enough?!” Simon says.

            “It will be enough!” Zoey says. “You just have-”

            “He killed Tiger, Zoey!” Simon cuts her off. “We only beat him together, and if you hadn’t kicked Tiger in the balls, Tiger would’ve ripped me apart! But Siro alone was enough to kill Tiger. How can I stand against that?!”

            “With faith,” Zoey says. “You have to have faith.”

            Simon looks Zoey in the eyes and sees the seriousness and determination shining in them.

            “I’ll try,” he says.

            Zoey smiles so sweetly, that Simon can’t help but smile back. But there’s guilt behind his smile that he swallows down. He just doesn’t want to hurt that purity and strength with his real feelings.