"You're starting to get on my nerves!"
"That's my line!" Kristina yelled at the biker leader with such aggression, that no one could tell which one's the aggressor.
She stomped the ground, creating a small bump on the road made of ice to make the biker leader stumble and lose balance. But as he was falling down, he quickly shifted his weight to hit Kristina with a counter punch.
A loud crunching sound echoed through the streets before realizing he only punched an ice statue that looked like Kristina.
As his fist shattered the statue, a large amount of mist covered his surroundings before noticing something glistening beyond the fog
As it cleared, he saw Kristina getting ready to throw several Ice shards towards him. He didn't have enough time to deflect them.
Realizing this, he curled up and solidified his entire upper body into stone.
Kristina launched the ice shards. Each hit created the sound of shattering glass and created even more mist that covered the street.
As everything settled, what remained was the biker leader laying unconscious on the ground.
"B-boss!" The bikers ran up to their leader to pick him up.
________________________________________
"Well uh... Seems like we're done here?"
Aran told the bikers as he dusted his hands off.
Kristina walked toward Aran and Elio, casually brushing frost from her sleeves. Her breath still misted in the air, but she looked completely unfazed—except for the slight flush of adrenaline on her cheeks.
"Whew." She flicked a piece of shattered ice off her shoulder. "That was annoying."
Aran gave her a terrified look. "Remind me to never make you mad..."
"No promises," she said with a smirk.
Elio glanced at the gang members. Some were unconscious and some were too scared to move.
"Uh... So what should we do with them?"
"Hm... Let's ask them why they were after us first."
Kristina and Elio nodded in agreement.
Aran walked over towards the group of bikers huddled up.
"Who sent you?"
The bikers bit their tongues, not saying a word.
Aran frowned. "Not feeling talkative, huh?"
He crouched down a bit, looking at them eye to eye. His expression was calm—but behind it was a sharp glint that wasn't there earlier. "You picked a fight. Almost hurt someone. If this was a misunderstanding, now would be a great time to say so."
Still, silence.
One of the bikers trembled. The others glanced at each other, unsure.
Kristina crossed her arms, her tone suddenly frosty. "Talk—unless you want an icicle somewhere it really shouldn't be..."
Her voice was calm, but the ice forming around her fingers wasn't just for show.
The bikers gulped.
Finally, one cracked under the pressure.
"W-we were just following orders! Honest!"
Aran stepped forward. "Whose orders?"
"Well we uh..."
Before he could say another word, his face was covered by a palm as if he was being protected.
"Stop it, my boys were just trying to follow my lead..."
Their leader has woken up. His hand was trembling as he desperately tried to stand.
"I'm surprised you're still able to get up so quickly..." Aran said.
The leader gave him a crooked grin, a streak of dried blood under his nose. "Takes more than a few snowflakes to knock me out for good…"
Kristina's eyes narrowed. "I've got a few more where that came from."
He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. No more fightin'. You got us. But leave the boys out of it. I told 'em this was personal."
Aran stepped closer, eyeing him. "Personal? No one sent you?"
"I sent me. I swear on my life."
"Whoa whoa, no one's getting killed over this, okay? Don't go swearing on your life..." Aran held his palms up to calm him down.
The biker let out a weak chuckle, clutching his ribs as he tried to steady himself.
"Heh… fair enough. Didn't think the day would end with me getting lectured by a kid…"
Kristina crossed her arms. "So, what—you just saw me with these two and decided to kidnap me?"
"Wasn't supposed to be a kidnapping, alright?" he wheezed. "Just… a misunderstanding. Someone told me you were in danger. Said that you were with any shady-looking guys. So I went outta my way to help... "
"Help by threatening to punch people? Doesn't exactly sound like a knight-in-shining armor type of situation..." Aran raised an eyebrow.
The biker winced. "Look, it's kinda our thing… Anyway, that's all..."
Elio stepped forward. "You haven't told us the name of that 'someone' you were talking about..."
The biker leader sighed before explaining.
"You guys know Jena Cron, right?"
Aran blinked. "Jena? If I remember this right, she's our classmate. Don't you hang out with her, Kristina?"
Kristina's expression tightened instantly. "What about her?"
"She's my little sister."
Aran's eyes widened. "Wait—what?!"
Kristina's jaw tensed. "She sent you?"
The biker leader nodded, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "She texted me earlier, freaking out, said some jerks were messing with her friend and dragging her around. Said the guy had scary eyes and the other one looked like he hadn't slept in years."
"...Yeah, seems about right." Kristina said with a straight face.
"Hey!"
Aran and Elio yelled in unison, sounding offended.
Aran groaned, crossing his arms. "I knew it. I knew she thought we were creeps!"
Elio crossed his arms, trying to look unbothered. "I get the scary eyes thing a lot. But yeah, you should get some sleep, Aran..."
"You're ganging up on me, too?"
The biker leader raised both hands defensively. "Look, look, I'm not judging. I didn't expect you guys to fight back either. Or, uh… for her to throw snowballs at us."
Kristina scoffed. "You started it."
"Yeah, yeah, fair enough…" the leader muttered, rubbing his sore shoulder. "Still, you gotta admit, the misunderstanding's kinda funny in hindsight?"
Aran shot him a flat look. "Oh sure. Hilarious. Getting chased through half the city by a biker gang is my idea of a great after school walk."
"You did kick me in the family jewels," the leader pointed out."
"Uh… It was the only way…" Aran mumbled, trying to justify his actions, his eyes drifting to the side.
Kristina gave him a smug look. "You did say you wanted the first shot."
"Not like that!" the biker groaned, wincing at the memory. "Couldn't you have just kicked my shin or something?!"
As the three of them continued to argue, Elio tapped Aran's shoulder as he heard the sound of another bike approaching.
"Uh... Guys, we've got company..."
Aran turned sharply, the light mood vanishing from his face. "You've got to be kidding me…"
From down the street, the low growl of a lone motorcycle echoed through the empty avenue. Its sleek black frame reflected the orange hue of the setting sun, and the rider—clad in dark gear and a mirrored helmet.
Kristina narrowed her eyes. "Another one of yours?" she asked the biker leader.
"Worse... I know that sound from anywhere..."
"Which means...?"
"Our boss is here. Dammit, someone here must've called her!"
He looked at the other bikers as one of them trembled.
"S-sorry! We were getting desperate!"
"You idiot!"
As the leader said that, a loud screeching noise echoed as a motorbike with a sidecar skidded infront of them
The one driving had a different aura compared to the ones they defeated.
As the unknown biker got off, they walked towards the trio from Potentia Academy.
Judging from the biker's physique, they were a woman. But her height was almost like Elio's. Maybe even taller.
She stood with perfect posture, the wind catching her dark coat as it flared just slightly behind her.
The street fell completely silent.
Then—
CRACK.
The sound of her knuckles popping echoed like a gunshot.
Aran instinctively stepped in front of Kristina, muscles tensing. Elio's eyes narrowed, lightning already beginning to spark at his fingertips.
The woman finally spoke.
"You brats made quite the mess."
Her voice was low, calm. The kind of voice that came right before a storm.
The fallen biker leader visibly flinched. "B-Boss, wait! They're students! We didn't mean for it to get this out of hand—!"
She raised a hand.
He shut up immediately.
"I saw everything," she said. Her tone didn't change, but the air felt heavier now. "And what I saw was you all getting wiped out by three teenagers... Looks like I've been too light on you guys with training..."
"N-no... Boss, you don't mean..."
"I want each of you to do two thousands push ups by the end of tomorrow..."
"NOOOO!!!"
The bikers collectively shouted in despair.
"And as for you three..."
Aran's chest started beating. His instincts told him one thing... This woman's strong.
WHOOSH
Before any of them could even react, Elio disappeared from Aran's side as something yanked him into the air.
When they looked up, they saw Elio being held by a floating, humanoid ghost—a pale, translucent figure with glowing eyes and a mischievous aura.
"Ugh..." he groaned, dangling midair.
"Elio!"
"Elio!"
Aran and Kristina called out at the same time.
"Time to teach you a lesson, you little brat…" the biker boss said, raising her hand like she was puppeteering the specter.
Sparks flickered around Elio's body as he struggled. But the ghost's grip simply absorbed the electricity, diffusing it like mist. His eyes widened.
"I—I can't break free!"
"Let him go!" Aran shouted, sprinting toward them with a determined glare.
Then—
"Ow ow ow ow ow!!!"
Elio cried out as the ghost began aggressively ruffling his hair.
"S-Stop it, big sis!!"
"Nooooppeee~!!" the woman said with a singsong voice.
Aran skidded to a halt, jaw half-open in shock.
"...Huh?"
The overwhelming pressure from earlier?
A total false alarm.
"Oh are these your friends?" She took off her helmet to reveal her long golden hair and smiled. "Heya!"
________________________________________
The orange glow of the setting sun stretched long across the streets as the roar of the motorcycle echoed down the road.
All of the bikers quickly went their separate ways to get away from the cops. All that commotion would eventually lead to that.
Elio sat awkwardly behind his sister, arms crossed and face flushed red—not from embarrassment anymore, but from the way she kept humming a happy little tune as if she hadn't just ambushed them all.
'You good back there, little bro?" she called over her shoulder, clearly enjoying herself.
"I'm fine," Elio muttered. 'Please stop humming."
"Aw, what?! You used to fall asleep to this tune!" she said with a teasing grin.
Aran smirked, leaning a little closer toward Elio.
"Y'know, it's really hard to imagine you getting lullabied."
"Please stop…" Elio muttered, slumping slightly as he hid behind his sister's back like he was trying to disappear.
Kristina leaned over slightly from the sidecar, trying not to laugh.
'Anyways," Elio's sister coughed, clearly trying to sound more serious—though the smugness in her voice ruined it—'since you three decided to stir up a storm in my turf, mind telling me what the heck that was about?"
Kristina sat upright, still giggling under her breath. '"Shouldn't we be asking you that? Your guys tried to kidnap me!"
"Misunderstanding," she said casually, making a sharp turn that jolted everyone slightly. "Besides, if you got kidnapped that easily, I'd be disappointed."
Aran held onto the sidecar for balance, squinting at her. "And just to be clear, are you going to kidnap us now? Because the vibes are kinda 50/50."
"No promises," she said without looking back. "But I do owe you three for knocking some sense into my crew. Especially you."
She tilted her head slightly toward Kristina.
"You've got some serious firepower if you were able to take down Nolan like that!"
"Who?" Kristina asked
"Oh yeah, I guess you haven't introduced yourselves yet... The guy who can turn his body to stone. "
Kristina blinked, caught off guard by the compliment. "Uh… thanks?"
Elio's sister awkwardly chuckled.
"The name's Lilia by the way. Thanks for hanging out with my little bro here..."
"No, it's our pleasure." Aran told her. "Everyday has been a lot of fun."
"Is that so...? I'm glad." She smiled. "Anyways, back to what I was saying earlier... Kristina, you really are something! Wanna join my gang?"
Kristina blinked. "H-huh?!"
Aran nearly choked. "Wait, what?!"
"You heard me!" Lilia grinned, revving the engine a little for flair. "I mean, with reflexes like that? The attitude? The style? You'd fit right in."
Kristina waved her hands in front of her. "I—uh—appreciate the offer, but I think I'd rather not get chased by the police every other day…"
"Aw, c'mon," Lilia pouted. "It's not like we're criminals!"
"You're borderline criminals..." Elio told her.
"It hurts to hear that from my own little brother, y'know..."
Kristina looked at Aran for support, but he just shrugged, trying not to laugh.
"Don't look at me, you did fight off a gang like a total badass."
Kristina groaned, burying her face in her hands. "This is what I get for showing off…"
Aran laughed before Lilia interrupted it.
"Hey, don't think I forgot about you."
"Oh?"
Aran suddenly got excited.
She's going to compliment my skills too, right? C'mon, let's hear it!
"Next time you kick someone in the groin, make sure it's not one of my lieutenants."
Oh....
"Duly noted..." Aran said, looking down from shame.
Kristina and Elio broke out into a laughter.
________________________________________