According to history books, the day the world changed was when the sun exploded. It was just one day. One day like any other day, except something extraordinary happened. Something that no one thought they would ever see. At least, not for a few billion years. The sun had exploded.
The once bright-yellow sun, shining high in the sky, given the planet warmth and light had exploded. As the sun exploded, it shook the very Earth. People were scared and panicking. They feared for their lives, but once they calmed down, and looked up, they saw it. They saw a new red sun. Everyone was stunned and amazed. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Their eyes were glued to the sun. Scientists all over the world immediately started to study it. They took thousands of notes and recordings, detailing everything. The scientists wanted to know everything they could and moved with haste. Even the people were interested in their new sun. For a while, it seemed magnificent. Then, it started to happen. People started to realize what their new red sun was doing to the environment.
It seemed the radiation from the new red sun was different from the previous yellow sun. As time went on, radiation from the red sun started to mutate the plant lives. It started small at first. The grasses and weeds sprouted uncontrollably. Leaves would take over whole trees, covering them entirely. No one could understand what was going on. In only a few months, vines became as hard as steel. Seaweeds started snapping at any passing swimmers and fishes. Tree barks could regenerate at unbelievable speeds. The new plants grabbed the attention of all scientists. They studied the plants in an attempt to understand what was going on. However, since the scientists became too busy studying the plants, they didn't notice what was about to happen next.
The radiation had gotten into the food cycle, and the animals and bugs that ate the mutated plants began to mutate themselves. Mice and rats reproduced at accelerated rates with hundreds in only a few minutes. Ants and cockroaches could now work together to form solid shapes such as limbs strong enough to break through brick walls. Even the simple flies had mutated. Now, flies could hold electric charges. They would use these charges to burn through fly swatters. What few of the mice, ants, and flies that were slow to mutate were quickly eaten by other animals, and it wasn't long before the whole animal became mutated.
The mutated animals became stronger. They became smarter too. They became aggressive and before anyone could do anything, the animals started attacking people, and then, whole cities. They lay waste to anyone and anything they see. No armies could defeat or even defend against them, and very soon, the animals had taken over the world. They forced what was left of the human race into hiding.
The survivors at the time hid wherever they could. They hid in destroyed buildings and abandoned cars. They hid underground in caves and sewers. They hid wherever there were as little animals or insects as possible. At this time, it seemed like the end of everything. It seemed like the end of the human race. The animals were too strong and there was nothing the people could do. After 30 years of hiding, and on the verge of extinction, one man finally learned how to turn the table.
From the few stories in the history books, a lone survivor, known only as "Monty", was living in a small cave hidden high in the mountain. Every day, Monty would go outside and look up at the sun. He would think of the once-yellow sun and curse the new red sun. It was because of this that he discovered something important. While walking around the mountain, hiding for food, Monty was attacked by the animals. He tried to outrun them but couldn't. They had tracked him down and forced him onto a cliff. Trapped between a ledge and the animals, it was there that Monty discovered his newfound "gifts". He discovered that the red sun had not only mutated the plants and animals but also mutated him. Monty's gifts allowed him to see things like never before. He could see things all around him without having to turn his head. Harnessing his gift, he tricked the animals as they attacked him. Whether from the sides or from behind, Monty dodged their attacks and pushed them off the ledge, killing them. Upon his victory, Monty realized what he had to do now. He ran back to his cave, packed what few supplies he had left, and started his journey all across the world.
Monty walked and walked for months. He traveled around the ruins of the world fearlessly, looking for people and gathering any allies he could. In his travels, Monty told others what had happened to him. He told them about his gift and how he planned to use it to defeat the animals, but first, that he would need help from others. During this, Monty learned that not everyone had mutated. On average, only one out of roughly 50 people had mutated and received gifts. Nevertheless, Monty managed to build himself an army, an army of people with gifts. He leads that army in a fight to reclaim the world from the animals. The animals didn't back down, however, and for over 10 years, there was a non-stop war between man and animals. Finally, though, mankind had won, and a new era of peace and prosperity began.
With the red sun shining brightly and the discoveries of gifts, it didn't take long for mankind to rebuild everything. Slowly but steadily, cities were built again. As new cities were built, it led to a massive advancement in technology. Very soon, whole cities became entirely solar-powered. Buildings became stronger and bigger than ever before. Such things as flying cars and even flying trains were no longer fictional. Everything had solar panels on them. The need for gas and coals vanish without a trace. The air became much cleaner, and even the people seemed healthier. They stopped eating meat and would go outside more often to bake in the red sun's light. It seems like everything was better and mankind was at its peak. However, despite all of this, there were still attacks from vicious animals.
The mutated animals still hadn't given up. They would attack cities, trying their hardest to break down the walls and destroy countless buildings in the hope of reclaiming the land. People with gifts would hold them off but every now and then, another city would fall. Monty, who was an old man by now but still the hero of this new world, knew that he couldn't leave the world like this and so he spent the remainder of his life building a special academy.
In this academy, he, along with his dearest and most trusted friends, taught people not only how to use their gifts better but also how to combat the animals. Monty developed classes and courses in the hope that he could train what he called fighters, people with gifts, to protect and defend the world from the mutated animals. He made sure that they were all properly taught and trained before being given special jobs and missions that would force his fighters to journey into the Wild. As Monty started his academy, many cities and countries followed in his footsteps and started their own academies, but none were ever as recognized as Monty's academy. With his last breath, Monty named his fighter academy after the old sun. He named his academy, Yellow Sun Academy, and for over 100 years, Yellow Sun Academy stood strong, training the best fighters in the world.
Hothead: "Watch out," Jump yells. Turning and looking behind me, I see a black and brown boreback charging toward me. As it charges, it leaps into the air and starts to spin. Spinning faster and faster, it turns into a blur before shooting toward me. "Oh crud," I say, lowering my sword and holding the blade with my hand. The boreback hits my sword and pushes me back. Despite my best efforts, the boreback knocks me to the ground. Screaming as my back hits the dirt, I look up to see the boreback snarling as it lands back on the ground. It splits before charging at me. Jumping and about to hit me with its sharpened tusk, a pair of metal hands shoot out from the side and grab them. "Thanks," I say, shooting Shocker a nod as he pushes the boreback away from me. Shocker nods back at me before raising his hand and slamming it down on the boreback's head. The beast snarls one last time before it dies. Hearing something coming from above me, I look up and see Jump falling down from the lea
Jump: "Come on," I scream, running as fast as I can. I sprint down the sidewalk, jump over the street, and skid against the sidewalk as I turn around the corner. I only stop when I realize I'm alone. "Uh? Where are you guys?" I run back to see Hothead and Shocker slowly following me. Shocker doesn't look so bad but Hothead looks like he's about to faint. "Come on," I scream again, running back and grabbing Hothead's arm. "Move faster. We're already 20 minutes late to class. Come on!" Hothead pushes me away and bends over. "Give me a second," he pants, "Give me a second to catch my breath." "Now?" "I used a lot of fire during the fight with borebacks. Okay. Fire uses a lot of oxygen." I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Come on," I say, dragging Hothead through the busy city street. I drag and drag him all the way until we reach the front of the local fighter academy. Once there, I let go and peek around the corner, through the gate. "Okay," I whisper, looking back at Hothead
Hothead: "Attention all passengers," the announcer says through the speakers above. "The hover traincraft to Yellow Sun Academy will be arriving shortly. Please remember to stand behind the barrier until the traincraft had come to a complete stop." Looking at the blue barrier as it keeps everyone away from the tracks, I shake off the weariness in my arms. It's early in the morning and the hover traincraft station is crowded with a bunch of other students. Unlike me, they look happy and awake. Surprisingly, even Jump and Shocker look awake. "Ahh," I cry out, "I hope the traincraft gets here soon. My bags are getting heavy." Besides the two large bags I'm already carrying, I also have to shake the weariness off my back. "I don't get it. Jump and I are both at least carrying a few months' worths of clothing. How come you only have a small bag on your back?" Shocker replies with a shrug of his shoulders. He shows me the strap across his jacket and the small black bag on his back. It
Shocker:"Hey," Alice says, tapping my shoulder as I get up and leave the hover train. I turn toward her. "I really hope to see you again."Alice smiles as she nods her head. I nod my head as well before we both leave. As I get off the hover traincraft, I look for either Hothead or Jump. The platform is very crowded so I can't see them right away. It takes a while but finally, I see Jump rolling her luggage around. I wave at Jump and she waves back at me."Hey Shocker," Jump says with a smile. "How was your trip?"I shrug my shoulders before pointing at Jump."My trip was fine," Jump says while shaking her head. "The student I was traveling with was very quiet. I mean, not as quiet as you, but still. A lot of awkward silences.""I forget what silence is," Hothead says, sneaking up from behind me. He drops onto my back and lay there. "The person I traveled with wouldn't stop talking about how smart and intelligent she is. Let me tell you this. It was the longest trip I ever had to take
Hothead: "Uhhh," I start, looking out the window of the room. As far as I can see, there is nothing but sand, sand, and sand dunes, all under a light-blue full moon and stars-filled night. "Should we be concerned that it's nighttime now?" "What," Alodia says with crossed arms and legs. "Are you afraid of the dark?" "It's not the dark I'm afraid of," I reply. "It's the Wild desert and every animal in it that concern me. Concern me! Not scared me! The only thing that scared me is when people cry." "What!" "I'm scared of crying people but only because they make me very uncomfortable! I'm not actually scared of them. Also, I'm not big on being freezing cold." "Could've fooled me," Alodia says. I look at Alodia but she's not even looking at me. Instead, she's checking something on her wrist. I roll my eyes and shake my head. Jump: "Do you have any experience with desert survival," I ask. I look out the window and see the academy's private desert. It's a literal sea of sand and a lot
Hothead:As my pod falls faster and faster, the window ejects, and the floor tilts. Sliding out of the pod, I fall through the cold night sky toward a sand-covered ground. With my arms and legs spread out, I reach for my sword as I spin around in the air.Waiting for the right moment, until it looks like the sand is about to punch me in the face, I swing with all my might and unleash a massive flame. Screaming as I swing my sword, the force of it and the hot air from my fire push me back. Together, they soften my landing as I fall right onto a sand dune. Rolling down it, I hit the bottom and stop."Ahh," I cry out. Having to split out some sand and dust myself off, I then look around. As far as my eyes can see, there's nothing around me but sand, sand, and sand dunes."Hmm," I say, looking back up as rockets beneath my pod carry it back toward the hovertrain craft."Shoot," I yell, slapping myself on the forehead. "Did the Headmaster say east or west? Or North? Also, which way is east
Hothead: "You must stay six feet back," Alodia orders, putting up a third finger. "That is rule number 3. Rule number 4. You must address me as Ms. Darreth. Do you understand?" "Yup," I say with a nod of my head. "Rule 5. Do not say yup. We are not friends. I am not your 'bro' or whatever. It is either a yes or a no. Do you understand?" "Yup," I say with a nod of my head. "Are you even listening to me?" "Yup," I say with a nod of my head. "You're going to fall if you don't stop." "Yup," I say with a nod of my head. "Wait, what did you say?" Before Ms. Darreth can answer, my foot lands on nothing and I fall over a cliff. "Hothead," Ms. Darreth shouts, running and peeking over the ledge. Looking down, she sees me hanging to the side of the cliff. As I was falling, I pulled out my sword and stabbed the cliff with it. "Are you okay," Ms. Darreth asks. "Here. Give me your hand." Ms. Darreth reaches down and offers me her hand. Having to swing around for a bit, I finally grab her
Renee Eamon: "What is this place?" I stop walking when I see something in the sand. Running right up to it, I see what looks like ancient stone ruins. The ruins include some pillars and a pathway, both are made from crumbling stone. "Ancient ruins," I think. "Is this the place? Finally! Yes! I can grab one of those game pieces the Headmaster mentioned!" I follow the crumbling pathway until I see a large entrance. The entrance is made from stacks and stacks of crumbling stone. It looks like it was built right into a sand dune. About to run in, I stop when I realize something. Looking at the entrance again, I see that it's pitch-black. It makes sense since the entrance is facing away from the moon. I narrow my eyes to try and see better but it's no use. "I can barely see inside. Maybe I should turn back. No! Come on, Renee! You have to be smart about this! This is Yellow Sun Academy. You ca
Jump:"The government had asked for our assistance again," Headmaster Noah said. "The animals have attacked three cities. The fighters managed to force them back but were badly wounded. If the animals attack again, they can't do anything. Forget what you heard. This is a private conversation."I repeat what Headmaster Noah said over and over again in my head."What were Headmaster Noah and Headmistress Amaya talking about? Why is the government asking for Headmaster Noah's help? And what is this about animals attacking cities? That's nothing new! Animals are always attacking cities. That's why fighters exist. What's going on?"While trying my hardest to think what is or could be happening, I hear someone snapping their fingers."Hey," Hothead says, snapping his fingers. "Jump. Jump! Are you in there?""Ahh. Oh, hey Hothead. Sorry. Did you say something?""Yes," Hothead answers, nodding his h
Clementine Mira:"This is all you will need to make a tourniquet," Professor Hadley says, picking and holding up a piece of string.We all look at each other, wondering if what Professor Hadley said is true."Hey," Honey says, covering her mouth and leaning in close. "What's a tourniquet?""A tourniquet is anything used to stop or slow blood flow," I answer. "It's used often when someone is badly cut.""How do you know," Chadd asks."When I was a novice fighter, I took a lot of classes in medicine and medical training.""Also," Honey says. "So this must be, like, review for you. Awesome! We got this!"Honey smiles and punches her palm."Uhhh," I say, moaning before clearing my throat. "I don't know if it would be that simple. Yes, I did take classes but it has been a while. I doubt I remember everything."Looking down at the medicine supplies on the table in front of us, I feel someone tapping on
Jump:"Hmm," Headmaster Noah says. He and Assistant Headmistress Amaya stop and look at the wall in front of them. Stepping forward, Headmaster Noah reaches out and grabs his arrow. He pulls it from the wall and slides it back into his quiver. Lowering his head, Headmaster Noah drops to one of his knees and rubs his fingers against the floor."Someone was here," Headmaster Noah states, looking at his fingers."Here," Assistant Headmistress Amaya asks. "Impossible. All students are supposed to be in their rooms. Curfew started three hours ago.""Just because curfew starts doesn't mean everyone goes to sleep."Standing back up, Headmaster Noah looks around. He looks in my direction and I try to push myself even deeper into the shadow.Looking in my direction for a little longer, he then looks down. Looking around some more, Headmaster Noah finally stops."Forget what you heard," Headmaster Noah yells, his voice echoing
Hothead:Bursting through the doors, I look around the nurse's station and find Shocker sitting on the bed with his team around him."Shocker," I yell, running toward him. Shoving and pushing his team to the side, I grab his arm and examine it. Groaning slightly as I pick it up, I let out a chuckle."Sorry about that, but are you okay?"Shocker nods his head."He's fine," Jump says, pushing me out of the way. "You're fine, right?"Again, Shocker nods his head."Oh, man," I say, wiping sweat beads from my forehead. "I can't tell you how worried we were when we heard a predalion bit you.""I can't believe a predalion bit you in the first place," Jump says. "Yellow Sun Academy had predalions?""Of course Yellow Sun has predalions," Alodia says, walking in with Renee behind her. "It said in the brochure they keep animals here for training. ""Brochure," I repeat. "You got a brochure?""Yes. Did
Shocker:"In the Wild," Professor Double Hits says, looking at all of us students. "You must always be ready to rely on your partners."The Professor, a tall, built man with a white headband tied around his head then stomps his foot. The sound is so loud it gets all our attention and makes us look right at him."Your partners, your team must know that you are reliable, that you are dependable, and that you will not let them down!"The Professor stomps his foot again. The sound is so loud some students have to slam their hands against their ears."You and your team must be a well-oiled machine," the Professor states. "You must work in unison. You must work together. You and your team must be able to move as one and fight as one. That is why we are here."Professor Double Hit stomps his foot twice this time. He then raises his arms high in the air before stepping to the side and showing us the academy's private arena.Y
Hothead:I try my best. I really do try my best. I shut my eyes. I cover my mouth. I even bite my tongue to the point where I think it's about to fall off, but I just can't hold it in much longer. My mouth is forced open while water starts to flow out from my eyes."Hothead," Jump slowly starts. "Are you...crying?"Instead of answering Jump, I slam my hands down on the table and jump up."Yessss," I cry out. Falling back onto my chair, I start to cry. I hide my face in my arms and start crying into them. "I hate this! Argh! Jump! I hate this so, so freaking much!"I raise my head and look at Jump with teary eyes."There is soo much homework! It's never-ending. I feel like I've been sitting here for years! No, decades! No, centuries! What year is it? How old are we? Did we just skip by the best years of our short lives? Are we already old? Do we have no teeth and white hairs?""These are not the best years of my life," Alodia says, flipping through her textbooks.I turn to Alodia. As fa
Alodia Darreth:As I sit on a bench in the hallway with my so-called 'team', I can't help but cross my arms."I will never forgive you for this," I say."Are you talking to me or him?"As Sulien asks this, his finger moves between himself and the other student from before. Funny enough, the other student also had his arms crossed. One of his eyebrows is twitching and he's growling like an animal from the Wild. I can only imagine I look very similar."I am talking to you," I say, making sure to face Sulien. "This is all your fault. Yours and your freaking girlfriend.""I'm not Hothead's girlfriend," Eimear says, her head popping out from behind Sulien."She's not Hothead's girlfriend," Renee says, his head popping out from behind Eimear. Sulien and Eimear turn to face our 'team leader' as he sits back down. With his back against the wall, he sighs and covers his eyes."Okay," Renee says a few seconds later. He c
Jump:"Zzzzz," Hothead goes as he adjusts his sleeping head on his pillow hand. I watch as the snot bubble coming out of his nose shrinks and glows."Sulien Bokamoso," Professor Purdue yells. "Sulien Bokamoso. Sulien Bokamoso, are you in this class?"I turn my head toward Hothead as he exhales, the snot bubble also shrinking. I roll my eyes and kick Hothead in the leg. His eyes snap open and his head shoots up."Here," Hothead yells, standing up. "I am right here! Here I stand!"As Hothead yells, he spreads out his arms like their wings."I am here," he shouts one last time. Smiling as he looks around, his smile disappears when, from the looks of it, he realizes he's in class."Uhh," he says in a much lower voice. He looks down at me and I nudge my head at Professor Purdue. The Professor meanwhile is looking right at Hothead. "I'm here.""Yes," Professor Purdue says, checking on Hothead's name on his holo-display. "I can see that. Please sit down."Hothead coughs as he awkwardly sits b
Honey Aatish:"Animals study," I say, staring at the board. "Our first class for the day is animals study. Hmm."With my head resting on my hands, I stare at the classroom from where I'm sitting. The classroom is a large circular room with us students sitting in wooden seats on one half and a dozen screens on the other half, each having a picture of a different animal on it.As I keep looking around, someone taps me on my shoulder. Looking to my side, I see our team leader holding up his holo-display. There's a note written on his holo-display."The study of animals is referred to as zoology," the note says."Uhh, thanks."A second later, we all hear footsteps and turn our heads to the front."Hello class," a thin professor with small round glasses and spiky green hair says. The professor takes a sip of what I think is coffee from his thermos. Afterward, he starts to talk really, really, really fast. "I am Professor Runn. Professor Ruun is my name. It is. It is. It is."Professor Runn