"Two snipers, Port to Stern!"

"English!"

"Behind you and to your left!"

Penny and Emz had been pushed back to their safe. The final wave of attacks was far tougher than the previous robots. They were barely able to deal with the boss robot by themselves. They had range on their side but stopping the boss from reaching the safe was nearly impossible. The only object they had to body block was Penny's mortar. The mortar's body was perfect for keeping it distracted while Emz sprayed it down for bonus damage thanks to her special made Bad Karma hairspray.

Every time Penny's mortar went down it blasted the boss with huge hits of bonus damage while Emz slowed it down with her super. When Penny couldn't charge her mortar up again they were forced to trade blows with the boss until she could drop another mortar. The two girls were taking a breather after finally defeating the giant robot (their clothes were torn and their bodies beaten) when Primo informed them of the final wave. Now they were busting their asses trying to fight off the oncoming onslaught.

"There's two more of those little, like, bugs coming from your left."

Penny lined up a shot into the front runner of the two bots watching as the second fell apart under the spreading damage. Emz finished the survivor with a quick puff of spray while Penny slid past her to drop a mortar beside the safe. "Damn bots are too fast for the mortar to hit. Emz how long before your super?"

"I need more time."

"Dammit, I don't know how much more we have." Penny turned to her right blasting another bot in the face until her bell was rung by a boxer bot.

"Penny!" Emz sprayed the offending bot down while she checked on Penny. "You okay?"

"I've... had worse." Penny clutched her head as the robots kept coming. Penny tried to grab her Plunderbuss but saw it laying on the ground a few feet away. Emz tried to blast away a few more bots but without Penny's instant damage to support her, the bots just walked through the corrosive chemicals.

Emz backed up as she tried to shield Penny. They didn't have a way out. She could try to run away but with the damage their safe had already taken, leaving it without some defense would be an instant failure. She looked down at Penny as she looked to her active mortar. The turret tried to hit the incoming enemies but all its attacks missed without the help of Emz's slow.

Emz started panicking, she wasn't the leader of their group. She never had to make these tough decisions. The only thing she wanted to lead was the fashion industry or the walk down the runway. The swarm around her grew as snipers started to get in range. At the front were several boxing bots followed by the mini pinchers. They were glowing red to indicate their increased strength.

The bots grew closer, their aggression directed at the two girls. Emz didn't know what to do. She was pushed to her limits. She just wanted them to, "BACK OFF!" Emz smashed the ground with her spray cans causing a small circular cloud of chemicals to pulse around her. The bots that were within range were blasted backward colliding into each other in a tiny pile. Emz stared in surprise at her strange attack. She inspected her spray cans to find an answer but was more confused as she continued to look.

Penny, however, jumped into action. She used their newly acquired distance to dive for her Plunderbuss blasting a group of bots and watching them explode into a puff of metallic smoke. She reached onto her back and dropped a new mortar on the ground. Her current mortar starting to vibrate as it was overloading. "Emz!"

Emz snapped out of her stupor. She pressed a button on her purse, seeping out around her was a dark purple cloud of smoke drifting low to the ground. Penny was apprehensive of jumping into the cloud with her but Emz nodded in her direction. "This is my perfected super. This is... Caustic Charisma." Emz stood in the middle of the giant purple cloud with her hands on her hips.

The robots that continued to push forward were slowed down by the toxic cloud. Penny watched as the purple haze seemed to slowly chip away at the metal plating of the robots. She looked back to her first mortar with a crooked grin, "Fire in the hole!"

Her mortar exploded unleashing four final mortar shots out to random targets. The combo of Emz's Caustic Charisma plus Penny's Last Blast made nailing opponents with the mortar bombs a piece of cake. After being bounced back by Emz's strange attack, most of the bots were grouping up allowing Penny's mortars to nail even more opponents.

Penny cackled like a villain as she watched the carnage the two were making. Parts and pieces of robots clambering to the floor as they fell apart around them. Penny stood behind Emz as the two kept their offense going. Coin bags flying while toxic clouds lingered in the air around them. They forgot that they were fighting to defend the safe as they had their fun ripping all the bots apart.

Emz joined in with Penny's sadistic laughter as they continued to destroy the droids. Even when the bots stopped coming and Emz's Caustic Charisma subsided they still couldn't help but cackle at the mayhem they created. Emz calmed down when she noticed the lack of robots, "That... was... intense," she puffed out between staggered breaths.

Penny nodded her agreement before taking a seat against the safe. Emz sat beside her trying to recover from the adrenaline rush. Penny punched Emz's shoulder, "What was that attack?" Emz was confused by the question. "That weird tiny circle you did? The one you pushed the bots back with. What was that?"

Emz looked at her spray cans as she tried to understand herself. Her undead features alive with confusion, "I have, literally, no clue."

"Congratulations!" The girls looked to the sky for Primo's next instructions. "I am proud to announce that if you can hear me, you passed!"

Emz and Penny jumped for joy at the announcement. They were finally done. The two laid in the clay in a puff of dust as they enjoyed the sound of silence.

"The number to the vault is 7-12-17. Collect your rewards."

The girls looked at each other before rushing towards the vault. Penny put an ear to the door as Emz spun the wheel listening for the clicks of the locks rolling. When Emz rolled over the number seventeen Penny's eyes lit up as she signaled to open the safe.

Emz slowly cracked it open as she inspected the contents. Inside the safe were two brown pouches and a note. Penny took one of the pouches inspecting its weight, "Pretty heavy."

Emz grabbed her pouch and read the note inside, "Heal up quick, cause next class is all about that..." Emz looked at Penny with a perplexed expression, "Bolt Economy?"

Penny shrugged at the phrase. She wiped her dusty head with the burlap sack before she cracked it open. Her eyes shining off the contents inside, "Emz... look inside."

Emz pulled open her sack and gawked at the surprise. She dumped the contents of the sack on the ground. There was a small pile of glistening green gemstones. Penny poured hers out to inspect their collective size. Between the two they saw anywhere from 400 – 500 gems together. "That over 200 gems each. That's, like, free manny petties for the rest of the year."

"That's new golden rings for me, Darryl, and a golden embroider bandana for Tick."

"That's, like..."

The two girls turned to each other, "ANYTHING WE WANT!"

They danced around as they embraced each other. They gathered up their gemstones and flaunted their newly acquired currency. "Now that you got your rewards..." Primo's voice filled the arena. "It's time we go back to school."

A bright light pierced through the sky. Penny and Emz looked up as the sky shifted from a beautiful blue to blinding white. The light seemed to pour down on them, engulfing them in its warm rays. They felt their bodies lift off the ground as they floated in the air. The world around them being replaced by the light.

Then as soon as it appeared it left. When their eyes readjusted, they saw the basic metal room of their classroom. Penny and Emz looked down and saw they were suspended in the air. They fell to the ground in a heap as they crashed into the cold metal flooring face first.

More people appeared beside them, accompanied by a female robotic voice announcing their arrival. "Shelly and Brock have completed Robo Rumble."

Brock landed on his butt, his shades were shattered with his jacket torn and his jeans tattered. Shelly landed on her feet, her hair was standing up even higher than usual with the barrel of her gun coated in black soot. "See... told ya... all under control."

"You must be joking. I don't have enough ammo to deal with that many bots." Brock inspected his shades before throwing them onto the floor.

"Jacky and Carl have completed Robo Rumble."

Carl's goggle-eyes were cracked but his smile still shined bright. "I think we handled that swimmingly."

Jacky picked Carl up in a deep hug, her clothes torn and scratches covering her face, "You stupid bot. Don't ever throw yourself into danger like that again. I'm the tank ya hear." The two embraced as they settled into their new location.

"Bibi and Poco have completed Robo Rumble."

Bibi landed feet first with Poco in her hands like a bride, "We made it."

"Umm... Thanks, Bibi..." Poco jumped out of her arms as he quickly dusted off his clothes. He took off his hat revealing his bare yellow skull, Bibi patting the smaller skeleton's head. Poco pulled out their matching burlap sacks of gems, the two cheering for their victory.

"Jessie and Leon have completed Robo Rumble."

Leon and Jessie appeared higher in the air than the rest, falling a greater distance. Leon instinctually grabbed Jessie and placed her above him so he would hit the floor first. Jessie landed on top of Leon knocking the wind out his lungs alongside a little blood. When the two started to stir, Jessie noticed that she was sitting on Leon's lap, the boy holding her hips as he started to wake up. The girl looked down at the boy's hood, beneath it she could see a faint blush forming across his cheeks. She looked at Leon's holey hoodie and noticed her jacked-up jacket. Her face turned a deep rosy red at the perplexing predicament. She jumped off the mystical boy, apologizing as she tried to gain some distance.

Then she had a horrible realization. They were back in the main room. She looked to her right and saw Poco and Bibi laughing together, their body as pristine as when they left. She shakily turned to her left afraid of what she would see. She was happy to find Penny clutching her head while Emz checked her nose for any blood.

"Nita and El Primo have completed Robo Rumble."

Primo landed like a superhero, Nita jumping off his back and landing on all four limbs. "That was awesome let's do it again!"

Primo laughed with the crazy kid. He had a few cuts from trading blows with the boss, but the girl wouldn't let him help with most of the smaller bots. "Yes, we will do this again someday." Primo looked over the remaining students, "Well done boys and girls. You made it."

Penny finally rose from her groggy state beside Emz. She noticed that there were fewer students around them, "Where are the others?"

Primo ignored her question, "Now I hope you all enjoyed your little prizes for a job well done."

"Umm... Mr. Primo?" Jessie chimed in, "Where are the other students?" The students started to chatter amongst themselves as they started to worry about their friends.

"I am very proud of all of you. Given a conflict you couldn't prepare for you rose to the challenge."

"HEY!" Bibi stepped up to the plate walking up to the larger man. She put her bat to Primo's chin, his unwavering smile still bright even under her threat. "Where are our friends." The air grew stale as the question sat in the air. Primo didn't blink, he didn't flinch, he just smiled down at the brash batter.

Leon backed her up, "You said those robots were shooting to kill." He pulled out four razor blades, "Where are the other students?"

Primo heard a gun click behind him, Shelly put the warm tip of her shotgun barrel against his back. Brock loaded his rocket launcher while Jessie placed S.C.R.A.P.P.Y down beside her. All the students converged on his position awaiting his response.

Primo laughed at the bravery of his students, "You kids honestly believe you can scare me?" Carl gulped at the calm in his voice. "I am a professional. One of the best brawlers in all of Brawltopia. My feats of strength, speed, and endurance outclass all the other legends you have ever heard of." He gripped Bibi's bat, the metal bent under his grip. "When I picked your group, I wanted to see how strong you were. What better way to test your strength... than by taking you all on?"

The students all readied themselves for a fight. Penny dropping another mortar beside her while Emz started shaking her spray cans. Jacky hopped on her jackhammer slowly approaching the wrestler. Nita bared her fangs as she summoned her bear familiar.

Primo took notice of the ridiculous number of students around him. Even he wouldn't be able to beat them all... if he held back. He closed his eyes tight as he started to cackle. He relinquished his grip on Bibi's bat as he curled in on himself. His veins starting to bulge out his skin as his body seemed to grow.

He stood taller than before, perhaps only by an inch or two, but he grew nonetheless. When he smiled, it was no longer that cocky grin that he sported everywhere he went. His teeth seemed sharp like a beast in the wilderness. His eyes... soulless black holes with blood-red pupils in the middle.

The students stepped away as they witnessed his transformation. He was not the same man as before; it was like he transformed into a demon before their eyes. Bibi and Jacky were at the front of the attack, Poco standing behind them as a healer for the fight. Even with Poco and the rest of the students watching their backs; they were scared. For the first time in all their time fighting off punks on the streets and brutes throughout the school; they were scared.

Primo took a step forward, slamming the ground with his foot. A dent forming in the metal beneath him. Most of the ranged students fell backward at the spectacle. Shelly, who was originally holding Primo at gunpoint, was frozen in place. She could feel an intense heat radiating off his body. His blood boiling like an inferno. She could only think of one phrase to describe his new form...

"El Diablo..."

Primo looked at the students one by one. Most showed fear, others apprehension. As he turned around to look for more faces, he was surprised to see a giant bear standing over him. Riding its shoulders was the angry scowl of Nita, her face showing no signs of fear. "Where... Are... My... Friends?"

Primo burst into laughter at the child's iron will. His body relaxing as his mood calmed down. His veins disappeared under his skin as his eyes returned to their usual white color. His teeth returning to normal while he put on a bright smile. The students relaxed as his body returned to normal, but the tension was still in the air. "Your friends are alive." Primo turned back to Bibi. He showed no signs of worry about the giant beast standing behind him, "The robots were programmed to shoot to kill. But they weren't programmed to kill. Does that make sense?" The students relaxed at the explanation. Penny cursed Primo under her breath for not properly explaining the situation. "The ones that failed to defend the safe failed the test. The ones that sacrificed themselves to complete their objectives didn't get A's, but they didn't fail either. You can visit all your friends in the infirmary when you leave."

The students finally felt their nerves calm as the tension in the air died. "Now about your rewards..." The students got nervous there would be a catch, "You can spend the money however you want, but I would recommend you do your research on those notes. They are important hints about what we'll be doing next class." Primo clapped his hands twice, the lights around them shutting off for a few seconds. When they came back to life there was a note in the dent Primo left on the floor. The students searched the barren room but found no sight of his location.

Bibi walked up to the paper, frustrated with what she saw, "It says 'Class Dismissed'."

"Whatta Nutcase..." Jacky deadpanned as she made her way towards the locker rooms. "I need a shower." The students started cracking their aching bones as the adrenaline finally wore off, the pain from their battles hitting them all at once.

Leon started to walk away from the group. He placed his hand on his back popping stiff joints in his spine. He had this strange feeling someone was watching him. When he turned around all the other students were just interacting with each other. No one seemed to be paying him any attention. He looked back towards the locker. He never noticed the shadowy figure hiding just behind him. He scratched the top of his head, the shadow mimicking his movements.

Just as he tried to move forward the shadow jumped onto his back wrapping its smooth white arms around his neck. A tuff of pink hair falling into his vision as he collapsed under its weight. "You thought you could get away?" Leon froze at the horsed voice in his ear. He peeked around his hoodie to see the lust-filled eyes of Penny. Her tongue was out as she breathed on his cheeks. "I worked so hard today..." she put her hand against his chin, turning his face to meet hers. She couldn't see past his mouth, but something told him that was all she wanted to see, "I think I earned a reward... my cute chameleon."

Leon ripped his face out of her grip, "Umm... d-didn't you already get those gems."

"Oh Leon... I have so many coins on my ship I use it for ammo. That was just a nice gift... I want a reward. Something... sweet," Penny bit at Leon's sucker pulling it from his mouth. She rolled her tongue around the cherry flavor sucker as she teased the pinned boy. Leon was so startled by the predicament that he swore he saw Penny's pupils shift into bright pink hearts.

Leon looked towards the other students, one of them had to see his current situation and want to help. As he looked to a large group of students he saw most of them turning a blind eye to him. He watched in horror as more students looked away from the attack. His eyes met Poco's as he silently pleaded for help. Poco's head was wrapped up by Bibi in another noogie as she led him to the locker rooms. Poco looked back at him, shrugging his shoulders.

He left him alone. Leon watched as some students walked clean past them, choosing to ignore or snicker as they watched Leon squirm under the pirate princess. As more people left them alone Leon realized the horror of his situation, he was a fly trapped in Penny's web. He felt Penny squeeze tighter, taking a deep whiff around the neck of his hoodie. "You smell so nice, even after fighting for your life." She tightened her grip and dug deeper into his neck, "I want this smell stuck in my nose."

Leon felt her deceptive strength constricting his ribcage, crushing his already damaged lungs. He coughed up some blood as she tightened again. When Penny opened her eyes and saw his pained expression, she instantly released her hold. "I'm sorry. Did I squeeze too hard?"

Leon felt the air rushing to his lungs, his mind running a million miles an hour as he thought up an escape plan. He jumped to his feet flipping upside down as he looked at Penny. Her eyes were soft and filled with regret at the thought of hurting Leon. He wanted to show he was okay, but he didn't want to deal with another attack. "Invisibility!" he clapped his fists together, a smoke cloud appearing around him.

When the smoke cleared Penny searched the metal room looking for a sign of where he went. She didn't expect him to fake an injury just to escape her but she was happy to see he was okay. Her eyes scanned every inch of the gym, a stray shift in lighting, a ball rolling for no reason, anything that would show Leon's presence. She found her answer when the boys' locker room door crept open without anyone touching it. Penny smiled brightly, "I'll be waiting for you Leon~" she called ahead as she made her way inside the girls' locker room. Inside most of the girls were getting ready to shower or just getting out. Emz was wrapping her hair before she got in next, when she noticed the aloof smile on Penny's face, she couldn't help but smile back. "Girl, you go lala for Leon."

"At least I'm not scared to tell my crush I like him." Emz stuck her tongue out in response.

"Nita get your butt back in that shower!" Bibi called from the bathrooms. Penny and Emz watched as a bar of soap and a shower stool crashed against the wall leading into the bathrooms.

"You can't bathe the mighty Nita! No one can!"

"Damnit where the hell is Jessie!?" Jacky peeked around the corner looking at Emz and Penny. They both shrugged their shoulders at her sudden disappearance.

While their interaction was starting the door to one of the elevators opened without anyone standing in front of it. As the doors closed Leon strapped into the seats preparing for the intense ride back to the ground level. When the g-forces settled, and he made it to his stop he took a seat at a nearby bench as he clenched his heart.

That boss's punch seemed to mess him up something different. His chest felt like it was caving in.

"You should see the doctor."

Leon jumped at the disembodied voice. When he looked up, he saw Jessie standing beside him with a water bottle in hand. "How did you-"

"When I saw Penny tackle ya I figured you would skip on showering in the locker rooms to avoid getting caught by her again." She offered him her drink, the boy hesitating before reluctantly taking the water with a quiet thank you. Jessie watched with interest as he slowly sipped the water. He didn't finish it like how he crushed the water during their test. Then she noticed something stranger, "Where's your lollipop?"

Leon touched his lips as he remembered the attack, "Penny took it." Jessie giggled at the statement, "That's funny?"

"Sorry, it's just... whenever you two interact... it's cute."

"...cute. That's a word for it."

Jessie played with her pigtails. The two had skipped out on freshening up after their battles and now they were alone together once again. The hallways were empty, and she figured it would be sometime before any of their classmates would come through the elevator. "So... are you sure you don't... not like her?"

Leon blew a tired breath, "It's like I said. I don't not like her, she's just too intense." Leon felt the pain from his stomach start to flare up. His mind flew on autopilot as his words flowed like unfiltered water, "Honestly... I wish she acted more like you."

Jessie's face shifted through several shades of red, "W-What!?"

Leon stood up not understanding what he said, "I think I'm gonna take your advice... head to the doctors." He tossed the water back into her hands, smiling down at the smaller girl. "See ya later Jess." Leon put both his hands in his pockets as he slowly walked out the crystal-clear glass doors.

"Buh... bye..." Jessie sat on the bench as his words started to register in her mind. She looked down at the bottle. There still was some water sitting in the bottom. She looked to where Leon made his exit. She checked the elevators and the hallways for any signs of bystanders. When she saw she was alone she unscrewed the water bottle. The top glistening in the light leaking from the sun and the bulbs around her.

Her heart was racing as she tried to process what she was doing, why she was doing it. What being had possessed her to perform such a brash action? Then she stopped fighting this feeling and drunk the remainder of the drink within the plastic bottle.

As the cool feeling of the water rushed down her throat she only said one word...

"...Cherry..."