• "Thunder" chapter thirteen

    It turned out that I had gotten to the gate a bit early. The current shift wasn't going to be over for another ten minutes, so I Sat in the break room for a while. The gate was tucked away in a small cavern somewhere near the outskirts of town. Our break room was, in reality, just a large chamber near the gate, but it was a nice place to rest before going ome after a shift. Hunters also tended to come early and hang around in the break room, just to get prepped for their shift.
    I was surprised to find not just Matt's dad, but the entire high circle, tour some flashy, government-bound guy in a crisp tuxedo. Meanwhile, I was whacking at a punching bag off to the corner, "This is the break room for the hunters." I heard Matt's dad point out to the man He quickly found me and lead the entire group over to my location, "Ah, Adrian. I'm glad you're here. This man is a representative of the president. He was called here to observe the gate and what exactly happens around here." He turned to the man in the tux, "This is Adrian Winters, one of our youngest, but strongest hunters. He will show you everything you need to know about." He then turned back to me, "Adrian, I'm sure you'll give them exactly what they need."
    I walked casually over to the group, "Sure thing. What is it they need?" I smiled brightly for the man.
    He mirrored my smile, "We just need some video footage to show the president." He looked me up and down, "Aren't you a little young?" He asked me, perplexed at my appearence. I was only wearing my gauntlets, and shingaurds, and some jeans and a t-shirt, "And don't they have a uniform or something?"
    I shrugged, "We're just not allowed to wear loose clothes. As for myself, I underwent the training at a very early age to help my mom out. Plus, I managed to take the training because my father is actually from the demonic realm."
    "I see." He said calmly.
    "Yep. Anyway, my shift is coming up in about..." I checked the clock. It read 6:29, "one minute. We'd better get going. Follow me, if you will." I led him and the cameraman that followed him out to the gate.
    The giant green vortex stood tall before us. the two men were standing there, staring in awe at the gate. I would've laughed at them if they weren't guests. It was going to be boring without Izzy around.
    Just when I thought that, A perky looking woman weilding a short sword and small shield came up, "Hello, you're Adrian, I take it?" She asked me.
    I nodded, "Yes. You're new here, "I take it?"
    She nodded back, "I was assigned here just last week. Vergil said I start today, so her I am."
    "Okay then, go take that side of the gate. And be careful about a shadow. He's not a normal one."
    She looked at me enigmatically, "Um, I don't think they taught me anything about shadows, but i've heard of them."
    I sighed, "Great. This means I have to watch both my partner, the president's representative, AND the gate." I could already tell how this shift was going to go.
    She gave me a sly grin from the other side of the gate, "How long are you going to watch me?"
    "Don't, newbie. My plate's already full."
    She scoffed, "Newbie? I'm older than you. You're only seventeen!"
    "You said this was your first day?"
    She hesitated, but nodded.
    I nodded back in an aggrivated manner, "Rookie. Unless we can be on a first-name basis here."
    She jumped up, as if poked from the back, "Oh, I never did tell you, did I? I'm Dess."
    "Nice to meet you, Dess. I don't think I have tell you my name."
    An all too familiar laughter echoed through the cave. Marcus erupted from the cave entrance, "Hello, brother." He said calmly, wielding those strange handguns of his. A layer of rose quartz delicately fashioned into a blade that covered the barrel. I knew better than to suspect those crystal blades to stay there indefinitely.
    Dess walked casually up to him, staring him in the eyes the whole time, "I don't know who you are, and I..."
    He leaped at her with a horizontal slice. She blocked and countered it almost too easily with her shield, knocking him halfway across the cave, back to the entrance, "This isn't a place for little kids to play."
    He got up and brushed himself off. With fury in his eyes, he slammed the barrels his guns into the ground. Almost instantly, a huge spike of rose quartz jumped from the ground and struck her in the air, "I think you'll find that I'm no little kid."
    I caught her as she fell, then confronted him, "What do you want, Marcus?"
    "You could be stronger if you weren't so lazy with your power." He yelled from the entranced, then slammed his guns into the ground once more. I could feel vibrations from the ground below me, and dodged the spike before it could come up. he summoned more spikes, each of wich I was quickly able to dodge. Thankfully, the representative guy and cameraman were safely in a crevice near the gate. It was luckily large enough to fit them and their equipment.
    After a long while of dodging spikes, He grew tired, and dashed through the gate.
    When the situation calmed, I examined the damage. The floor was filled with holes leading miles down, several punctures in the ceiling, and and wounded newbie as well as a stunned representative and cameraman. Not even five minutes into my shift, and the gate nearly gets destroyed. I'm as good as fired.
    I gave Dess what first aid I could, I was thankful that her wounds weren't fatal, And took her to the Infirmary after the Representative and Cameraman left. We had a decent infirmary just outside the cavern. I took her there.
    The nurse looked her over, "I can take care of her cuts, but that's all I can do."
    I nodded, "Thank you, ma'am."
    She handed me a small pill in a cup, "This is a pain reliever. I can look at you and tell you're not hurt, but you do look like you're aching."
    I took the cup, "Thank you. You really are good." I complimented her.
    She gave me a sly grin, "What can I say. I know your body."
    "Is that a sexual remark?" I asked, a little bit annoyed at her.
    "Do you ant it to be." she replied dreamily. I sighed heavly, and left. She grabbed my hand, "Wait, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it." She had me stopped at "sorry".
    "I'm just really sick of people coming on to me. I've got enough on my plate already. Girls are the last thing I should be worried about." I tried not to yell at her.
    She seemed calm, but sad, "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would offend you. It's just that you're a very nice person, someone a lot of girls would love to be with." She brushed my hair out of my eyes, "There's a fountain just over there. You can get yourself some water, take the pain reliever, and get back to work."
    I smiled, "thanks for understanding."
    "It's in my job." She answered, and went back to tending to Dess. I took the pill and went back to the gate to finish my shift.