The meeting room went dead silent. One could hear a pin drop. Nathan's look of shock spread to everyone in the room, with the sole exception of Shizuka. They could all easily interpret Shizuka's insinuation.
Immediately, Duke jumped to his fight.
"NO!" He roared. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! I'D RATHER DIE THAN BE STRIPPED OF MY ABILITY!!"
Shizuka's smile widened.
"If you insist…" she replied, slowly drawing out her rapier.
Duke gulped and turned to face Oscar and Paul, looking for support.
However, they both frowned at him.
"I told you, General Duke," Oscar replied with a steely expression. "Actions have consequences. Maybe you should have kept a better eye on your students."
Duke gritted his teeth.
"So that's how it is then, huh?!" he bellowed, a look of cold fury on his face. "After everything I've done for you, you're just going to throw me under the bus that easily?! Label me as a traitor, and throw me in the dungeon?!"
Oscar and Paul exchanged looks. They began whispering among themselves. A moment later, they turned back to the others.
"After careful deliberation, we've decided to…grant you an exception in respect of all your years of valuable work," Paul replied.
Oscar narrowed his eyes at Duke.
"Unlike all the others who have their Ability taken by Truedream, you will be allowed to keep your rank and position," he replied. "Consider it…a consolation prize."
Duke's face morphed into that of a snarling Beast.
'Hikiko Tsukuru!' He thought in abject fury. 'You will pay for this! If it is the last thing I do, I will make you PAY!'
***
Back in the doctor's office, Quinn smiled. It was a somewhat nice feeling to have people worryingabout him. For the first time in his life, Quinn felt as if he truly had friends. It was a strange feeling that he had never felt before. Before coming to the military base, no one had ever looked out for him when he was hurt.
In the past, whenever he came home all beaten up, he just walked into an empty room. No one was there to ask if he was all right, or 'how he was doing'. But ever since arriving at the base, and more importantly, getting the System, things had been different.
Tsukuru and Quinn then heard the doorknob to the room click open. They snapped their heads in the door's direction.
As the door opened, Hayley was revealed in the doorway.
Seeing the two boys, Hayley smiled.
"Quinn, you're free to go," she replied.
Quinn nodded and got off the bed. Tsukuru did the same, getting up from the chair. The two boys walked to the door and exited the room.
***
Back in the meeting room, Duke stomped towards the door, a nervous Sergeant Dillon in tow. Because of his muscular build, his stomping sounded like a herd of elephants. When he reached the door, he flung it open and then slammed it shut FAR harder than necessary. A loud "BANG" resulted that could be heard from down the hall.
Everyone still in the room winced at the loud noise.
Oscar then turned to Paul.
"Well, I'd better head back to Military Base 1," he replied before letting a light chuckle. "I did leave on pretty short notice. I'm sure that Martha is going to give me an earful when I get back."
Paul nodded before performing a salute.
As he did, the other members still in the room saluted as well.
"I'm sorry your visit had to be due to such…unfortunate circumstances," Paul replied. "Have a safe trip home, Supreme Commander!"
Oscar nodded. He walked over to his "special chair" and hefted it up, holding it in his arms. He then proceeded to head towards the Portal he had arrived in, which was stillpressed against the wall, the chair in his arms.
As he approached it, a nearby soldier powered the machine on. It 'whirred'to life, and its interior became filled with a swirling Vortex of white energy.
Oscar then began walking through the Portal. The military officials in the room kept saluting until Oscar had completely vanished through the Portal, and the device powered off.
***
Down the hall, Sergeant Dillon followed nervously after his General.
Duke's hands were clenched so tightly in anger that his skin was starting to turn white. There was a vein pulsing on his forehead, causing those he passed in the hall to think that he was in the process of bursting a blood vessel. Duke gnashed his teeth as he stomped, a raging fury inside.
'This isn't over, you little twerp!' Duke thought bitterly.
***
Back in the dormitory, Vorden was sitting on his head when he heard the electronic "beep" on the door go off. He snapped his head towards the doorway. His hands instinctively clenched into fists, thinking that it might be Peter. However, he relaxed when he saw Quinn and Tsukuru being revealed in the doorway. He let out a sigh of relief.
"How'd it go? Did everything turn out okay?" Vorden asked. His eyes then dartedback and forth. "They didn't find out that Quinn was a Vampire, did they?" He asked in a hushed whisper.
Quinn smiled.
"Yeah, everything was fine," he replied. "Hayley said that she couldn't find anything wrong with me, and that my blood levels were normal, so I could go." He then shot Tsukuru a smirk. "I would have been able to leave earlier if she hadn't had to deliver somebody's Glathrium deposit."
Tsukuru put on a nervous smile and scratched the back of his head while looking away.
"Yeah, sorry about that, man," he replied.
Vorden opened his mouth to speak again, but that was when they heard another"beep" coming from the door.
Their eyes all widened. Since they were all already in the room, that meant that it could only be one person.
***
With no one to talk to, and even worse, no one to help him out of the situation that he was now in, Peter would often find himself wandering around the school. His mind was full of regret as Layla's words repeated in his head. In a way, he felt as though he should have been punished for his actions. Yet, Layla had just left him there. He felt even worse than before. He wasn't even worth being hit.
After walking around the school a few times, he decided to head back to the dorm room. However, as he opened the door, he nearly had a heart attack. The three people who had been missing for the past three days, stranded on a Red Portal Planet, were standing in the room.
"Guys…" Peter started to say, his eyes tearing up.
"GET…OUT!" Vorden roared, pointing at the door.
Instantly, Peter's eyes widened in confusion.
"Wh-What?" he asked, sputtering.
"I said…'Get out'!" Vorden repeated. "I'm warning you now, Peter, if you don't get out of this room this instant, I don't know what I'll do to you!"
Tears began to run down Peter's face.
"But…this is my room,too!" he cried in protest.
"I don't care!" Vorden retorted. "Ask for a room change or something! But you are notstaying here!"
Peter then changed his gaze to Tsukuru and Quinn. However, when he looked at Tsukuru, he flinched. Tsukuru had that same dark look he had on his face when around High-Levels.
Tsukuru let out a deep breath through his nose.
"Peter…" he said in a low tone, as he began to step forward. However, he only made it a few inches before Quinn stopped him.
"You left Quinn for dead on a Red Portal Planet!" Tsukuru snarled. "You almost cost me my first friend!"
Peter gulped.
"I…I..had to!" he cried. "If I hadn't, then they…they would have killed me!"
If anything, Peter's words only made Tsukuru angrier.
"Then you chose to save your own neck and used Quinn as a sacrificial lamb!" He snarled.
Peter tore his gaze away from Tsukuru and turned to Quinn. He hoped that Quinn would at least say something.
But all Quinn did was turn his head away, his body shaking. He didn't like what was happening, but it needed to be done. What Peter had done was unforgivable. While Tsukuru hadn't seemed to have very much trouble on the Red Portal Planet, he and Vorden could have died. If Quinn really was just a 'weak Level 1', he would have gotten killed by that first Rattaclaw.
Peter just stood there, still in shock. He didn't know what to do. As soon as he saw his three roommates in the room, he was hoping that everything would just go back to normal. Back to before he had shoved Quinn through the Portal. He wanted to tell them just how sorry he was. But they wouldn't even let him speak.