"Date! Date! Woohoo!" Jessyka twirled and danced happily around the gym.
"All right, all right, Jessy. Go get changed so we can leave," Sekai said, handing her backpack over.
"Okay!" Jessyka grabbed her bag and skipped toward the girls' locker room.
Jessyka cheerfully entered the locker room and began changing.
"Sekai! Date with Sekai! Woohoo!" she sang to herself as she undressed. She pulled off her shirt, staying only in her pink sports bra, then swapped her shorts for her skirt.
DOONG!
"KYAA!" Jessyka jumped at the sound of a locker crashing to her right. When she looked—nothing.
"What the…" she muttered, confused.
DOONG!
Another locker fell, this time to her left.
"KYAA!" Jessyka jumped again. "What is this?! A rat? But rats can't knock over lockers…"
Jessyka walked up to the fallen locker, crouched down to investigate, but found nothing.
"How weird…" she said, standing back up—then turned around.
"AAAAH!!"
Behind her stood a girl, shrouded in a dark, ominous aura.
"I feel… the key in you… Give me the key!" the girl said in a rasping voice.
From the black energy, dark whips emerged, lashing out and knocking over more lockers. Jessyka tried to run, but one whip wrapped around her leg and pulled her down.
"Ah! Damn it!"
"The key…"
"You dumb zombie freak! Let me go!" Jessyka yanked at the dark whip, but it wouldn't budge.
—
A few moments earlier.
"Ah… this gym feels so quiet now. Everyone's gone, so now I just have to wait for Jessy to change so we can leave," Sekai said, stretching as he sat on a bench near the locker rooms.
"Finally, this day's almost over! I'm exhausted. So much happened in one day! I just hope the rest of it stays calm—I don't want any more surprises to—"
DOONG!
Sekai was cut off by the sound of a locker slamming inside the girls' locker room.
"…" He froze for a few seconds, disbelief on his face. "She probably just bumped into one… right?"
Then came another crash.
DOONG!
Sekai sighed. "Oh, come on…" he stood up, worried, and walked toward the girl's locker room.
"AAAAH!!"
He heard Jessyka's scream and rushed inside.
—
"Jessy!" Sekai burst into the locker room. In front of him, Jessyka was on the ground, and behind her stood a girl wrapped in black energy, with belt-like streams of darkness whipping from her body.
"The key…" the girl muttered.
"Sekai! That thing's got my leg!"
"Damn it, just when I thought it was over!" Sekai reached under his shirt and pulled out his necklace. The pendant began to pulse with light.
"Lion Heart!"
A blinding glow filled the room.
Jessyka turned her face away and shut her eyes against the brightness. The girl behind her screamed as the light struck her, retracting the dark whips and releasing Jessyka.
"AAAHHHHH!" The girl's voice screeched, raw and inhuman.
When the light faded, Sekai stood transformed: bronze armor gleaming, sword in hand, snow-white hair flowing.
Jessyka, now free, got up and ran behind him.
"Another one of those weird zombie things, Sekai!"
"All right, Jessy! Get out and finish changing!"
"What? No comment on my new bra?" Jessyka teased, striking a playful pose.
"Just go already!" Sekai yelled, blushing.
"Hehe, fine!" Jessyka giggled and ran out.
The dark girl, dazed by the light, now locked her gaze on Sekai.
"I feel… the key…" The girl stared intently at Sekai and tilted her head to the side, the dark aura around her growing a little stronger.
I have to get her out of here or we'll wreck the whole place… but how? Sekai thought, gripping his sword with both hands.
The girl stared at him, then summoned two black whips, wrapping them around a fallen locker and raising it like a weapon.
She… wants a sword fight... I think? Sekai thought.
She lunged forward, and Sekai charged as well. Their weapons clashed—the boy swung his blade up and down, trying to cut through the locker, but the spirit deflected every strike with uncanny precision.
"How annoying!" Sekai shouted.
The spirit formed two more whips, trying to snatch his sword, but Sekai dodged back and slashed them apart. The severed whips burned away in midair.
"You're not taking my sword, you idiot spirit!"
"I… can be… too…"
"What?"
"I can be… a knight too…"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Sekai asked angrily.
"I'M A KNIGHT TOO!!" the spirit screamed, creating four more whips. Each pair grabbed a locker, and now the spirit was holding three of them.
"Hey, hey, that's cheating—"
Before Sekai could finish, she hurled one locker at him. He dodged left, landing near the room exit—but the second came flying right after.
"Crap!"
The locker slammed into him hard, smashing him through the room door, which shatters on impact. Then, Sekai crashes onto the middle of the gym court.
"AAAHH!" he groaned, hitting his back on the polished floor.
"SEKAI!" Jessyka screamed from the bleachers.
That hurt… but it could've been way worse if I wasn't transformed... Sekai thought, struggling to stand.
The spirit stepped out of the locker room, dragging a locker behind her with her whips.
"STUPID UGLY FREAK! If I could, I'd punch your dumb face myself, you damn zombie!" Jessyka shouted from the bleachers, her left arm raised with a clenched fist and her right hand cupped to her mouth like a megaphone.
The spirit hurled the locker toward Jessyka, but she dodged just in time. The heavy locker shattered several rows of seats.
"Kyah! You cursed freak!" Jessyka yelled.
"My… name… is… Clarus…" the girl said, placing one hand over her face, covering her left eye as her right eye turned pure white. The dark aura around her grew denser.
"I… can be… a knight too…"
Ten whips emerged from the spirit, intertwining to form a blade of shadows. She gripped it tightly with her right hand.
"I… am a knight!"
Sekai, now standing, faced her as a powerful aura radiated from the girl.
Glk.
He swallowed hard—a chill ran down his spine.