"Can I skip class today?" Mirabella asked again, her voice a little too steady to be truly casual.
Grace paused mid-thought, her expression shifting from focused concentration to a flicker of genuine concern. She looked up at the admirable girl—an orphan who had not only survived but flourished, beloved by all for her exceptional grades and composed personality. A request to skip class from Mirabella was unprecedented.
"Is something wrong?" Grace pressed, her brow furrowed.
"Are you feeling unwell? Or do you need to see the doctor?" Worry laced her tone. Not only Grace, but Angela, Mirabella's close friend, and even the rest of the class leaned in, baffled by the sudden, out-of-character query.
Mirabella met her gaze, an almost imperceptible hardness settling in her usually gentle blue eyes. "Nothing has happened now, but it will soon," she stated simply, the cryptic words only deepening the confused atmosphere.
"Huh?" Grace murmured, entirely lost.
"Can I? Please, Miss Grace," Mirabella pleaded, a familiar, earnest lilt returning to her voice. It was enough to break through the teacher's confusion.
Grace sighed, knowing this girl didn't make decisions lightly. "As long as it won't affect your grades, you are free to leave. And besides... we aren't having a test or anything important today."
"Thank you, Miss Grace!" Mirabella's relief was palpable. She grabbed her bag and book, her movements suddenly hurried, and without another word, she was out the door.
"…..?!"
Grace turned to Angela, utterly perplexed. "What on earth is wrong with your friend?"
Angela merely shook her head, mirroring the general bewilderment. "I have no idea, Miss Grace. She hasn't been herself since this morning."
___
Mirabella hurried down the empty hallway, her mind already calculating.
'One reason I bothered coming to school instead of staying home and preparing for the inevitable.'
She slipped into the school cafeteria. Her destination: the vending machine. She slowed, a genuine, wide-eyed look of pure childish delight overtaking the earlier solemnity. The stacks of colorful sweets were a beacon.
"So sweet..." She coughed, composing herself, forcing her internal excitement down. "Calm down, Mirabella. It's just sweets... But oh, they're so good."
She scanned the cafeteria. A handful of early lunch stragglers. Her eyes fell on a table nearby. Without hesitation, she walked over, snagged a discarded glass bottle from a student's tray, and marched back to the vending machine.
"This will surely get me into detention," she muttered, a smirk touching her lips. "Who cares? The world will end in two hours."
With surprising strength, she raised the bottle and smashed it against the vending machine's glass panel.
BOOOM!
The shattering glass and bottle drew every single eye in the cafeteria to her.
She didn't pause. Her hand shot through the jagged opening, grabbing the prizes:
"Skittles! Got them!" She glanced at the sodas, then at her already weighted bag.
"No. Not enough space left. Besides, if a teacher catches me now, it'll still be bad." She crammed the five packets of sweets into her bag and zipped it shut.
'I could get them from outside, but it'd take a long ride, not to mention I'd have to pay. But here? This is efficient.'
Ignoring the stunned silence, Mirabella rushed out.
"Did she just steal from the vending machine?" a student whispered in mild confusion.
"Wasn't that the school beauty, Mirabella?"
"It does look like her."
__
Mirabella found sanctuary in the ladies' restroom. After checking each stall, she locked herself into one.
'Miss Grace's math class will take two and a half hours. I'll have thirty minutes to spare.'
She opened her bag. Out came her small, white cat, who she gently placed on the closed toilet lid. Next, a sleek, black dagger and its holster. She quickly stripped off her pristine school uniform, revealing a black tank top underneath. Then, she pulled out a long-sleeved black shirt, a leather jacket, and black tactical pants. In under twenty minutes, the admired school beauty was replaced by a pragmatic survivor.
She pulled her long blue hair into a tight ponytail, wrapped the holster around her waist, and fixed the dagger into one of its sections. "Just bad I don't have a gun," she muttered, a flash of genuine regret crossing her face.
SQUEAK!
Mirabella froze. Footsteps. Two girls stopped in front of the mirrors, rinsing their faces.
"I heard Mirabella refused to talk to Ethan today," one gossiped.
"Really? She's always around him like a magnet. What happened?" the second replied.
"Well... maybe she's tired of him and looking for her next target."
"Poor Ethan. I told him I'm here... Holding the second place as the school beauty competition, I am still a beauty."
Mirabella rolled her eyes. Miranda and Alice. 'Troublesome.'
She waited, every muscle tense, until the door squeaked shut again. 'You two are on my dead list... Three of you will pay dearly.'
She picked up Cupcake, settled back down, and placed the cat on her lap.
Mirabella opened the book she had tucked away. "I will have to read for these hours. I don't know if this author, Sleepless Night, knows about Galaxy Fall, because almost everything he wrote in here is related to the monsters and zombies... Maybe I can find him after Galaxy Fall is online and find out... Maybe..." Her focus was absolute, devouring the text as if it held the secrets to survival.
___
[Two hours, fifty-five minutes later.]
{Galaxy Fall will come online In five minutes.}
Mirabella looked up at the holographic screen hovering before her, a screen only she could see. She nodded slowly, the confirmation cementing the reality she had known since she was brought back.
'I don't know why I was brought back. All I know is that I must kill Angra Mainyu, and that bitch.'
She continued reading, maximizing every second.
{WARNING!!}
The holographic screen instantly flashed red!
{Galaxy Fall will start in: 00:00:05.}
Mirabella placed the book in her bag, clearing out every non-essential item—her uniform, old notebooks. She stood up, holding Cupcake firmly. Her eyes were locked on the timer on her wristwatch.
{Galaxy Fall has been manipulated. It'll become online in one minute.}
'This shouldn't happen... Does that mean the monsters will be unleashed before Galaxy Fall? Are those two gods battling?'
BAM!!!!!!!!
The planet shuddered violently, a force that shook the very core. Mirabella grabbed the door frame and held onto Cupcake, anchoring herself until the ten-second tremor subsided. She then pushed the door open.
Mirabella moved to the small window, her expression grimacing at the sight outside: the sky was an unnatural, furious red.
"The Monsters are out," she muttered, confirmation of her worst fear.
"AHHH!"
"What's happening?!!"
Screams echoed from the school grounds. Mirabella placed Cupcake on the sink and looked down.
WHOOSH!!!!
The space above the school football field tore open. A huge, black, spinning gateway—a portal—appeared.
GRAAAA!!
From the swirling depths, a sea of monsters surged out, all humanoid: Zombies, Orcs, and Goblins.
"Zombies—anyone bitten turns. Goblins—they kill without hesitation," she recited, her voice detached, recalling lessons learned the hard way.
"Just imagining this appeared during school hours, with students everywhere... In my past life, we had to use the back door and escaped, only to enter a city which was being destroyed by a tornado... if we hadn't entered Galaxy Fall, none of us would have survived."
The slaughter below had begun. Monsters cut down students and guards, charging towards the school entrance. Footsteps and shrieks of terror pounded down the hallway outside.
Mirabella locked the restroom door. She looked at her wristwatch, watching the final seconds tick by. Just a little more. She picked up Cupcake, who had jumped to the floor, and looked up at the holographic screen.
BAM!!
Someone smashed against the door, desperately trying to open it.
"HELP ME!! OPEN UP!!" a girl screamed.
GRAAAA!!
"NOOO!!"
BAM!!!
Mirabella stood utterly still, watching the blood seep under the door. Her expression remained flat, listening to the guttural growls and the fading, frantic shrieks.
"The apocalypse has just started," she breathed.
{DING!!}
Mirabella looked up.
{Galaxy Fall Is now online.}
WHOOSH!!
A golden bracelet materialized on her right wrist. She tapped the only button on the device and commanded, her voice ringing with grim determination.
"Log me in!!"
A brilliant white light enveloped her and Cupcake. In the next moment, the restroom was empty.