*Dante*

I walked into Payless Shoes, Travis by my side. I noticed this short, brunette lounging about the store. He had these scary, red eyes, that surveyed the area. If it's a drug dealer that I'm looking for, in this store- it's probably gonna be this guy...

I took a step forward, but paused. Travis rolled his eyes, pushing me towards him. I cleared my throat, attempting to think of some sort of conversation topic.

"I like your sideburns. Wolverine, right?" I put on an awkward smile, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"Let's see the money," he sneered, glaring at me.

"What?"

"It's from Japan," the guy narrowed his eyes, reaching behind him. "It's a grey, oblong pill. Quantum nanotechnology CPU. The quantum computer in the pill, will travel through your blood, until it implants in your brain, and it tells you what to do."

Wait...how the Hell did he know I was here for this ZANE thing!? Does he have one that can predict the future?!

"…How did you know why I'm here?" I asked, glancing back at Travis for a split second.

"Just look at you, kid," he shrugged, looking me over. After a moment of reconsideration, I decided to pull out my wallet. I grabbed some of the money I gathered, from what Garroth said before, and held it out in my hand. "That's four hundred?"

"Four?"

"Is that a problem?" He stepped towards me, with a menacing look on his face.

"No! Actually, there's a guy at my school charging..." Travis nudged me, clearing his throat. I nodded, biting my lip. "Uh. Four hundred? Wow. Well, if you insist."

I handed the scary guy the money, and he shoved it in his pocket. Looking around quickly, he spun around, and grabbed some kind of box. He handed the box to me, and I glanced it over with a confused look.

"Ladies' running shoes?"

The guy sighed, opening up the box. Inside, was a small, grey, oblong pill. He pinched it between his fingers, and held it out to me.

"Just so we're clear: this is untested technology. And it's not exactly legal. Which is why you're paying for it with cash in the back of a shoe store. I take no responsibility for what you might do with it. Or what it might do with you."

"What might it--" I started, but he cut me off.

"To activate, take it with Mountain Dew. Don't know why. Just something about Mountain Dew." His eyes lit up, as if he remembered something. "And, this is important--"

Both of our heads shot in the direction of the door to the store swinging open. Aphmau stood in the doorway, looking around. The stockboy glared at her, shooing her out.

"I'm sold out!" He barked.

"Of...shoes?" Aphmau cocked an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"Oh, you're here for shoes. My bad," he glanced back at Travis and I, gritting his teeth, and shoving the pill into my hand. "Scram, kid."

"Wait, you were saying something important..."

"Oh yeah. All sales final," he shooed me away, strolling over to Aphmau, with a smile on his face. "We just got in a killer pair of pumps..."

Travis and I took our leave, heading out to the mall food court. I threw my backpack onto the chair beside me, flopping down on my own chair. Travis walked over, after I paid him a buck to buy me a Mountain Dew. He slid it over to me, and I thanked him.

"I hope you're worth four hundred dollars," I looked down at the pill, shaking with anticipation.

"Four hundred and one. Don't forget the Mountain Dew," Travis gestured towards it, leaning back in his seat.

"If this is real…my whole life could change," suddenly, a wave of guilt washed over me. "We should split it. You helped me get it. We should both benefit, right?"

Travis shook his head, with a small smile. "I don't think it works that way. Besides, I like knowing that when you're cool, you'll owe me."

"All right. Here goes…everything."

I carefully placed the grey pill on my tongue, taking a swig of the Mountain Dew with it. I swallowed it quick, waiting. Well?

"How does it taste?" Travis asked, leaning forward, with a look of curiosity present on his face.

I gave it a second, noting the aftertaste. "Minty."

"How do you feel?"

"Like..," I groaned, dragging my hands down my face. "...a chump."

"Nothing? At all?" Travis frowned, scratching his chin. "Try to say something cool."

"I think I just blew my bar mitzvah money on a Wintergreen Tic-tac..," I sighed, banging my head against the table.

"Yeahh… Not cool."

"Please leave me alone to mourn in my chili fries, forever," I groaned, picking at the snack I had bought beforehand. I wanted to cry.

"Five minutes," Travis stood up, backing away. I glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow. I wasn't serious!

"Where are you going?"

"Check it out. Guy in Spencer’s Gifts is hooking me up with a case of Crystal Pepsi. It’s like regular Pepsi. Only clear!" Travis chirped, showing me the messages on his phone.

"Wasn't that discontinued in the 90's?"

"That’s what makes it so awesome!" Travis waved goodbye quickly, strolling off towards the opposite end of the hall.

I banged my head against the table, multiple times, and shoved a few (dozen) chili fries into my mouth, as I mourned. This fucking sucks. Four hundred dollars, for absolutely nothing! This is why you can't trust people selling pills in Payless. It never turns out how you want it to...

"Shouldn't we wait for the rest of the cast?"

Wait...I recognize that voice...

I glanced up, eyes locking on the small frame of Vylad... My eyes widened, as I hid behind my chili fries (I imagine it wasn't as successful as I originally thought.). Vylad was walking through the food court with...ugh, Laurance.

"Yeahh... We're not meeting the rest of the cast. I figured we could get to know each other. Alone." Fuck you, Laurance. "That's why I’m taking you to one of my favorite spots in the universe... Sbarro--"

"Vylad!" I hopped up, strolling over to them.

"Dante!" Vylad smiled, waving at me. "I didn't see you there."

"Yeah, you're kinda hard to notice," Laurance shrugged, turning back to Vylad. "The best part, they let you pick whatever you want--"

"Wait!" I cleared my throat, moving in front of them, as Laurance attempted to move Vylad away. Asshole "…There’s something I need to tell you."

"Now?" Laurance glared, and I could see a fire burning in his eyes.

Okay, Dante, you can do this...

"I… I… OWWW!"

WHAT THE FUCK?!

Suddenly, an overwhelming pain wracked through my cranium. I held the sides of my head, bending down uncontrollably. Ow! Fuck! Ow! Everything hurts! Shit!

ᎢᎪᎡᏩᎬᎢ FᎬᎷᏞᎬ: ᏆNᎪᏟᏟᎬᏚᏚᏆᏴᏞᎬ.

"Dante?" Vylad rose an eyebrow, placing his hand comfortingly on my shoulder.

"OW! What the HELL?!" WHAT WAS THAT?!?!

ᏟᎪᏞᏆᏴᎡᎪᎢᏆᎾN ᏆN ᏢᎡᎾᏟᎬᏚᏚ. ᏢᏞᎬᎪᏚᎬ ᎬXᏟᏌᏚᎬ ᏚᎾᎷᎬ ᎷᏆᏞᎠ ᎠᏆᏚᏟᎾᎷFᎾᎡᎢ.

"MILD?!?" I screamed, dropping to my knees, as I covered my ears.

"Dante, what's wrong?" Vylad bent down, trying to help me to my feet.

"Dude, the freak's freaking out," I heard Laurance say, as I shut my eyes tight from the immense pain.

ᏟᎪᏞᏆᏴᎡᎪᎢᏆᎾN ᏟᎾᎷᏢᏞᎬᎢᎬ. ᎪᏟᏟᎬᏚᏚ ᏢᎡᎾᏟᎬᎠᏌᎡᎬ ᏆNᏆᎢᏆᎪᎢᎬᎠ.

"No, wait!" I slowly stood up, taking a few calming breaths. Okay, I think I'm good. "I'm fine, I just--"

ᎠᏆᏚᏟᎾᎷFᎾᎡᎢ ᏞᎬᏙᎬᏞ ᎷᎪY ᏆNᏟᎡᎬᎪᏚᎬ.

"AAHHHHH!" I screamed, as the world spun, holding my head.

I bolted off away from Laurance and Vylad, embarrassed as fuck. My heart rate sped up, and everything hurt. My body would sometimes spasm out, and the world wouldn't stop spinning.

ᎪᏟᏟᎬᏚᏚᏆNᏩ: NᎬᏌᎡᎪᏞ ᎷᎬᎷᎾᎡY. ᎪᏟᏟᎬᏚᏚᏆNᏩ: ᎷᏌᏚᏟᏞᎬ ᎷᎬᎷᎾᎡY. ᎪᏟᏟᎬᏚᏚ ᏢᎡᎾᏟᎬᎠᏌᎡᎬ: ᏟᎾᎷᏢᏞᎬᎢᎬ. ᎠᎪNᎢᎬ ᎻᎬᎬᎡᎬ…

Suddenly, a figure appeared before me. Whatever it was, wore a dark black suit, and had some kind of mask around it's...mouth? It's light blue aura was surrounded by glitchy particles, and it had only one blue eyes, that gleamed brightly. It looked over at me, placing it's hands behind it's back.

What the absolute fuck?!

ᏔᎬᏞᏟᎾᎷᎬ ᎢᎾ YᎾᏌᎡ ᏃᎬᎪᏞ ᎪᏩᏩᎡᎬᏩᎪᎢᎾᎡ ᎾF ᎢᎻᎬ NᎬᏌᎡᎾᏞ ᎬNᏩᏆNᎬ....

YᎾᏌᎡ ᏃᎪNᎬ...

...

Holy shit.

~~~