Cody slammed into Malcolm. Malcolm was so tall and so skinny that he nearly fell over. He grabbed Cody’s arms and, despite how he looked, proved to be very muscular.

            He flipped Cody by his arms onto the ground. He got down and lowered his head. “I really don’t want to fight you,” he whispered. His voice was silent and sincere. Cody looked into his eyes. They were begging for him to understand that he didn’t want this.

            Cody rolled over and got up. Malcolm stood and faced him. “Fake it,” Cody mouthed at him. Malcolm nodded and the two flung at each other again. Malcolm took a slow swipe at Cody’s feet that Cody jumped over. He looked towards his friends.

            Sarah was struggling to keep up against Nevaeh. He didn’t give her a chance to strike at him. D was fighting fiercely against Casio. Bowser was even struggling against Skylar. They both appeared to be fire users. Bowser’s hand became engulfed in flames and he struck towards Skylar’s head. Skylar dodged to the side and grabbed Bowser’s arm. He flung him around.

            Nick was standing still against Runner. Runner was throwing punches but Nick was just too quick at dodging them. Jeydon had tagged up with Die and they were fighting the twins. Poor little Remi was desperately fighting against Roi.

            “Crap, I have to help him,” Cody cried as he ran over to Remi. He stood in front of the frightened young boy. Roi had long black hair straightened down to his shoulders. His skin was deeply tanned and he had black eyes. He was wearing ripped jeans and a tight black shirt that showed off his upper body strength.

            Roi kicked at Cody. Cody reacted fast, grabbing Roi’s foot and yanking so that Roi crashed to the ground. Cody ran over and started kicking him, feeling like a horrible person. “Malcolm, help,” Roi cried, blocking his head.

            Malcolm ran over and pulled Cody off of Roi. Roi stood and pulled back his fist. “You’re mine kid,” he cried. Cody caught Roi’s fist and punched Roi in the face. “Cut it out! I don’t want to fight you,” Cody said desperately.

            Roi glared and straightened up. Remi was standing shaking. He didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want to have to fight. He hated fights so much. Cody shouldn’t have to protect him. He should be stronger!

            “Malcolm, hold him for me,” Roi ordered. Malcolm looked nervous. “Do it already Malcolm, come on! What’s your problem man?” Malcolm bit his lip. “Malcolm!” “I don’t want to fight them Roi!” “Why in the name of Dragon not?” “They didn’t do anything! This is between Bowser and Casio and those other two guys, D and Skylar, not us.” Roi actually stopped.

            He glared at his own feet. “I guess you have a point,” he mumbled. “Does that mean you’ll stop?” Roi sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”

            Malcolm relaxed. “Guys, what are you doing?” Nevaeh dodged a punch from Sarah. Sarah’s lip was split and her nose was bleeding but she was otherwise okay. Nevaeh had a slight accent going.

            Roi and Malcolm walked over to the intense battle. “Cut it out Nevaeh, this isn’t our fight. This is Bowser and Casio’s fight.” But Nevaeh wouldn’t stop. Sarah aimed at his feet and managed to catch him. He crashed to the ground and Roi and Malcolm grabbed his arms. “Cut it out Nevaeh!” Roi ordered.

            Nevaeh quit his struggles and spit on the ground. “Girl’s got spunk and fight.” “Girl’s name is Sarah.” “Sarah’s got spunk and fight.” “Sarah says thank you.” Cody walked over to Sarah as she grinned over at Nevaeh. “Are you okay?” he asked. She licked her lip and flinched. “I’ll be okay,” she said with a shrug.

            “Crap!” They looked over. Runner was on the ground in front of Nick. “How do you do it? You can dodge all my attacks!” Nick stared down calmly at him. “I can sense your attacks.”                            

            “How do you sense someone’s attacks?” Runner was obviously getting mad at Nick’s calm behavior. “It takes a whole life’s practice.” Runner glared and stood up slowly. “Runner, cut it out man.” Runner looked at Nevaeh. “I’m not giving up until I beat this punk,” he spat. Nevaeh sighed.

            “Hey, Nevaeh, any injuries?” Malcolm suddenly asked. “Just a black eye and a few bruises. I’ll be fine too.” Sarah got a curious look. “How do you see with your hair completely covering your eyes?” And it was true. Nevaeh’s hair created a thin, dark curtain around his face. “It’s thin hair, easy to see through.”

            “Cody, Sarah, Remi, what are you doing?”Tylerwas struggling to get up. Evan kicked him in the stomach. Evan was a normal height, skinny boy with the same long hair as everyone else. His hair was dirty blond and he had pale skin like Malcolm’s. He was wearing jean shorts and a dark green sweatshirt.

           Tylercoughed and fought to stand. Evan kicked him yet again.Tyler’s eye was swollen and his arm was bleeding. There was a deep gash just below his knee. “Why can’t you just stay down?” Evan begged him.Tylercoughed a few more times before staggering to his feet. “As you can see, we don’t like fighting when we don’t have to,” Malcolm said to Cody.

           Tylerran full speed at Evan. His fist made contact with Evan’s stomach. Evan choked and swung his arms wildly atTyler. “Tyler, cut it out please,” Remi cried desperately.Tylerwouldn’t stop fighting though. He and Evan continued with their punches.

            “Come on Sarah,” Cody said. Roi, Malcolm, Sarah, and Cody ran to their friends. Cody and Sarah restrained Tyler, who continued to struggle, and Evan backed up to his friends.

            “Hey, how do you guys plan to stop Hunter, Die, and Jeydon? Runner will see reason, but not those guys,” Evan said. “Yeah, they are a problem,” Roi said with a nod. “Jake,” Cody suddenly gasped. He let go ofTyleron accident. Sarah tightened her grip on him before he could go after Evan again.

            Cody finally found Jake. He was pinned down by Hunter and getting punched in the face viciously. “Jacob!” He ran to him desperately, followed by Malcolm and his friends.

            Cody grabbed Hunter’s shoulders and tried to get him off Jake. Jake’s face was bloody and his hands were pinned down by Hunter’s knees.

            “Hunter, get off of him already,” Evan yelled. Hunter’s response was to swing around and punch Cody in the face. Cody ignored the pain and kicked Hunter in the back.

            Hunter got up and rounded on Cody. “So now you want to be the Hunted?” Hunter was tall and muscular. He was wearing a baggy black T-shirt over baggy black shorts that touched down near his ankles. He had a bandana on around his neck and his curly black hair was down to his shoulders.

            But two large hands grabbed Hunter’s shoulders.

            “You are the same as your father, Mr. One.” Cody looked into Jake’s dad’s eyes. Peter looked downright furious. Karen was leaning over Jake, intense concern on her face as she helped her bloody son sit up. Mr. Opic and Mr. Rockis were trying to break up the twin’s fight. Runner was being restrained by Nick’s father.

            Hunter glared. “I know you. My dad hates you,” he said. “Like father like son,” Peter said with an eye roll. Mr. Opic dragged Die over to Peter. Naomi followed behind him. Naomi restrained Hunter’s hands and took him from Peter. “Be careful Peter, Die is a tricky one,” Mr. Opic said before handing Die over. Die tried to run in the exchange, but Mr. Opic and Peter were far too fast.

            Mr. Opic hurried off over to D and Casio. “Why did you guys give up?” Die demanded.

            Malcolm shifted his feet and Evan played with his hands, but Roi took charge. “Because Die, they’re not enemies. They just got dragged into a feud. So did we and you know it.” Die snorted. “I know you! You’re Die, Kenny’s boy,” Peter said.

            Die gave a cold, hard laugh. “Yeah, the drunken loser,” he said with ice in his voice. “Is Kenny here?” Die looked up into Peter’s eyes. “No, he’s off, stoned as usual. My mom’s here.”

            “Are you okay guys?” Peter asked. The others nodded at him. “Where’s my mom?” Cody asked. “She’s in Mr. Opic’s office waiting,” he replied. Mr. Opic came over, dragging D with him. Skylar walked behind him with Bowser and Casio.

            D was swearing and screaming to be put down. “Stop it right now D, you sound foolish,” Naomi said. D spit at her in response.

            Mr. Opic sighed impatiently and smacked D in the back of his head. The twin’s parents came over. Their dad was holding a struggling Jeydon and their mom was checking on a gash on Ross’s hand.

            Nick’s dad dragged over Runner. Runner looked like he was about to start punching Nick’s dad. Mr. Rockis hadTylerunder the armpit, supporting him more than forcing him.

            “My office now; your parents are there if they’re not here,” Mr. Opic said. Half of them were dragged to Mr. Opic’s office and the other half walked.

            They were released once in there and took seats next to their parents. Cody bit his lip as he sat down next to his mother. Skylar’s grandma looked more curious than mad. D and Tyler stared at the floor as they sat with Eve and Naomi.

            Cody noticed then that Karen and Jake weren’t in the room. “Obviously, you’re all here because there was a fight between the two groups,” Mr. Opic started as Mr. Rockis left.

            “I will, however, excuse Malcolm, Cody, Sarah, Roi, Remi, and Nevaeh from serious punishments as they stopped and tried to end the fighting. Evan, I’m still looking into your fighting experience as you did giveTylera beating.” Evan sank down into the seat next to his parents who looked disapproved at their son’s actions.

            Cody then noticed that Bowser and Casio were the only ones there without parents. “Now, tell me how this all started.” Each kid told him almost the same story of how it started.

            “Mr. One, tell me why I shouldn’t suspend Hunter?” Hunter’s dad looked slightly like Hunter. His long black hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. “It was a silly fight between children. It has to be expected of a good hunter. Sure, he went a bit overboard on Jacob, but it was in good nature.” “Good nature? Your boy almost broke my son’s face,” Peter exploded.

            “Now calm down Mr. Shay. Hunter, a week of ISS for you. Skylar and Bowser, you two get two weeks of ISS. Evan, three days of detention for you.Tyler, two days detention. Casio and D, you get 5 days of ISS. Runner and Nick, three days of detention with Evan. Jeydon, Die, and the twins, 4 days of ISS.”

            The kids made angry noises about their punishments. “You could be suspended,” Mr. Opic suggested. They all shut up. “Dismissed!” he cried.