Mark's POV

"Alright," Dan and I responded. I can't believe Felix and Cry kissed! Next, we move on to Phan.

John smiled warmly at us, then continued to lead us down the hallways. Cry and Felix were holding hands, talking to each other. Jason and Dan were fangirling over the Pewdiecry kiss, and Reagan was walking next to me.

"Hey Mark?" she nearly whispered.

"You don't need to whisper you know. We're the only ones–"

"Mark, I feel like we're being watched."

I smiled warmly at her. "Reagan, if anything is in here with us, I'll fight it off. Just like this." I started over dramatically punching the air around us.

She smirked at me. "Your face alone would scare it off."

I faked being offended, "Oh yeah? Well, you're just a, uh, a big loser face!"

"My one weakness! Being called a loser face!" Reagan sarcastically returned. We both started laughing.

"I can't wait to live with you for a month," Reagan chuckled out.

"Right back at you," I replied.

She looked surprised. "Wait, really?"

"Oh course!" I started, "You're super fun to be around, extremely courageous, a fellow fangirl, and all around chill! Who wouldn't want to live with you? I'm honestly surprised you haven't been adopted yet!"

She had a huge smile on her face, as well as a light I had never seen before in her eyes. "Thanks," she mumbled.

I side hugged her. "No problem. Now, let's go save our friends so we can get to that awesome month together."

"Okay."

John was ahead of us by about three yards. He turned a corner and screamed immediately after, "HOLY SHIT!"

"Don't cuss," all of us replied at once. We all looked at each other, then erupted into laughter.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT'S IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!" John screeched.

Jason strutted up to him. "What could possibly be that–uh, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!"

I shared an uneasy glance with Reagan before she sprinted up to Jason. Her jaw dropped as she stared at something I couldn't see. I ran up beside them and my eyes immediately fell upon a huge, black, shadowy figure. It was staring at all of us with its black eyes.

Dan, Felix, and Cry were behind the rest of us. The figure tilted its head a bit, as it opened its massive mouth. A huge ball of black fire shot out of its mouth, straight at us. I pushed Reagan and Jason behind the corner and dove behind it after them. When I turned back around, I noticed that John had pushed himself up against a wall, Dan had dove after me, and Cry and Felix were laying on the floor, covering their heads.  The black figure stomped its feet and opened its mouth again.

"Cry! Felix!" Dan yelled as he and Jason pulled them behind the corner. Another ball of black fire hurtled down the hallway, passed us. I started looking around frantically. There had to be something I could fight this with!

Reagan tugged on my sleeve, and I looked over at her with raised eyebrows. "What–"

"YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT?!" She had a giant smile on her face.

Jason explained, "So, I take it you haven't picked up on her science fiction side? This is a dream come true for her."

"DAMN RIGHT IT IS!" Reagan screeched beside me, "THIS IS ALMOST AS COOL AS TIME TRAVEL!"

I saw something glint in the light underneath one of the tables lining the hallway. I stood up to get a better look at it.

It almost looked like a sword.

"Hey Reagan, where does slaying a monster fall on your list of cool things?"

"Not sure, probably between time travel and–wait, ARE YOU GONNA SLAY THAT MONSTER?!"

Everyone except for John was staring at me, now. They all had smiles on their faces as another ball of fire zipped past us. I somersaulted toward the table with the sword under it. Reagan and Jason started singing the Mission Impossible theme.

I wrapped my hands around the sword's grip. Surprisingly, it felt natural to hold it in my hands. I lifted it up and held it in front of me.

"Mark, you look like a total badass!" Felix cheered.

"What do you mean 'look like'? I am a total badass!" I chuckled out. Reagan and Jason started giggling as well.

I noticed John wasn't pinned to the wall like he was moments earlier. "Did anyone see where John went?"

"Over here!" he called from where the monster had been. I peeked around the wall to see the monster laying on the ground and John standing over it. Reagan's jaw was dropped open, but instead of looking excited, she looked disappointed. Maybe she really was looking forward to me kicking a monster's butt.

"Umm, how the heck did you slay a monster with your bare hands?" Dan questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"You said it yourself," John stated. "I used my bare hands."

I exchanged an uneasy glance with Dan, but before I had a chance to ask anything, Reagan stepped in, "Stop lying and tell the truth. You don't honestly believe that we trust you, right?"

"Not in my wildest dreams, but I'm your best bet, so I expect you not to question it." He looked at me. "And I trust you'll either hand that sword over or leave it here."

"Why the hell would I give you this sword?" I asked.

"I don't want you getting attached to it."

"Too late, its name is–"

"KYLE!" Reagan yelled. I looked at her, confused. She pointed to the blade of the sword and shrugged. "It says 'Kyle' on the sword. Seems fitting enough."

I turned the sword over to see what she was talking about. Sure enough, the name 'Kyle' was engraved on the blade of the weapon. "Yeah," I began, "its name is Kyle, and you couldn't pry Kyle out of my cold, dead hands."

John sighed heavily and huffed out, "Fine, just don't kill me with it."

"I'm not making any promises," I replied with a straight face. I heard Cry and Felix snickering behind me. John huffed and turned around to begin leading us again.

Jason walked up to me and took his belt off, "If you put it on, you could hook Kyle into it instead of having to hold it all the time."

I smiled at him and started putting his belt on. "Thanks, Jason."

"No problem, as long as I get to come over and hang out with you guys over the month you're fostering Nate, Reagan, and Percy."

"Cool with me," I replied. He smiled at me and ran up to Reagan. I heard them start to talk about how cool it would've been if I fought the monster.

As we passed the monster's body, I noticed that there wasn't any blood around it. Unless John scared it to death—which, might I add, wouldn't have completely shocked me, considering he looks like a satanist—I wasn't sure how it could possibly be dead.

Before I had any more time to think about it, I heard someone scream. It sounded like a kid, so I immediately looked at Reagan and Jason, but they were looking around too.

"Was that Nate?" Jason asked. Reagan's eyes widened instantly, then she and Jason raced past us around a corner. The rest of us followed behind until Jason and Reagan turned a corner and stopped in their tracks. I stopped directly behind them, Dan to my right, Felix and Cry to my left, with John still running to us.

Sure enough, Nate was standing at the end of the hallway. He was frantically looking around the room until his eyes stopped on us. He stumbled backward and screamed again. Jason raced up to him. "Nate! I'm so glad to see–"

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHO'S NATE?!"

A/N

Random question: who's you favorite orphan and who do you ship with who?

Anyways, BUH-BYE BROTATOES!