Firstly,
Matt and Shirl meet each other. They begin a fight while Shirl blurts out
comments that make Matt confused. Shirl mentions that despite what nice things
Jen has been saying about Matt, Shirl does not care. Her priorities are to
destroy anybody who gets in her or Tony’s way. While battling, Shirl begins to
cry. Her past is revealed, showing that she was terribly bullied by many students,
a lot more than William and the trio-sisters. It was not only because she was
going to El Monte, but because she was too shy, and everybody turned away from
her. The only person who sided with her was Tony who eventually let her into
his group. At this rate, Shirl made her own promise to side with Tony no matter
not. At the end, Matt talks her out of fighting and she gives up. Lastly,
Yessenia tells Omar that she will continue fighting, for her friends. The power
of friendship continues to grow…
Episode 162 – Cast Off Your Connection from the World
Peter and Maggie were lying down
near the abyss. Peter began chewing on his bamboo stick. “So, um.” He said
awkwardly. “What are you going to do now?”
Maggie gave a huge sigh. “It looks
like I was only controlled by William after all… I don’t know what I’m going to
do next. I might go ask Van and Jenny to go with me back to El Monte. Then
again, I want to experiment on these web powers…”
“Experiment?”
“Obviously, the three of us girls
are not the strongest elemental power users that you can find, but I want to
get stronger. I want to see what I can do with my webs.”
“Is that all?”
“No… I hope that someday, I can beat
some of those South El Monte students, Layla mostly. After what she did to us, I
finally get a chance to become one of the greatest. I don’t know where to train
though.”
Peter took out his cellphone. “For
some reason, the option of trying to get into some strange place called
‘Arkon’s Magic’ is locked. There must be other worlds out there where you can
practice.”
“And what will you be doing?”
Peter looked away. “I might have to
move on to the Druskane Continent. There are still other friends out there who
are missing. Joey is nowhere to be found here in the Marconian Continent.”
Maggie grinned. “I see…”
~~~
Shirl pointed at Matt with a light,
whitish beam. Matt glided into the air and said while looking down at her,
“Damn it! What is her power?”
Shirl said out loud, “Slow!”
Matt’s heart skipped a beat. “Did
she just use… Time power?!” He was completely surprised that she could use the
same powers as Santi. “This… can’t be!” His movements began to slow down while
he was still in the air.
“Stop!” She made her next move,
causing Matt to pause in the air. Then, Shirl pointed another beam at him.
“Time Eruption!” The beam crashed into Matt and an explosion occurred. The
‘Stop’ spell was cancelled and Matt fell to the ground.
He began coughing. “That damn girl…
just who the hell does she think she is?!”
Shirl was still in tears. “Total
destruction. I don’t care who you are. What Jen or anybody says to me means
nothing to me!”
Matt tried to glide into the air
again. He was lucky enough to have more energy. Matt was in mid-air again and
he watched her tears run down her cheeks. “She’s… crying!” Matt made the flames
from his fists go away.
“What are you doing? Are you giving
up?” Shirl said with a hysterical, evil expression. “No one needs pathetic
losers anyway!!”
Shirl grabbed a rock and then she
threw it towards Matt. “Haste!” The speed of the rock was fastening.
Matt blocked it with his bare fists.
He glided back down after noticing her expressions. “…Hey.”
Shirl threw another rock and then
she casted Haste on it. Matt blocked it once more. Shirl continued to throw
rocks several times. “Stop blocking it. Just die already!!” While blocking the
rocks, Matt was walking closer to her. “Die, die, die!” Eventually, Matt
grabbed her arms to stop her from attacking any more. “L-Let go of me!” She
commanded.
“No one needs to fight.”
“What? What do you know?” She
shuffled her arms away from his grip.
Matt did not let go, however. He
yelled at her, “It doesn’t matter how much of a grudge you have against others!
I may not know why you hate me, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth killing somebody!!
You should know that!!”
Shirl suddenly stopped. Her eyes
opened wide and her tears stopped. “But…!”
Matt let go of her arms but he
pushed them away. “It’s just trashy to see high school kids trying to kill one
another. You’ve got so many great things ahead of you. Why waste it now?”
Shirl knelt down crying again. “You
don’t understand…! I…!”
~~~
Shirl’s
mother was cutting vegetables outside while trying to pull out a few mints from
the vines. “Shirl, your father will be home soon. He went out on an internship
job just for a few months.”
“A few
months? That’s a long time…” Shirl said calmly. She was an elementary student.
“How many months is ‘a few’?”
“Just a
few. He will be alright! You still have me and your friends. As long as there
are enough people who are still here to support and love you, you can stay
happy.”
“I… guess
so.” Shirl sighed.
~~~
In middle
school, Shirl hid behind a tree, watching the trio-sisters, along with William,
playing tag together during their lunch break. She was a bit shy to talk to
them. “Friends… I have plenty. Hehe.” She was about to walk up to Jenny, who
was the easiest to approach. “Um-…”
William
poked Jenny. “Tag! You’re it, you little demon!”
“M-Me?!
Aww!” She began running away.
Shirl
friend. “Oh…”
~~~
“I lost a few friends in Elementary
school. One of them ran away from home because her parents physically abused
her so much. The rest just went to another middle school, and then another high
school. I’ve never seen them again. I tried to fit in when I was in middle
school, but nobody had the same interest in hobbies as me. I loved to shop for
clothing, I loved going to the mall, I loved Hello Kitty… but I was too afraid
to speak up. Then…”
~~~
In the
second year of middle school, two students named Emmy and Jennifer approached
her. Jennifer waved at her, “Hi! Are you new here?”
“Nobody noticed me at all. It was as
if being in eighth grade was the first time they all saw me.”
“Y-Yeah…”
Shirl tried to smile. Emmy began whispering something in Jennifer’s ear. Shirl
was depressed by the thought of this.
"I came from Madrid to play against Potrero's sport team. That Layla girl told me lots about Shirl."
Jennifer
gasped. “Really? Oh… But still…”
Emmy
suddenly grabbed Jennifer and then they both walked away. Jennifer was forced
to leave the conversation.
“Nobody
likes me… Nobody notices me.”
~~~
“Finally, someone really nice
approached me.”
“What
are you doing, sitting around? You don’t want to play chess with us?” a boy
said.
Shirl
blushed. “B-But I don’t know how to play…”
Another boy
said to the first student, “Oh Tony, stop picking on the girl. You’re just mad
because I beat you so many times.”
“Burn in
hell, Jaime! I got this.”
Shirl took
a queen’s chess piece, “Um…”
Tony
offered Shirl to sit down and they began to teach her how to play. They became
quick friends. After that, the trio-sisters and William joined in on their
little group and Shirl became noticeable.
~~~
Towards the
end of their middle school years, Layla kicked Shirl onto the ground. Shirley
screamed. “Ah! Please, stop what you’re doing! It hurts!”
Layla
kicked her again. “Pitiful! Sad! You, going to El Monte? People from El Monte
are just shameful and stupid. Don’t you realize how much danger they’ve put our
siblings in?! Oh that’s right.” She kicked Shirl again. “You don’t have any
siblings. You don’t understand how it feels then!” She began laughing
hysterically as she walked away from their school, Potrero.
Shirl was
in complete tears now. Being attacked for a reason she could not sympathize
over… “Why? Why am I the one always to get hurt? This time, it’s not even my
fault! People are so cruel… and rude!!” After a minute of tears, Tony finally
appeared.
“Hey!” Tony
dropped his backpack and he ran up to her. “What happened to you?”
“L-L-Lay…la…
South… El Monte…”
Tony
clenched his fists. “Again?! First the attack on William and the three girls, and
then you?”
Shirl
grabbed onto his sleeves. “I’m sorry… I didn’t want you to see me like this…”
Tony shook
his head. “Not again, please. The first time I met you, you seemed to be in
total despair. I tried my best to help you fit into a group. You smiled so
much.” Shirl was silent. Tony went on, “Seeing you cry again would hurt me as a
friend. I’m not doing a good job at making friends happy.”
“But it’s
my fault…”
“Don’t you
ever say that! In El Monte High School, I will surely find a way to get revenge
on those bastards. Until then, don’t connect with anybody else. They will only
hurt you.”
“Don’t
connect with anybody? Even in high school?”
“It is your
choice to talk to anybody, but I am just trying to tell you to be extra careful
with who you make friends with. Most can be cruel.” Shirl had nothing else to
say.
~~~
“And that is why… I want to crush
anybody who gets in Tony’s way. People… People like you, even from El Monte!”
Matt yelled at her, “What, so you’re
just going to cut your life away from everybody except Tony’s group?! Shirl, I
promise you! I won’t hurt you, even if I am against Tony. It’s just what you
are doing is wrong. We can be friends, we can be friends without hurting each
other!!”
Shirl froze in amazement. For a rare
time, someone actually admitted to be friends. Shirl fell flat onto the ground,
indicating that she gives up. “Friends…” She smiled in the calm wind this time.
Her eyes began to change into a different shape filled with happiness. Eventually,
she decided to close her eyes to rest.
Matt fell to the ground as well, but
in grief. “I’ll be your friend…” He gave a smile, closing his eyes as well.
~~~
Steve had eventually passed away
from the major pain that he received from Tony. Alex was standing in front of
Steve with a large amount of water aura all around him. Tony laughed. “My
projections moments ago showed me that you barely tied against Van. How are you
able to fight me if most of your elemental power is gone?”
Alex did not listen to him. It
seemed as though his power was exceeding what he could handle. Michael called
for him, “Alex! Stop this at once! One of my friends died because he used too
much power!”
Alice closed her eyes. “It’s… too
windy now!”
Alex created a large tornado filled
with water. “Aqua Tornado!” The tornado flew with much more speed than when he
fought with Van. His rage added onto his strength. Tony blocked the attack with
a power of shadow magic.
“You think you can beat me?” Tony
laughed as he focused on blocking the Aqua Tornado.
“Aqua Ball!” Alex made a large ball
of water appear above Tony. Tony was surprised that Alex could make two water
spells appear at once. The ball flew down and exploded onto Tony, but Tony had
a veil of shadow appear from above himself.
Alice said from afar, “That’s not
fair! He’ll always do that when he’s about to get attacked.”
Michael clenched his teeth. “That
idiot doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into!”
Tony turned around, “Jaime! Why are
you just standing there?”
Jaime shook his head. “Oh- Sorry.
Uh.” Jaime made a shadow of himself appear near Alex.
Alex jumped away. “Aqua Blaze!” A
flow of water rose from the ground like a stalagmite filled with water. Both
Tony and Jaime had to move away from the distance. “I’ve had enough of seeing
my friends in pain, especially those who can never survive through it anymore!”
Mariel and Steve were in his mind. “I don’t care if I’m doing much more than I
can handle. I’m just one life, versus all those you would be killing later on
if I let you go now!” He thought of Santi. “If I die from using too much power,
then that’s fine.” He created a large sea of water.
“What in the world?!” Jaime looked
up. “It’s huge…!”
“O Sea of Misfortune…” Alex was floating
in the air and water was rushing in from all directions. Other students such as
Peter, Maggie, Amy, and Jenny could see. “Hear thine voice from an Earthian
soul…”
Tony created one shadow after
another, depending on how much larger the splashes of water will grow. “That
spell won’t work on me!”
“Arise at the name of all
destruction, and power to the water wielder…!” Alex opened his eyes. “The power
of the Grimoire book will show you! CATACLYSM!”
The pile of water, with a height
over twenty meters, suddenly splashed down towards the whole group. Alice and
Michael were being thrown into the wave as well. Many objects of Wisteria
nearby were being totaled. Alice screamed from the splash of water. Michael
held onto her in case of any broken debris was stuck against the flow of water.
Peter turned around. “What the?!”
Maggie grabbed his arm. “Look out!”
She used her web powers to create a large web that could withstand the water.
“Level 2 Layer!”
“Maggie…”
Maggie was shaking. “The water… is
too strong! Ah!” The web broke and the water continued to pour. The two
students were stuck in the current now.
Van, Yessenia, Omar, Matt, and
Shirl, William, Huy, and Shirley were too exhausted to move. They were all
thrown into the cataclysm. Amy and Jenny were at the ceiling of a bunch of
buildings so they were barely safe. At this point, Alex had already surpassed
his elemental power by using a ridiculous amount of energy. Even Tony and Jaime
were forced into the wave of Alex’s Cataclysm. Eventually, Alex and his spell
wore off. He fell onto the floor. Wisteria continued to become more destructive
as the war still did not end.
~~~
-NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW-
Matt:
I don’t care if it means death. I promise to save Wisteria!
Tony:
How will you save a whole city if you cannot even protect yourself?
Matt:
But… Wisteria is…
Tony:
The cataclysm has been the total climax of the city! You no longer have any
reason to continue your promise!
Matt: No…
Nix:
Maybe it’s not over yet! You can save what is still good in Wisteria!
Matt:
Maybe… he’s right.
Jaime:
Matt…
Yessenia: Even Matt seems to be giving up at this time.
Matt:
Wisteria… Next time on episode 163, Battle at the Highway, the Power of Friendship!
