A couple of students laughed, hiding in the crowd.
Paw Paw dropped the boy to the ground and kicked him away before grabbing Loki’s legs and holding him upside down.
Loki thought it would be a terrible way to die, squeezed like a greasy fast food sandwich between these two.
“Wow,” Loki said. “I’m sorry guys. I have to admit that it wasn’t right to offend you. I’m really sorry. If you just let me down, I will make it up to you.”
Big Bad and Paw Paw let him down, laughing out loud in the middle of the parking lot. Their voices were so intimidating that the students took a step back.
“I don’t know man,” Big Bad said to Paw Paw, laughing again at how cowardly Loki turned out to be. When he laughed, the muscles in his chest laughed as well, up and down, down and up, like a heavy ripple in a swamp. “This one is neither a Pig nor a Sheep. He’s a squashed beetle already.”
“I think we started off on the wrong foot,” Loki adjusted his shirt. “Let’s play nice and start all over again. I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself properly,” he held out his hand.
“So introduce yourself,” Big Bad said.
“I’m Loki Blackstar,” Loki smiled. “And I’m here to kick your asses.”
Loki took a step forward and got up close and personal with Big Bad, faster than a pussycat he blew Magic Dust into his face.
Big Bad got dizzy. Loki punched him in the face before he dropped to the ground like a heavy bag of groceries. Loki’s fist hurt, but he turned around and blew Magic Dust in Paw Paw’s face, punched him, and watched as the kid crumpled to the floor.
Everyone in the parking lot went whoooo! All they saw was Loki hitting the boys; it didn’t quite register that he’d blown Magic Dust in their faces. They didn’t know such a thing even existed.
The boy grabbed Loki’s fists and examined them, looking for the secret of his superpowers while the girls clapped and cheered.
It felt good being the parking lot’s hero. For the first time ever, life didn’t suck and Loki walked proudly back to his car.
“Wait!” the boy said. “Can you give me a ride home?”
“I ride alone,” Loki said without looking back.
“Please?” the boy pulled Loki’s hand. “If the rest of the Bullyvards see what happened to Big Bad and Paw Paw, they’ll hurt me for getting away from their friends without a scratch. I need to get out of here.”
“OK. I get it. Hop in. I’ll give you a ride.”
The boy got in the passenger’s seat and stretched out his hand. “I’m Axel,” he said. “And I’m not here to kick your ass,” he joked.
Loki shook Axel’s hand, and thought he looked like a decent boy without the hood; cute features, natural spiky hair, and freckles on his face, a nerdier version of Macaulay Culkin, only a bit chubby.
Loki kick started his Cadillac. The radio played another fast-paced song by the Pumpkin Warriors that was about heroes saving the world.
Lucy walked up waving at Loki, her long hair fluttering in the breeze. Damn that long, beautiful hair. She must’ve heard the commotion in the parking lot and wondered what was happening.
Sitting in the passenger seat, jaw-dropped Axel couldn’t stop staring at Lucy whose smile was a heartbreaker, just like the happy cute girls dancing in a Japanese Manga or Anime.
Lucy wasn’t alone. A muscular figure with another outdated Elvis haircut, long sideburns, and a black leather jacket, showed up from behind her.
Axel stopped drooling like a puppy. Loki was chewing on envy as Lucy held the boy’s hand.
“Hey,” Lucy said, peeking through the window.
“Hey yourself,” Axel, interrupted, tilting his head.
“You made friends already?” she told Loki, bestowing an infuriating stare on Axel, as if he was some funny looking and unappreciated Gremlin. Axel swallowed an invisible fireball and stayed silent.
“Why are you still at school?” she wondered. “Shouldn’t you be getting some sleep and buying yourself a new pair of socks? By the way, this is Ulfric Moonclaw,” she introduced her boyfriend.
“Pleasure,” Ulfric said, squeezing Lucy closer to him, and whispering something in her ear then kissing her on the cheek. Her eyes glowed, and Loki couldn’t help but wonder what he’d told her. Ulfric didn’t even acknowledge Axel who was officially invisible to most people in school so he burrowed himself into the passenger seat.
“So what’s the buzz all about up there?” Ulfric wondered, pointing at the horde of girls trying to wake up Big Bad and Paw Paw. Loki gripped the wheel. If those two polar bears woke up, he wasn’t prepared to face them again. It was time to go.
“Is that Big Bad and Paw Paw on the ground?” Lucy wondered.
“What?” Ulfric’s face went red. “Who did that to them?” he looked back at Loki. “You know who did that to them?” he stared into Loki’s eyes intensely. Loki felt as though he’d been punched in the face already.