A/N: Read and Review! Read and Review!! Post comments of this chapter in my blog!!

Chapter 2: Gains

More often than not, Peter found that industrialized coffee drinks were overrated in terms of price. But they tasted really good, he had to admit.

He took a sip out of his Java Chip Frappuchino and pondered. Really, how much of a percentage does Starbucks get in terms of profit, after cutting off the cost of the raw coffee, the other ingredients, and the ever-so-unforgiving wage they pay their staff?

He shrugged and chucked all his thoughts about Starbucks into the Not-Important Luxuries department of his mind. At least that way, he could concentrate more on the rather attractive girl sitting a few tables away from him.

She wasn’t alone, of course. Peter frowned internally when he analyzed the group of girls she was with. Why can’t girls hang out alone? Why do they always have to be in an impenetrable entourage?

Then as he took another sip, Peter remembered the fact that Malaysia’s crime rate was a disturbingly increasing factor, and that travelling alone in the city, especially if one was a girl, was quite unsafe.

Peter suddenly had a sudden strange hatred for snatch thieves and Mat Rempits.

Then he heard giggling. The type that girls only gave when something distressingly embarrassing was taking place.

Peter woke up from his daze to notice that the girls ahead were giggling and sneaking looks. At him.

Horror struck Peter to his core when he realized something. When he was daydreaming, he must have been still looking at them. That might have caused those girls to think he was gawking at them or something, hence the giggles.

He looked away hurriedly with an extremely red face, causing the girls to giggle harder. Peter slapped his forehead and sipped his drink furiously, avoiding eye contact with them. But when he stole one last look at the exceptionally pretty girl, he noticed she too was looking at him.

She looked away for a fraction of a second, but then slowly looked at Peter again with utter sultry-ness, her eyes gleaming hypnotically at him. Her red, rosy lips curled into a demure smile that made Peter feel dizzy.

She then looked away with that cute little embarrassed face again, making Peter smile ridiculously. He wasn’t the type to have girls fawning over him, so this was something new to Peter. And honestly, he liked it.

He decided lingering too long wasn’t going to do any good. He had homework that needed doing, and he was already finished with his drink. There goes RM 14.50…..Peter sighed, getting up to leave. Unfortunately, the only exit meant he had to walk past those girls.

He breathed in deep, and walked on, trying his best to avoid them. As he walked past them, he heard nothing but stifled giggling. He breathed out in relief when he was out of sight. He was thankful. Apparently this group knew how to hold it in. He never liked overenthusiastic girlish giggles. Just like Starbucks coffee prices, it was overrated.

*

Summoning weapons was a privilege only a few enjoyed. A major test and more than a month’s worth of training were involved, so many got turned off by its demanding requirements. But the boys practically flew through the tests and training, claiming it was no harder than their driving tests.

Still, summoning weapons had its limits. An individual could usually only summon a weapon or two at most, first needing to enchant it to be able to transcend from its physical form. And usually only traditional weapons can be summoned, such as swords, spears or bows. Summoning a modern weapon was no mean feat, though. The boys could only conjure up a pistol, at most.

Yet Leon sat on the crisp warm grass of the campus park, effortlessly conjuring up his M4 Custom assault rifle. Jason only narrowed his eyes at Leon, eying the weapon enviously as Leon proceeded to disassemble it for cleaning.

“Y’know, I don’t get it. All of us are within the same level, and yet you’re the only one we know who can summon a rifle. How’s that?” Jason asked, visibly annoyed.

“Simple, Jay. I used to be in the military, and you didn’t. ‘Nuff said,” Leon said with a boyish grin. Jason scoffed at Leon and silently summoned his sword, a one-edged English broadsword.

Jason then took out a cloth to wax it clean, attracting a few people’s attention. 2 people maintaining their weapons on the campus park wasn’t abnormal, per se. In fact, it was no less ordinary or different from those who were using their laptops or playing a guitar there. Still, a sword in the middle of a park was a curious thing, nonetheless.

Leon was humming a tune as he brushed the barrel of his gun, making Jason raise a curious eyebrow. How can one hum a peaceful tune when he’s polishing a gun made for war?

Jason decided to put aside that mild anomaly and concentrate on cleaning his own weapon. For a sword of its size, it wasn’t heavy. Jason had to thank his parents for that. It was forged a few years ago for him as a graduation present.

”I wonder…is this how you spend your time after classes, Leon?” a voice asked from behind Leon, who looked behind. Behind him stood Michelle Lee, one of the most popular girls in school. She had her arms crossed, looking down at him with a raised eyebrow with a subtly mischievous smile curling up her lips.

Leon lit up as he greeted her curtly, inviting her to sit next to him. Michelle agreed with a shrug, plopping herself in between Leon and Jason. “So things went well in class for you, I suppose?” Leon asked, still concentrating on his rifle.

Michelle murmured her reply before yawning. She was visibly tired out by the class, then. Michelle sighed sharply as she lay down on the grass. Leon could spot her weapon, a compact lariat, secured onto her belt.

“What exactly are you staring at?” Michelle asked slyly, Leon looking up. She was smiling at him dangerously, her eyebrows arched at such a level that made Leon panic.

“N-No! You got all wrong!” Leon stuttered. He honestly wasn’t ogling her, but words were practically meaningless now. She caught him looking at her, and that was enough. “Oh? So you weren’t staring at me?” Michelle further probed, gazing right into Leon’s soul.

He gulped. Jason was already snickering silently from the sidelines as he waved goodbye, heading somewhere. “I was…I was only staring at your lariat…” Leon muttered, looking away, slightly flushed. Michelle took out the curled-up whip and examined it.

“Oh, this? I just got it. Much better than my old one,” she said before handing it over to Leon. He inspected it lightly, feeling its weight and tension. It felt like it was made out of some synthetic material, and it felt firm.

“It’s nice. How much did it cost?” Leon asked, handing it back to Michelle. She only smiled. “RM1200,” her reply was. Leon almost choked on his own breath. “A thousand-two? What, is it made out of a platinum core or something?” Leon scoffed, earning a laugh from Michelle.

“Close, but no. It’s made out of something new and flexible. Not sure what it’s called,” Michelle said, shrugging as she clipped the lariat back onto her own belt, lying on the grass.

“You sure look free. No homework or something?” Leon asked, reassembling his rifle. Michelle got up to earnestly study Leon’s nimbleness on the M4. “When did you first begin using a rifle?” she asked curiously, eyeing the assault rifle like it was some complex toy. It actually was, if you looked at it in one way.

“Well, I was 12 when I first shot a target with a rifle. It was an AK-47. Trust me, it hurt my shoulder like hell,” Leon reminisced bitterly, rubbing his shoulder. “12? What were you, a child soldier or something?” Michelle asked with a sly smile. Leon only replied with a smile just as sly, but a little bitter reality mixed in as well.

Just then, Michelle’s phone rang out loud, slightly startling them both. She read he text message and sighed. “My boyfriend wants to take me to Pavilion again. He reckons he owes me. Damn right he does…” Michelle scoffed.

Leon laughed heartily. “Couldn’t agree with you any more on that matter,” he said. Michelle smiled at him appreciatively, then patting his shoulder. “There’s hope for you yet, boy,” she said sagely, smiling radiantly as she left.

Leon waved goodbye at her, then opened his right hand. A grenade launcher attachment appeared from it. Leon then snapped it onto the lower barrel of his M4, making it look twice as lethal. Leon examined the rifle for awhile, and then made it disappear in a faint, colorful display of flashes.

He stretched himself, and then got up. He didn’t have any homework or assignments today, so he could afford to laze around. Leon really didn’t mind just sitting here on the campus park. It was rather large, with its own lake in the middle that was well-maintained enough to swim in. It was always rather populated by the students who wanted to take some time off. Lush green fields didn’t come easily in the town of KL.

Leon then had a thought. He hadn’t serviced his car in awhile, so he might as well better get it done today. Half regretting the fact he had to leave the park, Leon dragged himself towards the open air parking lot, suddenly sniggering as he remembered the incident that happened a few days ago.

He appreciated Terry’s assistance back then. Good friends were hard to come by.

Just as he rummaged his pockets for the keys to his Toyota Vios, he heard a shriek. Leon turned around, not able to see much from the maze-like formation of parked cars.

“Snatch thief! Snatch thief!” he heard a girls yell. Leon jumped onto a car’s roof, getting a better view. He saw a girl yelling while her two friends stayed close by her, traumatized by something.

Leon then saw a running figure -the snatch thief, no doubt, running sporadically away from the area, clutching a rather huge -and pink- handbag.

Leon knew what to do. But using his rifle –or his pistol, for that matter, was not very classy. Leon stretched his left arm, summoning his sword. A straight-bladed sword that was a cross between a katana and an army knife appeared, Leon clutching it loosely.

He bent his body forward, and then leapt up into the air, holding his sword with both hands, ready to strike.

From the snatch thief’s peripheral vision, he could see the looming shadow approaching him.

He yelled in sheer panic, using his arm to shield himself. Perfect.

Leon then turned the sword over, revealing its other blunt end. He slashed the sword once at the thief’s head, sending him flying off the ground before Leon even landed. Leon grabbed the bag that was already on the floor, ready to give it back to its rightful owner.

He took one brief glimpse at the thief, who was now out-cold from the sheer impact of blunt, solid metal. He walked slowly towards the girl and her friends, who were running towards Leon from their distance, almost 300 meters away.

Then the girl gasped. “Look out!” she yelled, pointing behind Leon’s direction. He heard the sound of a roaring engine as he turned back, staring at a helmeted biker heading straight for him. He had a crowbar in his left hand, ready to strike Leon as he closed the distance between them.

A getaway bike. Of course. This moron couldn’t have been working alone. He’d never make it off the campus on foot.

The bike was looming at Leon, who positioned himself to strike. At this speed, I’ll have no choice but to kill him, Leon thought. He relished the thought, but before the biker was within striking range, he heard gunfire.

The biker fell –no, flew off his bike as it suddenly tumbled and crashed. Leon looked everywhere, unable to see who opened fire on the biker.

Then a girl leapt out from behind a few cars, landing near Leon, who prepared himself.

“Relax, tiger. It’s only me,” the girl said, smiling confidently as she blew the smoke from her two pistols. Leon couldn’t help but smile at the afterglow of Trisha Teo’s marksmanship. “Nice shot, Trish…” Leon said, half chuckling.

“Thanks. Now, you’re supposed to return that bag to that girl, right?” Trisha asked as she holstered her pistols on her side belt. Leon turned around to see the girl, accompanied by her two friends running up to Leon. “Thank you. Thank you very much, both of you,” the girl said, looking very meaningfully at Leon and Trisha.

Already some people were rushing towards the area after the loud bike crash and the never subtle sounds of gunfire.

“It’s no problem, miss,” Leon said, bowing slightly to the girl. He then leered at the biker, who was too injured to move much. “Let this be a reminder to scum like you. Our college is never vulnerable. So if you so much as ever come here again, I’ll blow your head off with this.” Leon said, summoning his M4, with the grenade launcher attachment attached to it.

Leon then summoned a grenade magazine, loading it into the launcher attachment. “One of these warheads is powerful enough to turn you and your bike into charred pieces of scrap metal and dog-meat.”

The biker then looked up slightly at Leon, and then spat on him. It missed, but that was enough to make Leon pissed off. He kicked the biker hard on the helmet. It came off.

“Not secured? You’re lucky you’re still alive from that fall, bastard,” Trisha growled, stepping on the biker’s back, pinning him on the floor. More people were coming now, including several faculty members. The crowd was even bigger than the one Leon and Terry had that day.

“What’s going on here?” a teacher asked. Leon didn’t exactly remember his name, so he kept silent. “Snatch thief, sir. Two of them tried to make off with a bag stolen form one of our college-mates,” Trisha explained, nudging her thumb in the direction of the runner, who was now guarded by several boys.

“How did you manage to stop that bike?” a female teacher Leon and Trisha knew as Mrs. Ramani asked, pointing at the wreckage behind them.

“I shot the tires. Instant instability, ma’am,” Trisha replied respectfully. No one disrespected Mrs. Ramani and lived to tell the tale.

Some of the people from the crowd ooh-ed at Trisha. Even some of the teachers raised their eyebrows in amazement.

“And what did you do, Leon? Did you shoot the other one too?” Mrs. Ramani unquestioned, Leon shaking his head as he kept his M4 Grenadier. “No, ma’am. I leapt from that car’s roof and struck the runner with my sword’s blunt edge,” Leon explained, pointing at a car roughly 100 meters away.

The crowd ooh-ed at Leon as well, Trisha raising an eyebrow as she smirked at him. He was trying to compete with her, and she knew it.

“I just called the police. They’ll be here shortly,” another teacher said, keeping his mobile phone. “Excellent work, you two. Your actions out here today to defend one of your fellow college mates were exemplary.”

Some from the crowd applauded, making Leon and Trisha flush in embarrassment. They honestly weren’t used to something like this.

“Ugh…this is too much…” Trisha whispered to Leon, who shrugged. “You’ll get used to it,” he replied.

Trisha only arched her eyebrows once again, looking skeptically at Leon. “You mean this isn’t your first time getting commended for busting some thieves?”

Leon only gave her a boyish grin.

“When you have an assault rifle and a sword, busting snatch thieves and Mat Rempits in KL isn’t so hard.”

A/N: Okay, sorry if this took too long to update for you guys who just couldn’t wait for chapter 2 =)

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this one. I’ll post chapter 3 soon. Not sure how soon, but I promise you it’ll be sometime before next month. =)P

Please don’t forget to tell me how you feel about this and how you want me to make this novel better. Ideas are always welcome!