Apeiron, The Limitless - 1. Arche

Archie quickly tumbled a hand through all the crap in his locker, made contact with what felt like a notebook, and yanked. It was the wrong one so he threw it back amongst the rubbish and plunged in again. He knew needed to hurry; he didn’t want to be one of the last ones in the hall when the bell rang. Dropping his backpack, he shoved both hands back into the mess, churning the clutter clump, almost frantic in the search for his Science notebook. The warning bell rang and he increased his spin attack against the locker. He didn’t want to run into-

“What do you think you’re doing, queer?” Trent’s breath crawled across Archie’s neck. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were tryin’ to clear out before I came around. You aren’t wantin’ to avoid me, are you, Archie?

Realizing Trent the Troll was nothing more than a few inches away, Archie repressed a shudder and, somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the pop of the bubble that was once personal space. For the last few weeks, Archie had doubled his efforts to stay out of harm’s way but it seemed like the Troll was specifically gunning for him. He turned slowly.

Trent stood almost six feet tall and puberty had definitely supplied him with the right tools to be a grade-A bully. Broad chest, long arms; he could take a punch as well as give one.

“Where are you off to in such a rush, fag?” A slight shove for emphasis.

“Look, Trent. I don’t want any-“

“Come on, Arch. Don’t be so fuckin’ clichéd,’right? Of course you don’t want any trouble. If you wanted trouble, this would be a fight. But instead, this is me teaching a faggot not to get on my bad side.” He reached past Archie; books and papers cascaded around their feet.

Archie let out a sigh. He reasoned with himself that now he had no other choice but to clean out his locker. In fact, Trent continued to pull from the mounds of educational debris; he took his time with it, only grabbing a handful of papers and letting them spiral to the floor before reaching in again. Setting his jaw, Archie stared over Trent’s shoulder, down the hall. The other end was practically empty; a teacher with his back conveniently turned as he perused the posters on the wall, a skinny kid in black looking around, probably lost and late for class, and two girls giggling while running in the direction of the bathrooms. He turned his gaze back to Trent.

“Trent, there’s nobody around. Is this really necessary?” This was starting to get old. Archie figured Trent would lose interest after a while; he hadn’t really prepared himself for this level of obsession.

“Necessary? No. But I like it. It’s fun for me. I enjoy keeping you in your little fag place. I laugh just knowing you’re busting your ass to get outta the halls before I-“

“Are you Archie?” Trent and Archie both turned to face the person bold enough to intrude on such a sacred ritual. Standing a couple of feet away was the kid in black; closer now, Archie noticed his black attire, a leather jacket and jeans, were ripped and torn all over. Sudden glimpses of pale skin seemed to give off a glow against the dark outfit and Archie tried to ignore his heartbeat as it picked up pace. The boy’s hair was a pearly sort of white and cut short all over, except in front which he now brushed out of his eyes with the back of his fingers. Trent’s jaw dropped and he took a few steps backwards.

“Umm-I am. I’m Archie.”

“Awesome. Wow, your picture doesn’t do you justice at all." His hand made another pass at the curtain of hair. "I need to talk with you. Do you think we could-“

“Hold on one fuckin’ second.” Trent quickly recovered from his shock. “Arch, you know this faggot?” His eyes were perfectly round orbs of disgust.

“Who is this?” The white haired guy directed the question to Archie.

“Just a homophobic jackass.” Archie knew Trent pushed him around because he wouldn’t fight back but Archie wasn’t going to let the Troll attack any of the other kids. Trent turned red and took a step towards him.

“Homophobic jackass? You trying to show off in front of this little shit-banger? I’ll fu-

The kid in black stood between them, facing Trent. Archie hadn’t seen him take a step, let alone cover the distance in the time it took the Troll to raise his massive fist; it was impossible but yet there he stood. Trent’s face flushed a darker red. The kid reached out and grabbed Trent by the jaw, turning his head; a second later, Trent threw up and collapsed to the floor.

“What the hell did you do?” Archie asked as disbelief and amusement fought for control of his face.

“What I do to all homophobic jackasses. Come on.” The kid stepped over Trent and started back the way he’d come.

Archie bent briefly to make sure Trent was still breathing and ran to catch up with the kid.

“What did you-“

“Do you repeat yourself often? Because I bet that gets annoying.”

“Sorry. Who are you?” Archie had to break into a jog to match the kid’s speed.

“I’m Dice. And take a second to remember what happened to that moron before you make fun of my name.”

“I like the name Dice. Makes you sound shady and mysterious. Like you’d show up out of the blue, do some weird magic shit on a bully and make him throw up.”

“Magic?” Dice shook his head. “Should have known. All the hot ones are dumber than rocks. That wasn’t magic and I wouldn’t waste magic on a common troll. I put my knee in his junk and a fist to his throat. He won’t be able to speak for a few days but it sounds like he’s a pro at talking out of his ass. I’ll probably get in trouble for not taking caring of him, though, so I’ll have to call it in. He’s much too dangerous to leave prowling these halls. “

“What do you mean “take care of him”?” Archie slowed his pace. “And why am I following somebody who uses ominous phrases in casual conversation?”

“There is nothing casual about this situation; you just have the luxury of not knowing how true that is yet. I meant just what I said: I will get someone down here to keep an eye on that goon and, if he gets out of hand again, disable him.” Dice, who’d also slowed to meet Archie’s gait, resumed his stride. “And in case that is still too vague for you, “disable him” means cut that thick head of his right off his body.”

Archie stopped altogether and watched Dice’s back as he did the same. He saw the kid’s shoulders rise and fall in a sigh.

“Look, Arch.” Dice turned. “We have a long way to travel and quite a few other people to pick up as well so I will give you 3 questions but after I answer them, we have to keep going, ok? Anything else can be settled on the road.”

This seemed fair so Archie nodded.

“Great. Fire away.” Dice folded his arms across his chest.

“Ok. Ok, well, I guess first I want to know who you are. I mean really are.”

“I was right; it is annoying. My name is Dice and I’ve been sent here to save you. And yes I know how dramatic it sounds but this actually warrants a bit of flair.”

“Right...” Archie took a step back, his eyebrows folding in a frown. “Ok, look, Dice, you seem super nice and, judging by the clothes, really committed to your character but I don’t think I should prob-“

Dice stood face to face with Archie, who gasped and took another step; the white-haired kid had covered the 10 or so feet between them in less than a blink.

“How did you do that?”

“Magic.”

Archie couldn’t tell if the kid was being sarcastic or just condescending but wasn’t able to close his mouth either way.

“Who are-“

“That’s your last question and since your brain seems to be caught in some sort of loop, let me wrap this up for you.” Dice’s hand landed on Archie’s shoulder before he was aware it’d moved. “You are coming with me, regardless of your feelings on the matter. Now there are a few different ways that can happen; it won’t benefit you to know what they all are but just be aware that this current method will be your favorite choice by far.”

The hand lifted and a finger lightly tapped the end of Archie’s nose. Dice turned on his heels and started towards the exit.

“Now, let’s go.”