Julius

"I still can't believe what happened yesterday..." I said to myself, while eating toast at my kitchen table.

"It's not fair..." Sarah said to me, pouting.

"What's not fair?"

"You got to use cool powers and I didn't." Sarah sighed. "Hey, maybe I could try using it against the next monster! Is that okay?"

"It's not a toy!" Stat cut in, suddenly coming out of the staff. "Besides, fighting monsters is dangerous. You could get seriously injured if you're not careful!"

"What about Julius?! You're letting him fight!"

"Thanks for the encouraging words..." I uttered.

"Like I said before, Julius is the next chosen Element Temp user. And you aren't."

"That's so stupid." Sarah crossed her arms, wearing an upset expression of her face.

"We'd better get going to school now, sis. I've already finished my toast."

"Oh, okay. I'm almost done with mine."

"Hey, don't ignore me..." Stat said quietly.

--

"What's your first class today, bro?" Sarah asked me when we got to school.

"I think it's computer class..."

"You think?"

"Um yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Okay then. I don't have the same class as you today, so you have to make sure to pay attention. Alright?"

"Okay, okay!"

"Stat, can you make sure he doesn't fall asleep in class?" Sarah asked him.

"Hey, you don't trust me?!"

--

"Jeez, why does sis always have to be like that?" I asked myself, sitting down at one of the computers in my class.

"Morning, Julius." Kene said to me, from across the table.

"Oh, morning Kene."

"Don't fall asleep, or I'll tell Sarah on you."

"Hey!"

"Heheh."

"Everyone, we got some new computer models today." Our teacher said to the class. "So be careful with them, alright?"

"That's weird; why did the school randomly get new computers?" Kene asked. "The other ones we had before were fine."

"Don't know..."

"Julius, I sense strange energy coming from these computers..." Stat said to me suddenly.

"Strange energy?"

"Huh? What'd you say, Julius?" Kene looked at me strangely.

"A-ah, it's nothing! Nothing important!"

"'kay..."

--

Later that day; after school...

"Did you get any homework today, Julius?" Sarah asked me, after I had met up with her.

"No, none today."

"Me neither, so let's play all day today!" She said happily.

"Sure, oka-... oh wait, I just realized; I forgot something in one of my classes. I have to go get it."

"Oh, I'll wait here then."

"Don't bother. See you later!" I ran back inside the school, heading for the computer room.

"What did you forget, Julius?" Stat asked me.

"You told me there was strange energy in the computers, right? I thought it was suspicious..."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and the old ones getting replaced is weird, too." I told him, then arrived at the room.

"Now that you mention it, the energy is stronger than before."

I checked the computers to make sure they worked.

"They seem perfectly normal, though..."

"Check the teacher's computer." Stat suggested.

"Alright..." I checked it next. "Huh? The teacher left this on."

"No, wait. Something is different about this one..."

All of a sudden, eyes appeared on the screen.

"Crahhh..."

"Huh!?"

Suddenly, the computer levitated in the air, and surrounded itself with the other computers in the room with massive electricity.

"I should've known!" Stat yelled. "It's a monster!"

"Seriously?! Another one already?!"

"CRAHHH!!!" It screamed in my face, then flew outside, destroying the wall in the process.

"Oh no! The school!"

"We don't have time to worry about the wall now. It just gave us a chance to prepare."

"But I don't have any water with me today..."

"That's alright. Look."

Stat pointed toward the ground, at a battery lying on the floor.

"This? Can I use it for something?" I asked him, picking up the battery.

"Yes. You can unleash 'Thunder Power' with it. Just place it in your staff and call out its power!"

"Alright, then." I placed the battery in my staff. "Element Temp... Thunder!"

My clothes changed again, this time to a golden-yellow color.

"Now you're all set. Go and defeat that monster."

"Right!" I ran outside to the hole the monster made. And there it was, waiting for me.

"Um, thanks for waiting?"

"CRAHHH!!!"

"... Or not."

"Julius, to use your current power, call out 'Lightning'." Stat told me.

"Okay... Lightning!"

I blasted it with lightning, making it shriek with rage.

"Wait, it uses electricity itself, right? How am I able to hurt it?"

"It's only able to function properly with the current amount its using. If you give it too much, it'll overload."

"That... seems like kind of a harsh way to defeat it..."

"It's a monster. There's no need to feel sympathy for it."

"Crahhh!!!" It shot lightning of its own at me, which I instinctively blocked with my staff.

"Well, any sympathy I had for it before is long gone now..." I stated, staggering from the last hit.

"CRAHHH!!!" Electricity began pulsating through the monster.

"Hurry Julius, it's charging up power! You can take advantage of this by sending it extra energy!"

"Okay, then I'll give this everything I've got!" I charged up my own staff and unleashed numerous bolts of lightning at it.

"Zzzcrahhh!!!" The lightning stopped pulsating, but the monster started to glow.

"W-what's going on?!"

"Teacher... why? I know I was old, but I performed for you the best I could. I don't... I don't want to be replaced!"

"Where is that voice coming from...?"

"Zzzcrahhh..." All of a sudden, the monster exploded. Like the other one, its remains vanished.

"Well, that was shocking... in both ways." I uttered, exhausted.

"Well done, Julius!" Stat told me. "You defeated it, and prevented it from causing more damage, as well."

"Yeah..." I transformed back, and fell to the ground. "I wonder what that voice was, though."

"What voice?"

"Y'know, the voice from right before the monster blew up..."

"I didn't hear anything... Are you sure you aren't hearing things?"

"Maybe I was... Anyway, I'm going to rest for a while..."

"I would go home first if I were you; your sister is waiting for you. And you wouldn't want to be here when the faculty finds out about the hole in the wall..."

"Oh no! I've got to get out of here before I get in trouble!" I exclaimed, leaving the school in a hurry.

End of Chapter 2

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Writer's Comments:

So it's finally here. After more than 16 months, Element Temp's 2nd chapter is finally up!

To be honest though, it's not that great. I rushed through most of it to prevent writer's block. (Writer's block... on a re-write. Don't ask.) There's also the fact that I'm bad at writing fight scenes...

So anyway, enjoy. If that's somehow possible for you.

- CS-Masyet