[color=B0C4DE][b]MACKENZIE LI[/b][/color] - Lakewood High
	Friday, 13 September 2029 - 11:15 am[hr]
[hider=Answer (The Contract)]
There were still fresh tears on her cheeks when she opened her eyes.

She was dead wasn’t she? She’d been stupid and weak her whole life but she always thought that it’d be the latter quality she’d perish from. There was something so… unpoetic about getting impaled by a giant, evil crab. And all because she snuck out to get her phone. No one else’s was working but [i]surely[/i] hers would. She just [i]had[/i] to go to her locker at the far end of the building. 

Stupid, stupid move. This was what she got for it. She wasn’t in the barricaded classroom anymore, alone and waiting for the end, but rather some open-air temple. Marble columns stretched into the endless sky, flanked on either side by golden fire pits. Cream and polished brown tiles made up the flooring. She could see her messy face in the reflections. Sunset painted over all of it, basking the surrounding mountains in glorious light. From the view, it seemed she was situated on the tallest one in the range.

Despite herself, Mackenzie felt a deranged particle of relief. The architecture was too Mediterranean for this to be Chinese Hell, unless her cousin had left out some details back at her fifth birthday party. It was hardly any solace but she didn’t have anything else going for her at the moment. There was a strange energy in this place. Not something she could cleanly classify as ‘good’, just an urge to take a deep breath and step out somewhere. Towards that sunset maybe. It really was beautiful.

[color=f7941d]“Magnificent, is it not?”[/color]

The voice came from behind her, throaty and low and [i]big[/i]. The scale of it was something monstrous. Despite herself, she turned to look.

Glowing reptilian eyes. Its teeth were half as long as she was tall. The air around it looked hazy, distorted like a road in the desert. And its mouth was agape, right where her eyeline rested.

Mackenzie screamed.

The beast threw back its head, an uproarious [color=f7941d]“YAHAHAHA!”[/color] causing the whole structure to quake. It was hard to describe, the closest example she could compare it to being the cry of a wild boar, but the way its amusement conveyed itself in rhythm made it clear to her that this was its version of laughter. 

Not that it mattered. She just kept screaming, or was permitted to scream, until it apparently ran out of patience.

[color=f7941d]“Answer.”[/color]

A whimper. [color=B0C4DE]“H-Huh?”[/color]

It roared to the sky, earning itself another squeal from the girl. Its speech was punctuated with breathy growls. [color=f7941d]“[i]Magnificent[/i], yes? Grand? Divine?”[/color]

[color=B0C4DE]“Y-Yes!”[/color] she nodded desperately, shuddering, [color=B0C4DE]“It’s, um, great. Pretty.”[/color]

She didn’t know how a giant lizard could give an expectant look but that’s what she got.

[color=B0C4DE]“The mountain is really nice. B-Breathtaking, uh, I should say. Majestic…?”[/color]

If the thunderous swish of its tail was anything to go by, it was satisfied. [color=f7941d]“And me?”[/color]

[color=B0C4DE][i]Huh?[/i][/color]

[color=B0C4DE]“You’re…”[/color] No way. It couldn’t be serious. [color=B0C4DE]“Y-You’re great too. So… massive.”[/color]

[color=f7941d]“Is that all?”[/color]

The growling intensified. Her eyes started leaking again.

[color=B0C4DE]“No! N-No, no, of course not. Like… like…”[/color] She couldn’t die here. She wasn’t ready. [color=B0C4DE]“You’re so big a-and that’s great! It looks like all muscle, you could beat up like, um, [i]fifty[/i] elephants easy. And your hide is so eye-catching and your teeth are super sharp a-and so are your unbreakable horns and—”[/color]

[color=f7941d]“Yes. Yesssss.”[/color]

The monster leaned in close. Its legs shuffled restlessly (excitedly?). Mackenzie felt its hot breath on her face and froze.

[color=f7941d]“You will pave the road I stride. Yes?”[/color]

[color=B0C4DE]“I…”[/color] Had no idea what that meant.

[color=f7941d]“[i]Answer.[/i]”[/color]

[color=B0C4DE]“Yes! Anything you want.”[/color]

The name came to her unbidden.

[color=B0C4DE]“Whatever you want, Venga… sir.”[/color]

It bared its teeth into what was definitely a grin.
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[hider=“YAHAHAHA!” (The Debut)]
There were still fresh tears on her cheeks when she opened her eyes. 

She was back in the classroom, unmoved and curled up in the farthest corner from the window. The window that the giant crab was still about to breach.

Glass and wood shattered. It was here.

Mackenzie couldn’t breathe. She looked around for something, anything, to save her. All she found was some toy in her hand. Three rounded prongs branched out from a circular pad, allowing it to spin smoothly. Was… wasn’t this some fad from the 2010’s? She didn’t have this before the vision, did it belong to the monster?

There was a growl only she could hear. [color=f7941d][i]’Unchain me, child.’[/i][/color]

Whatever it was, it was her only option.

[color=B0C4DE]“Save me,”[/color] she breathed, wiping at her face, [color=B0C4DE]“Please.”[/color]

Her body, or something deeper and less tangible than that, knew what to do. Something invisible spilled out from within, and a borrowed confidence told her it was going to be alright. 

The beast was taking form.

A vague reminder came with it. Math class. Something about volume and displacement. Containers and spills.

Ah.

Mackenzie’s eyes widened. [color=B0C4DE]“W-Wait, Venga sir—”[/color]

The classroom in the corner of the building [i]burst[/i] outwards, and while that may have been too isolated to cause concern, no one on campus could ignore the guttural, deafening, [color=f7941d][b]“YAHAHAHA!”[/b][/color] that followed.
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