“That fucking little asshole! Who the hell does he think he is”, Penny screamed as they walked away from the tree.

They were not heading anywhere in particular, they just had to leave before things escalated, or so Robert had said. Though from the looks on some of their faces, that may have been the more desirable outcome.

“Bitching about it isn’t going to help much.”, Donald told her.

“Well, your stupid jokes didn’t help at all!” Penny said, turning on Donald.

“C’mon…The guy’s just a stupid poser.” Donald replied. “You saw him, ooh…I’ve got people coming to kill me, I’ve got darkness powers that make me look, like, totally cool and shit, I’m so edgy.”

“Let’s all just calm down, getting angry will get us nowhere.”, Robert Implored.

The man was tired of listening to them. A bunch of kids squabbling over nothing, he thought. How the hell did he end up in this mess? He was the vice principal of a prestigious school for society’s upper crust for fuck’s sake.

Robert sighed as he massaged his temples, the migraine that these idiots were giving him quickly becoming a full-blown headache. The only reason he was with them was that they were still his students no matter what world they were in and he had an obligation to protect them. That and that they knew more about this fantasy bullshit than he did.

Before they had been transported here…by magic, no less, a thought he still could not get used to…he had been reprimanding them for being tardy. A minor offence, especially as he knew that they all had an open period meant for them to study in the library or computer room, but he had to be a jerk about such things or standards in his school would soon begin to slip.

And it had to be him doing it as his ‘superior’, Ms. Hochstetler, would not lift a finger if someone did not pay her to do so. At least that was what he told himself to think, his real thoughts of her being less than politically correct, he quickly turned his attention to other things lest he let something slip, something that would offend these delicate snowflakes that he travelled with.

At home, whenever he was feeling pent up, he could just head down to Dave’s Place, an out of the way bar where he could bitch and moan with all the other people that had to hide out there for fear of being found guilty of being too white, too male, or at the very worst, having an opinion. Now, he had to watch every word he said around these narcissistic vegans or he would have them all on his jumping down his throat for days. It had already happened once, a mistake he would not be repeating, he swore to himself.

He looked over his students one by one as they bickered amongst themselves. His ‘party’, he reminded himself.

The extremely vocal Penny Fisher, a brown-eyed, brunette, and all-round shoo-in for prom queen. He was not allowed to call her a bitch, but it was exactly what she was. The product of rich parents that had taught her that those who yelled the loudest, those who made the most insane demands, were the ones who got to be in charge. They were not entirely wrong, but that type of attitude would likely get her killed in this world. He grimaced as he thought about just how ignorant these kids were about their current situation.

The boy she was currently yelling at, Donald Stevens, an utter shit for brains moron, and the groups Achilles-heel. Believing he was somehow funny; he had been responsible for antagonising almost everyone that they had come into contact with since coming here. Alienating almost everyone they had come across. Strangely enough, the reason the group had not turned on the little fuck-up was that he could be surprisingly charming when he tried. Even he had trouble hating the boy despite all the sleepless nights that he had caused him.

Cassi Day and Heaven Gibbs, who were trailing behind the two, were both brunettes like Ms. Fisher, though they should have been blonds as the two seemed to dedicate themselves to the art of being a pair brainless airheads. Natural born victims and most likely the first to die. Indeed, he thought, they already would have if they did not have Ms. Fisher’s shadow to hide in.

Thomas McFadden a forgettable, black-haired boy from California, was on the other side of him talking with Mr. Hayes. Conner Hayes being the sole exception amongst this gang of fuckwits. Blond-haired, blue-eyed, all American, knew how to act like a responsible adult. Unfortunately, he had an unbreakable bond with Mr. Stevens, a fact that had often pulled him, and the group, into trouble.

Which was why he had asked Conner to talk to the boy. Someone that was the same age as him would be far more welcoming than if Robert had chosen to step forward. He would have asked one of the girls to do it, but he did not know if the boy was gay or not, and that it did not matter who he would have asked because Ms. Fisher would have taken the lead, her attitude certainly alienating the boy.

What should have been a simple task was made impossible as before Robert could stop him, Mr. Stevens tagged along, antagonising Mr. ‘Goody’ within moments. He had tried to step in, but the damage was done. He was not sure if the boy was simply more aware than most people his age, or if Mr. Stevens had somehow let it on, but the boy was correct when he accused them of having approached with the intention of using him.

When they had first arrived, after they had dealt with integration department, they had a sit down to plan on how they would go forward from there. Surprisingly, not only was everyone paying attention, they actually knew what they were doing. While he was not clueless to games, it was more a hobby to him, but these children had not only understood the capability of the classes that were available, they also knew the best strategies to becoming successful enough to return to their rightful places amongst the rich and famous.

Or so they had thought.

Unfortunately, many of those who had come before them had used the same strategies, reducing the need for their chosen skill sets. While they were not completely screwed, their newfound abilities still allowing them to lead modest lives, they were not the type of people to settle for less than what they thought they rightfully deserved.

And so they got together to think up a new strategy.

If they could not offer quality, then they would offer quantity.

The idea was that they would form a guild to gather as many people as possible under their banner. Obviously, they would not get the best and brightest as they would have long since been snatched up by the other powers, so they would target everyone else. The weak, the pathetic, the untrustworthy…all those who would be ignored and rejected by everyone else. They would then exploit the desperation of those people, and have them commit every crime and con that they could get away with.

As far as anyone knew, this world had yet to be introduced to the concept of a pyramid scheme.

Only, when they had tried to get people to join, most had outright refused, with the rest remaining uncommitted until the group could offer more than mere words, something more tangible that would convince them of their guild’s potential. A reasonable demand, but one they could not meet because each time that they tried to even meet someone with connections or power, they were either given the runaround or simply brushed off. And without sponsors, they could not get the resources to take care of themselves, let alone prove to others of their value.

Why would anyone tie themselves to them, when there were ten more that were exactly like each of them, ten more that would have more experience and levels from having arrived earlier than Robert and them.

Ultimately, it was because that with everyone following the same strategies and builds, none of the group stood out.

Which is why they wanted that boy.

Mr. Stevens’ attitude had started making them enemies that would have been able to hurt if not outright kill them, so they had to leave. His attitude having made most earth-born friendly towns and villages unfriendly to them and the non-friendly locations being inaccessible for obvious reasons, they had little choice but to head off for parts unknown. The only bright side being that the rest of the group were finally starting to catch onto the moron’s incompetence.

When the recruiters had brought them here, they had immediately started chatting up members of the waggon train to gather information on possible opportunities, potential recruits, and new in general as without the technology of earth, information was hard to come by in this world.

And what everyone talked about was ‘Goody’. An odd little boy who had arrived with his own waggon, paid for the train’s supplies, and was apparently in favour with the city of Liberty, the city they had all arrived in. Even the locals had mentioned him. Mostly what they had mentioned was the whining. Apparently, the boy was a bundle of stress and that talking to him was about as pleasant as having a tooth extracted.

While he was impressed that a boy could gain so much attention, he had gotten the impression that people talked about him out of boredom rather than because of anything special.

But that was all they needed, someone who could gain people’s attention. And if they could get him to share his resources? All the better.

He asked after the kid and had learnt that he had come with the city recruiters and knew next to nothing about the outside world as this was his first time out. Before Robert and them had left, they had spoken and met with many of the other arrivals…which was the reason that had to leave, to begin with, thanks to the dipshit…and they had never seen or heard of anyone named Goody. Few ‘truly’ unknowns had ever become famous overnight, especially without mass media, people generally needing to move in a career or community’s social circle for years before making their big break, so their group had concluded that he was a new arrival, which was something that they could exploit.

The inexperience and stress of suddenly being whisked away to another world, then having to go on a long trek to god knows where would have been a heavy burden on anyone, let alone someone as young as this goody. In offering their friendship and support, he would surely have responded in kind.

And even if he did not, they could prosper on the fame he would bring to their name. Needing him only long enough to get people to start joining them.

Or at least that was how Robert had made his case to the others. Some had agreed with him, Conner and Mr. McFadden to be specific, the others were at least willing to give it a shot, having nothing better to do. But when they had seen him under that tree, staring off into the distance…oh, he was perfect.

When they had chosen their classes and builds, they had all agreed that Conner would become their representatives, their icon. While he was a general [Mage] the group had him invest in the illusion school as one of his starting skills so that they could set him up to become a shining knight to woo the masses. But like so many of their strategies, someone had gotten there first, many actually, so many that even the literal ignorant peasants had thought nothing of his displays.

But the boy had stood before them?

He did not know if Goody was a goth or just interested in being seen as the villain, or indeed a poser as Mr. Stevens had suggested, but he was memorable.

He was decked out in some type of high-quality armour, but what type they could not say as he was obscured by what the group had first thought to be smoke, but had turned out to be wisps of some sort of inky grey substance. The substance had twirled around him like his own personal atmosphere and gave off the impression that it was alive, that it could turn on you at any moment.

And when he had turned to look at them? Those two complete and unimaginably black eyes had shocked them all. They had laughed at first, but that was only to stop themselves from screaming.

He had reminded Robert of the old saying: if you can’t be famous, be infamous.

It was just too bad that they had messed up.

“Well…”, he said to no one, “…there’s always tomorrow.”