'Why doesn't it just end?'
The question repeats like a scratched record in the mind of a man pushed to the brink. Principal Lupuwana stands in the quiet of his office for a split second, staring at the piles of paperwork, the DDF reports, and the repair invoices from the 40 Days of Corruption.
He mumbles to himself, his voice trembling with a mixture of exhaustion and suppressed rage, "Every single day... every single hour... there's something new. A portal, a demon, a student with too much power and not enough sense."
'Why doesn't it just end?'
He then says, stepping out into the corridor where the distant sound of teenage chaos echoes, "Everything that happens, they turn to me. Every casualty, every property damage report, they look for my signature."
'Why doesn't it just end?'
He continues, his pace quickening as he marches toward the Senior block, "Every little issue, every petty squabble, they call my name. I am the Principal, not a babysitter for gods."
'Why doesn't it just end?'
As he then questions, his knuckles turning white as he grips his leather briefcase, "Why am I always expected to keep my cool? Why must I be the pillar when the ground itself is shaking?"
'Why doesn't it just—'
Principal Lupuwana is seen walking toward a classroom. The stress and sheer psychological weight of being the head of Milner High—a school that has become ground zero for supernatural warfare—seems to be weighing him down mentally, visibly aging him by the second.
Meanwhile…
In a classroom nearby, the air is thick with a different kind of energy. Musa, the boy who claims to be the successor of the darkness, is seen standing on a desk, shouting out to his bewildered classmates, "I am the one! I am the vessel who will carry on the Philosopher's will! The world was not meant for peace, it was meant for the evolution of the strong!"
Mr. De Kiewiet, the Deputy Principal, has come to reprimand the boy. He stands at the door, his arms crossed, looking more disappointed than threatened. "Yes, Musa, that is all very dramatic and fine, but please be quiet while Mr. Barlow isn't in his class. You're disrupting the Life Science lab next door."
Musa then argues, his eyes wide with a manic fervor, "Never! The world will know his name! The world will preach his word! The world shall know the cleansing fire of chaos!"
Without warning, Musa lunges. He punches Mr. De Kiewiet squarely in the face—a blow fueled by a desperate need for recognition.
Mr. De Kiewiet does nothing but step back. He doesn't strike back; he doesn't even flare his energy. He simply absorbs the impact, his face turning slightly to the side.
Musa, seeing the teacher practice such rigid professional restraint, misinterprets it as weakness. He feels himself having the power in the situation, a sadistic grin spreading across his face. "Oh, you can't do anything, can you? Because I am a 'vulnerable' student, and you are a 'responsible' teacher! You're trapped by your own rules! Hhahahahahaaa!"
'Why doesn't it just end?'
As soon as Mr. De Kiewiet steps back, it's like a stage curtain opening to reveal the final act.
Principal Lupuwana appears from the shadow of the hallway, his face a mask of cold, dead-eyed fatigue.
Musa mutters, the laughter dying in his throat, "Huh? Principal?"
Principal Lupuwana, now mumbling the phrase out loud, his voice a haunting whisper, "Why doesn't it just—" he stops, letting out a long, ragged sigh that sounds like a balloon deflating. "Fuck it."
The professionalism snaps. The restraint evaporates. Before Musa could even twitch to react, Principal Lupuwana moves with the speed of a man who has nothing left to lose. He grabs Musa by the entire span of his face, his fingers digging into the boy's jaw, and slams him into the ground with a sickening thud that echoes through the entire wing.
Principal Lupuwana lashes out, his voice cracking into a roar, "Why don't I just end it myself? Eh—?!"
Suddenly, he stops. The silence that follows is deafening.
Principal Lupuwana, having suddenly gained his senses as the adrenaline leaves his system, looks down at his hands, then at the groaning student on the floor. He thinks to himself in horror, "What have I done? I've crossed the line. I've become the monster I'm supposed to manage."
Mr. De Kiewiet yells, his voice full of shock, "Sam! Stop!"
Musa gasps, clutching his bruised face, his eyes filling with a different kind of malice. "You... you attacked a student. You're the Principal! You're finished! You will regret this!"
Principal Lupuwana mutters, stumbling backward, "I didn't—I didn't mean to—it just... it wouldn't end..."
But it's too late. In the age of the smartphone, the entire incident was captured on video by half a dozen students and uploaded to social media within seconds. The "Milner Meltdown" is trending before the dust even settles.
Meanwhile…
In the quiet intensity of the Maths classroom, Hakuna is seen staring a hole into his textbook. His brow is furrowed so deeply it looks like a topographical map.
He then says, his voice a mix of confusion and genuine hurt, "All my calculations make sense! I followed the logic! I derived the formula! How is it that my final answer is wrong?!"
Mr. Muyane, one of the veteran Grade 12 maths teachers, walks over and looks down at the page. He answers calmly, "Well, look here, Hakuna. In this specific step, you were so focused on the complex calculus that you completely neglected BODMAS. You added before you multiplied. A rookie mistake for a Prince."
Hakuna mutters in utter befuddlement, his world-view shattered by a simple order of operations. "Ehh—?"
Mr. Muyane then continues, using the moment for a lesson. "This question is designed to test your resolve, Hakuna. Will you take the easy way out and blame the book, or will you work for what you want and find the error in your own foundation?"
Hakuna's expression darkens. He looks at the numbers as if they've personally insulted his lineage.
He then questions, "Sir, why in the name of all that exists is a math question about philosophy? I came here for Pure Maths, not a life crisis."
Mr. Muyane responds with a knowing smile, "We can't just always teach you about numbers, Hakuna. While you're here, we're also your—"
Suddenly, the air in the room changes. Every single phone in the classroom rings or vibrates simultaneously—a digital chorus of doom.
Rems, sitting a few desks away, checks his screen and says, "I wonder what that could be. A mass notification from the DDF?"
Hakuna takes out his phone as everyone else does, and his eyes widen. It's the video. It's Principal Lupuwana, the man they respected, slamming Musa into the concrete.
Nokukhanya mutters from the front row, "Is that a… student? Did the Principal just…?"
Mr. Muyane replies in horror, his voice trailing off as he watches the clip, "I think it is. Sam... what have you done?"
Hakuna, understanding the political and social implications immediately, mutters, "Uh oh."
About 6 minutes later…
The school's internal alarm doesn't go off, but the spiritual pressure does. A group of unknown people, dressed in red and obsidian-colored tactical gear, descend from the sky into the main quad like dark rain.
Their leader, a man with a shaved head and a stoic, unmoving face known as Monk, lands on the central pedestal, the very spot where the Principal once stood.
He then declares, his voice amplified by Nzilo, "The leadership of this institution has failed. The 'responsible' have become the 'violent'. We close this school down. Milner High is now under our jurisdiction."
At the exact moment he says this, the entire group—nearly thirty of them—flare their energy in a synchronized burst. The sky above the school turns a sickly grey as they announce themselves present.
Mr. Muyane senses the overwhelming pressure and looks toward Hakuna, who is already standing up, his chair screeching against the floor.
"No, Hakuna," Mr. Muyane says firmly.
Hakuna argues, his hand already reaching for the energy in the air, "Huh? But sir! They're taking the school! We have to—"
Mr. Muyane interjects, his eyes glowing with a quiet authority. "The teachers will handle Monk and his men. I have another job for you."
Hakuna relents, his shoulders dropping. "Ugh, fine. What is it?"
Enzo appears at the classroom door, his breathing heavy, looking like he's already been scouting. He then says, "Sir, all teachers are being called to the office immediately."
Mr. Muyane then denotes, nodding to himself, "Hmm, admin must not be using the intercom as to not raise suspicion among the junior students."
Rems then says, standing up next to Hakuna, "Makes sense."
Mr. Muyane then takes charge, looking at the top students in the room. "Alright, Naledi, I want you and all the other EXCOs to form a perimeter. Keep the chaos of the lower grades only in the quad. Relay this to the EXCO Heads as well."
Naledi responds with a sharp nod, "Yes sir."
Enzo then turns to leave, but Mr. Muyane calls out, "Enzo."
Enzo responds, stopping in his tracks, "Sir?"
Mr. Muyane then says, his voice dropping to a serious register, "I want you and the BBC to patrol outside the EXCOs' perimeter—the outskirts, the fields, the fences. Even when this much chaos ensues by human means. The other factor still remains, demons may still appear."
Oh, he acknowledged us! He called us the BBC! We're official!
Enzo replies, a small smirk of pride on his face, "Yes sir. We're on it."
Hakuna clasps his fist, the orange glow of his Nzilo beginning to hum under his skin. He then says, "Alright, seems like we officially conclude the 40 Days of Corruption today. One last sweep."
Rems, Hakuna, MXO, and Enzo—the BBC members currently present—then vanish in a flicker of movement, leaving the classroom empty of its strongest defenders.
Mr. Muyane then sighs, looking out the window at Monk's men. "I wonder what their problem is." He then leaves, his own energy beginning to rise as he heads for the office.
10 minutes later…
The school is a pressure cooker. All the EXCO members have managed to contain the lower grade students within the quad, creating a human barrier of discipline. Outside that circle, the BBC is patrolling the school's vast grounds, moving through the shadows of the buildings.
They eventually meet at the tuck shop, a neutral ground for a quick regroup.
Hakuna says, having scanned the empty corridors, "I don't see any demons. It's too quiet. Even the birds have stopped chirping."
Enzo mutters, "So do I, but let's keep our guards up—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the sky doesn't just tear—it shatters. A mysterious, jagged portal appears directly above the sports field, bleeding a violet light. Out comes what looks like an army—hundreds of various levels and various classes of demons—falling to the ground like a plague of locusts.
Everyone in the school can sense it now. Monk and his group pause in the quad, their faces turning pale.
But the boys are already on it. They don't wait for orders.
All 7 members of the BBC—having somehow coordinated their movements—are seen running toward the field. Freddie, fueled by a strange new intensity, is ahead of them all. They sprint through the hallways, their speed so great they're just a blur to the regular students. They run past Wase, who is walking calmly in a hallway.
Wase mutters, feeling the gust of wind as they pass, "Freddie?"
As the boys are about to get to the field, where the first wave of demons is landing...
Freddie is already there. He doesn't wait for the team. He lands in the absolute center of a cluster of thirty demons, the impact cracking the earth beneath his feet.
He then crouches to the ground, his energy pulling inward until he's glowing with a brilliant, white-hot light. He whispers, "Photonic Ripple."
He then springs upwards, spinning his body with his arms stretched clockwise like a human blade of light. He becomes a whirlwind of pure destructive energy, decapitating, obliterating, and eviscerating every demon in his radius, independent of their size or class. In three seconds, the center of the field is cleared, leaving nothing but dissolving black mist.
Hakuna comments, skidding to a halt at the edge of the grass, "Well... that was quick."
But the victory is short-lived. As the portal begins to close, a terrifying frequency cuts through the air.
Leragga appears out of thin air, moving faster than the eye can follow. He doesn't offer a monologue; he simply delivers a brutal, heavy-handed punch to Freddie's face, sending the boy flying across the entire length of the field and through a brick wall.
Leragga, standing in the center of the crater where Freddie just was, looks around at the gathered team. Having finally found a universe where all BBC members are present, alive, and in their prime, he then says, "Ahh... an interesting one. This timeline has a bit more... spice."
What is with this guy and just stomping on anime rules?!
Fade out…
End of Episode 68.