//------------------------------//
// Chapter 28: Confrontation 
// Story: Shy and Aggressive 
// by Johng117 
//------------------------------//

It was Monday morning. Junior was currently washing the bowl he had used for breakfast. His mother came at his side after he began to dry off his hands.
"OK. Remember, stay out the down town area and try to stay alert on who's around you. Be sure to text or call me to let me know when you're coming home and when you get to school," said Miwa as she planted a kiss on Junior's cheek.
"Got it, ma," said Junior as he picked up his bag from the kitchen.
"Um... Are you sure that you don't need me to drive you? Maybe we should talk to your father about this," said Miwa with a look of worry. Knowing what had happened on Friday had caused Junior's mother to nearly have a heart attack. In fact, she was bawling the whole night knowing her son was shot and nearly killed. Junior hadn't gotten enough sleep that night. Right now, she was doing only somewhat better, though she kept trying to think of excuses to get her son to stay home.
"Mom, I'm fine. Really. Besides, I'm going to meet dad later after school. But I gotta go to school," said Junior. Miwa sighed heavily.
"Alright. Just be safe, baby," said Miwa.
"I will," said Junior with a nod. As he left the house, Junior made his way down the side walk with a hard expression. His breathing was slightly heavy from the foul mood that had plagued him for the weekend. The only relief that he had gotten was when he slept. But the next morning, his scar and his mother's worry would instantly remind him of who else was responsible for his situation. As he left further from his home, Fluttershy had just left her home. As she found Junior further down the sidewalk, she ran to catch up with him.
"Good morning, Goji," said Fluttershy. Junior scoffed.
"Hardly feels like it," said Junior. Fluttershy winced at his harsh tone.
"Umm... Are you alright?" asked Fluttershy in worry.
"Sorry, I'm just pissed about something. I haven't had a good weekend," said Junior as he sighed.
"Want to talk about it?" asked Fluttershy.
"Thanks, but there's someone else that I need to talk to," said Junior as he held his hands in his pockets.
"Oh. A-Alright," said Fluttershy in a slight hurt tone. She glanced at the Transmutant and found his expression to be hard. She knew Junior well enough to tell that he was definitely not happy. She only wished he would confide in her about what was bugging him. Pressing him to tell her would only annoy him, something she wanted to avoid.



It was early noon. It was already lunch right now and the students began to migrate over to the cafeteria. However, some had preferred to bring their own lunch instead, not wanting to wait in a long line to pay for a meal. As was the case for Drumstick. He held his lunch bag as he held a box at his side, containing his personal drumsticks. He had made it a habit to go to the music room during lunch since it wasn't crowded to eat in, and it gave him the chance to squeeze in some practice on the drums. As he entered the music room, he made his way over to a chair that was just near the drum set. He took a seat and began to dig into his bag for his lunch. In the corner of his eye, he saw a figure. He turned and jumped with a start as he found Junior sitting at a desk in the corner of the room.
"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Drumstick in a slight nervous tone.
"Where's Flash Sentry?" asked Junior in a low tone. Drumstick slightly stiffened.
"Wh... What do you want with Flash?" asked Drumstick.
"I want to have a little chat with him. He's not in the cafeteria, so I thought he'd be here. You are in a band together, right?" asked Junior as he stood up from the desk and began to approach Drumstick.
The human immediately stood from his seat as Junior had his eyes narrowed.
"Now, where is he?" asked Junior.
"I'm not telling you shit, you freak," said Drumstick as he began to walk away. Junior quickly grabbed by the shoulder and forced him back down onto his seat. Drumstick stared with wide eyes as Junior popped his knuckles.
"You're not going anywhere until I get an answer," said Junior. Drumstick quickly grabbed the crash symbol from the drum set and smacked it against Junior's face. With a grunt, Junior stepped back, allowing Drumstick to flee. As he left the music room, Junior hummed to himself as he chased after him. He made sure that he was just at the right distance from the drummer as to not let him know that he was being chased. Junior began to shove through students through the hall until eventually he found Drumstick escaping to the quad.
Meanwhile, Drumstick searched around the quad in a panic. He didn't know what that Transmutant wanted from Flash, but he could tell that it was for no good, especially since he was threatening him with violence to get an answer out of him. All that Drumstick knew to do now was to warn Flash about the whole situation. Drumstick's eyes darted all around where students hung out together in the outdoors. He then found Flash sitting at an outside table along with Bass, the other member of their band, along with a few other students.
"Flash!" called Drumstick as he rushed over to the table.
"Oh hey, Drumstick! What's up? Usually you're in the music room," said Flash.
"Flash, there's a problem!" said Drumstick frantically. Flash and Bass looked at him in confusion. Before they could ask him what was wrong, Junior burst through the door from the hall.
"Flash!" shouted Junior, drawing the attention of everyone in the quad. The Transmutant's eyes were narrowed as he began to approach the center of the quad, where the tables were. Just the sight of Flash made Junior's blood boil like a cauldron in the hottest pit of the netherworld. Flash narrowed his eyes back at the Transmutant, while everyone bore an anxious look. Flash rose out of his seat.
"What do you want?" asked Flash.
"It was you, wasn't it?" demanded Junior. Flash looked at him with a raised brow.
"What are you on about?" asked Flash. Junior pointed an accusing finger at him.
"You were the one that posted that video! You were the one who got me arrested!" shouted Junior. Flash's eyes slightly widened in response. There was no possible way that he could have known that it was him. The only people that Flash told about the one recording X were Sunset and her club, and Twilight's friends. He never told anyone else. Flash started to suspect that someone may have ratted him out.
"What makes you think it was me?" asked Flash in a nonchalant tone. Junior growled as he clenched his fist. His skin suffered an irritating sensation, but he ignored it. Flash playing dumb was wearing on the patience that he had already lost. He approached Flash closer and grabbed him by the jacket. Students that witnessed this grew more anxious. Flash did his best to stay calm.
"Don't you dare play innocent with me, you bastard! I know it was you!" yelled Junior.
"And I know it was you that day! You're the one playing innocent!" Flash yelled back as he shoved Junior away. The Transmutant growled angrily as he grabbed Flash by the shoulder as he raised his fist.
"I keep telling you all that it wasn't me! Because of you, I'm a target!" shouted Junior. Before Flash could retort, Junior was tackled by Bass. The two fell to the ground, while Junior growled in annoyance as Bass began to punch him.
"Fuck off!" shouted Junior as he punched Bass in the face and kicked him off of himself. Bass crashed into a trash can, while a few students yelped with a start. Flash backed away as Junior stood up, finding more of his friends rushing towards the Transmutant to defend him. Junior rushed towards his opponents and punched the first two that got in his way. A few students fled the scene while others cheered for the humans to beat the troublesome Transmutant into submission. Junior was struck in the side by Bass's namesake instrument, only for the human to be backhanded by the Transmutant. Junior grabbed another student by the head and forced him down to slam into Junior's knee.
"Come on!" shouted Junior in a challenging tone. He felt all human rational thoughts put to the side in exchange of primal instinct to beat the hell out of anyone that got in his way. His irises grew reptilian as his chest produced light traces of scales beneath his sweater.




Meanwhile...

Fluttershy bore a look of disappointment as she walked through the halls. She was just on her way to her locker to get her textbook for her next class. She recalled how Junior seemed to have been in a foul mood. He didn't seem to want to discuss it. Whatever it was, she felt that it may have been a big problem, considering how angry he looked. He wasn't even willing to confide in her with this problem, which hurt considering she was his friend. Fluttershy couldn't even think what the problem was. It possibly may have been an issue with concerning his transformation and broken inhibitor chip. She sighed heavily, finding herself becoming annoyed. Though she shook her head at herself for letting herself get worked up.
"It's probably something too personal and he isn't comfortable talking about it. Don't take it so hard, Fluttershy." As Fluttershy took a breath and sighed in relief, she reached for her locker and began to look inside of it. As she was about to take her items from the locker, she heard a commotion down the hall. Curious, she turned her head and found a couple of students rushing down the hall, which led to the quad.
"That Transmutant is fighting a bunch of guys!" said a girl as she spoke to one of her friends and pointed to the end of the hall. Fluttershy raised a brow but then her expression turned to dread.
"She couldn't mean..." Fluttershy was interrupted as a couple of boys ran passed her.
"Dude, Gojira is trying to kick Flash's ass! His friends are beating the shit out of him right now!" said one of the boys. Fluttershy gasped as she quickly shut her locker closed and took off after them. As she reached the end of the hall, she found a crowd gathered. As Fluttershy attempted to see over the crowd, she heard Junior yelling angrily as the sound of pained grunts filled the air. Fluttershy moved around the crowd, hoping to find a clearing. She gasped as she found a clear spot and found Junior's face bruised as a couple of boys held his arms back and another boy punching Junior in the face.
"Goji-!" Fluttershy attempted to move through the crowd to put a stop to this, but she stumbled back as a couple of other teens got in her way to see the fight. She looked on in disbelief as students gave cries to cheer on the fight, when they should have been breaking it up. She never understood why high school fights resulted into this, but it always broke her heart. It was worse knowing that a friend was in this fight. From the other side of the crowd, Twilight and the rest of Main Six had come out to the quad in shock as they found Junior fighting against multiple male students.
"The heck is happening?!" exclaimed Twilight.
"That Transmutant was threatening Flash because of some video or something!" said a female student as she watched the fight. Twilight looked to the scene and glared at Junior as he fought the students. She figured out what video that may have been referred to. The video which revealed Junior's true colors.
"Good heavens! Shouldn't we do something?!" exclaimed Rarity in horror at the violence occurring.
"I say we let karma take its course. The jerk had it coming," said Rainbow as she watched with her eyes narrowed.
"Rainbow!" said Applejack in disapproval. While she didn't necessarily trust Junior after seeing the video, but she knew that it would be ugly if they were to let this go on.
Junior grunted as he was punched, gaining bruises and a bleeding nose. He growled as he thrashed his body to the side with his great strength, throwing one of the boys that held his arm behind his back away to the ground. He then kicked the student that was punching him in the face, knocking him back onto the ground. Junior grabbed the third student by the hair with his free hand, who cried out in pain as his locks were tugged at. Junior picked him up into the air and then threw him onto one of the tables in the quad. As Drumstick was about to swing a trash lid against him, Junior grabbed it and slammed it against his face, causing him to fall back. Junior then stomped over towards the student as he began to get up, but he felt a wooden plank strike him in the back. He whipped around with a growl as his growled like a beast. Flash stood with wide eyes as he held a broken wooden plank.
'Oh. I made a big boo boo,' thought Flash with a gulp.
"Oh, I am going to kick the shit out of you for that!" shouted Junior as he stomped towards Flash.
"Come on, you bastard," said Flash. He knew that he was outmatched by Junior and that he was not going to stop. He felt that he might as well go down swinging.
"When I'm through with you-" Junior was interrupted as Twilight suddenly stood in Junior's path as she held her arms out. She bore a harsh glare as she stared up at Junior.
"Leave him alone!" shouted Twilight. The area went dead quiet. Everyone looked on in shock and some in horror as Twilight stood between the two. Junior slightly lowered his head as his reptilian eyes glared at her. He snarled, prompting Applejack to jump.
"That’s not good," said Applejack as she began to push through the crowd along with the rest of the Main Six, fearful for Twilight's well-being.
"Get out of my way, Twilight," growled Junior. Twilight merely stood her ground.
"No. I'm not afraid of you," said Twilight in defiance.
"Fucking liar," spat Junior. Twilight bore a strong stench of fear that he was able to easily pinpoint it among other humans in the area. Suddenly, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all stood in front of Twilight, standing up to Junior. They all looked at him with a glare. From Fluttershy's side of the crowd, Erika, Sunset, Mosura, Angirasu and Rodan came rushing over. Sunset gasped in shock as she saw the standoff that was going on. Mosura gritted her teeth as she saw Junior covered in bruises.
'What did you get yourself into?' thought Mosura with dread.
"You should be ashamed of yourself for snarling at a lady like that! That is most uncivilized! Even for for you!" said Rarity. Rainbow punched her fist into her palm as she sent Junior a glare.
"You mess with her, you mess with us!" said Rainbow. Junior growled as clenched his fist.
"Gojira, just walk away," said Applejack in a firm tone. From the crowd, Fluttershy came running. She quickly grabbed Junior's arm and began to tug at it.
"Gojira, please stop! None of this is worth it!" cried Fluttershy with pleading eyes. Junior looked her way while the rest of the girls stiffened at their friend being close to the Transmutant at such an aggressive state. Junior's eyes softened as he found her desperate expression. The Transmutant unclenched his fist, feeling a painful shot at his pride for backing down. Junior exhaled through his nostrils as he glared at Twilight and then at Flash.
"I'm not one to hit a girl. You got off lucky, Flash. Stay out of my way, or else you'll end up on the back of a milk carton," said Junior as he began to walk away. From the crowd came Mosura, Rodan, Angirasu, Erika and Sunset
"What happened?" asked Sunset as she began to inspect Junior's bruised face. Junior pulled away in response.
"Ask your boyfriend," spat Junior as he began to walk away. The crowd quickly dispersed out of his path, allowing Junior to leave. Sunset turned her attention to Flash, furrowing her brows in demand of answers. Flash merely bore a hard expression as he watched Junior leave, while Fluttershy ran after him. Mosura, Erika, Angirasu, and Rodan followed in suit.
Junior held his hands in his sweater pockets with a scowl on his face. His eyes were normal, thanks to him calming down a bit, as well as his skin on his chest. His bruises were still tender though. He walked alone in the hall, still fuming from his confrontation with Flash. As he walked, he felt a weight against his back. Junior stopped as he felt arms wrapped around him. He looked down and behind himself and found Fluttershy holding him tightly. She gazed up at him with a sad expression. Junior lightly frowned in response as he looked forward.
"Please. Just talk to me. Why were you and Flash fighting?" asked Fluttershy as she released Junior.
"That's exactly what we want to know." Junior turned to find Mosura, Rodan, Erika and Angirasu arriving. All bore worried and questioning looks.
"I found out that Flash was the one that recorded that video of X," said Junior. Everyone, except for Rodan, bore wide eyes from his answer.
"B-But, how did-" Fluttershy was interrupted Junior sighed.
"Rodan told me," said Junior. Mosura and Angirasu looked at Rodan in disbelief.
"You told him?!" they exclaimed.
"It slipped out! Besides, I didn't think he was gonna actually pick a fight! But then again, we almost died," said Rodan as he raised his hands. Fluttershy's eyes widened.
"What?!" cried Fluttershy in shock.
"Friday. Rodan and I were hanging out and some assholes seemed to have recognized me and decided to pull a drive by. Weren't they on the news?" asked Junior. Erika tapped her chin and her eyes widened in response.
"Wait, was it by that movie theater on Stable Street?" asked Erika.
"That's the one," answered Rodan. Erika snapped her fingers.
"I remember hearing about a shooting! The church that I use to attend is where the police found them! They even wrecked the place," said Erika as she crossed her arms. Rodan coughed with a look of discomfort. Erika's eyes then looked him over and then a realization came to mind.
"Hey, wait a minute!" said Erika.
"Hey! Hey! That Jesus statue was the only thing that I could find that I could actually beat them in the head with! I'm a believer too!," said Rodan with a nervous smile.
"Oh, whatever. I never really liked it when churches had statues of him. It seems a bit too close to idol worship to me," said Erika with a shrug. Junior nudged Rodan's shoulder.
"See? Told you," said Junior with a chuckle.
"So wait, you were almost killed, and you never told us?!" exclaimed Mosura in disbelief. Junior shrugged.
"Hey, the ordeal was too much. I just wanted to sleep off the experience," said Junior.
"Yeah. I had nightmares at night about it!" said Rodan as he rubbed his temples. Angirasu hummed to himself.
"I see. So, the event of you guys nearly getting killed provided enough motivation to confront Flash about the video when you found out from Rodan?" asked Angirasu. Junior nodded in response.
"That's right. Not only that, but I'm getting real fucking tired of these assholes at this school trying to start shit with me because of a wrong identification," said Junior as he crossed his arms with a hard expression. He then sighed heavily.
"Fuck. I don't even know what I was gonna do. In hindsight, it was a dumb way to approach it," said Junior as he rubbed his brows. The rest looked at each other with looks of guilt. Mosura made her way to Junior's side and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It was partly our fault too. Maybe if we told you the source of the video..." Mosura was interrupted as Junior shook his head.
"No, I probably would have still done the same thing anyway. I don't know." Junior was thrown into a trance of thinking up possibilities. He wondered how he would have reacted if he had found out sooner. It may have been just as ugly or possibly uglier if he had found out.
"We're sorry-" Fluttershy was about to apologize but went silent as Junior looked her way.
"Don't apologize for something that I did. It's my fault," said Junior. Fluttershy slightly nodded. Junior rubbed his bruised face.



From within a wide room in a secluded location, a man remained seated as a large crate was opened by Purist members. As they opened the crate, Impact stood by Scar inside of a room where a window allowed them to see the room.
"So, what's this prototype that you're putting on him?" asked Impact. Scar gestured to a woman that was on a laptop, where a digital model of the prototype was shown as a wire frame.
"The S-29 harness. The boss had managed to get his hands on the mechanics of this weapon. It saves us time on figuring out how to work with and gives us more time to train one of our men on how to properly use it," said Scar. Impact looked at the screen and back outside as the subject had slipped on dark grey armor tactical armor, while the other men helped place on a metal harness on his back. The harness connected around his waist, where a long tube-like part stuck out from above his hind quarters.
"What's with the bug look?" asked Impact with a raised brow.
"The harness is inspired by the arachnid kingdom. The scorpion," answered the woman on the laptop.
"The harness holds a mechanical tail that moves based on a targeting system via helmet," said the woman. The subject was handed a helmet with two red glass visors. As he did this, the tail began to emit red lights along with the harness and the large pack on the back. The tail hung over the ground as it slightly swayed while the men that helped the subject backed away. The subject pressed a button on his wrist, which caused a blade to extend out from the side of the tip of the tail. He crouched and forced his posterior up, allowing the tail to lunge over him and strike the empty crate.
"At the tip of the tail is a retractable blade that allows quick close to mid-range quarters combat, but the real treat is the projectile weapon," said the woman. She pressed a button on the desk and leaned into a microphone.
"Alright, just like we studied. Show us the plasma attack." the subject turned towards them with a thumbs-up. He slightly lowered himself down as the tail hung above him. The pack on his back began to hum. The tip of the tail bore a hole inside, like a barrel. From the back came a bright red light. The helmet's HUD read, 'plasma cannon charged'. The tail suddenly fired a red beam of energy that began to scorch through concrete pillars that were set up. They fell in half as they were scorched from their sliced halves. The beam then cut off, leaving the tail to be smoking from the heat.
"Awesome," chuckled Impact.
"Unfortunately, he can only keep up the beam for so long before it overheats. That's its drawback. But if used wisely, it should prove valuable," said the woman.
"Good. Hopefully he won't lose equipment like this one here," said Scar as he pointed his thumb towards Impact.
"Oh come on! That freak fucked up my wrist!" said Impact.
"Fortunately, you had the other gauntlet and we were able to replicate a replacement. It doesn't require advanced technology like the S-29 Prototype," said the woman as she logged in data.
"I just hope these other toys can do a lot of damage to those Transmutant freaks," said Impact. Scar smirked.
"I don't think that'll be a problem," said Scar. He brought Impact over towards another window, where equipment was being looked over by some Purists. Impact's eyes widened as he saw metal suits being put together and smaller equipment being held. One suit in particular caught his eye, given its large size and how its upper torso was held up by a crane and harness.
"I plan on putting this equipment to good use, Impact. I want the best of the best to be put into action with this technology, working as a small team. You'll be training with others with your equipment, serving as special knights in our war with Transmutants," said Scar with a smirk.



Xenjira was sitting outside of the Guardian's lair, looking up to the sky with his arms crossed. From his side came Senior as he held a bottle of cider.
"Um... Care for a drink?" asked Senior in a awkward tone. Xenjira glanced his way and found the cider.
"No, thank you," said Xenjira. Senior cleared his throat as he stood by the entrance as he opened the bottle for himself.
"So... What are you doing out here?" asked Senior.
"Does it matter?" asked Xenjira in annoyance. "It isn't like I'm committing acts of vigilantism."
'Yikes. He's already sassing me?' thought Senior. But he pressed on, despite the discomfort he felt from failing to make decent small talk with his son.
"No, I suppose not. I'm just curious," replied Senior. He took a sip of the cider as he felt the awkward atmosphere growing.
"So, how long have you been in Equestria?" asked Senior. Xenjira sighed.
"A couple of years. I've been in Ponyville for only a few months," said Xenjira.
"I see. How do you like it?" asked Senior. Xenjira sent him a deadpanned stare.
"I am in no way on the grid. I can't own a house, apartment, car, or anything that may be of convenience. Not to mention this country is filled with as much spineless cowards who sees our race as monsters," said Xenjira. "How do you think I like it?"
"It was a simple question. I'm sorry," said Senior with a shrug. Xenjira rolled his eyes in response.
"I have to ask. How educated are you?" asked Senior.
"Mom use to teach me what she could before she died, but I'm mostly self-taught, through books that I had stolen. I even taught myself Equish before coming to this country," said Xenjira. He then tugged at his jacket.
"I steal my own clothes and I have managed to make money through questionable work to afford to live in a shitty apartment that never cared for identification. All they cared about was the money," said Xenjira. Senior hummed.
"I see. You're quite a survivor. How did you make money?" asked Senior.
"Yakuza. I was an experienced fighter at the time and in need of money. A yakuza gang was in danger of being kicked out of their territory by another gang. So I offered to teach them how to fight and to drop their street thug antics. Hell, I even took care of targets that the head wanted gone," said Xenjira as he crossed his arms. He then scoffed.
"But I guess that's something you wouldn't stoop down to, now that you're some righteous soft leader of a cowardly group," said Xenjira. Senior shook his head.
"I'm in no position to judge, Xenjira. All my life I had to fight. Some of these fights have left me scarred. Sure, I may be working for a cause that may seem righteous. You may think I believe I'm a saint, but I'm not," said Senior as he pulled out a medallion that hung around his neck, which bore a dragon paw grabbing a sphere engraved on it.
"I've done terrible things. Things that I guarantee are worse compared to your actions," said Senior. Xenjira glanced at him as his father looked at his medallion, holding it tightly.
"You know, I left your little brother and his mother too, right?" asked Senior.
"What of it?" asked Xenjira.
"Well, Amber had claimed that I was perfect for this role to defend. But it didn't have to be me. I'm sure she could have found someone else just as qualified like the others if I declined. After all, I had a family to be there for," said Senior. Xenjira looked his way.
"So why didn't you?" asked Xenjira.
"It was the danger that everyone would be in if I hadn't stepped up. But I guess it was because I thought it was a good way to atone for my sins," said Senior. Xenjira scoffed.
"There's no point in dwelling on your so called 'sins'. It's all about survival for Transmutants in this world. It's fight or die," said Xenjira. Senior sighed.
"Yes, but it all depends on the cause that one fights for.  That’s what determines what a sin is," said Senior as he turned back to the cave and walked away. Xenjira shook his head. His old man seemed too sentimental for his own good. It was unbecoming of an old warrior such as himself. As Senior walked through the cave, Amber hung over the ceiling, having heard the conversation. She fluttered after Senior and landed on his shoulder.
"So... Awkward talk with your eldest?" asked Amber.
"Something like that," said Senior. Amber looked at Senior as he walked. He wasn't one to say much about his past, but hearing him discuss it and how it's something he isn't fond of caused a small ache in Amber's heart. She had known him for at least a decade and never had he talked about his past, but she knew it was not pretty. It seemed that he carried a guilt ridden conscience about himself. Amber nuzzled his neck affectionately.
"Amber?" Senior glanced at her with a raised brow.
"Just thought you would like a loving nuzzle," said Amber in a chipper tone. Senior softly chuckled as he scratched her head.
"Thanks," said Senior. From outside, Xenjira remained seated by the entrance. Normally, he would be trying to figure out the Purists' next move. Unfortunately, his father had him under his watch along with the other Transmutants. Xenjira didn't count on Battra to do anything about the Purists. He had gotten cold feet and simply complied with Senior’s orders, but Xenjira should have expected that a child didn't have what it takes to go the lengths that he does himself. As Xenjira sat in boredom, he noticed Junior coming down the steps that led out of the chasm. He smiled to himself as he stood up to meet with the teen.
"Afternoon, little brother," greeted Xenjira. Junior bore a scowl.
"Xenjira," greeted Junior in a flat tone.
"Why the long the face, kid?" asked Xenjira.
"Got into a fight. Again," said Junior as he walked passed Xenjira.
"Ah. Discrimination?" asked Xenjira. Junior sent him a glare.
"No. It's because of you! I found out that a friend's boyfriend was the one that caught you assaulting those guys!" said Junior. Xenjira snapped his fingers as he recalled a memory.
"The kid with the blue hair, who drives a Camero?" asked Xenjira.
"Glad to see you remember that," said Junior in a sarcastic tone. He growled in frustration.
"Goddamn it, Twilight. Ergh!" Junior grunted.
"Who's this Twilight? Girlfriend?" asked Xenjira as he followed Junior to the entrance, where they remained by the side.
"Ha! As if! I don't see myself having a relationship with that pint sized dork!" said Junior. Xenjira whistled.
"Wow. Strong words to use on a lady," said Xenjira. Junior scoffed.
"I don't care. Screw her and the others! To think I called half of them friends. Yet they didn't give me the benefit of the doubt when they hauled me away to holding," said Junior with a heavy sigh as he sat on the ground.
"I confronted Flash about the video. Things got ugly. I have been warned that if I slip up like that again, I'll be expelled. All I can do is just bitch my ass off about how those assholes just abandoned me. I bet if I were a normal human they'd stand up for me," said Junior in disappointment. Xenjira awkwardly scratched the back of his head. He wasn't one to normally cheer someone up, nor did he know how to best approach it. He took a seat next to Junior.
"Well, that's the life of a Transmutant. You can't count on these humans with an upbringing that revolves around us being monsters. I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I think your mother coddled you a bit much," said Xenjira. Junior raised a brow at him.
"Why do you say that?" asked Junior.
"Your mother doesn't have the same understanding of what it's like to be a Transmutant in a human's world. You say your former friends would believe you if you were human, but that's shame talking," said Xenjira.
"Shame?" asked Junior.
"Yes. It's a fact that most Transmutants tend to grow ashamed of their genes because of stigmatism by society. They began to resent themselves and their lineage. In some countries like Neighpon, the stigmatism is so bad that Transmutants are thought to be less than dogs. But we shouldn't be ashamed," said Xenjira. He held up a clenched fist.
"You see, we are stronger than them. We have gifts that no normal human can achieve. Nature has favored us, not them. So we should be proud. Tell me, how has your mother comforted you when you faced discrimination as a child?" asked Xenjira. Junior rubbed a brow.
"Mm. Ah. She would usually try to comfort me with affection," said Junior in embarrassment.
"See? If she truly understood, she would have told you to be proud of your heritage," said Xenjira.
"Xenjira, you can't just generalize my mother with other humans. She has taught me to not be ashamed of who I am. But she had her own ways of expressing comfort for me. It doesn't mean I've been coddled," said Junior in annoyance.
"Then why do you heed the shallow slurs of humans? You have quite a temper, and I bet that it gets you fired up when you're called a 'freak'," said Xenjira. Junior looked away as he placed his hands in his pockets.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" asked Xenjira. Junior gave a heavy sigh.
"Sure, whatever. So what?" asked Junior.
"One of the many tricks that I picked up to survive as a Transmutant is let their insults wash off of you. As for those kids, forget about them. You're better off without them," said Xenjira as he patted Junior on the shoulder. The younger Transmutant gave a small sigh as he looked down at the ground as Xenjira stood up and left. As much as he disliked Xenjira, he had a point. Lately he's just been letting these insults to Transmutants get to him. And that has led to trouble for himself. Another point was that he was letting himself get too bent out of shape over Twilight and the others. But really, they weren't worth it. All they were doing was just being an unnecessary source of stress and he didn't need any of that.
"Ugh. Why did it have to be him who had a point?" asked Junior in annoyance as Xenjira entered the cave.




Later that evening...

It was early in the evening. Fluttershy was in her pajamas, comfortable, as she finished off her homework at the kitchen table. Meanwhile, the news was playing on the television set nearby. It was a news report involving a recent Revolutionary attack that was thwarted by MONARCH's newest asset. Fluttershy glanced at the TV as footage of a humanoid robot was shown standing at attention among several soldiers.
"MONARCH has officially announced their newest asset in the war against the Revolutionaries. Jet Jaguar was first seen in Yak-Yakistan, assisting troops against the threat. The machine was designed and provided by Hideki Industries. It will be stationed in Equestria, assisting in homeland security against Revolutionary threats," said a man reading the news report on screen. Fluttershy looked back at her homework, finishing up the last problem.
Today had been quite frightening, seeing Junior getting into such a big fight. The amount of aggression he held and the difference in his eyes were enough to concern her. She feared that someone was going to seriously be hurt or that Junior was going to end up accidentally transform. Fluttershy didn't dare imagine what sort of chaos would ensue if that were to happen. As she finished her homework, Fluttershy sighed as she placed her text book and work away into her bag. Later, she was outside moving the dumpster out to the sidewalk to be collected for its trash the next day. As she came to the sidewalk, she found Junior walking down the road to his home next door.
"Gojira!" called Fluttershy. Junior stopped and found the girl waving to him. He smiled as he made his way over to her.
"Hey. Nice pjs," said Junior in a joking manner. Fluttershy's eyes widened as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, realizing she was in a pair of light green pajama pants and shirt with butterflies imprinted on them. She slightly held her arms, embarrassed for being in her pajamas in front of a boy.
"Um... Thanks," said Fluttershy. She cleared her throat as she held her arms in front of her waist with her hands locked.
"So... How are you feeling?" asked Fluttershy.
"Eh. Better, I guess," said Junior as he rubbed his face, which were clearing up of bruises.
"Listen, Shy. About today... I'm sorry if I scared you," said Junior as he rubbed the back of his head.
"It's alright. I'm just glad that everything is OK now," said Fluttershy with a soft smile. Junior held his hands in his pockets as he yawned.
"Yeah. Hey, I'm pretty beat right now. I'll see you in the morning," said Junior as he turned to walk to his home. Fluttershy bore a small look of disappointment but immediately masked it with a smile.
"OK. Good night, Goji," said Fluttershy. Junior nodded to her.
"Good night, Shy." Junior entered his home, while Fluttershy was outside by herself. She sighed. She was hoping to talk to him a bit more, but she couldn't really think of another topic and it was getting late. So, she walked into her home and made her way into her bedroom.



A sterilized room was chilling cold. Geneticists were busy with projects, while Discord roamed through the lab. He hovered over the shoulders of his employees as they worked, observing their progress. He always enjoyed coming down to the labs to see what breakthroughs were in the process of coming to fruition. One day he just may come down here to find that a miracle drug has been developed to cure all diseases.
"Doctor Discord!" called a woman. Discord turned and made her way over to the woman who called him.
"Yes?" answered Discord.
"I was just reviewing through your notes on a method of developing your super soldiers. Of course, most of the formulas had failed expectations. But then I came across your DNA splice method," said the woman as she looked at some notes on a clipboard.
"Ah yes. Originally I thought of breeding special humans with animal DNA sequences inserted into the genetic code. Unfortunately, the U.N. finds such methods unethical," said Discord with a sour expression. These damn moral dilemmas made it a pain to progress with his research.
"But then I began to hypothesize that inserting certain gene sequences from Transmutants into humans would grant them physical enhancements while also isolating the sequence that contains the blueprint for a transformation," said Discord as he pointed towards the clip board and began to run a mechanical finger on the information.
"Well sir, I find that to be quite plausible and also a good way to complete your super soldier formula," said the woman.
"Yes, but the issue is that the U.N. is adamant about using Transmutant DNA for the formula. They worry that the soldiers would turn on us due to the animalistic aggression that Transmutants can display. Not to mention the anti-mutatism ideas that some leaders hold," said Discord as he scratched his head.
"It will be rather difficult to persuade them without pleasing results. I've tried working with Transmutant DNA before, but I haven't been able to find a perfect formula that can work with the DNA and not break it down," said Discord.
"If it interests you, MONARCH has actually provided the DNA of a Transmutant recently accused of a crime. I analyzed a sample and I believe we have something that is the key to preventing the negative effects of the performance enhancers," said the woman. Discord took on a look of interest.
"Really now?" asked Discord. The woman nodded in confirmation.