Universal Power System

304 Old Friends

The voice was feminine and delivered an even greater shock to Andrew who was sitting right beside him, silently eating his meal.

A wave of happiness flooded through Mako as he instantly realized who this voice belonged to; however, before he could even say anything, Andrew jumped out of his seat fuming with happiness.

"Erin!" Andrew shouted loudly.

Andrew's explosive reaction was quickly noticed by the other students in the cafeteria who were giving them awkward and annoyed glares as Andrew hugged Erin without a care in the world.

"He he..." Erin laughed awkwardly as she tried to calm Andrew down while also trying to maintain her composure from all the glares that were being shot at her from all directions.

Before the situation could get any more cringe a hand grabbed onto Andrew's shoulder and pulled him back with a reasonable amount of force.

Once it was able to pull Andrew away from Erin, the hand released its grip and a voice accompanied the gesture. "Okay, buddy, take it easy," the voice said in a semi-serious tone.

Mako instantly recognized the voice that the hand belonged to but had a hard time believing the appearance of the person that he thought he would see.

"Bill?" Mako said in a bit of confusion as the person standing beside Erin didn't look anything like the Bill he had seen before.

Bill's appearance had undergone a noticeable transformation since the last time Mako had seen him which was during Iris' funeral.

Even though they hadn't been friends for long unlike Erin who was her childhood friend, Mako still felt terribly defeated and emotionally destroyed after her loss; however, he did notice a person who showed an even deeper grief than him and even Erin, and that person was surprisingly Bill.

Mako didn't get the chance to properly talk to Bill as soon after the funeral was over, they were all taken away to be put under room arrest but he did realize that Bill probably had a deeper relationship with Iris than what any of them had assumed.

Back then, Bill's injuries had already been healed but he still bore some scars from the battle which he later learned from Commander Sable were just the remains of the second stage of the mutant gene which he had unlocked prematurely.

Despite the fair skin and the familiar fiery locks of ginger hair, Bill still had those scars on his arms which were mostly covered by a thin strip of cloth that was wrapped around both his hands, all the up to his forearms.

His physique had also drastically improved from the time he last saw him and he was exuding an air of newfound confidence, yet there was still some grief in his eyes, reflecting the resilience and strength he had developed since the tragic loss of Iris.

"Come on guys... get a room already," A teasing voice resounded from behind Bill's towering body, one that Mako also quickly recognized.

As Mako turned to the side, Leon's smaller figure came into view alongside Nathan who was walking beside him, still being a little distant and quiet as always.

After observing Nathan and Leon, Mako again couldn't help but marvel at the transformations his friends had undergone.

Leon, with his characteristic mischievous grin, now sported a stylish haircut that elevated his sharp features. A more refined and confident demeanor had replaced his once-disheveled appearance.

Nathan, on the other hand, had embraced a more casual yet still sophisticated look. His messy hair was now intentionally tousled, giving him an effortlessly cool vibe.

After the initial greetings and catching up the group settled down at the table and Leon couldn't resist teasing Erin and Andrew's affectionate display a little more. "Well, well, looks like love is in the air," Leon chimed in, his tone playful. "Never thought I'd see the day when Erin would be approached so openly."

Nathan joined in with a smirk, "Yeah, it's like a scene from a romantic comedy. I didn't know we were attending a high school drama."

Erin blushed, and Andrew playfully nudged Leon with a laugh, "Hey, cut it out, guys. Can't a guy be excited to see his girlfriend after so long?"

Bill had a visible reaction after hearing those words as he twitched a little with discomfort, but still maintained his composure and smiled as he was genuinely happy for Erin and Andrew despite his own strong feelings.

Mako, still processing the changes in his friends, couldn't help but chuckle at the banter. It felt surreal to see them in a casual setting, their personalities shining through without the weight of the past events they had faced together.

As the conversation shifted, Mako asked about their classes, expressing his surprise at not running into any of them throughout the day.

At Mako's question, the moo of his friends took a noticeable change as they stole glances at one another in slight discomfort.

"Hey... Andrew, I still haven't had my lunch yet, could you grab me some from the counter?" Erin suddenly asked Andrew in the sweetest voice anybody had ever heard her speak in before.

Mako and Andrew were quite confused by their friend's weird reaction to a simple question and then Erin suddenly shifted the topic completely out of nowhere.

"Uhh... Yeah sureeee..." Andrew said reluctantly as he got up from the table to get Erin some food as well.

****************

There was an awkward atmosphere between Mako and his old friends after Andrew left; however, Erin quickly began clearing up the confusion by speaking in a very low voice almost like a whisper.

Erin explained, "Well... the truth is that Commander Sable called all of us to his office before we were teleported for military school."

"What? All of you? wait... I was called by the commander?" Mako said in confusion.

Why would the commander call all of his old teammates to meeting just before they were about to teleport to military school, and why didn't he call him, their leader?

These were the thoughts that were running through his head but Erin quickly cleared up that confusion as well.

"The reason why you weren't called was because you had already been teleported by the time, the commander received the news," Erin explained.

"Huh? What news?" Mako asked now more curious than ever.

"There is a secret conspiracy going on in the military base and the commander thinks that there has been an imposter working from within the military base." Bill chimed in and briefed Mako on the situation.

Mako was surprised and astonished to hear such a claim. There were a million questions running around in Mako's head.

Who was the imposter? How did the commander even realize their existence? What had the imposter done? Why would the commander talk about this to demoted students rather than the military superiors like the Main Commander?

However, before Mako could ask any more questions, Andrew returned back to the table with a couple of trays of food.

"Since you guys arrived together, I thought you didn't have lunch either, so I brought some for everybody," Andrew said as placed several food items for the whole group to share.

"Thanks, bro, I was really starving too," Leon said, taking full advantage of the free meal that was presented to him as he began to chomp down on some seared beef with a big smile on his face.

Seeing as Andrew was back, Erin resumed as if she was having a normal conversation with Mako so as to not look suspicious, "...Our teleporter had some issue for some reason which was we were a bit late, but thanks to some last-minute adjustments by the school, we all ended up in the same class as you, it's like fate brought us together again."

Bill nodded in agreement, his demeanor calm and composed. "Yeah...seems like we're destined to stick together. Maybe... it's for the best."

"Really? That's amazing!" Andrew said in excitement as he was glad that his girlfriend was now in the same class as him.

Mako maintained his composure and began to talk normally with the group as he understood that this was something important and that he would have to save his questions for later to fully realize the situation and why the commander decided to approach him.

The group continued to share stories and talk with Andrew sharing all the crazy details of the insane day, he and Mako had had so far.

Soon, their lunch break was over, and it was time for them to head to their next class, this time together as a group. While walking together, Erin walked right next to Mako, silently slipping a small device into his hands.

"Make sure to check your room for any hidden cameras before opening this. It will explain everything." Erin whispered quickly in Mako's ear before quickly running forward to walk beside Andrew.

Mako quickly clenched his hand tight and stored the device in his inventory. There was a small bright white light that escaped from his hand for a second and the device had disappeared from his hands.

Mako quickly resumed walking with his friends toward the next as if nothing had happened, but inside, he was boiling with anticipation and curiosity about what might be on that small device.

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