The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 50: Psychosis

Part 3/5

Loki shut his eyes as tight as he could, searching through all the memories between him and Mr. Ma, searching for anything he could use to his advantage. He needed Mr. Ma to snap out of it.

And then a memory rushed by his eyes in a split second.

~

Loki grumbled as he was leaning against a wall. Once again he had been called to the principal’s office by Mr. Mo for some silly reason.

He hadn’t been keeping his grades up.

Mr. Mo’s door flung open, and Mr. Mo was standing there, his hands gently placed at his sides.

“We need to have a serious discussion about your grades, Loki.”

Loki walked into Mr. Mo’s office, and he shut the door behind him. Loki looked around the room. The wooden walls looked beyond repair, and the lightbulb above them looked half dim. Mr. Mo’s computer also looked ancient. There was a vase of hibiscus flowers on the desk, but they seemed to be dying.

“So…”

“Loki, I’m going to be frank with you, you have NOT been keeping up with your studies,” Mr. Mo said while pointing at the computer screen. Loki leaned forward. He saw his current grades, all highlighted in red. He was failing many of his classes.

“Okay, so what?” Loki replied, leaning back in his seat, “What does it matter?”

“Everything matters!” Mr. Mo shouted, pounding his fists on the desk, “If you fail your classes, you’ll be held back, and you’ll be blacklisted from entering any of the colleges! How will you work on your book and publish it to the world if you can’t enter a college?”

“But does it really have to be that way, Mr. Mo?” Loki asked, “Why are our lives dictated by this?”

“There has to be another way, right?”

Mr. Mo blinked his eyes, looking away. He began to scratch his chin, then subtly nodded.

“Maybe there is another way,” Mr. Mo said, “But, take it from me.”

“Just play it safe, alright? You don’t wanna end up like me.”

“I want you to succeed. I love your stories a lot. Much better than… Nevermind.”

Loki looked at the picture frame that was facing him, and saw a younger-looking Mr. Mo standing on a wooden stage with a boy that looked a lot like him, and a nice-looking lady with a soft smile. The only difference was his brown eyes, in contrast to Loki’s green.

It must have been his family.

~

“What about your wife?! How would she feel if she saw you like this?! How would your son feel if he saw you like this…” Loki cried out to Mr. Ma. Mr. Ma clasped his hands together and began to tremble.

“My son couldn’t even look me in the eye after my wife sacrificed herself for our safety. I’m sure he hated me for that.”

The white blobs refused to go away.

And Loki was beginning to lose hope.

Mr. Ma forced another punch at Loki, and Loki tanked it in his gut. He let out a gasp as the punch vibrated all across his organs. He collapsed to the ground, and Loki began to cough blood.

“Ugh,” Loki moaned. His eyesight began to fade. Mr. Ma was carrying the pike within his hands again. Loki felt something cloud his eyes. Tears. He looked to the right to see Maddox rested against the wall. He looked peaceful.

Loki looked back. Mr. Ma was trembling again.

“I don’t want to-” Mr. Ma said again.

“I’m not going to do it,” Loki firmly said, “I give up Mr. Ma… Just finish it.”

“There’s no fixing this.”

Mr. Ma continued to tremble, his hands shaking. He raised the pike up into the air. Loki looked deep into the confines of Mr. Ma’s shackles, the white blobs that disconnected him from the reality they were in.

As Mr. Ma stared into Loki’s deep, green eyes…

Suddenly, Mr. Ma began to remember!