7:00AM.
Around thirty minutes until a new generation of students would enter her classroom. Clarice was the furthest thing from a conventional teacher. She hadn’t attended college, nor did she have any experience teaching, but she made sure to dress the part. Black dress shoes, stockings, a pencil skirt, black dress jacket and white undershirt. The only unprofessional thing about her attire was her red hair, but she at least kept it brushed and neat.
The classroom as well was the furthest thing from a school as well. It was an abandoned single-room schoolhouse near the woods, cleaned and repaired just enough to be safe to occupy, and given only a few new desks, Clarice’s included.
Kirino had found two others who were supposed to help with her cause, and it would be Clarice’s job to educate them. Kirino wanted them to understand the past history of other leaders, the unique situation of Tomahawk Hills, their purpose, philosophy, and so on. If they were to make it through her grueling education plan, they would surely be worthy to stick around as higher ups amongst Kirino’s new heirarchy.
Clarice still took pride in the fact that she’d still be a step above them as their educator.
She was sitting at her desk when her phone alarm went off. She furrowed her brow, tapping her fingers atop the desk.
Late. They’re not making a good first impression, are they?
Minutes later, she heard a car pull up outside. The noise of its doors clicking open, and several pairs of boots marching towards the door. She quickly stood up, pulling a greatsword from underneath her desk.
The sword was a gift from Kirino, a mystical artifact. Standing as tall as Clarice was, it was made of an unbreakable material, which she could manipulate the weight of at will. Even if the metal was as heavy as a truck, she would still be able to wield it around as if it was a staff. It’s true power could only be utilized with her absent brother, unfortunately.
Even alone, she knew there was nothing she couldn’t face. She had trained with Kirino well enough.
The door was kicked open, six men dressed in full black tactical gear storming through. Each one had an assault rifle up, trained on the greatsword-wielding girl. The men flanked her on both sides. She spoke up.
“No need to shoot. We can all get out of this alive…”
She glanced at all of them.
“You want my sword, right? With those folks from PAIN? I can give it to you, and you can all go home with no conflict.”
The men glanced around at each other, until one near the doorway held up his hand. They pointed their weapons at the ground.
Sighing, Clarice presented her sword, like a noble presenting a blade to a knight.
One of the men approached, holding his hands out.
“Just one thing. Don’t you all know it’s against school rules to bring weapons to class?”
She let the blade go, and it crashed down into the soldier’s hands. She had increased the weight of it to several tons, bringing the soldier down to the ground, and shaking the entire foundation of the building with the impact. The man screamed as his hands were smashed into the floor, the sword embedded along with them, and Clarice wasted no time in kicking him across the face, before taking the blade from the floor.
The other men were disoriented from the sudden shaking. With this opportunity, she threw the sword ahead of her at one of the men on the right impaling him through the chest. She ran towards her blade as the other four regained their balance, lifting up their rifles.
She pulled the blade across the impaled soldier’s chest, sending a torrent of blood towards the men, and continued forward, chopping off the closest soldier’s legs.
The other two across recoiled at the assault of blood, but still fired off a few shots. Some grazed her, cutting her leg, and another struck her in the thigh.
She grimaced, clenching her teeth. It hurt like absolute hell, but there were far worse consequences if she worried about the pain right now.
Using her blade, she swung upwards at one of the desks, splitting it and launching it towards the men. One dove out of the way, and the other was struck by the flying chunk of wood, knocked unconscious.
As the remaining soldier struggled to get back up to his feet, Clarice walked up to him. He fumbled with his rifle, and she sliced the barrel clean off. He panicked, reaching for his pistol, and she pointed the blade towards his heart.
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you.”
He pulled the trigger, but Clarice was already ahead of him. She had motioned her blade to deflect the oncoming shot. The bullet ricocheted, and struck the man in the stomach. She shook her head.
“There’s a reason we have rules around classrooms. It’s to stop idiot students from hurting themselves. And when idiots like you don’t follow…” She motioned the blade close to his neck. He lifted his head, struggling to back away. “It’s up to me to dole out punishment to set an example.”
She turned around to the rest of the classroom. There was debris everywhere, including fractured desks and scattered school supplies. If any of the soldiers had survived, they’d surely bleed out from their injuries soon enough. She at least had to make sure they were all taken care of later.
“You and your idiot friends now just gave me a bunch more work to do today as well.”
Despite being masked, Clarice could easily tell he was in a state of total panic.
“There’s no point in a punishment if your other friends aren’t able to learn what I’m teaching. So go on back to the others.”
She crouched closer. “Tell them that there’s going to be serious hell to pay for any other troublemaker you send our way.”
Fish Stories 