CJ's Creations - Rising Phoenix Ch.15

The next day, Marco came to school completely despondent. He had cried himself to sleep the previous night and was clinging on to his last bit of hope. At lunch, he decided to buy some tonkatsu from Ajisakki and eat it by himself at one of the gazebos. He went to one that was moderately far away and placed his food down. Then, he slowly took a bite. It just didn’t feel the same anymore. Normally he would’ve enjoyed it, but all he could think about was everything that happened to him. At that moment, he heard footsteps approaching - it was Brianna.

“Marco…?” she called out to him, but he didn’t acknowledge her presence. She quickly sat down beside him.
“I wanted to talk to you yesterday, but I couldn’t find you…I just want to make sure you’re alright.”
“Look at me, Brianna…” he told her.
“...do I look alright to you?” he asked, staring at her with a deadpan expression.
“Dapat nahulaan ko.”
“I still have to find them…” Marco told her.
“Ramone…they’re the key to this whole thing.”

“Ayaw mo parin tigilan ‘to…?” Brianna asked, confused as anyone.
“I have to keep going, Bri. Because if I don’t…then nobody will.”
“Look at you. You’re a shell. It would be best to step away for a while, let me guide Glenn and Prairie…”
“NO!” he shouted back.
“If I step back now, all of this would’ve been for nothing! All I could think about last night was what would’ve happened if I’d done things differently. I never should’ve gotten on that bike…” Marco explained as he turned away from Brianna.
“I have to bring them to justice. Not just for Pisay’s sake. But for mine too.”

She sighed, realizing that he was still determined as ever to take down the Rising Phoenix.
“If you’re really still going to do this, if you’re still going to intercept the meeting tomorrow…then I just want you to…be careful,” she told him.
“Try to keep it in one place this time, alright?”
“I’ll try,” he reassured her.
“Maybe you should bring me along, just in case,” she suggested.
“No. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt again…” Marco told her, remembering how Octane shoved her hard just two days ago.
“...I chose to do this. It should be me.”

“So what’s your plan for tomorrow…?” Brianna asked Marco.
“The deal’s happening at 2, so I’ll commute to Pisay and get there around 12. Hopefully Ramone won’t show up before then.”
“But how will you get in? It’s Saturday tomorrow, the guards will stop you…”
“I know some Grade 11s having SIP on-campus tomorrow. I look a lot like one of them if I take off my glasses, that’s how I’m getting in,” he explained.
“It’s a miracle your glasses haven’t broken yet…” Brianna remarked, to which Marco let out a light chuckle. Silence followed afterwards.
“This ends tomorrow. After that, I’ll be…free,” he said.

“One last thing…” Brianna added,
“Glenn told me to give this to you if I found you,” she explained, handing him a small pocket-sized recording device he could use to record whatever happened tomorrow. Marco gave her a nod of approval and put it in his pocket.
“I hope you know what you’re doing…” Brianna told him apprehensively.
“Anyway, I’ll give you some space. I think you need it,” she said as she got up and stepped away from the gazebo.
“I wish you luck,” she told him before leaving.
After seeing her go back to the BLOB, Marco returned to eating his tonkatsu - one slow, crunchy, miserable bite after the other.

Come dismissal time, Marco was once again down in the dumps. He looked for somewhere to sit in the BLOB, ASTB, and FLOB, but all of the seats were taken. With that, he decided to go to the grandstand for the first time in a while. Right before he was about to exit the FLOB, it started to rain, so he took out his trusty umbrella from his bag and opened it. He then started his trek to the grandstand, looking down the whole time. As the rain poured, thunder could be heard and the impact of the raindrops on his umbrella grew louder and louder. As he walked over the field, he started stepping into mud puddles. In a fit of anger, he stomped on one of them, which ended up getting a little mud on his face, further upsetting him. He knew he was at the grandstand when the noises on his umbrella suddenly stopped.

“What are you doing here…?” a familiar voice asked. Marco looked up and saw Darren sitting at the top part of the grandstand with sports gear on.
“How do you always show up when I least expect it…?” he asked Darren.
“I dunno…fate of the universe?” he replied as he chuckled to himself. He took another look at Marco and saw that he was clearly upset, just like the time they talked in the Kala Lane.
“Wanna sit beside me…?” he asked as he patted the empty space beside him. Marco let out a sigh and decided to make his way there. He shook off all the rainwater from his umbrella, closed it, and sat down next to Darren.
“I’m sorry, Marco…” Darren told him.
“When that guy came in with the go-kart and you chased after him, I could tell it was something really important to you…and when I gave my testimony, I just…screwed it all up,” he told him.

“No, Darren…don’t say sorry. If anything, I should be the one saying sorry…” Marco replied.
“Why so…?” Darren asked honestly. Marco couldn’t take it anymore and let it all out once again.
“I got a Level 3 offense yesterday, possibly Level 4…and my mom…she’s…not happy,” Marco explained fumblingly.
“I’m nothing but a FAILURE…!” Marco said as he started to cry. Darren didn’t know what to do, so he patted him on the back as Marco cried into his palms.
“I just feel so lost…and alone…” he told Darren.
“Even if all of this didn’t happen, I don’t know what I’m doing…I’m not smart enough to be a physicist, let alone a doctor…and everything else just seems like a bad option…! I don’t know what I’m doing…I don’t know…” Marco said as he continued to cry.

“...I’m never going to be enough.”

Darren stared off into the rainy landscape, contemplating what he should say to Marco. Soon, Marco began to cry on his shoulder, which Darren let happen. After a while, Darren decided he needed to say something.
“You know…” he told Marco,
“You don’t have to be alone…I’ll always be here for you.” Marco, still sobbing, said his thanks to him for that.
“To be honest…I don’t know what I’m doing with my life either,” he reassured him.
“Nothing’s really hooked me at the moment. I wish we weren’t told so young to pick what we’ll do for the rest of our lives, but that’s the world we live in. And deep down…I think we’ll both find what you love.”
“...maybe you’ve already found yours.”

“Why is the world so unfair…?” Marco asked Darren.
“Why can’t we all just be kind to each other…how much better would the world be if we all just did that…?”
“Why is it so hard to do the right thing…it feels like everyone’s out to get you, you know? My whole life, I’ve felt like…a puppet…on strings. Never allowed to be who I want to be…do what I want to do…” he continued, still in tears.
“...that’s why I’ve been so…determined. To finally make a difference…to break out of this mold I’ve been forced into, you know?”
Darren nodded in agreement, understanding where he was coming from.
“Everything will be okay as long as we do the right thing,” Darren told him.
“That’s what I like to believe. Good will always prevail over evil. That kind of thing.”

“I should tell you…” Marco said.
“...I’ve been keeping it a secret from you for too long.”
“What secret…?” Darren asked. Marco slowed down his crying and began to explain.
“These past few months…I’ve been hunting down this organization in Pisay called the Rising Phoenix. They’ve been in the shadows, planning something dangerous…and I’ve been trying to stop them,” he explained.
“That guy you saw on the go-kart…he was one of our leads. I tried to chase him…and…I failed.”
Darren processed what he heard for a bit, not believing it at first, but quickly coming to the conclusion that Marco was telling the truth.
“...I guess that explains it,” Darren said.

“I don’t tell people this because they’ll think I’m crazy…” Marco explained.
“And between all the things people have heard about me…telling them won’t help in the slightest. And the Rising Phoenix could be anyone…I can’t risk it.”
“So you trust me…?”
“Of course I trust you, Darren,” he told him.
“I’m glad you got the courage to tell me,” he replied.
“Thank you for being here for me…” he told Darren.
“I’m glad to be.”

Suddenly, Marco gave Darren a big hug, which startled him greatly. But after a few seconds of being hugged by Marco, his heart felt full. He gladly hugged him back, and the pair stayed that way for a few more seconds. Finally, they got out of the hug and looked at each other happily. Marco checked the time on his phone and quickly realized he was about to miss the bus.
“Sorry, I’ve got to go…” Marco told Darren.
“I’m going to miss my bus if I don’t leave soon.”
“That’s alright. At least I made you feel better, right?”
“Yeah…you did.”
“And also, one more thing…” Darren said to Marco,
“...you shouldn’t walk in the middle of the field while it’s raining. They’re in the middle of replacing the lightning rod, so yeah.”
“Alright, I’ll be more careful next time,” Marco assured him.

Marco slowly got up and left the grandstand, waving goodbye to Darren. He now felt optimistic about what would happen the next day.