Chapter 98: Every motion is explosive

Khadun would rush inside ready to tackle whoever was bullying Sly, last time it had been his ex-fiance William, was it his half brother Victor this time around?

Everyone had heard about the incident by the pond, had Victor and his cronies come to seek revenge?

In his mind, Khaldun pictured Victor as the aggressor, egged on by his friends to attack Sly in public driven by a visible adrenaline rush to embarrass Sly in the cafeteria.

They lean forward heavily, chest puffed out and shoulders tense Victor and his cronies surround Sly.

Sly ignores Victor at first.

Upset at being ignored Victor’s fists are clenched tight enough to turn his knuckles white.

Furious, Victor’s face is flushed dark red, his veins pulsing tightly along the neck and temples.

"Are you gonna take that insult from Sly?" question Victor’s friends.

They continue to harass Sly with wide, unblinking eyes, shouting insults that are completely drowned out by the noise of the crowd that gathered around to watch the spectacle.

"Fight!"

"Fight"

"Fight"

Every motion is explosive.

Victor and Sly lash out with heavy, uncoordinated swings, throwing their entire body weight behind each punch with little regard for defense.

As the two grapple, they crash heavily into a long folding table.

Trays flip, plastic chocolate milk cartons burst open, and loose tater tots scatter across the floor.

Their uniforms and school bags are instantly stained with food and stretched out of shape from being aggressively pulled.

A heavy blow connects, leaving one student clutching a rapidly swelling lip, while the other is left gasping for breath, hair completely disheveled.

They continue to fiercely pull and push at each other’s clothes until Khaldun comes and pulls the brothers apart.

Unfortunately for Khaldun the expected scene of Sly getting bullied by Victor and his cronies did not unfold.

Instead when Khaldun tried to part the crowd like the red sea, he just got pushed to the side.

No one wanted to miss this for the world, the two were surrounded by energetic classmates that were betting on Cassian defeating Sly.

Sly was facing Cassian at the lunch table, each had a steaming ceramic bowl of spaghetti and meatballs placed in front of them.

Jack was playing both roles of timekeeper and judge, his spiritbracelet mimicked a loud buzzer sound and the competition between the two friends officially began when Jack yelled, "start!"

Cassian, the larger of the two already feels like the victor, he majestically spreads a rolled-up napkin tucked into his collar.

He then tries to intimidate Sly by leaning forward with a focused, steady stare.

Sly, a petite little omega stretches his fingers and rolls his shoulders to enthusiastic cheers from their classmates.

His friends joke Sly looks like he’s ready for a quick sprint not about to do a food eating showdown.

Cassian uses a massive spoon and fork.

All of his classmates knew Cassian ate a lot, it wasn’t a secret, so they all felt this was going to be an easy and entertaining win.

Candidly Cassian twirls a huge nest of noodles around the fork.

Then Cassian lifts a giant meatball and swallows it whole with very little chewing. Cassian continues to shovel spaghetti down his throat and saves the larger meatballs for last.

While Sly only uses only a fork.

The little omega twists small, neat bites of spaghetti.

Sly works at a rapid, steady rhythm. He never stops moving his hands.

Red sauce coats both of their faces.

Plates were stacking high on both sides.

Bits of parsley stick to Cassian’s forehead.

A meatball drops from Cassian’s fork and drops to the ground Cassian’s spirit beast the cute little hedgehog chases after it.

After several bites the hedgehog’s belly bulges and satisfied he returns to Cassian’s trouser pocket to sleep after stuffing his face.

Cassian complained, "This is a first, I honestly can’t eat anymore. Seriously, where does he put it? If I eat anymore I will burst."

The spiritbracelet ticks down to the final ten seconds.

Cassian slows down as his stomach fills up.

While determined to win at all cost Sly pushes through the pain and takes three rapid bites in a row.

The final buzzer rings, Jack yelled, "contestants put down your utensils."

Sly swallowed his last bite just a second before Cassian dropped the fork into his empty bowl.

Officially, it’s a narrow margin, Sly won by a single meatball.

Everyone thought Cassian would win because his tiny hedgehog could expand to the size of a grown hippo.

Cassian’s hedgehog uses a lot of spirit energy, because even his attacks needed food stored to continuously regrow his spines; once the hedgehog launches them at an opponent.

Sly was the only one who bet on himself so he went around collecting his winnings from the sore losers, who don’t love money.

When Sly leaves the academy he wants to be self-sufficient and not have to worry about money at all.

"Here’s my money," said Cassian. "If I eat another meatball I’ll vomit."

Even his greedy baby hedgehog was stuffed and wholeheartedly agreed with Cassian, both of them looked like they would be spending the night on the toilet.

As both groaned, rubbing their rounded stomachs and showing obvious signs of discomfort while Sly just looked normal.

For the first time in his life Khaldun was thankful for the fact that he was born a Royal Alpha from a wealthy family.

May his pockets never be empty that way he could afford to care for and feed the gluttonous little omega that was Sly Foxx.

After watching Sly collect his winnings, there were a few sore losers that wanted to argue but one grumpy look from Khaldun was all it took.

They suddenly lost their voice and will to argue and forked over the cash to Sly, they hastily left the cafeteria for fear that Khaldun would mark their faces and get retribution later.

While Sly was busy counting his winnings Khaldun gently hugged Sly and poked his flat tummy, "what a greedy little omega, where did that food you just ate go?"

Sly laughed and teased, "don’t want me to be your exclusive guide anymore because you can’t afford to feed me?"

For the first time in a long while the main cafeteria was suddenly silent.

As both omegas and sentinels strained to hear what Khaldun’s response would be so they could be the first to share the latest gossip on the chat sites.