The Perfect Specimen

The crowd stares in shock at the demands of this new kid. Mrs. Diamond assumes she misheard the child and says,

"Come now child, this is the best food that we have to offer. Made with the finest ingredients and cooked with special care. No need to be shy. I noticed you were not part of the group that causes a ruckus earlier. You deserve the meal!"

She sticks her moderately sized c.h.e.s.t out proudly assuming the child will recognize to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

However, Alistair only looks at the food one more time with a cursory glance and says pitifully, "But I can't eat this stuff, it goes flying out of my mouth the moment it touches my tongue..."

The esteemed Mrs. Diamond started growing angrier scolding Alistair, "Child you have not even tasted my food and yet you say it will make you vomit. Don't you think that you are being to unreasonable?"

Alistair is completely ignorant of the misunderstanding he caused and says, "I don't need to eat it to know that it will fly out of my mouth. I knew it from the moment I saw it. I need food that I can keep in my stomach. Stuff that is fresher than that."

Mrs. Diamond then loses her patience and snaps out at Alistair, "What a foul mouthed child. Fine then, you want a fresh meal?" She turns her head towards one of the children in line and points at him.

"You! Take him to the slaughter house! Give him the 'Rough Special'! If you make sure he finishes it all you can have a plate of anything up here." She smiles maliciously. The boy immediately separates from the crowd with joy all over his face.

"Thank you Mrs. Diamond! I will go right now!" He smiles happily and then turns his head to glare at Alistair. Before he can do anything though Mrs. Diamond states, "Make a sacred oath first. I'm sure your instructors taught you how."

The boy stops in his tracks and immediately clenches his hand into a fist. A strange energy gathers around it. He then pounds it against his c.h.e.s.t and a bright white hollow circle shines and flickers from underneath the boys clothing.

"I swear to make this student eat the entire 'Rough Special' within the hour as per Mrs. Diamonds orders!" After making the proclamation, the circle stops flickering and becomes a solid golden circle.

Immediately afterwards a similar circle appears on the back of the palm of Mrs. Diamond except this symbol as the face of the child in the circle.

Mrs. Diamond smiles contentedly, "Good, you may now follow through with the task. Remember that if you break the oath, though you will be unharmed, I will be immediately notified. You do not want to get on my bad side, as I'm sure you know."

The boy takes one last look at the delicious food, and his face turns solemn while making the vow. He grabs Alistair and begins dragging him through the hall taking p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in his schadenfreude.

"Oh man you really got her mad! Not sure if you are brave or just stupid, kid. Either way, I'm glad you did what you did. If you hadn't made her so angry I wouldn't have got the chance to get some good food!" The boy looks off into the distance fantasizing about the famous food that only elite students are able to enjoy.

Alistair being completely unaware of the situation asks, "So there is another place to get food? How come Professor Washington didn't mention this to me?"

The student smirks, "You really don't get it? It's a punishment for turning down Mrs. Diamonds cooking. Now she is going to make you eat fresh-". He stops himself mid-sentence appearing to catch himself before exposing a secret.

"- Well, you'll see when we get there. Hope you ain't the squeamish type kid. I got to make sure you eat all of it after all!"

Alistair becomes bewildered, "Punishment? Why am I in trouble? I told her that I can't eat her food. Is it bad to not eat that type of food?"

The boy looks at Alistair exasperatingly, "Are you that stupid? Seeing as I'm a veteran student here, I'll have to explain things to my misguided junior...How were you even able to get into this school? I had to train the moment my parents found I could speak. I guess they are just letting anyone in."

He shakes his head and continues, "Not only is it bad, it's completely weird. You're very weird. No one tosses up a meal like that. They give us meal cards for one meal a day, but do you know how much food we go through? How much hungrier training makes you? Just one small meal a day is enough to leave you starving but still able to move!"

Back in the cafeteria, Mrs. Diamond stands waiting. Suddenly her face lights up with realization. She moves her hand closer to her face and speaks to the picture of the boy on the back of her palm.

"Change of oath, bring him back here and make him eat the 'Rough Special'!" She laughs softly and mercilessly to herself.

"Deny me in front of others will you? Well, I think it's time that I made an example for the new students." She thinks to herself quietly while waiting for the moment Alistair falls into despair.

Inside the slaughter house, the boy is scooping up various "ingredients" into a bowl. Just as he finishes he hears the message from Mrs. Diamond. A look of understanding flashes across his face as he seals the bowl and begins walks back to the hallway from the slaughter house.

However, he is greeted with a sight that leaves him speechless.