Chapter 4: An Encounter at the Theater: Nem VS Redef
It was the night of the first day of Nem Star's training at the Starmen Federation. Training didn't go as planned, but Nem finished cleaning the cafeteria. To cheer Nem up, Rimia took Nem to a theater performance. Emet and Ajuni also joined them. But I'm not here to describe the play. The play itself was three hours long, and it was very late into the night when it finished. We join our four friends as they leave the theater performance. They are all discussing the play. Nem started the discussion.

"Now THAT was a play!"

Rimia giggled.

"I know! It was so funny!"

Ajuni started to quote lines from the play.

"'Why can't you sing?' 'It's Tuesday. My parents don't let me sing on Tuesday.'"

All four cracked up at that line. Emet commented.

"This play was ingenious."

Nem chuckled and continued.

"And then that guy went through security check!"

Rimia cracked up.

"Yeah! He stole his wife's wedding ribbon so she won't marry another man while he's gone!"

Emet put his hand on his helmet and laughed hysterically.

"Boy, boy, boy…Too good!"

Ajuni continued quoting.

"'Wait!? You're here to sing? But it's Tuesday!' 'I decided to become independent from my parents.'"

Emet fell to the floor laughing.

"Too funny! HAHAHA!"

Nem carried on.

"And then the main dude ended up marrying the man's daughter!"

Rimia chuckled.

"And then he owned the karaoke bar!"

Emet got up, laughing all the way.

"Wow, wow. I must see that again."

Ajuni ended with a quote.

"'In your face, you anarchic entrepreneur!'"

At that, Emet fell to the ground once again, laughing the entire way.

"HAHAHAHA! TOO GOOD!"

Now, I bet I confused many of you by that, but just know that Nem and his friends watched a hilarious three-hour play. Knowing that, you'll be fine. How is that relevant to the story? It isn't.

As Nem was saying goodbye to his three friends, which are his three only friends, he heard a voice.

"Hey, Nem."

Nem looked behind him to see Redef, his rival. Just looking at Redef filled him with rage.

"What do you want, Redef?"

"Take it easy Nem. Don't let out your rage, yet."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I challenge you to a fight. You and I. Your friends can't help you, though. You can use combat, offensive PK, and defensive PK. You accept?"

"Fighting!? Not allowed unless ordered by a high-ranked official."

"What, you scared? Too Earthbound for this?"

On Planet Starmen, calling somebody Earthbound is like calling them a stupid coward with no respect for anything, who will one day die and rot. It's actually considering a curse word on Planet Starmen. And whenever written, it is capitalized, which is why I capitalize this word. However, Earthbound could mean the literal sense of the word, bound to Earth. In this case, it's an insult. Naturally, this angered Nem Star.

"THAT'S IT!"

Ajuni, Emet, and Rimia backed away from Nem and Redef. Redef ran up and punched Nem in the stomach.

"GAH!"

"PK Thunder Ohm!"

Redef launched a lightning bolt from his hand at Nem.

"AAAGGGGHHHH!"

Nem fell to the ground. Redef chuckled.

"You weakling. I can't believe they let an Earthbound Starmen into the Starmen Federation. You're a disgrace!"

Redef kicked Nem. Rimia was horrified.

"Nem!"

Nem suddenly started glowing a color of green. Redef was perplexed.

"What the?"

A green blast erupted out of Nem and hit Redef hard.

"AGH!"

Redef fell backwards. Nem was standing now. He was still glowing green.

"Don't think about it, Redef."

Nem raised his hands in the air.

"PK…BLAST TH-"

"STOP NOW!"

Nem stop concentrating his psychokinetic powers and looked around. Out of nowhere, General Naiot appeared. Redef got up off the ground.

"REDEF, NEM, YOU BOTH ARE IN TROUBLE NOW!"

Redef and Nem were both scared. General Naiot raised his silver sword and slashed both of them.

"YAA!"

Nem and Redef fell to the ground in pain.

"NOW LISTEN! NO FIGHTING OTHER STARMEN UNLESS ORDERED TO! THIS IS A BASIC RULE AND I KNOW YOU BOTH KNOW IT!"

General Naiot put one foot on Nem and one on Redef. He was standing on them. Nem screamed in pain.

"AAAAGGGGHHHH!"

"You break the rules, I punish you."

General Naiot got off of Nem and Redef.

"My word is law. If you break the rules, you suffer the consequences."

Redef got up off the ground.

"I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

"It better not. And that is for your sakes, Nem and Redef."

With that, General Naiot vanished. Redef looked down at Nem, who was in a massive amount of pain.

"You got lucky, kid."

And with that, Redef ran off. Rimia helped support Nem off the ground.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

Nem raised one hand in the air.

"PK Lifeup Ohm."

Nem's hand shined white. He then got up normally, seeming to have cured from his major wounds.

"Uhh…That Redef was tough, but General Naiot is something else…"

Emet sighed.

"When'd you figure?"

Ajuni snapped at Emet.

"Hey! Give the man a break!"

Nem walked slowly forward.

"I'm going to bed. You should too."

Nem said his goodbyes to his friends and headed to his house. However, unlike Rimia, Emet, and Ajuni, Nem had no parents to comfort him at home. He had nobody. And as he laid in bed, for the first time, he thought about the family he never had.