Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Truth.

The utmost desire of many, the greatest fear of even more. Seeking it with conviction is dancing on the line between a noble quest and all-consuming obsession.

It’s a word.

An object.

A person.

A concept.

All of it and none of it at the same time.

It’s owned by everyone, but hardly obtained by anyone.

It can be questioned, forged, manifested, shared, and taken, but it can never be called fully trusted.

It’s something that can be real for you, and a lie for someone else, yet both of you could be right at the same time.

Sometimes it’s a quiet, eerie whisper, while other times it’s the loudest scream. Earth-shattering, breath-taking, bone-breaking.

John was certainly experiencing the latter phenomenon as he stood, frozen still, in the middle of the hallway, staring himself, or more like his past self, right in the face. Both him and his previous persona wore matching grim, unwelcoming expressions. Though young John’s assertive golden eyes surely weren’t overflown by the dread his current self experienced.

It took him an eternity, which was probably a few seconds stretched almost infinite by adrenaline, to register what was happening in full. His New Bostin records were plastered all over the news board, in several copies even, almost covering the whole thing. Everything was there from his ability and rank as King, to the comments accompanying the decision of his expulsion.

“Why…?” His brain was scrambling for something, anything… any type of explanation why this was happening to him. Panic and fear mingled with his self-hatred, his always loyal, forever companion.

But the next thought gave a surge to other emotions.

“Who?”

His eyes narrowed as fright, like deep black charcoal ignited with fire, turning into smoldering rage.

The answer to his question would be a surprise to no one, and was tied into an event that happened about a day before.

One day earlier…

Isen, with his sense of self-preservation returning, after being pushed out by his ambition of getting the front page for his article, was moving around the hallways like a frightened sewer rat.

“An expulsion on a school record is serious. It shows an individual’s refusal to comply with authoritative figures. And the higher the rank of the individual, the worse it looks.”

He tried to digest all that he’d seen, but frankly, it was almost impossible. Someone with a level like that and an ability name that screamed overpowered, openly going against interrogators? Representatives of the Bureau? And right after beating half of his graduation class to the point of hospitalization. He never even gave a reason for it, had just sat there silently with his head down.

Isen couldn’t help but view him as a real psycho.

Sneaking a glance around the corner to make sure Arlo wasn’t anywhere in sight, his swirling thought once again overtook him. “After reviewing his transcript a few times, I noticed something. John wasn’t expelled for beating up his classmates. He was expelled because his old school couldn’t control him.”

It was one thing to keep wannabe idiots like some mid-tiers or Zeke in line. It was a bothersome task, but they yielded the moment they were faced with a stronger power.

On the other hand…

“What happens when a high-tier runs rampant? You can’t just let him run free.”

The conclusion was obvious.

“You have to get rid of him.”

Another peek around the corner, just to be sure, told Isen that the coast was clear, but his thought kept him from moving.

“Right now John is happily minding his own business. It’s best to keep things that way. But knowing Arlo, there’s no way he’ll let all this slide. So I need to find a way to avoid him for the next week or so.”

It wasn’t long before Seraphina was scheduled to return. He could do this. Or so he thought. However, being so preoccupied with your thoughts while trying to make sure not to run into someone is never a good combination.

A hand landed on his shoulder, scaring him shitless.

“Watcha lookin’ at?” Arlo asked, satisfied with the impact he had. He knew Isen well. He knew he was hiding from him. But when you’re the King of the top school of the region with an extensive network of students reporting to you, not many people can avoid your attention.

The other yelled some profanity he didn’t care about. What he cared about was why this scaredy rat of a guy was trying to slip away from him.

“A-Arlo? I’m actually really busy today! Let’s talk later-!”

The fool still thought he could escape from him. It didn’t matter. Understanding soon dawned on him, when a yellow barrier enclosed them both.

“Don’t even think about running from me, Isen. You haven’t been answering my calls for the past few days. Care to explain yourself?”

Staring into his glowing blue eyes, like a rodent caught in a trap, only one thought crossed his mind.

“Shit! He does not look happy!”

“Uh, just no new intel yet. So I didn’t want to bother you,” he said timidly, feeling all the weight of his presence.

Unfortunately, as good as he was at gathering information, he was just as bad at lying.

“I wasn’t born yesterday. You can analyze the attack pattern of a shadow organization like EMBER, but you can’t find basic info on one of your classmates? Give me a break. Now tell me what you found. Don’t you want this story to be a success?”

Apart from his complete inability to lie to someone outranking him, Isen was simply too good at his job for this statement to be true. But what Arlo heard next truly shocked him.

“I’m dropping the story.”

“You what ?”

He couldn’t believe his ears. Isen, who loved nothing more than a front page article, and maybe pens, was dropping a story on his own volition? This couldn’t be true.

“Right now, I think the best course of action is to wait for Seraphina to get back, and pretend this investigation never happened. He probably has his own reason for hiding his ability anyway. So why provoke him? Everything is fine the way it is.”

While Arlo was listening to Isen intently, his explanation was just too ridiculous to be taken seriously.

“He is not in his rightful place.”

“Yeah, but who are you to decide that though?”

Isen realized too late that the sentence left his inner plains and was spoken out loud for Arlo to hear.

The retaliation was immediate. He was slammed against the hard surface of the barrier, with a hand grabbing his throat, not being able to budge from his hold even with his ability activated.

“Let me remind you, I decide everything around here. Tell me what you found, now !”

But just like Arlo’s arm, for once, Isen didn’t budge.

“I-I can’t!” He shouted, and he really couldn’t. Not when he already knew the consequences they would all have to suffer.

“Why’s that?” The other asked in a low voice.

“Because I know you’ll put him on blast! And I’m afraid of what he’ll do, okay?!”

Arlo stared down at him, applying pressure on him to break, but as scared as Isen was of him, he was even more scared of John now. He was more ready to be stepped on and humiliated, than to be hospitalized for who knows how many times.

Based on his records, John was someone who would do that.

To his utter surprise, however, Arlo released him from his hold, tossing him away like a tool he had no more use for.

“Arlo?” He asked tentatively. He already knew this didn’t mean what he hoped for. Because there was no way the King would just abandon his latest obsession.

Sadly, he was right.

“If you’re that opposed to exposing John, then I can’t force you to help. But there’s no way I’m letting all this go to waste. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

With that, Arlo began to walk away, leaving Isen behind.

“Wait! Arlo! Please stop! You don’t know what you’re getting us all into!”

But just like his opinion, his plea was completely disregarded as well.

What neither of them knew at the time, however, was that they weren’t exactly alone during their conversation. Isen wasn’t wrong, that there was no one in sight, but the other person was someone, who couldn’t easily be spotted when he didn’t intend to be.

Terrence stood to the side, his body still completely obscured by his ability, with the widest grin possible. Now he only needed to use his sneakiness, something he was excellent at, to quickly slip into Isen’s room. Figuring out his password was a tad bit trickier, but after serving a secret organization for years, he managed to get in in record time.

While Isen obviously opposed sharing his findings with anyone else, deeming the story too risky, Terrence knew the guy. Risk or not, there was no way he would just get rid of his hard earned information.

And if he did? Well, he would then just follow the clues the conversation provided him with and go from there. Luckily, this wasn’t necessary, as among Isen’s investigation folders, he easily found what he was looking for.

He had to admit, the King and his little rat stumbled upon something impressive this time.

No, something monumental.

Right there on the computer screen, was John’s old school profile.

“King? Level 7.0? Aura manipulation? I have to give it to you, Isen. This is without any doubt an amazing finding. John, the cripple, a secret god-tier? Who would have thought! This explains how he spotted me when I was following them with my ability activated!”

But as exciting as it was, there were more troubling parts of the transcript he was yet to see. After reading about his general description, his expulsion and the whole ordeal that surrounded it, he started to have conflicting feelings about the whole thing.

“He saved me a few weeks ago from a bully, and he’s known for stepping up against other, stronger students abusing others in general. I even thought about inviting him into Spectre despite him not having an ability. But with this discovery…”

He had his doubts. While the John who enrolled in Wellston seemed a completely different person compared to the one characterized here, he had to admit that in the past few weeks, since Seraphina got suspended, his behavior changed drastically.

Long gone was the cocky, always optimistic guy, whose mood couldn’t be brought down, not even by the almost daily infirmary visits. He also knew that people, just like him, could wear a mask for one reason or another.

Of course, they could just try to disable him, but was he even a good candidate? He probably couldn’t be blackmailed with an ability he didn’t even use, like the other high-tiers. And if they made a deal with him, would he follow orders? Or would he be a rabid dog they always had to keep an eye on?

He knew that his boss, Orrin, would go after John without the slightest bit of hesitation. He also knew that sometimes he was more ambitious than rational. Not to mention, as the informant who would rope John in, he would be made responsible for any misdemeanor he displayed. Something he didn’t look forward to.

This left him with only one option, with a heavy risk of its own.

“I need to test his character. If he’s changed and can reign his anger in, he could be made into an asset easily enough. And if deep down he’s just another selfish high-tier, then I’ll report that to Orrin, and we’d go from there.”

Copied data secured in a pendrive, he made his exit from the room, leaving everything exactly as it was, and after a brief break at a printer, he headed straight to his main destination.

He had someone he needed to meet.

“Cecile,” he greeted the head of their press team as he stepped into the room.

She didn’t look up, greatly immersed in proofreading some articles for their next release. “What can I help you with, Terrence?”

“I have just the perfect article for you,” he said cheerfully, walking up to her desk.

She hummed, clearly disinterested. “Find me another time with that. Submissions for tomorrow’s paper have already closed.”

However, he wasn’t deterred by her indifference. “Believe me, you’ll want to see this.”

He then pushed John’s records right in front of her.

Her momentary annoyance, followed by a slight confusion at whose personal information she was even looking at, quickly morphed into shock, when she finally recognized the boy after reading his name.

“John?!” She exclaimed, grabbing the papers to take a closer look. She hastily skimmed through the transcript with trained eyes, sucking in every bit of information it held. “Where did you get this?”

Her demanding voice didn’t faze Terrence who was still smiling, forgetting about keeping his timid low rank mask on. “It was actually Isen who found it at Arlo’s request.”

“Arlo?” She narrowed his eyes. “What does he have to do with this?”

“He apparently ordered Isen to look into John, promising him a front-page article or something-”

Cecile scoffed inwardly, angered by the fact that the King had expected her to do his bidding like one of his goons, and using something she was supposed to be in control of as some kind of reward.

She greatly disliked his arrogance.

“And Isen, being Isen, jumped at the chance and found a bunch of information on him.”

She crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. “Why is it you here and not him then?”

“Because after seeing those records, Isen decided to bury the story and even told Arlo this.”

She looked at Terrence with an arched eyebrow. “Isen? Giving up an article like this? And Arlo just let him?”

“Believe me, Arlo was not happy about it.”

“I can imagine…”

“But Isen for once didn’t give in.”

“That’s surprising. Both him abandoning this article and going against Arlo.”

This was especially confusing, she had to admit.

“As you can see, John’s stronger than Arlo and has a violent past. Isen was and is probably scared to death, fearing retaliation.”

Cecile couldn’t really see a fault in his reasoning. Isen was excellent at information gathering, but he was an absolute coward.

“And what is Arlo planning to do now?” She asked.

Terrence only shrugged. “Not sure. He said he won’t force Isen to cooperate if he was so against it, so I assume he has enough information to act upon. He certainly didn’t sound like he was dropping the topic, so I assume he’ll confront John at some point in the near future.”

“Privately, I assume,” she scoffed.

“Most likely.”

She didn’t like it one bit, how he was calling on her and her informant whenever he saw fit, without giving anything back. He had all this scheming going on without even throwing her a bone. He regarded her as nothing more than one of his dogs. A tool, he could use then toss aside whenever he wanted.

But not this time. It was high time someone kicked Arlo off his high horse.

And she just received the perfect opportunity to present him with a worthy opponent.

“A level 7.0?” She smirked. “It’ll do.”

“So, the article…?” Terrence asked, barely able to fake some tentativeness. He had a talent for figuring out people, and he knew Cecile was hooked.

But her next words surprised him. “We can’t put it into the school paper.”

“What?” He was taken aback, but it didn’t last long as she held up her hand, signaling she wasn’t finished.

“If Isen is so afraid of John, I won’t be so reckless as to just make myself into a target by posting all of this out there.”

“Then?”

She grinned. “We’ll just have to do things the old fashioned way. Release it anonymously throughout the school.”

He grinned back at her.

“Consider it done.”

And with a simple decision like that the course of time was forever altered.

Where would this all go?

Chapter Text

The past can pop up at any time, John was aware of that. He wasn’t prepared for it, certainly, but he was aware . He did all he could to keep it from coming up, separating himself from King John in all ways but physically, shoving down the mindset and ability that had perpetuated that grief. 

At least people’s weird looks make sense now; gauging him, sizing him up, trying to determine if it was real or not. He reached out, angrily dragging the records down, however futile it may be. A few cries of indignation made their way to his ears, ignored.

The only upside he could see, however small it may be, is that Sera wasn’t here. She couldn’t find out the truth… And yet, couldn’t she? She’s an ex-royal, no doubt she has communication with the current royals and her roommate. Just a single text with a picture, asking her if she’s seen it, and she’ll know.

He recoils slightly as a certain event replays in his mind, almost wiping the building rage. Monster.

‘No!’ 

‘She wouldn’t… right?’ He turns around, making his way back out of the school, his smouldering rage turned to a colder, more calculating one. The surrounding crowd parts as he stalks his way out, each no doubt unwilling to be the one to test him. The information’s out, even if he asks the headmaster to intervene, people will still know. But, they know now, they will know tomorrow, and a week from now. It might even be easier to find out who as time passes; people doing their own investigation for whatever reason.

…There’s only one solution, isn’t there? He’ll have to tell her himself, no matter how much it hurts, or pains him. He could lie, as he always did, as he would’ve continued to, but the only outcome of that is more pain . Prolonged, over the course of days, as information is exchanged between her and the other royals, or even other students in the school. 

Mon - No. Sera would never subject him to that. He should know better. He should know to trust her more. She wouldn’t call him that. He’s not a monster.

The walk home was long and arduous, the suspension killing him inside. Unfortunately, he couldn’t call her, his phone still broken from the two fuckers that beat him up a few days ago. At least it gave him time, time to think, to process.

His ability, his past is out, that is an immutable fact. He can’t deny it, anyone could easily call up someone in that area and ask. Just 1 person confirming is enough. That means he can only do two things, then: show his power and take a place like Sera in the shool, or… leave. Transfer out again. Try again somewhere else.

‘But what would dad think? He doesn’t know I’m pretending to be a cripple. If I came to him with a request to transfer, he’d probably lecture me instead and only pull me out if I truly wanted it. So… do I want to? I’d lose contact with Sera, have to retake the year probably, and it’d burden dad even more… No. Not an option.’ John thinks. Losing Sera, burdening dad even more, he’d rather be beaten down again and again than that.

He mindlessly turns the key in the lock, dumping his bag on the coffee table, and boots up the laptop. The moments as it loads up feel like an eternity, however, when it does, the chat is already open. A small detail he’d forgotten creeps up then, as he stares at Sera’s status. Last online: Tuesday, 3 days ago.

Chapter Text

All thoughts come crashing to a halt as John stares at his laptop screen, golden eyes glued to the words sitting just below Seraphina's name on his contacts list.

Offline- Last online: Monday, 3 days ago.

The ravenette blinks.

He blinks again, his mind starting to whirl as he processes the magenta-haired girl's status mocking him from his screen.

‘She's still not online?’ John's brows furrow, his own predicament momentarily forgotten as concern slowly blooms within his chest. ‘This…this isn't like her at all. I could understand being offline for one day, but three in a row with no warning that she's going to be gone for an extended period of time?’ The teen frowns. ‘Sera would tell me if she was going to be offline for a while…wouldn't she?

Thoughts of his previous school records being plastered all over Wellston suddenly flash through his mind, his eyes widening at the memory of what had met him when he entered the school this morning.

What if…what if Sera already knew about his ability?

What if the person who outed him contacted her and sent her his records before they decided to post them around the school?

Was that why she suddenly went offline? Was she mad at him?

Did she hate him?

Icy claws of dread crept up John's spine as panic began to take hold, his nails biting at his palms as he clenched his fists.

He didn't care if Seraphina was angry at him. No, he honestly expected her to be if she ever found out that he had lied to her about being powerless. It would hurt, but he would understand her anger. He could deal with it.

What John couldn't deal with was her hating him.

Was there a possibility she still had no idea about his ability and his past, that no one had actually contacted her and she was offline for a different reason? Yes.

However, the ravenette couldn't ignore the very real possibility that someone had in fact contacted her, spilling some of his darkest secrets with a single image that could easily be sent over a text message or email. If they managed to get his records from a locked database, then contacting Wellston's Ace would be a piece of cake.

John clutched desperately at his chest, his growing panic now seizing him completely in its unforgiving hold as breathing suddenly became a chore, his school uniform suddenly too tight, the “what ifs” raging through his mind like a hurricane.

‘Oh god. She really could have my information. Whoever obtained my records could've easily sent them to her before outing me to everyone else.’

‘What if she really hates me now?’

‘What if I disgust her?’

‘What if she never even wants to look at me again?’

‘What if…she does think I'm a monster ?’

John squeezes his eyes shut as that last question flies through his mind, his body trembling, his breathing still ragged.

He had told himself before that she would never think of him like that. That she wouldn't think he was a monster after he told her the truth.

But that was when he was going to tell her everything himself. When he was going to explain everything to Sera himself. He wasn't going to try and justify his past self, mind you, but he thought Sera would appreciate hearing everything from him before getting information from other sources. John wanted to be the one to tell her everything, to show her how much he regrets everything. To show her how genuine he is.

Would she even listen to him if she already got information about his past from other people?

He wouldn't blame her if she didn't want to, but damn it would hurt. One of the only people he cares about no longer wanting him in her life.

The ravenette would never hold it against her, though. John wouldn't want to be around himself either. Sera deserved so much better than him.

Trembling, John's chaotic thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud ringing coming from his laptop indicating an incoming call.

The teen blinked rapidly to clear his slightly blurry vision, forcing his breathing to get back under control as he squinted at the pop-up notification now present on his screen, the pop-up block reading: call from “Dad.”

Shoving all current thoughts to the back of his mind, John used a shaky hand to move his laptop cursor over the accept call button, hesitating only for a moment before clicking it and hearing the ringing suddenly go silent, the call going through.

“Hey, John! Ya there?” The sound of his dad's voice soothed something inside of John, the younger male taking a deep breath before responding, struggling to keep thoughts of everything that had happened locked in the depths of his mind.

He didn't want his dad to pick up that something was off.

He didn't want his dad to worry about him.

“Hey, Dad. I'm here.” The ravenette replied, focusing on keeping his voice steady. “I didn't expect you to call.”

A huff sounded on the other end of the call that had John picturing his dad crossing his arms in that way he did when he was preparing to lecture him.

“Well I tried to call your phone multiple times, but you weren't picking up. I just noticed you were online, though, while working on one of my drafts and thought I'd try calling you from my computer.” A stressed sigh drifted across John's ears. “John, you need to pick up when I call you. Do you know how worried I got when my calls to you kept going straight to voicemail? When you wouldn't even read my texts?”

John sighed, his golden eyes trailing from his screen down to his keyboard, one of his hands fiddling with a loose thread on the sleeve of his uniform.

“I'm sorry, Dad. I wasn't ignoring you on purpose. I tripped on some stairs at school and ended up breaking my phone. It's completely unusable.”

The lie about how he broke his phone slipped easily off his tongue, guilt making his skin prickle. He hated lying to his dad, but he couldn't exactly tell him about the whole cripple situation. His father would not be happy.

He didn't need both his dad and Sera being disappointed in him. If Seraphina was actually aware of his ability, of course.

At the thought of her again, John's eyes glanced back up from the keyboard over to his contacts list, the magenta-haired girl's status still reading “offline.”

A frown tugged at his features once more, exhaustion suddenly rolling over him as negative thoughts started to emerge back into the forefront of his mind, a numbness starting to creep over him.

Today had been a long day, and John found that he suddenly just didn't want to think anymore, to feel anymore.

He wanted to be done with this day. Done with this nightmare.

Nothing could ever seem to go his way.

“...ohn?”

“John?”

John dragged himself back out of his thoughts to focus on his father's voice, propping his elbow up on the table and resting his chin on his hand, tiredly blinking at his computer screen.

“Yea?” The teen responded simply.

Silence was all he heard for a moment before his dad's concerned voice spoke once more.

“Are you feeling ok? I've been talking to you and you haven't responded to anything I've asked or said.

John let out a tired sigh, no longer bothering to try and hide the exhaustion in his voice.

“I'm ok, Dad. It's just been a rough day. I'll be fine. What were you asking me?”

“Nevermind that.” The older male responded. “I'll send you some money for a new phone. You get some rest. You sound exhausted.”

The ravenette let out his nth sigh of the day, mumbling out a “yea” in response to his father's statement, his dad replying in turn.

“Call me if you need me, John. I'm here for you. I'll help in any way I can.”

John smiled softly at the genuine care radiating from his dad's voice, a sudden thought causing him to sit up straighter in his chair, more alert.

“Hey, uh, before I go…could I ask you to send something along with the money for a new phone?” John asked, hope stirring in his chest.

“Of course, son. What is it?”

“Could you send me another copy of ‘ UnOrdinary?’”

William went silent on the other end of the call at his son's question, his brows furrowing and a frown pulling at his lips.

“You know I can't do that, John.” The man  replied somberly. “My editor burned all my copies for my safety after the book was banned. Don't you have the copy I gave you?”

John sat in silence in his chair, golden eyes staring blankly at his computer screen, any hope that had been sparked within him at the chance of getting to read his favorite book again getting snuffed out at his father's words.

That book was like an anchor for him, now gone along with Seraphina, his other anchor.

He'd never get to read it again.

She might never even talk to him again.

“John, what's going on?” His father's voice echoed across his ears, but John barely heard him, feeling as though he was underwater, the numbness that had started to recede coming back full force.

“Nothing.” John replied quickly. “I gotta go.”

“John! Wait! Don't you hang up on—”

The ravenette clicked the end call button before his dad could finish his sentence, the numbness growing ever-the-more present, keeping him from feeling emotions he didn't want to feel. 

He welcomed it with open arms.

His laptop rang with another incoming call, but John paid it no mind, using a hand to slam his laptop shut.

Things were going downhill real fast, and John no longer wanted to think about any of it. He didn't want to deal with it anymore today.

So he didn't.

He simply slumped back in his chair, and let the void of numbness completely overtake him.

Chapter Text

John stood in the middle of the fighting ground, while bodies were scattered beneath his feet. Its limbs sprawled around wildly, motionless with bruises and blood stuck on their skin.

Familiar smell, familiar surroundings, he's been here before.

John's eyes subconsciously traced to his shaking hand, and same, it was red. Evidently he had beaten them, but with what those people, his classmates, did to him? 

He scoffed, they deserved it.

He asked them to leave him alone, they didn't listen.

Those who think just because they have a little power, could do anything they want.

And when his strong friend left, now they decided to show their fangs, and made him a target.

They're all worthless!

"Do you feel sorry for yourself?"

Surprised, John took a step back, a green haired girl appeared kneeling in front of him, glaring right into his eyes.

His ears were ringing with a constant noise, and his body moved on its own. She shrieked in pain, as he yanked her hair up.

"Answer me!"

'Why is he hurting her again?'

"Why did you turn everyone against me? Why would you betray me like this? Do I really mean nothing to you?"

'Why?'

"Have you seen yourself!" She shouted.

John froze up. The pungent smell of blood became more prominent to him. Claire struggled, but he probably didn’t realize that his hand became loose, resulting in Claire shoving him away.

"Let go!"

And the next thing he knew his face was thrown to the side, his cheeks stinging.

‘Did Claire just slap him?’

*beep*

"Take a good look at what you've become! You're always looking for reasons to hurt! You're so conceited! You don't care about anyone but yourself!"

"You tyrant! Hypocrite! All this strength you have now... you don't deserve any of it!"

John flinched "what?" 

Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I never should have helped you! I wish I'd never met you–!"

*beep* *beep*

John's hands moved on their own again, this time he tugged her t-shirt, pulling her closer, his other arm raised ready to punch her. But at that moment she didn't turn away, she just glared back right to his eyes, while tears spilled down from her cheeks. 

This scene has repeated many times in his head, he felt betrayed, and disgusted in himself, he shook of the memory, struggling to stop it, but soon he learned to give in, and let it move as usual.

"Did you really think you could hide everything?" 

He looked back to Claire, something was different, she was smiling with a haunting expression. Her face flashing between his younger self and Claire's own face repeatedly.

"Was it worth it? You knew sooner or later they'll find out." His younger self laughed in his face.

*beep* *beep*

"And now everyone knows! They'll know how much of a failure you are, how violent you were even to your friends, it was even written all over the papers."

"Shut up…"

It turned back to Claire once again.

"Make me!" Her voice cracked as tears ran down her face. "Go ahead and beat me up like you do with everyone else."

"Oh, how will Sera react to this, that her own friend has been lying to her face all this time, surely she'll leave you too." And back to his younger self.

"Shut up!"

*beep* *beep*

And lastly it changed back to Claire, it had the same expression Claire had, the same scene he saw the hundredth time, living in his nightmares. She was crying, it should have made her voice crack or somehow inaudible, but to him her voice was clear, with no hesitation.

"Monster."

He punched her face and Claire finally fell to the ground.

And the surroundings changed from an open field to closed walls, his hands stuck, and his head held in place, a cold gaze from above looked at him with displeasure.

"All late bloomers are destined to fail." Keon said.

*beep* *beep* *beep*

John jolted up, gasping for air.

'what was that?'

He found himself back in his room, the soft cushion under him and the warm light coming from his window. His alarm clock was making a consistent beat and the birds were chirping harmonically outside, as the sun was rising.

John lowered his head into his hands, taking deep breaths in. It was all just a bad dream he told himself. 

Despite it just being a nightmare, what happened was true, the scene had repeated in his head constantly, but because this time it was the form of a nightmare there were some elements that were different.

Like the mess unfolding at school must have weighed his mind, he still couldn't believe it, his information was leaked throughout the school, everything in detail, his ability, level, with a big red mark on his picture, 'expelled' .

He held his breath for a moment, before letting it out in one low, frustrated sigh.

He got out of bed, and picked up a random shirt, and hoodie from his drawer. He didn't want to fall back asleep with only his awful thoughts awaiting him there.

But somehow the nightmares had gone out of the dream realm and became his reality.

His mask was breaking, the hard work he had put into the last two years was going down the drain, all because of a piece of paper. 

He'll find out whoever was responsible, and make them pay the price.

John decided he needed some fresh air, it was still early in the morning, so he had quite some time before school starts. 

He went to a nearby convenience store, bought some snacks and ate it outside. There was no one in sight as he ate his breakfast quietly, it was nice and peaceful, no one bothered him, or talk behind his back

It was a quite couple of minutes, before he remembered his situation.

John sighed, he really didn’t want to go to school right now.

Of course he had thought of not going before, but there wasn't that big of a reason for him to not go. As of late the feeling was becoming stronger…

With the situation.

But for one he's glad Seraphina is absent. What would she think when she found out? She'll find out that he has been lying to her face all this time, and later leaves him too –just the thought of it made his stomach churn.

John rolled the food around in his mouth and gulped down the last bite, he checked the time, and decided to go back home. He quickly put on his uniform, every single piece of it, and found himself in front of the mirror.

His reflection was similar to the posters at school. His hair pointing in all kinds of directions, all messed up like his life, and a stern look was staring back at him.

When did he turn back, like he was in New Bostin?

His fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. It wasn't his fault, they're all just useless human beings, they were the ones who chose to hurt others, they didn’t deserve any of their powers, worthless.

They're all worthless.

He eyed the jar of hair gel on the bathroom counter, the little bit of mask, his cripple self, that was still intact.

. . .

As John stepped into the hallways of the school, he felt the eyes on him. Whispers filled the air, and students parted as he passed. It was eerily similar to his time in New Bostin.

He glanced to their directions and they turned away, avoiding his gaze, while exchanged glances and murmured under their breaths. 

John moved a little bit faster while hiding his fists in his pockets. He tried not to care about their useless chatter, at least if they wanted to talk, they should have learned to do it quieter, so the person in question wouldn't be able to hear any of it, but their whispers were caught in his ears.

"H-hey... that's him right?"

“Yeah, didn’t you see? His level is even higher than Arlo!”

"I don't believe it, he's powerless, remember?"

"Could've been just lying all this time..."

He forced himself to keep moving, ignoring the urge to confront them. He couldn’t waste time on these people —they didn’t matter. The one who had leaked his information, that was his target.

He continued until there was hardly anyone at the hall, and sighed in relief now that there was some breathing room –or so he thought.

A voice called out from behind him, breaking his focus.

"John!" His voice was unrecognizable, but they walked beside him, acting all familiar like they're friends.

"Everyone is talking about how powerful you are, the papers are false right?" 

His classmate added "there is no way it's true... someone with awful fashion sense and that greasy hair, couldn't have been a high tear." He pointed to his head.

John took a deep breath in  "yeahh, i don't know what they're talking about." And just gave him an innocent smile.

'Get away from me.'

That guy patted his back, and John stopped the urge to flinch, he didn't want to be touched, with his nightmare still fresh in his mind.

"I wanted to be your close friend if you were actually that strong, and we could beat people's ass together."

John hated these kinds of people the most, he didn't even want to be near him.

"Ahaha, too bad man.” John just laughed it off “anyways could you stop touching me? Class is about to start."

"Did you just order me? A cripple like you?" His classmate, just now carefree appearance, turned cold.

The next thing John knew he was shoved to the lockers, and the other one held him by the collar.

"Go ahead, fight back! I dare you."

‘Worthless.’ John looked at him with displeasure.

Right after they thought he was powerless, people started thinking they were so strong?

"Oh wait you can't. You're just a cripple, you don't stand a chance against me." He provoked John.

‘These kinds of people have worth in this world? No way.’ John scoffed.

"Oh look Remi is walking in this direction." John said.

"What really?"

While the other was distracted, John quickly held tight the hand that was on his throat, and punched his face back, making him stagger to focus.

"What the heck! I'll make you pay for–!" But when he turned back, John was already running to his next class.

The bell rang, and he felt an ability activating behind him, he ran as fast as he could, and was only inches away from his class.

'Come on! Come on!'

"Get back here you--!"

John opened the door and quickly closed it behind his back, everyone was staring at him, as an explosive sound erupted from outside.

The teacher sighed, while shaking her head "John please just go and sit. You know I hate late students."

"Y-yes ma'am." 

Once again the students were staring at him, and whispered horrible comments.

He got to an empty seat, and was just glad that he got to class in time, before he exploded with anger, and exposed his ability.

No thanks to the nightmare this morning, he felt easily agitated, and people's touch became peculiarly revolting.

The teacher started explaining the subject, but everything just went from one ear to the other, John needed a plan. There will be more of them, people who want to find out the truth, and would attack him out of nowhere. 

Honestly he didn't think it would be this bad.

There's no way he'd hold out long enough throughout the school day, people were too loud and it was similar to the time when he was king, he just wanted to shut them all up.

John sighed, if only he could just stay in the classroom all day without changing classes…

Wait.

That thought gave him an idea, maybe he'll hideout in the infirmary with Darren. He'll probably scold him, but it was better than listening to people talk.

John checked the clock, there was still thirty five minutes before the class ended. The time was moving very slowly, it had been a while since he felt like this. He tried listening to the teacher, but couldn't hear anything, his mind was occupied, restlessly waiting for the subject to end.

His eyes drifted to the clock every five minutes, and finally it was almost over, the class erupted in the sound of people cleaning their supplies to their bags, he did the same as the others.

When the bell rang he rushed out of class before anyone else to the way of the infirmary, the hallway was empty only for a while, but soon students clattered to his vision.

His plan was to move as swiftly as possible, so that there won't be a big fuss, where people will be watching.

But of course things don't go his way.

Only inches away from the infirmary, there they were four students blocking his way, unlike last time John was more familiar with them, the mid tiers groups, with their favorite pastime tormenting students, cowards who can't even fight on their own.

“Where are you rushing off to?”

He looked at them one by one, and sighed. They didn't seem willing to let him go without a fight.

‘What should he do?’

“You know you've been the talk of everyone, I'm here to prove them how wrong they are.”

A crowd was beginning to form around them, all eyes on John, waiting for him to do something. 

“Oh, yeah I don't have any ability, see?” John waved his hands around, showing them he didn't have anything “so, could you let me go now?”

“Not so fast…”

The purple haired guy, Tanner the leader of the group, shoved him, hitting John's shoulder. He recoiled at the touch.

John glared “Don't touch me.”

Tanner appeared to not hear him “It's nice you admit to it, but we need actual proof.”

Tanner aimed to his face, but John parried the hit. Grabbed the hand and swiftly slammed Tanner to the floor.

John held him in place and bent Tanner's hand until it made a disturbing crack. Tanner screamed echoing through the hall.

“Augh! My arm!” 

Tears formed in his eyes “get off of me!”

John felt colorful auras flared up.

“Let go of him, you cripple!” The red-haired one said, as the two of them, in their group charged up to him, the other powered up ready to shoot.

John barely dodged the red haired attack, it was overpowering ‘some strength enhancement?’ , but John quickly countered her with a hit to the stomach.

Before John could think of doing anything else, two beams were shot at him, he instinctively evaded them.

He glared to the one responsible, if only he could take him down, he'd be able to escape—

“Better watch your back.” he was suddenly struck in his back, followed up with a hit to the stomach from the strength enhanced earlier. “This is payback for hitting me earlier!”

John coughed up blood as he was pinned to the wall. Tanner stood moving the shoulder John had just broken lazily, all healed up by his own ability.

“Not so tough now, are we?” 

‘Why is he holding back from these people?’

They hurt him every day for two whole years, and he endured, all for what? For them to be cowards and gang up on him, where's all their worths?They asked for it, they're all waiting for him to snap in someway.

Same with the person who leaked his information, they're all allied together up against him, to take him down. 

“Cat got your tongue? Maybe this will teach you how to speak.” Tanner got ready to punch John in the face again, but instead he got knocked down to the floor, his side of the face stinging in pain, and lost consciousness.

Silence fell to the hallway.

John's eyes were glowing gold, his hands hanging in the air, punching Tanner into unconsciousness earlier.

“no way…”

“Hey, did you see that?”

“did he beat Tanner just like that? A cripple shouldn't be able to Punch that hard!”

“I don't believe it, It must be a bluff!”

“hey is it just me? Or is his eyes glowing?”

A wave of whispers and exclamations rippled through the crowd, growing louder with every second.

When john just realized what happened and what they're whispering. He automatically turned off his ability, but it was already too late. 

A wave of panic crashed over him, drowning out all rational thought, and his mind went blank.

Another aura got into his range, it brought chills into his veins, but was also weirdly familiar in a way.

“How dare you cause so much racket right in front of the infirmary!” Darren came into view, as the mess was unfolding before him.

There was still dried blood on John's lips, people powered up and he was clearly visibly the one who had knocked out Tanner.

Chapter Text

Darren POV:

-“What’s going on here?” The voice of the Doc asked, analyzing the situation laid out in front of him.

He took in the situation as a whole; John standing over an unconscious Tanner, surrounded by a bunch of students all of whom had their abilities active, yet had a completely blank expression on his face, and worst of all, the conversations.

-Did you see that? His eyes were glowing, right?

-Does this mean the rumors were true? That he isn’t actually a cripple?

-I guess he isn’t a cripple after all, but there’s no way he’s actually that strong, otherwise he wouldn’t act like a cripple.

As he heard what they were saying, a single thought crossed the mind of the perpetually annoyed doc.

-“ Well… Shit. ”

John POV:

As John stood over the body of the unconscious Tanner he felt himself become practically paralyzed as waves of memories threatened to overtake him.

He saw himself standing in the field, broken bodies strewn along the ground. He felt the blood on his fists, none of it belonging to him. And then the worst part of it, he saw the face of his green-haired ex-friend as she uttered the word that would shatter his soul.

-“Monster.”

The memories continued to replay in his mind endlessly, but this time they changed, the vestige of the greenette now replaced by one with beautiful magenta hair, the one person he could now call his friend, but right before she could utter the word a rough hand grabbed his shoulder pulling him out of the deluge of terrible thoughts that perpetually threatened to drown him.

John looked up, now conscious once again of where he was, only to see the face of the doc, looking right at him, trying to mask the look of concern on his face as he spoke.

-“Come on kid.” He said, his usual annoyed tone replaced with a slightly tenderer one as he pulled him, nearly dragging, to the infirmary, while directing one of the other students to carry the unconscious Tanner to the infirmary as well.

John arrived at the infirmary and laid on one of the beds, and seeing the unconscious figure of Tanner laying beside him, the full realization of what he had done dawned on him.

-” I used my ability… I hurt someone with my ability again… I failed. ”

Late bloomers like you are doomed to fail. He heard the illusion of Keon’s voice say, permeating through his mind

-“ I guess he wasn’t wrong after all. I failed to keep my ability in check when I was king, and now I failed to keep my power hidden as a cripple. I failed to tell Sera about my ability, and now that she knows, she’s been avoiding me too… Oh god, she probably hates me now. ” He thought to himself, convincing himself beyond doubt that someone had told her about the fact that he had an ability, and told her that everything she had thought she knew about him was fabrication… a lie . He could see in his mind the image of his friend’s face turned to hatred of him. “I guess in the end Claire was right… I am nothing but a monster, no matter how hard I try to be different it doesn’t matter. ” He thought to himself with an empty sigh as he stared up at the white ceiling tiles of the infirmary that he had become so familiar with.

But a ray of hope was found just moments later during a conversation with the doc who had come to give him a tonic, and seeing the empty expression on his face decided to ask him a question.

-”What do you plan on doing now that your secret is out? You obviously won’t be able to hide your power anymore since you showed it off.”

-”Honestly, I don’t know anymore. Perhaps it would be better to just transfer and try again, I am sure Vaughn could help me out with that if I asked. It would certainly be easier.”

-”Perhaps it would, but what about Seraphina? It would be quite a shock for her to come back to find her one friend missing.”

-”Sera already knows. Ever since my transcript was leaked she has been avoiding me like the plague, she hasn’t even tried to contact me to let me explain.”

-”What do you mean she knows?” Doc asked before thinking about it for a moment, and his face turned to one of realization. “Ah, I see where you are getting mixed up, Seraphina isn’t avoiding you John, and I highly doubt she knows about your ability either. According to what I have been told, Seraphina is cut off right now, some kind of punishment from her parents for getting suspended.”

John looked up at him, confusion apparent on his face.

-”What do you mean?”

-”Not long ago, her mother contacted the school to request all of the assignments for the duration of the suspension be sent to her early because she would be unable to receive them. If I had to guess, I would say that her mother turned off her internet and took her phone. It does make sense, she did get suspended after all, and that isn’t something one should take lightly.”

-”Huh.” John felt an enormous sense of relief upon hearing this, it was almost palpable how much the air around him lightened.

-”But you know you are going to have to tell her before someone else does don’t you?”

-”Yeah, but at least it can be me who tells her, and not some other opportunistic asshole who would want to drive us apart.” The image of a certain blue-haired healer flashing in his mind as he said this, and well as the image of the multitudes of other students at the school.

-”Well, alright. I told Vaughn that I am sending you home for the day, we both know that if I don’t any other asswipe kid with a bone to grind will go after you, so it would probably be better for all parties involved if you went ahead and went home while classes are still going on. Vaughn said that he will have your teachers send you the work, so don’t worry about that.”

Once he said this Doc saw a small smile on the face of the ravenette, probably due to relief if he had to guess

As John got up and left the infirmary, he heard the doc mutter under his breath

-”Punkass kids.”

John arrived at his apartment and sat at his desk, watching to make sure that all of his assignments for the day came in, and right as he was about to start them, changed his mind and just laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his room, thinking.

-”Sera doesn’t know yet, but I know I still have to tell her, but at least I have this chance, and I know I can’t let it slip away, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy either.” He said out loud, to no one in particular.

-” It’s like the saying goes, out of the fire, into the frying pan.” He thought.

And just as he finished that thought, he heard a knock on his door.

Chapter Text

A figure in blond stood by the roof, arms interlocked over his chest, looking at the courtyard below with a stalwart expression.

Control.

It is the catalyst that holds together the hierarchy. The bonds people share, friendships, loves, marriages…. It’s all a song and dance of control. That is simply how the world operates.

Arlo furrowed his eyebrows and scoffed.

“Isen, you made all that fuss about not writing the story for the newspaper… Just to spread it anonymously? Did you really fear John’s retribution that much?”, thought Arlo.

The boy continued his brooding on the roof where he stood for an uncomfortable length of time. The muscles in his face relaxed as he noticed an orange mass hurdling amongst the crowds. Clearly in a hurry, the mass hurled himself past students, hitting a few on his way, presumably, to get away from Arlo.

Arlo’s expression remained fairly stagnant as he pursued his way to the door, opening it and heading down the stairs.

…..


“Shit shit shit shit shi!-” murmured a boy as he awkwardly stepped on someone’s foot.

“I have to get outta here! Maybe i can hide in Blyke’s room until-”

Isen stumbled a bit as someone tugged on his shirt, holding him in place.

“Dude! Watch where you’re going! You even stepped on my foot!” spoke Blyke in a loud and annoyed manner.

“S-sorry Blyke, but i need to go so-”

As Isen tried to exit the conversation, Blyke grabbed him by his arm.

“Dude, ever since you saw those John posters you’ve been acting wei-”

Blyke was interrupted as Isen screeched incoherently, his words jumbled as he caught his breath.

With a familiar noise, a dome of intangible yellow materialized around the duo. Blyke instinctively activated his ability before comprehending the situation.

Blyke turned around without much anger or exasperation; sensing that Isen had once again got himself into trouble. Isen meanwhile… could have used a change of pants.

“I need to talk to Isen. Privately. ” proclaimed Arlo. Isen could sense that this was simply a calm… or rather ‘monotony’ before the storm.

As Arlo dropped the barrier, Isen fell onto the ground as his knees gave out. His brain became so overwhelmed by the thoughts of his seemingly imminent demise that his brain simply blanked out.

“ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ISWEARARLOITWASNTMEEEEE!!”

Blyke, and even Arlo flinched at Isen. Arlo’s face showed more and more anger as Isen’s screeching continued to frustrate the boy. Eventually, Isen slumped a bit, finally quieting down.

“I didn't even get to lay together with a hot chick” thought Isen, before turning his attention to Arlo.

“I-I’ll just leave you guys to it” said Blyke as he started walking away. Whatever was happening was, after all, between Isen and Arlo. Blyke assumed it had something to do with those posters about John’s unordinary status. Apparently John did indeed use his powers in front of the infirmary. If those posters were true, John would probably rank higher than Arlo himself. And Isen is in the school press club; he probably knew something. Was the investigation he was doing the last few weeks related to John, perhaps?

Blyke was perhaps 15 or so steps away from the duo when he heard Arlo call out to him.

“...As the Jack of Wellston, this also concerns you. Come with me.”

The trio, with Arlo in the lead; Blyke in the back and Isen in the middle (without any chance of escaping, and with little intention to do so) make their way towards the nearest school building. Classes are over, and so it shouldn’t be too hard to find an empty classroom.

…..

William yawned as he stretched his arms, feeling sluggish after a long haul of typing on his laptop. As he dropped his arms back on the desk (with a lot more force than he initially intended), a mug filled with a dark liquid entered his line of sight.

“Here Will, want some coffee?” asked a short woman with brown hair, William’s editor at the printing house.

“From the bottom of my heart you have my sincerest thanks, Trenx “ murmured William as he took the cup from the woman’s hand.

“Ah, sorry, I got too caught up in my writing for a sec there.” spoke William. Both of them chuckled lightly.

“You know you can take a break, right? It has been hours since you started working” spoke Trenx in a calm manner.

“Well, I suppose I do feel a bit sluggish. Besides, I need to send some money to John for a new phone.” spoke William.

“Oh, How’s things going with John by the way?” inquired Trenx. “Somewhere like Wellston must put a lot of pressure on anybody, especially someone like John.”

“He’s handling things about as well as anybody I suppose.” said William, before sighing deeply. “To be honest, I'm feeling worried for him. A few days ago he called, said he broke his phone, asked for another copy of Unordinary and hung up on me, and he has been avoiding me since. I really believe he has some problems going on, I just don’t really know what.”

“Why don’t you visit him in Wellston? It’s been quite a long while since you last checked up on him in person.” perused Trenx.

“That’s…not a bad idea, actually. Think we can clear a few days from my schedule this weekend? inquired William.

“Not sure if it will be on the Weekends, but we absolutely can. You do deserve some R&R with your son.” said Trenx.

“I just hope it’s usual school anxiety, maybe a bad exam or something that stressed out John.” said William before sighing. Realizing he hadn’t started yet, he took a sip of the now mildly less hotter coffee, which hit the back of his throat and went down his esophagus, the bitter yet familiar taste alerting his nervous system. Practically everybody in the modern world requires a fair bit of caffeine to function, and William was no exception.

“Welp, I’m going out to a nearby café for lunch. Most desks are also empty. You should head out soon as well.” spoke Trenx, worrying about the workaholic tendencies of her employee.

“Hah, I will… after i finish this paragraph….”

…..

Classroom 27. The usual gathering place of the Botany Club, at least when they conduct activities indoors. Assigned to biology teacher Mr. Kenja, and occasionally used for Biology experiments. It is one of the smaller classrooms, although this doesn’t present an issue for the 9 member large Botany Club. Since the Botany Club only gathers on Mondays and Wednesdays, the classroom was empty. It was also convenient for a certain Trio.

Arlo, Isen and Blyke (in that order) entered Classroom 27, after having checked a half-dozen others. Closing the door, Arlo spoke: “I thought you were certain about not publishing the story, Isen. What gives?”

Arlo’s tone was somewhat cheerful. If it was in some other context, it might have been confused for teasing. Isen quickly perked up: “It wasn’t me! I didn’t make those posters! Arlo you have to-”

Arlo raised his hand and gestured silence, which Isen obeyed.

“I figured as much. Still, someone managed to either access the info you collected, or make their own inquiry into John without being detected.” spoke Arlo.

“Isen, have you ever left your computer unattended? Maybe in a location where someone might have accessed it?” asked Blyke.

“N-no. I make a habit of closing my computer when I have to step out; even if it is just to go to the toilet.” muttered Isen, glad to not be next on the chopping block. Arlo raised his eyebrow at that, while Blyke nodded his head, accepting Isen's statement.

“So, someone would have to be proficient in computers to get past your password and access the info? Assuming they took the information from you?” proclaimed Arlo, to which Isen nodded.

“Isen, you know people in the press club, right? Is there someone who might have been involved in the distribution of the posters?” proposed Blyke.

“Hmm…. If I had to guess, Cecile -head of the school newspaper- might have some information about it. She has an even larger network of informants than I do.” said Isen. Arlo scratched his head before continuing:

“Assuming Cecile is a dead lead, what else can we make out? Any motive for anybody to release this information anonymously? After all, it wouldn’t bring a spotlight to their name.”

“Since you guys seem to accept that John is a 7.0, could the motive be to dethrone the current King?” said Blyke, before taking a step back after looking at Arlo.

“...Possibly. Cecile might not be too happy that I chose you over her as the Jack. And there is certainly a sizable number of people who would enjoy another King.” said Arlo, clearly irritated. The topic was not really enthusing.

Then again, wasn’t his goal, from the start, to put John back in his rightful place in the Hierarchy? If he indeed could beat him -a very realistic prospect considering the power levels- , then didn’t he deserve to lead as King?.... No matter what happened at New Bostin, Arlo simply couldn't deny John’s power.

Arlo’s mind began to wander to a past encounter with the “cripple” in question, at a café not too long ago. John somehow managed to convince him to come to a Boba place, the specifics of which he didn’t recall. The argument over his obviously correct choice of coffee flashed before his mind. Then came the… memorable part.

“Why did I mention Rei in front of him? Does his supposed philosophy remind me of Rei?” thought Arlo, as he sighed, eliciting a reaction from the two boys, yet neither spoke up.

John’s dad… seemed admirable enough. A man content with what he had, improving and carrying on, despite being a cripple. Some admirable ideals to follow, yet ideals for John to so carelessly betray. Why? What compelled John to shackle himself, to pretend to be powerless? …Does his excuse of a motive have anything to do with the posters?

Arlo then reminisced about a talk with some elite-tiers about ambushing John on the Turf Wars ground. He hadn’t made a concrete plan back then -how would he even bring John to the Turf Wars ground in the first place?-, but now it would seem to be… redundant.

“I don’t suppose we will figure out anything more like this. Let’s go and talk to Cecile.” finally said Arlo as he started walking towards the exit.

“Dude, are you going to talk about why Arlo and you were snooping around John’s past?” whispered Blyke, not wishing to attract Arlo’s attention as he started to follow said blond.

“Eh.. I’ll tell you once we’re alone” replied Isen, also in a whisper.

…..

1204 Walnut Street was the address of a white house, built in a modernist style, one among two dozen others. Due to their proximity to Wellston High School, they were mostly filled by teachers, staff and students who attended there. The specific house in question was no different. A boy clad in Wellston school uniform approached the house nervously, anxiety and fatigue weighing heavy on him. With a disheveled look, Terrence approached the pinewood door.

“Remember all that rehearsing last night. You will appear as the kid that John saved from a bully, approach him with concern about recent events, comfort him and figure out his intentions.”

Terrence’s mind wandered to John and Seraphina, another high tier that Spectre observed, at least for now. John had made quite an impact on Seraphina’s mindset, away from the accursed hierarchy and closer to something Spectre could agree on. Although Seraphina’s suspension and recent pressure seemed to make him unapproachable and angry, perhaps a genuine recruitment attempt might be made once Seraphina returned. For now, only a reconnaissance about John’s leanings would be made.

Terrence raised his hand over the pinewood door and prepared to knock, however, he pulled back.

“...It might be best not to mention that I spread those posters. If he is indeed recruited, perhaps I can confess about it later; if only to get through the inevitable tension.”

And with that, Terrence knocked at the door.

Chapter Text

John stood up and walked to the door, wondering who could possibly be at his house at this time. Glancing over at the clock, he saw that school wasn’t quite over yet. Hesitant yet curious he opened the door to a familiar face. Sera stared at him, a smile on her face.

“Sera?! You’re back! I heard you had your internet cut. Are you ok?”

“Nothing much, my parents were upset, but I managed to convince them to let me go back early. So I’m crashing at your place until my suspension is up.”

John nodded, and then stepped forward unprompted and wrapped her in a tight hug. He just stood there holding her close as she giggled a little and hugged him back.

“All right, I can tell you missed me. You are hugging me like you won’t ever see me again. Now can you please let me in the door?”

Inwardly, John thought, “It probably is my last time”. Outwardly he stayed silent, giving one last squeeze, before releasing her and carrying her bags inside.

Once Sera was situated, they decided to watch a movie. After popping some popcorn and settling down, with Sera’s legs across John’s lap, she posed the question John was scared of.

“So why are you home so early, school isn’t quite over yet?”

John took a deep breath, remembering the posters, and Doc’s advice. 

“You know you are going to have to tell her before someone else does, don’t you?”

Steeling his nerves, John answered. “It’s been rough without you there, people have been relentless. Doc decided to send me home early, instead of having to do more work.”

Sera laughed into her hand, and punched John playfully in the arm. John died a little inside as he lied to Sera again, even if what he said was technically true.

They quickly settled back into their routine, with teasing and commentary covering up almost the entirety of the movie. Both of them felt refreshed being back together after so long, and if their hands kept brushing, nobody acknowledged it.

Once the movie was finished, the two of them decided to have dinner before it got too late. Because of John’s lackluster cooking skills, they were just having ramen but John had never had so much fun preparing a meal before doing it with Sera.

As Sera ate, John played with his food, before finally making a decision.

“Hey, um Sera? There’s something I need to tell-”

Another knock at the door cut him off, and John looked at it strangely.

“One second John, we should go see who that is. Then you can tell me what you're trying to say.”

John nodded, and walked up to the door, Sera close behind him. Upon opening it John felt a flash of dread seeing Terrence. Before he could do anything, Terrence started talking.

“It might surprise you to know John, but you aren’t alone. I’m part of a group of High-Tiers who hate the hierarchy and are trying to tear it down. We have developed a way to even the playing field, and let the system break itself. Your power and skill set would be very useful in working with the High-Tiers we have tracked down.”

John stood there silently, shocked as his plan and his identity fell apart before his eyes. Terrence took the silence as agreement, and chuckled to himself.

“No need to answer right now, don’t worry. I’ll be in touch.”

With a wave, Terrence turned invisible and began walking away, until he disappeared from John’s senses. He shut the door and locked it, before hesitantly turning around. Sera stared at him, smiling to herself.

“You need to tell me what you did while I was gone, because that's an amazing strategy. How did you convince people you had an ability?”

Her smile fell, as she saw John standing there nervously, and he wasn't smiling along with her.

“John?”

“Listen Sera,” John stammered out, “I can explain.”

“So explain then. What ability is he talking about?” Sera responded curious yet stern.

“I have an ability, but I didn’t want to use it again. So I enrolled as a cripple, and tried my best to live how I wanted to live. While you were gone someone leaked my school documents, and now the whole school knows. I’ve been trying to tell you all night… but I couldn’t work up the nerve. I didn’t want you to hate me for lying, but I didn’t want anyone else to break the news.”

At some point during his breathless explanation, John fell onto his hands and knees. He stared at the ground, eyes watering when something cut into his line of sight. It was Sera’s outstretched hand. Hesitant, he took it, and she pulled him to his feet.

“This is shocking, but I don’t hate you John.”

John slowly met her gaze. She smiled, and he smiled back.

“So, are we still friends?” He asked, as if the question was weighing heavily on him.

Sera bit her lip. “I don't know. This is alot to take in, and it's been a long day. I need to think about all of this.”

John hung his head, and Sera gave him a hug before retreating to the room and closing the door.

John sat on the couch numb, and feeling lost. Not knowing what to do, he found himself opening his computer and calling his dad. William answered on his phone, and the sound of background noise filled the house. It took a second for it to clear up, as he walked into a quieter area.

“So, you’ve finally called me back, John. Are you doing ok?”

“No, no I am not.”

John explained his reasoning for enrolling as a cripple, how he became friends with Sera, and what happened over her suspension. WIlliam nodded along, listening and offering no words until John got it out of his system. As he progressed, John teared up more and more until he was crying as he talked.

“And then, when I finally worked up the courage, someone else came and told her instead. Now she doesn’t trust me, and doesn’t want to talk to me. It's going to be just like last time, until I break.”

“No, John no. If she hated you, why would she help you up? She just wants some time to process. I am sure that in the morning you will be able to have a conversation, and you’ll realize you were overreacting. If you wanted, I could come and talk to her, help clear things up-”

“Thanks dad, but no. Sera is my friend, and she deserves me to talk to her about all this. I can do this much for her.”

“Alright John, I trust you. Now, I have to go, so goodnight, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

William hung up the phone, and left the quiet corner he was standing in. As he walked towards his gate, travel bag in hand, he shrugged and prepared to board the plane anyway.

“I do trust him to do it, but I'm still going to be there for whatever he needs.” He thought, as he pulled out his ticket and got in line.

—

Sera sat huddled on the other side of the door. She had also started tearing up as she heard John, and the pain in his voice, when he talked about losing her. She knew for sure now, that none of it was a lie, John was still John, just a little stronger.

As she crawled into bed and began drifting off, one final thought crossed her mind.

“Terrence turned invisible, and mentioned tracking down High-Tiers, that is suspiciously familiar. I wonder…”

Chapter Text

Walnut Street was exceptionally well lit. As part of a neighborhood favored by staff and attendees of Wellston High School, the most prestigious school this side of the Texahoma River, the government spared no expense to ensure that its occupants always have a clear view of the next intersection. 

Terrence was used to darker roads. He was used to flickering street lights and cracked sidewalks and deep shadows. All this light, this exposure… it was a little unsettling. He didn’t like how its artificial brightness drowns out the stars.

It was still quiet, though. Terrence didn’t understand why – how could these people still be afraid of the dark when they had dozens of tiny suns to create a false daylight just for them? The acclaimed “strongest” in the region, no less? Why did their shoulders hunch and their eyes dart around as if they were being hunted, when they were the hunters during school hours? 

Perhaps that was a bit harsh. Terrence, after all, had his ability wrapped around him like his own personal shadow, guarding him from whatever imaginary adversaries his mind might otherwise have conjured up. It also concealed him from the few pedestrians who were still out and about, which was comforting for him but perhaps less so for them. Maybe they could hear the echo of his footsteps, despite their trained lightness. Maybe they could feel his gaze upon their backs. 

Maybe, they were nervous because of him. 

The thought brought an upward curl to the corner of his mouth. 

Nevertheless, it was quiet. He liked that it was quiet. It freed his mind to contemplate the unexpected events of earlier tonight, and how they were going to affect his report.

Most of it revolved around Seraphina. Also known as Target 93. 

Terrence was not expecting to see her there. 

In retrospect, it shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise. John and Seraphina were best friends. She spent enough time at his house that it was originally pinged as her place of residence, rather than her own dorm room. Once Terrence had noticed his superiors’ mistake, he’d consulted with them but they’d ultimately decided not to change it. After all, a cripple’s house made for a much easier place to target than a Wellston dorm room, considering its top-notch security headed by Keene. If she’d be there often, that was more than enough.

Except John wasn’t actually a cripple, was he?

Hmm. That plan might need some revision, now that he thought about it. 

Of more immediate concern, however, this meant that just when Terrence knocked on John’s door less than an hour ago, intending to gauge his intentions now that his ability had been revealed, he heard a faint sound through the door. 

Someone was laughing. It sounded like a girl.

Terrence had immediately stilled his fist, and prayed that no one heard his knock. A couple seconds passed, and then a faint crashing noise filtered through the wooden door. His body tensed instinctively, going on high alert, before he heard the same laugh again. A voice cut in this time – John’s voice – too low to make out the words, but full of unmistakable humor. 

A movie. They must be watching a movie. If he could hear if from out here, there was no way they could’ve heard him knocking. 

He got lucky. 

Honestly, Terrence had had every intention to abort the mission at that point. Seraphina’s presence complicated everything. John may or may not show all his cards in front of her, not if he’d been hiding his ability from her as well this whole time — a 50/50 chance, if you asked him. Moreover, it had occurred to Terrence on the way here that he had no real excuse for how he’d found John’s house. With John’s less-than-stellar grades, he might not pick up on the discrepancy, but Seraphina was another story. 

The whole point of this was to gather intel. With Seraphina here, the side walking away with the most intel wouldn’t be Spectre. 

To his surprise, however, his report to Orrin hadn’t gone as expected. 

“Turn around, Wellston,” the older man had commanded over the phone after he explained the situation. “Take a direct approach.” 

“What?” Terrence had replied dumbly, not expecting further instructions at all. 

“According to your report, not one, but two high-tiers with low-tier sympathies are in that house. This is a golden opportunity… the type of opportunity Spectre will never pass up.”

Terrence thought he understood what Orrin was getting at. If John and Seraphina were receptive to a direct approach, then they only gained by trying. If not, well… It didn’t really matter if they became suspicious of him. They were both pretty isolated, apart from each other, so they were unlikely to spread anything they learned. 

And as for themselves, well… Spectre was hardly going to let them go. 

Still, Terrence was concerned Orrin had misjudged a crucial detail. 

“You read the files I sent you on Target 99, correct? He’s hardly used his ability in over a year. What if he can’t be controlled that way? If we don’t approach this subtly, we may not be able to win him over as an ally.” 

“Perhaps not, if his ability were our only leverage,” Orrin had agreed. It was clear from his tone that he was smiling. 

“But you know we have other methods. And with the girl… don’t you think he’d think twice?”

Those words replayed in Terrence’s head, even now. He’s not sure why they got to him so much. 

He buried his hands deeper in his pockets as the cold night air sent goosebumps crawling along his arms. He had done as Orrin asked, but he still reserved a certain degree of trepidation. Despite his undeniable intelligence, Terrence’s superior could be reckless when he set his sights on something he really wanted, and two potentially sympathetic high-tiers definitely fit that bill. 

Terrence, however, was unsure that this would go as smoothly as Orrin imagined. John had seemed neither hostile nor particularly interested in what he said — which wasn’t a bad start, except in retrospect, Terrence wasn’t sure he actually gave much thought to his words at all. He’d seemed much more preoccupied with Seraphina. 

Seraphina, though… her eyes had narrowed minutely as he spoke. He’d finished his speech much more quickly and gracelessly than he’d originally planned, a bad feeling in his chest screaming at him to get away. With a nervous laugh, he’d forced himself through the last few words and fled. 

He knows he shouldn’t have turned invisible in front of them, not after they’d caught him like that before, but… it was the only way he had to escape a raging high-tier. 

Once he got caught, there was no escape. There was no fighting back. Not for Terrence. 

Fortunately, John was still pale and floundering, in no shape to go tracking him down, and Seraphina couldn’t find him on her own. Seraphina seemed more worried about John than Terrence anyway, though she hid it beneath a comforting smile.

John really had never told her about his ability, had he? 

Lucky for me, Terrence supposed. Very lucky. 

He shook his head, trying to clear the lingering dread that was rekindled by merely remembering how heavy her gaze was upon him. 

Terrence doesn’t like to be seen. Less so by high-tiers, and less still when they’re displeased with him. It’s one thing when they’re disabled… brought down far below his level, and helpless to obey Spectre’s demands for as long as they want access to their abilities. 

But returning the icy blue stare of such a powerful high-tier, so effortlessly self-assured and cruel… it brought back memories Terrence thought he’d gotten over. 

Every high-tier has those eyes. Those condescending, prideful eyes. Eyes that don’t see the people below them as people at all.

But that was the point of taking these risks, isn’t it? 

Terrence took solace in the thought that one day, one day very soon, the arrogance would be stripped from her gaze, and neither high-tier’s eyes would glow with aura again. Not until Spectre wills it so. 

… 

Arlo regarded his finished essay with displeasure. He had technically met the requirements of the assignment, but he was well over the target word count and he could tell he was rambling. It’s funny how that happened when he had a lot on his mind. He spoke less, but anything he wrote tended to get… well, out of control. 

He rested his pen on his desk with a sigh. 

Everything has felt a little out of control, ever since John’s records were posted all over the school. 

What was Arlo supposed to do about all of this? 

He rested his head on his hand, swallowing the resurgence of irritation he felt earlier today when he, Blyke, and Isen went to find Cecile only to discover that she’d already gone home for the day. He’ll have to track her down tomorrow, to discover the truth about those records. Had someone really broken into Isen’s computer and found them there? Or had someone else independently dug into John’s past for unknown reasons? 

Either possibility speaks of a mysterious third party within the school with more intelligence, motivation and skill than Arlo was aware anyone outside of his own circle possessed, except perhaps Seraphina. It’s unsettling, considering that he’s unsure what those motivations are exactly. 

In attempting to unveil one person’s true identity, he seemed to have discovered another. It left him wondering how many other secrets may be lurking right under his nose. 

Then, of course, there was John himself. Arlo still couldn’t fathom why anyone would hide their ability, much less a person of John’s apparent strength. 

His approach to that problem, at least, should be relatively straightforward. When the strength of an individual is in question, the natural path forward is to to test it. To see if his skill really lives up to the seven in his records. 

The problem was the fallout. In those same records, it was clear that John made a truly terrible king. Vicious and oppressive enough that it made Arlo nervous. It was so at odds with the way that the John he knew presented himself that he’d be tempted to believe the records were fake, if not for the reports of John using his ability earlier that same day.

Was it really the right thing to do to allow such a volatile individual to be king? 

He’s hidden it for this long… if I don’t force the issue, he might be content to let things continue as they are. Maybe he’d just become a second Ace. 

But no… only the strongest man could be king. The hierarchy demanded it. Arlo had no choice: tomorrow, he needed to challenge John to a rank battle. To prevent the chaos at school from getting out of hand. To determine who deserved the title, once and for all. 

To restore order. 

But selfishly, even mutinously, Arlo… Arlo really hoped he could win. Hoped that the other boy’s strength was exaggerated, or maybe that he was out of practice with his ability after so long of going without it.

Because if Arlo loses the fight… 

What sort of disaster awaits Wellston? 

Chapter Text

John barely had the will to get off the couch that morning. Seraphina hated him, surely. Without her friendship to get him through the day, what was the point in going at all?

Still, his grades were tanking, and he forced himself to go to school. When he got there, the hurt in Seraphina’s eyes filled his mind. He could do nothing. He was powerless. Not in a traditional sense, of course, no he was powerless to save his own friendship.

Walking through the halls, he held his head in his hands, fighting back the tears that threatened to pour from his eyes. He was so distracted, he almost didn’t hear the whispers and muttering from the other students.

‘There he is!’

‘I heard Arlo’s planning to challenge him today.’

‘Really? I can’t believe Arlo actually believes that garbage. When he exposes John for the cripple he is, I’ll be so happy!’

‘Arlo’s going to challenge me?’ John wondered. ‘Shit. I’m not ready for that. If we fight in a ranked match…I likely won’t be able to hold back.’ Seraphina’s face flashed in his mind again. ‘What if Sera finds out about it? Then she’s guaranteed to hate me…’

“John!” a loud voice boomed through the hallways, practically hitting him in the eardrums. When he craned his head to gaze at the source of the voice, he saw the tall figure, blond hair, and blue eyes of Wellston’s Defense King. “Come with me. We’ll settle this once and for all.”

The ravenette rolled his brown eyes. ‘So dramatic,’ he thought, turning around completely. “And what if I say no?” he called back. “Either way, it’s a loss for you. If I’m really powerless, then all you’re doing is beating the hell out of a weakling six levels below you.” Some confidence forced its way through and he locked eyes with the King. “And if I am a high-tier… then you’ll lose your title .” 

Arlo felt a strange chill run down his spine. He’d only seen that kind of glare from one other person: Seraphina. A mere low-tier could never make him feel that way, especially not without an active ability. “You can refuse if you’d like, but the truth will come out one way or another. It would be best for you to get it over with now rather than later.”

He had a point, John had to acknowledge that. “All right, fine,” he conceded. “I’ll fight you.”

A weak smile formed on Arlo’s lips. He put on a mask of confidence…but deep down, he knew exactly how this would play out. And he was not looking forward to it.

He led the supposed cripple to a flat, empty square of pavement outside. Arlo loosened his tie and untucked his shirt, readying himself for a fight.

John set down his backpack, discarded his jacket, sweater, and tie. A crowd formed around them, including Isen and Blyke. The reporter was biting his fingernails nervously, which caught the redhead’s eye.

“Calm down, dude,” he said, unable to his own nervousness in his voice. “Arlo knows what he’s doing.”

“Arlo might,” Isen muttered. “But John doesn’t. I’m just worried about how this fight will go.”

Arlo kept his ability deactivated. With what he read up on in John’s files, it would be the wisest course of action. He could deal with his passive alone. Or, rather, he hoped he could.

His nervousness apparently slipped through, as John caught on to it and smiled. “Loosen up a bit,” he said confidently, though internally the passive side of him was screaming at him to stop. “ You challenged me . You better not think of backing down now.”

John couldn’t even begin to explain why he was so confident. He supposed it was his natural response to conflict. His father’s first lesson was, in fact, to put on a false mask of confidence so the opponent doesn’t think he can beat him.

Except in this case, Arlo actually couldn’t beat him.

John had no abilities copied, so he knew that he would be relying on his skill for the beginning of this fight. He needed to bait Arlo into raising his barrier. To do that, he would need enough strength to break through his passive, which he likely wouldn’t be able to do without an ability. It would be difficult. But not impossible.

He knew that Arlo was not an offensive user, which meant that he would have to make the first move. He quickly dashed up to Arlo, slamming a futile punch into his face. Arlo returned the attack, grabbing the ravenette’s arm and whirling him around, slamming him into a wall, leaving cracks behind him.

John coughed up a small bit of blood and spit it onto the ground, raising his knee and whamming it into Arlo’s stomach. To his surprise, the hit was strong enough to knock him slightly backwards, leaving him open to duck under his arm and put distance between them.

His eyes scanned over the crowd. He hoped that someone had activated their ability so he could use it. But he sensed nothing. 

Arlo groaned softly and glared at him angrily. “That was a decent hit,” he said. “I felt it, even through my passive.”

“What can I say? I hit hard.”

John lunged forward again, falsely throwing a punch at his face and diving down to slam his left fist into his stomach. The hit caused Arlo to stumble, but he managed to get a counter attack in, sweeping his leg under John’s and toppling him over. He pressed his foot into his chest, keeping the ravenette pinned to the ground.

“Looks like you were worried for nothing,” Blyke said from the sidelines, briefly glancing at Isen before zoning back in on the fight. “John’s completely powerless.”

Arlo’s eyes filled with a sky blue glow as a golden barrier formed around them. The crowd knew what this meant. It was time for Arlo to teach John a lesson. And he was going to do it in the most painful way possible.

But despite this, John smiled. The blonde had given him exactly what he wanted. He raised his own black barrier within Arlo’s own, kicking the King back, slamming him into the barriers. Arlo lost focus and his barrier lowered. 

John ran at him again, kicking him directly in the stomach. The blonde tasted the iron from his blood as he spit it out onto the ground. He tried to raise his barrier, but was interrupted when John’s black barrier formed around him instead.

The ravenette entered the dome with his hands in his pockets. The assault that commenced was so bloody and violent that most of the crowd had to leave, the image of their strongest leader being so brutally beaten was too much for them to handle.

Soon, only Blyke, Isen, and a handful of others remained. Blyke’s hand twitched as his ability activated. Isen grabbed him by the wrist, shaking his head.

“That’s not a good idea,” he said. Blyke sighed, the glow dimming from his eyes as he lowered his hand at his side. 

After some time, John finally snapped back to reality, releasing Arlo’s bloodied figure. He’d been knocked unconscious for a while already. He looked at his blood covered fists and bit his lip. ‘Shit…I went too far again.’ 

He lowered his barrier and turned to the now much smaller crowd. “You all know what this means, right?” he shouted. “I’m in charge now. Spread the word.” Deep in his mind, though, he wasn’t happy about this. ‘There’s no going back now…’ he acknowledged. ‘Maybe I can get away with becoming an Ace? Sera’s really going to hate me now, isn’t she?’

He’d rather not think about that. Instead, he grabbed Arlo and hauled him up on his shoulders to take him to the infirmary. It was the least he could do after beating him to the extent he did.

. . .

When Arlo awoke in the infirmary, he wasn’t expecting to see John there sitting next to the bed. The two briefly exchanged glares before the blonde mustered the strength to sit upright. His muscles ached from the bruises and he groaned softly, not used to this kind of pain.

“Pace yourself there, your majesty,” John spat. “Doc says you need at least the rest of the day to rest.”

Arlo sighed. “I’m not the King anymore, thanks to you.”

“Says who?”

“You beat me. Hierarchy rules state that you are now the new King.”

John rolled his eyes. “Please, as if I’d want that title.” He stood up, straightened his pants and glanced at his phone. He’d been waiting for a reply from Seraphina for a while now. “You must’ve seen my records, given that they were released for everyone to see. Which means that you know exactly what kind of King I was at New Bostin. Do you really want that for Wellston, too?”

Arlo stared at him for a few moments. He couldn’t detect anything deceitful in his eyes, but there was something there. Something…sad? “You miss Seraphina,” he blurted out, meaning to have kept it to himself.

Without leaving him any room to react, John grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and got up close to his face. “Don’t you dare mention her name to me. I beat your ass once, I’ll sure as hell do it again.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Arlo said nonchalantly. “You’re just a loose cannon with nothing better to do than beat up everyone around you and call yourself a King.”

John closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let go of him. “You’re just trying to get under my skin,” he noted. “It won’t work. You’re not worth it.”

“Just— Get the hell out of here.”

John clicked his tongue. “Fine by me!”

As he walked away, Arlo couldn’t help but wonder why he stayed. Perhaps there was more to John than he realized. He’d have to look into it when he recovered.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Seraphina had spent the whole day thinking about John. She reassessed their entire friendship and pieced things together as best she could. Everything in her head was telling her to end their friendship and resent him. But there was another factor…a warmth in her heart every time she saw his goofy smile or watched him make a fool of himself to stand up for her and her issues. 

She couldn’t bring herself to ever resent him, and so, she decided that when he came home, they would talk. And she would tell him what she thought. 

It didn’t take long for him to walk through the door. She got up and stood in the doorway of his bedroom, arms crossed nonchalantly. “Welcome home.”

The voice startled him, and he gazed at her silhouette in the door. “You’re…you’re still here?” he asked.

“Of course,” she replied. “It’s not like I can go back to the dorms yet.” 

“Oh,” John mumbled. “Right.”

“And…you’re my friend.”

John perked up at that. “Really? Even after everything I’ve done?”

“John, I’ve done a lot of thinking today and I realized that there is nothing you can do that would ever make me hate you. I just…needed time to think, you know?”

“Yeah.” His voice was quiet, low. “I’m so happy…I thought that… surely you hated me.” 

It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Not at all. It was just a lot for me to take in. Finding out you have an ability…it…broke my trust. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re my best friend.”

John smiled. He got his best friend back. But now he also had to deal with what to do after defeating Arlo. He didn’t want to become King, but…would that be possible? Arlo was adamant on putting him in charge, even while knowing the consequences.

He decided he would figure it out in the morning. For now, he just wanted to spend time with Seraphina.

Chapter Text

“Hey… John?” Seraphina asked while laying across the couch, her legs sprawled over John’s after a long movie night

“Huh?” He replied

“Why’d you do it?… Hide your ability I mean?” She asked him, curious but not angry anymore

He sighed. “I’ve… done things with it that I’m not proud of… I’m not proud of what it turns me into…” He said looking at his open palm, an empty look in his eyes.

“What do you mean?” She asked, her head angled to one side

“When I use it I… lose control, I guess. Like when I fought Arlo earlier I practically blacked out until the fight was over, and in that time I knocked him unconscious and didn’t even know it, and even then I still didn’t stop…” He let out a very hollow laugh. “I never should have awakened this power… I’m just… not strong enough to handle it.”

“Hold up.” She said as she swung her legs off John’s lap, sitting up and looking right at him. “You fought Arlo today? When were you planning on mentioning that ? Does that mean you’re the king now?” She wasn’t sure how to unpack the rest of what he said, or the implications of it, so she didn’t.

“Yeah, whenever it came up, and I guess? I don’t really know. I’m probably going to try to do something similar to what you did. Ya know, create a new royal title with minimal responsibilities.” He said, still not meeting her eyes. He still felt terrible for keeping his ability a secret, despite her telling him it was fine and that she ordered it out in her head, and he was still annoyed that someone else had barged in and exposed him before he could tell her himself, but he told himself he would deal with that later.

She slightly laughed at the jab, whether it was intentional or not

“What kind of ability does he have that he could knock Arlo unconscious and then come back pretty much unscathed? Should I ask? He seems kinda quiet about it, and I don’t want to push him if he isn’t comfortable talking about it.” However her innate curiosity won out

“Um… If you don’t mind me asking… What does your ability do anyway?”

He hesitated, but upon realizing that she deserved to know, especially since it was inevitable that people would fuck around and find out, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself, the best way for her to stop him was to know what she was dealing with.

He exhaled, preparing himself to talk in detail about one major thing about him he wished he would never have to talk about again.

“I copy abilities essentially. It’s called Aura Manipulation, it lets me alter the flow of my aura to match that of another person’s ability. I can also amp copied abilities as well, at least usually. There is a little more to it than that, but that’s the general gist of it.”

Seraphina was speechless upon hearing this. “ He copies and amplifies abilities?! How strong is he? He said he beat Arlo, so he’s at least a god tier, but I wonder…”  

“Ok, at this point I gotta know, what’s your level? You said you pummeled Arlo, so at least god tier, but I want to know how we stack up.”

“Um… Around a 7 last time I had it checked, but bottling aura for two years without using any increased my stores, so it’s probably higher than that now. If I had to take a guess I would say around a 7.5”

“Holy Shit!” She said with surprise, which was obvious to John as Sera rarely swore.

“Yeah…”

“So what does that mean if you copied my ability?” Originally Sera was just going to think it over, but at the moment John was being pretty forthcoming with information, so it was easier to just ask.

“It would be a weaker version and I wouldn’t be able to amp it. Usually I prefer to take multiple weaker abilities and amp them up to snuff because they are easier to manage, and I can boost and combine their effects to make combat easier, but if I used just your ability I would be outclassed.”

“Wait… multiple? combine? You didn’t mention that before.”

“Oh yeah, that… would be important.” He looked at her with even more guilt, but upon seeing her face, desiring further explanation, he obliged. “I can copy four abilities at a time and combine their effects. If I had to give an example it would be that, theoretically as I haven’t tried yet, if I copied Blyke’s and Isen’s abilities I could create homing lasers.”

She was astonished, and while John was getting angsty from talking about his ability, he toughed it out and answered any questions she asked over the course of the night, until he had to go to bed. And although questions about his past were mostly answered with vague answers, by the end she knew almost everything about his ability.

The Next Morning:

John stood in front of the gate to the school as he felt every eye on him, and every voice whispering. It was to be

expected though, with news of his possible ascension to the throne, and how he got there (that being the state he left Arlo in) being hot gossip, it was inevitable, or rather, unavoidable. He hated this feeling though, hated the idea of being king as well, so while originally planning to visit Vaughn’s office later in the day, he decided to do it now instead.

As John approached Vaughn’s office he heard the whispers so much, but when people tried to ask him questions, he avoided talking to them, letting the presence he perfected at New Bostin leak out, perfectly removing anyone’s desire to speak to him.

He eventually reached his destination, and as he knocked on the door he heard a voice beckoning him to enter.

“Hello sir,” John said with a slight bow as he entered

“Yes? What brings you to see me? Although I have some idea, granted the whispers heard all throughout the school this morning.” Vaughn asked

“Yeah… those… to be honest sir, I don’t have any desire to be king, as you well know. But at the same time, now that I defeated Arlo, I see no route that doesn’t involve me becoming a royal, so I was thinking about doing something… unorthodox again.”

“You mean creating another new title?”

“Yes sir.”

“Very well. Let me call in the other royals, I’ll let you tell Seraphina yourself.”

“Okay.” He replied, understanding it as necessary, yet not too happy about having to be in a room with them again

After the royals entered and were given a rough explanation of the situation, thus being given a hateful look by Arlo due to John’s desire to “avoid responsibilities expected of high tiers” Vaughn asked John a very important question.

“What name were you thinking of giving this new, self appointed title?”

John looked up with a grin as he decided to use the title Sera suggested the previous night, which fit John’s ability to a tee, as well as the pre-established deck of cards motif that the school ran on

“How about… Joker?”