Things were beginning to bother Arlo to the point all he could do was sit around in the Royals lounge to plan the downfall of the three troublemakers he'd had the displeasure of being around. Seraphina's sudden change in character had been brought about by John Doe, a student in her year and a Cripple.
He was currently priority number 2, with priority number one going to the insane duo that had begun inspiring low tiers to fight against the school. School riots had become more frequent with Vritra and Azazel acting as figure-heads that inspired the conflicts. Low tiers would punch mid-tiers and when they were punched back, they would threaten mid-tiers with Vritra and Azazel's name. The entire school was in chaos.
Low-tiers had a place in the system before. They were treated harshly because they were not gifted and they showed no progress in their ability, but despite being beaten a lot of times there weren't riots and anarchy running rampant in the school. Small isolated scenarios where bullies did what they did without much injury a lot of time.
Now, thanks to those two, low-tier attacks have begun to skyrocket. Low tiers became more confrontational and attacked mid-tiers. Mid-tiers attacked back and would get grouped on until they were defeated and were thus brutally beaten. The entire school was sent into a downward spiral of chaos which Arlo had to fix in some way shape or form.
The best way to stop it all from going further than it had to would be to defeat Azazel and Vritra. They currently seemed undefeatable, having beaten some strong Elites as of recent, but if they were to be crushed then these revolts could end. As such, Arlo ordered Blyke to go fight Vritra, countering his ability with his Lasers, while Isen fought Azazel, seeing through his fog with his Hunting ability.
There was a chance they lost, especially Vritra who could adapt, in that case Arlo would be forced to step in and take care of things, and make sure that everyone in Wellston understood that he had things under control.
With that said, there was the third person that worried him, John. John was most definitely a high-tier. Arlo had a feeling which he couldn't shake, it had to be the case. The school cripple was most likely a high-tier, and he refused to take his place. His idealisms were influencing the previous queen of Wellston who quit because of his indoctrination. He was a dangerous person to be sure. The issue was that the only way to prove John was a High-tier was to force him to use his ability, and John had allowed himself to become a cripple to prevent that from happening. To put him in his place in the hierarchy, Arlo would have to break him down and that was impossible with Seraphina around.
Order. That is what Arlo wanted.
Everyone should be put in their place. The previous king, Rei thought differently, and because of him Arlo was handed the title of King with a decentralized, chaotic and out of control situation. Thanks to Vritra and Azazel, all of Arlo's hard work over the span of three years had been reduced to nothing. The Hierarchy was on fire and order was going alongside it like a house made of wood. Hopefully after his plan went on its way he could put everything back together in one fell swoop.
His phone rang twice before he decided to answer it. Elaine's voice came through the other end. She sounded panicked. "A-Arlo, I just found a copy of UnOrdinary in Seraphina's room." A spark lit itself in Arlo's mind. That was the perfect excuse.
"Tell the principal tomorrow morning," Arlo grinned. Seraphina was a high-tier, the worst thing that could happen to her was suspension. That meant that when the police came to the campus to investigate, she would be sent out to her parents. If everything went according to plan today, then Arlo could devote his time and all of his attention to the John problem. In fact, if everything was in his plan every single one of his issues would be dealt with at once. "And come with me to the roof. I'm bringing Remi and Seraphina there as well."
**13**
Isen hated working under Arlo. He really did. Just the other day he was playing – more like losing – basketball with this guy, and now Isen was tasked with beating him up. Before Isen went toward Azazel Wodime, he made sure to check a few items off his mental list.
Azazel, as per usual, was on the roof. It hadn't even been fixed yet, there was still debris from his fight against Abel, and the fence was bent outward with a human-sized hole on it. Azazel was not asleep, but he looked like he was about to drift into it as he looked up at the clouds.
Isen hid behind the roof door.
"He can: generate fog he has moderate control over, which lowers all perception stimuli including the sense of touch, smell and especially sight. It also slows down anyone inside. For some god-forsaken reason he can enhance his punches to the point he was able to take out someone as powerful as Abel in two hits, and he can learn a person's movements and predict their next move through calculative prediction…" Isen stopped himself from going up to Azazel, and simply questioned if this was really what he wanted to do with his life. "The longer the fight goes on for, the more data he gets and the less hits I'll get on him… I have to finish the fight quickly with my Hunter ability, which bypasses his blindness effect and also mutes the fog's senses hampering its own enhancement, which supersedes him due to a discrepancy in levels…"
The fact Isen had to list to himself all of the pros and cons when fighting a low-tier made him wonder just what kind of hellhole household this person came from. Then, he recalled the files on the papers and realized that this boy was raised by two cripples, with no credit. Every night from then on, Isen prayed so that Azazel would never reach high-tier, because it could spell the end of every single school, maybe even the world.
"Alright, no point dilly-dallying…" he whispered to himself. The door opened with a creek, and Azazel immediately sighed. He put both his hands on the sides of his head, lifted his legs, then pushed himself off the ground to land on his feet.
"This is an unusual sight, I fully expected Abel to walk through that door. Arlo ran out of good ideas and sent you, is that it? Well, let's get this over with." Isen couldn't make the first move, if he did then Azazel would begin his analysis right away. He knew that much, he had to move second. Both activated their aura at the same time and Isen saw through Azazel's muscles peering at his heart. He was calm, eerily so. If someone were to enter a fight, they would do so expecting to get hurt, and even subconsciously their hearts would begin to beat faster, for whatever reason Azazel had no such reaction.
"Well then, won't you come at me first? Piece of shit?"
"You really have not done this before, have you? Let me guess, you're the type that scurries about in the sewers, gathering information to blackmail people with. Well, I am guessing you've dug up things on me, yes? What did you find?"
"Are you afraid to lose or something?" asked Isen. He wasn't expecting to get a reaction out of Azazel, whose heart pounded his chest slightly more aggressively. That had annoyed him at the very least. "That's it isn't it?" Isen had to keep tugging on that nerve until he exploded at him, "You're clearly outmatched, an Elite is fighting you now, you're in the big leagues."
"I've fought your queen before and won. It was a close match, but I came out on top. What makes you think you scare me?" His tone was calm, and his face inexpressive. Had Isen simply stared at his face he wouldn't be able to tell he was getting a little more heated. Calling him weak, and afraid was what worked the best.
"Yeah, but you couldn't defeat her legitimately could you? You were scared you would lose otherwise so you employed your dirty tactics." Isen's statement was made aware that Azazel would get mad and potentially strike him, what he didn't expect was for Azazel's heart to calm itself.
"PFft, an Elite telling me that I am cowardly is quite amusing don't you think? Dirty tactics? What do you suppose your levels and abilities are? You are telling me stopping time to beat up some mid-tier that angered you is noble and just? Please spare me your empty platitudes. That's right, I beat the Queen using my ability, and some scummy tactics. Guess what, you aren't any better than I am. Arlo and you have been digging for information about us to get the weaknesses of our abilities haven't you? So now you appear which makes me think your ability is X-Ray vision, or something along those lines, right? Yeah, how noble of you hiding behind your human shields and your research experiments."
He got Isen there, that was the worst possible case. There was something bothering Isen however, something he just had to ask.
"Why? Why go so far? I heard you were beaten to a pulp against Abel, why do you hate higher tiers so much? What's your motivation behind wanting to prove yourself? I just can't understand it too well." As if he'd asked the world's most dangerous question, Azazel's heart began beating like drums at a parade. If it went any faster, he might die of cardiac arrest.
Azazel's expression didn't change, but there was a seriousness to his tone now, "I am absolute," he answered like a sleeper agent, "I always win. That is all the motivation I need. I won't lose." He stepped forward, finally taking the first move. Isen had to defeat him fast, but not do the first move, this fight was so complex. Great, Isen was fighting a lunatic who let himself half-die because he was too much of a child to lose, and on top of that he couldn't attack first.
Azazel walked enough steps to be right in front of Isen, staring him down. Isen had just realized Azazel was actually 6'1, which meant he was taller than him by an inch.
"You're not too much of a pussy to punch first, are you?" Isen stared him down, and Azazel scoffed.
"The issue with you types is you do all of your research just to forget about one detail." Azazel, without using his fog ability raised his fist and punched Isen, Isen was fast enough to dodge, and then unleashed a counter-attack. Isen's ability was deceptive because it enhanced his reflexes, strength and speed. But before he could strike Azazel on the chest, he parried the hit with the back of his hitting hand, and punched him with his other hand. At the moment of contact, fog was expelled from his fist and Isen knew he was not going to have a good time.
When the punch struck his face, he could feel part of his jaw fracture. That was odd, even if his ability enhanced his punches when surrounded by fog, it should not have done so much damage, especially not to Isen who also had his durability enhanced with his ability – unlike abilities like Abel's. If so, that meant the fog actually weakened the enemy before enhancing the user's attack to deal the most amount of damage possible.
Isen's body ragdolled to the side of the roof, bouncing up and getting caught by the green fence before dropping to the ground. Once down there, he was forced to immediately jump out of the way as Azazel tried drop-kicking him.
"Your ability is so unfair!!!" Isen rolled out of the way, "Weakening, strengthening and blinding?! What the hell?"
"Hearing that from the guy who has X-Ray vision, can enhance all of his physical stats, and can also detect individuals from far away is funny." He wasn't exactly wrong about the different aspects of Isen's ability… but that was still only three aspects, his ability had at least four. "Just so you know, I haven't used half of my ability yet." And he had more, great.
Still, physically speaking he couldn't fully keep up with Isen, that was Isen's main advantage in this. His ability's modifier was far lower than Isen's, and to top it off, Isen just had to steer away from the black fog and things would be ok.
"Let's end this!" Isen's enthusiasm wasn't shared. Azazel was confident in hand to hand combat, simultaneously if he were to ever get hit by Isen he would be down for a while. Isen closed the gap between them, and got ready to punch Azazel with a hook, as he raised his guard, Isen faked the hook and went for a straight from the other side.
Azazel weaved his head to the side, narrowly dodging before hitting Isen on the stomach. He knew Isen was faster than him so he reacted barely in time. This time Isen wasn't sent flying backward, it didn't even hurt that much. His flinch, moving inward to protect his stomach lowered his head and it seemed to be exactly what Azazel was looking for, as his fog-filled foot was shoved right on Isen's jaw, sending him flying and bouncing back on the green fence.
"I agree, fighting with someone with no martial arts experience is about as entertaining as watching ants walk around." Azazel's body expelled fog completely covering the entirety of the Roof. Isen used his ability and detected him. When inside, he immediately realized why Remi had lost.
Walking inside felt heavy, and it was more than that, his ability felt weakened. That wasn't something anyone had mentioned to him… but it made sense. Everyone he had put inside the fog up until that point had a close combat based ability, and they probably chucked their weakening to the fog's slowing effect. The only exception was Abel who dismissed the fog according to him. Still he was an Elite tier, it probably took off roughly 0.4 levels from him, making Isen roughly level 4.0. So that's the other half of his ability… it really was annoying.
Azazel moved closer and attempted to punch Isen, but this time Isen was the one to dodge and parry, to counter-attack with a right hook, followed by a side-kick. Azazel caught the kick from the side and ducked under the punch. He kicked the inside of Isen's knee then turned his foot onto an ankle lock.
"Shit!" Isen used his other foot to kick him out of the way, which was enough to make Azazel let go and roll backward. Azazel swung first again and Isen dodged back, he leaped at Azazel, who moved back to dodge it, as he did Isen kicked mid-air. Azazel couldn't dodge the sudden movement fully, he raised his arm and blocked it before it reached his neck.
Despite being slowed, Isen's enhancement was enough to overpower the fog's debuff, and the power behind his kick was enough to knock Azazel from his balance. Isen used it to his advantage, trying another hit to Azazel's chest.
Isen heard a visceral crunch as Azazel was launched back and his ability was deactivated. After receiving a few hits, he'd finally defeated Azazel. The strategy had been an overwhelming success.
The fog began to dissipate, but as Isen moved toward Azazel, something hit him from beyond the darkness. A piercing shot that went through his leg. He numbly felt it as his knees buckled. The numbness of Azazel's ability was still in effect, so he couldn't quite feel it, both a good and bad thing.
"What the fuck?!" The darkness was blown away by the wind and Isen looked at the direction of the shooting, some kind of sniper ability had managed to look through the holes in the fog that had been made thanks to Azazel's unconsciousness and shot him. They had to be far away. Isen managed to spot someone wearing a Fedora. He had a revolver in his hands and a mask. Behind his back were wings, glowing and refracting sunlight.
"I am, absolute," Isen turned his head, astonished Azazel could even speak. What the hell did he mean he was absolute? His ribs had been cracked, and from the gargle on the back of his throat some had pierced his lungs. When Isen turned his head, he saw crimson, then darkness. A line of darkness connected Isen's shoulder to Azazel's hands which had been clasped together. "I don't lose." The blood in his mouth dripped into his hands and seeped into his palms, that let themselves relax for an instant. Then, in a split second, he expelled his darkness again and from between his fingers came a condensed beam of darkness covered in his fog.
He could condense and make it solid? It travelled fast enough so that Isen couldn't fully react, especially not with his injured shoulder and leg. His other leg was hit, and as he fell on his knees, he felt his thigh be cut. Isen screamed out in pain. He clenched his fists and tried moving away. How was Azazel even fighting with his injuries? He shouldn't even be able to move! Who was that Angel-ability user from before?
Isen felt a piercing pain on his other shoulder, then a numbness as darkness surrounded him. Azazel slowed him down, it felt as though he was crawling through water. Something grabbed Isen by the hair, then slammed his face into the ground. Isen felt warm liquid trickle from his forehead, it was a vague feeling as a numbness spread across his entire body. He was hit again and again, and eventually he wasn't sure if it was numbness, or if he was asleep.
**13**
Remi had returned to school just a few days ago. She returned earlier than she should have to make sure people in Wellston were safe. After her fight with Azazel, she spent a lot of time reflecting on her ideals. What it meant to be a high-tier, was her position worth sacrificing her life? He made her reflect on what it meant to be a high-tier, and how she should be treating low tiers.
It had been the worst week of her life, as she returned home to grief over the death of her older brother. Someone who had become a vigilante who was targeted and killed by the evil, and mysterious organization Ember. She just didn't have time to really rearrange her feelings. She returned to Wellston to check in on the infirmary and Doc.
As expected, the infirmary was filled with people, but it was even more than before. Hoards of low tiers and mid-tiers were there as the Doc filled papers and mixed chemicals to treat all of them. When she asked what had happened, he answered with "Everyone's gone stupid."
She'd been gone for a little over a week and there were already riots and fights breaking out in every hallway. She tried stopping as many as she could, but it was endless. With her ability, she could knock out the students with a small zap, and she could then drag them to the Infirmary – sorry Doc. Still, it looked like war out there. Soon, the authorities or the headmaster would have to get involved, surely.
In her pocket, she felt a buzz. Her phone was being called, she checked for the number expecting it to be her mother, but no, it was Elaine. She answered the call.
"Remi, Arlo told me to ask you to grab Seraphina and head for the roof, it's important Royal business apparently." Remi wondered what that could possibly mean. From the context of the anarchical halls, it had to be about the revolts and riots inside school. He asked her to grab Seraphina because there was no way she was leaving her dorm with Arlo asking her to.
"To hell with the high-tiers!" One of the many students grabbed a chair and threw it at Remi, but she was fast enough to move out of the way with her ability, and then throw it back. She dashed toward the person and placed her index finger on their side. They spasmed on the ground – they had been tased. After the fight with Azazel, Remi gained far more refined control over her electricity and ability, increasing her level from 5.4 to 5.5.
She called Seraphina on her phone, and was answered in a timely manner.
"What is it?" Seraphina sounded bored as always.
"Could you meet me on the roof? Something's going down." Remi was attacked by another low-tier and had to throw the phone up to taze them in order not to fry the circuits.
"Sure. I'm not a royal though."
"See you there then." Remi hung up the call and before she reached the roof, she had tased at least 12 students that had attacked her. After attending her brother's funeral, she could understand what they were going through and could sympathise with their motivations… but this was not the way, they were only hurting themselves and other people.
Remi met up with Seraphina on the stairs to the roof. Just looking up at it made her recall Azazel and his piercing eyes. She walked up, and the cloudy sky could be seen as the door had been blown from its hinges. They actually passed through it as it lay bent inward on the staircase. When Remi and Seraphina got there, they saw a massacre.
Blood pooled everywhere as Azazel's figure was on the ground, his chest was caved inward and his mouth was pooling blood. Arlo stood in front of him, with Elaine at his side. He was stopping her from healing him just yet. Remi stood horrified as Azazel slowly pushed himself from the ground.
"Stay down!" Remi begged, if he went on for any longer, he would die. There was at least a litter of blood on the ground.
"SHUT UP!" Azazel spat the blood inside his mouth and looked at Arlo. The hatred in his eyes was visceral, Remi felt chills go down her spine.
"Arlo, that's enough!" Seraphina stepped forward, but Arlo huffed and grinned.
"I brought you here to show you how persistent he is. I'm not the one continuing the fight, he is." Arlo shrugged. Smoke began to cover the entire roof, and Remi felt a similar feeling, except it was far more intense this time. He'd gotten a lot stronger than the last time she fought him. She couldn't see a thing now, and her senses were dulled as well.
"ARGH!" Azazel's visceral screams echoed in her ears as the fog dissipated, showing Azazel bloodied with several cuts on his arm. Arlo had put him around one of his barriers and all the damage he did was reflected back at him. "I don't lose!" He sounded desperate, striking the barrier and hurting himself as he bled all over the ground. "I AM ABSOLUTE!"
The blood that had pooled began to move and shift around. It spiked from the ground, the crimson liquid that had been on the ground turned into hardened spikes directed at Arlo.
"That's new. Smoke and blood? What exactly is your ability?" Arlo's barrier blocked the spikes and as a result Azazel's whole body was filled with cuts.
"I AM ABSOLUTE! I DON'T LOSE!" Azazel's hands clawed at the barrier, his blood began to converge at the center creating a perfect and glowing sphere. He clapped his hands together and shot it at the barrier. THe force of the shot cracked Arlo's barrier ever-so-slightly.
Arlo spat some blood because of it, but Azazel still took most of the brunt of the attack.
"Enough playing around." Arlo made the barrier close in on Azazel. The bleeding student wouldn't let it get closer, making the pool of blood on the ground underneath him spike and turn almost solid. He was compressing it to make it tougher, but Arlo's barrier slowly cracked his spikes and closed in. "Admit defeat!"
"Arlo!" Seraphina glared his way, she was going to interfere soon if he did not stop, but Arlo grinned.
"You've lost, Azazel." Azazel's eyes met Arlo's and they were blank. In their fight, Azazel had felt like an imposing and unmoving force. It had felt as though she was faced with the grim reaper himself. Now he felt more like a desperate child clawing at the barrier.
"Me? Lose…" Azazel's clawing became fists that struck the barrier as it closed in on him. "I don't lose, me? NO! I ALWAYS WIN, AND I AM ALWAYS RIGHT!" Azazel made several compressed spheres that exploded outward, forming cracks on Arlos' barrier that repair themselves immediately. The damage began taking a toll on Azazel's body, it was clear he couldn't move anymore because of Arlo's barrier. "... I am… I must be… Absolute." Azazel's blood loss began getting to him, and Remi could only watch in horror, as his unconscious body fell on the ground with a splat like a puppet without strings. He looked dead rather than defeated. With a whisper, Remi realized she had run to his side unconsciously, she heard him speak, "Sorry, David."
He was out of it. She kneeled down and checked his vitals. Despite losing what looked like twenty liters of blood, he was still alive.
"Elaine!" Remi called out, she came rushing to heal his cuts. His skin looked like grated cheese, it was hard finding places that hadn't been cut. He spilled blood out like a geyser. Her ability had also improved while Remi was gone. Remi stood up while Elaine put her attention on Azazel and glared at Arlo.
"What's wrong with you!"
"Azazel broke the hierarchy, he's the reason the school is in anarchy right now. The reason you've been attacked every step of the way here? That's why, I tried stopping the fight before it got too violent, but he refused to stop." Remi knew that, she knew Azazel wouldn't stop until he couldn't move anymore she had experienced it first hand… but Seraphina didn't see it that way.
She grabbed Arlo by the scruff of his neck and pulled him close, readying a punch his way.
"If you care so much about him, why didn't you stop me earlier?" Arlo raised an eyebrow, "I'll tell you why, it's because deep down you do not like him either. Either stay consistent to your new beliefs or drop them for your older ones. I know which I would pick."
Arlo ate himself a mean knuckle sandwich, sending him flying to the wall next to the stairs. Remi would have done it too… if she could get past his barriers that is. She agreed with the sentiment and stayed behind while Azazel was being healed. Seraphina walked past him and scoffed as she walked downstairs.
"Dick."
"Can I get some attention too?" A hoarse and coughing voice took their attention. Isen was leaning against the wall of the staircase behind them with holes all over his body. "I honestly think his ability is bullshit. Don't even have a theory on this."
"I wouldn't go up there if I were you –" Seraphina's voice from inside the stairs was barely audible. Heat exploded the staircase walls as Arlo was sent back from the shockwave.
"Damn it Blyke." Remi turned to look at what had arrived through the door. Unrelenting heat poured from the blown up staircase as flames engulfed someone's tall figure. Crimson eyes pierced through the veil of fire.
"ARLO!" A visceral, animalistic growl roared through the rooftops.
"Here comes the other one."