A/N: Happy Late New Year guys! I hope you had a great day as best as you could get it. Also if you read this by 24/01/21, it's going to be a year since this fic was first uploaded. Crazy how time has flown by hasn't it?


Chapter 13: That's why he's Number One!

"W-what?!"

Marrow snarled and in his eyes was hatred and disgust, a look that I was very familiar with. "You're the son of that scum Red Devil, aren't you?! Your father is trash!"

I balled my fists. "Don't talk about my father that way! He did more good than you could ever do!"

"Good?!" Marrow recoiled. "A killer like him doing something good?! Don't make me laugh, scum!"

I growled at him daring to even suggest that about my dad. "Shut up! My dad told me how you forced him out because he's a Vorakian. He helped make this world, from nothing. He helped so many people but him being a Vorakian was the only thing you cared about, didn't you?! Your parents kicked him out! Who's the real bad guy here?"

Marrow's eye twitched as he pulled something from in his coat. "Do you know how many lives he's taken?! Do you know how bloodthirsty your father is?!

"That's in the past!" I yelled at him. "He's a good person now!"

Marrow sucked on his teeth. "There's no point in arguing with a monster. I will do what my father told me and make sure all Vorakians are eliminated!"

"Ha!" I shouted at him. "How's that going to happen?! You don't have a superpower! I can beat you up if I wanted to!"

Marrow smirked. "Is that so? I saw the fight you were just in. You gained a massive boost in strength and endurance through your Vorakian Rage. Do you know how overworked your body is right now?"

"What are you-"

Like he predicted my body screamed in pain, so much that even standing up was exhausting. I dropped to my knees gasping for deep breath after deep breath. My legs burned, my arms felt like they were about to fall off and my stomach felt like a bed of hot coals, squeezing every drop of air out of my lungs.

Marrow chuckled darkly while I suffered and stood over me. "You should have died with the rest of your race, scum like you don't deserve the right to go to this school my father made."

I tried to think of a comeback but instead, I was met with a kick to the chest and sent sprawling across the hard ground floor. I tried to fight but my body screamed at me to stop all the while I rolled across the hard floor

Once the world stopped spinning, I was flat on my stomach and it took all my effort just to look up at the approaching Marrow. My lungs felt hot and I coughed uncontrollably and spat out blood onto the floor in front of me.

I didn't even get to know how bad this was when Marrow laughed even louder at my helpless state. He put a foot on my neck, almost breaking it with how hard he stepped on it. "Once a mighty warrior race now reduced to a weak child. You belong on the floor! I'm going to enjoy killing you and guess what no one's going to miss you, devil child!"

He kicked me a few more times and sent me flying with another kick. I spat out more blood and while I tried to steady my breathing, Marrow walked towards me. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a scabbard. From it came a blue blade, one that I sensed was traced with Heavenforce.

"Do you see this?" he displayed the blade in front of me. "This blade is something I looted from another monster, Blue Angel. I hate her too but this blade does one good job, and that's killing Vorakians dead!"

He flipped the blade into a reverse grip and with a mad psycho look dancing across his black eyes, he was readying himself to kill me, kill a child. Was this how it was going to end for me? Killed without being able to move a single limb?

I glanced back to Auras while in my weak state. I shouldn't have lost control like that so easily!

Rennan always told me that I should always stay in control and now me losing control was going to get me killed! I desperately wanted to move, to stop him from trying to kill me! I wanted to see my friends, I wanted to see my family!

I-I didn't want to die here!

Marrow laughed louder as he stepped forward. "This is how I'll remove the bad press about me and my father. Killing one of the last Vorakians. My name will go down in history! Me, "Marrow who valiantly fought against the last child of the Devil while he rescued the poor helpless children!" "

With a growl, Marrow charged towards me. He gripped the knife in his hand tightly, ready to take my life while I was weak and couldn't stand up to even defend myself.

This was it.

I was going to die here.

The faces of my friends and family flashed across my mind. What would they do if they found me dead? Cry? Probably but I wouldn't know if they did. I wasn't going to find out who destroyed my parent's planet, I-I wasn't going to be a superhero like in the stories my dad told me about!

"DIE, DEVIL SCU-"

THIWCKTHIWCKTHIWCK!

Dark tendrils behind Marrow came to my surged forward and wrapped around Marrow's knife hand as he brought his blade to strike me.

"What the-" Marrow looked at his arm and tried to move against the restraints but it was a losing battle. Little by little, he was slowly dragged away from me, despite Marrow's efforts. Within a few seconds, he was a solid 20 feet away from me.

More of those tendrils surged forward and wrapped around his arms, legs and his torso, holding him in place like restraining a wild animal.

From behind Marrow rose a figure clad in darkness. The glaring red light at the front gave it away that he was the same person who invaded with the villains and the monster. He rose fully and while Marrow looked scared, the figure calmly stepped in front of him

"Attacking a child," the dark figure asked Marrow. "I knew you were rotten but not this rotten."

"He's...a...Vorakian!" Marrow said struggling against the restraints. "He deserves to die!"

CRUNCH

Marrow coughed up a pool of blood when the dark figure punched him in the stomach.

"Let me tell you something." the dark figure started. "He may be a Vorakian, you may call him scum yet ironically, you are the only scum here. I've been watching you, Son of Boroil. You attempted to use the children as a shield, hiding behind them hoping that they would protect you and when I sent them away, you ran away at the first sign of danger."

The dark figure continued. "The child you call scum, the child you hate just because of his race risked his life to save the people he cared about, putting his young body on the line. You attempted to kill him, laughing at him and his father while you tried to bathe yourself in false glory. You council members are nothing but scum, Marrow! And you shall pay for your mistakes!"

"How dare you insult the council!" Marrow barked at the dark figure. "We made this planet! When it was in crisis. We helped it. He doesn't deserve to go to my school!"

CRUNCH!

The dark figure attacked again, bringing his knee into his face and creating a geyser of blood out of his nose.

"Made this world?! Don't make me laugh. This planet existed long before your father and grandfather were born, foolish child." the dark figure said patronizingly. "'I'll be taking that knife back."

The dark figure grabbed the blue blade away from Marrow and while he looked at him through his blood filled face, the ground beneath Marrow blackened and he started sinking into it at a steady rate. He looked around, his eyes frantic and full of fear as he looked at the dark figure. "D-don't kill me p-please!"

The dark figure laughed. "Don't worry, I see no point in killing someone as useless as you. You'll serve me better alive." the dark figure put a hand on Marrow's head and pushed him downwards, ignoring the screams of his victim while he vanished into the dark pit below.

The dark figure then took a moment to stand still, looking around and fixing his eyes on Auras. His red eyes seemed to scan the injuries and he stayed there for a while. He looked at his hands and put the blue blade back into the scabbard.

Suddenly his gaze turned onto me and a cold shiver ran through my spine. What was he going to do to me?! Was he going to send me into that dark pit as he did with Marrow?! Was he going to kill me too?!

He walked towards me and dark tendrils surged around him, covering the area around us in pure black shadow. I felt that large build-up of heat on my back and I looked behind me to see my wings on display, bringing light to this darkening place. With each step he took towards me, my heart thundered in my chest.

With each step he took, the darkness around us started to increase until the only source of light came from the opening that was at the open top.

He moved closer until I could see the footwear in detail. What he was going to do? Was he going to crush my head with it? Was he going to kick me around as Marrow did earlier?

He kneeled and I looked up to see him move a hand towards me. My heartbeat thundered and quickened, he was going to push me into that dark chasm again, like what happened with Marrow.

"You're safe. He won't harm you."

He touched my head and gently ruffled my hair with his armoured hand.

I just laid there gobsmacked. "Y-you aren't going to kill me?!"

The dark figure recoiled and I swore I could have heard laughter underneath its helmet. "Now why would I do that?"

"You're a villain?!" I protested. "You're a bad guy!"

"Really? I suppose my entrance does make me seem villainous doesn't it?" he stated. "What did Auras say to get a beating like that?! I knew you were strong but that was too much don't you think?"

At this point, I was completely lost with what was going on. "Wha-Just who are you?!" I asked. "Why haven't you killed me?!"

The dark figure sighed. "You deserve some answers." he moved his hands to his helmet and removed it from the rest of his armour.

Because I thought he was a villain, I was expecting him to look like a grotesque man, maybe with a double chin and a pig-like nose.

But to my surprise, he looked nothing like I had expected him to be. Instead of a double chin, he had a sharp jaw, a sharp nose like a male model and just to shatter my expectation, he had a friendly smile

I swore I had seen him before but I was too shocked to even speak. His crimson red eyes glowed with the warmth of a fireplace instead of ice-cold malice. His black hair was cut in a close-cropped style that made him look like a comic book character come to life.

"Hey...Kian," he waved at me. "Let's get you sitting up. We don't have much time."

I was too distracted to notice at first but the darkness around me surged behind me. I was scared at first, was going to end up tied up like Marrow but that thought was soon out of my head as I noticed they propped me up and gave me something to lean against. It felt soothing being surrounded by the darkness and my wings fluttered as it illuminated the dark place.

The man started to speak but I cut him off. "Who the hell are you?!" I asked. "What's your plan?! Are you going to kill me or not?!"

"I'm not going to kill you. I'm not going to kill anyone here," he said softly. "You can put away your wings. You're not in any danger."

"Oh yeah?!" I said sarcastically. "Then why did you transport all of us away?! You transported us into where the villains were! Not sure if you knew but they were trying to kill us!"

The man laughed. "When I transported some of you, I made sure you could handle yourself. The villains I brought with us were just small-time crooks, I know that you and your classmates could handle themselves."

"You sent me into a fire area!" I shouted. "I could have died!"

"Tell me Kian," the man looked at me quizzically. "What element do you have incredible control over? What is one of your affinities?"

"It's fire, why-" It clicked all of a sudden and the man in front of me chuckled.

"See. I told you I knew what I was doing." he patted my head just like he did before. "If I wanted to kill you, I would do it myself. Not let some low-level thug have a go at it. Especially not someone like that spoiled son of a council member, understand? Kian?"

"H-How do you know my name?"

"I…heard your classmates saying it," he said, taking a moment to reply. "My codename is Obsidian. You can call me that, if you want."

"Ookay," I stared at him. "If you weren't going to kill us, then what were you really doing here?!"

He didn't answer my question as took a moment to think. "Hold out your right hand."

I did as he asked and he placed the scabbard with the knife included into my open hand. "Give this knife to your mother. It's one of her important belongings."

"How did you-"I was confused but I decided to play along. "Are you sure this is a good idea giving a 12-year-old a knife?"

He chuckled and smiled at me. "I know you're sensible enough. At least, I think you will be." He placed a small device, no bigger than a small-cap into my free hand. "This has everything I know about her. When you see him, give that to Njoro."

Before I could ask any more questions, he placed a necklace around my neck, an item that was no bigger than a USB device was in the middle. "This is for you. It's what happened today. I took certain liberties with the footage."

"What's this for?" I questioned him

He smiled and patted my head. "When you're alone, press the button on the side. I know you'll pick the right moment to use this. I believe you can change what happens, Kian."

"Change what?!"

He chuckled and smiled like it made even a little sense to me.

"Why are you doing this?!" I asked Obsidian. "What do you have to gain from this?!"

He sighed and bowed his head lightly. "Sometimes...you have to do bad things for the greater good. You have to play the part of the villain to be a hero."

"Huh?" I said confused. "What do you mean?"

He smiled at me sadly. "You're too young to understand it now but when you're older you'll see just how complex the world is. It's not all black and white." He looked into the air like he was listening to an inaudible voice and he then checked his watch. "Okay, times up. If Njoro asks how you got this, tell him that you found it lying around."

The shadows around us vanished and Obsidian disappeared from my sight. I noticed how even though my body was really sore, I could move around easier and I could breathe easier compared to the last time. I no longer tasted blood in my mouth and the wings around my back had vanished so there was no need to worry about if someone did saw me

I heard rapid breathing and I turned to see Auras get up, taking shallow breaths after the other. He grimaced when he passed his hands over the burns I had given him and his eyes fixed on me with hatred.

"YOU!" he shouted. "I'll kill you!"

"That's not the first time I've heard that," I scowled and I got into a fighting stance but my body screamed in pain again. I was able to walk and stand barely but I was in no way in fighting condition.

"What?!" he demanded angrily. "Not going to kill me?! Not going to finish the job?!"

"I'm not going to kill you!" I shouted at him. "A hero never kills anyone."

Auras scowled. "I'll kill you and your friends here!" He raised his left hand. "I summon you to me. Answer your master!"

I didn't even get to think of what to do as I heard thundering footsteps fill my ears.

I turned in the direction only to be met with the monster with his giant hand inches away from my face. In a split second, he would have clobbered me and probably broken every bone in my body with just that one fatal punch.

But even before I wondered what happened, everything turned into a blur and I was away from the scene in a flash.

"What just happened?!" I managed to speak out after getting my bearings correct.

"I've got you. You're safe now Kian.."

I knew that voice!

I looked up to see Noriel carrying me with one hand before he put me down. He smiled at me and then vanished, appearing with Marcel, Harry and Rennan, the latter strung on his back in a flash, his green cape swishing behind him, matching the green costume he was wearing.

"Kian!"

I turned and Violet threw herself onto me. "What happened to you?! Why are you bleeding?!" she placed her hands over the healed wound over my stomach and wiped the blood from my mouth.

"It's a long story."

While she inspected my injuries, I noticed Milena and Leo approaching me, both of them looking shocked at my injured state.

"Kian!" Milena shrieked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm f-fine," I said ignoring how sore my body was. "I overused my ability and I-I can't fight anymore."

"Where's-" she looked at Harry, Marcel and Rennan on the floor and her eyes almost bulged out of her head. She hurried towards them and opened their eyelids.

"This is bad, all three of them are heavily concussed!" she began. "They need immediate treatment!"

Njoro gently kneeled and put an index finger on the forehead of my two friends, bathing them in a light green hue. A few seconds later, the pair woke up to mine and Violet's delight. Njoro moved to Rennan and upon placing an index finger on him too, he started to wake up

"Rennan!" I shouted and moved to his side immediately. "Are you okay?"

"Uh…" he rubbed the back of his head, squinting at everything around him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think. " Rennan snapped his head towards me. "Kian, what were you thinking rushing in to fight!"

"I was trying to help!" I said. "You would have died!"

"Yeah!" Marcel agreed. "What he said. By the way, what happened? And why is my head still spinning?"

"Where's Jazmine?" Harry looked around. "I remember her with us. "Where is she?"

"I'm right here." she appeared right next to us in a flash of orange light startling me for a second. "What happened to you?!" Her face was filled with shock. "I remember telling you not to get hurt!"

"I'm sorry, but my teacher was in trouble so I had to jump in. I got beaten up pretty badly!" I defended myself. "You would if someone you cared about was in danger wouldn't you?"

She crossed her arms but agreed with a nod. "Still," she began. "How did you get so beat up?"

"Jazmine?" Rennan jumped in. "Where are the rest of my class?"

"They're right over there."

She pointed overhead and we turned to see the rest of our classmates near the entrance. Mitras was leaning towards Nigel, our second teacher who had chosen to accompany us and he had his share of battle damage too. He was bleeding too with some of his blood running down his arms and legs

"I gathered them up when I first arrived," Njoro explained. "Mitras should be okay in a few minutes." his blue eye steeled itself. "Now. who did this?"

"It was me!"

Our heads whipped to Auras who stood hastily in the middle of the place sharing the same battle injuries as before taking everyone except me by surprise.

"What happened to you?!" Rennan recoiled. "Last time I checked, you didn't have 2nd-degree burns on you."

"He's the reason why!" Auras pointed towards me and put me on the spot. "But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to kill you, Dominion!"

"Why?" Njoro balled his fists. "What have I done to you?!"

"It's not just you." Auras scowled. " It's this whole society, this whole council, they abandoned me! And how best to destroy them then killing you, the symbol of peace that they depend on so much!"

Njoro grit his teeth and growled at him. "Trying to kill me yet you put the lives of these children at risk, that is in no way an excuse for your actions! I'll make sure you atone for this!"

"You can't beat all of us!" Auras yelled. "Gather!"

As he yelled the last word, the villains that Obsidian had brought with him had surrounded Auras and made a sort of shield around their so-called Master. "Are you sure we can beat Dominion?!" One of them spoke up. "He's like the toughest there is!"

"What are we waiting for!" another replied. "He showed us that he has the tools for the job. Let's go kill those kids!"

"You'll do no such thing!" Njoro slammed his hand on the ground. "DIVINE EARTH PRISON!"

The villains swarmed at us, screaming and waving their hands as they followed Auras's orders. Unknown to them, however, the floor below them started to boil and liquidize before turning muddy. A few runners lost their step and fell face first in the mud but some of them watched their step and carried on.

"What just happened?" Harry scratched the back of his head in confusion

"Just watch and see." Jazmine stared ahead with a smirk,

"It's just a bit of mud, come on!" one of the villains yelled. "Let's go!"

They cheered and rallied behind each other but in a sudden shift of the floor, they fell waist-deep in the mud with their hands and arms stuck in place, the mud solidifying around them in an instant.

In a couple of seconds, Njoro had captured every villain minus Auras who was brought here.

Njoro wiped the dirty blonde hair away from his face and stood proudly in front of a shocked Auras. "It is over now."

Auras scowled but in a blink of an eye, Njoro disappeared from where he stood and appeared a split second in front of him, his fist inches away from his face.

BOOOOOOOM!

Njoro roared as he punched Auras with everything he had. The force behind his punch generated a sonic boom and left cracks on the floor around him and I grimaced and looked away, thinking that Auras was turned to a streak of paint but when I turned to look, I had to double-take at the sight.

The huge monster had blocked the attack, saving Auras and instead of taking the force of the punch with its forearms. Njoro and I were shocked at how it's arms and legs were torn to shred, exposing the flesh underneath its arms and parts of bone underneath.

Njoro didn't let up, only gritting his teeth at the surprise as he launched punch after punch, each one creating a small hurricane with each impact and creating a cloud of dust around the monster. I closed my ears after the first two but I felt the vibrations of each impact vibrate my body from my toes to my head.

Once Njoro stopped, I dropped my hands from my ears and waited for the cloud of dust to dissipate.

"There's no coming back from that!" Marcel said proudly. "Kill Dominion, that's impossible!"

I thought that was what happened, the monster had been torn to shreds and all there was left to deal with was Auras.

But again, for the millionth time today, I was very wrong.

A silhouette in the cloud of dust moved and Noriel raised his hand sharply. The ground beneath him followed his action and rose to make a vertical wall, doing the job of blocking the punch but it didn't stop it completely as it crumbled into pieces.

"Impossible!" Njoro gasped. "You-"

"You thought wrong."

The dust cloud settled down to reveal the monster with one of its arms intact. The rest of its body, even though it was missing skin and muscle, was starting to regenerate at an accelerated rate until it was good as new.

"W-what is that?!" Violet said with wide eyes. "How can it regenerate so fast?!"

"This isn't any ordinary being!" Auras said behind the monster. "I had it summoned just to kill you. It's custom filled with so many special superpowers, Dominion!"

Njoro grit his teeth. "How did you do this?!"

"I had a friend bring him here," Auras said smugly. "Do you want to know it's Superpowers? Let's see: Superhuman Muscle Augmentation, Prehensile Arms, Regeneration, Iron Skin, Arm Spikes and my personal favourite, Shock Absorption."

"That many superpowers?!" Rennan blinked. "That's not something from our world!"

"Our world?" Leo asked him confused. "What do you mean?"

"Leo," Rennan turned to him. "Normally, depending on your species you could have one superpower, 2 if they are lucky and 3 if they are feeling special. Anyone who has more than 3 is either someone made artificially or someone that doesn't belong to this realm of reality."

"Rennan, are you saying what I'm saying?" I asked him

He nodded at me. "I am, Kian. You know it better than anyone else."

The monster growled at Dominion and with a large roar charged at him leaving Auras behind. Njoro jumped back to avoid the blows but the monster didn't stop its attacks. It's red ruby eyes focused on Njoro as it launched attack after attack, roaring as loud as it could with each attempt.

Its arms in a flash became long black spikes and as Njoro dodged a slash at his neck, they repositioned and surged towards him, drawing a black line with the connective tendons from where it had been released from.

Njoro flew back and brought his foot on the ground in front of him. In a loud rumble, around the monster rose a cage of dirt, trapping him in place. As for the flying spikes aimed for Njoro, he outstretched his right hand and in a sweeping arc, he cut them off using the emerald green blade of light that formed around his arm.

The arm spikes were smoking where Njoro had cut it off but I didn't give it any further attention as Njoro walked towards Auras who shared a look of fear with the villains.

"I'm taking you in." Njoro's green blade of light vanished into thin air. "It's over."

"No!" Auras screamed and raised his left hand. "This isn't how it ends! Destroy him! You heard me, kill Dominion!"

"That won't do anything-"

SHWLK!

Black spikes emerged out of Njoro's stomach and my heart dropped at the sight. I turned to look and saw that from the giant earth prison that Njoro had made, two black spikes emerged out of the walls.

"Awk!" Njoro spat up blood as he looked at the sudden spikes in his stomach.

"DAD!" Jazmine screamed.

"Your daughter is among them? Then she will feel the same despair I did." Auras said coldly. "She'll watch you die just like I did with my parents. Finish the job."

Njoro didn't get to think any further as he was suddenly dragged away from where he stood and to where the monster was. It broke the prison as the cage of dirt exploded around it and charged forward, kicking Njoro with enough force to send him flying through the air and into another area of the site.

"N-no way!" Marcel trembled taking in the sight. "D-did he really just kill Dominion?! That's impossible...right?!"

I ignored him to face Auras who stood smug and proud next to the monster. "Well, that's my job done."

"If we're done here, I suggest we go. Your injuries are severe." Obsidian rose from the darkness below. "I'm done with Marrow."

True to his word, Marrow was ejected from just behind us but we didn't pay him any attention.

"No," Auras grimaced, touching the burn mark on his face. "I've got a better idea, why don't we kill everyone too! Especially that fire breathing kid!"

"What?!" Obsidian recoiled. "I thought we made it clear that our target was only Dominion!"

"Screw that!" Auras said with a psychotic smile. "Now that he's gone, he won't stop me from doing anything! I'm killing every hero wannabe here! "Yeah, that's right!" Auras said to himself. He scanned our faces. "I'll kill her first!" he pointed to Jazmine and I instinctively put my hand out in front of her.

"Even better! Kill them. Leave none alive!" Auras raised his left hand. "DO YOUR JOB!"

The monster growled and charged at us and it felt like game over. If the strongest superhero around couldn't take care of that thing, then how can a bunch of kids who were just 12. Rennan tried his best and got beaten up for it so what could anyone else do but despair?

I didn't get to think any further as the ground suddenly shifted and in an instant, all of us were out of the path of the monster. The monster looked confused before it tried again, only to meet a sudden wall, ramming headfirst into it.

"You won't lay a finger on the children!" Njoro appeared in front of us in a blink of an eye. His green cloak still swished around him but it was dirty and grimy with dust and mud. There were two holes in it where he was stabbed from behind.

"Damn it!" Auras grumbled. "How are you not dead!"

Njoro stood in front of us proudly even though there was blood around his mouth and his hair was messy and all over the place. "I'm a lot stronger than I look, villains. I'll keep-"

He doubled over suddenly and threw up more blood onto the floor taking me and all of us by surprise.

"Dad!" Jazmine yelled. "Are you okay?!"

"I-I'm fine." Njoro got up shakily on his feet.

"Doesn't seem like you are," Harry said. "Do you want us to help?"

"No! I'll take care of this!" Njoro put his hand out. "Why aren't my wounds healing?!" he asked himself.

"I told you the monster was designed to kill you." Auras chuckled darkly. "The moment you were stabbed, your cells began to die. It's even faster since my mother gave it some of her powers to boost its effects!"

"Is that so?" Njoro wiped his mouth.

"Yes." Auras raised his left hand casually. "Make sure you kill Dominion, I'll deal with the children."

Rennan brought his twin pistols into existence with a swirl of his fingers. "Stay alert, we may have to fight again."

"Really?!" Harry complained. "If you couldn't beat it, then how can we?!"

The monster roared, obeying Auras' commands. It pulled it's fist back as it left dented footsteps on the ground. My eyes should have been focused on that, I mean you would if a monster was charging at you wouldn't you?

Yet, that wasn't where I was looking.

Instead, I was looking at Njoro. He found his footing and wiped the blood away from his mouth tearing the cape away from his back, ignoring what happened. I didn't know if I was just seeing things but I saw a light glow around his body. The open wounds on his stomach healed itself in an instant!

"I'm the Symbol of Peace and I will not die here, especially for the future of this world!"

He brought his arms to his side and tensed it hard enough his muscles rippled underneath his arms. He charged forward and with a punch of his own, met the monster in the middle with a shockwave large enough to blow all of us back.

Auras and Obsidian flew back at the speed of the wind. "Didn't I tell you? One of his powers is shock absorption!"

Njoro growled. "That's not my problem!"

He launched punch after punch, each one met with a punch by the monster at a rate so fast that it turned to a blur. I regained my footing on the floor while this fight took place, holding up my hand to shield my face from the fast wind.

"Is Dad really going to fight that thing on his own?!" Jazmine crouched beside me.

"Whatever he's doing, he's kicking its arse!" Marcel said happily. "Go Dominion!"

I kept staring ahead and I noticed that while Njoro kept it up, his head and face was starting to fill up with yellow lines, getting brighter every second. I thought I should have told him about it but it didn't seem to affect him at all in his supersonic punching barrage.

"What are you doing?!" Auras shouted at the monster. "Kill him!"

"Not going to happen!" Njoro yelled.

He brought his hand back and punched the monster in the chest hard enough to break the floor around him into a 10ft wide crater and launch the monster across the field like a football in mid-flight

As it flew around, Its arms spiked up and disconnected from the rest of his body, surging forward trying to stab Njoro. He saw this coming and grabbed the spikes by the black connective tissue and used it to pull the monster in like a yoyo and once close enough, kneed him in the face upwards, sending it flying into the sky with a sickening crunch

The monster failed in the air, free from anyone except for the force of gravity as Njoro jumped up to follow him, jumping at a speed so fast that he looked like he was teleporting. He punch barraged the monster faster than I could see, creating even more shockwaves before he finished it with an axe kick, sending it crashing onto the floor below,

All of us had shocked faces on our faces as we watched him land hard enough to cause the monster to fly back up, helpless into the air.

Njoro almost growled and the glow around him intensified until I was sure that he was just a person-shaped light source.

"Go back to Hell!" Njoro yelled as he brought his hands back. "EMERALD EXTINCTION!"

In the space between his hands, a sphere of green light appeared and became larger in less than a second pulsating with green light. With a guttural roar, Njoro thrust it forward at point-blank range, covering the monster in light so bright that I had to cover my eyes at how intense it was. I clamped my hands over my ears at the screaming roar that followed not knowing when it was going to end.

I felt the vibrations stop a few minutes later and I dropped my hands and looked up to see the aftermath of the battle.

The monster was nowhere to be found and Njoro stood with his hands out, breathing heavily and trembling as he slowly pulled back. The ground in front of him was steaming a little and a small section of the wall surrounding the place was destroyed.

Ignoring this and taking a deep breath, Njoro turned to a wide-eyed Auras. "Don't ever threaten the safety of my students ever again!" he growled. "I've spent enough dealing with distractions. Time to take you in."

Auras gulped. "Y-you cheated!" he yelled. "You cheated!"

He tried to move forward but Obsidian put an arm out in front of him. "We're done here for today. Let's go home."

In a swirl of darkness, they were surrounded in shadows and vanished into nothingness, leaving the villains still stuck in the mud complaining about how they were ditched.

Njoro dropped to one knee and as he did, Jazmine ran to her father in a flash of orange light throwing a cloud of dust into my face. After some coughing, I looked to see her throw her hands around her father and he hugged back.

I ran to join the pair and I heard her sobbing softly into his chest. "Don't ever scare me like that!" she said burying her face into his chest. "I thought-I thought-"

Njoro smiled at her and patted her red hair. "I know. I know. I'm okay Bella. It's going to take a lot more to kill than that to kill your old man."

"When it stabbed you, I thought-" she sobbed harder. "After Mum-"

Njoro gave her a half-smile she couldn't see. "I didn't expect that either. Luckily, I had that to count on. " He kissed her on the forehead and met her eyes. "I'm your father, it's my job to protect you as best I can."

She wiped the tears away but she was still sobbing softly. "I'm sorry for saying that stuff. About you being a bad dad."

"No, you are right." Njoro wiped a tear away from his own eye. "I've been a bad father to you, me saving you doesn't excuse that. I thought by taking you away from danger you could be safe but now I see how wrong I am. I-I'll try my best to be a better father."

She smiled a little as she hugged his father again, leaving almost no room between the two of them. I smiled happily seeing how Jazmine was so happy to be hugging her father. It was a nice change, seeing her like this with her father and I'm sure Njoro was happy too.

"Tha-KIAN!"

I almost jumped out of my skin at the noise. I snapped my head to see Jazmine looking at me with a slight blush on her face. "How long have you been standing there?!"

"I heard you two make up," I said. "I thought it was sweet."

The blush almost matched her hair colour and she sped towards me, poking me hard in the chest. "Don't tell anyone this!"

"Why?" I raised an eyebrow. "I mean you've seen my parents hug me, I don't find it embarrassing if you do tell the others."

"This is different." she pulled back slightly. "Kian, please don't tell anyone."

"Oh?" I grinned. "What happened to that temper? Where did it go?"

She pouted and grabbed my arm. "Say yes or I'll break your arm. Go on, try me."

"Fine!" I agreed and she let my arm go. "I wasn't going to tell anyone honestly!."

She pulled away but it was clear she was still embarrassed from me catching her. I turned to her Dad letting her recover.

"Njoro," I said, gaining his attention. "I have something for you."

"Kian?!" he said, alarmed at my state. "What happened to you?!"

"Auras stabbed me. Anyway-"

"He stabbed you?!" both father and daughter said alarmed. "Tell what happened to me outside," Njoro replied, picking something out of his pocket. "I should have called Lucas sooner!"

Sometime later...

"So Kian, tell me what happened?"

Rennan and Dominion both asked me that question while I was being looked at by Lucas. I was sitting in a medical bed, Marcel and Harry were laying down on a medical bed too. Jazmine and Violet stood around us with their fathers.

"I told you. I rushed in to defend my teacher and I got hurt. Ow." I winced as Lucas passed over a sore spot.

"Sorry Kian," he grimaced. "I told you to not overuse your muscles. You're still a young boy."

Dominion turned to Rennan. "Has he always been this reckless?"

"Yeah," Rennan sighed. "Ever since he was a little kid. But his heart was in the right place."

"Well, when you are reckless, think twice of fighting someone with a knife." Lucas wiped down the stab wound on my stomach with some clear gauze. "You're going to give your parents a heart attack!"

"And us!" Violet glared at me. "You have to stop putting your life on the line for someone every time you see them in danger."

"Violet," I began. "I told you I'm sorry!"

"Sorry?!" she said with wide eyes. "How many times has it been Kian? The monster back on Earth, then the fight with a mobster, the DVK invasion and then this?! How many times are you going to get yourself almost killed again?!"

"Violet," Lucas turned to her. "I know you're upset but try and think of it from his perspective. If I was hurt, wouldn't you rush in to save me as Kian did? Isn't it a hero's job to put their life at risk to help others?"

"I mean I g-guess I would." she agreed.

"Then don't give him a hard time." Lucas agreed. "Not even the top heroes would charge in as fast as Kian would. I'm glad that he was here."

Violet crossed her arms while I just grinned at her. She turned and glared at me, stopping my smile in an instant. "Next time you rush in, be careful. I don't want to see someone I call a friend die."

"I won't," I said. "Not while I have you guys around me."

"Next time you do, you take me with you," Jazmine stated. "I would have kicked that Auras guy's arse!"

Violet turned to me and instead of the glare she had been giving me, her eyes were softer and gentler. "What Auras said. Did you really burn him alive?"

"You did?!" Rennan recoiled.

"He's not dead is he!" I stood up a little.

"But did you breathe fire at him?" Jazmine crossed her arms and had a curious expression on her face. "What did he say for you to do that?"

"He went on and on about how he was going to destroy this world, kill your Dad and then kill us," I said. "He was going to destroy our parents' hard work and I just...I just lost it. All I could think about was going all out against him. Then the fire came out."

"Kian," Rennan asked me and placed a finger on his chin. "What colour were your flames?"

"Um, it was red I think," I said. "I don't know why it was either."

"Of course it was red," Rennan said like it suddenly clicked. "You were angry right? About what happened?"

I nodded

"You used your Hellforce instead of your Heavenforce, gave up control for power," Rennan stated as he patted my hair. "I've told you before, you can't lean on one more than the other. It's about control. I should scold you but you did save my life so for now, I'll let it slide."

I grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I got it."

"I'm with Violet on this," Jazmine said, taking every one of us by surprise a little.

"What?!" Violet and I said. "What did you say?!"

"I-" she sighed loudly. "I was worried. First, my school field trip gets invaded by villains. Then I had to fight for my life, our teacher and my dad almost dies, then I find out that one of my friends has been stabbed. It's quite a lot to take in."

"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow. "We're friends now. 4 months ago we almost fought to the death didn't we?"

"Haha." the corners of her lips twirled up into a small smile. "I'm glad that you're okay."

"Hmm, guess you aren't as bad as I thought." Violet agreed. She pushed past Jazmine and put her hands on my stomach

Her arms started glowing and she looked up to face me. "It's going to hurt a little but you'll be okay. It'll leave a scar."

"That's a good thing right?!" Marcel shouted as he was getting looked at by Lucas. "Girls like scars."

Rennan rolled his eyes and he laughed to himself. "Just try not to get yourself killed if you want one."

"Njoro," I asked him. "About what Auras said, he said something about you not being able to use your powers."

"Y-yeah," Njoro answered me, taking a moment for his attention to turn to me. "When I was stabbed, I felt my Angel powers vanish. I couldn't use my powers."

"How did you defeat it if you couldn't use your powers then?!" Violet asked him

"I had...something in back up." Njoro pursed his lips. "Kian, how did you get those two objects?"

"I just found them lying around," I said quickly. "But for the knife, I found when Marrow tried to use it to defend himself."

Rennan growled and it caught me off guard. "First being a spoiled bitch and using one of Blue Angels' weapons?! A part of me doesn't feel bad about what happened."

"Rennan, be professional. We have a job to do." Njoro turned to Rennan. "This-"

My stomach rumbled and caught the attention of everyone. "Sorry," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "I guess I'm hungry."

"Here take this."

I turned to Violet and she handed me a bright yellow carton. "What's this?"

"It's an energy drink," she answered. "Dad gave them to Marcel and Harry. Thought you might like it."

"What's in it?"

"A lot of fruit from Locus," she stated. "And a little bit of honey too."

"I'll try it I guess." I shrugged. I opened the cap and started drinking it. To my surprise, it tasted really good. It was so good that I finished it all in one go. "Do you have any more?"

Violet chuckled and grabbed the empty carton. "Sure, just don't go anywhere."

"It's not like I have any choice!"

While she rushed to get some more of that fruit juice, I took in the scene in front of me. Other doctors and paramedics were attending to the rest of my class. Mitras was laid out on a hospital bed with doctors around him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw police officers were escorting the villains that Njoro had captured in chains out of the place.

I heard rapid footsteps and turned to see a small blonde girl and a tall blonde boy running at me. I knew who this was as they moved around Rennan and Dominion to get to me.

Milena buried her head into my shoulder. "Thanks for saving me," she said holding my arm tight. "I don't know what I could have done if I was there alone!"

Chris rushed in after and just smiled at her little sister. "Yeah, thanks for helping her. Where's Violet? I have to say thank you for healing my sister's hand."

"She's gone to get me some more of this juice but she'll be back in a few moments. And thanks," I agreed. "No problem. It's what heroes do."

"At this rate, you'll be more popular than me." Dominion laughed.

"Speaking of popular." Jazmine stared at something behind me. "Dad, look."

All of us turned to see a huge crowd of people just outside of the area that the paramedics had set up, all taking pictures of us with irritating camera flashes. In front of them was Marrow talking to a reporter and I heard a few words such as "I was the hero," "I defended them."

His audience didn't seem to buy it and Njoro sighed. "I'm going to have to go make an official statement and get that kid out of here."

"Thanks for helping us," I turned to him.

He chuckled and patted my head.

~"This isn't going to make sense for you right now…"~

~"...I'm giving this to you to save your life"~

Images of bright light flashes and a worried Njoro flashed into my head and left faster sooner than I could have imagined.

"You okay?" Njoro raised an eyebrow.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." I lied. "Just a bit sore from what happened."

"Good." Njoro smiled a little. "I'll put in a good word about how you kids defended yourself."

"Dad," Jazmine asked him. "Is it okay if I come with you?"

"Sure!"

As I watched them leave, I began to think about what had happened and how it happened. This was the 3rd time I was attacked and it wasn't looking like a coincidence. Rennan and I were the only two left so I turned to my teacher. "Rennan," I said. "You don't think this was planned do you?"

"Planned?!" Rennan recoiled. "What do you mean?"

I explained how Auras told me that he got inside through someone on the inside and he let that sink in slowly.

"Kian," he came over and put his hands on my shoulder. "Are you suggesting someone was on the inside, someone planned for Njoro to be killed?"

"It seems like it."

He nodded. " I have to raise this with some people, people who I can trust."

"Oh and Rennan," I said. "One more thing."

"What is it?"

"Marrow uh...said a few things."

"What did he say?"

"How badly do you want to beat him up?"

"A lot."