"But it has a really good story!"
"I'm sure it does, but I also know it's absolutely horrific. The introduction you showed me still has me waking up in a cold sweat!"
"The beginning isn't even that bad..." Evie brushed off Roland's experience, before looking at him with excitement, "It's nothing compared to episode six where he gets surrounded by—"
"Nope! Uh-uh! I'm not hearing it!" Roland waved his arms around before covering his ears. "Leave me alone with your horror talk!"
Evie couldn't help but giggle at getting Roland riled up, his reactions were so funny.
Meanwhile, John smiled to himself, his day getting brighter as he got more familiar with the two low tiers.
"I guess appearances really are deceiving, never coulda guessed you were a horror fanatic."
"Well, you know it's like...you get to be a part of it without actually being a part of it, you know?" Evie offered, only confusing Roland.
"You've lost me more than you already have, what does that even mean?"
"Ah geez, I'm really bad at speaking my thoughts."
"I think I get it. You...get to feel the excitement and adrenaline rush of the horror being presented, while also knowing that you have that safety net of not actually being in any danger?"
Evie nodded along intensely to John's explanation. "Exactly! And if it ever does get too intense, you could always stop and remove yourself from the experience!"
Something that can't be said for the horrors of merely trying to walk to class.
"Ehhh, I don't know about that. It always looks like shadows start to move after I see anything scary, it can be hard to separate." John shook off a shiver. "Gets me and my nerves all paranoid and shit."
It made him remember his first sleepover with Adrion when the boy's mother had accidentally forgotten to return some movies on her way to work, leaving them at home, vulnerable to the grubby hands of the middle-school children who'd believe they had moved on from kiddy stuff and were ready for something a bit more Gorey.
...Yeah, they didn't get any sleep that night. They decided to stick with Spongebob from then on.
"Yeah, same here. I'll definitely leave my lamp on for some light if I think shadow demons or some shit are gonna come after me in my sleep." Roland admitted.
"Oh yeah, I can't stand those guys."
"I've never had that problem before." Evie said.
"I'm sure you haven't, I bet you're friends with them!" Roland responded, getting another set of giggles from Evie, that ended up with him laughing as well, and even had John doing the same.
"If it's as good as you say it is, send me the link for it and I'll check it out." John said, tapping Evie on the shoulder. Even if he doesn't enjoy the horror, he appreciates the ones with an interesting story.
"Really?! Okay, sure!" Evie nodded happily.
"You're a brave one, hope you can handle it." Roland offered a salute.
John chuckled, shaking his head. "Probably won't, might need some comforting afterward." He joked.
"..." Evie whispered something that couldn't be heard well.
"Huh? You say something, Evie?"
The girl jumped, having not expected John to even know she had whispered, feeling a growing embarrassment. "It's nothing! Nope! Nothing at all!" A sudden speed took over Evie as she dashed toward the girls' dorms.
"Thank you guys for walking me to my dorm! See you tomorrow! Byeeeee!"
John blinked a couple of times, confused by what just happened.
"She's probably just excited about making a new friend." Roland offered and John accepted the possibility without much thought.
"Ah, gotcha."
From there, John continued to walk with Roland on the way to their own dorm, and from what John could see, his presence beside the low-tier had done something at least. He noticed how a few of the other students who had their eyes on Roland had looked hesitant and ultimately abstained from testing their luck. He would hope that would stay the case.
Unfortunately, as John and Roland neared their destination...
"Roland, quick. Step to the left." John whispered and commanded.
Though unsure of why he would make that request, Roland obliged, moving about four or five feet away in his step. Still, his eyes widened as an incoming punch came into his view, belonging to the bully he dealt with on occasion, Mardin, who had his ability activated.
"Gotc—Huh?!"
John turned and put his left foot forward, causing Mardin to trip over.
For good measure, John drives up his right knee, allowing it to collide with the boy's chin.
Roland quickly understood why John told him to do that. Had he not moved, he would've gotten quite the nasty hit to the head. But how had John known that was going to happen? ...Can he see into the future? Is that his ability?!
He snapped out of his thoughts, seeing John flipping Mardin over on his back with a foot.
"Agh...my jaw..." Mardin whined but stopped shortly, feeling the pressure of someone's foot on his chest and seeing the vicious glare John was giving him.
"You absolute dumbass. Did you not get the hint that maybe you should've just fuck off and mind your business? Did you even have a plan?" John's expression held nothing left of the friendliness he showed to Roland and Evie, instead, it only showed just how much he detested people like him, like how he used to be.
Mardin didn't give much of a response, instead looking back in the direction he came from.
"Woah, Mardin! The new guy got you pretty good, you need to step up your game!" Came the voice of someone John really did not want to deal with.
John turned back to see Zeke approaching them, offering a clap and a sly smile, saying, "That was hilarious. You just made my day, Johnny-boy!", before pointing towards Mardin. "Take it easy on my guy though, he was just offering his greetings."
John gave the third-year a pointed look, before looking down at Mardin and being nice enough to take his foot off the boy. That might of been a little much, maybe.
While Mardin got himself up and returned to Zeke's side, John said, "You think throwing a guy at someone I'm walking with is a good way to greet me?"
Zeke shrugged. "Hey, I told him to go for you. I think he's got something called dysmexla or some shit."
"It's dyslexia." Mardin corrected.
"Mardin." Zeke put his grip on Mardin's shoulder tightly with a fake smile. "It's dysmexla."
"U-Uh, r-right, I mixed it up again, sorry." He responded, safer to go along with what Zeke thought after all.
...He really is a dumbass. John blankly thought.
"Is this greeting over with? I'd like to get going." John said, trying to act as cordial as he could be, subtly glancing over to Roland, trying to motion for him to get going.
"Oh come on, what's the rush? Besides, there's some stuff I need to go over with you." Zeke said with a faux-friendly tone, placing a hand on John's shoulder.
God, may you give me the patience I need to deal with this heathen.
"Such as?" John said, with a well-hidden click of his tongue.
"Just some simple stuff. Since you're living in the dorms, you're on my turf, meaning you follow my rules. So, when you're around me, you'll address me as your King and bow in my presence. Easy to remember, right?"
...
John was...buffering? Yeah, John's mind was currently buffering. The bullshit that this guy just spewed at him made all effort of being logical pointless, to the point of being comical. This guy had to be joking, right?
"Do you need a demonstration? No worries, Johnny-boy, I got you covered!" Only then did Zeke give Roland any attention. "You, be useful for once and show the new guy what I'm talking about!"
The situation that was occurring before Roland made it hard for him to leave but when he ended up getting called out by Zeke, he really wished he had listened to John.
"You deaf or something, bitch-boy?" Zeke muttered. His eyes had begun to glow, signaling the activation of his ability. "Don't make me ask you twice."
Roland's hands grip tightly to the fabric of his slacks, a bead of sweat dripping down his cheek as he gave the bow Zeke had expected from him, heart racing from fear. "G-Good afternoon, my King." He spoke, trying to keep his voice stable.
"Perfect, A+ even! Best one I've seen all day." Zeke said, then gave an expectant look to John, who was almost done sorting through the supposed "words" Zeke said to him. "Alright, now it's your turn."
"Yeah, you better listen!" Mardin egged on. "Zeke's the strongest here so you don't wanna—"
"PFT—!"
Nope, that was it. That did it. That broke John's bullshit capacity and the horrendous fit of laughter from him was undeniable proof of it. Well done, Mardin, well done.
"What's so fu—?!"
"Hold on! Hold on! Give me a sec! I'm not done!" John tried to say to Zeke with great difficulty, more laughing bursting forth, it was starting to hurt his back.
...What the fuck is wrong with this guy?!
The confidence and control Zeke felt within this situation were beginning to be replaced with fury at just how utterly disrespectful this little fuck had become. He wouldn't be able to take it any longer.
Zeke grabbed John by his collar pulling him forward. "You think I'm a fucking joke? I'll make you regret ever being born, prick!"
"Please, try! But I doubt you could, all this bullshit you got going on has me too hysterical to ever think of not wanting to be!"
"The fuck did you just say to me?"
John couldn't help but smirk. From the read he was getting on Zeke's aura, this guy was definitely below Blyke. If he remembers right, this guy is more around Zirian's level if anything.
"I mean, come on, the strongest? Have you conveniently forgotten about Blyke? He's obviously stronger than you."
Oh, now that hit a nerve. Evidently so by Zeke's gripping ahold of John's jaw, which, admittedly, hurt. Something about his ability felt different, it was different.
Plenty of strength and speed, but no recovery or defense? That's a strange setup. Rather low too...
"John!" Roland called out in concern, moving forward to help, but stopped by Mardin, pushing him back.
"Go on, do something!" Mardin taunted with a cruel smirk, knowing how weak the boy was.
"What you've forgotten is that the little red-haired bitch isn't around to cover your sorry ass. You're in for a rude awakening, Johnny-boy." Zeke leered.
All John could do was chuckle, taking hold of Zeke's wrist and using just enough strength to push it away as he copied Zeke's ability.
"You seriously think I was...what...hiding behind Blyke?" John questioned with a dark smile.
What the hell? I can't get out of his grip!
"I'll let you off the hook, though. Instead of me being the one to kick your ass today, I'll give you a bit of advice, Milord. You might want to tilt your head to the left a bit."
Zeke cocked his head with an angry smirk, seemingly unaware he had followed John's advice. "I swear to god, you are so fucking de—"
He had only noticed the energy beam once it already passed by him, leaving a gash on his cheek as blood dripped from it.
"Shit!" Zeke took in a breath as he cursed, turning back with widened eyes as he realized where...and who...that beam came from.
Standing just a couple dozen feet away from the rest was Blyke, having used his middle finger to flick the energy beam, and holding an expression that looked like he was about done with everyone's shit.
"That's your only warning, Zeke, I'm not in the mood for this. Back. The fuck. Off."
"Blyke?!"
Zeke's skin suddenly turned blue, which wasn't the only weird thing John noticed.
His Recovery and Defense have increased, but his Power and Speed have dropped considerably. Is he able to shift his stats around?
Zeke appeared hesitant, just for a moment, as he actually attempted to do something called critical thinking. All hope of that, however, vanished with that chuckle that just spelled trouble.
"You know what, Blyke?"
Zeke appeared to vibrate with movement as his skin returned to its normal hue, before suddenly dashing toward Blyke, having already closed plenty of the distance.
"I'm getting so sick of your bullshit!"
Blyke had almost been caught off-guard but could shoot off his beams to push himself to the side, avoiding Zeke's attack, while he generated two spheres of energy.
"You piece of—Fine, if you want another ass-beating, I'll give you one!" Blyke shouted, throwing the spheres of energy at Zeke's feet, one after the other.
At the distance Blyke threw them, Zeke wouldn't have enough time to move out of the way without sustaining some damage, so instead, he activated his defense form, tanking the brunt of it.
On impact, the energy spheres exploded on the ground. By using his Defense form, Zeke minimized the damage that the spheres could've done to him, even if he didn't have as much speed as before.
The issue was now the smoke was blocking his vision, though that wasn't too problematic. He moved through it and headed to his right side, noticing the smoke was thinnest in that direction and would be the quickest way to regain clear vision of where that bastard, Blyke, was.
What he didn't expect was to be blindsided by the sudden force and heat burning into him as he was hit center mass with a charged energy beam, the difference between his Defense and its Power is enough to stagger and daze him, not to mention just how far he was sent back by the attack.
What the hell...he knew where I was going to move?!
After Blyke had shot off his energy spheres, he immediately began to charge up a long-range Energy Beam, his signature attack. He knew he had angled his spheres in a way that would make it seem like Zeke had an easy escape and chose to rely on that possibility. Turns out, it had worked in his favor.
Can't let him recover, get in close and take him down now!
Blyke angled his arms behind him as beams of energy shot from his palms, propelling him toward his opponent, and with the acceleration, he had more than enough force to clothesline the son of a bitch into the ground.
"Ugh..." Zeke coughed, bumping his fist against his chest.
"I'm getting so sick of your shit, Zeke. Get out of my face before I kick yours to the curb!"
Meanwhile, as their battle occurred.
"Zeke!" Mardin called out, seeing his superior being dealt a nasty blow, and would attempt to rush forward. "Hang on! I got your back!"
However, he was stopped by the sudden presence of John standing before him, his speed had taken him by surprise. He was way too fast to be normal.
"Where do you think you're going?" John spoke, his eyes giving a menacing glow toward the bully. The bruising on his jaw from before was now suddenly gone, like it was never there.
"Y-You don't scare me! Get out of my way!" Mardin tried to say as confidently as he could, aiming a blow right at John's face.
One that John so easily dodged.
"Is that your best shot?" He taunted, smirking.
Mardin would try again and again but it didn't take much for John to evade those either. A jump-back here, a side-step there, he was just toying around with the guy. But he guessed he might've been having too much fun with it.
"Here, you get one shot." He offered.
Mardin laughed. "Idiot! That's the last mistake you'll make!" He spoke when he, as John allowed, delivered a blow right to John's chin.
John cringed as he could feel at least a dozen of the bones in Mardin's hand fracture as it collided with him, even more so at the high-pitched scream that left the boy's vocal cords.
"You...How...What the fuck...?" Mardin stared at John and...only now realized how the color of his skin, from his neck up to along his jawline, had become black in color. That's...That's just like Zeke's—!
It wouldn't be there for long, as the blackness pulled away from John's skin once he delivered a devastating blow to Mardin directly to his gut, instantly sending Mardin into the state of being unconscious as he toppled over and dropped to the ground.
"You had one chance and you blew it, good job, you prick." John mumbled to himself, before his eyes trailed down to his hand, studying more of the way this ability worked.
From what he saw in the way it was used against Blyke, Zeke was definitely half-assing his usage of it. There was so much more that could be done with it, did the idiot even bother with training?
Never mind that. This guy is done, Zeke's being dealt with, so Roland should be...
...Fuck.
He was scared.
The look in Roland's eyes, the way his body shifted nervously, how his breathing had become just a bit more intense. John was so familiar with it at this point that seeing it from someone he didn't want to hurt made him instantly shut his ability off.
"Hey, no worries over here, okay? You don't gotta be afraid of anything, nothing's gonna happen now."
John tried to assure, taking a step forward, but stopped as he saw Roland jump, taking a step back out of pure reaction.
John's eyes widened, why was he afraid of him?
His eyes trailed down to the unconscious Mardin and he thought, The weak fear the strong, that's the thought process drilled into his head since day one.
John sighs, he wants to say something but...maybe he should let Roland decide on his own.
"You should hurry back to the dorms before any more shit happens. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" John spoke softly, trying to give the boy a hopeful smile.
"Y-Yeah, sure." Roland turned to leave and stopped just for a moment, wanting to say something, but ultimately continued on.
John grumbled to himself, running a hand over his face in annoyance at what took place. Stupid fucking hierarchy and the bullshit dynamics of the weak and the strong it enforces.
"Who was that guy?"
Bringing him out of his thoughts is Blyke, not sure how to respond. "A friend? Hopefully?" He says, before turning back to face him.
"Hm, never seen him around before."
"Not surprising. So, where's Zeke at?"
Blyke jabs a thumb pointing back, bringing John's attention to the third-year who was walking away, though with some difficulty from the way he appeared to hobble.
John nodded his head with a look of approval. "Nice." Then he cups his hands around his mouth as he shouts over, "AND IT IS DYSLEXIA, YOU DUMBASS!" He chuckled, seeing the bluenette's pace quicken even more.
"...What?"
Though it had left Blyke confused at the out-of-context statement, John waved it away saying, "It's nothing."
Blyke grew irritated, focused on what he wanted to ask John in the first place. "You know what isn't nothing? Getting bulldozed into the fucking wall by Seraphina! How the hell are you even up?!"
John shrugged, pulling up Mardin's unconscious body and half-heartedly shoving it onto the nearby bench. He wasn't heartless.
"Got better. Oh, and thanks soooo much for leaving me there unconscious after getting "bulldozed", jerk."
"GoT bEtTeR, man, shut up. Excuse me for being too dumbstruck by you actually trying to fight Seraphina to be able to move. Besides, two other people already went to help you, so I figured you were already taken care of."
"Yeah? Keep that same energy when it ends up with me being kidnapped."
"Dramatic ass bitch."
"How'd you know that was my middle name?"
The two half-heartedly bickered all the way up to their dorm room, till they were working together on their English homework together.
"What is the point of having us sift through all this barely understandable text? I'm not going out of my way to read through Speareshake in my life, ever."
"Didn't you hear the teacher? She said we're starting a project next week over his work."
John blinked, blankly to himself. "...We're fucking what?"
"...Fuck, you're as bad as Isen."
"Hey! I try at least..."
"That just makes it sad." Blyke went through his backpack to get a folder that was admittedly nicely organized, pulling out a couple of sets of notes. "But since you're actually putting in the effort, you can take a look at this, made it easier to understand all the phrasings and words and bullshit for me," Blyke explains, handing the papers over to John, who beamed at the sight of it.
"You are a godsend, I owe you boba."
"I will accept that as payment." Blyke rubbed his chin, thinking through the events of today regarding his roommate, and adding on, "Just, one more thing."
"Shoot." John spoke, happily reading through the notes.
"...Your ability."
"You motherfu—"
Notes
Name: Zeke
Ability: Phase Shift
Level: 3.9
[Power: 4 Speed: 3 Trick: 5: Recovery: 1 Defense: 1]{Offensive Form}
[Power: 1 Speed: 1 Trick: 5: Recovery: 3 Defense: 4]{Defensive Form}
Name: Mardin
Ability: Ram
Level: 2.3
[Power: 2 Speed: 2 Trick: 1 Recovery: 1 Defense: 2]
A/N: Feedback is always appreciated!