Long Live the King || unOrdinary

Beginning of the End

Suddenly, two mid-tiers leaped forward. She used the metal wings sprouting from her back to block the attacks. However, both of them had decently powerful strength abilities, and she was quickly overwhelmed by the barrage of attacks.

No matter how much she tried to defeat them, she kept getting pushed back, until she had been cornered against the wall of the gym. She opened her mouth to call for assistance from a stronger student, but just before she had the chance, the two attackers were rocketed off of her and went slamming into a wall.

She lowered her wings and looked at her savior.

It was Ventus! And where he was, Meili wasn't usually far behind. Sure enough, Meili leaped over her boyfriend and slashed at the two attackers. Her claws, Aurielle noticed, were a bit duller than usual, cementing in her mind that she was definitely not the only one whose ability had gone awry.

"Thanks you two," Aurielle said, regaining her footing and standing up, stumbling over slightly. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's weaker than before."

"No," Ventus affirmed. "Even John and Seraphina are much weaker than they used to be."

"Impossible!" Aurielle exclaimed, shaking her head in protest. "Those two are the strongest ones here! How could they possibly have been weakened?"

"Not sure," Meili said, joining the conversation. "John did mention something about these Spectre guys having some kind of ability dampener. Evidently we're suffering its effects first hand."

"Where is everyone? I can see John and Seraphina, but what about the others?" Aurielle asked.

"Remi went to get Headmaster Vaughn and the security guards," Meili replied. "Arlo and Isen are working together to defend the weaker students and Blyke is taking some of them on his own, althought I think I saw Cecile and Holden helping him out earlier."

"Man, everyone's getting involved," Aurielle murmered. "This is intense. I don't know how long we can hold out, none of us have been this weak for years!"

"I know," Ventus agreed. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. John advised us to do our best to remember how we fought when we were at this level, but it's proving easier said than done."

"Either way, it's our duty as high rankers to defend those who can't," Aurielle said, mustering up as much leftover strength as she possibly could and hardening the metallic feathers of her wings. "Let's just do our best to fend them off until backup arrives."

. . .

Arlo winced as one more punch landed on his barrier, cracking it slightly. He tried to keep his composure, but it was getting more difficult to keep this barrier up. He may have to resort to going on a smaller scale and starting to go on the offensive.

No. He had a job to do. He was the strongest defensive user in the school. He was the only one capable enough to defend other students with his own ability, and that's what he was going to do.

He mustered up all the strength he had and focused less on fortifying his barrier and instead began expanding it rapidly outwards, pushing the attackers back. "Get the hell back!" he shouted, pushing forward and knocking the attackers to the ground.

By that point, Isen had arrived on the scene and knocked out a few more of the attackers. "These guys just won't stop coming!" he exclaimed.

"I know," Arlo sighed. "They've managed to crack my barrier. I can't take many more hits. My barrier becomes weaker the more cracks it has, if it shatters it takes a long time for it to be usable again."

"In other words, while you're protecting everyone else, someone needs to protect you."

Arlo smirked. "Hmph, I'm impressed you actually figured that out."