A/N: Hi everyone! Here is an early update for all of you! As usual, I hope you all enjoy!
Love ya guys! ^-^
-KittCat.
*WARNING*: This chapter contains violence, interrogation and mentions of severed limbs. Viewer discretion is advised please!
Wellston Private High School.
What a sight it was.
It was picturesque with its cleanly laid bricks and the foliage scattering the lawns surrounding campus.
You wouldn't even think anything of malicious intent happened at this school. Not with the aura of serenity encasing the grounds and seemingly the students meandering throughout the hallways.
If only it really were as peaceful as it looked...
Keene glared at the officer in front of him, the woman, whose name was Callisto, looking borderline insane as she held her arm to the side, a torrent of water floating and winding between her fingertips.
Behind the groundskeeper was a senior, her dark brown locks pulled back into a braid and her bright, almost crystal blue eyes staring in a rage filled shock at the cop just in front of Keene.
The woman huffed in annoyance. "Get the f*ck out of my way!"
Keene narrowed his eyes. "Not until you tell me what this girl is in trouble for."
The officer straightened her posture. "That girl is coming with me for disrespecting an authoritative figure!"
The girl let a growl escape the back of her throat, her eyes flickering to life. "You f*cking b*tch! You were harassing a group of mid and low tiers talking in the hallways outside of their classroom! Like hell I was just gonna stand there and do nothing!"
Keene had to hold the senior back before she did something she would regret. "Willow, stop it! You're only going to get yourself into more trouble!"
She scoffed as she turned to the man. "'More trouble?!' Are you even listening to yourself?! Students have been getting sent to detention, harassed, and beaten up by these jack*sses for over a week now all because some of us even talk to those of different ranks! There's nothing more that these f*ckers can do to us because we have nothing left! They've taken our clubs, our friends, our right to choose and yet they still want more! I can't even talk to my cousin anymore without almost getting berated by these *ssholes and I'm sick of it!"
She activated her ability and a set of translucent, feathered wings appeared on her back, a bright blue glow illuminating her figure. She then turned her attention to the woman wielding a tendril of water in her hand and opened her wings slightly. "You wanna take me to detention?! Then go right on ahead! But not before I kick your *ss in you piece of sh*t!"
Keene tried to grab her wrist but Willow was too fast, kicking off the ground and sailing towards the woman who threw the tendril of water at her ankle. It created a vice grip around her leg as the woman tightened it and slammed the girl into the wall.
This didn't stop the senior as she got back up and dashed at the woman, her wings cutting through the air like butter as she swiped one of them at the cop.
A series of jagged slash marks appeared on the lockers where the woman once stood.
It wasn't enough though as she had merely ducked, freezing a stick of ice in her hand and slashing at the girls leg.
Willow yelped and rolled on the floor, stopping on one knee as the sudden strike left her unbalanced.
She narrowed her eyes and dashed once more, only the cop was having none of this.
Callisto pulled more water from the drinking fountain next to her and in one swift motion, froze Willows wings to the floor as she kicked the girls legs out.
The brunette gasped, struggling to set her wings free.
'Dammit! How can I be outclassed by such a stupid ability?! I can fly for f*cks sake and yet she can pin me down with just a little bit of water?! Just how overpowered are these damn high tiers?!'
The cop walked towards her but not before Keene stepped in, throwing a punch at the woman's stomach. She hissed as she stumbled back, glaring at the groundskeeper.
Keene had his eyes narrowed in pure rage, a sight not many had the privilege of seeing. "That's enough! You and your co-workers have done enough and we're all tired of your games! What will it take for you people to finally leave us alone?!"
The woman straightened up as she closed her open hand. Keene's eyes went wide as a torrent of water blasted towards him and threw him into the lockers. He hissed in discomfort as both his wrists were frozen and pinned to the side of his head against the metal.
Keene grunted as he tried to yank himself free.
Straightening out her shoulder length teal hair, Callisto's bright fuchsia eyes bore into Keenes as she grabbed him by the neck.
"Until all these worthless brats here finally learn where they stand in the food chain, nothing will change." Another large ball of water collected in her hand.
"And you'd be wise to stay the HELL OUT OF OUR WAY!"
The woman was about to freeze Keene's head to the wall until a foreboding presence loomed over them all, a certain school nurse grasping the woman's arm and yanking her back, causing her to drop the sphere of water.
He pinned her to the opposite wall as his aura menacingly surrounded her.
"CAN'T YOU PEOPLE GO ONE DAY WITHOUT HURTING SOMEONE?!"
Darren glared daggers into the woman's eyes and much to his surprise, she seemed effected by his abilities, quickly shutting her own off. Unfortunately, it was short lived as the cop then smirked, twisting his arm before socking Darren in the face, the man yelping as he held his now bloody nose.
He stumbled back to gain his bearings but he was too slow against her.
The school nurse blocked a series of punches, trying to find an opening.
While he was decent at fighting, he couldn't do much against someone who was much faster than he was.
He managed to get a hit in on her face but it did little to slow her down. The woman landed a punch on his side and used this new opening to uppercut him.
Callisto then kicked his legs out from underneath him and the man cried out as his head cracked against the floor, leaving his vision spinning.
Keene struggled to free himself from the wall as he yanked at his arms. It was a shame his ability didn't give him more added strength. What was even worse was the he was frozen to a locker, the ice having meshed and expanded through the grates and leaving him completely pinned.
Once she was sure the two weren't going to try anything else, the cop grabbed Willow by the arm, the ice melting away from her wings, and dragged her off. The elite tier was swearing like a sailor as she was forced towards the detention hall, eventually deactivating her abilities when she realized it was useless.
Darren slowly sat up, holding his head as he spat out a bit of blood collecting in his mouth.
The two teachers looked at each other and shared a frustrated huff.
Keene gave Darren his now usual impassive stare. "Darren, what are you doing here? I don't need your help."
The nurse gave him a glare. "Keene, you almost had your head frozen to the lockers. What was I supposed to do?"
"Let it happen! I already told you, I'll handle this on my own! I don't need your help Darren! You've already caused enough damage as it is and I have to attempt to keep everything intact!" Keene glared down at the man, rightfully p*ssed.
Darren looked away slightly. "Keene...I'm sorry. I should've listened to you about trusting the authorities. You were right; they can't be trusted and I foolishly told them about all that was happening." He groaned as he slowly got up.
"You can be p*ssed with me all you want Keene, but right now, we need to work together. All the other teachers, they're having issues keeping these guys in line. The detention hall is almost constantly filled with students and we're running out of ideas on how to fix this mess...please, we can't afford to be fighting amongst ourselves."
Keene looked down.
He had been pretty harsh on Darren over the past week.
In all honesty, he couldn't blame the man for trying to get them some help. The headmaster was currently out of commission and while doc always complained about how much of a hard time John gave him, he knew the school nurse cared about the ravenette, both him and Seraphina never giving the man a boring moment in his life.
With him missing, the man was worried. Not just about him but for the rest of the students in the school.
The groundskeeper sighed slightly. "Ok...I'm sorry too Darren. You were just trying to help, you didn't know this would happen."
The school nurse gave a 'no sh*t Sherlock' look to him before sighing. "Let's get ya out of there."
After a lot of struggling and the possibility of using a blowtorch, they eventually freed Keene from his frozen restraints.
Darren huffed. "I'm gonna need a coffee. Let me grab a mug and we'll start discussing some sort of plan in my office."
Keene rubbed his eyes and nodded. "I may need a mug myself. I know I was dedicated to my apples, but even they can't keep up with all this bullsh*t."
The school nurse rolled his eyes. "That's what I keep trying to tell you."
As the two walked down the halls to grab their coffee and a tonic to patch up the school nurse, they failed to notice the set of eyes peering at them from the shadows.
They almost seemed to huff, their crimson eyes rolling as they meshed back into the shadows.
Slithering down the hallway, they eventually reappeared in an empty classroom.
Well, almost empty.
The orange haired woman appeared in front of Terrence, the kid tapping his fingers nervously along the desk he sat at. He jumped as Marcella materialized into the room, leaning back against the chalkboard behind her.
"Alright kid. Give me your report."
Terrence gulped before nodding. "Uh...so far, nothing to report as of yet. Obviously they know he's missing but I haven't seen or heard anything else from them regarding the matter as of late."
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the woman casted her crimson gaze upon him. She lifted one of her hands into her field of view, her claws flicking together and causing a couple of sparks to ricochet off the steel and onto the floor.
She walked over to the young teen and sat down beside him, leaning back in a chair. "You know...I hate it when people lie to my face."
The dirty blonde felt sweat drip down the back of his neck. 'How did she know?!' But it didn't take a genius to know that she too was also keeping tabs on what went on within the school.
Two sets of eyes were better than one in their opinion. But right now, Terrence wished he was the only one.
Marcella straightened up, leaning forward to hold his gaze in her own.
"Have I ever told you why?"
He quickly shook his head no.
The orange haired woman chuckled and the sound sent shivers up Terrence's back.
She tapped her claws together as she studied them once more. "Well my dear friend, a group of liars are what caused me to gain these." She held up both of her metallic clawed hands, the metal glinting dangerously.
Terrence studied them for a second, realizing that they weren't just weapons, they were prosthetics.
The metal was tethered to her hands, being nothing more than an extension of what he could only assume used to be flesh and bone.
She smirked when she saw his eyes widen. "Fascinating, aren't they? A true miracle of technology and medicine. And all because a friend lied to me when I was so very young..."
Standing up, Terrence shrunk down in his seat, flinching as her heels clacked against the floor. "You wouldn't believe what my life was like before joining EMBER. I grew up as a mid tier in a rich town, crime everywhere, but I won't bore you with the details. School was expensive and with my dad just being fired from his job, money was the only thing that mattered to me."
The woman stopped to stare out the window. "Then one day, a friend of mine came to me, saying he knew a way to make a quick buck and they would split the earnings in half with me. Sounds simple enough, no?"
Terrence decided to slowly nod, the woman in turn chuckling at his reaction. "That's what I thought too. that was, until I found out who his parents were."
She walked along the wall, digging her claws into the brick and causing an agonizing screech to follow suit, Terrence clamping his hands over his ears with a whimper to try and escape the hideous sound.
Marcella stopped and flicked her fingers forward, sparks flying from her hands. "Vile pieces of sh*tty high tiers. Using their son to lure in potential criminals ripe for the picking. My family and I were struggling to make ends meet and all they could care about was their next victim. And it just so happened to be me."
Terrence fearfully watched her as she rounded in front of him. "You want to know what they did to criminals in my home town?" She lifted up her hand. "They make you pay a fine. But when you have no money, they find other ways to teach you a lesson."
The teen felt sick as he tried not to imagine the gruesome scene before she spoke once more. "After that, the only thing I realized mattered in this pathetic society was power. It took me a good amount of time before I realized just how much potential such a simple ability like mine could hold."
Watching the teen slightly, she continued. "To say I finally realized what was so great about being at the top was an understatement. It was beautifully intoxicating for me. Rising through the ranks, beating down everyone who had dared to challenge me, it was all so easy to obliterate my opponents now."
She looked over at the door in front of her, her mind wandering back to those days. "And once I had upped my ability to its greatest potential, I went back home for a little bit of 'fun' shall we say. Well, it was fun for me. Not for my ex-friend. If you're curious, let's just say he and his family paid their fine and even a little more."
It took everything in Terrence not to throw up on the floor beside him as Marcella flicked her sharpened fingers. "So Terrence, when I say I hate liars, what should I expect to hear from you?"
The dirty blonde looked up at her as he trembled in his seat. He couldn't stop the waver in his voice as he tried to avoid eye contact with her. "T-The t-truth..."
She smirked as she placed her hands on opposite sides of the desk, looking down at him. "Then what are you waiting for? I'd love to hear what you have to say."
He leaned back in his seat and tried to focus long enough to speak. "They...they're looking for John...at least, R-Remi and Seraphina are...I s-saw them searching by Woaba Boba and the mall a-awhile back...I don't know if the others are h-helping them though..."
Marcella nodded, her smirk not once leaving her lips. She patted the teen on the head, Terrence jumping as he felt the metal gently tap against his hair. "See? That wasn't so difficult, now was it?"
As soon as she pulled away and told the teen he was free to go, Terrence turned himself invisible and bolted out of the room, sprinting down the halls and as far away from Marcella's watchful eyes as he possibly could.
'Why did I do this?! Why did I involve myself with all of this madness?!'
Because just like Marcella, he had come from a less than ideal background and Wellston had been his ticket to change his life. It didn't stop the fact that he still had to pay entrance fees and in order to so, he needed more cash than his parents could afford.
Looking back on it, there were so many other options he could've gone with.
Yet at that time, taking on this ridiculous job for the offer of getting his entrance fees paid in full was a blessing.
Only now did he realize it was actually a curse and he had no way to reverse it.
He was stuck tending to these maniacs, stuck heading their every beck and call.
He didn't know why he kept running for as long as he did, but he eventually collapsed outside of the boys dorm, wheezing and coughing as he tried to regain fresh air into his lungs.
Part of him thought this place was safe from her. He thought he could board himself up in his dorm room, wrap himself in his bed sheets and somehow, he would be safe from that terrifying woman and her co-workers.
But he knew that no matter where he went or what he did, there was nowhere safe from that woman. There was nowhere safe from any of them.
No matter where he ran or who he turned to, the authorities, EMBER, they where everywhere he went.
As he sat on his knees on the cold sidewalk, he wondered just what he was thinking when he decided to help these people take over a school.
Because of him, students were getting hurt, getting desperate and not to mention that someone was now missing and probably being tortured by these maniacs.
He buried his head in his hands as he thought to himself, thankful his ability was still shielding him from any prying eyes out there.
'What have I done...?'
As she listened to his receding footsteps, Marcella took out a file and skimmed over it. 'Now...what to do about you two?'
She looked over the first photo. 'You've been a hassle to deal with, but that's ok. I'll find you eventually.'
She set her gaze on the photo of a man with dark skin, pinkish-tan hair and red eyes.
Her gaze drifted over to the other photo of an older man, his smile beaming as steal grey eyes watched the camera and raven locks were gelled back into a ridiculous hair style.
'As for you...your editor can't hide you forever. I'll figure out how to deal with you soon enough.'
She stuffed the folder back into her bag by the floor, slinging it over her shoulder.
Activating her ability, she melted back into the same shadows she had materialized from, the sensation of blending into the shadows comforting to her as she relished in her ability to take on such an effortless form.
Being placed here at Wellston had seemed like such a waste of talent to her.
While she only had to be present certain days, it often felt mundane working like this.
But, she couldn't argue with the fact that her ability was probably the most useful to EMBER right now.
Besides, she owed everything to these people. She owed them her life for helping her obtain such a high standing in the authorities.
She owed them a debt for fixing her mangled hands when they had given her the chance to work for them.
So, she did as she was told. Because she had no reason to complain.
Not when she had the world at the tips of her metallic claws.
Chapter 33: end.
~/EXTRA\~
Name: Willow
Level: 3.7
Ability: Wing Blades
Name: Callisto
Level: 5.8
Ability: Water Manipulation
Name: Marcella
Level: 6.4
Ability: Shadow Morphing