As much as he was worried about his return to school, especially since he had left on a terrible note with such short notice, the day hadn't been too awful. As a matter of fact, it was a lot more normal than it had been for a long time for John, whose spiraling sanity caused the entire school to be shaken to its core. A wild card like him was hard to control once let loose, but finally, things had been tamed down to manageable levels.
Now all that John had to do was make sure it doesn't happen again.
As he was dismissed from his final class of the day, he stepped out of the classroom to be greeted by an awaiting Seraphina, whose shoulder was leaned against the wall. She tilted the opposite direction, now standing up straight, so she could approach him.
"Glad to see you made it out alive." She grinned to him.
John gave off a scoff before he turned to face the hallway, now walking. Seraphina followed beside him.
"I'm quite surprised, actually, not about the alive part, but- how casual things have been. Sure, the odd glances and some people nudging themselves away isn't what I call normal, but. . ." John started, before Seraphina finished the rest for him.
"But it's better than what it was before?"
He looked to her before giving a nod.
"Much better."
Seraphina stared ahead for a moment, and silence fell between them before she continued, saying,
"You shouldn't mind the glances and how people avoid you. You're a God-tier, and now everyone knows it, so people tend to stay away anyways-"
"Unless they're an idiot."
John couldn't help but to snicker at that.
"Yeah. . .we've met a lot of idiots in our days, huh?" He asked, although he knew the answer, turning to walk down the steps.
"More than we should. But it's unavoidable. You and I know that, us being from both the top and the bottom."
As they made it to the bottom of the stairs, now going around to the next set so they could reach the bottom floor, John had gone silent. The statement Seraphina had made was right. No matter where John was within the hierarchy, on the top or the bottom, he was always given different glances and reactions to his presence. None of them were ever good. He knew that not everyone was going to like him, that's with all things, but did it really have to be this way? If you are on the top, you aren't truly respected; you're feared. They only give you respect because you could beat them otherwise. If you are the bottom, you are judged. The lack of respect makes you feel as if you're another being, like you're not one of them. You're beat around like a ragdoll and expected to accept it. You couldn't fight back anyways.
The reminder made John feel sick. Sick of all of it. The way their society ran itself made him want to drive his fist into every single one of those-
"John? Are you alright?"
He paused, then continued.
He took a moment for himself, inhaling deeply before exhaling, allowing his body to relax. There was a slight ping a pain from his palm, and when he looked for the source, he noticed nail marks.
"I'm fine. . .I just got lost in my thoughts."
Seraphina stopped, causing John to stop walking as well. He turned to her with a quirked eyebrow before she spoke once again.
"You don't have to keep everything to yourself anymore. If you ever need to talk, you can rant to me. You know I won't judge you."
She approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"That's what best friends do after all. We support each other, like how you supported me."
"I also hurt you, Sera."
She was caught off-guard by this, but her expression quickly shifted back into a soft one, and she added,
"And what of it? We all make mistakes. We live by them and move on."
Seeing that John's own expression hardly changed, she continued.
"Your past doesn't define you. I know who you truly are, and nothing else will change that." Her voice got more quiet, as there were other students lingering along the hallways.
"Okay?"
John looked to her, his eyes resting upon her own. He then displayed a smile.
"Okay."
As she returned a smile to him, the two of them suddenly turned their heads when Seraphina's name was called in question.
A blonde stepped over to the two of them, yet he kept his gaze on Seraphina. His hands were pocketed.
"Do you have a moment?" He asked her.
She gave a look to John, to which he gave her a nod.
"Yeah. How long will it take?"
"Not long. It'll be just for a moment."
She then released a sigh before giving a look to John once again.
"-oh, hey, I just thought of something. After you talk to Arlo, do you want to hangout at Woaba Boba? We haven't gone there in a while." John rubbed the back of his head as he asked Seraphina this, like he was nervous she might say no.
"Of course. Meet you by the school gate?"
"Meet you by the school gate."
The two of them exchanged a finger gun to each other before John turned and ran off, and Seraphina stayed with Arlo. The two of them walked off.
John's sprint was short lived, for as soon as he stepped off the stairs to the entrance of the school, his energy had died off. A sense of loneliness suddenly washed over him- after all, Seraphina is his only friend, the only one he allowed to get close to him. Everyone else, especially at this point, was too afraid. The other two people who he allowed to get close by association with him was Cecile and Zeke, but he knew well that they weren't there to be his friend; they were only there to use John for their own personal ideals. They promoted his violent, tyrant behavior to get ranks and powers they would have never achieved on their own, or at least, never dared to without a beating.
Speaking of which, he was lucky he hadn't encountered those two. Their interaction would be awkward, or it could end off hostile. But one thing was clear; John has to cut all ties with them. He wasn't a tyrant anymore, as he was called, and he never wants to be one again. If he wants to prove that he can redeem himself, he must remove anyone who could try to use him, and meanwhile, apologize to the ones who tried to help. And that included Arlo, as much as he hated to admit, but it'd take a while before he could admit his wrong. He just wasn't there yet.
As he blindly walked to the school gate, his thoughts had clouded over his senses as he blocked out everything around him, he was snapped back to the world around him when his body collided into another.
"What the hell?! Watch where you're going, you-" The person turned around to face John, to which then John took note of.
"Ohh- I'm so sorry, my King! I didn't see you there! My apologies." Of all the damn people, it was Zeke.
John knew well he was just kissing his ass, because in actuality, John was the one who bumped into him by not seeing Zeke.
"No, I wasn't paying attention. My bad." He said, now lifting his head up.
Zeke stared at John, like he was surprised, or maybe even disgusted, by John's sudden change in nature. Did he really expect him to come back with guns ablaze?
"Are you sure? Because I-"
"Zeke. Drop it."
He froze, quickly taking a step back.
"S-sorry! Anyways, uh- I'm so glad you're back! You know, keeping students away from the Safe House has been really, really difficult without you, and-"
Zeke was once again cut off by John, and Zeke's irritation to it was beginning to become clear.
"Zeke- what Safe House does isn't my business anymore. There was no reason for me to be against it in the first place. I was just. . .stupid and acting irrationally when they only wanted to help. So, can you do me a favor, since you're such a loyal servant, and not bother them anymore?" John kept his posture up, but his physical emotion remained neutral.
He didn't want to appear like he was being aggressive, but he wanted to make it clear that he was serious, and that he had the authority here.
Zeke's face then contorted into one of confusion and surprise, as if he never expected John to step down from what he once was- the change was all too quick for him! After all, without John there to make him feel powerful, what was he to do? He couldn't take on Safe House on his own, that was already proven. And now that John left his side- he had no where to run.
"But, John- as the King, you're supposed to put your foot down against those who try to oppose you, and clearly they are!" Zeke tried to counter.
"Who said I was the King?"
Silence broke out between the two.
". . .don't tell me you're stepping down." Zeke said, his voice halfway gone, like it was winded away.
"What other choice do I have? I don't want any association with the hierarchy anymore; I'm done with it."
Zeke took another step back, like the person before him had suddenly shapeshifted into another creature. Then, as if it had finally clicked that he had enough of trying to get through to John, his mouth downturned into disgust and his eyebrows furrowed. His ass-kissing personality suddenly shifted into his real one the more annoyed he got at John and his shift in character.
"How could you give up the rank that you worked so hard to earn and maintain?! Do you know what people would do to have your position, to have your kind of power?!" Zeke shouted at him, now causing a few heads to turn and look.
"Not as if you'd understand what it's actually like to be me, to be in my position, to have my kind of power. Because although it may look simple to someone with a closed mind like you, it's not all dandy as you think." John snapped at him.
His eyes widened a bit, realizing that he's not meant to provoke him, as he may be used to. Diffuse the situation, John, he reminded himself.
"And I don't mean that too harshly. Just with a grain of salt."
Though, it seemed as if Zeke didn't take the more 'kinder' version of his remark, as he was already ticked off about more than what John said.
"Maybe it's difficult for you because someone else would actually put it to good use. Like myself." Zeke then smirked, adjusting his posture to now compete against John's, his cockiness getting the best of him.
This wasn't going to work. At this rate, even though Zeke knew of his strength, a fight could still break out. John then turned, causing a confused look to come across Zeke's face, walking towards the school gate again.
"Maybe. But you don't have my kind of power, and you're not in my position. So don't pretend that you know me, or that you're better than me." He stopped to give a final statement.
"Now leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with you either. You can tell that to Cecile for me too." John waved his hand back, now continuing.
"Why you-" Zeke had enough. John wasn't going to listen.
". . .then if you no longer care about your rank or power. . ." He started.
"THEN YOU WON'T CARE ABOUT THIS BRUISE I'LL PUT ON YOUR FACE!"
John glanced behind himself, but he didn't even try to get into a defensive position; there was no need to.
Zeke had released a yelp; a familiar yellow sphere formed around Zeke, trapping him inside. And since he had punched the barrier instead of John, he received reflective damage from it. He stepped back from the edge of the barrier, now holding onto his arm, which had been marked by multiple cuts.
"Ugh. . ."
Arlo and Seraphina then appeared on the scene, stepping over to the barrier. Seraphina went past it, walking to John.
"He didn't hit you, right?" She asked.
"No. That was his first attempt." He answered, full turning around.
Arlo watched the two before they turned to look, to which he also turned to face Zeke, who was now being somewhat crushed by his barrier as he decreased its size.
"Of all people, I thought you would have known to stay within your place, Zeke."
"I-I'm sorry Arlo! I didn't know that-"
"You didn't know that we would come save you? What do you think John would have done to you if I didn't stop you by my barrier? I'm not saying that he'd beat you into a pulp- again- but you definitely would have taken a trip to the infirmary for more than a few cuts on your arm."
Once Arlo said this, Zeke went quiet, glancing off to the side. By now, Arlo had shrunk the barrier to where Zeke was forced to be on his knees- it seemed as if he was always going to be bowing down to these God-tiers. It irritated him, he knew he was strong, but not strong enough. And now, without John on his side, there was no way he could talk back to Arlo.
His fists clenched a bit.
"-want to get that boba now?" Seraphina asked to John, now facing him.
"That's a great idea."
John gave one final stare to Zeke, meeting eyes with him before giving him a warning glare, that he meant business, then he turned around with Seraphina and walked off. Arlo, after watching the two leave and making sure they were out of reach, he released the barrier from around Zeke. He stood.
"Before you go, I want you to understand that you and him aren't buddies anymore. So don't bother him-" He then turned to the crowd that still lingered.
"And I want this to be an example! Keep off from John, at least for a short while. We don't want another Joker phase. Got it? Otherwise, you'll not only have to deal with John, but also me! Go ahead and tell that to your friends, get the message around." Arlo announced, then waved his hand, like he was dismissing them, at the last statement.
He turned, not saying another word to Zeke, placing his hands back into his pockets. Zeke watched as he left.
"Damn him. . ."
⋯⋯❖⋯⋯
Once the duo finally left the school grounds, Seraphina kept an eye on John's expression. He appeared to be focused on something, so she decided to make another comment to distract him. After all, if he was thinking negative, she needed to get his mind off of it.
"So, when's the helmet coming back?" She asked, patting his hair.
A bit of gel got on her fingers, but she didn't mind.
"Helm- ohh. That hairstyle. Uhh- I dunno? Do you really think it's better?" He asked, looking to her.
"Of course not." She responded, blank faced, removing her hand from his head.
"Pfft-" John released a small chuckle.
"Sheesh, you hurt his feelings."
"Aw, well tell him I'm sorry." Seraphina now began to snicker along with John.
But after a moment, silence fell between them. Again, she looked to him, slightly, before she said,
"I'm going to miss him, to be honest."
John quirked an eyebrow to her.
"But I like this John a lot better."
After hearing that, John smiled. He definitely felt a lot better, especially since, for a moment, he thought she was being serious. Thankfully, she wasn't, so her second comment made him more relaxed, rather than tense like before due to the whole situation earlier. He then responded, with his tone softer, saying,
"Yeah. Me too."