The day was long, but there should be no fake Jokers anymore. Isen's article on Joker had come out and Zeke's insensitivity had confirmed that John was Joker.
Now Seraphina sat on her bed with her phone and a piece of paper in her hands.
Isen had finally come through.
She pulled her phone to her ear and let it ring.
"Hello?" the voice on the other side called.
"Hi. Am I speaking with Claire?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Hi Claire, my name is Seraphina. I'm calling because I'd like to ask you a few questions about-."
"Uhm, sorry, but I'm not interested in taking any surveys right now."
She clicked off.
Why? Why was this more difficult than it had to be?
She rang again.
"You really want those answers, huh-?"
"Excuse me, but I'm not a telemarketer."
"Oh?"
"I'm calling because I need your help. You had an old classmate named John, correct?"
"Look, I have no idea who you care and I don't know how you get my contact info, but I don't want anything to do with John anymore. Last I heard, he went to some snobby prep-school: Wellston."
Snobby?
"You can go ask the kids over there for help."
"I am a student from Wellston." She sighed. "John is my classmate."
"... Oh. Well damn... that's awkward?"
"I think you're the only one who can help anyway, so please hear me out. John and I had an argument a few days ago. He called me Claire and that's how I found out about you."
"Oh... T-that's why you called. Uh... Are you his girlfriend or something?"
"Wha-?"
"Oh oh, I see now! Don't worry! He's all yours, sis! I haven't spoken with him in years and I don't plan on it ever again, so-."
"No, you misunderstood." She sat up from where she leant up against her pillow. "Let me explain. Something in John's past has been haunting him and he's gotten extremely aggressive because of it. Whatever it is, I know, it's got to do with you and his experience at New Bostin."
"Aggressive? So he's causing trouble over there too now?"
"Yes."
"But isn't your school full of high-tiers? Aren't you all supposed to be super strong? Not a single one of you can stop him?"
"... No."
This girl, she's very blunt.
"Well, that sucks." Claire sighed. "You 'd think after getting expelled and taken in by authorities he'd have learned a lesson."
"Hm? John was taken in by the authorities?"
"Ah, I guess you wouldn't know something like that."
"What happened?"
"Well, long story short. I rallied a bunch of classmates against him. He beat us all half to death and the authorities had to step in to stop him."
"You were the one behind that?"
"I didn't want to fight him, but he left me with no choice. He was hurting people left and right and nothing anyone said was getting through to him. I needed to knock some sense into him."
It's just as I thought...
"He's acting similar here as he was in New Bostin. He's repeating everything."
"...Sorry."
"Hm?"
"If I had just kept my visions to myself then he wouldn't have turned out like this. Even now, what I most regret is helping John discover his ability."
"Discover his ability? What do you mean?"
Claire paused. "Seraphina, how much time do you have to talk?"
"Plenty, I'm free all day."
Several minutes later, she was looking at Claire through her laptop screen.
Claire had a bob of light green hair with deep waves. She had an undone flannel shirt that was short-sleeved. Underneath, she wore a light grey top and black jeans.
She stretched out her arm by pulling it across her chest. "This is much better! My elbow was starting to get sore." She sat down at her desk. "So that's what you look like! Cute outfit, by the way! Anyway, where was I?"
"You helped John discover his ability. How did you two meet each other? And how did it all lead up to now?"
"Well, John and I met I our first year of middle school. John had another friend that he'd known since he was a kid. His name was Adrion. Adrion was also a low-tier at the time and the three of us got along well because supported each other and we had a lot of fun together!
"Even though John could fight, Adrion was still the strongest out of the three of us, so whenever we ran into trouble, he always did his best to protest us . It didn't always work out, but we got used to these run-ins eventually.
"Aside from the occasional beat-downs, I was pretty content with the way things were. But I was a bit concerned for John. He often seemed frustrated and angry. John had a lot of trouble coming to terms with reality.
"During our final year of middle school, I had my first vision of John. Of course, he didn't believe me. Looking back, it must've sounded so stupid. Even so, he'd often sneak away and try to get this 'ability' to work. Deep down, he really wished it were true.
"John couldn't stand being as powerless as he was. He always wanted to be stronger, so that he could win.
"When he finally found his ability, that was the happiest I'd ever seen John. I had no way of knowing how much this would change him.
"Things started ramping up once we graduated middle school. Visions of John became slightly more frequent because of all that time we had spent together. Whenever I got information on his ability advancement, I'd ran over to his house and we'd discuss it.
"We figured out that he could imitate abilities, so we went to practice with Adrion. After some convincing, he agreed and in less than a week, John figured out Adrion's ability and was able to imitate it.
"And so, we spent our entire vacation studying. Trying to get insight on as many types of abilities as possible. We read through ability-related books. We analysed my visions. We watched demonstration videos and professional tournaments.
"Then, finally, high school started! After having prepared all break, we were eager to put our research to the test!
"High school was so much different from what we were used to. Everyone was stronger and people were generally more aggressive. But we both knew going in that would be the prefect training ground and we took full advantage of it.
"John took on every challenge he possibly could. At first, we did more observing than anything else. It took some time to get into the swing of things, but eventually, fighting back became easier. Pretty soon, he managed to win his first real match!
"John was naturally gifted. And to top it off, I was providing him with info from his future self. As a result, his ability was able to grow at an alarming rate. He won fights again and again until losses became rare for him. And by the end of our first year, his understanding of aura and ability fundamentals were so advanced he was able to mirror most abilities without much effort. The three of us didn't need to hide anymore! John had our backs. He was strong enough to protect us I was so glad! I had helped accomplish something incredible! I finally felt like I had something to be proud of!
"Maybe that's why it took me so long to notice that when John acted out like that. I realised for the first time that we had become just like them. Violent and aggressive. Looking down on people weaker than us and abusing them.
"Then he decided to challenge the King at the time and he lost. John hated losing but he took his lost against Zirian especially hard. As time went on, he became more frustrated and more impatient.
"I wanted him to be happy with himself, but he was never satisfied. He was always looking for ways to get stronger to win every match. To beat everyone.
"But when our first year at New Bostin was over, John still wasn't able to defeat Zirian. A few weeks into our break, I finally had another vision of John.
"John's ability revolves around aura. When he's around an active ability user, he's able to sample their aur and manipulate his own to match it. Hence, the mirroring effect. The simpler the ability, the easier it is for him to use. Anything complex or higher-level will take him longer to learn and there are certain abilities, such as my 'Clairvoyance' that he has never successfully copied. After some discussion, we concluded that my most recent vision had something to do with him aura channels. Typically, people have no control over their aura channels. Aura flows through us naturals as we activate our abilities and it's a self-regulated system. But John's ability lets him alter the natural flows of aura through his own channels, which allows him to increase the intensity of the abilities he copies.
"This was no easy concept. Once again, we spent all vacation practicing and let me tell you, the beginning wasn't pretty. This part of his ability was extremely taxing, so it took him some time to get used to. He worked hard and when he was able to sufficiently adjust his channels. Adrion let us test it on him.
"It was successful, but it didn't go well.
"When school started up again, the first thing John did was challenge Zirian's title. Because of the new discovery we made, this time he was able to win. And just like that, John became the youngest King in the history of New Bostin.
"He wasn't immediately accepted as King. A student talked badly about him when he was in the room and he attacked her. We were powerless to stop him. We just stood there and continued to watch John pummel that poor student until faculty members showed up and finally ended the fight.
"He didn't care about us anymore. Aside from his strength and ranking, nothing else mattered to John.
"I stopped telling John about my visions, but by that point, it no longer made a difference. He was so in time with his own ability that he could innovate on his own.
"He invited us to a Turf Wars match. Although we initially objected as we thought it was against the rules, he insisted that we could some. We thought it'd be pretty cool to witness a Turf War match, but it all turned out to be a play. John used as substitutes for Queen and Jack. Without the other Royals present, there was no pressure on him to share these matches with them. John could soak up all the experience for himself and train as much as he wanted.
"Things continued like this for a while and pretty soon, John was able to hold two abilities at once. Then three.
"The more powerful he grew the more he boasted, and the more violent he became. It was painful to watch. I didn't want to see him like that anymore.
"It had been so long since I'd seen John win a fight without bloodying his opponent. I wanted to be able to root for him without feeling guilty. I wanted to be able to celebrate with him again.
"I don't know what I expected I wanted to believe in him, but he just wouldn't stop. He didn't listen to a word I said.
"We tried to stop him, but he just responded that everyone else had done it to him, so he should be able to do it. That's when I knew nothing we said would get through to him. He was too absorbed with his own strength.
"Following that incident, I started avoiding him and needless to say, it wasn't long before I was replaced. But I tried best to not let it bother me.
"As time went on, the school's situation only got worse. Students were terrified of John. People refused to talk or even be around him. If anyone so much as looked at him strangely, he'd make sure to punish them for it.
"He was so problematic that even the staff had trouble dealing with him. Regardless, our principal refused to punish him because as the strongest student in the region, John brought New Bostin High School a lot of recognition. Nobody could touch him. No student. No staff. Not even the school's administration. John was unstoppable.
"Even though I had stopped hanging out with him, John's reputation still stuck with me. They blamed me. They weren't even wrong. New Bostin was in shambles because of me and my stupid visions. I created a monster.
"I wanted to stop John so badly but I didn't know what to do until I had my final vision of him. Maybe I had a change of getting through to him after all.
"The next day, as soon as school ended, I went to look for Zirian. I knew he wouldn't believe me easily, but I had to convince him! I had to lie. I was the one who caused all of this, so it was my responsibility to put an end to it.
"I repeated the vision I an effort to confront him. I thought seeing everyone there he would understand. However, it didn't.
"I couldn't believe it. Even when confronted by a horde of students who hated him, students who were all victims of his violence and bullying, he was still completely oblivious to all the pain he had caused us. Not even a shred of remorse.
"He provoked them, but they severely underestimated him. The moment they activated their abilities, it was over. He was too strong for any of us to stop and just like before all I could do was stand and watch as he demolished everyone.
"My plan had failed. There was no bring him back.
"I don't know what happened afterward, but when I awoke in the hospital, I was told that Adrion had followed John to the field's location. And after witnessing what John had done to our classmates, he promptly called the authorities."
A tear formed at the corner of Claire's eye. "I still remember the last words he said to me before bashing my sull in." Tears streamed down her face. "He had the gall to ask me that when he was the one who betrayed us! He took advantage of us, used us and treated us like his servants. And after the terrible things he did to this school he only felt sorry for himself? He still thought himself as a victim!
"He hated the mistreatment more than everyone else. After he gained power, he could've changed so much, but instead, he became just like the rest of them – worse even. I spent two years trying to talk sense into him and not a single word get through. In the end, I couldn't even undo my own mistake.
"Ah, shit! Sorry, I didn't think I'd get so worked up over this!"
"It's alright," she replied.
She rubbed her eyes. "Damn, how embarrassing. We just met and I'm bawling like a child. TEARS! STOP!"
"Hey, Claire," Seraphina said. "It's not your fault. You don't need to blame yourself for choices that he made. And also, I don't think your efforts were a waste. John did change. He enrolled into Wellston as a cripple most likely because of you. And back when we were friends, he would always preach about equality and treating others with respect."
It probably wasn't that good of a change.
Claire tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's refreshing to hear, but sadly, whether he's changed or not doesn't really matter now, does it?"
"Hm?"
"Otherwise, you wouldn't have had to call me. Lemme ask, what kinda trouble is John causing over there? Relentlessly climbing the ranks? Hospitalising students and instilling fear? Causing unnecessary chaos?"
"All of the above. Though he's slow down recently and the last two were poking a wasps nest. However, he did most of it anonymously – which has sparked chaos."
She sighed. "Yeah, I guess – but not the specifics.
"Seraphina, I want you to forget everything you know about John for a moment and recognise exactly what you're dealing with." She crossed her arms over her chest. "This isn't the first time John has gone through this destructive with. Putting your faith in him will lead to disappointment. Trying to talk sense with him will earn you a beating. The John you're dealing with is a selfish tyrant. He does whatever he pleases and answers to everything with power and violence."
"Jeez. When I contacted you, this isn't what I expected to hear."
"Hah, sorry to disappoint."
I didn't know John's past would be this dark. How do I even move forward with this?
"Hey." Claire waved for her attention. "Has John really defeated everyone over at Wellston?"
"Well, no. He only really went for those ranked in the top ten. He attacked rank 8 – I'm not including John in this – skipped rank 7 and then went from rank 6 to rank 2."
"Only to rank 2? I thought you weren't including John, right?"
"Yeah, I wasn't."
"Then who's rank 1? I'm assuming rank 7 isn't an option."
"No, I doubt she would agree to do it if I could ever catch her. She's the only second-year who ranks in the top 10."
"But who's rank number one?"
She paused and shut her eyes. She pointed to herself. "Me. I'm Wellston's rank one."
"Oh, that's a surprise! You don't act like it thought," she replied. "What's holding you up? You worried you can't stop him?"
"Actually, I've never once thought about going against him. Plus, combat isn't really an option for me at the moment."
"Why's that?"
"My ability has been compromised. I'm working on restoring it."
"Compromised? How is that even possible?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you some other time. It's getting pretty late here."
"Wow. I hadn't even noticed!" She waved. "Sounds thrilling! Alright, I'll hold you to that! Give me a call when you're back to full power!"
Sera smiled to herself and waved. "I will."
The video clicked off and shut her laptop down, moving it off her lap.
She sighed and released her body, lying back onto the pillow.
None of that was good. I was expecting something that had a more clear pinpoint of something bad happening about it, but I guess Claire rallying the students was the pinpoint.
Even if Claire couldn't get why John thought she betrayed him, I could get where he was coming from. If someone brought students against me for something I thought I was in the right for, I would be hurt, even if I was ultimately in the wrong.
Who am I kidding? I'm just trying to come up with causes for him.
How am I even supposed to end up with this guy? I couldn't take Claire's advice to forget all our previous relationship if I wanted to keep a possible future with him.
In fact, John's behaviour was entirely different to New Bostin – to the point where the motives were different. She had never described John shaking or hallucinating the same why I had seen him.
She gasped.
My engagement? The only way to end it is getting together with my soulmate. Or at least the easiest way.
She smiled to herself.
Maybe a calmer approach would work.
A/N: For anyone who doesn't know or hasn't gathered, I dislike Claire and this is why much of this hasn't been changed. There were a few more changes, but they came off badly and they were changed back. (I dislike Claire most likely because she was built up to be a bad person and then she kind of obviously left out stuff to me that I remember had happened in John's flashbacks).
Also, finally onto the next stage of the arc.
Thank you for reading this chapter. Please share your thoughts in the comments.