Home...
"Ugh... I'm beat"
John groaned — as he finally laid back into the couch like a brick after walking around in the mall for hours "Sera, don't you have to go back to your dorm?"
"Huh? Why would I do that?" Sera asked, raising an eyebrow
"Oh, you're staying? But you don't have any casual clothes right now"
"True... going back just to get my clothes would be a hassle" Sera said, thinking deeply with her hand on her jaw for some reason "Why don't I just use yours for the day?"
"M-mine?" John said, flustered "Sure... I guess. You can pick any in my wardrobe"
"Alright"
Sera put down the shopping bags on the floor and went to John's bedroom while John was lying on the couch browsing on his phone
...
...
'She's sure taking her time'
John thought. It has been around 15 minutes since she entered his room. But finally — the door opened from the other side *creak...*
"Finally—" John was suddenly surprised "Wait... Why are you wearing the clothes that you just bought?"
"I was thinking that we should go out now" Sera said, firmly
"Go... out?" John raised his eyebrows 'She's really not choosing her words carefully'
"As vigilantes, I mean"
"Huh? Now?!" John rose from the couch after hearing her bold words "Well someone's eager"
"I just thought it would be boring here" She said, "It's not even that late yet"
"But, we haven't even searched for a target yet"
"I didn't mean that we should find one now. I just wanted to take a walk around Exoria again"
John sighed and scratched the back of his head, 'Sera... she might a little bit too invested into this. I don't know if it's for the better or worse' He thought
"Fine... Let me go ahead and change my clothes as well"
Exoria City, 8:02 PM
John and Sera took a stroll in the city nightlife full of people. This was actually their first time hanging out like this, in another city at that. Because they mostly spent their time on the rooftop, or not so far from the school at best. Suddenly, something caught Sera's attention
"Hey look! There's also Woaba Boba here!" Sera yelled — excited, "Lets grab a drink"
"Yeah, why not"
...
"Thank you! Please come again!" The employee expressed while slightly bowing her head
*ring...ring* the doorbell rang as the two left
"You still know my favorite flavor huh? I didn't even need to say anything" John said
Sera chuckled "You're probably the only guy in this world who likes mango flavor, so it's not hard to remember"
"Wow, you didn't need to say it like that" Said John in an offended manner, but still smirked "Why did you want to come here anyway?"
"I just wanted to show you something"
...
As they walked for a long while later, Sera suddenly stopped and looked up to a certain building
"Hm? What's up?" John asked
"Hey, can you jump high to the roof using my ability?"
"Uhh, sure"
Sera activated her powers, and only focused her flow of aura to her feet "If you focus the acceleration only on your feet, you can build up the momentum to jum—"
"Cmon Queen..." John butted in, "You really think I don't know how your ability works by now?" He asked sarcastically as he smirked — and jumped ahead to the roof before her
Sera sighed, 'I guess him being a high-tier wasn't just for show' She thought, and followed up after him
After she landed, she noticed that Blyke's blood hasn't completely dried out to the concrete yet, and many small damages still were still there
"Huh? Blood? What happened here?" John asked, flustered
"It was the spot where we found Blyke..." She replied
"There's so many blood splattered though... How is he still alive?"
"Beats me..." She firmly replied — not knowing the answer herself.
***
Sera then went ahead to take a seat at the ledge of the rooftop, and John followed up. Their feet hanging off the building near the ledge, along with the cold wind.
They already switched to a different rooftop higher than they were on before, and they had a full view of the nightlife below them, still drinking their beverages
"See those bald trees at the park there?" Sera began, as she pointed her finger at it " It was Remi's doing"
"How'd that happen? Who was she fighting?"
"You should've seen it. Many thunders suddenly struck Remi's surrounding, including those leaves, and it was too loud for a normal thunder too"
"You think her powers improved in some way?"
"That might be the case... or she was just too agitated" She replied, "Apparently, the man we fought had some connection with Remi's brother"
John didn't respond, but quietly listened instead
"See that mall in the far distance?" She continued, "I think I might've taken it a bit too far"
"Holy shit, that's a really massive hole you made. You could fit in a container truck in there" John chuckled, amazed "You seem quite calm for someone that appeared on the news"
"Relax... They don't even have a face yet"
"But you're probably wanted right now... even though you weren't the bad guy, you were the one beating someone to a pulp on the news"
"...That's true" She lightly replied with a sigh, "I've burned the hoodie and mask that I used. Nothing against that, right?"
"That's probably the best thing to do"
***
*sluurp...* Sera finally finished her drink before John, but suddenly... she noticed that he has this gloomy face attached. He seemed to be spacing out about something
"Hey... you alright?"
"Sera... look at those people below us"
She turned her sight to the view below. There were many people, but nothing seem to catch Sera's attention
"What about them?" She asked, confused
"Just looking by their faces, you can already tell which are low-tiers and which are high-tiers"
"Really?"
Sera asked, and attempted to analyze the people down below. It took her quite a while, but she finally realized something
There were people that don't have any care in the world about where their walking, while the others walk with a timid expression, their hands and posture were awkward, too frightened to make mistakes
Because in this world, it doesn't matter where the point stands. If a low-tier happened to get into an argument with a high-tier, it's always the lower ones that gets oppressed at the end of the day
That has always been the case for Evie and Roland too... and now that she thought about it, she also subconsciously took paths around the school where there would be fewer students around, back when she was still powerless
"Yeah... I guess you're right" Sera replied, with a darkened expression
John took a glimpse at Sera, and realized that he didn't mean to bring the mood down. He took a slurp from his drink that was still leftover
"So... How did Doc restore your powers?" He asked
"I didn't get the chance to ask him" She replied, "Mainly because I was still powerless when he applied the tonics, so I thought it didn't work at first"
John quietly listened, and Sera continued
"Just moments before my powers came back, I was bullied by the kidnappers you-know-who"
"...and what happened after that?" John asked, with a serious tone
"My powers came back, and my emotions were suddenly surged by rage... It felt like I wanted to kill them"
"But did you?"
"If it weren't for Remi suddenly appearing, I don't know what I would've done"
Sera's eyes paled, her hair covering it. But suddenly, John held Sera's shoulder "Hey... you're not alone. I know how you feel" John reassured
Sera switched her sight to John, and they were suddenly facing each other "Hey... now that I think about it, I haven't seen your eyes glowing up close" Sera said
"Y-you want me to activate my powers?" John awkwardly asked, and Sera nodded her head
His eyes glowed bright golden, and Sera finally witnessed his glowing eyes up close. She looked up to it, along with the night sky behind him. She couldn't help but to be paralyzed by the sight, her mind became hazy, and her body suddenly moved on its own
—!
John's eyes widened, shocked from her boldness. Because, his best friend suddenly kissed him out of the blue. Her lips brushed his, softly.
The city made many noises. The chatters of the crowd, cars honking their horns, ambulance sirens — and many more
But John's senses were all focused on her, and after a short while, Sera pulled her face away, and slowly opened her eyes. Her senses came back to her, and she suddenly covered her mouth with her hand — her face reddened
"Sera..." John was left speechless that he even forgot to call her by her code name
"I'm... I'm sorry"
John was still quiet for some seconds, but he suddenly chuckled "What are you being sorry for?" He asked sarcastically
"Y-you didn't have any problems with that?"
"Why would I?"
He asked, smiling with an eyebrow raised, but Sera looked away out of embarrassment, her face still red. But suddenly — she noticed a car crashed with the other on a certain crossroad *HONK!*
...
A man suddenly stepped out of his vehicle, approaching the woman that was still inside the other car and banged on her window "Hey! Are you fucking blind?!"
She slowly opened the window "B-but the t-traffic light should've been red for you!" She shouted, but stuttered on her words
"No it wasn't!"
The man lied, but Sera on the far end noticed this, and decided to take action
"Huh?" John questioned himself 'Is she about to do something?' He thought, and he ended up following her, jumping down from the roof
The man suddenly powered up, which made the woman tremble in fear "You better pay up! You're just a mid-tier, aren't you? I'm surprised you could even afford a car!" He shouted in disgust
"B-but it's your f-fault!"
...
"What's going on here?" Sera asked, butting in on their dispute
"Who the fuck are you?!" The man asked, irritated "Get lost! This has nothing to do with you!"
"I saw that you were the one at fault here" Sera claimed "I suggest that you should be the one to pay the damage"
"What did you say?!" The man suddenly lunged himself to Sera all powered up
"Tch..." Sera activated hers, and froze the man's lower body just enough for him to still be able to talk
"W-what?! What did you do to me?" the man asked, "Nngh!" He tried to move his body, but to no avail...
"Pay her up"
Sera demanded with a cold stare. John on the other hand was watching behind her
...
'She's changed so much' He thought
John suddenly remembered that back then, the dispute he had with a stranger before Sera was about to get her powers gauged, all Sera did was watch him
"There's no need to argue with a weakling to prove a point"
He vividly remembered the words Sera said ages ago. But now, she's willing to take action into her own hands, defending the person with the right judgement
'She has come a long way...'
"Gah! There!" The man payed the woman up, with irritation still attached to his face, indicating that he payed up only because he didn't have any choice
"Now get lost..." Sera demanded, and the man drove away
...
"U-uhm... Thank you so much miss" The woman bowed her head feeling grateful to Sera
"It was nothing..."
The woman continued her night feeling relieved, even though she had to deal with the damages done to the car later on
Sera on the other hand felt satisfied, even though all she did was helping a stranger, but it helped her lighten up her chest for some reason
"That was something else, huh?" John asked, "We should probably head back. Don't you still have school tomorrow?"
Sera chuckled, "What are you? My mom?" She asked sarcastically
*Joker The New King - Ch 63 End*
Guys... Writing this chapter made me feel embarrassed, ngl 😅😅😅
But I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
And apparently, Wattpad notifications aren't showing for some people... So I just wanted to let you know that I update between 5-7 days!
***