🎆 Chapter 49 🎆
"IF YOU'RE NOT careful, she'll knock you out in one hit." Cecile warned John, no trace of ignorance in her body language. "Don't underestimate her."
John smirked in a laid-back manner, "Sounds like a piece of cake to me."
"I'm not joking around John!" The cyan haired girl emphasized. "Remi is a high tier too! She defeated me!"
The raise in volume caused Y/N to open her eyes and toss the girl a glare. Throughout the duration of the trio's little "meeting," if you could call it that, Y/N was resting on the window sill, head leaned back against the wall and earbuds plugged in.
Cecile caught herself and cleared her throat.
"And?" John asked playfully. "I defeated you too."
"..."
"Relax Cecile. You worry too much. I'll take care of it."
"Fine then, what's your plan for Arlo?"
"That's for me to know."
"Ugh...I don't get you. We're supposed to be allies..but you're not telling me anything! How am I supposed to assist you when—!"
"Shh," He put a finger to his lips, face focused, before pointing a finger towards the wall. "..Someone's there."
"It's Isen," Y/N announced lazily, yawning. "The shit's been listening in for a while outside the door."
Cecile gave a frustrated look. "Why would you just tell us—?!"
"Are you going to stand there lecturing me or take him inside?"
Once again, Cecile was reminded of her place. She ought to be more careful next time. Y/N was a ticking time bomb, one that made John seem like a mere firecracker.
There was no telling when she'd explode.
Outside the room, Isen felt uneasy. His glowing orange eyes faltered when he could no longer hear sound on the other side. ..Why'd it get so quiet all of a sudden..? Before he could react, neon green ropes crackled and broke through the wall, hindering him into one place. What the..?! Ah shit—!
Cecile stood before him, arms crossed and ability activated.
"Uhh...h-heeeyy Cecile~" He sang nervously. Y-you're looking mighty fine today, ha.....oof!" She threw his body through the door. Barely able to look up, Isen met eyes with an intimidating John. Holy shit, he does not look happy! Please Cecile, help a buddy out. Isen felt another pair of eyes on his direction, and followed them to meet a blank Y/N. Of fucking course, Y/N's here too! I'm gonna die here before I even get a girlfriend!
John knelt down and wrapped his fist around Isen's collar. "So this is how your Queen operates? I'll make sure to pay her back for this."
"Uh...wait no! I-I did this all on my own!" The orange haired boy pleaded. He didn't want Remi to have to deal with the consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, John didn't buy it, or rather he didn't care to believe it.
"Don't fucking lie to me." One punch was all it took for Isen to fall over helplessly. But John wasn't one to stop just because his opponent was down.
"H-Hold on, John..! Stop-!" Another knee to the stomach. "AUGH!"
Unable to bring herself to do anything, Cecile only shook her head disappointedly at Isen's agony, wondering if he was in his right mind for even thinking of coming here. He, of all people, should know what John was like. Meanwhile, Y/N didn't bother opening her eyes, unaffected by the screams.
John spat, "Run back to your Queen and tell her this...In two days, I'll make my move. I'm going to crush her, so she better brace herself...and if I catch you snooping around again..I'll break your fucking legs."
When he finished talking, Isen felt somebody crouch down and extend their arm out to him.
Wearing a lopsided grin, Y/N said, "You're going to Remi's dorm after this, aren't you? Let's go together."
-
"Damn it-!" Blyke scrunched up the documents in his hand. "What the hell are we supposed to do against him?!"
The pink and red duo were searching through John's old files in search of some type of clue to his weakness, only to end up feeling more discouraged. Even years ago, he was way above their league. What could they possibly do?
The door cracked open, followed by a pained groan. "Ugh..."
In came a troubled Y/N, who supported Isen's body with his arm over her shoulder.
"?!"
"Y/N?! Isen?!'
They sat up and quickly rushed over.
"Isen, are you alright?!" Remi cried, scanning over his damaged appearance. "Y/N, are you okay too?! You shouldn't be putting so much pressure on your body! It'll make your injuries worse!"
Y/N laughed tiredly, "Well, I couldn't just leave Isen there.."
"What happened?"
Cringing, Y/N replied, "I was getting a drink when I saw Isen all beaten up on the floor outside of an empty classroom. But it may not have been completely empty. I'm not positive, but I think I saw a glimpse of John in there. I didn't want to stick around to find out, so I hurried back here with Isen as fast as I could.."
"Is it true?" Blyke's hand gripped his friend's shoulder. "Did John do this to you?"
"...Who else could've done it?" Trying to shake off his uneasiness, he slid down to the floor with a sigh. "Damn..he hits hard." Seeing Remi's infuriated state, he assured, "Hey, it's fine. I'm the one that gave myself away."
"That's not the point. He didn't need to hurt you like this. He could've just let you of with a warning."
Y/N added, "..It really was unnecessary. Knowing John, you should really be more careful Isen...there's no telling what will happen if he catches you again."
He gulped, avoiding eye contact. Though sincere and gentle now, there was always something unsettling in her orbs, like she was soulless. "Y-yeah.." Clearing his throat, he changed the subject, "He said we had two days..until he's making his move. Specifically, he said he's going to crush you."
"Two days, huh?" Remi repeated. "When though..?
"Morning, maybe? Just like all his other victims." Scoffing, Blyke mimicked John saltily, "I'm going to crush her! Brace herself! So cocky! Whatever, how did he catch you anyways? Isn't stalking people your specialty?"
Isen shrugged, "The hell if I know, dude. I was listening in from the hallway...but he somehow knew I was there."
"Your ability was active?" The electricity user thought aloud.
"Well, yeah.." He deadpanned. "Can't hear them through the damn wall if I don't use my ability."
Speaking up, Y/N inquired, "I think what Remi is onto is that maybe he knew you were there because your ability was active. John's ability specializes in ability auras, right? So kinda like how Remi can see electrical currents, he can likely sense auras around him."
After discussing some more, they came up with the idea of Isen and Blyke planting themselves in a far enough location where John won't be able to mirror their abilities. They'll try to nail him as fast as possible while Remi attacks close range.
Y/N sighed depressingly burying her head in her knees, "..I wish I could be useful to you guys...but I don't think my injuries will allow me to fight for a while.."
"No, no." Blyke shook his head. "You don't need to put yourself at risk Y/N. It's not worth it."
"...Guys," Isen murmured after staying silent for the past couple of minutes. "This isn't going to work."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because he has Cecile. Those two are working together, so he has access to her ability pretty much whenever. And not to mention he'll probably have a super powerful self-heal—er.."
Shit.
Why did he keep doing this to himself?
"What was that last part Isen? We couldn't hear you well because you were mumbling," Remi said attentively.
"Yeah, could you repeat what you said there, Isen?"
"N-nothing...you guys probably heard me wrong..haha..I just wanted to say that I'm honestly over this whole Joker thing. Why don't we just ride things out? I mean, he's already beaten two of us anyways. What's one more?"
Retaliating, the redhead yelled, "You cant be serious! You just want Remi to lose? What kind of solution is that?"
"Well, what choice do we have? I've already showed you John's papers. He's ranked that high for a reason! Sure, Remi might be able to stall against another lightning user, but how is she supposed to hold up against Cecile's ability too? So what if she has us backing her up from far away? It won't do anything if the fight ends before we get any shots off. Arlo was right. Your best bet is to just lose quickly. And just get this over with....As long as I'm not his target, I don't really care. He's stronger than all of us anyway. Who am I to tell him to stop?
Hair shadowing over her eyes, Remi announced, "Isen, this hardly has anything to do with strength or rankings anymore." She looked up, a newfound fire igniting. "
His actions are just plain wrong. He knows he can defeat anyone easily, yet he crosses the line every single time! He didn't need to send Zeke to the hospital. Nor did he need to break your jaw. Or destroy Blyke's back. Or stab Cecile all those extra times..and he definitely did not need to nearly kill Y/N in a simple ranking fight! Even that poor mid tier Juni...John was the clear victor in all those fights, but he chose to keep going. And that's the problem! He refuses to stop! And on top of that, he wears a mask. He doesn't even own up to what he's doing. So regardless of how strong John is, I'll do everything in my power to stop him from hurting anyone else! That includes everyone at Wellston!"
Remi...my sweet, innocent little hypocrite...you're the Queen, yet you still don't know how the world works..
"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Isen questioned as Remi prepared to leave.
"I'm going to go talk with him."
-
The talk did not go well. Not even a little.
"Remi, you okay?" Y/N said, concerned.
Clashing shoulders with the two on her way out of John's room, she muttered angrily, "Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, let's go."
Isen and Blyke trailed behind her, while the H/C haired girl followed in the back.
Y/N giggled internally, a sly smile hidden on her face.
She stared directly at you. Yes, you, the one reading this right now. Buckle up ladies and gentlemen, next time you're gonna be in for one hell of a ride.
•••
hi
online school starts in two days someone save me
I think I'm gonna have a breakdown when we reach 200k ngl
FANART 💫
By: @fallensnowss