Remi's POV
"ACK!"
I turned my head, hearing someone yelp. I quickly walked to the source of the noise as it got louder and saw a blue haired boy and a cream haired girl bullying a freckled redhead girl.
"Please, stop!" The freckled girl yelled on the floor.
"Hah! Look at you! You look so pitiable right now!" The cream haired girl laughed out loud. She kneeled down and grabbed the red haired girl's bangs as she cried out. She turned her head over to the blue haired boy who was folding his arms. "Hey. She's crying so damn hard. Does she ever stop screaming? Oi, Milan. Shut her up for me, will you?"
"Sure, Jules." He grinned.
The girl named Jules stood back up, releasing her hands from the girl's face. Then, the blue boy named Milan stepped closer to where the redhead sat.
"Ah, n-no...!" Tears spilled out of her emerald eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry for running into you two! I'll accept any other punishment, but please don't burn me!"
Burn?!
"Heh, it's nice to see you finally apologize." Milan smirked Cheshire style. "But it's too bad that your weakass apology won't work. You see, I've been having a really crappy week and you running into my friend and I has me really pissed."
He raised a fist which blue fire surrounded it, aiming for the red haired girl's head.
"EEK-!" She quickly put her hands over it and shut her eyes.
BZZZZTTT!
"Huh-?" He paused, stopping his hand in the process, then turned around.
"What do you think you're doing to her?!?" I angrily shouted with glowing red eyes.
"A-Ah, it's Remi-!" Jules shrieked. "M-Milan, stop!"
"What? But you just told me to burn her!" He replied. "Tch! Whatever, let's get outta here-!"
I interrupted them both by loudly stomping my foot on the floor, leaving a bit of it burnt with my electricity. They flinched, yelping in the process. I looked up at them furiously.
"You're not going anywhere." I threatened. "I heard your whole conversation with that girl. You were going to burn her with your fire. How could you do something as horrible as that to her? You're both Wellston students, aren't you? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"
I slowly walked over to the freckled girl, making sure to give glares at the two students before I lent her my hand. She took it and then tried to stand up shakily.
"Thank you." She whispered along with a bow of gratitude.
"This shouldn't even be happening, so don't you worry about it. I'm just sorry that I couldn't have stopped it sooner." I tried to comfort her. "What's your name?"
"E-Evelyn." She squeaked out.
"I'm really sorry that you have to go through this, Evelyn. Please let me know if you have any trouble. I'll be here if you need help." I gently smiled. But as soon as I was finished talking to her, I turned to the two students, frowning. "What are you even doing? Don't you two know the rule that has been put in place in Wellston from a few months ago? Students are not permitted to attack other students with or without their ability regardless of the situation."
"S-Says who?!" Jules shouted with a stutter.
"C'mon, Jules! Don't get so shaken up! We all know that Little Miss Goody Two Shoes's opinion doesn't matter!" Milan scoffed. He turned to me. "News flash. But I just can't seem to respect you anymore, Remi. Your nagging is so annoying that it's gotten me this riled up! John defeated the rest of you 'Royals,' didn't he? So I don't even know how he still considers you Queen!"
What? John?
"You 'respected' high-rankers, are the reason why everyone jumps at the opportunity to torture one another! Because all you do is boast about your strength and belittle the people below you. You deserve to lose every bit of credibility you have!"
I shook my head. What does John have to do with this?
"I'm not sure if I follow what you're saying." I responded. "But I won't tolerate this! Hurting and continuing to hurt a student to this extent is unnecessary! Can't you at least see that?"
"Hah! Look at this girl!" Jules laughed. "She really is oblivious like John said! If you haven't been keeping up with the news, Remi, then you're missing out on a lot! Earlier this week, John's made an announcement in the newspaper. The Royals besides him don't have a say in the rules anymore! That means the Queen and Jack don't have any control over us!"
What?! John, why?!
"Hmph. She's that shocked by that? Well, whatever. Let's get outta here already." Milan shrugged and walked past me into the halls. All while I stood still.
I clenched my shaking fists, feeling my eyes water. I really don't understand you, John. Every time I think I've got you figured out, you pull up something else that contradicts your words! "High tiers are all useless and do nothing worthwhile." That's what you say. But then you prevent a rule that forbids other students from hurting each other! Just choose a side already!
"Augh!" A voice coughed out.
I turned my head swiftly to see Evelyn covering her mouth. She was coughing up blood.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" I asked worriedly. I totally forgot she was there. I put an arm around her shoulder. "Here, let me help you get to the infirmary."
"Thank you so much." Evelyn smiled gently and gave me her thanks. But soon, her smile turned into a light frown. "I'm so sorry that I'm weak. Maybe if I wasn't such a weakling, then they wouldn't have targeted me. Ah, I'm just wasting your time, aren't I? Don't bother helping me."
"What? No way! You're far too injured to even walk! Please, let me help. Besides, I don't want you getting any more fights and getting more injured than you already are." I explained to her.
She paused for a bit, looking guilty. "Okay..."
Even as I was holding her close to me to get her to the infirmary, I could hear her continuing to mutter more apologies. How cruel. Is this how all low tiers feel about themselves? They think that they're worthless? No one should feel that way about themselves! Even though I'm Queen, even though I've seen this situation so many times, what did I do about it?
Things need to change.
"Oh, it's you again?" Doc asked blandly, sighing under his breath.
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Doc..." Evelyn was sitting on an infirmary bed, looking ashamed.
"C'mon, Doc. Don't be so hard on her. What did you expect her to do?" I questioned. She was going through a lot already. I didn't need her to think that it was all her fault.
He put a finger to his forehead, frowning. "I know that. But damn. I'm getting so many visits to the infirmary lately. You're lucky that you only ran into Fireboy and Watergirl today. They may look like they boast a lot about their power, but they're only a bit high on the mid-tier side. And it's not like our previous cripple wannabe is helping with his recent newspaper announcement."
I turned my head to the side. I felt bad. Knowing that low tiers had to go through this everything.
Evelyn noticed my clenching fist, then put a hand on it gently.
"It's okay." She smiled. "I think you're doing the best you can. You helped someone like me, after all. You might not think that you did much, but it means the world to me."
I smiled.
One day...it'll all be over.
???'s POV
1 Day Ago...
Urgh...my head...
Where the hell am I...?
I was laying on the ground. It's so cold...
I was struggling to stand up, but managed. It felt like my body had been struck through a thousand needles. Each poking through everywhere.
Huh? What's that?
The further my eyesight grew less blurry, the better I could make out my surroundings. Everything was white. When I could finally see clearly again, I could make out a familiar black figure in the distance. It was coming closer with each step.
"G-Get away!" I tried to move my legs, but they wouldn't budge. I couldn't activate my ability either. What was happening to me?
The black figure finally made its way to me. Its height was shorter compared to mine, but looked just like me. Except, younger. It also had this haughty and confident aura surrounding it. It was me. It smirked, then raised a fist up. I shivered. No. Please don't. Please.
SWING!
"STOP!!"
John's POV
"AAAAAAAAAA!!"
I put a hand to my head. It was shaking. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm hallucinating. I must be. With all the shit that has happened these past few months, I've gone crazy. I sighed, then stood up in my bed, making my way to the bathroom to wash my face. I splashed my face with water. Just like before. Calm down. You're making a big deal out of nothing.
"It's okay." I said to myself. "You're okay."
I put my head back up from the sink. The left side of the mirror was cracked, my eye was pushed down, squinted and bruised while my other eye was perfectly fine. I sighed, shutting them, then opening them again. Just like I thought. There's nothing actually there.
This needs to change.
Le Bonus
Name: Milan
Ability: Flame Fist
Level: 3.4
Name: Jules
Ability: Water Manipulation
Level: 3.4
NOTE: Next episode will be on Wednesday, December 16th! Remember to vote/comment when you're finished reading!!