Chapter Text
“Hi, John!” Just like she did originally Elaine approached him with false kindness and sincerity. “I’m Elaine, welcome to Wellston! How’s your first day so far?” John mentally rolled his eyes, “ It’s been fine.” Elaine beamed, “Wonderful! So which school did you transfer from?” He could lie, he could lie and do everything all over again; play ‘cripple’ befriend Sera, stay clear of Arlo’s radar, and take all the abuse everyday for the next three years of his life until he graduated.
“I’m from New Bostin, born and raised there my whole life.” He wonders if the gossip mill at Wellston will ever connect the dots that the new transfer student is from the city where a teenage God-tier went on a rampage. “Woah really? That’s all the way on the east coast! What made you decide to come here?” Huh, weird. Ethier Elaine must not watch the news or his little rampage 6 months ago didn’t get nation wide coverage, which is bullshit because at 16 years old he was a level 7 and had taken down 27 high ranking members of the New Bostin branch of Authorities before surrendering, but that’s neither here or there.
“Guess I wanted a change of scenery, to experience something different from my life back home.” He had also hospitalized more than half of NB High’s student population but again that was neither here or there. Elaine smiled and clapped her hands together, “Well, you’ve come to the right place! There’s no place like Wellston! I promise you’ll love it here!”
“That’s great to hear!” This lying bitch! Wellston is nothing but a cesspool where everyone fights over what little power and status they can get their hands on! “So John. What kind of ability do you have? It was at that moment John felt every pair of eyes in the classroom stare at him. The million dollar question had been asked and everyone could stop pretending they weren’t eavesdropping, how strong was the new kid? Would he be another faceless mid-tier with a somewhat decent ability, perhaps another low-tier to have fun with, maybe just maybe he was an elite-tier, sure he held himself with confidence but what were the chances of him actually being a high-tier?
“My ability? My ability is none of your damn business Elaine!” John sneered at her as he swung his bag over his shoulders and walked out the door. Elaine stood there shocked and Offended, ‘How dare he!? She thought to herself and huffed, ‘He’s probably just a weak little mid-tier!’
…
The Wellston gossip mill was truly spectacular, by the end of second period almost everyone had heard about the new transfer student who refused to say what his ability was. And in flocked the rumors and speculations, some of his favorites were; that he was one of the many vigilantes that had started popping up recently, or that he was an undercover Narc for the Beareu, a few even thought that he was a spy for Agwin and had been sent to infiltrate Wellston and steal the recipe to the triple chocolate cake recipe.
But then someone had a thought, someone wondered what if it was all just bravado? Someone asked, “What if the new kid’s a cripple?” Rumors of school espionage and involvement with the Authorities flew out the window. A cripple pretending to have an ability and disrupting the natural hierarchy of the school? This could not stand! This situation needed to be dealt with and fast! Luckily there were more than enough students willing to put an end to these rumors and see the cripple put in his place.
It was after third period and John was walking through the courtyard to get to the gymnasium when he was pulled into a closed off section by two guys. “Can I help you?” John knew exactly what these two wanted and he almost felt sorry for them. Almost. “As a matter of fact you can!” The green haired boy leered, “I’m Crail and that’s Lin.” He said pointing to his lavender haired friend who smirked, “Relax. We’re just here to educate you.”
John could not roll his eyes any harder, “So here at Wellston, there’s a hierarchy that everyone follows.” John ignored Crail’s drivel as a girl with magenta hair sipping a juice box walked by, “You thought you could trick us, but everyone already figured out that you’re a cripple! And since you’re at the very bottom of the hierarchy you have to do everything we say!”
“Yeah. otherwise, we’ll beat your a-“Who exactly told you that I was a cripple?” John interrupted, “Doesn’t matter, I’m still gonna beat the shit outta you two weaklings any way!”
Crail and Lin’s faces scrunched up in anger, their eyes glowing blue and amber as they activated their abilities. How dare this cripple even think for a second there was a chance he could beat them. They had taken so much shit from the high up mid-tiers and elite-tiers and now that they’ve found someone weaker then them he wants to act superior to them!? They would rectify that immediately and show this cripple who’s stronger! Crail winded back his arm and swung with all his might!
John’s eyes flared to life as he activated his ability, his right fist engulfed in black aura as he stopped the green haired boy’s punch dead. “W-what the-?!” Crail barely had a chance to react as John’s other fist flew straight into his jaw! Crail collapsed to the ground instantly, he was unconscious and his jaw broken. John turned his gaze to the low tier Lin, who turned and ran the moment he caught John’s eyes. John pointed his hand in Lin’s direction and fired dozens of sharp orange needles the size of kabob sckerwers at Lin’s legs. The low-tier fell to the ground, crying out in pain as he clenched his needle ridden leg.
John walked over to Lin, crouched down, and grabbed a handful of the boy’s hair pulling him close, “So, you still think I’m a cripple?” John wound back his arm about to swing when the low-tier burst into tears. “Please! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” The boy who a few minutes ago was cocky and arrogant was now choking back sobs, “It was Crail! It was all Crail’s idea! I didn’t want to, but he made me! He said we had to show everyone that you were faking having an ability to avoid being beat down!”
John scoffed as he let go of Lin and stood up, “Whatever, there are a million other things for me to give a shit about instead of you, so fuck off to the infermary before I change my mind.” It took almost a minute for Lin to rise to his feet before he hobbled away in direction of Doc’s office.
Turning back in the direction of the gymnasium, John saw Seraphina standing nearby watching him while still sipping on her orange juice. The two stared at each other and John contemplated asking for a sip of her drink or asking if she enjoyed watching him fight before shaking his head and deciding to just move on to his next class.
‘Would it be better for everyone if me and Seraphina never became friends?’