Chapter 7: Racing Against The Clock
HOURS EARLIER
Sera walked down the hallway with Elaine at her back, as they walked past the cafeteria; the only room large enough to house the hundreds of survivors John had herded into the large estate. Sera shoved the confusing mixture of emotions seeing her best friend kiss the most important person in her life as she observed the refugees through the open doorway. The school had been closed for most students the day of the disaster due to the explosion worrying parents into calling most students home, leaving only the school doctor, a few dozen students including the royals, and the staff. Speaking of students, the two walked past a lecture room where their current food supply was being produced by a blonde, blue eyed, freshman named Susan. Standing at a solid five foot she hummed softly to herself as she used her ability to speed up the growth of the seeds that they'd harvested from the school food shipments. They continued walking forward to see that four lecture halls were full of grown apple trees, peach trees, ripe watermelons attached to vines, large carrots sprouting from pots, alongside tomatoes, peas, and potatoes, all ready to be harvested for the days meals to ration the rest of the refrigerated food for emergencies. They saw generators being tinkered with on by a few students and survivors, likely to be more efficient at drawing power from Remi's lightning as they paused in front of the headmaster's office.
"Enter." a crisp voice called, startling the two from their hesitancy. They exchanged a befuddled glance as the two took fortifying breathes and walked into the room to see the headmaster in a meeting with a handful of refugees as well as the school security head. "You will not be evicted from my school, Mr. Steven.", he said to the apparent leader of this new group of refugees as they collapsed back into their chairs in teary eyed relief. " I will not throw you from the premises unless you give me a reason to. Do not do so.", the only adult god tier of the school stated to the exhausted group of survivors, who tensed as they saw felt the insurmountable aura of the man. "Head to the cafeteria, my associate Mr. Keene here shall guide you. Until we can make space in the dorms and clear them out of personal belongings you shall remain there. Three square meals shall be provided a day, and one of my students who can produce cloths shall provide you with new clothing and blankets for you to sleep.", the headmaster finished as Keene stood to walk past the two students with a respectful nod and call for the new residents to follow him .
The two took a seat across the older man as they took in his tired state. His clothing was ruffled, his eye bags pronounced from sleepless nights, and his usually well trimmed beard was now much longer. Despite this, his eyes remained the same impassive steel they'd always been as he calmly assessed the two royals in his domain. "I apologize for the state your friends is in right now, if I was present perhaps he would be in better condition. Though seeing as my gravity manipulation is only slightly higher leveled than your time manipulation, Seraphina, I doubt that.", Vaughn admitted to the surprise of the Sera and Elaine. He continued with, "My granddaughter had called me to ask for a plane ticket to here from New Bostin, to chase after John when he departed leaving only a voice mail to speak to her. I had business in the other side of town when the beasts started their attack and had to force my way back here. Imagine my surprise when I arrive to see John collapse against you Seraphina, with only my front gates destroyed, and a pile of corpses stretching before my school, and no one but my schools defenders harmed, along with my granddaughter Claire.", he said before standing to bow at the waist. "Thank you for protecting them both you two.", Vaughn finished before returning to his seat to wait for the two to awaken from heir surprise.
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"What do you want from us." Sera finally replied after a handful of seconds.
"Straight to the point? Very well.", Vaughn said as he straightened up to speak with them both. "The beast seem to only be capable of coming out during the night, however the refugees that filter in have been giving me reports of those gaining abilities of their own. One was even able to record a flame breathing dog covered in scales facing off against against a cat with electricity falling from its spiky fur. There are also reports of my scouts the last two nights seeing a large beast that disappears with a flash before they get a good look at them, rumors are spreading about further mutations from the beasts and the people we've taken in are nervous and becoming aggressive. They have heard of John and what he's done for the first of the refugees, however, the new people haven't seen our strongest fight for their lives. They're scared that this school isn't protected from the beasts, so we need to reassure them that they are safe. I wish for you and the rest of the royals to begin night patrols around the school perimeter.", the older man laid out to the two teenagers.
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The stunned duo stared at the headmaster of Wellston, before Sera narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the teacher. "Why not do it yourself?", came the cold reply.
Vaughn simply stood to walk in front of his desk and lift up his pant leg, ignoring the horrified eyes that stared at him in shock, showing the prosthetic that made up his right leg from the thigh down before turning to show the two his scarred back that had craters missing from the spine. "If I could spare anyone this job, and do it all on my own...I would.", the crippled old man admitted to the two horrified royals, before turning to smoothly, and slowly the two noted, walk back to his chair. "However most of my power is used to stop me from collapsing under my own weight and dying. So I am little more than your average mid tier the way I am. In other words useless for anything other than management and a last line of defense for the other helpless low tiers in this sorry state."
Sera stared in horror at the spot she knew should be muscle and bone only to see cool metal when she let her mind wander as she slowly turned to look into the older man's eyes as he waited patiently for them to speak.
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"We'll do it.", Elaine finally answered for them both as they began to slowly stand to leave the room, stunned before pausing to look back a the headmaster's noticeably glowing eyes that she and everyone else had chosen to ignore for years." How did...?", the young healer tried to ask before her throat dried out too much to finish.
The old man considered the two royals for a handful of seconds, before choosing to reply," Vigilantes as a whole are much older than the authorities would lead you to believe.", the man simply said, alluding to the book that had been written nearly two years ago, before going back to reading the reports scattered across his table as the two left for grab food before heading to get some rest in preparation for the night.
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Elaine waited in front of the school as the sun began to set. Her and Sera had been waiting on the rest of the royals to appear as the light began to fade, only for them to appear and walk through the crowd of refugees the school now housed who were both excited to see what the elites of their people could bring about in defense of those too weak to fend for themselves in this new world of beasts, and terrified of possibly watching them fail. They flocked to the window as the royals took up positions in front of the destroyed gate that was the only way to leave the school and enter. Claire and Elaine stood resolute in the back of the group ready to heal their injuries, or call out when an attack would happen, with both Blyke and Isen nervously guarding them both from harm standing five feet apart. In the middle stood the impatient Arlo, Remi, and Cecile stood further apart with their abilities ready as they prepared for any possible attacks. Sera stood alone ahead of them ready and waiting to slow time and destroy anything that dared to cross her path, glad for the chance to vent her frustrations on anything that would try to harm the school.
Like this the night passed with only a few dozen of the larger wolf like beast making their way to challenge the strongest Wellston had to offer. Anything that made its way past the gates was either torn apart by Sera as she slowed them down, ripped apart by Cecile's energy tentacles, crushed by Arlo's barrier, shot and fried by Blyke or Remi with their energy beams as the oracle, hunter, and healer all stood on standby for emergencies. For the entirety of the night, no beast made it within twenty feet of the perimeter of the school before falling. All night these scenes repeated and slowly, the refugees began to relax and enjoy the spectacle of watching the elites of their race trample on the beasts that had seemed unstoppable only hours before.
The night passed quickly a the beast continued to pile their corpses in front of the royals of Wellston, still untouched from the battle. Until only an hour before sunrise, the wolf like beast began to flee from the stronghold. None stayed as they fled with their tails between their legs to disappear into the distance. The royals were understandably confused and wary as they waited for whatever had sent the monsters packing, only for seconds to stretch into minutes before something began to slowly approach the opening in the wall that had once been the gate.
One of the schools scouts shouted out from the rooftop in fear, "That's what I saw last night! It was hovering around the walls and vanished when i tried to get a good look at it!".
The royals took a collective step back before catching themselves as they finally got a good look at what was making its way leisurely towards them. Standing two stories tall was a black lion, with its main made up of red and white energy that flowed around it's body in pulses. The royals stood frozen as the lion watched them all with half lidded eyes before dismissing them as threats before turning hungry eyes to the helpless people still standing at the windows and doorway. It was enough to get the royals moving as Remi and Blyke sent their attacks at the face of the predator, only for it to step out of the way and send the energy from its mane towards its mouth before roaring out a shock wave that shattered all of the schools windows. Arlo barely had time to set up his own barrier to protect his fellow royals which thankfully only cracked on impact, the recoil only forcing a bit of blood from his mouth as he stared in apprehension at the fires and furrows in the land that surrounded his barrier. Sera was quick to attempt to freeze the lion in place only to balk as its energy faced off wither her own for dominance as she strained to hold it in place. Once more, lasers and lightning reached out to bring the beast down as tendrils of energy helped Sera hold it in place as they both fought against the lions energy.
The attacks met the lions body only to dissipate as the two connected, and the beast broke free with a roar that shook them to their bones. It stretched a paw out and shattered the barrier protecting the royals only for two more top appear as Arlo held his ground and Elaine began to heal the recoil of his abilities. Suddenly Sera appeared under the throat of the lion with Blyke and Remi to unleash their abilities point blank as Sera once more fought to keep the beast still. The attacks connected with the lion, however it broke free and sent all three flying with a paw swipe into the new barriers, breaking bones and splitting skin from the shock wave that followed. It paused to bite down onto the tendrils snaking its way towards it eyes, before reeling her in to bite down on her torso only to meet enough resistance to only put four holes in her upper body with its two foot long fangs. A third barrier covered her body as Arlo was forced to a knee from his abilities drawback, only for Sera to snatch the girl from its mouth before it could take a second bite and finish her off. Sera was forced to drop the girl by Elaine as only her own body could withstand her rewinding its injuries, anyone else would be torn to shreds by the currents of time flowing backwards through them. She once more met the beast head on with a punch that shattered every bone in her arm, but sent the beast flying a few dozen feet from them as Sera rewound her broken arm. She finished the wound in time for the beast to stand back up and roar it's challenge for her alone to hear, finally taking its whole attention away from the weak prey inside the school.
The two charged at each other and met only for both to be sent flying back again from the recoil of her punch as its swipe meeting. Again and again this process repeated itself as the two alpha combatants met in a battle not just for survival, but for territory as well. The girl and lion met each others charge again and again until finally, one faltered and the other took advantage of the slip up. Sera charged again to meet its charge as pain from half rewound wounds clouded her mind enough to not notice the beast side step her and send her flying into the half broken barriers still covering the royals from Arlo. The mutant lion wasted no time and charged up another energy roar and sent it flying to finish off its rivals for territory. The energy slowed down as Sera pushed her ability to the limit to stop its time completely, long enough for Arlo to put up his strongest barrier and for Remi and Blyke to charge up their greatest attacks to hopefully offset some of its power. Her time manipulation finally reached its last limit as the attack returned to its normal speed to meet the barrier and attacks head on and detonate, leaving them all to see a world of white before she passed out.
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Sera slowly came to as she forced her weak and groggy body, clear signs of aura exhaustion setting in she noted in the back of her mind, to sit up on her knees, and saw the destruction the last attack had brought. The land in front of the school was shredded; with craters and trails of destruction littering the field, and fires and smoke burning all around her, obscuring the gates from view. She looked at her the royals only to stop as she saw Elaine facing them, with her body covered in her own aura flaring as she used her ability...
...to stop the wounds scarring her back form where she'd taken the last of the lions attack to shield her friends. Bone and organ were visible as they pulsed and shook from her pain and began to slowly close as she focused her ability to heal Arlo enough to continue under the horrified gazes of everyone watching, the royals only alive through the shattered barrier still floating around them in Arlo's last ditch effort. Horror turned to panic and despair as a roar was heard and the smoke cleared to show an unharmed beast slowly standing up form the trough it'd dug as it was flung back. The energy from its main no longer pulsed around its body, limited only to its main and now its eyes as it stared hatefully down at its fallen opponent and took a step forward to feast on those weaker, as survival dictated.
She stared up at its bared teeth, the wounds on her body forcing her to remain on her knees as the apex predator stalked forward to finish her and her friends off. She was numb to the wounds covering her body, to the winds stinging her exposed flesh, to the despair radiating off of those watching the scene, and the screams of her fellow royals watching her as she thought of how to live past this moment.
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'We need John.', came the nearly emotionless conclusion, and she opened her mouth only for blood to start to pour from her abused throat as she coughed out bone fragments and smoke that she'd inhaled while distracted. SHe hurried to try to clear her throat as the beast geared up another roar attack as she threw her head back to scream out the name of the strongest man she had ever known with tears falling from her eyes,"John!!!!!".
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She heard the beasts triumphant roar turn into a snarl as it was sent flying by a white lightning covered beam of energy. Everyone with enough strength turned to see a kneeling John slowly stand, only a thin pair of hospital pants to cover himself as they took him in. The first thing the people noticed of the six foot boy was they eyes; there was nothing where they should be but burnt gold energy that slowly began to lighten into a bright gold as he locked eyes with the fallen mutant lion, narrowed in controlled anger further shocking them, as they expected those eyes to still carry his own brand of uncontrolled rage. The next thing to notice were the scars covering every inch of his chiseled torso fading to nothing down his biceps and his six pack only to reappear stretching against his broad shoulders and back as he turned slightly to take them in. His black hair sticking up every way had bits of white against his bangs as he leaned forward, half shadowing his luminescent eyes.
His black aura with bits of slowly fading white covered his body in an instant and suddenly, Sera was next to the other royals as they were healed within seconds. They turned in shock to look at the King of Wellston as he continued his stare down with the beast; a meeting between two alpha predators of their own species. Arlo was the first to break free from his shock as he called out to the young man, "John...", Arlo said, staring in shock at the king of Wellston as he slowly began to pad forward towards the lion. "What's happened to you." The former king said as he took in the aura manipulators new additions.
The young man didn't take his eyes off his new enemy as he simply called back to them softly, "...stay low...". The lion stood back on its haunches and matched the pace of the fellow apex predator only to stop twenty feet away from each other to continue their stare down, primal rage and fear of an equal forcing its heart to beat faster as it silently prepared for the fight of its life. In a moment the aura exploded around John as he prepared for the fight. To the shock of those watching, he displayed the clear signs of using their now probably dead classmate named Zeke ability to enhance himself. Not finished, barriers came to form small parts around his body and formed white and black form fitting armor for protection. As black lightning coursed around his body and the skeleton for wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, dozens of blades made of energy formed around him to make feathers for the skeleton and he flapped himself into the air, only to continue staring at the mutant beast; the tensions continuing to rise and steal the breath from everyone else.
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The people watching held their breathe in both hope and fear for the outcome, no one wanted to be the straw that broke the camels back of the tension between to two alphas...
The two predators...
The two monsters...
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The young man finally reached out a hand towards the beast, as if beckoning the lion to grasp, and said one word, "Come.". The tension and desire for violence finally broke as the lions energy once more covered its body and it roared its challenge for its only equal to meet, and the two finally charged at each other to meet in a black and white explosion of aura and light.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone