The headmaster's office.
Mr. Sai and Ms. Willow were sitting down and drinking tea. Ms. Willow took a sip with her eyes closed. "Your report?" She asked.
"Here." Mr. Sai set down a folder on the desk. "All of the new espers seem to have very high growth potential. Is it a coincidence? Or did you only choose the best ones on purpose?"
"Mm." Ms. Willow nodded. "It's thanks to Mr. Lee. He is far more talented at recruiting than I expected. We only accept twenty new students every time a nightmare attack occurs on a US city. However, many students turn us down or get poached by other cities, countries, and organizations. I'm quite lucky to have been able to borrow Mr. Lee from the federal government."
"I understand that, but…" Mr. Sai hesitated. "That can't be all there is to it. All these espers have way too much potential. We shouldn't have this many powerful espers awakening from a single city, even if a nightmare attacked."
Clang. A sound rang out as Ms. Willow set down her tea. "Are you sure you're not being paranoid?" She smiled. "This could just be an outlier. Stranger things have happened before."
"No." Mr. Sai shook his head. "Something else is going on with Reef city. I took my daughter there during the attack, so I could train her. This is the 4th time I've done this. She's even experienced the Flame Nightmare more than once. Yet, this time she finally awoke her powers. She wasn't even in much danger compared to the past… It doesn't make any sense."
"I do believe you're overthinking things Tama. You've always focused on fighting. You're not particularly good at things outside that scope." Ms. Willow poured herself another cup of tea. "However, I will take your words into consideration. I will send a team to investigate the ruins of Reef city."
"Good." Mr. Sai nodded. "I've always had good instincts and right now they're screaming at me. Something big is happening involving Reef city. We can't be too careful."
Thud, thud! A pounding banged on the door before it swung open. A flustered nurse ran into the room. "Ms. Willow! Emergency! A student has been gravely injured. I've closed the wound, but it's pretty severe!"
Bang! Ms. Willow stood up and slapped the desk. "Let's go." She turned to glance at Mr. Sai. "You come to. I have a feeling this involves your class."
…
A few minutes earlier. The infirmary.
"Ed." Jake spoke calmly. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?"
Bu-bump, Bu-bump, Bu-bump. Ed's heartrate sped up. 'One push. That's all it'll take to end him. I'll be doing the world a favor… People won't blame me. I was the victim!' Ed's hand trembled heavily. He wanted to push it forward, but couldn't find the willpower to force his hand to move. 'Damnit! I've already come this far! I can't back out now!'
"Ed." Jake spoke again, "You wanted to know what happened to me during the Flame Nightmare, right? I could tell by the look on your face whenever you glared at me."
Ed's hand slowly stopped trembling. He calmed down and looked at Jake. His gaze encouraged Jake to continue.
"I went home afterschool. My family and I ordered pizza. Just a normal Friday night…" Jake turned his eyes away from Ed. He stared blankly at the ceiling. "I live on the west side of the city. One of the very first meteors from the nightmare slammed into my apartment. It crushed my father instantly. All that remained of him was some blood that spattered on the walls."
Jake's eyes began to water. He continued to speak in a hoarse voice. "My mother grabbed me and my sister. We ran down the apartment complex stairs one floor at a time. Halfway down, the building began to collapse. There were flames everywhere. My mother grabbed my sister and jumped. A six-story fall…"
Tears poured down Jake's eyes. "She left me behind and chose my sister! It hurt, but I understood... I had a higher chance of escaping the building than she did. I ran through the flames! At first, it burned like hell. Soon after that, I couldn't feel a damn thing! My powers awakened."
"Hmm?!" Ed frowned. Jake had grabbed his wrist tightly. Ed hurriedly tried to push down with the knife, but he didn't feel it cut anything. He looked at the knife in his hand. It had completely melted into junk. A small flame was burning on Jake's neck right beneath the knife.
Bang! Jake stood up and punched Ed in the stomach. "Ugh!" Ed groaned in pain. He took several steps back and fell to the floor on his knees. Jake walked towards him and kicked him in the chest, causing Ed to lie flat on the floor. "I escaped the building Ed!" Jake screamed. His eyes slowly turned red. "I almost got caught by falling debris, but I escaped! I traveled through that hell and reached the outside."
Ed tried to stand up, but he felt a leg slam into his head. Jake pushed Ed's head hard into the ground with his foot and left it there. "I saw my mother's dead body!" Jake screamed. Flames started to appear from his eyes. "She protected my sister! She was alive! I still had my family!"
Ed glared at Jake. He looked terrifying with his red eyes and flames. His hair started to catch fire as well. 'Eh? Are those tears?' Ed thought to himself. It was hard to see, but tears were flowing from Jake's eyes. They were evaporating into steam as soon as they appeared. It made for a strange image.
"I promised then and there to save my sister!" Jake continued. "I wanted to protect her, but the goddamn flames were everywhere! We were completely surrounded. I tried to cover her. I tried to use my powers to protect her! I couldn't do it… I couldn't control my powers well. The flames burned her to ash right in front of my eyes, while all I could do was watch. The fire couldn't even hurt me, but I had to watch as it took everything from me."
Jake went silent for a moment, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Then he glared at Ed again. "I don't care that you lost your arm."
"Ugh!" Ed grimaced in pain. Jake had slammed his foot into Ed's head again.
"I don't care what happened to you!" Jake kicked Ed again. "I don't care if you want revenge! I don't care about any of you weakling trash that treat this all as a fucking game!" Jake continuously kicked Ed's head. Blood poured out of the back of Ed's head.
Jake crouched down and grabbed Ed by the hair. He pulled his face towards his own. "I only have one goal. I'm going to find the Flame Nightmare and I'm going to fucking kill it. It pisses me off that my powers are even similar to that bastard!"
A flame appeared in Jake's other hand. "I didn't know you would be locked in the shed overnight. Even if I did, the nightmare attack isn't my fault. If you want to be mad, then get mad at your own weakness. Get mad at the nightmare and the mutants. Those things are the enemy!"
"Aghhhhhhh!!!!" Ed screamed in pain. A sizzling sound rang out as flesh burned. A putrid odor hung in the air. Jake had burned the upper left portion of his face. It left a large red scar over his left eye.
"If you want revenge…" Jake spoke. "Now, you have an actual excuse. Get stronger Ed. Strong enough for revenge on the mutants. Strong enough to get revenge on me. Strong enough to get revenge on the nightmare!" Jake let go of Ed's head and it slammed into the floor. Ed lied on the floor unconscious. Blood formed a small pool around his head. A large burn-scar covered his left eye.
"Fuck!" Jake frowned. "I think my wound reopened..." Jake leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. Blood covered the wall behind him. His adrenaline slowed down, and he fainted from the pain.
…
Mr. Sai, Ms. Willow, and the nurse were traveling towards the infirmary. They were traveling by steam wagon.
"Shouldn't we hurry?" The nurse questioned. "The orange-haired boy's condition was quite bad…"
"Relax." Ms. Willow smiled. "I can rewind time in an area for up to an hour. We have plenty of time."
"Mm." Mr. Sai nodded. "As long as the wounds aren't fatal, then it should be fine. I could get us there faster, but people never want me to carry them places. I wonder why?"
Ms. Willow trembled slightly in fear. "Anyone would be afraid to travel so fast that the gravitational force knocks them unconscious. You're the weird one for not understanding that."
Suddenly, a man appeared in front of the steam wagon. He wore a black suit and top hat. He had curly black hair, a thin mustache, and carried a black cane. A bronze monocle covered his right eye, but it looked strange. The monocle did not contain glass. Instead, the entire monocle was made of solid bronze. It completely covered the eye, making it impossible to see.
The steam wagon whistled as brakes were applied to the front of the wagon. A wave of steam billowed towards the strange man. "World Walker!" Ms. Willow screamed in fear.
"Hello Ms. Willow. Long time no see." World Walker smiled. He took off his hat and made an elegant bow. "I've traveled so very far to see you. Shall we go and chat over some tea? I've come here on business, but I can spare a moment for an old friend."
Mr. Sai stepped out of the wagon and folded his arms. "What is the leader of Blood-Lust doing here? Do you really think you're capable of stopping me? I don't normally deal with sinners. You're too weak for me to bother." Mr. Sai slammed one fist into his other hand. "But I suppose I can make an exception."
"How scary." World Walker shook his head. "Tsk. Tsk. Overconfidence is a sin. Of course, I wouldn't expect a man who chose the name OP Baldy to understand."
"Talk after the fight!" Mr. Sai flashed through the air. He shone with a bright white light, almost invisible to the naked eye. Thud! A loud sound echoed out. Mr. Sai was visible once more. His fist had pounded into a small white barrier. A few cracks appeared on the barrier, but they quickly healed.
"That's!" Ms. Willow yelled aloud in shock.
"Right." World Walker nodded. A man stepped out from behind him. It was Mr. Lee! "I always wondered how the world's strongest defense would work on the world's strongest offense. Jessica insisted on brainwashing this man. It took quite a lot of effort on our part.
"Hmph!" Mr. Sai snorted in disdain. "So, what? It's not like you can do anything to us while hiding like a turtle."
"Oh? You're quite wrong about that." A black glow lit up on World Walker's body. It quickly expanded to cover several hundred meters.
"Ugh!" The nurse screamed. Her body crashed to the ground and blood poured from her 7 orifices. She died instantly.
Ms. Willow slammed into the ground. She activated her power and a white light covered her body. She barely managed to stand up. Mr. Sai also had a white light glowing on his body. However, he was completely fine. Seemingly unaffected by World Walker's power.
"As impressive as the rumors." World Walker smiled. "To withstand my gravity so easily. It hurts my pride quite a bit. Fortunately, I like to plan ahead." World Walker turned towards Mr. Lee and spoke, "The mana radio please."
"Mm." Mr. Lee nodded. His eyes had a slightly vacant look in them. He opened his brown briefcase and took out his mana radio. A girl's voice sounded from it, "Daddy?!"
"You!" Mr. Sai's eyes turned red from rage. "What did you do to my daughter!"
"Haha." World Walker laughed. "No need to get so upset. I haven't done anything to her yet. I'd prefer not to make an enemy of OP Baldy if possible." His eyes narrowed slightly. "However, I will do it if I have too. Now, may we discuss things calmly?"
Ms. Willow frowned. "What are your demands?" she questioned.
"My purpose is very simple." World Walker grinned. "As you know, we compete quite heavily for recruits every time a nightmare attack occurs. Blood-Lust has recruited quite a few new members recently. However, I noticed something unusual this time. The quality of the espers powers are very high. Therefore, I want an opportunity to poach some of your students."
"Impossible!" Ms. Willow screamed in anger. "How could we possibly give you our students?!"
"Not give." World Walker shook his head. "I want a chance. Let me meet with each of them and offer them my terms. Jessica isn't with me, so you can be reassured I won't be brainwashing them. You're also free to watch. Is this not the joy of capitalism? You should allow these young boys and girls the freedom of choice!"
Ms. Willow went silent. She stood there while lost in her thoughts. Several minutes passed. World Walker waited patiently. Finally, she spoke. "What happens if we refuse?"
Clap, clap. World Walker clapped his hands slowly and smiled. "I've been waiting for that question! I wouldn't be much of a sinner if I didn't pose a threat. I have only managed to recruit 10 espers from Reef city. I don't like this imbalance of power. If you refuse, then I'll kill eleven of your new students to even out the numbers. If you agree, then I'll accept whatever final numbers we end up with."
Ms. Willow clenched her hands in anger. Her entire body was trembling. "Fine! I agree!" She yelled in a hoarse voice.
"Excellent!" World Walker smiled. "I've already gathered 16 of your new students together. They were all heading towards the same place when I arrived. Let's go speak with them first. Then, we'll locate and speak with the final 5 students afterwards."