Valentine was yet again in the training room but he felt a distinct gap in his memory. He clearly remembered getting out of the car and the driver speeding away and the route to the hq but everything else was blank. He didn't remember entering the building or walking towards the training area.
Danny and Jack were talking to each other but stopped when Valentine walked in.
"Welcome back Valentine. Did the job go well?" Jack said.
"Well enough. Got an alibi and payback." Valentine replied with a chuckle.
"What do you mean you got an alibi?" Danny asked.
"Well. I kinda let myself be beat up in front of a camera." Valentine answered.
"Yup. That's what our masochistic pal would do." Jack said with a sigh.
"What do you mean masochistic? Do you have any idea how deep into shit I'd be if I didn't do that? I'm still trying to find out what to say to the police." Valentine replied.
"I guess our guys in the department would have a difficult time bailing you out otherwise." Danny said.
"We have guys I'm the department?" Valentine shouted, not waiting for a reply.
"Erm. I noticed I have a memory gap from coming here to just before I entered the room. Should I be concerned?" He continued
"Hahaha, no, don't worry. It's maaaagiiic." Danny replied, singing the last part.
"What do you mean ma-" Valentine tried to say but felt an extreme pain overcome him.
Valentine fell to the ground, flailing like a fish out of water. The pain was much worse than his usual. He had started to get used to his constant pain but what he felt that very moment was much more intense than any pain he had ever felt. And not only that he also had to try hard to be able to take a breath, as the air around him felt like thick honey.
Jack and Danny seemed affected by the latter symptom as well, they had knelt down and were sweating profusely. And then John entered the training room. He looked pissed yet calm. His eyes immediately got glued onto Valentine and his hands were trembling in sheer aggression.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" John screamed, he waited for Valentine to reply yet he seemed unable to.
In a moment, both the pressure and pain had both stopped. John took a deep breath and repeated himself.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO VALENTINE?"
"W-what are you talking about?" Valentine stuttered, the fear he had the day of his abduction resurfacing bit by bit.
"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NOT ONLY REFUSE ORDERS BUT ALSO HARM A MEMBER?" John continued.
"I-I was scared. I've already been almost murdered once. I can't deal with another attempt at my life just yet. He threatened violence first. Why do I have to wear a blindfold anyways? I HAVE PROVED MYSELF ENOUGH. I COULD TAKE OUT THAT 'FULL FLEDGED MAGE' OF YOURS. IT TOOK ME A MONTH. YES I'M A CRIPPLE. WHAT ABOUT IT? DO YOU THINK I'M PREY? I'M NOT PREY." Valentine said, his tone turning into shouting halfway through.
"IF A DAMN CRIPPLE COULD MAKE A REAL MAGE COWER THEN-" He tried to continue his tirade but was cut short.
"SILENCE." John shouted.
The room fell into absolute silence for a few moments. Jack and Danny were just staring at Valentine with shock in their eyes. They were fearful of John and it was obvious.
"Do you know who you're talking back to, kid? I'm fucking Rakshasa of the Eclipse. THE RAKSHASA. I have killed one of the most powerful mages to ever grace this earth while heavily outmatched. I took out one of the few that hold extraordinary strength by myself. And YOU dare to question my authority?" John said. His every word had power and pride behind it.
"You were attacked once. I had grown contempt at that time. Now, I've changed things. And you questioned me. You went so far as to harm one of MY PEOPLE. Do you seek death? You said you were worried about what your mother would do if you died. Did you not worry about that? Poor Sally." John continued.
John was then struck by a fireball which was stopped by his barrier. Valentine stood up and rushed in. He threw spells one after the other, all without saying a single word. The spells seemed to have no effect on the barrier and John just stood in place, staring him down.
"Don't bring my family into this." Valentine screamed.
For a short moment Valentine felt a strong, sharp pain overwhelm him but after it subsided he felt much stronger than before, he felt the magic coursing through his body vigorously. He knew his normal spells couldn't break through that barrier. He was no idiot. He knew the moment he would stop he was dead. But he has to try one more thing. What if he minimized the surface area of an all out heightened magic missile to that of a pin. He would use the minimal surface to put too much pressure on one specific point of the barrier and go for the kill. That man was a threat to his family.
Valentine's spell dug through John's barrier, it was far from a perfect spell but it did the job. It broke through and headed straight to John's heart. But John simply stopped it with his bare hand, being left with a gash on his hand which he immediately healed.
"You seem to have broken through yet again. This was a fifth circle barrier. If you were to polish the spell and let your mana settle better you'd easily be able to burst through a sixth circle barrier. Were you to get any stronger than that, you'd be able to do much more. Sadly, you're too weak to face an 8th circle mage. And you'll always be. You have just reached your limit as a mage, enjoy it for the time you have left. Let me show you real magic. Empire of ember." John said.
John straightened his palm and pointed it towards Valentine who had set up a barrier of his own. Flames started to spiral around his hand, their volume and the heat they released increasing by the second until the flames turned blue.
"SHIELD" Jack and Danny both said in unison as the spell was released.
Flames drowned out the room and when they dissipated. Even though the shields and barrier were completely destroyed, Valentine was mostly unharmed.
"WHAT THE FUCK JOHN?" Jack and Danny shouted, they were covered in small burns from the rogue flames. They looked scared and betrayed.
John couldn't do anything but look at the faces of the kids he had raised for the past ten years. They were scared of him. It wasn't the fear of a child about to get scolded but a genuine, true fear. A fear for one's safety. A fear not shown towards a friend or family, but a monster.
"I- What-. No no no no no no no. That wasn't me. That's, that, it wasn't me. That's not me. I swear it's not me. What did I do?" John looked out of it.
He looked scared of himself, horrified. He looked at the hands which harmed not only the children he raised but a child he forced into the situation he was in. A child that was almost killed by his own failing and a child that had become the first friend of who he would consider his two sons. And all that. For his own pride.