Xander, unlike his opponent, was not ready for this fight. He only had enough courage to step out into the arena. He had no clue what he was going to do now.
Once Thorne gave the green light for the battle to begin, Xander knew it was going to be over in an instant. Adrian rushed forward, not giving Xander any time to think.
Only just then did Xander realize that he probably should have been thinking up a strategy while watching the other battles. The odds were already stacked up against his favor, but not having a plan of attack just made things worse.
Adrian, without wasting any time, used his water magic to sweep Xander off his feet, forcing him straight onto the ground. He got up as fast as he could but was quickly knocked back over by the strength of the currents.
Xander was immediately embarrassed. He was struggling to stand up in water not even a foot deep, forced to splash around in this temporary pool.
Even with water in his ears, muffling the sound, he could hear Adrian's laugh. He assumed the others were probably laughing at him too, although he couldn't hear them over the other noises. It was humiliating. If there was one thing Xander hated, it was bullies, and there was one standing directly above him, laughing.
"I have to do something or else I will be thrown out of here without even getting a chance," he thought. Using the excess anger from all of his past experiences up to this point, along with his current frustration, Xander forced himself up and ran as fast as he could away from the water that Adrian was using. Luckily for Xander, Adrian was so confident that he didn't even expect Xander to try to escape. However, it wasn't enough to even slightly change the tide of the fight. Adrian, using one quick swiping movement of his arm, picked up Xander using the water, and carried him up into the air.
Almost as if Adrian was swinging around a small toy, Xander was thrown around in the room. Unlike at the beach, however, this time, there were walls for Xander to hit.
One, after the other, Xander was getting slammed into the solid walls of the gym. Max winced. He tried to call out but his voice couldn't reach Xander.
Adrian grinned with arrogance. He looked towards his father and shouted, "I told you this kid is worthless. Is there anyone else who is worth my time?"
Upon hearing this, Xander's mind snapped back to the bathroom where he hit Damian and how he felt back then. Bullies. They were everywhere and there was nobody to put a stop to them. Regardless of what you do to one, there will always be more.
Xander mustered up the strength to stand on his two feet, although shaky.
Adrian noticed and shot his aggressive gaze back towards his struggling opponent. "Standing again?" Adrian summoned water on both sides of Xander and then clapped, which resulted in the walls of water crashing down on Xander with tremendous force. "Die."
The water began to warp itself around Xander as a familiar breeze picked up within the room. Inside the water was an expressionless Xander, his eyes with a subtle undertone of anger. He looked towards Adrian, who took a one-half step backward before placing the same foot forwards firmly.
"Oh, my. You actually can use magic! Haha, the runt knows how to do something basic after all!" Adrian laughed mockingly. He squeezed his fist out in front of him and compressed the water dancing about Xander. The orb imploded on Xander, who collapsed again in a coughing fit. He rose to his feet once more.
"Do you have a death wish, trash?!" Adrian inquired in an angry voice. Spears of water appeared in a circle behind Adrian as he signaled for them to fire towards Xander. Upon seeing this, Xander started to run towards his opponent. The spears crashed into the bricks behind Xander as he ran. Adrian gritted his teeth and growled. The final spear in the barrage was sent off towards Xander and made impact with his shin. His body collapsed to the floor again. "You're so annoying. Do you know that? I bet your entire family hates you. Nobody likes you. You are absolutely worthless, you're nothing. Give up, garbage."
Xander's confidence was shattered, his eyes losing their rage as his face sank back into a blank expression. Adrian had inadvertently found Xander's weakness by throwing insults at him. Adrian noticed the change in Xander's mood.
"Have I struck a nerve? What now? You can tank attacks but words do you in? Wow, you really are pathetic," he turned to Max. "Why did you bring this trash to this school? It throws dirt on my father's name. I think I'll have you fired."
Max ignored the ranting of Adrian and, instead, began to audibly root for Xander.
"Tch." Adrian scornfully looked back at Xander, who now had some blood trailing out of his injury, mixing with the puddle of water he was sprawled out in. He was still unmoving.
"Maybe he is right. My parents said I was a problem. But I said I would defend my sister. That is why I am here, and I will prove that I am strong enough to do so."
Xander began to scream out of frustration.
"Alright that's enough, I am sick of listening to you," Adrian said. He motioned to finish Xander off. "Max. You're seeing this pathetic kid here, aren't you? We're seeing the same thing, I mean this is just funny. You bring this thing to our school. What the hell even were you thinking?"
Max watched the two eagerly, ignoring Adrian the best he could.
"That's right. Max is counting on me. I can't make him feel like he wasted effort on me. He wants me here. He wants me in this school so I can prevent what happened the other night." Xander stood up for the last time. He would not allow himself to get knocked over again.
"You know I might accidentally kill you," Adrian stated.
"I know," Xander spoke softly, but he at least spoke. A strange marking began manifesting on his left hand.
Adrian noticed the mark and his eyes widened before shrinking back. "Then I just might." It began to rain. The drops picked up velocity. When they landed, they created small craters. They stung bad, occasionally opening his skin.
Xander gritted his teeth. "He needs to stop that." He stopped feeling the water on his skin. Xander looked up and saw that the water was collecting just above his head. He cocked his head in confusion.
"Feel dead yet, idiot?" Adrian boomed.
Xander, at a loss, didn't reply.
"I guess that means you already are dead. Who knew a little rain would do you in?" Adrian mocked as the rain slowly let up, revealing Xander who was still standing with a pool of water above his head. Adrian jumped. "What the hell?"
Xander shrugged.
Adrian slammed water down on Xander's head, but it never made contact. Instead, it exploded into small droplets of water.
"Tch. You really have some nerve. What did you do?"
Xander shrugged again.
Adrian shot water at Xander, which hammered him in his chest. "I don't know what you're doing, but I hope you know you're going to die right here." The attacks from Adrian kept coming.
Xander was just as confused as Adrian, but he ran with it. He started to circle around Adrian. "What the hell are you doing?" A stream of water coiled itself around Adrian as he got into his ready stance. The battle was beginning again. This time, Xander had an idea.
Xander put his wind behind himself under his feet and began to run towards Adrain. "I'll use my wind to speed myself up. Maybe that'll give me a chance." The battlefield became a whirlpool. It was now impossible to see the spectators.
"I've been holding back, you know. I thought killing a weakling in this situation would be a disgrace to the Thorne name. But, you know, you've changed my mind. You get to die for real today!" Adrian yelled. Nobody outside could hear him as the water whirling around the room was too loud and too dense. Xander just picked up his pace and leaped into the air, controlling the wind to give him extra power. Midair, he manipulated the air around him behind his leg and did an ax kick onto Adrian, who took it into his shoulder.
The whirlpool around them let up, but only for a second. Adrian, underneath Xander's foot, snapped his fingers and the whirlpool started to howl as it imploded on Xander. Xander spiraled his wind around him, however, as he had not mastered this power just yet, he only managed to displace some of the water, lessening the impact. He contorted as the remnants of the violent rapids made contact with his body. The wind exploded outwards and pushed the water with it. A small wave made its way around the puddle, away from Xander. Adrian looked shocked.
"How are you doing this? I thought you didn't know how to even use magic yet!" Adrian threw his fists around in a fury.
The truth was that Xander didn't know. It was just instinctual, probably the fight-or-flight response. Xander had made the decision to fight and his body seemed to do the rest on its own. He picked up the wind again and flung his body towards Adrian. It was his first time attempting a rapid maneuver like Max did. Xander missed Adrian completely and flipped forward, sliding on the ground before stopping at a wall.
"Pffft-" Adrian laughed at the failed attempt. "You're not Max."
Xander used his wind to get up and immediately began to run back into the fight.
Adrian welled up the water around him once again. With a flick of his wrist, he flung it towards Xander. However, Xander kept his forward charge going. The highly condensed water ball sailed into Xander's wind. The disturbance on the ball's surface caused it to expand to what its size should be, given its density. It enveloped Xander quickly. "This is it," Xander thought to himself. Using the little control over the wind that he had, Xander engulfed the massive ball of water in it, continually oxygenating the water itself.
Adrian looked confused.
After just a few seconds, the ball of water exploded, creating a very dense fog of mist.
"You're such a piece of work-" Adrian began before he was interrupted by Xander's fist striking his jaw. Using the dense fog as a smokescreen, Xander was able to sneak up on Adrian from the side without him noticing.
Adrian fell to the ground. He was shocked. "Did… Did he just hit me?" he thought. "That's it!" Adrian stood up and tackled Xander, punching him over and over. The mist had cleared at this point, allowing the rest of the class to watch what was happening.
Xander was trying to protect himself the best he could, but he was being pinned down by Adrian. Even his wind was to no effect, he was simply just too weak and exhausted. But, he told himself earlier in the fight that he would not allow himself to get knocked over again. He had to win this battle, or it would be over for him. Luckily, Adrian was also getting tired. It seemed that controlling the amount of water that he did, drained his energy a lot. This was Xander's chance.
Adrian readied another punch but was thrown into the air as if he was hit by a small geyser. As it turns out, that was exactly what happened. Adrian fell to the ground, a pool of water expanding under him, and was knocked unconscious.
That just left Xander, on the floor, utterly confused. "What just happened…?" He asked himself.
"What in the world…"
"Huh?"
"Did he just-?"
"Incredible…"
Everyone that was watching the fight looked at Xander in awe. It seemed that everyone else was also confused.
Headmaster Thorne stepped forward, clapping. "The victor of the final exam is Xander Gray! Well done, child." He announced, smiling.
The rest of the group started cheering. Max and Kylo both ran to their friend.
"That was awesome! How did you do that?" Kylo hastily inquired, patting his friend on the back.
"Yeah! It's not as cool as what I did, but it was still pretty neat. What did you do?" Max asked.
Xander put a hand behind his head and played with his hair. "I don't know. I just kind of rode off of adrenaline I guess. He winced, as the adrenaline started to wear off. He started to feel the pain from his leg wound, as well as the many bruises and possible broken bones from the attacks he endured.
"Oh shoot, we should probably get you some help." Kylo worried.
"You might be right about that," Xander chuckled, then coughed.
"That was still really cool," Kylo smiled. "I wish my battle was as cool as that."
Then, Thorne spoke up. "With the final battle reaching its conclusion, I am pleased to announce everyone has grown significantly since before the year began, even those who lost. Take your losses and learn from what you did wrong, this school wishes to see to it that each and every one of you grows into the strongest possible versions of yourself." Headmaster Thorne spoke with dignity, an air of eloquence about him as he moved his eyes throughout the room. "One last thing, affecting Maxmillian Lacuna's potential student…"
Xander gulped.
"You will be admitted into this school as of this very moment. Welcome to my school. I hope you find peace here as well as a quality education of the arts."
Xander was relieved. He was so nervous before and during the fight. He was so sure that he would be turned away, and forced to go back to his parents. He looked at the probably unconscious Adrian and then back toward the boy's father. "I swear I would have been beaten by my parents for this." He thought. He stood tall and with only a few stutters, thanked the Headmaster.
"Alright. You'll be in my class." Max raised his hand for a high five. Xander didn't notice that though, as he looked back at Adrian who was still on the floor. Max lowered his hand disappointed.
The Headmaster turned to leave. "I have other classes to examine. I shall take my leave. If anyone has any inquiries, submit them to my secretary staff and I will see to it when I am able. Farewell, and good luck Xander," He left, smiling.
"Does he not… care about his unconscious son?" Xander asked the others, confused.
"Eh, I'm sure the Headmaster is glad you shut his son's loud mouth up for once," Kylo and the rest of the group laughed.
Looking down at the bloodied end of his pant leg, Xander mumbled.
"Jinx and I were going to go give the library a visit after the exam battles" Aspen spoke up, stepping before the rest. Jinx followed in her footsteps and departed from the room.
"Nerds," Apollo remarked as the two exited.
Apollo laughed at his own comment a few seconds after due to the silence.
"Let's go chill out at the beach!" Max suggested with a load of enthusiasm.
"Isn't school currently in session-" Xander began before being drowned out by the rest of the students, announcing their own excitement. Before he knew it, the room was barren again.
Xander was dazed, staring out at the distant horizon of the sea. It was rather sunny out, a nice ocean breeze rushing up the shoreline. The waves gently covered the area where the land became water, running up and then receding back down. The noise was absolutely serene, all was peaceful. Then something slammed into the back of Xander's head.
"Mmph-" Xander almost bit his tongue as he got hit, with an itchy, powdery substance falling into his shirt.
"Hahaha! Got you!" Max laughed as he picked up another handful of dry sand.
Kylo was also laughing hysterically. "I don't know how the hell you made a solid ball of sand, but that was great." Kylo was also hit with a ball of sand.
Xander rolled his eyes and took his shirt off so the sand would stop bothering him. He then heard booming shouts come from a few hundred feet to the right of him. Apollo was shooting fire into the water, causing a cloud of thick steam to rise from the surface of the crystalline water.
"I'm not going to ask." Xander stared off towards the horizon once more. It wasn't too much different for him on the emotional level, setting aside the fact that there was a man pelting an above-average-agility teenager with snowballs of sand. "They act like kids."
The battle played out numerous times in his head as he analyzed each detail. "How did I get here? I mean, I won I guess. Hooray. But Kylo told me that Adrian had some serious skills, so how did I win? The only possible conclusion is that Adrian was holding back because I am a novice. But that doesn't sound like him. Given his personality, I'm sure as hell he'd have killed me. Was he careless? Was it accidental? Did I throw him into the air? He looked a little wet, so that means he used water. But why would he use it on himself? I don't recall using any gusts of wind, either, I was too out of it. At the very end of the fight I remember feeling super energized and confident. From what I've heard from Kylo, it is similar to the way I acted back in the alley. And that move I used… It is all kind of a blur but I think I used a water ability… That can't be right though, my magic is wind-related, right?" Xander shook his head.
As Xander came back to reality, it was much darker than before he had descended into thought.
"How much time has passed?"
He heard unfamiliar voices. He hastily turned around, to find Kylo and four other figures appearing around the same age as him having a conversation.
"What are you all doing back here? You guys were sentenced to the detention center for a year?" Kylo inquired, sounding a little panicked.
"The headmaster wrote a request for us to be placed back in school just an hour ago. You know how it goes. Man with power makes requests, and underlings follow. Yatta yatta, blah blah blah." The yellow-orange-haired boy responded. They all had suits on, with golden embroidery for what looked like a bird with its wings spread.
"What made him change his mind on your incarceration? You all turned the school upside down back at the beginning of the year. Do you know how long it took to clean up your little… no, I mean big mess?"
"If you want to call it a mess, then I am sure you can ask the custodians. It's their job to clean up filth and tend after others. I think we were keeping the world turning. After all, she tried to ruin our lives." The boy waved his hand around nonchalantly as he spoke with a chill tone. He noticed Xander staring from behind Kylo. "Hey there! Never seen you around here? You new?" He started for Xander when Kylo got in his way.
"Step aside, bro. I'm trying to talk to him."
"I won't let-" Kylo was stopped when the boy put his hand on Kylo's shoulder. As if he were a TV paused by a remote, he was completely motionless where he stood.
"That's better," the boy sighed as he slightly grinned and began to move again. The others in his group stood back where they were.
"What did you do to him?" Xander stood up and took a step back.
"What did I do to who?" He questioned back, then looked behind him. "Ooohhh! You mean that mutt! I appreciate your concerns for his well-being, we don't get enough kind gestures like that around here. Give him a little time and he'll be fine. More about you, though. Who are you? I'm excited to see new faces around here."
"..." Xander began to sweat, his eyes glancing back at Kylo and then to the intimidating boy who was in his face.
The boy sighed. Not giving Xander a chance to speak, the boy piped up; "Need an example of how to speak? That's fine, follow my example. I am Joules Cornelius. I am a first-year at Thorne's school. Now it's your turn, I can't speak for you." Joules stared condescendingly into Xander's soul as if he were trying to read it.
"Xander Gray. I'm also a first-year at the same school." Xander spoke without thinking. "The hell?" he gasped to himself.
Joules quietly hummed to himself then clapped. "That wasn't so hard, now, was it? I look forward to seeing you in school, then, Xander Gray." He turned around and motioned for his crew to get ongoing. "See ya around."
The pressure Xander felt went away once Joules left. He ran up to Kylo to see if he was okay. He was lying down breathing heavily with a sweat built up on his forehead.
"Why… are they back?" Kylo muttered to himself.
Xander knelt down by his side and placed his hand where Joules had placed his. The fabric felt fine, but Kylo winced at the contact. "What did he do to you, and who even are they? What's going on?" Xander asked.
"Joules… he…"
Xander cut him off as he spoke; "Nevermind. Let's get you some rest." Xander looked around the dark beach for anyone, but there was nothing and nobody. Only halos from street lamps on the road, accompanied by the sound of the waves crashing endlessly from the opposite direction kept them company. Xander had no clue what to do. There was no way he could pick up an entire person, and using wind was too risky, he thought. "Y'know what? I'm just going to sit here with you until daybreak, then we can go to school together."
Kylo remained quiet.
"Yeah, that's what I'll do."
And so the duo sat together on the soft sand, enjoying a beach cloaked in darkness.
Chapter 6 END
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