CH. 27 - The Tournament Ends

“We’ll… talk about that later. Right now, we should probably get you checked out.” Professor Nobody says, looking around a bit. Wolf nods softly before her eyes roll back and she collapses on her back. Nobody rushes to her side, not frantically but with concern. “Anderson! What’s wrong?” He asks. Wolf struggles to answer but does.

“I don’t know.. I just got weak all of a sudden.. Like all my energy is gone..” She says weakly. Nobody exhales as he stands up.

“That’s called Soul Exhaustion. You probably just put everything you had into that blast, needed or not.” He explains while looking around. “Use high energy attacks, you burn Soul Fuel more quickly. Like anything else, every Soul has a limited amount of Soul Fuel to burn before you need to rest and replenish. I’ll explain it more later, for now, I’ll just carry you-”

As he turns back to her to pick her up, he stops and gets a shocked look. Wolf begins to get back up on her own, catching her breath.

“Soul Exhaustion.. got it. I’ll make sure to have someone catch me next time, haha.!” She says with a weak laugh as she adjusts herself. Nobody stares at her with wide eyes as Wolf walks past him, holding her arm. “And I’m good. I have to make sure my friends are okay. Can’t do that if I’m getting babied. I can handle this on my own.” She says, walking into the woods looking for her friends. Nobody calms himself a bit before putting his hand on her shoulder firmly.

“Your friends are fine. You can relax.” Nobody says to her. Despite his words, Wolf’s demeanor doesn’t relax but she does exhale softly. “They’re all being brought back to the observation deck as we speak.” Nobody says as Wolf looks at him.

Back where Cole sits, right under the observation deck, Yoko comes flying over.

“Yo! Bald human!” Yoko shouts with a big genuine smile. Cole sweats a bit.

“I am not bald. And barely human for that matter…” He grumbles. Yoko lands and looks around with a smile on their face despite their injuries.

“Where are the other humans?” Yoko asks. Cole shrugs. “Oh. Well, those feeble humans probably couldn’t handle the metal things anyway. So sad. So sad.” They shake their head with a smug look as Killian comes rushing towards them with Phoenix in his arms.

“Guys! You’re alright!” He says with a smile on his face. Yoko looks a bit shocked to see Phoenix hurt the way she is.

“Oh no! The pretty one!” Yoko shouts. Killian rushes excitedly but trips over a crack in the ground, tossing Phoenix up as he hits the ground face first. Cole and Moshiro looks shocked and Phoenix does too as she falls through the air but Yoko catches her in their arms. They smile a big toothy smile at her before rubbing their face against Phoenix’s, who just smiles warmly in response. 

Cole and Moshiro sigh with closing eyes. Cole then hears a voice call out to him.

“Yo Cole.” Alston says. He looks over at her calmly as she waves, approaching him. Cole smirks a little, looking away. “What? No concern for your friend? I’m real hurt, you know.” Alston says with a playfully teasing tone. Cole just looks off to the distance with a smile on his face.

“Then stop talking if you’re not so hurt.” Cole says back plainly. Alston looks a little genuinely upset.

“Excuse me. Didn’t realize life or death situations made you such a bitch.” She says, crossing her arms and leaning on the wall next to him. 

“Hey Alston.” A classmate calls out. Alston looks over to see Angie, Octavia and Harley coming their way with the Representative Samuel guiding them. Each of them beaten up a bit, Harley a bit more than the others. 

“You guys made it.” Alston says with a smile.

“Thought we would die or something?” Angie asks.

“Yeah, kinda.” Alston says as they all laugh together.

Elsewhere, Tadashi finds Saika and they both smile at each other weakly from their injuries when the Representative Ashi finds them.

Law, Rye and Jeni all approach the now gathering group by the observation deck, looking better than the others in terms of injuries, led by another Representative. Killian looks at them surprised.

“Well, it looks like you guys got out alright.” Killian says. Law throws her arms up behind her head as she smirks.

“Yeah, it was pretty easy even after they went berserk.” Law says pridefully. Harley droops a bit at her comment.

“Oh yeah? That easy huh?..”

“If you say so.” Rye says as they roll their shoulder in pain. Jeni looks at Rye with a confused look.

“What’re you saying? You don’t look hurt at all.” Jeni says. Rye turns to her.

“Oh, I definitely took some damage there. Don’t worry about it.” They say as they wave Jeni off.

Henry then comes back with Galen and Ivailia behind him and soon Dante walks over with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face, seemingly not a scratch on him.

Nazuna rushes down to the gather group and does her best to tend to the injuries the class has until they can get back to the infirmary on campus when Nobody walks towards them.

“Where’s Wolf? Is she okay?” Nazuna asks, concerned.

“Of course. I am me after all.” Wolf says, stepping out from behind Nobody as Nazuna sighs in relief. Wolf steps towards them confidently despite her injuries. “Did you really think some android would be able to stop me?-”

As she approaches, she collapses to her knees and starts coughing up a little blood. Phoenix gets worried and rushes over.

“Wolfy! Are you-” Phoenix doesn’t think about her own injuries and falls over on top of Wolf, her legs giving out a bit. Wolf groans from beneath her as she lays on her back.

“ow…”

“Sorry..” Phoenix groans too. Alston giggles as Nobody shakes his head. 

“Come on! Don’t move so much! We have to get you all back to the infirmary and have Lady Sharp look at you! Who knows what kind of injuries you could have!” Nazuna commands with a worried but soft tone. As they begin to leave, the five Reps stand and watch. Ashi gets an irritated look. 

“These brats just got here and are already causing trouble.” Ashi, the shorter, very intense looking girl with a mask covering the upper half of her face, says with a sharp tone in her composed words.

“That’s hardly fair! This was obviously some kind of attack.” Marionette, the taller, kinder looking girl with a white streak in her orange hair, says in their defense.

“Don’t make excuses. You know how things are.” Samuel, the calm but clear boy, says coldly as Marionette looks upset. 

“Hey, pests or not, they still beat the android’s. One of them even beat an RD-s7 I heard.” Keigo, the strong, passionate looking boy, says with an excited look. “I want a piece of that..”

“You know he’s gonna want blood for this mess.” Ashi says, shifting her gaze to Henry, the largest one with an open shirt and a smile on his face. His smile shifts to more of a smirk.

“Perhaps. Why don’t we give them a proper greeting then?” Henry says with a sharp smirk.

Outside the Reigndome, somewhere between the arena and the main area of the ASA, a person skips along happily. This person is the same one who sealed the door to the observation deck before. He skips along before pressing a finger to his ear.

“Hey hey! I did my part. What’s the next step again?” He asks.

“You should probably just leave. We’re working on our end. Whoever that other party was really gave us the opening we neede-” this other person says before suddenly getting cut off. The man stops and looks surprised.

“Yello? Hellooo~” he says before perking up and turning around to see Teach staring at him at a small distance. The man’s look sharpens as he smiles at him. “Well hi there, old man.” He says.

“How many are there?” Teach asks firmly. The man snickers as he faces him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m just out for a stroll!” He responds. Teach’s eyes sharpen as he clenches his fist.

“You put my children in danger.. I won’t ask again.” He warns. The man smiles as he slowly lifts his hands up to his sides.

“You know, I’ve never understood your appeal. I mean, everyone talks about you as if you’re an untouchable god. And I’m not even talking about what randos on the street say. But I’m willing to bet…” he says as he stares at sharp eyes. “I could touch you…” he says as his hands start glowing a soft bright pink color. Teach doesn’t react when the man suddenly slaps his hands together with a shout, sending out a vertical shockwave of energy slicing through the ground right for Teach. It makes impact and bursts out as the man laughs.

“Hahahaha! Being an Energy Type is so great! There’s so much energy in chemical reactions, which obviously includes even the food I eat, that sometimes I’m not even sure what to do with it all!” The man shouts with a laugh as Teach stands there, unphased, untouched. The man’s laughter slowly stops as he stares at Teach. “Ah, well, worth a shot. Can’t blame a guy for trying, right?” He says with a shrug before blasting two energy balls at Teach which seemingly warp around him like light around a black hole before being sent off behind him and exploding. The man is shocked as he’s suddenly grabbed by the neck and chokes. He struggles as he looks down but doesn’t see anything at all. He sweats confused as he’s lifted off the ground and brought closer to Teach without him having to move a single muscle.

“You’re wasting my time.” Teach says with a deep tone as the man chokes and struggles. He then looks at Teach before smirking nervously. Teach rolls his eyes with a scoff before suddenly warping away. The man is left there floating in the air, choking and struggling to get free before something drops in front of him with a loud thud. The man is shocked as he looks down to see the body of another man. Then the body of a smaller Torn falls from above and so does the body of a woman. The man looks up to see Teach floating above him, slowly descending.

“You took too long. They might have lived if you answered.” He says as the man sweats nervously. “Now I’ll give you another chance. What was your goal here?” Teach asks as the man stares at the bodies on the ground but doesn’t answer. Teach lowers his head a little but doesn’t remove his gaze from the man. “Have you ever seen a chemical reaction in the vacuum of space?” He asks as he lifts his hand towards the man. He is frightened and sweats, trying to turn away from Teach’s grasp when suddenly, another person flies down quickly.

He grabs onto Teach’s arm, the best he can anyway, before opening his mouth and firing a massive fire blast at Teach’s face. In that instant, this new man grabs the other and yanks him back, opening a small portal and falling back through. As the fire disperses around Teach, no flame actually touching him, he makes eye contact with the man as he falls back into the portal. The man, still slightly frightened, still manages to smirk at Teach before the portal closes. Teach stares where they once were with an upset look before looking away then disappearing.

Soon, the students find themselves in the infirmary having been tended to. They sit on the beds and benches in the long infirmary hall.

“It’s really fortunate the infirmary is so big.” Saika says happily.

“Considering they have many students and agents to tend to, I’m not surprised. This is probably only one wing of the infirmary.” Tadashi says as Killian nods. Cole, who’s sitting on the bench next to Wolf and Phoenix’s beds, looks over at Wolf with a smug look.

“I too am not surprised how this turned out. Some of us needed no treatment while some of us needed more.” Cole taunts as Wolf gets angry. 

“Go fuck yourself, baldie. I heard about your powers. Instant regeneration.” She fake spits at him. “That’s like cheating.”

“Whatever you say, mutt. I just have more skills than you.” Cole says, putting his arms behind his head. Wolf pouts her lip at him irritatedly as he leans back on the bench next to Law. Jeni then looks over at Killian with a surprised examining look before speaking.

“Speaking of powers, what happened to you?” Jeni asks as Killian looks surprised before looking at himself.

“Oh yeah, that. I dunno, I was just trying my best and at some point my body got all big like this. Must be me unlocking my powers!” Killian says excitedly, flexing his arm a little.

“Does it hurt?” Galen asks as Ivailia looks at them with a curious look, tilting her head to the side.

“Nope. In fact, I feel great! Stronger than ever, haha!” Killian says back, flexing his arm a bit while laughing. Moshiro pouts a little in her bed while crossing her arms.

“I guess everyone’s just unlocking new powers now...” She says under her breath. Phoenix just sighs and looks at everyone with a soft, relieved look.

“I’m just glad everyone is safe. When I realized what was happening, I got so scared for all of you.” Phoenix says, looking at the pack.

“Aw, that’s so sweet.” Dante says with a slight blush and a smirk as he gushes over her care. They then hear stomping come rushing their way as Southpaw slams open the door with a concerned look.

“I’m sorry, my students!” He shouts while rushing in. “Of course on the day I decide to run a mission on the other side of Airia! Please forgive me!” He shouts, clasping his hands together and begging for their forgiveness. They look at him confused and almost worried that such an important man would be begging them for forgiveness. 

“Hey, it’s not your fault! How could you have known?” Killian says softly. Wolf hesitates for a moment before deciding to speak up but she’s cut off when she notices Cole getting up. He steps in front of Southpaw and gets on his knees before bowing his head down.

“No sir. It was our fault for ending up here. If we were better, we would have handled the situation ourselves. Please, do not ask for our forgiveness.” Cole says with a gentle but stern tone. Everyone is stunned in silence as Southpaw looks at him. 

“Raise your head, young Cole.” Cole does as he’s told only to be met by a large hand patting his head gently as Southpaw smiles a big smile at him. “Be proud, you did good!”

Cole’s eyes shine like never before as the others watch. Wolf watches him particularly close as the boy she’s been butting heads with shows himself authentically for the first time. Southpaw then gets up and raises his hands to everyone.

“You all did spectacularly! I look forward to training you to become the world’s greatest heroes!” They all smile and feel warm at the praise from the world’s greatest hero. “Now then, I should probably get outta here before Lady Sharp comes back. She’ll have my head if she knows I let you all get like this-”

“Southpaw!”

He stiffens up as an older woman in a shoulder cut sweater stands behind him. He sweats as he turns to her nervously.

“My lady! Fancy seeing you here. I was just about to head out-”

“What’s wrong with you?!” She shouts as she smacks him on the back of the head repeatedly. “Look at these kids! Some of them are seriously hurt and where were you?! Off gallivanting as the world’s greatest again?! What would happen if they died a horrible, painful, excruciating death?! I bet you wouldn’t even care!” She shouts at him as she smacks him. The class sweats at the sight before them.

“She kinda scares me…” Saika whispers softly.

“That’s not true! I would care! I already apologized, please!” Southpaw begs as he tries his best to escape her but she chases after him, screaming at him as they leave the infirmary. Cole sweats as he stares with a confused and conflicted look.

“Is it okay for anyone to treat the greatest hero like that..?” Cole asks softly as Killian pats him on the shoulder. Wolf giggles a bit before getting up causing Phoenix to get concerned.

“Hey! Wolfy, you shouldn’t be moving too much yet.” Phoenix says, concerned for her as Wolf turns and looks at Phoenix.

“Moving is the fastest way for me to get better. Besides, sitting in bed all day is boring, isn’t it?” Wolf asks with a smirk.

“Not really. I could nap here all day.” Saika says with a content smile as he lays down. 

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Yoko says as they get comfy too. Dante then steps next to Wolf and high fives her.

“We should go do something stupid like the old days.” Dante says.

“Haven’t caused enough trouble already?” Wolf asks, matching his energy.

“Not even close.” Dante says back. They laugh as Phoenix sighs, but then the doors to the infirmary open once again, this time the Representatives step through. Everyone slowly stops talking or laughing and look at them, confused why they would be here. The moment the room stands in silence, Henry smiles and asks a simple question.

“Which one of you is Wolf Anderson?” He asks as Wolf stares at them with a studying look, hesitating before deciding to answer.

“That’s me-”

The single moment she finishes speaking, Henry flies at her with blitzing speed past everyone else, none of them being able to even react, slamming Wolf into the back wall of the room. Everyone is stunned as they turn and look at the situation confused and intense. Henry stands tall right in the place Wolf was just standing, having slammed himself into her.

“Consider that a warm welcome.” He says when suddenly his eyes sharpen a bit and he smirks. “I take it you weren’t a fan?” He asks as Killian and Tadashi are both at his throat. Tadashi points his blade against his throat as Killian stands in front of him, holding his shoulder intensely, both ready to strike in an instant.

“The fuck is your problem?” Tadashi asks with burning anger in his composed eyes.

“We have no quarrel with you.” Killian says, his face calm as he tries to defuse the situation yet his eyes tell different. Suddenly, the both of them are facing the opposite direction as Henry walks back to the other Reps. 

“Oh, you do. Two attacks in the first week? That’s got to be some kind of record.” He turns around and smiles at him, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

“And how does attacking us solve anything again?” Phoenix asks with an angry tone.

“Who knows? Maybe we’re stopping some traitors before they get a chance to strike. Or maybe we’re just cutting out some really bad luck.” Henry says with an almost dismissive look as Alston gets up angrily.

“We’re not traitors!” Alston yells back.

“You don’t even know what you are. You don’t know anything about the world you’re now a part of.” Ashi says back sharply. Alston sweats as she looks upset by her words.

“What? And you do? Representatives?” Tadashi says back with a glare. Keigo smirks excitedly.

“Be seeing you. Real soon.” Keigo says. They all turn to leave but stop when someone calls to them.

“I don’t care who you are or what you want.” Wolf says as she stands up. Her gaze then sharpens upon them. “Do as you please, but don’t you dare hurt my friends.” She threatens. Henry smirks at her one last time.

“Next time.” He says before they all walk away.