The Royal's meeting room was on the third floor, alongside the third year classrooms. It had several chairs and a small desk. It was a small room with a refrigerator and a microwave, and the seats were different from the average school chair. They were more luxurious and comfortable, with armrests with cushioning and foldable leg-rests. It was a privilege awarded to Royals after an arduous climb to the top. There were four seats reserved for the formal four seats alongside a beanbag on the corner.
He stared at the beanbag today with more disdain than usual. Seraphina, the strongest student in the school was the owner of that beanbag, she disgraced this lounge with her informal title of "Ace". That beanbag was a reminder that the system was being cracked by the very members meant to sustain it… At least her position was still high
His disdain was harder to quell that day because every Royal had left him alone. Blyke had gone off with Isen, the Jack of Wellston helping out a reporter. Even if they were close in power, it irked him to no end. Remi left their class, then disappeared after their free period, which meant their Queen was missing. Most recently, Elaine, who typically came and went at his call, told him she was too busy. That was the Wellston Royals all dispersed during a meeting day.
"... Those idiots." Arlo could grab his golden locks and rip them out of his skull out of frustration. He fell back onto his chair and put his foot on top of his thigh. He leaned sideways on the chair and let his body sink into the smooth and soft padding of the chair.
There was something going on. They all seem to have their work cut out for them these past two weeks. Arlo had to wonder what could possibly cause so much disorder. It irked him to no end, his blood rushed through his veins, and his chest burned inside. Anger, rage. He couldn't stop his fists from clenching. Standing still, looking at an empty room, it seemed to only emphasize his negative emotions.
"I suppose checking in on them… is the only thing I can do right now." He crossed off checking in on Blyke, having to deal with Isen's remarks was already an annoyance. He allowed a lot of it to pass because Isen was a strong Elite tier, and he annoyed him less than others like Cecile who liked questioning his judgement at every turn.
Getting up from this position felt like a waste. For a second, Arlo thought of staying there… but he had more pressing issues to attend to. The lack of Royals in the Royals meeting was one. Pushing himself off the armchair, Arlo walked around to see if he could find Remi or Elaine anywhere. The halls of Wellston looked empty, barely any students walked its halls. It was odd, was today a holiday? No. Arlo would know if it was.
A blue haired boy his age ran up to him, Holden. He was panting for breath when he finally saw Arlo. His orange eyes darted right and left, looking to see if anyone was around them. There were a couple students that stood and stared.
"A-Arlo" He whispered, "It's about the Royals." His voice wavered, but held weight. It was some kind of warning, or maybe a danger? Arlo pulled him into a classroom where they could talk alone. "It's Remi, she's been seen being dragged to the infirmary!" A feeling swelled up, his blood ran cold for an instant before warming back up into a raging fire.
Without saying another word, Arlo rushed to the Infirmary. He pushed aside wave after wave of injured students trying to get the Doc's medical care. Did Wellston have that many injured students every day?
As Arlo neared the Infirmary, he could hear the Doc's profanity.
"YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY! YOU IGNOBLE BASTARADS IF ARROGANCE WAS A FUCKING STAT! YOU SURE AS SHIT WOULD BE HIGH TIER AZAZEL! TOO BAD SELF-AWARENESS IS LOCKED BEHIND A PAYWALL YOU CANT FUCKING AFFORD! FOR SOMEONE WHO RELIES ON HIS ABILITY FOR EVERYTHING YOU SURE HAVE DELUSIONS OF ADEQUACY!" A snicker could be heard afterward. "OH DON'T FUCKING THINK I FORGOT ABOUT YOU! YOU CHINESE FUCKING LIZARD! YOU ARE WHAT FUCKING HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO GIVE CARTOON PROTAGONIST ENERGY T O SOMEONE WHO ALWAYS FUCKING FAILS HIS DAMN CHARISMA THROWS! THE ONLY ONE UGLIER THAN YOU IS THE BROKEN MIRROR YOU LOOK AT EVERY MORNING! THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE NO GIRLFRIEND, THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE TROUBLE MAKING FRIENDS! TOUCH SOME GRASS! STOP BEATING UP PEOPLE!" a breath. "YOU SHOULD STOP PEAKING AT MEDIOCRITY AND COASTING OFF OF YOU FRANKLY BULLSHIT DURABILITY YOU- YOU-"
There was a moment of silence, before a few whispers talked back, and then there was a violent crash. Did someone throw something? Inside the infirmary? Arlo opened the door to it. Doc had his hands around a student's neck, he was standing on an infirmary chair due to the height difference. He rocked his arms back and forth while throwing profanity at the student.
The infirmary was a large room with six beds to the back, medical equipment on the front. Of the six beds, four were overcrowded with people on top of each other and packed like sardines, while the two next to the window were occupied by one person each. The curtains separating them were off, showing one of those patients was Remi, the other must be Hannibal Lector. Chained, cuffed, muzzled, tied with ropes and the curtains, it looked like a max security prisoner rather than a patient.
Arlo knit his eyebrows at the sight. He took a few steps inside the infirmary. A chill went down his spine, the world seemed to still, and a fog of mystery. Arlo felt gazes on him from all around, hostility at every angle. Arlo's legs shivered for a second. He felt sweat bead on his forehead.
"I swear on my beautiful girlfriend's name, if you say you are injured I will give you a reason to be in a real Hospital" It was a menacing whisper that appeared suddenly like a villain in a slasher horror movie. Something grabbed his shoulder, it felt heavy and dense. Arlo couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.
A strangled cackle was heard from the student being choked. "He is Talking about his sock! That's the beautiful Girlfriend!" Arlo slowly turned his gaze and saw the Doc behind him, strangling the student with one hand, and grabbing his shoulder with the other.
"Shut it! I thought you came to apologize!"
"I DIDN'T DO SHIT! AND I GAVE YOU COFFEE!"
"YOU BROUGHT YOUR BROTHER WITH BROKEN RIBS, LEGS, A FRACTURED ARM AND CUT WRISTS, COLLAPSED AND SCORCHED!"
"NOT! MY BROTHER! TOO UGLY TO BE RELATED TO ME!"
Arlo starred in contempt, groans and moans of discomfort came from the four over-occupied beds. Arlo wondered who the chained person was, and why they were so dangerous. A few tapping sounds took Arlo's attention from Remi.
"Doc, I healed the guys outside, it took a while to get everyone, but it's done." Long Aqua blue hair tied to a low pony-tail over her shoulder. She was sweating, and looked like she could collapse at any point. She had clearly over-used her aura and ability.
"Elaine, you are the only good person in this school, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
"What happened to Remi?"
"She lost to a Low-Tier, pretty bad showing, not gonna lie." The guy being strangled stood up, with the doctor still trying to send him to dream land via Asphyxiation. Arlo stopped, nothing else seemed to matter. What did he just say? Remi losing to a low-tier was an impossibility.
"She did not lose. He collapsed first." Elaine glared. Remi collapsed against a low-tier? Arlo couldn't piece things together. How was that even possible, some kind of trick or underhanded method to be sure.
"Proof? None? Then shut the fuck up you overglorified MedKit. All I know is that my friend is awake first, and with less injuries."
"Be careful how you talk." Arlo took a step forward to impose
All that did was cause a wide smirk to spread across the Student's face. "Suck my–"
A haunting presence loomed over both their shoulders as a pair of beady eyes made themselves known, staring at both of them.
"Shut it. No fighting. I better not see a singular new injury. I know you think you know what your greatest fear is, you don't." His voice was a mere whisper, but it was heard. Everyone else quieted down. "I'll make sure to discover it, if you continue this here." The Doc's abilities was one of the few that could to a degree bypass Arlo's barriers, getting caught in it would make him be in a world of hurt, then there's also the fact that he is part of the faculty.
"HMMMPHHHH" Chains rattled as the patient in front of Remi grumbled and moved about like a rabid animal. Arlo narrowed his eyes on him.
The Doc narrowed his eyes and turned toward the student. His aura seemed to intensify, the Doc grabbed an image and produced it. He made sure no one else could see but him by walking right in front of him. Whatever was in that picture shut the boy up entirely, leaving him with nothing but a pale face.
"You show him your pet again doc?" A wide grin spread across the tall student's face.
"It's the only thing that works with him. Now sit down or I'm cutting visiting hours!" The tall student groaned before walking to the seat next to Hannibal's bed. He took off the muzzle, then the rope, then the cloth put as a ball gagging him.
"Disgusting, he put his girlfriend in my mouth." He stuck out his tongue, revealing the cloth that had been made into a ball to be a sock. "What was that for? I'm a very cooperative patient."
The Doc simply stared, and said nothing, and yet the meaning was clear. His message was clear. What the student had just said, was bullshit.
"I only run when I'm good to go." He excused himself.
"If you keep talking, I'll put the sock back in." The doc put a hand on his head and dragged it across his sleep-deprived face. There were bags under his eyes, and he looked paler. His stubble was longer than usual, and it looked like he hadn't been eating a lot these past few days despite there being at least five plates of tupper-boxes and several coffee mugs on his desk.
"I need a detailed report as to what happened." Arlo looked at the chained up boy, who continued rattling the chains and moving about, though more silently than before.
"Dunno, don't care. Not my job. Ask Remi, or Elaine, or the two disgraces if you want, just keep it quiet." The Doc opened the screen to his computer and immediately closed his eyes. He took a deep breath then began typing each student's name inside the registry while whispering about how much he hates this job.
Elaine was helping the several dozens of people on the medical beds by using a lesser version of her ability on them, and Remi was unconscious. That meant that there was only one source of information he could pull from… the two boys bickering at the back of the infirmary like two kindergarten girls. Worse of all, that tall one seemed to not understand how the order around here worked. He had no respect for Arlo, he might just teach him a lesson the moment they leave the infirmary, or maybe in a few days.
The King begrudgingly walked to the infirmary bed and stood in front of the tall boy, before ignoring him to talk to the one bedridden one.
"What happened between you and Remi?"
"So anyway, as I was saying, I won."
"If you call this a victory, I can't wait to see what you call a loss."
The boy turned to the tall one immediately. Has Arlo been ignored? This had to be a joke, they were using the infirmary's rule of no violence to disrespect a Royal? Arlo clenched his fists and glared. Maybe he couldn't hurt them while they were in here, but when they came out… that was a different story. If he wasn't misremembering, these two were transfer students. Were they high-tiers aiming for the Royal title?
"I don't lose. So you'll wait forever." Arlo glared, his arms and legs were in casts, and he had a bandage around his head. It looked like he'd fought someone beyond his level and brutally lost.
"The Rock-Paper-Scissors game yesterday would beg to differ."
"The exam results speak for themselves. Besides, it's a 201 to 199 victory streak on my end."
"Ah, but you see, your statement explicitly says you DON'T lose, and what happened yesterday contradicts your statement pretty badly. You lost."
"Maybe if you played Rock-Paper-Scissors with me more than one time a day instead of running away after the first."
"We already set up terms of Engagement Azazel, you know how we both get when we lose."
"If it was best of threes, you know I wouldn't lose."
"My point exactly. You are a sore loser, you suck." The tall one said that while looking at Arlo.
"If you don't want your life to be a living hell for the following three months," Arlo turned his head, looking at the Doc slaving away at the computer files, before turning it back, "I would recommend you tell me what I want to know."
The tall student raised an eyebrow at Arlo's declaration. Getting up, he did a perfect 90° angle bow. "Oh how foolish we have been, excuse us your majesty. How could we have been so blind to your grandeur. Allow me to explain." A kind smile was set on his features as he got up. "Suck a fucking dick you absolute shitstain of a being. Every breath you take is a walking endorsement of abortion. Your mother should have swallowed. Has that pleased you my lord? My linguistic capabilities have slowly deteriorated due to talking to Azazel, but I hope they have been worthy of your Royal fucktard of a station."
"What my minion said, but less gay." Azazel was the name of the person in chains? Arlo would take note of that. He couldn't threaten them with violence inside, in that case he would wait for Remi to wake up and ask her. "Also, you're gonna make our life a living hell? What are you going to do, fight me? Don't threaten me with a good time Puppet King." He was out of his mind, both of them were.
"Did I just hear fighting?" The Doc's voice came from nowhere.
"Are you deaf doc? It's called a passive aggressive conversation, it's when two parties who hate each other talk with each other. You said Physical violence, never stated shit about verbal."
"This is why you three don't have girlfriends." The Doc moved on to his computer.
"And that's why you still call your sock your girlfriend. Pretty sad doc."
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up. Wait until she comes and visits. You'll have to kneel in front of me for advice." He went back to inputting names in the database.
"Hah! If she is actually pretty I will kiss your fucking feet!"