“It’s settled then?” Mr. Ivanov grinned as he watched the match on the 2nd floor.

“I still wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Headmaster Gabe replied.

“Really? I think the kick to the body settles it.”

“Nah.” Headmaster Gabe lightly shook. Then they continued to watch the match as Rocco fiercely attacked Armen one sided.

“Is that the mutation that runs in the Grayfield family?” Mr. Ivanov asked. “Stretching one's limb?”

Headmaster Gabe put a finger on his chin, thinking. “No. Roger didn’t have something like that. If my memory serves me right, his mutation was high bone density. Trained properly, then you could have a structure stronger than steel.”

“I see. Then, in Rocco’s case, it must be a variation. He inherited such a strong mutation.” Mr Ivanov then rubbed his head and realized something. “Why didn’t he use that from the beginning?”

Headmaster Gabe raised his hands and blue electric cracks seeping through his sleeve, showing a high level of enhancement. “Body enhancement works by stimulating muscles to surpass its limits. However, at the same time the muscle itself becomes tense.”

“So, you’re saying his mutation is incompatible with body enhancement technique?” Mr. Ivanov intrigued.

“No.” Headmaster Gabe pulled his hand, ready for a punch. “More like he hasn’t mastered combining them yet. Done poorly, he’ll rip his joints instead.” He then released a powerful strike into the air, leaving a crackling shockwave. That demonstration inspired the bald man beside him.

“Then, I imagine the potential of the combination would be catastrophic.” His eyes widened in excitement. “As for now, he can only use them separately. Quite unfortunate.”

“I believe so.”

“I couldn’t wait to see the full potential of our new freshmen.” Mr Ivanov nodded, imagining the bright future. But then he noticed something on Headmaster Gabe.”Uh, by the way Headmaster Gabe.”

“Yes?”

“It seemed like you tore your suit, right on the armpit.” Mr. Ivanov pointed his finger into the hole, a whole finger wide.

“Crap. My secretary is going to be mad again.” He laughed wearily, and a wide grin grew quickly on his lip. “Well, that isn’t important right now. It seems like our hero just brought us a surprise.”

Mr Ivanov pursed his lips. “Bloody hell. Is that even allowed?”

“I told you, don’t be so sure yet.”

Mr Ivanov Grabbed the glass railings, trying to look into the match even an inch closer. “No way, that doesn’t count!”

“A bet is a bet, Mr. Ivanov.” Headmaster Gabe grinned even wider.

***

A few moments earlier.

This giant arsehole!

Rocco relentlessly had been pounding me with his stretchy punches. It was fast, but not as powerful as his enhanced strike. My arms were already bruised badly, but I had to save some energy for my plan to work. I just had to wait a little more until everything was set and ready.

“Come on!” Rocco shouted as he threw a long straight. It came rather slower than before. And because of the distance, I could predict the trajectory. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as the dictated theory.

“Ugh.” I groaned as I swayed my body to dodge. My ribs felt painful every time I moved. But that was the only way I could keep up with him. When I tried to step forward, a quick elbow or knee would come to greet me. My only chance was to play it defensively. I had to keep my distance and save some energy for my final blow. While at the same time, I had to position myself when the referee’s sight was blocked. I’ll use that big body to my advantage. Since the difference in weight was already a cheat, I would do this to even out the advantage. But before that, I glanced to see if I still have time to do it.

00.27

It’s time.

I dashed to the side. My opponent was a few steps away. The positioning was perfect, all set up and ready. Mr. Hector's vision was blocked by Rocco’s massive body. My heart rate peaked and with the boost of adrenaline, the flow of time was seeping. I felt my body soaked with sweat. The amount of fluid was adequate for me to start the plan. I’ve been waiting for this.

I gathered every drop of the sweat in my right hand with telekinetic secretly. I didn’t have the best affinity with controlling liquid compared to solid objects, but this much will do. They gathered at the tips of my finger. Now Shoot!

I swung my hand to launch the droplets. A few drops flew into Rocco’s eyes, fast like a bullet.

If there’s no sand, I’ll use water instead. Water bullet!

First, all I had to do was to put him blind for a few seconds. Just enough time for me to launch a critical attack on him and put him out of light. Nobody saw this coming, the referee, my opponent and hopefully the spectators too. Then, the critical moment revealed as the water curved passed through his guard. I steered the trajectory with my telekinetic to reach the target. Please hit!

“Urgh!” Rocco groaned in pain as the droplets struck both of his eyes.

A Chance!

I dashed forward, faster with the help of enhanced legs. I mounted my fist ready, my target would be his jaw. No matter how strong you were, nothing could help you defend against that. I just need to confirm the damage done to Rocco first. “Ow, my eyes!” He hissed. Perfect!

Then I came closer to deliver the final blow, just three steps away.

Step one.

Rocco was still trying to swipe the water in his eyes. I prepped my fist with muscle enhancement.

Step two.

Rocco cleared the water away and got his guard up. Lucky, his jaw was unprotected.

Step three.

I locked my sight into his head, only to see him smirking instead of panicking.

“Just kidding.” He whispered.

With his eyes closed, he moved his huge body forward. His left hand was ready for a straight. A spark of electricity jumped out his muscle.

Did he predict my move? Don’t tell me— it was all just a bait!”

My momentum was already pushing me forward, it was impossible to stop. With Rocco also stepping forward, we were bound like two horses about to crash. There was no way of avoiding it.

Unless I have plan B!

When we were fighting, our sweat pooled around the arena. That could be a valuable resource for someone with a bit of creativity. After a while, those amounts were enough for me to come up with another trick. The chance of success was not high, probably just 60-70%. There was no other way. Plan B it is, then.

I gathered as much water as I could in the arena into one spot. The very spot where his right foot was about to land. Come on! Make it in time.

Rocco stepped on it, losing his balance. His aim was off, I dodged it by a hair's breadth. I ducked and stepped outside of his reach.

Rocco reeled, still closing his eyes. “Tch! Where are y--” He wheezed as soon as my hand locked onto his neck from the back. The crowd gasped and roared.

Welcome to plan B, bloody arsehole!

00.15

I glanced at the time and another glance at the referee. He did nothing. More like perplexed on the sudden turn of events. He didn’t say anything about grappling rules. So I guessed a neck lock wasn’t a forbidden move. I remembered one time aunt penny did this to me, an awful memory. I could only last less than 8 seconds. With that experience, I concluded that I have plenty of time.

His hands were trying to grab me, but the slippery sweat failed his effort. He then attempted to pry my arms off, but his fingers were too big.

Surprisingly, he didn’t pass out yet. It was about time.

00.05

What a stubborn giant! Just give up already!

The match had been decided with this. Or so I thought. A moment later I felt that we were flying in the air. For some reason, my sight was pointed upward. Did he jump?

Yup, it was a sloppy jump. His soles were still wet, and he slipped. He probably was aiming to crush me with his body. The fact that I clung onto his back like a kid resulted in this extreme retaliation. Yep, we are about a meter and a half high in the air. I’ll be crushed!

I realized that we fell on an arch. It was a dangerous move, meaning I would fall headfirst into the floor.

That sloppy jump is going to kill me!

As we slowly fell, I saw the health display above. Rocco was finally losing his consciousness. The Helmet must have picked on his situation in real time. Exactly at 2 seconds left. Am I winning? But at what cost? A broken neck?

A loud crack came ringing loud in my head. The whole gym was echoed with that crushing blow. The last thing I felt was a quick sharp pain on my neck and Rocco’s heavy build as it took my breath away. Then everything turned black.

***

“And that’s a wrap!” Headmaster Gabe patted Mr. Ivanov's shoulder.

“No way. That doesn’t count! He is definitely cheating.” The bald man gritted his teeth in frustration.

“Well, the referee didn’t think so.” Headmaster Gabe then pointed to the scoreboard. It was shown 1 versus 4. “He was aware of the attack to the eyes, thus the added 1 point for Rocco. But nothing else. In the end, Armen won by knocking out his opponent.”

“Unacceptable, look at the victor. He’s more wrecked than his opponent.” Retorted Mr. Ivanov.

“True, if it wasn’t because of the automated judgement it would be double a KO.” Headmaster Gabe nodded, followed by a light chuckle. ”And thankfully, Mr. Hector was quick on his reflex. He cushioned the fall just as they were about to hit the floor. It wouldn’t be funny if we have a dead honor student, after we had the previous incident.”

Mr. Ivanov still couldn’t accept the reality and shook his head. “What the hell happened back there? Rocco was sure to have him with that last strike, but somehow he lost balance and missed.”

“I suppose we were way too far to see what happened right there. But my prediction would be that Armen used liquid manipulation to make Rocco slip and screw up his timing.” Headmaster Gabe pointed downward on his feet. “From that point of view, it was impossible to conclude that he was cheating. It could be a simple accident. Therefore, as the referee, Mr. Hector followed the computer decision to let Armen win by Knockout. Even though he was knocked out too a second later.” A laugh then bursted out from the old man.

“No way. This is unacceptable.” Mr. Ivanov’s face paled in defeat.

“Alright then I will look forward to the full payment in the future. A bet is a bet, after all. Now if you excuse me, I’ll have to book an audience with a tailor.” Headmaster Gabe left the Gym as he laughed away.

“Damn.” Mr. Ivanov facepalmed himself and chuckled. “Alright then, I’ll have to go to the hairdresser tomorrow. A bet is a bet indeed, and a man never backs away from his words.” He mumbled at himself and walked away.

***

“Ouch!” A sudden pain came into my arm. I tried to move my head but a worse pain came up and something propped my neck. I tried to open my eyes only to see a woman in a white coat there. A brunette with silver highlights, Miss Cecilia. She was in the middle of injecting something into my body. I was in the infirmary.

“Ah, you wake up.” She finished with her syringe and pressed the spot with disinfectant cotton. “So, we meet again, Armen. It’s not even a month and you're already back in here.”

I tried to raise my head to see what was around me, but the neck brace and the pain stopped me. I thought that I would be dead for sure, but there I was lying like a fish on the dry land. “What happened?”

“Your neck is injured. Thankfully not broken, so you’ll be fine.” She explained about how the match ended. About how I got the injury and Mr. Hector saved me at the last second. But in the end I still got injured, and knocked out for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile Rocco was only unconscious for ten to twenty seconds tops. “By the way, the new chemical injector is available.”

“Huh? What’s that about?”

“Tch, you forgot. Of course.” She tapped the chemical injector in my arm. That made me remember about her offer 3 weeks ago. ”This, remember?”

“Mmm.” I grunted, since I couldn’t nod with the pain and brace.

She then left a short sigh. “Unfortunately, the new model needs to be injected at the back of your neck. So, we should wait until your bruise gets better.”

Well, I wasn’t in a hurry. Besides the old one was doing just fine in the battle with Rocco. But then I remembered the thing she just injected into me. Did that have anything to do with this?

“Then, what did you just inject me with? Painkiller?”

“Nope, that one is a blue dolphin mutagen.” She said with a smirk. She calmly sat on her desk and looked at her desktop computer. That brought me back to last Sunday's nightmare. This thing might have worse side effects than jelly mutagen. “Just tell me if you have a strong urge to swim or increase in sexual desire. It’s still in the clinical test after all.”

“Wait, what!? How does it--”

“Congratulations, Armen!” A familiar voice. I peeked to see who it was.

“Erran? Since when did you-- Why are you here?” Not a pleasant surprise for me. He was sitting not far from my bed, silently watching our conversation for a while.

“Well, someone needs to accompany you to the infirmary and make sure you’re ok.” His grin creeped me out. Somehow I couldn’t believe his sincerity. “Besides, it’s a good excuse to skip the sparring session. I’m not a fan of close combat quarters, you see.”

Yep, exactly. Not sincere at all.

“If you’re going to bother me, you better just go away. I don’t think skipping the lesson will do you any good.” I shut my eyes, pretending I was somewhere else in peace. “Miss Cecilia, could you shoo this person away?”

Miss Cecilia sighed. “Well, If you feel bothered I could--”

“Are you sure about that?” Erran interrupted. “Man, how could you be so cold? I was seriously concerned, you know? And I’ve been planning to give you what I promised since you won after all. But if you wanted me to leave…”

That reminded me of his deal. I won and I deserve some answers. “Alright sorry.” I glanced at Miss Cecilia, “Nevermind Miss, he can stay.”

The woman just rolled her eyes and continued to work on her desk.

“So, what can you tell me about the black haired girl?”

Erran showed a smug face, then pulled his chair closer. “Sure, do. Where do we start?”

I paused for a second and tried to think about what to ask. And then I just realized that I knew nothing but the already available data on the academy. “Let’s start with the basics. Who is she? Like really?”

“Alright.” He took his tabs from his pocket and opened some information on the screen. “ Ellie Yuri, an orphan raised in the small independent city of Klenovsky. Bla bla bla. Pretty normal. Except one thing.”

“Yeah?”

Erran tapped the screen on his tabs. “It’s all bullshit.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got a source from that city, the one who deals with shady business. It’s a forgery.”

That was kind of shocking, but it was way too wild to believe. “Are you sure about that? Is that source reliable?”

“Unfortunately no. That guy often lied about things.” He shrugged.

“Eh? Then why did you bring that up in the first place?” That got my muscles tense that it hurt.

“Calm down. I have plenty of sources and when my guy asked the orphanage--.”

“Nobody knows about her!” I cut to the chase.

“Nope. They know her.”

“Eh?” My steam blew off. “Stop beating around the bush and giving me stupid information!” Damn, my neck hurts!

“Hold up. Let me finish.” He held his hand up. “They know her way too well, almost like scripted. Everyone who knows about the girl always said the same thing.” He stood and started to use his hands to give a point. “Ah yeah, the black-haired girl from the orphanage, nice kid, talented, bla bla bla.” He then sat back. “Something like that.”

“I see. What else?” That made some sense, I calmed down a little bit.

“That’s it.” He gave a thumbs up.

“What? You kidding me?” My blood pressure rushed back immediately.

“Relax, that’s exactly what made her suspicious. We found nothing else about her. At all.” He then pointed his finger to me. “What about you, then? What makes you so interested in her? Is there something that I don’t know?”

“Mmm. Nothing.” I plainly lied.

“Oh come one. How can I help you if you’re being like this.” His face was a blatant lie as well, just like a scamming salesman. But there was a slight truth in his words, so I decided to comply.

“Alright.” I sighed. “It was something during the incident with the mad bull.”

“Ok ok.” His eyes were full of glow, like a kid listening to his granpa stories.

“I saw her entering one of the restricted buildings during the chaos. She even managed to open a lock. I think that was a military grade system.”

I told him about the location and the estimated time when it happened. Erran then opened his tabs, typing something in it. Then a list of videos appeared. The date matched the time of the incidents.

“Wait, how do you access the security cam recording?”

“That’s not important right now. The Ozbrojeny has its ways.”

He clicked one of the videos within the time frame I told him about.

“Hmm, strange.” He put his finger on his chin, thinking.

“What is it?” I asked. He then changed the display into holographic mode, and the video enlarged. Good enough for me to see it with my braced neck.

“Take a look at this. The video from the recording was bugged.” He pointed at the video. “Here's you, and then your friends getting into that building. Then a moment later…” The video froze. After 10-12 seconds, the video continued on but captured nothing.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Erran raised his eyebrows. He seemed confused.

“What about the other camera angles?”

“Right, let’s check them out.”

Erran then browsed the list of camera feeds that might capture the scene, the door of the research facility. There were two other cameras in the area and they were similarly bugged at the same time.

“This is a dead end.” Erran gave up on the search, but then I noticed a vague reflection on the window. “Hold it right there, a second before it bugged!” I pointed to the glass, reflecting a shadowy figure. “You see it?”

Erran then zoomed into the glass. The figure resembled a female with long hair, in front of the research facility door. But it was still too blurry to be sure.

“Enhance!” I ordered.

“You think this is some kind of net movie? It’s a fixed digital format video. The pixel stays as it is.”

“Eh?” Those detective serials were lying to me. Then again, that figure really resembled the girl I know. The evidence wasn’t enough, but with my testimony it should be sufficient for us to come into a conclusion. “Well, it’s proven then. Do you believe me?”

Erran raked his silver hair, thinking for a few seconds. “Even if it was the truth. What do you have against her in the first place? I bet there’s something more.”

His question left me to think back about my objective. And I finally managed to put things together. A temporary deduction. “You know that I never wanted to be involved in all of this, right? Becoming a hero, accepting the contract and all?”

“Yeah, it was hilarious. Oh god, I swear. Your face at the ceremony--” He covered his mouth, stifling back his laugh.

Shut it, you bloody dickhead!

“Anyway, if I may piece everything together--” I paused, thinking properly the next few words I was about to say. “I’m looking for something, someone to blame for all of this. Someone has to take responsibility.”

Erran suddenly snapped his finger. “I see. So you think that she’s involved in the incident? Like inciting chaos and using that opportunity to infiltrate?”

“Mmm.” I would nod if I could.

“Hmm.” Erran was looking outside the window and he seemed to remember something. “Ah yeah, you might want to see this too.” He then closed the screen and opened up a new one. It was the Instafame video feed.

“What is it?”

“The girl’s sparring session, Felina VS Ellie. Someone from another class uploaded it.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. While you lay down unconscious, it was the girl’s turn to do the spar. Felina is just like Rocco, a top rate freshman. She challenged Ellie since she has the second highest physical after her.” The video turned on and the match started. Felina seemed to have a lioness-like mutation, it gave her the strength and agility of a beast. Ellie was looking like a normal girl. I didn’t even know if she had any unique mutation on her. They fought fiercely from the beginning.

“So, give me some spoiler. Who won?”

“It was a draw 3 on 3.”

“Well she’s about as strong as the number one girl then?”

Erran then fast forward into the last minute of the match. “Not quite. Something was strange though.”

“What do you mean?” So far into the match I saw them trade blows with perfect guard and counter. Felina was fast on her feet while Ellie masterfully dodged most of the attacks.

“Here, at the end of the video. Take a closer look.”

Mr. Hector raised both of the fighter hands, a hint of a draw match. But then I took a better look at each of them. Felina was breathing heavily with a lot of sweat showing on her body. Meanwhile, Ellie was sweating but not as much and there was something weird with her breathing.

“Wait, why did she look like...” I wanted to say something to describe it, but Erran found the best word for it.

“Pretending. Yeah. I know, right?”

“Pretending to be tired? That’s weird.”

“Not just that, I think she faked her test results too. It was probably not her best score.” That made more sense the more I think about it. But then, the theory piqued another question in my mind.

“But why?”

“Well, she hides her true ability for a reason.” Erran crossed his hand, leaning on his chair. He gave me a serious look. “But first of all, there’s something that you should know. it’s not a secret anymore that corporations do some… tricks with their competition. Trading deals, proxy war, bribery, even espionage.” I still didn’t understand what he was talking about. Suddenly talking about the corporation's problem. He only kept on looking at me seriously, while I could only bend my head a little with pain to look back. “One of Vojensky's competitors is C-Corp. They have been a nuisance for decades. Especially one of their sub companies, the Pharma-C. We have been in an espionage war with them.”

Wait, what? That Pharma-C?

“You mean Ellie might be...”

“It’s just a blind guess, but there’s a chance that she’s a spy.”

That conclusion was a wild one but still made some sense. I didn’t have any other theory so we had no choice but to stick to that.

“Interesting, what the hell are you boys talking about? Conspiracy theory?” Suddenly Miss Cecilia chimed in while still working on her desk.

Ah, I completely forgot that she’s here all the time.

“I’m sorry Miss Cecilia, but could you pretend that you hear nothing? It’s boys talk, you know.” Erran used his salesman charm to persuade her.

“Whatever, it’s not like I care anyway.” She replied flatly. “Actually, I’m busy with my research. If what you said is proven to be true, please don’t ask for my help. That’s Mr. Ivanov specialty, okay?”

We were there speechless, didn’t know how to respond to her cold reply.

“By the way, have you checked the droids and drones video memories? You may find something, but their data resets monthly. So you might want to hurry.” Miss Cecilia then surprised us with her great suggestion.

“That’s right!” Erran clapped his hand once, but then he slumped his back. ”Ugh, but then we have to look for the robots location, serial number, check their memory one by one. Man, that’s a lot of work!”

I could imagine how tedious that idea was going to be. But then I remembered something crucial about the event. Someone might be able to help us with this.

“It’s Frankie!”

“Huh? Who?” Erran got bewildered by my sudden revelation.

“Erran, you gotta help me find Frankie!”

“Yeah, but who’s that?”

Ah, yes. Who or what the hell is he, indeed.