Saetari Busters

11:42 pm

Jackie- The Warden's Coming.

12:19 am

Zane- hey just got this, the fuck happened?

12:21 am

Ben- if you couldn't guess Nicky poo got his panties in a twist

12:21 am

Zane- well fuck, tell me everything

12:22 am

Eliza- Well it all started when ethan couldn't keep his dick in his pants, lol sorry ben

12:22 am

Ben- well tbf that is how it started continue

12:22 am

Jackie-

Sarah set down her phone partway through her stalking of the group chat. She hadn't been able to bring herself to reply, couldn't bring herself to do much of anything, really.

Despite her dreary mood, she snorted at the "code name", the silly relic of past times. She supposed she couldn't blame their younger selves, they'd only been what, 13?

She'd been 12 when they had come up with the plan.

***

Sarah could only watch in horror.

Her mother always warned her that inaction benefited no one, but still, she stood there.

Coward. Maybe if she’d stepped in sooner, it wouldn’t have turned out like this.

It started small, as bad stuff always does, the occasional glare or cranky tone. Stuff easily brushed off as teenage mood swings.

Then a boy named Fredrick Nozan picked on Ben a bit too much and had gotten his arm broken.

The crack of Fred’s arm was sickening, yet Nick had smiled while doing it.

But still, it could be seen as a boy protecting his friends. And who wanted to believe that the friendly, sweet Nick Saetari would take joy in hurting someone?

Certainly not his dearest friends.

Then Judah Tins got her hair ripped out of her head when she put gum in Eliza’s.

Then Nick put a hole in the wall after he lost some game.

After Jimmy Quant got his nose broken for the heinous crime of not giving Nick his new (Childsafe version, too many lawsuits) Duris-Wand, they had to address it.

***

“What if... This is a misunderstanding?” Jack never wanted to go against Nick. He was crushing too hard to want to ruin their relationship. (Jack wasn't too special, everyone ended up crushing on Nick, it was a rite of passage for every teenager that knew ‘em.)

Well, that and the fact that Jack was Nick’s first friend, he'd known Nick longer than all of them. They'd practically grew up as brothers. He was willing to look past it all if that meant keeping Nick.

But that didn't hold true for the rest of them.

“Dude, Jim didn't even do anything wrong.” Ethan reminded Jack, the angel irritated by his friend’s passiveness.

Ethan wasn't wrong, no one would've given up that thing, it was hella expensive. (and so fucking cool)

"We need a plan" Ben stated plainly, always good at summarizing (mostly) everyone's feelings. "This is just getting worse, don't tell me I'm the only one who sees it."

That was also true, it's not a coincidence that it started at defending friends, and is now as casual as a disagreement.

"So, w-what do we do?" Jack shakily asked, still gut-punched by this conversation.

Sarah only stayed quiet. It was easier that way. She had a plan, well, the barebones of one. But they'd have better ideas.

Might as well not waste time with her thoughts.

.

.

.

No one spoke up.

.

.

.

Ugh, really?

.

.

.

"I... might have an idea."

***

"Apologize."

Too soon. Much, much, much too soon.

They weren't ready for this, they needed more time!

But Nick didn't wait for nothing.

"Suck my dick, asshole..." Horas Xaigo spat, blood mixed with the saliva.

"Demon blood and saliva have extraordinary healing capabilities when distilled into potions, if any of y'all want to get paid for spitting into a jar for 20 minutes, sign up after school!"

Sarah couldn't help but recall her Alchemy teacher explaining the properties of demonic bodily fluids. Unfortunately, demons couldn't heal by spitting on themselves.

Even if that was a thing, Little good it would do in the face of Nick Saetari, born with the force of a natural disaster.

There was no time, and yet the seconds stretched for eons. A familiar voice rammed itself into her head, Ethan wasn't subtle at all with mind magic.

However, it got the job done.

"Now!"

Despite her crippling fear, she began her cast. Mana rushed from her core to her palms, forming sigils that served no real purpose, but Raina did it look cool. (Magic didn't look so cool on its own, this was all her.)

This was how she did it outside of school, when she wasn't be graded on how she imagines it.

She didn't even have to try, it came instinctively.

The sigils gave way to green-tinted mana. (She'd played far too many RPGs to see stamina as anything else.)

When the mana became thick and dense enough, she launched her cast at her raging friend.

Sustaining this took all her focus, it was all on the others now.

***

Both Ethan Normani and Jack Zantari rushed their friend.

Jack wasn't the most muscular of people, a more ranged fighter than all up close and personal.

Nick and Ethan were, Jack was only there to tip the scales.

Jack enhanced his strength as much as he could, straining his core. Would it be enough? That depended on whether Nick remembered to use his own enhancements or not.

In the back of his mind, he sensed Ethan laying down his own enhancements, becoming a beastly force of muscle for the next 15 seconds. (Buffs were never his strong suit.)

It wasn't as if their casts were weak, or their bodies frail. Nick was just in a whole 'nother league, especially when he was too angry to hold back.

.

.

.

.

Barely. Just barely were they able to stop the whirlwind of rage that was Nick.

Jack and Ethan were almost thrown off, only spared by Eliza's and Sarah's casts working their... well, literal magic.

He was vulnerable, physically at least. Ben kneeled in front of Nick, to make him emotionally vulnerable too.

It was over.

Distantly he heard the only half-fake crying of Ben. The heaving of everyone's chests as they finally stopped fighting.

Nick's eyes were green again, it was finally over.

Every time this happened, Jack aged by 20 years. He'd get grey hairs by 19 if this kept up.

But he couldn't leave Nick. It wasn't only because of their lifelong friendship, which was admittedly a huge factor.

It was the terrible, horrible thought that came from the nightmares.

If I leave him, how long till someone turns up dead?

Jack, Ethan, Ben, Sarah, and Eliza were the only things keeping Nick in. They protected the world from his wrath.

They were his Wardens.

But they'd never, ever get out. Not without consequences.

So Jack stayed, with the monster. So no one else would ever have to witness him at his worst. No one else would ever have to be on the receiving end of such hatred.

Jack would stay, despite it all.