Pushing his back against the wall to force himself to stand, Jude could barely see. The adrenaline that had already been in his system wasn’t potent enough, his body was mass producing as much as it could. His body writhed and wiggled up the surface behind him, like a panda scratching it’s back.

Might was still disorientated from the scream Jude produced, however he was recovering fast as part of his Alteration. Whilst his hearing was impaired and thus his balance was thrown, he was in a better state than his opponent.

Both men stood staring at the other knowing that the outcome of the fight was already done. Jude felt this overwhelming sense of failure. Knowing Rin would be captured because he wasn’t strong enough, smart enough, or any of the insults he threw out at himself.

Thanks to the injuries neither man could tell when their standoff was interrupted by the figure in the doorway. It was Damian, but it didn’t feel like him. Even in his delirious state Jude felt something off with his friend.

His stance was confident, head up, smiling and cocky. Shoulders back, his eyes were glowing that purple colour his alteration gave off. And instead of having the limbs coming out of his back, floating, they appeared to be around his arms and legs; opaque purple gauntlets that ended in claws, as well as steel like boots. It wasn’t an application Jude had seen him use before, could this be his trump card? Or was it something worse? Especially with those sinister eyes.

The three-way standoff was broken when Damian charged Might. Jude watched as the hulking figure was systemically dismantled before him. The attacks were almost mocking, he didn’t dodge he parried.

Seizing the opportunity Jude righted himself, Damian’s toying with the opponent gave him enough time for the adrenaline to kick in. The pain had numbed somewhat, the right arm was still unusable though. But with his head clearing from the pain, like a fog dissipating, he could think about a plan; he needed to at once get rid of Might and also get back outside to help the others. By now Rin had surely called for help and hidden.

He knew the layout. Did they leave Might where he stood, or did they drag him outside? How long until their paralysis of the other students wore off? But, that’s when he came up with it. A few corridors away was the main stairwell of this part of the building. One of the walls were all glass panes and faced out into the courtyard where everyone else was. If they could lead Might that way then they could lead him back outside. He thought for a moment before enacting his plan.

He peered down a hallway, the one Damian had come from and then turned back to the two brawlers in the kitchen. “Damian, Rin’s down this way, I’m going to help him. Make sure he doesn’t catch us.” That got Might’s attention. Snapping back to his senses he remembered his mission.

Jude ran off, the behemoth not far behind. His muscles too big to fight through the door, so he reduced down to Times one. Damian behind them.

Might was faster than Jude, each time he would catch-up, Damian extended his gauntlets and pulled his leg from under him.

Thirty seconds away from the stairwell. Fourth seconds left of Damian’s change. Whilst they were moving Jude’s left arm began to heat up. Lines of heat began to blur and obscure it.

Using his dead right shoulder to barge open the door to the stairwell, Jude fell to the ground and skidded to the centre of the hallway, looking out he could see Nerissa and Jack were down. Behind him Might was behind Damian.

“Damian, throw him onto the stairs and face him towards the glass.” Whatever state Damian was in, he was cooperative at the very least.

As Might entered the hallway Damian grabbed his face and threw him down the stairs with a mighty push. “Level Twelve!” the highest level seen so far. He was stronger than Damian now, they went blow for blow, each time a bit of the gauntlet broke off. One blow to the arm reverberated inside Damian and caused his nose to begin bleeding.

Five seconds. “Thanks for the help.” Jude said, his arm behind held up, glowing a bright white. The pieces of light flaked off into a ball above his palm. The ball trick he had learnt at the police station that day was draining but it taught him a new application. Might looked up, knowing what that could do to him just form the heat and pressure within it. He held Damian by the fist. “You do not have the strength to kill boy. Within your eyes is a kindness that cannot be seen in a killer. I will show you mercy if you can fight me when that light is gone.”

One second. With everything he had, Damian’s inhabitant used his power. Tens of arms picked up Might and threw him through a window. They were on the fourth floor and that was third window up. After doing so Damian’s body collapsed on the stairs. Simultaneous Jude threw the orb. It passed through the glass of the fourth window, melting a circle through it as it did so but with the frozen air outside it immediately cooldown and became extremely brittle.

Jude turned to face the wall. He clicked.

The ball of light exploded into a flashbang. He had used all the excess heat to propel it forward. It was still hot and it melted the snow on the roof, but the flash was what was needed. With twelve times the vision of a regular person the instant light burned Might’s eyes and caused him body to nearly shut down. Down on the ground AJ, Johnny, and Ex who had been fighting were all blinded by it.

Jude turned round, completely fine from his own attack. He smiled “God I’ve always wanted to do this. I’m sure Jack would too.” With that he used his fire to boost his body towards the window he melted. Curling into a ball, par his dangling arm, Jude crashed through the window. “Woo!”. The window shattered into big shards that showered down around him, cutting parts of him including his cheeks, knees, and right arm.

Using his fire to control his descent he landed with more grace than Might, who’s body landed with a thump. Luckily when he fell unconscious his level reset so the impact didn’t kill him. Jude then spotted Ex, who was coming round from his blinding.

As he went to confront him and end this his adrenaline wore off. His legs became shaky, his arm was killing him. He collapsed down. The muscles that weren’t injured were certainly exhausted.

AJ and Johnny were able to see but we’re both exhausted as well. Ex was the best there but his chance of winning two on one improved the slower his opponents got.

Everything seemed so good a second ago. Jude tried moving, he needed to help. He could lose. His friends were down. They were in danger.

“Get away from our students.” That voice who was it? From behind him came their tutors, Ray was the one who lead the charge.

Jude wanted to help and then he woke up.

He was in the back of ambulance. His heart rate spiked, panic had set in. He didn’t know where he was but very quickly worked out what was going on. In the ambulance with him were paramedics and Alex.

“Keep calm Jude, don’t sit up. We need to get your injuries checked at the hospital.”

“What happened?” His voice was laboured.

“After we showed up, the little one was able to drain some energy off of Ray and made a mad dash to pick up his comrades before he activated some sort of teleportation device.”

“They got away? Did they get Rin?”

“No, Rin is safe.” That eased Jude. He did it. He completed his one goal.

“Is everyone okay?” There was a pause.

“Most of them are just exhausted because of the energy draining one. Damian is not a great way. But Jack is in a critical condition.”

“Oh, he’s fine.” It was not the reaction Alex expected from Jude.

“What do you mean?”

“Give him a scan with your power. He got hit with electricity. He probably stopped his own body in time until the electric is drained.” He had thought about it as soon as he saw his friend get hit as he ran inside. To which Alex immediately called the tutor who was in the ambulance with Jack.

There was a notable silence after the call. “How did you know that?” Alex was cold, serious, and dropped any pretence of a friendly conversation.

“When AJ hit him in the tournament the energy gave him a new power, so I worked out he can absorb energy and effect time. Plus Alterations protect their owner right? So logically just put the body in suspended animation until the energy runs off.”

“Jude, I feel like I don’t need to tell you how wildly irresponsible a leap in logic like that is. Do you have any valid reason to believe that would happen?”

“Jack won’t die yet. We haven’t achieved our dreams.” The statement alone stunned Alex. He had known far too many people in this new world talk about dreams and succumb to a cruel fate, and yet here was a young man who truly believed in what he said. He decided to leave the topic there. “How are the guys who were inside?” Jude asked, himself bringing a more serious tone this time.

“Everyone is fine. Some have cuts and bruises thanks to falling after the attacks but for the most part it’s a lot of shock. Can you tell me how you dealt with the situation?”

“Can it boost my grade in combat and methodology?”

“That depends on how good your method was.” Alex said with a smirk, the statement made Jude laugh, even if it hurt him. Before he explained everything to Alex; from the police station, their arrival, the splitting up, Damian, and then up to when the tutors arrived.

“Thank you Jude. What you did was very brave but also incredibly reckless and risked your’s and your peers’ lives. It worked out for you today but we may not be so lucky if it happens again. Now I know you’re probably not in the best headspace but I do want to bounce some off you if you’re okay with that?”

“Yeah.” Jude was struggling to stay awake, the painkillers in him were making him drowsy. He figured talking would be helpful.

“So from your injuries it’s obvious that the barrier was broken, how do you think that was?”

“That short guy, he was a supporter. Whatever he could do probably did that.”

“Why were they after Rin?”

“Their boss wanted him. I don’t know why. Maybe because he’s rich.”

“Do you know what organisation they were from?”

“The black rose, I think. Might, the big guy, had one tattooed on him.”

“Final question and then I’ll let you rest, did you ever feel like killing your assaulters?”

“No. I’m not a killer. Even if I did hate someone enough to do so the guilt would way on me every night when I close my eyes, I couldn’t willing do that.” Even though Jude wasn’t looking Alex made sure to not change his expression, to give away nothing to anyone around him.

“Thank you Jude. I’ll write up a report from my end and compare with the other tutors and we’ll see if we can find what went wrong.” It wasn’t long after he heard that statement that Jude relaxed and he was under.

He slipped into a dreaming state.