Blyke/Season 2 pt 1

## Plot

### Fallout

Blyke's extensive injuries landed him in the hospital alongside Remi. He didn't say much during his stay, and tried to avoid interacting with Arlo and Isen when they came by for a visit. Isen poked Blyke's injured faced and tried to cheer him up by saying he's welcome to sleep in his closet. This did not lift his spirits in the slightest, and he snapped at Isen for being annoying. Blyke listened to the conversation between Remi and Arlo, gritting his teeth at the harsh reality they were in. When he and Remi were alone again, he spoke up in agreement with Arlo's assessment that their actions only served to get them in trouble. After their harrowing encounters with EMBER and Joker, Blyke came to the conclusion that he was too weak to lead or protect anyone.

Blyke was eventually released from the hospital, he made his way back to the dorms. He needed to move all of his stuff out from his old room, as he certainly couldn't share lodgings John anymore. He encountered his soon-to-be ex-roommate, who wanted to know why he was back. Blyke gave a short explanation and promised to be quick about his business. When he got to Isen's place, he began to settle down in Isen's closet, completely oblivious to the fact that Isen told him to do so to get under his skin. When Isen asked were his usual angry retort was, Blyke half-heartedly gave one. Isen told his friend that he shouldn't take the outcome of the Joker fight so hard, whereas Blyke couldn't believe Isen wasn't more bothered by it. He pointed out everything John did, and how when he encountered him again at the old dorm, there wasn't a trace of remorse in him. Blyke admitted he never felt so worthless, but Isen replied that's just how it goes when you piss off someone stronger than you. Isen suggested that Blyke might simply not be used to losing. Blyke took offense to this, saying that he's used to losing. He's just not used to the idea of someone whose power couldn't be kept in check. Blyke asked who was supposed to stop John from taking things further, to which Isen answered "It won't be me, that's for sure!" Not wanting to dwell on the issue anymore, Isen told Blyke that it's time they turned in for the night. But Blyke couldn't help but dwell on the issue. He had a nightmare about it. A giant-sized Joker grasped Remi in one fist and Isen in the other. He had to watch in horror as his friends were crushed to death until he woke up. Blyke thought back to Arlo's words about needing to get stronger to be a King who others follow naturally and then to his first loss to Joker. Blyke concluded that he couldn't depend on Arlo to hold everything together for much longer, so he would need to become strong enough to stand against the likes of John, and soon.

The next day at school, Blyke was walking with Remi and Isen down the hallway. They passed by multiple students who gossiped about the status of their ranks following their defeat. Blyke politely informed these master whisperers that **HE COULD EASILY HEAR THEM**. He wondered why people were still talking about the fight a week after it happened. Isen sheepishly explains that, since John never revealed himself, a chain reaction was set off. Students had begun to wear Joker masks and attack people. Blyke asked why he didn't tell them earlier, to which Isen responded that he wanted to let them recover peacefully. Isen continued by saying that some of these attacks, like the one on Elaine, were pretty bold. Blyke was disturbed that they were now faced with multiple anonymous attackers that couldn't be held accountable. After a brief period of wondering whether John intended for this to happen, they shifted their focus on who would have the most enemies tempted to try this scare tactic.

Some time later Blyke and Isen were having lunch at one of their favorite fast-food joints. Isen was growing frustrated with his position as Head of the Press. Blyke listened as he vented about how everybody on the team just wanted to publish every scrap of news they came across. To Blyke, this seemed to be the whole point of being reporters. Isen educated his friend that a healthy dose discretion prevents reporters from escalating dangerous situations. For instance, one of his subordinates blabbed about an encounter with a Fake Joker in front of the rest of the team. Isen wigged out when he described how unhappy the others were with his decision to not publish it, causing Blyke embarrassment when other patrons began staring.

A news bulletin about the death of the vigilante known as Spectre at the hands of EMBER distracted the two from their Joker woes. Blyke couldn't believe reporters knew less about EMBER's resources than they did. Isen informed Blyke that the media tends to know much more than they let on, based on his own personal experience. Repeating the same statements after every murder was just their way of discouraging superheroics. Blyke noted that the warnings didn't seem to stop the vigilantes. Isen assumed that it was because being a superhero was glamorous and lucrative, but he wasn't enticed to the lifestyle. Even disregarding EMBER, the elite-level criminals were a formidable threat in and of themselves. Isen stated that superheroes needed to be getting incredibly strong fast just to keep up with those crooks, which got Blyke thinking. With all the fighting that superheroes do, their ability-levels *must* be skyrocketing. But then Isen brought up the mortality rate again, which Blyke couldn't deny.

While Blyke was roaming the school one day, he witnessed a crowd watching a fake Joker beating up a student. Blyke steps in and orders the Fake joker to stand down. The fake Joker tries to bluff his way out of his jam says he is Joker. Naturally, Blyke was not fooled and forcibly pulled him off of the victim, who demanded to have the fake Joker unmasked. To the disappointment of the crowd, Blyke refused, saying that he did not want entire mobs running after students with legitimate grievances. He told everyone that he would deal with this Joker in private. Blyke had another student help the victim to the infirmary. He advised the Joker target to think back on everyone he mistreated and turn over a new leaf if he didn't want this to happen again. As soon as everyone else had left, Blyke warned the fake Joker that there had better be a good reason he decided to wear a mask.

Blyke and the purple-haired fake Joker talk in an abandoned classroom. The low-tier student wanted revenge since his target had been forcing him to do his homework for some time. Blyke asked whether he thought he went too far with the Joker disguise. The student replied that there was no other way for weaker folks to stand up for themselves. Blyke was told that even if their buff being called, it wouldn't result in anything out of the ordinary. Blyke decides to let the student go as long as he comes to him, Isen, or Remi for help next time. The student is also angrily warned to not pose as Joker again.

Blyke stopped three more attacks that day. When he met up with Remi and Isen after school, he added all the masks he gathered to their pile. He shrugged off Isen's praise of his efforts, remarking that he was only doing his job as on of the top-ranking students. Besides, this was it was nothing compared to the work they would need to do when the number of attacks inevitably rose. Isen blamed himself for not suppressing the incident well enough, but Remi believed they were all responsible for this mess. They had lost touch with most of the school, who now saw them as obsolete. They would need to start from scratch and slowly rebuild trust with the student body. It was going to take the efforts of all of the top-rankers to set things right. Blyke angrily refused to try and get John on their side, since he blamed them for abusing their power when he did the same. He saw no point in seeking help from the student who caused the increase in violence in the first place.

Blyke spent some time in the library doing some research on potential criminals he could fight. After checking up the record of a small-time crook named Lance, Blyke closed his laptop. He couldn't believe he had convinced himself to go through with this crazy course of action. He then told himself that if this was the only way he could rapidly increase his strength to avoid another crushing defeat, then there would have to be some rules to keep himself from going in over his head. While the X-Rei team's goal was to get EMBER'S attention, his mission would be to lie low. Quickly swoop in, beat the villain, then head back to his dorm before EMBER got ahold of him.

### Responsibility

On the night of his big mission, Blyke got dressed for bed to avoid arousing suspicion. He took a look at Isen's feet and asked how anybody was able to get to sleep with socks on. Isen argued that it's been scientifically prove that people who wear socks to bed actually sleep *better*. Blyke seriously doubted this. Before he went to sleep, Isen asked for Blyke's input regarding a "hypothetical" situation. A diligent office worker who always delivered satisfactory results is forced by his boss to take on responsibilities beyond his capabilities. When the extra work inevitably overwhelms him, his boss gets angry enough to kill him and his entire family. Blyke knew from the get-go that Isen was dramatizing what happened between himself and Arlo, but understood Isen's predicament. There was no way that the news about Fake Jokers would have stayed under wraps regardless of what Isen did. But he also understood that Arlo wanted nothing more than to prevent a return of the mess he had to deal with during his first year as King. Trying to bring everything to some form of order on his own was hard on him, and it fell onto the rest of them to to help him by maintaining it even after he graduated. Isen promised that he would figure out a solution to their problems if it would put an end to Blyke's sanctimonious speech. Isen turned in for the night while Blyke merely laid down for a while. When he was certain Isen was fast asleep, he grabbed the backpack he prepared and began to sneak out. He got a scare when Isen spoke up, but it turned out he was talking in his sleep.

Dressed in his low-cost vigilante getup, Blyke stood on the rooftops on Newside until he felt the telltale signs of Lance's Tremor ability. His training could now get underway. Blyke shot a beam through Lance as he and two lackeys were harassing a female resident named Amora. He then followed up with a flying kick that knocked Lance down. As his lackeys helped him back up, Lance demanded that his attacker identify himself. Blyke instead ordered Lance to not stick around where he wasn't wanted. Lance determined that he was speaking with a vigilante, and warned him that his kind tended to die messily. Lance whistled, which cued a team of six more people that surrounded Blyke. They engaged him, while Amora managed to slip away in the chaos. Blyke managed to put up a good fight until Lance decided to tip the odds in their favor with one of his earthquakes. Blyke lost his balance, which allowed one of the mooks to land a direct hit on his back. Lance declared that the vigilante was weakened, and ordered his team to move in for the kill. These words struck a nerve with Blyke, who set out to do this so he wouldn't be too weak to protect those he cared about. Fueled by the determination to not lose anymore, Blyke unlocked a brand-new technique with his ability. Energy exploded out of him, sending Lance's gang flying backward. Declaring that he wouldn't be killed so easily, he then shot at the gang's limbs with his finger beams to prevent them from standing or moving. When they were dispatched, Blyke turned to Lance and said it was his turn.

He then propelled himself with his Energy Beam toward Lance, who tried to stop him with his Tremor ability. Blyke managed to avoid these quakes simply by propelling himself off of the ground and delivering a midair kick to Lance's face. Now that his target was pinned down, Blyke charged up a finger beam and aimed it squarely at Lance's forehead to intimidate him. Blyke remarked on the irony of the situation, while Lance unsurprisingly begged for his life. Blyke assured that he only intended to give Lance a *taste* of his own medicine. That, and ensuring that he wouldn't escape the town's justice by shooting out his legs. With that taken care of, Blyke walked over to Amora and asked if she was okay. Believing that Blyke was just another high-tier out to take advantage of Newside's residents, she demanded that he stay away. Blyke asked why she wasn't more grateful that he took down someone who was making their lives miserable. Amora found it hard to believe that anybody cared enough to help their town without some ulterior motive. Blyke realized she wasn't wrong. This was all so he could quickly get stronger. Amora insisted that Lance had cleaned them out of everything of value, and the damage he'd done would take weeks to repair. Blyke urged Amora to calm down and stop treating him like an enemy. He assured her that he was just there to level up and take Lance and his goons down. Amora still didn't believe him, but Blyke was too tired to care. He told her that Lance and his gang were immobilized, so they could do whatever they felt they had to do with him. He then left her to change back into his regular clothes in an deserted alleyway. Blyke made a mental note to stop by the infirmary during school to get his injuries looked at before Isen or anybody else noticed them. He began to head back to the Wellston dorms, unaware that a mysterious figure with a ponytail was watching him. When he got back, he changed into his PJs and fell fast asleep, only for Isen to kick him awake. His roomie explained that they'd be late for first period, but Blyke decided to skip. This puzzled Isen, because Blyke was too good a student to skip. Blyke excused himself by saying he couldn't fall asleep last night, so he was just too tired. Isen gleefully took this as proof that his argument about sleeping with socks was right after all, to the sleepy Blyke's chagrin.

Blyke was ecstatic about his success from last night as he made his way to the infirmary to get treatment for his injuries. Doctor Darren assumed that he and Isen had another fight. He advised Blyke to try and talk things out with his friend the next time they disagreed. Blyke pretended that this was a lesson he needed before he headed to class. Blyke's experimental regimen gave worked up a powerful appetite. When he met with Isen and Remi for a meeting at their usual fast food joint, he astounded/disturbed his friends by chowing down on (at least) five burgers. When confronted over his ravenous new eating habits, Blyke unconvincingly claimed that it was just part of the natural growing up process. Finally getting down to business, the trio agreed that the prospects at school were looking pretty grim. Joker attacks were on the rise, and everybody on the press team was submitting articles about targeted students answering violence with violence. Blyke had some good news to share. He got rooftop kid agreed to take his aggressiveness down a notch, but the guy had little interest in fighting Jokers considering what he went through. Blyke also mentioned getting Meili and Ventus on board with lending a hand in patrolling the hallways and stopping fights in their spare time. Remi reported that while Cecile wasn't willing to help them, Elaine, Holden, and even Zeke said they'd pitch in. Both her friends told her that last one was a bad judgement call, which she accepted after a great deal of angry persuasion. Blyke became aware that they had been trying too hard to garner support from higher tiers, who were both too risky for Jokers to attack and too prominent to pull off impersonation. He suggested they focus on low and mid-tiers, where the violence was worst. Remi agreed, adding that they need to stop new Jokers from emerging before trying to establish peace between the ranks. Blyke pointed out that their current methods were failing them, but Remi remained optimistic about finding a solution. The two of them didn't notice Isen listening to them in silence.

That night, after Isen worried himself to sleep, Blyke headed out for another round of vigilantism.

### Safe House

Days later, Blyke was working in the library, exhausted from his secret double-life. But his eyes shot open when Remi slammed the desk he was at. She excitedly claimed she had figured out a solution to their problem after hearing about the school's "safe spaces" from another girl. Remi's plan was to start a club called "Safe House" that welcomed students of all ranks who sought refuge from the school's violence. The two of them would the first to supervise club activities while they rallied more support. Blyke was willing to get on board with this plan if it meant keeping students out of the crossfire while the top students got things settled down. They went to Keene together and got approval to use Room 224 for their club. They then went to the Press Room to enlist Isen's services for advertising Safe House. They found the Press Head feebly attempting to hide behind his desk. He explained to them that he had recently published an article revealing the identity of the true Joker and was expecting retaliation from the bloodthirsty psycho himself. Isen requested that they burn his laptop in the event of his untimely death. An annoyed Blyke told him that they could protect him from John, only for Isen to laugh at the thought and agitate him more. Remi believed that the article must have worked well, as she only had to stop a single Joker attack that morning. After explaining Safe House to Isen, he agreed to prepare an newspaper ad for it.

With that settled, Remi and Blyke began preparing things in Room 224. Blyke was arranging papers when he suddenly heard Remi in distress. He turned to see her falling off of a stack of desks. He reflexively rushed over and caught her before utilizing his new energy pulse technique to blast away desks threatening to bury them. When they both confirmed being unharmed, Blyke realized he had accidentally broken a window with one of the flung desks. Remi was more inclined to ask where he picked up his new trick. He nervously claimed that he had spent some time training, and got more nervous when Remi asked with who, if not herself or Isen. Eager to maintain his secret, he said it was just some random people, which seemed to satisfy Remi's curiosity. She suggested that they spar sometime to see how much he's improved. Blyke said that sounded good before he hastily excused himself to find someone to help with the broken glass.

They continued setting up Safe House throughout the day, cleaning up and finding some books, cards, and board games in storage for members to use. Isen soon stopped by, along with Seraphina and Arlo. After sharing the progress they made preparing for Monday's opening day, Remi asked Isen if he managed to put the ad out in the paper. Isen broke the bad news of getting kicked off the Press Team by the official new King before getting the chance. Remi remarked that John certainly wasted no time, only for Blyke to bitterly recall the drawn out war he waged against them. After Arlo asked for Remi to clarify one of their fliers, Blyke asked Isen if Cecile was in charge of the paper again. Isen confirmed this, and went into detail about how John kicked the rest of them out of the Press Room. Blyke was astonished that even Seraphina, John's best friend, was given the cold shoulder. Seraphina herself called them out for gossiping about her and making her uneasy, in Safe House of all places. Isen made Blyke out to be the instigator, though Blyke was too ashamed of participating to get angry at him for it.

After the whole group discussed the club a while longer, Blyke dodged Isen's waving hands as the latter took a look at their fliers. The ex-press leader expressed dissatisfaction with their first draft, and redid every single one. He then slammed fliers in everybody's arms (which Blyke did not appreciate) and exuberantly called for them to follow him so they could begin putting them up. When Seraphina told Blyke that Isen seemed *way* to into this, he replied that it was pretty much Isen's only talent before telling his enthusiastic friend to shut up. Despite Isen being annoying, the group did get the Safe House fliers up around the school.

Over the course of proceeding days, many of the fliers the group had put up had been taken down by unknown parties. When he noticed this, Blyke printed out a new set and set out to replace the missing ones. On his way to do this, he came across Seraphina, who agreed to help him. As he was working later on, he heard a commotion and rushed over to investigate. He bumped into Seraphina again, who explained that she was trying to escape Zeke. Blyke got ready to deal with the nuisance, who soon reared his ugly head. Blyke's orders to stand down went ignored. Zeke boasted of how untouchable he was, and Blyke had enough when he heard about actions against the King would be considered treason. He defiantly responded that Zeke could not only go ahead and report him to John, but he could deliver the message for him to "go f\*ck himself." Zeke smiled, to Blyke's chagrin. Suddenly, Zeke moved into attack at full force. Blyke told him off for causing a fight in the hallway, but Zeke replied that being a co-founder of the Safe House made him more of an enemy than Seraphina. Seeking a quick resolution to a fight, Blyke managed to counter Zeke's assault with one of his new energy pulse techniques. With one move he managed to pin Zeke against the wall. Blyke told him off for causing a big fight in a hallway over some fliers. He takes the opportunity to explain that the Safe House was established for the express purpose of protecting the school's low-tiers from dangerous loose cannons like themselves. Blyke ended this stern lecture by suggesting that Zeke try being useful instead of flaunting all the time. Blyke then turned to guide Seraphina to the infirmary. Zeke, not having taken any of Blyke's words to heart, attempted to rush in for a sneak attack. Blyke noticed the incoming attack, and warned Seraphina to brace herself. He emitted a full body energy wave that threw Zeke backwards. He then told the stupefied Godslayer to give it a rest already.

At the infirmary, Seraphina thanked Blyke for the assist. Shrugging off the praise, Blyke said that it was unfortunate that she had to go through that it the first place. To his astonishment, Seraphina said that she had gotten used to it, since her sudden vulnerability made her such an irresistible target. Despite her claims that she had managed to cope with her situation, Blyke said that she shouldn't have had to resort to rolling with the punches. He admitted that the Safe House may have been a small start, but from it they could all learn to mold a better, safer world. Smiling at his vision, she asked Blyke where he learned to pull off his new moves. Blyke told her that he developed it out of necessity, since his old methods focusing his energy to a single point didn't mesh well with his new approach to making others feel safe. Seraphina congratulated him on developing a more forgiving way to use his ability, which made him feel all warm and fuzzy. He headed out to continue replacing the fliers.

That night, after Isen fell asleep, Blyke prepared to head out on another high-stakes training session. He checked his phone for his chosen target for that night: Lennon, wanted in Grasshill for theft and property damage. Blyke saw that his target was stronger than the criminals he faced before, and noted that he should be careful.

### Evolution

Blyke roamed the dark streets of Grasshill in search of Lennon, noting that even with experience this whole process never got less creepy. He trudged on, knowing that the sooner he took care of Lennon, the sooner he could go to bed. His thoughts were interrupted by a young boy who approached him and asked why he was bundled up in warm weather. Blyke excused his attire by faking a bad cough and claiming he was trying to prevent it from spreading. Though surprised that a kid was out by himself late at night, Blyke thought he might as well ask if he knew about Lennon. He whipped out his phone for the kid and asked if he saw the guy on the screen around recently. Blyke was asked if it was a picture of him, which confused him until he realized he had accidentally shown a picture of himself with Isen and Remi. Blyke silently freaked out over the fact that he had just blown his cover. Despite his suspicious behavior, Blyke was deemed trustworthy by the boy, who asked him for help as well. The boy began to ask if he could get some help in finding his dad, when the kid's mom suddenly called out to him. Brennet was promptly scolded by his mother for disobeying her by leaving home in the late evening. Brennet protested that he wanted to see his dad fight the bad guy, which caught Blyke's attention immediately. He tried to ask Brennet if he was talking about Lennon, but Brennet's mom called Blyke a creep and told him to stay away. Back at square one, Blyke could only resume his search.

Blyke eventually located Lennon in a standoff between himself and the local resistance group. Blyke stayed out of sight for a while and observed the confrontation. Lennon boasted about being a high-tier, which Blyke recalled didn't line up with his record. He watched to see if Lennon was bluffing, and in the process realized that one familiar-looking protector must be Brennet's dad. Lennon began his assault, using his disks to overwhelm the protectors with both attack and defense. This ability demonstration was proof enough for Blyke that this was no average elite-tier, and that Lennon had to have been boosted. Blyke was tormented by his fight-or-flight instincts. He tried coming up with several reasons to turn and leave these strangers to their fate. But when he heard their cries of pain, his conscience won out. He threw himself into the fray, firing shots at Lennon and narrowly saving the life of Brennet's father. As he kept the criminal occupied with some of his new techniques, he shouted for the protectors to get themselves out of there. As they gathered their injured, the leader of the resistance asked for Blyke's name. Blyke said he was nobody, and frantically urged them to retreat. As they did so, the grateful leader warned him that Lennon had backup. Blyke was not given much time to groan at this development. Infuriated that the interference ruined his plans that night, Lennon swore to kill the young vigilante. After a silent moment of cursing his own life, Blyke psyched himself up for battle. He took comfort in the fact that he at least had a decent grasp of how Lennon's ability worked, mainly that he could only use five disks at once. But it was hard work just trying to dodge the disks Lennon launched back and forth. The sight of Lennon hanging back smugly while the disks did all the worked got Blyke angry, which he used to channel into an ultimately ineffective attack.

He turned to strategy, and decided to try a diversionary tactic to buy time to charge an attack powerful enough to pierce Lennon's defenses. With his enemy's attack pattern memorized, Blyke put his plan into action. Lennon was successfully caught off guard, and Blyke's charged shot hit behind with from enough force to throw up a lot of dust to obscure the result. From the dust cloud came a disk, which zoomed towards Blyke and grazed his arm, and he was dodging once more. Lennon, now airborne on one of his disks, emerged unharmed. Two cracked disks told Blyke that Lennon managed to block the attack at the last second. Desperate to buy more time, Blyke tried a similar strategy, which again resulted in a lot of dust blocking the view of the impact point. It was then that Blyke suddenly remembered that Lennon supposedly had backup. He saw nobody else around, which hopefully meant that the locals were mistaken. These hopes were dashed when a projectile was fired from the rooftops. Barely managing to step out of the way, Blyke realized that he had to contend with a sniper. Things went from bad to worse when Lennon was revealed to have withstood his second attack with only two more cracked disks worth of damage. Blyke could tell that the battle was lost, and tried to retreat, to Lennon's amusement. Blyke headed for a street corner, where he could turn and plan a proper escape route. Unfortunately, despite Blyke's efforts to move erratically to throw off the sniper's aim, another shot from the rooftops managed to hit him in his side. Lennon mocked Blyke for what seemed like forever before finally initiating the finishing blow. All Blyke could think about was that, in the end, he was still too weak. To everyone's surprise, another vigilante jumped in the path of Lennon's disks. Blyke, who still had no clue that this stranger had been watching him back in Newside, watched as his rescuer used a blade made of energy to shatter each of the incoming disks.

As Blyke just sat there trying to register what just happened, his savior asked if he was all right. Blyke answered that he was okay, while wondering if he was speaking to a real superhero. The equally flabbergasted Lennon demanded to know who arrived. The vigilante merely answered that he was backup while gesturing towards Blyke. Lennon lost his temper, raving about how his night's plans were all ruined thanks to the two of them. He conjured more disks to replace the shattered ones, to Blyke's horror. The ponytailed vigilante sprang into action, but was forced back thanks to covering fire from Lennon's sniper accomplice. Blyke saw from the origin of the shot that the sniper had switched locations. The vigilante turned to Blyke and asked if he could take care of things on the rooftop. Blyke answered that he would, and left to do so while Lennon's attempt to stop him was thwarted by Ponytail. After arriving at the building, Blyke determined that he had recovered enough to climb to the top. No sooner had he reached the roof did another shot get fired at him. He dodged, but the arrow managed to leave a mark on his face. The sniper started to make a run for it while Blyke was paralyzed by fear. After suffering so many close calls, he kicked himself for going out here and risking his life for strangers when he was only a student. He seriously contemplated going back to school and forgetting this ever happened. But then he saw Ponytail still combating Lennon, and decided it wouldn't be right to abandon the guy who literally saved his life moments ago. Blyke made up his mind that he could only call it quits after disarming the sniper. He chased his quarry across some rooftops before finally shooting out the criminal's legs. Blyke demanded he surrender, but the defiant sniper tried for one more shot. Blyke dodged, shot the sniper in the arm, and followed up with a flying knockout kick. As the sniper fell, two vials fell out of his pocket. Blyke picked them up and curiously examined them.

    But he didn't get much time to figure out what they were before Lennon suddenly appeared, still determined to kill him. Shoving the vials into his hoodie pouch, Blyke wondered if that meant that Ponytail had been killed. With no time to work out what happened on the ground, Blyke decided to try shattering Lennon's cracked disks. Unfortunately, he lacked the energy to do so. Luckily, the still-living Ponytail leapt up from behind Lennon and sliced him. The criminal was knocked out, and his remaining disks shattered as a result. After making sure Blyke was okay, Ponytail searched Lennon's person and pulled out a pair of vials exactly like he ones Blyke found. Blyke asked what they were, and was told that they were ability amplifiers. Ponytail went over to the sniper and searched him as well, and of course found nothing. He assumed that Lennon carried their whole stash. Blyke wondered if he should turn over the vials he found. He decided to keep their existence a secret when he saw Ponytail smash Lennon's vials into the ground. Blyke protested this action, saying that they could have been turned in. Knowing what Blyke meant, Ponytail pointed out that the authorities weren't likely to help the vigilantes they spoke out against on TV. Blyke asked if he at least tried before, and was told that a previous attempt bore no fruit. When Ponytail spoke of having personally traced the amps back to their source, Blyke asked whether or not he was concerned about interfering with EMBER's drug empire. Ponytail inferred from Blyke's slip of the tongue that the youth was familiar with this crime ring. Blyke kicked himself for not keeping a tighter lid on what he knew around strangers. Ponytail had no issue sharing details Blyke wasn't privy to though. Blyke learned of EMBER's ongoing plot to test their amplifiers on mid-tier criminals in order to refine the drug so that it didn't cause the debilitating side effects their test subjects all suffered from (it was mentioned that Lennon managed to acquire some of the drug despite not meeting EMBER's prerequisites). Blyke realized that EMBER's plan allowed them to operate without raising an alarm from the public, and he feared that a high-tier using the perfected formula would be unstoppable.

Ponytail took to asking what drove Blyke to live the dangerous vigilante life. Blyke chose to play it safe and urged Ponytail to share his motivations first. Ponytail told Blyke of how a friend changed his entire outlook by introducing him to the banned book, *Unordinary*. They worked together as a vigilante duo, until the friend lost his life to EMBER. For courtesy's sake, Blyke told Ponytail that the purpose of his vigilante life was to get strong enough so that he would never fail to protect those he cared about again. It was, self-admittedly, a selfish and stupid regimen. Ponytail bluntly agreed that there were better alternatives to achieve this goal, which stung Blyke. But overall, he felt that Blyke's noble intentions were worthy of assistance. Ponytail offered him a position as a sidekick, where his training could be overseen by a seasoned pro. Though Blyke was stoked that a superhero was willing to train him, the memories of the near-death experience he just went through were still fresh in his mind. He turned down the offer, explaining that if he'd learned anything that night, it's that he's not cut out to be a superhero. Blyke thanked Ponytail for the save, and wished him luck on his mission before heading back to the dorms.

Blyke slept past noon, and did not wake up even after Remi and Isen loudly burst through the door. It took a pillow to the face to get him to rise, which he protested doing on the weekend. He was reminded that he had to be present during talks about Safe House's opening day. As Remi set down some burgers they thought he could use, she noticed the prominent new scar across Blyke's face. She asked how he got hurt, Blyke panicked and made up a story about how he slipped and fell while heading to the bathroom. Isen laughed out loud, meaning he bought the story, but Remi seemed unsure. Blyke excused himself to brush his teeth before heading out.

### Tyrants

When the trio met up in school, Isen slammed the latest edition of the Wellston Weekly into Blyke's arms. On the front page was John's decree that all who joined Safe House would be marked as enemies of the King. Blyke and Remi read the headline as Isen complained about how John must have forced Cecile to publish it against her will. Blyke couldn't help but fume at John's persistence to ruin their good work.

Most students chose not to take this Royal decree seriously, and there was a massive turnout for the club's opening day. Blyke wasn't as surprised as Isen, seeing as weeks of surveying proved that many students wanted this. Blyke stood alongside the other club leaders as Remi made her opening speech. The proceedings were rudely interrupted when Zeke barged in. Blyke glared at the would-be saboteur. When Zeke began threatening the attendees into giving up their names for John's hit list, Blyke instinctively moved to deal with him. Arlo held him back and said that Remi had to be the one to prove the club's stance on things like this. Thankfully, she did just that. She shocked Zeke and vowed on behalf of all the club's supervisors that protecting their members from threats like John would always be their number one priority. Remi sent Zeke out empty-handed, saving the club from ending before it could truly begin.

Blyke, Remi and Isen celebrated the relative success of Safe House's first day at their favorite fast food restaurant. Blyke said that they couldn't afford to let there guard down though, as someone like Zeke might rear their ugly head again. The occasion was interrupted by a special report on the television about two new vigilantes, one of whom was named "Nobody". Isen thought it was a stupid name, and Blyke agreed that a little more effort should have been put into coming up with a better alias. This made things very awkward when footage of his misadventures with Ponytail in Grasshill appeared onscreen. It turned out that when Blyke told the Protectors that he was "nobody," the leader took as a literal introduction. Blyke's friends watched and listened as the newscaster described Nobody's appearance and ability, which they recognized at once. While Isen was shocked, Remi was absolutely furious and stunned, and left the restaurant. Blyke chased after and caught up with her, and apologized. After pointing out where his injuries *really* came from, Remi revealed that she was deeply wounded by the hypocrisy of the one who told her not to chase after criminals. Blyke admitted his true motivations for becoming a vigilante, but Remi wouldn't accept his excuse, since someone dear to her heart lost his life while living the same secret life. Remi broke down and admitted that not a day has gone by when she hasn't wondered if things might of been different if only she'd picked up on Rei's secret and had been there with him. Blyke apologizes again for making her angry, but she embraced him and told him that what she really felt was a fear of losing him. Isen soon caught up with them and, after complaining about being stuck with the bill for their meal, took his turn to chew out Blyke for his bone-headed nightly activities. Blyke promised that he's done with his vigilante career, but Isen pointed out that it might be too little, too late. With video evidence of his vigilantism, it was only a matter of time before someone else, possibly even Volcan, would recognize him or his ability. Blyke stated that he was confident that a small-fry like himself was beneath EMBER's notice, just so long as he didn't go out like that again. Remi hoped that he was right.

Blyke and Isen later got a visit from Remi at their dorm. Blyke was a lot less confident about his low profile than he was a few days earlier. Why should both their attempt to get exposure for X-Rei and his efforts to remain an unknown vigilante fail equally hard? Isen guessed that the recording of Blyke floundering about in Grasshill against Lennon was better for the media's ongoing mission to slander vigilantes. There was a unanimous belief amongst the group that they omitted Blyke's successes in order to fuel this campaign. Blyke then remembered the amplifiers he confiscated from Raddix and goes to fetch them. After showing the drugs to his friends and sharing what Ponytail told him about them, Isen wondered if they could be used to overpower Arlo, or even John. The thought of beating John was certainly tempting for Blyke, but he decided to put away the amplifiers. He told his friends about how the drug's side effects made it too risky to use. This warning got an irritating response from Isen about lightening up.

Later, Blyke was walking outside the school grounds when a girl in a rush bumped into him. He asked her what was wrong, and she told him about John and Zeke attacking some students talking about Safe House. Horrified that club members were being targeted, Blyke asked the girl where she had seen this happen. As soon as he heard it was taking place in the East Courtyard, he rushed over. By the time he got there, one of the students was already unconscious. Seeing that Zeke was moving in to do the same to the other student, Blyke shot a beam in order to stop him. He then demanded that the students be left alone. John dared him to do something about it.

Blyke dreaded the thought of throwing himself into a fight he had no hope of winning. But he knew he had to endure it if meant John's two victims could escape. Zeke challenged Blyke to a rematch, swearing he'd win. Blyke was quick to notice that the aggravating loudmouth didn't bring anything new to the table, and shut him down exactly as he did last time. With Zeke down, Blyke would now have to deal with the real threat. Blyke derided John for choosing *Zeke* of all people to work with. John said that hiding in a classroom with the rest of the trash was even more pathetic, and lunged at Blyke with the copied Energy Discharge. Blyke barely managed to dodge this attack, and tried to make a break for it. John didn't let him get very far before shooting his legs out and kicking him. John warned him that whatever he and his Safe House buddies were plotting wouldn't save them from the inevitable. Even in his poor condition, Blyke furiously demanded to why John felt the need to destroy a club that hadn't done anything to him. John only responded that it didn't deserve to exist while punching the co-founder. Blyke didn't let that stop him from calling John out on cowardly acts. He accused the King of sending Zeke to survey their activities not because the dirty work was beneath him, but because he was *too afraid* to do it himself. When Blyke dared to insinuate that John was terrified of the thought that the old Royals were actually succeeding in becoming better leaders, he was knocked out and left lying on the ground.

Blyke awoke in the infirmary, with Seraphina and Isen by his side. Blyke's first concern was the matter of who was covering his shift as Safe House supervisor. He was assured that Remi was handling everything on that front. Blyke's friends told him they learned what went down from the students he rescued and brought him in for medical attention. Bitterly recalling the pain and humiliation he and his friends had to suffer, Blyke admitted to Seraphina that, best friend or not, John was loathsome. Isen urging Blyke to "chillax" only set him off. Blyke listed off every atrocity John committed against them and the school, and demanded to know if Isen drew the line anywhere. Blyke's question regarding whether being stronger than anybody else gave total impunity was confirmed by Seraphina. She pointed out that John's actions at least showed the rest of them that they sorely needed to improve their current society, even if he wasn't willing to participate in the change. Blyke thought nothing of this technicality, and decided to continue hating John.

That evening, Blyke suffered another nightmare about John even worse than the one he had before. The tyrant made Remi and Isen his victims again, along with numerous other students. Blyke called out for him to stop, but just like in real life, John dared him to put a stop to the terror himself. Blyke catapulted awake, scared and and angry (mostly angry). He came to the conclusion that peace in Wellston hinged on somebody removing John from power. But it was impossible...unless he seriously considered Isen's idea of using the amplifier. The next day, Blyke was dragging his feet getting dressed for school, so Isen told him to hurry up before going downstairs to wait. When he was alone Blyke lifted his coat, revealing the brown vial hidden underneath it. He stuffed the amplifier in his pocket and kept it on him for the school day.

During his shift as Safe House supervisor that afternoon, Blyke was listening to music while working on an assignment when the students he rescued approached him. He was formally introduced to prospective member Alden, to whom he gave a general rundown of club rules and activities berfore resuming his homework. When he finished, he announced to everyone that he didn't want anybody causing trouble while he was at the restroom. When he finished his business and washed his hands, Blyke pulled out the vial. He wondered whether or not he should just turn the thing over to the headmaster. Ultimately, he resisted the urge to consume the amplifier. Thus, he had no winning edge for the challenge that awaited him upon his return to Room 224. John and Zeke had come to terrorize club members. When Blyke saw Seraphina in John's grasp, Blyke fired a powerful pulse that sent John crashing through the window. He made his way to the freshly-made hole in the wall and saw that John had landed no worse for wear thanks to copying the ability used to attack him. The two bitter enemies glared at one another.

John expressed contempt at Blyke's interference yet again, and tried launching himself back into the room. Not wanting that to happen, Blyke generated another big pulse beam that grounded John. To Blyke's horror, John began charging a huge beam that was liable to blow up the room. He quickly charged one of his own to counter it, and the two cancelled each other out in one huge blast. Blyke knew he was outmatched, and saw no way to protect the club from John other than to leap outside and be the focus of his viciousness. Blyke launched several attacks on his way down, but they either missed or had no effect on John's defensive form. As soon as Blyke touched down, John went on the attack, and knocked him backward with a powerful punch. John derided him for never knowing when to call it quits. Despite Blyke's burning desire to make the hateful backstabber suffer, he had no regrets in refusing to take the amplifier that poisoned the minds of the criminals who terrorized the helpless. He resolved to risk his neck to defend Safe House as many times as it took. With enviable speed, John used beams to fly towards Blyke again. The latter generated a pulse wave that sent his aggressor flying before charging up another large beam attack. John managed to move out of the way before he tried another rush attack. This time, Blyke was forced to dodge a beam of John's that moved him directly into the path of a flying kick that flung him into a wall. The impact not only made him black out, but caused the amplifier vial to fall out of his pocket and shatter against the ground. Blyke was defeated by John for the fourth time in a row.  But his actions were not in vain. He bought enough time for the rest of Safe House to be rescued by Isen, and Headmaster Vaughn stepped in and stopped John from doing any further damage. Keene had Blyke brought to the infirmary.

### Square One

Blyke didn't recover until the following day. When he came to, two unpleasant encounters awaited him. The first was Doctor Darren, who was angry to see him again. The second involved a trip to the headmaster's office. His possession of the vials had been discovered while he was knocked out. And so it was that Blyke went to answer for what he did, making a stop at his dorm beforehand to pick up the other amplfier container. After turning in the vial and explaining what was inside it, Blyke was asked how much was left and where it came from. Blyke shared the story of his nocturnal adventures and how they led to him acquiring *two* amplifier vials that he wasn't sure what to do with. The headmaster sternly asked Blyke if EMBER's efficiency in killing vigilantes made him aware of how foolhardy his actions were. Blyke bowed his head and promised that it was just a bad lapse in judgement that wouldn't happen again. Inwardly, he was terrified of being expelled. Vaughn asked Blyke if his identity was exposed. He remembered that he *was* on the news, and upon being asked again he shared that info with Vaughn and Keene. Blyke tried the excuse that the low-quality video and his disguise protected him from being recognized by strangers, but Vaughn advised against such confidence. With no feasible justification for his high-risk training, Blyke ruefully apologized. The headmaster concluded that while he appreciated Blyke's willingness to admit to wrongdoing, there would have to be consequences to the dangers he brought on himself and the school. Blyke said that he would accept whatever punishment awaited him, but asked that Vaughn stay his hand for the time being. Blyke expressed heartfelt concern that if he couldn't help Remi with the aftermath of the Safe House attack, it could spell the end of the club. Vaughn noted that Safe House must be close to Blyke's heart. Blyke replied that it was unfortunate that the need for it was only realized so recently. With a smile, Vaughn gave Blyke his blessing to ensure the continuation of Safe House. Blyke couldn't beileve what he heard. He thanked Vaughn for the opportunity to make things right.

Blyke breathed a sigh of relief after walking out of there, and encountered Remi waiting for him. She asked how it turned out, and he answered that it could have been worse. Remi was relieved that he would still be allowed to help out at Safe House for a while longer, but Blyke was worried that she'd be upset with him for hiding amplifiers at school. Remi assured him that she should be the one to blame for not taking the time to understand how much his defeats affected him. She told him that he was more capable than anybody who relied on amplifiers, which brought him great comfort.

There was good news the following week. Arlo, who had unexpectedly quit Safe House, joined up again. Many members who were frightened away after the raid found his return reassuring enough to come back. At school, Blyke ran up to Arlo to thank him for his change of heart. Arlo asked if Blyke was okay after another beatdown at the hands of the King. Blyke said Doc pulled though for him again, even if it wasn't with any good graces. Blyke expressed sympathy for the nurse nonetheless, for putting up with them for as long as he had. With class about to start, Blyke said goodbye and departed.

Of course, now that Arlo was pitching in at Safe House again, Blyke was unfortunately left without a reason to delay his punishment. He was suspended for five weeks. His mother was furious, and decided he would spend his time back at home grounded as well. After four weeks of being cooped up in his room, Blyke was at his limit. He sought the ear of a sympathetic friend, but only Isen was available to talk. After ribbing him for bringing amps to school, Isen said that he only had a week left to go. Their chat was interrupted by a startling development. John, who had also been suspended, had returned to school.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 157
2. ↑ Chapter 160
3. ↑ Chapter 163
4. ↑ Chapter 166
5. ↑ Chapter 167
6. ↑ Chapter 168
7. ↑ Chapter 169
8. ↑ Chapter 170
9. ↑ Chapter 171
10. ↑ Chapter 176
11. ↑ Chapter 186
12. ↑ Chapter 191
13. ↑ Chapter 194
14. ↑ Chapter 195
15. ↑ Chapter 196
16. ↑ Chapter 197
17. ↑ Chapter 198
18. ↑ Chapter 199
19. ↑ Chapter 201
20. ↑ Chapter 202
21. ↑ Chapter 206
22. ↑ Chapter 207
23. ↑ Chapter 208
24. ↑ Chapter 209
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Chapter 211
26. ↑ Chapter 210
27. ↑ Chapter 212
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Chapter 220
29. ↑ Chapter 218
30. ↑ Chapter 234