Hidden Soul

1.1 (The Reveal) | Legend Power

With the help of Mei, John and Noah took care of a few broken things. By the time they were finished, night had already came around, and they prepared to sleep. Noah noticed Mei still hid the top of her head, this time with a nightcap, and asked, "Hey, you comfortable with that thing?"

"Yeah. I've been sleeping with my head covered ever since I came to this school a few days ago." she answered.

"I see."

John had crashed into bed a few minutes earlier, and was now fast asleep. "I didn't know he could sleep really early. Normally, when we were young, he would be awake for about an hour after we shut the lights."

"Guess I should do the same then."

"Which one?"

"The former, of course."

"Alright. Good night. You're sleeping on the bed tonight, apparently it has enough space for a threesome."

Mei didn't answer, but leaped into bed instead. She slept, and so did Noah.

The next morning, John and Mei were walking towards Brighton, Noah heading off to another school.

"How was sleep?" John asked, stretching his arms as they walked the final stretch towards the school.

"Quite well, actually."

"Good, because if you plan to stay over for a few more days, we might have to build another bed for you."

When they got inside, the students were walking around like usual, but the students in his grade and above were filled with excitement. Today was the 'Check Day', where the students knew if they had an ability or a Legend Power. John already knew Timothy would be high up on their list, having Charles' Legend Power, but he didn't know about the rest.

"My ability is Healing, but it's stronger than usual." Mei said, as they walked down a few corridors. They came to a large room, where everyone was waiting, and when they opened the doors, they saw Principal Johnson on the stage.

Johnson used to be the quiet kid in school: silent, yet mysterious. However, the End of the World, along with his meeting with his group, changed his personality entirely. He was going around, no, leaping around, as he tried to reach out and support teachers still preparing, using his Phoenix Fire ability. 4 years after he cleaned the school, he became the world's youngest school principal at the age of 17, and he became known as one of the Big Three of the world at the age of 20.

"Alright, kids! Let's get started with our Check Day. I know, it's a very un-creative name, but trust me, it only gets better from this point on. All you have to do is slam down this punching bag with your ability, and we'll check it."

Johnson actually sounded younger as he grew older, and John paid attention to it. A red punching bag sat atop a black stand holding it down onto the stage. "Must be the thing he asked us to hit." Mei said, warming up a little. "Come on, warm up! Why aren't you stretching?"

"I don't have an ability."

"No Legend Power?"

"Nope. Just my body, and the feeling as if I knew what the hell happened years ago."

"I see. You wanna go first?"

"The first person to come on stage will be our new student, Mei!" Johnson shouted eagerly.

"Nope. You're going first." John said, leading her towards the stairs of the stage. The crowd parted ways, the only event in which they would do so, clearing a path for the both of them. Once Mei got onto the stage, she did a Wind Kick on the punching bag, making it topple over towards the stage before standing back up. Johnson blocked the rebound with his right hand as Mei flinched and stepped backwards, making John breathe a sigh of relief. A white sheet of paper popped out from within a small machine, and as Johnson read it, he tapped Mei's shoulder, saying, "You hold Fiolini's Legend Power. She's a great one, and I'm speaking from experience."

"You're from the Old Age?" she asked.

"I wouldn't be here if I weren't from the Old Age. I was a friend of Keith's, silently supporting him from the backlines. Throw in a few kids who died to the Destruction Devil back during the End of the World, and you have my friend group. Now, please step off. There's people waiting."

Mei ran in the direction she got in from, and before she could say anything, John said, "I heard everything, and I'm happy for you."

"You're not jealous?"

"I stopped being jealous the moment I found out late-bloomers exist in abilities."

"Must be good having your mentality, huh?"

"If you think having random visions of the Old Age is good, then yes."

Multiple students went up, including Timothy and Alfredo. John did the math, and about 25% of the students in his grade and above had a Legend Power, be it the power of Zach's Speed or the power of Johannes' Violent Overture. John remembered something, and asked, "Hey, did something called Keith's Ability Journals exist?"

"Yeah. They're kept in a museum."

"Shall we go and visit once we have the time?"

"Sure."

At that moment, it was John's turn to go up the stage. He rolled up the sleeve of his right arm, and pulled it back, readying a straight punch. Just as he threw it, he suddenly saw a vision of a boy sleeping with a young girl clad in white night clothes, inside a house that looked like his. The end of his right sleeve suddenly turned blue for a moment as his straight punch blew the punching bag straight through the walls and into the street, where it got hit by a truck.

"What..." he tried to say, but suddenly collapsed from exhaustion. "How much power did I use? 2500%?" he thought, as Johnson tried to help him up. His legs gave way, and Johnson accidentally dropped him, leaving him sprawled on the floor. Mei ran in and tried to help him up, and the two of them brought him to the clinic.

The clinic had an overhead light, a hospital bed, a chair, and a curtain, similar to that of a hospital room. John laid on the bed as Mei sat anxiously on the chair, and as he tried to get up, he managed to sit up. "It felt like I saw a vision of a past life." he said, "It suddenly gave me strength, but my right fist felt like it was being torn apart. It took all my strength to stop it from actually exploding."

"Was it like, explosive power or something?" Mei asked, eager to know more.

"No, it was searing pain. Imagine putting your hand in fire. That's how it feels like."

"Not good."

"Of course it isn't."

"So, are you going to return to class now, or..?"

"I'll rest here for a while, probably ask for a tub of ice-cold water. I have a right hand to cool down. Feels like fire right now."

"Alright. I'll get going then."

"Careful with your beanie." John called out as Mei walked out the door.

With a click, John was left in the room. He glanced at his right hand as he put his palm out, before feeling a sudden headache, causing him to lay back down, putting his left hand on his forehead.

"Ow. It'll take some time before I recover from this... will it?" he thought, taking another look at his right hand. With a squeeze, it suddenly recovered. He shot up from his bed, and jumped off as he walked over to the door, taking off his left hand from his head. He walked out, only to find Mei about to be bullied by a group of boys.

"Get your hands off Mei, piece of shit!" John shouted, charging up a punch.

He closed his eyes, only to feel something resonate within him as his school uniform changed into a blue jacket and his hair became white. Immense power was charged in his right hand, and all of a sudden, he felt something change within him.