The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 19

John POV

"This is the other option." John stared at Keon for another second before spinning around to face Headmaster Vaughn.

"What do you mean!" He yelled at him. It was less of a question than a desperate wish that this would all be some sort of joke. Keon can't be here again, he can't! I can't deal with him! He began to breath harder as he heard the red-haired man step towards him.

Heart pounding, John forced himself to turn back around. His hands shook at his sides. No, no, it can't be him! Unfortunately, Keon was still standing there, looking down at John. He winced and closed his eyes. I have to get out of here!

"John." He shook at the sound of Keon's voice, memories flooding through his head. When he opened his eyes to try and stop them, he saw Keon's grey-blue eyes focusing in on him. John clenched his hands into fists to avoid bringing them to his head. The memories only repeated faster and faster... He could feel his nails cutting into his palms as he squeezed them tighter and tighter.

"Oh, wow... I didn't expect that we'd see each other again this soon..." John told Keon after a minute just to distract himself from the memories. His voice sounded faint even to his ears.

"The authorities have heard about what you've been doing here these past few months," Keon told John, his eyes narrowing. John froze. He can't mean... He winced as memories, this time of everything he'd done as Joker, slammed into his head. "I thought you learned from our lessons."

"I-I did," John stuttered, already flashing back to when Keon had forced him to rewatch his worst memories on repeat... He could already hear Claire's voice in the back of his head. I wish I'd never met you. Tyrant. Hypocrite. Monster.

He tried to hang on to his memories of Sera telling him he wasn't a monster, but it was hard when he knew that she hadn't talked to him in days. She hadn't told him what was going on... she didn't trust him...

"It's clear to me that you did not. Late bloomers like you are and will always be doomed to fail, after all..." Keon told him. Headmaster Vaughn stood up behind John.

"Tell him your offer, Keon," He told him. The red-haired man glared at John for a second before speaking again.

"On behalf of the authorities, I am here to tell you that you need to come back for another three, possibly four months of readjustment classes... however long it takes for the message to sink in. You didn't learn enough the first time. We can't have you repeating this violent behavior," Keon told him. Another three, four months of readjustment classes? However long it takes for things to sink in?! Keon's words echoed through John's head. He couldn't stop a small gasp at these words. No, I can't go back to that! He couldn't do this! He couldn't handle more of those classes! Three months of having his memories replayed had been more than enough; he'd broken after less than a week. If he had to go back...

John paled at the thought. He didn't know if he could handle it again. It had been hard enough to get out of bed after the first round, and that had been with Unordinary's help... his dad couldn't exactly write another book that had the same impact on him.

"However," Headmaster Vaughn began, distracting John from his thoughts. "There is another option, as I've said before."

John's hands were shaking at his sides. He could barely hear his own voice above the pounding of his heart. Another option? I'll do anything. Anything to avoid... His brain flooded with memories of Keon slamming his head into a table, showing him pictures, making him rewatch all he'd done wrong over and over... "What is it?"

"You have an uncle," Keon told him. "He has offered to train you. We would trust Alban to control you. If you repeat your mistakes, however, I'm sure that you could use more classes either way-"

"That was not the deal, Keon. John can choose either to be trained by Alban, or go back to readjustment classes," Headmaster Vaughn cut him off. John's knees shook. It took everything he had not to just fall to the floor screaming. He couldn't do readjustment classes. He couldn't.

This was what his uncle had meant by there being no other option. He understood it now.

"I don't need either of those. I don't need more classes," John told them, his voice shaking. I can improve on my own! I just need more time!

"Have you forgotten what you've done?" Keon asked, taking a step towards John. "Do you need to be reminded?"

"Keon," Headmaster Vaughn warned. The red-haired man ignored him.

He was so close to John now. "N-no," John stuttered, his voice dying out.

"Then are you going to choose an option?" Keon asked him, glaring. "It's clear to me that you need both."

Both. John would be locked to a table, his mind constantly replaying the memories, the only escape to use the ability he was already terrified of...

"I DON'T NEED ANYTHING!" John yelled, more to stop his own thoughts than anything else. It had been the wrong thing to say.

"Yes, you do," Keon told him. In an instant, he'd raised a hand to John's head. His eyes glinted.

"Keon-" Headmaster Vaughn began to say. John didn't hear the rest. At that moment, Keon activated his ability, and John could no longer think of anything from the present. All he was left with were memories.

He was a cripple, beat up daily. Then he was the one harming everyone else. He hurt Claire. He hurt Adrion. He was a monster. He thought he was better after classes, but he was the same monster he'd always been; now he was hurting Arlo, then Zeke and a girl with green buns, then taking down the Royals one by one under the mask of Joker...

Then, it got worse. He was fighting with Sera. She slapped him. She left. He was all alone. Still, he didn't stop. He fought against Zeke. He was king. He hurt Blyke over and over, making everyone hate him. He was yelling at Arlo and Remi for having moved on.

Sera came at him with her ability. This time, though, he didn't see the part about her telling him he wasn't a monster. All he saw was that he was hurting her, over and over again, until she passed out.

He was a monster. He would always be a monster.

Keon let his hand fall as John collapsed to his knees. He could faintly hear Headmaster Vaughn arguing with Keon, something about a deal... he didn't want to hear it. John stumbled to his feet and left the office.

He barely remembered how he managed to get through the hallways; somehow, he left the school and ended up back at his dorm. From there, he leaned back on his bed and curled into a ball as the memories took over. He couldn't hear anything except one word, repeating over and over.

Monster.