John is left behind by Leilah and Seraphina during their escape from the facility. Left at the mercy of Keon and the authorities, he soon becomes one of EMBER's most prized Assets.
Is he truly unStoppable?
(This is set in the unCHANGED AU so if yo...
"Sera?" John's eyes were wide with wonder, but the glare of the bright light was blinding so he turned away, rubbing his shut lids. He was a bit off and dizzy. Could he be hallucinating? It was only a silhouette after all - he had to be sure. He peeked up from under the irritating strands that fell over his searching eyes. Opposite him was a fuzzy outline of a woman. Her hair was long with a gentle curl and her soft figure made her seem like a Greek deity. Her stance was powerful, her feet were apart and her back was straight as she looked down at him. She commanded respect. It had to be her. That aura... John sensed it before!
Fidgeting with the hem of her blouse, Leilah looked to the side, "Nope." she said, "It's just me." she pulled up the corners of her lips, forming a gentle arch. Closing her eyes, she continued to smile for a moment and tried not to dwell on the mention of her sister, especially because of why she came to visit in the first place. It would have been silly to get emotional now.
"Oh." John failed to mask the discontent in his short response, but when the woman's smile faded, he hastily shifted his tone "What are you doing here, Leilah?" he asked, humming her name.
"I just wanted to give you some things to look through, but that's not important right now." she quickly panned the bathroom. John did the same, confused by the chaos around him.
He moved to stand up, leaning on the floor to stabilise himself. "What happened here-" A sharp pain sliced across his palm, making him wince. "Oww." he whined flatly, dusting the shard of tile from his hand. There was a deep cut in its place, a pool of scarlet.
"You good?" Leilah asked, reaching to hold his arm. She flinched and pulled away when the boy's eyes glinted like an flame. He looked up, perplexed by her retreat, but he shrugged it off and watched his wound heal within seconds, emiting a gentle warm glow.
"Yeah." he waved his healthy hand at Leilah, "Like new."
"Yes, I see that." She replied stiffly, on edge. She was idle while John neatened his dark, baggy clothes.
After a quiet pause, he said, "I'm sorry for calling you Sera." He scratched the back of his neck, digging his fingers into his matted hair, "I don't know what came over me."
"It's...fine." She hesitated but decided that it didn't really matter and, besides, John had just been hallucinating and knocked unconscious - pretty vaild reasoning to mistake one person for another. "Do you remember what went on though?" She asked, "Why did you go off the rails like that?"
Ceasing his brow, he stared at her intently, like it was the first time he was hearing of this. Then, once again, John glanced at the room and finally put two and two together.
Nibbling on his thumb, he asked, "Did I do all this?" He asked quietly.
"I assume so, " she said "But you should ask your dad. He was here for the whole time. "
"Dad saw this?!" John dashed through the door, invading the living room. There, at the counter, sat William. He was hunched forward, with ruby tissue pressed to his nose. The man glanced up, his grey eyes couldn't hide his unrest when the boy stepped forward. John froze.
-----------------------
"I wish I could unsee that." Darren said, sitting opposite Vaughn in the headmaster's office. "I never fully grasped what exactly happened to John... until now."
" I can agree." Vaughn adjusted his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose, "Ignorance is bliss. But that only shows that we have to work fast now." He rested his interlocking hands on the broad desk, "We shouldn't procrastinate with destroying EMBER. John deserves better than to have to worry about them for longer than he has to."
"So," said Darren, "Are you suggesting we start leaking the footage now?"
"Yes." The man nodded, "We should begin at once, before the 'Hero-Killer' becomes more like an urban legend rather than a true story."
----------------------- Picking at his nails, John was slumped over in his bed. He lay on his side with his frail limbs hanging off. His upper and lower lashes gently brushed as he slowly closed his eyes, only to open them part-way again.
Even after learning to use his regeneration on his father, healing his wounds and bruises, John couldn't bare to stand in the same room as him. John wasn't worthy.
After retreating to his room, he fell onto the plain black bedsheets and stayed there, in the same position, ever since. He was terrified of himself. With his medication missing, John could snap at any moment. So, he'd asked for the door to be barricaded from the outside. Hopefully that would slow him down if he lost control again.
There was a bold knock on the door. John didn't move, merely shifting his dull glance to the noise.
"John?" It was Blyke, "Hey, your dad just came back with more of your prescription. You wanna come out?"
"Please leave it by the door..." John muttered, his raspy voice muffled by the pillow.
"Blyke, let me." This was Leilah, she was chatting with the redhead outside.
The door opened slightly - just enough for the woman to fit through the gap. John knitted his brow. She was carrying some sort of cardboard box.
"Leilah," he began, sitting up lazily, "This isn't a gathering space, it's best if you stay in the living room."
"No, no." She grinned, placing herself on his left and setting the box down, "I have fresh meds and some other bits I think you'd like to see."
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