10 a.M

K.J suddenly started to feel ill and weak. It could just be morning sickness or lack of sleep. However, things started to get out of hand when he said his body felt like bursting out, black flames sweeping out.

Something was wrong, and Konrad was running circles around James— his shouts didn't manage to pierce their sparring, they were too caught in emotion to listen. Without choice, he ran towards the soldiers, towards the Major, and asked for help.

A doctor lady had come alongside Cain, with his friend exasperated, more than them, for some reason.

Running back to the field, his heartbeats grow stronger, feeling like drums being hit multiple times at once. His vision hyper-focusing on the path ahead. The soldiers and the doctor failed to keep up.

His mouth is drying as his throat clenches. Will K.J be okay? Why does it happen so soon, without any type of warning? This is not how these types of things are supposed to happen. For some reason, his chest hurts. 'It is just some flu or something interfering with K.J, it won't be strong enough to drop him, he is not that weak.'

As they come back, a scared Konrad is the first thing they see, looking blankly at a wall of black fire. Like a raging inferno, the air is dry as a desert, a great flame dancing and spinning as if it came from hell.

A dreadful visage, the flames morphing into faces of anger and hatred, silently screaming at the four winds. Every muscle in his body twitches at the sight, feeling the hatred and negativity sweep deep into his flesh and bone, spreading their hateful curses through him.

The light grows dimmer, being tainted and broken by the hateful fire, giving the black flames an eerie appearance. Dark yet shining ominous, eating the light with spite and growing like a bonfire of malice.

Looking around, the other redhead is nowhere to be seen. K.J must be there, inside this flame of hatred, yet how could they rescue him? Is it possible to cross this wall of fire and stay alive?

Spencer's heart falls to his stomach at the sight of someone stepping out of the black fire. James steps out of it, carrying Kyrie in his arms, nasty burns all across his body. His face is a mix of tiredness and overwhelming pain. Stumbling, almost falling to the ground he carries K.J out of the fire. 

His arms with their flesh almost charred, deep, and an ugly burnt crust of flesh around them. His legs are not much better. His T-shirt was gone, leaving his torso exposed. Contrary to his arms and legs, the flesh was not charred but this doesn't mean it was any better.

Third-degree burns all around him. "Aaaah." As James distances himself from the fire, his steps become more erratic, and he stumbles more often, almost falling to the ground. "Have… to keep him safe."

His friend whispers as the soldiers and Cain gets there, staring at the scene themselves. Some of them fall to the ground upon staring at the black flames, while others stand there, awestruck and terrified by their presence.

"Screw the doctor. Call an ambulance! Use the damn radio! We have a grievously injured civilian here!" Major Anthony screams, snapping the soldiers out of their stupor. Biting his lip, Spencer runs forward to meet his injured friends.

Looking at him, James halted on his steps, waiting for him to get closer. "I… don't know what happened to K.J, but he doesn't appear okay." Despite the damage done, James presents no difficulty to speak, as if the pain wasn't there— As if the wounds didn't matter a damn.

"You— Are hurt too! Drop K.J! Both of you need medical help at this instant!" In response, James just laughed, pushing his arms forward. Wordlessly saying for him to carry K.J.

"I'm strong. I will survive, but I don't think K.J has the privilege to be helped any moment later, Spencer." His words were filled with worry and sorrow. Eyelids fight each second to keep themselves open.

Biting his lips angrily, Spencer takes up K.J in his arms. "You are going to be the next one, just hold on, James!" Turning back, the metalhead runs to where the soldiers are, trying his best to not look back, as a small laugh echoes from behind him. Adrenaline fills his veins, making his muscles and lungs overwork themselves to be able to make him go faster.

How could things escalate in such a manner? Looking down, the skin of K.J is sickly pale, even when compared to his normally white skin. "Looking almost like a corpse…" How could he become so bad so fast? There must be something they were ignoring.

Ahead of him, sirens blare as two ambulances appear. "Take him to the ambulance! C'mon!" The doctor lady from before screams, pointing for him to get his friend inside of the ambulance. Taking a deep breath, Spencer rushes towards the ambulance, a few meters away from it, two paramedics jump out of it with a stretcher.

"Lay him there! We will assume the situation from now on." Reluctantly, James put K.J on the stretcher, and the paramedics took his friend to the ambulance. Looking back, the other ambulance is taking James.

Should he go with them? How could he even help them? No, there is nothing he can do with his abilities— If only he could heal…

K.J had said he couldn't control his powers, did they get out violently? The pressure became too much for the body to handle. Too many variables, too many unknowns… Clenching his fist with all his strength, Spencer looks at the wall of fire.

Wordless giggles and curses were spelled by it as if mocking them. Mocking their powerlessness and lack of preparation. Inside him, electricity swells and expands. "Shut up." Pointing towards the black flames, a pillar of electricity shoots from his fingers towards the fire.

Without resistance, the hateful flames are torn apart and dissipate into the wind, yet the damage was done already. James is grievously hurt, something happened to Kyrie. The sky bleeds red, the sun uncharacteristic dimmer, like how it was back in the city.

So much helplessness, powerlessness… he hates this feeling. He hates it and yet, there is nothing he can do to help any of his friends. Just unleash all the anger he could against the black flames.

"Right on our free day. Life can't give us a break, huh?" The Major sighs tiredly, and a little sorrowful too. "The beer tastes like shit right now." The major is here, maybe he knows where the hospital is…

"Hey, you are the guy who leads K.J and Cain, right? Can you guide me to where the hospital is?" Even if they are unconscious, being at their side is the right thing to do… otherwise could he call himself their friend?

"Don't worry, I know the place. Hey, Mark! Take Konrad back to his dorm, now!" A relatively short man runs past the major, going towards the teenage boy. "Still, do you know where his other friend is? I was sure he went with us, for some reason with the doc… but now he is nowhere to be seen."

Sending messages to Cain wouldn't work right now… knowing him, he may as well be in the hospital with them. He is that type of person. "He will be there, I know it. Just let go there already." The lingering adrenaline was still inside him. Every second feels like hours.

A car stops before them. Someone opened the door from the inside. "Sorry for the wait, I had to get a car. Let's go." The soldier from earlier— Mary. Without delay, the metalhead enters the car, being right beside Mary, while Anthony goes for the back seats.

(...)

In a few minutes, they reached the hospital. It was full, but not crowded. Some people were wounded, but not to the extent James was. They were doing their job fine if the lack of people meant they were healing and well.

Let's pray the same can be said for his friends… "You took more time than I thought you would." Just like he thought, Cain was already in the hospital. Walking towards them with a stone-cold face like one from a statue. The words were cold like his face.

"Do you know anything about their situation right now?" Instead of replying with words, an eerie silence is shared between them. Things are bad. "Do you know what caused this mess?" For some reason, Cain had become knowledgeable about things no one should know after all this mess started.

If there is someone with answers, this someone is him. "K.J has the powers of the Wolf Prince, Skoll. For some reason, I think those powers are too much for him, they are swelling inside and getting out of control. I never thought something like that could happen…"

Skoll and Susanoo are of the same rarity, yet he has zero problems dealing with his powers, but K.J does not. He can't control his powers, and now they are out of control. What is the difference between them? Why does having the power of this "Wolf Prince" be different?

Will he get out of control too? Only the future can tell, but as it had shown with K.J, it may be his ending too. Or it may happen with anyone but with a different time frame for each other. For "lower stars", it may happen later and for higher ones, it may happen sooner.

Uncharacteristic of him, Spencer lets his emotions flow into his voice, sadness and weakness, uncertainty about the future flowing as one in a melancholic melody. "Do you think K.J will recover from this? Will James heal?" 

However, the answer is nothing short of despairing. "I doubt K.J will ever wake up again, James… he may heal, he is that strong, but K.J? I think this may be the deadline for him. I'm sorry."

Raw and true words, not an ounce of optimism or even lies to fool himself and the others into hope. Cain truly thinks that. Briefly, all the sadness in his heart appears in the form of tears, falling to the ground.

They will seriously lose a friend like that, in the blink of an eye for a reason that is flimsy at best? "... We— We should contact the others. Elliot must know Morse code if we use it… maybe it can reach them? Maybe they will hear us—"

"No. Cut that crap. We can't bother them with what is happening to us. Knowing what happened to K.J… will not do them any good in their short-term survival. Let's deal with things that are happening with us, help James recover."

"No… We—" Biting his tongue, Spencer halts his hordes. Cain is right, they can't bother their friends in a dangerous environment with a downer notification like this. They have to be strong, be strong, and go on.

If K.J is strong, he will manage to survive, he is just in a bad spot, the one with bigger damage is James, and he will need more help… All they can do in the face of adversity is to persist, and shoulder on. Wait and hope for a better and new tomorrow.

'I trust my friends… and I know no friend of mine is a quitter, K.J.'