Vyre grinned while stretching his glowing violet sword toward West who was standing up ahead, staring at them with an unbothered expression.
He moved instantly with a burst of speed and slashed.
A glowing arc of violet energy tore through the air toward West.
Fwwhiiiii~
West leaned sideways.
The arc sliced through the ground behind him, carving a deep trench.
Vyre attacked again.
Slash.
Slash.
Slash.
Energy arcs flew relentlessly.
West moved, dodging the attacks to the best of his abilities.
Every strike missed by inches causing Vyre to narrow his eyes.
He raised his sword overhead, preparing a stronger attack.
West suddenly accelerated at this precise moment, vanishing from Vyre’s sight.
Vyre’s pupils shrank.
’Too fast...’
A fist appeared directly in front of his face.
He didn’t even see it coming.
BOOM.
His face imploded inward from the impact causing teeth to explode from his mouth.
Blood sprayed into the air as his body lifted and flew several feet across the air.
He spun repeatedly and crashed violently across the courtyard floor unmoving.
Silence returned as the students stared in absolute disbelief.
One awakened defeated.
Caleb beaten repeatedly.
And West...
Was still standing there calmly.
Not even breathing hard.
Icarus stared at him now with interest. The look of disdain had completely vanished from his face.
Phones were up with voices layered over each other, like the whole school had become one giant mouth that couldn’t stop talking.
"West is actually insane!"
"Bro, that other dude got folded!"
"Caleb got punched like a shopping cart!"
"Wait—so is West awakened or not?!"
Icarus didn’t rush in.
He stared at West, then at Vyre on the ground, then back at West again like his eyes needed to confirm reality.
His chains dangled loosely from his hands, glowing blue and crackling faintly, like they were impatient.
"...You awakened?" Icarus asked slowly, "No way you just beat two awakened up."
West didn’t answer the question.
He didn’t even nod.
He glanced at the crowd, glanced at the phones, glanced back at Icarus like the whole situation was a minor inconvenience.
Then he sighed.
"You lot are delaying me," he said while rolling his shoulders. "I have somewhere to be."
His gaze sharpened slightly, like a blade being pulled from a sheath.
"Don’t waste any more of my time. Come and get your share of ass whooping."
The crowd made a sound at once—half laughter, half shock.
Someone yelled, "HE SAID ASS WHOOPING!"
Another voice: "WEST IS HIM!"
A teacher’s faint scream came from far away: "WHO IS RECORDING THIS—STOP—"
Icarus’ face twitched.
That twitch became a scowl.
His pride didn’t like being spoken to that way, not by some guy the school still couldn’t even decide was awakened or not.
"Just because you managed to beat them by some luck," Icarus snapped, "doesn’t mean you’ll do the same with me."
West’s eyes said: Talk less.
Icarus’ eyes said: Bet.
The glowing chains snapped outward.
WHIP—
The air sizzled as they cut through it.
West spun sideways, barely dodging, and the chains slapped the ground hard enough to crack it. He took a step forward to close in—
But the chains bent back like they had minds of their own.
West’s brows lifted just slightly.
"Okay," he muttered. "That’s annoying."
The chains whipped again, curving mid-flight, trying to catch his ribs.
West twisted away and in the process, his shirt brushed against the crackling blue light by inches.
He tried to rush in with a kick to the torso after evading but Icarus flicked his wrist.
The chains snapped sideways at a ridiculous angle.
SLAP—
The metal-light lash smacked into West’s side even though West had already moved.
He barely got his left arm up to block at the last moment, but the impact still threw him.
He slid across the ground on his shoes with his arm raised and his teeth clenched.
When he stopped, a thick steamed bruise bloomed across his forearm like heat rising off it like a kettle.
West stared at his arm, then stared at Icarus.
"...So it’s like that," he said quietly.
Icarus smiled, satisfied, like he’d finally made West "look human."
"That’s right," Icarus said, lifting his chains again. "Now you’re paying attention."
West exhaled and then he launched himself forward again.
Icarus didn’t retreat.
He spun the chains vigorously, turning them into a circular blur of blue light, like a living barrier.
Every time West tried to enter—
WHIP. WHIP. WHIP.
The chains slapped his shoulders, grazed his ribs, caught his thigh once, struck his side again.
Every strike kept him back and bruised his body.
West’s shoes squeaked as he shifted and pivoted, trying to find an opening that didn’t exist.
The crowd flinched at every hit.
"OHHH!"
"NAH THAT CHAIN IS CHEATING!"
"WEST MOVE!"
West bit down a groan and snapped his head toward Icarus with a look that said: I’m going to make you regret being smug.
Icarus saw that look and laughed.
"Still confident?" he mocked, sweeping his chains out again, aiming to wrap West completely this time.
West ducked, rolled and shifted.
He was evading, evading, evading— but also drifting.
Unnoticeably...
Step by step...
He wasn’t just avoiding...
He was repositioning.
Icarus didn’t notice because he was too busy enjoying himself.
West backed toward a pillar near the edge of the courtyard. It was one of those thick concrete supports for a raised walkway. He stopped beside it, breathing evenly with focused eyes.
Icarus lashed again, sweeping his chains wide and nearly wrapping around West’s torso.
West ducked at the last instant.
The chains flew past him and—
CLACK.
They wrapped around the pillar, hooking and knotting on themselves, tightening like a snake constricting prey.
Icarus pulled his wrist back instinctively to retract them but the chains didn’t move.
His grin faded as he pulled harder but still nothing.
"...What?"
West lifted his head slowly, with that an irritating "gotcha" look.
"Thanks for borrowing me your leash," West said, and before Icarus could process the insult—