The student body at Wellston finds out about Seraphina losing her ability, causing them to turn on her. This forces John make the difficult choice of either allowing her to get beaten or protect her and reveal himself to be a high-tier.
Thanks to his vigilante experience in Branish, Blyke tries to make peace with an unreceptive John. Meanwhile, Arlo forbids Cecile from publishing an article exposing Seraphina's helplessness. Determined to undermine her superiors, Cecile tells Juni to find some other means to spread this news. That very day, John and Seraphina come across a crowd reading the article on a bulletin board.
Knowing danger was imminent, John tries to get Seraphina away from the rowdy crowd, who waste no time in trying to take advantage of the turned tables. John takes a beating, and Seraphina tries to defend him. The unfazed bullies only back down thanks to the timely intervention of Blyke.
After thanking Blyke, Seraphina and John head for the infirmary. Serphina is having trouble wrapping her head around how quickly the students turned on her. John explains their eagerness to defeat the undefeatable is understandable, seeing as how he spent so much of his life with that desire. Seraphina is just glad that she's not alone in her new struggle, which leaves John uneasy. John furiously brings up the article with Arlo, who is surprised that Cecile defied him so brazenly. Fed up with John's unpleasant attitude, Arlo refuses to help him find a solution to his problem.
Arlo tells Elaine to meet him at Woaba Boba. At his request she updates him on Seraphina's condition. So far, there are no signs of her ability returning, and the doctors don't have any information as to why. When Elaine points out that the hierarchy may not recover if Seraphina's condition is permanent, Arlo demands she stop thinking such thoughts. As a final piece of news, Elaine informs Arlo of a late night session she had healing Remi, who suffered extensive injuries from an unknown party. Arlo looks at a news report of EMBER and fears the worst. John stays up late wondering how he's supposed to, as Arlo put it, fix things himself.
Two years before the present day, John is held in custody following his expulsion from New Bostin High School. He is subjected to a mandatory three-mont readjustment program under Keon's watchful eye. John is defiant, but Keon manages to expose John's remorse and torment him with it. Using his ability, Keon forces John to recall all of the abuse he inflicted on his twofriends.
After three months of readjustment, John returns home a shell of his former self. Seeing his son with no will to live life again, William gives him the first copy of his upcoming book. Reading it gives John newfound hope, and though his guilt remains, he bonds with his father and sets out to make something of himself at Wellston High
Back in the present, John and Seraphina head to school after a restless night, unaware of an impending ambush. Arlo is resentful of being the only responsible high-tier he knows when he comes accros a disgusting sight: John and Seraphina, bruised and bloody at the feet of a boastful Zeke. After punishing Zeke for his booorish display and dispersing the onlookers, Arlo verbally tears into John for his cowardice. When Seraphina tries to talk him down, Arlo snaps that her right to order him disappeared with her ability.
Arlo's words made Seraphina realize that her carefree days were gone for good. John tries to comfort her, but she won't have it. Days of hoping in vain for her ability's return has worn Seraphina down. The sight of his best friend's despair makes John angry at himself for being afraid of protecting her, and decides that Zeke deserves a generous dose of his own medicine. Still smarting from Arlo's reprimand, Zeke remains unaware he's being followed.
An odd, silent student wearing a discarded lunch bag challenges the bully who threw it away. Zeke is confident he'll triumph over the stranger, but a superior display of his own ability bests him. Zeke's surrender is ignored, and the lunch bag-wearing student savagely beats him and leaves him for dead.
Blyke and Isen are discussing their next course of action when they overhear the news about an attack on Zeke. Though he's has an idea of who the culprit is, Isen decides to dismiss the issue and head to his club meeting. There, Arlo storms and dismisses Cecile for her failure to keep the Seraphina article a secret. When she challenges his decision her with Isen as head of the paper, Cecile is left injured and humiliated. Isen is still processing these events when he meets up with Remi and Blyke.
Isen complains that his newfound position stifles his free spirit, which his friends see as plain old laziness. When an article about their actions in Branish fails to impress Isen, the trio decide to take on a mid-tier named Alana and film it for their next vigilante outing. Meanwhile, a sullen Seraphina requests that John teach her the self-defense he uses to get through the day. They head to the roof to see if the moves Seraphina learned as a kid could be remembered.
John and Seraphina's training goes well until they're rudely interrupted by someone declaring the roof is off-limits to cripples. John protests, but Seraphina persuades him not to make unnecessary trouble. When they're discussing what to do next in the hall, John catches sight of a girl matching the description of the girl who took shots at Seraphina. Excusing himself under the pretense of going to the infirmary, John plots payback. Soon after, Juni parts ways with her friend before starts heading for the cafe when she's suddenly accosted by a student wearing a paper bag mask.
Juni quickly learns that her Flash Forward ability won't be of much help against the masked terror menacing her. She ends up getting kicked down some stairs before she makes a break for it. She ducks into the lunchroom, but only the school cripple follows her in. She leaves just in case her attacker enters, while John sees a fight between two students and discretely activates his ability. Juni's belief that her ability will keep her safe is soon proven wrong. Ignoring her pleas for mercy, the attacker beats her bloody and leaves her lying half-dead in the hallway.
Holden relays the news of Juni's near-death experience to Arlo, as well as the unfortunate rumours that the King was responsible for both her and Zeke's critical conditions. Not buying the gossip for a moment, Holden pleads for Arlo to step in and try to stabilize the hierarchy before another incident destroys it. Meanwhile, Seraphina practices the lessons John taught her in her dorm, with help from a reluctant Elaine. The next day she asks John to each her more, just soon as the two of them do a little shopping for a workout outfit. Rumors of the attack on Juni make Seraphina worry that she'll be targeted next, but John assures her that she's safe from a similar attack.
At Kovoro Mall, Seraphina tells John about her training with Elaine. After buying themselves new phones, John leaves Seraphina to pick out an outfit while he does a little exploring. The display in a mask shop catches his eye. The two friends are enjoying drinks John bought for them when they pass by the spot where the Ability Gauge Vendor once sat. Reminded of the disappointment that the ones responsible for Seraphina's condition got away despite opposition in the form of high and elite-tiers, they wonder a bit about how ability-disabling drugs even came to be. Seraphina decides to see what Remi thinks, since she also encounter the Vendor at the mall. That night, John sits in his dorm, holding up a black mask he bought at the mall.
Characters Introduced[]
Characters introduced in this arc in the order of introduction
