I got off of Blaze and the healer rushed in.

‘What just happened?’

The moment I got my conscience back I knew I had to punch the lights out of the rascal. I still remember the things he said. But the memories of beating him were vague, very vague. ‘How did this happen?’

The whole audience was still silent but I did hear loads of and loads of gasps.

Blaze was very injured. But I didn’t regret this. He’d crossed the line when he brought my family into this. I didn’t regret this even for a second.

“Helio.” Mom walked fast and she was expressionless.

“Mom, I-” She didn’t let me finish and slapped me hard. “What?” A low groan came out. I was already confused. But this slap really made me want to crawl into a hole. My own family didn’t understand me?

“I was so worried!” Her eyes were shimmering. She didn’t cry but those beautiful eyes were shimmering. She came close to me again and this time hugged me tightly. “I was so worried about you.” She repeated in a whisper.

“Sorry, mom.”

Elsa was behind mom and she hugged both of us. I didn’t know why, but this whole thing filled me with warmth. Normally, I’d have felt weird and awkward about this and yet, it was as though my heart craved this.

“This was a clear violation of the rules.” A woman stood up in from her seat and glared straight at me. “Blaze had already declared that he gave up but even so, this boy attacked him.” She got down and walked towards us.

I didn’t know what she was talking about as my memories were still a bit hazy. So I couldn’t really argue. I sure didn’t like that attitude though.

“No.” Another voice protested. I knew this one. It was Rose. “It was Blaze who violated the rules.” Rose also walked towards us.

“Shut up girl. Who do you think you’re speaking to?” Did this woman have a few screws loose? Why was she being so high and mighty?

“I’m the leader of the prefects, Annebell Rose. And who might you be.” Rose wasn’t backing down.

“Regina Battlesuin, Blaze’s mother.” I guess the apple didn’t rot far from the tree after all. She did look fairly Asian, but not Russian enough. Maybe she married into the family? “And as I said, a clear violation-”

“Your son violated the rules first. He gave up and then attacked his opponent. His opponent just did the rest in self-defense.” Rose glanced my way. Could it be that she was actually on my side?

I was under the impression that she hated me, so this whole thing kind of felt nice. I still didn’t understand what was going on though.

“What happened?” I whispered.

“You went berserk and kicked his lights out,” Elsa whispered back.

I got the gist. This happened once before back in middle school but that was a different story.

I stood next to mom and watched the whole room. All eyes were on me. But the little quarrel on stage was turning some heads too.

“You little!” The woman was mad. Definitely mad. “I demand-”

“Now, now, the duel’s over and let’s not gloom over trivial matters.” The voice came from outside the gym doors.

“How dare you-” The woman began but stopped. “Headmaster?”

A man walked through the doors and came straight to the stage. Everyone stood up to show respect. It was the headmaster with his over-friendly grin.

“What do you mean trivial. Look at my son-”

“As I said, trivial.” The headmaster’s smile was no longer present. He was serious. “I couldn’t make out time but I’ve been meaning to talk with your family. I can take you as a representative, correct?”

“Yes?” the woman was irritated but she didn’t refute the headmaster. I guess the headmaster was pretty powerful to earn this kind of behavior.

“From today on, the Battlesuin mansion would be rebuilt as the chess club. I’ve been getting too many requests you see.” He chuckled. “And all Battlesuins would be in dorms and if, if they just happened to be caught harming anybody within the dorm, or anywhere else within the school, or perhaps even have slaves-” He glanced at the fallen Blaze. “Not only will they be expelled, I’ll personally deal with them.” He gave eyes closed full grin. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he killed people nonchalantly with that face.

“You can’t be serious! We’re the Battlesuins!” The woman fumed.

“And I’m the headmaster. This is my school. I’ve had enough of you and your flimsy pride. Now take that scum off of my property and don’t come back.” Never thought the elephant ears, had it in him. My respect for the geezer grew exponentially. “Though I wouldn’t mind if you happened to send young girls to attend school.” And the same respect crumbled within seconds.

The woman hissed but he didn’t say anything. “Fine. But don’t expect to get away from this.”

“I’m the strongest man in the world. Are you sure, you and your family will get away?” I didn’t know if it was a bluff or not but this guy sure knew how to make an entrance.

Faint chuckles were in the audience. I guess no one really liked the Battlesuins.

The woman paled and walked to Blaze who barely regained consciousness. “I’ll deal with you later.” She was hissing a bit too much. “You there, girl!” She pointed at the crowd. “Get over here.”

My eyes followed. This woman, Regina Battlesuin was pointing at Marg for some reason. And to my surprise, she did come to the stage, heads down. “Yes?”

“Let’s go.”

“What’s going on Marg?” I didn’t like where this was going.

Marg didn’t answer anything. She just faked a smile and all three of them disappeared. Marg, that woman and Blaze, all gone. I actually forgot to ask about my father. But I guess after what I’d done, I probably wouldn’t have gotten an answer anyway.

But I still wasn’t comfortable with seeing them go. I’d hurt Blaze way more than I should have, and yet, I wanted to hurt him more. I wanted to kill him. The feeling, the thought, was engraved in my mind.

“Now that the nuisances are gone, I must thank you, young man. With this whole thing, I can make a good issue of it and prevent those scums from running wild again.” I had no idea what this geezer was talking about. Like really, not a clue. “However, maybe you could have dealt with this, a little more efficiently.”

I felt weak. Standing felt like a chore. “How exactly?”

So the whole idea behind this duel was to ensure that he could make an issue of this? This geezer was shrewd if nothing else.

“Let’s say, instead of watching the barrier first, you could have fried him with radiation first thing. Or perhaps even charged up beforehand like he did and fire immediately at the signal.”

‘Where the hell were you watching from?’

“But isn’t that cowardly?”

“What are you? A knight?” He snorted. “Everyone’s a coward. Some are more and some are less. Some people are just good at hiding it than others.” He burst out laughing. I kept feeling faint. “But with all said and done, Congratulations young man on winning.” He gave me a firm nod and l looked around. “And aren’t you glad I got you this audience? Don’t you feel proud?”

He definitely had screws loose.

‘You’re the reason behind this monstrosity of a crowd?’

But I guess he had his reasons for doing this. And if he kept his word about dealing with the Battlesuins, I didn’t really mind about the crowd.

Everyone was still silent. I guess my fight was a bit too much for them. But as I turned my attention back to the headmaster, one person stood up and started to clap. It was Natasha, then Merin, followed by people from the club and then the whole crowd. Everyone was clapping around me. Everyone. In all my life I’d never had such praise.

I guess this wasn’t so bad. The club members and my friends or so-called friends were coming towards me.

But the faint feeling kept intensifying.

“But I must say-” The headmaster’s voice started fading.

“Mom, hold me-” before I could finish I blacked out.