It was a beautiful day, birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and Low-Ranks were getting beaten up in Wellston. The socio-political situation in the private highschool could only be described as the laws of the Jungle, with the Apex predators being the Royals, the Carnivores being the High and Elite Tiers, the Mid-Tiers taking the place of Herbivores, and Low-Tiers and Cripples as the insects and grass under all of their feet. Strength was everything in Wellston, and the weak were destined to be doormats and errand boys for everyone else.
Low tiers were expected to look down and live quietly in this habitat… and yet, there are always the fools that break the mold. Two idiots that despite having been there for less than two weeks, had more hospital visits than the average low tier. One could call them pros at their jobs, the nightmare of the nurse, Darren.
Darren had been the overworked medical worker of Wellston. "No weekend work, they said. Easy hours, and low stress they said" he cursed whoever influenced him with this line of thought. He mixed chemicals in flasks and test tubes, then looked at his two least favorite students. There had been issues with overwork in this school just a year ago, when a freak named John joined. Every day he would invade his space, force him to fix him up, then work on documentation… but these two were worse. Worse than anything he could dare to imagine.
They looked like twins, black hair, red eyes, long shoulder-length hair. Yet, they couldn't be further apart in terms of personality and genetics. One was tall, the other was also tall… just not as tall. One was all smiles despite his bruises and broken limbs, the other had a resting bitch-face.
John at least had the decency to come only once a day… Darren had to handcuff these two to the medical table because they would run away, get injured again, then come back worse than when they left off. When asked why, they answered the same thing.
"They looked at me funny"
Darren wondered where all that confidence came from. They were low-tiers… very low tiers. One had a level of 1.3 and the other with a level of 1.4, they were de facto, the weakest ability users in the school. Terrance had a higher level than these two. Evie had a higher level than these two… and she was supposed to have the lowest recorded level of all of Wellston's history as a school. Supposedly, they got in academically, but Darren wondered how they could pass an exam, when their answer to Do you want your bones broken? Was always a resounding yes. They had come back to the infirmary for the fourth time today, and now they were chatting about fighting strategies… how about you guys level up before you think of fighting???
If there was one positive about those two ungrateful – idiotic, foolish, waste of gray-matter, hooligans – it would have to be that Darren had ample time to hone his chemistry craft.
"That's wrong by the way, the ratio's off by one mole."
"Injured patients have no right to backseat to me! You wanna teach me medicine? Get a degree!" Darren spat back. "Also, how about you speak like a normal human being?"
The taller of the 'twins' raised a hand. Darren ignored him, he could tell it'd be something he didn't want to answer. The taller of the two, Vritra was somehow the least likely to start a fight, and the most likely to get injured in one.
"I have a question." Vritra waved his hand in the air.
Darren released a sigh so deep and long, even an Olympic swimmer would be impressed by his lung capacity. He could feel his eyebags spread to the rest of his face. "What?"
"How did you get a girlfriend when you look like that? I want advice, I was told I look horrid."
"How about you start out by not having a broken nose? That helped my case." His eyes glowed maliciously, "How about you rest instead of wasting energy talking?"
"But I heal fast–" Vritra scratched the back of his head while looking around the office. "And I don't feel tired. I never do."
Darren closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let one of the flasks he was holding down, and immediately began to wonder if he could take another job? The only issue? The saturated job market. Even a Hospital didn't get to see as many people as he saw… hundreds of kids fighting each other throughout the day… at least they only appeared once a week or so… these guys were in every day, several times a day.
There was an awful quietness, followed by the quiet rattling of links rubbing against each other. Darren opened his eyes and slowly turned to face the two trouble makers. The rage coming from the bottom of his heart was fueled together with his responsibility as a medic.
"Doc… In our defense," Vritra raised a singular chained hand, and a grin slowly grew on his face. "You should see the other guys, at least your job is not boring, right?"
"Why are you saying our defense? You're alone… your friend's not here." He could feel his eyebrow twitching. He knew that leaving them the bed next to the window was risky. They were on the ground floor, and this shifty, bastard had done this before. His name was Azazel.
"Oh-" Vritra turned to where Azazel was chained, and all that was there was an empty bed. "Guess it's time to leave?" Embers flickered out of his mouth as his clothing tightened on his frame and with a grunt, Vritra snapped the handcuffs holding him to the bed. "I owe you coffee for the chain's doc, sorry for that!"
"Don't you dare jump out that window." Darren pointed his index finger. The moment he jumped off, he'd be just out of his radius.
He did just that.
"Sonnova!" Darren raced to the window, and looked outside… nothing, "Damn escape artists!" A Hoodini act with him in the room. Next time they come he will roofie their drinks to make sure they don't leave.
Darren closed the window, then the curtain, and then the raging fire from escaping the confines of his soul, ready to pull them into the deepest abyss of hell his ability could conjure. He took a deep breath, held it, closed his eyes, then dropped on his chair, letting it spin as he exhaled.
"Uhh… Doc?" A student helping 2 others entered the infirmary.
"I will kill you if your injury is serious."
"I am not injured." The student quickly explained. "...much. These two on the other hand? We found them in the back of the school unconscious."
"..." Darren took another deep breath, thinking of happy thoughts, like puppies, or kittens, or strangling those two raven haired bastards-
It didn't work. He grabbed his phone from his pocket, and looked at the image he'd been sent. Just a few more days, and he'd have another date with his girlfriend… just a few more days of hell. That thought alone gave him the inch of energy he needed to help these two idiots, who somehow lost against opponents they outranked.
"Hm?" Darren squinted his eyes, there were laceration wounds, fists didn't cause lacerations. "Where'd you get these?" He typically didn't ask, but he was under the impression the "twins" did this, and yet neither of them had a claw, or sharp-esk type ability… well, maybe Vritra given enough time could cause lacerations, but these were too jagged and unclean.
"Those cowards began using pipes, sticks, and rulers" The student spat, "next time I see them…. They're dead!"
"Threatening a student in my presence?" This one must have a death wish? Or a close to death wish. "You must not know where you are."
"But-" Whatever the student wanted to say was quickly forgotten as a familiar black aura enveloped Darren. "I-Uh- I will shut up now sir."
Darren began documenting their symptoms, updating the system so their absences were justified, putting in the prescribed medicine. It all had become routine, and almost automated thanks to the nightmare twins.
When I catch those two
Darren couldn't help but think to himself, he chuckled at the thought of choking them as he healed their injuries.