The aura exploded and the objects of the distortion were released. The world became brighter and their bodies became lighter. The Void's tendrils crept away, whispering unpleasantries about their inevitable return as they snaked away into the cracks in the ground, unseen by the ignorant eyes of the masses. The body, the entity from which these tendrils came, maintained a firm grasp over the world – over the universe – that could be ever felt. Even so, the world moved on without a care. Frost pitied them now.
Frost lamented on the surreality of it all. The secret life even more secret than the one he'd previously led. This one was hidden, even enforced, by the very fabric of the universe. If anyone knew, the world would fall into disarray. In there, they had supreme power not unlike that of a god. A man could die by their hand and the world would fabricate an excuse. He could be stabbed and it would be nothing more than a deadly stroke in reality. The strike of a pen, writing excuses for the deaths of individuals for the sake of order.
It was disgusting. What was more disgusting was the ideas in Frost's head. The power he felt within himself now. On Earth, where Void was unknown, he was a god. Yet even he was bound by that unseen order now. This was a crushing realization.
[Clear condition has been met. Distributing participation rewards.]
[Failure: Penalty will be applied. Failure of degree-essential class.]
[Penalty reassignment pending.]
"It worked," Frost said, slightly amazed. He leaned back on the bench that gave out a whine of pain, his eyes focused on the display before him.. In front of him the authorities were working hard to clean up a mess he'd made. It was picturesque. The police questioned students and the firefighters escorted others out of the building. There had been reports of structural instability, and a few of the windows and walls upstairs had happened to collapse. At the exact same time, Professor Graka had removed his pants and exposed himself to a class of two-hundred for little to no reason.
A terrible coincidence really. Just awful, that.
It had also happened to be Frost's fault, but that part wasn't important.
The image of it was burned into Frost's mind, but this was the only way. The university's rules stated that course cancellation for any reason mid-way would result in the automatic passing of all enrolled students. This particular class just happened to be Frost's only degree-essential class. In other words, he'd found a way to circumvent the distortion's penalty by removing his Professor's pants and permanently destroying his teaching career.
Somehow, this was probably the second worst thing he'd done to someone this week.
[GreatGadfly30: I question your moral integrity greatly]
"Of course it worked. I told you it would," Lex said, looking proud of himself. "Don't blame me when you pay the price."
They'd talked about that extensively before making the decision. The Network wouldn't allow outright circumvention of a penalty. Frost would have to pay the price for losing, only it would be a somewhat different price of "equal gravity" in Lex's words. This, of course, was highly worrying. Still, it was worth it to earn himself even a day or two out of the guillotine. He resolved not to think about it.
"Why exactly did you help me?" Frost asked him, pointedly changing the subject before he had to lament the possibilities of punishment. "For someone as self-righteous as you, this doesn't exactly strike me as vigilantism."
Lex glanced at Frost. A look of hesitation was clear on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then opened it again, ultimately making a decision. "My main attribute allows me to see information about people. Things like their past and such. I heard rumours about your Professor, and so I happened to look into it."
Frost looked worried at the implications of this ability. "And…?"
"It's exactly what you think," Lex said frankly. "They were doing it for better grades."
"Oh." Frost looked down. That explains why he was coming from the dormitory. "I don't feel bad about it, then."
"You didn't feel bad about it in the first place," Lex countered. He had a slight smile, like he knew he was right.
"Sure," Frost kept his cool despite the implications of that statement. He put his hand on the knife tucked into his belt. "Anything else you know about me?" He asked, raising a brow.
Lex kept his eyes dead ahead on the building. "The better question would be what I don't know." He nonchalantly moved his hand to the pistol in his waistband. A silent threat. They both knew this would be a terrible place to fight it out. Their words were emptier than a child's wallet at the candy store.
"Clearly not when you're out of your depth," Frost said.
"Spare me the lecture on how dangerous you are," Lex scoffed. "What would the police think if they knew the infamous White Fox was a humble university student?" He adjusted his glasses and confidently removed the hand from his gun. In front of him, the police were still doing their work. "Hell. I could call them right now," he said happily. "You want to talk about being out of depth? How about trying to threaten the guy with a knife at your achilles heel?"
"You wouldn't," Frost said confidently.
Lex shrugged. "Maybe not. Not for now."
[Checkpointer20: He's bluffing.]
Frost was silent. That "for now" carried a lot of weight for him. Despite being good at reading people, he couldn't seem to figure out what the hell this anomaly of a man was thinking. If he knew about Frost, he knew that he would stop at nothing to destroy this man's whole life if anything were to happen. He wouldn't hesitate to kickstart distortion after distortion to get to him. Seeing those cunning eyes, Frost knew that Lex was aware of this fact. Fornow was meant as an offering of peace.
"I think we can help each other," Lex said to confirm Frost's thoughts. He'd let the anxiety set in for just as long as what was acceptable.
"Not interested," Frost snapped the words off almost before Lex was done speaking.
"You're looking for the men that sold you, right?" Lex countered quickly. He'd expected Frost to respond in the negative.
That succeeded in getting Frost's undivided attention. He turned to Lex greedily like a child asking his parents a question. Only this child was angry and had a threatening aura. "Tell me what you know."
Lex stood up and dusted his legs, adjusting his cufflinks. "I don't know anything. That's the honest truth. But I'd be helpful in looking for them."
Frost leaned back. He'd gotten excited. He felt he might be getting closer. Now, just like that, he was at square one again. "I don't need your help," he said. "Go bark up a different tree." He especially didn't need the help if it came with a price.
Having done their work, the authorities were slowly packing up and leaving the premises. The sixth floor of the building had been closed for now, not that Frost would have to visit any time soon thanks to their stunt. Vague worries plagued his mind. Was there really no way for anyone to figure out he'd done this? What if…? Frost thought about it logically. If the authorities discovered their transgression, Lex would also be done for. This meant – at the very least – Lex believed what he'd been saying.
"I wasn't aware that you had much of a choice in the matter," Lex said. His words were falling on deaf ears as Frost's attention wandered. "Listen, I'm trying to be generous here. I have something I'm trying to find, myself, and I could use the help of someone with your talents." He jotted something down on a notepad, tore the page off, and handed it to Frost.
A location, date, and time. Tomorrow.
He shrugged. "I'll put it all on the table. Releasing your information to the police would violate Earth's ruleset. It would make the Realmguard hate me even more than they already do. I won't do it, you have my word." He stood up straighter and put his hands in his pockets. "Feel free to walk away. I have no interest in making good on the threats I've made. But I'll leave you with this. You and I are going to have to deal with each other regardless, it seems." He gestured to the university around him, the space they'd both be occupying for the foreseeable future. "Either we can help each other, or you can insist on us making each other's lives a living hell. I don't mean to be cocky, but I'd like to think I'm better at the latter than you are."
Frost sighed. "Well now you almost sound reasonable. Why on Earth didn't you open this way?"
"Dunno." Lex's eyes wandered over to Lana. She was still unconscious, and had been peacefully snoozing on the bench between them the whole time. "And what will you do with her? We can't just leave her here."
"I'll take her back," Frost said begrudgingly. "We have some issues to talk through."
"If you hurt her, we're going to have a problem. That's my loyal sparring buddy." He was deadly serious with these words.
"I've already shot her once today. That's enough to keep me satisfied."
Lex looked a little disappointed at that comment, but ultimately nodded. With that, he slumped his posture and sunk his facial expression. His whole demeanour changed in an instant like Superman changing to Clark Kent. "Well um… 'Till next time then. And uh, bring her along if you can," he said.
Frost just looked at him with a furrowed brow. "'Till next time."
The strange man spun on his heel and awkwardly waddled until he ultimately disappeared into the distance. Frost watched him go, then hoisted the unconscious Lana on his arm and started the slow crawl back to the dormitory.