SYSTEM ASCENSION

[Ability: The judge: active]

Light flared in Claude’s eyes. The left eye was a Gavel, and the right was a Scale. The air got heavy, like walking into a court room.

He raised one hand, two fingers extended. Court in session.

”Statute One: Excessive Velocity Within a Three-Meter Radius of an Academy Official.”

The charging creature horde didn’t care and continued to close in.

”Violation observed: Running. Sentence: Mandatory Tripping. Immediate effect.”

The front line of creatures suddenly forgot how legs worked. One’s ankle caught its other ankle. Another face-planted into the dirt. A third tripped over the second, then the fourth vaulted over both and landed on its neck. The whole front row went down and the rest tripped after.

Dust and confused screeches clouded the air. The back line slammed into the fallen front line and started a creature pile-up.

Silence.

Kael’s expression slowly shifted. All the adrenaline pumping through his veins deflated in a go. He blinked once. Twice, and glanced at Elias.

Well Elias...

Elias had that expression. Flat out disappointment.

Kael slowly turned to Claude. ”That’s it?”

”It’s tactical.”

”You sentenced them... to tripping!” Kael’s voice cracked. ”You have GOD EYES and you made them stub their toes?!”

”Statute Two: Talking During Court Proceedings,” Claude said without looking at him. ”Violation observed. Sentence: Silence for five seconds.”

Kael’s mouth opened but no sound came. ”Mmmph?!”

Elias just kept staring at them, wondering how he ended up here.

Claude finally glanced at him. ”What? It worked.”

”It’s a junk ability!” Kael’s voice came back with a screech. He pointed at the recovering creatures. ”You can’t kill them! You can only give them detention?!”

”I can’t kill them,” Claude snapped, ”or I die too! You want me to sentence them to death and drop dead right here?!”

”Yes!” Kael threw his hands up. ”Better than watching you give a speeding ticket to demons!”

A crawler that had untangled itself lunged towards them, and Elias’ weapon met it, slicing it into four.

”...It’s crowd control,” Claude muttered.

”It’s embarrassing,” Kael said. ”Even the Neus look offended.”

Elias sighed. The sound of a man whose patience was being tested. ”Keep up,” he said and walked away.

The remaining two exchange glances.

”Cover me,” Claude said.

”Buzz off,” Kael said. Then ran after Elias anyway.

Elias was already halfway into the swarm, cutting through the creatures with an ease that almost made it seem easy. Kael fought the ones who slipped past Elias by pure chance.

Claude stood perfectly still.

Kael glanced back ”Any time you wanna be useful, President!”

Claude didn’t answer. He watched for minutes. Watched until they forgot he existed, then, he stepped forward.

”I’ll stop this horde, all at once, so cover me if another horde shows up.”

Kael frowned.

”I cannot—”

”I’m not talking to you leech.”

He stepped past them, and held out his hand.

[Ability: The judge: active]

His eyes flared once again.

”Statute Three: Conspiracy to Commit Murder of Academy Students. Violation observed. Sentence : detonation.”

The quiet after Claude’s sentence didn’t last a second .

A twitch came forth, from the creature taking the lead. It began to swell. The skin around its ribs stretched thin, veins blackening. Then it popped, like a grenade made of meat. Bone shrapnel and acid blood sprayed the ash.

Kael hit the dirt on instinct, arms over his head. ”THE HELL?!”

The entire field of creatures started to bloat. Their eyes bulged. Claws curled, and exploded.

Claude fell on his knee, a tiny line of blood trailing down his nose.

Kael scrambled up, and nudged Elias ”Your boyfriend killed them!”

The shockwave threw dirt and gore into the air. Kael took a chunk of claw to the shoulder and went down swearing to the air.

Claude hadn’t moved. Still on his knees where he’d collapsed, blood drying under his nose and eyes unfocused. The ability burnout left him hollow.

He swayed.

Then the nosebleed came back, faster now. He raised a hand to wipe it, saw the blood, and his whole body seemed to realize it was out of gas at once.

”Claude—” Kael started.

Claude’s eyes rolled back and he fell. Elias moved, catching him before his face could hit the sand.

”I guess his ability is quite a burden.” Kael shrugged.

Elias shifted Claude higher, and got a better grip. Claude’s head lolled against his collarbone, unresponsive. Blood dripped onto Elias’s clothes.

Claude muttered weakly.

”See... Quite a burden in this state.”

”Don’t worry princess,” Kael waved. ”Prince Charming would nurse you back to health. Right? Elias?”

Elias cast him a glare that made him recoil.

”Anyways, the timer,” Kael called his screen. ”Five minutes more.”

He shielded his eyes and stared into the dune.

”I don’t see an incoming horde, except that flying grotesque Neus, so we should be fine for the next...”

He blinked.

”Why is there a flying Null?!”

The question hung in the dusty air.

Leathery wings, too wide for its skeletal frame. A skull for a face, jaw dripping something that sizzled when it hit the ground.

Elias didn’t answer Kael. He looked down once. Claude was dead weight in his arms, blood crusted under his nose, breathing so shallow it barely counted. Eyes shut.

Elias knelt. Set Claude down in the sand with a care that didn’t match his expression. Then he stood.

”Kael.”

Kael flinched. ”What?”

”Take him. Get behind me. Don’t move.”

Kael opened his mouth, then closed it.

”Okay. Okay, I got him.”

Elias stepped forward, putting himself between Kael, Claude, and the thing in the sky.

The hum from the flying Neus got louder. Closer. Its shadow drew near, blotting out the red sky, jaws wide, aiming for the three bodies on the ground.

Then,

[Ability: The judge: active]

”Statute Four: Unauthorized Airspace Violation Over Penalty Grounds.”

Both Elias and Kael turned.

Claude’s eyes snapped open and he smirked.

”Violation observed. Sentence: Flight suspension. Five minutes.”

Reality answered his request.

The Neus thrashed, wings pumped and it began to shriek. But it didn’t move an inch forward. Or down. It hung there, suspended, a bug pinned to the sky by a law it couldn’t see.

Claude’s eyes dimmed. The Gavel and Scale flickered out and his hand dropped.

”Five... minutes...”

Kael gazed at the timer on the system.

Elias watched the grotesque figure.

Minutes tick by.

At four minutes, the Neus’s wings beat faster. At four minutes, thirty seconds, Kael subconsciously clenched his dagger. At four minutes, fifty-nine seconds, Elias rolled his shoulders.

Five minutes.

The sentence wore off.

The Neus dropped six feet as gravity remembered it. Then its wings caught. It shrieked, triumphant, and dove straight for them.

[00:01]

[00:00]

[PENALTY TRAIL COMPLETE]

[TRANSPORTING UPHOLDERS]

The familiar light took them.

The null closed the distance, claws reflecting in their eyes.

[TRANSPORTATION COMPLETE]