Galactic High

"Line up you wretches!" Master Kull yelled at the running students, who had been doing laps for the past thirty minutes. There were many sounds of panting and exhaustion as they all lined up, with a few students who looked like they were about to faint, having been pushed far beyond their limits by the instructors shouting at them, who were severely punishing any they thought could go quicker.

There had been many stories from earlier classes about how Kull had apparently lost it even more than usual, though whether that was down to the deaths of his protégés or the fact that someone had shat in his office was unknown. All Jack knew was that this wasn't going to be good.

"I have never seen such a pitiful display in all my years!" Kull yelled at the students as he thrust his arm to the side, summoning his warhammer. With reddish steel and an aura of magic, it was an intimidating-looking weapon, which Kull used to point in an arc at the students lined up around him, still as statues.

"When I fought in the Red Legion, I was a legend!" Kull ranted. "I tore through my enemies with all the fury and hate of the Red Death himself. I could not be killed!"

Kull then quickly pulled his warhammer to his lips and spoke so quietly that only Jack and a few others could barely hear him. "Oh yes Captain! Yes I was sir!" He whispered to his hammer. Jack's eyes turned ever so subtly to Nika, who he was sure heard as well, before snapping forward as Kull resumed yelling and addressing the students.

"My enemies were weak!" Kull yelled. "Soft! Slow! Unworthy!" He stomped around and got in the faces of several students, making several cry when he pulled away.

"And I see that in EACH. AND. EVERY. ONE. OF. YOU!"

Kull bellowed as he shoved a few of the students in his ranting, even pushing several to the ground, Crill and Nya being two of them. Kull then finished his rant by getting into Jack's face, who matched Kull's hateful glare.

Go on. Jack thought to himself. Try to push me. I push back.

Kull was thinking about it, Jack could tell. He had no idea if teachers were allowed to physically assault their students, but he wouldn't take it lying down. Kull's gaze lingered on Jack for a little longer as he snarled, Jack allowing a small smirk to show, to subtly mock his bullying teacher. He wanted Kull to start a fight with him.

I'll show you who the weak one is. Jack thought, and he was disappointed when Kull slowly turned away to whisper to his hammer again.

"The outsider still lives, Captain, oh yes he does….Yes sir, I agree, a punishment is in order…."

Jack was about to speak up, but before he could Kull spoke up again. "And somehow I am to forge you into something stronger! You set the bar abysmally low, but I will push you nonetheless!"

He gave a wicked grin at all of them. "Line up! Single file against the wall! TODAY YOU FACE THE GAUNTLET!"

Several gasps and frightened whispers began among the students, before they were silenced by Kull.

"If anything will fix you slobs it is this!" Kull grinned. "Survive the onslaught for as long as you can until unconsciousness or death! Now who's first? You!"

Kull pointed at one of the taller boys, a quadruped with patches of brown, thick scale plating covered by bushy, light green hair everywhere else. Nervously, the boy made his way to the centre of the sports hall as the other instructors pulled out several pieces of strange-looking equipment, though some looked oddly like guns.

Once they were set up, Kull yelled, "BEGIN!"

The boy quickly ducked as a ball was pelted at him at speed. It was slightly larger than a tennis ball and ricocheted off the ground past his foot.

The next ball collided with the boy's thigh, buckling his leg as he tried to dodge to the side. The next one pummeled his chest, painfully cracking a plate. After that, it was over. Despite his valiant efforts, the onslaught just kept coming, battering the boy until he dropped to the ground, falling still long before Kull called a halt.

"PATHETIC!" Kull yelled as the medical droids dragged the boy away. "YOU!” He then pointed at a fish-looking girl who had been twiddling her fingers and desperately trying not to stand out from the crowd. With a slight sobbing, she walked out and accepted her fate.

"EVEN WORSE!" Kull growled as the girl was taken away. He looked around at the students, until his eyes fell on Nya, who Jack could see by the bright neon-red aura around her that she had been casting. "Ah, yes!" Kull snarled. "The Devilspawn. The fact that your race was spared is an insult to the Red Legion, especially those who fought in the Demonfire War! Cast as many treacherous spells as you like, it won't matter! YOU'RE NEXT!"

"No!" Jack called out, stepping forward, unable to stand by and watch any more. "I'm next!"

"Well would you look at this!" Kull exclaimed, mockingly. "I was going to save you especially for later, but I see no reason to deny a willing volunteer!" He then whispered under his breath so only Jack would hear. "You're going to wish my disciples killed you when I'm done with you!"

"Really?" Jack replied defiantly. "And here I was hoping for the Red Legion's finest to give me an actual challenge! They didn’t last time."

It was all bluster of course, but Jack just couldn't resist a little backtalk.

Kull grin was sickeningly sweet. "A challenge, eh? BOYS! SET FIRING MODE TO MAXIMUM STRENGTH FOR THIS ONE!"

Jack made his way to the centre of the hall and cracked his knuckles.

“Let's rock!”

“BEGIN!” Kull yelled as he mounted one of the ball turrets, having already fired a ball which Jack easily dodged. Two more from either side were aimed for his head, so Jack did a quick squat, having easily seen them coming, dodging again as Kull carefully tried to predict where the human would be, only for Jack to juke him, catching the ball fired his way.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Jack taunted, to a roar of anger from Kull.

“BRING HIM DOWN!” Master Kull yelled, firing more shots, to which Jack just quickly dropped down and did a few pushups as the balls zipped over him.

“Have you guys fired yet?” Jack asked, to several giggles from his classmates, as he began doing star jumps.

“FIRE TOGETHER!” Kull ordered, and Jack took that as a sign, jumping straight up as he palmed the ball he had caught. It had stung his hand when it hit, but he didn’t think he broke anything when he caught it. It was similar in hardness to a baseball, and well balanced. Jack really hoped his aim would be better…

As he was in the air and clear of the turrets themselves, their operators were sitting ducks, and Jack knew precisely who he was going to throw the ball at, pelting it at Master Kull’s head as hard as he could and hoping for a takedown.

The ball zoomed towards Kull’s head, who barely managed to dodge in time, eyes wide as the ball smashed into the wall, sending a large crack going down as the ball embedded itself into the plaster. The teachers had stopped firing and were staring in horror at the damage Jack had created as he landed back on the ground.

“Hey I don’t mean to be rude, but can you guys send some more balls my way?” Jack called out with feigned boredom.

They didn’t, but the students behind him certainly did while the teachers were distracted by Kull not giving them orders, quietly rolling or throwing the balls to the middle of the sports hall where he was, with Chiyo guiding them to him with his power.

“Thanks guys!” he called, this time aiming for an easier target as he lobbed another ball at the closest teacher on his left, smacking him in the side of the head as he peaked out from behind his turret with a thump, causing the horned, donkey-like alien to drop to the ground with a groan. Jack had another shot readied, but decided not to follow through with another throw once he saw the teacher clutching his head. He had his limits.

Sort of.

“One down, two to go!” Jack taunted. “Who’s next?”

“MR PELLIPE, SEE TO MR NORAHO! I’LL HANDLE THIS MYSELF!” Master Kull snarled.

‘That’s right…’ Jack thought as shook out his muscles. ‘1v1 me scrub.’

“GOOD THING I’VE MADE SOME MODIFICATIONS!” Kull roared, as he quickly twiddled some levers and pushed some buttons on his launcher, before unleashing a hail of rapid-fire balls at the human as Jack leapt for cover, several balls battering him as he made it to one of the other turrets.

“Let’s see how you like return fire, dickhead!” Jack muttered to himself as he yanked the turret round, trying to send back some accurate fire as he placed the metal in front of him.

“SYSTEM! SHUT DOWN TURRETS 2 AND 3!” Kull laughed, and Jack felt his turret instantly lock up.

“Cheating bastard!” Jack spat as he kept his head out of fire. What would he do now?”

“Come on, Jack!” he heard Nika’s voice call from behind as their classmates joined her and yelled more words of encouragement to him. He wasn’t going to give up that easily, he’d have to get in close. He could take a few hits of the balls, but a lucky hit in a critical spot could bring him down.

He cursed himself for not taking his shield with him, but the bracer would have stood out like a sore thumb.

Unless he could take the cover with him?

Testing his theory Jack growled as he twisted hard, grunting with a little effort as he ripped the turret from its mount, holding it in front of him as he slowly pushed his way forward towards Kull, readjusting his stance whenever one of his arms or legs took a hit. He was going to get some mean bruises, but nothing was broken, and his rage made the pain go away. He didn’t care what the consequences would be for assaulting a teacher, it would be so worth it.

Jack battered the barrel of the turret away with his and then just yeeted his makeshift shield at Kull, clipping him as the former officer attempted to dodge. Kull gave an angry roar and summoned his hammer once again as Jack grunted with effort as he bent the barrel of Kull’s turret, rendering it useless.

“If this is your best,” Jack panted, “no wonder your disciples didn’t stand a chance against us!”

“I SHALL FLAY THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES!” Kull roared as he swiped his hammer at Jack, who backed away quickly, but he was taken off guard as Kull swiftly reversed his swing quicker than the human thought possible, clipping Jack’s arm as he dipped back again.

Shit. Jack didn’t have any weapons and it was clear Kull was tough and experienced.

Should he run?

He could, but what would happen to the others?

Jack leapt up off the ground, grabbing onto one of the hoops on the wall as Kull gave only the slightest grin, barely warning Jack in time…

…as quicker than he could blink, Kull threw his hammer at Jack.

He barely let go in time as the hoop shattered with a clang, dropping to the ground with a painful thud as Kull sprinted forward and grabbed Jack by the throat, lifting him up by the neck with one hand and pinning him to the wall before he could even react.

“I’ve enjoyed toying with you, Outsider,” Kull growled as he now pinned Jack with both arms, “but playtime is over, boy! Not only did you kill so many of my promising disciples, but I know it was you that trashed my office and copied my data! I swear by the Red Death himself I’ll kill you for that!”

Jack barely had the strength to breathe! Kull had no right being this quick at the size he was, and frighteningly strong too!

In desperation, Jack tucked his feet and knees as close to his body as he could before lashing out in a double kick that smashed Kull in the face, staggering him a few steps as he broke the grapple and caught his breath. Jack kicked off the back wall to try and quickly take Kull to the ground, but the Master reacted swiftly, throwing Jack past him, who reflexively brought a hand to the ground to slow his momentum as he skidded along the ground.

“Master Kull!”

The droning voice carried over the hall, and everyone looked to the main door to see the headmaster, flanked by several security droids.

“Headmaster! I…” Kull began.

“I require your presence in my office immediately,” the headmaster interrupted, uninterested in hearing anything from Kull. “Leave instructions for your students and I will have a mentor drone monitor the class.”

Kull growled as he followed the headmaster as instructed, before turning his head to yell at the students. “ALL OF YOU, SPLIT INTO GROUPS OF SIX AND PRACTICE DEATHBALL FORMATIONS UNTIL NEXT BELL!”

“What?” Jack argued, regaining his mask of cocky confidence now his ass was out of the fire. “Aww! Come on! I was having fun!”

“THIS ISN’T OVER, OUTSIDER!” Kull growled as he and the other members of staff marched out of the hall. “I’LL DEAL WITH YOU NEXT TIME!”

Jack just stood there, adrenaline wearing off as his mind caught up to what had just happened.

"Holy shit," Jack panted. "What the fuck was that?"

Alora was the first to run up to him.

"Jack, are you alright? Kull's gone way too far this time, he tried to kill you!" She panicked as she started to cast a diagnostic spell before Jack waved her off.

"Save your healing for the two that came before me," he groaned. "I should have acted sooner."

"If you did, Kull might have killed you before the headmaster got here," Nika pointed out. "I remember what he threatened last time, I wouldn't rely on those healing droids!"

"Though at least Richtohr and Aohvinn are alright," Sephy pointed out. "Still sore, but the droids seem to have done a decent job with a little encouragement from yours truly!"

"Thanks for that, Sephy." Alora sighed. "But we can't let Master Kull get away with this! He's only permitted to act in self-defence, but what he did to Richtohr and Aohvinn was barbaric and completely against the rules!"

Did you report what happened last week? Chiyo asked thoughtfully.

"I haven't yet, I need to compile our evidence first and submit a motion to the school council. Why?"

It seems Kull is already in trouble for something. While I can't read the headmaster's aura, I caught snippets of conversation via some fellow students walking past them. It seems someone anonymously sent the headmaster some information concerning Kull. That's all I can get, no way am I going to try and astrally project around a lich to find out more!

It took a little bit of time for Alora to translate all of that for Jack, who immediately looked to Sephy questioningly.

"Nope," the Skritta replied, just as confused. "Wasn't me, I've been helping Alora do it her way!"

"Well I guess we can thanks which-ever-the-fuck gods that are watching over us!" Nika grinned despite the situation. "If it means the headmaster came here and interrupted the lesson, whatever it is he got must have been bad for Kull!"

"It could have been whoever shat in his office overnight?" Sephy queried. "Even among most of the Red Legion aspirants, he's not a popular guy."

"Well, we don't need to worry about that right now." Alora sighed in relief, looking to their fellow students who had slowly and cautiously joined them. "Let's put that unpleasantness behind us and play some sports!"

Do we have to? Chiyo grumbled.

The students had mostly chilled out as they got into groups of six at the prompting of the droid the headmaster had left behind to observe the class, though it didn't do much else, allowing the students to do as little as they pleased provided that they were within the parameters given to the droid, which made Chiyo somewhat happy. At Jack's insistence, Alora had agreed to ease the discomfort of the two students who faced the gauntlet before him before attending to the far more painful-looking bruises of Jack.

"I was going to offer to help with the pain anyway!" Alora sighed at him. "Your bruises are worse and you could have broken something!"

"I haven't, and I'll be fine," Jack grumbled, though he didn't refuse the healing magic.

"Yes, so macho as always!" Alora snorted in amusement. "It's barely a slither of power from me, so stop whining!"

"Alora, your go when you're ready!" Sephy called out as she and Nya went to sit down.

"Up you get too, Chiyo, it's good for you!" Nika grinned as she led their group's activities, the Ilithii not looking amused at her meditation being disturbed.

Sephy and Nya sat down next to him, the former quickly accessing her commlink to see what their friends were up to, leaving Jack and Nya alone.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked, breaking the silence. "Kull really tried to lay into you, huh?"

Nya gave a sad, shy smile. "I'm used to it," she quietly replied. "Thanks for intervening. My sorcery would have helped me, but you really managed to humiliate him until he…" She stopped, unsure of what to say to describe Kull physically attacking him.

"It's cool. I've had worse trying to kill me, and probably will have in the future as well…" Now Jack stopped, not sure if bringing that topic to the forefront of his mind was a good idea. "Why would Kull even go off on you like that?" Jack asked, changing the subject. "Actually, don't answer that if you don't want to-" he began, realising too late that it might not be a good idea to ask.

"It's okay," Nya replied with a sigh. “My people have an awful reputation, which as you heard from that Red Legion psychopath, mostly originated from the Demonfire war. We Stygians were created by Azazel, Demon Lord of Torment, to serve him as his loyal minions, and my people did horrific deeds in his name. The firstborn among us were spawned directly from the taint of his Demon Core, and we bred quickly to form a great army which he used to take over the planet Kaleros and eventually wipe out the existing population. From there, he expanded into the cosmos,came into contact with the Red Legion and fought a war that was costly for both sides. However, in the end, a Red Legion hero was able to defeat Azazel and destroy his core, winning the war for the Red Legion though sacrificing themselves in the process.”

Nya looked at Jack, unsure if she should continue as both of them sat side by side watching Alora and Chiyo practice some throws and manoeuvres, but decided that she should carry on with her story before he could stop her. Before now, Jack could barely get a sentence out of the girl, but now that the topic was one Nya knew a lot about, she was more than happy to talk about it.

“That’s why we are hated by many, elements of the Red Legion most of all. Most of my people weren’t in control of themselves then - or even sentient - but some were able to break free from Azazel’s grasp and even assist the hero in finding their core and destroying it, which somehow freed all of us from Azazel’s control and awoke the entire Stygian race. Though many wanted us all wiped out, the Red Council narrowly voted to spare us, though they gave us no protections or assurances.”

“So that’s why Svaartal and Kull spoke to you like that,” Jack concluded. He didn’t agree with it in the slightest, but he could understand the reasoning behind it, especially if they lost loved ones in the fighting.

Nya nodded sadly. “Yeah, and it’s been like that ever since. We Stygian are a young people with little culture or community of our own; the closest thing to it is that many of us try and do good in the galaxy to make up for our dark past, but people usually think we’ve got some kind of ulterior motive.”

“That’s rough,” Jack admitted. “I’m sorry you and your people have to experience that kind of persecution. You couldn’t help the things that happened outside of your control. As far as I am concerned, you’re a good person, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Nya smiled again with a nod as her shyness returned. “Thank you, Jack.”

Jack grinned. “Not a problem, hopefully things will get better over time.”

She nodded again. “I hope so.”

“Oh that reminds me!” Jack perked up, changing the subject. “I saw your magic this morning!”

“Ah, that.” Nya drooped her head. “It wasn’t anything personal, but Rena needed to stop the fight.”

“No, it wasn’t about that.” Jack turned serious. “It just looks a bit similar to what Devil’s Daughter did on TV...”

“I see.” Nya sighed, steadying her anxiety before explaining. “We’re of the same species, so it makes sense. Stygian Sorcery is extremely common for my people. I don’t really like to use it publicly since it was used to commit great atrocities during the war.”

“But that’s how Devil’s Daughter fights?” Jack asked desperately. “How do I counter it?”

“You still think Devil’s Daughter wants to kill you?” Nya asked in amazement. “That doesn’t make sense, she’s a hero! Maybe she’s got something else planned and that’s why she put her mark on you!”

“I wouldn’t know,” Jack retorted with a long sigh. “But I want to be prepared for anything.”

“I wouldn’t really know how to counter Devil’s Daughter, but Rena has been able to beat my sorcery in fights during sparring practice by staying quick on her feet. I do know that blessings by certain gods that hate us can reduce our sorcery’s potency, but I-I just don’t know if that will work on Devil’s Daughter or not! You should try reasoning with her if you can!” Nya replied, getting gradually more anxious as she spoke, so Jack had to calm her down.

“It’s okay, I can research that later,” Jack replied reassuringly as they were both called up to do some exercises.

The bell had gone soon after that, and the group quickly got changed and went to their classes, with Jack joining Nika and Sephy for cyber class. They had queued up and were waiting for the teacher, with Jack excited at the prospect of working with some alien tech, when Vanya rushed up to them.

“Holy shit, there you are!” she panted breathlessly.

“Did you miss me that much?” Jack asked with a cheeky grin, though his face fell when Vanya looked serious.

“I just got the first photos and confirmation from the Skinsaw Slasher murder sight, the victim is officially confirmed as Zhal-Han.”

“Okay,” Nika replied uncertainly. “We kinda already knew that, you mentioned it to us earlier.”

“It’s not that,” Vanya replied. “The killer left another mural using Zhal-Han’s body.”

“Eww,” Sephy replied. “Those things are creepy, usually depicting the Destroyer, right?”

“Not this one,” Vanya whispered in a worried tone, showing them the picture.

There was a vast intake of breath from all of them, and Jack’s eyes went wide.

It was crude and lacking detail, but there was no mistaking it.

The mural was of him.