False heroes

The power revealed

The silence that followed Gabriel's transformation stretched for three heartbeats that felt like eternity. Rain drummed against the arena's protective dome, and in that crystalline moment, fifteen hundred people tried to process what they'd just witnessed.

Then chaos erupted.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” Someone shouted from the stands.

“He was tested! Three years of testing!” 

"What the hell is he ?” 

Thane stumbled backward, his face a mask of shock and growing fear. The confident predator who had entered the arena was gone, replaced by a boy who suddenly understood he'd concerned something far more dangerous than he'd ever imagined. 

Now they see, Echo purred with satisfaction. Now they understand what real power looks like. 

Careful, Umbrix warned. We've revealed ourselves. Every move from here will be watched and analyzed. 

Gabriel felt the power flowing through him like liquid night controlled, focused, but cast as an ocean. His void sight showed him everything: Thane's hammering heartbeat, the terror-scent rising from the crowd, the federation observers leaning forward with sudden, intense interest. 

“What are you?” Thane whispered, his hands shaking as he tried to summon his lightning magic.

“I'm exactly what you made me,” Gabriel replied, his voice carrying across the silent arena. “The Academy's greatest failure. You just never bothered to ask what I was failing to hide”

Thane's lightning finally crackled to life around his fists, but it looked pitiful compared to the shadows that danced at Gabriel's feet. “ This is impossible. You were tested. I saw the results myself: no magical capability, no power signature, nothing!” 

“The tests look for conventional magic,” Gabriel said, taking a step forward. Shadows moved with him like living things. “ I never had that”

Show them what unconventional looks like, Echo urged. 

Gabriel raised his hands, and shadows in the arena responded. They didn't just gather, they sang, harmonizing in frequencies only he could hear. The temperature dropped ten degrees, and frost began forming on the protective barriers.

In the stands, students pressed back in their seats. Several of the younger ones cried. Even the professors looked shaken all except professor Dalton, who was staring at Gabriel with the focused attention of someone trying to solve a deadly puzzle. 

The federation observers, Umbrix noted with concern. They're not afraid. They're taking notes. 

Gabriel glanced toward the observer's box. Three figures in Federation uniforms sat forward with professional interest, one of them speaking rapidly into a communication crystal. They recognized what they were seeing, even if they didn't understand it. 

That was a problem for later. 

“Thane,” Gabriel said, his voice cutting through the crowd's whispers. “You wanted a fight. You got one. Are we going to dance, or should I collect my winnings now?”

The taunt snapped Thane out of his shock. Pride warred with terror on his face, and pride won. “You think some parlor tricks with shadows makes you a hero? Let me show you what real power looks like!’

Thane launched himself forward again, but this time with desperate fury instead of confident predation. Lightning wreathed his entire body as he moved, turning him into a living thunderbolt. His speed was incredibly fast enough that most opponents would never see the strike coming. 

Gabriel stood perfectly still and let the attack hit him.

Thane's lightning charged fist struck Gabriel's chest with enough force to crater stone. Electrical energy poured through Gabriel's body, seeking to disrupt his nervous system and stop his heart.

Gabriel absorbed it all without blinking.

“My turn,” he said quietly 

What happened next lasted perhaps two seconds, but to everyone watching, it seemed to unfold in slow motion. 

.

Gabriel stepped forward not the awkward stumble of the powerless boy they remembered , but the fluid movement of someone who understood exactly how dangerous he was. His hand moved in a simple gesture, almost casual.

Reality rippled.

The space between Gabriel and Thane seemed to fold in on itself. One moment Thane was three feet away, the next Gabriel's palm was pressed gently against his chest. No visible force, no dramatic explosion of energy.

Just a touch. 

Thane flew backward like he'd been hit by a cannonball. 

He sailed twenty feet through the air before crashing into the arena's protective barrier with a sound like breaking thunder. The magical shields flared brilliant white as they absorbed the impact, and Thane slumped to the ground, his body wreathed in dissipating electrical energy.

For a moment, he didn't move. 

The crowd held its breath.

Then Thane groaned and tried to sit up, his face pale and his hand shaking. Alive, conscious, but clearly hurt. Gabriel had calibrated the strike perfectly enough force to win decisively, not enough to cause permanent damage.

Disappointing, Soulrender complained. We could have cut him into interesting shapes.

This was better, Umbrix replied. Mercy demonstrates control. Control demonstrates that we choose our actions.

Professor Dalton's voice echoed across the stunned arena: WINNER: GABRIEL STONE!”

The crowd erupted not in cheers, but in confused shouting, arguments, and demands for explanation. Students were on their feet, pointing and arguing. Several of the younger ones were pushing towards the exits, clearly terrified.

Gabriel stood in the center of it all, shadows still dancing around his feet, and felt… empty. Not satisfied, not triumphant. Just tired. 

The mask is off, Echo observed. There's no going back now. 

Gabriel looked up at the stands and found Emma's eyes. She was staring at him with an expression he couldn't read fear, yes, but also something else. Recognition, maybe. Or understanding.

Zara Chen was applauding slowly, that mysterious smile wider than ever. She mouthed something that night have been “well done” 

But it was the federation observers who worried Gabriel the most . They were already standing, already moving towards the arena. One of them was speaking urgently into his communication crystal while the other two took notes. 

They'll want to study us, Umbrix said grimly. 

Let them try. Soulrender replied with vicious glee. 

Gabriel walked over to where Thane was struggling to stand, his legs shaky from the impact. The boy who had terrorized him for three years looked up with frightened eyes. 

“Our deal,” Gabriel said quietly. “One year of peace. You remember?”

Thane nodded mutely.

“Good.” Gabriel offered his hand. “Can you stand?”

Thane stared at the offered hand for a long moment, then slowly reached out and accepted it. Gabriel pulled him to his feet with careful gentleness.

“I don't understand,” Thane whispered. “What are you?” 

“lm someone who got tired of being afraid,” Gabriel replied. “The same someone I've always been. You just never looked closely enough to see it.”

He turned and walked towards the arena exit, leaving Thane standing alone in the center of the combat circle. The crowd shouted followed him, but Gabriel barely heard it. His mind was already racing ahead, planning for what came next. 

The Academy would demand explanations. The federation would want answers. And somewhere in the depths of the building, alarms were probably already sounding as security realized their missing “experiments” had just revealed themselves in the most possible way possible. 

What now? he thought.

Now, Echo said with dark satisfaction. Things get interesting.

As Gabriel reached the exit, Emma was waiting for him. Her violet eyes were bright with unsaved years, but she was smiling.

“I knew, “she said quietly. “ I knew you were more than you seemed.” 

Emma..”

“The visions make sense now. You're not becoming something dangerous, Gabriel. You already are something dangerous. 

Before Gabriel could respond, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Be careful,” she whispered. “ They're going to come for you now. All of them.” 

She melted back into the crowd, leaving Gabriel alone with his thoughts and the whispered argument of three ancient entities who had just announced their presence to the wor

ld. 

Outside the arena, thunder rolled across the Academy grounds, and a storm that had been building all week finally broke in earnest.

The ranking battles were over.

Gabriel Stone's real war was about to begin.