The crying imps called Sulkers rushed towards the Masked Reformers, colliding with them in mid-charge. The five expertly-trained teachers moved in a synchronized fashion and managed to stave off most of the momentum from the Sulkers’ offensive charge. Their skills and experiences coupled with the boosts in strength, endurance, and speed from the battlesuits allowed them to take on multiple Sulkers at a time.

 

Gradually, the five diverged so that they could have more room to display their prowess. Each Reformer took on two or three Sulkers at a time. The Black Reformer sheathed his main weapon – the ruler-sword – and positioned himself in a basic karate stance.

 

Once a Sulker entered the range of his attack domain, the man delivered a series of powerful punches and forced the enemy out. Similarly, Curtis the Green Reformer had his share of bar fights and scuffles. Though he was not trained in martial arts, his experience helped him maneuver safely through the Sulkers’ onslaught while dealing guerilla tactics.

 

Meanwhile, Janet the Blue Reformer adopted a position on all fours. As she had lived with lions for a number of years, she had adapted to their play style as well as to their movements. Janet pounced towards one Sulker and smashed with her right arm, flooring that minion.

 

She landed on top of the minion and pressed down heavily with her powerful hand. The Sulker struggled to break free but couldn’t while the other Sulkers nearby were intimidated by the Reformer’s beastial aura. Meanwhile, although Elia and Kevan were not as physically adept as the other three Reformers, they managed to hold their own as they exchanged their main weapons with the secondary weapons – ruler-blasters.

 

The battle roared on, but there was no end to it. The monster Tuberous didn’t sit still either. While the Reformers were pre-occupied, it continued corrupting more and more students while occasionally overdosing a few to turn them into Sulkers. The corrupted would sit quietly while generating continuous streams of chaotic energy that served to fuel Tuberous as well as the Corruptions it served.

 

The turned would rush into battle, adding to their ranks and pressuring the Reformers. Soon, each Reformer was dealing with four or five Sulkers at a time. This made the team realize something serious. Their earlier divergence from the group was not because they were strong enough to single-handedly deal with multiple Sulkers at a time. Rather, it was a subtle trap of ‘divide and conquer’ by the enemy!

 

“Fuck!” Curtis spat as he suffered a brutal psychic attack to his abdomen, sending him flailing off his feet.

 

“Curtis!” John roared in anger as he saw his teammate fall. “Flying Tornado Kick!”

 

With a powerful stomp, he flew towards the Sulkers ganging up on the fallen Green Reformer and unleashed a series of tornado kicks without touching the ground even once. The barrage of kicks blasted a few of the Sulkers out of the way. The Black Reformer landed beside the Green Reformer and helped him up. Luckily, the battlesuit absorbed most of the damage and Curtis was only a bit dazed.

 

However, the two did not have time to catch their breath. In a matter of seconds the zombie-like Sulkers surrounded them and started bombarding them with repulsive psychic attacks. Their annoying whimpers irritated them for some reason, which almost made them lose their focus. As the two Reformers were being attacked on all sides, it was essentially like they had been confined to a small area with little to no arm space. They were stuck!

 

Seeing John and Curtis in danger, Janet prepared to go help. She had just knocked down a few Sulkers but they rose back up like her attacks were nothing. The biology teacher was prepared to use force to make ends meet. With a powerful tackle, she crashed into one Sulker and prepared to smack its head until it stopped moving. However, just as she was about to do so, a sobbing voice entered her ears.

 

“W-W-Wuuu…i-it hurts! M-Ms. McDonald, it hurts!” The voice struck a chord in Janet’s heart, causing her to tense up.

 

The Blue Reformer looked down at the Sulker and saw its face change, revealing that of a young child. The child was a student from her class! As teachers who loved their work, Janet as well as the other Reformers cared for their students. During their battle lust, they had forgotten that the Sulkers were initially their students. In fact, the Sulkers were still their students. Upon realizing that, Janet hesitated for the first time.

 

“C-Claire? Is that you?” Janet recognized the child’s face. She could remember that just this morning they were talking about butterflies. The child had wanted to be a lepidopterist when she grew up.

 

“M-Ms. McD-Donald, it hurts. It hurts!” Claire cried out in pain as her face distorted unnaturally.

 

“Oh sweetie! Don’t worry! We’ll save you! We’ll save you!” Janet teared up as she felt her student’s pain.

 

The Blue Reformer lowered her arm and gently caressed the child’s face, using her thumb to wipe away some of the tears that trickled down. Suddenly, Kevan interrupted her trance-like state. “Janet! Don’t let your guard down! They’re our enemies!”

 

“Enemies? Kevan, do you hear yourself? They’re students! OUR students!” The biology teacher turned to look at the physics teacher.

 

“I know they are!” Kevan snapped back as he dodged another psychic attack. “I feel their pain too! But we can’t just let up like this! We must defeat them with whatever means possible! Defeating them is the only way to save them!”

 

“I-I can’t! I can’t hurt these kids! They’re already in so much pain, why should we make them suffer even more so!” Janet sobbed as she looked at Claire’s face once more.

 

The Sulker that was Claire continued to scrunch up her face in agony as words of pain drifted from her lips. “It hurts! Ms. McDonald, it hurts so much!”

 

“I know dear, I know.” Janet tried to soothe the corrupted child. Her eyes blazed with anger under her mask. She looked up and glared at the bulbous monster who was busy corrupting even more students. “I know…if I kill that beast, my students’ pain will go away.”

 

The Blue Reformer tried to stand up, but just as she was about to do so, her arm was grabbed. Janet looked down at the Sulker who still displayed her student’s agonized face. The child looked as if she wanted to tell the teacher something. With glazed eyes, Janet knelt back down and leaned over.

 

“Janet! Don’t! Don’t fall for their tricks!” Elia screamed but her words fell on deaf ears.

 

“What is it Claire?” Janet asked.

 

“Ms. McDonald…I have something to tell you about that big meanie…but you must come closer.” Claire murmured with unusual clarity.

 

Janet lowered her head. But that was not the only thing she lowered. As if due to some psychological effects, the teacher’s guard was lowered as well. Maybe because she foolishly believed that her student won’t hurt her or maybe because she was entranced by the Sulker’s scheme. Either way, when the Blue Reformer leaned closer to listen, her guard was nonexistent.

 

“What is it Claire? Tell me.” Janet asked, ignoring Elia’s cautions.

 

“It…It HURTSAARRGGHHH!” The Sulker screamed at the Blue Reformer, reinforcing the sound attack with repulsive psychic power.

 

The attack at near point blank smashed into Janet’s head, violently shaking the vulnerableness inside. The Blue Reformer didn’t even have the chance to scream as she coughed out blood, her body blasted away like a broken kite. Her battlesuit dispersed after absorbing way too much damage than normal. Janet crashed into the ground motionless while her handbook and ruler skidded a few meters away.

 

“Janet!” Elia screamed in horror and tried to push her way towards the battered body, but the Sulkers were too much.

 

The minions gathered around Elia, bombarding her with psychic attacks from all over. Weakened from the continuous waves of attacks, Elia’s suit dispersed as well. But the Sulkers were relentless as they continued attacking her. The Yellow Reformer screamed in pain as she crumpled beneath the invisible assault, blood oozed out from her bruised body.

 

In a fit of anger, Kevan aimed his ruler-blaster at the Sulkers surrounding him and fired without hesitation. Clearing a path straight to Elia, Kevan quickly arrived before his fiancée. He knelt down before her and gently felt her pulse and breath. Though faint, she was thankfully still alive.

 

Kevan turned towards the other Sulkers and started firing without remorse or emotion towards the origins of the Sulkers. When given a choice between the students he dutifully cared for and the love of his life that he vowed to protect, Kevan chose the latter. Many minions, having suffered too much damage, collapsed in a writhing manner as corruption energy seeped out of their bodies. The students quickly returned to normal, but they laid motionless as if dead.

 

Kevan continued firing shots at the overwhelming numbers but a lucky psychic blast knocked his weapon out of his hand. The rocket scientist tried to attack with his ruler-sword. However, the moment he stood up to confront a Sulker, a couple of stray blasts flew past him towards the unconscious woman.

 

“No!” Kevan lamented as he hugged Elia, shielding the incoming repulsions with his body.

 

Sparks fly as Kevan took the shots head on. Gritting his teeth through the blunt pain, the Red Reformer tried calling out to John or Curtis for help. However, they were busy with their own share of enemies. Anyone could see that the team was falling apart. With two outs and a third down for the count, it was not looking good for the Reformers.

 

The team was all alone in this battle. There was no one to help them out. All of the students either tried to run away or became one of the corrupted. Most of the adults nearby were too cowardly to do anything. And even if they could, they were hesitant. Even powered up heroes could not defeat the monsters let alone save themselves, what could they – normal civilians – do?

 

UWAAAHH!

 

Another scream overwhelmed the sounds of repulsive blows. Kevan collapsed on top of Elia, his battlesuit dispersed. Even though the Red Reformer was knocked out, the Sulkers relentlessly continued. While a few stayed to torture and abuse the Red, Blue, and Yellow Reformers, the rest went to reinforce the Sulkers attacking the Black and Green Reformers.

 

Soon, even the two most physically abled members of the Masked Reformers had finally given in to the bombardment. Their battlesuits dispersed into particles and transformed back into their handbook states. The exhausted Reformers collapsed under the continuous assault.

 

“Hahaha! And here I thought they would put up a decent fight. Turns out they’re nothing but posers!” Tuberous jiggled with mirth. “Sulkers, kill them all! Break their rulers so they can’t transform!”

 

“No!” Principal Jones exclaimed as he watched the spectacle from his office, his hand clutching his heart as he feared for the worst.

 

The team was the elite of the elites. If they perished here, then who will save the students of Wild Academy from the seven Corruptions? The previous team was not as good in terms of overall capabilities and the next team haven’t finished their beginner’s training yet.

 

The principal reached into his pant pocket and pulled out an old mobile flip phone. Now that the worst scenario had happened, the only thing he could do was call in the military. But if he did so, the end result might be worse. Countless students might be sacrificed in order to draw out the Corruptions.

 

What should he do? Should he call or not call?

 

Suddenly, just as he was about to call it in, a blurry figure dashed across the field, catching the principal’s eyes. Principal Jones diverted his attention towards the figure and saw that it was the PE teacher. The principal vaguely recalled his first impression of the man. Dressing sloppily and walking around in sandals all day, the PE teacher appeared to be a lazy bum in the principal’s eyes. However, what he saw next, changed his impression of the man by a full 180.

 

Seeing the five teachers brutally ganged up on, the PE teacher who was hiding nearby finally decided to do something about it. While the Sulkers had their backs turned, the man suddenly charged towards the nearest minion. With agility and power of a feline, the PE teacher spun in the air once before delivering a powerful kick at a nearby Sulker, drilling into its back and blasting it away.

 

As the man landed on both feet, the other Sulkers turned their attention towards him. The man raised his hand up and beckoned the minions closer. “Come get some, ya fuckers!”