4 MacGregor's Syndrome

"Jeez, your name is Juniper? No wonder you're angry all the time." Taunted Isaac. The rest of the Student Council members were left dumbfounded as they stared at the scene. Something like this had never happened before, therefore their reaction was severely delayed.

"He called him by his name to his face."

"It's official. He's a dead man." 

"Is he crazy? When did he even leave my side?" Questioned Daniel, hoping this problem somehow wouldn't lead back to him.

Hearing Isaac's words, Juniper gritted his teeth as his face went dark. He slowly made his way to his feet and stared at the opposition.

"You son of a bitch!" He yelled as he prepared to bolt toward Isaac.

"You might wanna rethink that." Said a calm Isaac as he pointed at the cafeteria entrance. His bald teacher stood there with a confused face after just entering the cafeteria. 

Juniper looked at this and scoffed.

"Darren, take a walk!" He yelled, calling the teacher by his first name. The teacher gave no reaction as he did what he was told, leaving the cafeteria the way he had come in.

Isaac looked at the teacher leaving with a straight face. Only now did it dawn on him the true state of this school.

"No one's here to help you now." Said Juniper as he sprinted toward Isaac, throwing a punch. Meanwhile, Isaac was unfazed. He watched the slow fist approach him with a calm exterior. Only when the time was right did he grab Juniper's arm and throw him over his shoulder.

Juniper slammed into the ground as he coughed up whatever air was in his lungs, smashing the back of his head onto the ground. He laid there, unconscious as Isaac towered over his body.

A chilling silence enveloped the area.

"He did it. He actually took down a Vice President." 

"What's going to happen to him?"

All the students whispered as they couldn't find it in themselves to keep their mouths shut. How could they? It was like a fantasy movie playing right before their eyes. Only in fiction had they ever heard of a hero vanquishing the bullies of their new school like this. However, they all knew the inevitable outcome that would soon come.

"You idiot. You're screwed." Said Daniel inwardly as he watched everything.

Isaac looked down at the unconscious Juniper as he breathed heavily and tried to control his breathing. Due to this, he failed to notice the shadow that was now cast over him. Looking back, he noticed the bulky Maxwell preparing to slam both his fists onto Isaac.

Moving quickly, Isaac was able to barely get away from the attack. He stepped back as his heavy breaths now echoed in the silent cafeteria. Maxwell noticed this, however, it didn't seem to faze him.

"Student Isaac. You're in violation of multiple school rules. Give up now before you make things worse for yourself." Said Maxwell, not wanting to chase Isaac around the cafeteria.

"I'm already in deep shit as it is. I might as well go all out." Isaac laughed in between breaths. 

A thought came to Maxwell as he stared at Isaac who struggled to catch his breath. Without saying a word, he charged like a Rhino in an attempt to tackle his foe. However, Isaac was faster as he quite easily evaded Maxwell.

The attack didn't stop there as Maxwell quickly turned around and charged back. Isaac looked at this as he plotted how to overcome his enemy. Multiple scenarios ran through his head as he finally thought of one that would inevitably stumble the opponent if executed right.

He stood still in the same position and waited for the perfect moment. Maxwell quickly closed the distance and soon stood a mere inches away from Isaac, ready to thrust his whole body weight onto him.

'Now!' Thought Isaac before attempting his plan. However, before he could even make an effort, a searing pain ran through his body. He felt as if he was burning inside, his heart being poked and stabbed with a scorching rod. He had reached his limit. He pushed himself too much. He tried his best to limit his movements, not making half the moves he wanted, however, this was an inevitability.

Not having the strength to dodge or block, all he could do was watch Maxwell slam into him. And that was exactly what happened. Maxwell didn't hold back as he used his body weight to slam into Isaac, hitting him straight in the chest and knocking out whatever air that was left inside of his lungs. 

Isaac was launched into the air, slamming onto the ground as he stopped moving. 

"It was bound to happen at some point."

"I hate to say it, but he put up a decent fight."

The students whispered as some even frowned upon the sight. Meanwhile, Daniel gave a look of defeat as he waited for what would come next.

Maxwell started to walk to the corpse slowly as his footsteps shook the ground. He lifted the head of Isaac who had his eyes closed. However, the first thing Maxwell noticed was the abnormal amount of blood, gushing from Isaac's mouth. His uniform was drenched and the blood smeared across the ground, almost creating a scene that was straight out of a horror movie.

Maxwell was caught off guard after witnessing the blood, therefore he failed to notice the two fingers that were jammed into his eyes, making him grunt in pain and let go of Isaac.

Isaac made his way to his feet as he struggled to stand. His breath, if you could call it that, was unsteady and premature. His shaking hand reached into his pocket as he pulled out a few pills. He quickly downed them with no hesitation and soon, the blood had stopped and his breath had somewhat returned to normal.

"You piece of shit." Groaned Maxwell with two red eyes. To this, Isaac gave a cheeky smile that was enough to infuriate the bulky man. However, before he could make a move, claps echoed through the cafeteria.

"That's enough. You put on quite the show, Isaac." Said a mysterious individual who walked into the cafeteria accompanied by a female with glasses, a skirt and shirt with the school logo and black short hair. almost looking like a secretary.

"Noa, please help Adams to his feet." He said to the female, pointing at Juniper who laid on the ground. 

"Apex, sir." Said Maxwell with a slight bow.

'Apex? That is way too cool to be someone's real name.' Thought Isaac.

The whole cafeteria went quiet when these two entered. The uncontrollable whispers and gasps were absent, no one daring enough to interrupt or talk over him. Even the members of the Student Council bowed deeply when he entered.

"Allow me to introduce myself. Feel free to call me Apex. I am the Student Council President of Aurelius Academy." Isaac stared at Apex. He couldn't help but feel wary of him. His sharp eyes pierced any that fell into its sight and his deep black hair had been fashioned into a ponytail. He had fair skin and intense features. To put it simply, he was good-looking.

"I'll kill you!" Yelled a familiar voice. Juniper had finally awoken from his nap and yelled from the top of his lungs.

"Why are you crying, Juniper? Shut up and take it like a man." Said Isaac with a grin, repeating the same words to him.

"What did you say to me?!" Before he could say any more, he was interrupted.

"Adams." Said Apex. For some, it would be impossible to believe someone like Juniper could be silenced with one word. Juniper gritted his teeth as he didn't dare say another word.

"Noa, please take Adams to the infirmary. It seems he's suffered a few injuries." He continued with a smile.

"Please excuse him. He gets riled up if someone calls him by his first name. He prefers to be referred to as 'Adams', his second name."

"You seemed to have him well under your thumb." Said Isaac, however, before Apex could reply, Isaac fell into a fit of constant coughing and heaving. Apex calmly waited with a smile for Isaac to finish.

After a few minutes, Apex spoke.

"It seems your MacGregor's Syndrome is taking a toll on you. The syndrome that constantly keeps your heart at a terrible performance rate. Any extraneous movement is enough to cause your heart to almost fail. Although, you should be thankful. Thousands of people would kill to be in the position you're in. MacGregor's Syndrome is usually fatal. Yet here you are walking, running, jumping and even fighting, all whilst causing a ruckus in my school. You should be happy it hasn't left you bedridden or worse." Said Apex, making Isaac raise an eyebrow at how he knew so much about him. However, he remembered the 'Tradition' of this school. Seeing the position of power Apex was in, it wasn't unbelievable that he could attain a deeper knowledge of people.

"Since you're a new student, it's obvious that you're not accustomed to our ways. Just this once I'll be willing to forget this incident as long as you don't cause anymore ruckus." He said with the same unnerving smile not leaving his face.

Isaac said nothing as Apex gathered the rest of the Student Council and finally left the cafeteria.

"He's such a nice person." Said a girl.

"If I were him I'd have kicked that street trash to the curb." Said another boy.

"That's Apex for you. Always here to save the day." 

Isaac heard this and was left star-struck. They weren't keeping quiet because of fear. It was… respect? But why? It's because of him these lunatics can run around assaulting whoever they want, yet they cheer for him. What the hell was wrong with these people? The ability to influence and manipulate others despite your questionable actions was truly something to fear.

Isaac looked back at Daniel then at William and noticed they both acted as if he didn't exist. Everyone had gone on with their day, taunting and bad mouthing him secretly as he stood in the middle of the cafeteria, drenched in his own blood.

All he could do was sigh and smile. "What a great first day this was."

***

"Apex, sir. What shall we do?" Asked Maxwell as he and Apex walked through the corridor, everyone parting for them. 

Apex walked silently as his face was unreadable.

"'We' shall do nothing. You've clearly proven that mere street trash can get the better of you." 

Maxwell kept his head down and his mouth shut, accepting his fault in the situation.

"That peasant thinks he can talk back to me in my own school and create chaos in my perfect system? I'll burn his whole fucking life to the ground."