[Kylie]

Kylie hurried off toward the girls’ dormitories; she did not want to be late to the only class she would be showing up for. Most people who knew her could attest that it wasn’t like her to be punctual, but first impressions were everything. Using the key and information she found in the envelope from earlier, she arrived at her assigned room and opened up the door. There wasn’t enough time to explore the room—she was more worried about getting her belongings. Kylie made a beeline to the first bedroom that she saw and discovered her luggage and duffel bag had been placed neatly on the bed inside, seemingly untouched. But Kylie was positive they had invaded her privacy either through X-rays or physically rummaging through everything. Whatever, at least she had her stuff back now.

Slowly, she reached down and began to unzip her suitcase to unpack her plethora of clothes. But on a whim, she glanced at the time on a digital clock in the room and saw it was 9:50. Jeez, where had the time gone? There was absolutely no way she could unpack everything in time. With an exasperated sigh, she left her luggage half-open and stormed out of her room muttering something about stupid required classes.

Kylie rushed over to where the academic buildings were located after asking a passerby for directions. No matter how late she’d be, however, she simply had to check out her reflection in a window that she was going past. Arriving on time was a good first impression and all, but being on time and looking good was a thousand times better.

Her hair with its brand-new blonde highlights looked great. She had it down, and since she had straightened it earlier that day, not a single lock was out of place. She was wearing the same outfit she had on when she left; there was no point in getting changed, especially when—oh shoot, she had to get to that stupid class!

Now jogging, but being very careful not to work up a sweat, Kylie arrived at Class 4 with two minutes to spare. The teacher, a well-built man in a dress shirt and tie, glared at her, but she smiled at him as if to say “I’m still on time though.” Or perhaps her smile said something along the lines of, “You’ll only be dealing with me for today.” She found an empty seat toward the back of the class and sat down.

“Since we’re all here,” the man said in a deep and booming voice. “We can now begin. My name is Mr. West and I will be instructing Class 4. Here at the Skyline Institute the most important thing is one, single word. What word, you may ask? Well, that’s up to you. In a moment I will be handing out a slip of paper. On it you will write down one word, and one word only. I don’t want any pranksters on the first day, you hear? Don’t just write down any word either, like a preposition or a pronoun. This word must have actual meaning and will be your sole source of strength and protection, because as you may know, at Skyline, the only requirement for graduation is survival. Your word will be what grants you this survival, if pick one you can work with. What can you rely on for this? What word can you entrust your very life with?”

Kylie gulped. So that’s why this class was required. Maybe… Maybe she had bitten off a little more than she could chew. But it was too late to turn back now, and she knew it. She was well aware her life was on the line, but what possible dangerous obstacles could the faculty throw at their students? Didn’t that lady from earlier mention something about monsters? Well, this certainly wasn’t a normal school, so… It could happen. Kylie supposed she’d find out in due time…

“Remember, you must also be creative with your words,” Mr. West added. “Apply it using any form of its definition that you can think of. That may be an important key for some of you.”

Mr. West then handed out the papers and writing utensils and waited patiently for everyone to write their words down. Kylie stared down at her little slip of paper and wracked her brain for something useful. Not knowing what she’d be going up against, Kylie thought of some words that could work. Fire? Invisible? Courage? Knowledge? …Bomb?

No, no… Nothing seemed to be a good fit, at least not for Kylie. She gazed out the window in frustration and saw, way in the distance, the endless fields that surrounded the campus. Then she remembered seeing the track field on her way in and how she considered being a cheerleader. What is the number one thing you need to have if you’re a cheerleader? Spirit!

Kylie excitedly recorded the word in neat cursive and stared at it, content. Yes, it was an excellent word with multiple meanings she could work with.

Mr. West noticed that most of the students had finished and he swiftly walked around all the desks, checking the papers. He nodded at each one, and no one seemed to have written down more than one word or any meaningless ones.

“Good job, everyone,” he said as he returned to the front of the class. “No pranksters this year. Now, all you have to do is say the word out loud. Don’t be shy, now.”

Kylie bit her lip and looked at her paper. All the other students began saying their words.

“Spirit,” she whispered quietly.

Immediately after she said this, the paper disintegrated, as did every other paper in the room as soon as its owner pronounced their respective word.

“Wh—“ Kylie gasped. She immediately felt a tingling sensation in her left hand. She flipped her hand over and gazed into her palm with a start. There, written in fancy font just like she had done on her paper, her skin was emblazoned with the word “SPIRIT”.

“Now, students… Make your teacher proud and use your words to fight!”

[Eliisa]

Eliisa stared at the paper she held in her hand, Now what? Angels descend from the sky and start trumpeting? I wouldn’t be surprised at this point.
“Bind!” jolted her out of her thoughts. She glanced around and saw a very embarrassed guy sit back down.
Mr. Magorian went around, checking everyone’s paper and admonishing one person for writing down ‘God’ and forcing her to change it into something else. He then gave further instructions, “Now that you’ve written it down, say it aloud and try testing your new power out. From here on out, you’ll be fighting for your life. You’ll either leave this place through graduation or in a body bag.”

Power? What? Am I some sort of superhero now? And wait a minute… that guy said ‘bind’ meaning… I better avoid him if I want to hold onto my freedom, she thought while whispering, “Change.”
The paper crumbled into nothing and she felt a slight burn on her right shoulder. Twisting her head around and lifting the sleeve of her right arm up, she saw the word ‘change’ practically tattooed onto her skin.
Eliisa sighed, letting the sleeve cover up her arm again, my parents are going to throw a fit if they find I have a tattoo now. Then again, I’ll be free from their influence after I graduate.
Anyhow. I have the word ‘change’ which means I can shapeshift, right? Then...
She looked at one of her fingers, imagining the finger tip to be a claw. Eliisa flinched when she saw her finger tip turn into a sharp, tough point. Am I hallucinating? I...what?
She used her other hand to prod it carefully, I… it’s… unless I’m hallucinating the sense of touch?? Am I in a dream??? She turned her finger back to normal and slapped herself with one hand not so gently.
Owww. Well that hurt. I’m… not dreaming? Gaaaaaah why is this place so weird????? Ughh. I might as well cover up that mark. It’s not very flattering to have ‘CHANGE’ tattooed on yourself.
She lifted up the sleeve again and imagined her right shoulder having clear, unblemished skin. It took effect almost instantly and her skin appeared normal again.
Wait. I should check to see if I can change other objects.
Eliisa glanced at her pencil, What to change it into…? Nothing too noticeable. Wouldn’t want to attract unwanted attention.
She took a deep breath and pictured the pencil as a pen instead. It morphed in front of her very eyes.
Maybe… with this, school here will be fun.

---

[Milayou and Elliot]

I know you can make it through the year!

She has so much faith in me… but i’m not so sure that I can….

The hallway drifted past Milayou like fogged glass. Without realizing it, she arrived at the doorway of Classroom 1. Still oblivious, Milayou turned the doorknob to the classroom. Entangled in her thoughts, she meandered into the room.

They reminded me of the eggheads your father used to deal with… Dad… would he be thinking right now?

The layout of Classroom 1 was not quite the same as the classroom Milayou had been going to previously. A step into a supposedly empty aisle became a step in a row of tables instead.

“Ow! Ah!”

Elliot jerked awake and stared wildly around him before his gaze settled on a petite looking girl with blonde-white hair.

“Auh, sorry, sorry!”

Turns out the table was occupied too, by a short-haired, Asian-looking boy. Still slouched over, the boy stared back at her with groggy eyes.

“It’s okay,” Elliot replied in a quiet voice. He didn’t blame her, it was an accident after all.

With a flustered look on her face, Milayou nodded once, and hastily headed towards an empty seat.

Sleeping on the first day… what happened to him? Mmm, maybe he just had a bad trip to Skyline…

A teacher walked in and introduced herself as Ms. Hawkins. As she addressed the students, she hands out small squares of paper.
“Students! Listen up and live, or die in the next hour, I don’t really care, but don’t drag down the other students as well. So shut up, listen, follow my instructions and half of you might just live to see the end of the day.”
The class falls deathly quiet.
“Don’t touch this piece of paper yet! Other teachers aren’t as explicit, nor as punctual as I am with their instructions, so count yourselves lucky. On this paper, you will write one single word. This word will define how you will be fighting for the rest of the school year. It will be what you will depend on, and the only thing you can depend on during your stay here. And most importantly, and I dont know why some teachers don't tell you this, but this word will be your supernatural power, your ability. I recommend nouns and verbs, and to lean away from the more abstract of words.”

[Elliot]

I don’t want to fight… I just want to disappear…make everything that troubles me disappear… Elliot thought sadly and dejectedly.
He writes ‘disappear’ on the paper with sluggish movements.

“Once you’ve decided on a word and written it down, hold it in your hand and say it aloud. After that, have at it. And lastly, have a clear image in your mind when you use your words, or baaaaad things will happen hahahaaa...”
With that, Ms. Hawkins sits down in the corner of the classroom, kicks her legs up on a desk, folds her arms, and closes her eyes.
“Don’t bother me, don’t bleed on me, and keep quiet. You all should have about five minutes until the blight begins.”

Holding the paper in his hand, Elliot reluctantly mutters, “Disappear.” The paper seemingly vanishes and Elliot’s left forearm starts burning and itching. He looks at his arm and sees ‘Disappear’ marking his skin.

Feeling ashamed of its proclamation of his cowardliness, Elliot remembers what Ms. Hawkins instructed and imagined his mark fading from his arm. He watches, fascinated with the process as his skin becomes unblemished again. I hold… power now? He glances around and spies a piece of chalk on the side of the chalkboard. Be gone…, and it winks out of existence. I still don’t want to draw attention to myself though. I could make myself disappear forever, but I can’t now? I have to graduate. Things will get better. I don’t want to die. Maybe I could disappear my appearance like I did with that word tattoo looking thing. Have to be careful though. Need to imagine myself there, but invisible.
Elliot steels himself and pictures himself, sitting at his desk living and breathing, but invisible. The power takes effect and Elliot becomes very disoriented. It was a bizarre experience to not be able to see your own body. Through trial and error, he was finally able to stand up and balance on both feet. Now I finally can get away from everyone.

The floating island in the sky, seemingly harmless, reaches the point where it blocks the sunlight from reaching Skyline Institute, casting it in its shadow. Across the entire school, many seals begin appearing on the ground and monsters, freak abominations of nature, spawn from them. They set their eyes upon the students huddled in the classrooms and attempt to devour them.


Name: Blight Monster Attack
Type: Fixed
Word: Monster
Description: Monsters attack the students in the classrooms. Disappears after a half hour. Their speed is on the faster side of jogging speed, and can put on fast bursts of speed when attacking or lunging. They can jump decently high (about 3-4 feet) but cannot fly. The word ‘monster’ can be seen on them.

Note: Monsters have spawned inside and outside of the school. There are numerous monsters and no place that are empty of them.

“...once you’ve decided on a word and written it down, hold it in your hand and say it aloud. After that, have at it. And lastly, have a clear image in your mind when you use your words, or baaaaad things will happen hahahaaa...”

Fighting? Supernatural abilities...? Using my word...? Uhhaaah, I... guess?

Milayou tussled with her bangs in bewilderment.

A word... to help me through the year. Ah, well... I'm always pondering, reflecting on things. Maybe... reflect?

The room was eerily quiet, save for the soft scratch of pencils on paper. A few hushed words occasionally broke the silence. Milayou wrote her word on the square of paper, and looked up.

What do I do now... do I just say the word?

Milayou glanced around the room, coming to a stop at the boy who she bumped into earlier. He muttered something, and before her very eyes, disappeared from sight.

Auuuh! Did he... just...? Was that his word power?

Milayou shook her head once, and stared down intently at her square of paper.

I.... guess this is all true... Okay. Here goes...

With a moment of hesitation, she whispered her word.

“Reflect.”

The square in her hand crumbled into thin air. A warm, tingly sensation spread over her back.

Uwaaaah? What is even going on anymore?

[Marcus]

Do I really have super strength? I don’t feel any stronger. What should I test this out on...

As Marcus looks around the room for something relatively harmless to break (the other students did briefly cross his mind), the floating island eclipses the sun, signifying the beginning of the eclipse. Darkness fell upon the school and several gasps of emanated from the students seated by the windows. Next, what could only be described as monsters rose out of the ground, their orifices dripping with crimson liquid. Unsettling to even look at, the creatures set themselves upon the students at once.

In Marcus’s classroom, one of the beasts began to emerge from the wall, jaws already closing upon the unlucky student adjacent to that patch of wall.

That’ll do nicely.

Marcus throws his desk to the side and strides up to the beast, holding its jaws open with his arms while he kicked the petrified student away. The student--chair and desk included--flew forward and into relative safety. Bracing a foot on the lower set of teeth, Marcus pushes and with a violent tearing sound, the beast splits in half, blood spraying across the room, the majority of it landing on Marcus. He wipes his eyes clear and grins.

Oh hell yes.

Leaving the mangled creature still hanging off the wall, Marcus walks to the windows and observes the situation. Creatures were spawning even outside, and the students that thought they would be safe if they ran outside were sorely mistaken. Still, some students were fighting back, defending themselves.

I wonder just how strong I am now... my hands don’t even hurt from ripping that thing apart.

Picturing his hand to be like steel slicing wood, Marcus chops downward violently, carving a gash through the wall. His hand was completely unharmed. Clawing his hands now, Marcus rips through the wall and steps outside, eager to see how far he could throw one of those monsters this time.

[Gideon]

Bind has so many different uses. Binding things, creating any sort of binding material, indenturing people, sealing and restricting, hardening and stiffening, compacting and solidifying, cohering and sticking, obliging and compulsing, and even protecting. Ah, looks like the first blight has begun. Show time.

Seals form on the floor, with monsters rising up out of them. One student dies immediately, his upper body cleaved in half by blunt, human-like teeth. A girl runs over to a window and touches it, causing it to seemingly disappear. She jumps outside and turns into a cheetah before racing out of sight.

Transform? Transfigure? Change? Oh well.

After sealing the windows and doors shut with crisscrossing iron chains, bolted from floor to ceiling, Gideon stands up and walks to the front of the room, slaughtering monsters as they arose from the floor and walls. Loops of piano wire pulled by a few thick elastic bands sliced apart the creatures with ease. He could have used carbon nanotube wires, but he hadn’t tested that out yet.

“Students! My name is Gideon Vaughn, and I will protect you all! You can already see that my words are the truth. These repugnant monsters will not take any more of this class’s lives today. Now, I need to know everyone’s Words so I can figure out the best way to survive this ordeal.”

“What if I don’t want to listen to you, huh!?” An angry student calls out.
“Then don’t listen.” Gideon smiles and waves his fingers, prompting strips of duct tape to completely cover every inch of the student’s head except for his nose and mouth.
“He’ll be fine, he can breathe.” Gideon assures the room, as the student begins to peel the tape off of his face.

Starting at the front left and snaking his way around, Gideon asks the students their Words. All complied, some after a bit of coaxing. The students with words he liked, he touched lightly on the shoulder as he walked by.

Armor, Heat, Rejuvenate, Shield, and Hide. I’ll use these five for now.

He’d tried binding people to his will from a distance, but it seemed contact was necessary to make that facet of his ability work. Once done, Gideon walked back to the front and sat down on the desk, willing the girl with “Heat” to come forward as well and kill anything that rose up behind him. Otherwise, Gideon just sat in place, lazily killing monsters and wondering when it’d be over.

---

Bored out of his mind, Gideon decided now might be a good time to test out something he’s always wanted to test out. Ever since he could remember, he’d wondered about the guilt that criminals display on cops shows, that veterans whisper about in interviews. Does taking a life change a person? Can you really see it in their eyes? Does it haunt you for the rest of your life, overwhelm your thoughts with guilt and despair? Or is it like any other action, and the haunting horror that other murderers feel is a byproduct of the guilt that they should be feeling. Is there something especially significant in taking a life, and does it change a man?

Gideon wanted to know, and the more he thought about it, the more curious he grew. As a side benefit, if he was paralyzed by his actions after committing murder, he’d be able to recover safely and probably grow resistant so that it doesn’t happen again, or happen in the middle of a fight.

Under the pretense of checking the back of the classroom, Gideon brushes past and binds a weak student, one with a defective Word. Returning to the front of the class, he asks, “Would anyone like to volunteer in scouting the outside?”

He compels Jacob and the new student to speak up, and takes the both of them outside, leaving Ashley to protect the class.

Once outside, Gideon creates iron chain curtains to prevent anyone from witnessing what he was about to do. Next, Gideon swiftly binds the student’s arms, legs, and mouth, then compels him to fall to his knees before releasing the binding. The student wriggles wildly, confused and panicked, but was helpless to take meaningful action. Creating a simple but strong rope, the thickness of a penny and four feet long, Gideon swiftly loops the rope once around the student’s neck and pulls it tight. He could hear the choked, halting breathing begin, forced through the throat and the nose, but failing, growing weaker and weaker. Gideon didn’t let up, pulling with everything he had.

Slowly, the student’s struggles come to an end and the desperate struggle for breath ceases. Gideon continues the stranglehold for a few more seconds before letting go.

He didn’t feel different at all. A student was dead because of him, yet Gideon felt no different. Sure, adrenaline was coursing through his body, but that was all. No soul-crushing regret, no horrified vomiting or falling to his knees. Gideon didn’t feel any weight on his soul, no evidence of cardinal sin. On the contrary, he felt light. Taking lives did not handicap him, and the confirmation of a weakness negated gave him satisfaction.

Gideon carves the corpse up into paste, flings it onto a wall, then sprints back into the classroom, followed by Jacob, who Gideon compelled to tell and corroborate the story of being attacked by a huge pack of monsters that got the drop on them. Gideon acted horrified and regretful, as did Jacob. The class suspected nothing, and were even a little sympathetic.
((I don't even know what I wrote, but I was frustrated and tired and it turned into words.))

[Eliisa]

Suddenly, several seals appeared on the floor of the classroom. What are those for--oh god. Eliisa bolted away from the nearest seal as a monster appeared, staring at the students and salivating. Its head lunged and snapped up the closest student who was paralyzed out of fear.
Oh no oh no oh no. Just when I thought things were going to be okay again they’re absolutely not! Need to escape. But it’s standing between me and the door. Maybe the window? Eliisa ran over to one of the windows and touched it, visualizing it turning into air. The window transformed and Eliisa jumped outside onto the ground. However, more seals kept appearing nearby so she quickly shapeshifted herself into a cheetah and started running. Her heart racing, she ran blindly around the school, but found herself cornered by several monsters. This can’t be happening, this has to be a nightmare! she screamed silently in her head. Have to escape? But where? Trapped. Think, think. Wait. Sky is open. Bird?
Trying to calm down, Eliisa jumped into the air, transformed into a golden eagle, and started flying. The monsters in response had attacked at the same time, but collided into one another in a bid to get her. She successfully escaped into the sky and let out a relieved sigh. I could’ve died back there. I’ve flown many times in my dreams but… this is for real. If I die, I’ll die in real life. If her form right now could cry, she would have. Why? Why am I here? I just wanted to lead a peaceful, normal life. I didn’t ask for this, my parents-- Wait. It’s all my parents’ fault! They forced me to come here, they’re the ones who keep making decisions for me! Well now they’ve done it! Eliisa raged silently. Eliisa pivoted her wings towards a blight monster and landed on it, talons digging into its back. She shifted back into a human (complete with clothes), formed part of her right arm into a sizable blade, and stabbed the beast. It let out a ear splitting screech and threw Eliisa off of it. She reverted her arm to normal, transformed the grass into pillows, and landed softly. The monster eyes her and lunged forward. Eliisa transfigured the pillows into long steel spikes that pointed towards the monster but shielded her. The monster got pierced by the many spikes and so its mouth couldn’t reach her. Blood splattered all over Eliisa, her pupils dilated and heart pounding furiously.
If I had been a second slower…I was too reckless. I shouldn’t have tried to kill it like that.
She scrambled to her feet as more blight monsters approached. I don’t think it’ll do any good to try to kill all of them--there’s too many. She shifted to a peregrine falcon and flew to the top of one of the trees and rested there, spent.

Spike waited a few more minutes, and before realizing it noticed two individuals walking towards him. As one of them brushed of some dirt, and as he noticed the eyes staring at him, he walked into the class room without paying any attention towards them. They would probably think he was some kind of freak, perhaps even worse, a hobo...
As Spike walked inside, he took a seat at the back of the class, to make asure he wasn't the center of attention. As he sat down, he just stared out the window, without paying much attention to others whom would walk inside the class.
As he could recall, he was mostly an outsider, always had been and probably always will be. He wasn't expecting them to like him, nor to be his friends, for he never had any friends for the past few years, let alone for the past few days.

Half an hour later, a teacher walked into the room and handed out pieces of paper to each student present in the room.
“Now pick a word and write it on the paper in front of you. And do try to be serious, this word will be the most important thing to you this year, other than perhaps your life.” Without even introducing himself he had already spoken and handed out a foolish piece of paper.
Perhaps this academy was different than he had imagined, although he still enjoyed being here somehow. Perhaps it was the atmosphere that surrounded this place, and perhaps it was the sensation one would gain from the island.
As Spike looked at the paper infront of him, he started biting his thumbnail, he couldn't think of a word, not even a single word popped in his mind.

As he started to bite harder in his thumb, a small wound was created, making blood drip onto the paper. Blood! That's it, why not! He was used to it, especially with what he had been trough, and it would be the perfect word!
As he wrote it down, his mind flashed back to that moment, within these mere seconds Spike wrote blood onto the entire paper, multiple times.
"Now say the word you just wrote out loud."
Spike glanced at the man for a moment, before grinning. He had snapped out of his memory and noticed his paper before mumbling the word. A strange sensation filled his body before a strange kind of pain filled his right arm. He wasn't sure what to expect from this, but sure as hell wasn't this!

"Now, I'm Mr. Brindley, and this is where things get interesting."
Just as he had said that, the light from the sun got blocked. Spike didn't knew what to expect, but before he knew it, the room was filled with strange runes. As a quick peek outside, Spike noticed the runes covered the entire schoolground. Was this what they called Blights?
Perhaps it was, and he heard about these, although he never expected them to be true!
Spike immedialty made asure he was safe, he had to get away from these runes before something bad would happen to him!

[Jace]
Immediately after Mr Brindley finished his sentence, the sky darkened as the floating island blocked the sun and seals began to appear everywhere.
Shit just hit the fan Jace thought as he started to brace for a fight.
Monsters started to appear from the seals and began to attack the students near by.
Jace quickly disassembled his desk with surprising ease and no tools and created a flimsy spear out of one of the legs in the same way.
This will have to do until I have some better materials to work with.
Jace quickly dispatched the monsters in the room, his weapon breaking just after one was killed.
That could be better.
Jace switched to simply using a chair into an instrument of blunt force trauma and knocked out another two monsters.

---

[Katie]
Just as Mr. West finished speaking, the sky began to darken and strange markings started to appear everywhere.
Okay.....I can...summon things now....umm....how about a.......ummm.... Katie thought, trying to figure out what to summon first.
Suddenly, monsters started to appear from the seals.
Okay, I need an eagle now Katie thought, suddenly focusing on not dying.
An eagle appeared from near Katie and attacked the nearest monster, distracting the monster from its intended prey. Okay, I can do this, I can do this Katie calmed herself, focusing on how help protect the class from dying. Alright, how about a wolf
A wolf materialized and started to help take out the same monster as the eagle. The monster died and the wolf and eagle came back to Katie and assumed positions to protect her from the rest of the monsters around her.
I don’t want push my luck any further right now, my new found friends might turn on me if I’m not careful.

Suddenly the sky darkened, and monsters began to appear from the ground. Already students were dying or fighting off the monsters. One of those beasts lunged at Alexander, and he jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding death. The monster landed and lunged again at him, and Alexander imagined the beast flying backwards. It did, and it was sent crashing through a window and onto the ground. Alexander sighed in relief. His power was a welcome asset, but he should probably get some allies. He didn't want to risk going solo.

Quickly scanning the room, he noticed a few people with interesting abilities. Making his way over to a girl with an eagle and wolf next to her, Alexander said, "Hey there, let's team up." Another beast lunged at Alexander, but Alexander used his word to launch a nearby desk straight up into the beast's body, making it crash onto the ceiling and leaving a rather large hole. "We might live longer if we do," Alexander continued.

[Katie]
As Katie stood by catching her breath, a boy had made his way over to her after he had thrown one of the monsters out a window.
"Hey there, let's team up." He said as another beast lunged at him, but the boy launched a nearby desk straight up into the beast's body, making it crash onto the ceiling and leaving a rather large hole. "We might live longer if we do," he continued.
“Makes sense to me.” Katie said as the wolf attacked a monster coming in from the left and the eagle attacked another monster approaching from behind.
Might as well try to make a few friends before big groups form and fight each other.
“I’m Katie by the way.” Katie told the boy.

[Nico]
One guy immediately stood up and shouted “Bind.” He sat down embarrassed.
Right, stay the hell away from that guy...period.Nico thought, curious as to why the boy had done what he did.
Mr. Magorian went around, checking everyone’s paper and admonishing one person for writing down ‘God’ and forcing her to change it into something else. He then gave further instructions, “Now that you’ve written it down, say it aloud and try testing your new power out. From here on out, you’ll be fighting for your life. You’ll either leave this place through graduation or in a body bag.”
Ah...no power until we say our word...Nico thought enthusiastically.
“Dragon.” Nico said quietly and with a great deal of certainty.
The paper immediately disintegrated and Nico felt a burning sensation at the top of his neck. He reached and barely felt the word burned into his skin. Nico then concentrated on trying to summon a dragon only to be interrupted when the sun was blocked by the floating island.
Seals and runs started appearing all over the place. Monsters started to rise up out of them and Nico immediately got up and focused on the task at hand.
The boy from earlier sealed the windows and doors shut with crisscrossing iron chains, bolted from floor to ceiling and started slaughtering monsters as they arose from the floor and walls. Loops of piano wire pulled by a few thick elastic bands sliced apart the creatures with ease.
“Students! My name is Gideon Vaughn, and I will protect you all! You can already see that my words are the truth. These repugnant monsters will not take any more of this class’s lives today. Now, I need to know everyone’s Words so I can figure out the best way to survive this ordeal.”
“What if I don’t want to listen to you, huh!?” An angry student calls out.
“Then don’t listen.” Gideon smiled and waved his fingers, prompting strips of duct tape to completely cover every inch of the student’s head except for his nose and mouth.
“He’ll be fine, he can breathe.” Gideon assures everyone, as the student began to peel the tape off of his face.
The hubris...he may have known a thing or two going into this place, but he clearly doesn’t realize that he preventing anyone from being useful.
Gideon started to work his way around the room, asking about people's words and lightly touched a person’s shoulder here and there.
So, he thinks he is the smartest in the room....well I just need an opening to make that true...
When Gideon got to Nico, Nico said “Grass.” and Gideon moved on to the next student, seemingly unimpressed.
Later on, Gideon asked for volunteers to help scout around, and immediately two people spoke up and followed him. One of the people he had touched on the shoulder was left to defend the room.
Now may be my only chance, time to see what I can do.
Nico focused intently and summoned a dragon about as long as his arm. He had the dragon cut a hole through one of the windows just large enough for Nico to climb through. After Nico managed to get through, the dragon followed and the two ran from the building.
Now, I’m going to need a few more dragons to work with until this all works out.
Nico summoned 2 more dragons and fought his way toward the track.
I wonder if I can transform into a dragon just like Sarkhan can...

[Kylie]

The natural light in the room suddenly blotted out as Mr. West told the students to fight. Kylie didn’t have time to figure out what caused that; she had her own problems to deal with. Throughout the classroom, strange seals appeared on the floor and glowed with malevolent light. Then, literally out of nowhere, giant, ugly monsters with jaws so big it’d give a dentist a heart attack. Hell, it almost gave Kylie a heart attack. Where had these creatures been summoned from?

She’d have to get her answers later. Mr. West had instructed them to fight, and all she knew was that was what she had to do then. With a quick glance around, Kylie saw other students already catching on to their word-based powers quickly. What could she do to defend herself?

Spirit, spirit… Okay, but, a cheer wouldn’t be very helpful right now!

Then, it clicked. Spirit! Like, like… An angel!

As soon as the idea came into her head, a beam of radiant light erupted from the ceiling. Whatever it led to, Kylie didn’t know. But out of the glittering luminescence came flying exactly what Kylie had envisioned in her head—an angel!

It looked kinda like a stereotypical angel. Tall, clad in white robes, wearing sandals, blonde hair… He came complete with a halo and wings, and was even wielding a sword! The being flew down head first then jumped down in front of Kylie just as a monster was beginning to charge.

“Stay behind me!” the angel ordered.

Kylie nodded and took a step back behind him and he began to slash at the monster. Kylie’s heart was racing as she watched what was happening unfold before her eyes. It was so hard to believe this was all real…!

The monster bellowed in anger and pain at the angel and raised its fist to attack. The angel saw his opening and stabbed its sword into the creature’s armpit. With a wailing groan it fell over onto its side. The angel withdrew its sword and jumped back towards Kylie.

Kylie pressed her knuckles to her lips nervously. Was there any way she could help out the angel? Then she remember what she was best at—cheering him on!

“What’s your name?” Kylie asked the angel quickly before another monster prepared to lunge at them.

“Ammiel!” the angel replied before raising his sword in defense. The nearby monster dashed forward with surprising speed given its grotesquely hunched back.

“Okay, go Ammiel!” Kylie shouted, raising up her hands like she had pompoms in them. “Kill the monsters; fight, fight, fight!” She focused on trying to instil the battling angel with the energy and the motivation to keep on fighting. Lo and behold, it appeared to work! Ammiel gained speed and precision with his blows. But how long would this madness last for? How long could Kylie keep this up?

[Alice and Naoi]

Alice noticed words appearing on other people’s bodies after they spoken their word. So that’s what is on my back!

Naoi experimented more with his power, coating the pointy side of the pencil with a thin layer of diamond and covering the middle part with a ring of ice. Naoi then imagined the ice floating in the air, which in turn lifted the pencil, and pictured throwing it towards the chalkboard. It sunk into it a decent amount, at the very least, enough to stick. If I could find someone with ‘metal’ then this would be deadly.

Alice heard a “thunk!” as Naoi’s pencil buried itself in the chalkboard.
“Wait, do we all have superpowers now? Does that make us superheroes? CAN I ACTUALLY FLY?!” she exclaimed, ignoring the look that Naoi gave her from across the room.
Turning to the student nearest to her, Alice requested, “Can you help me onto my feet?”
“Yeah, but are you sure this is okay?” the boy asked.
“Yup, can make sure I don’t fall over as well?”
“Okay,” the boy replied while helping her up.
Once Alice was steady, she shouted, “Wings!”
But nothing happened.
“What? Why didn’t anything happen?” questioned Alice, confused.
Ms. Robinson explained, “Try having a clear image in your mind when you do it again, okay?
“Alright. Wings!” Alice attempted again.
Pure white wings sprouted from Alice’s back, unfurling majestically. Some of the students stared at her in awe and Alice was just positively delighted. She tried flapping them once, and they created a small gust from the movement.
Nothing all too impressive, only allows her to fly, Naoi thought.
“I have wings! I can fly!” Alice said triumphantly as she started hovering from the ground.
Mom, Dad, this was the answer after all! Miracles really do happen here!

Seals abruptly began appearing from the ground and a student behind Alice screamed as a blight monster emerged from it.

“I get it now! This school makes us superheroes, and now we have to fight the evil monsters!” Alice exclaimed happily.

"Alexander," Alexander replied, sending another monster crashing into a wall. All in all, those who had survived up to now were doing quite well fending off the attacks. He and Katie were doing alright, obviously. A moment later, a bright light appeared on the ceiling, and an angel appeared in the room, fighting against the monsters. It seems that there were a lot more interesting people here than he thought. Well, he may as well do his part.

As a monster appeared from the ground nearby, Alexander forced it back down onto the ground. The impact left a decently wide crater, but the creature wasn't going to die that easily. However, as it tried to get back up, a few more impacts made sure it wouldn't try again.

Alexander turned to Katie and said, "Perhaps we should make some more friends, like the one with the angel." Not waiting for a reply, he raised his hand to wave and yelled to Kylie, "Hey there! You doing alright?" As yet another monster appeared in front of him, Alexander used the body of the monster he had brought down earlier to slam it against this new monster, forcing it out of the way.

[Ryika & Lauren]

Frowning at the look Lauren gave their classmate, Ryika squinted at Lauren before following Spike to the classroom. She took a seat right by the door. Lauren slid into the seat right behind her.

“Now pick a word and write it on the paper in front of you. And do try to be serious, this word will be the most important thing to you this year, other than perhaps your life.”

The teacher, Mr. Brindley, handed Ryika the slip of paper, on which she promptly wrote 'Bolt'. She spun around with the paper in her hand to show off to Lauren.

"So... What word are you going to write?"

"I don't know."

"Well make sure it's something useful, unlike the word... 'bees'?"

"I don't know what to write!"

"Just write SOMETHING, no ideas at all?"

*Remembers the guy told her to write Transmit* "Maybe?" *Embarrassed*

"Hmm, well better hurry up before the monsters get ya. :) Because I'm running once I get my word."

*sweat-drop* "Ugh I'm just gonna-" Lauren wrote "Transmit" down. What can I even do with it? He made it sound like it'd be useful. "A guy told me to write Transmit but I don't know how useful that'd be."

Ryika stroked her chin 'sagely' and said "You would... transmit things. Like people. Stuff. Monsters. Pretty nice."

"Transmit stuff?" Lauren's paper disintegrated and caused a burning sensation on her thigh.
"...T_T"

"Well... I'm going to... 'Bolt' out of here now." Ryika's paper poofed, imprinting the word above her right ankle. "Follow me, if you want to live."

Is she serious? -_- Lauren stared back at Ryika.

Ryika kicked her feet up on the desk and double-finger pistoled at Lauren, imagining two tiny bolts of electricity jumping from her fingers to Lauren. "To the track!"

"KYAH~!" Lauren yelped and flinched as she was shocked. She glared at Ryika and then glanced at her chair, imagining it appearing a foot to the zappy girl's left.

"FUEEEEEEEE~!" *Thud* Ryika fell backward onto her back. She rolled to the door in pain and crawled out, much to the confusion of Mr. Brindley.

Ryika shouted back at Lauren "No really, come to the track! It'll be much safer!" Ryika imagined bolting to the track, increasing her speed to a level much higher than her norm.

Desperate to keep her only friend at the school in sight, Lauren ran after the apparently insanely fit Olympian sprinter. "How... huff huff... is she so FAST?!" On her hands and knees catching her breath, Lauren watched as Ryika grew smaller and smaller. But I'll still beat her there hehe Closing her eyes, Lauren pictured the track she passed entering the school and herself standing on it. When she opened her eyes, she was there, the cool air of the hall replaced by a gentle breeze and warm sunshine.

Ryika continued along the path to the track, and not before long, the seals started to appear, with the monsters spawning from them afterwards. It was not long before the track was in sight, and much to her surprise, Lauren was already standing in the middle. Ryika smiled at her friend's success in using her word.

*Trip* Missing the seal on the ground spawning a monster, Ryika fliped forward from catching her foot on the rising teeth of the monster.

"Pwaaah~!" Ryika skids across the ground in front of Lauren.

"..."
"What took you so long?" Lauren inquired levelly, smirking slightly as she stood over the prone girl.

"Rude." Ryika sat up and stared at the slowly rising monster. "Bolt!" Ryika used another meaning of the word, this time creating a crossbow bolt above, shooting into the monster.

*Thunk* The bolt barely affected the monster, which only paused for a moment.

A heavy, menacing growl alerted Lauren to the presence of a second monster coming from behind her. As it ran at her, Lauren Transmitted the monster a good twenty meters away. A distant *CRACK* resounded moment later as the monster chomped on thin air. Disoriented, it spun around looking for its prey before it focused back on Lauren. When it grew close, she sent it away again. This sad exchange continued for a while, with Lauren standing bored, arms crossed.
“Can’t you shock them or something?” She asks, irritated. Lauren was so bored, she was trying out having the monster land on its head after being moved.

Ryika huffed at Lauren’s challenge and stood up. The first monster was now approaching her, mouth wide open. “Gross.” She stepped back next to Lauren before creating three lightning bolts in rapid succession to strike the monster. Her word reduced the monster to a charred mass, along with the swath of track it was standing on.

“See this is useful! A monster could have eaten you out of a wall if we didn’t come out here!” Ryika flaunted her handbook in front of Lauren.

“It’s written in crayon.” Lauren ends up moving the monster 30 feet in the air. It makes a squishing sound as it bounces once.

Ryika gasped as she saw Lauren move the creature up in the air. “Wow. Who suggested this word to you again?” Ryika shot off three crossbow bolts towards it as it fell. All missed by at least 20 feet.

“Just some guy.” That said I was pretty. *BLUSH*

---

[Marcus]

Marcus, in the process of throwing a monster as far as he could down the track, feels a weight hit him in the back of the head. “What the-” He turns around to see two more crossbow bolts coming at him. He turns back around and lifts up another monster corpse. This one’ll go even farther! *muted thuds*

---

[Ryika and Lauren]

“OH MY GOD, I THINK I HIT SOMETHING DOWN FIELD.” Ryika screamed, pointing toward a group of monster around a hulking beast lifting another monster up.

Lauren holds her hand over her eyes as she peers down the track. “That’s an odd looking monster.”

“My parents never wrote anything like that in the handbook…” Ryika mused.

“It doesn’t look like it likes the other monsters though.” They watched as a white monster is flung into the air, faintly trailing blood.

“Wow, I wonder why they’re fighting.” Ryika glanced around at the rest of the track. Several other students were around it, either running from monsters or combatting them. Even more were scrambling around the buildings of the school complex.

Lauren glances at Ryika. She’s going to suggest a really stupid reason, I just know it. Like a family feud or something.

“What if like, they got into an argument about who got to eat which students, and they couldn’t agree on who got who” Ryika suggested.

Lauren facepalms. Why. Just, why.

“Do you have a watch? This is only suppose to last 30 minutes. Not that many monsters are coming towards us instead of that… other monster there.” Ryika questioned while staring at Lauren’s wrists.

“Do you see a watch?” Lauren was still facepalming.

“You might have a pocket watch. Is your face okay? You’re touching it often.”

“It hurts.” When I think about how dumb you are.

“Oh… Do you need a hug?” Ryika moved up in front of Lauren.

“Lauren glanced past her palm to look at Ryika. “No.”

“Kay, feel better soon! Maybe we can go to a nurse later. :)” Ryika smiled brightly at her own suggestion.

Lauren brings her remaining palm to her face. “...sure.”

[Katie]
Katie followed Alexander, with her wolf and eagle flanking her, and watched as a girl hid behind a desk, cheering on an angel who was tearing through the monsters.
Well then, someone has an interesting word Katie thought, curious as to what the girl’s word was.
Alexander called out to the girl and Katie turned to make sure nothing snuck up on them from behind. The wolf attacked a monster while the eagle struck a second monster.
I wonder how long this...eclipse...fight....thing is gonna be
A third monster approached, causing Katie to panic.
I need another wolf A wolf appeared and attacked the monster.

[Nico]
As he approached the track, Nico noticed a pair of students about 50 yards away as well as a massive white behemoth fighting off several monsters at once on the track.
Hm, probably a student...maybe a rogue monster....definitely not where I want to be
Nico immediately turned around when he heard several monsters approaching.
The three dragons that Nico had summoned each attacked a monster each, but there were still two more unengaged.
Well, this is going to be very risky
Nico started to concentrate and imagined a dragon that was approximately the same size as himself. After about 30 seconds, the dragon appeared and attacked both monsters with fire and claw. Nico crouched down and observed the dragons to make sure they didn’t die to the monsters.
And it’s a good thing I didn’t pick a stupid word like grass...I wonder what Gideon...wait he was the one who shouted Bind.....Okay, definitely stay away from him...I don’t want be on the wrong end of him controlling me...
Nico suppressed a shudder at the idea of being slave to anyone.

Kylie inhaled to chant another cheer for Ammiel, whose presence she was really beginning to appreciate now. Kylie didn’t want to look, but she knew, just from the sheer fact that the amount of noise and commotion was decreasing, that some students surely must have… not made it. The very thought chilled her to the bone, but she kept her gaze on Ammiel and remained aware of her surroundings in case anything snuck up on her.

A voice calling out to her pulled her out of her small trance. It didn’t belong to Ammiel, who was still fighting vigorously. It coming from… It looked like another student, a boy, who was standing near another girl, who Kylie assumed was also a student. They seemed to be faring well amidst the chaos. The girl seemed to have summoning capabilities. The boy, on the other hand, she couldn’t tell what exactly his powers were. He seemed to be able to apply forces on objects without touching them. Interesting.

"Hey there! You doing alright?” he called out to her, waving his hand.

“Just dandy!” she called back, but she suddenly shrieked when some juice coming from a monster Ammiel just slashed at splattered on her exposed legs. Thankfully none landed on her actual clothing.

“Gross…” she squealed, looking down at her legs. She didn’t dare touch the dark liquid.

“Duck!” Ammiel bellowed. Kylie looked up with a gasp and did as she was told. Ammiel dived over her head and impaled a monster right above the jaw that had been standing right behind her, about to smack her with a powerful punch.

“Oh God,” she whispered to herself, her heart pounding out of her chest. Ammiel pulled his sword out and thrust the monster to the side with its hilt. “That was close.”

Spike stared at one of the runes that had appeared in the classroom, and before he could even imagine what came out of it, a beast began to crawl up. It almost seemed like a dream, but before Spike could do anything the beast launched itself towards him.
With a jump to the side, Spike evaded its attack just in time and felt a strange sensation. He could feel every single ounch of blood in the beast his veins, somehow he could predict its attacks and even feel how and when he would attack.
As the beast launched itself towards Spike again, he jumped away from it again but this time he was right on time.
As the blood from his thumb started to drip over the floor, Spike could feel it laying on the ground. Was this his new power? Blood? Was that why they had to write down a word? To use it as a weapon against these things?

Spike grinned for a moment, before he started to control the blood that had been dripping from his thumb, within seconds blooddrops circled around him, almost like small orbs.
As the beast launched itself towards him again, he shot it down with multiple blood bullets. As they pierced trough the beast he smiled, the blood that the beast now was losing, immediatly became Spike's new weapon. As he started to drain the beast his blood, a rune appeared underneath him.
The moment teeth started to arise from it, Spike immediatly used the blood to create an escape for him, by pushing himself away.

As the rest of the beast followed, Spike made asure he could escape the class room, as he smashed the window, he jumped out without looking back to see what would happen to the rest of his class.
As he made his way across the schoolgrounds, he made asure his new found weapon wouldn't go to waste and surrounding his right arm with it, hardening it for later use.
Spike glanced around and grinned, most students would be covered in dirt by now, or even covered in their own blood. He wouldn't be the only dirty guy anymore.

Spike had to find a way to get himself to a safe place, and yet all he could see were different runes all over the schoolgrounds. Was this the true meaning of this school? To give us powers and then kill us? Or was this to see how good one would act in dangerous times?

[Naoi]

“I get it now! This school makes us superheroes, and now we have to fight the evil monsters!” Alice exclaimed happily.

I can’t. I can’t even.
When she had that accident, did something hit her in the head as well?
…
She got hit in the head I bet.

Naoi lets out an exasperated sigh, Normally I don’t show this much emotion but this Alice aggravates me to no end for some reason. Anyhow… I should act now.

As the blight monster lunged towards a poor student, Naoi created several ice spikes and speared it. The blight monster let out a pained screech, shuddered, and then collapsed, dead.
“Everyone, keep calm and stay near me! I can protect you guys! If you run off, I can’t guarantee you’ll keep your lives,” Naoi instructed urgently.
Students clamored to get close to him and he materialized a floating ice platform so he could see over their heads. More seals kept appearing on the ground and Naoi freezed the blood in the monsters’ veins, instantly killing the abominations. For additional protection, he made thick walls of ice appear to shield the students from monsters. Naoi smiled, this was what he had trained and prepared for. He created a handful of vanilla and chocolate mochi ice cream and snacked on them while rapidly imagining one ice construct after another. Feels so satisfying to be able to display this level of skill in something. He noticed a monster leap towards Alice, but he ignored it. Cripples should not have gone here in the first place. Alice barely swerved in the air in time to dodge it.
“What did you do with your promise to protect everyone, huh? What kind of superhero are you??” Alice shouted, barely controlling her rage.
Slicing a monster in two with a diamond blade, Naoi stared at her evenly, “You’re not part of it. You would drag everyone down with your liability.”
“Just when I thought you might be an okay person, you proved me wrong! I’m leaving!” Alice yelled, tears threatening to well up in her eyes.
“Leave then,” Naoi stated callously, while using a large chunk of ice to shatter a nearby window so she could leave.
Naoi focused his attention back to protecting the class, slaying monsters left and right.

[Alice]

Wow, Naoi is something. Killing all those monsters like it was nothing. He could be one of the best superheroes with that! Maybe he isn’t all so bad.
When the blight had started, Alice immediately used her wings to fly as high as she could go in the classroom. It wasn’t much, but it allowed her to see seals on the ground easily and dodge the monsters that spawned from them. But when a monster leaped at her from the chalkboard and she narrowly dodged it, fury welled up in her. He knew that it was coming for me too! He was staring right at me when it happened!
She exploded and berated Naoi for not doing anything. Why does he hate me so much?
When Naoi said “Leave then,” Alice’s heart felt like it was being squeezed.
“So you’re going to blame me for something I had no control of?? How long and hard do you think that my parents and I have been looking for a cure?!” Alice screamed at him.
But he simply gave her the cold shoulder.
“Who else agrees with me and wants to come with me instead of staying here with him?” Alice asked, looking at all the faces around her.
“But Alice, even if we went with you, could you protect us? Your word only allows you to have wings and fly. If we stay here, at least we get to live,” one student piped up.
“Yeah, and it’s not about who’s right or wrong in this scenario, we just want to survive,” another student added.
Out of sheer frustration, grief and anger-- Alice punched the chalkboard as hard as she could and then used the broken window to fly outside. However, she exited the window sloppily and was scraped up slightly by the jagged edges of the broken glass.
She flew higher and higher, until she had a good idea of the campus layout. Spying a lot of activity on the track field, Alice decided to check things out. The knuckles on her right hand throbbed with pain, swollen and bruised.
When Alice was hovering above the track field, she saw that a huge clump of monsters surrounded one giant, blood covered person, while two smaller, normal sized people stood off to the side chattering away. She decided to introduce herself to them and yelled, “Hey, my name is Alice, I have the word ‘wings’! Who are you two?”
Hopefully they’ll be nicer.