---

---

Even though the environment in which the other two team would compete suggested to be far more restricted and controlled than the open field she had been previously, Angélique felt this game would go downhill quite fast just by looking at how one of the “healers” was sacking the whole place before the two teams even got to the playing field. She frowned at this sight of recklessness, but her gaze switched back and forth between the monitors and the profile sheets she had scattered on her bunk and had started scribbling on Gregory’s sheet, muttering "Holy shit, he sure doesn't want to make it easy for them to find him... such a reckless guy"

During preparation time, Angel however stared intently at the screens, analyzing everyone’s actions and reactions, their faces, their expressions, the way they were interacting with each other. It was impossible to hear what every member of each team was saying. If this really was a game simulating some sort of fighting situation, then the X-marked Canadian wanted to know who seemed to be the one taking charge, find potential leaders and who looked like to be the less complying ones. From such a simple game, there was actually interesting data she believed she could gather on her classmates.

Angel had however stopped writing notes on her personal profile sheets as soon as the battle had really started. The first real encounter got a little too intense. Gregory started jabbing a lamp post and even threw the toilet at Team 3. Then, there were Hazel breaking Gregory’s legs just after Zoe pinned the guy to the ground. Despite Emma’s intervention, the whole game just went straight to hell as Hazel decided it was a good idea to try and slice the roof apart. That raw amount of power surprised Angel greatly. How did they have so much trouble dealing with those monsters back then with such a powerful person as their classmate? Then shortly after came the part about Zoe melting her hostage’s face off as he seemed uncooperative. That part alone was enough to make the spectating Aberration jerk up from her bunk bed, turning her head sideways as to evade the grim sight of flesh rotting all the way to the bone.

“Oh my fucking god! What the fucking hell are they doing to him?” Angel groaned in frustration fueled by sickness. She never was one who liked seeing this kind of graphic violence. She actually wasn’t a fan of horror movies, especially the bloody and gory ones.

She pushed a sigh of relief as when her sight returned to the monitors, Zoe was knocked out aside Gregory’s unconscious body. Dear god, was he dead? What did she miss? How did the red-haired girl end up out cold?

Her head turned to the jerk who had been monitoring this fight very closely. She had half a mind to get up and start yelling at Fredric, but judging from his looks and words, he seemed rather surprised himself and keen on keeping the situation under control. Whatever he was doing over there, Angel judged the whole situation to be poorly handled. Still, if he was actively trying to keep this mess from getting worse, then she could just stay put and continue watching the events unfolding, hoping no more of this bullshit would occur.

And what a fool’s hope it was. As it seemed, most of Team 4 fell from the roof. Fortunately, Emma’s creation was able to lift her off and avoid a deadly fall, but Ernest and Savannah weren’t that lucky. Angel’s leg trembled nervously as both fell down a floor or two. Her teeth chattered “Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit”, thinking both died from the fall. Surprisingly, both got up unharmed, brushing off the fall as if they had just tripped. Was that Ernest’s power? She thought for sure his power was being able to manifest a rope, not become invulnerable.

She sighed in relief at their welfare, but soon frowned once more as she witnessed Brent backstabbing Hazel with an aerial assault, bringing the handle of his machete onto the girl’s skull. As a result, the jackass quivered violently and fell unconscious as well, next to Hazel. Now Angélique knew what had happened to Zoe. It would have seemed any lethal actions they were warned against resulted in a shock being sent from the cuff strapped onto everyone’s ankle. Thinking about just what kind of control USARILN had over the students simply by tazing them out whenever they felt like it, the raven-haired X-marked in the observatory room felt only angrier by this thought.

“The fuck is this bullshit?” Angel threw her arms up in frustration, looking much like an angry spectator watching her hockey team losing the game in front of a monitor.

The rest of the game, Angélique just kept on frowning and swearing at every little quirks that happened. The breaking point however was when Emma took hold of Allison with her bulky golem and Ernest stabbed the defenseless girl in the eye with a broken and jagged table leg. At the sight of her friend just dropping to the floor in pain, Angel shot up from her seat and yelled “What the fuck is wrong with these people!?”

By then, if it wasn’t for the fact that she would get tazed for even trying to leave the room in this state, she’d just go down there and shout at everyone ‘till their eardrums give out and make them go all unable to fight, unconscious even.

The ever-growing ball of fury that Angélique was becoming shot out a glare at Fredric, half-minding to shout his sorry ass into stopping the game. But seeing as he was growing restless too over the phone, no doubt at Daisy judging from calling her name out more than a few times, Angel abstained herself from doing so. She was causing enough of a commotion as it was now, no need for everyone here to witness one of their own being tazed outside the game for becoming too restless.

With clenched teeth, the young Canadian woman let herself fall back onto the bunk bed, sitting against the wall. Fortunately, that was the last of the gruesome actions that was taken. Hazel quickly dealt with the rest of the game by slapping Emma and Savannah into submission quickly after Ernest fell unconscious for his lethal decision.

When the game was over, an evaluation sheet and a pen were given to everyone, Angel included.

“What the fuck?”

Calling this a game was a complete joke, an utter lack of sensitivity to the victims of this brutal fight. Feeling such, Angélique was disgusted by this blatant lack of care, and simply crumpled the evaluation sheet between her two hands.

“You can put your fucking sheet up where I’m thinking.”

Angel called out as she threw the crumpled ball of paper at Fredric’s general direction. Her reactions throughout the game said it all. It was not even worthy of noting what needed improving. It was worthless to point this out if they were all lacking self-control by this point. That was something that everyone here would need to achieve first before even considering about improving their strategy or abilities.

Of course, Angel didn’t want to actually transmit her thoughts to be read by USARILN, and probably the other teams weren’t dumb enough to figure out what went wrong in the first place. Hell, probably even the others were thinking the same as she did and would put it into their own evaluation sheet. Until it would be time to leave Ground Zero, Angel returned to her profile sheets, scribbling down what she truly felt about what she had witnessed, for her eyes only.

---

Slowly regaining consciousness, Zoe began to stir. She half-opened her eyes, glancing sleepily around the room, over the footage playing on the screens, trying to figure out where they were. Nothing really seemed to hurt, and the others from their fight were all here anyway, so maybe some sort of-

It took a moment to realise what was going on as she took in the sight around her.

Here again. Standing on the surface.

It was different this time. It felt different. The ocean was shifting ever so slightly, just enough to feel like something had changed.

But she reached down again, like she always did.

It wasn't a drop this time - it was a surge of power that flowed into her, more than it had ever been before. And with it, even more of that wrongness the others had brought. Danger.

Blue eyes took in the ocean around her, watching as two of the waves collided and sent a shock running through her - the last remnants of something that was far too much for her to understand.

And all of a sudden she was back to reality. Lying on a bed in a room full of screens. This must've been where they took her after she'd...

Her expression darkened and she lifted her hand, looking at it. There had been blood, a lot of blood, and not hers. But the idea didn't freak her out like it should have. She'd gotten carried away, but the worst thing she felt looking at it, was disappointment. The rest of what she felt? It wasn't disgust, horror, wasn't even resignation.

If anything, it was satisfaction. She could remember what she'd done vividly, crystal clear, and it felt like a rush. That wasn't how she was meant to feel, was it? But he'd pushed her- She'd tried to warn him, knew how it would turn out if he didn't just stay down. She'd known what she would do to him, and she'd tried to warn him, but not tried as hard as she could have. The staff knew what her powers did as well, and knew she had no business turning that on her teammates. But at the end of the day, they weren't responsible, and she was never very good at lying to herself.

Snapped again, didn't I? First Aaron, now Gregory. Just keeps on happening.

Cold anger bubbled to the surface, but she shook her head. It wasn't time to deal with this right now, she couldn't confront any of it until the others weren't there to see. Outwardly, she appeared to relax, a lazy smile appearing on her face. Like nothing was bothering her at all, like she hadn't done anything to worry about and hadn't been half-covered in someone else's blood. Although she wasn't a particularly great actor, and it was clear something was bothering her - or at least it would be if anyone looked closely enough to check.

Stretching, she stood up, and was halfway to the bathroom when she realised what she was wearing. Somehow she didn't think she was getting her clothes back either. It wasn't really the right thing to focus on, but it made a good distraction from thinking about her actions in the fight. Keeping her composure right now meant thinking about something else, even if it was pointless.

Especially when she remembered that everyone else in the room could also see the recordings. She paused halfway across the room, watching the screens to see what went on after she got knocked out, as well as to confirm her suspicions. Suspicions that seemed to be right on the money, because she was definitely naked for several minutes of that recording. Great. She'd melted half someone's face off and then spent the rest of the fight being thrown around with no clothes on.

Not really how I wanted to make an impression.

She could only imagine what the others thought of her after this. Nothing good, that was for sure. Hopefully they'd be allowed back to their rooms soon, because it was a lot more effort to keep this up than she'd expected. She wasn't even sure what putting on an act was achieving at this point, other than making her look more unhinged than she already did. Which almost felt like an achievement in itself at this point.

But maybe that was why she was doing it. It wasn't exactly like she could explain her actions to them, 'cause she doubted any of them saw things the same way she did. So what other option was there? Sure, she could blame it on her Stigma if she wanted, but... well, knowing what went on in her head would never make any of them comfortable around her either. No, the best thing she could do right now was sit back, smile, and pretend nothing was bothering her. Everything else could wait until she was out of here.

Not even too long after the match had started between the two teams on screen, Grant had slumped back against his chair, asleep with the only sound coming from him being calm, light snores. Luckily for him, he wouldn’t be awake to watch the events of the match unfold live. The absolute carnage and merciless fight between the two groups of classmates. It had to be some kind of miracle that Grant hadn’t been woken up for most of the fight, and only when it was mostly over did consciousness finally return to him.

With a small groan escaping his mouth, Grant’s eyes blinked open to the sight of the replays playing over and over on the screens. He blinked and blinked while his mind continued to chug along from the lingering sleepiness. He only saw the leftovers of what was the brutalities that had occurred amongst his fellow Subnaturals. He felt... he didn’t know what he felt. Sickened? Shocked? He had just woken up and was greeted with the reality of his classmates. And even his new roommate. Even then, only tiredness graced his face. He looked down at the blank evaluation sheet that laid in front of him. Right. He still had to write.

A yawn left him after a few moments of staring at the paper before he picked up the pencil loosely in his hand and brought it down, pressing the tip to the sheet lazily.

General Thoughts:

Fell asleep. Seemed violent. Really violent. Not really a good thing when up against each other. Seemed unnecessary against each other. Up against monsters, maybe justified, but these are our own classmates.

Suggested Improvements:

Try not to kill each other next time when it’s just a game.

Considering all that Grant saw was the violence after, he couldn’t really give any good advice about how to do better. Not like he would have much advice in the first place. Another yawn left before a chain emerged from behind him and made contact with the paper and he let his chain bring the paper over to Frederic for him as he just slumped back against his seat, dropping the pencil back where it was, letting it roll for a bit.

Hazel's blow didn't knock Emma unconscious, but she didn't get up. Beaten, bruised, naked on the ground, abandoned by the thing that she thought would keep her safe in this world. She feebly tried to cover herself, but she was sure that the spectator's were getting an eyeful. A more familiar feeling than she would care to admit. When the guards came to clean up she accepted the clothing, but was otherwise despondent. She just wanted to...

Rest. A long rest.

Christmas had healed her wounds, but the worst of it wasn't superficial. After shimmying into the decidedly unflattering pajamas she let herself be taken away on a stretcher. She wasn't exactly unconscious, but she sure looked the part. She let herself slip into an uneasy sleep as she was carried towards the observation room.



Emma awoke beneath an unfamiliar ceiling. She looked around. She was in the observation room, surrounded by the others, 'highlights' playing on the monitor before them. She glanced at the others, particularly at Hazel, but decided not to engage anyone. She didn't want to speak to most of them right now... maybe not ever, but she doubted that she'd be able to get away with pulling the silent treatment on her classmates. Instead she choose to lay back down. Thing had gotten violent. Too violent, she knew. At least no one seemed to be permanently injured, but... well, she had no doubt there would be trust issues the next time they had to fight. How did things go so bad? The other team mixed it up but no one got stabbed in the face.

Emma, it seemed, was left with a myriad of questions.

The ocean of words encapsulated himself once more, and he knew that he had lost.

That this was undeserved.

But it still fell, more and more droplets sinking into his skin, his flesh, his organs, his bones, permeating every inch of his meat, as his silver blood carried this new stimulation into the wrinkles of his brain. New ideas were forming, indecipherable, meaningless. It oozed in, at its own apathetic pace, manifesting into yet another word.

The third gift from that sea of nonsense, from the generous vastness that cared not for his own will.

Overtime.

Would he ever grow stronger from winning?

---

He opened his eyes, confirming a result he was already aware of.

No, his power, his connection with Dreamcatcher, didn’t work that way, did it? It was powered by failures only. Failures that emerged even with the best of his efforts. So much planning, so much discussion, so many years spent forging his body and his mind, only for it all to be nullified by what? People whose powers gave them such strength that he’d never get close even if he pumped himself full of steroids. People who could wield a nigh infinite amount of powers just because they had ‘one’.

And then, this juggernaut of a human, capable of shredding buildings with her manifestations, even after receiving such a blow on her head. Telekinesis that could both move and completely erase matter? As well as transform into a variety of other objects, while still maintaining fine enough control that one could go from airlifting their allies quickly and quietly to crushing someone’s legs into powder?

Ah, hilarious.

With a power like that, how did he even get a sneak attack off on Hazel? What a badass. A matter destruction power like that would probably even be a match for Shane, wouldn’t it? First create a dome of that telekinetic force around her to make a nigh-impenetrable shield. Then launch attacks within to create a super mobile, super destructive tank. Maybe he was underestimating the pink-haired badass, but on the other hand…powers didn’t care for titles like ‘East’s Strongest Arbiter’.

Shane, after all, couldn’t put a scratch on the absolute invulnerability of the bloodsucker.

Perhaps he was underestimating the man though. Perhaps he was overestimating the woman though. Perhaps he was just wallowing in some strange sort of self-pity. Perhaps he should stop.

On the big screen, Hazel rose up once more, before launching herself downwards, taking down Emma instantly.

Ah, what a bad-fucking-ass. Both a terrible power and an unwavering determination, all accompanied by a stone-cold, expressionless face. He knew now that she was also the one that cleanly cut through the roof, the one that instantly destroyed all of Emma’s tulpas, the one that caused practically all the mass destruction in this fight. It had been team 4 against Hazel, and Hazel had won. Incredible! Between like and dislike, Brent figured that he liked that.

Yeah, he was going to focus on what he liked, and ignored everything else that stewed within.

Hazel’s power, her pragmatism, and her tenacity. Like.

Emma not folding over completely until all was lost. Like.

Gregory’s booby trapping, regardless of how useless. Like.

Zoe’s singular, perhaps unnecessary, save of Hazel. Like.

Sophia not getting hurt at all in this. Like.

Ernie’s rope trick. Like.

The fact that they went into this with high spirits. Like.

Brent let a deep breath hiss out from his teeth, before rolling off the cot he was in. His body was fine too. No aftereffects of getting tazed at all. Another thing to like: Christmas’s healing ability. Yeah, there was nothing to be angry or disappointed at, right? There were so many likeable things about this Flag-and-Seek match! Team 4 lost cleanly against a single individual! Switch Hazel out with someone like Marcus and things would have been way closer! It was really just the administration’s fault for tossing a heavyweight into a group of lightweights.

It was so fucking fun, making excuses when he knew that it was all his fault! When everything fell apart because he didn’t have the techniques ready to knock someone out without threatening literal death! When his power was so fucking useless in all these situations because he didn’t have the tools beforehand to do so! When he fucked up in the very beginning, or when he got everyone thinking that this would be a simple fight! When he didn’t fully consider every single possibility, or equip his allies with strategies in case he got knocked out early! When he didn’t even even even e-

“Hey, Lawrence, right?” he called, a smile on his face, “Name’s Brent. Mind handing my stuff back? Machete, gun, and phone. Don’t think there’s anything left of my pants though. Pretty interesting move, by the way, using that in place of rope. Where did you learn that from?”
@Snagglepuss89

Jesus Christ Was Chris's first thought when the match came to an end. Was it the students that were the problem for enacting such violence, or was it the administration for allowing it? Hell someone could have died. How can we fight monsters on the behalf of humanity if they get us to kill each other first?

Chris didn't spend too much time on his given sheet.

General Thoughts

Fuck, and I thought I did terrible. The hell kind of first mission was this? Granted its just as much the fault of the players as the administration itself. I did pretty shit in my match, not gonna lie. Probably could have killed someone too from transforming. But this, Jesus...We had someone try to melt someone's face, and who would have thought a closed off enviorment would be subject to collapse and threaten to crush the students with magic bullshit? I mean I know that they didn't have as many destructive guys like my match had...but..

Suggestions

Well for the students. Lets try to avoid fatalities next time. Hell I'm probably never going to transform again in a match like this. For them, of course, I know winning is ideal and all but that isn't worth murder.

As for the authority that makes this shit....Well, next time lets perhaps try to do less violent things? I know you guys have collars to stop someone if they go too far, but a race based game every now and then never hurted anyone I hope.

When he submitted his form, Chris returned to finish his snacks he left for himself. Something about the way everyone behaved, so eager to look out more to themselves then others as if from instinct. It reminded him of himself..It brought up unpleasant memories. Chris tried to avoid the thought, just as he always have been doing. He distracted himself with food, and later, a shower.

A few minutes of watching what she'd missed in the match was more than enough to tell Siena that she should have stayed out on the field--for the safety of the opposing team as much as her own. Between Kusari, Angel, Chris, and the two-on-one showdown with Sander and Grant against Callan, the brunette became painfully aware that she could have maintained damage control, if nothing else, had she stayed with the rest of her team. There was an internal grimace hidden by a shallow sip of her carbonated beverage, though even the reaction felt like it was being pushed through an opening too small for it.

'Serena was a mistake.'

She took another sip as the next round began to unfold, a dull buzz filling her head as a thousand thoughts tried to scramble to the surface.

If the first match had been brutal, then the next one was absolute hell. In less than ten minutes, Siena bore witness to a number of events that she was acutely aware shouldn't have been happening in a game of flag football. What little the brunette knew about the actual sport had never covered borderline mauling the opposing team. Perhaps she was the one that had taken too passive an approach to the entire situation if this was what was expected of them. Steely eyes sharpened their focus on one event after another.

Assault.

Pain.

Desperation.

'Were we supposed to attack each other like this?' Certainly, it had been combat training, but the bookworm had assumed that there were limits to how far one could go with a training exercise. She'd also assumed that her fellow classmates knew better than to cripple each other, given that they were supposed to be capable of working as a team if her second day at USARILN East was any indication of what her life would be like. Her mind once again set off alarms at the calculating cool that swept over her emotions despite the slightly furrowed brow and delicate frown painted on her face. She should have felt worse. The girl stole a surreptitious glance at Chris, only to find that with her attention torn from the screens that much of the room was filled with a sense of tension.

By the time the match ended and the evaluation sheets were distributed, Siena could tell that what they had witnessed was not what anyone had been expecting. A faint sense of relief blossomed in the pit of her stomach. Subtle, but noticeable. She didn't let the emotion break the concerned mask, instead sending her gaze at the blank sheet before her.

Careful.

General Thoughts

I'm not sure that we were supposed to use so much violence against each other in this.

Team 3 had a pretty big reliance on Hazel to get most of the work done. There was also a lot of collateral damage involved in that entire fight. That might be fine now, but what if we're in a place with other people? Or...if that collateral damage had hurt your own team, I suppose. There were also a lot of reckless maneuvers on both sides. Probably okay for this situation since we weren't supposed to try and kill each other, but I don't think most of those moves would have been a good idea against actual monsters. Brent almost died climbing up the building. If team 4 had anyone faster than Hazel's launch, team 3 would have had to deal with recovering from it before they could deal with someone that might have been able to teleport or move faster than they could.

Also...isn't this kind of thing exactly why people are afraid of subnaturals?

Suggestions

I think consideration for each other is my main concern. I'm sure that at least part of this exercise was to demonstrate our own self control, and there wasn't very much of it shown in the match. These were people that you were fighting against, not monsters...I'm not entirely sure I could trust that everyone knew the difference.

Setting her pen down, Siena stood to submit her form, her mind still alight with a disturbingly keen interest in what she'd just witnessed. Were her classmates really so capable of hurting each other? Had she been in that particular match, the brunette was certain that her less-than-aggressive stance on the match would have been met with a violent display and her blood spilling somewhere on the field. Admitting to herself that there might be a need to set aside her qualms on harming her classmates was easier than Siena would have liked. By the time she returned to her seat, the idea had planted itself firmly into place. If anyone ever came at her, she had to be willing to defend herself.

The realization should have felt worse than it did.

She took another sip of her drink.

---

---

Lily stared at the screens as she absentmindedly bit into the donut in her hand, what happened with Christmas earlier completely forgotten. She focused her attention on Teams 3 and 4 as directed but didn't really understand the need for these "games" ...If you can actually call them games.

First of all, most of the students hadn't gotten to know each other well enough to work together effectively as a team. Especially me... Since I haven't made any effort to actually get to know anyone yet. The few that I know probably don't even like me all that much... She thought about her team mates from the real battle they had been in. Marcus. No. Probably hates me for throwing that grenade at him. Grant. We didn't really interact all that much...if at all. Callan. She waited for me to wake up in the hospital but she was just probably trying to be nice. Siena. Lily perked up a bit. She's fun.. And of course, some of the students that weren't on her team but at least interacted with her. Emma. Hmmm... She seems nice. Maybe I should try to talk to her more. Angelique. She remembered her comforting hand on her shoulder in the hospital. And that sincere thank you. Maybe I should make an effort to get to know her too. She made mental notes on who she wanted to talk to later on... something that she'll probably forget before the minute was up.

Her thoughts drifted to what had happened earlier. She wondered what would have happened if it wasn't Siena that found her. She probably would have run away or hide or something. As she continued watching what was happening on the screen, she noted the the teams at least made an effort to work together.

Why is their golden snitch thrashing the house? Ugh...It'll be hard to move around in all that junk...

Secondly, the whole thing did not fit into the games category. Games are supposed to be fun. What kind of game allows people to hurt each other? She again thought back to the recently concluded round she had participated in. She hadn't been hurt and had actually enjoyed the whole thing but she hadn't been in the midst of the fighting like most of her classmates were. A lot of them got hurt. Definitely not a game...

She stopped chewing and stared at the screen -- at the violence it showcased. Legs were broken, part of the building was cleaved off, a face melted, a head was bashed in, an eye was stabbed by a broken off table leg... Her thoughts shifted back again to the last real battle she was in, to the pain she felt when the grenade shrapnel hit her eye and then later on by a fish scale. The memory of the pain and the sight of people trying and successfully hurting each other made her stigma flare back up. Her heart began beating fast as that familiar urge to destroy and hurt came back. The voices in her head began whispering again.

Her eyes remained on the most violent of the students and the injuries that were dished out. She almost wished she was with this group. And suddenly she resented what had been her role in the previous round. She had been useless. Her powers would have allowed her to take and give. Give and take. Take and give. She didn't care much about the pain that she would receive but she craved the pain and the suffering that she could give. She knew that it would calm the voices and settle her unstable mind.

"Well, then, that was an exciting round! Let me make it official while you guys fill out the evaluation sheets."

Lily didn't even notice that while most of the students were given evaluation sheets and pens, she was bypassed. Although she probably wouldn't care even if she had noticed. Her eyes tracked the blonde boy with the blue ribbon on the screen and the events that had transpired between them earlier came back to mind. She should have cut his hand with that small wound that he had wanted so much to take back. Give it back and magnify it two folds...four folds. She knew she could do it. She didn't know how she knew but she could feel it. And she cursed herself for holding back.

A manic smile spread across her face.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop as she pulled her eyes away from the screen. The smile fell off her face and she stared hard at the unfinished donut in her hand as though it was offending her. No. These people are supposed to be my classmates... team mates and possible friends. Must. Control. These. Thoughts.

But it would be so easy to just let go and give in.

Easy to...give in.

Yes, give in.

Give in. She found her eyes drifting back up to the screen.

YES.

No. Once she saw that Christmas had finished healing the injuries, she let out her breath, not really realizing she had been holding it. She pulled her eyes away from the screen, closed her eyes and with one hand, rubbed them. The voices were still insistently whispering in her head. No. No. No. NO! she repeated the word over and over in her head, hoping to drown out the voices.

Kusari broke out into a sweat as she watched the monitors replaying the match between teams 3 and 4. Broken limbs, skulls nearly being cracked open, an eye being punctured, was this really happening? Seeing the match through the TV her mind kept trying to assume that it was simply a crude television program, but it wasn't and she knew that. Over and over she watched, each time seeing something else that disturbed her.

An exercise to facilitate teamwork between them, that's what this was meant to be, wasn't it? Kusari finally looked away from the screens and down at the evaluation form she was expected to fill out. She didn't understand the point of this game. She highly doubted that anyone felt more like a team after this. The combat hell they went through when they first arrived was far more effective in making them stronger and learning to work together. Was the director trying to copy that in some way? If so this experiment had failed spectacularly. She let out a sigh and picked up the pen given to her.

General thoughts:

This "game" was a mistake. Whatever minor combat experience anyone may have gotten isn't worth the damage this exercise has done to us otherwise. Can anyone say they'll be thrilled to be working with students from their opposing team? How many of you Aberrations were actually tempted to do unnecessary harm to someone? This place doesn't want us to get along, they want to break us apart and stitch us back together into their perfect tools of war. Don't let them.

Suggestions:

I doubt my say will matter, but I don't want to see another game like this again. We shouldn't be competing against each other like this. We need proper combat training that will teach us how to fight those monsters, not how to take away articles of clothing.

Kusari looked up from the form and back to the screens. She grit her teeth and poked at the paper in irritation, covering it with inky dots. She wanted to just tear the form apart, but she doubted she could get away with that. She stood up, walked over to Fredric and silently handed him the form.

How long had Allison been laying there? Minutes, hours, days? Was the fight over? Did they win? Did it even matter? Time passed slowly, Allison focusing on the sound of her own shallow breathing. Her focus was broken when a message blared from her cuff. It was over, a healer was coming, and they had won.

'Was it worth it?' Allison didn't know the answer to her own question.

Suddenly, Allison's injury began to feel tight. The remnants of the table leg were removed from her eye in an instant, allowing her to close her eye. She kept it closed as it healed, trying to keep her mind off of the odd feeling of her eye regenerating. Allison attempted to pick herself up, but was thankful when she was lifted into a stretcher. Before she knew it, she was being lowered into a cot back in the observation room.

That game was a massacre, exactly what Allison was trying to prevent. She could've stopped it. If they had just given up, no one would have gotten hurt. Why did she even fight? She wasn't really interested in the prize. She fought. She allowed this to happen. She didn't need the victory. She didn't need the prize. She wanted to prevent suffering.

'I'm a good person, right? At least I try to be.'

'Absolute 9: Good people don't exist.' Allison's mind fluttered to the little brown notebook that still resided in her room. She had crossed that one out some time ago, as if ignoring it would make it any less true. She was always an optimist...

Why did she do it, then? Why did she fight? Why did she jump down to fight the other team? Some messed up sense of justice, or something more petty? Revenge? Her stigma? That seemed to be most likely, her stigma.

'Absolute 2: People are selfish' That's all it was, selfishness. Allison prioritized herself over others, and because of that, she ended up with a table leg in her eye. Selfish and horrible, just like everyone else.

Allison eventually pushed herself into a sitting position, legs hanging from the cot. She realized that she had yet to open her eye since it had been healed. She slowly willed her eye to open, her vision in that eye returning as clear as ever. She got her vision back as quickly as she had lost it. Her hands crept up to her face, feeling around the now healed eye, brushing over the drying blood and other liquid that had once been inside her eye. Allison was sure she looked like an awful mess.

Allison's self inspection was interrupted by someone calling to her. Ernie, the guy who had stabbed her in the eye.

"Sorry about your eye. I got the wrong person."

His words did nothing to console the girl, in fact, his insincere statement made Allison more angry than his actions had. She could forgive the attack, at least somewhat, as it was her fault for going after them, but for Ernie to so nonchalantly state that he meant to stab someone else in the eye...

Allison was ready to yell at the boy, but stopped herself, remembering the rest of the battle. Sure, she could call Ernie a monster and a horrible person, but that wouldn't change anything. Besides, just about everyone else committed a similar action. Were they all as remorseless as Ernie, though? Allison hoped not.

"You still stabbed me in the eye." Allison spoke coldly to him before quickly turning away from him. Allison tried to get Ernie out of her mind, staring at the floor. She was still wearing Brent's shoes. She looked around for the boy who had struck down Hazel, finding him calling out to Lawrence. She removed Brent's shoes, and stood up, though she seemed to be quite shaky. She grabbed the shoes, and walked over to Brent as quickly as she could, dropped the shoes in front of him. "Sorry about borrowing your shoes, Brent." She said meekly as she walked away, towards the bathroom. She needed to wash the blood off of her face.

@ERode@banjoanjo

Sophia Lemane

Her goal, lying under that bed, was to try and do nothing. Try not to panic, try not to let anxiety get the best of her. Try not to think too much. Just breathe. The crashes, the yells, the screams. All of it was... very scary. Some part of her said she shouldn't be scared, it was just training.

But there had been a scream.

As time ticked on, she found out that trying to do nothing wasn't possible in this situation. Her fists stacked on top of each other and her head resting on top to keep it out of the water, she could feel that her hands were cold, while her face was hot. Sometimes she was able to disregard things going on around her and be pretty much emotionless, but this was not the case today. She supposed that she was lucky to not have been assigned to fight as part of one of the teams.

It was kind of strange, that all the noise was coming from upstairs. The teams must have figured out that she and the other healer would be put on the top floor and worked from that information. Maybe someone could fly, like Sparrow, and was able to carry their team up. And the other team had some other useful power for transportation as well. She had thought that it was a bad thing to be hiding on the first floor, but now she was glad that she had decided to move after all. If she wouldn't have, then she probably would have ended up being caught in whatever was going on now.

Another of those crashes that sounded like something had been broken. Accompanied with a sound like a loud thud, though there were a few ways describe it. But she didn't have much time to think about what had happened to create such a loud noise, for within a minute something else happened. Someone was breaking in through one of the doors. She wished that she had gotten a power that made her invisible somehow, then she wouldn't have to face whoever was coming in.

Shortly later, the chopping stopped for a few moments, and then, soft voices. Two of them... and did she recognize that voice? It was hard to make out words, but was that Savannah's voice? That girl that she had met at the mall.

With no good way to escape, Sophia listened as footsteps came closer and closer, ready to be discovered at any moment. Still, she started when a boy peered under the bed and discovered her. Letting herself be pulled out from under the bed, she didn't resist. She now stood with the boy, Savannah, and another girl near her. The most awkward part of this was that Savannah was here, when Sophia had hoped she never would have to interact with the girl again. What was she supposed to do now, say hello?

Actually, Sophia did nothing of the sort, for the group seemed to be in a hurry as they exited the bedroom. That was fine with her, she felt some sort of relief that she didn't have to decide anything by herself anymore, she could just follow. But they hadn't reached the exit when a sound behind her made her turn, and everyone else did the same.

Was that some kind of giant dagger in the new arrival's hand? Judging from the reactions of the people around her, the group that had found her and the single girl must be on opposite teams. The boy soon proved that her assumption was right by charging the girl. Once she realized that he was attacking, she took a step backwards, though she kept her gaze on the scene. Seemingly to counter the attack, a strange swirling dark creature appeared from nowhere between the boy and dagger girl, and-

Sophia didn't see any more, for at that moment, Savannah pulled her away from the scene and out the door. Behind her, she could hear someone proposing a truce, but soon she was too far to hear any more words. She let herself be led until they stepped into a circle that was marked "Safe Point 4", the words glowing. Seemed like she was supposed to stay in the circle. Looking towards the house as she wondered what was going on, she made out a figure heading towards them through the dim light.

Was the person someone from Savannah's team, or the opposite team? Sophia began to form a question, but before she could ask, Savannah seemed to collapse on the ground. Eyes widening, she immediately knelt on the ground beside the fallen girl. "Savannah?" No response. And most of the girl's clothes were gone... meaning that the stranger had worked some power on the girl?

Just to make sure, she reached over and checked Savannah's pulse, relieved to fine that she could feel a heartbeat. She stayed there crouched by the girl's side until her cuff beeped, announcing the end of the game. Stepping back to let the newly arrived guard move Savannah to the group of people that was now forming, she followed. Though the light was dim, she could tell that many of the people were unconscious. What exactly had happened?

A few more minutes, then more guards arrived with a boy in their midst. Sophia watched with fascination as a strange mist enveloped them all after the boy was commanded to heal. She didn't feel any changes, but then again, she wasn't really injured. A few minutes later they were escorted to a room.

Entering, the first thing she noticed were the large screens, recognizing what was being played on them as what had happened during the game. She looked at them curiously after taking a seat, but had to turn away after two acts of violence were shown: a red-haired girl doing something that looked like melting the other healer's face before they both passed out, and the boy that had found her driving a splintered piece of wood into the eye of another girl.

That was what happened during the game? Dropping her head into her hands, she ignored everything and everyone around her as she waited for them to let her go back to her room. That's all she wanted to do right now, go back and sort things out in her head.

---

---

---

---

Of course, Lawrence needed no healing after the match was over. Though he probably carried more scars than the rest of them combined- save for the Marcus kid- he'd managed to avoid the clusterfuck of violence that the match had quickly descended into. Taken in the context of a friendly game of "Capture the Flag" the experiment had been a complete failure. However- he couldn't argue the value that this match had given its participants. It was going to be harder for team 3 and 4 to work together after this but then again it would be easier for them to respond to a combat situation- and in a couple cases the shock of severe injury. Whether that was more or less valuable than what was lost Lawrence couldn't say.

Either way what was done is done. Part of him the part that was still pissed off- wanted to gather bother teams together and let everyone know how badly they had all fucked up during this exercise. While the collected part of him advised that he should focus on making as few enemies as possible amongst the people he would have to entrust his life to. As usual, the latter won out. While he wanted to write evaluations for his own team, for now he would have to settle for only having evaluated the first group that fought.



Thinking back on the last one he had written in particular was a bitter experience after this match. It was, in the end, a good thing they only had to evaluate the matches that they weren't a part of, or Lawrence would have hesitated to put his name on this round of them. Still though, how much of it could be blamed on the participants? The organizers weren't stupid enough to not realize putting seven aberrations with hardly any experience or control into a mock battle was a bad idea. The fact that the match hadn't been stopped the second that Hazel sliced the building was a pretty good indication that they had expected at least some of what had occured over those ten minutes.

“Hey, Lawrence, right?”

He was pulled out of his thoughts by one of the people he had just competed against. Specifically the one who had almost killed Hazel and subsequently was stripped naked by Lawrence himself. He found that he couldn't return the guy's smile in his present state of mind- not that Lawrence was prone to smiling on any given day- but tried not to scowl outright in response. Likely, given what he'd seen, the attempted murder was bred from inexperience rather than ill intent.

“Name’s Brent. Mind handing my stuff back? Machete, gun, and phone. Don’t think there’s anything left of my pants though. Pretty interesting move, by the way, using that in place of rope. Where did you learn that from?”

"Experience."

He answered simply. It's not like he'd picked it up from a book or movie. He needed something to secure an overly violent hostage with and clothes fit the bill at the time. Overall Brent had made it out of the match with more clothing on than some of the participants, so Lawrence hadn't thought shaming him with a bit of nakedness was going to be a big deal. It seemed, by the guy's reaction, that he had been right. Still, he hesitated before giving the weapons back to their owner. They shouldn't have even been a part of the match in the first place.

"I'm not sure why you brought a gun to the match in the first place unless you intended to kill someone on my team- but I don't think it was a good idea to bring these things along. Maybe you weren't thinking, but if I saw you armed like this and thought I was in danger- I would have killed you."

With that, he finally handed the gun and machete back to Brent before walking away, offering a wave with the back of his hand and a reply to ease the tension as he did so:

"Everyone survived though, so just take it as food for thought for next time. I think your phone's still lying on the ground on the top floor."

With that he distanced himself from the rest of the group, in even less of a mood to socialize than he usually was. He just hoped everyone else was in the same sort of mood he was.

Gregory Irving

---

---

Sitting atop the tranquil surface, Gregory’s surprise faded quickly as he stared down towards the endless depths below him. The still waters inspired a certain sense of calm, but the darkness brewed apprehension. Yet for all that, he seemed to be a prisoner of this scene; observing but otherwise unable to move. And staring into the abyss, he couldn’t help but feel that something stared back.

A small piece broke away from the depths. Miniscule, but nonetheless seen within the otherwise clear waters. It rose at a slow leisurely pace towards him, and he could do nothing but watch as what felt like minutes dragged on through its rise. Ice crept through his veins when the fragment finally touched Gregory as it granted him motion rather than freezing him in place.

Such a violent recoil only served to make him woozy though, and the world seemed to spin even as the water’s surface remained serene.

---

The room he woke up in was familiar enough that Gregory recognized it as one in the security outpost after a few blinks. His hand slapped lazily at a reformed cheek, and he couldn’t help but roll his jaws a few times. He rolled over in the cot to confirm that, yes, he wasn’t alone in a room and it seemed like the other participants had been crammed in here.

‘Fantastic…’ Dry, unvoiced thoughts aside, Gregory pushed himself to sit up and frowned a bit as he reached out to rub at his legs to deal with the numbness. A few stunted wiggles of his toes brought a scowl to his face as he continued to massage his legs, hoping to return sensation to them. It was something to distract from his thoughts at the least as the pins and needles did a great job at cutting through them.

---

---

The paper bounced harmlessly off Fredric's shoulder. Ms. Lachance had so far been very vocal about her opinions concerning the match. Even amidst Rosa's panicked shouts and his many attempts to assuage her nerves, this fact hadn't escaped him. Muttering something into his phone, Fredric lowered the device and turned to face the fuming young star with his usual smile.

"Ms. Lachance," he said, the composure in his voice a betrayal of the irritation bubbling underneath. "At least have some consideration for the trees if you don't care to follow instructions." He remained where he stood, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear without matching her volume. "I suggest you refrain from raising your voice and throwing things at the staff if you have a disagreement. I've seen more maturity from Ms. Churchill. I'm sure you're used to being pampered, but I'm afraid we don't have the time nor resources to entertain your every whim today."

"Those who would like to follow instructions, please hand me your evaluation sheets." The smile dissipated into a exhausted scowl before he turned back to the screens.

One of the nearby guards tensed when Grant's chain appeared, but when nothing untoward occurred, the man slowly relaxed.

Uncaring, Fredric jogged the stack of evaluation forms against the desk, slapping a Post-It of concerns and considerations on top of the sheets before tucking them into the clasp of his clipboard. With a real healer on hand, the Director certainly didn't care about pulling her punches, that was for sure, and he'd have to go over the footage with her and a few network-technicians-turned-temporary-video-editors later to pull the most compelling parts. Hiring an outside team to professionally splice and produce the footage was still out of the question for now, at least until later.

Too much risk that they'd spill the information, which had to be kept under wraps in case the Director's attempts to cinch herself an officially sanctioned team fell through. And there were so many ways for it to fall through, especially considering the slow decay of Shane's team over the past two years.

"All right, let's get you guys out of here," he nodded to the guards, who gathered up the students once more.

In the other observation room, Rosa checked her phone for a text message and did the same, relieved that no one had died and nothing further had occurred. The Director could request Benediction, but with a reason as small as "a student died," Rosa doubted the man would have come, even if the Department of Defense had cleared his deployment.

Both rooms of students were escorted outside, the groggier kids woken up and nudged at gunpoint into the chilly night air. The two groups converged at the building's main entrance where more guards than usual were present, most of them arriving to switch shifts.

Rain's eyes roamed the group as they walked. Though he would've liked to spend more time with his new roommate, perhaps it would be more productive to give him some space. They'd have plenty of time to theirselves afterwards. Instead, Rain looked to the participants of the second game, most of whom were sporting hospital clothes. One particularly dejected looking fellow caught his attention. Rain recognised him as one of the more violent players from the game. The boy had brutalised that poor girl's face. But he'd also shielded a little girl from a three-storey fall. How intriguing. A brief skim through the folder revealed his name as Ernest.

"You were quite savage out there," the pink-haired youth sidled up to the Aberration.

"Huh?" the other boy snapped out of his thoughts and turned to find Rain's intent gaze fixed on him. He immediately reverted to a more cheery vibe, "Oh, the eye thing? That was a dumb move. Got tazed for all that trouble and it didn't even help us win."

"That's interesting," Rain touched his chin, as if lost in thought. Ernest had seemed more occupied with getting tazed than the fact that he'd brutally stabbed a table leg into someone's face. That sudden change in attitude was strange too, "You're not really affected by it, are you?"

The dark haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to make me feel sorry for it? I already told the girl I was."

"No, I was curious!" Rain giggled lightly, "I wasn't expecting to see such a dramatic game when I woke up today."

"Yeah?" Ernest seemed to have gotten into the groove of conversation now, smiling effortlessly, "I didn't think I'd fall from a collapsed building today. Or stab someone's eye out. East has a habit of surprising its Subnaturals, I guess. Not in the good way."

"Sounds like you have quite the grudge."

"Yeah, well, getting shoved into a 9am class and tazed has a habit of doing that to you."

Another laugh from the effeminate boy. "Well, I hope our time here gets a little better," he smiled, extending a hand, "My name is Rain."

"Ernest. But everyone calls me Ernie. Awesome to meet you."

As they shook hands, Ernie's gaze fell past Rain's lithe fingers and towards his feet. One standard suppression cuff with a silver modified cuff resting above it, both on the same leg.

"Dang. They clamped you with double cuffs, huh?" Ernie remarked at Rain's left foot. The other boy followed his line of sight.

"Oh, yes. I found both of them on me when I woke up," Rain replied, suddenly conscious about the weight of the two limiters, "I'm not quite sure what the silver one does but I'm guessing that it's on me because of my power."

"Power?" Ernie quirked an eyebrow, "Must be pretty spectacular to get you a second cuff. What's your thing?"

"Intangibility."

"What now?"

Rain let out a delicate giggle.

"It means that I can go through things. Well, it only works when I hold my breath."

"Ohh, that's why you got the second one. Makes sense. Wouldn't want you setting off alarms and going through a wall every time you sneezed, yeah? Your prison break would only last like two seconds!"

"I suppose so," Rain laughed and twirled his hair idly, "Honestly, I don't think I'd get very far, even if I managed to get these two off."

"C'mon, have some faith in yourself!" Ernie nudged his companion lightly. His grin seemed to hold the barest amount slyness now, "I bet you'd have the best chance out of all of us. If you really wanted to... you know..." Ernie eyed the guards as he uttered the last part.

"Hmm, you may have a point there," Rain entertained the boy's idea with a smile. Ernie's suggestions did hold some validity to them. Ah, what was he thinking? Rain dismissed the creeping thoughts with a slight huff. This was the sort of talk that would get him shot again. Or worse. Even so, the idea of freedom was too alluring to wave off so abruptly.

Ernie kept his eye on the pink-haired teen, smirking as he watch his verbal nudges come to fruition. It was great how he could say stupid things and have people take it seriously. Would this girl be dumb enough to try it though? Ernie hoped not. He didn't want that sort of nonsense tripping his guilt. Still, intangibility was a neat power. It'd be rad if he could call in some favors with it down the line. This called for a demonstration.

"Show me."

"Pardon?" Rain raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Show me your power!" Ernie chirped again, more insistent this time, "You can't just leave me hanging after telling me something so cool. I wanna see what you can do!"

Rain blinked. "O-oh, of course!" He handed his folder and map to Ernie, "Hold my things, would you?"

"Yeah, for sure. C'mon, show me something good!"

The pink-haired boy quickened his pace to stride up to a telephone pole. He was eager to impress. Finally, someone here who was actually eager to learn about him, instead of shutting themselves off behind the cover of a book. Making sure that Ernie had a clear view, Rain clamped his mouth shut and swung his left leg at the fixture. But something shuddered through the boy as he activated his power. A jolt, a wave, a quake? Rain couldn't find the exact word to define it. But something happened. Something that surged from the Hephaestus-crafted silver cuff on his ankle, cascading through his whole body. It was like being electrocuted, but in the way that made him more awake and lighter than he'd ever been before. His leg passed cleanly though the pole. Nothing had changed there.

Then it all came apart so quickly. An ear-piercing screech tore through the sound of quiet chatter. Hands were clamped to ears as the armed escorts surged forward, their weapons trained on Rain. They formed a tight circle around the effeminate teen, shunting students and staff mages alike away from the scene.

"On the ground, now!" the lead officer bellowed, his harsh orders only just audible over the din, "Hands behind your head!"

"Wh-what?" Rain's heart jackhammered from the abruptness of it all. The sudden cuff alarm, the guns and shouting, the surge.

Complete sensory overload.

Rain complied, instinctive tears threatening to spill over as he knelt slowly. One look at his lower body told him exactly what had happened. Only the silver cuff remained on his ankle. His first cuff, the standard suppression tool all the other students wore, was on the ground by the telephone pole, deafening everyone in the area. Rain stared at the source of the alarm, realising the extent of his ability now.

"Get out of the way, dammit!" Rosa struggled to shove past the burly soldiers who circled Rain. The short woman shouted from her position instead, the jagged, white lines surrounding her eyes as she desperately tried to push through.

"Rain, don't move a muscle! Your cuff went haywire so just stay there and--"

"I said, on the ground!" the officer roared again, jerking his rifle closer towards the subnatural. The guards on Rosa's side shuffled closer together to keep the staff mage away from the potential danger. Fredric stood in the background, speaking rapidly into his phone. With the piercing noise and all the guards in the way, it would be difficult for the students to ascertain what was going on.

Even without the barked orders and the screeching, Rosa's pleas would have fallen on deaf ears. Rain was still staring, grasping everything that came with the release of the first cuff.

Move, don't move. Which damned option was he supposed to take? The tears flowed freely now as he glared at the ground, at the cursed silver cuff remaining on his ankle. They'd shot him, they'd drugged him and kept him in captivity for days. And now everything was screaming and pointing at him and he wanted to just leave. His family had sent him here to protect him. But what part of any of this was protection?

Rain stared down the barrel of the officer's weapon with furious tears. The soldier yelled again and Rain swore that he saw the trigger finger twitch. Because if he didn't, everything that went wrong from that point on was completely unjustified.

It was only a brief moment of poor thinking, spurred on by the fear and panic clamping his heart. Rain saw the finger move and everything in him moved by sheer instinct. The surge from earlier burst through him again. His ankle seemed to burn. Waves of energy poured out from the cuff, filling Rain with the drive he needed to take action. He activated his power. More power spilled from the cuff, but now it was more like a fist to the stomach than a jolt of electricity. A geyser, not a wave.

He fell.

There had always been certainties, principles to his ability that he'd always accepted. No, taken for granted. The silver cuff had done something to the very fundamentals of his power--and it felt like he'd been thrown into a raging sea with no lifejacket. Something powerful as much as it was dangerous. He'd never felt so alive. He'd never felt so wrong.

There was no wind as he dropped, only a never-ending darkness. Rain clamped his mouth closed with both hands. He didn't dare to breathe, not as he fell to inevitable death. But that thought hadn't reached the front of his mind yet. The only thing he needed to do at this moment was to hold his breath. After that, he could let himself think whatever he wanted.

The seconds passed like hours. There was no friction, no indication of how long or far he had travelled. He felt the pain in his lungs expand, right next to the cold dread creeping through the rest of his chest. The darkness remained painfully constant, until a flash of light revealed he had fallen into a well-lit room and was still falling. A containment chamber, much like the one he had woken up in. But his instincts were faster than his desire to release his power.

The room was flooded with a writhing mass of colors, all sharp edges and deadly, rapid movements, slamming and scattering against the walls like an ocean tide of mosaic glass. Death no matter what, but some cruel hope thought, as the brief second of that sight vanished back into the darkness of the ground, he might find another room--a safer room. His power, strength beyond him--too far beyond him--phased through the shards of color and he was aware that shouldn't have happened. Not now. Not yet. Not like this.

Thoughts faster than lightning and his lungs burned as the layers of bedrock flashed by him at terminal velocity.

Then suddenly open air and an open room and when the solid ground was no longer around him and through him, Rain gasped for breath, uncaring of the impact if he hit something. Breathing came first and he was only vaguely aware that this cavernous space he had fallen into was monstrous. Catwalks and uniformly lit scaffolding caught his eyes as he fell further down what he now recognized was an immense, circular hole and towards a white, faintly glowing mass at the very bottom.

Primal instincts knew danger, but even as he sucked in his breath again and became transparent, his body still found collision with the object that was so substantial he had no definition for what it was--so large it was like falling into a river of white light. Given time, he might have seen enough of it to understand.

But that was a pointless thought.

It tore into him, not with claws or teeth, but with its mere presence. He couldn't fall through it, and where he touched it with his immaterial body, it shredded those parts of him to particles, and he barely registered the pain as his body fell apart. Letting go of his intangibility now was death. Holding on to this broken, unstable form of it was equally damning.

Even that doomed choice was taken from him when his arms disintegrated and his head pitched forward into the dim light and scattered into miniscule fragments beyond sight and sound. What was left of him sloughed off the side of the object, the splatters of flesh, blood, and long locks of braided, pink hair remaining for only a second more before wicking away into nothingness as well.

---

She'd screamed when the boy fell through the ground. She couldn't stop her mouth from making that horrid shriek when she saw him plunge into the concrete.

Rosa finally made it into the circle of guards. She dropped to her knees where Rain was last kneeling, the thick, glowing lines on around her eyes resembling a painted mask as she strained her sight through the asphalt. The wispy trail that extended from the sky to Rain was descending rapidly, far too quickly for her or any of the guards to react properly. They were running out of time. Rain's end of the trail fell further and further, the journey lasting around forty seconds before it came to a halt. Rosa breathed a shortlived sigh of relief. He'd managed to stop his descent, hopefully in one of the containment chambers below. Judging from the distance of the trail, the boy would have ended up in--

Oh no.

"No..." she breathed and clapped a hand to her mouth. She looked to Fredric, desperation in her solid white eyes, "Fred. Down there, t-the--"

She fell silent as she saw the sky behind the towering man, one of the trails dissipating mere seconds after Rain's landing. Rain's trail was gone. And Rosa could do nothing but let out a small choke.

Fredric's mouth thinned in response, but where Rosa panicked, he remained calm--as calm as he could be at least.

The Director's clearance came through and he shut off the shrill cuff with a few taps on his phone, hands steady despite it all. All that remained of Rain was the suppression cuff on the ground, the standard one everyone else had. They had made a mistake. Or Hephaestus had made a mistake and they had allowed it to propagate. Now a student they had meant to save was dead.

"Director," he spoke into the phone, leaning down and rubbing Rosa's back as she continued shaking.

A moment while the Director's cutting voice stung his ears.

"Right. I'll take care of it."

His movements were stiffer than usual, lacking that fluidity that always accompanied them, and as he turned to the rest of the gathered students, it took a deep breath to steady his voice for the shout.

"All of you, disperse! Now. Do not loiter in the area. Go back to your rooms. Go eat. Go into town. Just. Go."

He waved for the guards, more of them spilling out from the outpost behind him in response to the alarm.

The majority of them shoved the students away quickly, brokering no protest and forming a tight perimeter around the area as Fredric resumed talking with the Director on his phone, mouth a blur of movement while he rattled off the events leading up to the incident. The words were indistinguishable through the soldiers shouting off orders to each other, a large contingent of them escorting the remaining students back towards the main cluster of buildings before finally leaving them alone.

---

---

Rosa was crying in her office, and Fredric was too busy to deal with it, looking over classroom forms and current attendees scattered across the polished surface of his hardwood desk, the papers organized into rough piles depending on the classes they were in.

The staff had all known the risks of putting the untested cuff on Rain, but they hadn't thought it would result in something so severe. Enough power that the standard suppression cuff hadn't even fazed it and now Rain was gone. One of the rare mages gone along with Padma, Alexis, and most likely Aaron. If he had to count the students as the number of chances they had against the worst--the number of lives in a video game, even, then they were losing lives at an alarming rate.

Rosa had checked, double-checked, and checked yet again that they had gathered a set of powers not only strong, but absurdly unique in ways far less than obvious.

And they had been abysmally careless in keeping those students safe. Too little freedom and the kids would chafe. Too much freedom and they would run away, only to be taken in by one of the mage factions that the government had no effective way of fighting against without devoting too much of the Precursors' time. That, or simply killed by irate citizens blaming the wrong people for the world's problems. If they were lucky, one of Dreamcatcher's monsters or a Precursor would give them a swift end.

In the end, the balance was hard to strike, and they had wanted to keep Rain contained for longer given his power, but it was Rosa who had proposed the solution of the second cuff.

"It can mimic the properties of their powers, right? As long as we can track him with it, it shouldn't be too much a problem even if he runs away. I just don't think we should keep him in there any longer. It seems too cruel. He hasn't done anything."

Mistakes had been made, but Rosa no doubt blamed herself the most.

Fredric placed the thought aside, as carefully as he would a spun glass sculpture. He wasn't neglecting Rosa. He certainly didn't want to. But work needed doing, and he was doing her share as well to give her time alone. Uninterrupted.

Sorry, Daisy. The mental apology gave him nothing but more guilt, so he thumbed through a sheaf of papers instead, looking for the earmarked form from Nicholas proposing a steady training regime without powers so the kids could build up a healthier baseline.

30 minutes of light warm ups--jogging around the track, followed by lifting weights and some simple stretches, then into squats, deadlifts, lunges, calf raises, bench presses, bent-over rows and overhead presses--10 of each for three full sets, and a note followed that anyone who fell behind could take a lighter load until they were more fit. A ten-minute break followed the workout, followed by another ten minutes of high-intensity interval training involving rapid ladder drills using a jump rope. Ten minutes of break after that and students would walk around the track for half an hour to cool down, totalling a rough two hours of fitness training every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Fredric approved it with a quick signature and put the form on a much neater stack to the left of his keyboard, flicking through yet more papers detailing electives and room partitioning.

He was shuffling a lot of students and professors around to cater to the school's special group, and while that task itself wasn't hard, it was all the organizational paperwork that had him reeling. He could understand Rosa's aversion to this work. Staring at ink on pages all day nearly every day was taxing and he wondered how the Director managed it all the time, especially now that she was revving up to jump over the mountainous hurdles of forms and signatures that sanctioning an entirely new team would require.

If they even made it that far.

Just getting to that starting line was a different kind of war. One that involved the public eye and rules shackling their throats. He would have his work cut out for him in the coming days if they managed to shift the tides of public opinion onto the side of mages for once.

Not that he wasn't buried in work already. Lecture Building Z would be cleared out of other students for the week and repurposed with the majority of the elective classes on the same floor as the special unit, for the sake of keeping them all within easy access. That meant stoves and sinks and island counters needed to be installed in one of the rooms after everything inside had been removed, and they would have to smash down one of the walls dividing two of the rooms to make sure there was enough space for all the cookware.

And that was just the worst of the renovations that needed to be done.

It would have been simpler to let them move around to the different classes and buildings on their own, but the Director was slowly reprocessing the building as something of a team headquarters--though for now it would simply be classes within easy reach.

Fredric checked the upcoming schedule, a small note on next Monday when renovations should end and when rooms should be finished rearranging. He made a mental note to hand Gregory and Christmas their elective forms at the next class period, preferring the more personal touch when he could spare the time. Sophia and Lilianna, unfortunately, would get theirs Tuesday evening, after the guards had finished sorting out the chaos of earlier and checking if Rain's fall had changed anything belowground. Between the mess of preparing rooms, dealing with the real aftermath of the flag football game, and preparing for the future, Fredric had his hands full. Just free period for their electives this week, then, though they would have to remain inside the classroom, boring as it was.

The Director wanted order. And she wanted them to become used to order, or at least tolerant enough of it that they would become comfortable. Failing that, at least obey, however reluctantly. For all she was, the woman had never advocated the harsh isolation and callous experimentation of other research facilities, nor did she approve of the carelessness with which Director Kleinfelder managed his school of weaker miscreants. She was, after all, looking to a future they all wanted. Her methods were simply less than kind.

But under all that, she wanted the semblance of normality. The persistent reminder that they were more than just mindless machines meant to fight in a war no one understood against creatures no one had asked for. Not that the Director would ever put it in such clear terms herself--not that part, at least.

Fredric disliked her.

But not because she was heartless. That disposition unfortunately came with her status.

He disliked her because she was too comfortable playing the villain when real monsters lurked on their doorstep. Had already taken one of theirs. For just a second, he wished she'd drop the pretense and send out a group to find Aaron. But the mask had settled onto her like a fine dust and she was making no move to shake it off.

So he looked back to the binder clips and reams of papers, then to another stack of manila folders detailing the powers of USARILN West's unlucky arrivals, with plenty of Rosa's addendums and corrections. Resting above that stack were the evaluation forms and Fredric groaned, remembering that he still needed to make copies of those and sort them out so each student had a stapled packet of the other teams' thoughts.

They'd get those in class on Wednesday, too, he decided, taking the excuse to leave his desk and head to the photocopier machine. Sarah could probably do this faster, but he didn't want her reading some of the scathing remarks on the sheets.

---

---

---

It all seemed to happen in an instant. First he was shrugging off Allison's cold response to his shit apology. Then he was chatting with Rain. Then...

Ernie found himself looking up at Building B, an uncharacteristically loose bundle of his clothes, some papers and his tomahawk in his frozen hands. At least his feet remembered the way back. His mind was far too busy processing whatever the fuck just happened. The silence smothered him as he entered the dorm, the emptiness serving only to letting his thoughts and doubts surge through the mental floodgates.

What the hell.

The Aberration stepped hurriedly through his room. He unfolded the laundry basket from his luggage, tossing his weapon and Rain's paperwork onto the desk and his damp pants into the basket. After a moment's reconsideration, the pants were picked back up. Who knew what sort of gross bacteria was in that stale water? They needed to be washed immediately. The Aberration dorms here didn't have their own freaking bathrooms so he'd need to handwash them in the communal area. The area shared by the dozens of filthy, mentally unstable teens in the same apartment building. Ernie glowered violently while he went through his bags.

That pink-haired girl actually tried to escape! Seriously gave a shit about Ernie's stupid jabs. Seriously just went... somewhere, and disappeared, leaving nothing but a bunch of confused guards and distraught staff mages in her wake. Yes, that was it. Just a dumb magic act. Rain probably dropped down into the sewers from the first match and made a break for it. USARILN security would find that reckless idiot in no time, probably cuff her with four limiters this time. It was a wonder how that whole mess even managed to happen.

This was the scenario Ernie satisfied his wandering mind with as he took a quick shower and washed his pants. He didn't let himself remember Rosa's sobbing form on the ground as Fredric harshly dismissed them. He didn't think about Rain's intangibility. He didn't connect the dots between Rain needing to hold her breath to go through things and dropping through the ground and falling through that dark rock and what would happen if her breath ran out and...

Ernie slammed the faucet. His shower was done. Even after seven months outside of the lounge, Ernie's showers never lasted longer than five minutes. He packed his various soaps and fabric detergents and carried his shower pack back to the dorm, now dressed in a casual t-shirt and sweatpants combination. The newly washed pants were hung in the closet. The shower pack stayed on his desk, next to the manila folder Rain had given him before...

A quick flip through showed that it was just a bunch of profiles of people in his class, including ones of him and 'Rain le Blanc'. Other than the full names provided, it was useless to Ernie. He'd have to return it soon, when Rain came back. Ernie caught that line of thinking, faintly pleased that he still thought of it as a 'when' and not an 'if'. Because Rain was coming back. And Ernie hadn't done anything stupid or horribly wrong except goad a classmate into a silly prank.

The Aberration pushed the memory of Rosa's tears away. Maybe she was just bad under stressful situations! And how would she know if anything bad happened down there? Nothing bad happened to Rain. Nothing bad happened because of Ernie.

He brushed his undried hair and wrangled it into a rough ponytail before heading out to dinner. The scratching in his chest had long since been sated by Allison's injury, replaced by uncertainty instead. The uneasiness and guilt rising in him would hopefully be quelled by a full stomach.

Hazel Baker

There wasn't much else to be said; not even her teammates seemed pleased with the battle. Were they displeased with her? Everything about the battle was confusing to her. At most, she had expected to knock people senseless should they try to run, but having to actually fight for her life wasn't something she was prepared for. It was as if they were conspiring against her.

"They're afraid of you."

Hazel shut her ears once again, replaying the footage of the fight in her mind again and again, pushing out any unnecessary thoughts. Perhaps it was excusable then, that she wasn't looking when Rain disappeared into the ground, nor did she understand why Rosa was crying. Empathy was not her strong suite after all.

With everything said and done, she had simply went to sleep for the remainder of that night, leaving her bundle of clothes on the floor.



She woke up early, feeling wide awake. Without further ado, she freshened herself up before going out for her morning exercise and delivering that unlimited access form for Ground Zero to the office.

After being yelled at by a guard for wearing too little — wasn't she wearing the same thing during the exercise yesterday? — Hazel returned to her room, and took a proper shower and changed into something more modest; a simple white long sleeved blouse with a ruffled collar and a long brown skirt without any embelishment, both of which there was an abundance of packed into her luggage by the people back into the facility. It was not a style she disliked. Being comfortable, practical and unrestrictive, it was something she preferred over the tight clothing she had to wear during her time out with Emma.

Sometime after noon, one of the guards came to tell her her request has been granted, giving her free rein into Ground Zero whenever she need to. Wasting no more time, she packed some food from the cafeteria and made her way there.

Once again, she stepped into the copy of a ruined city, walking amidst the odd people that wandered around there. After what had happened yesterday, where she had to suppress her urges, Hazel needed an outlet for her stigma. It was a good thing Lawrence told her what to do in these situations, for she had hardly known what to do if her stigma got worse here or that this place existed before he had shown it to her. All she had to do was destroy anything here until she was satisfied, and everything will go away. That was what he said.

"Destruction will sate it."

Placing the pack of food and water by the tower where that odd girl was, Hazel first turned her attention towards a large mostly intact building. Projecting a massive fist, she effortlessly penetrated the entire front of the building with it, and activated one of her newer abilities. With astounding force, and a lot of odd purplish smoke, the building exploded, throwing debris everywhere. It was destruction unlike anything she had ever done. Just the sheer noise and the way it shook her body to her very core was enough to make her blood boil in excitement. Having taken the edge off her stigma, she unlatched the collar, and threw it near the pack of food. With renewed vigor, Hazel stepped once more deeper into the down, destroying anything and everything she could reach.



She gasped, trying to catch her breath.

Once again, her vision had went white some time during her rampage, and she found herself dead tired and gasping for breath in the middle of a large swathe of destruction. Craters pocked the streets, and most of the buildings around her were flattened, and the rest were barely standing. The fake people who were in the city did not escape her attention, with bits and pieces strewn about her. There was one tall building relatively far from her with a large red splotch on it, where one unfortunate soul was thrown with all her strength. It did help however, for her mind was clear of anything save herself.

Dragging herself back to where the girl was, she sat back against a wall, and opened the food pack to reveal the blood red dish inside. More mapo tofu, but this time, she was prepared with more water. Her eyes started watering as she started on the red dish, her thoughts wandering as she ate.

There had been so much happening the last few days, that she could barely keep up, and she had barely any time for herself as well. Monsters, training, odd people and even people dying. Hazel wasn't too concerned with the death — people die all the time anyways — but she was more concerned with what they have been putting her through, and what they might do to her. Hazel had a feeling some of them didn't like her at all, even going so far as to come at her with a spear. Or perhaps they didn't like anyone?

It was not that she was afraid to die, but...

"Do you want some?" Hazel asked the silent girl. Predictably, there was no reply. She wasn't about to actually surrender any of her food — especially the mapo tofu — even if the girl did reply, so it was probably for the best.

Finishing her food and regaining some of her energy, she stood up and stretched. It was still strange for her, being able to see the sky, downcast as it was. It was strange, being able to breathe in fresh air that had different scents in the air. It was strange, that she could spin around as far as she wanted without being restricted by a wall. She stopped spinning once she almost fell over on a piece of rubble. It was strange, but she did not particularly mind this strangeness.

It was getting late in the day however, and she doubted they would want her out here for very long, or after dark. She wouldn't have this peace of mind for much longer as well; her stigma should be coming back in force soon. Putting the collar back on, and downing two more of those pills from the featureless bottle, Hazel picked up her things and walked back to the dorms.

---

---

Zoe had been watching the group from as far a distance away as she was allowed, clearly not intending to invite a conversation. Or any human interaction. So that was it, then. The game was over. She had to wonder what sadistic exercise they'd have to deal with next time.

As the alarm rang out, she was quick to turn her gaze towards the source, catching a brief glimpse of the one responsible. Didn't recognise the pink-haired girl. Maybe they were bringing in more people? Seemed like right after the training session was missing the point a little, but then Zoe didn't care to figure out how this place was run. And maybe sparing anyone else the trouble of being made part of that particular session was a good thing. Whoever she was, though, Zoe didn't particularly care. She just knew that this was slowing them down, and that she really wanted to go. Now.

So she shook her head and turned away, disgust and irritation on her face as the guards all freaked out. Her mind was trying to be somewhere else, and the noise was just dragging her back here. She didn't want to think about here. It was easy enough to try and focus on something else, at least until the screaming started.

Normally she'd care, normally she'd pay more attention, but she needed time. She needed space. Needed everything to just leave. Well, other than the pink-haired girl, who seemed to have reached a whole new level on the whole 'going away' front. And judging by the staff mage's screaming, she hadn't gone anywhere good.

This was bullshit. All of it. What, were they just bringing people in to get rid of them now? Was it all some messed-up joke? Maybe not the staff mages - their concern didn't seem completely faked, anyway. And they weren't the main ones in charge. Of course, her own investment wasn't particularly strong. She didn't know who the girl was. Maybe she'd turn up, although the screaming made that sound a little unlikely.

Part of her wished she'd been able to do it herself. If they didn't need these people anyway, they might as well let her have a shot at-

What?

What was she thinking?

The game, that's all it was. Just the game. Messing with her thoughts. It wasn't a problem. She'd just been in the wrong mindset. Or maybe that was always her mindset now. Training like back there wasn't safe, she knew that much. Not if she was like this. It shouldn't have happened.

Zoe hardly waited for Freddy to finish speaking before she took off, troubled and angry behind the apparent boredom on her face. Angry at the staff, at the guards, at the class, at the director, the whole goddamn facility, and at herself most of all. She knew it wouldn't be as frantic in the morning, once she'd cooled off. It never was. But that was always going to take time. Once she was alone, she could at least stop pretending things were fine for a few hours.

Hazel Baker

Having returned before it was quite dark, she had decided to visit the library in search of information. Mainly, information on how to protect herself better, something that was needed considering what had happened in two of the fights she was in. In both, she had been injured due to the lack of protection. While her projections could protect her, it proved an ineffective defense should she be unaware of the attack, or unable to defend against one for some reason.

And thus the library.

While she was familiar with the concept of armour, she was unfamiliar with any types of armour, thus the necessity of hunting for any book with that information. There were several, but most of them were comprehensive treatise on armour, revealing things that wasn't really of use to her. While they were interesting, they revealed nothing about where to find one of those; she certainly wasn't about to get anything from the request form. Stuck in a rut, she asked the bored librarian instead, who pointed her to one of the empty computers there. After teaching her the basics of using a computer, he walked slowly back to his post, focusing his attention once more to the game console he was holding.

The computer was straightforward enough, as well as searching for a website that sold and delivered these sort of equipment, but choosing one was harder. The variety of items on sale was confusing her through the sheer volume of it all, some of which looked identical to her eyes. The librarian was dead asleep by this time, so she delved into a forum, asking for recommendation. Almost immediately she was answered by someone, who asked how much she was willing to spend. After replying she had just 500 bucks to spend, he went silent for quite some time. Enough to make her think he was unwilling to deal with that much money.

However, that was not the case. He returned soon after, proudly bearing a list of items that was on sale that day. Expounding the merits of the items in questions, and their reliability in their delivery, Hazel bought the items, and returned to her room very pleased with herself.

About a few hours later, she wondered if she should have told the guy what she was going to use it for.

---

Lily was still rubbing her eyes when they were told that they can all go back to their rooms. As her classmates filed out one by one, she remained in her seat, still struggling to keep the voices in her head down. But the more she tried thinking of other things, the more the malicious thoughts crept into her head. There was no denying it now. Her craving... no, her need for destruction was making the voices become more persistent and louder. Her eyes flickered towards the screens that was replaying the recenly concluded battle.

It was a wrong move. The moment she saw the violence, the more the voices became louder, filling her head entirely that she can no longer hear herself think. Or could she? Were the voices there because of her stigma? Or were they her thoughts.

She felt someone jab something at her and her eyes flew open. She looked at rifle poking her arm then at the guard who was holding it.

"Move it."

Without arguing or really thinking about it, the blonde teen stood up and walked towards the door, where the last of her classmates was just walking through. No real point resisting... She stopped when she got to the door and glanced back at the guard who was standing just a few feet behind her, his rifle pointed at his back.

Provoke him, the voice in her head whispered.

W-what?

Provoke him, the voice repeated. And then hurt him.

The guard glared at Lily and then gestured to the door with his rifle.

For a moment, Lily almost gave in to what the voice in her head was saying, taking a step towards him. Just a small move to make him believe that she was threatening. Just a small move and that finger poised over the rifle's trigger would press down. And then...

Lily's eyes widened when she heard a commotion outside. The voice strangely receded back into the small girl's chaotic mind as she turned and hurried out. What was happening? Was there another attack? Thoughts of her last real battle flashed through her head and in her distraction, she ran into a slightly taller girl with dark brown hair that was standing by the edge of the gathered students.

Lily blinked. 'Oh! Uh... sorry."

---

At last, it was time for them to go back. Getting up quickly, Sophia excited the room along with the majority of the students that were awake and responding to the guards' orders. The front of her clothes were still thoroughly soaked, and so the cooler night air made her shiver. For once it didn't take her long to decide that once the guards stopped escorting them and left them to their own devices, she would go to directly to her room and change. Along with getting a nice warm shower.

Her thoughts began to wander as her legs mechanically brought her wherever the guards were beginning to escort them to. Not paying much attention to her surroundings, she jumped as a loud blaring rang through the air. Within seconds, guards surged forward, showing her exactly where the noise and trouble was coming from. Though the sound of the alarm was beginning to make her head ring, she strained to hear words through the commotion and was rewarded with a sentence or two before she clamped her hands over her ears. Someone had been ordered down.

Is that... how a cuff alarm sounds? Had one of the students tried to make trouble? She couldn't see anything through the circle of guards surrounding the small area, but there hadn't been any gunshots... yet. So that was a good thing?

A jolt from behind caused her to jump and take her eyes off the scene. Removing her hands from her ears as she turned around, Sophia was just able to catch the words of the blonde girl who stood behind her. She recognized the girl as one of the healers, but that was all. It took Sophia a few seconds to respond, gazing at the face of the girl as she drew her mind from thoughts of the commotion.

"No, don't worry about it."

She frowned and, afraid she might not have been heard over the alarm, tried to raise her voice. "It's fine."

Glancing from the circle of guards a little ways off and back again to the girl, she really didn't know what to do or say, so she just forced a smile.

As soon as Lily heard the girl say that it was okay, she turned back to the commotion, curiosity getting the better of her. She stood on tiptoes but everyone was taller than her and she couldn't see anything. "What's happening?" she asked, craning her neck. After a few seconds of trying, she sighed and then turned back to the girl she had bumped into. Upon closer look, it appeared that she was one of the healers from the second round of flag football, the one that hid under the bed. She scratched her head, wondering what kind of healing abilities she had. "Oh, you're one of the healers from the second group," she said, obviously unaware of what the girl's real powers were.

Sophia didn't respond to the girl's question, watching her try to see over the heads in front of them, unsuccessfully. I can't see anything either. She nodded at the girl's remark, before deciding to try and add a few words in. "Yeah. One of the," she made air quotation marks with her hands, "healers." She exhaled sharply before continuing. "I don't actually... heal."

Wait. Now that Sophia herself had brought up that she wasn't a healer, would the girl ask what her power was? She thought of her power, already beginning to organize what she was capable of into detailed sentences, just in case. -then the last thing I can do is see through stuff, basically x-ray vision. But as I said, I'm not very good yet, so I can't see through anything like rocks. More like water, cloth-

As if suddenly realizing something, Sophia's head snapped towards the circle of guards. X-ray vision. She couldn't see living things, but... the clothes... she could see clothes. If she tried to X-ray her surroundings... would it be possible for her to find out what was going on?

"Maybe I could..." Though her lips could be seen moving, what she said was too quiet for anyone to hear over the alarm.

"Oh, you don't? Hmmm... come to think of it..." Lily thought back to the other healer from the second group... the tall, blonde boy. He had been destructive and fought hard not to be captured. No, he didn't seem like a healer as well. If he was, then he'd be called on to heal the injured. Yet, only that timid boy Christmas had been needed for the task. "Well, what do you..." she was just about to ask about her powers when the brown haired girl turned her attention to the guards. Curious, she stepped nearer and then followed her gaze. "You don't happen to have X-ray vision, do you?" It seemed like a silly question. But where they were, it wasn't really silly at all.

The girl guessed correctly, surprising Sophia. How had she been able to tell? Of course, that was only one of the three types of sight Sophia had, but still. A little creepy. Biting her lip, she nodded then gestured towards the guards. "Do you... think I should?"

Lily blinked. "I was right? Seriously? That's so cool!" The idea of this girl having X-ray vision perked her up a bit. She looked towards the guards and then shrugged. "Well, it'll be nice if you can find out what's all this fuss about. Or we can just walk away. Either way, I don't think we'll be able to do anything about it."

What Sophia had been hoping for was a definite answer as to if she should use her power or not. But then, it was her choice to make, so she appreciated that the girl wasn't trying to push her into doing one thing or another. She did want to find out what was going on. "I think I'm going to."

Concentrating on her power of X-ray vision, she activated her power. Showing that her power was now on, from each of Sophia's eyes came a faint white glow, and her eyes appeared unfocused. To her, the world was now shown in shades of gray. Everything seemed so strange now that it took her a few seconds to comprehend the things she was seeing around her. Everyone was gone, including the girl standing beside her, and all that remained to be seen of everyone was their clothing, floating in midair.

In the darkest shades of gray were the objects that she could not see through, like the telephone pole and the floating guns that each guard had. The circle of guards was now a circle of clothing, depicted in a medium shade of gray. Through the layer of clothes that the guards were wearing, she could just see that there was another set of clothes of someone who seemed to be kneeling on the ground. The source of all the commotion. And near the figure on the ground, was the shape of what she recognized as a cuff that all the students had to wear.

That person managed to take their cuff off? No wonder there's such a fuss. That was amazing, but a little scary too. What kind of power did that person have to be able to slip a cuff so easily, without getting electrocuted in the process?

Then, as she watched, something happened. One moment the person was there on the ground, and the next, the clothes seemed to slip into the dark gray ground... and vanish. She gasped, and her mind reeled. Where... how... had the person disappeared? Someone screamed. A woman, judging from the clothes, forced her way through the circle and knelt on the ground. A few seconds later, the alarm shut off.

Still staring at the place where the person had disappeared, Sophia seemed to have forgotten about the girl beside her. She was even more confused than before. She had no idea what had just happened, all she knew was that it had been bad.

Lily stared at the brown haired girl. She sort of expected some garish display of power, maybe something like how Superman does it while the camera showed everyone what he sees. It was a silly expectation but nevertheless, she was disappointed when the teen merely appeared to be staring into space. She was just about to reach out and touch the girl's arm when she heard a scream. Her head snapped towards where it came from but her sight, as always, was blocked by the multitude of tall people standing around. Being small has its advantages but this was definitely not one of them. And so, feeling bored again, Lily stood there and waited until the alarm shut off. But, by then, she was so bored and the voices in her head began whispering again that she huffed and walked away.

Too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice the girl walking away, it took Frederic's orders to bring her back to the present on goings. Looking beside her, Sophia was surprised to see that the girl was no longer there. With a a twinge of guilt, she scanned her surroundings, trying to see if she could spot the girl. She probably would have wanted to know what Sophia had seen, and Sophia would have told her despite how disturbed she herself had been by it.

But with her power on all Sophia could see were the different styles of clothes the people around her wore, and she couldn't remember what the girl had been wearing. She soon gave up and instead began to make the walk back to Building A. Maybe she would see the girl another time, but until then, what she still really wanted to do was return to her room. She now had even more to think over than before.

The sound of a restraining cuff's alarm going off caused Kusari to wince and quickly look towards the source of the noise. She saw only a flash of pink hair before it was surrounded by soldiers. They were yelling at the person they surrounded, she could only assume it was a student that had tried to escape or caused trouble in some other way by the sound of it. At least that's what she thought until Rosa yelled out to the student named Rain. Cuff went haywire? Weren't these things designed by a Precursor or something? She was only remotely curious before, but now she wanted to know what what going on here. The soldiers were blocking her view, so she couldn't just walk over and see, she'd probably find her face meeting the butt of a gun if she got too close anyhow. She glanced down at her right leg. Well, there was one way to see.

Focusing on her right leg, she used it to jump into the air. As she got enough height to see the inside of the circle, she let out a gasp. Rosa screamed, and whoever was there was gone now. Kusari landed on the ground and blinked in confusion. Rosa was clearly shooken up, she said something to Fredric and he seemingly shut the cuff's alarm off. She wanted to ask them what the hell just happened, but Fredric quickly told them to beat it. Kusari glanced around her, gauging how everyone else was reacting to what just happened. It seemed no one wanted to make a scene about it. They were probably too tired to make a fuss anyway, she knew she was.

Kusari headed for her dorm room, as she walked inside and closed the door behind her, the silence hit her. Christmas and Sander weren't here of course. Without anything to distract her the full weight of what she'd seen and done was painfully real. She slumped down onto her bed, not knowing if crying or breaking something would make her feel any better. Neither would, the most she could do was force her eyes shut and go to sleep.