Sun, no Terra, fidgeted with the hem of her dirty shirt. She wanted to ask these kind strangers for a change of clothes, but she still didn’t know what they wanted or what ‘The Rebellion’ stood for. All she knew at this point was that a group of teenagers had powers, they’d dressed themselves up in corresponding colors, and claimed to be heroes. So in the end, she didn’t really know anything.
“Nice to meet you, Terra. I bet you’re wondering why we rescued you or why we were out in the desert, to begin with, right?” Podinal declared, not even waiting for her to respond before continuing. “Our leader said that we would find a girl in the desert and we had to make her feel at home. Super vague, I know, but we did it anyway. Been at it two weeks now but still going strong. Don’t feel bad if you aren’t her since we’re heroes and we refuse to give up.”
He gestured for her to sit down on a chair. Vazerio stepped up and continued where his comrade had left off.
“We just need to run a small test, if you’re willing. You can always say no and we’ll just let you go home, but so far no one has passed so you’ll probably be going home anyway.”
Terra didn’t feel any malice coming from any of them, so she nodded her head to take whatever test they had stored for her. Plus, she didn’t have a home to return to so if she did somehow pass maybe they’ll offer a place. If she didn’t pass, she wondered if they would still offer her some housing. Unter strolled forward something hidden by a piece of dark fabric and handed it to Vazerio.
“What we need you to do is describe this item.” Vazerio pulled off the fabric, revealing what was underneath.
Terra couldn’t seem to back away fast enough, toppling over the chair she was sitting on and rushing to the back corner of the wall, hoping to find a way out. The door was near the group and she wondered that if she booked it she could make it before anyone stopping her. Everyone seemed genuinely surprised by her reaction, which did give her the advantage.
Sprinting forward she grabbed the door’s handle and pulled, but it shut in her face immediately. Damn Roip and her superspeed! Terra tried running to the back of the room again, but, Roip grabbed her arm before she could escape.
“Let me go!” She screamed.
Memories of the horrible pain she had felt when she had been forced to purge the back crystal resurfaced and she fought harder to get away from Roip’s grasp.
“Calm down, it’s just a black rock.” Beiwot tried, but Terra refused to listen.
This group just wanted to use her like John had; they wanted some sort of wish granted and would do anything to get that crystal cleaned. She was going to fight this time though, she wasn’t tied down like before and had more than enough energy. Terra grabbed Roip’s thumb and ripped Roip’s hand off her arm and turned around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the back of her opponent’s knees. Roip was surprised, but quickly recovered and lunged at Terra. Terra used the door to jump over Roip, but found herself in a new predicament; now Roip stood before her and her exit.
“Wait!” Vazerio wrapped the black crystal up and shoved it away in his pockets, showing his hands up for Terra to see. “We didn’t mean to startle you. I don’t know what about that rock makes you so scared, but you don’t need to see it anymore. If it’s any consolation, you passed, so... yay…” His hands shook in the air theatrically for effect.
“So what do we do know?” Dexai asked.
“I guess we move onto phase two.” Podinal chimed.
“She already seems strong enough, is phase two really necessary?” Roip remarked, rubbing the backs of her knees.
“We all had to go through the training sims and she’s no exception,” Unter added in a quiet voice.
“We should probably first ask her if she wants to join our cause before we start getting ahead of ourselves.” Vazerio turned to Terra, who had calmed down and come to the conclusion that the group really didn’t know what the crystal was. “Terra, will you do us the honors to join the Rebellion?”
All eyes turned to her expectantly.
“Not until I know what the Rebellion is,” Terra announced.
“Well, the pigs at the Capitol think that we all work for them.” Podinal started. “The people on the outskirts literally aren’t getting water and food while the heads at the Capitol throw charity balls to honor the election of a new corrupt leader.”
“We joined pretty late in the game and the Rebellion has been going on for a long time now. The other empires don’t seem to be having the problems we do with our Capitol.” Dexai mentioned.
“Our goal is to create a more even societal system by spreading the wealth the Capitol makes off labor to the lower tiers,” Unter commented.
“We’ve even tried reaching out to the other empires for aid, but if they did supply aid it would be like declaring war. Everyone is so afraid of conflict that they’ll let millions suffer as long as it doesn’t affect them directly!” Beiwot angrily voiced.
“Which is where we come in. We supply aid to the outskirts by delivering the goods to them once they’ve passed through the channels. A lot of the times the Capitol will hire mercenaries to chase down the stolen goods, but luckily we’re not like other people.” Vazerio rejoined. “So, what do you think? Would you like to help the less fortunate and be heroes like us?”
“Do I have to wear a costume?” Terra questioned.
“Uh, I guess you don’t,” Podinal replied, a little disheartened.
“Then yes, I will join you.”
“Do you need time to settle, or do you want to start immediately?” Vazerio asked her.
“There’s nothing to settle, let’s do it.”
Vazerio shrugged his shoulders and let her up the set of stairs and through the door. Terra had thought the living quarters would be behind the doors, but it was a spacious room that was made entirely of grey metal.
“We call this the sim room. All of our training is done here. You’ll need to put on this suit so we can read your movements and vitals so we can enhance your performance.”
He handed her a black suit with a bunch of blue dots all over it and then walked over to one of the walls and pressed his hand against it. A warm white light glowed where he had pressed his palm and an outline of a door appeared, the panel popping out and sliding out to reveal another set of stairs. She followed him up and found a large room filled with beds and bookshelves and personal items.
“This is where we stay since we’re all away from home. I take it since you didn’t give us anything besides your name you’ve run away from home?” He took Terra’s silence as confirmation. “You’re safe here. Think of us as your family and we’ll get along swimmingly. We already have a bed and everything for you.”
He stopped at the furthest bed from the door, indicating it was hers.
“Your dresser is fully stocked with simple clothes. We do get a small allowance every week to spend at your leisure. Most of us spend it on games and equipment, but you can spend it on whatever you want. You don’t even need to worry about food since we get it delivered. Kitchen and lounge are upstairs. You can change in the bathroom there,” he pointed to a door next to the set of stairs they had come up. “I’ll be in the sim room pulling up a beginner module, so just come down when you’ve changed.” With that, he turned on his heels after giving her an encouraging smile and left.
Terra walked across the room and shut the bathroom door behind her. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was surprised to see her reflection staring back. Maybe Alter had gotten the hint and decided to leave her alone. Something was wrong with her reflection though, she looked much older than she remembered. Her eyes were a tired blue and she seemed to have sprouted a few inches. When did that happen? She looked closer at herself and saw that her facial features looked slightly elongated as if she stretched since the last time she’d seen herself. Her hair had a slight green tint to it as well, was that always there?
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She shook her head of cobwebs and started removing her clothing. Blood had caked on her shirt and pants and she deemed them unusable. Despite her growth, the suit she had to put on was incredibly loose. Terra had to hold the waist of the suit in order to not trip while walking. Sucking it up, she strolled down the stairs, proud that she didn’t even stumble. She did feel ridiculous, and the fact that Vazerio was failing to hide his grin didn’t help her self-esteem.
“I take it you’ve never used one of those before.” He commented.
“What gave that away?”
He walked up to her and pressed and held something on her collar. Terra could feel the suit shrinking until it fit snuggly against her body. She tested her limb movements and was pleased to find no restrictions.
“The first simulation we’re running is just basic technique. How to punch, how to block, how to kick, the whole beginner package. It’ll increasingly get harder and harder once you pass basic training since it adapts to your movements and brainwave patterns, and it’ll keep going until you lose. Roip holds our current record of three hours, twenty-six minutes, and fifty-two seconds. She says we should round it up, but numbers are numbers.” He put a small cylinder in both of her hands and placed some sort of goggles on her head.
Terra found that she could see her hands and body, but she couldn’t see Vazerio anymore.
“The option for the session will pop up in a moment. Keep holding on to those sim sticks because they measure the force you put in a punch. Plus, if you manage to get through the beginning training today, those sim sticks will act as weapons in the fight simulators. Whenever you choose a different weapon, they adjust their weight accordingly so you have a more realistic feel for the weapon. Give me a moment to get out of the room and I’ll send you the notification.”
She heard him close the metal plating behind her, leaving her in complete silence. In the corner of the goggles, she could see her vitals displayed. A line of text appeared in her line of sight.
Training Sim: Beginner.
Begin?
Y/N
Terra didn’t know how to select and was going to holler at Vazerio for help, but she found simply looking at the choice she wanted to make would make it happen.
An instructor appeared in front of her, smiling.
“Let’s start with stretching. You don’t want to hurt yourself before you even start.” The chipper robotic voice said, and they spent fifteen minutes stretching out Terra’s muscles.
“Alright then, let’s get started!”
A punching bag floated in front of her as the instructor explained how to throw a proper punch. For the next two hours, Terra breezed by the lessons since she had already been trained by Leslie what seemed ages ago. Finally the option she’d been waiting for popped up.
Congratulations, you passed!
Continue Training?
Y/N.
She chose Yes.
Training Sim: Continuous.
Begin?
Y/N
Yes again.
Weapon:
You may change this at any time during combat.
Sword
Short-sword
Gun
Rapier
Dagger
Nun-chucks
Staff
Crossbow
Hand Crossbow
None
She chose short-sword and hand crossbow since that’s what she had used to fight off the giant creature back to protect Roger. Terra wanted to stay away from guns for a while.
A figure materialized in front of her. It was entirely light grey, had absolutely no facial features, and held a sword in front of itself. Her screen counted down from three, and the instant the number one faded, the figure ahead of her attacked.
Terra merely sidestepped and plunged her sword into its chest. The figure dissolved, and two more figures appeared, her screen indicating round two had begun. The figures kept multiplying until the number reached ten, and then their attacks got more coordinated, some using others as shields so they could attack at Terra.
She felt as if she were finally in her element. These figures were out to get her and she needed to destroy them all before they did; simple as that. No mysteries, no conspiracies, no having to fly around or drive around hunting for answers. No one but she could get hurt here.
Her small body worked to her advantage as she dodged and ducked past the figures rushing at her. She had to admit she was getting a little tired, but as long as the figures kept coming she was going to keep fighting. The simulations were getting faster, she noted, and her hits weren’t landing as often, plus now she was having to hit a target multiple times before it dissipated.
The figures ahead of her flickered and were replaced by black obsidian creatures that looked like her. Terra’s blood froze when she saw the black crystal beings; was this part of the simulation? That version of Alter was what haunted her when her eyes closed. Their heads snapped to her and they all attacked her at once. Refusing to fall to the black crystal, Terra screamed and methodically dodged each attack and countered.
Warning:
Elevated Heart Beat
Suggested Course of Action:
Pause Training and Rest
She ignored the warning and kept fighting. If she could just stop the Dark Alter from reaching her, then everything would just return back to normal. This Alter had frightened her once, but that was when she tied up; this time was going to be different.
Breathing hard, she struck the last Alter down and watched as it disappeared and then raised her weapons to ready herself for the next battle.
Congratulations!
You have successfully completed Continuous Training.
Continue Training?
Y/N
Terra had too much adrenaline and energy pumping through her body to stop now--of course, the answer was yes.
Without warning, a black creature appeared in front of her and attacked, its claws outstretched and mouth open, revealing its dozens of sharp teeth. She recognized it as the creature she had fought in the snow and wondered how the simulation had gotten this prepared. Vazerio had mentioned the simulator adjusted itself to the user, so perhaps it had somehow read her fears and this ended up being one of them.
She dodged an arm and jumped over the tail that swung right after it. A claw rushed at her and she sliced at it with her sword. Its face lunged at her and she kicked it in the jaw, knocking a few teeth out, and then shot an arrow in its eye like she had done before. The creature kept charging and she had to stay on the defensive to stay out of its grasp. Eventually, she found an opening by rolling to the side after it swiped at her with a claw and swiping up, relieving the creature of its right arm. It screamed in pain and tipped over, and she took the opportunity to decapitate it.
“Pause.” She muttered, finally tired.
She removed the goggles and looked around just to be sure there were no creatures lying in wait. Terra let out a sad sigh, knowing that all the figures and Dark Alters she had fought were just illusions and didn’t change anything in her past. She was about to walk down the stairs to let Vazerio know she was done when the door burst in.
Terra jumped back and raised her arms in front of her to fight back the oncoming figures that surprised her.
“Oh my god! You so were awesome!” Podinal yelled in her direction, lifting her up in a bear hug and spinning her around before she could react.
“How did you learn to do that?” Beiwot asked, her eyes glowing.
“Yeah! Normally I’d be pissed at you for beating my record, but you totally deserved it!” Roip declared, clapping Terra on her back.
“Choice of weapons was odd, but you were pretty cool,” Unter added.
“You’re like a one-man army! I don’t think we even need to fight anymore, just send you in.” Dexai commented.
“Are you doing alright?” Vazerio asked, a gentle voice amongst all the other loud ones. “You fought for seven hours, forty-five minutes, and thirty-six seconds. That goes way beyond anything I’ve seen, and I like to read the stats from the Capitol’s military training. You must have been some sort of universal record or something.”
He walked away mumbling something about brain waves and force impulse, but Terra couldn’t hear him since everyone else was busy fawning over her. Podinal wrapped his arm around her neck and used his other hand to muss up her hair. Although she should have been annoyed, there were too many smiles and glowing faces for her to be upset.
“We’re glad you decided to join our cause,” Podinal remarked.
Terra was glad to have so many new people in her life. A small voice in her head told her that she didn’t deserve it and that she was going to be a curse that would somehow destroy all they fought for, but she ignored it. For the first time in what felt like years, a genuine smile appeared on her face.