Part 1

Turning back the clock, a little after Axel had arrived to Miami, the sun was setting yet the day was far from over. Nothing was making sense as Ella jumped from building to building knocking out anyone she deemed an enemy with ease. However, instead of feeling like she was making progress she felt the opposite.

(This isn’t making any sense…) She said as she spotted two students struggling with a shadowhunter. She swooped down and knocked the man out with the hilt of her sword. She then ordered the two to tie him up before leaving once again. The two students were dumbfounded for a moment but very much obliged.

(all of the enemy’s I’ve seen so far are nothing but small fry…..even my 6 year old self would have no problem taking these guys out…..so why? What in the world is the meaning of this?)

Her worry was clear, the pieces just did not add up. In almost every instance of situations like this there is always someone who’s pulling the strings, and said person is always loud enough to be tracked down. This time around,though, she could see no such person. It was impossible, all of this was happening for some reason. She was sure it had to be due to Elizabeth, but now she wasn’t so sure…. Otherwise, they’d be making it clear that they want to lure her out.

Although it would appear that this is exactly what they are doing, their is one sole reason that she believes that they are plotting something else…

The attack on Miami.

What was the reason behind that? If they knew that the girl was here in savant island, why attack the city? Why terrorize the people? There had to be something else going on but for the life of her she just couldn’t figure out what.

When a vibration inside her pants went off, she was too busy moving to feel it. It wasn’t until she stopped for a second that she finally felt it.

“Hello?” she said when she answered her ringing phone.

“Ah, Lady Ella, I’ve located the other crew members” she heard the robotic sounding Saphire say to her from the other side.

“Have you? Great work! Can you tell me where they are?”

“Yes, directly below you”

“Hm?”

When Ella looked down from where she was standing, which was the top of a 25 story building, she focused down on the people who were running and fighting. Among those people, she recognized her own. Specifically, a black haired girl using a white substance to protect a blonde haired girl who seemed to be terrified. After recognizing them, Ella smiled in relief and jumped down from where she was. She took her still sheathed sword and sliced downward, causing a massive eruption of wind to blow away the surrounding enemies. When the wind died down, Ella landed right next to Jeniffer who had been hiding as well behind a trash can. At first, she shileded her face to protect her eyes from the wind. When she noticed her, she jumped out and leapt into her arms.

“Ella!! I’m so happy to see you!!!”

“I’m sorry I was so late but I guess it’s better late than never,eh?”

As Ella said this, she noticed that the fallen men were now once again standing and charging them once again. So, Ella deemed it best to leave.

“Okay! Where is Olivia?” Ella asked hurriedly.

“I’m in here…” The trash can suddenly spoke, or rather, Olivia said from inside the trash can. She poked her pink head out and looked up at her with eyes filled with a mixture of embarrassment and fear. A strange mix but not strange at the same time given the situation.

“Okay grab on!” Ella said even though she grabbed them instead. Then, she felt Natsumi who was hiding behind Jessica also grab onto her. Since Jessica was busy fighting, she used her wind to forcefully reel her in.

“Woah, I’ve got a big one!” Ella said as if she were fishing. Once she made contact with her, Ella quickly disappeared from the spot. When they came to, they were on top of the building Ella was originally at.

“That…….I can never get used to that…..” Jeniffer said. Ella giggled and allowed everyone to let her go. They all took the time to catch their breath and process what was going on. In the meantime, Ella raised her phone to her ear to talk to Saphire who should’ve still been on the line.

“Okay, I got the girls, any word on the boys?”

“The boys have already teleported here using their emergency passes.” Saphire responded. Ella felt relief fill her and she relaxed her shoulders. But, this was not just a rescue mission, there was still much work to be done, and pronto!

“Great…..but now on to the hard stuff. You got any read on the situation?”

“It appears that the bosses have not shown up as all signs of Aura are relatively weak. I am not sure what’s going on.”

“You’ve come to the same conclusion as I have, huh?Well, What about Miami? How is it over there?”

“From what I can tell, it is the same over there as it is over where you are. Axel still has not made contact with Andrew yet either. In fact, they are pretty far apart.”

Ella stopped for a moment and watched as the savants held back most of the weaklings, she thought of what Axel might be up to and hoped that he’d be okay. Then it occurred to her, a certain blonde haired girl had gone after her boyfriend in a fit of desperation. However, she knew that the others would worry for Lucy so she made sure they were away from earshot before asking Saphire about her.

“Lucy has also not made contact with Axel and due to the distance I can’t contact her. However, all her vital signs are okay, she just seems stressed which is natural in her current state.”

“Okay that’s good…..hmm…..”

Lucy not finding Axel was enough to make her worry, but she had to trust in her, she was a tough girl after all. Besides, there was something much more bigger cooking in the oven. Ella bit her lip as she struggled to make sense of everything. Her mind was going blank, there was just no way she could think of to advance from this….

(Well, looks like I have to take it one step at a time…)

“Saphire, are we in range to teleport back?”

“Erm…..yes, yes you are.”

“Great, I’ll see you there.” Ella said and hung up the phone. She then gathered the girls and instructed them to hold onto each other once more. When they did, Ella instructed Jeniffer to use her emergency pass.

“Wait a second! What about Lucy? I don’t know where she is! She could still be down there!” Jeniffer told her.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Lucy. She’s with who she wants to be with.” Ella told her in a calm and hinting voice. Immediately, she along with everyone else knew exactly who she was talking about. After thinking it over, they didn’t ask about her anymore and continued.

Up on their mobile headquarters, Thor, Saphire and the guys were watching their screens intently when Ella and the rest suddenly popped in.

“Captain! You’re back so soon?” Tony said.

“The foes are weak, the savants can handle their own for now, especially with that monster running around. This is the perfect time for me to collect my thoughts and work out what to do next…”

When they landed, Jeniffer took some time to collect herself and then stood up to go to her desk where she began to type on her computer. Natsumi, due to fear and anxiety, ran straight for the halls where her room was. Jessica took a seat on one of the benches while Olivia was in the middle of taking deep breaths kneeling on the ground.

Ella worked out that for the time being defense was the only option, there was nothing else they could do but wipe the enemy out. Then, there was Elizabeth, the key to this all. She had to locate the girl and bring her to where it was safe. Once she’s under their protection, they’ll leave this place in hopes of driving away the enemy with them. She expressed this thought to Saphire who agreed without any question.

“Ah, you left this here before you left. You should take it with you while you’re on the clock.” Saphire said to her pulling out a white silky roll. Ella knew what it was and grabbed it from her.

“Oh yeah, how could I forget my pride and joy?”

She unrolled the soft and smooth cloth and threw it over her person. It was revealed to be a robe. It was pure white other than for the fact that it had a strange symbol on the back. It was that of a silver dove layered over a black and white sphere. Layered over that was a large number 9. On the edges of the robe and even on the sleeves were embroidered images of small winds, the nature of her ability. Once she had it on, she smiled and got ready to leave once again.

“As the 9th captain of the Peacekeeper force, The Silver Doves, you have to make sure you’re dressed for the job” Saphire told her with no change of expression.

“Yeah yeah, I got it already thanks.” Ella responded.

“Jessica, I’m sorry but I’m going to need you to stay here.” Ella told Jessica.

Jessica, who had been admiring her up until then, exclaimed.

“Wait what?? But I can be a big help out there!”

“I know you will, but as things stand now you’re in danger of being taken away again. If one of the main bosses came out and overwhelmed you what would you do then? You musn’t forget that you hold a stone that they want. Just please, stay put for now.”

Jessica was of course reluctant, but what Ella had said was very much true. It looked like what was safe to do was sit tight and grit her teeth…

“Thank you for understanding….Now then, I’m off.”

“Wait a second! Where are the girls Casey and Maria? Shouldn’t they be here too?” Olivia asked as she began to calm down, though her voice was slightly shaking.

For a moment, Ella had completely forgotten about them. But, there was no need to worry.

“I checked the status of the teleporter Casey has, it recently made a trip back to Sonic City. It only held one person so I’m assuming that was Maria.” Saphire said to Olivia.

“There you have it. It’s safe to say Casey sent her off as soon as she noticed there was danger, then went off to help fight.” Ella hypothesized. Though, there was still no guarantee but, it helped calm Olivia. Once again, Ella excused herself and teleported back into the fray. Once there, she sincerely thought about Casey, hopefully that girl was as tough as she looked, because out in the battlefield she’s bound to need all the guts that she could get…

Part 2

For whatever reason, things were seriously out of whack. Nothing was making sense and she seriously wanted some answers. Yet, the people that could possibly give her those answers were nowhere to be found. As she thought this, Casey continued to sneak her way around the ravaged Savant Island trying to avoid as much trouble as possible. For the past couple of hours, she had done her best not to get caught up in a fight. Here and there, she gave a helping hand to some people who were being outnumbered but her help was little.

There was just this feeling inside of her, she felt confident in her new abilities but these men in black terrified her. She just couldn’t bring herself to look at them more than she had to.

“Relax, Casey…...you have to relax….”

Right, now was not the time to be hesitant. For quite some time now it had seemed like mostly everyone here was able to fight for themselves. Most higher category students had excellent combat type powers so they were able to hold their own in a fight like this. As for the lower category people, they should’ve evacuated and gone to the underground emergency bunker located near the east side of the island. That thought was comforting.

However, it was still not enough to keep her sane. In situations like this, everyone here was supposed to be guided by the orders of one of the higher ups, usually the chairman of the Savant Island administration, but up until now she still had not heard one peep from him or anyone of relevance. Just what was the cause? What had it been already? Three to four hours? They were far beyond the “running late” point at this stage! Something was definitely wrong!

Since no one had said nothing yet, is it possible that the gates leading to the underground bunkers were locked? Unless instructed to, the gate operators don’t open those doors to anyone, no exceptions. So what if there are tons of people waiting there now, desperately trying to get in before they were killed?

(I can’t allow that…….I haven’t found anyone I know yet, I haven’t even seen Kyle..But first things first, I ought to help those people get underground safely, maybe then I can learn something there about what’s going on)

Casey started to turn heel and ran down an alleyway still trying to lay low. However, she eventually found that trying to lay low was too much of a hassle and was time consuming. So, she quickly abandoned the plan and walked out into the chaos. The noises of battle soon grew louder the more she ran and the more anxious she began to feel.

Suddenly, as she feared, she felt an attack come from behind and she jumped off to the side only avoiding it by a graze. She felt a sting on her right arm and reached to cover it. Luckily, it was only a scratch and was not enough to draw blood. Still, it hurt. When she looked at her attacker, she saw a hooded man wearing the Shadow Hunter clothing raising his arm at her. She couldn’t see his face but it didn’t matter. An uncontrollable amount of fear plagued her mind and she felt her focus slip. In that one moment, a series of knives were launched at her from all angles. Had it not been for her strange instincts, she would’ve surely been a goner. She quickly used her flames to spin around and make the knives lose their momentum,eventually flying off in other directions. However, that proved to be a dumb decision as she then lost sight of her target the second she stopped spinning, but that wasn’t long as a foot was firmly planted on the side of her jaw which sent her flying. She slammed onto the ground and rolled a couple time before she came to a stop by hitting some falling debris. Her head ached and rung as her vision blurred.

“What the hell…..” she said to herself as she tried to pick herself up. In the end, her arms failed her and she fell back down.

“I see…...so this is how it feels to get hit by such a tremendous force…….I really am just human…….”

She said this to herself as she felt her head rumble. No matter how powerful her ability was, without the proper training to her body, she was still weak and vulnerable to attacks. Which sucked, as much as she didn’t want to look like some frail and helpless girl, that’s exactly what she was. Even that day, and even now, nothing had changed.

Feeling bummed out, she watched as four of the the same shadow hunter approached her while juggling many knives, presumably stuck on choosing which one to kill her with. In the end, he went with a silver dagger, grabbing it and throwing it like a dart directly at her. Meanwhile, Casey just lay there thinking what her life would have been like if she had just been……. “Normal”

She closed her eyes and awaited the fate that never came. A strange electronic sound that mimicked the sound of cards being rapidly shuffled played in the air and a sudden pair of feet landed right in front of her. When she opened her eyes, she saw the familiar figure of Caesar standing right there in front of her. With his hands outstretched, particles of energy flied by his person as he kept his back to her.

“This isn’t the impression you gave me before, what’s going on all of a sudden?” He said to her with an air of indifference. As he said that, Casey felt slight embarrassment fill her face. She got up to her knees and sat there releasing a soft laugh as her head stopped spinning.

“It’s been a long day, man” she responded.

When she said that, the black hooded person quickly charged at Caesar just as he had just started turning his head toward her. He raised a series of knives and launched all of them at Caesar. Caesar quickly raised his hand and the knives that were sent his way were turned into small particles of energy, just as before. However, the shadow hunter once more vanished from sight before quickly appearing next to him, ready to land another critical blow. Casey was about ready to warn him but then something happened that will forever stick with her. The man was raising his leg to land a devastating blow on the temple of Caesar's head but it never landed despite Caesar still not noticing the man. Just as his leg entered a certain range, it began to disappear starting from the toes up. It almost looked like his legs were turning into tiny blocks of matter. Before long, the man’s face turned into that of pure horror as he released a roar of fear. Dropping all of his knives, he attempted to run but it was no use. Casey gasped and covered her mouth as she realized that the man was dying. Eventually, the disintegration reached the nape of his neck and the man still somehow continued to scream up until there was nothing left. Only after he had completely gone did Caesar look back. He clicked his tongue and furrowed his brow as he lowered his guard.

“Damn, forgot to lower my barrier before the battle. Bastard went and died before I could actually do anything to him.” He said.

Casey was a little shocked as he did not seem to care that he had just taken a life but in the end she decided not to focus on that. She got up on her feet and started to thank Caesar until he stopped her with a wave of his hand.

“There’s no need to thank me. We need all the help we can get. Now then, got any idea on what’s going on?”

“Well, alright…..No, I don’t. Though I figured that by now there should’ve been someone from the higher ups telling us what to do but so far I’ve heard nothing. Then it hit me that the lower ranked savants must’ve gone to the underground shelter but it’s possible that the doors haven’t been opened”

“because the higher ups have been silent, right?” he said as he looked around the area for anymore enemies.

“That’s right. If they haven’t given the word it’s possible that there are dozens of students standing out there right now possibly in danger. So, I thought I’d head there and help those people to safety.”

“And what then?”

“Well, hopefully I learn something along the way relating to this mess. Wanna come with me? I could use your skills.” She said as she dusted her clothes off and fixed her hair.

“Well, I don’t really know what else I can do. Sure, why not? I’ll come along.” He said still sounding calm.

“Great! Come on! The place is over to the east so we better get a move on!” Casey said as she began jogging. Soon after, she heard the footsteps of Caesar following close behind her.

“So, where’s the group of friends you had with you before?” Casey asked referring to the group she had seen with him during the capture the flag event.

“I’ve no idea. After the last game I just called it a day and went home. Though, I’m sure they're all alright, they’re tough”

Casey took his word for it and kept her pace toward her destination. Then, while still keeping a sharp eye on her surroundings, she decided that it would be best to try and collect her thoughts. From what she could see, there was no sign of Axel or his presence anywhere. She wasn’t sure why but it was still too early to know anyway. The only possible reason for that though was that he was up on the ship they called Thor, which is where everyone else is likely at. Knowing them, they likely had a plan already laid out and in motion. If she were to go off that, then they’d likely fill her in the moment they are able to. With any luck, that’d be soon.

Next, trying to figure out what the enemy might be trying to go for. From what she has been told, the two likely reasons for an attack from a shadow hunter would be to get a stone or Axel himself. If she thought about it, though, even if they were out for either of the two what would the reason be behind attacking everyone in sight? If she recalled, the last time this happened in Sonic City was because they wanted to get their hands on Axel. They thought that if they destroyed his home town, the despair would be enough to make him surrender. However, that was just a theory ,but this time around, Savant Island was not the hometown of anyone so, what was going on?

Someone had to be in charged of this, but where was said person? Usually, they’d appear and spell out their entire plan for them but none of that was happening. This was one big tangle and she had no idea how to straighten it out.

Unless, did the enemy know? Was her secret out? So, was it possible that this whole thing was her fault? No, there was no way anybody could have known since not even Ella had brought it up to her, so why would the enemy know? Then again, in instances like these, in stories at least, the enemy always had some kind of upper hand in figuring stuff out. Who was to say that wasn’t the case right now? If it was, then maybe she’d be better off turning herself in? Maybe then everyone would be okay? Maybe-

“Hey kid, quit zoning out, we’re almost there”

The voice of Caesar talking to her made her snap out her trance. She had been running on autopilot for so long and lost in thought that she didn’t even notice that the underground emergency shelter was just up ahead. When she looked at him, it was evident that her thoughts were written all over her face since Caesar appeared to want to say something.

“Oh yeah, you’re right thanks.” she said as she started to slow down. Eventually, when she was a couple of feet away, she made a complete stop and looked for higher ground. When she saw a certain building that she thought was high enough, she told Caesar her idea to go up there to which he revealed that he shared in her motives. Caesar then placed his hand on the side of the building and broke down some of the matter on the building. Using some of the broken down components, he constructed a stairway of sorts which allowed them to swiftly climb up the ten story building. He allowed Casey to go up first and then he went. Once they were up, the broken down parts of the building returned to their places.

Casey made her way to the edge of the building and looked over to the direction where the underground facility was. However, her view was partly covered by hundreds of people who were crowding the entrance all speaking over one another. Regardless, those large steel gates leading to safety were visible to them all. They stood high above almost every nearby building and were so shiny and silver that she could see the refelction of the people standing in front of them if she looked hard enough. The funny thing about them were that they were simply two large doors that led straight down. The backside of it was shaped just like so: |\. One could get on the top of it and slide straightdown its backside, which was something she admittedly always wanted to do.

“Looks like it’s just as you said, the doors haven’t been opened to anyone.”

“Damn it, I was kinda hoping I’d be wrong on this one.” Casey responded. She then looked over the crowd and noticed a familiar looking girl. When she looked closer, she recognized her to be Katie, the glasses wearing girl Axel and her had befriended.

Wanting to talk to her, Casey jumped down from where she was at and landed next to her with ease. Since she had appeared out of nowhere, the girl along with others around her suddenly jumped out of shock and stared at her with confused and irritated eyes, all except for Katie who was just confused.

“Yo!” Casey said ignoring the others.

“Ah, Casey?? Hey! I’m so glad to see you’re all right!” she said after she recognized her. She then fully embraced Casey. Casey, with her cheek up against hers, laughed and returned the warm gesture.

“Ditto Amiga!(Note:Amiga means friend in spanish) So, any idea what’s going on?” she said sounding like it was any ordinary day. However, Katie shook her head no.

“No, the whole city wants to know. We lower levels came here but no one working the doors have said anything. Some of us even tried banging on the doors but nothing.”

“Seriously? Damn, it’s only a matter of time too…..” Casey said scratching her head. Although Kate did not understand her, Casey did not bother explaining just yet.

What she was thinking was that it was only a matter of time before the enemy attacked here. If she recalled, she first saw a lot of action coming from the north side, the underground bunker was far out in the south. In just a short amount of time, she was sure that the enemy would make their way here. When that happens, there’s no telling just how much chaos will break out.

(no matter what, I have to make sure that gate opens!)

“Kate, if we don’t do something now we’re all going to die here, do you understand that?” She suddenly said.

“W-what?......Well, uh, I don’t know!” Katie responded with growing unease.

“We will, but not unless I have something to do with it! Wait here!” Casey said as she quickly patted Katie’s back. She turned heel and signaled over to Caesar who was looking down at her. He quickly jumped down and asked if she had learned anything.

“No, but it looks like no one controlling these walls have said anything. So! It’s time we do something here!” Casey said.

“Like what?”

“How long do you think it will be before the enemy finds our location?” She said as she knelt down and tied her shoes tighter.

“From the looks of it, I think about 15 minutes max”

“Then we’ve got 15 minutes to get those doors open and get everybody inside.” She said standing up and flexing her left arm.

“Are you serious? How do you plan to do that?” Caesar asked know sounding a tad overwhelmed.

“Kate! Come over here for a second.”

Since she was called over, Katie made her way over to Casey while looking timid. “Yeah?”

“Those doors, you know the specs on them?” she suddenly asked.

“Y-yes, actually I do. They are thick steel gates infused with a special material which causes savant skills to be ineffective. Rumor has it it was done by the ability of another savant. So, attacking it would be meaningless as our abilities would be negated. The gates stand at around 30 feet tall and 20 feet wide. The only thing beyond them is a stairway leading to the underground bunker said to be able to withstand even a nuclear bomb without much damage. There are only two ways to open those gates, by shutting off its power source or by pulling the lever to open it. Otherwise, its defense is impregnable.” Kate said while looking up at the huge gate.

“So, we can’t open it by force without first locating the one keeping that ability that negates our ability up and running and taking him out? That would take too long. So, we have to get those doors open by pulling that lever. And, if I’m not mistaken, the control panel is up there on top of the gates where the workers are at.” Casey stated.

“Are you suggesting we go up there and pull it ourselves?” Caesar asked crossing his arms.

“There’s no other choice. It’s that or we just kill ourselves and get it over with.” Casey said while starting to stretch. As she did so, Katie started to nervously fidget.

“Well, I guess you have a point.” Caesar said without changing his expression. It looked like he was on board with what Casey was suggesting.

“And you don’t think it will be easy, do you?” Caesar said since he saw her stretching as if preparing for battle.

“You’re exactly right. You coming? Or are you chicken?”

“Says the girl who was just cowering in fear a while ago.”

“Oh, so you can roast? I like that attitude! Let’s go then!” She said as she stood up and cracked her knuckles. Caesar closed his eyes and smiled. Casey then turned to Katie who was about ready to drop in fear.

“Kate, I'm sorry to ask but we might need your expertise up there, do you think you can tough it out and take one for the team?” Casey said trying to sound encouraging. At first, Katie looked like she wanted to say hell no, but after careful consideration, she understood the situation called for her and firmly nodded.

“Great!” Casey said slapping her palms on both of Katie’s shoulders. Then, nodding at Caesar, she let him know that they were ready to go. Then, they both looked up at the great wall before them and readied their hearts. In just a short while, the fate of hundreds of people would come down to the pull of a lever. Whether or not they succeeded would depend on what awaited them climbing that wall….. The fight started now!

Part 3

“It’s real convenient that someone had grappling hooks, eh?” Casey said as she walked up the wall while holding on to two guns holding her up with a rope.

“I think it was a little too convenient. We could’ve just used the elevator…” Katie, who was shaking in fear, said in response to Casey as she to climbed up the wall with shaking feet.

“You know they’d never make it that easy, Kate!” Casey said with a hearty tone.

When the trio had first made it to the front of the crowd, Casey had expressed her wishes to everyone to climb and open the gates herself. In response to that, many people fiercely agreed. That’s how a certain gang of nerdy looking students crowded them offering them grappling hook guns to aide in their climb. Apparently, they had built it themselves in order to allow for better mobility in emergency situations. They ended up taking two for each of them and thanked them. However, they were warned that aside from a simple hand harness to keep them from slipping, that was all they had to hold on to. If they somehow let go of the gun holding them, they’d fall. Even so, they accepted these terms and continued onward. Kate, however, took a while before she got up on the wall. In the end, it worked out somehow.

Once they were finally nearing the top of the gates, Casey noticed a line of people waiting for them out on the rail in front of where the control room was. A total of six students were there with one older woman standing in the middle of them. However that wasn’t what made Casey stop in her tracks, it was the fact that each of their hooks holding them up had a foot of one of the people up there on them. One kick, and they’d fall for sure. Casey first thought of Katie. From this height, she’d die for sure, even with a super human body. With no guarantee of what would happen next, they all stopped in their tracks. Katie’s hands shook as she used everything she had to keep herself up.

“Can we help you?” The tall woman in the middle dressed in a blue uniform said to them. She looked to be pretty old, about her late 50s. She also had dirty blonde hair that was held up in a bun.

“Yeah, we’d like to have a word with the ones in charge of this here gate please.” Casey said in a hard tone. The woman raised her eyebrows ever so slightly as if shocked that anyone would dare even speak to her.

“I was afraid of that. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to go any further than this. You must go, or we will make you leave” She said with silent anger.

“Well, unfortunately for you, we can’t leave without first opening these gates. Whether you do it or I do it is up to you” Casey said holding her ground. However, not entirely to what Casey was expecting, the woman softly laughed and shook her head.

“You don’t know what you’re doing kid, do you? Listen, you are to turn around and wait until we give you orders, are we clear?”

“And when is that!? Until we are all dead or close to?!! If these doors don’t open now all of these students here will die! Are you not listening to their screams of terror down there? They're desperately crying out to get to safety because they can’t defend themselves!!” Casey began to yell in desperation.

“Just look out there! In just 12 minutes the enemy will get here and when they do they are not going to just turn a blind eye to us! They will attack and a lot of us will die!! Open these gates damn you!” Casey continued while stomping her feet and baring her fangs. The woman looked at her and then slowly raised her head to the battlefield in the horizon. Distant explosions and sounds of chaos were waving in the distance as dozens of mechanical robots seemed to ravage the city. Indeed, it seemed awful, but it did not matter….

“I am sorry, but for the sake of millions….no... billions, I cannot allow you to interfere..” She said finally showing some hint of sympathy, but not in the way that Casey would have wanted. Before she could say something, Caesar next to her blurted out something.

“Hey, what are you trying to say? That the power to let us through is beyond yours?” He said. Stunned, Casey turned to him and so did Katie. The woman did not reply and stayed silent, but Caesar continued.

“From the looks of it, you had guards here already lined up. It’s almost as if you were already expecting one of us to attack. What’s worse, those guys are students just like us. You think they’re disposable don’t you? Just some mutants with no real value other than for combat? That’s why none of the actual top dogs are here, right?” He said as his eyebrows rose and his pupils dilated. It appeared as if Caesar was actually getting angry. Just as she thought that, a gray coat of energy suddenly rose from his feet and covered his being. His aura was leaking out.

“You know what I think? I think you bastards are hiding all of the higher ups in there, aren’t you? It’s probably the reason why none of them have showed up to give us orders!”

“You? Just what are you saying!?” The woman blurted out suddenly looking flustered.

“Just look at your face! It’s saying it all! Not only that, I have a hunch that you bastards were hiding in there before this mess even began! You lot knew this would happen, didn’t you?”

The significance of his words were enough to shaken up even the guards protecting the gate. Basically, it was almost as if the government knew this attack was happening and hid all of its officials. But why? Why abandon the savants? Why would they do this? Casey pondered this and Katie even appeared to want to cry as she too desperately wanted to believe that what Caesar was saying was not true. The woman lowered her face so that they could not see her expression. She stayed like that in silence as her guards awaited her orders despite their growing doubt. Then, after many moments, the woman once again spoke up, but this time in a tone barely audible to any of them.

“You…..have no idea of the grave danger that opposes us should we disobey…...We have no choice….”

As she said that, Casey instinctively got closer to Katie and then inspected her surroundings.

“I hope that in the future, you can forgive me, for I only do what is best for mankind, I am sorry,...”

The grip on her hands changed and she readied to reel in her hooks at any moment. Her footing changed and her heart danced as it readied for the coming symphony of battle.

“But, you must stop here! Drop them!”

Many things happened at once when she said that, the sudden feeling of weightlessness over took them as their hooks were kicked off simultaneously. But, she was prepared for that. She quickly grabbed onto Katie and fired her hook in a new direction, the edge of the rail on the right side. Once it hooked, she used her falling momentum to swing to the left and scoop upward like a vine. At that moment, Caesar had also done something similar to her, only he charged straight for the woman. He once again launched a hook near the same position it was in before only this time it lodged itself into the wall which would make it harder to get out. Then, he did something quite amazing. He spun around and reeled himself in at a rapid speed, he almost looked like a frisbee. The sudden change in movement momentarily shocked the group and they left him enough time to cut the distance between them to nothing.

By the time they thought about kicking his hook off, it was too late. Caesar had already brought it back and reeled it back into the gun. Then, using his powerful momentum, he aimed a kick at the window of the control panel. However, he was stopped by a sticky black substance that covered his legs from behind him. He turned to find one of the six body guards attacking him with the substance around his legs. It seemed like he’d be in trouble but, soon the substance broke away like glass to a hammer in an instant as it was broken down. Caesar landed on the rail calmly and examined his enemies closely. Four boys, two girls. The woman nearly had a heart attack as she reached her hands up for her head.

“You little shits! You have no idea what you’re doing! Capture them! Kill them! I don’t care so long as they do not open those gates!!!” The woman yelled as she ran through the door leading to the control panel. When she did, the six nodded their head in unison and charged at Caesar.

“I didn’t think we’d be fighting amongst each other in times like these, but it seems there’s no choice, come.” Caesar said putting away the two guns in the waistband of his pants.

Just a few feet behind all that, Casey landed on the rail with Katie still in her arms. Once they were down, Katie let go of Casey and dropped to her knees.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“W-w-w-what now? Is what Caesar said true?? Then what’s going to happen to us?!!” She asked sounding terrified.

“Okay girly, Now’s not the time to ask questions, I don’t know much about it anyway, right now we’re going to fend off those students however we can. What I need you to do is enter the control panel and get this thing open by any means necessary alright? We don’t have that much time! You can do this girl!” Casey said hurriedly as she quickly put away the two two guns behind her back in the waistband of her skirt. After giving her another push on her back, Casey left Katie and went after the group who were all ganging up on Caesar. While clenching her fists, she made them burst into flames. She then rotated both her arms clockwise like fans. Eventually, they looked like gorgeous blazing rings of fire.

“Fire dance, Rain of Flames!” The words flowed right out of her mouth somehow as she swung both hands forward causing both rings of flames to burst out into a shower of fireballs. Caesar jumped out of the way and watched as the six were hit by the oncoming volley of fire. Most were knocked off their feet and three managed to block her attacks by parring with their own abilities. Those same three turned back to check on their teammates and then charged after her. Two guys, one girl.

(Perfect) She thought.

She readided her footing by placing one leg slightly forward and slightly kneeling back with the other. She raised her left arm but did not clench her fist to give her a chance to catch a punch. She pointed out her left side and kept her right arm back keeping her fingers slightly away from her palm, almost a fist but not completely.

The rail was narrow so any misuse of a power and they’d all fall, this was a hand to hand combat thing now. Right up her alley…

The first guy came up and threw a punch at her aiming for her face but Casey pivoted to her left and let him swing out. Once she saw that opening, she punched upward right on the center of his stomach, putting just the right amount of sudden pressure on the solar plexus causing the wind to be knocked right out of him. Now, she didn’t want to brag or anything but she was pretty strong, so that had to of have hurt. She didn’t see but she did hear the kid fall right to the ground with a gasp. That was all she heard before she moved on to her next targets. The two others, guy and girl, were shocked for a moment but realized that they had to continue going. They charged at her from both sides but Casey knew what she had to do. She jumped off the rail and out into the open air. For a moment, the two were once again baffled, and Casey took advantage of that 5 second reaction as she pulled out the two guns from behind her back and shot the hooks onto the wall of the control room. She then quickly reeled herself in using the button on the gun and suddenly shot out like a slingshot toward the two. She extended both of her feet and planted them right on each of their cheeks. She felt her feet come in contact with the soft texture of skin and even felt them crash against the wall despite bringing her feet back so as to not damage their skulls by using their heads as cushions. They were still students after all. Nonetheless, it was enough to knock them right out.

“It’s a real good thing I have leggings on under…” She said as she dusted of her skirt. She put the two guns away again and quickly raised her arm to parry a blow that was meant for her temple. A glowing leg had struck her out of nowhere but her senses had helped her in the last moment. She threw it to the side and quickly jumped and turned in mid air to gain some distance between her and the enemy. Sure enough, it was the kid who she had initially punched. He was up again and his body glowed as sudden cracks and bursts of electricity revolved around his fists and legs.

“You’re still up buddy? Well, you made your choice way before this didn’t you?!” Casey said as the kid ignored her and kept throwing punches at her face. For the most part, Casey managed to dodge most of them. However, they just seemed to get faster and faster. Before long, her vision suddenly blurred as a sharp pain tore her apart from her chin. She jumped a few feet back faster than she had even realized that the kid had given her an uppercut straight to the chin.

(He’s getting faster?) she thought. The kid kept his pose and moved from side to side as he gritted his teeth at her. Even through that, she could swear that the kids eyes were desperately calling for help. But, she couldn’t place her finger on it just yet. The kid had once again made his move.

One, two, three, four swings coming from the left and the right but Casey did her best to avoid them. Eventually, another powerful blast from her right side caused her to momentarily lose focus. Then again when another powerful hit attacked her right cheek. She was knocked back some as she felt tears well up in her eyes.

“Damn asshole, you have no mercy when it comes to hitting women don't you?”

As Casey said this, she thought that she had figured him out. As the time went by, she noticed that the kid was always in motion, and in turn he was getting faster. Could it be?.....Could he get faster the more his body was warmed up?

(If that’s the case, then it’s simple! Take him out now!!)

This time, Casey ran after him. The kid raised his leg and kicked at her face but Casey dodged and made him fall back. However, his other leg suddenly rose to meet her too. For a split second, the victor seemed to be the kid but, Casey quickly leaned back and narrowly avoided the blow. The kid widened his eyes and fell back to his lost momentum. Casey used this chance to pick him up with her flames, she used everything she had to toss him up in the air where now she was in control of him. She then let him fall. She cocked back her fist and covered it with flames. The kid knew what was coming and covered his face, but it would be futile.

“Dragons Claw, Iron Fist!” She once again said subconsciously as she swung her fist forward. At the same time, the kid came into her range. Her fist came in contact with the boys arms but they were like butter as it got sliced by a knife. She felt his bones rupture as the blow carried on and reached his face. He flew a few ways back and eventually slammed against what was presumably the elevator door and dented it. After a couple of fidgets, the boy went limp, the battle was over.

Case felt exhaustion wash over her as she fell to her knees.

(it’s just as I thought, I can’t use it too much…) she thought. Even so, she clenched her fists and got to her feet. The battle was far from over. Just 8 minutes left….

Part 4

Just after Casey had left her, Katie was in the middle of trying to calm herself down as she walked down the wobbly rail leading to the control room. The sounds of battle danced in her ears as she frantically tried to collect her out of control thoughts. Her hands shook and small beads of sweat popped up on the surface of her palms like hippos in a swamp. Grabbing on to the rail, she felt her heart leap in fear every time she thought she would fall off due to the violent shaking.

(I don’t understand it….I just don’t know why this is happening…..) she thought to herself. Currently, Casey and Caesar were in the middle of fighting hard in order to give her a chance to get into the control room. That thought alone was enough to place an immense amount of pressure on her, time was of the essence and not one mistake was to be allowed. Still, with thoughts rattling around in her head like bees in a hive there was little she could do to concentrate fully. Regardless, she had to get a move on.

(I better ask questions later, nothing has ever made sense since I was four anyway…)

With that in mind, she quickly located the door to the control room and made a beeline for it. The platform she was walking on was fairly large, probably around 12 feet wide. Because of that, she felt a little comfortable running at this height. That and the rail was fairly tough looking. After a couple steps, she made it to the door without bothering either Casey or Caesar. Quickly wanting to get indoors, she tackled the door open and ran in. However, she immediately froze when she saw what was inside. Rather, who was inside. A cold chill attacked her nervous body as her lips slightly parted in awe.

The room was about 8 feet wide. 11 feet long. There was one long dashboard filled with many buttons and small screens, a couple chairs for the operators, and even a mini kitchen with coffee supplies. Above the dashboard were 5 small tv screens all showing the chaos that was going on outside and even the fight Casey and Caesar were having. In the center of the room was a boy. He was older than her, just by one year. She was 16. He had soft blonde hair that cupped around his head. It wasn’t too long but it wasn’t too short. His bangs covered most of his forehead and his left ear. He had crystal clear blue eyes and soft white skin. With a taunting smirk on his face, he adjusted the grip on the handle he was holding on to the second he laid eyes on her. That’s what set her off especially. That handle had a very distinct label on it. It had red lettering and was embroidered with black and yellow lines. She was sure that was the lever to open the gates, and the one who was holding on to it was none other than Pixelator himself.

“So, you finally came in here?” He said with an air of nobility. Katie, although extremely nervous, felt her adrenaline reach its peak and she suddenly transformed. It was like a switch had been flipped on inside her and she was completely focused.

“Pixelator, don’t tell me they also have you guarding the gates.” She said with no shaking in her words. The air tensed as she weighed herself against her probable opponent. Pixelator, not only a guy known worldwide by all savants, but ranked in a high position. He was the one who had constructed most of the battle grounds for the tournament every year and was loved by most of the higher ups. His real name remained unknown as to his wishes,except those who knew him well. He was ranked number two and placed in the sixth category….He was far beyond her power. He even outranked Caesar who was in the fifth category and plenty strong. She’d get utterly destroyed here, a lily in the face of a steel toed boot.

“Perhaps they do, or perhaps I’m here to help you.” He said. For a second, she felt relief and hope falsely lead her into a sense of security, but she was foolish enough to let it show on her face. The second she did that, he mockingly chuckled and placed a hand on his forehead. Irritation surfaced then replaced her before calm face as she saw this.

“I don’t see what’s so funny about being a jerk.” She said to him.

“Sorry, sorry! It’s just, you’re so gullible despite already knowing the way I am.” He said to her.

“I thought you’d change in the short amount of time we haven’t seen each other. Guess I’ve got to drop my expectations into the negatives.” She sharply said.

“Whoa there! What’s with the sudden change in attitude? Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?”

“I don’t consider bullies friends of mine” She said while clenching her fist. Pixelator brushed his hair with his free hand and shook his head once more while smiling coldly.

“While I have you here, I gotta say, I didn’t expect you, a useless low level, to participate in a tournament meant for the best of the best. What were you thinking? That you’d actually win?” He said as his lips twisted in a mocking smiled that clawed at her pride.

“It’s none of your concern, it doesn’t matter anyway now, I lost.”

“That you did.”

“Is that all you wanted? Get out of the way, I don’t have time to be messing around with you” Katie spoke up starting to feel time slap against her back. She started to wallk toward Pixelator actually expecting him to raise his guard but, to her shock, he just gave her one look, closed his eyes, raised his shoulders, and stepped aside. At first, she hesitantly stopped, but she kept on going just as soon as she did. There was no time to hesitate anymore.

Reaching for the long lever, she gripped her small fingers around the cold handle and quickly pulled down. However, instead of hearing the sounds of large metal gates opening and a crowd cheering, she heard nothing. Nothing at all. Thinking that maybe she had done it wrong, she pulled the lever back into its original position and then back down again. She repeated this multiple times before confirming that nothing was truly happening. Flustered, she spun on the spot to face Pixelator who had been smirking.

“Something wrong?” He said with a devilish smile.

“Don’t act stupid! What on earth did you do?!” She said while baring her teeth at him in a fit of anger.

“Relax there princess, I wasn’t the one who did that”

“Then who!?”

“It was the executive lady. She was just in here. Deactivated the entire control room with the turn of a single key and went to hide before telling me to go out there and kick your asses.”

Katie, feeling frustrated, ruffled her hair and slammed her fist against the now useless control panel. She dragged her eyes across the entire dashboard and found the place where a key could be inserted to activate and deactivate it. Without it, nothing could be done. Then what now? There had to be something of importance in there, some key to it all. But, she just had to think harder.

“Why are you all doing this? You’re one of us aren’t you?” She said not really paying attention to her words.

“Haha, the world is a pretty messed up place.” she heard him say.

“Answer me” she firmly asked. After a moments silence, Pixelator began to speak.

“Those guys out there, they aren’t doing this because they want to. They’re being forced to.”

“What are you saying?” she said turning around to face him.

“Now, I don’t mean they were blackmailed or anything, I mean they are physically being forced to do this. What do you think I mean by that?”

As he said this, Katie darted through many thoughts and assumptions so fast that time seemed to slow down. What was he saying? Physically being forced? From what she could see, no one was holding a gun to their head, and they weren’t blackmailed as far as she knew, so what? When she first saw the group of savants, something did seem off about them. It was almost like their eyes weren’t connected with their facial expressions. It was almost as if they were…

When she snapped her head up and looked at Pixelator to confirm her thoughts, he nodded at her. And so, that settled it.

“They’re being mind controlled?”

“Bingo” He said snapping his fingers and pointinig at her.

“But, I never heard of mind control being an ability that anyone could control to the point of being able to control more than one person at a time! With that kind of power, you’d be up with the big dogs! The sixth if not the seventh category!! You’re telling me they have someone with that kind of power working for them?”

“You catch on quick”

“So then, if they have someone like that, why aren’t you under their spell?” She asked wondering why he was allowed to do as he pleased. Pixelator simply shook his head and grunted as if insulted.

“Simple, I set up a security system in my brain using my ability. It’s like a firewall of sorts. That person can’t control me”

“Okay…..that explains that, but what do I do with that information? Even if those guys are being controlled, all Casey and Caesar have to do is defeat them and they’ll drop, won’t they?”

“If only it were that easy” Pixelator said as he crossed his arms and let out a soft but heavy breath.

“Those guys aren’t that high leveled. Probably around category four. Even so, I’m sure this person is a lot stronger and in the position they're in for a reason…..Now, the look on your face is asking what I mean. Ha, all I’m saying is, if I had that power and I desperately wanted to hold someone back, I’d make my pawns fight till they died of exhaustion”

When he said that, a hundred fears sprayed all over her body in the form of a chill causing the hair on her neck to raise on end.

“You’re saying, they were commanded to fight to the death?....” she whispered while her eyes darted all over the ground.

“Perhaps. You know, ignoring broken bones, concussions, even lack of consciousness, things of that like.”

Katie felt her blood run cold as yet another chilly chill attacked her up until then warm skin.

“But relax, there is still hope for you lot. I mean, a machine can’t get orders if the one sending them is out right?”

There it was, a way out. If they just took out the one in control of the savants, they’d be able to put them out and focus on quickly opening the gates. But how? There was no way they could do that with the little time they already had! But……

The only other way was to kill them or get killed….There was no way she could make such a choice…...Then what she had to do was crystal clear.

“Damn it…..High leveled skill able to control the minds of multiple people at once. With a skill like that, you’d be ranked extremely high up. My best bet? The infamous locked category. I don’t remember much about them but some names. I’ve got to think here…...Everyone in the top of the leaderboard is given a name corresponding to their skill, it’s a new tradition with us first generation savants. So, their name has to be a dead giveaway. On this island, only two in the locked category reside here, Frostbite and Incinerator. We all know what their abilities are so that rules them out. But it’s possible someone was brought in from elsewhere.. Ah! I think I got it!” She suddenly yelled while clapping her hands. Pixelator blinked his eyes as he watched her think using every brain cell she had.

“Queen!! The Queen also known as the Mental Breakdowner!! Ranked number eight in the locked seventh category! It’s her isn’t it!?” she yelled once again as her eyes twinkled in accomplishment. Taking her gaze head on, Pixelator confirmed her thoughts simply by looking away. That was all she needed. Now, her job wasn’t done yet. Her ability was powerful yes, but if the golden rule for all savants was true, her weakness shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. They say the stronger you are, the easier your weakness is to spot. So, in Queen’s case, she could control people by using their minds. Logic said that she shouldn’t have much trouble if it were just one person, but if it were multiple even she should have to keep an eye on each one. If it were like that, then the less people she controlled, the longer the distance that she could put between her and her brain washee! So then, she had to be close by! Thinking that, she quickly bolted out the door in search of the one who could help her. Once she was out there, she immediately found Casey who was on her knees and breathing heavily.

“Huh? Katie? Did ya get those doors opened?” She said.

“No, but we can focus on that later! First I need your help finding someone!”

“Eh?what do you mean we can focus on that later? That’s the entire reason we’re up here for!”

“But look!” She said as she pointed behind her. When Casey turned back, her eyes widened as she saw the boy who had been lying limp a few moments ago rise to his feet. Shocked, she quickly stood up and readied herself.

“No Casey, We have to quickly find this person!” Katie yelled as she tugged on Casey’s shirt. However, Casey was keeping a firm eye on her opponent. Just then, they felt warning signals come from behind them as Katie suddenly felt herself get lifted off her feet. Rather, the ground below her had fallen apart and she was thrown into freefall. But, before she could utter a cry, she was grabbed by a sudden pile of cubes and lead to the edge of the rail to hang on to. The small pixels danced around her as they soon returned to their original owner that she could not see. Even so, she knew who they belonged to.

“Katie!? You good? Hang on! I got you!” She heard Casey yell as she peeked her head over the hole in the platform. She saw Casey make a dash in the opposite direction and suddenly jumped off like a diver starting a swimming competition. With a fluid motion rivaled only by professionals, she used the grappling hook gun to grab onto the platform and swing toward her. When she grabbed hold of her, Casey used the rest of her momentum to shoot her other hook and reel in the first. While swinging, Casey spoke to her sounding stunned.

“Okay,the two I knocked out before somehow got up and broke the floor you were standing on. I’ve bought us some time while we’re in the air like this, what’s going on?”

“Okay so, I just learned that those savants are being controlled by a mind control user. They’ve presumably been given the order of fighting until they die, even if they take on heavy injuries. Going off the power needed to sustain these guys, I’ve narrowed it down to the Queen, the one in the seventh category. I don’t know why she is here but she is. So, in order to stop these guys without killing them, we have to find and take her down, that should stop them!”

“Okay, and how do we find her? We don’t have time to look everywhere!”

“In order to control this many people, even she would have to be at a point where she could watch this all go down easily. So, that’s where you come in, I recall Axel once asking you to check nearby for any enemies and you were able to pinpoint a few. I want you to do the same thing here, except search for the most powerful signs of energy, it has to be the one that is by itself!” Katie ordered as Casey once again helped them land on the platform. With a bead of sweat running down her face, Casey now understood what was going on and nodded her head.

“I gotcha, I’ll try” She said once again kneeling down and closing her eyes to concentrate. As she did that, Katie noticed the three from earlier quickly charge at her. Katie knew she stood no chance without a weapon, but the one who did was a few feet away.

“Caesar! I’m sorry to bother you but we need your help!”

“No need to explain, I managed to hear it all thanks to your frantic screams. I’ve got this” Caesar said as he jumped in front of her and raised his guard. Now, she knew Caesar was powerful, but she was about to see first hand just how powerful he was. It was a six on one now. Savants from all sides suddenly attacked him as Katie struggled to believe that Caesar could hold his own alright.

First a punch from the left, a swift dodge just to counter a punch from the right with his own palm and slightly moving his head to the side to dodge a kick that was coming from his other left. While still there, he jumped up and extended his leg out to kick the boy that was lit up with sparks of energy. Jumping into that now empty spot, He threw a haymaker straight to the kid directly next to him and bent down to dodge another punch from his front. Extending his left foot out and swiping it to his right with a powerful force, he managed to trip two of his opponents. Then, he shot forward and used his arms to hold himself up. Mid flip up, he kicked his right leg out and his left leg back, directly landing a blow to two of his opponents temples.

It was critical blow after blow, and all from Caesar. As she watched in awe, she quickly realized the difference in power they had, the gap was immeasurable. It was then that she was thankful that these people were on her side.

“I think I’ve got her!” Casey suddenly blurted out as she snapped open her eyes. Quickly, Katie knelt next to her and grabbed her shoulder.

“Really? Where is she??”

“Directly in front of us! Among all of these weak heat signatures, there is an extremely radiating heat and power source coming from that building directly in front of this gate. It’s the only one there and seems to be on edge! It’s the first time I’ve ever looked for energy instead of just heat so it took me a couple extra seconds….” Casey said standing up and looking over at the building an entire football field away.

(So we were standing directly on top of her, eh?)

“No! You were great! But we have to get over there quickly! Caesar won’t be able to hold them off for long like that!”

As quickly as she understood that, Casey nodded and extended her hand out so that Katie could grab on. Katie obliged and closed her eyes as Casey once again took off with her in her arms.

“I’m sorry, I lost my grappling hooks in the chaos…” She said.

“No need to apologize! If this works out, I’d actually end up owning you one!” She said as she reeled in her hook and shot the next. They got so close to the crowd down below that Kate was able to recognize a couple faces down there that were staring up at them and cheering them on. It appeared as if they were watching the fight that was going on. Also, it had occurred to her that Casey resembled spiderman as she switched from gun to gun. Eventually, they made it to their destination and roughly landed. Katie scraped her knee on the ground and slid some but she ignored it and got up. Casey apologized for the rough landing but Katie assured her that it was alright. Then, Both of them pointed their gazes due north and noticed the growing calamity getting closer and closer, time was running out! With this in mind, Casey blew a hole straight through roof of the building with her fist of flames. Once the debris and smoke had cleared, they both jumped into the room. The Queen, was but a simple hide and seek game away…

Part 5

Dust quietly floated in the air due to Casey’s earlier blow from the ceiling. For awhile, they weren’t really sure what they were looking at. It wasn’t until their eyes adjusted to the darkness that they could finally see what was around. The entire floor was barron, either this place was just abondoned or just constructed. The floor was made out of concrete and a couple of shelves covered up with white covers surrounded them. The room was extremely wide and open, it was almost as if this room made up the entire floor. In fact, it was possible that was just it. Feeling nervous, Katie stepped down from the debris she was standing on and got closer to Casey who was twirling around seemingly lost and confused.

“What’s the matter?” She asked making sure to keep her voice down.

Casey, with her eyes darting around, made sure to answer as quickly as possible. “Something’s not right. I thought I knew exactly where she was, but the second I entered the building it was almost as if she split herself into multiple people. There are energy signals everywhere and I can’t pinpoint which one is her…..So stay low, there are a couple nearby. She still is in the 7th category so her combat abilities have to be superb, stay on your toes..”

Katie nervously shook her head and felt her hands shake. For what seemed like forever, Katie and Casey were softly walking around making sure not make too much noise. Katie wasn’t sure what Casey was doing but since she didn’t have any better ideas she decided to keep quiet. But still, the fact that they had less than 7 minutes left completely plagued her mind. If they didn’t stop the Queen now, they’d all likely die!

Then, just as she thought it would be best to just focus on the gate, Katie felt two things happen simultaneously. First, a prickly feeling caused by the hairs on the back of her neck followed by the sounds of something slicing through the air made her unconsciously hit the deck. Next, she felt something zoom by and graze the back of her head. Before she knew it, she quickly looked up to see what had happened to Casey, but it turned out she had hit the deck with her. Not only that, she had her hands on Katie’s shoulder s which made her realize that Casey was the one that had forced Katie down.

“C-casey?!”

“We’re being attacked! Quickly! On your feet!” Casey said as she popped herself up with just her hands. Seeing her do that made Katie fill with anxiety and jump to her feet as well.

Casey raised her hands and prepared to defend herself as her rapid thoughts pulled her from the battlefield.

(That energy signal, that thing that flew at us had a hint of her energy signal. It’s no wonder I can’t pinpoint where she’s at, she’s controlling the damn thing and hiding her own energy. Still, if I hadn’t sensed it moving our heads would’ve been rolling down the hall by now…)

When she felt two rapid objects once again fly toward her. Casey covered her hands with fire and spun to meet them. One flew directly toward her throat but she timed her fist and uppercutted it. A dull thud was heard as Casey quickly brought her fist back and jumped up to dodge the other aimed at her leg. She thought she had dodge them all until….

Swish

In mid air, she heard the sound of another object slicing straight for her! In mid air, and with little to no time to react, she could do nothing but close her eyes as she prepared for a sharp pain to attack her. However, a high pitched clank caused by metal on metal ringed in her ears followed by something crashing down. Casey opened her eyes shocked and landed back on the ground nearly losing her balance. She looked at her saviour and felt her jaw slightly drop. Swinging a long metal pole around her like it was no big deal was Katie who now had a determined look on her face.

“This much I can do! I got your back girl!!” Katie said as she faced her back to her. Casey was left with no time to react once again and blew out a chuckle as she clashed her own back to Katie’s.

“Now you’re talking!! Let’s do this then!”

With each other back to back, Casey and Katie readied themselves and spun in a circle slowly together in sync. Casey felt three more come from multiple directions but only focused on the two coming directly at her, she trusted the other to Katie. Casey lit her flames and blew out a mighty breath of fire which stopped the oncoming weapons as she heard Katie once again twirl her pole and deflect the coming attack, but they couldn’t stop yet. Suddenly, they heard multiple attacks coming from all sides and quickly focused in on all directions. Katie spun as she spun her pole and deflect two attacks coming from her left. She then quickly flipped and narrowly avoided two coming from her rear. Then, with the same momentum, she spun her pole around and deflected three coming from Casey’s right. Casey slightly jumped as if avoiding a rope in a game of jump rope but instead avoided an attack to her feet. It was then that she managed to finally uncover what these weapons were, they were shurikens. But, the information was a tad useless. When she landed, she quickly spun her flaming fist and deflected another shuriken which she intentionally ricocheted to stop two others in their tracks. She high kicked her left leg and stopped another shuriken form the bottom making sure to avoid its blades which would surely do damage. Then, when it seemed like that was the last of them, she felt multiple shurikens suddenly coming from all different directions. Even she could not deflect all of them without hurting Katie, so she quickly did the first thing that came to mind to ensure both their safety.

“Katie, Double long flip!!!” casey yelled. She heard Katie gasp for a second but went on with her actions anyway.

She threw her arms back in between Katie’s and bent her elbows, their arms were now locked on to each other. Quickly and without a second thought, Casey used all of her upper and lower body strength to flip back and onto Katie’s back as Katie bent forward to allow her to do so. Casey then unbent her elbows and her momentum carried her up. When she was completely upside down and high in the air, She opened the palms of her hands which were extended so that Katie could quickly hold on.Katie jumped up and grabbed hold of Casey and allowed both of their momentum to carry her out.

Multiple clanks rung out and attacked their frail ears as Casey landed and held out her arms. In the next moment, Katie landed in them.

“Hey!! You did great out there girly!” Casey said excitedly as she put Katie down who frantically cleaned her glasses.

“I’m just glad I remembered how to do it…...The double long flip was hard to do in p.e…”

“Don’t sweat it, you did great! But for now, hand me one of those shurikens will ya?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah sure, but why?”

“I got an idea as I was thinking about the energy controlling the shuriken.” Casey said as she grabbed the shuriken Katie handed her. It was sharp and had a shape resembling a star. Still, she didn’t just want to know what it looked like. Without much thought, she stabbed herself in the arm with one of the ends and winced as a sharp pain ran up her arm like a jolt of electricity. Katie exclaimed as she saw fresh blood leak out of her soft skin.

“Casey!? What in the world are you doing??” she asked as Casey ignored her for a moment and concentrated deeply. After many moments of silence, and pain, Casey snapped her eyes open and threw the shuriken to the side.

“I found you!!!” She suddenly yelled before turning heel and yelling into the darkness. However, before Kaite could ask what, her ears suddenly exploded and she was then thrown into the air along with Casey. The floor below them had blown and so had the floors below. Multiple sounds of explosions went off around them as debris and dust suddenly attacked them from all sides. Despite this, what they had to was crystal clear. Casey and Katie located each other and nodded. Katie immediately understood that Casey had to get back up there. The floors had collapsed, but the walls around them remained intact. Katie quickly located a large piece of debris enough for Casey to stand on and touched it with her fingers. Immediately, it froze in place and did not move. Casey then landed on it and bent down and shot herself up with an explosion of flames, but not before throwing both of her grappling hook guns at Katie. Katie smiled as she felt herself fall victim to gravity. She caught the guns and quickly took action by shooting them onto to the still in tact walls.

Up above, Casey had no idea how it had happened but a super large boulder suddenly came crashing down toward her, but her resolve did not waiver. She straightened her body out and clapped her hands over her head, as if diving.

“I’m tired of playing games with you!!” She roared as her body erupted into flames. The flames spun and spun until she was nothing but a blazing upside down tornado.

“Special Move, Hell’s Hidden Fire Daaaaaaaaance!!!” She once again unconsciously roared as she pierced straight through the large boulder with almost no trouble. Once she blasted out of the other side and had completely shattered the boulder, Casey spread her arms wide and stopped her flames from spinning. However, a roaring cloak of fire still hung over her. With a slight angry expression, Casey landed on the edge of the roof. She then looked down at what had once been the floors of the building. The entire building had fallen apart from the inside including the roof but the outside remained in tact. But, that’s not what she was up there for. In one of the corners of the building high up where she was at was a cabinet that had about 6 feet of floor still remaining under it and completely unharmed. She jumped over to it and felt it slightly shake under her weight. At the same time, something or someone nervously fidgeted from the inside of the cabinet. With adrenaline still pumping in her veins, Casey threw open the doors of the cabinet and watched as a girl fell right out.

She was not entirely what Casey was expecting to be. She had long and shiny baby blue colored hair. Her skin was as pale and smooth as a baby’s bottom, her crystal clear blue eyes were sparkly and nervous, and her body was one that even Casey could admire. She had an hourglass figure which was not to big nor small, just right for her age. She had on a red orange skirt which showed off her thighs which were protected by gray leggings. Tucked into her skirt was a long sleeve white fluffy shirt which Casey thought was actually cute. The girl seemed completely frail. But, this was definitely her, and her looks definetly lived up to her name, “The Queen”.

The blue haired queen quietly sat up as her rosy pink lips began to move nervously. “Ah, Um! s-sorry….I, uh, I....” She stuttered in the face of a mighty Casey who still had her flames up on display. Casey ignored that and knelt down close to the queen.

“Here’s the deal, if you even think about trying to control my or my friend’s mind, I will make sure that I do everything in my power to completely burn you to a crisp, and even if I don’t, there are people on their way ten times stronger than you are that will make sure you are never able to so much as even think about controlling anyone ever again, do I make myself clear?” She threw down asserting her dominance. The girl quickly sat up straight as she seemingly begged for her life.

“Y-yes mam!!!”

“Good girl, now then, release the guys you’re controlling” She said pointing over at Caesar who was still in the middle of combat. The blue haired girl was skeptical at first, but after catching a powerful gaze from Casey, she quickly obliged by closing her eyes. Casey looked over at Caesar again and watched as the students he was fighting suddenly stopped and dropped. Then, the Queen lifted her face and suddenly started to cry.

“I never even wanted to be here! It’s that stupid Lady’s fault!!! Now who knows what’s going to happen to my family!!!!!” She said as she bawled her eyes out. It was then that something occurred to her, and only the Queen’s reaction just now could lead her to this conclusion.

(I knew it was impossible for us to turn on each other…..) she thought as she let her flames die down to nothing. With a soft and caring hand, she grabbed on to the Queen’s hand.

“Did that lady blackmail you?” She asked. The Queen, with a sea of water out of her eyes, shook her head yes.

“She said she'd hunt down me and my family if I didn’t come with her and do as she says…...I……. I don’t know what I’d do without them…..so I had no choice!!!! But I just am not strong enough!! Both physically and emotionally! I was powerless against you and your friends! Waaaaaaahhh!!!”she wailed. Casey felt tears fly up at her and she instinctively raised her arms for cover.

“Hey hey hey!, Look at me, I know a guy that is great with things like this and has many powerful connections, you let him know what is going on, and I guarantee that the only thing that will fall upon you and your family is happiness, okay? But you have to come with me, there’s not much time princess, we have to hurry” Casey said with a soft tone.

As the Queen sniffed and rubbed her eyes, she continued to look down and hiccup.

“It’s Queen *hic*, not princess….” She said.

“Oh trust me sweetheart, after what just happened here it’s clear I’m the only Queen around here!” Casey happily said as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

The Queen giggled and wiped away the last of her tears. Casey saw this and extender out her hand to help her up. After careful consideration on her part, The Queen took her hand and stood up.

“The name’s Casey” she said.

“Nice to meet you Casey…….” Queen replied. After exchanging a handshake, Casey couldn’t help but smile. Even in the most toughest times, friendships could still be made, and the thought was somewhat comforting.

"Casey!!!! I'm glad you made friends with her but please help me up!" She suddenly heard from behind. Casey felt her hair stand as she realized that Katie had fallen with the rubble. When she ran to the edge of the floor that was left, she looked over and found Katie clinging to a rope for dear life.

"Ah! Katie! hang on a sec!" Casey yelled. Casey quickly summoned up her flames and shot them at Katie in order to catch her. As the Queen watched this go on, she thought to herself, how strange? How could someone flip a switch from kill to bestill with such ease. She wondered, was everyone out there like this? She wouldn't know. After all, the only people around her were those she controlled. What could she possibly know about friendship. So, what did it matter then? What if she......What if she took over Casey's mind right here and now? Kick her off and have her turn on her friend who was in the middle of fighting a patch of fire that did not burn her. Her back was to her, so why not? If it were a stranger, it'd be better than having her own family die!.... Once she was under her control, he'd never know!!!

As she watched the girl named Casey gently reel in her friend, The Queen got rid of all her emotions and cleared her mind. With a sense of savagery, she quickly plauged Casey's mind. Before she knew it, before anyone knew it, She was in.

Casey suddenly tensed up and her mind went blank, her eyes greyed out and seemed to space off. Katie was suddenly stopped in mid air and held there. She looked up at Casey and asked what was the matter, but Casey did not respond.

(I have her!! Great!! Now! All I have to do is--!!)

{Hey! Casey! Let's go out and play!}

From completely out of nowhere, she heard the voice of a child.

{huh? Axel? What are you doing in my room?!} She heard a young girl respond in her mind.

(W-what is this??) the Queen gasped as she thought. Somehow, Casey's memories were being brought into her own mind and they were playing in her mind like a video. Not only that, every emotion she had ever felt in those moments also washed over her like a warm sea of honey.

Two children spoke to each other, one was a girl in the middle of coloring in her room. She recognized her to be Casey when she was a little girl. The other was a young boy she had never seen before. He was climbing into her room from her window.

{Forget that! I'm here to play! Kyle and Cindy are outside too!!}

The second she heard those words, such a warm feeling dance in the inside of her belly, she felt like she could cry from happiness. It was unreal how happy a child could get simply from having friends. She quickly got up and exclaimed in joy as she agreed and jumped right out the window, tackling the boy. After that, many more memories came flooding in. Moments outiside with the boy, moments with her parents, moments with her friends, moments with her family. In one, the boy and Casey were all grown up and fighting side by side in the middle of a raining forest, in another they were fighting inside of a cave over a sandwich, in another, they were kids once again and fighting over a cup of desert, in another, she was a kid again and surrounded by all of her friends and laughing as they sat in a certain park. In the final one, she saw images of many people float into her mind one by one as a surreal feeling flooded over her....Love. The second she realized this strange sensation that made her heart tingle in guilt, she was brought back to her regular self who was once again sitting on the ground.

She quickly looked over at Casey and realized that she had been looking back at her with a simple but furrowed look. The glow in her eye that should've been gone was back once more. It was then that the Queen felt a chill go down her spine as she realized that Casey had somehow managed to turn Queen's own ability against her. In fact, it had seemed as though Queen had played right into her hands.

Despite this, the Queen was fine with it and no longer had any intention to harm her. Why? because she finally understood, even if from another person, what it meant to truly fight for others. Casey had shown her this.

"Why'd you stop all of a sudden?" Katie asked once she was back up with Casey.

"Sorry about that! I suddenly remembered something and lost you for a bit there, but I'm good now." Casey said hugging Katie. For a moment there, Katie was skeptical, but brushed it off.

"Okay......but what was up with that earlier stunt? you suddenly stabbed yourself!" Katie said looking at Casey's wound which was somehow already sealed up.

"Ah, that. I knew those tiny shuriken were receiving orders from princess over here so I thought that if I stabbed myself with one I'd be able to feel where the energy was coming from, and so my gamble paid off!" Casey answered. Katie thought over it and deemed it a risky and stupid idea but didn't voice it since it worked out well in the end anyway.

"About those shuriken, how were you able to control them?" Casey asked Queen.

"well, I can't fully utilize it, but I can control matter and electronics with some effort. It's sort of hard to explain..."

Casey nodded and lifted her eyebrows. At the same time, she thought about how strong Queen really was. Not only did she control a total of six people, but she also controlled those shuriken with such fluency. It was outstanding. In the end, the only reason that Casey was able to flush some of her memories into Queen was because her mind was waivering. As a result, her skill waivered too and Casey was able to take slight control, although that was also a gamble. If she had been fully determined, Casey would've been a doll right now.

"Actually,while we're on the subject, where did you get that huge boulder from?" Casey asked turning back to Queen who was up on her feet again.

"Pixelator gave it to me. I don't kow how but he gave me a small ball and said to crush it and throw it at someone for it to activate and to be far away from it. Didn't think that would come out.....As for this building and it's explosions, they were set up for me like that in case anyone intruded while I controlled those students....Which failed anyway, so yeah" Queen replied.

"Pixelator? the guy from the tournament that constructed the platforms?" Casey asked as Queen raised her shoulders.

"There's no time for that! come on! we've gotta get going!" Katie said as she pushed Casey and handed her the two guns.

"Oh right! Alright, Let's go!" Casey said as she readied her two grappling hooks.

Part 6

He was always a strange kid, always entertained by the thrill of action and as a result, was always kicked out of class for being the most rowdy and picking fights, which also caused him to develop a taste for powerful skills and a distaste for weak ones. This was the reason why he’d pick on the lower category people almost daily, he just saw no use to them and wondered why they were even gifted with a skill at all.

Still, as time passed by, his life changed and his path altered. Somehow, he ended up here. He knew that the world of savants would hate him, he knew he could get killed for this, but at the end of the day, he was just looking to have some fun….That was all that mattered

____________

After regrouping with Caesar, Casey Katie and the Queen were down on the ground below directly in front of the gates now thinking of what to do next. As many kids tried to tend to the six wounded students, others still frantically cried out for help that wouldn’t come.

“So, the levers jammed and completely useless to us now so what else can we do?” Caesar asked as he wrapped a bandage around a slash on his arm.

“I figured it out as we made our way here. When the gates are placed in an automatic mode like this they have a powerful engine that forces the gates shut whenever they are opened by force. That engine gets its power by solar panels, all we have to do is destroy those panels and the engine shouldn’t have any energy to keep going unless it already has some stored. Even then all we have to do is fry it’s mainframe. That’s where the Queen comes in, she can control minds but also has the power to hack technology!” Katie said.

“I do have that power but it’s still a work in progress. I can get to the motor but the main lever is out of my reach as it is protected by far too many firewalls for me to handle at my current level of power.” Queen confirmed.

“After that, all we have to do is force this puppy open with something other than our skills. Like all of us pushing at once! Anything so long as it is not powered by our energy! We can do this!” Katie yelled. Hearing this. Caesar thought for a monet and in the end seemed okay with the plan. He agreed with her and was ready for the green light. Casey clapped her hands together and cheered. She loved the fact that Katie was extremely smart in these matters so long as she kept her cool. There was hope! Everyone was going to be okay but they had only four minutes to work with!!

“Okay quickly everyone!!! Let’s go!!” Casey said getting ready to climb the wall again.

“Not so fast!” They heard someone yell from up above. Everyone froze as they quickly looked up to see who was inevitably trying to get in their way. Blonde hair and a perky but evil smile, blue eyes and a slightly toned body, the silhouette of Pixelator was visible for all to see.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Casey asked sounding confused at the sight of Pixelator. Katie had completely failed to mention that he had been present there. She didn’t think it’d matter.

“It seems your plans fail to mention that I’m here, you’re one true obstacle. The one standing in between your safety!” Pixelator yelled for all to hear.

“Pixelator?! You wouldn’t!” Katie yelled as shock filled her being. Caesar felt sweat drip down from his forehead as he realized who Pixelator was. Powerwise, Pixelator had the upper hand.

“Katie, you should be the last one asking me that, you ought to know me by now…..Despite what you may think, I was still brought here to defend these walls at all costs, and yes, even from you lot.”

Casey furiously clenched her fist as she yelled back at Pixelator. “What the hell are you saying!? Get out of the way before you get beat up!! We don’t have time for this!”

“Wait Casey! That’s Pixelator! Number two in the sixth category!” Queen suddenly yelped.

Casey widened her eyes a bit and finally seemed to recognize his ability. She looked at Queen with wide eyes and the furrowed her brow back at Pixelator.

“Unfortunately, It has to be this way. And since you don’t have much time, I suggest you start acting quickly." Pixelator said with a cold tone.

Casey struggled with her words as once again she was thrown into a state of panic. There was no time for a fight.....They just couldn't afford to fight!

"We......We won't fight you! Please! just let us pass!!!!' Casey desperately yelled. However, Pixelator, under the moonlight, lowered his head as he released a wicked smile.

"You're not understanding, I didn't allow you to get through everyone else for no reason.....and I simply can't let a good fight like this go. So, if you truly won't come to me, fine......I'LL COME TO YOU"

A sudden pressure of wind assaulted them from all sides as a huge energy signal flooded Casey’s mind, it was unreal! People from all over were suddenly thrown on their backs as pixels from all over grabbed onto Casey and Caesar. Casey used her flames to break out of them and jumped back as far as she could. Caesar broke apart the pixels and also jumped back. Without missing a beat, Casey jumped for the Queen and quickly tried to make her way up the gate only to be stopped by Pixelator who had used his pixels to construct a cannon which fired at her. She narrowly avoided it but failed to see the fist that appeared out of thin air and got her right in the jaw. A tremendous force assaulted her head as she flew back and let go of the Queen.

"Casey!?" Qeen exclaimed in fear as she saw her crash into another building with a loud bang.

Queen yelled as she suddenly started to fall but was caught by Caesar who acted quickly in a short amount of time. Still in the air, he shot his grappling hook up but as he was pulled up by it the rope suddenly turned into many small particles of light and he was dropped back down below. Pixelator suddenly appeared before him in mid air and his reaction was to attack him by swinging his leg at him but to his shock his leg flew right through Pixelator as his stomach somehow opened up and made a hole for his leg to pass through. In that same instance, Pixelator punched Caesar in his stomach and forced him to let go of Queen. Caesar felt the wind leave him as he instinctively let go of Queen and reached for his abdomen. Catching her himself, Pixelator blasted Caesar with dozens of cubes of light and made Caesar rip straight through the ground causing students to jump away from his body crashing through the concrete. After he finally stopped, Caesar ceased moving. Smiling, Pixelator held onto the squirming Queen and floated back down.

Katie, who had watched it all go down, felt the reality of the situation dawn on her. Her two top players had been taken out in an instant and now the final boss was standing right in front of her. Fear and terror attacked her body and panic quickly overtook everyone in sight. Pixelator had finally made his move……

3 minutes left….