It was the next day, and lunchtime had finally arrived. It was busier than the day before, with more people having come to eat in the cafeteria. Owen and Isaac sat together at the same table they'd eaten at the day before. But today, there was an extra person sitting across from them. It was Grace.

"So what's the deal with you joining us? You usually eat alone." asked Isaac.

Grace shrugged as she picked at her food. "Eh, I felt like eating here today. Is that a problem?"

Isaac shook his head. "Nah, it's fine."

He then looked over at Owen. "So how's the training going with the kid?"

"Oh, it's going great," Owen replied. "It’s only been a day, but I think he’s a really fast learner."

"Good to hear."

Speaking of Will, the boy in question approached their table. He was carrying a tray of food in his hands. Owen waved at him, beckoning him to come over.

"Hey Will, you want to eat with us?" Owen asked as the boy came within earshot.

Will nodded his head, but stopped a few steps away from the table. "Is it really okay though?"

"Why wouldn’t it be?"

"I feel like I’ll cause trouble for you guys if I sit here..." Will mumbled under his breath.

Owen couldn’t help but laugh at those words. "There’s no way you could possibly do that. Don’t worry, just sit down."

Will hesitantly walked over to the table. He placed his tray down and sat beside Owen. The three of them began to eat their meals. They made small talk, talking about random subjects such as what they did the previous day, or what they planned to do in the afternoon. At one point Will spoke up, asking them a question.

"Um, I wanted to ask this yesterday, but I didn’t get the chance," he began. "What insignias do you guys have?"

Grace took the liberty of answering him. "I have the chain insignia. I can make and control chains."

"That’s… cool."

"You think so?" Grace said, surprised by his compliment. "I guess it is pretty useful, but I remember someone calling it stupid." She said as she side eyed Owen.

Owen cringed. "Well, it's not stupid... per se. But you have to admit, it's strange that the thing you desire most in life are chains."

"It's not like I asked for it," Grace retorted. "Besides, I got it when I was young, so maybe the kid me just thought that chains were really cool."

"Alright, if you say so."

Will looked at Isaac curiously, ready to hear what his insignia was.

Isaac sighed, "You know kid, you shouldn’t make it a habit of asking people about their insignias. You can tell a lot about someone just by knowing what insignia they have."

"Ah, sorry!" Will apologized.

"It's fine," Isaac replied. "Anyway it’s not really a big deal. I got the weapon insignia. It's nothing special."

"So you can make weapons?" Asked Owen.

Isaac nodded his head. "Yeah, from swords to guns. Any sort of weapon you can think of, I can create."

"Isn’t that really good? Why’d they place you on the first floor?" Owen asked.

Grace chuckled. "He wasn’t placed on the first floor originally. He came all the way up from floor five."

Isaac looked at her with annoyance. "Don't remind me..."

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Grace ignored his expression and continued to speak. "He got demoted down floor after floor for failing his assessment tests."

Isaac frowned. "You talk so much about me, yet you haven’t even touched floor two, and you’ve been in here longer than me."

"You’ve got the wrong idea Isaac," Grace said while shaking her head. "I'm not trying to go higher up. I don’t care if I'm stuck on floor one."

"Then how are you planning on leaving this place?"

"By breaking out obviously," Grace replied casually.

Owen grinned at the sound of her response. He held out a fist bump over the table towards her. "I like the way you think."

She smiled, and bumped his fist with hers. "Thanks."

Isaac sighed in exasperation. "Man, you two are both unbelievable..."

Will stared at them with wide eyes, completely engrossed in the conversation. He then looked over at Owen curiously. "If you don’t mind, could you tell me what insignia you have?"

"Sure." Owen answered. "I guess what you would call it is the fight insignia. I think it allows me to control combat related things. Though I haven’t really tested it out all that much." He looked back at Will. "And I guess what you have is the hide insignia? Since you can turn stuff invisible."

Will nodded in agreement. "Yeah I guess so."

"Great. After we finish up here, why don't we head off to the training room and see if we can figure out how exactly our abilities work?"

"Okay!" Will agreed enthusiastically.

Owen smiled. "Alright, sounds like a plan then. Do you want to come with us as well Grace? Isaac?"

"I don’t mind coming," Grace replied.

"Sure," Isaac agreed. "I got nothing better to do anyway."

"Then it's decided."

As they were finishing their meals, a commotion occurred at one end of the cafeteria. A group of inmates were pushing themselves through the crowd. And they were headed directly towards them.

"What's going on?" Will asked, confused by the sudden noise.

Isaac frowned as he watched the group of men approach them. "It looks like they're heading straight for our table."

And he was right. The group of men stopped in front of their table, blocking them from all sides. There were fifteen of them, all of varying sizes and heights. The text on the front of their jumpsuits indicated that they were all from floor three.

The man in front stepped forward. He was tall and lean, but his most distinct feature was the bald head that he sported. He looked around the table and asked, "So which one of them is it?"

A spiky haired man from behind him stepped forward. "It's the black haired kid." He pointed directly at Owen.

Owen recognized him immediately. It was the man that he had confronted the day before. It seemed that he had brought backup this time.

The bald man laid his eyes on Owen. "You’re the one who touched one of my boys, huh? Get your bitch ass off of that seat and follow me."

Silence followed his words as everyone at the table stared at him with expressions of shock.

Will trembled as he glanced around the table nervously.

Isaac, who had been listening to them quietly, spoke up. "Hey, there must be some other way we can settle this."

"Shut the fuck up braids," snapped the bald man, glaring at him. "We ain't here for you."

Owen took a deep breath as he stared down at the bald man. "I didn't know that the people from floor three were this rude."

"What'd you just say to me?"

"You heard me."

The bald man slammed his fist against the table, causing the plates and glasses on it to rattle. "This punk is testing my patience."

Owen stood up slowly, his expression cold as ice. "I’ll only tell you this once, so listen carefully. Leave or I’ll break your arm."

"Owen…" Isaac said uneasily. "Don’t do anything rash, man."

Owen knew what he was saying. He wasn’t even sure if he could take on fifteen guys with essence. But without it? There was no chance.

However, Owen didn’t care. He was never one to back down from a fight.

Grace sighed as she put her head into her hands. "This is going to end badly."

The bald man scoffed at Owen's threat. "You think you’re some badass, huh, kid?" He motioned with his hand. "Get this bitch."

They moved to grab Owen, but surprisingly, he was already up in the air. He had jumped over the table like a wrestler, and had aimed straight for the bald man, tackling him straight to the ground.

The bald man's head smashed against the floor as Owen rained down punches on top of him. The rest of the men rushed back in, grabbing onto Owen.

Chaos ensued.

A one vs fifteen brawl erupted as punches flew everywhere. Essence enhanced fists slammed into Owen like he was a weathered drum, pummelling his body until it was bruised and bleeding. Blood splattered across the floor as Owen's head was rocked backwards, and then forwards again.

But that didn’t stop him though. He was after only one thing. The bald man.

Owen had been aiming his fists at him this entire time, even as he was beaten and kicked by the others around him. His fist connected with the man's face, crushing his nose.

The man howled in pain as blood gushed out from his broken nose. "You fucking bastard!"

He tried to retaliate from the floor, but Owen slammed down another fist, and another, and another. Until his face was completely covered in blood.

His nose was crooked and bent. His eyes were swollen shut, and his lips were fat and split. It seemed that he wouldn’t be able to open them anytime soon.

He wasn’t unconscious yet, thankfully. Because Owen wanted him to feel this next part vividly.

Owen grabbed through dozens of arms and hands that were either beating or holding him down. He reached for the man's forearm and gripped it tightly. The bald man looked up at him through swollen eyes, a mixture of fear and confusion in his expression. "What the fuck are you-"

Before he could finish, Owen kneed him hard at the joint of his elbow. The bones in his arm snapped, bending backwards at an unnatural angle. The bald man screamed as he cradled his broken limb.

The fight came to a halt as the other men froze in horror at the sight before them. Owen meanwhile, used their distraction to go for another one of them. He grabbed one man by the collar and jammed two of his fingers into the man's eye sockets. He felt the eyeballs pop, squishing between his fingers as the man cried out in pain.

He then turned his sights to another man, who at that moment yelled out, "wait, wait, I'm not-"

But Owen didn't give him any chance to explain himself. Instead, he swung an overhead punch, smashing it into the man's jaw. He was knocked straight to the floor, where his body twitched uncontrollably.

The remaining men jumped back into the action, though with much more caution this time. They swarmed Owen like a pack of hyenas, kicking and punching at him from all sides. Owen fought wildly, swinging his fists and elbows at anyone who came near him. He headbutted, kicked, bit and even dislocated joints when necessary. It was a scene straight from hell.

Soon enough, the attacks stopped coming. Through bloodied eyes, Owen saw that the men were stepping away from him, looking at him with expressions of shock and horror. Nine of their men were lying at his feet, either unconscious or writhing in pain. He had taken down over half of them all by himself.

Pike, who had been standing back, took one look at his beaten men and wondered how the hell the kid came out on top. It should've been impossible. There were far more of them than there was of him. And yet...

A whistle rang out through the cafeteria. Men in white uniforms stood rushed in through the doors, running towards the scene with batons and tasers in hand.

Owen looked up at them, his vision blurred. A smirk crossed his face as he saw them approaching him.

"Oi, you wanna be gangsters…" he addressed the remaining seven men. "Why do you act so tough when you’re this weak?"

He stumbled forward, raising his fists. The men flinched backwards, retreating from him as if he were a ghost. Crazy eyes stared at them from under a bloodied forehead.

He moved towards them, but was stopped in his tracks as guards surrounded him.

One of them spoke up. "Stand down!"

He was grabbed by the arms and held firmly in place. They began dragging him away from the scene, towards the exit of the cafeteria.

Owen looked back at the men one last time. His eyes locked with the spiky haired man. "You damn weaklings! Bring anyone you want next time. I'll still kill all of you!"