NOTE: PLEASE READ THE PART AT THE END!

■ Play the song above when you see '♡'

After an intense endurance round, which saw Sophia, Raphael and a few other agents get eliminated, it was time for the final round.

The only agents left were Makoto, Ashryn, Rhiannon, Imelda, Faizah, Finian and another agent the trainees didn't know the name of.

Rhiannon was past the point of sanity. Beads of sweat dripped down her face, and she had resorted to tying her hair in a messy bun by this point.

She shook her head.
"I don't think I can go further."

"No!
Come on, you can do this", said Makoto.

It was the first time the pair had spoken to each other since the competition began.
She wanted to believe their words, but her body was telling her otherwise.

She looked up and her eyes met with Astra's.

'You've got this in the bag', she mouthed.

She was shocked to see that Astra wasn't worried at all.
Maybe she could do this after all?

She took a deep breath and ate another spoonful of chili.
Makoto grinned at Rhiannon, but they could feel that they were reaching the end of their limit.

They looked at Ashryn and Rhiannon, who were both determined to push through this.
They knew the trainees' reputation was safe in their hands, and that was more than good enough for them.

They reached for another bowl of chili—slowly, due to their exhaustion.
After contemplating their decision, they pushed the bowl towards Rhiannon.

"I'm tapping out.
You guys are doing so well", they said.

Rhiannon stared in disbelief as Makoto walked away.
The more they thought about it, the more they began to see it made sense.

Makoto always exhibited a strong sense of control, and this was no doubt in part due to the amount of respect they had for themselves, and for their body.

They were really good at sports, and physical activity in general, but Rhiannon never saw them push themselves to breaking point.
Granted, they hadn't known each other for that long, but Rhiannon did admire their willingness to listen to their body's limits.

She wished she listened to her body's limits, because her stomach was SCREAMING right now.

"You better stay in this, Hendrix!", hissed Ashryn.

Ashryn was well and truly done.
But there was something that kept her going.
She would rather die than let someone from this agency win—which is saying a lot for a young woman who hates death.

Imelda felt her soul leave her body a round ago.
However, she still looked in a much better condition than Ashryn and Rhiannon.

Then there was Finian, who looked like he was eating the most flavourless dish imaginable.
Imelda's annoyance was practically seeping out of her—less so than her sweat.

Faizah was the one that surprised Ashryn the most though.
She didn't look as tired as Ashryn and Rhiannon, but she definitely looked worse than Imelda.

But she kept shovelling the chili in.
'Act now, think later' came into mind. Ashryn believed she'd actually like her if it wasn't for the information she had found in Aoife's office.

Rhiannon caught a glimpse of Alessa's face.
She looked at Faizah like a proud parent, but also with a little worry.
That was the most emotion she had ever seen Alessa exude.

It made her question why she was so against showing this side to the trainees.

Perseverance, vengeance, annoyance and the need to prove yourself.

Which one would come out on top?

Ashryn coughed and spluttered, dropping her bowl on the table.
She moved away, erupting into a series of deep coughs.

Raphael moved forward, placing a hand on her back.
"That's it, you need to give up."

Ashryn shook her head, the protruding veins on her forehead also objecting. She turned a deep red, and she looked like she was about to burst open.

"No way!"

Raphael pushed her bowl away and pulled her away from the table, making sure to avoid her glare.

Rhiannon felt more pressure on her than before.
She was the only person left who could win this for the trainees.

She also felt like Raphael's life was in her hands, because Ashryn was giving him the dirtiest look she had ever seen.

"Come on, Rhiannon!
You can do it!", exclaimed Sophia.

"Why are you cheering for her?
She's not even a real agent", snarled a female agent.

She was hidden in the crowd, but judging from where other people were looking, Rhiannon assumed she was at the back.

"Perhaps Sophia is just being compassionate?", responded Olga. "You'd do well to follow her example, Mindy."

Some agents snickered, whilst others gasped, but no one argued with Olga.

"Go on, Rhiannon!", called out Astra.

"Hey!", exclaimed Imelda, before looking at Rhiannon.
"Actually, yeah, I wanna see her beat Finian."

Makoto cupped their mouth and yelled out a chant.
"BRING HOME THE WIN, RHI!"

Rhiannon's confidence increased with every chant Makoto yelled, and when others joined in—namely Astra, Sophia, Faizah, Oren and Imelda, she felt like she had a chance of winning.

Raphael was too busy trying to get an annoyed Ashryn to drink water, but they did glare at some agents that were booing.

Olga clapped along with some other agents, but they glanced over at Sophia a few times, her smile brightening when she saw Sophia grinning.

Seeing and hearing that people believed in her awakened something within Rhiannon.
It was there when she twisted her ankle in the first fitness session, although she wasn't aware it was there at all.

The burning sensation intensified, but it was no longer just in her stomach.
It flowed through her veins, adding to the adrenaline that coarsed through her body.

She reached for another bowl and picked up her spoon.
Faizah watched in amazement as Rhiannon shoved the spoonfuls of chili into her mouth, almost choking on a couple of them.

Faizah's eyes landed on Ashryn, who was watching Rhiannon with the most intense stare she had ever seen.
She nodded to herself when Rhiannon swallowed the chili, but frowned when she almost choked.
It wasn't a frown that showed concern for Rhiannon, but a frown that showed disappointment in Rhiannon.

She looked at Alessa, who raised an eyebrow at her.
After a few seconds, she gave her best friend a small smile, and dropped her spoon.
She pushed her bowl away.

"I'm out", she said, before covering her mouth and hurrying away.

A confused Alessa followed after her, but stopped when she saw that Oren was already by her side.

Makoto gasped.
"You're in the final three!"

Rhiannon looked around at all of the other agents, who seemed more than impressed—though some were annoyed at her success.

She put her spoon down and raised the bowl to her lips, slurping the remaining chili, unaware of the small chunks that slid down her chin.

She slammed the bowl on the table, before letting out a loud groan.
She threw her hands up.

"Third place is fine by me!"

★★★

With neither Finian nor Imelda showing signs of conceding defeat, Omara was forced to declare them both winners.

Makoto bravely stepped into the line of fire and escorted Ashryn back to her room, worried she'd gauge Raphael's eyes out if she was left with him any longer.

Minerva hovered a small triangular device above Faizah's outstretched tongue.
The triangle lit up a bright yellow colour, and Minerva moved it away from Faizah's face.

"You're all done!"

"Thanks, Min!
Honestly, it was a genius idea to create a device that lessens the pain from the chili."

"Thank you", blushed Minerva.

Raphael scowled as other agents gathered around to praise Minerva for her invention.

"Ah, you're looking at Minerva's invention right?", questioned Imelda.

Raphael snorted.
"Hm!
No."

"Well, it's a pity no one's made an invention to help with the spice delusions."

"The what?"

"Oh, it's a common side effect.
It usually happens to those who made it to the final round, but it's not uncommon for it to happen to those who made it to round two."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand.
And I never say that."

"Right, I keep forgetting you're new. Well, the chili can make you a little crazy.
Nothing too serious, just slurred speech, saying random things that don't make sense, just being a little odd.
It usually wears off in a few hours to a day."

"Great.
That would've been lovely to know beforehand."

"Everyone gets told when they sign up", she said.
"I've gotta go tease Finian about not being a solo winner.
See you tomorrow!"

Rhiannon hugged herself as she approached Raphael.
Her teeth chattered.
"H-Hey."

"Are you... alive?"

Rhiannon chuckled.
"I honestly don't know at this point.
I just came to say you're wrong."

Raphael raised an eyebrow at this.
"Oh?
About what?"

"About not having friends.
Sure, I didn't get messages from all of the people I know.
But I did get messages from three of my friends.
The same three friends that have always had my back."

Raphael turned to face her, intrigued by where she was going with this.

"I saw a flash of something... human in Agent Arden's face today.
But she chose to be this stone cold person.
Something's made her that way.
I shouldn't have expected Makoto to open up to me just because we were friendly.
They'll do that in their own time."

"So, you've come here to gloat about being right?"

Rhiannon shook her head.
"No.
I came here to tell you that we will be friends by the end of our time together."

Raphael's eyes widened, and he smirked.
He inched closer to her.
"Is that right?"

Rhiannon grinned, nodding.
"Yep!
And we'll....eat... friends..."

"We'll eat friends?"

Rhiannon's eyes closed, and she stumbled.
Raphael quickly caught her, surprised at how well his reflexes were now.

"Oh!
Yeah, you're probably feeling the side effects of the chili right now.
Uh, here, let's go to our rooms."

Rhiannon reached up and stroked Raphael's hair.
He was visibly uncomfortable at first, but something about the gesture was soothing after a few seconds.

"You have... hairy hair."

Raphael found himself chuckling at this.
"I do?"

Rhiannon nodded.

"Well, thank you", he said, before wrapping an arm around her and guiding her towards the building.

Rhiannon suddenly stopped and grabbed the collar of Raphael's shirt. She was looking at him with such worry.
For a few seconds, Raphael was sure this was the usual Rhiannon talking.

"I don't want you to have no friends. Please, don't be lonely."

Raphael's eyes widened in shock, but he found himself nodding at her pleading eyes.

After a few seconds, Rhiannon let go of him.

"HEAT POWERS, ACTIVATE!"

Rhiannon shrugged Raphael's other hand off her shoulder and sprinted away.

"Hey!", he exclaimed.
His eyes widened when he realised something.

"Oh heavens!
What is Ashryn like with Makoto right now?"

★★★

Alessa waited around the corner of Faizah's door.
She wanted Oren to leave before she checked on Faizah.

"Oh, hello Alessa", smiled Olga.

Alessa quickly placed a finger to her lips, and Olga nodded, lowering her voice.

"Are you ok?"

Alessa nodded.
She finally focused on Olga, and saw that Sophia had an arm around her. Sophia's eyes were opening and closing, and she was absentmindedly playing with a few strands of Olga's curled hair.

"The chili side effects were worse for her this year?
Where's Astra?"

"Oh, she looked pre-occupied with Imelda, so I took it upon myself to make sure Sophia got to her room."

Alessa nodded.
"Oh, ok.
I can take her if you'd like?"

Olga shook her head.
"It's ok.
It's no trouble at all, really.
Just let Astra know Sophia's in her room please."

As Alessa watched Sophia and Olga walk away, she couldn't help but think back to her memory from earlier.

Alessa gently placed Faizah on a bench outside.
She was rambling on about something that didn't make sense, but Knox said the best thing to do was to just let her ramble.

"Are you sure she's going to be alright?", questioned Oren, his brows knitted with worry.

Alessa nodded.
"It's just a side effect."

"But why did you choose to sit her on a bench instead of in her room?"

"We used to sit underneath the stars all the time when we were younger.
She loves it."

♡ Oren smiled at Alessa.
Alessa caught his eye and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
She let out a nervous laugh.

"What is it?"

Oren shrugged.
"Oh, it's just... you really care about her. Actually, scratch that, you really care full stop.
About everyone.
Every thing."

Alessa chuckled.
"And?"

"It's nice.
Really nice.
You're... you're really amazing, Alessa.
I'm glad I met you."

Oren looked up, his eyebrows furrowing for a second.
He reached up and rubbed a few strands of Alessa's hair between his thumb and index finger.

He gently stroked her hair, his tongue sticking out ever so slightly—something he often did when he was deep in concentration.

Alessa smiled sheepishly, her eyes darting back and forth between the ground and his eyes.

The familiar warm feeling from earlier returned, and she looked at him, wondering if he felt it too.
When their eyes met, he smiled at her and Alessa felt butterflies dance around in her stomach.

He tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, before grinning and moving his hand away.
"Uh, you had some chili in your hair."

Alessa giggled.
"Oh!
Probably from when Faizah almost hit me in the face with her spoon."

Oren laughed, and Alessa forgot how to breathe for a second.
She had heard him laugh so many times before, but it just sounded different now.

Oren looked up at the sky, his smile getting brighter.
"Wow.
I can see why she loves sitting here so much."

Alessa smiled and looked up at the sky too.

The sky was a deep blue, almost black, colour.
The stars gathered across the sky—little flecks of diamond dust brightening the dark backdrop.

The moon always seemed to glow brighter than the sun ever could, atleast, that's what Alessa believed.

The moon's light shone on Oren, simply emphasising his presence, not just in this moment, but in Alessa's life in general.

He brushed his arm against hers, a smile appearing on his face when Alessa looked at him.

"I don't mean this in a rude way, but could we just leave Faizah here all night?
I really don't want to leave."

Alessa chuckled.
"Me neither."

___________________

A note regarding comments: I absolutely love reading your comments! My notifications are still really slow though, and not all the comments will show up on my feed.

And sometimes when I click on the one's that do show up, it says something's gone wrong. If I click on the chapter and view the comments that way, I can reply to them, but I don't always do that because I don't know which section the comment came from.

This is just my long-winded way of saying that I don't respond to the comments a lot because of this, but please keep them coming because I definitely do read the one's that show up!

I'll also be trying to respond to comments a lot more.

This chapter was a longer one! I wanted to make it into another part, but I couldn't figure out where to split it.

What are your thoughts about how the competition turned out?

Any standout characters as your favourite?

What do you think about Faizah dropping out to help Rhiannon out?

I wanted to explain the 'perseverance, vengeance, annoyance and the need to prove yourself' line. They all had reasons and motivations for wanting to win, but I didn't want Ashryn to win purely based on her own vengeance, because that can only take you so far. Rhiannon's perseverance is much stronger, and it won out against vengeance, but ultimately, I wanted it to be realistic, because Rhiannon isn't good with spicy foods.

What do you think of Makoto leading the chant?

What do you think about Rhiannon and Raphael's talk?

What are your thoughts on the Alessa and Oren scene? I know it seems like I only ever use Alessa for this, but I'm setting up a storyline for much later, and I'm also dropping hints to a secret that's the reason why they fell out.

Any theories about anything?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

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