WARNING:
EMOTIONAL CONTENT.
Includes graphic depictions of injuries in action scenes, sui*idal thoughts, emotional distress.

Dark red lights glared down on the trainees. Agonising icy air clawed at their skin, leaving it raw and red. Hunkered down near the door, they hugged themselves. Rhiannon frowned as she watched Minerva rock back and forth, panic consuming her.

Ashryn’s eyes widened as she looked past Raphael’s shoulder.

“Watch out!”

EARLIER THAT DAY.

Raphael rushed down the hall. Before he could reach the door, a pacing Calihan caught his eye. The male Head Guard looked around, his brows knitted in worry. Lowering his voice, he whispered into his phone. Raphael strained his ears to hear—making out parts of the conversation:
“Not deceiving you… they’ll get suspicious… need more time.”

The door flew open, sending the tall trainee barrelling forward. Knox’s strong, firm grasp enveloped him before he hit the ground.

“What are you doing just waiting outside? The tech session started five minutes ago.”

Knox was taking the lead in the session. That wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary, if it weren’t for the fact that he had taken charge of every lesson since the tech competition. Makoto noted his slouched shoulders and occasional glances towards Minerva, who was standing off to the side.

“So, we’ve actually got a very cool gadget here”, he said, gesturing to two small, black circular ear pieces connected by a thin metal band. “This was loaned to us by Harrowford Industries. It’s still in the early testing phase, but it works very well.”

Ashryn’s ears pricked up at the mention of Harrowford Industries. All she knew about them was that the agency had happily dropped other cases, from poorer people in need, in favour of helping the tech company.

“What do they do?”, asked Makoto.

“Putting them on allows the wearers to communicate through their thoughts”, explained Knox.

“So like, we can hear each other’s thoughts?”, asked Rhiannon.

“That’s remarkable…”, gasped Raphael, quickly clearing his throat when he saw the others looking at him.

“If it’s still not perfected, why would we risk taking it into battle?”, asked Ashryn. The only reason that made sense to her, was that they wanted to suck up to Harrowford by agreeing to be test subjects.

“It gives a major advantage in the fight”, replied Knox. “You can re-strategise in the thick of the fight, if needed. No matter how far apart you are.”

“Always connected”, said Rhiannon, smiling softly at Makoto, before looking back at Knox. “It’ll make it so much easier to stay prepared.”

Ashryn rolled her eyes. Why couldn’t anyone see through them?

“Exactly!”, exclaimed Knox. “Now, we don’t have enough for everyone so–”

The interactive screen pulled down, its casing sliding open to reveal the board. The screen crackled and fizzed, coming to life. The group stared at the woman on the screen. Long, pin-straight black hair. Skin pale and mottled like the moon. Eyes violet.

“Look at her suit!”, gasped Makoto, pointing to the screen.

Knox’s jaw clenched. “Nightshade crest.”

◆◆◆

Meanwhile, in the office, Aoife slammed her fist down as she stared at the screen that had turned on. The woman sneered menacingly, the corners of her mouth almost reaching the top of her ears.

“Aoife, Calihan… you look positively delighted to see me”, she quipped.

“How is this possible?”, called out Aoife.

The woman chuckled. “What? You thought killing our leader would stop us? Another always takes their place”, she said, her voice smooth like honey. “You of all people should know that.”

Aoife glared, her fists clenched.

“Now, it appears you did not heed our warning. You still insist on this ridiculous rescue mission to that wasteland”, she continued, lips curling in disgust as she thought of Agoraville.

“Rather bold of you to assume we’d take orders from you. The Nightshade are nothing but lackeys, doing the real monster’s bidding”, said Aoife.

The woman’s eyebrow raised subtly, her eyes flickering to Calihan, for a split second. “And how do you know who the real monster is?”

A flash of confusion crossed Aoife’s face. Shaking it away, she crossed her arms and stood up taller.

“And that was an interesting word you used, dear Aoife. Lackeys. We’ve tormented you before, yet you still underestimate us.”

“We’ve beaten you before”, she said.

The woman scoffed. “And where are all your agents now? Off on missions, are they not?”

Aoife’s shoulders tensed.

The woman mock-gasped. “Oh dear… seems like there’s hardly anyone at your precious headquarters.”

“What did you do?”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Did you not find it strange that there were so many new missions, in the span of a few days?”

Aoife slammed her hands down on the desk. “If you’ve hurt any of them–”

“Relax, my dear. It’s not the agents outside of your walls that you need to worry about.”

“What are you talking about?”, asked Calihan, speaking up for the first time.

The woman smirked, waving a hand in the air.

CLICK.

Calihan rushed to the door, eyes widening when it wouldn't budge. A red forcefield rippled through the air, blocking off the door.

“Open this door this instant!”, he demanded.

“Oh, you are in no place to make demands.”

Aoife growled, a fierce intensity burning in her eyes. “Come here and face us, you cowards!”

The woman chuckled. “The time for talking is over”, she said, a sinister smile creeping on her face. “Playtime’s begun.”

Crimson beams of light bled across the walls. Suddenly, the temperature plummeted.

◆◆◆

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Back with the trainees, Ashryn pummelled the door repeatedly. Rhiannon stepped towards her. “You can’t punch your way out of this.”

“Rhiannon’s right. I saw some kind of forcefield go up outside the room”, said Raphael.

“They can’t trap us here like animals!”, she growled, her eyes full of fury.

“Come here”, Knox said, his warm tone and gentle hand on her arm taking her by surprise. She stiffened, her trademark scowl returning. The loss of energy hitting her like bricks, she followed him away from the door.

Makoto hugged themselves, whilst Rhiannon kicked herself for not bringing her agency jacket with her. Raphael sat cross legged, his eyes firmly shut as he breathed deeply.

“What are you doing, Robo Boy?”, asked Ashryn.

“What Oren taught us. Trying to stay calm and conserve my energy.”

“Great! Our so-called Brain Bot’s over here rebooting”, exclaimed Ashryn. “We need to get out of here!”

“How?”, asked Makoto.

“I don’t know!”, she said, turning to face Minerva. “Aren’t you supposed to be the brains of this duo?”, she asked, waving a finger from her to Knox.

Minerva seemed to shrink, her face riddled with doubt. Exhaling softly, Knox placed a hand on hers. “It’s ok…”

“Oh! So we all fancy freezing to death, do we?”, yelled Ashryn.

“Shouting will not solve this”, said Knox. “You need to breathe. Take a leaf out of Raphael’s book.”

Ashryn threw her hands in the air.

“You’re wasting too much of your energy, Ashryn”, said Rhiannon.

Rhiannon and Makoto were huddled together. Sighing, Ashryn walked over to the group, sitting a little further away from them, her teeth chattering as she pulled her knees to her chest, her arms wrapping around them.

She felt a warm jacket around her. Looking up, her eyes met Raphael’s. Her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Don’t read into it”, he said. “Just think we need our best fighter on top form.”

“Oren? Can you hear me?”, asked Knox, speaking into his contact bar.

“Knox? Yes. I can! We’re in the fitness room. It’s me, Astra, Finian and Imelda.”

“Have you checked on anyone else?”, asked Knox.

“Um, Faizah’s in her room. She says she’s locked in, but doesn’t feel cold so they’re probably only attacking the main training areas. We’ve mainly been trying to stay warm.”

“Have you got anything to keep you warm?”, asked Knox.

“Some mats, a parachute-thing that has to be at least ten years old. What about you?”

“Not much. Contact the Head Guards, see if they can do anything on their end.”

“See, a plan is already coming together”, said Raphael.

“You’ve been spending too much time with Oren”, said Ashryn. Her gaze fell to his hair. Reaching out, she pressed a few strands between her fingers.

“Um…”

“Don’t make it weird, you had a snowflake in your hair.”

Looking past him, Ashryn saw tiny snowflakes start to fall. Frost crawled along the walls. Her heart dropped when she saw thick, tendrils of ice flying straight at them.

“Watch out!”, screamed Ashryn.

◆◆◆

Makoto ducked as an icy tendril flew towards them.

“How do we fight them?”, called out Raphael.

Rhiannon hurried over to one of the cabinets, Knox joining her. Together, they rummaged through boxes of gadgets.

“Anything useful in here, Knox?”

“Uh, this one might be the most useful”, he said, picking up a cylinder with a pointed nozzle. It had a button on its side. “It melts objects, but it’s not got a lot of charge left and can only be used close range.”

“Whatever you guys are doing, hurry it up!”, shouted Ashryn, groaning as she kicked a tendril, icy shards littering the floor.

“Right we found some strong metal sticks, and one gadget that can melt the ice”, explained Rhiannon. “You have to be close to the tendril though.”

“Pass it here!”, called out Ashryn. The cylinder flew through the air, landing in Ashryn’s open hands. Smirking, she whipped back around to face the tendril slithering towards her. “Fun’s over.”

Snowflakes burst out of the tendril, spitting at her. Stabbing the cylinder’s nozzle into it, she pressed down on the button. Slowly, it began to shrink and recoil, water dribbling out, until it became a pool of water at her feet. Panting, Ashryn pushed hair out of her face, tucking the strands behind her ear.

Makoto was fending off their own tendril. They raised a chair, using it as a shield. The tendril snaked around their leg, squeezing—tighter and tighter.

“Get off!”, they yelled, slamming the chair down on the tendril, a loud CRUNCH following.

The group were trying their best to fight off the tendrils, but more kept appearing. Knox was doing well—barely a scratch on him. But without proper weapons, they weren’t sure how long they’d last.

“Minerva”, said Rhiannon, rushing over to her. She was huddled under a desk, hugging herself. “You need to hack into the security system and block their access.”

Minerva’s eyes widened. “What? No! I-I can’t do that. It’s impossible…”

“No it’s not! You are insanely skilled, Minerva. You can do this.”

Minerva frowned. “No I’m not. I’m useless. The tech competition was proof of that.”

Guilt stirred in Rhiannon’s stomach. “Minerva… it was one bad competition.”

“My invention completely fell apart, Rhiannon! Raphael was right… I was kidding myself thinking I was good enough to be here.”

“Minerva–”

“Ow!”

Rhiannon turned to see a tendril slice at Makoto’s leg, pulling away covered in drops of blood. Makoto fell to the floor, clutching their leg. Knox rolled over a table, grabbing Makoto’s abandoned chair to shield them.

“Minerva, please!”, pleaded Rhiannon. “Makoto needs help. We can’t fight these things alone.”

“I can’t!”, she exclaimed. “Don’t you get it? I want to help, but I can’t! I only make things worse.”

“That’s not true!”

“I messed up at the tech competition–”

“Because of me!”, exclaimed Rhiannon, before she could think. “I’m the one who messed up your invention.”

“Wh-what?”

A lump formed in Rhiannon’s throat as she thought about the secret she had been keeping. The guilt gnawed away at her. Even as she stared at a stunned Minerva, she felt relief.

“Raphael had been blackmailing me. He made me ruin your chances of winning.”

Her fellow trainees were grunting as they dodged and whacked at the tendrils, but all Rhiannon could focus on was the thumping of her heart. The devastating look of betrayal on Minerva’s face.

“If you’re forming a plan, haste would be nice”, said Raphael, approaching the pair after successfully defeating his tendril.

“You horrid, horrid person!”, yelled Minerva as she pointed a finger at him, anger bleeding into her words.

The quiet, gentle young inventor no longer stood before them. Rage filled her eyes.

“I have been nothing but nice to you! When I found out an inventor was joining the team, I was thrilled. I’d get to geek out with someone. But no. You have done nothing but belittle my abilities, demean my character… my career.”

Minerva’s icy breath felt more like raging steam.

“Now I see, it was never about me not being worthy. You had to meddle in things because you couldn’t handle the truth—-I am better than you.”

Her words cut deeper than any icy tendril could. Before Raphael could even begin to form a response, Minerva pushed past him, reaching for her laptop.

“Knox, can you contact the Head Guards? We need them to keep the Nightshade leader distracted while I take our system offline”, said Minerva.

Knox’s eyes widened. “Offline? But that’ll leave us defenceless.”

“We don’t have a choice. It’s the only way to unlock the doors and stop these tendrils—we have to kick them out.”

Knox frowned, conflicted. Seeing the determination in Minerva’s face, the older trainer nodded, reaching for his contact bar. “Head Guard Aoife, we have a plan.”

While Knox briefed the Head Guards on their plan, the others did their best to continue fighting. Mind still foggy from his earlier confrontation, a shaky Raphael squared up against a nearing tendril.

“I’m better than you.”

It was true. He couldn’t handle the truth. Minerva, Rhiannon, Makoto, Ashryn—all better than him. Better fighters. Better people. Even Ashryn, whose tongue was permanently laced with poison. She never seemed to hide what she thought.

Everyone was better than him.

The lights flickered and the interactive screen fizzled, static filling it. The tendrils seemed to slow down too, giving the trainees enough time to catch their breath.

Raphael could barely move though. Barely think of anything other than his own cruel actions—born out of insecurity and fear. The freezing touch of a tendril wrapping around his neck shocked him back to reality.

“Raphael!”, exclaimed Makoto.

Spluttering, Raphael tugged at the tendril, his body growing weaker the tighter it gripped. Flashes appeared in his mind.

His parents’ arguing.

Getting picked on in the playground.

Building his first robot.

Hiding in a pillow fort, with Natasha.

Impressed faces watching him parade around his inventions.

Finian and Imelda’s cruel trick on him.

Sneaking into the Head Guard office with Ashryn.

Befriending Makoto.

Getting humiliated by Alessa.

Forcing Rhiannon to do his bidding.

Reuniting with Natasha.

“AHH!”

Letting out a raging roar, Ashryn slammed a chair down on the tendril, smashing it to pieces. As Raphael gasped for air, she leapt forward, steadying him with her arms as he fell to his knees.

“You’re good, Robo Boy. Just breathe”, she said, moving her hands away.

The lights flickered once more, getting faster and faster until—the room was plunged into darkness.

“Wh-what? No, you have to keep the lights on!”, exclaimed Raphael, fear taking over his body once more.

“We’ve got no choice. Everything is still shutting down. Once the doors unlock we’ll be alright”, explained Knox.

Makoto, leg wrapped in Knox’s jacket, crawled over to Raphael. They knew this was the young inventor’s greatest fear. They desperately wanted to reach out, but knew it would be no help.

“Raphael… here’s the tablet. Maybe there’s information on here we can use to help us, if this plan fails”, they said, doing their best to think of a plausible excuse for him needing the tablet. It was only a small, miniscule comfort—a bright screen in the merciless darkness, but it was the best they could do.

“Th-thank you…”, he shuddered.

CLICK.

The doors unlocked, the force fields melting away. Without missing a beat, the lights turned on, burning brighter than before. The gasps and cheers of other agents could be heard, as they ran out of the rooms.

“Knox, can you hear me? Tell Minerva she is a genius!”, asked Oren.

“She sure is”, smiled Knox, placing a hand on Minerva’s shoulder. “Is everyone ok?”

“Finian’s leg got hurt badly, Astra’s taking him to the medic. What about you guys?”

“Makoto’s leg got cut up. I’ll bring them over now as well.”

Rhiannon turned to Minerva, a bright smile on her face. “You did it!”, she beamed, moving to hug her.

Minerva dodged out of the way. “I don’t want a hug from you.”

“Minerva…”

Minerva frowned. “I… I can’t even look at you right now.”

◆◆◆

Calihan rushed to open the door, moving faster than ever before. Aoife stared at the screen, her shoulders relaxing. A small exhale of relief left her lips. She never thought she’d be so happy to see a static-filled screen. She couldn’t quite shake the odd feeling in the air.

How did the Nightshade break through security? Extra precautions had been put in place ever since they first attacked.

Precautions Calihan insisted on.

“We should check on–”

The screen burst back to life, an eerie smile on the Nightshade leader’s face.

“Don’t fret. I shan’t be long. I only wanted to leave you with one, parting gift.”

“Save it, we don’t want to hear it”, snapped Calihan.

She smirked. “So ungrateful. And here I was thinking you cared about all your agents.”

“What are you talking about?”, questioned Aoife.

The leader smirked. “Say your goodbyes to the agent in Room 204.”

Aoife’s eyes widened. “That’s Faizah’s room!”

◆◆◆

Meeting outside the fitness room, the trainees and trainers gathered together.

“Where’s Oren?”, asked Knox.

“He ran as soon as he heard Aoife say Faizah’s room number. If we hurry, we can catch up to him”, said Astra.

Astra, Imelda and Knox ran as fast as they could. Imelda muttered apologies as she bumped into people, a whirlwind of thoughts clouding her mind. Astra’s brows furrowed when she saw Alessa cradling Faizah in her arms—outside her room.

“Is she ok?”, asked Imelda.

Faizah nodded. “Alessa came just in time.”

“Wait… where’s Oren?”, asked Astra.

“Oren never came here.”

—

Hi. 

This chapter, and the next few that follow, have been emotionally draining to write. They're heavy, but at the same time, some of the ones I am proudest of.

I worked really hard to make my descriptions and action sequences better. I hope this comes across! If not, I would love to hear thoughts on how I can improve.

It does feel quite action heavy at times, with a lot going on. I would've split it into more sections, but I feel like that would've messed with pacing a little.

Raphael's arc has been so wonderful to write. He has been realising all his mistakes, but this chapter is where it really dawns on him. The decision for him not to fight back against the last tendril, is indicative of him thinking that maybe it would be the best outcome. I am SO excited for you to see his character arc in these latter chapters of book 1.

What has happened to Oren??

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

ruesbennett / celestiallydesigned

SoniczurcX

bardsarethebest