After she landed on the mat again, Ava's black haired instructor stepped forward and lent her a hand, pulling her to her feet. Yoongi smiled at her in satisfaction.

"You've more of a knack for ass kicking than some of our best recruits," he growled through a half-grin.

"Thanks." Ava was, by default, a fan of compliments from attractive strangers. Yoongi's words piqued her curiosity as she asked, "Recruits?"

Yoongi gave a nod. "Hoseok and I used to be part of Noon Mool Fortress. Now we've got our own thing going--but in Era you don't last long if you don't have allies or numbers to speak for, so. Yeah."

Yoongi put his hands on his hips and looked over towards where Hoseok and Shae continued to spar.

"So for real this time," Ava spoke between panted breaths. "Do you, like, teach people fighting technique all the time or something?"

"Nah. I work with tech all day. Security, weapons systems, design schematics, coding. Sometimes I just hang out in my shop and build shit all day. Mostly my life is lots of sitting at a computer, though."

"Really?"

Yoongi shrugged. "S'what I'm good at. That guy over there," he nodded across the mat to where Hoseok and Shae were continuing their sparring, "is the real combat teacher. He used to drill and train all the operatives for Noon Mool."

Ava looked over and, at the sight of Hoseok, her whole body stiffened. But what she was seeing didn't seem to match with the fierce anger she had stored away for him.

Hoseok was laughing so hard that he was doubled over, his hands on his legs and his red hair bouncing around his ears. Shae was holding her face in both hands as if trying to pad away the warmth that was showing on her face, smiling and clearly embarrassed.

"No, no, not like that! Here," Hoseok walked forward, his laugh rumbling away slightly, as he grabbed Shae's wrist gently and placed her hand on his own. Then, like a ballerina in slow motion, Hoseok stepped into her, his back against her chest, and began walking Shae through a series of motions, speaking low and in detail on what he was doing and why.

Shae's face was flushing. Ava couldn't tell if it was just the workout, or something else making her friend go red. The thought made her uneasy.

Yoongi continued to share in his matter-of-fact, unexaggerated tone, "Hoseok's a good teacher, especially for the less confident fighter. He's ridiculous. It helps people loosen up and then they can really focus. See."

Ava saw. 

Shae took his direction, and dove through it in rapid fire—and this time Hoseok was rolling onto the floor in seconds. He rolled backwards so hard that he rolled over his head, did a mini backflip, and landed on his feet. As he stood up his face was bursting with joy and his voice warm with enthusiasm, "Yes, that's it! Now, again. Let's make sure it sticks."

Yoongi cleared his throat. "I think I'm officially done for the day. You thirsty again? I can grab us some more drinks."

"Yes please."

"Ok."

Ava watched him leave the bright, domed sparring room, then went over to sit next to Lilith on the mat.

"Alright, now, here's where it get's easier if you're the smaller fighter...."

Shae didn't realize when the switch happened, but she'd fallen from nervous self-conciousness with this guy who'd previously marred her memories... into having the time of her life with him instead. It wasn't a win-or-lose scenario, each new move just felt like a game—and Jung Hoseok was the game master, steering the fun along with a bounce of laughter in each new directive, his positive energy boundless.

Yoongi returned to the mat, but he didn't sit. He handed a cool bottle of water to Ava, then stood with one hand on a hip and the other guiding his drink, guzzling away.

"Yoongi, is there any particular reason you guys are...recruiting new members, or whatever?"

The tech master's pale cheeks were puffy and full. He swallowed, then looked at Lilith and asked with sharp directness, "Whose escorts are they?"

"Does it matter?"

He growled, "Dammit woman, you know it does."

"I'm not gonna say."

Yoongi took another swig of his drink then growled, "I know they're wearing cloaking devices. I can tell by the metallic sheen behind their ears--so I'mma ask you again, and you're gonna fuckin' tell me."

Lilith sent dagger eyes up at Yoongi, unmoved and unafraid of his ferocity. "They're guests in my house and you will treat them as such, Min Yoongi."

"This ain't my fucking house." Yoongi stepped forward and his hand clawed past the mesh of Ava's neck until they found their way around the small black band of her cloaking device. He pulled. It snapped off of her neck.

He muttered under his breath, "You're better looking than your distortion."

Ava, for once in her life, was speechless.

Yoongi's eyes silently searched Ava's face a moment. Then he growled his question again, "Who's are they, Lilith?"

Lilith set down her clipboard and pen, then started to her feet. "They're from Noon Mool."

"Fuck."

Yoongi spun and threw his half empty water bottle hard and it hit the wall with a loud SMACK. The remaining water sprayed out onto the black mats.

He stepped towards Ava with balled fists. "You Joon's escort?"

"No." Ava couldn't find words. Where were her words?! For crying out loud!

Ava didn't like the way that Yoongi's hungry gaze pivoted and fell on her unaware friend.

Yoongi shouted across the practice room, "Hobi! Yah!"

Shae and Hoseok fell out of their jolly reverie.

Shae found Yoongi's sudden, vicious tone a bit jarring.

Hoseok shouted back, barely looking over his shoulder, "One more go, and then we're done. Hold on."

Yoongi glared across the room.

Hoseok sent Shae a reassuring smile. "Don't mind him, he's just temperamental sometimes. Ready?"

Shae stepped back from Hoseok, unsure now.

The bubbly fighter nodded in understanding. "We can stop here if you'd prefer. You've already made great progress!"

Yoongi was walking across the mat floors now, his fists clenched tight.

Ava started to get to her feet, but she felt a shaking enter her knees. This was happening. This was really happening.

"Oh no, not in my house!" Lilith was like a lightning bolt flash. She ran forward towards Yoongi and threw a small black ball towards him at high speed. When the orb collided with the back of Yoongi's black T-shirt, his entire body went rigid mid-step. His stance was off balance, but none of his limbs moved as he tipped, tipped, fell forward onto the mat with a groan and fell stiff as a board sideways onto the black mat.

"Dammit woman," was all he said after making impact, his whole body rigid and stuck. The only feature he could seem to move was his face.

Lilith was standing over him now, her hands on her hips and her eyes scolding. "You know my rules. This is a neutral zone. No real fighting, no exceptions. You abide by them, or you die, Min Yoongi."

"Grrrr."

"Got it?"

Silence.

"GOT IT?"

"...Yes ma'am."

Ava pushed past the shaky feeling in her knees. I gotta look out for her. He could do anything. She jogged past where Lilith stood triumphantly over Yoongi, and up to Shae's side to stand protectively in-between her friend and Jung Hoseok.

Shae looked confused.

Then, at the sight of Ava's unshielded face, no more cloaking device distorting her features...and understanding clicked into place for the red headed combat specialist.

"You...." Hoseok started looking from Ava to Shae. His pointer finger was extended and his face of friendly confusion shifted slowly into concern, and then into that ghost of disdain that Shae remembered him so vividly by.

"You." All the lightness was gone from his voice now. His eyes bore accusingly into Shae beneath his mess of red hair.

"She has a name," Ava snapped.

It took only seconds for Shae to remember why she feared Jung Hoseok.

He dove forward and wove Ava into his grasp, twisting her around and tipping her forward into a hard face plant into the mat.

Then he lunged and had Shae wrapped up in his arms from behind, one arm pulling one of hers tight and uncomfortable into her back while his other arm stretched across her collarbone. His murderous face was tucked into her neck.

"Sky? Shae? No matter what they call you, it doesn't matter."

Shae could feel his hot breath against her neck.

He nuzzled his nose against the collar of her spandex body suit. His lips, his teeth drove over her skin, searching, finding the black cloaking device necklace that was tucked underneath. He yanked with his teeth, and it snapped from her neck and fluttered to the floor.

"The end is still the same. You still die."

"Why? You don't even...know me...."

Jung Hoseok sensed Lilith getting closer to them, her body crouched and poised. He shoved Shae forward, putting pressure into her neck so that she almost tipped forward into the Matt as she stumbled away from him.

Hoseok twisted around and poised himself for a brawl, knees bent, arms raised and ready.

"This was supposed to be a bonding thing. Why did you have to ruin it, Hobi?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Lilith and Hoseok started to circle each other on the mat.

She said in a low voice, "I'm trying to make you see...that they're not your enemy."

He cackled.

The sound made Shae's stomach twist. How could this sadistic grin be coming from the same man who'd only been teasing her minutes ago?

The combat specialist replies, "How wrong you are. You don't see it yet...but you will."

Hoseok lunged. Lilith was fast, but he was faster.

In a few rapid blinks, Hoseok managed to twist  and throw Lilith into the mat. She landed with a heavy SMACK onto her back, and a groan escaped her. She rolled onto her side, holding her right arm gingerly.

Ava was crouched on her knees know. They kept shaking. Damn it, why were they still shaking?

"No more takers? NO?! Well then." Hoseok turned his crazy eyes back to Shae and yanked her forward by her skinny forearm until their noses were inches apart.

Shae didn't see where it came from, but she knew what a small Geji blade looked like. This one had a black handle laced with yellow veins. Hoseok lifted the gleaming metal  to her neck and pressed it against her skin.

When he did so... when the magical metal blade made contact with her bare skin... something happened that no one saw coming.

The entire room quaked. Shae was the epicenter. She remained standing and firm—but a seismic ripple resonated from her body, blasting Hoseok back from her and onto the floor, blasting Lilith who was up on her feet again back down into the mat, and driving Suga and Ava into floor. The force echoed like a great wind through the entire room.

Shae's breathing was heavy. Her knees were shaking. Shae looked down at her forearm. Four overlapping circles, each with a different pattern contained therein, was glowing up out of her skin in a glistening blue light, with a strange energy that she felt pulsing somehow inside of her.

She couldn't hear anything. She barely remembered that she was breathing. Shae only stared at her skin.

Hoseok crawled up from the floor, grumbling and confused.

Ava was staring at her friend from the mat like she'd never met Shae before in her life.

Lilith was blank wonder.

"Yah! Lilith! Let me the fuck up!" Yoongi couldn't care less what had just transpired. His face was still pressed unceremoniously up into the mat, his limbs still frozen in odd angles and his pride continually becoming more wounded by the second.

No one moved, though. They were all staring in a daze at Shae.