Zane was used to being woken out of his sleep. Usually, it was for dumb reasons, such as another orphan being sick so he had to take over their chores as well, or a house parent wanting to talk to him about strategies to make himself seem more 'adoptable'. 

Never before had he been woken up by a deafening explosion...until now. 

He awoke with a start, his heart pounding as he took in the unfamiliar tiny room and the ever-persistent background noise. He recalled the previous week's events, from accepting the mission, being transported to the complex, and going through a vigorous week of training. 

Rio and Blade, to the surprise of no one, did not possess the prowess or patience of the seasoned Ms.Stone. Blade focused more on making fun of their failures while Rio only cared about results. The amount of tactical information Rio had attempted to pack into their heads was nauseating. 

Zane sniffed, his nose wrinkling as a strong smell of smoke entered his curious nostrils. Where there's smoke, there's...

Another explosion rocked the complex, knocking away any remnants of his sleepiness. He bolted upward, sprinting to his door and cautiously peeking outside. The sounds of battle weren't coming from his floor, so he risked crossing the hallway to the room closest to him.

Just as his fist was inches from connecting on the steel door, it swung open and a muscular figure darted forward, grabbing Zane's arm before he could react and twisting his back as he prepared to throw him over his shoulder. 

"It's me!" Zane yelled fruitlessly as Rick completed his perfect shoulder throw. Zane was dangerously close to a dislocated shoulder, but he cushioned his fall with his telekinesis and pushed Rick away. 

Rick's eyes widened as he realized who he'd attacked. "Oh my god, Zane. I'm so sorry, I didn't realize it was-"

They were interrupted by a popping sound and a glimmer of white light. Rio emerged with Aria in tow. He had a fresh cut above his eye and his t-shirt was half torn, revealing an impressive set of abs, but other than that he seemed fine. "What are you still doing here?" Rio asked, his eyes flashing to Rick. "Have you forgotten the procedure already?!"

"Uh, no sir, I just woke up," Rick replied timidly. 

"Just woke up?" Rio managed to yell silently. "Get your ass down to the bottom floor like you're supposed to do. We're being attacked from below, so we'll follow the Crush maneuver." Rio looked disapprovingly at Zane's attire, which was a vest and sweatpants, considering he'd only just rolled out of bed. "Let's move."

Rio touched Zane and Aria and the trio disappeared in a flash of white light. Zane still wasn't accustomed to the teleportation trip and took a second to catch himself as they appeared in front of the reinforced door. Rio darted forward to the keypad and typed in a code. He had a large gun strapped around his chest which proved to be effective.

When he had first revealed the gun on the first day of training, everyone was skeptical, considering that Metas could easily heal from bullets, but only Richmond dared to voice this fact.

Rio hadn't replied using words, rather, he aimed the gun at Richmond without warning and fired it point-blank into the poor boy's chest. As a result, Richmond went flying backward as the bullet exploded in his chest, even igniting a small flame that it hit as he writhed on the floor.

"Explosive bullets," Rio had said, making no effort to hide his satisfaction at Richmond's plight. "They're not so useless after all, huh? Two point-blank shots in the chest and unless you're an advanced training dummy like Rick here, it's doubtful you'll heal at all."

Now, Zane could see a faint spiral of smoke twirling upward from the barrel, evidence of recent use. No doubt that had caused some of the explosions he heard. Rio combined his teleporting ability so he could maneuver around his target to fire from his blind sports. In Zane's opinion, it was an intelligent way to make the most of his ability.

Rio swung open the door and stepped back, turning back to the pair with a serious expression. "Stick to the plan and execute as quickly as possible." His eyes started to glow white and his body followed close behind. "Godspeed."

Rio had one of the most important jobs of them all. In the Crush maneuver, he was the other's safety net, teleporting anyone away who was losing their battle. After all, their job was only to stall their attackers and allow the VIP to be escorted away. Still, he would look for any opportunity to join in and reduce the villains' ranks. This was why it was important for him to get back to the fight quickly.

Zane and Aria rushed inside the room, looking around frantically for the VIP. Thankfully, they didn't have to look long, as Aria called out and the blonde girl came peeking out of the bathroom. Zane noted that if they were the villains it wouldn't have been hard at all to find her. Hiding clearly wasn't her superpower.

"So, they've come then?" The blondie asked, surprising Zane with her poise. That wasn't the only thing that surprised Zane. The girl looked straight out of a Vogue Magazine, or some great big modeling contest. Even in a worn-out T-shirt and equally washed-out jeans, her unique beauty radiated and gave Zane pause. 

He briefly wondered if she was a siren.

"Yes, they have," Aria replied, unaffected by their first meeting. "We need to hurry, you'll need to come with us while the others stall them."

"How do I know you're not some shapeshifters trying to trick me?" She asked with narrowed eyes and open scrutiny.

Zane scoffed. "Because the villains wouldn't bother trying to get your trust, you heal like any of us I'd assume, so they will manhandle you rather than wasting time."

Blondie nodded, satisfied. "Good point. I need to get some of my things first," she added, making a bee-line for her bed where a suitcase lay.

"Did you not hear what I said about wasting time? It doesn't just benefit the bad guys."

"Let her," Aria demanded, "Clearly it's something important. What's your name, ma'am?"

"It's Astrid, and what are you calling me ma'am for? I'm probably the same age as you."

Zane raised an eyebrow in disbelief. They were essentially jeopardizing the mission so this girl could get some stupid sentimental item like lip-gloss, while down below, the rest of their team risked their life to give them time. Maybe this girl's life wasn't important to herself, but it was given high significance for the mission.

Zane prepared to use his telekinesis to pick up the girl and carry her against her will, but Aria - likely seeing his eyes start to glow, put a warning hand on his chest. "If you stop her, I will not help and you'll have to figure out how to get out of here on your own," she stated.

Zane sighed, releasing his powers and watching the girl dig into her suitcase and come out with a purse and amulet. He bit back the comment that threatened to escape his lips as she put on the amulet and stuffed the small purse into her pocket.

"Ok, I'm ready."

In the Crush operation (Zane still couldn't understand why it was called that), the team took advantage of the villains not knowing exactly where Aria would be and the floor having no exits other than the elevator on one end. Thus, the team planned to create a makeshift exit that wouldn't be predicted.

Aria stood at the far wall, planting her feet on the ground as her eyes began to take on a golden glow. Zane could feel a chilly breeze as ice began to form on Aria's hands and shoot forward, crashing into the wall and bouldering its way through to create a massive hole. 

Naturally, they didn't get to practice this particular part of the plan, only relying on Aria's confirmation that she could do it after revealing her ice manipulation ability. So Zane found himself staring in shock at the gigantic ice pillars wedged through the wall.

Astrid whistled in appreciation from next to him, alerting him out of his daze. "That's a pretty ability."

Zane grabbed Astrid by her waist and hefted her up onto his shoulder. He didn't know if it was because of his Meta enhanced strength or if she simply weighed the same as a paper towel, but he barely felt her weight.

"Hey!" she screamed in protest.

"Can't waste any more time," Zane muttered before running to Aria's side. "You sure that'll hold our weight?"

Aria nodded. "It'll have to."

Zane didn't like that response but he didn't have much choice. He poked his head outside the hole and saw that the ice pillars spiraled all the way down to the floor, which spanned about thirty feet. Zane had never been on a rollercoaster, and considering his unease with elevators, he didn't think he'd quite like the experience but he sucked it up and took a hesitant step on the ice.

Which was a bad idea.

He barely managed to hold the blondie up in time as his foot slipped and he slammed into the pillar butt-first, gliding down in an out-of-control spin. Turns out he had been right in his assumption.

He didn't like the experience. 

The bumpy ride ended with Zane landing on his back and getting the breath knocked out of him. Astrid rolled off of him on their crash landing, whimpering as she landed awkwardly on her hand. A shadow descended on Zane and he got the eerie feeling that it was not Aria's.

He looked up and his heart dropped.

During further debriefing in practice throughout the week, Rio explained that the team the villain faction had left behind was made of young Metas, much like them. Though they tended to be experienced and in control of their powers, they were not as formidable as the senior members of the faction who had lured away the Supers. 

Except for one person.

Rio described this person as a mercenary, loyal only to the completion of the mission handed to him, he was a force who had confirmed kills of dozens of Meta. He was not to be confronted by any person directly without Rio around to teleport them away when needed. He was said to wear a red bandana, and have tattoos all over his face, with his usual attire being a tactical vest and camo pants. 

The man sporting a red bandana with a heavily tattooed mug grinned down at Zane. "It seems I've been gravely underestimated."