by Drew Hayes
Four hands went up, some higher than others, but all without an instant of hesitation. Chad’s outstretched fingers were the tallest, and if any lingering worries or neurosis from last week’s revelation remained in him they were certainly not discernible in the blonde boy’s steely gaze. Four of the professors, Stone, Hill, Cole, and Fletcher, moved through the crowd and deposited an object in each of the raised hands.
“Your instructors are currently handing you each a single orb with your team number inscribed in it. That orb will remain in your possession until the match begins,” Dean Blaine continued. “Once we start, you are free to give it to anyone on your team that you see fit. You will all be dropped at various locations in the arena. Your goal is to get that orb to a depository at its center. Finding it will not be difficult, I assure you of that much.”
The captains were turning the orbs around in their hands, examining them. Each was cold and metallic, with a single digit carved into the smooth surface.
“There will be no traps or obstacles, save for the natural terrain, blocking you from the goal. The challenge you will face is much greater. It is each other. The depository will be indeed easy to find; however, it will also only be open for five minutes, occurring exactly two hours after the match begins. Any orbs not placed inside before the deadline will not be counted. Additionally, placing any ball in the depository will gain your team five points, whether it belongs to you or another team.”
There was a murmur of understanding that rippled through them. Dean Blaine greatly preferred the students he dealt with once they reached this point. They’d been through enough that hand-holding during explanations was required far less often.
“I see you already understand what that means. I would like to remind you that your professors and I will be watching, and that use of intentionally deadly force will lead to a student’s immediate disqualification. Such a ruling would not bode well for their evaluation on entrance into next year’s class. Keep it civil, and do your best. You have five minutes before we leave for the arena.”
The crowd, already gathered close to their teams, immediately split off to separate corners of the gym. It wouldn’t stop people like Chad and Amber from overhearing their words, or Alex and Mary from listening to their thoughts, but it was still an ingrained habit to create distance when discussing sensitive issues.
“Seven card stud?” Mary asked Nick as soon as Team One had all arrived in the southwestern section of the gym.
Nick scratched his head. “That might be for the best. Optimum coverage and all.” They’d developed a few terms for their strategies the night before in preparation of being overheard. Without knowing what they were facing, it was better to have at least a couple of pre-arranged strategies in their hip pocket. Seven card stud was all of them going off on their own, five card draw was five respective teams, Roy, Alice, and Alex all going off on their own. Hearts would have meant they defaulted to the same pairs as the first match, and Fifty-Two Pickup meant they were fucked and had to think of something on the fly.
“No.”
It took Nick a minute to figure out who had said that, he was so unaccustomed to hearing the voice speak without prompting. Camille was staring up at him - in fairness she’d have had to stare up to look any of her team in the eye - with an uncompromising gaze.
“Don’t like that one?”
“I don’t. I think it spreads us too thin. We’re better with at least a few pairs.”
“I see,” Nick said, resisting the urge to tug down his sunglasses and meet her stare. “There are dangers to that plan, too. Are you fully prepared for everything that it might entail?”
“Completely.” If there was any doubt or fear in her, Nick couldn’t find it. Still, it never hurt to double check. He glanced over at Mary, who gave him a firm nod. If between himself and a telepath they couldn’t sense any hesitation in her to do what was necessary, then it either wasn’t there or she had a tremendous career ahead of her in espionage.
“Fine; Camille raises a relevant concern. We don’t want to get caught with our pants down on this one. Five card draw.”
“Who holds the orb?” Vince asked.
“We’ll figure that out once we’re in the arena, or at least far enough from people who can overhear us,” Mary informed him. “Our team is the only one that can keep the element of surprise, so I have no intention of wasting it.”
“Nicely said,” Nick concurred. “Okay, folks, that hits the high points, the rest is self-explanatory. Mary will figure out who has the orbs. Hunt for those people, avoid everyone else. Oh, and one more thing.” He leaned in, inciting them to do the same. It wouldn’t do anything to damper those who could hear them, but it would put emphasis on his words. That was what mattered right now. He scanned the team as he spoke, but made sure to let his concealed gaze fall on Alice, Vince, and Camille especially.
“This is our last team match. Hold nothing back. Leave everything out there. All the games, and dances, and careful tricks we’ve used through the year have officially come to an end. Give it everything you’ve got, and let the chips fall where they may.”
171.
“Crafty,” Mary said, her eyes closed as she listened to all of her competitors throughout the field. The rest of her team milled around her quietly, trying to keep their thoughts as silent as possible so as not to add to the mental ruckus. The starting bell had gone off a few minutes ago, but rather than dash off all at once, they were waiting for her to figure out who would be holding each team’s orb. As for where to go, that much at least was quite evident.
Some distance away, impossible to judge through the trees of this arena, a giant beam of red light stretched from the ceiling down below the tree line, presumably to the floor. It didn’t take a great leap of intuition to figure out this was the depository Dean Blaine had told them about. Unfortunately, knowing where they needed to end up wasn’t the same as knowing where to go until then.
“Okay, I’ve got it pieced together,” Mary said at last, opening her eyes and getting to her feet. “Team Two is trying to make me think that Chad has it, but a few of them slipped up and thought about the truth. They gave the orb to Julia. Sadly, that’s not a big help, since she’s split off into about a dozen clones, all of whom share the same mind. If you see one then go for it. Just know that as soon as one sees you the others will know your location, and a clone is going with every member of her team to pass along information.”
“Instant communication. Damn, that’s pretty good,” Nick complimented.
“Yes, but we always knew Chad’s team was going to be a beast to contend with. Shane came up with a pretty effective strategy as well. He gave the orb to Tiffani and paired her with Amber. Between her ability to make illusions and Amber’s sound manipulation, those two are going to be effectively invisible to everyone but myself and Alex,” Mary continued.
“Plus, Amber is a pretty heavy hitter in her own right,” Roy added. His pride wouldn’t let him forget how easily she’d dropped him during the maze fight freshman year.
“Very true. Britney took the most expected strategy; she held onto the orb and went invisible. She’s staying hidden and mobile while her team hunts for other orbs. Adam copied Allen, so they have two people able to fire ranged energy explosions.”
“So, what do we do?” Vince asked.
“First we figure out who is going to hold onto our orb,” Mary said. “The obvious choices are myself and Alice.”
“Me?”
“You can fly up to the top of the arena and wait out the match in relative safety,” Nick pointed out. “That strategy isn’t perfect; there are still ways you could get reached if the other teams get creative. Besides, I hate to take one of our stronger abilities out of the game.”
“This from the guy who gave me a four,” Alice teased. They both knew the girl whose power ranked so low in the relative scale was long gone. What she could do now was nothing short of tremendous.
“I agree. Alice sh
ould stay in,” Alex concurred. “Especially since no one knows what she can do. Her power and the element of surprise are too good to give up.”
“Suggestions are heard. All right then, I’ll hold the orb. Any objections?” Mary asked.
“It’s what they’ll all expect,” Nick pointed out. “But that’s because it’s the smart call to make. You’ve got the range to detect people approaching and the power to knock them back if they get near.”
“Mary keeps the orb then; what do the rest of us do?”
“Alex should hunt down Britney, Mary and I will go after Amber and Tiffani,” Nick replied. “The rest of you fan out in your formations and hope we get lucky and find the right Julia. I’ll supply what help I can in that regard.”
“I think I should go after Amber and Tiffani,” Alex protested.
“Alex, Amber is very powerful,” Camille said gently.
“Which is why it should be me. In case you guys forgot our last match, I’m the only one with practice deflecting soundwaves. Mary has gotten a lot better in training, but I don’t think she’ll be able to pull it off. Sorry.” He said the last part to her with a look of slight embarrassment. Alex took no joy in pointing out the shortcomings of others; he merely wanted to give his team the best chance it had. Luckily for him, Mary had already made peace with the fact that there were some things he could do that she never would.
“No, you’re absolutely right,” Mary agreed. “You go after Amber and Tiffani, Nick and I will hunt for Britney.”
“Wouldn’t it make more sense for Nick to crank up his luck and find the right Julia?” Alice asked.
“And if I did, and she was with one of the combat members of her team, what purpose would that serve? I got skills, but they aren’t enough for me to take down a trained Super,” Nick said.
“Except for all the times you’ve done just that,” Vince added.
“That was just Gilbert. Mary made the right call on this one. First we hunt Britney, and then we go after Julia.”
“If the three of you are going to try and get the orbs then why don’t we stay with you?” Camille pointed out.
“This is a numbers game,” Nick explained. “If we can find Britney, and if my luck happens to work the way I’m hoping and lead me to Julia, and if that clone of Julia isn’t guarded by someone like Chad, and if we can do all of this in time to make it to the depository, then sure, it would be a great plan. That’s a lot of ifs. It makes more sense to send you guys out separately and increase our chances. Besides, this isn’t just about what we do, it’s about how we do it. Going off in different directions increases our chances of showcasing our various skills.”
“Makes sense to me,” Roy said. Vince and Alex nodded their agreement as well. Camille merely stepped to Vince’s side in preparation for departure.
“Looks like we’ve got a plan then,” Alice quipped.
“That we do. The others have already begun to move while we were talking, so everyone stay alert and keep safe,” Mary cautioned. “And move fast. We’ve got less than two hours to show everyone what this team can really do.”
172.
Roy didn’t have much of a plan as he jogged through the patches of forest. He knew he didn’t want to get near the giant pillar of red light; it was too early for anyone to be congregating around it. He also knew that any attempts at stealth were a waste of time. Roy didn’t want to go unnoticed, he wanted to fight. So instead of creeping and crawling along the ground, he just jogged casually in a wide circle around the beacon. He figured sooner or later he was bound to run into someone. If it was Julia, that would work, and if it was anyone else, he would make do. What he really wanted was to run into someone like Chad or Shane, someone he could truly pit his new strength against. Roy didn’t exactly get his wish, but it wasn’t too far off.
He felt his leg go out from under him as it was jerked quickly into the air. He found himself hanging upside down, a bright orange hand of energy wrapped around his ankle leading along a glowing path back to Thomas. The two looked at each other in silence for a moment, two warriors taking the measure of their opponent. Roy had never fought Thomas, but he knew the boy’s ability from Vince and Alex’s match against him in the maze. He didn’t imagine this would be too hard.
“You aren’t very quiet when you run,” Thomas observed.
“Nope,” Roy agreed.
“I suppose that means they didn’t give you an orb.”
“Go figure, they didn’t think I would do a good job of staying hidden.”
“You’re going to tell me which of your teammates has it.”
Roy flashed Thomas an upside down grin. “You’re welcome to make me try, but I gotta warn you: I’ve gotten a lot stronger than the last time anyone saw me fight.”
“You don’t say.” Thomas gathered his internal energy and prepared for the impending battle. Roy was a powerful opponent; he always had been. But unbeknownst to Roy, his team didn’t have a monopoly on people finding new ways to use their skills.
* * *
Vince and Camille were walking with care through the brush, trying as best they could to muffle their movements. He was far more adept than she was: a life of sneaking onto and off of railway lines will impart a generous amount of talent in stealth. However, even Vince wasn’t quite good enough to avoid detection. Neither of them heard their attacker approach, neither of them saw the practiced flick of his wrist. The first clue Vince had that they’d been attacked was the searing pain that ripped through his left leg. He let out a gasp and tumbled forward. Camille reached for him but found herself thrown backward, landing in a heavy heap ten feet away from her fallen friend.
“I loathe sneak attacks,” Shane said, stepping out from a small pine cluster and into a clear area. “I sincerely do. Even knowing they’re a recognized piece of strategy, they still make me feel dirty. I’m sorry I had to use one, but Vince is simply too dangerous to fight head on.”
The dangerous man in question was currently pushing through his pain. He tried to pull himself up and discovered that his right leg was worthless. Somehow Shane had cut his Achilles tendon, leaving the appendage unable to bear any of his weight. He ignored it, years of training kicking into place as he steadied his mind and began to take aim.
“None of that,” Shane said, another jerk of his hand precipitating a yelp of pain from Vince. This time Camille saw what happened: Vince’s shadow contracted into a thin blade of vibrating darkness, leaping up from the ground and cutting into his shoulder.
“I don’t mean to be cruel, but I’m not letting you work past the pain enough for a clear shot. Just surrender your orb if you have one, or tell me who I should be hunting. I’ll still have to incapacitate you, but there is no reason to make that process any more painful than possible,” Shane explained. He jerked his hand once more.
This time it was Camille who had to stifle a shout as she felt her leg go numb. This sent her crashing to the ground face first, since she’d been trying to sneak over to Vince and Shane.
“I can’t let you do that either, Camille. Look, you are both very pleasant people and I bear you no ill will. Please don’t make this hard on yourselves.”
Had Vince’s face not been pointed toward the ground Shane would have seen the silver-haired boy’s eyes nearly watering with effort. He might not have understood that Vince was thinking of all the people counting on him, of having to stand by while Shane incapacitated Camille, of feeling useless. What he would have gotten, almost assuredly, was some sort of warning about what Vince was trying to do. It likely wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Vince was already resolved. If Shane wouldn’t let him get off a clean shot, he would just have to settle for a dirty one.
Vince clutched his hands into fists and summoned up a torrent of fire that would have made a volcano feel impotent.
* * *
Alice decided after the first few minutes that Mary’s idea to take the high ground wasn’t such a bad one. After all, anything she saw would
be available to the telepaths, which would help them coordinate their search for the orb holders. Besides, Alice was a flier at heart; trudging along on the ground when the air was accessible just held no appeal to her.
She shot above the trees quickly, lest one of their ranged opponents get off a lucky shot, then slowed her ascent as she got clear of a surprise attack range. The ceiling was still some ways above her, though as she rose higher she could make out the blue paint and spaced out lights used to illuminate the field and create the illusion of a sky overhead. It was an impressive piece of work, but one that lost its luster when one drew too close. Alice was so absorbed in looking at the ceiling that she nearly missed the other human figure floating over to her.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Violet greeted. “Guess we had the same idea.”
“You can fly?”
“I can do a lot of things. Now how about you hand over the orb I’m sure you’re packing and I won’t have to show them to you.”
Alice felt her lips draw tight as a mischievous grin crept across her face. Oh hell yes, this was going to be good.
173.
When he looked back on it later, Alex would realize that it was the same innocent curiosity formed during their relationship that allowed Selena to sneak up on him. Just as he had wondered if it was possible to deflect her ability, she’d tried to see if there was a way to avoid detection from his. It would take him some time longer to understand just how she’d done it, that she’d figured out he sensed the emotions and general sense of a person more than their specific thoughts and that she’d sung a song of emptiness to push those things down in all who heard it, but none of that information was available to him at the moment. All Alex knew was that he should have been safe, should have been far from anyone else as he moved toward the direction of Tiffani and Amber; however, he still rolled to the side when he heard a crackling sound from behind him.