Spectrum Act 2, Prologue 4: Vacant

Even the smartest people will occasionally do something stupid.

Act 2, Prologue 4: Vacant

Morgan, and the rest of her team was sitting at a small table they set up in the middle of the dorm room. They scooted up the television on a stool with a small DVD player hooked up just underneath it. A clock counting down on it with a small fire on the background. Morgan was calmly shaking two dice before rolling it on the board game they were playing. “Aaannnnd three!” She exclaimed with a grin. Grabbing her pawn and tapping it three times to move it forward on the board.

“Your turn, Robin.” Morgan mentioned, Robin sighing a bit to grab the dice and roll them for herself. “Do we really have to play this?” She asked, looking at the pips on the dice with her finger. “Uhh... Six.” She said, landing on a red space with writing on it. “Dimensional prison again!? Really?” She said following a sigh of frustration. Erika covered her mouth and started to giggle at it. “W-wow... That's like the 5^th time now in 20 minutes?” She said teasingly, Robin glaring at her quietly while she moved her pawn to the dimensional prison space to skip her next 3 turns.

“Couldn't we just play chess?” Robin asked somewhat exhausted by her lack of actually playing the game. Florence looked up at her and rested his hand in his chin. “Uhh.. Can you play chess with four people, sis..?” He asked her, Robin raising her brow as she looked up at her. “Of course you can play chess with four people, dear brother!” She said with enthusiasm, pressing her hands on the table and standing up. “You team up and take turns! It makes it all... strategic.” She said, everyone looking up at her when she had her slight outburst.

“Uhh... You need to lay off the wine, Robin.” Morgan commented, Robin glared up at her and pointed a finger. “The strategy of impromptu team turn based combat chess is one of the most eloquent devises known to all humanity, Morgan! The very fact that I'm quite intoxicated is a mere non factor” She said with a hurried voice from pretty much having to say that in one breath. “...What?” Florence asked out of confusion, not entirely sure what she just said. “Uhhh... Pardon?” Robin turned to Florence as he gave her a blank stare.

“Chess good, Game bad.” Robin said somewhat in a simple voice, Florence nodding his head until a loud cracking lightning sound blasted around the room along with a deep voiced male shouting “SIIIIIIIIILENCE!” Robin and Florence nearly leap from their seats in fear since they were distracted with bickering about the mechanics of chess. A man wearing a black cloak with pale, haggered skin grinned like an idiot at them. “Who's turn is it...? ALL OF YOU ANSWER ME, MORTALS!” He said, shouting with his hammy, but somewhat antiquated voice.

Erika and Florence both shouted out in unison, though Florence was much more nervous of the man on the DVD board game they were playing. “ERIKA, RIFTMASTER!” They shouted aloud, but Robin and Morgan just quietly stated “Erika.” The Riftmaster paused for a bit before he's speaking. “Each one of you who did not answer with 'Riftmaster' must discard one of their destiny cards!” He said with a chuckle, Morgan sighing as she discarded a destiny card back into the pile. “Goddamn it... That was my only destiny card.” She folded her arms a bit, sighing and leaning back on the small pillow she was sitting on, pressing her hands against the smooth wooden floor.

“You four enjoying yourselves?” Sienna dropped in by peeking her head through the slightly ajar door. Morgan looked up at her, shrugging her shoulders some as she walked up to open the door all the way. Sienna was dressed in her typical captain's coat over top of her red school uniform. Morgan looked down just a bit and never really noticed the stitched insignia just on the front of her shoulder, above the chest.
“It was fun until I remembered it wasn't.” Morgan replied, and Sienna gave a friendly chuckle before reaching up to pat Morgan on the back. “I had plenty of times whe-” She was cut off by another loud crack of lightning accompanied with the loud man on TV once again shouting “SILEEENNNNCE!” Sienna backed away and slammed the door in one swift move. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?” Sienna shouted behind the door. Morgan just looked confused, opening the door again to see that Sienna's red colored beret was crooked atop her head.

“Uhh.. I forgot to turn it off! My apologies.” Robin said, leaning up and turning off the TV, the loud cloaked man flickering to black as she stood up as well, taking a second to adjust the hem of her knee length skirt some before walking up next to Morgan and Robin. “Anyways... Back on subject.” Sienna said awkwardly, placing her palms together with a light clap. “I believe we've just finished our... 5^th mission now?” She asked them, Morgan folded her arms as Erika and Florence both stood up. Sienna gesturing with a hand to follow her.

“Uhh... I assume you're capable of counting, Sienna.” Morgan snarked, Sienna just shook her head and sighed as the 5 of them slowly began to descend the staircase. “I apologize for what I'm going to say being on such short notice, I tend to take things one day at a time.” She said, since they were on the third floor of the dorms, at the bottom of the carpeted staircase just stood even more staircase. “No offense Sienna... Get to the point.” Morgan said, Sienna sighing a bit and stopping just before getting to the double doors of the dorm. There was some chattering of far away students in the lull of conversation before Sienna continued.

“Well.. After 5 missions, Spectrum will offer an exam to students to take on tougher and more crucial missions.” She began to explain, everyone listening quietly as she started to go into pamphlet reader mode. “We start at rank F, and descend through the alphabet until you hit rank A. The higher your ranking, the tougher missions you can take. Spectrum went with the letter grade thing because they're a bit obsessed with making this similar to a school.” She added, Florence lightly chuckling at that little joke at the end.

“If you complete the test, you'll get an increase to your pay.” She added, Erika grinning like a doof when she learned of it. She imagined briefly what it would be like to have slightly more spending money... Maybe she can actually buy some video games to pass the time, or maybe even some new clothes since she was getting sick of her school uniform being the only thing she tended to wear. “Count me in!” Erika said with a quiet excitement.

Sienna placed her hands on her hips, slightly shaking her head. “I appreciate the gusto, honestly... But this is no joke. Promotion exams are pretty damn arduous and I need all 4 of you to bring your A game. This leads to the actual announcement.” She said, trying to segue, opening the double doors and heading down the stairs and out into the campus, which is currently enjoying the budding flowers of spring coming from the trees. “I want you guys to take the week off. I don't care where you feel like going, but I've manage to save up enough to cover any travel expenses you might have.” She said, turning to the four of them with a smile. Florence grinned and hugged onto his slightly shorter older sister, kind of leaning her against him in a too tight hug.

“Wait, A legitimate vacation? That's fantastic!” He said with joy, Robin chuckled a bit and slowly pushed him off of her. “That sounds fantastic as long as people respect my personal space a little more.” Robin commented, Florence looking at the floor looking a little downtrodden by the sudden rejection. Sienna smiled a little bit as she patted Morgan and Erika on the shoulders. “I want all of you to start packing.” She said, though suddenly the sound of screaming could be heard.
Sienna looked over Morgans shoulder, the rest of the group turning to look at what was happening behind them. Maria was thrashing, hands and feet bound by ropes as she was lifted overhead by Caleb, resting over his shoulder. Flanking his sides were Lily and Jonah, looking up at her as she flailed and shouted to no avail. “LET GO OF ME, YOU BITCHES! YOU SWINES! YOU PUNKS!” She shouted loud enough to make everyone else in the dorm start to collect in the hallway and mutter out of confusion.

“You're going for a vacation with us Maria AND YOU WILL ENJOY IT!” Caleb shouted, squeezing Maria a bit so she wouldn't thrash around as much. “I hate vacations! My idea of a vacation is SLEEPING AND TELLING EVERYONE ELSE TO FUCK OFF! LET GO OF ME!” She shouted some more, Sienna and the rest of her team spreading apart so they could carry her down the stairs. “Maria, we need a break! Why are you resisting taking a break?” Lily asked, grabbing her as well as they began to walk down the campus, making a massive scene.

“WHY DON'T YOU GO AND TAKE A SHUT UP!?” Maria screamed back, not making a single word of sense. Jonah pushed Maria ontop of Caleb's shoulder and began to carry her as well. “Hey, Lily said she had a private beach resort we can go to. If I have to ride with you on an airplane for 7 hours and have you constantly scream like this I swear we're putting you in the cargo bay.” Jonah said, halfway joking. Maria kept thrashing as Morgan slowly walked up to Jonah. “Uhh... What the hell are you guys doing?”

“We're going on a vacation like you guys are, just Maria doesn't want to go.” Lily said calmly, before Caleb cut her off quickly to add a comment. “So we're kidnapping her to have a vacation.” Morgan was confused by this, tilting her head and raising a brow. “Uhh... You're having a kidnap vacation?” She asked, before Maria looked up at Morgan and looked at her with pleading eyes. “MORGAN! SAVE ME! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO A BEACH! I HATE SAND AND STUPID KIDS TRYING TO MAKE SANDCASTLES!” She shouted, Morgan rubbing one of her ears with an annoyed face.

“Watch the volume, good lord...” She complained at Maria, Maria sighed and looked up at the sky in disappointment. “Come on Maria, this is for the best...” Lily said trying to reassure her a little bit more, Maria didn't respond at all as she has had her hope of not going on a stupid pointless vacation completely snatched from her. “We'll see you guys in a week!” Caleb shouted as they picked up the pace, Morgan stopping and watching them carry Maria off to the car for their kidnap-vacation. Erika walked up beside Morgan and observed as well.

“That might have been what could possibly be the stupidest thing I have ever seen.” Erika commented, Morgan shaking her head and putting her hands on her hips. “Yep...” She turned to look back at the dorm, Robin, Florence and Sienna looked completely shocked and dumbfounded standing shoulder to shoulder, as a dozen other students they didn't know also watched out of complete fear. “So uh... Now that we saw all that stupid shit... Should we go pack our stuff?” Morgan asked, turning back to Erika. “Uhh... Yeah, we should.” Erika said as they walked back to the dorm room and attempt to pack their things before picking where they could go.

Spectrum Act 2, Prologue 3: With Strength And Right

In every man's life there will be a moment where they will shine the brightest among their peers.

Act 2, Prologue 3: With Strength And Right

Sitting in a barely lit room, the walls were comprised of corrugated metal. The ceiling was nearly 30 feet high with a small light providing him just enough brightness to read. This man was Elliot, calmly looking over a map and slowly tracing lines across the various roads of the city in this makeshift office in the warehouse he procured. He calmly glanced them over, lifting them up to make sure he was making a good route.

A knock on the door is heard and he turns his head up to look at the door. He felt himself tense as the door didn't really have a way for him to know who it was on the other side until the intercom beside him rang. “Wolf, the Mercenaries from INVICT have arrived and will be awaiting their payment details.” A familiar womanly voice said on the radio. It was calm, but a bit flat and dull sounding. This was his main lieutenant, Diane Kessler, also known as Fox.

He stood up from his table and gently pressed the button on the intercom, making sure to speak clearly enough so she could hear him. “Arrange them in the second warehouse, Di. I wish to speak to them as a group.” He responded, there was a short pause before the intercom crackled to signal it was turned on again. “Got it, Also... Call from your daughter.” She said, Elliot's brow perking as he grabbed his cane in one hand, slowly strolling to the door and opening it. It was much brighter, so bright it kind of strained his eyes when he opened the door.

He looked down at her, she was a bit shorter looking with somewhat of a dull face, tanned skin, brown hair strapped into a loose ponytail and bright green eyes. She held up a cell phone for him as he lightly took it, pressing his palm against the receiver so his daughter couldn't hear him just yet. “I appreciate it, Di. I'll be with you in roughly 10 minutes.” He said, Diana nodding her head and walking away to start barking out orders. He closed the door behind him and held the phone up to his ear to talk.

“Heya, Rose.” He said on the phone with a slight smile on this face, the normal stress lines faded and he had a legitimate smile. There was a brief pause before a high pitched, feminine voice rang on the other line with a happy voice. “Hey dad! Uhh.. I just wanted to call you to see if you were okay.” She said with concern, but he calmly paced his room and talked to her with a friendly voice. “Oh you know I'm fine, Rosalyn. Daddy's just got overtime again, I'll probably be back before you head to bed.” He said to try and reassure her.

“Well that's good... I don't know why you work such weird hours. I try to keep track of it but your work hours always change on me. Don't most people with jobs have schedules?” She asked, he closed his eyes a bit and gave a chuckle. “Well, it's kind of the problem with these kinds of jobs. I get called in when they need me, and they need me quite a lot.” What Elliot said was theoretically true, so he wasn't really lying to her about that fact. “Well... To be honest I don't even know what job you have sometimes.” The 14 year old girl said on the line, he couldn't even really admit this to her, so he came up with an answer that could brush her off a bit.

“Well, I tend to do a lot. I don't really know what I need to do until I get to where I'm needed.” He said, hoping that was a good enough answer for her, there was another short pause before she spoke again. “Well... I wanted to let you know how much I miss you.” She admitted, Elliot frowned just a bit and sighed. “I know you do.” He responded with some sorrow in his voice. “Ever since mom left...” Rosalyn was going to say before Elliot cut off her sentence a bit. “Look, I'm trying my hardest to make this world better for you. I can't bring Shauna back, but I can at least try my best.” He said, to try and reassure her.
“Look, I'll come back in a couple of hours. I'll see you soon, Rose.” He said, hanging up the phone and setting it back on his desk. He tried to make his face more brazen, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before slapping himself on the face with both hands. He grabbed his blue suit off the coat rack and slipped it over his black shirt, grabbing his mask sitting beside it and slid it over his face, strapping it to the back of his head. It was cold engraved steel, but also served as a useful face protector. He opened the door and looked around the warehouse.

On one side was a couple of shipping crates, pretty much stocked to the brim with his haul from the previous robberies they made. They have to still chemically process all the materials needed for the next step for their plan, but they're just sitting there and waiting the heat to back off a bit and allow them to work more freely. There were a couple of his workers just sitting around and talking over some sandwiches the cook they had managed to make earlier in that day. He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked over to the door, before opening it and walking outside.

The moon was smack dab in the middle of the sky, the spring nights were always slightly too cold for it to be comfortable, especially if the wind kicked in. Almost like nature heard his musings as he walked between the two large warehouses on the docks. The wind kicked in and started to flap his long blue leather coat. He sighed and turned to face it, as it was coming from the Glass Lake. The water was still with the reflection of the moon almost perfectly mirroring the sky in reverse. It would be a mirror if there wasn't boats slowly drifting along the waters to break the symmetry.

They called it the Glass Lake because it has no tide, or waves that affect it outside of the wakes of boats, so it reflected almost a perfect image unless a storm kicked in. Elliot would have called it 'Mirror Lake' instead but no one ever says he gets to name things. He slipped his hands into his pockets and swung the other door open. This warehouse was much more empty, pretty much being a flat, smooth concrete floor with nothing inside barring a small risen metal platform with stairs on each side. It doesn't really seem to be used for another purpose, but it made a pretty neat stage.

He walked up the stairs, watching as Fox was currently sitting near what appeared to be a PA system. She was currently fiddling with the microphone connector and blowing into it to make sure it works. A couple of loud hissing noises and feedback came through the speakers as they were attached near the roof to make the sound fill the room. Elliot turned around from her to look back at the empty floor space... only to find it completely packed shoulder to shoulder with people.

Fox turned off the microphone and turned to Elliot, handing him the microphone and patting him on the shoulder. “I had the boys set up the PA system so you don't have to shout the entire time. I know how much you hate that.” She said casually, he looked at the microphone and began to inspect it a bit, finding the red switch near the bottom so he could turn it on when he needed it. “Thanks I guess.” He replied, turning to her and crossing his hands. “I'm a bit surprised.” He mentioned.

“Why?” Fox asked him, turning to look at the same crowd he was. There were a good number of people wearing the Silent Fall uniform.. but nearly a third of the crowd was wearing street clothes... The other third were wearing an all black uniform with a red insignia he couldn't exactly make out. “I didn't expect us to have so many people here.” He admitted, it was quite a pleasant surprise, but when your words get this much traction you begin to wonder about things.

“Hey, maybe it's just because people are as frustrated as we are.” She said to try and reassure him with a pat on the shoulder. “Now let's see you do what you're good at.” She said, before walking off stage and out of the door back to the other warehouse.

He turns on the microphone again, clearing his throat as he spoke into it. The PA speakers echoed with a slight delay at his voice as the chattering quelled and started to pay attention to him. “I would like to thank you all for choosing to join us tonight.” He first said, his voice projecting forward a bit to show a bit more confidence. “Not all of you will stay through this, that is just an inherent fact about the nature of what we are discussing. You have decided to come here on your own volition, we did not force your hand.” He warned, just making the fact more clear to anyone who was harboring any second guesses.

“This is your last chance to turn around and return home before I begin addressing you.” He said, noticing some people in the back slowly begin to funnel out of the room. He waited for about a minute as whoever intended to back out did, before he continued. “For those who have decided to stay, you understand how truly depraved we as a society really have become.” He stated, walking closer to the crowd and looking down at them as they just observed. There were a couple of shouts in agreement from the back.

“Each and every one of you is a good, wholehearted individual deep down.” He said, trying to compliment them before continuing. “Yet... We are turned to violent answers, not because we choose to do it. But because we feel like we've run out of options.” He calmly explained, the crowd still staying quiet. He began to slowly pace the floor, taking a deep breath. “The people in charge want to keep the status quo... Because they are worried about anything shaking up the very foundation they built upon.”

He raised both his arms out into the air, clenching his fists a bit as he looked upon the rest of the crowd. “You folk who came here... You have finally understood that no one was actually listening to you, or what you think. And thanks to Silent Fall, I'll be one of the few people who could help you.” He continued to explain, raising his gloved fist in front of him and clenching it. “We've been trying to be more subtle until we had what we needed to carry out our message in a more direct manor. Unfortunately this means the situation is going to get quite bloody in the next couple of months.” He continued, looking at the audience to see if they were still interested.

“I'll still be frank with you all, this is a much bigger crowd of people than I originally estimated.” Elliot mentioned, slipping his free hand back into his front pocket. “Having this many people want to go out of their way to change things in such a desperate manner just makes me realize even more how desperate the times we live in. Monsters are attacking us every single day and we have to rely on a bunch of ignorant teenagers being indoctrinated by our military to help us, instead of just being able to protect ourselves... And even then, the rich refuse to help us out when we lose our homes.” He stated, getting a couple of cheers.

“As long as you help me... We'll be achieving something amazing... One of the first times we as a people have ever stood up to the people who control us and telling them that something must finally change.” He said, more cheers and applause coming from the crowd before he kept speaking. “Some of you will not be able to sleep at night after committing some of the acts we've been forced to do just for someone to understand our plight... But no one has ever said starting a revolution was going to be clean, nor predictable.” The metal stage made a loud hollow noise whenever he walked, lightly pacing back and forth on the platform

“As for the members of INVICT.” He said, turning to face the several mercenaries standing near the back of the warehouse. “I will not shirk my responsibilities and you will all be paid in full... Half up front, and half when I consider you no longer needed.” He added, the mercenaries chattering among themselves as their asking fees were just met without any renegotiating for a lower price, it was a pretty good deal.

“This will be our day. I hope for all of you that you stay with me until the very end.” He said, finishing his speech by turning off the mic and placing it on a nearby table, slowly walking down the steps as the crowd cheered again. Fox walked back onto the stage to turn the microphone back on. “Oh, and we now have catering! It's in the third warehouse... I think we're serving pizza or something.” She said to just the same amount of cheers. While they were glad they were part of a big movement, free pizza is always a good thing for a large amount of folk.

Spectrum Act 2, Prologue 2: Blood

No answer is ever solved without bloodshed

 Act 2 Prologue 2: Blood

The lights of the small arena dimmed, leaving the spotlights to light the ring in the center, it's mat was blue, with red ropes and white turnbuckles and ring posts. The crowd was nearly a thousand people sat along the seats surrounding it. A woman in a red hooded jacket put her hands into her pockets as she stood just before a small flight of stairs and a curtain. She was lightly shadowboxing the air as a man stood beside her, handing her a bottle of water so she could take a sip from it.

“Alright, Weasel. This is the last fight, you've been at it for a whole week and the prize money is on the line.” He said to her, hoping to hype her up a bit. The girl peered her hood up a bit to glare at him with her sharp red eyes. “It's been 6 months since I joined the club, Ritters... Why do you still call me weasel?” She asked, he just chuckled and patted her on the shoulder some. “Oh come on, it's a good nickname!” He said with enthusiasm, Maria just sighed a bit, leaning down to adjust her gloves some more, before he lightly shoved her over to the stairs. “Your fight is up, Weasel... Go get em!” He shouted, Maria nodding and climbing up the stairs, bouncing on her feet some as she swung the curtains open with both of her arms.

A lone spotlight shined on her, some boring metal music she picked out earlier began to play as she started to shadow box at the top of the ramp. “For the Riverside Amateur Featherweight division 3^rd place prize... Our first competitor!” Maria raised a fist as he continued announcing her, her red vinyl hoodie kind of covered her eyes but it was a straight shot to the ring, she couldn't mess this up if she tried. Her coach slowly walked behind her, slightly out of the spotlight.

“Hailing from Riverside city, Rosewall... ” He continued, Maria punching the air some more as she broke out into a dash, the spotlight tracking her with a slight delay in reaction as she took a leap up to the ring post, pulling her hood down and letting her shoulder length messy hair rest on her collar. “Maria 'Battle Weasel' Roth!” He shouted with enthusiasm, the crowd giving a fairly big cheer with some intermixed boos. Maria just glared back and growled at Ritters. “You changed my nickname!? I was supposed to be 'The Spider!' ” She shouted, the music too loud for any of the crowd to hear her. “Things happen, Maria!” He said, not even sorry. Maria just sighed and slid into the ring for her opponent to arrive.

The lights changed from the reddish white lights to a purple color of lights along with some cheesy radio guitar rock started to play as the curtain opened on the other side of the arena. A fair skinned, black haired girl that was tightly tied into a ponytail. Her coach walking behind her was a rotund man, balding with a black ponytail on what little hair he had left as the announcer rang in once again over the loudspeakers.

“And now our second competitor... From Cherry Springs, Rosewall.” The voice echoed, the referee quietly getting in the ring around the same time the girl climbed up the stairs and slid in between the ropes. “Braith 'Black Cat' Dogwood!” The crowd cheered for her a little more than they cheered for Maria, though she had no idea why, maybe her fights were more entertaining than Maria's were. It was a rookies only tournament after all.

Braith didn't wear any fancy ring gear like Maria did, since she got the hoodie from Jonah. Maria pulled her coat off and gently folded it before handing to her instructor. Maria and Braith were wearing similar fight gear, a pair of slightly padded gloves with bare feet and leg wraps, a small tanktop like outfit for flexibility and a pair of shorts, though hers was tighter and Maria's looked kind of baggy. Her theme music ended as an announcer grabbed a mic that descended from the top of the arena.
“We welcome you to the penultimate match, the one that decides which person is going to take a seat on that podium and which one is going to go home falling just short!” He said to the crowd with his entertainingly baritone voice. He was in a black tuxedo with his hair slicked back that Maria wasn't sure where the hair ended and the grease began. “In the blue corner, wearing the red trunks with black trim...” He said, pointing an open hand to Maria in her crimson and black gear. Maria lightly bounced on her toes, swinging a couple of punches.

“Standing at 5'2 and weighing in at 124 pounds... She is a freestyle boxer with a record of 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, all which were earned of this 3 week tournament, even if she's only 16 years old. Maria Roth!” He shouted, Maria lowering her head and pumping her fist in the air as her coach reached up to help put her mouthguard in, just making sure all of her teeth don't fly through her nose if she gets kicked too hard. “And in the red corner... With the black trunks and silver trim..” He continued, the girl folding her arms and quietly watching him as he talked.

“Standing in at 5'4 and weighing in at 126 pounds... She is a hapkido practitioner with a record of 5 wins... 2 losses, all of her wins have been by knock out. Braith Dogwood” He shouted loud enough for some feedback to ring through the speakers, this made Maria cringe some and rub one of her ears from pain. The announcer cleared his throat, tapping the mic a couple of times so it would stop. “This fight will be for five sets of 3 minute rounds. Not being able to defend yourself, being knocked out 3 times in one round, and tapping during a submission will result in your loss.” He explained the rules of the match, Maria slowly stepping back against her corner, leaning into it and feeling the squeak of the ropes stretching against her.

“There will be no eye gouging, no groin shots, no elbow strikes and no kicks to the head while on the ground, This fight will start when you are both ready.” He said, Braith nodding and walking back into her corner for the bell to ring and signal the fight. It quickly did, Braith walking up holding out her fist as she put in her own mouthpiece in. “Good luck, Combat Weasel.” She said, Maria walked up and bumped gloves with her. “Okay, seriously. My nickname wasn't combat weasel.” Maria corrected, Braith just smirking some as she raised her fists to her face. Maria entered a combat stance and lifted onto her toes.

Maria lightly tried to gauge the distance with some light jabs, but Braith instantly swung a roundhouse kick straight to her head. Maria dipped underneath it swiftly, she was still recovering from the kick as Maria dove in to punch her in the face. She groaned, tilting her head off to one side to soften the blow, blocking Maria's second hit to punch her firmly in the stomach. Maria winced, before swinging her leg to smack into her stomach with a loud snap. This made her step back, before leaping onto one foot and cracking Maria in the side of the head like a whip.

Maria shook it off, another kick coming to smash into Maria's shoulder, she grabbed the leg and pushed up so she could land an uppercut, completely ignoring her poor block, before swinging her arm to uppercut her knee as well. Braith shouted in pain as she felt her leg buckle, she lifted her other leg to Maria's chest, pushing off with a kick to land a swift backflip back to her feet. The amount of force required pushed Maria against the ropes. She rebounded, pulling her fist back for a huge punch.

She spun for a spinning back kick to hope and cash in on Maria's momentum, but Maria was really throwing a faint, quickly ducking the kick and punching her in the rib cage with a loud smack. Braith stumbled and fell onto her back. She stumbled to get her hands and legs in a position so she could stand back up. But Maria dove quickly over her legs to land a smashing punch right on her jaw as she pounced on top of her. This caused a big splatter of blood on the mat as her nose started bleeding
She growled a bit, Looking at Maria as she attempted some mounted punches, she caught Maria's fist and spun around, throwing Maria on her side and twisting her wrist to attempt a joint lock. The crowd began to cheer for them both as the fight was quickly turning into a slugfest. Maria spun using her legs to stop her wrist from being twisted, before hand springing back to her feet. Maria kicked Braith on the arm, forcing her to release the wrist and slowly stand back up to her feet.

“Not bad...” Braith said with a smile, lightly wiping off the blood leaking from her nose with her wrist. “Anything to stop you kicking me in the face again.” Maria replied, about to swing another punch as a loud siren began to go off in the distance. Suddenly, all of the lights in the Arena turned back on, removing the spotlight effect in the fighting ring as the crowd began to boo. “I know that sound...” Maria muttered, The ref raising his hands as the bell rung. “Unfortunately this event has to be delayed.” He said, as the doors swung open.

“Unfortunately missy that seems to be the curtain call.” Sebastian said, climbing off of the ropes and looking at Maria. “I'll see you when you get back to the acadmy. Mr. Ritters sighed, getting away from ringside and following the rest of the civilians up the stairs. Maria turned to him, running to the ropes and hanging her hand over it to point at him. “Hey! Come back! I need your car!” She shouted, though he was kind of either too far away to hear her or was ignoring her.

“We're with Spectrum, The area is going to soon be flooded with Riftfallen, we need to get you guys to a nearby shelter!” One of the 6 people from the team of Spectrum members shouted. The crowd was filled with chatter and complaining as they stood up and slowly started to file out of the arena. Maria groaned and pulled out her mouthpiece, as Braith climbed down the ring and slowly walked to the locker room. Maria lowered her brow, leaping over the ropes in one swift leap as she was intent on following her.

“Hey, What are you doing!?” Maria shouted, running after her as Braith walked into the locker room, putting away her fighting gear but leaving her clothes on as she saw Maria following her. “Getting my stuff and leaving. Delays like these happen all the time.” Braith responded, zipping up one bag and opening another to pull out her street clothes. “Please tell me there's gonna be a rematch, I was hoping for the prize...” Maria complained, Braith slung the bag over her shoulder and turned to the shorter fighter. “We'd have to wait for the phone call. Until then, I live 6 miles off.. I should be safe from the Riftfallen if I drive fast enough.” She stated, Maria looking at the floor before looking up at her.

“Uhh... I work for Spectrum, and I think my coach left as well, he's the guy who drove me here. Can you drive me back?” Maria asked, but Braith just looked at her up and down a bit and sighed. “I don't really know you, and I don't want to waste time.” She stated, Maria frowning a little bit as she started to leave the locker room to get dressed elsewhere. “Good luck getting back, kid.” She said, the door closing as she left.

Maria put her own gear in her bag and started to get dressed in her Spectrum outfit while Gale manifested, covering his eyes so he didn't see anything he shouldn't. “Isn't it a little irresponsible of you to be this far away from the academy?” He asked, Maria looking up at him with annoyance as she kept swiftly dressing. “Hey, if I'm on my off hours I can do what I want.” Maria said, getting her pants back on before going to get her shirt back on as well. “Anyway, this was going to be my money for the month.. I'm always just scraping by on handouts.” She complained, the bird nodding his head some as he kept covering his glowing pink eyes with his glowing orange wings.

“Maybe you shouldn't be trying to bend the rules, maybe you wouldn't lose your pay that way.” He responded, Maria growling as she got her jacket back on. “You can look now.” She said, before actually replying. Gale nodded once again, uncovering his eyes and seeing Maria dressed in her black suit, Maroon shirt and black tie, the inverse version of the standard colors that was also available. “I don't bend rules because I want to! The rules are stuffy and written by some old guy who doesn't know what it's like to bust your ass every day.” She complained.

Maria started to walk from the locker room and out the fire exit, looking around the parking garage as she talked to Gale. It's been nearly 8 months since he's first manifested, they are still on shaky terms but he tends to be a bit preachy and likes to act like someone's mom and remind them of all their responsibilities. Maria halfway questions it's usefulness except for when it actually becomes useful for a magical bird alarm clock.

“Just pointing something out, Maria... By the way, it's Lily's birthday today.” He said, trying to remind Maria. Maria looked up and chuckled some as she walked off of the curb she was standing on, finding a bike locked against a rack of bikes. She grabbed the black bike and unlocked it with a key she had in her pocket, meaning it was her bike. “Thanks for reminding me, but I knew already.” Maria said, sitting on the uncomfortable black seat as she looked left and right, slowly starting to pedal it.

It was a kind of shitty bike, it didn't have a gear mechanism and any time she went up a hill she would be in a horrific life and death struggle just to push the goddamn thing. “I hate this bike...” She complained, feeling a sudden wetness on her lip as the wind started to push against it. “But it's really great for exercise.” He replied, floating along with her speed. “I get enough exercise, bird...” Maria complained, pushing the bike as she reached up to wipe off her lip. It was bleeding from the kick to her face just a while ago.

“Come on Maria, don't you want thighs that can push a truck?” He asked her. Maria sighed, pushing a bit harder as she started to bike up a hill. “No, not really.” She replied, huffing some as Gale chuckled at her. “Morgan gets a motorcycle and I get this piece of shit.” Maria complained, Gale shaking his head as Maria turned a corner to head down another road. “Don't be ungrateful of what you have, Maria.” He scolded her, Maria stopping the bike to glare up at him.

“Shut up, Bird-mom.”

Spectrum Act 2, Prologue 1: Silver

Everything has to end at some point.

Act 2 Prologue 1: Silver

The double doors to Lily's fathers office slowly pulled open as she tucked her hands into the pockets of her knee long dress. His room was big and spacious looking, lit by a chandelier along with a massive window about 15 feet wide. Lily never got why mansions always had such big windows compared to the typical home, but it was always pretty cool to have the entire horizon before you without even having to press your face up against the glass like at Maria's house, or the academy.

The large chair slowly swiveled back around to face his desk, a glass of wine was sitting on a table along with some papers. A man in his early 50's quietly took a sip, before looking up at the teenage girl standing in front of his desk. She looked a bit uncomfortable, yet had a face that looked like she was familiar to the feeling. “So Lily, are you done with your sabbatical?” He asked her, Tilting his head. He was wearing a white suit with folded back cuffs and a lifted collar, along with a red buttoned undershirt and tie. His hair was a shiny silver and there was barely any deep wrinkles on his face besides the ones on his forehead.

“I guess you could call it that.” Lily said, walking up to his desk and sliding a wooden chair to sit on, but first placed a cushion on top of it to make sure it was comfortable. He crossed his hands over one another. “I can't believe you would just abandon everything I've set up here for you for nearly 9 months, Lily.” He scolded, but Lily frowned a little bit. “You grew up here, you were my princess, I gave you nearly everything you wanted, yet you just... act like you can walk out and pretend like all of this never happened?” He ranted some, Lily sighed and looked at the floor.

“There's a lot of reasons, dad.” Lily countered, rubbing her shoulder a bit as she didn't want it to turn into a confrontation. He stood up a bit, pointing at her now 8 month old scar on her face. “You go and join Spectrum instead of finishing your classes and moving to the university I SET UP for you.” He complained, Lily looking at the floor with a sigh. “It only takes a couple of years, you would get a masters degree in economics or business and you could easily take my place and keep this whole ship running.” He explained, Lily leaning up a bit and shaking her head quietly.

“Yet you join an academy for gung-ho violent thugs, staining your hands with blood and destroying your body for a cause we pay other people to do instead.” He ranted, Lily looking up and furrowing her brow. “Why say that? Spectrum is pretty much our best chance to help society out, you even fund the weapons for Spectrum after the council instituted the law barring any group not approved by the government to be unable to distribute Ash.” She argued, but he sighed a bit, sitting in his chair. “I don't hate Spectrum, but there are people meant to fight and people meant to lead or manage.” He started,

“You have everything at your disposal to learn how to become a leader, yet you want to fight with all of the grunts instead. You weren't meant to get your hands dirty..” He tried to justify it, but Lily just looked a bit upset at him, balling her fists and standing up from her chair to place her hands on the table. “Maybe because I just want to feel like I'm actually helping in a tangible way instead of just 'Sterling funds this!' 'Sterling funds that!' throwing money at things isn't always the way you fix a problem, dad...” She replied, but he gently started to stroke his chin with one finger.

“The Riftfallen victims fund is one of the highest grossing charities, helping people across the world. Don't you think investing in that is enough 'help' for one day? Why kill yourself doing more work when you have to? Work smart, not hard.” He said openly, Lily closing her eyes and gently pinching between her brows before looking at him. “Do you know what would be the best way to help the victims of Riftfallen? Protecting them. If there was no Riftfallen then we wouldn't NEED that fund.”

He lightly began to shake his head, standing up and crossing his arms around his back as he walked to her, leaning down a bit so they can be face to face. “Yet you still get hurt, that massive scar on your face shows me that maybe you're not cut out for a life of action. Why do you do it? Are you getting some kind of thrill off of risking your life?” He questioned her, She gently reached up and felt the scar on her own face. Her smooth skin elsewhere contrasted the coarse scar tissue, it still felt sensitive and sore even after all this time.

“I just want to be proactive for once. I want to stop feeling like a third party and finally take on an issue head on, instead of skirting around it.” She answered, but he just turned to stand facing his window yet again, walking back behind his desk and looking at the sunset. “If you are so desperate to be proactive want to be proactive, then buy a private military. Sterling's are meant to lead, not follow.” He demanded, she quietly walked beside him, looking at him. “I made friends for once, dad... I felt like a bird stuck in a cage, easy to make fun of. Even if everyone called me superior, I felt like I never got to experience the feeling of having people depend on me as a person, not as a figurehead.” She replied, but he looked at her dismissively.

“I got the papers of their current recruitment roster. That red headed poor girl I always brought over for you signed up 2 weeks before you did, even though her paperwork took longer to process. Was this a coincidence?” He asked, Lily looking away a bit as he shook her head once again. “No... I learned from Sienna that Maria was trying to join, I followed suit.” She replied, but he grabbed her by the shoulders to look down at her.

“So you did all this just to be with your friend?” He asked, Lily looking up at him since he was a couple of inches taller than her. “That Roth girl... She's a parasite in human skin.” He said, Lily's mouth opening slightly along with her brow as she couldn't believe he just said that. “The only reason she was friends with you is because she wanted the perks of being friends with someone better off than her. She's a leech and the longer you spend time around her the more entitled she will get about it.” He stated, Lily gently grabbing his hands and pulling them off of her, she was somewhat offended by that statement.

“How the hell could Maria be a parasite...? Her parents died, she needs as many people who care about her as she can get...” She said to try and justify it, but he just furrowed his brow, folding his arms across his chest. “And you act like losing your parents is SPECIAL? It's nearly the fucking apocalypse... So many people have lost their parents from this. She has enough people she can empathize with, you shouldn't coddle her with our money just to make her happy.” He said calmly, Lily growling in frustration and pressing her head against the glass of the window.

“You have no idea how any of my friends think of me... They actually respect me and listen to my input on things... Sometimes I even forget I have money, I even sometimes forget that you're my father when I'm around them.” She argued, he looked down at there, tilting her brow. “What do you mean by that?” He asked, Lily looking up at him, trying to grow enough of a spine to speak up to him. “I mean exactly what you think I mean, dad... You are barely there for me, it feels like you just want to turn me into a younger version of you.” She complained, he raised a brow, placing his hands on his hips as he turned to her.

“And I'm pretty much the richest man in this whole damn republic. Is being like me really so bad?” He asked her, She looked at the floor, slowly turning around and walking back to the other side of the room. “And you wonder why mom divorced you..” She said somberly.

Alexander slammed his fist on the table, spilling the little wine in the glass left over. “You couldn't possibly comprehend the reason she left! You wouldn't understand something like that for at least another 15 years!” He shouted at her, Lily frowning as she shook her head. “That's where you would be wrong... You don't trust with anyone and you act like everyone in the world just wants to be like you just because you happened to find a formula that got you power. I feel like you don't love me, and I bet mom felt just the same way.” She said, hoping it would sting, and it did. His stubble covered face gritted his teeth a bit as he glared at her.

“And where has all this come from? You have never complained about this before, have you? I've taken care of you and raised you, haven't I? You're not dead on a street, you're not struggling to make ends meet... you have fairly reasonable morals and you still act like you're being mistreated? How much more could you possibly want?” He asked, Lily slowly turned around to open the door. “I wanted you to give a shit about anyone else's feelings, dad.” She said, turning back to him. He was kind of surprised by her cursing at him, the Roth girl must have been rubbing off on her.

“At least I remembered you were turning 18 today.” He stated flatly, Lily frowning even more. “And you yelled at me for showing up!” She complained, before sauntering back up to place her hands on the now wine stained table. “I'm an adult now, and I'm choosing to stay away from you for a reason. I'm sorry dad... money doesn't fix every problem.” She said, a bit sad. He sighed and sat back down in his chair.

“Fine... Just go.” He said, admitting defeat. Apparently his love wasn't the thing she wanted in her life, and since she was old enough he couldn't really hold her hostage over it. Suddenly, all the lights in the house turned off. “W-what the hell!?” He said out of confusion. Lily tilted her head, walking back up to the window and looking out at the clear sky. “That's weird. All the years I've been here I've never seen the power go out.” She stated, he turned to the window and stood back up out of his chair. “We had a backup generator, something somehow cut both our main power and the back-up as well.” He said, before a faint orange glow began to flicker near the ground. He looked down, confused at what could be causing it. They were on the third floor of the manor and he couldn't see what was happening near the front of the courtyard.

Lily turned around, running out the door and not waiting for him. “I'm going to check what that is, follow me if you want!” She said, running down the darkened hall, using her memories of running down it as a little kid to take a sharp turn and swiftly head down the stairs, her physical training making her able to do it in a record time. She grabbed the huge double doors on the bottom floor and shoved them open.

Sitting on the bricks of the courtyard was a pile of weapons, swords, knives, spears, shields, crossbows and many others. It was stuck between piles of wood and other flammable objects, it was lit on a massive bonfire. She was confused, walking around it as she saw a red arrow painted on the ground, behind the fire a couple of feet. Her father ran out as well. “Who lit this bonfire?” He asked, out of confusion. Lily pointed to the ground to see the red arrow facing toward the house. They both quietly walked up to it, before turning around just as the arrow said to do.

The white walls of the house were defaced with red paint in words written over the window of the third floor.“What the hell...?” He asked quietly as he read the words in the pale orange light of the fire mixed with the sunset. Beside it was a stylized picture of an animal skull, with something looking like blood pouring out of it's empty eye sockets.

"THIS MUST END"

Spectrum: Act 1 recap

This chapter is to remind you guys (And me) of the current plot.

Spectrum Recap: Act 1

Maria Roth's parents were killed just after she got back home from school, when a Riftfallen Phoenix like creature burned down her home, she narrowly escaped with her life as she was placed in a hospital for the next 2 years to treat both her burns and the Ash Syndrome, a disease only people who get Ash, a magical artifact inside all Riftfallen inside of her bloodstream.

Maria; Who is now 15, gets out of the hospital and is sent to a boarding school, where she didn't make any friends, she heard of a school called Spectrum, a place where teenagers and adults can learn to combat the monsters themselves, since you have to be either a member of Spectrum or the Military to gain legal access to weapons, Maria joins for the sake of vengeance.

Her sister Sienna, a 5 year veteran at the school realizes that Maria is joining the academy and speaks to the higher ups to get her on her team, along with Maria's childhood friend and heiress to a large weapons manufacturing company, Lily Sterling, a somewhat tomboyish girl, Morgan Leland and a member of the house Goldshore, a remnant of the former collection of small fiefdoms that took up Rosewall before a counsel took over.

They hold a small fighting tournament using sword like weapons to gather information about how each one fares in physical combat, after losing two times in a row, Maria challenges Morgan to a fist fight instead, which the brash Morgan accepts wholeheartedly. Maria manages to win even with the size disadvantage thanks to a mixture of her recklessness and perseverance, but she pays the price and gets injured.

She wakes up to Lily in the hospital 3 days later, who helps her out of the hospital and lets them meet their sister team, a second team who will do missions the most often with them. This team had Jonah Delaney, a somewhat meek, but smart kid. Gabriel, who was friendly but also somewhat of a headcase, Erika Wolfe, who was friendly but quiet. And Florence Goldshore, Robin's younger brother and somewhat of a naive boy.

Sienna also introduces the other teams instructor, Ashley Willows; a woman missing one of her eyes. Thanks to Maria's injury, the exam was postponed a couple of days until she recovered from her head injury, but they are still able to get their weapons. Maria gets upset over her lack of funds and walks off after getting her weapon to go rest.

Morgan makes a quick detour to her old orphanage she grew up in, using some extra money Lily gave her to buy some food and donate it to them out of kindness. The kindly woman running the orphanage displays concern for her, but also notes her brother is seemingly missing. Morgan reassures her and leaves to go back to her dorm, where Robin tells her Maria is sleeping. Morgan complains to Robin after learning of her motivations that she was only in Spectrum to protect her brother, who seemed eager to go that she isn't motivated.

A week later, Maria has a nightmare and wakes up to realize that she was seeing a small apparition of a phoenix. This phoenix, named Gale, is a manifestation of a small amount of Ash from the phoenix after it partially possessed her as a last resort before it's defeat. It has somehow regained some aspects of his old personality and seems apologetic, Maria snaps and attacks it, partially destroying her room before storming off, where she finds Jonah. Jonah tells her to go eat to make herself feel better and she promptly agrees. She meets an Astrian named Cassandra and they get to know each other, sharing a sandwich before meeting up for her exam.

The exam is to retrieve a trophy hidden inside of a temple buried into a mountainside, they are given armbands that will extract them from the area if they're too wounded to continue. They get placed into pairs and everyone leaves in intervals of a couple minutes. Morgan and Lily, known to argue a bit about politics are paired together and it is nearly an hour of uncomfortable silence.

Morgan insults Lily over her inaction and the ethics of her father, Lily is insulted and it turns into a fight where Lily reveals that she was used to being bullied like this. Robin eventually shows up to stop the fight from getting any more violent, and Lily storms off wanting to quit. After leaving, Lily finds Maria, who convinces her to continue with her team instead.

Lily, Jonah and Maria are walking down the forest path before coming across a river, they attempt to cross it and are moderately successful until Jonah misses the rope and is carried downstream. Gabriel and Erika then arrive to come and help them, and they team up together to get to the temple. The sun sets and they are forced to camp for the night, Maria struggles to sleep and it awoken by the sound of Riftfallen wolves stalking the camp.

She warns the rest of her team and a skirmish ensues, everyone gets lightly wounded sans Maria, who's attempt at a gambit left her with a massive gaping wound in her arm that forces her vital warning to activate. This forces Maria to extract from the mission and leave the total group to 7. Lily gets a huge scar on one side of her face, but is still able to continue.

In the morning, they all arrive at the temple and head inside, they decide to split up in the labyrinthine temple to get each artifact, Robin and Lily leave together to discuss their lives and find it for themselves. They manage to get it, but it turns out that from the heavy rainfall the entire underground temple was really a sinkhole, and they were forced to hurry before it could collapse with them inside.

After waiting, everyone manages to get their relics and head back home safely.

Maria gets out of the hospital one night later, still quite wounded but able to walk, Sienna comes to meet her, but she's acting suspicious. Sienna asks Maria to come with her to Maria's dorm so they could discuss an issue together and Maria reluctantly accepts.

Sienna is worried about Maria's mental state, as her disposition is different from 2.5 years ago and it seems like she doesn't have a sense of personal safety, so she offers an ultimatum. Maria will leave Spectrum and go back to her school where she is safe, or Sienna will report her for mental issues and force her to leave instead. This upsets Maria, who then slaps Sienna and storms out of Spectrum in a rage presumably to rather quit than be kicked out.

Maria, now more calm and somber decides to visit said school to reminisce, before heading to her parents graves as she hasn't gone there before. Gale manifests and they discuss how his possession works, him revealing that since he technically possessed Maria, her being a living creature and possession being the main way Riftfallen tend to manifest, theoretically possible. Decides to tell her that he considers his lack of actions penance for him ruining her life.

Before returning to her boarding school, Maria decides to go look at her home one last time, even if it was rebuilt and repainted. She gets the feeling to explore the basement, since she's never been inside anymore. She finds the tattered remnants of her mother's scarf, and Ashley in a car who revealed that she's been following Maria at Sienna's request. Maria decided to go back to Spectrum under Ashley's team, instead of Sienna.
Lily also leaves Sienna's team to be with Maria, leaving them with Jonah and Gabriel, Maria's weapon is confiscated and she inherits Ashley's old weapon, named Sangris.

A couple of weeks later, Maria and her team decide to go eat lunch together, when Maria stops someone from bullying Cassandra. They have idle chat about school live and electives when Maria reveals that she's having some major money issues and doesn't want to rely on Lily for everything. Cassandra mentions they have an advanced cooking club that offers discounts and Maria gets psyched to join it.

Maria fails the cooking class horribly, so horribly she gets kicked out. Cassandra offers some condolence but Maria finds out a bout a club for people who like to fight, and as a boxing fan, Maria decides to join it. She finds Morgan as a member and a strange teacher named Sebastian Ritters manning the whole thing. The woman who was bullying Cassandra earlier said she was going to be there, so Maria challenged her to a fight as soon as she saw her.

The fight is vicious, but thanks to Maria's built in toughness and the anti-advice of Morgan, the fight ends in a draw and Maria gets to stay. Then thanks to Lily, she gets a pet cat, Snowy, along with a set of depressing and hypnotic cooking DVD's to watch to help her be more self sufficient.

Physical training begins and after 5 months of work, their training begins on using their weapons Pulse ability. Pulse being the main way to combat monsters, Gabriels sister dies in a Riftfallen attack, and is forced to leave Spectrum to be with them. Caleb, a childhood bully of Jonah joins the team in his stead and to Jonahs protests, and they continue their training after Morgan's team leaves.

Morgan gets a phone call just after training by her brother, Nick, to meet him outside of the school for a private conversation. Nick reveals to her that he was working for the Rosewall syndicate, but ended up being intimidated into joining a terrorist offbranch of the syndicate and was afraid to leave, saying that it'd be best for Morgan to consider him dead. Morgan gets upset as he walks off, but Lily encounters her and they make up for their spat over 5 months ago, Maria gets nachos.

A week later, Maria has her birthday just before the end of the year. After training, Maria heads back inside to find that her sister brought her a cake and wished to speak with her. We find out that both sides felt bad about the entire situation with Maria leaving the team, and also decide to try and make amends even if the situation was still rocky between the both of them, Lily gets Maria a cat sweater.

Morgan asks the head of Spectum, Chancellor Steele to consider assistance for saving Nick from being in the terrorist organization, Silent fall. But she is disappointed to find out that he only asks her to recuse herself and have him go to jail instead. They get an emergency signal and are requested to join their first mission.

They are briefed that while they aren't strong enough to wipe out the riftfallen in the area, that they could run evacuation on people who were currently trapped in a mall. They get on the helicopters and are deployed in the area. The mission goes smoothly until a mother reveals she left her son and husband in the mall, Maria decides to go get them.

The husband is dead, but thanks to her and Gale, they manage to get the boy to come with her after she finishes off some stragglers by herself. They are forced to sneak around the alleyways due to a resurgence in Riftfallen as Lily gives them a distress signal and requests for help, Maria too trapped to help her.
Lily attempts to stop a robbery of a store, only to find out that Maria couldn't come and she was vastly outnumbered. The leader of the robbers reveals that he is Wolf, the leader of Silent Fall. He explains his motivations and promptly knocks Lily out using his goons, and Lily is extracted from the mission. Maria encounters a huge group of monsters and tries to lure them to fight her in small groups while issuing a distress signal.

Help arrives and Maria and her team manage to get back to the extraction point with the boy safe, Maria goes to check on them before leaving herself.

3 days later, Caleb adopts a dog named Sasha and tells Maria to come see him and Jonah for a surprise later, Maria goes to pick Lily up from the hospital. Lily was disheartened by her lack of ability, and Maria is forced to attempt to give her some confidence. They head back to the dorm to a surprise party with drinks and ice cream, but are forced to sit at the kids table as a prank. Maria gets mad and leaves as Lily notices that Morgan is missing.

Morgan, later that night goes downtown to meet the leader of the syndicate, Stella Rousell. She explains that the leader of Silent Fall is a man named Elliot, and offers her a cell phone in exchange for her assistance in saving her brother, as Spectrum won't lift a finger for her. Morgan agrees before leaving to await her phone call to reveal what exactly she's going to do.

Spectum: Act 1 Epilogue

Act 2 will begin after a short break.

Act 1 Epilogue: From Ashes

The sun was setting through the big windows and slowly making the light dim in the restaurant, a man flicking on a light to keep the room lit enough for any customers who happened to still be eating at the time. After another hour, 6 PM, the sign flipped on the glass door to say it was closed for the night. And for the most part, it was. Morgan stood at the door of the closed shop, people too busy to notice nor care about her standing there as they were focused on going home.

Morgan sighed, reaching down into her black leather jacket to pull out a cigarette, lighting it by blocking her hand from the cold winter breeze, it was snowing earlier and she knew standing here would have been a pain in the ass.. as least the cigarette would distract her from waiting so long. The man on the phone told her to stand here exactly 25 minutes after the shop closed for her to come in... but her impatience means she got there about 25 minutes too early, instead.

She quietly stood there, occasionally taking a drag of the quite unhealthy stick, each drag making her face light with a soft red glow for a couple of seconds, before fading out to a faint light, ashes blowing in the wind and extinguishing as she waited. The door opened, causing the bell to ring loudly, breaking her trance. A large man wearing a white suit and sunglasses stood in front of her. “She's waiting for you, come in.” He said in his gruff voice, Morgan walked inside with him as he locked the door.

Her face felt numb from being in the cold for too long, but that didn't stop her, she started to walk further inside, but his arm firmly stopped her from moving. “We need to make sure you're not here with any ill intent.” He stated, Morgan turned to him, raising her brow at him. “I'll intent?” She asked simply, his hands began to pat down her sides, chest and hips as he spoke. “Stuff like hidden microphones, weapons, poison. Many people want the boss dead and we're not going to take any risks for a nobody like you.” He explained, Morgan would normally throw up a fuss about him digging in her pockets or grabbing her body.. but she was here for a reason and to get thrown out because she didn't want to be patted down would be a massive waste of time.

“I didn't bring anything except for my wallet, see for yourself.” She said as he pulled out her wallet, folding it open and inspecting it, before he quickly handed it back to her. “You're clean, then. Go see her in the back room, down the hall and to the right. Be sure to knock five times.” He explained, Morgan nodded and walked around the back of the main floor of the restaurant and came across a hallway. It was a kitchen, a janitors room and two restrooms, but there was a way that split both left and right. She looked to the left, noticing that it was just the fire exit. She looked right and noticed a room with no label on it.

She quietly walked up to it, taking a deep breath before reaching up and knocking on it firmly five times. The door's locks unlatched and it opened seemingly by itself. She walked in, and it slammed shut behind her hard enough to make her black hair fly up in the wind. She turned around, another man in a white suit, this one with a colossal beard was locking the door, apparently he was the muscle. A voice spoke to her as she looked at him. “Don't mind him, he's just a precaution.” She spoke, with a mature but light and soft sounding voice. Morgan turned her head and saw a woman sitting in a chair in front of a large, rounded table.

She was 5'8, with long black wavy hair to her shoulders and blue eyes, she was wearing elegant jewelry and a pure white gown, made of some kind of elegant silk that Morgan didn't care about. She wore a bit cartwheel hat that was black and covered her brow and eye line a bit, she gently tilted it up to give her a friendly and serene smile, slowly gesturing her to come closer.
“I'd have to request for you to stop smoking, though.” She added, Morgan tilting a brow because she had a halfway finished cigarette hanging out of the side of her mouth. “Don't see the point.” Morgan commented, blowing some smoke into the air as the woman pointed just behind Morgan. “I have an image I'd like to upkeep, Pierce?” She requested, the big goon behind Morgan pulling the cigarette out of her mouth and extinguishing it with his thumb, before tossing it aside and glaring at her.

“No need to intimidate her, Pierce.” She asked, he silently backed down as Morgan slowly began to walk forward to her. Placing her palms on the table as she woman looked up at her with a calm expression. “We did a quick background check on you, Morgan. Spectrum member, Parents died in a drunk driving accident just on the outskirts of Riverside, you were raised in an orphanage in town along with your older brother since you were 5 years old. Is this information correct?” She asked, Morgan sighing and giving a nod.

“Yeah... Pretty much right.” She stated, she nodded a bit as the woman gestured to come sit with her. “I assume you already know who I am.” The woman mentioned, Morgan nodding her head a bit as she walked over to sit beside her. “Stella Rousell, Leader of the Rosewall syndicate... and apparently a restaurant.” Morgan explained, before looking around a little bit. “Uhh... Why a restaurant?” Morgan asked, confused at such a weird place to hold a clandestine meeting such as theirs.

She shrugged with a chuckle, reaching down and pouring a small glass of Brandy into a glass with ice and took a sip. “Well, it's just one of the many places we get our income from... Also it's the one I went to when I was younger, so I'm kind of glad I could keep it running.” Stella explained, Morgan sighing and leaning back in her chair as she looked at her. “Well I'm glad it's working out but that's not the reason why I'm here.” Morgan stated, Stella leaning up to rest her hand on her chin as she watched her.

“You sure? I could always get someone to cook you something, it'd be on the house.” She offered, Morgan shook her head again and looked at her, Stella chuckling a bit and shrugging her shoulders. “Fine, was just offering.” She said, finishing her glass and slamming it on the table. “So, what do you want?” Stella requested, Morgan looking at her with a somewhat dire face. “My brother is a member of Silent Fall after the leader changed and they started to commit more violent crimes, he feels too afraid to leave.” Morgan stated, Stella's face got more stern as she glared at her.

“Oh... Them.” Stella said flatly, quickly reaching to pour another glass of brandy. This one was much fuller than her last glass. “So... Your brother. Nicholas, was it?” She asked, Morgan nodded a bit. “So you want me to help him get out safely.” Stella added, Morgan looked away from her and covering her mouth a little bit as she listened. “Yeah, I need a way for him to escape because apparently the leader is a violent sociopath and murders people if they try to leave.” Morgan explained, Stella nodding quietly as she let her talk.

“I need all the information or help I can get to actually save him.” Morgan stated, Stella nodding a bit and giving a quick yawn before speaking. “The only way your brother could possibly be safe is if you shut the entire thing down.” Stella elaborated, Morgan looking at her quietly as she spoke. “It's a pretty violent movement, I'm not sure anyone can safely leave unless the entire thing was destroyed... And you're talking to one of the few people who can do that.” She boasted, Morgan pondering a bit as she thought that over. “Might as well inform you about some things, it might help you out.” Stella stated, putting both hands on the table and leaned into it and looked at her.

“Silent Fall was originally a small group of couriers I hired pretty much to protect cargo whenever we needed to move something from point A to point B” Stella explained, closing the bottle of brandy.

“I had someone working under me named Elliot Kiersburg, he was a bit of a bitter man but he did good work and I trusted him.” Stella continued, Morgan quietly watching her before looking around the room and sliding her hand along the table quietly. “I decided he would run the group because he was pretty damn good at his job, but he had one caveat he had if I wished to promote him to a different role.” She said, with a slight pause until she explained herself further.

“Kill a certain man.” Morgan raised an eyebrow at this, leaning forward as she was inquisitive. “Kill a man? I didn't know the syndicate put out hits on people.” Stella nodded some, pouring a third glass for herself as she spoke. “And you'd be right, we usually don't kill innocent people. But as Elliot explained it to me, this man wasn't innocent at all... He was one of the worst kind of people to people like him and I.” She added, Morgan lowering her brow a bit as she spoke. “And that'd be?” Morgan asked, slightly confused.

“A snitch.” She stated coldly, Morgan rubbing her own chin and sighing a bit. “A snitch?” She asked, before Stella once again put the empty glass down, the ice melted away, so she flipped the glass over upside down to signify she was finished. “This man he wanted to kill... He got my father, Adam Rousell arrested, and married Elliot's sister, convincing her to disown him.” Stella continued, looking at her bodyguard in the room as he was watching both of them quietly.

“To take this conversation off track a bit, Morgan.” She said, pointing to Morgan as she looked down at Stella's finger, noticing it was draped in several rings. “The way you get a long career in the crime game is you learn when to shut up. No one likes a rat.” Morgan shook her head and sighed, before Stella cleared her throat, talking with hands crossing over each other on the table. “Anyway, we sent in a hitman, and then sent in a captured riftfallen to clean up and make it look like an accident... People will get suspicious if you just are resting with a stab wound from nowhere.” She added, Morgan furrowing her brow.

“We ended up killing his sister because the riftfallen was... more than we expected we could control. So the house was burned down as well.” She said, Morgan stood up and pressed her hands onto the table. “So he had a grudge and it backfired in his own stupidity, thanks to you.” Morgan said, Stella slowly standing up and crossing her arms over her light frame, her ivory skin becoming more apparent in the light. “I just did what he asked to get what I wanted, but it went wrong and he resented me.” She explained, her necklace dangling it's pendant off her neck.

“He began to despise me for attempting a cleanup, and convinced people after 2 years to abandon us and form his own group that would more actively interfere with things... but now they're just murderers.” She explained, Morgan looking confused once again. “Why would they start killing people and being so active in things compared to the syndicate?” She asked, Stella looking at the floor. “I don't know, maybe insanity has became his rationale.” She said, before snapping her fingers. “Pierce, the phone.” She said, and he quietly left the room for her as Morgan looked over to him.

“This problem is dragging our organization through the mud and ousting us to the public and I'd rather not have that happen. I want Silent Fall dead in the water, and you my friend just might be key to all of this.” She said to Morgan, Morgan looking at her and waiting to hear what she meant. The door opened again and Pierce walked in, putting a red cell phone on the table. Stella picked it up and gestured Morgan to hold out her hands as she explained. “This phone is encrypted in a way if you call anyone with it, it will just be static unless you have it's decryption device or reverse engineer it.” Stella added, Morgan looking at the phone after taking it and checking both sides. “I'm giving it to you for a special reason, do not tell a single soul about this phone or we'll start attracting suspicion.” She warned.
Morgan slid it into the pocket of her coat and looked at her. “So why did you just give me a phone?” Morgan asked, Stella grinning at her. “This is because if you want our assistance in returning your brother to you, you will help us out.” She stated, Morgan furrowing her brow and putting her hands in her pockets. “So what do you want me to do? Hide a body or something?” Morgan asked, but Stella broke out into a laugh at such a request, she quickly became sullen before turning to Morgan.

“One day, you won't know when... That phone will ring. You will pick it up and do EXACTLY what it tells you to. Don't ask questions, just do it.” She said, her voice much more threatening as she looked at Morgans subtle nodding. “Once you're finished, I'll consider you an ally and we will work together to get your brother back to you. If you do not complete this, we are done with each other.” She explained, Morgan pulling the phone back out and staring at it.

“All I ask of you is one question.” Stella said, Morgan looking up at her and waiting for her to talk. “Why are you coming here for help, instead of Spectrum?” She said, a bit suspicious of her. “Spectrum won't do shit for me, Stella... I'm desperate and all they want is to put Nick in jail. I won't let that happen.” Morgan said with a serious tone to her voice. Stella smiled a little and put a hand on her shoulder.

“That's all I wanted to know. You're free to go, Morgan.” She said, Morgan nodding and putting the phone back in her pocket and walking to the door to exit the restaurant. “Hey, Morgan.” Stella said as Morgan reached for the door, Morgan turned to face her, hand on the handle as Pierce stared at her since they were standing next to eachother.

“Happy new year.” She said, raising her glass for a toast before Morgan left, Morgan just sighed and left the room quietly.

Spectrum #21: The Calm

A little bit of a wind down before the epilogue of act 1.

Chapter 21:The Calm

Maria was in the restroom, currently wearing a tank top and some shorts, wrapping her bathrobe around herself before walking outside into the dorm. Caleb looked up at her with a confused look on his face, Jonah quietly trying to dust off some of the tables. “Uhh.. I think that's the fifth time today I've seen you get out of the shower, Maria.” He commented, Maria sighing and crossing her arms, shaking her head so her wet hair would dry off some more.

“I know, it's been a couple of days since the mission and I still feel like I can't get the blood off me... It's like fucking tar.” Maria complained, Caleb stood up and walked up next to her to inspect her face. “I don't know, you look pretty clean to me, I just wanted to point out how it's like 5 PM and you won't stop showering.” He observed, Maria glaring up at him and taking a step back. “Personal space, please?” She asked, before a big gray blob pounced her from on side, knocking her on the floor. “SHIT!” She shouted, turning on her back as she reached up to grab onto whatever pounced her.

It was a dog, a big fluffy 100 pound dog with big green eyes with a gray and white coat, with a quick observation, Maria realized that she just got jumped on by a husky. The dog was panting and leaned up to lick Maria's face with a happy bark. “Oh, I forgot to tell you about Sasha!” Caleb said with a Grin, Jonah turning around to shake his feather duster at him. “I don't think we need a huge dog AND a cat in one dorm, Caleb.” He scolded, but Caleb just knelt down and lightly rubbed his dog between the ears.

“Oh come on, I've had Sasha for years and she has even been on missions with me.” He said, the dog nuzzling into his hand as Maria flailed underneath of it until she managed to push it off of her. “Wait, you took your DOG on missions with you?” Maria asked incredulously, looking down at the dog as she looked back up at her with her tail wagging. “Yep!” Caleb said, standing up to maintain eye contact. “Dogs can use pulse too, it turns out.” He mentioned, Maria looking at Sasha for a second before looking back at him. “That is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard.” She stated, Jonah frowning at her a bit.

“Hey, when something works you don't question it.” He replied, Maria walking over to pull her normal uniform out of the drawer and start to dress herself up, since she was covered up enough to get away with it. “I can question it as much as I want.” Maria said, lightly pulling her jacket over one arm, and then the next. “Lily's going to get released from the hospital today, anyone going?” Maria asked, getting the rest of her outfit on sans the tie. Jonah turned back around and lightly started to dust the windowsill

“Oh hey... I forgot it was snowing.” Jonah commented, lightly pulling the blinds back and filling the room with a glaring white light that was enough to make him sneeze out of reaction, his eyes adjusted as he squinted, the snowfall wasn't really a blizzard, but it was still quite heavy. Maria bent down to look at it as well. Jonah then turned to her to answer her question. “Well... We can't really go get her.” He answered, Maria stood back up, cocking an eyebrow at him from her confusion. “And your reason is..?” She asked, him turning around and looking at her as Caleb cut in to speak for him.

“We have something planned... When you get Lily and come back, come to the room at the end of the hall on the third floor.” He explained, Maria reached into the drawer to get a coat out, a simple black one with enough insulation to walk around in the winter unless it got to sub zero temperatures or anything crazy like that. “What's in the room?” Maria asked, zipping her coat over her chest and grabbing her long red scarf, quietly spinning it around her neck. “Well... It's a recreation room that no one really uses.” He responded, sitting on the bed as his dog walked over to sit next to him.
“It has a pool table, arcade machines, air hockey and even a Foosball table!” He said with excitement, his husky, Sasha barking in response to his excitement. “...Why did you save the Foosball table for last in your little list?” Maria asked, pulling on her gloves and tugging out a pair of boots as well. “Well... Foosball is pretty fun.” He commented, Maria turning around and staring at him out of confusion. “Oh yeah, Foosball is such a great time! Everybody is laughin' down at the Foosball!” She said in a sarcastic old timey voice just to make fun of him.

He sighed and shook his head a bit. “Oh shaddup and get Lily already.” He complained, Maria giving a light chuckle at that as she turned to walk to the door, waving with her hand and not looking at them as she closed the door behind her and heading outside of the dorm room. She headed out and walked through the snow along what she assumed was the pathway until she got to the campus hospital, where they are operated on instead of the standard hospital downtown a couple of miles off. The automatic doors slid open and she quickly stepped inside.

She felt the snow in her hair beginning to melt and get wet as she walked over, placing her hands on the front desk, the receptionist hung up her phone and looked at Maria with a smile. “Hey there, do you have an issue or an appointment?” She asked, Maria shook her head a bit while she clarified. “No.. I'm here to see a Ms. Sterling. I'm on the same team as her.” Maria explained, the receptionist nodded and spun her chair around to tap on a touch pad for a little while before looking up at Maria. “Room 2F.” She stated, Maria nodding her head and walking to the elevator without a word being said, not even a thank you.

She pressed the button and the doors quickly whirred open with the sound of an electronic whoosh, since there was no one inside it, she tapped the button to go to the second floor, leaning against the wall of the elevator brought her up a floor. The door opened as she put her hands in her pockets, checking the sign over each door until she found room F. She gently pulled the handle of the door as she saw Lily resting in her bed wearing a blue gown, and wore bandages on her arms to show she was on an IV drip until recently.

She was looking out the window calmly breathing even if her ribs were sore and her head was constantly ringing almost. Maria grabbed a small stool and scooted it up, the wooden legs of the stool on the linoleum floor loudly squeaking as she took a seat besides Lily. Lily jumped from the sound and grabbed onto her covers in a panic. “Aahh!” She yelped, before realizing it was just Maria sitting next to her. “Did you have to do that? That was loud.” She complained, Maria shrugged a bit and quietly observed her before talking.

She had the scars on her face from their entry exam, and her upper back length hair was roughly cut to about her nose in length, but it looked uneven. “You trying a new look or something?” Maria asked, her as she crossed her arms over her lap. Lily sighed and sat up a bit, rubbing her head. “Well uhm.. I don't think a new look would involve a concussion and 4 broken ribs.” She commented, Maria nodded a bit and put her chin in the palms of her hands. “Yeah, good point I guess.” Maria replied, Lily trying to get out of her bed but she felt a surge of pain, her hand dropping to her stomach to grasp it.

“So how bad is it?” Maria asked, standing up and gently helping her stand up, before letting go of her and watching her as she quietly walked to a drawer to pull out her clothing. “Well.. Doctor said I can't do any training for the next month.” She said, grabbing her shirt and pants and turning away from Maria to put it on Maria glanced out the window a bit before looking back at her when she had enough clothes on. “You know a cold front came in and it's going to be snowing like hell, right?” Maria stated, standing up from her chair as Lily turned around to look at her.
“Oh? Did you bring my coat?” Lily asked Maria, Maria shrugged her shoulders a bit. “Nope.” Lily clenched her fists at that, panicking a little. “YOU'RE MEAN!” She shouted, not wanting to go out into the cold with just her normal shirt and skirt. “Actually, I'm lazy. There's a difference.” Maria corrected her. Lily just sighed and admitted defeat in her head, maybe she really is just lazy. “So really, Lily... What happened?” Maria asked, trying to change the subject to something more serious. Lily looked at the floor and sighed, rubbing her hair, which was now shorter than Maria's chin length flop of a hairstyle.

“I uhh.. Expected you to help.” She admitted, a little scared about how Maria would react to that, Maria looked much more sullen from hearing that, awkwardly rubbing her arm as she wasn't sure how to respond to that. “I really couldn't.” She replied, Lily sighing and turning away from her, leaning down to look at the window. “Well... Why couldn't you?” She asserted, Maria sighing a bit as she raised an arm toward her casually while she explained. “I got flooded with Riftfallen and there was no way I could make it to you fast enough... They apparently put you through a lot, didn't they?”

Lily nodded and put her hands in her pockets, shaking her head out of disbelief. “I can't believe after so much training I put myself though... I was still pretty worthless in a fight.” Lily calmly declared, Maria looking away and gently putting a hand on her shoulder. “Fighting a person is different than fighting a Riftfallen, Lily.” Maria said, trying her best to convince her to not be so hard on herself. “They disarmed me, pinned me to a wall, broke my ribs and lobbed my hair off and I wasn't even able to DO anything about it.” She argued, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “I was worthless, Maria.” She said.

Maria sighed and let go of her shoulder, slowly walking to the door and pulling it open as she spoke. “You'll do better next time, Lily. I promise.” She tried to console her, Lily walking over and looking at her with a pretty grim face. “What if next time IS the last time, Maria? What if I get killed if I cross the same group?” She stated, Maria sinking her brow along with her eyes as she took a deep breath. “That's part of the job... We're probably going to be disemboweled years before we actually become anything important. We will never be heroes... Or really do anything to make us stand out from a crowd of people, even posthumously. I just learned to accept that as fact.” Maria explained, but Lily grabbed onto both of her shoulders to stop her from walking any further.

“How can you live not caring about your own life?” Lily asked, Maria looking away once again as she tried to think of a good answer. “...I try not to get my hopes up, that's just blowing smoke. You'll always get your hopes destroyed if you're an optimist.” She explained, Lily just looking at her out of confusion. “Hell, if you're like me and think everything that happens is always going to end up falling short or being completely fucking terrible, anything good coming your way is always a surprise.” Maria said with a chuckle, which was awkwardly not reciprocated.

“That sounds terrible, Maria.” Lily commented, Maria frowning a bit as she squeezed her hands lightly on her shoulders to make her look at him. “That doesn't mean I don't care, or I don't try.” Maria added, Lily looking at her silently. “I care, I want to save people and help them out, I want the world to be a better place and goddamn it I try my hardest to make it happen... Just I don't believe it could ever work since I'm just some teenage girl with dead parents and a temper problem.” Maria continued to explain, Lily nodding her head.

“You always try, and you always care. NEVER LET ANYONE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU, even if you start using my shitty perspective.” Maria continued to ramble, letting go of Lily's shoulders and pointing at her. “You're here because you wanted to help people... Make it count.” Maria finished, Lily nodding her head some as Maria and Lily began to walk to the elevator to head downstairs.

“Fine, I'll try...” Lily said, crossing her arms and leaning against the back of the elevator as Maria reached up to press the button and have them descend to the bottom floor. “But can you give me some pointers for how to fight another person?” She asked, Maria lightly chuckling to get rid of the somber feeling she had wash over her from that earlier conversation. “Fine, but I'm only good at fighting people because I watched a bunch of TV and got really bored, so I practiced a lot.” She said, Lily lightly chuckling as the door swung open.

Maria and Lily walked up to the automatic door, but just before the pressure sensor would detect both of them standing there, Lily looking at Maria with worried eyes. “Uhh... How cold is it?” She asked, looking at the snow falling outside and collecting on the ground. Maria stepped forward and pressed her boot against the weight sensor, making a blast of cold air and snow instantly flow into the hospital, Lily's eyes widening a bit as she was bitten by the cold. “OH GOD.” She shouted, instantly crossing her arms together and trying to compact down for some semblance of warmth. “Let's just hurry the hell up.” Maria said, Lily nodding as they walked through the snow for the couple hundred feet needed to get from the hospital to the dorms.

“Cold... Cold... Cold... COLD! Cold..” Lily muttered, her shoes nearly ankle deep in the snow as she started to lean onto Maria for warmth. Maria just looked at her funny which instantly caused her to stop trying to lean on her. They headed inside, up the stairs to the floor and approached the abandoned recreation room that Caleb mentioned earlier. “So this is where Caleb told me to come for a surprise.” Maria said, looking up and down at the oak door and crossing her arms.

“I'm afraid as to what Caleb calls 'fun.'” Lily mentioned, before Maria sighed, turning to here and talking some more. “So, what's your opinion on Foosball?” Maria asked her, Lily thought it was random and out of nowhere, so she just looked a bit confused. “Uhh... Foosball?” She asked, not really knowing why she was asking such a strange question. Maria sighed a little and reached up to the knob of the door. “Oh, nevermind.”

She then pushed her ear to the door to see if she could hear anything. She twisted it and slowly opened to a massive cheer of people currently sitting around a fairly large table. “Heeeeeeyyy!” They all shouted, Lily screamed and hid behind Maria out of shock, even if Maria was still shorter than her. Maria glanced around the room, Caleb, Jonah, Robin, Erika and Florence were all standing around, waving at Maria and Lily with goofy grins.

“Here's the last guest for our little party!” Caleb said with a grin, walking behind Maria and lightly pushing her in as she hid her hands in her face out of shyness. “Party? This is a party?” Maria asked, somewhat wanting clarification for said party. “Hey, you guys did your first mission with flying colors and I thought we should celebrate.” He explained, trying to put his arm over Maria's shoulder before Maria firmly grabbed his wrist and tugged it back down to his side. “Well... it was my 14^th mission, I just wanted to get drunk.” He clarified, Maria blinking a couple of times at him out of confusion.

“Wait... Drunk?” She asked, out of confusion as he grinned, walking over to a mini fridge he had set up earlier and opened the refrigerator door to reveal it was stocked with glass bottles. “A whole bunch of sparkling wine from the Goldshore Chateau!” He said with excitement, almost as if he was trying to sell it to her like a brand new car. “Well... the drinking age is 18 so... Who here is older than 18 again?” He asked, Erika, Jonah, and Robin all raised their hands.

“I uhh... turned 18 three months ago.” Jonah stated, Robin waving her hand a little bit as she looked at Caleb. “I'm in my early 20's and I've gotten drunk plenty of times.” She said with a giggle, Caleb pulling out a large bottle and placing it on the table as he looked at her. “A night to remember, huh?” He joked, Robin smiling as she leaned on the table with both elbows. “I don't remember a damn thing from any night I got drunk.” She mentioned as Caleb reached up to pull out 4 wine glasses, putting them on the table. “I'm 19.” Erika added, as Caleb uncorked the wine and began to pour it into each glass, it fizzing a bit before quickly settling back down. Once he filled every glass, he put the cork back in just far enough that he didn't need to struggle to pull it back out. He then turned to Maria and Lily who were just awkwardly standing in front of the door staring at everyone.

“Annnd I'm 18. How old are you two?” He asked Maria blinking a bit before she responded first, putting her hands into her pockets. “Uhh... 16.” She added, looking over at Lily before she raised a finger when she spoke. “I'm 17 for another 4 months.” Lily mentioned, Caleb frowning as he grabbed both of them by the shoulder, walking them in and pushing them just behind the table. “Hmm.. It looks like you two are gonna have to sit at the kids table.” Caleb stated.

Maria looked at the Table as Florence pulled out a small chair on the table to sit on... It was so short that you couldn't even put your knees underneath it, it was also a shade of pastel purple that some people would call offensively pastel. Maria groaned and glared up at Caleb. “Fuck you and your kids table...” Maria stated, Caleb chuckling like a goof from that. “You will sit at the kids table and LIKE IT!” He yelled at both of them, Lily rubbing one of her ears since it was ringing a bit. “Also, if you guys are drinking I would be kicked out of the school and I like being here.” He added, Maria sighing and sitting on the small chair, her knees pushing nearly to her chest as Lily sat beside her.

“Anyway uhh..” Caleb trailed off, reaching into the fridge and pulling out a couple of bowls of ice cream. One was green, one was pink and one was three colors. He handed the green one to Florence, the multicolored one to Maria and the pink one to Lily. “You'll get some ice cream as condolence.” He said, Maria looking down as he dropped three spoons on the table as well. “Three bowls... So did you know we were under 18 already?” Maria asked, He chuckled a bit and patted her once on the shoulder. “I wanted you guys to feel disappointed.” He said with a smile, before going to sit at his table.

“Ooooh~ Is this Rosé?” Robin asked, taking a sip of the light red wine. “I have no idea.” Caleb replied, Erika grabbing the bottle and turning it until she saw the label... which said it was Rosé. “Wow, you actually called it.” Erika said, taking a sip of it as well before reacting with a cough. “Woah... Wine is REALLY sour.” She stated, Robin giving another friendly chuckle as they continued to talk together.

Meanwhile, Maria looks at her ice cream and sighs. “I really hate Neapolitan.” Maria said, poking it with a spoon. Lily looked up at her, slightly tilting her head as she looked at her bowl as well. “Uhh.. Why?” Lily asked, a spoon dangling from her mouth so she sounded slightly muffled. “I don't like things that are... trying to be a bunch of different things at once.” Maria mentioned, Florence making a coughing noise as he dropped his spoon down. “Ugh... Pistachio.” He complained, Maria looking down at his bowl as well.

“Well... You can have mine I guess.” Maria said, he nodded and reached over to slide her bowl over to his. “Wow, that is so awesome.” Florence commented, taking a bite out of Maria's ice cream and being much more happy about it. “What's awesome?” Lily asked, licking the spoon off and sitting it back in her bowl. “That I can reach over the table and grab stuff. Back at our house, the table was so large I had to walk around it to just grab some salt or something.” He admired, Maria shrugging her shoulders as she pointed the spoon at his bowl, her arms slightly too short to reach across. “So, what about the pistachio?” She asked, watching as Florence reached down to lightly slide the bowl toward her, before flipping it over on the table with a loud sound.
“AHH!!” Lily shouted, not wanting glass to fly toward her even if the bowl didn't break, but Maria groaned and glared at him.”What the fuck was that, Florence!?” Maria shouted, Florence awkwardly laughing at what he just did. “Uhh... I thought no one wanted it.” He replied, Maria sighing and throwing a spoon over his head and into the wall behind him. “I wouldn't have cared, at least it wasn't fucking Neapolitan.” Maria complained, Caleb turning the chair around and glaring at the three of them. “What are you guys doing? I thought we were supposed to be the idiots!” He mentioned, since he was already a bit drunk. Maria sighed a bit and stood up, quickly leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

“Well then...” Caleb said, surprised Maria would leave so fast. “Fuck the kids table joke I guess. Lily? Florence? Come sit with us. We need to talk about something.” Lily stood up as Florence sat besides them on the normal sized table, Lily sitting next to him as she looked at the empty wine glasses. “Are we talking about getting drunk?” She asked, confused as Caleb lightly grabbed the wine glasses and set them aside. “We're not drunk enough to have fun, but we need to talk about what happened to you that put you in the hospital.” He said, somewhat more serious.

“Oh, well.. it might take a little while.” Lily warned, Caleb nodding a bit before Lily spoke up again. “Uhm... Where is Morgan by the way? You think she'd want to talk about this.” Erika shrugged at Lily's question, scooting her chair up and placing her hands on top of one another. “I haven't saw her since last night, she told me she'd be gone for a while but wouldn't tell me anything.” Erika explained, a hand reaching up to scratch lightly on her chin.

“That's so odd.” Lily commented, Robin crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair to get comfortable. “Yeah, Morgan hates people who act aloof, yet suddenly she won't let anyone in on what she's doing. I'm not sure anything barring the extraordinary would turn her into a hypocrite.” She surmised, Lily leaning her head into one of her hands, her fingers gently circling the smooth lacquered wood finish. “I might as well keep it brief.” Lily started.

“I was attacked by this group called Silent Fall. They had this guy.. I'm not sure I remember his name but I think he was the leader. They also had people named after animals for aliases... I think one was named Fox.” She explained, Caleb raising a brow as Robin raised a finger. “That reminds me, I heard a couple of weeks ago they robbed a couple of fuel tankers from an outpost.” She added, Lily looking at her with a concerned face. “They robbed a store of it's fertilizer after killing everyone who happened to be nearby.” Lily commented, Caleb looking just even more confused.

“A fuel tanker and now a bunch of plant feed? What the hell are they even doing?” He asked, Erika looked at him and laced her hands together a bit. “I don't know, but it feels very deliberate.” She warned, grabbing another bottle and pouring another round of glasses. “Why do I feel like whatever we're getting into, it's not going to end well?” Lily asked, standing up from her chair and scooting it back into the table. “We just have to take things as they come.” Caleb replied, looking up at Maria as he sipped some of the wine.

“I'm going to go check on Maria.” Lily said, leaving the room with a friendly wave and letting the rest of them drink their wine without her. She walked back downstairs and got back to the dorm, pulling the door open as Maria was backed against the wall, holding a pillow in front of Sasha, who was just panting and looking at her with her tail wagging. “BACK, MONGREL!” She shouted, the dog just tilting her head out of confusion. “Uhh... Hi Maria.” Lily greeted, Maria looking up at her as she tried to slowly circle around the dog, before smacking into the desk and knocking over some of the stuff on it.
“Ow.” Maria calmly stated, before dashing to the other side of the room to try and keep the pillow in the way of the dog. “What are you even doing?” Lily asked, looking at her confused. “The dog tried to jump on me and lick me. I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!” She exclaimed, before the dog took a running leap on her once again, promptly knocking her on her back so the dog could start licking her again. “Dammit Sasha!” Lily began to giggle uncontrollably as she leaned down to per her head.