Spectrum Act 2, intermission 3: The Song You Deserve.

Well, this is different.

Act 2, Chapter 9, Intermission 3: The Song You Deserve

It's been nearly three hours since Maria was removed from the test due to injuries. Maria was placed in a small medical tent about half a block away from the skyscaper where students can briefly be treated before being sent back to the Spectrum infirmary where they can receive more treatment, almost as if it were a field hospital. On the set of beds they set up for every student, which were half occupied, Maria sat her back against the back of her tent. Her ribs were taped up so tightly she struggled to breathe at times, the cut across her face was thin enough to be patched back together with a Cyanoacrylate, an adhesive mixture which can close wounds without sutures.

The cut on Maria's forehead was just disinfected, as it was already starting to scab over and didn't need any major attention, but her lip was split and they quickly stitched it together. Maria heard a ruffle in the canvas of the tent, turning her head to it, she saw a familiar face. The boy she fought roughly 2 hours earlier, out of his combat gear and in a more casual jacket with rolled up sleeves, along with a pair of loosely fit jeans.

“Aren't you supposed to be off with someone?” Maria asked, her voice soft to not hurt her lungs by speaking. He sighed, placing his hands to his sides and bowing his head as if he was greeting someone higher up. “I'm so sorry this had to happen.” He said somberly, Maria noticed the more oval eyes, coffee with cream skin and slight accent to his voice, now that she wasn't hearing her head ringing. “Uhh...” Maria trailed off, scooting to the side of the small cot she was sitting on. He looked back up at her and stood back to his normal posture, his parasol blade nowhere in sight. “And just so you know, Chris was disbarred from the exam and is currently being transferred to a holding cell. He thought he could cheat the system, even if Councilor Lakewood explicitly stated they had countermeasures.” He explained, sitting on the empty cot sitting beside her.

“So your partner was an idiot, why aren't you in prison too? Don't you associate with him?” She asked, he crossed his arms over each other and leaned back just a bit before replying. “They questioned me, and I recalled that all I did was reluctantly challenge you to a fight, use a move I didn't know the power of, and win my wager.” He said, gently dusting his shoes off before standing back up to look down at her. “The whole robbing you thing was Chris's plan.. So our team was disbanded and I'm back into the rotation, they still stripped me of my weapon until I go back to the academy.” He continued, but looked at Maria. “Why didn't they question me?” Maria asked, looking up at him. “You were pretty beat up, I asked the doctor and you've only came to about.. 10 minutes ago.” He mentioned, Maria frowning and looking at the ground.

He sighed, gently reaching up to rub his hand onto her shoulder, Maria not really in the mood to push it off. “Hey.. I'm sorry I took you out of the exam. I don't know how to make it any better.” He admitted, a tinge of sadness in his voice. “Look, I don't blame you.” Maria said, slowly pressing her palms flat onto the bed to stand up, when all of a sudden a sharp pain entered her chest, dropping her onto her knees as she inhaled sharply from the pain. He quickly grabbed her to stand her back up, using some of his strength to sit her back on the cot. “Just.. leave me alone.” Maria said, leaning back on her seat as he frowned. “That's fine, my name is Julen... Julen Pierce.” He said with a smile, wrapping his bag over his shoulder. “I'll make sure to visit you later, okay?” He added, only to get shot down by Maria's somber silence, he frowned a little, turning his back and slowly leaving the room to herself.

Julen passed by Sienna as she entered the room with a clipboard, he held the flaps of the tend open for her to let her walk by, nodding his head once as she walked over to sit on the same bed as Maria, quietly leaving for himself. “Who was the black haired kid?” Sienna asked, sitting on the bed beside her. Maria looked up, shaking her head a little bit. “Some dude who I fought in the tower.” Maria replied, she didn't really know, nor care about him. The little act of kindness and apology was alright, but it really wasn't enough to like somebody. “Oh well.” She said, folding the paper back and reading it over. “Your medical reports got back.” She said, frowning when she read the diagnosis.

Maria leaned over her shoulder some to read the same page. “What is it?” She asked, Sienna closing the clip board and looking to her little sister. “You've broken four ribs, received a minor concussion along with your lacerations, luckily the bones in your rib cage stayed together enough to reset them, but any more extraneous activity and your bone fragments will begin to puncture your lungs... And that would require a much more invasive surgery.” She said, Maria looking up at her a bit with a dour pout. “So.. I'm out.” Maria replied briefly.

“I'm sorry Maria... You're out.” She said with a frown, clearly seeing the disappointment on her face. Maria reached her hands into her hair, pulling back lightly as she sighed loudly. “Every fucking time... I'm the first one out.” Maria said half groaning, falling back onto the bed with a light bounce. “...And you'll need surgery when you come back, and then it'd be about 8 weeks of limited movement for you.” Sienna compounded, Maria just growling a bit in annoyance. “I'm sorry Maria.. at least if Jonah makes it to the end, you will be able to still pas-” Sienna tried to cheer Maria up, but Maria quickly stood back up. “Fuck Jonah.” Maria muttered to herself, rubbing her sore, broken ribs as she softly limped away.

“Don't say stuff like that...” Sienna reprimanded, Maria shaking her head and clutching her fist that wasn't nursing her wounded body. “I'm always out first, and it's always because I take a bigger bite off than I can chew. I'm always hurt, in a hospital, or pissing someone off.” Maria complained, taking a shot at herself as she leaned against a table for support. “The more I think of it, maybe you were right.” Maria turned to her, Sienna furrowed her brow, standing up and walking behind her, resting her hand on Maria's shoulders. “I was being irrationally protective Maria. You don't need my approval to be here... You need to do what you feel like you need to do.” Sienna said to try and bolster Maria's confidence, but it didn't break the deflated expression on her face, to be honest.. It might have compounded it.

“I'm not cut out for this... Most of my friends are relatively successful, but every time I have to toe the line and do my best, I drop the ball.” Maria folded her arms together, reaching into her bags to see if she could find something to wear that wasn't her combat armor, it was uncomfortable and stained with her own blood. “I always liked to think I was a good fighter.. but what's the fucking point if I get hurt worse than the people I end up beating? What the fuck kind of lifespan is that?” Maria asked her, Sienna just staying quiet and letting Maria vent. “Maybe this entire idea of joining a combat academy was fucking stupid. I just didn't know what to do with my life, I get it.” Maria complained, taking off her jacket and slowly pulling on a tank top instead.

“This isn't where I belong, I know.” Maria admitted, crossing her arms and looking at the floor as Sienna slowly backed a step away from her. “I went through that once when I joined here... That sudden feeling of regret in your stomach. That feeling of running away in the pit of your stomach before you fully commit to something.” Sienna tried her best to sympathize with her, but Maria didn't really feel any better for it. “I'm leaving Spectrum.” Maria said, though it made Sienna's stomach drop just a bit. “Maria don't... You'll regret it and just come back.. Try and failing is better than not trying, right?” Sienna said with a smile as she placed a hand on her little sister's shoulder, Maria reacted by grabbing it and gently pulling it off of her. “No, I'm pretty sure what I want.” Maria replied, wiping a tear from her eye as she turned to look at her sister.

“I've took my bumps, I'm not cut out for this... I'm a failure.” Maria said with a soft sigh, sinking back into her seat as Sienna frowned at her a little, coming to sit with her once again. “I'm finished.” Maria said, light tears rolling down her eyes as she sunk forward just a bit, resting her hands on her knees as Sienna reached up to softly rub an arm. “I'll stop arguing with you, if you really want to do this.” Sienna said to Maria's silence. “Guess it's back to the boarding school.” Maria joked a bit, leaning back into her chair. “Actually, that wouldn't be the case.” Sienna cut her off, Maria looking up at her quietly to her her explanation.

“I'll sign the papers and say you're under my custody, since you're still under 21, I can have you stay with me until you choose to either rejoin or move out.” Sienna said with a smile, Maria leaned back and sighed some. “A thing that separates Spectrum from most Military schools is the fact they offer both high school and college courses, you could finish those and maybe get a career.” She said with a grin, Maria looking back up at her and looking down. “Where would I stay?” Maria asked. “Probably in the dorm you were in.” She said with a smile, Maria's lips curling into a frown as she said that. “I can't go back there.” Maria said, leaning back a bit more as she felt the pain in her ribs well up again. “Lily hates me, I don't want to talk to her.” She stated flatly, Sienna stood back up and slowly turned around to look at the exit of the tent. “Look, I'll get you a different dorm. It won't be too hard.” She said with a smile, Maria nodding lightly as Sienna slowly walked away from her, stopping just before she left the room.

“Remember that I love you, okay?” Sienna said with a smile, Maria nodding gently and leaning back against the bed as she heard the sound of a helicopter landing a ways off. “They will come pick you up, ship you over to Spectrum and I'll get the papers ready while they prep you for surgery, okay?” Sienna asked, Maria nodding some before leaning back onto the cot and covering her eyes with her forehead.

“I guess that's it...” Maria muttered to herself.

Spectrum Act 2, Chapter 10: The Tower, Part 5.

Spectrum: You know, For kids.

Chapter 10 The Tower, Part 5

Maria quietly climbed up the central stairwell of the skyscraper, a metallic set of stairs wrapping on each wall, before turning each corner roughly every floor. The sound of her boots clanging against the metal of the stairs didn't help the dull throbbing Maria felt in her head. Even if the cuts on her lips and forehead stopped bleeding about half an hour ago, they were only just barely scabbed over and could be busted open once again. She gently rubbed her head to try and rid herself of the dizzy feeling she felt. She turned the corner to head up past the 20^th floor, but she stopped only when she realized that the staircase had a massive iron plate welded to block the way.

“...Really?” She muttered to herself, slowly rearing her hand back to form the black carapace around her left arm. Maria's magic was kind of strange, once she did some research on it. She uses something called “Primal Magic.” Something that is similar to every person who has Ash tainting their bloodstream like hers. She can't use traditional elements, which means she'll always be at a disadvantage when it comes to range. Her abilities enhance her physical attributes, making her faster, stronger and more durable. But at a cost, it burns through her stamina extremely fast to use Magic. Typically in combat club, Maria can go about 25 minutes in a fight before her legs give out, but if she used her Primal magic, she can only go about 5.

She also can access various attributes of the Riftfallen who poisoned her, giving her phoenix like features such as talons, and what she could possibly assume to be wings at one point or an another. Maria quickly reared her fist back, smashing it straight through the wall as it was wet paper, before gripping onto it and slowly ripping it downward enough to get her second arm in, ripping a hole she could fit through in the metal slab welded to block her path. She took one step forward as the talons faded to smoke on both hands, dipping in only to realize at the last second the staircase was completely removed for this section, it was so clean it was almost intentional.

She crouched down, looking over the edge and grabbing a small piece of what she would assume to be rubble, tossing it over the side and watching it as it nearly careened 200 feet to the bottom of the stairwell. “...Yeah, not doing that again.” She said, standing back up and slowly backing through the hole in the metal sheet, turning and slowly pulling the door open leading into the rest of the building. As she walked through, she felt the strength fade from her legs, making her stumble forward. “I'm using this Primal thing too much...” She mused to herself, curling her fists tight and pushing them into her pockets as she stumbled until she forced herself up against the inner wall, sliding against it to help prop her weight and help her balance.

She slowly approached a door leading to a hallway, slowly pushing it open and stumbling her way through it. It was dimly lit as it didn't have any windows leading to the outside. She wasn't any closer to finding another stairwell and she knew it. She muttered quietly as Gale appeared by her side. “You really should talk to me more.” He remarked, Maria looking up at him as she turned to her side, walking backward to get a better look at him. “What, do you get off by the sound of my voice?” Maria asked him, but he just sighed in response. “No, I'm not even sure I'm capable of such a feat.” He stated as a fact Maria didn't want to imagine.

“When I'm in public I don't talk to you because I don't want to sound like I'm talking to myself... People think I'm insane enough, I don't want them to think I hear voices in my head.” She explained herself, he reached up and stroked under where his chin would be. “Fun thing to think about, what if you arejust imagining me as a coping mechanism, and really are insane?” He added, Maria just paused wide eyed in silence. “...Good point.” She admitted, continuing her backwards stride.
“Door.” He flatly stated, Maria tilting her head as she kept walking. “What?” She wondered aloud. “DOOR!” He shouted as Maria smacked her back and head into the door, as the door was slightly ajar, it popped open and she ended up falling flat on her back. “...Fuck.” She muttered to herself, a light chuckle echoing from across the room. The room was very stripped down, being just a couple of concrete pillars and concrete floors. Maria could only surmise that this room wasn't finished, or Spectrum is re-purposing it for some other option.

Standing above her and just across the room was an effeminate man. Effeminate enough to make Maria pause for a second to think about what she was looking at, he had long, somewhat styled black hair draping over his shoulders off to one side, a stripe in his hair dyed red. His black standard Spectrum armor, which was covered by a long, silver coat. And his gloves had metal that went over his fingers to form claws. Attached to his belt was oddly, an umbrella. It was a modern umbrella, not the typical wooden handled parasols you'd see in a picnic catalog, but with a more composite black grip.

His eyes were red, and his skin was somewhat dark, indicators he was also infected with Ash Syndrome at one point of his life. “Greetings.” He said softly, slowly pulling his umbrella and placing it on the ground so he could lean on it. The fabric was a simple red color with white swirls on it. “All you have to say?” Maria said, dusting herself off and trying to recompose herself from the worst door entry she's ever taken part in.

“Do you always do that?” He asked, placing the umbrella on his shoulders as Maria grumbled, looking away. “No... It was an accident.” She tried to play it off a bit, but he shook his head. He didn't have a smug look on his face... Actually, Maria had no damn idea the look on his face. “You know the rules.” He said, twisting the handle of his umbrella to reveal that inside the handle, at the press of a button, was a long sword. He drew it, spinning it in his hands and brandishing it toward her. “A fight, then..” Maria said, taking a deep breath as she slowly drew both of her blades to meet his stance with hers. He inspected her face, noticing the wounds, her lack of balance in her stance, along with her deep breaths.

“You're wounded.” He observed, showing a strange lack of using too many words. “I'll let you pass, if you wish.” He offered, lowering his blade, but Maria just growled, clenching her blades tighter. “None of that chivalrous bull crap, please.” Maria bounced his offer off, taking one or two steps forward to only realize her knees shook from her lowered stance, she had no power... That was usually her major advantage, her explosiveness. “Well, how many cards do you have on you?” He asked, Maria dug into her pocket, pulling them out and placing them between her thumb and index to show she was brandishing two.

“I have only one to wager, but are you sure you have a partner I can fight...?” He asked, somewhat concerned. It was less that he had to fight a girl and more he had to fight a wounded one that was bothering him. “I want to do this myself...” Maria muttered, scanning one of the cards to put it on the line, and he reluctantly accepted the duel with his own wager, keeping his Parasol strapped to his side, his other hand raised in the air, the metal plating on his gloves having a strange cat's paw pattern. “Uhh... Dude. Why the cat gloves?” Maria asked, dropping his guard. He just shook his head a couple of times, not using the opportunity to attack. “I like cats.” He added, before charging at Maria.

He was clearly much fresher than Maria was, his movements were sharp and on point, even if he seemingly lacked power thanks to his somewhat light 5'7 frame. Their blades clashed, Maria's faltering strength able to still match him in a clash. “You need a better battle cry...” She mentioned, since the fight hasn't really picked up yet. “Like... 'Let's do this' or 'Stabbing time,' I like cats is kind of shitty.” She criticized, but he just sighed, breaking the clash and taking a step back. “Kind of a bad time, don't you think...?” He mentioned, before launching a deep stabbing motion at her with his narrow, but sturdy blade, Maria's legs only kicked in at the last second, stumbling to the side and rolling on her shoulder. But by the time she stood up, he leaped onto one of her shoulders, his other boot kicking her square in the face. Maria gasped, falling onto her back as he spun around to strike another blow, but Maria quickly bashed it aside with one of her arms. Sparks began to fly from his blade scraping the concrete. Maria rolled away from him, quickly leaping onto her feet until one of her legs buckled, forcing her on one knee.

He responded by calmly waiting for her, hands crossed together, his blade resting on his shoulder, almost as if he was hesitating. “Come on, man...” Maria complained, shouting to him as she stood back up, pointing one of her swords directly at him. “Don't half ass this unless you want your head cut off! Don't goof around in combat...” Maria shouted at him to get him to be more serious. His eyes began to glow as he lowered his stance. “So be it.” He said, breaking into a charge at her, his rapier tucked against his chest as Maria broke into her own pulse assisted charge straight at him.

Maria crossed her blades downward in an X formation to try and force him to either dodge to the side or force him to take the hit, but he tucked his head just past it, sliding on his knees and forming his own Primal armor around one of his hands, smashing his fist right into her stomach. A dull crack echoed throughout the room as Maria felt a sharp stabbing pain in her chest. Her entire stomach and chest tightened as she bent down into the fist. “G-ggh..” She rattled in pain as she realized she couldn't speak. Blood beginning to splatter from her mouth and onto the ground as she collapsed over his fist, buckling her knees and collapsing to the floor to make another raspy gurgling sound.

“Oh no...” He winced, taking a couple of steps back in shock as he might have just shattered her ribs with his strike. He dropped down onto his knees, rolling Maria onto her back. Her mouth was open, but her tongue and mouth was red from the blood leaking from it. “I uhh... didn't know using Primal magic hit that hard!” He said, with a panic in his voice, Maria's armlet turning red and beginning to ring to state Maria was unable to continue. He ran over, twisting her arm enough to see the writing on it. “Maria...” He said to himself, trying to remember her name, before reaching into her pocket to grab one of the cards.

“I'm sorry, Maria.” He said, pocketing the card and hastily making an exit from the room they fought him. Maria rolled onto her chest, pushing off of the floor as she coughed up even more blood. “THAT ASSHOLE.” Maria shouted, the sounds echoing about the room as she propped herself against a wall. The pain in her chest was so severe she couldn't even press her hand against it without shrieking in pain, so she wasn't even going to try. “You alright?” Gale said, manifesting back to float beside her. Maria felt more of her blood leak from her mouth as she spoke, her voice raspy as she struggled for air. “No I'm fucking not, Gale.. I think... that fucker... just broke my ribs.” She said between heavy breaths.

“He knew you were hurt, it looked like he just wanted to burn though the rest of your Pulse and finish the fight early.” He explained, Maria glaring up at him. “But you might have been so low on Pulse already you couldn't take the hit.” He observed, Maria lost the strength in her legs to stand, gently taking a couple of ragged breaths before looking up at him. “Well look who just became a detective..” Maria chuckled, before leaning back onto the concrete pillar she was resting against. The sharp sting turning into a dull throb, as long as she sat still, the pain wasn't going to get any worse. “Well... What's the plan now?” Gale asked, as Maria undid the zipper to her armor, revealing her black tanktop, as she tried to relieve the pressure on her ribs. “I-I'll be fine.. I need to lay here for a minute.” Maria said, trying to get in a comfortable position.

“You're acting a bit more reckless than usual today, is something wrong?” Gale asked her, perching on her shoulder as she felt her vision began to blur. “I overestimated myself again... Shit happens.” She tried to brush it off, as she heard a chuckle come from her peripheral vision. A man with a black hat, in Spectrum gear approached her. “Damn, Julen did a number on you.” He commented, before clutching at Maria's throat, slowly lifting her up on her feet, before going even higher to make her dangle off the ground, she grabbed his arms, squeezing him tightly on his arm as he reached down to dig into her pockets. “Card should be in here somewhere.” He muttered to himself, Maria too weak to do anything about it.

He grabbed her key card, letting go of Maria to make her dump to the floor in a mess. “And that's our meal ticket...” He said with a grin, bending down and drawing his blade, slicing her across the face with one of his dual daggers, blood leaking across the bridge of her nose and cheeks as he stood up with a chuckle. “Thanks bitch, see ya!” He said, before turning his back to her. Before Maria slowly stood back up one more time. “HEY!” She shouted at him, adjusting her chest a bit before drawing her blades once again, even if she was in a bloody heap.“You leave this room and I'm going to fucking kill you.” Maria nearly hissed at him with her still ragged voice. He turned to her with a sigh, one of his hands rubbing his forehead out of annoyance “And of course I get to rob the crazy one, do you have a deathwish?” He asked, frowning as he drew his second dagger to her.

“I ain't scared of you..” Maria replied, charging her broken body at him, but he responded by just stepping aside as Maria slashed overhead at him, falling right onto her face in a pool of her own blood. The tall, auburn haired man sighed to himself, slowly walking to her to scan her card into her own armlet, before taking it for himself. He then walked into the other room to leave the girl be. Julen, the boy who previously fought Maria leaned against a pillar on the other side of the door in the room he entered, approaching him with a disgusted look on his face. “I hope you're proud of yourself, Chris.” He reprimanded, but the taller boy just gripped onto Julen's shoulder, squeezing it hard enough for it to hurt. “Oh quit bitching, I just won us a promotion.” The taller man known as Chris replied, patting him on the shoulder as they walked off together to climb up the tower.

Because of Maria's armlet going off, and Jonah not being anywhere close to her at the time, two medical staff ran into the room about 15 minutes after the whole ordeal was over. One a woman, one a man. The woman rolled Maria onto her back, looking her over as she pulled out a small satchel of medical supplies. “What happened to you?” She asked, the man behind her calling in a crew to help extract her, even telling them to unlock the elevators to make getting her to a medical tent even quicker than carrying her down the stairs.

“Got robbed..” Maria replied, coughing more blood out as the woman began to wrap her chest up and tighten on the ribs so at least she could be taken down more safely. “I'm sorry, miss. Your exam is over.” She replied, gently standing up to talk with the man as they were prepared to take Maria to get help. Maria felt her eyes began to well up with tears until the bit her bottom lip so hard it bled once again. “Not again...” She growled to herself over her own failure, this was the second time she's failed her exam, and had to rely on someone else to finish for her.

“I don't want to be overly critical, Maria, but... clearly you doing things on your own isn't working out.” Gale added, suddenly pecking at her cheek once or twice like a bird looking for rocks to put in it's gizzard. “I know.” Maria replied, crying slightly, but maintaining enough composure to not dry heave or sniffle, she reached her hands up to her face, lightly running through her own hair to cover up her own tears. “I'm a colossal fuck up, I get it.” She muttered, slightly chuckling at the whole situation. “I just... screw up everything.” She added, breaking out into a weak laugh, like someone just told her a joke. Gale frowned at that, watching at the two technicians left the room to await for more help. “You know that isn't true.” Gale replied between Maria's strange laughing. She slowly slid her hands on the smooth, hard pavement, rolling onto her chest and slowly falling asleep from being overwhelmed in pain and exhaustion.  

Spectrum Act 2, Chapter 9: The Tower, Part 4.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Act 2, Chapter 9: The Tower, Part 4

Maria pensively drew her blades, widening her stance and crossing them in front of her. “Are you sure you really want to do this?” She asked, Lily just glaring at her in response. “I want to find this out now, and get it over with.” She responded, before launching with pulse at Maria with the intent to stab her. Maria panicked, but managed to cross her two swords together in an X to push her off course. Forcing her to roll back onto her feet, Maria leapt past her, landing on her hands and spinning to try and sweep her off her feet. Lily quickly hopped over it, spinning around to slash at Maria, which was luckily pushed away by Maria's Pulse. Maria quickly hopped on her feet, before Lily attempted to strike her as she was getting up. Maria was just barely quick enough to duck under it, responding by pressing hard onto the ground and smashing her shoulder into Lily's chest, making them both spill onto the floor.

Lily huffed, standing back up, Maria landing a fairly impressive handspring since Lily's speed meant that she could attack her while Maria was still getting back onto her feet. Lily quickly dove at her by leaping into the air nearly 10 feet, launching her sword straight at her, but Maria caught the action fast enough to roll to the side, making her blade bounce off the ground. Maria dove at Lily, tackling her and grabbing her by her sword arm to attempt to disarm her. Lily quickly rolled her shoulder, smacking ontop of Maria and sending her face first into the ground with a bounce. This let her stand back up nice and quickly to land a blow on the ground against Maria, the dull blade cracking into Maria's shoulder and making her roll a couple of feet.

Maria let out a groan, not prepared to block it, but in good enough condition to shrug off the pain and stand back up. Maria lifted her blades in front of her as Lily charged again, their two blades meeting as they clashed with quick strikes. Sparks began to fly from all three blades as each attack was parried, Lily lunged back to prepare for a deep stab, which Maria responded by stepping in and pressing the blade to pass uselessly by her side, her arm twisting her wrist to keep her in a joint lock. “Surrender, damn it...” Maria demanded, but Lily kicked her right in the chest, forcing her to drop the wrist lock and stumble backward. “If you want, I can surrender and give you my ca-” Maria somewhat pleaded, but Lily cut her off. “You're not a coward, Maria... Don't act like one.” Lily reprimanded, Maria just sighing some as she got back into her defensive stance, not wanting to swing at her.

Lily went in for another attack, and Maria easily blocked it once again, parrying it off to the side, the momentum making Lily spin and slash close to the ground to knock Maria off her feet, which was successful, as Maria tripped on the blade and fell onto the ground. Lily quickly raised her blade for a finishing blow, but Maria just smacked it away with the nearest sword she was holding. Lily backed away just a bit as Maria slowly rose to her feet, her breath getting a bit heavier from the speed. Lily suddenly broke out into a dash, leaping up and smashing her boot into Maria's face, making her groan in pain, a splatter of blood splashing on the ground.

“You're not even trying, Maria... Do you really look down on me?” She asked, Maria standing up and rubbing the sore part of her lip. Realizing only then it was dripping blood, she just had her lip split by the kick, and it was a pretty big gash. “No, I just think this fight is pointless.” Maria replied between breaths. Lily dove at her again, forcing Maria to block, only to realize it was a feint. She actually spun down, using pulse and even some of her wind magic to launch her sword at Maria's fingers. This hit her hand so hard, one of the swords launched in the air, flying behind her as she was forced to let go of the blade, landing in a couple of clangs behind her as it slid on it's side.

“Take me seriously, Maria!” Lily once again demanded of her friend, Maria just glared up at at her, slowly turning to face her with the only blade left in her hands, feeling the stinging of the metal smacking against it slowly face. A black mist crawled up her left arm, forming a black carapace up to the elbow with red claw tips, her eyes began to subtly glow. “If you want me to legitimately fight you instead of talking this one out... So be it.” She said, before ducking under Lily's shoulder and dashing extremely quickly at the blade on the ground, even faster than before. Lily quickly leapt to the blade as Maria dashed to pick it back up, kicking it so it bounced and smacked against a far wall, Lily then swung her blade, smashing the edge into Maria's face, cutting her forehead open with a gush.

She growled in pain, rubbing her hand with her clawed hand to check for blood, which was currently pouring down her face. She then dashed extremely quickly at Lily, closing the gap in nearly the blink of an eye, displaying nearly inhuman speed when she does so, this caught Lily off guard, who was barely able to keep Maria's clawed hand from slashing her across the face. She smashed her sword against her claw, which wasn't repelled away by her Pulse, but was instead just pressing her her hand and wrist.. Which didn't budge. It felt like it was steel rubbing against steel, almost like she had donned a metal gauntlet over that hand.

She slid off the blade, leaning back and punching her in the chest with enough force for even Pulse to not stop the momentum, Lily sliding back nearly 10 feet as she struggled for her footing, Maria launching at her with a shriek before Lily leapt up, driving her knee into Maria's chin, causing her to spill onto her back, her second blade sliding off. Maria was flat on her back, taking deep breaths as Lily looked down to inspect the strange black armor on Maria's left arm, only to find it completely missing, as she was channeling it with the only blade she had. She then checked Maria's armlet, which was still shining with a blue LED, meaning Maria wasn't defeated yet.

Maria slowly climbed back onto two feet, rubbing the blood from her face before it got into her now non-glowing eyes. She was hunched forward, clearly much more tired after the strain of using her strange ability. “I'm getting sick of your attitude...” She said, breathily as she tried to recover some stamina. “So you really want me to go all out...” She muttered, before glaring up at Lily with a sharp gaze. “I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR FUCKING HEAD IN!” She shouted, clenching her fists and lifting them to her face, since she was going to fight without a weapon, knowing Lily was still faster than her and wouldn't let her reach them without punishment.

Lily launched at her, Maria ducking the blow and smashing her elbow against the side of Lily's head, though it was blocked by pulse, it was still enough to make her falter, Lily responded by striking against her rib cage, no longer able to be blocked by her Pulse as she was without a weapon with Ash. Maria gritted her teeth, stumbling back as Lily continued with a combination of blows, smacking her on the chest, neck and side of her head, but Maria quickly reached up to grip hard against the sword to not let her pull back. Lily might be fast and precise, but Maria could still out power her as much as she wants.

She then swung her leg up to kick Lily in the face, before dipping behind her and grabbing her wrist, bending it behind her head with her sword and pulling back more and more. Lily struggled, but Maria latched her legs around her waist, forcing her to fall on her back as Maria cranked her shoulder further and further back until she had to let out a cry in pain. She let go of her blade, dropping past Maria's head and clanging on the floor. Maria kicked her off, before grabbing her sword and throwing it across the room, letting go of the grip with her legs and letting her stand up as Maria put her hand on her own hip. “So, a fistfight is what you want...” She asked, Maria just slid back into a fighting stance, lunging at Lily the very second she stood up, Lily raised her hands up to block as Maria smashed her forearm against her, the dull thud of bone smacking bone could be heard as Maria added a kick to the ribs for good measure.
Lily winced, stepping back just a bit as Maria dipped down to attempt an uppercut, which was scouted by Lily, but then Maria suddenly turned her punch into a thumb to one of her eyes. Lily screamed, covering her poked eye, it wasn't injured, but she was going to be temporarily blinded. As Maria backed off to catch her breath, still tired from expending so much energy. Lily broke into a dash, leaping into the air and kicking Maria right in the face, making the split on the lip even wider as a fresh spurt of blood splattered on her face and chest, Maria stumbling back before falling onto her back. Maria realized she was in a bad position, and forced herself to roll onto her feet as Lily ran up to continue striking her. But Maria, who was backed up far enough to be near a wall, responded quickly.

She grabbed Lily's head, after ducking her punch, smashing her head firmly against the wall, enough to send her head an inch into it, cracked chips of wood falling to the ground as it was hard enough to make Lily begin to bleed from the side of her head, just above the eye. She sputtered, leaping up and kicking Maria right in her chest to get her off, before running and leaping up to knee her in the chest hard enough to send them both crashing onto their backs in a mess. Maria got up first regardless, Lily getting up just after as she was clearly foggy headed from having her head bash into a wall, giving one last charge at Maria, which Maria grabbed her shoulder, forcing her head against the ground as she tripped her with a sick bounce.

Lily lied on the floor, Motionless, as Maria stood back up, Lily slowly stumbling back onto her feet as she spun to smash Maria in the side of the head with an elbow, splattering blood against the wall as Maria leaned against it to regain her senses, the ringing heavy in one ear as she felt knocked off balance. Lily ran up, kneeing her in the rib cage and keeping her pinned against the wall as she punched her in the face over and over again with her light, but sharp punches. Turning the two cuts on Maria's face into a crimson mask. Maria coughed and groaned, shaking her head a bit before she replied by smashing her own head into Lily's, making the cut even deeper.

Lily was taken aback by the surprise headbutt, only to get met by another headbutt. And again, and again, and again. Maria smashing her own head into Lily's as she slowly regained an advantage, until Lily stumbled back, losing all balance and falling into a seated position, head slowly swaying as she felt like the whole room was spinning around her. Maria backed away, before shouting to the sky, dashing at her and sending her knee barreling against Lily's face, hard enough for it to smash her head onto the ground in a whiplash like recoil, sending her sliding a couple of feet along the hardwood floor.
Lily's armlet beeped, signaling the end of the fight as she fell unconscious. Maria shouted once more in a fury, before collapsing onto her knees and taking a couple of heavy breaths, Jonah and Caleb slowly walking over to the two downed girls. “Holy shit...” Jonah said quietly, leaning down to check on Maria. “Breathe, Maria... Breathe.” He said, trying to get her to calm down, but Maria quickly stood up, pushing Jonah off of her and stumbling against the wall. “FUCK OFF!” She shouted, her rage taking over. “Get me her fucking key...” She muttered, Jonah quietly acquiescing to her demand, grabbing the card and handing it off to Maria.

Maria scanned it, slowly sliding along the wall and leaning against it as she felt the power in her knees give way to weariness, she dipped her card into her pocket as she hugged her own knees, trying to stop herself from breaking down in tears, but her fury turned into sadness as she began to quietly sob. Caleb lightly patted on Lily's shoulder to wake her up. Lily muttered some, slowly standing up and leaning against the wall as she pressed a hand to her head, trying to apply some pressure to stop the bleeding. “So... I lost.” She said, slowly walking over and picking her sword up off of the ground. “What's gotten into you, Lily?” Caleb said out of concern for her and her actions ever since Maria insulted her. “You're usually the smart one... Why are you the crazy one now?” He asked her in the best way he could word it.

“I felt like this for a long time, I just... hid it.” She said, Jonah grabbing a bottle of water from his pack and handing it to her to give her a drink, which she graciously accepted to try and dull the throbbing in her head from Maria's crazy attack. “Well... Don't you think talking this out would have been less.. bloody?” He said, gesturing to Maria who was currently in the fetal position against the wall, drenched in her own blood. “It kind of went out of hand, I admit... But I just feel tired of being the useless one on the team... Maria is so tough... I felt jealous.” She mentioned, Jonah frowning a bit and turning to Maria as she slowly tried to stand back up. “I don't think she's as tough as you think...” Jonah mentioned as Maria sifted over to her bag, slowly pulling out a rag and wiping her face of the blood.

Jonah slowly walked to Maria to try and help her up. “Need a hand?” He asked, Maria standing up and slapping his hand away. Maria wasn't covered in her own blood anymore, but her face was covered in fairly nasty looking gashes. “Don't fucking touch me.” She said, tears still clearly rolling down her face as she turned a cold shoulder to him, picking her swords back up before heading over to the door that lead back into the hallways they were in before. “I'm taking these two cards and making a b-line for the very top, we're gonna fucking win.” She said, slamming the door behind her as Jonah quietly sighed, turning back to Lily as Caleb gestured to grab some bandages from his backpack. Which he did, grabbing some gauze and cotton balls, wrapping around Lily's forehead to stop the bleeding.

“I guess I'm still a loser, even with all my practice..” Lily said, looking at the floor, her eyes watering a bit. But a hearty laugh came from Caleb, smacking her on the shoulder. “A loser? You whipped Maria's ass!” He said with a big, friendly grin in hopes it could cheer her up. “But... I lost.. Didn't I?” She mentioned, but Caleb bent down and smiled. “Well... yeah, you lost. But she's the one who's hurt more from the fight, I consider that a sign you did a damn fine job.” He said to her, she sighed, smiling sightly as Jonah stood her back up, now properly bandaged, before Jonah gave her a light hug.

“You guys should take a break... I feel like we need to sit down and talk about our issues for a little when this is all said and done.” Jonah said, turning away and walking to he door, looking back as he turned the handle. “To be frank, I'm pretty sick of infighting already.” He said with a joking chuckle, leaving the room as well, Lily lightly rubbing the side of her head as she stood up, looking at the much taller teammate. Caleb looked back down at her and stretched a bit. “Well, it looks like we're down two cards.” He stated, Lily lightly nodding at him. “I'll take the next two fights, you'll probably be able to be in a good enough condition to fight by then.” He stated, gesturing her to follow him.

“I appreciate it.” She said with a soft stumble in each step, hoping they don't run into another fight for quite some time.  

Spectrum Act 2, Chapter 8: The Tower, Part 3

The infodump.

Act 2, Chapter 8: The Tower, Part 3

Maria and her team turned a corner onto the street of the biggest skyscraper in the city. It was roughly 800 feet in height, and since Maria was bored, she counted the floors as she approached. She counted about 80, but admittedly because the outer walls of the skyscraper were simmering with windows upon windows to give it a dark mirror effect along the whole thing. It was wider at the bottom than it was at the top, and had a spire jutting out about 100 feet into the air on top of the already tall building. Earlier, the sun was constantly glinting off the extremely reflective building glass curtains they called walls, forcing Maria to walk half of the way with her hands over her face so she wasn't blinded by the lights which have thankfully subsided.

As they got closer, they noticed a group of people nearing 50 in size standing shoulder to shoulder, including the familiar long black hair draping over her shoulders, along with her huge claymore strapped to the back of Morgan, along with the tight golden colored bun and spear of Robin standing somewhere in the group. They were standing shoulder to shoulder and looking at a stage, which had a banner made of metal draped over it with. “Welcome, students!” Written in some boring new age font they probably got some schmuck to laboriously make and plaster it onto the sign.

Maria's team were about to enter the crowd, as a man appearing in his thirties, wearing Spectrum colors on his beret and jacket walked up to them whilst looking at his watch. “You're about 15 minutes before the cut off point, go stand in the group and wait for the announcement.” He said, Lily nodding for Maria as she walked right past him as he spoke in a very rude manner. Maria scooted ahead in the pack, dipping between the teenagers and young adults to stand beside Morgan. “When you'd get here?” Maria asked her, looking up and down at her and noticing the cuts on Morgan's face, along with a couple of wooden splinters left over on her black, long sleeved jacket.

“10 minutes ago, Maria.” She responded, not in the greatest of moods, but Maria wasn't the problem.. for once. “Did you have a fist fight with a tree?” Maria asked, Morgan lightly sighing and crossing her arms together as she looked at the redhead. “A door, actually.” She retorted, Maria blinked a couple of times, raising a brow. “...You won, right?” Maria asked flatly, Morgan stifling a light chuckle as her lips curled back for a light smile. “Didn't stand a chance.” She replied jokingly, Maria chuckling a bit as Lily approached from behind, patting Maria on the shoulder as she walked past. “Let's get closer to the front.” She said as she passed by, Morgan nodded to Maria for her to go, as Maria turned to follow her teammate.

They waited as the group awkwardly shuffled for space as a man climbed up the stairs and onto the platform to place a microphone, checking the cables and speakers just to make sure it worked. A woman climbed up onto the platform as well, with a short bob cut of black hair and a pair of glasses underneath a red beret. She was wearing a long, white dress down slightly past her knees and shoes instead of high heels. She cleared her throat, patting her finger against the mic. “...This thing on?” She asked, but only got loud feedback. She covered her ears until it settled down, folding her arms and scooting the microphone stand closer to her so she could speak.

“I would like to greet all of the first year students who do not know exactly know who I am.” She started, her voice was low and commanding, even if she was clearly not comfortable in the dress they gave her for this ceremony. “I am High Councilor Andrea Lakewood, I am the current head of all instances of Spectrum and will be overseeing this entire promotion event.” She introduced herself formally, Maria quickly looking up from being distracted to get a good look at her. “I want to congratulate all of you for getting to the point where you can potentially upgrade to an E rank or higher.” She continued, crossing her arms over each other, rolling her neck and shoulders to make them pop slightly. “We've designed this tower for the exclusive purpose of testing our students in a controlled environment. Using Riftfallen or holding this in public are both bad ideas, so we will be using this facility from now on. And you're the first bunch we're going to test this on.” She said, gesturing out to the crowd of 48 students. She was expecting at least some applause, but every single one was just staring at her like someone waved a feather wand in front of the cat. “I'm assuming you want to know how this works.” She got back onto the main point of her speech, reaching her hand out. As one of the men handed her what appeared to be a small, black credit card sized card. “We want to filter out the very highest candidates from the inexperienced, but because using real Riftfallen is both dangerous and stupid, you will be fighting your own kin.” She continued, holding the card up in front of her.

“As you may have noticed as you all arrived in Silverton, Your instructors handed your team two pairs of small, black, cards.” She stated, slowly spinning it between her fingers as she paced, unhooking the mic from the stand and pulling it with her as it was wireless. “The reason why all four of you didn't receive a card is complementary to what this exam is trying to do, filter you down to the very best, the ones we can be confident about taking on more difficult missions.” She added, the students showing reactions from pulling out their cards to inspect them, all the way to not giving a damn. “There are 24 cards, and 48 students, you will be separated into teams of 2 after you distribute the cards between your team however you may wish. Your goal is to get to the very top of the tower with 2 cards between the two members of your team.” She stated, turning to the crowd once again.

“Once you distribute the cards, you will have until 6 PM to gather the right amount of cards and make it to the top of the tower. How do you win these cards, you ask?” She said, as another technician slid an armlet over her left arm. She quickly scanned the card over it and an audible chirping sound was heard. “You must register your cards to be wagered in a one on one fight, if you lose, they can scan your card to indicate that they have won the wager.” She said, sliding the armlet off and continuing to hold the card between her index and thumb.

“How do we prevent theft? Any card that is registered must be scanned twice, one by the owner, and one by the victor. One to wipe the memory, and one to rewrite it. Your bio-signals are in the armlet and will be able to tell if you're scanning it under your own will. Anyone caught stealing a card without winning it in a wager will be disbarred from taking this test for another year, we have over 200 security cameras inside of this tower... We know when you steal them.” She added to try and dissuade people from committing theft.

“Once you split into teams of two, any team you see will be a team you have to challenge. Be it your friends, or family. A wager is a wager and this rule must be respected.” She continued, Maria glancing over at the rest of her team as Andrea continued her overly long announcement. “If you were wondering about why your weapons were acquired by your instructors, modified and handed back to you can easily be explained as well.” She mentioned, reaching down to grab a man's sword in the front row, sliding her finger along the blade as she spoke.

“Typically, Pulse is able to protect you from harm, but if it ever drops unexpectedly, this could cause grievous harm to our test takers, and we're not here to kill any of you. You may be roughed up, but you didn't come here to die, nor lose a limb.” She said, handing the sword back to the boy in front. “Along with this, your Armlet has been altered to signal the fight to stop if your Pulse fails, or you receive a minor injury, instead of your life being in danger. That being said, anyone who is willing to fight past the signal on the Armlet to stop, will be sent to prison and barred from Spectrum forever.” She warned sternly of the consequences of intentionally harming another in this sterile test environment. “This test will begin at 10PM, which will be in roughly one hour. You will need to collect a minimum of 2 cards before you get to the top, if you only are able to get one, you will not be promoted, and if you do not have any at all? You will be sent back to basic training. If you're wondering why you have 8 hours to get to the top of a nearly 900 foot building...? You'll need it.” She said, turning away and walking back down the stairs off the platform and over to the side, as an awkward looking technician walked up to the speaker. “You will spend this hour talking strategy with your team, by the way.” He said, clearly nervous in front of this small crowd. “We also have free waffles for anyone who had to skip breakfast thanks to how early this test was going to take part, enjoy!” He said, before attempting, but failing turning off the mic and running off, the microphone smacking onto the ground with MASSIVE feedback.

“Why does everyone have to be so grandiose?” Robin muttered to herself, but Morgan turned away and slowly walked off. “I don't know about you, but I want waffles.” She said, ignoring what Robin had to say. Slowly, the students funneled to a small truck set up with a small team of cooks, making waffles in a storm in little cardboard treys, a small cup of syrup to dip or pour onto them. An arrangement of benches on other side of the building offered a place to sit. Maria smacked both her hands against the table to get her teams attention before she spoke.

“Alright guys, let's plan this shit.” Maria stated, her three companions looking at her, when the two cards they owned were place on the table. “So the rule is both teams of two have to get to the top of the tower with two of these cards.” She continued, Caleb looking at them, taking one into his hand to look at the front and back. “Well that gives me two ideas, actually.” Caleb stated, placing the cards back next to each other on the table, pointing to both of them with his gloved fingers. “Each of us can take one card, meaning we both have the same chance to win a couple of fights and be a cinch for the promotion.” He said, before sliding the cards ontop of each other. “Or we could hedge our bets, give one team two cards and a safe ticket to success, while the other team tries to win two cards.” He explained, Lily raising her brow a bit at the second option. “Why would we do the second option?” She asked him.

Maria scooted up a bit, waffle hanging from her mouth as she was mid bite. “I'm assuming if we can get more than the 2 required keys, we'll probably receive some kind of award for it.” Maria mentioned. “And you have to be a pretty confident person to try and start from 0 keys, even if giving one team two means we're pretty likely to succeed at least marginally.” He added to her deduction quickly, Maria looked across the table at Jonah, turning her head to look at Lily as well. “So how confident are we?” She asked, Jonah raising his hand and awkwardly rubbing his shoulder. “I'm not.” He muttered, Caleb thumping his fist on the table. “I wouldn't mind having to win two fights, it would even help Jonah and whoever he's with out.” He said with a smile, Lily leaned up and scratched her chin as she was finished with her food. “So who wants to go with Jonah?” She asked, as Maria slid the two cards over to him. “I think you should go with Jonah, Lily.” Maria ordered, Lily raising her brow some at that statement.

“Why?” Lily asked, wanting to know why Maria thinks she needs both cards. “Well, think about it.” Maria said, finishing her own waffle and quickly taking a shot of syrup from the little plastic cup. “You have two keys so all you need to do is make it up this building, Jonah is smart, he can plan out routes for you two to take and avoid combat. You're agile, so you could easily make the slip on anyone you fight.” Maria explained, but Lily clenched her fist. “Why do you think I need to run away?” She asked, clearly annoyed. “Well... Caleb and I were a team, getting two cards would be pretty easy, we're both pretty tough fighters.” Maria said, trying to explain herself, Lily, now frustrated just slammed her fists on the table as she stood up.

“Don't underestimate me, damn it.” She complained, Maria furrowed her brow and stood up as well. “I wasn't saying th-” Maria tried to explain, but Lily cut her off. “No, that's EXACTLY what you're doing. You're saying I can't hold my own compared to you, and you want to give me a handicap to make sure I succeed.” Lily argued, Maria frowning a bit and sighing. Lily grabbed a card, throwing it in her face, taking one for herself as she stormed off. “I'm not a joke like you think I am, Maria. See you at the tower.” She stated, pocketing one as Caleb and Jonah just looked awkwardly at her as she walked off. Maria sighed, dropping back into her chair and crossing her arms. “What the fuck was that?” Maria asked, Jonah sighing a bit. “I don't know, should I go get her?” He asked, Maria sighed a bit, raising her hand to him. “Just... don't.” Maria mentioned, still confused.

Caleb stood out from his seat. “I'll join her team, I guess.” He mentioned, since he might as well pick a side. Walking off as Jonah pocketed the other card. “I hope she'll be alright.” Jonah mentioned, standing up and strapping his shield on. “She'll get over it.” Maria replied as she picked up the remaining card and put it into one of the front pockets of her coat, then grabbing her swords and sliding them into the sheathes on her back. They went to the front of the tower and head inside the double doors, where a technician met them both. “Follow me, you two.” He said in a friendly tone, turning and gesturing with a hand. They listened to his orders as he lead them into the elevator, the old timey type with bars instead of the metallic double doors.

“The test will begin soon, If either of you had any questions, you better ask them now.” He mentioned, walking up and pressing a button to make the elevator begin to move. Jonah looked up and saw a monitor, counting down to the beginning of the test, currently counting just over three minutes. “Can you run the rules by us again?” He asked, hoping for another explanation since he didn't get the specifics from Captain Lakewood. “Alright, but I'm only going to run this by you one time,” He replied, before explaining.

“You will be placed in a random floor between 1 and 6, meaning that on each floor will be 4 teams, each one for the cardinal directions of the elevators have been placed. You two are currently in the east elevator on floor three.” He mentioned, pointing to the fact the elevator has stopped climbing a couple of floors up. “Any team you come across, and come into eye contact with, you will come into a confrontation. You may choose to accept or decline a fight, but if you accept, you will both wager 1 of your cards by scanning it with your armlet.” He mentioned, raising his arm and pointing to the very armlet.

“The fight ends when you hear the signal on the Armlet telling you to stop, any strikes or attacks after this will send agents to stop and remove you from this test, if you reach the top with 0 cards, or if you cannot reach the top after 8 hours, you will be sent back to basic training.” He said, a chill going down Jonah's spine as he realized how frustrating it would be to go back to basic training. He would get his pay cut once again, and would lose all progress he's made so far. “If you only get one card, you will not be promoted, but can take this test again next semester. If you get two cards, you will be promoted 1 rank, and if you collect more than 2, you will be promoted 2 instead of one.” He finally explained, Maria's eyes going wide as she realized she could potentially over achieve and get a pay raise if she did well enough.

“Let's get started, then!” Maria shouted out of excitement, the man subtly rubbing an ear as her rough voice echoed in the small elevator and into the hallway just outside the room. The beeping began on the monitor as it counted down from three. When it hit zero, the doors opened, Maria and Jonah walking out into the gaudy carpeted hallways of the big office building. “We're gonna have a lot of stairs to climb.” Jonah muttered to himself, Maria scouting ahead as she turned the corner. He realized he was getting left behind and quickly ran up to stand shoulder to shoulder with her.

“They said there are 6 other people on this floor, right?” He asked Maria, who just gently nodded, hands in her pockets as she looked around. There were doors upon doors of offices, it was getting almost hypnotic. But they needed to find a staircase to quickly make their way up to the next floor. “Well, what about it?” Maria asked, noticing he didn't continue what he was saying. “Well... how likely do you think it's going to be that we're going to run into someone else?” He asked her, She only shrugged her shoulders, she didn't know. “ELEVATOR!” Maria shouted, running up to it and pressing her hands against the barred doors, looking for the button to actually open the damn thing.

“The wiring to the elevator door was removed.” Said a familiar voice to Maria's right side, a girl with roughly cut platinum blonde hair, a slight scowl on her typically pretty face, hand on the hilt of her blade. “Lily?” Maria asked, confused as she turned to her teammate. “How did you find us so fast?” Jonah asked as Maria's hands hooked into the rusted metal of the non-functioning elevator. “One out of six floors means that statistically I had roughly a 17 percent chance to come across you on the same floor, I got lucky... and you also happen to be very loud. As soon as I heard your voice, I knew you would be close by.” She said, with a light smile. Maria turned to her, lightly stretching her shoulder out in a typical Maria-esque gesture.

“You know the rules, right? If we make contact, we have to fight, unless both parties opt out.” Jonah asked Lily, Lily drew her sword from her sheathe with a light ringing as the metal dragged against the edge, holding it on her side as she spoke. “I know, and I want to fight one of you.” Lily mentioned, Maria lowered her brow, stepping forward and grabbing Lily by the wrist. “Wait, are you serious?” She asked, out of confusion. “I know what I want.” Lily replied, tugging her wrist away from Maria to force her to let go. “Why? Wouldn't it make more sense to just ignore each other and take out the competition?” Maria asked Lily, though Lily just looked away from Maria for a second before turning to glare at her again.

“I need to do this.” She replied, before slowly walking past both Maria and Jonah, looking at a door to make sure no one would interrupt. She heard the clanging of blades echo throughout the halls as a fight was already happening on the same floor. “Ever since the leader of Silent Fall had his goons beat me up and lob off my hair... I felt weak.” She explained, looking at the ground as her hand ran along the dull edge of her rapier. “Like I wasn't in control, like I don't deserve to be here.” She said, before turning to face Maria and Jonah. “I felt jealous of you, even if I never told anyone, I let it seethe... and boil deep down, because I felt like you considered me your equal, and you were there to support me.” She continued, spinning to face Maria, pointing her blade at her.

“But the very conversation made me realize... You're coddling me, you're treating me like a child... You feel like you have to.. -protect- me.” She said, bitterly, Maria frowned, not drawing her weapons. “Lily... This was over one conversation, and I misspoke. Aren't you overreacting?” Maria said to try and get her to calm down. “No, I'm sorry.” She said, lowering her brow to glare at Maria. “I want you to respect me, Maria, and if beating you in a fight is the only way to do that...? I'll fight you 100 times.” She said, revealing her intentions, Maria sighed, putting her hand on her hip. “I have zero idea where the fuck this is coming from, you have NEVER said any of this to me.” Maria replied out of confusion, though Jonah quietly sighed from behind her.

“You have the bad habit of not really looking into how other people feel, Maria. She's told me this about a couple of weeks ago.. I was just afraid to bring it up.” He explained, Maria groaning and glaring back at him. “Good fucking job.” Maria admonished briefly before turning back to Lily, who was pretty adamant on starting a fight. “I'm not letting you leave this room until we fight, Maria.” Lily firmly stated, as Caleb slowly approached through a door just behind Lily. “Jeeze, can you slow down A LITTLE bit? We're not in a hurry or anyth-” He said, before he realized he walked into a confrontation between Lily and Maria. “Well shit, this is awkward.” He said, Jonah sighing a bit. “I don't want you two to hurt each other over this.” Jonah said softly, patting Maria on the shoulder.

“Look, if you want a fight... Fine.” Maria said, drawing her blades, she wasn't really too into the concept of fighting a friend, but if Lily is going to act like an asshole for no good reason, Maria might at least humor her. “Don't you fucking dare hold back on me, Maria. I want to prove to you I CAN do this.” She said, entering her fighting stance. Maria sighed, the blades slack in her hands as she looked up with a rare, somber face. “Or you could just forfeit, and we both go on our merry fuckin' way and fight people who actually matter.” Maria replied, grabbing her card in one of her sword hands.

“No.” Lily briefly shot down Maria's suggestion, as she scanned her own card to activate the battle wager. “Well shit... Stand back guys.” Maria warned, scanning her own card and sliding into her front pocket as Jonah and Caleb both backed up to make room for them to fight. Lily slowly backed up and opened the door to another room, gesturing for them to head inside. “We'll fight in here, by the way.” she mentioned, gesturing to the door. Everyone walking inside... It was some kind of gymnasium. If this were a building where people held various corporate meetings, this might have been the recreation room. All four walked inside, Caleb closing the door and gesturing for him and Jonah to sit at a bench as Maria and Lily were preparing to fight.

Spectrum Act 2, Chapter 7: The Tower, part 2.

Yes, I'm not dead

Act 2, Chapter 7: The Tower, Part 2

It's been an hour and a half since Morgan and the rest of her team arrived at Silverton, they assumed the largest skyscraper in the city was the most likely place that they were going to hold the promotion exam. They've been walking along the widest street in the city hoping it could cut a direct route to the building. Though the widest street led to a highway on-ramp that circled the city, along with giving them an elevated view of the city skyline.

“How long is this damn road?” Morgan muttered to herself, the big claymore she carried around strapped to her favorite place, the center of the back, the hilt hanging over the shoulder in her scabbard, a leather band wrapping around to her front to latch it into place at three points so it didn't sway when she broke out into a run. Erika was just holding the hilt of her battle-axe over her shoulder, yawning softly as she tried to shake the sleep off. They've been walking for an hour, but she was still tired. “I'd say we're halfway there, though admittedly I'm not sure we can make the deadline if we keep strolling like this.” Erika commented, Robin patted her shoulder and smiled. “Well how about we try breaking into a run for a while? It wouldn't hurt our progress.” She offered, Erika smiling a little at that. “I like the way you think.” Erika commented at the suggestion, waving her hand and shouting to Morgan who was about 15 feet in the lead.

“Permission for awesome footrace, Morgan?” Erika said, pumping a fist as she slid the axe into a holster on her back. “Am I your mom? Just race if you really want to.” Morgan brushed off the request, Erika gesturing to both Florence and Robin to follow her. “Winner buys dinner!” She shouts to the two of them, Robin quietly breaking into a run with her brother as they all passed by Morgan and sprinted down the road, quickly making a couple hundred foot gap between them and Morgan. Morgan sighed a bit, breaking into a run for herself as they started to head into the distance.

It was only then she realized her three friends stopped in their tracks, weapons in their hands and in a lower stance, almost as they were preparing for something. “So much for the race, huh?” Morgan mentioned as Florence pointed to the reason why they had to stop. “Bad news.” He briefly stated, as a huge pack of Riftfallen were prowling the highway roads. It was a pack of dog like creatures, the black consuming their bodies with piercing red eyes.

“Think we can take them?” Erika asked, preparing her axe to smash some heads, Morgan walked in front of Erika, placing an arm in front of her to get her to stop. “Sienna had to be a jackass and dull our weapons, We might as well be fighting with rocks.” Morgan commented, they slowly sheathed their blades, watching as they continued to approach. “So what now?” Robin asked Morgan, Morgan quickly making a hand gesture and running across the road, leaping over the rail and landing on the road below. Robin leaped down with her gracefully, but Florence smashed into a couple of empty trashcans sitting on the side of the road, making a loud banging noise.

“Oh crap.” He muttered, climbing out of the pile of stacked metal trashcans, dusting himself off as Erika leaped down. “Should we run?” Morgan asked, hearing the growling noises coming from very nearby. “Sure seems like it...” Erika replied, when suddenly nearly a hundred Riftfallen began to leap over the railing in large amounts, making the 20 foot drop down like it was nothing. Growling and breaking into a chase for the four. Morgan smacked Erika on the back to signal all of them to run, breaking into the fastest sprint their legs would allow as the monster sized pack began to chase them down the street. “Aren't dogs faster than people!?” Florence shouted, taking a sharp left along the road only to be quickly followed along with the rest of his team. “Yeah, and we only have so much stamina!” Robin replied.
Morgan thought to herself, if the dogs were faster and might possibly have more stamina than they do, there was no way they could beat them in a pure sprint. “Florence, you run the fastest out of us! See if you can break up the pack!” She shouted to him, he nodded and began to split from the group. “Wait a second!” Robin shouted, quickly running over to go beside him. “I'm not doing to let him run headfirst into something without me helping!” She mentioned, Morgan just groaned as they split off to run down another street, and like clockwork, a fairly decent sized chunk of the back broke off to chase them.

“And what about us?” Erika asked, Morgan looked around, finding one of the many city apartment facilities, the very same they build when they were starting to run out of ground space to build more roads. “Erika, get behind me!” Morgan said, gesturing them to run closer to her. She ran up, grabbing Morgan's shoulder, bending down and running even faster, smashing her shoulder into the door, causing it to launch into splinters and sending both Erika and Morgan tight into a wall, as they stumbled and crashed on each other with a hard thud. Morgan felt a dull throbbing in her shoulder, splinters stuck in her face and arm were deep enough to draw blood.Erika groaned, standing back up and dusting herself off, Morgan panted, standing back up as she felt a pain surge through the left shoulder she used to smash through the door.

Morgan pressed her arms against the floor to lift herself up, when suddenly a stinging pain ran up her left arm as she realized she couldn't use it to push herself up. She gritted her teeth, pushing herself into her knees to stand up, as the somewhat healthier redhead turned to face the door, only when she realized that the Riftfallen were still chasing them. “OHGOD!” Erika shouted as the Riftfallen pack narrowed together pushing their way into the door, Morgan ducked one that leapt at her throat as Erika backed away to smash her leg into another one, trying to push themselves across to climb up the stairs. Morgan followed closely behind as she grasped her shoulder. as the Riftfallen slammed into each corner from their sheer momentum when they charged up the stairs ,each one struggling for space as they mindlessly chased the two girls. They dashed up the stairs, eventually Morgan recovering her breath from the door smash.

As they reached the top of the stairs, the corners turning into a short hallway leading up to the roof. Erika charged, leaping up into the air and smashing her leg into the locked door with a massive Pulse blast emanating from her leg.. Knocking it off of it's hinges and spinning top over bottom onto the ground with a metallic rattle. Erika and Morgan stopped to look around the area. This place was a pretty big residential zone, stores and necessities interspersed with a couple of apartment complexes. The closest one was a couple of stories shorter, but across the street. Erika gestured Morgan to follow her to the left, breaking out into a dash.

They both dashed to the ledge of the roof, pushing with all of their might to jump across the 30 foot gap between streets. Erika landed using her hands for extra stability, but Morgan tumbled against the contrete, rolling a couple of feet as she clenched her shoulder and began to thash in pain. The wolves growled and barked, while being a Riftfallen enhanced their physical capabilties, there was no way they could leap that far. They were both safe. Morgan sat up, scooting back using her legs to press against the wall and prop herself up. “Erika, help.” She said with a desperate voice, Erika leaning down as Morgan used one arm to unzip the front of her top, revealing her tanktop and yanking it down to her shoulder.

“What's wrong with it?” She asked, reaching up and gripping onto a couple of splinters stuck in her skin and slowly pulling them out. “I can't move my left arm.” Morgan replied, groaning in pain and wincing a bit, the removed splinters causing her shoulder to bleed. Erika calmly inspected the shoulder, when she realized it looked different from her right shoulder. “I think it's out of socket...” She replied, grabbing onto it and feeling it, it didn't feel like it was where it should be. “Do you want me to call for help, or do you want to have me put it back in socket?” She asked, Morgan looking at her with a furrowed brow. “I'm not passing this opportunity, Do you know how to put it back into socket?” Morgan asked her, Erika straightened Morgans arm, pulling it to the side and holding it in both arms. “Nope.” She mentioned briefly, Morgan feeling a chill of concern as she's going to have a complete novice mess with her shoulder, potentially even worsening the injury.

“Will this hurt?” Morgan asked, Erika grabbing one hand onto her shoulder. “Hell yeah it will.” She replied, pulling onto Morgans arm. The sharp pains making Morgan break out into a scream. The pigeons roosting along the railings flew away out of fear, Erika pulling her arm harder and harder, Morgan even felt herself tear up as she winced in pain, when suddenly she heard a pop, pushing her arm back into it's socket. Erika let go as Morgan clutched her left arm into her other hand, holding it closer and doubling over. “Holy shit...” She groaned, slowly standing up and shaking her hair, some more chips of wood coming loose.

“Why didn't you use pulse to go through that door?” Erika asked Morgan, confused by her actions. “Uhh... I forgot to.” Morgan replied, Erika just calmly shook her head. “So you broke your shoulder because you forgot.” Erika stated incredulously, Morgan lightly flipping her the middle finger with her good arm. “Catch your breath, I'm going to check on Robin and Florence.” Erika replied, Morgan sitting up and onto the railing as Erika checked her armlet, holding the button to signal for the radio.
“Robin, Florence, you guys alright?” She said, an echo of her voice coming from Morgan's own armband, but they were met with about 15 seconds of silence.

“Maybe they haven't evaded them, yet.” She said to herself, Morgan continued to pull the splinters from her skin, causing her to draw some blood and wince. “Maybe they're both dead.” Morgan replied, causing Erika to just kind of stare at her with a confused look on her face. “What would make you think that...?” She asked Morgan, who just leaned back against the roof's ledge, before getting up and dusting off her clothes, looking across the street to the other roof, the wolves slowly filing out as they lost interest.

“It's just a possibility, part of the job.” Morgan attempted to justify herself, slowly walking up to the ledge of the next roof on the street. “Yeah, but I'd rather not think like that.” She responded to Morgan, bending down to see the rooftops of the next couple of buildings were a similar height. They both used pulse, leaping across to the next one. “We might need to stay to rooftops for a while, at least until we lose sight of the wolves.” Morgan explained, Erika nodding a bit as they began to travel, each leap just with enough momentum to make it along the rooftops. Occasionally a building would be too high to leap, and they would be forced to scale along the side of it to actually get to the rooftop. After about 15 minutes, they stopped to take a break.

“Hey, Erika... Can I ask you something?” Morgan said, pacing the top of a former mom and pop shop, Erika dug into her bag and pulled out a small bag of candy she brought with her just in case she felt like she needed it. “Go ahead.” She said, popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth. “I've known you for a while now, and we've hung out nearly every day, but there's been one thing that's bothering me.” Morgan continued, sitting beside her and leaning her weight onto the wall. “Why are you in Spectrum? Your parents are so far away, and yet you moved all the way here to risk your life?” Morgan asked her, Erika took a bit to finish her chocolate.

“Well.. To be honest, I joined because of how boring my life is.” Erika answered, standing up and finishing the chocolate, tossing the bag over the side of the building and slid her backpack over her shoulder. Morgan started to stretch her shoulder out as she let Erika explain herself. “My parents are fishers, and I lived in a cold place where all people do is get drunk. A Spectrum is going to open there at one point, but well.. that's a ways off.” She continued, leaning against the wall and looking up at the tower in the distance. “My parents didn't want me to join Spectrum, they said I should focus on getting a career, or even become a fisherman just like them. They talked me down for nearly the entire year I considered. It drove me insane.” Erika continued, Morgan pulling the last of the splinters out of her face.

“So is this just so you can get a thrill? Don't you regret joining this on a whim like that?” Morgan asked Erika as she stood on the ledge of the two story shop, leaping off the side and rolling on her shoulder to quickly recover, Morgan going after her as she landed beside her, walking their way along the road now that the coast was clear. “I guess it was for the thrill, and I haven't regretted it yet.” She said, putting her hands in her pockets and walking with Morgan along the sidewalk. “It's not like I'm not taking this seriously, but who am I outside of Spectrum...? A boring redhead with a boring life, I want my own story.” She continued, Morgan somewhat glaring down at her as they split apart to walk around a tree.

“Yeah, but is an interesting story with ten pages more interesting than a more boring one that has the potential to eventually become a great story?” Morgan asked, Erika sighing some as she walked a little faster to break away from Morgan. “That's my decision, not yours. Don't try to guilt me out of this nearly 10 months into it.” Erika reprimanded with some annoyance, Morgan jogged to face her again, though this time a bit antagonistic. “Well excuse the hell out of me.” Morgan replied, kicking a nearby rock out of the way as Erika stopped, Morgan walking a couple of steps past her before stopping as well.

“At least I'm open about my decisions, unlike you.” Erika scolded, Morgan furrowing her brow as she leaned in, clearly offended. “What the hell does that mean?” Morgan asked out of confusion, Erika turning around and pointing her finger at Morgan out of accusation. “You barely talk to any of us anymore, Morgan. And yet you act like you're the leader, you got a red cell phone in your bag that you always hurriedly stuff back into your bag whenever someone walks into the room, and yet you won't explain what it's for!” She yelled, Morgan felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, she didn't know Erika knew about that. “...Maybe I just bought a new phone? Why isn't that an option for you? You have to act all paranoid about it instead.” Morgan tried to play it off as nothing, but Erika continued to persist. “You -HAVE- a cell phone, it's black and it has a skull sticker attached to it. You NEVER use the new phone, and ever since then, you've been acting dodgy.” Erika exclaimed, Morgan frowned a bit and shook her head.

“You don't know when something ain't your business, Erika.” Morgan said, breaking off into a faster walk to get away from her, Erika sighing some as she heard a sound come from her armlet. “This is Robin, anyone nearby?” She stated, Erika quickly lifting the armlet to her mouth so she could reply. “Yeah, I'm here, Robin... What's the status of you and Florence?” She asked, a short pause was heard as she continued to walk. “We're both alright, I managed to lose them in a drainage ditch, we'll be heading to that one skyscraper in the distance. So please do not wait for us.” She stared, Erika nodding and activating one last time. “Carry on, then.” Erika said before closing the radio broadcast, looking up to only realize Morgan left her behind.

“Oh damn it...” She muttered to herself, grabbing her axe and slinging it back over her shoulder as she headed to the tower for the beginning of the exam. Meanwhile, Robin and Florence were running up the side of the concrete drainage ditch, leaping over the side and back onto the road.
“How much more time do you think we have, Florence?” Robin asked, Florence checking the time and walking through a grassy lawn to get back to the road that his sister was walking along. “I think like... about an hour.” He said, Robin looking up at the skyline with a squint to see how far away it was. It was no longer a spire in the distance, she had to pull her neck back to look at the top of it, signaling that it must be near. “I think we'll be fine.” Robin replied, gently reaching up and placing a hand onto his shoulder as they walked.

“Hey Robin...” Florence asked, looking over to her sister. “Yes?” He looked at the floor, taking a deep breath before looking up at her. “Do you remember a year ago?” He asked, Robin being put on the spot, raising her brow a bit from being perplexed. “Of course I do, why do you ask?” Robin wondered aloud, Florence turning up to look at her. “Well... about a year ago was when Donovan proposed to you, you remember?” The shaggy golden haired teen asked, Robin looked at the floor, softly sighing some as she walked off the curb to be slightly farther away. “Yeah... Donovan had a pretty elaborate and expensive wedding set up.” She mentioned, her fiance, Donovon Borough, the future head of the Borough family. They were to be wed to combine the houses together to help pay off the massive war debt of the estate.

“Yeah... But you walked out on the day of the wedding,” Florence mentioned, Robin rubbing her shoulder awkwardly from the tinge of uncomfortable. “Well... I left because you joined Spectrum, honestly.” She replied, she didn't want to lie. Florence frowned some, looking away. “I'm sorry, I didn't know.” He mentioned, Robin sighed a bit and patted him on the shoulder. “Look Florence, it's okay... While Donovan was a nice guy, I just wanted to join to look after you. Family comes first.” She said with a smile, Florence grabbed her hand and lightly pulled it off his shoulder. “But it's not okay, you ruined Donovan's life to look after me... Don't you trust me enough to do this by myself?” He asked her, Robin just froze in place, Florence slowly walking past her before gesturing her to follow him.

Inside Spectrum, Part 1: The Characters

I'm weird when it comes to Aesthetics

Let's talk about characterization. The first thing I noticed an issue with as a show was RWBY's characters. According to the commentaries on the DVD which some people bought and I didn't, they mentioned they wanted to start with some basic archtypes that they can build more complex characters out of. Almost like they set up with a stereotype and build their character using the building blocks they set up with their own writing. The only issue with that is they failed, either they decided to not go through with the concept, or they found it too difficult to execute it.

Having a character who's difficult to properly establish and refine with a developed personality can be very difficult. I've even fallen into the trap a couple of times when I accidentally underutilized a small handful of characters because I didn't have enough material at the time to do anything cool or interesting with them. Knowing this, I sat down and thought over each and every RWBY character to see if I could re-purpose them or use them in a different way.

The first issue I had with the show was they introduced too many characters at once, This is an issue when you are writing a story at times. Each character should be the piece of a larger puzzle. If a character doesn't get something important they get to say or do, then they're a superfluous character and should not be used.  I combed through the cast of the show and observed what I could do or use with each of them. I found some issues, and did my best to re-accumulate them in the best way I possibly could as I transplanted them between settings.  Any character I didn't use was promptly eliminated, or reused down the line for a better purpose, I will now list each character, and their counterparts from the main cast of the show.

Maria Roth/Ruby Rose

I admit, I'm not an optimist. So Ruby annoyed me with her naivety, It's a pretty common trope to have as a protagonist to be the bubbly, optimistic type that supposed to clash with her goth girl styling. Their positvity, willingness to accept others and keen sense of friendship is supposed to glue the rest of the team together. I try to write from left field, so I came up with my own concept for a character in a very similar circumstance, but a completely different outlook.

Maria was an optimistic person when she was a young teen, but tragedy struck and she ended up becoming much more bitter and cold from the whole experience. She's younger than every other main character, barring Florence because she's forced herself to become an adult before she's ready yet. She's trying to act like a mature person, even if her inexperience and slight for revenge are actually hindering her pathway to maturity. She's sarcastic, quick to start a fight and has a hard shell and sharp words to not let anyone get close to her, because she's afraid she'll lose them.

Maria is bitter and sardonic, but not overly mean. She isn't insulting people because she hates them or dislikes them, she lacks tact and will tend to say how she feels, regardless of if it's a positive or negative opinion. She'll be quick to protect someone if she knows them or thinks they're innocent, even if she'll insult them for being stupid enough to get into such a situation. Over time she'll be taking a route in her character that I assume they would do for the main character of RWBY, if the writers knew what they were doing. Eventually Maria will start becoming more sound of mind and experienced as time passes, being more warm and welcoming of others, but dealing with them in a smart and mature way.

Maria uses a more practical weapon because her method of fighting favors pragmatism over style, she's unique in her abilities, but not special, and exist to actually give her more of a handicap rather than an advantage, Her obsession with MMA and fighting totally comes from my personality, the only trait I consider she has in common with me as a person.

Lily Sterling/Weiss Schnee Weiß Schnee

I admit, I feel like the writers of the show don't really know what to do with Weiss. They try to do the stone hearted rich bitch routine that's been seen so many times on practically every show you can possibly imagine. She keeps up the schtick until she gets reprimanded, becoming more friendly with the main character, until they randomly make her a racist just so she could antagonize Blake into leaving. After this issue is resolved, this entire arc is dropped to make her into a comedic character, when she had legitimate aspirations in the last season. She even gets wrapped up in a stupid love triangle to get her to do something for the second season except for NOTHING.

I felt like it was a waste, so I abandoned the concept of her original personality to come up with my own. She's kept the trait of wanting to defy her father, even if taking over the company herself would allow her to make protocols and change her fathers controversial monopoly-like policy on weapons sales in Rosewall. She doesn't want to be involved in a business at all, being with Maria made her realize that she wants to be more active with her own life, doing things directly instead of holding a board meeting over it. She turned down the offer to go to a business school in a different country, and ran off to join Spectrum.

Lily is the most positive character of my main cast, she's sweet, naive and a bit silly in her own, low-key way. She's fairly low energy, even if she's prone to bursts of excitement or exasperation. She's always friendly, up to a point where you push her over the edge and she breaks down. She struggles with dealing with stress and the day to day issues in life, as a lot of it was taken care for her, life is unfamiliar but she's curious and optimistic about it. Seeing Maria come back as a much darker person worried her, but she knew that deep down Maria was the same friend she has always been.

It isn't a political statement for Lily, a rich girl to be a very gentle soul, I just think not every rich person has to be an asshole, especially if they're just the inheritor and not actually the businessman type. I kept the rapier fighting style though after thinking about it, the only issues I had with the show and her fighting style was they never explained how the glyphs work.

Robin Goldshore/Yang
Robin is a very strange version of Yang, but Yang was one of my least favorite characters. They introduce her as Ruby's sister and do nothing with her afterward. She becomes a walking blank with blonde hair, reduced to the point she doesn't even matter unless it's a gag showing off her short temper, or the one scene she has with Blake like 20 episodes into the damn show for her to actually matter. It's a waste of two archtypes, so I broke Yang into two different characters.

The first one is Sienna, who takes up the role as a sister, but Robin might be one of my favorite concepts. Shes a classy, British brawler with a prone for the dramatic. She's the elder of the main cast barring instructors and antagonists and I want to show her maturity in the fact she has sound advice and wants to be the main person people talk to for comfort. Admittedly because I've been focusing on whatever team Maria was on, I underrepresented her. But this will all change soon when I continue onward with act 2. Where I build both Morgan and Robin's characters more with the events going onward through the series.

She has a habit of debauchery when she gets drunk, having silly stories and drunken exploits using her natural bravado, hidden under a wall of tact and maturity. When she's sober, she tends to have a more matron like personality, she's approachable, protective and wishes the best for all of her friends, but people tend to find her taking guidance in their lives to be overbearingly caring, almost not letting them learn things for themselves. She will tear apart anyone who lays a hand on both her younger brother and her companions limb from limb, this will become evident much later.

Also she uses a spear, more people need to use spears.

Morgan Leland/Blake

Blake kind of fulfills her character of a stoic ninja type with a shady history. She tends to act out of character when the plot needs it and is prone to fairly stupid acts just for convenience sake. As she might be one of the worst ever at hiding from the White Fang, something she was AFFILIATED WITH! You think there'd be more wanted posters of her on the street if she was such a criminal, even if she turned good, she'd have a bounty on her ass.

Morgan takes an anti-authority stance on most subjects, she despises the rich and powerful because she feels like the people should have more control of their own lives, including being free from those who control the government as much as possible. She even used this bias to use Lily as a scapegoat for her frustration with how the world works until they got in a brawl over it. Morgan might be brash from her upbringing in an orphanage, but she's still a good person who will go out of her way to help someone in need, even if she doesn't have a particular alignment with any group she's a part of.

Morgan is pragmatic, even with her streak of kindness. If someone doesn't have what she needs to accomplish something, she'll make her way to someone else and see if they can help her instead, such as when she realized her older brother, Nick. (Who is based on Blake's connections to the criminal underworld, I felt like it could be a separate character and make an interesting storyline to actively pursue. It's better than just implying it happened and never developing it.) was intimidated in staying in a terrorist faction. She joined up with the local crime family instead of sticking to Spectrum just because they were the "Good" guys.

This may get her in trouble later, but she still will do anything she can to protect who she loves. She is sarcastic like Maria, and shares a similar temper, but instead of trying to act tough to cover up a soft spot like Maria does. Morgan is just very outspoken with her own particular flavor of Rowdy kindness. She might also have a more positive outlook than Maria does but it doesn't stop her from having plenty of street smarts and a no-nonsense attitude.

Elliot Kiesberg/Torchwick.

One of the biggest issues with RWBY is the villains. They tend to vary their threat levels from episode to episode. When during their FIRST SEMESTER they were able to whip Roman Torchwick's ass from back to front, front to back. The second semester? Torchwick somehow loses HIS ENTIRE ARMY against a bunch of green at the gills teenagers who got there entirely on coincidence. I understand he's working for someone bigger, but you think he would at least marginally more successful if Blake is going to worry about him showing up, even if hes actually fucking USELESS as a villain.

I wanted to make him scary. Scary in the fact he is very deliberate and dangerous. His methods are brutal and effective, and he has a clear agenda and goal in mind. He's already managed to overwhelm one of the main characters and he isn't supposed to be that great of a fighter. His main dangerous point is his influence, he talks a good game and has a goal a lot of people can get behind. I actually based his views on a twisted version of my own opinions. I took my own concepts and ideas and twisted them in a way to make the villain seem completely hellbent on achieving his goal, even if he loses his sanity to do it.

He doesn't actually do a lot of the fighting, but the muscle he has is very considerable for such an anti-government movement such as his when it comes to sheer numbers and skill of his loyal followers. I decided to separate the White Fang/Silent Fall from the Rousell Syndicate/Cinder's group altogether. I felt like both villains should have their own spotlight and not be affiliated with each other just so they can be villains of the week together.

I don't like simple evil characters, so he has a human side to him. He has a family to take care of which he legitimately loves and is one of the main motivators for his goals, he doesn't hate Maria, but he wanted to get even with her father for screwing him over back when he was a part of the Rousell Syndicate as well. But still, he becomes a fairly big threat as the story progresses.

Jonah Delaney/Jaune Arc.

Jaune is my favorite character in RWBY, hands down. He had a character arc, he had flaws, he was relatable, he had so much going for him that I couldn't help but root for him and see him succeed, but sadly even then. He still had pretty big flaws as to how he was written. He went out of his way to forge documents to get into Beacon and fight with the best, yet he doesn't want to put any effort to hang with them. It's this weird combo of trying and not trying at the same time, but then they lost focus on him in the second season to make him a goofball pursuing a love triangle with a character who wasn't interested because a randomly "cooler" character showed up to take the spotlight from him. And that love triangle didn't even resolve!

Jonah has a similar upbringing, but the context is changed. The bullying happened younger in his life, he's in Spectrum to make a name for himself and live up to an ancient ancestor, even though his family legacy pretty much tells him he's going to end up a doctor at some point. He wanted to break the mold his family set for him. He knows he's not the most capable, but he's trying his damnedest to change that about himself and become someone great, you almost want to cheer for him. He's very kind and approachable, but has a streak of pessimism curbing all of his expectations.

He has grievances with Caleb that have been unresolved, but even if he's holding a grudge, he admits that Caleb is trying his best to be nice to him, so he lets it pass for now.

Caleb Callahan/Cardin Winchester

Team CRDL is somewhat underutilized, they're generic bullies until they become cannon fodder for Phyrra in one scene, then are neglected for the rest of the season. I did away with most of the team because I considered them superfluous, but I liked Cardin enough to develop my own idea based off the personality that's shown. He's a bully, which is a trait for characters who have self confidence issues and tends to be in their teens. All of the characters are either late in their teens, or adults all together. So I wanted to portray Caleb as a main cast member. He keeps the mocking personality at times, but hes much nicer and wants to actually get Jonah to trust him again, since it was a chance meeting again when it turned out both of them were in Spectrum and Maria's team had a free opening.

I'd love to add more to him as time goes on.

Erika Wolfe/Nora

I admit, Nora is a decent character they underutilized in the show. She's fun, energetic and pretty effective as a fighter until they flanderized her into a couple of minor joke roles in the second season (Sound familiar?) I felt like the chemistry was too much fire and not enough ice, so I toned down Nora's hyperactive whimsy when I was making Erika into a character. She was low key, calm and a bit shy, but had a more fun side to her. Though I kind of changed it as time went on to be sort of a low energy but fun loving character who tends to see the side of reason. Her parents are a treat, and I wish to portray them later on in the series once I get more scenes with her. She's kind of the most normal character out of the fairly opinionated and battle scarred characters I have.

Florence Goldshore/No one

Florence is kind of my own idea based on a character more matching Ruby's personality, since I kind of didn't really like Lie Ren's character of not actually being important to the plot in anyway whatsoever. He's young and innocent, and a bit of an eccentric goofball. He's going to be kind of meeting Maria in the middle overtime when it comes to his personality, eventually becoming more mature and thinking in a more realistic way as Maria learns to get a looser grip on her cynicism and be a bit more open and friendly with people, as Florence is a little bit too open and friendly with everyone. I underutilized him because I just didn't have too many chances to actually use him in my plot, but I want him to start getting a rift with his sister as he learns to start thinking more on his own.

Gabirel Caine/Phyrra Nikos

I don't like how much of a Mary Sue Phyrra is, I understand that term is thrown around a lot and a lot of that characters get that title when they don't actually deserve that insult, but Phyrra's entire character trait is that she's perfect and awesome and cool and good at fighting and people like her but she can't a man and just... sigh. What a wasted character.

Gabriel was a character I made to remedy that, a kind of head in the clouds goofball who was smarter than he let on, but I realized the character was a bit too similar to Florence so I wrote him off as a mistake, to be replaced by Caleb until I started to write act two. I decided to bring him back and do my best to experiment with his personality in the 9 months we haven't seen him. He got bitch slapped with a nice, hard dose of reality, knocking his head in the clouds personality back down to earth.

He's very calm and has a good sense of morals on him, not wishing to harm other people unless he really has to. If he's having a good time, his lighter side comes out which makes him good when it comes to taking care of children. If it wasn't such a dire situation, he'd be much more carefree, but he makes sure he completes his job before he could do anything to relax.

Sienna Roth/Yang (again)

Yang fails her job as a sister, it starts out as an important point early on, but it's eventually dropped to the point them being sisters doesn't actually matter. So I made Sienna to kind of show how two sisters actually interact. Sienna is overprotective and calculating, with a dry sense of wit to her as well. She tends to take issues into her own hands to deal with them herself and will occasionally do something that will hurt if it's for their best interest. She's a very logical person with a good sense of leadership and command, making her perfect for being an instructor. But her actions in making calculated decisions puts her at odds with people who less use logic and more use their heart and feelings, such as Maria.

All the other characters haven't been on the series long enough for me to have much information about them without spoiling the whole thing, so I think I'll cut it off here.

Next time: The Setting!