Spectrum: Act 2, Chapter 6: The Tower, Part 1

I had writers block for a while, but luckily I persevered. Happy 30 chapters of Spectrum!

Act 2, Chapter 6: The Tower, Part 1

Maria was wrapped up in her covers on her top bunk, not fully asleep, but not fully awake. She just felt like she was just resting her limbs, magic training has been hard on her and all the other members of her team. Even if Maria couldn't use real magic like her other teammates, she learned a couple of cool tricks so far with how her powers work. She heard the doorknob twist open, pushing open hard enough to bang against the wall. “Gooooood Moooorrrrniiinnng!” Ashley shouted in the room, only to be met by tired groans and sluggish movements. Maria began to roll to the side, before grabbing the mattress to halt herself from falling out. “Did the sun happen yet...?” Lily asked, her eyes blurring as she looked up at the window to see the dull blues of nautical dawn fill the windows, the sun nowhere in sight.

“We need all of you up early, the Promotion exam is today!” Ashley announced with both pep and excitement in her voice, which was completely at the wrong time of the day to even feel such feelings. “Come back in about three hours, until then... Bite me.” Maria responded, burying her head back under the covers to make what was pretty much a Maria shaped mound under the blankets and adamant to fall asleep. “We have no time, shorty.” Ashley said, yanking the blankets off to reveal Maria hugging her knees to her chest in a fetal position. “The helicopter is going to take off in half an hour, and I need all of you dressed.” She said, Maria slowly sitting up, one eye half closes as Lily lightly slid out of her bed, still in her nightgown.

“I will eat your face.” Maria mumbled, not entirely awake enough to know what she's saying, sliding out of the top bunk and dropping onto her feet with a dull thud against the smooth, wooden floor. “Good luck with that.” She said, ruffling Maria's hair as she started looking through the clothing door. From the doorway leading to the second set of bunk beds in the dorm came Jonah and Caleb following in line. Jonah rubbing a sore spot in his shoulder as he slept on it wrong. “There is no way you can be this awake, this early.” Jonah muttered, slipping on a pair of pants, hopping on both legs to get it over his waist. “Are you a robot?” He asked her, semi seriously. She just grinned and patted him on the back. “No, I'm just amped up on about three cups of coffee.” She responded, Jonah just raised his brow at her, considering it a reasonable answer through his messy wad of bed hair, as he hasn't washed or combed it just yet.

Everyone got dressed within five minutes, Maria opening the door where they stored their weapons to only find them absent. “...Uhh... Where's our stuff?” She asked. “I actually had everything loaded on the helicopter just after you all went to get dinner, your combat equipment, weapons, armor and armlets are all there.” She said with a grin, Maria sighing as she slipped on a hoodie to combat the morning cold, even if it broke dress code with her suit underneath of it. “Why do we need a helicopter to go to an exam?” Lily asked, slipping into her school uniform with an extra pair of leg warmers to make up for the fact under her knee length skirt, her legs were exposed.

“Well... We're heading to Silverton.” She said with a bit of gravitas, before hearing it just fall short on everyone. “...That's a city, right?” Maria asked, tossing a bag over her shoulder which had a bottle that she could refill with water. “It was the capital of Rosewall, Maria.” Ashley added, gesturing them to come walking down the hall with her now that she was better dressed. “I didn't go to Silverton when I got my promotion.” Caleb said, putting his hands into his pockets as he turned to step down the stairs just behind Ashley. “This is a culmination of a 4 year project, we typically used the Arena for the exam... but we feel like the students at Spectrum need to work in an environment that feels more like it does when they go on a mission, instead of some kind of strange game show that involves fighting a bunch of weird looking stuff, wearing colored outfits and navigating a stupid, made up temple where one of the challenges was to arrange a golden monkey.” She explained.
“I think I would have liked the golden monkey.” Jonah mentioned, Ashley just lightly sighing as she pulled the double doors open so they could continue to follow her. “Silverton was the Capital of Rosewall roughly 25 years ago. Spectrum was barely a thing and the counsel wasn't a thing yet, we were still presided over by a king. The king and his castle resided in Silverton, which around the time the attack happened, had a population of over 2 million people.” She said as they walked past the fountain, heading to the back end of the hospital where the helipad was located. “But because Spectrum was only an idea at this point... The towns didn't really have the best ways to counter Riftfallen if they attacked besides trying to defeat them.” Ashley said, Maria walking up a bit faster to hear what she had to say, hair and hoodie covering all but one eye and the bottom half of her face.

“Then one of the biggest Riftfallen attacks that has ever been seen happened. Buildings were toppled and people were killed. They all rushed into their cars, but there was an issue.” She said, walking up to the helipad, watching the other teams climb on theirs and awaiting the pilot to give her the ok, they still had another 15 minutes to wait. “The town was a coastal town, there was only one highway into the city so all the people panicked, rushing down that road as fast as possible to get out. One car accident near the front of the pack sent the whole dense traffic slowed, more and more accidents began to pile up and eventually it halted. People were stranded, but there were too many to rescue. They robbed eachother, starved and became thirsty. Over 782,000 people were killed over the length of 1 week, making it the largest mass grave in human history.” Ashley finally admitted, Jonah and Lily's eyes grew to the size of figurative saucepans as they both gasped at the same time.

“Sounds like a nice place to live.” Maria said, brow raised with a flat, sarcastic tone. Ashley just kind of glared at her slightly from the random comment. “It would be funnier if this wasn't a real thing that a bunch of people died in.” Ashley replied, Maria cleared her throat, looking away when she realized she didn't have a comeback. “So, what about our weapons, why would you ship them to Silverton before we got up?” Jonah asked a sound question, Ashley raising a finger some as she nodded. “Ah, you see I have to take your weapons in to be dulled before the test, I'll explain more later.” She said with a smile, hoping that would stop their questions. “Well.. Where's team Solstice?” Jonah asked, Ashley looking up in the air and pointing at the horizon. “They're being taken to Silverton, you should be able to meet up with them soon.” Ashley stated, Caleb crossing his arms over his chest as they all heard the sound of an approaching helicopter slowly land just behind them.

“Well, looks like our ride is here.” Lily said, walking up as the double doors in the back popped open, revealing a ramp they can climb up into. This helicopter was a bit bigger than the ones they normally do missions in, she only assumed it was for the equipment they had packed in to make sure everything arrived safely. The doors opened in the back as the rotors began to slow down so no one would get decapitated if they decided to play a spontaneous game of basketball underneath a helicopter. The co-pilot, operating the door and gesturing for the five of them to head inside. They complied quietly, the insulation of inside the helicopter, but it was still loud enough to have them speak up over the sounds of the helicopter.

“So...” Jonah trailed on the awkward silence, just loud enough to speak over the loud whirring. The room lit by a dark red light, broken by the dim sunrise peering through the pilots window. “Why are we going to go to an abandoned city, just to get a promotion exam?” Jonah asked, rubbing his pale blonde stubble. “Isn't it a bit.. extravagant?” He mentioned, Ashley patting her hands on her thighs before leaning back a bit. “We have less permits and regulations we have to abide by, it's quicker and simpler and no one really has a title deed on an abandoned skyscraper.” Ashley explained, Jonah raising his brow. “A skyscraper...?” He asked confused by the fact they managed to get an entire skyscraper devoted to this cause.
“Yes, a skyscaper.” Ashley replied flatly with a light chuckle, Lily furrowed her brow as she bent forward just a bit to glance at Ashley face to face by looking around Maria. “Isn't that a bit.. Shady? We're using a graveyard for a training center...” Lily mentioned out of concern, Ashley had the response in mind even before she finished her sentence. “Well, if someone dies in a house, is that house off limits for anyone who wishes to take residence?” Ashley asked, Lily rubbing her chin with a bent finger as she thought it over. “It's been over 25 years since it happened, the dead were identified and buried, I think it was about time we went over to fix the place up.” She justified, Lily just leaning back and sighing as they let the helicopter drift along on the extended ride over the mountainsides and beaches of Rosewall.

Even if it was inside a metal box covered in whirling blades going so fast you couldn't see them, Rosewall was close to the northern tip of the western continent, just slightly south of the northern tip of the eastern continent. It enjoyed the temperate and varied weather because it wasn't far too north or south to get stuck in a permanent climate, time passed as the sun rose, shining it's dawn golden light on the helicopter as it flew 200 miles southeast to Silverton. The helicopter slowly drifted down, the engines turning off as the doors opened up when the pilot flipped the switch, the doors opening to a bright, shining sunlight that was so bright all of them had to cover or close their eyes, as the light actually hurt.

They all stepped out in a single file line, Ashley was the last as she dropped two large boxes on the ground with a metallic rattle. She reached down, unlocked the locks on the metal boxes and pulled both of them open. “We had to modify your weapons for the context of this test. We've been running Lidar around this general vicinity and it seems like there isn't enough Riftfallen in this area to show concern, so it shouldn't be an issue.” She mentioned as Maria grabbed one of her swords, running her thumb along the blade. It was dull as a kitchen knife, when typically if she pushed too deep against the blade, it would slightly cut her thumb.

“Why steal our stuff and modify it so it can't cut anything?” Maria asked, confused as she strapped the belt around her coat wrapped waist, sliding both blades into them with a metallic rattling. “Well, the test you're about to do involves fighting other students with your weapons.” Ashley stated as she dug through her side pocket to pull out two small plastic cards. “Catch.” She added Lily caught the card in her hand, the other one smacked Maria in the head. Jonah quickly swiped the card off the ground, pocketing it as Maria reached down to grab it. “There we go!” He said with a grin as Ashley chuckled. “Hold on to those two cards, you'll need them.” She stated, turning to the helicopter. “There is a huge skyscraper near the center of the city. You will use your natural navigation skills to get there yourself within the next three hours, or else the doors will close off and the test will begin.” She said, the helicopter rotors whirring as they started up once again.

Maria was sliding the straps of her arm communicator along her forearm, now with a nifty little fingerless glove attached to it for aesthetics. Inside the metal boxes included their impact resistant armors they typically used for missions. “Why do we have to find our way there? Wouldn't it make more sense if you just.. landed us there?” Maria mentioned, Ashley getting against the helicopter, placing one leg on the rail as it started up a strong headwind to begin liftoff any time soon. “Navigating to the objective without a map is part of the mission! I'll be transported there by this helicopter while you have to find it yourself. Bye!” She said, hopping inside of the helicopter once again, closing the doors as it began to lift into the sky and set off toward the eastern sunrise in the heart of the city, quickly being covered up by the skyline of tall buildings. “What an asshole...” Maria complained, grabbing her armor and folding it over her arm. “So now what?” Jonah asked, Maria began to walk up onto the sidewalk.
The buildings had this strange faded look to them, like someone left a photo of them in the water too long and the color began to wash out. The wooden signs showing what each shell of a store used to be was faded from the paint wearing off and the weather making the wood rot and look dilapidated. “I guess we'll get dressed in our fighting gear and venture out.” Maria calmly stated as she pushed the door to an abandoned laundromat to get her clothes on. The ground was littered with clothes, some of children, some of adults. She kicked some of it aside in a wide enough place to where she couldn't be seen, before putting her armor on.

Minutes later, everyone was geared up in their black and grey standard issue uniforms, Maria's long red scarf hanging off the shoulders of the short sleeved black top. “Do you think the streets are safe...?” Lily asked, nervous as she slid her rapier into the scabbard on her left side, adjusting her short hair so it didn't cover both of her eyes from the fairly strong winds. “They better be safe, if we have to walk around with our weapons having no edge to them.” Caleb replied, stretching with both arms behind his back.

“You said your dog could fight a couple of months ago, Caleb... Why didn't you bring Sasha with you?” Maria asked him half jokingly, he tilted his brow up at her, putting a hand onto his hip. “Why didn't you bring Snowy?” He answered the question with a question, much to Maria's annoyance. “Well Snowy is different, he's like.. 9 pounds tops and well... he's a cat!” She answered, Caleb shrugging a bit as he adjusted the shield on his left arm to make sure the straps weren't too tight. “And I lied about Sasha being able to fight with me. I thought it would be fun to embellish the truth like that.” He admitted with a light chuckle, Maria just glared at him because of how unimpressed she was at his lie. “That sucks, Caleb. I would have paid to see a fighting dog.” Jonah mentioned to try and lighten the mood some, to no avail.

“That slight excitement followed by disappointment is what I live for, Jonah.” Caleb mentioned as they started to walk down the long, barren street. The sun was starting to rise enough to see just a bit more, even if they weren't in direct sunlight just yet thanks to the buildings blocking the light enough to force them back into the shade. They continued south along the road until they hit an intersection splitting left and right. Parked at the intersection were remnants of cars, the bodies so rusted the paint color could barely be recognized, all the parts such as the wheels and the radio were already pilfered a very long time ago.

“How are we supposed to get there without a map!?” Lily shouted from exasperation at the fact this city was quite big, and unlike Riverside, she didn't recognize any landmarks. If this test took place in Riverside, she could probably find this skyscraper like she could find the back of her hand. She's driven threw it, flown over it, and even stood atop the highest building in the whole city. Not only was she lost, but this city was BIGGER than Riverside, and almost completely barren for over 2 decades. Jonah walked across the street and around the side of an abandoned apartment complex. “Caleb, give me a boost.” He said just loud enough for Caleb to hear the order, he jogged off behind the building as well.

“Just what are they...” Maria muttered, lightly patting Lily on the shoulder to come follow her. When they went around the corner, they saw Jonah standing on Caleb's shoulders as he reached up to grab a ladder. On the side of this ten story apartment complex was a fire escape, but the ladder was still coupled against the lock. Jonah was standing atop Caleb's shoulders as he searched for a way to lower the ladder down. “Any luck, dude?” Caleb asked, his voice a strain from holding another fully grown adult atop his shoulders. Yeah, Caleb might have had about a 5 inch height advantage over him, and weighed about 40 pounds more.. but feeling his boots pushing against his shoulders was quickly making them ache.
“Hold on!” Jonah replied, smashing his shield into the lock and sending the whole ladder down, the bottom smacking onto the asphalt with a metallic thud. “Got it!” He said out of excitement. Maria walked up to Caleb as he backed off, Jonah gripping the ladder and climbing onto the first set of stairs on the fire exit. “What the hell are you two doing...?” Maria asked as Caleb took a leap onto the ladder as well, climbing up it. “Apartment facilities tend to have fire escapes like this one,” Jonah mentioned, patting the railing with his shielded arm. “We use this to climb to the roof and we can get a good look at the skyline.” He said with a smile, Maria just stared up at the two males atop the ladder, before realizing that it was a pretty sound idea. “Ohhhh...” She trailed off like a dope, climbing up on the ladder swiftly, with Lily following in tow.

They all quickly climbed up the zig zagging stairs and along the side of the building, the windows showed the empty rooms and halls, either disheveled, or completely barren. The four approached the top of the building as they nearly approached 100 feet in the air. Caleb doing an athletic leap to grab the roof ledge, which was just under10 feet above the final set of stairs. He pressed his legs into the creases of the brick, pulling himself over and leaning a hand down to help the others up. Maria took a leap up from behind the two others, grabbing his hand and pulling herself up with ease.

They both leaned down as Lily took a leap, a much more delicate leap into their hands, pulling her up with little struggle thanks to her fairly light body. Jonah hesitated a bit, rubbing his arm nervously as the other three awaited him to leap up himself. “We have about... 2 hours and 40 minutes before they close the doors, Jonah. We better get a move on.” Caleb stated, leaning down a little bit to make the jump easier. “Don't you think I know that?” Jonah declared, rubbing his messy blonde hair. “I just... Gah.” He struggled to find the right words for the feeling he was getting. “Move it, dipshit!” Maria barked at Jonah, he shook his head with a sigh. “Fine.” He said, leaping just high enough for Maria and Caleb to pull him up as well.

Jonah slid onto the roof before standing up to wipe the dust off of his black jacket. “Now was that so hard?” Caleb asked Jonah, patting him firmly on the back in a reassuring way. Jonah snapped around and backed away just a bit, glaring at him. “I'm not in the mood for camaraderie, Caleb... Back off.” He muttered at him, Caleb just shrugging his shoulders and running across the roof to the other side, crouching down a bit to inspect the skyline. “Hmm... What skyscrapers do we have around here?” Caleb wondered aloud, Maria walking up and holding a hand to her brow to block the light as she looked as well. “What about that huge ass one?” She mentioned, pointing to the largest one smack dab in the middle of more modest sized ones.

“I'd assume that'd be the ideal one.” Caleb said, before leaping across the rooftop onto the apartment adjacent to it. “WOAH! Who said we're going to be leaping from roof to roof like idiots?” Jonah said out of surprise, crossing his arms together as Maria quickly pulled off the same leap. “I don't want to get lost on the roads!” Caleb shouted, breaking out into a run and leaping down to the next building, using his pulse as brakes so he didn't break his legs. “Just use Pulse if you think you can't make it.” Maria said as she leaped down as well.“I'll go after you, Jonah.” Lily said with a smile, Jonah sighing some as he looked back at her with a more friendly look on his face.

“Well, at least someone gives a shit about me.” He said, before leaping across the rooftop as well.

Spectrum: Act 2, Chapter 1: Night

Clarity can be achieved when all distractions are removed

Act 2, Chapter 1: Night

A woman was adjusting her coat as she sat in front of her desk, making sure her name tag was perfectly aligned as the double doors at the front of the room swung open. Lily, Caleb and Jonah in the lead with Maria just behind them slightly being blocked by the people in front of her. The blonde haired girl at the front desk feigned her best smile and greeted the four approaching her. “Welcome to the Cambris gateway hotel, you four.” She said with enthusiasm. Lily reached into a small handbag she had strapped over her shoulder and resting on the long white dress she was wearing and pulled out some identification.

“My father owns this hotel and I believe we have reservations.” She said matter-of-factly, the woman reached down and inspected the picture of the girl, looking up to check her face. While she had much longer hair and no huge scar on the side of her face, it was still matched up pretty well. “Ah, Ms. Sterling then.” She said with a smile, reaching down and unfolding a small flap underneath the desk, pulling out two pairs of keys and sliding them toward her. “These are for the top floor, all expenses have been paid for already out of your bank account.” She said with a smile, Lily grabbing them and giving a nod of thanks before she noticed the secretary glaring with an odd face.

She was looking at Maria, who had a glossy piece of duct tape over her mouth. Along with disheveled hair and still wearing her school uniform, her hands bound together by a hemp rope. “...Can I ask why this young woman is bound in ropes and tape?” She asked curiously, Lily tilting her head and rubbing her chin as she tried to explain, Caleb walked up and placed his hands on the desk to look at her. “Hey, we're paying you not to ask questions!” He said to her, but that just made her more confused. Jonah reached up and grabbed a corner of the tape over Maria mouth.

Her eyes widened a bit, shaking her head out of fear and attempting to mumble a warning to him not to do it. He ripped off the tape in one swift pull, the stinging feeling nearly sharp and instant in the amount of pain. “SHIT!” Maria shouted, the large somewhat empty main room echoing her voice several times. Jonah then quickly unbound her hands, which were tied long enough to have the reddened, rope burned look to her wrists. Maria glared up at him with a furious look. “S-sorry for tying you up, Maria... Was the best idea we had to make you go.” He apologized nervously, Maria reaching up and grabbing the collar of his simple blue cotton jacket.

“I have so much contempt for all of you cunts...” She growled, cocking her fist back at Jonah in preparation to punch him in the face. “No! No! Wait!” Jonah shouted, raising his hands in preparation for any face punches about to come his way. Maria let go of his collar, not really intending to hit him. “Calm down everyone, you're making a scene...” The secretary spoke bashfully to try and keep everything calm. She reached up to the phone and held it up to Maria as she turned to look at her. “If you want, we can call the authorities on them!” She offered, Maria's anger subsided as she realized how stupid this entire thing was. She just sunk her head and began to walk toward the marble staircase. “Oh fuck it, never mind...” She said out of defeat.

Everyone quietly walked after her, Lily pocketing the keys quietly as they followed Maria up the stairs, slightly going at a faster pace so they could catch up with her. “Hey Maria! We're sorry!” Lily shouted over to her, Maria glaring up at her and keeping silent until they got to their room. She reached out to get her keys, but Maria snatched one out of her hands, walking to the room adjacent to it and unlocking the door. “I'm going to lay down, don't bother me.” She said, popping the door open and slamming it so hard they could hear the walls rattle slightly. Caleb walked up to the door and shouted through it to see if she could hear him.

“Hey! We're going to head to the beach, come join us when you want!” He shouted through the door, only to hear her shout “GO FUCK YOURSELVES!” in response. Jonah walked up and leaned against the wall to look at Caleb with some slight annoyance. “Hey, man... Who said we were going to the beach?” He questioned. Caleb looked back at him nonplussed and gave a soft sigh. “We need to wait until Lily's butlers unpack all of our things and get them in the hotel room... And isn't Cambris known for it's beaches?

Lily reached up to lightly stroke her chin, Jonah and Caleb getting away from the door to stand at a more comfortable distance. “Hey, Rosewall has alright beaches too...” Lily calmly argued, Caleb throwing his head back for a brief bemused chuckle. “It's only hot enough to want to go to the beach for like... 10 days out of the year, and even then it's windy.” He complained, Jonah and Lily just kind of staring up at him.

“Rosewall is shitty, Lily. Cambris has Bright skies, warm sun, pretty girls to possibly meet... I think I have enough reasons to go. How about you two?” He asked, pressing his hands onto both of their shoulders and giving a jovial grin. “I don't really care about meeting a bunch of girls, but I might as well go.” Jonah said in slight agreement, Lily nodding and walking off ahead of them. “I'll tell Sebastian to get our swimsuits.” She said, walking down the stairs. Jonah and Caleb looking at each other for a second before going to follow her once again.

A couple of hours later, as the sun slowly drifted from noon to a couple of hours before sunset. Maria walked up to a parasol with a couple of blankets underneath of it. Jonah was wearing a baggy pair of blue shorts, and Lily was wearing a light blue modest one piece and a pair of oversized sunglasses as well. She looked up at Maria and smiled. “Hey! You finally made it out.” She said, Maria was wearing a long baggy pair of pants and a loose white T shirt with a black cat on it.

“Hey... You're wearing a shirt with a cat on it!” She said, pointing an accusatory finger up toward Maria's chest. Maria reached down, pinching the cotton of her shirt and looking at it. “That I am.” She replied flatly. Lily leaped up onto her feet to point even more ridiculously at her. “You wouldn't wear the cat sweater I made for you, yet you wear this picture of a cat!? EXPLAIN YOURSELF!” She shouted, before realizing she was poking her finger against Maria's chest. Maria responded by shoving her off hard enough to spin her around and landing face first onto the sand. “...The cat sweater sucked, Lily.” Maria casually commented, Lily lifted her head off of the sand, her short hair now full of it.

“But I got it because I loved you!” She shouted loudly enough to make other beach goers stop in their tracks and stare at her. Maria blinked a couple of times, looking around at everyone glaring at both of them with strange feelings. “Uhhh... Okay.” She awkwardly replied, crossing her arms together and looking at her. “It's not fair!” She shouted as Jonah lightly pressed a hand on her shoulder. “It's fine, Lily... Calm down.” He said, trying to be the voice of reason. He awkwardly smiled at Maria, standing up and standing at her face to face.

“So uhh... Do you feel like swimming, Maria?” He asked her, clasping his hands together and glaring at Maria. Maria scratched her chin gently and sighed some. “No, not really.” She replied, Jonah looking down at Lily before talking through his gritted teeth. “Go swimming, Maria.” He said, not sounding like it was a suggestion. Maria sighed and shrugged her shoulders, turning around to walk over to the water. “God... You people are weird.” She yelled back at them before getting to the shore. Jonah knelt down beside her and started brushing the sand out of her hair as he spoke. “Hey, Lily... Can I ask you something?” He said, Lily crossing her arms over her knees out of frustration. “Yeah? What do you want?” She wondered, Jonah taking a deep breath before responding.

“Uhh... I want you to meet me on the overhanging balcony of the hotel later.” He requested, Lily looking a bit confused as to what could be the reason why. “Uhm.. What time?” She asked, Jonah rubbed his now clean shaven face, the stubble long gone. “Well.. how about 11 PM?” He offered, Lily pondering a bit before smiling at him. “Well alright, Jonah... I usually sleep earlier than that but well... it's a vacation.” She claimed happily, Jonah smiling as Caleb walked up to their side in a pair of black shorts, putting his hands on his hips and sighing some in defeat.

“Man, I have no idea what's happening to me today.” Caleb sighed, rubbing some sweat off his brow and taking a seat back on the beach towel. Jonah sat down next to him and leaned back onto his arms as Lily watched Maria attempting to pad around in the water like a dog. Not because she was having fun, mostly because she felt like she was being spited. “What are you talking about?” Jonah asked, watching Caleb finish the last sip of his knock-off brand of lime flavored soda before setting it down on the beach towel.

“I tried to see if there was a single girl interested in me, and everyone told me to leave.” He explained, Jonah raising a brow at him as he started to shake his head at nothing in particular. “What am I doing wrong? Do people think I'm just an asshole?” He complained, shrugging his hands as Jonah just sort of stared at him. “Yes, you're an asshole.” Jonah said without a beat, his face completely straight. Caleb groaned out of annoyance and glared up at him. “You have at least tried to humor me a little, Jo...” He commented, Jonah chuckling a little bit until he was cut off by the sound of shouting.

“Oh shit, a current!” Maria shouted while in the water. Lily instantly sprung to her feet and ran to the shoreline, watching as Maria struggled against the water. It didn't seem like she was drowning, but she was slowly drifting west along the water, not really being pulled toward or away. “Maria!” Lily shouted, as Maria started to flail and kick at the water to move. “Why is there a current here!?” Maria shouted back at her, but Lily realized something very quickly. Maria was moving away really slowly, like... stupidly slowly. She was barely even being pulled away at this point, Lily sighed softly and resumed shouting at Maria. “Have you tried swimming out of it?” She shouted, Maria kind of flopping onto her back and flailing her arms like a child.

“I never said I was a good swimmer!” She shouted back, Lily sighing as Jonah and Caleb watched the very unusual sight. Jonah walked up to watch this strange sight, clasping his hands together to shout at her as well. “But I've SEEN you swim well, why can't you do it NOW!?” He questioned, Maria pausing a bit as she kept flailing. “...Go fuck yourself, Jonah! I'm panicking!” Maria shouted, Jonah sighing as Caleb sighed. “...She's being dramatic again, let's just go back to the hotel.” Caleb mentioned, Maria shouting incoherently out of anger while everyone pretty much abandoned her to head to the hotel.

“Come back here you pricks! Fuck... fuckfuckfuckfuck!” She muttered out of annoyance, slowly drifting down the beach by the slow but pretty strong current, but admittedly she decided to half ass it and not actually bother swimming back to the shore until she was about a mile away from where she started. She paddled to the nearby shore, stepping through the wet sand as her body was dripping seawater. Gale emerged once again with a very confused expression on his face, at least as confused as a bird could be.

“What the hell was that?” He asked calmly, Maria glaring at him as she slowly began to walk through the dry sand, the wind of the evening making her much colder thanks to the water. “I'm not exactly sure why I forgot how to swim just there... Maybe the current was just a surprise. Wait, where the hell was the lifeguard?” She asked, Gale just shrugging his wings some as he started to float along side of her. “I guess it was one of those strange moments where no one really wanted to bother.” She replied.
Gale sighed some, looking over to the flowing ocean waves as the sun began to paint the sky a deep purple color. “That's so unusual.” He mentioned, Maria looking at him to see what he was staring at, slipping her hands into the pockets of her wet pants as she turned to face the sunset as well. “Look at the rift, Maria.” He said, pointing a wing in that general direction. Maria glanced up to stare at it. It was the same way she remembered, north to south right in the very center of the sky. “Yeah... what about the rift, Gale?” She wondered, kicking her sneaker covered feet in the sand with a light squelch, she was soaked to the bone from being in the water for too long.

“How far are we away from Rosewall?” He asked her, Maria reached up to scratch her head some, trying to remember some semblance of a thing she learned back when she attended school. “Uhh... Ballpark guess here... About 2000 miles south and 800 miles east, I remember that because we have to memorize all the time zones while in Mrs. Baker's class.” Maria replied, Gale staring up at it some more before approaching her a bit closer and perching onto her shoulder. “So, where is it in the sky, then?” He questioned, Maria's eyes widening as she just figured out what that could possibly mean.

“It's in the exact same place... the EXACT same place. It's like we haven't moved.” She realized, her voice carrying a bit of a shock as she slowly turned to start walking while staring in the sky. “From what I learned, this is spitting in the face of all current knowledge... The rift is truly something beyond human comprehension.” He said quietly, Maria furrowing her brow and poking a finger through him out of annoyance. He flinched, even if he couldn't interact with the real world in this form. “Why are you getting all introspective on me?” She asked, He just chuckled awkwardly as Maria stood on her toes to look over the hill. The resort in the horizon in what appeared to be another 10 minutes of walking.

“I don't know, Maria... I just worry for you and your kind. I kind of wonder if this will eventually be the end of humanity.” He said with a somber voice. Maria grabbed her shirt and wringed some more water out of it to sate the cold she was feeling. “I don't know... Spectrum has been doing pretty well.. Some attacks happen but we can usually deal with it.” She replied, mentioning how she and her team tend to only have missions every couple of weeks, but he shook his head some at that. “Broaden your perspective, Maria.” He replied, Maria looking at the ground for a second before she turned to walk up the hill, pressing her toes in deep into the soil so she wouldn't slip back down.

“I guess most places without Spectum in the city are a bit more fucked... One town about 100 miles from Rosewall had over 1000 casualties because it took us a couple of hours to actually arrive with enough people to clear them out.” She answered, standing at a somewhat cracked two lane road. The cars passing by and blowing a gust of wind, before a semi truck flew past and completely sent Maria's wet hair crazy, a mop on her head. She sighed and crossed the street quickly, walking into the parking lot and stopping just before the door of the hotel.

“I don't really know the answer, I think we just need to do the best we can.” She said with a sigh, Gale fading away into nothing before Maria popped the door of the hotel open, pretty much attempting to ignore people as she got in the elevator up to the top floor, getting to her room and unlocking the door, Jonah and Lily sitting together as they looked at the wet, sand covered Maria step in. Lily getting up and staring at her. “So uhh... Welcome back.” She said with an awkward grin, Maria spit on the floor, wiping her wet and dirty face with a wrist as she walked up in front of both of them. “Hi.” Maria said with a scowl. Jonah folded his arms and sighed some. He was now dressed in a blue sport coat with a black undershirt and a pair of jeans instead of the swimming trunks he had earlier.

“So uhh... Why did you suddenly become too stupid to swim?” He asked somewhat bluntly.
Maria shook her head gently, rubbing her hands through her hair to slide it from her face. “Sometimes fucking around backfires.” Maria replied bluntly, Lily getting off the bed on her side and walking around to stand off to the left side of her. “Actually, I had a question too.” Lily mentioned, Maria coughed some and folded her arms, raising an eyebrow as she waited. “What?” Maria said with a slightly annoyed voice, waiting for what Lily wanted to ask. “Why were you so resistant to us wanting to take you on a vacation? Normal people don't usually have to be tied up to go take a break.” She asked Maria, who went to unzip her black suitcase, pulling out a small piece of paper and presenting it to Lily.

“Can you read this for me?” Maria asked her, Lily inspecting the white paper with details written on it. “Hmmm... 4/9/535, 291 Able street. What does that mean?” She asked, Maria tugging the paper away from her and holding it between two fingers so it was facing Lily and Jonah. “I was going to get a rematch for the combat tournament I was in, it was canceled when some Riftfallen attacked.” Maria explained, reaching into her bag once again to pull out a pair of dry clothes. “Oh, well I'm sorry you missed it, Maria.” Lily apologized sincerely, frowning some.

Maria scowled, tossing the clothing on her shoulder. “That would have helped before you decided to kidnap me and send me 2000 miles away.” Maria complained, looking for the bathroom and walking to it to open the door. “I'm going to clean up and go to bed early.” Maria said, closing the door. Lily and Jonah looked at each other for a second before Jonah walked to the door, holding it open for her. “Let's just go, alright?” He asked, Lily nodding her head and walking through the door after him. She was back wearing her long white dress once again, the skirt lightly swaying near the hard wood floor as she began to walk along the hallway to the balcony facing the outside of the hotel.

Jonah followed as well, opening the double foldable glass doors to stand on the balcony, it was about 50 feet up in the air and made of very sturdy, steel reinforced concrete. It would probably be able to withstand an earthquake if there ever was one. Lily grabbed the double glass doors and slowly pulled them closed. “So why did you want to meet privately, Jonah?” Lily asked, turning to face him. He was leaning his hands against the stylized railing, that was about the height of his stomach. “I just want to talk to you about a couple of subjects, Lily.” He said, Lily walking up and turning to lean her back and hips against the very same railing.

Jonah looked up at the sky, it was now essentially night, the skyline was still bright near the edge but the sunlight was mostly replaced with stars. This city was smaller than Rosewall, so the lack of light pollution meant he could see a lot more stars than what he's used to. “I guess it's about the promotion exam coming up.” He finally admitted, Lily turning her head to look at him, he had a somewhat somber look on his face, his hands gripping into the side of the balcony. “What about it?” She asked him back, Jonah pushing himself gently off of the balcony and slowly pacing the floor.

“I feel like a liability, Lily.” He admitted, Lily frowning softly and lowering her brow as she lightly rubbed her hands along the concrete, her eyes tracking his movements as he clasped his arms together. “It feels like if the exam comes up and we all have to be tested as a team, I'm the biggest soft spot.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest, Lily stood up and approached him, rubbing his shoulder some. “Oh come on Jonah... You're not that bad.” She said with a reassuring smile, Jonah grabbed her hand and gently pulled it off. “No, I'm pretty sure of it, Lily. Maria is a mixed martial arts fighter, you learned from one of the best fencers in the world, and Caleb is a 3 year veteran, what do I have?” He asked even though he knew she didn't have the right answer. “I'm just some brat trying to make himself not feel useless, I feel like I don't belong here... I'm always the one who preforms the worst and I think I'm just going to hold the team back.”
Lily sighed, looking at the floor a little bit. “I just don't think I could trust myself in carrying my own weight, Lily. It's not okay to doubt myself like this, but it feels so true I can't do anything about it.” He said with a sigh, kicking lightly at the floor once before walking up to lean back against the railing, Lily frowning a little bit as she sighed. “Well... You're trying your hardest, right?” She asked him, he furrowed his brow and shook his head softly out of slight disdain for the question. “I have since the very first day, Lily... I just have been slowly realizing over the last 10 months that it might not be enough to make me turn into someone important.” He said, looking away from her and sighing again.

“That's kind of pessimistic, don't you think?” Lily mentioned, Turning to look out from the balcony down at the beach, the shimmering water reflecting the moonlight as a light breeze began to pick up. Jonah turned to face her, looking down at the road and watching the cars slowly hum by. “I never said I was an optimist, Lily... I just wanted to tell you my concerns without Maria or Caleb insulting me... You're probably the nicest person out of the three of us.” He admitted, Lily giving a light chuckle at that as she reached up to poke Jonah on the cheek. “Maria and Caleb aren't that bad,” She said in a casual protest.

“You kind of need to get used to them, you tend to keep to yourself a lot, so I don't think you've ever gone out of your way to spend time with them.” She criticized, he nodded some and wrapped his hands together around his other hand. “I guess... But what do I do about the fact I'm just not a good fighter?” He asked, Lily started to think when the double doors swung open. “Did someone say they sucked!?” Caleb shouted with a grin, Jonah spun around with a frustrated look on his face. “Oh fuck off, Caleb!” He shouted at him, Caleb frowned a bit and sighed, leaning against the balcony between them. “Oh quiet Jo, I'm offering to help you learn how to fight like I do.” Caleb said with annoyance in his voice.

“You scared the shit out of me, sorry.” Jonah replied, Caleb laughing one more time and waiting for him to answer his question. “Look... If you really think you can help, then go ahead and try, Caleb.” Jonah answered, Caleb grinning and grabbing Jonah by the shoulders. “Look man, as long as you stick by me, I can turn you from shit to slightly less shit.” He said with a reassuring smile. “Thanks, I guess.” Jonah said a bit annoyed by the mixed insults.

“Well we'll start as soon as this vacation is over, I'll be back in the hotel room if you need me.” He said to both of them, quietly leaving as Lily turned back to Jonah, gently placing her hand against his arm and smiling. “I'm here for you, Jonah. No matter what happens.” She said, Jonah smiling back at her as she did, before quietly leaving back to her room as well. Jonah just sighed and opened the door, going back down the hallway as well to get ready for the night.

Spectrum Act 2, Prologue 1: Silver

Everything has to end at some point.

Act 2 Prologue 1: Silver

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"THIS MUST END"

Spectrum #21: The Calm

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

Chapter 21:The Calm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spectrum #20: Fear, Part 4

Thanks for everyone who were patient enough to see me write 20 chapters of this.

Chapter 20: Fear, Part 4

Maria and Sam were ducking in and out of alleyways to avoid the sudden insurgence of monsters, as she wasn't sure she could take them on by herself with such massive amounts. She pressed her back against the corner of a wall, Sam mimicking her somewhat but more panicked as she peered around the corner, finding a Riftfallen rat the size of a dog looking around for food. She turned to the kid, putting her finger over her lips in a silent way of her usual telling him to shut the fuck up. He nodded as Maria quietly drew her blade.

She walked quietly, trying to avoid a fairly large pool of water formed by the recent rain dripping from a leaky gutter of an apartment. She spun the blade around in her hand, stabbing it in the back of the head with little fuss in one swift movement. She pulled her blade and lightly wiping it off on her sleeve. “Okay, we're good.” Maria said loudly enough so that Sam could hear. He came walking out behind the corner as Maria leaned up against one of the walls.

“How much farther is the shelter, anyway?” The kid complained, Maria tapping the interface to check a GPS mapped area of where they currently are. “It's about a mile, but since we've been dipping back and fourth like dumb asses I suspect we've been walking twice as much as that.” Maria answered, lightly scrolling back and forth to figure out the route. “You know you just called yourself a dumb ass, right?” He mentioned, Maria looking up as her eyes widened. “Holy shit, you're right.” She realized, before leaning down and pressing another button.

“HQ, Any word on Lily's condition?” Maria asked, one of the intel staff responded quickly in side of Cpt. Geralt's scanning room. “She was extracted and is currently in serious condition as of 3:47PM.” He replied, Maria sighing and turning off the broadcast for now. “Well... damn.” Maria muttered, checking the map one last time. “Unfortunately we have no choice but to head down the street. It's another 1000 feet until the shelter, but we're completely shot when it comes down to dipping through back roads unless you want to go rummaging through peoples houses as a shortcut.” Maria explained.

The kid scratched his chin and adjusted his baseball cap for his favorite professional wrestler. “And what's wrong with going through peoples houses?” Maria turned around, glaring at him with a wide eyed glare. “...Have you EVER GONE TO SCHOOL!? No one likes it when you break in to their house, kid.” Maria complained, bending down to get eye level with him.. which was only a couple of inches.

“Uhh... Fine. So why were we not on the road again?” He asked her, She walked around a dumpster and looked around the other side.. And it was currently packed with Riftfallen... While she could spend time counting all of them, that would be both 1; A massive waste of time. And 2; kind of keeping her from actually doing her job. “Well I was going to say 'so we don't get turned into paste on the road,' but we have no choice but to make a b-line for the shelter.” Maria replied, the kid peering around the corner as well and realizing that there was at least a couple dozen Riftfallen between them and where they're supposed to go.

“Are you out of your mind!? Why can't we just call in a helicopter?!” Sam complained to her but Maria sighed and turned to him once again. “Extraction points are for large groups of people to remove them as efficiently as possible, they aren't going to pick up a single Spectrum member and snot nosed kid... It isn't a taxi service.” Maria scolded, the kid sighing and looking at the floor. “So... Are we screwed?” He asked her out of the sense of fear that was washing over him. Maria growled and looked back around the corner at the Riftfallen.
“No.” Maria stated, slowly lifting her wrist up to her face to speak into it. “What do you mean?” He asked, Maria hitting another button to open her communicator. “All members of Solstice and all remaining members of Equinox... I need you guys here right damn now.” Maria spoke, before continuing. “Hell, EVERYONE IN THE VICINITY. There is a large mount of Riftfallen approaching the evacuation site and I need as many people as possible to help me cut a swath through them.” She announced, looking back at the kid before glancing up at the dumpster he was standing next to.

“This isn't an order, but if you don't want me to do my best ground beef impression, I suggest you help me the fuck out.” She finished, waiting for a reply. “You got it, Roth.” Erika replied, followed by Robin. “Me and Florence are going t-” She was cut off by her little brother yelling over her. “WE'RE GONNA SAVE YOU!” He shouted, Robin then sighing out of frustration. “I'll wake Caleb and we'll get there soon enough.” Jonah answered, before Maria turned to the kid and flipped open one of the doors to the dumpster.

“Get in.” Maria demanded, the kid looking at her like she is out of her damn mind. “...Why?” The kid asked, not sure he could come up with an insult for her from how out of nowhere this was. “I'm going to be fighting a bunch of shit that's going to murder you if you're ANYWHERE NEAR the action. You're gonna hide in here and only come out when either me or someone else says you can.” Maria explained, the kid still frowning a bit. “Are you sure?” He asked, Maria started to glare at him with annoyance. “Just get your scrawny ass in the dumpster already.” She snapped at him, he sighed and climbed into the dumpster which was luckily empty, though still quite putrid.

“Are you sure this is the only way I can be safe?” He asked, looking at the ground a bit and lightly stomping his foot. It was made of steel and gave a loud ringing sound. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure.” Maria said with some confidence, but he looked up at her with confusion once again. “So what are you going to go do?” He asked, not entirely sure of what hiding in a dumpster is supposed to help with. Maria reached up to grab the lid and look down at him. “Duck your head.” She stared, he was about to ask why, when suddenly he realized he should probably duck. Maria slamming the door shut on top of him and leaving him in complete darkness.

“Have fun in the dumpster, kid! I have to go stab some shit.” Maria said before walking into the street and visually counting all the monsters she saw in her head. While her combat training actually did help her fight the damn things, she wasn't sure how many she could actually take at once. She needs to think of something to make them come in waves so she can deal with them instead of being surrounded on all sides. She looked around her surroundings and found a rusted iron pipe resting on the side of the sidewalk near where some of the rain drains into the waterways beneath the streets. She grabs it and slowly walks away to a near by lamp post, lightly banging it and slowly getting louder.

This was her seeing how loud she could make the sound and lure some of the pack of creatures away by making the ones farther back or with worse hearing miss the sound. Four or five wolves perk their head and ears up and slowly come padding toward her, teeth bared as she grinned at them. “Come on, fuckers. It's playtime...” She said, trying to goad them closer to her as her other hand kept her sword pointed at them.

“A little more...” She said, banging a bit harder as one came lunging at her with a leap so high she was forced to look upward. She swiftly swung the pile and it smashed into it's head hard enough to kill it. “By the way, I hate dogs.” She said, drawing both her swords and launching herself as the small pack of beasts charged her all at once.

Jonah and Caleb were sitting outside of the shelter, he just got Maria's distress call and looked down at Caleb. Who was sitting up against the wall of the building, hugging his knees as he was taking a quick nap before the helicopter would have arrive to extract him and the rest of his team. “Uhh.. Caleb?” Jonah quietly said, bending his knees and looking at Caleb to see if he would notice him.

Caleb instantly planted his hands on the ground and jumped straight up onto his feet. “Yeah?” He asked, Jonah being shocked by his sudden awakening enough for him to shout and fall on his back. “AHH!” He shouted, Caleb crossing his hands and shaking his head. “What? I'm a light sleeper.” Caleb remarked, Jonah standing up and dusting off his shirt and pants. “Give a guy a fair warning first, jeeze...” He complained, but Caleb lightly patted him on the shoulder.

“Well, partner. Why wake me up?” He asked, Crossing his arms and looking around as he saw team Solstice currently looking at the both of them. “Maria needs help, we're going to give her a hand.” Jonah answered, Caleb scratching his head. “Did she sprain her ankle?” He wondered, completely confused as he barely saw a monster on his way there. Morgan walked up, patting her finger-less gloved hand on Jonahs shoulder as she walked up next to him. “Nah, it's a shit load of monsters. Let's go and kill stuff.” Morgan spoke flatly, with a slight grin. Caleb grinned as well and pumped his fist in response.

“Alright, let's move!” He shouted, Jonah drawing his sword and raising his shield as he broke out into a light run along with the 5 other rookie students. Caleb taking the lead with Morgan, Jonah following just behind with Erika, Florence and Robin. “Do you see them!?” Erika shouted, Morgan squinting a bit and seeing the big pile of monsters congregating just on the horizon. “Got an eye on them, T-minus one minute!” She shouted, drawing her huge sword from it's sheathe strapped to her back, holding it in both of her hands to one side as she ran.

They blitzed to Maria, when they got close enough they noticed that she was in the middle of the frey, slashing defensively at whatever attacks her, even if there was a massive amount of wolves surrounding her on all sides, she was putting all of her effort into dodging and just trying to slowly whittle the pack down, even if they were faster than her. One of them launched up and sliced at her, with Maria promptly dodging to one side and slashing it so it shot a geyser of black colored blood onto her visage.

Another minute later, Morgan charged pulse into her legs and launched herself over the entire pack of monsters to crash land on one just about to attack Maria, she pulled her blade out and slashed through a wave of small nearby wolves. “The cavalry has arrived!” Morgan shouted, turning her back to Maria to watch her flank. Maria panting a bit as she was starting to run out of gas. “Took you guys long enough, dick bags.” Maria complained, Leaping up and slashing a monster, though getting slashed across the chest hard enough to slice slightly into her armor.

“We like to make it dramatic.” Morgan replied, launching herself forward and clearing another swath of monsters with her claymore. Caleb's mace surrounded itself with fire as he dashed in shield first, swinging it and causing a massive fireball to blast and burn the small wolves to a cinder several yards away. “Only small fries? What a let down.” He commented, smashing one upside the head with a squelching ping sound, sending it flying as he blocked another one's attack just to parry it into Maria's abrupt stabbing. “Hey, it's one on like.. fifty!” She complained, at him as well, he just chuckled a bit as he continued to attack the Riftfallen left and right, clearly taking the most out for himself. “Well, I just wanted to point out that these were all juniors.”

He joked, before one caught him off guard, pouncing him to the ground and snarling at his face. Maria booted him off quickly and looked down at him with disdain. “Yeah... Whatever.” She remarked with a sigh, spinning and slashing another two approaching her. The battle continued on as they fought the huge pack off. Normally this would be much more difficult but luckily enough this hasn't developed into the usual powerful force packs these big normally become. After about 20 minutes of straight combat, all of them were wiped out, a blood soaked Maria lightly panting and slowly sheathing her blood caked swords back into the scabbards.

“Fuck... I didn't think we'd ever run out of them.” She sighed, Caleb putting his mace back into his holster as he walked up to her. Maria leaning down to put her hands on her knees and pant heavily. “Be glad this only took a while.” He commented, oddly more serious than he normally acts. Maria stood up and shook her head a bit. “What do you mean by that?” She asked, he just glared at her. “Don't act like what we just did is what all Spectrum fights... These guys were bottom of the barrel and I don't think any of you should feel confident.” He answered, Maria looking at the floor before scoffing a bit. “What a load.” She complained, but he shook his head at her and pointed the finger.

“The largest Riftfallen ever recorded was over 125 feet and required over 20 different teams to properly take down.” He answered, Maria's eyes opened wide at that, her arms slacking as she looked nearly shocked. “How the fuck do you fight that!?” She yelled, but he looked away for a second, before looking back at her and placing a hand on his hip. “Really damn carefully.” He answered, before cracking his knuckles and taking a stretch. Maria felt her confidence deflate a bit.. even if this was a big group of wolves... These were small fries? What did she even get herself into?

Then she realized she stuffed a kid into a dumpster nearly half an hour ago. “Shit.” She muttered to herself, dashing over the strewn bodies of the wolves slowly turning into smoke around her and making it into the back alleyway. Propping the lid up and looking at the kid as he squinted to adjust to the brightness of the light of the world after being put in a dank box for 30 minutes straight.

He looked at Maria, her face, arms, jacket and red scarf all drenched in a deep black, oil like blood. “What the hell happened to you?” He asked her, climbing out and lightly trying to get the circulation back into his tired legs from just sitting there for so long, something an active kid his age doesn't normally do. “I didn't think Riftfallen bled that much...” She answered, Closing the lid and crossing her arms as he looked around the corner. “Is it safe?” He asked, noticing all the slain monsters and 6 other Spectrum members sitting just beside them for a short rest.

“No shit it's safe, now lets get you to your mom already.” She said, patting him on the shoulder and bringing him out to the rest of the Spectrum members. “Who's the kid?” Morgan asked, looking at the ten year old kid walking next to Maria. “I uhh.. rescued him, kinda.” She kind of shrugged off that part, the kid looking up at her a bit as Morgan sighed. “Uhh... You know that KLP were probably going to rescue him, right?” She mentioned, Maria casually lifting her middle finger up at her.

“...Well the mother wanted me to go get him.” She mentioned, looking away from Morgan since she was feeling kind of stupid. “His dad died.” She added at the end of that, Morgan frowned a little and patted him on the shoulder. “Well... Shit.” Morgan sputtered out, looking down at him and lightly pushing him so they could walk to the shelter. “I'm sorry kid, losing a parent is always hard.” She said, walking with him, but the kid glared up at her somewhat. “I lost my parents before I was even 4 years old.” She answered, the kid's leer turned into a frown as the rest of the team quietly walked back to the helipad near the shelter where people were filtering in to be extracted. They walked beside Sienna and Ashley, who were awaiting their respective teams.
Sienna walked up to Maria and grabbed her in a tight hug, Maria struggling in her arms but realizing that she was too tired to break free, sighed and just lightly hugged her back instead. “I heard about what happened, Sis.” Sienna said, giving her a squeeze before letting go, Maria promptly taking a step back to avoid another hug. “Heh... I'm fine.” Maria replied with a light chuckle, rubbing the back of her head as Sienna inspected her thoroughly. “I don't think I've ever seen someone covered in so much blood.” Sienna commented, Maria was drenched in so much Riftfallen blood that the black pools predominantly coated her milky colored skin, it stained her hair, her scarf, her gloves, her boots and her jacket all at once.

“I kind of.. went overkill.” She responded, not really using any discretion about how messy the fight could get. “...Just promise me you'll shower after this.” Sienna demanded, Maria glaring up at her and huffing just a bit. “What are you, my mom?” Maria stated sardonically, Sienna breaking out into a chuckle at that as she pat her once again on her shoulder. “Even worse than a mother, you're my little Mary-Wary-kins.” She said, the last bit in a sarcastic sing-song tone to embarrass her just a bit.

“If you ever say that again, I'll bend your fingers so far back you'll be praising me for being able to itch your own damn forearms.” Maria growled out, but Sienna just chuckled again at her. “Sounds fun, Maria.” She shrugged the entire threat as a joke, as the helicopter descended in front of them both. “Look... You did great, Maria. I'm proud of you.” Sienna stated, placing her hands on Maria's shoulders and looking at her straight in her eyes. Maria just quietly looking back at her with no malice, but not sure what to say either.

“Keep up the good work, sis.” She said, before climbing back into the helicopter. Maria looked at the floor and crossed her arms over her own chest. “Thanks... I guess.” She muttered, before looking up at both teams Equinox and Solstice, standing just behind her. “Hell of a night, huh Roth?” Caleb said with a smile. Maria turned to him and quietly walked past him. “You could say that.” She answered, walking farther away from him. He turned around and raised his voice as her as she walked away. “Uhh... Where are you going?” He asked her, Maria turned back to him with a calm face as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Just need to check on something.” She responded, walking along the sidewal k and turning to the shelter.

She walked up the concrete steps and lightly pushed the blast proof glass doors aside. Slowly walking along the polished wood floor as she saw the near hundreds amount of evacuee's sitting in chairs awaiting their numbers to be drawn so they could go to a safer area via helicopter. She quietly looked around, scanning across the room until she found Sam, who was currently hugging her mother, face right in her stomach. She looked at the floor silently, getting ready to turn around when Gale once again showed up on her shoulder.

“Maria, You worked your butt off to help him... You could at least say hello.” He mentioned, Maria sighed and lightly began to walk toward them. “Fine, but it's gonna be awkward as shit.” She muttered, slowly walking up in front of the mother as she looked away from her kid and gently released her son. “Oh...You're the girl who went after my son.” She mentioned, the kid turning to her and smiling. “There's the girl that taught me all those new words!” He shouted, the mother slapping Maria in the face very firmly.

“What the hell!?” Maria shouted at her, the mother frowning at her indignantly. “That's for cursing in front of my child!” She claimed, before her expression softened and she looked up at Maria, who was currently rubbing her cheek in a bit of pain from the sudden slapping. “Thank you for bringing him back to me.” She said with a somber voice.

Maria frowned a little, reaching up to rub her arm as she tried to speak softly... But seriously, that slap to the face annoyed the shit out of her. “I'm sorry about your husband.” Maria muttered somewhat nervous to the mother's reaction. The mother frowned and wiped a hint of a tear that was forming in her eye. “If what Sam said was true... He died trying to protect him.” She replied, Looking down at Sam as he fiddled with his baseball cap.

“That's something only a father could do... Give up his life so no one could touch a hair on his son's head. I couldn't be mad at anyone, even if I will mourn him dearly...” She said, sighing a bit as she gently rubbed her son's shoulders. “I know... I just wanted to apologize I couldn't do more.” Maria closed her eyes, turning away before she started feeling any more emotions... She wasn't a big fan of getting sappy around other people. “Wait!” She shouted at Maria, making her stop in her tracks and turn her shoulder back to look at them.

“What's your name?” She asked suddenly, looking at her somewhat nervously. “I just want to know the name of the person who brought my son back.” She explained, Maria sighing and lightly raising her hand up to wave at them both. “The name's Maria Roth.” Maria answered, before spinning on a heel and beginning to walk away backwards from them and pointing an accusatory finger. “And you two better take care of yourselves, because I'll be annoyed as shit if I have to rescue you again!” She added to try and save some face before heading to the helicopter and returning back to her academy.