[August 14th, year 2063, 5:02 AM]

As she dashed through the hallways of Sector Seven's Heroes' Operation Center, Lozen prayed no one saw her. The twisting corridors of the center were claustrophobically familiar to her, and, in several minutes, she managed to find her target: a door marked with the letter Alpha. Slowly, she opened the door to find that all the room’s training sets were empty and that there was no one in sight. Perfect.

As she silently watched the Alpha Training Room's clock and breathed a sigh of relief. It was around five AM, six hours before the hero exam, and more than enough time to train her martial arts and fix her errors. Thankfully, being early led to Lozen having the whole room for herself, and frankly, she liked the silence more.

From one of the pockets in her belt, she took out a small grey notebook, opening it to review some of the notes she had jotted down yesterday night. She dwelled on those notes, seeing exactly on what she needed to improve today, but in her calm overview, her eyes unconciously jumped through her three silver bracelets: one on her left wrist, one on her right arm, and the last on her upper left leg. It contrasted heavily with her light blue outfit, almost as if it were a handcuff. It spoke of her many tribulations, of her dedication, of her pain.

With a somber sigh, Lozen stretched her arms and returned her notebook to her belt pocket.

Slowly, she made her way to one of the several sandbags hanging from the rooftop, her hands shaking with dim anger. She closed her eyes, foucing on breathing in and out, in and out, until finally she cleansed her head of any somber thought.

In an instant, she started punching and kicking the sandbag, again and again, repeating a familiar pattern. When she kicked, the sandbag's chains rattled with force. When she made a string of punches, the sound of hitting sand echoed through the room. Lozen spun around and gave it a powerful roundhouse kick, knocking the sandbag out of its chains. She sighed at the outcome, and went to prepare another one.

This went on for about two hours, leaving Lozen drenched with sweat. By then, many heroes had come to train alongside her. After all, it was the day of the hero exam, and all heroes must be present, which in turn, caused all of them to put in some last-minute training.

"Hey, ‘Cold Strategist!’ fancy seeing you here!” A voice sneered behind her. Lozen paid it no mind, as she punched her fifth sandbag out of the chains.

“You shouldn't be training; you are the worst of us after all." A more femenine voice mocked behind her back.

Rolling her eyes, Lozen turned around to find several of the so-called heroes snickering at her. She spread her sight across the room, and all she could see were several faces of mockery and arrogance. What a disgusting sight.

Still, these hypocrites weren't worth her time. However, she wouldn’t tolerate them trying to tarnish her. So she flashed them a cold glare and opened her mouth,

"Once again, I don't have the time to smell the shit coming through your mouths."

The irrate silence that her insult caused, didn’t bother her in the least. She continued doing her own thing: taking another sandbag and placing it for the next person to use it.

Meanwhile, the ire of hypocrisy stabbed her back. Lozen’s eyes hardened. She casually tightened her gloves and made her way towards the exit, only for her to be pushed outside and have the door slammed on behind her. She could feel their laughter as she fell to the floor.

"Look who's here..." A new gleeful voice said.

Lozen looked up to see two heroes: a child-like girl in a red full body armor and a young man in a grey and yellow spandex suit and black face-mask.

"Isn't it 'the worst of the worst' Lozen?" Said the man mockingly. Lozen stood and quickly checked her surroundings: Long hallway, training room alpha's entrance was behind, and both the man and the girl needed at least five seconds to reach her, and that is if they ran towards her.

Lozen sighed. "And how may I help you?" She brushed off some dust on her legs.

The man put his right arm on his back and brought out a baton. "I just want to see if my senior here can teach me about endurance." He walked towards her, but Lozen wasn't going to have any of it today.

"Look, if you want a lesson on endurance, I am not the ideal person." Lozen replied dismissively while passing besides them without caring one bit. "Look for someone with strength absorption or extended stamina."

Unfortunately for her, the little girl appeared in front of her and went for a punch. "But we want you to teach us, Lozen." Said the little girl with a neutral face.

Lozen looked at her with a tired face. "Really now?"

Lozen tried to go around the girl, but she appeared in front of her again. The girl's body was twisted with a fist aimed for her guts.

'So, it's teleportation and brawn today? They really like to do people in, huh?' Lozen thought right as she took the blow.

She cried at the pain. She staggered as she gathered herself, all the while, She took a glance at the man, who stood there smiling. She really needed to stop overthinking and start moving.

The girl appeared in front of her again, this time with a kick in place. Lozen dodged this time with a backstep. The girl continued her barrage of attacks, swiping and kicking for the heroine’s head and legs. However, Lozen continued to dodge her effortlessly.

"Look, little girl, you were gifted with a powerful ability." Lozen started saying. With each second, the girl grew more outraged. Her attacks started to become sloppier.

"Yet, you..." Her attacks were losing their edge. They where becoming pathetically predictable, and Lozen did not let this chance waste. She closed in and quickly punched the girl's neck. "...are using it wrongfully."

The girl crumpled at the hit, but Lozen managed to catch her. She might've tried to hurt her, but Lozen wasn't about to let her suffer any more damage by letting her fall on the floor. Instead, she gently laid her down on the side and faced the other "hero", who had taken an offensive stance with his baton.

The two glared at each other for a moment, and then he sprinted at her, trying to ram her. She dodged to the side and turned to face him.

"Don't you think that this is a little excessive?" Lozen asked. She adjusted her mask and tightened her gloves.

"Oh please, senior hero Lozen," He smiled, "We both know how things works in this center."

"Eat or be eaten." She spat in cold disgust.

"Exactly. You refuse to use your powers Lozen, and because of that, you suffer." He looked at her bracelets with pity. "And to think you were one of our biggest talents... you should take them off and fight me with your full power, ‘Disgraced Heroine’!"

"Once again, you and your peers prefer to be enforcers instead of heroes..." Lozen's voice dropped to absolute zero. She clenched her teeth and gripped her knuckles. "What a shame..."

She showed him the bracelet in her left wrist, whilst giving a glare cod enough to freeze someone in place. “This doesn't come off unless I want to remove it. It’s not your choice."

In silence, the man stared at Lozen, seething with anger. However, Lozen had lost interest in this whole mess. Heroes shouldn't fight each other.

"I am done with you, take your partner and go." She started walking through the hallway.

"Are you underestimating me? You are just a delusional freak if you think you can do hero work without them! Use them against me!" He howled at her. Lozen internally groaned.

She could feel his killing intent growing closer and closer, until she felt danger behind her. However, she allowed him to hit her on the side. She gritted her teeth. She endured the pain. "Last warning, stop. We are both heroes. You shouldn't waste your abilities on fighting a fellow hero, but on fighting villains."

Yet, he didn't listen. He swung his baton again, aiming straight for Lozen's head. In a swift motion, she grabbed the weapon, turned around and rammed her knee directly into his balls. The pain caused him to double over, allowing Lozen enough time to send a roundhouse kick right to his face, sending him to the floor.

Without hesitation, Lozen walked towards her downed attacker, and promptly crouched to meet his eyes.

"I guess I will teach you something after all." She gave him her coldest glare and saw the man's face twist in fear. "A hero helps the weak, not abuse them. It is our sole duty to defeat villains, save people, and inspire hope. Now, this situation here is just the opposite." The heroine stood in indignation, narrowing her eyes at her opponent.

"Shame on you, 'enforcer'." She mocked her adversary with a cold sneer. "You've become a disgrace who wants to instill fear. No less than a villain."

He gritted his teeth, but Lozen's killing intent persisted as her eyes locked on his. "I know He sent you. He told you to try and fight me, to push me into a corner. However, what has this brought you? An injured partner and you laying on the floor!"

Lozen's words pierced the man, his face contorting in shameful anger. His eyes begged for her to stop, however, she didn't feel pity towards hypocrites. "In fact, I want you to tell him something for me, will you? Tell him to have a good afternoon and that we will speak to each other on another day.”

With one last glare, she hit his neck, making him faint. Lozen breathed out all of her anger, but not before watching the two heroes lying on the floor. She shook her head free of those intense feelings and went on her way.

Once again, she walked through the maze-like hallways and stairs of Sector Seven's HOC, until she entered the office rooms of The Center. As usual, most of the heroes repulsed themselves from her, giving her the same disgusting looks as always. Some snickered, others saw her as filth, and she could feel the countless names spilling from their mouths.

For now, the only thing she could do was glare at these hypocrites while she walked past them. She was a true hero for all she cared for, and she will fight for justice, not power.

Lozen reached a door, right at the end of a dark hallway. The letters TCN decorated the old wooden door she was about to enter. However, just before entering, she pulled her glove up a bit to check the time. It was seven in the morning, four hours before the exam. Sighing, she opened the door and entered her office. She could only hope that this year would be different for her and her team.