Maryanne: “Firestorm BARRAGE!”

Adrian: “Emancipated soul sparks!”

Massive Area of Effect attacks bathe the center of the field. Tongues of flame dance and twirl to her every command, as the pyrokinetic releases wrathful fire from her hands in an attempt to engulf her ally – turned enemy.

To respond with equal ferocity – He condenses fiery pellets and releases them outward. Those seemingly harmless bites of flame charge towards the sea of fire, but right before every single one would be snuffed out... they turn!

Each of them make a sharp swerve and effectively dodge the fiery land!

As if prepared, Maryanne momentously concentrates fiercely...causing beads of sweat to trickle down before evaporating. All the flames that she carelessly spread outward, were now gathering to form a massive wall!

One Pellet was about to collide into it.

3.

2.

1.

BOOM!

It exploded upon contact! Maryanne's barely completed defense shook fiercely from a single hit! Without remorse, each pellet came forth in rapidly – fired unison.

Boom.

Boom!

BOOM!

Finally, a hole was beginning to form.

Although Maryanne was quick to patch it up, Adrian did not let this chance pass by him. He manged to gather all hir inner energy and create 12 bullets as condensed as he can currently make them – and fired on that single spot!

Desperate with her predicament: she quickly turned around to flee. Making that flame wall and aoe blast took her remaining energy and she was trying to regain what energy she could after expending so much of it.

BOOM!

…

…

...*CCRACK!*

12 bullets were shot uut, yet only 3 remained. They were closing in on their prey.

Finally, just as they were almost upon her – she fired a single bullet of her own!

It was smaller, but much faster at traveling through the air. And as it traveled, surrounding oxygen began feeding it, rapidly!

Adrian: “Not good!”

Maryanne: Hahh, hah... if I can't beat you... let's just go down together! Hiyaaahahaha!”

without anytime to dodge, the both of them could only coat themselves in thin barriers of fire and hope for the bets!

But before that... Adrian pulled one last, single-saved trick from his sleeve. The farthest two pellets at the back – fused together!

Boom! Almost simultaneously, both of their attacks struck home.

Adrian's first bullet wasn't fused, so after it struck, it only managed to cause a large crack in her shield without breaking it.

But that was enough.

His second bullet was massive, being the combined mass of two highly condensed shots!

It shattered her hastily formed barrier and struck her hard. Thanks to being pyrokinetics, their resistance to fire is heightened, so she didn't suffer serious injuries. But she wwas still blown back from the blast radius with minor burns. She was knocked unconscious.

As for Adrian?Although Maryannes wasn't as condensed as his own three, hers was rapidly expanding through eating the oxygen all around it that permeates the air itself. By the time it crashed into his own barrier, it already had a force similar to his final hit!

The difference, however, was apparent. Adrian's first initial pellet made all the difference. Thanks to weakening her barrier at the start, she took too much damage and collapsed. Adrian barely managed to keep his consciousness, as he started to limp over to her wounded form.

Adrian: “Maryanne...Maryanne are you alright?! MARYANNE!!”

Finally, a blue light shone from a 'heart' tattoo located on her wrist. Her damage immediately receded and reversed: restoring Maryanne to normal.

She slowly got up a bit groggily... and slapped him.

*Pah!*

Adrian: “Maryanne? What did I do?!”

Maryanne: “You beat me!”

Adrian: “But... But it was a battle-”

Maryanne: “Still! You didn't have to strike me so hard! That was a big blast!”

Adrian: “But...But you said no hard feelings!”

Maryanne: “THAT WAS THEN!”

Adrian: “...”

...They were lovers.

…

Noel: “...slow. So slow. So damn slow! I know that normal old people are supposed to be this slow, but-”

Mr. Abrams: “No – old people are a whole lot slower.”

Noel: “...This can't be true. You – you're tricking me! I refuse to accept this!”

{This man... HE doesn't understand. My family always called this 'slow'! Whenever we were on missions, these type of people with no speed always get blitzed without realizing what went wrong! My brother said normal people were much weaker than us, but I never believed it was to this extent! It can't be possible!

I always used to ask myself: 'My Father is a crime Lord, so how does he have better trained subordinates than Herotopia's Hero Society?

so...

…

…

THIS must be one of the reasons!

...It HAS to be!

Aside from our superior tech, Superior teaching, vast amount of wealth that can be freely spent on a much smaller force, the mindset difference between us while on the battlefield, Our rigorous training under various types of pain, our connections to similar powerful groups.....Okay there are lots of reasons.

But – but ALSO! His standards are a lot higher!'

Yeah... that's gotta be it! And because of that – OUR normal is the real normal. It HAS to be!

...I'm definitely not crazy, I'm not!}

Mr. Abrams: “Now, now, Noel. We've been over this before. Those two students weren't by any means slow. Covering about 5 miles in 10 minutes is actually fantastic and was only possible because they used their flames to 'speed' themselves up. Without super speed it's useless-”

Noel: ”LIAR!”

Mr. Abrams: ”It's the truth! You were raised in a much higher level environment. I know the feeling: I've been there before. That's why I wanted to show you the difference your brother failed to mention. With your body's modifications and enhancements: you would most definitely qualify to be a top student inside Super Soldier Development Academy. But that's over there. Here: you're a freak that can call running about 5 miles in two seconds 'normal speed'.”

Noel: “...This....I mean, back when I helped Ophelia out, even then I wasn't going 'fast' just a teensy bit slow. Heheh...but now....”

Mr. Abrams: “Alright, alright! Real quick, before anyone arrives give me an analysis about what you think of those two first combatants you just saw. I hope you were paying attention, and be sure to guess which Grade they're in. Let me test your observation.”

Noel: “You can tell they knew each other's attacks well since they both were prepared somewhat for the other's attacking style. The male, his attacks were weak and his energy level was meager. He was smart in his usage of those flames, but I'd grade his powers as D Grade. Also, the strategy he used here may not work on calm or level – headed people. They'd be more cautious instead of attacking from the start.

The girl has to be C Grade. She had a decent level of power and energy reserves, but just kept throwing it everywhere to try and overwhelm her opponent. She barely used her powers to counter his. Back when she created her 'fire wall' she should have folded it into numerous smaller walls after her opponent controlled his fire bullets aiming at her weak spot, in order to create a sort of 'layer of walls' at the moment of contact. She should have done a lot better, because of her talent. Unfortunately, she didn't use her head. Also...”

Mr. Abrams: “Very close! (Sharp eyes kid, and pretty decent observation skills. I guess the 10 families wouldn't allow a defective tool to enter society. I can skip recommending him for the 'Hero Preparation' secret class, then. Problem is his mindset...)

You guessed it right regarding Maryanne, however one thing you made a mistake on was Adrian's Grade. It's only F, but it's on the cusp of evolving.”

Noel: “Evolving? Hold on, I'm feeling confused over 2 things you said already.

1) Earlier you mentioned that 'A Grades' can evolve, 'unlike the others'. So then...why is his F Grade power 'on the cusp of evolving'?”

Mr. Abrams: “Oh that.(...an intelligent one but damn you and your good memory.) It's simple. Honestly, F Grades are SUPPOSED to evolve – but for some reason, there's never been a successful attempt. Not a recorded one anyway. THEORETICALLY they can evolve to D rank, but eh.”

Noel: “...That sounds like an excuse. Anyway my second question is about how you said you've never heard of a lower grade beating a stronger one before. But we just watched it happen...As the VERY first match. Are you lying about anything ELSE aside from that?”

Mr. Abrams: "No, I said it wasn't likely. Other factors, such as knowing your opponent extremely well, came into play down there. As you, yourself, mentioned.”

Noel: “...I still don't accept it! That extremely slow battle... it can't be average! It can't be!

This would be too pathetic... normal should be better than this – more high level..!”

Mr. Abram's: “Then would you like to watch the next match? It'll be a group pairing at random.”

Noel: “...Fine!”

…

The second match featured a set of 10 vs 10 matches, 4 of them were scheduled to commence.

The first group match features an all ground manipulating team with one girl dual wielding super-flight on one end, while the other team is an all water one.

Next match!

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

Go!

...30 seconds and running.

...45 seconds and still running.

...1 minute.

...3 minutes.

...5 minutes.

...10 minutes

...15 minutes.

…

Noel: “...”

Mr. Abrams: “Notice anything similar to last match?”

Noel: “...Why are they all just using elements? I think it's cool and all, but...”

Mr. Abrams: “Those were the very first type of powers artificially distributed to people years ago. They became something passed down through genes and inherited at random 'Grade' levels.

.

.

...Anything else? HMMM?”

Noel: “...I think that they're as slow as those guys that were picking on Ophelia...”

Mr. Abrams: “Tsk, Tsk. You should learn by now that it's YOU who's just too fast. Seriously, denial isn't a healthy trait I can approve of within my students. Should I recommend a session with our guidance council--”

Noel: “YOU'RE LYING! I'M NOT THE FAST ONE, THEY'RE JUST TURTLES!”

...

Elijah: “...”

Oliviera: “Do we even WANT to enter?”

---