The alarm clock blared for barely one note before it was silenced, Seth was fully awake, or better yet he could barely sleep in the first place. Joining the League of Supers had been on his mind since Speaker first taught him about his powers, but now he was really doing it. He got up, made his bed. He wasn’t coming back here for a while if he made it in. He’d packed a full rucksack of everything he had, so not really much other than clothes. He was quickly dressed and eating a loaded down toast with peanut butter and banana. His application paper spread out on the table in front of him for review. Some of the info had to be fudged a little, all the files on him were in limbo since the orphanage closed.

Seth T., Age: 21. Hair: white. Eyes: hazel. Blood type:

‘Eh… unknown.’

Height: 6.1’. Weight: 180 ‘ish’. Address: 20090 Mako Rd. Apartment: 304. City: Kadia

‘Yadda yadda, nothing I can’t talk out of if it came to it.’ Fed and ready, Seth set out to grab the last thing he needed. Stepping out and locking his apartment up, he saw Ms. Mahan was climbing the stairs again after getting her mail. “Morning… Ms. Mahan…” Seth wasn’t good with actual goodbyes. He met her at the landing to her apartment, his rucksack making it obvious he was leaving for a while. “I-” “Oh! Just go follow your dream already!” Seth went flat. “What? You thought you were sneaky about it? Well Old ‘Ms. Mahan’s’ been around the block more times than you could imagine. Seen enough young kids go off to do good in this world. And let me tell you…” She squinted close, her oddly blue eyes more apparent. “You’ve gottem beat in more regards than you know. So don’t let them tell you otherwise, you understand. You deserve a chance at legitimacy. Now go beat the crap out of that training course and come back a hero. I don’t want to be the only one living in this dump.” Seth shook off the shock and smiled, he knew she was keeping quiet but this was something else.

He nodded and turn down the stairs, a hell of a lot more confident than before. “And if you get the chance…” Seth turned back as she was closing her door. “Tell Aegis to stop holding back so much.” Seth froze slightly before she slammed the door shut. ‘How the...?’ He shook the feeling away, needed to focus. He stormed outside, skipped the stoop again, and flung the hastily repaired garage door up without a second thought. The full suit was hunkered down in its berth, ready to be picked up and hauled all the way to The Hill. And that’s exactly what he was going to have to do. The bus sure as hell wasn’t going to handle this much weight. And it was one thing to storm across the city with an empty suit frame, couldn’t get away with that in a fully enclosed battlesuit. Probably get arrested in seconds. He stuffed his rucksack into the suit. It was folded in, but the chest cavity was spacious enough. Lifting the suit out, he grabbed it up by the handle at the scruff of its neck, tossing it over his shoulder and closing the garage up for good.

Walking all the way downtown was going to take hours, carrying well over a thousand pounds of metal wasn’t going to make it an easy jog either, but Seth could do this no problem. Besides, he's barely gotten to see much of the city from street level. Kadia was the picture of a moderate metropolis, spreading out over a foot hill hemmed bay, complete with the end point of the Terrace River. Downtown radiated out from a few purpose built districts. The park that was destroyed yesterday was the business district, while the main portion of the residential areas surrounded the edge of the main district. The one with The Hill at its center. Skyscrapers rose up higher the closer you got to a districts center, and flattened out with distance. The only dingy spot on the map was the industrial district that clogged up the east side around the river, everywhere else was basically the picture of comfortable living. Just about all of that was thanks to the League, decades of peace keeping efforts and community programs have kept the city prosperous for just about everybody. Though those programs had stagnated in recent years.

Most days the sirens never go off, just about all the major villains were in jail already, and crime was a hard sell given the opportunities… and the proximity to swift justice. So the city was quiet, just the usual din of commuters and traffic accentuated by intermittent crowds that thronged the occasional street market or shopping center. There still a few banners up from Rememberance Week, and a lot of the shops liked to sell memorabilia to tourists from the crisis, so the walk wasn't without a bit of trouble. But he'd had plenty of time to get used to this city's love of its heroes... and the constant reminders to... 'grh' He shook more memories away as he passed the market, he had a future to worry about more than a past to remember.

Seth attracted some attention as he reached downtown. People going about their own days’ watched or got out of his way as he kept a steady pace toward The Hill. He heard a few assume him to be a hero, a tinge of worry they were about to thank him kept his head down. But those misunderstandings were quieted as soon as they understood it was a suit hucked over his shoulder. Powersuits were losing favor in the public eye. Villains found them very enticing as an equalizer, and the rich saw them as an easy means to clout and hero-dom. Seth really didn’t have time to correct the misunderstandings about his suit though. Applications closed less than an hour before the training class started up. He had to keep moving. Luckily he wasn’t stopped by any actual heroes or the cops on his way, hauling a legally grey battlesuit through downtown would still have been an issue. Finally reaching The Hill though, Seth realized he had forgotten something really important.

The Hill was the League of Supers’ main base for the Kadia metropolitan area and surrounding areas not covered by other League bases, meaning this base covered practically three states worth of territory. It boasted several hangers for both VTOL transports and road worthy armored vehicles. It also had several levels worth of barracks, labs, armories, and evacuation shelters. But at its precipice was the main hall, consisting of the training barracks, logistical command, and the main arena, the main training ground for all the heroes that work out of the base. The only issue was that all of that was built into an artificial mountain that dominated a massive plaza in the center of the city, and the only entrance was at the top, up a horrendously long staircase. Escalators and service lifts flanked the stairs, but it was a requirement that most heroes had to climb it, or at least that’s what the sign in front of it said. The escalator sure wasn’t going to handle his weight and the service lifts were for official cargo only, so he had little choice. He had to get climbing.

Starting up, it was clear this was a task in and of itself. Climbing several thousand steps was arduous enough on its own, but the armor was really starting to feel heavy on his back. Each step got tougher and tougher with elevation, the suit heavier and heavier. On his way up, Seth passed a few ancillary heroes, mostly just supporters that fill niches or just staff the facility. They ignored him, focusing on their own accents or just not caring about another recruit trying to join. It was clear that some though were skeptical of him. Through burning breaths he caught a few eyeing him, and his suit. He kept going, but he could feel their ire. Heroes had a lot more reason to hate powersuits. By the last third he was just about climbing on all fours… threes, struggling for every step up. His carrying arm burned, his knees ached, he was surprised his shoes were holding up so well. Nearing the end he powered on, picking up speed when he remembered he was on a time limit. His muscles ached, his bones creaked, but he didn’t slow down.

When he finally reached the top, he dragged himself up right and gave a haggard ‘WOooo’, almost falling over as the suit dragged him back. His legs were shaking as he resteadied himself and passed through the glass façade of the main entrance. The foyer of the hall was a godsend or AC and inspiring atmosphere. Spacious tiled floors and flanking statues and displays to various heroes, even some villain trophies. A bronze bust of Dr. Macroscopic, a gaudy ‘statue’ from Ms. Maleficence’s lair, a painting of the Kashmir Peace Accord, all manner of records and relics from the League’s escapades. At the center, standing over the reception desk, was the main memorial though. A massive marble statue depicting several heroes, both powered and unpowered, defending The Wall during the crisis. Seth didn’t stop to admire though, he didn’t even really notice it. The only thing he could really care for was reception.

Lugging his armor over to the marble and granite desk was a final hurdle of arduous strain, but the receptionist, an almost out of place woman with straight red hair, paid little mind. Her face was stuck down at her tablet, reading something good enough to keep her attention from her duties, good enough for Seth to trudge up in haggard sway to her desk without notice. Just as he reached it, his legs finally gave out and he collapsed about. His back hit the desk face, but the suit slammed down facing it and sprang out of its compact form. The massive bang startling her to attention, the ‘Receptionist Felicia’ placard bouncing off her counter. She was left facing a towering metal behemoth staring down on her. Until her fright was broken by Seth’s hand reaching over the counter and slapping his application form down on it. Broken from her momentary terror, Felicia pulled herself up and looked down over her counter at him, passed out and propped up against her desk, smiling from ear to ear. He’d made it in time.

One of the side locker rooms for the arena was given up so the trainees could prep themselves for what was ahead of them. Twelve entrants had signed up ahead of Seth, not too many prestigious names to muddy things thankfully. But there were plenty of heavy hitters in this group. Seth stepped out of the changing room decked in a new custom connector suit, a dark grey padded two piece jacket and pants that were a little close to skin tight. Judging from the competition though, this wasn’t out of the ordinary. He passed by several other trainees as he traversed the locker room back to where he left his suit.

There was a guy wearing a full leotard, very professionally hand stitched from the look of it, but with oddly thick red threading. His motif was obviously fiery with flames sewn into place across his suit, but the threading stood out as it wrapped around his arms exponentially until ending at his wrists. His hair wasn’t quite red, but close, but his eyes were definitely red, and glaring at Seth as he passed. He almost ran into another trainee as he looked away quickly. She was a fairly tall girl in a green and white suit, with emphasis on the green, like a poison dart frog with a similar pattern. Her suit was old in design though, similar to Aegis’s, probably surplus from the crisis. It had a laser symbol kind of sloppily sewn on to the shoulder, with an even more obnoxious green standing it out from the suit. Her hair was blond but with… green streaks ‘This girl loves green for some reason.’ And her eyes were… ‘Oh thank god their brown.’ She wasn’t paying Seth as much attention, seeming to be psyching herself up rather shakily.

Halfway to the suit Seth caught sight of the only major name he knew, the son of Makani Samurai, Kaze. His motif was nearly a copy of his father’s, driftwood armor in a lightly plated samurai format. But his was only half, a single pauldron on the left side and only the shin guards on his legs. His clothes were similar, baggy robes Seth couldn’t remember the proper name for, but they were half open revealing his right shoulder. His hair was cut short and black, and his eyes green like his father’s. He was also minding his own business, meditating or simply waiting patiently.

The last obstacle between Seth and his suit was a guy flinging a… box cutter? No, more like a large razor blade with a handle. He flicked it up and caught it, absentmindedly staring ahead with a pissed off look on his face, but it had a hint of internalized fear to it oddly enough. His suit was ramshackle, baggy dark orange cargo pants with dark red holsters crowding all over it and a basic black t-shirt, also covered in holsters. Each of these holsters had another razor knife. He also seemed to have worn out fingerless gloves on, a single large gash on each palm. His hair was brown and slightly long, but cut into a sensible fauxhawk with short sides. His eyes were a dark blue and, once they saw Seth, glared with disdain… and fear. Seth paid little mind to the glares, he expected it honestly, just maybe not so soon though. Thankfully these glares were the only things he was on the receiving end of, the fear of getting kicked out for starting a fight seemed to keep people in line. But besides some basic rules, Seth didn’t know anything about what he was walking into, just that the failure rate was high. Whatever was waiting for him though, he was ready for it.

He stepped up to his suit, tucked out of the way next to the laundry hampers since it was too big to leave out among the lockers. Stepping in, the suit conformed to him like a dream, snapping connectors together, swiveling joints and servos to every movement. He closed up but kept the helmet open, joints disconnected and folded back over his collar. ‘Don’t want to set some kind of edgy precedent.’ Despite the weight of material though, the suit didn’t bulk up his profile, looking more compact than expected. That is, expected by the other trainees who redoubled their glares at him like he was some kind of imposter. He continued to ignore them, instead stretching and making sure every joint and servo had full motion.

Barely a moment in, the door to the arena opened. A dark figure stepped… practically clanged into the room in front of everyone. He was wearing armor, full medieval plate, but it was matte navy blue. Wait, Seth knew this guy, it was Mediknight. He even had the red crosses on his shoulders and helmet. He was the Elite’s healer, though he only ever left The Hill in dire circumstances. He headed the medical ward onsite, but why was he here? “We’re ready for you.” His voice echoed out of his armor rather monotonically, he’d done and seen this before and wasn’t expecting much from these trainees, or he just didn’t care in the first place. He was always known for his poor bedside manner, but his healing abilities were second to none. He could radially heal a considerable area, repair limbs with nothing but his hands. It wouldn’t be surprising if he could bring the recently deceased back to life.

He turned back out the door, letting the trainees funnel out into the arena, the light from outside washing out everything beyond. Seth waited until everyone else was out, didn’t want to get in the way or anything, but also he wanted one last moment of peace. The quiet was enough to get a final pep talk from Speaker and Threat. “You have striven for this moment, it is time you showed that you deserve this power. Go now, and see if we deserve to have our sins forgiven!” “Way to lay everything on him Speaker. You’ve got this, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Seth smiled and stepped out the door, into the beaten sands of the arena.

The arena was massive, bigger than you’d think an already stuffed complex situated on an artificial mountain would be, but… ‘Damn is it big.’ The stands were the obvious cut back, only five rows of simple stone seats, but the central area was expansive. Several lines denoted various sections, so multiple different groups could train or operate without encroaching inadvertently. There were several doors around the periphery, massive garages and storage rooms, various other locker rooms both personal and public, even a main entrance on the east side for ceremonies. There was a booth that loomed over the main entrance side, reflective and probably plated glass windows obscured its contents, but it was sure to be the main hub for the arena’s plethora of systems. The roof was opened up to the bare sky, the skyscrapers of downtown just barely peeking over the rim of the retractable shutters. The floor was sand, but it was heavy, compacted, and almost didn’t even give a centimeter of depth despite Seth’s weight. The section he headed for was off to the side, close to the south wall. At its center was a tall man with his back to the approaching trainees, Mediknight had pulled off to the wall behind them, observing.

The man wore what looked to be a modified military BDU, camo exchanged for simple dark grey. The uniform had no vest, instead looked to have plating under it similar to the others, but what drew Seth’s attention was an arm patch with a sonic wave form on it. It was Parasonic, another of the Elite. Seth didn’t know him very well, but he had a reputation. The trainees slowly walked toward their new trainer, some with knowing hesitation, others with general hesitation at the imposing figure that seemed to ignore their approach. The air surrounding him oozed contempt, a little bit of pride, and, as far as Seth could tell, someone a little too in to military cosplay. Before the trainees could near Para, he- “LINE UP MAGGOTS!!” Ok he may be playing it up a little.

The trainees winced back and looked at each other, a few spotted a half buried line in the sand and aligned themselves to it, Seth moved and lined up at the right end. “I SAID LINE UP!!!” The lineup recoiled and looked at each other in confusion, Seth looked down at his feet in line with the others. It wasn’t him. He looked down the line and saw that the razor knife user was too far forward, basically not even on the line anymore. He leaned over to get his attention, as did several others who spotted him. He looked back and forth, confused, looked down at his positioning and looked up even more confused, “How could he-” “I DON’T NEED MY EYES TO SEE YOU’RE OUT OF LINE!! NOW CORRECT IT!!!” He quickly shuffled back in line, thoroughly intimidated into submission. “Now then!” Para turned, revealing glaring light grey eyes under short brown hair. The glare scanning over each trainee, not showing a single hint of emotion, even when he got to Seth’s metallic carapace. Satisfied he began walking over to the left most trainee, obviously intent on inspecting each of them more closely.

First up was a grey haired boy wearing another of those surplus super suits, light grey and blue in color. “Alright son, tell me your name and your power.” The boy tensed in response, the faux drill sergeant’s gruff yell was replaced with a smoother relaxed disposition. “I… My name is… My name is Aquanaught sir! And-” Para audibly slapped his face with his hand, dragging it down slowly, almost wiping away the improvement in his demeanor before snapping back to it. “No, I mean your real name, though your hero name sounds like you’ve got it down.” The boy hesitated, but reaffirm. “My name is David and m- my power is I can control and create water.” “There, not so bad. Now, since you control water and are still woefully unprepared for the hell you just stepped in, I’m going to call you Waterboy from now on. Ok?” “I-” “Ok!” Well this was going to get ugly. But if childish nicknames were the worst he had then good. But this was really starting to confuse everyone that expected Parasonic, the Elite’s hardass guard dog, to be the bane of their ambitions.

Done with his first trainee, Para continued down the line. Next up was the girl with what could only be described as a green fetish. “Same thing miss, name and power.” “My name is Marketa but you can call me Zeleny if…” Para stopped her with a hand up and disapproving look. “Zeleny? ...I’m just going to go out on a limb and say you shoot green lasers somehow. Am I wrong?” The girl looked down in mixed embarrassment, tapping her index fingers together. “I shoot them from my hands.” Para sighed and muttered something dripping with disappointment. “Welp, I’m going to call you Green Thumb and be done with it.” Zeleny looked up in slight resentment, but deflated before she could say anything.

Para continued. Next was another girl who wore a brick red tank-top and the bottoms from a surplus super suit colored the same with beige accents. Seth was surprised he didn’t see her in the locker room, mostly because she was absolutely built. But despite her obvious strength she was actually shorter than Zeleny, her medium brunette hair stopping a good foot below her. “Name and power.” Para was already over formalities. “Maya sir. I can control various building materials.” “…Building materials? Little lady there is a brick shit house joke here, but for the life of me I can’t get over this. Why are you here? You can get a job in an instant with a power like that, why-“ Maya almost snarled. “I don’t want to be a damn builder, my entire family is nothing but builders! I want to be something more than just my family’s next in line!” Para reeled back. “Well… Combo Breaker it is then.” Maya didn’t look thrilled, but she seemed to expect this.

“Name and power!” Next in line was the guy with the homemade flame suit. “Name’s Kabar, and I can generate extreme heat.” Para seemed unsurprised. “So what, are you going to bake your enemies into submission by hugging them with your toaster coil looking arms there?” Kabar smirked and chuckled slightly before letting those same coils loose to fall at his sides. “No, I’m going to burn and beat the shit out of them with these flaming whips of mine.” In that instant the gaudy red threads lit up, igniting into full flames across his suit and down to the loose lines at his sides. Maya and the trainee on the other side of him pulled away as the heat got too intense. Para seemed impressed to say the least. “Well now. You have some ingenuity then… I’m still calling you Toaster though.” And just as quickly the flames went out and Kabar’s ego deflated.

“Name, Power, come on we are still not even halfway through.” The guy he was rushing looked still overwhelmed by Kabar’s flames, but quickly steadied himself. “My… My name is Jacob and I can make and control ice.” His suit didn’t give off any hint of this, it was a modified firefighting suit, in that was recolored to have blueish grey fabric on the hazard stripes. “… Jacob Whalen by chance?” He froze. “Yeah.” Para smiled, beamed even. “Your mom’s one hell of a firefighter you know that. You’ve got some shoes to fill Snowcone.” Jacob drooped in disappointment, looking like he had heard that nickname before.

Para continued, though didn’t stop to ask Kaze for his details. “I already know what you can do Kaze.” “And I expect no special treatment from you Para-sensei.” “Oh believe me you’ll get none, I assure you… Your dad would kill me if I did anyway.” Para continued on, not even asking the next trainee her name and power. Her surplus suit was baggy, almost a size too big, but was darkly camouflage, tiger striped, and cut off short at the extremities. “Uh… My name is Tabatha, but my friends call me Tabby.” Para glared down at Tabby without changing expressions. “Ugh I- I’m able to mimic various cat species both in ability and form.” Para turned his head for a second in contemplation before immediately shaking the thought away. “You’re lucky Tabby, you already have a fitting nickname. But don’t wear that luck out, understand?” “Crystal, sir!”

Para continued on again, still silent, but looking grumpier by the second. His next victim was the razor knife wielder, who was very much trying not to look intimidated. “My name is *ghf* is…” He deflated slightly. “Razor sir.” Para looked down at him in unsurprised disappointment. “And?” “And… I can make these awesome knives from my hands.” Para remained unimpressed. “So are you collecting them or do you just not want to part with what is basically your weaponized bodily secretions.” “GAH! They’re not… ugh. Making them is a process so I prepare before…” “Whatever Butterknife.” Razor’s pride was visibly shot down in the prime of its desperately delinquent life. Para kept walking.

Next up was a girl…no… a woman wearing an absolutely glistening red dress, her long and light red hair flowing almost unnaturally in the… not wind. Para immediately popped the illusion, literally with a flick to the woman’s head revealing a mostly normal girl with at least similar features, though no fancy dress or flowing long hair. Her suit was skin tight though, a drab beige with barely noticeable padding in the needed areas. Her hair was very short, but still a light red. “Heh… My names Alex and I’m a doppelganger.” Para glared down, but more softly than before. “Trying to win favor with looks is going to cost you, and I don’t think you can handle it if all you can do is play pretend.” Alex smiled a bit at this. “Well it’s a good thing I can copy powers if I try hard enough.” Para hardened up a bit. “Oh is that so… well then I expect you to make my ass look good as I run you into the ground, Ditto!” Alex’s expression contorted at this, more out of disgust than resentment. Seth looked a little longer at Alex in his peripheral, he could slightly feel the Garkah muse about the issues her powers represented.

Para continued, a guy with dark hair wearing a simple and short white gi with barely noticeable yellow accents was next. The guy never moved from attention. “My name is Marco sir, I can punch with air.” Para looked unimpressed again. But Marco noticed this and took a different stance. It was wide and stable but wouldn’t transfer much force into a punch. Para stepped out of the way slightly. Marco pulled his fist in, the air around it visibly distorting. He punched forward with a light training jab, but the distortion shot out, sending a pocket of air rocketing forward until it impacted the far wall, blasting a crack into it and kicking up sand from the floor. Para looked slightly more impressed, but only slightly. ”Good form, but don’t let it slow you down in combat, hmm… *snap* Polo.” Marco grimaces silently, but regained his respectful attention.

Para continued on, next was a girl with an odd fashion sense. Her surplus suit was cut in two, midriff bare for all to see, but the concerning part was the color, or rather the texture. It was black leather, complete with small spikes on the shoulder joints, and… a lot of added belts, like too many belts. Her dyed black hair was in twin pigtails as well, just all around adding to the concern presented by the smile she was wearing as Para reached her. He was also visibly concerned, which seemed to only feed into the girl’s beaming smile. “Hehe, my name is Cleo, and Iiii control bindings!” As she said this she struck a light upward pose and several black leather straps appeared out of thin air around her, wiggling and flailing around looking for purchase on anything they could wrap around. Everyone around her took an immediate step back in unison, even Para. “Oh boy… Well, Punk Princess, if you even think of doing what I can only horrifyingly think of you doing with those bindings to me or your fellow trainees, I’m going to take away all your personal clothing and force you to wear a puritan dress. Understood?” Cleo didn’t change expression, instead she dispelled the bindings and took on an overtly innocent stance. “I’ll hold you to that.” “I’ll fucking kill you.”

Para quickly moved on to the next trainee, a guy in another surplus super suit. It was colored plainly, light grey with darker grey accents. ‘He didn’t really change the suit when he got it did he?’ He’s at least put a custom patch on it, but it was just an Omega symbol. His hair was somewhat spiked but short and dark. His eyes were almost gold though. Para regarded him with some amount of disdain, but asked in the end. “Name and power?” The guy looked up at him with a smug look. “Hmm… May as well stick to the format, my name is Ohmega and I’m a little bit of everything.” Para was tired of him before he even opened his mouth. “If you’re going to be obstinate I’m going to-” “I know, tell my dad. But really, did we really need to get to know each other. It’s stupid to…” Ohmega’s mouth kept moving but no one heard any more words from him. He noticed it and sneered at Para, who had a hand slightly raised. He was drowning out his voice, an inaudible tone emanating from his palm. “He wasn’t lying about being a bit of everything. He’s fast and strong. The main thing is he gets his power from electricity he takes in. Something about absorbing resistance or whatever.” Para let up on the dampening, Ohm sneering harder but relented back into smug nonchalance. “It’s not like any of these losers can really challenge me, so whatever, why not just tell them my middle name and social security number. It won’t help them!” The lineup collectively stared over at him, Para held a hand up to calm them. “We’re doing this because they all need to understand what their getting into, a world that knows everything about them. Where advantage is earned, not had. Where you need to be prepared for every eventuality, even your fellow heroes turning against you.” Para moved off and finally regarded Seth, standing nearly eye to eye thanks to the suit. “Which brings me to you." Disdain all too palpable. "Step out of the suit.” Seth hesitated, but knew it was necessary for the lesson.

He opened up, taking a step back and stepping out of the suit so he remained in line, the suit standing slightly over him but still stood mostly eye to eye. “My names-” “I don’t care what your name is. I don’t care what power you make up as an excuse. I’ve seen too many of you silver spooned Tinmen to deal with your bullshit.” “I-” “I’m only going to give you this one chance. Leave. Turn around, take your powersuit and leave.” “It’s not a-” “I. Don’t. Care." The air pulled taut in an instant. "You walked in here thinking you were ready to be a hero, because you had everything. Well trust me you aren’t, you don’t, and your only chance at getting out with your pride intact is to leave. Now!” Seth met Para’s glare beat for beat. He wasn’t expecting this kind of hostility so quickly, but he wasn’t going to be intimidated out of this. “I’m not going anywhere!”

The unflinching moment lingered for longer than anyone could stand, but Para relinquished first, straightening back and moving on. “Fine then.” He turned and headed back to his original spot away from the lineup. “Now! As ‘Clarence’ so rudely spoiled, this was a lesson for the lot of you. None of you are expected to pass this course. Some may flunk out today.” Para turned to Seth to amplify his disdain. “Some my choke at the last possible minute. Whatever stands in your way, you need to understand that you hold no advantages here, not even over each other. Everyone is going to get to know each other, their strengths, their weaknesses, what makes them wet the bed.” Para turned to David at the front of the line just to rub in the joke. “You’re going to learn both how to fight each other and how to work with each other. That’s the nature of this world, constant struggle with forces no one hero can surmount, and constant honing to ensure no one dies fruitlessly on the field of battle. To that end, your first assignment is a FREE FOR ALL!!”

The lineup was awash with reaction, some fretting having to fight each other, others basically itching to beat the shit out of someone. Para held up a hand one last time. “A few special rules. No excessive offensive powers, can’t have you lighting anyone ON FIRE or something. Enhanced attacks are okay, but nothing lethal. Mediknight can fix a brick coated punch to the gut, but not if it goes all the way through. Crowd control and movement are okay. Yes, I’m allowing you to bind people.” Cleo clapped giddily at this. “WITHIN REASON, NO MUMMIFICATION!!” She dejectedly deflated from her elation. “Lastly, something special.” Para boisterously pointed a finger at Seth. “The first one to knock Tinman over here out gets special training courtesy of the Elite.” Seth flinched at this and quickly turned to see the reaction from the rest of the lineup. He was summarily met nearly a full set of hungry death glares. A beat of adrenaline and a reach back for his suit was all he got before- “BEGIN!!!”

Perception slowed the world down as Seth pulled his arm up, shielding his head from the oncoming punch from Ohm, but that was only enough to prevent a straight up knock out. Just as quickly as it came, he was thrown out of his perception and off his feet, sent tumbling away by the force of the hit. Rolling away, he quickly righted himself and slid to a stop, only to immediately have to block again. Kabar had come rocketing forward after lassoing around Ohm’s waist and getting carried closer by his attack, pulling him back in the process while transferring momentum in to a flying kick. Sandy soles crinkled against guarding arms and Seth was recoiled back again. But he kept his balance, repulsing the kick and sent Kabar sprawling backward. Finally earning a second of breathing space, he had a chance to see just what was coming for him.

As the lineup collapsed, everyone jostled for position, spreading out to get clear angles of attack. Razor was slowest on the uptick, confidence getting the better of him. “This is going to be too easy.” Only to have that confidence be rebuked as Kaz turned about, meeting razor knife with sword. “I am your opponent!” Razor grimaced, but relented. “Eh fuck it, fair is fair.” Seth was faced with 'only' ten other opponents.

Ohmega and Kabar were getting back up, but the main issue was Cleo pushing in closer. He couldn’t let her tie him down from range, he had to go on the offensive. He set his feet and bound forward, slipping past a freshly materialized strap Cleo thought he would be too distracted to dodge. She wasn’t expecting a head on attack either, emphasis on head on. Seth bull charged his head into Cleo’s bare gut sending her back into Jacob and David who had bunched up behind her. Only slightly dizzy from the impact, Seth pulled in both arms as Alex and Marco flanked him now. Alex brought in a hastily mimicked air fist while Marco brought in a genuine one. They launched them in near perfect unison… at the empty space Seth left. He had quickly stepped back, still guarding against what was about to hit. Apparently when two air fists meet each other they also explode out, the air pressure rebounding as a shockwave. All three were blown off their feet, the wind force ignoring most of Seth's defense and blasting him backwards. He was able to get his feet back under him, but he was still stumbling. At least he had distance now.

He could see Maya compressing a sandstone fist and charging past her prone ‘allies’ while Zeleny was… flying over her! She quickly surprised and grabbed Maya by the uncoated hand. Looping up and bringing her up to speed, it was a clear flying catapult. Seth wasnt the inly one studying the fight earlier but issue right now was he couldn’t reorient himself in time, or at all really. Wait, he couldn’t move his left leg. He saw Cleo, beaming a sadistic smile from the ground behind everyone, a hand extended and a strap coiled around his leg. He was stuck.

No choice but the risky one, he pulled back his right leg and arm, feigned a futile hard left block as Zeleny released Maya with an underhand swing. Seth closed his eyes in feigned preparation, but focused his power as safely as he could into his right arm. Trying to focus like this was taxing, but right now it was necessary. As Maya came in with a hardened fist Seth blasted out of the feint, counterweighting his left arm back as his right came screaming in to meet the sandstone fist. They collided in an explosion of dust and chips, and Maya was sent spiraling past him off her own destabilized momentum.

There was no time to pull the probably toughened leather strap wrapped around his leg, so Seth dragged his extended right back out through the dust cloud, trying to clear his line of sight. Only for a lynx paw to come flying out of the cloud, smacking him across the face. Tabby had swung her now big snowshoe-like left paw and was continuing along with her momentum with a flying roundhouse kick. The summary double batting had dazed Seth too much to meet one final kick with any resistance, both massive paws slamming into his chest. The force was enough to dislodge him from the strap, and he went flying back hard. Back hit sand with a softened crunch, but he was rolling back under control. The still persisting cloud gave him a moment to shake off the daze and stand up, but not long enough to react. A rush of water struck him through the dispersing cloud, but quickly froze as it splashed over his legs. David and Jacob were working together, and Seth was stuck in place again. Before he could pull his arms up, a shoot of sand came in from his right and swallowed his arm, Maya wasn’t out just yet. A strap pulled his left back as Cleo rounded the settling cloud. And then the real rush came barreling into view.

Everyone running at him, pushing and shoving. Alex was hung off Zeleny, “HE’S MINE!!” Kabar was whipping back Marco and David as he rushed forward. “NO HE’S MINE!!!” Tabby was hanging off Jacob trying to swing him out of the way. “MINE!!!” “MINE!!” “MIINNE!!!” But Seth could only watch as Ohmega flashed ahead of them all, a full punch, sparking with electricity, reeled in. “Mine!”

Fist compacted gut as undo force echoed across the arena. Ice, sand, and leather were unable to hold him down as he rocketed into the wall of the arena. The wall shattered and crumbled in another bass kick, Seth rebounding off and falling to the sand. Rubble came falling down on him, hard sandstone beat against his back, cracked over his hand, knocked his head low, and darkened his world in more ways than one. He was pinned down and the fight seemed ended once and for all.

The dust settled as everyone stopped their bickering and waited for the call. Para, having moved with the fight, observed the scene with earned arrogance. He was about to speak up as Ohmega struck an even more arrogant pose. “Ha, I got him, so who do I get to train unOMFH!!” Maya body slammed straight into him. Para smirked at this outcome. “The school of hard knocks if you think this fights over after one opponent!” Leaving the rest to determine a real winner amongst themselves, Para broke off toward the pile of rubble that was now Seth, stopping short and squatting closer. “You see kid, I said this place wasn’t for you. You weren’t ready, more than likely you’ll never be ready. Just give up, it will hurt less. You never deserved to be a hero anyway.”

The darkness surrounding Seth echoed those words over and over, burning them in with undo cause. Under that rubble he could hear everything. “He’s all your Medi!” Mediknight, still standing unperturbed on the sidelines, finally clanged in slowly. A disappointment laden in his step, he's had to clean up Para’s messes before. Under the rubble Seth could feel everything. The rumble of more heavy hits, the heat of stymied attacks, the clang of metal, but… for some reason he couldn’t feel himself anymore. The pain was overwriting everything. His bones were dust stabbing at him from all angles, his muscles emptied of energy just to keep up with the bruising, his head was swimming around and around without a course... but the constant echo of those damn words!

A pull textured the darkness and brought up power from somewhere deep. His bones healed, his head righted, the bruises ceased. But the pain stayed, blotted out everything. Like there was nothing there in the first place… nothing… nothing but- ‘Who the FUCK does he think he is??!! HE can’t even IMAGINE what I’ve had to go through, what I’ve suffered just to get HERE!!! What I’ve had to FUCKING LIVE WITH!!! What I've had to LOSE!!! ALL BECAUSE OF…!!!’

Seth stopped himself. The edge of an abyss loomed across his psyche, eating away at it, feeding off of it. He could feel the rage and resentment that nearly consumed him seethe out from it as he pulled back, before it could pull him in. The Garkah had warned him about this, of the power they had to lock away. A holdover from when he lost control… from when Threat lost control... Seth stared into it, scrutinizing it. He could hear something, like a low hiss, a whisper. It was seeping out at the edges of the container it had been shoved into. Amounts too insignificant to keep back wisped off. It was indecipherable, but he could feel it for what it was. He planted his feet figuratively and focused on it. A focus that not only extended... but pulled. He dragged the abyss up, closer than it wanted, pulling that whisper for what it really was. Power. ‘I’ll show him what my power is! Whether HE LIKES IT OR NOT!!!’

The rubble shook and Mediknight stopped in his tracks, a tension in his sudden deceleration. He’d dealt with enough supers to know when someone just pushed their limits, the healing field around him rippling in response. The rubble lifted and fell away with meaty thunks, alerting Para to what Mediknight already knew. In front him, Seth’s suit, still standing in statuesque attention, stirred. The eyes lit up with a blue glow of internal power, signaling something expected was occuring. But before he could fully turn back to see the true cause, he was buffeted by kicked up dust, his turn forced deeper than he expected. Now fully spun back around to the fight, he could only watch, as Seth tore across the sand, raising a fist to smack down on Ohm.

Still wrestling with Maya on the ground, barely able to force her away with a double kick at the last minute, Ohm was ready to break free from the sand she wrapped around him. But he was summarily slammed down upon, sand aerosolizing and rippling with all the power Seth took and beat into him. Using the momentum, he pole-vaulted off Ohm’s unconscious and narrowly caved in chest. Landing and spring loading his feet, he rocketed off, parting the dust cloud he created and finding his next victim. A stunned David close by that tried to sneak attack Ohm and Maya. Seth pivoted and slid, using his trailing leg to break and transferred his inertia into a kick with the other leg. He slammed it into David’s back, flinging him into the cloud, straight into Maya on the other side, still recoiling from Ohm’s dislodging.

Following through with his inertia, Seth scanned the battlefield as his perception found a hold in sheer overdrive. Jacob and Kabar were duking it out, though Jacob seemed like it wasn’t mutually wanted. Zeleny and Alex were flying and jousting, Alex color shifted to red for everybody’s sake. Marco and Tabby were trading blows, Tabby still in lynx form. Razor and Kaz were meeting blades in the center of all this, undisturbed by the rest of the fighters.

Seth locked on to Marco and Tabby, planted his foot hard, and launched forward, pulling both fists in crosswise. Razor and Kaz watched as he burst between the fighters out of nowhere and backhand punched them away from each other. Razor trying desperately to look like he never even thought about attacking him, slowly swinging back and forth against Kaz’s sword while looking for a reaction from Seth. “Eyes on your opponent!” Kaz for his part played along, observing the fight more stealthily. Razor snapped back to Kaz, now taking their fight more seriously, mouthing “Thank you” as he rounded them.

Seth bull rushed into Kabar from behind. Going low, and scooped his legs up and menacingly pulled him up like a human club, bringing him down on Jacob, and smacking their heads together, leaving them in a heap. Seth let go and kicked off to the side as a new round of straps attempted to grab him. He swiveled and scanned around, catching Cleo back over by Para, just as Zeleny and Alex came crashing down in a ball between them.

He set his foot and rocketed toward them, barely allowing Cleo to react. As he approached, Alex tried to lift herself off the ground. He lunged forward alongside, spiraling around and grabbing her by the throat, turning over to dodge a strap field Cleo materialized beneath them. Seth completed the spin and choke slammed Alex down into the straps, using the inertia to dodge to the side. Zeleny attempted to fly back and escape the encroaching strap field. She only made it a few feet away before Seth was slotting in ahead of her, feet first. He used her as a backstop and kicked her back into the field, launching himself closer to Cleo. She recoiled in surprise, desperately spreading out another field of grabbing straps through the entire ground between them. He landed running, charging straight into the field, but it didn’t stop him. It couldn't. Seth barreled through, snapping any that were able to grab him like they weren’t even there. A locked left arm slammed her gut, flinging her out of the way, but he still didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. There was only one way this could end, only one place this power he took allowed him to see.

Seth loaded up momentum one last time, right at Para’s side. Sand kicked away as he launched himself toward his face, a massive right hook charged and unwilling to hold back. The fist slammed Para across his still stunned face, harder than Seth hit the other trainees, harder than he’s ever hit anything. The shockwave alone shook the arena and kicked up a final blast of sand to buffet his defeated opponents. Para was sent flying, spiraling through the air and crashing into the wall of the arena, smashing through it into one of the ancillary storage rooms. This free for all was over, but the war was just declared.

The dust and sand settled, everyone that had attacked him was on the ground, unconscious or in pain. Seth, still seething, slowly calmed with heavy releasing breaths. He flexed his practilly steaming right, the pain from nearly shattering it on Para's face regrouping him. He straightened up, let the abyss go, let it drop back figuratively in on itself. The Garkah felt worried, but relieved he was able to let go when all was said and done. Mediknight was quick to help those with real injuries, a broken wrist or three, cracked ribs, rampant whiplash. Everything began to settle, and the atmosphere grew dead quiet.

Then the hole in the arena crumbled, and Para stepped out sweeping dust from his uniform like nothing had happened. Seth and those conscious were stunned, he put a hell of a lot of power into that punch, but Para just stepped back onto the sand. Barely a scuff on his jaw but a look of pure death across his face. “I can understand wanting revenge on the ones who attacked you, it’s a rather common trope.” Para was now right on top of him, staring down with near equal hate. “But you’d better realize that starting fights you can’t hope to win is going to get you nowhere.” Seth stared up, meeting death glare with death glare, all his progress washed away into grinding seethe.

He moved first, squaring himself for what was bound to be round two, but Para didn’t make a move. Instead he turned his nose up in smug fashion. “Heh, if that sucker punch was the best you got then you’re not even worth the effort. But if your little toy there is what I know it to be, you’d might just give me a good fight. So go get it! And quit wasting my time!” Seth sneered, practically snarled at him, but quickly turned away, rushing to his suit. It opened like it was expecting him, the release of power he perpetuated started up hardcoded subroutines. It was made to contain this power after all. Snapping connectors in place, Seth quickly slammed the panels closed, shutting the helmet with a resounding clang. He stood his ground, staring through the view screen at Para, soulless glowing eyes given undeniable emotion. Para moved to opposite him. Mediknight had cleared the training ring as soon as Para stepped out of the wall. The two bore holes into each other until he stepped back up to the edge of the ring, raising a hand as impromptu referee. The tension turned the air thick, the sore trainees watched anxiously from the wall, the knowledgeable among them smugly or earnestly preparing for the worst. Para leveled a hand. Seth ground a foot back. Mediknight took a step back… and dropped his hand.

Seth tried to move first, but found himself unable to even breathe. Then he felt the grinding resonance that was stopping him. His ears were drowning, his suit was quaking, his bones were rattling in place. Every fiber of his being was shaking apart. And then the pain started. “AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” He cried out, but even his thoughts felt like they were muted. He could still see, but it was fading. Distortions in the air, sound waves so intense they were visible, emanated from Para’s outstretched hand. Seth had to do something, he was losing consciousness. The trainees watched him fall to his knees in seconds, with little surprise. ‘THERE!’ He couldn’t hope to hear the Garkah, but he felt their response. The metals in the suit heated slightly, shifting composition internally, changing resonance frequencies. The sound waves deadened slightly, enough for him to retaliate. Seth dropped down out of the concentrated sound waves and found his opening. His armored hands hit the sand, his legs came up, and a jet of sand burst up in his still sonically assaulted place.

He launched forward with little restraint, the weight of the suit meant to keep his movements dampened to reasonable levels. But he was already exceeding that drag. Closing the distance in less than a second, he skimmed the ground below the continuous blast. But Para was having none any of it. He relinquished his attack and pivoted with equal speed, kicking him across the helmet. Despite the armor and the weight, he was sent tumbling to the side. He clawed to a stop and dodged quickly to the side as a blast smashed the sand next to him. Rising just as fast, Seth circled around Para, just barely out of reach of the following sonic beam as it tore through the arena wall. He quickly ran out of space, any farther and he’d be subjecting the trainees to the same sonic torment. Coming to a skidding stop, he ducked down below the blasts, feigning a double back. Instead he stomped his foot down and leapt, cut back over the beam, vaulted backwards as it changed direction to follow his expected movement.

Sand crunched under loaded foot on the other side and blasted away as he rocketed toward Para. Again he was quick to react, cutting the blasts in time to meet Seth’s charge, this time planting his feet and punching down on him. He reacted in kind, stopping short but letting his arms swing free. As Para’s punch whiffed, Seth’s arms closed in from the inertia and grabbed his outstretched arm. He drew back his foot, pulled his arms hard and began swinging Para off his feet.

But Para wasn’t so helpless. He grabbed Seth’s arm with his grappled hand, shortening the air gap between the two, sending sonic waves straight through the suit uninhibited. “RRAAHHH!!!” Seth recoiled, but held on as he tensed from the pain, the gel layer almost denaturing under the barrage. Still in a spin, he used everything he could muster and slammed Para down sideways, kicking up another cloud of sand. Wrenching free of his grip, he kicked himself out of the cloud, he had to rethink his strategy on this.

Sonic blasts at range and resonating palms at point blank meant he had to switch things up, hit and run tactics. ‘That should do fine so long as- AAAAAAHHHH!!!’ The cloud parted, blasted away by distortion. Para was using both hands at once, doubling the blasts in size and volume. Seth tried to grip his head through the suit, it was like it was going to rip apart. Cracks in the eyes started forming, he could feel blood running from his ears, and eyes. Para was unrelenting, kicking the volume up with every step, to the horror of the other trainees. Seth collapsed forward still desperate to cover his ears, practically burying his head into the sand. His bones were fracturing, his blood was nearly boiling, his mind was rattling to much to even think of pain. Everything was going black, emptying to nothing again, except against its own will. Para took another step forward… and that abyss shook.

Hands let go of the helmet, allowing them to fall before clawing the sand instead. Legs pulled in and slowly lifted the whole up. Joints creaking as their servos tore in their housings. Para kept blasting, turning the volume up louder and louder, but Seth appeared unfazed. Slowly the head lifted, the eyes of the suit were cracked, but a bright electrical blue glared Para down. With little noticeable motion other than a burst of sand, Seth shifted out of Para’s doubled barrage, appearing at his flank and taking a menacing step. A that step drew Para’s ire as it resounded through the arena despite the sand. He reacted and shifted fire, but before his blasts even reached, Seth was off to his other side, taking another menacing step. Another deep metal clang resounded. Para reacquired him again, this time splitting his fire, meeting him as he shifted away again. But Para was always a step behind. Plumes of sand were the only thing he saw as Seth circled him, drawing closer and closer to his horrified dismay. He could see him only in flashes readying an attack, arm raising higher and higher, but he couldn’t land a hit. As his metal carapace finally flashed into range, Para finally reacted first. He forced his arms around himself, passed a resenence over his entire body, and flung his arms out hard. A blast of distortion kicked the arena, shook the open shutters above, and rippled the air into deadly form. But pushed nothing but sand away. Because that metal form was nowhere near, the show a faint to wear him out. An arm reared back at the line of the ring, the eyes burning with unmistakable rage, the legs spring loaded and ready. Para’s whiffed last ditch blast left him winded and dazed, only now realizing Seth was no where near. He quickly pulled everything he had into another blast, but a sonic boom reverberating the arena opposite him.

The world found itself in a perceptive hold, slowed to a crawl by overcharged senses. Para was building a blast with his entire body, distortion curling the air around him. Seth’s body had kicked off with all the force it knew how to muster, titanic weight turned to an unstoppable missile. The two were set to clash with power enough to end this fight, to shatter the arena itself, but something appeared in between them before either could actualize that destruction. The eyes noticed it first, an orange shimmer, unmistakable. Seth’s perception deflated, overcharged senses overridden by burned in memory, a dark edge seeping away from his vision. He broke off his attack, desperately pulling his feet up to try to skid to a halt. He couldn’t touch it, couldn't break that kind of truth. Para saw it last and disapated his attack, turning to meet a resounding backhand to the forehead. Seth wasn’t going to stop in time, metal feet cut gorges in the sand and received no meaningful friction. ‘I can’t ruin everything like this, not when I’m-‘ *CLANGGGggg* Seth found himself clotheslined by a round hoplite shield and rebounded backward from the whiplash, landing in a heavy metal heap. All the power that had seeped in and blotted him out fell away. Even the abyss had been whiplashed into submission.

Dazed, sore, still healing from the resonance torture, Seth could only barely pull himself back up. Para was growling in frustration. “What the hell Aegis!?!” He snapped up at this, but was struck by the déjà vu of the scene. Aegis stood over him, daze brightened light and shattered optic glass haloing her on his view screen. She’d hardly changed from when she rescued him, just filled out, and ‘Owe.’ gotten stronger. She still wore her hair back, but there was obviously a lot more of it, and her eyes were still hinted with orange. Her suit really was basically the same, just recolored. In fact it looked like it is exactly the same, some similar wearing and fraying at the seams. And most assuredly she had bulked up since they last met, not to ludicrous levels, but her strength was obvious to the casual observer.

Seth may have stared a little too long, more stunned by her sudden appearance then her physical appearance. Aegis gave a concerned smile down at him. “Sorry, guess I should have stopped you sooner?” Her voice wasn’t as gentle as before, but still held a little childishness. She furled her shield up and stretched out her hand for Seth to take. “Though seeing as the both of you were- hhrrrggg damn you’re heavy… about to turn all the trainees to fucking jelly!! I had to intervene rather poignantly.” Para scoffed, but saw Mediknight had ushered the trainees almost completely back from the ring for their own safety. He quickly ate his humble pie as Mediknight glared like a menacing mother at him. He turned back, bitter at the taste. “I thought you were delayed by a ‘pretty serious save’?” “Yeah, I lied, I was watching from the booth. I knew full well you’d ignore orders and pull the same shit. Again! So I called it in.” “You WHAT!!” “Say hello to your new co-teacher Para, better get used to not being a douche to these trainees 24/7!”

The reassembling trainees and Seth all stood even more shocked, they were getting trained by three members of the Elite. Ohm raised his hand. “This better not count as my promised special training- GOooh!” Maya punched him in the ribs and Para sneered. “Shut the fuck up Clarence! Aegis you can’t be serious, you’re spreading the Elite thin like this.” Aegis crossed her arms. “Oh NOW you care about the Elite’s wellbeing. Well, thankfully the A and B squads are being rotated in and out of long range, sooooo I can do what I see fit. And since you BASICALLY picked a fight with one of your trainees ON DAY ONE!! I’m going to be staying here, keeping you from fucking things up more than you already have. Okay??” She turned away, instead directing her attention at Seth again, who was stunned again in awkwardness. “You’re a pretty good fighter, but in all honesty you really need some work on your self-preservation. Let’s keep to fighting someone who, at the very least, is in your power class.”

Seth was still stunned, but shook off enough of it to take his helmet off to answer her. He twisted the rotary neck joint and popped the helmet off with a short hiss of heated air, revealing his short shock of stark white hair. Helmet head inside an active faraday cage was a mess to be reckoned with though. He noticed and franticly ran his hand over his hair as he lowered his helmet to his side. “I’ll… try to pick my opponents better.” He smiled slightly, drying blood trails from his mouth and ears making things seem a little more dire then they really were.

Aegis smiled slightly in response, but couldn’t hide the serious concern on her face. But what Seth couldn’t see was recollection. He wiped away the blood he could feel, but stopped smiling when she turned to Mediknight, silently motioning for him to check on him. She didn’t remember him, though it had been a while, and he wasn’t exactly as talkative as he was now. Guess she just forgot, or blocked out that part of her life. 'It’s understandable, PTSD is pretty rampant among anyone even close to The Wall, and actually being on the other side of it couldn’t have been easy but...' Seth was zoned out in thought, only adding to Mediknight’s concern as he looked him over. He snapped out of it as Mediknight’s visor dominated his vision. He couldn’t see any sign of emotion, nothing but shadow between the slats, but he could feel he was scanning him. A tinge of worry crept in, a concern he could sense his powers. He turned away before Seth could fail his bluff, giving a thumbs up to Aegis as she gathered up the trainees. “He’s okay.” Seth let his breath out and moved to group up with everyone else, only to be stopped by a plate mail hand. “Don’t let that power of yours consume you. I can understand wanting to hide it, but you’ll need to learn proper self-control before ever attempting something like that again.” Mediknight dropped his hand and moved off. Seth was stuck in both fear and respect, guess there is no hiding anything from a good enough doctor. But he was still determined, and at least had two of the three trainers on his side. Speaking of which he leered at Para as he rejoined the now coalesced and healed up trainees awaiting everyone’s proper introduction.

Aegis kept command of the class. “Okay, now that that is all settled. Welcome to the League of Super’s last official recruitment course. At least for now. This course will work to turn each and every one of you into professional heroes fit to protect this world from anything and everything that may threaten it. From a common convenience store thief, to rampaging genetic monstrosities, to the occasional city busting meteor. You’re going to be ready and able to fight each and every one of these things, and worse. And, thanks to my inclusion, you’re more likely to actually pass this course compared to the previous ones. Seeing as Parasonic over here has been making this course into a meat grinder instead of a training camp.” “Don’t blame me if they can’t keep up, and I still fully expect each and every one of you to fail. Anything otherwise would endanger the League as a whole. The dangers we face as heroes are many, varied, constant, and unforgiving. Even the heroes we have today can’t truly be said to be ready for what may come tomorrow. So I expect you all to fail. That is a preferable outcome over sending off a group of half-assed recruits to die in droves again.” The collective looks of indignation melted at this. But looks of defiant determination broke the gloom, Seth’s included. Para scoffed in response while Aegis smiled.

Mediknight stepped up to break the tension. “You will each be given a room on the periphery of the arena, the rules and regulations for living here are printed on placards in each room. Read and memorize them. Meals are served in the canteen based on the time of day. Its first come first serve, so don’t be late. Training starts when your trainers say so. Expect the unexpected. If they say you’re training at 3:00 AM, you are training at 3:00 AM. Personal training times are allotted for any free time you may receive and wish to use productively. The time table is logged on your personal terminal in your room and on the public one’s in the periphery. Don’t just show up to train whenever you want, you will be leered at and judged an impatient or unobservant moron. Fighting is expected, but rules are in place for this. Set a time slot and fight it out in the arena. No fighting anywhere else. And NO LETHAL DAMAGE. Fight under the allowed rule sets or don’t fight at all.” Mediknight steps back, leaving the floor to Aegis. “That sounds like everything. So, you two can go now, I have the first actual lesson.” Para sneered, but walked off with Mediknight. “Don’t spoil them, you’ll only make their failure worse.” He slammed the locker room door behind them as Aegis smirked at her new trainees.