Cassandra felt her head ringing as it hit the hard floor. Stars floated into her line of vision. The dojo's ceiling spun above her as if she were spinning. Her shoulder stung from the impact. However, her face remained neutral, oblivious of any pain. Her mind was clear of both pain and frustration. She kept calm as she stood and faced her opponent.

A tall fifteen year old boy stood across from her waiting. He was shitless, showing off a six back. His arms and legs were lined with muscle. His tanned skin glistened with sweat. His dark, almost black, hair was buzzed and out of the way. His dark eyes ran across her, as calculating her next move. Unlike most teenage boys he did not taunt, tease, or try to provoke her. Like her, his features were emotionless.

They started circling each other, waiting for the other to strike first. Eyes locked as they continue this repetitive dance, until; finally, the boy decides to make the first strike. He aims a shark kick. Cassandra sidesteps the blow, and counters it with a fast blow to the ribs. The boy lets out a grunt, but otherwise doesn't show his pain. He returns her attack with a roundhouse kick to the stomach, but Cassandra moves at the last moment, and his kick nicks her thigh. They continue exchanging and blocking blows, but eventually Cassandra grows bored and finally lets loose. She knocks his wrist with a vicious jab, a sharp echoed throughout the deserted dojo, and she does a perfect Iron-Butterfly kick. Both of her feet meet soft flesh, one in the jaw, the other in the throat. The boy finally shouts out in pain, clutching his throat and struggling to breathe. Cassandra doesn't show mercy, she kicks his legs out from under, landing him flat on his back. She glares down at him, daring him to get up, but he remains on his back, raising his arm in defeat. She had won.

Only then did a smile appear across her bruised face. "Looks like I won another match, X-ray."

X-ray, whose real name was Simon, growled, or at least tried with his injured jaw, "Cockiness is not becoming of you, Twitch."

Cassandra's grin widens. Twitch was her nickname. "It's not cockiness, when it's a true fact that I am awesome. You really need to write that down. Twitch is awesome." Twitch extended her hand to help him, ignoring the dirty look he shot her. Reluctantly, X-ray let himself be help to his feet. "You probably should go see Mother. Your jaw might be broken, I'm sorry if it is."

X-ray reached up and poked his chin, he winced slightly. "I going have to suck food through a straw for a week and its all your fault."

"You told me not to hold back."

"But, you did, until the last moment, I thought I actually had a chance,' he accused, even though it hurt to move his jaw.

"Stop talking and go see Mother, she will have the best doctors to fix you. You can tell her I did it, and that I'm willingly accept my punishment."

X-ray was already walking away from her before she finished, shaking his head. "No, I'll just tell her I slipped going down the stair. Technically, it was my fault for giving you a free reign."

She smiled even though he was already gone, leaving her alone in the dojo. He was a good friend; even he was stupid enough to challenge her. She knew Father and Mother would have punished her for damaging him, they probably lock her in her room for a whole day with no television, and she would only be given water and a slice of bread to eat. They must always be in prime condition, always.

Twitch just hoped that Fibber wasn't there when He tells his little story. She would rat him out for lying, the little suck up brat. Lying to Mother and Father was a sin. Twitch decided not to worry about believing his wits will be enough. She plucked the tower hanging from the rack and wiped the sweat from her eyes, and then head for the girls' locker room. After she showered and dressed in comfortable T-shirt and jeans, she gazed at herself in the mirror. A pretty, yet tough fifteen year old girl stared back at her. She had light tone skin. Her wet blond hair flowed down her back. She had baby blue eyes with an edge to them. Her body was lean and muscular. She was at an average height of 5'6. Cuts and bruises scattered across her skin, giving her a tough look. Twitch, however, didn't really care about how she looked; it was the wiry toughness inside that gave her pride and made her dangerous. She quickly tied her hair in a ponytail and left the locker room.

Today was a free day. All the kids could do whatever, they wanted. Some went shopping, with an escort of course, while others just hung out in the game room. Twitch had decided to put in extra training, like she usually did when she had free time. Before her sparring session with X-ray she had went outside to shooting ranges where she practiced her knife throwning, another skill she excelled at. She had thrown a dozen knives in an hour, each reaching its target. However, now she was making her way to another training session she still wasn't completely mastered yet. Today was the day, she thought to herself. Of course that what she told herself every time she went to these sessions, she had improved overtime and had meet Mother and Father's expectation, but she knew she could do better. Twitch made her way down a vacant hallway line with white walls, went down a flight steps and turned into the first door on the left, leading into what looked like another dojo with its plain gray walls, red padding and practice dummies. The room was empty except for a few scattered objects, a doll, a porcelain plate, and a single arrow. They might have been strange objects to find in such a place, but not for Twitch. New items always popped up here, they were necessary for her to practice.

Twitch stared at the doll first, concentration. She took in every detail. The yellow yarn, the button eyes, and even each checker pattern on the dress. She reached out to the doll with her mind. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then her brows creased and the doll lifted into the air and then was thrown across the room. Twitch had telekinesis.

Twitch has been able move things with her with her mind ever since she could remember. Her parents abandon her when she was four, they couldn't handle such freakiness. She was dropped on the doorsteps of the Academy. The Academy was located an hour away from New York City. However, nobody knew where it was unless they were students, staff, or had special connections. The Academy was run by a middle-aged couple, Headmaster Samuel Collon and Head Mistress Juliet Collon, but all the students' call them Father and Mother. They are the only parents most of the students ever known, or care to remember. Every child at Academy was gifted abnormal abilities, and was abandon because of it. The Academy was more than a school it was family. Like so many, they had taken Twitch and given her a home and taught her more about her gift, that it was not something to fear, but to be used and enjoyed. Under their guidance she had learned how to control her abilities.

Besides learning how to use their abilities, students at Academy were taught various other skills that included material arts taught by the best material art teacher, survival skills, weaponry, and academics taught by college professors. Every child was trained to become deadly mercenaries since the day they can walk, or the day they arrive at the Academy. They were taught that the world had treated them like freaks and dumped them like trash. Only the Academy was family the rest of the world was cruel, heartless, and greedy. The only way for them to remain in this world is to become useful. They were hired by various people, it didn't matter who it was, CIA, M16, the Mafia, or simple family feud, as long as they can afford their services. The money from the assignments went to provide for the Academy and its children.

They were valuable for not only because of their gifts, but also because of their youth. No one suspect a thirteen year old to be any threat, or a fifteen year old to be a trained assassin. Twitch herself had already succeeded two missions in less than a year. She was one of the best. She was precise, clever, quick and ruthless. She was one of the Academy's prodigies. If only she could master every inch of her gift, she would be number one to Mother and Father.

This thought gave her motivation and the ability to concentrate, as she focused her mind on the porcelain plate. She succeeded easily on lifting, but now came the part that demanded more of her concentration. Unlike, the doll she didn't simply throw it across the room, she let float in midair, before slowly making move towards her. She only dropped it once, but quick it caught before it shattered on the floor. The plate slowly made its way over to Twitch, and when it finally made it over to her, she plucked the fragile plate with her hand out of the air. She let her mind rest as she smiled at her success. It had down this millions of times, but only succeeded six times without the plate breaking. She carefully placed the plate on the ground, and turns her attention to her new target, the arrow.

She had only started using the arrow this week. She only mange hitting the target once and it wasn't even a direct hit. Today she promised herself it will be different. Once again she cleared her mind and focused only on the arrow head on the ground. The arrow slowly levitated in the air. That was the easy part. She now had to focus her attention on not only the arrow, but also the target. She aimed the arrow at a punching dummy; she focused on the chest area, and at the same time kept the arrow in the air. Her eyes narrowed, as she felt her mind split, one part concentrating on the target, the other on the arrow. Once she was completely focused, did the arrow fly across the room, hitting the dummy with a thud. She stared at where the arrow had land. The arrow was buried just slightly below the chest. It wasn't an exact bulls-eye, but it was close enough to be a instant kill if the dummy were an actual person.

Before Twitch could ravel in her little victory, a sharp squeal pierced her ears. Twitch turn around sharply, but she instantly calmed when she saw her little sister standing in the doorway. Emily, or as everyone else called her Oracle. She had been abandon along with Twitch; she had been a baby at the time, so she remembers nothing about their real parents. She's probably better off not knowing the cruel people who abandon them, and Twitch refuse to talk about them any time Oracle asked. Oracle was almost a mirror image of her older sister, same baby blue eyes, same fare hair and same light skin. However, while Twitch's eyes were cold and dangerous, Oracle's still had the look of innocence. Twitch had made it her job to protect her sister; she was the only real family she had, so Twitch had taken on the role as parent more than an older sister. She would put extra time to practice with her sister, making her stronger and more confident. She wouldn't allow her to go on her first mission until she was positive that Oracle was ready. Twitch was like a she-wolf protecting her pup.

"You did it, Twitch," Oracle said, beaming. 'But I knew you would succeed today, so I wanted to come down to cheer you on."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Twitch asked, smiling back.

Oracle ragged her little finger. "That would be cheating, besides it wouldn't be as exciting if you knew ahead of time."

Oracle was gifted like Twitch, but she had a different ability. She could predict the future. This was probably why she was abandon along with Twitch. Twitch had little memory of her life before the Academy, but what she did remember was hearing her baby sister screaming in the middle of the night for no reason, or sometimes Oracle eyes would lose their focus, as if she were in some far off place. Those little incidents must have made their parents realize that they had another abnormal child.

Oracle visions came to her at random, sometimes at night, and sometime during the day. Sometimes they were little things like if they were going have a surprise test the next day, which was very helpful to Twitch. Other times they were major events like when Twitch received her first assignment, Oracle had predicted that the mission would be successful, and it did. Her vision had also predicted Twitch being shot, by knowing when and where, Twitch was able to prevent her death. Twitch had bought her a pound of candy for saving her life, Oracle had a sweet tooth.

"You need to tell Mother and Father, they will give you an award," Oracle said in excitement. "They're in the library."

"Do you know the award?"

She nodded mischievously, "But, I'm not going to spoil the surprise, trust me you're going to like it."

"Alright, I guess you know best," Twitch said.

"You're tight I do know."

Twitch rolled her eyes, but still smiled fondly as her little sister. They then left the training room and made their way back up the stairway. As they walked they talked about what Oracle did today. Oracle had gone into the city with her friend Kelly. Kelly was the same age as Oracle, and had the ability to change people's moods. If they were angry, Kelly just has to look at them, and they would act as if they won the lottery. Oracle and Kelly had gone shopping for a new tea set with their escorts. Mother and Father give all the students an allowance to spend on anything they wanted at the end of the week. If they pleased Mother and Father they received extra, especially if they succeeded on a mission. As they spoke they pass through hallways and other students enjoying the weekend. The hallways lead to more stairs they had to climb. Doors on the alls lead to various classrooms. The dormitories were split form boys and girls. Girls' third floor, boys' on the fourth. The academy consisted of five floors total, including the basement. The sister finally came to a halt on the second floor in front of a grand looking door that leads to the library. Twitch knocked politely.

"Come in," came a woman's voice from behind it.

They push through the door to find themselves in a massive library. Two stories of books displayed before them. Tables laid in to rows, there were enough to seat half of the students. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. A twisty wooden stair case led to the second floor. A massive window gave a view of the garden below. Black computer hummed on some the tables. A few students occupied the tables. Some were catching up on school work, others playing computers games, and others were simply reading. Sitting on one of the table alone was a thin mousy brown haired middle-aged woman. Her gray eyes glaze across the pages of a black book from behind of a pair of spectacles. Her dull light skin showed signs of aging, winkles could be seen around her forehead as she concentrated on the word on the page. She wore a dull gray sweater with a long black skirt that ran down to her ankles. Once she finally finishes the page she looks at the two girls in front of her. A soft warm smile spread across her face, revealing perfect white teeth.

"Cassandra, Emily, what a pleasant prize to see you on such a fine day," the woman said.

"Hello, Mother," the sisters said in unison. Twitch then stepped forward. "Mother we have come to tell of my recent success with telekinesis." Twitch goes explaining the glass plate and the arrow.

Mother's smile widen with pride, as she stands up and walks toward Twitch. She grasp in a quick hug. "Well, done my dear. I shall inform Father, he will be very pleased. You will receive a bonus in your allowance as an award for you accomplishment."

"Thank you, Mother," Twitch said.

"You have increased your value greatly; you should expect more missions in the near future."

Twitch's eyes sparked with excitement.