I need to postpone publishing to the next few chapters as I need to study for exams but I will get it done as soon as possible. It also doesn't help that the next chapter is the hardest for me to write so far. Still wish me luck and enjoy reading.

Chapter 11

"Wakey, wakey," Summer yawned and opened her eyes only to be blinded by a bright light above her. Well, not an especially bright one, just a plain old light bulb. She squinted until her eyes adjusted. She sat at a plain metal table; her hands abound in front of her with her captor sitting across from her, minus his mask. His hood was down, revealing a pair of sheep ears and cropped black hair. This confirmed her suspicions: this man was a member of the White Fang, "Good morning, Miss Rose," now that his voice was clearer, the man seemed quite blunt and his voice cut through the silence like the bark of a dog.

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Cyclopes," he answered, "But here, I ask the questions," he stood, "Who are the Reapers to you?"

"What?"

"We know that you came into the city with the man called Vulcan. If you give us any information you have, you can leave,"

"Screw you," she snarled.

"Quite rude, but an expected attitude from a future Huntress," he pulled out a revolver, "I can respect that, but it's my job to find out what you know," he slammed the butt of the gun into her stomach. She cried out but bit back the pain, "Once again, tell me what you know about the Reapers,"

"I don't know anything," the cadet said through gritted teeth, "I'm not exactly the grand master or anything,"

"So you do work for them,"

"No, I've only met one,"

"You see, I don't like being lied to," he chambered a single bullet and spun the chamber, "so if you want to play the tough girl, let's play. What do you know about the Reapers?"

Panic began to form in Summer's mind, "I swear, I don't know anything about-"

"Wrong," Cyclopes held the gun to her forehead and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked. Nothing. She sighed in relief, "Let's try that again," he spun the barrel once more.

"If you think I know something, why would you kill me?"

"To prove a point. You see, you probably think your friends are searching for you right now, but that won't ever happen. Vulcan on the other hand may have a chance at rescuing you were it not for one small problem," Cyclopes walked over to only door, which was behind her and knocked twice. There was a lot of shuffling beyond her vision but eventually she saw three men enter, two holding the third. They threw him into the seat opposite her. The other captive was much worse for wear than she was. His lips and nose were a mess of blood and his left eye was wedged shut from a black eye but he still managed to smile.

"Long time no see Summer," Vulcan said, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this,"

Before she could comment on her mentor's sorry state, Cyclopes slammed the gun on the table, "Ok, Reaper, now that you know that we are serious about killing your apprentice-"

"Partner," Summer mumbled.

"-perhaps you could be a bit more liberal with your secrets,"

"I told you, I'd rather die," Vulcan said calmly. He was in serious mode which was both good and bad. He was not messing around this time unlike some times when they'd fought but that meant that the situation was far more dangerous than she initially thought, and it had been bad enough.

Cyclopes chuckled and began to scratch his chin, then without warning, punched Vulcan hard in the face, "And what about little Rose here? Do you want to see her die? Summer, be a doll and turn that gun on yourself or Vulcan dies,"

Vulcan shot up and tried to strangle his tormentor, "I'll break you in two if you keep playing with us, Cyclopes," the other two men grabbed the Huntsman and forced him back into the seat.

"We're going to play a game of Remnant Roulette until one of you breaks or one of you breaks or one of you is dead. Now Summer, fire,"

Forced to comply for now, the Huntress-to-be brought the gun barrel to her temple. Her tied hands were making things difficult. She had read about the torture games crime gangs put their victims through. It felt a lot less exciting now that she was the one about to pull the trigger.

"Focus, Summer," Vulcan drummed three of his fingers on the table to snap her out of her thoughts, "Think, and calm down,"

A thought occurred to her. It wouldn't save them but it bought time, "How about some incentive," she said, "every shot we take, you answer a question,"

"I'm starting to wonder if you understand how this game works," Cyclopes remarked.

"But its how we're going to play if you want our co-operation," she fired. No bullet. She dropped the gun on the table, "Why are the White Fang doing this?"

"Ah, so you caught that," Cyclopes twisted the ring on his finger around, "This is a favour I suppose you could so, nothing personal. We're normally a peaceful group but our friends were… persuasive. You're turn Vulcan," The Huntsman took the gun. He rubbed the side of his head with his middle and index finger as if he had a migraine. Not exactly the most pressing concern she thought, but he looked a lot cooler than she felt right now, "Anyone feeling like owning up now?" Cyclopes asked.

Vulcan fired another shot, a blank and without missing a beat, Summer asked another question, "Why are you called Cyclopes?"

The member of the White Fang laughed, "You are in a life or death situation and that's your question? Fine. My position warrants anonymity. Remind you of anyone?" he cast a glance at Vulcan, "Probability is starting to turn against you now. I'm not sure how many more chances you have left,"

Summer took up the gun, her hand shaking slightly. He was right, luck wasn't on her side now and she wasn't sure she could pull the trigger twice and survive. She looked to Vulcan for guidance since he was now in teaching/serious mode, only to see that he was smiling. How can you smile at a time like this? she thought. Then she noticed his hand; one finger tapping lightly on the table. She looked into his eyes and saw the slightest movement, a barely noticeable inclination of his head towards the revolver and then a second, just as light nod of the head. Can he… has he been counting down? How could he know which one had the bullet, even if he had been here? But she wasn't exactly swimming in options and she trusted her mentor, after all. She could put her like in the hands of his good judgement.

"I refuse,"

"What was that?" Cyclopes approached her angrily.

"I said I'm not doing this,"

"Oh really?" One of the guards stepped towards her as well while the other moved over to Vulcan. Her retrained hands were going to be a problem but she was ready.

"I said… no!" for the second time that day, Summer smashed her captor's nose, with her forehead this time. Cyclopes stumbled back in pain and Summer spun out of the chair, using the butt of the revolver to knock the hand of the guard behind her aside as he reached to grab her and kicked him away. Vulcan, meanwhile, grabbed the other guard and attempted to put him in a sleeper hold.

Cyclopes drew a knife and lunged at his erstwhile captive. Summer's whole body went cold but not from being stabbed as she initially believed. The blade kept coming, but it now moved at a glacial pace, as did Vulcan, the guards, everything. Even her own body moved at a fraction of the normal pace. Only her eyes darted around at ordinary speed. She felt the same sensation of pins and needles that she felt when her semblance was used but this was on another level. Her Aura wasn't just warning her of her surroundings, it was changing how she looked at it.

With almost comical ease, she twisted away from the danger of the knife over what felt like forever. She noticed she moved noticeably faster than the others, even at this speed. She cut her bonds on the knife's edge. Now freed, she aimed the gun at him. She could kill him now and he could do nothing to stop her. He wouldn't hesitate, and after all, there was only one bullet, she needed to make it count. Her grip on the gun tightened. Was this what being the best was? Was this what was expected of a Hunter? Was this what haunted Vulcan? Having a life at your mercy and taking it?

She tried to form the word but her lips moved too slowly. Instead, she just thought it, "No," She fired and hit Cyclopes in the shoulder just as time seemed to return to normal. The White Fang member fell clutching the wound from the shot. The guard came at her again but this time she reversed her grip on the gun so she was holding the barrel in her palm just like Cyclopes had to her and swung it into his face. Her attacker subdued, Summer looked to Vulcan. The guard in his hold was still struggling to free himself. Vulcan nodded, "Go ahead, I'll catch up,"

Summer was torn but made a spilt-second decision to bolt for the door. She needed to find her weapon and more guards were bound to be coming. She burst through the door into a hall. There were few identifying features so she chose right at random and was rewarded with a small sign saying "Atrium" That was an entrance or something right? she thought but had no time to mull it over. The next corner she turned had a door with "Way Out" over it. But guarding that door were a pair of men, each as surprised to see her as she was to see them.

"Uh-oh," was the only thing she could say before the two of them reached for the pistols at their waists. It was times like these that a person's Fight-Or-Flight reflex kicked in and Summer knew from a year's training that she wasn't a runner. She sprang forward towards the one on the left who had almost brought the gun up to fire her right palm knocked the gun aside and pinned it to the wall as it fired, hitting the wall a few metres behind them.

Knowing that the second guard was a second or two from firing, Summer used all her speed to nut her opponent and toss him at his companion. The corridor was narrow enough that they collided before the pistol went off. By the time the unharmed man recovered, the cadet was on him, throwing elbows and punches until he was dazed and finishing by slamming him head against the wall to knock him unconscious. Brutal but efficient, as Vulcan often said.

She took their ammunition and one of their pistols as well as a concealed short sword and a swipe card she needed to get through the door. Several deserted corridors later and she finally found the atrium. The grand hall was cold enough to make her hair stand on end and the light was confined to torches directed towards the walls and ceiling. Above her head was a massive painting, a mural of the night sky with the stars perfectly placed and proportioned. Only the moon was fake, a hologram projection constantly depicting the real one shattering and reassembling itself.

The walls were barely seen in the half-light but they too were painted, but not of nature. Each section was a different scene from a battlefield. Most were unseen or unrecognisable but some she instantly knew: the Battle of High Fall, the Laeran Rear-guard, the Final Stand of the 22nd Mistral Army. There must have been dozens of such scenes in the room.

"You finally came," a shadow moved in front of the exit opposite her, "Though you escaped Cyclopes faster than I expected,"

"Who are you?" Summer asked cautiously.

"Call me Lilith," she tossed a long, metallic object towards her; Moonshard, she realised, "I believe you were looking for this,"

Summer was smart enough not to go for her weapon immediately, but she continued talking while she edged closer to it, "What is this place? The White Fang is a civil rights group not some covert organisation with massive fortresses,"

"Such a naïve girl," Lilith chuckled, "Look around you,"

Summer initially assumed the woman was giving her answer but it was in fact, half a warning, half gloating. In the shadows were more figures, armed and armoured with all weapons trained on her. One wore a hoplite helmet and carried two short swords, one held a trident two-handed and one carried a pair of sai. They had been waiting for her.

"There's nowhere to run," a figure standing on a balcony above the door she just came through. The voice was all too familiar. How in the name of Remnant di Cyclopes recover from a bullet wound so quickly?

"Summer!" Vulcan was running through the doorway and Cyclopes vaulted the railing to cut him off. Summer didn't think, she just acted. As the White Fang member hit the ground, she shot him again, in the lower back this time. Vulcan collided with him and both sprawled to the ground, dazed. Summer turned back to the figures, ready to defend her now-helpless mentor from the attacks she was expecting. But none of the shadows had advanced except Lilith who was now properly visible. This didn't seem to make her any more distinguishable. Everything about her seemed so bland, Summer found it difficult to remember, like a dream.

"Bravo, little Rose," she clapped, "You have performed admirably, but the game stops here,"

"I'll take you all on if I have to," she swiped the sword forward in an attempt to make them back off but the gesture was as pointless as it was feeble. Lilith only smiled.

"You can't even take on one," a voice brushed past her ear, the same one she was sure was out for the count. Twice.

Cyclopes twisted her sword hand into an arm-lock and slammed her into the ground like a cop about to cuff a criminal, "You've done very well, girl," the Faunas said, "So I'm giving you one last chance; give us what we want or you and Vulcan die,"

"I'll die before giving into you," Summer was so exhausted that it would be easy to assume tiredness had driven her insane but the truth was that she was just that suicidally stubborn. Vulcan really was a bad influence on her.

"You know what, Summer Rose?" he smiled, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear," without warning, the Faunas let her go, "Looks like she passes,"

The hall suddenly lit up, banishing the shadows. Summer was still trying to process what her tormentor had said. Passed what? she thought.

Meanwhile, Cyclopes lifted Vulcan up, "Quite a stubborn recruit you have here. She has what it takes,"

"I told you she did," Vulcan half-smiled, half-grimaced.

"Excuse me, but what the hell is going on?" Summer was so confused and tired and angry, she didn't even realise that she was half-shouting as she stood on shaking knees.

"I'm sorry, Summer," Vulcan looked at her in pity, "but we- and when I say that I mean everyone here but me- needed to test you. We had to be sure you were Reaper material. The White Fang didn't kidnap you, though Cyclopes is a member. This isn't a fortress for the Faunas Civil Rights Movement, it's the Reaper Headquarters. Every gun here has rubber bullets, hence why Cyclopes kept getting back up. Everyone you fought was on our payroll in order to test you under pressure,"

"What?!" now she was fully shouting.

"Your mentor told you that you would be tested by us," Lilith smiled a forgetful smile, "Cyclopes' test involves putting a candidate in a life-threatening position and see if they defy their captors or break. You did not break,"

"This was a test?" she screamed in incredulity.

Vulcan started to worry about Summer's temper, "I think I'll take her to the med centre," he suggested, "I think she may be going into shock and we may need to see if the Ashes Module is working too well,"

"What the HELL is going on?" was the last thing she said before being dragged off by her mentor.

Comments and critisism are welcome. Thanks for reading!