Chapter 4: Let the Games Begin

Fouzia

Fouzia wasn't sure who her roommate was, but she knew she already knew she was going to kill her. As soon as she entered her new dorm room, she was greeted with a messy room with makeup kits and clothes thrown everywhere. The kids had only been on campus for a few hours, how was it already messy to this extent? Fouzia wasn't a neat freak but starting her first day off in a danger zone of a room was agitating to say the least.

Fouzia dropped her duffle bag on her bed. She sighed as she reached in the bag and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper that had her roommates name on it.

"Sarah." She read aloud.

"You rang?" Fouzia turned to see a pretty girl standing in the doorway.

She was smacking her bubblegum in an obnoxious manner that made her want to yank it out of her mouth.

"Are you Fuowzy?" Sarah asked.

She had a judgmental eye trained on her. Fouzia rolled her eyes. She assumed she was looking at the black headscarf that covered her face.

"It's Fouzia," The girl corrected through gritted teeth. "Fow-zuh." She enunciated.

Sarah smirked and eyed her up and down. Like a lion watching its prey. "Cute outfit."

"Thanks, I wish I could say the same about yours." Fouzia snarled.

Sarah rolled her eyes and plumped down on her mess of a bed. "Well, it's nice to meet you Fonzi, I think we are going to be great roommates. You aren't a terrorist, are you?"

Fouzia's eyes widened in rage. Did she just ask her that? She felt her blood boil and her skin grow hot.

Sarah let off an obnoxious laugh. "I'm just kidding, if you are going to be my roomie you need to learn how to laugh."

Fouzia took a step closer to Sarah. "If you're going to be my roommate, you're going to have to learn some manners."

Sarah crossed her arms. Fouzia could tell she wasn't going to like how strong-willed she was.

"Whatever, I'm out of here." Sarah sighed as she dramatically rolled her eyes.

She walked over to the vanity mirror in the corner of their room and grabbed some eyeliner.

"Where are you going?" Fouzia asked.

"They're calling all freshman to the common room for an announcement," Sarah said.

Fouzia crossed her arms. "What kind of announcement?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Do I look like a teacher? Look be there or don't, I really don't care." She said.

Fouzia rolled her eyes and grumbled as she made her way out of the door. The girls dorm was a long hallway that housed all of the freshmen girls at Morning Star. Loud chatter fluttered throughout the halls. Everyone was excited about the first day, talking, getting to know each other, etc.

"Excuse me!" A voice called.

Fouzia turned to see a blond girl running towards her. She panted heavily.

"You're in my class aren't you?" She asked.

Fouzia raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

She held her hand out to the girl. "Faith."

Fouzia reluctantly shook it.

"How do you know who's in your class?" Fouzia asked.

"They handed class rosters to everybody; they went from dorm to dorm." Faith said.

"My bitchy roommate must have neglected to tell me that." Fouzia sighed. "I'm Fouzia." She said.

Faith smiled. "Nice to meet you, sorry about your roommate though. Let me guess, stereotypical dumb blonde, blue eyes? Personality that makes you want to punch her in the throat?"

"You know her?"

"I was partnered with her during testing and she was a real piece of work."

"I am sorry to hear that. I think I can handle her," Fouzia smirked.

Whatever Sarah's quirk was she was sure it wouldn't be able to take her on.

"I guess I got lucky in the roommate department. Mine's pretty nice, granted she hasn't said a word so I can't tell if she's really being quiet and shy, or just polite." Faith said. Suddenly her face brightened. "Oh my god I just remembered why I came over here, I was going to ask you if you knew where the common room was."

Fouzia nodded. "Yeah, you can walk with me there."

"Awesome, we can meet with my friend Lex." She smiled.

"Both you and your friend got in?" Fouzia said.

She was slightly envious, none of her friends even attempted to try and go to Morning Star.

"Yeah, my first day and I already have three friends here. Lex, my roommate, and now you." Faith smiled.

Fouzia smiled. Perhaps this year wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Come on let's go ahead and go to the common room." She said.

Alexander

"I can't believe we're roommates," Alexander said awkwardly,

Hunter bounced up and down, the boy seemed happy about the arrangement. Alexander, however, was still on the fence.

"I know I'm excited," Hunter said.

It's not that Alexander necessarily had a problem with Hunter, but he was wary of him. He remembered shaking his hand on the bus and feeling something strange and soft. Hunter didn't have normal human skin. In a world full of quirks that wasn't unusual. However, Alexander's instincts were telling him that there was something off with the boy. That he shouldn't be trusted.

Alexander learned that it was best to trust his instincts.

The two boys walked to the common room to see about a dozen other teenagers were already there. He recognized some from the Initiation. Victoria sat on one of the couches, her posture perfect and her smile composed. Across from her sat Sarah, holding a hand mirror delicately applying some lipstick to her pouty lips. Right next to her stood Kaleb, two of his six arms fiddling with something in his pocket.

"Crap, are we late?" Faith panicked.

Two more girls burst into the common room. One was blond and seemed to be out of breath. Alexander turned to look at the second girl. Her appearance surprised him, and it wasn't the black headscarf that covered her face, it was the fact the parts of her he could see were red. Her skin was the same color as a tomato, however it looked strangely soft.

The girl looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Staring problem much?" She asked.

Alexander blushed. "Sorry."

Hunter stepped up and smiled. "Forgive my roommate, he's just amazed by your beauty."

Fouzia sneezed loudly causing Alexander to jump slightly.

"Bless you." Hunter said.

"Thank you, sorry my allergies were kicking in." Fouzia said.

"And what are you allergic to?" Hunter asked.

"Bullshit." Fouzia smirked.

Alexander burst out laughing, while Hunter smirked. "I like this one, she's fiery."

"Oh, you have no idea, fuckboy." She laughed.

Faith smiled. "It's official we are becoming best friends."

Their conversation was cut short by a teacher walking in. She was a middle Eastern woman with tanned skin and a runner's physique. Her hair was spiky and the color of the sea, which matched her bright green eyes. However, the most interesting thing about her appearance was the pitch-black freckles that dotted her face.

"Ahem, are all of my students present?" She asked.

There was a chorus of responses that made her smile.

"Hello class, my name is Mrs. Zambiea, you all may know me as the hero Quickstep." She smiled.

Kaleb gasped. "No way, you're Quickstep!"

"Jesus, fucking fanboy." Sarah groaned.

"Language." Mrs. Zambiea warned.

Sarah gulped before forcing a smile. "Sorry, ma'am."

"Good, now that you all are present it's time to prepare for our first assignment." She said.

Victoria raised her hand which earned an eye roll from Hunter.

"Ma'am classes don't start till tomorrow, what exactly are we being assessed on?" Victoria asked.

Mrs. Zambiea. "Your academic classes may start tomorrow, however, your hero training will have no schedule. That's because heroes have no schedule, you must always be prepared for every outcome. Because if not that could mean death for innocent civilians and even yourselves. Do you understand?"

Victoria nodded. "Yes, I do."

The logic made sense to Alexander. You couldn't study to be a hero, you needed quick thinking and the will to help others. That wasn't something that could be taught in the classroom.

"Nonetheless, I read all your files and I am confident you all will do fine." She smiled.

"Fine on what?" Fouzia asked.

Mrs. Zambiea smiled. "Our first assignment is a test on how well you can use your quirks. I want you to look around at your classmates."

Alexander looked at each one of them. Studying their various faces.

"You will be split into groups of two and put into an arena. There you two will fight until someone no longer can." She said.

"What happens if we lose?" Sarah gulped.

"Let's just say you don't want to be the one that loses." Mrs. Zambiea eyed the students. "Let the games begin."

Lex

"This is insane," Lex mumbled.

He currently sat in the boy's locker room looking down at a large black box in his lap. It had his name engraved in fancy golden leaders, with the school logo just under it.

Lex, as well as all the other boys were either already dressed or changing into their gym uniforms. Black sweats and shirts with red stripes and lions on the back.

"What's the matter afraid you're going to lose?" A boy, who Lex learned was name Jake taunted.

Lex rolled his eyes. "I'm not afraid, I just don't' want to start fighting a bunch of strangers before school even starts."

"Pussy." He laughed.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Jake, can you shut up?"

Jake smirked. "Am I supposed to be scared of you?"

Matt took a step forward and smiled. "You don't have to be scared of me; you just need to know that I could knock you out without even breaking a sweat."

"Come on guys save it for the arena." Hunter cackled.

The boy clapped his hands with a mad grin on his face. Lex could tell he was getting a rise out of this dysfunction. Lex looked back down at the box in his hands. The school crafted hero costumes for all of the students, of course, they took the student's input, but it always came down to what they thought was most practical.

He opened the box and smiled when he saw the purple hood he requested. Inside the box was also a half max, gloves with hardened knuckles, black combat boots, and some googles. Lex smiled. As crazy as all of this was at least he got to wear a dope outfit.

Lex reached into his pocket and pulled out the class roster that was he emailed to him. He took the liberty of printing it out this morning.

Mrs. Zambiea's Class Roster:

Girl 1- Aerolynn Altherr

Boy 1- Alexander Aspida

Girl 2- Victoria Crown

Boy 2- Alexander "Lex" Dayton

Girl 3- Aurélie Duax

Boy 3- Matthew Freeman

Girl 4- Maryanne Isla

Boy 4-Jarret Han

Girl 5- Cleo McScream

Boy 5- Jake Hyde

Girl 6- Faith Ritter

Boy 6- Kevin Odeymi

Girl 7- Sarah Smith

Boy 7- Kaleb Rexavi

Girl 8- Fouzia Zambiea

Boy 8- Hunter Sato

Lex stopped when he reached Fouzia's name. She had the same last name as their teacher.

"What the hell?" He asked.

"Guys!" Alexander called.

All the boys in the locker room turned to look at Alexander.

"What do you want virgin?" Jake asked.

Alexander ignored him and turned to the others. "The first competitors have been posted."

"Well, who is it?" Matt asked.

Alexander looked at Hunter awkwardly. "You're going first."

Hunter smirked. "Sounds fun,"

"Against Faith." Alexander continued.

Alexander's eyes slowly wandered to Lex who gave him a stink eye. He didn't like this combination at all. He was confident in Faith's abilities, but Hunter was twice her size and he seemed like a delinquent. The kind of kid that jumped boys like Lex for their lunch money.

"Well," Hunter said as he clapped. "This is going to be interesting."

Next Time: Cold Blood