Hell Week Part 2: Welcome to my Nightmare

Sirius and James learn a brand new meaning to the word Hell as Virgil, Aasne, Alex, Darah, Yoshiiku, and Ayase shatter their preconceptions of themselves and the ability to fend off attacks, physical and magical alike. They learn where their education has been lacking.

Cast:

Aasne Hultz- Scarlett Johansen

Alex Adams- Sebastian Stan

Darah Rhodes- Kat Graham

Yoshiiku Ikari- Jet Li

Ayase Arashi- Kumiko Aso

"Welcome to my nightmare

Welcome to my breakdown

I hope I didn't scare you

That's just the way we are when we come down

We sweat and laugh and scream here

'cause life is just a dream here

You know inside you feel right at home here"

Excerpt from Welcome to my Nightmare by Alice Cooper

Sirius' POV

Normally he would have scoffed at words like that which came out of his new CO's mouth. Of all his faults, no one could ever accuse him of having any sense of self preservation. But something in Virgil Hultz's voice sent a shiver down Sirius' spine. It was very different from the sense of fear he felt when fighting Death Eaters, being in the middle of a war. It was the shock of cold water dousing you. A sense of foreboding, of knowing that you were about to learn that everything you thought you knew was wrong, and learning that you would not be the same person that walked in to the building.

Schooling his features as he always had, he wore a mask as he entered the building, moving towards the vaults right after James. His best mate's movements were sluggish, he was filled with much the same feelings he was, he was sure. This was unchartered territory for them. More so than the shift over into the New World. He decided he did not want to remain on this train of thought so instead he chose to pull up the image of the gorgeous, fierce looking Deanna Paine with eyes like ice and smile as dangerous as any curse or blade.

He had his pick of the ladies of Hogwarts, had been with many girls. But he had never laid his eyes on a woman that looked like her before! Everything about her was a challenge, a provocation. She reminded him of a white tiger and he had been entranced, HIM! He who was usually entrancing others, more often than not without even intending to. "Yes, I will be watching her." he thought to himself as he handed in his wand. As he did he felt a strange sense of release. As though the weight of all the Pureblood lies had been lifted off of him as he watched it be locked away.

As apprehensive as he felt about what was about to start, he was also intrigued by the training. It was certainly more well rounded and realistic than anything he and James and received in the Auror Training program. He was very interested in learning how to win a physical fight, how to incorporate such techniques in a magickal duel or battle. He was rudely brought out of his thoughts as a voice yelled out to them all. The sheer volume shocked him to the point he blanked out, eyes turning to what looked to be a very large auditorium. Not long after James as well as Eric and Sam found him and walked him over in the back of the rest of the crowd.

A dangerous looking blonde woman was standing next to his CO wearing a smirk that caused him to gulp. Her stance was casual, deceptively so. Deadly, a woman who seemed like her secrets had secrets. There was something predatory in the way she looked at all of them. Though she did not look directly at him he felt utterly naked. There was others standing with them. A dark haired man with eyes nearly black, well built, a intelligence there and an awareness of the room that could only come from having spent YEARS out in the field. He stood a bit back from others, his arms folded across his chest. His hair was left long, stopping half an inch from his shoulders.

The closest to him was one of the most gorgeous females he had ever seen. The only one that seemed of similar age as the rest of the recruits. Mocha skin paired with beguiling jade eyes, black hair swept back in a tight intricate braid that was pinned to her head and an a disarming smile. Yet the power that came off the girl was unlike anything he felt before. It filled the entirety of the room with an ease that he found himself envying. He liked her immediately, there was a glint in her eyes that told him had she been at Hogwarts they would have been good friends indeed!

Directly behind the blonde and his CO were two others. They looked older than the others, asian in origin. The male had his hair cropped short, his stance and build speaking of years of self discipline and training. He wore a smirk that just screamed trouble, looking like he knew he was going to enjoy what came after. There was something utterly lethal in his eyes. Something he was sure that would even have Voldemort second guessing himself and taking a step back. He had to admit, he was curious about that one. The stories he must have!

The female in an odd way reminded him of Dumbledore. Well, before he found out about what Albus had got up to in his youth and carried over into the war, that was. Where the others were utterly fierce, there was wisdom in those black eyes. Knowledge that came from years of experience. Her stance was easier than all the others. As though she felt no need for it, like she could handle whatever came and so had no reason to always feel as though she needed to be alert. Yet he felt that this did not mean he should feel like he could relax around her. Such easiness in the world they lived in had to be earned after all. More than the others, she would be able to know all their faults.

He was drawn out of his thoughts as the fierce blonde began to speak. "Now that we have your undivided attention, bring your eyes to the front!" her voice cracked out like a whip. Everything went dead silent. There was an amused look in his CO's eyes while her's continued to peruse the crowd. "With your wands you are to leave everything you think you know about magick, and about yourselves. Your pride we will take from you first. It has no place here. Pride gets you killed. Being unprepared gets you killed. And you my dear little idiots, are unprepared! Your schooling, your lessons, your magick little homes and charmed little lives have made you weak, made you dependent!

Useless without a wand in your hand! So weak and so easy to kill! A muggle with training and a gun could end you all before you could shoot off one spell. Always remember, a bullet moves at the speed of sound, it takes less than a second to pull a trigger, I promise you, a man with a gun will always be faster than a man with a wand!" her words struck at him in a way he never anticipated! Sure, in his head he knew that, with what little exposure he had through Lils to the muggle world, but being here, its like it finally cemented!

"These next few weeks will do one of two things to you. You will either break utterly under the weight of that weakness, being shown how deeply it runs in you, or you will break and let yourself to be reformed, made into something faster, stronger, smarter, better. One thing is always true, once you leave these walls, you will not be the same person you were before you entered. So now it comes to it. For those of you who do not think you can handle this, that you made a mistake and wish to return to your ignorance and self delusions, now is the time for you to leave. The vaults will open for you to retrieve your things and you will be escorted off the premises. No one will stop you. Be honest with yourself. Can you really handle this? To be broken and remade, to change everything about yourself?

To not recognize who you see in the mirror? I will leave you in silence to make your decision. Those who decide not to stay may make their way towards the back." Sirius could not help it, he had always been a curious creature, and so trying to be discreet he looked around out of the corners of his eyes. There were a few who did not look ashamed to admit to themselves that maybe this program was not for them. He did not blame them. Not everyone was meant to live that life. Tales of legends and longing for glory was one thing, but being a living part of those tales actually going through those trials was entirely another. He and James of all people would know!

When the last had retrieved their things the blonde spoke again. "For those of you that are left, you better hope you made the right decision. Because that was the last chance to bow out gracefully. But I digress. Back to business!" an evil smile spread across her face. "We here are your instructors, mentors, your commanding officers, and your own personal demons for the next few weeks. If you progress past that, one of us will take you into specialization training. So introductions I think are in order, so I shall start. My name is Aasne Hultz, yes I am your CO's older sister, head of Intelligence. It is my job to get inside your head, show you yourself, make you better, think faster, and view everything from all angles in the field.

I promise you, I am your worst nightmare come to life! You will call me Agent Hultz or nothing at all." During her speech, Sirius looked at James who looked like he was trying to hide sheer terror. He smirked a little. The Agent in a way reminded him of Lils. Which meant Prongs was terrified! The beautiful African American girl came up next. "Many of you looked up to me with looks of relief as you came in. I will be your first lesson. You should never trust what you first see. Nothing is ever as it appears, and if you were expecting a pushover, well, I guess you will just have to see, won't you?" he heard the snickers from the other instructors behind her.

"I am the one that gets called in when things go wrong. Name is Darah Rhodes but you will call me Captain, or nothing at all. My job is to teach you how to change a situation, how to get out the "VIP" at any cost, even if the mission fails. And make no mistake, even should you thrive here, you cannot and will not win them all. You will learn a brutality from me of which you never thought you were capable, and a coldness that will keep you up at night, but you will learn how to not die." and there went his sense of comfort with that one. The look on her face showed she knew she ripped the rug out from under many the feet in the room. It was a lesson he was not soon to forget. Mistakes like that was what got them all in this situation in the first place!

The stoic looking man with the dark eyes came forward next, shooting the Captain an amused smile before rounding on them. "My name is Alex Adams. Former US Navy Seal. I am here to show you how dangerous and deadly a no maj can be. To teach you whatever edge you think your magick gives over those without it, you are wrong! Training, advanced technology, advanced weapons and intelligence gathering more often outstrips those who are not prepared.

Unlike the others here, I do not have magick but I promise you I am faster than you, smarter than you, stronger than you, and I would have you down before you even have a chance to think of a spell. Once you get that through your head, you will learn these skills and how to adapt them to yourself. If you do not, you won't make it through this program. I do not allow liabilities into the field. This is life and death ladies and gentleman." he finished speaking. "Bloody hell, damn muggle is scary as Hell!" he restrained himself from physically shaking himself.

He found himself believing the man completely. The asian male and female moved forward. "I guess it is our turn then, Ayase." the male spoke, his accent slight, he obviously had spent many years in America. He made him the most uneasy out of them all, if he was honest with himself. Though if you asked him why, he could not tell you. The female, Ayase wore a small smile. "My name is Ikari Yoshiiku, you shall address me as Ikari sensie at all times, for I am your teacher and I will not tolerate any disrespect. I will teach you things about magick that your ancestors long ago forgot. How mind, body, and magick are one and should be used as such.

How to discipline your whole self to act as a single unit, not separate entities contained in flesh. You will be shown things about yourself that you wish to hide from. I will pull out your worse insecurities, pull out all your secrets, expose any and all mental and emotional weakness and you will face yourself. For how do you expect to master an enemy if you cannot master yourself? Any enemy can use your own weakness as the very weapon to kill you and any you hope to protect." Sirius figured that was how Voldemort got the majority of his followers, exploiting their fears, building on their greed and misplaced sense of superiority. "If only Reggie could have escaped that fate, if only I tried harder." the depressing though came.

Ikari sensie apparently had finished, for the woman moved forward. "My name is Arashi Ayase, you will call me Arashi sensie. I will teach you what you call with far to much simplicity "wandless magick." Where Yoshiiku will teach you how to feel and move the energy around you, I will show you how to channel it all, how to turn it into something living, changing the environment around you. How to use that power to manifest your will onto the physical plane. It is not an easy art to learn, and in the beginning it will drain you in ways you have never been drained before. But as you grow in all aspects of your training you will grow in this art as well. It is their job to break you, it is mine to start your rebuilding." Though gentler than the others, Sirius could feel a healthy apprehension on this.

This part of the training would feel alien to him and James. Part of him, yes he always said magick was. But she was talking about something entirely different. This was about being utterly One with every aspect and using that to manifest. All of this would be far different than anything he had ever experienced before. And he knew that none of them would have anytime to dwell on what had just been said. For CO grinned that evil smile at them all and the only thing he could think was "we are so bloody dead!"