Author's Note: Finally out of my slump! Enjoy the new chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Teen Titans or Divergent. I did, however, finally buy a copy of Divergent. So, yay.

Chapter 7

The day had finally arrived. It's the last day of the first stage of initiation. This morning would be target practice. This afternoon would be our last round of fights and then tonight the rankings would go up.

Tonight could be my last night in the Dauntless compound. Tomorrow I could be factionless.

I don't think I will be cut though. Even though I lost against Xavier, my next two fights were against Karen and Toni and I won both of those. If I won against whoever I faced today, I think I could solidly stick myself in the middle.

I suppose it also depended on how well I aim this morning. I head into the training room and Jason hands us each three knives then tells us to pick a target. Robin demonstrates proper throwing technique then we all get to work. After an hour, we're all doing pretty decently… Except for Sergei, who has yet to hit his target. Jason does not look pleased by this at all.

"How slow ARE you, Candor? Are you blind? Should I move the target closer?"

Xavier, Toni and Malcolm snicker. Ever since Jason's team lost capture the flag, he's been even more of a jerk than usual. Sergei aims another throw and completely misses. The knife bounces off of the wall and clatters to the floor.

"What the hell was that?"

"I- It slipped!"

"Then go pick it up!" He turns to the rest of us. "Did I tell you all to stop throwing?"

We had all become distracted by the scene unfolding before us we had turned away from our targets to watch. Everybody else turned back to the targets and started throwing again. I kept watching Jason and Sergei.

"Why haven't you gotten your knife yet? Are you afraid?"

"Afraid of getting stabbed by a flying knife? Yes!"

Uh-oh. This is going to end badly.

"Alright, stop! Everybody stop!"

Everybody does as they're told.

"Go stand in front of that target, Candor. Robin, come help me."

"Is this really necessary, Jason?"

Robin sounds bored, but he looks as anxious as the rest of us.

"Yes, now get over here."

Robin shrugs and walks over.

"Now, you're gonna stand there and let Robin throw until you learn not to flinch."

I can't stand to watch this anymore. I step forward.

"This isn't going to prove anything! Being afraid of getting stabbed doesn't make him a coward!"

Jason narrows his eyes at me.

"Oh yeah, Stiff? Would you take his place?"

I don't even hesitate.

"Yes I would."

Jason looks shocked; clearly he expected me to back down.

"Alright, but if you flinch once, he takes his punishment."

I nod and trade places with Sergei. I hear Xavier snicker.

"Oh no, there goes your pretty face, cutie."

Ugh, I think I liked it better when he called me Stiff.

I look right into Robin's blue eyes. Somehow, I know I'm safe. I know that he would never hit me.

I see him cock his arm to throw the knife and I squeeze my eyes shut. I hear the knife hit the target several inches away from my cheek.

"You about had enough, Kori?"

I open my eyes and see a smirk on Robin's lips.

"No, I'm fine."

"Then keep your eyes open."

He taps the place between his eyes with the tip of the knife then gets ready to throw again. I keep full eye contact with him as he does. This time, the knife hits closer to me, landing just a few inches above my skull.

"Come on, Kori! Just let someone else stand there and take it!"

I narrow my eyes at him.

"Shut UP, Robin!"

I don't even see him throw the third knife until I feel a sharp sting on my ear. I reach up to touch my ear and when I look there's blood on my fingers. Jason looks impressed.

"Alright, as much as I'd love to see if the rest of you are as daring as she is, we don't have time for that. Go to lunch."

Everybody leaves and I march over to Robin, who's smiling. Before I can give him a piece of my mind Jason comes over to talk to me.

"I should keep my eye on you."

Some of my anger dissipates and is replaced with panic. I feel as though I have "DIVERGENT" tattooed on my forehead. Jason walks away and I turn back to Robin's smile, bringing back my anger.

"Here to thank me?"

"THANK you?! You hit me on purpose!"

"Yes I did! And you should thank me for helping you!"

"How is hitting me with a knife helping me?!"

"Come ON, Kori! When are you going to catch on?"

His sudden outburst confuses me. He storms off when I don't respond and I wipe the blood off of my ear.

AFTER LUNCH

We all enter the training room as Robin is finishing pairing up the fights. Jason turns and speaks to us.

"As you all know, these will be your last fights. This is your last chance to prove yourself. Good luck."

Robin steps back from the blackboard to reveal who's fighting who today. Vic vs. Xavier. Good, Vic is the only one who can beat Xavier. Karen vs. Toni. Well, Toni has yet to win a fight. Rachel vs. Gar. That'll be fun to watch. Me vs.… No. No, no, no. Not him, anybody but him. I checked the list again and again, but my eyes weren't deceiving me.

Me vs. Sergei.

Ever since Sergei knocked out Gar on the first day, he's been throwing his fights, not even trying to win. If he loses to me, it will surely put him at the bottom of the rankings. I nervously chew my fingernails while I watch the other fights. Vic beats Xavier after about ten minutes. Karen beats Toni in a matter of minutes. To my surprise, Gar beat Rachel. After Rachel admits defeat, I reluctantly step into the ring with Sergei. I can see in his eyes that he doesn't want to do this either. We must have been staring at each other for a long time because I hear Jason shout.

"COME ON! HIT EACH OTHER ALREADY!"

I take a deep breath and punch Sergei in the gut. He recoils but doesn't hit me back. As I keep throwing punches, he keeps dodging. His refusal to fight me is infuriating.

"Why won't you just hit me back?!"

Sergei doesn't answer; he just keeps dodging my punches. The fight goes on like this for what feels like hours until I finally land a hard hit in the jaw. I watch my friend fall to the floor, dooming him to the bottom of the ranks. I hang my head in shame while the onlookers cheer.

THAT NIGHT

Dinner is quiet that night. Sergei and I refuse to make eye contact and Rachel and Gar don't know how to break the tension. Thankfully, when we're finished eating, Robin leads us into our dorm room. The blackboard is against the wall and is blank. Robin silently walks over to the blackboard and flips it over, revealing our rankings.

1. Vic

2. Xavier

3. Kori

4. Malcolm

5. Gar

6. Rachel

7. Karen

8. Sergei

9. Toni

I feel Rachel and Gar pat me on the back, but I'm too in shock to hear if they're saying anything. Me? Number three? I know I did better in my fights after I lost to Xavier, but I didn't think I did that well. I come back to reality when I hear Robin talking.

"Tomorrow you will get the day off not only to celebrate the end of stage one, but also for Visitation Day. For now, go get some rest."

With that we all head to bed. Sergei lags behind though. I awkwardly turn to him.

"Well… At least you're not at the very bottom…"

"Kori, can you just… Not. I did this to myself; I don't need your pity."

With that he brushes past me and we all head to bed. Sleep comes quickly to me for the first time since I first arrived at the Dauntless compound.

I don't sleep for very long though. In the middle of the night, somebody's screaming rang through the dorm, waking us all up. I jump out of bed as someone else turns on the lights. Once our eyes adjust, we all turn and see Vic screaming in his bed, covering his face. Blood was covering his hands and pillow. Everybody else was staring, but my Abnegation kicked in. I kneeled by Vic's bed.

"Vic, move your hands, let me see what we're dealing with here."

Vic moves his hand and I hear everyone gasp in shock. Buried in his left eye socket, was a knife from the cafeteria. I manage to choke out.

"Somebody go get Robin."

"I'm already here, what was all that-" He steps forward to see Vic's injury and his eyes widen. "Ho-ly shit… Somebody help me get him to the infirmary."

Sergei and Karen step forward. Karen has tears running down her face, obviously panicked for her boyfriend. As I look around the crowd of initiates, I notice something odd.

Xavier, Malcolm and Toni are missing.

Once Robin gets Vic out of the dorm, I run to the bathroom and grab bleach and paper towels to start cleaning up the blood.

After everything is cleaned and the lights are off, I lay in my bed, not sleeping. At some point, I hear Robin come in and mess with the black board, then leaves. When the lights are turned on in the morning, I see the changes he made. Vic and Karen's names are gone and the rankings have been adjusted. Now Xavier is at the top and I am number two. We started initiation with nine transfers.

Now there are seven.

Does the long chapter make up for the wait for the update? *turns and sees angry mob, complete with torches and pitchforks* Guys…? What are you doing with those…? RUN! R&R, but I'm running! -Starprincess