"You let me die. You could have saved me, but you saved yourself. You're sick and selfish."
"I didn't know! Don't you think that if I knew I could save you I would?"
"Shut up! You're pathetic."
Amy stands with her back to me, her body wracked by horrible tremors. She glides away from me without a word and out the bedroom door. I follow her into the dark hallway of the living quarters. She turns a corner, and I have to run to catch up.
"Wait!" I whisper after her.
Up ahead, she slips out another door into a dark room.
I run after her desperately.
"Amy! Hold up!"
Any stands once again with we back to me, her shoulders shuddering as she softly cries. She stops when she hears the door close behind me. I creep towards her.
Suddenly, she whips around to stare at me. Her face is bloody, slashed by broken glass. Similar cuts mark her arms and legs. Blood and dirt stain her white sundress.
"You did this to me!" She shrieks.
I let out a yelp and start falling forwards, losing my balance. Before I can fall, a cold claw grasps my arm with feral strength. The lights flick on, and I see that I am perilously perched on the railing of the staircase. I am leaning over the deadly drop to the bottom, held in place only by the metal talon that grabs my arm.
"Help," I manage to squeak out in a strangled voice.
I am pulled back over the rail and dumped unceremoniously on the landing. I turn around to thank my savior. Before I can get out a word however, I am startled out of my thoughts. Kaishi stands scowling at me, arms crossed over his bare chest. One of his "arms", however, is made entirely of some kind of metal. It is attached around his chest area, covering a potion of his muscular upper body.
"I, uh... Thanks. For saving me," I stammer, tearing my eyes away from Kaishi's robotic prosthetic.
"What do you think you were doing?" Kaishi asks. He glares at me harder. He must have noticed me staring.
"I– I don't really know. I thought I saw Am– uh, someone... I had no idea that I was even in here."
"Watch yourself. Next time you try and pull a stunt like that, I might not be here to save you," Kaishi says. "And they tell me I'm blind!" He exclaims before stalking back out the metal door. He lets it slam behind him.
I stare after him, my heart still pounding from my near-death experience.
I thought I saw Amy, I think to myself.
"So before we start, which rooms have you actually seen already?" Kasper asks. Her messy red hair is tied back in a fluffy ponytail. For the first time I notice that she is actually really pretty, in her own special way, with her olive skin tone and round face; tousled hair and grey eyes.
"I've seen the the bedrooms, the cafeteria, and that room with the big tv," I say distractedly. I'm still shook up from last night. It's been on my mind all morning.
"The big tv? Oh, you mean the Hub? Yeah, that room is pretty important. You haven't seen the gym yet, have you?" Kasper asks.
"No, not yet. Why do you look like you are going to enjoy this way more than I am?" I ask, noticing Kasper's manic grin.
"Because I am. Let's go. We might catch my boyfriend if we hurry up."
Kasper swings her legs off the bench at the breakfast table, then picks up her tray.
"Come on, slow poke! We haven't got all day," she says with mock annoyance.
Well at least she doesn't already hate my guts. I grab my food tray and drop it in a bin with my dirty dishes. Then I scurry off after Kasper, who is already halfway out the door.
As we practically race through the halls of the underground base, I come to the same realization as yesterday: all of the workers look young and healthy in their suits or skirts. Not a single one looks like they could be a day over thirty. I decide to ask Kasper about it.
"They're agents, mostly. A lot of them work in the field, so they obviously have to be young and healthy for that kind of job," Kasper replies as we weave around the crowd of agents past offices, closed black doors, and even more hallways.
"Do you ever have to, y'know, work in the field?" I ask, more than slightly intrigued.
"That's what Mr. A is training us for, although it seems like he's waiting for something... Or someone. Maybe after you're all trained up, we can finally go on a mission," Kasper explains. "Oh, here we are! See those doors up there?" She points to a set of red double doors. "That's the main entrance to the gym. Guys' locker rooms are down that hallway," she nods her head to the left, "and girls are down the opposite one. So, you bring a change of clothes?"
"Was I supposed to?" I ask. I wasn't really aware that I would be starting training today, as Kasper seems to be insinuating. Her grey eyes glitter with amusement.
"I'm only messing with you. I made sure they had a change of clothes in there this morning just in case, so if they have your locker in there already, you should be good to go."
I sigh internally and trudge off to the boy's locker room. When I open the door, I am blasted by a wall of stench: old sweat, dodgeball rubber, and just plain boy. It reminds me of the locker room at school: rows of steel lockers lined with wooden benches. The walls are comprised of concrete blocks painted white, although the color has faded with age. I head to the first row of lockers. Each one has a little placard on the door, showing who owns the locker. Most are scratched or rusted so much that I can barley read the owner's name.
I go down each row until I find a locker with a new label: Sanders, Kyle. There is no lock on the door, so I just pull open the latch. Inside is a red sports shirt and some shorts, as well as running shoes. I change into the athletic wear as quickly as possible so I don't keep Kasper waiting. Then I shove my old clothes into the locker.
Shockingly the clothes fit well, too well. These guys even know my clothing sizes! That's a scary thought.
Kasper is tapping a foot impatiently just outside the boys' locker room.
"Took you long enough," she says with a giggle. "Come on, everyone is in there watching Dante and Liam spar. You haven't met either of them yet, have you?"
I shake my head no.
"Awesome! This is going to be a surprise then. Follow me," Kasper says, waving an arm for me to follow as she speeds down the hall. I rush once more to catch up. She holds the chipped gym door open for me to enter.
The gym is a massive space. The ceiling is high and crisis-crossed with steel beams and ventilation shafts. Noise bounces around and is shot throughout the giant space. The floor is mostly covered in a layer of blackish-blue rubber, although a few sections of wooden floorboards for the basketball court and, plain concrete under exercise machines, can be seen. Directly ahead of me, on a raised platform, is a stereotypical boxing ring; four corners roped off by red cords. Two boys stand on the platform, sweat glistening off their bodies in the fluorescent white light. As we approach, I can see that one of the boys, the one who faces us, is not only very thin, but also albino; his hair is a stark white; the flesh of his torso unbelievably pale, as if he had never seen the light of the day. The other boy is healthy looking in comparison; muscular and tan.
Someone blows a whistle, and they spring into action. The pale boy lunges at his opponent, swinging a gloved fist at the larger boy's face. He ducks, then throws a glancing blow at the pale boy's shoulder; who in turn is thrown off balance. The pale boy attempts to steady himself by spinning away from his attacker, but he is too slow. The larger boy sweeps the legs out from under his opponent with a low kick. The pale boy isn't down too long; he rolls backwards until he is back on his feet in a crouch. He then literally pounces on the larger boy, knocking himself and his target to the ground.
The whistle is blown again, signifying the end of the match.
"Alright you two, break it up. C'mon, break it up!" I hear Kaishi call. He lifts himself onto the platform and swings his leg up over the boundary cords. By now the tan boy has pinned his opponent to the ground, but it doesn't seem the smaller boy has given up the fight either. Kaishi lifts the larger boy off of the smaller, then shoves the two apart.
"Nice match Liam," the larger boy says, his eyes glittering with amusement. He takes off his boxing glove and extends his hand to Liam. The pale boy scrunched up his nose in disgust.
"You're just lucky I couldn't use my abilities," Liam growls, bristling with hostility. He stalks away, leaping over the cords and off the platform with feral grace.
"What's his deal?" I ask Kasper, watching Liam as he storms straight out of the gym.
"He's not really one for socialization. And that's saying something when you have people like 'Comrade' Serik-Zauresh and Kaishi around. That dude Liam hates people in general. We think he went through a lot before he got here," Kasper says shrugging. Then she perks up. "You have to meet my boyfriend! Dante! Come here!"
"What do you want, woman?" The boy calls down from the platform. He leans against the cord-fence with an easy slope to his shoulders. From this angle his dyed blue-green faux hawk is clearly visible. The sides of his head are shaved.
"This is the new guy! He's socially awkward," Kasper says.
"Am not!" I shout in defiance. I can feel my cheeks burning in embarrassment.
"Nice to meet you, Socially Awkward. My name's Dante today. Yesterday it was Wolfe. I might change it tomorrow. Depends on what I'm feeling," the boy says, raising his arms in a lazy stretch.
"He won't tell anyone his real name," Kasper explains. " although I'm really liking 'Dante'. Has a nice medieval ring to it, don't you think?"
"How are you enjoying the place, Socially Awkward?" Dante calls from his perch, his lips curled in a mischievous smile.
"Well, I almost accidentally killed myself last night and at least one person already hates my guts, so y'know," I say, mimicking his smile.
"Who, Kaishi? He's a nice guy, once you get to know him. Don't get me wrong, his whole 'stoic samurai' gig is cool and all, but he's a softy at heart. You should see him play video games! He crushed one of my controllers with that wicked metal arm..."
"You're blabbing again, babe," Kasper says with a bemused smile.
"I can't help it!" Dante says, feigning outrage. He leaps down from the ring with feline agility. "So do you have a real name, or are we sticking with 'Socially Awkward?"
I flash an annoyed grin. "My name's Kyle."
"Oh great, another one with a 'K' name. First K-aishi, then K-asper, now K-yle," Dante explains, putting so much emphasis on the 'K' sounds that he accidentally spits on Kasper's face. She wipes the droplets off with disgust.
"So what do you do Kyle?" Dante asks, cocking an eyebrow.
"I play a little soccer, sing sometimes, the school plays—"
"Not like that," Dante cuts in. "What do you do? Like, freaky stuff. Supernatural stuff."
I remember last night's nightmare with disturbing clarity. You let me die.
"I, uh, make force shields apparently," I stammer. "At least, that's what Mr. A tells me. What about you guys?"
"I shoot beams of disintegrating light and drain energy from people," Dante says with a nonchalant shrug, though his eyes betray... something. Sadness? Anger?
"I can control the gravity around a person or object, making them heavier or lighter, to the point of them floating," Kasper says.
"Well now I just look pathetic," I say with a half-hearted grin. "So what about Liam? He said something about his powers before he stomped out..."
"He was tested on a lot when he was a kid. Infused with serums and stuff, y'know? I've only seen him use his abilities once; it wasn't pretty. He turns into this giant, hulking creature with a wolf's face, feet, and claws. He gets all massive and muscular and is pretty much unstoppable. It's bad enough that Liam is such a jerk in human form, he's flat-out deadly as a wolf-beast-thing," Dante says. He gives me a minute to absorb that information.
"So... Are we training the newbie or what?" He asks Kasper, deftly changing the topic.
I can feel my pulse quickening and as a tight knot forms in the pit of my stomach. "T-training?" I stammer, only slightly nervous after watching Dante and Liam try to kill each other. I am not a big guy to begin with, and I've never had to fight anyone in my entire life. Dante would tear me apart.
"Yeah, training. Like 'learning skills to be used later in life' training?" Dante says with a wicked smile.
"But it's just my first day, and I've never fought anyone ever, and I really don't think I should, and—"
"Jeez, slow down! I'm not going to kill you! Maybe just rough you up a bit– Ow!" Dante yelps as Kasper whacks him upside the head.
"What he means to say is that while you don't have to do anything you don't want yet, you should probably at least start to learn some combat, or you'll be screwed when we meet the 'bad guys'," Kasper says with a wink.
"Uh, okay... I guess that makes sense..." I say, a little uncertain. Dante's going to break me like a twig.
Dante turns and hoists himself back up onto the platform, then motions for for me to follow. I brace my hands agains the chest-high platform, but I slip and fall back down onto my butt. Dante lets out a stifled laugh, but Kasper has the good grace to remain quite. My face burns as I mumble a little apology.
When I'm finally on the platform, Dante's face is as red as mine, though his is from chuckling to himself over my fall.
"So," Dante says, clearing his throat and letting out a final little giggle, "do you know anything about fighting?"
I shake my head.
"Boxing? Tae kwon do? Mixed martial arts? Nothing?"
"Nope. I played soccer? Oh and dodgeball! I'm good at that! Well, except for the throwing bit..." I explain, scuffing my shoe on the ground.
Dante sighs. "So you can run then? And dodge, I'm guessing. Well, that's a start." He rubs the back of his neck. "Can you throw a punch?"
"Uh. I don't think so...?" I mummer shamefully. "Should I know how to?"
Dante sighs again, shaking his head this time.
"I was an actor first in school! I told you, I have no clue how to fight," I explain again.
"Ok, well just try. I'm going to hold out my hand, and you are going to hit it as hard as you can."
Dante does as he says, holding his hands out, calloused palms facing me. I take a deep breath, close my fingers into a fist, and punch with all my might. The impact shocks through my fingers, sending tingles up my arm.
"Ouch!" I yelp, massaging my fist.
Dante lets out a short laugh. "Please tell me that didn't actually hurt, because that was the wimpiest punch I have ever been hit with in my entire life."
"Can you do any better?" I mock. Then I remember who I'm talking to. "Oh, yeah. You actually probably can. Well you've had more training than me!"
"That is now obvious. Ok, let's start with your stance, and we'll work our way from there."
Turns out it takes more than ten minutes for me to achieve the 'proper punching stance,' as Dante puts it. Even then, he calls my posture sloppy. He's obviously fed up with my lack of skills by the time we actually get to the punch, but he tries to hide it as best he can. I appreciate him for that, especially since I've apologized at least twenty times by now. It's a bad habit I picked up sometime in middle school. You get bumped into? Say sorry and keep your head down. In someone's way? Apologize and move.
"Ok, so your arm needs to be level with your shoulders. No, that's too low. There you go, you're getting the hang of it," Dante remarks. "So when you hit, you're going to want to punch with you're knuckles. If you don't, you'll probably break your hand. You don't want to break your hand. Oh, and when you make a fist, make sure you don't tuck your thumb into your palm. You'll break that too."
I do everything he says as best I can, but it's a lot to remember. "Why am I learning to hit, anyways? Won't the bad guys have guns or something? I mean it is the twenty-first century."
Dante mulls the question over for a bit. "I mean, I guess so. Some of us can take a bullet, like Liam. Others will probably be given guns. I've only been on a few excursions, and I've always had at least a pistol, but normally we are performing more covert missions, especially since we are only a bunch of kids."
"Aren't there any adults with superpowers?" I ask. I mean, it can't just be the kids with the cool abilities, can it?
"Oh there are. They just don't work here with us. The government has a separate chapter for them. W.A.L.L. or something like that. What do they call it babe?" Dante calls over to Kasper, who has been watching the practice. Or rather who has been watching her buff shirtless boyfriend practice. Either way.
"Oh, you mean S.H.I.E.L.D? Yeah, we don't work with them. They're supposed to be secret, more secret than us. Guess the Department of Special Domestic and Foreign Security is just too much of a mouthful," Kasper says.
"Yeah, guess so. Where was I? Oh yeah, we were teaching you to fight because you punch like a pansy," Dante snickers.
"I'm getting better!" I object, although even I start cracking up at that.
"Here, why don't I demonstrate a good punch for you. Hold out your hands like I did earlier. Come on, I won't hit hard," Dante urges.
I comply, even though I'm tensing for impact. I know this is going to hurt.
"Okay, here I go." Dante gets into the same position he showed me earlier, keeps his arm level with his shoulder, and punches forward. I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
I open my eyes. Dante is frozen, his eyes open wide in a look of terror, slowly, ever so slowly, he drops his arms to his sides and hugs them around his chest.
"Glenn?" Dante whimpers, almost inaudibly.
"Dante? You alright?" I ask nervously, waving my hand over his eyes. He doesn't seem to notice, his eyes are drawn to something only he can see.
"Holy—" Dante screams at the top of his lungs, shaking out of control and digging his arms so tightly around his chest that he makes himself bleed.
"Hey! Hey, snap out of it!" I scream, grabbing Dante's shoulders and shaking him. It takes a few minutes, but his eyes clear up and he seems to come to.
"What the hell just happened?" I ask, my voice hysterical. I only just notice that Kasper is kneeling beside me, cradling one of her boyfriend's hands with her own.
"I think it was you," Kasper says very quietly.
It takes me a second to register what she said.
"What? What are you talking about?" Dante asks, massaging his temple with his free hand.
"Before you started flipping out, Kyle's eyes started glowing some freaky purple color. It stopped when you snapped back out of it. Whatever 'it' is. What did you see?" Kasper asks.
"I-it's not important. All you guys need to know is it was terrifying; my worst fear playing out right in front of me. If you can control an ability like that..." Dante trails off.
"I'm so sorry Dante!" I say, a tight knot in my stomach.
"No, don't be! That's the coolest power ever! As long as you don't use it on me again..."
"Just a few days ago I was a normal teen! Now I'm some force field wielding super-freak that can make people hallucinate. What the hell?" I practically shout.
"Hey, we're all on the same boat as you," Kasper says. She helps Dante to his feet. Small rivulets of dried blood stain his sides where his nails pierced skin.
"I'd say that's enough training for one day, Dante says. He's still shaking a little bit from whatever I showed him. And I'm hating myself for ruining another person's life.
Before anyone can say anything else, static breaks in from a speaker somewhere overhead. "Special Agents Surge, Risen, and Kyle Sanders are required in the Hub in fifteen minutes sharp. That is all," a voice announces over the intercom.
"Surge and Risen?" I ask as we jump off the boxing ring.
"They're our code names," Dante explains. "We got to choose them when we came here. They say it's to protect our identities while we are in the outside world. We normally choose them based on our individual abilities."
"When will I get to choose mine?" I ask.
"Probably soon. I'd get thinking about it if I were you," Kasper remarks.
Not a single one of us is expecting the explosion as it tears through the ceiling, burying us alive.
XxXxXxX
How's that for a cliffhanger? Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, because I really enjoyed introducing our two new characters. Now before I say anything else, I know there has been a lot of confusion over whether this story is or is not set in the Marvel universe. I have decided after much debate that it is set in the Marvel world, but the characters will have no contact or relations with the Avengers, SHIELD, or any other Marvel team/organization. That being said, I still am accepting ONE FINAL OC. This character must be a female and MUST NOT BE A BROODING/MOODY/ANTI-SOCIAL CHARACTER. Haha thank you! Please review and follow if you are liking the story so far, and don't be afraid to point out my mistakes! Thanks!