"Are they gonna be okay?" Melody asked anxiously.

Jenny nodded, "Of course they are. You know how those guys are."

"Hm," Melody didn't look convinced.

"Isabelle and the others are there too," A blond girl, Debbie, said confidently, "They've taken on a goddess and won."

Melody's eyes widened, "Really?"

Debbie nodded, "Yep. I'm sure they'll be fine. Especially with your friends. It's just a crazy principal after all."

Melody nodded, "Okay."

Erin glanced at the group uneasily but remained silent.

"Shadow!"

"Huh?" Shadow looked up at her name.

"They need help," Echo said, "The principal called in Inquisitors."

"Seriously?" Shadow snarled, "Is Elspeth there?"

"Very close," Echo said.

"Alright," Shadow got to her feet. She hurried up the stairs, "Wasp. Watch the kids for me."

"Which ones."

"All of them," Shadow said.

"Alright."

Shadow fetched Dawn, "They'll probably need your help. I know we will."

Dawn nodded, "Of course they will."

Hades watched in shock and awe as the Black Lotus assassins brought down the Inquisitors. None were killed. One of them was wrapped up in his own chain turned deadly weapon and another was caught in a net and now hanging from a tree without anyway of getting out with a Black Lotus leaning over him. The leader was currently locked in a stalemate with Phoenix who was, somewhat surprisingly, Chandra. Two of the assassins worked together to confuse and inevitably overpower an Inquisitor. The superhuman soldiers were falling like flies. They were designed to be able to take down the Rogue Experiment. Of course he was currently preoccupied with helping Ral and Cain with a technical malfunction in one of the pieces of the network that created the barrier. Hades could feel an immense amount of power approaching the school. The kind of power reminded him vaguely of Michael and David but much much more powerful. He could tell the person was seething silently and calmly. Being Athena's backup should she fail or malfunction he had many of the same abilities. It just appeared as though the personality and the protocol didn't get along nearly as well as he did with his. None of them seemed to even know their protocol existed. That realization worried him. He continued to chew on his fingernail. He knew he couldn't intervene. Not yet. He had to know if the principal knew about the protocol. If the principal knew then the students were more than screwed. If he had identified that Athena was there then, if he had the access code, he could activate her protocol. Athena was man's first successful attempt at a man made goddess. Hades was the only one other than maybe Phoenix, maybe, that could take her on and hope to win. That was if he could figure out how to activate his own protocol without the access code. "They Inquisitors are dropping surprisingly quickly," he noted evenly.

"That they are. I might have to resort to my final stand," the principal snarled, "Damned animals have connections."

He doesn't seen anyone as anything more than an animal. He'll use anyone to get to his goals and he wants to create an unstoppable army out of these students plus many more. Hades resisted the urge to just shake his head. I can't help but feel that he's picked the wrong kids this time. He watched the security footage carefully. The kids were smart. They were overpowered in that they had hard foam blunt bullets while deadly metal ones were being fired at them. Of course the principal also had access to military backup should he deem it necessary. That including things like tanks and missiles. Hades doubted the man would ever have the chance to use such a thing.

The principal growled in frustration, "Bring in a guard."

Hades obeyed and brought a guard in.

"Activate the Athena Project."

The whole project? Hades swallowed. But that's all of them. They're all a part of the Athena Project. He looked at the cameras again. The other experiments were all fighting so hard to protect their friends and their freedom. Cain was helping Ral fix the device, having identified the problem, while Jace protected them since he didn't really get along with technology of any sort. Tessa stood nearby, next to Claire and Kurai, telling the demon what to tell the others to do and assisting Claire in directing her illusions. Alice and Jade were helping Tina, Michael and David defend the Black Lotus Dawn while she tended to a wounded Rick. Jason was making sure everything was running properly in the battle station that had been the girls' dormitory. Alex was helping Yuri aim the mini gun to do as little damage as possible to it's targets. Yuri's aim was apparently awful. Blake and Evelyn stood back with the former teachers as a backup force should things get that bad. Athena, since Hades didn't know if she'd adopted a name other than that, was holding up the barrier in place of the device while Cain and Ral tried to fix it. The barrier itself was failing but it's purpose had technically been fulfilled. All the students that couldn't fight were clear out of the way.

And all at once they dropped. At the very least they dropped to a knee. The barrier fell. Ral panicked. Claire caught Tessa and set her on the ground in confusion. Tina was distracted long enough to get hit in the shoulder. Yuri turned away from his gun to kneel beside Alex worriedly. The teachers were distracted. Everyone was distracted and suddenly the principal was winning.

Hades gritted his teeth. If Athena fails I'm his next choice. He stepped away from the cameras.

"Where do you think you're going?" the principal snarled.

Hades looked at him. Anger fueled his defiance, "It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair," the principal snapped.

He won't let me leave. Hades let out a low dangerous feral growl. The man's back was turned and he ignored the subtle warning. A small blade slid out of Hades' sleeve and into his hand. Unlike the others death doesn't make me sick. Death is a fact of life. All life must end sometime. He plunged the blade deep into the man's back and turned away. He left the room and the body behind. I'll deal with Athena.

Seeing everything in person was much more surreal. He couldn't believe they were actually losing.

Get away from them. Kurai's voice rang in his head. The demon must've already identified his allegiance. Jace has told me to order you to get away.

"Go to the walls!" Chandra's voice rang above the chaos. She grabbed Isabelle and Yuri and kept them beside her. She grabbed Blake and Evelyn and pulled them closer to the center of the courtyard. She looked at the Black Lotus, "Let the Inquisitors go. I doubt a program will be able to differentiate between friend and foe."

The assassins complied before scattering to the walls themselves.

The Inquisitors did the same.

Chandra turned to the military force the principal had summoned to his aid, "Leave. Now!"

They did so without hesitation. Many of them had no idea what was going on.

Hades watched Athena begin to glow. She started to float above the ground and her uniform was replaced with resplendent armor. Her hair doubled in length and a helmet with bright white wings appeared on her head. Here we go. He lifted his head to look at her. Man's first goddess. Made by their own hand. The creators relished their victory and decided to create a fitting army for their goddess. But just in case she failed them somehow they created a shadow. A darker version, not as morally defined. A goddess created to serve man and an army created to serve her. Who knows how many more gods there are out there? Who knows how many more armies have been conditioned into perfect soldiers?

"Move!" Phoenix suddenly stood in front of him, blocking a bright glowing blade. Now that the assassin was closer he could see what made her so fast. She had so many gadgets on her person that she might as well be a robot. He leaped out of the way quickly.

"If you're going to help then do so," Isabelle snarled. She didn't sound angry, just incredibly focused and determined, "If not then get out of the way!"

Hades nodded and drew on what power he had access to.

Chandra smirked, "Let's go!"

She leaped forward and Hades quickly followed. Yuri and Isabelle stayed behind them. Isabelle used her ability over reality itself to warp the trajectory of one of Athena's attacks. Yuri followed up quickly with a fireball. However it didn't appear as though the fireball was directed at the goddess. It landed on Chandra and the redhead leaped out of it. She was entirely on fire and completely unaffected. It almost seemed to make her more powerful. Athena had been too focused on Isabelle to notice the redhead and therefore barely managed to dodge. She got a nice slice right down her arm, instead of her chest. Chandra dropped gently back down and growled angrily.

Hades' eyes narrowed. It would be easiest if we were to assess who is the biggest threat to Athena. I would assume Chandra but-shit! They're waking up!

Chandra growled, "You've got to be kidding me." She turned and blocked an attack from a blank expressionless Blake. Hades snarled and knocked Evelyn into the ground with a blow to the head. The girl got back up and come at him from below. He stumbled backwards, suddenly wishing he had the grace of Jace or Chandra. However he didn't so he'd just have to make do with what he did have. He was small. His speed wasn't all that great compared to Athena and her project but he was much stronger. His project, however small it was, was focused mainly on strength and manipulation. Athena's project had speed and agility on their side. It was a very straightforward project. All of them were a blur to normal eyesight.

Evelyn sensed his weakness and decided to take advantage of it.

Hades went on the defensive and got progressively slower to make the protocol believe it was winning. He was hit on a couple of occasions but endurance and pain tolerance were common traits among all of the experiments. He was sure they'd create or had already created a group that put emphasis on endurance but hadn't met any if they had. He knocked the girl up into the air, taking her by surprise. He caught her leg as she went to flip over him using the momentum he'd granted her and slammed her into the ground. She didn't get back up after that. After quickly checking to make sure she wasn't dead he looked around. Isabelle was having difficulty holding off both Alex and Jade. Jace, Alice, Tessa and Cain were still down. Yuri had to deal with Jason. Athena started using enchantments to ramp up her underlings' already immensely overpowering speed and maneuverability.

Suddenly the earth cracked and became jagged like a rocky cliff face. A cry sounded from near the walls to their right. Isabelle turned in surprise as Alex and Jade basically flew. Yuri watched Jason land neatly a little way away from him and shook his head, "Dammit. It's not like that did anything but get them out of our faces."

"That's good enough," Chandra shrugged as she appeared behind him.

Hades nodded, "At least they're easier to deal with now that they aren't in our faces."

"For you two maybe," Isabelle snapped. She looked at where Cristi stood at the origin point of the cone of destruction before turning her attention back to Alex and Jade. The three of them were incredibly fast. Hades couldn't match it. Isabelle wasn't even sure Chandra could. Athena was no longer actively combative, instead buffing those under her so they could take them down on their own. However Isabelle was sure they all understood that the four of them were the only ones standing between the students and teachers and their inevitable destruction.