"What are you going to do about Lauren?" Quinn asked Charlie, watching as her twin sipped on her massive milkshake. When Charlie makes noisy slurping noises, she rolls her eyes and pokes Charlie in the side. "Charlie, her actions nearly got the entire team kicked out of the Inter-high. She decided to play with the lives of a civilian to make a point. What are you going to do about her?"

Charlie slurps up the rest of her milkshake and puts it down, her gaze doesn't shift from the tablet, where she's watching a replay of Santana's zone. "What am I doing? Nothing."

There's a pause before Cassandra begins to clap, a sardonic look on her features. "Great leadership skills. First class."

Charlie studied her aunt for a moment before sighing, "What do you think I should do?"

"Beat her into submission," Cassandra replies as if it's obvious.

Judy's eyes widened at Cassandra's response. Her heart skips a beat when Charlie tilts her head to the side, suggesting that Charlie was actually considering listening to Cassandra. "Charlie, Cassandra wasn't being serious. Right Cassandra?"

"Of course, I was being serious. Everyone knows that might makes right. She doesn't respect your authority; she seems to be attempting to launch a coup against you—she's a cancer Charlie. The only way to deal with cancer is aggressively. You can do it now, or you can have her take over."

"While I dislike agreeing with Cassandra on anything, she might be right here. This Lauren person seems like a malcontent. She's ruining your team dynamic and her being selfish, could have cost you everything. You need to handle this situation—" Russell noticed that Judy was glaring at him and clears his throat, "Without violence. Violence only leads to more violence."

"Charlie, Rachel worked really hard—your entire team did. Including your sidekick Sam, are you really going to let Lauren derail everything?" Quinn pressed.

Charlie looked at Quinn for a moment before simply deciding to go back to watching Santana's zone. Her aunt was a crazy person, her father was a chronic womanizer, and Quinn had a weird obsession with Rachel. At this moment all she could do was take a look at the tape, away from prying eyes.

Brittany rested her head on Charlie's shoulder, "Santana is good, don't you think?"

"She did a good job," Charlie agrees.

"She's pretty too. At least I think so," Brittany adds. When Charlie doesn't answer she smiles, "Do you think she's pretty?"

"Santana is—" Charlie stops and slowly turns to look at her older sister, who flashes her a cheeky smile.

"You two have been spending a lot of time together, she's got a useful power, she's pretty capable, and most importantly you like her," Brittany insists. She's slightly disappointed that her ribbing doesn't elicit a reaction from Charlie, who simply goes back to watching Santana.

Charlie's quiet for a moment before she turns to Frannie. "You're here to scout Frannie, how do I make the rest of the team look good to agents and scouts. The people who were in Lauren's zone."

Frannie glanced at Charlie from where she was looking over her notes, "If you want eyeballs on them, then pair them with you. You could sneeze and half these scouts and agents will think you're a genius. That may not be possible though, I don't know what the next event is. Your goal right now is to get to sectionals Charlie, there will be more eyes on you then and more of the top tier schools paying attention. With that said, Charlie, not everyone on your team is going to be a superhero."

Charlie frowned, "Who?"

Frannie sighs, "If you're asking me who I would try and recruit right now? Santana is probably at the top of several lists, as is Artie despite the fact that he's a freshman. Rachel helping out right now looks good, and her abilities are interesting, if she grows more powerful or her powers expand or go through an evolution, she might be considered a steal for many schools. She's young, as is Artie, their development will be monitored. The same could be said about Kitty. Tina might not be a hero, but with her abilities I know that the government will offer her a very lucrative deal. Matt Rutherford, will also be high on a few lists as well. Everyone else, right now, with the information I have—well that's a hard pass. Especially Lauren, her actions have made her toxic. I have no opinion on how to handle it, but it will be difficult getting her recruited anywhere unless you completely rehab her image.'

"Thought so," Nothing Frannie had said was unexpected, she had made similar predictions.

"Are you going to change your plans?"

"I don't know what the next event will be, they're just finishing up with the last of the zones. We'll find out after, Frannie's right. The goal right now is to get them a second chance, and that will be at sectionals. I imagine at some point; they'll test our combat potential. Once I hear the rules and how it's scored, I will make a decision. As it is, I'm making Santana my vice Captain, she's earned it and I need someone I can depend on to lead the team."

"Right, that's why you want to make Santana vice-captain," Brittany grins at Charlie.

Charlie rolled her eyes; she knew what Brittany was attempting to do. "Britt, we both know I don't need your help getting girls—" Charlie pauses and glances at her mother who raises a brow at her, "—to date me. If you feel like helping someone, may I suggest Quinn."

Quinn scowled at Charlie, "I don't need your help."

"Yes Quinn, you do." Charlie retorts. "Everyone. I mean everyone knows about your crush on Rachel, and while I might not approve because she is an ex-girlfriend. I realize that this is your first and quite possibly your only chance at having a normal adolescence."

"And you're having a normal adolescence? How many girls have you been with since we've gotten to McKinley?" Quinn snaps back.

"Enough, go to your corners," Judy interrupts before their pettiness turns into an actual fight. "Charlie, shouldn't you be getting back to your team? They're going to announce the next event soon. You should go and rally the troops."

Quinn snorted, and narrowed her eyes at Charlie who flipped her off. "You haven't heard Charlie give a pep talk."

Judy ignored Quinn, "Good luck Charlie, we'll be cheering for you and the rest of McKinley." Charlie nods and swings off the railing and drops to the ground, before heading to the McKinley locker room. Judy sighs and looks at Quinn. "Quinn, Charlie isn't wrong. I know you're rather attached, but the worst thing Rachel can say is no. It's not the end of the world, you can still be friends."

"Mom." Quinn hisses, flushing when she notices both of Rachel's dads looking highly amused.

"Don't worry Quinn, we have no intention of telling her," Hiram said in a friendly tone.

"We've got a bet going on, two actually. The first bet is whether you'll tell Rachel before she figures it out. The second is when everything will click for Rachel. She does have a tendency to focus on her future more so than looking at the present."

Quinn groaned and sank down in her seat. She was going to do it. After the Inter-High she was going to tell Rachel how she felt. That would show everyone. Of course, she wouldn't if Charlie managed to bungle it and they didn't make it to sectionals, or if Rachel got seriously injured. She just needed to pick her moment. Quinn hesitates for a moment before lifting her hand and focusing, there were always water droplets in the air. She blows into her palm creating a lump of ice. She thinks for a moment before deciding what she was going to make for Rachel, a smile on her face.

~ O ~

"So many surprises this year," Rod Remington said looking at the scoreboard. "Over half the teams have been eliminated. As a reminder, this is a competition of elimination, the last team standing will be going to sectionals, however the top 4 teams by points will also be moving on to sectionals. Everyone loves a good underdog story. If you're one of the remaining 40 teams, even if you're dead last, if you survive, you will be rewarded. Tenacity—fighting even when the odds are stacked against you, these are all traits that it takes to become a top hero." He looks at the scoreboard again, McKinley would need to be the last team standing if they hoped of going onto sectionals. It was possible, the next two events favored McKinley.

Rod Remington patted a large box that had been placed beside him. "Now I'm sure some of you are wondering what's in the box. Inside the box there are numbered balls, each captain will pick one—to determine the draw of the next event. So, if the Captain's could line up—I should mention that there is no trading, or do-overs. You get what you get. Now please form an orderly line based on your ranking."

~ O ~

"And to think that we were worried about McKinley," Sebastian Smythe scoffed as he watched Charlie taking her spot towards the back of the line. He looks over at Jesse, who was watching Charlie closely. "They didn't even crack the top ten—"

"They're still a threat." Jesse interrupted, narrowing his eyes slightly. He eventually turns so he could face Rod Remington. "The only reason that Vocal Adrenaline is first and Dalton is second is because of the shit show that went down in their second zone. Santana's score was comparable to ours, and Charlie's zone had a perfect score and they managed to snag 40 bonus points. That's a record of bonus points awarded, they set a record for the Avalanche zone—this isn't the old McKinley where the only real threat was Santana. You'd be an idiot not to take them seriously Sebastian."

"I'm the fastest man alive," Sebastian sneered. "McKinley's down a man, and even if she is a level 5 Jesse, she can't beat all of us if we all attack her at once."

Jesse frowned, Dalton wasn't a nationally ranked team, still they were on speaking terms. "Shelby is certain that they're going to be the last ones standing at the end of this Sebastian. Vocal Adrenaline isn't focused on winning, the goal is to earn enough points so that even if we get eliminated we'll still get to Sectionals. Everyone has a weakness, even a level 5. We'll find it and we'll exploit it."

Sebastian shakes his head, "She might be a danger, but if she can't touch me, then Dalton wins. This is our year Jesse."

Jesse was about to respond when his name gets called out by Rod, immediately he slaps on a bright smile and steps forward. He reaches into the box and pulls out a number, he glances at it quickly before showing it to the crowd and the cameras. "32," he calls out.

Sebastian barely waits for Jesse to leave before he zips towards the box and pulls out a number. He looks at it and his face falls. "40?"

Rod glances at the number for a moment before motioning to the scoreboard where there appears to be a tournament bracket. "Congrats you're up first."

Sebastian looks up, they would face whoever drew number one. Now he just had to wait to see who they would be facing. He steps aside for the next person and joins Jesse, watching as one by one captain's pick their numbers. "Well aren't you lucky. The Hoosierdaddies is an easy win."

"Maybe, we don't know what the next event is and it's not as if Frida is someone to sneeze at. They managed to come in sixth." Jesse shrugged his shoulders. Watching as the line begins to move quicker now, no one really cared about these matchups. Frida didn't look happy that she'd drawn Vocal Adrenaline, if anything she looked determined to win. Personally, he was relieved, getting Frida meant that they wouldn't have to engage McKinley and they had booked their ticket to Sectionals.

There is absolute silence as Charlie makes her way onto the stage. Sebastian scowls, they were treating her like she was a threat. He glances over at the rest of the captain's noticing that the ones that hadn't been paired up were crossing their fingers. He rolls his eyes and watches as Charlie stops in front of the box, and flicks her finger up causing a ball to pop out of the box and land on her outstretched finger. "Show off—wait aren't those balls made out of wood?"

Charlie turns the ball around to reveal the number one.

Jesse blinked and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He had no idea why he'd been so nervous; Vocal Adrenaline already had their opponent. Still, he steals a glance over at Sebastian who had a huge smirk on his face. Jesse sighed, Dalton wasn't going to be making it to sectionals unless Sebastian could pull off a miracle, and if that happened, he knew that every scout and agent would be trying to sign him. As if they hadn't been attempting to do that before. "Good—" Of course Sebastian had decided to confront Charlie. He always had been an overconfident asshole.

Sebastian smirked as he made his way over to Charlie ready to confront her, he moved to stop right in front of her. He wanted to create an image that the cameras would love. A photo that he could put in his application to the top schools. But instead of stopping right in front of Charlie and putting his arms up the moment he stops Charlie suddenly disappears causing him to blink in surprise. He hadn't been able to track that.

"Boo."

Sebastian jumps and whips around to see Charlie standing there with her hands in her pockets, a bored look on her face. "How did you—how many powers do you have?"

"You're really predictable." Charlie pats his cheek and hops off the stage and walks back to McKinley.

Sebastian turns to see Charlie whispering something to Santana who had a massive shit-eating grin on her face. He scowled and swallowed, perhaps he'd underestimated McKinley. "Well fuck."

~ O ~

Rod Remington watched as the last matchup was made before turning to the cameras, a huge smile, "Now that the anticipation is at a fever pitch, I suppose I can let you in what the next event is." Rod motions for the camera to come in closer, as if he's about to spill a giant secret. "The next event is War Games!" He shouts raising his arms as the ground once again begins to shift and change. There are a few whoops from a few of the students causing Rod to grin, war games were perhaps the most popular event in the Inter-High.

"Now I'm sure you're wondering about the rules of this event. It's not that complicated. The goal of this event is to treat the opposing team as villains. You will be given special cuffs, and there will be a special jail, to hold captured villains. Capturing every member of the opposing team will end the match, and you will move onto the next round. There is a time limit of 25 minutes, if you don't manage to capture everyone then we will determine who wins by how many people each team has captured. In other words if Team A captures 4 people and places them in jail and Team B captures 6 people and places them in jail, then Team B will move on to the next round, if by the end of the match they still have six people in jail."

There was chatter from the crowd of students as they began to discuss strategy, and making plans for the competition. Rod lets them talk amongst themselves for a moment before continuing on. "50 points will be added to your score for every person that is captured. Now as you know jailbreaks can happen, and when that happens those points that you earned for capturing all those villains will be halved and given to the opposing team. Going back to my example, if Team A somehow manages to free all six of their members, then Team B who has earned 300 points from capturing those members, will lose 150 points which will be awarded to Team A. If Team B doesn't recapture those members, by the end of the match. Team A will win."

Rod studies each of the 40 teams for a moment. "There are no restrictions on how many people can take the field. If you want to field all 12 members of your team you can. If you want a smaller team of maybe 3 members, you can do that. Lethal force is prohibited, if any member of your team is caught using lethal force then your entire team will forfeit. There are 15 minutes before the start of the first match. Go discuss amongst yourself. I'll see the Titans and the Warbler's on the field at that time."

~ O ~

"What are we going to do? McKinley's dangerous. We could be eliminated! We could be—"

"Shut up Trent we got this." Sebastian snaps, as he taps his foot rapidly, he lets out a frustrated sound and begins to pace, racing from one spot to another as he thinks. He finally stops and looks over at Blaine. "Any ideas—she said I'm predictable. Me! The fastest man alive!"

"You're still the fastest man alive, she was ready for you this time, but there is no one as devious as you Sebastian. She's not a speedster, and it's not like you were going at your fastest right? You need to go as fast as you can and keep her off balance. If you can keep her busy we can take down the rest of McKinley and wrack up points. She might be impressive but the rest of the team isn't as good as her."

"Santana's still a threat."

"I can take care of Santana." Hunter scoffs.

Sebastian tilted his head, slightly. "Jesse did say that we could still get to Sectionals if we wrack up enough points, but—if I manage to cuff her, and get her back to the jail we can win this. We won't be able to hold her, but even if we can't hold them—or her for long—" Sebastian bit his lip. "What if I'm not fast enough?"

Hunter patted Sebastian's shoulder roughly, "I think I have just the thing to help you." He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out for the rest of the guys from Dalton to see.

Trent whitens, "Is that—"

"Shut up Trent, don't be a narc," Hunter snaps at him, adding a glare for good measure. When Trent gulps and backs away, Hunter turns his attention to Sebastian, a smile breaking out on his face after Sebastian hesitates and takes a pill from his container.

Sebastian looks around the rest of the team, before popping the pill into his mouth, "Bottoms up," he said grabbing a water bottle and guzzling the pill down. The effects are almost instantaneous, and he can feel nearly every cell in his body practically bursting with power and energy. He glances at his hand, and he knows that the rest of Dalton can't see it, but his hand is vibrating at a speed he'd never managed to achieve before. "This will do—actually give me another one." He was going to make sure that everyone knew his name.