Rod Remington, waited until he was counted in before flashing a megawatt smile, and adjusting his coat. While this certainly wasn't a red carpet event, it was becoming clear from people arriving that it was a veritable who's who of superheroes. "Welcome viewers to the 33rd Midwest Sectional Inter-High! I, Rod Remington, am one of your many hosts. Today is the day that we find out which of these fifteen schools are heading to Nationals which will take place this year in New York City! Only three teams will make it to the next round, so the question is who is going to make it? Will it be last year's reigning champs Vocal Adrenaline? Or will McKinley who were considered underdogs dethrone them? Or will we have a new number one? Anything can happen."

Rod grinned as he turned to look at the heroes who were arriving, normally the big hero companies only showed up for the national competition, but they had all witnessed what had happened at regionals. They were all here for one person in particular, still the ratings would be through the roof and it would be great for his career. "As you can see behind me, some of the biggest hero firms are here to scout, I can see Vought International—is that Homelander and a few members of the Seven?" Rod waves towards them and catches the attention of Homelander who makes his approach, with the other two members of the Seven who were with him, Queen Maeve and the Deep.

"Rod Remington was it?" Homelander asks smoothly, flashing a massive smile towards the cameras. When the man nods he turns to the camera. "We at the Seven are always looking for people to join our family. We're also looking for young heroes to mentor. Who knows maybe one day someone at this event will be a member of the Seven."

"Anyone in particular you're here to scout?" Rod asks, trying to get the scoop. The Seven was one of the most popular superhero groups in the world and with Vought International backing them, he was sure that all the members were incredibly wealthy. Homelander was said to be the wealthiest of the superheroes.

"Of course we have our eye on people, but it looks like we're not the only ones that are interested in this particular crop of heroes," Homelander turned to look at the other heroes that were arriving. They were nothing more than B-list heroes as far as he was concerned. Any young upstart hero would want to join the Seven.

"Queen Maeve, we might not be getting any spoilers out of Homelander but—maybe one of you can give us a hint," Rod tries, hoping that the second in command would let something else slip.

Queen Maeve turns to the camera, a cool look of indifference on her features, "We're coming in here with an open mind Rod, I'm sure that—"

Before Queen Maeve can finish her sentence, heroes who had been entering the arena scatter as Charlie drops down, arcs of electricity forcing people to move out of the way, and Rod immediately nods towards the camera so they can get a better look. It was the person that they were all here for, and Charlie looked rather pleased with herself.

"Whoops, I definitely overshot, but I think I stuck the landing, what do you think Charlotte?" Charlie said as she stared down the 4 horsewomen. She immediately gets distracted by Sasha's blue hair, "Hey Sasha! Did you miss me?"

Sasha immediately rolls her eyes but shoots the teenager an amused smile, "Hey Charlie," she practically purrs watching as Charlie's eyes widen and she takes a step forward. She was sure that it was pissing both Bayley and Charlotte off, but it really was fun to fuck with Charlie.

Charlotte Flair glanced at Sasha before turning her attention to Charlie who was ignoring her and attempting to make her way to Sasha. She snaps her fingers, and watches as Charlie's gaze shifts slowly towards her and the teenager shoots her an annoyed look. It takes a moment before Charlie's eyes trail downward and rest on her breasts and she turns a bright red. Charlotte bends down so she can whisper in Charlie's ear, "I will be disappointed if you don't make it to nationals."

"I—" Charlie begins trying to find the right words when there is a blast of heat that knocks over a few people and she turns to spot Santana behind her.

Santana doesn't hesitate to grab the back of Charlie's shirt and yank her back. "Come on we still need to have our team meeting. You can measure dick sizes later."

Charlie puffs out her cheeks and tilts her head so she can see Sasha Banks, "Bye Sasha!"

"Bye Charlie!" Sasha calls out with a chuckle, when both Bayley and Charlotte turn to her. "What? I'm being polite!"

~ O ~

"What were you thinking?" Beiste hisses at Charlie as she watches as Quinn and Rachel worked on her captain's body. Charlie's shoulder was an infected mess, and the only reason she wasn't delirious with a fever that would kill a normal human being was because both Quinn and Rachel were working overtime to keep Charlie's temperature down and to keep her stable enough to fight.

Santana didn't hesitate to swat Charlie upside the head, hard. "She was attempting to flirt. Blame Finn, he should never have pointed out that they were here."

Charlie coughed, and then sneezed three times as she shivered. Confronting Charlotte Flair had not been her smartest idea, but she had done it for a reason. "I was thinking that I needed to see how strong she was, pretty sure I can beat her," Charlie announces proudly before she falls into a fit of coughing and sneezing. Her head felt like lead, and her entire body ached in a way that it had never before. She didn't feel like a million bucks, her body was falling apart and she desperately needed Brittany, but her entire immediate family and her grandparents seemed to be MIA. Which could only mean that Frannie's pregnancy was not going well. Once the day was over, and they made it to nationals she would simply go to them and get Brittany to fix her.

Santana shook her head, and looked at Quinn and Rachel. They had been trying their best, but they hadn't been able to fix the damage, just hide it for a while and even that was getting harder. They needed a healer. "We're going to need to change her bandages, and we're going to need you two to get her up and running again, before any of the other teams realize that she's injured."

"Chances are Vocal Adrenaline already knows that Charlie's injured," Quinn spoke up, she knew her aunt and with Frannie still out of commission, healing Charlie was out of the question. Brittany was the best healer they knew but even their grandma Rose could heal Charlie in a pinch, at least she'd be able to deal with her fever, but unfortunately for them, their grandparents were on some weird hippy trip. "Which means other teams know that Charlie's injured."

"I'm still dangerous!" Charlie insists as she hacks up a lung.

"Sure Rambo Smurfette, sure," Santana said as Rachel patted Charlie's hand. "Have you—"

"We tried, Frannie's still out of commission which isn't good and our parents aren't answering us, also not good. Look, all we can do is stabilize her like we did before and hope that she has enough sense not to show off for the 4 Horsewomen," Quinn stated simply, wiping some sweat off her brow. Going absolute zero was easier than keeping Charlie's temperature down. Maybe her grandparents were right and she did need to practice more.

Beiste frowned and turned to the rest of the team, "Charlie's out of commission which means you guys will have to carry the load, I have faith in you, but I can't in good conscience insist that Charlie take the field—"

"Still the most powerful person in the room," Charlie interrupts, standing up and shoving Quinn away. "Look, I feel like absolute dog shit, but I am still very much alive, so you don't need to worry about me pulling my weight. We can get through this with the right strategy. We still don't know the events, so I have no idea why anyone is panicking."

Santana mentally counts to five before Charlie starts coughing and the moment she had been trying to build is ruined. "Right, ignore Rambo over here for like five minutes, she is right that we don't know what the events are but this many heroes in one place can only really mean one thing. At least one of the events will be Heroes versus Villains. That's where most teams will fail, and that's when we need to bring out Charlie. Even though she looks like death right now I'm certain she's still better than your average c-list hero."

"Thanks?" Charlie frowned, she wasn't sure if she was being insulted or not.

"Quinn," Beiste sighed, and motioned for Quinn to continue to work with Charlie as she nodded towards Rachel who began to sing. They needed to get Charlie back to her baseline, she seemed to be able to maintain it for a bit, but it left a poor taste in her mouth. "Alright, lets go over some of our formations, there's no point in speculating, though I do agree I've been one of the heroes for this event so let me give you some strategy because it honestly does depend on who you get. Some heroes will want to help you along, but most of them will want to crush you under their boot. Let's hope you get the former rather than the latter."

~ O ~

"Are you certain you can do something Britt?" Judy asked watching as yet another person from the suppression team.

Brittany glances at her mother before going back to flipping through a book about childbirth. "I didn't want to get involved, but the suppression team is not strong enough to actually do their jobs. Charlie's ability to interrupt bioelectric signals would have solved this ages ago. Quinn's ability might have also come in handy, I'd have to think about the applications, but since she doesn't experiment on her abilities, I would never let her near Frannie." She finishes and tossed the book aside as she pulls her hair back into a ponytail.

"What exactly are you going to do Bubbles and do you need my help?" Artemis asks.

Brittany pauses for a moment, and tilts her head, running some mental calculations. "Keep me steady grandma, and gramps keep the place quiet, I've never done this before, I'm going to need to concentrate and I need to do it in a way that doesn't cause my nephew anymore distress."

"What exactly are you going to do?" Russell asks, he trusted Brittany but there were always consequences, and he needed to make sure the government was unaware of her abilities. People would never leave her alone if they knew what she could do and Brittany enjoyed her freedom.

"What the suppression team was attempting to do, suppress his abilities. It'll be temporary, until we can slap a suppressor on him," Brittany frowned. If it got out that she was able to suppress abilities, the government and other heroes would see her as a threat. "We need to keep this absolutely quiet—"

"If anyone asks you simply soothed the child and the mother," Lawrence says looking around the room. Making sure that they were all on the same page. It was the only excuse that they had. They could think of something better later.

~ O ~

Rod Remington had always thought of himself as a B-List superhero, he had never once rubbed elbows with the top of the business. But this wasn't an interview with the Seven or the Four Horsewomen, it was with someone far more influential and far more mysterious. He needed to be respectful, and patient or he may never get a chance like this again. The last person he had expected to see at one of these events was General Sarah Alder, the highest ranking officer in the Air Force, and the only leader that the special division of AI soldiers had ever known. It was rumored that she had been born before the Salem Witch Trials, she had defended this country against invasion, she had fought in both the World Wars and the Vietnam War, leading the AI troops to victory. She was the first documented Level 5, and she was loyal to her country. "General Alder, I want to thank you for granting me this interview, and before we begin. I'd like to thank you and the rest of the AI soldier's under your command."

General Alder smiled before turning to look at the field as the competition starts with all the usual fanfare. "We are only doing our duty, and our duty is to serve and protect the public."

Rod Remington nodded, and glanced towards the field. "You normally shy away from these events, there will always be recruiters at these events, but this is the first time in 32 years that you've attended an event. Is there a reason why?"

General Alder was quiet for a moment before she looked at the moment, "I'm here for the same reason all the hero companies are here, to take a look at the hottest prospect of the year. I want to see if the so-called hype is real. Charlie Fabray comes from a very powerful line of AI's in fact her family makes up most of the level 5's in the country. Everyone has a vested interest in making sure she doesn't follow in the footsteps of her aunt Cassandra July."

Rod Remmington paused, "Wait—she's related to Cassandra July?"

General Alder nodded, the information would come out at some point, it was best to be open about it now. At one point Cassandra had been high on her list of recruits. Perhaps Cassandra wouldn't be a disappointment if she had been her mentor. "Yes, which is why there are so many people who are interested—" General Alder trails off for a moment and pauses, narrowing her eyes, before a smile graces her features. "Well—I didn't expect to see something interesting today but it looks like I was mistaken."

"Oh?" Rod said turning to look at the competition, perhaps she had seen someone who could rival Charlie Fabray.

"Yes, it seems like the young Fabray is injured. Perhaps this will level the playing field, still it will be interesting to see how she chooses to handle adversity. I hope that she doesn't buckle under the pressure." With that General Alder stands up, signifying that the interview was over. "I should get to my seat, I want a front row seat to see what happens next."

Rod Remington turned to the camera, "If General Alder is excited, then I think we better turn to the action so we don't miss anything. It looks like the first competition has just been announced and it's—Open Season! The judges this year are raising the difficulty level!" Rod shouts as he jumps to his feet. Open Season never opened up a competition. It made the following events harder, and he suspected that Heroes vs Villains was being built as a test for Charlie.

"Open Season is an elimination event, it's one of the more difficult events that is held, it's a test to show how well people can use their abilities, teamwork, and how tenacious they are. All of these are key components to being a hero. The reason that Open Season is the most dreaded event is because people who are eliminated can't compete in other events. All fifteen teams will have to field their entire team, and each member of that team will be wearing three targets, which they can put anywhere on their body, so long as it's exposed. There is no trickery allowed here, the targets must be visible. Each student will be given a special set of balls, which they are to use to try and hit the exposed targets, once the target is hit they light up. If all three targets are hit then that student is eliminated. The competitor that lights up another student's third target is credited with their elimination," Rod explains taking a breath. "And as I stated students who are eliminated cannot compete in any of the other events at Sectionals. This is huge ladies and gentlemen! We've had sole survivor instances in the past. This could change the dynamics and the odds for who wins the banner at sectionals!"

Rod glances at the field, if Charlie was injured then McKinley was an easy target, they were the only school who had never been to Sectionals before. And the teens could smell the blood in the water, they all wanted to be the one that eliminated Charlie Fabray. McKinley had the biggest target on their backs and having Charlie on the team was proving to be a hindrance.

~ O~

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Santana grumbled, she hadn't even considered that they would try and pull something like this, and she looks around noting that several teams were looking over at McKinley. Charlie looked like death. She couldn't have predicted that they would attempt to pull a stunt like this. Open Season had never been the first event ever in the history of the 33 years of the Inter-High. She turns to the team who is now looking at her and forces a smile to her face even as Charlie begins to cough, it sounded wet and she grimaced, it sounded as if Charlie's lungs were filling up with fluid which was not good. She needed to take control of the team, trying to figure out the best strategy forward. McKinley couldn't be the first team eliminated.

"Rumor has it that the level 5 is injured!"

Santana's body goes rigid, that had been loud enough for most of the teams to hear, and in the corner of her eye she could see people turning to Charlie. She turned to look at Jesse, who had a pleased look on his face. It was obvious that he was gunning to take them down, snapping at him would be a waste of time. She returns her attention back to the rest of the team. "Okay, We're going to need to stick and fight together—" Santana paused when she felt someone tugging on her sleeve, she ignores it before she feels a sharp shock and she turns to glare at Charlie. "What?"

"How are points allocated?" Charlie asks.

"We get 10 points for every ball that connects, 50 points for every elimination, and a 100 points for every one of us who survives," Santana explains before turning to the rest of the team. "If we play this smart, even if we get eliminated we might still be able to—" Santana stops and turns to look at Charlie who was tugging on her sleeve again.

"Has anyone ever had a perfect score?" Charlie asked.

"Of course not, this competition has wiped out nationally ranked teams. Open Season is usually a nationally ranked event," Santana snaps at her. "Now shut up I'm trying to—"

"Did you read the dossier that Beiste gave us?" Charlie asks, cutting Santana off again. Her mind was foggy and everything hurt, and she most certainly hadn't taken the time to look into the teams that they were facing.

Santana paused and turned to look at Charlie, despite the fact that she looked like she was inches from keeling over and dying, she didn't look the least bit worried, which meant that she had a plan in mind that would allow them to survive this event. "Yes."

"And you have the metal bands that Marley made?" Charlie questioned.

"Yes," Rachel said, showing Charlie the band that was around her wrist. It wouldn't win any style points and she was sure that Marley had whipped them together last night. No one had any idea what they did but Marley had insisted that they all wear it, because Charlie had insisted that they have it.

"Good," Charlie said as she forced herself to stand up straight and she began to remove her jacket.

Santana grabbed her hand, "You're going to need to fill me in. We're co-captains, you can't just—make unilateral decisions especially when you're clearly not in the right headspace. If you take off that jacket then every single team will target you."

"Trust me," Charlie said, meeting her gaze.

Santana hesitated for a moment, Charlie had made it clear that her one goal was Charlotte Flair. She trusted that, but their relationship had been strained for weeks. What she did know was that there wasn't anyone here that trained as hard as Charlie and Charlie at any given point was probably the most powerful person in the room. "I'm not going to like this am I?"

Charlie looked at the team, "No, you're not." Charlie looked at her team. "Keep together and don't remove that band." Charlie states simply she didn't have it in her to give one of her patented morale raising speeches. Instead she drops her team jacket revealing her injury to the world. She needed everyone to target McKinley, it was really their one shot. She picks up the targets with her abilities and fastens one above her heart, the other on her injured shoulder and one on her back. She turns so she can face the rest of the students, "Bring it." She demands dropping down a bit as McKinely immediately moves to protect her back.

Santana turns to look at Rachel and immediately smacks her on the arm. "Hum, just low enough for us to hear," she orders, as she begins to place her targets.

Rachel tore her eyes off Charlie, for a moment and shot Santana an irritated look but she did what she was told. Humming quietly as she moved to be closer to Charlie so she could hear it, as she began to place her targets. All they needed to do was survive this round and they'd be fine.

Charlie closes her eyes and inhales deeply before exhaling, as she waits for the buzzer.

Santana looks over at Charlie, as the buzzer sounds and the event starts, and she flinches, awaiting the onslaught from the other teams. But nothing happens and she opens an eye to see what was going on only to find that every single team was frozen in place and the specialty balls that they had been provided with are floating in the air above their heads. Santana immediately turns to Charlie and she freezes when she realizes that Charlie's eyes are glowing. Her irises were just gone and her eyes matched the electricity that danced around her body.

Charlie doesn't wait before the balls start pelting the different teams. Targets immediately began to light up a bright blue, as the points started to wrack up, before all of a sudden everything stopped just as quickly as it had begun.

Santana stares, nearly every one else had two targets lit up. It had been precise and brutal and in the end Charlie was still standing tall. Immediately she pieces together Charlie's plan and turns to the team. "Grab a ball, and take out the people that I point to. Hurry up!" She snaps directing traffic as all of McKinley. This didn't feel right to her, this was supposed to be a struggle, they were supposed to get stronger as a team but Charlie was just flexing. There was no way that any recruiters would be impressed because they hadn't done anything. It immediately clicks as to why Charlie rarely tried at the Regional Inter-high, her getting involved didn't allow them to show off their skills. Charlie was going to be a top hero no matter how well she did at the Inter-High, she had the golden ticket to Summit.

The rest of the team didn't, and she had to wonder how this looked to all the recruiters. Still she doesn't stop moving because she's not a hundred percent sure how long will last, she waits until everyone else has managed to get through before grabbing a ball herself and turning to look at Jesse and flashes him a smirk before pressing the ball against the unlit target on his chest. She winks at him before tuning to Charlie "Okay."

Charlie nods at her and picks up a ball and pushes it against someone's chest, completing McKinley's dominance, and leaving the audience in a stunned silence. She turns and scans the crowd finding the 4 horsewomen and winking at them before she takes off towards the tunnel, to head back to their locker room.

It takes a few seconds before the rest of the team follows her, the arena still in a shocked silence. This hadn't even lasted more than five minutes and McKinley had walked out with a flawless victory. The silence is broken by a snort, and people turn to see Charlotte Flair who bursts out into laughter, as she begins to clap. It takes a moment before more and more people begin to clap for the scene that they had just witnessed as the students that had been held by an invisible force start to move again, falling to the ground.

Santana, tilts her head for a moment and shakes it at the sound of applause and turns her attention to Charlie who is still making a beeline towards the locker room and speeds up so she can talk to her quietly. They hadn't been on the same page lately and she didn't really want to start an argument, she just needed to let Charlie know gently that they needed to step up their game for the next event. "Okay, I'll admit that was kind of badass but—" Santana touched Charlie's arm to get her to slow down.

Charlie turns to look at Santana and flashes her a smile, revealing that her teeth are painted with blood. She coughs, and then spits out a thick red mucus before the eyes roll to the back of her head and her body finally gives out, her body crumbling as she pitches forward into Santana's arms.