Cadets Redux

The air was thick with fog, masking Uroko’s little joy flight much easier. Tonight felt so much better than all the previous times he’d snuck out. He soared above the low clouds until the sky was clear. The moon and stars seemed brighter than usual tonight. He couldn’t help but do back flips like he was circling the moon. The mountains felt a lot taller than they had on his previous ventures out of the academy. He wasn’t at all tired when he reached the peak of the nearest one. Spinning around, he tried to take in all sides at once, until he got dizzy and had to steady himself. He stopped, facing the inviting glow from the city. He’d never dared to approach it before. He was always afraid of being spotted. Even the slightest rumor of someone flying above the city could easily be traced back to him, since he was the only known person capable of flight in this hemisphere. But tonight there just seemed to be a certain luck in the breeze.

His green scaled wings glistened in the moonlight as he made his way to the city. The smile on his face was still gleaming. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to fight a real villain. He was one of the top students at the academy. One of the four members of the best combat team. He’d been in numerous battles between rival teams trying to take the top spot away from him and his friends, but so far no one had come close. He knew he was capable, and tonight was the night that he could do anything!

Silently, Uroko landed on a rooftop above one of the many dark alleyways. His wings vanished into his back as a green half-mask covered his face. He went from rooftop to rooftop looking for the slightest sign that someone was looking to break the law, but there was nothing. He should have known that a city so close to an academy would be well protected. What he failed to realize was the fact that if a criminal wants to commit crime in such a well protected place then they needed to be very good at what they did.

The hit came from behind, the pain was so blinding that he couldn’t tell if it was from an object or if it was psychic in nature. All he knew was that he was in trouble. There was a voice just behind the loud whine from his pain. Uroko rolled over to see who had hit him just in time to catch a foot to the chest. Years of training his scales payed off. The blinding speed of the assailant's foot hit just a second after the scales burst through Uroko’s skin to cover the top of his chest underneath his clothing. There was no pain where he was hit, but the kick was so strong that it slammed him into the bricked edge of the roof feet away. Dust kicked up from skidding across the rooftop flittered down in the teen’s eyes. He hadn’t felt this helpless sense the first time his powers surfaced.

Hokkaido, Japan 28 of April, 2003

It was a night like all the others. He was lying down beside the dinner table coloring a picture. Trying his best to ignore his father’s yelling at his mother. He knew if he tried to go to his room and hide that he too would become a target for the man’s anger. So he stayed there trying to block it out until his mother brought dinner to the table while apologizing for nothing she’d done wrong. Dinner came, his mother apologized, his father slapped her. Just a night like any other. He was only six so there was anything he could do but maybe get hit too. After dinner his mother took Uroko to get washed up for bed. while she was washing his hair she noticed something hard on his scalp. She asked if it hurt. He replied by shaking his head. She poked at it again and that’s when he felt it. All over his body these little green scales began to emerge and sink back into his skin very quickly. His mother screamed and backed away while pushing him in the opposite direction. Her loud horror filled ramblings drew his father’s ire towards the bathroom. When the angry man reached the doorway silence fell in the house. Uroko staring in horror at his own hands, his mother and father looking equally horrified at their child. He never saw them coming, wasn’t even paying attention. The next thing he knew he was fighting the large hands of his parents as they tried drowning him. He lost consciousness. The little boy never saw his savior or found out what happened to his parents. The parents that tried to kill him.

The sharp sound was fading in and out. Whoever was kicking his ass liked hearing themselves talk, because he still heard noises from the general direction of the person. Uroko knew there was no way he was going to win. He was far too inexperienced to ever exceed. His one choice was the only thing the dealer of his coming death would not expect. Still slightly dazed from his unknown wound and blinded from the dust, Uroko’s hand felt for the edge of the roof. He could hear the laughing and footsteps slowly getting closer. The owner of them probably thinking the cornered rat had no way out. As he rolled off the roof, willing his wings to burst out of his back, he could hear the unknown pursuer’s cries of shock and anger as his wings carried him further away.

The Academy seemed much further through his dust filled eyes and the pain. He didn’t need to rely on stealth, thanks to the fog still covering the valley that the academy sat in. The lack of kids with flying powers worked in his favor also. There were no security system that would catch incoming objects his size from the air. He landed on the roof with what must have been a loud thud. But no guards came to check the sound. Maybe the fog muffled it? He didn’t really care if they did come. He just wanted to get inside and lay down before he passed out.

The bathroom window was still barely open. Climbing through it seemed to go much quieter than his previous roof landing. He ripped off his torn shirt as he staggered to one of the sinks. After washing his eyes out he stood there staring at the mirror. He couldn’t feel or see anything on the back of his neck. This explained why he was still reeling from the first attack, it was a psychic blast of some kind. He stumbled to the last stall and pulled off a group of tiles, the clothes were still hidden. The room began to spin as he tried changing into his night clothes, placing the dirty tatters in the hiding spot. He recalled only one time he’d been hit with an attack that lasted this long, Katie Velez. It was like he’d pissed her off all over again.

The male dormitory, like the female’s, was connected to their bathrooms. It was a large open room full of single beds. Each bed had its own nightstand, clock, and trunk. There was a hierarchy to the bed positions. The top tiered teams had their area closest to one of the two bathrooms. Lucky for Uroko, this meant his bed was one of the first ones he came to.

Uroko wasn’t sure if it was just paranoia after the beatdown, but he felt like someone in the room was watching him. He found that he really didn’t care. All he wanted to do pass out. His mind finally welcomed the pain as the pillow gave way to his first real nightmare in years.

Two Hearts

Jorace picked up the picture remembering the past with tearful eyes.

“Kyler and I were both born with weak hearts exactly one year apart. Neither of us were able to do any strenuous activities. We lived in the New Brighten district back then. Neither of us ever wanted for anything, but our parents tried to give us as much as possible. Father worked three jobs, usually different ones every month. Mother worked one, but tried to be home as much as possible in case something happened to one of us.”

Handing the photograph to Saryna, he continued the story.

“I was in the hospital most of the year when I was seven. Being that young all we wanted to do was play, even if it was bad for us. I was released a month before our birthday, which was already the best birthday present I could have hoped for.”

As we sat down on November 5th to watch mine and Kyler's favorite movie while enjoying our birthday cake, the phone rang. I remember mother coming back crying with a huge smile on her face. We asked her what was wrong and all she said was our birthday present would arrive in a little while. Of course hearing that would brighten the face of any child.

Impatiently, we waited and waited for what seemed like months as we watched the movie and waited for the doorbell to ring. We kept stealing glances at the door hoping that our minds would make them come sooner.

Just as we were sitting down for dinner, there was a rap at the door. Kyler and I launched ourselves at the front door so fast that it scared mom and dad. After they scolded us for being too rowdy they answered it.

A delivery man rolled in a big silver case followed by a man in a dark blue suit with gray hair. Dr. Brintam would become the grandfather we never had. We had never seen anything as expensive as that mysterious box.

Dr. Brintam explained that while I was in the hospital he had come across mine and my brothers files, and the many petitions my mother made for heart transplants. He told us that he was from BioNet, the largest medical company in the world, and that he had chosen us to test their newest product.

"This is the 'Synthetic Muscle Oscillating Network' or Symon." He waved his hand over the box as the delivery man opened it. "One of the problems we found with growing organs in a lab was that they were, for lack of a better word, lifeless. We created Symon so that the organs could be exercised as they're grown." He knelt down in front of Kyler and me with a big smile. "Basically, Symon is growing two new hearts for you so that you can run around all you want one day." That brought the biggest smiles to our faces that mom and dad had ever seen.

“Before he left, Dr. Brintam wanted to get a picture of me and Kyler with Symon. But we wanted a picture of everyone together. Mom and dad, me and Kyler, and the Doc and Symon. The two of us may have been young, but we knew how special all of them were, and we wanted to remember that day for the rest of our lives.”

Jorace and Saryna looked up as Kyler walked in the room and sat next to his brother while taking off his tie. "I can't believe Doc's gone." The three of them sat in silence, staring at the photo, remembering the life that Dr. Brintam had given those two young boys.

Masked

Gael sat there staring out at the stars, her face all red and puffy from crying too much. She was exhausted but not sleepy. Thoughts of last night with Uroko still flooding her mind made it bearable. Of course, talking about everything that had happened since helped too. The wind blew, causing her to shiver.

Caitlyn watched Gael, hoping to one day be like her. “What was it like?” She was a bit afraid the question would be too forward, but the two girls grew really close in the last few hours.

The classroom had been out of use the whole year, it was the best place for them to go. Caitlyn had her arm wrapped around Gael, and lead her to one of the desks. She was still crying, but it was mostly just sniffling now. She’d gotten the worst of it out of her in the hallway. Caitlyn pulled a chair over and sat facing her. Before she could say anything Gael looked her in the eyes, pleading to know the answer “Did....did I do it to him? It’s not my fault, is it?” Caitlyn shook her head answering “No, I don’t think you could ever do something...” Before she could finish, the tears were rolling down Gael’s face again “But what if it was my power? I’ve never really had one, what if this is it!” She grabbed Caitlyn’s hands, begging “Please! Can’t you read my mind or something? Can’t you figure out if I did this to him?!”

Caitlyn really wasn’t sure if this was possible for her, but she promised to try anyways. She closed her eyes and dove in. She was always warned by Dr. Sahlyana that diving into a persons mind when they were over come by negative emotions could be dangerous, but this was the first time Caitlyn had ever found out why. Gael’s grief over the situation was over whelming, she could feel it becoming her own, she could feel herself getting lost in it.

She tried several times, each time she had to stop. Finding both Gael and herself sobbing uncontrollably when she came back out. They sat there in silence for a while, before she thought of another way. She raised her head so suddenly that it startled Gael. “Did it happen here?” Gael was as confused as she looked “did...what happen here?” Caitlyn shook her head “Sorry. I mean, did you...did you kiss here? At the Academy?”

Gael understood what she wanted to know “Yes..” She turned away blushing “It...it happened on the roof.”

Gael wrapped her arms around her legs and put her chin on her knee, smiling. “It was...everything I hoped it would be.” She was so happy that Caitlyn was able to read the area with her power to find out the truth. All that time she hung around her brother or Uroko, Gael never really knew what it was like to have a girl friend. “Caitlyn...I...”

Suddenly, Caitlyn stood up and bolted for the rooftop door. Gael jumped to her feet, not sure what happened. She followed, yelling after her to wait. The hallways were empty, everyone else had been in bed for at least two hours.

Catherine bolted upright in her bed, sensing the same thing her sister had. From across the room two shadows rushed over to her. She threw the cover off her and began running for the door. Niht and Samuel looked at each other, having been awake the whole time waiting for Gael to come to bed. They rushed after her, whispering as loud as they could so they didn’t wake everyone. When they finally got past the dorms Niht yelled for her to wait “Could you stop for a minute! What’s going on?” She whirled around as quickly as she could “Either shut up and follow or go back to bed!” She was off again. Samuel and Niht shrugged and ran after her.

Caitlyn stood there at the foot of Uroko’s bed in the hospital wing, her eyes wide, skin ashen, with her hand over her mouth. Gael stopped short of the curtain when she saw that “Caitlyn? Caitlyn....what...what’s wrong?” She slowly walked over to look. Gael’s shocked scream shattered the silence of the clinic room. She fell backwards, scooting across the floor to get away.

Moments later Catherine, Samuel, and Niht rushed into the ward to see Caitlyn and Gael clinging to each other, both staring at the Uroko’s bed. Catherine and Samuel rushed over to Caitlyn, and Niht rushed over to Gael. “Gael, what....” Niht asked as he turned his head to see Dr. Sahlyana lying on the floor. He looked over to the others “Sam,watch them!” Before Samuel could say anything Niht rushed off to get the Nurse.

Minutes later, Nurse Forte ran in, her robe wildly thrown on. She’d rushed so quickly that she hadn’t had time to split herself. “What’s happened, Ms. Song!?” The sight of Dr. Sahlyana lying on the floor panicked her, she rushed over checking her vitals, trying to see if she would respond to her.

Caitlyn sat there shocked, rocked in her sister’s arms “She....she’s empty..” was all she managed to get out. The nurse stopped dead in her tracks. She’d heard and seen some terrible things in her life, but this was the first time something really haunted her. Everyone turned to look at Caitlyn, the silence was deafening. Everyone jumped when Gael stood up, in her trance, and walked to the wall to create the doorway.

The Dean and Niht stepped through the doorway. The hissing sound as it close wasn’t heard by anyone. Niht had seen the Dr. on the floor but this was his first glance at Uroko. He understood Gael’s fright. His body was covered in scales again, but his face looked liked something out of a nightmare. The mask created by the scales looked like a real dragon with a large red jewel decorating it’s forehead. The beast looked like it wanted to devour him even though it wasn’t awake.

Solace of a Sister

The Dean’s office, located a floor under the student’s observation deck of the Simulator, was more sparse than most of the students thought it would be. The north end had a large window facing out onto the view of the front gate and mountains beyond it. The south end had a large window also, but this one held a view of the simulator room, his desk just feet away from it. Two chairs and a couch decorated the center of the room for guests. A row of three over flowing book cases took up the east side of the wall. The west wall had a series of photographs of the Dean with various influential people and his Alpha License framed.

Gael and Niht stood there beside Samuel, not that impressed by the license. Both, their mother and father had an identical license. So it was no surprise that some of the photos on the wall had their parents posing with the Dean. Samuel, though, was the only one in his family with powers, so he never thought he’d meet someone that could use their powers anywhere in the world without having to register with the local governments.

The door on the east wall beside the book shelves opened. Doctor Sahlyana and the Dean walked in, greeting the cadets and nurse Forte. The Dean stepped up beside the three teens, glancing at the photos behind them and then to both Niht and Gael “I heard from you father yesterday, he said he and your mother should be able to make it to the Grants Day celebration.”

Niht turned to his sister with a look of surprise from the news only to see it did not phase her at all. Sighing, he turns back to the Dean “I’m guessing we weren’t called to talk about preparations for a celebration three months away.”

The Dean took the hint “Yes, quite right. Would you all please have a seat.” He watched as Niht lead his sister to the couch followed by Samuel. Dr. Sahlyana had told him that Gael had been a bit traumatized by the situation, but he hadn’t know it was this bad. Forte and Sahlyana sat in the chairs. He waited till everyone was comfortable before speaking again. His eyes on the cadets “You three have already talked to Dr. Sahlyana about what happened, and she has relayed this to me, but I wanted to talk to all of you in person. Have any of you noticed Mr. Miyazaki acting unusual lately?”

Samuel and Niht looked at one another, Gael just stared ahead. “What do you mean unusual?” Samuel asked.

Dr. Sahlyana’s attention turned to Gael “Please Ms. Song, we aren’t here to punish anyone, but we need to know what happened last night.” This caused everyone’s attention to turn to Gael. She tried to fight the tears, but they came anyways.

Her brother was confused, looking from the Dr. to his sister “What are you....Gael? Did Uroko do something to you?!” The single word came out much louder than she meant “No!”

The Dean kneeled beside Gael “Ms. Song, we’ve known about Mr. Miyazaki sneaking out at night, and we know that was the first time you went with him. Please, we need to know more so we can help him.” Before anyone could stop her, Gael jumped to her feet and ran out of the east door. She wasn’t sure how far she planned on running, and wasn’t watching where she was going. Rounding the corner she bumped into Caitlyn, knocking both girls to the ground. Before Caitlyn could recover Gael was on her feet and running again, sobbing. “Gael, please wait! I can help you.” Caitlyn hoped Gael wouldn’t be mad with her for communicating telepathically.

Back in the office the Dean closed the door after calming down the boys. Niht, obviously, wanted to know why they weren’t going after his sister and what this was all about. The Dean turned back from the door, looking at Niht “Sorry about that. Your sister probably thinks this is all her fault, but she won’t speak to us about it.” He glanced out the window at the mountains. “Maybe Ms. Velez can get through to her.”

Samuel looked up, shocked “How did you....” The Dean turned back to the couch, answering “Mr. Hodges, we know more than you give us credit for.” The boy sat back and shut up quickly.

Niht was furious at the thought that Uroko may have done ‘something’ with his sister. He trusted Uroko and his sister, but they really liked each other. He shook the thoughts out of his head knowing Uroko wouldn’t do such a thing. He looked from Nurse Forte to Dr. Sahlyana “I don’t understand, what’s the problem with waking him up?”

The Dr. looked to the Dean, he nodded the okay. She looked back to Niht and Samuel “Mr. Miyazaki has always been difficult for me to read, and was actually able to keep his nightly escapades secret for some time. Even now, his thoughts seem hard to reach. That’s why we need to find out if something did happen that night.”

The Dean interrupted “Of course, there is also the chance that nothing even happened. This could all just be caused by over exertion of his powers.” He walked over to his desk and picked up a file, opening it “Mr. Miyazaki has been going out almost nightly by himself for the past month.”

Gael stood there, leaning against the wall just crying. “Was it my fault? Did I do this to him?” A hand touch her shoulder, and without caring who it was, Gael turned and fell into the person’s arms. She stood there crying on the girls shoulder. Caitlyn just stood there hugging Gael, not saying a word. The two stood there for what felt like eternity before Gael raised her head and said “It...it was just a kiss. I swear.” Caitlyn nodded and put her arm around Gael. The two girls walked to one of the empty classrooms down the hall so they could talk.

00:27:39

The drone of the count down could be monitored everywhere in the locker room, littered with large digital screens above the door, shower, and even in the toilet area. Both sets of girls and boys locker rooms for the simulator were identical.

“00:27:39”

Jacqueline stood under the shower silently preparing for the upcoming battle. The rest of the team had always thought it strange to take a shower before the matches, but she found it relaxing, not to mention it was the only time before one of their matches that she could be alone. She didn’t mind the team, but she never knew what to say around people, especially in this country. She missed France.

“00:23:18”

The sound of the shower cut off as Kerra and Haley stood almost back to back at their lockers putting their gear on. The conversation hadn’t changed much in the last few days since they accepted the challenge from the team transfer students. Haley wrapped the bandages as tight as she could around her chest “I still don’t know see why they were allowed to start at such a high rank, I don’t care who they were at their old Academy.” She tightened the bandages, the discomfort only lasting a few seconds. “It’s not right that they get to start in third place.” She threw her sleeveless grey shirt on and turned to look at Kerra, “Are you even listening?” She turned to see what had taken Kerra’s attention from her and sighed “Go talk to her, you’ll never know if you don’t ask.” Kerra turned, eyes wide and blushing, whispering loudly “Shut up!” She turned back to see Jacqueline, seven lockers down, was mostly dressed. Her black and white long sleeve shirt damp from her ponytail, Kerra had a hard time not staring.

The other kids at the Academy were very tolerant of such things, but Haley was the only one she trusted with her secret. She wasn’t often this obvious about it. It was probably the stress of this fight against a team they knew nothing about, the distraction was nice. Kerra and Haley arrived at the Academy on the same night, and to say they formed a fast friendship would be an understatement.

The two of them, both seven years old, sat opposite each other in the waiting room outside the office that night waiting to be checked in. Haley was sobbing in restraints, having just been rushed in from Chicago. Kerra sat across from her, legs swinging, just watching her. A minute later, Kerra walked over to Haley and hugged her, not saying a word. When the Dr. came out to check on them both girls were giggling and talking like normal kids. From then on the two were always together.

Jacqueline made her way out to the briefing room shortly after she finished dressing, leaving Kerra and Haley to their conversation.


“00:16:32”

Seth sat at the end of the large table in the briefing room while Brandon and Jacqueline helped each other stretch off to the left. Haley and Kerra, finally finished gabbing with each other, came out of the locker room. Kerra’s eyes immediately found Jacqueline and Brandon, seeing them together always made her wince.

Haley piped up to quiet the little storm brewing in her friends mind “So we know what layout we’re getting today?”

Seth wave his arms over the empty holographic map table “What’s it look like, genius?” He usually spouted stuff out like this to Haley, something most people were too afraid to do. Everyone swore she was going to go berserk on him one day. Kerra told her it was just him crushing on her, and Haley knew he didn’t mean any of it. Haley let it go knowing it was just him being angsty as usual, they were all a bit on edge for the same reason.

They all sat there quietly, lost in thought, just waiting for the Simulator computer to give them the layout they’d be battling on. It never did so at a set time. It could be twenty minutes before the battle or three minutes, and with the team not knowing anything about who they were up against, the sooner the better.

“00:10:00”

The table map flashed on with a three dimensional map of the field they’d be presented with when the clock hit zero.

Jacqueline spoke first. “I know this layout, I’ve practiced on it very many times.” She was rarely interrupted by anyone on the team, they all loved hearing her French accent.

Everyone looked to Haley, the usual leader of the team. She didn’t mind the role, but she was never sure how she earned it. “Well, Jacqueline, you know the layout that well and you know what each of us can do.” Haley took a turn looking at everyone, and then back to Jacqueline. She took a coin out of her pocket and tossed to Jacqueline “You up for it?” It was the first time Jacqueline had been chosen to lead a match, practice or real.

Jacqueline nodded, placing the coin on the table in front of herself. “Seeing as we do not know nothing about this other team, I have a couple of plans in mind.”

“00:00:05”

The five of them stood at the door, their assignments buzzing through their heads.

“00:00:04”

The buzzer sounded with each tick of the clock, signaling the start was near.

“00:00:03”

Thoughts racing with excitement and fear, they stared the door down ready to dash out.

“00:00:02”

They readied themselves.

“00:00:01”

They knew they couldn’t lose

“00:00:00”

The door rushed upwards as the loud bell sounded the beginning of the match.

Jacqueline rushed out into the false bright sunlight first, and began climbing the nearest building setting her on the course to try and get some reconnaissance done before the other team got too close.

Seth spotted the pile of rubble Jacqueline pointed out in the planning and built a doll the size of himself. He then ran down an the alleyway, sending the doll in the opposite direction. Controlling it with his mind, he’d be able to see anyone coming from either direction.

Kerra took a left down the third alley that lead to a straight shot clear across the broken city. If she could get close enough to one of the opponents she could get a feel for at least one of them with her mimic abilities. She was to mimic them and retreat back to Haley as quickly as possible.

Haley stood back near Brandon and waited for Kerra. If the plan worked, Kerra would bring at least one person trailing her for them to jump. If all went well Brandon could telepathically transfer the opponents power at any time to Jacqueline after they knocked him out.

“-00:01:43”

The Dean announced the match over, declaring the victors as a team of nurses checked to make sure Haley, Kerra, Brandon, Jacqueline, and Seth were okay, then placed them on stretchers and carried them to the medical wing.

The crowd stood there in silence not sure what had just transpired, but all were glad they wouldn’t have to go against this new team.

Nurse Forte turned to the Dean “That was unexpected, sir.” She stared at him as he sat there at his desk. His hands propped in front of him as he viewed the Simulation field through his office window, thinking before he spoke “Dean Mendrick did say they would win.”

The Dean looked over to Nurse Forte “How’s Uroko coming along?” The nurse looked out the window allowing time for her copy to ascertain Uroko’s current condition. A few seconds later she looked back at the Dean and replied “Dr. Sahlyana just informed me that she hasn’t made any progress, he seems to be resisting her. As for his vitals go, they have not changed at all.” The Dean nodded and stood up “Please inform his team mates and the Dr. that I’d like to see them in my office.” Nurse Forte nodded and then reviewed the files of the transfer students again, her other selves would pass the Dean’s request along.

Rising Theta

Gael stood at the observation window looking down into the training simulation room. She was fighting not to scratch the throbbing itch her wound was causing. The wave of pain from scratching was much easier to deal with. Like many of the people watching from all sides, she was there to watch the second and third place Theta teams duel.

That first day she was assigned into a team with Uroko, Niht, and Samuel was one of the best days she’d had at the Academy. Like all teams, they started in last place. They stayed there until Gael snapped during their twelfth match and started giving orders. Uroko flashed her a smile as they were off to follow her plan, she melted inside. That was the first day they tasted victory.

They rose through the ranks simulation after simulation. Some taking minutes others taking hours as they flanked the other team around the large circular room that measured a quarter mile in diameter. Then the day they finally championed their way out of the Omega ranks beating the lowest team in the Psi rank. Everyone was so happy, jumping and hugging, she felt like she could accomplish anything. They chose their challenges quickly, jumping three places at a time. It wasn’t long before they crossed into the second highest rank class, Xi. They reached second place in just over a month, faster than any team in the history of the Academy. They were ready to take on the first place team so that they could finally get a chance at the Theta ranks. That’s when Gael started feeling nervous, like she wouldn’t be able to lead them to victory. They faced probably the second best team in the Academy. A team that was more interested in keeping the lucky weak out of the high rankings than moving up themselves. Being the leader, Gael had to make the official challenge, but she kept putting it off. Until Uroko found her one night staring out at the sky. “Are you just going to stand here and look at the sky forever?” At first his words seemed cold. Until he placed his warm arms around her waist, his wings began to beat around her and they lifted off the ground “Or will you trust us to help you touch it?” After that night they did not come close to losing another fight, making it all the way to first place in the Theta rank. And no team since has been able to take that away.

The training simulator took up a large portion of the Academy. It could produce many solid holograms based on real or fictional places, some up to five stories tall. Any texture could be created It could create the texture of anything, but for all its complex capability, it lacked the ability to create the proper temperature to go with many things. Some cadets had found themselves waist deep in “lava”, eliminating them from the training exercise, but not killing them. Some exercises took place on four story buildings, being tossed off could cause the computer to create a soft place to land. The observation deck that circled the room was solid glass. Large monitors were set up all over the place to give those watching a closer view of the battles.

She had found the least populated area, not wanting to be bothered. The monitor beside her was counting down the time until the match began, 0:12:43. She looked at the glass in front of her, separating her from the simulator field, replaying Uroko’s attack over and over in her head. She felt a hand come down on her shoulder and tensed up, but immediately calmed down when she heard his voice.

“Hey, you okay?” He sounded really worried, though she couldn’t blame him. “The nurse and Dr. Sahlyana are working together to try and figure out what happened to Uroko.” he looked out at the field. “The Dean and Dr. Sahlyana want to see us later today. They sounded like they were nervous about something.” Niht looked over his sister. She hadn’t taken her gaze from the field. Then he noticed her arm “Gael, you shouldn’t be scratching it.” She looked down to see it had started bleeding again. “Come on, let’s go get that cleaned up.” He’d be able to watch the file of the match later, he was more worried about his sister.

On the other side of the observation deck Samuel walked up to the Velez sisters, placing his arms around them “How’re my two favorite twins doin’?” They were the only other set of twins in this Academy. Catherine was the more dangerous of the two, and hated Samuel with a passion. Caitlyn was more understandable. She didn’t try to harm him, but she never let his advances go further than the surprise hugs.

Catherine threw his arm away and turned so fast he thought she was going to slap him “Go evaporate somewhere you puddle of piss!”

He took his had off Caitlyn and gave a faux hurt look. “I love you too Kitty.” He winked knowing that using her most hated nickname would earn him a bad headache for days. Surprisingly it didn’t come.

Caitlyn quickly interrupted “How’s Uroko doing?” She wasn’t sure why, but she had a soft spot for Samuel, even though he caught an eye full of her on one of his perverse jaunts into the girls bathroom one day. But that’s not to say she didn’t send him away hurting badly. He was never really sure why she didn’t hate him like her sister, but he was glad and careful not to get near that line with her.

His mood changed quickly. “He’s still out. The doc is trying to see if she can get him to wake up, or at least find out what happened.” He looked sheepishly at Caitlyn, “Actually, I...I was hoping you could do me a favor.”

Catherine burst out laughing, catching quite a few glances from other cadets as they backed up. “You have some nerve you perverted asshole! Why the hell should she do anything for you?” She looked from Samuel to her sister and knew her sister would help. “You’ve gotta be kidding, You don’t owe this jerk anything!” Caitlyn turned to her sister, “Maybe not, but he is asking for help.” Catherine knew there was nothing that would change her stubborn sisters mind so she threw her arms up in the air, frustrated, and stomped off.

Samuel looked from Catherine to the ground “I know I have no right to ask you, and I’ll never understand why you don’t hate me like your sister does. But even so, this favor isn’t for me.” He looked Caitlyn in the eyes with more feeling than she’d seen in him since that night. It wasn’t rare for him to be sincere, but he wasn’t usually the begging kind either.

Caitlyn understood. “Is it Gael? You’re worried about Gael?” She’d seen Gael since the incident and could sense she was breaking inside. “Have you tried talking to her?”

He sighed loudly “You know she likes me about as much as your sister. But, yes, I did try. She isn’t even talking to her own brother.” That last sentence stung him more than he thought it would. If she wouldn’t talk to her own brother, he wasn’t sure if anyone could get to her.

Caitlyn put a hand on his arm. “I’ll see what I can do, but if she won’t even talk to Niht I doubt I can do much. At least without being intrusive.”

Samuel half smiled “Thanks, Caitlyn. I owe you way too much.” And with that he walked off to see how Uroko was doing.

The Cadets

The air was damp with fog tonight, making it simple for Uroko to sneak back in the school. He could see the bathroom window was just like he left it, barely open, and the light off. Climbing over the ledge, he quietly scaled down to the window. He latched the window shut a few seconds later and smirked as he watched the aura of a guard float by outside. Uroko took the hidden case off the wall above the last stall and changed back into his pajamas. It was extremely late, but he was still too pumped from the flying to fall asleep, or at least he thought he was.

Uroko would sneak out at night to enjoy the one thing that a very small number of people in the world could enjoy, flying. He knew of only three very strong psychics that could levitate themselves and a boy in Romania born with feathered wings. Even during training he never had the room he wanted for flying, so he broke the rules occasionally. Thankfully, since it was such a unique power, the Academy didn’t have sensors in place to spot him when he took off and landed.

He snuck over to his bed and noticed it was just after 3:00 A.M. Uroko cursed himself for staying out so late, knowing he had to be up in four hours. As he lay down he felt like someone was watching him. In a dark room with forty-nine other beds and no light on it made it hard to see if he was just being paranoid. Still reeling from the excitement he figured he’d never get to sleep, but as soon as his head rested on his pillow he was asleep.

He woke with the instinct to protect himself. His scaled wings burst out of nowhere through his shirt, the dark green scales rising from under his skin looking as if they were flowing over his full body. As they covered his left forearm they jutted out to form a large round shield, protecting him from his attacker, while they formed a fearsome set of claws on his right hand. Without his eyes being the slightest bit open he swiped his claw and struck the enemy. As soon as he heard the loud squeal his eyes burst open.

Gael was sprawled on the floor, her arm bleeding from where she managed to block Uroko’s attack. Niht, her brother, knelt by her side making sure she was okay. The other Cadets were gasping and whispering to each other, not sure what to do. It took Uroko a moment to process everything before he jumped off the bed to make sure his friend was alright.

“Oh man! Gael, are you okay? I swear I didn’t…I…oh god I’m sorry!” He didn’t know what to say or if she’d forgive him. He kept expecting to get punched in the face by her twin brother.

Niht looked up “She’s okay, are you?” He was staring at Uroko, along with everyone else. Even Gael’s eyes had a shocked look, not of fear, but of worry. Uroko looked from Niht to Gael and finally noticed he couldn’t stop shaking. That’s when he remembered the fear from his dream. Gael placed her hand on his. He wished it could have been one of those moments like in the movies where the girl’s touch comforted the fear. Sadly, it did nothing to calm him. Uroko launched for the bathroom, locking the door.

He stared in the mirror, hands on the sink. He couldn’t feel it happening but was sure this must have been why everyone was shocked. The scales kept coming in and out of his skin without his control. He couldn’t stop it, he couldn’t make them come out where he wanted, and he’d never had this many scales before. The same thing happened eight years ago, but that was when his power first showed. He was six years old and there wasn’t much he could control then, but he had learned and should have been able to control it now.

Not thinking, and shocked at the sudden appearance in the mirror behind him, Uroko turned and unleash several punches and kicked before he realized who he almost hurt. Thankfully, the water flowed around and under his quick assault.

“Woah, chill out man! I just came in to see if you were okay.” Samuel’s human form took hold. He was six foot of lean muscle and boxing champ of the academy. He usually shaved his head, but was going for a braided look right now. He grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around himself, “I think we should take you to see Nurse Quartet.”

Uroko turned back to the sink, and ripped the shredded remains of his shirt off, taking in the full site of his chest. He couldn’t hide the fact that he was scared. Not only because his power was changing, but the dream was still fresh in his mind. “Sam, I’ve...yeah, let’s go.”

Samuel opened the door to see Niht and Gael waiting for them “Gael! Don’t worry, I’m here now. You don’t have to worry.” he said as he tried to hug her. Gael mumbled in her normal shy voice “I’m fine.” as she watched Uroko walk out. Of course, Niht quickly diverted Samuel’s hug with a punch to the arm. “Quit it Sam, this isn’t a good time.” Niht handed Samuel the clothing he’d left behind when he took his water form. He stepped back into the bathroom to get dressed before they left.

The hall was crowded by the other students wanting to get a look at what was happening, and they didn’t seem to want to move. Gael, pissed off by their idle curiosity, walked up to the kids who were blocking the way out and said in a calmly chilling voice “Move”. The sea of kids quickly parted as Gael led the way, with Uroko, Niht, and Samuel following.

The whispers in the crowd began to rise as Gael noticed the others weren’t following her anymore. She turned to see that Uroko’s scales were sliding in and out much faster than they had been. Uroko seemed to be in a state of shock. It was picking up momentum until it suddenly stopped, covering his whole body. Probably from the shock, Uroko lost consciousness. Samuel and Niht caught him, getting cut by the scales a little. Gael ran over and took Niht’s place as he, the faster of the two, ran for the nurses office. They laid him on the floor as one of the other kids broke through the crowd handing Samuel a pillow and blanket. “At least someone’s being helpful around here” he muttered. He placed the pillow under Uroko’s feet and covered him with the blanket.

Samuel noticed Gael’s arm was still bleeding. He ripped the bottom of his sleeve off and threw it on his shoulder. Leaning over Uroko, he placed his hand over Gael’s wound as it turned to water. The claw mark was much deeper than he realized, but he was not surprised that she hadn’t said anything. After he wiped down her wound he tied the torn sleeve around her arm, causing her to wince. Samuel smirked “We’ll get the nurse to take a look at you too.” Gael looked up at him “after she takes care of him.” Her eyes fell back on Uroko’s scaly face.

A few minutes later Gael rested Uroko’s head on the ground and fell into the trance. She walked over to the nearest wall, as the crowd watched in awe. Most of them had never seen the Song Twins’ Doorway. Her finger ran over the wall, a thin green glow followed it, outlining a large rectangle. Once she finished the outline a green vortex appeared with a snap where the wall had been seconds before.

Samuel stood up, lifting Uroko, and grabbed Gael’s hand. The light seemed to swallow him and Uroko as they stepped through the portal, followed by Gael. It was no different stepping through any door. One second they were in the hallway, the next they found themselves with their back against the wall beside an empty bed in the hospital wing. The doorway they had traveled through closed with a crackling hiss as soon as Gael stepped through. Samuel and Niht placed Uroko on the bed.

Nurse Quartet looked over the group, seeing Gael’s arm bandaged. She closed her eyes and began to hum. Before the others could blink, Nurse Quartet was now four identical people each humming a higher note. They all opened their eyes at the same time and immediately got to work. Two of them walked over to Uroko and began to examine him, one of them took Gael to clean her arm and bandage it properly, and the last took Niht and Samuel to the side to find out what happened.