《Type: Hybrid.》 Prologue: Gift Part One: MEMORANDUM Date: Thursday/XX/XX/XXXX To: Classifed. From: Classified. Subject: New Phase. Project: State of F.A.U.X.. Since ancient times, people has pursued the idea of humans doing things a normal human can''t. Breath underwater, fly through the sky without wings, run faster than a vehicle, etc¨¦tera, etc¨¦tera.... Etc¨¦tera. Demi-gods, beasts, creatures... Myths. Everything started there. This project was created by our nation and developed until satisfactory results by the best scientist in our country. The name of our honorable researchers are: Alex Ferrer Klein Acott Alicia Uber Claudia Xander to give thanks to these people that made our objectives true, we gave their acronimm to the project. F.A.U.X. As to explain the project, is needed to talk about what we know as human limits. Whitin the variants of the human body, there are different limits in our bodies. All of themcreated by various factors in our lives. How fast we run, how high we jump, how far we can see. Every human have different limits in their bodies. With the State of F.A.U.X, we can rewrite those limits to a certain extent. Besides various other little aspects of the body, the mayor changes we can do, or better said, we are limited to, are things like [Speed], [Strenght] and [Stamina]. Depending on various quirks from the test subjects, they are divided in three aspects: Demon: Test subjects with the most strenght of the subjects. Angel: Test subjects with the greaest speed of the subjects. Phoenix: Test subjects with the most stamina. We can''t go on details, but we can surely say that our objective has been achieved. Long life to the new [Empire]. Part Two. ¡°Is it ready?¡± [Just one more minute] ¡°Hurry; We can''t let them actvate the reactor. Whether it is a success or a failure, is a great threat to us.¡± [Alright captain. We''re on the move now.] ¡°Okay, let''s go.¡± A man and a woman were talking by coded radios, lurking in the shadows. They were in the the place formerly known as [Ellis Island], or [Liberty Island]. Were the [Statue Of Liberty] was suposed to be, now there was the symbol of the vanity created by the [Empire]. A cold fusion reactor. A dam of energy for all the state. It was twice as high as the former structure in there. A base was built around it and was strongly secured by [Demons] and [Angels] wielding special weaponery. Then, a door opened. It was made by the woman talking in the radio. She had already assasinated two [Demons] guarding a door with a strong security, cracked it and then opened the 50cm steel thick door. It was a strange blind point in the security. Pobably because of the lack of resources in the [Empire] in this area. Then, the man in the other side of the radio sprinted with all his strenght towards the door. He was so fast it left an afterimge. But they were not alone. There were other five people with them. They were sent in a top secret mission to stop the advances of the [Empire]. They were part of the [Architecture], the unofficial name of the resistance in New York City. It was not the only place yet to be dominated by the [Empire], but it was one of the most resistance against it together with St. Petesburg, Berlin, Dubai, the whole country of Lichtenstein and Japan, and the City of Madrid. Besides many other cells in the world, these are the most influential. They oppose the [Empire] a monarchy fused with a theocracy that domains the whole world. It started with economy, then politics and religion; after that, it became the military might. Now, these people from the [Architecture] were trying to stop the advance of the [Empire] in subduing the cells in New York City. The invader''s plan was to destroy every source of energy in the place, then create their own energy and, ceasing the functions of the cell and taking the common people to their sides. Now, these 7 people were here to stop the [Empire] from activating this. Not only because is a great threat to them, but also because if it fails in activating, it could engulf all the city in a great radioactive explosion. It had happened in India and China already. So in this very moment, the best team in the [Architecture] was sent to the island. This seven people were the only thread where the whole city was hanging. The team''s name was [Nebula]. Part Two. ¡°This is boring. Why am I here? I''m a genetist, not an engenieer. Even a 10 year old kid can turn this on. Why am I suposed to do it?¡± Talked to herself the chief investigator of the empire, Karen Uber. She was a blonde, striking beautiful slender girl with transparent frame glasses and short, wavy hair. She had also steel blue eyes. ¡°Those stupid burocrats... They knew about the risk in turning on this new model of reactor so they left me here and ran away. I wonder what kind of face they''ll make when they find out that the [Ace] of the [Empire] was left behind. Hahahahaha!¡± Laughed out loud Karen as she lightly stomped over the one she named the [Ace]. It was an ash-blonde haired guy in the floor. Currently so drunk that his sharpened senses were of no use now. ¡°Well, it''s almost midnight so I should get going to the main chamber.¡± Said Karen as she left her old fashioned cellphone with a five minute alarm. Part Three [Nebula] was moving silently along the base, exterminating everyone who was in their way. They were a great team with a more than the average teamwork. The one in the vanguard was the woman that opened the door; Zarah Welsh. She was a moderately proportioned girl with wavy black hair and green eyes. She was assasinating every guy and girl she got in her field of vision. Without rising any alarm, they advanced to the main chamber to stop the activation of the reactor. After her, it was a tall and well built woman. She had black hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes. She was Jyacoba Pietrov and the ¡°tank¡± of the team. In any other ocasi¨®n she would be in the rear guard or the very front of the formation, but this was an infiltration, so she was not suited for this. Next to her there was Alanah Weiss and their very captain, named Andr¨¦ Glass. Alanah was overly proportioned girl with light brown hair and red-green eyes. Andr¨¦ was a man with short, dark reddish hair and heterocrhomatic eyes. One of them was black and the other was purple. They were the so called ¡°all-rounders¡±. Behind then, three were taking care of the rear guard. They were Lauren Olivier, a blonde guy with brown eyes; Kristen M¨¹ller, a slender girl with light brown hair and blue eyes, and Pietro Vienna, a dark blonde haired guy with blue eyes. Then, in less than five minutes, they arrived to the main chamber. This place was a tall, piramidal salon with tons of valvules and status screens. In an enormous desktop, there was Karen Uber. In a inhuman, skillful way she was operating the windows in the desktop. ¡°You there! Stop!¡± Shouted the captain, Andr¨¦. ¡°Wha!?¡± Exclaimed Karen, but not because of Andr¨¦, but because of someone else. ¡°AARRRRGGHHH!!!¡± Shouted a guy behind everyone. It was Pietro. He had just been knocked out by a gunshot. The one who shot was the so called [Ace]. ¡°This was because of my shoes.¡± Said the [Ace] while recalling previous encounters. ¡°Aleister?!¡± Shouted Krestin as Jyacoba suddenly rushed towards the [Ace], named Alister G?tze. Aleister then with the minimal movement, intercepted Jyacoba''s attack. She was wearing very sturdy gauntlets and [Ace] was holding on his swords. They were two sabers. He had interchanged his handgun by a sword in a mere instant. Aleister was barely resisting the pressure. Alanah and Zarah rushed towards him to give him a final blow while he was showing some openings, but- ¡°Activate [Faux]!¡± He shouted as then, suddenly his skin strange gyeroglyphic-like, cobalt-blue marks appeared in his skin. ¡°Damn, he activated his [Faux]!¡± Shouted Andr¨¦. Then, Aleister with ease brushed off Jyacoba then kicked her in the gut, leaving her unconsicious; and in the blink of an eye, he intercepted both of Alanah''s and Zarah''s attacks and threw them several meters away. ¡°Alanah! Zarah! Go to the desktop! Lauren, take Pietro away! I''ll take care of him! Activate [Faux]!¡± Shouted Andr¨¦ too and his hair inked bright silver. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Asked Andr¨¦ as he took two of six swords that were hanging in his waist. ¡°The people that brought me left me behind. I''ve just woke up moments ago, so I decided to have some midnight fun.¡± Replied Aleister. ¡°Come on! This is not time to be playing! This is a serious matter!¡± Said Andr¨¦. ¡°I know. But that why they are here, right?¡± Added Alesiter as he pointed Andr¨¦''s companions. ¡°So you attacked Pietro on purpouse? It had to be like that after all.¡± Replied Andr¨¦. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What do you say [Stardust]? Do we finish things here and now? If I''m not wrong, we are 49 to 48 to your side. ¡°As I said, this is not the moment to be-¡± Andr¨¦ tried to persuade Aleister but then he noticed something strange in him. ¡°Shit, [Ace] Are you drunk?¡± ¡°That''s not the issue HERE!!!¡± Shouted Aleister as he sprinted full force towards Andr¨¦. (Shit, like that there''s no one who can stop him!!) Andr¨¦ thought as he parried Aleister''s attack. Aleister then used that recoil to jump back and then hanged of the wall. He had suddenly grabbed one of the metal beams olding the structure. He then jumped with all his strenght acting like a cannonball and slashing towards Andr¨¦. Alesiter was using the massive strenght of a [Demon] to do so. And Andr¨¦ was no stupid enought to recieve that attack. He then with minimal movement and at the last second, looking like he had not dodged at all, he lost the attack. Aleister then made an acrobatic landing with his shoulder and then rolled in the floor and after drifted a little. He then jumped again but Andr¨¦ dodged again. That was the superhuman speed he has thanks to being an [Angel]. (Even intoxicated he moves pretty well... But in perfect stated I''d already lost an arm) He thought. ¡°Sorry but now is not the time... [Unleash]!¡± As Andr¨¦ said so, his haid shined even more, his eyes shined and his skin developed even technological-like, light blue marks in his skin. His black eye turned green and his purple one shone even more bright in it current color. ¡°Go sleep.¡± Said Andr¨¦ as he dissapeared from Aleister''s field of vision. ¡°BWAAAHHH!!¡± Shouted Aliester as his head was crushed against the floor of the chamber, letting him unconsicious. ¡°Haa.....Uwaah!¡± Suddenly, the chamber started to violently shake. No, it was not only the chamber; it was the entire island. ¡°What the fuck with this shakes?!!¡± Then shouted someone from the door. ¡°Wha-?! What are you doing here?!¡± Exclaimed Andr¨¦. ¡°I was sent to help [Nebula], and you really need help!!¡± Said the person on the door. ¡°Damn! Zarah! What happened?!¡± ¡°I don''t know! I tried to stop the whole process of the reactor but it''s useless!!¡± Said Zarah ash she manipulated the windows. ¡°What about Uber?¡± Asked Andr¨¦ ¡°I knocked her out obviously!!¡± Shouted Zarah in desperation. ¡°¡±WHA?! IDIOOOT!!!¡±¡± Shouted in unison the person in the door and Andr¨¦ Zarah ignored them and just skillfuly used the desktop. Then the shakes started to get stronger. Stronger. Stronger. Stronger. *SWOOSH!* ¡°Wah?! What happened? The door just suddenly shutted?! What happened Zarah!¡± Shouted the person near the door. ¡°I tried with all my might to stop the emergency door but I just... I just.. No... No... NOOOO!!!!¡± Said Zarah as fell on her knees while tears dwelled in her eyes. ¡°I-It''s.... Useless....¡± She said with an empty voice. ¡°Sorry...¡± She said as an enormous white explosion engulfed them. Part Four. ¡°As I always said, the most brave heroes have lame deaths... Achiles, Heracles, Lancelot.... I can name many others... Sorry, I can''t.¡± ¡°Yeah..... So what the fuck am I doing here?!¡± ¡°Calm down Serena, calm down.¡± ¡°Shut up Andr¨¦!¡± Said the person next to him, Serena Bones. She had real, long silver hair in a ponytail and had hazel eyes. She had an athletic body and silky white skin. Truly, a beautiful woman. ¡°So, at the end, what is this place?¡± Asked Andr¨¦. ¡°Well, this is my humble home.¡± Said the guy in the floor. He didn''t faced them. The place looked like a japanese 1LDK and had a high-tech computer and a plasma tv. The guy was over som kind of cushions watching tv. He was watching some kind of animated cartoon. It was anime. In the place there were tons of photos and also there were lots of cushions, a wooden tea table and a bed. It was pretty cramped. The guy had white hair in a ponytail and fair white skin. He was in his early 20''s and didn''t face them. There was also a black haired maid with glasses sit next to him. The most striking was that she has wolf ears and a tail. ¡°Well.... Besides that this is your home... Is something like the purgatory or the path for afterlife or something?¡± Asked Serena. She had already calmed down. ¡°Well... This... Well, for you to understand this..... Let''s ay I''m god. I''m one of the countless gods that are here and there in countless worlds. We have many names an clasifications. I have name too... Oh crap I drifted.... Well, let''s say that this is the real of a god and you''re under my protection. I won''t tell you my name, yet.... So you can call me [Triania God].¡± Said the white haired guy, without facing them. ¡°And.... Why are we here? No.... How and Why?¡± Asked Andr¨¦. ¡°I see, a smart kid. Well, let''s say that my godly powers brought you here. I''m a god after all. And the second, is because I wanted. I have many reasons why, but the main reason is that I''ll use you in future notice.¡± Said the [Triania God] as he slightly clenched his fist. (He...) Serena and Andr¨¦ noticed that. In that moment- ¡°What Master En-.... Ehem.... I mean, what Master Triania wanted to say is that he felt bad for you and your world, so he saved you.¡± Said the maid in the room that had remained silent till now. ¡°Wha?! You didn''t need to say that!¡± Said the god. ¡°Sorry.¡± Said the maid, which expression said that she wasn''t sorry. ¡°Anyways, don''t think too much about this. Just think about what has just happened as a favor that someday will be paid. One day I''ll summon you and you''ll have to obey me... But that''s another issue in the future.¡± Said the god while waving his hand. ¡°So, you made us a favor and in the future you''ll aks retribution?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. That. Keeping things simple is better.¡± Replied the god to Andr¨¦''s question. ¡°So, you saved us, but now what?! You''ll take us back to that hell? And why just us??!!!¡± Reclaimed Serena. ¡°Well... Nope, something better.¡± Said the [Triania God]. ¡°Something better? What do you mean?¡± Asked Andr¨¦. ¡°This¡± Said the god as he snapped his fingers. Then both of them suddenly dissapeared. ¡°Do you thing they''ll be okay?¡± Said the maid. ¡°I don''t know. When I was summoned I didn''t know either. That''s how life is.¡± Said the [Triania God]. ¡°I hope Yozora comes back with the potatos soon...¡± Said the [Triania God] as he watched his anime. Part Five. ¡°UWAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! FUCK!!¡± Shouted Andr¨¦ as he woke up. ¡°Ha... Ha... Ha..... A... Dream?¡± He said to himself. ¡°.... Eh?¡± Reacted Andr¨¦ as he touced his face. He felt his sweaty face..... He was able to feel his face, with his hands, his fingertips. ¡°.... How?¡± This was not mentioned earlier.... But, Andr¨¦ Glass had his four limbs severed. He had passes through many hardships in the past, and the result was the loss of his four limbs, among many other things. He had replaced them with automatized arms and legs. The arms started from the shoulders and the legs from the upper part of the knees. He then took out the blanked he had on and checked his lower limbs. They were there too. He was not only dumbfounded. He also thought that he had lost reason or that he was dreaming again. Then, he noticed. It was morning. The sun shined bright and he was in a quiet, familiar place. ¡°I-Impossible.... The sun hasn''t shine in 7 years... Things haven''t been so clean in decades.... What is going on in here?¡± Thought Andr¨¦ as he looked around him. ¡°What is this place? It feels overly familiar....¡± He then started to wander around the room. There were posters, photos, clothes, toys... And an only bed. ¡°!!!!!?????¡± He then realized. He knew where he was. He had forgotten it. He had been there before. 20 years ago. ¡°This.... Is my room. My room when I was a in highschool.¡± Said Andr¨¦ as he dumbfoundedly found it everything too real to be a dream. *RIIIING* Then, the cellphone in his bed rang, he quickly ran towards it to reply it. Even if it was a dream, he was going to follow the game. He checked the date in the phone, and then found overly strange the name that appeared there. He then replied. ¡°Hi?¡± He said timidly. ¡°Holy shit Andr¨¦! Is this a dream?! Is this real?! What''s going on?!¡± Said the person in the other side of the phone. ¡°Serena...? Well.... It seems.... We''ve been sent to the past.¡± He replied ina way that not even himself believed it. Chapter One: Go back to zero Part One: *Pant, Pant, Pant* "I-It''s... Incredible." Voiced Andr¨¦ Glass. He was in a private room inside an apartment building. He wore black athletic short pants and had bandages in his feet and hands. Right now he was training. Even though his stamina and strenght was compromised because his flesh and bone limbs, the control he regained was worth it. He made shadow spar and made some light exercise. It was to see the actual performance of his melded body, he tried this as soon as he arrived to his new place. And to discover that, let''s go a little back. Andr¨¦ Glass decided to take a bath and check his own body just after talking with Serena. While in the shower, he noticed it was entirely different from his past and future self. His past self would be described as lame, unathletic, thin as a fishing rod, etc. His future body has... had many quirks. He had uncontable scars in both face and body. He had his left eye substituted by a mechanical prothesis. His four limbs were substituted by mechanical ones and also his heart, a lung, a kidney, half of his liver and half of his ribs were substituted. He had several metal plates in his skull and all his theet were glass-fiber and his brown-reddish hair is the result of his blood interfering in the process of hair growth because of several injuries in his head. Moreover, in a unknown way, all of his bones were substituted by carbon polymer ones. Even his spine, thing that has intrigued everyone around him. To end with, his vocal cords had been surgicaly repaired at least 20 times, together with his left ear. And now, his eyes, ear and face were back to normal, in a sense. His body now is well built and thin; His hair is ash black and the the only scar rmaining in his face was a vertical one in his left eye. His left eye became green as it was and his theet were not substitutes. He regained his limbs and also most of the scars had dissapeared. He still had some ones that were influenced because of his mental state; and also his internal organs were alright. It seems he is taller and his voice was stronger. To end with, his bones seems to mantain the carbon polymer constitution. (I need to test it afterwards.... Everything...) He said to himself as he went out of the shower. To his surprise, no one was in his home so he just wandered there while trying to remember why he was all alone to such an hour. It was 7 am. "But, I wonder if I have to go out of here before they come back... They would think I am something like a thief." Said Andr¨¦ as he looked what to wear. "Not that they ever cared about me." He said expecting no one to listen to him. Then, while looking for his shoes under the bed, he saw somehting unexpected. "Eh? What is this?" He said as he took out something; a black bag. In there, there were cellphones, a change of clothes, a tablet, a laptop, smart glasses, a black choker and a yellow checked desert scarf. There was also a paper with a message. "Use it to your heart''s content? Haha, what a nice guy. Oh! There are instructions...." Said Andr¨¦ as he read the page while taking the choker and wore it. Part Two. Serena Bones, the one who came back with Andr¨¦ was now going to the best city in the world, New York. She was incredibly nervous, but not because of the flight, but because something else. She was in a plane due to [Triania]''s instructions in a black bag she found next to her bed. She lived with her gandma and grandpa in the countryside and they woke up pretty early due to their job in their corn farm. That was a decisive move, because as Andr¨¦, she had changed too. In the past, she was a spoiled, plump little girl with black hair. She had no stamina and ate everything in her way. Her theet had lots of caries and her heart was in constant danger due to her diet. In the future, he athletic self had almost no place without muscles and he hair was silver. Also her heart had been totally repaired by experts, andd as Andr¨¦, her bones were substituted too. Now, she was tall athelic girl with short silver hair and any problem in her body. So, inmediately after taking a shower, she left a note in the fridge and left with the promise of calling back once she arrived to New York. In the airport she took a plane that was in stop-off from Los Angeles. By the way, Serena is from Kansas. So, she afford a first class seat. And then as she looked for the best spot to seat- "Serena?" Someone called her out from behind. She didn''t know who in the world with such a manly and clean voice would call out to her. She had nice ears, so she could identify someone with their voice; and she didn''t revognized that one. So she turned around and- There was a handsome guy. with ash-black hair, heterochromatic eyes, transparent-frame glasses and with an air of elegance. She didn''t recognized the voice, but it was natural because that voice was one she didn''t hear in a lot of time. It was stronger than she though, but looking at his face she somehow recognized the guy. "Andr¨¦?" She said, not talking to him but confirming it. "Yeah. It seems we both changed a little." He said with a carefee smile. She just nodded and then sat next to him. They both just chatted as always and then Andr¨¦ started to doze off. She had chosen to sit next to the window, but she then repented. *Snore-Snore* Slightly snoring, Andr¨¦ was sleeping and then his head fell in Serena''s shoulder. (Wha-What?! What the hell is he doing??! Thi-This idiot!! Wake up! Wake Up!!!!) She shouted in her insides, but contrary to her thoughts, she didn''t move an inch to wake him up. (I-It''s not like I want you to keep doing this or it''s not that I like it! Absolutely not!!!) She exclaimed in her mind while her pearl-white skin went red. (Wha-What am I doing?! This is not about him but me! Why am I not moving?! Moreover, why am I gettting flustered about this?!!) Like this, she kept her monologue until they arrived the JFK. Then they both moved as [Triania] instructed them in the paper and arrived to a luxury apartment building. In reception, they were told that their room was already prepared, or better said, the entire floor before the pent house was reserved for them. They didn''t mind a went straight to their apartment. The service girl told them that it was a double apartment so they would be living together. Serena flustered in the inside while she exclaimed "Living with this bastard? Not that I mind that much but even so it''s still a little unpleasant." Andr¨¦ most of the time ignored such statements, so he didn''t mind in a sense what she said. He knew it was the result of their battles together that he got to understand her to such a extent and to ignore her when she just spouted nonsense. As they left the little they brought with them in their rooms, Andr¨¦ started to think something he noticed when he left his house. (Now that I notice, I, and as well Serena... Have been very quiet abour everything. This feeling of calmness what it is?) He said to himelf. What he mant, was that all he took everything too lightly, when it shouldn''t be like that. He should be looking what to do right now to stop the war and everything. He should be in high-tension, but it wasn''t like that. There was still some months until the very start of the war itself, so he should be rushing in the streets right now, but he was just enjoying the calmness of the peace. Andr¨¦ and Serena were in the living room, trying to find something interesting to watch in the smart-tv when the door opened and- "Captaaaaaaiiiiiiinnnn!!!!!!!" Shouted someone as that person jumped towards Andr¨¦. After tackling him the person started to rub their face in his chest while muttering "Captain, Captain, Captain''s smell." It was an ubelivable scene for both Serena and Andr¨¦. So, to start with, Andr¨¦ spoke first. "Who-Who are you?" He asked. Then the person, a girl, stood up suddenly. "Hmph! For Captain to not to recognize me.... As I thought, being with the stupid Hellfire for the entire flight sure was hard." The girl was tall and slener. She had black hair in a ponytail and sky-blue eyes. She wasn''t a peerless-beauty as Serena, but was pretty enough to stop walking in the street to gaze at her face. "Stupid Hellfire?! Who are you calling that?!" Shouted Serena as she then understood who the girl was; as well as Andr¨¦. "Eh?! Jyacoba?!" Voiced Andr¨¦ with a dumbfounded voice. "Haaa.... You''re annoying as always. Just shut up Jyacoba." Said a girl''s voice coming from the door. "You.... Zarah?" Said Serena as she saw the girl from head to toes. "Yeah; but I''m not the only one...." She replied as another bunch of people entered with her to the apartment. "It''s.... Everyone." Yes. Everyone who was inside the Main Chamber was now in front of them. Part Three. "Jyacoba, can you please release me?" Asked Andr¨¦ as it seemed that Jyacoba wouldn''t let him go. Everyone was now sit in a conversation pit in the apartment. "No! I won''t let the Captain go again!" She shouted as she embraced him further. "I-I''m not a Captain now. You can call me just Andr¨¦." He added as he gave up in the idea of her letting him go. It was the same in the future. "WHAT?! REALLY?!!! WOOOAAHHH!!!!!!" Shouted Jyacoba in excitement to what Andr¨¦ made a slight annoyement face. "Haa... Anyways... Setting aside the tumor there.... Ca- Andr¨¦... I have a very important question." Said Zarah with her never-ending sharp tounge. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "What is it?" Added Andr¨¦. "Well... I apologize for the words but... What are these motherfuckers doing here, eh? They''re our enemies! They activated the reactor and prevented us for de-activating, causing our "death"!!" Shouted Zarah with almost to none emotion in her face. She was of course angry, but by some psycho-clinical reason, she could not muster any expression. Right now, maybe because of the changes in her body, she made a very little expression and raised her voice. She had a bob cut and her wavy hair was now straight. Her steel-green eyes were still the same with their sharp gaze. Her body was kept well proportioned and her face showed a cool beauty. "Ah... You mean them." Said Andr¨¦ moving his sight towards the two in the corner. They were Karen Uber and Aleister G?tze. You could say they looked the same, but younger. Still, even younger, they both gave an aura of adulthood. "Haa... You as always with a sharp tounge and a short temper." Said Karen while sighing. "Shut up!" Said Zarah. "Anyways; Who do you believe gave us the maps of the base, the shifts of the guards and where they would be, and also the way to hack the cameras, It was her. If not for Karen, we would not have been able to reach the Main Chamber. She has been a spy for us at leats by 5 years to that point, and it seems she dragged Aleister too in the last minute.... I have known Karen the same time I''ve known Serena and I trust her." Aclared Andr¨¦ to what Zara just kept quiet and Karen slightly blushed. "What? Is that really true?" Asked Alanah, the overely proportioned girl. The hourglass figure she always had was untouched, but now she wore thick-frame glasses and possibly, whole the scars that she had on her dissapeared. also her brown hair was now shoulder lenght. "Yeah; Wait.... Andr¨¦, you didn''t tell them?!" Exclaimed Serena. "Of course I did.... I did told Pietro and he should have told everyone." He said while brushing off the responsability to Pietro. He, as he accustomed, was calmily dozzing off in the middle of the meeting. "Pietro, Pietro! Wake up." Said Lauren, the "handsome" of the group. They both actually didn''t look that different; only younger, as Aleister and Karen. But this didn''t include Kristen, the rookie of the group. Actually, in the future she had only worked with them for two weeks. It didn''t include because... "Say, Kristen.... Was okay for you to leave your house?" Asked Lauren with his "handsome" tone. "Shaddup! I was appwointed in twis swo I decwided by myself to come here!" She exclaimed clumsily. Kristen was at least 7 years younger than everyone in the group. And they al had the same age and came back to when they had 17 years old.... So- She became a little girl of 10 years old. "Pfft.... Hahahaha. So-Sorry." Said Serena as she laughed because of the fact that the strong, brave and straightfordward girls she knew now was a little girl that lovely played with doll houses and with unicorns and belived in santa. "PF-Don''t be like that Serena. It must be hard for you." Said Andr¨¦ as he nearly laughed too. "Well, at least we knoe there''s not too much difference... Like in certain pa-Bffasdfghkldsk" As Lauren made an off-course comment, he was punched in the gut by Kristen. By the way, Lauren is a total underground pervert. And also to this point, Pietro was still dozzing off as always. Looking at them, Karen could only laugh. "Andr¨¦. Don''t you feel it?" Suddenly, Aleister talked. He is a crazy battle maniac that goes berserk in almost every fight, but in the day-by-day he is a little stoic and acts calm and cool. "Eh? Ohh yeah... Everything is calm.... Everything is calm even though we shouldn''t be this calm" Replied Andr¨¦ to what everyone just suddenlt got quiet. As they started to think about this, then- *RIIIIINNNNGGGG!!!!!* A classic phone tone rang in the room. "Wha-What is that?!" Asked Serena while looking around. Pietro slowly woke up and Andr¨¦ looked around too, then everyone looked towards the smart tv in the living room. Everyone got out of the conversation pit and went towards the tv. "Take it." Said Andr¨¦ as the tv let the call go on. It was a videocall. [Hello hello!! How you doing there?!] Suddenly a young man appeared in the screen. He had heterochromatic green and yellow eyes and long white hair tied in a ponytail. He was really handsome. Also the wolf-eared maid could be seen in the corner of the screen. "[Triania God]?!" Asked Andr¨¦ to confirm, because he didn''t see his face. "Oh! It''s the guy we had stew with!" Shouted Jyacoba, to what Pietro, Zarah, Alanah, Lauren and Kristen nodded. "We ate dessert with him!" Shouted Karen while Aleister just gave a glance. [Yeah, yeah. Everyone ate something, except the leader there. Anyways, I call right now with my "godly powers" just to see how you doing. I bet you''ve been wondering why are you so calm.] Said the god. "Yes. Right now we were wondering why." Said Andr¨¦. [Yup. It''s weird right? Accepting this fast that you were brought to the past, and also the fact that I modified your bodies and kept your memories and that even though you could do anything to stop the war now, you are just here doing nothing... Weird.... But that''s okay by now. All I did was to gave you some suggestions with my godly powers. You never noticed but I, in a certain way, drugged you. Think you''ve drank twenty pills of anti-depressives or whatever. Right now, there''s nothing you can do so I was obliged to erase that uneasiness in you. I also helped you to accept faster everything that happened so you could quickly blend into society. So I helped you.] Explained the [Triania God]. Everyone just kept silent beacue he had reason, and had nothing to retort with. "And... Is it permanent?" Asked Serena. [If you wish, it is. So let''s say it isn''t. Tonight you may pass the hardest nights of all in terms of emotional conflict of everything you have saved up until now. It will be hard, but then tomorrow you''ll be better. You''ll be natually calm and ready to listen everything I need to tell you.] Eplianed the god. "I-I see.You only called because of that?" Asked Andr¨¦. [Yeah. That''s it. So see you then!] Shouted the [Triania God] and hung up. Part Four. After that, everyone just idly chatted and then went to choose their rooms. Andr¨¦ used the private room and trained. Serena accompanied him too by several hours. Actually, they passed out right there in the room. It was midnight and as both were there in the floor, the effects of the powers from [Triania God] started to fade away. Then they both started to have nightmares, as well as everyone else in their apartments. In the case of Andr¨¦ and Serena, they both started to sweat and groan. "GAAH! AAAHHH!!!!!! BLE-BLEGH!!! AARRGH!!!!" Started to shout Andr¨¦ as he started to remember his past. It was necesary not only to go fordward, but also to accept yourself and to understand that this that is placed in the future, will be overwritten and thus will not happen. Things done to you and things you did to others.... They are forgotten now. They must be forgotten.... That was the main objective of the [Triania God]. Everyone was suposed to understand that everything from now on will be different. That they need to create a new future, while destroying their past. It was utterly impossible to forgive everything or forget what is painful, but at least they need to understand their position. And so, everyone needed to reminisce that night. And this is what Andr¨¦ passed through.... ............................................ [TRASH! TRASH! TRASH!] [You''re not my brother.... I don''t know you] [I wish I hadn''t adopted you] [Useless] [I love you.... Please go out with me!] [You little crap! Don''t Touch ME!!!] [DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!] [We''re the best pals!!!] [I... I will aways be besides you!] [I... I will never do such a thing....] [Sorry but... It was necessary.] [NOOO!!!!! DON''T LEAVE ME BEHIND!!!!] [Se-Serena.... Sorry... I..... I.... I''m Sorry....] [ROOAAAAAAARRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] [A-A monster! You are a monster!] [A-Andr¨¦! You are okay?] [Shut up bitch... Never come near me. Never touch me.... Don''t even dare to breath the same air as me.] [I will never betray you!!] [I don''t belive you.] [I am trustworthy! I am real!] [I apologize... Being a double agent is made of lies.] [What happened to your neck?] [I trust no one.] [Do you trust me?] [I only trust Serena] [You have to leave?] [The boss said it. I need to work solo; you need to work in team.] [This is your new team, trust them as yourself.] [CAPTAINNN!!!!] [Captain] [Cap] [Cap. Andr¨¦] [Cap-Captain!] [Captain...] [Stardust!!!!!] [Cryo....] [Andr¨¦..... We will always be a pair.] "GAAAAHHH!!!! AHHH HAAAA - Haa... Haaa.... Haaa.... Shit.... What.... What was that?!" Shouted Andr¨¦ as he heavily breathed. "Haaa... I''d rather never have a night like that..." He said as he tried to stand up. "Eh?" He voiced as he looked besides him. Because when he tried to stand up, he noticed that his hand was being strongly gripped by someone. *Snore.... Snore....* It was Serena that passed out with him. She had gripped his hand strongly to resist the nightmares and memories she saw in her dream. "I''ll wait a little more then..." Muttered Andr¨¦ as he just sat until Serena woke up. Chapter Two: The mission Part One: "Another one late as me? Nice; Hi there dude, what''s your name?" Asked a carefree guy. He has long, brown blonde hair and blue eyes. His face is handsome and has a peerless smile. He has a mole under his right eye. "Andr¨¦ Glass. And you?" Asked Andr¨¦. "I''m Colt. Christop Colt. Nice to metcha''." Smiled the guy. "Yeah; nice to meet you too. Oh! It seems the ceremony is going to start now." Pointed Andr¨¦ as the lights in the place were turned off. He right now was in an auditorium inside a really prestigious Highschool in New York. This day, after three weeks of being melded into the past, he started to attend said place. Why? That''s because it was part of the plan to stop the war from happening. (Really, I can''t believe this place is the start of everything...) Thought Andr¨¦ as he listened to the school''s principal speech. To begin with, the one named [Triania God] called to them the very next day after they had "fought" with themselves. Then they listened to what they had to do from him. It''s not that they couldn''t do it by themselves, but at least it would be easier with Triania''s information. Serena, before recieving the call said to everyone that he had a hunch. A big hunch; that it was of utter importance to believe in him. That she had a feeling that was not a bad person, not even someone that was plotting something out of the frame. And even Kristen knew, that Serena''s hunchs were 100% on the spot. It even could be called an ability. So they decided to not only listen to him, but to obey him. Due to past occurences, Andr¨¦ was not able to trust someone from the bottom of his heart exceopt Serena, Aleister and Karen. And because Serena said that she trusted in the god, he for the moment gave his approval. This, he gave them their mission. To keep an eye on [Aleister Crowley Academy]. It also had a middle school section so Kristen was able to enter too. Anyways; The god explained that [Aleister Crowley Academy] was the heart and brain of everything. The research of the [Faux], the born of the [Empire] and the start of the war. Everything was born in the academy. Jyacoba suggested that they could just blow up the place, but the god refuted that. He said that doing that would only fasten the war. So, to lead Andr¨¦''s group to the most suitable and desirable future, they needed to attend the school. "Know your enemy as you know yourself." Muttered Aleister that time. So, to begin with, they all memorized the whole map of the academy, investigated the teachers and the director. Also looked from afar for suspicious activities. The teachers were all clean and about the principal they found nothing besides his beneficence work. So they thought that either he was not included, or it was a facade. They didn''t found anything suspicious to the extent it was hard to believe that the academy was the center of everything; and so, they folloowed suit Triania''s instructions. He would be issuing more orders from time to time according to what they found inside, but besides the big decisions, everything was left to Andr¨¦. Then Andr¨¦ ordered them to study and be accepted so they could be as near as possible to their enemy... And everyone was accepted. Part Two. Now going back to the beggining... Andr¨¦ and his new aqcuitance, Cristoph, left the auditorium after the speech ended. "Say, which class are you?"Asked Cristoph. "A-Class. And you?" Replied Andr¨¦. Only he and other person were in A-Class. The others stood in B-Class. All of them. "Oh my partner! I''m A too!" Added Cristoph. "Andr¨¦! Andr¨¦! Where are you?" Suddenly a girl''s voice was heard from afar. "Serena? Haa... She really did came late..." Said Andr¨¦ as he called for her. "Here you are bastard... And who are you?" Then she looked towads Cristoph. "Hello! My name is Cristoph Colt," He said with a elegant voice, like trying to appeal to Serena. "Serena Bones. Anyways, are we going to the classroom now?" She asked. "Yeah. It''s better if we hurry; also, he is our classmate." Said Andr¨¦ as he pointed Cristoph and started to walk. Serena ignored the what he said and just followed suit. After a while they arrived to the A-Class'' Classroom. "You two are new here, right?" Asked Cristoph as Andr¨¦ and Serena chose their seats. "Yeah... Is it pretty obvious?" Asked Andr¨¦. "Nope. I know that beacuse I''m here since middle school, but if I were an outsider I''d thought you were from the academy since long ago. You didn''t ask for directions and walked pretty confident of yourselves" Said Cristoph. "I just looked at the map in the entrance of the academy though." Said Andr¨¦. "I see. So, tell me. Is Serena your girlfriend?" Asked Cristoph. (How this and that make such a coonection?) Thought Andr¨¦ as he slightly blushed. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Wha-What are you saying?! Wh-wh-who is the girl of this bastarrrd?!" Exclaimed Serena while flustered and had her face really red, which called the attention of the whole classroom. "Eh? But I thougth we were going out..." Replied Andr¨¦ with a dumbfounded expression. "EH?!" "AH?!" (Wh-Why the heck did I said that?!) Shouted Andr¨¦ in his mind. While such bomb was dropped, certain white-haired god smiled mischevously as he thought that he had made a good deed that day. "What did you just said?!" Exclaimed Serena with her blushing face. Actually, it was one of the after-effects of the mind-suggestion the god made, but thet didn''t even thought abnout it. "Well... I-I don''t know.... Let''s talk about this later..." Said Andr¨¦ while blushing. Then, as if being a life-saver, the teacher came in. She was a well-proportioned woman that wore medium-thick frame glasses and had a green and a blue eye. Her hair was medium-lenght and black with some light-brown traces. A really attractive, mature woman. "Well everyone; My name is Skyler Colt and am your Social Sciences teacher as well as your coordinator." Said the teacher as she wrote her name in the whiteboard. "I see many familiar faces here from middle school as well as some new ones." She said as she faced the students. "Well, I predicted this so I''ll have you change Class. Half of you will be sent to B-Class, and viceversa." She added. "Numbers 1,2,4,5,7,8,12,14,17,18,19,21,22,23,and 30 will move. That''s exactly half of you. Now, come here." She explained as she started to walk out of the classroom. "Wha-What?! That''s friggin unfair! Protested Serena as she noticed her number was 7 and picked up her things. Being it good or bad, Andr¨¦ was num,ber 20, so he had to stay. She reclutantly left while thinking of interrogating Andr¨¦ when they went back to their apartment. "Haaa... Sis'' is strict as ever..." Sighed Cristoph as he leaned his head in his right palm. He was number 15 so he had to stay. "Is she your sister?" Asked Andr¨¦ as Cristoph moved from behind Andr¨¦ to the seat next to him that Serena was a while ago. "Yup... She''s 7 years older and is considered a genius. She graduated from Harvard when she was 20 and then decided to teach here a year after." Shared Cristoph as Andr¨¦ thought of them being very different from each other. (And now that I think abnout it... Have I seen her before?) Said Andr¨¦ to himself as Miss. Skyler came back with 15 students from B-Class. Unfortunately, anyone was from Andr¨¦''s group came in that group. After that the presentations came. When Andr¨¦ passed to the front, he heard comments from the girls like: "Soo Handsome" or "How Cool!", "I want him to eat me up!" and "He''s the reliable type." Honestly, he felt a little embarassed, but he could keep a nice poker face. Somehow that excited more the girls in the class. Before, when it was Cristoph''s turn, half of them liked him, and it seems that the ones that he knew beforehand said some light comments about him. He seems to be a carefree ans slightly annoying guy who is more like a genius than anything else. By the way, when Andr¨¦ passed, it seemed that Miss. Skyler ate him up with her gaze and licked his lips. Part Three. That day they didn''t have classes, so at noon, thay all were dismissed. "Hey man, wanna grab something?" Said Cristoph "Yeah; why not?" Replied Andr¨¦ and they both decided to go for a well known pizza place near the academy. "Andr¨¦! I need to talk to you right now!" Shouted Serena from afar. She got out a little later so she was catching up just now. "The place is just around the corner, so I''ll see you there. You can take her if you wanna." Voiced Cristoph as he left so they could have their time alone. "So... Wha-What you said in the classroom... I-I want to know what it meant." Said Serena a little bashful. "Eh?! Oh yeah... Well... That... I-I don''t know. I-I just said it by impulse... Is just that... Well... No...No. I need to voice this as it should be." Said Andr¨¦ as he steeled himself. "Serena... You''ve been by my side all this time. I trust you more than no one and I would give my life for you. Now that we have confronted our past, things have settled in my heart and mind. I never noticed it before because everything, but now we have a second chance I want to express this thoroughly.... I... I like you Serena. Probably since the first time I saw you I did..... D-Do you want to be my girl?" And letting out all the soup, Andr¨¦ suddenly confessed to Serena. "Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha........ Watcha''sayin?!!! I-I-I Aint understand... Nay, I understad... Just dat.... Eh... Why? Am Am I Cryin??..... A-Andr¨¦...." As Serena cried and Andr¨¦ looked at her dumbfoundedly, she replied. "I do. I do want to be your girl...." She said with her voice trembling, her face really red and fidgeted with her fingers. From the bottom of her heart, she grinned of happiness. Chapter Three: Encounters Author''s Note: Hello people that read this fiction, the author is in da hood''! Haha, anyways, I wanted to say to all of those of you that are reading my other fiction... You know very well who [Triania God] is xD But that''s not the main issue here, to all of you, readers of Magical Tournament or only readers of Hybrid, I have news of little importance. This is a long-term fiction, so I decided to go for the [Web Novel] format, that is, counting the chapters as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 25, 55, 123, etc. That to say, is very different from the [Light Novel] format I use for Magical Tournament. Also I wanted to make clear that every 10 chapters there will be an [Intermission]. An Index for the characters will be done frequently, but not as frequent as the [Intermission]. And that''s all I wanted to convey! Thanks for reading! Enjoy the chapter! Part One: The [Crowley]''s uniform was pretty simlpe. For boys it consisted of black-ashen pants and white long-sleeved button shirts. A night-black blazer and a tie. For the tie, for juniors it was ocher red and dark golden diagonal strips. For sophomores it was musk green and dark golden diagonal strips; and for seniors it was dark, cobalt blue with dark golden diagonal strips. The blazer had knitted the coat of arms of the academy. It was a sun and a moon in silver threads. It also had ivly-like embrodery around in pale-golden thread. As for the girls, the only one difference is that they wear skirts instead of pants. Anyways, going back on track; Serena had already calmed down and Andr¨¦ was walking alongside her towards the pizzeria. It was a little awkward for them right now, but they had to learn how to move fordward with it, so they decided to go together to eat. Andr¨¦ had a black, dessert muffler and Serena a ocher muffler. She was quite weak to cold, so she also wore leather gloves. They arrived to the store, and got in. They looked for Cristoph and found him in a table for four. He was already ordering. "You didn''t take too long." Said Cristoph as Serena and Andr¨¦ sat and the waitress left. "Well, it looked like a lover''s quarrell so I thought you would be coming later." He added as they both blushed. "We-We are okay now. So, what did you order?" Asked Andr¨¦. "I asked for the house recomendation so ya could know the true value of this place!" Said Cristoph a little fired up. (I haven''t had pizza in years...) Thought Andr¨¦, taking in count that he lived years in a parallel future. "I also called over my girl; Does it bother you?" Asked Cristoph. "Not at all." "I don''t mind." Replied both. "Here''s your order! A house special! The Italian Stallone''s Eleven Meat Pizza!" Said the waitress as she put the gigantic pizza full of meat in the table." "Woah" Voiced Andr¨¦ as he took a piece. "Hey! What is this? This is too little to eat! Waitress! Bring other two here!" Said Serena while taking six pieces. "Oh! And also-WHAT?!!!" She exclaimed while suddenly standing up form her chair. Serena had a expression of anger and was gripping the table''s edge with all her strenght. "Hey Serena! What''s wrong with y-??!!" Andr¨¦, after seeing what Serena did, went pale and greatly resisted the urge of running away. Then he recalled his internal fight, and the fact that Serena was now with him, and his uneasiness faded. "I-I''m sorry miss waitress. My girl here thinks that you resemble very much an aqcuitance of ours. They are on bad terms, so... Well, I apologize in her behalf." Said Andr¨¦ as he places his hand in Serena''s shoulder. Then she felt Andr¨¦''s warmth and released her anger. "I-I am sorry. I-I apologize if I was ru-rude to you." Said Serena with a poker face. "I see. It''s okay, I''m not bothered by it that much. I''ll bring your order quickly, Miss. Client." Replied the waitress and quickly left the place. "Woah, what an espectacle!" Said Cristoph as he ate his pizza and both Serena and Andr¨¦ sat again. "Yeah... Sorry bout'' that." Said Serena while sulking. (I need to focus more... I need to restrain myself... I can''t lose control as I did in the past....) Thought Serena as she ate. "So, how much in bad terms are you with this girl that resembles Alessandra?" Asked Cristoph. "Do you know the waitress?" Asked Andr¨¦ with curiosity. "Yeah; I''ve come here for a while to eat, so I know her pretty well; She''s the daughter of the owner. I''m sure she''ll ask about this later." He said with a bitter smile. "Well, you could say that they are two peas in a pod." Replied Andr¨¦ with a wry smile. (Really... Who would thought that she would be here...) He thought as the waitress came back. "Here''s your order miss." She said with a business smile. The waitres was a tall, slender girl with a natural tan and long, wavy hair. She has bright brown eyes and a over the average beauty. "Sorry for the earlier disturbances..." Said Serena. "I said I didn''t mind it." Replies the girl, Alessandra. Then she placed the drinks and left. (Alessandra Nero.... The bitch that tachnically killed Andr¨¦ twice...) Thought Serena as she saw Alessandras back with a bulging rage inside her. Part Two. Back in the parallel future, when the remaining population of the country reunited in a single place, the opposing military took over the goverment. They created small squads where teenagers would train and work together so they could fight in later missions. Serena and Andr¨¦ were in the same squad... As well as Alessandra Nero. She worked diligently, had over the average performance in the drills and training and was an expert in long-range weaponry. She was basically a talent for war. And loved being treated like that. She expected to become the squad leader, but was discarded by the higher ups. "We don''t need someone so skillful at the head. We want a marionette." Is what they talked in a certain meeting, when they designed Andr¨¦ as the squad leader. That''s because theywere only kids; Cannon fodder. They didn''t want future talents, but real time results; so they didn''t care about her and just let her go to waste. Also they didn''t want someone who could rebel in the future... They wanted loyalty from the mob. And like that they tooke their desicion. Of course, Alessandra didn''t know about this and blamed everything to Andr¨¦. She was frustrated because she, a genius, was not chosen as the leader... But Andr¨¦, a stupid wimp was. It was true that to some extent he was better in being calm and to listen to orders... But that was all. He was not specially skillful in combat, nor he could handle a gun. It was like Alessandra''s whole world crumbling. She completely hated Andr¨¦ Glass from stealing the spotlight... The place reserved for her... So she decided to kill him and make the higher ups reconsider their desicion. Mission after mission, she observed Andr¨¦s behavior and routine, so she would ceate a plan where she could say "It wasn''t me" and everyone would believe it. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.So one day, she placed poison in his food. Andr¨¦ was shunned because his incompetence, so he sometimes decided to eat alone in a far away place from the cafeteria in the base. So she used poison. It was pretty efective, but Serena found him dying in the floor and quickly took him to the infarmary, thus saving him. Noticing that the poison wouldn''t wor twice, she decied to directly kill him. She decided to do it in a mission, where everything could happen. If she were to fail a shot becaue his bad positioning, it had nothing to do with her. So, after several missions of reissonance and guarding, the oportunity came. The enemy, that named himself as [Empire], attacked a convoy of food directed to the base. For a strange reason, the enemy didn''t use much guns. They used weapons like spears and swords. After a hard battle where one of their companions died, Andr¨¦ was struggling with the last enemy. Then, as Andr¨¦ was just going to shot the enemy in the head... Alessandra shot him in the heart. Or so it was suposed to be. In a miscalculation, a gust of wind affected her snipe by some milimeters, and instead, it pierced his shoulder. Because of the big caliber of the bullet, it compromised his whole arm. That night, Andr¨¦ Glass lost his left arm. Part Three. Serena had texted the other members of [Nebula] plus Karen and Aleister that they were having lunch in the pizzeria named [Green Sauce], so they would not worry about them. No one knew when things would go the wrong way, so they kept themselves in contact almost the whole time. After a minute or two, Cristoph''s girl arrive. She was a average height, atlethic girl with black hair tied in a ponytail and green eyes. She was prettier than over the average girls, but not to the extent of competing with Serena. She also wore the same uniform as them. "I''m here!" Exclaimed Cristoph as the girl ran towards them and sat. "Helous!" She said in a lively tone. "She''s my girl, Ekaterina Crowley." He said with a smile. "Hello." Said Andr¨¦. "He-What?! Crowley? Is she family of the principal?!" Retorted Serena. "I-I wanted to ask about it in a more smoothly way but... Yeah; I had the same question." Added Andr¨¦. "Well, yeah. She''s the granddaughter of the principal Edward Crowley whose family manages the academy." Explained Cristoph. (I didn''t expect this...) Said Andr¨¦ to himself as thinking it would be a good idea to befriend her. Incidentally, their group hadn''t spotted at all. They knew about Ekaterina but didn''t see her near the principal. "Well, it seems you aimed big." Said Serena. "You could say that...." Replied Cristoph. "He-Hey. Cris... Who are these people?" Asked Ekaterina. "Hi; My name is Andr¨¦ Glass and she is Serena Bones." Said Andr¨¦. "Are you Cris'' friends?" She added. "Ye-Yeah. Kind of. We''re aqcuitances..." Replied Andr¨¦. "WOAH!! Look-Look! Cris! You''ve got new friends! Wooooo.... What a nice friends you have now! And look! That girl is reeeeeaally beautiful! Also he''s pretty cool... But don''t worry! You are the only one in my eyes, Cris!.... Also Also! Don''t you think they''re going out? They sure look like a perfect couple! A cool guy with a beautiful girl!... Oh! They''re just like uuuss! Oh! I''m hungry I''ll take a piece!!" Blurt out Ekaterina in a sudden rush of emotions and expressions. She was like a little 10 year old girl. She said all that but while shouting it and making a little embarassed Andr¨¦ and Serena. "So-Sorry... She''s always like this... It seems her brain only works for track and field and nothing else..." Said Cristoph a little embarassed. It seems she was really childlike and didn''t mind her surroundings; the opposite of Cristoph. (It looks hard for him...) Thought the couple that was pretty similar to them. Part Four. After that, day after day passed and there was no fruit to their surveillance and infiltration. Everything was just like a high-ranking academy is suposed to be. Then, as any other "normal" day, suddenly Andr¨¦ felt the call of the nature, and went to pick the flower. He successfully completed the deal, and as he was going back to his room. something strange happened. He was quietly walking and- (??! Bloodlust?!) He thought. He sensed bloodlust behind him quickly turned around and saw coming to him a hand with a syringe. He then in reflex took the assaulting hand with his right and the upper arm of the enemy with his left. Like that he used the momentum and threw to the floor, took the knife of the enemy''s hand and placed it in the troath of the person as he placed himself on top of the enemy and binded the other hand with his knee. (Soft?) He said to himsef when he noticed that the person who attacked him was a woman and he had placed himself over her breasts. Andr¨¦ moved his sight to the enemy''s face and- "Miss Skyler?" He voiced while dumbfounded; even so, he didn''t lower his guard. "You can let me go now, Glass. I have no intention to harm you." Replied Miss Skyler a little red. "You say that when you tried to stab me?" Retorted Andr¨¦. "I was just testing you. I wanted to see what you were made of... " Said Miss. Skyler as she looked Andr¨¦ to the eyes. "I just want to talk..." She added. After a moment, he stood up and freed Miss. Skyler. "I won''t be giving the syringe though" He said while glaring at her. Luckily, there was no one nearby that watched their exchange of words. "Good looks, intelligent, smart, dilligent, good at sports, polite... And knows [Combat Sambo]." Said Mis Skyler with a bewitching smile. Andr¨¦ just looked at her without lowering his guard. "I''ve been looking at you these past days and got to understand all of your good points." She added. "And so? Why did you come to me with a syringe?" Asked Andr¨¦. "Well, I planned in abducting you so I could talk more quietly, but this also works." She said. "What for?" He questioned. "I want you for two things. First, I want you to join my cause. You may not believe it but weird things happen in this academy, so I want you to investigate alongside me. You are the first in a list of students that I see fit to investigate." She explained. (Weird things?) He said to himself. "I see doubt in your face....Glass, if you join me, I''ll tell you more in detail." She said. "I''ll think about it... And? What''s the other reason?" Andr¨¦ asked. "I wanted you to have sex." Replied Miss. Skyler. "What?!" Exclaimed dumbfoundedly Andr¨¦. "Well, not only sex, but your sperm too; or better said, your genetic material." Said Miss Skyler in a straight voice. (?!! I remember! I knew I had seen her somewhere before, and knew about her name! She''s one of the original members... One of the founders of [The Architecture]! Skyler Colt!) He shouted to himself as he dumbfoundedly looker at his teacher. (A-And there was that rumor... That she would do anything to have intercourse with a fine man... And give birth to a superior child!!!) As Andr¨¦ thought that, Skyler''s cheeks reddened a little and she licked her lips while giving a bewitching smile. Chapter Four: Coincidence Author''s Note: Sorry people. Last time somethign happened and lost more than half of this chapter and got so mad I wanted to forget about it.... Then after a couple of days I started to do a rampage of Black Swan chapters soooo... Sorry for not updating. Hope you like this one. Part One. "But, that''s a matter of another time. Right now what I am interested the most is to have you helping me in my purpose." Said Miss. Skyler. "We-ell... I''ll consider your offer Miss. Skyler. I don''t know what your true intentions are about... Either of your two reasons, but I''ll thoroughtly think about this." Replied Andr¨¦ as he looked for a nearby plant and there he spilled the drug Miss. Skyler was going to inject him. "As expected. I never thought you''d answer me right away. And, if you decide to come, I''ll be waiting in the [Social Research Club] in the [Club Building]. Now Glass, we should head to our respective places or we can have problems." Said Miss. Skyler while adjusting her glasses with her fingers. She took the srynge from him and left. ".......... Was this good luck or bad luck?" Andr¨¦ limited himself to voice such words and went back to his class. "What took you so long dude?" Asked Cristoph in a low voice so the math teacher wouldn''t listen to them. "I-I... I found Miss. Skyler in my way here." Said Andr¨¦ with a normal voice. (It''s not like somehting out of the norm happened, if we exclude the body throw....) He thought when he glanced towards Cristoph''s face. He was dead pale. "Sh-Sh-Sh-She..... Did she violated you?" He suddenly asked. "Eh? No way. Why would she?" Retorted Andr¨¦ while thinking that Miss. Skyler could be a bit more sick than he thought. "I-Is that so? Then it''s fine." Said Cristoph and then he remained silent the rest of the class. Then it was lunch time. For [Crowley Academy], the cafeteria was the best and only one place to eat to those students who couldn''t get out for lunch; namely freshmen and sophomore students. Seniors could eat wherever they liked. Then again, the cafeteria had a enormous variety of food, as well as 7 stars hotel quality. And all of the [Nebula] (except Kristen) + 2 enjoyed it. Since the war times almost 20 years ago in their time, they only ate canned food and tasteless military rations. Even Karen who held a good position in the [Empire], themost she could afford was fried chicken. So, Andr¨¦ arrived to the cafeteria and saw a table for 10 people. 8 people were there and one of the empty seats had already food. "Hi guys. Thanks for taking mine too." Said Andr¨¦ as he took fork and knife. "It''s okay, it''s okay." Said Karen who was besides him. In front of him, was Serena who was cutely pouting and strongly gripping her fork and almost bent it. She was angry for not being able to be besides Andr¨¦; but there was nothing she could do about it. She lost after all. There was a contest with everyone to see who would sit next to Andr¨¦. The men participated for it be fair. The result of the "paper-rock-scissors" was this: Andr¨¦-Karen-Aleister-Pietro and Jyacoba in one side. Serena-Alanah-Lauren and Zara in the other one. Also, Andr¨¦ was alone right now because Cristoph said something like "I am lacking my [Vitamin E], see you later", where [E] stands for [Ekaterina]. It seems Ekaterina was kind busy training various sports so he didn''t saw her in various days. So it was only the 9 of them now. "So, anything to report?" Asked Andr¨¦ with a slight serious voice. They did not only attend classes, but also investigated odd things inside the academy. "Yeah. A teacher came to me and aske us to join her." Said Karen after sipping her tea. "To the eight of us...." She adden, then Andr¨¦ gazed towards her and she realized that it happened to him too. "I see... So it''s everyone at the end. We were the students that she chose to investigate the "strange events" happening in the academy." Said Andr¨¦ as they closed the topic there. Part Two. After classes, they all went towards the [Social Research Club] in the [Club Building]. All of them nine knocked the door and it was opened. "?!" As Miss. Skyler opened the door, she was indeed surprised everyone in her list had arrived at the same time. She made them all get inside and sat in a round table for 13. Serena pushed her way between Zara and Karen as she sat next to him. Karen was able to gasp his other side too. Then, the talk started. "What a coincidence, for all of you to know each other." Said Miss. Skyler while serving drinks. "Well, sometimes the world is big, sometimes is small." Said Karen while shruggin her shoulders. "Anyways, It would be good for you to start, Miss Skyler." Voiced Zara a little impatient and irrtated. "That is true. It would be better if we start soon. After all, this is a serious matter." Said Miss Skyler with a strong voice and serious expression. Andr¨¦ and everyone else noticed the change in her atmosphere and changed they relaxed mood to a real serious one. "To start with, I''ll explain why I brought you here once again and the purpose of it. I want you to believe everythind I say." Said Miss Skyler while taking her seat. "I looked for you because you ar ethe most atlethic, wise, intelligent, smart and capable I discerned. Believe me, I have quite the eye for people." She said full of confidence. "Then, I approached you so you could help me investigating thing regarding the academy. Strange things." She added. "We already knew that, but why?" Asked then Aleister "Because we are the only ones she can trust." Voiced Serena. "True... I can''t trust the teachers nor the principal. They might be involved." Said Miss. Skyler while gritting her teeth. "Involved?" Questioned Andr¨¦. "Well... Recently, I found out that some of our students had dissapeared. 1, 2 or even three weeks from 3 to 10 students didn''t come to classes. After that time, they re-appeared dead. The state of their bodies was strange and even more strange was that the police didn''t investigated furhter. They just ignored all the traces of them being killed by the same person, besides that I am sure the teachers are hiding something." Said Miss Skyler as everyone paid attention to her. "How do you know about this then?" Asked Zara while thinking that they never got a hold of these when they were investigating the Academy. "Well, I have contacts in the NYPD, and also Class-A''s Math teacher, Liam Ferro got a hold of the other teacher''s behaviour. He is the only one I trust." Replied Miss. Skyler. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Liam Ferro is a relatively new teacher and only gives math to Class - A, he heas dark brown har and dark blue eyes. He is quite handsome and popular, as well as well built and has good sense for clothing. "I see. Well, can you explain further? I still don''t get your objective." Said Karen while pointing Miss. Skyler. "Yes, I thought so. Well, here is the thing. Let''s list this. 1. Dead students with simmilar death circumstances. 2. Teaches feeing ignorance. Then, comes the most strange thing. These students dissapeared in the school campus. How I know this? Because all of them were my students, and promising ones. I got a hold of their activities because we had a group in thatsappa and before the day they dissapeared, they all said: "I''ll go with [X] teacher to the libary for particular classes." Then never came back." Explained Miss. Skyler with a pained expression. Then she steeled herself and kept talking. "The names of the teachers are not important right now, but the events that happened. Certain teachers abduct promising students and then kill them. If we follow the list, we will see that they all had studies of the same subjects and also all of them went to the library. That means teachers [X], [Y] and [Z] are involved in murders and also the other teachers except Mister Liam are involved in it." As Miss. Skyler finished, all of them started to think about what she said and whether to trust all the intel or not. They knew that the academy was the base of the [Empire] and also that Miss Skyler was the creator of the [Architecture], but still. they didn''t know if this was related, or even related at all or that they could trust Miss Skyler''s words. Since they came back from the future, this timeline is different after all. Then somoene talked again. "So, why do you want us to investigate alongside you? Aren''t you doing a good job until now?" Asked Serena. "Wha?! You don''t get it yet?!" Voiced Karen. "Even the ever-sleepy Pietro understood it." She added. "Understoo what?" Asked Serena again. "That, we investigate what happens to this people... We are "promising students" after all." Said Andr¨¦ with a serious and strong voice. "I-I see." Said Serena as she sat. She had stood up to shout to Karen. And as she did this... Andr¨¦ was thinking further about this. Then he made his resolve and talked to Miss. Skyler. "Miss. Skyler, I want to ask you somethings." He said. "Go ahead." She replied. "First: How were the state of the corpses? At least a general idea. I don''t want to meddle in details yet." He asked. "A general idea... Well, first of all they had either unnatural white hair or loss of hair. Their irises were red and their skin was pale and fragile as paper. Their veins were visible and in black color and they had all of their bones broken, not to mention that they became extemily fragile. To end it, their insides were liquified and their tongue was purple. That''s the general view of them." Explained Miss. Skyler while clenching her fists. Andr¨¦ felt quite bad about it but he had no other option. As Miss. Skyler said that, Karen''s face lightened up as well as Aleister''s. They knew those kind of corpses. Because... "Second: Is there a student that had dissapeared and appeared back alive?" As Andr¨¦ asked this, Karen and Aleister understood his point. Because those corpses were the exact image of a person that failed in attain the [Faux]. When people goes by the process of transforming into a [Faux] while not being compatible with it, they die of the huge stress their bodies suffer with the rejection. In this era they should be only months before the discovery of the [Three Pillars] that they need to complete the [Faux]. "Yes, there are three. Two in class 2-B and one in class 2-C. They all are sophomored s by the way. These three students weren''t in my circle of promising students. Also since the day they came back, they are off the academy." Said Miss. Skyler. (I hope they all are not male thought...) Thought Andr¨¦ while making a complicated expression. Then he changed back at this serious atmosphere. "The finally... Do you understand what are you asking us? Basically you are telling us to die." Said Andr¨¦ whit a strong voice. Of course, form a normal person''s perspective, asking "go and investigate how people are gettin killed by being abducted yourself", is the same as going to the slaughterhouse. "Well, I think you have misunderstood something. I never planned on letting you get abducted." Said Miss Skyler while sipping her milk tea. "Eh?" Leaked a voice Andr¨¦ and Karen. "Yes. Indeed, beins "Victims" would be the best way to know, but that has too much risk. Insteat, it would be okay for you to investigate the three people that had come back alive. They are coming back to school tomorrow after all." Voiced Miss Skyler. Then Andr¨¦ let out a sigh while Karen slightly chuckled. Part Three. After that, they all created a group in Thatsapp called [Social Research Club First Year Division]. Andr¨¦ had his doubts about the other members of the [Social Research Club], the sophomores and he asked Miss Skyler after the details of their investigation were given. She said to him that she didn''t want to involve anymore her sophomore students so she decided to bet in the juniors. He didn''t ask for more because he truly felt her regret, powerlessness and pain in her aura and microexpressions. Then, as they all were walking towards the exit and go to their place, Andr¨¦ noticed something in the corner of his view. It was Cristoph talking with Mister Ferro. He saw also the [Physical Class Teacher], Ayame Smith-Akari. A strong and sportive teacher that everyone loved. They were talking about something along the lines of jokes and the like. It was normal for they three to gather though. So he just slightly laughed and went back to his bussiness. It was night now. Andr¨¦ was waiting for Serena to prepare the dinner, then received a text from Ekaterina. It said- "Please halp me. Christop doesn''t pick up his phone since this afternoon. He said that he was with Mister Silver in the library but since then I haven received a text or a call. I''m worried." As his face went pale, Andr¨¦ strongly gripped his phone and called to Miss. Skyler. Chapter Five: Abduction Author''s Note: Sorry but RL just got the best of me: I didn''t even updated my other fic. Sorry. Anywahs, here''s the chapter, Enjoy it! PS: I made a new one, whilst I will be updating more and more about this one. HERE is it. feel free to drop by and give your opinions! Thanks. Part One: [Yeah?] Someone then replied at the other side of the phone. "Miss. Skyler... It''s me, Andr¨¦." Said Andr¨¦ as he squeezed his voice out of his throat. [Yes. Is something the matter?] Asked Miss Skyler. "Well... It''s about Cristoph. He was abducted. He was taken by Mr. Mark Silver." Said Andr¨¦. He needed to remain calm, so he swallowed thos uncomfty feelings cooled his head. "I-I See. *Crash* W-We need to talk this throughly. Can we meet up? Is you house okay? I already have your adress, so I''ll go there." *Beep* Then she cut off the call. "Huh... Even poeple like her can have feelings..." Muttered Andr¨¦ as he called everyone for a emergency meeting. After half an hour, Miss Skyler arrived. Everyone was in the conversation pit waiting for her. She looked quite calm, but Andr¨¦ knew it was not like that. (It seems she broke a glass or somehting simmilar...) He thought as he noticed the bandages in her right hand. After she sat, everyone remained silent, until Ms. Skyler spoke. "Andr¨¦... You said that Cristoph was abducted... How did you know about it?" She asked. "Ekaterina. She sent me a messa- Still, why didn''t she called you or her father? She doesn''t know about the abductions so the first person to talk to would be either you or her granfather, the principal." Voiced Engel as he tilted his head. "In my case, somehow she hates me. Since they became a couple, it''s been like that. You somenow became very close to Cristoph, so she would like to rely on you." Said Miss. Skyler. "Also she''s quite.... Well, she doesn''t want to rely on authority figures or so it seems." Added Serena. "Eh? How do you know that?" Asked Andr¨¦. "I''ve been keeping in touch with her. It seems she has some childhood traumas, but that''s now why we are here. We need to rescue Cristoph." Said Serena while moving again to the main topic; rescue Cristoph. "What we need now is intel. The people previosuly abducted didn''t die right away and we also have the other involved people who survived... The priority right now is to get the information out of the survivors." Said Andr¨¦ "We should wait until tomorrow then..." Said Ms. Skyler as she checked her phone. It was weird itself that she didn''t received any noticefrom Cristoph either. They both were living together after all. (Was it... Intentional?) She thought as Andr¨¦ asked her about the sophomores. They are 2 girls and 1 guy. Sherry Donnel and Jessica Redfield from class 2-B and Alan Smith from class 2-C. Karen and Andr¨¦ were the ones asking Alan Smith. Serena, Zarah and Jyacoba would talk to Sherry and Jessica. The others would be on hold if anything happens. Andr¨¦ sent Miss. Skyler back home and after that, Andr¨¦ called Ekaterina to tell he knew hwere Cristoph was and that she didn''t need to worry about it. And so, the next day arrived. Everything went by as normal and at noon, The assigned people went to talk to the sophomores. The building where students attended class was a 4 floor building. The first level was for teachers. The second for juniors. The third for sophomores and the fourth was a so-called "prohibited area". In the fourth floor there was nothing. Actually, it had nothing else besides some tools to clean. A totally wide-empty floor. There are some rumors that it will become a "media room" exclusive for the building because all the years need to share the actual media room in a separate building. So, Andr¨¦, Karen, Zarah, Jyacoba and Serena went towards the third floor as the others remained in standby. Miss. Skyler was on hold too. So they arrived and asked for them in each classroom. Juniors and sophomores have identical schedules, but Andr¨¦ and co. were able to slip by some minutes before class ended. "Are you the ones asking for me?" Said a tall, tan guy with bonde hair and brown eyes. He has a advertisement smile and a quite handsome face. He is Alan Smith. "Yes. I am Andr¨¦ Glass and she is Karen ¨¹ber. We both are juniors and wanted to talk to you." Said Andr¨¦ while presenting himself and Karen. "I''m Alan, but you already know that. So, what do you want with me?" Said Alan. "You know, I got voice that you are quite a skilled person. Also you are the second in your class. We wanted to recruit you for our [Social Research Club]." Explained Andr¨¦. Andr¨¦ and co. wanted to lure out the 3 survivors and avoid being suspected, so asking for joining the club was a simple but effective excuse. The idea was provided by Miss. Skyler They only had to wait for the survivors to pick the bait. "Social Rese- THE SOCIAL RESEARCH CLUB?!" Shouted Alan. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Then he automatically covered his mouth with his hands. The others who were going out and the ones still in the classroom heard the shout but didn''t got bothered by it and returned to their business. "Th-The Social Research Club? Are you sure?!" Asked Alan while dumbfounded. "Ye-Yeah... Would you come with us after classes?" Asked Andr¨¦ with a complicated expression. "Of course! I wouldn''t dare to reject such an offer!" Said Alan. They finished their talk and went their respective ways. After a while, in the cafeteria everyone met. "How was in your side?" Asked Andr¨¦ to Serena while eating. "They screamed of excitement, agreed and ran away... Why so much excitement about it?" She as and muttered the last part. "If I''m not wrong... It''s said that those who join the [Social Research Club] will have as many benefits as they want... Or so I''ve heard." Added Karen. "Really?" Voiced Serena quite surprised. "Anyways, we need to be prepared for antything. Don''t lower your guard." Said Andr¨¦ as they all finished their meals. Part Two. It was after classes. Andr¨¦ and Karen were walking towards the club room with Alan when- "Glass, stop there." Said a voice behind them. It was an old man with gray hair and lively face. His name is Mark Silver. He has brown eyes and a quite cheap suit. "O-Oh... Mister Silver. Do you have any bussiness with us?" Asked KAre who got ahead of Andr¨¦. "Yes. I need to talk with Andr¨¦ for a while. I want to have a slight chat with such a promising student." Said Mr. Silver. Alan went quite pale for a moment, and they both noticed it. (So it wasn''t voluntarily...) Thought Karen while analyzing the situation. Then Andr¨¦ gave a glance to Karen and then talked to Mr. Silver. "Alright. Where should we head to?" Said Andr¨¦. "We can go to the library. It''s silent and no one will bother with us being there." Replied Mr. Silver as he nodded and started to walk. "I''ll be back in a while. You can start without me." Added Andr¨¦ as he walked alongside the old teacher. And when their silhouettes dissapeared- "You, don''t even dare to run away or I''ll knock you off." Said Karen to the trembling Alan while hardly holding his arm and pulling him towards the club room. Part Three. "Glass, I have a question for you." Said Mr. Silver as he walked amidts the bookshelves inside the libary. "Yes?" "Have you ever thought about talent?" Asked Mr. Silver. "I have, as everyone. Why?" Replied Andr¨¦. "Well, because I constantly think about it. I think how people label themselves as genius, talented, hardworking or useless. There are many people in the world, but among those only little are truly talented. I think bout such things constantly." Voiced Mr. Silver as he then walked towards a [Only Staff] door near the end of the library. He opened it and- "Come here Glass. I shall show you the path only allowed to those truly talented." Andr¨¦ ordered his priorities, and gave a step towards the door. Part Four. After Karen got to the clubroom, where the other two girls were long ago, they asked them about the time they were missing. She also mentioned about Andr¨¦ leaving wirh Mr. Silver They went quite pale but Karen and Serena convinced them to talk. So, in short- They were invited to the library, drugged, taken test with, injected various solutions, and then released. Besides that, they don''t even know what they were done with. Also they were obligued to come to the academy. It seems that they were given some emotional suppresors for such experiences, and their memories got modified. "I see... So Cristoph right now is in the [Test Phase] and Andr¨¦ is going to receive that treatment too..." Voiced Miss Skyler as she throughly thought of the situation. "So, where is this place where Mister Silver takes them to?" Asked Serena quite impatient. She knew Andr¨¦ would not let himself be trapped in such place, but she wanted to run towards him at full speed. "I-It''s below the school. You enter by the fake [Staff Only] door in the library." Replied Alan quite nervous. "We need to rescue him now!" Shouted Serena as she ran towards the place. "Wa-... Damn this one.... Karen, let''s follow her and make a plan on the run." Said Zarah as she chased Serena. Karen nodded and followed suit, as well as the others. Miss. Skyler was quite dumbfounded about their resolution. And just as she was going to chase them- "M-Miss Skyler!" Called out Alan. "Do you need something?" She asked. "Well... There''s something I forgot to tell." Said Alan walking towards Miss. Skyler. "What is it? I need to follow them." Added Miss. Skyler. "Have you ever thought about talent?" Asked Alan as Miss. Skyler''s vision suddenly blacked out. "I-diots..." She could hear a faint voice sating so as she lost consciousness. Chapter Six: Lies Part One. "Are you okay Glass?" Askes Mr. Silver to Andr¨¦ who suddenly was crouching. "Not at all. It''s just my shoelace." Said Andr¨¦ as he supported himself in the door''s frame in order to stand up. "I see. Well, let''s continue." Said Mr. Silver as Andr¨¦ walked behind him again. The door closed itself and they now walked downstairs in a narrow hall. "Mister, can you tell me what you meant with "the path only allowed to those truly talented" meant?" Asked Andr¨¦ while going down the stairs. "Oh, that. You''ll see it soon. Don''t get too anxious." Replied Mr. Silver as they arrived to the bottom of the stairs. There was a elevator door with a password panel at the right. Andr¨¦ acted quickly and checked that there were no cameras in the place. He hadn''t seen one on the way and in the place he was now, except at the [Only Staff] door. Then he focused on the panel where Mr. Silver typed a password from a paper in his pocket and then placed it there again. Andr¨¦ highly doubted it would be a fixed password so he didn''t memorized it. Still, he got marked where Mr. Silver put just in any case. Then the elevator door opened and- It was an automatic door. Behind the door was yet another hall but this time there were cameras in it. They were barely visible, but Andr¨¦ was able to pinpoint them. (Unlucky me... If I had been more prepared...) Thought Andr¨¦ as he lightly pressed his hand near the panel before heading inside the hall. He could have brought a GPS bug, a microphone and a small EMP cracket. Andr¨¦ undertimated the size of the mission. (Damn...) He blames his own negligence. He asks himself how they will be able to infiltrate, because he''s sure his companions will follow him. (I just hope they are better prepared than me...) Thought Andr¨¦ as he and Mr. Silver arrived to another door. "Sorry if this is a little tedious, but rules are rules. We need to keep this as a secret." Said Mr. Silver as he opened the door. This time, he didn''t resort to a paper or anything else so Andr¨¦ made sure to memorize the password. Actually, it is not easy for Andr¨¦ to guess the password. Mr. Silver properly hides the numbers, but Andr¨¦ checks the movements of his arm. elbow, shoulder and the last position of his hand to roughly guess a series of numbers. (23-34-83-83-56-21.... I''ll make those the base number...) Thought Andr¨¦ while he walked behind Mr. Silver "And here we are, the path to the true human." Said Mr. Silver while showing the place to Andr¨¦. It was all made of reinforced glass. The pillars, doors, floor, veranda and the walls were pearl white. There were some black lines so people wouldn''t have problems walking. It was a wide space as big as an stadium and desides, cameras and sensors, all the doors needed at least password confirmation. Andr¨¦ looked around to see als the exit spots, important machinery and the amount of poeple in the place, as well as who they were. Is not that he would recognize anyone, but from their gargments he could roughly guess. Then, he saw his prime objective. "Cristoph..." He muttered. He wanted to shout, but he was not in a position to do such a thing. His friend was in a tank full of greenish liquid and had lots of cables attatched to him. (I will rescue... And finish all this.) As he thought that, he followed Mr. Silver through several doors, which used the same previous password, until they arrived to a common area. "Alright.... sorry for this but... I need you to sleep a while." Said Mr. Silver as he was shot in the neck. "??!!" He felt the sting and moved out of the way while placing his hand on his neck. It was a dart, which most likely had a sleeping drug. "What a reaction! You indeed are perfect for our objective." Said Mr. Silver who was quite bothered by Andr¨¦''s lack of reaction when they got inside the underground laboratory. Andr¨¦ was able to stand up, but still his senses started to dull and his body was feeling heavy. (That drugs was supposed to knock him out immediately... What a strenght...) Thought Mr. Silver as Andr¨¦ looked around him. Then he spotted several snipers above the ceiling level. He didn''t noticed them at first due to their foorting being white, as well as their equipment and appearance. There were also severa man with guns and machineguns guarding the place. (Damn you all...) He thought when the sniper shot another three times until Andr¨¦ fell unconscious. Part Two. "Behind this door Is Andr¨¦..." Just as Serena was gonig to open the door- "GUEE!!" "Stupid girl.. What were you trying to pull off?" Said Zarah as he held serena by her shirtneck. "Let me go.. I need to chase Andr¨¦!" Said Serena while Zara let her go. Behind her, Karen, Alleister and Jyacoba appeared. "Alleister?" Voiced Serena. "Yeah. Karen told me to bring some things. I always have them in case something happens." Said Alleister who threw to the floor a black bag. "I closed the library and put to sleep the clerk. Here there are no cameras but there are serveal mirrors. Also I already called the others to come here and be on hold." Said Karen while opening the black bag. Inside it were bulletproof vests, handguns, a machinegun, a sniper rifle and support accesories. "How come you have this in the academy??!!!" Shouted Serena with a retort. She took the handgun as well as Zarah and Jyacoba, they also took black steel knifes. Alleister took the machinegun and Karen the semi-automatic sniper rifle. The later two also took handguns and knives. "A secret. Anyways, we have to get going." Said Alleister when Zarah positioned herself in front of the door. (I don''t see anything strange but...?!) Just as she was checking the door, she found something in the frame of the door a ">" mark. She narrowed her eyes, slightly opened the door and checked the inside part of the frame. There was a laser that detected movement. A cheap but stealthy way of notice intruders. Zarah then used a small crystal to bend the laser in the lower par of the door and deactivated it. There was another in the middle and the upper part of the door. She deactivated them too and also noticed a cheap camera above the door. The door opened to the outside so it was convenient. Zarah took a device and attatched it to the camera, hacking it. "It''s okay, let''s ge in." Said Zarah as she opened the door and walked inside. (That was the "easy traps" mark...) Andr¨¦ in the "future past" would sometimes scout alone, so he would let marks for the ones behind him. He had several from the no traps, traps, complicated traps, not this way, etc. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Zarah felt quite nostalgic about when she met Andr¨¦, but that''s for later. Right now she needs to focus. After they walked downstairs, they arrived to the automatic door. Zarah noticed again another mark. Andr¨¦ left a circle with a line in the middle. It meant- Hack it. Zarah took a little terminal from a bag in her lower back. She used her knife to take out the panel''s cover and connected the terminal to a slot in the panel. She had a program ready to execute so after a couple of seconds, the door opened. Everyone left the entrance cleared just in case. As nothing happened, Zarah gave a peek inside and saw some cameras barely visible there. She made the signal for wait with her hand and looked again. She recognized the model of the cameras and took a little device. With her renewed body, she then sprinted towards the nearest camera and after a jump, she kicked the wall in her left and when reaching the camera, she attatched the device. Calculating a small blind spot in between, she landed and waited until the camera she touced was completely hacked. As she finished the countdown in her mind, Zara manipulated a different terminal from the panel and thus, hacked all the system of cameras. (Pre-image is setted for 60 sec. prior and done!) Said Zarah as she moved from her spot. "It''s safe." She said in a low voice throughout the comunication device in her ear and the others coutiously walked inside the hall. "Serena, what do we do now?" Asked Zarah. She wanted to ask that before but Serena was too fired up to even think, so Zarah waited until she cooled her head. Serena understood, that right now they were heading to the place they wanted to infiltrate all along. The place where the war "starts" and where it would possibly "end". All they have worked until now, would come to an end with their following actions. "True. We need to think thoroughly what our prime objective is." Added Karen. They let Aleister in the lookout for incoming people while talking. "Well... We came here to save Andr¨¦ after we were supposed to.... Mhh... Now that I notice this is quite convenient.... Yeah..." Just as she wandered for some seconds in her world, Serena talked. "Alright. Let''s destroy this place and take back Andr¨¦ and Cristoph. Let''s move according to the situation and let''s adapt to the incoming circumstances." Said Serena as she started to issue orders. "Jyacoba, go first. Aleister go after her. Karen stay in the rear with Zarah. I will go in the center. Zarah, unlock the next incoming door and then we can start. Let''s go." When Serena finished, they started moving. At the end of the hall, there was another password panel but it goes without saying that she would unlock it. They moved out of the way when the door opened and after a couple of seconds, they peeked inside. While scouting, Jyacoba noticed all Andr¨¦ noticed, and as well- (What the He-....) Voiced Jyacoba while she noticed Cristoph and Andr¨¦ in the tanks, as well as another aqcuitance besides them. "Miss Skyler?" She leaked out a little voice due to her surprise. Part Three. "Mister Silver!! This is... This is simply awesome!!" Said one of the old men using the machines that monitored the state of Andr¨¦. "Explain youself." Said Mr. Silver while looking at the screen. "Is awesome! Everything from his neurological responses, his reflexes, his resistance, muscular and oseal structure is simply top notch! What it bothers me is the density and strenght of his bones..." Said the old scientist. "Is there something wrong with them?" Asked Mr. Silver. "No! On the other side, they are too strong!" Voiced the scientist. "Also the other kid is ready for practical testing. We will need another pair of hours to start the infusion to the second subject." Added the old man. "I see. Let''s keep the good work. Everything for the sake of the new world." Said Mr. Silver when- "Hey! Old dude!" Voiced a youg man behind Mr. Silver. "Eh? Oh it''s you, Alan. Who is the one who have there?" Asked Mr. Silver to Alan who was carrying somone in his shoulders. Behind him were Sherry and Jessica. "It''s Miss Skyler. Things happened here and there so I knocked her out and brought her. It seems that she tried to come here for her brother." Said Alan with a carefree expression and threw Miss. Skyler to the floor. "I see. Well, the next time report this kind of things immediately. Pick her op again and lock her in the test room." "Alright. Oh, and didn''t you caught some guys that came here like a while ago? They came running towards the [Staff Only] door in the library. We had to enter through the gym. Also they came before us so-" "What Are you talking about?" Then after Mr. Silver ordered Alan to take Miss Skyler to a confined room, he mentioned Serena and co. who he believed would already be aprehended because of the sensor and the camera in the [Only Staff] door. "Wait, there hasn''t been any intruders?" Voiced Alan to what the next moment his words were cut off. *BAM!!* A explosion together with a strong light shone in the door above them. It was a stunt granade. The guards above them, reacted to it and started shooting towards the place of the explosion. After they stopped shooting noticing there was no one there- *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Click* Three guards. Two snipers and one with a machinegun were taken down. There was one missing shot. The other guards started shooting again but there were no results. "Here I go!!!" Then they heard someone''s shout and a rain of bullets headed their direction. The guards didn''t have time to react and some were taken down. *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Click* Two missing shots and two guards down. Together with the ones taken with the machine gun, it was all of the guards in the near area. "Wha-What happened?!!" Shouted Alan after he dropped the unconscious Miss. Skyler. "Who knows?! Are we under attack? Is it the goverment?!" Shouted Mr. Silver as he looked for cover together with the other scientists. Then, while the other guards approached, a figure appeared from the opened door. It was a beautiful girl with the academy uniform, short silver hair and beautiful hazel eyes. She had protective gear and a bulletproof vest, as well as a handgun in her right hand. A war goddess... A [Valkyrie]. That''s the first tought Mr. Silver had in his mind after witnessing her figure. "I came here to take back my boyfriend... All of you shall die here and now." Said the girl who mischevously smiled after saying such words. Chapter Seven: Truth Part One. "Jyacoba, Aleister make cover fire. Zarah, come with me. Karen stay covered, assit and give a report, alright?" Voiced Serena while moving along the corridor made of glass. She arrived to a door with a password panel, as well as ocular recognition and fingerprint recognition. Zara quickly hacked it and it opened. They walked down a stair as Aleister and Jyacoba waited for the reinforcements and mantained some distance from the other two. Karen used her comication device to talk to Alanah, Olivier, Pietro and Kristen. Serena and Zarah arrived to the lower floor where Mr. Silver and the other scientists were hiding. They both didn''t lower their guard and then they encountered Alan and co. Serena noticed something, as well and Zarah. "Zarah, go ahead." Said Serena and as fast as she could, Zarah passed over the three people and arrived to the monitoring machines and hack the equipment. "You three... What are you going to do?" Asked Serena. She was curious about the results of the experiments on them, and as well as their purpose. They were surrounding Miss. Skyler, so it seems they held her as a hostage. "Hmph! I don''t fear that gun of yours! We are the ultimate humans! We do not fear such primitive tools." Voiced Alan with an arrogan tone. Suddenly gunshots were heard behind Serena, marking the start of the struggle between her companions and the guard''s reinforcements. "Really?" Said Serena as she shot the three of them. Alan exaggerately moved to dodge the bullets whilst Serry and Jessica moved by paper thin margin to avoid being hit. (Hmm... I see...) Thought Serena as she analyzed their movements. "Alright, give me what you''ve got!!" Shouted Serena as she put away her handgun and took a knife and a knuckle from the bag in her lower back. She took a boxing pose while holding the knife in a reverse grip. (Dangerous!) Is what the three opponents in front of her tought. Still, they brushed off such thinking and charged towards her. Serena let out a slight smile and concentrated in the people coming towards her. (Them move like slugs...) Is what she tought as the world around her moved in slow-motion. She swiftly moved between her opponents and hit them in the guts with the knuckle in her left hand. "BLEAHGG!!!" The ones on the receiving end let out such sounds as then fell to the ground while convulsing from the pain. "Hmph." Voiced Serena as she was going to wake up Miss. Skyler. Then- "Bi-Bi-Bitch!!" Shouted Alan as he stood up. The others behind him stood up too and enraged, glared at Serena. (What is this? Unexpectedly rough... Did I held back that much?) Thought Serena while looking at them. Certainly, she had held back agains them who knew nothing of self-defense art or the sort, and as well they didn''t show signs of activating their [Faux]. Their unexpected high-resistance plus the excesive supression of the new power Serena had were the elements that made them not to fall unconsciou in one strike. It was devil''s luck. """Activate! [Faux]!!!""" Shouted the three at the same time. "We are the supreme humans! we are not going to lose to the likes of you!!" Shouted Alan while strange red tribal marks appeared in his skin. In the case of Sherry and Jessica, their hair shone in a strange green and orange colors. (As I thought... A [Demon] and two [Angels]...) Serena noticed their nature in how they moved. Alan as a [Demon] could see the bullet coming but evaded with a wide movement because his lack of speeed. On the contrary, Sherry and Jessica, being [Angels], could se the bullet and dodge with minimal movement due to their speed. (Still... It''s only a little time and they can use their senses out of the [Faux] state and also use it even injuired... What''s the meaning of this?) Thought Serena. She could easily kill them or take them out of the game with her handgun since the very beggining, but besides her own curiosity, and the need to give them a lesson, she didn''t want to kill people if it wasn''t actually necessary. She couldn''t stand recless killing. Not to mention that they were only high-school students. In a brief moment, she noticed the gunshots had stopped. It seems that Aleister and Jyacoba had either knocked the guards or killed them. Then- "AARGGHHH!!!!" Uncomprensibly screamed Alan and co. "What?!" Shouted Serena due to her surprise. It seems the moment they activated their [Faux], they lost their reasoning. She has never seen something like that. Then she brushed off the analysis as it wasn''t her current job and faced the two of them. (Do I need to turn too?) Voiced in her head as the two [Angel] girls charged towards her. They were fast and almost moved in Serena''s range of speed. "Damn, who cares... [Faux]" She muttered and then her beautiful hazel eyes turned black. It was the third phase of the [Faux] - [Phoenix]. It increased the stamina of the bearer, and as well gave them a supreme defense only breakable by a [Demon]. But still... "Amateurs...." Said Serena as she moved faster than the [Angels] and punched Sherry in the gut with all her strenght and sent her flying. Jessica was stopped with a kick in her ribcage and after all her left ribs broke, Serena gave a high kick to her head. In that gap Alan attacked with all his strenght and- "Sorry dude... You are just not in my league yet." Said Serena as she, with one hand, stopped Alan''s punch with all his strenght behind. "GWHAAAH!!" He screamed becaue of the pain from his fist being crushed. *Crack!* Then after said sound, he fell on his knees. Serena then kicked him in the gut and sent him flying several meters afar. "Let''s see how Zarah is doing." Said Serena as she walked towards her without lowering her guard or deactivating [Phoenix]. Part Two: *Cough Cough* "Andr¨¦! Are you okay?!" Exclaimed Serena when Andr¨¦ woke up. They took him out of the tank. Aleister, Jyacoba and Karen met with Serena and Zarah. Andr¨¦ took his clothes that were taken to an adjacent room while Aleister and Karen watched out for enemies. Jyacoba tied up the scientists and Zarah took out Cristoph from the other tank. Andr¨¦ finished changing and wore a bulletproof vest, the accesories and also took a handgun and a pair of knives. Then he walked towards Mr. Silver. He had quite the doubts about all that had happened. "Mister Silver!" Talked Andr¨¦ to the tied up teacher. "What?" Replied Mr. Silver. "Tell me! This is one of the [Empire] installations right?!" "......." He had no intention to talk. "Alright, then I''ll take out your innards and make you eat them." Said Andr¨¦ as he used his knife to rip Mr. Silver''s clothes and started cutting through his flesh. Over the time, Andr¨¦ has been tortured quite a couple of times, so he knew how to scare someone out of their wits. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "GAAH!! UGHAAA!! OKAY OKAY I''LL TALK!!!" Shouted Mr. Silver. Seriously, Andr¨¦ had already stabbed his stomach ripping appart the teacher''s abdomen. They didn''t have time to use lower level threats. "Haa... Haa... Yes. This is one of the new [Empire]''s laboratory. We are the main lab who sends information about what we research... -Gahh..." As the pain intensified, Andr¨¦ sent a look to Serena and she started to patch the injury. (This... This is really fishy. This thing has too poor security for such a bog project, and also the amount of people involved is not few... Just what is going on? This is not the brain nor the heart of everything...) Analyzed Andr¨¦ in his mind when- "?? Incoming call?" Andr¨¦ had a comunication device in his ear and had a incoming call. "Yes?" He said doubtful of the person calling. [Hi hi! [Triania] here!! How are you doing, Andr¨¦ Glass?] Voiced the person in the phone- [Triania] Andr¨¦ had completely frogotten about him until a moment ago. "Tri-... Triania..." He wanted to shout due to the surprise, but then he remained calm and talked to him in a low voice. The others reacted to his actions but he rised his hand, stopping him to get near. They respected Andr¨¦''s privacy so they let him talk alone. "Triania... Can you explain this? I bet you are watcing over us; that''s why you call right now." Voiced Andr¨¦ quite irritated. [Well... Yeah I do.] Replied [Trianina]. "So! What is going on here? It''s true that here they were researching the [Faux] but I see none of the actual scientist, nor a real person directing this place. Also this place had too little security, if this could be called security." Voiced Andr¨¦. He wanted explanations because this was supposed to be a key point in history. In short, Andr¨¦ assumed Trianian had lied to them. "I want to know the truth. Tell me reason you said this was a key place." Asked Andr¨¦. [Haa... Well, It''s not that I lied to you. Indeed [Crowley Academy] is the "heart and brain" of the way you all feared. I said that destroying the place as a whole in first placewould only fasten the war, and it was true. It would put the [Empire] aware and they would start the war without the [Faux] complete. Because the academy is a [Production Point]." Said Trianina, to what Andr¨¦ gasped. "[Production Point]?" He asked, fully knowing what it was. "Yeah. You know that the [Faux] can only be attained by either birth of a kid between two bearers, and the [Solution] given to teenagers. The first way hasn''t been discovered yet as an obvious matter, So- The second is the "only one" aviable. As you may know by now, the scientists took people from various places where high concentration of teenagers and experiment on them. Due to their "rush", the [Empire] would pick teenagers and no orphan kids. So, this academy became a production point.] Explained the god. Andr¨¦ tightly clenched his fists in anger and prayed for all those whose sacrifice was necessary to attain the [Faux]. [You calmed down? Alright, I''ll continue. I called the academy the "heart and brain" for three factors. First, is the discovery of the [Three Pillars]. The discovery of the three pillars would make leap the research of the [Faux] and finish it in a shorter time. Second is the results. Because the [Faux] became functional, the people agreed to the start of the war. And third, is the born of the [Empire] itself. Because in the academy, there was a big discover, the [Empire]... Or better said- [Members of the Empire] would award the person in charge to a high position among them. That is Mr. Silver. Then, Mr. Silver would assasinate the other people who are the [Members of the Empire], thus he becoming an [Dictator] and causing the war to bloom. The war didn''t start only because the countried depised the [Empire] but because, Mr. Silver as the [Empire] itself killed a great amount of people who belonged to it. The [Members of the Empire]''s aim was to domain the world... Mr. Silver''s [Empire] aim is a new world with only talented people. At the beggining, I said I''d give the instructions, and today I didn''t issued one because all you did was corrrect. Because in theory, you stopped the [War] and the [Empire] you konw from being born. There are countless destinies ahead from this point onwards, so technically you''ve stopped the war by the moment.] Replied [Triania]. Certainly, Andr¨¦ fully knew that the people with [Faux] within the [Empire] were highly regarded and a 85% of the people in it were [Faux]. Also that many of the [Faux] deserted due to this. He also knew that Mr. Silver''s vision was not the domination of the human world, but it''s evolution. They chit chatted that while arriving to the lab. As Andr¨¦ organized his toughts about the "success" of his mission, the god talked again. [Oh! Also as a reply to you especific question... Why did the place had low security? That''s because all the "important" security is outside the perimeter. Just wanted to clear that.] Said Triania with a playful tone. It seemed a lie how serious he was talking a mere moment before. (True... The requierements to attend and to walk in to the campus are too high. We need key-cards, fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, blood testing from time to time, as well as a voice key. We also have passwords and if I''m not wrong, Zarah said our uniforms have special devices attatched in order to cross the door. Besides the countless cameras. sensors, microphones and guards all over the perimeter, no one can enter. We discovered this while investigating the place long ago!!) Screamed Andr¨¦ in his mind. It''s true that to get out there''s nothing to stop you, but for getting in, it''s the opposite. It was a full-fledged fortress. "I see. Thanks for clearing my mind. I should use this to improve my leadership." Said Andr¨¦ with a honest reply and a sincere tone. [I-If you put it like that, you''ll make me blush you know.] Said the god while teasing him. [Anyways, that''s all I had to say to you. I''ll talk to you later people to issue more orders! Bye-Bye!] Said Triania as he cut the call. (What a guy...) Thought Andr¨¦ as he walked towards his companions. "Who were you calling to? the god?" Asked Karen when Andr¨¦ arrived. "Yes. He told me so much things... Haa... I need to discuss this with all you later." Replied Andr¨¦. "So, what do we do with these guys?" Asked Serena while pointing his handgun to Mr. Silver and kept in her range the scientists tied up on the floor. "Let me see... Eh?" Just as he was thinking what to do, he saw a faint light in the corner of his vision. Andr¨¦ had equipped his smart-glasses so the faint light meant he had received a text message. He made a gesture with his hand the sensor in the frame recognized it. It was the comand to [Open Mail]. As he read the message, he almost shouts due to the surprise, but he kept his head cool and replied to Serena''s question. "Alright, what we will do now is- We are going to ally with them to overthrow the [Empire]." Said Andr¨¦ nonchantally to what everyone had their mouths agape and let out an un-audible scream. Chapter Eight: Give and take Part One. *Slurp* "Master, stop eating those things. They''re bad for your health." "Eh? But I''m immortal! Whatever I eat, my bo-GUHE!!!!" "I said, stop eating it." This was a casual conversation between the [Trianina God] and his maid. He had just been hit in the neck so he could spit all the content of the instant soup he was drinking. "Really... You should take care of youself more, Master." Said the maid as from her hand, a blakc flame formed and burned all the soup spilled, and the package as well. And as she cleaned the area where the soup fell- "Master... There''s some news about [Babel]." Said the maid with a serious tone. "Him? Is he on the move?" Asked [Triania]. "Yes. It seems he also meddled with that world. Because he doesn''t have the same ability as you to manipulate [Time-Space] he wasn''t able to get people from the future... But still he got quite the candidates from the present time." Explained the maid. The maid is the one who handles all of the god''s affairs as he only acts when necessary. She also get the information out of other god''s servants and so. "This... Is going to get fun... Hehehehe." Laughed [Triania]. [Babel God], as one of oldest friends, Triania was quite fired up to he with what he came up. "This will be fun... I can''t hold back my excitement...." Mumbled Triania as he remembered his old days and mischevously smiled. Part Two. "Wha?! Andr¨¦! Are yo-...." Just as Serena was about to protest, she stopped herself. Her reliable "hunch" worked again and said to her "believe in him". "Serena? What''s wrong?" Asked Zarah who had a faint idea of why she stopped in the middle of her sentence. "...nch." "Eh?" "I have a hunch. We should do as Andr¨¦ says." Declared Serena. Everyone sighed and just accepted what came to them. "Haa... Serena''s hunch... I know it right... I really know it is right to follow her... But it''s not scientific at all!!!" Protested now Karen. "Stop it. This is no moment for these things." Voiced Aleister who once was saved by Serena''s hunch. (Now... To deal with the most troublesome ones... Maybe I''ll have to use [Olivier Channel]...) Thought Andr¨¦ as a way to deal with the scientists and his teacher. "Alright..... Mister Silver, as well as the scientist here. It''s true that we baarged in here, attacked you, and also quasi-destroyed this place." Voiced Andr¨¦ as the tied up people payed attention to him. "It''s true that we did that... But we had a reason! We wanted to rescue our friend from the jaws of death. We know that there are several students who had lost their lives due to the experiments you held here. An unforgivable act. Human experimentation. A taboo to society. Somehting that cannot be forgiven not forgotten by the people. Still, Let me ask you- why would you go to such lenghts? Why would you resort to such unforgivable act that it took some lives? Why? Money? Fame? Acknowledgement? Mister Silver... Can you answer in behalf of everyone? Why did you do it?" Said Andr¨¦ with a strong voice. "Evolution." "What did you said?" "EVOLUTION! I DID IT FOR THE WORLD! FOR THE SOCIETY! Humans... They just think that this form is the supreme form of evolution. It is not! We can still leap in evolution! We can grow! We can still dream to fly without wings and machines and to breath underwater! We will be able to run faster than a cheetah and be stronger than a gorilla!! We can still evolve! Everything is for the sake of the talented without place in this world!! I did it because we can still grow as humans! I would do anything in order to evolve! WE HAVE NO LIMITS!!" Exclaimed Mr. Silver. He was proud of his beliefs and didn''t think he was wrong. (Haa... What a psycho...) Thought Andr¨¦... But for the sake of the world, he had to convince him to work together. "Is as you said!! Humans have no limits! Those people of the [Empire] don''t know about this! They absolutely don''t understand the value of human evolution! But Mister Silver- We do understand it. We, and the organisation behind us understands it. We still cannot forgive the human sacrifices, but we understand that they were for the sake of evolving. Their names won''t be forgotten by us. We will always have present those who sacrifced themselves in order to bring the humanity to a new stage! Mister Silver... Plan to make this a better world throughout means of evolution. We will overthrow the empire who doesn''t understand us and will become new humans!" Shouted Andr¨¦ with all his strength. (Haa... Ho-How embarassing!! Still, I hope the acting classes Lauren gave me! This wasn''t for naught!) Said Andr¨¦ in his mind. Serena has her eyes shining in admiration due to Andr¨¦''s skills of deceive. Karen was intensely holding her laugh as well as Alesiter. Jyacoba was the same as Serena and Zarah Just recorded the moment. "So, Mister Silver... Will you cooperate with us for a better world?" Asked Andr¨¦ with a serious tone. Mr. Silver was stunned by Andr¨¦''s speech. He was dealing with all the feelings insiede him, as well as weighting the possibilities and after some moments, he replied. "Yes. I will ally with you, Glass." Said Mr. Silver as he faintly smiled, thinking this was for the best. That it was another step towards his dream. Part Three. After the incident, they untied all the scientist, woke up Miss Skyler and sent her up with Aleister, Jyacoba and the unconscious Cristoph. The ones remaining were Karen, Zarah, Serena and Andr¨¦. They wanted to have a serious talk with Mr. Silver. They were in his office inside the lab. The four knew, that actually Mr. Silver is not a bad person. He can be a psycho obsessed with evolution, but at the end, he was not the one to start the war. The ones to start it were the [Allied Countries]. In the [Future Past], Andr¨¦, Serena and Karen worked for the [Allied Countries] and after they ascended to a suitable position to know secrets of the military- They found out that the ones unleashing the war were these countries. The [Empire] only retaliated. After that, the first leader, presumably Mr. Silver died. The substitue, whoever it was, then killed thousands due to his megalomany. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Mr. Silver only killed the people who would harm his dream, and when attacked, countered. He was not someone fond of conflicts. Even with the little chat they had before arriving to the lab, Andr¨¦ understood that. "Well, let''s state the conditions of our alliance. What can you give me? What can I give you? What do you want from us and what do I want from you... With these four questions, we can get to agreeable terms. Said Mr. Silver while sitting in a sofa in fron of Andr¨¦ and co. "Alright. First- Karen. Talk." Said Andr¨¦. He is not the type of people to deal with such things, so he entrusted it to Karen. "Okay then. What we want... Is that you stay silent to the [Empire] about this. I know you have the intention of announcing your independization from them, but unfortunately that would only hinder our progress. We need to keep it as a secret- The fact that you''ve turned against them. Also we want to make this our base of operations and as well that you report us everyhting that happens in this place. We want you to not to sacrifice anyone else and to follow our orders as you see fit." Declared Karen. Mr. Silver nodded and she continued talking. "What can you give us is... The lab. Here is all the technology needed to develop the [Faux] and to make further investigation on these people. Now, to the important part... Or the part you want to hear. What we can give you is- Information, development and advance. In only 1 month-No. Only 2 weeks from now, you''ll have a 100% rate of success of creating a [Faux]. Moreover, in 2 months we would be already past the point of [Faux] and become more evolved beings. You will be able to see the unlimited posibilities of humans. You know what my name is right- I am ¨¹ber, Karen ¨¹ber. I''m daughter of Alicia ¨¹ber, the key person in discovering the [Faux]." Declared Karen in order to convince Mr. Silver. After she mentioned her mother, the meeting went smoothly and both parties got what they wanted. Andr¨¦ and co. then left the academy and went back to his apartment. There was Miss Skyler who was taking acre of Cristoph in the conversation pit. "Miss Skyler... How is he?" Asked Serena quite concerned. "He is alright. There doesn''t seem to be any sympthoms of the process the dead students suffered." Replies Miss. Skyler. "So, he is an success..." Added Andr¨¦. "Tell me, do you know what will be of him? What did they do to him?!" Shouted Miss. Skyler. She was still worried about her little brother. In the outside she could be cool and elegant, but she''s a human too. She has feelings of fear, frustration and love. "Nothing. Most likely his body will transform and he will be like a new person, in flesh only." Said Andr¨¦. "There''s nothing to worry about. This is not a curse but a gift." He gently smiled and put his hand in Miss. Skyler''s shoulder. Serena absolutely wanted to scream and tore them apart, but she minded her surroundings and refrained herself to do so. Part Four. "Damn... Is... Is it here where I''ll die?!" Shouted a girl in the dark. She was laying down in an alley. There was no one nearby and the one that attacked her thought she was quite dead so he left her there suffering a slow death. "I''m a spy. I''m the best spy. I am an assasin. I''m the best assasin. I''m the strongest in this world. I was just too self conceited. I''m the strongest. I am the strongest.... I am..." This girl had the habit of repeating her failures aloud so she could overcome them. So, after a while- "I am the strongest... Think. Think. Think. There should be a place to... Yes. Out of this alley there''s a vet. I can go there. I can kill him or deceive him. I can do it. I''ll survive this. I can." Voiced the girl while smiling. She had the will and the strenght to overcome death once again. And just then- "You know, if you go there, most likely will die due to your own inconpetence." Said a male voice. Step by step, this person who appeared from nowhere approached her. "The vet there, is a former russian soldier. He most likely will shoot you at first sight. You certainly are strong, but you will lose some... "parts" if you go there." Said the man. "Who... Who are you?" Asked the girl while trembling due to the strong pain. "Me? I''m just a passerby that can''t let a girl die just like this." Said the man. "Liar. I know it. It''s not your voice, nor your attitude. Your steps are firm and your breathing is honest. Still, I doubt you. You are not here for my sake." Said the girl as she tried to stan up. "Incredible... You saw through me. Well, I do want to save you. That is true; But also, I want you to work for me. Don''t worry. I am not a percert... like someone I know... So I won''t ask anything erotic. I want you to work as you have until now. I want you to become my spy." Said the man. The girl furrowed her brows. She knew that he was lying. "So you''ll save me in order to use me?" Replied the girl. "Yes. That''s what I propose to you." Said the man. "Haa... What a luck I have. I just hope you aren''t some run of the mill dude who wants an spy. I''d end up dead soon if you are" Said the girl. "Believe me. I am not." Said the guy as he took out of his breast pocked at small srynge. (Haa... It''s hard to convincex someone of your good intentions... I had to put up this act in order to gain her "trust") Thought the man as he saw the girl gritting her teeth in pain. "GAHGH!!" Voiced the girl as the srynge was stuck in her neck with an unbelievable speed. (I don''t have recovery spells like him so this is the only thing I can use...) Thought the man as he saw the girl twitching as her injuries healed. "Eh?" Voiced the girl as she stood up. She checked herself in order to believe what was happening. Her injuries were gone as if they weren''t there in the first place. "You... Just who are you?" Asked the girl with a surprised voice. "I already said it. Oh well, we will be working together from now on, so you can call me [Babel]." Said the man as he walked out of the alley and made a sign to the girl to follow him. Chapter Nine: Progress Part One. "Heya dude!" "Hi Cristoph." "Hi Cris." "Heya Serena." "Good morning bae!!!" This, is the usual greeting of the four friends in the [Crowley Academy]. They are known in the whole academy for being the so-called [Perfect Matches]. Serena Bones and Andr¨¦ Glass - The cool and composed guy with the lively, sporty girl. Ekaterina Crowley and Cristoph Cold - Lively and sporty girl with the cool guy. They are the envy and jealousy of all the academy. It''s been a month and a half since the classes started and roughly 2 weeks since the incident of the underground lab. After the incident, everything went smoothly. Before the incident, they were normal acquitances. Even if Andr¨¦ had Cristoph quite high in expectative due to him being friendly, thing that was rare for him, they were only classmates. In Serena''s case with Ekaterina, girl''s relationships are a deep sea riddle. They were friends beore anyone noticed it. These four friends, now have a strong bond. -After the underground lab incident ended, everything went smoothly. Mr. Silver recruited the involved teachers and told the principal the truth. It seems the principal was out of the project, so he was quite shocked. It seems that the [Memebers of the Empire] infiltrated the place when the libary was being repaired due to a strange typhoon 3 years ago. The principal was angry that the teahcers killed his students and hid this from him. Also he was going to tell the NYPD and the CIA but Mr. Silver convinced him that it was useless. The princpal had to swallow his words and follow Mr. Silver. He also talked with Ms. Skyler, Andr¨¦ and Karen. He was convinced that any other death was out of the question and that this was for a common benefit. They explained him that this was going to become something big if things go the wrong way, thus the principal had to let go of his grudges. Of course it was not easy, but as a man that had experience in life, he had to accept it. In the other side, the scientists were quite fired up with Karen''s help. She gave them tons of data and also had the help of Cristoph, Alleister and Andr¨¦. It could seems wicked that they took Cristoph where he was abducted and messed up with, but to overcome the events of that time, it was necessary. Mr. Silver was the one in charge of sending the false data to the [Members of the Empire] and to manage the place. The lab is now the headquarters of the [Architecture]. Of course, Andr¨¦ and co. can''t tell others about their own mission, nor about their circumstances. It''s a matter of time until the HQ of the empire notice it, but they are going to use that time to plan an attack towards them. Now that Andr¨¦ and co. changed things in the present... They have no idea of what awaits them. The only thing to do is wait and counter. Part Two. "Well then, class is over." Said Miss. Skyler to class 1-A and then she left. It was early in the morning, so they had another two-hour lecuture. They had from 5 to 10 minutes of gap between them and- "Good day, Andr¨¦." "Oh- Gracia, good day." A girl with long bonde hair, green eyes and white skin talked to Andr¨¦. She is Gracia St. Pier, a french girl that came to study to america. "May I ask if you can help me with my Literature homework." Said Gracia with a bright smile. "Of course." Said Andr¨¦ as he helped her while the next teacher arrived. "??" Then Andr¨¦ suddenly received a that''sapp from Cristoph. [I''m going to send this pic to Serena] Said the text while it had a photo attached of him with Gracia that had just been taken. "Ahg!" Voiced Andr¨¦ as a faint cry and finished quickly his bussiness with Gracia. He absolutely didn''t want to suffer Serena''s rage. As Gracia left, Cristoph started to chat with Andr¨¦. "Still, you''re as popular as always." Said Cristoph. "I can''t deny it, but if I accept it, I feel like I will lose something." Replied Andr¨¦. "True, true. Also, that other lot of girls from Class-B are all over you too, huh?" Teased Cristoph to Andr¨¦. "Shut up." Complained Andr¨¦ and then the next teacher arrived. At lucnh, Andr¨¦ and Cristoph met with Serena and Ekaterina and headed towards the cafeteria. Ekaterina is in Class-E by the way. It''s been agreed that three of the five weekdays is going to be for them four to eat togethere. Andr¨¦ and his companions will eat the other two days. It was Serena''s idea.... Actually she poured her unlimited rage upon her companions so they would agree. As they were eating their lunch- "??" Voiced Andr¨¦. He tasted his food but suddenly found an overly familiar and odd flavor and spit the food. "Eh? Dude, what''s wrong?" Asked Cristoph. "Andr¨¦, is anything wro-??!" Just as Serena saw his expression, she also tensed up. He had his guard up and she noticed. "What''s going on?" She mumbled. "The food tastes strange. I recognize the flavor... I''ll tell you later so taste yours too and even if it''s okay, don''t eat it." Said Andr¨¦ in low voice. "Ahh-Ah! Suddenly I feel like eating snacks. Let''s go to the dispenser." Said Andr¨¦ as he went to the machine and purchased some. Cristoph noticed the overly-exaggerated way he talked and had a little hunch, so he decided not to eat. He also stopped Ekaterina from ganging up her plate and they ate snacks for lunch. And at the same moment- "Damn... He should''ve fallen for it." Said a female voice from far away while inspecting Andr¨¦ and co. Part Two. It was the end of schooltime. Cristoph, Zarah and Miss. Skyler were at the lab doing tests as usual. Karen, Aleister, Andr¨¦ and Serena were in the lab''s office. It''s a soundproof room for meetings. "Diluted Cyanide to it''s 0.10%... Yeah, if you had ate that lunch, you''d be dead by now." Said Karen as she analyzed the food Andr¨¦ brought her. "What about the other dishes?" Asked Andr¨¦. "Zero.... So that means you''re the aim of this." Said Kare with a sigh. "Is this an attack from the [Members]?" Added Andr¨¦. "Not at all. Someone maybe has grudges against you or who knows, but definitely it is not the [Members]. They love to crush their enemies. This sly kind of thing... Nah." Deducted Karen. The [Members] or [Members of the Empire] like overwhelming victories; and if they did this kind of thing, it would be an aim to all the members of the [Architecture] and not only Andr¨¦. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "So the heck is trying to kill you?" Asked Aleister. Andr¨¦ shrugged his shoulders and then Karen butted in. "You know, this situation itself is quite strange. The fact that only your food was poisoned, it being inside the schoold campus and moreover- That Serena''s hunch wasn''t triggered." To what she said, Aleister, Andr¨¦ and even Serena frowned. "True, if Andr¨¦ is in danger, why her hunch..." Mumbled Aleister. "For me, I''ve never seen her hunch failing once." Added Karen. Serena and Andr¨¦ thought of one possibility, but it was not so likely to happen. (She... She was the only one that didn''t trigger my hunch... Maybe...) "Anyways, be careful from now on- Have Serena with you all times and Jyacoba monitor you from afar... Thing which she already does.... If poison failed, the assassination attempts may be bold from now on." Adviced Karen as she went back to her duties. She absolutely had something bugging her mind, but she didn''t want to ask in such moment. "Let''s go." Said Aleister. Even as rivals, Andr¨¦ and Aleister have a nice relationship, so sometimed they compete with anything they see fit from time to time. Then- "Huh?" Voiced Andr¨¦. Just after Aleister got out of the office, Serena stopped Andr¨¦ from going out. Aleister noticed, so he just left. "I need to know." She said in a strong voice. "Know? What do you mean?" Replied Andr¨¦. "Don''t play dumb! I know you get what I mean!" Shouted Serena. Andr¨¦ sighed. He exactly knew what she was asking. "Do you remember the mission in the desert? That one time when Dubai''s skyscrapers fell like sandcastles." Said Andr¨¦. "Yeah... I... No. I don''t." Said Serena. "Exactly. You received a hit in the head and go unconscious just to wake up with short-term amnesia." Declared Andr¨¦. "Yeah; I do remember that. When I woke up, you were in the infarmary, collapsed due to the incident." Recalled Serena. "Actually, that''s a lie. You did had amnesia, but I wasn''t in such state due to the mission, but because of the enemy. They caught me when we were escaping and I told you to run away. Xiao was there so he convinced you to leave and then you lost your memories. I was caught and messed up with until they wanted and then was picked by another team. I was lu-" *SLAP!* Suddenly, Serena had slapped Andre''s cheek with all her strenght. "Ya..." "Eh?" "Ya fucking prick dan''t eva try ta lie to me again!!!" Shouted Serena. "I saw throu''ya! Ya think Imma stupid?? Shat up! Tell me da truth!!" She added. Andr¨¦ had a dumbfounded expression and after the shock of the slap faded, he told the truth to Serena. "Hah... Really... That''s why I love you." He said while smiling and some tears the corner of his eyes. "I didn''t want you to blame youself, but you want to know so who cares. In the Dubai mission, the debris made the escape hard and you had a little slip. Then they caught you and Xiao tried to convince me to leave. I refused and went after you. When I rescued you, they found us quickly and as I let you escape, I got caught. I was tortured for almost two weeks until the team you lead found me. After that, you were in a severe depression and self pity so the higher-up gave you a cocktail to erase your memory. It worked quite well and it seems [Triania] didn''t dare to restore them." Explained Andr¨¦. This of course shocked Serena. She didn''t have the idea of that happening, much less for it to be her fault. She wanted to know why he knew the taste of diluted cyanide but for it to be like this... She felt depressed, then frustrated... Then angered, then she felt sad and angered again... After a little loop of anger-sadness, she calmed down. While in her state of shock, she leaned in the wall and slowly sat in the floor. She felt it was like 5 minutes, but 45 minutes had already passed. "I-I''m sorry." She said. Andr¨¦ was with her all the time she spent in her internal strife. He was sit next to her. She wanted to apologize for her past mistakes, for her faults and the time he waited right now. She didn''t know how to voice it, and was nervous. "Don''t worry. I understand. We share the fault after all. Don''t blame yourself, because all this is the past. It''s not like I will stop loving you or something." Said Andr¨¦ with a straight face while timidly holding her hand. Serena, after feeling relieved, blushed. (Ha-Haw can he say those things jast like dat?!!) She shouted in her mind. She leaned in his shoulder and cutely smiled. Part Three. "Huh? [Trianina]?" Voiced Karen as she waited for the couple to get out of the office. It''s been like an hour since they were inside, so she was quite impatient. She received a call from the god and answered it. "Yeah?" [Hello Karen. I wanted to talk with Andr¨¦ but he''s quite busy right now. I called you because you already know about the asssasination attempt and are the most understanding person in the group of you four.] Said [Triania]. "I see. I won''t deny it. So, what do you want to tell me? And also, do you spy on us like this everyday?" Asked Karen. [I spy you only when necessary. I have things to do as a god you know. Also, I want to tell you of the whole frame you are under. I hope you don''te reveal this to the others.] Said [Triania] while giving a serious voice. Karen left for a more private place and talked with him. She heard all what he wanted to do, and after being amused and getting to an agreement, she laughed with all her strenght and smirked. "This... You gods are sure intersting." She said. [That''s just your opinion. Anyways; will you follow my orders?] Asked [Triania] "Of course. Everything for protecting Andr¨¦, and the sake of our mutual objective." Said Karen while she cut the call. "Fumu.... What a cool way to hang up the call." Voiced [Triania] while fiantly smiling. "[Babel] will have a hard time from now on." He added while laughing outloud. Chapter Ten: Identity Part One: After a while, Serena and Andr¨¦ got out of the room. "Andr¨¦! Serena! Come here." Then voices Zarah. "What happened?" Asked Serena. "Karen, who actually left a while ago, asked me to look for the assassin." Said Zarah as she them manipulated the table she had in her hands. "She asked me to look for "boys and girls that have been transferred within 1 month" I didn''t get her meaning but then I thought- This is a fortress. It''s true that no outsider can forcibly enter. Still, what if this assasin tried to come just like us?" "The assasin most likely faked his documents and transferred here." Added Andr¨¦ after Zarah''s explanation. "That''s right. Then I spotted 2 people. A girl in our year transferred to Class-E and other in sophomore year in Class-C. There''s nothing wrong with them in terms of paperwork and background, but still when Karen looked to one of the girls, she decided to go get her; or so she said." Added Zarah. Then Andr¨¦ and Serena then lookd at the pictures that Zarah showed them and widened their eyes in surprise. "What. The. FUCK!" Shouted Serena as she started to run towards the exit. She was like a enraged bear chasing a hunter who took her cub. (Damn... It had to ber her.) Said Andr¨¦ in his mind when he was not able to even look at the picture. One of Andr¨¦s traumas was then triggered. He has already overcomed his truamas but even there are some that affects him. In fact, him not blacking out is itself a proof he''s not so affected by them. "Wha-What happened?" Asked Zarah quite surprised. Even if her facial expressions were like those of a stone monument, her voice sounded quite affected. "Haa.. O-One of them is the assassin. Karen, Serena and I know her from the future past. She''s a dangerous individual." Said Andr¨¦. Zarah was surprised by Andr¨¦s statement. "Karen knows due to second hand information, but Serena and I have personally met her." He added while slightly stroking his neck. "Anyways, I need to stop her before she does somethinf rash. See you later." Said Andr¨¦ as he left and ran after Serena. (I never thought that Marcelline would appear like this.) Thought Andr¨¦ while getting out of the lab. Part Two. Marcelline Holy. In the [Future Past] she was an spy hired by the [Empire] to discover the utmost secrets of the allied forces. It was in the time when Andr¨¦ and Serena still were inside the military. After various events, Andr¨¦ who refused to work with anyone else who wasn''t Serena, was obligued to collab with an outstanding element. Her name at that time was Marcy Slain. For a couple of weeks, Andr¨¦ did not even talk to her but with time, he started to utter some words and after 1 and a half years, they were considered a "team". Andr¨¦ would seldom talk to Marcelline and she would talk as if there was no tomorrow. Little by little, little by little, she won over Andr¨¦. Several times he tested her and prooved if he could trust her or not. The Andr¨¦ at that time would absolutely not trust anyone else besides Serena. Thus, one day after 3 whole years, Andr¨¦ gave up. He gave his trust to "Marcy". It was great for a while. Their relationship improved and a fair level of trust was established. But one day- Marcelline received the order to kill Andr¨¦. Just after a hard mission, Marcelline called out to Andr¨¦ to a place where people usually wasn''t around and with a sneak attack, she sliced Andr¨¦''s throat. Just after letting him in the floor with a deadly injury, she left the allied forces. The last words she said to Andr¨¦ were: [I apologize... Being a double agent is made of lies.] If not were for the couple that decided to have their "hot moment" in that place, just after Marcelline left, Andr¨¦ would be pretty much dead. In that time, Serena was appointed to another team as a leader so she was told about the incident a month after it happened. Karen who was with the [Empire] learned about it even more far ahead in time. Macelline''s incident is one of Andr¨¦s greatest traumas. Part Three. "KAREN!!" Shouted Serena in the hall. Karen was quietly walking as if she had nothing to do. "Serena? What''s wrong?" Asked Karen. She obviously knew what happened to her, still, she played dumb. "Where''s she?! Where''s the bitch?!" Shouted Serena. "Bi-Oh... Her. I was tailing her but then she went to the club building and I was too lazy to follow her so whatever." Replied Karen. "Liar! What exactly did you do?" Asked Serena. "Haaa... I followed her only to comfirm her identity from afar. If I approach too much she may run away or be wary of us. So after I confirmed it was Marcelline, I stopped following her. Also I was not lying when I said she went towards the club building." Said Karen. "I see. Then now is the time to ki-" "Now is the time- my ass!" Then Andr¨¦ appeared out of nowhere and karate-chopped Serena in the head. "Ouch! Why do you chop me?" She asked. "Because we are not killing anyone." Said Andr¨¦. "Why?!" Exclaimed Serena. "We still don''t know the reason why she''s targetting Andr¨¦ or her objective by doing so. Who paid her to do so and why. Also if she''s by herself or she has companions... We know nothing." Explained Karen. "I-I see. So-Sorry... I let my feelings to take the best of me." Said Serena while calming down. She was clenching her teeth until they almost cracked and her fists until their color faded. She was extremely enraged but there was nothing she could do at the moment. "Why don''t we abduct her then?!" Asked Serena while her mood was still shaken. "Everything has it''s timing. Someone as formidable as her, we can''t just catch her as is or she''ll never spill the soup." Said Karen. "True. We need to catch her red-handed so she can''t deny her identity." Added Andr¨¦ with a serious expression. Serena''s rage dissipated, so she caught up to the serious atmosphere around. Then after processing the information she has just heard, her face twitched and her head went hot again. She grabbed Andr¨¦''s shirt collar and lifted him. "Don''t tell me... You... Are you planing to be the bait?" Questioned Serena with a low but strong voice whilst her expression was that of a fierce tiger. "That''s the only way, or at least the less suspicious one." Said Andr¨¦. Stolen story; please report. Serena only gripped stronger Andr¨¦''s shirt and then released it. "Damn... Okay I get it." She said while muttering the curse. "You! Have to be careful! No matter what, you have to be unharmed when your little play is over!" Exclaimed Serena to Andr¨¦. He only nodded quite surprised by her reaction. "And you... little... don''t even dare to let Andr¨¦ to be harmed or I''ll breack you legs! You hear me?!" She exclaimed to Karen. "I won''t let Andr¨¦ get hurt. Be sure of that." Replied Karen nonchantally. Even though her tone was a half-joking one, her eyes were totally serious. Part Four. "I definitely don''t like this." Said Serena while pouting. "Orders are orders! You have no control over this!" Replied Jyacoba with a confident tone. "I do have it! Shoo-Shoo Go away!" Exclaimed Serena. (Damn this is uncomfrtable...) Thought Andr¨¦. Right now, Andr¨¦ is being "monitored" by Jyacoba while being with Serena. They were walking towards the classrooms in the morning and the two were pulling Andr¨¦ to their side with a great amount of strenght. It wouldn''t be a surprise if his arms were to rip. "I''m his girlfriend! Go away!" "You may be the girlfriend but who will be the wife? Obviously me!" Due to the quarreling, Cristoph and Ekaterina had walked past them and Andr¨¦ was left alone to handle such a troublesome matter. "Gu-Guys... You shouldn''t fight. We''re companions after all." Said Andr¨¦ while smiling. All the girls who were looking at the quarrel almost got a nosebleed and the guys clicked their tongue due to their jealousy. Jyacoba and Serena were also affected by it, but they recovered in a mere moment. "N-No! Let go of him!" Said Jyacoba. "NO! He''s mine!" Shouted Serena. When his "gentle solution" failed, Andr¨¦ steeled his resolution and- "Jyacoba!" He exclaimed while suddenly holding Jyacoba''s hand. "Ye-Yesh!" Replied Jyacoba whith her face blushing. "You... I..." Muttered Andr¨¦. "...." "..... Can you watch from afar?" Said Andr¨¦ to the silent Jyacoba. She went pale while the previously dumbfounded Serena arrogantly laughed. "Ohohohohohoho! It seems you''re no match for me!" Laughed Serena as Andr¨¦ said "I''m sorry". Jyacoba then resigned herself to watch from afar and Andr¨¦ happily chatted with Serena while walking towards their classrooms. "How unfair..." Said Jyacoba with a downcast expression. She knows in Andr¨¦''s eyes she won''t be more than a companion, but she refuses to give up. "Cheer up, cheer up; I need to be on alert." She muttered while making a small fist pose and walked behind the couple. Just as she was following them- "Eh?" She suddenly turned around afer feeling a strong gaze. Behind her was a tall girl with long black hair and dark brown eyes. She was not a beauty but she wasn''t ugly either. She looked atlethic but not to the extent of Jyacoba or Serena. Then after some students hindranced Jyacoba''s vision, she noticed the girl was not there anymore. (Marcelline Holy, huh...) Thought Jyacoba while resuming her path. From afar, the owner of that gaze grumbled in exhasperation. "He did not only noticed the poison but also there are more people around him... Damn. I need to think of a more effective plan. Maybe if I..." Then she started to drift in her thoughts as she hid from Jyacoba''s perception. After some minutes of thinking, she resigned herself. "I tried a simple killing as always, but if it ended like this, I better snipe him off." Concluded Marecelline as she took out her cellphone and called [Babel] in order to ask for the proper equipment. Marcelline was saved and hired by [Babel] to kill Andr¨¦. [Babel] paid her a fair amount of money and helped her to get into the academy and make a silent killing, but it didn''t work. He has a great awareness of his surroundings, and there are always people around him. The only one oportunity she had was to poison his food but in the end it was useless. So she decided to snipe. She had the orders from [Babel] to not to reveal her identity as an assassin at any cost but she couldn''t afford it now. With poison or an "accidental" death she may escape unnoticed, but now with a snipe there was danger of being seen. "The risk is worth the money after all." Mumbled Marcelline after she cut the call with [Babel]. She owned her life to [Babel] so she was grateful, but she wouldn''t make a free work for anyone. (The [False Illness] is expensive after all...) She thought while recalling some memories about when she still was a normal girl. Meanwhile- "Huh? A call?" Said [Babel] just after he finished his talk with Marcelline. He was in the top office of a recently built skyscraper in the city. "Heee... It''s him." Added [Babel] after he saw the name of the person calling. "Heya [Triania]. How you doing?" Asked [Babel] [How you doing? Shut up! You know why I''m calling you. YOu''re messing with my things right now... Why are you doing it?] Suddenly blurt [Triania]. "Haa... Different from you, I''m just a [Middle-Class God] so I''m under [Clockwork]''s orders here." Said [Babel]. [Wha-Her?! Why?!] Asked [Triania]. "She said you haven''t visited in a while so she''s quite furious." Replied [Babel] [Hey... Are you sure you should be telling me this? At least try to keep safe someone''s secret, dude.] Said [Triania]. "I don''t care. Anyways you would have figured it out sooner or later." Explained [Babel]. [Haa... It''s true but... Well anyways, tell her that I''ll play along this time. Also I know that you''ve chosen your candidates among the people of this world so don''t blame everything on [Clockwork].] Exposed [Triania] to [Babel]. "You noticed it, huh? Well, it doesn''t matter now. Expect a good fight from me in the incoming event." Said [Babel] as he then cut the call. "Why does everyone have to finish their speech with such cool lines?" Complained [Triania] at the other side of the line where only his maid listened to him. "I won''t be meddling you for a while, Andr¨¦ Glass; so work hard in order to not to die so soon." Said [Triania] to himself while liazly resting in the mats of his house. Chapter Eleven: Bait Part One. "What''s wrong?" Asked Serena as she was sit in the kitchen''s breakfast bar. "It''s a text from [Triania]..." Said Andr¨¦ as he closed the text with a hand movement. He was using his smart glasses to read while cooking dinner. "What does he say?" Added Serena. "He says he will not contact us for a while." Replied Andr¨¦ while sipping the stew he was cooking and put out the flame of the pot. "Why? Any reason on particular?" Said Serena while standing up and walking towards the fridge. "No, not at all. He just said that and nothing more." As he said so, he also served himself some stew and started to eat. "Unfair! Don''t start without me!" Exclaimed Serena with two iced tea bottles in her hands. This could be said to be a normal night in Andr¨¦''s apartment, but it wasn''t. There was some tension on the air, due to Andr¨¦ accepting to be the bait against Marcelline Holy, the assassin targeting his life. After a while, Serena talked first. "How is it going? The plan, I mean." "Well, we are basing it in how she operates and the way I am being targeted. Since the food issue, there has not been any other strike so we can only make a base plan." Explained Andr¨¦. "Base plan?" "Yeah. We''ll wait for her to show or at least track down her steps the time she tries to kill me. We''ve been making countermeasures in order to get a hold of every possible assassination. We also made sure the chances of assasination that are out of our hands can be prevented." As Andr¨¦ kept talking, Serena grew uneasy. Because she wasn''t participating in the plan. It''s true that she is a great element regarding protection, but now her feelings are involved and could compromise the mission, and also her "intuition" didn''t work on Marcelline. Somehow, Andr¨¦ noticed Serena''s worry and slightly smiled. "Don''t worry. We''ve prepared this thoroughly so she can''t escape." He said with a strong confidence. In the past future, Andr¨¦ didn''t trust his partners at all, but after confronting his traumas, he learned that he was never alone. This time, he wants to pour all his trust in them. Of course he still doubts some parts of the plan, or if they are able to throughly protect him, but he distrust the "circumstances" more than the "will" of his companions. (It''s not that I don''t trust them. I don''t trust what surrounds me...) Said Andr¨¦ in his mind as he placed his hand over Serena''s. She then instantly blushed and muttered- "Idiot." while pouting. Their insecurity didn''t decrease, but it didn''t increase either. As they had their dinner, even with their worries, their minds were at ease becuase they were with the other. Part Two. Becuase Andr¨¦ and co. didn''t know when Marcelline would attack, they were in their guards at all moments. Their watch over Andr¨¦ increased while Serena''s pouts only augmented. She could barely stand that another member of their group had to be with him at all times. He throughly inspected whatever he ingested and wherever he placed his feet. It was nerve wracking to be this alert, and even if he was accustomed to it, even for Andr¨¦ this was tiring. His only role was not only to wait, but to be prepared in case anything happened. Marcelline Holy, in the past future was known to be a full-fledged professional hitman and spy. It was known that even in his early years she was feared by various organizations. Thus, if they wanted to catch her they only could wait and counter. She wouldn''t spill the soup if they caught her in an early state and even if watched, she would instantly run away. Based in such suspicions, they all kept their distance from her and focused in guarding Andr¨¦. On the other hand, Marcelline was getting impatient. From afar she tracked Andr¨¦ and while trying to figure out how to handle her mission without using her last resource, she felt annoyed from the bottom of her heart. She har alread requested [Babel] the rifle she was going to use against him, but her thoughts wandered a little as she considered that she could use another kind of approach. But what she found was that the people around him only increased and a sense of uneasy grew in her. From what she could calculate, everytime she approached, she would be caught before reaching her objective. Marcelline could not guess at all Andr¨¦''s plans, but she felt a strange pressure around him. After a week of this little game of hunting, Marcelline gave up and decided to snipe Andr¨¦. That certain day, she deciced to not attend the academy. Her "instruments" had arrived 4 days ago so she was familiar with what kind of rifle she had got. It was a law enforcement rifle- Heckler and Kosh PSG 1 - A1. A semi-automatic sniper rifle made for urban areas with an effective range of 700m. It''s not like she absolutely wanted to blow up his head, and with the season''s wind it was assured that a girl with half-assed training in sniping like her would fail with a more delicate rifle. (He''s just a frail human so a shot in his torax would be enough...) Is what she thought while watching the rifle in the case. She knew, she absolutely knew, that humans were fragile. A single cut could end a life. A single bullet could destroy a person. A single punch was able to erase a man. She knew how fragile humans were... And that''s what drove her too. Marcelline had been practising how to arm/disarm the rifle, clean it, and shot it. She was not an expert but she noticed odd thinga inside the rifle. It didn''t have any identification numbers, the rifle was light but it somehow resisted impacts that only military sniper rifles could withstand and each time the bullet was shot, it didn''t have any blueprint. She found it weird, but she didn''t question things that would only benefit her mission. "Well then, let''s go." She said and exited the quasi-empty apartment and went to chase her prey. Marcelline had memorized Andr¨¦''s schedule. Actually, it wasn''t that hard. There was a 5 minute difference in each but that was not a problem. Andr¨¦ would go out to the academy at 6:00 and arrive at 6:45 on foot. He would not take any detour and only buy a coffee in a street stall. Then he would walk while talking with his girlfriend, Serena from Class 1-B. This time, she jumped the school schedule due to her being unable to attack him inside. After school, he would go straight home, if not to stop for another coffee on the same stall.... And until the next day, zero moves outside his apartment. His place is basiclly a fort as strong as the academy so not long, medium or short approaches would work. (That place is just insane...) She thought while the first time she tried to get into the apartments she got lost. It was no joke, everytime she opened a door it would lead her to the exit; even the elevator. She thought that said place was being controlled by a neurological drug either gas or liquid, and some subtle hypnotic sugggestions that made her lost her way. She felt shivers just from thinking about such place. Marcelline didn''t know that this was made by [Triania God] who supports Andr¨¦. That''s why from thevery beggining, Andr¨¦ was not afraid to be attacked inside his own home. Thus, she walked towards the Academy, more precisely, to the building two streets at its front. She decided to use the time when he was going out the academy gates. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The sun was at her back, the wind was roaring but it was still not a speed that would hinder her shot and a clear vision of the entrance. She didn''t go to the academy that day in order to shot him at afterschool time. He had club activities with the coordinator teacher of Class-A and would go out until 5:00 pm. That is a time where less than 25% of the students are inside the facilities and she had a better chance to- shot him without obstacles and avoid a stray shot. She would kill her target only. It was a rule she herself had made. Witnesses doesn''t matter, potential revenge doesn''t matter, intereference doesn''t matter; she would not kill anyone besides her designated obejctive. Of course, she wouldn''t let herself get seen or hindered by anyone in the first place. So, Marcelline, in the top of the bulding at 2:30 pm started to wait for Andr¨¦. She concealed herself with some gray clothing and painting the rifle. She had some water to drink and patiently waited for Andr¨¦ to get out. Better being early than late- That''s why she was since an early hour. Time passed, and as she thought, at 5:30 Andr¨¦ together with Serena, Cristoph, Karen and Jyacoba. She also saw Zarah behind him. It seems their other friends were absent. "Well then, let''s hunt." She said in a low voice to prepare her mind. She calculated the wind speed, the magazine and she had already made a test shot with the suppresor equipped. Fortunately, no one was either behind and in front of him. Serena, his girlfriend, was sticking to him but Jyacoba separated them. (If I shock him with one shot, then I can set it in semi-autmatic mode to finish the deal...) Thought Marcelline while setting the rifle. She aimed him while he was away from Serena, and- *Bang* A muffled sound came from the rifle as it shot the 7 cm bullet that completely hit it''s target. Marcelline was unable to hear his screams, but she could see the bullet hit him in the abdomen. Then she changed to semi-automatic mode and as she aimed- (Huh?... Is she looking here? No way!) Shouted Marcelline in her head as Serena looked her way. Then, a strange sensation struck her- Run. Run as fast as you can. That''s what her instincts told her. She was, for some reason, deeply sweating. But- She decided to shot once again. With the semi-automatic mode, she carefuly aimed and- *Bang-Bang-Bang* Once again the deaf sounds crossed the busy cityscape. Part Three. A few moments ago- "Serena! You''re clinging too much to him!" Shouted Jyacoba with certain displeasure. "So what?! He''s my boyfriend!" Said Serena in a loud voice while Andr¨¦ just chuckled. Karen and Cristoph were witnessing the escene with some complex feelings. That''s becuase they knew how much Jyacoba yearned for Andr¨¦. Then Jyacoba jumped towards Serena and forcefully separated her from Andr¨¦. "What the hell are you doing people?" Then said a monotonous voice behind them. It was Zarah who decided to head out early from the lab. Then Serena and Andr¨¦ furrowed their brows. "Wait, what was tha-" *PA!* Suddenly, just as Andr¨¦ was going to ask about a strange sound he noticed, something at high-speed pierced his stomach. ((((SNIPER!)))) Thought Karen, Serena, Jyacoba and Zarah at the same time. Serena stood in front of Andr¨¦ as Karen hurried to his side to examine him. Olivier, Alanah and co went also on alert when they noticed Andr¨¦ had been shot but decided to stay in the margin. They needed to know if anyone was nearby watching them. Also they knew that with the others around, they needed to do nothing. Serena then activated [Phoenix] and started to search for the culprit. Jyacoba did the same as she activated her [Demon]. "Look, the tall building in front, she''s there." Quietly said Serena to Zarah. "I see her too." Added Jyacoba. "Alright. I''ll go. Jyacoba, tag along." Said Zarah as her [Faux] - [Angel] was activated. Her hair shone in a pale yellow color and with her enhanced speed, ran towards the direction of the sniper. Just as she gave the first step- *Bang Bang Bang Bang!!* Several shots were directed towards Andr¨¦ once again. "Damn!" Shouted Serena as she made a hand-knife and repelled the bullets with all her energy concentrated in defense. "The Hell?!!" Screamed Marcelline as she saw how Serena blocked the bullets with her bare hands. (This is a failure! I need to retreat!) Said Marcelline to herself as her instincts told her to go away. She quickly took the rifle, saved it in the case and ran towards the elevator behind her. She quickly pressed the button of the 25th floor, out of 50 and descended. When she arrived, she quickly went to the stairs and with all her might ran towards the emergency exit. (Shit! Why am I so frustrated? I need to calm down!) She thought. Going on a rush would make her look suspicious and even if she saw something inbelievable, and also felt Serena''s gaze, it''s obvious that no one had seen her. She just camled her breathing rythm and slowly got out of the bulding. To meld with the crowd, she decided to get out from the front door. Just as she planned to get out of the escene- "You! Marcelline Holy! Don''t move!" Shouted a girl with pale blonde hair that seemed to shine- It was Zarah. (Wha-?! How did she arrived here? How did she knew I was here?! Wait! She used my real name?!) Questioned Marcelline to herself as she then started to run out of panic towards a nearby alley. "You won''t run away!" Shouted Zarah in an unusual angry tone and chased Marcelline. Due to her being an [Angel], she possesed superb speed and maneuverability, caught up to her in no time. "Eh?!" Stupidly voiced Marcelline as Zarah arrived in front of her in no time. "You''ll come with me, Marcelline Holy." Said Zarah while gripping her shoulder. "But that''s a no!" Said someone who out of nowhere attacked her with a flying kick. Zrah nimbly avoided the kick but couldn''t help to let go of her prisoner. "Let go of my sister!" Shouted a girl of the same age as Marcelline. Not only that, it was as if Marcelline had multiplied, except that the girl had short boyish hair. "A... Twin?" Voiced Zarah. "Irene?!" Shouted Marcelline in surprise. "Yes Mar. I''ve come to save you!" Said the girl named Irene. "Zarah!" Shouted Jyacoba who had just arrived. A distance of 500 plus meters was nothing for a [Faux] to sprint so they both arrived to the bulding at the same time Marcelline opened the elevator''s door. So Zarah proposed Jyacoba to head upstairs and in any case she would stay vigilant towards the entrance. And as a matter of fact, the building had four sets of stairs so Jyacoba took a different one from Marcelline''s. Just after she confirmed no one was upstairs, she went downstairs as fast as she could and found Zarah just in the alley beside. "You''ll now experience a whole new level of hell for trying to kill Andr¨¦!" Shouted Jyacoba with her rage at its peak while assesing how to move and help to catch the now two suspects.