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Desperate to turn the situation around, Stefani ran for the cover of the barn, hoping that it would give her a moment to think. She was completely confident in her newfound strength coming into the Melee. She finally felt that she could be counted amongst those willing to get into the thick of the fight. While being in a supportive role did not bother her and she preferred it, she loathed the feeling of being the liability. She could protect herself quite well now, easily shrugging off the advances of someone targeting her. Her current situation was nothing like she had ever trained for.
In everything she had worked toward, it was always geared toward someone who would be targeting her as the support. It was well established that it was often the most tactically sound decision to eradicate the supporters first, as they often had the greatest impact on the team dynamic, but were also the most fragile. These situations meant there were others around to draw the attention of most members on the team, while a singular opponent came for her directly. Much to her dismay, there was not one opponent, but three, and there was no one to help split their attention.
In a one-on-one fight, outside of Anaar, she had not met anyone who could reasonably keep up with her. Maggie lacked the martial arts prowess, Dan was too slow, and Jesus had some weakness when it came to pretty girls. Though she was confident she could still take him without the handicap, it was better to acknowledge the true reason for his loss.
She was up against a well-balanced team, which put her at a massive disadvantage. There was a sniper, a Titan, and some unknown factor. She had learned these were the most dangerous, because they had the element of surprise to take opponents down. Thanks to their roles, it was hard to utilize a song to neutralize them all at once, as they were spread out into a neat formation. If she rushed the Titan, she was unsure if she would be capable of taking the woman down before she had a high caliber bullet somewhere she did not want. Finally, there was the unknown man who could be capable of anything.
Unfortunately for Stefani, his abilities did not stay hidden for long. The very place that was meant to be her shelter, became a torturing ground. Inside the barn, there were a number of tools and objects, nothing out of the ordinary, and most likely placed there to add to the authenticity of the environment. The tall man had stayed hidden because he was not in a position of power. With the plethora of tools in the barn, it was his chance to end things quickly.
Pitchforks, saws, screws and everything in between began whizzing around the room with no particular target. When Stefani saw this, she immediately remembered her lessons of telling the difference between a Telekinetic and a Ferrokinetic. With the objects all having some metal component to them, it became clear which she was against.
Stefani weighed her limited options. In her current position, she was basically waiting to be impaled by a flying farm tool. The positive to the situation however, was that since the man had no vision of her, there was no way to move the objects in any fashion other than random movements. She was then also protected from the other two enemies. The flying objects became more frenetic, a nail jamming itself into Stefani’s arm, causing her to yelp in pain. In an immediate shift, she noticed the objects began to focus closer on her position. She decided to make a break for the door while she still had a chance, so she could better understand her situation.
The moment she exited the door, despite having enhanced her speed, she was still caught in the thigh by a bullet, which sent her crumpling to the ground. In a levelheaded decision, she managed to close the door to the barn as she was falling so that the madness of the flying metal objects inside could not escape. Her leg was searing in pain, and it was taking everything out of her to keep her wits. She had become used to small arms fire, so it shocked her how much more the bullet from a sniper rifle hurt.
Stefani knew there was nothing she could do to escape with her leg in its current condition, so the first item on her agenda was to focus all her efforts on healing. As Anaar liked to mention, very few people actually understood what her powers did, which by itself gave her an advantage. If she defied their expectations and was able to heal enough to fight back, she might have a chance at turning her situation around. The Titan was almost the same size as she was, but when the woman came over and began to choke her, Stefani was surprised at just how strong the woman was.
The woman leaned close to Stefani’s face, seemingly enjoying the exchange. Her breath was sweet, as if she had just eaten a mint, or was chewing gum. As Stefani’s eyes began to bulge, her desperate humming to restore her leg growing louder and more frantic, she could not believe her situation.
Once again, she would have her Melee ended before even being able to defeat one person. In the Melee prior, she could attribute it to fear and inexperience, but this time she was supposed to be prepared. How could she have known she should have made a more concerted effort to deal with groups of people on her own. She felt like a fool, because once again, she expected her friends to take care of those situations. All of them were much better equipped to handle groups than she was.
Tears began to stream down her face, partially from the strangulation, but more so from the agony of being defeated and relegated to the same state she had always been. Thinking of her friends, and only hoping they were faring better than she was, as her vision began to cloud, all that resounded in her head and heart was a desperate desire for someone to save her. In her final moments of consciousness, she felt the pain in her leg flare up again, likely due to her powers failing to activate. The hands around her neck slackened their grip and then removed themselves altogether as she lay there fading.
The woman slowly stood from her position, standing in a daze for a moment. The Ferrokinetic called out to the woman in joy. He was soon followed up by a woman with a large gun emerging from a copse, a smile on her face.
“Worried me for a minute there, but that turned out easy. I can’t believe we didn’t know we could team up last year. It makes things so much easier. Isn’t she good friends with Anaar? I know they have the music group together. Could you imagine if she managed to meet up with him?”
The Ferrokinetic nods his head in vehement agreement. “Yeah that asshole got me last year. He had some weird ass knives that wouldn’t repel even when I pushed super hard on them. Good job on finishing her off Sheila.” The man seems puzzled when the woman does not respond, and instead remains in a daze. “Sheila?”
In a quick draw, the woman pulls out her pistol and fires off a round shots, first at the Ferrokinetic, and then at the sniper. Obviously unprepared for his teammate to suddenly begin shooting at him, the man takes the full volley of bullets without having time to defend. The sniper is hit by two bullets, enough to send her to the ground, but not enough to finish her. The Titan then resumes her dazed stance, the gun hanging at her side.
Stefani sucks in a deep breath of air and begins coughing and sputtering. Her leg is still burning, but the pain has dulled some. She looks around with a start to find she is still on the ground outside the barn, rather than in the hospital being treated. Standing nearby, she sees the woman who had been choking her idly waiting. Humming to herself to resume the healing of her leg, she shakily stands, placing the brunt of the pressure on her other leg.
She can see two other people in the distance, and before her eyes a portal opens to take them away. She is confused by what was happening, but the medical team seemed to be completely ignoring her, intent on taking care the ones in need. With two of the three threats out of the way, she creeped closer to the woman, doing her best to examine her.
Gazing into the Titan’s eyes, she realized they were distant and unfocused. Stefani tried snapping to get her attention, but it produced no results. Even though she was sure it would get her nowhere, she decided to ask outright what happened. When the woman suddenly became responsive, Stefani could not believe her ears.
“You asked for help. My task was to assist you. The threats to you have been eliminated. I await instructions
on how I can further help you.”
Stefani shook her head in confusion at the woman’s words. She had never asked the woman for help, and even if she had, there was no reason for her to offer up her services. The woman seemed oddly compliant, almost as if she were a robot awaiting direction. It was then that Stefani gasped at the realization.
When she was passing out, she remembered feeling helpless and desperately wanting someone to save her. If that translated into her powers, perhaps it was enough to affect the woman. Stefani was puzzled since she had only been humming to herself, but then she remembered the woman was particularly close to her face. That must have put her in earshot of her humming.
Stefani was not sure if she was impressed, or if she was in dismay. While she found herself grateful for whatever happened, it now meant that in close quarters, even her humming might not be enough to prevent the person she was fighting from being enhanced along with her. Since it was the first time it had ever happened, she decided to leave it for another time when she could test it more thoroughly. What she was more interested in was what happened to the Titan.
By her estimation, the effect must have been similar to what Maggie’s mentor Ana could do. If she remembered correctly, Ana’s abilities wore off over time if they were not constantly refreshed. That meant in her current state of not being completely sure how to control this new ability, or the duration, travelling with the woman would be volatile at best. As she was thinking, Stefani noticed the medical team beginning to leave, having called in more support for two people. Catching them before they left, she shouted out to them.
“Aren’t you going to take this one with you?!”
One of the men looked at her in confusion for a moment. “She isn’t with you?”
Stefani clutched her chest as she jumped back in shock, the shooting pain in her leg causing her to immediately regret her decision. “Oh god no! Well… sorta… She is under my spell, but that has rendered her incapable of fighting.”
The man looks at her in annoyance. “If she is under your control, can’t you just take her with you?”
“But I don’t know when it will wear off! That is dangerous!”
“So… you want us to take a not injured person with us…?”
“Mental injuries count too right?!”
The man huffs as he crosses the space to retrieve the woman. When he tries to guide her away, he notices the woman becomes aggressive and fights his attempts to move her. He looks at Stefani angrily as she stands by watching the exchange.
“Want to give me a hand here?!”
“Oh! Umm… Go with this man here. Do whatever he tells you… but not in like a way that endangers your wellbeing or something. He could be a predator or any manner of-” Stefani catches the look on the man’s face and starts over. “Go with him to the hospital and allow them to look you over. Please.”
The Titan looks back at her and nods, allowing the man to guide her away. As he is leaving, she clearly hears him grumbling, as he is making no attempt to hide it. Stefani scoffs at the man’s attitude, proceeding to grumble herself until the pain in her leg reminded her that she needed to continue healing. She was about to leave after taking a quick rest, when she realized her claws and her gun, along with her clips were missing. It dawned on her that in her panic, she must not have noticed them amongst the storm. Returning to the barn to retrieve her items, she was more or less healed by the time she was finished.
She began walking in the direction she had been travelling when she was set upon, but then began wondering if it was a good idea. Finding no better plans, she continued along with her current course of action. When she checked her Vizer, she expected to find more people had been eliminated, but the number of people remaining was still rather high. As someone who was taken out of the running so quickly in her previous Melee, she had no sense of the pace that could be expected when in the thick of everything.
As she was walking along, something else in the limited information her Vizer contained caught her eye. It appeared as if she had gotten the points for defeating all three of the people who attacked her. She wondered if controlling someone else to do the elimination still counted as her win since she was the one giving the orders. She supposed it would be no different from the creatures Dan created except they were humans instead. She also remembered Ana being in the middle of her class, which meant there must have been a precedent for such tactics.
Stefani had been so consumed with her own thoughts that she had completely let her guard down and failed to scan the area. Immediately rectifying her mistake, she hummed to herself to enhance her senses, and quickly picked up noise and motion in a thicket. She drew her gun and fired twice into the bush, which responded with a scream of pain. Sure it was not the bush screaming, she had her suspicions confirmed when a brown skinned man, not exactly handsome, but with some unassuming charm, rolled from the bush holding his stomach.
Through pain and gritted teeth, he wheezes a desperate question to Stefani. “Why did you shoot me?!”
“Why are you hiding in bushes like a creep?!”
“Trying not to get shot!”
The strain on the man’s face is evident, and against her better judgment Stefani rushes over to him. Dropping to her knees, she feels instant remorse for the wheezing man. To her surprise, rather than anger or scorn, his face looks happy.
“I’m your biggest fan Stefani. I have had a crush on you since we got here, and you live two floors above me, but I never had the courage to come talk to you. You have some really intimidating friends… Now that you are a big star, I knew you’d never go for a guy like me…”
The man begins to cough and sputter, blood dripping down the side of his mouth. Not sure what else to do at the sight of the pitiful man, Stefani calls out for a medical team in a panic. Her healing was good for more minor injuries, or things that did not have much urgency, but without knowing how bad off the man was, she was just as likely to do more harm than good. A portal opens to Stefani’s relief, as the man continues coughing up blood.
The Medic examines the man and finds that his wounds are not critical, but they needed to be treated immediately. As they are prepping the man to move, they notice Stefani lightly sobbing next to them. Not used to the people who cause the damage to be emotionally distraught, they decided to inquire as they worked.
“Who shot him?”
Stefani looks at them sullenly, “I did… But I didn’t mean to!”
“Right… So you aren’t friends then?”
“No! Well… I mean we could be. He seems to know me… I feel bad I don’t know him. Shouldn’t I know everyone in my class?! Oh my god he said he was my biggest fan! And I shot him! I am terrible!”
With the man stabilized and ready to move, the medical team had no interest in consoling Stefani. As they were leaving, something occurred to her and she rushed to the man on the stretcher before they made it through the portal.
“What is your name?”
Weakly, the man replies, “Deakin.”
Stefani nods as she wipes a tear from her eye. “I promise to send you tickets to my next show Deakin. I’m so sorry!”
Deakin smiles as the medical team takes him through the portal, and Stefani is left there alone. With everything that had happened to her, she checked her surroundings again, and took another moment to rest while she was safe and alone. She thought she was prepared, both mentally and physically, but it was obvious she had failed to understand what it was truly like during the Melee.
Being assaulted by a team of three right from the start made her worry. If this was going to be something common, it perhaps would have been prudent to make a more concrete plan to meet up with her friends. Though they had a strict non-aggression pact amongst them, something they had not done in the prior Melee, there had not been a strategy for working together. Even Maggie and Anaar had no such agreement this time.
Even without the agreement, it had been decided that Anaar would clearly take first in
the Melee, with Maggie being second. Between her and Dan, they decided they wanted to have a go at one another in a serious fight to see who would end up on top to decide number three. Had she been too arrogant to think she could stand next to her friends at the top?
To go from being the second person eliminated to being in the top five students was one of the most dramatic jumps she could possibly make. Somehow, she had survived the trials thrown at her thus far, but she disliked how little felt in control. Pushing her pride aside, she realized she was not as comfortable or competent as she would like while she traveled alone. Though Anaar would indubitably be the best option for making it to the top, any one of her friends would be a welcome sight. Standing from her position, she set her eyes forward toward her new objective: To find her friends.
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Having grown so bored of his perch in the tall tree that he could no longer stand it, Anaar hopped down from the incredible height in search of something to occupy his time. He found Stefani’s fight against three opponents to be an immeasurably potent burst of experience to fuel her growth. Even though she had barely made it through, her awakened ability would prove indispensable with the proper training. He would of course be forced to wait until she brought it up herself, but he was ready to pounce when she did.
Something that he found hilariously shocking was just how close people were to one another, and the razor thin margins in which they missed having an encounter. There were four people nearby him, and somehow none of them took note of his presence. If they did, it was likely they were actively avoiding him, which he thought was prudent on their part. With his abilities, he could quite easily pick off people one by one before they ever knew what happened. He found that to be just as boring however, and would rather not spoil the fun for the other participants, voiding all the hard work put into their preparations.
He had been keeping a close watch on his friends, and though he did not want to incite their ire for helping them when unbidden, he felt as if he would do so if things became too dire, if for no other reason than to have something to do. Of everyone, Maggie was the closest to him, but to his knowledge, she had not encountered anyone. In order to give her time to make strides on her own, he took measures to move away from her, rather than toward her.
Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4) Page 23
