Silver steps off the mound of dust and sees a shadow approaching him. He looks up to see Angel carrying a badly beaten Alden over his shoulder.
Angel:
Silver!
Angel lands next to him.
Silver:
I can see your battle went well.
Angel:
Yeah, Jace wasn’t much of an issue…
Angel looks at the mound of dust.
Angel:
You beat him, huh?
Silver:
Yeah, not without sacrifice, though.
Angel:
Hm?
Silver:
All of that dust is useless now; my supply is tapped.
Angel:
What! That’s not good!
Silver stares at the mound.
Silver:
(Silverclad Barrage: Avalanche is my most powerful attack, but the immense force of the strike annihilates the traces of silver, transforming them into regular dust particles. It’s a last-ditch move. Failure equals defeat. The fact that I needed to use it to defeat him…)
Angel:
Hey, Silver.
Silver:
Yes, Angel?
Angel:
Look what I found.
Angel reveals Justus’ team’s orb.
Silver:
Jace had it?
Angel:
Yeah, I was surprised too, but it makes sense if you think about it. He’s the last person we’d expect to have it; hell, I almost flew off without checking him.
Silver:
Well, it’s good that we have two blue orbs now. We can take the rest of today to recover… It looks like Alden needs it.
Alden’s face looks disfigured from the beating Ash gave him.
Angel:
Yeah… Ash sure is feisty when she wants to be.
Silver:
Definitely.
Silver looks down at his shaking knees.
Silver:
(Although Alden’s not the only one who needs time to recover.) Let’s get out of here.
Angel:
Right.
Angel grabs Silver, and the three fly off. Silver looks down at Justus’ unconscious body as they ascend.
Silver:
(I’ve come so far, but I still have a long way to go if I want to reach the top.)
Alexis is standing in a river in her underwear, examining her cauterized wound.
Alexis:
(My parents won’t like it, but I’m sure I know someone who will.)
Alexis’ various other stab wounds have been stitched up; she lies back in the water and looks up at the sky.
Alexis:
(I can’t believe I lost to that guy… I put everything into that fight… and he still outplayed me. I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t bother me, but I don’t know why I’m so hung up on it. I usually get over things quickly, but this… it’s sticking to me like glue.)
Alexis stands up and exits the water. Karma is sitting on the side of the river next to Alexis’ clothes.
Karma:
I hope you enjoyed your swim…
Alexis:
You know, for virtual water, it’s pretty refreshing.
Karma:
*sighs* How are you able to do that?
Alexis:
Do what?
Karma:
Be calm right now! We just lost our orb and took heavy damage in the process. Zach and I can barely even walk, and trust me, I see past your tough exterior. You’re feeling the after-effects just as much as we are.
Alexis:
Okay… and?
Karma:
You’re out here swimming!
Alexis:
Yeah, I’d much rather be doing that than sitting around sulking.
Karma doesn’t have a response.
Alexis:
We lost, that’s set in stone, but we have 4 days to make up for what happened last night. It may look like swimming to you, but the best thing we could do for ourselves right now is clear our heads and relax for a moment. You’re compounding your stress into more stress, and we can’t have that with our current circumstances.
Karma looks away, knowing Alexis is probably right.
Karma:
*sighs* Could you at least do one thing for me?
Alexis:
What?
Karma:
Put your clothes on!
Alexis:
What? We’re both girls here…
Karma:
Yes! But Zach isn’t! The poor guy has been sitting behind that tree for the last half hour!
Alexis looks at the tree. Zach is using all of his willpower to avoid looking.
Zach:
(Being chivalrous is so hard…)
Alexis has a blank expression on her face.
Alexis:
I don’t care if he sees… I take it as a compliment.
Karma:
Just do it…
Alexis:
Okay…
Alexis starts putting on her pants. Karma stares at her cauterized wound.
Alexis:
What? Do you like what you see?
Karma:
How much… How much did that hurt?
Alexis:
I don’t really have anything to compare it to for you, but it hurt like a motherfucker.
Karma:
Well, it was bad enough that you… you know.
Alexis:
Pissed myself? Don’t worry, I’m not ashamed. I had to put myself through pain so severe that I lost bladder control; I feel more warrior-like than embarrassed. Although, I would like a change of panties. I’m going to feel disgusting walking around in these for the next four days… eh, maybe I should just go commando-
Karma:
Please don’t do that. Just because you lack modesty doesn’t mean we’re comfortable with it.
Alexis:
Fine…
Alexis finishes putting on her clothes and sits down next to Karma.
Alexis:
How is your chest doing?
Karma:
It’s good… although there is one thing.
Alexis:
What? What is it?
Karma:
My wound from when I stabbed Alec was stitched together when I woke up.
Alexis:
Hm? Really? That’s strange.
Karma:
Yeah… it is… you don’t think… it was Alec, do you?
Alexis:
Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, we need to come up with our plan of action.
Karma:
Oh, right… What do you propose?
Alexis:
Hold on one sec… Zach!
Zach:
*from behind the tree* Yes!
Alexis:
You’re good. You can come out now!
Zach lets out a sigh of relief.
Zach:
Thank god…
Zach limps out from behind the tree using a walking stick to help him.
Zach:
What’s up?
Alexis:
It’s time we figured out what we’re going to do. We’re kind of in a pickle here.
Zach:
Yeah, that’s for sure.
Karma:
We can’t win a fight in our condition. We need at least two days of recovery before we could even consider trying to fight anyone else.
Alexis:
Yeah… unfortunately, we’ve only really got one choice.
Karma:
And that is?
Alexis:
We make a bee-line for the city.
Karma and Zach are both surprised.
Zach:
Are you sure?
Karma:
Collecting ten white orbs is quite a challenge.
Alexis:
It is, but if we don’t start moving towards the city now, there’s no way we’ll get there before the end of five days.
Zach:
Ugh…
Karma:
You’re probably right… Zach’s injuries are going to slow us down by a lot.
Zach:
Sorry…
Alexis:
It’s not your fault, we all lost, but now we need to lock and load. If we want to pass this exam, we will need to get to the city by tomorrow.
Karma:
Didn’t you just finish telling me how we need to relax after our fight last night?
Alexis:
Relaxation time is over. We need to kick it into high gear, or else…
Karma and Zach both look concerned.
Karma:
I understand; let’s get a move on.
Zach:
Yeah, I’m not getting kicked out of U.A. because of that jerk, Alec.
Alexis:
Me neither…
Alexis stands up.
Alexis:
I’ll carry the bag, you two focus on taking it easy for now.
Zach and Karma:
Right!
Aaron is crouched over, examining the ground.
Aaron:
Hm…
Lilith and Gus are both standing behind Aaron with confused looks.
Lilith:
So… uh… what are you doing, Aaron?
Aaron:
Huh?
Lilith:
You’re kind of just sitting there staring at the dirt…
Aaron points at the ground. Lilith and Gus look over his shoulders and see a set of footprints.
Lilith:
Woah! Footprints! Do you think those are Tobias’?
Aaron:
We can’t be sure, but it’s likely.
Gus:
Damn, I didn’t think it’d be that easy to find his trail.
Aaron stands up and looks ahead.
Aaron:
Yeah… me neither… (This is a pretty careless mistake by him…)
Aaron clenches his fist.
Gus:
I guess it’s pretty lucky that we happened to head in the same direction as him.
Lilith:
Yeah, that’s for sure!
Aaron:
It wasn’t luck.
Gus and Lilith are both confused.
Gus:
Huh? What do you mean?
Aaron:
He approached Lilith almost immediately after I left to take watch, which means he had to have been trailing us for some time. My guess is that he heard us walking last night and decided to follow until he saw an opening. He kept his distance and walked over our footprints to mask his own. After defeating us, he did the same thing again, doubling back over the prints to keep us from following him.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Lilith:
Then what are those footprints from?
Aaron:
They’re from before he found us.
Lilith:
Oh… OHHHH.
Gus:
If he put that much effort into masking his initial trail… why are these here?
Aaron:
Because he isn’t afraid of us.
Gus and Lilith both look sad. Aaron relaxes his fist.
Aaron:
It’s okay, though.
Lilith:
It- it is?
Aaron:
We’re going to teach him why he should be. Follow me.
Aaron starts following Tobias’ trail.
Aaron:
(You may have won the battle, but you didn’t win the war, Tobias, and unfortunately for you… I was built for war.)
Kevin watches as Isaiah and Demetri gleefully walk ahead of him.
Kevin:
(This is just sad…)
Isaiah:
Ah! It feels good to be the king!
Demetri:
Yes, indeed, Isaiah! Now that we’ve experienced what victory tastes like, we can become accustomed to its elegance!
Isaiah:
This feeling is like a drug, and I’m addicted to it!
Kevin:
You guys won one fight… by pantsing a girl. I think you should calm down the celebration.
Isaiah:
Never!
Demetri:
You’re just mad that you didn’t contribute to the fight!
Kevin:
Oh, trust me, I am, but you guys look like real jackasses right now…
Isaiah:
We’re not jackasses!
Demetri:
We’re winners!
Demetri and Isaiah start tearing up.
Demetri:
I never thought I’d see the day.
Isaiah:
But now that we’ve got our first significant victory, nothing can slow us down!
Demetri:
Yeah! So, let’s get to the center of the arena AND PASS THIS EXAM!
Isaiah:
YEAH!
The two idiots start running through the forest.
Kevin:
Slow down, dumbasses!
Isaiah:
Never!
Demetri:
We are the champions of this exam!
Isaiah:
Woohoo!
Both of them step into bear traps.
Demetri and Isaiah:
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Kevin facepalms.
Kevin:
*sighs* Goddammit…
Ash searches through the forest frantically.
Ash:
Jace! Jace! Can you hear me?
Jace:
*groans*
Ash heads in the direction of the sound and finds Jace face-down in the dirt in the same position Angel left him in.
Ash:
Jace! Are you alright!
Jace:
*muffled* No!
Ash helps Jace up to his feet.
Ash:
What happened?
Jace:
Angel pounded my face into the dirt…
Ash:
Oh, okay.
Jace:
WHAT DO YOU MEAN “OH OKAY”?
Ash:
… That’s what I expected to happen…
Jace falls to his knees in defeat.
Jace:
I remember back in High School when people thought I was tough… Now you all just expect me to lose!
Ash:
Well… you haven’t given us much reason to think otherwise… sorry.
Jace:
*sighs* I guess you’re right…
Jace looks around.
Jace:
Where is Justus?
Ash:
That’s why I came to find you! He fell down into a canyon. We have to help him!
Jace:
*under his breath* So you didn’t come here to see if I was alright…
Ash:
What?
Jace:
Just lead the way…
Ash:
Right! Follow me!
Eve punches Hayze knocking him to the ground, her eyes are filled with fire, and she has the rage of a thousand suns.
Eve:
WHY AM I ALWAYS SURROUNDED BY FILTHY PERVERTS!
Hayze looks up at Eve.
Hayze:
Maybe because of your loose definition…
Eve gives Hayze a death stare.
Hayze:
… Worth it.
Eve grabs Hayze by the collar of his shirt and holds him against a tree.
Eve:
So let me get this straight… not only did you allow me to walk around wearing my bra as a hat for the last couple of hours! You also didn’t even win the damn fight!
Hayze:
Well, I did try to convince you to put your bra back on, but you said, and I quote, “Titties are made for bouncing, Hayzey!”
Eve has a blank expression on her face.
Hayze:
Now that I’m thinking about it, I probably should have just kept that one to myself.
Eve knees Hayze in the chest.
Hayze:
*groans*
Eve:
If you ever speak a word about what happened to anyone… I’ll kill you.
Hayze:
I believe you…
Eve backs off Hayze but is still livid.
Eve:
At least you didn’t let them just take our orb, but we’re still screwed now!
Hayze gets to his feet using a tree to balance.
Hayze:
We’ll be fine…
Eve:
Have you seen our teammate!
Jake is gnawing at a tree, drooling profusely.
Jake:
Nuggets…
Hayze:
We’ll
be fine, not him.
Eve:
And how’s that? We don’t have an orb, and it’s only a matter of time before the sunsets, and we’ll be three days away from being kicked out of U.A.!
Hayze:
We’ll get the red orb.
Eve looks at Hayze with skepticism.
Eve:
You mean the orb that we have to complete an insanely hard challenge to get? That orb?
Hayze:
Yes.
Eve:
You’re a dumbass!
Hayze:
Maybe… but I believe in us.
Eve points at Jake.
Hayze:
My point stands. We can do this, Eve.
Eve:
Yeah, right! We’ve been in two battles, and we have nothing to show except scars and blood loss!
Hayze:
That doesn’t mean we can’t pass this exam, have some faith!
Eve:
No!
Hayze:
Why not!
Eve:
Because I don’t have faith in you, Hayze!
The sound of thunder roars through the forest, a torrential downpour commences.
Eve:
Great…
Eve grabs Jake and starts dragging him.
Eve:
Let’s go find cover, pervert.
Eve starts running off. Hayze stares at her for a few moments before eventually following.
Hayze:
(Stay calm… stay calm…)
Justus awakens as raindrops pound down on him.
Justus:
(I… I lost…)
Justus stands up and climbs up onto the mound of silver. He looks around and sees nobody else around.
Justus:
(He’s gone…)
Justus falls to his knees and slams his fist into the dust.
Justus:
(Dammit!)
Justus looks up at the overcast and dreary sky in distraught.
“
Justus:
Beating me means that much to you? Even though we’ve seen just how capable the other members of our class are? “
— Chapter 72
Justus:
(It was easy for me to say that at the time… but now, after being defeated… I underestimated my emotional investment in winning that fight…)
Justus recounts all of his failed attacks throughout the battle.
Justus:
(I thought I was making progress, that I was truly becoming a better and more well-rounded fighter… but…)
Justus notices something in the sky.
Justus:
(Wh- what’s that?)
Justus quickly gets to his feet.
Justus:
(Is it Silver?)
Jace lands on the ground holding Ash in his arms. He lets her down.
Ash:
Justus!
Ash runs up to Justus.
Justus:
Ash? Jace?
Ash:
Are you alright?
Justus hesitates to answer.
Ash:
Are you hurt?
Justus:
Yes… but I can walk it off.
Justus walks past Ash and heads down the mound onto the ground.
Justus:
How did your battles go?
Ash:
I kicked Alden into next week!
Justus looks at Jace.
Jace:
I uh… I lost our orb.
Justus stares at Jace for a few moments.
Jace:
I’m sorry…
Justus walks past Jace.
Justus:
It’s alright.
Justus’ response surprises Ash and Jace.
Jace:
What do you mean? “It’s alright!” I lost the thing we need to pass this exam! I failed us, Justus!
Justus continues walking, not responding.
Ash:
Justus… please tell us you’re alright…
Justus reaches his shield. He picks it up and examines the massive dent.
Justus:
Don’t worry about it, Jace. If I had had the orb, it would be gone now too.
Ash:
Wait… so does that mean-
Ash stops herself before finishing the question. Jace and Ash look at each other, unsure of what to do.
Ash:
Did… did you see an orb fall down here, Justus? Alden had theirs, and it rolled into the canyon after I defeated him.
Justus remembers hearing the sound of a splash of water during his fight with Silver.
Ash:
Because uh-
Justus points to the river.
Justus:
I didn’t see it, but that’s my guess.
Ash:
Okay… Jace, go get it.
Jace:
Why me?
Ash:
I don’t want to touch it.
Jace:
Wh- why not?
Ash:
I’m allergic.
Jace stares at Ash.
Jace:
Fine…
Jace starts walking towards the river. Ash walks up behind Justus.
Ash:
Justus… do you need to talk?
Justus doesn’t answer.
Ash:
(This is the first time Justus has lost to anyone in the class… and he’s taking it hard.)
Ash hugs Justus. Justus’ eyes widen with surprise.
Ash:
Whenever you’re ready to talk… I’m here, okay?
Justus doesn’t say anything.
Jace:
*from afar* I found it!
Ash lets go of Justus. She looks over at the river and sees Jace holding up the orb.
Ash:
Nice work, Jace!
Jace:
Looks like we’re not screwed after all! Although this thing does kind of smell… any idea why?
Ash:
Nope.
Jace looks concerned.
Jace:
Alright then…
Justus stares at Ash.
“
Colossus:
You are Justus; your path is yours, don’t think that because I’m your father that our paths need to be the same for you to reach your goal, and more importantly than anything, don’t walk it alone.“
— Chapter 23
Justus harnesses his shield.
“
Silver:
He’s all I have in my life. Even if he doesn’t love me, at least he’s something.
Justus:
I used to think that way too… that I was alone, I mean.
Silver:
Used to? “
— Chapter 72
Justus:
(I can’t forget my own words…)
Elsewhere, Killian smashes one of Reed’s drones.
Reed:
No!
Seth is high off Gavin’s goofy gas, making angels in the dirt. Mike’s microphone-like head is dug into the ground like an emu.
Killian:
Finish him off, Gavin!
Gavin spins around and points his ass at Reed.
Gavin:
Ultimate move! Ass Gas Assassination!
Gavin farts on Reed, engulfing him in a cloud of ass gas.
Gavin:
And that’s all she wrote!
The gas clears, Reed is trying to suck his own penis.
Reed:
I can do it! I can do it!
Killian laughs at him.
Killian:
Well, that was easy.
Gavin:
Yeah, it was!
Killian walks over to Reed’s team’s supply bag and rummages through it. He pulls out their green orb.
Killian:
I didn’t want to attack a team from our own class, but losing Whitney and not even getting an orb out of it made us need to shift gears and take the easiest path possible.
Gavin:
Yeah, it’s gassy!
Killian pulls out their original green orb and wields both.
Killian:
(I’m still pissed at that asshole for ruining everything… whatever, at least we’re going to pass this exam… unlike him.)
Hayze, Eve and Jake have taken shelter underneath a small cave. They’re sitting in silence, staring out at the downpour coating the forest.
Hayze:
Having fun back there, Jake?
Jake is eating small rocks, believing they’re chicken nuggets.
Hayze:
Jake… you shouldn’t be eating those. They’re rocks…
Jake has blood and shattered teeth pouring out of his mouth.
Jake:
Oh…
Jake eats another rock.
Hayze:
Okay then…
Hayze turns to Eve, who looks pissed off.
Hayze:
I’m sorry…
Eve doesn’t even look at Hayze.
Hayze:
I know I should have consulted you before deciding to put all of our marbles in the red orb basket, but you were… unavailable.
Eve:
I’m not mad at you for that.
Hayze is surprised.
Hayze:
Then why-
Eve:
Do you remember what you said to me before you went off to fight Killian?
“
Hayze:
Eve, trust me, this is our best chance of getting out of here with an orb, let alone two. “
— Chapter 68
Eve:
I trusted you. I put my ass on the line. I basically stabbed myself to put us in the best position to win that fight, and you just gave up. Any respect I had for you just went out the window. That’s why I don’t have “faith” in you; I can’t trust you.
Hayze doesn’t have a response.
Hayze:
Eve… if this is going to work, you have to trust me.
Eve is silent.
Hayze:
(Jake, Eve, and I need to be in sync with one another if we want any chance of passing the red orb challenge… but right now…)
Hayze looks at Jake, who has passed out from blood loss, and Eve giving him the silent treatment.
Hayze:
(I have my work cut out for me…)
