Forum Thread

For just a moment, Katana felt pure terror. As if she were a mouse that was finally corned by a cat. She gulps and takes a step back. Then it suddenly clicked. Bella was within firing range! She was safe! Nope
"S-Stay back!" Katana warns. She lifts a palm towards Bella, as if presenting her with an invisible object. Her other hand is curled at her side with her back leg standing just beneath her shoulder. Her shoulders are tense, awaiting an attack. But she looks visibly calmer now that she has taken a defensive stance. "You scared me! Why don't you stand down before you hurt yourself." Katana tells Bella bravely.

Katana watched as "Bella's" smile got wider, the head twitched again. With a slightly disoriented laugh, she took a step closer to Katana, slowly closing the distance between them.

---

Shivers run down Katana's spine. Trying to avoid "Bella's" advancement, she takes a step back. Trying to ensure that distance can't be closed between them. "I warned you!" She shouts. Fire fills Katana's palm. For a split second the fire illuminates Katana's face. For a split second, she feels no fear. Because she knows how much damage an attack can do from a distance like this. For a split second, her eyes are wild. She had intentions to kill, even if she didn't realize it now. She was going to kill or be killed, and she wouldn't allow herself to be killed.

Katana takes a final step back. But the carpet was slightly pulled up. The sudden uneven ground makes Katana slip and at the worse time too!
-Bang! The sound seems to echo down the hallways. The shot fires over Bella's shoulder. The sheer strength of the attack makes the explosion explode down the hall. Too far away, too far to even knock Bella down. Instead it floats past her, exploding behind Bella. Katana sits on the ground, with wide eyes. She scrambles to get up, to move away from Bella. But she was too close, and her legs suddenly felt like rubber. She holds up a hand, but it was no use. She couldn't attack Bella now. Not unless she wanted to endanger her own life!

The smile changed into a snarl as the explosion went off behind her. Katana gripped a random magazine that was just randomly there don't mind it much- and chucked it at her, but "Bella" sidestepped it then was suddenly upon her. Katana to her credit didn't scream as the aqua green rings for eyes stared into hers and held Katana's gaze. A snarl came from the Octoling's throat and she pressed her Octoshot Replica into Katana's chest so hard that the nozzle would leave a ring on her chest. If it doesn't force its way through first.

Suddenly the weight of the Octoling was pushed off of her and as Katana blinked rapidly to clear the vision she noted that Coraline, who had heard the bang, was holding "Bella." But not in hostility, but a caring embrace, stroking her head like a lover would to console their partner. Coraline's full attention was on the Octoling, soft Inkling murmers of comfort being directed at her. Very slowly the Octoling's body relaxed in Coraline's arms until the rings shifted back into violet pupils.

When that was done Coraline looked at Katana. "What did you say to her?" The Inkling practicly spat, "did you say "it," her trigger?"

---

"What are you even talking about!?" Katana asks defensively. She stands up slowly and catiously, as if mentally preparing for Bella to spring at her again. She grimaces in pain, but hides it well. She had to save some of her pride. "She was the one who hit me! All I said was 'I'll beat you into a pu-""

Katana didn't get a chance to finish the word. Coraline suddenly jumped into her arms and clapped a and over her mouth, the look in her eyes was serious. "Don't. Say. It. Unless you want to trigger her again." When Katana seemed to understand Coraline dropped out of her arms and back to Bella's side. "Do you want to go lie down?" Bella nodded, putting a hand to her head as if to have a headache. With a small smile and a comforting squeeze, Coraline led Bella back to her room.

Ellie came just a few moments after Bella being seemingly calmed down. "What happened? We heard a bang and Coraline came running down here?"

---

The bang had alerted Akiro, and he hurried over. While he may not trust any of them, he could still be concerned, couldn't he? Especially when he heard a loud noise like that. When he reached the hall, he skidded to a stop, seeing the wreckage. Obviously, this was the result of someone's ability...right? He noticed that there was a group of girls, and he paused, not wanting to directly confront them, but also curious as to what happened.

---

"Nothing" Katana snaps. If possible, she'd rather keep this lost on the down low. If that was even possible, there were a lot of people gathered in the hallway. She turns her back to all and holds a hand in the air. Dismissing them all. Passing Charlie on the way to her room, she catches a concerned look in Charlie's eyes. But it vanishes faster than it appeared. With a clenched jaw, Katana glares at Charlie before entering her room and slamming her door shut.

The sudden commotion caused Rui’s legs to run faster, carrying her away as quickly as they could. She could hear the threatening words and the explosions behind her, motivating her to move even faster. She finally reached the dining area and stopped, figuring she was far enough away to be safe.

---

Eventually came the day everyone was scared about: Private sessions. This was simply to show the game makers what each tribute could do. Everyone was gathered in a room, either sitting in one of the provided chairs or standing as they waited for their name to be called.

A woman's voice came from the speaker on the wall. "Charlie."

(Everyone does their own characters)

---

"Charlie" a friendly voice calls on the intercom. Charlie stays in her spot for a moment. Looking too bored to step forward. But after a second, she gets up and enters the room.
"You can go ahead whenever you are ready." The Gamemakers tell Charlie. She doesn't reply. She just crosses her arms behind her back and looks up at them for a bored expression. Seconds pass, then minutes. Not once does Charlie do anything. The Gamemakers themselves even start to question whenever or not Charlie was alive. "Uh, thank you, you can go." The Gamemakers respond uncomfortably when they can no longer stand the uncomfortable silence and staring. They watch as the girl leaves, then exchange confused glances before calling the next tribute.
...
"Katana Lozano." They call. She stands up excitedly and enters the room. "Start whenever you are ready." They explain. Taking a deep breath, Katana shuts her eyes and crosses her arms. The Gamemakers groan, all expecting her to do the same thing as Charlie. She opens an eye and glares at them. That shuts them up pretty quickly.
Suddenly firy explosions fire all around Katana. They all don't have any calculated direction, but that didn't mean that it wasn't dangerous. Opening her eyes, she dodges around the explosions, staying clear out of the firing range. She grabs the head of a training dummy and activates her power. The dummy's head explodes and the smell of burning cotton fills the air. With that, Katana stops the explosions. She had shown the full extent of her power and the complete range she can fire from.
After taking note of her performance, the Gamemakers dismisses her and calls the next tribute.

"Ellie Ashbrooke."

Ellie stumbled into the room and her Dynamax band started glowing on her wrist. "Start whenever you're ready." When it glew she grinned and Gigamaxed her Eevee. Much to her shock and the game makers, she accidentally caused the roof above them to break when Cream grew to the size of a house, if not bigger. Once she was done she was dismissed.

"Coraline Spatterhawk and Bella."

Bella and Coraline both splattered up the room in purple and cyan ink respectively until they were dismissed.

"Rita Stoneheart."

Rita shot a few arrows charged with electricity until she was dismissed.

(Basicly Ellie did this until 0:42)

---

"Akiro" the loudspeaker said. Without another word, Akiro straightened up and walked across the waiting area and into the room, the doors shutting behind him ominously. He stood, facing the judges with his hands behind his back, staring them down. At one point, his father had stood before in this same spot, and that had led to his doom. These people aproved of his father, but let him be slaughtered for what, punishing people for a war that had already ended? Normally, in these situations, Akiro managed to control his anger. He could feel it, boiling inside of him. And now, without thinking, he let it out. Sticking out a hand, he raised one of the dummys into the air. The judges watched it, but then,without further emotion, Akiro sent it flying for their heads, just missing them and letting it crash behind the judges. Not saying anything, he walked out. That was the only demonstration he would get. In anger, he didn't care what would happen to him, he just wanted revenge.

---

Lesia was sick to her stomach about this, not wanting to face the judges. She knew she would have to use her power, which she hadn’t used since the incident, and that worried her. “Lesia” the voice on the speaker called, causing her to jump. She let out a shaky sigh, clearly way too worried about all this. She walked inside and stood before the judges. “Start whenever you're ready.” Was what she heard through the pounding in her ears. She took a deep breath, moving her hands out in front of her. She began to cut the dummies up into very fine pieces of cloth and cotton, all within a second, almost being too fast for the judges to see. Then, she made a “fan” with the slices and kept the cotton from falling to the ground, and used the same technique to gather it all up into a ball, a fan on all sides to form a sphere surrounding the objects. After that, she made a giant “fan” to push the sphere into a wall. All of this was a bit flawed, you could easily see her messing up slightly, but it got the point across. “Thank you, you may leave now.”

“Rui” was the next name called on the speaker, in which she replied with a confused expression. She wasn’t really sure what they were doing here, but she went through the door anyways. The judges seemed to hesitate whenever they saw her, but they gave the orders anyways. “Start whenever you're ready.” Wait... what was she supposed to do? She just stood there, confused. They let out a sigh, then told her what to do. “Please demonstrate what you can do.” Oh. Rui finally understood, but didn’t do anything. Her confused expression changed into a fearful one. After a minute or two, they dismissed her.

---

Jacovin couldn't help but be anxious. If he demonstrated his ability, then he'd be at a disadvantage during the games. But if he didn't, he'd be left with a terrible score, and no allies to assist him. He jumped a little every time he heard a name, sweat starting to form on the back of his neck. It wasn't sweat from over heating. It wasn't warm sweat, the kind you wiped away for a nice cooling sensation. No, this sweat was cold as ice, and sent shivers down his back as each name was called. The ever-present feeling of being watched by thousands of eyes intensified, as did the feeling he'd felt on the train. Somebody else was watching, somebody was giving him bad attention.

-=-


Chelsea snickered to herself, a sound she couldn't hide. The boy she'd been watching on the train was adorable when he was terrified. Well, the twisted mind of Blackheart thought so. Sweat visibly glistened on his neck, as if he'd been dipped in liquid silver. Chelsea almost wanted to walk up and lean on him, asking what was wrong. She was desperate for somebody to fall for her, to twist them up into a mass of blindly loyal foolishness. But now wasn't the time. She needed to see if this boy was useful. Grinning a prize winning smile of white teeth and ruby red lips, Blackheart relaxed. She was surprisingly safe here. Nobody would invite her to a duel here. Not unless they were willing to die. Nobody knew anything about anybody. She could use that to her advantage, if all went well. And, with her luck, all would go well.

After helping Mare get her energy boosters, Echo’s name is called. She walks almost lazily into the room, and as she is asked to demonstrate her power, she simply stands there, and a split second later, she takes out her throwing knives and throws them all perfectly, each a hair breadth’s away from killing the Peacemakers. It was intentional, as she wanted to scare them a little. Seeing their fear, she giggled maniacally “If I wanted you dead, you would be. My aim is impeccable” Her face turned into a small frown, when she realised the knives were not all 5cm apart, and there was just one knife that was 5.6cm away from the other. She turned and walked out of the room, and went to find Mare.

---

Having finished her little performance, Katana moves to her room to rest. She had used more energy than she would like. At least she was able to show off her strength. She walks with her hands in her pockets. Letting her mind wander for a moment until she is suddenly stuck down by another painful memory.

"Katana! Katana!" A voice whispers in her ear. Katana sits up in her bed and rubs her eyes. She glances at her clock with a yawn. If was far too early for her to be awake- for Milo to be awake. Turning on her lamp, she winces at the sight of Milo. He fought dad again, that was obvious. He had gashes on his face, and held an intense look that worried her. Did something happen?
"It's so early in the morning" Katana whines.
"I know. But I just came to say goodbye." Milo explains mater-of-factly.
"Goodbye? You are leaving!?" Katana shouts in disbelief. Her cheeks reddening in shame when Milo shushes her.
"You can come with." Milo offers. "Please come with." He adds. His eyes are now gentle, but filled with desperation.
"I can't just leave mom and dad. They take good care of us!" Katana stammers.
"No they don't. They don't care about us."
"Lies!" Katana argues.
"They only care about keeping the business running. They don't even love both of us. They only want one of us to succeed- the strongest one. Katana do you understand that you are a threat to me? In my place in the business? Dad wants me to kill you." Milo's voice catches as he admits this. Tears quickly filling his eyes. He shakes his head in disbelief. "I won't live in a house that encourages that. You shouldn't either." Milo adds.
"I can't leave." Katana says with a sigh. "Not yet at least." The two look at eachother, silently having a conversation between eachother. Milo knows he can't make her, even though he should. While Katana was stubborn, and afraid of any life outside of her comfort.
"I'll come back for you then." Milo replies.
"Promise?" Katana asks.
"Promise."

But he never did Katana reminds herself bitterly. He left her to take his place herself. Without any support from anyone. Her burdens were her own. She was forced to carry them every day. She learned to like her place. She was better off here compared to where she would've been with Milo. He was nothing now, while she was something. She had everything! Still, she holds one memory close to her heart. One memory that confuses her to this day.

Two years had passed. Katana hadn't heard a word from Milo. After his disappearance, she discovered that Milo beat her father in a fight. That's what scared him... Or maybe that's what gave him the strength to leave. Katana quickly took Milo's place. She spent multiple hours each day in training. Getting yelled at, forced to fight anyone stronger than her. Those two years were nearly a fight for her life. Even worse, was the constant reminder that Milo was a traitor. That he was trying to trick her this whole time to turn against them, because he knew he wouldn't defeat her. He wanted her place. Yet, she found herself asking every day 'where was Milo?'1
That question was answered one night when Katana was trying to get a midnight snack and overhead her parents.
"He won't stop sending these letters" her mom whispers. "Look at them, he is so desperate, it's pathetic."
"At least he stopped the visits" her father points out.
"I'm surprised Katana hasn't found out yet-" her mother replies with a chilling laugh.

The resurface of this memory only brought Katana pain. Who should she trust? Everyone she had known has lied to her. Hurt her. What could she do? Her only safe route was what her parents set for her.
-But did Milo really ever lie?
Katana chases away that thought. It was easier anyway, to be mad at him. She shakes her head, desperate to chase away these memories and continues her walk to her room. But she can't chase away the tears.

Akiro had moved to the back of the room, so he had a clear veiw of what was going on. Though he couldn't see her face, he could tell that the girl who had been yelling at people on the platform, and who had been involved in the tussle, was visibly upset. Should he say something? But, then again, as the time before the games began to run out, Akiro was growing more distant. Distant..that was a word that kept coming back to haunt him.

He was 13 years old. His mother had ignored him when he limped into the house through the back door, having barely been able to leave the alley this time. He remembered standing up for himself, trying to swing a punch when they let him back on his feet. He thought that his mother would be there, to pick up the pieces, to carry him back like she always did. For the longest time, Akiro had seen his mother as his hero. She went all those years raising him on her own, and yet was still there to help him when the bullies came. She hadn't seen him as any less of a person when he found out about his ability. Maybe...she was asleep! Yeah, that was it. His mom had a long shift, and went to bed early. There had to be a good explenation. Filled with that innocent trust that his mother was a good person, his hero, he went to the medicence cabinent. He had seen her get the bandages here, maybe-

Akiro's thought was cut short when a light swtiched on. "Why aren't you asleep?" His mother snapped. Her voice suprised Akiro, and he whipped around, wincing when he put wheight on his foot. "I-I was walking home, a-and they got to me-" "Akiro. You're 13 years old. Don't you dare lie to me." That was the first crack. It hurt more then the others. His mom wasn't the villan. "I'm sorry, they dragged me and-" "Don't give me that," she said, stepping forward. "I'm not your babysitter. You can handle yourself. And yet you come home like this, so irresponsible! Honestly, you are such a.." she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm tired. Clean yourself up and go to bed." "But it's only 9." "GO TO BED." Akiro nodded hesitantely. As he cleaned a cut, he didn't care about the sting. He couldn't belive that his mother wasn't the hero. If she wasn't, then who was?

Akiro snapped back to reality, his fists shaking. Don't think about it Don't think about it. She's the villan She's the bad guy and always had been. Now, all he was was a mess.

---

Ellie was sitting at a table by herself, her team was around her, mostly just doing their own thing. Ellie herself was humming a tune under her breath, swinging her legs in time with the tune. Her Eevee had dozed off by her arms on the table, perking up a bit at her trainer's voice.

(Imma about to break the fourth wall-)

---

"Suvansh Agarwal" the announcer called out.
He moved into the allocated room. Now that he heard the sounds from inside the room, the flames flashing, the training bodies thrashing, he felt he was seriously underpowered with nothing but Flare on his disposal. He went in and released Flare. He wanted to show them that he could do stuff. He wanted to present a great spectacle. He asked Flare to do as he was trained. He growls and exhales a beam of fire across the room, directly above the judges. He flew up into the air, even though the room was not really big, and he went and clawed a training figure, slashing in one. He bitten another one, and threw the broken head at one judge, who dodges it. The throw would have been fatal, just by the sheer force of Flare's neck muscles. When he comes and stands by Suvansh, the judges ask, "Is that it? Is it only your pokemon that is participating?" Suvansh felt a tinge of anger. All that training...all to be called "just his Pokemon participating" something happened, the winds started flowing in the opposite way than they were before. They speeded up, and started thrashing faster than it ever could in a closed room naturally. It was almost as if a hurricane formed in the room, whose epicenter was Suvansh. Training figures, and chairs started flying around, and even Flare started flying in fear. Suvansh realised what was happening, and his anger subsided. As his anger did, the wind returned to normal. The judges looked startled, though not as startled as Suvansh itself. They nod, and Suvansh exits the room.

He wades around the corridor, where the others stood. He did not call back Flare, and wasn't even paying attention if someone asked him to call him back. He was too preoccupied thinking about that sudden burst, that actually started to brighten so many incidents in his life. When he willed the birds to move South, check. When he pushed the peacekeepers back, check. When he had that kid fly of his school building, check. He remembered these incidents subconsciously, but never made much out of them. He started to think if it was just when he raged, or could he even control it? He twirled his fingers, expecting a hurricane to form, but off course, nothing but a breeze came out. Well, he thought, at least he could cool himself whenever he's warm- he just twirled around the corridor, trying different gestures, to see what he could do. He realised that every gesture did a different thing. Twirling fingers, breeze. Clapping hands, a small gust. Slapping through the air, wind going wheee in a slapping gesture, along with others. He thought the hurricane trick would only work when he's in rage for now, but was eager to practice enough to be able to just will it to spawn. He looked around the corridor now, seeing now many people were left hanging around.

---