Chapter 1
Both teams stood on their side of the arena, each ready for the match to start. Up in the watch box, Jason and the advisors of both teams stood and watched.
“Team A, are you ready?” Jason asked.
Down on the arena floor, the members of Team A, Iris, Emma, Natsuki, Jackson, and Vuxta, nodded their heads.
“BRIG IT SUCKERS!” Natsuki shouted, throwing both her fists into the air.
“Brig?” Iris questioned, “You mean, bring, right?”
“You feel good about this, Vux?” Emma asked.
“Yeah, well, better than last time,” Vuxta replied.
Jason spoke again into the microphone, asking, “Team D, are you ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Oswald replied. He and his team gave thumbs up to Jason.
Melanie, a member of Team D, used her telepathic ability to speak to her teammates individually.
“Oz, remember to let the others get some work in,” she began, “Athaliah, they’ll most likely go after you first so-”
“NO!” Athaliah whined, “Why are we fighting anyway? It hurts when I get hit!” I don’t wanna do this anymore!”
Melanie walked over and knelt beside her, “Just remember why we’re doing this, plus, I won’t let them hurt you.”
“You gotta stop babying her, Mel,” Kai commented, “She’s gotta learn.”
“She’s 9, Kai,” Melanie telepathically replied, “she’s going against kids way older than her.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about me guys,” Victor pouted, “I’m doing just fine, thank you.”
“Match begin!” Jason announced. He stood closer to view the match on the screens.
White, the advisor to Team A, walked up to Jason.
“I already know how this match will end,” White sang.
“What are your thoughts?” Jason asked.
“My money is on Team D,” he replied, placing forty dollars on the table.
“Betting against your own team? What a good advisor you are,” Jason watched as the kids fought, then pulled out his wallet, “I guess I’ll bet too. I put mine on A,” He then placed forty dollars on the table next to White’s.
“Irène, you wanna play too?” White asked, turning to Irène, the advisor to Team D.
She leaned against the wall, watching the match.
“She’s holding back,” she commented, “She’s not focused.”
Jason and White turned to the screens wanting to know who Irène was talking about.
“Who?” Jason asked.
“Oz’s girlfriend.”
The three of them looked at Vuxta, who stood center of the arena with her hands on her head.
“Another breakdown... perhaps?” White guessed.
Down in the arena, Vuxta muttered to herself, saying things in another language.
“Oz, take care of Vux,” Melanie ordered, “She’s open!”
Oswald turned to Vuxta and, seeing that she was breaking down, hugged her.
“I’m here,” he comforted, “I’m here, V.” Oswald stood there with Vuxta in his arms.
“YEAH!” Kai cheered, tagging the marker on Vuxta’s back, “Good job holding her!”
Without thinking, Oswald grabbed Kai and tagged his marker, getting him out as well.
“Go sit your butt down and think about why I got you out, little man,” Oswald snarled as he continued to hold Vuxta in his arms.
“Hey...,” Vuxta mumbled, “I’m good.” She pushed Oswald away and then made her way to the side.
Not too far away, Emma bolted towards Athaliah, sliding on the ice she created.
“Victor!” Melanie shouted, pointing at Athaliah.
“Got it!” He backed away from his fight with Natsuki and morphed into a wolf, charging to protect Athaliah.
“CRAP!” Emma shouted as she was tackled to the ground.
Both Emma and Victor slid on the ice, slamming into the wall.
“Crap that hurts!” Victor groaned, holding onto his hip.
Iris smiled and called out to Melanie telepathically.
“Hey, Mel,” Iris said.
“What is it?”
“Thank you for sending Victor to go after Emma, that really helped us out.”
“Oh, did it?” Oswald commented, speaking directly to Iris.
Before the match even started, Melanie had set up a one-way telepathic link between Oswald, Iris, Natsuki, and herself. Iris, a psychic, is also able to speak to others telepathically, so whenever she talked to her teammates, whatever moves she had planned, both Melanie and Oswald knew.
“And now, it’s time to end this,” Oswald smirked. He turned around, stopping Natsuki and Jackson from tagging him with a barrier.
“DAMMIT!” Iris shouted. Quickly, she thought of what she could do to win, but because of the one-way telepathic link, she had to move fast. Iris bolted towards Oswald, running in zig-zags, hoping that she would be fast enough to tag his marker. The very last second, Oswald smiled and tagged her out.
“Gotta work on that speed, Iris,” he smirked.
“UGH!” she groaned, “DAMN!”
Oswald laughed then released the barrier holding Natsuki and Jackson back.
“Alright, you two,” he laughed, “your turn.”
Making the last attempt, Natsuki morphed into a gorilla and pounded her chest.
“Yeah, you get him, Suki!” Jackson cheered, “Show him whos-”
“And you’re out!” Melanie snickered, tagging Jackson, “You too, Suki!” She tagged Natsuki’s marker, and then at that moment, Team D won the match.
“NOOO!” Natsuki cried, morphing back, “BUNCH OF CHEATS YOU ARE! THAT’S IT!”
“No complaining, Natsuki,” Jason ordered, “Now if you could go to the mess hall, all of you. We’ll announce the results after dinner.”
As the kids headed for the mess hall, Jason sighed, watching as White pocketed the money they placed on the table.
“Oh, boy, do I love playing games, Jason,” He snickered.
Inside the mess hall was a total of thirty kids, each one belonging to a different mythical bloodline.
Iris groaned, “I bet we didn’t rank up. I bet we’re in a lower place now!”
“There goes our allowance...” Natsuki muttered, “Now I’m gonna starve...”
“Shut up, Suki,” Emma commented, “You have a freaking job! You make a hundred a week!”
“It’s not the same!” Natsuki exclaimed, “All I do is take people’s orders!”
“I’d rather do that than fight deathmatches...” Vuxta shuttered.
Oswald came up from behind and patted Vuxta’s head.
“You know my offer still stands,” he said, “I’m sure my boss will hire ya, babe.”
“Nah,” Vuxta replied, kissing Oswald’s cheek, “I’m fine.”
After getting their meals, fried chicken with macaroni and mashed potatoes, both teams, A and D, sat together at the same table.
“How’s your body, Victor? Hurt?” Emma asked.
He chuckled and massaged his hip, “It’ll be hurting for at least a week, but I’m not worrying.”
“It’s your own fault, man,” Kai commented, “You just ran without thinking.”
“At least I didn’t piss Ozzy off.”
“Hey, I did nothing wrong. Vuxta was our opponent, what was I supposed to do? If he’s dating her, then they should be on the same team. How about we trade Vuxta for you, wolf-boy?”
“Oh, shut up!” Victor barked, “Speaking of team relations, how are things with Mel?”
Melanie’s head sprung up, curious to hear what Kai had to say about their relationship.
“Yeh, Kay,” Melanie said with a full mouth, “Hoh awe we?”
The table grew silent as everyone leaned in to hear what Kai had to say.
“Come one, bro, spill it!” Natsuki exclaimed, “I wanna know!”
Melanie swallowed her food and then began telling everyone what Kai was thinking.
“Oh my goodness, you guys are so annoying. Why in the hell is she saying everything I think out loud,” she said.
“You done?” Kai asked.
“You done thinking?” Melanie giggled.
“You two are perfect for each other,” Natsuki cheered.
The entrance to the mess hall opened, and Jason walked in with all the advisors. White, Team A’s advisor walked in with a smile, linking arms with Esmae, the advisor to Team B. Behind them came Dominic, Team C’s advisor, wearing the same flashy coat with no shirt as always. Irene, Team D’s advisor, slithered in and moved to the side so Arlen and Artur, the advisors to Teams E and F, could come in. Once all the advisors were there, the mess hall grew absolutely silent.
“You all did great today,” Jason began, “I definitely saw improvement in a lot of you.”
“Just get on with it, Jason!” Melody, the captain of Team C, exclaimed.
“You know, I enjoy giving speeches of encouragement from time to time so if you could just settle down so I-”
“Yeah, no, Jason,” White sighed, “The kids right.” He snatched the paper from him and began reading the results, “And with no surprise, Team D still holds first place with 38 points and their allowance will remain at $4,000. Second place with $3,000 goes to Team E-”
“We jumped up, uce!” Maka cheered, clapping his hands against those of his teammates.
“Team E’s point total is 61. In third with $2,500 and 63 points is Team C,” White continued, “Fourth with $2,000 and a point total of 73 is the great Team A. Fifth with $1,500 belongs to Team B with 78 points. And finally in dead last with $1,000 is Team F having a whopping 79 point total.”
“We were in second place before, and now we’re in fourth?!” Natsuki panicked, “We had $3,000, meaning each of us got $600, but now we’re getting $2,000?! That’s only $400 each! How am I gonna survive the month?!”
“Suki...” Emma sighed, “again, you have a FREAKING JOB! The hell you worrying for?”
“Yeah, why are you worrying?” Iris added, “It’s not like you have to pay bills or anything.”
“Oh Iris,” Natsuki chuckled, “young, immature, stupid, stupid, Iris.”
“Choose your next words carefully, hun,” Iris groaned.
“I’m a girl of business, an entrepreneur if you may. I have stocks worth more than that sad, pathetic outfit of yours, heck, worth more than you. I have investments. I have money growing as we speak, and you ask why I’m worrying about money?”
“Ugh...” Iris groaned, “Yeah, nevermind.”
“Oh no, I’ll tell you,” Natsuki’s eyes widened as she paused, hoping that it would cause a dramatic effect. “Imma start my own restaurant.”
“What?”
“Yeah, remember?”
“Wait, you’re serious?”
“Uh, yeah. How can I not? This is something that I’ve been working towards ever since I got here. Don’t you remember me telling you about it? I even showed you blueprints and everything.”
Iris chuckled, “Yeah, of course, I remember. How can I not remember something you told me, um, years ago?”
“It’s fine if you don’t remember,” Natsuki said, “No one really ever does because I tend to repeat myself every other day apparently.”
Jason cleared his throat and began speaking again.
“Anyway, team leaders, see me later to ensure that your allowances get sent to your group account. That is all I have so-”
“I object!” a tiny shouted.
“Oh, for goodness sakes! What is it?” Jason groaned.
From the back, a tiny young girl squeezed her way to the front. It was Ayano, a member of Team F.
“This whole thing is rigged!” Ayano exclaimed.
“Alright, you side character,” White teased, “You’ll get your chance. Now get back in the back.”
“You arrre rrranked based on yourrr perrrforrrmance, little one. If you vant to move up, zen you must firrrst prrractice,” Artur explained.
“How about we go against you guys?” Ayano suggested.
Jason raised his eyebrows, wanting to hear more from Ayano.
She continued, saying, “Team F against the adults, and if we win, we get 50 points taken off our score.”
“And if the adults win?” Jason asked.
“Um, well-”
“If the adults win, your allowance will be cut in half,” White said.
“Oh, I like that idea,” Jason commented. He nodded and turned to Ayano, “Do we have a deal?”
Ayano stuttered, struggling to find words to reply.
“You should probably discuss it with your team first,” White added, smiling at the little girl.
Ayano’s nose scrunched up as she yelled back, “YOU’RE ON! WE’LL BEAT YOU NO PROBLEM!”
Ten minutes later, Team F met with White in the arena. The other kids watched through screens in the mess hall.
“Ayano, we’re gonna die!” Sara, another member of Team F, exclaimed.
Team F, like all the other teams, has five members, but what makes them stand out is them being under 10 years. Ayano, the most powerful member of her team, is an Oni. She has the power to manipulate the elements along with the ability to shapeshift, read minds, and super strength. Next is Sofia. She’s a Sigbinan, meaning she’s an owner of a Sigbin, a night creature that can suck the blood from its victim’s shadow. The third is Sara, a Harpy, who can fly, has razor-sharp talons and claws, and super strength. After Sara, there’s Karla, the leader of Team F. Karla’s a werewolf, a special one. Despite her being deaf, her other senses are heightened to the max. Lastly, there’s Spencer, the only boy on the team. Spencer, by far, is the only one on the team who actually knows how to use his abilities, manipulation of water, but despite his skill, the raw strength that the girls have stood above him.
“You kiddos ready?” White taunted.
“Where are the others?” Ayano asked, “Fighting us alone, old man?”
“Just so you know, the others would’ve just gotten in the way,” smirked White, “I prefer the solo fighter approach, it’s cooler.”
“Match begin!” Jason announced.
After Jason announced that the match had started, at that very second, White made his move. He smiled.
“I’ll wipe that smile off your face, old man!” Ayano shouted. She tried to move, but couldn’t. Her whole body slowly fell to the floor. “What?!”
“NO!” Sara shouted as she too fell to the floor.
White’s ability, telekinesis, is by far the most polished in the world.
He took his time walking to the kids, humming a little song.
“Let me tell you little brats one thing,” White said, tagging Ayano’s marker, “You think you’re strong. You think you’re ready. You thought that you could stand against me?” He tagged Spencer’s and then Karla’s marker. “Yes, I admit, you all are myths with such raw power,” White tagged Sofia’s and finally, Sara’s marker, “but that raw power you all have is nothing compared to mine. I’ve had years of practice. I’ve spent years polishing my talents into what they are today. Don’t expect things to just come to you on a silver platter when you haven’t done anything to deserve it.”
Inside the mess hall, all the other kids heard and thought about what White had said to Team F.
“Alex is on a whole other level,” Iris said, watching the screens, “They didn’t even stand a chance against him.”
“And this is the first time he’s actually shown us his power,” Ema added.
Artur entered the mess hall and called for their attention.
“I trrrust zat you all underrrstand what White means, what he vanted to show all of you,” Artur said, “Zis yearrr, Jason has something new planned forrr all of us herrre. Forrr firrrst time in 40 years, Johnathan, founder of zis home, vill visit. You all need be rrready forrr him.”
