The night before the military event came and everyone involved in the assignment is preparing for their tasks except for one. Zythandra took a few more rounds in training herself in the mansions training room. She mostly sharpens her hand-to-hand combat skills just in case a fight breaks out during their mission. Fiona reviewed the flow of the program that was sent to her via email by the event's organizers. This will help her and Zythandra position themselves through out the night.
However, Calcipher is a different story. It turned out that he caught a terrible flu. He tried his best to remedy his sickness but nothing seems to be working whatever medicine he takes. Though he managed to create some communication device that they use on their mission, they won't be able to use them if no one will operate them. He was also able to prepare the van they'll use and installed it with all the equipment they'll need but it will probably go to waste if he will not be there use them.
"What's your problem? I'm not seeing you as high-spirited as usual?" Zythandra asked as she visited Calcipher in his laboratory to check in.
"Am I hearing this right? You're concerned about me?" Calcipher responded as he chuckles trying to tease his co-mentor which definitely worked.
"I'm not." Zythandra said with her obvious irritated tone and her striking poker face. "I just checked on you to see if your ready to do your part in our mission. I don't want anyone to screw up tomorrow."
"Oh, that's how it is. I thought you're being sweet towards me for a change. I can definitely get used to that" Calcipher replied still teasing her.
"Dream on, four eyes. As expected, I won't get a serious conversation with but I hope that you're responsible enough to do your task in the mission." Zythandra said but as she leaves the laboratory she heard a loud banging sound as if something fell to the floor.
Zythandra inspected the situation as she carefully walked towards where the sound came from and she saw Calcipher lying on the ground facing down. She rolled him over and that he's still breathing but he's burning up. Calcipher was carried by her to the infirmary and had Pandora checked in him to see what happened. It appeared that Zythandra is very much concerned about Calcipher's well being but in reality, she's more concerned about the missions success.
Panic ensues in Zythandra's mind since Pandora confirms that Calcipher needs to get at least 2-3 days of rest meaning he will not be able to participate on the mission they agreed upon. She looked for Kitty thinking of plans they can do to remedy this mishap so that can still continue the mission even if it's just the two of them. As she expected, Kitty also had a bad feeling about Calcipher's withdrawal from the mission.
"What are we going to now? Who will be in charge with our communication once we're inside the establishment? We will not be together throughout the event so we won't be in touch unless we have Calcipher's gadgets." Kitty commented on the situation.
"That's what I'm thinking about. If it's just the equipment, I believe Calcipher was able to finish as I checked on him early what the problem is he will not be there to operate it. I've used similar communication devices before but his is different I think I can't operate those on my own yet." Zythandra replied.
"Well, I guess we still have around 24 hours to of something or else we'll abort the mission."
"That's true. We'll think of something."
The two of them rest their thoughts for a while as they both gone on to their separate ways. Zythandra went back to the training room but instead of physically honing her fighting skills, she dances ballet to relieve her stress and to clear her mind. On the other hand, Kitty went to the living area where everyone else is to chill with them for the night as she already finished reviewing the flow of tomorrow's event.
"Kitty you look stressed out. You alright?" Glass asked with his likeable big brother attitude.
"You do look stressed out. Are you sick?" Beast seconded the question.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just kinda tired." Kitty said as she lays down on the sofa.
"Hey, guys. I heard about what happened to our teacher Calcipher. Is he fine." Medusa asked as she walks into the living room.
"Pandora said he'll be fine. He just needs to rest for some time." Kitty responded.
"Hey, guys. You want to watch some movie? I'm getting bored watching the news. Nothing exciting is going on lately." Glass said.
"Let's go with a sci-fi movie. I think we have new ones here." Kitty said as she grabs the movies she's referring to.
"I agree with the sci-fi movie for a change but can we do something with a touch of romance?" Medusa requested.
"Noted on that, Medusa. We have Planet 51 here. I think it's sci-fi and romance." Kitty picked the movie and played it to their television.
"I'll go grab some snacks and drinks. Beast, can you help me out?" Medusa asked and Beast agreed so both of them went to the kitchen.
As they both got back to the living room and saw that the movie is still on it's opening scene, they felt Swift ran hurriedly to the living room as well. Kitty and Glass had to pause what they're watching to know what Swift's up to. Knowing Swift, they know that it's either nonsense inquiry or something actually is happening in the mansion. With his Anomaly, he can spread news in the entire mansion in seconds.
"What is it, Swift? You seem happy." Glass asked. He noticed that Swift is somewhat excited.
"Surge just came back! That's it. See y'all" Swift announced then ran out of the living area.
"Wait Swi- And his gone." Kitty said as she got interrupted midsentence.
"Lively night, friends!" Surge came in the room as jolly as he can be and he gasped as he saw familiar face. "My gorgeous Kitty and my goddess Medusa! Long time no see my beautiful princesses." He exclaimed as he rushed to both of kneeled then kissed their hands.
"Nice to see you too, Surge. You can stop now." Medusa responded as she obviously is not a fan of whatever Surge did but she surely missed the bastard.
"Still a ladies man I see." Kitty said as she rides along Surge's silly act.
"Oh boy, here comes our lover boy. Man, show us some love too. Right, Beast?" Glass teased Surge.
"Nope. I'm good. But it's nice to see you back, Surge." Beast commented.
"Oh, you're also here Glass and Beast. Long time no see." Surge greets the guys.
"So now you noticed us. Welcome back lover." Glass teased him again.
"Whatever, man. But it is good to be back!" Surge responded.
"Where have you been by the way? I haven't seen you since I visited here." Kitty asked.
"Oh yeah. You weren't here yet before the Professor and I left for a Summit. The Professor went back on an earlier schedule while I stayed a while longer at the Professor's associate in Proud Russia to run some errands. It was such a drag but I got through with it" Surge explained.
As Surge explains, it turned out that the Professor is not the only Anomaly enthusiast because there are four others. These four reside in other nations and their goal is to gather Anomalies keep them safe from the cruelty of the world. One is from Gallant Africa, one in Grand Britain, another in New America and lastly in Proud Russia. Their ultimate goal is to build a society that the Anomaly and non Anomaly can co-exist without fear and hate between each other.
Like the Professor, they believe that they are not the enemy of humankind that deserves to be locked up and become God knows what in the hands of the government. But unlike the Professor, they are not an Anomaly. The Professor trusts them a lot to the point that he told them that he's an Anomaly himself. But he doesn't them enough to tell that he already has a number of Anomalies under his wing. The others seemed to be transparent but they unfortunately haven't got any kind of entire with an Anomaly themselves.
The Summit Surge is referring to is a meeting these five individuals as the Professor represent Noble Asia and others represent the other Nations. This happens quarterly to talk about anything and everything related to Anomaly such as the reports where an Anomaly was sighted and the possible Anomalous Perk involved, they also talk about the government's towards the increasing number of the Anomaly society. Though the rarity of an Anomaly being spotted is high, the reports of Anomaly sighting increased exponentially for some reason.
The last summit was held at Proud Russia. The Professor and his associates agreed to hold the Summits at different Nations to avoid enemy radar. The others are aware that they are not the only individuals that wants to be involved with the Anomalies but unlike them, they're goal are far more Sinister than theirs. They gathered intel that there are a group of people who uses the Anomalies for assassination deeds, inhumane experimentation, illegal underground brawls etc. But based on the rarity of Anomaly, some of them are still farfetched.
In every Summit, the Professor takes one or two of the Anomalies with him for some reason and his associates from other Nations bring along someone with them too. They asked why they bring along lackeys with them and the Professor answered them directly that the reason why they do that is for everyone's protection. There's no way for them to know what's going to happen while their out in the open. Nevertheless, whoever the Professor asked to come with him is excited because they will enjoy the outside.
Normally, the Professor asks Pandora and Beast with him because Pandora can read minds making her able to know if someone is about to do something sinister towards them or to their surroundings. This is to mostly avoid any contact as much as possible but incase an altercation is inevitable, that is where Beast comes in. He's a fighter so he can defend the two. There are times that the Professor asks someone else to join him in his journey in which he asked Surge to come with him.
"The Professor told me that he didn't brought Pandora along since the way to Proud Russia that we took is not that dangerous so it's kind of a let down." Surge added.
"Too bad you didn't get much action." Glass commented
"That's one thing I'm disappointed about but there's this other thing."
"What is it? Wait. We think we know what it is."
"I couldn't get the quality time I deserve with my Silent Sunshine Pandora! That's the saddest part of that travel."
"Yeah, right." Glass commented and everyone else just shrugged it off. "I remember one time when I accompanied the Professor in one of his Summits, I annihilated an entire gang before they can burn a bank somewhere in Grand Britain." He boasted.
"Oh yeah, I remember that. I'm with that Grand Britain Summit too. You got a lot of scolding from the Professor that time. That's the time you spilt hot chocolate on my chic outfit. I'm still mad at you because of that." Medusa added.
"I did. But hey, the Professor still agreed that I saved a lot of people back there. And yeah, I'm sorry about the spilling part. Can't you just let it go?" Glass said.
"Alright fine." Medusa responded.
"I see that you're fond of playing a hero." Kitty teased Glassed. "So what happened next? You surrendered those you annihilated to the authorities yourself?"
"Of course I did not. I just left them lying down and left the scene." Glass answered.
"Woah! Wait a minute. By annihilating them, did you mean that you ended those guys? Did you kill them? Surge raised a question as well in panic.
"Do you think I'm a killer? I didn't kill anyone. I just knocked them unconscious and before you say something else, I did it discreetly so I'm sure that no one saw me did it." Glass responded.
"I did." Medusa chimed in.
"Fine. No one else saw it. Only Medusa." Glass corrected himself.
Glass, Kitty, Medusa, Beast and Surge continued to watch the movie they're about to enjoy earlier. They continued to catch up with each other along the way since it's really been a while that Surge was out of the mansion. Some other Anomalies who passes by the living greeted Surge in his return he was even given a gift by the twins with a small knitted brown bear that he can use as a keychain or he can hang it wherever he likes.
"This is so relaxing. Chilling in a sofa, pigging out with some snacks which is hopefully homemade and watching a movie with my loved ones plus these two guys." Surge commented as he stretches his arms upward.
"We heard it." Glass said.
"This brings me back to when I didn't know I was an Anomaly." Surge commented.
"Wait, I think I haven't heard of that story yet. So how did the Professor discovered you and how did you eventually end up here?" Kitty asked.
"My life story is uneventful compared to yours. It's pretty boring actually but if you insist, here it goes." Surge gets ready to share his story before he met the Professor.
"No one insisted." Beast said but Surge continued anyway.
Surge a.k.a Jayce Fernz was living with his Aunt and her husband. His custody was moved to his Aunt's care after his parents were killed after a horrific plane crash. Surge is used being alone since he's an only child. The only things that give him company are watching movies, playing video games and the occasional flirting to whoever beautiful lady who comes across his path but for obvious reasons, the girls take it as a joke so they just laugh it off.
His parents died since he was a kid. After being moved to Aunt's, everyone thought that his well being will be prioritized since his Aunt was the one who volunteered to take care of him but it turned out differently. It so happened that aside from him, his Aunt and her husband are over-the-top cat lovers so much so that they're taking care of more or less fifty cats. The attention that supposed to be for Surge are being focused on the cats.
This neglect didn't affect Surge much because he got uses to it as it went on for years now. He mostly takes care of his own from waking up in the morning, preparing his own breakfast, going to school, doing his homework, taking himself to sleep, etc. He's fine with him and the adults of the house having minimal to no interaction action at all so long as his basic necessities are being provided. It's better than being maltreated and beaten to a pulp like the ones on the news he thinks.
On a one boring weekend morning, we went to a mall to kill some time alone and do some window shopping since he doesn't have any cash with him. While strolling at the mall, he noticed a beautiful lady and approached her to try and test his luck. This lady turned out to be Pandora. Little did he know, some thieves are eyeing Pandora as well. Before he can make an interaction with her, a group of three hooligans got to her and swiftly swiped her purse. As the two thieves, steal her purse the other one pushed her to the ground.
At that time, Surge was triggered to do something. He instinctively approached the thieves and grabbed Pandora's purse. The crowd knew something is about to happen but instead of calling for a police the security guard they just avoid the interaction. Without hesitation, the first thief threw punch at Surge for him to let go of the purse but he didn't let go of it. Without any hesitations, the other two thieves punched and kicked Surge with all their might but it seems that Surge is not fazing.
Due to the barrage of punches and kicks, Surge became unbalanced making him unintentionally kneel on the ground but he still made sure that he's still grabbing onto the bag. One of the thieves took out a knife intending to end Surge in order for them to get the purse. Pandora noticed it so she's bound to use her Anomaly to do something but before she disrupts the thieves mind, Surge stood up and appeared to be prepared to do a counter attack.
Even though the thieves' attacks are still on going, Surge manages to clench his fist. At this point, Pandora realized that Surge is an Anomaly too as she connected her thoughts to Surge's but she's unsure what Anomaly he has so she decided to watch what he'll do and just use her Anomaly if something else happens. Surge finally made his attack as he punched the thief who took a knife in his chest. Sounds of what it seemed bones cracking are heard before the thief was sent flying to a concrete wall five meters away from them. Luckily, no bystander was injured because of that.
Everyone is shocked of what they've witnessed. Most of the bystanders realized that Surge is not an ordinary teenager. They all made a call most likely to report that an Anomaly has been sighted so that Surge will be taken to military's custody. During this commotion, the other two thieves realized what happened to their comrade. They left the purse behind and attempted to run away but before they can make any significant distance, Surge punched them as well and from their backs this time. Cracking sounds were heard as well before the other two were sent flying to the same wall were their comrade is at. This made a lot more panic as the crowd rushes to get away from the area.
"Are you alright?" Pandora asked as she approached him taking advantage of the panic.
"I feel fine actually." Surge responded. "Here's your purse." He handed the purse back to her.
"Thank you. Let's get out of here before all of this becomes more ugly"
"Wait. Am I tripping? Are you the one talking? I can here you without you opening your mouth."
"You probably are but yes, this is me talking." Pandora confirmed. Surge went unconscious all of a sudden.
"Pandora! What on earth is happening here? Who is that?" Beast asked as he arrived at the scene together the Professor.
"Let's get out of here. Now. Professor, this one's an Anomaly." Pandora said.
"By the Gods! Let's tend to him at the mansion. We can't leave him here in that condition. Beast?" The Professor said then gestured Beast to carry Surge's unconscious body.
"What?" Beast contested.
"We're running out of time. The men in uniform will be here any minute. Let's go." Pandora exclaimed.
"Fine. Come on." Beast finally agreed. They then headed straight to the mansion.
During their way to the mansion, Pandora shared what happened to the Professor and Beast. They noticed that even after all those beating, Surge didn't get any major injuries. He just got some minor bruises on his face and some parts of his torso. This probably part of Surge's Anomaly. Not too long after, Surge decided to be under the Professor's wing and live in the mansion. Though Surge left multiple notes to his Aunt and even attempt to talk to her a lot of times, he didn't get any kind of response. The Professor took into his initiative to drop by to Surge's Aunt's house and get her approval to take him under his wing. The Professor was then able to get Aunt's consent.
"So that's how it goes." Kitty commented.
"Wait. I got confused a bit. What's your Anomaly?" Medusa asked.
"We're all living in one roof for a while now and you're still not sure what my Anomaly is?" Surge reacted.
"Well, I'm sorry if I can't take notes of all of our friends' Anomalies. So what is it?" Medusa asked.
"Fine. As the Professor and the others call it, my Anomalous Perk is Energy Absorption. I admit that how they see it is kind of hard for me to understand so I just think of my Anomaly as a mirror. Meaning, if you hit me with any kind of force, I can absorb and store the impact to my body and release it as an attack myself. Luckily, my body can withstand those impacts so I can't get injured easily."
"Pretty barbaric but very useful. Unlike my Anomaly which is both majestic and very useful." Medusa boasted as she did some hair flips like a shampoo commercial to showoff.
"Did you just asked what my Anomaly is to promote yours?"
"A little bit."
"What ever you say my Goddess. It's the most majestic there is."
"Kitty, do you have a moment?" Zythandra asked as she walked into the living.
"Oh my god. Marry me." Surge muttered to himself after seeing Zythandra.
"Surge, right? Did you say something?" Zythandra responded.
"No, I didn't. Did you?" Surge responded on panic.
"Weird. As I was saying, Kitty?" Zythandra addressed Kitty again.
"Yes, of course. Let's go." Kitty said as she thought that this is most likely about the mission they regarding the military event. Both of them headed somewhere else.
Just before Kitty and Zythandra step out of the living area and the rest of the group continued to watch their movie, a panicked Reaper rushed in holding a newspaper. The group was obviously shocked towards Reaper's behavior it's as if something bad happened that everyone needs to be notified of it or something. It took a while before Reaper told the group what's the purpose of him being in the living area.
"Guys, please switch to the news channel? I want to confirm something." Reaper asked as he arrived in the living area.
"What's with you? We're in the middle of watching a movie." Beast reacted.
"What's with all the tension, Reaper? Chill out, man." Glass said.
"Look at this." Reaper showed an article in a news paper about the military event which is scheduled tomorrow. The article said there's a live coverage of the preparation happening now and in Reaper's surprise, Raf is included in the new military men's roster. This brought shock to Kitty because she's under the impression that this event aren't supposed to be on media.
"Guys, let's reschedule this movie hang out. Medusa, can you switch it to the news channel? Thank you." Kitty said and the group couldn't dispute but followed the request.
As expected, the news is about the military event scheduled tomorrow midnight. They have confirmed the location, guest performers which Kitty is included and finally, the rookie military men who are going to be the highlight of the event. It turned out the same lost is posted the newspaper article. An Admiral made a brief speech to apologize that the event is exclusive to military personnel, the individuals that are included on the guest list which is mostly consist of the rookies' family members and the performers. They plan to close the entire Infinity Lounge for the event.
"No way!" Medusa reacted. "Kitty's invited. I want to attend too." She added.
"Hey, Reaper. What's with this news? Do we have anything to do with it? Maybe Kitty does because she's one of the invited performers." Glass commented.
"I see a familiar face in the list." Beast reacted.
"Yeah, Kitty is in the list you smarty-pants." Medusa said.
"No. What I meant was in the rookie list."
"No one seems to be someone I know."
Beast realized who it was and Reaper probably did too even before he came rushing into the living area. One of the rookies that is part of the event is Raf, Sprite's lost sister. He was last seen back when the Inoue household were burnt down to the ground. It was clear that he escaped the scene after realizing that his sister and his best friend are Anomalies. In line with his disappearance, Mrs. Inoue is still not found may she be still alive or already dead.
"That's who you are looking for?" Zythandra asked in shock. "What a small world."
"I have to go that event!" Reaper declared.
"Whoa! Calm yourself, man. Think it through." Surge commented.
"Hey, it says here that it's a masquerade event. How fabulous! If you're coming, can I join too?" Medusa butted in. "It's been a while since I've attended to an event."
"Medusa, only selected guests can enter the venue so you can't come." Kitty said.
"Oh, come on. You'll be there as the main performer, surely you can pull some strings for at least some of us to attend to that event. Please?" Medusa begged.
"I'm against the idea of one of us attending that event." Beast firmly said. "Think about it. We are Anomalies and that event is for military recruits and as the news say, most likely there will be a handful of military force not to mention the higher ranked ones to swarm the area."
"Even though the event sounds really fun, I agree with Beast on this one." Glass mentioned. "It's like we're going into the lions den. Once they knew we're an Anomaly, that'll be the end of the line for us."
"But-" Reaper and Medusa said but got interrupted.
"We should not talk about this here. The others might hear us. Reaper, where's Sprite?" Zythandra asked.
"She's at the field with her friends I guess." Reaper answered.
"Okay great. Glass, turn the tv off someone else might hear the news and inform Sprite. That's not going to be a good idea. After that, follow me to the Professor's office. The six of you. Let's go." Zythandra said.
"What? Why? I thought you're just here to have a word with me?" Kitty asked.
"What a drag." Beast muttered.
"Oh, this is going to be exciting." Glass said.
"I smell action!" Surge exclaimed.
"Wait. Did we do something?" Medusa asked.
"We have a slight change of plans." Zythandra said. "I asked the Professor and Pandora to be there too so let's go. We don't have all day, do we?"
"What plans?" Reaper asked.
"I wonder what this plan is." Kitty
"I wonder too. I hope it includes us attending the event." Medusa commented.
"Let's go. We don't want this beautiful lady waiting for too long." Surge said.
"You realized I'm older than you right?" Zythandra responded.
"I believe in that famous quote saying, age is just a number."
"I don't do romance, kid. It will be best for you to keep your hands to yourself."
"Oh my god, you're getting prettier by the second."
"Let's go. As soon as we get there, the sooner it gets to finish." Beast butted in.
The group left the living area and headed to the Professor's office. Along the way, everyone one of them is having their own speculations as to what Zythandra is talking about. Even Kitty is lost about the situation because if this is solely about the military event, it should just be within her, Zythandra, Calcipher and the Professor. She doesn't have even the faintest idea why Pandora is included in the picture and why the others being pulled in as well.