Ryan, Sussan, Catalina, Juan, and Sofia were in the mess hall. They had set up a board game where the first to reach the end goal was the winner. This was only because Sofia wanted to play something. Since Ryan and Sussan weren't doing much at the moment, they decided to join in on the fun. "What do you think? Do you think we'll get more people?" Sussan asked out of nowhere.
Ryan threw the dice in his hand then moved his piece, "Are you talking about the meeting?" Ryan asked, and Sussan nodded. "Yeah." She replied. "Would that be a bad thing?" Juan asked as he took the dice for his turn and tossed them after a quick shake.
"I don't know, maybe," Sussan replied. "More people means more of a chance of crap hitting the fan. I understand what Don is trying to do, but what about our current group? Besides, we have a child." Sussan said, looking at Sofia, who smiled happily at her. Sussan returned the smile.
Catalina smiled softly, seeing that Sussan was worried about her daughter. "Well, you have a point; however, what if there are others out there? What if a child is brought here without their parents or anyone to help them? Shouldn't we take them in?" Catalina asked before taking her turn.
"I suppose," Sussan replied. She wasn't too sure. There were a lot of unknowns in this world. All she knew is what the others did. From what they said, this place wasn't normal. It seemed like those with power ruled over those without power. The World Government is the worst in that aspect.
It seems like if you don't join them and their cause, then you are an enemy. Then there are the other Contenders. They've had their run-in with many unsavory people. It seemed like women and girls weren't truly viewed as people in this world unless they had the power to keep themselves safe or had a good group to be with.
Sussan sighed softly. "I just want to go home." She murmured. The only person who could hear here was Ryan. "We will," Ryan said, offering Sussan the dice since it was her turn. She took them and looked at them for a moment. "Right now, we would probably be studying for some exams. I wonder what my parents think... are they worried?" Sussan questioned.
Catalina and Juan looked at one another than towards Sussan. "Of course they do," Catalina said. "Any parent would if their child went missing all of a sudden," Catalina said while reaching to touch Sussan's hands gently. Sussan looked up at Catalina to see her smiling lightly at her. Her worries were starting to shift, "You are right. I need to survive so I can go home to them." Sussan said and tossed the dice to take her turn.
While they were playing their game, Ion and Jessica were sparing in a room that they turned into a training room. They moved all of the desks and chairs to the sides and emptied the floor. Jessica was coming at Ion with punches and kicks, and Ion was dodging each one. "Damn, babe, you really have gotten faster," Jessica said as she watched him effortlessly evade all of her attacks.
Ion smirked, "Have I?" He seemed happy to hear that he had gotten faster. He would retaliate with his own punches and kicks that Jessica would brush aside and evade. It was just a mild spar, nothing too serious. Although Jessica was getting a little annoyed that none of her attacks were hitting, she used her Seed Power: Warp to teleport behind Ion.
She brought her fist towards his back, but Ion quickly turned on his heel to block the fist with the back of his hand, which he pushed aside. This motion caused Jessica to stumble towards the force her fist was now going towards. Ion quickly moved to sweep up Jessica's legs and used his other arm to catch her.
Jessica was now in Ion's arm, her back arched as she looked up at Ion, who had leaned over to catch her. "Hi." Ion spoke in a sensual voice. Jessica's cheeks went red for a moment, but she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You are stronger. Must be nice, training with Don." Jessica said, which caused Ion to chuckle lightly.
"Don't hate. Besides, I need to get stronger if I want to keep you safe." Ion said, and Jessica sighed lightly. "Mmmmhmmm, but..." Jessica reached for Ion's collar and pulled him into a passionate kiss without warning. After a few seconds, she wrapped her legs around his waist and turned her body towards the ground to take them down.
The sudden motion was not something Ion expected, so now they were on the ground. Jessica rolled over and pinned Ion to the ground with a playful grin. "That doesn't change the fact that I get to be on top," Jessica said while straddling Ion. She had his arms pinned to the ground by the wrist, and she towered over him while staring down at him.
Ion's lips curved into a smirk. "For now." He would reply with a playful tone of voice. It looked like the two of them were about to go further in until someone had said something, "Why am I not surprised to find you two doing things like this." Boss said.
They looked towards Boss and saw that Jen was standing beside him. "Can we help you? We were in the middle of something." Jessica said, and Ion just sighed lightly. "Well, how about a friendly match? A two on two." Jen said, cracking her knuckles. Ion's brow rose. "Why?" Ion asked.
"Boredom," Boss replied. "That and, I think we need to test ourselves. See where we are at. Considering what Don is saying and the things we saw on those pages, we'll need to become even stronger." Boss answered.
Ion agreed with Boss on that aspect; although, Jessica was more of a mid-ranged fighter. In addition to that, she couldn't really use her usual offensive Seed Power, considering it would set off the fire alarm. Before Ion could answer, Jessica answered. "Accepted!" She pushed off Ion and rolled her neck with a grin. "Besides, I hate being interrupted when I am in the middle of something. It ruins the mood." Jessica added.
Boss smirked at Jessica's remark. He agreed in silence. Jen agreed as well but voiced it, "Right!" The four of them decided to take their positions. "Wait, who will be the ref?" Ion asked. Since it was a two on two, there wouldn't be anyone to watch them if things became a bit too serious. After all, two of the craziest chicks were about to go at it, and then there was Boss. He got these vibes that Boss was also crazy. Not that Ion was any less crazy.
"I will." A voice said, and they looked towards the door to see Don standing there with April at his side. "When did you two get there!?" Ion asked since they weren't there before. In addition to that, Boss and Jen had just arrived not too long ago. "I just happened to be passing by at the right moment and saw Boss and Jen go in here. As I passed the room, I overheard something about a spar." Don said.
"Most be those trained ears of yours," Boss said, and Don neither confirmed nor denied his claim. "Anyways, you can begin whenever you are ready," Don said while standing on the sideline to watch. "Kick her ass, bestie!" April shouted, cheering for Jessica. Jen looked towards April with a raised brow, "She must still be sore about you. After all, you are trying to seduce her, man." Boss said, which caused Jen to scoff. "If they hadn't been brought here, he would've slept with me already," Jen remarked.
"Are you jealous?" Boss asked, but Jen didn't reply. "Will do!" Jessica said with a thumbs-up towards April. This didn't go unnoticed by Don, but he didn't say anything about it. April just clung onto Don's arm the entire time. When she saw Jen looking at her, she stuck her tongue out and pressed her body more into Don. Jen would grit her teeth. "I'm beating their asses." Jen would smash her fists together, and a flare of crimson flared in her eyes.
"Well... I don't think that's the point of this battle, but whatever." Boss said as he started to take to a battle stance. He didn't pull out his brass knuckles, though. After all, this was supposed to be a 'friendly' spar. Ion could see the energy coming off of Jessica and Jen and took a step back.
"You two do realize this isn't a blood bath, right?" Ion asked.
"Of course!" They both said in sync, but it felt like they didn't understand from the bloodlust that radiated off them. Ion looked towards Boss, "You uhh... wanna sit this one out?" Ion asked, and Boss shook his head. "Nah, we'll let the girls fight. I'll take you on." Boss said, and Ion sighed lightly and shook his head. "Fuck me... I am surrounded by crazy people..." Ion grumbled.
"I'll do that later babe, for now, let's just whoop their asses. April is counting on me!" Jessica exclaimed before dashing in to punch Jen. Jen dodged the punch with a duck and weave before coming up with an uppercut. Jessica stepped back to avoid that and brought her leg around to try and kick Jen in the head.
Jen brought her arm up to block the kick, then pushed it aside and dashed towards Jessica, tossing out sharp punches and kicks. Jen wasn't as fast as Ion, so Jessica kept up. Blocking and evading and countering with her own punches and kicks.
Ion was too busy watching the girls fight that he didn't notice Boss was right beside him, throwing a fist for his face. "Woah!" Ion leaned back at the last possible second to evade the attack, then kicked off the ground and turned his body to try and spin kick Boss. Boss didn't expect this kind of odd movement and couldn't evade it.
He tried to bring his arm up to block, but it was too late, and he got kicked on the shoulder near the neck. The force caused him to drop to a knee, but he wasn't going to collapse. Instead, he rolled with the motion, and when he was safe, he got back up quickly. "That was dangerous..." Boss said while messaging her shoulder.
"My bad. I did it unconsciously. Good thing, I wasn't using my full strength." Ion said with an apologetic expression. "I can see Don has trained you well," Boss said before looking towards Don. "I'd like to have a one and one brawl with him one day. No Seed Powers, just fists." Boss said, and Don's lips curved into a smirk since he could hear him.
"Oi, what about me? Aren't we fighting!?" Ion exclaimed since he could see his opponent was talking about fighting someone else. "True..." Boss would take to a different stance. It wasn't as refined as a boxer or anything else. If anything, it looked wild and full of openings.
Boss looked like he had taken a sprinter's stance. One leg back and one crunched up with the knee close to his chest as he leaned towards the ground. One hand had the fingers placed against the ground while the other was resting along his body. Ion's brow rose curiously, and he was about to ask what Boss was doing, but before he could, Boss had kicked off the ground.
Boss looked fast, faster than he did earlier, and before Ion knew it, Boss was in front of him. Ion swiftly evaded Boss's wild punches and kicks. At first, it was easy, but as the fight went on, it was becoming difficult. The attacks had no pattern, no rhythm. It was like some wild beast throwing out random attacks; however, each attack was sharp and without hesitation.
"Interesting..." Don muttered. April looked up at Don, "What is?" April asked. "Boss usually has a more refined style of fighting. Even if it is brutal, it is more balanced than what he is doing now. There are soo many openings that Boss has. He has exchanged defense for speed and attack power. I wonder... is he doing it to show me something?" Don seemed curious.
April looked back towards Boss. It did look more like a wild beast was mauling a poor sod; however, her attention shifted towards Jessica and Jen. She had heard a painfilled cry. Jessica was stumbling back while holding her arm. It looked to be bent at a weird angle, and Jen was cracking her neck nonchalantly. "That it? That all you got?" Jen asked with a somewhat bored expression on her face.
"This bitch..." Jessica's eyes started to flare crimson. "I'll burn you alive!" Jessica shouted, and flames exploded from her body. Don sighed heavily, his eyes gave off a black glow, and distortion could be seen next to him. One could see the seams and smoke from the flames coming towards the distortion if one looked close enough.
"Are you going to stop the fight?" April asked, seeing Don making a move. "Not yet," Don replied. He wasn't worried since he could stop the fight at any given time. All he had to do was activate his Seed Power: Timeless Flow and knock them all out.
"Good, I want Jessica to burn that whore." April said firmly while looking at Jen. Don looked towards April, then Jen, then back to April. "You really hate her that much?" Don asked. "Of course not! She just needs to learn her place!" April exclaimed. "You are mine, and no one is allowed to touch you. At least not without my permission!" April said firmly.
"Touch me?" Don began to think about it. "What about Rebecca? Didn't she kiss me?" Don said bluntly, and April looked towards Don. "That's different! That was CPR! Besides, I know Rebecca wouldn't do anything to you. She raised you!" April was firm in her stance. It looked cute to Don and made him chuckle lightly. "I am only messing with you," Don said.
April murmured and grumble cutely while looked down and shuffling her feet. "The only one I want is you," Don said while bringing April's chin up slightly so he could look into her eyes. April's eyes lit up, and she closed them while puckering her lips for a kiss. Don leaned down, but instead of placing a kiss on her lips, she kissed her forehead.
"Aweee.... fine," April complained that she didn't get a kiss on the lips but was smiling brightly. Don's words were something she played her head over and over again.
'Nice! You truly know how to cause a girl's heart to flutter! I taught you well, now all you need to do is get April's permission to have a few mistresses', and I'll be able to rest in peace.' Melissa's voice was going off with glee and pride in Don's mind, which caused him to sigh inwardly.
'You know, you never had men at your beck and call. So why are you encouraging me to have multiple women?' Don asked bluntly. 'Why else? Because I couldn't do it, so you can!' Melissa said firmly, which seemed irresponsible to Don, but in the end, he couldn't fault Melissa for it. She was just looking out for him. Even if it would probably bring more trouble than it was worth.
'I'll think about it.' Don lied. 'Yesh!' Melissa exclaimed, believing the lie. Don only lied to get Melissa to leave him alone about it. Now he could focus on the fight before him, which was becoming more intense by the second. Everyone was using their Seed Powers, and even Boss brought out his brass knuckles.
"If only I could find a way to use my Seed Power..." Rebecca muttered to herself. She had heard something happening in this room. She actually went for a little stroll to clear her head, but then she overheard all the commotion and went to investigate. She peaked through the door but never entered. She just watched everyone fighting. They looked powerful and superhuman, but compared to them, she felt like she was weak.
She wasn't as experienced as them. Even if she knew how to fight now, the experience would prove different. Those four had been in countless fights, while Rebecca just trained and learned to fight to protect herself. To add to this, those four had their Seed Powers; meanwhile, she did not.
"Do you want to get stronger?" The voice spoke in her head again.
"Huh?" Rebecca's eyes went wide.
"Do you seek strength?"
"Do you seek power?"
The voice asked once again. "I do, please. Tell me how." Rebecca said firmly.
"Then call my name. You should already know it." The voice said and went silent after that.
"Your name? What's your name!? Hey, wait!" Rebecca exclaimed, but no one could hear her over the fighting in the room.
"I know your name...?" Rebecca muttered to herself. She was confused. She didn't really understand what that meant. "What name?" Rebecca asked herself. She decided to try and look into it. She hurried back to her room and sat on the bed. Don told them that they could take a meditative state and enter a state of mind where they could look for their Seed and connect with it.
Rebecca would do just that, and as she did, she felt herself descend into the depths of her own consciousness; however, it wasn't pitch black as usual. Various colors were pulsating around her like that of heart. It was slow and steady, but she felt immense power coming from them. "What is this?" Rebecca thought. She looked down to where she was fall and when she did her eyes went wide. "What is that!?" She exclaimed.