After breaking Logan’s face and being given the rank of captain, Fionn was walking down a corridor to where the other participants who passed were supposed to stay. He was back in his gray hoodie, black pants, and black-white shoes. While walking down the hallway, he saw a slightly short and beautiful girl with dark brown hair and amber colored eyes

  She wore a white jacket with no hood, a black belt around her white skirt to keep it in place, tan leggings, and white shoes. When they walked past each other, they side eyed one another. As the quick moment was over, they both thought of the same thing

  “Cute guy,”

  He looked back at her, seeing “D.V.4.” was on the back of her jacket

  “She’s probably going to hear the news… meh, that captain deserved it,” he thought

  He eventually made his way to the male participants room, but hesitated at the door. He decided whether or not to open the door. He looked through the door with see-through vision. The room looked more like a bunker. It had polished steel walls, gray vinyl flooring, and a dark gray ceiling. There were a lot of boys in the room, estimating around twenty-three. They were all chatting and socializing. He frowned a bit, but shrugged it off. He was deciding on either to just go invisible and appear when everyone is sleeping, or to just walk around instead and explore while being invisible to go undetected. He stood there like a statue, lost in his thought

  “Hey!” a girl called out, startling him

  He looked around to see where the sound came from, locking onto Ivory. “Hm?”

  She was wearing similar clothes to him, but wore white shorts over black leggings, and had smaller white shoes than his. “What do you think you’re doing?” she said with a slight authoritative tone. There was an obvious hint of a German accent in her voice

  “This is the boy’s participant room, right?”

  “Yeah? Why aren’t you going in?”

  “I don’t want to,”

  She started to slowly recognize the outfit he was wearing, squinting her eyes. “Wait a minute…,” she said, her mind drifting back to his display of destruction and power. “Aren’t you that weird guy that destroyed that centipede earlier?”

  “Yeah…?”

  It clicked in her head, but narrowed her eyes slightly at him. “Oh, great… the sadistic orc,”

  “And the bitch that can walk on two legs,” he shot back immediately

  That got a reaction out of her, glaring at him for that comment

  “Excuse you!”

  “Excused for?”

  She crossed her arms, her glare hardening as she took a step closer towards him. “Excused for being a disrespectful brat,”

  He raised an eyebrow, a slow grin forming from the corner of his lips. “It’s not being disrespectful if it’s true. Keep barking, you chihuahua,”

  Her eyebrows shot up in disbelief before they furrowed in anger. She stepped even closer, the fire in her eyes becoming more noticeable. “Who the hell are you calling a chihuahua, you jackass!”

  He leaned lazily against the wall, the smug look on his face growing. “You, obviously. Did you think I was referring to someone else?” he said, letting out a laugh. “Yeah, no. You fit the part: loud, snappy, and the desperate part of trying to look intimidating. It’s pretty cute, honestly.”

  Ivory’s blue eyes flared with irritation, balling her fists and gritting her teeth “You want desperate, you arrogant bastard!?” she snapped, her nails dug into her palms

  “Relax, I’m just telling the truth,” he teased, grinning wider at her anger. His tone was now tauntful and mocking. “Though, calling me arrogant is an overstatement. I’m just saying what comes to mind. Don’t get pissy with me when your ego is attacked when you don’t scare away someone. Like a queen going back on her word for not doing as promised.”

  Ivory raised her voice at him. She took a sharp breath before replying. “You don’t know a damn thing about me!” she snapped at him

  “I’ve seen enough as is. One glance was all it took to read you,” he shot back, his tone sharper. “I don’t even need to look twice at you, but I would any other time. You’re acting out as a tough girl, which you have down to a T, but there’s a really big problem with that type of personality–it’s just that.”

  Fionn adjusts his position against the wall, crossing his arms now. “An act to get around. I’m not saying it’s really a bad thing, but don’t expect everyone to be scared by it. Pissing off the wrong person is what you really have to look out for,” he suggested. “But not me. It’s just amusing and cute to me.”

  She opened her mouth to say something, but the thought left as quickly as it came. She looked frozen for a moment, stuck with the comeback not leaving the tip of her tongue. She tried to calm herself down again by breathing in and out. She had to calm down, because she knew he had a point. She started to slowly relax a bit. Seeing her hesitate to say another, he leaned forward to her

  “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” he taunted, leaning back again and softening his tone. “Or are you realizing that your intimidation doesn’t work on me? Face it, that facade you have is useless. But, if you want to keep it up, then by all means. I won’t stop you.”

  Her glare softened a bit, her confidence starting to crumble from his relentless verbal jabs at her. For the first time, she wasn’t sure whether to feel angry or intrigued. “Y-you’re such a damn jerk,” she finally responded. Her tone was noticeably defensive now, losing some of the fire she had earlier

  Fionn sounded slightly disappointed in her new tone, though it made his own relax more. “A jerk? Is that really it? C’mon, I thought you would’ve said something better than that,” he teased, pushing himself off the wall with his foot. “But don’t worry, Ivory. There’s plenty of time for you to catch up,” he said calmly before adding “Assuming you can even keep up, of course.”

  Her eyes widened slightly at him. She never physically told him her name. How did he know? “Wait, how do you know my name?”

  “I took a peak at your armband earlier when we were in the ripple,” he said, a playful smirk appearing on his face as his voice lightened with teasing undertones. “What, did you think I was psychic? You wouldn’t be wrong, partially.”

  She blinked momentarily before thinking of a response. “You… saw my armband?”

  “Yeah. Whoever raised you did a pretty good job to make you not like other women. Just wish the temper from the soft parent transferred over too,” he said. “You’re a lot cuter when you aren’t trying to act scary.”

  A faint blush crept onto her cheeks, but she forced it away with a fake glare. Something about him made her think he could see through her, as if she was transparent to him. “Flirting? Seriously? You’re pathetic,”

  “And yet, you’re still standing here, listening to every word I say,” he said, walking past her and going back the way he came from. A very faint scent of her perfume traveled into his nose–t smelled like peaches and mangoes. “See ya around, Ivory.” he called out to her

  As he turned the corner, he left Ivory to sit with that interaction. She felt a weird and strange sense of relief in her chest. She looks back at the spot where he disappeared, her body relaxing from her previous anger. She hated that smug attitude–that smug face and his mocking tone–and yet, her shoulders felt… lighter? Someone who wasn’t intimidated by her for a change. It was unfamiliar, frustrating, and new

  “...That bastard…,” she thought. She shook her head, continuing to walk to the girl’s participant room. When she arrived at the door, she partially smiles before entering

  Elsewhere in a dimly lit room, several Division 4 members sat around a round table. The atmosphere was noticeable and heavy with dread and curiosity. News about Logan being humiliated spread throughout the other captains and divisions like wildfire

  “Captain is going to be pissed off for the rest of the week…,” said a male, putting his elbows on the table and rubbing his temples

  Another male shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “It was going to happen eventually. Logan’s been on a power high since he got captain status,” he replied. “He’s been picking on us as if we were inferior.”

  A woman took a slow puff from her cigarette, leaning back in her chair before slowly exhaling it towards the ceiling. She tapped her cigarette against the ashtray. “I really don’t feel bad at all. That arrogant prick finally got what he deserved.” she commented with a casual shrug

  Another girl scowls a bit at her for that. “Come on, really? He’s a prick–no doubt–but do you at least-!”

  The woman immediately spoke up, interrupting her sentence. “Nope. Absolutely not. I’m not even going to pretend to respect him either just because of that stupid role,” she snapped, exhaling smoke into the air again. “Title doesn't mean anything when it’s your only personality!”

  Another male stood up from his chair, trying to calm down the tension. “Alright, alright…,” he said, walking to the front. “Captain got beat up, so what? We should still respect him.” Before anyone got the chance to respond, the room door opened almost silently, but noticeably. They all turned their heads to the figure–another member finally made their way to the meeting

  “Well, well. Look who finally decided to join the party, Alexia.” a male said

  Alexia skips a bit before flopping onto her respective seat, stuffing her hands into her pockets. “What, didn’t think I’d show up?” she said with a sly smirk

  “Honestly? No.” a male started, rolling his eyes before continuing. “Last time you showed up to a meeting, you left immediately after three minutes with the excuse of you ‘needing to pee’.”

  She shrugged it off. “Just a really long piss, that’s all.”

  “More like you got bored and left.” the girl muttered

  Alexia leaned forward, her smirk widening. “Maybe. Or maybe because there was no drama that interested me,” she teased casually. “But when I heard Logan got his ass beat by a newbie, c’mon, how could I pass that up? It’d be stupid.”

  “That new guy, right? Fionn, was it?” the woman said, blowing smoke into the air again. “Apparently, Logan didn’t even get a punch at all. It was really one-sided.”

  The lead male frowned a bit at it. “Yeah, but I don’t think he knows the consequences of beating up a captain,” he said, the worry creeping into his voice. “Beating up Logan is bound to affect his chances of staying here.”

  Alexia leaned in with slight amusement. “What consequences? It’s Logan after all, who cares. It was an undeniable thing to happen sooner or later,” she said with a shrug. “He did this place a favor.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Speaking of Fionn…,” he said, thinking of what to say “What’s your honest opinion of him?”

  “I’ve never seen the kid, so I can’t say,” the woman shrugged

  Alexia thinks to herself a bit, recalling seeing him in the hallway just before coming here. “To be honest… he seems pretty different. Like, he doesn’t give off the vibe he’ll end up like Logan, or be as scary and intimidating as the captain of Division 0, 1, or 2.” she pauses, tapping a finger against the table. “He has a cute face too. As if he’s too young, yet the body of an experienced soldier.”

  “Jeez, girl. Just say you have a small crush on him.” the woman teased

  Alexia laughs at that comment. “Crush? Oh please. I’m just stating the obvious, but I’m also pretty curious to see if this place can scare him off–or if this place gets scared of him,”

  The girl scowls again at Alexia. “You always act so casually and calmly about dramas like this,” she snapped. “It’s annoying.”

  “Don’t be so hateful, Layla. Besides, that look in his eyes really showed he’s not scared. Not in the slightest. I’ve got a feeling… he’s going to really shine here,” she said, standing up and shrugging. “But that’s just me.”

  The meeting steers off from Fionn and Logan’s fight, shifting to the upcoming news about Division 3’s revival, the participants that passed, and the speculation of new members or even promotions for Division 3. They were thinking maybe some other announcements will come up, but the spark of seeing a new and improved Division 3 was something they all were looking forward to ever since it was disbanded

  The next day, Fionn was called into the captain’s meeting room. The heavy white double doors were engraved with the numbers 1-12, split across both doors, and each number bold and black. Before entering, he thinks about what all that led to this moment. He took a breath before pushing open the doors. The room was massive with a slightly dim light. The walls were dark gray, padded with soundproof material all over to nullify any inner sound, light gray wool flooring that was soft but firm, and a white board at the front. At the center was a pedestal, surrounded by large, regal chairs, and occupied with a captain

  The presence of the other captains were very noticeable to him. All of their eyes locked onto him as if he was a target. The most intimidating captain was the man at the far left of the room. His massive frame was nothing more than built of only pure muscle, like a mountain man. He was draped in a large white jacket with the letters, “DC.V.1” written in white and outlined in black on the back, his hood pulled low, white pants, and white shoes with black laces. He sat with his arms stuffed into his pockets. He had three noticeable scars on his face: one just below his right cheek on his jaw bone, one that split his eyebrow a quarter, and the last one being a thick scar on his left cheek. His hair wasn’t visible, so Fionn assumed it was short. He had piercing orange eyes, like a predator’s gaze

  The man next to him was calmer, but just as intimidating. His eyes were closed, but had longer black hair styled into a man bun, and looked a bit slimmer than the appearance of Division 1’s Captain. He wore a very similar attire, but his jacket donned “DC.V.2” on the back and black shoes with white laces

  The spots for Division 3 and 4 were empty. Division 3 looked grim, while Fionn smirks a bit at why Logan was gone from his Division 4 chair. His eyes scanned over everyone else, not necessarily being intimidated by them as much as Division 1 Captain and Division 2 Captain. DC.1 broke the deafening silence with his voice, a deep and measured tone. “So you’re the rookie who beat Logan,”

  “Yeah, er-! Yessir.” he said, straightening up his posture

  DC.2 spoke up next, his lips rising into a slight smile. “Relax. None of us are mad. Frankly, we’re actually happy you did,” he said. His voice gave off a thick Asian accent

  Fionn looked lost for a bit. They were okay with that? Really? “...Heh?”

  “He’s been… a really big thorn in our side for quite some time. A nuisance, if you will. None of us could ever go out and do that without consequences. Not even me or Julius here.” DC.1 explained

  “Until now,” a petite woman said, her voice cutting in sharply. She was sitting in the fifth chair, leaning back in her seat, folding her arms. She had noticeably dyed lavender hair, brown eyes, and a mature face. Her jacket looked a bit big on her, with “DC.V.5” written on the back. She had black shorts underneath, and black shoes. “Of course a rookie would get lucky with something we all wanted to do. A quick fight like that doesn’t make him captain material in my opinion.”

  Fionn bit his tongue, holding back an insult–he knew better than take the obvious bait

  Before anyone else could say something, a tall woman entered the doors from behind Fionn. She wore a black blazer over a white blouse, paired with an orange-and-black pleated skirt, and brown boots. Her hair was a very light shade of blonde and styled in a side ponytail with an orange ribbon. She had a slight glare in her eyes, cutting through the tension like a knife. She scans over the room instantly before locking onto Fionn

  “You’re the newbie?” she asked, her tone was calm yet mature and authoritative

  “Yes,”

  “Hmph… and it’s ma’am to you, boy,” she snapped, walking past him without a second glance. “We heard from Makayla that you want to be Division Captain 3. Do you have any idea how hard it’ll be to remake a whole new Division after its image was shattered? The last captain and his entire squad butchered C.R.P’s image and caused an inexcusable amount of casualties in a Rift.”

  Fionn copied her stare, only looking at her eyes. “And keeping that spot open wouldn’t do much. Especially with Trials running rapidly.”

  She wasn’t intimidated at all, scoffing at his answer

  “She’s going to be on my ass all the time. I can already tell,” he thought

  A man followed behind her. “Ease up, Elaina. Don’t scare him too badly,” he said. The man wore a black suit over black pants and leather shoes. His right hand claps Fionn on the back. “Don’t worry about her, new guy. She’s always like this,” he said, giving a kind smile, but Fionn could tell he was strong underneath it. Elaina and the man walked to the middle of the chairs

  “Don’t forget, this boy was the one who overpowered Logan,” Elaina reminded

  “Ah… poor guy. You should’ve made him bleed more,” the guy said with another smile

  “Maverick!”

  “What? Everyone here doesn’t like him. But there’s no one to replace him just yet.”

  “Ugh… I can’t stand you sometimes,” she said with a sigh, crossing her arms under her chest. She glared over to Fionn. “Do you even have a spine to bear the weight of being a captain? Or are you just a child pretending to be strong?

  “Having a spine is different from willingly putting your life on the line to save others. Every captain here does it. You can be a spineless child that’s afraid of everything, but still have the willpower to protect everyone you love,” he said, staring at Elaina’s eyes again. “Every police officer, fire fighter, and even military personnel are scared. They don’t know if they’ll come home that day. They don’t know if they’ll see a friend die. It’ll be gone within a snap.”

  Elaina’s glare broke ever so slightly at that answer, but she shook it off. She didn’t want to acknowledge his point

  “Alright, alright, I want to chime in,” Maverick said, stretching slightly. “You want Division 3, right? Why that one specifically?”

  “Because I know all of its history. All throughout C.R.P., Division 3 has been nominated as the most dropouts of a recycled Division. It’s a Division that needs redemption. I personally want to restore its image,” he replied

  That caught the interest of everyone. Fixing Division 3’s situation? Seemed like a long shot. Division 6, 8, and 9 exchange words before being silenced

  “A noble goal. But really? Fixing that Division? It’s more cursed than a controlling girlfriend. I’m not saying you can’t but… is that what you really want to do?” Maverick asked, glancing over Fionn. “You could be doing better things. Like being a garbage man–they aren’t at risk of dying.”

  “I know what I’m doing,” he said with a straight face, glancing into Maverick’s eyes

  “Do you really comprehend it, kid? Division 3 has always been the worst. Even Logan is a better captain than all previous members of Division 3,” DC.1 chimed, his tone was more serious now than before. “People died because of that Division. No one can bring those innocent people back because of them.”

  “That’s why I want to rebuild it,” Fionn replied. “Leaving the problem open leaves a gap between Division 4 and Division 2.”

  Elaina’s eyes narrowed at him. “And what makes you think you’re even worthy of even taking the name of Division 3? What makes you think you’re even worthy of being here?” she snapped. “Do you have any idea of even how to lead?”

  “Yeah, I’ve commanded some people before,” he said with a slight shrug. “I fought Trials on my own before just for the thrill of it. I know what’s on the line.”

  “You’re a rookie, aren’t you?” Julius asked

  “Yeah… I do it for fun.”

  The captains’ reactions varied from genuine concern, pure disbelief, and complete shock. Fun? FOR FUN!?

  “For fun!?” Maverick said, stunned

  “Are you insane!?” DC.2 snapped

  “What the hell is wrong with you!?” DC.5 said, shocked

  “You could’ve died, dumbass!” Elaina shouted

  “I really couldn’t.” Fionn said

  “What do you mean you couldn’t die?” DC.7 said worryingly

  “I reinforced my cells to have an indestructible armor around it whenever things get dicey. No attacks could hit me nor penetrate the armor.” Fionn answered casually

  “So what, are you invincible or something?” DC.5 asked with a glare

  “Kind of, yeah.” he replied, shrugging

  “You seem too confident in your ability, let alone ideals…,” Maverick said. “What makes you think you’re deserving of Division 3? Who are you trying to prove wrong?”

  “Aisling,”

  That visibly shook the room. Aisling? O'Dana? No, not her… right? The room fell into utter silence–quiet enough to hear a pen drop on the carpet–as the captains exchanged glances before looking back at him

  DC.1 leaned in a bit in his chair. “You’re her brother?”

  “She never mentioned ever having a family,” DC.7 said

  “Well, she’s always so closed off. It’s still shocking to know she has a sibling… maybe even siblings,”DC.6, the other female captain, said. “Who knows, she might even be a secret idol in another ripple!”

  “You expect us to believe she’s your older sister? What proof is there because I don’t see a resemblance at all!” DC.5 argued, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes

  Fionn grins at her glare. “Sounds a bit of jealousy to me. Annoyed that another person is equal to Aisling, or angered by the fact another person is better than you?”

  A few captains snicker at his remark. DC.5 lets out a scoff and looks away from him. Fionn raised his hand–opening his palm to face the ceiling–then materialized a foam ball from thin air. He makes the ball float before making it blow up like a miniature firework. Maverick and some captains were impressed with his mini display

  “There’s no doubt about it.” DC.1 said with a shrug

  Julius sighed a bit. “Even if I could see, I still wouldn’t believe it.”

  “Wow…!” DC.6 said, amazed

  “...Show off.” DC.5 scoffed again

  Maverick tapped his finger against the stand. “Honestly, another person like Aisling would be a very convincing addition to C.R.P., but it all falls down to your leadership,” he said. “If you don’t make it, you’ll still be thrown into a high Division, maybe even lieutenant of Division 1 here. That all boils down to your willingness to take on the worst Division in history of C.R.P.”

  Elaina crossed her arms under her chest again, glaring dead at Fionn. “Three months. You get three months to rebuild Division 3,” she said, crossing his arms. “If you fail to meet expectations, you’ll either be honored into Division 1 or kicked out for good. Am I clear, boy?”

  He bites his tongue to say something back. That ‘boy’ really made her unlikable to him. “Yes ma’am,” he said with a calm face, masking the annoyed tone with his neutral one

  “Well… that settles it. Shakti and Julius will inform you tomorrow about the layout before the ceremony for promotions and the selection of your new Division.” Maverick said

  Fionn nodded before teleporting out of the room, the air shifting as he ended up in an empty hallway. After leaving, he took a huge sigh of relief

  “Holy shit… I actually pulled that off,” he thought to himself. “I thought they were a lot more serious than that.” He made his way down the corridor. Their words lingered in his mind, especially Elaina’s. He could already tell she hated him before stopping momentarily

  “So Shakti is the leader of Division 5… Julius is the leader of Division 2… ugh, remembering names is such a pain,” he thought, shaking his head to brush off the nervousness. He started walking around again to understand the layout better to save them some trouble. Division 3 was going to be redeemed–he was sure of it. He spawned a pair of headphones to listen to music while exploring. He scrolled through his phone before putting on a random song from his playlists

  The headquarters was larger than he expected. It wasn’t just soldiers here–the whole place was busy with other people: Chefs preparing meals and taste testing them, janitors sweeping, mopping, and scrubbing the floor and walls, construction workers repairing some walls, equipment, and facility, blacksmiths hammering and melting material together, engineers checking over machinery and functions, and scientists running tests, looking over notes, and writing new stuff down.There even were some clothing designers that were tailoring uniforms and making new outfits. He took personal notes of the layout to remember until he knew it like the back of his hand. To him, this place was the most interesting thing. It was a facility people willingly attended to and to protect people all over Earth

  As the sun started to set, he went back to his assigned room: a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. He decided to turn the room into a kitchen. He took off his headphones and set them on the counter, walked over to the stove, spawned a frying pan, and manually applied butter to it. He then spawned thick pieces of raw beef, a lime, two lemons, and an array of peppers–chili, jalapenos, and habaneros

  “Three months… doesn’t seem that long, but from the way everyone was built, it’s something hard to newer people… probably. How bad is Division 3 to be the “curse” of a team?” he thought. “Nah, I’ll be fine.” He stiffens for a split second, before shrugging off the thought of failing. Taking on the disgraced division that even Division 4 was seen as better. “Shit…,” he muttered

  He first seasoned the beef with salt and pepper, then took a lemon and sliced it before squeezing the juice onto the beef, then doing the same with the lime. Once they were coated in it, he diced the peppers and spawned an onion before dicing that as well. He splashed a bit of soy sauce, buffalo sauce, and hot chili sauce before putting it together and cooking all of it on the stove

  “Aisling… with what I know of her, she’s going to be judging me. There’s no doubt that she’ll get annoyed with me being a captain,” he thought. “Honestly, I probably should’ve just stayed away. Julius doesn’t remember me, but I think his lieutenant will. Actually… would she?”

  He waited until the meat and extra were all cooked thoroughly and looked appetizing before taking it off the stove. He coats it again with soy sauce by taking a boasting brush and carefully paints over it, like he was working on an art piece

  “So a real Trial… hopefully it’s not another boring one. I actually want to have fun this time,” he thought before biting into a piece of meat

  Where are you…? Sissy, I’m scared! SISSY!