2.1

Content warnings: violence typical of fight scenes, child abuse, vomiting blood (detail below; skip if you prefer surprises)

• A character is depicted being whipped by their father as punishment.

• One of the protagonists makes three enemy combatants vomit blood.

~.~

“I still don’t understand why I’m here,” Lian pouted. They sent a blast of sound towards the target across from them, knocking it over.

“You can’t fight in the tournament for the same reason that Peter and Dani can’t fight in the tournament,” Ridwan said with a frown. “The three of you will be helping me infiltrate the Company headquarters later, and if you disappeared from the tournament halfway through, that would look strange.”

“Fine, fine,” Lian said quickly. “But why am I the only one training?” They knocked over another target with a well-placed soundwave to the tune of “shawty like a melody.”

“Peter and Dani have fighting experience,” Ridwan pointed out. “And you don’t. We need to change that if you’re going to get out of this in one piece.”

Lian froze. For a second, all they could see was the image of a bloodstain spreading across their back. Lian swallowed.

“Okay.” Lian paused. “So why aren’t you sparring me, or something?” They squinted at Ridwan, scrutinizing the immortal. It was subtle, but Ridwan’s expression appeared strained. “Actually… are you okay? You kind of look tired.”

"I'm fine," Ridwan said wearily, running a hand over their face. They contemplated for a second. "Actually, this might be a good teaching moment. Do you remember how my power works?”

“Your power is…” Lian made the lightbulb sound effect from Animal Crossing ring through the room. “Light manipulation!”

Ridwan nodded. "But I've been using my power to craft illusions. It's not... simple. There's a lot of science and math involved, but basically, I can manipulate light to change what people see. Any time someone in the room moves, I have to reconfigure the entire illusion."

“Okay, but why are you tired now?” Lian pressed. “You look like poo.” Ridwan gave Lian a withering look.

“Those crystals we gave you—they are preconfigured pieces of our power, so they’ll work even without our conscious focus,” Ridwan explained. “But every time you use them, it draws upon our energy.”

“That’s stupid,” Lian said, hands on their hips. “Why did you hand out so many crystals, then?”

Ridwan’s lips twisted into a sardonic smile. “It’s not a big deal. I’m used to the strain.”

“Illusion man. Please.” Lian pinched the bridge of their nose. “Do all of you take such poor care of yourselves?”

Ridwan stiffened. “It’s fine.” A devious smile spread across their face. “In any case, you’re right—we should spar.” There was something dangerous in their voice. A lance of indigo light materialized in their hands. “I’ll give you ten seconds to prepare.” Lian blanched.

“Wha—” Lian ducked under a blast of indigo light. “Hey, wait!” They dodged another blast of indigo. “Was it something I said?!”

~.~

Morgan took a shaky breath as she surveyed the locker room. In a few minutes, the tournament would begin. For now, though, the group sat in nervous silence. Joshua was leaning against a locker, arms crossed. Juli was chattering to Rae, who looked happy for the distraction, and Mateen was meditating in the corner.

All five of them had indigo crystal pendants around their necks. The pendants would disguise them, help them avoid recognition until the time was right. They’d decided ahead of time on code names to help in that regard, and Joshua chose to hide his wings, though none of the rest of them were going to hide their powers—after all, teleportation, pyrokinesis, and weather manipulation weren’t particularly rare.

We won’t be alone, Mateen reminded Morgan. Karyme and Ven are supporting us from the pocket dimension.

Morgan still didn’t fully understand the physics behind it, but somehow, the crystals worked as conduits for Karyme and Ven to send their powers through. In other words, Karyme and Ven could read the situation from the safety of the pocket dimension and then convey that information telepathically. Which raised the question of why Rae was here, when the lawyer could barely hold xyr own in a fight, but—

There was a knock on the door to the locker room. Mateen rose to xis feet.

Game time.

The arena, as it turned out, was a large sandpit with stadium seating all the way around. Bright lights shone from the ceiling, and the cheers were loud enough to grate on Morgan’s nerves. She knew that none of these people actually cared who won—they just wanted a good show. Well, fine—she’d give them one.

Morgan looked to the other side of the arena, eager to get a glance at their opponents. There were two of them. One was lanky, with long, dark hair tied back in a loop of spotted scarves. The other was stockier, with chin-length green hair, tinted glasses, and freckles across the nose. The pair were holding hands and seemed more engrossed in each other than anything else.

Green-haired girl is an illusionist and a fabricator, Karyme chipped in. And the other girl is a shapeshifter and a voice mimicker.

No sooner had Karyme spoken than the horn sounded, and the game was afoot. The girl with the green hair immediately pulled out a gun and fired at Rae. A second later, Mateen was standing in Rae’s place. The immortal held out a hand, and the bullets stopped in their tracks, then clanged uselessly to the ground. Joshua took that as his cue to rise into the air, waiting for an opening to attack.

Morgan took a deep breath, and as she focused on the tugging sensation in her chest, the wind speed began to pick up. When the enemy fired again, the wind blew the bullets out of the way.

Careful, Tempest, Joshua warned. If you blow me out of the air, I’m going to be pissed.

For a second, Morgan was tempted. The temptation quickly faded as Joshua went into a nosedive towards the girl with the gun. His bat connected with the girl’s arm with a sickening crack, and the girl dropped the gun with a cry of pain.

“Blair!” the other girl yelled.

An ear-splitting shriek rang through the arena, bringing everyone except Blair to their knees. Joshua spiralled a little as he tried to stay upright. A second later, the sound was gone.

I’m blocking out your perception of sound right now, Ven explained, speaking telepathically through the crystal. You won’t be able to hear anything, but at least you’ll be able to focus.

Sounds good. Thanks, Ven, Mateen said curtly.

Blair pulled out a smoke grenade and lobbed it at the group. As the smoke filled the air, Morgan willed the wind to blow faster, clearing the smoke—and if Joshua struggled to stay afloat, that wasn’t Morgan’s problem.

Blair cursed and pulled out another gun.

Hey, Rae, can you switch the positions of two items you’re attuned to? Like, maybe the gun Blair’s holding and one of the bullets on the ground? Karyme asked.

It’s worth a shot, I guess. Rae closed xyr eyes in concentration, and Juli stood protectively in front of Rae, hands alight. When the next round of bullets came towards Rae, Juli melted them midair with a focused wave of heat. A second later, the gun blipped out of Blair’s hand, replaced by a defunct bullet.

A fireball slammed into the other girl’s side, courtesy of Juli, and she went flying backwards through the sand. Blair’s eyes went wide.

“Okay, fine,” Blair growled. “New plan.” She extended her hands towards Morgan. A cold feeling settled over Morgan, like she’d been plunged in ice water, and the whole arena went dark. Her dad’s voice echoed in her head, and suddenly he was standing right in front of her, pointing a gun at her heart.

Morgan tried to take in a shuddering breath, but her chest was suddenly tight, her heart pounding, her legs like jelly beneath her. She felt too dizzy to see straight. It’s him. Oh god, oh god, it’s him, it’s hi—

Morgan was no longer in the arena. Mentally, she was a helpless teenager again, kneeling on the ground as a whip cracked through the air. She had long since stopped feeling each stroke against her back, but the pain was just as sharp, just as agonizing. Her father stood in the background, his gaze like steel as he looked down on his disappointment of a daughter.

Tears started to flow down Morgan’s face, and she fell to the ground, sobbing. She was too lost in the memory to notice what was going on around her—too lost to notice the sudden charge in the air. No, Morgan didn’t notice something was wrong until it was far, far too late.

~.~

One second, Joshua was diving towards the illusionist, bat at the ready. Then, suddenly, his ears were popping, and a crackling noise resonated through the air. And then—

Agony.

Sharp, searing pain coursed through Joshua’s entire body like fire, emanating from his shoulder. The smell of burnt feathers rose in the air. Joshua’s vision went white, his ears ringing, and the pain was so intense that Joshua couldn’t help but scream.

~.~

Juli’s eyes went wide. Ohhh, holy shit. Seconds after the lightning strike hit Joshua, he crashed to the ground, mere inches from the enemies. Lightning continued to crackle dangerously in the air, and the wind was picking up speed.

Karyme cursed.

Ven, you need to get Morgan’s emotions under control, Mateen commanded, xis speech clipped. I don’t care what it takes.

I—okay, Ven said hesitantly. Yeah. Um, okay.

What the hell was that? Rae said shakily.

I’ll explain later, Mateen said grimly. Rae, stand next to me and then switch places with Joshua. I need to heal him now, before the damage kills him.

As Rae and Mateen handled the Joshua situation, Juli launched themself forward on dual blasts of flame, their knife already aiming for the green-haired girl’s throat. The wind threw off Juli’s trajectory slightly, and as it started to rain, Juli found it difficult to keep their flames up—but they were still able to land in range, and as they swung their knife repeatedly at the illusionist, the rain started to clear up.

Keep doing that, Juli, Karyme chimed in. It’s distracting the illusionist and lifting whatever spell Morgan’s under.

Roger that. Out of the corner of their eye, Juli was aware of Mateen kneeling next to Joshua’s limp form, hands glowing red. They kept swinging.

Sooo, what just happened? Juli ventured, smiling as their knife clipped the edge of the illusionist’s arm. Why did Morgan freak out?

There’s a telepath in your midst, Karyme explained. An invisible telepath. Juli leapt at the illusionist, knocking both of them over, and it was only the desperate grasp of the other girl that kept Juli from stabbing the illusionist right in the chest.

I think the telepath read Morgan’s fears, Mateen said grimly, and then the illusionist made those fears a reality for Morgan.

…Which means any one of us could be next, Juli muttered. Great. The long-haired girl managed to pull Juli off of the illusionist, allowing the other to shakily rise to her feet.

Oh. Oh shit. I think I know where the telepath is hiding, Rae said, xyr voice laced with urgency and fear. Mateen, I’m sending you the location right now.

Okay. Done with healing Joshua, Mateen rose to xis feet and walked forward calmly. With the practice of someone who’d fought many battles, xe reached forward, as if grabbing someone. A second later, a girl materialized in Mateen’s grasp. He held her up by the wrist so that her feet dangled off of the ground, and in his other hand, he materialized a knife.

“Surrender,” Mateen said calmly. The other two girls exchanged glances.

Then, the girl with longer hair stepped forward, and as she did, her features began to shift. Her nose became more prominent, her skin alittle lighter, and her hair shortened. Mateen inhaled sharply at Juli’s side.

“Come on, Mateen, you’re not seriously still helping Jinal? After what she did to me?” the girl said, leaning forward. “Or maybe, you’re just afraid because you couldn’t save me? And you won’t be able to save them, either?”

Something about the atmosphere changed. It was suddenly very hard to breathe, and Juli could feel the sheer power radiating from Mateen. The immortal’s eyes glinted red in fury as xe dropped the telepath.

Five seconds later, all three enemy combatants started to gasp for air. The illusionist and the shapeshifter fell to their knees, clawing at their chests, and then Juli watched in horror as the girls started to vomit blood.

“Oh—” The girl with the green hair coughed harder, crawling over to her partner. “Oh god, Lyra—”

“Blair,” the other girl said, her voice hoarse. “Are you okay?”

“Not for long, you’re not,” Mateen said, xis voice eerily calm. Xe extended a hand, and all three girls immediately fell unconscious. Blood splattered across the sand.

They weren’t dead. Juli could tell that much. It was a small comfort.

Joshua was still laying on the ground, unconscious, his burnt wings splayed out underneath him. In the other corner, Morgan was on her knees, staring blankly into space, tears still running down her face. Mateen was shaking with anger.

It didn’t feel like much of a win.

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(Blair borrowed from Cassidy R. and Lyra borrowed from Becca)