Explosions went off in the town, as the audience watching continued to be in awe at the display of power, not a single thought passing between their minds that these ‘kids’ were capable of rendering them all dead if their suppressors came off. Yes, the folly of man at its best when people could watch these fights from the safety of their seats. Yet, so too they would be subjected to a weird phenomenon on the screen.

As explosives went off in the distance and flames spread through the field, some took note of an odd purple substance on the ground while others didn’t see this substance at all. The playing field was changing, but to whom was another question.

Deveron picked himself up with dust filling the air, crashing through buildings took its toll, and to say that he was an expert at it would make him furious. The flaw in his own power is what made him stand out from the rest.

Slamming his fists together, a green pulse vibrated through him. Swatting away the dust and grim, Deveron watched on as the fighting continued, his eyes locking onto Tae. The first year wanted to take the best on, well so be it. A sly smirk made its way onto Deveron before he hopped out of the building and charged at Tae.

[+23]

His right fist connected with Tae throwing her balance off course, she staggered to catch herself. Curious, Deveron noticed the number above him. Was this girl letting him win? Throwing out his left fist slamming it against the girl's chest. The impact produced a shockwave behind her knocking over lamp posts and shattering windows.

[+44]

The designation that hovered above Tae now, Deveron's attack being made ineffective. Tae’s defensive capabilities and attacks increased with each positive. Dev finally figured it out, what a nasty singularity. The sky darkened as smoke continued to build up in the air; the scenery started to turn red as if a scarlet moon had descended upon the field. Breaking through the smoking cloud. A giant fireball descended on Deveron and Tae.

Tae muttered a few words before taking her attention to the fireball. “Come on…” The numbers above her head started to flip up and down like a slot machine. Deveron backed away from Tae to stand steadfast during both attacks.

The numbers continued to flip as Tae nervously watched the fireball descend. She only had a few seconds, one by one, the numbers continually changing at a rapid pace faster and faster until it finally landed upon…

[+-0] - Ȩ̴̦͓̊r̸̻̺̋r̷͌̈́ͅo̴̞͘͝r̴̰̭̜͝!̸̰̇́

The fireball stopped in place, frozen in time, before simply being evaporated into bits of data, a vortex formed in its place. The ground started to shake as an abyss opened up on the outskirts of town, everyone fighting stopped in place. An annoyed Triston wondered why his attack just up and vanished. The red sky turned to purplish-blue, people could see random numbers moving throughout the sky. 1’s and 2’s, 10’s, and even 100’s. All randomly appeared in the air, some numbers even taking shape and crashing into the ground.

Mason plucked at his guitar watching his vibrations crash up against the solidified numbers breaking them in half, his eyes looked over at Triston. The fiery man burned up half the city, and now the field appeared to be breaking. Even his guitar was starting to ‘malfunction’ a few of his strings started to twist and turn even nearby lamp posts were beginning to bend.

Tapping the guitar he noticed his own vibrations flowing through, weaving in and out until he played it again and the vibration knocked him and his guitar away... Triston watched this occur, confirming in his mind to change targets.

“Oi, Taylor!” Triston called out, only to see that she was occupied dealing with Elsie. Thankfully, she gave him one of her barrier drones. The heat around him started intensifying to the point his clothing caught on fire, yet did not burn away. The flames wrapped around him turned blue.

“Ah...Nevermind. Guess I'll deal with it myself.”

Hopping down from the roof, Triston looked towards Tae, then to Deveron behind them. Triston extended his arms outward forging a flame to take hold of his hand. The heat coming off accelerated more and more, as the flame turned from red to blue and finally to white. A white flame that dropped to the ground then rapidly spread across the concrete!

Parts of the flame glitched out when approaching Tae turning into an empty void line. Nothing was getting close to this youth, huh? Triston thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers allowing the white flames to fade away.

Tae aimed a finger in the direction of Triston.

“Ľ̸̛̂ͅe̶̫͗̃̆t̴̮̪̠̑'̴̨̔s̵͖̻̐͗͐ ̶̯̮̇́̕t̷̖̫̓r̶̡̬̾̏y̴̺̏͠ ̷̮̉̑t̸͙͈͊͛h̷̺͇́ȋ̷͓̳͘͠s̶̛̰̓ ̵̛̭̪̩̈́o̸̢̙̯̓̂͠n̵̨̼͓̚͠ ̴̡̱̀̿͐ẙ̴̟̭o̸͍̕u̵̲̺̠̾.̶̦̱̒”

“Wha-?” Triston fell through the ground, glitching beneath the surface.

“O̸̲͊n̶͔̅͜e̵͉͇̾ ̵̲̭͊̅D̷͎̠̉ǫ̷͉̈w̸͆͜n̸̩̱͘ ̷̠̱̄t̶̡͍̋w̶̻͚͒̋ǫ̴̬̇ ̸̜̅̃t̵̃ͅo̸̪͝ͅ-̷̝̀̐” Tae’s voice paused movement in the glitch made her face in the direction of Deveron again only to be met with a face full of fist! Only this time, the girl didn’t budge, nor did her number change still lingering at +-0, no damage was notified on the status bars.

“Correction…” Her voice was no longer a glitch. “One to go.” Tae grabbed Deveron by the shirt. What a weird situation he caught himself into, the boy was taller than her and weighed more, but the girl lifted him up like a feather and threw him into a wall. The numbers above Deveron shift once more.

[-10]

Throwing off bricks and other debris from his body, Deveron noticed a strange black substance around his arm. The black ooze quickly latched onto his arms and legs keeping him pinned down for Tae.

“Stay right there, Can’t have the main star leaving so soon.”

Now standing over Deveron, Tae lifted their hand and created another glitch in the field, a small rift of static tearing itself open above her palm. The number over her now started to flip away from +-0.

[+1]

The ground rumbled from the nearby fighting, and the building rattled with the ceiling above cracking open — breaking through the ceiling Mason gripping his guitar, slammed it hard against Tae’s head, knocking the girl out momentarily.

“Phew…”

With the twang of his guitar, the black ooze retracted off Deveron. He arose dusting himself off.

“Thanks for the aid, bu-”

SMACK!

Mason’s guitar collided against Deveron, sending him flying out of the building and back onto the streets.

“Get out of the way, I’m dealing with a pest.”

“Urgh..” Deveron sat up, “I’ll show you a pest..” Gripping his hands, he felt the vibrations moving through him. Annoyingly, this ability reminded him a bit too much of Pearl. Only this one can only be transmitted through an object.

A fierce wind kicked up from inside the building, within the span of a few seconds, Mason was flung out over Deveron with his guitar smacking right into dev’s body! Swatting away the dust and getting out the dirt from her hair — Tae looked to the two warriors watching in the distance as the other fighters distracted each other. Once more the girl lifted a single finger, and a glitch in the system started to occur before them as all of their numbers shuffled.

[+-0] - Tae

[-48] - Deveron

[-43] - Mason

The ground beneath their feet rumbled, and cracks formed as hot fire seeped through rising high interrupting Tae’s glitch. Jumping back from the flames, Tae watched as Triston crawled out of the ground.

“What? I knocked you out of the field, how are you still here?”

“Listen, Little Lady. You’re clearly new here. Just know, that anything is possible.” Triston waved his hand towards Tae, then his other Deveron. Blue flames scattered about, a portion of which was being consumed in a glitch, and the other setting Deveron on fire.

With the vice-captain’s match continuing on, in a private room Alexia and Clarice sat watching the match.

“You gonna answer my question before you have to go up there?”

“Really, it's a question I don’t know if I can fully answer, myself. That’s all.” Alexia situated next to a window watched the sunset outside. Like always, her match would be the final spectacle. The bioluminescent light on the ends of her hair started to shine brighter as nighttime drew near.

An exhausted breath of air escaped Clarice, only for the woman to hand Alexia a drink, carbonated soda. Compared to Alexia, Clarice didn’t shine any radiant light, the woman herself already radiated an unreal level of beauty that would keep any man's attention aimed her way. Clarice sat down next to Lexi. The woman carefully kept an eye on the watch so as to not keep the girl held up too long, after all. Even she wanted to see the spectacle that was the finals.

“Well, give me the basic rundown then. I helped you out, and now you should help me out.”

“You didn’t really help me out, just so you know. Why do you want to know the origin of my power anyway? Are you working for…”

“If you’re thinking about that red-haired woman, I assure you, I’m not an ally of hers — It’s in the best of my interests to stay away from her directly. That doesn’t mean I won’t interfere with what appears to be her latest experiment.”

Clarice looked at the black suppressor that Alexia wore. Such an expensive device, and unlike any that she knows of. For a moment, the woman pondered if she should even ask.

“So you do know her!” Alexia took a sip from her soda, watching Deveron’s match go about, at the moment the monitor showcased Cheveyo fighting Taylor again, along with Elsie giving chase, and Jumon. The devastation within the playing field accelerating by the minute, especially with the strange glitches that interrupted the viewing.

“Everyone that stands out tends to eventually know them. But, that answers one of my questions… Hm.”

Silence kicked in with the two neither speaking — Alexia contemplating if she should even express how she obtained the ability to conjure up stars. The fact that this ability only grew stronger as time passed resulted in a few raising eyes over the past few months. To think at the start of this, simply conjuring up one would burn her hands. But, thanks to her gloves, there wasn’t any burning sensation even among her strongest attacks.

Clarice lightly punched Alexia’s shoulder.

“Ease up a bit. I’m not going to get you in trouble, you have my word. In fact, it would be in your best interest to entertain me until your match starts. After all, I’ll give you something you’ll really like if your team wins….Well, if you win.”

“I…I am eased up…But, what is it...Money?” Alexia perked up at the thought of money her mood quickly shifting.

“No, not money. In fact, win your match for me, and you’ll see. But, as I said…Entertain me…Clocks ticking, and im sure your friend or the other team will end this match soon.”

Alexia turned back to the sun setting over the horizon past the skyscrapers, her gaze finally made it onto Clarice. There was a moment of hesitation if she should finally express this, but why to this person? Why here? Why now? She had never even told of how she acquired her power even to Reynolds. Yet, to Clarice, there was something compelling her to express it.

“Fine…But, it’s not the most fascinating story.”

“Compared to mine, I doubt that.” Clarice quietly awaited for Alexia to talk again. The woman was captivated by the girl, the bioluminescence even shined in her eyes, not only their hair.

“Well…Let’s just say, it all happened on the day of the Solar Eclipse five years ago.”