Silence stretched endlessly in a room, with nothing but darkness stretching for what felt like hundreds of square feet. From the inside, one would think the room was some sort of dimensional hellscape where nothing could be seen or heard at all.
From the outside though, it was actually an interrogation room. A reinforced glass window stood giving the outsiders a stark view of the inside.
The confusing part was the fact that from the outside, it wasn't dark at all. The glass had some sort of night vision tech installed in it.
Outside the interrogation room, three Oval Corp officers sat together around a small table, engaging themselves in a distant but audible conversation.
"Did you hear what happened?" One of them asked. "A hack was detected on one of the Oval Systems. B-33."
"Who would be idiotic enough to hack into the Oval Network?" The second officer nearly facepalmed.
"Honestly… and not to sound like one of them, but -THEY' need to step up their game."
"How'd you mean?" The third officer asked.
"Well, a hack that easy to detect? That's a rather very sloppy move. Maybe the Trojan Horse they placed wasn't a smart one…"
"Well… whatever he is, smart or dumb… he's in trouble."
All three officers turned their heads towards the see-through glass, looking directly at a teenager who lay unconscious on the floor.
—
[Daily Mission: Unknown]
[Mission Update Status: Rob a student of 50 CNTs]
[Mission In Progress]
[Infernal Core Status: Active]
[All stats are fully active]
[Host is awakening now…]
—
"Uggh"
Axel groaned as his eyelids slowly fluttered open. He glanced around trying to take in the environment but he couldn't. It was almost pitch black.
"What the hell? Where am I?" He asked but he received, not an answer, but a very loud chiming sound inside his head.
"Screw this bloody system!" He cursed as he grabbed his head.
[Welcome back]
The system greeted, earning a raised brow from Axel.
[Scanning Environment…]
Axel stared at the screen wondering what it meant by that. For some reason he was able to see the screen in this dark space. How that was even possible was a mystery.
[Scan complete]
[New skill Unlocked]
[Night Vision]
[...]
"How's that even possible? I didn't complete any mission." Axel wondered.
Wasn't he supposed to complete a mission and receive a reward, or level up before he could attain a new skill? That part was as confusing as having a system in the first place, so Axel decided not to think too much about it. Right now, he needed to know what was going on. Where he was. Why he was here and lastly, how he got here…
"Wait a second. How did I get here? Why don't I remember..?"
Axel stared at the nothingness of the room as he slowly started to recollect the events from before…
—
"You all are under arrest for reasons which will be revealed to you later on. Right now, it's best that you cooperate." One of the three officers announced vaguely.
"What did I do? You can't just arrest me. I haven't done anything wrong." Kinsey tried to defend herself.
Ares, who was still pinned down, was fully aware of the situation, but there was only so much he could do at the moment because of the pressing weight on his back. The fourth-year student didn't give him any sort of comfort and even the officers turned a blind eye on it. Hell, they were even asking for his arrest as well.
"Sir please. We didn't do anything," Rick pleaded as more officers joined in the arrest.
Nile was already entering a full on defence mode, ready to zap anyone who gets too close to her. Kinsey on the other hand was freaking out and very confused. She couldn't exactly fight her way out of this. She would be powerless against the Corp.
"Please, stop him. He's hurting Ares." Rick pleaded again, this time, on Ares's behalf.
"Axel what are you doing?!" Rick nagged on Axel who was staring blankly into nothing. At least to everyone else, it was nothing. To him though…
[Warning! A high-level mutant has been detected.]
[A fight is imminent…]
[Chances of survival: 0%]
[Host must survive this encounter or face permanent death]
[...]
'Oh crap. Certainly can't fight my way out of this mess.'
"Don't fight. Don't resist. You're outmatched and out-powered. You will lose." The Oval officer warned as he activated his ability. The whole library shook violently, causing everyone to stumble and panic. Some even fell down. The only ones unaffected by this subtle display of power were the fourth years and the Oval officers.
Everyone else stumbled, including Nile.
Specks of dust started to rise from the ground in an unnatural way, which showed another kind of power was being used.
Slowly, the dust circled each other in a weird pattern. Creating What looked to be… a gigantic sword. Made of dust.
For the first time since the encounter at the library, Nile's eyes grew wide at the dust sword hovering in the ceiling.
"We could do this the easy way, or the hard way." One of the Nova fourth year students, the one who owned the dust sword, threatened with a sinister smirk.
"Oh yeah?" Nile responded bravely. "Let's see how you'll fare when I zap your dick off!"
Electricity ran through her body. Her silver hair rose up and started glowing under the influence of her Electricity.
Onlookers in the library hallway gasped in shock. Not because of how powerful she looked, but because of how stupid they thought she was.
"IS SHE CRAZY?!"
"I think she is. Going up against Novas and a freaking APEX?!"
"She's dead."
The Apex student, the one who still uselessed Ares, turned to Nile.
"Put that thing away," He said. "You look stupid."
He was basically mocking her powers
"Alright that's enough," The officers said. "We've entertained these terrorists long enough."
"Kane," The officer muttered, looking directly at the Apex user.
"Knock them out."
Kane, who was the Apex leveled fourth year, smirked, like he had been waiting for this moment all his life.
Almost immediately, it became hard to breathe. Axel clutched his chest, gasping for whatever air he thought he needed. His knees crashed against the tiled floor and it was almost like he was carrying a weight two times his size.
It wasn't just him. Kinsey, Nile and Rick also experienced the same thing and slowly, they started to pass out.
Ares went first due to him being held by this gravitational pull the longest, Rick and Kinsey followed right after. Axel fought, but not for long.
Nile on the other hand, held on longer, refusing to be subjected to another round of defeat. All she wanted to do was get closure for her first defeat. Now here she was again… being defeated.
Eventually, her lightning faded and her eye lids snapped shut.
"Lock them up." The officer ordered.