CHAPTER 9: Success, Defeat and the Breaking Point

Three months had passed.

It began with 26 initiates, but now three were ‘out.’ The Peralta twins returned to the Elite, much better than spending more time here. They were more fortunate they could fall back on their family’s engineering empire where there super strength would build instead of break. Elsa Revel also had a similar realization, opting out.

Their departures were a reminder that even power and privilege cracked under pressure. Ma and Veronica were next on the chopping board but they however refused to give up. Something Rebel appreciated.

After a single day of rest, the pits called them once more. The atmosphere this time felt different and there were four instructors instead of two.

Rebel stood, her piercing purple eyes watching them, arms folded behind her. The other three around her stood attention, their shoulders tense, even Constantine’s demeanour was wooden.

Jace felt a chill in his blood, expecting a brutal day.

“Three of you have gone,” Rebel began, “good, we have no use for weaklings. I’ll make this simple….if you have doubts, if your questioning your resolve….step forward now.”

No one moved.

“Good,” she said with a faint smirk. “now the real work begins. Up until now, we’ve focused on your endurance….mind and body. From today, we train you on what really matters: your abilities. This is the reason the Glades exist.”

A wave of excitement rippled through the group.

“Silence!” Constantine said stepping forward. “These past months, you have pushed to your limits now you’ll push even further. I know some of you have been reckless….using your abilities when you thought no one was watching.”

His eyes flicked over the group, pausing just long enough on Jace to make his veins, bulge. “Today is the day when you use them with proper guidance.”

The two strangers stepped forward.

The first, a woman with short blonde hair and a silver nose ring, spoke first. She didn’t smile or do any kind of expression with her face. Felicity who was beside Jace, swallowed, looking down.

“I’m Ava Fournier. I’ll be handling the first-class initiates. My job is to help you refine and maximize your potential. If you think your pedigree gives you an edge, you’re sadly mistaken.”

Jace looked at Felicity who was playing with a rock by her feet. From their facial features alone, you wouldn’t realize it but the last name was a dead give away. Jace hadn’t spoken much to Felicity but from the chatter in their bunks, he knew she had a sister.

Ava’s black uniform, marked with the red X left no doubt that she was the real deal. A member of the infamous Taskforce X and so was the seconf stranger who spoke next.

He was a wiry man with a lazy grin and shaggy hair, resembling a tangled mop.

“Name’s Juni. I handle tactics, team coordination and missions. The fun stuff,” he said with a grin. “My goal’s to make sure you survive together.”

Rebel stepped forward again, her tone like iron.
“I’ll continue breaking you until you can fight, think, and bleed as one. Your abilities are not a crutch but a tool to integrate with combat skills. Out there, hesitation means death. As far as the Special treatment among you, Ms. Dumont has requested you join her in the Elite for your training.”

Finally, Constantine spoke again. “Second-class initiates, you’re with me. I’ll teach you control. As a seconf-class myself, I know how volatile dual abilities can be. Some of you got lucky….your abilities complement each other. Others….not as lucky, but either way we’ll figure it out before it tears you apart.”

He looked at Jace when he said that.

With that, the instructors split them by class. Constantine led Jace’s group —a mix of the unpredictable, the unstable, and the unproven—through the woods to a narrow river far from everyone else. By the time they reached their destination, the sun was at high noon.

“Do you know why we’re here?” he asked.

Rin Shigaraki, always composed, raised a hand. “So we don’t destroy anything?”

To anyone else, that might have sound sarcastic, evident by the laughter that followed. But Jace knew different. Growing up in Regens, they hardly exchanged conversation but Jace felt she was a bit too serious. More serious than even him. He’d heard rumours that Rin’s family were one of the strongest mutants in Regens and her brother was allegedly a member of Taskforce X.

Constantine chuckled. “Close. We’re here because I don’t know what the eight of you are capable of. Second-class genetics are…unpredictable. You could’ve inherited a combination of your parents’ abilities, one or none at all.”

What followed wasn’t training—it was revelation.

Rin faced Brock. She had a tough match-up against Brock’s seismic shocks that he could make with his hands. Her danger sense let her move before his attacks even reached her but they couldn’t last for longer than seven minutes.

KRASH!!

Brock slammed his hands together and she was thrown hard into a tree. She winced, blood streaking her cheek. Then within seconds, her skin sealed itself shut, erasing the bruises. Her second ability—Regeneration.

“You’re fast, Shigaraki,” Constantine noted, scribbling in his notebook. “But don’t rely on instinct alone. Your ability doesn’t replace awareness.”

Felicity sparred with Chester Fild next— her agility versus his telekinesis and teleportation. Not a fair fight because like Jace, Felicity didn’t know her second ability yet.

The air rippled as Chester blinked out of her reach again and again, until both of their stamina gave out.

“Fild,” Constantine barked, “your teleportation burns too much energy. Fournier…..focus on economy of motion. Use your superior agility to predict, not chase.”

Veronica and Ma paired next—supervision and enhanced hearing. They were apart of the one awakened ability club. And due to the nature of their abilities, they focused on tracking. Ma would listen for the subtle movements of Constantine who was hiding while Veronica attempted to locate his footpaths. However, both struggled with sensory overload, giving them both a migraine.

“Focus is the difference between precision and mediocrity,” Constantine said touching his temple. “Filter out what is unnecessary and focus on what is.”

It was finally Jace’s turn and he was facing Natasha Demikina.

Her ability was conjuring small, translucent force fields about the size of a head. They rotated around her providing both defence and offense against Jace. He on the other hand was struggling.

“Shit,” he muttered after getting hit with one of the force fields.

He cut his palm open and blood spilled. But it was not like before, his blood was erratic. It moved on its own hardening midair into two blades, each pulsing like a heartbeat.

Natasha’s eyes widened. “That’s new”

Jace lunged, instinctively slashing at her barriers. Each impact rippled but held firm with one of the blood blade shattering against the force. He felt immense pain, when the blood crawled back into his arm, knitting the wound closed. He collapsed.

“Jace,” Constantine called. “Learn control and adapt.”

He stood up slowly, focusing on his blood, specifically trying to rupture his veins. (Write how he does this, getting a small semblance of control) he then, feinted hight and kicked low, forcing Natasha to move back. In that instance, her barrier flickered for a breath. As he lunged, his blood shifted at the last second striking through the barrier sending Natasha stumbling back.

Constantine’s grin was brief but approving. “Better.”

By dusk, they were half-dead walking back to their banks. On the way, they caught glimpses of Ava’s session in the distance—her first-class initiates glowing, burning, screaming as she tore through them.

“Adelle, rein in the flames! Big doesn’t always mean better!”

“Emma, concentrate! Your healing’s useless if you can’t reach your comrades in time! “

“Michael and Phoebe. Try and feed off each other. Your lightning and her electricity are two parts of the same coin.”

None of them said, but it was nice seeing the First-class struggling like them.

Weeks bled into more weeks. Days and nights, the sessions grew sharper. They learned to channel, synchronize and to feel the flow of their abilities like their breath and blood.

Then came the night when it changed.

Ma Xinxiang froze mid-dodge during an evening sparring drill. His head snapped toward the forest, eyes wide and hollow.

“What is it?” Veronica asked, scanning the dark. “Oh…”

His voice trembled. “It’s faint….but I can hear it. Something’s coming. What can you see Veronica?”

The air thickened and an intense pressure hit everyone.

“I don’t know….can’t see that far,” Veronica said concentrating her eyes further. “But the Taskforce X operatives are on high alert, grabbing their weapons and stuff…”

Rebel was already moving, her hand to her comm.

“Confirm, I’m on my way.”

She and Constantine stared at each other before he moved towards Ava to the left.

“Inside. Now!” she barked.