Back in the control room, Commander Jones sat surrounded by a half-circle of digital screens, each one displaying different angles of the trial. Beside him were the captains and lieutenants who weren't currently deployed, their faces lit by the glow of the monitors as they silently tracked the progress of their squads.
The lieutenants for squads 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8 were present, along with their respective captains, each carrying a different shade of tension—or lack thereof.
"It looks like everything is going smoothly," said the captain of squad three, leaning back in his chair with a relaxed grin, hands folded behind his head.
A loud, obnoxious laugh broke the calm as the captain of squad two slapped Commander Jones hard on the back.
"I know, right?" he crowed. "So you can stop worrying, Jonesy!"
Commander Jones coughed into his fist, attempting to compose himself. "What do you mean? I was never worried," he said, a little too quickly. "I trusted my students from the start! Still..." He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll admit, when the captain of squad six first proposed the Island idea, I got a little anxious."
Captain Wade, the solid and dependable leader of Squad One, placed a reassuring hand on Jones' shoulder. "You did a great job, Jones," Wade said warmly. "This is the best batch of recruits I've seen in a long time."
Before Jones could respond, another voice cut through the moment—a voice that always seemed to make the air a little colder. Dry. Unsettling.
"Yes, Jones," murmured the captain of squad six, his tone disturbingly even. "I have to agree with Captain Wade. When I proposed the trials... I hadn't expected this."
Jones turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "What had you expected?" he asked, the slight edge in his voice betraying his curiosity—and unease.
The captain of squad eight leaned forward, tapping a finger idly against his knee.
"Yes," he said with a sly smile. "I want to know this, too."
For a moment, Squad Six's captain said nothing. He simply lifted a cup of water to his lips, drinking slowly as if savoring the suspense. Then, setting it down carefully, he answered in a voice that made the room seem just a bit smaller.
"Death," he said.
…
"Get away from him!" Damien shouted, thrusting his hands forward as a surge of lightning crackled from his fingertips, lancing toward the beast.
The creature flinched and sprang backward, narrowly dodging the bolt, its blackened claws dripping with blood as it retreated a few paces from the mutilated body lying cold and limp on the ruined floor.
Damien's gaze snapped down to the carcass, and his stomach twisted violently.
'I know him,' he thought, the recognition hitting like a punch to the gut. He fought the urge to vomit as he stared harder, willing himself to believe he was wrong. 'Randal... his ability had something to do with voices, I think.'
Before he could finish the thought, a harsh, wet sound tore through the heavy air.
To his left, Summer was hunched over, retching violently. Her brown hair fell like a curtain across her pale, clammy face as her whole body shook with each heave.
Damien didn't last much longer. He staggered sideways, doubled over, and let everything in his stomach come flooding out, the acid burning his throat as he emptied himself onto the broken stone.
The sounds—Summer gagging, his own body convulsing—were ugly and raw, the kind of sounds you didn't forget.
He had seen death before and knew the risks that came with being a Deviant, but this-this was different.
As he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, a cold, disgusted thought slid through his mind like a knife.
'That bastard ate him... like a fucking pig.'
And Damien couldn't tell if it was rage or sickness that twisted tighter in his gut.
However, Luka was completely unfazed. With a manic grin plastered across his face, he dashed forward, propelling himself off the air like it was solid ground, Nova glinting wickedly in his right hand.
"What are you guys doing? Get with it!" he yelled over his shoulder, the wild excitement in his voice unmistakable.
'He's right.' Damien clenched his fists and forced himself upright, ignoring the ache still lingering in his gut. 'Now's not the time to mourn, Randal. We need to kill this bastard.'
Lightning sparked to life across his skin, racing along his arms as he focused on the enemy.
The creature wasn't big—maybe a meter and a half tall—but its appearance was far more unsettling than its size suggested. It didn't resemble any animal Damien had ever seen. Instead, it looked like a twisted goblin, its green flesh stretched tight over wiry muscles, its claws long and jagged, its teeth sharp and uneven. Worse, jutting out from its spine and forearms were bones, honed into knife-like spikes that gleamed under the broken sunlight.
Luka kept the goblin busy, dancing around its swipes with reckless abandon. However, he couldn't even maintain it for ten seconds.
With a brutal swipe, the goblin caught him across the chest and sent him flying backward like a rag doll, crashing directly into Summer and knocking them both to the ground.
Grimacing, Luka scrambled to his feet and hauled Summer up with him, brushing the dust from his arms.
"Damn, that bastard's tough," he said, practically laughing through gritted teeth. If anything, the setback only fueled the gleam of excitement burning in his eyes.
Damien steadied his breathing, forcing down the adrenaline and anger threatening to cloud his mind. He locked eyes with his teammates and spoke with calm authority.
"Let's attack together and kill it."
Damien and Luka sprinted forward, while Summer hung back, preparing to offer support.
Electricity surged through Damien's veins, turning them a vivid blue as he forced as much lightning into his body as he could handle. Beside him, Luka swapped his boots for his shield, the steel gleaming in the fractured light.
But the beast wasn't about to sit still and wait.
In a blur of sickening speed, it charged toward them, faster than anything the duo had seen so far.
Damien barely had time to react. The goblin swiped at his face, and though he managed to dodge, a thin scratch opened across his cheek, stinging sharply. The creature didn't stop, its momentum carrying it past him, straight toward Luka.
Its claw collided with Luka's impenetrable shield in a thunderous clang, the sound echoing like a bell through the ruined city around them.
Luka staggered back several meters under the force, boots scraping against the cracked stone, but he held firm, refusing to lower his shield.
The goblin wasted no time. It pivoted midair, springing toward Damien's unguarded back like a green blur of death.
Damien spun, raising his sword to intercept, but he was too slow.
The goblin's claw was inches from his face—he could see every jagged crack in its nail—when suddenly a translucent bubble materialized between them.
The creature smashed into the barrier with a screech, its momentum sending it sliding back several meters. Damien, too, was shoved slightly by the force of the impact, his boots skidding across the uneven ground.
Breathing hard, he stared at the goblin and thought grimly, 'What the hell is this thing?'
Damien met Luka's gaze and gave a quick nod—Stay ready.
Without wasting another second, they burst forward again, zigzagging across the broken road, trying to throw the beast off balance.
It didn't work.
The goblin lunged at them, razor claws flashing. But just as it sprang, a bolt of lightning arced from Damien's hand, crackling through the air toward its chest.
The creature twisted midair, dodging with unnatural grace. The lightning slammed into the ground, sending up a burst of shattered stone.
Before it could land, a second attack followed—a searing projectile of green energy, fired by Luka.
Damien's heart leapt. 'We got it.'
But they hadn't.
In a fluid, almost lazy motion, the goblin swung its arm, and four bone blades erupted from its flesh, slicing through the air. They met the energy blast head-on with a sharp crack, the collision sparking a small explosion that shook the air around them.
Damien gritted his teeth, adrenaline flooding his system.
'Seriously, what the hell is this thing?'