Christian Calaway- Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England

A light thumping hit the door as a womanly yet slightly off kilter voice spoke through: "Christian, time to awaken. It is time for breakfast."

With a light groan, Christian mumbled an "okay" before slipping back into his covers. Christian was never a morning person and it didn't help that this bed was far more comfortable than his one at school and a major upgrade from the ground after the crash. As much as he desired to throw his blanket over his head and melt into a land of dreams, time was not his friend and it was rude to leave a waiting for long. Though Thalia wasn't exactly Antonia. Still, he didn't want to leave that bad of an impression. Christian rolled out of bed, careful not to collapse onto the floor. Half dressed, Christian stretched, feeling the relief of several bones cracking as he got the kinks out. With a wide yawn, Christian stumbled over to his clothes, almost falling over when putting on his pants. Fortunately, no one was there to catch him in the act of considerable stupidity. Grabbing his black shirt, Christian slipped in on and grabbed his jacket, throwing it over his shoulder before opening the door. Expectedly, Thalia stood there waiting patiently while whistling to herself.

"Thalia, any chance I could wash up beforehand?"

"Sadly, the chance has passed us by. We are running late." Christian silently groaned to himself. Usually showers helped him wake up. Now he would likely go through the motions and eat breakfast absent minded, paying no attention to any piece of conversation occurring. Not like it particularly mattered though. The only person who would bother talking to him would be Antonia, and even then it was small talk. He already scared the crap out of Oakley and that Kieran kid wasn't worth talking to. Everyone else was unremarkable and not important enough to him. At least for the time being. "Shall we go then?"

"Yes. Of course. I can just do it later. I forgot where the washrooms are anyway," he said with a weak smile. Thalia smiled in response and led the way. Christian followed silently, not bothering to make small talk at the moment. Frankly, Christian was too tired and in a daze. His morning ritual was already ruined and it put him in a sour mood, but he wasn't going to vocalize it. It wasn't like that would accomplish much in the first place. Hopefully, he could grab a cup of coffee or some orange juice and wake up.

As he walked behind Thalia, Christian wondered if this day would be along the same lines as the previous day. Food, training, rest, etc. It would make sense if they did, as the Royal Family wanted this place to be like some sort of academy and training/education was the only reasonable way to go about fulfilling the principle. However, as much as Christian admired their goal, he knew deep down that things weren't that simple. Those other organizations were still around and it was readily apparent that the Royal Family viewed that as an inevitable threat. Now, Christian wished he know more about the so called "enemy" or "bad guys" or whatever lingo the Royal Family would use to describe them, but for now he had to trust them. Though, trust was never Christian's easiest emotion to throw around.

When they finally reached the cafeteria, Thalia motioned Christian to go crazy and eat his fill. Trying to retain his composure, Christian immediately propelled himself to the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup and dousing the hot beverage with a bit of milk, conceiving a beverage with a fine cream color. A short sip later, he already felt better and was able to think far more clearly.

"I knew you were a coffee drinker."

"Ah, Antonia. Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Christian said with another sip. Man, this coffee is amazing, he thought to himself.

"Excellent, actually. How about you?"

"Better than other night at least," Christian said slowly walking over to the food. "I am not fond of sleeping on rocks. Gets awfully bumpy." Antonia giggled a bit, though Christian thought the laugh was forced as if to make feel better about his "funny" complaint. Christian began filling his dish with your typical breakfast foods (eggs, bacon, toast, etc). Antonia tried to be modest in turn, taking only about half the amount of food.

"Expecting a big day?"

"You could say that," Christian replied, taking a seat beginning to eat.

Leon Nef- Syndicate Headquarters, Birmingham, England

It was almost as if it was fog, but it wasn't. It blurred the vision and the landscape, but only to the points that Leon wasn't looking at. The edges of his vision were fuzzy, as if to make that which his eyes rested upon that much more important. He was in a forest, much like the one he had been at earlier. There were trees and plants, and snow, but they were all so indistinct that they couldn't have been important. Leon walked through the forest before a voice behind him caught his eye, echoing through the forest. He turned, and saw the figure. He couldn't make out the details of who they were or what they looked like, not their eyes or hair color, body type or clothing. Like the forest trees and snow, the image of the figure was blurred. It was then he realized that he didn't care what the figure looked like. All he knew was, for whatever reason, a reason he couldn't understand, yet curiously accepted, that person had to die. Leon lifted his arm up, gathered lightning into his hand, and fired.

"Wake up, sexy," was the first thing Leon heard as he woke up from his dream. His eyes adjusted to the light, as he blinked once and then again before he saw what was in front of him. He had almost completely forgotten everything about the dream he had a few moments prior as October knelt next to him, whispering in his ear with nothing on but a bra and underwear. Leon's eyes gazed at her body for a few moments. He would be lying to say that she didn't look good. But he played this sort of game before, and knew she was only trying to get a reaction from him. Unfortunately for her, it wouldn't be the one she wanted. Leon's mouth formed into a smile.
"How much?" He asked with a grin. He leaned forward to the edge of the bed to get an even better view, if that were at all possible, only to see his face met with October's hand. Because of his position at the edge of the bed and the sudden reaction by October, Leon was pushed out of the bed and landed right on the floor as October stormed out of the room. Leon groaned as he turned over onto his back, looking up at the sealing. He lifted up his head and looked over at the alarm clock. 7:02am, it read. He groaned again and placed his head back down on the cool ground. Leon was by no stretch a morning person. In fact, he hated mornings. Back in the days of living in Italy, he would purposefully stay up later at night so that he could wake up at sometime around noon. That would be an ideal day, to get rid of mornings entirely. He had not actually woken up this early in a very long time. He really didn't want to start now. Leon closed his eyes once more, and dozed off a bit longer. 5 more minutes, he thought to himself.

Leon tiredly opened his eyes once more, rising his head off of the floor and checking the time again. 7:11am, the clock displayed in red digits. Leon sighed, and brought his head down to the ground once more, unwilling, and partially unable to bring himself to rise from the cold floor. He knew he had to get up, but he also knew that it wouldn't be too bad if he showed up five minutes later than everyone else. With that 5-minute goal in mind, Leon closed his eyes once more and slept.

Leon opened his eyes in what seemed like a second later, but as he looked up at the alarm clock from the floor, he noticed quite some time had passed, as it showed 7:19am. Leon always hated that, when you go to rest for a few minutes and wake up in what seems like an instant, before realizing a lot more time had passed, without you feeling that you gained any additional rest from that time. Leon tried to break it down practically in his head.

Ok, if I know taking a shower and getting ready takes up about 15 minutes total, then I have to probably get up now to get ready to show up only reasonably later. He began rising himself off of the floor, still upset that he had to get up, when he came to a sudden realization. Wait! October came out not really dressed at all. I guess it would be alright to come out in pajamas. And I don't really have to take a shower. Which means...I just bought myself another 10 minutes!

Satisfied with his conclusion, Leon lay his head down on the ground again, and went back to sleep, intent on waking up in another ten minutes. He rose his head an instant later, just to make sure he still had time to doze off a bit more, but groaned as he saw the alarm clock read: 7:33am.

"Affanculo!" He yelled to himself out loud. There was not getting out of it now. He had to get up. He raised his upper body off of the floor and looked around his room. He didn't get a chance to look last night, but many of these objects were indeed things found in his room back in Italy. His close hung on hangers in the closet. He had a desk, where his laptop was positioned, as well as a group of books he read offhand, and a Swiss army knife next to them. His eyes then fixated on his alarm clock. He never liked that alarm clock. He had long since disabled its actual sound, but the fact that it look at Leon with its red digits, telling the time like he owned it, really pissed him off. He brought his hand up and aimed his index and middle finger at the device, and charged up his energy. He felt the wave of energy pass through his body and then discharge from his fingers, traveling right at the clock, and exploding it. A victorious smirk appeared on Leon's face as he rose off of the ground and began walking towards the bathroom. However, before he entered, his pinkie toe jammed right into the wall.

"Cazzo!" He screamed, attempting to walk off the pain now emanating from his pinkie toe. As the pain dyed down, Leon held a displeased look on his face as he sulkily walked into the bathroom to do his business. After he finished, he went over to the mirror to see his hair was a mess, but was too mad and too tired to really want to do anything about it. He walked to the sink and brushed his teeth, and took a look at himself in the mirror. He wore his pajama clothes, a plain white shirt and green and white, plaid, bed pants. His hair was a mess, falling and sticking out with no direction or purpose. His tattoo was still prominently displayed on his face covering his eye and going down the side of his face and onto his shoulder. He touched the tattoo, as if to obtain some sort of reaction from it. It felt so much like regular skin, yet he knew it meant so much more. He just didn't know exactly what.

But Leon was too tired and cranky to care right now. Walking away from the mirror, he opened the door out of his room and walked over to where everyone else was sitting. There was Jeremy sitting next to a kid, and Jeri, who sat next to him. October and the four-armed man known as Adrian sat next together, and Archie sat across from Adrian. Leon grumpily walked over and ordered himself food.

"Pears. Give me pears." He said to them, as they delivered to him 3 or 4 of the fruit on a bowl. He always loved pears, even as a child. Grabbing the bowl, he walked to the table where everyone was sitting and placed himself in the seat next to Adrian, not saying a word to anyone. He grouchily placed the bowl down, and then put his head on the table, and closed his eyes, hoping to get a few more minutes of rest.

OOC: I am so sorry guys, finals for school sucked, and this weekend has been plagued with laziness. For the time being though, I am back.

Hot steam had filled the bathroom by the time Nikolai had finished his shower, clouding the mirror and making the air thick. The tall Russian stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around himself, wiping the water from his face as he did so. He stifled a yawn, admittedly still tired from yesterday, but he still walked out of the bathroom into his bedroom. It was still a strange concept, calling it his bedroom, seeing as how he had only occupied it for a single night. Still, it was his for what what seemed like would be a while now, so he may as well get used to it.

Someone had left a neatly stacked pile of clothes by the door, something Nikolai was grateful for. He hadn't packed anything when he left for the Atlantean Center in Russia only two days before, and he was quite keen on changing. Quickly slipping on a pair of jeans and picking a t-shirt at random, he returned to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Incredible, he thought to himself, how you can be hundreds of miles away, and still morning habits pop up. All except the habit of sleeping in until at least ten, that is.

Holding back another yawn, he pushed through his door into the hallway, letting the door swing shut behind him. Fortunately, Atticus and Helena were standing at the elevator, waiting for it to return to their floor. "Morning guys", he said to them, stopping to wait for the elevator as well. "How did everyone else sleep?"

Christian Calaway- Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England

"Hey," a voice said before sliding herself into a seat, next to Christian. Christian recognized the voice: It was Oakley, but it was a surprise to see her take a seat next to him. Truthfully, Christian never expected Oakley to be considered anything more than an acquaintance, if at all. Perhaps, that one person you can talk to you, but the conversation always gets a bit awkward because it is hard to avoid the past. It would always be a grim moment in Christian's history, but he would work towards to redeeming himself in a matter of speaking. Just he wasn't exactly sure how to go about it.

"Good morning!" Antonia said with her useful cheery voice. "How did you sleep?"

Christian considered asking a similar question himself, but he soon found his eyes wandering and observing. First off, he was pleasantly surprised that Kieran was not in the area. That's good to know. Christian despised Kieran, for a number of reasons but would never explicitly show it. He was far too well mannered to do that, but at least he didn't have to fake his demeanor. Christian preferred honesty over many things. He couldn't wait to have more control over his powers and perhaps learn a few tricks. Then he could show Kieran his true "feelings." But then, Oakley herself caught Christian's attention. Her plate was awfully empty, with hardly enough food. Now, Christian isn't exactly a glutton (though he loves food more than he should) but that plate was not nearly full enough. Oakley was what..16 years old? She is still a growing girl. Growing girls need food, not diets. Christian had to resist the urge to force his plate upon her. He probably could afford to lose a few pounds. He had wondered why Oakley refused to eat enough…and Christian could think a number of possibilities. Was it the armor? It was back, having not been there the previous night. Christian remembered it being there at the center back in London, so Christian figured it was "natural" or a result of fickle control much like Christian phasing in and out of tangibility. Or was it a permanent side effect? Or was it something else entirely? Whatever the reason, Christian hoped it wouldn't result in a walking juggernaut terrorizing the room. That wouldn't be pretty.

"Did you find your brother easy enough last night?" Christian asked, hoping the question didn't freak her out too much. It wouldn't if she realized that Christian wasn't a complete fool.

Atticus Forsberg - AUP Headquarters, France

Adeline "Otto" Russo - Under the Vatican, Rome, Italy

Jericho Heiko, Leon Nef and Adrian Santoro - Syndicate HQ, Birmingham, England

Oh God... This place was monotonous. Jericho ate his food, satisfying his hunger with mild interest. He had gotten it about a minute ago and, not spoiling the Syndicate name, it was hot and ready and good. Well, the grits could use some work but... Good enough! He wouldn't complain. Yet. Unfortunately his interest level was so low that he couldn't care to comment on the food. He hadn't wanted to be here in the first place. He only came out as a courtesy to his stomach and once he started eating it seemed like it was a false hunger.

Not only was that a problem, but being down here was pretty boring. Not much was really going on. Basically just sitting and eating. If he wanted to just sit and eat he would have sat by himself like a depressed hermit. Nononononono, he made the mistake of sitting here where he'd do nothing but eat and listen to Archie flap gums until the day stretches to night. Jericho sighed, half noticing Leon walk into the kitchen with nothing but a... t-shirt and some very basic pants. After a gruff order, Leon took his seat next to Adrian. He was not far, just a seat away from Jericho on the same side. He set his bowl down and then, without taking at least a bite of any, put his head down on the table, head in arms.

Jericho took a glance down the table, seeing both Leon (though if you asked him, he would have told you his name was Lenny), and the bowl of pears. A bowl of pears didn't exactly seem like a breakfast, but it had been the apparently satisfying choice of Leon, who didn't seem like he'd eat anyways. What's wrong with this kid? Jericho though, raising a brow. He couldn't quite understand how someone could get a perfectly good bowl of pairs and leave them out and do nothing with it. To him, Leon (or Lenny or Lorenzo) was completely out of his mind. However, Jeri was not out of his mind.

He lifted up from his seat, just enough to allow him a better reach over the table. Hooking a finger, he barely had enough of a stretch to get the bowl, but surely enough he hooked it, dragged it a few inches, and wa-la! had ample pear-snatching space. He grabbed one casually, falling back into his seat and then noticing that other girl that he didn't see come in. She stood in front of the table looking at them all.

"'Sup guys..." She said rather casually. Jericho lifted his legs, resting them on the table and leaning back in his chair.

"'Sup," Jeri replied, nodding once and preparing to take a bite of the fruit. Dammit pears were awesome...

But it wasn't meant to be. A hand grabbed Jericho's wrist, and prevented him from biting the pear. Leon stared coldly at Jericho. His eyes still resonated with exhaustion from the morning, but now they also carried irritation, and maybe a bit of anger. This is different from Leon's usual persona, in which he is not easily exasperated by any means. If anything, this only solidifies how much he truly hates mornings. Something about this time of day just doesn't agree with him. It brings out the worst in him. Or maybe, it brings out exactly what he truly is. Either way, it's not his usual personality.

"I'm only going to say this once..." Leon spoke, in a low, yet harsh voice. He held Jericho's wrist firmly with his left hand. He then slowly rose right hand to the level of his eyes, and then above his head. He took in a breath, and concentrated. A few seconds later, the light bulbs above the kitchen table fed energy into Leon's hand. They shook as the electricity was drained out of them, and then as soon as they were emptied, exploded onto the table. Leon clenched his fist as lightning passed through his right hand. He could feel every tingle of the electricity as it pulsated in and out of his hand and seemed to dance with his nerves. He concentrated the electricity to the tips of his index and middle fingers, and pointed them at Jericho.

"...Let go of the pear. Now." He demanded.

Jericho's eyes locked on Leon's fingertips, wide with mostly shock, then fear. It was astonishing, to see electricity spark off of someone's fingertips harmlessly. It was unnatural looking, in fact. It was unnatural. This little occurance was, in itself, frightening. The second thing, they were pointed directly at him. For a second, Jericho thought to comply and let go, but then a more arrogant thought overrode that. Like hell! I can shoot flames out of my *ss! His widened eyes narrowed and his sights went from Leon's hand to his face. In his pear grasping hand he lifted his most prized and most middle finger, brandishing at its highest and most prideful length.

Jericho grabbed the pear into his other, finally starting and completing the interrupted bite. "F*ck you."

Adrian became annoyed when October and himself were showered with the tiny shards of glass from the light bulb; the glass littering his eggs making the breakfast now inedible. Adrian extended one of his right arms, smacking Leon clean across the back of the head, "Idiot, settle down, it's just a pear goddamnit!" He turned to Jericho sitting further down from Leon, "if you're going to steal someone's pears, be prepared to take the consequences." It was too early in the morning for Adrian to have to deal with this; they would be heading down to training soon enough, just as soon as the Directive showed up.

Leon felt the slap land on the back of his head, instantly breaking his concentration and causing the attack to collapse from his hand and back into his hand. He looked back at the four-armed Adrian and stared him down, not sure what to say. It was true that it was just a pear, but it was his pear. Either way, the more he got to grips with the situation, the more he felt that perhaps he did overreact a bit. Not that he would admit that out loud.

With a groan, Leon fell back into his seat. "Whatever. It's too early in the morning for this sh*t anyways." He grabbed a fruit from the bowl and leaned back in his chair, taking a bit out of it and chewing while staring down Jericho from across the table. It wasn't really a look of anger anymore, but maybe more one of curiosity. Although that wouldn't be entirely true either. He was curious about the man, but also tried to put on a cold face to make him look like he was still angry, even though he really wasn't. He was trying to get a read on Jericho. Leon may have given off the vibe that he didn't like him, but in truth, he was actually starting to think he wasn't too bad.

"Yeah, yeah..." Jericho muttered, taking another bite of his well-earned pear. He found it hard to believe he'd have to face consequences if there weren't any. Jericho caught the eye of Leon, who was staring at him in an angry or displeased fashion. He raised a brow and looked away from Leon, resuming the enjoyment of his new fruit which went nicely with the food he already had.

Turning his attention back to the long-haired girl whose name escaped him, he decided to finish this greeting exchange. "Anyways..." He started. "Who are you?" Jericho didn't exactly care who she was since she wasn't exactly interesting so far, but she had come to the table and asked them "what was up" in one syllable without any form of introduction. Not even a simple hello. He, and the rest of the table guests, had made their hello's and goodbye's the previous day. Practically, she was this figure who'd come from absolutely nowhere and Jericho himself able to vaguely recall seeing her the day before. As the last to the table and least known, she was clearly the least important of their so-far group. Once past the issue of her name, he could allow her to once again fade into the background of the more intriguing characters here whom he had met and most certainly will meet.

Oakley North - Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England

Adeline "Otto" Russo - Under the Vatican, Rome, Italy

Christian Calaway- Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England

"Have you guys seen Michael? Or... uh, Kieran?" Oakley asked, growing more nervous with every passing word. Christian didn't have much spite for Michael, other than the fact that Christian found him a bit "whiny" and seemingly useless. At least it paled in comparison to his contempt for Kieran, who Christian couldn't even begin to list the problems he had with him (and he only knew him for a few minutes). Oakley was clever enough to catch on to that. Then again, it was pretty obvious. Christian didn't want to answer Oakley's question and it seemed that he didn't need to answer either, with Oakley's attention being captivated by the entering Kieran. Christian immediately became apathetic, returning to his meal. Mentioning Kieran made him a bit sour, so digging himself into his meal was the only reasonable thing to do.

An all too familiar sound broke the pleasant taste of his meal. A fight in the cafeteria? Really? Is this high school all over again? Christian sighed and rose from his seat to check the damage, only to shake his head in disgust. It was irony. Pure irony. Of all the people he would find himself shaking his head at, it would be Michael and Kieran.

River entered the room parting the crowds as she came closer to the scene. Before saying anything, she tended to Kieran's "wound" by creating an ice pack from water. A useful trick, Christian thought to himself.

"Go back to breakfast," she said to the crowd, motioning them to go away. She then quickly searched the room, pointing as she called, "Chrysta! Brian! Oakley, Christian and Antonia! Please follow me at once. You too, Kieran." River waited until everyone arrived and surrounded her. "I need you all to follow me at once."

Christian nodded his head and started to follow, with Antonia quickly running up to catch up to him. "What's going on?" She asked, staying close to Christian hoping he had another theory.

"I am not sure. But I have a few ideas. I just hope I am wrong," Christian said with a rather stern face, with a slight nervous twitch cracking the stiffness.

"Like what?" She asked, lowering the volume to a barely audible whisper.

"It's pretty much a given they intend to use us. I wouldn't put it past them that to make us nothing more than pawns of their organization." Antonia stayed quiet, though she clutched to his jacket for the remainder of the brief walk. She clearly wasn't ready for something like this and Christian didn't expect to her to. Truthfully, he didn't know what to expect, but in his gut he knew what was going to happen. They were recruited to help fight a war. In the end, he would become a human weapon. A dog of the military as some would say, resorting to taking orders and fulfilling them without question. Christian smirked a bit at the thought of it. Suddenly he had a fleeting new ambition: to become the one giving out the orders.

River led the group into a room with Blayze waiting. Clearly River and Blayze had organized some sort of meeting, with no doubt to explain the expanded role that Christian and the others were to have. River explained that the Oracle had ordered the Royal Family to collect them as they had a "part to play in the coming months" which clearly made them important in some capacity. It seemed a bit farfetched, but then again so was having superpowers. Blayze expanded on it with talks of being unable to outrun your destiny and such, but Christian didn't really listen to that. He wanted him to skip to the point.

He didn't. River did.

"For your safety," River continued, "and the safety of the people around you, we have organised you into teams of three, each member complimenting each other's abilities. Together, you will work as a team, train as a team, strength comes from unity, as the old saying goes: 'Unite we stand, divided we fall'. We may just be firing into the dark here, but we need to be prepared for anything."

River took a step back as Blayze took a step forward pointing a finger at Christian, Antonia and Chrysta, "You three are in the first team, get to know each other and work out your abilities; your life now rests in the hands of the other two people in your team."

Alright. I could live with that. I am sure Antonia could too. Hopefully we can work everything out well.

"Oakley, Kieran and Michael, you three are in the second team, although you three have things to work out, your abilities work well together, so sort your sh*t out."

Christian couldn't help but bury his face into his hands. He had a feeling that was going to happen based on his assignment. But he was hoping that River and the others had a better plan. Blayze opened the floor to questions and few seemed to have the desire to speak up. Christian had no such inhibitions. It was not in his nature to avoid the bigger issues. At least not anymore.

"Excuse me, but I have more of a concern than a question. The second team of Oakley, Kieran and Michael….I do not believe they should be grouped together. While it may be true their powers are complimentary, their personalities are far from it. Looking at the past 12 hours should provide with more than sufficient evidence that grouping them together will produce more drama than a soap opera.I propose you spilt them up for the sake of any operation you plan to send us on," Christian said making sure to hold in any harsh judgements he already made.

Brian Sheppard – Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England

"Time to wake up!" a muffled voice sounded, jarring Brian from his sleep. "We're running late, so please do hurry!"

Brian sighed as he listened. With the impatience in Cobalt's voice, there was no need for his power. "I'll be right out Mr. Chimura," called Brian as he eased himself up. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Brian scanned the room. It was somewhat small, but it did have the basic necessities like a bed, cabinet, and bathroom. Walking into the restroom, Brian set his eyes on a fresh change of clothes. Brian began to change as his brain finally started to awaken. Gosh, today might just be one of the longest in my life, he thought.

Finally deciding he looked alright, Brian headed for the door to find Cobalt still waiting. "About time," the Asian man said. "You may need to eat breakfast a little fast. After that you have somewhere to be." Turning around, the man led Brian down to the first floor. "If you remember, the Dining Hall is just over. I'm sure River will come and get you and a couple others in a little bit."

"Thanks," said Brian as he began to walk away. Reaching the spot where the food was, he grabbed a plate and dished himself a light meal before finding an empty table to sit at. Of course he wanted to sit with some other people, but he honestly didn't know anybody here, not to mention the fact that the many emotions were already giving him a small headache.

Brian looked around the room as he began to pick at his food. All around him people all sat talking excitedly, almost as if everything was normal. Well, I guess it would be normal here, he thought. Everyone has powers. Before long, he felt a feeling of animosity come from a pair of people sitting together.

Almost as soon as he felt it, one of them punched the other square in the jaw. An uproar rose quickly in the Dining Hall before a woman walked in, yelling for everyone to continue with breakfast. "Chrysta! Brian!" she called as she pointed. "Oakley, Christian and Antonia! Please follow me at once. You too, Kieran."

Realizing she pointed at him, he stood up and walked towards her, each of the others doing the same. This must be River, the one Cobalt said would come get us.

River quickly led the group to the room where Blayze and the person who hit Kieran were waiting. Brian honestly had no idea what was going on, but the two older people began to explain.

"First off," began River, "we have chosen you all specifically. The lady you met yesterday, the Oracle, she has the ability to view the future; she saw your names and told us that we needed to recruit you seven. We don't know why, but we assume you all have a part to play in the coming months."

I have a part to play? thought Brian. As far as I know, the best thing I can do is feel the hostility and anxiety from the rest of these people...

The man took over, "In order to prepare for anything that may eventuate, we want to train you all to better control your abilities. There are other forces at play here that may or may not see you as a threat. It's fair enough if you don't want to participate, we wouldn't blame you for backing out now, but you have a part to play in all of this, and while you may run, you can't outrun your destiny. One way or another, it will catch up with you."

"For your safety," River continued, "and the safety of the people around you, we have organised you into teams of three, each member complimenting each other's abilities. Together, you will work as a team, train as a team, strength comes from unity, as the old saying goes: 'United we stand, divided we fall'. We may just be firing into the dark here, but we need to be prepared for anything."

Wait, if there are teams of three and seven people, someone won't be in one. As he thought about it, Blayze began to pair up the teams. Christian, Antonia, and Chrysta in one and Oakley, Kieran, and Micheal in the other.

Finally, Blayze turned his attention towards Brian, "Unfortunately there are no new recruits for us to put you in a team with, but we will still help you out to hone your abilities and possibly find a team beneficial to your ability. So any questions?" he asked, returning his attention to the group.

Brian felt a bit left out, but it was reasonable. No one except Cobalt and those the man told knew his power. That and he knew no one else in the room.

Moments passed before Christian spoke up, stating his thoughts of the second group. I kinda agree with him, Brian thought. After all, those were the two boys in the fight and even though I have no idea why, I think they obviously have something going on.

Archie Stevens, Syndiacte HQ

Jeri arrived, followed by Leon and the new girl, from somewhere Archie plucked the name Erica but It could be wrong.

Each of them ordered their breakfast with out saying anything, except Erica who gave a short.

"Sup, guys..." Before ordering hers.

To which Archie replied.

"Good morning."

Adrian had finished giving short sharp answers and rather awkwardly shook Archie's hand already.

Jericho was sat next to Jeremy, eating eggs and chatting with the small kid sat at the end of the table. Over the table sat next to Adrian was Leon, he was slumped over a bowl of pears emitting a very sour mood into the air around him. Erica sat near by with a plate of sausages and eggs, seeming a little awkward. There was a sort of strange mood about the setting in general, maybe it was just Archie, but he could swear that he could sense tension. Glancing about the table he could guess where the rifts lied. He shook his head, maybe he was just tired. Also it was too early in the morning to think about such things. He reached for his i-pod, to put on some of his choice of music but found that it wasn't there. It was still in his flat, and to be honest he felt a little lost with out it. Half consciously he began to tap his foot and strum his fingers on the table to the beat of one of his favourite songs.

He barely noticed as Jericho reached across the table and swiped one of Leon's pears. Archie silently applauded Jericho for brighting his morning, even if it was just a little. He was just about to take a bite from the pear when Leon grabbed his wrist, shooting him very irritated look.

"I'm only going to say this once..." Leon said, with out raising his voice but doing a good job of showing everyone that he meant business. He rose his right hand up above his head and bolts of electricity arced from the light bulbs above the table to his hand. The bulbs shacked and flickered as he drew power form them before finally exploding in a series of loud pops and bangs. He focused the lightning to the tips of his fingers on his right hand and pointed it directly at Jericho. "...Let go of the pear. Now." Archie wondered what Jericho's reaction to this would be, his full attention was now focused on the incident.

Jericho's response made Archie's morning, he stuck his middle finger up at Leon and taking the pair in his other hand he took a large bite from it. At the same time Adrian smacked Leon round the back of the head, defusing the situation before it could go any further.

"Idiot, settle down, it's just a pear goddamnit!" Adrian shot at Leon before turning to Jericho and adding "if you're going to steal someone's pears, be prepared to take the consequences." Archie turned back to his breakfast as the two rivals calmed back down, his half eaten slice of toast was showered in glass. He Picked a few pieces off before giving up, there were far too many tiny shards to remove. His drink also had glass in it so he ordered himself another and waited for something to happen. He wasn't sure what but being new here he assumed that someone would tell him what to do.

"Good morning to you all, I hope you slept last night wasn't too bad, because you're going to need all the energy you can muster." The Directive began to speak, Archie hadn't noticed him enter the room he had been day dreaming a little. "You have ten minutes to finish your meal and get into something more fitting for training and meet me down in the training room; Adrian, please make sure everyone attends." And with that he left.

"Right, new recruits, old recruits and our two idiots here," he said pointing to Jericho and Leon, "you heard the man; you have eight minutes before we head down. I suggest something light and loose fitting, for training." Almost immediately people began to leave the table and head to their rooms to prepare.

Archie returned to his room and looked at his clothes, they were in no way practical for any kind of training. He was disturbed to even think it but he would have to wear the black jumpsuit provided by the Syndicate. Rather reluctantly he undressed and took out the jumpsuit. He pulled it on quickly, it was loose fitting and much easier to move in than his jeans, but he didn't feel comfortable in it. After he had finished his preparations he hung around until the last minute before heading out to meet the group, hoping now one would comment on his appearance.

"Alright guys, welcome to your first day of training for some of you, follow me into the elevator and we can begin." Adrian said leading the group into the lift. They emerged form the lift some floors below, Archie guessed that it was below ground, in a large lab. One wall was a made completely of glass, it overlooked a large open space. Around the room sat many researches that were watching monitors. Every so often one would cross the room to pass some paper to another or talk in a hushed tone. They took little notice as the group of Atlanteans. The Directive was waiting for them along with an Austrian man.

"For those new here, this is Joshua Meier, head of the Syndicate's research wing; he will be taking you for your training exercises today while I sort some other business." The Directive said before leaving, pulling out his phone as he did so. Was he always on the phone, Archie asked him self, like some sort of scary Atlantean window salesman.
"Good morning, it's good to see some new recruits, fresh meat, huh?" Joshua began to speak attracting Archie's attention. "This dog eat dog world still runs on the same mechanics as the world always has; survival of the fittest. With the Atlantean Royal Family revealing our existence to the world, it has suddenly become a more difficult and volatile place to live. As of such, we need to prepare you to survive whatever is thrown at you. In the end, the only person you can rely on to save your skin is yourself; placing your life in another's hands in just another way of getting yourself killed. How are you supposed to help someone if you can't even help yourself, huh?" it seemed like the Syndicate ran on a kill or be killed philosophy, Archie wasn't too sure where he sat with that but he would get to it when the situation arose. Joshua took a small tennis ball like object from the table. "Your biggest enemy is yourself. You cannot expect to win every fight if you cannot even win a fight against yourself; it is foolish. This little orb here, scans your body and replicates a hologram of it. The hologram itself is real to touch, almost like a human being, but is run entirely by the sphere located where the human heart is. Your clone will know everything you know from the moment of scanning, and while it does not possess a conscious thought process, it can mimic and replicate any actions you would find yourself doing; including using your ability. One by one you will take a sphere that will register to your body and your body only, and descend the steps below to fight your clone in today's training session. You will feel a small tingling sensation as the electric pulses scan your body, but once it begins vibrating, place it on the ground so the clone can form. Learn your strengths and weaknesses, think on your feet, and become powerful. If you don't have any questions, take a sphere and descend down to the training room." Well this would be interesting. Archie, hung back as the other Atlanteans picked up the orbs.

He was one of the last to take an orb. He entered the training area, as the orb began to scan him. A tingling sensation ran through his body and the orb began to move in his hand. He hurried forwards in a slight jog to find a free space to place the orb before his clone burst out his chest. He placed the orb down and glanced round, so what was he supposed to do know. It looked like all the veteran Syndicate people were using their powers. As his clone materialized he searched the room for anything to use his power on but there was nothing. So no he was powerless, and the worst thing was he didn't even know how to fight.

Clone Archie stared straight at real Archie, waiting for any signs of movement. It looked exactly like him and moved just as he did, but it hadn't quite solidified yet. Archie could still see right through his clone. This gave it an eerie ghost like quality. It was then that Archie realised what here he could use his power on. He could cheat. He stared directly at the orb in the heart of his clone and began to cut. He cut as quickly as he could into the orb trying to rip it in two before it vanished behind his clones rapidly appearing chest. As he cut he felt his concentration slip, when ever this happened he felt his head spin like his brain was ricocheting around inside his skull. It was taking too long, he wasn't going to be able to do it and the more the image solidified the harder it got. He cut faster and his vision started to black out at the edges. He continued to cut away at the metal, he had managed to cut a small gash in the side but it wasn't enough. The orb disappeared from view as the last tendrils of the solid body meshed themselves together around the orb. With that Archie lost his hold on the orb, he felt weak and fell to the floor. For a few seconds he blacked out.

Archie awoke, to a sharp pain in his gut. He felt himself sliding to a stop. Opening his eyes he saw himself maniacally grinning as he lifted his left foot into the air. He was going to have nightmares about this. What was going on. A jolt of adrenalin surged through his body as Archie remembered what he was doing. He rolled aside as clone Archie stamped his foot where real Archie's head had been just a second before. The clone readied it's self to launch another kick but Archie saw it coming. He spun himself round so that he could lash out with his own kick. He aimed the kick at the clones standing leg at the knee cap. As he released the kick the clone spotted what he was about to do and tried to dodge aborting his own kick in the process. The kick landed in the clones upper thigh, knocking it from it's feet but the clone was ready. As it fell it extended it's right arm in a punch. The punch landed in Archie's chest and it carried the full weight of his clone. For a few seconds he was winded. The clone used these few seconds to gain the upper hand.

The clone grabbed hold of Archie by his collar own hand and readied him self to punch with the other. Still out of breath from the first punch Archie flailed and raised his arm to block the punch. Despite stopping the punch Archie's arm hurt, did the clones feel pain he thought for a second. The clone seemed to have stopped attacking so Archie lowered this arm, to see what it was doing. Big mistake, it flung a punch at him sending his dizzy. Then another that Archie blocked, followed by another. After blocking the third punch of the combo Archie retaliated. He pushed himself up with one hand and pulled the clone down with the other. He finished this attack with a head butt.

The clone looked dazed for a second, forgetting the now growing pain in his head Archie pushed the clone away and began to kick at at rapidly with both feet. His clone dived forwards and grasped at his foot but he kicked his other foot into the side of it's face and it let go. Quickly he retreated in a crab walk before getting up. The clone also got up. The two faced off before charging forwards for a second. But they were intimidate stopped as Jeri, or his clone, teleported directly between the two of them. A second later the other Jeri joined him, teleporting slightly behind and to one side of his duplicate. Then as quickly as they arrived they were gone again. As Archie ran at his clone he knew one thing. This was going to be a long, tiring and hard fight. Especially the hard bit.