Twenty-Five Left... What'll Come Of Me?

Twenty-Five Left... What'll Come Of Me?

~~~~

Could this even be called a dream?

The soft crunchy snow under my feet and the cold air going into my lungs.

I felt it. I felt it all.

But… something seems different…

I looked around myself, finding nothing but the snow covered pine trees and the sound of animals.

I felt refreshed.

I knew this was a dream, this place should give me nightmares about what it does to me, yet it gives me things so crucial that without them I would have surely died by now.

My always wary mind and flexed muscles loosened as I gave into the peace of the snowy forest.

Plop!

I closed my eyes.

The snow, the animals, the wind I felt it all.

No…

Rather than 'feeling' I was 'it'. I was the forest, the animals, wind, everything inside I was them.

I was everything.

Yet I was here in the snow laying down.

A very contradictory feeling, being at multiple places at the same time.

I layed there and thought of a few things…

It was nice being out there… having a purpose and a goal to reach, but this peace you can't beat…

The constant anxiety of dying and failing was like a cycle of torment.

As I went deeper into my thoughts a 'path' inside my mind began to form a blurry image. It pushed aside my blabbering thoughts of my past life and my current one and led me… somewhere…

It was… wispy but solid…

Changing between the three basic states of matter it was a mesmerizing bright shade of blue.

Once I felt this… thing in my body it was like a sense I had forgotten.

I opened my eyes to the snow falling winter sky.

For a couple of minutes I layed there for some peace.

I wonder why I thought about that kid like a friend… was it because I was lonely?

I looked at my hands and I could almost see an outline of blood covering them. Murderers say that once you kill you can never wash the blood off…

I guess they were telling the truth.

My peaceful line of thinking…

"Hah…"

Poof!

My hands hit the snow.

The illusionary red spread like a disease.

Alarms rang in my mind and I watched even after my hands left the snow, the blood red spread and tainted the pure white.

"Did I do this…"

I wore a wry smile and looked at my hands again. My previous nirvana-like mood poofed like smoke.

I looked around taking the entire 360 degree view around myself.

The snow both on the ground and falling had a velvet-red color.

Even the air had a tinge smell of metal.

I grabbed a snowflake expecting it to melt into water but to my surprise in my hand was a small droplet of blood.

I felt bitter.

I ruined such a nice place…

"Huu… I guess it's time to wake up huh…"

I stretched, even though this was a dream I guess you can't beat the habits.

In an instant before I could even realize that I had awoken I felt the familiar hospital bed and gown I wore after my first fight.

The cool and fresh air was replaced with the smell of heavy medical products.

That break was well deserved.

With my mind cleared and rested it was now time to work even harder now. My previous mental fatigue that ate my mind like parasites were killed.

"Huu…"

Crunch!

Crack!

"Haha…" I gave out a chuckle, "It feels weird stretching two times in a row…"

I fully took in the sight that I ignored before, I saw the blood and bleeding soldiers of this place…

What makes them fight so hard?

I thought for a moment before I walked through the double doors and headed back for my dorm room.

It was only a lingering thought, one that should only stay as a thought. I can already tell that if I found the truth it would be pretty…

Along the way, nobody questioned or even gave me a glance.

Everyone here has a goal or is just bat-shit crazy. Most of the time from what I've seen it's a little bit of both.

Like my professor… She was one crazy person.

That sleep deprived, coffee drinking manic is the last person I want to see.

Thankfully I reached my dorm room peacefully without anyone bothering me.

"Haha…"

"I guess I'll have to clean up again…"

Another thing that helped me stay sane throughout all this was the fact that I could see my progress.

It's like a video game. It only took one week to train hard and I can break the floor, how crazy is that!?

I can only wonder what I could do once I get stronger… if I survive that is.

I clean my dorm room once a day from the mess I create while studying.

"Hah… I could just not make a mess… but that's impossible for me…"

As I cleaned the countless papers and ideas I had from the floor, I saw my progress of my once paper covered floor turn into a regular floor.

Soon I had organized everything into a folder and my room was clean once again.

"Hu…"

I sighed in relief once I finished my cleaning routine.

I sat and started another pair of notes.

"There are twenty-five of us right now… What number are they trying to reach? Ten? One? I need to work harder…"

How many of us are they trying to cut down… A question that's been lingering in my mind for some time now.

Perhaps they're just sickos who'll kill us all in the end… who knows?

For now all I can do is train hard and wait for the next fight.

*

*

*

It was midnight in the meeting room.

"Ahem, is everyone here this time?" Technician looked around the oval table waiting for a response.

"...You guys hurt my feelings… Come on, give me a response!" He said in an over-exaggerated tone.

"So, what? You can see we're all here. Let's get a move on already…" Combat replied.

"We're doing a skit… a skit!!" He exclaimed before continuing, "Wait… where's Trick and Knowledge?"

"They left… You were in a 'moment' so they left… I wish I left too…" Chemist whispered the last part.

"Hah…"

In the bright white meeting room where the (now) seven of them were sitting, Technician sat down with a sheet white color on his face.

"D-Do you guys really hate me when I'm like this?" Technician said in an obviously fake sad voice with fake tears running down his eyes.

""Yes"" The six other voices synonymously replied.

"I wish you were less noisy… At least that's in Trick's personality but… something is just off about you.." Chemist remarked with a disgusted look.

"Ugh…!" One arrow pierced his heart.

"I don't wanna another Trick in here!" Combat protested.

"Oof…!" Two arrows.

"You bother me too much when I'm working… Please conduct 'pranks' with Trick rather than me." Doctor calmly explained.

"Ah…!" Three struck and aimed true.

"You once sabotaged the program that I was working on… I had to pull a month all nighter without sleeping to get all that progress back… One Month!!!" Virus yelled in an almost delirious look.

"P-Plea-" He tried to beg but another arrow struck.

"Haha… Technician-san you might be our supervisor and higher up but… you don't shut off the electricity because you got upset that no one was coddling you…" Neuro said politely, with a menacing undertone.

Bang!

KO!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"..."

Everyone stared at Stealth waiting for an explanation for his confirmation.

He looked up from his book.

"Must I say more with this much evidence…?"

"..."

"No… you don't…" Technician said. With five imaginary arrows stuck in his heart, if Stealth said anything else it would be a critical hit and an overkill.

With his heart now broken by his colleagues he urged, "Ha… Ha… A-Anyways let's start our meeting shall we?"

"Huuu… Yeah so we're changing their 'grades' right?" Combat inquired.

"With only twenty-five left we only need ten of them… We said we were going to a free-for-all, right?" Chemist added her piece to the conversation.

"Hmm… It was either that or to eliminate one and continue the one-on-one…" Technician answered.

"Haaa~ Who cares, let's get this done and over with…" Combat yawned as he layed back on his chair, along with his legs propped up on the table.

"Now then, starting with the first fight…"

Soon the banters and arguing stopped as all seven of them paid (somewhat) attention to the fights on the TV.

Now in an even slouchier position than before Combat remarked, "Eh… An A for me…"

By now it was almost halfway through the fights.

"Same for me…"

"Do the rest of you guys agree?"

After giving their feedback Technician pressed a button on the remote going to the next fight.

"This one is a bit more interesting…" Combat gave his thoughts on the upcoming fight.

On the screen was a black-haired skinny boy wearing the standardized uniform given to all of the test-subjects while the other was in a typical Japanese junior-high girl's uniform.

Unlike most of the fights where it was straight forward, this one was a game of trickery and mind games.

First the skinny boy stood near the girl while she was sleeping then suddenly went for a punch to the head.

The fight progressed but a mistake on the boys' part was probing and overthinking too much.

Combat could almost read the boys' mind as the fight progressed. From the decisions that he could have made to gain a better advantage, to the ones near the end.

One thing that surprised most if not everybody in the room is how much he had changed from the first fight.

In one week he went from a malnutritioned child looking like he was on the brink of death to a skinny boy with immense strength for his age.

"..."

"I think that's the one… right?" Chemist asked in a much sharper tone.

"Yes… He's the one with the most potential and talent out of everyone else." Technician agreed.

"So he's going to be our 'ace' of sorts? Man… teaching them will be such a bother…" Combat said whilst reading a shounen manga he pulled out of his pocket.

"Haha… I think it'll be a nice change of pace! Everyone here isn't very nice, so I think having students will bring a better atmosphere in the facility." Neuro imputed with a gleeful smile on his face.

"Hmm… As long as they don't bother me while I work it'll be fine…" Doctor commented.

Looking around the room Technician asked, "I guess everyone is happy with this setup then?"

Before they could even do anything he said, "Great I'll start working on it pronto!"

Bzzt!

"We came here in the middle of the night for this?" Combat groaned with displeasure.

*

*

*

It's the next day since my second battle and so far, except for the missing kids, everything seems in order.

I wonder why these kids didn't try to escape?

"Haaa~ Anyways… I'll be expecting you guys to know all this stuff by tomorrow, or else we'll be having a problem…"

Skrrr…

The chalk made that irritating sound scratching on the chalkboard.

"Zzzz… Huh? Did I fall asleep? Hahhh~ Anyways… What was I saying again? Oh right, next week seems to be the final fight so be prepared. That's all."

Last fight?

Wait… what!?

If the next fights the last…

…then what's next?

I've been so used to the past two weeks prepping against enemies that at this point what'll I do after all this?

Hmm…

"I'll figure it out when I get there…"

Another day, another problem to deal with.

*

*

*

She woke up in the slums like some roadside trash.

So far it wasn't very hard for her to survive on her own, the experiments that those crooked people did had their benefits after all.

Now with a clearer mind and a will for revenge she swore that she'll bring justice to herself.

But before she can do that she'll need money or a backing…

Her plans formulated for an organization consisting of people like herself, people… 'experiments' that were discarded and used to fight the very people who threw them away like trash.

The question was… how?

She wasn't a very smart person but she was willing to learn.

She'll find a way. She had to find a way.

With a chicken bone used like a toothpick and with rags as clothes she started her journey on this vast world.

A/N: It's been a while, I'll tell you guys what's been going on because I said that I would update like a couple of days ago. No this isn't getting dropped... It won't or ever will be dropped... Anyways a much shorter chapter today, not much to say about that. My sleep schedule once again is broken, I've been playing my Nintendo 3ds to complete the games that I couldn't finish, I've been rereading Mission: Yozakura Family for the second time (Already at like chapter 42), so yeah... I'll be updating, but at this point take my words as a grain of salt because I'm too lazy...