Chapter Text
“Good morning, class,” The teacher nodded towards our seats in the back, “Today is the day of Selection, the most important EXODUS event in our town.”
Collective whispers went around, as everyone was nervous. It was for this one moment that everyone in the room had dropped their differences and feared the same thing: the EXODUS-ZER0 Program.
“So, as you’ve read before in history class, The EXODUS-ZER0 Program is a judgement system where each of you will battle while being studied by the EXODUS officials. It works in brackets, so don’t worry about being double-teamed.” Despite everyone’s fear being prominent, it was mine that stood out the most. I was afraid of it. Afraid of what would happen if I went that far again. “Everyone, you have time to put on your gym clothes and head to the stadium before 9:00. Do so now and maybe you won’t be disqualified. Anyone who purposefully skips will be removed from this grade and back to the previous one.”
The stadium was humming with the quiet murmurs of everyone watching. Adults, PEA members, and the EXODUS Judges, they all watched us enter the field. The giant screen above the EXODUS booth showed the brackets, and thankfully, I was last. The matches were fairly disappointing, all until Tasaki got on stage against one of the bullies we hated.
“Well well, Tasaki Manomo! I’ll relish beating you to a pulp if it means I get to prove who’s superior.”
The arena instantly got hotter, as the air itself felt like hands around a neck. “Believe in hierarchy, do you..? Well, here’s evidence of who’s superior.” Her entire right arm was engulfed in flame, as she sent a pillar of flame towards him. The man, who’s name is apparently- Pfft… his name is Liam?? Oh well, whatever his name is, I don’t care. The pillar was abruptly stopped by giant trees, Redwood. That’d be the only way the flames were stopped.
“B-Bastard..!” She sent more and more fire attacks, balls, pillars, thin blasts, anything to usurp those trees. The redwoods were fire-resistant, not fireproof, allowing her scorching flames to burn through them and land a satisfying fireball to his chest. He was able to catch himself near the edge of the arena with some vines, sending incredibly sharp roots at Tasaki. Unfortunately for Liam, “You messed with the wrong Parasite, bitch.” Using the fire, she caused an explosion to boost herself forward, kicking his head. Not only was the kick powerful, but she blew flames from her foot to blast him out of the arena and into the wall just past it. The crowd cheered, all amazed by the spectacle she had put on. The judges nodded in a surprised fashion, which was either good news or bad news.
Earth manipulators repaired the arena and next up was Viscera, who wasn’t seen stepping forth into the arena. The crowd was silent, as Viscera’s opponent stepped on the ring. It was… Endo. “I can hear you, Viscera. Let’s get it over with.” Running was heard, as Endo immediately fired a blast towards him. There was no prior impact until it hit the wall, meaning Viscera had dodged him. It wasn’t long until Viscera was heard punching Endo, revealing himself after contact. Sadly it was… in vain. “Is that all, little brother? Then.. I think it’s my turn.” Endo held a blast up to Viscera’s side, and even going invisible couldn’t save him. A devastating blast was fired straight at his ribs, as they could be heard breaking. Blood was seen going onto the floor as he coughed, yet he was still visibly in the ring. We could see the blood. As Endo charged another blast, Viscera apparently grabbed his arm and aimed it back at his face, as Endo took the full force of his own blast. He was blasted back into the air, but just before he landed, Viscera became visible, sprinting after him only to slide under Endo, setting up his knee to injure Endo’s spine. Just because Endo's an asshole, he charged a blast on his back that projected itself in front of Viscera to blast him off the arena. It was successful, as Tasaki caught him as he flew back.
“Oh you S-Rank MOTHERFU-” The teacher had to hold her down in rocks, before she faced off with Endo, who had the nerve to approach her and taunt her as her body was engulfed in flames, her eyes slightly red from them.
“Don’t worry lovergirl, I only proved who’s superior, after all~” She struggled, but gave up in the end because of Viscera laying in front of her. Just one more… Next was Arcus against some random kid with size enhancement, and I already knew who would win. Despite the kid growing four times his original size, Arcus just front flipped in order to launch himself with his arms, punching the actual shit out of the giant kid and knocked him right the hell out. It was as uneventful of a fight as a gorilla against a damn sparrow. When Arcus got back, he just elbowed me, saying, “Go show them what you’re made of, ‘kay? If we do get sent to EXODUS, let’s be sent together.” I nodded, walking into the main area and stepping onto the arena.
Indescribable fear filled me, but that was fine. I was.. Ready. I looked forward, towards the enemy ahead, and it was none other than… an EXODUS official..?! “We’ve read your files, Talio. We want to see what you can do against me.” I could sense the energy around him; he has lightning control. I knew I shouldn’t hold back but- But if I don’t… I’ll go feral again, and I don’t want-
“KEEP YOUR GUARD UP!” A blast of lightning whipped past me, dicing up the arena walls behind me. I leaned forwards, running with a shock burst boosting me forward. I went in for a punch but… he had zipped to my side and kicked me away. I was aggravated, sending a lightning bolt back at him. He could barely dodge it, as it scraped his suit’s side. “So the rumors are true..!” He looked at me excitedly, his eyes surging with madness and curiosity, a grin forming across his face. I could feel it. The rage I had, so desperately hating it, began surging through me and started to consume me, my body screaming in pain.
I held my chest, my heart racing. I could feel foam surging into my mouth as my vision slowly turned red. I tried my very best to suppress it, running back at him only to be kicked twice, each kick in succession to the other, straight to my stomach. My nails sharpened painfully, as did my hair. The crowd was silent, in awe and shock at what was happening. I was going feral. I sped forward, towards him on all fours, using dark lightning bursts until I was at his throat. This caught him off guard, as he barely managed to blast me back. Again, I charged at him, utilizing several blasts of black lightning to strike him from all sides. After this, I was coated in the lightning, as it was sent everywhere. The stadium’s power nearly went out, as the official was at his limit. He tried his best to suppress me, but was now weakened. “D-Damn… I guess they- left that part out..”
I couldn’t control my urges to kill, it had swallowed me whole. As I sprinted towards him, getting ready to cut his head clean off, someone- no, some… thing stopped me. A tall, 8-foot man grabbed my arm mid-air, hurling me into the ground and holding me there. His eyes were… demented, black circles with a green shine covered by a tinted glass-covered submarine helmet with bars on the inside, covering his face. The mortifying changes slowly faded from me, and when they did, I was returned to normal. When I did, the… thing, let go of me. It grabbed the official, glaring at me as it jumped out of the arena like an animal. After that, I lost consciousness, waking up in the medical ward.
As I awoke, there were multiple people in the room. Tasaki and Arcus, were on the right side of me, both of their faces contorted in slight fear and hopefulness, as the doctor nodded towards them, relief overtook their previous emotions. “You’re alive!” Arcus exclaimed, looming over me. “I really thought you died but- Apparently not!”
“I feel dead, so I guess nothing’s really changed huh..” I played it off, up until someone walked through the door. She was… stunningly beautiful? I-I’ve never felt this way before, so why should I start now. It isn’t worth it. She was an EXODUS lieutenant, clearly, as she had an EXODUS shield on her back.
“Arcus Crowe, Talio Argus, Tasaki Manomo, and Viscera Dowry.” She spoke our names, glaring at each of us, me especially. My heartbeat quickened, and now I couldn’t tell if it was because of fear, anxiety, or… however I felt about her. “You’ve been judged by your abilities, and have all been accepted into the EXODUS-0 program, yet one of you,” she says as she pointed at me, “More specifically, you, have been scouted by a captain and have earned the right to be trained by him upon your immediate arrival.”
“Wha-..?!” I was flabbergasted, because who would’ve- oh. It was that… thing from the arena. Sitting up, I was given no warning. The lieutenant pulled me up, out of the hospital bed. I was still fully clothed, thank god, as she slapped a device on my chest. I had no reason to believe it would harm me, and despite that? I was still skeptical, as the nanomachines spread over my body, encasing me inside of an EXODUS suit. The same happened to the others, yet theirs looked harshly weaker than mine.
“Talio, you’re with me. The rest of you have a bus to catch, as the EXODUS-0 executives wouldn’t want to be kept waiting.” The others ran out, as she grabbed my hand as I tried to follow. “Again, you’re with me. Come now, we have our own escort.”
“W-Wait, but before we go… Can I.. ask something?” she stopped at the frame of the door, still holding onto my hand. She wasn’t wearing gloves, as I wasn’t either. Her hands were… soft. Soothing, in a way. “How do you know so much about me, anyways?”
“Talio, I’ve read your file. God, could you be any less oblivious?” She dragged me up to the roof, where a helicopter waited. Inside was… it. God, he’s creeping me out. As we took our seats and strapped in, it wasn’t long before we began to gain altitude. In the meantime, the 8-foot man, who was hunched over uncomfortably in the helicopter. stared at me with interest, while the lieutenant handed me some files. “This is your manifest, everything you need to know is inside of there. The reason you’re separated from the rest is because of what you have just recently been proven to be able to do. You are the first mimic we’ve seen in ages, and possibly the last left alive.” “Mimic?” I asked my head, leaning slightly to the side. “What’s that?” The tall man then pulled out a notepad that had to be the size of two normal ones and a pencil the size of a medium sized bottle and began to write, his hand moving vigorously. He handed the notepad over to me, as if he wanted me to read what he wrote. “Mimics, as the name implies, are parasites that have the ability to copy or mimic any other parasites’ abilities. Since these abilities are rare, many people hunt down these types of parasites for their own personal gain, leading to their demise.” Handler wrote, his handwriting being better than what I’d expected.
The ride remained quiet, until we landed at the EXODUS building. Multiple P.E.A. members greeted us, all until we entered the main hallway to find two of the lieutenants… fighting?
“YOU LITTLE WHORE!” One shouted at the other- Wait, they’re twins? Looking closer, the two definitely looked identical.
“YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT I AM, SINCE I’M LITERALLY YOU!” They began to return fire at each other, quite literally, as one fired bullets at the other, who managed to dice them up with ease.
“BEING MY TWIN ACCOUNTS FOR NOTHING, YOU BITCH!”
“WHORE!”
“COCKSUCKER!”
“MASOCHIST!”
“That’s ENOUGH!” The door at the end of the hall was kicked open, as the air around everyone got colder. Everyone seemed to be used to this apart from me, as the two put away their weapons and pouted. “I’ve had it with you two annoying ass MOTHERFUCKERS! We’ve had to deal with your bullshit all week, FOUR TIMES EVERY GODDAMN DAY. DETENTION BLOCK, BOTH OF YOU!” The two groaned as they walked away, and one of them muttered something under their breath.
“Tch, fuggin’... asshat…”
“Talking back, June?!” Apparently the one with the scissor blade was named June, and she silently resigned in fear. They both stormed past her, slamming the door behind them, and by the time they got, say, a few feet away from the door, they started shouting at each other. Handler just blinked at the woman at the end of the hall, and strolled over happily, giving her a random flower he had in his pocket, motioning for us to follow. As we walked past the woman, I kinda hid behind Camilla, the woman who brought me here, catching a glimpse of the mysterious woman’s name tag. It was more of a badge, and it had “Ace” engraved on it. She was… the founding captain. I was practically frozen in fear, my legs glued to the ground. Each of her features stood out more and more. Her jet black hair, which was about mid length, her very casual attire, and what stood out the most were her metallic prosthetic arms, riddled with stickers and her mask, which was shaped like a cartoonish cat, one you’d see in a kid’s tv show.
“You must be Talio.” She said, walking towards me. She reached out her arm, the metal shining in the light the sun provided. “I am Captain Sonia Lastas, but you can call me Ace. I’m terribly sorry that you had to see this, especially when you’ve just arrived. Trust, they will be dealt with.” Camilla nudged me in the arm with her elbow, motioning for me to shake her hand. Shakily, my hand met hers, the metal tickling my skin. Her grip was ungodly, it felt like my hand was going to snap in two. She let go of my hand, which was now pulsating in pain. “Sorry about that, My arms still require grip recalibration after battle,” Sonia said laughing. I held my hand, looking at her with what I’d imagine as complete fear. This woman, she’s the founder of all this, stopped an almost impossible argument between the twins, nearly crushed my hand, but she’s so… lighthearted?
“Come on, we’ve got to get you to your room. The sooner we get you adjusted, the better.”
The sentence broke me out of my thoughts. In a haste, I saluted the captain and walked away, my hand still aching quite a bit.