The Heart of All Districts

A late mellow dusk was upon each district as the sun turned red and the sky turned black. Seven chosen individuals were being transported to the deepest of depths, the center of their world—the Cardinal Nexus HQ found right in the middle of all districts that encircled it. The HQ was the main branch structure that practically formed the government, consisting of an enormous building that sharpened at its peak, towering over all the tallest buildings of each district, emphasizing complete dominance. It is here where law was created, rules were imbued, and power was bestowed to those worthy.

The building itself was scaled with countless advanced platings that shifted around like tectonic plates, moving endlessly up and down streams of cyan plasma that seemed to surge throughout the entire premise of the high rise. As the walls of the building thinned out approaching its peak, so too did its opacity, creating an illusion of reflection to the eyes of those under. It were as if mirrors were used to form its sharp peak, which only reflected the now darkened sky looming above it. This made it seem as if the building faded into the sky, provoking the idea of a peak that never ended, but that continued to pierce through the sky, forever and ever.

This was called Ellipses Point.

"How high does that thing really go?" Jarret questioned, seated in the back of the vehicle.

Axel, sitting in front of him, replied, "I heard it's supposed to go up into the sky forever…"

"Oh shut up," Wardell interrupted. "Those are just stories we were told as Nexi. Don't tell me you still believe that shit?"

There was an awkward silence in the car.

"Whatever it is, we may never know. That's probably confidential information to the higher-ups. I mean this building has been here for a very long time—"

"Shut up Hugo boy. No one asked, you nerd." Wardell once again instigated an awkward silence.

Jasper, who sat at the front of the vehicle, took this revealing aggression into consideration.

As the vehicle approached the HQ, the tower loomed higher and higher the closer they got. Eventually, the group was driven past a gate and into an indoor parking lot that sat in the base of the Heart of all Districts. Exiting the vehicle, the squad was confronted by a group of security.

"Follow us." One of them said.

They were led through a maze of hallways, countless elevators, and numerous grand rooms until they eventually reached their given area—a massive three-floored hub with bedrooms for its top floor, a kitchen, luxuries, a debriefing room, and offices for its middle floor, and lastly, a workshop for its bottom floor.

"This is beautiful!" Jarret screamed upon entering the workshop. He could barely contain his excitement that he had hit his head against the door frame before entering.

"So tall…" Axel muttered. "Are you like six foot?"

"Yep," Jarret replied.

On the other floors above, "Woah" was the common word spoken.

Suto looked around. "So this is where we'll be staying for a while now huh."

"If it's with all you bozos then I'm not having it. I want out!" Wardell began to storm towards the exit. But before he could make his leave, Jasper stood in the way.

"Minister Harrison gave everyone a chance to abandon this group from the get-go. But it's too late now to make such a decision, Wardell."

Wardell snapped. "Tsk! Get out of my way! Who are you to tell me that!?"

"Your leader." Jasper remained calm.

"Leader my ass!" Wardell threw a punch in his direction. It connected with Jasper's right cheek, blowing his face in the opposite direction. There was a momentary pause.

"Don't call yourself a leader when you aren't even stronger than your own subordinates. Fucking idiot." Wardell began to storm past Jasper who dipped his head, when suddenly his arm was gripped with immense strength. Caught by surprise, Wardell looked back towards Jasper, who now looked back up at him, before spitting out two teeth and some blood.

"Let go of me…"

Jasper didn't let go.

"I said let go of me!!!" Wardell tugged in his direction, but Jasper did not budge. Like a boulder solidified into the earth, Jasper stood his ground. This frustrated Wardell, who now heaved his stress into one more punch thrown by his free hand.

That would be the last time Wardell would ever shun his leader.

Milliseconds before his punch could connect, Jasper caught his wrist, and using the momentum of the punch, tugged Wardell in the same direction. This caused Wardell to be thrown forwards, slamming into a wall face-first, which he dented with the now broken structure of his nose.

"—Guh!"

Nose blood splattered the wall, before he was repeatedly slammed into the wall over and over again. This was until Jasper felt the man weaken, to which he turned Wardell around and pushed him onto the ground right under, where his arm was pinned against his back painfully.

"Ack—!!! Stop it! Stop it!" Wardell pleaded with pain.

Finally, Jasper let go, but kept his knee weighted onto Wardell's back. This was to ensure the burly man wouldn't hurt anybody else.

Wardell breathed heavily under the pressure, seemingly frustrated at the whole scenario. But the man didn't say one word for a whole minute of silence. Jasper then lifted his knee carefully, now standing above the fallen Wardell, to which he said: "Go."

Jasper could see the confusion in Wardell's body language following his word.

"Didn't you want to go?" He pointed towards the open door. "Go then."

Wardell remained motionless. "No…" He pushed himself off the floor.

"Wardell?" Jasper asked. "You don't you want to go?" The door was still open.

Wardell waved it off silently. He picked up his duffel bag and slowly made his way up the stairs to his dorm. The door closed behind him, leaving the rest of the team in awe.

"Wow… you're strong Jasper." Suto broke the silence.

Axel had watched the entire event unfold with excitement. "He's the leader for a reason."

Everyone else nodded with silent acceptance.

"Alright," Jasper now spoke aloud. "I'm hoping no one else will have to be tormented by his words any further. If you are, just let me know. And if there's anyone else that wants to challenge my given position such as Wardell, also let me know. We will settle it elsewhere." He looked at the bloody dent made at the entrance wall. "I don't want to stain this beautiful hub any further."

Everyone disengaged eye contact with Jasper, as if wordlessly acknowledging that he was already well off as their leader.

"Good. I plan to get along with all of you. This is Squad Zero, and although I am it's leader, this is still our team. We're all in this together, and we'll catch those Seven Sins together. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" Axel said aloud. The others looked at him, leading them to say the same.

"Yes sir!" Everyone now said.

Tonight's assembly would now begin a new force at play.