Chapter 7

The Victory Festival takes place in the Enclave, the second-largest stadium in the United States. (The first is the Covex, where the NSC is held.) The Enclave can have an audience of up to three million people and has a square field that is a bit over one thousand feet long. The first event to be held was the four-legged race. Two people partner up, and their inside(left leg of one and right leg of another) legs are tied up. The goal is to run to the finish line after running around the stadium once with your legs tied up.

Arisu and Yuki put their arms around each other as they waited for the start of the race. "You ready?" Arisu nodded. The umpire shot his pistol in the air, and the race went underway.

Since Arisu was a teleporter, she couldn't use her ability to teleport to the finish line. However, she could teleport objects, like the nails she teleported into the ropes around two people's legs. The ropes cut off, and the students were disqualified as they couldn't continue the race without their legs tied up.

Yuri electrocuted anyone who got near her. Things were going well until a boy with blue eyes froze her shocks. Yuri shot electricity at him again, but he duplicated, and only his clone was shocked. The boy froze Arisu's leg, making her fall to the ground with Yuri on top of her.

As the two got up, they watched three more pairs of students pass by them. Arisu put nails in the ropes tying their legs, and they were all disqualified. "What was that?"

"That guy just froze my electric shocks. I think his partner can duplicate." Arisu nodded. "That makes sense. Or his partner can use light to make holographic illusions." The two got up and started running again. "I think we should take out the guy who can freeze stuff first," Yuri said. She saw a brown-haired girl controlling water to make a water bubble on someone's head. Yuri nudged Arisu. "I think I've got a plan."

Karna, Diego, and Dave watched the race with Lucia and Erica on the stands. Erica got out of her seat. "How did Yuri miss?" Karna shrugged. "I guess someone down there can make illusions. Since we're not in the race, we won't be seeing them, since there's no need to use them on us." Lucia thought about what Karna said. " Is it like Scott's ability, where he uses light to create a hologram of himself?" Karna nodded. "It could be like that." Diego put his arm around Karna. "Welp, I guess your girl's going out of the race. I don't see how she's going to get out of this one." Karna smiled. "No, she'll win. Just wait a bit."

Yuri and Arisu let the brown-haired girl pass them. The girl tried to make a water bubble on the head of the boy who could freeze people. Yuri made sure to be right behind the boy. As the boy froze the water, the girl shot a stream of water at the boy. Yuri and Arisu ran into it, and the water splattered everywhere.

The boy tried to freeze the water but got electrocuted instead. Arisu teleported a nail into the rope around the leg of the brown-haired girl, disqualifying her. The two kept a steady pace and eventually reached the finish line in first place.

The audience, mainly the students who attended Blank High School, cheered for Arisu and Yuri as they crossed the finish line. Diego clapped loudly. "That was amazing! Yuri and your girl totally owned them, Karna!" Karna nodded. "Didn't you say they were going to lose?" Diego shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I always believed they would win." Karna rolled his eyes as Dave, Erica, and Lucia laughed.

"It's a good thing your plan worked," Arisu said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Yuri nodded. "Since water conducts electricity, I thought I could launch a surprise attack. I just had to make a distraction. Then, knowing the girl would use some sort of water-based attack, I just had to shoot electricity at the water, which would zap the ice boy and make him unconscious." Arisu smiled. "If your teammate is unable to continue the race, both you and your teammate get disqualified. Good thinking, Yuri." Yuri blushed as she thanked Arisu.

Karna, Diego, and Dave huddled together. "Alright," Karna began. "The plan is simple. Since Diego can turn invisible, he should get the other team's flag. Dave will guard our flag; he could just use his telekinesis to get it back if we lose it. I'll take out anyone that gets in Diego's way. Any questions?" Diego nodded. "Yeah, I got one. What type of tech are they using to change the field?" He pointed towards a bush. "Everything here, from the trees to the sticks, feel so real, even though they're fake."

"It's the most up to date AR technology. Even though it's fake, the trees here look and feel the same way a real tree would." Karna looked at his watch. "It's almost time before the match starts. Diego, get ready to run. I'll cover you. Dave, stay back here."

The second the match began, Diego turned invisible and sprinted toward the other team's flag. Karna trailed behind him as he looked around. He saw someone hiding in the bushes and quickly electrocuted them. When Diego grabbed the other team's flag, the boy who watched over it realized that Diego could turn invisible. The boy chased after Diego, but Karna stopped him and, using a sword created from light, quickly took care of him. The match ended when Diego came back to where his team's flag was and put the other team's flag right next to it.

Yuri brought Arisu to her room, and the two chatted as they ate sushi. "Your boyfriend won the capture the flag match against Bleecher High." Arisu nodded. "Wasn't that expected?" Yuri smiled. "I guess you're right." She turned on the TV. The next event, Surf Battle, was about to begin. It was a surf-boarding race. The only difference was that you were allowed to knock your opponent off the board, although you can't actually attack them. Yuri pointed to one of the people who were competing. "Isn't that Jack, the guy who set like ten records in Surf Battle at the NSC?" Arisu looked at the TV screen. Yuri's finger pointed to a buff boy with long black hair tied in a ponytail. His eyes were as blue as the water he was surfing on. "Yeah, that's him. I feel bad for all the other players. They're going to be humiliated." Yuri nodded. "Yep." The two ate sushi as they watched Jack effortlessly win first place. Yuri saw Arisu beginning to leave. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To the student council. They're having a meeting about the Victory Festival."

"Can't I go with you?"

"Nope. Only student council members are allowed."

Yuri frowned. "Is that your way of saying you want some alone time with Karna, and you don't want me to be there?" she groaned. Arisu blushed. "It-it's not like that," she stammered. Yuri smirked. "Uh-huh. Well, see you later, then."

"Glad you could make it, Arisu." Nia motioned for her to sit at a table, already occupied by Karna, Rafe, and Alex. Rafe yawned. "Congrats, Arisu. You won first place in the four-legged race. Same to you, Karna, for winning capture the flag." Alex nudged him. "Can't you try to at least sound like you care?" Rafe shook his head. "No, I can't. The Victory Festival is a joke, well at least to us, anyway. We usually end up in first place for all the events." Nia returned to the table with a tray of teacups filled with tea. "How many points do we have so far?" Rafe scratched his head. "Um, about sixty-something..." Alex sighed. "Sixty-nine points. We have more points than the other schools." Nia sat down dan drank her cup of tea. "Probably because we won all the events so far. If we win the event, as in win in the finals, we get fifty points from winning as well as another fifty bonus points. That's if we don't include the semifinals and all the other rounds."

"Meaning we'll have a crazy amount of points, and be guaranteed winners of the Victory Festival." Rafe stretched his arms. " We can relax. This isn't the NSC. We don't have to take it so seriously."

"And what happens if we lose?" Nia scolded. Alex sighed. "Alright, come down, both of you. I guess Rafe has a point. Even though we shouldn't take this lightly, we can relax for now. Our chances of winning are high at the moment." Karna finished drinking his cup of tea. "So, at the moment, there's nothing to worry about." Alex nodded.

Karna sat in Kobayashi's car. "Is Whyos up to something?" Kobayashi nodded. "Several of their members have been seen near the Enclave. We don't know what they want, though." She parked her car, and the two got out as Kobayashi told Karna where the Whyos members were supposed to be.

Karna saw a group of three men. They were dressed in black from head to toe, and their faces were masked. Karna made a sword out of light and ran towards the men. He sliced the chest of one, the leg of another, and cut an arm off the third. He phoned Kobayashi to let her know that he captured three Whyos members.

"It took a few minutes, but nothing crazy happened." Arisu rolled in a bed. "Doesn't seem like it." She pointed to a bowl of banana split on the table. "Karna, if you're not eating that, could I have it?" Karna nodded as Arisu gleefully jumped for the banana split.

"You're still a glutton."

"And you're still a bully, Karna."

Karna checked the time on his phone. "Doesn't your next match start soon?" Arisu nodded. "The paintball hunt event starts at around nine. I still have an hour, so I can eat the ice-cream in time." Karna sat down next to her. "Well, I have something I need to do, so I'll get going now." Arisu raised an eyebrow as she put her hands on her hips. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Karna thought about it. "Oh, right." Karna gave her a peck on the cheek. "That's for good luck. You better win the paintball hunt." He waved goodbye as he left Arisu's room.

The paintball hunt was about to begin. Two teams of ten from two schools shoot each other with paintball guns. The goal is to shoot everyone on the other team before everyone on your team gets shot.

Arisu, Lucia, and Yuri stood beside their other classmates as they waited for the event to begin. "This is only my first event, and I'm already nervous," Lucia said. "You'll be fine," Yuri reassured her. Arisu nodded. "You sent me to the hospital before, remember?" Lucia looked down at the ground. "I'm still really sorry about that... I didn't mean to do it." Arisu smiled. "Don't be sorry. We know your brother hypnotized you to do it, so you don't have to feel responsible. But thanks for caring, though. Besides, we're good friends now, so forget it." Lucia gave a half-smile. "I'm not sure whether you're naive or just too kind." Just then, the umpire fired his pistol, and the event started.

In a dark room with only a few windows, a group of men sat down in a table. One of them got up to greet a man clad in black, wearing a mask with the face of a viper. "Greetings. I am Sung-ho, a commanding officer in the Great Asian Alliance." The man with the viper mask introduced himself as Vex, and the two sat down at the table.

"Mr. Vex, I know you must have your reasons for hiding your face, but I cannot trust you unless you remove your mask." Vex took off his mask. His hair swirled down and covered his right eye. A scar ran through his whole face, marring his features. "More importantly, thank you for giving us the ability stone. Scorpio's power will skyrocket with it. Sung-ho nodded. "You were the only choice to give it to. Whyos may be powerful, but they are on the decline, and it gets risker to get involved with them by the day. I assume you looked over what I sent you?" Vex nodded. "I agree with the plans you have in mind. It seems the Great Asian Alliance wishes to weaken the American military. Powerful as you may be, you do realize you're up against the strongest country in the world? Sung-ho nodded. "I can understand why it may sound ridiculous. However, with your help, it may be possible. The Americans have been a thorn for much too long. Besides, it's not as if we're trying to defeat them. Now that would be impossible." Vex grinned. "Indeed. You plan to use Whyos as a pawn, then?" Sung-ho nodded. "I can assume you can figure out the rest, then." Vex nodded. "I'll be ready sometime during the NSC. Is that alright?" Sung-ho nodded. "It's perfect." Vex started walking out of the room. "Very well, then. I'll see you at the NSC."