- Power Potential

"Keep moving," an officer said, giving Hyunji a shove.

She stumbled forward but managed to stay on her feet. 

The group was hustled along toward a large, heavily armored truck, with the letters ASPD printed on the side. 

"Get in," said another officer as two others opened the back doors for them. 

The inside of the truck was bare, a prison cell surrounded by five inch thick steel. There would be no escape.

Hyunji stepped inside, followed by Dante, Sofia, Kenji, and finally Min-jun. 

The officers attached their handcuffs to hooks that hung above their heads, securing them in place.

The vehicle took off, jolting them forward as they struggled to stay on their feet. 

Hyunji couldn't tell where they were heading, but she could feel they were traveling up a steep hill. 

"I'm not going to prison," Kenji grumbled. "This is stupid. I'm serious now, Hyunji. What's the plan?"

Hyunji remained quiet. 

"There isn't anything we can do," Min-jun said. "You don't feel it? What these handcuffs are doing to us?"

Sofia shook her head. "No, what're they doing?"

"It's taking away our energy," Hyunji said. "All of our powers. I feel…weak."

Her handcuffs, as well as the others, glowed a light blue, illuminating their dark cell. 

"You shouldn't have gotten yourselves wrapped up with me," Min-jun said, looking at Dante and Sofia. "This is all my fault."

"No," Kenji said. "It's my fault too. I'm the one who took us here. What was I thinking? I literally brought us to a planet with the largest known prison in the universe."

The truck came to a sudden stop, causing them to lurch forward.

The drivers stepped out and opened the back door. The officers detached their handcuffs from the hooks and Hyunji felt the blood rush back into her arms. 

The officers shoved them forward, out of the back of the truck. 

In front of them was the prison.

Hyunji gasped at the sheer size of it. No structure on Earth could even compare to this. The building itself was so tall that she couldn't see where it ended. And much of the drive had been uphill, so there were likely multiple floors below ground. 

After walking a short distance, they arrived at large gates, gates that stretched for what seemed like miles, compiled into multiple areas funneling hundreds of creatures and humanoids of different shapes and sizes. The group arrived at a smaller gate, as one of the guards began to open his mouth.

"Hello ladies and gents and whatever the fuck else you are! My name is Officer Jin and welcome to Gerhan Steel Penitentiary, your new home!" The guard said, as if he was giving them a tour of a new home. "If you look over here, we have detectors which will tell you where you will be spending the majority of your time. We call them Power Potential Detectors, or PPD. These detectors sense innate abilities and other factors to decide a grade from A-Z. Get in a single file line and we'll give you a rating, like so."

Officer Jin stepped in front of them and performed a demonstration.

Hyunji watched as the gate glowed with the letter "F" at the top. 

Jin snickered. "As you can see, I'm pretty damn strong." 

"Is it F for fucker? Should be B for bitch!" Shouted a voice from behind Hyunji. 

Some of the officers laughed, while others looked uncomfortable.

Time to see how strict this prison really is, Hyunji thought as she waited for a reaction from the officer.

"Who said that?" Jin called out angrily.

One of the prisoners stepped out of the line, a maniacal smile on his face. Hyunji had never seen anything like him before. Frost blue skin from head to toe. Dark red eyes. Sharp yellow teeth. "No sense of humor in this place, huh?"

Jin unslung a rifle from his back and shot the prisoner.

Hyunji jumped as the man disintegrated into a pile of dust, which blew away in the wind. 

Jin turned back to the group of prisoners, noting the looks of shock on their faces. "What? You heard my instructions. Get moving through those scanners!"

Min-jun looked horrified. "Just…walk through?"

Jin nodded enthusiastically. "Just like I showed you. That was the point of the demonstration!"

"Are you sure it won't…vaporize me?"

"Just go," Hyunji said quietly. 

Min-jun sighed and stepped through the scanner. 

The letter D popped up and Jin scoffed. "Wow…we got a strong one, huh? I suspect most of you will be an A or B from here on out."

Next up was Kenji, who strolled through with a smirk on his face. 

The guards gasped. 

The letter L flashed on the screen. 

Jin's face flushed with red, and his hands tightened around his gun. "What the hell is going on here?"

Multiple guards began gathering around to see what was going on.

"An L? We only have the Elite Ten that rank higher!"

"And the Warden too."

"If he didn't have those power dampening handcuffs, we would be in serious trouble!"

"Keep the line moving!" Jin shouted, ignoring the other guards. 

Sofia shot a worried glance at Dante and turned to step through. 

P.

The guards began shouting with excitement again, and Sofia smiled at them. "Guess it was pretty good?"

Dante took a deep breath and followed her. 

Hyunji watched Jin's expression as the letter W appeared. 

He looked like he would faint. 

"Get…um…get…," Jin stuttered. "Get the warden out here immediately!"

He turned back to Hyunji. "You're next."

Time seemed to slow down as she stepped forward. Someone was approaching. Someone strong. 

She hadn't felt a presence like this since…since Chronos.

The warden appeared, pushing through a crowd of guards. She was shorter than Hyunji and wore an all black uniform. 

She squinted at Hyunji as Jin ushered her through the scanner. 

Z.

The warden smiled. "Ah. This is quite the group we have here." 

She stepped up to Hyunji, examining her. "What makes you so special, girl? These scanners are often not wrong. You're a Z level…you can only achieve that by becoming God."