A/N: READ THIS OR YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND A THING!

PEOPLE! WE JUST GOT 3K VEIWS!!!!!!! Well, we actually got 3K VEIWS forever ago, but still, we have this oneshot that I promised. We're closer to 4k now.

Edit : We are past 4K.
Another Edit: You guys are booming this. We're almost at 5K.
Another edit: we are past 5K

So, this is extremely long. Very different from Cannon, so don't go saying "THat'S NoT hOw iT wAs iN THe BOoK!!!". Just don't. It's annoying.

Storyline of the AU:

This is a Gang AU. In this AU, the world is run by different gangs. It used to be run by Kingdom, the group of founders that founded most of the world, and one day they just disappeared. The villages went into chaos.

The Castaways, Aru's gang, is one of the most powerful. This gang is made of people from any culture, religion, age group, race, ability, that were left to fend for themselves, a.k.a. Castaways.

Aru has been the leader of this gang since she was 12 (When her mom and dad died on a mission), and now she's 17. No one underestimates her, even though she might be young, she is very experienced in the field. Her sort-of-sisters, Kara, Mini, Brynne, Nikita, and Sheela, are the most important people in the world to her, and if someone hurt them, she would kill them. Literally, I'm not joking. She has before.

She hand-trains almost every recruit so they'd be able to defend themselves, whether they be as young as 5, or as old as 50.

One day, they get a new recruit.

There's obviously more to it than that but I don't want to spoil it. And they have their powers and weapons, which also contributes to them being the most powerful gang. It's sort of futuristic, because of the technology and stuff.

Also, Codenames.

Aru: Lightning
Mini: Doctor Death/DD/Doc. (It's lame, I know. I couldn't come up with anything else)
Brynne: Tornado
Kara: Ray (You know, like a RAY of sunlight)
Nikita: Poison Ivy
Sheela: Oracle
Hira: Morph
Rudy: Scales

One part of this is promptly based on a prompt that @Honeii-Hufflepuff  gave me. I don't know if my tags work or not, so if it doesn't, I'll just comment it on the side.

Warning: Minor Cursing. Blood. Death. Betrayal. All that classic author stuff.

Also, I'm working on like three one shots at once including this, so don't blame me if this comes out late.

It's mostly going to be Aru and Aiden's POV, but there's like two or three parts that aren't and those are going to be really small.

It started writing this on January 13th. It has been published on March 27. Over 2 over dang months.

Dam. This thing itself is over 400 words long.

"Doc! What's going on at the tech unit?" Aru almost screamed into the mic after she heard the sound of multiple gunshots. Only silence came. Aru gritted her teeth. She couldn't lose someone else.

Then a beep.

"We're fine, Lightning! It's only nearby, the Vigilantes are sending warning shots!  They're practically a mile away! That's it! Though they do know we're here, which isn't really a good thing." Mini whispered into the mic. Aru sighed in somewhat relief.

"Is it safe for the raid squad to infiltrate?" Aru asked, as Vajra, her lightning bracelet, sent out a jolt of electricity through her veins, relieving her tense body. Aru's fists unclenched, her toes uncurled, and her reflexes seemed to turn on. Aru smirked and clutched her gun in its holster around her waist.

"There's around 20 guards near the entrance of the facility. You could sneak past them, but with that big of an infiltration group, it'd be easier to take them out, but that would make the alarm in their suits go off, and then they'd know you're there," Mini responded.

"Can you turn them off?"  Aru tried to reason. Mini was right. But this was supposed to be a quick in and out mission. "We can get Pixel to try, though it may take some time," Mini replied. "We don't have time!" Aru gritted through her teeth.

"I'm sending out small groups at a time to go in. Try to deactivate it, but we're going to try the safer option first," Aru demanded.

"On it, Lightning!"

Aru turned off her side of the mic, so she'd be able to her Mini, but Mini wouldn't hear her. "Masks on, hoods up," she told her team.

Their masks were so no one would be able to reveal their identities. They were sort of like masquerade masks, but it blurred their faces to unrecognition. They stuck on, felt as if they were not even there on the person's face, and only the person who originally put on the mask could take it off. The cloaks were for extra safety measure.

Aru pressed the middle of her gold mask right above the bridge of her nose, as it stuck onto her face. She looked around to see her team do the same thing. Their faces blurred up.

"Morph, Static, Tornado, you're with Ray. Ivy, Oracle, Scales, you're with me. I'll be taking my team first. Then, once I give the signal, Ray, you'll take your team through the gates. We'll split way then and look for the hostages and run out to the trucks once we find them. Then we're out of here. Best case scenario, we all make it out alive and unhurt" Aru planned out.

"Worst case scenario?" Scales, A.K.A Rudy, who was a newbie, asked. "Death," Everyone around him said simultaneously. Rudy winced.

"Ray, keep up on comms. My team, let's go," Aru demanded. Aru, Sheela, Nikita, and Rudy all crawled out of the bushes, and quietly sneaked towards the entrance. Sticking to the walls, Aru examined the entrance. Surprisingly, there were no guards.

Aru pressed the mic in her ear, unmuting herself. "Doc, didn't you say that there were 20 guards?" Aru whispered. "Yeah," Mini said.

"I don't see any,".

"Really?"

"Yeah, check the system again,"

"I already did that once you said you didn't see any guards. It says they are right in front of you,"

Aru squinted her eyes. Her eyes widened at what she saw as she took a step backwards. "Umm, Mini? What exactly are you scanning for?" Aru said, her voice trembling. "The computer scans the Vigilantes' tech, which is on their suits. You know that." Mini said, obviously confused about why Aru used her actual name, and the tremble in her voice.

Aru could hear a quiet ticking sound, her suspicions confirmed.

"Everyone, back up quickly. Ray, evacuate the squad away from the spot," Aru said. "Lightning, tell us something! What's going on?" Mini worriedly said.

"Bombs. 20 bombs" She said, barely a whisper, but everyone heard it. "WHAT!" Pixel shouted. 'Run! Now! Pixel, we're coming to the trucks early," Aru hurried. The ticking noise was getting louder. The group ran for their precious lives. "Ray, what's your stat-" Aru was cut off by the force of the explosion. The others were ahead of her, and also got hit, but it was not as bad. Aru fell down, rubble piercing her back. "ARU!" Sheela yelled. "JUST GO! I'LL BE FINE!" Aru screamed. "WE'RE NOT LEAVING YOU!"

Aru grabbed Vajra and pulled it off her wrist and threw the bracelet towards Sheela, Rudy and Nikita. Vajra formed into a glowing shield around them.

I'm putting their life in your hands, Vajra. Don't fail me.

The last thing Aru saw before blacking out was the twins banging on the shield, tears streaming down their faces.

~~~~~ DON'T KILL ME~~~~~

Aru jumped awake, only to feel multiple stabbing sensations from her back. "Oh shit," Aru groaned.

"No, lay right back down!" A familiar voice said. Aru complied, her vision in a blur. "Aru, name 5 things you can see," The voice demanded. "Uh," Aru said. She couldn't think, the pain in her back taking up her entire attention. "Aru! Listen to me!" The voice said again. Aru concentrated as much as she could on the voice. Her vision cleared up. "I can see you, my nose if I concentrate on it, Brynne, Sheela, and Nikita," Aru said. "Good, now 4 things you can hear," Mini told her.

"Gunshots, explosions, screaming, and... You talking to me,"

" 3 things you can smell,"

"Brynne's cooking, Nikita's lavender perfume, and the sweat every morning for training,"

"2 things you can touch?"

"Umm, the bed, and your hand,"

"1 thing you can taste,"

"Brynne's famous lasagna,"

"Now take 10 deep breaths,". Aru felt her mind clear up, grounding herself to the world.

"I got the vial!" Brynne said, running in through the door. "Good, give it," Mini said. Brynne gave her the vial, and Mini popped it open. " Lean your back against the wall," Mini told her. Aru got up, and painfully may she add, and did as her sister told. Mini pressed the vial against her lips, and Aru drank the liquid. It felt like an actual energy drink. The pain in Aru's back disappeared almost immediately. "What was in that?" Aru asked Mini.

"A couple healing herbs that went well together, and a bit of Vajra's lightning," Nikita answered at the door. Sheela was standing there with her twin. Her eyes were blotchy, the sign she'd been crying. "Vajra's lightning?!?" Aru asked, surprised. "We crushed the healing herbs, mixed them in water, strained them, and then Vajra zapped it a couple times," Kara said, coming from behind the twins.

"My gods! Who else is listening to this conversation?" Aru sighed. No answer. "Rudy, Hira, Lilac, Oliver, I know your there," Aru said. "How'd you know?" Rudy said, coming from behind the door frame. "Yeah! I thought we were going to trick you this time!" Oliver said, revealing himself from an air vent. He jumped down. Hira shapeshifted out of her pose as a small lion cub statue and jumped from the pedestal. Lilac crawled out from under the bed. "The student will never be better than the master," Aru said in an old man's voice and then cracked up at herself. Some of the others joined her.

Sheela ran up to Aru and hugged her, Nikita joining her quickly. "We lost you," Sheela muttered. "Lost me? What do you mean?" Aru asked. The room suddenly became grim. "I'll tell her," Mini decided. A moment passed before Mini tilted her head at the door. "Oh! She means alone-, right," Brynne realized, and began ushering everyone out.

Once everyone was out Mini began to explain. "You... died. After the explosion. Nikita and Sheela brought you here as quick as they could. We did everything we could. Our only other chance was..." Mini explained. "No. Don't tell me you used our only dose of Mrityune Rad Karo on me" Mini bit her lip.

"Are you kidding me? I told you to only use that in dire emergencies! You know how hard it is to get those ingredients!"

"You dying, was a 'dire emergency', thank you very much," Mini protested.

"I am not an emergency. The youngers are emergencies! The important ones are an emergency!"

"You are important,"

"I can be replaced!"

"No, you can't Aru! Stop trying to argue with me about this! You are the most important person in this whole gang, whether you agree or disagree. You came up with Kingdom, you trained practically everyone, you protect everyone and whether you like it or not, you are our leader. You can never be replaced." Mini shouted. Aru was speechless. Mini never raised her voice at anyone, even if there was absolutely panic.

"You keep risking your life like that and one day we won't be able to save you," Mini muttered walking out the door. Aru was left with her own thoughts.

A moment later Brynne entered the room. "Let me guess, you heard the whole thing," Aru sighed. "Yeah, but that's not the point. New recruit's here,".

Aru practically jumped off the bed. "Already? I thought that was Tuesday?" Aru said, walking out the door with Brynne on her tail. "It is Tuesday. But you should probably change before you go anywhere,". Aru looked down at her tattered clothes. "Right," she said walking to her room and changed into black leggings, black shirt, and one of those red leather rock star jackets. Over that, she put on her cloak. She slipped her feet in her black knee-high boots and walked out the door.

"File?" Aru asked Nicholas, one of the Archive guys, who was outside of her room. Nick handed her a vanilla file.

"Aiden Acharya. Same age as all of us? The photo of him makes him seem like he's 11," Aru analyzed. "He hasn't been seen in public for over 6 years," Brynne answered. "Son of late Malini Acharya. She's that old radio singer, right?"

"Yup. Rumors are she was a Apsara,"

"Think Acharya here inherited it?"

"I know so. This guy's my best friend,"

Aru stopped in the middle of the walkway. "He's that guy?!".

"Yup,"

"Well, I'm not going to kill him on the spot then,".

"That's good enough I guess,"

Aru and Brynne approached the Meeting/Dinner Hall. Aru quickly typed in a code in a nearby keypad, and a panel popped out of the wall. Aru pressed her thumb against a pad on the side of it, revealing multiple buttons. Aru slammed the side of her fist against the yellow one, and a the familiar call of a sparrow rang out in the hall. It was the "Meet us  in the Meeting Hall, we have a new recruit" signal. Aru slammed her fist against the green one and the big door started slowly opening.

"Just don't flirt with him," Brynne told Aru. Aru scrunched up her face at Brynne. "I'm not going to fl-" Aru cut herself off as she saw the guy standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by guards. "Fucking Hell, you didn't tell me he was going to be hot!" Aru muttered to Brynne, turning around to face her sister. (A/N: There you go @Honeii-Hufflepuff)

"Well, in my defense, I just said 'don't flirt with him'! What did you take that as?" Brynne protested. Aru sighed and pressed her mask to the bridge of her nose. Brynne did the same thing.

"Wait. Doesn't that mean you think he's hot?" Aru asked. "NO! That's absolutely disgusting! I like someone else! I just know he's your type!" Brynne scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"You like someone? Why is this the first I'm hearing about this? Who is it?" Aru interrogated. "W-What? I don't' know what you're talking about," Brynne said, trying to play dumb. Aru narrowed her eyes, but nevertheless, let the topic go.

Aiden was stuck in a shield that Vajra was making around him. He obviously seemed uncomfortable. He had no way to see outside of the shield or hear what was going on. He had been blindfolded on the way in

Aru opened up another panel and pressed another button. The tables started shifting into one, to make a large circle around the shield Aiden was in. There were chairs all around the rim of the large table, each designed by their respective owner.

Slowly but surely, people started piling into the giant hall. "Are we ready?" Aru asked Hira. Hira nodded and Aru got up, ready to present the speech she knew by heart already. Aru launched herself up onto table.

"SILENCE!" She demanded, and the hall became still, all the attention on her. Aru opened her arms out and "As of this moment, we have 625 members in the Castaways. Yeah, I didn't forget you this time, Samson!" A small wave of laughter ran through the crowd.

"All of you, came here, no matter your age, race, religion, nothing. You were cast aside by everyone. Now you are here, and you are longer alone. You have found your place, your home, people like you, whether it's your blood, like the many sirens and apsara we have here, or it's in your heart," A loud cheer went up through the crowd. Even though the elder members of the gang knew that Aru said the same thing every time she did this, they also knew she meant every word of it, every single time.

"Some of you, I watched grow up, like the many children here, and some of you I know just by name, like some of the newbies who haven't started training yet. I want you all to know that you are at home here. You are welcome here. And now, I want you all to welcome out 626th member, or so we'll see." Cheering became louder as Aru paused for "dramatics".

"I NOW PRESENT TO YOU, AIDEN ACHARYA," Aru's voice boomed throughout the hall as she held out her arm, in which Vajra turned back into a bracelet and slipped onto Aru wrist as Aru flipped off the table, into the circle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Aiden had decided to join this gang, this was probably the last thing he expected. The shield around him was retracted, and the first thing he saw was a crowd of people with blurred faces around him, cheering and banging the table. He was in the middle of a giant circle, with many people around him.

Suddenly, they all became quiet. Aiden traced their eyes toward someone in the circle with him. They, like everyone else, had a blurred face and a cloak draped across their shoulders, covering most of their clothes. They had a hand raised up, probably to tell everyone to be quiet. So this is their leader Aiden thought.

"So, you want to join our gang? Prove you're worthy. Cause all I see is a little pretty boy trying to be tough," they said. They had a distorted voice, probably because of some tech on them.

A rumble came from behind Aiden. He spun around just in time to see a bull charging towards him. He slid under the bull and ended up on the other side of it. "What exactly is the goal here?" He shouted at the leader. "To tame it, of course. We don't do that much animal violence here. A good amount of us is vegan," they said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Aiden released his scimitars from their cuffs around his wrists. "Tornado, you didn't tell me he already had weapons," He heard the leader say to a person behind them, Tornado probably. "I didn't know, Lightning," Tornado said to their leader, Lightning. "I never saw them," Tornado added. Were they spying on him? It had been a good month since he applied.

Aiden put that thought to the side quickly when he saw the bull charging at him again. He ran to side, where he saw the light pole in the circle. He quickly ran up and climbed it, scimitars in hand. Just as he got to the top and was about to use his scimitars to shine light in the bull's eyes, the light broke! Sparks flew, causing Aiden to fall off the pole, but he managed to jab one of his Scimitars in the pole and jumped down from a much safer distance.

"I thought I told you to go easy on him!" Tornado told Lightning. "I want to see what he can do. Can you blame me?" Lightning said in response. Fine. Lightning wants a show? He'll give them a show.

The bull kicked up the sand. Aiden dropped his scimitars. He closed his eyes." Lightning, He is going to sing" A soft voice said. "Oh shit! I didn't think he would do it this early! Activate the ear plugs!" Lightning called to someone behind them.

Aiden paid no heed to them. He racked his brain for songs that would make the bull calmer, or at least go to sleep. He found one and he started singing the chorus. The bull stopped in its place immediately. Its eyes drooped, and it fell to the ground in an instant.

Aiden's vocal cords were completely worn out. He put a lot of power into that song, and he could feel that his vocal cords had almost snapped.

Aiden opened his eyes to absolute silence around him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow. Aru thought. None of the Apsaras who were already in the Gang were that powerful. Even for the stronger ones, it took at least minute for their singing to work on the targets. Aiden's worked in 3 seconds! Everyone was shocked.

Aru got up and walked towards Aiden. Aiden eyed her carefully. "Welcome to the team, Acharya," she told him. Aiden's eyes showed great relief.

"Hope you'll look forward to your Welcoming Ball in three months," she added. A burst of murmurs came from the elder members of the gang. And it was appropriate.

Welcoming Balls were only for the "special cases". The mysterious ones. The "how the hell do you exist" ones.

It was true. Aiden was a "special case". This level of his powers shouldn't exist. It was like he already had training or something. Aru decided she would dig more into it later.

"I'll get one the other Apsaras or sirens to lead you to your dorm. Training starts tomorrow morning after breakfast," Aru informed him. Aiden nodded.

"Phillip! Come over here! Aiden's your new roommate! Meeting adjourned!". Everyone got up and walked out the door.

"Hey, 'Ru," Aru heard from behind her. "Yashu Auntie? What is it?" Aru asked. "Is there really a need for a Welcoming Ball? Is he really that powerful?" The Auntie asked. "You saw what he did yourself. It seems like it is," Aru answered. Yashu Auntie bit her lip. "Yeah. It's just, last time we had a Welcoming Ball, it was for all of your sisters and you. Is he really almost equal to your power?". "It's just a precaution, but yeah, maybe,". The elder winced. "Also, could you and the archives try to get a deeper file on him. We need information on him," Aru asked. The auntie agreed and went off to inform the team of their assignment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, I'm Philip. I'm a siren," Philip told Aiden flipping up some of the hair on the back of his head to show some scales. Aiden smiled awkwardly at him and nodded. "Can you talk? I'm just curious, because I heard you shout during the trial," Philip asked him. Aiden pointed towards his throat. "Ohhhh. Your vocal cords busted. Yeah, that happens often with Apsaras. Is it just stressed, or did they snap?" Philip asked. Aiden held up one finger. "They got stressed, okay. Yeah, I'll ask Gina for a vial of Galanun Samarakam. It helps repair them,". Aiden nodded in thanks.

"You know, during training, we actually learn sign language so we can speak with you Apsaras when this stuff happens," Philip admitted. Aiden eyes widened. Can you understand this? He signed. "You already know ASL? That's really cool. Yeah, I could understand that, just so you know," Philip said.

My mom taught me Aiden said. "Really? Who's you're mom?" Philip asked. Aiden had to think about how to sign this for second. M-A-L-I-- Aiden started signing. "Wait! Malini Acharya?" Aiden nodded. "No way! She was like world famous!". Aiden nodded again. Philip turned dull then. "I'm so sorry for your loss. I heard about that accident," Philip said. Don't pity me. It's horrible. Aiden signed, turning his head away from Philip. They walked in silence for the rest of the walk to the dorm.

Phillip used his keys to open the door. Inside was a GIANT room. In front of them was a bunch of beanbags, couches, and chairs surrounding a mat in the middle. There was a TV on one side of the place. There were a bunch of basic room decor, like painting and garden plants. Behind the room were three steps that led up to a small kitchen, with a granite countertop, which had a sink on the other side, with an Aloe Vera plant in the middle of it. There were cabinets above more cabinets. On the side were two ovens, and on the other side was a fridge. Somewhere in the middle of the cabinets were two stoves.

Needless to say, Aiden's jaw dropped. He flopped onto one of the beanbags.

"Shocked, huh?" Phillip said, smirking at Aiden expression. "Shut your mouth dude. You look like an idiot," He added after Aiden didn't reply. Aiden quickly recovered, flushing in embarrassment. It's beautiful Aiden signed. Phillip laughed. If he hadn't known sign language, he would have been terrified, because the sign for beautiful was taking your hand around you face and sort of popping it out of a fist in front of your face suddenly, sort of like an explosion. Whoever had made sign language was clearly not enthusiastic about signing that word.

"That's your room over there," Phillip pointed to a room on the left side. The door was a plain beige color, muck unlike the door on the other side of the room, with had stickers, drawings, and paint all over it, with "Phillip" in the middle. "You have your own personal bedroom and bathroom, with all hygienic items that are necessary,". Aiden stared at him in awe. "What? Did you think it was going to be dark and gloomy and dirty? Ha. No. Lightning's a kid too. Same age as us. They took over when they were 12. Made some changes too," Phillip explained.

About Lightning, that's not their real name, is it? Aiden asked. "Nope," Phillip laughed. Aiden raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Oh! I'm not allowed to tell you," Phillip said "Unless you can beat them in a spar, you'll have to wait a month". You can't tell me anything about them? Aiden asked. "Nope. Nothing. But I'll tell you this. They have like 5 sisters. You mess with one of them- you're dead. Trust me. There are corpses right below the bunker,".

Bunker? Aiden asked. Phillip nodded. "Yup. We are underground,". Aiden's eyes widened. What about the names? Aiden asked. "Oh, we all have one. Based on what we can do. My code name's Siren Screech. You'll get one tomorrow at training. Lightning picks them all for everyone," Phillip informed.

You can't tell me anything else about Lightning? Aiden asked. Phillip shook his head. Aiden looked at him with his best attempt at puppy eyes. Phillip winced at the failed attempt. "Fine. Just for that, I'll tell you one thing. Okay?". Aiden nodded. "Their last name is Shah. You can try to look it up, but I doubt you're going to be able to get anything from the archive, google, or the library,".

"Anyways, I should go get that Galanun Samarakam." Phillip suggested. Aiden nodded. "You can start unpacking in your room, and if you want any renovations, you can go to the Witches and Wizards Renovation shop in the market on the right. Don't go to the left, because that's the leader hall, where Lightning and their sisters stay,". Aiden nodded again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do we have any more information, Ignacio?"

"Nothing about the leaders and anything you don't already know,"

"What about ambush dates?"

"Actually, one. There is a welcoming ball, three months from now,"

"Perfect. We'll strike then,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aru spotted Mini the way to breakfast the next morning. "Hey Mini!" She called out. Her sister turned around to face Aru.

"I'm sorry about yesterday-" Aru said at the same time Mini said "I'm sorry about yelling at you-". They both paused. "You first," Mini decided. Aru quickly nodded and started again "I'm sorry about yesterday, and I may have come off a little strong-". Mini raised her eyebrows. "Fine, very strong, but I'm sorry, and it's not your fault about using the last dose of Mrityune Rad Karo on me," Aru finished. "It's fine Aru. I just wanted to apologize about shouting at you yesterday," Mini said. "Hug it out?" Aru asked hopefully. Mini scrunched her nose up. "Pwease?" Aru pleaded, making a seal eyes face. "Fine,". Aru wrapped her arms around her sister, and Mini did the same thing.

The sisters let go and walked to the dining hall together. The dining hall, unlike yesterday night, was set up in rows of tables, not the giant circle.

"You know my favorite thing about new recruits?" Aru asked. "Yes, I do know, you've told me a thousand times," Mini answered. "Humor me for a sec," Aru said. Mini sighed as Aru kept talking. "It's that I don't have to sit up at the high table for two weeks,".

"I know that. We don't have too either".

"Shush! I said humor me," Aru said, a grin on her face. Mini rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Hey Shah! Mini! Over here!" Brynne called from a part of the table. She was sitting next to Hira and Lilac, with a small, dotted blush spread across her cheeks. Aru's eyes traced toward Hira, who was sitting a bit close to Brynne. Aru's eyes widened in understanding. Brynne has a crush on Hira!!! Her mind squealed. A giant grin stretched out on her face. "Mini!" Aru whispered. "Look at Brynne and Hira!". Mini eyes went to the two, and she squealed. "Oh my gods! Aru! Do you think they're dating yet?!?" Mini whispered back. Aru shook her head. "No, they aren't. Look at the way Lilac's looking at them," Aru answered. Lilac was looking at the two with a knowing, annoyed look. "What are you two standing they for? Come sit over here!" Brynne demanded. Aru and Mini walked over to their sister.

"Hey. How's life not at the High table?" Hira asked them. "Lovely. I'm living the life here," Aru commented, lifting her feet onto the table. Mini slapped them. "Feet off the table Aru! Learn your manners!" She scolded. Aru quickly took them off the table and put a look on her face that said Who, me? No, of course not...

"Any plans for training today?" Lilac asked. "Well actually, I was planning on- Hold up! I'm not telling you the training plans!" Aru refused. "Aw, come on!". "That was a good try though," Aru admitted. "Thank you" Lilac thanked.

"Should I call Aiden over here?" Brynne asked. Aru's eyes widened. "Hell nah! You realize how easy that will make my identity revealed? He still has two weeks! It's barely been one day!" Aru protested. "Then hide your identity! I know you can do it! I wanna hang out with my best friend!" "Fine! But you all- all 8 of you- have to help on any slip ups," "That was already happening," Mini confessed. Kara, who had just joined, nodded. "Didn't think you noticed us yet," Nikita added from beside Hira. Sheela waved from beside her twin. "I always sense you guys," Aru said. "That sounds plain creepy," Brynne said. "You know that's not what I meant!"

"Bee?"

Brynne turned away from Aru to face the voice. And he's come over here anyway Aru transmitted through the mindlink, glaring at Brynne. "Hey Ammamma,". Aru snorted. Brynne glared at her. "What are you doing here?" Aiden asked. Brynne leaned back in her chair and answered simply. "I've been here since I was born,".

Aiden's eyes scanned over the group, with a questioning look in his eyes. "Oh! Umm, these are my five sisters I was talking to you about. Aru, Mini, Nikita, Sheela, and Kara," Brynne introduced. "They can introduce themselves more formally," She added.  

"Mini Kapoor Mercado-Lopez. No handshakes or hugs, only elbow-bumps. Did you know that the fastest way to spread germs is physical contact? Then the germs go through your mouth which make your cells sick and could lead to-"

"Death?" Everyone said calmly.

"Well, it would make your cells slowly start to dysfunction and then, yeah, maybe death," Mini added.

"Okayyy, umm, I'm Nikita Jagan, fashionista, and designer here at your service," Nikita burst in. "I'm Sheela, Nikki's twin," Sheela spoke in her usual soft, cheerful voice.

"I'm Kara Shah, and necessarily I'm only somewhat related to Brynne because of her," Kara said, pointing to Aru. "And we save the best sister for last! I'm Arundhati Shah! Lovely person, fluent in Sarcasm, call me Aru".

Aiden seemed confused. "So, you guys are sisters?". "Was that not the main point of doing that? You know, because Brynne wanted to introduce her sister to you?" Aru asked. "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, only you two share a last name" pointing to Sheela and Nikita "And you two share a last name," pointing at Aru and Kara. "Anyone ever tell you it's rude to point?" Aru asked. Aiden glared at her. She glared right back. Aiden broke away from her gaze first. "Flirt-ing" Brynne muttered in a sing-songy voice. Only Aru could've heard.

A red blush broke on Aru's face. "That was one time Brynne! Don't think I don't know about you and Hira!" She argued. "What about me and Brynne and me?" Hira asked. "Nothing, I'm just trying to get some leverage on Brynne," Aru lied, glaring at Brynne. Brynne flushed.

"Anyways!" Mini cut in "To answer your question, Kara is Aru's older sister..." She paused, trying to come up with a lie. "By like, what 8 months?" Aru quickly cut in to make it seem real. "I didn't want to be frozen!" Kara cut in, getting what Aru was trying to do. "So, necessarily, I'm older than you by like 14 years!".

"Doesn't matter!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"D2!"

"It does not!" Aru finalized.

"Oh wow, I actually thought Kara would trap Aru," Lilac whispered to Hira. Hira nodded in agreement. "I heard that, Lilac!" The sisters said in unison. "Oop. Better run," Lilac said, starting to get up. "Relax, we're not going to kill you!" Aru said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back into her chair.

"Wow. You guys get off-topic quick," Aiden remarked. "We're... Conversational people," Aru said. "To the point, we aren't actually sisters, we're very, very, very, very distant cousins, a lot of times removed, but we've been a part of this gang since we were born. But we're just close and act like sisters, and don't want to have to explain this whole thing," Mini finished.

Aru elbow-bumped Mini under the table. Way to go Mini! She said through the mind link. Aru might be able to come up with excuses quickly and make them seem real, but Mini just needed some time and then she'd be able to come up with a whole explanation behind it. Thanks, Mini transmitted back.

Nikita flicked Aru's hand. Aru looked at her. What? She asked through the mind link. The time! I'll cover you, but we need to go before the high table's late for breakfast announcements! Nikita explained. Aru's eyes widened as she saw the time. 8:54. "Hey, Aru, didn't Yashu Auntie ask you to bring her some files from the Archives?" Nikita asked, playing it off so Aru could go change. Aru faked remembering about it. 'Oh! Right! I have to get those! I completely forgot! Thanks!" Aru quickly jumped out of her chair and walked out the dining hall. From there, she broke into a sprint.

Aru quickly rushed into her room and grabbed a pair of black leggings, a black shirt, and grabbed her lightning bolt earrings. She quickly changed and wrapped her cloak around her shoulder and fastened it with a Slytherin pin that she had - somehow - gotten Nikita to make for her. Off flew her gold earrings, replaced with her lightning earrings. She walked to her nightstand, where Vajra was sitting in the form of a bracelet. She quickly merged Vajra into her earrings, where Vajra gave her a reassuring zap! It relaxed all of Aru's tense muscles.

"What could I do without you?" Aru asked to Vajra, who zapped her again. Aru smiled as she swiped her mask off her nightstand and pressed it to the bridge of her nose. Aru looked at the time. 8:58. Two more minutes.

She quickly rushed out the door, to meet her five sisters, who were also coming out of their rooms, dressed in similar clothing. Brynne was tugging on Gogo, which around her neck, Mini had Dee Dee in her hands as a compact, and Kara was twisting Sunny around her finger. Nikita had a flower crown on her head, which was somewhat blurred, thanks to the mask, and Sheela was fidgeted with her fingers. Oh no Aru thought. Sheela always fidgeted with her fingers whenever she was about to give a prophecy.

"What were your excuses?" Aru asked them as they walked back to the Dining hall, promptly deciding to ignore Sheela's prophecy signs. "I need to go to the bathroom, and since I hate public restrooms, I have to walk all the way to my room," Mini explained. "I thought that I accidently left the stove on when I was cooking something this morning, and I didn't want to accidentally bring the bunker down," Brynne said. "I got a ping from my watch that the fashion department needed me," Nikita said. "I said I was going along with Nikki," Sheela said. "I just said I should probably help you get to the Archives before you got lost," Kara said. Aru glared at Kara, but she knew Kara couldn't see it through the mask's tech.

The sisters got to the dining hall just in time for announcements. "These are all the announcements," Jake, another worker for the Archives, gave a paper to Aru. Aru nodded in thanks. They walked inside and stalked up the steps to the high table. No one had noticed them yet. Aru smirked. "Are we ready?" She asked her sisters. All of them nodded, or responded, but they all conveyed the same message. Aru threw her hands out, promptly taking out all the lights with a Crack! The hall fell quiet as it sunk into darkness. As soon as there was absolute silence, Aru retracted her hands, and the lights returned to the hall. "Hello Castaways!" Aru called out. A cheer came from the crowd. "As you know, we have a new recruit in our halls today! Let's give him a proper welcome at training today, for those in his age group!" Aru had a sly smirk on her face as the other teens shouted and cheered and howled. "Just so you know Acharya, we're not completely ravages," Aru teased as she spotted Aiden in the crowd.

"As you all know, it's Wednesday, which means, Breakfast Buffet Day! " Aru called out as several buffet spots appeared in the corners of the hall. People started getting up to get food. "For training this morning, there's Spar Training this morning for the 15-30 age group!". Groans rang out from all corners of the room. "Parkour and Agility for 50 and above!". Protests from the elders. "14 and below have classes today!" Cheers from the youngers. "31-49 have a free day!". More cheers.

"Right after breakfast ends, 15-30, you have Spar training, so I suggest you eat quickly to get ready!10 :30! At 12:00 is Parkour and Agility! Then we'll have lunch at 1:30! Classes start at 2:30, and your schedules are already at your dorms! Dinner is at 7:00! In your dorms at 10:00! Today is a No Sleepover Day!" Aru called out.

"Now get on with your lives and eat your breakfast! Till' Kingdom Comes!" Aru finished her speech. "Till' Kingdom Comes!" Was repeated throughout hall. The sisters walked out of the Dining Hall. Then they ran back to the dorm and changed back into normal clothes and ran back to the Dining Hall. They all went in at different times. Mini first, then Aru and Kara, then Brynne, and then Nikita and Sheela.

They all went back to their original spot. "Aw, Come on! We missed announcements!" Aru faked complained "What do we have for training?" Mini asked. "Spar Training!" Lilac groaned, glaring at Aru. Aru gave her a look that said What? I didn't do anything...

"Your earrings," Aiden said. "What?" Aru asked. "Your earrings. I noticed them before. They were gold. Now they're lightning bolts,". Shit! Aru thought. Aru hadn't changed them when she changed her clothes! Vajra was still merged in them! Don't even think about zapping me Aru demanded. Vajra buzzed and vibrated quietly. "Yeah, uh, they sell these in the gift shop! I saw them and decided to buy one!" Aru said, glaring at Nikita, who was behind Aiden. Nikita rolled her eyes but nodded. "They're limited edition! The fashion department only made two pairs!" Nikita played along. "Really? I saw them on display," Brynne said. Nikita nodded and said, "One was on display, the other was in the shop, though they've probably taken it down now that Aru bought it,". Aiden looked convinced. Aru got up to get her breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, I was just told that Lightning got someone to get you a tour, so they'll be giving you a tour right after training," Phillip informed Aiden "Just so you know, Lightning trains 15-30 all the time. They're going to tease you a bit. It's Spar Training, which means, if you want to, you can go against Lightning to find out who they are really. It's really cool. Unless you're really good at fighting, we get to watch you get kicked around by our leader. Really fun,".

Aiden scowled. "That's not comforting at all,".

"Well, I didn't mean it like that! It's just entertaining, for the people who aren't fighting. Lightning's never been defeated in a match before. That's it. It gives us a reason not to get on the mat, you know?" Phillip reasoned. Aiden sighed. "You're really bad at pep talks, you know that right?". Phillip nodded. "It's a generational thing,".

"After that tour, she's going to be leading you to the council meeting, where they talk about the gang, missions, all that typical stuff. New recruits always go to those meetings. For their first day. Then they'll only be able to go if you're a councilor for one of the halls. For example, I'm the councilor of the sirens, and Yara's the councilor for the apsaras. People can fight for the position of councilor, and you might be able to win against Yara, if you want too, of course. I can file in a word with Lightning, and they'll host it, or one of Lightning's sisters will," Phillip explained.

"What about that slogan? 'Till' Kingdom comes'? Lightning said it during breakfast," Aiden asked. Phillip smirked. "You'll find out,".

Bing Bong! Bing Bong! Bing Bong!

The sound alarmed through the room, and from what Aiden could tell, the whole bunker as well. He slapped his hands over his ears to squeeze out the loud sound. "That's the bell. Training starts in 20 minutes. Better get ready," Phillip said. He walked into his room and Aiden walked into his.

He hadn't seen (A/N: I was about to type "Sawn" instead of "seen" here, and I was like "I JUST CREATED A NEW WORD!!! HOORAY!" and then I searched it up and it's actually a word. It was sad.) his new closet, so he was interested to see what clothes were inside. He walked over to his closet and slid open the door. It was his old closet! Same exact clothes hung up on the same exact black velvet hangers! Aiden quickly grabbed a green hoodie and black jeans and quickly changed. He got his leather bands and slipped them onto his wrist.

Aiden quickly walked out of his room the find Phillip scrolling on his phone on the couch. "Oh, you're done!" Phillip acknowledged "We have to go the Whomper before it gets crowded,". "What's the Whomper?" Aiden asked his roommate as they walked out the door. "It's basically like an elevator that teleports you to your destination in the bunker. It's really fun once you get you used to it,".

Once you get used to it? Aiden thought. He was respectfully horrified.

Phillip walked out their dorm and they walk a good minute before reaching the end of the hall. "The Apsara and Siren Hall is one of the closest halls to the Whomper, which is a really good thing," Phillip explained. He pressed his hand on the wall, and a green holographic grid went over it like a scan. After it disappeared, Phillip removed his hand from the wall and backed up. A second later, the wall opened up, and out came a practical portal like machine!

Aiden flipped Shadowfax out of its watch form and took a picture of it. Phillip yelped at the camera flash. "Where'd you get that from?" He yelped. "I've had it for years. Sorta shapeshifting from a watch," Aiden explained.

"Anyways, we have to get your handprint for the Whomper," Phillip said. He went to the side of the portal, where there was a digital screen. He clicked a few buttons, and there was another green grid on the screen. "Put your hand there," Phillip told him. Aiden placed his hand on the screen, the green holographic grid spread onto his hand and then disappeared, like it did to his roommate's hand earlier.

"There. Done," Phillip said, and then pressed more buttons on the screen. After he was done, a gray swirl started forming in the frame of the portal. "Why don't you just call this a portal?" Aiden asked Phillip. "Well, one, where's the fun in that, and two, you'll see why we call it a Whomper in a sec," Phillip said, smirking.

Phillip walked through the portal, and Aiden followed him.

From the minute his whole body entered the portal, Aiden felt like all the bones in his body were suddenly gone, and he was being squeezed and twisted, and then spit out on the other side.

"Just what was that?" Aiden groaned. He was on the floor, and Phillip was looking at him from the side. "A whomp!" He said.

"Just call it an apparating machine or something. This is some Harry Potter stuff," Aiden groaned again. Phillip offered him a hand. Aiden took it and was pulled up. Aiden almost fell down again, and it felt like his whole body was off balance. Phillip caught him and helped steady Aiden. "That, I present to you, is the Newbie Whomper effect!" Phillip said. "I never want to do that again," Aiden confessed. "It's easier than walking for 20 minutes to the other side of the bunker," Phillip said, dragging Aiden towards the Sparing Area.

The place was gigantic! "This place has to fit at least 100 people," Phillip said, looking at Aiden. "Can you read minds or something?" Aiden laughed. "I'm good at reading people,".

After 10 minutes, everyone else had arrived at the Sparring Arena. It was time for class to begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aru had walked in at the last minute, like she usually did, into the Sparring Arena. "Hello 15-30!" She called out. Everyone responded in their own way.

"As you know, we are here today in the Sparring Arena this morning, and just yesterday, we received a new recruit! Which only means one thing! Aiden! You wanna know who I am? Fight me to find out! Your choice,".

Aiden stood up, quite confidently in fact, and stepped forward from the crowd. "But wait! One condition! Every time you lose, a week of dish duty!" Cheers grew louder. That threat alone had made some people sit right back down. But Aiden still walked towards the middle of the room.

Brynne stepped forward in her cloak. She was always the referee for this type of stuff.

"3... 2.... 1.... GO!" She spoke.

Aiden charged straight towards Aru, scimitars straight out. Aru ducked underneath them and rolled to the other side. Vajra crackled in anticipation, and Aru's hair rose the tiniest bit, knocking the hood of her cloak off her head.

Aru silently thanked that fates that she decided to put her hair in a bun today. Even with the mask on, he'll be able to make out her usual braid and her hair color. With Aiden's constant swipes and stabs, she wouldn't have time to slip it back on.

Finally, after 5 minutes of dodging, Aru eventually got tired. Vajra quickly flashed into a dagger, and Aru parried one of Aiden's strikes and pushed him backwards onto the floor. He quickly pushed himself back up.

Aru concentrated again and Vajra flashed into its five-foot lightning bolt form.

1-10, How cool do I look? Aru asked through the mind link. I can't even make out your hair and I can tell you look somewhat like Pikachu again, Brynne said.

Rude Aru transmitted while dodging another attack. Aru heard Mini snort. Quite loudly.

Brynne cut off the mind link so Aru could concentrate on the fight. 

Aru decided to make her first offense move then, and decided sweep Vajra from under Aiden's legs, and fake a hit to his stomach when it actually went to his head.

Aiden seen what she was going to do, so he blocked quickly with his scimitars. The first parry with Aru's lightning bolt. The lightning from Vajra spread along Aiden's scimitars, and the two jumped back from each other, startled.

Aiden smirked, and the two continued away.

Aru eventually started moving more on the offensive side of the fight, trying to find whatever weak spot or trick that would make Aiden fall down. Her instincts took over completely, dodging and stabbing. Aiden made an unexpected stab at Aru's legs, which she jumped over, but fell down, not in an appropriate position to roll to the side. Aiden quickly made more attempts to trap her, but Aru managed to roll away and swipe Vajra under Aiden's feet, causing him to trip, and Aru, as fast as lightning, held Vajra in its sword form at Aiden's neck.

"Yield while accepting charges of dish washing duty for over 600 people?" Aru asked. Aiden looked around, trying to figure out a way out. He couldn't.

"Nice try, Shah", he whispered.

Aru, clearly startled, let the grip she had a Vajra loose the tiniest bit, but that was enough for Aiden. He pushed Vajra off him and rolled to his knees and sweeper his leg under Aru. Aru jumped back just in time, and called Vajra to her hand as she positioned herself again.

"Phillip, you're dead after this!" She called out. There was a slight scurry in the back of the room.

"How the tables have turned," Nikita whispered to Sheela. Sheela nodded, pulling on her fingers harshly. "The turns may table though. It always does," Mini commented. There was a worried tone in her voice.

The two fighters were starting to wear out. Their constant strikes were getting slower, more looser. But neither would give up.

They're both stubborn Mini transmitted. Aru was sure it was supposed to be for Brynne, but it had gone through all of their minds.

Wow. Glad you have so much faith in me, Aru retorted. But even she knew it was true.

Strike after strike, the two repeated the same pattern.

Until Aru saw an opening.

Aiden had let his guard down with his feet. He wasn't protecting them, and it wasn't seeming like he wasn't going to.

She quickly switched back from defense to offense, gaining the advantage. Then, she faked a hit towards his chest then tripped him. Aru then cast Vajra over him as a net, trapping him.

"Yield or you get electrocuted," She said. "I yield," Aiden surrendered. Aru held out her wrist and Vajra slipped back into it as a bracelet. Mini sighed in relief. Everyone had seen to be at the edge of their seats. This was the closest any newbie had ever come to defeating Aru. Aru stood up bowed to the crowd, Vajra flashing.

Guys, We need some help Nikita said in the Mindlink. She sounded concerned. Aru looked to where the twins had been earlier, but they were no where to be found. Where are you? Mini asked, coming to the same conclusion.

We came back to the rooms. But it's Sheela. She's about to give another prophecy. Nikita had an urge of urgency in her voice.

Aru's eyes widened. "Okay, class is dismissed early today! Off you go!" She rushed everyone out the door , Kara (who seemed to have been told by Mini), Mini, and Brynne all came out with the crowd with Aru. The sisters rushed through the Whomper and landed at their dorm. Aru knocked on Sheela's and Nikita opened the door, rushing them inside.

Then Sheela fell to her knees. Brynne caught her before she fell smack onto the floor. Green smoke floated out of her mouth before she spoke in a odd, layered voice:

"One who shall betray,
Shall give it all away,
The warriors must fight
To protect what is their right
The leader shall be thrown
along with all that has been grown
The second in command
Whose future many will misunderstand
She'll be a long ways gone
Before any will notice they've been a pawn
Sacrifices must suffice
For the determined price
All the hard work hasn't been done
There is much more to come"

Sheela passed out in Brynne's arms, and Brynne put Sheela down on her bed. "Well, that sounded... promising...?" Mini analyzed, looking at a price of paper. She had probably wrote down the prophecy as it was being said. "Well, it's being generous. It could have been 'Nice try! You're going to die!'" Aru commented. Brynne snorted.

"Now is not the time Aru! It literally said 'The leader shall be thrown, along with all that has been grown'!" Mini scolded.

"Prophecies are always mixed up! It could mean anything. Like, instead of me being over thrown, it could mean that I get thrown into a wall. We don't know completely!" Aru shot back.

"Which is the exact reason we have to be careful!" Mini protested. "Well, I'd hate to bring it up now, but how is the Gang going to react to this?" Nikita asked. "That is if we even tell them," Kara chimed in. "How can we not?" Brynne asked. "I agree with Brynne. It's their right to know," Mini said. "But it'll cause a panic within the Gang, and that is the last thing we need right now, especially when we need to recollect on resources. We can't have people panicking while going on supply routes!" Aru argued. "But they can help us! You've trained practically everyone in this bunker yourself! They know how to react!" Nikita shot back. "Someone's betraying us! We don't know who to trust!" Aru retorted.

That shut everyone up. It was a good point from Aru's side. But there was one problem.

"The second in command, Whose future many will misunderstand , She'll be a long ways gone, Before any will notice they've been a pawn" Mini muttered, "All five of us are your second in command Aru. We can't even trust eachother at this point,".

Aru bit her cheek. Damn these prophecies! she cursed. They made everyone doubt everything they ever knew. They made Aru's parents go on their death quest, made the twin's parents disappear, made Kara stuck in a time freeze for years.

"We're not letting the word out yet. We'll tell the council after Aiden's introduction. That's everyone who will know," Aru demanded. It was the tone of her voice she had that made everyone agree without hesitation.

This was not going to turn out good.

A/N: If there even is going to be a part two of this, it won't be coming out for a long time. This is over 9000 words and by far the longest one shot ( if you can even call it one) I've ever made.

See ya!

~V