Five ducked the electric blade swinging for her neck. She lashed out, the tip of her dagger catching the boy's stomach. The thick fabric of his jackets absorbed most of the bite, leaving a trail of frayed threads in its wake. A sharp force stabbed on her spine, forcing her down. An elbow? The nerve. She twisted, grabbing the boy by the arm. Her fingers inched closer to the wall of electric blue sparks. As he wriggled in shock, she brought it down. Her knee shot up.

A distinct crack followed by a concrete howl of pain rang louder than the counter's blare. Five brandished her dagger and aimed for his exposed neck. Her periphery exploded with an unseen force. She pushed the boy away, stumbling back. A wall of swirling energy—unseen but felt—cut in front of her, almost isolating her nose from her face.

She whirled to find Karrel dealing with Seventeen and Eight at the same time. Their abilities, just like the last altercation, seemed to be malfunctioning whenever Karrel focused on them. Five's hands tightened on her daggers. Not on her watch. No one would have to die as long as she was around.

With a raw scream, she dove into the fray. Eight's winds, first a cool draft then later, a crisp slap, kissed her skin and threw her hair in disarray. She slammed straight into Karrel, the latter being too occupied to see her coming. They crashed to the ground, her hold on Seventeen and Eight slipping. Without missing a beat, Caden and Ikerne took over.

A fist swung towards Five's jaw. She took it, catching her fall with her arm and tucking herself to a roll. She whipped to find Karrel's shadow swallowing the sky. Five crossed daggers and slashed outward. Fabric ripped, but Karrel's boots tapped lightly against the grass as she scrambled back. Damned jacket fabric from doing all the work. What were those? Armor?

"Since I've grown fond of you, I'll tell you a secret," Section H's leader said, wiping the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. "I can sense every active ability in this field but yours. Do you know why?"

Karrel spread her arms, and the grass underfoot rustled. A massive gust of wind built up and sped towards Five. She shot up and ran, swerving left and right. Wind was a tricky element. It wouldn't change directions that quickly. Even Eight couldn't manage it, and she has been training with Thirteen longer. Five closed the gap between them, slid under the last blade of wind jutting out of Karrel's panicked swing, and ran her daggers against the taller girl's ankle.

She rolled out of the way before Karrel reached her with a sword or a long-range ability as the leader fell forward. Fourteen's ability was out of reach. Karrel didn't have a gun. "Unfortunately for you," Five said, staggering up and heaving a huge breath. "I don't care."

Karrel clawed at the grass as she struggled to stand up. "Where's your damned medic?" she hissed. "Bring him out."

"I'm amazed you know we have one," Five replied, guarding her face with her blades once more. Before Karrel could reply, Five lunged. The afternoon sun glinted against the sharpened edges of her daggers as she slashed, one after the other. Her hands whizzed in her own periphery, moving on their own calculated accord. Karrel ducked and dodged, fumbling to get a grip of her sword. With every clang, Five sent the leader's hold of her weapon looser.

A slash. Karrel blocked it. Barely. Five herded her back, away from the violence of ability-based combat arching and whizzing by them. The key to dealing with Karrel was to isolate her from any active abilities. Thirteen had been right. Again. Her task now was to find out how far her effective range was. Fourteen, perched on a tree somewhere, was to calculate that.

Five thrust her dagger deeper into Karrel's space, and the leader parried it. Her boot left the ground and slammed into Karrel's wrist. The leader's sword flew out of her hand before skidding a few yards away, useless. Five huffed and wrapped her leg around Karrel's. She pulled, pinning Section H's leader to the ground and falling on top of her. Before Karrel could make a move, Five crossed her daggers and stuck them into the ground, their edges millimeters off Karrel's throat. One wrong move, and Five would scissor the hell out of her neck.

One. Two. Three. Karrel only focused on catching her breath. Five kept her grip on her daggers tight, staring Karrel down. Come on. Think of a way out of this. Show Five how she was planning to get herself out of this pickle.

Instead of being bothered, Karrel grinned up at Five. "Do you really think my section needs me to deal with you pests?" she taunted as if she didn't have daggers to her throat. "Look and tell me we're not winning."

Something whizzed behind her. She whirled to find Eight skidding across the ground, her hair flying in all directions. Metal darts stuck out of her arms, pinning her to the ground. Seventeen ran to her aid, blasting a force field towards Caden before the metal boy could drive the darts deeper into Eight's arm. Ikerne was there immediately, slashing his blade-arms at Seventeen's gut. The boy folded quickly, falling face-first to the ground.

Sixteen screamed, too far out to help. She dealt with troublesome abilities from the remaining sections who defected to Section H. From the open comms, Fourteen muttered under her breath as she reloaded her rifle. Even her absolute aim wasn't of any help, not when there was a lot to shoot at and she could only fire one bullet at a time. Fifteen was getting pummeled by a girl with dark skin and curly hair, jumping and swerving in and out of anything Fifteen threw at her until she landed hits. Twenty did his best to hold a girl with golden skin, but she swerved out of his reach before his ability could work against her.

It was a mess. Without Thirteen, that was what they were. Which raised the question—where was he?

Seven's characteristic voice ripped across the battlefield. Five picked him out of the crowd to find Caden standing over him. How the metal boy picked out an invisible one out of the chaos was beyond Five. Caden fashioned a longer and thicker dart. He must hate Seven that much. Then, he lashed down. No—

"Incoming!" a shrill voice flitted across the soundwaves. Four people dropped into the fray, each one carrying abilities Five had never seen before. A cloak of darkness rose from the ground as a girl with uneven light brown hair ran straight at Caden with a manic grin on her face. "Seven, now!"

Seven? How did the girl know what to call someone from Section M?

The boy, though, didn't need to be told twice. While Caden felt around in the wall of darkness forming around him, Seven drew the spare dagger Five gave him and drove it into the black cloud. Deep. A weak squeak rang below Five. She brought her hands closer, trimming the space of the blades. Karrel stared up at her, fury blazing in her eyes. It was useless like her sword lying far away.

"Hey, Thirteen! Who's next?" a girl with dark blue hair screamed, running across the field. Before Five's eyes, her entire body shifted into someone familiar. Within seconds, another Karrel barreled into the chaos. The real one beneath Five writhed harder. Oh, the leader knew what was bound to happen. And to think Thirteen was behind this...

Did he somehow get more members to defect to Section M? Really, him?

They both watched as Imposter Karrel called out to Ikerne. Electric Blade paused, only to be attacked from behind by Sixteen. He went down immediately, and never moved again. The other two newcomers dealt with the Section H defectors, reducing them to nothing. Whatever that boy with a lanky frame and breezy gait did, it destabilized everyone long enough for the rest of the fighting unit to settle their scores.

Verez glanced at Karrel from across the field, his expression easing into a flat gaze. Then, he flicked something on his watch and pressed close to his lips. "Retreat." His voice rang from somewhere in Karrel's arm. Oh, that was their version of the comms. Whose idea was that? "I repeat. Retreat."

The rest of the section threw their last blows before turning tail. Ha. At last, they won against Section H. Oh, that felt good.

Five's celebration was cut short when a guttural shriek tore from Karrel. Before she could establish her daggers deeper into Karrel's throat, the girl pushed up with all her rage. A force dug into Five's gut, Karrel's boot leaving a deep enough print in it. Air lashed out of Five's lungs, her grip on her blades loosening. She fell backwards.

Karrel retrieved the fallen daggers and jabbed them into Five's arm. One after the other. Without pause. Pain exploded into Five's system, driving whimpers out of her lips. Instead of finishing the job, Karrel staggered up, rolled her shoulders, and picked up her sword. Then, as the last of her section disappeared unpursued into the line of trees, she lunged towards the newcomers.

It was the same process. Confusion would mark their faces as their abilities went against them, and they would meet the same fate at the end of Karrel's blade. Only this time, wrathful wails tore from her lips as she drove and yanked her blade through bodies.

When she turned to search for the girl who copied her, there was no one to find. The girl was smarter than Five gave her credit for. Karrel tore at her hair, despair finally settling in. That was when the counter terminated. The monotone just cut off, plunging the field in ominous silence. As if it dared them to make a move while the alarms weren't working.

Karrel sheathed her sword, wiped her tears, and dashed after her section. For once, Section M made Section J retreat. It was enough victory.

Five grunted and gripped her own dagger. With the last of her strength, she yanked her daggers off her arm. It was painful, but death would be a greater suffering if she didn't get out of here. A weight pressed against her side as she staggered up. Dark blue hair flitted in and out of her blotting vision.

"Careful," the shapeshifter's voice bled into Five's ear. "Let's get you some help."

As an answer, Five closed her eyes and prayed for Three's quick arrival from the fortress.

Thirteen walked with the shadows cloaking him. He instructed Five and the others to never look back. Watching Karrel turn tail and run like she did, the sleeper unit did their job well. Five seemed to have taken Slate under her wing. It alleviated some of the rare strips of guilt gnawing in Thirteen's gut.

This was a necessary move, though—something he planned up to the smallest detail. They fought near the trees, weakening Eight and Caden's abilities. Why? Because being near the tree line made it easier to stay under the radar while he watched an elaborate and calculated theater troupe play out before him.

Karrel did her role splendidly, despite not knowing anything about it. Thirteen dug out a sheathed knife from his belt. Then, just as the sun went down, he crouched in front of the first corpse he found. The blue light still pulsed underneath the skin. He had about two minutes before the chip went out completely.

Better hurry.

He extracted the chip from Chico's twisted body. Cloning sounded like a good ability. It could work against Karrel as a distraction. He moved to the next body and the next, gathering chip after chip in his bloodied hands until he had a pile.

The plan went so smoothly it scared him. Every piece fell into place, even the deaths he foresaw. Now, he had more keys to decrypt and more abilities to study. The only thing left was to figure out how to get them inside his body as easily as changing an article of clothing. That has always been the plan. He had only been building his ammunition since the start. Now, it was time to fire the gun.

Let him hope every soul in the grounds was ready. If not for the sound, then for the blood about to be spilled.