She gave an unkind smile. She wasn't done with them yet.

Just as they were about to reach the vault's entrance, the miniature pebbles of stones before them rose.

Enough to make you stop and reconsider life choices, their head slowly whipped back to see the witch— legs folded in the air, hair defying gravity.

And those blood orbs locked onto hers but don't be mistaken, Extraordinary's limbs were still flailing about in the air.

But behind her hung stone sharpened to darts, all aimed at them. She tilted her head, they fired.

Quinn shot forward. Hands stretched out as she met the witch's force with hers.

But she wasn't strong enough to hold it.

With just the wave of the witch's hand the projectiles dug deeper, inching closer into Quinn's shield.

She gritted her teeth and hissed. "Aegon, a little help here?"

He finally snapped out of thought and stepped forward, he patted Quinn on the back and pushed with her.

It still wasn't enough. They were going to lose.

"Guys. I need you to squeeze in." Quinn said, glancing over her shoulder at Eli and Mira. "Now!"

They squeezed together as Aegon was now the only one holding everything back.

Quinn stretched her arms to hold them all and then—

In the next second, they were in the corridor. Before they could ask any questions Eli barked at them. "Run!"

They scurried up and back towards the exit. Not even looking over their shoulders.

They finally reached the stairs as Cara stood in the corner with her suit but so did her dad.

They froze for a second, unsure of what to say before Mr Collins screamed at them. "Get the hell out of here. All of you."

Collins began pushing the desk back in place. Before following close behind them as they ran out of school grounds.

"Why are we still running?" Eli asked, exhausted.

"Because you dumb fucks just woke up a Melas ranked anomaly and concrete isn't gonna stop her."

~BOOM.~

The ground erupted not far from them in the field as the witch drifted up.

"How do we stop her?" Aegon suddenly stopped.

They turned back to see him standing and stopped too. Mr Collins pointed a finger at him. "We don't have time for this."

"If we don't stop it then she's gonna keep destroying everything in her path until someone does." He looked him in the eye. "We have to stop her here."

Collins ran a hand across his face in anger. "How do you plan on stopping—" he pointed at the witch. "—that?"

"I don't know, so how bout you tell me." He gestured to him. "You're the mentor. Fucking mentor us."

Collins eyes darted back to the anomaly, she just hovered over the field but he could tell it wouldn't be long now.

The others circled them but said nothing, unsure of whose side they were in support of.

"You're gonna have to use your domain."

"How?"

"When we get her down on her knees, you're gonna place your fingers on her head and say your title—"

"What's my title?"

"The title the system gave you when you finished the trial, she'll be teleported there but I promise you—" He placed a hand on Aegon's shoulder. "—it'll hurt like hell."

He turned to the rest of them. "Your job is to get her on her knees, long enough for him to finish the job."

They nodded in understanding.

They finally got to the field where she was and braced themselves.

The witch turned to them and wasted no time hurling projectiles in their direction.

Quinn stepped forward first, distortion energy spiraling around her arms. She twisted the space between them, bending the witch's projectiles off-course.

Eli roared, charging forward with brute strength. He leapt, fists swinging like wrecking balls.

But the witch barely tilted her head. A wave of red energy slammed into him, sending him crashing into the dirt.

Cara's suit whirred to life, thrusters igniting as she launched into the sky. Repulsor blasts streaked toward the witch, cutting through the night.

Mira followed through, firing numerous ice spears at her with Archer's precision.

For a moment, the witch faltered, shielding herself with a scarlet barrier.

Cara pressed the attack, missiles firing in rapid succession. Aegon joined in with the attack and heaved fireball after fireball.

"Now!" Collins barked from afar.

Aegon's flames ignited, spiraling around his fists. He sprinted forward, copying Quinn's distortion for a brief moment.

Fire and warped space fused together, twisting into a vortex that slammed against the witch's shield.

The witch's eyes burned brighter. She raised both hands, and the ground beneath them split open.

Scarlet tendrils lashed out, wrapping around Eli's arms, Mira's legs, Cara's suit. Quinn strained, bending reality to keep them from being crushed.

Eli roared again, breaking free of the tendrils with sheer force. He tackled the witch midair, dragging her toward the ground.

As she hit the ground the tendrils dissolved into nothing. Dropping them all to the ground.

Cara dove, blasting the witch's back with a repulsor burst.

The witch screamed, scarlet energy flaring wildly. For the first time, she faltered — knees buckling as the team forced her down.

Eli and Cara held her arms apart to stop her from attacking, Mira froze her feet in place to stop movement and Quinn weighed her whole body down.

Aegon sprinted forward, fire blazing around him. He pressed his fingers to her temple.

He took a deep breath and tuned everything out, their screaming, his pain, how the witch fought him off under his fingers.

And now, all he listened to was the cold.

How numb his fingers felt in the white, the howl of the wind, the strain of his breath.

He remembered it all as his fingers held her in place and he whispered. "King Of The Tundra."

A searing white light engulfed both the witch's and Aegon's body. She didn't fight anymore as her body went limp.

The rest moved back and shielded their eyes from the light.

The light persisted for about a second then— silence.

They turned back to see. The witch was gone.

Aegon collapsed to his knees, clutching his head in agony. His eyes glowing but slowly subsiding but his head felt like a piston.

They remained scattered on the field for about a minute before me Collins urged them all to head home.

They moved in opposite directions, battered, exhausted but alive.

"Hey."

Aegon heard and turned back to see Quinn walking towards him. He immediately stopped and waited for her.

She closed the distance between them. "About what happened in the base?" She said softly.

He remembered the kiss. He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah?"

She stepped even closer, tilted her head and leaned in to whisper, "Don't ever do that again."

Her knee connected with his groin. He folded instantly onto the floor.

'Noted.'

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