Ambition Is Critical (Not accepting/Started)

Marcus Winterstone

I was discovered by a strange woman, who beckoned me to her. Without much of a protest, I followed her to a school of some sort. It roused my curiousity. "Excuse me if I sound blunt, but I want to know why I'm here."
The woman turned around and looked at me in the eye. "You're brought here for a mission and you'll be spared getting cuffed if you come quietly. Unless you want to try escaping, which can be slim to none."
I sighed. The stern tone in her voice told me I had no choice in any matter, so I had to follow suit. I followed her without protest.
She went on, "You have a rather odd history behind you, Mr. Winterstone. Been abused most of your life and rarely had a chance to get a real home." She kept on walking. "I need your hero name before we proceed."
I nodded miserably. "Yes. My childhood was stolen because of my abusive foster families, so I don't really have must to talk about." I sighed. "Just call me Icefire Hawk."
The woman led me to a room full of other students and left me there.
I looked at the person with cuffs on her wrists. "Hello there."

Burns,

I can sense that there are now ten people in the room. Even more oddly, I can sense the presence of two pairs of handcuffs. I mean, honestly, are we heroes or villains? Then, the weird lady comes back, with the promise of explanations.

"Finally," I mutter to Eden.

The woman clears her throat, "As you know, you have all been summoned here because of your extraordinary talents."

"Yeah, but what have we been summoned for?" A girl asks, irritation evident in her voice.

"We're about to be attacked. Someone is about to take over this planet--and we need your help." I can tell she's serious. But really, what kind of crap is this? I mean, sure, supervillains are always trying to take over, but that's different. That's kind of why we exist, but you don't need ten supers to handle one supervillain.

"You will be taken to our training facility where you will be trained for whatever is about to you, you will learn a variety of skills--and if you want to come out of this alive, you better listen carefully."

Hmm, well you can't say that life hasn't gotten interesting.

"Uh, is she crazy?" Eden whispers in my ear. I shrug.

"So, are we going to this super-secret facility right now, or do we get to, like pack and say goodbye first? I mean, we might die, if this is as serious as you say it is," I say.

Eden~

I bristled as Senka was led through the door. Even in chains she had the nerve to glare at me before retreating to the corner. It was then that I knew that this wouldn't just blow over. The others laughed but instead I simply met her eyes with a similar stony glance. I noticed her searching the room, most likely for Daniel. He was already my rival and we constantly struggled to best each other in any pursuit of the mind. I was relieved to find he was not present as the two of them together was sure to bring out the worst in me.

Burns moved restlessly beside me and as the woman briefed us, I found that it was hard to focus as my mind was still lost in my research. The thought of leaving it be while being reluctantly trained to defend against a mysterious power hungry entity made me slightly resentful of the entire situation. And if we were all supposed to be a team, I couldn't see how we could function. With hardly anyone talking and an uncomfortable awkwardness pressing in on everyone, I felt more and more inclined to simply walk out and find refuge in the Kinetics Lab.

But then again, something about this appealed to me. There were about ten of us here and, if this was the force required to challenge this threat, than what could it be?

"There is one more person who I have yet to collect. Prepare to depart on the hour."

Sighs were heard around the room and out of boredom I began playing with the lights emanating from fixtures around the room when I noticed Salvador sitting and sketching in a notebook. I recognized him from an Arts elective I had taken and though I had usually spent that time fabricating patterns of colored lights by myself, I had always taken the time to admire his skill.

"What are you drawing?" I asked him, moving from my uncomfortable standing position to an empty armchair.

Salvador Degas

I didn't fully feel right about the situation, but I didn't have the nerve to argue with people I couldn't yet see. I pulled out my notepad and conjured a simple imagine in my mind, a tree. Trees were easy. I pictured in my mind the paper, it's dimensions, I pictured the pencil, put it on the top left edge of the paper, and started drawing. Somewhere in the midst of my tree my vision came back, the familiar black and white. I fixed the details of the tree and was just finishing up when Eden took a seat next to me. I imagined her hair black today, eyes dark green. It fit her, I liked it. Of course, I didn't know exactly, but imagining was better.

"What are you drawing?"

I looked to her and smiled. I didn't answer, but ran my hand across the page. The tree shimmered off the page and re-appeared on the table in front of her, the same size it was on the page, oak wood, strong trunk, roots digging through the table top. Quickly, I drew a small bird, conjured it, and watched as it flew towards the green-leaf full branched.

"Nature," I said finally. I thought about dispelling the illusion, but decided to save it. I laid my hands over the image, mumbled 'Ritorno', and the drawings returned to my notebook. I paused. "I don't know how I feel about all of this. Burns said we might die. I... I'm not a fighter." The end of my sentence trailed off into a whisper and I looked down at the table. "I don't know. What do you think about this?"

~~~~~~
|Philip|
~~~~~~

A boy reeking of sulfur, two white haired girls, a ginger, two blind kids, and a goth in handcuffs. Hardly the usual suspects.

As the woman continued to drone on about the end of the world, the fuzziness in my head started to clear. I opened my mind and started probing everyone in the room.

First up was the sulfur kid,
hate this. hate it, boring. beneath me, bored. stupid bitch, making me go. Idgaf about this. been a while, need to fu-
Interesting... they take me, this guy, and possibly the goth kid against our wills. Whatever's going on has them scared.

Whitey numero uno,
Her mind was strangely empty, beyond the usual stray thoughts. All her attention was focused on a tiny shadow cast by the sprinkler system. It danced across the ceiling, contorting itself into impossible shapes and complex patterns at her whim.
Shadow bender, interesting.

My head filled with equations and figures, Guass's laws, the Maxwell-Faraday equations, adjustments for the curvature of space-time. Whoever this girl was, she was into some weighty shit.

As I looked closer I realized the ginger, wasn't actually ginger, he just had way too many red highlights in his hair.
so alone, depressed, unloved. how can I be a hero when i'm so dark. they never loved me, so alone.
Great, tragic back story kid, there's always one to angst up the place and make everyone else feel shitty for having stable families. Note to self: punch him in the balls if he starts that "woe is me" shit.

Is that blind kid drawing? And did he just make a tree?
she'll help me, still not safe. can't see.
Hmm... he seems to trust equation girl, but only to a point. He's not always blind, need to figure out how he pulls that off.

The other blind kid seems to be sizing up the room too.
I've seen everyone before except that guy in the back. handcuffs mean he's dangerous, heart seems calm. watch him closely.
Interesting, but unimportant. There's only one player in this game.

I winced a little bit when I tapped the goth kid's mind, the emotions were so strong it felt like he was shouting inside my head. His thoughts were too loud and fast to form any kind of coherent stream, but I did get two useful bits of information. He really hated someone named "Polaris," probably equation girl, and he really didn't want to be here.

Burns,

Everyone is getting up and ready to leave, but the woman still hasn't answered my question. I frown. I sense that she is heading for the door. Oh, not cool. I teleport into her path, and will the door to slam and lock.

"I asked a question," I say cordially, "Maybe you didn't hear me. Are we leaving right away or can we get some things and say goodbye to our friends?"

The woman is silent for a moment, and then clears her throat, "Do you have friends, Isadaemus?"

"Burns," I growl, "And yes, I do happen to have friends. I would appreciate being able to speak with them."

"You may tell your friends that you are leaving, nothing more. If you do, we will know, and there will be consequences, for both you and those whom you told. You will have no need for any belongings but those which you have with you. Everything will be provided for when we get to the facility."

"Thank you," I smile, and the door opens again. I stalk out, intending to find Mark.

Eden Edison~

As I watched him draw my mind travelled, matching the patterns of his hands with my knowledge on the patterns of photons. It's interesting how in tune the world really is with itself. Nothing is random - one just has to discover the thread that ties it all together no matter how it twists, turns, and overlaps. Then my thoughts were jolted as I saw the tree and the bird become alive. I wouldn't have believed they were alive but the bird seemed to have free will as it travelled around the tree before finally settling on the branch it wanted. I wondered what they were exactly, and how the were so easily brought to life and then turned right back into the 2 dimensional lines they came from. Perhaps I looked too deeply into what created powers such as this one, but somehow they could also be key elements in my studies.

I realized I was smiling foolishly at it while I was thinking and immediately snapped out it when he asked me a question.

"I don't know how I feel about all of this. Burns said we might die. I... I'm not a fighter." The end of his sentence trailed off into a whisper and he looked down at the table. "I don't know. What do you think about this?"

I was certainly not excited about this. It was a major disruption in my routine and, using his words, I was not a fighter. Unless of course that person was Senka, but she was an exception to almost every rule.

"I am resigning myself to this, I suppose. To be honest, I'm curious about this and I want to know what's going on. But I am afraid...but I guess that's normal when you face the unknown," I shrugged, thinking about my heroes, like Lavoisier who faced the guillotine despite his contributions to science. Not that I thought we were going to die. It was a possibility though.

"Can I keep that drawing?" I asked suddenly, wanting to be reminded of what he'd shown me. On seeing it again I realized how sick I was of sitting in the low artificial light when what I really wanted to be back outside in the sun.

Dan

As the professor droned on, I doodled in the book absent-mindedly. Advanced Transmutation, please, I could do this shit sleeping. Next to the drawing of the structure of several atoms present in iron, I had drawn the rigging for a mech suit, and a sketch of a rose decorated the top-left corner where some paragraph was explaining the variable sulfur and mercury could have on matter. If it was up to me, I really wouldn't be taking these classes, but it was required I passed in at least five subjects to pull through to next year.

"Nero!" the professor snapped. I jumped suddenly. "If you'd be so kind as to summarize what we've been saying for the past half an hour."

"Uh... Nicholas Flamel was the first to write a comprehensive study of alchemy in his Codex?" I tried. I really had not one fucking idea what he'd been saying.

The roll of his eyes told me that was the wrong answer. "Nero, if you don't pay attention, you're going to fail this class. Creativity alone isn't enough." He was about to say more, but the bell rang.

Grinning, I hurried out. A hand dropped on my shoulders. "Dan, hey!"

I turned around. It was Carter. "You, ah, borrowed my book."

"Hmm? Oh, right. Yes. Here." I gave him the book back.

He flipped to the page we were studying and raised an eyebrow. "I'll be sure to use these to land an A on our next test."

I rolled my eyes at him and walked off. Now, to my room. The flash elixir was very volatile.

"Daniel Nero."

"Oh, fuck, not you again, really?" I grumbled. "I told you, I'm not interested in your stupid 'conflict.'"

"We have your sister though," she said, smiling darkly.

My eyes flashed. "If you've done anything to her, I swear I'll fucking --"

She raised a hand to cut me off. "She's fine. She got into a scrap with another student, so she was handcuffed for her own safety. If you'd come this way, I'll show you to her."

Damn. I knew I had to follow. I didn't trust this person, and if Senka was in her hands... how did a madman like her get into the school in the first place?

"Alright, I guess I'm not getting rid of you," I mumbled. "Lead the way."

I was led to a wide room. More were here, others, some I knew. I saw my sister, handcuffed in the corner, staring up at a shadow. I was about to go to her, but the mysterious woman laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "Not yet," she murmured. "Go to your corner and behave now."

Biting back a retort, or better yet, a fist, I went and sat. I just wished they'd leave me alone... I wouldn't be much use in a fight, or whatever. I was an inventor, an artist, not a goddamn soldier.

I spotted that Edinson girl in the corner... great, she was a fine tight-ass prick indeed. My day couldn't get any worse.

Some time passed, which I spent trying to come up with a torture device or two, just in case an opportunity presented itself. The gauntlet was viable, too. The chances the school would give me the poisons and sedatives required were slim though.

The hated woman reappeared from the shadows. "Well, no point in waiting any longer. It seems you are all here. I will now announce what you've been summoned for."

Salvador Degas

"Can I keep that drawing?"

I snapped my head up to look at her, mouth hanging open a little. I quickly composed myself and nodded.

"Yeah, um, sure yeah."

I carefully ripped the picture out of my sketchbook and handed it over to her. No one ever asked for one of my pictures before. No one really had cause to either, I don't talk to many people. People started to get up and leave, I collected my things too, rising from my chair. The lady said something about being able to say goodbye to our friends. I laughed sadly and fixed my bag on my shoulders.

That wouldn't be a problem for me, then. I don't have any friends.

Senka - Dark Heart

When my brother walked though the door, he must've known that they got me. But it was also a good thing he was here, if anyone knew how to get rid of these high tech cuffs that seem to prevent me from using my powers. It was my brother, I sat there as others left the room Polarious probably not pleased with the fact that my brother was here. She hated me, but she hated my brother with a passion, but I knew with our combined power we could defeat Polarious and her as a team.

I moved over to my brother, I turned my back to my brother to give him a good look at the cuffs they put on me. Looking over my right shoulder, he lazily looked at the cuffs occasionally tilting his head left or right trying to figure out if he can remove them.

"I'll need some of my more complacated tools to remove this, without the key or my tools I can't remove these." He said finally.

"Wonderful." I said sarcastically, "can't you just use the Halberd you gave me and cut the cuffs off? Or at least apart so I can use my Halberd in the case we get into a scrap."

"I can, but I would cut it very close, to the point where I may inflict a wound if I cut it to close, and other possible injury." He said.

"No thanks." I replied.

"Suit yourself." He said.

Sitting there, me and Daniel never really had any friends in this school, more or less we were on our own because of how our mom and dad used to be. This school still reeks of disrespect, one day, I'll change that so the Nero family or more personally me and my brother will be respected. Only one other stayed behind besides my brother, and that was the blind guy who was drawing. I personally didn't care since I didn't know him, but he drew something on his pad, something I couldn't make out from where I was sitting, but it had a lot of dark colors to it, maybe he was drawing me and Daniel? I would have to take a look later.

Eden Edison ~ Polaris

I sat quietly, looking at my picture and acknowledging the fact that the only friend I would really want to say good bye to was my Spectrolaser. Then, I felt my skin prickle and I turned around to see Daniel. Though we were very similar in our self-induced isolation and devotion to academics we were opposites in almost every other respect. And given his relation to Senka, I couldn't bear being around him.

"I'm going to step out," I told Salvador before leaving the room. I was surprised how easily they allowed everyone to leave. Perhaps this entire experience had been a test of some sort. Perhaps to judge our reactions or our teamwork abilities or something of the sort that administrations were always trying to gauge.

I ran outside for a brief moment, trying to soak up as much sunlight as possible before heading back to the dim room. When I entered, Senka and Daniel stared at me and looked at each other before turning their heads back down. Whatever they were thinking, I was sure it wasn't good. I hadn't even wanted this to turn into a rivalry, but I supposed that it wouldn't be changing any time soon. So I decided to indulge the feelings and turned to Senka icily.

"It's not your fault your parents cast a shadow on your names, but by letting self pity consume you, you're living up to them quite well," I stated simply, meeting their dark eyes.

Burns,

I wander the halls until I find Mark walking out of a Transmutation class. I'd know his signature anywhere, even in the press of students in the hallways. I pull him aside, and I can sense his surprise.

"What's up?" he asks, concerned.

"They're pulling me out. I can't tell you why, but I have to go to another facility for special training. I don't know when I'll be back."

"You will be back, though, right?" Mark says, his concern even more pronounced.

"Of course," I say breezily, "I'll have everything under control. Street smarts, remember?" I grin, and he seems reassured.

"Hang in there, then," he says, and we embrace.

"You too, man. Tell me how that goldfish thing works out," I can sense his eye-rolling, even if I can't see it. We part ways in the school's front atrium. I take a deep breath and walk outside, where the woman waits. There are others as well, not the other people from the room, but stoic presences, like guards. Hmmm.

"Have you, ah, met with your friends?" I can hear the sneer in her voice.

"Yes, ma'am," I say sarcastically.

~~~~~
|Phillip|
~~~~~

The crowd filtered out of the room at the end of her speech, thoughts of escape on their minds. I tried to slip out quietly, but the guard blocked my exit. The woman's heels clicked on the tile floor as she walked towards the back of the room.

"Get him to the helicopter," she said, gesturing to me.

"Don't I get to say good bye?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Say goodbye to who? The myriad of whores you've slept with? The vengeful card sharks you've cheated? Or maybe the Chicago PD, who are very curious how disappeared out of a locked cell?"

"To be fair, they were definitely floozies, sluts even, but not wh-"

"Shut up and listen to me. We've been cleaning up after you for years, it's time to repay the favor. If not, then you're a liability and we've got plenty of people who will pay for a shot at you. Have I made myself clear?"

I glared at her in silence.

"Answer me."

I nodded my head.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to talk the rest of these people out of doing something stupid."

I was already in the helicopter before I realized what had happened.

Persuasion's a bitch, ain't she?

Marcus Winterstone/Icefire Hawk

I frowned as I remained unnoticed by the girl in handcuffs. It was typical of people. Never showed any sympathy towards a wounded soul like me. After our briefing, I took a walk through the halls. It's like I could never make friends with anyone without having my background pried at. All my life, I was left unloved and never given the chance to at least make some friends to feel some kind of love in my heart. Once I was all alone in the halls, I leaned against the wall and looked at my hands. "How can a wounded soul like myself be loved when nobody seems to be showing any sympathy? All I want is to be loved in spite of my black history, but it seems that no one wants a winged person with a black history. How can I be loved when I have a terrible history behind me and people seem to be more interested in those who does have a history as bad as mine?" I closed my eyes as I painfully remembered my life growing up.
Each foster family I was put into since I was three had abused me in the worst of ways. I was abused for so long, it felt like nobody even bothered to show me kindness and compassion. Instead of being loved, I was hated by many foster families until I came of age. I opened my eyes, tears falling down my face. "I want to know what love feels like so I can put my black past behind me. That's all I want and ask for. Can't anybody see how broken I am from the inside?" I wiped my tears away and resumed walking around.