"The more you try to rip it off, the tighter it gets. You should know that by now," I glared at him, getting a chuckle.
"Hello, my pretty, pretty Novia" Joey wrapped his arm around me. I elbowed him in the stomach as I reached for a plate.
"She's not in a good mood," Luis smiled at him.
"When is she ever" Joey rubbed his stomach.
"Are you excited about today's training? We're doing the Circle rush." He leaned against the table as I put bacon on my plate.
'"The hell is that?" I looked at him. His face fell.
"You didn't tell her?" He looked at Luis, who looked also confused.
"August was supposed to"
"Someone tell me, or this fork is going into dark places," I warned calmly.
"The circle is when one person has to fight off all the rest of us," Pirate's voice appeared behind me, his arms folded as usual. Alec and Chase were next to him. They looked tired.
"What the hell happened to you?" Joey frowned at them.
"Dimitri," Chase growled, basically tackling the bottle of orange juice from his hands.
"We had to chase him around the damn base to stop him from beating some blonde kid to death," Alec grumbled.
"That took three of you?" Luis questioned. They gave him a look.
"He used to be such an unproblematic kid," Joey shook his head.
"Yeah, well, you know who he's been around lately." Chase glared my way.
"The kid won't leave me alone," I glared back.
"Yeah, because you don't tell him to go away," August eyed stealing my plate. I huffed.
"He's the only one here I can tolerate" I snatched it back, returning the face he shot at me.
I slowly became more adjusted to this place and forced myself to build a tolerance for them, even Chase. I got tired of being shocked all the time. Regarding Dimitri, he was a cool kid. From what I got, August looked at him as a little brother and loved him a lot. I don't blame him. It was hard for even me to not care about the kid a little. He and Luis reminded me of my family, though I don't care for them as much as I did mine. It doesn't hurt to talk to them when I'm not kicking these peoples ass's or being locked in a room. August somewhat trusted me around the kid. I guess he finally accepted that I really do keep my word. Since August is always around me most of the time, Dimitri isn't too far. I'm still not allowed around without a guardian. I did get some upgrades, instead of just August and Luis, Alec sometimes comes around.
"The feeling is mutual," he grinned tightly.
We sat and ate in silence; I took the time to examine the room and see if I could put names on faces. I needed to know who was around when I was up to something. Half of my shocks came from people snitching on me because I don't get caught, except that once.
"Hurry up and eat," August demanded.
"I thought we talked about the way you speak to me," I continued with my scanning, but I could feel the eye roll.
"We have a mission later on today so we have to pack training in early"
"We?" I grinned, and he deadpanned.
"Not you," I returned my glare.
"You know you're not allowed to do that yet. You can't even train with anyone outside of us," Luis gave a soft look.
"What if it's because you guys are the only ones I want to hurt?" I smiled tightly. He huffed with a chuckle.
"You get even more pleasant every day," Chase snarkily commented.
We ate and soon found ourselves in the training room warming up. I began my stretches as the others chatted among themselves.
"Dude, stop staring. It's creepy," Luis attempted to whisper to Joey.
"It's not creepy," he defended
"The fact you don't realize it is, is concerning"
"She's basically one of us now, she knows how I am"
"She's not and never will be one of us, Joey," Chase added himself. "She's a damn sociopath for heaven's sake"
I rolled my eyes, pulling my leg back to me.
"I can hear you" I smiled at them, they turned to me.
"Good thing I don't care" He glared before walking away. I followed him with a scowl.
"Don't let him get under your skin" Luis crouched down to me.
"You should be worried about me seeing what's under his," I lifted. He sighed and gave me the same dad voice as always.
"Novia"
I waved him off as I went over to pirate. He was wrapping his hands and turning slightly to look at me.
"So, who are you going to go kill?" I asked, my lip lifting a little. He gave me a bored look.
"None of your business"
"Grouchy" I made a face. He huffed with a grin.
He was less aggravated with my presence than when I first came, although it's clear he still hated me.
"It's some high-up lawyer" He handed me the wraps.
"What'd he do?"
"No comment" He nodded to the rest, and we all made our way to the mat.
August stepped in the middle. I liked it when he took charge of training.
"This is how the circle rushes will start off. Joey will go first. I will grade him by how many of us he can put down outside of the mat. That goes for the rest of us as well, no weapons" He specifically looked at Chase. I smirked at the annoyed expression that followed.
He stepped back as the rest of us approached. Joey stood in the center of us. He looked a mixture of nervous and excited.
"Don't worry about hurting me, Novia baby, I'm a big boy. I can handle it" He winked.
"When are you going to get it in your head that I don't want you?" I sighed, getting into a fighting position like the rest.
"When you realize he doesn't and I'm the only option left," He grinned.
"Maybe if you were the only other person on earth," I shot back.
"So all I have to do is get rid of everyone else" He smiled widely. I made a face at him. He looked around at his other opponents. "Great motivation" He gave august a nod.
August was the first to attack, and we all followed. He was quick and avoided as many attacks as he could, but I noticed he was more of an act than a strategizing fighter, which gave us the advantage. Alex and August took his front while Luis and I attacked from the side. He was too busy focusing on the two in front of him than blocking us; we dropped him and Chase rushed him from behind; he managed to flip him off the mat and kick off Luis before we knocked him down and August threw him off.
"You need to watch your full surroundings instead of what's in front of you, regardless of how close or far they are," I told him, he huffed, getting up off the ground. August came next to me.
"That's my line" He looked down.
"Gotta be quicker. I might be tempted to take your spot if I didn't enjoy seeing you boss people around,' He gave me a 'really' face as I walked away smiling. We all returned to the lineup as he gave him his score.
"You put down only two of us Joey, you know that means we got to focus on defense training again"
"I have a good defense"
"Not good enough. You're relying on delayed attacks from out-of-vision opponents. You can't do that again" His voice was stern and demanding, but Joey nodded and we moved on.
"Chase" He stepped back as we approached.
Chase's fighting was driven by emotion. He took blows and let himself get fired up to send harsher attacks. His fault was not realizing we could read that and already knew. His defense was nice, but his offense was slow because he used his built-up as a weapon. He needed to control his emotions instead of letting them control him. He ended up only putting Joey down and August lectured him, which received an eye roll as usual.
Next was Luis. He had good form and his defense and offense were strong. He was quick, but we were quicker. We found a weak spot and used it against him. Mixed with our combined speed and different attack styles, we got him down, with only Chase and Joey out.Β
"You guys are looking pretty pathetic to me," I sang as I got back in line. They all glared at me, even Luis. I chuckled.
He gave him his score a little praise, and we were on to the next, which was Alec. Now this one I might have to try on. He circled as we surrounded him, taking in our movements and when he paused, we attacked. He was smooth and graceful with his fighting; it was calculated and forceful. He knocked Luis, Chase, and Joey out with ease and quickness and now me and August circled him. I watched his footing, and he noticed, he sent a fist to me which was a distraction as his foot came at my head which I barely missed, while he was on one leg, I dropped sliding mine at it but he hopped over it and caught August in a headlock as he tried to attack him mid-air. I took the opportunity and ran at him, sending both feet to his chest. August's arm slid between his hold and wrapped around his waist when he knocked back. He used his legs to lift and send Alec into a backflip off the mat and onto the floor. He straightened with pants as he looked at Alec with a proud nod.
"Perfect" He locked hands with Alec, pulling him off the floor. Alec's face didn't change from the unfazed look it always held, even when fighting. He returned the nod, and we went back to the line-up.
There was only me and him left, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited. He motioned for us to come up. He was next and the smile on my face was noted as he squinted an eye at me. I saw him fight enough to have a basic understanding of his style, but he knew that his only real threat in this situation would probably be me and Alec. He could put the rest on their asses faster than Alec did, and that's what happened. I and Alec were sending blows and mostly on defense with him. You could tell just how good of a killer he was by the way he fought. It was patient and calculated. You could see in his eyes him going over every logical attack he could use against us. Like it was all in slow motion, but the whips of limbs being thrown and slight grunts and hisses made the thought of us moving that slowly seem like a claim Chase would make.
I dodged his kick and bent backward as I felt Alec coming up from behind. He sent a powerful smash to his side, which he quickly recovered from and switched to defense. Even though he doesn't talk much, I and alec made a good team when placed together, we read each other's attacks and fitted ourselves in them to higher the power of it. We circled again and as August charged, me and Alec shared a glance that went by in a flash. We shuffled between him and while his back faced us; he threw me up the motion making august whip around. I landed behind him, sending harsh kicks to his legs and back. He grabbed my leg, blocked Alec's fist, and flipped me. Twisting alec and sending him off the mat with a punch, I charged swiftly, using his shoulders as a foundation as I jumped, wrapping my legs around his neck and flipping. He took control of it and right as I was flying towards the floor, my hand latched around his wrist and I twisted, locking my legs around his arm, sending him instead as I landed on the mat. It knocked the air from my lungs for a second, but that didn't stop a proud smile from forming on my lips.
They clapped as the three of us caught our breaths. They were up before me and handed out their hands, which I took as they pulled me up.
"That was impressive," August grinned, patting us on the backs.
"Yeah, that was the first time someone knocked you on your ass during a rush," Joey grinned, crossing his arms.
"You're going to boost her ego," Chase warned, but even he looked a bit impressed. Alec's hand landed on my shoulder. He put out his fist, and I bumped it.
"You know this means I'm going to have to put you on your ass now right" August folded his arms.
"Please," I huffed, going to the middle.
The excitement that ran through me was transparent on my face as they circled me. They almost looked nervous, which made me even more excited. They came when I nodded. I dipped under the swings, watching out for August and Alex's punches, Joey's kicks, and Chase's tackles. I slammed Joey into chase. They caught each other as I slid under Alec, rising and elbowing August, who was behind. We moved fast. Since they knew my attacks and that I favor using my legs, I had to switch it up. I send speedy and harsh punches into the throats of whoever I could get. I shifted between them, using the height difference to my advantage. I only used my feet when I needed to kick someone back and focused on offense until I could get the number of them down. It took me longer to get them down, but I jumped onto Luis and used my weight to flip him into Joey and sent heavy blows to Chase, dodging a kick from Alec that sent the three of them off the mat onto each other.
August grabbed me by the throat and lifted me. I smashed my elbow into his wrist, losing the grip, and dropping low enough to head butt him and twist out of the hold; I groaned out as Alec's attack sent me to the ground as they loomed over me. With a smile, I spat out the blood and went on defense. I stayed low and used their talents against them, Alec's speed and August's way of planning attacks. Every move August made, I lured Alec to me to crash into it. I wrapped my arms around his neck while he was down and dropped, flipping him off the mat. I dodged the kick August sent down at me and raised as we circled each other. He had a proud smile on his face and I watched his fingers. He had a tell. They would slightly lean the opposite way of where he would attack, I figure he realized I knew this, and when he attacked, I did the opposite and successfully avoided it sending blows and using my speed and body to beat him into a daze and smoothly threw him off.
I collected my breathing as he got up. He tilted his head as he looked at me.
"You almost killed me again darling" Joey broke the stare. I looked at him and the rest and realized just how badly they were leaking.
"That means I win, right?" I smirked at them, flicking my brow and walking to get some water.
.
August walked me back to the Hive. As we walked, I decided to bring back up the mission.
"So, a corrupted lawyer?" I grinned at him, but he didn't react. "Aren't all of them corrupt, though?" I continued
"Not like this," He finally spoke.
"So what did this one do that's so bad?"
"I can't tell you," He sighed, opening the door. I walked through smiling at the tec nerds going stiff.
"You'd think they'd be used to me by now"
"No one is," He grumbled, taking my arm as we walked through. I waited until we reached the elevator. His mood swings are so annoying. I can tell he's forcing himself to be distant from me and not just because he stepped as far away from me in the elevator. I smiled to myself at the reason why.
"I enjoy our tension," I spoke. He rolled his eyes as the doors opened.
"Of course you do" I stepped in front of him, blocking the hall and his only escape. He glared down at me creating distance.
"It's fun. Come on, some part of you enjoys this," I teased.
"I have somewhere to be Natasha," He sighed.
"Natasha this, Natasha that. You only use my name when you know I'm right," I glared.
When he says it, it doesn't bother me like usual. My name carried faulty memories, but they all disappeared when he used it. I wonder why.
"I have I told you I hated you today?" he crossed his arms.
"Only fifty-two times," I grinned, and he raised a brow.
"You counted?"
"Of course" I make a face. He gave me a look as he gripped my arm.
"Come on, demon," he muttered, but I didn't miss the small lift to his lips.
We reached my room, and that bored feeling started once again. I pouted as I blocked the door.
"Stay" I ordered. He gave me the same look he always did, annoyed and impatient.
"No"
"I'm bored pirate, I have no one to play with me" I gave my best puppy eye and he chuckle.
"That would've worked if you weren't a cold-blooded murder," He smiled.
I dropped the act to a bored expression. I nodded understandingly. He had a point.
"I'm sure D will come to bother you through your prison box," He grinned humored. I glared.
"This isn't fair" I threw my arms up. He shook his head. I did almost every day when I returned to the box of confinement. They gave it many names. I was bound to use one or two, eventually.
"Do I have to shock you to get you to move?" he narrowed his eye. I sighed and stepped out of the way. As he went through the door, I flicked the back of his head, slamming the door before he could hit back.
"Bastard!" he yelled.
"Pussy!" I returned.
Three hours passed, and I finished my painting of him from that night. I needed to find a way to get this in his room again. He burned the last one like a prick. I groaned, annoyed as I flopped onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling like it was the sky. Maybe a nap? And of course, right when I closed my eyes, the phone rings. I was allowed to have a phone but I couldn't do anything but make calls to certain people aka the five and Ross; they let Dimitri slide because he wouldn't stop bothering them till they did. I could text too, but that took too much effort.
"What!" I snapped into the phone.
"Don't be such a bitch," Chase grumbled.
"Your mother," I sighed, sitting up. "What do you want? We were just together, and I was falling asleep finally"
"No, we weren't. You realize it's eight thirty, right?"
I frowned, looking outside the window. Hm?. Well damn.
"Anyway, is it hungry or can I eat in peace today?"
"For your soul, yes" I got up, changing into something comfortable.
"I'm on the way you waste of space" I was going to say something smart back, but he hung up. I'll just throw his ass into a trash can or something later. Once I got into sweats and a hoodie, I checked the messages waiting on the rat to arrive.
Joey: Checking up on you darling, miss me? All this murdering is making me think of you ;)
I rolled my eyes.
Joey: Did Chase kill you? It's been hours you okay?
Jesus, man.
Pirate: Block Joey
Luis: Block Joey
I smiled, getting up to the knock at the door.
"Hello hell rat," I grinned, sliding the phone into my pocket. He glared, turning around and walking down the hall. I followed.
We sat at the table in silence as we ate. He was on his phone and I went back to my studying the people in this place. I got down thirty names so far. It's hard remembering ugly faces.
"Are you going to eat that?" He nodded to my apple.
"There's like fifty of them over there," I glared.
"I don't want to get up" he gave a 'duh' expression. I rolled my eyes, tossing it at his head. He caught it with a glare before it hit his face. He began to call me out my name, but was interrupted by my phone. I gave him a tight smile as pulled it out and answered.
"Wassup Kid?"
"Where are you?" His voice was low. He sounded scared. My body stiffened, and Chase took notice and stared at the phone.
"Hive, what's wrong?"
"There are some people in the institute trying to kill me. I don't know who they are. They're not us. I managed to get to the private room, but they are trying to break down the door now and no one else is here." He rushed out, panicked. My face fell cold
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