ANOMALY (The Elements)

Anomaly - n. (pl. anomalies)

Something that deviates from what is standard or what is normal.

Racing through the dark sewers beneath a metropolis with a bag full of irreplaceable jewelry in her hand.

The clatter of her shoes against the hard cement while she ran; water splashing as she strode across shallow puddles.

It was dark, yet she could see. Escaping her pursuers and baffling them with her precise movements and wicked speed advantage over them... this was truly a rush for the girl cloaked in darkness that was escaping with her latest claim in a series of thefts.

"Get back here, you damn thief!" a guy's voice cried out after her. She, of course, wasn't going to listen. The two guys trailing her weren't regular cops, they were something above and beyond: a special task force designed to deal with unique criminals like her.

If they caught her, it would be all over... permanently. She was in her element however, surrounded by rushing water that - to her - was as in tune with her body as the air she breathed. Alexis-Lynn Carlyle was no ordinary human, no, she was...

"An Anomaly, just as we thought," the task force member on the pathway to the left of the rushing water down the center spoke both to his partner and into his communicator, "it's probably the same one who hit the museum three nights ago."

"You can't be sure of that, Collin," a voice spoke back to him and his partner through an earpiece, "the effects on the surroundings of each of the crime scenes have been different: different elements."

"This one was Vapor for sure," the boy racing along the right side of the sewers spoke into his communicator as he looked ahead and began to pick up his pace, "I can hear her footsteps. I'm rushing forward to get her!"

"Roy, wait!" Collin cried out as his partner ran as fast as he could, increasing his speed beyond what a normal human could attain. Collin wasn't sure if this was a good idea; they had no idea what their enemy was capable of and in this dark setting their flashlights only gave them so much light to work with.

He noticed however, that their perpetrator didn't even need a flashlight to navigate the sewers. She was using her Affinity, her elemental power she had been gifted with, in a special way that gave her knowledge of her surroundings. He wasn't sure how she was doing it but that put them at a huge disadvantage!

Roy dashed down the tunnel, his dirty blond hair tied up in a ponytail whipping out behind him as he ran, chasing down the girl he sought to capture. He was running with ease in his large army boots, losing no traction even on this slippery path. He was also wearing black jeans and a heavy green vest that seemed to be part of his military attire. As part of APS - the Anomaly Police Squad - his job was simple: to capture any and all Anomalies before they could use their powers to upset the natural balance and expose the existence of these mysteriously powered beings to the world.

Anomalies were to be kept a strict secret; the government was trying to make sure of that.

"Here I come!" Roy yelled out as he bounded forward through the air at top speed, reaching both of his hands over his head and brightening up the whole sewer as he did. Collin watched from behind as Roy had literally formed a sword out of pure light with his Light Affinity. The wide sword extended upward from his right wrist as he gripped that wrist with his left hand; trying to keep it steady.

As Roy lit up the area with his shining weapon, the girl they were in pursuit of stopped running and turned to look up at what was causing such an effect. Collin narrowed his eyes at her, homing in right on her face to try and get a good look at their thief.

"Curses... she's wearing a mask! I can't identify her!"

Suddenly Alexis cast out her right hand and materialized a weapon of her own within it! Collin knew that every Anomaly was able to form a weapon of choice to aid them in battle but he didn't expect her to be wielding such a dangerous one! Roy's eyes widened in alarm as he flew toward Alexis, unable to stop himself now!

"Uh-oh."

Alexis thrust her long trident up toward Roy and blocked his sword with the three-pronged tip of her extended weapon! Roy was surprised she didn't simply skewer him with her longer reach as his sword slid downward and locked into the base part of the trident where the three blades were extending from. He pulled back and took a leap to get some distance from her; just in time to notice her wearing a smirk on her face.

"Haah!" she cried out as she slashed the trident in front of herself. the blue pearl that was protruding from the shaft glowing a serene blue color, and unleashed a massive wave of water from the center of the sewers at him! Roy was alarmed as this water rose up out of the pipeline in the center and began to freeze; becoming multiple spikes of ice bearing down on him with malicious intent!

Roy immediately disassembled his light sword and fell backward, hitting his back against the floor of the pathway before one of the ice spears rammed right into his chest! Alexis stared from the other side at the wall of ice she'd created, taking a few stunned steps back, before she turned and continued to flee.

"Whew..." Roy gasped as lay sweating on the ground, surprisingly unharmed, "if I hadn't armored up I'd be quite dead right now."

In addition to shattered ice lying across the ground, Roy was also laying there with his body now coated in a black and silver armor that was similarly designed as Alexis's trident. He was glad for the strong chest plate he wore as one of the massive ice spears was pressed right against it, having shattered upon impacting the stronger material.

"Now..." he muttered as he tried to get up but was subsequently pressed against the ground by the ice pillar, "... I'm a little stuck. Yo Collin, you mind-"

Collin leapt right over him, ignoring him, as he smashed through the ice with his own weapon in hand. Roy wasn't freed by this though and simply glared after his squad leader.

"Yeah, thanks."

"If we don't catch her now we might not get another chance!" Collin yelled back at his partner. The more slender boy with short brown hair was hot on her trail now after Roy had delayed her, especially now that he was on the same side she was on. He was dressed similarly to Roy with the green vest and was gripping his weapon: a rather thick knife whose blade flipped out from the grip.

Collin scanned his eyes along the wall, hoping that as they dashed, he'd see what he was looking for. He could hear her running ahead of him, so he knew he was close to her, but he wasn't going to leap in recklessly like Roy. Finally he saw what he desired: a fuse box!

"Hey thief, time for you to see what the Plasma affinity can do!" Collin yelled out at her as he slammed his palm against the metal box attached to the wall. Sparks flew everywhere as he sent an electrical current through the wiring and caused the ceiling before her to explode! Alexis slid to a halt as debris and electrified wires fell before her, barring her path.

"Nowhere to run now!"

"You think so, huh?" Alexis responded in a rather arrogant tone, speaking to them for the first time, "you're so naïve, no wonder APS is useless."

"What!?" an annoyed Collin yelled out at her.

"Ciao," she said, waving at him before diving straight into the waterway! Collin ran over to the side of the pathway, quite befuddled by her swift escape. With her Vapor affinity, she could probably breathe underwater and swim fast even with the current... they'd never catch her now.

"Ahh... damn it," he muttered, falling backward and sitting down to catch his breath, "she got away again. Who IS that girl...?"

"Why didn't you just fry the water?" Roy asked, approaching his partner after he'd finally freed himself. He was still wearing his heavy armor, which was the form of his materialized weapon, so it took him a little bit to catch up.

"We aren't trying to kill her. That's not how APS works."

"She sure tried to kill ME."

"You know, if she wanted to kill you, she'd have skewered you the first time she had you with her trident," Collin noted, quite confused with their mystery girl, "... yet she gave you a moment to back off and even protect yourself."

"What are you getting at?" Roy wondered, staring down at his exhausted ally. Collin shook his head, de-materializing his knife as he didn't need it anymore and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"I want pizza is what I'm getting at."

"Well I want tacos."

Collin stood up and began to search for the nearest ladder out of this smelly underground hell, "Well you're getting pizza if you want me to pay for it."

Roy hesitated for a moment before following his leader, "... yeah, I'm down with that."

As the two APS officers made their way out of the sewers, Alexis emerged from the water at the same point she'd dove in from. As her soaking wet body crept back up onto land, it dried almost instantaneously thanks to her manipulating the water molecules. She looked down in her right hand, she still had the jewelry; she'd won.

"Men. So pathetic."

Alexis turned and disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind a battlefield beyond what any normal human could comprehend. As children, the three of them could never have imagined they'd eventually possess these amazing powers. Now they were caught up in the power struggle that reigned over this city; between two forces seeking these mysterious Anomalies. One side to contain them and the other to use them; and thus the stage for our story is set. Now begins...

"My name is Leena Booker. I'm age twenty and I was born on December 16th. My interests tend to roam around cooking and sports, though that's only a small portion of what my brain forces me to enjoy. My dislikes... hmm... driving, I am not a good driver. My measurements are secret ... I just felt I'd let you know that."

"Is that all, Leena?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm done."

"Good, then I'm moving onto the next name on the list... er, where did I put it...?"

Leena hopped off of the stage and headed back toward her seat in the sparsely populated auditorium she and her classmates inhabited. The girl whom immediately came off as strange to her new peers was fiddling casually with her light teal hair, which came down as far as her shoulders; though it was more merciful in front, her bangs only extending to her brow. She was wearing quite an eye-catching getup, composed of a black t-shirt with a sleeveless button-up shirt overtop, accompanied by a dark red plaid skirt and black dress shoes.

Around her neck she wore a choker that bore an emblem of a cross and wore a single ring on her right ring finger. With her slender figure and provocative get-up, she was already attracting attention from male eyes in the audience of her Drama 1700 class that she didn't quite care for.

"So dumb how we gotta introduce ourselves even though it's the second semester," a boy, her friend Chris, whispered over her shoulder as she sat down in her front-row seat. Chris was a somewhat heavily-built boy around her age with short brown hair and a slight beard. He continued to complain to the teal-haired maiden, "this class is going to suck, dude."

Leena turned her head over her shoulder and gave her friend a sarcastic smirk, "Name one person in here aside from me."

"That's easy. Am-"

"Aside from Amy and Carrie," she interrupted him quickly, disqualifying the use of their other two friends' names.

Chris glared at her from behind his small-framed glasses.

"I got nothing, dude."

"You see?" a very triumphant-sounding Leena asked him, "in a university this ridiculously large, it's impossible to know everyone. I mean, this is THE CIU: Colonia Imperial University... where only the top graduates or hardest working kids from around the world come to study."

"Thank you for telling me something I already know," Chris muttered in disinterest, leaning back in his seat and directing his attention back toward the female teacher sitting up on the stage, finally with her list of students' names back in her hands. She cleared her throat and ran her finger down to the next name after Leena's, calling it out to summon the student.

"Sophie Briante, are you present?"

Leena's attention turned, her eyes scanning down the row to her right, darting to seat after seat, student after student, until her gaze finally settled on the girl whom responded to the teacher's call and stood upright. Leena narrowed her eyes at this Sophie girl, judging her immediately as was her female instinct to.

She was a slender girl, more so than Leena herself, and was also sporting a slight tan. She had messy yet stylishly short, layered brown hair and clearly wasn't that tall. Her outfit consisted of a red denim miniskirt, black leggings, and a corset-esque top that tied up from top to bottom in the middle of her chest. There was also a small hood attached to it, though why she had a hood on a sleeveless shirt was beyond Leena's comprehension.

"You hear about that girl?" Leena's other brunette friend Amy whispered into her ear from her left, "she's only sixteen and yet she's attending CIU... she's not normal."

"Sixteen?!" Leena exclaimed while still managing to keep her voice down to a whisper as she looked at her bespectacled friend. Amy was quite slim and wearing a pink t-shirt, not dressed anywhere near as fancy as herself or Sophie. Amy nodded in response to Leena's exclamation.

"Yeah, I used to think I was really smart, well compared to Chris and you I am, but this girl scares me. I had her in one of my classes last semester... she's so weird."

"Hey, I'm smart...!" Chris whined from behind them, though he was ignored by the ladies. Leena glanced over at Sophie again as she made her way up to the stage, wondering if she should even worry about this so-called genius girl. The chances of her ever interacting with someone so clearly different from her in both age and appearance seemed to make paying any special attention to her compared to the other students seem like a ridiculous notion.

But something about how different this Sophie girl was from the rest intrigued Leena.

"Weird how?" Leena asked.

"You'll see for yourself over the course of this course," Amy told her, before stopping and thinking about how weird that sounded, "err..."

"I see what you did there," Chris said to her.

"Hi, I'm Sophie Briante," the younger girl greeted the class, keeping a bright smile on her face despite the fact that her tone was of disinterest, "I'm sixteen and probably mentally ten years older than some people in here. I don't dislike certain things and I prefer to not sit on the floor. I look forward to seeing if I'm the only real actress in this class."

A few murmurs traveled through the group of students after Sophie finished her outright strange introduction. Leena leaned on the armrest of her seat, gazing up at the girl whom seemed moot to all the reactions she was getting. She shook her head and awaited the next introduction, deciding to pay no further attention to this supposed little genius.

After the introductions were over, however, Leena found herself exclaiming in alarm after their instructor made a few announcements about their partners for their first project.

"Ehhh?!" the teal-haired girl exclaimed as she looked down at the paper each student was given a copy of. Right next to her name was clearly written: Sophie Briante. If memory served, that was the weird girl who intimidated everyone!

"You've got to be kidding me..." Leena muttered as she fixated her gaze intensely on the paper, hoping reality would somehow shift and pair her with someone else. Unfortunately she knew she'd eventually have to give into reality and face the music.

"Why can't we pick our own partners?" a boy's voice called out from a row behind Leena. Leena looked up at the instructor standing before them on the stage, agreeing with his outburst. This was a very good point, she demanded an explanation as well!

"Do actors pick their co-stars?" the teacher responded in a catty tone, shutting that guy up right away with her clever retort, "Unless they're Ben Stiller or Owen Wilson, usually they don't. Acting isn't about getting together with your chums and goofing off, it's about experiencing new realities with new people! To become someone you aren't and launch forward into your new persona, taking everyone with you to meet and admire your new identity, including strangers!"

Leena stared up at the instructor's almost fanatical speech, not very impressed.

"Why did I take this class...?"

"Credits, right?" Leena's third and final friend in that classroom asked from her right. Carrie was a short blonde girl whom wore a blue bandanna over her head and a tight white t-shirt with an insignia of a yellow crescent moon displayed upon it. Along with Chris and Amy, she and Leena had decided to take this class together... for easy credits. Leena was beginning to regret this decision, as she had never aspired to act once in her whole life.

"You always talk me into these things..." Leena muttered spitefully, "you made this class sound fun."

"I was acting," Carrie told her, holding up her finger inquisitively and plastering a fake smile on her face, "see? I'm going to get an A since I was convincing enough to have you believe me!"

"I hate you."

"Well we'd better go meet our partners," Amy said, standing up and grabbing her binder off the floor, "good luck with yours Leena, too bad we can't work together."

"Perhaps next time," Chris said from behind her, "but I'll see you at work so you can tell me how it goes, dude."

Leena grabbed her book bag as well and slung it over her shoulder. She squeezed through the now bustling and chattering group of students to the other end of the row, where Sophie was still sitting properly and quietly, staring down at the project outline. Leena walked up to her but she didn't even look up.

"Uhm... hi," Leena finally tried to break the ice.

"Hi," Sophie responded, without taking her eyes off the paper. Leena already felt herself growing tired of this; Sophie wasn't going to consider her an equal at all. Sophie must've been taking this class seriously and realized that Leena didn't have as much interest in it like she did. Perhaps she was over thinking things, however...

"So, uh," Leena began, sitting down next to her new partner, "what's the project about?"

"You have the outline in your hands. Read it yourself."

Leena grumbled and gave the project outline a quick glance. Basically it said they had to come up with a three-minute skit and perform it in tomorrow's class. Three minutes was awfully long, Leena thought, that meant they only had one night to practice and write it.

"So come to my dorm room tonight," Sophie instructed her, "I want to do well in this class, so we're going to practice until you feel like you want to die."

"Could you please not say that while smirking?" Leena asked meekly.

"Was I smirking? Oh, I didn't even notice..."

"This girl is so weird!" Leena thought, raising her eyebrow as she studied her junior more, "the day after tomorrow could not come sooner...!"

As Sophie studied and Leena grumbled, a girl three rows behind them was staring at them from her comfortable spot in the amphitheater seat. This girl had a smirk on her face similar to Sophie, though there was an air of mysteriousness about her that the younger girl lacked. Her hair was straight and white, coming down to her shoulders. She had her hands folded in her lap over a pair of pants that sported many belts and was also wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt as she listened in on Leena and Sophie's conversation.

"Interesting..." she whispered to herself under her breath as she closed her eyes and seemed to focus even more intensely on them with her eyes closed, "those two must be the ones..."

"Uhm," Chris mumbled as he sat next to her, apparently her partner, "what are you whispering to yourself about, Yoshino?"

"Quiet," she ordered him harshly, pointing her finger down the row, "know your place. Go sit over there."

Chris got up from his seat and moved away from her, muttering to himself, "Geez... why do I get paired up with the blind girl with an attitude problem? How is a blind girl going to read a script anyway...?"

"Tonight is going to be interesting..." Yoshino muttered to herself, sounding as if she were becoming excited, "... it's interesting every time they make new selections..."

Elsewhere in the university, a familiar figure was strolling down a hallway as she had just exited from her Biology class. Her long dark red hair draped down over her shoulders, just reaching her breasts, as she toyed with one of the curly strands that hung from either side of her head. Her clothing consisted of black fitted pants and a lacey top with a belt that clenched around her stomach, while generously revealing quite a bit of her chest.

She strode down the hallway, her books under her left arm, her platform heels clattering against the hard floor with every step she took, giving out a sharp impact noise each time. Her name was Alexis-Lynn Carlyle and she always had a sophisticated strut accompanied by stunning beauty that made her stand out from the rest of the girls around her.

Her cell phone suddenly went off, playing a ringtone that sounded like 80's rock music. She kept walking and methodically fished it from her pocket, flipping it open and speaking into it.

"Yes?" she asked simply, letting whomever was calling her know to get straight to the point.

"Eclipse IV, you are on again tonight."

Alexis's casual-looking expression was tainted a bit as she narrowed her eyebrows upon receiving this information.

"Two nights in a row, seriously? I have homework."

"Orders are not to be ignored, you know that as well as I do. I am on with you so don't worry... it will be simpler than choking a baby to death."

"I don't like that analogy, Eclipse I," she told him, though speaking to a superior numeral like that was asking for punishment so she decided to change her tone, "... fine, what time?"

"Eight-thirty. Meet at the usual spot."

"Whatever," Alexis muttered; closing her phone and sliding it back into her pocket. She shook her head as she crossed her arms in front of her, pressing her books tightly against her full chest as she sighed deeply and kept walking.

Leena let out a deep sigh of agony as she knocked on Sophie's dorm room door, located on the same floor that hers was. The thought of how dreadful this was going to be wasn't escaping her mind, making her nervous to be working on this project. She hoped Sophie would write their script out and she'd just have to act it... to the best of her ability, anyway.

"Yo," Sophie said, cracking open the door and peering out at her with her brown eyes before fully unlocking it and welcoming her in, "enter my realm."

Leena stared at the surprisingly clean room. The bed was made, the TV was on but muted, and the only blemish was the project papers laid out in the middle of the floor. Leena figured that was their workspace, so she set her backpack down on the floor and gazed around. The room was pretty bare, she didn't seem to have brought too many possessions.

"You play video games?" Leena asked, eyeing the X-Box 360 on Sophie's dresser next to her TV.

"No, that's my DVD player."

Leena stared at her.

"... I'm serious."

"Why would you buy a FIVE-HUNDRED dollar DVD player?"

"Maybe it was bought FOR me," she hinted bluntly, as she took a seat across from Leena on the floor. Leena slanted her eyes and gave up on that conversation, sitting down across from Sophie and smoothing out her plaid skirt over her legs. She noticed Sophie wore a skirt also, a miniskirt.

"So you like skirts too, huh?"

"Not ones like yours."

"Err... I thought you didn't like sitting on the floor."

"My floor is clean. End of discussion."

Leena's eye twitched. Trying to start conversations with this girl was incredibly frustrating! She wasn't even being rude, she was just being... so nonchalant about everything she said. Leena hadn't felt so irked by anyone since she started coming to this school four months ago!

But she wasn't ready to give up yet!

"So... uhm... what's your favorite color?"

"Apple," Sophie responded methodically.

Leena rolled onto her back and smacked her head against the floor. NOW she gave up. Clearly this Sophie girl wanted nothing to do with her.

"Is there a problem?" Sophie asked.

"No... no problems," Leena responded, though it was clearly a falsified statement.

"Good. So I wrote out a basic outline of what our skit should be like," Sophie began, handing Leena a paper so she could look at it, "basically it's going to be about two people shopping in the grocery store who meet each other after years by chance. Then they reminisce about old times and other idle banter."

"Doesn't look very exciting..." Leena mumbled as she ran her eyes down along the page.

"It's only supposed to be two minutes and we don't have the resources to pull off some Matrix effects in our skit," Sophie defended herself to her new partner, "do you have any problems with the script?"

Leena noticed Sophie liked to ask if she had problems with stuff as stared at it for a moment, not responding. Sophie raised her eyebrow, thinking the same thing about Leena as she did about her whilst shaking her head.

"This girl is out there..."

"Can we change some of my character's lines...?" Leena finally asked, sounding rather serious about the manner, which made Sophie curious, "... it reminds me a little too much of my own family."

"Huh?"

"Like this girl in the script... my father has also disappeared with no trace or explanation... and I hate him for it," Leena told Sophie, glaring up at her from behind the piece of paper. Sophie stared back at her, trying to figure out how to respond to that and deciding to go her usual apathetic path.

"That should concern me?"

"No... but it concerns me. He left my mother with my brother and I... but then my mother passed away a few years later," Leena told her, her voice sounding shaky with rage, "I... I never found out why she died or why he left... but my brother knew."

Sophie was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed by the intensity of their topic, trying to find the quickest route to escape in her response, "So... ask him then."

"If there's anyone I hate more than my dad, it's my brother," Leena told Sophie very sternly, "... he abandoned me too four years ago... left me on my own. I had to work insanely hard to manage to get into this university... in this city..."

"Why... this university...?" Sophie wondered, drawn in by Leena's story. There was more to Leena than she'd initially suspected; she'd had Leena pegged at the ditzy pretty-girl type. It seemed she was wrong about her.

"Tempest City... the place my brother always spoke of going to, the place he said that the world would experience its next evolution that he wanted to be part of. I know he's here somewhere... and I intend to find him and learn the truth."

Sophie stared skeptically at Leena, whom was clenching her skirt with both of her fists as she spoke about the painful memories.

"The world's next evolution...? I'd say this girl has been misled by too much science fiction but the way she sounds so regretful when talking about it... she sounds really sincere. I can't believe she's carrying such a heavy burden around on her shoulders... it really isn't easy to get into this school."

"Alright then," Sophie said after moment, smiling and standing up, smoothing her skirt as she did, "I think it's time we took a break. Let's go grab some snacks at the corner store, my treat."

"Huh?" Leena asked, a little bewildered by Sophie's sudden announcement, "really?"

Sophie nodded, "I think we can get along after all, Leena Booker. We have one thing, at least, in common."

"What's that?"

Sophie looked down at her, wearing as pleasant a smile as ever as she spoke again but finally with a sincere tone that Leena had honestly never expected to hear.

"Both of our fathers abandoned us."

"November 15th, Scorpio; my powers have once again ascended beyond a level of which I can contain them. As such, I am now eligible to select another vessel through which I may share the affinity of Magma. In doing so, I prevent my own self-destruction and retain the balance of the Eight Seats of Excalibur."

"Is it really necessary to have two selections on the same night? I feel that giving off our power so frequently may be causing unnecessary friction in their realm."

"It's impossible to avoid, Lord of Light. With the recent damages, every element has become unstable and our powers have come to the point where our bodies cannot handle them unless we extract them into vessels."

"I know that, Lord of Plasma. But with too many supernatural beings in the human realm, great chaos could ensue... especially if they learned the true nature of their abilities."

"Bah, must you protest at every meeting!? Those pathetic beings we left behind could use some toughening up!"

"Our powers are not to be used for war, you insufferable cretin."

"Enough, both of you; this is not a matter open for discussion. In order to keep the balance of the eight affinities, our Lady of Magma shall join our Lord of Solid in selecting new vessels. I grant both of you permission to find suitable host bodies within the next 24-hours before your bodies begin to deteriorate."

"Thank you, Lord of Flora."

"But-!"

"If you are so concerned, Lord of Light, then make one of your Observers keep an eye on the reborn humans. This meeting of the Eight Seats of Excalibur is adjourned with no further room for debate. We shall meet again in one full cycle of days in order to assess the next problem."

"Yes... sir."

The sun had already set by the time Leena and Sophie strolled out of the dormitories and headed down the street toward the nearest corner store that was located at an intersection two blocks down. Sophie checked the time on her cell phone, grumbling as she glanced down the street ahead of them; which was lit only by the light of the lampposts and a few windows of stores that were still open.

"Almost 10:30... I wonder if it's still open," Sophie noted as she took her brown eyes' gaze away from her cell before moving them down to Leena's plaid skirt, "ack. Leena, your skirt is kind of wrinkly."

Leena grabbed the end of her skirt and held it out so she could see. Then she returned Sophie's gaze with a confused look of her own, "Uhh... so?"

"I can't stand wrinkly clothes," Sophie said, smoothing out her shirt with her hands instinctively as she stared at Leena, "it just bugs me. You should iron more."

"... I'll get right on that."

"Glad to hear it."

Leena blinked a few times before allowing her mind to get back on track and addressed Sophie with a question that she was curious about, "So, uhm, earlier when you talked about your fa-"

"I don't like to discuss things about myself," Sophie told her strictly, "that was a freebie because I felt sorry for you. You were starting to sound pretty pathetic."

"... you're mean," Leena pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and glancing away from the shorter girl. Sophie raised an eyebrow of suspicion toward her.

"You think? I'm one of the nicest people I know," Sophie responded in what sounded like a genuine tone but Leena was sure she was being sarcastic. At least, she sure hoped so. Suddenly she heard Sophie release a drawn out and frustrated sigh.

"What is it now?"

"The stupid corner store is closed!" Sophie exclaimed in annoyance, extending out her palm to direct Leena's attention to the store across the street from them that had all of its' lights turned off.

"Wow, you actually react to things?" Leena joked.

"Shut up. I wanted candy. What kind of corner store closes before 10:30?!"

Leena stared off in the direction Sophie was indicating, "The smart kind. In a city this big, I wouldn't want my store open this late since it'd likely get-"

Leena's remark was cut off as suddenly, they heard glass shatter across the street to the left from them, followed by heavy slamming and crashing sounds! Both girls turned, looking at the corner of the intersection diagonally across from the corner store and to their left to see the front side of a bank's wall completely destroyed with the debris littering the sidewalk before it!

"... robbed," Leena finished after a moment of pause, in a very meek and startled tone. Neither of them could shift their gaze from the shocking sight.

Two figures came out of the bank: one male and one female. The female with the lavish, long red hair was Alexis. The man next to her was much taller and seemed older than her, not to mention much scarier. His attire struck them as quite odd as he was wearing almost all white. White pants, a white jacket over a white shirt, and even white shoes that completely contrasted with his long and smooth black hair. They couldn't quite tell from where they were standing but it seemed that he had black irises as well.

"What is with that guy...?" Sophie wondered, her gaze fixated across the street upon the man standing amongst the destruction, unable to take her eyes off of him due to either fascination or fear; or both. Leena grabbed Sophie's arm, tugging gently on it as she was even more visibly frightened than her junior.

"Sophie, let's run. They could kill us!"

"I'm not scared of them."

"Look at that guy! He's clearly capable of killing someone! I'm really freaked out... we should go... call the cops or something! Whatever it is you're supposed to do in this situation!"

"Hmmm..." Alexis mused from the top of the bank steps, glancing over at Leena and Sophie whom were standing across the street, "somehow two girls got into your Dark Shroud, Eclipse I."

"So they did..." the man with her realized, a little baffled by the sight, "... odd. That means they've seen our faces; I didn't think we'd need our masks. I'll take the money back and you dispose of them, Eclipse IV."

Alexis shot her superior a dirty look, "Why do I have to do it? I didn't even want to come here in the first pla-AAGH!"

Eclipse I slammed his hand around Alexis's throat and lifted her off the ground and pressed her hard against the wall of the bank. Leena and Sophie both flinched in reaction to the sight, wondering just what was going on and confirming Leena's fears that he was dangerous. Alexis winced in pain as he leaned in close to her and spoke in a very threatening tone.

"Certain things will be forfeit if you don't continue to serve Eclipse diligently. They're a pair of stringy teenagers; you can wipe them out without a second thought, my lovely water maiden. Don't let things like morals cloud your eyes from the goal, that's the fastest way to get permanently 'exiled' from Eclipse if you know what I mean."

He dropped her to the ground and she grasped her neck, which stung with pain thanks to his tight grip on it. Kneeling on the cement and grasping for breath, she felt very low and pathetic and hated herself right at this moment. Eclipse I picked up the stolen money again and simply faded away into the darkness that overpowered the light during the cloudy night.

"O-okay..." Sophie stammered, beginning to move in Leena's direction, intimidated by the violent treatment Alexis received, "you were right, let's get out of here."

They noticed Alexis stand up and leap off of the stairs onto the sidewalk across from them. She cracked her neck and made herself as if she were a robot, planning to simply carry out this task without any conscience whatsoever. The two frightened girls stepped away, knowing they were in for it now. They saw something they shouldn't have... and now they had to pay for it.

"So this is how it's going down, huh...?" Yoshino wondered aloud, standing on top of a roof about a block away. The white-haired girl had her hand over her eyes as she seemed to simply be absorbing the knowledge of what was going on so far away from her. She was enjoying the light breeze on this brisk November night blowing against her back and bare arms but the unusual conflict going on a ways away was even more enjoyable.

"I hope you're getting all of this..."

Alexis glared intensely at Leena and Sophie, both of whom were once again dumbstruck with awe. Alexis stepped forward, placing her right high-heeled shoe on the street as she addressed the two girls whom she was unaware she was classmates with.

"How did you two manage to enter the Dark Shroud?" Alexis wondered of them, cocking her head to the side as she studied the two girls, "you two must be very skilled... or very stupid."

"Dark... what...?" Leena repeated after her, feeling her body start to tremble as she answered shakily, "what are you talking about...?"

Alexis raised an eyebrow at them, "You two aren't Anomalies?"

Sophie stepped forward, becoming irritated with Alexis's questions that neither of them could comprehend, "No, we aren't! We have no idea what you're talking about, so leave us alone!"

"They aren't Anomalies... yet they could get into Seth's Dark Shroud...? That is one of the highest class Affinity techniques I've ever seen and these two dumb girls are acting like they've never heard of it. Are they with APS...? Or are they really just innocent girls? Either way, I have my orders unfortunately..."

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter," Alexis sighed, holding her fists out in front of herself, pressed against each other, "you're going to die, anyway."

Alexis spread her fists apart as she began to shine with a light blue aura, conjuring up a weapon out of thin air before Sophie and Leena's shocked eyes! When her arms were spread out as far as they could reach, she was holding a long black staff. At the higher end of the staff in her right hand, a huge three-pronged blade appeared, revealing the staff as a very vicious-looking trident. Alexis smirked proudly, slamming the bottom end of the weapon into the street beside her voluptuous body with her right hand. Cracks sprouted outward through the cement from where she rested the weapon, showing that it was much heavier than it looked.

"This is my weapon, girls. You two must have very bad luck to have come across our path."

"She... she summoned it from nowhere..." Sophie gasped, staring wide-eyed at the trident, "... that's not physically possible."

"Come on, Sophie!" Leena yelled, grabbing Sophie's arm and dragging her as she started to run, "she said she's going to kill us!"

"She can't be serious..." Sophie muttered, glaring over her shoulder at Alexis as they indeed began to make tracks, "people don't just go around killing each other in the middle of the street. This is all too... unreal."

"Looks real enough to me!" Leena cried out while running as fast as she could. She had trouble believing this too, though the thought wasn't escaping her mind that maybe this was what her brother was talking about. The next step in evolution - she had no idea what he meant before - maybe it was something like this. No matter the cause, it was real and that was more than enough reason for her to be frightened unlike the skeptical Sophie.

"Split up!" Sophie suddenly told Leena from behind, trying to remain rational, "she can't follow both of us! Call for help or something!"

Leena nodded and dodged to the right, heading down the next street they were coming up to. Sophie, in turn, ran left. Alexis narrowed her eyes as she ran after them, gazing from left to right as she tried to decide on a direction.

"Tch... last night I was being chased and this night I have to do the chasing...?" she thought to herself, "this is really starting to piss me off."

"Why are there no people around?!" Leena thought in a panic as she gazed at every empty car and unlit store with dismay as she ran down the normally busy street. "what did that girl say before...?"

"How did you two manage to enter the Dark Shroud?" Alexis wondered of them, cocking her head to the side as she studied the two girls, "you two must be very skilled... or very stupid."

"Whatever this Dark Shroud is, it seems we're not in the same world anymore! It's the only possible explanation since Tempest City would never be barren at this time of night!"

Leena ran up to a payphone on the sidewalk, quickly snatching the receiver and holding it to the side of her teal-colored hair, pressing it against her ear. After a second she swore to her self and threw the phone down, letting it clatter against the glass walls of the phone booth.

"Phones don't work either!? That means I'm-!"

Leena glanced to her right down the street anxiously... but then paused and managed to catch her breath after witnessing what she did.

She wasn't being followed.

Alexis was furious as she dropped down through a manhole into the sewers for the second time in a 24-hour span. The girl she was chasing of course had to try and make an escape through the sewers, a smart move, but ultimately wasted on her.

"That short girl with the tacky shirt came down here. She's not too far ahead," Alexis thought as she began to walk forward, "her perspiration is increasing. She won't be able to run much longer."

Alexis was correct as Sophie, ahead, stopped and leaned forward to catch her breath, resting her hands on her knees. She shook her head rapidly, trying to shake off the feeling of disorientation that was overcoming her overworked body.

"I would really like to know what is going on around here! For the moment, however, I'm willing to cast aside the part of me that wants to think logically and focus solely on my own survival. I'm lucky that this area is under construction or I wouldn't have been able to get down here to hide!"

Sophie panted some more as she wiped some saliva from her mouth and began to slowly walk forward, thinking she had lost her pursuer by entering the catacombs beneath the city. She'd never been down here before and she hated the smell but anything beat getting skewered by a trident.

"I have to find the next ladder and then climb up and call for help. Hopefully Leena has also figured out some way to escape that woman. Why is she trying to kill us anyway!? We didn't do any-"

Sophie turned immediately, reacting the second she heard a noise behind her. It sounded like a sharp crackling noise, something she couldn't identify just by hearing. She stared suspiciously down the sewer behind her, gripped with paranoia, only the sound of rushing water accompanying her thoughts.

"I'm going crazy..."

Suddenly, she saw Alexis's figure in the darkness. What was more shocking was where she saw the girl's figure walking briskly toward her... standing on the water! Sophie narrowed her eyes, trying to ascertain if she was actually seeing things right.

"She's... walking... on the water. I'm not imagining this. She's walking on water! What is she!? She made that trident appear from thin air and now she's walking on water! There is a major problem with this... but I can't stand here like an idiot and stare; gotta run!"

Sophie turned and sped away again, leaving Alexis behind. Alexis sighed as she continued to walk forward, the water freezing in place under her feet and creating a convenient pathway for her. She wasn't exactly rushing into this with all her might, she hated killing. In fact, she'd never actually killed anyone before.

This was the first time she'd been ordered to.

"Just how did these two enter the Dark Shroud that Seth created? If they aren't Anomalies themselves... then someone must have let them in; someone skilled. But who... and why?"

"You getting all this?" Yoshino's voice asked aloud as she walked above them on the street, somehow able to still follow was going on below. The white-haired woman paused for a moment before responding to someone, "yeah, it's almost time."

Alexis came to a stop at the end of the path she was walking down. The road forked now, going either left or right. She glanced down both ways, focusing hard on using her Vapor affinity to pinpoint Sophie's location by sensing her bountiful amount of perspiration.

Meanwhile, Sophie had tucked into a small round tunnel not far down the right pathway. She crouched down as she slowly crept through it, doing her best not to think about what was happening to her poor shoes in this gross water; which ran about ankle deep down the tunnel she was climbing down. She didn't make it more than a few meters in, however, when she bumped into a grate.

"Agh, blocked. Oh well, there's no way she'll think I came down here... I should be able to hide for now."

Sophie's wishful thinking was not reality however, as she noticed the entrance way beginning to seal itself up. Sophie flinched and fell backward onto her butt as she stared down at the way she'd come in, which was freezing over into a solid wall of ice!

"H-hey!" Sophie screamed nervously as she rushed forward toward the exit, "what are you doing?! Let me out!"

"Let me think about that for a second... oh, alright, no," Alexis said from the other side of the ice wall, "you're just going to stay there... indefinitely."

"What!?" Sophie yelled, slamming her fist on the ice only to discover how incredibly thick it was and that she was completely trapped. She slammed her fist against it again but stopped due to the pain it was causing her. She bit her lip furiously, she was completely helpless.

"Sorry, little girl. It's nothing personal."

That was the last thing Sophie heard from her assailant. Sophie pounded her fist lightly against the ice, before unclenching it and pressing her palm against the cold surface as she leaned her head forward and rested it there. This was a nightmare. She couldn't believe she was going to die down here when she'd just barely started to accomplish her goal in Tempest City...

"Christian..."

Alexis walked away from the frozen-over tunnel, glad she didn't have to do anything too hands-on for that. She set her trident down and closed her eyes, focusing and searching for the other one. She sensed her above ground still, though she would have to get closer to pinpoint her exact location. She hadn't overexerted herself like Sophie, so she wasn't perspiring enough to be a literal beacon to her.

Still, she would find her. Quickly.

"Oh man..." Leena groaned, pressing her back up against the wall in an alleyway as she'd hoped to stay out of plain sight, "nothing works. There's no way to get ahold of anyone. Just what is going to happen to me...?"

She folded her arms over her chest; she was cold. She stared down at her shoes, her feet trembling nervously. She'd felt like this a few times before, this feeling of complete despair. She clutched the cross on her choker with her left hand, praying for some kind of good luck to come her way.

"I'll never find anything out if I can't escape from this weird place. I really don't want to die. I really don't want to die. This isn't fair! I've worked too hard..."

"Leena Booker, do you want to be saved?" a man's voice spoke to her out of nowhere. Leena blinked and glanced both ways down the alleyway, she didn't see anyone standing there yet the voice was booming loud in her head.

"Huh?" Leena wondered as she looked around suspiciously, "great, now I'm going crazy too."

"You're not going crazy. I'm really speaking to you, directly inside your mind."

"Waaagh!" Leena screamed, leaping forward in alarm and tripping over her own foot. She stumbled forward into the wall on the other side of the alley, pressing her hands against it to stop herself from wiping out completely. She looked over her shoulder with terrified eyes, pleading in a very terrified tone.

"P-please don't kill me..."

"I would never dream of harming such a beautiful young girl! You seem to have my intentions a little confused. You see, I've chosen you to accept my gift, Leena."

Leena paused for a moment as she tried to interpret those words, before pressing her body even tighter to the wall in fear and clutching her skirt tightly around her legs with her right hand.

"Please don't rape me either!"

"I'M NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO YOU!" he yelled at her, hoping she would finally get the picture, "I'm what's called an Elemental God. That strange girl chasing you displayed some talents you don't normally see in humans, correct?"

"... one way of putting it," a still distrustful Leena muttered, glaring around suspiciously.

"When our powers grow beyond the level we can control them, we pick what we consider to be acceptable human containers to share in some of our wealth of power. Now, not every god is going to bother giving their containers a precursor like I am with you, but the fact remains that you have been chosen."

"So... I'm going to get the power to fight back against that girl...?"

"That's right, Sophie Briante," a female's voice spoke to the shocked Sophie, whom was still trapped in the wet tunnel, "you've been chosen to obtain powers similar to that girl. Are you ready?"

"This is... weird," Sophie muttered, "I just still can't wrap my brain around these weird voices and... powers. It sounds too much like a cartoon."

"This is reality."

"Sadly so. I guess I'm trapped if you don't give me these powers or whatever, so bring it on."

"Do not expect a quick learning curve."

"I'm giving you my gift because I'm such a nice guy! In fact, you could consider me the 'nice guy' out of all the Elemental Gods!"

"... are you trying to ask me out?" Leena wondered, still very creeped out by this mysterious male voice that was speaking to her. He sounded like a pervert in her mind.

"Quit misinterpreting my intentions!"

Leena pushed herself away from the wall and sighed deeply. She had no idea what she was getting herself into but she knew that this was the right path to take. The next step in evolution, this must've been what her brother was talking about. This would bring her one step closer to tracking him down; she was sure of it. She was almost psyched about this; it was starting to sound interesting.

She was quite athletic, so she was sure it wouldn't be problematic to handle these powers. The only problem she was finding with this whole situation was that these powers seemed to be used for combat... and she didn't like fighting.

"So there's no other motive behind this...?" Leena finally asked.

"We have to share our powers they grow to the point that our bodies cannot handle them anymore. If we don't, we will die... and then the elemental balance will be thrown out of order and the entire world into chaos."

"Elemental balance, huh? Sounds like something complicated. But that's the only reason? There won't be any side effects or you're not planning to use me as a weapon of mass destruction?"

"That's all I can tell you. So please brace yourself... you're about to undergo a huge change. From this moment on, you can no longer be considered a human."

Leena raised her eyebrow, hoping the 'god' noticed her gesture.

"Then what the heck would you call me?"

"Well," the male god's voice responded to her, "your world would call you... an Anomaly."

"Leena. Come here," a tired-sounding, gruff voice spoke through the peaceful mood of an everyday living room lit aglow from the light of a cracking, warm, fireplace. The fireplace's dancing flames and the whirling fan above were the only other noises that ran through the young girl's ears. A much smaller Leena, aged eight, pranced over to the reclining chair where her father always sat; huddled over his work.

The young girl with very short teal hair looked up at her father with wide green eyes.

"What is it, daddy?"

"Leena," he began, taking off his glasses and setting them down on the TV tray next to his armrest as he spoke with a deep sigh, "I'm tired."

Leena cocked her head to the side, leaning over as she studied the serious look on her father's face in confusion. "So, go to bed! It's dark out already! That means soon it will be bedtime."

"I'm not tired in that way, Leena. I'm tired of... this existence."

"Exi... what?" the young girl asked, unable to comprehend the large word. She shook her head, losing interest immediately and beaming the bright look on her face back toward her father, "then you should go to sleep, daddy!"

He father stared down at her as he rested in his chair. Of course she wouldn't understand, she was just a little girl. She would never understand if he explained to her what he'd discovered; the new goal he had attained. She would never understand when he left her brother, mother, and herself the next day. He shook his head, acknowledging his own foolishness in thinking he should've even attempted to explain it to her.

He instead leaned over and rested his hand on his daughter's head, speaking to her again.

"Leena, remember this word for as long as you can remember me... even if you hate me. If you can remember it, you may just be my greatest accomplishment yet..."-

ANOMALY; Vol. 1: Rebirth

Chapter II

Leena stood still in the dark alleyway as wind blew past her from behind, blowing her hair and skirt outward in front of her. For the past few moments, she had been communicating with what was apparently a god in her head; a god that promised her power. She had never sought power or anything to do with greed; she had always worked hard ever since she was a little girl with the goal of seizing everything she desired with her own strength.

This 'god' happened to say an interesting word to her a few moments ago. A word he spoke that dredged up memories buried in her mind yet always at the surface; memories of a man that abandoned her family and wrecked everything.

"Mr. God, can I ask you another question?" Leena wondered aloud.

"As long as you remember that there are certain things the Eight Seats of Excalibur do not permit me to tell you," the somewhat-charming man's voice spoke back to her. She had known him mere moments and never seen his face but she already felt she could trust him completely.

"Actually, never mind. You just answered it for me," she said, a strange and ominous feeling overcoming her. Was this a coincidence, the word 'Excalibur' being said to her again? There was no way it was. She'd read about swords named Excalibur in books or in other media but this, this was definitely the same 'Excalibur' her father had mentioned.

"I'm being overly generous as it is, anyway," he told her, sounding as if their little meet-and-greet was coming to a close, "good luck with what is to come, Leena. As my newest vessel, it is my wish that you don't die."

"Die...?" Leena repeated after him, wondering why he was suddenly talking about her death. Did he mean at the hands of that thief girl? Her keen instinct told her that he meant something else entirely. She had absolutely no idea how to prepare for something like this. She had no idea what the sensation would be or what changes to her body they would induce. She prayed nothing physical about her would change.

Suddenly, she felt it.

The Earth.

Beneath her feet.

She could feel it. As if it were an extension of her body. The cement, the rock, the metal all around her; she pressed her hand against the wall of the building she was standing beside and it felt as null as if she were touching her own skin. It no longer felt foreign to her.

"Whoa..." she gasped, "what is... this feeling...?"

"I should introduce myself properly before I go. I'm the Lord of Solid, meaning you've been imbued with the affinity of Solid. Things should come pretty naturally to you from here on out, though don't expect a very easy transition."

"Solid... affinity," Leena repeated after him again, "so, like, Earth element?"

"If you think Elemental Affinities can be classed so simply, you're in for a couple dozen surprises. Goodbye, Leena. Oh, and don't forget to check out your weapon. It's pretty cool!"

Leena blinked as his voice faded, leaving her totally confused. She felt her hands down her cold and numb thighs, then around her shirt. She gripped the fabric of her white shirt as she realized she didn't have any weapon on her at all.

"Weapon?" she wondered aloud in a daze, as she let go of her shirt and stretched out her arms to her sides as she tried to get a grip on her new senses, "he never gave me a weapon..."

Leena had spoken too soon, apparently, as suddenly in her outstretched right hand appeared the grip of a very dangerous-looking spiked mace with an incredibly long chain! Leena hardly even noticed its appearance as she cast her arms out to her sides, accidentally throwing it through the air across the alleyway! She flinched and took a step back as she realized what had happened before it came crashing down with a thunderous crash, bashing a massive dent into the ground with its weight and nearly crushing a cat!

The black cat meowed loudly in surprise before leaping to its feet and darting off like mad! Leena's eyes began to water up sadly as she dashed over to where she'd inadvertently thrown her gigantic chained weapon.

"I... I almost crushed that poor cat..." the disturbed girl gasped, reaching down and gripping the chain. Her confusion was further tacked onto as she pulled on the chain, lifting the mace off the ground with ease. Her eyes widened as the ball with huge blades protruding from it dangled in front of her.

"I... can lift this? It looks heavier than three me's!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "This night is just getting crazier and crazier. Plus, I almost killed a cat. I can't forgive myself now..."

Suddenly, realization dawned upon her. A cat was there? If so, then that meant...!

Her gaze moved up to something she should've noticed sooner as she stared down toward the far end of the alleyway. Streetlamps were on again and cars, while scarce, were speeding by on the road! She was back in the normal world again! The effect of whatever imprisoned her in that barren and dark area had worn off!

"At last," she gasped, "I can call for help..."

"That's what you think."

Leena turned and she saw a familiar black and silver trident heading straight at her head! She reacted immediately, taking a step back! As she slid her foot across the ground, something amazing happened: a pillar of cement rose up between her and the weapon! Alexis gasped in alarm as her trident jammed into the solid wall, piercing into it but not going through.

"Whoa... I did that...?" Leena gasped with amazement at the shield she'd created for herself, "it was just a reflex..."

Alexis seemed equally baffled, the red-headed assassin grunting as she tried to pull her trident out from where it was stuck. She glared up at Leena over the pillar, wondering if she'd been deceived.

"So, you're an Anomaly after all..." Alexis growled, keeping her raised arm on her trident as she addressed her second target, "this makes for a different situation."

"Situation...?" Leena repeated, wondering what her assailant was talking about.

"I may not have to kill you after all," Alexis mused aloud, sounding somewhat happy about this new revelation of hers, "you could be useful in Eclipse."

"I don't even know what Eclipse IS!" Leena yelled, taking a few steps away from Alexis, dragging her mace along the ground as she did. Alexis's eyes darted down to the weapon Leena was holding, she just now noticed it.

"That's a rather large Morning Star..." Alexis thought as she tried to plan her next move, "a hit from that would put me in rather bad condition. She doesn't seem like a particularly skilled fighter, though, so I can probably evade it easily."

"Where is Sophie?" Leena asked, trying to sound tough though her voice was clearly crackling and full of fear, "you went after her first, right?"

"That girl? I've already taken care of her. Now... you have two choices..."

"Taken care of Sophie?! Did she kill her?!" Leena thought in a panic, "no... we'd only just met... I wanted to get to know her better! How could she do such a thing...?!"

"You can either die here at my hands or the less disgusting option of joining Eclipse. It's your choice, girl."

"Why are you asking me this...?" Leena wondered, staring up at Alexis with a disgusted look on her face, "I could never do what you do... stealing and murdering."

Alexis paused for a moment, meeting Leena's hurt gaze with her resolute one. She was compelled to finish this mission, mostly due to Seth's threat to her.

"You don't seem to understand. Once Eclipse finds out you're an Anomaly, there will be no end to your battle until you have joined our ranks. They aren't above blackmail or using brute force. Like... THIS!"

Alexis tugged back hard on her trident, freeing it from the cement wall it was embedded in! Leena felt a nervous chill run down her body as she heard cement bits clatter against the ground before her. Alexis slashed forward horizontally with her weapon, smashing the structure Leena had inadvertently made into pieces! Leena did the wise thing and hopped backward a few times, trying to get out of the range of Alexis's lengthy weapon.

"I can't cause too much of a commotion now that the Dark Shroud has been lifted," Alexis thought as she brought her trident out to her left side, completing her full swing, "Seth must have left the area. This means the bank's condition will be noticed soon..."

Leena tensed up as she stared at the stationary Alexis. Alexis wasn't making a move, she must have been wrapped up in thought! Leena was a fast thinker in pressure-based situations, as she'd played a lot of sports in high school. This was the same, in a way, or so she thought.

"She's distracted!" Leena thought as her green eyes lit up as an idea plowed its way through her mind, "the thought of violence terrifies me but this is life or death! I'll get her before she can get me!"

Leena cried out as she thrust her right arm forward with all of her might, lifting the heavy mace off the ground and into the air above the two of them! Alexis took a step back and gazed up at it, while Leena felt herself begin to sweat. She'd certainly accomplished moving it... but she had no idea what she was doing!

Leena's assault ended up smashing a massive hole into the second floor of the large department store building to the right of them in the alleyway! Crumbled bricks collapsed from the structure's wound as the mace fell with them, pounding a sizable crater into the ground where it landed; shaking the whole area.

Alexis clapped slowly and sarcastically spoke, "Bravo. I'm sure that Babies R Us will appreciate what you've done to their store."

Leena felt herself sweat even more.

"A training mode or a tutorial with helpful narration would've been nice..."

"I'm not going to mess with you anymore," Alexis told Leena, hunching forward and holding the black trident that glistened in the moonlight out to her left in a combat stance, "prolonged combat with Affinities is just begging to be caught by APS. Join us or die!"

"N-never!" Leena stammered, trying to stay firm on her beliefs as she dragged the mace's chain back toward her. She stared at Alexis with hurt eyes, "killing me won't gain you anything! Why do we have to fight at all!?"

Alexis grinded her teeth together furiously and lunged forward at the innocent girl, apparently choosing not to answer this time. Leena freaked, Alexis was really out for blood this time! Alexis twirled her trident around as she brought it over her head, brandishing it with a level of amazing skill that Leena couldn't even hope to imitate with her own weapon at this point!

"I can't think of anything...! I always freeze when things get this tough!" Leena thought, trying to overcome her inner panic and come up with a way to block or dodge. "No, no! I don't know what else to do!"

"What the-!?" Alexis suddenly exclaimed, noticing something with her ability to sense water vapor. She hadn't noticed it until now since she'd been focused on Leena but a large mass of vapor was very close to her; meaning someone was near!

"Surprise!" Sophie yelled, dashing into the alleyway from behind Alexis and leaping forward at her! Alexis turned and held up her trident horizontally to block, and luckily for her she did; as she found two objects made of the same material grinding against the shaft of her long weapon!

Around Sophie's clenched fists were metallic gloves with the same black and silver design as Alexis or Leena's weapons. From the knuckles extended long, curved, cat-claws that protruded when she clenched her fists and retracted when she opened her hands; these 'cat claws' were her Anomaly weapon!

Alexis went wide-eyed as she realized who it was and what exactly had happened, while Sophie seemed to be grinning smugly. Unlike the awkward Leena, she was reveling in her new powers and seemed to have a very natural talent for combat.

"You're alive...!" Alexis gasped, feeling despair overcome her as she realized her cowardly way of trying to kill her wasn't decisive enough, "and you have powers as well! What is this, Anomaly Showcase Night!?"

"You should shut the hell up," Sophie told her, glaring up at the older girl with the one eye that was visible from behind her long, layered hair, "you've succeeded in really pissing me off, which is a tough thing to do."

"Sophie..." Leena gasped as she was very relieved to see her still in working condition, "you're alright...!"

Alexis grunted in annoyance and thrust her weapon forward, shoving Sophie back! Sophie slid with the shove, already preparing her next attack! She opened her palms, retracting her claws, and slammed both of her arms out in front of her as if she were banging against a wall! As she did, a spark ignited that lit up the entire alleyway; and a fireball blasted outward with amazing speed toward Alexis!

Alexis and Leena both flinched at the sight but Alexis reacted quickly. She quickly slammed her trident down with her left hand, the pearl on it beginning to glow - as Sophie took note of - and cast out her right hand before her! Her long hair flew out behind her as she created and shot back a spherical projectile of water to counter Sophie's fireball! The two collided and a large hissing noise accompanied the sound of a gunshot impacting; with hot steam shooting everywhere and impairing all of their vision as a result!

"Shit... I didn't count on any of this. There isn't much water around here for me to use effectively and we're sure to be causing a scene if we keep this up any longer," Alexis thought, "plus... that teal-haired girl may be right..."

Sophie extended her claws again and raised them in a defensive stance as the steam cleared. She was surprised when she only saw Leena still clutching the chain of her weapon; their mysterious assailant was nowhere to be seen! Leena blinked a few times curiously, glancing around to try and catch a glimpse of her. Sophie could tell though, since she sensed less body heat than before, that Alexis was gone.

"I guess... she left," an amazed Leena finally stated after a few more seconds of awkward silence. Sophie de-materialized her claws, showing off her leather gloves underneath, and put her hands on her hips as she decided to make a comment of her own.

"What a bitch."

"So that's that," Yoshino spoke aloud, sitting on the steps of an apartment building on the main street. She could hear the police sirens from a ways away, grinning as the sounds entered her ears. Since she was blind, she found great joy contained within sound. She listened for a moment, still grinning as she playing casually with her short white hair.

"No, those two girls seem alright. I don't think they'll be corrupted by their powers. I'll catch up on all the latest gossip about them; you know how I love it."

"You also seem to love talking to yourself," another voice spoke out of nowhere to Yoshino in a joking manner. Yoshino felt a chill go down her spine; she hadn't heard this other girl approach. Not being able to be heard or sensed by Yoshino took a special kind of ability; one of a very skilled Anomaly.

"... how long have you been there?" Yoshino wondered outward to her female comrade. The other girl let out a slight amused grunt and spoke to Yoshino in a cocky manner.

"We're going to tag out. I want to mess with those new Vessels next."

"What exactly do you have planned?" Yoshino asked with some concern.

"I'm going to show them how harsh the world of an Anomaly really is. Also, I'm going to exact my revenge on a certain person at the same time... so stay out of it."

"I'd have no reason to get involved anyway."

"Always a loner, aren't you?"

"Hmph," Yoshino muttered, standing up and walking past her comrade that she couldn't see, "have fun."

Meanwhile, Sophie and Leena had entered the corner store they originally adventured out to visit. They were standing in the candy aisle as Sophie fished some bulk candy out of the plastic jars with tongs and placed them in a bag she gripped eagerly with her right hand. Leena simply watched her, since Sophie said before that she was going to treat her.

"I knew this place was still open..." Sophie muttered to Leena as she decided on which candy she wanted to collect next, "what the heck was that weird negative world we ended up in?"

Leena simply shrugged her shoulders, "I know about as much as you do, which is nothing. But we've certainly ended up in a weird situation, haven't we?"

Sophie glanced above the candy row as she reached into the next container to fish out some fuzzy peaches. Her gaze pierced through the glass window of the corner store and across the street, striking the demolished bank. Police tape now surrounded the area and it had descended into chaos.

The majority of the chaos was not centered on the robbery itself, however, but the huge trails of ice that surrounded the hole blasted in the bank's entrance. They took a glance in from afar as they headed back to the corner store, and almost the entire interior of the bank was coated in ice. Lots of it was jagged and completely unnatural, some of it also piercing outside of the store.

"Yeah..." Sophie agreed after a moment of thoughtfully gazing at the crime scene, "this is the weirdest thing that's happened to me since puberty."

Leena blinked at Sophie before recomposing her thoughts, "So what do we do with these powers now? I mean, we have them... it's kind of cool, isn't it?"

"We do nothing," Sophie answered her quickly, shocking Leena with her answer, "we don't need them for anything. We aren't crooks like that bimbo from before and we aren't superheroes either. I think it's best that we try and forget about them."

"But..." Leena protested, not wanting to give up so easily on the topic, "... we... powers... awesome... and stuff."

Sophie glared at her over her shoulder, "You have no idea what would happen. Haven't you ever watched X-Men? We could be branded as freaks and have flaming bottles of vodka thrown at us. Or the government could throw us in jail... it's almost like having an unregistered weapon."

"You make the weirdest comparisons that somehow make the most sense," Leena sighed in defeat at her new friend's talk bringing her down to earth, "... are you sure it would go like that?"

Sophie grabbed another bag to load full of candy and smirked in amusement.

"What do you think would happen? The president would come give us a medal? I'm the rational thinker here and you'd best listen to me, airhead."

Leena wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back against the candy racks on the opposite side of the aisle. She shifted her mouth from side to side, grumbling repeatedly as she thought, tapping her index finger impatiently against her arm. Sophie could see her reflection in the window and realized something was still troubling her.

"Now what?"

"That girl... what if she comes after us again?"

"That skankbag? She didn't get our names, if you don't recall. You did stupidly shout out 'Sophie! I love you!' when I came to save you... but there's no way she can find me just from that. Tempest City is HUGE, like you said earlier."

Leena glared at her, "I did not say that!"

"That's what I got out of it," Sophie told her, blunt as ever as she popped a small red candy shaped like a foot into her mouth. As she did, Leena seemed to almost have a meltdown; since she lost her balance and shook the candy racks behind her as she jumped. Sophie raised an eyebrow at the twitchy girl, wondering just what her problem was now.

"You can't do that!" Leena yelled, "you have to pay for that!"

"... it's just a sample."

"Still! It's stealing! People worked hard to design and make those candies, add the flavor and color, package them, ship them, deliver them, and then stock them on the shelves! They don't go through all that work just so you can SAMPLE them at your leisure! That's not the storeowner's intention when he makes his order! He needs to make a profit or you'll run him out of business!"

Sophie gave Leena the blankest look she could muster, hoping Leena would get a clue.

"It's a five cent piece of candy! I don't need to pay for it because I have magical fire powers! Woooooh!" Sophie shouted at the upset and awkward Leena. Leena glared down at Sophie, whom grinned as she ate another one, chewing it with her mouth open to mock Leena.

"I'm telling," Leena simply responded, turning and walking away. Sophie slowly stopped chewing and glared at Leena's back as she walked away from her; her shoulder-length teal hair bouncing up and down against her back gently as she walked.

"You have no proof!"

"The security cameras do."

"Ugh... you are such a goody-two-shoes! Be more carefree like me, seriously," Sophie told Leena, trotting up next to her as she walked toward the cashier's desk, "no wonder you don't have a boyfriend."

Leena looked down at Sophie, "I never told you I didn't have a boyfriend."

"I know. I just assumed because you're such a loser."

"I'm going to kick you in the eye."

"Not if I kick you first."

"I still would."

Sophie grumbled as they got to the counter and she dropped her candy bags before the man behind the register. She sighed deeply and with annoyance, arching her back and speaking out, "I had two more before, so add those to the total too."

Leena smiled proudly as the man behind the counter did as well and added up her total on the cash register after weighing all the candy Sophie had brought him, "That'll be 42.67."

"FORTY DOLLARS?!" Leena screamed out loud, turning to Sophie with a freaked out look on her face, "you bought forty dollars worth of candy?!"

"I would've got more but you kept nagging me."

"You should eat some fruit," Leena groaned, "what am I going to do with you...?"

Sophie raised her eyebrow at her exasperated senior, "Okay, you're causing me problems. I've known you three hours and you're already acting like my big sister and that you have to take care of me."

Leena clasped her hand over her mouth in amazement as her cheeks went red, not even realizing what she had been doing. Sophie smirked as she fished her wallet out of her pocket, shaking her head.

"Unlike you, I really am a big sister, so I can tell what you're up to. But I'm afraid I can't really be a replacement for anything you might be missing in your life... Leena."

Leena darted her eyes away from Sophie, she hadn't intended to act like she did. Sophie watched her for a second, then turned back to the cashier and gave him her debit card. She was always very direct with her statements, a trait that gave some people a hard time trying to get along with her.

"You girls may want to stay in here for a while," the old cashier guy told them, "somethin' big is goin' on outside since the bank was robbed and you don't wanna get caught up in it."

"Yeah, there is quite a commotion, isn't there?" Sophie noted, able to see the flashing police lights out of the corner of her eye, "though I kind of want to check it out. What about you, Leena?"

"... couldn't hurt," Leena replied after a second to regain her composure, "I want to know exactly what went on too."

The two of them exited the store into the nighttime street, which was lit up by streetlamps on the sidewalk and the spinning red alarms of the parked police cars around the crime scene. The two girls were considerably baffled; as the front end of the bank looked considerably different from how they'd seen it before. They'd simply seen it get blown open but this sight was much more shocking.

It was covered in ice. Ice coated the inside of the bank and the steps before it; thick ice at that. From the hole that the Eclipse members made in the entranceway, ice spikes shot outward in random directions, engulfing all of the debris so that none of it had ever made it to the street. The sight of this mass amount of ice that glimmered in the glow of the streetlights was enough to shock anyone whom held any reasonable perception of reality.

"Whoa," Leena gasped, her mind immediately becoming wrapped up in the current scene, "... this really happened? I didn't see ice when-"

"Fool!" Sophie exclaimed suddenly, clamping her hand over Leena's mouth and whispering forcefully to her, "don't mention anything about us being near or knowing anything about this!"

"Mmmph..." Leena's muffled voice responded as she grabbed Sophie's hand and pried it off of her face, gasping for air, "... geez, that hurt."

Sophie looked up at the gasping Leena, whom was still clutching her hand.

"You can let go out of my hand now."

"Leena? Is that you?" a voice asked from out of their peripheral vision. The two girls turned to see another girl around their age addressing them. Interesting about this girl, to Sophie, was that she was wearing a police officer's uniform! It was mostly blue and black, composed of a t-shirt, a miniskirt, and a hat. Her long hair hung down from beneath the hat, which was dark brown with many strands highlighted to a much lighter shade of brown. Sophie's initial reaction was that she had very pretty hair.

Leena dropped Sophie's hand and turned to address this officer that apparently knew her, "Hayley, hey! What are you doing out here?!"

Hayley pointed to her officer's hat, which had a gold-plated police insignia displayed right in the center of it, speaking back in a sarcastic tone, "Gee, what do you think?"

Sophie stared at Hayley for a second before glancing up at Leena, so as if to indicate she wanted an explanation. Leena noticed her shorter friend's stare and put a polite smile on her face as she introduced them.

"Ah, Sophie, this is my friend Hayley from school. Hayley, this is Sophie, my partner in Drama class."

"You have friends?" Sophie wondered as she shook Hayley's hand.

"So this is an interesting sight, huh?" Hayley asked them as she turned in the direction of the ice-covered building, "the media is going crazy with it, we can't keep them away. I don't have much authority, since you know I'm only on my first year in the force... but even our chief is over there and he can't keep things in line."

"Do you know anything about this?" Sophie asked Hayley. Hayley clenched her fists tight as she played Sophie's question through her head.

"I'm trying to find out... but technically I'm not allowed to. Nor am I allowed to tell anyone what I do know. Whatever is causing these phenomenons, I can't speak about it. The entire police force is being sworn to secrecy with not just our badges but our lives at stake."

"Lives...?" Leena repeated, as she had a habit of doing whenever a phrase intrigued her.

"Someone is trying very hard to keep this all secret," Hayley told her. Hayley and Leena hung out a lot on campus, so Hayley was comfortable with sharing her thoughts with her. Hayley eyed Leena again, "want to know something weird that I can tell you though? You've heard of the recent crime wave, right?"

"Kind of..." Leena muttered, putting her finger to her lip thoughtfully as she tried to recall it. Sophie grunted in annoyance and began to speak in her stead.

"Who hasn't? It's been on the news for weeks but a source is never cited, just the fact that there are crimes taking place. Isn't this the eighth or ninth one now?"

"You're well-informed," Hayley nodded in agreement, "this fact hasn't been reported on TV yet but there are two strange patterns to each crime."

"They're ignoring me now..." Leena thought, sighing as she relented not keeping up with current events.

"The first is that every place that's robbed is never milked for everything they're worth," Hayley stated, which caused Sophie to raise a curious eyebrow, "this bank robbery for instance... the safe has been broken into but almost everything is still there! They only took three-thousand dollars when they could have taken millions!"

"What? Why?" Leena blurted out, "if I robbed a bank-"

Leena's sentence was cut off as she suddenly felt overwhelming tension as Hayley and a few other officers standing nearby eyed her suspiciously. She clamped her mouth shut and took a step back, trying to remain in the background.

"Never mind. I'd never rob anything."

"Number two strange recurring thing: every time a place is robbed, it's impossible to trace it because of stuff like this," Hayley continued, indicating the ice, "there's never any prints or anything. It's all being done unnaturally... as you can see."

"So they use weird magical powers but then barely take anything?" Sophie summed up, sounding about as confused as Hayley, "... what the hell."

"You have just stated what every member of law enforcement in Tempest City is thinking," Hayley said in a learned tone, "if word of this ever got out though, there would be widespread chaos. Unfortunately, some amateur reporter girl beat us here this time and ran off with footage..."

"Meaning what?" Leena asked.

Hayley gazed off distantly as she gave her answer, "Meaning the news is going to be very interesting tonight..."

["This new footage has just come in from one of our reporters whom witnessed a shocking robbery on the scene just this night at 10:21 PM. We, here at TCNN are here to bring you the live story..."

A boy sitting on a bed, inside his tidy CIU dorm room, was sketching vividly into a sketchbook folded onto his lap as the words from the news report reached his ears. He glanced up with slight interest, though it was hard to pull him away from his passion once he was captivated within it. 20-year old Allen Smith had short but spiky brown hair and wore a turtle-shaped locket that rested around his neck and on his white t-shirt.

His green eyes widened and he set the book down next to him as he saw the startling image on screen of the ice-covered bank, shakily recorded by a handheld camcorder.

"Whoa," he gasped as he leaned forward to get a better look, "is this for real...? I'm totally drawing that."

["Taking place on the corner of Main and 42nd, the Regal Bank was robbed by an unknown number of culprits. This is the latest in a series of crimes but the first that we've caught a glimpse of the unorthodox breaking and entering method as you can see here."

Inside of a large mansion owned by someone obviously quite wealthy, 20-year old Felicia Addams lay on a couch stroking a white cat that lay on her lap. The girl with lavish orange-brown hair that draped down to her mid-waist had her gaze fixated on the TV, looking rather bored as the news report droned on. Even the image wasn't leaving much of an impression on the well-endowed and toned girl that was beholding it.

In addition to her other 'features' she had a very distinct tattoo written in Japanese on her bare right shoulder. She shook her head as she kept watching.

"That's got to be a fake. They look pretty desperate for attention... they should be reporting on real problems like the threat in the park..."

["Your eyes do not deceive you, viewers. What you are seeing is a gigantic mass of ice that seems to sprout outward in every direction from the bank's destroyed entrance. How such an unnatural elemental phenomenon has occurred in inconceivable and the police refuse to comment on this matter..."

"My eyes can't deceive me if I'm listening to it on radio! Geez!" a girl exclaimed in annoyance out loud over the roar of her motorbike, knocking her hand against the side of her helmet where her mini radio was wrapped around her right ear, "I want to see this!"

17-year old Vy Nguyen hugged her slim body against the body of her beloved motorbike as she blazed down a highway leading into Tempest City. The Vietnamese girl's black hair flapped out wildly behind her, tapping relentlessly against her worn-out leather jacket. She wanted to get home as quickly as possible and see what this was about.

["We are investigating at this time but please please, drop this matter. We couldn't tell you anything even if we wanted to, we've been sworn to silence by higher-ups. Now get out of here before we start arresting people for disturbing the peace."

["That was a comment made by the chief of police just moments ago..."

A girl wandering through the common area of CIU after having just come from the gymnasium stopped, a basketball clutched between her arms against her chest. She blew some of her long, black bangs out of her eyes as she gazed up at the screen with squinted eyes. 22-year old Justine Burrel was quite amazed by what she saw... and also quite intrigued.

"That is the coolest thing ever...! Well, not the crime... but the way it was pulled off! It would be so awesome to be able to have those powers and use them for justice..."

At the same time, sitting on a bench against the far wall where he was studying with a few friends, a punk-looking boy with odd white-and-black colored hair glanced up at the television screen from behind the sunglasses he was wearing. He stood up, straightening out the black trench coat he was wearing as he tried to get a better glimpse of the amazing footage.

"This country is so weird..." 19-year old Axel Moskau muttered to himself with a German accent, "... I like it."

["... so for now we can only speculate as to how this ice was created. Perhaps some kind of new weapon that has been developed underground is the cause. Heavy rumors are circulating that this is related to the syndicate Eclipse..."

"Eclipse..." a boy watching a TV in a large office muttered after he heard the name mentioned, "not them again..."

19-year old Evan Scofield gazed out of the window where he was standing in an executive's office at one of the two tallest corporate towers in Tempest City while he waited for his sister to get ready to leave. He had short light brown hair with sideburns and was wearing a bandanna over most of it. He seemed to be quite thoughtful, though the mention of the Syndicate seemed to induce much scorn in him.

"When will they ever go away..."

["... which is a group of underground terrorists that manage to elude authorities every time they show themselves. For more on Eclipse, visit our website and refer to last month's kidnapping incident involving the president's daughter. It was truly a sad day for all citizens of Colonia."

"This is like anime," a boy whom was watching the news report on Youtube gasped aloud, "crazy ice, there's no way a weapon made that. That technology is impossible; therefore... it was something cool like elemental manipulation ..."

20-year old Ash Harvelle seemed to surmise this right away, letting his imagination get the better of him as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and immediately opened a new tab in his Firefox browser on his computer, going to try his hardest to find out more about this. The CIU student with long, unruly brown hair was among the best when it came to finding out anything.

"I really need to know about this... this is huge...!"

["We can hope that the police are working on a way to track and stop these crimes, for this terrorism in the grand new continent of Colonia is very upsetting to many of us; including myself. I want my children to be able to walk the streets safely, so if anyone has any information, we want you to contact the police immediately."

"Ugh," Collin groaned as he walked up next to Roy, whom was standing and watching the report with his arms crossed in the APS HQ, "seriously, two Anomaly-related thefts two nights in a row?"

"Looks like it. Somehow a reporter was able to find out about it but we weren't."

Collin glared at the TV before speaking again to his partner, "I think we should suggest to Alex that we find out who this reporter is... they may know something about Eclipse..."

["We are going to keep looking into this; we have all of our top reporters out in the field. If we find anything else, we'll report it immediately to you: the people, for you have a right to know what is going on in your own city."

Alexis buried her head in her arms as the TV report mixed with the background noise of the bar she was visiting. Her red hair fell down over the edge of the counter as she sat at the bar, a half empty glass of alcohol clutched in her right hand; with three empty ones next to it. She felt awful; tormented even.

"That girl..." she thought back to earlier that night, her normally cold eyes watering up as she hid them from public view.

-"N-never!" Leena stammered, trying to stay firm on her beliefs as she dragged the mace's chain back toward her. She stared at Alexis with hurt eyes, "killing me won't gain you anything! Why do we have to fight at all!?"-

"When...?"she thought desperately, sitting up and downing the rest of her drink in one gulp, "when was the last time my eyes looked like that...? How long have I been caught in Eclipse's web... my spirit raped and destroyed by them...?"

She slumped back in the stool, letting her arms hang limp as she stared up at the spinning fan on the roof above her, completely lost in herself. The bartender eyed her, wondering if she was going to pass out, though he found his eye helplessly wandering down to the glorious amount of cleavage that made its way out of her bustier top.

"See something you like?" Alexis asked in an angry tone, not even needing to look at the bartender to realize where he was gazing, "that's not very professional of you."

"E-er, uh, sorry ma'am..."

"Give me another one, on the house," she commanded, to which he quickly responded by turning and grabbing the bottles from the rack behind him. She continued to sit there, motionless, until she heard her cell phone ring. She flipped it off of the holder in her belt, catching it in mid-air with her other hand and flipping it out as she raised it up to her ear.

"What?"

["Did you kill them?"

"... yes. I did."

["That's all for the 11:00 news for tonight. This is Arik Pearson reporting as usual. Citizens of Tempest City, I have only one thing left to say... things have just taken a very, very strange turn. Stay tuned for more."