Calista Elise Medley

  New Student

  Level 2

  XP: 35/100

  HP: 100/100

  EP: 80/100

  RP Status: Unknown- 0 RP

  Weakness Lvl 16

  The triple-decker Air-Bus crossed the campus line and the Fistborn school soon came into sight. Calista’s emerald eyes were wide with childish excitement mixed with fear.

  After an emotional goodbye to her family— minus her mother— at the TelePort, she’d gone to Washington D.C. by herself. Today, all the new students would go through orientation, then start classes the next day.

  Calista took a deep, determined breath. This was the place she dreamed of going to as a little girl. She looked around, observing the other new students on her bus, some of which cast strange or curious glances her way. Now that she paid attention, she felt out of place.

  She’d chosen a casual, but cute outfit she preferred; a yellow, off-shoulder crop top that stopped just above her belly button with flared short sleeves, and a pair of blue slim-fit slacks. White cushion sneakers completed the ensemble, molding themselves to keep her feet from aching. Her gold necklace sporting her initials glinted across her collarbones and her black hair was perfectly straightened in a thick waterfall of ink, a yellow headband holding it in place.

  The other new students were wearing more athletic outfits. One girl with pinkish-red skin had a sleeveless, tight blue bodysuit, showing off her toned arms. A young man wore a tighter, sky-blue bodysuit that displayed his muscles through the smooth, glossy fabric. One woman had a Fistborn jacket over her white suit; half-blue and half-red with white accents along the touch-zipper and cuffs. The Fistborn logo was on the back, proudly reflecting against the light.

  Maybe she should’ve tried to look the part a bit more. A 21st-Century girl’s outfit among full bodysuits and jackets? She just added another embarrassing detail for everyone to recognize her for.

  There were a couple of Mearthian girls sitting in her row, but neither of them had made any friendly overtures. One was on her Pet screen, which was shaded so other people couldn’t peek at it, and the other stared at her lap, probably anxious.

  Raleigh Gunammi

  Level 14

  Marisol Diaz

  Level 18

  “Hi, I’m Calista. Marisol, right?” she said, looking at the girl next to her. It didn’t seem that she heard her; probably had a sound bubble on for whatever she was doing. “Okay.” Calista leaned to talk to the other girl. “Hi, there. I’m Calista. You’re… Ray-leigh?”

  She looked at her, a bit weirded out, and gave Calista a once-over, her eyelids moving and giving her expression away. She was a small Mearthian with rosy skin and whitish-blond hair in a pixie cut. Her eyes were completely grey, unlike full-blooded Martians, who always had black sclerae and pupils. “Um… it’s Rah-leigh,” she corrected, an inquisitive lilt in her tone, probably wondering why this random, weirdly dressed, Earthian girl was suddenly talking to her.

  “Raleigh. Nice to meet you,” Calista said. “So… you’re a new student, too?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Cool. You excited?”

  The girl shrugged. “Guess so.”

  ‘Guess so’? How could she not be happy to get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

  “I’m really nervous. I never thought I’d actually get in. I can’t believe we’re going to be in the same place as Lisa White! She’s my star idol. She’s uber-awesome and so pretty. I love her fighting.”

  Raleigh just stared at her. Calista’s stomach clenched in shame. Was she rambling too much? She sunk in her seat. “Anyway… you have any friends here?”

  -2 RP

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  -2 Rel-P

  New Person: Raleigh Gunammi

  Negative Acquaintance

  Calista’s shy smile instantly vanished when she saw the pop-up.

  Raleigh sighed and turned away. Calista raised her thick black brows and turned to the window. She had to remember this was Fistborn, not NYWS. In the Socializer school, she would’ve been depending on making new friends to get far in her career. Here, it was different.

  Evidently, Reputation was still a thing, but her career didn’t depend on it, at least.

  The two Air-Buses went underground, stopping in the dark station tunnel. They opened up onto a platform. An automated AIDA voice announced: “Welcome to Fistborn Academy. Please exercise caution while exiting the Air-Bus…” Everyone filed off the buses and walked out onto the lit-up, black, square platform, being instantly teleported one by one. Calista found herself in a large, wide, red hallway with a blue carpet. Large windows were built in the high walls, letting in natural light. The crowd of new students murmured in awe, looking around with excited eyes.

  In front of them stood three people; President Chrisman, Vice President Kalley, and Dean Lisa White. Calista instantly squealed at seeing her new idol again. “It’s her! It’s really her!” She shook someone’s arm next to her, feeling a pokey texture through the glossy sleeve. “Can you imagine Lisa White teaching us? Like, literally teaching us and showing us all her cheat codes? Uber-amazing!”

  Her excitement dimmed slightly when she looked up at the person. He was a tall, hulking Mercurian with rocky red skin, ranking at Level 14. She let go of his arm and smiled shyly. “Sorry. Got excited.”

  The Mercurian raised a brow and looked away. Calista couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was smirking at whoever was with him. It was the classic Secret Smile head turn. One of the basics of mocking someone behind their back, yet still letting them know what was being thought of them.

  -5 RP

  New Person: Evan Caelan

  Negative Acquaintance

  “Welcome to Fistborn Academy!” President Chrisman announced, offering a small, professional smile. “Congratulations on passing your admissions exams and becoming our honored Versus School students. We hope the next four to sixteen years of your career are filled with success and victory.”

  “The Orientation program will be on your AIDA bands,” Lisa White said. As she spoke, all of their AIDA bands beeped with the schedule for the day. “Prepare yourselves for your first classes tomorrow. The exams won’t look like much compared to what you’ll face in the next few months. Any one of you could be traveling with us to Los Angeles for the international prelims. If you want that spot on the country team, you’ll have to prove you’re worthy enough to be accepted.”

  “Once you complete your orientation, you will be shown to your rooms,” Vice President Kalley said. “We hope all of you get along well throughout the year. We are all a team, and we expect any differences to be settled in a calm and mature manner. The whole purpose of the Versus Games is to settle grudges through controlled combat. Self-control is key.”

  Task Acquired: Take Fistborn Tour— No XP

  “I will be virtually heading the tour of Fistborn’s campus,” President Chrisman said. “Should you have any questions, please send them through your AIDA band and the rest of the board will answer.”

  Benson Kalley smiled. “Enjoy your orientation, and welcome again to Fistborn Academy.” He turned away with Lisa White, leaving Chrisman behind.

  “Where you are standing now is the Hall of Affairs. Here, you will find meeting rooms, tutoring rooms, the Auditorium, and the widely-used Studitorium, as well as all of our personal offices, should you have any concerns to take up with a faculty or staff member. Now, please stand in the circles.” She pointed to the three, large white circles in the middle of the hall that pulsed with light. Calista felt a little crammed in by the tall students around her. In a flash, they were all teleported to another building.

  This building had a narrower hallway, but still wide enough to fit a lot of people. There were classroom signs glowing on the walls with strange numbers on them: ‘CT1-361’, ‘CT3-405’. Each sign was above one of the open doorways lining the hall. The ceiling was high, allowing long, blue banners with the academy’s crest to hang and square light panels to illuminate the space. President Chrisman now appeared in a semi-transparent virtual projection.

  “This is your home, the Versus Fighting School. Here, students attend classes for at least four years and at most sixteen years, with year levels divided into four-year sections. The years between Versus Games are optional for students, but we highly encourage constant training to ensure our team is always the best of the best. There are other competitions that include the Junior Versus Games, the Earthian International Games, and the National American Games. The Versus Fighting School is a private wing located in the School of Combat building.”

  What was the difference? Calista heard of the Versus Fighting School being referred to separately from the School of Combat. Were there two, in that case? She input the question in her AIDA band as Chrisman’s hologram led the students down the hall. It looked like this particular hall had been cleared for the tour.

  “The Versus Fighting School contains over 1,300 students,” Lisa White answered Calista, appearing in her AIDA band as a small hologram standing on her wrist. “It is a sub-division of the main School of Combat that specializes in training the next country team for the upcoming Versus Games. It only accepts students during a Versus Games year, and these students can take time away from the academy during non-Versus years. The School of Combat, on the other hand, offers only four years to more students looking to follow an extra-intensive fighting career without participating in the tournament. If a Versus student ages out after less than sixteen years, they are transferred to the non-Versus track to complete their education and graduate.”

  “The Versus School is also the only school in Fistborn Academy that gives out full scholarships,” Benson added, appearing next to Lisa. “The other schools; Fighting, Journalism, and similar, do not give out full-rides.”

  “Wow,” Calista breathed. She was attending the Versus school completely for free. It was an immense privilege— a miracle, really. Her saving grace.

  They went through an indoor glass bridge that overlooked a large gymnasium. Below, they could see the other students working out and training, all of them wearing athletic blue and red bodysuit uniforms. Their tags weren’t visible at the moment, so Calista couldn’t see if any famous names were among them. She paused, pressing her face to the glass as she watched them. Some of the men, Earthians and aliens alike, were pretty handsome specimens.

  One in particular caught her eye: Harrison Smith.