Marc Arden and the Siphilon Academy

- A Wrench in the Rain (Part 1)

The other students – including Rose – were commencing their first academic class since Class time, Elemental Control. Meanwhile; Marc, Scarlett, Chris, and Judy finished their orientation and allowed themselves to be escorted to their official school tour courtesy of Professor Corden.

Judy strolled along to match Professor Corden's stride, addressing the Academy's architectural design with sophisticated remarks.

Chris was clearly fascinated by the Academy, but couldn't care less what Professor Corden had to say. He settled to admiring everything from afar.

Marc and Scarlett lagged behind a few paces behind the rest of them, just in range of Professor Corden's trailing voice. They were walking pleasantly through the brightly lit, cobblestone floored corridors, occasionally gazing out of the arched window niches and into the vibrant, voluminous sky.

They had just ducked under a whizzing ball of Light - no doubt escaped rogue out of a nearby classroom - and reached a fork in the corridor. The first of the paths ran deep into the heart of the Academy – a path Professor Corden advised them not to idle through – and the second of the paths, the path which their group took, seemed to lead them into a bright area.

Marc craned his neck around everyone in front of him and glanced ahead.

He whooped.

They walked under a stone arched exit and rushed into a luscious, green field.

Stubbornly declining the field of vast spaciousness, a massive stadium stood strong in front of them. The walls of the stadium were made by stacked tree logs, crisscrossed at the corners, and piled up at the edges. Marble blocks decorated the entrance platform and the open roof. The clouds hugged the glaring sun, pitching everything below into a pleasantly lit, shaded space.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Chris shouted over the wafty wind.

Marc noticed that Scarlett was enjoying herself a little too much by twirling around whilst conducting the winds to dance with her.

Chris spread his five fingers apart, pointing them at the grass around him. He sighed to himself softly and the grass rose together in unison, rigid with electricity.

Even Judy managed to help herself by producing a few cotton balls in her palms and scattering them around the grass.

Professor Corden watched all of them from the stone arched exit. He observed Marc closely, squinting against the reflection of sunshine on his glasses.

Marc wanted to join in the fun but didn't know any way to.

From up above, some clouds parted away to reveal the sun, lightening up the shaded fields. Marc expected the sun to burn uncomfortably down his exposed skin, but the heat never stung him.

A few days ago, Marc found out that his immunity to Fire does not include immunity to heat caused by the intensity of Light or Sun, but now he realized that he must be growing stronger in endurance.

A brilliant idea flashed into his mind.

He overlooked the others squinting and perspiring under the sun. Slowly, he closed his eyes and heightened his other senses on his surroundings.

He captured the penetrating Sun into his senses and breathed deeply, keeping himself calm.

He opened his eyes, willing his eyes to adjust to the light. His vision was slightly blotted out by black spots dancing in front of his eyes.

He heard everyone laughing and taking in the sunshine so pleasantly, it was as if the sun cradled them inside its motherly hug.

Scarlett sidled up to Marc's side and said to him quietly,

"That felt amazing! But you ought to be more careful with your Sun abilities…Hmmm?"

Marc shrugged at Scarlett and let go of his control over the Sun, causing it to turn hostile again.

Professor Corden heaved a sigh loudly, scowling heavily under the sun. He barked at everyone on the field.

"Alrighty, everybody! Tour time is over! Head back to class for your first period today, Physical Enhancement!"

All the students gratefully retired inside, away from the angry sunshine.

They walked fast-paced and reached the class just in time for a deep gong to resound from somewhere deep in the penetralium of the Academy.

Professor Corden remained outside the class, instructing the others to do so too.

A few seconds later, a very hot-tempered, serious man – Professor Freed, the Combat Master - left the class without ever acknowledging Professor Corden or the students crowding beside the door.

Marc noticed the Combat Master walking away with his hands clenched into fists.

They entered the class and overlooked flurries of movements.

All the students inside were hurriedly stowing away some textbooks into their bags. One girl – Marc enquired to Rose and found out her name was Thalia Brooks – looked close to tears. She had some friends exasperatedly trying to calm her down.

Rose looked to be the only student smiling smugly. She grinned and leaned onto her backrest when she saw Marc and Scarlett approaching.

"Had a lovely time…I believe?" Marc asked innocently.

"Oh yes! The best." Rose replied evilly, glancing at everyone else's flustered faces.

Marc laughed, heading to his desk. Scarlett followed close behind him.

"Okay, everyone! Welcome to your first Physical Enhancement lesson this academic year." Professor Corden announced to the class. "Today I've planned a really productive lesson that we'll put to test during the next session!"

Professor Corden briefly cleared his throat before continuing.

"We'll be using last year's knowledge of the physical enhancing methods, in this lesson. Enhance your vision, hearing, stamina, speed, and strength. If you are successful then you'll have a very well-earned advantage during the course of the Flagback game next period!"

Many students excitedly smiled, relieved that Combat lessons are followed by something good. Chatter started spreading across the class.

Professor Corden encouraged the class to carry on, then beckoned Judy to follow him as he approached Marc, Scarlett, and Chris in the corner. He dragged a chair with him.

He placed his chair in the middle of the aisle and sat on it with the backrest in front of him.

Judy good-naturedly stood behind Professor Corden with her arms crossed in front of her.

The latter cleared his throat to get their attention. Chris propped himself up on an elbow and leaned forwards onto his table.

"So…new students." Professor Corden began. "I really don't expect you guys to excel at any of these tasks, but I've seen you bend, and I have to admit, they have been quite the spectacle. So I advise you to give this a go, and if you need any help, I'll be a hand's breadth away. Just keep in mind that Flagback is always fun for anyone here at the Academy."

Marc and the rest nodded their assent to Professor Corden, who stood up and started circulating the class, instructing others on how to perform certain difficult points in the task given.

Judy turned the chair Professor Corden left behind and sat on it. She glanced at Marc expectantly.

"What?" Marc blurted out before he could stop himself.

Judy blushed and spoke hurriedly.

"Well, I thought you would know what to do since you're the strongest bender here."

This latest statement amused Marc.

"Oh? And what makes you think so?" He said.

Even Chris bothered himself to join the conversation, which Marc could tell, amused him.

"You crafted that beautiful blade with just your Fire element and seemed to know what you're doing," Judy replied, blushing even deeper. She was so uncomfortable talking to Marc, so she veered her eyes to the ground.

Marc sensed Scarlett's discomfort in the subject of the conversation.

She pretended to not care, but Marc heard her huff silently in jealousy. Marc elbowed her until she finally shot Marc an annoyed look. Scarlett suddenly spoke out loud.

"Judy, I think you may be right. Marc can lead all of us into the task at hand, don't you think? I mean, he's definitely the leader!"

Judy looked up and nodded at Scarlett eagerly. Chris muttered quietly behind Marc's neck 'Oh s**t!' and agreed with Scarlett too, laughing to himself. Scarlett cuffed Marc's bicep, urging him on.

Marc's jaw dropped. He could not comprehend the lengths to which Scarlett went in order to silence Marc. One moment she was ignoring Judy, the next she's backing her up.

He grumbled and shrugged. Then said,

"Okay…you want me to lead you all, so I'll lead."

Scarlett and Judy waited for Marc to continue, while Chris coughed loudly.

"You aren't helping, Chris!" Marc shot back behind him at the unseen boy. "Hmmm…where do we start? Okay, I think I got it. Most of the channeling and bending you do, you need to go through it in your minds, right? Sense it inside you."

They all nodded.

"So we'll first try sensing the parts of our body which we plan to enhance. Then we can deal it the bending part of it."

Marc and the others went silent and concentrated on themselves. Marc focused on his eyes and ears. He opened his eyes and instructed the others to do so too.

"The next step we'll have to do is enhance our choice of sense to help us in our surroundings. So in my case, I will have to concentrate on my ears, whilst sensing the area around me."

Judy exclaimed in delight,

"That way you'll be able to render your ears to the surrounding."

"Exactly!" Marc replied. "And the amount of area covered by your senses, that amount of area will be yours to hear!"

"Very smart, Marc!" Scarlett exclaimed suddenly. Marc sideway glanced at Scarlett to see her glaring daggers at Judy.

"Uhhh…thanks Scarlett," Marc replied uncomfortably. "Okay then, let's enhance our ears only inside the class. I believe Professor Corden said we'll be playing a game of Flagback. We all have no idea what that is, so let's try to pick up some tips from the other students around!"

The others murmured their assent and started working on their individual enhancements.

Marc closed his eyes and focused around him. His concentration on his ears had not deterred, making him realize how good his self-discipline and control was.

The nearby babble of students kept interrupting his thoughts, so he strained his willpower to concentrate beyond it.

Instantaneously, words started flowing into his ears, but they were still unintelligible. He pressed harder, aiming for clarity, and he scored.

"…Woah, vision enhancement is solid! I've been sneaked up on too many times during Flagback. Well…not anymore! I can even see those weird new students over there with creepy blank faces. Wonder what's up with them…" Marc heard a boy saying.

"...only this stupid strength enhancement worked! I could finally smash Loveren's butt into a pulp, for all he put me through last year! Arrrgh!" Another boy was speaking to Rose. Marc had heard enough, and he also couldn't maintain his concentration much, so he withdrew his hearing.

He opened his eyes and looked over at the vision-enhanced boy and caught him looking back. The boy looked away immediately, creeped out. He started helping his friends out.

Marc looked around just as Scarlett slumped out of her concentration. She blinked a few times before looking around at Rose. Marc followed her gaze and saw Rose and Cader waving at them.

Marc turned back and asked Scarlett,

"What's the news?"

"Rose and Cader were discussing some tactics for Flagback that made no sense to me. But Rose wants us in her team." Scarlett briefed Marc. "She also wants Clint, the boy talking to her now. He's apparently the Web bender Professor Corden was talking about."

"Well done," Marc responded with an encouraging nod.

He sensed Judy gasp behind him as his words broke off her concentration. He turned around to face an extremely flushed girl.

"Why doesn't it work? It's impossible!" Judy scowled.

"You just have to concentrate, Judy," Marc replied. "Try letting go of all your other thoughts."

Judy tried again but ended up shaking her head, defeated.

"I just can't!" She concluded.

Marc chose his next words carefully. "Fine, Judy. Hear me out. Try enhancing your vision. Could you do that for me?"

Judy shrugged. "Okay…I guess."

Marc tried to remember any hints the vision-enhanced boy was giving away just before he started his boast to his friend.

"Just look around the class and urge your vision to look further than what you're looking at!" Marc instructed. He had to admit he sounded stupid giving impossible instructions.

Judy nodded affirmatively, determined to succeed. She turned around and scowled around the class.

Marc felt Scarlett shake in a fit of giggles. Marc turned back to Scarlett in time to see her wipe off tears from her eyes.

"Shh!" Marc said urgently. He looked back at Chris who was still closing his eyes. Marc reached over and patted him. He tightened his eyes closed in concentration and raised a hand to motion them to hold on a moment.

Marc glanced at Scarlett quizzically. Scarlett was just about to ask Marc something when Chris slumped awake. He was exhausted after holding concentration for so long, and immediately started perspiring crazily.

His wavy hair was matted onto his head in sweat.

Marc disregarded his curls and questioned him,

"What took you so long? You better have some good stuff!"

Chris cheered to himself wholesomely and nodded at Marc.

"Oh I got you something alright, wait till you listen to this!"

Marc waited for Chris to continue, but Chris suddenly became distracted with Judy.

"Uhhh…what's up with her? She looks like she's going to lay an egg or something."

Just then Judy leaped out of her seat in excitement.

"It worked!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice. "I can see a cobweb all the way over there!" Judy pointed somewhere across the room over the table where the pale girl was seated.

Professor Corden heard her and approached.

"Well done Judy! It seems the entire class is doing fairly well." He said. "Everyone! I have a feeling we're going to have a great match, so if we could divide into teams now, it would be easier to get right into the game!"

There was a flurry of movement as Loveren and his cronies, the pale girl, and the Snow bender separated onto one side of the class, and Rose brought over Clint and Cader to Marc's group.

"Great!" Professor Corden exclaimed. "We have five minutes left before the gong sounds. Use this time to get together a plan before playing!"

Judy was hyper. "Oh! I can't wait to use my enhanced vision against them! They are so going to regret crossing me. Ha!"

"Great, now reverse the enhancement effect if you don't mind. We need you to save your energy for the game." Marc urged.

"Speaking of the game…all you guys! Listen to this." Chris said from behind them.

He leaned over his table, beckoning them to form a huddle. When they all did, he started,

"I eavesdropped on Loveren and his guys over there discussing their entire strategy for winning the Flagback game!"

"Yeah, but that won't make any difference because we have no idea what Flagback is!" Marc interrupted.

"Woah there brother, slow your horses!" Rose said.

"He's your brother?!" Asked Judy in admiration.

Rose frowned at Judy, contemplating deflecting the question or not. She decided to continue. Scarlett smiled, pleased at Rose.

"Flagback is simply capture the flag. The arena will generate random terrain that always has a beach, woods, hillside, and plains. The flags of both the teams will be on opposite ends of the arena; the hillside and the plains. The goal is to beat your opponents, seize their flag, and drop it beside your own flag back at your base, on the flag stand. First team to do so scores the win. Each team gets seven players. Two defenders, three as support, and two offenders."

"Perfect!" Chris replied to Rose. "Loveren instructed his guys to ambush us in the woods. His plan is to take all of us down slowly and painfully. Loveren, Thalia, Troye, Cristian, and Amara will take the offense, and they all have strength or speed enhancements. Only Jordan and Harland have vision and hearing enhancements respectively. They both are their team defense though."

Chris paused to construct a plan in his mind.

"Hmmm…so what can we do to beat them at their own game? One thing I know is that smart wit can always beat brute force." Scarlett added.

Everyone nodded at her, lost in thought.

Chris recollected his thoughts for a second before relaying out the plan,

"Alright guys, the only way we can beat them is if we reach the woods before them in time to foil their ambush. So we'll need a decent attack and support. So I ask you to call in your votes."

Clint, Rose, and Chris voted for support. Judy and Theo preferred defense as they both were weak at fighting. That left Marc and Scarlett for the team's offense.

Marc had a suspicion that the others purposefully left open a spot in attack just for Marc.

"Hmmm…" Chris cast a wary look at the opposition team. "Now that we have our positions, let's figure out how to use our elements – but wait, Cader is in our team too?"

Cader jumped at the mention of her name.

"Oh, I won't be playing. Flagback isn't really my thing." Rose patted Cader lightly on the back.

"Okay so back to our elements," Chris repeated. "Scarlett, the woods isn't really your area of expertise so it's better if you take the beach. How long can you breathe underwater?"

Scarlett hesitated before answering,

"As long as I want."

Marc whistled appreciatively. Rose spoke up at Scarlett,

"Considering the length of the arena, you'll be able to cross through the water and right into the enemy's base undetected in about twenty minutes."

"Then we can use that to our advantage, but now let's focus on the woods," Chris said. "Loveren and his team will most certainly be grouped like an elite force of soldiers, so we'll have to surround them somehow. After we trap them up, we'll have to count on Rose and Clint to make sure they stay in the woods. Meanwhile, Marc should leave the woods, regroup with Scarlett in the heart of the enemy territory, and fight for their flag against their defense."

Clint was the first to murmur approval. He concluded,

"So our defense is up to Theo and Judy. Which one of the supports is gonna help them?"

"I'll cover up that spot!" Chris piped up.

"Then we need not worry of this plan going south. Let's do this!" Clint brought his hand into the center of the huddle. "Shout 'Team Hybrid' on three!"

"One."

"Two."

"Why Team Hyb-" Chris protested.

"Three."

"Team Hybrid!" Everyone roared and broke apart.

Professor Corden smiled at them in surprise. Loveren's team was already done planning. Some of them sneered at Marc and his group.

"Follow me, students! To the Flagback Arena!" Professor Corden declared before briskly leaving the class.

Loveren's group left the class first, pumping their fists and breaking knuckles on the way.

Marc's group shared one last smile with each other before following up behind. Marc couldn't wait to work up his Fire-driven hands.