The three days before our match against Team Vanguard fly by in a blur. Every waking hour gets poured into training sessions, strategy meetings, and making sure we don't tear ourselves apart before we even face our opponents. My muscles ache constantly, but it's the good kind of pain, the kind that means we're getting stronger.
"Their whole thing is hitting you so hard you can't get back up," I explain during our tactical review, footage of Vanguard's previous matches playing on the main display. "Bulwark breaks through first, then Ricochet and Static keep hammering you while Fathom makes sure you can't find an escape route."
"Classic hammer and anvil bullshit," Ember says, little flames dancing around her fingertips as she watches them dismantle their previous opponents. "They don't just hit hard, they hit in perfect sequence so you can't catch your breath."
We focus our training on figuring out how to take that initial punch without falling apart. Eli spends hours working on layered gravity fields that can absorb and redirect momentum, crucial for dealing with Ricochet's attacks. Ember develops these sweet temperature gradients that can screw with Static's electrical pathways without wasting energy on direct flames. Desta, meanwhile, has been practicing jumping between different arena subsystems faster than Fathom can warp space around us.
I've been obsessed with making my telekinesis and physical fighting work as one seamless attack. Those brutal solo matches against Avalanche, Vortex, and Cinder taught me something important, telekinesis isn't just about moving stuff with your mind. When I combine molecular-level manipulation with enhanced strength and speed, I can create attack patterns that are impossible to defend against using standard tactics.
"Remember," I tell everyone during our final prep session, "we let these guys commit to their big fancy assault before we counter. Their whole strategy depends on momentum. Once they've fully committed, they're wide open to us shifting positions."
"So we're baiting them," Eli grins, the gravity field around his hand forming complex patterns that would've made him pass out from effort just days ago. "Let them think they're breaking through, then hit 'em when they're overextended."
"I have identified specific vulnerabilities in opponent enhancement profiles," Desta reports, eyes flickering with code as she accesses tactical databases. "Bulwark requires 2.7 seconds to reconfigure defensive parameters following offensive deployment. Ricochet's kinetic redirection capability limited to 170-degree arc of perception. Static's electrical generation creates momentary ground circuit requirement every 4.3 seconds. Fathom's spatial distortion requires uninterrupted concentration during initialization phase."
"In other words," Ember translates with a wicked smile, "they all have a split-second where they're screwed if we time it right."
---
Match day arrives with the entire facility buzzing about two undefeated teams going head-to-head. Walking to the preparation chamber feels different this time, other assets line the corridors, some calling out encouragement, others watching with calculating eyes. After we stomped Sentinel into the ground, Team Exodus isn't a joke anymore. We're contenders, and everyone knows it.
"Seven different gravity zones confirmed in the arena," Desta reports as we get the final match details. "Some areas with gravity as low as 0.3, others cranked up to 2.7 times normal. Most of the heavy gravity zones are in the northeast quadrant."
"Perfect," Eli says, gravitational distortions rippling around his hands like he can't wait to get started. "I can definitely work with that."
The prep chamber falls quiet as we each slip into our pre-fight routines. Desta sits cross-legged, eyes flickering with code as she interfaces with facility systems. Ember runs through her thermal calibration exercises, flames dancing between her fingers in increasingly complex patterns. Eli works on stabilizing his gravity field, making small objects orbit around him with perfect control.
I close my eyes and let my awareness expand down to the molecular level, feeling telekinetic energy flow through every muscle and nerve in my body. Not separate powers anymore, but one unified force ready to be unleashed.
"Match commencement in five minutes," announces the facility voice. "Teams to entry positions."
As we move toward the arena entrance, I feel that same calm certainty I had before facing Sentinel. Not cockiness, I know Vanguard is dangerous as hell, but confidence in what Team Exodus has become. Whatever offensive bullshit they've got prepared, we'll absorb it, adapt to it, and throw it right back in their faces.
"Team Exodus," I say quietly as the entry doors begin to slide open, "let's show them what synchronized enhancement really means."
---
The arena is a disorienting landscape where gravity shifts visibly between sections. Some areas have the floor warped under extreme pressure, while in others, debris floats lazily through the air in reduced gravity. Across the battlefield, Team Vanguard enters with the confidence of predators who've never tasted defeat.
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"Combat commences in 3... 2... 1..."
The moment the signal sounds, Vanguard launches their attack. Bulwark charges forward like a human battering ram while Ricochet and Static split to our flanks. Fathom begins warping space along our potential retreat routes.
What happens next is almost beautiful in its simplicity.
Instead of trying to dodge Bulwark's charge, we tighten our formation as I take point position. When he hits us, I combine molecular-level telekinesis with my enhanced strength, redirecting his momentum upward instead of trying to stop him. Eli amplifies this with a perfectly timed gravity well, and Vanguard's unstoppable force suddenly finds himself floating helplessly in a low-gravity sector.
"Primary attacker displaced," Desta reports. "Flanking maneuver progressing."
Before Ricochet and Static can adjust, Ember creates a superheated air corridor that Eli's gravity manipulates into a trap. Static's electricity follows our conductive pathway rather than its intended target, while Ricochet's momentum carries him straight into our thermal barrier.
Vanguard's precision attack dissolves into chaos in less than ten seconds.
"Their formation is compromised," Desta reports through her system interface. "Initiating counter-offensive."
We shift seamlessly from defense to attack, our diamond formation inverting as Ember and Eli take the lead. They move in perfect sync, fire and gravity combining in ways that corner and isolate each Vanguard member. Desta manipulates the arena's variable gravity sectors, creating sudden shifts that further disrupt Vanguard's attempts to regroup.
I coordinate the assault through molecular-level telekinesis, not just moving objects but restructuring the battlefield itself. Surfaces become temporarily frictionless where Ricochet tries to gain traction. Air density thickens around Static, disrupting his electrical generation. The space around Fathom ripples with counter-distortions that collapse her spatial manipulations.
Vanguard fights back with desperate skill—Bulwark creating density barriers, Ricochet redirecting kinetic energy, Static generating focused electrical bursts, Fathom warping space—but their individual brilliance can't match our synchronized enhancement.
The end comes in just over eight minutes. Bulwark overextends himself trying to protect his teammates, leaving a momentary gap in his defenses. We strike as one—Eli creating a gravity well at the weak point, Ember channeling heat through the distortion, me adding molecular-level telekinesis that unravels his molecular reinforcement. With their primary defender down, the rest of Vanguard falls in quick succession.
"Combat concluded," announces the facility voice. "Victory by incapacitation: Team Exodus. Duration: eight minutes, seventeen seconds."
The arena falls silent. What they just witnessed wasn't a fight, it was a dismantling. We didn't just beat Vanguard; we systematically took apart one of the facility's premier offensive teams like they were beginners.
"That was even faster than Sentinel," Eli whispers as we gather at the center of the arena, gravitational field pulsing around his hands.
"Synchronized enhancement application demonstrated 94% efficiency improvement over previous engagement parameters," Desta observes, her typically neutral voice carrying the faintest hint of pride.
"In normal human terms: we're getting better every single time," Ember translates, flames dancing around her hair.
Victory streak: 3.
---
Back in our quarters after the match, the energy's electric despite everyone being physically drained. Three consecutive victories, each more dominant than the last, have transformed Team Exodus from hopeful contenders to legitimate threats for advancement qualification.
"Did you see their faces when we countered both their primary and secondary attacks?" Eli laughs, manipulating a small gravity field where several objects orbit in perfect patterns. "Like they couldn't process what was happening to them."
"Vanguard expected us to run or hide from their offensive pressure," Desta observes, reviewing footage on the main display. "Our counter-offensive exceeded their adaptation parameters."
"In other words, they expected us to curl up in a ball, not punch back with perfectly coordinated combinations," Ember clarifies, flames pulsing gently around her hair as she studies the match recording.
I watch the footage with a critical eye, noting both our successes and the few moments where our timing could have been tighter. "Two more," I remind everyone, bringing focus back to what matters. "Two more victories to reach the advancement threshold."
"And then Central Arena," Eli says, his excitement dimming slightly at the thought of what might await us beyond our current facility. "Where apparently everyone gets their ass handed to them in their first match."
"We don't actually know that for sure," Desta reminds him. "I could only access fragments of information about Central Arena outcomes. We don't have enough data for real statistical analysis."
"Either way, we focus on the next match first," I decide, bringing up the facility's team ranking display. With our third victory, Team Exodus now stands at the top alongside only two other undefeated teams: Crucible and Ascendant. "The facility will match us against one of these teams next. Both fight differently than Vanguard, so we'll need new counter-strategies."
As the team starts discussing potential approaches for our next opponents, I find myself thinking about the bigger picture. Three consecutive victories, each against tougher opponents, yet our synchronized enhancement approach keeps getting better with each fight. The integration we've developed, abilities functioning not just alongside but through each other, creates combat potential that the facility doesn't seem designed to handle.
Two more victories to reach the advancement threshold. Then the decision that stops most qualified assets: proceed to Central Arena and its unknown challenges, or restart our progress here in familiar territory.
For Team Exodus, that choice feels increasingly clear. Whatever waits for us at Central Arena, we'll face it together, our abilities synchronized into something greater than the sum of its parts. The freedom pathway might be longer and harder than we thought, but with each victory, the end feels more within reach.
Victory streak: 3. Two more to advancement qualification. Then five more at Central Arena to freedom. The road ahead is still long, but we are getting closer everyday.
