Who Will Fall First?

"SHELBY!"

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To tell the truth, I don't remember all of it. I remember why we were here, what we were doing, and what was supposed to happen. We were saving a terrified toddler from this cruel, elusive villain. I remember how we had arrived at the gates shortly before barreling past the villains accomplices, and barging into the house. Our group had been a bit big, so we split up. A few of the hero students from the other class stayed behind to deal with the accomplices, and two licensed heroes stayed with them. The rest of us went ahead, busting down the front door and entering. I don't remember much of what the house looked like, either. Nothing but blurs and blobs. I saw Ms. Violet reach up to her ear piece out the corner of my eye, and heard what she did. "There's a lever somewhere in the living room. It leads to the lab." Ms. Violet nodded, and signaled for us to fan out, thanking the hero on the other end. I looked around, trying to spot the lever. I hadn't found it when a part of the wall in front of me moved away, and there were about two more of the villains accomplices, one with a knife in hand, and the other already lunging for me. I reacted quickly, dodging away from his attempted tackle, and grabbed the back of his head, smashing it hard into the wall. That was all it took for him to lose consciousness. Then, the other came at me, slashing and swinging his knife around. I side-stepped, grabbed his wrist and the back of his neck, before then pushing him down onto the ground, pinning him there as his knife was knocked out of his hand. By the way, this had only happened in a manner of seconds. Which probably explained why everyone was staring at me for about half a second before some came over and helped to tie them up.

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We moved on from there, since two students had agreed to watch the guys and make sure they didn't escape. We climbed down the stairs, keeping an eye on our surroundings and staying close to each other. And that's where things first went wrong.

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To sum it up, we got separated. The villains coworker had used his power, which I guessed was something that let him shape and break things, to make a part of the floor raise up to the ceiling. And guess what? It stretched all the way down to the end of the hallway. I stood up, and coughed, brushing dust from my hair. Fourtanetly, I had been lucky enough to snatch Eve and Amina out the way of being crushed. They stood up next to me, Eve waving away some dust from his face and Amina with a slight scowl. "Ugh, seriously??" She muttered under her breath, rubbing her temples. I silently agreed with her. Of all the things that could've happened, three heroes in training just had to get separated from the licensed heroes and other students. Of course. "Everyone alright?" Ms. Violet. That's who it was, speaking into the earpiece. "So far." A student grumbled back. "Small cuts, but nothing big." Another reported. A few more chimed in before Eve reached up and tapped his so he could speak into it. "We're fine over here!" For now. I thought to myself. "Good." Then, another voice spoke-it was Elizabeth, probably from wherever the Recon group was hiding. "According to the map, there's one group that's closer to the lab." I reached up and tapped my earpiece. "Any possible way you can be specific?" It took a second, but then the response came. "It seems to be Shelby's group." Connor. Hearing his voice almost made me want to smile-almost. But I didn't. We had one mission, and we weren't out of the woods just yet. Ms. Violet spoke up next. "No. Absolutely not. We'll find a way to-" But Amina cut her off. "With all due respect, ma'am, the longer we sit here and wait for you guys to bust through, the more time the villain has to escape with the kid. And our whole purpose of being here is to save that kid." There was a pause before a reluctant sigh was heard. "Alright, fine. You make a point, kid. You and your group keep going. We'll catch up."

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And just like that, we were now standing in front of the double doors leading to the lab. The lights seemed to be off, and I could still hear some fighting going on in the distance. I looked at Eve and Amina, signaled for us to be quiet, and they nodded. The lights might've been off, sure, but who's to say it was actually safe? I snuck forward, opened the door as quietly and carefully as I could, keeping my guard up and looking around, trying to see through the darkness. Eve and Amina were on either side of me, doing the exact same. Without words, we agreed to split up and quietly search the lab. I checked the drawers of the counters and the cupboards, pulling out some papers. No, scratch that. They were records...test records. I set those to the side, not wanting to think of it. I also found vials in the cupboards. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be vials of....wait-was that skin??And tiny pieces of bone? I cringed at the thought, feeling horror and terror and dread set in, but i pushed it down for now. I set the vials down next to the papers, silently thankful I was wearing gloves this time. And just what do you think you're doing? I heard a voice in my head, low and slightly irritated. I looked around, trying to find the source, because that sure as hell hadn't been Eve or Amina, and it wasn't coming from the earpiece, either. Nor did I recognize it. I drew on a bit of my power, willing a few shadows to wrap around me so it made me invisible. At least, that's what I thought. Oh, Shelby, that little party trick won't work on me. The voice spoke again, and I didn't even have time to warn anyone before I had to dodge an attack, but oddly enough it hadn't come from a human. It was a sharp, deadly knife, and it had been aimed at my shoulder. Hm. Quick reflexes.

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And now, back to the present, yeah?