System Nullification

Chapter 1

~

 "I was really surprised at how you fought back there, Iris!" Brianna beamed. "It was so freaking cool!"

 "I wasn't," Jackson said, flashing me a grin.

 "Honestly, I knew you'd kick her ass," Skylar chimed in. "I just didn't know you'd kick her ass in that fashion."

 "I feel really annoyed but I feel kind of bad at the same time," I said. "You had no reason to feel bad," Reed said. "Riley is the one who picked a fight with you, due to misinformation."

 "I know that... it's pretty obvious," I sighed. "But still... I put her to shame in front of the whole school because I wanted to protect my own pride. I never wanted to do something like that..."

 "She kind of deserved it... it'll blow over soon, trust me," Skylar interjected. "She wouldn't listen to you. Now keep acting tough. It suits life better."

 "You guys want to hang out somewhere? I've been bored all week, and it's Friday," Brianna inquired. "I've got nothing to do."

 "Sorry, can't make it," Jackson sighed, looking at me. "I've got stuff to do."I gave him a look that wondered what kind of things we had to do today, but I declined as well. "Sorry, same..."

 "I need to go to the library. I'm researching on school topics," Reed explained.

 Brianna sighed. "The new psychology course, right? Skylar, tell me you can hang out."

 Skylar blew a bubble and popped it, chewing her gum. "Yeah, I can chill. Where to?"

 "Yay! Skylar's more fun than all of you," Brianna blew a raspberry at us. "Just kidding! Ooh, Skylar, let's go to the frozen yogurt place."

 After we all said bye to each other and walked our separate ways (Jackson and I are now in the secret base), I asked Jackson, "What was the thing we're supposed to do? I thought we were free today."

 "Training for our chosen course in life," Jackson sighed, and before I could say that we chose the night training, he continued. "Then they decide whether we get ranked up or not."

 "I honestly don't care about the ranks," I muttered.

 "I don't care about the ranks either," Jackson replied. "But apparently they do. On the bright side, we could become important leaders."

 "What would I do with my important leadership if I don't like the system?" I wondered out loud.

 "Become President and make me hack everything," Jackson laughed.

 "If only..." I sighed.

 "Yeah..." Jackson sighed as well as we reached the hallway intersection. "Well, my test is over that way, so I'll see you later."

 "Bye!" I waved, running off the other way.

 Today sucked, just a bit, but I had high hopes for the future. As I walked off, I looked around and spotted a guy with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and was slightly taller than me. Unfortunately, my first thought when I saw him was, "Holy shit, is that Zephyr?"

 My first reflex was to keep my head down and walk faster. I didn't think he saw me. I entered the fighter testing room to be greeted by a bunch of the high rankers, some of which I recognized from my duel to decide whether I was ranking up or not. "You are Iris Chantelle Airlotte, correct?" Sebastian, leader of the entire fighting division and teaching the melee fighters, asked.

 Holding back a sarcastic "duh," I answered, "Yeah."

 "Throughout these years, you've advanced through the ranks. You started out as a trainee, and now you've become well known for your talent around here. Making it to a platinum trainee is an amazing feat. There are adults that have never made it that far. Therefore, not only will you become a main frontline fighter, you will also be the sub-leader of an assigned team, and you will help the leader coach the team.  Your leadership skills are yet to be known, but you show a large amount of talent in fighting." Sebastian stepped down from his chair, awarding me with a certificate. "Congratulations."

 I heard claps from the rest of the people in the room, but I also heard the door slam open after that. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Austin panted.

 "No, Iris knows of her new rank," Sebastian calmly said. "Now, what's wrong?"

 Austin smiled for a second, but frowned when he stated, "There's been a bank robbery but most of our fighters are out on different jobs. We'll need at least a team of five experienced people... preferably frontline fighters...  to apprehend the robber."

 Then Austin smiled. "Do we have any frontline fighters?"

 Sebastian smiled even bigger, and it kind of seemed heartwarming how they had a friendship despite their inability to meet each other often. "Yes, we have a frontline fighter right here. She's a new but talented one."

 Austin chuckled. "That'd be a great option. I'm sure she'd be thrilled to do her first job. Follow me, Iris."