Cores

Chapter Four - Tension

As they settled into their rooms, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel uneasy. "Do you think we're safe here?" she asked Jacob.

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "But we don't have a choice."

Meanwhile, in the room next door, Jack was talking to Jessica. "I can't believe you already know how to use your powers," he said.

Jessica smiled slyly. "I picked it up pretty quickly," she said. "But I'm not as powerful as you guys."

Jack shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I think you're pretty powerful."

As the night wore on, Elizabeth found herself growing more and more tired. She said goodnight to Jacob and headed back to her room.

But as she walked past Jessica's room, she heard a strange noise. She peeked inside and saw Jessica lying in bed, her eyes closed.

But Elizabeth knew better. She could tell that Jessica was faking it.

She shook her head and headed back to her own room, her mind racing with questions. What was Jessica hiding? And could they really trust her?

The next morning, the team gathered in the common area, waiting for Jessica to join them. As they waited, they couldn't help but talk about her.

"I don't know if I trust her," Elizabeth said. "She's always so secretive."

Jacob nodded. "And she's really powerful," he said. "What if she's using us?"

Just then, Jessica walked into the room. "Good morning, guys," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

The rest of the team fell silent, but Jessica didn't seem to notice. "I heard what you were saying about me," she said. "And I just wanted to remind you that I know everything about you guys."

The room fell silent again, and Jessica smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm not going to use your secrets against you. I just want you to know that I'm not to be messed with."

The rest of the team exchanged uneasy glances, but nobody said anything. They all knew that Jessica was powerful, and they didn't want to get on her bad side.

As they sat in silence, Jessica got up and walked out of the room. The rest of the team watched her go, unsure of what to do next.

"Welcome everyone." Damian said as Jessica walked back to her seat. "Today will be your first mission." He said. "You guys will be fighting these robots." He said as he pointed to a hologram of the robots. "Hey, me and Elizabeth fought those when we first got our cores!" Jacob said. "Correct." Damian said. "These robots appear to be from all over the world led by a host or two." He explained. "We found the main hideout of the robots and by the looks of it, theres only three."

As Damian finished explaining their mission, the rest of the team looked at each other nervously. "What if we mess up?" Jacob asked.

Damian shook his head. "We won't," he said. "We're a team, and we're stronger together."

Jessica, who had been quiet up until this point, spoke up. "He's right," she said. "We can do this."

The rest of the team looked at her in surprise. "What's gotten into you?" Elizabeth asked.

Jessica shrugged. "I don't always act like a robot, you know," she said. "Sometimes I have a sense of humor."

The rest of the team laughed nervously, still unsure of what to make of Jessica's sudden change in behavior.

But as they prepared for their mission, they couldn't help but feel grateful to have Jessica on their side. With her powers and her newfound sense of humor, she was quickly becoming an indispensable member of the team.

"Focus." Damian said. "I will be monitoring the whole thing from my computer. You all have in-ear monitors which will help me communicate with yoy guys." He said. "If all else fails, I will try to deactivate the robots, but that shouldn't happen." He paused. "Now go out there and show them whos boss!" Damian said.

As the team entered the battle against the robots, Jessica couldn't help but feel confident. She was almost certain that she could take them all on by herself.

But as the battle began, Damian's voice came through their earpieces. "Jacob is the strongest," he said. "But Jessica is the most skilled. Use that to your advantage."

The team did their best to follow Damian's advice, but without proper training, they struggled to keep up with the robots. Jessica was the only one who seemed to know what she was doing, and even she was having trouble.

As they fought, Jessica couldn't help but be a little sarcastic. "I thought you guys were supposed to be superheroes," she said. "This is embarrassing."

But despite her sarcasm, she did her best to help the team. With her powers, she was able to take down one of the robots, but it wasn't enough. They were outnumbered, and the robots were too powerful.

In the end, the team was forced to retreat. As they ran away, Jessica couldn't help but feel disappointed. She had thought that they were ready for this, but it was clear that they still had a lot to learn.

Back at the base, Damian had everyone sat down. "Well it's not the worst thing in the world. You guys just need training, that's all."

As the team gathered together, Lizzie suddenly turned to Jessica. "What's your problem?" she demanded. "You act like you're too good for us."

Jessica shrugged. "I'm just being myself," she said. "If you can't handle that, that's your problem."

Lizzie's eyes narrowed. "You're not being yourself," she said. "You're being a jerk."

As Lizzie and Jessica argued, Jacob, Jack, and Hayden hung back, trying to stay out of the argument. They knew that it wasn't their place to get involved, but they couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

"I don't like this," Jacob said quietly to Jack and Hayden. "We need to do something."

Hayden shook his head. "I don't think we should get involved," he said. "It's not our fight."

Jack nodded in agreement. "We need to let them work it out on their own," he said.

Meanwhile, as Lizzie and Jessica argued, Jessica suddenly said something that made Lizzie so mad. "Hey AI, how do i say "you're a bitch" in Spanish?" She asked. "Eres una perra." The AI replied. Jessica smirked in a 'im right, you're wrong' type of way.

Lizzie's eyes widened, and she suddenly created glowing orbs from her hands. She looked like she was about to kill Jessica.

But before she could do anything, Damian powered off their cores. "That's enough," he said. "If we're going to beat the Collector, we have to learn to work together." He said. "Training starts at 9:00 AM tomorrow. I am giving you all time to enjoy your real lives. You are to not tell anyone about the cores, the base, or anything. If anyone does, you all will be forced to stay in the base. Got that?"

The rest of the team nodded in agreement, and slowly, the tension began to dissipate. They knew that they had a lot of work to do if they were going to succeed, but they were willing to try. Together, they could do anything.