Waylen and Fallen came running into the room where their cots were. They were laughing hysterically. Running in after them was Kai, who was covered in some type of slop looking pissed. "You two are dead," she growled ready to pounce.

A hand grabbed hold of her arm. Knowing who it was Kai shook it off and pounced at Waylen, who was a shield for Fallen once again. Kylie muttered mostly to herself, "Tonight is going to be a living hell."

-

-

Kai was sitting on her cot glaring at Fallen, who was fidgeting nervously. Normally she wouldn't be nervous, she's not easily scared but after what happened to Waylen she had reason to be.

Waylen was still on the ground where Kai had beaten the crap out of him. He would have fought back, but he seemed to be paralyzed. He suddenly started shaking and crying for his mommy. Kai seemed to have calmed down after that, mumbling things to herself then swiftly glancing at Fallen.

Kylie, who was watching the scene as well, was also a bit shaken. She had a feeling the Fallen wouldn't be sleeping as heavily as usual.

-

-

Fallen shivered, curling up further into her blankets. Images replayed in her mind, creating further nightmares that all concluded the same; the crap being beaten out of her by her newly found fearsome roommate. Waylen had yet to move from his spot, a twitch every now and then being the only signs of life.

Gathering up her courage (and stupidity), Fallen found herself ready to face her (newly claimed) mortal enemy.

She jumped up, pointing at the cot across from her. "I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!!!"

"F-ck off"

Blinking, she stood there, unsure of what to do. "B-but..."

"But what?" Kai snapped, wanting to sleep more.

"You're mean!!" Fallen sniffled in reply.

“Thanks for the compliment.” Kai yawned and snuggled up to the sheets, smiling slightly like she just heard a joke.

"Time to wake uuuuup!" Said a high pitched singsong voice. Kai and Fallen twitched; what an annoying sound, they thought.

Kylie flipped in her bed, completely out. The person who was attempting to wake the young warriors walked over to her and made the mattress bounce. "Wake. Up." She said in the same annoying voice.

Kylie groaned and said, "St-o-o-o-op." Her voice bouncing in time with the mattress.

"Honestly, do young people really need this much sleep." The girl pondered, putting her finger up to her chin in a playful manner. "You would assume that they wouldn't sleep at all, due to the amount of energy they have during the day... but I guess that they are compl-"

"Shut up for me, would you?" Kai purred, sitting upright in her cot staring at the girl who was sitting upon the edge of Kylie's bed. She appeared to be sixteen, but her personality didn't quite match. 'Idiot,' she thought lightly.

Kylie whined, pulling on the blankets in a useless attempt to get them over her head. After several seconds of inability to get them to move out from under the heavy girl, she started to kick her. The girl whined back, not wanting to be kicked off the bed. This, consequently, annoyed Kai greatly.

"Who are you?" Fallen said, staring at the girl in disgust.

"Oh," the girl said, finally noticing Fallen. "I'm Erika." She stood, walking over to Fallen with her hand stuck out. "You are?"

"What are you doing here?" Kai asked, interrupting Fallen.

Erika blinked, slowly lowering her hand. "Um... waking you?"

Kai tilted her head, smiling and talking like Erika was a four year old. "Why?"

"I was told to?" It came out as more of a question; she wasn't really comfortable with how Kai was treating her.

"But we have an assigned waker upper." Kylie said. "Why would you come?"

She smiled shakily, still slightly uncomfortable. "Xydtiphat told me to come early so that we have more time to get to know each other"

Waylen chose this moment to come to life, slipping an arm around her waist. "Really now?" he raised his eyebrows slightly. "I would love to get to know you"

Fallen kicked him into the wall. "Why the hell do we need to know you?!"

"Because I'm your overseer to your mission" she chirped, a grin overcoming her face.

"No," Kai said automatically, eyes narrowing to slits. Erika's grin faltered.

"B-but... Xydtiphat said..."

"Like I care what Bubba said. No way would an annoying little brat oversee me." Kai spoke in an eerily calm voice.

"Ah, c'mon, Kai!" Waylen said slipping his arm around Erika's waste and putting his chin on her shoulder. He seemed to have forgotten that Kai had given him nightmares all night. "Can't we keep her?"

"No."

"You never let us have any pets!" Waylen whined.

Kylie grumbled at the noise. "If Waylen gets a girl, then I get to have a doggy!!!"

Kai's glare seemingly pierced through Waylen at that moment. "Neither of you are getting anything" she gritted out.

"That's not fair!!" Kylie whined, sniffling slightly, "I want a doggy!!"

"No!" she snapped aggressively, making them all shut up. "End of discussion"

"But... Xydtiphat told me that I am your overseer, and I can't change that..."

A grin spread over Waylen's face, his grip upon her tightening in an almost unnoticeable manner. "See, that means we hafta keep her"

"THEN I WANT A DOGGY!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!!!"

Kai took a deep breath. She stood up and grabbed Erika's arm tightly, making her whimper. Kai started walking to the door, but noticed Waylen still hanging onto Erika. "Off." She demanded.

His grip tightened, "No."

"Hmm?" Kai quirked an eyebrow.

His grip loosened some, but he still stood there. "No..." Kai's eye twitched. Waylen quickly released Erika and fell to the ground holding his head, whimpering.

Kai made her exit, walking swiftly. Erika kept tripping, trying to keep up. She didn't feel all that safe with this girl; she looked over her shoulder back at the room.

Kai turned and walked past the receptionist. When she noticed Kai, she asked, "Do you have an appointment?" Kai grunted and continued walking. "Wait! Ma'am! Ma'am!"

Kai burst threw the doors that led to Xydipaht's office. She walked up to his desk and crossed her arms. "What's with that?" She jerked her head at Erika.

"That is Erika"

"I know that!" she snapped, becoming increasingly more upset. "Why is she in our f-cking room waking us up?!"

"She's your overseer"

A twitch.

"You have a way of getting in trouble if you're left alone, she'll guide you"

"She has the brains of a four year old!!"

"Yes, she does."

"Then what's the point of her?!"

Xydipaht stared at Kai a moment. "Erika, will you please go outside." Erika nodded and walked out looking at the ground.

Once positive she was gone, he said to Kai in a blunt voice, "She is a sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

"Yes, every group that enters the core is likely to have one out of the group to be tortured. And since we couldn't find any use for this girl we decided, to help you all out a bit we would give you a person to choose for that torture."

Kai's lips twitched. "What if we had someone else in mind for that torture? What is the point of her?"

"I've seen how Waylen gets on your nerves often. It seems to cloud your decisions. So, this girl will be a distraction for him. We need someone to take control of this assignment, and since Fallen is too rash, Kylie doesn't seem to like to plan out things, and Waylen is... well, he's Waylen. So there's only you left. But you have a short fuse so to lengthen it we have Erika." He shrugged.

"You realize that Erika herself is annoying."

"Yes, but we can easily change that."

"...Fine... she stays. But she cannot attempt to order me around or wake us up." Kai reasoned.

"It's settled then, off you go." He waved her away.

Erika was sitting on a chair in the waiting room, twiddling her thumbs nervously. She heard the door slam and looked up to see Kai walking briskly out. "You coming or not." Kai said not pausing.

Erika stumbled after Kai, attempting to keep up with the girl's stride. "You are to never wake us up"

"Why?"

"Bubba says so"

"Why do you call him Bubba?"

"That's none of your d-mn business! You're also not allowed to order me around"

Almost casually, Kai kicked open the door, only to be greeted by a flying glomp from Waylen. Erika shrieked in surprise as she was tackled to the floor, Waylen rubbing his cheek against her own.

"She's staying," she announced to the group, dropping down onto her cot.

Fallen twitched, annoyed as Waylen purred, further freaking the poor victim of his 'love' out. Kylie sniffled, facing Kai with a pout and puppy dog eyes. "T-then if Waylen gets a girl, can I get a doggy? Pweaaaaase?"

Kai stared at her apathetically. "If you manage to come up with a puppy from god knows where, then yes, you can keep it. Don't expect me to go out and get you one then"

Kylie squealed in excitement, tackling Kai in a hug. "Thankee!!!"

Time to go." Erika said an hour later. "And as your overseer I suggest you all pack lightly. The walk to the Core is pretty..." Her voice faded at the look Kai was giving her. "What?"

Kai shrugged and turned away. "I don't know how we are going to fit you in..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." Kai snapped, seeming to be having a debate in her head. She turned her back to the others and started mumbling. Waylen made motion that suggested that Kai was crazy. Erika was about to giggle when Kai snapped, "I saw that!" Though she was still facing the other way.

Kai paced for a few moments before plopping down on her cot. "Need to figure something out?" Kylie prompted. She nodded in response, closing her eyes.

Waylen continued to rub his cheek upon Erika's as he purred. Fallen twitched, shifting uncomfortably. Only a few moments passed before she found herself kicking him in the back of the head, across the hall. Grabbing the girl by the ankle, she dragged her in and dropped her upon a random cot. Kylie slipped over to the door, closing and locking it.

A pounding started against it as Kylie leaned against it. "LEMME IN!!!!!!!! I WANT MY PET BACK!!!!!"

"Nope, nope" Kylie chirped, smiling mischievously.

Her body did nothing to help the poor door as the pounding became harder. Fallen walked forward, pushing her foot up against the door. "You aren't gettiiiiiiiiiiiiing iiiin!!!"

"Stop playing your player hate on me" he sniffled, the pounding ceasing.

"F-cktard" Kai mumbled.

Erika looked around nervously as the commotion was caused. These people... they were scary to her, most definitely abnormal in every way possible. At least they won't let him rape her though, that was a relief for sure.

Her eyes shifted from the trio causing the utter havoc to Kai. She was... quiet. Instantly, the phrase 'it's always the quiet ones' came to Erika's mind, making her shudder in fear.

Kai sat up, a smirk forming upon her face. "By George, I've got it!!!!!!!"

Stare.

Yes, you may insert corny discovery music here.

Blink.

"Got what?"

"Elementary, my dear Watson"

Another blink.

"Who's Watson...?”

Kai scoffed. "You need to read more"

In response, Kylie scrunched her nose up, "Reading's icky"

"How dare you say that?!" Fallen yelled, poking her hard. "Reading's awesomely awesome!!"

"And despite all rumors, does not help one's grammar, spelling abilities or knowledge" Waylen mumbled, still locked out. "Fallen being obvious proof"

Kick.

Bang.

Oooooh, not pretty.

Kylie ignored the bickering duo. "Elementary? Whacha mean by that exactly?"

Sighing, Kai answered. "Forget it; I'll just carry both of you"

Kylie blinked, a blank, dumbfounded expression coming across her face. "B-but... how?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"That doesn't matter" was the only response, followed by a mocking tongue getting stuck out at her. Kylie sniffled, "how mean"

Erika was confused about the conversation. "Why would you carry us?"

"What? Bubba didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"This." Kai let her wings unfold and shook them out. Erika watched as the beautiful black feathers of the wings shook. Seeing Erika's bewildered expression Kai said, 'You didn't honestly expect us to walk the whole way? That would be mental."

Fallen noticed that Kai took out her wings and jumped onto her cot, letting her twin wings come out. While Fallen was busy jumping onto the bed, she left Kylie alone to keep Waylen out of the room. Kylie dived out of the way when she felt the banging stop and steps walking away from the door. Kai retracted her wings and opened the door for a charging Waylen. He tripped over a cot and hit his head on the floor.

Fallen quickly turned to the noise hitting Waylen in the butt with one of her wings. "Oops, sorry." Fallen smirked.

Waylen grumbled, "No prob." he rubbed the back of his head and glared. Obviously, he would get back at Fallen later.

When Waylen sat up, Kai let out her wings again and intentionally hit Waylen in the head.

Kylie blinked, confused. "Erm... shouldn't we be... starting are mission?"

Frowning, Kai nodded, obviously unhappy with having to leave their little sanctuary of happy fun time (if torture could qualify as happy or fun).

Retracting her wings, Kai nodded to Kylie. "Grab your things and go ahead, I'll gather the idiots and meet you there"

Kylie nodded, happily doing as instructed. She started out done the hallway, only to stop soon after turning the corner.

Stare.

Stare...

Pout.

Stare.

Watery eyes.

Rainbows, unicorns and all that good stuff.

Oh yes, it was cute.

She squatted down in front of the tiny dog, only a head taller then a chiwawa. He looked almost like a black Labrador, but not quite. "Hey there, what's your name?"

It cocked its head to the side, adorable eyes looking up at her. She squealed, picking it up in her arms. Holding out her finger, the dog licked it before biting into her flesh lightly. Taking no mind to the action, she continued to fuss over how adorable it was.

Standing up, she continued on walking, talking steadily to her newly claimed dog.

"Noooooooow" she said as the puppy continued its routine of licking and chewing upon her finger. "What to call you?"

Running her finger across the back of its head, a thought struck her... 'Male... or female?'

After proceeding in a two second check that was not wanted by either of the participants, she found that he was indeed male.

"Sora" he looked at her, an annoyed look upon his face.

Kissing his head, she smiled at him. "Come on, Sora's cute" After a moment, it licked her cheek, making her giggle. "Yay, you like!"

After a few moments, she found herself in front of the compound, puppy in hand, bag on shoulder and alone. 'Great,' she pouted, 'they better hurry'

"Hey," Kai called, making Kylie turn around. Instantly, Kai stopped in her tracks. "What... the hell is that?!"

"Sora" she chirped in reply.

"You NAMED it?!"

"You told me I could keep a doggy if I found one!!"

Frowning, Kai looked back over her shoulder towards the ones that she had earlier named quite proudly 'The Squad of Idiots'. "Whatever"

They approached as Kai spread out her wings once again. "C'mon, let's get going" Kylie nodded, latching onto the girl. Fallen followed Kai's example, though grabbing Waylen by the collar as he attempted to hug her.

Erika, much to Kai's disgust, also latched onto her. Wrinkling her nose, Kai took flight.