Initiation: Systematic

“Maybe they forgot?” Lupe knew it was unlikely, but the party hadn’t seen anything unexpected yet, and they were approaching the final door to the Archmage’s ritual room. They’d started the assigned adventure as a group of six, but they divided into two groups of three to catch the Archmage in a pincer attack. The other group was theoretically approaching the room from the other side, but that wasn’t what Lupe was talking about.

It was the first day of the new school year, and each of the six members in the party was a student leader of their own group. They were told things would be ‘different’ this year with little explanation, but this exercise was supposed to enlighten them. And yet, after fighting their way through the dungeon as a team before splitting up, nothing felt out of the ordinary.

“Maybe you don’t know Ozone well enough,” Jubilee giggled with a shake of her head. Ozone was the mind behind the rule changes, which was unusual in its own way. He had no real affiliation with the school other than that of a neutral third party. He was a business man that normally ran event shops on campus. He was good at what he did, and the rumors were that he somehow won his way into the Principal’s job to make those changes. “But, you should never bet on him forgetting anything.”

“They did put the six of us together for this instead of letting us bring our own teams...” Molly added. “I’m sure it’s all going according to someone’s plan.”

“Yeah…” Lupe agreed with a nod as they reached the heavy metal doors protecting the Archmage’s ritual room. “Anyone want to check where the others are?” She turned to ask the other two girls because she didn’t want to.

“I’ll ask.” Jubilee nodded as she simultaneously sent a team Whisper. The blue text glowed on all their wrists, as they all heard her voice in their minds.

[/p: We’re at the door. You? - Jubilee]

[/p: Almost. - Turbo] They all heard the reply in his voice and felt it on their skin.

“Maybe we’ll have to fight for whatever the Archmage drops,” Molly suggested. “We can team up to beat them first.”

“Maybe,” Jubilee shrugged.

“Good luck,” Lupe said. “I’m not agreeing to that,” she added with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Jubilee nodded, and Lupe laughed, and even Molly joined in. “What?” Jubilee asked.

“Nothing,” she shook her head. “I know you’re twins, but that’s the first time you sounded exactly like Aurora.”

“And your dad,” Molly added with a giggle.

“Well, we got it from somewhere,” Jubilee smiled.

[/p: We’re ready - Turbo] the Whisper came through, and all three girls focused on the door with Lupe in front. She was the muscle of their group while Jubilee and Molly were playing support.

[/p: Ready. - Lupe] She confirmed with her hands on the door ready to push in.

[/p: In three. - Eury] A member of the other group began the countdown.

[/p: Three. - Eury]

[/p: Two. - Eury]

[/p: One. - Eury] Once the last Whisper came through, Lupe pushed, and the door disintegrated under her efforts. She stumbled through a couple of steps as Turbo staggered in off-balance from a door across the room. The chamber itself wasn’t very large. It appeared to be the size of a large bedroom, about 15’ x 15’ made of dark stone. The six members could see each other clearly, but they all focused curiously on the two figures in the center of the room.

One was an elderly archmage in black robes with a bald head and a long, thin silver beard. The nameplate over his head indicated he was [Rogue Archmage Bellamy], but everyone was more interested in the second figure. It was a large robotic skeleton, taller and wider than Bellamy. And the mage was channeling golden electricity into it through his hands.

“You’re too late, Heroes!” Bellamy laughed.

“Not even!” Lupe charged forward with her two-handed sword raised, but she hit a sudden wall of light and text. On the other side of the room, Turbo and Eph were also halted by solid system messages.

“System initiating... Calibrating user...,” Lupe read her message out loud, and the other five nodded. Each of them had a similar message before them.

“I guess this is the new thing?” Molly asked as a cloud of nanos surrounded each of them and pulsed with rainbow light.

[Calibration complete.] A new message appeared, followed by another.

[Choose the form of your Frame.]

“What’s a -,” Turbo began to ask, but he was interrupted by Bellamy.

“My Frame is UNSTOPPABLE!” The Archmage climbed into the robotic skeleton from behind, and it suddenly began to grow as he piloted it through a black portal.

“I want a flying car!” Turbo made his decision instantly once he understood. But he was the only one, and the other five students looked at him in confusion.

“Frame choice confirmed,” he read the message to everyone as a cloud of nanos coalesced around his hand. He held his palm out, and the nanos took the shape of a red car key. He walked forward toward the portal, then nodded.

“Ozone set it up,” he laughed. “The dude loves mechas.”

“I want a phoenix!” Jubilee said.

[Frame choice confirmed.] appeared in front of her, and she held her hand out like Turbo did. This time, the nanos deposited a metallic red feather that wrapped around her wrist.

“Can I have a dolphin, please?” Molly asked as the other group began making their choices as well.

“I’ll take a snake,” Eury said.

“Can I just have a human-shaped one?” Lupe asked the system. Fortunately, she saw the confirmation as well. “Yes!”

“That works?” Eph asked. “Give me a war machine!” In seconds, they each received their keys, and Turbo nodded at the new system message that he assumed everyone could see.

“Let’s go see what we can do now,” he laughed as he walked through the portal, followed by the rest of the group. Lupe was the last to leave, following right behind Eph. She couldn’t resist commenting on the final message.

“I feel like this is going to be a complicated school year,” Eph complained.

“I dunno,” Lupe laughed. “Mecha Mode all year sounds fun.”