The Awakening of Chaos
Eighty years ago, the world changed in a heartbeat. Supernatural abilities manifested globally and at random—no one was spared. For two years, the world drowned in absolute chaos before governments could stabilize the new reality. While miraculous cures for ancient diseases appeared, they were offset by a surge in high-powered criminality that left cities in ruins.
The "First Awakened" included everyone from newborns to those on their deathbeds. Since then, the "Awakening" became a rite of passage: every human gains their power at the age of ten. To manage this, the Academy system was established—compulsory institutions designed to teach both traditional academics and the rigorous laws of power regulation.
Society adapted. Jobs were redesigned around abilities, and researchers turned their focus toward the singular mystery: The Source.
A New Beginning at the Academy
2024.
"My name is Raj Gomez. I'm fifteen, and I've just transferred from Montreal Academy. I'm not familiar with the customs here, so... please take care of me."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gomez," replied Kaye Merkens, his new homeroom teacher. "I'll be your guide for the remainder of the year. Normally, I'd facilitate your orientation myself, but I have an urgent meeting. Get to know your classmates."
With a sharp nod, she left Raj standing at the front of the room. He scanned the blue-and-white classroom and took an empty seat. To his left sat a girl with striking white hair and crimson eyes. She wore heavy headphones, lost in a sketch of a creature Raj didn't recognize. She didn't look up; she either hadn't noticed him or was pointedly ignoring him.
Before he could speak, a small group approached his desk.
"Nice to meet you, Raj! It's rare to see a transfer this late in the term," said a boy with a friendly grin. "I'm Albert Logia."
"It's a massive hassle to move this far from home," added a girl with a tomboyish energy, her curiosity evident. "Did something happen back in Montreal?"
"Ella! Stop prying," a second girl interrupted, rolling her eyes. "Ignore her, Raj. I'm Kathleen. Sorry if she's being nosy."
"It's fine, really," Raj said, leaning back. "My mother bought a house here years ago. When she retired, we decided it was finally time to move."
A beautiful girl holding a can of soda walked over. "Must've been hard to leave your friends behind."
"I didn't really have many friends there," Raj admitted.
"Eh? Why? You seem like a nice guy."
Raj looked down. "It's... not something I'm comfortable talking about. They isolated me. It was my fault, anyway." He quickly changed the subject to avoid their pity. "By the way, who's that girl over there?"
He pointed toward the white-haired artist, but Kathleen was cut off before she could answer.
The Five-Headed Terror
A violent vibration suddenly buckled the floor. Desks slid across the room as students cried out in alarm.
A muscular student nearby slammed his palms against the floor. [Ability Activated: Structural Stabilization.] The cracks in the classroom walls began to knit themselves shut, holding the room together even as the trees outside were whipped around by a localized earthquake.
But the relief was short-lived. The "healing" walls suddenly shattered outward.
"RUN!" Albert roared.
The ground heaved. Raj instinctively tapped into his core, his vision blurring as he grabbed everyone within reach. [Ability Activated: Short-Range Teleport.]
In a flash of blue light, Raj, Kathleen, Ella, Albert, the muscular student, and three others reappeared outside on the academy grounds. They froze. A gargantuan, five-headed turtle—a creature of nightmare—was systematically crushing the east wing of the academy.
"To the City Hall!" Albert shouted over the screams. "The underground bunker!"
Raj's heart hammered against his ribs. He needed three minutes to recharge his teleportation. They had to run. They scrambled through the debris, the earth-shaking footsteps of the beast right behind them.
One of the turtle's heads unhinged its jaw. A sphere of blinding light condensed in its maw. It fired. The projectile didn't hit them—it hit the City Hall. In a deafening roar of heat and pressure, the reinforced building was erased, replaced by a glowing crater. The shockwave sent the students flying.
The Game of the Gods
Raj drifted back to consciousness to the smell of blood and dust. His head throbbed; his left hand was a mess of crushed bone beneath a fallen slab. Shards of glass peppered his skin.
He looked around through a red haze. Two of his classmates lay motionless, crushed by a falling block. Albert was desperately trying to pull the muscular student free—the boy's leg was skewered by a jagged metal rod. Ella and Kathleen lay nearby, unconscious but alive.
The ground groaned. The turtle was turning back toward them. Its central head began to glow again.
Raj lunged toward his friends, reaching out his trembling hand to teleport them one last time. But he was too slow. The projectile was already mid-flight, a sun-bright sphere of death closing the distance in a fraction of a second.
Then, the world stopped.
The debris frozen in mid-air. The light of the blast hung suspended like a painting.
"Do you wish to be saved?" A voice echoed—not in his ears, but in his soul. It sounded like a million people speaking in perfect, terrifying unison.
"Y-yes!" Raj gasped, the sheer weight of the presence making him forget the pain of his shattered hand.
"I will save you... but everything comes with a cost."
"Just save us!" the student with the broken leg screamed into the void.
"Very well. I now formally invite you... to the Game of the Gods."
A pillar of celestial light descended, swallowing the survivors. A translucent blue screen flickered into existence before Raj's fading vision.
[Congratulations! You have been invited to the Game of the Gods.]
[Teleporting to World: Kratya]
[Species Selection Complete: Angel]
[Good luck!]