Chapter 1: ~Prologue~
Three freshmen in college.
For Emily, Tony, and Rosie, this warm autumn morning was just the beginning of this torturous adventure that awaited them. What was supposedly going to be another boring day of waiting for their classes to start, ended up taking an interesting turn.
The park's leaves were changing to browns, yellows, oranges and more brightly filled colors as they fluttered to the ground. People's laughs and music filled the air while some worked vigorously to finish their assignment that happened to be due in the next hour. If that frat party wasn't thrown last night, these three might have had their work done.
Rosie sat and stared at the blank page in front of her while tapping her pencil to the beat of whatever song Tony had happened to conjure up. Emily on the other hand, was writing as quick as a cheetah. She was trying to finish this assignment as soon as possible to be able to stop by the local Sarah's Café that was located on the other end of campus. Tony continued to make beats on the wooden table they resided at, not caring for his grade in the slightest.
"Done!" Emily exclaimed, slamming her pencil onto the table and stood up from her seat in a flash. Her dark brown hair that is cut into a perfect bob falls into her flushed face. Her green eyes light up at her so called masterpiece. A huge smile graces her lips as she kisses the final product of her essay.
"Nice job girlie! Now help me out!" Tony slides his blank paper across the picnic bench to Emily who only glared at him. Tony's chocolate skin drips in sweat under Emily's not so intense stare.
"Do you not remember anything about Former Yugoslavia?" Tony shrugged his shoulders in reply, continuing his drumming.
Emily gave Rosie a look who only smiled as aid. Rosie released her light brown hair from her bun, letting it fall into soft waves to her mid back. Rosie groaned before actually starting the essay that was now due in forty five minutes or less.
The next thirty minutes were spent with Emily forcing Tony to use his brain and work as Rosie slowly wrote her essay. In the end, Emily gave up and waved goodbye, heading to her beloved Café.
"Make sure he has at least a paragraph for Professor Steel." Emily calls over her shoulder before scampering off. Rosie peeks over at Tony's work to see that he indeed has a paragraph. What surprised her more was the fact that he has two. This must be a good day.
Rosie looked back down to her paper and let out a soft sigh. She needed a good closing but that happened to be the one thing she struggled at. She was never able to tie in her point to a close. Rosie believed everything continues, even if you might not see it, it's there.
Rosie jumped in her seat as Tony slammed his textbook closed. He gave her a thumbs up at pointed at his wrist. She looked at her phone before letting out a gasp. She had five minutes to get to the other side of campus. She scrambled to get her stuff together before yelling what she hoped to be a see you soon as she ran to her physics class.
The wind whipped her hair in all directions and she silently cursed herself for not keeping it up in its original bun. Rosie dodged all the people who were walking, skating or riding bikes around the plot of land they called school. She made it to her building with a minute to spare and walked straight into the metal door.
Well what she thought was a door. All her books tumbled to the ground and she bent down to retrieve them as a voice spoke out.
"Are you going to say sorry?" A voice took her out of her daze and she looked up to meet a very pissed looking boy.
"Shoot! I'm so sorry! I was late for class and-"
"Just watch where you are going next time!" He snapped at her. Rosie scolded herself for being so oblivious to the guy who stood in the way of the door.
She made her way into the class. Thankfully their teacher was late. Rosie settled herself in a seat near the middle and started organizing all of her now loose papers. A few minutes later, her professor walked in with yet another can of beer. Rosie slouched into her seat, trying to disappear because she knows what's about to happen. One hell of a lecture.
Rosie made a grab for her stuff and hour later as her professor finally released them of his drunken torture. His words were sharp and drawled out at the same time. It made almost everyone uncomfortable. Just the thought of it made her shiver.
"Rosie! Oh Em Gee! Guess what?" Tony was breathless the time he reached his best friend, tossing his hands onto his knees.
"What is it T?" Her eyes trailed his face as he rose to his full height of 5'8.
The goofy smile on his face told her she was in one hell of a journey he was about to explode on her. And she was correct. As they made their way to their Calculus class, Emily appeared, tagging along with them as they were in the process of spilling tea(As Tony liked to call it).
"Apparently, boss has a new mission for us." He whispered into Emily's ear. Her face paled.
"But I told him I am done with this!" She seethed through clenched teeth. "Are you going through with this Rosie?"
"I technically have no other choice," Rosie shook her head as she continued. "He is kind of paying my college tuition right now." Emily made an 'O' shape with her mouth as Tony pitched in.
"I'm also doing it. Boss said this one will be our hardest one yet though." T paused, "but he did say that about almost every mission we have been on. Wait Em, don't you have to complete one more mission to graduate USM?"
"Ugh do not remind me! I just want to pass my math test!" She holds the door open for us as we find our seats in the back, away from prying eyes.
"Can we see the mission that was broadcasted?" Rosie questions. Tony nods as he removes his watch, flipping it over and letting the code they learned to decipher fill the screen.
USM GRADS: We have a new call in from London bases, signaling for an attack. We need our in training students Agent Jer, Agent Ro, Agent T, Agent X, Agent Em, and Agent Lu to complete this mission. This year as final grads, you will not be aided nor guided by our offices. This will be your hardest mission yet to date. Contact Boss for more information.
"Well looks like Boss has gone all M.I.A on us," Emily throws her bag to the ground with a huff.
"Who are Jer, X, and Lu?" Tony blurts, interrupting Emily from her temper tantrum.
"I know a high school senior named Jeremy," Em butts in.
"You mean the one who spilt apple juice all over your shirt?"
Emily chuckles before a scowl is placed on her face. "Don't patronize me."
The three of them settle into their seats, waiting for the other Professor Steel to pass out their math test. The teens somehow found it funny that Mrs. Steel taught math and Mr. Steel taught history but they didn't mind so much. The papers were passed around and everyone started to put pen to paper, furiously trying to solve the answer to some long, dragged out equation.
This is where things take a small turn for the worst.
"You have ten minutes left students!" Mrs. Steel shouts at all of us.
A small beeping of an alarm disrupts the class. Mrs. Steel growls at every one of her students. Phones are not permitted in her class. The beeping starts to increase an octave before it registers in Rosie's brain where she has heard that sound from. It's not a timer, it's a bomb.
"EVERYBODY GET OUT!" Rosie screams on the top of her lungs as the sound turns into loud beeps.
Tony runs down the stairs to Mrs. Steels desk and searches for the hidden bomb. Emily quickly works on evacuating everyone out of the room. A boy is left standing in the room, the one she happened to run into in the halls. She shouts at him to leave but he only runs in her direction. The sound, now almost deafening to her eardrums, reached an all time pitch became a clear signal that the bomb was going to explode in seconds.
"You need to go!" Rosie grabs the man by the arm and starts to pull him away from the front of the room but he stops her.
He wraps his arms around her waist and throws her behind a row of seats right when the bomb explodes. He falls with a thud beside her, both of them covering their heads as a bright yellow ball of heat passes overhead. The sirens of the alarm system of the school now fill the air. The sprinklers were pouring gallons of water from the ceiling.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" The man says with wild brown eyes directed at Rosie.
"Me? What the heck were you thinking of throwing me behind the seats! We could have exploded!"
"Rosie! Shite! Girlie are you okay!" Tony coughs from all the smoke and debris as he scans the now destroyed classroom.
"I'm fine Tony. Did Emily make it out?" Rosie dusts herself off, trying to get the particles of fallen embers off of her. The boy behind her does the same.
Tony follows Rosie's voice behind the seats and pauses in his tracks when he spots another guy there. The boy who has not been identified wears a black sweatshirt, well is now black if it wasn't already before with a pair of sweats. He shakes his brown hair, getting all of the ash out of it, then stands up and inspects the scene.
"Who the heck are you and what are you doing with my girlie?" Tony places his hand on his pocket where his knife is and Rosie lungs forward to stop him.
"No! He's fine. I'm fine!" Tony removes his hand slowly before questioning the man.
"What's your name?" The man is quick to reply.
"Xavier."