The Aberrations of S.I.D.E.

No. 3: We Declare Anarchy

"So, now that it's actually the first day of school, are you gonna give me any details as to what the first-day training exercise actually is?" Virgil said as he and Roman walked up the steps to the Field Skills building.

"Nope," Roman answered. "You'll find out. It's something that's only for freshmen and up."

Virgil let out a sigh. "Fine. Don't tell me. See what I care."

The two of them went into the building and pushed open the doors to the Ability Usage classroom, where a crowd of students a lot bigger than Virgil was used to was sitting. Patton spotted them and waved them over.

"This is so exciting!" he squealed. "It's Virgil's first Anarchy Warfare, and the first one we're doing as a team!"

Virgil stopped. "Anarchy what?"

"It's my favorite first-day-of-school tradition," Janus said, grinning. "You're going to love it. Trust me."

As the last few students filed in, the lights shut off. A spotlight hit Remy up on the balcony, highlighting his insane grin.

"Bonjour, trainees," he announced. "For those of you who are unaware, we have a little tradition here at the Academy. Students in freshman year and up are invited to take part in a little challenge that I like to call 'Anarchy Warfare.'"

Remy snapped his fingers and the lights turned back on, revealing a large assortment of paintball guns lying in the ring.

Oooooooooooh fuck yeah, Virgil thought, grinning.

"The rules of the game are simple," Remy continued. "You've got twenty minutes for you and your crew to grab a few guns and find a place somewhere in the building to stake out, and then it's anarchy. Last crew with no paint on any of the members wins---or whoever's still standing by the end of the day."

Ivy Rhodes raised her hand.

"Yeah, Rhodes?" Remy said.

"There's a team of six in junior year," she said. "Isn't that kind of unfair for the rest of us?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm letting crews of four and under team up with other crews," he told her. "But don't blame me when y'all turn on each other."

Ivy looked over at Sophia. "You, Marji, and Ryan wanna team up to take down your brother?"

"Yes, please," Sophia answered, grinning.

"All righty, chiennes." Remy looked at his phone. "Your twenty minutes start... now."

Everyone instantly raced to the paintball gun pile. Janus managed to grab six different ones before making his way back to them.

"Here you go," Janus said, handing them each a paintball gun. "Now, c'mon, let's get out of here."

"Why do I have the little one?" Roman complained.

"Because your power literally deals in paint, now move."

"It deals in ink---"

Janus started shoving the crew towards the doors. "If we don't find the best spot quickly, it'll be taken! Go, go, go!"

They ran out of the Ability Usage room and up the stairs to the third floor, where they ducked into one of the classrooms. Logan turned on the light to reveal that it was stuffed with junk food, books, and paint cans---plus a sizable stack of movies next to a video projector.

Virgil looked over at him. "Did you guys---"

"The benefits of having an older sister is that you're familiar with this before you even get to participate," Logan said, walking in. "And since there's a week before school starts and the classrooms reopen, it gives us plenty of time to repurpose one of the unused classrooms into a bunker. This way, we can stay in here until the fighting dies down, and we can win."