Nova's Angel: Meet the Killers

Not who you think

I spent the rest of my yard time talking with the group and every now and again I would catch people looking at me either with admiration or terrible side eyes. That's to be expected though. I basically just beat up the popular kid in front of everyone and went back to my table like nothing happened.

After yard time was done, I was taken back up to the elevator. But instead of going to level 3, we were taken to the floor right below it. I was instantly taken aback as the elevator doors opened to the best hangout pad ever. There were beanbag chairs, foosball tables, ping pong tables, and basically anything else you would see in a game room at a rec center. There was even a pool table. But I did notice there was nothing with a screen and nothing was fully electronic. The only light was from the windows that still had bars on them.

The other 4 walked in like this was a normal occurrence. "What is this place?" I asked while walking in.

"Thanks to June, once a week we get to hang out in here for a couple of hours after yard time." said the spikey haired boy. "Names Zach by the way. And this is Abby." he said gesturing towards the girl standing next to him.

"Hi." she said shyly.

"Hey, I'm Nate."

The guards left quickly. I think they are probably jealous that we got all this, and they had to watch us. "I still don't understand. This is a prison. Why do we get all this?"

"Like I said before, June. She said that level 3 gets treated like cockroaches for something we can't control. And she was right. Before all this, we only had yard time to talk to the other levels and even then, people feared us. B.O.N.D told the public that Greyrock was used to hold Novas peacefully and wasn't a prison. When June saw that they were lying about how we were treated, she was able to get enough Nova supporters together to take a stand. So, to keep the press off their back, the crows gave us this room to hang out in. But ever sense she helped us; June has been treated with as much hospitality as one of us."

"Weird how nothing in here is powered. You know why that is?" I asked Zach.

"I'll tell you if you tell me why they took away the T.V." he said while heading over to the ping pong table. "Or maybe over a game of ping pong."

I grabbed a paddle and went over to play and talk. "So, I'm guessing you're the reason nothing hear is powered?" I said serving the ball.

"Yep, but also no. Like I said, we used to have a T.V. I can't be by anything that emits electricity. So, no outlets in this room."

"So, your power must be electricity."

"Bingo," he said and spiked the ball, "But I can't pin down your power. What is it?"

"Video control."

"You're going to have to explain that later because that doesn't really clear anything up. Nice job taking down Max by the way."

"You guys saw that?" I said a little self-conscious I had that burst of rage in front of everyone.

"Oh yeah. Everyone saw. You did a killer job man. Looks like you run level 2 now."

Hearing him say that made me realize what I did, and the ball went right past me. "What do you mean I run level 2 now?" I asked, grabbing the ball.

"Yeah dude. You ever hear that thing about jail. 'Go in and beat up the biggest guy for respect?' Well that actually works here. By beating up Max, you showed that you were the stronger one. But hanging out with the killers may drag your name a bit."

"You mean my friends? Why does everyone avoid them?"

"People like to live. Last I checked, hanging around starving lions doesn't end well."