The Dark Element (ABANDONED AND UP FOR ADOPTION)

Chapter Twenty-six: Actual Toughness Test

Since all of them had passed the qualifying tests, all of them will move on to the TAPOPS Toughness Test. Admiral Tarung, who was now at his normal mode seeing that it was currently past 7 in the evening, told them that the test will start 12 hours from now. He then proceeded to ask Dark to tour Atalanta in the ship, which he gladly accepted.

Half an hour later, Dark showed Atalanta her room, which was their last stop. It was only a few paces away from the siblings' room (they had opted to share a room despite what the others had suggested). Looking inside, it looked more like a dormitory for a military camp.

"You won't be sharing a room with anyone as of now since you aren't officially part of the team yet," Dark said.

"It's okay. Great, actually. It's nice to have privacy even just for a short moment."

Dark looked at his watch. "Lights out is at 10 pm, lights on at 4 am. I think that's all. I'll leave you here. I have to go back to my brothers."

Atalanta nodded and watched Dark walk towards their room before going inside hers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later that night, Atalanta found herself playing 'Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime' using Lover Mu and Doppler, her chosen space pet. But after a few tries of trying to defeat Orion, she gave up and put down her newly-made laptop.

Walking to the bathroom, she faced the mirror and took off her glasses. What she saw on the reflection was something that haunted her since the first time she saw it.

Gray hair, looking like it was dyed thoroughly.

Abnormally pale skin, as if there was no blood rushing through her veins.

Purple lips, like she hadn't drunk water in so long.

But what haunted her most were her eyes. They were glowing solid orbs of silver and gold, one color for each eye. There were no pupils. A result of the experiment.

All in all, she looked like a freak.

Freak. Just that one word brought back so many memories that she had tried to suppress. At the end of the flashback, one dialogue kept echoing in her head.

"Even if you do manage to escape, no one will accept you. You'll just be a freak in everyone's eyes."

Atalanta shook herself out of her thoughts and prepared herself to sleep. After her usual tosses and turns, she finally fell asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Atalanta woke up a few hours later to a gut feeling. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was only midnight. She was confused, but she had long learned to trust her gut. She wore her eyeglasses and a long silver cloak over her pajamas before going out of her room.

She didn't know if there's a punishment for being caught after lights out, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She stealthily made her way to the balcony, which was where her gut was leading her. Upon arriving, she was greeted by an unusual sight.

Let's just say that the rest of her night passed by strangely.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"You will again be divided into three, which will be the same division as before. Each of the group will be facing different challenges in order to retrieve the power sphere assigned to you. The data on the power sphere assigned to you are now sent to your respective tablets."

It was like a mission and a test combined together. They are all going to retrieve three power sphere that may help them prepare for the fight against Void. Thunderstorm, Solar, and Ice are to retrieve SinarBot from Planet Sol (SinarBot is canon). Ice looked scared out of his wits, and Fire noticed this.