Everyone in the arena now thought they understood why the Ref hadn't stepped in. It must have been due to the knowledge he had known beforehand. The Ref must have known that the student had a powerful regeneration ability. But the truth of the matter was, that the Ref was just as shocked as everyone else.
He had been informed beforehand that the student had a transformation ability. The audience members were too far away and the screen never focused long enough for them to tell what level Peter's wristwatch had shown. They all just knew he must have had a powerful regeneration ability and now it made sense why they had allowed him to fight in the tournament.
However, the participants knew differently, having seen not only his level but the number of guards that were always around him.
"Is he some type of mutant?" They thought.
Now as for Jack, who was sitting in the booth, he wasn't upset by this sudden change and surprise. Instead he was excited but at the same time concerned, for he was thinking along the same lines as the students.
He had gotten so excited, he stood up from his seat. 'This has to be the doing of Pure!' He thought. 'Duke had already confirmed he had a transformation ability, and before that there had been reports of him having an earth ability. Have Pure finally managed to create a monster?'
For years organisations, and different research institutes had dabbled in the possibility of allowing a student to have more than one ability. Due to the human cell's structure, it seemed impossible, but they progressed onward. To Jack, it seemed like Pure must have been able to finally succeed in creating a body that was able to have more than one ability.
'He might be even more important to them than I first thought.' Knowing this new piece of information, Jack was determined to continue his plan of luring out Pure. He was unsure whether or not they had made more people like Peter, but even if they hadn't, they would hate the idea of the military getting their hands on something they themselves had yet to discover.
'You hypocritical bastards.' He thought as he sat back down in his seat.
The crowd continued to cheer away and now the students were keeping a closer eye on the match than before.
"Did I miss much?" A voice from behind Layla said.
"Quinn?" She replied.
It looked like Quinn had returned and was in one piece, which meant he must have dealt with the problem. Layla gulped when she thought of the possibilities of getting rid of that problem.
"So what happened, is Cia…" She couldn't finish her sentence for fear of the answer she would hear back.
"She's alive, but it's complicated." He replied.
Pulling off Layla to one side, he decided it was best to explain the full details of what had happened as soon as possible, especially since this involved her.
When Quinn had activated his influence skill, her eyes had hollowed out and it looked like his skill had worked. Before it looked like it had nearly worked and now with his charm points increased, it seemed to just be enough to push her over the edge.
Not wanting to waste this golden opportunity, Quinn decided it would be best to ask her some simple questions. He had tried asking her what Pure we're planning to do at the event. However, he quickly realized that for some reason, any question that was about Pure would be answered with nothing.
It was almost scary even to him. Every time he would ask them a question, she would try and search her pocket as if by automatic response. Usually, when one was under influence they would be unable to control anything.
There were two things that Quinn could think of as to how this was possible. Either his influence skill was barely working on her and she was still fighting back. Or there was some even stronger type of mind control going on at Pure, behind the scenes.
Seeing that she repeatedly tried to reach into her pockets, Quinn decided to reach in and grab whatever she was trying to get. Inside one of the pockets, he had discovered a white pill. What its use was for he did not know. Inside the back pocket, there seemed to be a small little white remote.
Afraid it might have been a recorder, or something else, Quinn had crushed it to pieces on the spot. It would have been nice to give it to Logan but he couldn't take any chances, and Layla had also informed him of Cia having something like this beforehand.
If he was to find such a thing he was told to destroy it on the spot.
Since Quinn was unable to answer any questions, he feared that perhaps the next part wouldn't have worked either.
This was the tricky part, how much did Cia know?
Being an agent of Pure she always had kept an eye on Layla and had been with her from the beginning. If he was only to remove the events from today and the orange portal expedition, there was a chance that Pure would be able to fit multiple pieces of the puzzle together.
He couldn't risk it, there was only one thing he could do.
"Erase everything." He only said two words unsure of what it might have done. He had asked the system beforehand, and he said, she would be able to live and talk so it should be okay, but whether or not she could live a normal life again, he did not know.
Removing this much information was considered dangerous.
After giving the command, her eyes whitened even further and then the reflection of red was seen. This was the sign that his command had worked.
Not wanting to be there when she came too, Quinn decided to quickly head back out to the others. He turned to look back at her one time, before deciding to head off again.
A short time had passed, and Cia who was on the floor had come to. She lifted herself off the floor with a banging pain in her head. She placed her hand making sure she wasn't injured and started looking around at her surroundings.
"What is this place?" She asked. Then something had hit her even worse. "Who am I..What's my name?" Cia couldn't remember anything. Not her birth date, not how old she was, or even the fact she was attending military school. The only thing she could remember was how to speak, and her normal bodily functions.
Realising this, a natural reaction had occurred, as she broke down in tears and screamed out.
After hearing everything Quinn had to say, for some reason she felt bad for Cia. She hated Pure but not Cia herself. Still, she knew it had to be done. Getting rid of her memories would be better than death. At least that's what she thought.
"So do you know what this pill is?" Quinn asked as he handed it over.
"All agents carry one with them. It's poison…" Layla explained. "If we were ever caught and in a situation where we think we might be exposed, we're meant to take it instantly."
"That's kind of messed up." Quinn let slip forgetting for a second, that Layla was a part of this messed up organization. "Anyway, do you know what they're planning or what will happen now?"
Layla shook her head in response. "I have no clue, my rank in the organisation was never high enough, and it seems like they opted to tell me nothing now. My guess is as good as yours."
With everything explained, Layla and Quinn decided to return to the rest of the group.
They quickly updated Quinn on the events of the fight so far and he only had one thing he could say in response.
"It looks like there's nothing we can do right now apart from one thing." Quinn walked up to the ledge and looked down at the fighting platforms below. He lifted both his hands by his mouth and made a cone shape.
Taking in a large deep breath as loud as he could, he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Kick his arse until he can no longer walk!"
It was a long-distance and even though his voice was projected very loud the audience were unable to hear him. But that wasn't important, Quinn only needed one person to hear his words.
Walking towards Larry slowly, Peter raised his hand and gave a thumbs up in the direction of Quinn.
'Now I even have permission.'
*****
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