For the first time in her life, Jack entered the magnificent shared household of the Apex Legends, finding it hard to believe that she was one of them now too. 

The ceiling of the lobby was high. The dark red banners of the season hung from the walls and the dark red carpet spread from the entrance to the gilded doors of the elevator. The receptionist sat on the side at his desk and instantly got up on his feet, a rich-looking suit not escaping her gaze. Her eyes widened in wonder as she watched the marble and carved pillars rise to the top of the room.

She walked to the receptionist, meeting his black eyes; “Erm…”

“Miss Bloodmoon.” he said in a soothing voice and bowed his head; “Welcome. It’s a pleasure to have you here. Here, let me give you your key.” he said and turned around, pulling out a white card with a code on it; “This will work on the elevator and you’ll need it to access your room.” he handed it to her and she accepted it readily; “Do you want me to take you on the tour?”.

“No…” she said, thinking about it for a moment; “I think I’m alright.”.

“In that case, miss Bloodmoon, I’m here if you have any questions or any concerns.” he smiled; “I’m at your disposal 24/7.”.

“Thank you.” she said sincerely; “Erm…”.

“Yes?”.

“How… How does this household work?”.

“Ah, let me explain it to you.” the receptionist said, making a small pause before he continued; “So, available buttons in the elevator will take you to the common areas. Each button has an explanation on it, such as the kitchen, the common room and the gym. If you wish to access your room, you simply scan your card in the elevator and it will take you straight there.”.

“So, no one else can actually reach my room?” she asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

“No. Not unless you invite them, in which case you can either escort them there yourself or notify me and I’ll allow them one-time access to your apartment.”.

“I see. Well, thank you.” she said sincerely and slowly turned around to face the gilded elevator doors.

She approached it and scanned her card, only waiting mere seconds before the elevator dinged and the doors opened. The elevator was big enough to hold half of all the Legends and it looked perfectly clean, not a single smudge anywhere. The big mirror was placed at its back and she quickly caught a glance of herself. 

Her black wavy hair was still in a tidy, high ponytail and her ocean blue eyes looked tired. She walked in and observed her curves covered by black sweatpants before she moved her eyes to her black tank top. That was what majority of the Legends were wearing that day, other than robots, of course. After all, everyone tended to get sweaty in their pods due to the extreme tension of the battle which, surprisingly, felt extremely real and not in a good way. 

Jack, of course, watched many battles on the television before and, despite the gruesome bloodshed, she always daydreamed about being there. However, dreaming was one thing and reality was often different. This reality in particular was sure to give her nightmares and she realised that she wasn’t 100% sure if she was cut out for it, for facing such bloodshed in person.

She shook her head to shoo away the thoughts and doubts and, instead, turned to face the button panel. She read all the rooms that were offered: training grounds, lobby, shop, kitchen, common room, gym, lab, engineer’s garage, meeting room, computer room and library, Champion’s bar and rooftop.

There was a scanner placed next to it and she decided to check out her room first. She was just about to scan it when the elevator dinged again and the doors opened swiftly.

Revenant walked in, grunting when he saw her, and, completely ignoring her, he clicked the button to go to the engineer’s garage. Jack wanted to say something, but she found herself to be mute. Revenant just stood next to her and faced the door, waiting to reach his destination impatiently. Jack clenched her fists in discomfort and her cheeks went slightly pink. She was sure that she had never felt this uncomfortable in her entire life.

Surprisingly, they reached Revenant’s level in mere moments and he left, leaving without saying a word.

Jack exhaled in relief and quickly scanned her card, patiently waiting for a few moments before the elevator doors opened again. 

Damn, it’s fast.

She thought, surprised, before she walked into the small opening and noticed a couple of sofas in the far corner opposite the big, dark brown door. She approached the door and slipped her card through the card lock. The door opened.

She walked inside and her jaw dropped. The huge area with a high ceiling looked so open and inviting. The floor was made of gray marble and it led to a big king-sized bed that was covered in gray and dark red silks. Just at the bottom of the bed, a beige carpet decorated the room and the wall behind the bed was made of beige marble too. A huge season’s banner hung from the wall with her image on it, the one that CO had chosen to represent her. The nightstands at each side of the bed had lamps on them and one had a modern, white alarm clock while the other had a phone. 

Opposite to the bed, next to the entrance door, there was a big working desk with the latest version of a computer on it and some empty shelves above it. 

Left of the bed, there was a divider that led to a living area with a very comfortable white sofa covered with dark red pillows and a small dark red coffee table in front of it. A white chandelier hung above it and a gray carpet was below it, the floor made from dark wood. 

Additionally, to her left, there was a big window going from the top to the bottom of the room, offering an amazing view of the World’s Ege’s city. 

To her right, there was another door, this time light brown and she walked through it only to enter a huge open-spaced bathroom. The floor was made of white and gray marble, leading to a pedestal on which a black bath stood surrounded by bath salts. There were huge mirrors on the other side of it and a sink placed in the middle of the gray cabinets that were covered in dark red candles. 

She gasped in both shock and delight, instantly deciding that, instead of the shower, she would grab a relaxing bath. 

___oOo___

The alarm clock rang loudly. Jack jumped up out of her bed and quickly turned it off in order not to wake her mother again, losing her footing and falling on the floor with a loud thud.

“Ouch!” she cried from down there, wanting to swear loudly, but she did her best not to.

She slowly stood up, turning on the lamp on the nightstand to battle the complete darkness only to realise something; she was no longer at home. Now, she was in a shared household of goddamn Apex Legends and her journey to prove herself has just started. 

No better way to prove myself but to become a Predator. Or a Master… Or at least a Diamond…

She thought, rubbing her eyes. 

It’s a long way there and there’s much to do, so no time to waste.

It was only four in the morning and she was quick to prepare herself for the upcoming workout. Without much hesitation and with a clear goal in her mind, she made her way to the gym.

Got two hours before the practice. It’s time to do some serious work.

___oOo___

The elevator door opened and Jack found herself widening her eyes in wonder once again.

Other than your usual workout equipment, there was plenty of the equipment that she had never seen before in her life which left her to wonder how they work. There were lockers at her disposal and a sign showing the way to showers and bathrooms. In addition to this, there was a huge pool laid out on the side and all that she could think was:

After the sweaty workout, I’m dipping myself into that pool.

She took in a deep breath and purposefully made her way toward the treadmill. She wanted to make sure that she was properly warmed up before the practice itself. 

Although she and the other Legends would be connected to the pods once again for their practice, she understood that the mind could only do as much as the body could. This meant that, in order for her to be strong and fast in the games, she had to be physically prepared in real life too.

In moments, she hopped on and started her run, getting lost in her thoughts.

Suddenly, the elevator ding drew her attention and she turned her head to see Wraith and Octane entering the gym, not stopping her run.

“You’re early!” said Wraith.

“Yeah.” Jack said and took a moment to catch her breath before she continued, still jogging; “Thought to get a good warmup.”.

“So, Walter did give you heads up, chica?” Octane asked suspiciously.

“Huh?”.

“About the group warmup, of course?” Octane answered, a cheeky smile playing on his lips.

Jack’s eyes widened and the elevator dinged again. Out walked Lifeline, Mad Maggie and Fuse.

Jack met Fuse’s eyes with her gaze, glaring, and the tips of his ears went pink. He offered her a wide smile, but she turned her eyes to slits, showing her disapproval of him for not informing her of this, of a ‘group workout’.

Deciding that she didn’t want to be distracted by anything, she turned around and continued to run.

She was focused on the task at hand, only hearing the elevator ding from time to time, announcing the arrival of more legends. Instead of greeting them all as they came, she just kept running, deciding that she didn’t want to screw her warmup before her first practice session even started.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Fuse's voice drew her attention and she lifted her eyes only to find him speed walking on the treadmill next to hers.

“No, you’re not.” she told him, feeling annoyed by his presence.

“You're right.” he said; “I’m not. But you have to understand. You beat me yesterday. I gotta take all the advantage that I can get, lass.”.

She looked him in the eyes, still annoyed, but understanding his position nevertheless. She too would take all the advantages that she could get, no matter the price.

“So… No hard feelings?” he offered.

“Eh…” she sighed; “Sure. No hard feelings.” she smiled at him and he returned a bright one to her.

Now, feeling better than she did before, she returned to her workout. 

“So…” Fuse spoke again and she turned her head to face him again, only to find him already staring at her.

She lifted her eyebrows; “Yeah?”.

“I was thinking…”.

“I find that hard to imagine.” she said quickly and cheekily, finding some enjoyment in an act of taking some petty revenge.

“Oof!” Mirage, who was on her other side on his treadmill, spoke up; “That must hurt, Walter!” he laughed, making Jack laugh too.

She turned around to face Fuse again only to find the tips of his ears slightly pink again.

“As I was saying.” he continued; “I wanted to ask you to duel me at today’s practice.” he said.

Jack’s jaw hung open and her eyes widened.

“That is, if you’d dare to take me as your opponent in a fair fight.”.

“Not like she didn’t already beat ya!” Lifeline exclaimed as she stopped lifting weights that were heavy enough to surprise Jack.

“It wasn’t - “ Fuse was about to speak when he got cut off.

“I’ll bet on the girl.” Mad Maggie spoke, coming to stop in front of Fuse.

“And I'll bet on ya too.” Lifeline said to Jack.

“Me too!” Mirage added and chuckled.

“Sure.” Fuse said, looking insulted; “I’ll make sure to pick up all the money then. I bet on the old dog, meself.”.

“And I bet on Walter too.” Jack spoke up and everyone turned to look at her with bewildered eyes.

“You for real, sistah?” Gibraltar, who was lifting very heavy weights with Caustic and Newcastle at the other side of the room, said, making both other Legends stop what they were doing.

“How did ya even hear us?” Lifeline asked, turning her head to face him, her eyes wide in surprise.

“I’ve got a hearing of the fox." he said calmly.

“Sure…” Lifeline returned before she turned back to face Jack; “Anyway, ya for real, Jack?”.

“Look at it this way. If I lose, he’ll have to share his money with me which is a win enough for me. And, if I win, then I’ve won again.” she explained, waving her hands.

“That’s smart.” Mirage said, looking lost in thought; “Can I change my bet to Walter too?”.

“You’re not making any sense, Elliot.” Mad Maggie said, turning to face him; “Does changing your bet make any sense to you?”.

“Well… Erm…” Mirage stuttered; “Oh, forget it!” he returned, looking away as his cheeks started to get red.

“You ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed, mate.” Mad Maggie said in an annoyed tone of voice.

“Hey!” Mirage exclaimed, his cheeks now becoming beaming red.

“That’s enough of that.” Lifeline said, crossing her arms.

“Yeah.” Jack said; “Could we discuss the rules of the duel instead?”.

“Of course.” Fuse jumped in; “You chose a weapon and we go head to head. No ‘nades, no abilities, same shields and no shield repairs. Just you and me and our raw talent.” he offered Jack a bright smile and a wink.

“Okay. That sounds good.” she returned and got lost in her thoughts for a moment.

“So… Which weapon will it be?” Fuse asked.

___oOo___

Gripping on Mozambique, Jack stood back to back with Fuse.

“Alright, lass. You ready?”.

“Born ready.” she returned strongly and as confidently as she could, fortifying her grip on the pistol to the point that her knuckles went white.

"Righto. Time for you pup to see what an old dog can do.".

“Alright, friends!” Pathfinder, who was their chosen referee for the match, exclaimed; “On my mark!” he made a pause; “Three… Two… One and go!”.

Without a moment to lose, both Fuse and Jack started running toward the direction that they were facing, leaving the other contestant behind and waiting for the final Pathfinder's mark.

“Now!” Pathfinder exclaimed.

At the command, Jack threw herself behind the first rock that she could see, taking cover away from already incoming fire from Fuse's side.

He's quick!

She thought, lowering her head while she waited for him to empty the first of his three mags. The pieces of the rock crumbled under the bullets and pieces ripped off, dust falling onto her head. She was lucky that she had her goggles so she didn't have to worry about her eyes, but she had to hold her breath for a moment to avoid breathing in the dust.

She heard an empty click from his side.

At this, she quickly glanced up, aiming down the sight of her weapon before she saw his yellowish figure ducking down. She started shooting, but he moved quickly and he was behind one of the rocks sooner than she hoped. 

"Fair effort, lass!" he chucked her way; "Now, it's me turn!".

She dropped the empty mag from her weapon and reloaded.

Thinking quickly and ignoring his threats, she ran for the other rock and slid behind it, giving herself a better view of his heat print and his hideout. She saw his back and lifted her gun again, pulling the trigger again and again without a second thought.

His shield glowed golden when she shot him and he moved swiftly, quickly reappearing at the other side of the rock with an already raised weapon, firing a shot to her head.

The strength of her shield fluttered due to the sudden attack to its weaker spot and she ducked down, grimacing in pain. Out of all the things, she still had to get used to the pain. After all, at exactly this moment, her real body was in a pod somewhere else, so the pain was nothing but a phantom one. Yet, to her utmost frustration, she couldn't shake it off.

"Oh, you got bloody smashed in the face!" his voice called out from behind the rock; "I hope you’ve got your dental records!".

She dropped her empty mag and reloaded her Mozambique again, realising that her aim wasn't as good as she hoped it would be.

The crowd of the rest of the Legends gasped as she jumped out of her hiding spot unexpectedly and started firing shots at him, running toward another rock.

She hit him once and his shield glowed again before she reached her new hiding spot. The previous one was a bad call; he could get to her as easily as she could get to him.

All of a sudden, she heard fast footsteps and she swiftly took a peek around the rock only to see him charging at her with an angry look on his face.

Being caught surprised, it took her a moment to pull her gun out and, by that time, he had already reached her. 

He quickly swung at her with the weapon in his hand and kicked her in the face, making her trip over her feet and stumble down.

While falling down, she raised her weapon and started pulling the trigger as fast as she could, only to find him doing the same.

She hit the ground with a loud and painful thud and her eyesight went to shit. She had hit her head on the rock very hard.

With a shot that she took and the shot that she received, she heard both shields cracking at the same time.

However, she didn't cease fire.

Having one last opportunity to shoot, she shot him in the stomach, missing his chest due to the temporary half-blindness that her fall had caused.

Dark red blood started pouring out of the hole in his abdomen and, while falling down to his knees, he pulled his trigger again.

A pain shot down her shoulder and her shoulder blade felt like it had shattered. She instantly reached for her wound to cover it with her hand and she closed her eyes due to the stabbing and burning sensation, her face grimmacing in pain and her teeth clenching.

She heard another empty click and opened her eyes to meet his: "Where did you learn how to count?" she asked him through her teeth, trying to quickly reach for her last remaining mag despite the extreme pain that she had felt.

Managing to stay on his knees, he looked at her with a painful grimace on his face, also reaching for his mag.

"I'd say I count better than you." he said simply.

Her eyes widened. What was supposed to be her last and third magazine was already gone.

She miscounted.

He reloaded his gun and raised it to her forehead. She looked at him with big eyes and in terror, keeping her shaky hand on the wound on her shoulder. Blood started to leak through her fingers, her wound being too deep.

"Aww, don't look at me like that. We're just playin' around, pup." he said, raising an eyebrow in what she could almost interpret as a worry.

Then she felt it; a sudden urge to use her ability to save herself. She gritted her teeth and took in another shaky breath, trying to ignore her instinct. After all, rules were rules and she still had an opportunity to hide some of her skills until the next game.

"No hard feelings, eh?".

She slowly nodded and blinked a few times, preparing herself for what was about to come.

The searing pain that went straight through her skull woke her up and she sat up instantly, grabbing at her temples with her eyes closed.

"Coming!" was all that she could hear before someone else's warm hands were on hers.

She looked up only to see a kind-faced man in a white lab coat looking at her worriedly: "It passes." he offered.

"Wh…?" was all that she managed, still feeling blinded by the pain.

"The pain. It passes" he said reassuringly.

"I know." she answered, remembering very well that it passed the last two times too.

"I mean, after a while, you don't feel it once you wake up. It takes some time for the body and the brain to adjust.".

She blinked a few times but kept her eyes on his. He offered her a shy smile and lowered her hands to her torso, his soft fingers releasing them once they were settled in her lap. She hadn't really noticed him the first time, she had only remembered him as a kind-looking man. Now, she took a moment to take in his image; his sharp face, strong jaw, brown eyes and short, curly hair. The silence dragged while he was taking off the wires.

Jack finally broke the silence: "What's your name?".

Moving his eyes from the wires, he quickly found her gaze: "Oh. My name?".

"Yeah." she said curiously.

"It's André." he responded softly.

"Nice to meet you, André. I'm Jack." she said, offering him a shy smile and her hand.

He accepted her hand and they shook them; "Nice to meet you too, Jack.".

"Hey, the practice hours are over!" she suddenly heard from behind her and she turned around quickly only to find a few big screens on the other side of the room.

Her eyes widened when she saw the training grounds from a few corners on one screen and a closeup of other Legends on the other screens. They were all looking impatient. 

"Oh, right." André said and turned around to face the screens himslef.

"Is that how you knew about…?" she asked, remembering the small gesture of help that he had offered her on her first day.

"Yeah. Just a moment." he said and he quickly made his way toward other pods, clicking the buttons on their sides, making all Legends come back to themselves. 

One by one, they all sat up, some of them stretching and others working on disconnecting themselves from the computer, none of them looking confused like she usually felt. It seemed like it was becoming common for her.

Jack's eyes landed on Fuse's and he smiled at her, giving her a wink.

"You're an ass." she said jokingly.

"Oh, yeah? I could teach you to count better if it would be of any help?" he chuckled.

"As I've said, an ass." Jack repeated after herself and giggled.

"Nah, for real, lass. If you're game?".

"Wh… What do you mean?" she asked confusedly.

"I've heard that a cold one or two could help." Fuse said, a bright smile not leaving his face.

"Well, I'm up for a drink, but I don't know about the counting." she said suspiciously.

"Don't worry. I just might give you a few tips.".

"You? Giving me tips?" she laughed sarcastically; "You know that I can't trust you, right?".

"Oh, you just might have to." he offered, his smile turning to a wicked one.

"Hmm… Okay. But you're buying drinks!".

"Hey! We've both just won 200 coins each. You could pay for it yourself!" he complained.

"Nah, that wouldn't be fun now, would it?" she returned him a cheeky smile.

"Oh, fine!" Fuse said theatrically; "Congratu-bloody-lations! You win!".