In midswing, Five’s skin transforms into glistening steel. Nine’s fist crunches against Five’s metallic jaw and he cries out immediately. It’s like hitting a metal girder. I put a hand over my mouth to stifle a cry of surprise. Next to me, Eight has to cut off a surprised laugh when he realizes that Nine’s hand is definitely broken. He spins away from Five, clutching his hand against his chest.

Five’s skin returns to normal. “Is that it?”

Nine growls a series of curses. I rush over to take a look at his hand but he pushes me away and stalks out of the room, heading towards the Lecture Hall. I’m sure he’ll want me to heal that hand as soon as he cools down. Anyway, after acting like a jerk, he deserves a little pain.

“If he really listened to Four talking about our battle in Arkansas, he would’ve seen that coming,” Five says as he watches Nine storm off, his voice wooden, almost bored.

“He’s not exactly the master technician,” Eight replies, coolly. “Well, welcome to the team. Enjoy your video games, I guess.”

Eight follows Nine out of the room. Five watches him go, looking a little baffled that Eight would just brush him off. I help him return the couch that Nine flipped over to its normal position.

“I’m not sure what I did wrong here,” Five says quietly. “How am I the bad guy?”

“You’re not,” I reply. “Things just got out of hand. You were both being pretty stupid.”

“He’s been picking on me since I walked in the door,” Five continues. “I figured if I didn’t stand up to him, it would just keep happening.”

I sit on the couch next to Five. “I understand,” I tell him. “Nine has a way of getting under people’s skin. John told me a story about how him and Nine almost tore each other apart once. You’ll get used to it.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t want to get used to it.” Five picks up the video-game controller, but he doesn’t start playing again. He clicks a few buttons and the screen goes dark. “And the thing is, I wanted to train with you guys. I don’t want to be left out. I want to see what you guys can do and learn to work together. It was just the way he asked. I couldn’t stop myself from reacting.”

I pat Five gently on the shoulder. “You know, you and Nine aren’t all that different.”

He seems to consider this, gazing down at the carpet. “No. I guess we aren’t. Should I apologize for hurting his hand?”