Later that week Blaine was laying down on his bed with a copy of vogue held an inch from his face, when Jeff came tumbling through his door.

"Blaine!"

Blaine lowered his magazine and looked to where Jeff was stood. His hair was all over the place, his tie lopsided and his blazer undone.

"You look like prom the morning after, what's up?" Blaine turned back to the fashion printed on the glossy pages.

"What day is it today?"

"Thursday"

"Funny. It's a certain Warbler's birthday today which means....?"

"Someone's a year older?"

"BLAINE! I got my power!"

Blaine sat up instantly and discarded the magazine somewhere.

"What is it?"

Instead of answering, Jeff tensed his body muscles and his skin started to turn purple. Green scales protruded from his back bone and a long purple tail attached itself to Jeff's behind.

"Why do you look like Barney?"

"What?"

"Barney, you know, the friendly dinosaur?"

"Oh shit. I wanted to turn into a dinosaur and well this is as far as I've got by the looks of things, I need to practise"

"You don't say" Blaine snickered and picked up his satchel to leave the room. "Are you taking part in battle next week?"

"I am indeed!" Blaine smiled giddily and held out his furry hand to reveal a faint outline of the human figure.

"You really need to practise" Blaine patted his shoulder and turned into the corridor.

"God help me" Jeff held his hands in his hands as he started to return to normal, well as normal as Jeff could be.

...

Kurt woke up to a stinging sensation coursing through his body, he pushed back his duvet and that's when he noticed that the black mark on his hand was completed. Now, a bright black clock with wings sat at the base of his thumb, he definitely represented the future. As he stood up from his place on his bed he heard the soft chime of his phone.

It's here! It's completed! – Rachel

Looks like everyone was nearly ready.

Kurt picked up his phone and rang Blaine.

"Hey Kurt, I wasn't expecting you to call"

"Hey, sorry is this a bad time?"

"No not at all, I'm free don't worry"

"I miss you"

Those words tugged at Blaine's heart.

"I miss you too"

"Can we see each other before all hell breaks loose next week?"

"Yeah, s-sure I'd love that I really would"

"Only as friends Blaine"

"Friends"

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah, I do, I love you too"

"I know"

There was a long silence before Blaine spoke up.

"Why are we doing this? We both love each other, why can't we have one more day just to be together? End on a high rather than an awkward break up"

"Okay, one more day. Then no more until the end of the battle, to see what goes down"

"One more day is all I ask"

Kurt hung up with a small smile delicately dancing around his face.

...

Kurt ran a finger over the picture that marked his skin like a tattoo, it felt warm and sent a tingling sensation down his arm. He smiled softly, he felt he was ready, he knew his fate and he was ready to accept it.

Some subconscious part of Kurt's mind has always wondered what dying would be like, would he be greeted at the big white gates in the sky by his mother? It'd been so long since he'd seen his mother. He missed her more than anything, her gorgeous hazel coloured hair that hung loose around her shoulders, her soft pale blue eyes that held kindness and nothing but love. His mother always gave the best hugs, her arms used to cling to his body as she rocked him back and forth when he was sad. Her smile would brighten the dullest moments and let's face it, since he'd broken up with Blaine his life was full with dull moments.

Every day at school he faced the likes of Dave, endured many slushie attacks and pushes into lockers. He sported a lock shaped bruise on his lower back that he kept hidden from everyone. Maybe he was ready, only time would tell if it was in fact his time.

...

Kurt walked through the halls of McKinley as he did every day; kept his head held high and pretended that people weren't talking about him. He would always catch a whispered slur that people shared with their friends, they weren't able to say it to his face.

Today felt different though, he felt lighter and more prepared for the worst. He waited by Rachel's locker as he did every day and the two shared a quick embrace upon her arrival. Everything was normal, everything seemed normal but fear was pumping through sixteen teenaged bodies. One week remained until the two schools must fight against each other.

"Rach, are you scared of dying?"

The two were sat next to each other in period one maths when Kurt turned away from his page of equations to ask Rachel the question that had been spinning through his thoughts for a while.

"Yeah, I guess, isn't everyone?"

"No, I'm not, not really. I know that me dying means that Blaine will be safe"

"Not necessarily, it just means that he won't die at that particular time" Rachel sat with her pencil stuck between her lips; eyes focused on the work in front of her.

Kurt had never thought of that. Kurt dying instead of Blaine didn't guarantee Blaine's safety, how did he not realise that?

"I suppose you're right"

Rachel turned to face Kurt when she noticed that doubtful tone to Kurt's voice.

"Look, I've said this once and I'll say it again, fight for yourself and no one else"

"Blaine means more to me than I mean to myself though"

"Then stay strong for him. Keep yourself safe, you're no good to Blaine if you're dead two minutes into the battle"

"God you're smart"

"I know" She smiled her toothy grin and returned to her work.

Maybe Kurt would fight for survival after all.

...

Blaine was in physics when he noticed the sharp pain in his hand; he looked down to see the black heart colour itself in. He smiled to himself, knowing that his heart would always belong to Kurt. One week. He was going to make sure that Kurt was safe and that he could show Kurt how much he really loved him.

...

Dave Karofsky was on the McKinley football ground when he dropped the ball and clutched at his left hand, a finger with a few lines coming from it represented his power of touch.

...

Wes was on his way to Warbler practise to set up for their meeting when he dropped his gavel and brought his hand to his face, a sphere was tattooed to his skin and he smirked to himself. He was on a mission of his own.

...

Rachel was at home practising for her solo in glee club when the searing pain caused her to sing off key and fall to her knees, the finished masterpiece of an eagle eye adorned her flesh.

...

Sebastian was washing his hands when he noticed the black mark shine as the final touches were etched into his skin. A black raincloud with several raindrops symbolised his power of water.

...

Tina was walking home with Mike when Mike withdrew his hand as Tina's hand became too hot to touch. A shadowy figure was visible on her hand to symbolise the soul. Her power allowed her to replicate herself to make it harder for someone to know which the real Tina was.

...

David was in his dorm room when he felt the numb feeling in his thumb. He looked down to find three simple lines that represented movement. To everyone around him, David was calm and collected but on the inside he was just as scared as everyone else.

...

Puck was at the gym lifting weights when he dropped a particularly heavy dumbbell and saw his hand glow a brownish red colour. A few small flames represented his ability to produce fire. Fire represented Puck as a person, he was fuelled with ambition and determination; just like a fire, and he wasn't going to be extinguished without a fight.

...

Jeff, poor Jeff. He'd been in the same boat as everybody else for only a few hours but his mark was already completed and his fate had already been decided. Jeff was the most naïve out of all the Warblers and didn't understand the whole concept of the battle but he went along with it because his friends were going. That's the thing about Jeff, he'd do anything for his friends.

...

Sam's mark was completed without any pain or sign that it was completed. He only found out when he looked down as he played guitar and noticed the outline of a cloud completed from start to finish. What he didn't know was that he was a threat to both Kurt and Blaine.

...

Thad's ears were filled with a constant buzzing and his whole arm vibrated rapidly as the remaining parts of his mark were filled in. A simple picture if an ear represented his power to hear sounds from a mile away.

...

Kitty and Santana, both fearless cheerleaders at McKinley were at practise when they turned to each other with the same expression. On Santana's Latina hand, a trainer adorned her skin to represent her ability to run really fast that she left a breeze of air behind as she left. Kitty's pale flesh was marked with the human face to symbolise her power to read people's minds. The pair of high school cheerleaders may have been untouchable in the walls of their school were no longer unbeatable in the outside world they were going to experience way too quickly.

...

Trent was getting a lecture from Hunter about how to be a man when the two Warblers gained their completed mark. Trent had a picture of the earth to symbolise his power to separate land and interact with nature, he'd caused a few problems at Dalton which involved a tree and plant roots... Hunter's power was the ability to see a person's past and this was shown by a clock face with only one hand and a crack through the centre of it.

...

The Dalton boys huddled into the common room for their battle meeting as the McKinley students huddled in the choir room.

Sixteen frightened students.

Sixteen fully developed powers.

Sixteen contenders.

One potential survivor.