Prestige doesn’t call it violence. They call it discipline.

In the aftermath of the first tests, the school fractures behind closed doors. A dressing room lies destroyed. Bodies line the floor. Sirens scream through hallways that were never meant to hear them.

And at the center of it all stands Nia Calloway — untouched, unbroken, and finally aware.

As emergency lights flood the room, Nia turns toward us. She doesn’t scream. She doesn’t cry.

She watches.

Because this is the moment she understands the truth: Some students are tested. Some are sacrificed. And some are meant to survive long enough to remember.

The Gauntlet isn’t about talent.

It’s about who makes it out.

Winter Semester, 2007.

Before the blood. Before the rumors. Before anyone knew what “Festival Season” really meant.

Fifteen-year-old Nia Calloway steps into Prestige Academy believing talent is enough. Vocal Hall feels familiar. Safe. Controlled. But when Ms. Vesper quietly finalizes placements and introduces the Festival Gauntlet, the rules begin to shift.

No donors. No favorites. Just pressure.

As Nia’s voice is crowned the standard, her best friend Amaya Parker is invited into something far more dangerous — a test disguised as opportunity. Glass bottles. Open flame. Silence that watches.

This is not rehearsal. This is Round Zero.

And once the Gauntlet begins, it does not stop.

Wolf Dé Roses wakes up burning with purpose—and something darker. Coach Thompson offers a six-grand “mentorship” deal that smells like desperation. Nia Calloway warns him the coach’s debts run deep, while new ally JJ teaches Wolf how to turn rage into rhythm. But when Tessa Briggs is declared “upgraded” instead of missing, the floor drops out. A descent into Prestige’s basement exposes a rigged system, a ghost in an old uniform, and the first glimpse of what ECHO really means. Then the locker door closes…and someone knocks.

Themes: Hunger vs control, exploitation in art, corruption, the cost of truth. Featuring: Wolf Dé Roses, Nia Calloway, Coach Thompson, JJ, Lexi Delgado, Jax Santiago, Maya Williams, Tessa Briggs Soundtrack vibe: Industrial hip-hop × dark R&B × glitch-jazz Setting: Prestige Performing Arts Academy – New Detroit Basement Level