by Hayes, Drew
With Amber and, presumably, Will capable of choosing their targets, it wouldn’t take long before anyone low on the combat-ranking list was picked off. That meant Camille needed to cover as much ground as she could early in the fight; hopefully, she’d be fast enough to snare a few points with surprise attacks before the herd was too far thinned. Of course, this strategy also heightened her risk of running up against someone who could easily defeat her, but it wasn’t like Hero work came without dangers. There was no perfect strategy. All she could do was choose the best option and pray that luck was with her.
Hunching down, making her already diminutive body as small as possible, Camille continued to creep through the shadows, hunting for her first victim.
* * *
With the students dropped into the labyrinth, Dean Blaine made his way to the medical monitoring room, where Dr. Moran sat keeping careful watch in front of a row of screens. Although he should be dealing with the viewing area packed to the brim with Heroes (the “Class of Nightmares” rumor seemed to be gaining steam and attention as time wore on), he felt compelled to make sure the safeguards were properly in place. Unlike Sims, the students couldn’t be remotely shut down if a situation turned too dangerous.
“Really? Once is practical, twice is understandable, but you’re swinging by to check on me again? At this point, I’m starting to feel like you don’t have faith in me to do my job.” Dr. Moran didn’t so much as turn from her screens as she berated Dean Blaine, who’d only gotten two steps in the door. It didn’t deter him, however, as he walked over to see what she was watching.
“You know I have complete faith in you. But bringing in outside assistance has left me slightly on edge. This trial is a dangerous one; I don’t want to see any of our students injured because there was a breakdown in the communication lines.”
“They aren’t random Supers we grabbed off the streets,” Dr. Moran said. “Dean Fox and Dean Bishop sent over trusted professors with plenty of experience. If we need to do an emergency extraction, they can handle it. What did you have to trade them for this favor, anyway?”
“Professor Stone and Professor Fletcher will both be helping out with Korman and Overton when they have their semester finals,” Dean Blaine replied. “And though I won’t admit it to him, I think Sean’s whining might have accidentally spawned a good idea. We’d do well to increase our interaction with the other schools beyond just me talking to my fellow deans and a yearly competition. Everyone gets so caught up in their own problems and objectives that we rarely make time for our educators to learn from one another. Perhaps we can make the occasional trading of teachers into a habit.”
“Not the worst idea you’ve ever had.” Dr. Moran pressed a button on the control panel before her. The screen zoomed in closer to reveal Roy, Mary, and Vince pausing at an intersection and then turning left. She hit a few switches and held up a finger for Dean Blaine to stay silent. “Professor Cole, it looks like you’ve got a group heading your way. Professor Wordsworth, you’re our nearest extractor, so please be ready to move if the signal is given.”
“They’re going after Sonya? I’d expected Mary to pick a less martially inclined target, like Ariel or Sean.” Dean Blaine was leaning over Dr. Moran’s chair, so caught up in the action playing out before them that he’d momentarily let his professional language slip. If she noticed that his eyes were moving to another section of the screens, containing a very different group than the one she’d zoomed in on, Dr. Moran didn’t make mention of it.
“Those two rarely engage in combat with the students, which makes them less predictable. Roy’s fought Professor Cole before, so they probably think they know what they’re getting with her. And besides, it’s not like there are any easy wins among our staff.” Dr. Moran pulled the screen’s view back out, spreading her attention across the monitors once more. “But here’s a question: why are you still standing here when there’s a room of Heroes waiting for you to show up and offer commentary?”
“I’m here precisely because there is a room of Heroes waiting to pester me with questions and small talk,” Dean Blaine replied. “I spend years training these students; is it so selfish that I occasionally want to sit back and enjoy watching them?”
“Not really. But that’s not the job you signed up for, is it, Dean?”
“I suppose not.” Dean Blaine tore himself away from the monitors and turned back toward the door. If he hurried, he could make it to the viewing room in under a minute. “How long until they engage with Professor Cole?”
“Assuming they don’t run into anyone else on the way, at least three minutes. They’ve got some ground to cover. With how everyone else is darting about, there’s a fair chance of them having to fight another student, though. As long as you don’t dilly-dally, you won’t miss anything.”
“Then I suppose it is time to get to work.” Dean Blaine headed out the door and down the hall as quickly as he could without crossing the line into a jog. It was a small mercy that he’d noticed Chad’s team on the screen, dropped in some distance from any of the professors. That gave him enough time to shake hands, brave the first round of questions, and hopefully get a good view. Because as much as he wanted to see all of the students he’d helped train show off their skills, there was nothing on Earth that would keep him from witnessing his godson’s match against a professor.
115.
“From what I can tell, we’re about equidistant from three professors.” Alex’s eyes were closed tightly, his legs crossed as he sat on the cold floor and focused. Chad and Shane both stood over him, keeping watch for any signs of other students hoping to score some easy points. With the trial so recently started, it was unlikely anyone could mobilize so quickly, but the stakes were too high to take needless chances.
“Who do we have?” Shane asked.
“We’ve got an almost perfectly clear path to Professor Pendleton, a few others between us and Professor Hill, and there are several students in the general area of Professor Fletcher, so we might be able to slip past or we could have to deal with them, depending on how they move.”
Although he was quite proud of his own senses, Chad was continually impressed at how simple having a telepath on the team (or a Super who was close enough to one) made information gathering. While he could pick out heartbeats and scents well enough to glean bodies’ general locations, not even his heightened observational abilities would have netted such an abundance of specifics in this short amount of time. Alex had saved them at least a quarter of an hour of stumbling around, hoping to find a professor. Now they not only knew where the three nearest were but could take their pick of which to battle.
“Professor Hill is out,” Chad announced. “Without someone who can restrict the use of gravity or manipulate a battlefield, we’d be working at too steep of a disadvantage. These fights will be difficult enough, there’s no need to put ourselves at a harsher handicap.”
“What then, we take on the man who beat the entire class, or the one who specializes in tricking people?” Shane was worried; Chad could hear his heart beating faster than normal. But at the same time, he seemed to be excited. It was a sentiment Chad understood perfectly well. Terrifying as the idea of battling a teacher was, they wouldn’t have made it an option unless students had earned those points in the past. Just knowing it was possible made Chad itch to see if he was capable, and Shane was no less determined than he.
“Does anyone know what Professor Pendleton’s power is?” Alex asked. “I’m not in Subtlety, and I’ve never seen him bust it out during training.”
For a moment, Chad hesitated. This might not be something he was supposed to know, technically speaking. He dismissed the concern almost as soon as it entered his mind, though. They were in a battle, and information was information, regardless of how it was obtained. The very fact that there was a Subtlety teacher spoke to that very point. And it wasn’t like the information was impossible to piece together, even if one hadn’t grown up listening to their
godfather’s tales of the old Hero days.
“Professor Pendleton can turn himself into living fog, not unlike what Professor Fletcher does when he becomes living lightning. In that form, he becomes functionally immune to direct physical attacks.”
“But it’s not like he can do much while he’s fog, right?” Shane didn’t sound too sure of himself; they all knew teaching positions in the HCP weren’t handed out to useless Supers.
“He would never have become a Hero if that were the case,” Chad replied. “Subtlety specialized or not, we have to assume he’s capable of holding his own.”
There was a sharp intake of air from the ground, and Alex tilted his head slightly upward. “We should make a choice soon. Amber is heading this direction, and I don’t think any of us want to take her on before we try to go after a professor.”
Dealing with Amber Dixon was something Chad felt confident this team could handle, but they’d undoubtedly suffer injuries in the process. She would not go down easily, and since she could essentially use echolocation, Amber probably had the best sight among them in this environment.
“Lightning or fog. Not a great choice. Maybe we should hunt around and see if we can find Professor Baker. We’d have the advantage if we could force her into melee,” Shane pointed out.
“The longer we linger, the greater the chance that we run into another student. I can heal, but you two would have to carry your injuries to battle. We can’t afford to be weakened if we take on a teacher. Besides, there’s no guarantee we really would have such an advantage. I’m sure someone tried that tactic on Professor Baker during her Hero days.” Chad’s mind raced as they talked, furiously working out countless potential outcomes from facing either of the opponents. Professor Fletcher’s ability was more martially inclined; however, Professor Pendleton had the combat experience from being a Hero. A member of the Class of Legends, at that.
“Let’s go after Pendleton.” Alex uncurled his legs and slowly rose to his feet, eyes still closed tightly. “I don’t have any tricks up my sleeve to deal with lightning, but I might be able to do something with fog. Unless one of you has a plan to bring down Fletcher?”
“I have a technique in mind that might be viable, but to call it a plan would be giving the idea far too much credit,” Chad said. “I feel like I should point out that Shane and I are both geared toward dealing physical damage, though. If we go after Professor Pendleton, the bulk of subduing him will fall on your shoulders.”
“If you guys are okay with that, then it’s fine by me,” Alex replied. “You two were nice enough to invite me onto your team; I don’t want to steal your thunder in front of the watching Heroes. That said, I am going to be leaning on you both heavily if we go through with this fight. I have a sort of idea of how to go after him—more a general thought than a strategy—and there’s no way I can pull it off alone.”
A plan, no matter how unformed, was better than nothing at all. Chad nodded his agreement before remembering that no one else could make out such subtle motions in the dark. “I have no objections. A win is a win, regardless of who stands at the center. Being able to tackle opponents as a team is an essential skill for any Hero to train, so you’ve got my vote.”
“Count me in, too,” Shane added. “I’ve got no clue how to defeat the other two with this lineup, so I’m happy to follow someone with an idea.”
“Again, you’re really overstating this; it’s a hunch more than anything. But it’s all I’ve got, so I guess we’ll have to work with it. Let’s talk as we move, though. We’re going to want to come at this fight as fresh as possible.” Alex, still with his eyes firmly shut, turned to a hall on the left and walked down it without so much as even a hand out to check for walls.
Chad mentally readjusted his assessment of what Alex was capable of and followed. He’d been counting on being the only one with functional vision in the darkness when the end came and they had to battle one another; that Alex could evidently sense his way around made things more complicated. Then again, it might also prove to make him a more challenging opponent, and that was something Chad was never averse to.
Of course, all of that assumed they made it past their battle with Professor Pendleton, and Chad was far too wise to take that as a given. He had to focus on the obstacle in front of him before worrying about what lay further down the path. After all, there was a very good chance they’d be eliminated before they ever had to turn on one another.
116.
Going after Adam had been risky. If he were a little faster or a hair more prepared, he could have copied her power and turned it against her. Quick as the mimic was, Camille had been training hard to impart as much damage as she could in a single touch. Giving him a head injury was simple, and while his body had already started to shift the moment Camille grabbed his neck from behind, the change reverted almost immediately as he slumped to the ground.
There was no bell or voice to mark Adam’s defeat, and it wasn’t hard to figure out why. At this point in their training, everyone needed to be able to tell for themselves when an enemy was truly down versus when they were faking it. If they couldn’t determine when an enemy was defeated, they were just asking to catch a sneak attack from someone playing possum. To be safe, Camille counted out the three minutes, then reached down and reabsorbed the brain damage. Knocked out and held for three minutes, there was no way they wouldn’t count that as a win.
Nearby, a panel slid open to reveal a lighted doorway. Adam stirred, narrowing his eyes at Camille and the door as it became clear he was out of the game. Still, he left silently, not making a ruckus or trying to sabotage her on the way out. It might have been good sportsmanship or the fact that he knew Heroes were evaluating them. Camille liked to think it was the former, but she had little mind to spare for Adam’s feelings. While one point was a nice start, she had to hustle, or all that would be left were teams.
While there were still stragglers about, Camille needed to grab as many points as she could.
* * *
Alice had gotten lucky. True, she’d had the forethought to warp the gravity around herself to trip up anyone trying to sneak up on her, but even that could have failed if Rich had managed to approach her from the front. It was only fortune that had him come from behind her in the darkness, tripping over his legs as unexpected forces suddenly jerked him sideways. Once she knew where Rich was, it was a simple matter to win. She pinned him face-first to the ceiling and waited for three minutes, ignoring his taunts and barbs that she should face him head-on. Only when Alice was completely certain that the necessary time had passed did she drop him back to the ground. As Rich’s feet touched the floor, a lighted doorway appeared nearby.
With the momentary light source, Alice could just make out the sour look Rich shot her as he took the cue to exit. She couldn’t exactly blame him; being eliminated so early on meant he probably hadn’t scored any points. That was bound to be a blow to the ego, to say nothing of his graduation potential. But much as she understood the look, Alice didn’t feel guilty over beating him. If the roles were reversed, he’d happily have taken her out just as quickly.
It was a load off her mind to know Rich was out. The people with non-physical powers were going to be the biggest troublemakers for Alice to deal with. Handling Roy or Violet would be relatively simple, but neither Selena’s songs nor Shane’s shadows were going to be stopped by mere gravity. Not to mention there were already two teams she knew about, and at least a few of the others were probably going to try and take on a professor. If she met three students at once, it was going to be a hell of a fight.
Lifting several feet off the ground, Alice floated along the dark hallway, silently cutting a brisk pace through the labyrinth. The longer she took, the fewer fellow students there would be to defeat. Alice was aiming for three points within the next fifteen minutes. Assuming at least a few others were going to get knocked out by professors, that would pad her score enough to make sure she finished in a reasonably high spo
t. Of course, if any of the others actually did defeat a professor, those estimates were going right out the window.
But as far as Alice was concerned, anyone who could beat a professor, team or not, deserved to come out on top. That was an accomplishment worthy of shitloads of recognition.
* * *
She stood silently as they entered, giving no more acknowledgment than a slight turn of the head. It wasn’t until they’d all stepped through and the door shut that she spoke, fierce and clear as always, despite the cloths wrapped around her face.
“Take a wrong turn, or have you come here to challenge me?” Professor Cole was watching them, her bright green eyes never wavering as they stepped further into the room. Here, at least, there was plenty of light and space to work in. Mary hadn’t realized it as a freshman, but these rooms were almost identical in dimension to their usual combat cells.
“Challenge.” Roy shifted his grip on his bat at the word; however, he took no aggressive actions. None of them were going to screw up something this important by starting before they were supposed to.
All around them, the sound of clanging metal could be heard. The room was locking itself, ensuring that no one would enter or leave while the match was in progress. Professor Cole turned her body, facing them full on.
“I assume Dean Blaine ran you through the general rules, so you know you have to knock me out, hold me for three minutes, make me quit, or land a blow that could be a killing shot. Roy lightly tapping my skull with his bat, for example, would qualify, because if he did that full-force, I’d be a goner. Hitting my clothes, on the other hand, is not the same thing. You’d need a lot more power to kill me there. It’s going to have some leeway, so trust that if you do manage a hypothetical kill shot, I’ll admit it.”
She swept her cloak out, unsheathing the blade on her side as the bandages all over her body began to unwind. “You’re expected to hold back from dealing any serious damage. The three of you aren’t kids anymore. If you push yourselves, you could absolutely injure, if not kill me. As Heroes, you’re going to be expected to exhibit control over your level of violence as much as your powers. So while hypothetical killing blows are part of the fight, if you genuinely try to snuff me out, you’re going to be immediately disqualified. I’m not trying to kill you either, though, so at least it’s fair. Any questions before we get started?”
