Futuristic Mass Deception

[Chawieeee]

Against her stubborn character, Layla decided to make a run towards the finish line after seeing the 19s distracting the 5 man squad. Best case scenario she would have liked to take them all on, but at this point in time, the better choice was running in her opinion. Carrying her rucksack was like a child running for her school bus in the morning with a heavy school bag. One of the reasons for her choice was the fact she was not sure whether she was allowed to use her weapons, and with her earlier ‘cheating’ (according to the white haired girl) Layla was not ready to risk another controversial action. It was not like she was intimidated or scared by Aster, but more the thought of disqualifying her whole team because of her.

Layla stood up quickly from her slide and carried her rucksack towards the finish line. She turned her head around and saw the guys from the frontline battling against the 19’s. But that image faded really quickly as the tiny blonde bumped straight into a man with a trident who looked totally ready to stab her to death. “Go on, kill me, get it over with.” she ordered him with no emotions in her words. Although normally she is quite good a evading due to her smaller size and quick agility and balance, she wasn’t so sure about this moment with a heavy rucksack on and some archers as backup

 

[PinkChiffon]

​

Mena did not have to be told twice. She pulled her rapier out of her rucksack and held it defensively. She was wary of the archers, she was quick but not outrun arrows kind of quick. Mena kept herself low as she zigzagged her path across. She couldn't outrun the arrows, but she was going to try to make herself as hard to hit as she could. Mena was coming up near where Layla was squared off against a guy with a triton. She overheard her remarks as she got closer, "Go on, kill me, get it over with." Mena thought back to the guy who jumped off the 15 ft platform while being injured. 'Does everyone around lack self-preservation skills?' Mena pushed herself forward, as fast as she could carry herself. With her blade sitting comfortably in her hand, Mena got within striking range of the triton wielder. She lunged forward in an attempt to strike him in the abdomen. Mena's follow-through was something that would have her coach back home want to crawl out of his skin, but Mena was more focused on diverting his attention then it was to injure. Just as quickly as she lunged forward, she pulled back and tugged on Layla's elbow, "Let's go!"

 

[Yakov011001]

Klaüs was hurting more than he'd like to admit. Somehow in the midst of this whole debacle, Klaüs was the only that got hurt! I am not fucking vibing right now, guys! He proceeded to shove his sword into whatever bag he'd picked up. This makes no fucking sense, why would I ever put my sword anywhere but the most accessible spot on my body during a mission? Putting them in these bags kind of defeats the purpose of their sheaths. Klaüs grumbled inwardly for some time while he took a few moments to let the pain in him settle. When he snapped from his stupor, his entire team was ahead of him! The nineteens moving to distract their would-be assailants, Klaüs decided that this would be the best time to employ the 'fuck it' adjustment. He'd been doing most of the thinking anyway, so he just wanted just a quick moment to himself where he didn't need brain cells. He took to charging down the way at full sprint while no one was paying attention to him. If he was lucky, no one would notice.

Fuck it.

 

[Hugh Flynn]

THE FIVE MAN SQUAD

THREE
When the blonde finally decided to move, Three adjusted his positioning accordingly to intercept her. He expected her to dodge him but when she ran straight on, he will admit he was a bit stunned. The ice-cold remark didn't help either. All factors included, he was too slow to use his trident when another gal, the one he'd seen standing at the entrance, promptly stabbed inwards with her rapier. Out of reflex, he activated his tactician's shield and deflected the stab. He was about to counter stab with his trident when an explosion detonated on his shield, right underneath his wrist. He yelled a curse as he stumbled backward, the pain of a point-blank explosion arrow too much.

Skill: Unknown

FOUR AND FIVE
Four stifled a laugh when his twin completely sabotaged Three's fight. He was definitely in for it now. Four started moving up to match his twin's positioning and told him to aim for the two gals. The man started to draw his bow at the sight of the commotion of two gals, eyes locking with Five as they looked for the perfect angle. They'd done this many times before, and it didn't take too long for them to find the angle and let loose their bowstrings.

Five picked the perfect target, watching as the gal stepped onto the wooden platform into the battle. With perfect aim, he lined up the shot and fired. Five's face blanched however when Three activated his tactician's shield and completely intercepted his shot. He knew he was going to get punished severely by his team captain later, but he shook away the thought and lined up another arrow in hopes to redeem himself. This arrow was also an unknown arrowhead.

Four shot to the left, while Five shot to the right, forming an X as two unknown arrowheads flew through the air. The arrows seemingly dropped these small black circles intermittently, forming a dotted line in the arrows' path. When the arrows finally landed, they did nothing special as they weren't aiming for anyone in particular. Four and Five, however, backed up and nocked knockback arrows. Four aimed and let an arrow loose for a male that they hadn't seen at all while Five aimed for the ongoing battle between One and the nineteener.

Skill: Explosive Arrows. An unknown arrowhead has been drawn, its effect unknown to both the eighteeners and nineteeners.​

 

[thelovelyloser]

Allowing Lukas to help fix the strap Penelope lifted her arms, mumbling yet another phrase to express her gratitude. Multiple times she had been thanking her teammates, wondering if this was what it was always like to work with a group. It was actually nice to have other to rely on, bringing a bit of weight off of her shoulders. Of course nerves still lingered, knowing that she had to pull her own weight or she would be left behind with ease.

Despite her body aching from the fall she pushed forward, following behind the brunette 19 as told. Her eyes flickered toward the teachers, lips pressing together in an awkward smile as she shot a quick wave. It was an odd interaction to have before rushing into battle. She couldn't help but wonder how many trainees' hey had watched pass by only to be taken down immediately. Were they numb to watching it now?

Noticing just how many unconscious bodies lay around the area she was more than willing to leave the fighting for Lukas and Aster, knowing that she would have no chance. If she tried to use her crossbow it would be for the first time, likely with no luck. She could just picture pulling the trigger only for it to fly the wrong direction and hit her own teammates. The possibility made her wince, knowing that with her chances it would happen.

Her goal was to not resort to fighting then and if she had to she could easily reach back for the small knife attached to her bag. Though she fancied her bow, perhaps a different weapon would be a better choice for a beginner like her. Aiming required some amount of skill while anyone could wildly swing a sword and hope to land a hit.

Knowing that she couldn't linger for long she inched her way down the left side in an attempt to not drawn any attention toward herself. Most seemed to be occupied with the others, perhaps being the perfect cover to sneak by. Her eyes nervously kept flickering to her teammates in the thick of it, hoping they were smart enough to run when it was important.

 

[Chawieeee]

Layla was ready to die right there and then, waiting for a trident to go through her body like a knife cutting a chocolate cake. But before the well-built man could attack her, the brunette quickly pulled her away from danger. Although she felt quite thankful, she was the last person on earth who would show her feelings, and even if she wanted to thank her, there was no time to do so as the archers started to aim and shoot at Team Alpha and the 19s.

With good reactions, Layla quickly placed her arm around the girl who saved her life and threw herself and the girl to the ground to avoid the first two arrows (which seemed undangerous afterwards). "If I wanted you to save me, I would have said so." Layla told the girl who had saved her abruptly, whilst laying on her chest on the ground.
When the next two arrows were being shot, Layla noticed that they were not being aimed at them. And when the trident-guy stepped backwards too, she knew it was time for them to help their teammates behind them. She quickly stood up whilst holding Mena's arm to pull her up at the same time too. "You take the left one" She yelled at her whilst still not knowing her name. Taking her glaive out of bag after seeing everyone starting to use weapons, she looked at the right bowman and threw her glaive at his bow hoping it would buy the others some time. More specifically the other blonde and her injured teammate who were running, and also the ninteens behind her so they would not have to worry about one more bowman.

 

[-ferret-]

Weasel seemed to be bring up the rear as he entered the arena in which his team was fighting. He assessed the playing field with a sharp eye. Staring down each stage twenty to gauge each skill and to judge which would be the wisest for him to focus on. With his best skill being in knowing how to hold a bow, it seemed taking out the other two archers was the best course of action. So with a determined finality, Weasel grabbed his bow in his right hand and placed an arrow with his left.

Weasel had never touched a bow, much less shot one before. But he'd read quite a lot about how to shoot one. The next sequence of events all happened in the span of maybe two seconds, some things even at the same time. It began with a slight nod, a huff of breath, and the decision to begin. Weasel raised his right arm, readying his stance. As he pulled the string back, three fingers under the arrow, he breathed in. Pulling his first knuckle to the corner of his mouth, he released his breath and with it, released his fingers. As his arrow flew forwards, his hand painted across his face and neck and touched back to his shoulder. It would have been a perfect shot (or Weasel liked to believe it would have) had he not made two grievous mistakes. The first was obvious as he let out a loud yelp, similar in sound as to when a dog gets their tail stepped on. The bow string had scraped down his arm, stinging and singing the delicate skin. As opposed to keeping the limb straight, Weasel had forgotten that important tidbit and overextended the joint. That meant that his inner elbow and arm were straight in the path of the bowstring. His second mistake was in his grip. He'd held the bow grip with his fist instead of lightly in the V of his hand. This was information he'd read extensively on. He kicked himself for foolishly forgetting.

When holding a bow, an archer was never supposed to grip the bow with their fist as it would severely alter the shot. Instead they were to ever so lightly hold it in the V of their thumb and first finger, using the tension of pulling back the string to keep the bow upright and in place. It had been extremely difficult to understand without much of a demonstration, but through a few pictures and detailed writing, Weasel had finally understood.

What did this mean for Weasel's very first shot though? Well first of all, he didn't know how far the distance between himself and the other archers were, so he'd guessed and aimed his arrow directly at one of the archer's chest. Whether or not he'd have properly held the bow, he would have missed as the arrow sailed through the air and descended about three feet in front of the two archers. Weasel felt both pathetic and embarrassed, cringing at his missed shot. It was also way too far to the right, meaning if he did estimate the right distance, he still would have missed. Though the arrow did detonate, it didn't seem to do too much to the archers.

Taking all of the new information into account, Weasel immediately grabbed a new arrow and nocked it. Reviewing his stance, grip, and arm, he pulled back the arrow to his nock point, let the arrow fly at the same time as completing his follow through, and hit his target dead on. Well dead on enough. His target had been the wall behind the archer, the archers close enough that the impending detonation would mean knocking them forward and off balance.

Weasel let out a cheeky grin as the arrow detonated, he could get used to this.

 

[Shadow Cat]

​

Aster jumped back as she watched the man's weapon elongate and fuse into double scythes before swinging them wildly around in the air, obviously an effort made to create some distance. That's one hell of an upgrade...

The thought was a blur through her brain as she dropped into an offensive stance, not willing to give up her advantage quite yet. There was a brief pause between the two as the sized each other up, taking in physique, disadvantages, weaknesses. Then, before he had a chance to attack first, she lunged.

The movement was deliberately slow, and she waited until he was mid swing before ducking and rolling in the opposite direction, popping back up on the man's follow through and rushing forward for a quick slice on his core. She had to force herself to accelerate the movement past what she would normally use, however, as the man proved himself to be much quicker on his feet than she had pegged and he continued his turn, coming full circle to swing back at her.

She felt her blade hit bare flesh before something blunt impacted her head, she guessed a part of the scythe's handle. The force behind the blow sent her flying backward, and she found herself on the ground before she realized she had been hit.

It took her a moment to adjust, the hit in the head setting the world off kilter for a moment as she fought to regain her senses. She had been under the impression that the 20's would be pulling punches so as not to kill anyone. Clearly, that was not the case.

"I'll kick your ass, you son of a bitch." She muttered as she climbed unsteadily to her feet, dropping back into a fighter's stance, this time defensive, as she shielded her head with one tonfa and the core of her body with the other.

 

[PinkChiffon]

Mena drew in a sharp breath and she was dropped to the floor. She could not believe the nerve of this girl! Where did she get off speaking with so much venom to someone she doesn’t know? Was she raised by wolves? If Mena’s parents ever heard her speak like that to anyone, she’d be in a world of trouble. Mena wanted nothing more than to run her mouth and give the girl a piece of her mind. She knew better, she was taught better. Mena remembers what her parents had said to her before her departure, ‘Don’t make any waves, don’t make enemies.’ Easier said than done. Mena swallowed her anger, “I’ll keep that in mind the next time you need saving,” she said with a crocodile smile.

Mena jerked her arm back from Layla’s grip as she was brought to her feet. She nodded in agreement and took off towards her designated target. As she watched an arrow that had come from the red-headed boy miss by a mile, she took notice that he nocked a second arrow. Not wanting to get caught in the splash damage from his arrow, she pulled back and maintained a fair distance until the detonation had gone off. Her target now off-balance and distracted, Mena charged forward. She got within a narrow measure of the archer and lunged forward, striking for their dominant arm.

 

[Hugh Flynn]

When the man with claws stepped behind the stocky ax-wielder, Lukas knew exactly what was going to happen. It was a common technique used by claws users, this one especially after having watched this squad train with each other for a year. Instead of backing up as any person would, Lukas loosened the grip on his whip, dropping a short length between his hands.

When the claw strike came down on Lukas, he countered by pulling up the whip, wrapping the length in between his hands around his foe's wrist. An aggressive technique flashed in the senior's mind, one involving a broken wrist and a ton of paperwork, before making the split-second decision to just restrain the man. No paperwork over violence any day.

With the whip wrapped around his opponent's wrist, he yanked the man towards him and twisted so his puppet would face away. He had again heard the unmistakable screech of a knockback arrow flying towards them, promptly allowing him to use the claws-wielder as a meatshield. Unfortunately, this was the wrong decision. The force of the knockback arrow was strong enough to send both of them flying backward, landing the heavier man on top of Lukas.

All the air immediately left Lukas' lungs as he was practically crushed under a grown man's weight, causing him to see stars. The claws-wielder on top of him took this as an opportunity and elbowed Lukas in the side, shooting several waves of pain into his body. In a controlled, vehement rage, Lukas loosened the whip hold he had on the man before promptly kicking him off.

The senior scrambled onto his feet, taking a step back to catch his breath and tune out the pain in his side. His eyes dropped to the floor, noticing a dotted line that originated from the archers and stretched underneath his legs. He shot a questioning look at the man in front of him, who shrugged ignorantly in response. Lukas' brow furrowed, knowing something was up as he had never seen whatever this was in their training sessions. A moment passed before Lukas quickly snapped the whip in the space right in front of the claws user's face, hoping to disorient him as he threw a hard haymaker.

 

[Hugh Flynn]

THE FIVE MAN SQUAD

ONE
One stumbled back in a daze from the whip, his life flashing before his eyes as the metal-tipped flays came dangerously close to his face. What he did not notice was the wild haymaker the nineteener had thrown, the devastating punch connecting with his head. The claw-wielder retracted his claws and turned back to the two archers, giving some sort of cryptic hand signal.

Skill: Unknown
TWO
A grin spread across Two's face when he felt the blunt edge of his scythe hit the gal, immediately replaced by a grimace as her bladed tonfa sliced into his side. His apparel was easily sliced through as well as his skin, the wound immediately spurting blood that ran down his side. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw One give the signal and promptly started to back away towards the sides, away from the nineteener who just pulled into a defensive stance.

Skill: Switch Weapon Form.
THREE
The shieldman was glad that the eighteeners were not as ruthless as the nineteeners, watching as both that were fighting him switched targets to the more potent people. He noticed the hand signal from One, and started backing towards the sides in pursuit of Two.

Skill: Unknown

FOUR AND FIVE
Four watched as his arrow sailed towards his target before his attention was caught by his twin. Five motioned towards One, who was giving them a hand signal, the signal for "Activate." Four nodded and pressed a button on his bracer before being blasted from behind by a stray explosion arrow. He wondered if one of his own arrows had malfunctioned before he noticed a small redhead sporting a bow a distance away. His face reddened in anger at the audacity of the eighteener, nocking an explosion arrow into his bow.

Five brought Four's attention to One's hand signals and trained his finger to press the button if Four didn't. His actions were interrupted when a glaive came out of nowhere, this one the default glaive color, indicating that this wasn't the nineteener's doing. When Five moved to dodge, he mistakenly forgot to protect his weapon as the blades of the glaive nicked one of the pulleys on his compound bow. It completely messed up his tuning, so it nullified his weapon completely. His eyes locked onto a female eighteener a short distance away, scoffing at the audacity. Noticing his teammates were already nearing the side walls, he hit the second activation button before picking up his twin who had fallen down from a rogue explosion arrow.

The two men, being the furthest from the wall, dashed to their right to the nearest wall. Four shot an arrow into the distance whilst running, while Five booked towards the edge. The moment Five got there, doors in the walls began opening up, each for the members of the 5-man squad. He took one last look at the incoming teenagers before disappearing into the wall with his twin. The black circles that were laid onto the floor earlier started spewing a green gas. It quickly filled the area, blanketing Phase 3's platform in an opaque, toxic green smoke.

Skill: Explosive Arrows, Knockback Arrows, Gas Mine Arrows.

SYNOPSIS
All members of the 5-man squad have evacuated the area which has now been covered in a strong cloud of tear gas.
Strong enough to immobilize anyone stupid enough to breathe in a sizable amount.
Extra points will be awarded for being the team that defeated the 5-man with no casualties. (this is announced over a speaker the moment the 5-man squad evacuates the vicinity.
​

 

[Yakov011001]

Klaüs was charging full sprint down the way, he didn't have time to be looking around! If he did, he was risking the chance to get clocked by something. Just run, just run, just run. Study, study, study, study, study, study, study, study! He had no thoughts, his head was very much empty. Though, he couldn't help the pain he was in, and when he tripped over a small divot in the ground from an earlier impact--from what, he wasn't sure--he couldn't recover. He spilled his whole body onto the ground. That shit hurted, but he couldn't help but think that it saved him from whatever flew over his head as he fell. When he fell though, he had noticed that he was sitting at the end of the way. This was the last phase, and he could ditch the bag! Still on the floor, he wrestled himself out of his bag and grabbed the sword from it. He took himself to his feet using his sword, and marched down the way using it to support him.

He'd actually made it a ways in, about half way. He had made it a point to stay under the radar, and it was paying off. At this pace, he was going to reach the finish line first!

 

[PinkChiffon]

As the 20s began to clear out, Mena was feeling very cock of the walk as she spun on her heels and made her way for the concrete hallway, a bit of swagger in her step. The statement about extra points being awarded just served to fuel her ego even further. She was about a fourth way to her destination when the gas began to fill the platform. The foul smell hit like a brick wall and her eyes began to instantly water up. 'Oh absolutely not.' Mena thought as she picked up her pace into a sprint. She was not about to be gassed unconscious for the second time today. Although this stuff smelled different then what was used earlier, Mena was not a gambler. She tugged the collar of her shirt up over her nose and held her breath as she ran. Her lungs were stinging from the small amount she had already inhaled, and her eyes were so watery she couldn't make out what was in front of her. She pushed on blindly, praying that she was still headed towards her perceived exit.

 

[thelovelyloser]

Penelope couldn't help but cringe inwardly at her distinct lack of progress. She took to staying low and out of the way, but why is it that she was so far behind the others? She couldn't help but feel that she was disappointing her team by being behind, especially since they were fending off stage twenties at the same time. But suddenly all the twenties disappear in a flash. Where did they go? She noticed something suddenly under her foot now that the immanent dangers of the twenties were gone. Lifting it, it seemed to be a small black circle on the ground. The second she noticed it, it spewed some gross green mist all in her face. "Aah!" She cried, recoiling backwards and covering her face.

Immediately tears were welling up in her eyes, then spilling out, and a number of other unsavory and not fun things. Her everything was on fire: her eyes burned, her skin burned, she could hardly breath as the gas invasively invaded her lungs. She stumbled forward, it should be fine if she just gets out of the smoke and into some fresh air. But as she continued, the gas came in more. Soon all she could see was green mist, not at all helped by the increasing amount of tears she continued crying. She ran forward more and more, but she couldn't get out. Not that she would know because she couldn't see anything at all.

Maybe it was hopeless, maybe it was all for nothing. She slowed to a halt, not knowing where she ended up. Her heart slowly sank within her. Her parents worked her to death so she could be doing this? When she watched her brothers and sisters all leave for their own collection days, she couldn't have fathomed that this is what they were all faced with. Suddenly, more so than ever she felt like she in way over her head, that she couldn't do anything right. This was the first real obstacle she had faced so far and it's already gotten the best of her. Her legs suddenly gave out, and she was on her knees. She shifted her weight so that she was sitting.

"What- what do I do now?" She whispered to herself. Her eyes were still full of tears that overflowed and trailed down her face, but it wasn't the gas anymore.

 

[Yakov011001]

Klaüs had made it a ways away from where he'd started his makeshift sword cane doing wonders for him. I'm almost there, just a little ways more. Though, there was a particular noise that caught his attention. A muted metal clang from behind him. He turned around to find Penelope had collapsed right on the edge of what seemed to be a massive fucking cloud of green fog. She didn't look good, at all. After a quick glance back to the finish line, Klaüs turned away and marched to her side supporting himself with his sword still. Having made it to her side, he warned her of his approached since she probably couldn't see him coming.

"Hey, on your left, lass." He slowly leaned down to meet her.

From where he was now, he could see the tears streaming down her face. He'd think it the gas behind them if not for the heavy sobs she was choking. He lightly placed his palm on her back.

"Hey, we're almost there, let's go," He encouraged with a softer voice, he also reach into his cardigan and retrieved another chocolate. "Let me help that off of you." He added, picking her up.

He hoisted her up on to her feet taking the bag off of her and getting her crossbow out of it. He took both her hands into his, holding them palms up. In her right hand, he placed her crossbow; in her left, the chocolate he took out for her.

"You ready? We're going to get you across, yeah?" He held her up by throwing her arm over his shoulder and taking her by the waist.

He felt a pain fire at his right side. He still wasn't feeling good at all, but neither was she and he couldn't just leave this bean alone in good conscious. He stood to the best of his ability and made to cross the way with her. I can't help but notice the height difference now...

thelovelyloser

 

[Chawieeee]

Just when Layla was about to knock the bowman out with her machete, the men had evacuated the area they were in which had turned into a place full of toxic smoke. Before the blonde could even react, she had breathed in a solid amount of toxic air into her lungs. She smashed her sword with force on the ground for stability as if the ground was a buzzer for a pop quiz, but it did not help her for constantly switching between being conscious and unconscious. The toxicity made her feel dizzy like she just stepped out a rollercoaster and for once she was not the source of the toxicity.

Layla tried to focus as much as possible, coughing her lungs out. She was not far from the end of phase three, about one fourth to go. Eventually she reached the end point as she bended her knee after getting out of the smoke. She took a deep breath and kept coughing, hoping the toxic air would not have too many after effects. Surely they will not actually kill some trainees this way? The sick girl thought before fainting on the ground.

 

[Hugh Flynn]

Lukas probably had it the worst among the team. Having just been elbowed in the side, he was already gasping for air just to shoo away the stars in his vision. But having to immediately hold his breath from the green cloud of tear gas? Ohhh god. Not good. Lukas tried his best, but he couldn't for long. He took as little of a breath as he possibly could before clamping a hand over his mouth and nose again.

But even with that teensy breath, his lungs already wanted to take a knife and stab themselves with it. His eyes and nose felt the same way. Aside from his body's self-destructive consensus, he had another item on his to-do list to check off. FUCKING RUN GODAMMIT. Lukas was known to be pretty fast for that of his weight and height, but given the circumstances, he probably broke an academy record or two.

He blindly barreled in the direction they were facing as his eyes were cemented shut, be that his own doing or the gas' doing. After what felt like ages, light once again bled through Lukas' eyelids. It was a pretty satisfying feeling, having the sun touch his skin again. Do you know what else touched his skin? The pavement. An arrow that had embedded itself in the floor provided the perfect obstacle for Lukas' foot, tripping him and sending him into a painful tumble across the cement. Now that wasn't a pretty satisfying feeling.

Reaching the end of his roll, Lukas just lay there for a second, catching his breath while questioning his standards for life. Infiltration. Not a single dull day.
Picking himself off the floor, he tried to speed up his pace as he could feel the effects of the tear gas slowly getting stronger the longer he stood still. With just that one breath I'm about to pass out. Speaking of passing out, a familiar thud of a body against cement sounded somewhere in front of him. He forced his eyes to open, even just a bit through the flood of stinging tears. Making out the blurry silhouette of one of his teammates on top of green blinking lights, he pushed himself even harder.

Come on, just a few more steps. The finish line is right there. Lukas fell to the floor just as he passed the finish line, the effects of the gas completely taking effect, as if the bigger the target the harder they'll fall. Immediately curling up into a ball, he covered his eyes and tried to control his breathing in order to combat the tear gas. Just like you've been taught Lukas, slow breaths.

 

[-ferret-]

Weasel did not like the gas. No. Not at all. It reminded him of Bad Things. Of gasping for breath and tears and burning lungs. Of hurting heads and shaking hands. Of hiding and screaming. It reminded him of all of that and none of it. His chest felt tight and he felt like he was choking. This was a different kind of gasping for air. This was the kind were he could breathe but it would hurt him.

It didn't matter though. Whether he could breathe or not. The only thing that mattered right now was getting to the finish line. So he felt out with his hands, looking for the wall. When he touched the rough surface, he stumble along the way. He was crying and wheezing and he honestly felt like rat poop, but after a long, arduous journey, he tripped over one of his teammates. He'd never felt so grateful to fall down. And to breathe. Oh sweet relief. People definitely took breathing for granted.

 

[thelovelyloser]

Though Penelope couldn’t see through the tears, she immediately recognized the familiar voice of her teammate. In response she desperately reached for him, letting out a sob of relief when her hands clasped to his shirt. “Klaüs?” She quietly croaked through the cries, not caring about the formality of numbers with her head so clouded with fear. It was quiet enough that no one else would hear, her voice fading as the gasps for air slowed.

With her arm slung around his shoulder she clutched her weapon in one hand and she could tell he placed a bar of chocolate in the other. Despite the tears staining her red cheeks and her eyes being irritated from the painful gas, a small and weak smile tugged at her lips. She was still surrounded by darkness but at least she had a tether bringing her back to the course, something she could cling to. Both having to limp due to the injuries they slowly made it closer to the finish line, her blindly trusting his guide.

 

[PinkChiffon]

Thunk. In her all of her eyes shut glory, Mena smacked straight into a wall. It was exactly the sort of thing to the wind right out of her sails after doing what she considered to be a pretty alright job at the course. In a slightly messed up way, she was feeling grateful that her teammates were in the same sort of predicament and were therefore unlikely to see her slip up. It wasn't right or kind to think that way, but they had only just gotten there and Mena was trying very hard to keep up appearances. Mena reached her hands out to the wall and took small careful steps to follow alongside it. It was only a few meters away that she felt the bend in the wall, signifying that she reached the hallway. She kept on following the wall until her foot touched against one of her teammates. Her eyes were still watering like crazy, it took everything in her power to not touch her face, but she was so relieved to be done with this insane course.

 

[Hugh Flynn]

THE FINISH LINE

The lights of the finish line immediately turned on with a sage green tinge when the first trainee completed the course. Of course, they wouldn't see the lights considering their eyes have been gassed shut. They'll have to get used to it, that's probably the least pain they'll feel with what lies ahead. A group of teachers behind a screen watched the trainees through multiple cameras, each scribbling down notes and marks whenever a trainee did something worthy of interest. They were definitely caught off guard when the finish line lights lit up, surprised that someone had completed it this fast. It was a member of the Alpha team, followed by a former Alpha member. The observers nodded in approval.

As the rest of the trainees, or what was left of them, crossed the finish line, medics came out of the walls with syringes filled with a weird lime green substance. They turned their attention to those that crossed the finish line, paying absolutely no mind to those that collapsed on the stretch of cement just before the finish line. As each trainee got injected with the syringe, the teenagers would scramble to their feet as if pure energy was just given to them. Overhead, a speaker sounded with a recorded message, repeating every few minutes. CONGRATULATIONS TO THOSE THAT CROSSED THE FINISH LINE. PLEASE WAIT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LAGGED BEHIND TO CATCH UP BEFORE PROCEEDING TO YOUR BARRACKS. SCORES AND ROLES WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN THE MORNING. Sighs of relief and whoops of joy chorused around the teens, grateful that the endeavor was finally over.

The observers looked at the screens, each satisfied with another successful test. All except one. The man was fuming, for what reason no one knew. He stormed out of the office, tapping the bracer on his wrist. Another man followed suit, only this one wasn't as furious as the other, looking to follow him only to stop whatever he was planning to do. A series of doors opened up, leading to a 20-foot drop onto the stretch of cement below. He spoke into his bracer, which amplified his voice into the speaker, "Phase Four will now commence." The sound of the other man trotting up behind him earned a scoff from the man.

"Don't try to stop me."
"I kinda have to. Whatever you're planning to do, stop it. The test is over, let them rest."
"You know the test is flawed."
"Flawed? The hell are y-"


The first man interrupted the second by grabbing him by the neck and shoving him over the edge. Watching as his falling victim fell into a safety roll, he turned back to the crowd of trainees. "Try to hit this man even once, and you'll be granted bonus points." He spoke into his comms, addressing the one he just pushed over the edge. "Better defend yourself here. Wouldn't want those bonus points to ruin the original score huh?"The man did another series of taps on his bracer before the ground beneath the entire hallway started rumbling. The stretch of cement slightly in front of the finish line rumbled into motion, moving away from the teenagers to reveal another deadly 50-foot drop. By the time the slab of concrete stopped moving, the trainees were faced with a final, impromptu battle. A boss battle.

PHASE FOUR: BOSS BATTLE
The trainees have been reinvigorated through green syringes, completely nullifying whatever effect the tear gas had on them. Now the handful that crossed the finish line has one final obstacle, their Medic teacher. Do your best to even lay a hand or a blade on him in an effort to gain more points. Survive long enough for your foe to lose interest, keeping away from both the teacher's attacks and the 50-foot drop behind you. The gap is not jumpable.

​

not everything is as it seems.

 

[Hugh Flynn]

Jullian shot a death glare at the white-haired man above, determined to give him a piece of his mind once he gets out of here. He knew that once the announcement of Phase 4 was heard over the intercoms, there was no turning back. But he couldn't let Rider's impromptu shenanigans ruin the test scores. They're eighteeners and nineteeners. Take them all out quickly, end it fast so I can get back to killing Rider.

Jullian tapped his bracer, which promptly flashed a blue light before spitting out his weapons, throwing knives. The jet black blades glinted in the sunlight, reminiscent of a tactical kunai. He brandished them just as the first few trainees came after him with their weapons, sidestepping and grabbing them by the shirt to send them tumbling back where they came from. As they were caught off guard and off-balance, he swiftly stepped behind them and followed up with a kick, sending them straight into the 50-foot void.

A few trainees looked back at him in horror at what he had just done, but Jullian just shrugged it off. They'll all get a chance to experience it, once I'm done. He sent another glare to Rider. Maybe even a fellow teacher will experience it as well. The rest of the trainees who stood in a stupor came back to their senses, realizing the predicament they were in.

The Medic smirked at the look of realization on their faces, a look he could not get enough of every time Collectees were brought in. He stepped back a fair distance from the rest, holding up his throwing knives. With a neat flourish, his knives connected and unfurled into his main weapon, a bladed fan. "Come on guys, either you get slashed by me or you fall into the pit. I honestly prefer the latter."

 

[Yakov011001]

Klaüs had managed Penelope over the concrete stretch over a few minutes. His concern for her growing over time as she clutched him harder and harder as they moved, not helped by the blood that replaced the tears the further they got.

"It's going to be alright, lass," Klaüs reassured her. "We've made it."

They were the last ones over, the green lights having flooded the area with their glow some time ago when Lükas made his way across. He'd complain that no one helped them--but I don't think they can see us.

"Here, lass. You can rest now." Klaüs whispered to her as he gently lowered her so she could sit on the floor and collect herself.

Medics swarmed them suddenly. All administering medicines to them before they really all knew what was going on, especially since he was the only one among them who could actually trust his eyes to do their fucking job. He was quickly stuck with a needle, faster than he could perceive; he felt a burning sensation wash over his skin for the shortest of moments. He wasn't hurting like he was. Ah, that's nice. Now I can finally relax. At least, that's what he thought.

"Phase four will now commence." The overhead speaker boomed.

Huh?

The welcoming green lights that had signaled their victory before began to flash yellow, like some kind of cautionary alarm. The floor just behind him dropped out, suddenly. Where they once were running across what was an innocuous, comparatively tame 'obstacle', there now was a fifty foot pit. Klaüs could only be thankful that they hadn't decided to pop it while they were still blindly stumbling across. I just want food. He whined internally.

thelovelyloser

 

[PinkChiffon]

Mena's eyes might have been watering, but it was nearly impossible to miss the sight of the bright green syringes that were being brought around by a team of medics. "Excuse me, what's in that?" Her question went unanswered, but she was fairly certain she didn't want to know the answer. It took only seconds before her vision to become clearer and her tear to stop flowing. She had to admit, she was impressed that it had worked so fast. Mena was visibly thankful that the trail was done, and she wanted nothing more than a shower and to relax for a bit. "Phase four will now commence." The room around them began to rumble and shift. 'Really? After all that?' Her mood instantly fell at the sound of the loudspeaker, she adjusted her rapier and readied her stance. The 50ft drop was absolutely not in the cards for her. Not today, not ever. On the platform was the man she had gotten information from earlier. Mena was well acquainted with her weapon of choice, but not enough so to try to take her superior on, at least not on the first day. Especially not with a melee vs thrown weapon, she was certainly not foolish enough to take on that duel. They did not have to beat him, just outlast him.

 

[Chawieeee]

Darkness was everything Layla could see for the past couple minutes. Unfortunately for her she awoke because of the green syringes. With a strong groan the little girl stood up from the ground where she was lying and tried to locate her existence. Nothing much has changed, besides there being a 50 foot pit behind her now and a guy she had seen before some distance in front of her. She was able to catch the message sent to the trainees too and it seemed like her fight hasn’t ended yet. Before she blinked again, she witnessed some trainees who got sent to death by the man from phase 4. Surely we can beat him if we all attack him together at once. This logical thinking kept going through her head.

Not aware of how long she stood there thinking, she took out her machete’s and stared right into the ruthless eyes of the human being in front of her. If I don’t survive right her right now, I won’t make it in the real world either. And with that thought Layla stepped forward, facing the medic.