[Astrid's P.O.V]
Today's the day.
The day of the final exam.
The day that will decide everything.
Standing beside my friends and the other graduates, we all faced the giant gate that is obstructing us from the battle chamber. The gate was somewhat rickety. It had surely been sturdy when it was made, it was solid titanium bars and held together with great iron nails. Standing at at about 10 feet, the bars were buried deep into the floor. The hinges and nails had become rusted and the gate hung at a jaunty angle. For such a high-tech place, the gate seemed old and out of place.
I brought my trusty Stormfly with me, completely giving it a makeover. It was now entirely made out of Gronkle Iron AND Deathsong Amber, whilst the handle is made out of lizard scales. I myself designed it; and proud of it too! Well, with the little help from Gobber. The rest brought their own weapons as well so there's no need to borrow one of the weapons in the chamber.
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a man in a... is that a yellow suit? The man wore a bright yellow suit on with a blue tie, and a white button down shirt. Matching his suit, he donned a yellow fedora with Japanese symbols engraved on the top. When he lifted his face, he had a childish grin on his face.
Actually, looking closely at his face, he is actually a child. More likely a 15 or 16-year old. His What intrigued were his eyes. He had the same color eyes of Night Fury but with one small detail. Unlike Night Fury, this kid's eyes were reptilian. Like a lizard on the hunt, his eyes trailed over us, inspecting us one by one.
"Come on, already. You're already late. Don't want to keep ol' Fury waiting." He announced. He had this bouncy, optimistic tone that made me not trust him.
We all looked at each other, figuring out what to do. Kai Sotto decided to speak up for the rest of us. "Uhm, we're sorry to ask but, who are you to boss us around?"
The kid arched an eyebrow at us. He then shrugged, carelessly ignoring Kai's rude question. "Call me Sun or Banana, I don't care. But I prefer Toothless. Now hurry up and follow me."
Toothless? Isn't that the name of the A.I. of the building?
"And before you ask, yes. I am the artificial intelligence of the building. Now just get your asses over here!" He beckoned us over.
Before we could even comprehend what the kid said, he grabbed the front bar of the gate, rust falling off as he gripped it. With one swift move, he pulled the gate open. The creaking sound of the rusted hinges and nails scraping over the titanium bars as it was dragged open let out a ear-piercing sound.
We all simultaneously winced, clapping our hands over our ears, Toothless continued to haul the gate open. How rude does this guy have to be? Once he was done and we all stood up straight, he ushered us in. The inside was pretty dark so we could barely see a thing. As soon as we step in the chamber, the air suddenly felt heavy; and being in the dark didn't help. As if we were carrying the world on our shoulders, we lumbered forward towards the middle.
"Hey, have fun in there!" Toothless called out.
Then I saw him raise his hand up, with his forefinger and his thumb pressed together. He then snapped his fingers, and all of the sudden, the lights in the battle chamber lit up. I have heard that the battle chamber was rarely used, only for special occasions like final exams or challenges. They say that whenever you come back to the battle chamber, it's never the same. Each time, it has a different setting.
This is my first time but I don't know how they'll be able to change this. The entire chamber was designed like forest. Giant nara trees, long Pampas grass, and other sorts of bushes grew on the ground. Soil and dirt made up the floor instead. Even the lights felt like we were bathing in sunlight. I must be going crazy because I swear I could see clouds in the air.
"Are those clouds?"
So I'm not crazy.
"Yo, this is stupidly crazy!" Tristan exclaimed.
And for the first time, I agree with him. How were they able to do this? This isn't a simulation right? I crouched down to the ground, and reached out for the dirt. I grabbed a handful, and crumpled it between my fingers. The soft yet mushy texture of dirt was realistic.
I stood up, and walked towards a tree. I raised my hand and placed it against it. Tracing my fingers against the wooden bark, I could feel the fibers between my skin. Suddenly, I retracted my hand as I felt something prick my finger. I inspected my hand, only to find a splinter on my forefinger.
Holy shit, it's real. Simulations looks shit compared to this. There are some things in the simulation which you cannot touch nor smell. But I could smell the tropical wind and the wet grass. I could hear the leaves of the trees moving against the cold wind. I could dig my shoes under the dirt, and feel the warm and soft earth.
Everything was real. We were all so captivated with it, that we didn't see Toothless haul the gate close. When the gate was shut closed, the metal bars scraped over the concrete wall, and created a loud irritating sound that resembled a knife being dragged along a stone. It snapped us out of our captivation, whipping our heads towards Toothless. He poked his head through gap's between the bars like a worm.
"Good luck! And a tip, watch out for his left leg."
And with that, he disappeared along with the gate. Yes, the gate disappeared like a coin in a magician's hand. Here we are, left alone in this strange chamber; with no clue on the situation. I guess we should expect like someone just dropping out of no-
SMASH!
One of the trees suddenly crashed down onto the ground; wooden splinters and bark exploded everywhere. The roots were uprooted from the dirt, chunks of the ground still jangling on it.
"We should split up." Racquel announced all of a sudden
I instantly whip my towards Racquel. "The fuck, Racquel? If we split up, we'll be picked off one by one!" I retorted.
"I agree with her. If Night Fury finds us all in one place, he could take us all down in one fell swoop." Eret responded, gripping his dual hunting knives.
"But statistically, we have a better chance of defeating him with our numbers. We already know we can't fight him in a one v one. He dominates us in speed, agility, strength, stamina, and endurance. If we fight him one by one, we'll fail right away." Surprisingly, Finn replied. And I wasn't the only one shocked. Both Racquel and Eret were both left speechless. I have to say, Finn did gain some confidence in the last two years.
"We should surround him. Create as many distractions as possible. Overwhelm him. Hit him in all directions, then maybe Maisie, or Astrid could sneak in a scratch." He continued to lay out his plan like a general in battle.
Maisie scowled at the plan. I already dislike you, don't make me want to hate you.
"Why settle for a scratch when you can leave a real slash on him?" Maisie said, crossing her arms together.
"I don't care. 'Cause either way, we'll pass." Finn replied.
Satisfied with the answer she got, she smirked victoriously. Well, I wasn't. I went up to Finn, and spoke my mind, "Finn, Night Fury isn't a guy that could be overwhelmed by numbers. He could take me, and all three of my team, out with one hand."
"Speak for yourself, Blondie. We ain't weak like you." Maisie remarked.
Night Fury, you are now demoted to the second place of my hit list.
"Redhead, I've seen a lot of battles in my eyes. I know a weak person when I see one. And would you look at that, I can spot one already." I sneered at her.
Luckily, that got into her nerves. I saw her eye twitch, fists turning white as she clenched them. I could already sense her anger. As she stepped forward, we hear a whoosh. Before we could even process the sound, the ground on our right was met with an unknown projectile, bursting the land under it. Rocks and soil flew everywhere as the ground shook for a second, causing us to stumble down. Masses of dust and smoke swelled out the point of impact. Then something inside us snapped, as we rushed up, gripping our weapons and holding them up. In the midst of all the chaos and smoke, stood a familiar lone figure.
As the dust slowly settled, his upper body began show. And in that moment, I could speak for the rest of us that we sensed a wave of fear and intimidation rushed inside us. We may be part of the same organization but right now, he's our opponent, and that scared the shit out of me. The pulsating purple glows between his armor burned with a mysterious rage. The iron gauntlets equipped on his forearms were like mini-wrecking balls, waiting for some skulls to be crushed. His sword hung on his waist, untouched, but I know for a fact that we'll see its flames sooner or later. I could see the deep and calm breaths that came out as light shades of smoke from his mask. Though his dark hood was pulled over his head, his dull emerald eyes were enough to illuminate his face, which bore an expressionless look.
This is Night Fury.
Without giving a second thought, Tristan and Shawn both charged forward. Tristan raised his spear, whilst Shawn cocked back his shotgun. At the same time, Tristan threw his spear like a javelin and Shawn pulled the trigger, sending a rain of bullets towards Night Fury.
In one swift move, Night Fury blocked the bullets with his gauntlet, then grabbed the spear in mid-air. He dashed forward, not even giving Tristan to comprehend what happened, then landed one solid hit on his abdomen. The sudden gush of pain jolted throughout Tristan's body. His stomach ached, his arms lost tension and his legs began to weaken. He lurched forward, and sucked in a breath as he dropped to the ground and collapsed, unconscious. Shawn, not seeing Night Fury raise his leg, stepped forward. Blood sprayed out of his mouth as Night Fury connected his leg onto his face. He spun around then collapsed to the ground, along with Tristan.
Two were already down in just fifteen seconds. Everyone else was in shock. They just witnessed their two teammates wasted away by Night Fury, rendering their two-year training useless. But this is no time to stand around. We need to surround him. I was the first one to move. I grip Stormfly in my hand and raised it.
"Follow Finn's plan! Overwhelm him!" I yell out.
That seemed to activate the rest. Like an army charging into battle, they raised their weapons and charged forward. The other circled around him, going up from his blind side. Then all at once, we lunged forward. We have him surrounded! There must be at least one opening!
Sweat began dripping from my forehead. I began rapidly breathing shallow breaths. My heart was like beating 150 beats per minute
How could this happen? Night Fury delivered another kick with his right leg onto Eret's chest, forcing him down to ground in a bloody mess. It's not only him. Racquel was hanging on a branch, her face and arms all bruised up. Artemis is laying on the ground, both her ankles twisted from one of Night Fury's defensive attacks. Both of Zythid's forearms were broken after meeting a devastating blow from Night Fury's punches. The most fatal one yet, was Thuggory with Eret's hunting knife buried deep in his shoulder. He fought the hardest, not allowing himself to fall. In the end, Night Fury is too strong. Finn was still conscious but his arms were tied to a tree with Zythid's chain-sickle. The only ones left who are capable to fight were me, Maise, Kai, and Heather.
But none of us were in good condition. All of us had scratches and wounds scattered across our body, and we were nearly at the brink of exhaustion. And Night Fury hasn't even broken a sweat! So far, he has only used his gauntlets and kicks to fight back. Whenever one of us used our weapons, he'll just slip it out of our hands then use the same weapon to incapacitate us.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Night Fury's voice pierced through the cold tropical air. Not even a hint of exhaustion was present. He's playing us like we're toys. "Shatter never gave you a time limit. But since I'm the one who's going to decide whether you pass or not, I'm giving 10 minutes." He spoke in a gentle but cold manner.
Ten minutes?! We spent the last forty trying to leave a scratch on you! What could we do in ten minutes?
"Hofferson, stop panicking." Night Fury faced me. Not knowing what he was talking about, I look down at my hands. They were trembling, just like the first time I met him. I'm scared. Shit, he's right. I'm panicking.
"You want to become one of us? Then show me!"
And for the first time in the exam, he made the first move. I quickly dodged to the right, barely missing his gauntlet. I spot Maisie and Kai, gripping their weapons. Heather was behind a boulder, her sniper rifle directly aimed at Night Fury. My eyes trailed down to his left leg. The tip from Toothless suddenly emerged in my head. I watch as he shuffled his feet forward, with his left leg behind his right leg. I also noticed that he tends to kick with his right leg while his left supports his body. And each time, his left foot trembles slightly. As if he was struggling to support himself. The fact that he often kicks tells me that he shouldn't be trembling since he used to kicking. His legs should be strong enough to support the full weight. If he's trembling, that either means his left leg is rather weak, or he's injured. But that doesn't matter- I found my opening.
I now grip Stormfly in my hand, a complete plan in mind. I yell out a battle cry, then hauled ass towards Night Fury. Giving him the idea that I was aiming for his head, I raise my axe in an underhand position. At the same time, I spot Kai, Heather and Maisie at the back, preparing to strike. Night Fury then raised then bends his right leg in a kicking motion
Not yet.
Just a few more.
And... NOW!
I hear the sound of Heather's sniper rifle firing out a bullet as the chamber pulled back. At the corner of my eye, Kai was thrusting his bayonet and Maisie was swinging her bludgeon. My axe was already in mid-swing towards Night Fury's leg. What could go wrong?
Night Fury responded by slamming his raised foot down on the ground, then twisted his body to the other side and swung his other leg into the air and intercepted the bullet, which deflected back to the boulder where Heather was hiding. While using the same leg, he knocked both Kai's and Maisie's weapons out of their hands. He spun back around to slam his foot down on my axe, stopping my swing completely. Shock wasn't the only thing present on our faces. He just disarmed all of us with one kick! The only damage we did was to at least tearing off his boot which...
Wait, what is that? Five sharp talons dug underneath the ground, holding my axe down. The talons were connected to iron tubes and curved pipes that was shaped into a skeletal form of a human. The base of the foot was covered with iron plates, and joints. I followed the foot back up, only to find it connected to-
Holy shit.
Night Fury has a prosthetic.