Chapter 5
The students of class 1A were given the rest of the day off after passing Mr. Jericho's burning building challenge, but the next day they were right back to it. They reported to their homeroom class first where Mick Foley discussed who would be their class representative. Both Class 1A and 1B needed to have one and they would represent their class in battles or competitions against previous class reps or even other fighters looking to get into the Performance Center. There was an open challenge that could happen once every school year where people from all over would challenge the class rep of either class and if they won they could take the rep or the weakest student in the class's spot. So each year the classes picked their best and strongest to represent, especially since losing, not only made the rep look bad but also the class as a whole. After one year when the class rep lost even though he was the biggest and strongest hero, Vince Mcmahon expelled the whole class from the performance center, and nobody wanted to be like that. So being class rep was a lot of pressure, but it also was a big honor as it proved that you were deemed worthy by your classmates and it shows that you can lead a team like a pro. Also, the class rep usually went on to become a top main roster hero in the future.
"Pick me guys I'm the right pick"
"Yeah, no. You're going to need me"
"I got this one guys"
"I wanna be class rep"
Charlotte and Bayley watched as people began shouting and muttering about the fact that they were the best and that they wanted to be the class representative, however, both girls kept quiet. Even Sasha was yelling that she wanted the job as well. After a while of yelling Becky who was sitting on a desk on the farther side of the room, flocked by her engineering classmates raised her hand and shouted, "Hey! Everyone shut up! The class rep's job is ta lead others. It's not somethin' everyone can just do. They have ta have the trust of everyone in the classroom. So why don' we just vote?"
"Is that really the best idea?" Carmella asked
"We've only known each other for a few days. How do we know who we can trust?"
"Speak for yourself," The Uso twins said at the same time before fist-bumping each other
"Besides everyone will just vote for themselves" Paige added as she and everyone else ignore the twins
"Of course, most people will. But that means whoever does get more votes must really be the best for the job. It's basically the best way" Becky responded
"Do what you want, I'm going to get a snack" Mick Foley said before leaving the classroom causing Bayley to stare in confusion before leaning over to Charlotte
"He just left like that?"
"I told you he wasn't the most...orthodox teacher" The blond whispered back
"I don't think that you normies should get a say, it's not your spots on the line," Sasha said through gritted teeth as she looked up at Becky from her seat, causing the redhead to roll her eyes
"That's exactly why we should get a say. We've been watchin' that lot of ya durin' yer few trainin' exercises, studyin' how ya handle pressure an' teamwork an' we are the non-bias opinion that can tell ya who's most qualified" Becky said lightly before getting off her desk and walking across the room to Sasha, "I think yer just mad because ya know nobody will vote fer ya"
Sasha's teeth gritted at this as she sunk in her chair a little and glared up at Becky who continued to talk, "I mean honestly do ya even know the rest of these people's names?"
"Who cares" Sasha snapped back causing Becky to smirk as everyone began to angrily mutter around Sasha
"That's what I thought"
"I agree with Rebecca" everyone turned to see Finn Balor sitting silently in the back. He looked around at everyone before continuing, "It's best ta let them vote for us as well...that way even if everyone votes fer themselves, there will be some with more votes from the engineering students. That way we have a clear winner"
With that everyone agreed and the engineering students handed out paper for everyone to cast their votes on before collecting them later on. Becky had one of the male engineering students write everyone's name on the board and tally up the points. Most people had one vote under their name as they voted for themselves except for Kofi and Big E who put their votes to Xavier causing him to have 3 votes, while AJ Styles and Finn Balor had 2 votes, and Bayley had 4.
"What? How did I get 4 votes?" Bayley asked confused, "I didn't even vote for myself"
"What! Okay you idiots who voted for her?" Sasha shouted, standing up and slamming her hands down on the desk
"What did you honestly think anyone was going to vote for you?" Enzo asked causing her to glare at him
Soon after Mick Foley came back into the room eating a sandwich, Bayley and Xavier were brought up to the front. Bayley was announced class rep and president of the class while Xavier was announced as vice president and runner-up. The class slowly clapped no one really having a problem with it other than Sasha who glared at Bayley hard while Big E and Kofi picked up Xavier and ran him around the room happily.
"Yeah I guess I could get behind Bayley"
"Yeah she did come up with that plan at the burning building scenario"
After that, the students were sent to regular academic courses like English and math before they were given a break for lunch. There was a school cafeteria that was the size of a mall food court filled with a bunch of students and a bunch of different options.
"Man how come it's so crowded in here?" Bayley asked as she sat down at the table across from Charlotte. The blonde had been quietly eating alone at a table for four in the far corner of the giant cafeteria. She was dressed in
"That's because all of the students share a cafeteria, not just this year, but every level students" Charlotte responded as she ate her salad
There were four years that you had to go through before you got pulled up to the main roster naturally. Or you could build some momentum and get called up early while the rest of the students climbed naturally. There were only a few who stayed longer than the four years as they got lost in the shuffle and were stuck down in developmental. Bayley looked around at all of the tables filled with students who Bayley had remembered from the entrance exams that were broadcasted last year and the years before like The Miz and the shield boys.
"That's pretty cool, you get to see and interact with all of the other future heroes," Bayley said as she shoved rice into her mouth
"Yeah and that's exactly what yer gonna have ta do," Becky said as she and Finn Balor plopped down at the two empty seats at the table, "As rep, yer gonna have ta interact with all of those heroes and their reps in meetings and battles"
Bayley gave a nervous gulp, "Yeah, I don't know… I'm pretty nervous about this representative job. I don't think I'm qualified"
"Sure ya are," Becky said
"You'll be great," Finn said suddenly, not looking up from his rice and noodles, "Yer courage and quick thinkin' will make ya a worthy leader. Not ta mention the strength you've demonstrated. Those are the reasons I voted for ya."
"Me too," Charlotte said with a nod while Becky nodded as well
"You guys all voted for me?" Bayley asked in shocked before looking between Finn and Charlotte, "But didn't you two want the job, I mean...Finn, you had 2 votes for you. If you had voted for yourself then-"
"Wantin' the job and being qualified fer it are two different things" Finn responded seriously, "My Demon side may be strong but it is unpredictable, it makes me unfocused. Until I get that under control, I am not ready fer a leadership position"
Bayley's eyes widened at the boy while Charlotte took a sip of her water, "And having my last name… it wouldn't be fair to the other heroes to take that spot, and it would draw unwanted attention to our class. Seeing the daughter of one of the greatest villains as the hero class rep isn't exactly the best look"
"I think it's the perfect look," Bayley said suddenly causing everyone at the table to look at her, "I mean… it would give you the chance to prove that you are more than your last name. It would allow you to show that you're a leader and you want to do good, and you're also super smart and you can think on your feet. That's why I voted for you"
Charlotte smirked but shook her head, "Thank you, but I don't see the bigger picture...not like you do. You're the one who figured out that the entrance exam was really about helping those civilians and that the burning building challenge was meant for us to work together. Bayley, you are the true definition of a hero, and that's what makes you a good leader."
Bayley smiled proudly and nodded before a siren began to go off in the cafeteria. Red lights began to flash and people quickly started panicking and running as a robotic voice rang out, "LEVEL 3 SECURITY BREACH. PLEASE LEAVE THE BUILDING IN AN ORDERLY FASHION. LEVEL 3 SECURITY BREACH. PLEASE LEAVE THE BUILDING IN AN ORDERLY FASHION. LEVEL 3 SECURITY BREACH."
"Woah"
"That means someone passed the school's barrier systems. Their supposed ta keep out anyone who doesn't have a school ID. We should get going" Finn said, grabbing Becky's hands and pulling her out with Bayley and Charlotte right on their heels.
There was only one hallway that leads from the cafeteria to the exit and with all of the students that were in the cafeteria rushing out, it became a huge pushing match between the students. There was barely any space as students pushed and tried to shove their way to the exit causing Charlotte and Bayley to lose Becky and Finn in the crowd.
"Hey stop pushing me!"
"ow"
"I think I just stepped on someone"
"Ugh..this is chaos" Bayley yelled as someone shoved past her causing her body to jerk forward, "Someone's going to get trampled!"
Charlotte looked around before taking Bayley's hand and pulling her to the side, closer to the glass windows that lined the hallways revealing a swarm of media outside, "It's just the news stations. They've been here on and off since WWE announced us as the new first-year students."
"So there's no threat?" Bayley asked, slightly folding her body into herself to avoid the people who are now at a standstill pushing, shoving and yelling at one another as they tried to get out.
"No." Charlotte looked over at everyone else, "We need to get everyone's attention and let them know that everything is okay"
"How?"
Charlotte looked around quickly, trying to think but she could barely get her thoughts out because of that blaring siren. Charlotte knew she had to silence the alarm but if she just blasted it then she might hit one of the students. She looked to Bayley who increasingly becoming uncomfortable by the people bumping into her, "Bayley! We have to shut off the alarm!"
The girl couldn't hear the tall blonde, instead, she was breathing heavily as panic rose up in her. Bayley's heart was beating a mile a minute as she covered her ears and seemed to ball up into herself as slide to the floor against the glass. Charlotte looked down at her friend before standing protectively around her so she wouldn't get trampled on the ground. She sighed and looked around once more, the crowd had still not died down and barely anyone else had made it through the door. The blonde quickly looked at the glass wall and placed her fingertips to it, if she could freeze the walls she could possibly freeze the siren that hung from the ceiling, so Charlotte proceeded to do just that.
Charlotte closed her eyes and summoned her powers, she knew she had perfect control over them, but even she could mess up in a time like this. With everyone screaming and panicking around Everyone in the halls began to quiet down and look around concerned as ice enveloped the walls and soon the siren stopped as ice covered its speakers and the red flashing lights were no longer seen behind the thick block of ice.
Charlotte slowly formed a level of ice under her so she was standing above everyone before she yelled out, "EVERYONE! Calm down. There is no need to worry, it's just the news outside. Everything's fine. We are WWE students. We need to stay calm and prove that we are the best of the best."
Soon everyone began to calm down as people noticed the police showing up outside the school barriers to usher away the media. Soon the hallways were cleared and everyone went back to the cafeteria or out to their next classes while Charlotte leaned down to Bayley and helped her up as she began to calm down, "Sorry...I've never done well in crowds like that."
"It's okay Bayley," Charlotte said as Finn and Becky came back up to them while the ice began to melt away quickly, "Are you both okay?"
They nodded as Finn wiped the condensations from the glass and looked out at the news crew that was disappearing, "They're leaving"
"There's no way they set off the alarms," Becky said seriously as the four looked out the window, "They would have ta get past the barriers and no normal person could get through those systems...I saw the schematics myself. This place is impenetrable. So unless they had a key. Only a person with powers could actually break the gates."
Bayley nodded at this, she had only seen the security defenses of the school once before and it caused the gates around the school to board up with metal walls, completely shutting out the school from the outside world. As soon as someone without authorization tries to step through the gates the walls close and security defenses deploy, but a level 3 security breach meant that someone got past at least one of those defenses. News crews wouldn't even get past the wall. Knowing this Bayley knew that Beck was probably right, "So you're saying that someone actually did break through?"
"Yes, that's my theory"
"Becky an' I will head out an' look for anythin' suspicious...I mean the pro heroes don' seem ta be concerned so whoever it was must have already left" Finn said as he looked outside
"So then what? Let's say it's a villain. They just showed up and broke past the barrier...for what? As a show of power? Or are they actually still in here somewhere?" Bayley asked
"That's what we're goin' ta check out now. I have a feelin' that this might be somethin' bigger than the media. We'll head over ta the security room and see if there was footage of the gates" Becky said before she and Finn waved goodbye and headed off leaving Bayley and Charlotte to talk and calm their nerves.
Bayley and Charlotte didn't hear back from Becky or Finn for the rest of the day. However, Hunter and Vince issued a statement saying that everything was okay and it was just the news crew who stepped over the lines and they let everyone off for the rest of the day, canceling classes, so the girls calmed down. Well, Bayley did, Charlotte was concerned when they didn't hear back from the Irish duo, but she held back her questions until the next day in homeroom where Bayley and Xavier stood in front of the class with Mick Foley. They were meant to start every class with announcements and information that the rest of the class needed to know but Bayley had an announcement of her own. She was nervously pulling at the strings of her light blue sweater before wiping her hands on her jeans and stepping forward.
"I've thought a lot about this and… even though it's a big honor and a great opportunity I don't think I'm right for this position. I-I think Charlotte should be our class rep." Bayley said slowly, "She was able to capture everyone's attention and get everyone to calm done in the middle of that security breach yesterday. She stayed calm and she knew what to do, she also knew what to look for and what to do in the burning building challenge. Charlotte is a natural born leader and...that's why I think she should take my spot."
"No, Bayley I-" Charlotte started before she was cut off
"I second that," Becky said and Finn agreed as well
"Yeah sure. I can get behind Charlotte, especially if Bayley vouches for her" Carmella said with a smile causing everyone else to nodded even Baron Corbin who had never talked to anyone in the class before.
"Alright...well I think that was eventual enough for one class," Mick said before clapping his hands and walking out causing everyone to look confused
"Did he just end the class after like five minutes?" Jey Uso asked, leaning forward in his seat
"I think he did" Jimmy answered
"Can he do that?" AJ Styles asked confused
"Don't question it" Paige said before standing up and leaving causing everyone to stare at her before eagerly leaving the room.
"Bayley, you didn't have to do that… really, I'm not the best for the jo-" Charlotte started as she stood and walked across the room to Bayley. She was wearing a black leather jacket over a black top and a pair of dark leggings with her blonde hair falling over her right shoulder.
"It's fine Charlotte. Honestly, I can't handle the pressure. I thought I could but after yesterday...I realized that I can't. I believe you can do what I couldn't. Besides everyone else was fine with it." Bayley said with a bright smile as Becky and Finn walked up to the two, "Hey guys, tell Charlotte she's going to do fine"
"You'll be great," Finn said while Becky nodded. Finn was wearing a maroon polo shirt and khaki pants while Becky had on a black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and a pair of black jeans with a black beanie over her bright orange hair.
"Sure," Charlotte said not really sure about it, but she had other things on her mind, "So did you two find anything yesterday?"
"Look we didn' find anythin' ta worry about on the security footages. Just the media, as they said, so everythin' seems okay," Becky said simply
"Wait...really? You two didn't find anything?" Bayley asked with a raised eyebrow
"Nope," Becky said quickly causing Charlotte to raise an eyebrow at the shorter girl
"But you two were really behind the idea that someone broke in here," Charlotte said with her arms crossed while Becky and Finn both looked at each other and shook their heads
"We were...but we got nothin...sorry," Finn said with a shrug before he excused himself and walked off causing Becky to turn and try to do the same but Bayley grabbed the girl's arm
"Becky? Are you two okay?"
Becky gave a tight smile but Charlotte could see the quick flash of panic that went through her eyes before quickly leaving, "I'm fine. I already told ya...there's nothin' ta worry about"
With that the Irish girl quickly ran off, leaving Becky and Charlotte in the empty classroom in silence before Charlotte spoke, "Something's not right"
"No...no it's not"
After the student's homeroom class they had math and English classes and once those were over, they were heading to the gym where there was only one light on, leaving the rest of the room dark. Bayley had been in the gym before with AJ Lee but she had never seen it like this before, there were no weights or boxes, it was basically empty. The group of students walked up and stopped under the light, looking around to see nothing causing everyone to mutter confused. They were supposed to meet the Rock but no one saw him.
"Why is it so dark in here?" Big Cass asked
"Yeah, and where's The Rock?" Carmella questioned only to be met with the similar confusion of the rest of the class until suddenly a large metal block came hurling at the students from out of the dark. Carmella gave a shriek before the metal phased through her and hit Enzo sending him flying out into the darkness.
"Enzo!" Carmella yelled into the dark where the students could no longer see the short boy, "Are you okay?"
"Ow" came Enzo's small groan
"Okay, everyone huddle up, back-to-back" Charlotte called out, soon everyone began to huddle up with their backs to one another and as Bayley looked around she soon realized that none of the engineering students were there.
"The engineering students aren't here. This is a test" Bayley said as the students were suddenly attacked by a series of metal blocks and balls. They came flying from out of the darkness at all angles so none of the students could see or know where they were coming from next. One ball came hurling at Sasha but the girl quickly put her hand out stopping it in its place while AJ Styles blasted two with his heat vision.
"Ow fuck" Baron yelled as a block of metal hit him causing him to bend forward and hold his right arm in pain. However, he was bent too far forward as Jey Uso, who was beside him, dodged a metal ball that came swiping at him, hitting Baron Corbin with such momentum that it sent him flying out into the darkness.
As Carmella continued to phase through the metal that came flying at her, she soon got distracted as Big Cass took a harsh blow to the chest, causing her to stop her powers just as a metal block flew at her and sent her flying. Bayley who saw what happened grabbed Charlotte's arm and pulled her down just as Carmella and the metal block flew over them and into the darkness.
As more metal blocks came flying, more people continued to get taken out from AJ Styles to Big E and Xavier until Sasha sarcastically yelled out, "What are we doing Class Rep? We can't keep just dodging and blocking these things forever"
Charlotte looked to around her, trying to think, but she quickly stopped as a metal ball came flying at her head. Charlotte quickly threw up her right arm, creating a block of ice and stopping the ball. She looked at her ice for a second before she knew what to do, at least for the moment, she needed to give them time to think and regroup. Charlotte allowed her ice to run down her right arm before taking a step in front of the circle of students. She slung her right arm across her body causing a wall of ice to form and wrap around the circle of students, effectively blocking all incoming metal from hitting them. The wall was taller than Big Cass and thick enough to keep the metal from shattering the ice but not too thick to where they couldn't see through the ice.
The blonde turned around to everyone who was left to see everyone breathing heavily, tired from the workout. Bayley had a few bruises on her arms and stomach forming as she sat down and gave a grunt in pain. With her powers, she was really just trying to force her strength throughout her whole body to make herself indestructible but she couldn't hold it forever, so a few times the metal would hit her causing the bruises. Kofi, who had super speed had been dodging most of the metal causing everyone around him or behind him to get hit by the balls that missed him, which is what sent Xavier and Big E flying earlier. Big Cass was just hardening his skin to allow him to take everything that came at him while the twins worked together to blast the metal and Finn did the same.
"Okay, is everyone alright?"
"Peachy" Paige responded sarcastically as she bent over to catch her breath.
"What's the plan?" Jimmy Uso asked
Charlotte paused to think as the sound of metal hitting ice began to slow until it came to a stop, "They stopped"
"How do we know for sure? What if one of us goes out there and gets hit?" Kofi asked
Charlotte thought for a second, " Bayley you can make yourself indestructible and Cass...you can harden your skin right? So If I can open the wall enough for you two to get out there and see if-"
"See if it attacks us?" Charlotte nodded as Cass finished her sentence
"I have an idea as to why it stopped but I need you to test it and see for sure," Charlotte said, looking to Bayley who gave her a small nod
"Fine" Cass agreed
"Okay go to two separate sides of the wall" Charlotte instructed and they did just that, Bayley standing on one side while Cass stood across from her, both facing the wall while Charlotte stood in the middle of them in the center of the circular wall and everyone else stood out of the way, "I'm going to open the walls for you two, you just have to stand out there for a minute and then you can come back"
They both gave a nod and a thumbs up before Charlotte rubbed her hands together before holding out one hand towards each side of the wall. Soon the ice began to move causing for two doors to open in front of Cass and Bayley. The two immediately hardened their skins and prepared for the worse as they stepped out into the darkness while Charlotte closed the wall back up.
Bayley looked around, trying to allow her eyes to adjust to the darkness but she couldn't see anything, "I don't see anything!"
"Me neither" Cass yelled out before the rough sound of metal hitting his skin sounded
"Cass, you okay?" Charlotte asked just as Bayley dodged a metal ball flying her way
"Okay, those things are back up!" Bayley yelled out backing up slightly as she didn't know where the next piece of metal would fly from
"Okay come back" Charlotte yelled out before opening doorways which Cass and Bayley ran through
Once the wall was back up Sasha groaned, "Now what?"
Charlotte sighed and said, "I think whatever is out there is aiming for heat signatures..my ice is blocking whatever those things are from seeing us."
"So as long as we're in here we're safe" Jey Uso asked
"Yes but we can't stay here and it's too dark out there to see what or who that thing is that's through metal at us," Charlotte thought before looking at Finn, "Your demon side? What can it do...can it help you see what's out there?"
Finn looked through the ice before looking back to Charlotte, "Yes...but I can't control it"
"Try. If you can see what's out there then we can know where to go and what to aim for" Charlotte said seriously causing Kofi to snicker while Finn took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
There were suddenly black lines flowing down Finn's arms and his veins popped as black smoke slowly emerged from his body before forming a shadow version of Finn. It was like a black silhouette of Finn with a crown on its head and every few steps it took you could see it flicker, revealing a demonic looking Finn with long streamers for hair and black and red ink on his body. Everyone took a step back as the shadow Finn stepped forward and seemed to walk around everyone, sizing them up. It stopped in front of Charlotte who stared at it as the shadow no longer flickered but opened his mouth and released a long tongue as it roared at Charlotte who didn't back away.
"Charlotte?" Bayley said carefully as she put her hand on her friend's arm, trying to warn her
"We need your help," Charlotte said to the demon once it stopped, "those things out there are attacking us...attacking Finn. I need you to see what they are...see where those blocks are coming from"
The Demon tilted its head back as if to think about this before it moved away and phased through the ice, walking into the darkness, leaving Finn's regular body standing there in the barricade with its eyes closed. The group of students walked up to the ice wall and tried to see the demon but in the darkness of the room, they had no such luck. Soon the Demon returned and looked to Charlotte and the group once before fading away, causing smoke to flow back into Finn's body. Once it was gone Finn slowly opened his eyes and took a breath before saying, "There are canons...like these things in the walls that are shooting out the metal stuff"
"Well why didn't...that...thing take them out?" Jey Uso asked still a little freaked out by Finn
"My demon can' do anythin' physical without me...it's just a scout" Finn explained, "There's eight planted in the walls, 2 on each side"
"Thanks, Finn," Charlotte said before she began giving instructions for everyone, planning an attack with everyone paired up, the Usos were together, big Cass and Paige and Sasha and Kofi were paired up while Bayley, Charlotte, and Finn were left. Each team would take on a wall, they each had one offensive person and one defensive so one could take out the cannons while the other defended them. Once they were ready Charlotte took down the ice wall and the groups charged, the cannons took a while before firing, readjusting to the sudden heat signatures.
Charlotte put up an ice shield in front of the group as they fought their way to one side of the wall before Finn pointed out where the cannons would be, he blasted one with dark energy while Bayley punched the wall and ripped the other cannon out. The Usos worked together on their wall, letting Jey blast electricity at his brother who absorbed it and shot it back out of his hands in a large blast of energy which easily took out the whole wall, neither quite sure where the cannons where. On the other wall, big Cass stood in front of Paige as a shield while they charged straight towards where the metal was being shot from before finding one of the cannons, which Paige touch with her bare hand causing it to disintegrate, before doing the same to the next. And finally, Sasha and Kofi worked together as Kofi sped both himself and Sasha up to the wall where she used her telekinetic powers to pull the cannons from the walls.
Once they were all destroyed the lights in the gym came on and the Rock walked into the room with Enzo, Carmella and the rest of the students who had gotten knocked out during the battle. They had been dragged out and brought up to a viewing room where the rest of the engineering students were watching and taking notes. The Rock walked up to them and gave a smile, "Congratulations...SOME of you passed your first test, but that took too long. The Rock was getting bored up there. You need to be able to think quicker, a good hero always knows when to think on their feet, but for know...I guess this was a good start. You all can thank the engineering students for this training exercise."
"Oh I'll thank them alright" Sasha grumbled as she and the rest of the students grew tired from the exertion of using their powers for that long
"Next time there will be something big and harder for you all to face and this will continue every day until you are better" The Rock said in a booming voice causing everyone to groan but the man waved them off and smile, "But...look on the bright side...you have The Rock as your teacher...so that's good"
"Hurray," Paige said sarcastically
"Why does he keep talking in third person?" Charlotte question but the man turned and left the room causing everyone to look at each other confused
"Is that it?" Sasha asked, "He just puts us in that test and then leaves?"
"I guess so," Jey Uso said
"Whatever man I need like twenty hot showers right now," his brother said before hitting him in the arm as the two went to leave, causing everyone to follow suit.
Charlotte and Bayley were the last to leave with Bayley patting the taller blonde on the back, "Good job in there...you're already making a good class rep."
"Thanks...I just want to do a good job" Charlotte said, more to herself than to Bayley
"And you are." Bayley said with a smile, "Your brother would be proud"
"You think so?" Charlotte asked almost sounding fragile as Bayley could practically see the emotions flooding Charlotte's eyes. Bayley nodded and the blonde smiled, "Thanks"
"Any time"