Hey guys, I don't really know if anyone still reads this but I'll continue updating anyways. Happy Holidays!

Enjoy!

A Dark Plan

As they all charged at the Knight, he only stood still and let them get closer and closer to him. Before they hit the knight they separated and attacked from 3 different angles! They hit him hard with their own energy, a bursting combination of the elements: Fire, Ice and Storm all hitting him at the same time! Even as they hit him he still stood there, motionless. The arena was silent and all eyes were watching them carefully, making sure not to miss a single detail of the fight. After a moment of silence he decided to speak.

"Is that all you've got?" the knight spoke. He had a powerful sounding voice that the veterans shuddered to. The others jumped back surprised to hear him speak. "Then it's time I make my turn." He vanished for a moment and not a second later appeared on the other side of the Arena attacking Jack with a single punch to the face. A large boom was heard at the same time he vanished.

"What the hell was that sound?" Seth shouted, having no idea he was screaming.

"That was no ordinary speed. He managed to break the sound barrier without trying. I knew it; he's way to strong for them! They'll lose for sure!" Connor muttered to himself.

"Now now Connor, let's see how the battle turns out. The outcome might surprise you." Nigel said as he pulled out his pocket watch. It was 2:30. "Just a matter of time."

"Open your eyes Nigel! They'll be lucky if they last 2 minutes!" Connor said, sweating as he watched the battle.

'That's exactly what I'm counting on.' Nigel thought to himself, he turned his attention back to the battle.

The knight had attacked Destiny and Jocelyn as well by the time everyone had turned back. He had attacked them all simultaneously until they were all trying to stay conscious. He had looked down at them, specifically Jack. Jack was also looking back with a glare that could even make arena veterans shiver. The Knight however was completely unshaken and continued to stare. But the others just continued to get back up and fight, as if their lives depended on it. Jack then swiftly tried punching him with his fist of fire but it didn't affect him in the slightest. He wasn't done yet. His determination to win kept him going, it kept him fighting, it was also the only thing now keeping him standing.

"Why don't you just give up already? You've lost. Can't you see when you're defeated?" He said as he caught one of Jack's punches. It was then that Destiny had snuck up behind him and punched him with her electric power. The knight only looked at her and said "Poor choice." The next second Jack started to get electrocuted and fell down.

"So that's how that armor works!" Gabriel said as he watched closer.

"What do you mean? Isn't it just regular armor?" Seth had asked, questioning Gabriel's outburst.

"No it isn't. If you've noticed so far none of our attacks had been strong enough to go through that armor, or so it seems. That armor is redirecting the power that's being attacked by it!"

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that anytime anyone tries to attack it with magic, it would only absorb the power and use it against anyone. But it won't last long so if it isn't used immediately the power would fade."

"Wait I thought that electricity was effective against anyone in a suit of armor."

"A common misconception, the electricity actually doesn't penetrate the armor but it goes around it."

"Are you saying that anything we throw at him would just be absorbed by that armor?!"

"Close. Anything THEY throw at him would be absorbed. The Black Knight can only absorb the elements, not any spiritual powers." Professor Cyrus explains to them. They all looked back at the fight, only to see it nearly over.

"I won't give up… Not yet…" Jack said still driven by his will. Jocelyn and Destiny stood up with him to try again for one last time. They charged up what little power they still had left in for one final attempt for the knight. Destiny, being the fastest, ran in while the others teleported to his blind spots and they all attacked with their magic, completely unaware of the armor's abilities.

"No matter how hard you try you won't win!" The knight shouted as he redirecting all of their attacks against each other. This time being overwhelmed by their own magic, they were all now unconscious.

As the veterans had all watched, Nigel was the only one who had remained calm and simply pulled out his pocket watch. It was now 2:35. He smiled and put away the pocket watch. "Well that's it. They won." Nigel said. The others turned around to look at him with a confused look on their faces. "Just keep watching."

"The battle is over! The winners are the rookies!" Diego shouted but everyone had a look of shock on their faces, everyone but the teachers.

"I don't understand, they're knocked out how could they have won even when the Black Knight isn't even scratched?!" Brianna had asked hastily.

"The goal of the duel wasn't for them to win against the Black Knight, it was to survive against him for about 2 and a half minutes. They proved they can survive double that time against a warrior of the spiral. This was both a test of strength and a test of will. Mostly will." Nigel had explained. Everyone had listened and once he finished everyone ran down towards the now no longer rookies, but now soldiers. Everyone but Nigel, Connor, and The Jackal.

"By the way Nigel, how did you know that they would win?" The Jackal asked.

"Well I know a lot of things, but I guess this time it was just a lucky guess." Nigel said trying to make an excuse.

"That was no lucky guess. I've noticed that you don't even have a wand or a weapon. You didn't say which school you were from either. I'm not even sure that you're a wizard. Who are you exactly?"

"Well the thing about Nigel is that he isn't exactly a normal wizard." Connor said, interrupting their conversation. "You see, I can't tell you all of the details because that might risk the others finding out but all I can tell you for now is that he's a trusted ally. You will learn the real answers later, but for now, all you need to know is that he is on our side." The Jackal gave a second look at both of them, sighed and she said her goodbye's to go meet up with the others. Connor on the other hand saw the Black Knight leaving the Arena and ran up to him. "So exactly why did you let them win?" The knight stopped in his tracks and gave Connor an odd excuse.

"So that I can see what true powers they really have. I know they're still a bit new but I see promise in them. Once they've completed their training, then I'll fight them with my full strength." He then left the arena, leaving Connor confused. He then looked back at the others who were celebrating their victory, except 3 of them were barely conscious. He walked over to where the others were to congratulate them and handed them each a potion.

Nigel watched all of them from a distance and smiled. He pulled out his pocket watch and he knew he had to leave. He faced the other direction and walked away while slowly fading away. His job had been done here and now he had left, leaving the others to their own business.

It had been a few days since the test and our now soldiers were taking the time to relax and get their strength back to maximum before they fight again. During this time a guard had knocked on each of the 2 dorm rooms to inform them that Headmaster requested to see them in his office immediately. They met up with each other and walked down the path as they talked about what he wanted.

"Maybe it's a reward for passing the test?"

"Maybe he just needs to talk about an issue with us?"

"Maybe he's reassigning us to a new team."

That last possibility worried them the most. They didn't want to be reassigned to a new team, they would rather work solo than to be split up. While having the thought in their minds they reached the Headmasters office and entered immediately. "You wanted to see us Headmaster?" Seth asked.

"Ah at last, there you are. In recent activity I know that you've passed your test to go on to Marleybone. I know you've just healed up but I've heard that Malistare is in Marleybone! I need you to investigate this matter immediately." As the 6 were about to leave, Ambrose quickly remembered something. "Wait young ones! I know this is quite unprofessional of me but I'm going to have to get you to make a team name for you. This team name will stick with you throughout the entire spiral so choose your name wisely. Something meaningful perhaps?" He let them think for a moment. Seth who had thought of an idea shared it with the others and they all agreed on it.

"From now on, this team will be known as Team Endurance or Team E for short." Seth pronounced proudly.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because no matter what you do to anyone of us, we can take the hit." Seth said with a gleam in his eye. Ambrose only smiled at them. He gave them the spiral key to Marleybone and sent them off to the quest. He reached for the book of teams written in them and put 'Team E' right under 'The Pack'.

The team had walked through the spiral door and stepped into Marleybone instantaneously. They were in some kind of church that looked like it had way too many candles and another dog was waiting by the door to greet them. "Hello young wizards! My name is Kinchley! Although around here I am called Private Kinchley. But enough about that, Welcome to Marleybone!" Kinchley said excitedly. They talked for a bit but after the conversation he sent them off to where they were originally supposed to go. They walk outside to Reagents Square and gaze at what such a bustling city looks like. A little bit after they view the city a voice comes from the shadows calling for their attention.

"Hey you…" the voice calls in a deep voice. "Come here… I want to show you something…" Seth looks at his team and tells them to keep their hands on their wands. He then approaches the shadow with caution. "Closer, I need to show you something…" That's when he realized the figure had a black knife and stopped walking about 3 feet away. "Closer boy… CLOSER." He started to yell. "I SAID CLOSER!" The shadow yelled before he lunged at Seth with his knife. He managed to dodge it but the knife scratched his cheek deeply and suddenly the knife had turned silver. The others had seen enough of this and pinned down the shadowy figure to the ground, only to have him turn to a cloud of black dust.

"What the hell just happened?" Jack yelled.

"I don't know but it's probably a sign, Malistare doesn't want us here for some reason." Gabriel said examining the knife. He then looked at Seth who had been holding his cut cheek. "Let me take a look at your cut Seth." He said as he put the knife in his bag. When Seth took his hand off of his cut Gabriel and the others discovered something disturbing. The color of the cut was black as night! The blood was black as well. Gabriel took the knife out again looking at it muttering to himself "What the hell was in this knife…"

"Are you alright Seth? Does it hurt?" Sabrina asked.

"It's fine, feels like a regular cut to me."

"But the cut and your blood is black!"

"What?!" Seth then runs to a closed shop to see his reflection through the window. As he ran to the window, the blood and the cut had reverted back to red and he was relieved that it wasn't black. "It's not black guys, don't scare me like that." He said with a look of relief on his face. They all looked back at the cut and he was right, it was red… but how? Gabriel looked back at the knife.

"What kind of game are they playing with us..."

In the clock tower above, Malistare was looking down on the students with a smirk on his face. Behind him someone teleported in kneeling down.

"Well? How did the mission go?" He asked, still a smirk on his face.

"I couldn't stab him with the whole knife, I could only cut his cheek." The shadow said hesitantly.

"That's fine Sergeant Valdus. You've done your job well." He sighed in relief.

"So then what happens now? They know for sure you're in Marleybone now."

"Now comes the fun part sergeant. Stand up and look at the one you cut." Valdus stands up and lifts back his black hood. Under the black cape he wore a silver and black suit of armor. His black hair was oily and his eyes were dark purple. He snapped his fingers and a silver helmet had concealed his face.

"Do you see him?"

"Yes."

"Even if you did just scratch his cheek, the negative energy coated on the knife will make its way into the boy's body. It will start to turn him against his own teammates! And once the negative power consumes the majority of him, Assassin Savannah will take it from there."

"Incredible… he's going to destroy their team inside out with that one power. The team starts falling apart and as soon as we're done with Seth, we kill him. It's a fine plan, but I'm worried about it. The Incinerator has been thinking a bit more freely lately. She might not even follow the plan at this rate." He muttered to himself. As if on cue, the Incinerator teleports in on her report.

"Hello there Ghost." She says to Valdus with a smirk on her face.

"Hello Incinerator." 'I have to be more careful around her now, she's becoming a free thinker. As my superior I can't say anything or do anything either. This kills me inside but … I'm … afraid of her.' He thought to himself and vanished before another word was said.

Back to our friends, they were at a little clinic getting Seth's cheek stitched up. "And that should do it. Alright buddy you're good to go!" The doctor said to Seth as he cut the string.

"Hey doc, you didn't see anything weird when you stitched up Seth's cut did you?"

"Nope, nothing out of the ordinary. As far as I can tell your friend here is perfectly healthy." He says with a smile.

"Can you check one more time? Just to be sure."

"Well alright, you wizards have done a great service throughout the spiral so I'll be happy to help." He then examines Seth again and before he dismisses it he spots something. "Seth, I want you to open your eyes widely." He then takes a flashlight and checks his cornea. He spots a nasty looking black blob move quickly out of the lights way. He drops the flash light and turns to the others. "There's something in him. Some kind of odd virus type of thing. It seems to have gotten into your system somehow." He then turns to the others "Might you have the weapon that caused this?" Gabriel handed him the knife. "This isn't good. These are mystic markings on the knife. No magic can kill that thing inside of you Seth." Everyone's jaw had dropped as they heard the news. "But this may not be to fatal." They sighed in relief. "According to these markings, it will stick with you until something happens. I'm afraid I can't read the rest, but I know someone who can. Go to Sherlock Bones at Digmoore station. He should know what to do next." They thank the doctor and go straight to the station.

"At least we know it's not fatal."

"Yea, let's just hurry and get to Sherlock before anything else happens. We also have a mission to do here. We can't let Malistare to escape either." They all reach the station and walk towards a rather tall dog who's smoking a pipe in detective clothing discussing with a shorter dog who is dressed in a police uniform. Before they even call out to him he notices them. He sees the freshly stitched up scar on Seth's face and a knife being held by the blade to ensure that they are no threat. He looks at their serious faces and hypothesizes what they are here for.

"You're here about a cut that he received from that blade aren't you?" Sherlock asks with great confidence. He looked at their surprised faces and before they could say anything he answered again. "I am a detective you know. Anyway if you want me to take a look at that knife, you're going to have to hand it to me and not just stare at me." Gabriel snapped out of his amazement and handed Sherlock the knife. He read it multiple times to be sure of it's meaning. "There's some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you will live. The bad news is that this thing might take over you. It's definitely the work of Malistare but I see traces of raw magic on here as well." They started to sweat as they knew the only person with that kind of ability. "Anyways, there is a chance you can use this to your advantage though. Even if it's meant for a completely different task, it will increase your power. You just have to ignore anything that virus does to you or makes you believe. It won't do anything drastic for a while so for now you'll be fine." At that moment a police officer comes running into the conversation.

"Sherlock it's Jaque! He's struck again but this time we've cornered him! You have to come quick! I don't know how long we can hold him!"

"Quick young wizards! I know this is sudden but we'll need your muscle to put Jaque away for good!" Without hesitation they all nodded and followed Sherlock. Seth was the only one to think about the virus. 'Will I really use this power against my friends?' he thought 'Will I really turn evil?"

That is the end for this chapter! Quite a bit, I tried to write a bit more than I usually do but whatever. But whats going to happen to Seth? Is he going to become a bad guy? What else does Malistare have planned up his sleeve? Why am I asking you all of these questions? Come back and read the next chapter to find out!

Cya later!

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