MRA: BEFORE I BEGIN THIS CHAPTER, WE WANNA POINT TWO THINGS OUT BEFORE YOU GO ON. NOW, THE NEXT PART OF THIS STORY WILL BE A BIT BASED OFF OF MASASHI KISHIMOTO'S NARUTO. I DON'T KNOW IF USING AN IDEA OF HIS IS STEALING, BUT I WANNA TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SAY I GIVE HIM CREDIT FOR THE ORIGINAL IDEA NOW SO I DON'T GET IN TROUBLE.
Thomas: AND THE SECOND THING IS THAT SINCE I TALKED WITH ALL OF THE MEMBERS, IT IS OKAY WITH THEM IF DURING THE TEST, YOU CAN SEE WHAT THEY THINK AS WELL AS ME. SO, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE THEIR REACTIONS TOO.
Both: NOW BEGIN!
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Tony picked up a piece of chalk and then tapped the chalkboard multiple times to get our attention.
"Before you begin this test, there are a few rules you need to know first," Tony said, looking at all of us with a grumpy look, "And I'm not repeating myself or answering any questions, so you better listen the first time around!"
Now, I didn't know where what numbers they had or the other team's location, but I do know that King was in the row behind me to my left, Zev was in the last seat in the upper left, Naruto in the fourth right row, Sasuke was in the middle left section somewhere, and Batsu was actually next to him. It was then King raised an eyebrow and jerked his head up with a look that said 'what, you serious?'
"Wait, no questions? What the heck kind of rules are these?" he thought.
I mean, it should be the teacher's job to explain and answer questions that any of the test-takers need to have answered. But, then again, this is a proctor... and TONY of all proctors, so just asking him that would probably get me embarrassed beyond a recognition of a doubt. So, I sighed and nodded as he continued.
Tony began to write on the chalkboard as he began to explain, "Here are the rules. Rule number one: the test is being constructed on a point reduction system. Contrary to some of you who have experienced in the past with Rescue Team Training School, you all begin the test with a perfect score of ten points."
He moved out of the way to reveal he should an example of the test and the rest of the rules that I will tell to you as I keep telling the story.
"One point will be deducted for each question you get incorrectly. So, that means if you missed two, your final score will be eight," he said.
Ahh, okay... so it made sense to me now. So, I decided that since I'm not really a scholar of any type or know really anything about Pokémon, I would aim for getting at least six of them right, so that way I could get a good average score.
Tony put down the chalk and then continued, "Rule number two: Teams will either move on or be eliminated based on the total scores of all team members."
That was a shocker. You mean we're getting graded as a team? Wow, that means this makes the test ever more challenging than I thought it would be originally. I could see Holt, Zoey, and Alyssa reflect on that as there was some talking amongst the groups as suddenly a female Torchic stood up and yelled.
"What!? What do you mean? You're saying all the members are being graded together!?" she yelled.
"Shut up!" Tony said, causing her to sit back down and be quiet, "I have a reason why these rules are being enforced. Now be quiet and listen to the rest."
"Reasons? You mean there's something we need to abide by these? Hmmm..." Sasuke thought as he listened closely.
"Rule number three: as you can see, there are multiple sentinels sitting on the sides of the room and are there to watch you for any signs of rescue teams cheating. And for any sight of cheating they catch, they'll take two points away from the culprit's score," Tony said grinning.
"Sheesh... they make all sorts of ways where you can lose points," Zev rolled his eyes and thought.
"Only a two point deduction...? Why not a dismissal immediately?" Batsu pondered, perking his head up after hearing the third rule.
"Be warned, that their eyes are incredibly sharp and that even only from one side, they can catch any movement of your body. Remember that although every incident of cheating the spot they take two points off, if they catch you five times, you lose all points and you'll be dismissed before the tests are even graded," Tony warned.
I took the time to look around at the sentinels around the room. Although they were different types and shapes, they all looked like they were incredibly skilled at analysis and each had a clipboard and pencil for each. My eyes just looked back at Zeke, as he looked at me and showed a clipboard and pencil in his paws. He smiled a tiny bit as he then sat back in his chair.
"Anyone who gets caught by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here. Your rescue teams should find the answers perfectly, and should also find the hidden meanings. Sometimes, you must see through deception and find the true meaning. Show us what incredible teams you can be," Tony said smiling.
"Okay... so, Sasuke and Batsu will pass this perfectly, and even the dork should be fine... so even if Zev, the pipsqueak, or myself get a bad score or even get a zero, we should get past this without a hitch," King thought, nodding with a smirk.
"Wow... they really pulled out all the stops here..." Naruto thought as he lowered his ears a bit.
I rubbed my head as I took a deep breath. My heart started to race a bit as I looked at the test paper. This part of the exam seemed so hard, and if you know my past, I've never taken a test before. Just looking at it, I could just seem to feel this would be so mind-aching. I sighed as Tony then grinned and said something that made everyone become shocked and pale up.
"Rule number four: if any member of any team gets a zero on this test, then your entire team fails!"
My body felt suddenly cold as I slowly raised my hands to my face. Burying it in them, I leaned against the table and began to shake a bit in nervousness. There's no way I'm gonna pass this now. Oh, gosh, they're gonna kill me...
King gritted his teeth and directed his attention at me as he groaned and thought, "Oh, great... the pipsqueak's freaking out... this is gonna be a pain in the neck..."
"Gesume crow... are they trying to make us all fail?" Zev said, as he narrowed his gaze at the proctor.
"W-Wow... I knew the test would be difficult, but not this much..." Naruto pondered as he looked down at his test paper.
"Thomas... Naruto... please, be okay and do your best..." Sasuke hoped for us as he looked at us from the back and Batsu simply seemed completely calm about the whole ideal.
As I was secretly beginning to fear in all honest completely, I felt a paw touch my right shoulder as Zoey looked at me with concern. I raised my head up and saw her honestly look baffled yet compassionate at me as I felt my body calm down.
"Thomas... are you all right?" she asked.
"Yeah... just a bit shaken up by these rules," I said, slightly smiling.
"These rules are so tough..." Alyssa ended up muttering unconsciously.
"I'm starting to think that this exam is no fun anymore..." Holt whined.
"Now, the final rule. Rule number five: You will notice that although this is a ten question test, that there is only nine questions on your paper," Tony said.
I blinked as I picked up my test paper. The three sitting next to me looked on as I noticed that there was four questions on the front, and five on the back. We all looked confusedly at each other as we then turned our attention to our proctor to explain this.
"The final question will not be released until the final ten minutes. You will have one hour total to complete this exam," he said, and watching a black clock near the door for it to hit 11:00 am exactly, he then turned to us and said something that got us into it.
"BEGIN!"
(But on a side note... I began to feel a question pop up... Why does this test seem so familiar...?)
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