-CHAPTER FOUR-
•Countdown•

Only a few days remained until the start of the exams and the armory was crowded with Gifted students. The armory was maybe the most impressive area in the academy. The room, stretched as far as two football fields in all four directions, had a skylight, and contained different land environments that helped train against advantaged and disadvantaged terrain.

There were also weapons and gadgets scattered across the walls: swords, guns, grappling hooks, explosives, traps; the list just keeps going.

The students spread out all across the room and began their training. A cloud of smoke wandered around the room; the smoke cleared and Crowley appeared in its place.

"My wonderful students, how are you?"

Everyone raised their weapons to the sky.

"Splendid. As you all know the test will be here in just a matter of days, and Principle Ronald and I have finally chosen where the survival test will take place. It will be taken in the Forbidden Forest."

Everyone stared at each other with worried looks.

"That's suicide!" Someone yelled out.

"No one said it would be easy," Crowley replied. "It's already been decided."

A quick flash of light caught everyone's eye and standing next to Crowley was Principal Ronald, wearing his signature navy blue, Gifted Academy uniform.

"I've changed my mind. Multiple "restrictions" have arisen and I believe the Forbidden Forest may be too dangerous."

Crowley looked at him with distaste. "Sir, I thought we had reached an agreement in our last meeting."

"And I thought I was the principle of this academy, Crowley."

Ronald turned his attention back to the students.

"The Survival test will be taken in the Bone Valley." He waved his hand and the oversized flat screen that hung high above him turned on.

"Your time is running out," he announced.

The screen read: 2d: 5h: 23s

"Your time begins now." The countdown sequenced and everyone went back to training, while Crowley jotted down the names of the students who would be attending the dangerous event.

With a slight frown upon his face, James entered the armory and approached the wall of weapons. He grabbed his usual selection: a sword, shield, and daggers, and then headed towards the grassy environment.

"James!" William yelled as he rushed over.

He was wearing a battle vest layered with chain mail and he carried a mace (a large spikey hammer).

"About time. How did it go?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"You sure," he asked. He noticed the bandage on James' neck.

"Did something happen?"

James looked around for Jennifer. He found her off to the side training alone, ripping a practice dummy to shreds with each strike.

"No. I'm alright." He sat the blade of his sword on William's shoulder. "Now, show me that all that training wasn't for nothing."

William smiled and brushed the blade off his armor.

"Just because I'm the youngest doesn't mean I'm going to be easy to beat."

James gave a little smirk. "Then prove it to me."

They took a few steps back away from each other and leveled their weapons. William put on his helmet and assumed a fighting stance. They stood there for a second, studying each other.

The sun's rays shot down through the skylight and bounced off the polished spikes of William's hammer, temporarily blinding James.

"Ah!" James covered his face with his hand. He looked through the cracks of his fingers, noticing William leaping into the air ready to strike. He evaded the attack with a roll.

The ground made a crunching noise as the hammer hit the abnormal grass; a crooked circle of dirt formed underneath it.

"Ouch." James mocked, "You were really trying to hurt me weren't you?"

"Thought you wanted me to prove I wasn't weak," William said, as he popped his neck.

"Well I guess we should stop playing with these toys and take off the training wheels."

James threw his shield onto the ground, and William removed his helmet.

"I think I might just have to get serious after all."

"It's now or never big bro."

James held his sword in his right hand and positioned his left one on his dagger; William dug around in his back pocket.

Students from every corner of the armory turned their attention to James and William's fight. Jennifer noticed and  joined the crowd, too.

James and William remained silent, giving each other a cold stare, and with the blink of an eye James vanished. Everyone looked around but he was nowhere to be found.

William walked in a circle trying to guard himself from every direction.

"You might be faster than me, but I've got all the strength."

James' voice whistled through the air. "Strength isn't everything; speed, endurance, and a well-made strategy are just as effective."

Everyone in the crowd continued looking for him. A quick sweep of wind passed and the grass in front of William scrambled in the air.

Ronald and Crowley made their way over to catch a glance of the battle.

"They've certainly grown, sir," said Crowley, "But are you sure they should be taking the exams this year? You know the competition this year is more, how should I say this...life threatening."

"Do you doubt they have the power to pass, Crowley?" Principle Ronald's nose flared.

"No, not at all, sir. I trained them myself and not to toot my own horn, but I believe I did a fine job; still to this day I am shocked at how they've both managed to use my clan's shadow manipulation. It's concerning but amazing as well. I don't doubt their power. I'm only suggesting that maybe they should wait another year."

"They have been stuck in this academy for almost twelve years. They've trained every day, each year, since day one. They've proven they have what it takes to take on this challenge and you can bet they'll pass with flying colors."

"Understood, sir."

They approached the crowd and got a clear view of the golden-boys in action. William, still holding his back pocket, reached in and pulled out a pair of mechanical shades and smoke bombs. He put the shades on his face and quickly threw down the bombs, releasing a dark cloud of smoke.

Everyone's view was blocked, but they could still hear the intensity of the fight; sounds of blades colliding and heavy panting.

"Are they getting serious?" Someone yelled from the crowd.

William's hammer suddenly flew out of the smoke above everyone's head and stuck as it crashed into a wall. A gust of wind blew the smoke away and James appeared; he was standing behind William, holding his sword across his little brother's neck.

The crowd began to whisper. "He's good."

James released him and punched him as he pushed him aside. William rushed back and attempted to hit James but he was stopped when James' dagger sliced through his hand.

"Ah! What are you doing?" William fell to the ground grasping his bloody hand.

Jennifer stood on the front row of the crowd, stunned and speechless.

"Stop playing around, William," James said, gripping his sword tighter.

William stood back to his feet, and once again he tried charging at James. James leaped towards him and lunged his sword through the center of William's chest. His movement came to a complete stop; his face showed nothing but pain and suffering as he dropped onto the fake grass.

"He killed him!" A girl screamed.

Everyone was nervous; Crowley seemed just as disturbed. Ronald only stood with a smile on his face.

"Good job." He clapped his hands sincerely.

The crowd backed away as James stood over his little brothers bloody body.

He smiled. "Come out, William, you're scaring everybody."

The room grew completely silent. Weirdly enough, William's entire body turned pitch black and nothing was left but a black stain on the green grass.

"A shadow clone?" Crowley whispered. "I never taught them that."

"They learn things on their own pretty fast. Plus, you know, twelve years; that's plenty enough time to train," Ronald replied.

The sound of scraping caught everyone's attention. The hammer that was sunk into the wall started to move on its own and broke free from the concrete. The hammer came to life and mysteriously threw itself towards the crowd. James rose his hand and "pushed" the hammer back with an invisible force.

It flew backwards but it stopped in mid-flight. William's body rippled back and he was visible again; he stood uninjured grasping his weapon and his shades.

"Sorry for the scare." He grinned.

"Invisible shades? Where'd he get something like that?" Crowley asked.

"A gift from the Evolution clan," said Ronald. "The academy has become an outstanding accomplishment over the years; we're slowly building towards everlasting peace between all the clans. No more conflict, meaning, no more war. And maybe soon we can put an end to these dangerous tests. This isn't how things were supposed to be."

"Do you really think something like that is possible, sir?"

Principle Ronald didn't answer; he simply smiled and turned away.

William and James charged toward each other with fire in their eyes. The intensity of the fight was beginning to escalate.

James threw his sword into the air and threw his dagger down out of sight. William ignored his actions and kept running; he swung his hammer with ease and aimed for James' head. With a few seconds to spare, James jumped into the air and grabbed his sword. He quickly struck downward toward William, whom was still recovering from his last attack.

Without a second wasted, William put the shades back on, and James sliced into nothing but blades of grass. William abandoned his hammer; James searched all around but couldn't find any sign of him.

There was a rustle in the grass; James saw movement but he wasn't able to react fast enough; he crossed his arms in front of his body and was kicked backwards onto his back, losing his sword in the process. Before he could jump back to his feet, he found the hammer floating just a few inches from his face.

The crowd gasped.

"Nice moves," said James.

William removed his shades. "It was a good fight, but it looks like I won big bro."

James shot him a grin. "Did you?"

"No way!" Someone said.

William couldn't move any part of his body; he felt a sudden slash on his chest, and he mysteriously lost all the feeling in his legs.

James crawled away and stood to his feet.

Sweat slowly dripped down from William's forehead.

"You used you're eyes? I thought we agreed not to use those powers."

"We did. I didn't use them."

"Then why did I imagine getting cut just now?"

"Imagine? You really did get cut. Your bleeding, William."

William looked towards the grass and noticed James' sword and the mixed colors of red and green underneath him.

"Don't worry, it's not all yours." James held up his bloody arm. "When you kicked me I kind of cut myself."

"If you lost your sword how did I get cut?"

"My telekinesis helped me out; I don't have to physically hold my blade to attack you with it. And if you're wondering why you can't move...check it out."

A thick black shadow, stretching from where his clone disintegrated, wrapped around his legs keeping him completely restrained.

William smirked and chuckled at little. "Wow, you really know how to make someone look like a fool."

"I try my best." James laughed.

"This fight is over, and the winner is James Nightfury." Ronald announced.

A loud round of applause was given from the crowd.

James released the shadow-hold on William. "Actually, Principle Ronald, I'd call it a draw."

He gave a grin and nodded.

"Do you still think they should sit out this year, Crowley?"

He sighed. "It seems I may have been wrong, sir." He filled the final blanks with their names and the exam sign up was closed.

"Get ready boys you've got a lot to look forward to during this exam."

They smiled and gave each other a fist bump. James looked towards the crowd; a lot of people were intimidated, and others were anxious to fight him. He caught a glimpse of Jennifer, smiling and waving; so he returned the favor.

Suddenly, Principle Ronald's wristwatch began to beep and a hologram rose from the dial. It was Primeos, the Supernatural Council.

"How's it going, Primeos. I see you're bringing me good news?"

"Actually, it's the complete opposite. We haven't heard from the team since they left on their new assignment. We believe the Elites have gone missing."

"What?" his tone had changed entirely.

The students started a commotion and started to grow just as worried as Principle Ronald himself.

"What do you mean they're missing," Ronald said.

"Exactly what I said, sir." No one has reported back, but we've managed to track their last com signal. There was a sign of an attack and then we lost all contact with the team. Their last known location was...the Forbidden Forest."

"What!? Why are they there? They barely made it out the last time!"

"That's not all, we've also been informed that someone snuck into the Supernatural HQ and kidnapped members of our clan."

Principle Ronald rushed off to his office; his body vanished at an unimaginable speed, resembling only a flash of light in everyone's eyes.

One by one the students began to panic.

"Settle down, everyone," Crowley announced, "We will continue the day like any other. Let Principle Ronald handle this and you'll see the Elites in no time; I'm sure they're all fine."

Crowley's words were useless. Nothing he said could have made the students feel any better about the situation.

"Remain calm and go back to training. Class will be starting soon."

Everyone, hoping that it all wasn't true, continued their training with the thought of their missing veterans. James and William weren't handling the news well either; the same team their Mother belonged to years ago was now M.I.A in one of the worst places in Veritas--The Forbidden Forest.