"I'm finally here. My heart is pounding. Why am I sweating? Must be the suit." The doors slide open. A blinding light fills the end of the player tunnel. Every step Delis takes feels heavier than the last. He looks to the rest of his classmates — they're in the same situation. Some legs outright shaking. One boy holds his mouth and rushes back to the bathroom.
The light fills up more and more of his visor until he is almost completely blind. The visor quickly adjusts to the light levels. His eyes follow suit. His ears finally come online. Is that… "Static?" He tries to adjust his comms. It's still there. He finally registers the situation — the crowd. The Battle Dome has erupted in cheers and screams, all coalescing into a consistent humming static noise.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our competitors!" A voice cuts through the static. The noise mellows down. It's Mr. Oken.
"Now let's get this show on the road, shall we?" He points at one of the monitors above the player tunnel. Twelve faces appear on the monitor. "Your captains." He gestures. The crowd comes alive again; a mixture of names echoes throughout the dome. "Seems like the people already have favourites." He begins introducing the captains.
The stadium mellows down again. "First, we have the prodigy — the son of Valiant himself. Over the past year, he has demonstrated feats equal to his father's. Our scientists predict that he might even surpass him." Oken glances at Valiant. Valiant has his arms folded, focusing on the contestants, but a cheeky smile slips through his tough façade. The crowd cheers as Mark steps forward. He is in an all-black bodysuit with red accents — the exact inverse colour scheme of his father's — except for the gloves. They are white, a gift from his mother, who could not be here because of her many business trips.
He steps onto the designated area the ref-bot points to and turns back to look at the rest of his fellow heroes-in-training. His face is steady and determined. The crowd mellows down again as the microphone crackles. "Our next captain — all the way from the Kalhara continent. The man with a forest in his pouch: Jiri." A slim, tall boy stands next to Mark. He is in a more casual outfit with a pouch hanging from his waist. "Nice," he greets Mark. The favour is not returned.
Oken continues to introduce the captains for the event. The rest of them are as follows.
Ombra — the girl with a mysterious summon that requires a chant. She has on an unusually long dress that scrapes against the polished grey field. Her hair covers most of her face. She stands next to the other captains without saying a word.
Dolly — one of the few existing people with a fully functional perfect cloning boost. With a smile almost as bright as the lights, she skips out to her spot and waves to the audience frantically. It seems some of her family members have come to see her.
Aluber — from one of the most prestigious houses in all of Eclipse City, and one of the hundred people in existence with a summon boost. Today he is in an all-black tailored tuxedo. The left arm of his blazer is fully embroidered with the family symbol and a dragon twisting all the way across the sleeve.
Terra — the girl with the magical touch. She has gloves that go all the way to her forearm. She keeps to herself as she walks over to her area. This is her first time in a situation like this. She is a small-town girl from the Kalhara continent. The only person she has any connection with here is Jiri. They both smile at each other as she takes her position.
Echo — that is what he or she goes by. A shapeshifter with some unexpected surprises. He is currently in the form of a young boy: white shirt, grey pants — a very odd choice of attire for an event like this. His most striking features are his deep ocean-blue eyes, which flicker to an emerald green as he takes his spot among the captains.
Shiren — the writer, a boy who can write almost anything into existence. He twirls a pen between his fingers as he walks toward the other captains. He takes out a piece of paper and scribbles something, as if to check that the pen works. He smiles and puts the paper back in his pocket.
Alexander — the first person with a metamorphosis boost to get into the academy. Apart from Mark himself, Alexander is one of the most anticipated competitors in the entire tournament. It is not every day people get to see a high-intensity metamorphosis boost in action. He is wearing black glasses to hide the only part of his body that the boost cannot revert to human.
Jaxz — a resident of the Nostra continent, brought to Eclipse City as part of a cultural enrichment programme. Not much is known about his boost; they say it's a teleport boost, but the details remain unclear. He has an unsettling grin, and most of the students have never actually seen him in action. He has on traditional Nostra military attire, complete with a claw glove on his left arm.
Kevin — he received super-adaptive cells from the binding process and can transform his body into any material he comes into contact with. The most confident of all his classmates, he is in a simple white tank top with dog tags hanging from his neck. All four of them appear to be made of different metals or alloys. He looks Mark directly in the eyes and smiles as he passes by to his spot.
Lia the illusionist — she can project illusions into any target's mind, allowing her to take control of any situation quickly. The most relaxed of all the students, she is in a green floral dress that gives the illusion of levitation as she walks. Rose-tinted glasses hide her mesmerising violet eyes.
The captains stood in a line in front of their fellow academy students. The ref-bot came along and handed each of them a tablet. Oken spoke again. "Captains, from the tablets you've been given, you will get to pick your teammates. If a person is picked by more than one captain, the audience will decide which team they join." The stadium monitor displayed all sixty students who remained.
The selection process began. The captains went through the list, trying to build the best team they could. After a few moments, all sixty names had turned green. The selection process was over. Oken was handed a tablet with all the selections. "Seems like we have a few overlapping choices. Well, let's sort that out quickly."
A list of fifteen names appeared on the monitor — these participants had been picked by more than one captain.
Delis — by Mark, Aluber, Jiri, and Dolly.
David — by Aluber, Ombra, Lia, Jiri, Mark, and Echo.
Cris — by Jaxz, Jiri, Terra, and Alexander.
Marshal — by Jaxz and Echo.
Dash — by Shiren, Alexander, and Jaxz.
Saharai — by Mark and Shiren.
Trevor — by Aluber, Lia, Echo, and Kevin.
Liam — by Kevin and Aluber.
Koi — by Mark and Terra.
Mika — by Shiren, Kevin, Ombra, Echo, Aluber, Jaxz, and Alexander.
Nova — by Mark, Jiri, and Echo.
Zara — by Aluber and Echo.
Axel — by Dolly, Kevin, Ombra, Jaxz, and Echo.
Nico — by Jiri, Lia, and Alexander.
Restrictor bands across the stadium began to pulse, then a hologram screen appeared in front of every audience member. "You may now vote." The stadium went silent for a moment.
Then the main monitor beeped to show that all the votes were in. "Let's see where these participants will end up, shall we?"
The results appeared on the screen, and the stadium vibrated with sounds of excitement and disappointment. Delis looked at the results, shocked by what he saw. Delis was on Mark's team with a ninety percent vote. That was not what shocked him. David was on Aluber's team with a sixty percent vote. He turned his head to look at David. They had been together for a year, and now they were on opposite teams. David just looked at him. He whispered something — "For our younger selves" — and smiled.
Cris goes to Alexander's team by fifty-one percent of the votes. Cris was the only other person Terra felt comfortable with besides Jiri, and now they are on opposite teams. They share a glance of understanding as Cris goes to stand with his team.
Marshal and Dash — inseparable friends since the early days of the academy and hero training — but the audience did not see that bond. They just made a choice. Now Marshal is on Echo's team while Dash is with Alexander.
Saharai goes to Mark's team by ninety-eight percent of the votes. This felt like fate for her — she had risked her career by joining Mark when they went to fight that plant monster.
Trevor had no real problem with his results. If his team wins, that is all that matters.
Liam was sent to Aluber's team by seventy percent of the votes. That was not the major issue. The issue was that Liam had always thought of Aluber as his rival — and now he couldn't face him. To make things even more awkward, Nova was on Mark's team. The two of them had spent weeks developing combo moves with their boosts.
Koi surprisingly went to Terra's team. The only other captain who wanted him was Mark — this should have been a landslide for Mark. But it seems the audience had other ideas.
Mika and Zara hugged as they found out they had both ended up on the same team. By the slimmest of margins, they were both on Echo's team.
Axel walked over to Dolly's team without a second thought. He was not here to make friends — and he had none — so the vote was never a worry to him. Personally, he felt he had been robbed of the captain spot.
Nico was hesitant to go to Jiri's team. He had been confident he would end up on Lia's team, where all his friends were. He knew no one on Jiri's team, and his captain wasn't even from Eclipse City. But he had no choice.
"And with that, ladies and gentlemen, the selection process has ended. Let the games begin!" Oken steps away from the podium. The Battle Dome announcer appears on the monitor. "You heard the man — time to see who wants it most, who is willing to go all the way, and who will be the face of a new generation of heroes."
The audience watches in anticipation as the first game is announced.
CITY SWEEP appears on the monitor.
"There you have it, folks — the first game is City Sweep." The stadium floor begins to shake. The students quickly retreat into the tunnel. Mock buildings, cars, and full roads rise from the ground. It is an entire city block, complete with working traffic lights and dummy bots acting as civilians.
"We have hidden three 'danger bots' in this area. They aren't just props — they will actively try to harm the civilian bots. You, as heroes, need to find and catch all of them before they cause any damage and before the time runs out." The announcer pauses. "Seems easy enough, right? Well, let's just say there are a few surprises in there as well. Good luck." He disappears from the monitor.
A wheel bearing the captains' names appears on the monitor. "Now let's see who gets to go first." It begins to spin.