The Entrance Exam

It was a quiet night. Thoughts of what had just happened were still racing through Kaden’s head, but he attempted to shake them out once he head reached his home. He had planned to sneak back into his room quietly, but right as he approached the house, the door swung open. Not knowing what to do, Kaden just stood there, in front of the door, frozen.

“Care to explain yourself?” Axel asked furiously, having put Kaden on a chair after dragging him back inside.

“I was just out for a walk.” Kaden mumbled with his head down, not daring to look either of his parents in the eyes. “I’m sorry…”

“Out for a walk, at this time?!” Rowena asked, equally angry as Axel. “It’s already dark out! And what’s that on your face?”

Kaden put his hand to his cheek, remembering that he was attacked by Ari. He wanted to tell them what had happened, but decided to stay quiet. Partially because he didn’t want to add to their worries, and partially because he was too embarrassed to tell them about his defeat. This did not seem to sit well with them, however.

Axel shook his head with disappointment.

“Do you think this is how a hero would behave?” He asked, sitting down in front of Kaden.

“You’re going to a hero school soon, and will become one of the best heroes out there. It’s time to start behaving like one.”

It felt like a rock sank to the bottom of Kaden’s stomach, after hearing those words. Of course his father couldn’t have known that he wasn’t going to be a hero. Yet, the way he told Kaden like it was already all figured out. Like he had decided his future for him. It frustrated Kaden. Not only because of his father’s words, but also because of himself, for not being able to just tell them how he feels. He wanted to shout out his thoughts, say that he could never even attempt to attend a hero school, but instead he just nodded along with whatever his father said.

“Even your uncle, Morey, knew to behave better when he was your age.” Axel continued sternly.

“Yes, I get it.” Kaden blurted out in his frustration.

Quickly, he looked up at his father in fear. He surprised himself, with what he just said. Axel’s face twisted into an expression of fury. He held up his finger and looked like he was about to explode at Kaden, when his watch started beeping, calling him to work. He shook his head again, then silently walked out of the house. Rowena, whose watch had also started beeping now, let out a sigh, and walked closer to Kaden.

“I know it can be hard,” she told him, her voice being significantly calmer than before, “but all we want is for you to be safe, okay?”

“I’m sorry.” Kaden muttered, looking up at his mom.

Rowena put her hand on his cheek and shook her head, her eyes wordlessly telling him not to be.

“Does it hurt?” She asked softly.

“Not anymore.” Kaden replied, slightly embarrassed.

She patted his head comfortingly and walked towards the door.

“Don’t mind what your father said too much,” She told him, stopping at the door, “he’s only showing his worry in his own way. Just be the best you, you can be. I’ll be proud of you, no matter what kind of hero you become.”

She turned her head and gave Kaden a comforting smile. He tried to smile back, but had difficulty doing so. He knows she meant well, but that was not the words he was hoping to hear.

Axel seemed to have forgotten how mad he was when he got home that night. He greeted Kaden like his usual self. Rowena, however, kept telling Kaden how proud she was of him for even trying, as the next week went by. Kaden, who felt more guilty with every time she told him, just smiled back awkwardly. He told himself he would come clean the next time they brought up school, but the few times that they did, he got too nervous, and deflected their questions. The nerves only got bigger, as the days passed.

On the day of the entrance exam, a big meeting was apparently being held with the full hero council, including Kaden’s parents. Kaden doubted this was a mere coincidence, but it worked out in his favour, since he didn’t have to think of an excuse to leave.

After they said goodbye, Kaden immediately got ready to go. Most of his parent’s hero stuff was kept in a safe-place, away from home. However, Kaden knew they kept some protective gear in the garage, and thought to put it on under his clothes, before he left. Just in case.

He took the train to the Duskfall Fields. They didn’t travel all the way to the exact place he was supposed to be, but it wasn’t far from the last stop.

To his surprise, there were a lot of kids, all around his age, gathered on the fields. Most of them were standing in groups, talking amongst each other. Kaden pulled his hood over his head and tried to not look as nervous as he was. He didn’t think anyone was going to recognise him, but he wasn’t going to take that risk.

Some time went by, and a few more kids arrived here and there. Kaden had sat himself down on a lone rock, away from everyone. His heart started beating faster with every second they were there. He started thinking,

“what if we’ve all been led into some elaborate trap, and villains will jump out to snatch us all up?”

Before he could decide whether to stay or leave, however, a boy in a yellow hoodie walked up to him.

“Hello there.” He greeted Kaden with a friendly smile on his face.

Kaden slightly nodded his head to the boy, to greet him back. He was built big, seemingly muscular, and his blonde hair was swept backwards, looking like he had just run a marathon.

“I saw you from over there and thought you looked nervous.” He said, pointing at a small group of people.

“Could I interest you in some chocolate? That always helps me.”

He pulled out a wrapped chocolate bar from the pocket of his hoodie. Both of them looked at the chocolate bar for a few seconds.

“It might’ve melted a bit.” The boy then said awkwardly, holding the bar out to Kaden.

Kaden grabbed onto it and felt that it indeed had melted, because his fingers were able to squish into it slightly.

“T-thanks…” He said awkwardly, still looking at the chocolate bar.

The boy just kept staring at him with his big green eyes, while smiling.

“Hello, hello!” A sudden voice echoed over the Duskfall Fields. “Now that everyone is gathered, we can start the entrance exam!”

Kaden looked over the field, to see where the voice was coming from, and noticed that some adults had assembled in the distance. He thought he recognised some of them to be minor villains, from their suits, though it was hard to make out from the distance.

“Time to run, it seems!” The boy in the yellow hoodie told Kaden, before sprinting over to the group of kids.

“Allow me to explain the rules of the exam!” The loud voice continued. “All you have to do is reach the school!”

All of a sudden, on the farthest hill of the fields, blue and purple flames erupted out of nothing. As the fire lowered slowly, a strange, black marble building revealed itself. Weird protrusions and contraptions decorated the outside, and it almost looked like the building had a face. Where the mouth would be were two big black doors, that Kaden recognised from his short visit to Kagekoka High.

“Ah, but only reaching the building would be far too easy, would it not?” The voice started again.

“That is why our faculty will stop at nothing, to stop you!” It exclaimed cheerfully.

Kaden looked at the villains in the field. The ones that had weapons readied them, and the others assumed fighting positions. He gulped, pocketed the molten chocolate bar, and got off the rock.

“If I fail, I at least won’t have to lie to my parents anymore.” He thought to himself, almost sure that he was going to fail.

“Oh, and you’ll have 10 minutes, we wouldn’t want to stay here too long for heroes to come swooping by.” The voice slyly added. “Begin.”

There was a moment of hesitation, but then at once, all the gathered kids turned on each other. They pushed and shoved the others out of the way in order to get a head start. The strong-looking kids rushed forward, while the smaller ones laid behind, having been beaten down.

Then, out of nowhere, explosions flared up, kids fell into pits and were swung up into the sky.

“Oh, did I forget to mention there are booby-traps too?” The voice remarked sinisterly. “Well, there are. Good luck.”

A bunch of the first wave of kids were wiped out, and now the second wave ran forward too, encountering more booby-traps, but also villains. Battle broke loose.

Kaden had realised that he was just standing there, watching all of this unfold. His legs were frozen.

“Just run!” The small voice in his head had returned. “If you fail now, you can never prove yourself!”

As if by themselves, Kaden’s legs started moving forward. He ran past the first set of booby-traps, noticing some of the kids who fell into the holes trying to climb out. He narrowly avoided a few explosions and pits himself, before he ran into the bald man with the big moustache. The very same one that had given him the tour. He was standing in front of Kaden, with a strange-looking gun pointed his direction. The same kind as the man with the significantly smaller moustache had.

“Ah, so you’ve made it this far? Good, good.” He exclaimed. “However, we have been instructed to not hold back. Not that I would ever do that in the first place.” 

A grin formed on his face.

“Let’s see how much further you can get.”

Without hesitation, he fired the gun and a purple energy shot from the barrel. Kaden managed to roll out of the way of the first one, but the man did not stop firing. Three more shots came straight at Kaden.

Kaden shot out one of his Negative Bubbles, which very slowly travelled right at the purple energy. The shots reflected in three different directions, one of them hitting another kid’s arm, and another someone’s leg.

Kaden’s powers, like his father’s, can invert everything tangible. He can make hard things soft, liquids solid, or even change the direction of objects. And because of his mother’s power, he can also invert the intangible, like colours, or even emotions. Unlike his father, however, Kaden’s power only works inside his Negative Bubbles, which, unfortunately for him, travelled slower than the walking speed of a tortoise.

The bald man kept shooting, and Kaden kept throwing out his Negative Bubbles.

Some people around them stopped their fighting to look at Kaden, which he noticed after a while. Though, he wasn’t exactly sure why they were looking his direction. Either way, though he could easily see the difference himself, he figured that to some of them his bubbles must look strikingly similar to those of his mom. He instantly stopped throwing them out, and got hit in his shoulder because of his hesitation.

Kaden attempted to avoid the energy bullets, which he did successfully for a few, but the man was firing at such a rate that it was impossible for him to dodge all of them. Although he wasn’t badly hurt, due to his protective gear, it did sting a little.

Time was quickly running out. Kaden couldn’t keep avoiding the purple energy forever, but the man wasn’t letting him pass so easily. He needed to somehow find a way to make the man stop shooting.

“I can’t throw my bubbles, but since they’re too slow to ever hit him anyway, I might as well–” He thought, while avoiding another round of energy bullets.

Kaden formed a bubble around both of his hands and held one out. One of the purple energy bullets shot straight at him. Kaden could feel the heat on his palm for a small moment, before it shot back out in the direction of the man. It hit his hand and produced a quiet sizzling sound, upon which the man dropped the gun.

Kaden looked at his hands. Slightly surprised and amazed by himself, he gave out a little chuckle.

Kaden had always thrown his bubbles out before, as he was taught by his mother to do so. She had said that they would get faster, the harder he threw and the more he trained, but they never did. He hadn't ever thought to use them as a shield, instead of a weapon. He was surprised that it even worked in the first place.

“Don’t celebrate too soon now!” The man yelled. 

It sounded like he was struggling, from the grunting noises he made. Kaden looked up, and like he pulled it out of nothing, the man now held a big, mechanical, canon-like machine.

Kaden stumbled back a bit, but readied himself for the canon.

“Try to deflect this!” The man yelled out, pulling the canon’s trigger.

A purple glow lit in the barrel of the cannon, while the man started laughing evilly. Kaden held out his hands and closed his eyes to brace himself. He heard a loud blast, then suddenly, something hard hit his body.