Joy shivered in fear at Aku's expression.

She felt a certain pressure from him and while it wasn't necessarily malicious it was still uncomfortable to stare at head on.

Many throughout the room had similar reactions minus a few.

"Hell no!" A man with glasses and smooth black hair stood up aggressively. "There's no way I'm doing something like that! Especially when you give off such a sinister expression like that."

The room was deathly quiet.

All in the room, including Joy had turned to face the man at his sudden outburst.

All eyes were on him.

He continued, "I know guys like you! I had to work under your kind all the time. Self-serving manipulators who just want to use me. I refuse to let that happen again!"

Aku stood in silence at his words; and for a reason that none could explain, his face darkened.

Not in a moody way like his smile faded, it literally darkened.

His face wasn't visible anymore despite him still maintaining the same head position.

The man who had previously and boldly shouted out was sweating nervously now.

Aku sighed, his face becoming visible again; maintaining the same smile, "Would you come over here for me?"

The man hesitantly started walking over.

As he made his way down everyone's eyes were on him, not knowing what to expect.

Eventually he passed by the table Lorial was sitting at.

Lorial looked at the man with glasses while holding a smug smile; the same smug smile he had been holding ever since his conversation with Aku previously.

He muttered under his breath, "Idiot."

After passing through the many different tables, he finally stood in front of Aku.

Their size difference was shocking to see.

The man towered over Aku in height but to Joy's surprise, she didn't have the sense that that fact bothered Aku in the slightest.

Aku tilted his head up, holding his same soft smile. "So you want to leave huh?"

The man was sweating more profusely than he had been when he was back at the comfort of his table.

He was looking away from Aku, nervously fidgeting with his hands.

"Y-yeah."

"What was that?"

"I sai-"

Before the man could fully repeat himself Aku grabbed his face; forcefully pulling him down so he was on his level now.

The man, panicked, grabbed Aku's arm, trying to pull away but his attempt proved pointless.

He struggled to no avail to escape his grasp.

'He has an iron grip!' He thought frantically.

Aku's eyes had a cold emptiness to them and in this moment, the man finally recognized his true nature.

Him and the other's couldn't imagine the power Aku held.

Behind his round, black eyes was an infinite pool of darkness. There wasn't a trace of a soul in them. Aku was truly a deity; a being unlike humans.

Aku gritted his teeth, slightly. "So, you would deliberately discard my kindness like this?"

Joy looked on in confusion.

When Aku had spoke for some reason she felt like she heard multiple voices in one. She didn't just hear his high pitched voice but she also heard a very feminine, masculine, and another voice that sounded like a whole different language than what he had been speaking in the whole time.

The man started to speak, no doubt to apologize given his circumstances but before he could Aku released him.

Falling to the ground on his knees, sweating a river and shivering in fear the man was speechless.

"Fine then." Aku gave a deep sigh, his voice going back to it's normal high pitched tone. "It's frustrating seeing how I went through all the trouble to bring you here, just for you to want to leave but so be it."

The man looked up at Aku, with a somewhat conflicted expression.

There was a look of relief that nothing bad happened despite him being in such a vulnerable position; along with a look of confusion and slight fear lingering.

Aku scanned the room slowly before exclaiming out, "If there's anyone else who shares this man's sentiment, please come down here as well."

As soon as those words finished leaving his lips there was chaos. Many people throughout the room started talking to amongst themselves loudly.

Some exclaiming that something like this isn't worth whatever Aku has in store; while others were simply silent or debating that their previous circumstances weren't much better.

After a little while of deliberation, some started making their way down to where Aku was.

About 8 of the previous 44 people walked down.

Now that everyone had seemingly made their decision Aku had started speaking again.

Joy wasn't listening however, she was looking down, deep in her thoughts.

'I...don't know what to do. In a way I agree with the people who spoke about how our previous circumstances aren't better but this is a hard choice. I've been feeling off since I got here, from missing memories to the sinister air Aku gives off. I can't tell if staying or leaving would be the better choice.'

"Alright, so with that choice being made I would give everyone one last piece of information. This will be your first and only time to leave this place. If you don't leave now, you'll have to stay until you either fail the test, or become the last one standing."

Joy clenched her fist, 'This is my only chance... Is it worth it?'

Joy looked up hoping that the next thing she saw would give her a choice but sadly nothing...

She couldn't see a pro or con in the situation. If she left now she would just experience the same hardships, at least here in this strangle place, there was a chance. An unknown chance but a chance nonetheless to get her wish.

To experience Joy. No one else walked down with the group. Everyone else remained in their chairs.

The noticeable people being Joy, Arthur, Lorial, and the blonde girl who while she'd previously been leaning back in her chair; she now had her arms crossed watching the situation with full attention.

"Alrighty then." Aku smiled eagerly.

Joy assumed his smile was one of eagerness since his opposition would be gone so he could proceed with the details of the tests, which had been taking too long to get through in her opinion.

"Everyone who's leaving, please follow Ben back out this door." Aku raised his hand to point to his left, there was another door.

Many looked on with surprised faces.

There was only one door previously, the one everyone including Aku and Ben had walked through to enter the room.

But now, there was another door, this one unlike the simple nature of the big doors this one was more intricate. Having a black and grey pattern, the more you looked at it the more clear it became. There were skull looking insignia's carved in it.

As soon as Ben opened the door, a blinding light emerged, completely blinding everyone in the room.

Ben spoke, "I need you all to hold the hand of the person behind you. Unfortunately humans can't handle the sight of the gate to beyond so you won't be able to follow me unless you're all linked together."

The group all obeyed, grabbing the hand of the person behind them with the man with glasses and black hair in the front.

Ben grabbed his hand, leading him and the others through the door.

Once he was gone Aku gave a sigh of relief.

"Well, now that the headache is gone, I can continue."

***

The room was filled with noise, everyone talking amongst themselves.

All were having a conversation at some level, all except Joy; she was sitting quietly thinking about everything Aku had finished telling them all.

'He started off by boisterously exclaimed that these series of tests would be called the one wish challenges. He explained that there's a high chance of death with each and every test and how there are 2 planned tests at the moment; that amount could though change depending on Aku's mood or the amount of participants left. Now all we have to do is wait for Ben to return after dropping those 9 that left off. But still... something doesn't feel right in my gut right now.'

"So Joy. What are your thoughts on all this?"

Arthur's sudden question snapped her out of her thoughts.

She turned to face him, noticing his slightly worried expression.

"I don't think there's much not to think about this. Aku gave us so little info while telling us a lot. We don't know what the tests are specifically but we know that death is certainly on the table. I guess I could say I'm nervous, how about you?"

Arthur gave a long pause before responding. "I can get where your coming from. A part of me wanted to leave but I think what is to come might be worth it. To get an all powerful wish granted, you know?"

Joy nodded, "True. I just hope the risk doesn't outweigh the reward in the end."

As soon as she finished her response, a loud creak was heard.

Everyone in the room became deathly silent, turning towards the source of the sound. It was Ben, walking through the door he had been through before.

"I'm back." He turned to look at Aku. "Are we fine to begin the first test now sir?"

Aku nodded without saying a word.

"Alright then. So, starting from closest to the door," and he pointed over to the big doors from before which everyone had entered the room from before. "I'll be taking you through and your test will begin."

He motioned and someone stood, walking through the door and Ben started to follow but while he did so Joy noticed something.

On the bottom of his pant leg, she spotted a streak of red...was it...blood?

Joy tried dismissing it however. Believing that what looked to be blood wasn't. If it was blood she knew what it entailed but she didn't want to think like that.

'For the most part Aku had seemed honest about the things he chose to divulge; if he said they could leave then he would let them...right? Or would death be counted as leaving...'

Aku shouted out, "All right. Let the one wish challenges begin!"