The terrified students gathered quickly and noisily in the auditorium, taking positions in several long, horizontal lines in front of Professor Elliott, behind whom, some distance away, was Crystal Zero. Nervousness, anxiety, and fear rippled through the crowd like a palpable wave. Even those who had seemed confident mere minutes before entering seemed to have shrunken in on themselves a bit.

"All right, settle down," barked Professor Elliott, when everyone had fallen into line. "You know the drill. For the next several minutes you will remain silent as I explain to you the nature, rules, and objective of this test. I will take questions as I go along, but please try to keep them to a minimum. Time is of the essence.

"First and foremost, there is no time limit to this exam. Yes, you heard me right," he reiterated, as many of the students let out noises of incredulity. "Absolutely no time constraints."

A girl raised her hand, but did not wait to be acknowledged before speaking.

"So how will we know when to stop?"

"I'll get to that. A few of you may have noticed — though some of you shouldn't have, as I specifically requested all attention on me — that several of my peers are currently going around." This had the opposite effect of retaining his attention, as everyone who hadn't been aware now took to staring around. Indeed, Professors Wyatt, Vera, and Duncan were going around, their red-and-white suits standing out amongst the sea of black-bronze, white-gold, and blue-silver. "By the time they're finished, each of you should have one of these. And one of these."

He held up both hands. In his left was a large, white, circular device. In his right was a small matching token shaped like a coin.

"These are your most important assets during this test. The exhibition will take place across four virtual levels underneath the playing field. All of you will be deposited onto the lowest level simultaneously, and there, you will duke it out with your fellow students."

Alec glanced around at these words. No one looked the slightest bit surprised at the news. In fact, all Professor Elliott seemed to have achieved was confirming their suspicions.

"The objective is to find and defeat as many students as you can and obtain these." He indicated the chip. "Consider them to be like your currency for this exam. While on the ground floor, you first objective will be to collect a total of five chips. However, and listen to this very carefully, you must, at all times, wear the chip you received in this lineup on your person, or somewhere else easily accessible to potential enemies trying to take it from you. If you should lose that chip, regardless of how much progress you've made collecting others, it's an automatic disqualification. As for collecting, as you do, you slip them into the compartment here —" He slid the cover up like the back of a remote, indicating an empty section where the chips would be piled. "Once you have collected five, an alert will be sent to the systems governing the labyrinth. A safe path will be opened up for you leading to the next level, and you will be guided through it by the flashing arrows on your compasses.

"Once you get to the next level, you will repeat the process until you have collected three chips. Then onto the next level, you'll collect two. You are advised to take that path as quickly as possible, because after a set amount of time has elapsed, it will automatically close. So no point sticking around trying to collect more chips and cheat the system. We'll know." It wasn't a threat. He stated it as a simple fact. "Yes, Hoffman?"

"Why are we collecting less the further we go on?" Blake Hoffman asked, lowering his hand. "If the chips represent currency, wouldn't the objective be to collect as many as possible?"

"An excellent question. Who would like to explain why this is not the case?" Professor Elliott indicated someone at the back, and a familiar voice wafted out.

"Because the further up we climb, the less enemies there will be. There are little over 220 students in our year. With everyone gunning for 5 pieces on level one, that means we have a success rate of about 45 or so students advancing. Divide again by 3 for the next level and we have an average 14. By 2, we have 7," Maddison said.

"Exactly so." Professor Elliott beamed. The students, however, suddenly tensed.

"Only 45 students will be advancing from the first level?" a Poseidon girl squeaked. "So everyone else fails?"

"No, no." Professor Elliott waved his hand impatiently. "You're not graded by how quickly you drop out or how long you survive. Those are factors taken into consideration, yes, but the general review is taken on your performance itself. How many enemies you best and of course how you best them. The level of skill, tactical and physical, you display. So even if you don't make it past level one, there's no guarantee you have to fail. That depends on you, and your level of output.

"And incidentally, for whatever it's worth, there's no guarantee only 45 people have to advance anyway."

"But you just said —"

"Precisely, Thompson," he interrupted Javon. "You're basing how this test will go off of what I previously said. There is still more I have left to say. In case it wasn't already clear, the chips you're given now do not count towards the sum total you need to activate the compass, nor will any you collect after loading the initial five, until after you advance to the next level. Like I said before, don't bother trying to trick the system, it's a waste of time only for yourself. But what's more, you don't necessarily have to collect only one chip from your opponent.

"The starting chip is an absolute necessity, of course. But you are also allowed to take an additional chip, if the person you're taking it from has collected more. Meaning you get a maximum of two per person, limiting the number of people you would need to defeat to three, if you found two who already acquired more chips."

A collective sigh of relief rang through the auditorium. Defeating only three opponents was a much more manageable task than attempting to bring down five separately.

"But."

The sigh turned at once into a groan.

Professor Elliott grinned. "Yeah, yeah, you should know by now to expect disappointment. Simple truth of life: nothing's ever so easy, and if it is, it's a scam. While you are welcome, and encouraged in the interest of time and self-preservation, to collect multiple chips per person, you will not receive extra marks for it."

The groan shifted to a cry of outrage.

"Oh, think people, think!" Professor Elliott barked. "The point of this test — keyword, test — is to examine the progress you've made over the course of the semester. If you want to finish as soon as possible, or if you're not confident about your abilities and want to stock up five as soon as you can to limit your chances of dropping out, or if you're just lazy, then of course you're still welcome to do it. Just know that you'll have to make up for it otherwise, because you don't get points for work you didn't do."

As grumbles of annoyance continued to bubble up, another set of fingers speared the air.

"Yes?"

"You said before that we need 5 chips to progress from Level 4 to 3, then 3 chips from Level 3 to 2, and 2 chips from 2 to 1. But you didn't say anything about what would happen once you actually reach Level 1."

"Very observant," Professor Elliott praised. "And that brings me to my next point. As Mr. Messus rightly pointed out, I never told you how many chips you will need to cover the course of Level 1. Because you don't need any. From this point onwards, the chips have no meaning. Your sole objective is to be the last man standing. Meaning instead of collection, your primary goal is simply to incapacitate your remaining opponents.

"And listen well: by 'incapacitate,' I mean render unconscious or unable to continue the fight in some other way for at least a span of four consecutive minutes. This does not include inflicting life-threatening injuries or overpowering through excessive force and intent to kill. I will remind you that the entire duration of this match will be closely monitored. Anyone found to have done anything of the sort will be immediately disqualified, receive an automatic fail for the examination, and you will be sent to the Headmistress's office. While there are no other rules, and you are free to kick the crap out of one another, there are still limits. I warn you now: do not test them." He paused, his tone more serious than they had ever heard it. No one moved or spoke until he continued, his tone lighter but not quite back to normal.

"As I was saying, you will be allowed to do whatever you want down there. You can form any alliances you wish, backstab whoever you want, it doesn't matter. Because at the end of the day, there will only be one man — or woman —" he added graciously, "standing.

"Once you are eliminated, you will return here where we will have your meals prepared, healers on hand to patch you up, and you will be allowed to watch the remaining matches. You should know that that last part is a hundred percent mandatory. As expected, weapons are not allowed. The only accessories you will be allowed to bring to the starting point are your chip and your compass, with the exception of a precious few students. Those exempted are people who absolutely and irrefutably need such items as it is the only medium by which they can use their powers, such as a technopath for example, and since powers are one of the main factors being observed, in the interest of fairness these cases have been approved, though conditionally of course.

"Now, I think that just about covers everything. Unless you have any further questions?"

He held out a hand to the students, a questioning expression on his face, inviting them to take the floor. No one answered. By now, everyone in the room had received a chip and a compass.

"Good. Then that will be all. You have" — he checked his watch — "45 minutes to go until your test begins. Meaning you will report to the playfield in 40. Until then, eat, go to the bathroom, do some last minute revisions of your battle plan, tell your friends no hard feelings about the poundings you're about to give and receive, I don't care. Do whatever you want, just make sure you're ready when the clock hits twelve. Dismissed."

The forty-five minutes of reprieve they had gotten seemed to have been blown away in the gale-force winds sailing through Helix from the surrounding sea. It felt like mere minutes after their talk in the auditorium that the entire first year was moving down towards the field, a great wave of black-bronze, blue-silver, and white-gold, bumping and jostling and filling the air with loud, excited conversation. Everyone was wondering what was possibly to come next. Sure, Elliott had explained the basics of the test, but like he himself had said, nothing was ever so easy. For all they knew, giant mechanical bulls were lurking unseen in the artificial levels below the school, waiting to mow them down the moment they entered.

Some people, from what Alec could hear, were striking up partnerships. He wondered how long some of them would last, considering only one person would be the "winner" of this match. Would any betrayals actually end friendships, or would the students take them in their stride and brush them off?

Though there was no real need to say it, his group had formed their own alliances as well; after all, four of them were a formal team in the first place. And after what they had been through with Charlie and Reya, the very least they could do was partner up now. Everyone was determined to put on a good showing. However, that hope was, expectedly, soon dashed. When they got to the field, a huge wrench was thrown into their plans.

Professor Elliott ordered them into lines once more, this time four vertical ones, before speaking. "I forgot to mention earlier," he said, and Alec had a strong feeling he wasn't being entirely truthful. "While you are certainly allowed to form teams down below, you will not be allowed to enter the first level as any form of partnership. Your entry into Level 4 is completely randomized. What happens afterwards is none of our concern, but this much we will enforce. All of your choices, whether you move solo or as a unit, will be taken into account, so decide wisely how you proceed.

"I should also mention that if you do form alliances, your partners will not be allowed to advance with you if you have collected the required amount of chips and they have not. So you have two choices, leave them behind, or stay with them to help collect more and run the risk of both losing access to that safe passage to the next level, and your own starting chip. Your grade, your choice.

"Now, once the whistle is blown, the people at the front of each line will go stand beside each of my colleagues, and you will be inserted into the maze. Don't worry: even though your entrances are randomized, there will still be quite some distance between each and every student, so it'll be a few minutes at most before you encounter anyone else. So you have plenty of time to get your bearings, which is more than can be said during a real fight. Oh, and one final thing. Good luck."

He gave then what could have been the first truly genuine smile they had ever seen, then blew his whistle and sent the forerunners of each line off to stand with Professors Wyatt, Duncan, Vera, and Sheilds respectively. There was a brief pause, then the grass split open at their feet to reveal hidden entrances all around, and the four students disappeared.

They continued like that for some time, groups of four hurrying along at the sound of the whistle and then vanishing underground.

"Damn, that's inconvenient," Alec said. He was hoping to partner with them even for a short while at the very least; randomized entry in a field of nearly 230 students made it almost impossible to find everyone down below again. "Guess we'll most likely end up on our own down there, so we'll — Javon? You okay?"

Javon's eyes were rather downcast. He seemed distracted as he looked up. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

But he wasn't, and Alec felt extremely foolish for just realizing it. This was about to be an aggressive combat session, where he, a Healer, would be put up against powerhouses from all three Dorms. He was no doubt thinking he would be among the first to wash out.

"Hey, you know that --"

"Look, I appreciate it," Javon said. "I really do, honestly. But no matter what kind of encouragement I get now, it's not gonna change anything. I am just support, after all."

An uncomfortable silence fell. Following his wishes, neither Alec nor anyone else attempted to cheer him up. This was a trial he alone could overcome. Either he surprised everyone and triumphed, or he flunked and got eliminated. There was nothing anyone else could do. Alec waited as the lines steadily shortened, then found himself at the front. At Professor Elliott's whistle, he and three other students went to stand beside the teachers closest to them.

Coincidentally, that person happened to be Professor Wyatt, in Alec's case. "Do me a favour," he said out of the corner of his mouth. "Try not to wreck this one too." Alec felt he would have turned red with embarrassment at the half-warning half-reprimand if not for the small smile he suddenly gave him, but before Alec could respond, the ground at his feet shifted and suddenly he was sinking down, down into darkness.

There was no rock around. It was the first thing Alec noticed as he walked out into the corridor. It was a sleek, shining hallway of silver, branching off in all directions, more mazelike than labyrinthine. While it didn't offer much in the way of allowing him to manipulate the environment, at the very least he could use his Earth Mimicry so as not to be completely defenseless. He pressed his hand against the warm surface and with a small exertion of will absorbed the metal. Or at least, that was the intention. His skin remained perfectly brown and fleshy as he held his hand against the wall.

"What the . . .?"

He tried again, the pads of his fingers forcing against the wall as if to dig into it. But his body remained utterly unchanged. He pried his hand from the wall and stared at his fingers, wondering if and why his powers had somehow failed him. Yet it had never happened before. Earth Mimicry was one of the very first abilities he had ever mastered. He could do it in his sleep; if he had to guess, something about this metal was preventing him from absorbing it. Was this taken as a countermeasure against him, specifically, or was the environment calibrated in such a way that it posed some disadvantage to all enclosed in its walls? Or was it simply a coincidence?

He didn't have much time to ponder it, as the booming voice of Professor Elliott soon roared through the room. "And with that, all students are present and accounted for on Level 4. Your examination has officially begun."

That was bad. In an environment he couldn't manipulate, with no material to absorb, he was a sitting duck. He bent his knees and rested his hand against the ground, trying to pull energy from the vast well underneath. This had worked before in their last trial. . . . But nothing now. Not even a spark of energy kindled at his touch. He was well and truly screwed.

"Okay, okay. Think, Alec, think." Alec began to pace from wall to wall, a very short journey as the corridor was rather narrow. "No Earth Mimicry. No rocks to launch. No energy to shoot. Three skills down. That should leave . . ." Magnetism and gravity manipulation.

While this metal had undoubtedly been tampered with, there was no way Helix, even as advanced as it was, could alter the earth's magnetic or gravitational fields.

While his overall practice with them was still quite rough, he was confident enough he could make due, at least until he got somewhere more reactive to his abilities. That was, until he realized who his opponent was. A tremendous thudding noise came from around the corner, like the ominous beat of some gigantic drum. Frozen in place, he watched, slowly adopting a fighting stance as his adversary drew closer. And then an enormous shadow crossed the room, plunging half the corridor into darkness. Alec's jaw fell open. He had seen some strange things in his short time as a part of the Hero world, but this one took the cake by an unquantifiable margin.

His next words were drowned in an earsplitting roar that emanated from the massive, living teddy bear that was staring at him from the other end of the room.

"You're Alec, right?" A small, brown-haired girl had rounded the corner after it, perching at the bear's feet, looking completely unperturbed. "The Elemental?"

"And you're Sharice, the girl who can bring inanimate objects to life." The moment she stepped into view, he understood what was happening. "I remember hearing about an injury that caused once."

"Yes, my powers were highly unstable back then," she said gloomily. "It was hard for me to gain control growing up. I couldn't deanimate the objects I affected, so they kept shooting all around, devastating the neighbourhood and tormenting the people around me. But since I came to Helix I was able to use my powers freely. The classes we have, and especially training with my squad leader, helped me significantly."

"And he also taught you how to make these things bigger, did he?" said Alec, who was stalling, trying to find a way out of this situation. The bear was gigantic, but Sharice had made it large enough to be frightening, yet small enough to maneuver through the corridors with relative ease. If he tried to run, there was no doubt it would catch him.

"She helped her a lot, but this was actually my doing." The new voice floated from around the corner, and it was followed by a lithe redheaded girl wearing an expression of distaste.

"This is Ava," Sharice said. "Her power is size modulation."

"Why are you talking with this guy? He's obviously stalling you," Ava snapped.

"I knew that. But I heard him mumbling before we came around. It doesn't look like he can use his powers in this environment. I was giving him the chance to surrender peacefully."

Ava rolled her eyes in a very exaggerated fashion. "You heard her. Surrender or get clobbered. Your choice. Hurry up, will you, we have other people to get to."

The longer he thought about it, the more things fit into place. This partnership was indeed a sensible one to foster. Sharice was undoubtedly one of those exemptions Professor Elliott had mentioned, whose powers were tied to specific items they needed to carry, which was clearly how the bear had gotten in in the first place. However, bringing it to life as it normally was, cub-sized and positively adorable, would have been a laughable situation. Neither power was particularly threatening on its own, but combined, it made the perfect weapon of mass destruction.

This was a very dangerous situation; he needed to remove himself as soon as possible, but flat-out running away wouldn't do him any good with the teachers watching. He would have to bluff.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know what you think you heard, but if you think you're going to take this chip you've got another thing coming."

He was trusting on his reputation as the one who had bested Shadow Shifter, and destroyed their entire playfield in one fell swoop, to intimidate them into moving along. He didn't really expect it to work, but it was still a disappointment all the same as a wide smirk cleaved its way across Sharice's lips.

"Shall we test that theory, then?" She waved her hand in his direction. At once, Ava stepped backwards, and the bear surged forward. As Alec had expected, it was unnaturally fast for an object its size. It swiped out with one of its immense paws, aiming for his legs, but Alec jumped forward as the claws tore in his direction. He heard the massive thud as the bear's paws smashed into the wall and he rolled aside, darting straight for the girls. Their entire strategy revolved around using the bear for battle; neither of them had any offensive capabilities of their own, which explained perfectly why expressions of shock clouded their faces as he came racing towards them. And while he was no Maddison, he was confident he could take them in close combat.

He half-expected them to hightail it down the other end of the hallway, which would have been so much easier, but Professor Elliott's words came bounding back in his ears once more.

While he kept his eyes on the chip dangling around Sharice's neck, suspended from a shoelace, Ava swiped at her hair, which sported a number of pale blue bubbles. In a flash, she had snatched one from her hair and launched it like a tennis ball, and he watched in horror as it expanded in real time, growing to the size of a small boulder as he charged ahead. But Alec didn't break stride. This provided the perfect cover he had been waiting for: under the guise of needing to duck for cover, he threw himself into the corridor on his left and hurtled down it, away from the two girls and their monstrous pet.

Unfortunately, the massive footfalls behind him told him quite clearly the bear was still coming, and fast. Yet he couldn't decide where to go. Everywhere in this place was the same, a perfectly linear design.

He was forced to stop as he came across another of the most inconvenient aspect of any road structures to ever exist: a crossroads. Three paths loomed ahead of him, two breaking to the sides and one straight ahead. Normally he would have ran into one randomly. The problem was, he could hear the sound of fighting coming from around just about every corner.

While it was pertinent to get away from the massive bear, it wouldn't do any good to run right into another confrontation. He needed to be smart about this. Alec's moment of indecision cost him, however, as the great shadow fell over him once again. The bear swept out at him once more with its tremendous paw, but Alec dodged at the very last moment, rolling around in time to see a massive paw-shaped dent now defacing the wall he had stood beside seconds ago. The bear wheeled and raised its arms again, ready to bring them crashing down on top of him.

Alec reacted immediately, his mind surging for the gravity in the area. As he had expected, it was still available to him. But also to his expectations, it didn't do much to slow down the bear either.

He tried to increase the strength of the pull, to bring the creature smashing to the ground, but stopping tennis balls in their tracks was nowhere near the same as stopping a ten-foot-tall stuffed animal. Its movements barely slowed. The bear seemed to shrug off the increased gravity and swung its arms forward like two great hammers; they didn't hit him directly (thankfully, he was still faster), but the impact sent him toppling to the floor, leaving his ears ringing.

"I was curious," said Sharice's voice from behind him. "Your full name is Alexander, right? So why go with 'Alec'? Isn't Alex the more common choice?"

"Oh, will you stop?"

"I'm just making conversation." Alec could actually picture them, Sharice's small shoulders shrugging innocently as she stared up at the scowling Ava, though he wasn't looking in their direction.

The bear dived forward again. This time, Alec tried something different: inverting the gravity and pushing it outwards, a move inspired by the way telekinetics like Ethan created force bubbles. The bear's arms were repelled by the sudden reversal of gravity and it stumbled, knocking into the wall. Wildfire had told him that, with enough practice, gravity manipulation could resemble a kind of pseudo-telekinesis. It would never be as precise as the real thing — similar as they were, they were still two different beasts — but it would be close enough. He had meant to start practicing with Ethan to develop the skill more, but the studying for their tests had thrown his entire schedule out of wack. Now he regretted not making more time for it.

Bending the force to work in different directions had been quite difficult, but now it was do or die time. Well, perhaps that was a bit overdramatic, but Alec knew that if he didn't turn the tide of this battle soon he would be eliminated without a single win.

While the bear righted itself, Alec leapt to his feet and tried something he had only attempted a few times, and never actually mastered. He turned to the wall directly behind the watching Ava and Sharice and furrowed his brow in concentration. He could feel the beginnings of a headache kicking in, but whether that was from the willpower he was now exerting or merely from his fall earlier he couldn't tell, nor did he care. He kept his eyes trained on the wall, jaw and fists clenched, grunting in effort. Nothing happened at first. Then he began to see the fruits of his labour.

It started merely as a slip, as if she had tripped on a small stone underfoot, but Ava definitely stumbled. Slightly at first, then more pronounced. Then Sharice began to flail as well. He could hear the bear moving around behind him, but he still did not break his focus.

There was a scream of effort as Ava, arms working furiously as though she was trying to paddle through a storm, went sailing backwards, her back slamming forcefully into the wall. Then Sharice followed. Through the corner of his eyes he saw the bear looming over him, then it bent and went flying overhead, as if some invisible hands had pulled it forward. It was only as it went soaring ahead that it occurred to Alec that he might need to stop lest the bear crush them under its colossal weight, but he realized he needn't have bothered.

He had shifted the focus of gravity from the floor to the wall that they were now plastered on, and increased the intensity of the force emanating from it as far as he could take it with his current level of skill, but it still wasn't enough.

The bear had clutched at the grooves in the floor, using its own immense strength to resist the force pulling it backwards.

Alec's breathing was heavy. He could feel sweat on his face and a burning in his lungs. But his work wasn't done. His efforts would fail in mere minutes, seconds probably, and he needed to take at least one chip with him. He took a last deep breath and pressed harder, turning up the gravity so hard that the girls, who had been working with some degrees of success to free themselves, now froze firmly back in place like magnets snapping against a fridge. The bear wasn't completely uprooted, but it was pulled backwards a few feet. That was good enough.

Charging ahead in his own field of unaffected gravity, he jumped onto the bear's back and dove towards Sharice. Though Ava would still be in the competition, right now Sharice and her bear posed a bigger threat.

By the time he got to them, his effort was blown out and they both fell back to the ground, panting almost as heavily as he was. Ava reached again for a bubble, no doubt ready to roll another at him, but he ripped the makeshift necklace from around Sharice's neck and darted off down the corridor, claiming his first victory of the day. He didn't stop running until he could no longer hear both their furious screams and the bear's angry roars. Minutes later, he came to a halt, resting his hands on his knees and allowing air back into his lungs for the first time.

"Wow . . . that sucked," he breathed, massaging his side as stitches tore through it. With a deep exhale, he fell hard onto the ground below, back slamming against the wall. And to think, he still had four more to go.