Ace was relieved to be done with his only academic class.
He and the others were on the field track, doing stretches for their bi weekly improvement. They had to show steady progress of running faster, and Ace was nervous that they would catch him cheating.
Ace wasn't smart enough to cheat intellectually, but he was physically. He would teleport slightly and quickly, about an inch forward, to make it appear he was running fast, but not too fast. Fenton knew and they both grinned at each other, knowing that no one would ever catch on to his trick.
Until today.
Fleur Rosenbaum, one of the many athletic instructors for the trainees, entered the field track with a box of grounders. She set it on the ground and sighed. "It's come to our attention that some of you have been cheating," Rosenbaum announced.
Everyone felt like the ground had opened up underneath them.
Ace was not the only one that had been using their ability to cheat.
Amy used her ability of illusions to make it seem like she and Mark were running around the track, when in reality they watched in the stands. Harmonia used her ability to simply trick Rosenbaum into giving her a higher score. Candice pushed her body to its limit, and she was always second to finish, not wanting to look too strong.
Levi seemed to be the only one who actually wasn't cheating, as he ran a mile 6 days a week first thing in the morning.
"I don't think any of you are cheaters," Rosenbaum grinned. "It was some fools on Team 48, but this is just to be fair."
Ryle and Kyle shrugged, already used to being forced to wear grounders during every athletic ability. They already brought their own, to stop them from using their abilities of speed.
Fenton was laughing like a hyena when he saw the look on Ace's face. An entire year of cheating was about to catch up to him.
The grounders they wore were simple plastic bands coated with calcium and a special type of acid that would nullify their abilities while they wore them. The iron in their blood worked in conjunction with the hormones that controlled their abilities.
If an imbalance happened, they would simply be like everyone else.
Candice saw the look on her boyfriend's face and tried to calm him down. "You're going to be fine", she cooed. Ace pouted and played her long black hair while she tried to boost his self confidence.
"Why are you so nice today," Ace mumbled. "You're usually so mean."
Well I'm leaving you later, so I might as well be nice for now, Candice thought.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, playing dumb.
Ace decided to not question her good mood and dropped the topic.
They all lined up in order depending on how their score was two weeks ago. Levi was last because he finished first, and Fenton was first, because he usually finished last.
I think I might have a chance at coming in third today, Fenton realized.
Rosenbaum raised her hand and they all ran.
Kyle and Ryle were the only few of them that didn't cheat to begin with, because from the very beginning they were forced to wear grounders. Levi and Candice quickly outpaced all of them, and Harmonia whimpered as she ran, already too tired to keep going.
Ace's pale face was already read from the running and extra exertion he was doing in an attempt to keep up and not tarnish his old score, but it was no use.
He was soon behind John, Mark, and Casey, who didn't cheat like the others.
Amy came up from behind, refusing to not be more than ten feet away from Mark at all times.
The only people left behind him were Harmonia, Fenton, and Gabriel. It wasn't long until everyone except Harmonia was in front of him.
Fenton jeered as he passed him, and this just made Ace lose his cool. He ran faster, but simply exhausted himself by the time he caught up with Fenton again, and started to slow down.
Levi finished with a new high score of a mile run at 5 minutes and thirty six seconds, with Candice trailing only four seconds behind.
Ace tripped near the end of his last lap and Harmonia did not stop to help him.
He finished dead last at 11 minutes and 42 seconds, 4 minutes longer than his average.
He and all the others that we caught cheating were forced to run another mile as punishment.
When the punishment was over, Rosenbaum looked at them all in utter disgust.
They were heaving on the ground, puddles of sweat and stupidity.
"I thought you were all different, but I guess the rumors are true," Rosenbaum shouted.
"Rumors," wheezed Ace. "What rumors?"
Rosenbaum tried to be as nice as possible. Ace's obliviousness made him unaware of what others said about him or his team mates. Everyone on Team 57 was aware that they were possibly one of the worst teams, even though they were ranked 57th.
Their rank was possibly only because of the fact that Levi's father ran the Academy, and he didn't want his son to be considered an idiot.
Rosenbaum forced a smile, her red lipstick looking terrifying with her furrowed brow that gave her feelings away. It looked more like she was smirking instead of trying to break the news to him gently.
"Oh little ember," she cooed. "You all are so incompetent. It will take a miracle for you to finish the training program."
This was not what anyone expected her to say.
"Don't lie," Amy screamed. "I gave up college for this, you can't deny me!"
Rosenbaum rolled her eyes, used to hearing the same complaint from everyone who thought they could join and be a hero.
"You cheat while in training," Rosenbaum boomed. "You think you can cheat in the field?"
"Yeah," Ace nodded. "Why not?"
They all nodded along in agreement, wondering why they never thought of that before. They started to discuss the many cheap tricks they could use when confronted with an enemy. A few of them suggested that they could kick him in balls, but they didn't know what to do if the assailant was a woman.
Rosenbaum squeezed her eyes shut in despair.
This place is going downhill, she realized. They let anyone in here these days.
They truly did, as everyone in Team 57 not only discussed cheating openly in front of their instructor, they then began to discuss the different ways they could pass the end of year exam in December. The written portion was notoriously difficult.
Rosenbaum simply walked away, mentally preparing herself for worse.