An excited chill ran down Atreus' spine.
'Interesting. I knew I'd meet them here at the Academy eventually, but I didn't expect it to be so soon.' He rolled his shoulders as he confidently strolled towards the group of Heroes in the air.
A hooded man stood and waved his hand. A holographic panel appeared in front of him. He pressed a few buttons and the Hardlight platform descended to the ground.
"Welcome to your practical evaluation, Atreus Wolfe!" He was outfitted in a white, red, and gray costume.
"I am Captain Mercury, as you probably already know."
'Of course I know, I don't live under a rock.'
"Myself and my fellow Champions will be the proctors of your evaluation." He gestured to the rest of the panel, all still of whom remained sitting.
'Atlas, Prism, Hellfire, Red Ronin, Novaheart, and Captain Mercury. The core members, all here. I guess I'll have to put in at least a little effort.'
Atreus scanned the group. His eyes fell on their leader; Atlas. He was lounging and staring off into space, his demeanor conveying nothing but disinterest.
Atreus clenched his fists, an overwhelming feeling of indignation washing over him.
'I won't be looked down upon. By ANYONE.'
"Let's get on with it then," a mechanical-sounding female voice said. A woman clad in futuristic silver armor rose, opened the holographic control panel on her wrist, and began to work. The eyes of her helmet and spaces between the plating of her mechanical exoskeleton glowed blue with Hardlight technology.
'Novaheart. I have a few questions for her…'
"So, what are your aspirations, young man? What firey passion fuels you? What burning hopes do you hold?!" A bearded man clad in red and yellow was laid back in his chair with his arms crossed and his legs propped up on the table in front of him.
'Hellfire. Pretty strong. A bit overkill with the fire metaphors, though.'
Atreus chuckled at the question.
"I'm going to be the world's greatest Hero."
"HAHAHAHA! SUCH A LOFTY STATEMENT! I LIKE THIS ONE! THE RED-HOT PASSION OF YOUTH!" Hellfire roared as he smacked the back of the Champion to his right.
"Hmph. Heard it before. Hit me again and I'll kill you," said the masked man next to him. Two curved devil horns protruded from his red mask.
"Oh, hush Red Ronin. Always so aggressive!" A beautiful blonde woman wearing all an all-white skinsuit conjured a wall of energy to separate the two men.
"RELEASE THIS SORCERY, LADY PRISM! ALLOW US CLASH IN A FIERY BATTLE!" Hellfire shouted as he pounded the wall next to him.
"STOP with the 'Lady' business. It's JUST Prism! 'Lady' makes me sound old…Anyways, Atreus honey, we have the consensus 'world's greatest Heroes' right here! Which ones of us would you say are your role models?"
"Role models? Why would you be my role models?"
The group felt silent and looked at him in bewilderment. Atlas unfolded his arms and sat up, slightly amused.
The white haired boy stood proudly and donned a malevolent grin.
"You're my competition."
The growing tension in the massive arena was palpable.
*SMACK*
Hellfire slammed his hands onto the table, grinning from ear to ear.
"HA! I LOVE IT!!! LET US COMMENCE WITH YOUR EVALUATION, YOUNG ATREUS WOLFE. SET OUR HEARTS ABLAZE WITH YOUR FERVOR!"
The rest of the Champions whispered amongst one another. Prism rolled her eyes and turned to Novaheart.
"Are we ready to begin?"
"We are. Preparing the practical evaluation for Atreus Wolfe...now."
Novaheart pressed a few options on the holographic control panel from her wrist, and the platform of Heroes rose back into the air. A blue ring of Hardlight appeared a few feet in front of Atreus.
"You will have fifteen minutes to defeat the onslaught of artificial villains in any way you deem fit. They are made of Hardlight, so feel free to let loose and give it your all. When you are ready, please step into the circle," said Captain Mercury as he returned to his seat.
Atreus cracked his neck as he took his tracksuit jacket off and entered the ring. The blue Hardlight turned red as he crossed it.
'Showtime.'
The robotic female voice from the waiting room returned.
"Academy Prometheus new student practical evaluation begins in…five…four…"
The young man strolled forward, exuding confidence.
"...three…"
The Champions were now all sitting, eyes glued to the intriguing new Hero prospect.
"...two…"
Atreus dropped his right foot back and raised his arms, adopting an orthodox fighting stance. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"...one…"
He opened his eyes.
*BEEEP!*
Red figures made of Hardlight began to appear all around Atreus, materializing from the bottom up. They all varied in size and stature, each fashioned to resemble a villain. They slowly began to close in on him.
The bright shine in the eyes of the young man had vanished, replaced with a cold expression.
'Multiple opponents. Gotta keep myself from getting penned.'
With his hands still up he began to walk backwards, his footwork evidently muscle memory. A massive man came from the right, swinging at his head. Atreus slipped the punch, grabbed his arm, pivoted, and threw him over his shoulder. The man smashed into a group of enemies who were attacking from the left. The Hardlight beings shattered upon collision with one another, each shattering into small cubes. A nimble female figure rushed in to replace the fallen figures. Atreus parried her punch that was aimed at his midsection with his left hand, then immediately spun around with his right arm outstretched. The spinning backfist connected with her face, and she was sent flying. He sprinted forward and pushed a kick into the chest of an unlucky "villain."
.
.
.
The Champions all observed the white-haired boy demolishing his enemies attentively.
"Hmm…I thought his bio said he has some form of telepathy…?" Prism twirled her hair as she observed Atreus kneeing a man square in the jaw.
"It does. How intriguing…" Captain Mercury turned to Novaheart.
"Are you sure it's accurate?"
"It's accurate. He's registered as a 'variation of a telepath.' Whatever that means."
She opened the command panel on her wrist once again.
"Sending in ranged enemies now."
.
.
.
The young Hero rolled backwards to create some space between himself and his glowing assailants, taking account of the remaining figures who began sprinting towards him.
'...nine, ten, eleven…fifteen. That's it?'
Suddenly a red laser beam flew towards him. He tilted his head to doge it, looked upwards, and pinpointed the culprit.
A group of flying enemies had appeared, swarming the air above him. Some had wings, others jet boots, the rest simply levitated. They all aimed at Atreus, greeting him with a barrage of lasers.
'Hmph. Fliers.'
Atreus sighed, bent his knees, and jumped into the air. His leap generated so much force that he left a crater and had created a shockwave that smashed through the remainder of his grounded opponents. He rocketed towards his new flying foes, weaving between laser beams as he approached. He reared his right arm back and threw a haymaker at his closest foe, smashing through his chest. Zipping to the next closest flier, he circled around and ripped its wings clean off. He barrel rolled to dodge more laserfire before bolting towards the biggest enemy in his line of sight. He grabbed the massive flying monster by its leg and used its body to block incoming fire as he charged towards the rest of the grouped up enemies. He spun the monster around like an Olympic hammer and built momentum before sending it flying into the remaining group of enemies.
A mess of Hardlight cubes littered the ground below, proof of Atreus' dominance over the artificial beings. He looked to his left and saw that he was at the same height as the Champions.
"That's all? A shame. I only needed to use my powers to fly…" Atreus shoved his hands in his pockets and descended.
"AHAHA! Not quite, my boy!" Hellfire stood and cracked his knuckles.
"Hellfire..." Captain Mercury warned.
"SILENCE!"
The massive bearded man suddenly leapt from the platform, smashing into the arena floor.
"Your next opponent…is ME!"