6 Chosen

"Ah, very impressive display Miss Nova." The invisible kid popped up by us again, but he has a much more formal tone now. As I watched him, he slowly grew taller and his face morphed into that of a forty year old man. "Miss Honey, Miss Dash, Miss Nova, congratulations. You have passed the hero exam. You three have been chosen, congratulations."

"Wait, what? The test hasn't even started! We didn't get to the testing grounds!" This can't be happening, there's no way. Is this kid…

"I'm a proctor for the tests. I'm the pro hero Identity."

"Whoa, you mean to tell me you're the illusion hero? You're like, super famous! You can create illusions that are real! I remember your debut, when you created an illusion of chains and used them to capture the villain!" Wow, dash is really nerding out.

"Yes, that's me. The test officially started as soon as you stepped on the bus. I've been observing all of the students that enter the bus to see how they react to not only excitement, but also crisis. You three were the only ones that noticed something was off and did something about it. Not only that, but you also successfully got everyone off the bus in time without anyone freaking out."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that you were ready to let all of the kids on our bus die for your stupid test? What would you have done if I hadn't saved everyone?" This is outrageous. They're taking these tests way too far.

"Well, we need to see how people respond to a true crisis. Of course, we would have compensated the families if you did end up dying, but we have full confidence in the future generation of heroes. Ah, here they are!" I looked up, feeling a disturbance in the air. There were small robots flying towards us, so small they were hardly visible. They flew up to the other kids and stabbed a needle into each of them, injecting some kind of tranquilizer. Then larger robots appeared out of nowhere, picking up each one of them and carrying them away.

"Wait, where are you taking them? They at least deserve an explanation and apology! You crazy people almost killed them!"

"Nova, calm down, nothing bad happened! Plus, do you even realize what just happened? We were chosen!"

"No, I can't calm down! They were risking all of these innocent children's lives! Don't you understand Dash? Some of them didn't even want to become heroes, and they could've been killed by the people looking for new heroes!"

"Miss Nova, I assure you they will be fine. We merely injected them with a drug that will knock them out and alter their memory. They'll wake up at their homes, with the memory of a written test that they failed. They'll continue their normal lives like nothing happened."

"Don't they have a say in that? It's not fair for you to wipe their memories without even asking them first!"

"Here it comes. Allow me to explain to you what will happen next. You three will board the car that you see before you, and it will take you to your new campus. From there, you will begin your four year training. You will not be allowed to leave once we've arrived. We will have your possessions moved from your home to the campus, and we will inform your parents that you have entered the hero training course."

"No, we're not done talking about this! Not only did you just almost kill all of those children, you also wiped their memories without their consent! They don't know anything of what happened to them, there's no way that's fair! They deserve to know what they just went through!"

"Miss Nova, please calm down and board both yourself and Miss Honey into the car." Honey was still suspended on my cloud, asleep.

"Not only that," I continued, becoming even more agitated than before, raising my voice. "But you're taking us away without even asking us or our parents! We have a right to decline if we want to!"

"Nova, please let's just-"

"No Dash! I didn't want this, I didn't expect to be chosen and taken away from my family! I don't even get to say goodbye to them! I don't get to see them for four years if I go to this stupid hero school!"

"Although you protest, Miss Nova, you no longer have a choice in the matter. You have massive levels of potential, and we can't afford to lose someone like you. Please comply peacefully before we have to take you by force."

"I don't give a crap about my potential, I want to decide my own future!" I slowly lower Honey to the ground and then lift myself off the ground and fly away as fast as I can.

"Well, this is new. New heroes are always excited to join… they've never tried to leave before. Hey, Eagle, we've got a runaway. Initiate procedure 35." A person comes out of the car, and proceeds to fly after me with his wings.

"Wait, what are you going to do to Nova?"

"Fear not Dash, we won't hurt her. This may sound offensive to you, but I haven't seen her kind of power in years. We need her at our school, we're merely going to knock her out and bring her back to the car. Please take Honey and wait for us in the car." Dash nods and picks up Honey, taking them both to the car.

Seeing all this happen, I turn my gaze to the man hurtling towards me through the air. I push him back with a strong gust of wind and fly away as fast as I can. The man was only fazed for a second, and caught up with me quickly. He can fly much faster than me, probably a result of my lack of training. I try to blast him with another jet of air, but it doesn't phase him at all. As he reaches for me, I jet upwards with a gust of wind, barely avoiding his grasp. He tries to shoot something at me, but I knock it aside with my wind. As I'm looking down at the man below me, something grabs me from behind.

I whirl my head around, and see the same man that was chasing me. How did he… wait, darn it! I was so caught up with the air battle that I forgot about Identity! He must have created a copy of the man and had him chase me, while the real one snuck up behind me! 

I struggle, trying to get out of his grasp, but the man's grip is firm.

"Sorry to do this to you." I hear the man whisper, and then feel something stab the skin on my neck. Shoot, he must have injected me with a tranquilizer! I only had time for that one thought before everything went dark.