Chapter 55 Calm After The Storm

As the storm known as Nebula had passed, more assistants brandishing weapons came into the auditorium. There were around 20 of them, and all surrounded the massive woman. Handcuffs were slapped on her, but around her arms, they seemed as durable as wet paper towels. The woman didn't fight; in her current state, there was no need for handcuffs, nor was there a need for all of the assistants' holding weapons. She wasn't going to put up a fight anymore; she was broken.

Heracles, a man seemingly from the same place as her, made sure of that. The 20 assistants escorted Nebula out of the auditorium. As she was being led out, she turned her head to look back at Heracles; that same look of disappointment and disgust was still on his face. That look made Nebula hold her head down in shame as she left.

After Nebula was gone, Heracles approached the bald assistant that stood guard in front of Jake and Zack. As he approached, a chill ran down the man's spine. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. Should he attack? The palms of his hands were sweaty, his heart started to race. "I'll run," he thought. "I can't beat him, so I'll just run." But there would be no running because there wasn't a need for it.

When Heracles was close enough, he didn't say anything at first; he simply bowed his head down in respect. The action caused the bald assistant to jump slightly out of fear. The move was so swift that he didn't see it coming. While bowed, Heracles spoke, "Please let me apologize on behalf of Nebula. I'm sorry for her actions and I'm sorry for the injuries and losses of your people." It was a humble apology, but because the person delivering it seemed so unlike them, it was a shock to all who were witnessing it.

It took the bald assistant time to find any words to say. After a while, he barely got out a "Yeah, sure thing" in response. At that, Heracles lifted his head, standing at attention once again. He made eye contact with Zack and Jake once more, then broke it just as fast as he made it. The bald assistant relaxed, realizing that Heracles wasn't anything like Nebula.

With the relaxation, the sword the assistant held fell from his slippery hands, falling to the floor. But he didn't react to it; he simply reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a walkie-talkie. He brought it up close to his lips and spoke into it, "Hey boss." There was silence on the other line until the laughing voice of Moon D could be heard. "Hahahaha woah mama, that was a doozy!"

The announcer proceeded to continue laughing as the bald assistant's face scrunched up, and he rolled his eyes. "Sir," he said into the walkie-talkie, "what should we do now? An unexpected event happened; should we call it a day and cancel the exam for another day?"

"Cancel?" was shouted back. "Cancel for what? That was only the appetizer. Now I'm really excited to see how the rest of the exam plays out." Moon D had another laughing fit as everyone nearby had to listen to his laughing. Confused applicants, people like Heracles, were puzzled, but the assistants, especially the one trying to talk to the man, were not fazed.

The bald assistant continued, "Sir, there are assistants here that are dead, and a few that are injured. This is a serious matter." When he spoke, slight aggression was in his voice, but the announcer either didn't notice or didn't care about it. So, he chuckled, then, spoke, "What happened is not a cause for cancellation T.K my man. It's only a small hiccup."

This answer upset the bald assistant named T.K. Veins were seen popping on top of his head. He was about to blurt out a response, but he caught his words tightly between his teeth. "Have all injured assistants and applicants rushed to the infirmary. Also, make sure to collect the bodies of any dead assistants. Make sure to contact their families. Then, my dear T.K., commence the counting of points so we may proceed to the next phase."

The assistant's teeth were clenched, but he knew what he had to do. He simply said, "Yes, sir," even though it was against his better judgment.

Nurses from the infirmary came into the auditorium, all of them bringing stretchers. All injured assistants and applicants were put on stretchers, and one by one, they were led out. The ones in the worst condition were those who came into contact with Nebula. Also, pulled away on stretchers were the two assistants that Nebula had killed. The male assistant's head was crushed in the palm of Nebula's hand, and the other was the female assistant that was crushed underneath Nebula's foot. As the nurses retrieved their bodies, they nearly threw up, seeing the state of both of those bodies. As they looked at them, it seemed more like a monster had done that to them. They couldn't believe that it was done by a human.

Those who were hurt but not enough to be led away were treated at the scene. Zack's stab wound on his back was treated then wrapped by a nurse. As she wrapped the wound, Zack held back a wince. The nurse asked softly, "How does that feel?" Zack smirked, "Oh, it feels like sunshine." The nurse giggled, "Oh, really? Does it? Well then, here, this should help." The nurse extended her hand, and in it, she held two blue pills. "This should help with the pain," she said, smiling softly at Zack. He took then swallowed them. Jake was being treated by a different nurse who put sticky ice packs on his body, mostly on his arms and legs. "You don't seem to be that beat up," she said to him, "but you said your muscles were sore, so these should help." Jake thanked the nurse as she smiled, rubbing his back. She then gave him two blue pills for his own pain, just in case. Like Zack, Jake took them and swallowed.

As nurses were leading the gravely injured to the infirmary, and others were treating the applicants, the assistants went around tallying up the points from each and every applicant. Many failed, not even reaching past 30 points. Once their wounds were treated, they were led out of the auditorium. As they left, many cried and broke down, but none made a scene, especially not after the scene that Nebula displayed.

"I failed again," one applicant said as he wiped away tears. "I just needed two more points," another said. Gradually, the herd of applicants began to thin more and more. An assistant approached the blond-haired applicant with the massive sword. "Can I count your armbands, sir?" they asked. The young man glared but handed over his acquired armbands. It was a rainbow of colors, but the assistant quickly went through them. Once they counted all of them, they spoke, "Okay, it seems you collected exactly 100 points. Congratulations." The young man's face didn't change; he simply rolled his eyes then turned away. When he did, he caught eyes on the purple-haired young woman who had the black armband he tried yet couldn't get his hands on. As another assistant was tallying up her points, the two made eye contact. The injured young woman gave the blond-haired young man a big, dramatic smile, a bit of blood staining her teeth. The young man didn't react; he simply narrowed his eyes at her.

While that was happening, the mysterious applicant was having their points counted. After the assistant finished, they looked up at the big, mysterious applicant. The assistant noticed they were big but not nearly as big as Heracles and Nebula. Still, their size made the female assistant a bit uncomfortable, especially because she couldn't see their face. "Why are they wearing that strange bucket on their head?" she thought.

"Umm, is everything okay, ma'am?" the applicant asked. The assistant was brought back to reality. "Um, it seems you collected 110 points. Congrats, you pass." "Oh, good! Thank you so much!" the mysterious applicant responded. Their voice sounded delighted, and the assistant thought they could probably be smiling, but she couldn't tell.

Elsewhere, near Jake and Zack, an applicant was tallying up the points for Heracles as he stood there like a god chiseled out of gold. The assistant who counted his points was nervous, constantly losing their train of thought just being in the radius of this man unsettled them. As they counted, Zack and Jake couldn't help but look at the man. Zack caught a glimpse of a certain someone – the little girl with pigtails who swiped his armband and stabbed him in the back. When his eyes were on her, he could feel the wound on his back tingle a little.

The girl stood there, looking up at the assistant counting her points. Then, she felt eyes were on her, so she immediately turned her head in the direction of where the feeling came from. That's when she saw Zack staring her down. She threw up a peace sign as she stuck her tongue out at him. Zack smiled, then threw up a middle finger at the girl. She giggled as Zack chuckled.

"Um… it seems you collected… 100 points," the assistant counting Heracles' points said in a shaky voice. Hearing this brought Zack's attention back to Heracles. The large man responded, "Yes, I am quite aware." The assistant nodded their head in fear. "Yes, yes, I'm sure you are," "damn" came from Zack. This caught the attention of both the assistant and Heracles. Zack speaking up shocked even Jake. "I thought a big guy like you would have over 300 points or more," Zack said, smirking at the large man. The man had a straight face; Zack's comment didn't affect him in the least, but he did respond, "Over collecting points was not needed. All that was to pass was simply 100 points, and I collected just that. I needed nothing more." The response was boring, Zack thought as he turned his head, no longer staring at the man. "Damn, this guy's a freaking stick in the mud," Zack thought, not even risking saying such words out loud.

When he turned his head, he and Jake saw another assistant approaching them. They were a man on the short side wearing glasses. "Hello," he said when he stood right in front of them. "May I count your points?" Zack smiled as the assistant stood there in front of them. He then smacked Jake on the back, saying, "Alright, buddy, you go first."