Chapter 12 - Entrance Exam: Auditorium

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, some of you say Leo, and his thoughts are cringe. However, you guys forget he's thirteen. He's not a Mary Sue or cliche Mc with perfect manners, speech, thoughts, and everything. He's a teen. Everyone has had their phase in life where when we look back, we cringe at ourselves. For now, he won't see it like that.

Anyway, REVIEW and STONES!

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Leo sat in the passenger seat of a car, looking at all the forestry around them. He was looking at all the green, trying to focus and relieve his nerves. No matter how strong he is, his life will be in constant danger for one entire week.

In all his years as a retired in-hiding soldier from Greece, Talos knew when someone was nervous. Looking all around, tapping the heels, fidgeting fingers, you name it, he saw it.

Leo was at least only looking around and fiddling his thumbs. That at least shows he ain't wracked in the nerves. "Hey, Lad," he started, getting the attention of the teen.

"We're almost there, but let me tell ya somethin'," he, too, looked around the area as he drove on the asphalt road leading to forests. "This place used to be filled with buildings in the past before anyone you knew was born."

Interested in the topic, Leo answered with keen interest, "Really? All this used to be buildings?" his voice skeptical. Talos merely smirked at Leo's doubtful tone.

"Oh yeah, Oh yeah, it really did. But back then, quirks were but fiction, the comic fantasy of children your age. If my history is right, I believe a university used to be there, Georgetown.

"But when quirks popped up and slowly became the norm, society went crumblin' down since the poor and exploited people fought back. Quirked Lives Matter and all that, and due to that, this once striving city got wasted.

"And because of that, Heroes rose to prominence because a number of quirked lives at the time decided to profit from the chaos and became villains themselves."

The teen listened. This was a fascinating topic, in his opinion. It was only glossed over in his middle school, saying they would learn it in high school.

And as Talos spoke more, he threw a question into the mix. "So, kid. Who do you think was wrong in this? The exploited, the government, or the villains of that era?"

Leo was about to say the villains almost naturally but pondered more, 'It can't be that easy, right?' His forehead wrinkled in thought.

The old man, however, only laughed. "Haha!" his chuckle brought Leo out of his thoughts. "Listen, you won't know the answer yet. You're mature for your circumstance and age. That question was just to mess with ya."

"But the fact that you took a moment to think who really was in the wrong already tells me that you'd be alright... you'd be an alright Hero, kid," his tone exuded assuredness.

When they saw the facility in the distance, it elicited a whistle out of Talos, "*Whistle~* Welcome to SHIELD Academy, my boy!" the elder's comments were shared by Leo.

The building from afar was surrounded by a river, given that it was surrounded by the Potomac River. The main building in question was cylindrical, with other smaller but broad facilities surrounding it. But all structures shared the same color, greyish white.

"Holy! It's bigger in person; the 35-story building among the trees looks intimidating," says Leo to himself, garnering a nod from Talos.

After some minutes of further driving, they reached a bit of traffic. Like them, numerous cars waited in line, getting thoroughly checked along with identifications.

When everything seemed calm, it was disrupted. Security personnel pulled an adult from a few cars ahead of them. Talos rolled his window down, trying to hear the commotion.

"L-Let go of me! I'm part of Channel 2 Hero News! We just want a closer look at your test takers and interview them!"

And their curiosities were answered. A reporter was found in the mix of cars. "I wonder how..." before Leo could finish his sentence, Talos showed him a typed-out message.

[Speak nothing about your past starting now. The Academy probably has a Hero with a sound-based quirk listening in for added security. Look, watch.]

Leo, reading this, gulped. Talos' warning splashed cold water onto his head. 'Be vigilant with my words,' he thought to himself. But nodded nonetheless to the elder.

At the end of the message, Talos deleted it and pulled out a... dog whistle? And with a heave for breath, Talos blew hard into the whistle, but they didn't hear anything from it. Leo actually heard something from it but was merely annoyed, nothing else.

However, that wasn't the case for all.

"ARHHH!" A cry sounded out from within the trees, revealing their presence. Talos chuckled, with Leo giving the old man an awkward face.

Soon enough, the duo reached their stop after going through the checkpoint. Getting off the car, Leo took in the fresh air and then finally looked at Talos.

"Wish me luck?" he asked with a smile as he scratched the back of his head. "I ain't got any spare luck, kid. Fortune favors the bold; believe in it, and you'll be fine," With those, he drove off, another car taking its place.

Letting out a breath, "HOO!" his sudden strong exhale startled a few, taking him for a weirdo.

Making his strides, he couldn't help but look around, test takers everywhere, some... dancing and videoing themselves? "At least I already know who comes out of this crippled."

The ones standing out may be loud and useless, but many wore determined faces. Leo pegged them as confident and trained. 'Oh... I wonder how I match up with my age group? Never really fought against another person of my age.'

The further he headed inside, the more he felt it. The intensity of everyone around him was dense; nerves, raw emotions, and the danger of the exam, everything created this dreaded atmosphere.

Following the signages, he eventually made it to an entrance with a line. Looking further ahead, he saw numerous checkpoints. The work varied, including scanning clothes, blood work to check for quirk-enhancing drugs, lie detections, and support equipment scanners since support items aren't allowed unless they are life-support items. (Aoyama belt)

The saving grace, every piece of equipment produced near instantaneous results, so the line was never halting much.

First Checkpoint, Clothes: Leo's clothes were scanned to see if it was made of any materials that gave too much protection. Simply cross-referencing it with materials from support companies around the U.S. was fine. Leo got the go-ahead.

Second Checkpoint, Bloodwork: They had to mechanize the process because of Leo's passive durability. Considering the employee couldn't push the syringe without the probability of the needle bending and injuring a test taker. However, he was cleared soon enough.

Third Checkpoint, lie detection: Leo was asked directly if he was working for any criminal organizations or villain groups, or was a villain himself. The following line of questioning was if he was the person in his papers and not acting on someone else's behalf. All his answers were true and got the green. However, some applicants weren't so lucky and got caught in this process.

Fourth and last Checkpoint, support-item scanners: Leo was not cleared on this section. Apparently, he forgot about his wrist phone, and since it wasn't a phone of any legal makings, they had to keep it away until after the exam ended. Eventually cleared.

In the end, someone strapped a bracelet and a fitted vest with various tech that Leo did not understand. The additions were probably to monitor their well-being, considering everyone after the checks wore it.

'My God... they're so thorough with everything!' Leo shouted mentally. Even if the checks were quick, they were somewhat mentally draining, especially when he had a secret to hide. 'Glad they didn't ask if I'm faking an identity, else I'm fucked... damn... if mom finds out I cursed, it'd be vegetables for a week again!'

Following the crowd, Leo soon reached an auditorium of sorts, a massive one. Finding a seat in the lower-middle sections, he went over and sat comfortably on the chair. However, once he sat, he heard some comments regarding his height.

"Ugh! Out of the thousands of people here, my view gets blocked by this massive dude!"

This comment made him look back slowly, and when he did so, the one who commented on his height immediately closed their mouth. It was a... giant eyeball with two horns and greenish skin.

'Okay, I don't mean to be rude, but what the fuck?' Leo's face scrunched, trying to discern whatever quirk this person had.

But the eyeball thought; differently; he thought Leo was angry for being called out. If the eyeball had a neck, you'd see a noticeable gulp.

Cutting into the situation was a teen as tall as Leo with thick forearms and hands. The person had bluish hair accompanied by a pair of horns. He had purply wide marks on his skin, almost like a cow's spots.

His facial features had a very pronounced jaw, with sharp canine teeth showing out, almost like an orc's. His irises were purple, a match for his purple spots.

"Sorry, pal," he smacked his friend, the eyeball, softly on the head. "The name's James Sullivan. But people call me Sully." he reached out for a handshake, which Leo accepted awkwardly. "This here," pointing to the eyeball, "is Michael Wazowski, but we call him Mike. He lacks a filter. Hope ya don't mind."

"Hey!" The identified Mike raised his voice in objection. "I was only saying the dude in front of me was tall, and I just so happened to be friends with a freakishly huge person like you!" he points his claw-like hands at James.

Sully, used, who seems used to Mike's antics, ignored him. "So, you got a name?"

Forgetting to introduce himself, Leo apologizes. He felt a bit rude for not introducing himself sooner. His mom did teach him Japanese customs and all.

"Leo, Leo Morningstar. Nice to meet ya." was Leo's greeting. "I don't mind his comment about my height. Only looked back out of curiosity... and only to see an eyeball staring at me, haha!"

A few more pleasantries and the two parties returned to minding their own. On Sully's side, he was leaning into Mike's hidden ear.

"Mike, you know I got killer instincts, right?" he off-handedly asked, getting assurance from his childhood friend. Mike moved his entire body to look, "Sure do! You feel danger with your eyes closed even!" his loud voice annoyed others, but his speech gave info to some good listeners.

"Then, I know I'm right... but the guy in front of us? I feel the instinct to run away from him, but I also feel many other presences like him in this room. So, try to keep your mouth shut for one week, you hear?"

His jab warning went on deft ears, "Pshhh!" Waving it off, "You're just overreacting, Sully! With my laser-shooting eyes and your bestial transformation, nothing will stop us!" Indeed, the oblivious live carefree lives.

Meanwhile, Leo listened in with his enhanced hearing. However, not that he needed to when the two were talking so loud and casually. 'Transformation-type and emitting lasers. Will try to remember that.'

With no examiner on stage to give instructions yet, he tried using his danger sense to see if anything felt like a danger to him.

*Tingle~ Ring~*

He couldn't pinpoint where, but feeling the ringing was enough to say that he couldn't let down his guard. Soon enough, the examiner appeared on stage. Upon arrival, all lights were turned off except for one to focus on the examiner.

*Thump*

*Thump*

Thumping the microphone got the attention of everyone, "Good Morning to all boys and girls," the person with undefinable features spoke. If neutral was an entity, this person would take the cake.

They wore a standard SHIELD Uniform that labeled them as a staff member. The right arm showed the SHIELD emblem, with a circle outline of 50 small stars representing the 50 States of America. Inside the said stars was the silhouette of an American eagle formed like a shield.

Long hair on one side, boyish short cut on the other. Their skin was a perfect split of black and white, vertically symmetrical.

"Today, we will be holding SHIELD Academy's annual entrance exam. An exam where becoming cripple or dying is a possibility. So, to those who wish to be free from those possibilities, please, leave now."

As the person said so, multiple doors from the wall opened, allowing outdoor light to shine through the darkened venue.

But, surprisingly, none left. Pride to stay, maybe.

"None left? Well then, I shall showcase videos of test takers dying for 10 minutes straight." Without a minute delay, gruesome deaths played, almost like a YouTube compilation.

Of course, however, this is a fake video. But how would the students know that? To compile a 10-minute video of teens dying would even force them to change some exam parameters.

The moment students entered the premises, the test started.

How they conduct themselves, how well they listen to information, and many more.

This video in itself was one such thing. To be able to tell if such a video was fake to not fall for its scare tactic and a test of courage. Courage to not flee from the possibility of Death.

These are still teens, after all. Expect very little from them.

And sure enough, rows of teens stood up from their seats and walked out of the auditorium with queasy faces and wobbling knees. Some even outright vomited on the floor.

Leo may not have been able to distinguish its authenticity, but his heart stood firm watching their 'deaths' unfold. It was sickening to watch, but it did the job of rooting out the weak-willed.

From the staggering 10,000+ strong examinees, it dropped to a mere 3000+. Practically 70% left because of fear.

It took 30 minutes to clear those who had second thoughts and decided to go home. Leo looking back behind his seat saw that the duo skedaddled off. Go figures when he literally heard the eyeball barfing his life out.

"Congratulations to the examinees who stayed in this exam. This was a test of courage and intelligence. Some of you may have deduced the absurd number of deaths because of the 10 minutes compilation, others braved watching the deaths happen, and maybe some got both. Nevertheless, you 3423 strong examinees passed the first test."

Her words stunned many. Who knew they were already in a test?

Before the students could flow into sheep mentality and start throwing questions, the examiner raised her hand, a motion for silence.

"No interruptions. We shall move on to the next and final test. The infamous island exam." This sentence alone sent everyone to the edge of their seats.

"The rules are..."

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CHEERS!