The Academy of Superheroes (IC) (PG-13)

[Price]

Austin saw the man. There was no way the guy was real, he hadn’t been here a second or two earlier. This must be our first test... Austin thought. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he spread his arms out east to west to cover his classmates and began to lead them in backing up. He absolutely did not trust this situation.

“He wasn’t locked in here, Ryan...” Austin said lowly. His arms returned to his sides. “He isn’t even real. Who are you and what do you want?” Austin said as he took his gloves off preparing for anything. Anyone who so much as grazed his hands would be in serious trouble. “What. Do. You. Want?” Austin asked again. This time is voice was dark and intimidating. He had learned to use this voice on the streets. It showed that he wasn’t someone to be messed with.

[SherbetTurtle]

Janette looked at Sophia and scowled. "You're, what, two years older than me. I'm not a kid!" she said before turning to Matthew, "And he maybe a kid, but he sure don't act like one!" Great, the group was falling out already. But as the girl continued she nodded, "I agree, we need to move fast, the others are probably way ahead of us... So Sophia. Are you a cyborg?" she asked, heading forward until the first turn, looking behind so she was sure she didn't lose them. "I don't like it in here, it's too dark." she said, fiddling with the charm bracelet on her wrist. "Do you think we'll face challenges? I mean, what would we have in common? A cyborg, a... I don't know your power... And someone who can make people do what they say. Not exactly the same are we?" she asked. All this time the thought was still running through her mind. The lie. What lie? There were so many things he could lie about. The lie...

[InfraredHero]

---

Matthew Williams

---

Matthew followed the two girls as they all went into the long hallway. "I can sort of see peoples souls," Matthew began to explain his power as they walked. "It's hard to explain, but you could think of it as I'm looking at a paper that has information about you. Just by looking at people I can know anything they know about themselves. I can also stop others powers from working. Don't worry though, I wont use it on you two. Hopefully I don't have to use it at all." He hoped that, if there were any challenges that would arise, that he didn't have to use his power for them to get through it.

---

Abby Bartlett

---

Abby jumped a little when she heard the voice in the corner of the corridor, but then she saw it was just a scared little girl. She didn't know, or care, how that girl got there, she just wanted to help her. Abby watched as Talia approached the girl first, but only for a few brief moments, until she backed away from the girl, followed by Catherine talking to her. "Hey, go easy on her!" Abby shouted a little louder than she meant to, but she wasn't worried about that. She quickly went over to the little girl, crouching down to her. "Don't worry little girl," She said to the little girl. "Nobody is going to hurt you." She turned to Catherine and Talia. "The sign said that this is 'The Path of Fear,' and she is obviously terrified." She turned back to the girl. "Now, what is it you are afraid of?"

---

Alison, Ryan, Austin

---

"You are correct," The man replied, keeping his look of casualness. "I was not locked up in here. This is my home. I've been waiting here alone for many years, waiting for someone to walk down this corridor, and finally the waiting has paid off." The man thinks for a brief moment, then speaks again. "I can see you guys aren't looking for someone to talk to, though, so I will leave if you want me to."

---

Catherine, Talia, Abby

---

The Girl backed up into the corner when Catherine started talking to her, getting even more scared, until Abby approached her. She started to look more calm, until Abby asked what she was afraid of. "He said he was the 'Lord of Darkness.' Is he coming? He said he was coming here." The girl looked more terrified than she did before.

---

Sophia, Jeanette, Matthew

---

While the three students were walking through the corridor, a man appeared from nowhere about 15 feet in front of them. The man had black short hair, and all he was wearing was a pair of Dark-Blue Jeans, and Boots. The man was seemingly Ice, but the most interesting part about him was the big wings on his back that were also Ice. Whether the students recognized him immediately, or they needed a few seconds, they would all recognize him as Frozen Ace. "Hello there, Students," He said as he took several steps towards the three. "Looks like you guys got the easiest test here. Well, I guess I can only hope you guys won't fail it. I wish this never had to happen, but since I'm dead, I guess this stuff is out of my control. Now, time for no more secrets around here. Are you guys ready to break out of this prison?"

[MysticOtaku]

"I don't think its other people's fears, I'm pretty sure it'll be about us" Talia replied with a frown as Abby approached the girl. "No matter what, we can't trust anyone" Talia crossed her arms in front of her, relaxing a little, at least Abby would be the first target if the girl went satanic. Or anything she thought to herself in a huff. Even with her suspicions, hearing the girl talk again made even her curious. "What, Lord of Darkness?" Talia murmured in disbelief. Was he the one behind all this? The one who's muffled voice still echoed through her head. It was a suitable name for him. "Who is he, what does he look like?" Now Talia was both curious and worried.

She kept her eyes on the girl with a wicked glare, but she seemed a hell of a lot better than this "Lord of Darkness" she was talking about. If she was even telling the truth that is, it occurred to Talia only now that she didn't have her little pouch of ninja stars with her. She couldn't remember when she lost them, perhaps the voice had taken them, she only knew should she need her power, it would take her a few more precious seconds to draw some blood with her teeth. She cursed under her breath, which was also strange to herself. Talia never usually swore much, glancing back at the girl made her blush. She especially didn't swear in front of children, although this girl was probably not real. Whatever she was, Talia still shouldn't have cursed in front of her. She didn't know what this place was doing to her, but she didn't like it. Talia wanted out. "We need to keep moving, do you know were he was going?" Talia spoke with all the tiny amounts of confidence she could muster before softening her voice to address the girl.

[NovaStriker]

Ryan was surprised by how the stranger reacted to Austin's aggressive behavior. The man was about to leave them alone, just like that? This had to be some sort of trick, and as Austin had proved, he needed to be alert inside this room all the time. Before even proceeding to walk, he began to concentrate his aura around his hands, so he could defend himself and the others from any kind of danger. Austin's scowling, made him realized that still was naive to certain things. Though he hated having a beast inside him, he found out that it's instincts may help him when he couldn't detect if other people could be trusted or not. He wanted to continue with the test, but for now, he watched the man's movements closely.

[Sparkz]

Catherine listened to Abby, then the little girl as she talked. She stepped back and looked towards the door. "Look, ladies. Not to seem callous or anything. But all this," she gestured around. "Is just a mind game. Whoever is doing this, wants to get into our heads. This 'lord of Darkness' fellow may just be another mind game. We should just plow on through and get to the finish and get out of here."

Catherine looks between the three girls. "We're not going to be prepared for what's coming. Even if what this.... Thing says." She says referring to the little girl. "Is true... We won't be ready. We might as well continue on and hope for the best, alright?" Catherine sighs internally. She hated mind games. All she needed was a tangible bad guy to punch. That made everything easier. She looks at the door and opens it.

[Dire Hoef]

“You're, what, two years older than me. I'm not a kid! And he maybe a kid, but he sure don't act like one! I agree, we need to move fast, the others are probably way ahead of us... So Sophia. Are you a cyborg? Do you think we'll face challenges? I mean, what would we have in common? A cyborg, a... I don't know your power... And someone who can make people do what they say. Not exactly the same are we?”

“I can sort of see people’s souls. It's hard to explain, but you could think of it as I'm looking at a paper that has information about you. Just by looking at people I can know anything they know about themselves. I can also stop others powers from working. Don't worry though, I won’t use it on you two. Hopefully I don't have to use it at all.”

“Hello there, Students. Looks like you guys got the easiest test here. Well, I guess I can only hope you guys won't fail it. I wish this never had to happen, but since I'm dead, I guess this stuff is out of my control. Now, time for no more secrets around here. Are you guys ready to break out of this prison?”

Sophia readied her ION Cannon Module as she glanced towards mysterious man as well as the two other students, whom she didn’t like at the moment. “As long as I am not going to die at the end of all of this then sure I guess you can I am ready to break out of this prison,” she pressed a button, which was the safety, “But any funny business and I’ll blow you to kingdom come!”

[Price]

Austin listened to the man carefully. He looked for any signs of lying or hostility from the gentleman. None. Still, he wasn’t convinced. Something was off, very off, and Austin didn’t like it. Even though he didn’t know either of the other two students, he knew it was his responsibility to keep them safe and vice versa. He didn’t have to trust them, but for now they were all he had...and his survival may depend on them. As for their survival, well although Austin wasn’t particularly attached to them...he didn’t wish to have any more blood on his hands.


“I am not your enemy, and I don’t want to hurt you...but let me be clear, you are a stranger...and I don’t trust strangers. If you try to hurt me...or them,” Austin started. His left index finger pointed to his two companions. “I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand. Understand?” Austin finished with a fire in his eyes. There was so much uncertainty surrounding his new environment, and this mystery man was the only one capable of shedding some light. The man could have information crucial to his group’s survival....and Austin was not about to let the man simply leave. “Why were you waiting? Who are you and what is this place? What is the Path of Madness? Tell us everything you know...” Austin said in a low but still menacing tone.

[SherbetTurtle]

She smiled at the boy, "That's a cool power! And thanks, I promise not to use mine on you two either. But you're pretty young, yes?" At the site of the man, Janette stopped in her tracks and stared at the man. She recognised him, but couldn't put a name to a face as she listened to his talk. "Nom de Dieu! You're Frozen Ace so cool!" she squealed, clapping like a seal. "I mean," she coughed and pulled a straight face, "Yeah, what Sophia said. But you can help us? Is this what our test is? We meet dead people? How did we get the easiest test?" she asked many questions when suddenly another thought popped into her mind, she was certainly full of thoughts today! "Je suis un imbecile!! Oh! My! The lie, I figured out what it was." she stated, relieved there was no pain, "This isn't a test. I don't get it... But this isn't a test. And, um, another thing!" She stood there for a second, "He said if we fail the test we can't go back. It's a lie. But it doesn't make sense..."

[InfraredHero]

---

Talia, Abby, Catherine

---

When Catherine opened the door, it appeared to be the same corridor they were already in, showing everything that was already in it. If the students didn't like mind games, they wouldn't like this, as it seemed to be a portal to the door on the opposite side of the long corridor that they just came from. Looking through the newly opened door, they would even see themselves.

---

Abby Bartlett

---

Abby watched as Catherine opened the door, only to see it seemingly open as a portal to the opposite side of the door. "Look's like we're not getting out of here that easily. Now, if this girl is the one we are supposed to face our fears against, then I can stop her, but since she is the only person here other than us, I say we try to calm her down. Unless you two have a better idea?" Some part of Abby was hoping that the Girl was going to be the one they had to face, but she also knew that there could be something else that they would have to face.

---

Austin, Ryan, Alison

---

"Well, there's no need for violence," The man said, still keeping calm. "I don't know what this Path of Madness is, but I do know that I am here to wait for someone to come here. I can see that you guys aren't the ones I am supposed to wait for, so I can leave you guys so you can get back to whatever it was that you were doing."

---

Matthew Williams

---

Matthew nearly jumped when he saw Frozen Ace appear in front of them. He'd only seen pictures of the Man, and seeing Him in person confirmed how great he looked. At first, Matthew didn't believe it was Frozen Ace, but seeing into him, he could tell that it really was him. Matthew stood in silence as he let everybody else do the talking, as he was concentrating on just listening to Frozen Ace. The boy gave a smile toward Jeanette when he heard she figured out what the lie was. He didn't like seeing people in pain.

---

Jeanette, Matthew, Sophia

---

"Whoa, no need for that," Frozen Ace said to Sophia, hoping she wouldn't actually attack him. "I'm here to help you guys. And I can shed some light on all of this confusion." He turned to Jeanette. "This lie that you detected is a lie, but it is also the truth." He looked over all three of the students, before speaking more. "Are you guys familiar with Dark Abyss? I spent most of my life fighting him. Years ago, there was a big battle. Dark Abyss freed hundreds of Criminals, and he used them to fight against anyone who called themselves Heroes. My friends and I fought them, and although many of us died in that battle, with the help of another Hero, I was able to trap Dark Abyss in a different dimension, before dying myself. The dimension was turned into the prison you see around you now. Dark Abyss is trying to trick you guys into freeing him from this prison. It won't work though. The buttons you were sent to press are fake; they don't do anything. The only way for Dark Abyss to get out of this prison ultimately brings him death, and he knows that. He's very arrogant, though, so he just had to see if bringing you students here would actually work. There is only one student at the Academy that can break this prison, and he is very powerful. Once Dark Abyss brings him here and gets him to free everybody, I need you guys to tell Evan Michaels, your teacher, about this. Don't bother telling the Headmasters about it. They are the reason this is happening. When you tell him about everything, I need you guys to help him. There is an unfortunate possibility that a war might happen, and I need you guys to fight it. I know this is a lot to ask of you all, and I wouldn't be doing this if I hadn't already given my life to fight Abyss. Once this dimension is destroyed, I will be gone forever, so if there is anything you guys wish to know, now is the time to ask."