The Final Test

The crack was loud and everyone's eyes jerked in the direction it originated from, and they were surprised when they saw whose hands had been snapped.

"That's enough Michael," A voice said behind him as Elizabeth fell to the ground, gasping for air because she knew that if they hadn't stopped Michael, he would have killed her.

Michael's right hand dangled but he showed no visible pain or distress, years of abuse from his parents had given him unnaturally high pain tolerance.

Tee had managed to attack Michael, invading his mind and forcing him to snap his own wrist.

But the fact that Tee's power could affect Michael only showed he was stronger than his partner.

Elizabeth scurried away, looking at Michael with horror because she thought they were friends so seeing that he was willing to kill her on a whim was an eye-opener.

"You almost lost your head there, Michael…" Tee said as he casually walked in front of Michael like he was challenging him but Michael knew there were easier ways Tee could have stopped him so this has to be him making an indirect statement.

"I was just having a bit of fun and you went ahead to snap my wrist?" Michael said and everyone was surprised that he wasn't showing any visible pain.

"Let it serve as a reminder of what happens to anyone that would bring harm on anybody on this team," Tee said, pausing and looking around the hall as this was an indirect warning to anyone that had previously thought to attack them before refocusing his gaze on Michael.

"... Even if that person is one of our own," With this action, Tee had demonstrated that he was not only stronger than Michael but he had every intention of serving as the group leader.

Dean saw Michael's wrist and snapped his finger urgently because it looked pretty gross in hindsight and for that reason alone, one of his members that possessed a healing power rushed forward to heal him. This was the girl that had died in Dean's illusion.

"Not bad…" Michael muttered as he flexed his hand, there was nothing wrong with it anymore.

A man soon walked into the hall, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention.

Michael noticed the students were all whispering among themselves but he didn't recognize the person that was there.

Even Tee looked impressed but this couldn't be helped, Michael only ever watched channels that glorified heroes.

"That is Venom…" He overheard a fellow student whisper and apparently, the bad naming sense wasn't limited to heroes as this was as simple a name could get but the desired effect was achieved by his presence.

"Hi everyone. I think most of you have surmised what this next test is about. We will be testing how well you have your powers in a fight so you will all be paired up with an opponent shortly…" Venom said; he had on a strange grotesque mask that concealed his identity.

"Oh shit! I'm Venom. I probably should have started with that," The man quickly said as the students began to laugh but Michael didn't find it funny.

"Are there any rules?" A random boy asked and Venom looked at him sternly before lifting off his mask slightly to show his mischievous grin.

"Rules? There are no rules! Only death! Only car-!" Someone knocked him on the head from behind.

It was a gigantic muscular 6 '9 girl who was even more famous than the man doing the orientation.

She dressed like a typical wrestler, wearing a sporting bra as she barely had any breasts but this didn't make her figure any less alluring.

She was known as Mountain Woman, a known villain that has been in multiple scuffles with superheroes.

"There are rules. The fight will immediately be stopped when one concedes or is unable to keep on fighting."

The same student that asked followed it up with yet another question.

"Is killing prohibited?" He questioned and she knew by the tone of his voice that she was hoping the answer would be negative but unfortunately, it wasn't.

"Killing is allowed." She responded sternly and the whispers began among everyone once again.

They weren't cut out for this and some even considered dropping out because this felt like a jungle that they weren't fit to live in.

"If you wish to forfeit and drop out, please step backwards. Those willing to proceed, you may come forward…" Mountain Woman said and Michael was the first to step forward with no hesitation followed by Tee.

Elizabeth sucked it up and followed her teammates forward alongside Megan. They were only fifty-four, almost down to half their starting number.

With their group out of the way, only fifty remained but not everyone was brave enough to step forward.

Only thirty-one stepped forward, the remaining nineteen had chosen to step backwards because they didn't want to die but they made one big miscalculation.

"Sighs, you kids really should have read your contract," The Mountain Girl muttered to herself as the heads of those that "dropped out" imploded, killing them instantly.

There was no dropping out, expulsion or dropping out meant death, they were just understanding this because who in their sane mind would let a bunch of chicken leave without risking exposure to what was going on here?

This was like terms and policy, most of these kids were too stunned by the money to read everything or couldn't as only a few had read the contract from start to finish and this included forfeiture of one's life.

People were visibly dazed by what they saw but Michael knew that with their numbers, there was no doubt that this test was coming to an end.

This whole thing was to test their aptitude for villainy and most had shown that they weren't cut out but James had no intention of letting this run for weeks or months. No, he had every intention of rounding it up in the next couple of days.

And this test was supposed to be the final one, he had seen everything he needed to see but this was the most important aspect of it all.