AcademyX- School For Gifted Children

Preparing

I wake up and wipe my tired eyes. Something must be wrong here. Damon isn't waking me up, and neither is my alarm clock. I hop off the bed and stride across the room to the window. I gaze out at the forest. I feel very drawn to the place. Now even more. Now that we know there is a hidden prison underground.

I guess I'll go look for someone. I step out the door and it's pitch black. What's going on? The floor beneath me disappears and I fall into the darkness. I open my eyes to find an odd scene in front of me. My friends stand there staring at me.

"Guys. What's going on?" I ask.

They continue to stare. They don't move, and they're not even blinking. This is creepy. They walk towards me slowly, not even losing their endless gaze on me. They stop and turn into shadows, which then fade away. Suddenly, I feel myself falling. I hit the ground hard and go unconscious.

I jump off my bed and land on the floor. Damon is staring down at me.

"You okay man?" He asks.

"Uh. Yeah. I'm fine" I say.

"So what was that all about?" Damon asks me.

"Nightmare, I guess, but it just felt so real" I tell him.

"Yeah, I get those too sometimes. Mostly about Kal though. Anyways, it's time for class" he says.

After getting ready, Damon and I rush out the door, separating to go to our classes.

*A couple of hours later*

I collapse onto my bed and Damon does the same.

"Seemed like all the classes were a little different today" I say.

"Because they were" Damon tells me.

"How? Why?" I ask.

"This is the process of preparation. This is what we do when getting ready for the tournament. The whole week before is devoted to training and strategic planning. In fact starting tomorrow, we don't have classes anymore until we get back from the tournament" he says.

"Oh. So should we go train?" I ask.

"Sure, I mean, if you wanna" he says.

"Yeah, let's go" I say.

Damon and I stand at the doors of the arena, waiting for our friends to show up. Kaitlyn comes running down the hallway with Kameron at her side.

"Hey guys!" Kaitlyn yells from the other end of the hallway.

"Hey! Where's the others?" Damon asks as he pulls Kaitlyn in for a hug.

"They're busy. I guess it's just us today" Kaitlyn replies.

"Yeah, so how about we do a double duel? You know, like a 2 on 2 fight" Damon suggests.

Everyone nods their heads in agreement and then takes their places in the circle of the arena. Damon and Kaitlyn are a team an, Kameron and I are another. After a count of 3, the fight begins.

Kaitlyn immediately transforms herself into an eagle and flies high above our heads. The sound of crackling fire catches my attention and I realize Damon has a large ball of fire in each hand. A fire ball comes hurling my direction, but then I realize it's headed for Kameron, who's still fixed on Kaitlyn hovering overhead. I throw a hand out towards him, not expecting to nearly throw him out of the circle. I guess I should learn to control the power of my attacks. He picks himself off of the ground and now has his head in the game, or the fight. Whatever. He runs towards Damon, dodging the fireballs and stones flying at him. Just then, I notice Kaitlyn diving towards him. I take control of one the stones and make it fly at her. Not expecting a rogue stone, the stone collides with her wing and she begins plummeting to the ground. Just before hitting the floor, she becomes an elephant, crashing into the floor so hard that it knocks us all off of our feet. Kameron is up first and is running at Kaitlyn, at super speed of course. His fist clashes with Kaitlyn's stomach. Kaitlyn still being an elephant an all, stumbles back then stands back up. Her body begins to shrink down until it rests in the form of a tiger. I've always liked tigers. The thought disappears when the very animal in my mind lands right on top of me. The sounds of thuds, grunts, and stones flying around can be heard. Must be Kameron and Damon are fighting pretty hard. A large paw comes slamming down on my chest, knocking nearly all of the air out of me. I finally get my hands onto her chest. I direct as much power out of my palms as I can. The big cat flies of off me, landing on top of Damon. Kameron races over to me and helps me up. We turn back to our opponents who are standing up. Kaitlyn's body forms into a large gorilla. This is gonna end bad. The gorilla charges at me, but Kameron dashes to her and begins throwing punches, swiftly dodging hers. My eyes rest on Damon. Electricity surrounds his arms all the way up to his shoulders. He lifts his hand and a bolt of electricity comes shooting out at me. Before I can react, the jolt hits me, throwing me far back. I land hard on my back, my whole body searing with pain. I sit forward and scan the room. Things are kinda hazy, but I can make out Damon walking towards me and Kameron running in a circle with Kaitlyn's giant gorilla hands in his grasp. She looks very dizzy and seems to be losing her balance. My gaze returns to Damon who is closer now. A fireball shoots from his palm. I force out a shadow shield. This new power is pretty cool. After the ball of fire explodes on the shield, I test out my new power some more and hurl a black ball of shadow energy at Damon. The orb hits him and he is thrown onto the floor. Kaitlyn is distracted by her boyfriend falling on the floor and she, finally losing her balance, also hits the ground. Damon sits up. Kameron runs at him, knocking him out with a punch to the face. Kameron stares down at his friend whom he had just knocked unconscious. From nowhere, the gorilla jumps out and lands on Kameron. He is slipping in an out of consciousness. I throw Kaitlyn off telekinetically, but it's too late. He's out. Kaitlyn makes eye contact with me as she shape shifts into her wolf form. She loves that form so much. The giant dog lunges at me. A strong feeling rages in my left hand. I look down and see that my hand is enveloped in a ball of darkness, then I realize the other hand has it as well. I face both hands at Kaitlyn, hoping for something good. From both hands, streams of dark shadow energy leave my hands, coming head on with the wolf charging at me. Kaitlyn flies back and lands on the floor, sliding a few feet. Expecting her to get back up, I ready a shadow ball. I guess that's what I'll call that now. She doesn't get up. I win!

The sound of a small applause fills my ears. The rest of the group, Mr Hall, Mr Colpus, Marianna, and the sweet lunch lady stand watching me, smiling, clapping, and laughing. Everyone runs to the unconscious students on the floor. Just as I begin to feel proud and better, the room gets dark. I see people turning around and watching me, then I realize I'm falling to the floor. My head hits the ground hard and I'm gone.

*An hour later*

As I open my eyes and gaze at the room, I notice my friends who had been hurt during the fight. Damon and Kameron are up, but Kaitlyn is still resting. A nurse walks into the room.

"Boys, you 3 can go to your rooms now. Kaitlyn is still resting and she will not be released until tomorrow"

We agree and leave, of course heading to my room. Adam and Clara are already there when we walk in.

"There's the big winner!" Adam shouts.

"Yeah! Go Joel!" Clara yells, standing up and running towards me.

"I just remembered a question I had. Clara, how do you plan on fighting in he tournament?" I ask.

"Oh. I forgot to tell you guys I guess. My powers upgraded. Now when I take someone's powers, I can use them" She replies back.

"Wow! That's awesome!" I say back.

Damon sits down on his bed.

"Guys. I really hope you all make it through the tournament. I don't wanna lose any of you, and I'll do everything I can to get through it as well" Damon says with a lump in his throat.

He must be thinking about the tournament. I haven't thought much about it. I've been trying to kinda block it out, but I shouldn't do that. What if I lose Kylee? Or Damon, Kaitlyn, Clara, or Jackson? What about Adam or Kameron? I couldn't imagine losing any of them. I mean, I don't even wanna lose Marianna, and she's just rude. I totally agree with Damon. We don't need to go into a fight that we know people will probably be killed in. I'll make sure something is done.
--------------------------------------------------------

Sorry about the long wait, but I hope you guys are happy that you're getting multiple chapters. Also, sorry for the stupid cover pictures. Sometimes I can't find anything. Anyways, please leave comments on how I can improve. Byeee!