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Chapter 8
Minion Training
The three teens walked to the place where the Legion had told them to go. It was in the middle of a forest, totally overgrown with weeds. Dark and gloomy, it was just the sort of place you’d expect the Legion to use.
“So, this is it.” Julia said to her friends, “no turning back from this point on.”
“Let’s go.” the guys said together.
They walked up to the hideout that looked totally deserted. “Maybe they forgot new trainees were coming…” Gregory thought aloud.
“They’d better not have!” Will said.
“We haven’t,” a voice said.
The ground under them shook, then it opened and they all fell into the hole. They landed in a hallway with three doors that was otherwise closed off.
They heard the voice again, “Each of you go into a room, and there you will get instructions.”
They did as they were told. Julia took the only room on the west side of the hallway while William and Gregory took the two on the east.
Inside of her room, Julia found a bed, a dresser, and a door that led to a very small bathroom with just a toilet, a sink, and barely enough room to walk.
“Over the next few days you will go through some tests.” the voice said, “They will test your fighting skills, your evasive skills, and your surviving skills.” that last one he said with what sounded like a smirk, “Don’t worry, only about a third of those who tryout die before completing the training.”
“Like that’s comforting,” she muttered under her breath.
“Walk over to the computer and fill out the form.” the voice commanded.
Instantly a computer and a desk popped out of the wall. Julia walked over and turned on the computer. A list of questions appeared on the screen. Julia typed out the answers for her alias, Victoria Beckett.
Name: Victoria Beckett.
Age: 24.
Crime records: Petty crimes such as stealing small items.
Occupation: Retired early from being a martial arts teacher, specialty: Tae-Kwon-Do.
Desired role in Legion of Doom: Minion.
“Stupid question, it’s not like I’m going to go from petty crimes straight to full Legion of Doom member,” Julia thought.
Desired color: Teal.
Done.
It was night so Julia went to sleep; she had a long day of training ahead of her.
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Sun, Nov 12th, 2056
Julia awoke with a start. She was falling off the bed. She braced herself for her collision with the cement floor, but none came.
She turned herself so that she faced up; she had fallen through a hole in the ground. She quickly turned over and put her arms out in front of her, elbows slightly bent. She had acted just in time, for not two seconds after she did she hit the ground.
For a moment everything was dark, then a bright light shown, blinding her for a few seconds. When she could see again, she found herself in a large room that looked very much like the Titans’ simulator. William and Gregory were standing a few feet away from her.
She began to walk toward them, when the voice came. “Commencing training.”
Instantly, the setting changed inside the room. They were standing in a large field. Everything was peaceful and beautiful. The only thing that was there that seemed out of place was a stand with three swords on it. Julia walked towards it, curiously. She reached out and took hold of one of the swords; William and Gregory did the same.
Then they heard a loud noise coming from behind. They all turned to see a large group of people with swords in their hands heading towards them.
“How many do you think there are?” Julia asked.
“One, two, three, four, five, no wait I already counted you, ugh! They’re moving too fast to count!” William said.
“Um, Lionel, I don’t think that this is the best time to joke.” Gregory said.
Julia quickly ran through what Robin had said in the briefing, Don’t look too good and give away your positions, but don’t be so bad that you either die or make them not want you three as minions. “Right.” she said to herself, brandishing her weapon.
They all ran out to meet the attack. Clashing sword against sword, they fought the simulated people. Julia had to keep reminding herself that these were not real people, so she didn’t have to worry about killing them.
Her friends and her all stood in a circle facing outward, protecting each other from attacks from behind. She fought two or more at a time and once while blocking a strike, another person nicked her in the leg. The pain wasn’t bad, but it made her remember that the Legion’s training was dangerous and if she wasn’t careful she could get badly injured. Or killed.
After an hour of hard fighting, the young heroes in disguise had destroyed the opposition, and they had done it without getting hurt too badly, just a few nicks and scratches.
Not thirty seconds after defeating the oncoming horde, the scene changed to a tunnel. They saw a light up ahead, which illuminated the tunnel a little.
“Whoa!” William said.
“What is it?” Gregory asked.
“Look behind us!”
Julia and Gregory turned to look and saw that the wall behind them was covered in sharp spikes. And it had started moving towards them.
“RUN!” Gregory yelled. And that’s just what they did.
At first, running down the tunnel was a piece of cake, until a shot of flames burst out from the side of the tunnel. The three friends stopped as fast as they could, then, when the flames disappeared, they ran again, this time cautious of any traps.
There were hurtles, holes in the ground, more flame bursts, and swords slashing back and forth, and all were trying to get the young Heroes.
Finally, Julia and the others saw the end of the tunnel. All three of them ran forward eagerly; so eagerly that they didn’t see the huge gap in the ground before them. Luckily the inside of the hole was lighted, but what they saw as they were falling scared them.
The bottom of the hole was covered in spikes, and the sides of the hole also had loads of spikes sticking out, ready to take the lives of any who fell in. A few of the spikes were stained red, and Julia thought that she might have seen a skeleton at the bottom of the pit. But she didn’t have time to look and see if it really was one, for she and the others were going to hit the bottom of the pit in a few seconds!
Julia reached out her hand carefully, so as to not get it cut off, and took hold of one of the side spikes. The others did the same. Then, very carefully, they started to climb up and out of the hole.
When they finally got to the top they saw that the spiked wall that had been behind them had blocked the exit. They turned to the other side and saw another light.
“Back the way we came.” Julia said to her friends, wearily.
“Yep.” the guys said together, and they went back through the obstacle course, this time more slowly and carefully, for this time nothing was behind them threatening their lives.
At the end they were wearier than ever, and the simulation was over. In front of them was a dark tunnel that looked like a tube slide.
They heard the voice again; “You’ll get your test summery later. Take the slide back to your rooms.”
They all carefully stepped into the slide, thinking that it was a test trap. But at the bottom there was no trap, they were back in the hall with the three doors. They each headed into their room, thankful for a rest, and each fell asleep wondering how a slide got them back to their rooms when the way that they got to the simulator in the first place was falling downwards.
~Wolf Woman
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Titan's Tower
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