had some trouble for a little while, but you really brought what’s unique and special about you to put on a great show. Plus, you’re a cutie, and you seem to have real fun doing what you’re doing. My word, I could see you fighting the Protectors tomorrow .”
Again, I swelled with pride… or maybe that was just fluid collecting from the beating.
The Voice of the People, as usual, looked like he was sitting on something very sharp.
“I believe you are a danger. To yourself. To others. You lack the focus necessary to be an effective member of a team as important as this, and you are a coward who could get people killed unnecessarily. Further, you did not take the time to remember your second line when following the script is key to our glorious plan, and you did not do even that.… You failed in my book.”
I’d expected worse from him, so that was a relief.
I hobbled back to my seat, and thankfully Spasm wasn’t far behind, fixing me up as we watched Artok step up next. I enjoyed watching him fumble. Out of the water he was useless, and though he put up a solid fight, he got scathing reviews from all three judges.
My pleasure didn’t last too long, sadly. Everyone put on a much better show than I did. They clearly had better control over their powers, and nobody took a beating like I did.
Firewall didn’t scream when surrounded, but rather just unleashed the death ray I’d given her, wiping out the Everywhere Men so quickly that they had to send in more.
When Felix was knocked down, he didn’t whimper and beg, but instead transformed into a crystal giant and destroyed his attackers.
When the Gnome Caller had her arms pinned behind her by one of the Everywhere Men, she didn’t even break a sweat. She just let out a piercing Nordic cry that summoned a few hundred sentient lawn gnomes from a pocket dimension that tore the Everywhere Men apart with their sharp little teeth.
While many excelled, some stumbled worse than me. Carnivore was so focused on ripping his victims to shreds that he forgot to say two of his catchphrases and Nevermore, though she put on one of the best shows with her tattoos, said hers out of order. Some (especially the fliers) were more boring than me, but not by much.
Seeing Showstopper force the Everywhere Men into a dance number out of West Side Story , the cartoon clown boy, Circus, bending reality like a video game with all the cheat codes on, and Ghost Girl’s acrobatics that made it look like she could predict their moves, I got nervous.
Not too nervous, but nervous enough.
Finally, after the Zone Runner had finished doing whatever it is that Zone Runners do (it was hard to pay attention after nearly five hours of these, including a dinner break), Blackjack talked with the judges. They compared notes, even bringing in Everywhere Man for his opinion on how we’d all done. The tension in the air was thick. Odigjod grasped my hand tightly in one of his claws. Despite having one of the best showings of all of us, he was shaking like a leaf.
Finally, Blackjack took the stage. She opened up another Tri-Hole behind her.
She didn’t have to tell us that this one led to the Tower.
“All right. Just wanna thank y’all for your patience. We had some tough choices to make, but we’ve come to an agreement. There’s seventy-three of you here, and only seven spots on the team. Fifty-two of you are moving on to the next round. Twenty of you aren’t. Black Blur?”
The middle-aged judge stood, arching his back. Then, true to his name, he disappeared in a blur. He was allegedly the fourth-fastest person on the planet, capable of breaking the time barrier if he tried hard enough. I wouldn’t have believed it until today. Occasionally you’d hear a surprised yelp as he plucked someone up and hurled them through the Tri-Hole, but usually he was too fast for them to even notice something had happened.
Afraid again, I closed my eyes tightly.
Again, I swelled with pride… or maybe that was just fluid collecting from the beating.
The Voice of the People, as usual, looked like he was sitting on something very sharp.
“I believe you are a danger. To yourself. To others. You lack the focus necessary to be an effective member of a team as important as this, and you are a coward who could get people killed unnecessarily. Further, you did not take the time to remember your second line when following the script is key to our glorious plan, and you did not do even that.… You failed in my book.”
I’d expected worse from him, so that was a relief.
I hobbled back to my seat, and thankfully Spasm wasn’t far behind, fixing me up as we watched Artok step up next. I enjoyed watching him fumble. Out of the water he was useless, and though he put up a solid fight, he got scathing reviews from all three judges.
My pleasure didn’t last too long, sadly. Everyone put on a much better show than I did. They clearly had better control over their powers, and nobody took a beating like I did.
Firewall didn’t scream when surrounded, but rather just unleashed the death ray I’d given her, wiping out the Everywhere Men so quickly that they had to send in more.
When Felix was knocked down, he didn’t whimper and beg, but instead transformed into a crystal giant and destroyed his attackers.
When the Gnome Caller had her arms pinned behind her by one of the Everywhere Men, she didn’t even break a sweat. She just let out a piercing Nordic cry that summoned a few hundred sentient lawn gnomes from a pocket dimension that tore the Everywhere Men apart with their sharp little teeth.
While many excelled, some stumbled worse than me. Carnivore was so focused on ripping his victims to shreds that he forgot to say two of his catchphrases and Nevermore, though she put on one of the best shows with her tattoos, said hers out of order. Some (especially the fliers) were more boring than me, but not by much.
Seeing Showstopper force the Everywhere Men into a dance number out of West Side Story , the cartoon clown boy, Circus, bending reality like a video game with all the cheat codes on, and Ghost Girl’s acrobatics that made it look like she could predict their moves, I got nervous.
Not too nervous, but nervous enough.
Finally, after the Zone Runner had finished doing whatever it is that Zone Runners do (it was hard to pay attention after nearly five hours of these, including a dinner break), Blackjack talked with the judges. They compared notes, even bringing in Everywhere Man for his opinion on how we’d all done. The tension in the air was thick. Odigjod grasped my hand tightly in one of his claws. Despite having one of the best showings of all of us, he was shaking like a leaf.
Finally, Blackjack took the stage. She opened up another Tri-Hole behind her.
She didn’t have to tell us that this one led to the Tower.
“All right. Just wanna thank y’all for your patience. We had some tough choices to make, but we’ve come to an agreement. There’s seventy-three of you here, and only seven spots on the team. Fifty-two of you are moving on to the next round. Twenty of you aren’t. Black Blur?”
The middle-aged judge stood, arching his back. Then, true to his name, he disappeared in a blur. He was allegedly the fourth-fastest person on the planet, capable of breaking the time barrier if he tried hard enough. I wouldn’t have believed it until today. Occasionally you’d hear a surprised yelp as he plucked someone up and hurled them through the Tri-Hole, but usually he was too fast for them to even notice something had happened.
Afraid again, I closed my eyes tightly.
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