Superhero CITY - The Test

Chapter Six (edited)

It was pitch black as the door closed up behind us, not the slightest crack of light showing through above or below.

It was only a few seconds, but it felt like a small eternity as we stood silently in the darkness. My heart pounded rapidly inside of my chest, but every beat felt like it lasted an hour as an eager thill built beneath it. I felt forever pass around us before something began to happen.

Below our feet, the floor began to hum and vibrate. Slowly, it began to glow until a cold white light had taken shape around each of our footprints. It was exact to the press of our shoes, not the smallest margin – even a hair's width – out of place. When I took a step forward, the imprint stayed whilst another formed where I had moved my foot.

Natalia and I looked in amazement at each other. It was finally happening.

We all began to march forward, turning only a single right corner before the passageway lit up in front of us. It was much brighter, but still held the exact same shade that our footprints.

The silhouette of a single handprint, right hand of course, stood out as it was the only thing not to have been highlighted in the wall ahead. Chuckie was the first to step forward and place his palm against it, but the wall flashed bright red twice and sent out an electric pulse strong enough that we could see the sparks jump across his fingers and burn his nails.

"Well, what do we do now, if it won't accept Chuckie?"

They all turned to me, and Allison spoke. "We all voted on you as our team leader. If anyone if going to get us through to the armoury, it will be you."

I nodded at her and moved forward to place my own hand where Chuckie's had been. When I did, the wall flashed bright enough that I had to blink to avoid being blinded, and slowly dimmed down until all the light had left the hallway.

We were left blinking away light spots as three mechanical clanks rang through the air around us, similar to the sound that old, heavy duty locks made when they were opened.

Then it split in half and the doors opened.

I was expecting chrome, with possibly black and sci-fi glowing blue, but the room looked nothing like the clichés. Three foot slate grey tiles covered the floor, with smaller white subway tiles that ran along the two longer walls. Red stained wood panels with a matching groove covered the other two and the ceiling.

Shelves, bench tops, cupboards and all the other surfaces matched the wooden walls. And what lay on top of them was unbelievable.

Every kind of weapon imaginable, more than I'd seen in my Technological Advancement 201, Tools Training 211, Weapons Initiative 201 classes combined. It was simply amazing, and I could feel my jaw dropping as a result.

A chuckle came from behind us, and we spun around as one to see the four teams that had come before us all leaning against the wall, just to the left of the entrance. They were all a year above us, and it was the leader of one of our school's finalists from last year, Bravo, who leaned forward to address us after grinning at some inside joke with the rest of his team mates. He rolled his shoulders as he approached us, heading straight at me rather than assuming Chuckie lead simply because he was taller than I.

His tone contained a slight undercurrent of condemnation, even though his face and body language displayed not disposition to superiority over us. "It is awe inspiring, isn't it? I can still remember the first time I saw an official state armoury, and how I'd felt just how you look now. Believe it or not, they get a lot bigger and a lot better than this one."

Chuckie and Allison nodded in agreement. "It certainly is a lot more impressive that our family's."

"That's right, your family are the Nobles of the North. The head protectors of Copenhagen, correct? Do you think that you're going to end up sidekicking for them after you graduate?"