Ren Day A8 5:30 P.M.
Ren sat in his room, not bored but unable to think of anything to do. After yesterdays test he was more wary of his comrades, especially the Gardevoir. She seemed bent on finding everything about him, who he was and why he wanted to help the Resistance. Of course that was her job. Nevertheless, Ren had a hard time trusting someone who seemed to have no intention of trusting him.
He sighed, slowly standing and walking over to the door. He stared at it, wondering if he was ready for the day. Sadly, the answer was obvious. No, he was not. No matter how long he waited he would never be ready for what was happening.
Ren stepped out into the empty hallways and floated up the stairs to the roof without really thinking, he let his feet go where they wished. The sun sulked behind a heavy covering of clouds. Ren emerged on the roof of the building and walked to the edge before sitting. He looked down on the same white landscape. Part of him still wished to burn it all down, take all the snow and ice and melt it into nothing. Ren ignored that part, dead set on believing he was getting better. But despite all that faith he still dreaded today's test. If it involved fighting, which it inevitably did, Ren wasn't sure how he could remain passive.
Face it, You cant escape me.
Ren stood, stone faced, and walked back down the stairs to his room.
Please, this is inevitable. How are you going to escape, by running away again?
Ren trudged down the empty hallways, spying the Beartic from yesterday waiting at his door.
You think you've matured just because that mangy Absol got a hold of you? Please, you're the same person you were when you arrived here.
"Are you ready to leave?" The Beartic growled, his face as unreadable as ever.
You go through these ridiculous tests thinking they'll help you fit in but today when they'll see who you really are. They'll see m--
"Yeah. Lets get this over with." Ren replied, staring up at the bear's icy blue eyes, forcing his mind to go blank.
The bear grunted, then turned and loped down the hallways. Ren followed, pointedly glaring at the floor. Forcing himself to fill his mind with the dull sheen of the ice he walked upon.
Soon, they arrived at the agreed meeting point. Ren was slightly surprised to see the others were waiting for him. Gardevoir, or rather Lieutenant Madeleine, stepped up as Ren settled into a waiting position next to Aegeas.
“Welcome, everyone. Here begins the second day of your Resistance Evaluation Test. Congratulations to all of you for having completed the first day; you’ve proved to be capable and effective so far. I’d like to state that Commanders Cassandra and Xerneas will be accompanying me in observing today’s set of challenges and keep an eye on your progress."
Ren raised an eyebrow. If Commander Cassandra was to be watching, the days tests would be far more important than the last ones. Regardless, Ren kept his thoughts to himself as the Gardevoir continued speaking.
"Now, gather around me, everyone, and we’ll be teleporting to the scene for today’s tests. I’d specify, but I think it would be best for you to see it yourselves, not to mention that it wouldn’t be fair for the other participants if you were to prepare some kind of strategy before beginning the test. And, of course, security reasons. Come a little closer; we don’t want any accidents taking place before the test even begins.”
Having finished her speech, the Lieutenant beckoned everyone towards her. Ren shuffled forwards and squinted as a sudden flash seared his eyes. As his sight returned, he could hear the distinct sound of sand scratching against the psychic bubble around the group.
“Now then, as before, we are here for two reasons. In this case, it is test your performance in fighting during a sandstorm, as well as your tolerance to being poisoned. Naturally, as with yesterday, it will not be lethal. At worst, you’ll faint, although you’ll hopefully do this after you’ve completed the test. Otherwise, as you know, you will fail.”
“I’m assuming that we’ll begin by spending ten minutes in a sandstorm?” The Dewott grumbled from beside Ren. He obviously wasn't happy with the environment they had been placed in.
“Correct,” replied the lieutenant. "As a matter of fact, this will effectively be conducted in a similar fashion to yesterday’s tests, except you’ll be facing a sandstorm instead of hail. Not to mention poison instead of being frozen. However, I’m not going to be standing here and spend all of my time providing explanations. North, activate RBPT Phase Two, please.”
The Castform, or rather the amorphous grey blob sitting next to the Gardevoir nodded slightly then morphed, its bland exterior blurring into the shape of a stylized sun.
“RBPT Phase Two initiated. Sandstorm ETA: less than a minute.”
However much the Castform's body had changed, its dull personality stayed the same.
"The order is the same as last time. First Gabriel, then Ageas, then Ren, then -"
Aegeas mumbled something under his breath and the Gardevoir turned towards the Dewott, annoyance flickering across her face.
"Unless, of course, you want to serve as an example for everyone else."
Aegeas struggled with himself for a second, then appeared to give up.
"“Sandstorm ETA: In ten seconds…nine…eight…”
Ren looked over at the Castform as it seemed to whir to life once more. The Gardevoir sighed, then looked over at the horizon.
“It’s almost time. Let us begin the second component of your Resistance Evaluation Test. Aegeas, step into the sandstorm.”
The Dewott complied. Ren and the others watched as he left the circle and was instantly enveloped in a tidal wave of desert.
Ren stood silently brooding as one by one, the others were cast into the sands. Ren expected more expression on each of their faces but whatever they felt, they did a good job hiding it.
Finally, it was Ren's turn.
"You know the drill by now."
Ren nodded and stepped forwards. Instantly, he was bombarded by sand. Sand streaming past his eye lids, into his mouth, up his nose. Ren could only think of one way to get rid of it. He lifted his head and burned it all away. The sand turned to glass, stinging and biting his insides, then it melted away into nothingness in the face of such intense heat. Ren poured more energy into his bubble of fire, finding it harder to maintain than the one before. He reasoned that this was because it was harder to burn away sand than snow.
Regardless, he kept it up. However, as the minutes ticked by, Ren realized he wouldn't be able to keep his sphere active for the entire test. Less than five minutes had gone by and he was already out of breath. He tried bringing down the volume of the shield so it only outlined his figure but to no avail. The shield was still blocking to many projectiles.
Finally, Ren relinquished his grasp on his own dwindling supply of strength. Once more, he felt the sting of the sand scratching its way into his skin. Ren grunted and leaned forwards, trying in vain to make his body more streamlined. The seconds ticked by, so slowly that Ren felt he would be nothing but bones before phase two of the test.
You neeeeeeeed meeeeeeee.
The whisper was in a sing-songy voice. Ren snarled. As if he needed to fight against any more than just sand. He stared down at the sand, trying to fill his mind with it, which wasn't very hard. The whisper died down Ren wasted no time in occupying himself with trying to think of a way to protect his tattered hide.
The heat shield was to costly. That was a fact. However, fire could be used in more than one way.
Ren let himself flare once more, tongues of fire super-heating the sand around him. Ren grunted at the amount of stamina leaving him but consoled himself in the fact that he wouldn't have to endure it for to long.
Slowly, molten sand pooled at his feet. Ren quickly drew on it before it turned to glass. He succeeded. Ren kept the pools to hot to solidify, supplying himself with a constant supply of fire.
Smiling, Ren put his hands out and let out a pulse of energy. Instantly, the sands faded and Ren was left with a profound sense of accomplishment.
The next few minutes were a breeze. Ren drew on the existing heat of his lava puddles to supply his shield. Eventually, the Gardevoir's voice echoed in his mind.
"I congratulate you on your victory over the first part of this test. However, the worst is yet to come. As before, you will now face substitutes created by myself. You must defeat them within two minutes of each other or you shall fail. I will return once this step has been completed. Are you ready?"
Ren nodded. The Gardevoir exited his mind. Soon, the first substitute appeared. Ren lowered his shield, growling as the sand bite into his hide once more. Ren concentrated heat into his palm and smashed it into the head of the statuesque figure. His fist went right through it's face, melting the rest of the statue away. Ren grunted and instantly put his shield up again, waiting for the next substitute to appear. While he did have tremendous offensive power, Ren had begun to realize more ad more that he could not take a hit.
The next substitute appeared. Ren lowered the shield once more and rushed his opponent, his fist blazing with an uncontrolled flame. This time, Ren's strike was explosive, sending both it's intended target and it's owner hurtling backwards. A hoarse scream escaped Ren's throat. His skin was cracked and bleeding, one particularly large gash on his back had split open. The pain was like being branded. Ren could just see the next substitute appearing ahead of him through the haze of pain.
Yooouuuuuu neeeeeeeed meeeeeeee.
Ren screamed again, a spasm shaking his body.
It seems you've failed this test. Here, why don't I try.
Slowly, the pain faded. The sound of the sand rushing around him faded to a dull clatter. Ren stood and glared at the substitute, then lifted his hand and watched as the statue melted. Ren looked down at the sand again, remembering the roof of the headquarters. What had he wanted to do? Looking down at all that snow.
Ren looked up, a cone of heat surrounding him, becoming thicker and thicker. The air shimmered violently and the ground creaked and groaned below him.
The next substitute appeared, Ren let loose the energy he'd been storing. The sandstorm was blown apart. Ren could see the surprised faces of Lieutenant Madeline and Cassandra. He grinned a broken, crooked grin and raised his foot to stomp.
NO!
Ren flinched, his foot stopped in mid-air.
YOU'RE NOT ME!
Ren spread his arms to his sides and looked down, a stunned look on his face.
His torso was covered in a dark shade of red. As he watched, the metallic red spread from his chest to his arms and legs.
LET GO OF ME!
Ren let out a wild scream as the strange metal reached his head. Then the armor was complete. Ren stood limp, a blood red glow emanated from him. His body was completely encased in the reddish metal. It's form was otherworldly, fitting together almost like a jigsaw. The helmet itself was angular, needle like spikes pointed outwards from the back of his head. Likewise, the front of the helmet also ended in a point much like a snout. A black visor covered where Ren's eyes should've been.
Nothing stirred. Then Ren looked to his right with a sudden jerk of his head and took off before anyone had a chance to react, his legs rocketing him forwards faster than he'd ever gone before.
He was gone faster than Gardevoir's telekinesis could travel, faster than Cassandra could strike with a psychic attack, even faster than Xerneas's deadly Moonblast.
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