Young Writers Society

Author's Note: Well, finally, Chapter 3 of Elementary. Sorry for taking so long. Real life caught up with me, and I'm working on a lot of projects at the moment. That and a massive case of writer's block really struck me down for a while.

Anyway, along with this I also rewrote the first two chapters, although they're not on this site. No major changes, just improved writing and description, along with solidifying some of our protagonist's traits. So here's the new chapter! Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading!

The Rendin Center was a large, circular building about seven stories tall. Josh and the rest of the new students were filed through a large doorway at its front. Instructors separated them down different halls. Josh noticed that most students were wearing gear they’d brought, ranging from light, Kevlar armor to composite plate armor. Had he missed something?

“Joshua Evers,” a female instructor called out. “Room four-thirteen.” She pointed down a nearby hallway.

Josh walked where he was directed, navigating the crowd until he found a plaque inscribed with the numbers 413 on a door. He entered. Inside were several rather strange items. A set of rubberized practice swords were positioned in one corner. In another was a munitions locker, filled with multiple kinds of stun ammunition. A rack on one wall held several quarterstaffs, but there was nothing more.

What the heck is going on? Josh thought. Why couldn’t they give him more information.

Es. Hutena’s voice came over a PA system in the ceiling. “Round one of exams begins in one minute. You will enter the door opposite the hallway and begin. I suggest you begin preparations. For those of you who have forgotten gear or weapons…” There was an unsettling moment of silence. “You will be judged on both combat prowess and use of your powers. You are to incapacitate your opponent. Do not kill them. Murder is not tolerated. Your ranking in these exams will decide what team you are placed with.”

“Combat?” Josh questioned aloud. He was not a fighter. At least, not directly. He’d never been in a real fight.

Time passed far too quickly, it seemed. Another voice came over the PA. “Round one beginning shortly. Enter the combat chambers now.”

The door opposite the one Josh entered slid open. He stepped into the room beyond. Light’s poured in from the ceiling, illuminating thirty-foot, circular arena. Cameras watched him from every angle. From a series of windows near the top of the rather tall chamber watched students who were not participating in this…madness.

On the other end of the chamber lumbered in Josh’s opponent. He was clad from head to toe in heavy plate armor and lugged a rubberized practice greatsword in his left hand. He looked like some knight out of a videogame, not another student ready for sparring.

Josh gulped. He could see his opponent laugh a little under his helmet.

“Round one begins in five…”

Josh began thinking of what to do. Powers were his only advantage here…

“Four…”

…but that guy’s armor could easily block air attacks. Perhaps physical…

“Three…”

…blows would - no, that’d break Josh’s wrists. He could try…

“Two…”

…to get ahold of the other guy’s sword. That could work. Josh quickly made a mental note of his opponents armor, his eyes focused on the “knight’s” left elbow.

“One.”

Josh tightened his fists. His opponent raised his sword. Left hand above the right.

“Begin round.”

His opponent rushed him, raising his sword above his head. Josh ducked out of the way. The sword hit the ground. Green aura flashed around Josh and he threw a blast of air at his opponent’s back. The blast shook the armored hulk, but he did not falter. He lifted his sword and raised his hand. Fire shot from the armored gauntlet. Josh responded with a stream of air from his own hand, blowing the fire around him.

The “knight” leapt into the air, using his fire powers to boost himself even higher. Josh rolled, narrowly dodging the greatsword. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would definitely do the job of “incapacitation.” His opponent swung at him. Josh pushed himself back with his air powers.

The armored challenger swung again. Josh ducked and focused his air powers upward. The sword glided just above his back on a cushion of air. Josh reached up and grabbed his opponent’s arm. He held on for dear life and wrenched the armored limb backward.

There was a yelp of pain, and the sword clattered to the floor. Josh pushed the “knight” away with a blast of air and rolled forward, picking up the weapon. Now he had the upper hand.

His opponent returned to his feet and growled. Fire surrounded his hands now. He rushed Josh, swinging his fists wildly. Sparks flew through the air. Josh swung the sword upward. The blow connected with his enemy’s armored torso, knocking him back about a foot.

A red aura blazed around his enemy’s armor. He growled and charged. Josh didn’t have time to dodge. He clutched the sword as he was knocked into the wall. The air left his lungs instantly. He fell to the ground, wheezing. Thankfully, the weapon was still in his hands.

His opponent grabbed the dull, rubberized blade of the practice weapon. Josh held onto it tightly, refusing to let go.

“Come on,” the armored teen hissed.

Josh regained his breath and tore the sword from his opponent’s hand. He swung it as hard as he could at the “knight’s” armored head. It connected, knocking him to his knees. Josh swung again before he could get up, sending him to the floor.

“Room four-thirteen, round over,” announced the PA as Josh prepared to bring down the sword blade-first into the knight’s back. Josh sighed and dropped the sword. He clutched his knees, breathing heavily. Somehow, he had survived. Not only did he survive, but he won.

His opponent groaned and rose to his feet, taking off his helmet. The teen had white hair and yellow-brown eyes. “Never thought I’d be beat by a rookie,” he said, a smile creeping across his face. “Nice job.”

“You’re…not mad?” Josh heaved, still out of breath from the fight.

“You took an armored fist to the stomach and kept fighting. That’s a trait I can admire.” He smiled. “Name’s Jerome.” Jerome offered his hand.

“Josh,” Josh replied, shaking Jerome’s hand. “Good to meet you.”

“Can’t wait to see where you end up in standings. Been a while since someone’s beat me unarmed, so that’ll look good to the observers.”

“What exactly happens from here?”

“They separate us into teams based on our fighting skills, transcripts, and any other material they have on us,” Jerome informed. “Teams are ranked according to color, starting with gold and going down to silver, bronze, red, blue, and onwards.”

Josh nodded. He was about to ask about where he could get some decent weapons when the PA crackled to life again.

“Clear room four-thirteen for next match.”

“Well, see you ‘round,” Jerome said, picking up his weapon. “Best of luck!”

“You too,” Josh replied, heading for the room from which he had entered the combat chamber. He left into the main atrium of the Rendin center and found a drinking fountain. He wondered exactly how the Academy’s staff would place him, especially if they knew about his multiple run-ins with Avon’s law enforcement. Would they look at the robberies and muggings he halted or the many, many reports and near jailings for “obstruction of justice?”

The hours passed slowly as the “exams” continued. Josh toured the center, occasionally stopping to watch a fight play out. He noted that each student had a wildly different combat style. Some would attack almost exclusively with their weapons, focusing on offense and gaining the advantage through sheer physical prowess. Others, however, used their powers to great effect, relying on their weapons only for defense. However, one student caught Josh’s attention.

“Ian” was his name. He was older than any other student Josh had seen, easily at least twenty years old. The young man wore a long, red coat and a black undershirt. He carried no weapons, and wore sunglasses inside the dim sparring room. His opponent, however, was wearing a lightweight set of fabric armor and a wire facemask. The armored teen twirled a practice tagger in his right hand.

The round began, and immediately the armor-wearing elemental lunged at his foe. Ian simply sidestepped. The teen attacked again, only to be dodged with ease. This continued for a few minutes. The teen then, in frustration, threw the dagger down. Josh almost thought he saw Ian smile as his opponent leapt at him, throwing a barrage of punches into Ian’s chest. For about a minute, Ian took each punch like a rock, barely faltering under the onslaught.

“Fight back!” his opponent shouted, glaring at the red-coated man with rage-filled eyes.

“Oh,” Ian muttered in a tone full of smug self-satisfaction. “I had no idea we had even begun.” A menacing grin quickly overtook his face as his voice dropped nearly an octave. “Guess it’s my turn.”

The temperature in the room immediately dropped. Ice formed on the floor and walls. Large spikes of frozen liquid formed around Ian, forcing his opponent away. Ian began making sculptures with his ice powers, creating fully animated vipers and big cats out of ice. His opponent was now on his back, crawling away from Ian at a high speed. Ian stepped forward, the menacing ice creatures following close behind.

Ian picked up the dagger his foe had dropped and continued forcing the teen to the wall. When his foe had nowhere else to go, Ian placed the dagger under his wire mask. “So, do you concede?” Ian hissed, pushing the dagger closer to his opponent’s neck to punctuate his point.

The icy snakes curved around Ian and let out hisses by supercooling the air. They almost looked alive.

The defeated elemental nodded, fearful of what else this crazed twenty-year-old might do.

Ian’s smile disappeared. “I. Win.”

The ice on the walls quickly disappeared, as did the animated sculptures. Ian walked to the exit, vanishing through and allowing the next set of fighters to enter.

Josh was amazed by the way the fight played out. Ian had not dealt a single blow throughout the whole ordeal, using his powers only for intimidation. Josh wondered what horrors this person would unleash if caught in a real fight.

A few more hours passed, and the students had reassembled in the commons room. The evaluation exams were finished, and they were about to begin assigning teams. Es. Hutena announced them with the leader going first, and they were listed by their elemental power and name. The teams stepped up onto the stage to be acknowledged, with recordings of their fights playing on screens behind them. First was gold team, which was made of five fully-armored, experienced elementals who had been in the Academy for years. Silver team was similar. Bronze team, however, came as a surprise. Jerome Vega, the kid Josh had fought, was selected as leader, with a ragtag bunch of seemingly mismatched fighters teamed alongside him.

Red team came next, with its own set of rather strangely-selected individuals.

Blue team followed.

“The leader of Blue Team,” Hutena stated, “is transfer student and air elemental Kara Skalmold.”

Silence passed over the crowd as a gold and green armored girl stepped up next to Hutena to be acknowledged. She smiled the whole way, looking genuinely overjoyed to be there. The swords on her back glistened in the stage lights, as did her sapphire earrings. Her long, brown hair glowed as a video of her fight played behind her. She had disabled her opponent in no more than three hits. Josh was amazed she had not received a higher placing.

“Next,” Hutena announced, “is fire elemental Zachary Gardener.”

Josh was stunned to see his greatsword-toting friend step onto the stage. His fight had gone the exact opposite of Kara’s, however, with him being disabled by his opponent after a rather long battle. His useage of powers, however, was to be admired. He used flares to distract his foe, and launched fireballs as an offensive attack. The person he fought, it appeared, had won simply by the virtue of bringing more armor into battle.

“Next, air elemental Joshua Evers.”

For a moment, Josh did not realize he had been called. He was stunned. Zach was a three-year student. Kara was…well, she was amazing. He, however, was new and barely used to fighting. He approached the stage with his head hung low, trying not to draw attention. Kara smiled at him, and Zach held his fist out. Josh bumped it.

“Looks like we’re on the same team,” Zach said, smiling.

Josh nodded silently.

“The fourth member of Blue Team is ice elemental Ian Alder.”

The red coated twenty-year-old stepped onto the stage. Josh had not realized how tall Ian was when watching his fight. The young adult towered over the whole team by at least a head. Yet, he was thin as well. He was a menacing sight to behold, and it wasn’t helped that his powers actually chilled the area around him.

“Finally, Blue Team’s fifth member is Laura Anno.”

A small girl stepped onto the stage next to Ian, dwarfed by the tall ice elemental. She looked nervous, even more so than Josh. Her head was held low, and she hid her eyes behind the bangs of her rather short black hair. He wondered how she had been selected for Blue Team with such a timid demeanor. Josh wished he could turn around to see how she fought.

“You may return to the audience or your quarters,” Hutena announced. “Your dormitory will be number three-four-three in the south building. Best of luck to you all.”

They left the stage and exited. Kara held herself with surprising confidence, even though several students gave her menacing looks. Zach simply followed with a neutral, albeit positive gait. Ian walked with haughty superiority, towering over everyone in the atrium, and Laura with timid, careful steps. Josh simply followed their new leader, hoping to blend in with the group.