Semi-Finals

'System, Parallel Sight', Dan yelled in his head. He was bloody and breathing heavily, surprised that they had all survived that explosion. He felt that using his skill was cheating, but, god damn, isn't it crazy not to use every advantage he has? Caleb doesn't hold back on his weapon skills, and Trent will beat the crap out of them if they get close, right? Dan had been having this argument with himself for a while, but this near death experience had pushed him over the edge.

To say the semi finals were tougher, and more dangerous, than he expected was an understatement. How did they go from laser tag and hide and seek, to defusing bombs and avoiding traps like the temple of doom? It was so dangerous that he almost thought something was wrong, the teachers should have warned them about this level of intensity.

"How are you Dan? You were closest to the explosion," Peter said, a little out of breath after their mad run down the dark corridors away from the first puzzle of the semi final.

"Did you see the flames follow us down the hall? It was like they were chasing us!" Caleb exclaimed, partly in terror and partly in exhilaration. He was an adrenaline junkie for sure.

The thing was, this semi final was beyond their wildest guesses. Instead of a battle, or a task, or some skill competition, they were dropped into a full maze, complete with traps and puzzles. The explosion they just ran from was supposed to be the first puzzle... so each of them was feeling very apprehensive about how dangerous the traps were going to be.

Cedric had explained the semi final before each team started the maze.

"Ok teams. You made it this far, now we are introducing an important element you'll need to be aware of on real missions. Sometimes you're working towards the same objective as some other operators, even if you can't see them, and they are doing everything in their power to slow you down and get there first." Cedric smiled then.

"I'm proud of this maze test. It combines critical thinking, speed, luck and bravery. You can't just walk through this, because the other team is competing too, even though you're in different mazes. Throughout the maze there are traps and puzzles. When one team solves a puzzle first, the corresponding puzzle for the other team becomes more challenging. The slower team is further disadvantaged and will need to faster, braver and luckier to catch up." Cedric took a breath and said "The first team to complete the first puzzle has an advantage, but it isn't that simple... well, you'll see soon."

With that, the floor literally fell out from beneath Dan and his team, and they were thrust into a dark and ominous warren of branching halls. Seemingly made of cobblestone, mud and shadows, it was daunting to just be there after the well lit and modern practice space they were dropped in from.

They moved quickly, avoided a few obvious pit traps, and a lot of obstacles like swinging ropes and walls to climb. But then they found the puzzle, and they knew they were in trouble.

"When Cedric said puzzle, did either of you imagine that would mean 'bomb'?" said Caleb. Because there was definitely a complicated device with a countdown clock on it... with less than a minute on the timer.

Dan ran over to the device, it was on a raised platform and was placed in a clear container, the corridor just behind was blocked by a large metal door. Above the door was a glowing red light.

"Weren't the puzzles supposed to be green or orange lit, depending on whether the other team finished theirs'," Peter said, nervously pushing his hair away from his eyes.

"Yeah.... so red is bad. Really bad," Dan chimed in, his eyes still glued to the box in front of him.

[45 seconds] his system displayed in his peripheral vision. 'I don't need to cheat, this is a regular ranking test puzzle. I'm sure it is all stage props,' Dan thought. He quickly found the terminal connections, though the wires were all coloured green. It sure looked like some type of plastic explosive in the bottom of the case too.

[40 seconds]

"I'm better at equipment than you Dan," Peter said as he gently nudged Dan aside.

'Should I use my power, just in case? Parallel sight might help? No, I'd see him cutting all the wires in real time. Foresight though, with this much time left, could give enough insight to know how dangerous this puzzle ...' Dan was thinking, as Peter confidently cut a wire.

[Explosion Imminent]

"Run" Dan yelled, even as the last 35 seconds on the clock started to race to 0.

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"Man, that was freaking intense!" Peter had a big grin on his face, and didn't seem to be injured. Caleb looked fine too, maybe Dan was the only one who was grazed by the debris from the bomb.

"Running was the right call Dan, I was pretty sure the bomb was fake... we'd actually be dead...." Caleb said, his face gradually settling into a frown.

"Yeah. Doesn't that worry you guys? Seeing the red light was strange. And a powerful explosive is a big step up from swinging across a hole or climbing a wall. Something strange is happening here." Dan said. He didn't tell them he was using his power and could see some very troubling shadows of other timelines. In some they were fine, and others Caleb and Peter were badly injured... there were fewer blue static images than usual though, and they didn't seem to correspond 1-1. Then Dan realized that one, or all of them, died in some of those parallel worlds. Fuck.

"Something is off on our test, this is only the semi-finals, and I really think Cedric would have mentioned if our lives were on the line here." Dan said.

"You know, when we were waiting to start, I thought the other team looked a little too cocky. I didn't really think much of it, but, they are kind of nobodies. Isn't it weird that mid tier students are so confident?" Caleb said. It was a good point. The other team actually came from their own class, and they had all been beaten by Dan, Caleb and Peter in every competition there was.

Saeed was the leader, book smart, but had the common sense of a toddler. JB was an asshole who thought he was the best. Misty was actually pretty good, but she seemed to always make the wrong call. 'How could these jack holes get a leg up on us?' Dan wondered.

"We almost died guys. And if this 'puzzle' was any guide, then the next one was going to be worse. We need to do something drastic if we are going to get to the next puzzle first and turn the tables."

Dan took a deep breath. He wasn't ready to start sharing about his abilities, but he knew that he would have to use them if they were going to win. Hell, they might be in danger of dying still, so he wasn't going to hesitate this time.

"Peter, Caleb. New game plan. We were being cautious, but fast before. That isn't good enough now, we are behind and need to go pedal to the metal to turn this around. Be quick on your feet, and follow my lead," Dan said, then stood up.

[Foresight Activated]

"Let's go guys"

-----------------

Saeed wasn't a bad guy, not really, but it was amazing how easy it was to convince him that it wasn't cheating to get some extra help for the semi-finals.

"Think of it as a handicap. They have them in a lot of sports to even the playing field, right? How is it fair for you to go up against top team in your class? You worked really hard to make the semi finals and they just breezed their way in," the woman was practically whispering in his ear by now. She was tall, with shimmering black hair, cut short to frame her face. She was beautiful in an approachable way. Saeed was sure she wouldn't be so overwhelming if he saw her smiling behind a desk. Instead she had him backed up against a wall in a side hallway, whispering, 'so no one can overhear us' she said.

"I understand Mrs....?" he said, a question clear on his face. She didn't even blink, just stared back at him. "Anyways, I agree, they will probably win. A handicap seems like a great idea, but why do we have to update the software inside the testing grounds? Can't you just do that from the Academy admin centre?"

"We would, but then it would apply the handicap to everyone, and that would be like having none. Since we don't know which section the test proctor will assign your team during the semi final, you need to do it once you're inside your section," she was almost purring by now. Saeed was having trouble not thinking about how this was making him feel.

"Right, that makes sense I guess. So this little box will make it more fair for my team.... more fair." Saeed started to smile. He had been dreading the semi finals as soon as he saw his opponents. No one wants to lose, and they had worked hard to get here. 'Let's see how those geniuses deal with a little tough luck for once', he thought while accepting the little black box from her.

"Smart move Saeed, this will make it more fun," she said, pulling back to a less intimate distance and smiling nicely. She turned and walked away from the student.

'Let the games begin,' V thought to herself, her warm smile looking more wicked.