"Hey Des." Desmond stopped in the midst of the other kids when he heard the voice. It sounded familiar. He looked up to see Emmanuel walking towards him with a smirk playing on his lips.
He also wore a white t-shirt over a pair of black tracksuit pants with white stripes running down each side and an ID hanging around his neck.
"And here I was being worried you might not show up." Emmanuel said in a teasing tone when he got to Desmond.
"As if I'd ever miss something as big as this." Desmond replied with a grin of his own.
"Well, try to report on time next time." Emmanuel said, his smirk widening into a teasing grin.
"Cause I can't take my rival seriously if doesn't take our rivalry seriously himself." He added which seemed to piss Desmond off.
"Oh yeah?" Desmond said walking closer to him.
"Then you should also try controlling your sister complex mode anytime you hear her name."
Emmanuel's grin dropped when he heard that which only fueled Desmond's amusement to continue.
"That way you can take your fights seriously. Like how I always beat you at the last minute during our training anytime you hear her name."
Emmanuel gritted his teeth.
"What? So you can take advantage of her you dirty pervert?"
Emmanuel's words ticked Desmond off making Desmond's grin drop.
"What did you just call me you sister complex freak? Say it to my face again."
"Oh, what're you gonna do about it?"
"I'll just pummel you until you can barely move." Desmond said as his eyes started giving off a blue glow and lightning started sparking around him.
"Just go ahead and try." Emmanuel said as his eyes started giving off a red glow and red steam started coming from him. "Only if you can."
The two boys stood, gazing intensely as sparks crackled between them. The other kids around them backed off to avoid getting caught in the catastrophe that was about to transpire on the ship.
"I think somebody should try and stop them." A random person murmured among the crowd.
"They might blow up the ship." Another seconded.
Someone managed to take a bold step and get closer to them.
"Umm, I think...y-you guys sh-should... cool down a bit." The person said taking another shaky step forward.
"The instructors wouldn't like this you know." The guy said with a shaky voice and a cracked smile, and a trickle of sweat running down his temple.
Desmond and Emmanuel simultaneously turned, fixing him with a fierce glare.
"Stay out of this. You're only a disturbance." The guy's face drained of color in an instant.
"Y-yes." He said and walked backwards into the crowd again.
Desmond and Emmanuel turned to each other again. Rexford on the other hand, stood watching them from afar with growing excitement.
"Shall we?" Emmanuel said taking a fighting stance.
"Oh yeah." Desmond said also taking his.
They stood staring at each other and just when they were about to lunge at each other, a dark pressure fell upon the place causing their energy to diminish.
"What the?" Desmond stated with a frown.
"What the heck is going on?" Emmanuel said, a scowl drawn on his face, turning his head to the left.
"Making rivals already huh?" A resounding voice filled the air.
Everyone looked up, sensing the source of the voice was hovering above them. True to their instincts, a figure was hovering above them.
"W- wait. Is that...?" A random person whispered from shock as if he had seen a meteorite falling to the earth.
Everyone looked on in bewilderment at the figure hovering above the ship. A dark-skinned man with white hair.
"The man ranked no.1 among the staff at the academy." Someone blurted.
"It's also said that he ranked first with incredible marks when he took the entrance exam into the academy when he was young." Another person said under his breath.
"And I heard that his ability is nothing like anyone can ever fathom." A third person murmured.
"People call him the four quadrants Cardinal because of his ability; Forsaken Zone." A fourth whispered.
"He's known to be a monster in a human's skin. Mr. Maxwell Appiah from Africa. Ghana to be precise." A fifth muttered as the dark-skinned man; Maxwell smirked down at them.
"It seems next year is going to be filled with a lot of potentials huh?" He mumbled as his smirk widened into a smug grin. A cold chill streaked through the kids and some of them gulped while others shook from fright.
The place calmed down when Maxwell's expression turned normal. He turned serious, glaring down at everyone.
"I hope you're all prepared for the written exam." Desmond froze for a moment, trying to proces what Maxwell had just said.
"You have no excuses not to take part in this one. Don't think being a warrior is all about fighting. You need knowledge as well. Especially when fighting a strong opponent." Maxwell added and turned around.
"Everyone move inside, there are desks already arranged according to your numbers in the big hall. Decide where you'll sit on your own. None of that concerns me." He said before glitching and disappearing. Like he was just an illusion.
Everyone started moving inside but one person stood still as if he was ordered to, sweat rolling down his nape.
"A written exam?" Desmond thought still frozen from shock. Rexford tapped his shoulders from behind.
"Yo. You okay?" Rexford asked him looking somewhat disappointed. It was clear earlier how excited he was seeing a fight between two strong guys his age.
Desmond slowly turned his head to the side to glance at Rexford.
"Hey Rex. Did you know about the written exam?"
"They sent us an announcement about it through email. Didn't you receive it?" Emmanuel said walking up to him from ahead.
Desmond turned to him with widened eyes.
"Huh! Email." The mention of announcement through email seemed to have struck a chord.
"When was that?" He asked Emmanuel trying to pick up something.
"Umm." Emmanuel looked up at the sky as if it'd help him remember before looking back at Desmond. "Two Saturday ago."
Desmond froze again as realization slammed him.
TWO SATURDAY AGO
Desmond had just returned from training and was looking bone-tired. He dropped himself on his bed and fluttered his eyes shut to fall asleep when he heard his phone buzz.
Desmond pulled his phone from his pocket to look at what it was. He sighed and dropped the phone to the bed when he saw what it was; an email from MOBA(Makers Of Brave Alliances) High.
"I'm sure they're sending us tips on training again. I'm tired of them."
He said before fading into the abyss of sleep.
BACK TO PRESENT
Desmond's jaws dropped as he remembered receiving an email last two Saturdays ago.
Rexford and Emmanuel looked at him with indifference.
"Don't tell me..." Rexford began already noticing what might have happened.
"He didn't even bother to read it." Emmanuel ended Rexford's sentence.
Desmond stiffened. Reality was sometimes cruel even to people who counted themselves lucky.
"It even contained notes for what we needed to know for the written part and you let it slip by like it was some trash!" Emmanuel added shaking his head with a sigh.
Rexford placed one hand on Desmond's shoulder and put on a bright smile to try and cheer Desmond up.
"It's okay. It's just written exam. Besides, you can ask anyone sitting beside you. Just make sure you don't get caught."
"Easy for you say." Desmond said, his expression changing into a gloomy one.
"Oh come on, don't look so down. I'm pretty sure everything's going to go well." Rexford said in a cheery mode.
TIMESKIP
In a large hall filled with the candidates, Desmond stood at a far end of the room with his head leaning against a wall, clearly sulking.
"I... I knew it wouldn't go well."