“The exam will last 1 hour, with a constant stream of enemies of all three types coming in. You will be monitored the entire time. “

Colbie was standing right next to the speakers, yet she still couldn’t barely hear the last sentence because of her nerves. Her mother told her that only fast students ever get through the exam, because there's never enough combat bots for everyone. Then her mother told her it wasn't too late to turn back. Colbie grimaced.

“Only in exceptional circumstances will the examination board intervene. That concludes the instructions. Now…” 

A boy beside her shouldered his way behind her back instead. She didn't want to miss the opening of the gates, so Colbie stared ahead instead of catching a look. Why would someone..

“Let the exam begin!” 

The false walls fell, and Colbie bolted, alongside dozens of her fellow participants. She took not three steps until she felt the foot on her tail. “hey what the f-” she growled, and the next foot landed on her shoulder before exploding off, throwing her backwards. She stumbled as the mob parted for her bulk and fell down, kicking up the sand of the desert biome. Aghast, she stared at the boy flying in the air, metallic leg retracting from where he used her as a springboard. Not participants, Colbie thought, competition. He soared in front of the crowd, and Colbie rushed to her feet, alone.

 Now she panicked. fuck fuck fuck,, she thought, my head-start is busted from that jerk. Ok, it's not over yet, you still have an hour. She looked towards the city biome. Too many people going there, it's the largest and least weird. She saw a water biome in the distance, beyond a treeline, that would be great, except it's too far away. All the bots will be destroyed before I get there. She looked to the right of the makeshift arena. A small collection of people were running there; it seemed to be desert city ruins pushed up against the wall of the test building. It was very out of the way, but...

“If there's some big bots in there that those others won't be able to destroy, they're all mine.” She started to jog quickly, at least for what her armored legs would allow. The small group up ahead was taking their time to destroy hidden sand bots along the path in front of her; but none of them had visibly strong quirks from what she could tell. The artificial heat started to warm her cold blood. Don't worry Colbie. You got this.

---

She finally stepped on the broken streets of the city ruins. The air was still hot, but Colbie bent over double for breath. Fuck cardio, she thought, and looked at her sportwatch. 16 minutes left.. shit, where are the bots? She looked ahead and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw piles of metal strewn about the street. She gasped, and started running through the artificially dilapidated avenues. The small piles had the number 1 written on them; larger ones had 3 or 4. Must be the point system, Colbie thought, then screeched to a halt. There, to the right, a mannequin like robot with the number 4 on his chest stood motionless in the street. A padded club was raised in the air menacingly. 

YES, she thought, and bent mid sprint to pick up a medium sized rock. She spun, and using the momentum of her tail, launched the rock towards the bot. It collided with the iron chestplate, sending ripped metal flying. She darted towards the body, hoping to find more, and almost screamed at her luck. Left of there the now crushed body lay, 3 more 4-bots stood in an alleyway, alongside 4 1-bots scattered randomly on the ground. Colbie bull-rushed despite her exhaustion, and instantly destroyed one by swiping it into the wall with a mighty arm. She stepped on two of the little crab bots on her way to the second 4-bot, but halted. They were not attacking. They walked frozen, clubs ready, and some of the level 1 crabs were upside down, robotic legs useless. Her feet, she noticed, were cold. Glancing down, the crab bot’s metal was brittle and frozen. Its wiring showed no signs of life; all mechanical switches and dials were frozen in place. 

They're already destroyed, it dawned on her, by someone with an ice quirk. They somehow seemed even more menacing now; cold statues waiting for her inevitable failure.

A sound on the street beyond the alley woke her from her despair. Metal clankings, yes! Some were still alive! She maneuvered past the cold stares and into a much wider street, where much larger piles of frozen metal littered the ground. A large robot, at least 7 feet tall and much bulkier than the 4-bots, swiped at a tired boy using a studded and heavy fist. The boy dodged left, and Colbie caught his face. His skin was light blue, and his hair a darker silkier hue; he had a flat, featureless nose despite a sharp jaw. As he dodged another swipe, Colbie noted his eyes, which were yellow and pupil-less, glowing ever so slightly. Across the robot’s back, the number 8 was emblazoned. 

On the third attack, the boy ducked under its large arm, now dented from the repeated missed blows that only struck the ground. He struck his hand out and up, under the thick chestplate of the bot, a narrow gap; and the robot shuddered. It swung its robotic arm back, intending to crush the boy on its chest, but the arm lagged, sputtered, and stopped. The boy walked back lazily, his opponent now frozen and serving more as an ornament to cast a long shadow by the artificial sun. 

Colbie walked towards the boy, and called out a characteristic “Hey!”

He turned towards her, and seemed slightly startled by the large reptile with shoulder length hair. “Hi there,” he replied, maintaining his cool posture. Beads of sweat dotted his face, Colbie now noticed. 

“Are you the one freezing the bots?” 

He pulled up a corner of his mouth in a smirk “Yeah, you can say that.” He motioned to the piles of 8-bots around him, each one having fallen over mid-attack. “I figured with the biomes this year, they'd make the bots different.” he explained, so these robots are not prepared for cold attacks. Plenty of open parts to shut them down” he lifted his hand, and a thick cloud of white-blue gas puffed out a hole in his palm. “And even though i don't like the heat either, I have easier ways of cooling down than these guys”. Another little smile, before putting his hands in his pockets. 

Colbie stared at him, before jumping back to her task. “Are there any bots left? Please, I wasn't fast enough, I don't think crushing bots in that alley are gonna count.” 

The boy shrugged. “Be my guest. I already have 68 points, and all the others are pretty much gone by now. I'm just taking the slow freebies from the big guy.” He motioned down the street, and as Colbie looked, her heart fluttered. In the middle of a junction, what seemed to be an enormous tortoise bot lay, covered in a heavy iron plate. A thick glass visor allowed its sensors to see, and each armored leg was accompanied with a large bean-bag gun to simulate ranged weaponry. On various sections of the aggressive carapace the number 60 was printed. 

“That thing opens a door on its stomach, and spits out one of these “ The boy pushed the big 8-bot on its chest, sending it falling to the ground like the others. “I've already seen ‘bout 6 of them, if you're curious.” 

Colbie was taken aback. “Why not take out the big one? It would guarantee you in!”

 “68 is already a pretty good score, I feel comfortable imma get in.” the boy brushed back his hair, which bounced back to its same position. “Plus, those bean-bag guns hurt like a bitch. A Lot of the others left because of em; if I were you, I'd just wait for one of these guys. They come out every 2 minutes or so.”

Colbie looked down at her watch. Just over 4 Minutes left. 2 times 8 is ah,,, its 16. Its,,, its not enough is what it is, Colbie thought. She glanced at the giant robot, lying menacingly under the hot sun. She thought of failing. She thought of her mother's face when she dropped her off.

Colbie turned to the boy. 

“What's your name?”

“Julian”, he replied. 

“Julian, will you help me destroy that robot?”.

She tried to show strength through her eyes; it was the only way for her to stand a chance. Julian turned to the behemoth, and smiled. “Sure, let's do it. I got nothing going on”. He kicked a rock and looked back at her. “What's the plan?”

---

Colbie was running again, now with Julian behind her. The giant tortoise’s canons swiveled simultaneously as the pair approached, firing their projectiles directly at Colbie. She braced her face with her arms; the beanbags slammed her in the gut, breast, legs. It hurt, but it barely slowed her down. I don't have time to feel pain, She thought. “Keep going, you're doing great!” She heard from behind her body-shield, excitement rising in his voice, “This is incredible!”. Not competition, colbie realized, a team-mate. She came close to the looming face, as close as she could before the turrets would start directly targeting Julian as well. She turned, letting the bags bounce with force against her hardened back. Julians forearms were strangely large; veins were forming on the surface. “Ready?”.

A nod, and Colbie put her hands together. “Ive always wanted to fly,” Julian laughed, as Colbie took his foot and launched him over her head, towards the behemoth. The turrets auto corrected, and a few beanbags struck julian in the head, leg, gut, but then he landed on the head of the beast, grappling with iron rods on its surface to maintain grip. The turrets attempted to swivel and target him, but he was just out of their turn radius. They reprioritized an excited Colbie, who at first didn't even feel the barrage resume upon her protective arms. She ran to just under the head and out of range of the turrets, as the beast emitted flashing lights and sirens as alarms. Julian was just above her, hand upon the thick glass. “Look out!” he shouted, Coblie turning just in time as he unleashed a massive jet of freezing gas against the visor. Colbie turned back to him; he seemed in pain from the blast, but the glass seemed brittle as ice. He kicked at it with his foot. “I can't get through!!” He yelled over the sirens. Colbie looked at her watch. 2 minutes. 

“Hold on!” Colbie yelled. “and stay back!” She ran back from the head of the beast; and the turrets resumed their barrage on her thick skin. it was getting harder to ignore now. She dodged to a pile of metal, seemingly singed by lighting. She rooted through the pile, and found a long piece of steel, most likely from a robotic frame. She ripped it from its mechanical rooting, and turned to face the barrage, turned to face the giant. One chance, she thought. 

3 steps, a spin for momentum, and Colbie Greeves fired the rod directly into the glass visor of the behemoth. The visor exploded in crystalline fragments, and Julian swung back from the side of its head to unleash his second volley. The icy wind exploded into the head of the beast, freezing the sensors, wires, and internals of the robotic giant. Cobie watched vents along its back and legs puff the icy smoke. The Turrets ceased their fire; the sirens stopped. Eerily, the world was deafeningly quiet. Julian turned back towards Colbie, suspended 20 feet in the air, and gave a thumbs up, followed by three fingers. 30 points, he told her. She smiled. 

All of a sudden, the ground vibrated. At the end of the long street, racing towards the junction; a dozen large bots, 4 wheels each, like centaurs charging. Each had a robotic torso, and a large padded club. Even from here, Colbie could read the 11 written on each of their robotic frames. She looked at her watch. 1 Minute. 

“Hahahaha!!!” She heard Julian laugh behind her, still hanging from the petrified robot head. “All yours!”

She watched as the robotic Cavalry raced towards her. She tensed with excitement. 

Don't worry, Colbie. You got this. 

Examination results 

Julian Fern, Score: 98: Pass

Colbie Greeves. Score: 74. Pass