“Did you all enjoy your break?” Maven inquired from the auditorium's stage. He was sitting on the raised platform, his feet dangling off of it. Will and the other students sat in the audience on metal folding chairs.
Zach Willard had slipped his mind, but in the auditorium, it dawned on him that perhaps all the other first-day attendees had also forgotten the testing. He wasn’t quite sure how to process that knowledge. A part of him feared that Mav could erase their memories. But he trusted the old man enough to not worry too much about that.
A few hours had passed since he returned from his walk with Mav. The old man had turned the trip back into a race. Will's legs were still burning from having run over 10 miles back to the school. Over the last hour, the rest trickled back into the school. All refreshed from having a day off, but Will knew that would be short-lived.
“Not really,” Katy mumbled, folding her arms in front of her. She appeared defensive. Will knew she went to hang out with her parents, but from her attitude, he doubted it had ended well. Ryu appeared unphased, but Will could see that Irish, Santos, and Samson were smiling drunkenly.
“Aye,” Irish said, a slight slur in his voice.
“It was alright,” Samson said with a big yawn as he wiped his eyes. Will wanted to know if they had stopped at a bounty house, but he could tell they had at least hit a bar before coming back.
“Good,” Mav said. “I’ll expect my U-card back. But I hope you used it well.”
“Very well,” Santos said with a wide grin. Irish guffawed and nudged him. Will rolled his eyes.
“Alright,” Mav said. “Despite the state of some of you, I have big news.” He paused for dramatic effect, allowing the inebriated trio a chance to get more serious. “I’ve decided that the first stage of your training is complete.” That wasn’t what Will had expected the old man to say. Kim Simon had suggested that their training was complete; was that not the case?
“Stage?” Samson asked, perking up.
“Of course,” Mav said. “I’ve taught you the basics of fighting and using your abilities. It’s time you all took the helm on your growth.”
“Uhhh,” Samson said, becoming sober quickly. “So you’re not leaving?”
“I’m stepping back,” Mav said. “At least I intend to. I am willing to continue to spar with you. We haven't started weapons training, which everyone should go through. But I can’t hold your hands and guide you every step of the way. You need to be in charge of your future growth as fighters and Arcists.”
“Arcist?” Katy asked.
“It’s a name I’ve been working on to describe us,” Mav said. “You don’t like?”
“No, I-sorry just surprising. I thought we were going to keep with this for a while,” she said, pushing her other thoughts away. “So you’re staying?”
“I originally said I would only be here for a few months,” Mav reminded them. "Due to some circumstances, I've decided to extend it a little. Over the last nine weeks or so, I’ve been with you every day. I provide guidance on when to engage in combat, exercise, sprint, consume food, and rest. I am still willing to join you with some of this and to spar with you. But like I said, it’s up to you.”
“So we can take breaks now?” Santos asked.
“If you want,” Mav said. “Hell, you can quit if you want. I never held any of you here against your will. You could leave right now if you wanted. Never look back.” He pointed to the door. No one got up. “But if you stay, I will be telling the mayor and chief that your training is complete. Each of you will receive day and night shift assignments to wait for Arc calls. You’ll start receiving regular paychecks. You can come and go as you please.”
“Will we still have the school?” Ryu asked.
"The city owns the school. Everything here will stay the same. The bills are picked up by the city. You can move into new rooms if you want. Spread out at the school and make this your own base of operations,” Mav said. “You would officially become the APU, Arc Police Unit.”
“Dun dun,” Irish said as if he were in a crime drama.
"So we haven't received calls before?" Will asked.
“We've been getting some calls. The more serious ones,” Mav said. "Most of the incidents we attended were out of the ordinary. On a daily basis, the police deal with Arcs, but up until this point, we have been a last resort. If you stick around, you will be the first resort. You'll receive calls as soon as an Arc is identified.”
“Oh,” Will said, understanding a little better. “So…what are you announcing to us exactly?”
“I’m announcing that you are free,” Mav said, spreading his arms out. Before teaching you, I established many conditions, the most important being that I wouldn't hold you to this. If you wanted to walk away at any time, you could. No documents were signed. Everything up to this point has been given freely to you.”
Will sat up straight. He hadn't come to the realization that they hadn't signed any documents. Mav had offered to let them leave at the start but hadn’t mentioned it since. They really could just walk away. Will turned back to look at the door, but instead his eyes locked on the big Samson. Though he liked to joke around, Samson had a serious look on his face.
“And if we stay? What’s the long term on this whole thing?” Samson asked.
“Long term?” Mav asked. He thought for a moment. “I was leading up to this information, but I might as well tell you: the Goons are coming to town.” Will and Mav shared a look, but Will hadn’t said anything about what he heard to the others.
"I've come across some information that the Goons are building a branch of their headquarters here in the city," Mav admitted.
“What?” “No way” A few said as they sat up. “Why?” Katy asked.
“I don’t know, but it seems they will be rolling out new branches to every major city at least,” Mav said. “Irish, you lived in New York. What’s it like there with the Goons?”
Irish shrugged. “Pretty…normal,” he admitted. “They have a lot of buildings, so it’s pretty normal to see them on the day to day.”
"Well, you all should expect that,” Mav said. "Goons are likely to become a common sight in the city. They’ll set up recruiting stations. They will increase recruitment by exposing people as Arcs, and position themselves to be the first line of defense against rogue Arcs.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
“So we are already out of a job?” Katy asked.
“Not necessarily,” Mav said. “No one likes to work with Goons. I’ve already talked to the chief of police and the mayor. They feel that their people would rather work with you than with official Dragoons. As long as you are interested, they will hire you to deal with problems so they don’t have to call the Goons.”
There was a long pause as everyone thought through the information. It was a while before Santos asked, “What is the long term, then? Keep hanging out here and waiting on calls?”
“Long term is whatever you want it to be,” Mav said. “You are all still young. You have your whole life ahead of you. You could do anything.”
“What would you suggest?” Ryu asked, his voice low in the auditorium, yet his words still resonated clearly. Will was glad he asked it, because knowing the old man’s ideas was somehow important to him as well.
“Me? I’d suggest you go join the Dragoons,” he said again. “Despite my issues with them, they would be your best bet and welcome you with open arms.”
“Why don’t you?” Ryu pushed.
Mav opened his mouth, then hesitated. He chewed on his lip, and to Will’s surprise, he answered. “I have been fighting them for decades. I'm not sure if you've already guessed, but the Goons would kill me rather than allow me to join their ranks. Not that I can blame them, but it is what it is.” Mav’s intent gaze moved from each of them, one by one.
“If you want an effortless life, join the Dragoons,” Mav said. “You could work a job, sit on your ass, and still be at the top of the food chain, because if you mess with one of them, you mess with all of them. People don’t realize this, but the Goons aren’t an organization, but a family. They are the only group in the entire world made up of our kind. They don’t see Arcs as threats; they see them as distant relatives.”
“Then why do you have a problem with them?” Katy asked.
"Because they see each other as family," Maven said, as if it were obvious. “The drunk uncle who makes inappropriate comments to your niece? The aunt that killed two people in a drunken driving accident. The nephew that likes to kill animals in the woods. As long as they are Arcs, they consider them family. For so many decades, they let their people get away with this or that, and I put a stop to those that got in my way,” Mav said. “But like I said, when you mess with one, you mess with them all.”
William began to see what made the old man who he was. He had seen Mav as an impossibly strong foe that no one could hope to beat. For the first time, he understood that the only reason he was so strong was because he had to be. With an organization that brought the world to its knees on his tail, he had to become the strongest. Will was eager to ask for more, but Mav persisted.
“My life is not your life, though,” Mav said, wiping his frown off and putting a smile on. “You can do whatever you want. If you want to stay here, great. I’ll help teach you, but only if you’re willing to push yourselves to continue. No more hand holding. I'll stick around for another month or so for those of you who wish to stay. Stop by now and then, and you all do whatever you want. If the Goons come here and are civil, then I recommend keeping this going. There are so many Arcs in the city. Recruit them. Teach them as I have taught you. Let them learn how to use their powers. Show them that powers aren’t something to fear, but to cultivate.”
Will felt his chest rise with hope. Mav had mentioned a guild, and the idea of recruitment began to take shape in his mind. Could it be done? Could they get more Arcs to join? Could they teach them? Learn together what it meant to be an Arc? Lindsey Fields, his friend, was supposedly an Arc. Though he hadn’t seen her since graduation, he wanted to get to know her again, only this time knowing that she could do something amazing like he could.
“Or disappear,” Maven said. “Get out of the city. See what the world has to offer. I know that I’ve been pushing you all, and you’ve exceeded my expectations. But you are still on a treacherous path. Any misstep, and you could fall. Whether you challenge the wrong Arc or let your own drive to continue this path falter, anything can happen, which makes it all the more rewarding." Mav’s smile spread to his whole face. “I have lived a long life, and seen so many things. I want that for all of you. I want you all to experience what it can offer. Light, you could travel across the world in moments. Samson, once you have hold of your power, you could do anything. Katy, I know you can fly across the city if you focused; why be bound to the earth like the rest of us? Santos, you have the potential to alleviate the suffering of countless people. Irish, you could probably blow up way bigger stuff.”
“That does sound fun,” Irish said with an impressed nod. This caused a few laughs.
“Good. I hope all of you will push your abilities to their limits. See what they have to offer. As I’ve said, maybe they’ll evolve into something completely different someday; who knows? The Goons know a lot, but they don’t know everything. You could be a pioneer, showing the world what your power can do.”
Will's chest brimmed with pride as he imagined it. He could transform into light and manage to steer it beyond his visual range, or perhaps utilize his power to venture into space in the future. He could be out of the atmosphere in the blink of an eye; it wasn’t too farfetched to think he could do it. He only needed more practice and confidence in himself.
“So,” Mav said, pushing Will and the other’s distracted dreams away. “Does anyone want to go?” No one got up. A few looked at the door, but they shook their heads and turned back to the old man. He let the question linger for long minutes until he pushed off the stage and jumped to his feet. “Great,” Mav said.
“I haven’t approved you all for real work yet,” Mav admitted. “For now, I think each of you needs to go through a little test.”
“Like what we did when we started?” Katy asked.
“Not really,” Mav said, a wicked smile on his lips. “Let’s call this a real test. Those others challenged your own resolve and past actions. This task will put your current state to the test. We will be splitting the next few days into brackets.” His new chipper attitude immediately made Will start to panic. He looked around at the others, who were also growing nervous. Mav only acted this way when he pushed them hard. Making them all cry and piss blood after he pummeled them into the pavement.
“Samson and Irish, you’ll go tomorrow. Then Katy and Ryu. Next comes Light, followed by Santos," Mav said. “Trust me, you’ll want Santos to go last; otherwise, he won’t be able to heal any of you.”
“Heal?” “What?” "Why?” “What are we doing?” they asked one after another, growing more and more nervous as his good mood only got brighter.
"Testing, of course,” Mav said. "I skipped the entire physical part of your admission earlier. But now is the time to see how much you all have learned. I’m expecting 12 hour tests for each of you. Catering to your strengths and weaknesses, it will be a fun-filled day for each of you. I expect all of you to be too exhausted to care about Goons or anything else except living through it.”
“I quit,” Katy said, raising her hand.
Mav barked a laugh. “Oh, that chance came and went.”
“B-but you said we could quit when we wanted,” she said, her voice cracking. Will could feel the fear from the others because it mirrored his own.
“That was before. Come on, you pansies. Do you really want to face life without knowing if you can pass my final test?"
“I don’t mind going through life,” Irish said. “You have tah live to live.”
“Ha!” Mav said. “Too bad.” His face got more serious and grim. “You should have listened to my advice and joined the Goons. Now you get to learn what a true test of your capabilities means. Each and every one of you will get 100% of my focus. I’d hate to step back only for you to fail in the field. How could I live with myself if I let my little chicks go out into the real world without testing you? I have to know that you can hack it.”
Will didn’t have an answer for that. A look of fear stuck on his face, and he felt the cold hand of death race up his spine as Mav's mood only seemed to get chipper, ready to inflict pain and suffering.