MIND GAMES: Guild Tryouts

Chapter 17

"You all will be moving on to the third section of the tryouts. Good job!" Helmet finishes, giving Jay and his friends a thumbs-up

—Jay's jaw dropped. Axel and Ivy were also shocked.

"*What*!?"

"*WHAT*!!?"

"*What*??"

Helmet notices that a couple of players around them are giving him looks. Jay didn't know why he wasn't wearing a disguise of some kind, but Helmet had to have had a reason to. Helmet looks past Jay and his friends at the Decimation, almost being drawn to it.

"Why didn't you just text us this?!" Axel shouts.

"Yea, why are you in complete uniform?" Ivy adds to Axel's question.

"Are we actually gonna have a shot at joining the Slayer's Pack?" Jay asks.

More and more players started to crowd around Jay, Ivy, Axel, and Helmet. Knowing he couldn't be there long, Helmet decided to get right to the point.

"To answer your questions, there's a reason I had you come here, which is also the reason I'm not trying to hide from my... lovely fans." Helmet says, "And yes, Jay, you all will have a shot at climbing the ranks."

Jay is excited beyond belief. He had thought he would fail the second part of the test for sure, so hearing that he'll advance to the final step in the tryout process was music to his ears.

"So why are you here then?!" Axel insists.

"Well, there was a slight change of plans—" Helmet starts,

"—For starters, we'll be conducting the final tryout session in the Decimation."

Jay gasps, and so do Ivy and Axel. Will they be doing their final tryouts in the Decimation? Jay had no idea what that entailed, but anxiety and happiness rushed throughout his body. However, this only opened the door to more questions.

"Well then—" Jay starts to ask but is cut off by Helmet.

"Why aren't we doing it in the arena we built in the Wilds?" Helmet predicts his question, "I'm on schedule, so I can't answer any more questions, but SSS will open the floor for more questions."

"Wait! Stan is here as well?" Ivy proclaims.

Helmet nods his head.

"Why?!" Axel demands.

Helmet turns from them and starts to head to the Decimation's front entrance, garnering a trail of bloodthirsty fans in the process. Before he gets too far, he says one last thing.

"Because the tryouts will be taking place in about two hours from now. Stay in the area for the time being." Helmet announces before leaving for the Decimation.

Again, Jay and his friends experienced surprise after surprise. Not only was the original tryout area abandoned, and the tryouts will be taking place in the Decimation, but they'll be taking place today? Jay didn't know how much more his heart could take.

"Is that why Helmet's here?" Ivy theorizes.

Jay and Ivy look at Axel, who was awfully silent at this point. He seemed to be so shocked that he was finally at a loss for words.

"*WHAT*?!!" Axel starts to shout.

Or so it seemed.

"Shh! Don't make a scene!" Jay says to Axel, covering his mouth, "We may not have any time now to train, but we have to attack this in the best way possible!"

Letting go of Axel's mouth, Jay takes a step back from his friend. Expecting another outburst, Jay was surprised to see Axel calm himself down.

"Yeah, you're right." Axel says, "Jeez Maguire, why do you gotta be such a smart aleck?"