Paragon (Season 1)

Chapter 4: One Cool Croc and Strategies

"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 could barely hear the last sentence. 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. 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 falling bulk, 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 cause of 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 overtly strong quirks from what she could tell. The artificial heat started to warm her cold blood. Don't worry Colbie. You got this.

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Colbie 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 [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 [4] on its 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 the now crushed body lay, three more [4] bots stood in an alleyway, alongside four [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 [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.