Slade's Next Apprentice Ch. 25

Aaron closed a briefcase and set it on his bed. “Last thing I leave here.” He sighed looking out the window; the sun was not up yet. He grabbed his remaining bags, dropped his key on the desk, and took one more glance at the room. His side was now barren except for the briefcase. Rammage was fast asleep on the other side. “Goodbye.” He walked out of the room and closed the door without another word.

Aaron walked into his old room and started to unpack his things. “Welcome home.” Slade said leaning against the door to his room. Aaron remained silent putting clothes in his drawers. Slade grew irritable punching him to the ground. “Your manners have certainly deteriorated. We’ll work on that. When you finish unpacking, come to the training room, no weapons.” He walked off leaving Aaron on the floor.

“I didn’t miss that.” He forced himself off the ground and continued putting his clothes away. He placed his weapons by his workbench and on the walls nearby. The last thing he had was another briefcase. Inside, he kept the Nano-armor that he finally finished. He looked at it briefly before closing the briefcase and putting it in the closet.

He walked to the training room and saw Slade waiting outside. “You’re late.” He swept at Aaron’s feet and knocked him on to the floor. “Get up.” Aaron quickly stood up and followed Slade inside. The only thing in the sterile room was a man in a suit and a metal table with a packet of paper and two pencils. “You have one more bit of schooling to finish up, your GED.”

“Why do you care about this now?” Aaron crossed his arms staring at him.

“I’m just thinking about the future. You will have three hours to take the test.”

“But it’s a seven hour test.” Aaron interrupted.

“And you will have three hours.” Slade punched him in the chest. “That was for interrupting me. I’ll see you when your test is completed.” He walked out of the room.

Aaron stood up, forced himself over to the table, and took a seat. The man in the suit looked at him. “You may begin.” He clicked a button in his hand and put it in his pocket.

Aaron immediately opened the test book and started answering questions. After a few pages of questions, Aaron looked around the room for a clock, something that he could use to see where he was; there was no clock in the room. He realized that Slade wanted this to be as difficult as possible. Even though he just arrived back, Slade was showing him no mercy, something he had come to expect. As he continued on, the temperature in the room started to change. At times, he was burning up and others he could barely move his hands from the extreme cold. The pencil in his hand snapped from the pressure he was putting on it. He grabbed the other one and continued moving slower trying not to break his last pencil. When the room started to heat up, he picked up speed and started to sweat. His goals shifted to trying not to smear his writing or sweat on the test. At some point, the calculator he had stopped functioning all together.

Aaron finished the last sentence just as the test booklet was taken from him. He let out a sigh of relief. The proctor looked at him. “Any illegible writing will be marked down or not scored.” Aaron snapped the remaining pencil in his hands and threw them at the wall.

He walked out of the room and saw Slade standing nearby. “Do well?” He asked with his usual sadistic tone. Aaron’s only instinct was to throw a punch. Slade caught it and bent his hand back forcing the boy on to the ground. “You seem to have forgotten where you are.” He kneed him in the chest and knocked him firmly on to the floor. “Get showered and come meet me for dinner. You’re a mess.”

He got off the ground and made his way back to his room. He removed his clothes and stepped into the shower allowing the water to wash over him. His breathing slowly returned to normal as he relaxed his body. When he stepped out of the shower, he dried himself off, he got dressed, and ran down the halls hoping not to receive another reprimand from Slade.

He walked into the dining room and took the seat across from Slade; he remained silent. “You will have the opportunity to eat after I see your exam.” The proctor walked into the room and handed him the exam booklet. Slade dismissed him. “Let’s see now.” He started flipping through the booklet eyeing each section not saying a word leaving Aaron to grow tense trying to find any sign of satisfaction. “You look so nervous. You haven’t failed, yet.” He continued going through the booklet reading over equations as well as essays for various subjects. When he was finished, he closed the book. “You did well. I suppose you can eat.” He snapped his fingers and someone brought Aaron a plate of food.

Aaron did not touch his food. “What was the point of that?” He was now glaring at Slade. “You don’t do anything without some motive behind it.”

“I told you before. I’m thinking about the future. Now eat your dinner before it gets cold.”

Aaron glared at him the whole time he ate. Soon, Slade left leaving him to eat alone.

Meanwhile…

“He didn’t say bye.” Lily looked sad as she opened up Aaron’s closet.

“Lily, this is all he left.” Rammage pointed to the briefcase on the desk.

“Then let’s open it already.” She walked over to it only for Rammage to block her.

“We need to wait for Azure. She’s still a little frustrated.”

“Let’s just open it.” Azure walked into the room rubbing her forehead. She walked over to the briefcase while Cheryl, Rammage, and Lily stood nearby eager to see what was inside. “Weapons, he left weapons, typical.” She picked up a pair of wrist cuffs and saw the water chambers on them. She put one on and forced some of the water out of it. A small blade of water formed on the edge of the cuff.

“They’re kind of like his wrist gauntlets.” Rammage grabbed a pair and pressed a button on the side. Part of the cuffs raised revealing boosters.

“Mine shoot seeds.” Cheryl looked said as two small barrels slid out of one of them.

“He gave me daggers.” Lily pouted. She pressed the button on the handle. “They’re electrified.” Her pouting immediately turned into a grin.

“I guess he doesn’t say goodbye that well.” Rammage put the new weapon in his desk drawer.

“I’ll see you guys later.” Azure walked back to her room and put the gauntlets on her desk. She reached into one of the drawers and grabbed the hairclip that Aaron had given her. She clicked it and watched the blades pop out and then retract. “Hope you don’t forget me.” She sighed putting her head down on her desk.