Maddy's PoV

Kyla and Tim were kind enough to lead us to the obstacle course along with Kathryn, Charlie, Madi, and Ginger. We were amassing quite the crowd.

How in the world am I going to find my way around this place? I wondered absently. The grounds are huge, and I got lost in my house for a few months.  My sense of direction could use some work; maybe Keanu would know how to help.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt myself jerk backwards. I looked up to see a very tall, very muscled man standing in front of me. The cameo pants and place muscle shirt didn't help my growing anxiety: this guy could squish us like bugs. He glared down at me with piercing blue eyes, his white buzz cut reflecting the sun painfully into my eyes. A jagged scar ran from his right temple to his jaw. I glanced behind me to see Keanu had grabbed my shoulder before I ran into the giant man.

The large man had an even larger voice and started booming at me, "Watch where you're going, kid!" He then walked to stand beside the wall with ropes hanging off of it, in front of the crowd.

"What's his problem?" I turned to face Sara who was glaring right back at the man. I could see the sassy comment forming in her head.

Griffin put a hand on her shoulder, calming her down. "Mr. Rin Draggerd. He's the obstacle course coach and supervisor."

"Half giant," Kathryn added. I nodded. At least that explained the height. Amber was biting her lip, holding in a height joke.

"Unfortunately, his bite is bigger than his bark," Charlie said. I glanced at Adhya and Amber who were visibly worried. Sara looked how I felt: scared, but ready to fight if it came to it. Madi and Ginger were shaking a little, and it was warm out, so I ruled out them being cold.

"I would advise calling him Sir and nothing else," Jared said. Yikes, that'd be a challenge for several in our group.

I flinched a little when Mr. Draggerd started yelling, "First group, line up!" Unfortunately we were closest to the front, so we started lining up. It was then I realized how large the wall was. It was at least 30 feet tall, and had 20 ropes hanging from it. Each rope had about three feet in between it and the rope next to it. I looked at the frightened and excited faces behind me. There were about 40 kids total.

Sara was looking surly, probably upset about the strict barking of orders. Adhya adjusted her ponytail, preparing for the worst. Kyla and Tim were stretching out. Keanu clenched his jaw.

"Today we time you in the obstacle course! This is not a team exercise," Mr. Draggerd was pacing behind us. "You will be competing for a top time. The top twenty times will move onto round two, then the top ten. The top five times will compete against the rest of the school, yes that means ages 10-23, as a team. Is that understood?"

The crowd behind me chorused in response, "Yes, sir!"

"Good!" Mr Draggerd exclaimed. "You may use any of your powers for this test. Remember the training you've had previously in my class. You are competing against your entire age group! As always, please don't die; I don't want paperwork." There were a few laughs, including a chuckle from me. "First group, get ready!" I clenched my fists. "On your mark!" Adrenaline surged through me. "GO!"

The earth shook before a chunk shot me up over the wall. I grabbed the rope and slid down to the muddy ground below and started running. Looking to my left, I saw Sara had the same idea. Her shirt was still smoking slightly. One other kid was soaking wet, but was already across the wall. I looked back to see Keanu, Charlie, and Kathryn were jumping off the wall. They propelled themselves forwards and landed closer to me than I expected. I picked up speed as they approached. I reached the mud pit seconds before Sara and made a bridge out of crystal. I ran across and waited for Sara and Kathryn to stand on the bridge; the moment they did, I allowed the crystals to fall, sending Kathryn and Sara into the mud.

"Really, Maddy?!" Sara yelled as she dragged herself out of the mud. Kathryn groaned, and I ran. Seconds later, I heard footsteps and looked to my right to see Kyla.

"Hey," I panted.

"Hi," Kyla responded. We reached the hurdles where Keanu and Sara passed me. Kathryn came close, but I accidentally kicked a rock into her leg. I slid to the ground as we reached a patch of barbed wire and army crawled through.

"Why?!" I recognized the voice as Madi's almost immediately. I sped up my pace until I could stand and ran to the final obstacle. It was simply a plank that ran across a ditch full of barbed wire and odd purple dust. I tried to pull up a rock bridge, but nothing happened.

"What the..." I could see Kyla wasn't getting any results either, and, judging by the annoyed groans, Kathryn and Sara were failing too. I looked for Keanu, only to find him halfway across the way already. He was walking the plank. Kathryn ran to the plank and started crossing, followed by Sara then me. Poor Kyla looked scared, but mostly angry when she followed me across.

It was the longest walk ever, and I almost fell a few times, but we all eventually made it across. Charlie was the first across after Kyla. Jared came soon after followed by Adhya. Griffin sprinted in and came close to passing Adhya. Amber and Adam came next. Then Madi, then the guy who had made it across the wall first. Tim came next followed by Ginger. I didn't know the next six people, but two were girls, and three were guys.

The other group made it over quickly, but, somehow, were not as fast as most of our times. Meaning Kathryn, Sara, Kyla, Keanu, Charlie, Jared, Adhya, Griffin, Amber, Adam, Madi, Tim, water guy, a brunette guy with green eyes, a set of twin sisters with neon hair, a boy with black hair and blue eyes that made him look like a puppy, and another set of twins, a boy and a girl with black hair and yellow gold eyes. It looked like those powers and I would be advancing to the next round.

My friends who were new to the school and I gasped as the course shifted and a wall rose in front of us. Several other powers laughed at our awe.

"Oh crap," Adhya groaned, earning her a knuckle bump from Sara. Amber began to swear quietly. Keanu rubbed my shoulder comfortingly.

"There are still no teams," barked Mr. Draggerd. "Next group get ready." We all took a spot on the wall. "On your mark." I took a deep breath. "Get set." I released my breath along with my tension. "Go!" I pulled my trick from earlier, effectively shooting myself over the wall. I noticed over half of the others did as well. Unfortunately, I over shot on power and landed in a puddle of mud. Fortunately, I no longer had to do the monkey bars.

I had a difficult time climbing the rock wall; it was slick due to the mud and covered in that weird purple dust. Also a flying-flaming Sara smacked into the wall right above me. She began to slip, but used Griffin's head as a foothold.
Sparkling with electricity, Amber leaped to the top of the wall and began a precarious descent.

Bravely, I rolled on my back and slid down the wall, somehow landing on my feet. I was third to the tight rope, and I hung upside down and inched across it, not trusting my balance.

"Move before I step on you, Maddy," Sara yelled. She shuffled along, tipping dangerously.

"I'm not falling," I defended. By using some impressive core strength, I swung myself up onto solid ground. I ran ahead and almost dived into what appeared to be a regular pool.

However, the threatening fun of a shark pierced the surface. I slammed the breaks. Kyla smirked as she approached, she closed her eyes, then vanished. Shocked, I let my jaw drop as she reappeared on the other side. The water guy bolted by me, jumping and skidding across the surface of the water about halfway, the he sank.

I dove in after him and swam furiously, letting him occupy the shark. I started to run again, now very waterlogged. A groan escaped me as I saw the crashing walls. Waterboy was fast approaching but the brother and sister twins shot past both of us, using some kind of speed magic. They narrowly passed through the gap and onto the rest of the course.

I dug into grit and guts and waited for the perfect timing. Just as the walls started to open, I bounded through with not a second to spare. Water boy staggered back as the walls slammed together a mere centimeter in front of his nose.

A couple of my friends timed it well and ducked through. Griffin seemed tireless, Charlie was making track coaches everywhere proud. Jared plowed through each obstacles like a bowling ball; he actually ran through a brick wall. Adhya kicked everyone's butts at the slick silk rope wall.

The obstacles escalated from there.

After awhile I saw there were no more obstacles and pushed myself into a sprint. I came in fifth. The first ones across were Charlie, the green eyed guy, the puppy eyes guy who hugged the green eyed guy when he crossed, Keanu came next, then Kathryn, then me, then Kyla, Sara was after that complaining about being tired, Griffin crossed next, and right behind him was one of the neon twins (the one with orange hair).

"Good!" Mr Draggerd was waiting for us at the finish line. "You compete in an hour for the top five and in an hour and a half for the school competition. The best of luck to you!"