Test 098610

"Pop quiz." Mr. Terith the teacher said from the front of the room.

The class groaned as their computers booted up. Xavier sighed and brushed his black hair aside.

Geez,Xavier thought,why do we always have to fight the creatures we study? Just because half the people here are slackers doesn't mean the sub should make all of us take it.

When he placed his hand on the screen to take his virtual test, he entered a world of gridlines in which he sported crimson battle armor.

A grotesque creature appeared before him. Short in stature, it had a face that would rival Attila the Hun's and a nose as ugly as a witch's, it wielded a short sword and could cause the bravest of warriors to flee. Xavier brandished his own blade and charged. He recognized the creature to be Crituicus of the Gobblinicis family, which had been on the homework the previous night. The class often studied such creatures, and this particular one was a sub-species of the larger types of Gobblinicis.

Xavier slashed repeatedly, injuring the creature. Blood pouring from its wounds, the foe attempted to put up one last fight. With a final thrust, Xavier caused the creature to dissolve into data, and in the blink of an eye Xavier was back in the real world. He noticed the boy next to him, Ivan, who lay on the floor with his neck oddly twisted. Looks like that goblin got the best of him, Xavier thought.

"Looks like someone failed my little quiz." Mr. Terith said. He picked Ivan up and carried him to a locked door. He walked into the locked room, the door closing behind him. Mr. Terith walked back out, sweating profusely.

"Shouldn't Ivan go to the nurse's office?" Xavier asked.

"I've taken care of him." Mr Terith responded."Okay, class dismissed." As the class left, as well as the substitute, Xavier cautiously walked over to the door where Ivan was taken.

He found it slightly ajar, crept in, and saw a massive unit of lockers. One was partially open, reading ' Test 098610 '. He opened the door to find Ivan's body inside. Xavier gasped and slammed the locker shut. He opened another locker and found yet another body.

"Snooping Mr. Xavier?" said Mr Terith. Xavier whirled around, his emerald eyes wide. A grin crossed Terith's face.

"W-what are y-you doing?" Xavier asked.

" The land this school is built on is where I once lived, at least before my parents were blackmailed to leave the land just because they were ex-criminals. Refusing to sell our home, the state had to have the school built and used the information to force us off. After the school was built I became a substitute teacher...... What is a school without students Mr. Xavier?" Before Xavier could reply, Terith continued on.

"Nothing. Quite simple really, no students equals no school. So, by making my lessons extremely difficult, and thanks to the laziness of the students, I've been able to eliminate students one by one all across the state and even the country."

"Someone will figure it out," Xavier replied,"How could anyone not notice all these students disappearing?"

"Since students only take one extensive course a trimester, no one will ever know....plus the fact I've been under 22 different identities the past two months at 22 different schools, and the utter idiocy of the police, no one knows who I really am."

"...What are you going to do with the bodies?"

"Are you familar with the dragon, Mr. Xavier? The virtual dragon enjoys eating the flesh of your friends, I'm sure it won't mind someone a little scrawny." Xavier's eyes grew even wider at the thought of a dragon feasting on his body.

"And now Mr. Xavier, it is your turn to join your friends." Xavier staggered backwards until his back was against the wall, heart racing.

"Oh you think I'm going to kill you?" Terith spoke,"Although I do enjoy a good horror movie, I prefer it to be less messy." Terith grabbed Xavier and forced his hand onto a wall-mounted monitor. With this Xavier was transported into the virtual world again. Xavier gasped. In place of where Terith once stood was a massive onyx dragon. Xavier knew he was finished. With a swift movement, the dragon had Xavier in its jaws. First there was pain, then numbness, then nothing. He felt neither life nor death. Only the deafening silence.

When Xavier came to, he was lying on a white bed in a white room. "Is this what heaven is?" Xavier thought. From behind a curtain the principal appeared.

"My apologies Mr...." The principal examined the clipboard at the foot of the bed" Xavier Wenster. How are you feeling?"

Xavier held his head in his hands and brushed his hair from his eyes."Fine I guess...what happened?"

"Well once Mr. Terith transported you to the virtual world and brought up the dragon, I was alerted of unauthorized access into the file where the data was being downloaded from. After I was alerted, I shut down the entire system. You survived with some bad injuries, but nothing the doctors couldn't fix."

"What about the other bodies?" Xavier asked.

"I've notified the authorities, the school has been shut down permenantly, and an investigation is in progress." Xavier lay there, taking it all in.

"What happened to Terith?" Xavier questioned. The principal sighed and smoothed his hair down.

"When the authorities found him, he commited suicide by taking a pocket knife right to his throat." All of his emotions overwhelmed him. Xavier sighed and brushed back his hair. When no one was around, Xavier broke into tears.

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Fourteen years later, the boy known as Xavier now was a teacher. Sporting a dress shirt with striped tie, he stood in front of his students. "Okay class, if you look at your screens you'll see the Gobblinicis family, and make sure to pay attention because you will see this on tomorrow's quiz....."


Fin