The first night crept closer and it was clear that this trial wasn't normal.

  "Wait, special trial? What's that?" A voice a thousand miles away asked, Josephine was in shock and too was Michael, stopping as he hears the mention of a special trial, "yes, after the incident 8 years ago the Hub Of Champions started to get harsher with its initiation trials." Dionysus was as calm as ever, talking to them as if it was a usual after noon on Olympus. Michael took a step closer to Dionysus, slightly shaken by all this, "wait so, how harsh have they gotten?" Dionysus took a sip of his wine, pausing for a moment before looking at Michael with an unusual serious expression "Let's say that... Cerberus might look different..."

  Back on New Macedonia, Frode and Victor were starting to realize that the harsh weather of the island might not be the only thing to look out for, as a pack of strange looking creatures seems to stalk them from just out of their field of vision, "Burrr this place really gives me the chills!" Victor was holding a small fire ball to battle the cold of the island and to see in the dense darkness as they walked through the dense foliage, Frode was sensing the strange creatures around them, and he was growing uneasy by them, "Victor, were surrounded." He whispered, making sure to keep his pace steady and the same, to not allow the creatures to sense that something was up. Victor upon hearing Frodes words started to grow slightly concerned, "w-wait, really? Is it people? Are they hostile? Are they–" "it's monsters, Victor, but I don't know what they might be, so keep calm, and keep your guard up." Frodes words were calm and calculating, Victor was standing close to Frode, making sure to keep with his pace. Frode was intentionally leading them to a small clearing, to make the fight easier for him and Victor agents these creatures.

  Suddenly as they got closer to the clearing, the monsters jumped from the bushes and were able to surround them both, the monsters were a pack of four legged creatures, each baring 3 or more heads, scales for skin and a clearly powerful Maw, Victor yelped as the monsters let out a collective roar that sounded wrong in every way that could be, Frode was also scared but he managed to keep his cool "Victor! Concentrate!" Barked out Frode as he readied himself for a battle, Victor was able to collect his courage and managed to steady his feet, facing his back tp Frode and readying himself, "what are they!?" He cried out, calling forth two fire balls to engulf his hands into burning fists, Frode called forth small stone projectiles to be at the ready "they might be hellhounds, but their multitude of heads sure are strange." Frode was calm, but he knew the severity of this situation, "HELLHOUNDS!!?" Victor exclaimed, knowing that hellhounds aren't naturally occurring.

  A stalemate ensues between the boys and the monsters, growls grow more and soon the hounds lung at the two boys, back to back they stood and each defended the other, Victor's flaming hands were able to deal with the hounds and Frodes pellets are able to deal with the hounds at a distance, but something was off, these hounds seemed to be smarter than they usually are almost asif they were... a hive mind.

  "HIVE MIND HOUNDS!!?" Michael and Josephine cried out almost in unison, Dionysus placed his wine glass down and looked at the two of them, "yes, artificially created hellhouds, controlled by a central hive mind, almost all of the creatures are a hive mind on New Macedonia." Josephine looked more shocked, but alot more questions wrapped around her so much that she didn't know what to ask.

  Frode and Victor seemed to be struggling with the absurd amout of them, both seeming to start getting overwhelmed by them. "gah! Gosh! There's no end to them!" Victor said while holding down the hellhounds relentless attempts at breaking through to them, dodging the hounds relentless jaws and knife like teeth by a hairs breadth, and then from behind him a hellhound almost was able to bite off a chunck of him, but thanks to his quick reflexes he managed to dodge just in time and deal a devastating blow to the hellhound "F-Frode! A little help!?" Yelled out Victor, looking at Victor who himself seemed a little occupied with the hounds "you can hold your own for a bit, in a little busy." And indeed he was, foe his stones were not of that much help agents the hounds, and the stones seemed to not be that effective agents the monsters. Just as everything seemed to look bad for the two boys, the hounds all became motionless as a golden light surrounded them.

  "Be not afraid." A voice, calm and powerful echoed in the ear of everyone that heard it, and there she stood, atop a tree with the trees shadow hiding her face, her hand was extended towards them, pulsing with energy, and then, she got down and her eyes were brown like the wood of a curt room, both of the boys were shocked, looking at her with awe and it was clear that she wasn't like them, and this power wasn't normal for a girl her age, "you saw nothing, get out." A calm, simple, and straightforward command that the two boys obeyed without a second thought, they ran, ran as far as they could, as fast as they could, that power was unlike anything they ever saw, it was... amazing.

  After they finished running and were able to get into a clearing, they saw the light of the rising sun, and the boys looked at each other with the thought in mind "that was her!" They both exclaimed at the same time, their eyes meet in the glow of the sun, both smiling ear to ear, "that was her! The youngest champion in action!" Yelled Victor, almost jumping with excitement, and then he asked in a moment of realization "but, whats she doing here?" Frode looked at Victor with a slightly confused smile that quickly faded into a look of actual confusion, "yeah... maybe she's here as an administrator?" Asked Frode, seeming to belive his own answer, but he still had some doubts, they paused for a moment, silence growing between them, becoming slowly more uncomfortable, but then Victor's cheerful voice cut through the silence with its usual upbeat tone "hay, at least we were saved, right?" He said, smiling softly while also crossing his hands behind his head, and Frode then smiled and placed his hands in his pockets "and by the coolest person ever." He said, completing his friends thoughts, and they both looked at the rising sun, to the start of a new day.

  The three days passed with agonizing difficulty and much more hellhounds than one should meet, and as soon as the third day was finished, city appeared in the distance, and everyone rushed there, racing each other to the entrance of the city of heros, and as Victor and Frode reached the entrance it was clear that fewer people than those who entered have made it here, but those who made it all seemed like worthy people, Victor and Frode made their way to mix with the crowd of people and soon enough, a platform rose up from the ground and on it was the same captin that brought them to this island, "well e'llo mates! T'seems that as planed, only ya of strong wood came eh? No matter, those weak lots would've been dead they were champions, now onto what's good, you lot 'r the beast o' the bunch! So, get settled now!" And then he disappeared with a hearty laugh, falling along with his podium back into another compartment, leaving more questions than answers, but after he disappeared a woman wearing a suit came out, holding a clip board in on hand and a pen in the other, "what captain Holt meant to say was that the ones that aren't here are alive and back home, they failed to survive the island, and that you all are now welcomed to the Champions Association, you'll be assigned a room and any and all questions you have you can come to me with it. Now all of you get in a line and state your name." And then things got alot more formal, with identification, numbers, and special uniforms measured and assigned to each and everyone.

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  Victor and Frode were both assigned rooms, and they were bugged at first at not being in the same room, but as soon as they realized that they were neighbors they both jumped with joy, and their very first day was about to start, Victor was texting his family back home, telling them if all that happened, of Frode, and of the girl that saved them, and of the three days he spent fighting monsters he had seen for the very first time, and while he was sending them the message a blinding red light appeared behind him, and then a voice rumbled within him, "Victor son of Michael and Josephine, I the god of the sun, Utu, call you forth to fight on my behalf." Victor jumped, he didn't know what to say, what to do, or even what this flaming ball of fire was, but after a moments pause he was starting to get it "w-wait, what? Really?" Utu then started to materialize infront of Victor as a body of flames, "yes, but to be my champion, you must pass my trial." Utus voice was fit for a God of his magnitude. The room was now turned into a pit of hell, with Utu as the living core, the heat was unbearable, the ground they were standing on was now turned into molten rock, but strangely he felt no pain, "Victor of Michael and Josephine, pass my trial of power, and justice." Suddenly, the hellscape goes dark, no light is shown at all and no sound is heard, and then as suddenly as the emptiness came it went and then a piece of paper appears in his hand stating that Aro caused the death of multiple people, and that he was apprehended by the authorities. Aro was give the death sentence and the executioner was named as him, Victor of Michael and Josephine, by name, and as soon as he finished reading it, a flaming sword appeared in his hands, and Aro was infront of him, chained down and with a bag over his head, Victor couldn't belive what was happening, he couldn't belive what was infront of him, his hero, his idol, his reason to becoming a champion, "what is this? Why are you here?!" He yelled, but there was no answer, but then, Aro spoke, his voice low and dripping with guilt "I killed 7 innocent men, executioner, with the same hands that saved millions." He said simply, looking at his hands chained together through a hole in the bag.

  Victor couldn't belive it, he refused to belive it, "why did you? You were meant to save, to help people, not to kill without cause!–" "I DID HAVE A CAUSE!" Barked out Aro through gritted teeth, he was getting mad, and that much was clear "they were talking about what happened 8 years ago, saying that if I've gotten there sooner people would've been saved, but I got there as fast as I could... as fast... as I could..." His voice was growing more and guilty, hewas becoming sadder and sadder, "I'm only a human, I have my limits..." his voice cracked at the end, and the bag grew damp.

  Victor looked at Aros shaking form, it was indeed a strange sight, to see your own hero bawling his eyes out, "but to kill them? All 7 of them?" Aro then shuddered and finally looked up, only a single eye was visible from behind the bag over him "they called me a good for nothing, called my comrads frauds, I just... got mad..."

  Victor looked down at the flaming sword, and then looked back at Aro, he then cursed under his breath and threw the sword away, "I'm not killing a hero who saved millions just because he was killed seven people that were harassing him!" Utu then came from behind Victor, his hand gently resting on his shoulder, burning the flesh under neath "but those weren't any seven, they were siblings to people, parents, and they even knew some of the casualties personally, he killed a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a lover, and a friend, how can such someone be redeemed?"

  Victor paused and finally was able to see who Utu was, a beautiful woman, with eyes sewn shut, and hair long as her stride, and a sun disk behind her head, illuminating her form, her voice was calm and warm, and Oh so gentle "indeed Aro was righteous, but those seven were not in the wrong, they merely lost loved ones in a way that can be averted. Pass judgment." Victor looked at her, and then back at Aro who was looking at him with pleading eyes, "Is it okay for a savior to kill? And if so, how many can they kill?" She asked Victor, who was holding the the sword that reappeared in his hand again, and he looked down to see himself standing over Aro, with the blade at the ready.

  Victor was unable to move, shocked at how much things escalated, and how far he needed to go, but then, with a steady heart, he threw away the sword and looked at at Utu with a stern look in his eyes, "he is not fit for execution, he is in the wrong–yes, but he saved more than he had killed, and i think killing him would make the world worse, for he is the symbol of peace last, and a human first." And then a pause, a silence so deafening that he could hear his own heart beat, but then Utu laughed and started go clap slowly, her laugh was gentle, like a mother to its young "you sure do have strong belive in your idol, don't you? But then...." all of a sudden Aro started to convuls violently, twisting and twitching, morphing into an ungodly monstrosity with tendrils and a face no mother can love. "...blood never washes off easily." A giant monster now stands infront of Victor.

  The monster let's out a roar at Victor and throws him away with a giant punch sending him tumbling through nothingness, but Utu catches him and places the flaming sword in his hands, the sword slowly morphs into flaming gloves that fit his hands perfectly, "pass judgment." She whispers in his ears, then the fire on the gloves goes out revealing golden gauntlets with the crest of Utu on them, she then dissapears as the beast lunges at Victor with much ferocity, he then jumped out of the way but he was supriesd at how fast he was moving, looking down he saw a pair of boots also carrying the same crest on them.

  Victor the lunges at the monster while cocking back his hand and then springing it out to punch the monster so hard, that he sent it reeling back, he was surprised at how strong he felt, feeling the power he unleashed an endless barage of punches towards the monster, causing it to screatch and then retaliate with a powerful attack that sent Victor flying in a flash if light.

  Victor remembered this attack, the dame attack that the real Aro used to defeat Typhons Stinger all those years ago, and it made him realize something, that this was not fake, that the monster infront of him can use the same attacks that Aro can, but that didn't stop him. Victor got back up on his feet and steadied his stance, the monster was far, but it was charging up another powerful attack, and that one looked stronger than the one he just got hit with, "Damnit! What do I do? Another hit from this attack and I'll be toast! Ahhh think Victor! What will Aro do?" He pondered until he looked down at his hands, what he saw was not the sigil of Nike that Aro has, but the crest of Utu that he has, and he knew how to use it.

  He then lunged head first at the monster, using the strength and speed enhancements he got from the gauntlets and boots he was able to close the distance quickly and intercept the attack before it fired, and ad he got closer to the monster he opened his palm and unleashed a fire that burned brighter than the sun. The monsters pained screams were louder than ever, almost deafening Victor, but after a longer while the screams grew quieter until there were none lefts.

  Gentle claps could be heard through the stretching nothingness and Utu looked at Victor with an approving gaze, "congratulations, Victor of Michael and Josephine, you were able to pass the trial." Upon hearing this, Victor was happy as ever, smiling like a child at a candy store, "really? Awesome!" Utu then continued, placing a burning hand on his shoulder, and looking at him with a stern face "but remember, you are now a champion of the gods, people look at you as their Messiah at the end times, you are now a symbol of power, justice, peace, and righteousness, be what the world needs. A champion that they can look up to, and aspire to be, become their Aro, for the gauntlets and boots of ?ama? have chosen you, be what they see in you."

  Victor looks up at Utu, the fires of justice burning in his eyes, "I am, a champion!" He states, proclaiming the start of his journey as the champion he wished he'd become.