Mack Mendoza

### Occupations

Member of Ichigan High School Dodgeball Team, Examinee of the 134th Kaipa Promised Land Entrance Exam

### Status

Alive

**Mack Mendoza** is the main protagonist of *Armistice*. He is an examinee of the 134th Kaipa Promised Land Entrance Exam who wants to get into the Promised Land so that he can reveal its secrets to the outside world.

## Appearance

Mack is five feet, eight inches tall and weighs around 145 pounds. He has short curled brown hair, some wrinkles on his face, medium-shaded skin and hazel-colored eyes. He has little muscle on his body, with most of his muscle being in his legs. Often he wears a t-shirt, jacket, jeans, track shoes and white/black socks. While discovering the Promised Land for the first time at five years old, Mack was wearing red pajamas that were covered with sheep. During the time when he convinced Dave to help uncover the truth of the Promised Land, he was wearing a black t-shirt and worn-down grey jeans. When taking the Promised Land Entrance Exam, Mack wears a grey t-shirt and sweater, blue track shoes, navy-colored jeans, and carries around sunglasses, gloves and a snowcap.

## Personality

At his core, Mack is an ambitious and curious individual. He primarily devotes himself towards uncovering the secrets of the Promised Land out of curiosity and because he believes everyone in the United Nations has the right to know. Due to being overly obsessed with his ambitions, he has very few friends as a result. Any friendships that he does have relates in some way towards achieving his goals, and he is mainly best friends with Dave because of Dave's promise to help Mack with his ambition. The one exception is his relationship with Chelsea, whom he decides to help out of personal empathy. He also focuses on his goal so much that he does not consider other options for his future, such as attending a Tesla-league college.

He is very defensive of his goals and grows to dislike anyone that opposes them, either fearing or hating them as well. During these stressful moments, Mack becomes rowdy, argumentative, afraid and/or desperate due to not being able to handle stress well. He is also incapable of lying his way out of a situation, being dependent on Dave with such matters. Otherwise, Mack is normally calm and level-headed.

Besides his ambitiousness, Mack has other moral standards. He considers sending a rumor-filled text against Chris to be a sin and heavily regrets doing so afterwards, going so far as to believe he deserves failing the exam because of it. His empathy is also what leads him to promise to help Chelsea get into the Promised Land.

Mack also has a fascination with television shows, watching them ever since he was a young child. When placed in certain situations, he usually compares it to a television show that he has watched, most likely game shows. His primary obsession with the Promised Land first stemmed from seeing a person he recognized from a television show, Avion Balthazar, get into the Promised Land. However, due to Avion refusing to leave, Mack grew to not care about him anymore. Early on, Mack passionately talked about the shows he watched with his classmates. He stopped after being informed by Dave that he was acting ridiculous, which made Mack reserved about who he talked with regarding his shows.

## Relationships

### Amelia and Lela Mendoza

Mack is on bad terms with his working mother, Lela, since Lela does not support Mack's ambition of getting into the Promised Land and instead insists that he pursues getting into a Tesla-league school. In spite of being willing to argue, Mack acknowledges Lela's sense of authority and feels that he is helpless in changing her mind. He is on better terms with his other mother, Amelia, who is willing to support him. Amelia is one of the two people who Mack is confident talking about the television shows he watches with.

### Avion Balthazar

Avion was Mack's initial inspiration for getting into the Promised Land, with Mack wondering why people like Avion would decide not to leave. However, many years later, Mack didn't care about Avion anymore since Avion wouldn't leave.

### Dave Malder

Due to promising to help Mack uncover the secrets of the Promised Land, Mack has a very close and friendly relationship with Dave, the only one he has until meeting Chelsea later on. Dave is one of the only two people whom Mack talks about television shows with, and Mack valued Dave's harsh comment on Mack sounding ridiculous about talking about shows enough to refrain from talking about them in public anymore. Both are able to work well as a team during the entrance exam, as they know each other's strengths. Mack has clear faith in Dave's communicative abilities, relying on them when he and Dave face the danger of Chris's followers. Although Dave has romantic feelings towards Mack, Mack is oblivious of them. When Dave is forced to fail the exam because of Umoga, Mack is overcome with grief and goes into denial that Dave had failed for a brief period of time. It is also what drives Mack towards hating Umoga the most out of all of the other examinees.

### Chris Meedlemeyer

Despite not holding any negative feelings towards Chris, Mack determined that it was worth hurting his career in order to assure that he would get himself into the Promised Land. As a result, Mack made himself and Dave enemies of Chris and his group, with Chris personally disliking Mack. After hearing that Mack's desires were similar to his own, Chris decided not to force Mack to fail the Promised Land Entrance Exam. However, Chris made it clear that he still hated Mack and only spared him to prove that his promise to uncover the Promised Land's secrets was firm.

### Chastity Parker

Upon sending a damaging rumor-filled text about her boyfriend Chris, Chastity began to despise both Mack and his friend Dave for what they had done. Upon seeing them in Valencia's group, she immediately ordered her group to force both to fail the exam, going so far as to disregard Valencia's concerns that the two might be innocent.

### Umoga Loinfield

Upon seeing Umoga effortlessly push past Chris's followers, Mack thought that the giant would be a large threat to his chances of passing the Promised Land Entrance Exam. For the duration of the exam, besides Chris and his followers, Mack is the most concerned and fearful of Umoga out of every other participant due to his strength. Upon learning that the giant was trying to prevent the other participants from passing the exam, Mack prioritizes staying away from the giant at any cost and begins to doubt his chances of passing the exam. After Umoga forces Dave to fail the exam, Mack grows to hate Umoga more than anyone else.

### Jason Block

Mack knows Jason as a master test-taker and thus dreads him and his abilities. He had full confidence that Jason would pass the Promised Land Entrance Exam, and he believed that trying to copy Jason's tactics for passing the exam would be futile since Jason would know that people would try to copy him.

### Ryan Dylard

Upon seeing Ryan for the first time, Mack was concerned since he couldn't tell what sort of person Ryan was by looking at him. Later, when Ryan boldly declared that a Demon was guaranteed to attack during the Promised Land Entrance Exam, Mack grew fearful of Ryan.

### Valencia Ramirez

Due to sending a damaging rumor-filled text about Chris, Mack and his friend Dave became an enemy of Valencia, who was one of Chris's loyal followers. Upon hearing Dave out, she is willing to believe that Mack and Dave might be innocent and plans to help them pass the Promised Land Entrance Exam if they are, though she keeps them captive and as helpless as possible until she can determine their innocence. Upon being confronted by Chastity, Valencia eventually decided to let Mack and Dave be thrown out of the exam.

### Chelsea Stringer

Mack was curious about Chelsea ever since he saw her in an old pink dress, as he wondered why she would wear something so old. Until asking her about her dress, Dave mistakenly believed that Mack's obsession with her was because he was infatuated. Upon hearing that she didn't want her father giving her that dress as a gift, Mack grew to be even more curious about her. After she saved him and Dave from failing the Promised Land Entrance Exam and learning that she comes from a poor family, Mack grows friendly with her and promises to help her pass the exam. Both show that they are capable of sharing ideas and formulating plans together when trying to pass an obstacle course. Upon Mack confirming that he and Dave sent out a rumor-filled text about Chris, Chelsea is notably mad at Mack, with Mack feeling guilty about lying to her.

## Powers and Intelligence

* **Mobility:** Due to his dodgeball experience, Mack's feet have a great amount of agility, enough to qualify him as an Olympic candidate. He is able to slip through crowds such as Meedlemeyer's followers without being caught. He is also able to quickly balance himself on objects that are hard to stay balanced on, such as the stepping stones from the Promised Land Entrance Exam's second test. However, in some cases such as the large balls from the same test, he cannot pass through them with instinct alone and must mentally prepare beforehand.
* **Intelligence:** Mack is decently intelligent, as he mostly felt confident that he had passed the Kaipa's standardized test after taking it. He has been shown to be resourceful, figuring out how to find information quickly in the provided textbooks during the Promised Land Entrance Exam's first test. He is observant enough to deduce how to pass obstacles by viewing other people's attempts of passing and performing mental calculations in his head. He is also noted to have good deduction skills in his biography. However, he is also noted to be lacking in teamwork skills.

## History

### Before the Entrance Exam:

At the age of five, when watching television with his mother Amelia, Mack started paying close attention when the name of a person he recognized from the Olympic Junior Gladiators show, Avion, was spoken. Mack watched as Avion and several other people entered a place called the Promised Land. When asking his mother about what the Promised Land, he was told that it is where all the most special people go. He was also told that Avion and the others will never leave the Promised Land. This mystery became the focus of Mack in the coming years, with him deciding to enter the Promised Land and find out the answers himself. Upon reading how to get into the Promised Land with his friend Dave, Mack realized that he would need to pass both Kaipa's Standardized Exam with a perfect score and qualify as an Olympic candidate to get into the Promised Land's Entrance Exam. Although Dave initially scoffs at Mack's insistence on getting into the Promised Land, he decided to promise to make sure either he or Mack get inside after Mack refused to let Dave's doubts discourage him.

At some point during his childhood, Mack talked extensively about the shows that he watched, which established his reputation among most of his classmates as a weirdo. However, after Dave pointed out how ridiculous Mack sounded, Mack stopped talking about his favorite shows with anyone else except Dave and Amelia.

In the next four years, Mack rigorously trained to enter the Promised Land. However, he found that he could not build up his physical strength at the gym, much to his ire. At the end of sixth grade, Lela confronted him about giving up his ambition to get into the Promised Land and to strive for getting into a Tesla-league school instead. Mack affirmed his belief that everyone should know about the Promised Land, denying Lela's claim that all he wanted was to see Avion again, before he marched into his room. Although he considered following Lela's advice, he decided to try to see if he can get into the Promised Land instead. At some point before high school, Lela also discouraged Mack from getting a job so that he could focus on his studies. Upon starting high school at Ichigan High, Mack decided to join the school's dodgeball team.

Sometime before getting the results of his qualification for the Promised Land Entrance Exam, Mack and his dodgeball team won second place in the National Dodgeball League. The day before the results, he held a call with Dave and two of his other friends, Jack and Jane Duliper. Both Mack and Dave shared stress over the results, afraid that they would not qualify. The day after, both Mack and Dave got their results, and both stayed quiet about their eligibility to partake in the entrance exam. On the day of the exam, Mack left his home early and caught a train to Fourth Hampshire City, with Amelia hugging him goodbye before his departure.

### The 134th Kaipa Promised Land Entrance Exam:

#### Entering the Facility:

While riding a train to Fourth Hampshire City, Mack studied from numerous online websites dedicated towards preparing for the Promised Land Entrance Exam. Once he arrived, he met up with Dave near an umbrella corporation's building and headed towards the exam's facility. He and Dave noted that the entrance to the exam was already surrounded by Chris Meedlemeyer and his Meedlebros, who were attempting to prevent other examinees from entering. Upon getting to the entrance, Mack and Dave witnessed as several people either bribed their way past the Meedlebros or failed to get past them. Without any money to bribe the Meedlebros with, both tried figuring out another way to get inside without having to resort to rumors.

While they thought about how to get in, they saw a giant squeeze past the Meedlebros with ease before being escorted to a separate entrance of the facility by the facility's staff on account of him being too heavy. Not seeing any other alternatives, and with reluctance, Mack insisted that Dave spread a text filled with rumors about Chris to break his fans apart. Once Dave's text was spread and the Meedlebros started fighting amongst each other, both slipped past the group and got inside of the facility. Once inside, they had to forfeit all of their items to security before reaching a large holding room for the examinees. Upon sitting down, Mack looked around to pick out any interesting participants. He found a person with grey skin and mechanic's clothing, a woman with a red baseball cap, an angry individual with rings on their face, a fidgety business-suited man, and a girl in a pink dress. He also noticed Jason Block, an expert test-taker, whom Mack hoped wouldn't arrive and whom he believed was guaranteed to pass the exam.

Once the exam was close to starting, Mack listened to the head proctor Ryan's instructions. He was confused by what sort of person Ryan was at first, and when Ryan mentioned that he was sure a Demon would attack the test, Mack became frightened of Ryan's boldness. Along with the other examinees, Mack was instructed by Ryan to study from the textbook to prepare for the next exam.

#### The First Test:

After Ryan's speech concluded, Mack noted to Dave that since they were given twelve hours to study from their textbooks and since Ryan mentioned that each test would last twelve hours, they were already taking the first part of the exam. Mack also noted that following Jason would be too risky since Jason would expect for people to try and follow his strategy. Thus, both Mack and Dave headed to the third floor and found a study room to observe their textbooks from. Although they were harassed by the son of a Naval officer, Mack ignored him as Dave told him off. Mack then found that, for the first test, they would need to find and enter a specific locker. However, Mack could not find information on any future tests. Both he and Dave then decided to go to the facility's cafeteria to eat, but were found and confronted by a group of Meedlebros once they arrived.

Mack sat and watched as the group's leader, Valencia, interrogated Dave about him sending the rumor-filled message against Chris. After being convinced that Dave might have been hacked, Valencia allowed both to tag along with her group until she could be convinced of whether they were guilty or innocent. She also forced them to relinquish their textbooks. After hearing one of the Meedlebros reporting that the giant was guarding the exit locker, Mack became bitter about his odds of passing the exam. Upon being brought to a study room that Valencia and her group were using, Mack and Dave were forced to wait without being able to study anything. After the girl in the pink dress that Mack saw earlier tried to talk with them, Mack asked her why she was wearing such an old-looking dress. After a brief talk and after he heard her mention about not wanting her father to have given her the dress, Mack became more curious about her.

Around ten hours into the exam, Valencia's group moved downstairs to the basement, where the exit locker was located. The group separated both Mack and Dave and forced them both in one at a time so that they wouldn't think of escaping. After relinquishing his textbook and entering a holding room for the exam's second portion, Mack was given chips with Brudeh sauce as a meal. He then waited for the second portion of the exam to begin alongside the rest of the group.

#### The Second Test:

At the beginning of the exam's second portion, Mack listened to the instructions of Graham Pacer and Angela Strickland, who both explained that the examinees would have to pass an obstacle course. While seeing the two pass through the course, Mack expressed doubt in his ability to pass the more grip strength oriented obstacles. Once the portion began, Mack and Dave were grasped tightly by some of the Meedlebros, who planned to force both of them to fail the exam under the suggestion of Chris's girlfriend, Chastity. Mack heard as Valencia and Dave failed to change Chastity's mind and begged for Dave to prevent them from being forced to fail. Before they could be thrown into the course's foam pit, which would automatically disqualify them, the girl in the pink dress saved both Mack and Dave by pushing away the Meedlebros and forcing them to pass through the first obstacle, which was a set of round stones. Mack helped Dave and the pink-dressed girl, Chelsea, pass through the obstacle. He then thanked Chelsea by hugging her and promised to help her pass the exam in gratitude.

In fear of being followed by the Meedlebros, Mack then tried to figure out how to pass the second obstacle, a set of giant rubber balls, along with Chelsea. He was in disbelief when Chelsea admitted to never watching television before, but understood when she said that she wasn't rich enough to afford television. Upon seeing the giant from earlier, Umoga Loinfield, rushing through the first obstacle, Mack and his group hurried through the second obstacle, with Mack being ahead of the other two. Thanks to his guidance, he was able to help his group pass the obstacle. After getting through, he watched as Umoga declared that he alone would pass the exam and that he would only let one person pass through him at a time. His group also realized that Chris and a few of his followers were up ahead, waiting near the fourth obstacle.

While waiting for Chris's group to move forward, Mack and Chelsea tried to figure out how to pass the third obstacle, an airborne ladder with rungs. Mack expressed more concern about having to pass the obstacle after discovering from Chelsea that the rungs were imbalanced, which would mess up a person's grip if they grabbed at the wrong place. Once Chris's group partook in the fourth obstacle, Mack's group attempted to pass through the third in spite of not being fully prepared yet. Mack struggled when getting to the other side of the ladder as he forgot about the locations of the unbalanced parts being reversed, but he managed to get through the obstacle after Chelsea. He witnessed as the giant caught up with Dave before he could pass as well and heard Dave trying to convince the giant not to drop him. He also witnessed in horror as the giant dropped Dave and forced him to fail the exam before rushing into the fourth obstacle to escape.

While moving through the fourth obstacle, a wall with suddenly-opening parts that would push examinees off, Mack was in despair over Dave failing the exam and nearly fell off of the course along with Chelsea. After they kept themselves from falling off, Mack instructed Chelsea to hold his hand through the obstacle and ensured her that he wouldn't let her fail. Both moved through the obstacle together, with Chelsea barely making it and Mack barely missing the landing platform's edge. However, Chris keeps him from falling, lecturing him about how horrible of people he and Dave were for sending a reputation-damaging text against him. In desperation, Mack admitted to sending the text and to deserving to fail the exam, but affirmed that he still felt that he needed to pass the exam because nobody would expose the truth of the Promised Land otherwise. Mack was then in shock when Chris decided to hoist Mack up, though mainly because Chris wanted to prove that he believed in exposing the truth as well and not because he wanted to forgive Mack.

Mack then rested with exhaustion until Chris and his group, along with Chelsea, passed the last obstacle, which was a rope scaling a giant wall with similarly suddenly appearing parts like the last obstacle. After viewing the group pass, Mack climbed the wall and barely made it to the top, collapsing afterwards.

## Trivia

* Mack is the first character in Armistice who has their thoughts read in the story.
* According to Mack Mendoza's biography:
	+ His favorite food is teriyaki chicken and instant noodles.
	+ His favorite color is green.
	+ His favorite television shows are "Olympic Junior Gladiators", "The Clown Games" and "Drama House".