“Exactly what were you expecting to find at a high school?” An agent with glasses rebutted. After giving the Colonel an annoyed look, he stuck his head back to his screen shifting through data on his holographic notebook.

“I expect fully grown men and women ready to become soldiers!!” The colonel grunted.

“Where did you go to high school again?” The shifter rebutted growing restless.

“Shut up Simone! If O’Brian’s behind this there must be an explanation” A female agent said coming out of the air copter.

“It’s Seymour!” Seymore rebutted “MAJOR Seymore!” He said crossing his arms

“O’Brian… He sees potential in these children” A hooded agent replied “So… This is his doing…”

“We can’t supersede a letter from the president” A white haired agent replied. “Let’s believe in our superiors!” He said nodding his head.

“The hell with that!” The colonel said finally stepping onto the field “If that’s the case! I'll do things my own way!”

Seymore grinned, turning off his holographic notebook and began walking behind the colonel, Suddenly, now relaxed, the agents surrounding the colonel followed Seymore, forming into a circle around the colonel as he addressed the students.

“Good Afternoon! I am Colonel Grant!” Grant said with a booming voice

“I am the lead Colonel of SPA Atlantica as well as the head examination process of entrance into the SPA. I’m sure many of you are ready to prove yourselves in the tournament to become official SPA agents, but before we can begin, we must make sure you have met all of the physical requirements.”

“We have received data on all of your capabilities our database, However that can be easily corrupted and things could have changed for you over the months or weeks since our last update…. So we are going to retest you starting now! No water break and no stretching!”

“You are to run 20 km in 20 minutes. IF you are unable to finish in time you will be sent home and disqualified.”

“WAIT A MINUTE I THOUGHT,-” Reggie began

“Ready... GO!”

And with that the students took off into the forest. Lance quickly sped off taking the lead easily outpacing the other students.

“Hmph” he said smirking “I wonder how far that blue hair-”

Before he could finish that thought, he came face to face with Axel who was gliding through the air just inches behind him.

“What? He's…. shift walking! There’s no way! Did someone teach him how?” Lance thought.

“You may be in first place now Lance but don’t you forget”! Axel said jumping ahead of him. “I'm never far behind!”

“OK AX! YOU READY TO START YOUR TRAINING!? Vincent yelled

Axel gave his brother a confused look.

“But bro… weren’t we supposed to go to the badlands to train? Were still in Nautica valley….” Axel said, spreading his arms.

“A little change of plan Axe!” Vince said pinching his fingers together, “Were gonna start training Right here and Right NOW! Aaaaand it's gonna start with a 500 km sprint!’

All of Axels burning enthusiasm was instantly sucked out from his face. His arms drooped to his sides as he sulked his head.

“200 km…..? That will take like 5 hours…” He said, complaining.

“So much for not complaining!” Vince said, shaking his head in laughter.

“The badlands aren't even that far away!” Axel said defiantly.

“Ahh yes but well be going the scenic route through the mountains and village! But don't you worry, we’ll be there in one hour tops!

“What! One hour, what are we going to do, sprint the whole way?” Axel asked

“That’s right Ax! That's exactly what we're gonna do! And some jumping too!

“Huh?” Axel asked.

“Hmph Am I really going to have to use that to beat him? Man I was trying not to work up a sweat here” Lance thought

“Hmph” Lance said as Axel slowly overtook him. “Not bad for a weakling”

In a burst of momentum Lance launched forward with all his strength, causing a trail of turbulence to cleave a path behind him. Caught in the blast of concentrated air, Axel's hair quivered and gums swiveled, as he literally ate the dust particles that came off the trees from Lance’s gust.

“No… “Axel grunted “I have to at least keep sight of him... I want him to feel like I’m always behind him so if he relaxes for one second I’ll have him!

“Damnit Focus Ax! Remember what Vince said!

“OK Ax now listen I want you to start off in a run but then turn it into something a little different?” Vincent said

“Huh”

“I want you to stay as low to the ground as possible and instead of running normal pretend as if your running up a ladder!”

“What?”

Vince let out a sigh and walked in front of Axel

“Just Watch”

Vincent took off in a sprint exactly as he had previously stated. His body was near parallel with the ground as he sprinted digging his feet into the ground.

Axel fell onto his back and laughing at the sight.

“Why in the hell would I run like that?” He asked chuckling

“Why don’t you just try it and see how it feels!” Vince said yanking him to his feet

Axel tried imitating his brothers run and found himself running slower but much less exhausted

“Hey Bro this is a lot easier than regular running!”

Yeh! That’s because at the speed you’re going your arms are just going to get in the way, trying to overcome the air you're running into. Think of yourself at these speeds like a fish they don’t need arms to move through the water do they!

“Yeh… but a fish is in water…a liquid bro it’s different”

“That may be so but water is a fluid! And air is a fluid as well! But unlike the fish we have the ground to stand on so we can use a few tricks to make travel easier!”

“I'm not following?” Axel said scratching his head

“First of I need you to close your eyes and feel the flow of ether within you”

“Ok” Axel said closing his eyes

“Next I need you to concentrate that flow into your feet!” Vincent instructed, pointing towards Axles feet.

Axel closed his eyes and led what felt like to be a second circulation of blood to his legs. As it gathered there it almost felt like it was begging to pool slowly flooding his veins.

“Well how do you feel?”

“I feel… Heavier”

“Good that’s the concentration of ether built up in your legs, although their weight hasn’t changed there is a force built up on them that is making them harder to move. How about your arms?”

Axel whipped around his arms and realized they seemed lighter than ever.

“Holy crap bro I feel like my arms are paper!"

“Yeh that's because of the ether potential difference! The energy of your legs is so immense it makes your arms feel light! The rest of your body loses a bit of its share to compensate but I will teach you how to get around that later! For now try that run again!

Axel hit the floor, this time tearing holes in the ground as he whisked by Vincent. As he blazed past him he barely had enough time to slow down and prevent himself from running into a tree!

“HOLY CRAP BRO THAT'S AWESOME!” Axel said.

“You kinda overdid it with the holes in the ground but well worry about that later for mow… LET'S MAKE OUR WAY!”

Axel and Vincent began dashing out of the valley and in no time reached the arid wastes of the badlands. It wasn't more than 3 minutes before Axel had sprawled out on the floor collapsing in exhaustion.

“Bro... This is too exhausting! I can't run like this for an hour!” He cried.

“That’s right! Running like that would be impossible! That’s why you have to take breaks but not while lying on the ground!” Vince said grabbing Axel.

“Bro… ” Axel said drenched in sweat. “I'm too tired I need more rest!”

“Just listen,” He said grabbing Axel's head.

“I want you to run full speed for 5 seconds and then jump directly into the air!”

“Huh why am I gonna do that?”

“Again with the questions! Just do it! I'll be right behind you!”

Using all his strength he sprinted straight until he had reached maximum speed and jumped directly upward using his brothers instructed maneuvers.

Axel couldn't believe his eyes, after a few moments he was more than 200ft high in the air!

And he still seemed to be traveling at the same speed

“How is this possible?” He screamed into the afternoon sky.

“Your lateral velocity has 0 to no impact on your vertical one so you are still traveling the same speed in the air” Vincent yelled to him behind him in midair.

“This is called shift stepping!” He said catching up to Axel. He put Axel into a headlock playfully trapping him as they traveled through the air.

“Or shift jumping if you want, this is how we can run at such high speeds for so long! We simply jump every time we need some air!”

“Bro this is soo cool!” Axel said, poking his head out from inside his brother's armpit.

“You're an awesome trainer!”

“No Ax I'm a shit trainer!” Vince admitted dropping his head. “But…I'm an awesome brother! Don't you ever forget that?”

“Really?” Axel said playfully “Awesome brothers buy their younger ones comic books I hear.”

“Hahahaha beat me to our destination and it’s a deal” said Vincent smiling.

“Wait but I don't even know where were going!” Axel said struggling to get free.

“HAHAH Not my problem!” Vince said still holding Axel in a headlock.

“Hey let me go!” Axel shouted drifting through the air pinned under his brother's armpit.

“Well looks like we have some overachievers here don’t us?” The colonel said

“The 6 of you managed to complete this activity in under 5 minutes! One of you managed to finish it even faster than that” he said looking at Lance

“But…” He said crossing his arms. “It's not enough to get you into the SPA!” You kids now have to prove you can lift at least 5 tons with ease!” Colonel Grant grunted

Snapping his head to the left he noticed one of the students giving him a rotten glare.

“What in god's name was is little punk like him staring me down for?” He thought.

“You there!” The colonel barked with saliva sputtering from his mouth “The kid with the blue hair! Why do you keep looking at me like you need your diaper changed or something?”

The other agents started to smirk but remained their composure as the colonel singled out the blue haired kid.

“Well…. First of all” Axel began softly “Stop calling us kids! And by the way my name is Axel!” He said trotting over to the lifting bar.

The colonel was so agitated by Axel's response that he nearly shot out a punch that would have splattered Axel all over the field!

“Colonel remember your stress ball!” the female agent said.

“Grrrr that’s right!” The colonel said reaching into his pocket. He took out the Silver putty and began crushing it in his hands. He shot out a punch into the open air and waved his fist full of steaming putty at Axel.

“Listen you mutt! Get to the lifting bar and not another word! Or I'll fail you myself!” The colonel said, blowing out fire from his mouth.

The other agents started to crack up. The colonel was losing it.

“Ok, so just like focusing the ether into my feet, this time I'm focusing it into my hands I should be able to lift a tone easy right? Axel said to himself. “Ha-ha right?”

“Hey Axel!” shouted Reggie.

“Don’t sweat it you got this!” He said holding a giant thumbs up with his mechanical fist.

“Yeh baby blue! Show em whose boss!” B shouted.

“Make sure not to injure yourself. I just read a study that deemed overtraining can lead to fatality!” Lily said, concerned.

“Uhhh thanks everyone… I think!” He said sliding under the bar.

Without breaking a sweat Axel lifted the 5 ton press and delicately slid it back into place.

“So it seems everyone here was able to run the 100 km as well as lift the 2 tons. I bet you’re feeling pretty good about yourself right?” Well I got some news for you. I’m going to let you in on a little secret.” The colonel said taking in a breath

“This entire school is a big sham!”

“What?” Reggie scoffed

“What the hell is this guy talking about?” B said

“Tch” Lance grunted

“While you all were here safe behind glass walls, the Shifters from other schools were tearing themselves apart in order to be accepted into our ranks. But a group of soft snowflake parents wanted to get their kids easy access into the SPA and so Academies like this one are popping up all over, even in the main city of Atlantica! The SPA is doing a huge drawback on its selection process and now it seems we’re even drafting 16 year old kids into this? By your age I had already spilt blood many times over and even I wasn't drafted until age 21!We’ve had some huge movements in the badlands in the last few years and I understand the need to broaden our scope. But to expect kids who are still battling their hormones to start battling criminals? I don't know about that one!”

Reggie jumped out of his seat in indignation, fuming with ire. His fist was clenched so tight that everyone could hear the screeching of his metal ligaments. He was about to say something when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was 6.

6 said pointed his finger towards Axel who was sitting a row below them on the bleachers next to B and Lily.

“Is this asshole foreal?” B said clenching her fist. “I’m gonna...”

She stopped when she caught a glimpse of Axel in her peripheral.

His expression was that of utter hysteria. He was holding his hand on his forehead trembling.

“Axel… are you ok” She asked

“And to top it all off I hear that some high up shifter has come here and has been visiting ahead of schedule. I hear he wants to forego the 2 years of comprehensive combat training and put a few of you here to the gauntlet! Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I’ll be damned if I let you guys into the gauntlet and make the future of the SPA look like a bunch of privileged children!

With that Reggie and B had heard enough they both erupted from their seats in the bleachers and were ready to scream at the colonel but halted when they saw someone was already engaging him.

“What’s going on boy? I don't remember giving you permission to leave your seat.” Grant yelled

Axel was way out of his seat just a few feet from the colonel.

“I have a question,” Axel said making his way towards the center of the stadium.

“Please refrain from asking questions until after the speech,” Seymour said.

“Oh I think we’ve heard enough talk” said a voice behind the boy.

It was Lance. He was following close behind Axel with 6 and the others trailing behind him.

“Everyone get back in your” Seymore

“No ya know what? I actually wanna hear what the little punk has to say” The colonel said mockingly. “Go ahead, ask away kid!”

“Sir, have you ever have to watch one of your parents die….?” Axel said

“No….”

“Have you ever fought in Ritgers coliseum?

“NO”

“How about your arms? You still have both of them right?”

“Yeh! I do! Are you threatening me soldier?” The colonel said grinding down the putty in his hand.

“What’s wrong are you so privileged that you’ve never been threatened before?” Lance scoffed.

“Me privileged? What the hell are you talking about?” Grant grumbled/

“Take a look around!” Axel alarmed “Take a good look at the kids you're calling privileged! Tell me what they have that you don't!”

The colonel looked into the crowd of galvanized students seeing many of them on their feet in a silent protest. Through the silence, Regis arm creaked and disengaged, filling the air with so much tension one of the agents had to break it by loudly clearing his throat.

“EHEEM” Seymore croaked loudly.

“So Colonel, who exactly is the privileged one here?” Axel said.

The Colonel took a step back. He hadn’t expected such a fiery response from this band of brats.

“He, HEHAHAHAHHA” He laughed “So you think your all so tough huh? You think you know everything there is to know? You think you can take on the gauntlet?”

“Were ready for anything you can throw at us!” Axel said

“YEH! You tell em Ax!” 6 said.

“Is that right? Anything I can throw?” The colonel said looking down at the putty in his hand.

“Colonel! Don’t! He’s just a kid!” The female agent said.

“Here catch!” He said throwing the putty to Axel

Axel jumped into the air grabbing the putty with one hand

“Andddd here we go…” Seymore said

: That kid shoulda just kept his mouth shut” The hooded agent said.

WHAM!

Axel was dragged by the little silver putty into the bleachers indenting himself into them.

“Guhhhh!” He said getting up. “How the hell is that little thing so heavy?” He said getting up.

“Surprised?” The colonel said satisfied. “That little putty there is 1500 lbs. of compressed titanium!” He said. “A little chump like you could never-”

Before he could finish the Colonel raised his right hand catching the putty that was thrown back to him.

“Like I said” Axel said dusting himself off. “We may not see everything you throw at us coming” He said coming out of the bleachers “But whatever it is that you throw we can handle it!”

His friends stood beside him resolutely eyeing down the group of SPA agents.

“Well then how about a wager?” The colonel said.

“Those of you who want to enter the gauntlet get on your feet.”

The entire class got on their feet standing resolutely behind Axel and his gang.

“Back in the old days… before the SPA became a daycare center… you couldn’t just pass some test to get in, this was also before the gauntlet and academy as well so you didn’t get time to train and prove yourself. Back then there was only one way to make it past those city gates and that was by recommendation

“Recommendation?” Axel asked

“Yes back in the day you had to go out into the badlands and apprehend a criminal as well as be referred by a standing officer!” The colonel said

“What are you proposing?” Lance asked

“In order to make it into the Gauntlet those who want to enter will have to beat a current agent!”

Gasps erupted through the field. What the hell was going on? They had expected they would all be agents by now.

“Also you have to sign a waiver… We are authorized to use whatever force is necessary in order to evaluate you… It's not uncommon for shifters to die during the exam, so you shouldn't expect anything less from us!”

“If you’re apprehensive about taking on trained agents I can understand. You have already met basic requirements and a week from now a bus will be coming to take all of you to HQ to begin your two year preliminary training. During that time you will take the written assessments and be sorted into the designated fields you are applying for. After that, for two years, you will be trained by my colleagues and myself without putting yourself at risk, as I'm sure many of you have never seen combat.

“But for those of you foolish enough to take us on right here right now! Remain standing.”

Axel, Tristan, Lance, B, Lily, Reggie, Pb, and Jeff, were the only ones remaining on their feet.

“Are you sure this is what you want? Once this begins there's no turning back.” Seymour said compassionately “There’s no reason to rush this and get unnecessarily injured. You have all worked so hard… It would be a shame to throw that all away.”

“When fear is in front of you, and death is behind you, facing fear becomes a lot easier!” Axel said confidently.

“Oh and what makes you so sure you're not facing death now?” The colonel said laughing.

“Because my friends are behind me! That tells me I haven’t reached death clutches yet!”

Axel felt a hand on his shoulder. It was 6.

“No Ax…. Even if death stands before you we won’t let you face that alone either! Right Guys?” 6 said.

“YEH AX, WE GOT YOUR Back Like Chiropract!” REGGEI said.

“AWE YEH REGI GET THE POPCORN! YO” Lily laughed

“Heh I'm about to POP some eyeballs!” B laughed.

“Why do I hang out with you losers…?” Lance said shaking his head

““Haah I hope you’re all this lively during the exam! I'll be sure to split you guys up, can't have you working together!?” The colonel scoffed

“Hah, you can try!” Axel said

“Don't underestimate me boy!” The 8 of you will arrive here tomorrow morning at 0900 the rest of you are dismissed.

“Wait… what about our Awards… and accomplishments we made all these years?” On student asked.

“Like I give a shit about that! You’ll receive that all in the mail! As for what your specific school is doing to commemorate this? Ask your teachers!” He barked storming off

“And one more thing!” The colonel barked “You the loud emo boy with the blue hair!”

“What... I'm not Emo….” Axel answered

“What’s your name kid?”

“My name is Axel! And I'm not a kid.”

“Axel what?”

“I don't have a last name… My documents were never found…”

“Sir… that boy he's just like….”

The colonel raised his hands stopping the captain,

“Well... My name is Colonel Grant. Head of admissions and examinations at the SPA. I just want you to know… your opponent tomorrow… WILL BE ME!”

The Colonel grabbed his sides laughing expecting Axel to complain.

“Good!” Axel said waving his fist “Now I have an excuse to punch you in the face! NO ONE picks on my friends, not even a Colonel!”

HAHAAHAH The colonel laughed walking away. “Tell ye what kid you pull that off and I'll make you colonel myself.”