Author's note: Well, last chapter was very, very stale I know, and to "make it up" well, this chapter is a roller coaster, and if you like FF, which I assume you do, they begin to appear here, even the "mystery" person.


Normalcy? Extremely Overrated

Part 1: A Very Unusual School

Chapter Two

I Hate Tests!


Hello there, Sora here! No we don't have a narrator yet, and since we're following me… I agreed to stay. Now, we left in the middle of a flashback didn't we? Back to it we go!

"Sora! Get up!" I heard someone calling, I could care less.

"Just five more minutes mom…" I was not in the mood for waking up.

"SORA! UP! NOW!" That sure didn't sound like my mother.

"I'll be right down…" God, whoever that was, he sure knew how to annoy people-

"Sora, breakfast is ready!" Wait…what?

"WHERE?" I demanded, jumping out of my seat.

"You are so predictable…" Leon mocked me, not that I wasn't used to it, when was the last time he even thought about complimenting someone? Anyway, at least he wasn't lying, he gave me two donuts and a banana.

"You're gonna need sugar and energy ayuck!" Goofy tried to explain me, he didn't need to though, who was I to question donuts for breakfast?

"GOOFY! What did I tell you?" Donald screamed before beginning to hyperventilate again.

"Aw shucks! Sora, you have five minutes to get to the test! Roxas should already be there!" He told me as he gobbled the last donut.

"Wait what? What about Leon?" I asked them, he seemed to be too calm for that.

"I don't NEED to, my credentials at Balamb are enough." Leon replied with that mocking glare. "I'll be watching you kid!" He ruffled my hair and pushed me towards the stairs, where a violet armored man stood. This guy was… intimidating. He was tall, a good ten centimeters taller than me and his armor resembled a dragon with his draconic helmet and scale-like chest plate and knee guards. Wait a second, this guy was…

"Since you're such an irresponsible rascal as your father was, I figured you would be late. Grab on, there IS no other class for you take this test in." That was more of an order than a request, so, when he lowered himself and gestured me to grab to his shoulders, I did. Piggyback rides might be embarrassing, but I valued my life.

"Are you… Kain Highwind?" I asked, hoping that I would not annoy him. God help me if I did. Luckily, the guy just grinned and… jumped. Let me tell you, one moment we were at the aerodrome, sea level mind you, then, after being able to open my eyes because of the massive gale that I felt hitting me, I could see the whole city. The busy metropolis that was Radiant Garden. It was a wonder, how such a busy city filled with skyscrapers and important enterprises still managed to have such a natural feeling. You didn't feel any pollution in the air, there were gardens everywhere, and I spotted one HUGE one, I'd have to see it one day, I think I even saw a giant fountain nearby, but suddenly we started falling. So this was really a jump.

"Does this answer your question?" The masked man asked me with a hint of cockiness in his voice.

"War Hero Kain Highwind… and I'm hitching a ride with you! AWESOME!" I yelled, the air hitting my face and driving my hair even wilder than usual, I felt so free in the air, someday, I wanted to do something like this guy! "WOHOOOOO! THIS FELLS GREAT!"

"Tsk, you're just like your father." He muttered, I barely hearing him with the air and my own voice. He looked to his side and, before I asked something, he had seen the time on a giant tower that housed a clock. "We have three minutes…"

"I hope we arrive in time…" I said, terrified of the idea of failing by lack of appearance, that was insta-adoption and two years away from anything I knew. Plus, who would WANT someone 16 years old? I don't like the stories about orphanages either.

"Don't worry kid." Kain reassured me, landing on the middle of a sidewalk. People didn't even seem to be THAT surprised, must be common occurrence. "Hang on!" And I did have to, for my life! From what little I could see, we shot forward, Kain spinning in midair to use a nearby skyscrapers for footing, this again and again, five times total. We then arrived at a pier at sea side, there was no boat there so I thought I'd lost my chance, Kain didn't. "They should be halfway through…" He told himself before dashing forward. "Let's go kid, the island's waiting for you!" Wait, island? Before I could even ask however, I was flying again. Well, I'm not stupid, I could realize that the school WAS on an island off the coast, why was a different story. Still, Kain was right as we soon spotted a boat and Kain had magically timed his jump perfectly.

"What the heck is…" A giant dog asked? Whatever, why am I surprised? Then he realized what it was, so did the students on the boat.

"Greetings!" Kain greeted as he landed with me on the boat. "Farewell!" He finished as the boat appeared to have been only a platform for a much bigger jump. Said jump was enough to cause such vibration on the boat that everyone got went, even the commander.

"KAAAAAAAAIN!" The bulldog hollered, but we were long gone.

Seconds later I saw it, the massive island where I would live, if I passed of course. I wanted to describe it, but I didn't get to see much however, I only saw what seemed to be a central park, several buildings tightened together that I deduced to be the school installations themselves and not much else, since we crashed on said buildings. Okay, not ON them, we crashed at the entrance to one.

"Right on schedule." Kain told me, pointing at my watch. I was ten seconds early! But how did he know? Was he counting the time while he did all that? Just then, I felt wind soar through my hair spikes and I instinctively looked to my right side. What I saw was something I thought to be a girl about my age… landing. Yes, my eyes must have deceived me, but still… I saw how that blonde curly ponytail swayed when she stopped her motion in midair, even her floral red ribbon did the same.. She gave me a courteous smile and looked at Kain.

"Hello Kain." She greeted, tilting her head to her side. The girl, no more than 1.60 meters tall had a strange violet color in her eyes. She was somewhat skinny, or maybe it was her strange dress that accentuated that. She was wearing a very unconventional sleeveless red dress with floral patterns drawn into it followed by two matching long red gloves that covered most of her arms, several different sashes around her waist, and a whites-pink CAPE, who the hell wears a cape? Her legs were covered by patterned white tights, and red and gold high-heeled boots. Thank god my bro wasn't here, he has a major thing for blondes.

"Good luck, give it your all!" Kain told her with a pat on her shoulder.

"Will do!" She then turned to me." Good luck! I'll see you at the acceptance ceremony!" She wished, making me stumble a little. If such a fragile looking girl was entering the test, surely it couldn't be THAT crazy… Plus she even was sure I was gonna pass.

"Get in!" Kain urged, I had to, so even if I wanted to ask so much of the man, I did.


This was…packed. The whole, giant lab-like room was filled with computers everywhere and where there WEREN'T computers, there were people, lots and lots of people.

"Whoa, just how many ARE able to try it?" I asked myself, not knowing I was being watched.

"There's one thousand people here, give or take, and over nine thousand have already passed." The guy told me from behind. He was tall, as tall as Kain I guess and he had that long, flowing silver hair and turquoise eyes, complete with muscular body already made me realize how many girls would swoon over this guy. "Still, considering the success rate on the exam… yeah, we're gonna end up being three or four classes max." Now this guy could be useful, he seemed to know his thing, so I decided to prod him for info. That and he seemed to be a nice guy.

"What's it exactly?" I asked, now taking note of his clothes. A black latex-like suit with white stripes? And a helmet? What? Then I noticed everyone in the room had one… except for me.

"The average for all the years is… 0.8 percent." He said, and I don't have to tell me how hard that hit me.

"0.8%? What kind of madmen prepare this test?" I blurted, catching the attention of a lot of people.

"Considering the stories my sisters told me of this school, take your pick at the madmen." He said, chuckling. "Hey, I didn't introduce myself, name's Riku, Riku Farron, you?" He replied, totally taking my attention off his clothes. I'm such a wonderful person I make friends with people not even five minutes in!

"Sora, Sora Leonhart." He replied shaking hands with him.

"So… here." He handed a set of clothes just like his. "You kinda need to put these on. I saw you get in late so I stepped to give you these, the changing room is right here." He patted a door that blended perfectly into the wall. "Go on, I'll wait." He told me.

Really nice guy.

I entered the room and well, I bet you don't want me to describe how I sensually switch clothes, so I'll skip ahead.

"This feels weird… it fits perfectly, and that's just… I don't know. And then the machine came and picked my clothes for me, this place is psychedelic." I told Riku, who just laughed and put a helmet on my hands.

"Can't describe it either, let's go." He told me, now that I noticed it, the number of people was dwindling, so I asked Riku:

"Did I miss something?"

"Nah, they just told us to move on to the next room in groups of one hundred. See that computer?" He pointed at one right beside the door, it had the number 89, but jumped to 97 and then at 100 the door closed. "It controls it."

"Wait. What is the test all about then?" I asked, confused at what was going on with all this high tech. The guy just gave me a cocky chuckle and told me:

"I'll not ruin the surprise." Okay, so he wasn't a saint. Still, the door clicked again and opened.

"Attention please, by my calculations you are now exactly one hundred, whoever does not enter WILL be disqualified." A robotic voice that went all over the room assured, causing people to run to the door as fast as they could. I did so aswell, but when me a Riku entered, I saw that… not only where there no people, but there was no doors. I was beginning to freak out but when I realized I was in a machine and people around me started vanishing as red beams hit them, I REALLY freaked out.

"You set me up Riku! THEY ARE GOING TO ABDUCT ME!" I shouted shaking the man before we both got hit. My muscles went stiff and then my vision blanked. It tried to fight it but I lost all control and any sense of direction and seemed to hit the ground. I could feel what I thought to be Riku's hands holding me but I kept my eyes shut and flayed at my assaulters. "GET BACK MINIONS OF DARKNESS! I WILL PROTECT MY BUT!" I hollered before something very heavy hit me on my… most important part.

"Hey! Numbskull! We aren't aliens or demons!" A girl's voice shouted at my ear… do I have to do this?

Yes, describe how you felt at the time, it's not like it's what you feel now.

God damnit… Fine. Her voice was like music, no, it was like an angel was speaking to me, little did I know it was just Satan's way of pulling me in. I opened my eyes and laid eyes on heaven. I'm not even going to deny now, I never saw anything even close to reaching her level of PHYSICAL beauty. I instantly got lost in those violetish blue eyes and scarlet flowing red hair, but not before noticing her fair pale skin and those lips… god … those lips. Still, they were contorted in snarl so I couldn't appreciate them fully. Don't worry, we'll see that snarl a lot.

"WAKE! UP!" She was about to pummel me again but my new main man Riku grabbed her little but deadly fist.

"Give him a sec, he was late so he wasn't filled in." Riku told her, god he had guts, he had just seen her kick me… THERE.

"Tsk, fine. Look, get up so we can get begin the test, I've got a record to break." She told me, turning her back and walking into a crowd. A blonde girl by her side made a courteous bow and said:

"Please excuse my sister, she's just nervous that's all!" Before sprinting to her.

"Well now… interesting pair that one." Riku commented as he grabbed my hand. "Sorry man, but your reaction to being digitalized was just priceless!"

"Digita-what?" I looked at my body… it was normal. What was he talking abou- "What the? These clothes aren't mine!" I shouted, Riku just laughed.

"Tron there will explain everything." He told me, pointing towards a strange man on top of the only elevation in the room. Which was very much like a blue void mind you, really, it was. I mean, the room was incredibly empting and silent… except for the crowd chatting of course, it had no furniture, no screens, nothing, the walls and floor were "tilled" blue with some techno-like stripes everywhere. The only thing that stood out in the room WAS the pillar where the man stood, so, that really helped. The "man" itself stood at about six feet and was composed by a mostly light blue body with occasional electric blue stripes. Its skin was also light blue, albeit even lighter than the body and its head had some sort of blue helmet where the hair would be.

"Greetings! I am Tron, the artificial AI for Radiant Garden's SOLDIER Institute and I am here to explain you the rules of this test. Let us begin." He created a giant 3D hologram in front of him, people gasping at what they saw. "This is what we call a "Survival Game". You are all digitalized, meaning that your body has been converted to data. You do have backup data, so whatever happens will not affect you're real life counterpart. Now, onto the game. The objective is to go from here." He pointed at the southern edge of the map. "To here." He explained, now pointing at the northern. Two pulsing yellow dots were left there to mark them. "There are three main routes, you can go for the shortest way, the mountain." He signaled an almost straight line, through the miniature mountain. "You have to evaluate very well if you are able to deal with the elevation and the… wildlife." He didn't speak more, leaving us to guess the wildlife. "Next up is the forest." The line he drew had now a slight curved as it stretched through the meadows. "Can you handle a maze, one that is a longer away from the finish line? And can you face the formidable wildlife of the forest? Or will you take this route?" He signaled a MASSIVE route that went all the way around the map through the beach and even had large gulfs that forced curves. "Will you take on the sand and the curves on the gulfs? Can you really reach the finish line in time after using a path that is more than five times bigger than the mountain?" Now he was sounding more and more like a one of those reality TV spokesman…. Pretty cool for an AI. "That is for you to choose, but know these base rules. You have a total of three hours to reach the finish line, after three hours the gate for the de-digitalize chamber will close. After we announce it, you can at any time disconnect or you can even stay for an hour more, do what you want, after four hours you WILL be de-digitalized. This is because most Survival Games focus on different objectives and we're only adapting it to you. Now, any questions before I open the door and let you have your 10 minutes of preparation?" To my surprise, the woman I viewed as an angel raised her hand. "Yes miss… Strife if I'm correct."

"What's the record for this? And who set it?" She asked, a little calmer then what she told me but there was still something dark beneath her voice. It still sounded beautiful in my ears though.

"Let me see…" He contemplated, probably reaching for the database. "Mr. Sephiroth Shinra clocked in at twenty-nine minutes and fifty-seven seconds." He announced, gasps, shouts of amazement going through the audience.

"As expected from the top student." Riku mused, even if he WAS surprised. I was too, I mean, he did bellow one sixth of the given time… Still, the girl smiled and said what many thought to be a joke:

"I'll do it… We'll do it under twenty-five minutes!" She exclaimed, grabbing her sister and walking away to where the exit was appearing, people laughing in her back. She laughed back and taunted: "If you're such big boys, laugh in my face… or… beat me in this race." This WASN'T a race, but for many, it had just become personal. You see, some hormone filled males, it is impossible to be taunted by a girl and not go on a rampage. Me? I could see it, or maybe I was being partial at the time, but for that confidence… there had to be a reason.

"Well, now that that is settled, you may leave this room, oh, and one more thing, there is nothing in the regulations against groups, BUT remember that some people may slow you down or take advantage of you. Be careful." Was an AI actually poking at human nature? Well, he WAS right but still…

We left the room and then I realized the scale of this. The mountain? I couldn't see the top. The forest? More like a tropical rainforest, in size at least. The beach? Well, let's just say it was probably faster to run through Radiant Garden. Not counting the golfs, I could already see one, it was massive. How the heck would we run through this in time?

"SORA!" Oh, I knew that voice, Rox finally saw me. He was wearing the same as me and everyone else now after we were digitalized, which I conveniently forgot to describe. They were all wearing dark blue sweaters with black straps on each side, leading to black shoulders. The middle area was a giant belt buckle with the school's seal stamped on it and the baggy pants matched the sweater but the boots and gloves matched the shoulders. In short, you guys know it as the SOLDIER 2nd Class uniform, we didn't know it until later. "Finally caught up to ya!" Roxas was… different… he was happy? Wasn't he depressed? "Look who I found!"

"Sora! BRO!" There were only two people in the world who called me that, and that blitzballer was one of them.

"Tidus!" I called, running up to the dirty blonde, stopping immediately in front of him and fist bumping the guy. "Six years!"

"AYE! DUDE! How's it going?" Uh oh… dangerous topic! ABORT MISSION! ABORT MISSION!

"Who's that guy?" I asked as fast as I could, not recognizing the guy who was with him.

"Oh, this guy? This guy moved to Destiny Islands one year after you left." The blue eyed energetic Tidus explained to me, well, a description is in order. First things first. He was tall, Riku tall, so give or take 1.80. He also shared the same muscles, god I feel skinny, even Tidus is more muscled than I am… Well, clothes don't matter to this point, so I can just say he was about the same tone of color than me, brown eyes and matching brown mane that reached his shoulders, slightly spiky mane at that.

"Name's Shinryu Verus. Call me Shin. You're Sora, aren't you? #1 Lazy-ass in Destiny Islands?" Note to self, kill Tidus and everyone he loves.

"Yes… don't believe everything Tidus says…" I muttered, Riku came to my aid, or he at least wanted to ask something.

"Shinryu… where have I heard that name before? And Verus rings an even bigger bell…well, I'll get there someday. Riku Farron." He extended his hand, Tidus and Shinryu shaking it.

"Tidus Blitz. Yes, it's ironic, get over it." Tidus said, already anticipating the question to if he played blitzball.

"Attention duelists! My hair…wrong series. Attention participants, in two minutes the countdown will start." Tron voice warned us.

"Okay then… I hope I'll see you at the finish line." Riku waved as he walked away.

"You want to go alone?" I asked, somewhat disappointed.

"I work alone Sora, I'll get to teamwork when I'm actually IN the school." He told me as he vanished. Well, he was right to go alone, but you'll know why in time.

"Well, mister traveler, any tips?" Tidus asked of his friend.

"This is all taken from Ivalice.I can tell from the jungle when I traveled there before I settled down. Golmore Jungle, Phon Coast and the Paramina Rift, if we use the mountain we fail, pure and simple. Considering we're also islanders and we can swim pretty fast, I suggest trying the coast, but I have to check something at the gulf, let the first ones take the lead and try and cross it okay?" Well, that guy had some head on his shoulders, no harm in trying right?

"Sounds like a plan!" I exclaimed, trying to get our blood pumping.

"Let's ace this!" Roxas exclaimed. I was actually surprised at his recovery, maybe Tidus rubbed his cheerfulness back.

"Contestants…on your marks…" I saw that same blonde ponytailed girl doing some stretches a bit away from the she-devil.

"Get set…" She looked back and mouthed.

"See you at the finish line." Before I could ask she was so certain, it was announced:

"GO!" And all hell broke loose. Everywhere I looked, there were people running, some towards the mountains, some towards the forest but most were going to the beach, maybe because there was no "wildlife" whatever that meant… I really hated to find out WHAT that meant… Still, something I noticed was that, when the order went, the trio of girls vanished into thin air… they couldn't be THAT fast, could they?

After a few minutes of mindless running through the sand, mostly at the lead since we were used to the terrain, we arrived at the first gulf.

"Stop!" Shin told us. "Let's go round it." He said.

"Why we can…"

"Trust me." Shin reassured, Tidus just sighing and going for it. If TIDUS shut up, I knew needed to trust him. So we did run, we ran as fast as we could but then we saw the first people to try and swim. At first, it seemed safe and a lot of people tried it, but then I realized what the brown haired guy was afraid off. From the depths, as fast as a flash, a giant… freaking… sea serpent bolted out of the water, engulfing five people in one dash. Panic. Panic everywhere. Some froze, some tried to swim for safety, but safe for the people really near the shore, you couldn't outswim a sea serpent. That thing was big, about twelve meters long, massive and it had a feast, or an imaginary one, seeing as we were just copies.

"Knew it... Sea Lords. Not quite Leviathan, but more than enough. Run to the forest!" He urged to which I had to ask why. "Because, if we're going to have to run all the way there we'll never make it, since the water is infested, let's just hope we don't run into… that."

"I don't like the sound of "that"…" I lamented but I agreed on the being too long part, we had to risk it. We ran off into the sea of trees, the cries for help hounding our ears.


"Why isn't Eliwuss watching this with us?" A tall, built man asked a smaller, green haired girl.

"Just leave him alone, his son is on another turn." She replied.

"Still, if his son fails, I'll bet you he'll go Emowood!" He joked, earning him a bonk in the head.

"Shut up and concentrate muscle head!" She reprimanded before seeing just who had shown up. "D-director Eraqus?" She gasped.

"Oh, come now, you know how I do not like to be treated differently. So, Lyn, if I'm not mistaken, the Leonharts, the Strifes, Verus and even our little girl are in this one." He commented. Lyn quickly began browsing the files and nodded. "May I have a seat?"

"O-of course director!" The woman replied, pulling a chair in front of the 3D hologram they were using.

"Thank you, now… let's see how the Leonharts are doing. Hoho! They already met up with another point of interest. Wait… is that a…" He gasped.


"This… this can't be!" Shin gasped as we saw a giant wyrm lying dead in front of us, minutes later after reaching the forest. This wyrm itself was different from the ones I saw in TV. It's body looked like... wood, horns and wings included, even weirder was how the whole upper part of it and part of his paws were covered in grass, to be make it even weirder it had FLOWEERS growing on its head and spine, just what was this thing? Whatever had killed him, it had left a giant mark on its neck, suggesting it was just… one hit. "No one here had weapons… who could take on an elder wyrm like this? The danger level of this one is 43." I had to ask him what that means.

"Danger level?" I asked, he answering:

"I'll explain on the way, we need to MOVE!" He urged, and we started running. "The danger level of a creature is a measure of its power. Wolfs for example occupy level one. Anything above 5 is deemed beyond reach for regular, untrained humans without some sort of massive weapon like a missile." That scared the crap out of me, wasn't that guy... "The Elder Wyrm is a Ring Wyrm that died thousands of years ago, when the plants of Golmore entered it, it regained its sentient capabilities, how is a mystery. This species is the sole reason we cannot enter the jungle without body guards, as the rest of the fauna and flora range from 2 to 5, this one is at a village slaughtering 43… and worse, we're now marked for death." Okay, okay, okay, I could deal with rest, but what the hell did that mean? "Before you ask, when the wyrm dies, it releases a very special pheromone that covers the area where it dies, I noticed it died only a few minutes ago, so we're filled with it. The pheromone is sort of like "revenge", it marks the killer to both warn the other wyrms and to unite them against it. We, and the killer, are now target numero uno of any wyrm in the vicinity." Bad news, we could already hear the rustling behind us…


"Well, that's strange… let's see how Kairi and her sister are doing." Eraqus told himself. "Wait, what?"


"We should be halfway through!" Kairi exclaimed as she fell from a tree top, landing right next to the running Naminé. "How long has it been?"

"Twelve minutes." Her sister replied with a satisfied smile.

"Let's keep the pace!" Kairi exclaimed, now more ecstatic than ever.

"Still, Kairi…did you have to kill it?" Naminé asked in a sadder tone.

"Naminé, these are only data, if it weren't we'd have tried to dodge it, but for now, we have to take the faster route." She explained, justifying her kill earlier, then she saw two Elder Wyrms blocking their paths, roaring as they smelled the pheromones. "Tsk… GET OUT OF MY WAY!"


"This is… fascinating. Even after what the doctors told her…" Eraqus mumbled, stroking his small beard. "I think we can leave her alone, she will pass easily. In ten minutes however, we might have to check on her, Sephiroth might have a rude awakening today.


"OH GOD, WHY DID WE ARRIVE ON TIME?" I exclaimed as we made our way through the woods, running from a rampage of three Elder Wyrms. The pheromones were god's way of saying "screw you!" to us, I'm sure of it.

"WHAT IS THAT SORA?" Tidus asked as a similar wyrm, now with a ring around its neck arrived from the right side.

"HELL WOULD I KNOW TIDUS! RUN!" Was all I could answer before said wyrm spat a giant ball of molten fire towards us. We dove to safety on a nearby river but we saw it was full of crocs…god damnit! We burst out of the water, Shin almost getting a leg bitten off and made out way to the other we were soaking wet and our squeaky footsteps were marvelous enough to give our location to anything with ears!

"ARE THEY TRYING TO KILL US?" I blurted out in frustration.

"Depends on your perception. They are trying to kill the data-you. Not exactly murder if you know there's a copy there. And they might need to do it so you can't recall the test if you don't pass, making it impossible to have an edge on subsequent entries." Okay, there could only be SO MUCH you could take before panicking, how was he NOT?

"SHUT UP! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?" I blurted.

"After seeing the digitalize and the 0.8% success ratio… I imagined something like this." He confessed.

"Was I the only one not knowing the success rate?" I felt kinda stupid now.

"I didn't, but maybe because we were rushed here in less than a day." Roxas replied, of course making sense, damn smarty-pants. Then… rustling, very heavy rustling.

"Well… crap. Get to the tree tops!"Shin exclaimed, grabbing a giant tree's vine and pulling himself up.

"We'll be stuck!" Tidus exclaimed, stopping before grabbing.

"If this is a perfect replica, we won't!" He replied, and seeing as it was either that or dragon-chow… I went with the trees. The vines were enormous and the tree had plenty of holes along his trunk, so it was an easy, albeit five minutes long climb. What we saw when we arrived at the top was amazing. Between the brisling leaves of the tree tops, a crossroad of wooden pathways appeared, one that we could easily jump to, and we did. "Knew it. The Viera's Treetop Escapade!" Well, I had to give him that he was well traveled… still, he couldn't plan for everything.

"SORA, TIDUS! HELP!" Roxas called, oh great, giant, eyeless, black birds?

"Zus? In Golmore Jungle? Tidus!"

"On it!" Tidus replied, pulling out a blitzball. "Never leave home without it!" He exclaimed, throwing it into the air and kicking it with an overhead Sphere Shot, skillfully hitting the bird's beak. It cried out in shock and let go of my brother, who landed safely on one knee nearby. Then we did what we the entire test. We ran!

"Not so calculating now, are you?" I asked the former encyclopedia.

"They changed the fauna… oh shit…" He looked to the front and we saw IT. What the hell was a hydra doing here? Not the legendary being mind you, "just" a flying three headed dragon. "Danger level 56…" Was all Shin said. We were flanked. A flock of Zus from behind, and a giant three headed dragon from the front, we were ready to kiss our admission goodbye but then… then I had an idea, for once.

"Ever saw Tarzan?" I asked, grabbing a nearby vine.

"I like the way you think." Shin agreed.

"Let's rock!" Tidus exclaimed.

"Am I the only SANE person here?" Roxas lamented.

"You can say that!" I told him as I jumped off, everyone following me, even him. Considering how huge the animals where, they had no mobility around tree tops so we would have a safe ride… if my vine didn't begin to lose its power. Yes, I could hear the ripping sound coming from it, and no, I didn't like it one bit.

"Sora! Your vine is ripping!" Roxas exclaimed just as the vine was on its last legs, with no treetop nearby.

"Rox… get in for me, okay?" I told him in an unusual melancholic tone as the vine ripped.

"SORAAAAAAAA!" I hear my brother and Tidus cry as I fell into the unknown. Fortunately for me, I didn't have time to piss my pants as I hit a giant tree branch with my head, seemingly ending my participation in the test.


"You clocked at… Twenty-four minutes and forty-eight seconds! Congratulations, Kairi and Naminé Strife! I will now return you to your bodies on the changing room, take your time to get your clothes back on and move to the waiting room, we have game systems to entertain you while you wait for the test to conclude!" Tron exclaimed as he watched over the happy, but completely exhausted duo.

"We did it Nam… we beat the school record…" Kairi said in between deep breaths.

"Yeah… we did… they'll be so proud of us!" Naminé replied, hugging her sister as they de-digitalized. Back in the "real world" Tron's machines threw their clothes back them and they decided to strip and change.

"Let's get these clothes on so we can play a match of Brawl, or ten before the test ends!" Kairi exclaimed, the fatigue from the test disappearing ever since she changed body.

"Okay!" Naminé replied happily. There was nothing that could ruin this, or was there? Once they left the changing room and stepped into the one beyond…

"Hello! I knew you would pass easily!" A voice greeted.

"Wh-what? How are you here?"


Sometime later:

"A tie? Most unusual! Well, Riku and Xion, you both clocked in at fifty-nine forty-seven! Very good, bellow an hour is an extremely good sign!" Tron congratulated. Riku eyed the raven-haired girl by his side in a mix of surprise, excitement and happiness.

"The race was fun." He told her, extending his hand.

"Sure was big guy!" She exclaimed, shaking it.

"Now, Sora, don't blow this…"He told himself as he returned to the real world.


Now, you must be asking yourself, "Sora, why are you narrating right now? You just got owned." Well, my dear non-believers, believe it or not, I actually survive my little run in death. How? Read it.

I slowly opened my eyes and cringed at the mother of all headaches, I touched the back of my head and felt dried blood… just how long had I been out?

"Sleeping beauty is up! It's only been two hours!" That voice, Shin? Okay, another piggyback ride? What was I, a baby?

"Wh-what happened?" I asked, still cringing at my possibly cracked skull.

"You hit so many branches while going down you managed to survive. We ran back and picked you up and have been exchanging you between our backs as we try to get off this forest… we're lost if you didn't guess." Roxas explained to me with a clumsy smile. Wait, lost? Two hours?

"Why did you come back for me? You could have passed and now you're lost with little less than…" A voice finished that for me.

"Attention participants! In ten minutes the gates WILL close, it's your last sprint! Make the most out of it." Great…. 10 minutes and we're lost.

"Why did you come back? Now we're all gonna fail!" I lashed out, angry that Roxas had blown his chance.

"We wouldn't be here if it weren't you Sora." Roxas told me with a determined look.

"We either get through this together or we don't get through this at all, got that?" Shin reassured me.

"Let's go, we have ten minutes of running to do!" Tidus exclaimed. There was no logic to our actions, but hell, it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time, so, without directions… we just went forward!

We ran and ran through the forest, time counting down on us, Tron seemed to like doing that.

"Five minutes."

Nothing but green.

"Four minutes."

Were we even going in the right direction?

"Three minutes…"

C'mon! SOMETHING!

"Two minutes…"

DAMN IT! APPEAR YOU ROTTEN DOOR!

"Sixty seconds…"

I could hear that damned voice counting down the seconds and it drove me nuts! Not nuts enough to see our salvation though.

"THE DOOR!" I exclaimed, seeing the steel door preparing to close.

"No…" For some mishap of destiny… the Elder Wyrm appeared right in front of it.

"Ten…"

Damnit all! We tried to run around her but we were tailed by the beast, I could feel my ribs cracking. Why was I even trying this hard anyway? I didn't know, but when the door closed, I felt as if a little part of me died with it. The other one? It just went crazy, in a good way.


"To think the Strife's actions would make the Leonharts fail… well, no use in crying over spilled milk. I'll go begin the welcoming ceremony." Eraqus lamented, getting off from his chair and going to the conference room where the new students had been instructed to go. "Pity, we almost passed the 1% mark for the first time this year…"


"Sora… damn. That's life I guess." Riku commented as he looked back into the room one last time before following the others. Just you wait Riku, Sora's a little more resourceful than you think.


While most of us were lamenting behind the three we were using to hide ourselves, I was concocting a plan. One that you had to be crazy to try… lucky I was there, huh?

"Guys, I might have an idea." Me and Shin said at the same time, glaring at each other before glaring evilly at Tidus.

"Oh god no…"

Two minutes later…

"COME AT ME BRO!" Tidus yelled of the top of his lungs, cursing every word probably. The wyrm didn't take long to go for broke and try and eat a tasty blonde, charging at the man.

"NOW!" I yelled, the three of us jumping from the tree tops into its back as Tidus used his acrobatics to do the same.

"STEER HIM!" Shin ordered, we did the best we could do to change direction, cling to the side we wanted it to turn to make it try and smash us into trees. It surprisingly worked. With only 3 near death calls, dodging at the last second. We had him where we wanted him. Facing the door. "Okay, Tidus, on you!" Shin told him.

"Fudge…" He cursed, grabbing the nose of the wyrm and hanging on it ,so the creature could not bite him. It did what we though he was going to do. It tried to smash Tidus against the door. At the last second of its charge, we lulled Tidus up and BAM, the door was smashed to smithereens! We suddenly were catapulted forward by the wyrm and saw Tron eyeing us strangely before de-digitalizing us. Fingers crossed.


Eraqus was about to begin his speech to the ninety seven survivors, but as soon as he took a deep breath to talk, Tron appeared in an hologram.

"Sir, we have four members that managed to pass the goal!" Tron exclaimed, not even he had something like that in his archives?

"Who and how." Eraqus asked with a small sliver of hope.

"Tidus Blitz, Shinryu Verus and the twins, Sora and Roxas Leonhart. They steered an Elder Wyrm to break through the door to the inside. What shall I do?" What he saw next confused him and the students. The man who seemed strict and by the book burst into uncontrollable laughter, one that lasted about a minute.

"Sora, you numbskull…" Riku commented, the raven haired girl by his side agreeing but saying:

"Your friend seems interesting!" And Riku replied.

"That's a nice way to put it…" He said jokingly.

"Let them in, they pass with flying colors! That's a first!" Eraqus exclaimed, Tron nodding and re-digitalizing them… directly into the room.

"Oh Shi-" Riku began before getting smashed by two blondes and two brunettes.

"It… it worked?" Roxas said astonished.

"Of course!" I had no hope that it would work, but I had to sound cool, ya know?

"I must say, you four really surprised me, not by your speed, but your fast thinking and knowledge. For that, the exception is made." Eraqus told them, returning to a serious composure. "Before we begin however, it's with pride that I say that not only has this been the year with the biggest percentage and number of acceptances. 101 people means 1,01%, but we also saw four people defeat the previous record. A rounf of applause for our four shining stars!" He exclaimed, pointing at the four people and the chocobo.

"Fourth place clocked in at Twenty-eight forty seven, Bartz Klauser and his chocobo Boko!" THE Bartz Klauser? And chocobos weren't against the rules? Figures. We all did applaud him of course, but he was mixed upon his record and his loss… who could blame him? Besides him were… the angel disguised devil and her sister? So she COULD back it up, I could already see the hormone filled guys take a good gulp, if any of them was here.

"Second place was a tie! Clocking in at twenty-four forty-eight… Kairi and Naminé Strife." So we knew the names. Okay, most males swooned at them and I did too, but we weren't ready for what came next. I though it to be strange that they weren't celebrating, but then I realized they must have wanted first... and they were FAR from it.

"And… the first place clocked in at an AMAZING… THIRTEEN TWELVE!" Was... was I hearing things? There was no way… I looked everywhere and only saw stumped expressions, especially considering the one that was supposed to be first place.

"THIRTEEN TWELVE?" We shouted in unison. It was just mind-blowing, a taste of what was coming.


Next Chapter:

"And now, let's decide your partners for the rest of the year!"

"We're the seniors in charge of you!"

"This team has everything to go horribly wrong…"

"Or marvelously right!"

"Optimism has limits."

Next time, on Normalcy? Extremely Overrated: My New Roommates!


Post-Chapter Note:: Well, yeah, thirteen. So, what did ya think about this one? I know the first one was stale, but this one more than makes up for it right? Opinions, thoughts, anything? Press da blue buttonz.

PS: I dare you to guess who the one that beat the record was, hint, it's from Final Fantasy. Free cookie?