I feel like this book is just going to be filled with dumb puns & references & junk and I'm not even sorry xD Also, all of the characters have been introduced (pretty sure) so we can get the ball rolling now! I'm pumped! :D


The placement test took place on the first floor in the pyramid's center. Thirty students sat in six rows while a professor, a short fox with white fur and three tails, walked down the isles. Instead of walls, large windows stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Anyone passing through the first floor could peek in and watch.

Landon leaned against a column at the back corner of the testing room. He stood with two friends, his neighbors.

"The one with two tails… He's your roommate?!" a Spirit type named Brody exclaimed.

"Uh-huh," Landon answered. He scanned the room, smirking at the newbies. Most were nervous. Landon always found it amusing watching them get adjusted. It was like watching sheep get acquainted with a new dog.

"How old is he?" Brody's roommate, Fire type, asked.

Landon looked at him. "Twelve."

The boys' jaws fell slack. Landon had to laugh. A bell rang overhead and the trio started down the hall.

"That's impossible, though," Mason declared. "Isn't it?"

"I think Tails is living proof that it is possible," Landon argued.

Brody frowned. "Tails? 'Cause of… Oh, oh. Ha. I get it." He grinned.

Landon sighed. Sometimes, he wondered why he hung around him.

Mason broke away as they neared the stairs claiming he left something in his locker. After promising to catch up later, he disappeared in the sea of middle schoolers.

"So, what do you think he's gonna be?" Brody asked as they began climbing the stairs.

"I don't know."

"Not a clue?"

"I just met him yesterday!"

"Yeah, but you're great at reading people! You've got to have at least some idea."

Landon shrugged. "He mentioned he likes flying."

Brody scratched his chin. "A Wind type, perhaps? Gah, I hope not. That group's full of airheads."

Landon snickered. He and Brody fell into laughter that echoed down the hall. However, it was short lived as they reached the third floor.

A girl collided with Landon, knocking her to the ground. Her bag slid across the floor and teetered dangerously over the edge of the stairs.

Landon sneered, "Watch where you're going!"

"Me? It was your fault! The least you could do is pick my stuff up," she snapped.

"Oh, this stuff?" Brody pointed at the bag with the toe of his shoe. "Whoops." He shoved it, snickering as the bag tumbled down the stairs, its contents spilling out with every step.

The girl growled. She clawed at the floor, daggers of earth breaking through the tile and rising between the spaces of her paws.

"Let's get out of her before she attacks us with dirt," Brody mocked, tugging on Landon's arm. They continued down the hall, laughter drowning out the girl's irritated snarls.

•••••

"Sitting on my desk are thirteen elemental crystals. I will call you up one by one and you will hold each crystal in your hand. We will know your type by how the crystals react. Everybody ready?"

Tails sat at the edge of his chair, curling his fingers into fists to try and stop the trembling. He was anxious, a part of him never wanting to leave his chair and another part of him ready to get out of there and start class already.

He was suspicious, though. Every ounce of his logical brain told him that none of this was possible. Touching a crystal to determine what kind of super power you have didn't sound the least bit believable.

The first name was called, "Sonia Acorness." A small strawberry red fox slid out of the seat next to Tails and walked to the desk. The rest of the class leaned forward, held their breaths, waited with anticipation.

Sonia picked up the first stone, a dark green sphere. Earth, Tails guessed. A moment passed, the whole class holding their breaths. Then, nothing. Sonia placed the sphere down and grabbed the next crystal, an orange oval. Again, nothing.

This process continued for a few crystals until she picked up a clear crystal in an odd shape. The second her fingers brushed the mineral, a piercing sound screeched through the classroom. Tails and a few others pressed their hands to their ears. Others gasped and cried out in surprise.

Sonia dropped the crystal and the sound disappeared. The instructor smiled and said, "Congratulations, Sound type."

And then, the class erupted in cheers. There were whoops and whistles and a whole lot of clapping. Tails looked around in surprise, wondering why everyone was so happy. Was this a normal thing? What is this school?

"Next up, Rosalinda Amelia."

Tails was among the last few to go. With every new type discovered, Tails found himself more at all. The Fire crystal ignited a bold flame that burned Tails' cheeks from a few feet away, yet its holder remained unharmed. The Thunder crystal was accompanied by a low roar that rumbled the chairs. The Spirit crystal lit up like the sun, its luminous light shining unbearable for the onlookers.

"Tails Prower."

The classroom was bubbly, everybody gushing about their new types. By that point, each type had been chosen at least once. The curiosity was gone for the most part. Tails felt a bit relieved because that meant there were a lot less eyes on him.

"What do you hope to get?" the instructor asked as Tails stepped up to the desk.

"I don't know," Tails answered, and he wasn't sure if it was a lie. Being a Wind type would make him feel the most comfortable, but there was a part of him that wanted to try something new.

It was because of that part that Tails didn't pick up the Wind crystal straight away. He went through each one, hope falling a little bit each time. The instructor watched with so much interest that Tails wondered if it was just an act. Surely nobody cares that much about what type every single kid is?

Tails' hand hovered over the Wind crystal. It was a circular stone with a pale yellow pigment and a white spiral in the middle. He took a deep breath and scooped the crystal in his hand.

The last reaction the crystal had to a Wind type was a gently breeze that swept through the classroom. Just like the other crystals, its reaction was delayed by a second.

However, this reaction was immediate. The second Tails' fingers brushed over the circle, there was an explosion. A gust of wind so strong that it knocked students out of their chairs burst out of the stone in waves. Tails stumbled, grabbing onto the desk for support. There were cries of panic. Desks toppled over each other. Sounds of glass cracking were swept away by the strength of the wind.

The crystal slipped from Tails' staggering grip. The moment it left the fox's grasp, everything stopped. There was silence. Nobody moved, nobody breathed. They just stared. Even the bystanders who happened to be passing by stopped in their tracks and peered through the glass to see what happened.

Tails gasped, hand flying over his heart as he tried to catch his breath.

Despite whatever occurred, a kid in the back joked loudly, "Looks like he got the wind knocked out of 'im!" Then, the silence evaporated and an easy laughter took its place. Tails found himself smiling halfheartedly, still trying to wrap his head around what just happened.

"Um," Tails said, looking at the instructor, "that was normal, right?"

She smiled. "Certainly not! That was the strongest reaction I've ever seen in all my centuries of teaching here."

"Great," Tails sighed. He had to admit, he was kind of proud for having such a response. However, the fear of being talked about and teased overpowered the feeling of pride he had for himself. Tails could only imagine the looks he would get when he stepped into the hallway again.

"Well obviously, congratulations Wind type!"

Tails returned to his seat, head down and cheeks burning. It was just his luck that he would do something so outrageous and draw so much attention to himself.

A round of applause stopped him in his tracks. At first, it was just one or two kids from the back. Then, it grew louder and louder until the whole class was cheering. His classmates grinned at him, hollering and whooping with encouragement.

"That was so cool!"
"I've never seen anything like it!"

"That guy's awesome."

Tails lifted his head. He found himself smiling so wide his cheeks hurt. Tails took a deep breath, chest light again. He didn't feel like a freak, not in that moment. The feeling kind of reminded him of the first time he showed Sonic that he could fly.

"Whoa! That's wicked cool, little buddy!"

Pride. Tails couldn't remember the last time he'd felt it on his own. It was usually a feeling accompanied by beating Eggman and saving the world again. It was also a feeling shared with Sonic. Tails would disarm or rewire a deadly machine and Sonic would defeat the bad guy.

Had he ever felt proud of himself on his own? Tails couldn't remember. He must have not, because this was a feeling he didn't believe he could forget.

Tails slid back into his seat, still grinning. He couldn't stop even if he wanted to.

•••••

One of the windows were cracked.

Landon stopped short in the middle of the hallway, the sight taking him by surprise. A few other students had crowded around the testing room, searching for any more fractures. Landon pushed his way to the front of the crowd and his jaw dropped.

It was the first window next to the classroom door. Fissures stretched across the glass like a spiderweb. The ends of the cracks extended to the floor and the ceiling. One touch, it seemed, and the entire layer would collapse.

The students inside were dismissed. The crowd split, everyone stumbling to get out of the way when the door was thrown open. As the newbies filed out, the whispers started. Nobody had to guess; they knew the two-tailed fox was to blame.

Landon watched Tails exit. He was bubbly, a bounce in his step as he walked and a smile on his face. The whispers were loud, like insects in a forest. It didn't take long for Tails to catch wind of them.

"Who does he think he is?"

"What a showoff."

"OMG! Look, he has two tails!"

"No way he's a newbie."

"He's a weirdo."

Landon squinted, zeroing in on the younger fox's heartbeat. It quickened as his face fell. Every second it grew faster and faster until Landon worried he'd have a heart attack.

Tails turned and took off through the hall, shoving past people as he made a beeline for a backdoor. Landon pursed his lips, contemplating. He should probably follow, make sure the kid doesn't get lost or something.

The back door opened with a squeak. Landon shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself immediately. He looked around and spotted Tails sitting against the school a few feet down. Knees pulled to his chest, he appeared to be talking to himself.

As Landon neared, he overheard another voice that didn't belong to Tails.

"It's about time you called!" the voice exclaimed. "I thought you… Got dead or something."

Tails snorted. "Got dead?"

"Er, you know what I mean. How're things going? Ready to come home yet?"

Landon squinted, wondering where the voice was coming from. Was Tails wearing an earpiece? Was it something on his bag?
Tails sighed. He thought his answer over, trying to decide what to say. His buddy asked, "Tails? You okay?"

"Yeah," Tails breathed, "it's just… Really cold here."

"Go inside then, dummy."

"Hehe, right."

Landon stepped forward and his feet crunched in the snow. Tails' eyes widened, startled.

"Uh, class is starting," he quickly lied, raising his wrist to his mouth. "I'll talk to you later."

"See ya," the voice sighed. Tails ended the call with the press of a button and gazed up at Landon.

Landon smirked. "You know, I bet it's a lot colder sitting on the snow."

"It is," Tails confirmed. He climbed to his feet, dusting himself off as he shuddered.

Landon asked, "What're you doing out here, anyways?"

Tails crossed his arms over his chest, avoiding the question with another, "Why do the faculty have more than one tail but the students don't? Everyone staring at me like I'm some kind of…" He trailed off, leaning against the wall.

"Freak?" Landon offered. Tails didn't answer, so Landon continued, "The attention bothers you? Man, I'd be savoring every second of that!"

"I'm not you," Tails answered sharply. "Just… Please, tell me what's going on."

Landon frowned. He took a step closer to tails and sighed, "Okay. When a kitsune reaches a new hundred in age, they grow a new tail. So according to every bit of information we know about our kind, you should be over 100 years old. Are you sure you're not 112?"

Tails nodded slowly. "Pretty sure. Although, my friends always say I act older than I really am. So, wait, are we immortal?"

"No," Landon shook his head. "Our lifespan is 1,000 years, which is why the rest of the world thinks we live forever." He looked over at Tails and offered a smile. "So, you're kind of a celebrity."

Tails stared at the sparkles in the snow. "I don't feel like a celebrity."

Landon rolled his eyes. He'd love to be so popular around school. Why does the fame always go to those who don't care?

"Well, we should probably head back."

Tails looked at him. "How'd you know I ran out here?"

"I saw you leave." He and Tails began to walk back to the door. "By the way, do you usually talk to yourself? You're not gonna just start… Having conversations with yourself, are you?"

Tails snickered. "I was talking to my brother," he explained, waving his hand. "We have these communicators that work long distance." He held his wrist in front of Landon's face and pointed to the comm.

"Whoa," Landon admitted, "that's pretty cool."

"Thanks!"

"So, I hear you're a Wind type."

Tails groaned. "I didn't mean to break the window."

Landon laughed. "Don't apologize! It looked awesome. Pretty sure you're a legend now."

Tails had to admit, that made him feel a teeny bit more confident.

Landon stopped, grabbing the door handle and turning to Tails. The younger stood a few feet away, rooted to his spot with wide eyes.

"I don't wanna go back in there."

The older frowned. Tails' heart rate is picking up speed again, he observed. One of his powers was scanning pulses and auras, neither of which normal from what Landon could see.

"You have to go back eventually."

"I know."

Landon sighed. Kids. "Look dude, don't be so sensitive. No one's teasing you in there. They've just never seen a fox so young with multiple tails. You should enjoy it 'cause they'll get over it by next week."

Tails looked at him and almost smiled. "You're not great at comforting people."

"You're twelve, you should be old enough to deal with this stuff on your own."

"I…" Tails paused, gaze falling to the snow as he realized, "I've never had to handle it alone before."

It never occurred to Tails how often Sonic was with him. Ever since Sonic decided Tails was old enough to tag along on adventures, the two have been inseparable. Even before, they rarely spent time apart. Tails couldn't hardly remember a time before Sonic. He was just always there.

Landon sighed heavily. Privileged. "Look," he said, "I'll be right there. I gotta head that way to class anyways. Just focus on where you're heading, not at who's watching."

"Right." Tails nodded. "Okay."

Landon wondered if it was too late to change roommates as he pulled open the door. Few students still lingered in the halls as the rest had already gone to class. Whoever was left turned and stared.

As they walked, Landon glanced at Tails. The younger's heart beat pounded in Landon's ears, never slowing.

"Calm down," Landon ordered. He didn't want to have to drag the kid to the infirmary.

"I'm trying!" Tails whined. He took slow, deep breaths. He locked his gaze on a spiraling staircase at the end of the hall. He even tried distracting himself with a song to hum. Nothing worked because Tails could still feel the stares. They were heavy and burned his fur. Memories of his younger years flashed through his head. He almost expected the students to surge forward and attack.

They reached the safety of the stairs and Tails could breathe again. Landon eyed him skeptically.

"You sound like you're having a heart attack."

"I-Wait, I sound?" Tails gasped.

"Yeah. I can zero in on pulse and auras of others. It's one of my powers."

"That's so cool!" Tails cried, grinning.

"Kind of. It's pretty pointless, though."

Landon nodded toward an open archway. Over the arch was a sign that read EARTH, FIRE, FOREST, SPIRIT.

"Think you can make it the rest of the way?"

"Yeah, thanks." Tails suddenly felt stupid for overreacting. Landon was probably getting annoyed at him.

But, Landon smirked. "Try not to break anymore windows. I'll see you later."

Tails laughed uneasily. He turned away from Landon and continued up the stairs.

•••••

"There they are! C'mon, c'mon, we have a lot to do in too little time!" a white male fox called, waving the last minute stragglers into the classroom. He was unusually tall with long bangs that fell over his eyes. Tails and a few others shuffled in, mumbling apologies for their tardiness. A soft breeze swept through the room; it was warm, reminding Tails of the beach.

Why are all of the teachers white? Tails wondered as he found a seat. He sat in the front row, just beside the teacher's desk. The question had been bugging him all day; why do all of the teachers have white fur, but then Lorelei had silver fur? Does fur lighten when you reach 100 years and continue until it's pure white? Maybe I can ask Landon later.

The teacher pulled the door shut as the last kid entered. He said, "Okay! Welcome, welcome, welcome! This is Wind Training 101. Here, you'll learn the basics of your powers. You will learn to control your abilities so that way we can avoid things such as the incident that happened earlier…"

Tails' cheeks burned and he slouched down. The teacher divided his bangs, revealing bright ember eyes beneath. With a grin, he offered his fist to the student. Tails returned the grin, pumping the fist with his own.

"Those windows needed changed anyways. I'm impressed, kiddo. Anyways!" He made a motion to clap but froze inches away from his palms colliding. "I forget, sorry, that clapping is not something for first level students. I have to warn you all that clapping is a bit dangerous on this floor. The Thunder and Sound types take it to a scary level; don't be in the room when either type decides to clap. Scary."

Tails scrunched his nose. This guy's weird.

"So, my name is Mr. Aires, and we're gonna get started. Any volunteers?"

A girl next to Tails leapt out of her chair. "I'll do it!" she cried.

Mr. Aires waved her to the front. Another breeze swept through the room. Motion, Tails guessed, was the key to creating wind. "Eager, I like it! Step right up to this table of leaves! Now, I… Did not think this through. Hm. This won't be fun to clean. Okay, it's okay, let's just get going. I want you to move these leaves without touching them. Now, you may be asking yourself, 'Mr. Aires, I don't know how to do that!' Don't fret, children."

He stepped around the table so he faced the class. "The key to wind is movement." Tails smirked, mentally patting himself on the back. "You see, it doesn't take much to create a breeze." Mr. Aires waved his paw to the right. The pile of leaves trembled as a few fell away and landed in a line across the table. "The stronger the movement, the stronger the attack."

"Attack?" Tails repeated.

"Uh… I didn't mean to say that, but yeah, eventually you all with learn to attack and defend yourselves."

Tails was about to question further, but Mr. Aires cut him off.

"Okay! What's your name?"

"Wendy."

"Wendy! Let's see what you've got, girlfriend!"

Wendy nodded, determined. She raised her hand and with a deep breath, snapped her wrist to the side. A cluster of leaves shot off the top of the stack and hurled across the room.

"Nice job!" Mr. Aires praised. "Don't be so stiff, though. You could take someone's head off like that! Thanks Wendy, you can have a seat. Next!"

A montage of students stepped up to the desk. After a few tries, each other Tails' classmates were brushing leaves to the side with the point of their finger. Some had even started taking aim, turning the activity into a game. A few managed to hit the projector hanging form the ceiling, granting them twenty points.

Tails was the last to go. Mr. Aires leaned on the table next to him, mumbling about how messy the room had become.

"Before you do that," the teacher said quickly as Tails raised his hand, "d'ya wanna try something fun?"

"Sure!" Tails replied, excited.

"So clapping is a relatively risky move, as I have said. The Thunder types can turn it into a thunder strike so strong, it'll shake the entire school. The Sound types can turn a single clap into a sonic boom."

"Those are loud," Tails snickered.

"Yes, they are. Wind types are a bit like Thunder types in that sense. We can create forces strong enough to shake the school or take down trees. Now because of that and because of what you managed to achieve earlier with the windows, I want you to take a step back, and just clap. Don't make a big show about it, don't wave your hands around like a madman, just clap."

"O-O-Okay." Tails was skeptical as he took a step back. After everything he'd seen that day already, skeptical was the last thing he should be. Still, he couldn't help it. How was clapping supposed to emit that much power? It couldn't. Not in the science world, anyways.

However, Tails was no longer in the safety of the science world. He was in a whole new world, one where super powers existed. Anything was possible anymore.

So, he clapped. It wasn't anything big, just a simple clap in front of him. He could feel the wind catch his hands as he performed the action. It was empowering, oddly enough. When his hands collided, there was a small explosion, not unlike what he experienced earlier with the crystal. Only, you know, smaller. A wave of air snowballed into the remaining pile of leaves, scattered them in every direction.

The class fell silent, staring at the fox in awe. That was the second time that day he had gathered such attention. There was something different about this time, though. Unlike the first time, Tails meant to do this. He felt in control of what he had just done. So, Tails felt a bit more pride at the fact that his classmates watched him with jaws dropped and eyes wide.

"Perfect!" Mr. Aires praised. "Take a seat Tails, thank you. That was beautiful. See, that is the type of fun we can get into during our course." He walked around and leaned against the desk, crossing his ankles. "Some of you may have heard that Wind types are airheads or jokes or whatever. We are overlooked and underestimated because we deal with forces others can't see. Don't let anyone tell you that your type isn't important, though. Every single fox at this school has a place in the world."

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Tails watched his classmates gather their things and file out the door, conversations already veering into other topics. He stood and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. As he began to leave, he paused and glanced over his shoulder.

Mr. Aires had grabbed a broom and began sweeping up the leaves. Tails pulled his bag off his shoulder and dropped it next to the door.

"Need some help?" he offered, inching back into the room.

His teacher raised his head and smiled. "Sure, kiddo. There's a trash bag in the first drawer on the right side of my desk."

Tails nodded, rushing to the desk. He pulled out the bag and walked over to the window. Tails dropped to his knees and began sweeping the leaves up.

•••••

When Tails returned to his dorm, there was a TV on in the lobby. He glanced over as he passed, curious about who was in there. Of course, that was a bit pointless seeing as the only boy he knew was Landon. Still, he was curious.

There was a large, bulky fox with black fur walking to the couch. He had a bottled drink in his hand, half full. As he began to sit, he turned and caught Tails' gaze. The bigger fox's eyes were bright purple, almost glowing against his fur.

"What're you looking at?" he growled. Actually growled. Tails recoiled in shock, eyes wide.

"N-Nothing, sorry," he mumbled, scurrying down the hall.

106 was cracked open. Tails pushed through without even noticing, mind still reeling from that brute down the hall. Landon glanced up when Tails entered.

"It's a bout time! Classes ended an hour ago; I thought you got lost or something," Landon said. He sat on his bed, open laptop in front of him.

"Um, I think I just met Blaine," Tails said slowly, making sure the door shut before he continued.

"Ah, yeah. He was in the lobby, right? I saw him when I came in."

Tails nodded frantically. "He's terrifying!"

Landon pursed his lips. "Yeah, kinda. That's what I mean, stay away from him if you can. Oh, but don't worry about that now. Get ready!"

"Why?"

"Some friends of mine are going bowling and I figured you could tag along and meet some people. C'mon, it'll be fun."

"Bowling?" Tails thought back to that time he bowled with Sonic and the others. He wasn't bad so to say, at least not by Sonic's standards. Then again, Sonic wouldn't just not let Tails play. So, Tails probably wasn't as good as Sonic would lead him to think.

Landon nodded. "Yeah! Even if you don't want to bowl, you can still come and hang out."

Tails chewed on his lip. What else would he be doing if not go? He could talk to Sonic, he guessed. But, this could be a chance to put himself out there more. He needed more friends at the school.

"Okay," Tails decided, smiling at his roommate. "Let's go bowl!"

•••••

Across campus, a sixth grader lingered in the office. The printer hummed as it spouted papers out the side. She shifted from one foot to another, eager to finally head back to her room and relax.

"Avaleigh," Lorelei called from her office down the hall. Avaleigh pressed a button, silencing the printer.

"Yes, Lorelei?" she replied.

"Come back here a moment, please. I have something I need you to do."

Avaleigh scooped the copies in her hands, straightened them out, and set them aside on a counter behind her. Then, she grabbed her bag and walked down the hall.

Lorelei smiled at her as the young fox passed. With the sixth grader already taking a seat in her room, Lorelei glanced around the office swiftly.

Her smile transformed into a sly smirk and she pulled the door shut.