Arthur excelled at the academy. He quickly joined his peers in terms of fitness level and combat techniques, and he spent his nights cramming all the lore he could find into his brain. He was able to take direction well and obeyed commands obediently. He felt secure with his superiors because, unlike the shapeshifter, when he followed instructions, he was commended, and he was only punished when he committed a punishable offense. He was comfortable with that set up and learned to enjoy the structure of it.

Alex on the other hand was not keeping up with the competition. He was just as fit as anyone else, but he made sure to blend into the crowd as much as possible. He was hesitant to strike his peers and had trouble reading up on monsters without transporting himself back to that cramped apartment with the shapeshifter that took his mother's life and almost took his. He would try to bring this up to Arthur, but Arthur didn't know exactly how to fix this. Arthur always told Alex he needed to just push it all down and forget about the past. That was the only way to move forward.

One day after combat training, Arthur was walking back to the school nurse to take care of a few cuts and scrapes he'd accumulated throughout the session. He kept on insisting that he take on more and more combatants as he was getting increasingly fatigued because he figured he wouldn't have the luxury of being well rested in the field. The instructors seemed to be pleased with his tenacity and encouraged him to keep going. Sure he felt like hell now, but in the end this was all going to be worth it. He was going to be the best soldier the Men of Letters ever had.

He noticed a commotion out of the corner of his eye and turned to investigate what was happening. His sore muscles screamed as he broke into a run after seeing his brother in the middle of an agitated group of students.

"Get the fuck off of him!" he yelled as he launched into the fray swiping at everyone within arms length. He fought his way to his brother's side and they went back to back fending off the other students. Alex was knocked unconscious by a blow to the chin and went down heavily onto the back of Arthur's legs. Arthur was dropped to his knees, but he continued to fight from the ground, pinned there by the weight of his brother. He knew he was fighting a losing battle, but he did his best to get as many shots in as he could.

"Line up right now!" boomed a voice over the noise.

All of the kids froze where they were and then scrambled to get in formation. Arthur turned around to check on his brother and tried to shake him awake.

"Arthur. I said line up." A tall muscled man squatted down to get to face level with Arthur who remained sitting on the ground holding his brother. Arthur glared at the man and spat the blood out of his mouth onto the ground between them. Alex woke up enough to mumble "did you get it back?"

Without breaking eye contact with Arthur, the man asked "get what back Alexander?"

"Nothing, sir" squeaked out Alex.

The man held out his left hand. "Whatever was taken from these boys better be in my hand in the next 3 seconds, or you will not like what happens next."

One of the kids came running out of formation, placed something into his hand, and ran back to his position.

"You're all to be in your rooms immediately. Report back here at 0500 tomorrow morning to find out exactly what I think of your actions here."

"Yes, sir" yelled all the students in unison. They then broke formation and ran back to their respective rooms.

Arthur and the man stayed where they were with eyes locked as Alex started to wake up.

"On your feet, boy"

"Don't call me boy, sir." Arthur mumbled as he helped his brother up to his feet and then stood at attention next to him.

"What did you just say to me, boy?"

"I said don't call me boy, sir."

"I will call you whatever I want to call you, boy. Did someone knock the sense out of your skull?"

"No, sir" said Arthur flatly with growing hatred in his eyes.

"You better straighten up, boy. I won't have any cadets trying to give me orders."

"Yes, sir." Arthur said.

The man turned towards Alex who was swaying on his feet. "Now I need to figure out how to punish you and your petulant twin, you pathetic piece of trash."

"Don't talk to him like that, sir." said Arthur evenly.

The man froze where he was and then snapped back to Arthur. "Did I just hear another order come out of your mouth, boy?"

"I suppose so, sir"

"Gloves off. Hands out. Now."

"Yes, sir" Arthur said, quickly removing his gloves and extending his hands in front of him.

The man grabbed his baton and brought it down on Arthur's knuckles. Arthur let out a hiss of pain and returned his hands to the same position. The baton came down again, and again Arthur kept his hands out.

"You will learn to obey authority, boy. I'll make sure of it."

"Of course, sir" grunted Arthur as the baton came down on his hands again.

"Mr. Badget. That is quite enough for now I think."

Badget straightened up. "Yes, ma'am, Dr. Hess"

"Arthur, you may relax."

Arthur brought his hands back down to his sides.

"And Mr. Badget. You are dismissed."

Badget turned around and made his way back across the courtyard.

Arthur and Alex remained at attention as Dr. Hess turned back to address them. "Tell me what happened."

Arthur stood silent, so Alex started to explain. "I was walking back after combat pract-"

"Not you, Alex. Arthur. Arthur, tell me what happened here"

"Yes, ma'am. I saw a crowd kicking the shit out of m-"

"Language, Arthur"

"Sorry ma'am. I was a crowd harming my brother, so I ran over to put a stop to it and wound up fighting half the class."

"Why were they hurting your brother?"

"I don't know, ma'am."

"How long had they been fighting before you got there?"

"I don't know, ma'am."

"What do you know, Arthur?"

"They were hurting my brother and I had to stop them, ma'am."

Dr. Hess sighed and looked Arthur up and down. "This will require punishment for you to consider what you've done. We have boys in sick bay getting seen to because of injuries you gave them tonight. We cannot allow any infighting."

"Yes, ma'am." Arthur said without flinching.

"Ma'am, that's not fair. He was only defending me." interjected Alex.

"If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it, Alexander. Your brother needs to learn that he is loyal to the group. Not the person. This is a lesson that is particularly difficult with you constantly needing his assistance." Seeing Arthur opening his mouth to retort she added "and I don't need to hear anything further from you, Arthur. You've said quite enough tonight already."

"Yes ma'am" said Arthur.

"Alex, return to your room. Arthur, with me."

"Yes ma'am" said both boys. Alex threw an apologetic look at Arthur before turning to head back to his room.

Dr. Hess started walking in the opposite direction and Arthur fell in behind her walking to God knows where. They walked past every part of the campus that Arthur was familiar with and he started to the same knot in his stomach that he would get when the shapeshifter would get agitated back home. They came up to a vault like door with a guard posted next to it.

"Stay here"

"Yes, ma'am."

Dr. Hess walked over to the guard and said something to him. He turned to the door and opened it up.

"Get in, Arthur"

"Ma'am?"

"That was an order, Arthur. I expect it to be obeyed immediately."

"Yes, ma'am" said Arthur and he stepped into the vault. It was a well-lit steel room with a metal platform meant be a bed. There was one small vent in the middle of the ceiling. He turned around to face Dr. Hess and saw the door shutting on him. Then the lights shut off and he was left in complete darkness.