Shortly after the Administrators speech, the young Mobians were sectioned off into groups. Emery tried to remain strong even though he was separated from Kai. The only other Mobian he knew in this foreign school. He felt vulnerable. His mind raced with thoughts. They are staring at you, making fun of you. Emery desperately wanted to hide from the group, but instead he opted to walk behind everyone. Easing the nagging voices in his head. He followed the group of six, ears slightly back and quills raised. Emery became hyper aware of every step he took, his posture, and the way his fur and quills laid. Every time he tried distracting his thoughts, they came back as a wave stronger than ever. Crashing through his body, wrecking any sense of confidence he had. He trained his eyes to the floor, trying to make himself invisible as much as he could.

The group arrived in a small room. The room itself was blank and empty, the only defining feature was the six doors spread along the wall in front of them. The doors were grey and shiny, indicating they were metal. No way to break through if there were second thoughts. The room had a dystopian feeling. Maybe it was to weed out the weaker young by intimidation. It was the best school on the continent, naturally, everyone would want to get into some program in it. But this program wasn't for every young Mobian to waltz into. It was the Peacekeeper program. Essentially a hero training program. These gifted Mobians were tested at eleven years old, and if they got in, they were trained for seven years. The training is intensive, pushing your body and your power to its limits. Growing stronger and stronger everyday.

The bear that had been leading them turned to face the group. "Line up next to one other please. I'm about to hand out your wristbands."

There was shuffling as each animal lined up. Naturally, Emery took one of the end spots. Making sure there was only one other animal standing next to him. A young fox kit stood next to Emery. She was already slightly taller than him, of course being a growing fox, and had red tinted fur. Emery quickly glanced at her before he felt a gigantic paw grab his own paw and strapped a band to his wrist. It took a second before it beeped awake and showed his name in small letters. 'Emery Pierre the Hedgehog. Ability: Telekinesis. Points: 0. Door 52B.' Emery stared at the small screen, his eyes fixating on the door assignment. It wasn't until the same gruffly voice of the bear boomed in the room before he was shocked out of his daze.

"Now on the wristband it should say your full name, ability, point score, and most importantly a room door. That is the door you must try to find and go through before the end of the test. The doors do have scanners and will not open if you try to come through the wrong door. Your point will go up with every creature you defeat. You may notice points go up if you defeat anyone else or show qualities of a true Peacekeeper. In a few moments you will hear an alarm. The doors in front of you will slide open, one to each door please. They will close behind you. You will be given a countdown before they release you all into the arena. Good luck." The bear was very articulate and stern. He did a brief nod after the small speech and walked out the door they all had come through. It closed behind him, locking the young Mobians in the room.

It was a deafening silence. Emery could hear his own breath and heartbeat. The animals all stood still, as if they all had been turned to statues. It wasn't until some meekly voice sounded in the middle of the line that the tension was loosened. "Do you think they will actually let us die?"

"I think they are just trying to scare us."

"But we are just kids!"

"We are all eleven. We are preteens not kids."

"Oh grow up."

While the voices decided to continue bickering Emery noticed the fox kit shift. He glanced up at her and realized she was looking straight at him. Her ears were perked forward and her nose slightly twitching. Emery was still trying to get used to Mobian greetings. He was used to seeing the hand outstretched, anxiously waiting for the other to shake it. Here though, it was quite different. Mobians tended to try to get your attention, and one could tell they wanted to meet you by perking their ears and taking a slight sniff towards you. It was very animalistic, almost savage. But Emery did learn that this was more accustomed to this side of the planet rather than the other.

The fox smiled immediately when their eyes locked. She spoke rapidly, "Hi I'm Melody! I just want to wish you luck! I hope we can both make it into the school. What's your name? Oh! And my, your eyes are beautiful," she only breathed out the last sentence. Emery saw how her eyes shifted to look deeper into his eyes. He was always told that. Emery had beautiful ocean blue eyes. They were a deep blue but had many blues throughout to give definition in them. Though, every time his eyes were mentioned, he always remembered what was said to him throughout his life. 'You have your mothers eyes.'

Emery's ears immediately flatten and his fur ruffled up, a common sign of hesitance and slight embarrassment. "I'm Emery," he spoke with a small voice. "And, uh, thank you. Uh, good luck to you too."

The fox did a slight giggle at the flustered Emery. She had opened her mouth to say something before she was abruptly cut off by an alarm. The intense fog of anxiety flowed into the room as they all nervously looked at the doors sliding open in front of them. The doors revealed a small pod. Only one Mobian could ever fit in one. Everyone shuffled inside before the doors closed behind them, trapping them in the pod. Emery could see his breath fog the metal in front of him. He was truly in this now. His nerves felt like they were on fire. His heart beated quickly in his chest, and now his breaths were no longer able to be contained through his nose. The floor under him shifted before he felt himself being lifted up. The pods were small elevators that were bringing all the young Mobians up to the arena.

Emery had the instinct to curl up into a ball, but he knew that wouldn't help him here. He felt the pod suddenly stop. Silence. A voice sounded above him. "The test starts in five seconds. Five."

Take deep breaths, you will be fine.

"Four."

You've trained all your life for this.

"Three."

Fighting is your escape.

"Two."

Don't let her down.

"One."

A bright light appeared in front of Emery. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust. He took a deep breath and stepped out into the warm air.