Altered Cosmos

Chapter 12; Drill

The next day, Levi and MJ were training again in the afternoon. MJ leaps forward, throwing at kick at Levi who blocks, letting the force send him skidding back just as she charges with a punch.

But Levi grins as electricity wraps around his body and he instantly disappears. MJ stops and turns around to see Levi smiling at her with folded arms with his Static shell already activated. “That skill’s definitely a cheat.”

“Your strength is a cheat.” Levi scoffs as he zips past her and back to his initial positon in less than a second. 

The electricity around Levi’s body fizzles away when he takes a calming breath and MJ walks up to him. “I’m serious. If you really work on it, you might become unstoppable.” Levi smiles to himself to the thought of it.

<Unstoppable, huh…> He was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice Peter walking up to him. Peter continues to stare at Levi for a moment until Levi catches his gaze just before Peter throws an arm over him. 

“Congrats. You’re now ready for exams.”

Levi laughs as he escapes Peter’s grasp before turning to him with a curious expression. “What’s the exam like anyway?”

Peter walks over to the bench as he answers. “Two parts. Written and physical.” He groans as he plops down on the bench with Levi and MJ approaching him.

“Depending on your score, you’ll be arranged into classes for training and missions. In other words, just give it all you got and leave the rest to the system.”

“Oh boy…” Levi sighed and MJ chuckled as she gives his shoulder a little nudge with hers with a smile.

“We’re so got this.” She said with a confident grin as she grabs a bottle water which makes Levi smile.

“We’ll see.”

Peter laughs as he watches them before straightening up when he remembers something. “I almost forgot…” Levi and MJ turned to him in confusion as he suddenly opened his band interface and taps on it.

Then as he hits enter, Levi’s band pings with a notification which he checks to see Peter’s info. “You can use that to contact me if you need anything.”

Levi smiles as he saves the info. “Thanks. At least I have two contacts now…” He chuckled and Peter glances at MJ suspiciously smiling behind her bottled water. 

Peter then turns back to Levi and his smile fades once he saw the dark look now in Levi’s eyes. “What’s up, kid?”

Levi takes a long look at Peter before sighing. “I just… I’ve always wondered why the Index would take away trons from their families and not even give them a way of freely communicating with them.” He grumbled as he closes his interface with tightened fists while Peter shares an uneasy look with his daughter.

“I understand how you’re feeling, kid. Being torn away from your family for being… different.” Peter takes a pause as Levi looks away.

“What the Index is doing may not be completely right… but it is for your safety as well as your family. Ever heard of the ‘Night of the Beasts’?”

Levi nods and faces Peter. “A couple years ago, two 4-year-old girls awakened as beast trons and attacked a town.”

“Even though the situation got controlled after a short while, it still resulted in some casualties and the victims’ families didn’t care whether the trons were at fault or not. They only saw two monsters who destroyed their loved ones.”

Peter grumbled as he stands up. “The truth is that there were a lot more similar cases with the same origin. Trons are beings that will continue to grow in power with time. It’s faster in some than in others but eventually and without supervision, that power would be too much for them to handle."

He stares down at his fist before going on. "So to prevent that, inexperienced trons have to be trained to control their powers and since there are only the proportionately few pros, a schooling system is their best option.”

“I get that.” Levi grumbled as he looks up at the ceiling, the images of his family flashing in his mind. “What I don’t get is why you won’t even let people’s own family from seeing them. Even if they end up in Tron Settlements, why can’t their families just move in with them? Why keep them apart?”

Peter takes a pause to stare at Levi before answering. “I don’t blame you for thinking that way. It’s the reason your parents hid you, right? But the truth is that until you’re officially established to be control, you are still a danger to your family. Especially when they move into a place filled with people like that."

"That’s why visits between families are restricted. And when you choose to join the force, they limit it even more for two reasons…” Peter added.

“What are they?” Levi asked, brow raised in curiosity.

“The first is to control the amount of sensitive and classified information that goes to the public. We wouldn’t want some kid blabbing a top secret mission to his mum.” Peter said.

“Then the other?” Levi mumbled.

“To prevent a hostage situation.” Peter grumbled and Levi furrows his brows in concern.

“You can’t forget that even the Web are looking for Trons to add to their army. If the Index makes it difficult to get the Tron themselves, then they’d go after the family… But only if they knew who their families’ are." Peter said.

"What they don’t know though is that we always send agents to secretly watch the family of every registered tron.” He added.

“Really?” Levi asked and Peter nods.

“There’s already an agent watching your family right now. Although, it’s only recently that we started that program. Which is why there wasn’t already one in your town.”

“That’s… that’s good to hear.” Levi mumbled with a small smile on his face.

Peter smiles back at Levi and places a hand on his shoulder. “I know it seems like we’re the monsters but we’re just trying to do what’s best for everyone.” Levi only responds with a nod and Peter pats his shoulder before moving away.

Levi sighs heavily. “What’s best for everyone, huh.” His mind drifts, thinking back at his life in Asylum Bay, then Peter’s home and now the new journey ahead of him next.

“Levi. You coming?” Levi turns to Peter and MJ who were already leaving the gym. “The pasta’s getting cold.”

He quickly closes the terminal and runs over to them. “Wait up.” Together, they ate, watched some TV and just had fun because this was the last night they’ll spend together like this for a while………

The next day was finally the day of the Tron College Entrance exams in the month of March. The exams are normally held in different units all over the world before the students will be sent over to the College itself.

By the afternoon, Levi was standing in his dark shirt and blue jeans with his bags beside him as he takes in the massive examination centre in front of him.

<Damn…> He thought as he glances at the hundreds of other trons and people moving around him, in and out of the building.

“Alright.” He turns around and sees Peter releasing MJ from a tight fatherly hug. “Take care of yourself, sweetie.” He gives her cheek a little kiss and she blushes in embarrassment.

“Thanks, dad. I will.”

Peter then walks up to Levi, stares at him for a moment and suddenly gives him a hug too. “You got this, Einstein.”

“Thanks.” Levi chuckled as Peter releases him and ruffles his white hair.

“Alright then. Good luck, guys.” Peter said with a little salute as he enters his car and MJ and Levi wave as the car drives off, leaving them in the parking lot.

Levi turns back to the large building with a heavy sigh. “This is really happening.” He mumbled still a little mesmerized and MJ chuckles as she playfully hits his arm.

“Come on.” With that, they carried their bags and headed towards the building. 

Some minutes after they entered the building, they both got informed on their current stay and time of the exam.

“So we have the written exam in 2 hours and we’re staying here until the physical exam which is tomorrow.” Levi mumbled as he moves through the large hostel hallways with MJ groaning beside him.

“Ugh. I’m really not looking forward for the written exam.” She grumbled with her head hung and Levi laughs as they squeeze pass a group of other candidates.

“But the physical exam?”

MJ locks eyes with Levi with a wide grin. “Now that I’m looking forward too.”

Levi glances at the ridiculously heavy luggage on her head and hands which she was carrying so casually.

“You are basically a monster.” He said and she bumps into his side as they share a laugh when Levi stops by a door. “145…” He mumbled as he stares at the number of the door before turning to MJ. “Guess this is my stop.”

“See you at the exams.” MJ chuckles and waves at him before walking down the hallway with other trons moving around.

Levi takes a moment to stare at the door and takes a deep breath before opening the door and walking in.

He is immediately greeted by the sounds of an acoustic guitar as he locks eyes with a guy sitting on one of the two beds in the fairly sized room. 

"Hey.” The boy was also Levi’s age with a slightly darker skin tone than Levi’s. His black curly hair was styled in a low cut and he was shorter than Levi.

He was also a little muscularly built-up compared to Levi, with a small scar on his left eyebrow, a guitar in his hands, a plain white headband on his forehead and his red-coloured eyes staring at Levi.

“Guess you’re my roommate.”

“Yeah.” Levi mumbled as he drops his bag to the ground and glances at the not too special room. “I thought it would be more…”

“Fancy?” The boy added with a smile and Levi nods with a laugh. “After the exams, we’ll head over to the main campus and based on our scores, the rooms might get an upgrade.” He suddenly stretches a fist to Levi. “I’m Felix Kruger by the way.”

“Levi West.” He said as he gives Felix a fist-bump before moving over to his bed.

“So… Lightning tron huh?” Felix asked and Levi stared at him in shock before Felix gestures to his white hair.

Levi laughs when he realises and touches his hair. “Yeah. Still not used to it.”

Felix raises a brow at him. “Not used to it? When did you get connected?”

Levi shifts his suitcase neatly beside his bed before responding. “2 months ago.”

“You just got your powers 2 months ago?”

“Actually…” He trailed off as he drops his backpack on his suitcase and plops down on his bed. “I got them when I was 13. My folks hid me from the Index for years until I was discovered 2 months ago.”

Felix chuckles as he re-adjusts the guitar on his laps. “Nice.”

Levi nods and looks at Felix as he retunes his guitar. “What about you?”

Felix looks up from his guitar to the door in front of them as he answered. “I got them when I was 8. Since then, I’ve been in the academy. I didn’t make the cut last year due to an uh… ‘accident’ so I had to wait an entire year before I can be here today.”

“Damn… What about your family?” Levi asked and Felix chuckles a little as he focuses on his guitar again.

“Still chat with them once a while but…” He suddenly stops and focuses a little saddened stare to the ground. “It’s still never enough… you know.”

Levi nods as the thought of his family back home lingering in his head. He then exhales and turns to Felix. “So what tron are you?”

“Same as you. Elementron.”

“Really? Which one?”

Felix grins as he pulls his short sleeve up to show his shoulder. “Take a wild guess.”

Based on the smooth, curved patterning on his right shoulder in bright red, Levi smiles when he remembers what element that represents. “Fire Tron.”

“Bingo.” Felix chuckled as he drops his sleeve back down and sighs. “I basically torch everything.” 

“Dope.”

Felix lets out a laugh as he turns to Levi. “Not as dope as throwing lightning.” He said with ‘zapping’ hand gestures which makes Levi grin.

Felix then began to strum the guitar strings, producing a calming melody which makes Levi tap his feet after a moment. “I wish I could play guitar.”

Felix laughs as he holds up the old brown guitar with some old stickers on it with a wide smile on his face. “It takes a lot of practice and I mean a lot.”

They both share a laugh as he continues to play the guitar in a cheerful manner before he suddenly stopped to speak. “But it’s just one of my favourite hobbies. Like games and anime.”

Levi’s eyes suddenly light up in excitement. “You watch anime?”

Felix raises a brow at him with a growing smile. “Yeah. Love them.”

“Dude! I’ve been looking for someone who actually watches anime.” Felix laughs at Levi’s sudden excitement which made him stand and pace around before he suddenly stopped and pointed at him. “Favourite anime of all time?”

“Attack on Titan.” Felix said and Levi smirks at him.

“Excellent choice. How about… favourite retro shounen amine?” Levi asked.

“Easy. Dragon Ball Super.” Felix answers.

Levi’s face falls a little. “Eeeh… I’m more of a Naruto guy.” He said with a disappointed hand gesture and Felix straightens up suddenly, eyes now sceptical.

“But DBS is way better.”

“I’ve watched both and I still think Naruto is better.”

Felix drops the guitar on the bed and stands up. “Give me one reason why Naruto is better than DBS.”

Levi holds up his fingers as he lists them out. “Better plot, dope fight scenes, awesome music?”

Felix was about to retort before nodding in agreement. “Okay, I agree the songs are extremely dope.”

“Right?” Levi said with an excited smile as they stare at each other for a moment before sharing a long laugh. “Finally someone who understands.” Levi chuckled with hands on his hips and Felix laughs as he places a hand on his shoulder.

“I get a feeling we’re going to get along.” He gives Levi a sly smile before tapping his shoulder and heading to the door. He opens it and stops just outside the threshold. “I’m going to go get something to eat before the exams. You coming?”

Levi looks at his things for a moment and nods. “Yeah. We still got time.” With that, they headed out into the semi-busy hallway and walked out.

They spent the next few hours chatting and getting to know each other better just as the announcement for the written exams rings through the complex.

Together, they headed with other trons to the massively large examination hall where they were randomly ushered to different seats. 

Levi rocks slowly in his chair and looks around to find no familiar face around him since MJ and Felix were placed in other seats too far to see.

As Levi waits patiently, he notices that some of the trons were staring at him which could be because of his white hair but he wasn’t so sure.

Levi then turns to his band as it makes a loud sound and as he was about to tap it, he notices that everyone’s bands also made the same sound.

“What the-” He is cut off as his interface suddenly activates on its own, displaying a start button.

A voice suddenly sounds through the room. “The exam questions have been sent to your interfaces. Answer what you can and submit your script before leaving this hall. Thank you and good luck.”

Levi looks around for the speakers as the voice goes off before noticing that the trons were now answering the questions.

“Alright, Levi…” He mumbled as he scrolls to the first question and as he reads it, a small smile plants on his face. He keys in the answer and moves to the next.

About 5 minutes go by and Levi was staring at his interface, a hand under his chin as he answers the questions.

<This isn’t as hard as I thought.> He glances at the blinking timer on his interface now indicating 15 more minutes to submit.

He sighs and refocuses on the test, answering as much questions as he could……before he does a little shrug. <I’ve done what I can.> He scrolls down and hits submit before standing up with a little yawn.

He then realises that he still had about 9 more minutes before the test ends because of the large timer on the ceiling. He then turns to a guard who approaches him.

“Have you submitted your script?” He asked and Levi nods. “That way.” The guard said with an arm gestured to a door and Levi nods as he walks over to the door, occasionally glancing at the trons giving him confused stares since he was first person to submit and leave the room.