The Test

Word spread fast like a disease, except this disease was good news.

Asiris felt like the battle was going to be won for sure, the king felt like it would improve his chances of being the best king, and now Xavier and Vienne could brag about having the princes.

After that surprising day, it was the next. Peter woke up to have his eyes blinded like heaven was snatching him from his bedsheets.

He looked to the side, seeing Micah awake weirdly. It wasn't like he was awake with his out-going clothes on, but resting on the bed staring at the wall; as if he'd been thinking for thousands of years.

Which he had been thinking, but not for a thousand years.

But he'd been thinking until midnight, when they usually went to bed at nine.

He was worried he made a wrong choice, not thinking about any pros about his choice.

But, he figured it already happened, so in certain acceptance—he finally slept.

But now he was awake again, somehow unaware that the test was today.

Until now.

"Hey, you know it's the test today right?" "Today?" "Yes, today." The silence was quick and nerve-racking, as the two boys jumped out of their beds to the bathroom, which luckily had separate rooms. Eventually, they had their ride planned and were ready to go as soon as the limo arrived. Then, it arrived very fast, with no time to waste. They rushed towards the limo, opening and slamming the door. The building was in the city, close to the road to the palace about thirty minutes from there. As the princes were in the car, Micah started thinking once again.

And this time, it was creeping Peter out.

Vexedly, he hissed, "What is wrong with you, Micah?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, very—"

He suddenly stopped and gave a very big long sigh. "It's just, I thought I was sure of what I was doing, but now—I'm not sure anymore."

"Is that so?" Peter asked, now sympathetic. "You can always reject it once again."

"No, I can't."

"What?"

"A prince shouldn't back out once he has made a decision," Micah preached, remembering the royalty books. Peter sighed. "But, you're just a kid, not a king." "King or not, I still have to show myself as a prince," Micah responded.

Tranquility was now reigning in the limo, that even the drivers were starting to hum.

The brothers started to feel a bit separated from each other a bit, as if something was between them.

Before they knew it, the building—The Valiant Soldier Organization was amongst them. It had the structure of a skyscraper although most of the floors were just in the middle of it.

You usually had to enter the back, because the front was meant for tourist purposes before you could actually get inside.

Before they even arrived at the back, paparazzi started driving in flocks.

Flashes blinked, voices overlapped, and the noise was so loud—the volume of the engine was nonexistent.

The limo eventually parked, as the princes got out of the car being welcomed to a bunch of questions.

"Is it true you joined the test?"

"Do you actually want to protect the country?"

"Do you believe this is a mistake?"

"Would you succeed?"

These questions were identical to Micah's thoughts, except a lot louder.

The boys finally entered the building, away from the flashes of cameras.

Asiris was eagerly waiting for them, looking at the boys who seemed quite dazed—probably from all the noises.

"Okay, follow me," Asiris said, leading the boys to an elevator.

When they entered, Asiris pressed a button with no number, making the princes quite curious.

Like normal, the elevator moved downwards, but much more earthbound than usual, making the boys question.

The elevator eventually stopped, but what was ahead was almost breathtaking.

There was a hall, with blinking lights and their team ahead, which looked like they've been there for a long time.

"Well, look here," Caville murmured, finally expecting their presence. The princes finally reached the end of the hall, being passed the swords in quite a quickie. "Now, when this door opens, you're going to be attacked by a lot of enemies," Asiris explained. "The goal is to reach the flag and take it to our base to win the game. They will see our teamwork and see if we see fit. But, if you get shot three times in these suits—" as he passed out gray one's with three blue buttons which seemed quite fragile "—you're out okay? Now, you have a gun and a sword, but there will be weapons all around to pick up, so you may be lucky—other than that, let's go." "Okay," the princes said, impressed they understood all that was said.

Then, the moment of truth opened—at first sight as an empty arena, with black walls and lights that shaped the halls.

Confused, Micah asked, "Where are the robots?" And right at that moment—robots with helmets and same outfits but just a grayer shade—blasted their guns.

Only one thought came inside the team's mind. And it wasn't 'charge.'

"Run!"

Instead of running, they actually immersed themselves in some ike statue's with lengths that could block the robot's eyesight.

"Who knew they were so crazy?!"

"They're robots!"

Hesitantly, Peter gathered up the little bravery and peeked, examining the formation the robots used.

Except, there was no formation.

It seemed as if the programmed robots just charged, like find and kill, which it seemed highly effective.

Asiris, Xavier, and Vienne were still in the game, but they were at the other side.

"We're by ourselves now," Peter murmured, looking head to the flag.

It was on a balcony guarded by three robots, as far as he could count.

As he was seeing ahead, Micah was seeing at a much shorter pace than him, which explained how he found a robot immediately in front of him.

"Watch out!"

The surprise and adrenaline forced his hand to grab his sword, and luckily smite the weapon out of its hand. But, that didn't mean the robot was all the way weaponless.

Preview:

As if losing the gun was no problem, the robot just brought a sword, worrying Micah at an alarming rate.

Peter was quite aware of the sudden fate of Micah, also bringing out his sword.

"Gotcha!"

*Clash*

He made a valiant reach towards the robot, which didn't surprise Micah that much.

Although Peter didn't wish for a big fight, so to keep some distance, he decided to kick the robot, giving at least a few feet to where they could run.

The plan worked, but the robot was back up—and as all things, they always chase after you.

Peter knew this, but he didn't think it was going to happen so fast in his view.

"Run!"

The robot did get his gun back again, and now he was shooting faster than before. And, to make matters quite worse, they came up against another robot—which forced them to move to the left.

As they were running, Micah tried to think of a plan with his rushing, panicked brain.

He couldn't find anything useful or advantageous, so he decided to take the risk.

"Peter!" he shouted. "Find Asiris and the others, I'll take him out."