Interview Day, 1 PM, Paladin's Main Campus.

The two heroes have finally returned to Paladin's Academy. In the afternoon following the first batch of interviews, applicants run rampant across the station. Some seem depressed because of their negative interviews, while others jump for joy. Nevertheless, the station is brimming with life.

Streetwise has changed back into his super-suit, while Quinn still sports a casual look. The duo leave the station and head towards the entrance to the main building. Before they can get in, they are stopped by one of the robot guards.

"Identification required."

"Streetwise."

"Access Denied."

"Paladin's Prodigy?"

"Access Denied."

"The honored one?"

"Access Denied."

"Strongest Paladin."

"Access Denied."

"Strongest Paladin."

"Access Denied."

Another voice butts in.

"Strongest Paladin."

"Access Granted, Welcome Strongest Paladin."

The two turn around and see a woman with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She's wearing goggles that rest on her head and an open red jacket with blue jogging pants. This appears to be,

"Sparkplug, you son of a bitch!"

Streetwise hugs Sparkplug as hard as he can, but all he can do is make Sparkplug laugh.

"Streetwise! It's been too long. How are things?"

"Things have been great. Met lots of new people, fought a bunch of bad guys, even went to another dimension."

"Wow, that's amazing! I met lots of new people too, both good and bad."

"At least you kept busy." Streetwise laughs.

"So, what are you doing on campus? Getting your Superhero Masteral?"

"Actually, I was gonna get this guy to his interview." Streetwise points to Quinn, "He's my sidekick."

"Hello there, I am Dreadnought, Streetwise's sidekick." He says as he extends his hand out.

"Hi! I'm Sparkplug, a teacher here at Paladin's Academy."

"Are you doing the interviews?" Streetwise asks.

"No, I'm not qualified. Something about being too trusting."

"Sounds about right." Streetwise laughs. Sparkplug punches his arm.

"Ow!" He exclaims. "Anyways, Dreadnought, why don't you head to the interview room? If you need me, I'll be catching up with an old friend. The room should just be on the third floor to your left."

"Very well. I will see you later, Streetwise."

Streetwise and Sparkplug wave goodbye as they go elsewhere, talking and laughing. Dreadnought enters the building and is in awe with what he sees. The main hall is filled to the brim with people, both in and out of costume, just walking around. There are robot guards patroling and observing. Dreadnought notices that there seems to be a line right across from him, with people lining up to submit their applications. On his right, he spots the hallway leading to the elevator.

As he makes his way to the elevator, Dreadnought, with a lot on his mind, accidentally bumps into someone, causing their documents to fall.

"Oh! I am so sorry." Dreadnought says as he helps collect the papers.

"I-it's nothing, and it was m-my fault too." She says, clumsily putting back all the papers.

The girl Dreadnought appears to be talking to has short black hair and bright purple eyes. She seems to be wearing a violet dress with black stockings.

"Is there anything I could do to help?"

"No, no, it's, um, it's fine, really!"

Before he could say another word, the girl quickly walked away. Dreadnought feels a tad bit guilty over this, yet he continues on, as he presses the button on the elevator. The doors open as several applicants go out, some of them even wearing their costumes. One particular person catches Dreadnought's eye, as the man in the White Mask passes him by, bumping his shoulder. Dreadnought tenses up, and clutches his documents. What was that feeling? Who was that guy? He ignores those thoughts as he continues towards the elevator.

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Elsewhere on the Campus, Matter, who just finished her interview hours ago, wanders around the school grounds aimlessly. She watches several student heroes fly past her while others run at the speed of sound. She finds an empty table right by the open field and sits down. She contemplates her current situation. For the past two years, she has been training under Streetwise to become the best, yet seeing her performance against legion class villains; she can't help but feel that her training has all been in vain. She sighs as she watches a couple of students playing 'super frisbee.'

"Excuse me, may I sit here?"

Matter looks up and sees a guy in full military uniform, and I mean full off-duty soldier-type clothes. He's got that long green blazer, with green pants and leather shoes. His hair is black and is cut extremely short, like a crew cut. He looked like he walked right out of the army.

"Aren't you a little lost, soldier?"

"Not at all, Ma'am. My interview just finished at o-twelve hundred, and I am looking for a place to rest."

"Fine, you can sit."

"Much obliged." The man sits down and extends his hand out, "They call me Sureshot."

"Matter.' She says as she shakes his hand.

"So, Ms. Matter, how did your interview go?"

"Fine, you?" She says, slightly irritated.

"It went swimmingly. You won't mind if I start reading now?"

"Sure, go right ahead." Matter says as she rolls her eyes.

Sureshot pulls out a copy of a very famous history book. Said book is all about a world renowned artist who flunked out of art school and decided to make it everyone's problem.

"What the fuck?!?!" Matter exclaims.

"I'm sorry?"

"Why the fuck are you reading the Mein Kampf?!"

"It's a good book. In fact, I believe it is quite underrated. It is very much relevant in our current sociopolitical climate."

Matter blinks twice, trying to process what she just heard.

"Well, you have fun with that. I just remembered that I was supposed to meet someone today for... study practice."

"How riveting, may I join?"

"No, it's uh, private deal. Besides, I don't want to interrupt your reading. So, bye!"

Matter gets up and runs away. She did not expect someone to just sit down beside her and pull out some antisemitic literature. Was that his way of picking up chicks? Who knows. Due to the trauma, she doesn't watch where she's going and bumps into someone, causing them both to fall.

The guy drops a comical amount of food on the floor. It's like he dropped an entire inventory. Matter rubs her head as she watches the guy duplicate himself into four and pick up the dropped food. One of the clones approaches her and extends his hand out.

"Sorry about that! Guess I shouldn't eat and run." The guy says, laughing sheepishly.

"It's fine; it wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've seen today." Matter says as she pulls herself up.

"My name's Double Trouble, but you can call me DT for short." He says while pointing to himself.

Double Trouble seems to be wearing a baker's garb, with a white coat and some black pants. All he's missing is the apron. He features short brown hair, fair skin, and brown eyes.

"Matter," she says while removing the dust from her outfit.

"Do you have somewhere to be? I could use some more help carrying these to the station." DT says as he points towards his clones carrying lots of ingredients.

"Not really, so sure, I guess." Matter replies, grabbing a couple of bags from the clones. After she holds a few, three clones dissipate into smoke, leaving DT, and herself.

"So, you can multiply."

"Can't we all? Haha." DT jokes. This catches Matter off guard, causing her to blush and look away.

"But yeah, like, I can split myself into four. With each time, I divide my strength, speed, and durability into halves, thirds, and quarters. I can also switch places with any clone I wish."

"Neat."

"And you, lemme guess, you, control matter, like telekinesis?"

"Not even close."

"Not gonna tell?"

"No"

"You're no fun."

"I get that a lot."

"Maybe if you lighten up more, people would stop saying that."

Matter just glares at him, her fog-grey eyes staring straight right into his soul.

"You're probably wondering about all the food." DT comments.

"I wasn't." Matter scoffs.

"If you must know, my family runs a local restaurant all the way at Portsmouth."

"Good for you?"

"You should stop by if you're ever in the area."

"Eh, maybe."

Time flies when someone who likes to talk meets someone who wants to listen, or in Matter's case, begrudgingly listens. The orange glow of the sun shines all throughout the station, as the two applicants have finally arrived at their destination.

"Thanks for the help. Without you, I think I would've passed out by now."

"Don't mention it."

"Guess I'll see you around, Matter! Don't be a stranger!"

Double Trouble, along with his three clones board the Paladins train. He waves off as Matter waves back. She sighs, for it has been a long day. She lounges around the station until a familiar person walks up to her. She notices the guy is wearing a name tag,

Hello, my name is Dreadnought.

She recognized Quinn, but she did not expect him to be wearing a nametag. He slumps down on the chair next to her, releasing a big sigh.

"Long day, huh?" She remarks.

"You would not believe it." He responds.

"What's with the nametag? Did you join a club?"

"I got caught in a conference about Superhero Law. They made everyone wear these."

"Sound rough."

"It was. How did your interview go?"

"Average, I guess. You?"

"I got interviewed by the dean herself. I did not know that could happen."

"Being Streetwise's sidekick means people expect a lot from you."

"Tell me about it. Most of her questions were just about Streetwise."

"That's because the dean was also Streetwise's ex."

"You're kidding!" Dreadnought shouts as he throws his arms up.

"Am not! He told me that they dated during their second year. Apparently, they ended on really bad terms."

"Will this affect my application?"

"Probably not. That would be pretty biased. But you never know."

Dreadnought slumps down in defeat. He cannot believe that there is a chance he won't get in, all because of the man who rescued him. It would line up with his bad luck. Speaking of. Streetwise arrives at the station. He waves to his two disciples as he hands them a couple of energy drinks. Matter instantly chugs one down while Dreadnought slowly drinks it, testing to see if he likes the flavor.

"You guys look like shit. Had a bad day?"

The two tired sidekicks nod.

"Well, let me help then. Let's head to Ayala, and I'll treat you guys to anything you want!"

"That's all I need to hear," Matter says as she jumps up rejuvenated.

"I too would like food!" Dreadnought remarks, gaining a bit more energy.

Streetwise laughs as the three heroes rush to the next train headed back to New Arden. With that, the day of the interviews is finally over. The first steps have finally been made. However, the next step in their journey will be one of the most difficult ones yet, as in two weeks' time, the Paladins will go ahead with the entrance examination.