"Up and over! Go!"

There was the thud of half a dozen pairs of shoes slamming against a wooden wall as Tony and five other Guardians Auxiliaries flung themselves at the structure, feet and hands scrabbling for purchase against a flat, smooth surface as they half climbed half leapt to grab at the outstretched hands of an equal number of auxiliaries hanging their torsos down from the top of the wall. Pushing off the wall at the last possible moment, Tony made contact with a hand and grasped it tight as he heard the cries of two or three other auxiliaries as they missed and fell back down into the sandpit below. His feet dangled several feet above the ground for a moment before the auxiliary at the top of the wall began pulling him up, Tony's feet returning to the wall to help push/pull himself up. 

Taking his teammate's place at the top of the wall, Tony quickly swung around, half throwing himself back down the wall he just climbed up to catch the clawing hand of another auxiliary. Beads of sweat formed on his brow as he pulled up the 170 pound student up the wall without falling off himself. Using his team mate as a counterweight, Tony pulled up his mate while simultaneously lowering himself down the other side of the wall, where he would jump and tumble back onto the track. From there, his feet pounded pavement in a dead sprint to the next station, where the rest of his squad stood waiting around a litter. 

Tony breathed out heavily, his breath a visible cloud in the early morning air. Up earlier than most people in town had any business being up, Tony could see the first half of the sun as it rose into the sky, tinging the sky a mixture of orange and light purple. The light mixed with the odd mix of orange, and green, blue and purple of Gringore's courtyard against the background of Nowhere. Still catching his breath, Tony bent over, his hands resting on his knees and spat out coagulated spittle, his face dripping with sweat as he watched several others run up to their respective squads. He and the rest of the Aux Company- shorthand for the 'Grincore Academy Guardian Auxiliaries' had been on the track around the Academy's Courtyard since five in the morning. Just because the semester had just started didn't mean they were getting any days off, and more than one freshman had missed the first half off the workout and were still in the middle of doing their several dozen pushup punishments. Guardians were after all, expected to be in peak physical form as well as peak efficiency over their respective abilities. 

Shaking his head, sending sweat flying off to his sides, Tony's eyes were drawn to some of the others bouncing in place, keeping their blood flowing. For some, these training sessions were a walk in the park- demi-gods, shifters, some fae, and even vampires, had it easier than others like him- Maagias, Witches, and other non-physically inclined metahuman races. Not that it mattered, all Guardians, human or superhuman were expected to adhere to strict physical regulations, which meant people like Tony were stuck doing near Olympian workouts for mere warmup.

"Alright, Penny, on the litter," their squad leader barked as the last of their squad made it to the station. "TK, let's go! We're just getting started!" 

With a deep exhale, Tony looked up at Rickard, his squad leader and Captain, and nodded in breathless acknowledgement. Easy for him to say- Rickard, President and Commander of Aux Company was easily one of the strongest metahumans in Nowhere, a demi-god widely regarded as the second coming of Hercules. Still, Tony complied. They laid Penny, easily the lightest member of the squad on the litter, while Tony, Rickard, and two others each grabbed a leg of the litter and lifted. The squad proceeded to do a mile run around the tracks, four members carrying the litter, and two running behind, switching off with one of the litter carriers as they got tired. 

After the squad relay, and strength training, came power usage practice, and then finally mock skirmishes and combat drills. While Tony only managed to stay above average when it came to keeping up with demigods and superhumans, he excelled when it came to using his powers and in practical drills. This continued until around 7, at which point they cooled down to the tune of classic pop-rock before Rickard finally let them go. After a long, cold shower, and a few muscle relaxing spells from one of the team's Sanabit Witches, Tony, along with several others were marched into the auditorium, where they stood around and acted cool and daring while Rickard gave his ever popular speeches and recruitment pitch.

[hr]
His running shoes changed out for a pair of comfortable adidas shoes in a bright bold orange, he made an easy walk through the courtyard. One hand was stuck firmly in the pockets of his joggers, while the other hand casually held a covered cup of coffee, edges of the blue and white of his jacket- emblazoned with the crest of the Guardians Auxilaries floating and glowing over the breast, and his last name across its back- whipping and floating lightly in the morning breeze. His amplifier glinted brightly as it was occasionally hit with sunlight, accenting his outfit in a similar manner to a watch, the crystal face dull and unlit. His sling backpack was relatively deflated and hung lazily off his shoulder, currently holding little more than his running shoes, a sweaty pair of shorts and t-shirt, a sweaty towel and a water bottle. 

Tony's cool and casual persona spluttered for a moment as a orange flyer slapped across his face, blocking his breath for a moment. Pulling the flyer off of his face, he furtively shot a glance left and right to see if anyone saw what had just happened. There were others in the courtyards but they all seemed distracted by conversations with each other or the flyers themselves to pay much attention to him. One of the gorgon sisters pointed at him and giggled, but they were just as likely judging him for some other obscure reason as they were for the flyer. Finally taking a look at the neon flyer, he saw that the Fitzroy pack was throwing a party at the Shack. Inviting the whole school was a bold move, to say the least. Tony was sure there were plenty of people that the Fitzroy boys wouldn't want to come, but throw on a costume, and no one [i]really[/i] knows whose who. 

Looking up, Tony got a glimpse of Anya in the distance. Like him, she was a relative newcomer to the town- he'd been here a bit longer, but not by much. Maybe that's why they got along. With a lazy stretch, Tony began quickening his pace to close the distance, easy enough thanks to his longer strides. Tony whistled as though he was cat calling her- sometimes, it annoyed her, but sometimes that was the reason he did it. 

"Hey, Annie," Tony greeted as he slowed back down to her pace, "Jeez, you look like death." he commented as he got a good look at the bags under her eyes, offering her some of his coffee as a temporary solution.