Saga slowly walked behind Blake, allowing him and silver to cover Blake from both sides.


Silver grinned sincerely and said, “I understand that using your head isn’t your strongest trait, but your answer should be obvious. Go on, now.”

Blake’s mouth started to twitch nervously. “S-screw you, dude! I bet you don’t even have the balls to kill somebody.”

Silver shrugged. “You’re right, maybe I don’t. But…” Silver pointed towards Saga, who was smiling deviously. He tightened his grip around his sheathed sword. “Get on with it, fool. Our time is limited.”

Blake turned in all directions, looking for some way out. Crap, how did this happen? Alright, I need to think here…

“Well?”

“Just give me a second, I need to think!” Alright, let’s see. Even if I were somehow stronger than both of them, I’m pretty sure I can’t win 2 to 1. As for speed, I’m pretty freaking slow, so I’m done there. Ergh, this is annoying as hell, I don’t want to be killed by some midget samurai.

Silver frowned impatiently. “Don’t think too hard about it. Just show us your power already.”

Blake didn’t respond, orally or physically. He continued to think. What am I gonna do? C’mon brain, work for once you piece of trash!

“How about we make it easier for him?” suggested Saga. Blake turned around quickly, intimidated by the harsh tone of his voice. “I’m in a good mood today, so maybe torture would be easier on him?”

Silver tilted his head. “You think so?”

“Why not? He gets to live and we get the information. It’s entertaining, too…”

Blake shook his head rapidly. “No way, man! I’m not feeling that!”

“Then show us your power.”

“B-b-but I don’t want to!”

Saga started to twitch his eye, dumbfounded by Blake. “Let’s just kill him, it’ll be easier.”

Silver nodded. “I’ll have to agree with you on that.” Blake tensed up as the two of them walked one step at a time towards him. Blake watched nervously as Saga gracefully unsheathed his katana. Saga tapped his finger on the blade, spawning a tab of blood instantly.

From behind him, Silver tensed up his right hand, preparing to attack Blake. Blake was frozen was they got closer. Eventually, they were both in arms reach. Saga cautiously placed the blade just centimeters away from Blake’s neck, preparing to slice his throat. Blake’s sweating increased, along with the beating of his heart. Suddenly, he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Wait!” Saga and Silver simultaneously jumped, startled by the yell.

“I…will make a deal with you.”

Silver giggled. “It’s good to see you use your brain, rather than saying something about pride.”

Saga rolled his eyes. “I was getting excited to kill you, too. Spit it out, imbecile.”

Blake was breathing heavily, staring at the ground in deep thought. He knew that this was his only chance. “Silver,” he said, firmly. “If you let me live…I will get you the best ganja that Mercury City has to offer…”

Silver stood still, completely confused. Saga widened his eyes for a second, saying, “Oh yeah, we’re definitely killing him.”

“W-what, you gotta be shitting me!”

Saga repositioned the katana towards his neck, preparing to slice. Silver gripped Blake’s neck, positioning him in place. Silver said, “Now, Sa-” Suddenly, Silver’s voice stopped. Saga’s eyes widened as Silver randomly disappeared into thin air. In Silver’s place was Tokar.

With no hesitation, Tokar rolled past Blake, punching towards Saga. Saga dodged and jumped back, preparing for battle.




On the lowest branch of a tree near the 3 of them, Silver stood, confused. He looked around until he spotted Tokar. He took a second to think about it, but as he looked back to the 2nd phase, everything made sense. “I see,” mumbled Silver. “He’s the one who can switch places with people, I believe…”



Saga stood stiff, keeping his eyes on Tokar. Tricky Bastard, he thought. He arrived at a good time.

Blake, who was laughing in relief, greeted him. “Holy s***, dude, you couldn’t have came at a better time. Man, I bet I’d be in 6 different pieces right now if it weren’t for you.”

Tokar nodded, but kept his eyes on Saga. “I’m glad you’re safe, but this is no time to talk. I was planning on getting their abilities, but now that Saga’s alone, I’d rather have him dead…”

“Oh…right! Let’s go!”

The 2 of them charged simultaneously. Tokar came in first, preparing a punch. With ease, Saga grabbed his arm, clenching it hard. Tokar struggled to release himself, but it was no use. Saga kneed him in the stomach, followed by a kick to the face. Tokar flew back, but instantly got back up.

Saga turned behind him rapidly, blocking Blake’s attack. He flung his sword down, forcing Blake to jump back. Now’s my chance… he thought. Saga jumped towards Tokar, but did not attack him. He positioned himself in a stance.

“What the?” mumbled Tokar. He studied the stance carefully, with his head turned. He noticed the way that Saga gripped his katana, and that’s when it hit Tokar. “Crap, I’ve seen this stance before…”

A few feet away, Blake arose from the ground. He spotted Saga and instantly charged at him aimlessly. As Tokar heard Blake charging, he tensed up. “Blake, stop!” Blake did as he was told, stopping only a foot away from Saga. Saga snickered, knowing that he had them both trapped.

“Blake…” said Tokar, cautiously. “Don’t move at all. Don’t try to run or attack Saga, understand?”

Blake arched his eyebrow. “Huh? Why, what’s going on?”

“Just look at Saga’s stance.”

Blake quickly overviewed it, but he didn’t find anything odd about it. “What’s wrong with you, man? You’re supposed to be the smart one. Stop standing around like an idiot and attack him!”

“Look at the way he’s holding his katana. It’s a versatile stance that can deal lethal damage to an opponent in back of him or in front of him. If he notices that either of us move, he can kill us in less than a second. We’ve been trapped.”

“T-trapped? You’re kidding, right?”

Saga butted in. “He’s not. I’m surprised that you caught on so quickly. This stance is one of the best swordsman stances you can learn. You guys have lost.”

Both Tokar and Blake were shaking nervously. They refused to even move an inch. Tokar looked up at the tree, staring down Silver as he jumped from the branch. A huge dust cloud formed as Silver landed, but quickly faded.

“Smart man,” said Silver, who stood a safe distance away. “Your plan was almost flawless.”

Tokar gritted his teeth back and forth. “You can say that…”

Silver cracked his knuckles and said, “I’m guessing that you sent Blake, and knowing that he’d screw up, that would be your chance. Right before we attacked him or he showed his power, whatever came first, you would switch places with me and ambush Saga, no? Along with that, I’m guessing you didn’t tell Blake because you didn’t want him to accidentally reveal your position. Like I said, it could’ve worked, but maybe if you used someone more intelligent, like Keira.”

Tokar pulled off a fake smile. This kid makes me look stupid. He figured me out without any thought. “We had some problems with our team, so Blake was my only choice. No offense to him, but he would’ve been my last choice if I had other options…”

Blake rolled his eyes and bit down on his cheek. “Well screw you too…”

Silver walked over to Tokar, making Tokar much more nervous, but also curious. “Now that someone more reasonable is here, I’ll give you two options. Powers or die? What will it be?”

“I won’t even give it a second thought, we’ll show you our powers.”

Blake widened his eyes and gasped. “What the hell, man? Can’t we at least try and take them on or something?”

“No, we can’t We’ve been trapped by Saga, so it’s our only choice. Besides, here‘s the deal. If I swap places with anyone here, it won‘t end well for us. For example, if I switch with you, Saga can kill one of us on the spot, and only one may get away, if their lucky. If I switch with Saga, I‘ll still be behind him, meaning he can kill me on the spot. Lastly, if I switch with Silver, Saga can kill you on the spot, and I can get away. The only way to get out of this unharmed is to show them what they want. We have no other choice.”

Blake looked down, disappointed. “I guess…you’re right…”

Silver smiled nicely and signaled Saga to release them both. The two of them jumped back from Saga and Silver, keeping their distance. “Good thinking,” said Silver. “Besides, if you look on the bright side, you still have a chance to pass the exam. You just have a major disadvantage, that’s all.”

Blake clenched his fist as he walked towards the middle. He summoned the black and white circles in his hand, and placed the portals down on the ground parallel to each other. “I can summon portals,” he said, quietly. “Whatever goes in one comes out the other.”

“I see,” said Silver, occupied with observing the portals. “A dangerous ability. I’m glad we found this out.” Silver turned around, yelling out as he walked away, “Consider yourself lucky that we spared you. Next phase…we’ll be much more violent.” Blake gulped as he turned around, and with Tokar, they starting walking in the same direction as Saga and Silver as soon as they were out of sight.



A few minutes of repetitive and silent walking went on, until Blake yelled out, “Damn it!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Tokar.

“I’m so pissed that we got tricked by those *ssholes! I feel like I let you and Knox down…”

Tokar laughed. “You sound like you just lost a big sports game in high school.”

“But…argh, it’s so aggravating!”

“It’s not the end of the world, kid. We’re still gonna pass this phase, and from there we can just hope that phase 4 doesn’t allow the examinees to fight.”

Blake was kicked a stick and continued with his head down. “Man, I’m just starting to lose hope. I bet you that this phase ended, like, hours ago.”

“Let’s hope not, ‘cuz I think we’re pretty close. Look.” Blake did as he was told. He stared, amazed, at a lake that glistened in the sunlight. With the birds chirping and the phase almost over, Blake considered it a miracle. “Oh…oh my god, I thought we were actually doomed.” He jumped into the air in celebration. “You got a point, it’s not over, is it. As a matter of fact, if those 2 idiots are still in the game, I’m gonna set out to get rid of them this phase! That’ll make up for my mistakes this phase, right?”

Tokar shrugged. “Maybe that’s not the best idea. Let’s just see what’s in store for us.”



Saga and Silver relaxed as they dug their feet into the sand at the edge of the lake. Surprisingly, they were one of the first teams to arrive. “That was simple…” claimed Silver. “Just a lot of walking, I suppose.”

“Simple?” asked Saga. “Simple isn’t even close to how easy this phase was. Signing up for this exam was more difficult than this. As a matter of fact, the definition of simple just got more simple because of this phase.”

Silver giggled. “I guess so…” he looked around quickly, searching for Bain. “I wonder where our lost teammate went.”

“Who cares. He has nothing to do with our success. Besides, I wouldn’t trust Bain for a second.”

“Why not? Does he intimidate you?”

Saga’s face went from emotionless to enraged. “Shut up! Not one person here has proven me weak! Honestly, Rao, isn’t it obvious?”


“What’s obvious?”

Saga glanced around, making sure no MCG soldiers were around. He whispered something into Silver’s ear, which surprised him greatly. “You think so?” he asked.

“Think so? I would cut off my left arm right here if I were wrong. I’m 100% positive he is.”

“I just don’t get it though. What’s the proof?”

“Well, from what we’ve met of him so far, he has no reason to be here. Not for wealth, not to save the city, nothing! He just has to be.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Silver took a deep breath. “Well, thanks for enlightening me, Saga. Now he frightens me even more.”

“I figured you wouldn’t trust him. I still believe that Knox is stronger than him, but I don’t trust Bain at all. I say we get rid of him this next phase.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. He’s a bigger threat to our team than any other.”