"Alright ahhhhhhh" Axel said running towards the colonel.

The colonel stepped back extending out his arm towards Axel ready to receive him. Just as Axel was within combat range he stopped his attack. A few feet in front of the colonel, he sat down in a pretzel.

"Well if I can’t beat you in a fight.... Might as well chill out for an hour!” Axel said taking a seat.

The colonel surprisingly sat down next to him, carefully making sure not to let his guard down.

“This kid…” The colonel thought “He’s taken two of my punches head on usually those punches are strong enough to completely incapacitate a recruit!” Grant remarked. “He knows he can’t beat me and yet he’s still fighting… No… He actually thinks he can win… Hahahah Im starting to like this kid!”

"So what's the plan? You're not going to try to wait me out, are you?" The Colonel said laughing.

"Why waste energy fighting you.... It's obvious even with your guard down I won't be able to harm you...Instead I'm going to wait out each hour and guess right at the end! That way I can prepare for your punch.” Axek said

"Heh Not bad kid! But how long are you going to do this? Are you going to give up sleeping? Remember I punch you every hour!” The colonel said waving his finger

"No problem! After all that means you have to go without sleep too! Your and old man! You probably won't be able to punch as hard!”

The colonel smiled. "You're not as stupid as you look" he said impressed.

“Very well, to be honest I thought you would give up after the first punch, but you got up and fought me, that's pretty admirable. But it's not enough to make it into the gauntlet... If a blue haired bozo like you goes running around those dangerous Shifters spouting this nonsense you'll get killed... or worse make the SPA look bad!”

“That's arrogant of you!” Axel groaned. “So the SPA looking bad is more important than my life?”

"Answer me this wise aspiring agent, when people lose faith in those who protect them do you think they'll feel safe anymore?"

"No…”

"That's right, and whose job is it to protect them?"

"The SPAs..."

"SO SHOW ME! IF you survive 24 hours without passing out I will consider your entry for the gauntlet.”

“Really!”

“Yeh, what can I say... I like you kid you've got a lot of spunk! It's too bad my job is to beat it all out of you!” He said laughing.

“What's going on here… why are you going easy on me?” Axel said confused

“Ha I'm not, if you listened to the rules at the beginning nothing has really changed, there's no way you'll survive a full on punch from me… And if you can't take a punch from me there's no way you'll survive the gauntlet.”

“To be completely honest I’ll be surprised if he can survive the next one…” Grant thought.

“Hmph I'll take your punch no prob and then I'll give you one of my own for trash talking my friends!” Axel said triumphantly.

"He I sure hope so, guess my name or survive either way show me you can do that and you're in kid!"

“HAha cool!” Axel said grinning “Soooo while we are waiting for the time to pass lets play some chess Axel said playfully.

"Uhhh, I don't exactly carry a chess board around with me” The colonel said scratching his head.

"No worries I've got that covered” said Axel taking out a stick and drawing out some gridlines.

The chess match was much more intense than the colonel expected. Axel was a surprisingly tough opponent.

“Howd you get so good?” Asked the colonel.

“Playing chess was one of the few things me and my brother did together….” said Axel.

“Your brother? Is he older or younger’?” Grant asked

“He's my older brother… we used to-”

“WAIT A MINUTE! I GET IT NOW!” The colonel erupted getting on his feet.

He looked down to check the time on his phone.

"Shit" Axel said wincing

“Game over!” Grant said readying a punch.

“UHhhh your last name is… JOHNSON?” He squeezed out before catching another blow to the stomach.

The colonel hit Axel with a devastating blow causing Axels feet to drag on the ground as he struggled to maintain his footing As his drift came to a halt he leaned over grabbing the side of his stomach.

“You had me there kid..” The colonel said straightening out his shoulders. It's been nearly three hours since we started that match…But with that last punch you should be-”

“HAHA operation distract was a success! Now there is only 19 hours left!” Axel said triumphantly.

“What in the hell! That’s the same punch I use to knock out recruits during training! How are you standing!” Grant barked

“Hehe…. What's wrong colonel… you're not getting weak on me are you?” Axel said grinning.

“What is this…” Grant said

The colonel raised his right hand finding it drenched in water. For a moment he replayed the punch in his mind.

“That resistance I felt for a moment… that was..”

“A shield!” Acel said “That's right! You never said anything about me not being able to stop your punch” Axel said.

“I'VE gotta say kid… You've got some serious spunk! I might have underestimated you…” Grant laughed,

“HAHA you’ll be calling me colonel soon enough!”

“Hmph, well see about that”

“Let's play another game, except this time it will be a different one.”

“Different how?”

“Were going to play an old war game.”

The colonel withdrew from his jacket pocket a revolver and a small yellow vial of fluid. Disengaging the revolver he slid the vial into one of the chambers and locked it into place.

“The yellow fluid you just saw is Regal Cedar nectar. It is a rare substance created by the Venier wasps that live in the valley. They’re extremely dangerous creatures only the most vicious of species can get in there and retrieve its nectar.

“So you're going to ask me to get more...”

“No that would be too simple, instead we are going to play Russian roulette.”

“What's that?” Axel said scratching his head.

The colonel shook his head envious of the naivety Axel still had in him.

“We are going to spin the wheel and shoot until one of us gets hit with the nectar!”

“Oh cool then we get to eat it right!

“HAHAH Honestly kid sometimes I wonder about you.” The colonel said shaking his head

“Whoever has the misfortune of getting hit with this thing well be at the mercy of the Nautica Bears, the huge beasts that roam this valley, the only ones capable of retrieving such powerful nectar.”

“What?” Axel exclaimed “Screw that I'm not playing!” He said crossing his arms.

“Than the deal is off” the colonel said shrugging his shoulders. “Man I thought u had spunk, you were ready to take on Darrius but now you scared of a few bears? Wow guess I was wrong about you kid.” The colonel said unimpressed, putting away the revolver.

Axel spun around fuming and sat down next to the colonel. “Let's do this,” he said defiantly.

“Alright don’t say I didn’t warn you!” The colonel said, drawing the gun.

“The rules are simple, place the vial in the chamber, spin it, and point the revolver at your head and shoot!” The Colonel said pulling the trigger

Nothing happened.

“Now it's your turn,” he said handing the revolver to Axel.

Axel took the gun from the colonel shaking it as he spun the chamber. He had never seen a Nautica bear before… Images of 20 foot tall beasts pulsed through Axels mind as he placed the barrel at his head. As his hand nervously shook the gun against his temple he pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

“Congrats you've made it through round 1!” The colonel said.

“How many rounds are we going for? Axel asked.

“As many as it takes for one of us to be hit.” Grant said coldly.

Axel’s heart sank, he hated this sick game. Tragedy could befall him at any moment and it would be impossible for him to know when it would start or end.

The colonel placed the vile in the chamber again. It was round 32, 2 hours had passed and Axel was no closer to figuring out his name or winning game.

As the Colonel pulled the trigger a loud boom erupted through the valley.

Axel opened his eyes, and to his surprise he saw the colonel sitting there without any fluid on his head.

“What!” You cheated Axel said pointing at his head.

“Nope, I pulled the trigger with the vile in it just like the rules said!” he said showing Axel the empty barrel.

“Then where is the nectar?” Axel asked.

“Somewhere far out in the woods probably” The colonel said shrugging his shoulders.

“That's impossible, you must have moved it away at the last second!” Axel complained.

Laughing the colonel drew out another vile of nectar and placed it in the first chamber aimed at his head.

“Ok then you shoot this time” he said placing Axels hand on the trigger.

Without hesitating Axel pulled the trigger making sure not to close his eyes this time.

Right as Axel heard the explosion he saw the colonel's head slowly turn into 3 as if his head was vibrating at an extreme speed. As the vibration continued he saw the vile slip right through the colonel's head as he returned to his starting position.

Amazed Axel fell back on the floor in awe.

“That's right kid,” the colonel laughed. “I dodged the bullet, he said grabbing another vile from his pocket.”

“You never planned on losing from the beginning!” Axel said shocked.

“Hehe, so show me then, how to win a losing battle” he said handing the vile back over to Axel.

Axel took the vile placed it into the first chamber and pressed it to his head without spinning the barrel.

“You’ve got no chance of dodging that” The colonel remarked

“I’m not planning on dodging,” Axel said pulling the trigger.

In an instant Axel’s hair was covered in a sticky yellow paste that got stuck in his hair. The sweet aroma of the honey spread through the air as its vapors spread out.

Reaching out his hands, Axel ran a torrent of water through his hair flushing out the nectar and rinsed himself.

After his hair was thoroughly rinsed he looked back at the colonel with a wide smile.

“Didn't see that coming did you!” Axel proudly rebutted

“HAHAH sorry kid! The pores of that nectar have already embedded themselves in your scalp! I’m afraid even a drop of that stuff on you will attract them” The colonel laughed

GRRRUUUUU!

Slowly in the shade of the trees large beasts began to approach Axel and the Colonel. 3 10 ft. bears with menacing teeth and razor claws. Their velvet red fur coat covered their huge hefty bodies and by the looks of it were at least weighing a ton or more!

“Whelp good luck kid” the colonel said, walking away uninterested in the beasts about to tear Axel apart.

“Wait you're not going to stay here?” “What if they try to kill me?” “What if the exam goes too far?”

The colonel turned around with a grim look on his face. His warm presence.

“That's the whole point,” he said. “I isolated you here during this exam, away from the support of your friends. Many times in missions, something like this can happen, where you're on your own. It's my duty to simulate that as close as possible! Even if it means putting your life at risk!

“My friends would never abandon me!” Axel exclaimed

“HHAHA, take a look around kid!” The colonel said stretching out his arms “They’re each in their own battle right now they can't help you! As far as I'm concerned they already have!