Tisane looked at the board. She was at the tournament office which was set at the power fighters’ registration office. Selena was with her. They were looking for the name of their team. There were over a thousand teams who had registered for the tournament. They were going to be divided into 8 blocks. Tisane and Selena had come to see which block they were going to be in.

The tournament had knock out matches. Right now, the block of the team and the names of their first opponents would be given to the team managers. Tisane and Selena were waiting for their turn. They soon came up to the information kiosk. Tisane knew that Juran and Wizard had already received their information. Juran was in block 3 while Wizard was in block 7. Tisane hoped that she would not be in the same block as them.

Only 8 teams were going to be selected and they would be the respective winners of the blocks. Tisane did not want to go against Juran or Wizard before the World Tournament. She checked her team details. She gave a sigh of relief. They were in block 5. There were 256 teams in their block. They would have to win 8 matches in order to qualify for the world tournament. Their first match was with team Carma.

She looked at Selena and nodded. Selena nodded back. They had what they came for. They left the kiosk and ran into Marcus.

“What are you doing here Marcus?” asked Tisane.

Marcus gestured around and said, “I am observing the team managers.”

“What?”

“I am observing the team managers.”

“I got that. But why?”

Marcus simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “I was bored.”

Tisane raised an eyebrow at him but Marcus simply laughed and said, “So what block are we in? And who is out first opponent?”

Tisane said, “It will all be discussed in the team meeting in the evening. Now we are leaving. Are you coming?”

Marcus said bye to them and Tisane and Selena left. As they exited, Tisane turned to look at Marcus. He indeed looked as if he was observing the other team managers. He had settled down on one of the chairs and was looking around.

Tisane thought, odd, and simply left. She and Selena had lot to prepare for the evening.

***

Selena looked at Marcus who was looking disgruntled. Apparently, Tisane had set the meeting exactly at the time of the opening ceremony for the qualifying tournament, and Marcus was not happy about it. Marcus had been very excited to see the opening ceremony. He was now sulking. Tisane was briefing them about team Carma. After Selena and Tisane had left the tournament office, they had been holed up in Tisane’s house the entire day, discussing regarding team Carma. Now Tisane was asking opinions from their team members as to what their strategy should be. Tisane and Selena had decided on a strategy, but Tisane wanted the others’ opinion too.

Selena could see the meeting was not going well. The team did not seem happy with Tisane’s strategy. There were suggestions all around. Tisane was looking dejected now. Surprisingly Marcus had not said one word. He continued to sulk. Selena considered that as very odd and kept checking up on him from time to time.

Tisane finally said, “All right, that’s it. We cannot have so many strategies. I asked for your opinion, not change the strategy completely. Moreover, you have different ideas. No one is on the same page. This is not good. We are a team. We need to work as a team. We cannot go in different directions. This is simply not done.”

Selena sighed as Tisane finished. This was going to be a long night. Team Incognito was not up to a good start.

***

The morning of the fight dawned. Marcus woke up disgruntled. He was sleeping badly these days. He hoped it was temporary. He did not want to see a doctor for this. He sighed and got up. Getting ready, he went down to prepare breakfast and found that Brock was already up and he had prepared breakfast.

“Good morning”, said Brock in a cheerful voice.

Marcus grunted a good morning back. Brock simply shook his head at Marcus’ mood. It was a quiet breakfast. After they were done Brock said, “Are you okay?”

Marcus looked at his best friend for some time. Then he said, “I do not know. I am still feeling sleepy.”

“I can tell”, said Brock, now putting the dishes in the sink, “You have dark circles.”

Marcus said, “The thing is I am not sleeping properly these days and I don’t know why.”

“It’s probably the nerves”, said Brock in an offhand manner, “We have the tournament to worry about.”

Marcus frowned at that. He did not think it was nerves. He had participated in competitive fighting before. He had always been calm. There was something nagging at the back of his mind, something he could not put his finger on, and that was making him restless. He would have to do something about it. Distraction would be disastrous, especially during the tournament.

Marcus and Brock soon got ready and left the house. It was time to fight.

***

Tisane looked at her assembled team. They were in the waiting room of the stadium in Los Angeles. Their first fight was at their home town. Tisane considered this as an advantage. She could see that they were all nervous. Brock was pacing. AA was constantly checking the T.V. where the current fight was being broadcasted. Emma was sitting but fidgeting continuously. Her sister Forum was alternating between giving a look of concern to Tisane and glancing murderously at Marcus who was sleeping. Selena was also looking dangerously at Marcus. However, she was also busy with something on her tab. Lara had not come today. She had said she was busy with something and she was after all the spare player. Tisane had not liked that. She needed to have a conversation with Lara later.

She looked at the T.V. too. Their match was the fifth match of the day. Currently the second match was going on. It was between teams Buzzkill and Foehammer. They were definitely weird names for a team. Currently it looked as if team Buzzkill was doing well. Out of the five battles, they had won two of them. One more and they would be winners.

Tisane wanted to discuss their strategy one more time but could not say anything. She had tried to speak something twice now but no words came out. Everyone except Marcus had looked expectantly at her at that time. She started to speak something but Marcus woke up at that time.

Marcus said, “Are we on yet?”

Brock stopped his pacing, said No and resumed it. Marcus went back to sleep. Tisane let it go. She hoped that they would win. Her father was going to be so disappointed if her team lost today. She still felt that they were not really a team; that it had not sunk into them. She hoped the match turned out fine.

***

Arya looked at the battle field in front of her. She was sitting in Big D’s private room. She had wanted to see her brother, Marcus’ first match and wanted to buy the tickets. However, due to Chris being so small, she did not want to risk sitting in the stands. She was not going to get a babysitter during the day. So, Marcus had asked Big D and got her a seat in his private room.

She looked around. It was cozy. Chris was sleeping in his stroller and was looked after by one of Big D’s men. She was listening to the commentary coming out of the speakers at a soft volume. Big D was also present, looking at the battles. He had made short talk initially but was now fully focused on the battles. Arya was also looking at the battles but with polite interest. She was interested in only one of the matches.

That match was starting now. She leaned forward as the teams entered the field. Incognito and Carma. She scanned the teams and found her brother yawning. She simply shook her head. The match would start once the referee completes the toss. She knew the rules. Each match had five one on one battles and you had to win three out of them. The toss determined who would select the player first. Depending upon a team’s strategy, they go either first or let the other team decide. The team going first has 30 seconds to select who they are going to send. The second team has 10 seconds after that to send their player. If the teams are not able to send their players by then, then that team defaults the battle and the other team wins. If none of the teams send, then it is a draw.

The referee sounded the whistle. The toss was over. It seemed Carma won the toss and decided that they would send their players first. Arya was now properly excited. The match was beginning.

***

Tisane looked at the members of team Carma. The fight would soon start and the referee will signal for the selection of the team members. The team was led by the manager Steven Wright. He was new, like Tisane, and she did not know much about him. The team’s statistician was Selena Wright, Steven’s sister and Tisane had learnt much about her from her statistician, Selena Stone. The fighters included Dallas Wright, Steven’s younger brother, the twins Jemma and Ron Ark, Wren Goldfeather, which according to Tisane was a weird surname but who was she to judge, and Aron Stone. They did not have a spare fighter.

Tisane recalled the fighting formation which they had decided during their strategy. If they would have gone first, then the order of team Incognito’s fighter would have been Brock, Alpha, Emma, Forum and finally Marcus. However, team Carma was going first. That is what Dallas has decided when he won the toss. Thus, Tisane now knew which formation to follow. Marcus will be fighting Dallas. Emma would be fighting Jemma. Alpha would be fighting Wren. Forum would be fighting Ron, and Brock would be fighting Aron. She now waited for the referee’s whistle.

The whistle sounded. Each of team Incognito’s member was looking at team Carma. Team Carma had now 30 seconds to send their player on the field. They waited. When last 5 seconds were remaining, team Carma sent Wren. Tisane knew who would go and looked at Alpha. Alpha nodded at her and as the referee sounded the whistle again, started towards the field. The field was a few steps away from the short open pavilion where each of the team was sitting. The teams were sitting on the opposite sides of the field.

Alpha climbed up the steps. Tisane looked at the four power fighters at each side of the field. They were shield makers. They put up the shield as soon as the fighters stepped in. They would create a temporary passage for the referee when the referee came out. The referee was now explaining the rules of the fight to both the fighters on the field. Every power fighter knew them by heart, but it was the job of the referee to remind them.

The referee now came down and went up to a platform on one of the ends outside of the field. It was specially constructed so that the referee can easily observe the fight and provide necessary order for intervention as required. The referee asked both the fighters individually if they were ready. Both the fighters replied affirmatively. Referee blew the whistle. The first fight was on.

***

Alpha looked at Wren. They were sizing up each other and Alpha knew it. The whistle had sounded but they had not moved yet. Alpha took a step forward and Wren immediately went into a defensive position. Alpha smiled a bit.

‘This is going to be easy’, he thought and charged. Wren held his defensive position. Alpha launched his first volley of attacks testing Wren’s defenses. They were strong, but not that strong. He could see the openings Wren kept and started to exploit them. Pretty soon Alpha could see that Wren was starting to wear out.

He gave a short smile and decided to finish it but something stopped him. He suddenly stepped back just in time to avoid a strong attack. While defending, Wren had been gathering energy for a strong attack and Alpha had not felt it. It was pure instinct that helped him avoid the attack. Alpha could see the astonished look on Wren’s face but it was only for a moment.

Now Wren charged. Alpha dodged his attack and countered. He still had the upper hand but it seemed that Wren was now gaining ground in the fight. He needed to end this soon or it would happen that Wren would defeat him.

Alpha took a step back and lay a trap on the ground as Wren charged in. Alpha’s specialty were energy traps. He could put them on a moment’s notice and they hit Alpha’s opponent strongly. Wren was charging and had no time to avoid the trap. He got hit full face but simply kept charging. Alpha was surprised and he blocked Wren’s attack. It was reduced in power because of the trap.

However, Wren was not done. He followed up the attack with another stronger attack and Alpha was not able to either block or dodge it in time. He felt the blow of the energized punch. Wren followed it with another. Wren was now raining punches on Alpha and soon he threw Alpha into the energy wall set up at the edge of the fighting field.

Alpha knew he was done. He stood up for one final charge but Wren was upon him. The last thing Alpha remembered was Wren’s fist descending upon him and he blacked out.

***

Tisane looked at Alpha fighting and shook her head. Alpha had clearly lost his edge. He had made such a rookie mistake, rushing into the fight before carefully evaluating the opponent. She was not surprised when he lost.

She looked at her team members who were all standing and watching with their mouths open. They seemed to be in shock, all except for Marcus. He was the only one sitting. But he was leaning forward, supporting his chin with his hands and had narrowed his eyes. He looked as if he was analyzing the fight and it was a possibility.

Once the fight was over, the medical team brought the stretcher and took Alpha away. The team, except Marcus kept on staring till he was taken away. Wren stepped down with the help of a medical attendant. He would also be taken into the healing ward. However, he gave each of his team members a high five as they led him away. Marcus was still staring at the field with the same expression.

The second fight would now begin. The referee’s whistle sounded. 30 seconds for Carma’s second fighter. They sent Jemma when last ten seconds were remaining. Tisane knew who she had to send. She looked at Emma who nodded. Emma stepped into the field. The second fight was now starting.

***

Emma sized up Jemma. The way Wren and Alpha’s fight had gone, she would have to be cautious. She could not let Jemma get the upper hand. They shook hands and Jemma gave her a smile. Emma smiled back. They waited for the referee to finish explaining the rules, step out and blow the whistle. The referee finally stepped out. Emma and Jemma took their positions. He blew the whistle.

Emma launched herself at Jemma. Before Jemma could get into a defensive position, Emma was upon her. She feinted with a punch and gave Jemma a strong kick. Emma knew that Jemma would get her bearings soon enough and she would have to dole out as much damage as she could before Jemma did that.

Emma did not get enough time. Jemma was on her defensive faster than Emma had expected and Emma retreated a bit. She stopped attacking and evaluated her opponent. Jemma was panting a bit now. She had her arms crossed in front of her and she was evaluating Emma back. Emma grinned and started circling Jemma. She put in a slight spring in her step as she circled Jemma. Jemma was moving slowly, ensuring she was ready when Emma attacked. Jemma took a defensive strategy with her opponents. Emma knew that. She waited for the right time to attack.

Emma however did not find an opening for a couple of minutes. She tested Jemma’s defenses for some time, throwing in the occasional punch and kick, but they were blocked each time. Emma knew that she would have to wait patiently. If she rushed into the attack, she would lose. She kept on circling Jemma and kept attacking her with weak attacks.

Time passed slowly and there was no change to the situation. Jemma had not even attacked Emma once. She was simply defending. But Emma could see that Jemma was tiring out now. She knew that Jemma did not know whether Emma would attack her with strong or weak attacks. She had been defending with as much power as possible, or at least that is what Emma believed. She grinned a bit and launched herself at Jemma again. This time she powered up for a strong attack and she could see Jemma tensing up. Jemma held her ground.

At the last moment Emma stopped her attack, her punch, just a centimeter from Jemma’s face. Jemma looked confused for a bit, and Emma saw it. It was her opening. Jemma had let her defenses down. In a split second, Emma’s hand was charged with power and she flicked a finger on Jemma’s forehead. Jemma was thrown back. Jemma hit the barrier surrounding the field and passed out. The referee finished the countdown to ten. It was over. Emma had won.

***

Tisane watched the medical team take away Jemma and Emma. Her team members were cheering Emma as she was led off, well, all except Marcus, who was simply politely clapping. Tisane also gave a nod of acknowledgement to Emma as Emma looked at her and Emma grinned. The score was now tied 1-1. Incognito needed to win two more fights.

The next fight was Brock versus Aron. Tisane watched the fight. The fight was long and it looked as if Aron was a tough opponent for Brock. After about half an hour of fighting, Brock won. Incognito cheered as the medical team led both the fighters but Tisane had a doubt that Brock was quite out of it.

The next fight was a disaster. Forum went against Ron and lost, spectacularly. Tisane could see that her sister was clearly battling with nerves and was not able to perform properly because of that. The score was now tied 2-2. It was now all dependent on Marcus.

Tisane looked at him as he stood up and walked up to the field. He did not enter it, knowing that he would have to wait for the Carma player Dallas. Dallas entered the field and Marcus followed. Tisane tried to gauge Marcus’ status. He looked bored, which was a change from the focused expression he had during the other fights. Tisane was now starting to get worried. The fate of their match hinged on Marcus and it seemed that he was not interested.

Thoughts raced through her mind, bad to worst case scenarios as referee was speaking the rules. She looked at her arms to find them shaking. She realized she was shaking from nervousness. She clenched her fists and took deep breaths. It was going to be all right. Marcus was strong, but she knew that Dallas was strong too. This fight could go either way. She just hoped that it was not a draw.

The fight started and was over in just couple of minutes. Marcus had won. He was not even harmed. He walked along with the medical team, ignoring their requests of carrying him on a stretcher or checking him. The match was over. Team Incognito had won.

She took the field to shake hands with Steven. It was customary for managers to do so after the match. They both shook hands and smiled for the photographs. She could see that Steven’s smile was forced. It was understandable. He had lost after all. She was giddy with happiness. They had won. But it was a close one. That sobered her up quite fast. She made her way to the medical room. They needed to discuss a lot.

***

Marcus looked at Brock who was lying on the couch and staring at the ceiling. Marcus followed Brock’s vision to determine whether he was actually looking at something interesting or was simply staring into space. It turned out that Brock was indeed staring into space.

It was the day after their match. They had won but Tisane had not been happy. She had called in a team meeting after the team had been discharged from the medical center. After that, she had literally blasted them, Alpha and Forum specifically. She was also not happy with Brock’s performance too. She had not spoken much to Marcus and Emma about their fight but had said that they were good individual fighters but what about team playing. No one had understood what she was trying to say. She finally concluded her what Marcus called a shouting match by saying, “You are individual fighters, not a team.”

And then she had left. Marcus understood what she meant but he wondered whether his team members got what Tisane had said. Marcus looked at Brock again to find him in the same spot. What had Marcus been expecting? It seemed Brock was also thinking about what Tisane had said or it could be something else. Marcus knew someone other than Tisane would have to take the initiative to get the team together and he did not want to be the one.

WA spoke inside him, “You know Marcus that it has to be you.”

Marcus did not say anything and UA said, “He already knows that WA but he does not want to do it. For what purpose, I do not know.”

“Because he is a pussy”, said DA. DA was always brash. Marcus always ignored. However, this time he decided heed to what WA, UA and DA were saying.

He said to them, “Fine, I will do it.”

He then walked up to Brock and shook him. Brock jumped a bit as he came out of his reverie.

Brock said, “What is it, Marcus?”

Marcus replied, “We need to get the team together, all except Selena and Tisane. You go and get Forum and Emma. I will bring Alpha and Lara. We meet at Musings. We need a team meeting.”

Brock simply nodded. Both the friends left the house together. Marcus shook his head as he watched Brock walking away. It seemed that his friend was still in some deep thought. He put the thought of Brock out of his mind and started walking towards the Angel’s mansion. It was time for a team meeting.

***

Marcus chose Lara’s training ground for the meeting. The entire team was called except for Tisane and Selena. This was a meeting of the fighters and neither the statistician nor the manager were required. Marcus looked at what they were doing right now. Brock was simply sitting, deep in thought, on the ground, his legs crossed. Lara and Alpha were discussing about something. Marcus could catch parts of their conversation. It was something related to archeology. Emma and Forum were also discussing, and giggling. Marcus simply rolled his eyes at them.

He now observed their body language. It would not do. They did not somehow fit as a team. Brock was aloof. Alpha was dejected. Lara did not care. Emma, he believed was used to being alone and Forum simply looked as if she had decided to take a stroll and joined the team. An aura, a sense of camaraderie was missing. He knew it would take some work, but he was going to make a team out of the fighters present here, himself included.

He cleared his throat to get their attention. They all looked at him. He said, “You must be all wondering why I have called you here.”

No one said anything. They just stared at him. Marcus cleared his throat again and gestured at the center of the training field. He said, “Please stand where I am pointing. All of you.”

The others looked at each other with bemused expressions but slowly they did what Marcus had told them. Once they were standing in the center, Marcus said, “All right then. Let’s start, shall we?”

Lara asked, “And what is it that you wish to start, runt?”

Marcus smiled at her remark but said nothing. He put up the shield around the training field.

“What is this Marcus?” asked Forum.

Marcus said, “You will all attack me together, as a team.”

“What?” came a collective response.

“You heard me. We are going to fight”

“But why?” asked Lara.

“As of now”, replied Marcus, “Because I said so.”

Lara said, “I don’t mind beating the crap out of you, runt, but now does not seem a good time.”

Marcus grinned in a wicked way and said, “You are free to leave then.”

Lara looked at him in a dubious way and then started to leave the fighting field. She stopped at the force field and stopped. She put her hand and it seemed she was pushing. Nothing happened.

She turned to Marcus and said, “Remove the field runt.”

Marcus said, “It will go down once you defeat me.”

“Very well then”, said Lara cracking her knuckles, “I will take pleasure in pounding you.”

She started towards Marcus but he raised a hand to stop her.

Marcus said, “Please go back to your original position. You are all supposed to attack me, not Lara alone.”

Lara looked as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself. She walked up to her original place.

Marcus smiled and said, “Begin.”

The others looked at each other. Brock simply shrugged and nodded towards Marcus. Then they attacked him. Fifteen minutes later the fight was over.

Marcus said, “That went splendid.”

He looked at the others sprawled on the ground, not getting up. He continued, “We are going to do this every day till you manage to defeat me.”

The others groaned and Marcus said, “No excuses. No complaints. We will meet every day here early in the morning at 7 o’clock. If you are all not here then I will drag you from wherever you are. I will not care as to what you are doing, I promise you that.”

They could see the seriousness in Marcus’ eyes as he spoke. It seemed they had to do what he said for some time.

***

Marcus looked at his fallen team members. One week had passed since he had declared that they were supposed to fight him every day in the morning. Every day, team Incognito tried to defeat Marcus, and every day they failed. However, Marcus could see the improvement. They were now starting to work as a team. The only disadvantage was that they were against him and so he was not able to join this team building exercise.

He started to bring down the shield surrounding the fighting field but was surprised when they stood up.

Brock said, “We are not done yet, Marcus.”

Marcus said, “We are done for today Brock. We have to go and meet Tisane, remember?”

Today Tisane was going to tell them the date for their next match. The first round of matches had been completed the day before and today, in the morning, the managers of the teams who won would be getting a message regarding the date and time of their team’s next fight along with the location. That message was going to come any time in the day to the team managers but Tisane had asked them all to come by 9 a.m. to her house.

The others acknowledged Marcus’ statement.

Lara said, “Let us rest for a few minutes. Then we can leave. I am a bit tired.”

Marcus wanted to smile at that statement but hid it. Just a week before he started the daily fights, Lara did not want anything to do with the team. Now she was showing an interest. This was good. This was progress.

They rested for a bit and started to go to Tisane’s house. Lara and Angel, both took a car and drove them. They reached there five minutes before nine. They entered to find Tisane pacing in the living room. She was clearly nervous. Selena was already present and was reviewing something on her tab. She looked calm.

Tisane said as they entered, “You are all here. Good. Good. Good. Sit down. Sit down. I think we will be getting the message any minute.”

Selena said not looking up from her tab, “You will be getting the message. Calm down Tisane.”

“Calm? I am calm! Don’t I look calm guys?”

They all nodded to that. They did not want to anger her so early in the morning. They all sat down as they waited for the message. They made small talk while Tisane continued her pacing. Selena continued to look at her tablet.

Finally, at around 12 o’clock Tisane’s phone pinged. She opened the message hurriedly and let out a long breath.

Tisane said, “We will be fighting Team Oneforce.”

They all looked at Selena who said, “Give me a minute.”

She swiped through her tab, looking for information on team Oneforce. They waited patiently, all except Tisane who had started to fidget again. Marcus considered this behavior as odd and very not like Tisane.

Selena finally said after five minutes, “Team Oneforce. Looks like a pretty decent team. The manager is Todd Wayne”, she looked at Tisane when she said his name.

Tisane nodded and said, “I remember him. He was a good power fighter. He had retired before I had started to fight. He would have assembled a good team.”

Selena nodded and said, “Yes, the statistician is Todd’s brother, Howard Wayne. As for the team, it consists of Matt Dwight, Matthew Watt, David Fold, Courtney Fold, Jennifer English and the spare fighter is Lisa Down.”

“I have heard of them”, said Alpha, “They are all good fighters.”

“Team fighting seems to be their specialty”, said Selena.

The team continued to discuss till evening. They had lunch at the Chans. At about 5 o’clock in the evening Tisane concluded the meeting. She had said, they needed to focus on team building exercises soon. Their match was in a week and it was still in Los Angeles. This was good.

A smile was playing on Marcus’ lips as he exited the house. Team building exercises. This was going to be interesting indeed.

***

That evening Selena rang the doorbell to The Hunter’s End and it was opened by Brock. Brock nodded at Selena as he let her pass and said, “Marcus is in his room. Go ahead and knock.”

He left the house after saying that.

Selena shouted at his retreating back, “Where are you going?”

Brock did not turn, but waved and said, “Date night with Flora.”

Selena smiled and shut the door. Then she took the stairs up and knocked on Marcus’ door.

“Come in, Brock”, said Marcus.

Selena entered to find Marcus sitting with his legs crossed on the ground, meditating. Marcus opened one eye as she entered and said, “You are not Brock.”

Selena said, “Your acute powers of observation astound me. I wonder how people lived without your magnificence before now.”

“They managed”, said Marcus and stood up. He was wearing only track pants and put on a t-shirt. He noticed Selena’s expression while watching him.

“Enjoying the show?” asked Marcus.

Selena blushed and turned away. Marcus gave a bemused smile and said, “I have put on the T-shirt. What is the point of looking away now?”

Selena turned and said, “You are incorrigible. Why does anyone put up with you?”

Marcus asked, “Who puts up with me?”

Selena said, “Never mind. This is not what I came for. We need to talk.”

“You know you sound as if you are going to break up with me. And we are not even dating.”

Selena made a face and Marcus laughed. Marcus said, “Let’s go to the living room, shall we? We will be more comfortable there rather than my bedroom.”

Selena nodded and they went out. Once they were settled on the sofa Marcus said, “Shoot.”

Selena said, “I am getting concerned about my training, or the lack of it.”

Marcus raised an eyebrow, “What?”

Selena said, “I know that you have been fighting with the rest of the team every morning while simply asking me to warm up. I can warm up at least three times before you come and train me. And now Tisane has come up with her own team building exercise. I am afraid this will cut more into my training time?”

Marcus leaned back on the sofa and put on a thoughtful expression. He understood what Selena was talking about. He said, “I want to help you Selena, you know that. What do you suggest we do about this then?”

Selena said, “I will be coming to these training sessions. I don’t think we will be able to train in the morning. I know you are apprehensive, but can we have my training sessions in the evening? At least till the qualifying tournament is over?”

Marcus did not reply to that. He sat there thinking about what Selena had said. It did make sense but he did not like it. He always believed that if you wanted to learn something new, then it should be done in the morning.

Finally, he relented, “Ok. But only during the period of qualifying tournament. After that, we are resuming our schedule.”

Selena nodded and said, “Makes sense. Thank you, Marcus.”

They chatted for some time after which Selena left. Marcus looked at her retreating figure for some time and then sighed. He went back in, shutting the door behind him. Time to play some video games.

***

The next day the team met at Lara’s fighting ground. Tisane was waiting for them. Selena was with her, her tab in her hand. As the rest of the team approached Tisane said, “Good morning guys. It is a lovely morning to train. Come on then. I have lots of practice planned for today.”

“Why is your sister so cheery Forum?” Brock asked Forum who simply shrugged.

Tisane said, “I have set up an obstacle course for you in the grounds after taking Lara’s permission. Don’t worry, even Lara does not know what I have set up. Now what we know about team Oneforce is that they are team players. This means they specialize in two versus two, three versus three and entire team fights. As this is the qualifying tournament, any one of these fights can randomly pop up. This means we can have either the normal one on one fights or either of what I said before. This means we need to practice all forms of team fighting in just one week. I know we had done these team fighting exercises before but to be honest, they were highly disappointing. This means we have to up our game. This is it guys. We really need to focus on team building now.”

The team looked at each other when Tisane said that. Tisane continued, “Now I know you have been practicing with Marcus each morning and so I believe we have got the entire team fight covered. Am I right?”

They all nodded. Tisane said, “This obstacle course will help with two versus two and three versus three fights. First, we will focus on forming pairs of two. Form the pairs you think are the best.”

They started to move. Marcus paired up with Brock. Alpha paired up with Lara and Forum paired up with Emma. Tisane nodded as she looked at the pairs.

“Good”, she said, “This was what I had expected. You are predictable but you are also wrong. I said form the pairs you think are best, not comfortable. These are comfortable pairs.”

Forum said, “But isn’t it good that you are comfortable with your partner. While fighting that does give you an edge. And a comfortable partnership is always advantageous than simply strong partnership.”

Tisane said, “That is indeed correct. However, you are not looking at the big picture. You are a team. So that should mean you should all be comfortable with pairing with anyone from the team. However, you chose the ones you are the most comfortable, not even thinking that you could pair up with someone else. Am I correct?”

The team shifted but did not say anything. Tisane nodded and said, “That is why I am going to change the pairs. The pairs will be Alpha and Emma, Brock and Forum, and Marcus and Lara. Now stand accordingly.”

The team did as they were instructed. Once they were standing as Tisane had instructed, she nodded and said, “Good now as I call your name, come here and pick a stick from my hand. The stick has a number. It will show you in the order in which you are going to complete the course. I do not want anyone except the partners who are doing the course to know anything about the course. Is that understood?”

They all nodded. Tisane said, “This means no cheating. This is not that sort of exercise where I will divide you and in the end, tell you that even though you were divided, you should have worked as a team. This course has been designed specifically to build trust between the partners, two or three, how many they may be. So, come on now. Lara will pick the stick first, then Alpha and then Brock.”

They picked up the sticks as instructed. Brock and Forum were going first. Alpha and Emma were going second. Marcus and Lara were going last.

“Good”, Tisane clapped her hands together, “Selena will be monitoring you all over here while I take the partners to the course start. Come on then. Brock and Forum first.”

Marcus watched as Tisane led Brock and Forum from the training ground.

***

Selena looked at the four-people standing in the training ground. Marcus and Emma were warming up. Lara and Alpha seemed to be discussing about something. Selena could not hear what they were saying. She looked towards the trees where the obstacle course was set, hidden from the fighting ground.

There was a bang they all looked startled. Selena then composed herself immediately and said, “That would be the Brock and Forum starting the course.”

The others nodded and continued their activities. Brock and Forum were back with Tisane in half an hour. When the others looked at them, their reactions were similar. Brock and Forum looked like hell. There was no word for it.

Marcus asked with concern in his voice, “Are you guys all right?”

Brock and Forum simply nodded. Tisane said, “They need to rest up a bit. Come on then. Alpha and Emma are next. Let us go. The course would be reset by the time we reach. Or we could wait till the course resets. Brock and Forum, I will repeat again. No talking”

Tisane then led Alpha and Emma to the course start. Brock and Forum simply lay on the ground. Selena could see that both Marcus and Lara were curious about the course but they were not asking anything to Brock and Forum. She could see that now Marcus was discussing something with Lara but she could not hear them. Whatever Marcus was saying was not making Lara happy. She had a frown on her face initially which had now turned into a scowl. Lara said something to Marcus and Marcus nodded enthusiastically. He grinned at her and Lara laughed a bit. Then they simply sat down on the ground.

Alpha and Emma were back in about forty-five minutes. They looked worse than Brock and Forum; well Alpha did. Emma was looking better than him and was supporting him as Alpha hobbled towards them. There were clear looks of concern on everyone’s faces and Lara ran to her husband asking for his well-being.

Alpha brushed her away saying, “It’s all right, love. I was simply careless. Won’t happen again.”

Lara looked daggers at Tisane but said nothing. Tisane also looked concerned for Alpha but Selene could also see some other expression on her face. Doubt. It seemed that Tisane was doubting Alpha’s ability to fight. That made Selena focus on Alpha. Was Tisane, right? Had Alpha completely lost his touch with his power fighting abilities?

Selena could not think much on that as Tisane called Lara and Marcus next. Lara took some time to walk up to Tisane. Lara had been with Alpha, calling someone who would heal his injuries. Marcus wondered why Tisane had not kept a healer at hand. Then he realized, that Tisane did not expect anyone to get hurt too bad. Soon, Tisane, Marcus, and Lara set off for the course. Selena wondered how they would fare.

***

Marcus, Lara and Tisane walked up to the starting of the training course. Soon the training field disappeared, and they reached a pathway through the trees that Lara had in her grounds behind the estate. There was a white line drawn on the path.

“This is the starting line for the course”, said Tisane, “It is a loop and so you shall end up back here once the course is finished.”

“What should we be expecting?” asked Marcus.

Tisane grinned and said, “Anything and everything.”

Lara stared at her friend and said, “Tisane, you are enjoying this way too much.”

Tisane laughed a bit, raised her hand in the air and shot a small energy blast.

“Begin”, she said.

Marcus and Lara started on the path. The path quickly forked into two. Tisane had put up a sign saying, ‘Start from the left’. So, they went left. Marcus could sense Tisane following them from some distance back. He mentioned the same to Lara who just nodded.

As they proceeded on the left path, Marcus heard a sound and the next moment they were attacked by a bolt of energy. Marcus put up his shield in time but the ground beneath them rose a bit. They moved just in time to see a spike shoot up.

Lara swore and said, “Tisane, have you gone completely mad?”

The course was like this only. Unexpected attacks from any direction. Straw dummies, designed as enemies, which Marcus and Lara had to hit with a certain amount of energy before they could be put down. Traps and more traps till both of them were feeling highly frustrated.

They finally completed the course and came back to the starting line. Tisane was waiting for them with a neutral expression on her face. Marcus and Lara were not as damaged as the others had been.

“Your performance was adequate”, said Tisane as Marcus and Lara approached her, “You completed the course with decent teamwork.”

Lara glared at Tisane and said, “Adequate! Decent teamwork! My foot. We were the best out there on your ‘I am going to kill you, course’. What the heck were you thinking Tisane?”

“Adversity helps in effective team building.”

“Murdering your team does not help in effective team building.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t exaggerate. It was not that bad.”

Lara seemed to be fuming by now. Marcus interjected, “Tisane, the course would have actually killed a weak power fighter. Moreover, it was highly strenuous. It could have killed one of us by accident if we had not been extra careful.”

Tisane frowned, “It was the same as when we trained Lara. Do you remember? This is the same as Elements’ team building course. I amped the power a bit because I thought we could handle it.”

Lara took a deep breath and calmed herself, “Did you consult with Master Yalka before amping up the power? You do remember that it was he who designed the course in the first place.”

Tisane was now looking uncomfortable now. She looked away guiltily and mumbled something.

“What was that?” asked Lara.

“I said I may have just gone ahead without consulting him”, replied Tisane.

Lara whacked Tisane on the head and said, “Reset it to the original settings. It will be good for team building. Now come on. We shall all need to rest after the hell you have put us through.”

Tisane reluctantly agreed and they all went back to Lara’s mansion. Marcus shook his head as he walked behind the two friends. Getting this team together, getting their manager to be sane and winning the tournament was going to be a pain for him. As he walked he thought that there was more work for him in the future. He sighed. This was bothersome.