《Power Fighters》


 The Return

    A single bell was tolling in the distance. People were gathered at a grave. Rain washed away their silent tears. Even though they had an umbrella, no one used it. They were all looking at the grave. On the tombstone was written,


    Kami Chan


    Beloved Father, Grand Father


    And a Great Master


    You will always be in our Hearts


    One by one the people started to go away. After everyone had left, two hooded figures arrived to pay their respect. They had their hood up as if they were afraid someone would identify them and they did not want that.


    One of them was a tall person; about six feet two in height while the other looked very short at five feet five in front of that person. They stood there in silence for some time, looking at the grave. The taller one was fidgeting a bit, as if he was restraining himself. The shorter person looked at him and at the same time the taller person gave a short bark type laugh.


    The shorter one said, ¡°What is it?¡±


    The taller one replied, ¡°The last line. I don¡¯t believe it.¡±


    The shorter one read the last line again and said, ¡°If you loved him, he will be in your heart positively, but if you did not like him, he would be in your heart like a poison. Any case, he will still be in your heart.¡±


    The taller one asked slyly, ¡°What if you neither loved him nor disliked him?¡±


    The shorter one gave an exasperated sigh, ¡°Come on, we should get back in. Too much time in the rain is not good for me.¡±


    As they started back towards the training establishment the shorter one said, ¡°Why did we hide Blade? Why did we come last and not when everyone was here?¡±


    The taller one named Blade replied, ¡°As I told you earlier triple T, three of the people present knew me.¡±


    The shorter one named triple T nodded. He wished his friend did not have to live in secrecy. He was concerned. After all, it had been five years now and it was time; time for him to go.


    ***


    Jian Chan and Jun Chan were sitting in Jun¡¯s office. There was a knock on the door and Jun said, ¡°Enter.¡±


    Liu Wong entered. It looked as if she had been crying recently. No one could blame her after all. It was their father who had died. The two brothers and the sister sat in silence for some time. Kami¡¯s children looked at each other. They did not know what to say.


    Jian said finally, ¡°I thought father had found out a way to be immortal.¡± The other two stared at him. He said, ¡°Well, he knew almost everything else.¡± The others nodded. It was true. Kami had been the strongest person alive on earth. The knowledge which he possessed was unparalleled. Even in his old age he had an aura of power. And he had died because of a damned heart attack. It was not fair.


    Liu said, ¡°What now? Did father forgive you Jian?¡±


    Jian looked uncomfortable. Jian lived in America. He had run away from home at the age of 23 and had gone to America. He had always been the one who was at the receiving end of his father¡¯s reproach. Liu was the eldest and was the apple of his eye. She was the perfect daughter and had even married Han Wong, who was a businessman chosen by Kami.


    Jun was also his father¡¯s favorite. Even though Jun was the youngest and not as powerful as Jian, he was a loyal son and his father liked him more than Jian. Jian was always the rebel. He did not like the dictatorship which his father had established. He had even married an American woman against his father¡¯s wishes. This had been the final stroke and Kami had declared that Jian was dead for him.


    Jian said, ¡°Father did try to make amends a couple of years back. I said it was too late. Maybe he had forgiven me. I did not know what was to forgive as I had done nothing wrong.¡±


    Liu sighed, ¡°You always were not afraid of father. Also, you always followed your heart. I used to wish I had your courage.¡±


    Jian smiled at his sister. They talked about their father for some more time. Jian thought about his will. He had divided everything he had between Jun and Liu. The only things which Kami had given to Jian were his swords. Jian was surprised when he had found out. It seemed that his father did want to make amends with him after all. Kami¡¯s swords were his honor and giving them to Jian meant he had definitely forgiven him. Jian smiled at the thought. Even though there were differences, he missed his father.


    ***


    They were in the training grounds; Jian¡¯s daughters Tisane and Forum, Jun¡¯s son Chen, Liu¡¯s sons Shen and Jintao. Chen¡¯s fianc¨¦e Mei Lin was also present. There was a friendly one on one fight going on between Chen and Tisane. The others were watching. Blade and triple T came to the training grounds. They still kept their hoods up. Blade took a step back but the others noticed them.


    Chen and Tisane stopped fighting and Chen said, ¡°Good to see you Blade and triple T.¡±


    Forum asked, ¡°Triple T?¡±


    Triple T laughed along with Chen and said, ¡°My name is Tsi Tzu Tsen. Hence, triple T.¡±


    Triple T lowered his hood. Blade however did not. He slowly backed away instead and left without saying anything. Triple T and Chen sighed together as he left. The others looked at Chen questioningly.


    Chen simply said, ¡°He is a bit shy¡±, then he said to triple T, ¡°Are you here to fight?¡±


    Triple T shook his head and said, ¡°Blade wanted to meditate a bit and so he came here. I was simply accompanying him. I will however watch you fight if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    Chen nodded and then he and Tisane resumed their fighting. Tsi Tzu Tsen was watching all of them. Chen, son of Jun Chan and Ming Chan, grandson of Kami, was a very powerful power fighter. He looked at Mei Lin observing them closely. An orphan, she had been in love with him since she was sixteen and had been a friend to him since he was three. Shen Wong was cheering Tisane while Jintao was cheering Chen. They were cheering politely though. Sons of Han and Liu Wong, they did not have the drive or the energy to be power fighters but they are now helping their father to run his business. Finally Tisane and Forum, daughters of Jian Chan and Mary Fisher Chan, born and brought up in America, two very talented power fighters, although not in the league of Chen. Triple T wondered at Fate. Jun was very weak as a power fighter as compared to Jian, even though both the sons were never as strong as their father, but Chen was way stronger than Tisane and Forum. He was in a league of his own. He and Blade, the strongest power fighters Kami had ever trained.


    Tsi Tzu Tsen wondered about his friend. He wished Blade would come out in the open.


    ***


    It was early next morning when Forum was in one of the closed training grounds of the training establishment. She was going through her warm up exercises when he entered. She did not notice him. He had hesitated on seeing her. He was wondering whether to go to another training ground or not when she noticed him.


    Forum said, ¡°Hello there. Who are you?¡±


    He had his hood up again. He wanted to go away without replying like he had done yesterday but a thought came to his mind. He said, ¡°Blade.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°So it is you. I had my doubts but I could not be sure with you being hooded and all. You know that it was rude of you yesterday to go away just like that.¡±


    Blade wanted to say that it was no business of hers what he did, instead he said, ¡°I am sorry but I am not good with strangers.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Ok, but I don¡¯t see you going away now.¡±


    Blade said, ¡°I was thinking of going away but I had a thought.¡±


    She nodded encouraging him to continue. He said, ¡°I see that you are going to practice your power fighting alone. If you had not been here then I would be practicing alone too. So what do you say we practice together?¡±


    Forum said, ¡°I do not like to show my moves to strangers.¡±


    Blade said, ¡°How about a friendly fight then?¡±


    Forum frowned. She considered his proposal. She said finally, ¡°All right then.¡±


    Blade came up to her and extended his hand forward. She shook it and they both said together, ¡°Fight well.¡±


    They took their positions. Blade had still his hood up. Forum frowned and said, ¡°Are you going to fight with your cloak on?¡± He nodded. She said, ¡°And I believe you will not lower your hood.¡± He shook his head. She said, ¡°Then I would just have to pull it down.¡±


    She attacked him with a punch which he simply blocked it by holding her hand. He could feel the power in the punch. One proper hit from such a punch and he would be in trouble. Her kick came from nowhere but he dodged it easily. She hurled blue energy spheres at him which he deflected easily. She was testing him, he knew that. He was not going to attack though. It was not his strategy. After a few more of her attacks he said calmly, ¡°Stop wasting your attacks. I am a defense master. Your attacks would be unsuccessful, especially such weak ones.¡±


    He wanted her to be riled up, make a mistake, but she smiled at him. She struck the ground with force. The ground started shaking as if there was a major earthquake. He managed to maintain his balance though. After the punch in the ground she had thrown spikes at him, which he dodged. She closed the gap between them and threw a punch at him muttering, ¡°Earthen strike.¡±


    He stopped the attack with his palm. Her eyes grew wide in surprise. The reverberations of the attack were felt all around them. It was one heck of an attack. Forum was surprised. She jumped back from him. How the hell had he stopped her attack?


    He said, ¡°I told you I was a defense master. It seems that you did not believe me.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°You are no ordinary defense master. My Earthen Strike attack is not at the same level as a normal one. It is at a much higher level. And you stopped the attack without much effort.¡±


    ¡°Well, I did have to use some energy after all to stop the attack.¡±


    Forum laughed, ¡°Yes, you had to. And it was too much wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    Blade smiled which could not be seen by Forum. Forum attacked again. This time she had changed her strategy. It looked like she had gotten serious now. The attacks which she rained on Blade now were at a much higher level than before. Blade had a bit of difficulty blocking or dodging them, but he still managed to do so. Forum had not managed to land a single hit on Blade.


    As Blade flew back from her last attack she stopped and said, ¡°Your defense is amazing. But that is all you do. Do you not know how to attack?¡±


    Blade said, ¡°Now, now, now; do you think that I am going to reveal my strategy to you?¡±


    Forum frowned and threw spikes from earth at him. While attacking him with spikes she disappeared behind a boulder. Blade ran up to the boulder and jumped up on it. He looked down to see Forum disappeared. The next moment he was attacked by her from behind and he fell. Forum took the advantage and drove him to the ground. Her attacks were highly powerful as they rained on the falling Blade and then she elbowed him fiercely making him drop in the ground, sinking an inch or so in it. As he stood up her kick caught him in the gut and he was thrown back in another boulder.


    Forum threw a high energy attack at him before he collapsed to the ground. ¡°Earth slam¡±, she said and he was hit by a slab of earth and he fell on the ground. Forum was panting now. That attack should finish him now. She was surprised when he got up. He was hardly panting and there were no signs of him being attacked brutally. He looked calm and had hardly any scratch on him, not even his clothes had become dirty. The hood was still up.


    How was this possible? She had put her entire strength behind her attacks and it had no effect on him. Who the hell was this guy? How the hell was she going to defeat him? He seemed to have an amazing amount of power.


    He said, ¡°Behold my ultimate defense mastery technique: Divine Shield.¡±


    Forum gaped at him. Divine Shield was a lost technique and this guy had mastered it. Impossible! But the proof was in front of him. How else would he have survived her attacks? They had been fighting for half an hour now and she had not been able to defeat him. Forget defeat, she had not able to damage him a bit even though she had used so much of power. She prided herself in her attack strategy and this guy had humbled her.


    He said, ¡°Were you not complaining that I do not attack?¡±


    He attacked. He was quick. Before Forum could react he had closed the distance between them. Forum did not even see his attack. She was hit with many punches and kicks before she reacted. But he was anticipating all her blocks. He swept her off the ground and kicked her in the air. Then he jumped high up to her and gave a strong punch in her gut saying, ¡°Palm Force Strike.¡±


    Forum shot back to the ground and hit it with a force making a hole about a foot deep. She lay panting there, tired, as the remaining energy drained away. She knew she was defeated. She could not fight him with so less energy without going into Angel form and this was a friendly fight after all.


    He came in her vision. He helped her up. He said, ¡°You are strong. You fight well. With right guidance you could be much strong.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Forum.


    Blade said in an extremely serious voice, ¡°You have not yet reached to your full potential. You still have a long way to go¡±, and saying that, he left her, flabbergasted.


    ***


    It was a day after everyone had left. Jun called Blade to his chambers. Chen and Tsi Tzu Tsen were also present. Blade entered the room. He still was wearing the cloak with his hood up.


    Jun said, ¡°Lower the god damned hood Marcus. They are all gone now. You don¡¯t have to be Blade anymore.¡±


    Blade who was really Marcus finally lowered his hood. He was grinning.


    He said, ¡°What is the matter Master Jun? Do you not like my hood?¡±


    Chen and triple T laughed. Jun managed a small smile. Then he said seriously, ¡°It is time Marcus.¡±


    Marcus¡¯s smile reduced. He sighed and said, ¡°I know. I must go now. Master Kami was the only person holding me back. With him dead, there is nothing for me here.¡±


    Chen coughed deliberately and Marcus smiled at him, ¡°Oh, come on Chen. You know what I mean.¡±


    Chen nodded and said, ¡°Do you really want to go back?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Yes Chen, it is my home after all.¡±


    Chen nodded. He was not happy but he knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Marcus was not going to live with them forever. He had to go home, back to America where he came from. Kami¡¯s training establishment in China was not Marcus¡¯s home as it was for Chen.


    Chen said, ¡°I am going to miss you.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡±


    Jun said, ¡°When are you planning on leaving?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°In a week. I will be saying my goodbyes and complete all the formalities. Then I will be gone.¡±


    Jun nodded. He dismissed them. He knew they would be sticking together till Marcus went back, back to his home, back to Los Angeles, America.


    ***


    Brock looked at his picture. Marcus was smiling at him, his arm was wound around Brock and he was ruffling Brock¡¯s hair. Brock still remembered the day when he had met Marcus. He was ten years old.


    ¡°I want to be a power fighter¡±, Brock had said.


    Marcus had frowned, ¡°What is a power fighter?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? Don¡¯t you know what a power fighter is?¡±


    Marcus had shaken his head.


    ¡°Every living person is made up of energy. Power fighters are people who have more energy than normal people. They train themselves and they fight with other power fighters in a match. They are super cool.¡±


    Marcus had not been impressed by that. He had said, ¡°Are they better than authors?¡±


    Brock had looked at him in surprise, ¡°Authors?¡±


    Marcus had grinned and said, ¡°I want to be an author. I believe they are cool you know.¡±


    They had fallen down laughing. They had been best friends ever since.


    He looked at the time. It was 11 o¡¯clock, 22<sup>nd</sup> of September. It was time. He had to go to the cemetery. It was Marcus¡¯s birthday and he had to go and wish him, at least his grave. The others would be reaching soon. He knew Arya would already have reached. He sighed and started off towards the cemetery.


    ***


    Forum and Evana were walking towards the cemetery together. They were going to wish their friend Marcus. Brock would be on his way too. Arya would have already reached there. As they walked, they remembered how they had met Marcus.


    Brock had introduced Marcus to them. They had been eleven at that time.


    Brock had said, ¡°This is my best friend Marcus. Marcus, this is Forum and this is Evana.¡±


    Marcus had said hello to them. Forum thought Brock and Marcus were two different people entirely. However, they still were a perfect pair. Forum and Evana both shared passion of becoming power fighters as Brock. Only Marcus was the odd one out. Still he supported them throughout and watched each of the fights they took him to.


    He was in a way the soul of their group. It was before the incident. Evana was almost devastated because of it. Forum was not happy either. Today she was feeling more depressed. She had recently gone to her grandfather¡¯s funeral. Now she was visiting her friend¡¯s grave. She had sworn that she would not cry, but she could already feel the tears. She must be strong. She must be strong.


    It was then they reached the cemetery. Forum and Evana looked at each other. They nodded as if understanding each other. Then taking a deep breath they stepped forward, to the grave, to the empty grave of their friend, Marcus McKnight.


    ***


    Arya looked at her brother¡¯s tombstone. The coffin was empty, she knew it. The inscription on the tombstone read:


    Here lies Marcus McKnight


    Missing but never forgotten


    His brother had disappeared from the face of the world five years ago. He had been sixteen years old. Today he would have been twenty one. She had tried to find him with the help of Thaddeus Coroner but was unsuccessful. They had finally given up after three years and had declared him dead. They had buried an empty coffin. She had been a wreck for a long time after her brother¡¯s disappearance. It was Shane who had saved her, Shane who was now her husband and whom she loved very much.


    There was a sound and she saw the baby shuffling in the crib. She smiled at her son Chris. She looked to see if he was uncomfortable in any way. He was not. He had simply shifted in his sleep. He seemed to have fallen asleep without her knowledge.


    She heard someone walking behind her and turned to see Brock, Forum and Evana walking towards her, towards the grave. They came and stood beside her. They each had a rose in their hand. Each of them put a rose on the grave. They wished him a happy birthday.


    ¡°Instead of wishing my grave, why don¡¯t you wish me?¡¯ said a voice behind them.


    They turned to see Marcus standing there. He had a small smile on his face. They were all stunned, not knowing what to do. Marcus was also uncertainly looking at them.


    He said, ¡°Hi, I am back.¡±


    Brock was the first to punch him.


    ***


    Tisane, Juran and Wizard were standing in the middle of the ground, their ground. It was their usual meeting and training place. It was an important meeting that they had been holding off for long. It was time though. Master Jian had given them the ultimatum. They had been putting this off as they had felt that they were not ready for it. Now they had no option.


    Juran and Tisane were in love with each other. They wanted to marry. Jian had however put a condition that if Juran and Tisane wanted to marry, then they should form a team and compete in the tournament next to next year. They had no problem with it till Jian explained that he did not want them as fighters, but as managers. They were confused. They were only 26 years old, too young to be managers. But that is what Jian wanted. Wizard had somehow gotten dragged along with them. He was after all their best friend. The Trio; that is what they were.


    They could have married, Jian would not have mind, neither would have Mary, but they wanted to do it right. They would form their teams, they would be managers and they would enter the tournament. They were going to form three different teams. They had come to discuss about it.


    Juran said, ¡°There are going to be teams of five this time.¡±


    Wizard said, ¡°Really? That is interesting. They had teams of three the last time.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°They had teams of six during our time if you remember.¡±


    Wizard said, ¡°Those were the good times. It¡¯s a shame the others retired. It was too early.¡±


    Juran said, ¡°If you two are done then shall we get down to business?¡±


    The others nodded. Juran said, ¡°We need to form a team of five. Other than that we also need a stastician and a training assistant. A training assistant is optional but a stastician is compulsory. We can also have one more member as an extra fighter.¡±


    Wizard said, ¡°So what are you suggesting Juran?¡±


    Juran said, ¡°I am suggesting that we start researching about the fighters. We will meet in the New Year to discuss our teams to make sure that they do not conflict with each other. Is it ok with you guys?¡±


    They nodded. Juran said, ¡°Good, this meeting is over.¡±


    ***


    The intercom in the room of Thaddeus Coroner buzzed with vigor. He answered, ¡°Hello.¡±


    It was a security guard notifying him of visitors. Thaddeus said, ¡°Why are you bothering me?¡±


    The security guard replied uncomfortably, ¡°Madam Arya told us to buzz you. She told us to tell you who all had come.¡±


    Thaddeus said irritably, ¡°So, who all have come?¡±


    The security guard told him. Thaddeus started at the last name. He said, ¡°What was the last name?¡±


    The security guard told him. Thaddeus thanked him and hung up. He had heard it right. The security guard had not made a mistake. How could it have been? He had been declared dead and now he was back.


    He walked like a ghost out of the room. He heard the bell and he knew that his butler Alfred will open the door. They had a butler, one of the benefits of being filthy rich. He was upstairs and looking down at the door. As Alfred approached it Thaddeus said, ¡°Show them in the library Alfred. Also call Sarah and Jack. I think they are home today. Tell them I will join them shortly.¡±


    Alfred nodded as Thaddeus went back to his room. He went to the wash room and washed his face vigorously. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and sighed. He took deep long breaths to calm himself down. He must not lose it; he must not get angry.


    He went down to the library. He could hear people inside. He took a long deep breath again. This was going to be a long meeting. He opened the door.


    ***


    Tisane was walking through the streets of Los Angeles thinking about who she was going to select for her team. She knew that there were two who would say yes to her. But the problem with them was they had to be free for the tournament and training sessions. Archeology takes a considerable amount of your time and both of them were archeologists.


    She would also have to decide on three others. She thought of asking her sister. But would she be the right choice? Forum was after all an official power fighter for only a year now. Tisane would need fighters with experience. But if she did not take Forum, then it would be a possibility that Forum would feel disappointed and left out. She would confer with her to find out what she thought.


    Then she thought of Leopold, Brock¡¯s brother. Would he agree? No, probably he was going to form a team with his friends. Moreover Master Young would not be happy if Leopold did not do what Master Young thought was best. So he was not an option. Neither was Daniel whom she wanted more than ever.


    Tisane had an idea about the team Juran and Wizard would go for. It was a possibility that there would be a conflict between her and Juran regarding one of the team members. She sighed. She did not know what she was going to do. Juran and Wizard were clearer on this aspect. Moreover she also needed a stastician and a training assistant. She decided that she would do without a training assistant, but what about the stastician? Decisions! Decisions!


    She sighed again and started back home. She had to get ready for her date with Juran tonight. She wished there would be an easy solution to her problems.


    ***


    Arya, Chris in his cradle, Brock, Evana, Forum and there he was, Marcus McKnight. A silence fell as Thaddeus entered the room. All eyes were looking at him but his eyes were set on one and one person only.


    Thaddeus said, ¡°So, you are alive and back.¡±


    Marcus said cautiously, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Thaddeus tried to say something, twice, but failed to do so. Then he said finally, ¡°I will simply sit here. Then you and I, we need to talk.¡±


    Marcus gulped at the look in Thaddeus¡¯s eyes and nodded. Sarah and Jack came in at that time. Jack was saying, ¡°What is it, father? I was busy with¡­¡± He stopped as he saw Marcus. Sarah¡¯s eyes widened too.


    Marcus said, ¡°Hey. How¡¯s it going on?¡±


    Jack crossed the space between them and punched him. Marcus said, ¡°Ow! What is with you guys? First Brock, then Forum, then Evana, then again Brock and now you. I am not a punching bag.¡±


    Jack said, ¡°Then you should have not disappeared.¡±


    Sarah came up to him and hugged him. She had tears in her eyes. She said, ¡°Why Marcus, why?¡±


    Jack said in a steely tone, ¡°Yes Marcus, tell us where you were all this time.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°Yes Marcus, you said you will tell when everyone was present. Now everyone is present.¡±


    She was talking calmly but her voice shook a bit. Marcus smiled and sat beside Arya holding her hand. Sarah and Jack settled down too.


    Marcus started, ¡°I was an Unstable.¡± As he expected, there were reactions of shock and disbelief across the room. He continued when everyone was quiet again, ¡°Yes, I was an Unstable. I had the power of a power fighter in me and no means to control it. Without training I would have died releasing the unstable energy in the environment causing destruction similar to a nuclear explosion.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°We know what an Unstable is Marcus.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°If you were an Unstable then why did you run away? You could have stayed. There are people who would have helped you bring your power under control.¡±


    Marcus sighed and continued, ¡°I went to Lord Cyberton for help.¡± Forum blinked. Marcus was referring to her father. Jian Chan was also known as Lord Cyberton. No one knew why. He was given the name as a joke by his friends and it stuck. Now he was known as Lord Cyberton rather than Jian Chan.


    Marcus had paused, now he started again, ¡°He conducted few tests on me and said that I was too far gone in the unstable stage and there was nothing anybody could do to help me. I did not believe what I was hearing. I was going to die and there was nothing anybody could do about it. He said that I had only few days before which I would explode.


    I knew at that moment what I had to do. If I stayed then I would be put in the containment chamber where I would live till I exploded. I did not want that. I did not believe that I could not be saved. So I did the first thing that came to my mind. I ran.¡±


    Thaddeus said, ¡°That was a stupid thing to do.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°What would you have done in my place? Would you have simply stayed here till you die?¡±


    Thaddeus simply shook his head and said nothing. Marcus continued his story, ¡°I went up to the coast. There I stole a motorboat. I did not know what I was going to do with it, how far I would go in it, but I took it.


    I drove the motorboat till the fuel lasted. Then I used small amounts of my energy to drive the motorboat. I did not care at that point whether I live or die. I know I had done a stupid thing but I wanted to live. I so wanted to live at that time that nothing else mattered.


    But then it happened. Two days after I had run away the energy started escaping me; fast. I knew what was happening. I was going to explode.¡±


    Jack interrupted, ¡°How did you survive two days in open sea?¡±


    Marcus looked at Jack as if he had asked a stupid question, ¡°I had taken some supplies with me. I did say that I did not want to die, remember?¡±


    Jack nodded and Marcus said, ¡°Where was I? Yes, I exploded. I blacked out. I thought I was dead, but apparently, I was not. When I came to I found out that I had crashed on a coast. My boat and my back pack containing my supplies were nowhere to be seen. I was feeling extremely exhausted. It was like that some of the fishermen found me. I blacked out again as they carried me.


    Next time I woke up, I was in a hospital in a Chinese town. I had somehow reached China. I did not know how. I was supposed to be dead. I had exploded after all. And yet I was alive and now in China.¡±


    Thaddeus said, ¡°Wait; were you the one who caused the explosion in the Pacific five years ago?¡±


    Marcus grinned, ¡°Yes, I found about it later. I did not know what had happened, no one has been able figure it till now. No one knows why I survived, not even me.


    But there I was alive and well, in a coastal town in China. An idea came to my mind. I could go and train in Kami¡¯s establishment.¡±


    Forum gave a snort. Marcus looked at her politely and she said, ¡°Foreigners are not trained in grandfather¡¯s establishment. He did not even agree to train Tisane and me when father asked.¡±


    Marcus nodded, ¡°That is true but please let me continue.¡±


    Forum interjected, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he allowed you to be trained in the establishment!¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Will you let me finish?¡±


    Forum nodded. Marcus took a deep breath and said, ¡°I decided to go to Kami¡¯s. I had no money, no nothing. So, I took some odd ball jobs in the beginning and paid off for my daily necessities. Then when I felt strong enough, I started my journey. I will not bother you with the details of my journey as it will take too long a time but needless to say I reached Kami¡¯s establishment.


    I had help on the way. In a city I passed I met a person named Tsi Tzu Tsen, a former student of Kami¡¯s establishment who had left the establishment and was now living in a bad state. He decided to come with me as he believed that he would be better off in the establishment. We travelled together. It was a good thing I had learnt Cantonese because of my fascination towards it. It proved to be useful during the whole journey.¡±


    Sarah raised an eyebrow, ¡°Last I remember Marcus your Cantonese was not fluent.¡±


    Marcus waved a hand, ¡°I know, but I knew sufficient enough to help me. When we reached the establishment, Master Jun Chan was sympathetic towards my plight. Master Kami Chan was however a different issue. He did not even listen to me. He did not even consider training me and wanted me to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°See, I told you grandfather doesn¡¯t train foreigners.¡± She looked delighted somehow.


    Marcus smiled and continued, ¡°Yes, but I was not the one to give up. I tried to convince him, I tried pleading with him and after a week he decided to hear my story. When I told it to him he did not say anything, simply walked out of the room. The next day I was told that Master Kami Chan would personally train me.¡±


    Forum shouted, ¡°What?¡±


    Marcus was grinning now, ¡°I was trained personally by Master Kami Chan along with your cousin, Chen Chan.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°That is impossible.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I assure you, it is the truth.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°So you were in China this whole time, training under Kami Chan. Then why did you not contact me, or any of us for that matter.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°One of the conditions Master Chan put in order to train me. He said I would have no ties with people outside of the establishment, at least no ties with people outside the establishment which he did not approve. He did not allow me to call you, any of you.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Wait a minute. I was at my grandfather¡¯s funeral recently. You were not there. Were you in hiding?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Why Forum, don¡¯t you remember meeting me? I was there in plain sight. You fought me after all.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Forum stood up now, ¡°Why you¡­ you¡­ bastard¡­ Blade!¡±


    Marcus grinned, ¡°Spot on. And before you ask, I did not reveal myself because I was honoring Kami. That man had saved my life. Even though I had not died after the explosion, I was still an Unstable and he had trained me. So, I did not reveal myself to you or Tisane or Lord Cyberton for that matter.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°And now you are back.¡±


    ¡°For good¡±, said Marcus.


    Thaddeus stood up suddenly. He went up to the door and opened it. As he was exiting he turned to Marcus and said, ¡°Whenever you are free Marcus, as I said before, we need to talk.¡± He left.


    Brock said, ¡°So what now Marcus? Where are you staying now? Do you need a place to stay?¡±


    Arya said angrily, ¡°He is staying with me. Get your stuff from wherever you have hidden it. You are staying with me Marcus McKnight.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°You heard the lady.¡±


    Then they were silent for some time. Marcus asked, ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s new?¡±


    ***


    Trevor Hastings looked at his customers. It was 7 p.m. Juran, Wizard and Tisane were on one of the tables. They were his usual. Three other tables were filled too. Strangers; was what he decided, they were strangers. Three tables joined together gleamed under the reserved sign. They would be filled soon. Trevor knew who would come.


    Trevor Hastings had been running the caf¨¦ Musings for twenty years now. He was in his mid-fifties now and people called him Pops fondly. He looked around to see his son in the kitchen, learning the ropes. Trevor was in a way glad that his son was going to inherit Musings. He had great expectation for him but he wanted to be a chef just like his father.


    The door opened and they all came in. They always came together. No one was late and no one was early. He saw them, Daniel Redd leading the group with his girlfriend Emma Crowe. With Emma were the rest of her friends: Kristen Frost, Hilary Dowson and Hayden Parker. Then entered the boys: Mark Strong, Robert Strong, Mike Comrie, Milo Corson and Tom Hardy. Finally, there came Brock Young with his girlfriend Flora Stewart, then Forum Chan and Evana Rain.


    They were the group of strongest power fighters in the whole of L.A. They were an amazing group. There were four groups amongst them still they were all united as one whole group. They all came together because of one person, one stastician, Flora Stewart.


    As they settled, Trevor noticed one more person enter. That person came up to the counter and sat down at his usual place, that person who everyone had believed to be dead, that person who was grinning at him right now and waving, that person who said, ¡°Hey Pops, long time no see?¡± Marcus McKnight was back.


    ***


    Daniel said, ¡°Hey Brock who is that guy?¡±


    Brock looked in the direction Daniel was gesturing. He said, ¡°That¡¯s Marcus McKnight.¡±


    Emma said, ¡°Your lost friend?¡±


    Brock, Forum and Evana nodded together. Everyone¡¯s attention was now shifted to Marcus who was happily chatting away with Pops. Daniel coughed then and brought them back from obvious staring. Some looked a bit embarrassed. Kristen was blushing fiercely.


    Daniel announced, ¡°The teams are starting to get formed for the world tournament which is going to be held next to next year.¡±


    Mark said, ¡°Yes, there are teams of five this time aren¡¯t there?¡±


    Some of them including Daniel nodded. They already knew all about the tournament.


    Daniel said, ¡°So have you all decided whether you are going to take part in the tournament or not?¡±


    Evana said dreamily, ¡°Don¡¯t you have a team already Daniel?¡±


    Daniel said, ¡°Yes I do. However, I wish that all of you form teams and participate in the tournament. That is why I asked whether you are thinking of forming teams or not.¡±


    Mark said excitedly, ¡°We have already formed a team. There is me, Robert, Mike, Milo and Tom. It was perfect this five-people team thingy.¡±


    Hilary said, ¡°The Angels would be together.¡± Hilary, Emma, Kristen and Hayden called themselves the Angels. Hayden said, ¡°We don¡¯t have a fifth member though.¡±


    Now everyone looked at Brock, Forum and Evana.


    Forum said, ¡°Me and Evana have decided to go in two separate teams. We want to fight each other in the tournament if possible.¡± Evana nodded at Forum¡¯s statement.


    Brock said, ¡°I dunno. I have not really thought about entering the tournament. If some manager asks me then I will consider, else, I really dunno.¡±


    Everyone was now staring at him. He said a bit loudly, ¡°Oh come on, give me a break. What would happen if I really do not participate in the tournament?¡±


    The others did not reply anything. Some of them shook their head. Flora said suddenly, ¡°Forming teams is okay, but you also need managers and stasticians. Training assistants are optional. What are you going to do about them?¡± She looked at all of them pointedly.


    Daniel said, ¡°Pikes is already the manager of my team. We don¡¯t have a training assistant and Carla Boon is our stastician.¡±


    Flora said, ¡°What about the others?¡±


    The others shifted uncomfortably. Mark said slowly, ¡°We were thinking that you could be our stastician Flora.¡±


    Emma said hurriedly, ¡°Us too.¡±


    Flora nodded and said, ¡°I could be the stastician for two teams. That is the limit, but what about managers? You will need managers who would approve of your team. Also, the manager needs to approve me as a stastician too. You will not be able to participate without them.¡±


    All of them looked clearly uncomfortable now; well, all except Daniel who already had everything ready and Flora who was glaring them down and Milo who looked unconcerned, but he always looked detached and unconcerned.


    Flora got up saying, ¡°Think about what I have said. Now I need to be going. I have to meet my apprentice.¡±


    She got up, kissed Brock and left. Tom whispered to Brock as she left, ¡°You have got a dangerous girlfriend Brock.¡±


    Brock nodded absently. His attention was on Juran, Wizard and Tisane, all of who had been looking at them till now, straining to listen and trying to appear inconspicuous. What the hell did they want?


    ***


    ¡°You are a prick Marcus¡±, said Shane Coroner, husband of Arya.


    Marcus said, ¡°Why thank you Shane.¡±


    They were sitting in the dining room and having dinner. Chris seemed to have woken up and Arya had gone to check up on him when she heard his voice on the baby monitor.


    Shane said, ¡°You go on disappearing for five years and then you come back expecting everything to be normal?¡±


    Marcus said seriously, ¡°I do not expect anything to be normal.¡±


    ¡°You are behaving like that though.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? How am I behaving?¡±


    ¡°Like you never disappeared, like you were here the whole time and you were living comfortably with your sister.¡±


    ¡°How do you want me to behave?¡±


    ¡°A little more responsibly perhaps?¡±


    ¡°I am acting responsibly. I am offended by your statement Shane Coroner.¡±


    Shane laughed and said, ¡°The day you start acting responsibly Marcus will be the day I will wear a frock and parade around the streets of L.A.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Careful what you say Shane. It might just come true.¡±


    Just then Arya entered the dining room with Chris and they forgot about their argument immediately. Marcus was doting on Chris whenever he was awake. The dinner went on peacefully.


    After dinner they were all in the living room. Arya was questioning Marcus all about China. Shane was listening politely but Marcus could tell that he was interested too.


    Arya asked, ¡°So what all did you do besides training?¡±


    Marcus simply said, ¡°Train more.¡±


    ¡°No extra-curricular activities?¡±


    ¡°Extra-curricular activities Arya?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, did you even get out of the establishment?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And what did you do then?¡±


    ¡°Wherever I went, it was all part of my training.¡±


    ¡°So, you really did nothing, except train?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±, sighed Marcus.


    ¡°What about girlfriends?¡±


    ¡°I did not have any.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡±


    ¡°Why would I joke about it Arya?¡±


    Arya shook her head. She said, ¡°You had a really depressing time Marcus.¡±


    Marcus shrugged and said, ¡°I dunno. I enjoyed myself though. Even though I was training I managed to have some fun. I made good friends too. There was Chen Chan and Tsi Tzu Tsen. Mei Lin, then Chen¡¯s girlfriend, now his fianc¨¦e, also used to hang around with us. All in all, it was not as bad as you think.¡±


    ¡°Then tell me what all did you do. What all fun did you have? I want to know.¡±


    Marcus sighed and then smiled. He started telling her about all the adventures he had, well those which were not scary and he knew that could be shared. If he told her everything then she would be scared, really scared. Marcus McKnight had done things which could be the source of nightmares for her sister. He wanted to spare her from that. He wished it all to be a dream.


    ***


    Tisane pressed the bell at the gate. There were no security guards. The doors were automated. The security camera swerved towards her. The door then opened automatically and she walked through the driveway up to the mansion front door. It was the largest mansion in all of L.A. It also had acres of green land as its backyard.


    The door was opened the butler Jensen. Tisane said, ¡°Hello Jensen.¡±


    Jensen said, ¡°Good afternoon Miss Chan. It is good to see you. Mistress is in the library. Mrs. Coroner is also here too with her brother.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°Thank you Jensen. I know the way.¡±


    Jensen nodded and left her. Tisane went up to the library. She knocked at the door and entered. Arya and Lara looked up at her. They were sitting with each other on a sofa. Alistair was on the computer. Alpha, Marcus and Zip were standing behind Alistair and looking at the computer screen. Chris was in the pram besides Arya.


    Alpha Angel and Lara Angel; archeologists and two very powerful power fighters in their spare time. The mansion belonged to Lara. It was left to her by her father Richard Johnson. Her mother had died when she was very small. She had married Alpha Angel, a fellow archeologist. Lara had been a team member with Tisane when they had participated in the tournament.


    Zip Mclean and Alistair Roberts were Lara and Alpha¡¯s assistants. Zip was their tech expert while Alistair was a wannabe archeologist. He was an apprentice under them. They both lived with Alpha and Lara.


    Arya said as Tisane entered, ¡°Hello Tisane.¡±


    Tisane smiled and nodded back. Lara simply said, ¡°As you might have noticed Tisane, the runt is back.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°I know. I heard from Forum.¡± She looked at Marcus.


    Marcus said angrily, ¡°I am not a runt.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°Apparently the runt can hear us now.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°Stop it Lara.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°I will not Arya. You have made him a spoilt brat. How can you forgive him after what he has done to you?¡±


    Arya said, ¡°You do not understand Lara.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°Damn right I don¡¯t.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I am not a spoilt brat either.¡±


    Alpha said, ¡°Don¡¯t start fighting again you two. Honey, please calm down.¡±


    Lara took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Arya asked Tisane to join them. Tisane sat down beside them. They were having tea. Jensen came in at that time bringing a cup of tea for Tisane and a kettle as a refill for others. He also brought pastries.


    Marcus muttered, ¡°Now who is a spoilt brat? At least I don¡¯t have people serving me.¡±


    ¡°Nothing on you Jensen¡±, whispered Marcus to Jensen.


    Arya stood up angrily and shouted, ¡°That¡¯s it Marcus. You and me. A fight. Now. Let¡¯s see how much you remember about your training in China when I beat the pulp outta you.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°Sit down Lara and stop behaving like a child. And you Marcus keep your mouth shut too.¡±


    They both sulked. They were however fuming at each other. Tisane had business with Alpha and Lara. She waited till everyone was gone and she was alone with Alpha and Lara.


    Lara said, ¡°You came to talk to me about something. You had said on the phone that you wanted to discuss something important.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°I want you and you and AA on my team.¡± Alpha was also known as AA.


    Lara was frowning. Alpha said, ¡°I am in. I was interested to take part in the oncoming tournament.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°I want to help you Tisane but I cannot guarantee my full participation. You could keep me as a spare member though.¡±


    Tisane nodded. She had hoped that Lara would be fully available but it was not to be so. But she had one member fixed and one spare. She needed four others.


    She said, ¡°Fine but you have to help me find other team members.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°I have no problem with that.¡±


    Alpha looked excited. He said, ¡°So when do we start?¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°Now.¡±


    ***


    October came. Early in the morning Juran was pacing. He was at their training and meeting ground. He was waiting for them. He looked nervous. It was an hour after breakfast. He stopped and looked up as he heard an engine. They had arrived in a car, all of them together. Emma, Kristen, Hilary, Hayden and Evana walked up to him.


    He said, ¡°Well so what is your answer?¡±


    They looked at each other. Then Emma said, ¡°We don¡¯t have any problems. We will be your team. But we have a condition. We want the team name to be The Angels.¡±


    Evana rolled her eyes at that. Juran smiled and said, ¡°Deal.¡± They all smiled. Juran had a team.


    Wizard was sitting in Musings. They were sitting in front of him eating even though they had had breakfast. Mark, Mike, Robert, Tom and Milo agreed. Wizard smiled. He had a team.


    Tisane left her sister¡¯s room with a smile. There was an even bigger smile on Forum when she left her. Tisane had consulted extensively with Lara and Alpha and they had reached a decision. Forum was going to be on Tisane¡¯s team. Three more to go.


    ***


    Shane, Marcus and Arya were having breakfast. Well, Shane and Marcus were, Arya was feeding Chris. Marcus was thinking how he was going to tell them what he wanted to tell them. He knew that Shane would be happy but Arya would not be pleased. Actually, she would be downright angry. But he had to tell them. He had reached a decision and he was going to stick to it.


    He cleared his throat. That got their attention. He said, ¡°Shane, Arya, I have something to tell you.¡±


    They were now looking politely at him. Marcus fidgeted before he said, ¡°I need a place of my own.¡±


    Shane smiled a bit but Arya said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with our place?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong, but it is not mine, it¡¯s yours.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°So are you saying that you do not want to stay with me anymore? You go away for five years and then you come back and you can¡¯t even live a month with your sister?¡±


    Marcus was now feeling extremely uncomfortable. Shane looked as if he was enjoying the whole thing. Marcus said, ¡°It is not like that Arya. I love you and I would love to spent time with you, don¡¯t get me wrong. There are however¡­ certain¡­ umm¡­ privacy issues.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°We give you sufficient privacy, don¡¯t we Shane?¡± Shane made a serious expression when his wife looked at him and nodded. Arya looked triumphantly at Marcus as if she had made the best point to counter Marcus¡¯s argument.


    Marcus was now very, very uncomfortable. He said, ¡°It¡¯s not about my privacy. It¡¯s about¡­ well it¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know how¡­ let¡¯s just say that the walls are not sound proof as they should be. You could hear very well what¡¯s going on in the other room¡­ you see?¡±


    They understood. Both Arya and Shane looked away from each other pointedly. Arya was blushing. Marcus focused back on the cereals which he was eating. After some moments of silence Arya said, ¡°I will help you look for a new place of your own Marcus.¡±


    ***


    Brock and Flora were out on a date. Brock had taken Flora to a Chinese restaurant. Flora could see that Brock was troubled with something. He was trying to act normally but was failing to do so. Finally Flora could not take it anymore. She said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you Brock?¡±


    Brock started. He stared at Flora for some time. Then he sighed and said, ¡°Am I too transparent?¡±


    He shifted in his seat and said, ¡°I want to move out of the house.¡±


    Flora said, ¡°Then do so.¡±


    ¡°But father¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh! To hell with your father.¡±


    ¡°Flora¡­¡±


    ¡°Come on Brock, you need to stand up to your father. He is your father after all. He would understand. How long are you going to keep on staying with him? You are twenty one, you have a job, you can provide for yourself easily. Why does your father insist on you guys still keep on living with him?¡±


    Brock smiled and touched Flora¡¯s cheeks. He said, ¡°He is too protective of us, especially after mother¡¯s death. You know that.¡±


    Flora said exasperatedly, ¡°Yes, but he has to let go sooner or later. You have to talk with him. What¡¯s the worst that could happen?¡±


    ¡°I could die¡±, mumbled Brock.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, very funny. Talk with your father. You will have to do it if you want to move out.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°No buts. If you are going to do this then you do this properly, else you should not have brought this topic up for discussion.¡±


    Brock sighed and leaned back in his chair. Flora said, ¡°Ask your friend Marcus to help.¡±


    Brock frowned at her, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Flora said, ¡°I have a feeling that he would not be living with his sister for a long time now. He would like a place of his own. You two could be flat mates. I am telling you, it is good to have someone with you whom you can rely on.¡±


    Brock thought about it. Flora was making sense. He said, ¡°Well I have to first talk to my father about moving out and you are already setting me up with flat mates.¡±


    Flora rolled her eyes and said, ¡°Dummy, Marcus could also help you talk with your father.¡±


    Brock nodded. It was true. Brock raised his glass and toasted, ¡°To freedom.¡±


    Flora laughed raising her glass as well and said, ¡°To freedom indeed.¡±


    ***


    Marcus did not start looking for a house that day, nor the next day for that matter. The next day he went to the stadium to watch Brock¡¯s fight. Brock had invited Marcus to one of his fights. He had said that Marcus should see how a good power fight looks like. Marcus shook his head. If Brock knew the power fights Marcus had gotten into¡­ he did not know what Brock¡¯s reaction would be.


    He reached the stadium and stopped to look at it, admiring its beauty. It housed more than 50000 people and had 10 private booths. Outside, surrounding the wall were various shops, food stalls and betting booths. Betting was a high revenue generator for the power fighters. All of these stalls were under the shadow of the stadium which formed a roof like structure on the outside.


    Before he could go any further two African Americans blocked his way. ¡°Come with us¡±, said one of them. Curious Marcus followed them. They led them to a private booth. One of them knocked on the door. They were given the permission to enter. Marcus entered an elaborately decorated room. He recognized immediately whose private booth it could be. There was only one person and that person was walking towards Marcus with his arms wide and a grin on his face, ¡°Marcus McKnight.¡±


    ¡°Big D¡±, said Marcus and hugged him. Big D was a huge African American who owned the majority of the power fighting betting business in L.A.


    Big D said, ¡°It is good to see you my man.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°That¡¯s a first. All the others have been punching me and then saying that.¡±


    They both laughed. They went up to the huge window from where they could see the fighting field and settled on the sofas in front of the window. Food and drinks were served and put in front of them. Marcus took some of the food. You were in the house of Big D. You do not refuse food in the house of Big D.


    Big D laughed and said, ¡°I see that you still remember traditions.¡±


    Marcus laughed and replied, ¡°I can never forget.¡±


    Big D became serious all of a sudden. He said, ¡°Where you been for all these years Marcus?¡±


    Marcus told Big D his story; in short. After he had finished Big D said, ¡°What about your dream of being an author.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Just because I have undergone training doesn¡¯t mean that I will become a full time power fighter. I still want to be an author. I have written a few books of short stories. They have become a hit in China.¡±


    Big D raised an eyebrow. Marcus said, ¡°Oh! I wrote them under the name of my friend, Tsi Tzu Tsen. I let him take the credit. He gave me all the money.¡±


    Big D¡¯s eyebrow went further up, ¡°He gave you all the money!¡±


    Marcus shrugged, ¡°He is not interested in money.¡±


    ¡°Weird guy.¡±


    Marcus nodded. Big D said, ¡°So will you or will you not register yourself to be a power fighter?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I dunno; maybe as a part time fighter. I have a book ready, am giving it finishing touches; it will be complete in a month or two. I want to have it published. That comes as a priority to me. I am still thinking of being a power fighter though.¡±


    Big D nodded. They were silent now. At that time Brock¡¯s fight was announced. Marcus shifted his attention to the field. The fight he had actually come to watch was going to start.


    ***


    Brock heard his name being announced. He walked out in the stadium. There was a polite applause from the crowd. He looked at the seats. Not many people had arrived but you don¡¯t expect a full stadium all the time every day.


    His eyes fell on the rectangular fighting field in the center of the circular stadium. The field was at a distance from the spectators from all the sides. This was for the protection of the spectators. A force field would also be put up around the field. He could see the shield raisers waiting for him at the edge of the field. The field was made up of stone, cement and granite. In short, it was hard. If you fell, it would hurt badly.


    His opponent was waiting for him. As he climbed up the referee asked them to come together. He told them to have a clean fight and stated what was illegal. He had to; it was his job after all. Then the referee stepped down from the field. He simply had to ensure that the fight was fair and if it was not then his job was to call the instant reaction team which would stop the fight.


    Brock faced his opponent. The force field was raised up. The referee blew the whistle. The fight started.


    ***


    ¡°You fight well but you hold back a lot¡±, said Marcus to Brock after his fight had finished. Brock had won after 10 minutes of fighting.


    Brock laughed and said, ¡°You need to hold back here Marcus. You need to fight with only that much power which is needed to defeat your opponent and not go all out. No one should know your limit till you fight a stronger opponent.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°So the other guy¡¯s limit was only this much?¡±


    Brock shrugged, ¡°Maybe or maybe not. You never know.¡±


    Marcus shook his head. Then he asked, ¡°Who is said to be the strongest in L.A.?¡±


    ¡°Daniel Redd is said to be the strongest in L.A.¡±


    ¡°He is the one from your group, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    Brock nodded. Then Marcus said, ¡°What did you want to talk to me about. You said that we should talk after the fight.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°I am looking for my own place to live.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡±


    ¡°Wanna be flat mates?¡±


    ¡°You are on.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen any houses?¡±


    ¡°No. You?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Nothing. So when are you going to start searching for them?¡±


    ¡°From tomorrow most probably.¡±


    Brock raised his eyebrows, ¡°Oh! Really?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Yeah! By the way what¡¯s the deal with your girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°You mean Flora?¡±


    ¡°You have others?¡±


    Marcus received a punch on the shoulder from Brock. Brock said, ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    Marcus replied, ¡°She has asked me to meet her at a restaurant tonight.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s why I asked you. Maybe you would know.¡±


    Brock shook his head. Then he said, ¡°You will know tonight. Don¡¯t worry about it too much. Come, let¡¯s grab a bite. I am hungry.¡±


    ***


    Brock had decided to tell his father that he was going to move out. He had decided that he would inform him about his decision this evening. Before he could muster up the courage to go and talk to his father, his father called him in his study. Brock wondered what his father wanted.


    As he entered he saw his father poring over some letters. He still got handwritten letters. Brock always wondered who sent them. They were silent for some time. Then Doug, Brock¡¯s father said, ¡°I heard you are thinking of moving out.¡±


    Damn it. How did he know? Brock calmed himself down. How his father could have known. Did he read minds? Brock had really once thought that his father could read minds but then dismissed that thought completely. Right now he was not quite sure.


    Brock said, ¡°Yes, I am thinking of moving out. How did you find out?¡±


    Doug did not answer Brock¡¯s question. Then he asked, ¡°When were you going to tell me?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°I am telling you now.¡±


    ¡°Will you be living alone?¡±


    ¡°I will be living with Marcus.¡±


    Doug looked surprised at that. He said, ¡°I thought you would be moving with Flora.¡±


    Brock started. He said hurriedly, ¡°We are not at that stage of your relationship.¡±


    Doug smiled at his son. He said nothing and so Brock said, ¡°Are you okay with me moving out?¡±


    Doug spoke as if he was choosing his words carefully. He said, ¡°Ever since your mother died I have been overprotective of Leopold and you. I love you two too much to let you go. That is why I am not comfortable with you two living away from me. Call me selfish but I simply can¡¯t let you go. That is why I am not comfortable with you leaving.¡±


    Brock was feeling angry now. He started to say something but Doug raised a hand to stop him. He said, ¡°Lately I have been thinking though. My behavior has been selfish. I should not have clung on to Leopold and you like this. You have your own lives to live after all. So I have decided that if you wish to move out, then I will not stop you. So tell me son, do you really want to move out?¡±


    Brock chose his words carefully. He said, ¡°I love you father, don¡¯t get me wrong. But I can¡¯t live with you for my entire life. I want to be something on my own, have my own name recognized than being referred to as Doug¡¯s son. Leopold has a name of his own. I am either known as Doug¡¯s son or Leopold¡¯s brother and I am starting to dislike it. I must get out of this comfort zone which you have provided me. I need to be on my own.¡±


    Doug nodded. Brock said, ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not like I am moving to another country. I will be in L.A. I will be in touch.¡±


    Doug said, ¡°I understand and I respect your decision. So you and Marcus will be living together?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Have you decided on a house?¡±


    ¡°We have not even started searching for it.¡±


    ¡°Do you need my help?¡±


    ¡°I would welcome any help I get.¡±


    Doug laughed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t go on saying that around. Then everyone will start giving you advice. People tend to dish out free advice even though the person may not want it.¡±


    Brock laughed with him. He then asked, ¡°Did you talk with Leopold about this?¡±


    Doug nodded. Brock asked carefully, ¡°What did he say?¡±


    Doug said, ¡°Leopold said he would move out after the tournament.¡±


    Brock nodded. So his father had had a temporary defeat in case of Leopold. He was lucky. He would be moving out. He would need a place though and fast, else his father might trap him again. He sighed. This was proving to be more of a bother than it should.


    ***


    Marcus was looking at the house. It almost looked like a mansion. It was for sale. A house agent was just showing it to a lovely couple. It was surrounded by a garden which looked as if it needed care. Marcus went up to the door and put his hand on the door knob to open it but then, he hesitated. It was not right for him to go in while the others were there. He went back and a voice called from behind him, ¡°Marcus, what are you doing here?¡±


    He turned to see Lara looking at him out of a window. What was she doing here? Marcus said, ¡°I could ask you the same question.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°I own this house. I have put it up for sale but I come here from time to time to see that it has not fallen apart.¡±


    Marcus gestured around and said, ¡°Yes I can see that.¡±


    Lara waved him away saying, ¡°I am not concerned about the garden. I am concerned more about the house.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°If you are so concerned then why are you selling it?¡±


    Lara said, ¡°Because I have no use for it. I already have a house and I do not wish to give this for rent. It would be too expensive for the people who rent it and the people who could afford to rent this would want to buy it. So, I am selling it.¡±


    Marcus shook his head. Then he said, ¡°I know an agent is showing the house to a couple but can I have a look?¡±


    Lara invited him in. Marcus fell in love with the house as soon as he saw it. It had a huge living room with the kitchen on the right. There were stairs on the opposite side of the entrance leading to two bedrooms on the upper floor. There were two rooms below the two bedrooms on the upper floor. There was a French window on the left of the stairs.


    Lara gave Marcus the tour of the house. Roof access was from outside only. Everything was covered in sheets. It gave the house a haunting feeling. Apparently Lara had not moved the furniture out of the house. Marcus wondered why Lara was showing off the house like this.


    They went through the whole house. He also went to the roof and examined the view. After they had finished Lara asked, ¡°So, what do you think?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°It is a lovely house to live in. It does look like it needs some work though, especially the garden. But all in all, it¡¯s a nice house.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°So the runt thinks this house is nice.¡±


    Marcus groaned and said, ¡°I was wondering till how long you were going to keep up with the good girl attitude.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°I forgot myself for a moment.¡±


    Marcus sighed and said, ¡°What is the selling price?¡±


    Lara told him a figure. He whistled. ¡°That much!¡± he exclaimed.


    Lara nodded. Then he said good bye to her getting an insulting farewell in return. As he walked, Marcus was thinking the whole way.


    ***


    ¡°You are late¡±, said Flora as Marcus sat down in front of her. They were at a Mexican restaurant. Flora had already arrived about fifteen minutes before and had been waiting for Marcus who had been now late.


    Marcus said, ¡°I am sorry. I got tied up with something.¡±


    Flora waited for Marcus to explain what that something was but it seemed that no explanation was forthcoming and so she let it go.


    Marcus asked, ¡°Why have you called me here?¡±


    Flora simply said, ¡°I like Mexican.¡±


    Marcus smiled and said, ¡°Not the restaurant, I meant the reason for you wanting to meet me.¡±


    A waiter came at that time and they gave their order. Flora complimented Marcus on his selection. After the waiter had left Flora asked, ¡°Do you like Mexican food too?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I have tasted delicacies of many of the countries of the world.¡±


    That told her nothing. Marcus said, ¡°So, why did you call me here?¡±


    Flora took some time answering the question. She said slowly, ¡°I heard that you trained under Kami.¡±


    It was not a question. Marcus sighed and said, ¡°Brock told you.¡±


    Flora nodded. Marcus said, ¡°Yes I trained under Kami, so what of it?¡±


    Flora said, ¡°Are you going to register yourself as a power fighter?¡±


    Marcus leaned forward, ¡°Why are you so concerned?¡±


    ¡°If you are registering yourself as a power fighter, I need your help.¡±


    Marcus was now surprised and curious. He said, ¡°Why do you need my help?¡±


    Flora said, ¡°First tell me whether you are going to register as a power fighter or not.¡±


    ¡°Yes I am.¡±


    ¡°You do know that you need a stastician after you become a power fighter.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am aware of the rule. It says that if you do not have a stastician in a week after you qualify as a power fighter, your power fighting license is cancelled.¡±


    Flora nodded and said, ¡°You are correct. That is why most of the people try to finalize a stastician before the test so that they would simply draw the contract for their stastician after they have been given their license.¡±


    Marcus asked, ¡°Are you offering yourself to be my stastician?¡±


    ¡°No, I am not. I have an apprentice although.¡±


    ¡°And you want your apprentice to be my stastician.¡±


    ¡°You got that right.¡±


    ¡°Why me?¡±


    ¡°Because she asked for you personally.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    The waiter brought their order at that moment. Flora thanked the waiter as he left. She took a bite and gave a moan of satisfaction.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± repeated Marcus.


    Flora said irritably, ¡°She wants to be your stastician.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t fret Marcus. Before you she interviewed 10 power fighters and rejected all of them. She did not like any of them. With you¡­ I have never seen her excited like this before. It¡¯s as if she has already decided that you are going to be her power fighter.¡±


    ¡°That is odd. She has not even met me.¡±


    Flora gave a smile, a smile which told Marcus that she had not told everything.


    Marcus caught up on that, ¡°What aren¡¯t you telling me?¡±


    Flora said, ¡°To become a full time stastician my apprentice will need to successfully be the stastician of at least one power fighter. I want you to consider that when you meet her tomorrow.¡±


    Marcus spluttered, ¡°Meet her? Tomorrow!¡±


    Flora said, ¡°Yes, didn¡¯t I tell you. You have an interview tomorrow with my apprentice and me for considering her as your stastician. I have already promised her that I have arranged everything and you will come.¡±


    ¡°Have I got no say in this?¡±


    Flora said in a desperate voice, ¡°Marcus, I understand that this is too sudden. But I request you to bear with me. Please come tomorrow and take her interview. She is a very good kid and she does need a really good power fighter. I am not forcing you to be her power fighter. I am simply saying come, take the interview and consider her for the post of your stastician. I really do want the best for her and I believe you are one of the best.¡±


    Marcus sighed and said, ¡°You are too much Flora. Okay, I will come tomorrow and take her interview. When and where though? I believe you would have already decided that too.¡±


    ¡°4 o¡¯ clock, at Musings.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I will let it go this time, but if you do this again Flora, you will be really sorry. I don¡¯t like this at all.¡±


    Flora raised her eyebrows. She said, ¡°I am sorry Marcus. I know what I have done is wrong but please bear with me this time.¡±


    Marcus nodded. Then he said, ¡°What is her name though, your apprentice?¡±


    Flora grinned and said, ¡°That is a surprise.¡±


    ***


    When Marcus went home that night he called Brock to know what Flora¡¯s deal was. He explained to Brock what all had happened and Brock simply laughed. Marcus even tried to get the name of Flora¡¯s apprentice out of Brock but even he refused saying that it would be better if it was a surprise.


    Marcus cursed Brock who just laughed. Then he asked Brock to come after breakfast the next day. They needed to start searching for houses and Marcus had one or two ideas. Brock said he was okay and he had a few ideas too.


    When Marcus hung up the phone he was feeling tired. As he went to bed he thought that tomorrow was going to be a long day and getting a house would be much tougher than he had anticipated.


    ***


    It was the next day after breakfast that Marcus was waiting for Brock. He was playing with Chris. Chris was chortling in delight. The doorbell rang and Arya went to the door. She returned with Brock.


    Brock said, ¡°What did you want to talk to me about?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I have found an amazing place to live.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°You went house hunting without me?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°No, I simply chanced upon this house when I was going for dinner last night.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Dude, we haven¡¯t decided whether we are going to rent or buy the house. I was thinking of renting as buying would get complicated.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°How bout I buy the house and you stay on rent there?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem right.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°But I really want that house. It¡¯s perfect.¡±


    Brock sighed and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go with you on this one but only if I like the house. If there is anything I find wrong we are going to look for a place to rent. No more of this buying stuff.¡±


    Marcus raised his hand and said, ¡°Scout¡¯s honor.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°You were never a scout Marcus.¡±


    Marcus grinned at him. Brock said, ¡°What¡¯s the address. I will go and have a look.¡±


    Marcus gave him the address. Brock then said, ¡°And what¡¯s the catch. There is always one.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°The house belongs to Lara.¡±


    Arya suddenly gave a start. She said, ¡°Do you mean The Hunter¡¯s End?¡±


    Marcus nodded and Arya continued, ¡°Yes, it belongs to Lara and she is selling it. That is why I wondered the address sounded so familiar.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Now I see what might be the problem. I will have a look at the house. Then we will go and see Lara. We will all go. Arya, could you come too? It might help.¡±


    Arya nodded. Marcus sighed. This was going to be awesome.


    ***


    They were late. It was now 4:30. Marcus had been waiting for them for half an hour now. This was really rude. He was already at Musings, thinking about what to do with Lara and the house. He did not notice them come in. They looked at him and waved which obviously he did not notice. He was too lost in thought now.


    They came up to him. He was not aware of their presence until Flora snapped her fingers under his nose and said, ¡°Earth to Marcus.¡±


    Marcus started. He blinked and looked at them in a confusing daze. He saw Flora and started to smile. Then he saw her apprentice and the smile stopped. He simply kept staring. Flora¡¯s apprentice was grinning at him. She was, ¡°Hello Marcus McKnight¡±, said Selena Stone in a falsetto cheery voice.


    ¡°Selena Stone¡±, breathed Marcus.


    Selena said, ¡°Oh, so you remember me.¡±


    Marcus blushed and said, ¡°I doubt I could forget.¡±


    He had gotten up. He said, ¡°Shall we sit down.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Oh, before I forget¡±, and she slapped him, hard. Then she said, ¡°Now we can sit.¡±


    Marcus was grinning and massaging his cheek gingerly as he sat down. Flora was hiding a smile, Marcus was sure of it. Selena looked smugly satisfied as they all sat down.


    Marcus said, ¡°That was quite a slap. You are powerful.¡±


    He saw her reaction change. There was panic in her eyes, but she said haughtily, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t lie Marcus. You would have hardly felt it.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°You undermine your strength. I wonder why.¡±


    He had said that to tease her but he could clearly see it now. Even though she tried not to show it she was panicked. So Selena wanted people not to know of her strength. And why was that, he wondered.


    Flora said, ¡°So how are you Marcus?¡±


    Marcus shifted his attention from Selena to Flora and said, ¡°I am fine.¡± He snapped back to Selena. Flora wanted to smile. She knew Selena and Marcus¡¯s history. Selena had told her all about it.


    Marcus said to Selena, ¡°Why are you a stastician Selena?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°How do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Last I remember you wanted to become a singer. You even released two of your solo albums which were considerable hits. It was said that you were going to be the next big thing in music and then you suddenly decided to quit. I did not know what you had in mind at that time and now I see you want to become a stastician. Why is that?¡±


    Selena simply said, ¡°My reason is my own Marcus. I do not wish to share it with you. And what about you? You wanted to be an author and now you are trying to be a power fighter.¡±


    Marcus did not reply to that but looked at Flora who avoided his gaze. So Flora knew the reason for Selena deciding to be a stastician but she was not going to tell Marcus. He frowned. He said, ¡°So you want to be my stastician. Flora told me you were excited.¡±


    Selena frowned and looked at Flora saying, ¡°Funny, she told me the same thing, that you were excited to be my power fighter.¡±


    They both were now looking at Flora. Flora said, ¡°I lied to both of you. So sue me. I lied because I was desperate to get Selena a power fighter and she did seem interested in you Marcus.¡±


    Marcus looked at Selena who said, ¡°I don¡¯t trust you.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°It has been five years and I can explain why I ran away.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°You could have told me. You could have contacted me.¡±


    Marcus said angrily, ¡°I did not tell anybody. I did not contact anyone for five years. Do you think these five years have been easy for me? You don¡¯t understand the hell I have gone through.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°What hell Marcus? You cry if you get a little scratch. Your hell would be a bruise.¡±


    Marcus started to laugh. He said, ¡°It is true that I do not like pain. It irritates me. But I assure you, these last five years I have suffered more than I have enjoyed.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°I have heard rumors that you trained under Kami.¡±


    Flora interjected before Marcus said anything, ¡°It is true. He did train under Kami.¡±


    They were however ignoring her. Marcus said as if Flora had not even spoken, ¡°It is not a rumor. I did indeed train under Kami.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Kami doesn¡¯t train anyone outside his family let alone a stranger. Why did he train you?¡±


    Marcus smiled and said, ¡°Tell me the truth, the whole truth about why you decided to become a stastician and I will tell you.¡±


    Selena¡¯s eyes narrowed but she did not say anything. Marcus leaned back and grinned. Flora was getting irritated now. These two were completely ignoring her. She said, ¡°You guys do realize that I am here too.¡±


    They now looked at her. Marcus was still grinning and Selena looked a bit disgruntled. Flora said, ¡°The reason why we are meeting here is that we want to know whether Marcus would be comfortable with Selena as his stastician and will Selena be comfortable with Marcus as her power fighter? Instead, you two are going on about your past. If you have some issues, sort them out. I will go chat with Pops. I will give you an hour or so. I think that would be sufficient, don¡¯t you think so?¡±


    They nodded and Flora left. Marcus told Selena all about him being an Unstable and his training in China. Selena was silent for some time. He could read some emotion in her eyes but he was not able to decipher what it was.


    Selena said, ¡°I fell in love with you Marcus McKnight. And then you disappeared on me. You have no idea how bad I felt.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I hurt a lot of people when I ran away. But if I had not run away I would have not survived. I would have either exploded or would have been put down by the unstable reaction team.¡±


    Selena nodded. She said, ¡°I understand Marcus but it¡¯s still hard.¡±


    Flora came at that time. It seemed that their hour was up. She said, ¡°So what have you guys decided?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I have no problems with Selena being my stastician.¡±


    Flora looked at Selena who simply nodded. Selena said, ¡°I will have my conditions though.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Me too.¡±


    Flora said, ¡°That is after you become a licensed power fighter Marcus.¡±


    Marcus nodded. The meeting was over. He had a stastician now.


    ***


    They were waiting for Jensen to open the door. Marcus, Brock, Arya and Chris. Apparently Arya took Chris everywhere which was understandable as he was only a year old. They had come to talk with Lara about the house. Marcus was not feeling optimistic. He knew that Lara did not like him and she would definitely not sell the house to him. It was a difficult prospect for her.


    Jensen opened the door and led him to the study. Fifteen minutes later Marcus rushed out of the study slamming the door behind him in fury.


    When he was gone Brock said, ¡°What the hell is your problem Lara?¡±


    Lara said to Arya, ¡°I know he is your brother Arya and your best friend Brock that is why you seem to have forgiven him easily. But I can¡¯t forgive him that easily. He was not here for five years, I was. I saw you suffer Arya, I saw your pain and I can never forgive him for what he did to you.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°I understand Lara but give him a chance. You know of the circumstances. I did explain everything to you, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    Lara said, ¡°Still he cannot be excused.¡±


    ¡°I have a proposition for you¡±, Marcus had come back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear any of your propositions runt¡±, said Lara.


    ¡°Oh but this one you will like.¡±


    ¡°And why is that runt?¡±


    ¡°I am proposing a fight.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°You heard me right. I want to fight you. I believe you wanted to beat the crap out of me the moment I came back. I am giving you the chance. If I win, you sell me the house and if I lose, I will do anything you say.¡±


    ¡°Anything runt?¡±


    ¡°Anything.¡±


    Lara grinned and said, ¡°You are on runt. Come on then. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°You have a private field I presume.¡±


    Lara nodded and left the room with Marcus following her. Brock and Arya sat there stunned. It took them some time to register what had happened.


    Arya said finally, ¡°What just happened?¡±


    Brock grinned and said, ¡°I believe we just got the house.¡±


    ***


    Tisane was watching a match in the stadium. She had still not been able to decide whom to select as her last three team members. Juran and Wizard already had a team and she was three members short. Juran and Wizard also had their stastician finalized. Flora was going to be the stastician for both of their teams. A stastician can take care of two teams in the tournament but not more than that. Tisane would also need to find a good stastician.


    She sighed. The match was boring. All the matches today had been boring. None of the fighters had the potential she was looking for. She left after the match was over. She had too much for the day. She wandered aimlessly for some time. She was in no mood for watching any more crappy matches.


    She thought that she would go and see Lara, check out what she is doing. She went up to her mansion and was buzzed in. She was informed by Jensen upon arrival that Lara was in her private field battling Marcus. This was interesting. She thanked Jensen and went with him to Lara¡¯s private power fighting field. It was in the open. It was in the huge grounds which formed the backyard of Lara¡¯s mansion.


    Brock, Arya, Alpha, Zip and Alistair were also there. Marcus and Lara were standing in the field. Arya had Chris with her. Brock and AA were putting up the force field. They asked Tisane to help and she complied. Then she went and sat beside Arya while Brock and AA maintained the force field.


    Arya said, ¡°I am worried.¡±


    Tisane asked, ¡°About Marcus?¡±


    Arya shook her head, ¡°No, about Lara.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You will see.¡±


    They focused on the match. It was beginning.


    ***


    Marcus looked at Lara and she glared back. Marcus grinned and said, ¡°Shall we begin?¡±


    Lara nodded and they both took their stance. No one attacked. They simply stood looking at each other. Then Marcus said, ¡°You are a defense master.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°How can you tell?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Because I am a defense master too. I am doing the same thing as you, waiting for you to attack.¡±


    Lara did not say anything to that. Marcus said, ¡°Here I come then.¡±


    He started running towards Lara. Lara shifted a bit waiting for a projectile attack which never came. Marcus came close to her and kicked her. She jumped back dodging the attack. Marcus closed the gap the next second and rained punches and kicks on her. She blocked most of them but he still got a few through. Finally Marcus got an opening and he kicked her in the gut. She was thrown back and she landed hard. She rolled and stood up quite quickly.


    Marcus said, ¡°Don¡¯t hold back. Else you won¡¯t be able to defeat me.¡±


    Lara gritted her teeth. She raised her palms and small bullet type shots fired from her hand. It was her bullet stream attack. Marcus dodged them but some of them hit him and he was thrown back. He swore. It was good that his divine shield was on else he would have been hurt really bad. This was one powerful attack and it did not even require much of energy.


    As Marcus steadied himself he saw Lara running towards him. He readied himself for the attack. As she neared she clapped her hands and a very loud thunder clap sounded. Marcus had to cover his ears with his hands. Lara took this opportunity to punch Marcus in the gut. She could see her hand approaching his gut with extreme force. The next moment it was stopped. Marcus¡¯s hands were still on his ears. He had stopped the attack with his leg. He grinned and gave a spinning kick hitting her straight on the face.


    She felt the kick; the power, it was too much. She crashed hard into the barrier this time. Marcus winced as she crashed.


    Arya said, ¡°Marcus does not like this.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°I can see that.¡±


    Lara stood up and wiped her mouth. Marcus said, ¡°As I said before, take this match seriously. If you keep on holding back you won¡¯t be able to touch me.¡±


    Lara powered up. Marcus could feel the shift in the power. He gulped. She had power all right. It was not good news for him. She again let out the bullet stream attack which Marcus blocked with his divine shield.


    She rushed near him and kicked him in the face which he failed to dodge. He flew in the air. She jumped up and hit him hard with both her hands. He crashed into the ground. As he stood up, she was near him immediately with an energy ball ready. She hit him with it on close quarters. He was thrown back and now he crashed into the barrier.


    Lara was panting now. Marcus stood up and smiled. He said, ¡°Now that is what I am talking about.¡±


    Lara gasped. There was not a single scratch on him. How was this possible? He said, ¡°I can see that you are a bit confused. My divine shield makes it very difficult to beat me.¡±


    Lara asked, ¡°How difficult?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Let¡¯s just say that it is impenetrable.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°Impossible, no shield is impenetrable except¡­ wait¡­ it can¡¯t be.¡±


    ¡°But it is. Let me present to you the legendary divine shield¡±, and he showed her the shield. It was the dome, a faint bluish dome which surrounded him. It was normally invisible but Marcus made it especially visible so that she could see it.


    ¡°But I thought the divine shield was dome shaped. How could it have stopped the energy attack earlier?¡±


    Marcus simply smiled. The next moment the dome changed shaped and the shield enveloped his entire body. He said, ¡°I modified it a bit.¡±


    Lara gasped. Who was this guy? It was not the same Marcus McKnight who had run away five years ago. He was different. He was strong and she was fighting him. She felt scared now. But she would not give up. Not now, not ever.


    She powered up and attacked again. She put everything behind her punch. Marcus stopped it with one hand. He said, ¡°Have you not realized by now who I am?¡±


    Lara spitted, ¡°Blade!¡±


    Marcus smiled, it was a sad smile. He said, ¡°So you realized it at last.¡±


    Lara said nothing. She stepped back. Then she walked to the edge of the field and said to Brock and AA, ¡°Lower the field. This match is over.¡±


    Brock wanted to ask who won but looking at the expression on Lara¡¯s face he stopped. Alpha¡¯s reaction was different. He was alternating glances between his wife and Marcus. Apparently he knew Blade too and what he had done for them. He looked at Lara with concern.


    They lowered the field and Lara stepped down. As she passed Alpha she said to him without even looking at him, ¡°Sell the runt the house.¡±


    She started walking away. Marcus shouted, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Lara stopped. She half glanced back. Then she started walking again. There was a faint smile on her face. Maybe she could forgive Marcus after all. Maybe. It will take time, a long time and Marcus would have to work really hard to earn her forgiveness.


    Marcus was the only one who was smiling amongst the stunned crowd. He shook his head. He had a house now.


    ***


    Marcus and Brock¡¯s house warming party was a blast. It had taken a week to clear all the formalities and another week or two to furnish the house. Then Marcus and Brock had shifted into The Hunter¡¯s End.


    They had taken the two bedrooms on the top floor as their rooms. Marcus had taken the left room while Brock had taken the right one. The lower right room was converted into a guest room. The lower left room was converted into a media room. It contained a home theatre system and a PlayStation.


    Marcus had not let Brock buy anything except the things in Brock¡¯s room. Brock had not been happy but he had conceded. He did not believe this arrangement was bad but he was still a bit uncomfortable. He was now feeling very happy. Maybe this would work out after all.


    They had put four sofas in the shape of a square in the living room. They had also put a 40 inch screen in the living room. The kitchen was state of the art. Marcus has spared no expense. He had confided in Brock that he had indeed earned a lot of money by selling the books in China and he had spent most of the money he had saved. Brock had been worried but Marcus had assured him that he was going to publish a book soon and it would be a super hit. Brock always wondered about his friend¡¯s naivety and optimism.


    Lara was impressed with what Marcus and Brock had done with her house. It was their house now. She looked out. The garden was still in ruins. She had a feeling that Marcus would take care of it soon enough. She smiled. Whether she liked or not, Marcus McKnight was here to stay.

 Registration

    December was coming. 1<sup>st</sup> December was the date when Marcus would be able to register himself as a power fighter. He was already a power fighter in China but he would have to register separately in America.


    There were two times in the year when the power fighters could apply for the license. Initially they had to fill a form. Three days were given for that. Next the applicants had to undergo a psychological test. If they pass that test then they had to fight one of the power fighter judges who would decide based on the applicants strength, intelligence, speed and skill, whether he should be given a license or not. It was a tough system.


    Newly licensed power fighters faced a probation period of one year. During this period the fighters are mandated to have a win percentage of 65. If they fail to achieve it then there license would be revoked. Moreover, they should have fought at least 125 matches in the year. Failing to do so would also lead to revoking of their power fighting license. Being a power fighter was a tough job. Retaining the license was even a tougher one. Many wanted to become a licensed power fighter. Few of them succeeded.


    Selena was lecturing all these rules to Marcus. He already knew them. Still, Selena was performing her duties of a stastician. That is exactly what she had said and Marcus had rolled his eyes. Marcus sighed as Selena continued. This was going to be tiresome.


    ***


    It was the 2<sup>nd</sup> of December. Marcus and Selena went to visit Big D. Big D welcomed them warmly. Apparently Big D and Selena knew each other. They had gone to visit him for a reason. Something was wrong in this time¡¯s registration. Marcus had felt it in the atmosphere. There seemed to be hardly any applicants. Marcus wanted to know what was happening. There was one place he could get all the information about power fighting and he was there right now.


    After they had settled down and got the formalities out of the way, Marcus came straight to the point. He wanted to know what was happening to this time¡¯s registration.


    Big D said, ¡°You know who the Elements are, don¡¯t you Marcus?¡±


    Marcus smiled and nodded. He nodded who the Elements were. It was the team which had won the world tournament six years ago. He, Brock, Forum and Evana had been devout followers of the team at that time. How would they not be? The team consisted of Juran, Wizard, Tisane, Lara, Arthur and Shayona.


    Marcus said, ¡°What about it?¡±


    Big D said, ¡°This time¡¯s judges for the physical test are all of them except Lara. Even Arthur and Shayona are coming out of retirement to take the test specifically.¡±


    Marcus smiled inwardly. He knew the reason for these judges. He said, ¡°Was this Lord Cyberton¡¯s decision?¡±


    Big D nodded. This confirmed Marcus¡¯s suspicion. Still he said, ¡°So what is the big deal then? Sure they are strong, but that doesn¡¯t mean that people should stop applying. I have heard that they have given license to people even though they were defeated while fighting the judges.¡±


    Big D said, ¡°You do not understand Marcus. These guys have high standards of passing. They do not pass anyone easily. Actually they are selected if Lord Cyberton wants people to fail. The Trio is selected as judges from time to time for this reason only. Now Arthur and Shayona are also coming. This is a nightmare. Only fools, over confident people, ignorant or desperate people would apply.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°That explains a lot.¡±


    Selena asked, ¡°Like?¡±


    But Marcus shook his head and said nothing. Big D grinned and said, ¡°You do not look worried Marcus.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°No, I am not worried.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°What do you mean you are not worried?¡±


    Marcus grinned and said, ¡°Earlier I was worried that there was something seriously wrong with the oncoming registration. But there is no problem. I will pass easily.¡±


    Marcus leaned back and put his arms behind his head in a relaxing position. Big D started laughing. Selena did not feel like laughing. Arrogant bastard. If he did not consider this seriously he would fail. And for a moment, just for a fleeting moment, she hoped he would really fail.


    ***


    Tisane was looking at the list of candidates. This was not a list that showcased high numbers. Only 113 people had applied. It seemed that they were scared of the judges. After all, Tisane wondered, she and the others did have a scary reputation. She was waiting for the others. They were late. She was in the office of the building where the test was going to take place. The door opened and Juran and Wizard entered.


    Tisane said angrily, ¡°You are both late.¡±


    They both apologized. Juran said, ¡°Arthur and Shayona are still not here, I see.¡±


    Wizard said, ¡°They are late as usual.¡± He looked bored.


    Tisane slammed some of the applicants in front of them and they both jumped a bit.


    ¡°Have a look¡±, she said.


    Juran and Wizard looked at each other. Tisane was angry. This was not good. They wondered who will be the one who will get punched. They both hoped that it was not them. They started leafing through the applications.


    Half an hour later Arthur and Shayona entered. Arthur started saying, ¡°Hey ya there¡­¡± and the next moment he was punched by Tisane who had stood up as soon as the door opened. Arthur crashed in the wall behind him destroying most of the part of it.


    Shayona started to say something angrily to Tisane but stopped looking at Tisane¡¯s face. Shayona gulped and said, ¡°Calm down Tisane. This is not you.¡±


    Tisane blinked and looked at her. Then she asked, ¡°Did I punch him?¡±


    Shayona nodded while helping her husband up. Arthur and she were married. Arthur massaged his jaw. He said, ¡°That was quite a punch.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°I am sorry Arthur. I just lost control. I don¡¯t know why. I have worked so hard. Still I don¡¯t understand why this happened. I am so sorry. Maybe I should go to anger management classes again. Or maybe I should¡­¡±


    Shayona said, ¡°You are mumbling Tisane. And can we enter the office?¡±


    Tisane started and let them in. They all sat down. Tisane had a problem with her anger which had led to her taking anger management sessions. Tisane normally did not get much angry. If she got angry she would sometimes vent it out. But sometimes it so happened that she simply lost control and punched the first person she saw. That was not good. She had worked hard on this issue and had managed to control it. It was still though that occasionally, but on a rare occasion she lost it and punched somebody. She wondered why this happened today. They were only late after all.


    The former team went through all the applications. Then they discussed for some time. Finally they came with a figure. This figure was the number of people they would pass this year. This figure was normally a reference but they passed people with a few variations to the figure they had decided.


    Today it was five.


    ***


    Brock looked up from the newspaper he was reading. Marcus had prepared breakfast. Marcus usually prepared breakfast. Today he had prepared pancakes, boiled eggs and freshly squeezed orange juice. If Brock prepared breakfast it would be cereals and toast. They had finished their breakfast and Marcus was fiddling with his spoon.


    Brock said, ¡°Are you nervous about your test today?¡±


    Marcus looked at Brock and said, ¡°No, I am worried about Selena.¡±


    Brock raised an eyebrow. Marcus said, ¡°There is something about her which I can¡¯t seem to put my finger on.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Care to explain.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°According to me she is a good singer. I have heard both her albums. Moreover she was progressing towards stardom. Then she suddenly quits and decides to be a stastician. Don¡¯t you think that is weird?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Hey, people do even weirder things. It is not our place to judge. You ran away didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°That was not weird. That was a necessity.¡±


    ¡°Still felt pretty weird to me.¡±


    Marcus shook his head. Then he said, ¡°She also emits an aura of a power fighter.¡±


    Each of the power fighters have his or her aura. The stronger the power fighter, the stronger the aura he or she would emit. Some of the power fighters could disguise their aura making other power fighters think that he has less power than he actually has. Some can disguise it completely. Only people who have the potential to be power fighters can sense the aura. Not all become power fighters even though they have power. They also become people having other professions.


    Brock said, ¡°I have met her. I never noticed it.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°She disguises it up to the level of the aura of a normal person.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°That is quite a talent.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Yes, but that also means that she has the potential to be a power fighter and she has been practicing.¡±


    Brock nodded. Marcus was right. Brock said, ¡°Then why the hell is she a stastician?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°My point exactly.¡±


    Brock looked at the watch and said, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be going?¡±


    Marcus groaned. He cleared the plates away and left saying goodbye to Brock. He reached the test center. Flora and Selena were also going to come later. Most of the applicants had already arrived. Also some of the stasticians were present there. It was common to see stasticians to be there at the test center. Some of them would already be associated with some power fighters while some would be looking out for fresh meat.


    He sighed. He had heard that there were 113 applicants. This meant that the tests would get over in one day only. He had the psychological test first. Half an hour later he was in his allocated room for the test. There were 24 other people with him in the room and a supervisor. The test was three hours long. As it started Marcus sighed. This was going to be a long day.


    ***


    Flora and Selena were sitting in the waiting room. Selena was there because Marcus was going to be her power fighter if he passed. Flora was there for moral support. She believed that Selena somehow needed more moral support than Marcus. When it came to power fighting Marcus acted as an arrogant son of a bitch.


    They were sitting in silence. Flora tried to make conversation, ¡°You never told me the reason for you wanting Marcus to be your power fighter. I thought you would be uncomfortable as it may open old wounds. Instead you were eager for him to be your power fighter.¡±


    Selena simply said, ¡°Because I want him to train me.¡±


    Flora raised an eyebrow. She said, ¡°Are you sure you want him as your trainer?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Initially I wanted him to be my trainer as he trained under Kami. He would have information that I would need. But when we met him I sensed his aura. He had disguised but there is no one in this world that can hide their aura from me. Flora, his aura was overwhelming. He is strong. He will be a good trainer.¡±


    ¡°And you think that he will agree to train you without any explanation?¡±


    ¡°I am sure that he would not ask for explanation initially. I know him. Oh he might have changed over these five years but I doubt he would have let go of his curiosity. I can always work with that. I would have to tell him the truth sooner or later. But for now, he training me would have to do.¡±


    Flora nodded. She understood what Selena meant. She had always helped her, always wanted the best for her. But first, ¡°Let¡¯s see whether Marcus passes today or not else this will all be for nothing¡±, said Flora.


    Selena nodded, ¡°He has to pass¡±, and she sent a silent prayer to Marcus, ¡°Pass Marcus pass. Please. I need your help.¡±


    Flora shook her head. She hoped everything went well.


    ***


    The doorbell rang and Brock looked up at the door. He wondered who it could be. He opened the door to find his brother standing outside. Leopold walked in saying hi to Brock and went to sit on the sofa. Brock had still not moved.


    Leopold said, ¡°Something wrong Brock? Why are you standing there like a statue?¡±


    Brock suddenly started as if he had been brought back to reality. He closed the door and went up to his brother.


    Brock said, ¡°I am sorry. I was just surprised to see you.¡±


    Leopold said, ¡°Can I not come and visit my younger brother?¡±


    Brock¡¯s eyes narrowed. He did not say anything for some time. Then he said, ¡°Why are you here exactly?¡±


    Leopold sighed and said, ¡°You don¡¯t seem to trust me very much.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Oh, I trust you Leopold, not just right now. I can easily tell that you want something. I wonder what it is.¡±


    Leopold smiled and said, ¡°Am I so transparent little brother?¡±


    Brock simply said, ¡°I know you in and out Leopold, just like you know me. I know when you want something from me. So tell me what is it?¡±


    Leopold leaned forward joining his hands and putting his mouth on them. He said slowly, ¡°Why have you not joined or formed a team yet?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°I am not interested. I am not a team player.¡±


    Leopold said, ¡°Is this another one of your rebellions against father?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°If you want to consider it that way then do so. I just don¡¯t want to join a team and fight in the stupid tournament.¡±


    Leopold said, ¡°Then why did you become a power fighter?¡±


    Brock looked at him questioningly. Leopold continued, ¡°If your purpose is not to fight strong opponents like those who could be found all over the world, then why did you become a power fighter if it was not to fight?¡±


    Brock looked straight into Leopold¡¯s eyes. Brock knew Leopold knew why he had become a power fighter. Leopold just wanted him to say it.


    Brock said, ¡°I became a power fighter so that I could be stronger than dad, so that I could be free of him some day. I was not confident earlier that I would be free of him but now I have at least taken the first step forward.¡±


    Leopold said, ¡°With help.¡±


    Brock nodded and said, ¡°With help of course.¡±


    Leopold smiled. He stood up. It looked as if he was leaving already. He walked up to the door and opened it. He said before leaving, ¡°Tisane is forming a team. She is looking for strong fighters. I know you are not interested but think about it.¡± He left closing the door behind him.


    After he had gone Brock muttered, ¡°My whole family is mad.¡±


    ***


    The psychological test was over. The results were out in an hour. Emma Knight looked at the results. They had passed only 10 of the 113 applicants. That was rough. She wondered if she was on the list or not. She looked at the list and whooped. She was selected. The person besides her stared at her amusingly.


    She smiled and said to him, ¡°I have been selected.¡±


    He said, ¡°Is that so? Congratulations. What number are you.¡±


    ¡°One.¡±


    He looked at the list and mouthed her name. Emma asked, ¡°Have you been selected?¡±


    He nodded and said, ¡°Ten.¡±


    She looked at the list, at number ten. She read the name; Marcus McKnight.


    She saw he had extended his hand forward, ¡°Nice to meet you¡±, he said.


    She shook his hand and said, ¡°You too.¡±


    He nodded and started to leave. ¡°Best of luck for the next test¡±, he said as he left.


    Emma decided that he was an odd guy. She started off towards the cafeteria. She was pretty excited. She was going to call her but she needed food first. She was hungry.


    As she turned a corner she bumped hard into a girl who was hurrying.


    ¡°Sorry¡±, they both said together.


    Emma recognized her. She had seen her pictures before.


    She said, ¡°Wait aren¡¯t you one of the famous stasticians? Flora isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Flora smiled and said, ¡°I am not that famous.¡±


    Emma gave a laugh and said, ¡°I am Emma Knight. Pleased to meet you. You seem to be in a hurry.¡±


    Flora said, ¡°Are you applying for the license of a power fighter? Is the list out?¡±


    Emma said, ¡°Yes the list is out. I am one of the ten who have been selected.¡±


    Flora paled suddenly. She said, ¡°Excuse me. I have to go look at it¡±, and she just left. Emma shook her head and started off. So this was Flora Stewart. She wondered if Flora would be her stastician. She would need a stastician after all. Lord Cyberton had promised that he would take care of the stastician for her but it would be nice to have someone like her as a stastician.


    She entered the cafeteria and whipped out her mobile. She was now going to call her.


    ***


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Marcus was the last to enter the room. It was a huge hall. It was there where the final test was going to take place. The wannabe power fighters would fight the judges. There was a box on the left side of the center. Marcus looked around. There were seats behind panels of glasses on the first floor on both left and right sides of the hall. They were all empty. Marcus looked at one of the seats and frowned. Then he smiled and nodded.


    He walked up to the others. They were all standing in the center of the room. The judges were standing in front of them. So Big D¡¯s information was right. Marcus stared at Juran, Tisane, Wizard, Arthur and Shayona. Only Lara was missing. Marcus smiled as he thought of the Elements. They were his favorite team. Actually it was Brock¡¯s, Forum¡¯s and Evana¡¯s favorite team. He had supported them only because the others supported them.


    Now he could sense them, their amazing radiating power which gave out a very strong aura which no one was trying to hide. So they were trying to intimidate the candidates. Marcus could see that it was working. A few of them looked shit scared.


    Shayona started reading the candidates¡¯ names off a piece of paper, giving a face to the name. She stopped at Marcus¡¯s name. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at him. Marcus could see that Arthur was also giving him dangerous looks. Oh great; it seemed that Marcus would have to explain everything to them too. It had been a hard time talking with Juran and Wizard. Arya had explained to Tisane and Lara as they were all friends. It seemed that no one had told anything to Arthur and Shayona. He gulped as they kept on staring at him.


    Marcus, Brock, Forum and Evana had met all the team members because of Tisane. They had all got on well together. Marcus was sure that Arthur and Shayona would have been pissed with his disappearance. He had a feeling he was going to fight Arthur. He gulped again.


    Tisane spoke, ¡°You will all be paired in groups of two. It is a random allocation. The two of you who has been paired will fight one of us. One pair per judge. You have the chance to decide who you would be fighting. Discuss amongst yourselves who would you like to fight. The objective of this fight is not to win but to prove your caliber. If you win then it is a bonus but if you fail to impress us, you are out. Is that understood?¡±


    They all nodded. Apparently Tisane seemed to be in a bad mood. She was letting out threatening vibes. Even the other judges were cautious around her. Tisane started calling out the names of the pairs. Marcus was paired with Emma.


    Tisane said, ¡°You have ten minutes to make a decision. Start now.¡±


    The other pairs started discussing who will fight who. Marcus said that he and Emma would fight whosoever is left and took Emma aside before she could protest.


    Once Marcus was sure no one could hear them he told her of his plan. She was grinning when he was finished.


    Marcus said, ¡°So what do you think? Should we go with it?¡±


    Emma smiled and said, ¡°Hell yeah! Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    ***


    Flora and Selena were in the cafeteria when Lord Cyberton came and sat in front of them.


    ¡°Hey¡±, he said waving his hand.


    Flora and Selena looked oddly at him. Was he all right?


    Jian aka Lord Cyberton said, ¡°So how are you doing Flora, Selena?¡±


    They both said that they were fine. Flora then said, ¡°So what do we owe you the pleasure of visit Master Chan?¡±


    Jian said, ¡°Ah now Flora. Call me Lord Cyberton will you? I really like that name.¡±


    Flora really wanted to snort with laughter but she controlled herself. She said, ¡°Okay Lord Cyberton. What is that you want sir?¡±


    Jian rubbed his hands and said, ¡°Oh good. Do you know of a fighter named Emma Knight?¡±


    Flora nodded and said, ¡°I met her some time back.¡±


    Jian said, ¡°Oh that is good then. You see I want you to be her stastician.¡±


    Flora said, ¡°I am sorry Lord Cyberton. I am fully booked. I cannot take any more fighters.¡±


    Jian said, ¡°Ah that is bad. What about you?¡±


    Selena realized that he meant her. She did not know what to say. Flora looked at her and said, ¡°She is my apprentice Lord Cyberton. We have talked with Marcus McKnight. He is to be her fighter. But if this Emma Knight passes then I believe that Selena would be easily be able to handle being her stastician. I am confident of that.¡±


    They both looked at Selena who opened and closed her mouth like a fish.


    Lord Cyberton nodded and said, ¡°Excellent. It¡¯s decided then. When Emma passes the test and has her license, I will send her to you. I am confident of her too.¡±


    He said his goodbyes and left. After he had gone Selena said, ¡°What the hell happened?¡±


    Flora said, ¡°Congratulations! Now you will have two fighters.¡±


    Selena frowned. This was not good at all.


    ***


    They were sitting in the booth and watching the other pairs fight. The first pair fought Shayona and lost. Second pair fought Wizard and was also defeated. They put up a good fight though. The third pair fought Arthur. Arthur defeated them as if they were mere trainees. Marcus had been right in thinking Tisane was in a bad mood. She beat the crap out of the fourth pair. The last pair was Marcus and Emma, and they were supposed to fight Juran.


    They went to the field. Juran also came. Marcus went up to Juran and started discussing with him in a low voice. Juran frowned as he heard what Marcus had to say. Then he went to the other judges. They started discussing. They did not look much happy. Apparently what Marcus had said did not seem to bode well with them.


    After some time Arthur came up to Marcus. He looked angry. He looked at Marcus threateningly and then simply nodded. Marcus looked happy. He grinned at Emma and gave her a thumbs-up. Emma looked excited too.


    Juran announced, ¡°There has been a change in plans. Marcus and Emma would not be fighting me. Instead Emma would be fighting Shayona and Tisane while Marcus would be fighting Arthur, me and Wizard. Do any of the other people have any problem with that?¡±


    The others did not seem to have any problem. They looked bewildered at what was going to happen. Juran nodded and said, ¡°Let the first match begin then.¡±


    Emma, Shayona and Tisane positioned themselves. Emma was grinning at them. Shayona was smiling politely while Tisane looked furious. They had already been in a fight earlier. The medics had revived them a bit but they were still not at full power. However they were confident that the two of them could take on Emma easily.


    Shayona said, ¡°You are making a mistake you know.¡±


    Emma said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. I am still going to beat you guys.¡±


    Tisane muttered angrily, ¡°Such arrogance¡±, and charged at Emma.


    Tisane started off the attack with an energized punch. Emma smiled as she realized what the attack was. She also punched back. Both their punches met and a loud booming sound was heard. The energy reverberated throughout the hall. Emma was unfazed by the attack. Tisane stepped back and Shayona attacked Emma with a Fireslash. Emma deflected the attack and was kicked in the gut by Tisane the next moment. She flew back and as she was going to crash in the ground, a fireball hit her from above making her crash with more intensity.


    She stood up and dusted herself. Shayona and Tisane were panting a bit. Emma however looked fresh as ever, except a bit dustier. Emma counter attacked. She shot an energy blast at both her opponents. When they blocked the attack, Emma took this opportunity and closed the gap between them. She first took Tisane head on. She punched her hard and Tisane fought back. It was a series of punches and kicks after which Shayona attacked Emma with a Firespike. Emma was thrown back.


    She however regained her ground and attacked back. Soon she had Tisane and Shayona unbalanced with a spinning kick. As they were falling down, Emma grabbed both of them by the ankles and tossed them around like rag dolls. As they fell, Emma made her way towards Shayona. It seemed that she had decided that she was the greater threat. Before Shayona could get up Emma had rained punches and blows on her and then blasted her off with an earthen punch.


    Emma decided that Shayona was down and started towards Tisane who seemed to be powering up for an attack. Before Emma could reach her Tisane shot green energy beam at her, which hit Emma and she was thrown back. Tisane then extended her hand and clapped and the next moment slabs of earth rose from the ground and snapped into Emma.


    Tisane was now panting from effort. Emma however stood up. She was damaged Tisane could see that but she could still stand. Shayona also came up to Tisane. It seemed that she was not knocked out.


    Emma said, ¡°Ouch that hurt.¡±


    Tisane and Shayona were both surprised. How could still be standing?


    Tisane said, ¡°That¡¯s it. Prepare to face my ultimate attack.¡±


    Shayona said, ¡°Mine too.¡±


    Emma saw their energy rising. Their ultimate attacks. This was not going to be good. She could charge them but she knew that she would be hit by their attacks before she even got close to them. Before she made up her mind they attacked. Shayona shouted, ¡°Pillar of Fire¡±, and Emma was surrounded by flames which rose fifty feet high. The inferno was huge and hot and Emma could feel her energy burning out trying to recover her.


    Tisane said, ¡°Mega Earthen Strike¡±, and she attacked Emma inside the inferno from the above. The combination of both the attacks was too much for her and she was hit with an amazing force. Emma blacked out. Juran started the countdown. Tisane said, ¡°It is over. You are finished.¡±


    However at the count of eight, Emma stood up. She was heavily injured and was panting. Her energy was healing her but was not fast enough. She said, ¡°I still have sufficient energy to defeat you.¡±


    Shayona and Tisane gaped.


    ¡°Impossible¡±, Tisane said as Shayona said, ¡°Even after being hit with our ultimate attacks!¡±


    Emma charged at them. She attacked them but her attacks were weak. Finally Shayona and Tisane hit her together with an energized punch and she went down for good.


    Juran counted again and declared Tisane and Shayona the winner. But it was a silent announcement. They were all looking at Emma. Who the hell was this girl who had so much energy?


    ***


    Evana and Forum were in Forum¡¯s room. Evana had just told Forum about her joining Juran¡¯s team.


    Forum said, ¡°So the team¡¯s name is The Angels?¡±


    Evana nodded and blushed and Forum started laughing.


    Evana said, ¡°Don¡¯t laugh. It¡¯s not that bad.¡±


    Forum wiped the tears out of her eyes and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would be one of The Angels. This is so funny.¡±


    Evana shook her head. Forum said, ¡°Have you told Tom yet?¡± Tom was Evana¡¯s boyfriend.


    Evana said, ¡°No, I thought I would tell you first. I haven¡¯t told even my parents yet.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Wait a minute. You formed a team in the October I believe. And you have started telling now? Why is that?¡±


    Evana said, ¡°Juran had told us not to tell about the team to anyone until we had finalized a stastician. Now it is done and so we are announcing ourselves. We will be announcing it publicly soon. But before that I wanted to personally tell about it to you, Tom and my family.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Congratulations. And here I was telling you to find a team as Tisane had already asked me and I was in a team and you were not and all the time you were in a team. This is great. Now we are both in.¡±


    Evana said, ¡°Your team is incomplete though.¡±


    Forum waved away Evana¡¯s concern and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Tisane would have a team ready in no time. By the way, who is your stastician?¡±


    ¡°Flora.¡±


    ¡°Flora, but isn¡¯t she the stastician for Wizard¡¯s team too?¡±


    ¡°Wizard has a team?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Tom tell you?¡±


    ¡°No. Is he in it?¡±


    ¡°Yes honey. It¡¯s Tom, Mike, Milo, Mark and Robert.¡±


    Evana frowned. She then said, ¡°The next time I am going to meet him I am going to punch him. How could he not tell me such an important thing?¡±


    Forum said, ¡°You go girl. That reminds me. We need to leave if we want to catch that movie.¡±


    Evana nodded and they both left for the movie. They both looked a bit worried. Forum was worrying about whether Tisane would have a complete team or not and Evana was thinking about what her boyfriend had to hide from her.


    ***


    The next match was starting. Marcus, Juran, Arthur and Wizard went to the field. Medical examiners were taking care of Emma, Tisane and Shayona in the booth. Emma seemed to have recovered and was sitting now. She insisted on watching Marcus fight and was going to be taken to the treatment room after his fight.


    Marcus looked at his opponents. All of them were looking at him. Arthur had a glint of threat in his eyes. Wizard looked at him with pity and Juran was looking at him in an amused sort of way.


    Marcus said, ¡°Shall we begin?¡±


    Tisane shouted, ¡°Match, begin.¡±


    No one moved. The three judges were looking at Marcus as if they were sizing him up. Marcus simply put his hands in his pockets and stood there in a relaxed manner. No one attacked for a minute; two minutes; three minutes; four minutes. Five minutes later Marcus said, ¡°Are you guys going to attack or simply stand there?¡±


    Arthur said, ¡°A defense master¡±, and the others nodded.


    Marcus grinned and said, ¡°Oh, so you figured me out. Congratulations¡±, and he clapped his hands.


    The three judges charged. Juran attacked Marcus with Waterslash while Wizard attacked with Airslash. Arthur started running towards Marcus¡¯s right. Marcus did not even flinch as the attacks approached him. They were deflected three feet away from him.


    ¡°Nice shield¡±, said Juran and then he and Wizard combined attacks to shoot Ice shards at Marcus. Marcus¡¯s shield blocked them too. They continued the attack though and Marcus could see that the level of the attack was increasing. Still he blocked and deflected the projectile attack with his shield effectively.


    Arthur had now positioned himself behind Marcus and he shot a powerful attack called Archer¡¯s Lance at him. Arthur thought he had had Marcus when his attack was stopped three feet from behind. The three of them were confused now. What was this shield Marcus had which protected him from front and behind, and also to different attacks? No shield was this powerful. There was only a one type of shield for one elemental type of attack. Marcus had been hit with two different elemental types of attacks and he had blocked them both together with the same shield. They were confident Marcus had not used different shields. If he would have they would have felt it.


    Marcus waved his hand and an earthen seat rose out of the ground. He sat on it. He looked bored. He said, ¡°You guys are pathetic. You can¡¯t even beat my shield. Forget that. You don¡¯t even know what my shield is. I can tell from the confused looks on your faces.¡±


    Arthur said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you attack? Are you intending to defend all the time? Remember you can¡¯t win a power fight just by defending.¡±


    Marcus frowned and said, ¡°This is no fun. Very well then, I will play it your way. You want me to attack, I will attack.¡±


    He stood up. All three of them readied themselves for Marcus¡¯s attack. Marcus smiled. He took a step and then disappeared. Three seconds later, he reappeared. Juran, Wizard and Arthur were all down. They had all felt it, a massive energized punch in their gut. Marcus¡¯s attack, it was too much. They did not even see it. He had taken a second for each one of them and had hit them. Two in his front and one at his back and all were down in just three seconds.


    They stabilized themselves and Marcus said, ¡°That was Martial Mastery level 9, Quickstep.¡±


    They gasped. Level 9 Martial Mastery. It was a rare level to be reached at. Marcus was strong. They attacked him. Arthur attacked him with Shadow shot. Juran attacked with Water prison and Wizard attacked with Air Wave. Marcus easily dodged each one of them and then charged.


    He first went close to Juran. He rained punches and kicks with such speed that Juran was not able to stop them. With an uppercut he made Juran fly up. Then he jumped and brought him down with a dual handed earthen attack. Juran lodged himself couple of feet in the ground. He was out.


    As Marcus landed, Wizard had gotten close to him and attacked him with an Air ball wave. Marcus stopped it with his hand. Then he put his knee in Wizard¡¯s gut and punched him and next moment felt something hit the shield on his head. He turned to see that Arthur had attacked him. Marcus¡¯s shield had stopped the attack.


    Arthur gasped, ¡°What sort of a shield do you have that it automatically stops your attacks?¡±


    Marcus grinned and said, ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡±


    Marcus attacked Wizard and knocked him out too. Both Juran and Wizard were out. Marcus knew they would not get up.


    Marcus said to Arthur, ¡°Just you and me Shadow Master. Give me your best shot.¡±


    Arthur roared and charged. He used the Shadows to envelope Marcus and closed in the distance to hit him. He was not able to. His Shadows were not even able to bind Marcus. Marcus grabbed him, rained him with kicks and punches and threw him at the wall of the building. Arthur crashed into the wall which came crumbling down upon him.


    Shayona was up with a cry of, ¡°Arthur, No¡±, but Marcus stopped her saying, ¡°Relax, he is all right. He is simply knocked out. I think this match is over.¡±


    Tisane looked at the knocked out Juran, Wizard and the crumble under which Arthur would be, gave a weak countdown to ten and then declared, ¡°Marcus McKnight wins.¡±


    ***


    Jian Chan smiled as Tisane declared Marcus to be the winner. He had been watching the fight secretly from the seats on the upper floor. He had cloaked himself and was sure that none of the people who were present would be able to detect him. He had been satisfied with the fights he had just witnessed. He stood up now.


    He had been right about Emma. She was a very strong fighter. He had been right to ask her to come and was glad that she had accepted his invitation. She was from England and had been somehow rejected for the license of the power fighter. Jian had wondered why. He had a look at her test results and had seen that the judges for the practical test had rejected her on the basis of having low potential. He had been confused till Emma had told him the whole story. He had not been happy on hearing it and had given her a chance in America.


    Marcus was however a different story. Jian¡¯s brother had been right. Marcus was in a league of his own. His brother had told him that Marcus and Chen trained under Kami and had reached amazing heights in power fighting. If what his brother had told him was true, then Marcus was not a fighter to be taken lightly.


    Jian had actually been surprised to know that his father had trained Marcus. His father was an odd man. He had trained very few students over a period of time. He had once founded the institute and had trained many students. But when Jun became the primary master with Kami retiring early, Kami had trained only Tsi Tzu Tsen and then had decided that he would train only people within the family. Then why had he trained Marcus? That was a question no one has been able to answer according to Jun, not even Marcus.


    He started to leave but froze. He saw it clearly. Marcus was looking straight at him and smiling. Even from far away Jian could read the words Marcus was mouthing, ¡°I hope you enjoyed the show.¡±


    Jian felt a chill down his spine. Yes, Marcus was not someone to be reckoned with. He was dangerous.


    ***


    The fighters were taken to the treatment room after the fight was over. The judges were healed first and then they went off to a private room to finalize the people who had passed. The others were healed and then sent to a waiting room. They had to wait for a long time.


    It was now 9 o¡¯clock at night. Marcus and Emma had been chatting pleasantly till now but even they were feeling irritated that the results had not come out. The others were sitting in tension wondering what was taking so long. It had been over 4 hours now. How long to decide the names of the people who have passed and will be given the license?


    Marcus had tried flirting with Emma but he was disappointed to find out that she was not interested in him or any man for that matter and already had a girlfriend. That did not stop him though. He inquired a lot about her and found too little and Emma inquired a lot about him and found little too. They decided that they were people of secrets who did not open up so easily.


    Finally the five judges came into the waiting room. Some of the candidates rose up in anticipation. Finally the moment had come when the results will be declared. The tension in the room increased and you could literally feel it. They were all waiting expectantly. It was Tisane who spoke.


    Tisane said, ¡°We have the list of people with us who have passed. Out of the ten of you, only five have passed and their names are:


    Marcus McKnight; Emma Knight; Jax Parson; Rwanda Graham; Soris Luds.


    Congratulations to all those who have passed. Please go the Power Fighters¡¯ Office day after tomorrow to collect your licenses. Those who have not been selected best of luck for the next time. Become stronger. We are done for the day. Goodbye and good night.¡±


    After saying that, she left. She certainly was in a bad mood. The victors started congratulating each other and started leaving. Those who had not passed were grumbling and were highly disappointed. Marcus left with Emma. However he stopped near the judges.


    He spoke in a low voice making sure that only they would hear, ¡°Next time don¡¯t hold back.¡±


    He left. Juran, Arthur and Wizard smiled. Marcus had changed. He was no more the one they knew five years ago. He was going to cause some trouble after all.


    ***


    The bell rang. Brock opened the door to see Marcus supporting Flora and Selena. They seemed to be drunk.


    ¡°He¡¯s in¡±, Flora shouted as soon as she saw Brock. She flung herself on him and kissed him. Brock broke the kiss saying, ¡°That is good honey. I see you have been celebrating.¡±


    Flora said, ¡°Yes, Selena finally has a fighter, well two fighters actually, but that¡¯s not the point. The point is you and me are now going to make love.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Whoa there tigress. Steady now. Let me take you to my room at least.¡±


    He took her to his room. Marcus said to Selena, ¡°Can I take you home now?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°No. Flora promised. She has to keep her promise. I won¡¯t go home now.¡± She took few steps inside and sat on the sofa. She said, ¡°Nice place you have got here¡±, and then she passed out on the sofa. Marcus put a hand on his forehead and shook his head. Brock arrived back at that moment.


    Brock said, ¡°What the hell happened, Marcus?¡±


    Marcus explained, ¡°I got the license. So Flora and Selena were giddy with happiness. So we went to celebrate. Actually they went to celebrate. I don¡¯t drink but I had to go with them because they forced me. The other fighters who passed were also with us. They all drank like alcohol was water and then they were wasted.


    Then Flora declared that she was going to have sex with you and ordered me to take her to you. Selena said that she wanted to watch and Flora promised that Selena could watch. I wanted to take them home but they would not listen to reason. Finally I brought them here and now it seems that Selena here has passed out. What about Flora?¡±


    Brock replied, ¡°She has passed out too.¡±


    Brock groaned and sat down on the other unoccupied sofa. Marcus sat down beside him. Marcus looked tired to Brock.


    Brock asked, ¡°Long day huh?¡±


    Marcus nodded. Then Brock said, ¡°Who is this other fighter who has Selena as her stastician?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°From what all I could gather, Emma Knight is a power fighter from England. She had been denied a license in England for what reason I do not know. Lord Cyberton saw potential in her and brought her here. She is a strong fighter and Lord Cyberton personally asked Flora to be her stastician. But Flora refused and now Selena is to be her stastician.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Well, first of all congratulations mate. Next, this is too much. Where is this Emma now by the way?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Oh, she said she was okay and not that drunk and she was going back home to call her girlfriend.¡±


    Brock raised an eyebrow and Marcus nodded. A feeling of understanding passed between them.


    Marcus sighed and said, ¡°Better put Selena in the guest room.¡±


    As Marcus lifted her Brock said, ¡°I would better call Flora¡¯s roommate and Selena¡¯s mom to tell them what has happened. They would be worried otherwise.¡±


    Marcus nodded and then said, ¡°Selena lives with her mother? What happened to her father?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°He is dead. Did she not tell you?¡±


    Marcus shook his head. He then took Selena to the guest room as Brock made the calls. As Marcus put Selena on the bed and tucked her in, he wondered more and more about her. He was definitely going to decipher the mystery that was Selena Stone.


    ***


    Emma entered the room she had rented and then called her. Genevieve answered the phone. Genevieve was in England Emma did not know what was the time but she did not care. She was going to call her.


    Genevieve said, ¡°Why have you called me Emma?¡± Emma could detect a hint of sadness in the voice.


    Emma said, ¡°I am a licensed power fighter now.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations I guess. This means you won¡¯t be coming back.¡±


    It was not a question. Genevieve knew. Emma said sadly, ¡°Yes, Genevieve. How are you by the way?¡±


    ¡°Let me go Emma. It has been 3 months now. You are now in America. It is over. Please Emma, let it go. Don¡¯t hurt yourself like this.¡±


    Emma could feel the tears coming out. She was not going to cry but the tears did not obey her. Emma said, ¡°I know but I don¡¯t have anyone else. You were the only one I was close to and now you are gone too.¡±


    Genevieve sighed and said, ¡°The world is not over Emma. You could make new friends. You will make new friends. You will definitely find people who will be there for you. And when you have had closure, then call me. We will then talk as friends. Right now you are still not over me. We cannot be friends when you are like this.¡±


    Emma understood. She said goodbye and hung up. She curled up on the bed. Tears were running fast down her cheeks. She was alone now. She had to accept it. She was alone in a country not known to her. The tears continued till she was tired. She did not even know when she fell asleep but before she slept, the last thought on her mind was of Marcus McKnight. She knew he was going to be an important person in her life. Maybe she would not be alone after all.


    ***


    Tisane and Juran were having lunch. They lived together. The table was quiet. They were each contemplating yesterday¡¯s test. Marcus and Emma had surprised them. They had never met such strong fighters.


    Juran said, ¡°Tisane, love, do you now want to tell me why you were so angry yesterday? Was it about the team?¡±


    Tisane stopped eating and looked at her fianc¨¦e. She said meekly, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Juran also stopped put his hands together and said, ¡°Would you like to tell me about it?¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°Juran I am not sure I would be a good manager. I am not even able to put a team together. I have only two members till now. There is a third but she is the extra. I don¡¯t have any idea who I should select as the next three and I don¡¯t even have a stastician. I can¡¯t have Flora because she is the stastician for your team and Wizard¡¯s team. And yes, you guys already have a complete team and here I am clueless and the New Year is approaching. I really want to have a complete team by then.¡±


    Juran held Tisane¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry Tisane. You are a great manager. You don¡¯t have a team by now means that you are particular about who you take. You want the strongest of fighters and I am sure you would get them. Do not doubt yourself. Everything would be fine.¡±


    Tisane scoffed at him. Juran sighed and said, ¡°Do you want my advice?¡±


    Tisane looked at him eagerly. Juran said, ¡°I believe you were there at the test yesterday. Need I say more?¡±


    Tisane nodded. She understood what he meant. She said, ¡°But they are still new.¡±


    Juran gave a short laugh and said, ¡°Did it look that would matter in their case?¡±


    Tisane nodded. She knew what Juran was saying was right. Then she said, ¡°But what about the final fighter?¡±


    Juran though for a moment and said, ¡°How good are your convincing skills?¡±


    He told her a name and she smiled. She kissed him. He was her savior. She was going to have a team after all.


    ***


    Marcus smiled. He was making a late lunch for the girls who had finally wakened up with a massive hangover. He had done it. He had become a power fighter. The plan was on its way. He had finished the first step. As Kami would say, ¡°Take the first step and the rest would follow on its own. The first step is always the hardest but that does not mean that the rest of them are easy.¡±


    He smiled and looked around. Brock was talking with Flora and Selena; actually he was giving them a lecture regarding their behavior. Selena and Flora were massaging their aching heads. He felt happy. He was back, he had been accepted and he was a licensed power fighter now. Time for the next step.

 The Team

    Jian Chan looked at the building. It was the 10<sup>th</sup> floor. It was always there in a room which was reserved always for them that they met. There were seven of them. Would they have arrived? He did not know. It was a hotel. He entered and did not even go to the reception. The room did not require a key. Only the seven of them could open the door. No one else could, not even the hotel staff.


    He pressed for the elevator and waited. He had called the meeting. There had been not a meeting in a long time. But such a situation had not arisen in many years. How many players were involved? What the hell had his father planned? Even after his death he controlled people¡¯s strings. He gritted his teeth as he thought about his father. Feelings of love and hate both clashed in him.


    The elevator arrived and he got in. He pressed the button for the 10<sup>th</sup> floor. Before he could go up, the doors opened and someone else entered. He recognized her. He could not remember her name. She had pressed the button for 6<sup>th</sup> floor. She smiled at him. She had recognized him but she did not say anything. She seemed incognito as she was wearing a scarf over her head and had put on thick dark goggles.


    Sixth floor arrived and she left. Before the elevator doors closed she said, ¡°Good bye Lord Cyberton. Give my regards to Forum.¡±


    It was then he realized who she was. So she had come back. He smiled. This was interesting. Forum would be happy to see her old friend. He got off on the tenth floor. He went to the room and opened it. He entered it to see that it was dark. He could see the silhouettes of the other six. So they were already here. He was the last one.


    He looked at them. They were sitting around a circular table. The seat in front of him was empty. To the left of the empty seat, sat Tyrin Redd, then Kazin Strong, and Tyra Strong. To the right, there sat Doug Young, May Walsh and Tempest Angel.


    Jian sat on the empty seat. He said, ¡°The Shadow Council is now assembled. I have called to discuss about one particular person: Marcus McKnight.¡±


    ***


    Marcus McKnight sneezed. He had fallen ill. It was a mild flu and he was ordered bed rest. Instead of resting he would be found in the media room playing on the PlayStation. Brock put his head in the media room and shouted, ¡°Someone to see you mate.¡±


    You needed to shout in the media room because you could not be sure if the person would hear you over the insane home theatre system Marcus had installed. Marcus paused the game he was playing and sighed. He slowly made his way to the living room to find Flora and Selena waiting for him.


    Flora said on seeing him, ¡°There you are. Did you think you could hide from me?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Are we playing hide and seek?¡±


    Flora said in a confusing way, ¡°No.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Then why would I hide from you?¡±


    Selena said before Flora could retort, ¡°You need to sign the contract.¡±


    Marcus frowned and said, ¡°What contract?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°The contract to make me your official stastician.¡±


    Flora said, ¡°Yes, you know, that Emma Knight has already signed it. Came with Lord Cyberton she did. She is a nice girl. Looks lonely though.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Anyways, since you were ill, we brought the contract with us. You need to put in your terms and then we both have to sign.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Give me a minute¡±, and he went to his room slowly. He came back soon; well, as soon as he could in his current state. He had few papers in his hand. He gave them to Selena. Selena read the papers and raised an eyebrow.


    Marcus said, ¡°These are my terms.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°How do you know?¡±


    Flora snatched the papers and read them. There was a deep frown on her face.


    Flora said, ¡°How do you know?¡±


    Marcus sat down in a relaxed manner and said, ¡°How do I know what?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°That I am looking for a trainer?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Ah, so you are. I did not believe him when he told me.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Do you know the whole story?¡±


    Marcus shook his head and said, ¡°I know you have the energy in you to become a power fighter and you have been honing it. I could sense it easily. However I don¡¯t know why and I also don¡¯t know why you became a stastician with such potential. I could also tell you don¡¯t have a person teaching you as you have not been developing this energy as you would under a master. So are you going to tell me why do you train or do I have to train you based on trust?¡±


    Selena was having doubts now. Had she made the right decision? This was not the same Marcus whom she had fallen for five years ago.


    She said, ¡°You will know when the time is right.¡±


    Marcus nodded. He said, ¡°You accept my terms then?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Do you accept mine?¡±


    Marcus waved a hand as if he did not care about her terms. He said, ¡°They are simply a formality. I have no issues.¡±


    It was decided. Selena was now officially the stastician for Marcus.


    ***


    Evana said to Forum, ¡°Did you get an invitation for a party tonight?¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Yes, a party at the Chimera. Isn¡¯t it a hotel?¡±


    Evana said, ¡°You know what hotel that is, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Forum nodded. Forum and Evana knew about the council. They knew the council met in the hotel Chimera. They had not told Jian about it though. It was their secret. They had not even told Brock or the others.


    Evana said, ¡°So what do you think it is about?¡±


    Forum shrugged and said, ¡°No name on the invitation. I do not know what the party is for. This is utterly ridiculous.¡±


    Evana said, ¡°Do you think it is Marcus?¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Let¡¯s find out. We will call Brock.¡±


    Forum called Brock and inquired. Brock was surprised. It seemed that it was not Marcus as Brock had not received any such invitation. He asked whether he should come with them if they are concerned. Forum told him no and hung up. They called up others to find out if they had gotten any invitation. It seemed that it was only them.


    They were curious and so they went to hotel Chimera. A concierge came up to them as they entered. He said, ¡°Miss Chan and Miss Rain, I have been instructed to guide you. Will you please follow me?¡±


    He took them to the 6<sup>th</sup> floor. They were prepared for any attacks. They had already powered up. The concierge knocked and the door opened. He bowed and left. They looked in the room to see what it was all about.


    What they saw made them gasp. A figure leaped on them and hugged them fiercely. It was her. She was here.


    ¡°It¡¯s so good to see you guys¡±, the figure who had leaped at them said. As she stepped back Forum and Evana were gaping. Taylor Warren had come back.


    ***


    Brock said, ¡°Christmas is approaching.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I know that.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°What are your plans?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Arya informs me that Christmas is normally celebrated by staying two days at the Coroner manor.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°I will be going home too. It feels odd.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°So you want to talk to me about that?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°No¡­¡± Brock phased out.


    Marcus simply said, ¡°Weird.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Marcus Christmas is approaching.¡±


    Marcus was not getting irritated. He said, ¡°What are you trying to say Brock? Just spit it out.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Will you be okay?¡±


    Marcus understood. He looked away and tried to say in an offhand voice, ¡°I will be okay. It¡¯s been 15 years now. I know I cannot get completely over it but I can bear it.¡±


    Brock nodded. He knew Marcus could bear it but he always wanted company before Christmas; each year. That is how he dealt with the grief. Brock did not know what he wanted this year. His friend had changed and he could not do anything about it.


    Marcus knew what Brock was talking about. He had walked to a photo amongst the many kept on the mantelpiece; yes they had a mantelpiece in the living room. The four of them were happily waving at him from the photograph. He smiled sadly as he looked at them, his parents who had died in front of his eyes on the 23<sup>rd</sup> of December.


    ***


    Taylor had been Evana and Forum¡¯s friend during high school. After high school she had gone to Oxford to major in history and literature. She had ended up becoming a theatre actor. They had kept in touch all these years but they had not seen her for two years now. She had come back after two years now.


    ¡°Why are you staying in a hotel Taylor?¡± asked Forum.


    Taylor sighed and said, ¡°You forgot Forum. Mum and dad moved to New Jersey. I have no one else in L.A.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°You have us. You could have stayed with one of us.¡±


    Evana said, ¡°She means why you did not come to her first.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Shut up¡±, but the others laughed. They both knew that Forum was very much attached to Taylor after Evana.


    Taylor said, ¡°As I said, it was supposed to be a surprise. I will move in with you the moment you want me to.¡± They all laughed this time.


    They talked for some time. They ordered room service.


    Evana asked, ¡°Why are you here Taylor? I thought you would be in New Jersey.¡±


    Taylor said, ¡°I have come here to find a certain person and pass her a message.¡±


    Forum asked, ¡°Who is she?¡±


    Taylor did not reply and changed the subject. Forum frowned. Even Evana looked a bit confused. Their friend was hiding something from them. What was it? What had Taylor gotten herself into?


    ***


    ¡°All right then, I need all your details¡±, said Selena to Marcus and Emma.


    Marcus said, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you took our power fighting details separately?¡±


    Selena shook her head. She said, ¡°You would think it would be better but no. You see the power fighters of the same stastician should know the skills about each other. Flora says that it helps them grow and also helps them to become stronger. You see all the power fighters of Flora know all the skills of each other. And that has brought them closer and has made them strong.¡±


    Marcus rubbed his chin and said, ¡°That is true. When I saw them in Musings I could feel their aura. All of them together formed one heck of a force.¡±


    Emma said, ¡°I do not mind sharing information regarding my skills with you Marcus. I have seen you fight. You are a strong fighter and I would like to fight and defeat you one day. However I would like to do it with honesty and not by hiding my skills from you. It would be a fair fight.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I doubt it would be. Okay then Selena, fire away.¡±


    Every stastician needed to have a database of his or her fighter. The power fighter stastician bond is a bond of trust. Every stastician knows his or her power fighter inside out. Selena would need some time but she was determined to do this.


    She got the common questions out of the way first. Now began the important questions.


    Selena said, ¡°Name of the trainer.¡±


    Emma said, ¡°Albert Goodson.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°What if there was more than one?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Are you saying that Master Kami was not your only trainer?¡±


    Marcus shook his head. He said, ¡°He taught me majorly but for some things I had different trainers.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°I will still write Kami Chan. You normally need the name of the primary trainer.¡±


    Marcus nodded. Selena then said, ¡°Now I need a list of all the masteries which you have achieved.¡±


    Emma and Marcus both looked uncomfortable. No power fighter liked to share this information. Even though Emma had said she had no problem, she was still feeling uncomfortable. It was she who spoke the first though.


    Emma said, ¡°Water Mastery. Energy Mastery¡­¡±


    Selena interrupted, ¡°I want the levels too.¡±


    Emma said irritably, ¡°So you want to know what all masteries I have tried my hand at and at what level I have reached?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Why don¡¯t I say the name of the mastery and you tell me what level you have reached at?¡±


    Selena got the levels and had a table prepared. It looked like this:


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Mastery


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    Marcus¡¯s Level


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    Emma¡¯s Level


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Water


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    7 of 7


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    7 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Fire


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    7 of 7


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    1 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Earth


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    7 of 7


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    5 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Air


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    7 of 7


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    2 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Shadow


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    7 of 7


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    1 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Healing


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    3 of 3


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    3 of 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Cosmos


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    7 of 7


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    1 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Defense


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    5 of 5


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    2 of 5


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Martial


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    10 of 10


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    3 of 10


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Energy


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    10 of 10


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    10 of 10


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Virtual


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    1 of 3


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    1 of 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="213">


    Angel form


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    Yes


    </td>


    <td width="213">


    Yes


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    So Marcus and Emma had an Angel form. However Marcus had hesitated before he had said yes. What was up with that? Selena looked at the table which she had prepared. She was gaping at Marcus¡¯s column. Emma was also looking at the table. She had heard Marcus tell the levels of the mastery and she was looking at the table to make sure that what she heard was true.


    Selena said, ¡°This is not possible.¡±


    Emma nodded and said, ¡°I know. This is beyond human limitations.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°These are all my masteries. And it is not beyond human limitations. I have achieved all these levels after all.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°You are not lying are you Marcus?¡±


    Marcus sighed and said, ¡°I am not lying.¡±


    They looked at the table again. They still were not able to believe this.


    Marcus said, ¡°I have a request to you guys. Don¡¯t tell anyone about my masteries. I will tell them when I am ready. Right now I am only a Martial and a Defense Master, okay?¡±


    They nodded. Then Selena said, ¡°Let¡¯s move on. I want you tell me your ultimate move.¡±


    Emma told Selena her ultimate move. Marcus hesitated and then said, ¡°You need only one right?¡±


    Selena rolled her eyes. She was not surprised that Marcus would have more than one ultimate move. She said that she needed only one and Marcus gave Quickstep as his ultimate move.


    They soon finished giving Selena the data she wanted. Selena said that they would have their first fights in a few days and they should be ready. They nodded and left. Before he left Marcus whispered in Selena¡¯s ear that he would call about the training. When they were gone Selena looked at the data again. Then she went on the website and looked up Kami¡¯s training center. She was going to call them. It was time to know some things about Marcus McKnight.


    ***


    Tisane looked at the house. It looked more like a villa and Marcus insisted on calling it a simple house. She sighed and rang the bell. Brock opened the door. Tisane frowned. She had not expected any one to be home. Yet there was Brock standing in front of her and inviting her in. Would Marcus be home too? She did not want to talk with them yet. She had just come to their house on a whim and she did not even now know why she had rung the bell.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Brock asked once they had sat down, ¡°So what brings you here Tisane?¡±


    Tisane looked at him. She did not know what to say. In the end she decided to simply ask him.


    She said, ¡°Why do you not want to be in a team Brock?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Did Leopold put you up to this?¡±


    Tisane frowned and said, ¡°Leopold? No. Why would he do so?¡±


    Brock did not say anything. Tisane said, ¡°I believe that you would have known by now that I am forming a team for the upcoming tournament.¡±


    Brock nodded and Tisane continued, ¡°I was wondering if you would like to be a part of the team.¡±


    Brock stood up. He started pacing. Tisane gave him some time. Brock said finally, ¡°Who else have you asked?¡±


    Tisane told him. Brock nodded. He said, ¡°So even if I say yes you will need two more members, right?¡±


    Tisane nodded and said, ¡°You want their names?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°So you have some people in mind?¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°Marcus McKnight and Emma Knight.¡±


    Brock thought on what Tisane had said. He muttered, ¡°Marcus, Emma, AA, Forum and me with Lara as reserve¡±, aloud he said, ¡°And what of the stastician?¡±


    Tisane shrugged and said, ¡°I still have no idea for that.¡±


    Brock smiled and said, ¡°I will make you a deal. If Marcus agrees to join your team I will join too. As for the stastician, I think you should ask Marcus. I have a feeling he might have an idea.¡±


    Tisane was confused. What was Brock talking about? However one thing was good. Brock had not said no. Tisane could work with that. So, in a way, two more to go.


    ***


    Marcus knocked the door. No one opened. He knew she was inside but no one was responding. He had a feeling about her when he had met her. She was sad. She was lonely. Marcus did not like that. He felt that she was important but did not know how. He remembered the prophecy which Kami had told him. Could it be true? Could he really be the one?


    He had decided to carry out Kami¡¯s plan but he had made sure that he would make modifications in order to fulfill his purpose. They had consulted a lot on it. They had come to a decision and it was better to stick to it.


    He knocked the door and rang the bell again but no one opened the door. He could sense her inside. It was easy. Then why was she not opening the door? Break the door, said a voice in his head. He knew whose voice it was. He was always impatient. Patience, Marcus told the voice. He could feel resentment from him. He smiled and shook his head. DA would never learn.


    He wondered what Emma was doing. Should he really break the door? He did not know.


    He shouted, ¡°Emma, I know you are inside. Please open the door. I want to talk with you.¡±


    No response. He sighed. If she thought that he was going to give up then she was wrong. He thought of picking the lock but another idea came to his mind.


    He said, ¡°All right then, you win. I am going.¡±


    He left the building and went to the back. He started climbing the fire escape. He came up to the fourth floor and looked inside the window of Emma¡¯s apartment. What he saw shocked him.


    With a cry of Emma he charged in.


    ***


    Taylor had moved in the Chan residence. Forum was excited to have her. Too over excited, was the exact term Taylor was using. She smiled at both her friends¡¯ excitement. She shook her head and brought herself back in the real world.


    Her friends were important but she had not come for that purpose. She had to deliver the message. She was not happy about it. She liked her. She believed she had suffered much and yet they tortured her still. She was not a part of them but she owed them some favors. They had contacted her and asked her to pass along the message and they would be even.


    She had been happy. They would be out of her hair; for the moment at least. But Taylor wondered about her. Taylor had met her once. It was when both their fathers were a part of them. Taylor¡¯s father had died in their service and her father had died betraying them. They did not take betrayal lightly. However the sins of the father should not be borne by the child.


    She felt sad now. Maybe she should go back now. No. It would be dangerous. She still remembered them. They had expected her to serve them just as her father had. She had refused. They had seemed disappointed but had let her go. They had killed her boyfriend as a warning though. It was a warning to tell her that if she told anyone about them or went against them then the consequences would not be good.


    She hated them and passing this message would help her temporarily free herself of them. It would never be permanent though. She knew of it and did not like it. She had reached the house. Taylor knew that it was that person¡¯s house. She checked the address again. It was right. The person lived with her mother.


    She rang the bell. She was sure that both would be at home. The mother opened the door. The mother recognized Taylor. Taylor said that she wanted to see both of them. The mother took her to living room and called her daughter. Taylor looked at Selena Stone. It was a long time. Allison Stone, Selena¡¯s mother looked worried.


    Taylor said, ¡°I am sorry about this but I have a message for you from them, The Dark Hand.¡±


    ***


    ¡°There will be five of them. The messenger will save five of them from different problems before he identifies him, the lost one. And the lost one would choose one of the five to be his bride. After that he will choose, choose whether to rule or to give up on his power¡±, said Kami.


    This was a conversation which Kami had with Marcus when Marcus was still training under Kami.


    Marcus said, ¡°So this is the prophecy of the lost prince?¡±


    Kami nodded and said, ¡°Yes, it is the prophecy which has been in the Chan generations for ages. It is actually a part of the prophecy. This part refers to the current situation.¡±


    Chen said, ¡°What do you mean grandfather?¡±


    Kami said, ¡°The prophecy of the lost prince has many verses. However the verse keeps on changing depending on what is coming to pass. Does it make sense?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°So this means that the messenger whosoever he is will save these five people. And we will know who the lost prince is.¡±


    Chen said, ¡°Who is this lost prince? What is he a prince of?¡±


    Kami said, ¡°I will tell you some other time.¡±


    Chen said, ¡°Then why did you show us this part of the prophecy grandfather?¡±


    Kami looked at them. There was a glint in his eyes. He said, ¡°Tell me truthfully, did any one of you feel different when you read the verse.¡±


    Chen frowned and said, ¡°Different? How do you mean?¡±


    But Kami¡¯s eyes had gone over on Marcus who had paled. How had Kami known? Marcus had felt drawn to the verse. He could not explain it but he somehow could relate to the verse. He had felt it, a feeling which he could not explain.


    Kami mumbled, ¡°So it seems that we have found the messenger.¡±


    Marcus was not sure he had been the messenger or not but he had played along on Kami¡¯s whim. He did not want to discredit Kami¡¯s theory even though he thought it ridiculous. A part of him however thought it was right. The other three inside were already convinced that Kami was right.


    Marcus had been unsure whether he was the messenger or not. But when he saw Emma lying like a zombie on the sofa of her apartment the first thought which came to his mind was, I have to help her. It seems that I have found the first one.


    ***


    Brock was standing on his mother¡¯s grave. He was thinking of Tisane¡¯s offer. He really wanted to be on a team but he was not sure. It was true that he had become a power fighter because his father had wanted him to. His father had believed that Brock had become a power fighter considering his wishes but Brock had become a power fighter in order to be strong enough to be free.


    His father did have a highly dominating personality and he did rule over the Young house. Leopold took after Doug but Brock was more like Sasha Young, his mother. He always wondered how her mother could have married her father. They were highly conflicting personalities.


    Brock said, ¡°What should I do mother?¡±


    He was now living independently but did not know what to do now. He would be a power fighter but for how long. He remembered that he wanted to be a power fighter since he was a kid but after becoming one he was unsure. He felt doubt. Flora used to joke that Brock had not found his calling but Brock often considered it seriously. Maybe he had not really found his calling.


    ¡°You know your mother can¡¯t help you decide don¡¯t you?¡± said a voice behind him.


    He turned around to see two people standing behind him. Brock smiled and said, ¡°Detectives, so nice to see you.¡±


    Detective Dorian Gregory said, ¡°Hello Brock.¡±


    Detective Trent King said, ¡°You need advice from a live person.¡±


    Brock nodded. Trent King said, ¡°Anything we can help you with?¡±


    Brock thought for a moment. Trent and Dorian were detectives on the police force Power Fighters division. They both were power fighters but they used their powers for catching criminals rather than fighting for sport in the arena.


    Brock said, ¡°I am not sure whether I should enter the tournament which is coming soon.¡±


    Trent and Dorian looked at each other. Dorian said, ¡°We came to talk with you about the tournament only.¡±


    Brock narrowed his eyes. He said, ¡°Yes, and?¡±


    Trent said, ¡°Would you come to the station with us? We would like to talk with you in private.¡±


    Brock hesitated. Should he go or not? He knew they would have an important request for him. He did not know whether he wanted to get involved or not. He said, ¡°All right, lead on detectives.¡±


    ***


    ¡°I thought you were down with the flu¡±, said Emma to Marcus. Marcus had shaken her out of her reverie and had given her some water. Marcus believed that she looked much better now. He wondered what had happened to her to make her so¡­ so¡­ zombified.


    Marcus said, ¡°You forget I am a healing master. I need only a few days to heal myself. My flu was healed day before yesterday.¡±


    Emma frowned and said, ¡°So when we met yesterday, you were all right?¡±


    Marcus shrugged and said, ¡°More or less.¡±


    Emma shook her head. Marcus said, ¡°Wanna talk?¡±


    Emma froze. She said slowly, ¡°About?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°About what¡¯s bothering you.¡±


    Emma did not reply. She was thinking. Marcus did not say anything either. He was giving her time. He went to the kitchen and started to prepare something to eat for Emma.


    Emma said, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Did you have anything to eat?¡±


    Emma blushed and shook her head. Marcus said, ¡°I thought so. I will make you a grilled sandwich.¡±


    As she saw Marcus busying himself in the kitchen she decided to tell him.


    Emma started to speak, ¡°I have never had many friends. I don¡¯t know why. I was an introvert person. I did not have much confidence in myself. Then I met her, Genevieve. She became my best friend. She helped me open up. I had many friends then. Eventually I fell in love with her. She accepted my love. We were in a relationship for three years before we sort of broke up. It¡¯s been three months now. I have not been able to get over now. I am afraid I am slipping back. She says that we could be friends if I would get over her because if I do not get closure then I would hurt myself and her. She is right. But I don¡¯t know what to do. I can¡¯t get over her. A part of me understands that it is time to let her go as my lover and accept her back as my friend but the other dominating half just won¡¯t let go. I am confused. I am depressed and now I am alone in this unknown country. I feel lost.¡±


    Marcus handed her the sandwich saying, ¡°If you want more then tell me. I will make more.¡±


    Emma said a Thank You and took the sandwich. Marcus sat in front of her, watching her as she ate the sandwich. He had not said a single word during or after her narrative. Emma wondered if he would be able to help her.


    Marcus sighed and said, ¡°You know, I could be your friend if you want me to.¡±


    Emma raised an eyebrow. Marcus continued, ¡°Come on. I like you and there is no chance of a relationship because of your¡­ uhm¡­ preference. So what do you say¡±, he put his hand forward, ¡°Friends?¡±


    Emma stared at him. Then she smiled, ¡°Friends¡±, she said and shook his hand. The cloud seemed to be lifted.


    ***


    Brock was considering what the detectives had said to him. He was thinking about what they wanted him to do. He was thinking that whether he was ready to do it, was he strong enough? He looked up at the sky. He sighed and closed his eyes.


    ¡°You look odd¡±, said a voice behind him. Brock opened his eyes and turned around. Wizard was standing behind him.


    ¡°Hello Wizard¡±, said Brock in a dull voice.


    Wizard said, ¡°Oh come one now, where is the excitement?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Definitely not here right now.¡±


    Wizard laughed jovially. Brock said, ¡°Someone is in a good mood.¡±


    Wizard said, ¡°Why should you not be in a good mood?¡±


    Brock shrugged. Then he said, ¡°So what are you doing here Wizard?¡±


    Brock was in the central park. Wizard said, ¡°I came for a walk. I do that sometimes you know.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Then let me not stop you.¡± He walked away from Wizard. Wizard looked at Brock with narrow eyes. Then he nodded to himself as if he had come to a decision and started walking after him. Wizard caught up to Brock and said, ¡°Would you like to tell me what¡¯s bothering you?¡±


    Brock froze in his tracks. He said, ¡°Thanks for the offer Wizard but I have already reached a decision.¡±


    Wizard frowned and said, ¡°Is it something illegal?¡±


    Brock laughed and said, ¡°No, no, it¡¯s nothing like that.¡±


    Wizard looked at him questioningly. Brock grinned back and said, ¡°I am going to join Tisane¡¯s team.¡±


    ***


    Marcus looked at the stadium. It was a few days after Selena had taken his and Emma¡¯s details. Selena had called him that morning and told him to get to the stadium in an hour. It seemed that today was going to be his first match.


    ¡°Hey, so she called you too¡±, Emma said while coming beside him. Marcus nodded. Emma asked, ¡°Where is she though?¡± Marcus shrugged his shoulders.


    Emma looked at him, grinned and said, ¡°Not in a good mood are we?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I was sleeping when she called. I hate it when someone disturbs my sleep.¡±


    Emma laughed. ¡°What are you laughing about?¡± It seemed that Selena had come.


    Emma said, ¡°So, so, are we fighting?¡±


    Selena nodded and said, ¡°Emma your fight is first. You will be fighting after half an hour and you Marcus, after an hour. Be ready. Till then, please sit in the stands.¡±


    The three of them started towards the entrance to the stands. As they entered Selena started to go towards the front benches but Marcus and Emma started at the back.


    Selena said, ¡°Hey, where are you going?¡±


    Marcus pointed to the seats near the top and said, ¡°I always find the view to be better from the top. Also, it is less crowded.¡±


    Emma said, ¡°I agree with him. I like it at the top.¡±


    Selena huffed and said, ¡°Very well. Sit wherever you like. I will be in front. Be sure to enter the stadium when your name is called. Understand?¡±


    They both nodded and started off towards the back. There they were joined by a fellow who grinned when he saw them. They recognized him.


    Emma said, ¡°You are Jax Parson, right?¡±


    Jax nodded. He said, ¡°So you guys have a fight today?¡±


    Emma nodded and said, ¡°Yes, our first.¡±


    Jax said, ¡°That¡¯s good. I have already had mine. I lost though.¡±


    Emma made the right reaction. However Marcus ignored them both. He went off to sleep on the seat saying, ¡°Wake me up when it¡¯s my turn will ya?¡±


    Half an hour later it was Emma¡¯s fight. Marcus woke up to see it. Emma won it easily. It took only 5 minutes. Sometime later his name was called. Jax woke him up.


    Marcus stood up and stretched. ¡°All right¡±, he said, ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±


    ***


    The crowd around Selena was buzzing. Marcus was up. As he descended to the fighting ground Selena looked at the opponent. She gasped.


    ¡°Poor guy¡±, said one of the guys from the crowd.


    ¡°Yeah, I think it is first fight¡±, said another.


    ¡°Yeah, can¡¯t you see it on the screen? It is written ¡®Debut Fight¡¯ for this Marcus guy.¡±


    ¡°Seriously, the first fight, and to go on against a person like him.¡±


    ¡°What are the guys doing the match up thinking?¡±


    ¡°I heard that it was his request.¡±


    ¡°Who, Marcus¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°No, the other guy¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that can¡¯t be true. Why would he go for debutant?¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡±


    As the crowd around her buzzed, Selena was feeling a wave of panic concerning Marcus. His fighter was considered one of the best fighters in all of America. Selena saw Marcus grin as he faced him. It was Marcus¡¯s first fight and he was facing Leopold Young.


    ¡°So, you are my first opponent¡±, said Marcus. Leopold nodded. He had a serious look on his face.


    Marcus said, ¡°Cheer up. You have not come to a funeral you know.¡±


    The referee now exited the fighting ground and the barrier was put up. The match began.


    Leopold said, ¡°Marcus, I don¡¯t want you to hold back. You attack me with all of your force.¡±


    Marcus rotated his shoulders and said, ¡°I see, you want it to be too serious. This is going to be fun after all.¡±


    They both charged at each other. Their attacks reverberated across the stadium. Leopold was primarily using flame attacks while Marcus was trying to get close to Leopold to use his power attacks. Both were dodging each other¡¯s attacks successfully. A few minutes into the fight Marcus said, ¡°This is useless.¡±


    He changed tactics. He punched the ground and a small earthquake hit the fighting ground. This destabilized Leopold a bit. Marcus took advantage of it and charged at Leopold. As Marcus neared Leopold he was ready to punch him but Leopold had a smile on his face as if he had anticipated Marcus¡¯s attack.


    He dodged Marcus¡¯s attack, gave him a spinning kick which made Marcus lose his balance. As Marcus was falling down Leopold brought both his fists down on Marcus. Marcus saw that Leopold¡¯s fists were on fire. He grinned as the attack connected and he fell down crushing the ground. Leopold smiled but the next moment his smiled was wiped off.


    Marcus stood up and dusted himself. He said, ¡°That was quite some attack. But I am a defense master so you see; this level of attack won¡¯t even scratch me.¡±


    Marcus could see that Leopold was angry. Leopold stepped back. He put both his palms together and spread his legs. He said, ¡°Fire Mastery, release.¡±


    Marcus saw two triangles form at Leopold¡¯s feet. The triangles were opposing each other and Leopold was at the center of the tips which were intersecting. Marcus could see that Leopold¡¯s aura was increasing. He was powering up for pure fire attacks. So, this was the power of a true fire master.


    When Leopold finished powering up he was enveloped by fire from top to bottom.


    ¡°The aura of fire¡±, Marcus muttered. He had recognized it. Leopold attacked. His fire attacks were stronger than before. Marcus blocked and dodged each of the attacks.


    ¡°Useless¡±, he said. He started running towards Leopold. When he closed in to punch him, Leopold attacked him with a massive fireball on a close range. Marcus was hit with a full blast.


    Leopold shouted a ¡®hah¡¯. There was a lot of smoke after the attack. When it cleared Leopold was surprised to find Marcus standing there unscathed.


    Marcus said, ¡°Now that¡¯s what I am talking about. I had to use a lot of energy to stop that. So now, shall we get serious?¡±


    He disappeared. The next moment Leopold felt a great pain in his gut as if someone had punched him hard many times there. Marcus reappeared and said, ¡°That was Quickstep. Come on Leopold. This should have not been much for you. I think it was at the same level as that fireball you attacked me with.¡±


    Leopold knew Marcus was right but he had been shocked by this attack. He knew what this was. It was Martial mastery, but at what level? He gritted his teeth and resumed attacking. His energy was getting low. He had to finish the fight soon. Marcus was still defending against his attacks. It was time. He put some distance between him and Marcus.


    Marcus said, ¡°So what are you up to now?¡±


    Leopold gathered the energy for one last attack, one of his ultimate attacks. Marcus saw the energy being gathered but didn¡¯t even flinch. He muttered, ¡°This is going to be something special.¡±


    Leopold attacked, ¡°Fire Mastery, final attack, Fire domain.¡±


    The whole fighting ground was engulfed in flames. Marcus could feel the temperature rising fast. His energy would have drained if he had not defended. From within the flames Leopold emerged. He was attacking Marcus with a flaming fist. Leopold punched. The blow was stopped an inch from Marcus. Leopold was surprised. Marcus was unfazed by the flames around him. Marcus punched Leopold back. It was a power punch. That punch would not have damaged Leopold earlier, but Leopold had used up most of his energy while using the attack, Fire domain. He was thrown back.


    As Leopold stood up, Marcus was right next to him, shoulder to shoulder. Marcus whispered in Leopold¡¯s ear, ¡°Martial Mastery Level 9 attack, Claw of Pain.¡±


    He formed a claw with his hand and punched Leopold right in the stomach. For a moment Leopold did not feel anything. But the next moment he was attacked by a pain which spread throughout his entire body. He reeled under the pain and when it reached his brain, he blacked out.


    Marcus muttered, ¡°Normally my Claw of Pain would not have affected you much. But as you were low on energy, it is one of my best finishing moves at this time.¡±


    The match was over. Marcus had won and a stunned silence had fallen over the stadium.


    ***


    Brock looked astonished as his brother fell down. He knew Leopold was defeated but simply could not register it. Arya was sitting beside him. She whispered to Brock, ¡°It¡¯s over isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Brock nodded. Marcus had done it. Marcus had defeated the person who was in league with the strongest in all of America. Brock now believed that Marcus was really that strong. When Marcus had told Brock about his strength Brock had not believed it. But it seemed to be true now.


    The countdown was over and Marcus was declared winner. Brock saw that Marcus sat down in exhaustion. The fight seemed to have taken a lot out of Marcus. He grinned and said to Arya, ¡°Come on. We should go to the medical center.¡±


    Arya said, ¡°Yes let¡¯s. I want to give him a piece of my mind.¡±


    Brock looked at the expression on Arya¡¯s face and shuddered. Marcus was really gonna get it. As they entered the medical center Brock saw his brother was still unconscious. Doctors were already taking care of him. Marcus cheered up as he saw Arya but deflated like a balloon seeing the expression on her face. Served him right. He had not told Brock or Arya about his first fight. Actually he had not told anyone. It was Selena who had called everyone. Forum and Evana were also in the crowd. He had seen them but he did not know whether they had seen him or not. He had sat with Arya. He did see Flora and Selena in the crowd too.


    As he thought about them, Flora, Selena, Forum and Evana entered the medical center. Selena, Forum and Evana went towards Marcus who was getting an angry lecture from Arya. Flora came up to him. Brock smiled at her and said, ¡°He is strong.¡±


    Flora said, ¡°And you know how strong, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Brock laughed. Flora had an amazing perception. He saw that Leopold had woken up. He said, ¡°Yes¡±, and started off towards his brother.


    Leopold said, ¡°Hello Brock. Did you see the fight?¡±


    Brock nodded and said, ¡°You underestimated him didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Leopold gave a short laugh and nodded. Then he looked at Marcus who was now getting scolded by Arya, Forum and Evana together. Leopold said, ¡°He is quite something.¡±


    Brock nodded. His brother was right. Marcus was quite something. He was his friend and Brock believed the strongest fighter on Earth.


    ***


    Tisane had watched both their matches. She was impressed. She decided to approach Emma first. When she asked Emma, Emma was excited. She agreed immediately and said when they were starting team training. Tisane gave her all the details and told her to wait patiently. Tisane was also happy because Brock had agreed. He had said to forget the earlier condition that he had put. He had said he would be honored to be in Tisane¡¯s team. Okay, he overdid it a bit, but Tisane was happy.


    Only Marcus remained now. She rang the bell. Brock opened the door.


    Tisane said, ¡°Why is it that I always find you at home?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°It¡¯s my home you know.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°Yes, but why are you home all the time? Don¡¯t you have any matches?¡±


    Brock simply shrugged and Tisane entered. She said, ¡°Is Marcus home?¡±


    Brock nodded and went to the media room. He shouted for Marcus who came out looked at Tisane and said, ¡°You know, you could have called. I am in. You did not need to come over.¡±


    Tisane looked threateningly at Brock and said, ¡°You told him?¡¯


    Brock said, ¡°Oh, well I simply told him that you were forming a team and that I had agreed to join it. I don¡¯t know how he figured out that you meant to ask him too.¡±


    Tisane looked at Marcus who said, ¡°Forum told me. I don¡¯t know what took you so long. Although, I was really expecting a phone call.¡±


    Tisane grunted. This guy was going to be a pain. She said, ¡°It seems that everybody has agreed. Time for a team meeting then.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡±, said Brock and Marcus together. Tisane smiled. She had her fighters. Now she needed a stastician. Her team was almost complete.


    ***


    ¡°You still don¡¯t have a stastician?¡± said Lara to Tisane. The team had met at Lara and AA¡¯s mansion. Marcus looked at the team. Him, Brock, Forum, AA, and Emma with Lara as reserve.


    Marcus said, ¡°It is normally difficult to get a good stastician for a team.¡±


    Lara snapped, ¡°Shut up runt, no one¡¯s talking to you.¡±


    Tisane sighed. This was going to be a problem. She saw that Marcus was not angry. He was grinning.


    Marcus said, ¡°Oh come on Lara, come up with something new. This runt thing is getting old.¡±


    Lara muttered, ¡°Shut up runt.¡± Marcus simply shook his head.


    Brock spoke up, ¡°I don¡¯t know if this is a good idea or not but we could ask Selena Stone.¡±


    Marcus looked at his friend with his eyes narrowed. What was Brock thinking?


    Forum said, ¡°Did Flora put you up to this?¡±


    Brock shook his head and said, ¡°No, this is my opinion.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°She was still an apprentice till recently. Granted she had two power fighters now and so she has been promoted to be a stastician but she does not have much experience.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Neither do all of us. Tisane, Forum and I have been licensed power fighters for about six months now. Marcus and Emma are new. I agree Lara and AA are experienced power fighters, but majority in this group are new. Even you are a new manager. So why not go for a new stastician?¡±


    Alpha laughed and said, ¡°Interesting logic. I agree with Brock. I don¡¯t mind this Selena being our team¡¯s stastician.¡±


    The others agreed to. Tisane looked at each one of them. She said, ¡°Are you guys completely sure?¡±


    They all said yes. Tisane sighed. Then she smiled and said, ¡°Then I will ask her. Hope she says yes.¡±


    ***


    The message from The Dark Hand had shaken Selena. Too little time. Too little time had been given to her. She had to talk to Marcus. She needed good guided training; now.


    She rang the bell and Brock opened the door. Selena said, ¡°Is Marcus home?¡±


    Brock nodded. He invited Selena in. He went to the media room and shouted for Marcus who came out a moment later.


    Brock muttered, ¡°Seriously, we need to do something about this. I am tired for shouting for you.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°We can install an intercom.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Will you be able to hear it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Selena cleared her throat. They both turned their attention to her. She said, ¡°My training Marcus.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Tell me, did Tisane come to visit you?¡±


    Selena frowned. Tisane had indeed come to meet her. She had asked Selena to be the stastician for her team. Selena had refused. She did not want to be distracted with the tournament. Her goals were different. She had only wanted one power fighter and had been happy when it was Marcus. But now Emma had also joined and Tisane was assigning her a team. No way. She was not going to do it.


    Selena said, ¡°Yes, what has it got to do with my training?¡±


    Marcus sighed and said, ¡°I know you want to get stronger for a reason. I know that reason is serious enough for you. But you will never do it alone. You will need help. I agreed to help you. Although my help alone would not be enough. You will need help from many people. Do you understand?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°So was it you who suggested Tisane that I should be the stastician for her team?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°No it was Brock. It was his idea. He thinks that all of us would be able to help you. But in return, you need to be our stastician.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°You will need to convince them though.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°Leave that to me and Marcus. We will take care of it. You just say yes to Tisane.¡±


    Selena nodded. She wanted to get stronger. She would do anything for it. She said, ¡°Why are you doing this for me?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°I am doing this for Marcus. He is bent on helping you.¡±


    Selena looked at Marcus who simply shrugged. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I simply feel like helping you. Maybe it is the guilt of leaving you.¡±


    Selena simply nodded. Marcus was relieved inside. He had not told her the real reason for helping her. How could he. She would not understand at all. She was one of the five after all.


    ***


    Tisane looked at the contract. There were eight signatures in all. All of them had signed. She had signed too. Her team was formed. Five fighters, one spare, a stastician and her, the manager. Her team was complete. Now only the team name was remaining.


    She smiled. She remembered the last meeting. They had met to discuss on the team name.


    Forum said, ¡°Elements the Second.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°No way. I and Lara were part of Elements. I will not see the name tarnished.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°We will not tarnish it.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°Still no.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°How about Masters.¡±


    Alpha said, ¡°Too common.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°How about Shield? You know Strategic Homeland¡­¡±


    Brock interjected, ¡°Yo Mr. Marvel. No superhero stuff.¡± Marcus looked dejected.


    Tisane said, ¡°Come on guys. Come up with a simple and effective name.¡±


    Lara said, ¡°How about The Ruins?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°We are not an archeological site Lara.¡±


    ¡°Shut up runt.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°How about WAFEC?¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°WAFEC?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°Water, Air, Fire, Earth and Cosmos. Emma is water master, Alpha is air master, Brock is fire master, and Forum is earth master while Lara is Cosmos master. Well Marcus is a defense master but it does not form an element so.¡±


    Marcus was noticing Selena. She hid well that he was a Cosmos master. It did not matter. Soon all the team members would know. But it was good to know that Selena was discrete.


    Emma frowned at Selena but did not say anything. Tisane said, ¡°It is a nice name. I don¡¯t know about it.¡±


    They discussed about it for some time and got nowhere.


    Then Alpha said suddenly, ¡°I have got a good one. How about Incognito?¡±


    ¡°Incognito?¡±


    Alpha said, ¡°Yes you know, Incognito. Our motto will be like powers in disguise. You guys see.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°I like it.¡±


    They all agreed on it. It was decided. Tisane smiled as she wrote their team name on the form which had to be submitted. It was official. Her team was formed. They were going to the tournament. She looked at the name again: INCOGNITO.

 The Training

    Emma rang the doorbell. Brock opened the door.


    Emma asked, ¡°Is he in?¡±


    Brock nodded and invited her in. He went up to the media room, opened the door and called for Marcus. Marcus appeared few seconds later.


    Marcus said, ¡°Hey Emma. It is so nice to see you.¡±


    Emma held up a newspaper and said, ¡°You are famous.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Selena is not happy.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do about it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Emma sighed. She said, ¡°I believe when you told her you would train her, you would be a bit more discrete than this.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Hey I was always going to be famous. You know, author and all.¡±


    Emma said, ¡°You are famous for defeating a power fighter and not because of a book.¡±


    ¡°Why are you getting so worked up?¡±


    Emma muttered, ¡°I care for her.¡±


    Marcus frowned, ¡°Who? Selena?¡± Emma blushed and did not say anything.


    Marcus understood. Brock did too. ¡°Marcus¡±, he said in a warning tone.


    Marcus simply nodded. He said, ¡°She does not seem too concerned though.¡±


    Emma collected herself and said, ¡°She does. She is not saying anything to you though.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±, the frown was prominent on Marcus¡¯s face now.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Talk to her.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Very well. Now, do you want some breakfast?¡±


    Brock simply shook his head as Emma said yes. Marcus needed to stop being such a prick.


    ***


    Taylor looked at her best friends. They were trying not to cry.


    ¡°Do you really have to go?¡±, asked Forum. She looked as if she was going to break down the next second.


    ¡°Yes, do you really have to?¡±, asked Evana. She was holding it better than Forum.


    Taylor smiled warmly at her friends and said, ¡°I really have to. I have to start rehearsing for a play. I will be back when the play hits the theatres in L.A.¡±


    They both said good bye to her friend and watched her board the plane. Once inside Taylor was not smiling anymore. She had a sad expression on her face. She had delivered the message. She had not been happy. She had seen the look on their faces. She hated what she had to do. She hated what they had her do. She wanted them out of her life.


    She took her seat in first class. The air hostess asked her if she needed anything and she replied no. She relaxed in her seat thinking about them, thinking how she was going to get rid of them.


    As the plane started to take off she gripped the sides of her seat. She was still a bit afraid of air travel. She relaxed only after the plane was stable in the air. She looked out of the window to see the sun shining through it. She was now completely relaxed and smiled thinking of her friends.


    That was when the tail exploded.


    ***


    Marcus and Selena were having a walk. Marcus wanted to talk to Selena and she said that she was going for a walk. So Marcus accompanied her. They had been walking in silence for some time now.


    Marcus finally broke the silence, ¡°Emma visited me during breakfast.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°That would have been about an hour ago only Marcus. You talk as if it was ages ago.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°True. She said you were angry.¡±


    ¡°I am not angry¡±, she said shortly.


    ¡°And yet your tone suggests otherwise.¡±


    ¡°I am not angry¡±, said Selena as if it was the end of discussion.


    ¡°You are angry because I got famous.¡±


    Selena stopped. Marcus stopped too. Then she started again and Marcus followed.


    Selena said, ¡°I am not angry. I am; I can¡¯t exactly say what I am but I am definitely not happy.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, that¡¯s what she said. You are not happy. I mistook it for anger.¡±


    ¡°She told you all this just about an hour ago.¡±


    ¡°I have weak memory for certain things.¡±


    Selena laughed and Marcus grinned at her. She said, ¡°You make it hard to be angry at you Marcus McKnight.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so you were angry.¡±


    Selena punched him in return. They continued walking for some time. Then Marcus said, ¡°I wanted to talk to you about your training.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°I thought you said you wanted to start it in the New Year.¡±


    Marcus nodded and said, ¡°Yes. But we do need a location where you can practice. I believe you would want it low key.¡±


    ¡°Low key?¡±


    ¡°Hidden. Under the radar. Not known by people and all that.¡±


    Selena laughed and said, ¡°I already have a place. I will show it tomorrow.¡±


    Marcus nodded. They had now reached near the Chan residence. A car passed through the gate. Marcus glanced at the passengers and stopped. Selena glanced at the passing car and paled. Forum and Evana were in the car. Taylor was also with them. Taylor half glanced at Selena before turning away. Marcus recognized the third girl. He had seen her with Forum and Evana before.


    He said, ¡°Was that Taylor Warren?¡±


    He turned to look at Selena who looked as if she had seen a ghost.


    Marcus said, ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    Selena nodded and said, ¡°Fine. I have got to go. I will meet you tomorrow. Same time?¡±


    Marcus nodded and she started off. He looked at her retreating back and then at the direction in which the car was heading. He thought for a moment and then finally decided to follow. He could be wrong but he thought he had found another one.


    ***


    It was the day before Marcus was leaving for America. He, Chen and Tsi Tzu Tsen were standing in front of the wall. The writing on it had changed.


    Chen asked, ¡°What does it mean?¡±


    Triple T said, ¡°Seems clear enough.¡±


    Chen rolled his eyes and said, ¡°I did not mean what is written literally. I meant what it means.¡±


    Triple T raised his left eyebrow and said, ¡°What?¡±


    Chen shook his head and said, ¡°Never mind.¡±


    Jun Chan came at that time. He said, ¡°I heard the writing had changed.¡±


    The three present simply pointed. Jun read it.


    He said, ¡°What does it mean?¡± He then turned to Marcus and said, ¡°Does it make sense to you?¡±


    Marcus shrugged and said, ¡°Maybe it has something to do with where I am going.¡±


    Jun said, ¡°Are you saying that you will find your answers in Los Angeles?¡±


    Marcus nodded. They were silent after that. They simply looked at the wall for some time. Marcus read again what was written on it:


    To the messenger


    Clues to find the five


    One you will save from loneliness


    One you will give protection


    One you will save her life


    One you will save from lost love


    The bride you will simply know


    And you will find all where you go


    ¡°Interesting message¡±, said Marcus.


    The others simply nodded absently. He had not understood at that time. He had not believed it all the time Kami had told him. But as he was in the check in line behind Taylor, making sure Forum and Evana did not recognize him, he thought he had found the third one.


    ***


    The plane spiralled down. Oxygen masks came down and the seat belts sign flashed like mad. As the plane went down Taylor thought of what had just happened really. She prayed that if she survived then she would do everything to make it right.


    It was then the plane crashed. Taylor had closed her eyes, waiting for death. She opened them. Nothing had happened. She was all right. She looked around. All the passengers were all right too; shocked but all right. What the hell had happened?


    The pilot came out of the cock pit at that time. Everyone was evacuated. It seemed that everyone was okay. Taylor did not understand. She looked around as she exited the plane. The plane had crashed in an empty field outside L.A. No one seemed hurt. How was this possible?


    She could see the emergency vehicles approaching the crash site. The crew was trying to move all the passengers away from the crash site saying that it was not safe. She started walking with them. A man detached himself from the other passengers and came up to her.


    ¡°Are you all right Taylor?¡±, he asked.


    She nodded and said, ¡°How do you know me?¡±


    ¡°You are Taylor Warren aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but how do you know me?¡±


    Taylor was now feeling suspicious of the man. He laughed a bit and said, ¡°I doubt you remember me but my name is Marcus McKnight.¡± He put his hand forward. Taylor remembered him. Funny meeting him here. She shook his hand. It was then the emergency vehicles arrived.


    ***


    ¡°What do you think?¡±, asked Trent of his partner.


    ¡°Shadow bomb¡±, replied Dorian and Trent nodded. They were looking at the wreckage of the flight 632 which had just crashed. It was not much. The expert with them was confused as to how this was possible. It was as if someone had put a shield on the entire plane but that was not possible. No one has been able to do so till date.


    ¡°I know one thing that we won¡¯t be working on this case much¡±, said Dorian.


    Trent nodded. He said, ¡°Terrorists?¡±


    Dorian shrugged and said, ¡°It is the obvious explanation. But how did they get the bomb in the plane?¡±


    Trent looked around and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know Dorian but I intend to find out. I want to find the sons of bitches that did this. I don¡¯t care who will be in charge of this case but I want in.¡±


    Dorian nodded and said, ¡°So should we ask questions to the passengers now?¡±


    Trent said, ¡°Might as well get it over with. It might explain something.¡±


    They took out the passenger list that they were given. Earlier they had simply glanced over it. Now they looked at it carefully. The passengers had already been taken back to the airport. They had to wait for the official query. As they looked through the passengers¡¯ name, they paused at a name. They both looked at each other.


    Trent smiled and said, ¡°This should be interesting.¡±


    ***


    Marcus and Taylor were sitting together. Taylor was pretty shaken while she could see that Marcus was amazingly calm. He was telling her some of his funny stories, trying to calm her down. It was working. She took a deep breath to clear her head. This was no accident. She had an inkling as to who had done this and why. The Dark Hand. They wanted her dead. This was not good. She had to do something about it.


    ¡°Taylor¡±, said someone and she snapped out of her reverie. She looked around to see Forum and Evana had come. Marcus was looking a bit uncomfortable. It was Forum who had called her.


    As they approached Evana said, ¡°Hello Marcus. What are you doing here?¡±


    Marcus was going to reply when he looked behind them and paled. Taylor looked at who he was looking. A woman with a pram was walking hurriedly towards them and besides her was, wait she knew who it was. It was Brock. As soon as the passengers returned to the airport, they had called their families to tell them they were okay. Marcus had also called someone. It had to be his sister. Taylor did not remember her name. Taylor had called Forum.


    Forum and Evana looked around too. Then they turned back and said together, ¡°Boy, you are in trouble Marcus.¡±


    Marcus muttered, ¡°That¡¯s an understatement.¡±


    As they came closer Marcus said, ¡°I can explain Arya.¡±


    So that was her name. Taylor looked at her closely. She looked angry; very angry.


    Arya said, ¡°I only want to know one thing Marcus. Were you running away again Marcus?¡±


    ¡°What? No!¡±, said Marcus. She nodded and said, ¡°How long are you here?¡±


    It was Taylor who replied, ¡°It was announced that there are few detectives who want to ask us some questions about the crash. Then we are free to go.¡±


    Arya turned to look at her. She smiled and said, ¡°Taylor Warren. It has been a long time.¡±


    They shook hands. Taylor remembered she had gone to Marcus¡¯ house one time with Forum and Evana and had met his sister. She remembered her to be a nice person. Apparently she looked dangerous right now. She was throwing angry glances at Marcus who looked as if he had swallowed something nasty.


    Marcus whispered to Brock, ¡°You had to tell her now?¡±


    Brock simply said, ¡°Yes¡±, and Marcus shook his head.


    It was then the detectives entered. They said their names were detective King and detective Gregory. They called for the first passenger. Taylor sat back and sighed. She really had to do something to protect herself from The Dark Hand.


    ***


    Marcus was called the last. The detectives were sitting behind a desk. There was also an airport official with them. Marcus nodded as they asked him to sit.


    ¡°So, Marcus McKnight¡±, said Trent shuffling some papers in front of him, ¡°What were you doing on the plane?¡±


    Marcus had an amused expression on his face.


    Dorian asked, ¡°Do you think this is funny Mr McKnight?¡±


    Marcus glanced at Dorian and then at Trent and then back again.


    He said, ¡°Dear God, even you two are pissed off at me.¡±


    Marcus had known both the detectives before he had run away. Although at that time they had just joined the force. He had been introduced to them by Brock. Brock was closer to them than Marcus. Apparently he had made many people angry when he had run away.


    ¡°Answer the question please Mr McKnight¡±, said Trent.


    ¡°I was going to New York.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Sightseeing.¡±


    The detectives shifted in their chairs. Trent said, ¡°Please don¡¯t play games with us Marcus.¡±


    Marcus sighed and said, ¡°I am telling you the truth.¡±


    Dorian said, ¡°No you are not. You had no luggage Marcus. And according to the records that we have, you bought the ticket at the last minute.¡±


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°It all seems suspicious¡±, said Trent.


    Marcus asked, ¡°Are you accusing me of blowing up the plane?¡±


    Dorian said, ¡°No one said about blowing up the plane.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Oh come on, it was a shadow bomb. I felt it when it went off.¡±


    Trent and Dorian looked at each other. Trent said, ¡°How did you...¡±


    Marcus cut him off, ¡°Okay, look here. I know you are simply giving me a hard time because I ran away. I believe Brock has already told you about the circumstances and so let us just move on. That was a shadow bomb which went off. And it was not there when the plane took off. It means that it was teleported there when the plane was in air. This was no simple job. It would take many people to pull it off. Five at least. Actually it would have taken one shadow master to conjure the bomb and then it would take five of them to teleport it to the plane. For the co-ordinates they would require a person on board. Find him and you will find out who was behind this. This was a suicide mission for him. They did not expect anyone to live. So you should move fast before this guy is found dead.¡±


    The detectives were sitting with their mouths open. Then Dorian said, ¡°How can you say all this for sure? How do we know that you are not the guy who blew up the tail and now is trying to fool us with a cock and bull story?¡±


    Marcus stood up and said, ¡°Because I know who did it. Even if I told you, you would not believe me. So I am simply going to go now. This farce of an interview is over.¡±


    The detectives were too shocked to say anything. As he was about to leave Dorian found his voice, ¡°Marcus, who do you think did it?¡±


    Marcus paused at the door. ¡°The Dark Hand¡±, he said and left.


    ***


    Forum was taking Taylor back to her house. She was constantly talking about what had happened but Taylor was not listening. She was thinking very hard. It was The Dark Hand. There was no doubt about it. It seemed that they wanted her dead. Well, they could have wanted someone else on the plane dead too but it was unlikely. It was her. And going to the Chan residence was going to put their family at risk. She could not go there. She had to go somewhere else.


    Evana had been silent the whole time. She could see that Forum was highly agitated while Taylor was deep in thought nodding subconsciously to what Forum was saying. Something was not right about this accident. She could not place her finger on what it was but there was something definitely wrong here. And why was Taylor so silent. She was shaken, it was understood. But this was something else. She looked somehow scared. Evana wondered why that was. And the most important thing that was going through her mind was what the hell Marcus was doing on that plane?


    Taylor suddenly came out of her reverie and said, ¡°Forum I have something to ask of you.¡±


    Forum frowned and said, ¡°What is it?¡±


    Taylor hesitated. She would have to handle this delicately. She said, ¡°Don¡¯t take it the wrong way but will it be all right for you if I stayed at your friend Marcus¡¯ house for some days instead of yours?¡±


    Forum gaped at her. She said, ¡°Why?¡±


    Taylor said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. He has got me thinking. What was he doing on the plane? From what you told me, he has just returned after five years from China. I doubt he would go to New York without informing someone. There is something about him. And I think somehow it will good for me to stay with him for some days. There is nothing wrong with you guys but I have got a feeling about him. He is intriguing.¡±


    Now Forum and Evana were both gaping at her. Forum said, ¡°Very well. But on one condition only. Find the truth about what the hell he was doing on that plane. I very much doubt he will tell us. He is not the same Marcus we knew five years ago. He has changed and I can see that clearly even though what he portrays.¡±


    Taylor nodded. She did not know why but she knew Marcus McKnight would be the solution to her problem.


    ***


    ¡°Why were you on the plane Marcus?¡±, asked Arya.


    They were back at Marcus and Brock¡¯s house. Brock was preparing coffee for all of them. Arya was sitting on the sofa while Marcus was pacing a bit.


    Marcus said, ¡°I cannot tell you everything Arya. I doubt you would understand it. Hell, even I don¡¯t understand all of it.¡±


    Arya exclaimed, ¡°Marcus! No swearing in front of the baby.¡±


    Marcus stopped pacing and said, ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s just a long story. And I don¡¯t want to drag you into this.¡±


    ¡°Drag me into what Marcus?¡±


    Marcus sighed and said, ¡°I cannot tell you everything Arya but I can tell you one thing. I was on that plane for Taylor Warren.¡±


    Arya looked confused. She said, ¡°Why?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°As I said before I cannot tell you everything. Just be satisfied with this. I don¡¯t want you in this. I want you to be safe.¡±


    Arya said sharply, ¡°What have you gotten yourself into Marcus?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I was an unstable Arya. There is a price for coming back from it. This is my price Arya. Please do not get into this.¡±


    Brother and sister looked at each other. Arya was looking daggers at Marcus while he had a look of determination on his face.


    Arya stood up and said, ¡°Fine Marcus. But this is not over yet.¡±


    She left. Brock said, ¡°Are you going to explain to me?¡±


    Marcus looked at Brock. He had told Brock many things about his life in China; more than anybody else. But did he want to tell about this to Brock. He finally decided he should. He nodded and said, ¡°Tonight.¡±


    That was when the door bell rang.


    ***


    They rang the door bell and waited. Brock opened the door. His eyebrows rose when he saw who it was. Forum, Evana and Taylor came in.


    Brock said after them, ¡°What are you all doing here?¡±


    Forum simply declared, ¡°Taylor is going to stay with you two for a few days.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°What? Why?¡±


    It was Taylor who replied, ¡°Will it be a problem?¡±


    Brock said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. But why here when you could go to the Chan residence? You must be in shock and that would be a good place to stay.¡±


    Taylor said, ¡°No, this fine too.¡±


    Forum and Evana were grinning. Brock looked at Marcus for support. Marcus was looking at all of them with narrowed eyes.


    He said, ¡°Whatever you decide Brock.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Excellent, it is decided then. Taylor will stay here. It is only for a few days Brock. Then she will come live with me.¡±


    Evana said, ¡°Yes and Marcus, I have a question. What were you doing on the plane?¡±


    Marcus rolled his eyes and said, ¡°I was stalking your friend Taylor here.¡±


    Evana and Forum looked at each other. Evana said, ¡°Fine. If you are not ready to tell us then we understand. But please don¡¯t lie. We will wait.¡± She stood up. Forum and Evana said their goodbyes to Taylor and left.


    After they had left Brock got Taylor settled in the guest room. Then he came back and said to Marcus, ¡°Is this all right?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I don¡¯t know Brock but I can tell you something. This was Taylor¡¯s decision; living here with us.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Do you have any idea why?¡±


    ¡°I might have inkling but I would have to ask her.¡±


    ¡°Ask her what?¡±


    Marcus shushed him as Taylor came out. Taylor said, ¡°I have sort of settled in. But I will need to go shopping for some basic necessities. After all, I did lose my entire luggage.¡±


    Marcus nodded and said, ¡°Very well. We will come with you.¡±


    Brock looked surprisingly at Marcus and said, ¡°We will?¡±, and looking at Marcus¡¯ expression he said, ¡°Of course we will. Shall we go now then or do you want to rest for some time? I completely forgot. You just went through a traumatic experience.¡±


    Taylor shook her head and said, ¡°No, now will be fine.¡±


    As they were all leaving together Brock wondered what his friend was up to.


    ***


    Next day Selena and Marcus went to the place Selena was talking about. It was a huge empty warehouse. Marcus looked around and nodded approvingly.


    Marcus said, ¡°You train here right now?¡±


    Selena nodded. Marcus said, ¡°It is a sweet place. And no one is using it?¡±


    Selena shook her head. Marcus said slowly, ¡°And how did you stumble upon this place?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°It belongs to Big D. He knows about my plight.¡±


    ¡°The entire truth?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°So who else is in the club?¡±


    ¡°What club?¡±


    ¡°The club in which they know the truth about why you want to train without anyone knowing?¡±


    Selena grinned and said, ¡°You are not ready to know.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Then why did you go pale on seeing Taylor Warren? I doubt you even know her; or do you?¡±


    Selena paled again on hearing that name. She did not say anything. Marcus sighed and shook his head. This was going to be harder than he thought. This was all connected. He knew that. He needed some answers. He was going to get them tonight.


    ***


    Charlie Dodd looked around cautiously. He had to be careful. He had to get out of L.A. He was not meant to survive. He was supposed to be dead in the plane crash. The target was supposed to be dead too. However none of that had happened. The plane had crashed but it had not caused the death of the target. All the passengers had walked away unscathed. Charlie had wondered how that had happened. But now was not the time for that. Now was the time for escaping.


    He joined the line at the ticket counter. The Dark Hand was mad. They had blown up a whole plane just to kill one girl. Charlie shook his head. The poor girl had no idea. And he was there on the plane so that the bomb could be teleported there. He had been shadow marked. It was only time before they caught up to him. He did not want to die. He had not wanted to die in the first place but he had no choice. Now fate had given him another opportunity to live. He was going to use it.


    The shadow mark would disappear in a day or two. Till then he had to be on the run. He would have to survive. He took a deep breath and stepped up to the counter. He bought a ticket. He wasn¡¯t even aware what destination he said. He paid for his ticket in cash, collected it and left. He was walking neither fast nor slow. He did not want to draw any suspicion. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the authorities figured out what had happened and they would somehow catch up to him. He could not let that happen. He wanted to be free, free from the Dark Hand and live his life in peace.


    He went to the toilet. He was washing his hands when it happened. The lights went out. He was in pitch black. He gulped. He was scared.


    He said weakly, ¡°Hello?¡±


    There was no answer. He started for the door and he saw that it was blocked by a shadow. He looked around absolutely terrified. The whole bathroom was enveloped in shadow. They had found him. But how? And this fast?


    Someone put a hand on his shoulder and he jumped. He turned to see someone standing behind him. Charlie could not see who it was because of the darkness and the shadow.


    ¡°Hello Charlie¡±, said the person, ¡°Remember me?¡±


    Charlie squint his eyes. He recognized the person.


    Charlie said, ¡°You were on the plane weren¡¯t you?¡±


    The person nodded. Then he said, ¡°Now really look Charlie.¡±


    The person waved his hand and shadow moved across him. Charlie paled at the sight. But he was a bit pleased. He was not going to die. Maybe there was still hope left for him.


    The person said, ¡°So you recognize me now?¡±


    Charlie nodded. ¡°Good¡±, said the person, ¡°Because we need to talk. I have some questions for you Charlie Dodd.¡±


    Charlie said meekly, ¡°I will answer them... Lord Blade.¡±


    ***


    They were standing in front of their parents¡¯ graves. Marcus and Arya were both silent. Today was 23<sup>rd</sup> of December. It was the anniversary of their parents¡¯ death.


    Marcus broke the silence, ¡°I visited the graves before... before...  you know.¡±


    Arya nodded. Marcus continued, ¡°It¡¯s been five years though.¡±


    Arya did not say anything. She looked at the now blank spot where they had buried an empty coffin for Marcus earlier. She was scared for him. She was scared that he had gotten into something terrible when he ran away and now could not escape from it. She knew he would never tell her the truth in order to protect her, but this did not stop her from worrying.


    Shane came up to them at that moment. He said, ¡°Do you guys want some more time? If not then we should go. Chris is also getting restless.¡±


    Arya nodded and looked at Marcus who said with a sad smile, ¡°We should go.¡±


    They both laid the roses, which they had brought with them, on the graves. As they left Arya was gripped with a fear, a fear of burying a not so empty coffin of Marcus in the near future.


    ***


    Brock woke up on Christmas morning with a start. He just had a terrible nightmare and he was panting as if he had run a mile. He massaged his eyes and gave a start when he heard music from downstairs. Then he realized that it would be Taylor. He gave a snort. Taylor Warren. Marcus had explained everything to him that night. They had a consultation with Jun Chan, Chen Chan and a guy named Tsi Tzu Tsen.


    Now Tsen had been a weird guy. He had slept through the entire meeting and had only said maybe a word or two. Most of the times he had simply grunted. Grunted! Seriously!


    Brock got up and got ready. It was Christmas. He was going home to celebrate it. Marcus was going with Arya to the Coroner Christmas celebration. Taylor was going to celebrate it with Evana¡¯s family. Forum would be disappointed but Brock knew that Christmas was a time just for family for the Chans.


    He was grinning when he went to take a shower. However his mood soon changed as he thought about what he had learnt that night. It was interesting. It was hard to believe. Marcus had said it had been tough for him to believe too. But since he had come here and found three of them he had started believing.


    Brock sighed as he went downstairs. He was surprised to see Flora there.


    ¡°Hello¡±, she said as he came downstairs. Brock went up to her and gave her a kiss.


    ¡°What are you doing here? And why did you not call for me when you came?¡±, he asked.


    Flora said with a small laugh, ¡°I was having a lovely conversation with your new roommate.¡±


    Brock looked at Taylor now. She was in conversation with Marcus who, Brock was surprised to see, showing amazing attention to her.


    Brock turned to his girlfriend and whispered, ¡°I think Marcus is into her.¡±


    Flora looked at Marcus and Taylor and said, ¡°You realized it now? She has been here for three days now. I knew about it the first time I came. You are noticing it now?¡±


    Brock gave a short laugh and said, ¡°Well you know how observant I am. So what brings you here though?¡±


    ¡°I was missing you¡±, said Flora, ¡°and...¡±, she came close to him and whispered in his ear. Then she started off towards his room. Brock followed grinning. Early Christmas gift for him.


    ***


    Tisane looked out of her balcony. She was thinking of her team. After she had formed the team they had a few meetings. But the official training had not started. She had to start it soon. She had six months from January. Then from July would be the qualifying tournament. If her team won in the qualifying tournament, then only would they be able to go to the world tournament.


    Tisane was feeling a bit worried. Would she able to get her team working together in these six months? She knew about all the problems a team could face as she had been a part of a team too. She sighed. This was tiring.


    She decided to go down. This was no time to feel down. It was Christmas after all. It was time for celebrations. With a smile she knocked on her sister¡¯s door.


    ***


    Marcus groaned. It was just after the Christmas dinner and the whole family was settling around the Christmas tree to open presents. There were a lot of presents. This was understood as the Coroners were a large family. He had a tough time shopping for all of them. Arya said he was trying to compensate for all the Christmases he had missed and Marcus had simply waved her off. Maybe she was right.


    They started opening presents but Marcus was not into that. He was thinking. Thinking about all he had to do. He did not like it but he had to do it. He had to stop The Dark Hand from troubling Selena and Taylor until he was ready. He had now figured out that The Dark Hand was troubling Selena too. The conversation with Charlie had been illuminating. He hoped he had got Charlie out on time. Now it was time to distract The Dark Hand temporarily. He would need help for that.


    Arya broke his reverie. ¡°Would you like to open your presents Marcus? You are the only one left¡±, she said.


    Marcus looked around. Everyone was looking at him.


    ¡°Sorry¡±, he said, ¡°Got lost in thoughts.¡±


    With a smile he started to open his presents. Yes, this was going to be a tough call.


    ***


    The elders looked at each other. Then they looked at their leader. There were five of them; four elders and their leader. The highest echelon of The Dark Hand. The elders wondered why had the leader had called them. This was going to be no simple meeting. They had not met since two years now. They waited for their leader to explain.


    The leader said, ¡°I got a call from Master Blade that he wanted to talk with me. He said it was important. He wanted to talk with me alone but with him I do not want to take any risks. So I called you all.¡±


    The elders merely nodded. They understood. The leader had made a wise decision. Suddenly the air shimmered before them and two mirrors appeared before them. They knew what it was. The leader passed some of his energy to the mirrors. A person appeared in each of them. In one of the mirrors was Master Blade, while in the other mirror it was Master Jun Chan.


    Blade and Jun both bowed to the five people and they bowed back.


    The leader said first, ¡°Master Chan, it is a surprise to see you. I was expecting to talk to Master Blade alone.¡±


    Blade said, ¡°Same here. I was expecting to talk to you alone.¡± He did not say the leader¡¯s name. Blade knew that it was a grave insult to do so. The leader of The Dark Hand could be addressed as simply the leader or as The Hand, but never by his name. The same did not apply to the elders.


    The leader said, ¡°You know I do not do serious¡±, he paused looking for the right word, ¡°discussions without the elders.¡± That was the end of it. Blade simply nodded.


    Blade said, ¡°I understand. Master Jun is for that purpose only.¡±


    The leader said, ¡°But why two mirrors then? Aren¡¯t you two at the same location?¡±


    Blade felt uncomfortable but did not show anything. Showing any signs of weakness was dangerous.


    He said, ¡°No. That is why two mirrors. But you already knew that didn¡¯t you Lord Hand? I don¡¯t believe you are ignorant of my situation.¡±


    The leader smiled and said, ¡°Right you are Master Blade, or should I call you Marcus McKnight?¡±


    Blade/Marcus gave a short laugh and said, ¡°Blade will do just fine Lord Hand.¡±


    The leader said, ¡°What is the reason for calling me Master Blade?¡±


    Marcus took some time before answering. He simply said, ¡°Taylor Warren. Selena Stone. Why?¡±


    The leader looked the elders as if asking for permission. All the elders gave him a slight nod. The leader nodded back and explained everything to Marcus.


    Marcus was deep in thought after the leader was finished. Jun said, ¡°Are you all right Marcus?¡±


    Marcus simply nodded and said, ¡°They are under my protection. Forget about them.¡±


    The elders shifted. They were angry. This was insolence. Who did this young brat think he was?


    The leader was the only calm person. He said, ¡°May I know why Master Blade?¡±


    Marcus explained. The explanation hit the elders hard. The leader however started laughing. After he had stopped laughing he said, ¡°We have no problem with Taylor Warren but Selena Stone we cannot let go. Honour demands it.¡±


    Marcus nodded and said, ¡°Very well, but remember I will be helping her now.¡±


    The leader nodded and said, ¡°I deduced that much. We cannot let her go Master Blade, but as a favour to you we could give her more time.¡±


    Marcus nodded. The meeting was over. He had got what he wanted.


    ***


    Forum woke her sister up with a call of Happy New Year. Tisane smiled as she got up. She knew why Forum was excited. Today was the first day of the team¡¯s training. They had all decided to meet at 7 a.m. at a place which Tisane had decided.


    After getting ready Tisane and Forum set off towards the ground where the others were going to meet them. As they parked their car, Tisane saw them at once. Juran and his team were also there. Not only that, Wizard was also there with his team. Tisane swore in her mind. Why had she not thought of this?


    She looked around for her team and found them. AA was looking at the other teams with a bit of apprehension. Emma looked disinterested and was reading a book which she seemed to have brought with her. Brock was meditating. And Marcus, oh dear, Marcus was sleeping. He even had an eye cover on his face.


    Fuming, Tisane walked towards her team. She said, ¡°What is happening over here?¡±


    They all turned towards her. Emma stopped reading and Brock stopped meditating. Marcus still remained asleep.


    It was Alpha who spoke, ¡°It seems that Juran and Wizard have the same idea as you Tisane. All want to train their teams on this ground.¡±


    ¡°And why not¡±, said Marcus from the ground. It seemed he was not asleep after all, ¡°This is a very good place to train.¡±


    Tisane walked up to where Juran and Wizard were standing. Flora and Selena were also standing with them. Selena looked a bit disgruntled. Flora was the only one who looked calm. Juran and Wizard were both looking a bit furious.


    Tisane said angrily, ¡°What is going on here? I thought I was going to train my team here.¡±


    Juran said drily, ¡°It seems that we are of the same opinion. We cannot all be here. Only one of us can. So how do you want to settle it? We were waiting for you only.¡±


    Flora suggested picking chits and the idea was rejected. They all wanted only one thing but no one wanted to say first.


    ¡°Oh come on. Just say you wanna fight and get it over with¡±, shouted Marcus from the ground.


    Wizard looked surprised. He said, ¡°He can hear us?¡±


    Marcus shouted again, ¡°Clear as rain drops.¡±


    Wizard said, ¡°What does he mean?¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°Ignore him. But he is right. This would be settled with a power fight.¡±


    Juran was grinning wickedly, ¡°Tisane I am not fighting.¡±


    Tisane fumed, ¡°Then why are you grinning like an idiot.¡±


    Wizard understood what Juran meant. He said, ¡°I will have to talk to my team. I will have a fighter ready soon.¡±


    Juran nodded and they both left. Tisane returned to her team fuming.


    Tisane said, ¡°One of you is going to fight a member from Juran¡¯s team and Wizard¡¯s team.¡±


    Marcus simply said, ¡°Wake me up when this is all over.¡±


    Brock returned back to meditating and Emma returned to her book. Alpha looked at Tisane and then at the other teams. Then he said, ¡°Tisane is it important to train here?¡±


    Tisane frowned and said, ¡°No, but if we win we could train here.¡±


    Alpha said, ¡°We can train back at my place. I told you earlier. We have state of the art training facilities.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°All that is fine but is none of you excited to fight here?¡±


    Emma put down her book and said, ¡°You were expecting this weren¡¯t you?¡±


    Tisane grinned now. She said, ¡°Guilty as charged. So, what do you say?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go¡±, said Marcus from the ground.


    Tisane said, ¡°Is it all right with the others?¡±


    They all agreed. At that moment Selena came up to them. She said, ¡°So, who is going to be the fighter of Incognito?¡±


    Marcus stood up saying, ¡°Me.¡± He started walking towards the centre of the ground. Tisane shouted after him, ¡°At least take of your stupid eye cover.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I am going to give them a handicap.¡±


    Brock woke up from his meditation to look at his friend fight. Forum slapped her forehead and sat down besides Brock. Emma closed her book and did the same. Alpha came and stood beside Tisane who looked shocked. Selena simply shook her head and sat down besides Emma.


    Tisane looked at the other fighters. One was Hilary while the other was Milo. This was not going to go well.


    ***


    ¡°Take off your cover Marcus¡±, said Hilary as Marcus approached them.


    Marcus said, ¡°And miss all the fun? Nyah. I am fine.¡±


    Milo said slowly, ¡°Don¡¯t be an ass Marcus.¡±


    Marcus said seriously, ¡°Never with you Milo, you know that.¡±


    Milo simply nodded and took his position. Hilary gave an exasperated sigh and took her position as well. Milo and Hilary looked at each other and both nodded at each other. Juran and Wizard looked at each other and grinned. Flora gave the signal to start the fight.


    Marcus heard the signal and focused. He was right. Milo and Hilary both attacked him at once. Marcus smiled as he felt them coming. His shield was up. He knew what he had to do. Milo hit him with a thunderstrike which Marcus dodged. He actually flowed around it and punched Milo heavily in the gut. It was his psi strike. He knew Milo flew away from him and crashed into, oh dear, Tisane. She was going to be angry.


    Marcus however had no time to think about it as Hilary had attacked again. Marcus had dodged her attack also when he had dodged Milo¡¯s. He deflected the second attack which hit Milo as he was getting up. He was again thrown back but this time Tisane and the others had moved and so Milo did not hit anyone. Marcus smiled. He could not see anything but could sense everything around him. This was fun.


    ¡°Do you always have to show off?¡±, said a voice inside him.


    He smiled. It was DA. He thought, I get it from you DA.


    I don¡¯t show off, said DA.


    Oh please, said another voice. It was CA.


    You show off worse than anyone I have ever known my entire life, said a third voice. It was WA.


    Hush now. I am fighting. Let me focus, said Marcus to the voices.


    Like we have ever stopped you, said DA. But they shut up all the same.


    By this time Milo and Hilary had let off a stream of attacks at Marcus and he had managed to dodge them. Defending was fine but he had to attack soon. Before he could do anything, Juran said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we make this more exciting?¡± He was crackling his knuckles. He shouted, ¡°All power fighters; fall in.¡±


    And pandemonium followed.


    ***


    It was after the fight that they had all gathered at AA¡¯s house. Apparently they had lost. Tisane looked at her team with slight disappointment. According to her they had not worked together as she had expected. As a matter of fact, none of them had. Tisane knew that Juran, Wizard and her had their work cut out for them.


    Tisane looked at her team now. Brock, Forum and Emma were sitting on one of the couches and were discussing about the fight. AA had gone looking for his wife who, according to Jensen, was somewhere in the mansion but did not know where. Alpha had sighed and left, muttering under his breath. Marcus was again asleep on a couch. At least he had his eye cover off. It had got torn off when all of the teams had joined the fight.


    When Alpha was back, Lara was not with her. He shook his head to Tisane¡¯s inquiring gaze. Tisane sighed and said, ¡°All right team, listen up.¡±


    All of them paid attention to what Tisane was saying. She continued, ¡°I am disappointed with your performance today. I had hoped that there would be some level of unity amongst you, but some of us want to attack our own team mates.¡±


    She looked pointedly at all except Marcus. At one point during the fight, all of them had attacked Marcus because of a joke that he had said. It was at that time his eye cover had gotten torn. He had it on till that moment. Tisane had mixed feelings at that time. She was relieved to see Marcus without his eye cover, but was also disappointed that her team had been partly responsible for attacking him.


    Marcus grinned and said, ¡°It is no problem. I forgive you guys.¡±


    ¡°Shut up runt¡±, said a voice from upstairs. It was Lara. Selena came from the washroom at that moment.


    Tisane rolled her eyes and continued, ¡°From what all I observed today, you all need to work on your teamwork skills a great deal. Also, as per the request put forward by Marcus and Brock, we also need to train Selena as an individual fighter.¡±


    They all looked at Selena who returned their stared without blushing. Lara said from above, ¡°Stop staring at her runt.¡±


    Marcus muttered something under his breath. AA said, ¡°As I said earlier, we could all train here.¡±


    Tisane looked at all of them individually as if to seek their approval. They all agreed. Then Tisane turned towards Selena and said, ¡°Come with me Selena. I have something to discuss with you in private.¡±


    As they left the room, Marcus¡¯ eyes followed them like a hawk. He wondered what Tisane was up to.


    ***


    ¡°What did Tisane want from you Selena?¡±, asked Emma. She, Selena and Marcus were now walking back to Marcus¡¯ home. Brock had taken his car to go and meet Flora. He had said that he could drop them but they had refused. Actually Marcus had refused and the other two had followed suit. Apparently they both had something to discuss with Marcus.


    Selena replied, ¡°She wanted to know my real reason for training.¡±


    Emma said guardedly, ¡°And did you tell her?¡±


    Selena looked down and shook her head. Emma saw that she looked tired. She sighed and turned to Marcus, ¡°I had something I wanted to discuss with you.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Can¡¯t it wait till we reach my house?¡±


    Emma shook her head and said, ¡°I am not coming in. I have an appointment.¡±


    Marcus raised an eyebrow and Emma said, ¡°It¡¯s a dental appointment. Are you happy now?¡±


    Marcus did not say anything. Emma said, ¡°As I was saying, Marcus, I want you to help me with something.¡±


    Marcus politely raised his eyebrows. Emma said, ¡°As you know every member of the team will be training Selena during our morning team practice.¡±


    Selena raised her head and looked at Emma at that statement. Emma continued, ¡°I have a feeling that you wish to train Selena alone. Moreover I think you have already discussed it with Selena.¡±


    Marcus and Selena shared a look. Selena said in an accusing tone, ¡°Were you eavesdropping?¡±


    Emma blushed and said, ¡°Sort of. I didn¡¯t mean to. It just happened.¡±


    Marcus gave a short laugh and said, ¡°What about it?¡±


    Emma said, ¡°I want to be present when you train her.¡±


    Marcus looked at Selena for approval. Selena thought for a moment and said, ¡°Fine, but not a word of this to anyone else you are out.¡±


    Emma smiled and nodded. After reaching Marcus¡¯ home, she set out for her dentist¡¯s appointment.


    ***


    ¡°You are unusually quiet today Selena¡±, said Marcus. They were sitting in his living room. Selena looked at him but did not reply.


    She then sighed and said, ¡°I am tired Marcus. I have too much drama in my life.¡±


    Marcus looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and then said, ¡°Did you come here to talk with Taylor?¡±


    Selena did not react to that. She did not show her surprise. Marcus was right. She had come to meet with Taylor. But how did Marcus know?


    She said slowly, ¡°Why do you ask me that?¡±


    Marcus grinned knowingly and said, ¡°I have a sort of a sixth sense.¡±


    Selena snorted. She knew about Marcus¡¯ sixth sense. It was the same thing he had said to her many years ago; a different time; a happier time.


    Selena said, ¡°So, is she home?¡±


    ¡°Who is home?¡±, Taylor chose that moment to come out of her room.


    Selena noticed that Marcus¡¯ body language changed completely. He said, ¡°Apparently Miss Stone has come to meet with you Miss Warren.¡±


    Selena could clearly see he was flirting with Taylor. Taylor smiled and replied, ¡°Why thank you Mr McKnight. It was nice of you to inform me regarding this.¡±


    Taylor and Marcus stood there smiling, looking at each other and ignoring Selena. Selena gave a false cough and they came out of their reverie. Taylor was blushing a bit while Marcus looked unperturbed. He looked politely at Selena.


    Selena said, ¡°Can I talk with you privately Taylor?¡±


    Taylor looked suspiciously at Selena. The she slowly nodded and said in a serious tone, ¡°Come to my room then.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Well then, I will leave you two girls to your pretty little talk and go out for a walk. I doubt you want me to hear what you guys are discussing.¡±


    As Marcus was leaving the house, he paused and turned. They both looked at him. Selena saw that he was clearly trying to say something but was hesitating.


    Finally he said, ¡°Whenever you both are ready, I will be there to help you. No questions asked.¡±


    With that he left the house. Selena looked at Taylor and said, ¡°Do you think he knows?¡±


    Taylor shrugged and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I think it is time to tell him.¡±


    ***


    Marcus looked at Selena. The team training had started the next morning. In the evening Marcus and Selena had met for Selena¡¯s training at the building, which Selena had showed to Marcus. Emma was not present.


    Marcus said, ¡°Should we wait for Emma or do you want to start.¡±


    Selena hesitated. Then she said, ¡°Marcus, I have asked Emma not to come today.¡±


    Marcus raised an eyebrow and Selena continued, ¡°I want to tell you the whole truth today. The whole truth about why I want to learn to fight.¡±


    ¡°Actually we want to tell you the truth¡±, said a voice behind them. They turned to see Taylor coming towards them.


    Marcus said in a serious voice, ¡°I know the truth.¡±


    They both looked at him surprisingly. Selena gaped at him. Taylor stuttered, ¡°Ho... How... How... What... What do you mean?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I know both of you like me and have been secretly meeting to decide who can go out with me and now you have come to a decision.¡±


    He received a whack on his head from both of them. Selena angrily said, ¡°Are you ever serious Marcus?¡±


    Taylor said, ¡°Forum has described a great deal about you to me Marcus. I forgot that she said that I should not take you seriously half the time.¡±


    Marcus grinned and said, ¡°Life is no fun if you are serious all the time.¡±


    Selena shook her head and said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that I liked you once.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Me neither.¡±


    Taylor said, ¡°Anyways, what we wanted to say is...¡±


    Marcus raised her hand and cut her off. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to know.¡± Looking at their faces he continued, ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I am honoured that you feel you should tell me your secret, but the fact is I am willing to help you even without knowing what it is. I know I said earlier I was curious, but I am not right now. I mean what I said yesterday. I will help you guys; no questions asked, but I don¡¯t want to know what pickle you two ladies have landed into.¡±


    Taylor raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°You think it is something illegal don¡¯t you? So if we get in trouble then you can claim ignorance.¡±


    Marcus laughed and said, ¡°If it was something illegal I would be the first to help you. The reason for my lack of curiosity is something completely different.¡±


    Selena said, ¡°And that would be?¡±


    ¡°The reason is that I can claim ignorance. However that is not to save my skin but yours¡±, said Marcus.


    Selena said, ¡°And how is that?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Trust me, you don¡¯t wanna know.¡±


    Selena sighed and looked at Taylor who simply shrugged. Marcus clapped his hands and said, ¡°So, shall we get cracking then?¡±


    ***


    Tisane looked at the date. It was the 1st of June. Tomorrow was the day when she would be registering her team for the qualifying tournament. She felt elated every time she thought about her team and today was no different. The team was getting better. The team work between each of the members was improving. Marcus had been a great contributor in this and he played the role of a supporter which somehow agreed with everyone.


    Tisane got out of her bed and went to the window. She opened it letting the fresh morning air come in. She breathed in deep. Time flies. It was a true expression. Time had indeed flown since they had started training. Forum had become more proficient, her attacks more skilled and accurate than they were before. Alpha was just as dangerous as Tisane remembered. He had also gotten stronger with the team training they had each morning.


    Emma was an interesting fighter. Never had Tisane seen a fighter so focused, so dedicated yet so lonely. Emma always looked lonely to Tisane even though Tisane knew she was not. A strong bond of friendship had developed between her and Marcus. Marcus was now a different story. He had been right. His novel had been a success. He was managing training as well as the publicity of his novel. Tisane wondered whether Marcus really needed the training or was he humouring her? He was on a book tour since last month. He was supposed to be back today.


    Tisane was a bit worried about Brock. He was training the hardest as if he was on a mission or something. Something troubled Tisane about Brock. It seemed that he had some other agenda than simply participating in the world championship. She wondered what it was. The training of Selena was also going on well. Tisane was surprised to find her a quick learner and a skilful fighter. Tisane wondered why Selena had not wanted to be a power fighter in the first place, why she was training right now and did she want to be a fighter in the future? Selena had not given her clear answers to any of this questions and that left Tisane a bit frustrated.


    Lara was hardly in the training sessions. Even though she was the spare member, her archaeological assignments kept her busy. As a result, she was hardly seen in the practice sessions. Tisane had also kept track on the trainings of Juran¡¯s and Wizard¡¯s team. It seemed that they were good. How good; Tisane believed that question would be answered in the qualifying tournament.


    She stepped back from the window. She had to get ready. There was going to be a team meeting today as soon as Marcus came back.


    ***


    Marcus looked out of the window as the plane landed. He had had a successful tour. It was time to come home. It was time for the tournament. Marcus believed that the last five months had been fruitful. Each of his team members had amazing potential and they were honing their skills very well. Marcus had been indirectly helping them.


    Selena however was a different story. She had been getting better and better at an astounding rate. Marcus could tell that she had definitely surpassed some of the power fighters he knew in power and skill. Marcus knew why she was training this hard. He had stopped them that day but he already knew everything. He wondered what would happen if they found out what he knew and how he knew it. He shuddered to think about it. He was not concerned about Selena but Taylor.


    Taylor had stayed with them for a month before going back. Marcus had fallen for her during that period. He remembered her words before she left, ¡°Marcus, I never got to tell you but I like you. I don¡¯t know when I will be coming back, but when I do¡±, she had hesitated a bit and continued, ¡°Marcus, will you go out with me?¡±


    Marcus had grinned, given her a kiss on the cheek and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you come back and then we will see.¡±


    Taylor had muttered ass and had left for her flight. Marcus shook his head when he thought about her. He could have said something better. What he had said to her was the most ridiculous thing. They had kept in contact over the phone after that. Marcus had hoped he would get to see Taylor during his tour but had been unsuccessful.


    Now he was back and in a month the qualifying tournament would start. He had to get his head in the game. He realized he had already reached the luggage belt. He picked up his luggage when it came and headed towards the exit. He smiled when he saw her sister waiting for him. Arya had Chris with her. Along with them was someone he did not expect.


    ¡°Surprise¡±, said Taylor as he walked towards them.


    Marcus did not even hesitate as he reached them. He dropped what he was carrying, pulled Taylor close to him, and kissed her.


    ***


    Brock asked Marcus, ¡°So how was the tour?¡±


    Marcus replied, ¡°It was fine, just fine.¡±


    Brock looked curiously at his friend. Marcus had a wide grin on his face.


    Brock asked, ¡°Why are you grinning like an idiot.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I finally asked Taylor out.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°So, she is here.¡± It was not a question but Marcus still nodded.


    Brock said, ¡°And I assume she said yes and that is why you are so jubilant.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°We kissed.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°And that has you behaving like an overgrown buffoon.¡±


    Marcus sighed and said overdramatically, ¡°I get it Brock¡±, he sniffed for effect, ¡°You can¡¯t see me happy.¡±


    Brock rolled his eyes and said, ¡°You are mental. I am going back to my movie.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Lunch later?¡±


    Brock waved a hand and said, ¡°Yeah, whatever.¡±


    He went up to his room, put on his headphones and turned on a random movie on his laptop. He was not actually watching a movie but thinking. He had met with detectives King and Gregory a few days back. What they had said to him about the upcoming qualifying tournament troubled him. He needed to keep his ears and eyes open. A lot was riding on him.


    ***


    It was the evening of the 1st and Forum was getting ready for the meeting. Her sister knocked on the door and shouted, ¡°Forum, are you ready or not?¡±


    Forum sighed and said, ¡°Just a moment.¡±


    Her sister was always impatient. Five minutes later Forum exited her room to find Tisane waiting in the corridor.


    ¡°You are too slow¡±, said Tisane.


    Forum rolled her eyes and started downstairs. Her room was on the first floor of the house. She wished that Tisane would just call instead of personally come. She was quite capable of reaching the meeting place on her own. But no; her sister had to come and make her life hell.


    Tisane said, ¡°What were you doing that took you so long? You do realize that we are going to a meeting and not on a date.¡±


    Forum did not say anything. She did not want to respond to anything provocative her sister said. Today was not the day. She would wait till the right moment.


    As they headed towards the car Tisane stopped Forum and said, ¡°I had something I wanted to discuss with you before we reach the meeting place.¡±


    Forum said, ¡°Shoot.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°There is something troubling me about Brock. Can you find out and tell me what it is?¡±


    Forum looked at her sister with surprise. She had known that something was indeed troubling Brock but if he had not told her till now, he was not going to say if she asked him directly. In that regards Brock and Marcus were the same. They opened up only after a very long time. They were experts in keeping their emotions bottled up.


    ¡°I will see what I can do¡±, said Forum, ¡°But if he doesn¡¯t want to tell me, he won¡¯t.¡±


    Tisane simply nodded and they got into the car.


    ***


    Selena looked at the gathering. All the team members were there including the manager and the spare fighter. They were meeting at Lara¡¯s mansion. It had become their training place and also their official meeting place. Selena looked at each and every one of the members present.


    Tisane looked a bit nervous. She was reading the rules of the registration for the qualifying tournament one last time before starting the meeting. She had a scowl on her face as if she did not like what she was seeing.


    Forum, Marcus and Emma were having an animated conversation about something. Brock sat brooding behind them. Selena very much wanted to go up to him and say, a penny for your thoughts, but she held herself back. Brock had been distant for the past one week. According to Flora he was dealing with something but she did not say what. Selena let it go.


    AA was talking with his wife who looked completely bored. Lara was their weakest link, their wild fighter according to Selena. Wild fighter was the term coined for power fighters in a team who were highly unpredictable and did not care much about fighting in a team. They were the loose cannons on whom you could not much rely. That is why Selena was glad that Lara was simply the spare fighter.


    Jensen was standing in the background. Zip was also there, however sitting in the office, a glass wall separating him and them. Alistair also sat in his own office. The room they were all in consisted of five offices which were separated from each other and the room by glass walls. The room was hexagonal in shape with each of the offices along its walls and entrance on the wall which did not have the office. Marcus called it the bee room.


    Tisane cleared her throat and began, ¡°The qualifying tournament is going to start in about a month; 1st of August to be exact. We have till 10th of June to register our team. I have already registered our team. I have also read the rules and there were some points that I would like to discuss.¡±


    There was a pin drop silence in the room. Everyone had their focus now completely on Tisane. Alistair had come out of his office and leaning on its entrance to hear what Tisane had to say. Only Zip was uninterested and you could hear the steady tap of his keyboard as he worked.


    Tisane continued, ¡°There are going to be random fight line-up.¡±


    That got a groan from everyone present. Tisane held up a hand and said, ¡°Also the types of fights are also going to be random. This is in sync with the tournament rules.¡±


    There were other concerns of Tisane but Selena soon lost interest. She was thinking about what Taylor had said to her earlier when they had met. The Dark Hand was giving them more time. That was interesting. Selena wondered what had caused them to do this. She was wondering if there was some catch in this but Taylor had assured her there was none. Taylor had also told her that miraculously, the Dark Hand decided not to bother Taylor unless it was absolutely necessary and had taken a Shadow oath to prove it. Taylor said something or someone had got the Dark Hand shaken. Selena wondered what it was.


    ***


    Marcus woke up to a bright sunny morning of June 30th. Tomorrow was going to be the start of the qualifying tournament. He was excited about it. Tomorrow the true test was going to start. He also needed to keep his eyes and ears open. He had found three of them. There were only two to go. He hoped he found them by the end of the tournament.


    Brock woke up troubled. He knew what he had to do in the tournament tomorrow. What detectives Gregory and King had asked him was weighing on his mind heavily. He knew he had been acting slight off for past some time and he knew others noticed it. He had only confided to Flora about it and she was supportive. He had wondered whether he should talk to Marcus about it but decided against it. This morning the thought played on the edge of his mind but he ignored it. It was time to get ready. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.


    Tisane woke up grumpily. She did not want to wake up. She looked at Juran sleeping soundly besides her. She watched him for some time, watching his chest fall and rise up periodically, and then stood up. Tomorrow was an important day and she had last minute preparations to do.


    Forum woke up groggily and looked like a zombie till she had her shower. It had been a long last night and she regretted it right now. The tournament was starting tomorrow and instead of resting properly she was out partying with Evana and Taylor. That was not good. She had to be in top form for the tournament. She had something to prove. And she was going to prove it, starting from tomorrow.


    Emma woke up with a smile on her face. She had a good last night. She turned to look at the girl from last night but all she found was an empty side where she should have been. She gave a snort and stood up. Emma did not mind. She was feeling happy. It was going to be a good tournament.


    Lara saw that Alpha was nervous. She knew that it was some time since he had fought in a proper match let alone a tournament. He had been up early and practicing. He was still practicing and Lara was watching him with a cup of coffee in her hands. She felt concerned for him but she knew he would do well. She had agreed to be the spare fighter because of one reason only. That reason was Alpha.


    Selena had a bad morning. A letter had arrived for her in the morning. She knew who it was from. There was no doubt about it. The hand shaded with black was extremely clear in the picture ensuring who the letter was from. It was the letter that concerned her. They had sent her a short message, three letters written beneath the hand, ¡°BEST OF LUCK!¡±

 The Qualifying Tournament - Part 1

    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.


    ***The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    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.

 The Qualifying Tournament - Part 2

    The team needed a rest for few days after Tisane¡¯s team building exercise fiasco. Then two days later was their second match. So, they did not have time for further team building exercises. However, they did finalize their 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3 team members. The 2 vs 2 team members would be the same as they were during the training session. That means it was Brock and Forum, Alpha and Emma, and Marcus and Lara. For 3 vs 3 the team consisted of Lara, Alpha and Emma, and Forum, Brock and Marcus.


    The day of the match arrived. Everybody was nervous. They knew that Team Oneforce was going to push for team matches. They hoped it did not happen. Team Incognito went to the stadium. They took their seats in the stands besides the fighting field. Tisane went to the fighting field for the coin toss. Todd was also there along with the referee.


    As the two managers and the referee gathered, the referee said, ¡°Team Oneforce has requested team matches for this fight.¡±


    ¡°Line up?¡± asked Tisane.


    ¡°Three matches¡±, replied the referee, ¡°1 vs 1, 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3.¡±


    ¡°Declined¡±, said Tisane.


    The referee turned to Todd, ¡°We stick to our request.¡±


    The referee said, ¡°First coin toss shall decide the format of the fight. Second coin toss to decide who goes first.¡±


    Tisane lost both the coin tosses. Team Oneforce¡¯s format for fighting was on. Also, they were supposed to go first. Today was not her day.


    ***


    The first was the 2 vs 2 fight. Brock and Forum were up. They got to the fighting arena. They did look nervous. Team Oneforce sent Courtney and Jennifer. Brock nodded to both the fighters of the opponent team as they stepped up. The referee told them the rules and the shield around the fighting field was put up. The referee told the fighters to start the match.


    Brock and Forum immediately fell into defensive positions, gauging their opponents. Courtney was standing in front of Jennifer who had a hand placed on Courtney¡¯s back. The next moment Courtney shot towards Brock and Forum. Both Brock and Forum dodged Courtney¡¯s attack but the next moment Forum was hit by a fiery blast sent by Jennifer. Forum managed to block some part of the attack but was hit hard. She was blasted back.


    Meanwhile Courtney had taken a quick turn and was now upon Brock, attacking him with water attacks. This was interesting. Brock dodged most of Courtney¡¯s attack and kicked her which connected. It was not that powerful, but it gave Brock the time to reduce the distance between him and Jennifer. He knew he would be the best fighting against Jennifer and Forum would be good fighting against Courtney.


    Courtney tried to block him but was thrown back with an earthen attack from Forum. Forum charged towards Courtney while Brock attacked Jennifer. Brock was right. Brock was a stronger fire power fighter than Jennifer and he soon had Jennifer on the backfoot. Meanwhile Forum was attacking Courtney, keeping her away from Jennifer.


    However, things did not go as Brock had hoped. Courtney and Jennifer soon managed to escape from Brock and Forum got together. They then attacked together. Brock and Forum were easily pushed back.


    Brock gritted his teeth as he blocked an attack from the attacking duo. He knew that even though Brock and Forum had practiced fighting together, they were long way away from achieving the level of synchronization Courtney and Jennifer were showing. Brock and Forum needed to separate the two again, and fast.


    It was Forum who found the opening. She put a wall between Courtney and Jennifer who were forced to jump away from each other. Before they could even think of getting back together, Forum launched an aggressive attack on Jennifer. Brock had no option but to face Courtney with her water attacks.


    Forum and Jennifer were evenly matched, still Forum became victorious, knocking Jennifer out. However, a stray attack from Brock and Courtney¡¯s fight hit her and she was knocked out. Brock swore and looked at Courtney. Courtney was looking concerned now. Brock realized something than. This was now a one on one fight. He grinned.


    Brock said, ¡°Fire Body¡±, and flames enveloped him completely. He launched a fireball at Courtney which she deflected only to find Brock in front of her. Brock launched a series of attacks.


    He could see Courtney weakening. He said, ¡°Fire Meteor Shower¡±.


    The next moment, huge fireballs rained from above, hitting Courtney hard. She tried to defend herself from the attack and failed. The fight was over. Brock and Forum had won.


    ***


    The next fight was 3 vs 3. With Brock and Forum in the 2 vs 2 fight, Tisane knew who she had to send for the 3 vs 3 fight. It was turn of Alpha, Lara and Emma. Alpha, Lara and Emma stepped onto the field. There was some delay on Oneforce¡¯s side. They finally sent Matt, Matthey and David. This was interesting. Tisane had used her spare fighter in team matches. However, Oneforce was using their spare fighter for 1 vs 1. Was Lisa not a team player.


    However, her concern was not Lisa right now. It was her three fighters who had climbed on the arena. She was concerned about Alpha. For some reason he was in a rut and was not able to break. Initially, Tisane had thought that she would use Alpha in a 1 vs 1 fight but had discarded that idea. If the winning of their match hinged on 1 vs 1 fight, then Alpha would have been poor choice.


    The referee was now done explaining the rules and had gone out. The shield came up around the arena. The fight began.


    ***


    Alpha stayed back as Lara and Emma charged ahead. The three of them had devised on a strategy. Alpha would be defending while Lara and Emma would be attacking. However, Matt, Matthew and David had a different strategy. They avoided the charging Lara and Emma and attacked Alpha.


    Alpha knew this was not good, but he held his ground. He did not have to wait long. Emma and Lara had now backtracked and had separated Matt from the attacking trio. Matthey and David did turn a bit when Emma and Lara physical lifted Matt and with a power punch from each, shot him into the shield surrounding the arena.


    Alpha took this opportunity and attacked David while Emma attacked Matthew. Lara went after Matt. This was good. Incognito had separated Oneforce¡¯s team. They knew from Brock and Forum¡¯s match that Matt, Matthew and David would try to get together once again. However, Alpha, Lara and Emma did not give them the opportunity.


    Emma had tackled Matthew and was raining power punches. Matthew was weak at defending and he was also surprised by the attack. Emma finished her fight with Water Prison. Matthew was enveloped into a bubble of water and he tapped out. Mostly he waved his hand in the water bubble as he was not able to tap out in the normal sense. He was removed from the arena immediately.


    However, Emma had not waited while this was going on. She ran towards Alpha who was taking a beating from David. Alpha was moments away from defeat when Matt crashed into David. Together Alpha, Lara and Emma now pushed Matt and David back. Alpha did not do much as he was exhausted.


    The fight was soon over. Team Incognito had won. Alpha collapsed as they were declared winners. Emma shook her head as Lara crouched to check her husband. They needed to do something about Alpha, and fast.


    ***


    There was no need for a third match as Incognito had won the two out of the three planned matches. They were declared the winner. Marcus looked a bit down. Brock knew that his friend wanted to fight, even though he showed that he was not interested.


    The team was celebrating minus Alpha and Lara. Alpha seemed to be sad about something and Brock knew what. They were a team and they needed to get Alpha back on track. Alpha had stopped officially power fighting after the Elements had won the championship and had devoted his time entirely to archeology. His wife had never been much of a power fighter, but she was still doing better than him.


    Brock knew that as a team, they would have to help Alpha. However, that was a matter for tomorrow. Tonight, they would party.


    ***


    Two days had passed after Incognito¡¯s victory against Oneforce. Alpha woke up with his alarm blaring. He turned it off. He glanced to his right to see that Lara was already gone. He frowned and looked at the time on his mobile. It was 7 a.m. Where the heck was Lara?


    Alpha got up, got dressed and went down to find Jensen ready with Alpha¡¯s breakfast.


    ¡°Where is Lara, Jensen?¡± asked Alpha.


    ¡°Lady Lara has gone to the training ground already. She asked you to come there once you have finished your breakfast¡±, said Jensen.


    Alpha, for some reason had a feeling of foreboding as he heard this. Still, he finished his breakfast and went to the training ground to find his whole team there. He knew why they were present.


    He looked resigned as he walked up to the fighting field where all were standing.


    ¡°Welcome¡±, said Tisane as Alpha reached them, ¡°I believe you can guess what this is about.¡±


    Alpha nodded and started to say something when Marcus interrupted, ¡°We are here to get your fighting mojo back.¡±


    That earned him a whack on the head from various team members.


    Alpha gave Marcus a bemused expression and said, ¡°No one says it like that Marcus.¡±


    Then Alpha turned to Tisane and said, ¡°I thought considering my poor performances in the fights, I would be placed as the spare and Lara would be taking my place.¡±


    As he said this, Lara walked up to him and twined her hand around his. Then Lara spoke, ¡°Do not speak nonsense love. We are here to help you, not demean you. We are your team. We are going to find out what it is that is hampering your performance and find a solution for that.¡±


    ¡°As I said¡±, started Marcus but he was interrupted by Brock who whacked him on the head saying, ¡°Shut up Marcus.¡±


    Alpha smiled at his team and said, ¡°All right then. And how are we going to go about it.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°Let us sit first.¡±


    The team sat down on the stools that were present in the fighting ground. Selena remained standing, looking at something on her tab and Emma was standing beside her looking at what Selena was looking. The others were focused on Alpha though.


    Tisane said, ¡°So Alpha. Will you be able to describe us your problem?¡±


    Alpha looked at his wife, Lara, who smiled encouragingly at him. He took a deep breath and said, ¡°I do not understand exactly myself what the problem is. I have tested my power. It has not reduced but increased over the years. My fighting skills were initially rusty but through training, I am up to the mark. However, during a fight, my body for some reason is not able to cope up with my brain. I mean I know what I have to do in a fight, but something just doesn¡¯t feel right when I do it and for some reason my energy gets expended a lot because of that. Does that make sense?¡±


    There was a moment of silence after what Alpha said. The team members looked at each other and then at Selena.


    Tisane said, ¡°Can you search online for the gist of Alpha¡¯s problem?¡±


    Selena said, ¡°You do realize what Alpha just said falls in line with what Marcus had said earlier.¡±


    ¡°That is what I have been trying to say¡±, said Marcus but everyone ignored him.


    Tisane said, ¡°Just search for it Selena.¡±


    Selena did but she found nothing. Then they all turned to Marcus. Tisane said, ¡°All right Marcus. Your fighting mojo theory. Out with it.¡±


    Marcus looked excited. He leaned forward and said, ¡°Selena could you show us all Alpha¡¯s statistics?¡±


    Selena did as was told and they all looked at it.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Mastery


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Alpha¡¯s Level


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Water


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    3 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Fire


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    1 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Earth


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    1 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Air


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    7 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Shadow


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    2 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Healing


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    2 of 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Cosmos


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    2 of 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Defense


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    2 of 5


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Martial


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    7 of 10


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Energy


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    6 of 10


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Virtual


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    2 of 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td width="208">


    Angel form


    </td>


    <td width="208">


    Yes


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It did not look impressive to Marcus, but he knew Alpha was a strong fighter. The others were waiting for Marcus to say something. Marcus looked at Alpha¡¯s stats again and turned to Alpha, ¡°So, how is your Angel form these days, Alpha?¡±


    Alpha frowned at Marcus¡¯ question. Marcus said, ¡°Try to go into Angel form. People give him space.¡±


    The others stepped back. Alpha powered up. He focused on his Angel form, willing to reach that state but he failed. After some time, he stopped, confused.


    Marcus nodded and said, ¡°You are not in harmony with your Angel form. That is affecting your performance. We have not practiced with Angel forms and I have a feeling you have not switched to your Angel form for a long time.¡±


    Alpha thought for a moment to what Marcus had said and then said, ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t even remember when I last switched to Angel form.¡±


    Marcus nodded. Every power fighter had an Angel form. The Angel form was a mass source of power residing inside a power fighter. Some believed it was the source of a power fighter¡¯s power, but it was not so. It was like a spare battery in a power fighter¡¯s body. When a power fighter fought, they would lose energy as the fight extended. However, once he loses the normal fighting energy, he had an option of using that separate battery. It was the Angel form.


    However, to use the Angel form, you had to be in harmony with it. Experts claimed that being in harmony with your Angel form was simply synchronizing your energy with it¡¯s energy. Marcus did not believe that because he knew better. But, he did not want to preach his theory right now. Right now, he had to help Alpha reharmonize with his Angel form.


    Marcus said, ¡°You need to get back in harmony with your Angel form. Should not be too difficult as you are an Angel yourself.¡±


    Alpha rolled his eyes as Lara whacked Marcus on the head. Alpha Angel. Idiotic play of words.


    Alpha said, ¡°I do not know why I need to get back in harmony with my Angel form. There are many power fighters who do not do that for their entire lives, but they still fight well.¡±


    Marcus looked at Alpha as if he had said the dumbest thing ever in the world. Then he looked at others with an expression saying, this guy, am I right?


    However, the others were looking the same as Alpha. Marcus threw up his hands and said, ¡°You guys are useless. Everyone harmonizes with their Angel forms, consciously or sub-consciously. If you do not harmonize with your Angel form, you cannot fight effectively. Those who claim that they are fighting without harmonizing with their Angel forms are either lying or are completely unaware that they have done so.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± some of them exclaimed.


    Tisane said, ¡°How can you harmonize with your Angel form without you even knowing?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°There is a long explanation for that. I would not like to go into that. I thought your father would have taught you and Forum all about Angel forms. Master Kami taught Chen and me quite a lot about it. Makes logical sense that he would taught his sons as well who should have taught their children.¡±


    From the looks on Tisane and Forum¡¯s faces it seemed that Jian had not taught them about Angel forms. He however did not focus on their plight. He was here to help Alpha.


    Marcus said, ¡°You do know how to harmonize with your Angel form, right?¡±


    Alpha nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I had done it once earlier after all.¡±


    Marcus nodded but did not say anything. If he was correct, then Alpha would find it difficult this time around to harmonize with his Angel form.


    Alpha sat down to meditate. He knew what he had to do. First of all, he needed to relax. Then he needed to focus inside, find where the energy from the Angel form was present. Then he needed to send his personal energy to the Angel form energy and then he knew that the next part was no specific science. It was based on feeling whether the Angel form energy accepted the personal energy or not. Once it was accepted, the Angel form was harmonized.


    Alpha did what he had to do. However, he did not harmonize immediately. It took him four hours approximately before he opened his eyes, coming out of the meditative state.


    Alpha said, ¡°I am harmonized.¡±


    Tisane clapped and said, ¡°Excellent. Let us test it.¡±


    ¡°Right now?¡±


    ¡°No good time like the present, right?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Let him rest Tisane. We can test the harmonization tomorrow. Currently, just go into your Angel form Alpha.¡±


    Alpha focused and energized. This time he was successful. He transformed into his angel form. The normal form and Angel form of a power fighter had only one difference. Angel form power fighters had wings. Alpha¡¯s primary fighting attribute was air. So, his wings were cream colored. The wings were magnificent, spreading about six feet on either side. It also gave Alpha an ethereal look.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    He managed to maintain the Angel form for a few moments before he returned to normal. He was panting now, tired.


    Marcus said, ¡°Harmonization does take a lot out of you. And going into an Angel form, right out of harmonization; I must say I am impressed. Rest for now Alpha. We can continue training tomorrow.¡±


    The team then dispersed. Lara led Alpha back to their room and lay him on the bed. Alpha simply passed out. He was spent. Tomorrow, it was going to be a good day.


    ***


    The next few matches went well for team Incognito. After winning against Carma and Oneforce, Incognito faced teams Red, Charles¡¯ Fellows, Tweens, SHIELD and Prometheus. They won against them easily. The return of Alpha¡¯s fighting form and confidence or as Marcus described, his mojo, helped instill great confidence in the team. Tisane was proud of their progress.


    They faced teams Red and Charles¡¯ Fellows in New York. They faced teams Tweens and SHIELD in San Francisco. Marcus pointed out to Brock that SHIELD was not a bad name and sometimes it was better to follow Superhero stuff. He said all that while making air quotations. They had faced team Prometheus in Boston and had one week break before their last fight.


    The last fight of the qualifying tournament. If team Incognito won, they would be eligible to participate in the World Tournament which was organized in China the upcoming year. Tisane was a bit worried about their next match. They had won against Prometheus, but they would be fighting either team Shadow or team Warlords. She was not that worried about team Shadow. But team Warlords. She knew team Warlords. It was Pikes Harrow¡¯s team and on that team was Daniel Redd.


    Tisane knew of Daniel Redd. Brock and Forum were friends with him. Will they be okay with this fight? It was okay to fight them normally. But this was a proper competitive environment. Tisane was concerned whether they would be okay or not. Tisane was also a bit disappointed. She had hoped that the Warlords would also be qualified for the World Tournament. They were strong fighters after all.


    Tisane had considered the blocks where Juran¡¯s and Wizard¡¯s team were present in, but she had not considered other strong fighting teams. That is why this came as a bit of shock for her when she found out that Warlords were in the same block as them. She had found out when Marcus had pointed it out, after they had won four matches. She had been so focused on immediate competition and her team¡¯s performance that she had not considered long term competition.


    One week later was 25<sup>th</sup> of September. That is when the final for her block would be. They were the 5<sup>th</sup> block. The matches were from 21<sup>st</sup> to 30<sup>th</sup> September, one final match from each block on one day. It will soon all be over on 25<sup>th</sup>, for the Qualifying Tournament at least.


    ***


    Pikes grinned at Carla when Daniel won their fight. Three fights won. They had won the match. Carla simply rolled her eyes at Pikes. Pikes ignored her. He was happy. His team had won again. Now only one match remained and then they would be participating in the World Tournament. He was excited.


    Pikes had watched yesterday¡¯s match between Incognito and Prometheus. He had expected Prometheus to win. After all Prometheus had seasoned fighters some of whom Pikes knew personally. However, Incognito had won. Pikes had been surprised. Pikes knew Tisane. He had doubted Tisane had come up with a good team. However, her team had been winning non-stop in the Qualifying Tournament.


    However, this would all end in a week¡¯s time. In a week it would be Incognito versus Warlords and Pikes was sure Warlords would win. Tisane would come up with her little team, but she was new. Pikes was a seasoned manager. This was not his first team. However, this was his best team so far. And he was going to take them to the World Tournament.


    He smiled again as he shook the opposing team manager¡¯s hand, now focused on the final match. Tisane would never know what hit her.


    ***


    Team Incognito did not practice much during the week. They knew they would be fighting 1 vs 1 matches against Warlords. Daniel¡¯s team. Tisane knew Pikes was the manager but amongst her team, Warlords was known as Daniel¡¯s team. The team consisted of Daniel Redd, Scott Denver, Alex Sullivan, Troy Baker and Amit Patel. They were all friends. They had no spare fighter. However, they were all strong fighters.


    Tisane was initially concerned about Brock and Forum. They would be fighting their friend¡¯s team. But she should not have been that concerned. Her team was charged up for the final match. Win or lose, they had decided to make this match unforgettable.


    She smiled as she watched Brock and Emma discuss strategy against Warlords¡¯ players. The final match of the Qualifying Tournament was going to be good one.


    ***


    The day of the final match dawned. Brock woke up and got ready. He went downstairs to see Marcus making breakfast. Marcus must have gotten up late. Usually, Marcus had breakfast ready by the time Brock came downstairs from his room.


    Brock was nervous. Marcus looked calm but he was always calm. Brock knew that it was tough to get Marcus nervous considering Marcus¡¯ proficiency and power. However, Brock had hoped that Marcus would be a bit serious. Although, Marcus was making breakfast and Brock had observed that his friend was always relaxed, always enjoying when he was cooking. Seriously, Marcus should not have been a power fighter. Brock could see Marcus was happier when he was writing or cooking. Marcus had always wanted to be a writer.


    And Marcus had fulfilled his dream partially. Marcus¡¯ book had been published. However, it had not been as much of a hit as Marcus had hoped to be. That did not stop him though. He was already writing another one, in between the time he got from training and power fighting. Brock also believed that Marcus could be a professional chef if he wanted to.


    Brock put all these thoughts away from his mind as he greeted his friend. Then he sat down and said, ¡°Are you excited for today?¡±


    Marcus smiled and said, ¡°Today is going to be fun. I want to fight Daniel. See what he is made of.¡±


    ¡°Daniel is strong. Do not bite more than you can chew Marcus.¡±


    Marcus scoffed and said, ¡°Dude, you know I am definitely more powerful than Daniel.¡±


    ¡°Marcus, your arrogance is now turning into your ego. You need to calm down.¡±


    Marcus frowned at that and said, ¡°Am I sounding too pompous?¡±


    Brock gave a short laugh, ¡°Pompous! Yes, that is the perfect word for it. You are sounding like a brat who has grown up with all the privileges.¡±


    Marcus was thoughtful for a second. Then he said, ¡°I had not realized I had been sounding so bad. I must think.¡±


    Marcus continued to cook in silence. Both the friends finished their breakfast and started for the arena. The final match was in their hometown as both the teams were from Los Angeles. As they proceeded towards the stadium, Brock felt his excitement and nervousness growing. Daniel, here we come.


    ***


    Arya looked at the betting rates Big D had provided her. She was sitting again with Chris in the special enclosed room reserved for Big D in the stadium. She was here to watch the final between Incognito and Warlords. Shane was also with her today. Tensions were running high. Arya knew what it meant for Tisane that her team would participate in the World Tournament.


    Arya looked right. Shane was excited. He had already bet on some of the matches and Arya had scolded him a bit. Chris was currently sitting up in his carrycot, but Arya knew he would be asleep soon. Chris slept a lot and on time and Arya was happy about that.


    Big D came up to Arya and said, ¡°Do you want to bet on the match?¡±


    Arya looked at the rates again. She bet on only one match, Marcus¡¯ match. She knew Marcus would win. It was easy money. Big D took her bet but did not say anything. The announcer then announced the teams. All focus turned on the fighting field. The final match of Group 5 for Qualifying Tournament was now starting.


    ***


    Tisane watched the coin flip upwards and fall down. It had been Pikes¡¯ call. He had called heads. The coin landed on tails. Tisane had won the toss. She chose to go second. Their team had decided on that. They tossed the coin again. This time it was Tisane¡¯s call. She called heads. The coin landed on tails. Pikes won the toss. He chose 1 vs 1 fights format for the match. Tisane nodded to that. She had expected that and would have selected the same format.


    She got down from the fighting field and went back to the team. They knew what they had to do. They were waiting for Warlords to make their play first. Tisane wondered who Pikes would send first. Pikes was talking to his team, gesturing very much. Some time later the referee announced, ¡°Team Warlords, select your first fighter. You have thirty seconds.¡±


    Pikes nodded to one of the team members, but Tisane could not figure out who. There was no need to think that much as Troy Baker stepped forwards.


    Tisane knew who would be fighting Troy. They had pre-decided that fight match-up as they had done with their earlier fights. Tisane looked at Emma. Emma nodded and started towards the ring. Troy stepped up on the field. Emma stepped up almost immediately afterwards. The first match was about to start.


    ***


    Emma and Troy sized up each other. The referee was explaining to them the rules. He then went out and the shield came up around the fighting field. The referee told them to begin. Troy did not waste time. He attacked Emma with a fireball. Emma dodged it but Troy had followed that attack with another fireball. That hit Emma. However, it was not as strong as Emma had expected.


    She put up a water shield and advanced forwards. Troy was using ranged attacks. Emma was more of a melee fighter. She closed up the distance between them, either dodging Troy¡¯s attacks or using her water shield to block them. As she neared, Troy used body of flame, and he was enveloped by fire. He punched her and Emma sidestepped the attack. She hit him but the fire around Troy¡¯s body hurt her hand.


    Emma stepped back, wishing to reevaluate her strategy but Troy did not give her time. With his flame enveloped body, he pressed his attack against her. Emma was forced to defend herself. She would have to strategize on the fly.


    As she ducked one of Troy¡¯s punches, she saw an opening and took it. She focused on her water shield and tackled Troy. This reduced the impact of Troy¡¯s flames. Troy went down and Emma jumped up, away from him. They were not allowed to attack downed opponents. Troy was not technically down but he was flat on his back, although only for a few seconds.


    That was all the time Emma needed. She activated her Water Domain. The area five square meters around her was now flooded with water. Water swirled around her.


    She started attacking Troy with jet streams of water, extinguishing his flames. Troy did not seem much bothered by that. He grinned and activated his Fire Domain. The entire fighting field heated up. The area of Emma¡¯s water domain remained unaffected though.


    They both now attacked each other, Troy¡¯s attacks more severe than before. However, Emma¡¯s Water Domain was absolute. It was the strongest of any of the elemental domains she had fought against. And Troy¡¯s Fire Domain was no different. It was weaker than her Water Domain.


    She blocked Troy¡¯s attacks and attacked back more fiercely. Punches, kicks, jet streams of water and she also brought ice attacks now. Ice spikes for attack, ice wall for defense and ice poles for movement were used. The grin on Troy¡¯s face had disappeared and was replaced by intense focus. However, Emma knew it was too late now. She was going to win.


    Troy took a hit of her attack directly and punched her back with a fire strike. The punch was hard, and Emma was thrown back.


    She regained her footing and balance, but it took her some time. It was all the time Troy needed. He said, ¡°Fire domain final attack, meteorite of fire.¡±


    Damn. Troy was going to hit her with his ultimate attack. This was not good. Emma could see the energy getting collected in front of Troy. A huge ball of flame was forming. This was not good. Emma was not sure if she could defend or dodge this. However, taking it head on¡­ No, that was a bad idea. But it was the only idea she had.


    She started running towards Troy. As she neared him, she jumped, horizontal and covered herself with a block of ice just as Troy released his attack. The attack hit Emma dead on, and all her ice melted in an instant, but her momentum carried her forward. Free from the ice and slightly burned, Emma put all her power in a final punch and punched Troy hard.


    Troy flew back and hit the shield and he fell down. He was knocked out. Emma knew. However, she also fell down and rolled like a rag doll for some time. She stopped and people could see she was singed. Emma fought to hold back the darkness but was unsuccessful. She passed out too.


    The referee examined both the fighters and declared the fight a draw. The first fight was over. The fighters were taken in stretchers to the recovery room. It was a draw.


    ***


    Tisane was a bit shocked about the outcome of the first match, but she recovered quickly. It was time for the second match. The referee instructed Pikes to send their fighter. Tisane could see Pikes was shaken too. Tisane believed that Pikes would have been more shocked than her and he did not seem to have recovered.


    Team Warlords took some time and sent Amit Patel next. He was their second strongest fighter. Tisane looked at Alpha. Alpha stood up and everybody wished him luck. Lara gave him a fierce kiss. Grinning, Alpha went up to the fighting field.


    Tisane saw the pre-fight formalities being completed and the shield came up. The second fight was starting.


    ***


    ¡°I have seen your fights old man¡±, said Amit, ¡°You do not seem to be in top form these days. I wonder why they still ask you to fight. No matter. This will be easy for me.¡±


    Alpha raised his eyebrows at that but did not reply for some time. Then he took his stance and said, ¡°I am here to fight, not talk.¡±


    ¡°That was cheesy.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°I mean that was a bit like those action movies with cheesy dialogues.¡±


    ¡°Look, can we just fight now?¡±


    Amit nodded and took his stance. Both the fighters circled each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Alpha attacked. Amit simply flowed through Alpha¡¯s attack and punched him. The next moment Alpha was attacked with what he could only describe as a whip of water.


    Alpha was thrown back. He stabilized himself to see water swirling around Amit in form of tendrils. This was interesting. Alpha did not let Amit¡¯s attack discourage him. This was good. For the first time, in a long time, he was feeling right. The harmonization with his Angel form had done wonders for his power fighting. His attack felt right even though it had been easily defended by Amit. Him being attacked like this also felt right. He was back. He knew it, and he was going to take Amit down.


    Amit now attacked Alpha with more whips of water. Alpha used wind strikes to divert them. It was easy. No whip landed on him. He then threw a wind blast at Amit. A gust of wind hit Amit like a huge punch, and he was thrown back.


    Amit stabilized himself the next second and attacked Alpha with ice fall. Spikes of ice rained on Alpha. Alpha dodged them as Amit closed the distance between them. Alpha was expecting that. As Amit got closer, ready for his attack, Alpha quickly sidestepped Amit, and attacked him with an air slash. Amit was thrown forward, a gash appearing on his back.


    The gash healed quickly as it did with all power fighters, expending Amit¡¯s energy. Alpha did not give Amit time to stabilize. As Amit was thrown forward, Alpha was already following him. Right before Amit fell, Alpha caught Amit by his cuff and threw him into the shield which was now close by. Amit crashed hard into the shield and Alpha used air acceleration strike. This accelerated him right into Amit who had hit the shield with a flying kick of both the legs. Amit felt the impact of the kick, the impact of the shield and he fell down.


    Alpha stepped back. The referee started the count. At the count of five Amit got up but fell down again. He did not get up again. The referee counted to ten. The fight was over. Alpha had won.


    Alpha was smiling. He had done it. He was back. He was happy. As the medical team led both the fighters away, Amit on a stretcher and Alpha walking, he looked at his team. They were cheering him madly. Alpha grinned widely at them and waved. They had now the lead in the final match and it was because of Alpha.


    ***


    Tisane watched Alpha fight and she held her breath. She saw the form, the technique, the energy, everything. It was the old Alpha, the Alpha she knew. He was back and he was fighting well. Amit had no chance. And she was right. Alpha won the match. Team Incognito had the lead. They now had to win two more fights.


    It was time for the next fight. Team Warlords sent their next fighter. It was Alex Sullivan. Tisane looked at her sister. Forum stepped up. The next fight would be Forum vs Alex.


    ***


    Forum was nervous when she stepped up. She took a deep breath and faced Alex. Forum could not see any hint of nervousness on Alex¡¯s face. Or he was a very good actor. He was jumping on his feet, warming up.


    The referee declared the fight to start. Alex attacked Forum. Forum had not been paying attention. She got hit, bad and was thrown back. She quickly regained her composure and attacked back.


    She threw some earthen spikes at Alex which he dodged them effectively. He retaliated with wind slices which Forum defended with earthen walls and attacked back with earth slabs.


    The two fighters threw ranged attacks at each other, using different attacks, different techniques. However, both of them were not getting anywhere. They were sort of fighting each other to a status quo.


    Forum knew she had to do something. Alex seemed to have had the same thought. Forum activated her Earth Domain the same time Alex activated his Air Domain. The fighting field shook for a moment as the floor shifted beneath her feet. Air started swirling around Alex.


    They both looked at each other and grinned. Then they attacked. Slabs of earth and gusts of wind crashed against each other. The attacks of both the fighters increased in intensity but they were still fighting themselves to a status quo.


    Forum was a bit irritated now. Both she and Alex seemed to be fighting similarly. She decided to use her ultimate attack.


    Forum said, ¡°Field of destruction.¡±


    At once the fighting field started to shake as if it was struck by a strong earthquake. Large spikes rose out of the field trying to impale Alex. Large slabs rose out of the field trying to crush Alex. Boulders tossed out of the field, rising up in the air for few meters and then crashing straight towards Alex.


    Alex was hit with all these attacks and dust was rising making it hard to see what was happening to him. Soon the attack finished, and the dust cleared. Forum saw that the fighting field around Alex was wrecked. However, Alex was still standing, bruised, but still standing. Both the fighters were panting heavily.


    Forum saw that Alex was readying himself for his ultimate attack. Forum did not waste time as Alex said, ¡°Air Dance.¡±


    She covered herself with a dome of earth as fierce cutting winds surrounded her. The winds pierced her shield, but they were not many which managed to get through her dome. She gritted her teeth and held her ground as Alex poured more energy into his attack. Soon the attack was over, and Forum cancelled her dome.


    Both the fighters were now panting heavily. They were both standing. They both took a step forwards and fell face down. The referee counted to ten. The fight was over. It was a draw.


    ***


    Pikes was now worried. Three fights were over. Two had been draw and they had lost one. Tisane¡¯s team was far stronger than he had anticipated. He needed to win the next two fights in order to win the match. Daniel and Scott were the two fighters remaining.


    Pikes had to decide who to send next. He had not thought of sending Daniel and Scott. He had expected that the others would win their fights. It would be tough, but he had not expected the loss nor the draws. He was now not sure. He needed the next win. He knew he had to send Daniel.


    Pikes turned towards Daniel, ¡°Daniel, you need to go. You need to win.¡±


    Daniel nodded and said, ¡°They are stronger than expected. If I go, they will send Brock. I believe I can win against Brock. He has not defeated me yet and I have gotten stronger. However, this would mean Scott would have to fight Marcus. And Marcus here is an unknown.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Scott.


    ¡°From what I have gathered from Brock and what I had discussed in the team meeting, Marcus is strong. We do not know how strong, but we know that he has not lost a single fight in this tournament. Do we wish to take such a risk?¡±


    Pikes said, ¡°Do we have an option? We need the next win. Otherwise it is all over. The last fight will be a formality. And you know that.¡±


    The referee called team Warlord to hurry up as the time was almost over. Daniel started walking towards the fighting field. Daniel could see the referee breathing a sigh of relief and turning towards team Incognito.


    Tisane Brock and Marcus were now discussing something. There was something wrong, Daniel could feel it. He did not know what.


    Daniel stepped into the field. He was confident Brock would come to fight. However, Marcus started to walk towards the field. It seemed that team Incognito wanted to finish this. Daniel wished that the organizers would allow Angel form in the matches. However, this was the Qualifying tournament and Angel forms were not allowed.


    Marcus stepped into the ring. The referee explained the rules and went out. The shield was set up. The match was starting. Daniel focused on gathering his energy. This was it. It was time to win this.


    ***


    The referee signaled the fight to begin. Marcus could see the shadows swirling around Daniel. Daniel was a Shadow master. This fight was going to be interesting. Daniel would be taking this fight seriously. Incognito had to win only one match. However, Warlords had to win the next two matches to proceed further.


    Marcus was now debating. Should he let Daniel win the match or should he win it. He looked at the crowd. It looked excited. This was the finals after all. And the fighters were giving a fabulous display.


    Daniel said, ¡°No hard feelings Marcus. But I am going to destroy you.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Are you taking a page from Alpha¡¯s book? Because this was too clich¨¦.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I am going to win this. You may be strong. But you are not stronger than my shadows.¡±


    Marcus blinked at Daniel. Then he looked back at Brock and mouthed, This guy! Seriously!


    Then he turned back to Daniel who had already started his attack. Shadows shot outwards from Daniel towards Marcus. Marcus already had his divine shield up. The shadows hit the shield and dissipated. Daniel started attacking more and more with increasing strength to test Marcus¡¯ shield. However, Marcus¡¯ divine shield held, as he knew it would.


    ¡°You have a strong defense¡±, said Daniel, ¡°But it seems it is all you know. How is you attack Marcus McKnight?¡±


    ¡°You used my full name¡±, said Marcus, ¡°Ooh, I am trembling.¡±


    ¡°Your sarcasm is weaker than your attacks.¡±


    ¡°Definitely¡±, said Marcus and attacked. He closed the distance between him and Daniel, blocking the attacks with his divine shield and attacked. He punched Daniel and Daniel sidestepped. Daniel grabbed Marcus¡¯ punching arm and with the other hand threw a punch at Marcus¡¯ gut. Marcus stopped the punch with his other hand and heated up his hands. Daniel kicked Marcus, letting go of his grip and breaking Marcus¡¯ grip and jumped back.


    Daniel said, ¡°Fire Mastery!¡±


    Marcus grinned and attacked Brock with an earthen spike, followed by an ice spike and finally a fire ball. Then he shot a pure energy ball and used his martial mastery quickstep. Through that technique, he hit Daniel considerably hoping he had done sufficient damage. However, Daniel recovered quickly. It seemed that Daniel had lots of energy. This fight was going to take a while.


    Daniel now activated his Shadow Domain. The fighting field was momentarily swathed in darkness which then shrunk to enter Daniel. Shadows danced around him now and he was covered in a dark cloak. Daniel¡¯s eyes looked fires burning from the pits of hell.


    Marcus muttered, ¡°Nice Shadow Domain¡±, as Daniel attacked.


    Marcus blocked all of Daniel¡¯s attacks. Marcus could see Daniel was getting desperate. Here Daniel was, with his domain activated and here was Marcus, blocking each of Daniel¡¯s attacks without even activating his domain.


    Daniel gritted his teeth as Marcus blocked one more of his attack. He jumped back and said, ¡°Your defense is pissing me off. Is that all you can do? Why don¡¯t you attack?¡±


    Marcus looked at Daniel with a furrow on his face and said, ¡°You do make it difficult to attack you, with all the prancing around that you are doing.¡±


    ¡°You are tiring me out. I know that. But it won¡¯t work. I won¡¯t let it work.¡± Daniel started to gather energy. Marcus realized what Daniel was doing and tried to charge but the level of energy Daniel was gathering resulted in Marcus spending more energy than he wished to get up to Daniel. So, he went back, farther from Daniel.


    It seemed that Daniel was gearing up for his ultimate attack. It seemed to be a big one. Marcus debated whether to defend the attack, dodge it or take it head on. He rejected the head on idea as it was stupid. He was strong but he should not take such risks. He decided that based on the attack he would either dodge it or defend it.


    Daniel had now gathered a lot of energy in front of his extended hand. It was dark and shadowy with shadows swirling around the big ball of shadow energy. This was huge.


    Daniel said, ¡°Shadowpocalypse.¡±


    He shot the huge shadow energy sphere at Marcus with a speed Marcus did not anticipate. Marcus used his quickstep technique to dodge the attack and appeared behind Daniel who was panting now as he had expended a lot of energy behind the attack.


    Marcus could feel Daniel panicking as he whispered in Daniel¡¯s ear, ¡°Martial Mastery level 10 technique, shadow fist.¡±


    The next moment Marcus hit Daniel with a shadow fist. It was not the normal shadow fist technique which Shadow Mastery had but Marcus¡¯ own technique which he had developed during his tenth level of Martial Mastery. It was at least a hundred times stronger than the normal shadow fist and it focused its power on a highly specific area.


    Marcus¡¯ attack hit Daniel hard and he was thrown forwards at a great speed, straight into his own attack. Daniel¡¯s Shadowpocalypse hit Daniel hard and he was thrown right into the shield. There was a crunch and Marcus expected Daniel was down.


    The referee started the countdown. At the count of seven, Daniel suddenly stood up.


    ¡°This is not over, Marcus¡±, said Daniel, ¡°My friends and I have worked hard over the years. We have fought together, won together and formed a great team together. I will not see our efforts wasted against a team who was not even a team before this and is made up of fighters who have just recently registered. I shall not allow a team that is so new, so raw into the World Tournament. We are going to win Marcus and I shall defeat you.¡±


    ¡°You know Daniel¡±, said Marcus, ¡°You are sounding like an anime villain with a tragic background story. But you know what your problem is. You are weaker than me. This is not an anime. This is a power fight. The strong, the fast and the cunning win against the weak, the slow and the dumb. You are strong. You are fast. And you are cunning. However, against me, you are none of the three.¡±


    Marcus closed the distance between them and whispered in Daniel¡¯s ear, ¡°And that is why, you will lose this fight.¡±


    Marcus punched hard, putting a majority of his energy behind it. It was a pure energy punch and he clocked Daniel right across the jaw. Daniel was thrown from one end of the fighting field to the other end, right into the shield. He fell down, out cold. This time he did not get up. The referee counted to ten. The fight was over. Marcus had won.


    ***


    Tisane and Brock were jumping up and down. Arya was jumping up and down in Big D¡¯s special viewing room with Shane looking at her with concern and also taking care of Chris who had suddenly woken up crying. Alpha, Emma and Forum were also cheering in the recovery room.


    It was over. There was no need for the final fight. It was decided. Two wins to Incognito and two draws. There was no need for the fifth fight. Team Incognito had won. They were going forward to the World Tournament.


    There were tears in Tisane¡¯s eyes as he stepped on to the ring to hug Marcus before he was taken to the recovery room. She was happy. She had done it. They had done it. They had won. A new team, with new players. And they had won the Qualifying Tournament.


    In four days, the names of the final teams shall be announced and team Incognito will be one of them. As she shook hands with Pikes, she could not contain her excitement. Team Incognito had done it. World Tournament, here they come.

 The Result Conundrum - Part 1

    Tisane looked at the final line up. The Qualifying Tournament was officially over. She was at the Tournament office to check the list of the final teams. She was sure that the other team managers had either come or would be coming to the Tournament office to check the list. She would not be the only one.


    She had also asked Juran to come with her. Juran had said he would catch up with her. Tisane did not want to wait for him. She went up to the administrative clerk and asked for the list of winning teams. The clerk smiled as she saw who it was asking for the list. Tisane also took another copy of the list for Juran.


    As she was reading the list, Juran came in. Tisane hugged him. She knew that his team had already made it as he had been in Block 3 of the Qualifying Tournament and had a fight before her team. Wizard had also made it. Both Juran and Tisane had seen his team¡¯s fight.


    Juran said, ¡°You look rather happy today.¡±


    ¡°And you are not because?¡± asked Tisane.


    ¡°Come on, we already know we are in. We have been partying for a week now.¡±


    It was true. The official list came out a week after the final match of Block 8. Juran, Tisane and Wizard had been celebrating a lot, especially with their teams.


    ¡°Yes¡±, said Tisane, ¡°But today it is official. Let us look at the list together.¡±


    They did what Tisane said. The final teams they read were


    Team Illusionists from Block 1


    Team Havoche from Block 2


    Team The Angels from Block 3


    Team Chronos from Block 4


    Team Incognito from Block 5


    Team Tandem from Block 6


    Team Tharrer from Block 7


    And Team Valhalla from Block 8.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t get over the fact that Wizard and his team members named their team Tharrer. What sort of a name is that?¡± said Tisane.


    Juran said, ¡°It is a Wizard sort of name. Now come on then. What are your plans for today?¡±


    ¡°I was planning a team meeting. Official results are out and then maybe we party.¡±


    ¡°None of that¡±, said Juran, taking her arm, ¡°Today, you are spending time with me. Just the two of us. Come on then.¡±


    ¡°But I have made plans. I need to cancel-¡°


    ¡°Already taken care of. Now come on¡±, Juran steered Tisane into his car. Tisane giggled as she complied.


    A figure watched them from the shadows. The figure did not just watch them. It watched each and every manager that came to the Tournament office. It was time to make his move.


    ***


    Marcus woke up to the smell of bacon being fried. He frowned. Today was his day for making breakfast. Then who was making it? He looked at the time. It was 8 a.m. Oh dear. He slept till late. Usually he was up by 6 a.m.


    Careful not to wake up Taylor who was sleeping beside him, Marcus got up from the bed and got dressed. He went down to see Brock frying bacon and making freshly squeezed orange juice.


    ¡°Good morning¡±, said Marcus, ¡°Sorry, I woke up late.¡±


    Brock grunted but did not say anything. Marcus could see that his friend was lost in thought and was mechanically making breakfast.


    Marcus said, ¡°Taylor is here. I hope you are making extra.¡±


    Brock grunted again but did not say anything. Marcus did not comment on this peculiar behaviour of his friend for some time.


    Then Brock said, ¡°Marcus I am worried.¡±


    Marcus nodded, encouraging Brock to continue.


    Brock continued, ¡°Before the Qualifying Tournament, Detectives King and Gregory invited me to the police station. There they told me that they had heard from reliable sources that something was going to happen during the Qualifying Tournament, something that would ensure the presence of a particular team in the final eight. They did not know the name of the team, but they thought that either the manager or the team members might sabotage some other team to win. They asked me to keep this quiet and to keep an eye out. However, the Qualifying Tournament is over. The eight teams are out, and it seems that their concern was unfounded. However, I feel like we are missing something. Something is going to happen soon. I believe that the team which was supposed to be in the final eight is not there and someone is going to do something about it.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Are you saying that there would be some political pressure on one of the final teams to back down?¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡±, said Brock, ¡°maybe not. I really don¡¯t know, and it worries me. I just hope nobody gets hurt.¡±


    ¡°We are power fighters Brock¡±, said Marcus, ¡°We are bound to get hurt.¡±


    Brock finished preparing the breakfast. Taylor came down soon after that. The three of them had breakfast, Marcus and Taylor talking, Brock thinking in silence. After breakfast, Brock said goodbye to the couple and left. He was going to the police station. He needed to talk with the detectives again.


    As he left the house, Brock had a sense of foreboding. He hoped that he was wrong, and everything would be all right. Things do not have the way of going as per plan and Brock did not realize the mess he was going to step into.


    ***


    Trent looked at his partner and then at Brock who was sitting in front of them. Brock had come to visit them, troubled because he was still under the impression that something was going to go wrong.


    ¡°It was a false tip, Brock¡± said Dorian, ¡°We get that sometimes. It just doesn¡¯t hurt to be cautious even though we get a false tip. And this Qualifying Tournament was a big thing. We could not afford to take chances. You were not the only power fighter we approached; you know.¡±


    Trent nodded to what his partner had said, ¡°I understand that we asked you to be cautious during the tournament and when nothing happened you are feeling a sense of, how do you put it, emptiness, I believe, no. Whatever the case, you should not be concerned. Celebrate. I hear your team made it to the final round. So, first party hard then focus on your training. You will need further training if you wish to survive in the World Tournament.¡±


    Trent could see Brock was still not convinced. Dorian said, ¡°Let us do one thing. You think something is wrong, something bugs you regarding these results, then bring us something concrete. We can do nothing regarding this until we have something to work on. And we shall also ask some of our officers to keep an eye out near the Tournament office. I hope it allays your fears.¡±


    Brock nodded and stood up. He said, ¡°I will look around a bit. Maybe I am being paranoid, but something does not seem right to me. If I find something concrete, I will contact you. Till that time, goodbye detectives.¡±


    Brock left. Trent looked at his partner who simply shrugged. Trent said, ¡°Now, what the hell are we going to get into? Dorian, at least have someone check out the Tournament office for anything suspicious for the next couple of days. If there is nothing, we will pull them out.¡±


    ¡°Is it necessary?¡± asked Dorian.


    Trent nodded and Dorian proceeded to do as Trent had told. Trent went to get coffee. He needed it after the discussion with Brock. He hoped nothing came out of Brock¡¯s fears.


    ***


    A week had passed after the official results of the Qualifying Tournament were out. It was now the 15th of September. Emma Knight woke up with a smile on her face. Today was going to be a good day for tonight she was going on a date. Her name was Willow Matthews. Emma had met Willow during one of the celebratory parties her team was having.


    Willow was a member of the team Illusionists, the winner of Block 1 of the Qualifying Tournament. Emma had made an instant connection with her and was glad that she was at a stage that she had moved on. They had chatted over the few days since they had met and had decided on a date that night.


    Emma hummed as she got ready, made her breakfast and ate it. Then she wondered what she would do for the day. Her team had now started to train. The World Tournament was supposed to start on the 8th of January next year. Incognito needed to be in tip top shape if they wanted to have a shot at the cup. However, they had no team training planned today.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Emma decided that she would go and meet Marcus. He would probably be training Selena in that abandoned warehouse where he always trained her. She would help Selena and get some training in return. Marcus was strong and a good teacher. She had already improved a bit under his tutelage.


    As she was exiting the building, she got a message from Willow. Her face split into a grin as she started to read it. Then her grin fell as she read the contents of the message. Willow was cancelling her date due to some team emergency. Emma was a bit disappointed, but she messaged back that she was okay with it. Then she messaged whether she could help Willow.


    Willow called. Emma picked up the phone, ¡°Hello Willow.¡±


    Willow¡¯s voice was a bit panicked as she said, ¡°Emma, do you know someone who knows the Authorities?¡±


    Emma said, ¡°Probably my manager, Tisane. I could ask her. What is the matter?¡±


    Willow replied, ¡°One of my teammates, Judy, has suddenly become Unstable. She is being held in the detention centre, but this is all happening too suddenly. They are saying that she is going to explode soon but I do not understand. We want someone who is an expert on Unstables to examine her, but the authorities of the detention centre are saying no. I don¡¯t know how much you can help but can you help us, somehow, please.¡±


    Emma could hear how Willow¡¯s voice broke. She said, ¡°I will talk with Tisane. Let us hope she can help.¡±


    She cut Willow¡¯s call and called Tisane. Tisane picked up on the second ring, ¡°Hello Emma. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?¡±


    Emma explained the situation to Tisane. Tisane said, ¡°I will call my father and talk with him. Till that time, go to Willow and find out in detail what is happening. I will call you back.¡±


    Emma was already out of the door. Outside her apartment building she ran into Marcus and Selena. She was surprised to see them. She asked what they were doing there.


    Marcus said, ¡°Oh, we cut our training short. Some down time. Wanted to know if you wanted to hang out.¡±


    Emma hurriedly explained the situation. Marcus frowned at that. He said, ¡°Come on then. This seems suspicious. Selena, I am going with Emma. Will you be alright heading back alone?¡±


    Selena asked, ¡°Can I come?¡±


    Marcus shook his head, ¡°No, too many people. Willow might be okay, but her team might not be. They would not want many strangers at the detention centre watching her team member.¡±


    Selena did not protest but she did not look happy. Marcus and Emma took a cab to the detention centre. There they were refused entry. However, Marcus talked with someone on the phone and they were allowed.


    At the reception desk they asked where team Illusionists was, and they got the information. They went down in the elevator to the holding cell block G. Unstables were kept in special holding cells where the general population would be kept safe if they exploded. Unstables always exploded, dying in the process. It was not a good way to go. And full power fighters normally did not go Unstable. This was a highly rare case.


    Marcus and Emma reached block G, cell no 20. Judy¡¯s team was sitting outside Judy¡¯s cell. It seemed that Judy¡¯s parents were also there. Emma saw Marcus looking through the one-way glass into the cell. Judy was pacing nervously.


    Emma was however focused on Willow who had seen her. Emma and Willow started towards each other.


    Willow said, ¡°What did Tisane say?¡±


    Emma said, ¡°She said she was going to talk to her father and get back. She has not called back yet. I am waiting for her call.¡±


    Willow nodded and introduced her team members. The Manager and Statistician of team Illusionists were brothers, Thomas and Frederic Warrow. The other fighters were Zoe Zalan, Joe Wright and Geoffrey King. Illusionists did not have a spare fighter. The fighters nodded as the introductions were made. Willow also introduced Marcus and Emma to Judy¡¯s parents, James and Jane but they seemed to be in shock and they simply made a polite exchange.


    After the introductions, Marcus moved towards the cell and Emma stayed with Willow, grabbing her hand, not knowing what else to do. Marcus was not doing anything, just staring at Judy with a thoughtful expression on his face. Thomas joined him and they started discussing something that Emma could not hear.


    Then, a man entered with detention centre guards trailing behind him. James stood up as the person entered while Jane remained sitting, in the same shocked state. Zoe went to sit beside her to comfort her. Thomas made his way towards the person who was coming who Willow told Emma was the director of the facility, Hugo Murphy.


    Emma could see that Hugo was tall and balding and looked more like a scientist rather than the director of a facility which detained Unstables.


    Hugo made straight for Marcus and Emma stepped forward to listen to their conversation.


    ¡°Marcus McKnight¡±, said Hugo, ¡°To what do I owe the pleasure. I did not expect you to ever step foot in here, or any Unstable detention centre for that matter.¡±


    Marcus¡¯ eyes narrowed but he said, ¡°I am here for Judy.¡±


    Hugo looked at Judy and turned back to Marcus, ¡°She is an Unstable.¡±


    ¡°And till yesterday, she was a full-fledged power fighter¡±, said Marcus, ¡°Full-fledged power fighters do not become Unstable overnight. There is something wrong over here and you know it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡±, said Hugo, ¡°But you know the rules. I cannot let anyone examine her. The risk, if she explodes, is high. Two lives would be lost instead of one.¡±


    Thomas and James tried to say something, but Marcus raised his hand to stop them. Marcus said, ¡°I want to examine her.¡±


    Hugo gave a short laugh, ¡°And what makes you an expert on Unstables?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°You and I both know what makes me an expert. If you need further convincing then wait a minute.¡±


    Marcus pulled out his phone and called someone. It was Jian Chan. Marcus talked for a bit explaining the situation. Then he gave the phone to Hugo who went out of the range of hearing of the people present. It was a short conversation.


    Hugo came back, his teeth gritted, gave the phone to Marcus and said, ¡°You know the drill. I will send an escort to get you in the room.¡±


    ¡°Thank you¡±, said Marcus pocketing his phone and then to the confused present people he said, ¡°I am an expert on the Unstables. If you do not have any issues, I shall examine Judy. Is it okay?¡± The last question was directed at James who simply nodded.


    Willow said, ¡°Wow, I did not know you had such capable friends Emma.¡±


    Emma eyed Marcus who was walking away with a guard and said, ¡°Me neither, Willow, me neither.¡±


    And they all waited, for Marcus, to tell them what was wrong with Judy.


    ***


    Every power fighter had an Angel inside of them. It depended upon the power fighter as to how harmonized they are with their Angel. Every power fighter harmonized with their Angel. The level of harmonization varied from power fighter to power fighter. A strong harmonization led to power fighters receiving their Angel form. However, there was another level of harmonization that very few power fighters knew of. A level of harmonization beyond the Angel form was when you could talk to the Angel inside of you.


    Those who had achieved this level of harmonization did not share this knowledge with others easily. It was their secret; their power and they did not wish to share this knowledge. Marcus was no exception. He was also a unique case. He did not have a single Angel form. He had three Angel forms with ascending levels of power. He had harmonized with each of his Angel till the point that he could talk with each one of them. He called them White Angel, Dark Angel and Cosmic Angel or WA, DA and CA in short.


    As he made his way to the cell where Judy was held, Marcus communicated with his Angel forms. He could multitask, talk with Angel forms and also with others and carry out normal activities simultaneously.


    Marcus said to his Angel forms, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Cosmic Angel replied, ¡°Feel her energy. Then we could tell you more. There is no point speculating as of now.¡± The other Angels agreed with him.


    The guards and Marcus now reached Judy¡¯s cell. They opened the cell door and had instructed Marcus beforehand to get in quickly. Marcus complied. He entered Judy¡¯s cell and the guards closed the cell door behind him.


    Marcus looked around the cell. Even though it was a cell to hold Unstables, it looked like a prison cell. There was one-way glass opposite to the door Marcus had entered. The single bed was to his left and the door to the bathroom was to his right. The walls and doors were made of reinforced steel and Marcus could see that at the top there were two funnel type structures constructed on the roof. He knew their purpose. When an Unstable explodes, the energy will be sucked in by these funnels and directed to a containment chamber where it would not harm anyone.


    Initially they used to keep Unstables directly in the containment chamber. That led to Unstables viewing other Unstables exploding. It was traumatizing. This practice was stopped and holding cells were created. These holding cells were also used to hold power fighter prisoners, which were once in ample numbers, but had reduced over the years because of stricter laws and regulations.


    Judy turned to Marcus as he entered and said, ¡°What are you doing here? Don¡¯t you know it is dangerous? I can feel it. I am going to explode any moment now. You should not be here.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I am going to check on you. Understand why you became Unstable. Fully fledged power fighters do not become Unstables overnight Judy.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry. Who are you? And what makes you an expert on Unstables?¡±


    ¡°I am Marcus¡±, said Marcus and he considered the other question. What made him an expert on Unstables? Because he knew why a power fighter became an Unstable. Researchers had studied long and hard to find out the reason a power fighter became Unstable. They had figured out that a power fighter became Unstable if the Angel inside them decided not to harmonize with the power fighter and rejected the power fighter completely. An Unstable is a person whose Angel is basically exploding because he has rejected a power fighter. The process takes some time as the body of the power fighter is resisting the Angel¡¯s rejection.


    Marcus knew all that and he knew something else. If you have harmonized to a level that you can talk to your Angels, then with the help of your Angels you could talk with Angels of other power fighters.


    Marcus however said, ¡°You just have to trust I am an expert. Now give me your hands.¡±


    Judy said, ¡°I am sorry. You need to go¡±, then she shouted, ¡°Hey guys. Guards. Anyone. Can you get this guy out of here? I do not want his death on my conscience.¡±


    Marcus said firmly, ¡°No one is going to die. Not if I can help it. Now stop being an idiot and give me your hands.¡±


    Judy did not know why she did it but the way Marcus talked; his confidence made her extend her hands forward. Marcus grabbed her hands gently and closed his eyes. Then he said to his Angels, ¡°Do your thing.¡±


    Marcus felt White Angel probe Judy¡¯s Angel. Nothing happened for some time. Then he felt it. It was Judy¡¯s Angel. Judy felt something too because she jumped a bit as White Angel made connection with Judy¡¯s Angel.


    White Angel said, ¡°What is wrong? Why did you reject your power fighter suddenly? Why did you make her an Unstable?¡±


    The reply came from Judy¡¯s Angel, ¡°Argh! I did not reject her. Too much pain. Something in her system. Something painful. Trying to resist. Can¡¯t resist much longer. She is poisoned. I am poisoned. Poison making me explode, making her Unstable. Can¡­ help?¡±


    Marcus could sense the pain of Judy¡¯s Angel. He asked White Angel, ¡°Can you understand what he is talking about? What poison?¡±


    White Angel probed the energy in Judy¡¯s body. Marcus could sense some foreign energy. He did not know what it was, but it seemed to be the source of Judy¡¯s problem. He asked White Angel to analyse it, but Judy¡¯s Angel¡¯s scream tore through him. Judy was also screaming now.


    ¡°Oh shit!¡± said White Angel, ¡°They are going to explode.¡±


    Marcus made a split-second decision. With the help of his Angels he cast a divine shield net. This net protected each and every cell of Judy¡¯s body except for the exploding Angel. He created a path through this net such that the energy of the exploding Angel would pour out of Judy¡¯s mouth. He put a divine shield on himself too.


    Judy¡¯s Angel exploded. The energy poured out of her mouth, getting sucked through the funnel on the roof. The light from the energy blinded Marcus and he had to close his eyes. When it was over, he released Judy¡¯s hands. She collapsed. Marcus checked her pulse and heaved a sigh of relief. She was alive. However, he knew what the missing Angel meant. Judy was not a power fighter anymore.


    The door opened and a team of guards and medical professionals entered. They checked Judy¡¯s condition and wheeled her out of the cell. They checked Marcus who simply told them that he was fine.


    He had done it. He had saved Judy¡¯s life. But he had learned something disturbing. Someone was poisoning the energy of power fighters to make them Unstable. This was not good. He needed to find that person; and fast.

 The Result Conundrum - Part 2

    Trent King was taking Judy¡¯s statement. He had heard disturbing news from Jian Chan. Jian suspected someone was poisoning power fighters to make them Unstable and explode. There had been only one case till now, Judy Trout, who was sitting on a hospital bed in front of him, but Jian Chan believed this was a threat based on the word of Marcus McKnight.


    Trent needed to talk with Marcus too. It seemed that he had saved Judy¡¯s life, stopped her from dying when she exploded as an Unstable. The result was Judy was alive, but she was not a power fighter anymore. Trent wondered how Judy was taking all this. Right now, she was answering all his questions.


    She did not know who wanted to poison her. She did not know if such a poison existed. She did not even know how, when or where she had been poisoned. The doctors had found a needle mark on her neck, but she did not even remember being injected in the last few weeks.


    This was all very confusing, and Trent was at the end of his thinking capability. His partner Dorian did not have much to comment regarding this too. After they finished questioning Judy, they thanked her, her parents and left.


    Dorian asked, ¡°So what now?¡±


    Trent replied, ¡°We go talk to Marcus.¡±


    ¡°And this will help how?¡±


    ¡°Maybe he knows something. Remember about the explosion in the plane. He knew it was the work of Dark Hand.¡±


    ¡°Whoa there! Do not just throw that name around.¡±


    Trent shrugged, ¡°I rather doubt they would be listening to each and everything every power fighter is saying. Although, do you think it would be them again?¡±


    Dorian thought for a moment and said, ¡°They are powerful, but they work for the power fighters, not against them. This feels like something different.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Marcus and Jian are right? More power fighters are going to get infected.¡±


    ¡°You have to admit how dangerous this is¡±, said Dorian gesturing in the direction of the hospital, ¡°A power fighter turned Unstable. That does not happen. And it was because of a poison which no one can identify and it has not even left a trace in her system. Also, she does not even remember being injected. You know what this means right?¡±


    ¡°I can tell you about the memory thing. It had to be a powerful Illusion master. Only they can do something like this. Level three definitely. However, about the poison, we need to find something about it fast. Either find a way to stop it or stop the person doing it.¡±


    Dorian shook his head and said, ¡°We are detectives Trent not scientists. We need to find the person behind this. Let the experts take care of the poison. But first we need to find the poison.¡±


    ¡°And this all boils down to our visit to Marcus. Come on. Let us check his home¡±, said Trent.


    Dorian nodded and both the detectives entered the car. They were going to pay Marcus a visit.


    ***


    Marcus was currently sitting in Musings with Brock, Forum and Evana. He was telling the others about what had happened with Judy. They were not taking it well. Especially the part where they found out that Marcus could talk with his Angel. Brock knew because Marcus had told him most of his secrets regarding his power, but the girls did not know.


    ¡°Wait a minute¡±, said Forum, ¡°You can talk with your Angel. How is this possible?¡±


    ¡°Ask your father¡±, said Marcus, ¡°He knows.¡±


    Forum threw up her hands, ¡°Why did he not say anything? Why didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Marcus took a moment before replying, ¡°As I explained, talking with your Angel requires a higher level of harmonization. To harmonize to that extent, you have to take the initiative on your own. Your Angel appreciates that. The Angel does not appreciate you taking guidance or short cuts. Harmonization with your Angel up to this level is basically realizing your true potential. And there are no shortcuts for pure hard work.¡±


    Forum did not say anything to that. However, Evana said, ¡°So, what you are saying, that if we want to get stronger, we need to harmonize with our Angel up to a level that we can talk with it?¡±


    Marcus nodded, ¡°It is not easy, however. You have the knowledge now. This would make your Angel think that you are not worthy as you did not seek the initiative on your own. You would have to work extra hard, empathize with your Angel, to reach a level of harmonization where you could talk with them.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you tell us?¡± asked Evana.


    ¡°There was no way I could explain everything by keeping this a secret. Do not worry. This does not mean you won¡¯t be able to harmonize with your Angel up to the same level as me. Just that you would have to work extra hard.¡±


    Both Evana and Forum tried to say something, but Brock cut them off, ¡°Enough. We are getting off topic. We need to know one thing though. Did you manage to find out what it was which made Judy unstable?¡±


    ¡°I detected a foreign energy in Judy¡¯s body. I did not know what it was. Judy¡¯s Angel called it poison of some sorts. I was not able to do much before the Angel exploded¡±, replied Marcus.


    They were all sitting in silence for some time. Their drinks lay untouched for some time now. The door opened and Marcus¡¯ gaze went towards the entrance. Juran, Wizard and Tisane had walked in. They took a table some distance away from where Marcus and the others were sitting.


    Forum said, ¡°Urgh. Tisane is here. Come on. I don¡¯t think we can discuss much over here now.¡±


    They started to debate whether they should stay or finish their drinks and leave. Marcus, however, was looking at Wizard keenly. It seemed to Marcus that Wizard looked a bit under the weather. But his instinct told him something different. When Marcus saw Wizard¡¯s hand tremble a bit when he called the waiter, Marcus stood up and walked up to Juran, Tisane and Wizard.


    Wizard had his back to Marcus while the other two saw him approach and waved. Marcus ignored them and grabbed Wizard¡¯s arm.


    Wizard said, ¡°What the¡­¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Shh. Let me examine you.¡±


    Marcus immediately called White Angel.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Wizard.


    Marcus said to White Angel, ¡°WA I think Wizard is in the same predicament as Judy. Although at an earlier stage. Could you examine him?¡±


    White Angel sighed and said, ¡°Let me check.¡±


    All conversations of Marcus with his Angels occurred inside of him and no one outside could hear it. So, Marcus said to Wizard, ¡°I need to check something Wizard. Just give me a minute. I am sorry about this but it¡¯s important.¡±


    Marcus closed his eyes and grabbed both of Wizard¡¯s arms now. White Angel made a connection with Wizard¡¯s Angel.


    Wizard¡¯s Angel said, ¡°Why have you invaded my power fighter, brother?¡±


    White Angel quickly explained the situation to Wizard¡¯s Angel.


    Wizard¡¯s Angel said, ¡°So you think my power fighter is infected with this foreign energy?¡±


    White Angel replied, ¡°Can you detect anything foreign in his system? Because my power fighter feels like something is wrong.¡±


    Wizard¡¯s Angel sighed and focused on Wizard¡¯s energy. He shuddered in a few seconds.


    Wizard¡¯s Angel said, ¡°What is this? I feel it, brother. Go ahead. You feel it too. It is small, but it seems to be steadily growing, making its way towards me. What is it? I have never felt anything like this before.¡±


    White Angel probed Wizard¡¯s energy and Marcus and him both felt it. The poisonous energy making its way towards Wizard¡¯s Angel; on its way to corrupt him.


    ¡°What is to be done?¡± asked White Angel to Marcus.


    Marcus said to Wizard¡¯s Angel, ¡°Can you take over his system and purge out the foreign energy.¡±


    Wizard¡¯s Angel said, ¡°I could but Wizard here has not harmonized to that level.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Forget harmonization. If this energy reaches you, Wizard shall become Unstable and you shall explode.¡±


    Wizard¡¯s Angel thought for some time and then said, ¡°Please leave brother. I need to talk to my power fighter. For healing him I shall do so. But it will also reveal to him that he needs to harmonize further. But I understand the need. Better a knowledgeable power fighter than a dead power fighter.¡±


    Marcus and White Angel closed the connection and let go of Wizard¡¯s hands.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Wizard said, ¡°So, what¡¯s the diagnosis doctor? Am I going to live?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°You will get your answer soon.¡±


    Wizard¡¯s eyes suddenly widened. Marcus knew what was happening. Juran and Tisane tried to ask him what was happening, but Wizard raised a finger and stopped them. He closed his eyes while Juran and Tisane turned towards Marcus.


    ¡°What is happening Marcus?¡± asked Tisane.


    ¡°All right, long story short¡±, said Marcus, ¡°Wizard is infected the same way Judy was, but it is a very early stage of infection. So, Wizard has realized and is trying to fight it.¡±


    ¡°And how is he going to do that?¡± asked Juran.


    Before Marcus could answer, Wizard opened his mouth and a ball of light came out. The ball of light exploded, a minute explosion, and fizzled out.


    Pops shouted, ¡°Hey, take your power fighting tricks outside.¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°Sorry Pops, it was an emergency¡±, and to Wizard he said, ¡°Was that the foreign energy?¡±


    Wizard nodded and said, ¡°What the hell is happening?¡±


    And for the second time that day, Marcus sat down and explained to people about Judy¡¯s poisoning and harmonization with Angels.


    ***


    Marcus looked at Jian Chan as he approached him. Jian had just come out of Wizard¡¯s room. After Marcus had explained, as fast as he could, to Juran, Tisane and Wizard as to what was happening, Juran had insisted on taking Wizard to the hospital. Wizard had been thoroughly examined and the doctors had not found anything wrong with him. Still, the doctors had insisted on keeping him for 24 hours for observation.


    Jian had come to visit Wizard and now he was coming for Marcus. Marcus was still there because Tisane had said she had further questions for him. Marcus could see Tisane trailing behind Jian. Brock, Forum and Evana were also nearby. They were curious about what was happening and did not want to be felt left out.


    Jian approached and said, ¡°Wizard is all right. He said you are the one who healed him.¡±


    Marcus nodded, not wanting to tell Jian that it was actually Wizard¡¯s Angel. He was tired of explaining. He knew Jian knew about the levels of harmonization for Angels. Jian continued, ¡°I am impressed. This was a job better than Tyra Strong and she is one of the best power fighter energy healers I know.¡±


    Marcus did not say anything. The others had surrounded Marcus and Jian now. Jian looked at the others and sighed.


    Jian said, ¡°I heard about what is happening. Judy and Wizard are not the only ones. Two other power fighters were also suddenly found unstable. They were saved though, by Tyra.¡±


    ¡°Who were the others?¡± asked Brock.


    ¡°Roger Cairn and Stuart Child¡±, replied Jian, ¡°They are team members of teams Havoche and Valhalla.¡±


    There was a moment of silence and Tisane said what everyone was thinking, ¡°Someone is targeting the winners of the Qualifying Tournament.¡±


    ¡°Keep that down Tisane¡±, said Jian looking around, ¡°We do not want to start a panic.¡±


    ¡°Then should we be discussing this in a hospital?¡± asked Tisane.


    Jian nodded and said, ¡°All of you come to my office in the evening. We have a lot to discuss.¡±


    Jian left after that. All the others looked at each other. Marcus, Brock, Forum and Evana left after that. As Marcus walked, he thought of something. He excused himself from the others. He needed to talk with Chen.


    ***


    The meeting, according to Jian, had not gone well. He had invited all the managers of the winners of the Qualifying Tournament along with Marcus, Brock, Forum and Evana as he had extended his invitation to them. He has also invited the Shadow Council, seven members including himself, Tyrin Redd, Kazin and Tyra Strong, Doug Young, May Walsh and Tempest Angel.


    They had discussed in length regarding what was happening to the fighters and the managers of the winners of the Qualifying Tournament and what the next step should be. Jian had already thought of what he wanted to do but had taken everyone¡¯s opinion. Then he told the others what he had planned.


    Jian wanted to keep all the teams at one location. There was a hotel near the outskirts of Los Angeles; Hotel Tall Oaks. He considered it to be a secure enough location. He would be providing additional security via the police too. He wanted the teams to stay there till this matter was resolved. Tyra would also stay as she was a good healer and knew how to take care of the poisonous energy affecting the power fighters.


    There were many who did not like the plan. Even Kazin, Tyrin and Doug opposed it. Everyone had their own opinion. However, Jian considered this to be the best course of action and had convinced the others to the best of his abilities. The decision had been made when no one else had been able to come up with a good plan.


    Thus, it was decided. The teams and Tyra would be staying at Hotel Tall Oaks till the police finished their investigation. The training of the teams would be affected but Jian had said that the lives of the team members and their managers and statisticians was more important than training.


    So lost was he in thought regarding the meeting that he did not even feel the shift of power in the room; did not even feel the presence of the person who had entered through the window and had shrouded himself completely; did not even feel the prick of the injection on his neck. The shrouded person smiled as he exited. He had just given Jian a large dose. Soon, Jian would be no more.


    ***


    Marcus packed quickly. He did not pack much, only the bare essentials. He thought about Chen and how he was going to contact his friend. Marcus would do it tonight from the hotel. Hopefully they would all be given their own rooms.


    He exited his room to find Brock already packed and waiting downstairs. For some reason, Selena was also present. She had her packs with her. There were three of them. She looked as Marcus came out of the room.


    Selena said, ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    Marcus grinned and said, ¡°Oho, why does it sound like you are going to break up with me?¡±


    Selena grinned back and said, ¡°Shut up idiot. I want to talk about my training.¡±


    Marcus said grimly, ¡°I am sorry, but we shall need to wait. Let this all get sorted out. You are not the only one concerned about their training.¡±


    Selena huffed but did not say anything. The doorbell rang and Brock opened the door to Taylor. She rushed up to Marcus saying, ¡°I heard. I came to say goodbye for the time being.¡±


    Marcus kissed her and said, ¡°I am sure this will all get sorted out soon.¡±


    Taylor said, ¡°I am worried about you.¡±


    Brock and Selena snorted at that and Taylor glared at them.


    Marcus smiled and said, ¡°You do realize that I have the power to heal this poison. This means that the poisoner shall not be able to affect me much.¡±


    Taylor nodded but still looked a bit apprehensive. The doorbell rang again, and Brock opened it to one of Jian¡¯s representatives. They checked and entered the car that had come for them. Taylor looked a bit tearful and Marcus kissed her before getting in.


    He said, ¡°Take care of yourself Taylor. I will be back soon. How did you get here? Will you be able to go back?¡±


    Taylor nodded and gave Marcus a kiss goodbye. Then she waited at the porch till the car disappeared from her sight. She turned towards her own car, feeling fear, not for her, but for Marcus.


    ***


    Marcus looked at his small room and sighed. He was not going to enjoy living here, even temporarily. He had finished unpacking and was wondering what to do when he remembered. He called Chen on the phone.


    It was some time before Chen picked up.


    ¡°Hello¡±, said a groggy voice.


    Marcus looked at the time and swore internally. It was about 2 pm in Los Angeles. It meant that it was around 5 am where Chen was. It would be one more hour before everyone woke up at the Chinese academy.


    Marcus said, ¡°I am sorry to wake you up, but this is urgent, Chen.¡±


    Chen replied, ¡°I am awake.¡±


    Marcus explained to Chen what all had happened. Chen was silent for some time as he digested the information.


    Then Chen said, ¡°We could study the poison here Marcus if we could get a sample, but that way does not seem feasible. Moreover, the way the people are being attacked, it feels like a high level of illusion mastery. Warn the other fighters. Maybe they would have a fighting chance. I will talk with my father. Learn if something like this had happened before. I will get back to you soon.¡±


    Chen cut the call. Marcus put his mobile phone on the bed and walked up to the window of his room. He had a view of the swimming pool. He could see some of the power fighters already lounging around the pool. That was fast. He went in search of Brock. He hoped the power fighters would be safe here.


    ***


    Brock opened the door to find that it was Marcus who had knocked.


    ¡°Hello there Marcus. Come on in¡±, said Brock.


    Marcus entered and said as Brock closed the door behind him, ¡°I do not like this Brock. I want to help catch whoever is doing this and not stay here.¡±


    Brock said slowly, ¡°You did not say anything about this earlier. Why the sudden change?¡±


    Marcus looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, ¡°I was already doing my own investigation in a way. And I saw that Jian Chan had made up his mind. There was no other alternative. Protesting would not have helped.¡±


    ¡°So, what do we do?¡±


    ¡°We?¡± Marcus raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Of course, I am helping, you idiot.¡±


    Marcus grinned and said, ¡°We go and meet Tyra then. I have some questions for her regarding the poison.¡±


    Brock nodded and the friends left in search of Tyra. At the reception desk they found out her room number. She was on the third floor, room 310. Marcus and Brock went up and knocked at her door. She took some time opening the door.


    ¡°Oh! Marcus and Brock. To what do I owe you boys the pleasure?¡± asked Tyra as she opened the door.


    Marcus smiled and said, ¡°Mrs. Strong. Can we talk?¡±


    Tyra invited Brock and Marcus into her room. Marcus observed that it was the same size as his or Brock¡¯s. Tyra took the only chair in the room while Marcus and Brock sat on the edge of the bed, trying to get into a comfortable position.


    Tyra laughed and said, ¡°It is all right. Lean back. Lie down if you want to.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°That would be weird.¡±


    Tyra said, ¡°So, what do you boys want to talk about?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°About the poison that has been affecting the power fighters.¡±


    Tyra was thoughtful for a moment. Then she said, ¡°What do you want to know about the poison?¡±


    Marcus said, ¡°I want to understand exactly what it is. I know that is a form of energy which corrupts the Angel inside of you, but how is it made? What is it made up of? And how in the world does it fit inside an injection for I assume that is the method of delivery considering the prick marks on the victims.¡±


    Tyra raised her eyebrows, ¡°These are some serious questions Marcus. Tell me why should I give you an answer?¡±


    ¡°Because I can heal them as well as you. I also have reached the level of harmonization with my Angel that I can talk to him. I also do believe the way to stop this is to understand the poison. We can get to the source through understanding only.¡±


    Tyra considered Marcus for some time. Brock was apparently forgotten. Tyra soon turned to Brock and said, ¡°And what is your stake in this Mr Young?¡±


    Brock simply pointed at Marcus and said, ¡°I am supporting him.¡±


    Tyra nodded and said, ¡°I was not able to recover much of the poison while treating my victims and I believe you were able to recover nothing. As a result, we have a very small sample to study. I have sent it to the labs at the Unstable Detention Centre but they have not identified its contents yet. They keep asking for a larger more initial stage sample and you should know how hard that is to obtain.¡±


    Marcus and Brock both nodded at that. It seemed that they were at an impasse and there was nothing new that they could find out from Tyra.


    Still Marcus asked, ¡°Do you have any idea who could have made such a poison?¡±


    Tyra said slowly, ¡°That is a matter for the police and it is not right to interfere in their investigation.¡±


    The message was clear. Marcus should not get involved. Marcus and Brock thanked Tyra and left her. Tyra took a deep breath as they left. Their involvement worried her just as much as the security of all the power fighters in the hotel right now. She did not even feel it. The shift in her room. The shadow approaching her. The prick on her neck. She had now been infected.

 The Result Conundrum - Part 3

    Marcus woke up. He did not know what had awakened him but he felt that there was something wrong. Illusion he realized. Someone was trying to cast an illusion on him. He turned towards the window to see a shadowy figure walk slowly but confidently towards him. Marcus turned on the lights and focused to see the shadow around the figure fall away.


    It was a girl, mid twenties with blonde hair and Marcus could see a mask on the lower half of her face. She was dressed completely in black from head to toe. Black cap covering her hair partially, black t-shirt, pants, socks and shoes; the whole package. Only her eyes and her pony were visible but Marcus could not focus much on that.


    Marcus said, ¡°You know I can see you right.¡±


    The girl stopped and her hand twitched. Marcus focused on that to find she was holding a syringe.


    ¡°Interesting¡±, he said, ¡°Is that the poison? Are you the one making power fighters unstable?¡±


    The girl¡¯s eyes widened for a fraction of a second and then they narrowed. She seemed to be focusing on something.


    Marcus said, ¡°Can we talk? I have so many questions. I want to know... Wait, what are you doing? Are you trying more illusion attacks? They won¡¯t work now, you know.¡±


    The girl did not say anything but her hand moved. Marcus could not see the syringe in her hand any more. He looked at her shifting. She was going to try and make a run for it. Marcus smiled.


    Before the girl could move, Marcus moved. He was fast and he knocked her out before she could do anything. Then he bound her hands and legs with energy manacles. He uncovered her face but could not place her. He called Selena.


    Selena took some time to answer, ¡°What?¡± Her voice was groggy.


    Marcus asked her to come urgently. Selena did take about five minutes to come.


    She grumbled as she came in, ¡°What is it?¡±


    And then she saw the unconscious bound woman and was instantly wide awake, ¡°Who is this?¡±


    Marcus showed her the syringe that the girl had in her pocket. It was not the only one. There were many. Marcus had not counted them but had hoped that he had got all of them out.


    Marcus said, ¡°I think I may have caught the person poisoning everyone.¡±


    ¡°And instead of calling the authorities you called me?¡±


    Marcus nodded and then said, ¡°Wait. Good point. Although could you identify who this is. She seems familiar but I don¡¯t know. A fellow power fighter maybe?¡±


    As Selena went about the task of identifying the girl, Marcus called detective King. Five minutes later, King, Trent and a bunch of policemen had barged into Marcus¡¯ room.


    ¡°Rude¡±, Marcus had muttered.


    Trent King had asked Marcus about the situation and Marcus had explained.


    ¡°How did you knock her out so quickly?¡± Trent asked.


    ¡°Oh¡±, replied Marcus, ¡°It¡¯s a technique I learnt from Master Kami. If I ever want to avoid a power fight and the other person still insists on attacking, then I use this technique. It is called Energy Drop. I send my energy through the energy focal points in her body. The disruption causes an energy vacuum causing her to immediately pass out. The limitation of this technique is that I have to do it fast. Very fast. Otherwise it won¡¯t work well. I combine it with my Quick Step attack to get the desired result.¡±


    Trent was gaping at Marcus when he finished. His partner Dorian broke him out of his reverie while saying, ¡°Come on. We need to take her to a secure location.¡±


    ¡°Can I come?¡± asked Marcus and he was denied permission to come.


    Trent said to Dorian, ¡°You take her. I need to collect everyone together. She had a total of 10 syringes with her. I don¡¯t know how many more. Others may be infected.¡±


    Dorian took the girl, along with a couple of police men, out of the room. The other police men started to get the rest of the power fighters to the conference room. Marcus pretended to go after Selena and then slowed down. When Selena turned he gave her a wink and started walking in the opposite direction. She shook her head and continued to the conference room.


    Marcus started to go in the direction Dorian had taken the girl. Selena had not identified her till the police had come. Marcus had a suspicion she was not working alone. Whoever she was working with would not be happy with her getting captured.


    Marcus approached the staircase. Dorian had taken her down the stairs. He went down. He could hear them. They were exiting from the back. Marcus hurried after them.


    He exited the hotel to quietness. All the policemen were out cold and four shadowy figures were reaching for the girl.


    Marcus said, ¡°I would not do that if I were you.¡±


    The four turned and looked straight at him. Marcus grinned and said, ¡°The rest of the miscreants I presume.¡±


    All of them were dressed as the girl. There were three guys and one girl. Definitely a team. Definitely a power fighting team. Marcus frowned though. Something was missing. The next moment he felt the shift. Someone had used an illusion attack on him. He had defended it subconsciously. He turned to see two more shadowy figures behind him. A guy and a girl. He grinned. He was in so much trouble.


    ***


    Brock looked at the gathered sleepy power fighters. Detective King had gathered every power fighter in the large banquet hall of the hotel. Brock was trying to look for Marcus but he could not find him. He was not able to see the rest of his friends either. Someone tapped from behind and he turned. It was Selena.


    Brock asked, ¡°Do you know what is going on?¡±


    Selena gave him the short version of what was happening.


    ¡°And where is Marcus?¡± Brock asked.


    Selena said, ¡°Mostly following Dorian to interrogate the woman he knocked out.¡±


    Brock pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Somehow he was not surprised. This was turning out to be typical Marcus behaviour. Going off to do everything on his own.


    At that moment the rest of the team members of team Incognito reached Brock. Following them were the rest of Brock¡¯s friends.


    Forum asked as she reached them, ¡°Do any of you know what is going on?¡±


    Selena repeated all that she had told Brock a few moments back. This time she told it to a larger group. Everyone looked kind of shocked after she was finished.


    ¡°And Marcus just went after the detective!¡± said Daniel in a clearly surprised voice.


    Brock tried to reply but at that moment Tyra called everyone for attention. She was standing on a podium which was somehow a part of the banquet hall.


    Tyra said in a loud voice, ¡°Can I please have your attention everyone. Please be calm and quiet. I have something to announce.¡±


    She waited till the noise in the banquet hall had died down. Then she continued, ¡°As you all know that you have been asked to spend some time at this lovely establishment because there is some threat to the power fighters who had won the qualifying tournament. There are rumours flying around as to what the threat is but I am going to tell you the truth now. Your managers would have told you some part of what is happening but let me elaborate. There is someone out there who has invented a certain kind of poison which makes power fighters unstable.¡±


    Murmurs broke out at this statement and Tyra had to ask everyone to simmer down again.


    She continued, ¡°There is no cure for this poison as of now except for early detection. No one knows who is doing this and the plan was to have all the power fighters here safe till the investigation was finished.¡±


    ¡°That was a dumb plan¡±, someone from the crowd commented and there were murmurs of assents amongst the crowd.


    Tyra said, ¡°It does not matter right now how dumb the plan was. Currently I have called all of you here because of an emergency. The people responsible for infecting the power fighters with poison have somehow infected some or a major part of you tonight and you might not even be aware of it.¡±


    Panic erupted all over the room and it took Tyra a few minutes to get all the power fighters calm again.


    She said, ¡°Do not worry. If you are infected tonight then you are in early stages and I have a cure for that.¡±


    Everyone was now listening to her with rapt attention. She continued, ¡°Everyone link hands. Managers, power fighters and even statisticians join in. The police can please ensure no one comes in during this time. It would be great.¡±


    Everyone started to comply with what Tyra had said. Brock was a bit surprised that there were no more queries or protests. It seemed that the gravity of the situation and the authority and reputation of Tyra was enough to get the power fighters into action. They all linked hands, making not a circle but a squiggly worm type shape closed at both ends. Tyra had come down from the podium to hold hands.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Once all of them had joined hands Tyra asked them to close their eyes. Tyra did the same. There was silence in the hall. Then Brock heard it.


    ¡°I suppose it can¡¯t be helped¡±, said a voice which seemed to be coming inside of him.


    Brock was surprised but he kept his grip on those beside him.


    Brock said out loud, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The voice said, ¡°No need to speak. Direct your thoughts towards me and I will hear you. No one else can.¡±


    What? thought Brock, does that make you my Angel? And can you always hear my thoughts?


    ¡°Yes¡±, came the reply, ¡°to both your questions.¡±


    Does that mean I am infected?


    ¡°Yes. Let me cure you.¡±


    Brock waited and then he felt the poisonous energy move through his body. He felt nauseous and he opened his mouth. The poisonous energy escaped through his mouth and he opened his eyes.


    Brock was not the only one who was being healed. The poisonous energy was escaping from many power fighters¡¯ mouths. Tyra was directing this energy and compressing it to form a giant energy ball.


    Brock let out a sigh of relief as the energy ball was finally complete and no one else seemed to be left to be cured. Discussions were starting all over the hall. Brock could hear people¡¯s relief and joy. He was about to say something when he felt it. There was a shift in the energy and then there was a bright light and sound of explosion.


    ¡°No¡±, Brock could hear Tyra¡¯s scream. One side of the hall had been obliterated and the poisonous energy was now shifting.


    Tyra said, ¡°It¡¯s going to blow.¡±


    Brock understood what that meant. All the power fighters in the hall would be the target. He made a split second decision. He could see some power fighters who were near the wall down and some going to fight some shadowy people, no there was only one. But his focus was on the poisonous energy ball.


    He took a few steps towards it but it was too late. The explosion threw him back. He knocked into the wall and blackness took him.


    ***


    Marcus dodged another attack when he thought he needed to change his strategy. It was six against one. The girl he had knocked out was still knocked out but the others were attacking him furiously. He had no problems defending or dodging their attacks but he needed to capture them. He would have gone all out if not for the unconscious police men and potential civilian victims of the hotel.


    As Marcus dodged another attack, WA said to him, ¡°You need to shift into Angel form. Quick Step and Energy Drop on all of them.¡±


    Marcus said to WA, ¡°This would be a bit problematic even in Angel form. Too much energy is required.¡±


    WA said as Marcus blocked another attack but was hit with another, ¡°Do you have a choice?¡±


    Marcus¡¯ divine shield stopped the attack but he lost a large chunk of energy. He decided to shift. He powered up and transformed. Wings sprouted from his back. White long wings spanning six feet on each side. His clothes transformed into one long white robe with white pants. His skin changed colour, lightening and he grew a small halo over his head. This was his first angel form. The White Angel form.


    As soon as he transformed, Marcus felt as if the world had slowed down. Their fight had shifted from where they were originally to near the entrance of the hotel. Five of the shadow fighters were planning to attack him while one was directing his attack towards the hotel.


    Marcus attacked. Quick Step. Energy Drop. The first shadow was down. One second had passed. Too slow. He repeated the attack twice, quickening his speed, expending more energy. Two more shadows down. Two seconds had passed. Still too slow. He did not think he could go faster than this but he tried. WA screamed a warning in his head. Marcus repeated the attack. Two more shadows down and three seconds had now passed.


    However, he was late. The last shadow power fighter had blasted off one of the walls of the hotel. That was when Marcus realized what it was. The conference room. All the power fighters were present there. The last shadow power fighter was moving towards the room, trying to blast the energy ball present there. Marcus moved but the energy ball exploded at that time.


    Marcus made a split second decision. He shot towards the exploding energy and contained it with his power. His vision span. He was successful but he was confused. Why was the world spinning? What was he seeing? Was that the ceiling? He saw a blurry concerned face before his world turned black.


    ***


    Detective Trent King was overlooking the aftermath of the fiasco. The figures responsible for poisoning the power fighters had escaped. He was lucky no one had died. There were few minor injuries and about ten passed out power fighters who had been hospitalized. Now they were almost back to square one.


    Sometime later, his forensic team came back from sweeping the hotel and concluded that they had nothing on the mysterious shadow power fighters. Now, Detective Trent King felt like he was definitely back to square one. He was not happy.


    Dorian was active, asking questions, ensuring everyone was okay and getting things done which needed to be done. Trent, however, stood there and wondered where his life had gone wrong.


    There was a small cough which broke him out of his reverie. He turned to see a woman standing there. He recognized her. It was Selena Stone.


    Trent put on his professional face immediately, ¡°How can I help you Miss Stone?¡±


    ¡°You know the woman Marcus captured?¡± asked Selena. Trent nodded and she continued, ¡°Before calling the police, Marcus called me. He asked me to identify the woman. He called the police while I was doing so. It took me some time but I was finally able to identify her.¡±


    Trent jumped with joy internally but said in a calm voice, ¡°Can you tell us who it was?¡±


    Selena showed him a tab and the screen was opened to a profile.


    ¡°Selena Thomson¡±, she said, ¡°The girl shares a name with me. Funny and not funny at the same time. She was the member of team Toronto which lost during the qualifying tournament. Hope this helps.¡±


    ¡°Can you send me the details¡±, said Trent.


    Selena took Trent¡¯s number and messaged him the power fighter details of Selena Thomson. Trent thanked her and asked her to go back to her room.


    ¡°You are going to follow up on this are you not?¡± asked Selena. Trent could sense the concern in her voice.


    ¡°Immediately¡±, replied Trent, ¡°Now please go and have a rest. You have all been through enough ordeal for the night.¡±


    Selena looked as if she wanted to say something but did not. She merely nodded and went back into the hotel, hopefully to her room.


    Trent immediately called Dorian and they got in the car. Dorian got Selena Thomson¡¯s home address and they started driving to her house. Trent also called in back up. Power fighting back up.


    They reached the Thomson residence in about fifteen minutes. Trent rang the doorbell. The lights were off but they turned on a few minutes after Trent had rang the doorbell. It took some time and Trent rang the doorbell again, but the door finally opened. A haggard looking man opened it. He looked to be in his early fifties and sleepy. He was wide awake the moment he saw that the police had rung the bell.


    ¡°Good day sir¡±, said Trent, ¡°I am detective King and this is detective Gregory. Does Selena Thomson live here?¡±


    The guy replied, ¡°What do you want with my daughter?¡±


    ¡°We have some questions for her. Do not worry, she is not in any danger from us.¡±


    ¡°It is all right father¡±, said a voice from behind the man, ¡°I know what they are here for.¡±


    The guy stepped aside and said, ¡°Come on in, detectives.¡±


    Trent and Dorian asked the other police officers to stay outside and stepped inside the house. In the living room, they found Selena Thomson sitting on the couch, still in the clothes she was at Hotel Tall Oaks. She had uncovered her face though.


    Trent could see that her father looked confused at her ensemble. He asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on over here Selena?¡±


    Selena ignored him and said to the detectives, ¡°I do not have much time. None of us do. We failed and now He is after us. There is nothing you can do to protect us so here it is.¡±


    She held out a few syringes. She said, ¡°Hope this helps.¡±


    Suddenly there was a shift in the atmosphere. Selena immediately put the syringes on the table and muttered, ¡°Shit!¡±


    Then she turned to her father, ¡°I am sorry day. I did not want any of this. I am sorry.¡±


    Before anyone could do anything, Selena disintegrated before their eyes. She simply turned to dust. Everyone was shocked. Then her father started crying and screaming at the same time, asking the detectives what was happening. The police outside came in hearing all the commotion and restrained Mr. Thomson. Trent picked up the syringes. It looked like the poison the power fighters were getting infected with. Tyra would be able to make the antidote with this.


    As Dorian and other police officers calmed Mr. Thomson, trying to explain what had happened till now, Trent muttered to no one, ¡°What the hell! Now what?¡±


    ***


    Marcus was getting a run down from Forum as to what had happened. He had been discharged from the hospital after a day with a clean bill of health along with Brock.


    Marcus said, ¡°So, to sum it up, we do not know who these poisoners were and what they wanted.¡±


    Forum rolled her eyes, ¡°Have you even been listening? I just told you the police identified all seven of them based on your not so helpful description and their link to Selena Thomson. They were members of different power fighting teams that lost in the qualifying tournament. It is true their motives are unknown but the working theory is that they wanted all the qualified teams out so that they can somehow push their teams to participate in the World Tournament.¡±


    Marcus and Forum were sitting in Marcus¡¯ living room. Brock was not present. He was out with Flora. There was a short pause in their conversation and Marcus frowned in thought to what Flora had said.


    Marcus said, ¡°So the detectives were able to identify Selena Thomson because of our Selena. They immediately went to her house, confronted her and she turned to dust. Then how did they track down other shadow power fighters. And what happened to them?¡±


    Forum gave an exasperated sigh and said, ¡°According to my father, they tracked her movements and were able to find out where the shadow power fighters met. It was a bar, can you believe it! The owner was able to identify the seven and they tracked the others down. It seems that they turned to dust too if the statements of family members are true.¡±


    Marcus nodded and said, ¡°Are you sure it was not an illusion?¡±


    Forum shook her head, ¡°The police had the dust tested. It was ash. All the shadow power fighters related to poisoning have turned to ash. This makes my father think that they were not the master planners and there was someone or many ones behind them.


    On a positive note, the poison has finally been diagnosed thanks to the syringes Selena Thomson gave to the detectives and Tyra has managed to prepare a cure. She even went on and invented a vaccine. The power fighters will soon be mandated to take it. I must say that is a good thing. No one wants a repeat of what has happened.¡±


    Marcus was again lost in thought for some time. Then he said, ¡°And your father is okay?¡±


    Forum gave a snort, ¡°Yes. He was poisoned too but detected it fast. He saved the poison for Tyra to diagnose but before he could do it, all that fiasco of Hotel Tall Oaks happened. He is not happy that his plan failed but is satisfied that no one died or lost their power fighting abilities. He has asked the help of Uncle Jun to find out who could have prepared such a poison and why. The two brothers will now be working fervently on it.¡±


    Marcus and Forum discussed a bit more on what all had happened and then Forum left. It was getting late and she had promised her parents that she would get back before dinner. Apparently the Chans had something important to discuss which according to Forum meant a long lecture on a boring topic.


    After Forum left Marcus glanced at the door for a while. He was lost in thoughts regarding the next steps he should take. The chief perpetrator behind the poisoning had not been found and they did not know when he would strike next. The current matter had been resolved but that did not mean the power fighters were safe in the future.


    He finally made a decision. He would let Jian and Jun Chan investigate for now and help only if they asked. He had after all, a World Power Fighting Tournament to prepare for. He had to make plans for it so that his team could fight well in the Tournament, if not win.


    He smiled as he heated up his dinner. The next few months of training were going to be interesting. He wondered who would replace team Illusionists in the World Tournament as they had lost a fighter and with no spare fighter, they would not be participating.


    As he sat for dinner, Marcus thought Time to make some training trouble for Incognito.

 The Training Split

    Days passed since the incident with the shadow Power Fighters. Marcus woke up to a slightly chill morning on the 15th of October. The World Power Fighting Tournament was in three months now but they had to reach China by the 1st of January. The World Tournament next year was going to take place in China with the inauguration ceremony in Beijing.


    Marcus got dressed and went down for breakfast. Today it was Brock¡¯s turn to make it. Brock had already started breakfast when Marcus came down. He also had a small bag leaning on his chair.


    Marcus raised an eyebrow, ¡°Where are you going so early in the morning?¡±


    Brock replied, ¡°I am going to my parents¡¯ house for a few days. Father has something important to discuss with me and Leopold. I will be back in a maximum of four days I believe.¡±


    ¡°What is so important that it will take four days.¡±


    Brock hesitated. Marcus could see that he was not yet comfortable sharing what his father, Doug had planned for it.


    Marcus said before Brock could say anything, ¡°It¡¯s alright mate. You go home. I will hold the fort here.¡±


    Brock snorted but did not say anything. He left shortly after breakfast. Marcus wondered what he was going to do today. Then he remembered Selena¡¯s training. He quickly finished his breakfast and looked at the time. It was 7:30 am. He was not late. He left the house to go to their training warehouse.


    Marcus wondered as he got on the bus as to what Tisane was planning. There had been no team meetings or training or anything since the incident at Hotel Tall Oaks. Incognito was a team and they were going to participate in the World Tournament. They needed to be in top form to fight power fighting teams of other countries. However, there was not a peep from Tisane and Marcus and Brock¡¯s attempts at asking her anything yielded no result. They had even tried asking Forum but she had simply replied with, ¡°Give my sister some time and space.¡±


    There was also no word from Alpha and Lara Angel. They also seemed to be busy with something and would not tell the others what it was. Emma had been joining Marcus and Selena for training but Brock and Forum had been busy with other things. Now Brock was going home for a few days. Marcus wondered as to what all was happening.


    He reached the warehouse to find Emma and Selena waiting for him. They had already started with the warm-up. He focused on them now and put other concerns to rest. He would find out what was happening in due time.


    ***


    Selena looked at Marcus who was simply sitting looking at his tab. After the warm up, Marcus had given her a few energy circulation exercises and sat down beside a pillar with her tablet in hand. Emma was also going through some forms for her Water Mastery. She would be waiting for Selena to finish her exercises so that they could have a spar.


    Selena learned as much from spars with Emma as she did with the basic and intermediate level energy exercises that Marcus made her do. She was not complaining but she enjoyed sparring with Emma more than doing Marcus¡¯ exercises.


    Selena wondered what was bothering Marcus. It could possibly be the radio silence from Tisane. She knew he was worried about the upcoming tournament but did not show it. From his stats, she knew he was worried about other team members rather than himself.


    Once her exercises were complete, she waited a bit for Emma to finish her routine. Then they sparred for about half an hour. She was feeling exhilarated somehow at the end of today¡¯s training.


    Selena said, ¡°So lunch guys? What are your plans?¡±


    Emma grinned, ¡°I am having a lunch date with Willow.¡±


    ¡°How is she?¡±


    Emma shrugged, ¡°She is okay for now. Her team has accepted that they would not be participating and it will take some time to get over their loss of participation in the World Tournament. She is more concerned about her friend not being a power fighter now. I am helping as much as I can. I understand loss, in a different form, but I do understand it.¡±


    Selena nodded and then turned to Marcus, ¡°So what about you?¡±


    Marcus replied, ¡°Sure. We can do lunch. I am free.¡±


    Selena and Marcus said their goodbyes to Emma. They walked up to a small diner which was close to their training warehouse. Marcus looked as if he was lost in thought the entire way.


    Once they had settled in their seats, Selena said, ¡°A penny for your thoughts.¡±


    Marcus grinned as he replied, ¡°Do you even have a penny? I don¡¯t think anyone carries pennies in America.¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean Marcus. Do not mess with me when I am hungry.¡±


    A waitress arrived at that time to give them menus. They were busy looking at the menus for some time, deciding on what to eat. No one spoke for some time. The waitress came back. Selena ordered a sandwich and a shake while Marcus ordered a rice based dish with a bottle of mineral water. His eating habits always surprised Selena.


    Once the waitress was gone, Selena said, ¡°So, are you going to tell me what has been bothering you since morning?¡±


    Marcus took some time before answering, ¡°It is about our team. Incognito.¡±


    ¡°I know our team name, Marcus.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha! Very funny! I am not concerned about our team name. I have a feeling that our team is going to go through some changes before the World Tournament.¡±


    ¡°How do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Something is going on with Tisane and Forum. Also, something is going on with Brock, Leopold and their father. Alpha and Lara are also up to something. And no one is telling us everything. Am I safe in guessing that Tisane has also told you nothing except to wait?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you are concerned about all this. They will tell us in due time. I don¡¯t think the team is in any trouble.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but are we still a team this way or are we a group of individuals pretending to be a team?¡±


    ¡°Come on Marcus. Don¡¯t say that. We have come a long way from when we started. However, in the end, we are still individual power fighters. It is the same with the rest of the teams. Very few teams reach a level of camaraderie that they are one team as a whole. Otherwise it is mostly individuals or tag teams fighting together, supporting each other to win. Do not dwell on it too much. You will only stress yourself unnecessarily.¡±


    Marcus was not completely convinced by Selena¡¯s logic but he gave it a thought. The waitress came at that time with their food and they dug in. As he ate the rice and curry that he ordered, he thought more about what Selena had said. His fears were not allayed but he did feel a bit better. Maybe he should relax a bit. Only time would tell what was going to happen.


    They finished their lunch and went on their way. Selena saw Marcus¡¯ retreating figure till he disappeared around a bend. Then she shook her head and called Tisane.


    Selena said, ¡°Tisane. It is time to talk. Do not delay.¡±


    ***


    Brock took a deep sigh as he rang the doorbell to his parents¡¯ house. He was not that happy to be back. He knew the effort that he had to make in order to leave it. His father had not been happy. His brother had supported him but in a passive aggressive manner. And now he was back because his father had to discuss something regarding the World Tournament that affected Brock and Leopold both.


    Brock did not understand why he needed to stay with his father for a few days for this. He knew better than to argue with his father when his mind was fixed. It would take some time to change it. And his father had not demanded anything from him for quite some time now and Brock had been surprised by that.


    The door opened and it was Leopold. He gave a short nod to Brock as he stepped aside to let Brock in.


    Leopold said, ¡°Set up in your old room. It is the way you left it. Father has not made any changes.¡±


    Brock nodded and went to his old room. It was bare except for a bed, his cupboard and a study table. These were the things Brock did not take when he moved in with Marcus. He had also left some clothes in the cupboard as a compromise that he had made with his father.


    He put his bag in the cupboard and lay down on the bed. He was lost in thought for some time.


    ¡°Well¡±, he said to himself, ¡°I am here. These are going to be long, three to four days.¡±


    ***


    Emma was happy. She could see Willow was enjoying too. They were in a multiplex, watching a movie. It was a mere mundane thing but Emma was glad of the company. She knew that Willow had been troubled the past two weeks but she had not pushed Emma away. Emma was glad. She really liked Willow and she could see their relationship blooming. It would take time. It would take effort but Emma had a feeling they would make it work.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    She had her baggage and she could guess that Willow had something in her past that she was not comfortable sharing yet. However, Emma was not concerned. She was happy at the present. Her life had been going well since she moved to America. It was slow but she was in a good spot.


    After the movie, they went back to Emma¡¯s house. She could see Willow was nervous but Emma eased her nervousness. They spent most of the night talking among other activities and fell asleep in each other¡¯s arms.


    Emma woke up with a smile on her face. Willow was still sleeping. She looked peaceful and content. Emma grinned and got up. She picked up her clothes from the ground and went to the bathroom to freshen up.


    She was making breakfast when Willow came out. Willow kissed Emma and said, ¡°You got a message. I believe it is from Tisane.¡±


    ¡°Are you already going through my phone?¡± Emma said in mock outrage, ¡°I thought you trusted me!¡±


    ¡°Ha Ha¡±, said Willow and gave Emma a long deep kiss this time.


    ¡°Read it¡±, said Willow, ¡°It is important.¡±


    Emma frowned at that and read Tisane¡¯s message. It was a message for a team meeting. Finally, Things are now starting to roll.


    ***


    Alpha looked up from the message that he had received and sought his wife. Lara was combing through some books and was not paying attention to her phone. Zip was on his computer, researching what Lara had asked and Alistair was also going through books with Lara. Alpha knew what they were looking for. He was doing the same but was not as enthusiastic as his wife.


    Alpha said, ¡°Lara, check your messages.¡±


    Lara took some time but finally looked at Alpha. She had a dazed look on her face. Her focus was broken and she was not going to like it but Alpha knew that the message was important.


    Lara frowned when she looked at Alpha¡¯s face but did not say anything. She checked her phone. She grunted and got back to reading.


    Alpha rolled his eyes and said, ¡°There is a team meeting.¡±


    ¡°And what we are doing is important¡±, said Lara, ¡°I thought we discussed that. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We cannot let it go.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we also need to be there for the team and explain to them our predicament.¡±


    ¡°We shall do so in this team meeting. After all, we leave in a week.¡±


    Alpha nodded and stood up. He went out of the library from where they were working to the private training ground they had. He trained for a bit, going through the motions. He wanted to clear his head.


    They were leaving the country in a week. They would be back by the World Tournament but their team practice and personal practice for the tournament would suffer. He did not know how Lara was going to convince Tisane but he hoped that she was able to do so. Lara was right. This was indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity for them and they needed to get there before other competing archeologists.


    He finished his work out and went back in. He continued his research, worried about what was going to happen in the team meeting.


    ***


    Brock looked at Tisane¡¯s message. He looked up at the silent table. Leopold was lost in thought. He had still not decided on father¡¯s offer. Doug was reading a newspaper, his breakfast finished. He looked calm and composed, the opposite of what Brock felt.


    Brock was feeling a bit guilty after reading Tisane¡¯s message. He had agreed to father¡¯s offer without even discussing it with the team. He did not know how the others would react but they would not be happy. He was sure that Marcus would support him though.


    Doug looked up from his newspaper and said, ¡°Something troubling you Brock?¡±


    Brock replied, ¡°Tisane has sent a message. There is a team meeting this evening.¡±


    Leopold looked at his brother and then at his father. He looked determined.


    Leopold said, ¡°I am ready. I have already talked to my team and they are also okay with it. We can leave in a week.¡±


    Doug clapped his hands, ¡°This is good. Brock, be sure to inform your team of your decision too. We do not want any hassle.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±, drawled Brock, ¡°We don¡¯t want anyone to inconvenience you after all.¡±


    Doug shook his head but did not say anything. Leopold simply rolled his eyes and got up. Brock left soon after that. He was now nervous. He hoped that the evening went well.


    ***


    Forum was a bit worried about her sister. Their father¡¯s proposal had shook her a bit. Forum had jumped at the chance but had not consulted the team. This was too good an opportunity to pass by. However, she could see that Tisane was not that happy for her. She had, after all, the whole team to consider.


    The past few days had been stressful for Tisane, coming up with a plan that would help her team. Forum could see the dark circle beneath Tisane¡¯s eyes. Tisane had been staying up late. She had also not been spending much time with Juran and that was also not good.


    Forum thought about the evening¡¯s meeting. It was then she would break the news about her opportunity. Tisane would be coming with Forum. They will be leaving in a week. She wondered how the others would react to the news. Now she thought she really should have consulted the team before making any decision.


    Forum shook her head and turned on her computer. She needed to distract herself otherwise she would spend the rest of the day worrying about the evening meeting. She decided to watch some movies.


    ¡°It would all turn out okay¡±, she consoled herself.


    ***


    Marcus looked at his team. They had decided to meet at his and Brock¡¯s house for the meeting. Alpha and Lara were on a laptop, looking at god knows what. Selena was on her tab, sitting beside them. Tisane had taken one of the single couches and Forum was resting on its arm.


    Brock and Emma were having a quiet discussion near the kitchen table and Marcus was sitting on one of the single couches looking at everybody.


    Tisane called everyone to order. She said, ¡°I have got something important to announce regarding Incognito¡¯s future. This will affect the whole team. However, I have also learned that Brock and Lara also have something to say. They messaged that they wanted to tell their news first. So, go ahead. One of you, start.¡±


    Brock and Lara looked at each other. Then they both started to talk at the same time. Then they both asked each other to go first. They were finally interrupted by Tisane, ¡°Heavens! Brock you go first.¡±


    Brock said, ¡°My father came up with an interesting proposition for me and Leopold. He has somehow managed to convince the Fire Temple in Philippines to take me and Leopold as students for the next two months.¡±


    There was a stunned silence after his announcement. Brock continued, ¡°I have decided to accept it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Fire Temple does not take students easily and the training that I receive there would help me strengthen my Fire Mastery. I am sorry I did not consult everyone but I did not know what else to do.¡±


    No one spoke for some time. Then Marcus said, ¡°Bro, this is huge. I am happy for you.¡±


    The rest congratulated him too. Brock had a grin on her face now. Marcus could see he had been nervous but was not so now.


    Lara said, ¡°Okay. Time for our news. A new tomb of the Ancient Ones has been discovered in the Sahara desert. Considering how Alpha and I are the experts on the Ancient Ones, we have been asked to be the leading archeologists to lead the expedition into the tomb. We have accepted. This is a huge deal for us. We know this would impact our training for the tournament but this is bigger than the tournament for us. I hope you will understand.¡±


    Marcus did understand. He knew about the Ancient Ones. It was a civilization predating humans. There were miniscule records of their civilization and any discovery related to them was considered extraordinary and rare. This was indeed a major thing for Alpha and Lara and Marcus could not blame them for accepting the expedition.


    Tisane frowned, ¡°How long is this going to take?¡±


    Lara said, ¡°We shall definitely be back for the World Tournament. We are already making plans for it. The only problem is that our training shall be impacted and we haven¡¯t figured out what to do about it. Don¡¯t worry Tisane, we would not miss the World Tournament for anything but we can also not let this go.¡±


    Marcus could see that Alpha was a bit uncomfortable and not as excited as Lara. He was primarily a power fighter and secondarily an archeologist. Lara may not be concerned about the missed training but he would be. The others first congratulated Lara and Alpha about the opportunity and then they started discussing what can be done to solve the training problem.


    It was Marcus who suggested, ¡°You should take Emma with you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± said Lara and Tisane together.


    Marcus sighed, ¡°Emma can regularly spar with Alpha while you are at the site. I am sure Lara you would be completely busy but Alpha can spare some time for training. Having Emma there would help. They can spar, grow stronger. Also Emma could do with some training in harsh conditions. The heat of the Sahara would help her grow. This is, if you all are comfortable with this.¡±


    Alpha looked at Emma. Marcus could clearly see his pleading expression. Emma was thoughtful. She said, ¡°This is not a bad idea. However, I could miss out on some training with you and Forum over here.¡±


    Tisane said, ¡°This comes to my announcement. Forum will be training with my uncle and his students in China. We would both be going there for the next two months. I had prepared plans for the rest of you which would help during our absence but now it looks as if they are all going to go down the drain.¡±


    Forum looked at her sister with concern. Marcus gave a short laugh as he heard this. He said, ¡°So Master Chan finally decided that one of his nieces was finally worthy to train under him?¡±


    Tisane frowned at him, ¡°He wanted to train us earlier but father was insistent that we would get sufficient training in America to help us grow. Concerning the trouble in recent times, father thinks it would be good if we both underwent the famous Chan family training in China.¡±


    They started discussing about Forum and Tisane¡¯s trip now. Marcus was still observing the others. All were involved in the discussion except for Emma. She looked deep in thought.


    Finally Emma said, ¡°I think going with Lara and Alpha would help me then. Remaining here would not help me train but it would definitely be good for my love life. Willow is going to be pissed, I think.¡±


    There was a short round of laughter at that statement. The meeting was starting to conclude. Forum and Tisane were going to China. Brock was going to the Fire Temple. Alpha, Lara and Emma were going to the Sahara. This left with;


    ¡°Marcus¡±, said Tisane, ¡°What are you going to do then?¡±


    Marcus looked at each of them slowly. Then he said in an innocent voice, ¡°Me? I am simply going to spend some quality time with Taylor.¡±


    Tisane narrowed her eyes, ¡°Somehow I don¡¯t believe it. Just don¡¯t get in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Never.¡±


    The meeting concluded. Everyone except Brock left.


    Brock looked at Marcus, ¡°You knew did you not?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± inquired Marcus.


    Brock only stared and Marcus relented, ¡°Oh yes. I had a talk with Master Jun and he told me about Forum and Tisane¡¯s situation. I had a nice chat with Leopold. Your brother is not so bad when it comes to you, you know. He really is concerned about you. He told me about the Fire Temple. I also talked with Arya. Lara had told Arya about the expedition and Arya told me about it. She did ask me to keep it a secret though. How did you know that I knew?¡±


    ¡°It was your smug expression you¡±, Brock chose some colorful language to describe Marcus and they both laughed.


    Marcus said, ¡°You all leave in a week then?¡±


    ¡°That was what was discussed.¡±


    ¡°I am going to miss you guys.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we do need to tell Evana about this though.¡±


    ¡°Oh crap! She is going to kill you guys.¡±


    Laughing, they went to bed.


    ***


    Marcus came to the airport to see Brock and Tisane off. Evana had also come. She had not killed her two friends but had been angry at their declaration. She had bullied Marcus in giving her some personal training, other than her team training. Marcus had agreed and would now be training her along with Selena. Selena would not be happy.


    They said goodbyes and left the airport. Marcus was dropping Evana home. They were in Brock¡¯s car which Marcus would be borrowing for the next two months whenever he required. They made small talk and mostly dissed their two friends.


    Marcus dropped Evanna home and went to his house. He sat on the sofa and let out a long breath. The team had split. It would create some problems in the World Tournament but not much. He knew that this was necessary and everyone would come out stronger in the end with the exception of Lara.


    He got up and said, ¡°To the next chapter of Incognito. The World Tournament awaits.¡±