Teamwork

"THERE HE IS! CATCH HIM! HE MUST KNOW THE ROUTE TO SINA!" M1ke screams as he and his subordinates chase the man in the black cloak down into an alleyway in the dark of the night, only to see that he had disappeared.

"Not again…" M1ke continues speaking with a frown.

"But where could he have gone…?" One of the subordinates, Joseph, wonders.

"He can't get away any further. He has been chased down to the district of the military exams. There's a tight log of security awaiting him there. I'll send a warning to all officers to look out for anyone suspicious." The other one of the subordinates, Neil, replies.

"I think one of our squad members, Petra, is also in the same district. We could message her to look out as well." The last of the group, Hans, suggests.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll contact her." M1ke replies to the suggestions from his subordinates.

The scene then shifts to where Tommy is…

Strange visions of the incident one year ago flash into Tommy's dreams as his body sweats in his sleep while he makes sounds of utter discomfort, clenching the dirt on the ground he is sleeping on with his fists.

Within seconds, Tommy wakes up from the cold sweat, panting like crazy with his hand on his chest.

"That day just can't stop haunting me can it…" Tommy wonders as he takes a look at his wrist watch and continues, "Ah yes… Tomorrow is my birthday… What an early gift to have… Fear…"

As Tommy gets up, a sudden realization hits him, the realization that he is suddenly stranded on a deserted mountain surrounded by nothingness for as far as his eyesight can allow him to see.

"When the hell did I get here…?" Tommy wonders while walking towards the edge of the mountain while sweating from the intense heat.

As Tommy reaches the edge, he is suddenly taken aback by the sheer height of the mountain and continues to think, "I was at the military exam lounge sleeping on a comfy bed… How did I reach this hot desert over time… Is this some joke…? Because if it is, it is a horrible one… To think I'd pass the first phase of the military exam only to never even get to the second one because who knows why…"

Not taking a moment to hesitate, Tommy gulps and starts climbing down the mountain with his bare fists while the thoughts in his head continue… "Either way… There's no changing that I am stuck in this stupidly hot desert… For now, I should really focus on getting back home… Or at least getting back to a cool place… This heat is really gonna kill me… And besides… Who knows how long I'm going to be stuck here… For all I know, I might not even find the culprit who got me here… I am gonna miss all the manga chapters and anime episodes I had been waiting for, for like, YEARS… I HATE THIS!!"

As Tommy continues climbing down the mountain in the insane heat for about an hour, the skin on his fingers starts tearing up from the dirt and the sharp grains of sand surrounding the mountain's slopes. His thoughts continue to linger… "I am so not gonna listen to the lectures everyone is going to give me when I am home about how worried they were… IT IS NOT EVEN MY FAULT THAT I AM HERE! Not to mention this god awful heat… My palms really hurt… And I am not even a quarter of the way there…"

After about another hour of climbing down, Tommy nearly slips down a few feet but grabs hold of another protrusion on the mountain.

"I was sure to be a goner if I hadn't grabbed a ledge on time… But I think that fall has covered me about a quarter of the way down… Guess there's a little bit of good in every danger one faces…" Tommy's thoughts continue yet again as he continues climbing down the unthinkably high mountain.

After about four hours of climbing down, Tommy had finally covered three-fourths of the way there while his shirt was hanging around his waist with all the heat it had been increasing around his body.

"Alright… I think this is about the right distance to take a leap…" Tommy says as he takes a huge gulp, leaves the one ledge he was holding onto and slides down the mountain using his legs.

With about half way through the last quarter having been covered by just sliding down, Tommy takes a huge leap off the mountain and screams, "MASSIVE REPULSION!!!" as he falls towards the ground and immediately slows down the closer he gets to it.

"Whew… Looks like I've finally climbed that horrendous mountain down… It's still too hot here… Considering the amount of cacti here though, I'd assume there's tons of water below… Luckily for me, I know just the trick to getting it out…" Tommy says as he clenches both his fists together, takes a giant leap above the ground and bashes the ground underneath while screaming "FORCE: INFINITE PRESSURE!!"

A huge fountain of water comes bursting through the ground which gives Tommy a huge smile on his face. After drinking some of it and collecting a bit of it in his water bottle, Tommy continues to find a way out of the desert.

After walking another few hours in the desert, Tommy finds a path made out of rocks which could have only been created by a living being, which finally gives Tommy hope of finding a settlement nearby. As he runs through the rocky path, he is taken aback by the complete change in landscape.

The seemingly deserted landscape behind had suddenly changed to that of a rocky mountain landscape with a bunch of trees you would only find on the opposite side of the world, as well as a river flowing through the area that is leading into a deep forest which was closely packed with trees. The trees were shining and the ground was wet as if it had been raining there constantly unlike the landscape behind.

As Tommy makes his way through this new path for about an hour, the forest gets even deeper and denser. Paying no heed to the fact that he had been walking half a day without a single person to be seen, he finally comes across a familiar face in the isolated wilderness.

"Yo! Ain't you that guy who saved me from the velociraptor in the first phase of the exam?" Tommy greets Björn upon seeing him.

"Oh, you're that Tommy guy. I think we were even when we found out the requirements to pass the last phase thanks to your will to save others." Björn replies.

"So, what's your name?" Tommy asks.

"Björn." He replies.

"Oh, nice to meet ya Björn. Well, if we're both here, then it's safe to assume all this walk I'd assume even you had to go through was just another test." Tommy continues.

"Seems that way." Björn replies with a bland expression.

"No need to be so cold. How about we walk our way through this together? Besides, you're like the one guy I've seen in hours at this point. It's quite creepy to walk through this place alone. Wouldn't you agree?" Tommy says as he offers Björn his hand to have a handshake.

"Alright, I can agree to that. Maybe then we can get out of here faster." Björn replies but refuses to handshake and turns around.

"Well, at least you got ready to walk out with me…" Tommy mumbles after getting another cold response.

As they walk together, the small amount of light that peered through the leaves of the trees above also disappears, hinting that the time of night is almost up.

"I think we should stop right about here. There's no telling what kind of animals would be up ahead if we keep walking through the dark like this…" Tommy says as he grabs Björn's shoulder to stop him there.

"I guess you're right. You set the campfire then, I'll take the first safety shift while you sleep." Björn replies.

"I can easily take the shift bro, you set the campfire!" Tommy continues.

Björn just shrugs and starts lighting a fire. After a few hours however, Tommy falls asleep instead despite taking the safety shift but Björn just sits in front of the campfire, still awake.

Just then, the sound of an earthquake hits, trees start shaking, many bats and birds leave the places they were in, snakes start going sideways and even Tommy ends up waking up and mumbles, "What is happening?", while still sleepy.

Out of nowhere, a giant worm monster comes out of the ground and attacks the two of them. With not a second to waste, both start running ahead but the worm grabs hold of Tommy between its tail and is about to devour him, but just then, Björn throws one of the burning pieces of wood from the campfire right into its mouth, which causes it to get irritated and slam Tommy away and onto a tree.

Having gone mad from a burning mouth, the worm starts spitting fire like a flamethrower right towards Björn's direction but Tommy pulls him away saying, "Now we're even!", as they run into a darker spot away from the worm.

Finding sleeping there, an unfeasible idea, they continue walking down the forest until they encounter a cave which was closely packed from the sides with trees, making the cave the only place they can go into.

As they walk through the cave, the flaming wood they have is barely able to show much of the path ahead so they walk each step with care. On their way, they encounter a lit up part of the cave, only to realize that the only way ahead was getting through a pit of snakes.

"Looks like we're stuck." Björn says to Tommy, who just replies, "Eh, looks like you don't watch enough movies buddy. Follow my lead!", and throws his torch down into the pit which scares the snakes away and makes them resort to going near the edges of the pit, upon seeing which, Tommy smirks and walks his way through the pit along with Björn.

Continuing on their way out of the cave, Björn ends up stepping on a loose brick on the ground which starts making the ground shake. While the two of them wonder what is going on, upon seeing a giant rolling boulder coming right towards them, they end up running ahead and fall into another pit while the boulder rolls ahead of them somewhere else.

"That was a close call…" Björn says with a welcome and scared change in expression, considering how cold his expressions had been until now but just then, Tommy exclaims in a positive tone, "Yo! Björn! Looks like the way out of here is upon us!"

"How?" Björn asks as he walks towards Tommy, who then asks him to look at the sign there which read, "Hello, candidates of the military exam. If you're reading this, you've reached the third phase of the exam. Congratulations! Keep journeying ahead until you're on the fourth phase!"

Upon seeing this, both of them get a huge smile on their face and do a loud high-five, but then immediately, Björn backs off and says, "That's great. Let's keep walking though.", with the same cold expression.

"Man you're no fun…" Tommy mumbles as he follows.

After walking for about 30 minutes, they finally came across another sign with three levers below it. The sign read, "One of these three levers may open a path, for the other two may not last."

After sitting there for another 30 mins, they finally decide to pull one of the levers together. Immediately, all the levers disappear and the place starts shaking. Rocks start falling from above as the two of them start running in circles wondering what to do and then jump over said rocks, so as to not get crushed under them.

After about an hour of jumping above rocks, they finally see a path but as they keep jumping over, Björn ends up slipping, but right before he could fall to his death, Tommy pulls him up as they keep jumping their way up holding their hands tightly together, so as to make it out to the path alive.

As soon as they reach the path, they end up panting heavily as the path behind that they had been walking through gets sealed by rocks.

"Thanks for saving me… I've been pretty cold towards you, I apologize for that…" Björn says as he reaches his hand out to Tommy with a blunt smile while still panting.

"Don't worry dude. Saving lives is what a hero lives by. So… Friends?" Tommy says while shaking Björn's hand, who then replies, "Yes… We're friends.", with a proper smile.

As they are both about to walk, they see a sign saying, "There is never just one way out cadets. Congratulations on making it through the rocky dungeon alive!", upon seeing which, both get a smirk on their face and wink to each other as they continue walking.

After about an hour of walking, they finally saw light peering from the path up ahead. On seeing it, without leaving a moment to spare, both laugh and run towards the shining light coming from the path ahead.

"Whoever comes last is a stinker!" Tommy says.

"I won't lose to you Tommy!" Björn replies as they run towards the door radiating with light.

Right upon reaching it, both immediately stop right on their tracks because up ahead was a vast pit seemingly leading to nowhere as far as the eye can go. The light was simply coming from the vast amount of torches on the walls.

Their eyes then shift to the sign above the door ahead that read, "Warriors there were many, resilient and strong, but fear struck even them, of being wrong. They had to let go for their own sake, their soul wasn't brave enough to take the leap of faith."

"What does that even mean…?" Björn mumbles.

"Not brave enough to take the leap of faith…" Tommy wonders as he looks around but only sees a bottomless pit before sighing and continuing, "If this plan fails… Don't try anything rash. Stay right where you are. I'm sure one of the military men would come to save you."

Right after saying that, Tommy gulps a few times while sweating and finally jumps into what seems like a bottomless pit ahead. Much to his surprise, he could stand on some seemingly invisible ground before realizing that they had painted the bridge leading to the next door in such a way that it would look invisible.

"Heh… I was right… Guess watching movies does make the difference…" Tommy thinks to himself before calling out for Björn, who joins him on his way through the invisible bridge and onto the next door with a smirk while replying, "Great going yet again!", to which, Tommy just replies, "Eh, I guess I'm just what they call, a man of culture haha!"

After another hour of walking through this seemingly endless cave, they had finally come across another cadet from the previous phase.

"Yo. Looks like you're one of the lucky ones who made it here as well. Let's walk ahead together." The cadet proposes, to which, both Tommy and Björn nod as they finally reach another door peering light onto the path. Taking each step carefully, they enter a room where a military personnel had been standing there waiting for them to come.

"Congratulations Cadets. You've reached the fourth and final phase of the military exam. I am your final examiner, General Jonathon Bohr. The second phase of the exam was simply a test of whether you as a soldier can move forward to save your own lives in a seemingly mysterious situation or not. Having persevered through the toughest of tasks nature had in its arsenal, you guys made it to the third phase.

Phase of riddles and bravery. Each phase took you to understand the notion of teamwork even better to get here. A necessary trait for a soldier. The skill to cooperate in the unlikeliest of circumstances to make it out of a harsh battlefield. Your final task is fairly simple. To satisfy me." The military personnel, Jonathan, speaks up to the three cadets present there.

"To satisfy you…?" The three cadets wonder.

"Yes, to satisfy me. Your first test is to make me a meal that would satisfy me." Jonathan continues.

"What kind of joke is this! We're meant to be soldiers! Not chefs!" Tommy exclaims, while the other two cadets nod in agreement.

"You couldn't be more wrong, kid. Whether at the peace provided at your home or at the battlefield, the ability to cook is a universal need to everyone. ESPECIALLY a soldier. You can't just eat things raw. They could contain poisons and other toxins that could harm your life on the battlefield. The ability to cook allows you to weed such toxins out, making the food even healthier as well as tastier. A soldier should NEVER compromise with what he eats." Jonathan replies to them with a hint of eagerness for the skill, that is cooking, as he continues, "To the left is firewood, a bunch of utensils as well as a bunch of ingredients. Get cooking you three!"

The three cadets walk nonchalantly to get their aprons and finally get to cooking. In no time, the three begin arguing over ingredients and usable utensils and then while Tommy is busy cutting onions, the fumes from them making all three of them cry just trigger the two cadets to get even more angry at Tommy.

Having prepared their meals after about an hour, they finally are ready to serve it to Jonathan who doesn't look pleased at all.

After tossing the dish Björn had cooked right onto his face, he screams, "IT SMELLS REALLY BAD! I DOUBT IT TASTES GOOD EITHER! NEXT!"

Upon seeing Tommy's dish, he slams it right onto Tommy's foot which ends up making his foot hurt while making Tommy shriek as Jonathan continues, "IT LOOKS UGLY LIKE A ROCK! HECK IT EVEN IS A ROCK!! WHAT COULD'VE HAPPENED TO MY TEETH HAD I TAKEN A BITE! PRESENTATION IS NECESSARY WHEN MAKING GOOD FOOD!!! NEXT!!!!"

Finally, seeing the third cadet's dish, he continues, "It looks good…", but as he takes the first bite, he shoves it into the cadet's mouth as he continues to scream, "IT LOOKS GOOD, IT SMELLS GOOD TOO, BUT IT TASTES LIKE DOGSHIT!! GET BACK TO COOKING AGAIN YOU DUMBASSES!!!"

With an annoyed face, the three get back to cooking again and serve it to the general once more.

On inspecting the third cadet's dish again, he seems to like it better this time and with a thumbs up, he says, "Could work a bit more on the slightly burnt taste, but you've certainly improved, you pass!", upon hearing which, the cadet tears up in happiness.

Then the general gets into tasting Björn's dish which he ends up liking to the point he finishes it, hugs Björn and screams, "YOU IMPROVED IN SUCH A SHORT WHILE!!! YOU'VE GOT TO BE A GENIUS LAD!!!"

Upon hearing this, Björn's soul almost leaves his body because of how tightly the general had suffocated him from the hug, leaving him no room to speak.

As the general moves onto the last dish, Tommy's dish, he throws it into the bin and just replies with a cold tone saying, "It is still as hard as a rock, it smells bad and it most likely tastes like shit too. You fail. AGAIN!!!! Anyways, you two can go, he stays here."

As the third cadet starts walking, Björn just stands there and says, "Tommy is my friend, I will not go without him. Even if it means failing this exam."

On hearing what Björn had to say, he just replies, "Your loss, kid. I'm leaving this place.", as he leaves towards the exit the general had opened for him.

Just then, Tommy says, "Why didn't you leave… I lost, it's a done deal. I can give this exam again but you still have a chance to go so why didn't you?"

"I told you. I am your friend. You didn't leave me behind on the way here. I won't leave you here either. I've got another chance next year too." Björn replies as he punches Tommy on the shoulder.

Tommy tears up a bit with a smile and replies, "You really are silly…"

On seeing their friendship having grown in such a short time, the general starts tearing up himself, takes a handkerchief out of his pocket, sneezes and replies, "Your friendship really got me emotional… It reminded me of my days of youth… Just for that… I will give you another chance Tommy… However… For both of you to get out, both of you must win this challenge together… And you, Björn, if you decide to take this challenge, you're not going to get the exit pass you got from the little cooking contest we had back there… Got it?"

Tommy and Björn give each other a serious look, turn their face towards the general and nod in agreement, to which the general nods as well and continues, "Very well… Your final test… Is to make me laugh!"

"Laugh…?" The two wonder.

"Yes! Make me laugh! Start making good jokes! Satisfy me!" He continues.

"Alright… I'll start!" Björn replies.

"Let's go!!" Tommy and the general exclaim in excitement by being the audience as Björn coughs and speaks up, "Two men walk into a bar. One says that he'll have H2O. The other says he'll have H2O too. The second one died."

This however, doesn't leave much of a reaction on Tommy and the general's face who seem extremely unamused by it.

"WHAT? IT WAS FUNNY!!!" Björn exclaims.

"Nah." The two reply, after which, Tommy coughs and says, "My turn!", stands in front of them, coughs again and speaks up, "Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side!", and starts laughing at it.

Upon hearing the joke, even the general starts laughing but Björn is unamused and replies, "What's so funny about that…?", which makes the two look at him and reply, "You're tasteless…", which offends Björn into standing in front of them again, coughing and speaking up, "What's the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care!", and starts laughing at it alone.

Tommy and the general remain unamused by this which offends Björn again as he screams, "IF THAT WASN'T FUNNY THEN WHAT EVEN IS FUNNY TO YOU TWO??"

Tommy then stands up, puts his hand onto Björn's shoulder with a rose seemingly showing up out of nowhere in his mouth as he says, "Worry not my friend. I'll teach you how to be funny.", with a wink.

The general gets teared up in a bride's dress that also shows up out of nowhere as he cheers for Tommy with roses that again seem to have come out of nowhere.

Tommy again out of nowhere is now in a tuxedo while also wearing a hat as he coughs again with gloves on his hands. He then takes his hat off and out of nowhere, brings out a magic stick, taps it onto the edges of the fat and a pigeon comes out of it.

On seeing this classic magic trick, the general is back in his normal clothes but showers Tommy with roses again as he screams, "BRAVO!! BRAVO!!!"

Tommy then bows but Björn simply screams, "WE WERE TALKING ABOUT FUNNY JOKES!!! NOT MAGIC!!!"

Upon hearing that, Tommy continues, "If it's jokes that you want, then it's jokes that I will give to you. YOU are the biggest joke here. YOU are unable to make us laugh despite us making the audience crack up. So YOU do not get the right to call us unfunny or demand more jokes from us, but however, for your sake, as your friend, I will give you guys one last joke!"

On hearing this, both the general and the audience that had shown up there out of nowhere start clapping with tears in their eyes as Tommy then coughs into a mic that also showed up out of nowhere as he continues saying, "Why was six afraid of seven? BECAUSE SEVEN EIGHT(ATE) NINE!!!!"

The joke causes the audience as well as the general to erupt into laughter as Tommy bows again and says, "Thank you! Thank you!", while he's showered by roses again.

Then suddenly, all the things that had shown up out of nowhere disappear, everyone is in their normal clothes, the background is all dark and light is peering onto Tommy seemingly out of nowhere. He walks towards Björn while reaching his hand out to him as he says, "It is your turn my friend. Go on. Use the knowledge I've provided you to make us laugh."

As Björn steps into the light while mumbling to himself, "You call one joke a lesson in teaching…?", he coughs and continues to say, "Alright… What do you call a belt made of watches? A WAIST OF TIME!"

Upon hearing that, the darkness surrounding them turns back to normal, the area of the cave they were in, as both Tommy and the general can't help but laugh while screaming, "ONE MORE!!! PLEASE!!!!", as Björn continues, "What's the action like at a circus? In-tents!", which makes the two laugh even more.

Tommy then stands up to hug Björn while tearing up and says, "I'm so proud of you… You're finally funny…", upon hearing this, Björn seems a bit offended but gets a calm expression on his face again as he hugs Tommy and says, "At least we get to get out of this together and pass!"

Tommy and Björn then walk towards the exit but the general stops them and continues, "That's not the exit!"

"Then what is? Didn't the other guy go through that exit too?" The two ask.

"Haha yeah he did. This exit leads outside the military exam grounds and into the town with a sign saying 'You failed'. He didn't pass because he didn't work as a team, but you two did. And for that, I'll lead you to the real exit!" The general explains as he takes a remote out of his pocket which opens the ceiling high up open while the ground starts shaking and moving up like an elevator.

The two finally are back into the military exam grounds with a sign reading, "You pass!", as they take a huge leap off the ground, give each other a high five and scream, "WE DID IT!!"

Just then, another announcement is made through the loudspeakers at the military exam ground which say, "Congratulations on passing the four phases of the exam. There is now one last phase left however. Due to having about 20 people pass this year, which is higher than the usual 10 people which we get from this district's exam, we'll be hosting a mini-tournament where two of the cadets have to fight each other until one of them either gives up or is out of the ring. The rounds will be decided shortly so that we get the maximum passing number down to the usual 10."

"Another phase eh…?" Björn wonders.

"It's fine! We got through four together, what's one more to us?" Tommy replies with a smile, to which Björn nods in agreement with a big smile as well.

After about 30 mins, when the brackets are decided, as both Tommy and Björn leave the waiting room together to see the results, they're shocked to see that they'll be fighting each other.

"Don't hold back just because we're friends Björn because I have no intention to." Tommy speaks up while clenching his fists with a confident look.

"Hah, as if, you better prepare to give me a good fight Tommy." Björn replies with a confident look as well, as both of them give each other the last high five and await their fight.

The scene then switches to Petra getting a notification on her phone right when she's about to sit with Yoko on one of the chairs arranged for the audience to see the final phase of the military exam.

"Hey Petra, there may be some suspicious guy in a black cloak right around the military exam grounds. I need you to be on the lookout for him. I've attached a picture of him, don't mind it being too blurry. I'll be there soon. Sorry to ask you to be patrolling today instead of being there to congratulate Tommy." Petra reads the message as she sighs, puts her coat back on and continues to Yoko saying, "I'll be back in a bit hopefully. Duty calls. Try to get any pics of the prince if you can!", to which, Yoko replies, "Sure!" with a smile, as Petra leaves.

Right as Petra heads out while still sighing, the man on the black cloak was intercepting the messages she had received, from on top of a pillar while looking into Petra's direction with a smirk as he says, "The military will never find me."

As Petra looks through the nearby road routes, the man shows up out of nowhere at an insane speed and stabs through Petra's chest with a sword as he, with a creepy smile on his face, continues saying, "Sorry lady. I cannot afford being found, but this is not the end for you, you can continue being… Useful… For my boss's plan, as per your… background… Hahaha…"

To be continued in Chapter - 15…