Joaquim stood on the taiga platform, the cold winds of the high atmosphere bit at his lips and brought the scent of fresh pine. It was early morning and the sun rose casting a warm glow over the snow-covered landscape. Iker gave him access to an earthplexus app he created that trained both Kaya form and hand-to-hand combat named Kayaku.

As much as he hated to admit it, the name of the app did make Joaquim laugh.

The Kayaku app was Iker's latest creation, a hologram training ground that allowed Joaquim to practice his Kaya form in a simulated environment. It was a technological marvel that blended self-defense with cutting-edge models, providing a lifelike experience as if he were fighting other supersoldiers during a mission. As an added bonus, the app could be activated on a virtualtop system... if Joaquim ever came across one. It was hard to believe Iker did not have one.

"Early, in uniform, and already practicing," Iker said. "I like that cadet."

Both Iker and Joaquim wore the Ember Tree combat uniform, made of camouflage fabric that used white, gray, and black squares. However, Joaquim will not yet get a shoulder hologram for his rank as a cadet.

Iker's shoulder occasionally had an ethereal eagle descend onto his shoulder, signifying his rank as a Colonel. He was the youngest to ever reach the rank, which was made possible due to the sinking lifespan of supersoldiers, and how young Iker was when he first joined as a cadet.

Iker also had the sleek commander top that was a fusion of a cloak and a trenchcoat. He had the sleeves rolled up to show off his impressive arms.

"Before you say my na-"

"I can see the big ass eagle on your shoulder, Colonel Felix," Joaquim said.

"Cadet, I don't mind being informal with you outside of here, but you need to be more respectful during the job," Iker said.

"Sorry sir," Joaquim said.

"See? This is why letting soldiers that know each other too much join the same platoon was a mistake," a woman said.

She wore an army camouflage hijab with no Alkrezian mask, meaning that she was Muslim. Unlike Iker who looked both intimidating and aloof at the same time, she seemed pleasant and engaged with her jaunty eyes and smile.

"Well, with how overpowered healing abilities, for example, become when used on someone you care about... it's just too strong to ignore," Iker said.

"Wait, you're Lieutenant Tagore," Joaquim said.

"You recognize me?" she asked.

"Yea, of course... uh ma'am," Joaquim said. "Your enemies call you Mercury."

2 platoon's second-in-command, master of creating and controlling mercury with influx, Lieutenant Tagore earned her fame by killing one of Ameen's past inquisitors.

"Wait, did you meet any other two platoon members other than Lucia and I?" Iker asked.

"Lucia is in two platoon? No way!" Joaquim gushed.

"Well, she'll be Private Felix once she gets here," Lieutenant Tagore said.

"I also already met Corporal Woo," Joaquim said.

"Nice," Iker said. "She must have been the one that teleported you to Ember Tree City. So he still needs to meet Sergeant Uzi, Sergeant Hunter, and Private Borrys."

"That makes eight of us, but usually there's nine in a platoon no?" Joaquim asked.

"Yea, Cadet Gabriel Wami will be here for the test too," Iker said.

Joaquim glanced down at the floor.

Iker had an envelope hologram appear above him. He glanced at it and the message opened in front of him.

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"Looks like the rest of two platoon is already at strategic positions. They are too used to cadets failing now," Iker said. "Sorry but you'll have to meet the rest of our platoon on the battlefield."

"Battlefield?" Joaquim asked."I am fighting others during this test?"

"I'll explain the test," Iker said. "Okay, most of you know the drill, but can you all hear me?"

Yes sir was said in unison, one voice having the arak static Joaquim heard before.

Sergeant Uzi is an arak, Joaquim thought.

"Usually I have Sergeant Uzi link our minds together, but to not put him at a disadvantage, I'll use the earthplexus today," Iker said.

Uzi is an esper, Joaquim thought. He was gathering all the information he could.

"You already put me at a disadvantage by saying that," Sergeant Uzi said over the earthplexus, causing laughter among the soldiers.

"So folks," Iker announced over the laughter. "We need a song choice."

Song choice?

"The one from American Horror Story season 2," Lucia said over the earthplexus, causing groans.

"Iker's obsession with the 21st century is contagious," Sergeant Hunter said over the earthplexus. "If I hear that song again I'll just quit this shit platoon."

"Hey, she gets to talk like that?" Joaquim asked.

"Earn it first," Lieutenant Tagore said with a wink.

"Ah perfect then, looks like I'll choose the song again," Iker said.

Groans and boos filled the call.

"Hey, it's Sergeant Hunter's fault," Iker said, glancing back at Joaquim and Lieutenant Tagore with a smirk.

Everyone on the call took turns giving Sergeant Hunter shit in good jest.

"I already know the song," Iker said.

"Tell us," Private Borrys said.

"No," Iker said.

"It's another 90s grunge song," Corporal Woo said.

"Wrong decade and wrong genre," Iker said. "No more guesses."

He said that as soon as multiple soldiers opened their mouths to give their guesses.

"I'll explain the game. It's musical chairs, but with more rules," Iker said.

"More like musical coffins with all the cadets you fail," Lieutenant Tagore said.

"Hey hey, no one has died. I already have medical influx users on standby," Iker said. "But musical coffins sounds more ominous."

Iker cleared his throat and explained the test.

1. There will be as many chairs as the number of players, and each chair will be assigned a number from 1 to 9.

2. Drones will drop the chairs in random locations on the taiga platform. Once the chairs are dropped, the starting location will have a map locating the chairs.

3. The music plays when the round starts. When the song loop ends in 15 minutes, find a chair to sit on. You must push down the chair's plate all the way down to be considered 'seated.' If you mistake the end of the song as the song loop ending and you sit on a chair, you're disqualified.

4. You must sit on a different chair each round to avoid elimination.

5. Breaking a chair is an automatic elimination. The chair will eliminate everyone it detects while receiving major damage.

6. When a round ends, players will elect which chair gets removed from play. If a chair wasn't or can't be chosen for any reason, the chair removed is chosen by random.

7. Eliminated players do not receive any benefits from sitting on a chair.

8. New recruits pass if Colonel Felix and Lieutenant Tagore are eliminated.

9. The last person... sitting... wins a 2 week vacation. We will do our best to cover you for red missions.

10. A healer will be readily available at the starting location after the game starts. They can also be contacted through the earthplexus, just open the voting app we will use and look at the bottom of the screen.

"Cadet Joaquim Wami and Cadet Gabriel Wami, do either of you have any questions?" Iker asked.

Joaquim and Gabe were bringing bad vibes to this rambunctious platoon, and Joaquim felt embarrassed about it. He had no idea how to react to this inescapable tension.

"I got it," Joaquim said.

"Yea," Gabe said.

"Awkward," Sergeant Hunter sang.

"Alright, we will give everyone an extra 10 minutes to get into position whether it's by the map or a spot you think a chair will be delivered," Iker said. "The game starts when the music starts."

Joaquim blinked, and Lieutenant Tagore and Iker were gone in an instant. Joaquim was on his own now.

He blinked again and found himself in midair.

Someone grabbed him by the collar and was dragging him somewhere. He entered Kaya form and kept jabbing the rogue hand to no avail.

For a second or two the hand let go and he was no longer being dragged. Time slowed and he was suspended in midair.

Then the gravel floor greeted him with a crash to the face and he rolled on the floor to receive multiple scrapes. He was trying to slow his roll, but he jammed his elbow to the ground the wrong way and it was quite painful. Luckily Kaya form prevented more serious damage.

Joaquim rolled himself to face the sky to find Gabe, Farouq, and a shapeshifted Camilo standing over him.

"Get up," Farouq said. "Gabe is going to become a man. He's going to kill you here for good."

Farouq and Camilo walked away to give space to the battle that was about to take place.

Joaquim had it. He scowled at his brother and leapt forward.

Then a memory creeped in.

The brothers noticed that every shounen would have a scene where some guy would explain how time would slow down to a crawl during a fight, and it became an inside joke among them.

Bleach did it.

Hunter x Hunter did it.

However, as the snow stayed suspended like divine glass shards in the air, as his brother flew to a crawl towards him, as pinecones froze in the sky, as Camilo and Farouq could have been replaced with cardboard cutouts, those words spoken by the fighters were the realest words Joaquim ever heard.

Neither of them could joke about it ever again.