4:44 in the morning. Subaru liked synchronicity. He set up an alarm clock on one side of a massive arena. Rei, Nat, and Tyzor stood on the other side, looking anything but excited.

The space they were in was a large stadium with seats all around them. They were of course, empty. Although they had a roof overhead, the stadium center was made to look like the outdoors. Several large trees were spread out within the space, and the floor was dusty cobblestone.

“Do I need to refresh your memories?” Subaru asked, an evil smirk on his face.

“Seven hours, stop the clock, you’ll try to get in our way.” Tyzor mumbled. He hated being up early.

Subaru laughed at the implication from Tyzor that stopping the trio would require any effort at all. Rei was twitching with excitement, as usual.

“Ready...begin!”

Rei was the first one to move. He drew his sleek claymore sword and his whole body began to hum. Bright green light began to emanate from him in a large cloud, then it thinned out around his body and encased his sword. Subaru let out a low whistle.

“Using mana already?” He said. “Hope you don’t run out before noon.”

Nat clicked her tongue in irritation. “Don’t let him provoke you, Rei. We have to work as a team remember?”

“That much is true, you need the backup Rei. After all, your mana control is the worst on the squad.” Subaru called out.

The green cloud of light around Rei flared up, looking like a flame. Nat threw her hands up in the air. “Ah forget it. No use now.”

Subaru grinned as he untangled the chain belt from his waist. He wrapped it twice around his hand and let the rest drop to the ground. A cloud of dust kicked up as the chain hit. “I think I’ll stick to good ‘ol hand-to-hand until I feel challenged.” He said.

“Man, he’s really trying to get a rise out of him today.” Tyzor noted.

Nat snorted. “Only Subaru would call using a weapon ‘hand-to-hand’. Rei! Are you still with us?”

Rei growled as his green mana cloud whirled angrily around him, reflecting his mood. Tyzor himself began glowing his pale blue and raised his hand, silently offering to calm Rei down the hard way. Nat shook her head, no, and instead pulled her thick journal off of her hip. She flicked her arm downwards, and from somewhere within her flowing long sleeves out slipped a dip pen, which she brandished and dipped within the flask of black ink hanging by her side. With surprising ease considering it’s size, Nat flipped the journal open to a blank page and quickly scrawled WALL. As she wrote, her mana began to materialize, a bright yellow cloud swirling calmly and slowly around her. Immediately once the word was done being written on the page, it began to glow a matching yellow. Nat tore it out of the journal and tossed it on the ground in front of the three of them.

Impossibly, a large cobblestone wall exploded upwards out of the paper, growing and cracking as it spread up and out, across the whole width of the stadium. There was soon a divide down the center of the stadium, with Subaru on one side, and the rest of his team on the other.

Rei shouted in anger. “Why didn’t you stay out of it!?” He asked, turning back to face his teammates.

Nat stayed calm. “He was provoking you so you’d charge in and he could take you out first.”

“Yeah, it’s true you have the worst mana control,” Tyzor stated bluntly, “but you’re also our enhancer, and that’s a valuable team position. He’s trying to break us up and with your thick head you’ll run straight into his trap.”

“This is a test.” Nat stated, certain of herself. “Something’s going on. Maybe we’re up for promotions or there’s a mission they’re checking to see if Unit 32 is prepared for. These intense training exercises don’t just happen and the Arena doesn’t get cleared out for just anything.”

“You picked up on that too huh?” Tyzor asked, leaving Rei feeling stranded in his ignorance. “Well I’m excited. Our missions have been a snore lately. I’m all for upping our pay grade.” Tyzor’s mana flared with his excitement.

“We can’t just charge into this head on like idiots.” Nat said. And Rei wasn’t sure why, but he felt mildly offended. “Remember how we got picked off during our graduation exam?”

Ah yes, the Mana Police Force official graduation exam. Every five years the newest class of graduating cadets was put through one final test. Sorted into teams of three based on their affinity, then assigned a commander of a higher rank. In order to ensure they would work well together in the field the new teams were put through a graduation exam of the commander’s choice, and Subaru had chosen the Stop the Clock exercise, something of his signature. The teams were balanced by class grades, meaning the cadets who did best were grouped together and same for the cadets who did the worst. Out of a graduating class of 45 cadets, Rei, Tyzor, and Nat had come in the very bottom three on the class score list.

During training, the cadets had learned basic mana control but not their exact affinity. There were four concentrations of mana control, and an ideal team would have a balance of equally strong fighters from each concentration. The concentrations were Transformers, Enhancers, Producers, and Transfusers. The transformer, Commander Subaru, had the ability to create a mimic of any intangible object. Transformers who work outside of Units often become spies and follow paths of work that require deception. Their mimics won’t stand up very long against someone like Tyzor though, a Transfuser who can detect mana, and steal it from others through a simple touch. The ability to transfer that gathered mana to someone else means many transfusers opt to be doctors and healers, but Tyzor prefers using his concentration for more...offensive purposes.

Nat, the team’s producer creates truth out of words. Anything she writes is imbued with her mana and becomes real. Unlike a transformer’s, Nat’s creations are not simply imitations made out of mana, they become the real thing which makes it easier to hide their presence and defend themselves against transfusers. And Rei, was the team’s enhancer. Most enhancers were indeed just as rash and hot-headed as Rei. His concentrations provides little room for those who prefer to fight defensively, as enhancers can strengthen any objects by surrounding it with their mana. This power gives Rei’s weapon of choice, an ordinary claymore sword, the ability to cut through solid stone.

“Hmm...well they fit the team roles, but why do I get the weakest ones?” Subaru had asked upon reading his assigned unit. He paid no mind to the fact that the trio of freshly graduated recruits was right in front of him. “I wonder if this is punishment for skipping all those meetings…”

A bright flash of green light had filled the room as Rei’s mana flared in sync with his anger. He grabbed an eraser and chucked if at Subaru. “Bastard!” He proclaimed.

The eraser whizzed by Subaru’s head, and although he dodged it with ease, it made a sizable hole in the wall behind him. Subaru whistled softly, though he would never admit he was impressed. But Rei wasn’t finished. Letting out a war cry, Rei charged at Subaru. However before he even reached him, Rei’s mana faded away, like a cloud of smoke destroyed by a sudden gust of wind.

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Subaru had snorted and said, “And you’ve got crappy mana control to boot. Well I’ve certainly got my work cut out for me.”

The trio had failed to stop the clock before noon last time Subaru gave them this test. But now, five years later they had trained significantly in their concentrations and had experience in real life missions. Before they had failed because they all rushed in attempting to overpower Subaru. They had no plan. This time however, they would.

________________________________________________________________________

Subaru stalked around the arena, letting his chain drag along the stone behind him. He figured it was more intimidating to hear him coming. 

Nat sat high in a tree, looking through the scope of a sniper rifle. A ripped piece of journal paper with the glowing words bolt gun written on it floated to the ground below. She was surrounded by massive trees, hidden quite well in the foliage. On the lookout for Subaru. She had placed several more pieces of journal paper around her, some with trip mine written on them, others with alert written on them, to protect herself from an attack from Subaru. Other than that, she was the support player. Rei and Tyzor were going on the offensive, getting over the massive wall in the middle of the arena. 

Remember the goal is to stop the clock. If we can avoid a fight with Subaru, we should. Nat’s words echoed in Rei’s head, despite his attempts to block it out. The temptation to find Subaru in this mess of a forest and smack him a good couple of times was very hard to resist. However, part of the reason Tyzor was paired up with Rei was because a simple touch was all he needed to sedate someone who was being hysterical. 

Rei and Tyzor had reached the wall. Rei charged up his mana and drew his sword. It glowed fiercely, almost like it was glowing in anticipation. “I’ll just cut right through it, we’ll get the clock and that’s it.” Rei said confidently. 

Tyzor tensed. 

At the same time, Nat spotted Subaru coming up from behind the pair. She thought of how best to warn them before realizing that not only was he dragging his chain along the ground, he was using his mana just walking through the forest. A dark purple mist surrounded him as he walked, swirling and writhing. Nat knew Tyzor would be able to sense an aura that strong from a mile away. Nat placed her finger on the trigger of her sniper, aimed, exhaled slowly, and pulled the trigger back. 

A shot rang out through the forest, loud and unexpected enough to get Rei to stop what he was doing and lose control over his mana. His green mist dissipated. “Nat found Subaru.” He breathed.

Rei concentrated, preparing to charge up his mana again and run back to assist his teammate. As if sensing his intentions, Tyzor shook his head. Focus on the goal. Stop the clock. Nat could handle herself.

Right after Nat fired the first bolt she loaded another into her gun and fired. Then another, and another. She wasn’t taking any chances against a Commander Subaru at full strength and wanted to weaken him as much as possible. Nat looked up from her scope in shock as she saw Subaru whip around lightning fast towards the sound of the gun firing. He began twirling his chain in front of him until the whole thing was just a dark purple, circular blur. When the twirling finally stopped, the chain dropped to the ground, and in between a few of it’s links were the bolts Nat had fired. 

Without wasting a millisecond, Nat dropped her gun and leapt out of the tree she was staying in. Now Subaru had found her position, it would be easy for him to take her out before focusing on the other two. And without having to worry about ranged attacks he wouldn’t have to hold back against Rei and Tyzor to watch his own back. 

Shit. Nat thought. She frantically tore a page out of her notebook and scrawled the words hook and line on it. The paper began to glow the signature yellow, and from out of the page erupted a grappling hook and line of rope. Nat began swinging downwards to the ground, hoping to be able to put some distance between her and Subaru while also obscuring his vision. He definitely found me because I fired at him. Maybe it will buy Rei and Tyzor more time but only if I can avoid him for long enough. If I meet him face to face my chances are non-existent alone, even if I only wanted to stall him. Nat’s thoughts swirled through her head like liquid in a blender, each passing by too fast to really contemplate any one of them. The most pertinent thoughts were saying run. Now. And that, she could do. 

“Yo.” Said a voice. 

Nat froze. What the fuck? How the fuck??

In front of her hanging upside down by his legs on a tree branch was Subaru. His long chain just barely scraped the floor. Subaru smoothly flipped himself onto the ground. 

“Those were nice shots. Your control with your creations is getting better. And that grappling hook was good thinking, your reaction times with writing and grabbing paper are much faster than the last time.” Subaru took a step towards Nat, speaking as though he was offering feedback on a homework assignment. Nat took a step back.

“But my favorite new power of yours...is these.” Subaru pulled from his breast pocket a slip of journal paper. 

Trip mine. 

“How long can your creations stay tangible off the page for?” Subaru queried. 

Nat tensed up and faced him properly. “About 48 hours, depends on how many things I’ve got at once.”

“Well done. You’ve been practicing in your spare time. I wish I knew the same was true for the boys.” Subaru took a step forward. Nat took a step back. 

“Well I’ve also found out how to create intangible things and written actions.” Nat finally spoke first, aiming to distract Subaru until the boys could reach the clock. 

“Written actions?” Subaru sounded intrigued.

Nat ripped out a sheet of journal paper. Subaru didn’t even bother to tighten his grip on his chain. He’s relaxed. Nat thought.

Nat dipped her pen in the ink and scribbled something on the paper. She turned it around and showed it to Subaru. 

On fire.

The paper shone with the yellow light, and then it burst into bright yellow and orange flames. Nat let it go and it fluttered to the ground, turning to ashes before it’s journey was complete. 

“I can do a few more. Explosion. Tidal wave. Alert. As long as I concentrate my mana I can delay the activation of the words, and even set up traps.” Nat sounded more confident. Not only did Subaru have his full attention on her, she was rather fond of talking about her own accomplishments. 

“That’s what I love about you, Nat. You’re always searching to improve...Hmm.” Subaru suddenly looked perplexed. 

“What?”

“Well, I’m just debating internally.” Subaru stated. “Even though you’re just trying to distract me I feel tempted to teach you a lesson that might benefit you in this exercise.”

Nat’s eyes widened. Her hand inched towards her notebook.

“See,” Subaru started, staring her down, “I’ve met people like you before. People who focus so much on the abilities that their concentration gives them that they forget the power mana has on it’s own.”

On it’s own? It was true that mana did have some battle capabilities by itself, but surely using one’s concentration in a fight was the surest way to victory.

“Do you know why I never start out with a mana weapon, even though I can make one faster than I can untie this chain from my waist? Because people lower their guard. And when they see me with a real weapon instead of one I created using Transformation, they forget.” Subaru took a step forwards.

Nat forgot to step back. “They forget?”

“That there’s more to mana usage than the concentrations.” As Subaru said this, his mana began to swirl around him fiercely and deepen into an even darker shade of purple. A warm breeze drifted off of him, as if Subaru was producing heat. 

“The ability to create illusions and cause hypnosis in people without an effective mana mental shield up.” Subaru’s words sounded distant and quiet to Nat’s ears. To say she lost consciousness would not be exactly accurate. It was more appropriate to say she lost herself. Nat found herself drifting in absolute nothingness, there wasn’t even a breeze to feel to let her know she was still a physical being. Nat heard from somewhere around her:

“That one’s always been my favorite.”