Saturday morning Ryaan gets up early and has an Uber waiting outside. He tells his family he’ll be hanging with friends at a mall in the suburbs. They don’t have a reason to doubt him. He’s never been good at lying but his dad can’t know. He’d never let him get involved.

The driver seems friendly enough. They chat throughout the ride and the man mentions that this is the third trip he’s made out here this week. He offers to come back in a couple of hours to provide a return trip. Ryaan enthusiastically accepts. The driver introduces himself as Ralph and explains that he always gets curious to know how people do with these tests. If he doesn’t provide the return trip he never finds out and it eats at him.

A forty five minute ride later, Ryaan finds himself in front of a large brick wall. Behind the wall there’s some sort of office but it seems small. Most of the facility’s outdoors. His appointment isn’t until noon and he’s about thirty minutes early but that gives him a chance to get ready.

He’s wearing the pants to his costume but everything else is in his backpack and he needs to change. Walking into the lobby, he sees a counter ahead with a few employees ready to help. Before going up to them he locates the restroom and slips away to get ready. He changes his shirt and pops his throwing knives into their slots. He almost left them home but decided to try getting them inside. The worst they can say is no.

He slips his staff holster over his shoulder and slips the staff into the slot. Finally he slides the mask over his face. Stepping out of the stall and looking himself over in a mirror, he doesn’t look too ridiculous. If only the mask wasn’t so awful. For now it has to do.

Exiting the restroom and heading to the counter, Ryaan finds a man standing there looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. His emotionless face stares, not betraying any sign of life. He doesn’t offer a greeting and doesn’t even return Ryaan’s, “Hello.”

Pulling his paperwork out of his backpack and offering it to the man, it’s snatched without a word. The man starts leafing through, seemingly to make sure Ryaan didn’t miss anything. Satisfied it’s all there he says, “What weapons do you use?”

Ryaan explains that he has a bow staff and throwing knives. The man asks if they’re sharp knives. “They wouldn’t do a lot of good if they weren’t.”

Apparently that’s the wrong answer. “Not allowed in the test. Leave them here or you’ll have to forfeit. You’re not allowed to use any weapons or gear likely to cause serious injury or death. All the people here are volunteers, not criminals. We don’t want you knifing them. Idiot.”

Ryaan can only apologize, not wanting to be thrown out before getting started. He takes all his knives out of their slots in his costume. He puts them in his bag and the man seems satisfied. “You’ll be sent outside into our obstacle course. There will be somewhere between six and ten enemies out there. All will be armed with guns shooting rubber bullets. Trust me when I say you don’t want to get hit by those. They shouldn’t kill you but they hurt like a mother. You’ll have thirty minutes to either disarm or take them all down. If you like we can provide you with a gun which will fire rubber bullets. It’s the same as the ones the volunteers will be using. They won’t hurt much but if you hit a volunteer in a sensitive area, then they will bow out. They have some armor to protect them but try not to seriously hurt anyone. If you are taken down, or you haven’t finished in thirty minutes, then you fail and won’t be licensed. You can try again in a month but only one attempt per month’s allowed.”

Ryaan nods along and files this all away. Thirty minutes doesn’t seem like a long time but it should be possible. He thinks of any questions he might have but this guy covered the big ones.

He’s shown into a closed room with only a bench and a closed garage door in it. He’s told when the door opens the test will begin. The enemies will move around the area at will but during the first five minutes they’ll stay out of the immediate area where he’s starting out. Beyond that they’re free to go wherever they need. Satisfied everything has been covered, Ryaan thanks the man and says goodbye. He steps out of the room. The door closes and locks behind him.

Trying to shake off his nerves, Ryaan paces back and forth. The dulled throwing stars don’t fit his knife slots so they’re looped on his belt. They aren’t easy to get at there. Set up is out the window. He’ll need to use the terrain, get close to enemies and take them on up close. Hopefully most of his opponents will be spread out. If they’re grouped together this could be over fast.

After what seems like an eternity, the door opens and Ryaan finds himself staring at a large wooded area. The trees are thick and clearly old. This facility must have gone up around them. They’ll make fantastic cover. Making his way among the trees, there’s no sign of anybody. In the distance though there’s a bit of a clearing and a small wooden shack’s sitting there looking lonely. A quick glance at his phone shows it’s 12:02. He has until 12:32 to finish this test.

Darting from tree to tree, Ryaan tries to keep behind cover. He’s good at staying quiet and the trees are thick so hopefully nobody sees him coming. Discovering a small road leading to the building, he makes his way toward it as fast as he can without drawing attention to himself.

As he gets close, there’s still no sign of anybody around. Looking into the distance he can’t see the end of the facility. It’s clearly a big place, at least as big as a football field. There are a pair of windows on the shack and peeking into the closest one, he sees two men sitting inside. Both look nervous. They’re playing a game of cards, or pretending to, but both keep glancing at the door. Apparently they haven’t put much thought into the windows because neither is looking his way.

Ryaan has an idea to take these two down and get off to a good start. There’s a single tree next to the building and its branches stretch over the shack. Climbing as fast as he can, he works his way out on a limb and finds himself over the roof. He drops down as quietly as he can, still not ready to give himself away.

Freeing his staff, he extends it to full length. He leans over the edge of the building right by the door. Using his staff, he gives a few strong taps to the door. He can hear the men inside leap to their feet but they don’t burst out. Apparently they want to ready themselves first.

Using their commotion as an opportunity, Ryaan jumps off the back of the building. It’s only around seven feet tall. Running to the window, he can see them getting ready to burst through the door. Just as they start moving, Ryaan slams his staff through the window and sends two stars flying through. One hits each man square in the back before they can react. Not sure what their next move will be, Ryaan dives to the side to avoid return fire. When nothing happens he glances back in and sees each man holding up a white flag in surrender. The sight of those little flags sends him into a fit of laughter. He finally feels comfortable. Now he hopes they don’t make him pay for that window.

Before moving on Ryaan runs inside to retrieve his throwing stars. He doesn’t want to run out. With them securely back on his belt he heads toward the wooded area he came from. Searching for any sign of people, it isn’t long before he hears talking. Looking down the nearest trail from behind the cover of a tree, he sees a man and woman walking toward him with guns drawn. They aren’t talking, but each has a walkie talkie on their hip and the sound’s coming from those.

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It sounds like all his opponents are checking in and Ryaan’s pretty sure he hears four voices in addition to the two in front of him. Unable to make out every word, he hears enough to know they’re concerned the other two aren’t checking in. That means everyone is expected to do so and he’s only got six people to take down. The woman speaks into the radio, saying the two of them will check on the pair in the shack. They all promise to report the vigilante’s location if they find him. Not much chance of that.

These two need to go down fast and quiet so he’ll need to get close. Scanning the area for a good place to mount his attack, he sees a bush near the path which should cover his approach. As the two pass, he sneaks out behind them, making sure his staff is at full length.

As he nears the pair his slow, deliberate moves give way to a hurricane. A spin gives him extra velocity on his attack as he slams the first man in the back. The man lets out a startled yelp but stays on his feet. Ryaan goes right for his hand, a fast jab causing him to drop his weapon. The gun hits the ground and rattles away. One last smack to the side of the head sends him to the ground.

That’s one down but the man’s partner’s already reacting. Ryann manages to bring his staff up and her gun is also knocked clear. Yet another smack on the head puts her down and she’s not getting up. A quick check on both shows they’re breathing but they may actually be unconscious. He’d love to take time to hide their bodies so he doesn’t have to worry about another agent coming along and stumbling into them but a glance at the time tells him to move on. It’s already 12:16 and he’s almost halfway through the allotted time. There’s at least four of these guys left so he needs to move fast.

Making a decision on where to go next feels nearly impossible. He can’t see or hear anyone from his location. All he can make out are trees. There appear to be a few structures in the distance but he can’t see the wall either way and for all he knows those buildings are empty. If he guesses wrong he won’t have time to go back the other way. If the next group are split up in both directions he’ll probably run out of time. If they’re all together he probably can’t handle them. There’s no good choice.

A sudden epiphany hits him. Picking up one of the walkie talkies sitting by his downed foes, he tries to alter his voice and sound authoritative. He pushes in the talk button. “Contact made, he’s near the wood structure. We could use backup. What are everyone’s current locations?”

He gets back a reply of, “We’re in the far west structure.”

Another group says, “We’re in the open but can move in your direction. Please advise.”

Ryaan thinks of how he wants to handle this. “Copy that, move in on the wooden structure and then let me know. Come from the west side of the building if you can. He’s pinned down inside.”

Once they’re headed his way Ryaan climbs a tree where they won’t be able to see him. Laying in wait, he thinks about how perfect this is. He didn’t have time to track down this group and then make it to the far side of the complex. It’ll be tight this way but if they get here quick, he should make it.

It isn’t long before the pair pop into view. Ryaan hoped they’d be closer so he could take them down with a quick throwing star and move on. They’re coming from a different angle than he expected though and that’s not an option. From where the two are standing, they might even see him if they look up. Ryaan climbs down the tree and tries to find a better way to approach them. If he’s fast enough he might be able to flank them. Soon he’s as close as he’s going to get without giving away his position.

Moving in quickly, he tries to stay quiet and keep the element of surprise. The closer he gets, the more he plans each step. His staff at the ready, he draws back to strike a blow. His final steps make more noise than intended and one of the enemies turns to meet him. His turn is met with a staff to the chest. The impact’s strong enough to send him flying backwards, but as he falls his gun rises. Ryaan beats him to the punch with a second blow to the hand which knocks the gun away.

This makes far too much noise for his cover to be maintained. The second man hears his friend’s grunts and comes running. Ryaan tries throwing a star but he misses, tagging the guy’s arm and suddenly rubber bullets are flying. As shot after shot ring out, Ryaan dives behind the building. His first thought is to circle the building and get behind the guy, but once he’s on the other side he realizes that now he doesn’t know which way the guy’s moving.

With no time to think, Ryaan sees the door in front of him and throws himself inside. Glancing out the window allows him to see the man’s direction and prepare himself. He’s still circling, seemingly not realizing his target is now indoors.

The next time the guy comes around the building, Ryaan times things as best he can and throws himself through the broken window. He cuts his arm on the remaining jagged glass, blood splattering on the grass. He hoped this would look as cool as it does in the movies. The guys in the movies never end up with massive cuts. Luckily the injury isn’t to his main throwing arm and he’s able to get a star off, finding the back of the man’s head. He turns and gives Ryaan an annoyed look, but after a moment of rubbing his head he falls down and admits defeat.

Ryaan’s arm throbs in pain and blood oozes from his wound. He reaches into his satchel and pulls out bandages so he can wrap it. Sanitizing the wound first would be a good idea but there’s no time and he doesn’t think the injury is that serious. He hopes not anyway.

Looking at the time, he only has seven minutes left and he has to get to the far side of the complex. With his arm wrapped, he takes off running, adrenaline kicking in as he goes. He knows where the facility is and can probably make it there in three or four minutes if nothing stops him. That will leave only three minutes to take down two guys and he’ll be worn out from the run. Not ideal but there’s no alternative. The clock part of this test is the worst. If he weren’t on a clock he’d take time to plan this out and find the best way to approach things. The real world moves on a clock though so it’s probably good to make sure he can handle that when needed.

Moving through the last of the wooded area, he sees no sign of his final two opponents but he does see the series of buildings they said they were by. There are three buildings and each is large with multiple rooms these guys could be in. He doesn’t know if the men have been instructed to engage or just to hide somewhere and wait out the clock.

Moving between the buildings looking for any sign of life, Ryaan is suddenly face to face with one of the enemies. He seems surprised to see Ryaan, so much so that at first he doesn’t even raise his gun. Moving fast, Ryaan lets off a couple of throwing stars, but the guy ducks behind a corner and they fall harmlessly to the ground. He’s down to just a few of those things. He didn’t retrieve them after his last fight because he found himself so low on time.

Swearing under his breath, Ryaan moves up a flight of stairs to the roof of the nearest building. Hopefully from up here he can get a good view of what’s going on. He suddenly hears bullets glancing off the stairs beneath him. The other guy must still be here and firing in his direction. Upon reaching the roof without being hit, he scans for his opponents but there’s no sign of them.

Glancing at the time once more, he’s down to two minutes. Finally he sees the first enemy peeking out from behind the next building. He can’t head back down the stairs; there’s an enemy there who has him in their sights and he has no clue where they’re hiding. There’s no other obvious way off this roof. Looking for any solution, he sees a bush and decides it can break his fall. He leaps off the roof, trying to aim himself for the shrub and avoid the pavement. The wind in his hair’s exhilarating. That lasts only a moment as he hits the ground. The impact isn’t that bad. He’ll have some scratches but he feels great for someone who just jumped off a roof. Rolling out of the bush, he gets up and moves toward the corner where the guy was lurking. Running toward him, he feels something hit him in the back and it knocks him hard to the ground.

The pain’s intense though not overwhelming. He fights his way to his knees and turns to see one of the volunteers coming toward him, reaching out a hand to help him up. This must be the guy he wasn’t able to find, the one who shot at him when he was on the stairs. Confused, he moves to ready one of his throwing stars. The guy throws his hands in the air. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. This thing is over dude. No need for any more of that. Thanks for playing, better luck next time.”

Confused, Ryaan looks to his left and sees a rubber bullet rolling on the ground next to him. That must be what hit him in the back. That means he’s already lost.