The Agency was an interesting place to work at. Imagine a university but much weirder. The main idea is to go there to get recruited for missions. The missions either range from super easy rescue tasks all the way to stopping criminal organizations. What really sets it apart is the fact that there’s a four-year probationary period. Proving yourself and your abilities are integral to being able to stay. The Agency wasn’t a job but a long-term career that tests every part of your being. I was about to experience that firsthand.
When I walked through the door I was greeted by my captain. In the letter sent home, there was some information about the names of my team members and captain for this first year. My captain was almost exactly what I imagined him to look like. He was tanned skinned with blonde buzzed hair and bright blue eyes. He was tall, around six foot two or so, very muscled and big. Intimidating was the first word to come to mind.
“Ey, you’re Lydia, right?” He had his arms crossed and a smile on his face.
“How’d you know?”
“Because you’re the last one to arrive,” he indicated to the others in the room.
“Oh,” I was slightly embarrassed.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you were late or anything, like some people,” he rolled his eyes.
I took another look around the room. There were only four of us when a team typically consisted of five. If he was the captain then it meant the second in command was already here.
“Anyways, I’m Lucas. Welcome to the worst day of your life,” he grinned.
I was about to say something when the other guy in the room started talking, “Haha, it’s my turn. I’m Carter,” he vigorously shook my hand.
He was shorter than me at about five foot five. He had pale-colored skin and messy brown hair everywhere. His honey-brown eyes almost matched his hair perfectly. The complete opposite of Lucas, he was a pretty scrawny kid with only a little muscle.
“Lydia,” I responded and pulled my hand back.
“I’ve been waiting for way too long for this day to come. I might’ve gotten rejected from the captain position but here’s my chance to prove to those clowns how useful I can really be,” he crossed his arms with a triumphant smile,” I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to be reacting to him telling me his life story so I just stayed silent and nodded.
“Thanks for the backstory Carter,” Lucas tried to push the conversation along. “Over there we have Clarisse,” he indicated to the other girl.
She was around the same height as Carter. She was darker skinned and had her box braids pulled back into a ponytail. There was one streak of hot pink in her hair. She was heavily muscled and very beautiful with gorgeous chestnut-colored eyes.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” she grabbed both my hands with a warm smile on her face.
I blushed, “It’s nice to meet you too.” My smile wasn’t nearly as nice as hers.
“Alrighty, now that introductions are finished, it’s time for business,” Lucas started, “This isn’t an ordinary training session. This will directly test your abilities. As your captain, I have to know your abilities inside and out so I can properly lead you. Let’s determine how useless you all are.” he smirked.
“I can say for sure that I am a great asset to the team,” Carter nudged my arm.
“How are you so confident?”
“You don’t need confidence when you have skill,” Carter plopped in his chair.
Lucas rolled his eyes, “Ok, Clarisse, you’re up first. Come this way,” he indicated to a room in the back.
She smiled wide, “I’m more than ready,” she said while she followed behind him.
They walked into a room that was at the very back of the studio. Lucas closed the door and I was left with Carter. He was pacing around the room with a sense of purpose, muttering something to himself that I couldn’t quite understand before he settled down next to me on the floor.
“I learned about this place from my cousin. She’s the coolest person you’ll ever meet.” He grinned.
“Wow, that’s really-”
“Yup, she’s really something else. Has been working here forever. I wasn’t going to give up the opportunity to follow in her footsteps. Besides, saving people has always been a dream of mine.”
“That’s a pretty noble reason for joining,” I finally chimed in.
“I know right?! I’m a pretty noble person if you couldn’t tell.”
I sat up straighter, “The first time I heard about this place was my junior year of college. If I had heard about it sooner I wouldn’t have wasted so much time.”
Before I could continue Clarisse walked through the door with Lucas right behind her. She had bandages all over her arms and legs. The confident smile that she had going in there was gone, what was replaced was the look of defeat. I was feeling more unsure of myself by the second.
“Carter, time to prove yourself,” Lucas crossed his arms.
“My time has come. I will show you all the magnificence of my power,” he hopped to his feet and headed in Lucas’s direction.
“Good luck Carter, you’re gonna need it,” Clarisse had a small tired smile on her face.
“Thank you Clarisse, but I won’t need it,” he said right as the door closed.
Clarisse sat down on the floor next to me. She sucked down her water bottle as if her life depended on it. Afterward, she plopped her back on the floor.
“That bad?”
She lifted her head off the ground, “He’s on a completely different level.”
“Thanks for the confidence booster,” I laughed.
“Yeah, sorry. There’s not much positivity that came from that fight,” she also laughed.
Sweat beaded down my face. Before I got here, I felt prepared for anything they had to throw at me. It was quite a process to get into this place, to begin with. I thought my teammates would all be on my level, but now I wasn’t too sure.
“I kicked butt,” Carter screamed as he came through the door.
He was covered in bandages the same way as Clarisse. Despite that, he had a triumphant smile on his face. I had a hard time believing that he actually did something against Lucas.
“Lydia, you’re up last,” Lucas shoved me to the door.
The room itself was interesting. The walls were completely padded and there were no mirrors. The room was also destroyed, most likely from the fights before me.
“We each have five minutes to pin the other to the ground. Whoever does it first wins. It'll also determine where you fit best."
“No problem,” I got into a fighting stance, I was becoming more nervous by the second. He managed to beat both Carter and Clarisse, my chances seemed pretty slim.
He grabbed a timer out of his pocket and placed it on the ground. After he finagled with the buttons he also got into a fighting stance. Before I could comprehend what was going on, the time went off and he charged at me.
On instinct, I somehow managed to snap my fingers. Out came a stream of fire aimed right at him. He dodged at the last second and the flames hit the wall. I turned to look over at him and he had pulled a knife out of his pocket. He charged towards me. I narrowly managed to get out of the way. Right as I turned around he had another knife in his hand. It wasn’t his hand rather, but his hand shapeshifted into the knife.
I laughed to myself and sent another string of fire his way. It singed his tank top. Before I could get cornered again I jumped back. To my surprise, he was already behind me, how he got there so fast I wasn’t sure.
He wrapped both his arms around me. His hand knife was pointed at my neck, and the actual knife was pointed at my stomach. I had just enough room to snap my fingers when he grabbed my hand. I was about to use the other hand when he reached that as well.
Stuck in his grip I slammed the back of my head into his face. The force pulled us both back. While he was distracted I kicked my foot right into his stomach. He let go and I ran forward.
“You’ve got a hard head,” he laughed. His nose was bleeding.
“So do you,” I was already starting to get tired.
I aimed at him again, but just like before, I missed. I was expecting him to do another close-range attack but instead, he threw the knife right for my head. I ducked, giving him the perfect opportunity to pin me to the ground. As soon as I reached the ground the timer went off. The five minutes were over.
“Geez. Your timing is impeccable,” I said as he got off my back.
“I pride myself in it.”
“Yeah, I see that,” I sat on the floor.
“What can I say, I’ve been training for years. Here.” He handed me bandages.
I started applying them, “I guess that separates you from the rest of us.”
“It just means I can protect my team if need be,” he laughed, “You weren’t too shabby. You’re pretty slow though. Endurance training and cardio would probably be good for you, but that’s not my forte. I’m assuming you already predicted this, but you’ll be good for long-range combat. Your fire can surely pack a punch.”
He helped me to my feet, “That’s fair. I’m pretty good at hand-to-hand combat though, aren't I?”
We started walking out the door, “Uhm, stick to long range.”
I looked back at the others. Another girl had joined them. They were all laughing about something. The girl’s smile was contagious. She had an air of authority around her, somewhat cocky. She must be the second in command.
Comments (2)
See all