Chapter 37: Flags

The morning air was crisp, and the sun had barely stretched over the horizon when Zik and his friends arrived at school. They stood outside the main training grounds, some more awake than others.

Tobias yawned loudly, rubbing his face. "I swear, if this 'surprise' is just some dumb speech, I'm walking back home."

Aiden gave him a side glance. "I doubt it. The principal doesn't wake up this early unless he has a real reason."

Zik was practically vibrating with excitement. "What if it's a new training facility? Maybe we finally get holograms!"

Reyes sighed. "You really need to stop thinking everything in life works like an anime."

Before Zik could argue, the school doors swung open, and the principal walked out, looking just as tired as Tobias but far more annoyed. His hands were stuffed in his coat pockets, and there was an air of exhaustion around him, like he'd been dealing with paperwork all night.

"Alright, listen up," the principal started, his voice carrying over the courtyard. "I told you there'd be a surprise, so here it is. After some very painful negotiations with the school board, I managed to get us a second team slot in the competition."

There was a beat of silence.

Tobias raised an eyebrow. "Wait… what?"

Aiden's head tilted slightly. "How?"

The principal sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Lots of arguing. A ridiculous amount of paperwork. And possibly selling a piece of my soul."

Zik blinked. "So… what does that mean?"

"It means," the principal continued, "that we now have a second team representing the school. They'll be running alongside you in the competition. And before any of you complain about who, let me introduce them."

He stepped aside, and from behind the school doors walked three familiar figures—Jack, Thor, and… the nameless kid.

Zik's eyes widened slightly, and Aiden folded his arms. Tobias, however, simply muttered, "No way."

Jack looked the same as ever, his expression serious but determined. Thor gave an easy grin, his large frame making him look almost out of place among the students. But the third figure—the nameless kid—stood quietly, barely acknowledged by the others.

Tobias let out a breath and turned to the principal. "You went through all that trouble… for them?"

The principal shrugged. "They were next in line. And considering how much everyone loves to complain about fairness, I figured giving them a shot was better than letting them sit on the sidelines."

Zik looked at Jack and Thor. "Huh. So… you guys get a second chance?"

Jack nodded. "We won't waste it."

Thor smirked. "Yeah. And maybe we'll take the top spot while we're at it."

Tobias scoffed. "Good luck with that."

Zik, however, was still staring at the nameless kid, who hadn't spoken a word. Nobody had even asked for his name, as if he just existed in the background, a ghost among competitors.

The principal clapped his hands together. "Alright, enough standing around. You have training to do, and now you have competition within your own school. If you thought you had an easy ride to the finals, think again."

Zik grinned. "This… is actually kinda exciting."

Tobias stretched his arms. "Whatever. As long as they don't slow us down, I don't care."

Reyes, who had been silent until now, adjusted his glasses and looked at the principal. "I can see why you did this, even though it feels a bit unfair. If Zik's team wasn't together, he probably wouldn't have competed at all. But… you still feel bad about Jack and Thor, don't you?"

The principal didn't answer.

Instead, he turned toward the school and started walking away. "Training starts tomorrow. Be ready."

As he left, Reyes sighed and muttered to himself. "Yeah, you feel bad."

Meanwhile, Zik's eyes drifted back toward the nameless kid, who remained silent as always. A strange feeling settled in his chest.

The morning was already full of unexpected twists, but the principal wasn't done yet. After revealing the second team, he stood in front of the students with his arms crossed, looking far too pleased with himself.

"Alright," he said, "that was the first surprise. Now for the second one."

Tobias groaned. "You mean there's more?"

Zik was practically bouncing. "Oh man, if this one is also about giving us new rivals, I don't think my heart can take it."

The principal ignored them and gestured for everyone to follow. They walked behind the school toward a line of parked vehicles. The students exchanged confused glances as they piled in, Reyes taking the front seat beside the principal, who looked way too smug for someone about to reveal something important.

The drive wasn't long, but the moment they started ascending the mountains, the students began to wonder what was happening.

"Okay, seriously," Aiden said, glancing out the window at the winding roads and towering cliffs, "where exactly are we going?"

"You'll see," the principal replied, eyes on the road.

After a few more minutes of bumpy driving, the vehicles finally pulled up to an open field tucked between the mountains. It wasn't anything high-tech—no fancy training dummies, no holograms, no futuristic gear. But what was there… looked fun.

A massive obstacle course stretched out before them, complete with climbing walls, rope swings, uneven terrain, and in the center of it all—two large flags, one blue and one red, standing on opposite sides of the field.

Zik's eyes sparkled. "No way. Is this—?"

"Capture the Flag," the principal confirmed, stepping forward. "This is your warm-up."

Tobias raised an eyebrow. "A warm-up? This looks like an actual battlefield."

"That's the point," Reyes muttered, adjusting his glasses.

The principal turned to face them, his expression turning serious. "Listen up. The tournament isn't just about individual strength. There will be team-based challenges, and if you think being strong alone is enough to win, you're already doomed to fail. This is where you learn to work together."

Aiden crossed his arms. "So what are the rules?"

The principal pointed at the two flags behind him. "It's simple. Two teams. Each team defends their flag while trying to steal the other. The team that brings the enemy flag back to their base first wins."

Zik grinned. "Sounds easy enough."

The principal smirked. "Oh, I promise you—it won't be."

The students exchanged glances, some excited, some skeptical. Jack and Thor were already sizing up the course, while the nameless kid stood silently at the back, unreadable as ever.

The principal clapped his hands. "Alright, pick your teams. We start in ten minutes."

Zik cracked his knuckles. "This… is gonna be awesome."

The whistle blew, and both teams exploded into action.

Zik, Tobias, and Aiden quickly spread out across the field, instinctively falling into a formation. Tobias took the front, ready to engage, while Zik flanked left and Aiden circled right, keeping their eyes on both offense and defense.

Meanwhile, the second team—Jack, Thor, and the nameless kid—rushed forward as a single unit, each of them sprinting straight toward the enemy's flag without a second thought.

Tobias grinned. "Oh, this is gonna be too easy."

Jack was the fastest, so he reached the enemy's flag first. He grabbed it without hesitation—but the moment he turned around, Tobias was already in front of him.

"Going somewhere?" Tobias smirked, cracking his knuckles.

Jack tried to dodge, but Tobias wasn't alone.

From the left, Zik swept in, forcing Jack to hesitate, and from the right, Aiden tackled him to the ground before he could react. The flag slipped from his grasp, falling to the dirt.

Meanwhile, Thor and the nameless kid had also run straight to the flag, completely abandoning Jack instead of backing him up.

"Don't worry, I'll grab it!" Thor shouted.

"Me too!" the nameless kid said, running alongside him.

Big mistake.

Because in that moment, Tobias picked up the dropped flag, spun on his heel, and sprinted full speed to the enemy's base—completely unguarded.

Jack, Thor, and the nameless kid froze. They had all charged forward together… which meant no one had stayed behind to defend their flag.

Zik casually placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "So, uh… you guys did remember that someone had to guard your own flag, right?"

Jack's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no."

By the time he and the others turned around, it was already too late.

Tobias was at their base. He planted the stolen flag down with dramatic flair and smirked.

"Game over."

The whistle blew, signaling their victory.

The second team stood there, panting and humiliated.

The principal rubbed his temples. "Alright, let's go over the many, many ways that was a complete disaster."

Jack groaned. "We lost in, like, ten seconds."

"Yes," the principal deadpanned. "Because you all acted like headless chickens. Let's break this down. One—you all ran straight to the enemy flag with zero coordination. Two—none of you stayed back to defend your own. Three—you left Jack to get jumped while the other two just ran off, completely ignoring him."

Thor crossed his arms. "I thought speed was the most important thing!"

The principal gave him a flat look. "Speed is useless if you run straight into a loss. You didn't strategize, you didn't communicate, and you handed the enemy an open path to victory. In an actual tournament, this would've been over before it even started."

The nameless kid muttered, "I just followed what they were doing…"

"Exactly my point," the principal shot back. "You need to think. This isn't a race. It's a battle of strategy and teamwork."

Jack sighed, rubbing his face. "Alright, alright. We get it. We sucked."

"Yes, you did," the principal agreed mercilessly. "And that's why we're doing this exercise—so you don't suck when it actually matters."

He turned to the first team—Tobias, Zik, and Aiden. "And as for you three… good job. You didn't just rely on strength—you used your heads."

Tobias grinned. "Well, yeah. I mean, it was kinda obvious what they were gonna do."

"Then let's see if they can learn from it," the principal said. He turned back to the losing team, crossing his arms. "We're running it again. This time, you will communicate. You will plan. And if you don't—"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll lose again," Jack muttered.

"No," the principal corrected. "If you don't, you'll be doing drills until the sun goes down."

Jack, Thor, and the nameless kid paled.

"Understood?"

"Understood," they said in unison.

Zik leaned toward Tobias. "I think I kinda like it when he's not yelling at us."

Tobias smirked. "Yeah. Let's see if they actually figure it out this time."

The whistle blew again.

Round two began.

The air was thick with tension as the second round began. The principal's words from the previous match still hung in the air, heavy with disappointment. Jack, Thor, and the nameless kid stood in a tight circle, actually strategizing this time, while Zik, Tobias, and Aiden waited on the other side, their expressions relaxed—almost too relaxed.

Zik nudged Tobias. "Think they'll figure it out?"

Tobias smirked. "If they don't, I guess we're getting free training while they run laps for hours."

The whistle shattered the silence, and this time, things were different.

Jack and Thor didn't charge in blindly this time. Instead, they spread out, keeping an eye on their flag and moving carefully toward the enemy's side. The nameless kid—still as silent as ever—vanished into the trees that lined the outskirts of the field.

Tobias raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Now I'm interested."

Aiden hummed in agreement. "They're actually thinking. I don't like it."

Zik grinned. "I love it. Makes it more fun."

The battle for the flags had truly begun.

A Game of Deception

Zik, Tobias, and Aiden moved forward, but not as aggressively as before. They didn't want to make the mistake of underestimating the other team—especially since the nameless kid had pulled a disappearing act.

"I don't like that we lost sight of one of them," Aiden muttered.

"I don't like that you sound paranoid already," Tobias shot back.

But before they could dwell on it further, Jack came sprinting forward like a bat out of hell. He wasn't even trying to be subtle this time—he was charging straight toward the flag like a lunatic.

Tobias cracked his knuckles. "Oh, this again?"

But just as he was about to intercept, Thor exploded from the side, tackling him.

"What the—?"

Tobias rolled with the hit, grappling with Thor as they crashed into the dirt. Meanwhile, Jack kept running—but now Aiden was on him, ready to cut him off.

"Not this time," Aiden said, stepping in front of Jack's path.

Jack grinned. "That's what you think."

Then he faked left, tricking Aiden into stepping the wrong way, and slipped past him with ease.

Aiden cursed. "Oh, come on!"

Jack reached for the flag—

And Zik tackled him out of nowhere.

A Clever Distraction

Jack groaned under the weight of Zik. "Okay, ow—did you have to use your full weight?"

Zik grinned. "Yes."

"Get off me, dude!"

"Never."

Tobias and Thor were still wrestling in the dirt, but something was off.

Aiden glanced back at their flag, and his stomach dropped.

"Wait," he muttered, eyes widening. "Where's the nameless kid?"

Tobias and Zik both turned their heads at the same time—

And there he was, standing at their flag with his hand already on it.

"NO WAY—"

The nameless kid sprinted away with their flag, completely untouched.

Zik scrambled off of Jack and took off after him, adrenaline pumping.

Tobias cursed and shoved Thor off of him before sprinting forward as well.

Aiden, still reeling, managed to start running, but the nameless kid was fast. Not just regular fast—scary fast.

"HOW is he so quick?!" Zik yelled.

Tobias gritted his teeth. "We made a mistake! We were too focused on the obvious threats!"

The nameless kid was already halfway to their base. Victory was so close for his team.

But then Zik threw a rock.

Not at the kid, of course—but right in his path.

The kid instinctively jumped to avoid it, and that one-second hesitation was all Tobias needed.

Tobias lunged, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and slamming him into the ground just before he could reach safety.

"Nice try," Tobias said, ripping the flag out of his hands.

The nameless kid let out a wheeze. "Unfair."

Tobias laughed. "Life is unfair. Welcome to reality."

With their flag secured, Zik and Aiden regrouped, standing in a defensive formation.

Jack and Thor, seeing their plan fail, exchanged a quick glance before making a last-ditch effort—they both rushed Tobias at the same time.

But Tobias was ready this time.

Instead of fighting them, he threw the flag to Aiden.

"Run!" he shouted.

Aiden caught it and took off toward the enemy base. Jack and Thor froze—they had focused too much on Tobias and had left their side wide open.

By the time they turned around, Aiden had already planted their flag in the enemy base.

The whistle blew.

Game over.

The Aftermath

Both teams were gasping for air, their faces drenched in sweat.

The principal crossed his arms. "Better," he admitted. "Still not great—but better."

Jack sighed. "Man, I really thought we had you this time."

"You almost did," Zik admitted. "If Tobias hadn't caught him, we would've lost."

The nameless kid muttered, "So close…"

Thor wiped sweat from his brow. "So, what now? More training?"

The principal smirked. "Oh, definitely. We're only getting started."

Zik groaned. "I was afraid you'd say that."

But deep down, he was excited. This was actually fun.

And he couldn't wait to see what came next.