"So yeah Charlie this guy says if I train under him he'll tell me about my past," Jack says over the phone. "Really I know how important that is to you kid but I must ask where are you?" Charlie asked him. "I'm not really sure myself he said as soon as I finish this call my training starts" he says to him with no clue what kind of trading is awaiting him."Well you better get to it kid"Charlie says with a smile. "Right, thanks Charlie" said Jack. "Oh but hey don't forget to call your mother let her know you're alright". He said with a slight smile. "Alright Charlie I'll talk to you as soon as I can." Jack hangs up the phone as he walks out the room and sees a girl and boy standing to the left of the door waiting for him "Hello there I'm sorry but I didn't catch your names earlier".The girl stayed silent while the boy walked closer with a smile on his face "Hello Mr.Jack my name is Loki and this grouch is Syra " Jack becomes curious as to why there aren't any other adults. "Syra like that other girl". Loki was a mischievous and clever boy with long hair. Syra was quiet and didn't say much at all. The only person she would usually talk to was Sierra. "Anyhow, Fighter sent us here to bring you to the training grounds," said Loki. "Lead the way". Jack answered as he followed the two into a humongous backyard with bushes and trees and a fountain with Fighter standing in the field. "You may be a pro martial artist which means you got lots of stamina but we need to bring you up to our standards so first things first" Fighter whistles "WOOFERS!" He calls out "Whose Woofers?" Jack hears loud thumps as they grow louder and louder. He looks in the direction they are coming from and he sees a giant dog leaping at him. "What the-" the dog landed on top of him and licked his face "Woofers". Fighter called out to it as he ran over to him with excitement. As Fighter petted and plays with the dog "Who's a stupid idiot who's a dumbie you are yes you are" Jack got up wiping the spit off him.
"What is that thing?" Asks Jack
"Well that's not very nice he's not a thing he's a dog Woofer sit". The dog gets off its belly and sits down next to Fighter. "Woofers is the house dog. He also helps the children in training exercises and his fur is super comfortable"He says rubbing Woofers neck. "Okay so what does he have to do with training"
"Well seeing how we're in this large open field and Woofers hasn't played catch all day figured you could help if you can last a whole day running from Woofers you'll be ready to move on to the next stage but for now Woofers fetch".
With no hesitation Woofers jumps on top of Jack and slams him into the ground "Agh."
"Well that was fast" Woofers gets off him and Jack stands up "Again let me go again." Jack says catching his breath and holding his chest. Fighter smiles "Woofers fetch" Woofers bark and leaps toward Jack. Jack dodges right and makes a run for it as he thinks to himself. (There are plenty of trees and bushes out here maybe I can out maneuver him,he's a giant wolf so there's no way I can hide not for long ,he would just track me down using his sense of smell if I can out maneuver) Jack looks behind himself and sees that the dog was gone. "What where'd he go" he looked back in front of himself and saw the dog jump out from over the bushes and tackle him "How did you get here so fast?" He said as Woofers licked his face ."He's lived here for years, he knows all the fastest paths and shortcuts some we don't know". Jack looked over and saw Loki eating an apple as he got back onto his feet catching his breath. "If you thought you could outmaneuver him you were wrong this challenge won't just train your stamina but your thinking as well" Loki says taking another bite of the apple. "So how did you pass the test than Loki"
"I'm not telling."
Loki gets hit in the back of the head by another boy
"Ow what the heck Dani"
"Slacking off again, come on we got chores to do,sorry to bother you." He says as he drags Loki off. The dog walked up to Jack with a big smile as Jack gently put his hand on Woofers and started to pet his head. "This is really soft," he said with a smile. "Change my way of thinking," he said, "Come on boy let's keep going." He said as he started to run no matter how fast he ran or whatever maneuver he tried to pull Woofer was still faster and beat him at every turn. The day ended and Jack was still nowhere near outrunning Woofers. He went back to his room exhausted. He pulled out his phone and called someone the phone began to ring as someone picked up. "Hello" "Hey Mrs.Clockwork" "Not calling me mom I see"
"Sorry"
"It's okay Jack how have you been."
"I've been good taking care of myself making sure I read a book a day."
"good just like I taught you which reminds me I stopped by your apartment to congratulate you on your win but when I got there you weren't home where are you right now?"
She asked him
"Long story short I'm training with this guy who said he can tell me about my past as long as I represent him in an upcoming tournament should be easy."
"Your past? Oh sweetie I'm so happy for you I know how much you've wondered about your real family."
"Hey I don't care what he tells me you George and Jessica you guys are my family too"
.Jack didn't say anything but he could hear her tearing up.
"Thank you, now get your rest and don't forget to read a book tomorrow alright."
"Yes ma'am," he said as he hung up his phone "Who was that?"
He looked over towards his door and saw Sierra standing there. "It was my mother" she walked into the room and toward the window. "Must have been weird being brought into here"
"Not really at least this time I could talk" "What do you mean?" She asked if she was curious.
"When I first woke up from when I can remember I didn't have any memories of anything I didn't know how to read how to talk Charlie,taught me how to walk and fight but he was having a hard time teaching me how to read and write, I couldn't quite make out words,then Mrs.Clockwork came one day and I don't know what she saw in me but whatever it was I'm glad she saw it she ,already knew Charlie from before they had met at a charity event and had been friends ever since she asked him if it was okay if she, adopted me and take me home with her she would bring me back to train of course he said it was fine but it was up to me whether or not I wanted to go."
Sierra looked at him and saw a smile but it wasn't like a regular smile. This one had a warmth to it. "Then she walked over to me and said"
"Hello what's your name?" Jack pulled off his hat where it had his name written on it
"Jack well that's a wonderful name Jack would you like to come home with me." Jack looked at her with confusion, not sure what to do. There was something different about her, something familiar he shook his head yes as Mrs.Clockwork smiled and the two made their way to the Clockwork residents. "She brought me into her home and introduced me to her children Jessica was the same age as I and Geogre was only a baby at the time,instead of sending me to a school I was homeschooled it took me some time but I finally learned how to read and write and speak English properly, Mr.Clockwork always gave me the cold shoulder we never saw eye to eye I got along with everyone else." Sierra now pulls up a chair and sits in front of him
"Fighter is my Father" she said "WHAT!" He shouted in surprise "Really?"
"Yeah you know in retrospect it was kind of obvious"
"Yeah kind of was." he said scratching the back of his head "What does the past mean to you?" She asked him "I'm not sure I can feel this piece missing from me and uncovering my past may help." She stood up and walked toward the door. She looked back and said, "You wanna get a snack." Jack looked confused at first. "Sure" he got up and followed her down the stairs into the kitchen as she pulled out two tubes of ice cream. And gave him one along with a spoon as they sat down and ate the ice cream. "This is good I needed this," He said, chuckling.
"I like to come down here sometimes when I need to think"
"So what is it you need to think about?" "Things" Jack didn't ask anything else he could see that if he did he would regret it "Give me that." She took the ice cream and placed it on the table. "What the hey I was eating that" ,"Well I'm going to speed up your training." "What's with all the help"
"I owe you for the sucker punch" Jack smiled "Well geez thanks I'll try not to take it to heart," he said as he could see a slight smile from her. "Close your eyes and focus where a core lies at your center. You need to let that energy flow through you, can you feel it?" She asked him.
"Slightly I can definitely feel something warm".
"Good,open your eyes for how many nights it takes to work on it until you can bring it out fully and once you bring out the special ice cream." "Oh there's special ice cream now." "But of course you just have to earn it." They then finished their ice cream and walked back to their rooms. "Thanks for the ice cream" "You owe me one now Uppercut."
"I guess so" the two went their separate ways as Jack walked into his room and started to meditate in his room. Day after day Woofers would chase him night after night he would meditate.In Between those things he would read one book as he slowly made progress he could feel the energy surging through him. As if something was fueling him increasing his speed, strength and stamina. And for some reason he couldn't explain but the way the energy felt in his body felt familiar as if he had felt it before. 17 days had passed of intense focus and training. On the 18th day, Jack woke up and felt different, his senses were heightened, he could feel the energy running through his body. He read his daily book and headed downstairs. As the three girls gave him a plate of food. "Thank you" he said to them as they giggled and ran off. He sat down at a table in the cafeteria with Tucker, Dani, and Loki. "I've been here for a while now are there any other adults besides me, Sierra and Fighter"
"nope just you three." Said Loki
Jack didn't quite understand it. He knew Sierra trained and took care of the kid's. Fighter would take care of them as well and provide them with food bedding and anything else they may need. "So Jack, how close do you think you are too outrunning Woofers," asked Tucker,
"Well I definitely feel like I've made progress. I just can't manifest my aura yet."
They all looked at him with confusion.
"Wait a second, how do you know about that?" Asked Dani
"Know about what," Jack asked back. "Manifesting aura Fighter doesn't teach us how to do that because it requires extreme training to do." said Tucker "Really?Well at first I thought I heard it from one of them but now I'm not sure."
"Your terminology is different though fighter doesn't call it that, well at least not what I think you're trying to do,'' says Loki, if your trying to manifest your aura before you even have a core ability you have a seriously dark history you should be careful." Before Loki can finish Dani knocks him on the head again "That's enough out of you". While the group continued their meal Sierra went to have a conversation with her father in his workshop.