7th and last day of Close Combat Training.
Swift has organized her daily meetings with her temporary subordinates for the week.
"How are your kids doing? We will start with you, Gale."
"Alright. I'll be straightforward. None of them are cut for fighting. I was scared I was gonna kill them if I hit them. They're frail and have no techniques in attack or defence. Nothing stood out from Rouge. I was happy to see she was at least getting better with time, she seems less sick now. Venom also told me they will be able to get rid of all her medical support starting tomorrow. Now Richter. He doesn't have any confidence. He's always hesitating. I was looking forward to training him after he destroyed the devices in the exams, but I saw nothing of the sort while training him. For Savvy, she's just like the others. However, she's the only recruit I can say something about: she's clever. She took me off guard with her plans, it's just sad she can't back them up with actual physical strength. So yeah, I couldn't figure out anything about their powers. Today I'll try to just let them hit me and see what happens, but I can already tell they are not fighters.
"I see, thanks, big boy. Bowie?"
"Right. Blister. Knows her basics, but she's average. Nothing about her powers rosed up. Bass. Same as Blister. Both have the will to fight, but they are not close combat soldiers. Sprout. Something happened to her. It is yet too early for me to be sure of anything, but she seems to be able to modify her body. As she tried to block my punch, her arm grew in size. However, that never happened again, and it was ineffective. It is safe to assume she's far from being able to rely on it, but I'll be looking closely at her from now on. That's it."
"Short and sweet, love it. Mohs?"
"I have the best kids out of all of you! I've gained quite a liking to them! Drool is a real sweetheart! Kind, calm and composed. And she's got that fighting spirit! The poor thing, she's constantly drooling. I've tried my best to make her feel better, but she still feels bad about it. But good news! I talked with Slash and we were able to have Forge make her something, so now she's got that cool-looking mask! Then, you got my boys! Gum and Undead! Quite the jokesters! But they are not just clowns, they're good! Gum, you can't touch him! Well, you can, he's not that good of a fighter. But if you touch him, you'll get stuck! That kid is covered in a weird sticky substance! And Undead, that guy is unbeatable! He's definitely the weakest of all. But he really is unbeatable! I still remember that time haha! That prankster! I hit him right in the back and I heard that cracking noise. He flew away and crashed to the ground. I went to look at him and the guy was broken. Like, his spine was snapped in half! I got crazy worried so I went to call Venom. But when we came back, he was back on his feet like nothing happened! What a funny guy he is!"
"Yeah, that sure sounds so funny Mohs. Most of what you said was useless, but from what I got, they're all good fighters. It sounds like that comedian of yours has some sort of healing abilities. Anyways, what about my favorite person?"
"Shut up."
"Aw. Don't be like that Blue, you know I'm serious when I say that."
"And you know I'm serious when I tell you to shut up. My group's got potential. They're pretty straightforward. Morph's got a natural talent. She's better than average in her techniques and she has crazy good reflexes. Lunchbox has nothing special. He's a good fighter. That's it. I couldn't quite find anything about abilities, but Doc told me he was working on something for him. Soon enough we will see him shine, he said. Other than that, you probably already know about Jab. He's got scary power, and he's pretty gutsy. And loud. But too bad for him, he can't quite hit or block anything. He might have something else hidden, but I don't know. On the other hand, there's Akuma. He's hard, but he's worthless when it comes to technique. He's got the most work to do out of all of them. There's something off about him. When he senses danger something flips in his brain. His eyes shine red and he's suddenly really good."
"Oh? Is he giving a hard time to the master of martial arts herself?"
"It's not like that. Going all out, I could waste him easily. It's just the sudden change that throws you off guard."
"You got quite a handful with your group I see. I'd like to get rough with them sometimes. And for you Rowdy? They messed up your pretty face quite a bit as I can see. What a shame."
"Fuck off. This is nothing. As if those kids would get the best of me. With that said, those bastards are good. For them to be able to beat me up shows it. Spike is rock hard, I broke my wrist trying to punch her. Nuke is the weakest of the group, but she's nuts. She always does the craziest stuff. You can't read her. That's strength in itself. Kage is mysterious. He seems to have natural leadership, he can order a squad, but his own abilities are a secret. Mute is arguably the best recruit of my group, and maybe of the whole draft. He's hella quick. In an instant, he can disappear and pop up right in your back. He's also buff; his blows have dangerous weight behind them. His techniques are on point. He easily dodges anything you throw at him. And all that, while being blind a mute. Fucking mad lad. He pisses me off."
"I'm happy to hear that. I had my eyes on him for a while now, glad he didn't disappoint. That was all so entertaining. I'm excited to see there's new fresh blood coming in our ranks. As for my grou-"
"I don't care. I'm leaving."
"Won't you stay and listen to me, Blue?"
"No."
"I won't either."
"Not even you, Rowdy?"
"You heard me."
"My my. Well, I guess there's no need. Let's get started now so we can finish earlier to hang out and have some fun together tonight"
"You wish."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hahaha! You got messed up real good didn't you, my boy? That's my Blue for you."
Slash sounds a bit too enthusiastic about the fact that I got beat up.
"I don't want ya to think the wrong thing, but I'm kinda glad that ya got roughed up in there kid. I'd be happy to hear if all that made ya changed your mind about joinin' The Foundation."
Forge is still going about that. He doesn't seem to understand that I won't change my mind. I could've argued with him about it, but maybe it would be more humane not to. He's giving me a place to stay, so. Anyway. I'm just sitting at the table, like usual. It has become a thing now, whenever I return from the training that's what we do. Today Slash is here, he's sitting at the table with me. He barged in and said he needed something. I think he passed an order for something. Forge is in a room in the back. It sounds like he's searching through a pile of junk.
"There ya go. Got 'em."
He came back to the room. He's holding swords in his hands. They don't look like any weapon I've seen before. The blades. They're white. They don't look metallic at all.
"Hahaha! Look at them babies! You actually did it, you madman!"
Well, Slash sounds like he likes them.
"Yeah well, they were a pain in the ass to do, Imma tell ya that. I ain't comfortable workin' with new stuff ya know."
"Hahaha! That excuse won't work on me after you make something like that! Those look so cool, Forge! You're the man! Now with those I'll be able t-"
"Stop it right there my boy. Ya know I don't want to deal with that shit. I'm makin' ya these and I did all yo other crazy-ass things ya asked me to cause I like ya and I know my girls like ya. But that ends there."
"Hahaha! Oopsie! My bad, I got too carried away from seeing these!"
"Big Bro!!?"
I was just thinking about how I hadn't seen her since I arrived.
"Why did nobody tell me you were here? Please let's go train! What are these white swords? Let's try them!"
"That, right here, is exactly why I didn't tell ya he was here. Yo always goin' about this and you know I don't like that ya learning how to use swords."
"You always say that, Dad. But isn't it good that I'm learning how to use weapons to protect myself?"
"No. It isn't. If ya know how to pick up a sword and swing it around, yo gonna end up having to, my girl. And that's the last thing I want for ya, cause fighting always end up hurti-"
"You told me that before. When mom… But I don't care! I don't want to have to hide behind people and run away when the time comes! I'm sure that's not what mom would-"
"We gonna end this conversation right here."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok. Don't be. Hm. Ya should at least ask Slash if he even has time for ya before ya start getting yo hopes up."
"Yeah, right. Thanks."
"Hahaha! Look at you guys being the coolest family there is! Of course I have time for my apprentice. I always do!"
"Awesome!"
"I wanna go with big sis, daddy!"
She ran at her father's legs, looking up at him with her big eyes. He bent and snatched her. She looks ridiculously small in his arms.
"That's a big no no for ya miss. Yo have an intensive playin' session with daddy right now!"
She's giggling. It still surprises me how happy they look when all they have is each other. I guess that's all they need. They mentioned their mother before. I wonder what happened to her. What if she died from an illness? What if she was killed by a Hollow? That must be it, right? Maybe I should ask him? Maybe I should ask the older sister? ... Maybe I shouldn't bring that up. There's also all these other families that live outside., they're all in danger. Though, I haven't seen any Hollow. I guess the Foundation is actually helpful. That's what I'll be doing too. If I can fight. I wonder if I'll be able to. Blue told me that everything about me was bad. She praised my defence though, but that's only when I'm in my other mode. Which, I started to learn more about because of all those training sessions. It's only when I sense real danger that I switch. That's when the other thing takes over my consciousness. I'm still aware of my situation and surroundings when that happens. I just can't do anything. Which is pretty scary. I've been told my eyes turn red when that happens. How does that even work? It's supposed to be somehow linked to my new name right? Akuma. I tried to ask people if they knew what it meant. Nobody knew. I didn't try to ask Doc. Maybe he could've told me, but I just figured by now that I shouldn't trust him. My situation is way too convenient for him to manipulate me. Anyway. Tomorrow will be weapon-wielding training. I suspect I'll be even worse than I was at martial arts. I guess it can't be helped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slash's Group: Nuke, Spike, Chuck, Butcher.
Bowie's Group: Mute, Lunchbox, Bass, Flow.
Ace's Group: Gum, Blister, Richter, Bang.
Gale's Group: Kage, Morph, Jab.
Swift's Group: Undead, Drool, Sprout.
Mohs' Group: Savvy, Akuma, Rouge.
We are finally getting split into our teams. All we have been doing until now was trying a bunch of weapons and copying Slash's movement as a group, all in sync. Most of the time he kept losing track of his goal and just enjoying what he called his "ultimate show off". But what I supposed was the actual goal was to choose a weapon that suited us out of the bunch we tried. I honestly can't say I was comfortable with any of them, but I picked a dagger. I guess I'm in the weakest squad. I'm with Savvy and Rouge. I mean no offence to them, we're just not strong. Savvy has a sword and Rouge a dagger like me. I think our Commander's name was Mohs. Another word I don't know. He seems pretty lively and supportive.
"Yo! I'm Mohs, also known as The Wall!"
I get it. He's big. But why is he flexing his muscles to us?
"To start waring up them muscles of yours, I decided to make you spar with each other. I'll watch your styles and moves on the side and make calls when necessary. This will also create some good competition between you young folks! We're all learning here, so no stress ok? Even I'm not the best with a sword in my hands. I prefer to dig in barehanded and muscle out! But what do we say, let's start with what the girls have to show us!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm looking at them and the other groups around us and there's a massive difference. I know I wouldn't be better in their place. To be fair, they're starting to pick up the pace. Savvy is taking advantage of her range. She's having a hard time though, Rouge is good at positioning herself. They're now doing more moves they weren't doing before. They told me they had a bit of practice with weapons during their Rookie training, it shows when you compare them to me. I think my advantage comes from the fact that I'm faster than them. I wonder wha-
*Kaaabooom*
Arghh!!? I- What just happened!? Did a bomb just set off at the back of the Coliseum!? Mohs already disappeared; all the Commanders rushed to the explosion site. We're also running to see what happened. Someone seems injured. She's lying at the center of the deflagration. Did she cause that? For the size of the explosion, she doesn't look that hurt. Venom is osculating her. I don't remember what that recruit's name was.
"Spike!?"
Spike? Wait, I didn't even see her. Spike is in the seats above. She probably was sent flying there from the blast. Savvy saw her and screamed.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah no worries, Blondie. I'm all good. I'm tough, you know!"
"I- Gosh! How can you be so carefree!? *Sigh* I'm just glad you're ok."
"Nuke will be fine."
Venom finally broke her silence. Looks like she's confident about her statement.
"Who's responsible for that group?"
"Me."
Slash's tone is serious.
"Of course you. What happened?"
"I take full responsibility for what happened. It's all on me."
"You and your sense of honor. Yeah sure whatever, but that's not what I want to know. I need to know what happen- Good. The nurses are here. Alright, you and your group follow me. You up there, get down. All of you will explain to me what in the hell happened here. James?"
"Ehh.. Hum... Y- Yeah?"
He's sweating. That's not something he's used to handle.
"Don't worry about a report, I'll talk to Doc directly. Knowing him, he's probably already on his way here anyway. You can just continue the training. Give the command to whoever was below Slash. Alright, we need to follow the nurses, let's get going."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I keep telling you guys!! I don't know, okay!? Jeez!"
The squadron gathered once again at the bar. They have been interrogating Spike since she joined them. She tried explaining to her friends multiple times what happened, but she isn't the best to explain, due to lack of vocabulary.
"For the last time! I was sparring with Nuke. We were going Swiiing! Ka-ching! with our swords. And then Waaa! spark of light. And then Kaboom! an explosion. And then Pweeew! I went flying! And then Kabang! I hit the border of the thingy and Bapow! I rebound and flatten Splaat! on the ground! No injuries so it's fine. Thanks for the treat though Blondie hehe!"
Explained Spike as best as she could.
"Yeah, sure. Just drink. I give up. I don't think trying to explain any more than that is gonna be possible for you."
Muttered Savvy, defeated.
An explosion, a big one, supervened. And yet, that event didn't occur to them as something dangerous or noteworthy. That is the reality of soldiers standing before Death's door.
"This training sucks."
Jab mumbled out of his flattened cheek against the counter.
"Speak for yourself Drunky! I love it! I actually get to train with my sensei, The Shogun!"
Spike strongly refuted with her uplifting tone.
"Why is the person enjoying it the most is the same person that blew up? And don't call him that. It's weird."
"You're just jealous! You wish you had a title that cool! I can give you one if you want. What about... Hmm.. The Drunken Fist?"
"I hate that I unironically like it. Stop it."
"Right?! It's pretty cool isn't it?"
"Hahaha! Say no more! Speaking that word is enough to summon thee!"
"Of course, he had to show up. Awesome."
"Sensei!?"
"Don't call him that. It's weird."
"That's what I'm saying."
"And Blue too!?"
Slash and Blue entered the bar with great timing.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Interrogated the smiley young woman.
"Nothing much. We were just passing by and Slash decided to just rush in."
Monotonously said The Normie.
"Hahaha! I was looking for my apprentice until I heard her voice calling for her sensei! The timing couldn't have been better than that!"
Exclaimed the jolly Commander.
"Oh? You wanted to see me, sensei!?"
Surprisingly said Spike as she unconsciously jumped off of her stool. The Shogun walked up to his number one fan and grabbed her by her shoulders. He took the time to carefully look at her face and her body with his intense glare. He was meticulously searching for any bruises on her white-patterned dark skin. He was firmly moving her around, while contortioning himself in every position, creating a noisy ruckus with his equipped gears. Spike was left frozen by her confusion. Not that she would've been able to escape his grip even if she tried. Everyone was looking at him as confused as Spike was.
"Ehh..-"
"Are you sure you're ok?"
Slash interrupted his frenzy and questioned his subordinate.
"Yes sir!"
Immediately responded the young soldier.
"Ok. I'm glad. You and your friends could've gotten hurt because of me. I'm happy none of you were injured. Still, this is no excuse."
Gently spoke the Commander.
"Why are you still going on with this, thick head? I keep telling you, this isn't your fault. I'm not saying that only to make you feel better, trust me. I wouldn't hesitate to call you on your bullshit."
Reported Blue as she ordered a drink from the barman with her fingers. The man immediately complied with her demand, taking the initiative to serve one to the other Commander in the room. Akuma couldn't help but notice that the man behind the counter didn't ask for her badge or anything to pay for her drinks. Remembering clearly how bad it went the first time he came to the bar, he couldn't help but ask her directly out of curiosity.
"How does it work? Do you get drinks for free?"
The Normie stopped in her tracks and stared at the young soldier. She scoffed.
"Why are you acting surprised? You're all getting drinks for free too."
"What do you mean? We have to use our badges to pay."
"Yes. And how do you fill your badge with points? Exactly. You have to do missions. But you haven't done shit. You're just living off the advance that was already in your badges when you got them. I'd say that's pretty free to me. I don't have to throw my badge on the counter whenever I want a drink or even get stuck out of my room cause I'm too drunk to place the badge on the right spot to pay to open the door. I just wobble to my reserved personal place. You call it free, but when you have fought as many Hollows as I did and put your life on the line as much as I did, you'll understand quickly that I earned enough points to buy the bar you drink at with the stool you sit on. That's why I'm exempt from these low fees. I'm a Commander, don't forget that."
Strongly spoke Blue as she took place at the counter. Akuma got more than he asked for and decided to keep his mouth shut. Jab whistled sharply as he straightened up on his stool as the young woman sat on the empty seat next to him.
"I thought killing another Foundation member was prohibited, but you sure didn't hold back on that one."
"Do I look like I ever follow the rules?"
"Fair enough."
Blue and Jab nonchalantly exchanged. The Normie cleared her buck rapidly before looking over at her childhood friend.
"I gotta say, man. That was wild. I see you're basically indestructible on top of that."
"Hehehe! This is nothing! I am yet to master the ways of the swords!"
"Hahaha! That's right! When that happens, my pupil, you'll be unstoppable!"
Proudly laughed The Shogun.
"I still don't understand why you decided to train her, Slash. And why are you learning sword-fighting, Smiley? It looks clear to me that you're a Support, not a Fighter."
Pointed out the blue-haired soldier.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's that?"
Savvy shily interrupted.
"Oh. That's right. You haven't learned about Roles and Classes yet, have you? I don't feel like getting into this tonight, you'll soon learn about them with Whiff later on in the training anyway. I'm just saying that her ability seems to be related to her hard body. So she'd fit more as a Support, defending, than a Fighter."
Blue responded.
"Hahaha! Fighting with weapons is just too cool! Everyone should learn it!"
Quickly added Slash as he drew a katana out of his lump of gears to pose with it.
"Of course Slash. You are sooo right. Anyway, I have better places to be than drinking here with you. I don't know if you still have business here Slash, but I will head out. See ya folks."
Said Blue as she slid her empty glass toward the barman.
"Hahaha! Do not worry, my presence here is not needed anymore! I have already blessed this place with it, I wouldn't want to outshine their time with my coolness! I will see you tomorrow, my dear disciple!"
Energetically spoke the Commander.
"Yes sir!"
Rapidly answered Spike in her military stance for attention, her face struggling between being serious and trying not to smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is phenomenal."
Doc was in awe in front of his screen. The scientist has been watching the same footage on repeat while waiting for his wingman to join him.
"I apologize for the wait, sir."
James let out as soon as he entered the old man's office.
"We don't have time for that, come take a look at this."
Said Doc in a hurry.
"What is it, sir?"
"Footage of the incident. Take a good look at it and tell me what you see."
"Right."
The two men were standing next to each other. Doc had his arm crossed on his chest, a confident smirk on his lips. James was leaning on the desk, looking closely at the images that were playing before him. After a few seconds, he immediately straightened up and backed off the screen. Doc's grin was too extreme to hide his teeth anymore.
"What is this?"
James babbled.
"We were so completely swallowed by the explosion that we almost missed something crucial."
Answered the scientist. The two men were staring at the screen. On it, they were able to perceive Spike getting blown in the air by the impact against the first row of seats. At the moment of collision, they could see the pattern on her body change forms. In fact, the white marks on her back slightly extended out of her skin. The white shape then acted as a shield for the young woman's body.
"This is.."
"Fascinating isn't it, young man? The explosion is what our minds were drawn to. But there is more than this mere confetti. Since we cannot figure out the source of the explosion just yet, we should switch our focus on Spike. At first, with the tests we ran, I came up with a hypothesis about her new body. I initially thought her bone structures merely got harder, granting her favorable defence. The sharp edges of her markings were my reasoning behind "Spike". However, thanks to this incident, I can now assume I was wrong, or at least not fully correct. It appears her bones can also be manipulated, even extending them outside her body. That on its own can probably move her from a simple Support to a full-fledged Fighter. James, tomorrow, make sure to keep an eye on her. Spike might be a better-fitted name than I initially anticipated."
"Yes Sir!"
I can feel it. It is but a hunch, a sensation, a taste. But, I can feel it. This generation. This is when we win. When humanity takes its place back on the map by the might of my very own hands. The hands of a Modern God.