WHAP!
Grant landed a strong blow to Lars causing him to hunch over.
"I'm sorry kid" Grant said lucking down. "But tha'ts the end for-"
Flicking his head up, Lars aimed for a headbut straight for Grants temple.
Grant pinched his eyes, barely dodging out of the way in time.
"Damnit! I was so close!" Lars remarked
"What in the hell! That's the same punch I use to knock out recruits during training! How are you standing!" Grant barked
"Hehe…. What's wrong colonel… you're not getting weak on me are you?" Lars said grinning.
"What is this…" Grant said
The colonel raised his right hand finding it drenched in water. For a moment he replayed the punch in his mind.
"That resistance I felt for a moment… that was.."
"A shield!" Acel said "That's right! You never said anything about me not being able to stop your punch" Axel said.
"I'VE gotta say kid… You've got some serious spunk! I might have underestimated you…" Grant laughed,
"HAHA you'll be calling me colonel soon enough!"
"Hmph, well see about that" Grant said.
"But how exactly do you plan on beating me?
"Well you said this exam lasts for 24 hours right?" Lars jived. "It's getting late, aren't you getting a little sleepy at this point?" Lars said pointing his eyes towards the sun.
"Damnit" Grant grunted "We should have met at 0600! instead of 1800! Blast that damn O'brian! He's going to be the end of me!"
"Cool!" So while your asleep I'll get my_"
"I don't think so!" Grant said pulling out a gun.
There was an akward silence as Lars looked at the pistol.
"What the hell are you doing!" Lars screamed
"I came up with a contingency plan!" Grant said rushing towards Lars.
Before he could React, Grant pinned him to the ground and aimed the gun at his head.
"WAIT PLEASE WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"
"Don't mess with an old man!" Grant said putting his finger on the trigger. "You don't know what we will do!"
POW!
Grant pulled the trigger filling the air with the pop of a revolver.
LArs with his eyes closed felt a gush of fluid run down his head.
"I'm dead! I'm dead!" He said looking at his hands. They were full of a strange yellow fluid.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" LArs yelled
"The yellow fluid is Regal Cedar nectar. It is a rare substance created by the Venier wasps that live in the valley. They're extremely dangerous creatures only the most vicious of species can get in there and retrieve its nectar."
BUZZZZZZ LArs heard coming from around the forest.
"ait so a bunch of killer whasps are kcoming after me?" Lars cried.
"Not just whasps but bears too, and basically every other creature in the forest, they all love that stuff" Grant said stepping away.
"Hmph" LArs said "You've underestimated me Colonel"
Reaching out his hands, Axel ran a torrent of water through his hair flushing out the nectar and rinsed himself.
After his hair was thoroughly rinsed he looked back at the colonel with a wide smile.
"Didn't see that coming did you!" He proudly rebutted
"HAHAH sorry kid! The pores of that nectar have already embedded themselves in your scalp! I'm afraid even a drop of that stuff on you will attract them" The colonel laughed
GRRRUUUUU!
Slowly in the shade of the trees large beasts began to approach Lars and the Colonel. three 10 ft. bears with menacing teeth and razor claws. Their velvet red fur coat covered their huge hefty bodies and by the looks of it were at least weighing a ton or more!
"Whelp good luck kid" the colonel said, walking away uninterested in the beasts about to tear Lars apart.
"Wait you're not going to stay here?" "What if they try to kill me?" "What if the exam goes too far?"
The colonel turned around with a grim look on his face. His warm presence.
"That's the whole point," he said. "I isolated you here during this exam, away from the support of your friends. Many times in missions, something like this can happen, where you're on your own. It's my duty to simulate that as close as possible! Even if it means putting your life at risk!
GRRRRGUUUUU!
Before Larscould respond, a huge claw swiped at his forehead nearly striking him down. Swiftly dodging under it, he landed a spinning kick to the bear's side sending it rolling across the ground.
The next two bears were dealt with in the same matter. Timing his counter with their strikes, he dodged the first bear's bite and elbowed it in the nose sending it reeling backwards. As for the last bear, he used the bear's swiping claw against itself, transferring all of its weight to his shoulder; he flipped it over his back in a devastating Judo throw.
"Hehe nothing compared to those Terramoles!" He thought
GRUUUUUU!!!!
The bears got on back on their feet ready to fight. It seems they weren't going to go down with just one punch.
"Ok then no holding back this time!" Lars said readying a torrent of water.
As the bears closed in on him he released a huge stream of water sprouting from his hands like a hose.
"Water piston!" He screamed, knocking the bears into the air with the blast.
Gruuuuuu…..
The bears rolled over on their sides incapacitated.
"Haha! You're not getting any nectar outta me!" Lars exclaimed.
"Hehehhe" The colonel laughed as he struck his match. He was far from Axel's sight now leaning against a tree.
"Don't get ahead of yourself kid" he said to himself. 'Nautica valleys bears are ferocious creatures, that nectar wasn't just any run of the mill. I had it super concentrated and compressed so it would spread out for miles once the smell was released. Naturally the bees keep them at low concentrations to protect their hive from being spotted, but at the concentration you're at they'll be no hiding you! It's been said that Nautica valley is home to over a hundred bears in its 50 square miles, and it's been about an hour since that shot, I'd say they're closing in on you right around now."
GRRUURU GROOO GRRR!
Axel spun in a full 360, finding himself surrounded on all sides. There were red coats as far as the eye could see and from the looks of it they weren't alone. There were more than just bears too this time, coyotes, beavers, as well as the bees he had heard of, were slowly approaching him on the field.
"Heh, it figures," Axel said, dropping his hands, "I guess I have no choice I'll use it here and now"
(Lars remembered)
(Vincent)"If you release your ether in constant amounts your attacks are very limited all yo can do is throw a punch or hurl a rock! In order to do bigger more complex moves you will need a steady flow of ether through the entire attack!"
(Back to present)
"A steady flow" Lars said channeling his ether
"Good luck kid" The colonel said, slouching against the tree. "While you deal with that, I'm gonna get some rest" He said, closing his eyes.
"Don't close your eyes yet, you're going to miss the best part" said a voice behind the colonel.
The colonel didn't even turn around, he knew that spoofy pragmatic voice all too well.
"Heh, I figured you'd show" He said, opening his eyes, "But remember, I'm the law here, interfere and he fails instantly!" The colonel answered.
"He, I have no intention of doing that, I was just a little worried, being as he is the only one I reccomended who hadn't madr it"
"Hmph well don't get your hopes up" Grant chuckled. "Unless he can land a blow on me, which no one accept Darius himself has been able to do" Grant said rubbing his eye patch. "I don't see how he wins"
"Oh?" O'Brian said placing a hand on his glasses. "I do believe you have the wrong idea, did you really think I would come all this way to represent the losing team?"
The colonel spun around as a burning fury awakened in his eyes.
"I don't know what your obsession with children is but it sickens me! If Seymour himself hadn't given his word I would have never let this happen! I wanted to see what trickery you were up to with these kids!" The colonel exclaimed, grabbing O'Brian by the collar.
"Wait just one moment" O'Brian said raising a hand " Have I interfered in this so far?" O'Brian asked
"Not yet anyway!" The colonel grumbled
Suddenly, a harsh wind began to howl, rustling the colonel and O'Brian's clothes.. The branches of the trees they were sitting under began to bend as the wind whipped through the forest. O'Brian placed one hand on his glasses to hold them down as the strong current passed them.
"WATER LANCE!" Axel screamed in the distance
CRASASHSHSHSH!
The sound of a lightning bolt exploded, followed by a cascade of waves that kept crashing down in succession. A few seconds later, rain fell from the sky hard and fast, drenching their clothes, but then subsided just as quickly as it had come.
"What did that kid just…" The colonel said turning towards the area he had left him.
"He just keeps getting stronger and stronger, Aren't you glad I introduced you?" O'Brian said laughing
"Heh, your telling me these kids in just two weeks have gotten this powerful! That are strong enough to win the exams?" Grant asked.
"Oh yes there incredibly strong! There's this one student there who says hes going to defeat Darius and save the people of the badlands" O'Brian proclaimed
"Defeat Darius? Hmph! I'll have to have Seymore test them out! If they're strong enough to fight against our Captains heck I'll have no problem sending them to the gauntlet!"
"Why don't you go there and see for yourself!" O'Brian mused. "You can evaluate them any way you'd like! I promise you won't be disappointed"
"Let me guess, you're going to recruit these new agents under your wing and send them on missoins regardless of whether they pass the exams or not?" Grant said.
"Who knows?" O'Brian said lifting up his arms, "I guess you'll just have to go and see for yourself"
"Riddle me this O'Brian" Grant said "You're a big shot Agent from SPA hq, Iv read the patents that you have created, frankly there amazing" "You commanded one of the SPA's greatest research teams and assisted in some of the biggest missions in recent memory. Two months ago when It was announced you were taking over the G.A.T.E.S I didn't know what to think! So tell me what's a guy like you doing here on an island playing around with kids?" Grant asked.
"I could tell you everything you know." O'Brian said. "I could why I'm here, I could tell you why I picked these kids, I could tell you why it is you despise me!" O'Brian laughed. "But until that day comes you honestly wouldn't even believe me."
"What day?" Grant grunted.
"The day my plan will have come to fruition… The day of Darius's defeat." O'Brian said
"Hmph stop talking nonsense!" "Since when have you cared about defeating Darius!" You've always been about your research!"
"Precisely Colonel" O'Brian laughed enthusiastically. "I want to see just how far these children are capable of going!" "The best part is I don't even have to do anything! All I have to do is watch."
"GRRRR, I don't trust you for a second! If you're going to try to use these children to form your own task force and overtake the SPA… I'll put an end to you here and now!" The colonel said.
"Wow I'm flattered" O'Brian answered, "For you to think I'm capable of that is one thing, but to use children to do it is another. It seems I was right after all, you do see their potential you just don't want to admit it!"
"DAMN YOU OBRIAN!"
"My work here is done" O'Brian said smiling with satisfaction. "OH. and don't get any ideas of failing him for no reason, I hear there's a rouge SPA agent creating his own task force in the shadows wouldn't want him to get a hold of these children…."
"YOU BASTARD!"
"Chow!" O'Brian said vanishing into the trees.
The colonel climbed through the bushes making his way over to Axel to check out the scene. When he returned he came to a scene that looked as if a meteorite had just landed.
There was a huge crater in the ground and tons of square footage of upturned soil. The animals of the forest were soaked in water on the outskirts of the field, completely tranquilized by whatever had hit. Laying down in the center of the crater was Axel completely soaked and exhausted.
The last rays of the sun were now vanishing over the horizon and in the open sky the stars were beginning to appear one by one. As he lay on the ground Axel played with his hands pretending to hold one of the little stars in his hands.
"I've done it" LArs said. "I've created a super move! A move that can even defeat Lance!"