"Anyone else worried about Bea?" Brady asked.
The others were quick to answer.
"Nope!"
"Relax! She is fine!" Wood said.
Brady shook his head, making his hair sway left and right.
"I'm not worried about that. I'm talking about the direct fire."
"Oh!" Femi's expression changed. He could still recollect that one time ago when he came under Officer Bridgestone's 'spit-fire'. He still didn't know whether it was intentional or not, but he vividly remembered being drenched with spittle by the end of his lecture.
Eyepatch giggled. "Imagine talking and spitting so much that you bathe another in it."
"Poor Bea!"
"I can imagine her just throwing herself and giving up right there and then. I know I almost did." Wood muttered.
Bronze jeered at Wood.
"You think she's like you?" He asked, openly mocking Wood.
Wood opened his mouth and closed it back. He opened it again to say something, but changed his mind.
"You really have no idea how hurtful it can get." Richard muttered. His face was the perfect depiction of sadness.
"Yes!" Femi immediately supported. "You won't be talking this way if you have experienced it."
"I'm just saying…" Bronze said, defending himself. "…that Bea is not as weak-willed as Wood."
Those words hit Wood the wrong way. Wood frowned deeply at Bronze, the fact that his pride was hurt could be deduced from his expression.
"You know, if not for Officer Bridgestone, I would have handed it to you right here, right now." He said.
Brady James' eyes opened wide. His mind moved quickly. He was immediately excited at the prospect of Wood and Bronze finally getting at each other. It was something he had wanted to witness for a very long time. Many wouldn't understand how he felt, but curiosity was killing him inside. What would happen when someone as physically enhanced as Bronze faced off against a shameless metal-wielding asshole like Wood?
He couldn't let such a chance as this go. Who knew when next Bronze would go out of character and annoy anyone at all, especially Wood? He would definitely regret it if he did not stoke the fire and fan the flames. Even if they did not end up brawling, at least he would be able to convince himself that he did all he could to get the event to occur.
He shook his head as conspicuously and derogatively as he could afford to without giving his act away.
"Come on Woody. We all know Bronze will beat you up hands-down, eyes closed." He said.
Wood actually stopped running. He abruptly turned and moved to his right to stand in front of Brady. Brady had no choice but to stop running as well. He stood in front of Wood, looking up at him, straight in the eyes.
"How about I break you in half instead?" Greenwood growled.
The rest of them stopped as well, surrounding both of them and Bronze. Some of them stopped out of worry that a fight would ensue and the others out of silent hopes of a physical altercation. For those ones, jogging long distances was a little too boring and it would be a beautiful thing if they could get some roadside entertainment.
Femi was not one of the latter group.
"Brady, there was no need for that." He said, in his whisper–like voice.
Brady did not back down. He stared up at Woody and responded to Femi.
"Why should I? We all know that it is the truth. Bronze would hand his ass to him quicker than he can sing 'Old Hero Lady of Academy Campus.'"
Femi giggled despite himself. The first and only performance of the song, 'Old Hero Lady of Academy Campus', that they experienced, had really left a lasting memory in everyone's minds for various reasons.
Wood's face darkened. His forehead creased like rumpled paper. His already clenched fists turned to metal gauntlets. His pupils changed colors from dark brown to a glossy black. Like a recently waxed car.
"Okay! That's enough." Bronze came in between them. He faced Greenwood.
"Sorry, if I offended you. I was only trying to make a little joke. You seem to have been on edge in recent times."
He turned to face Brady.
"That was very inappropriate. How would you like it if you were made to sing that song and tell your secrets to the whole academy's ears as well?"
Brady's face changed. He looked constipated. His forehead sweated.
He muttered a sorry and continued jogging.
Bronze looked around.
"Let's keep moving." He said. "Unless you are unafraid of Officer's Bridgestone's punishments."
The expectant crowd muttered a bit of complaint under their breaths as they turned and tried to make up for wasted time by jogging faster.
Bronze looked at Greenwood. He gave him a little nod and ran as well. Greenwood watched them for a little while. Anger still evident in his expression, his eyes slowly changed colors back to the normal dark brown as he wiggled his fingers. He looked back at Bea who was still being harassed by the Officer.
He sighed and slowly jogged, moving at his own pace and choosing to stay behind the rest throughout the duration of the race.
IT took almost an hour for Bea to meet them at the finish line. By that time, she was so exhausted that she looked like she was going to die. Her legs pulsed uncontrollably. Her vision was blurry. She felt dizzy and as soon as she crossed that small white line, she collapsed on the ground, mindless of the image she portrayed, as she gasped for air through her nostrils and parched throat to her burning lungs.
On the other hand, Officer Bridgestone looked on with a small smile like a proud father and gulped a bottle of water that had appeared from god-knows-where.
The rest of training went on like routine and Greenwood and Brady ended up facing each other during the one-on-one sparring session in the evening.
There was no much to say about the fight. It ended in two minutes, and that was because Greenwood used that chance to vent a little.
Sincerely speaking, Brady was extremely disadvantaged. He was smaller, slightly slower, was not as strong as Greenwood and his hair ability was basically cosmetic value in front of Wood's metallic fists of fury.
After dinner, Officer Bridgestone made the decision of sending them to bed early. It excited them to no end. When was the last time they had any good sleep? Most of them hurried to their rooms although some walked leisurely to converse with one other.
Bronze was one of them. He was telling a funny fictional story about a fat cow that wanted to become a kangaroo.
Silver walked slowly all alone behind the gang of seven surrounding Bronze. He sneered as he watched them.
"Fools!" He insulted them for the umpteenth time, under his breath. It made him mad to see that even in the academy, after all these years, Bronze was still a natural charmer. He wished a plus-sized mammoth would just fall from the sky and crush all eight of them under its weight.
Greenwood was one of the students that hurried to his room. He unlocked the door, entered and immediately locked it behind him.
He looked at himself in the mirror as he slowly pulled off his uniform. To be honest, he felt like he was slowly becoming a narcissist. Why wouldn't he? He so much loved the physical transformation he had gone through since he entered the academy. He was slightly bigger with a very muscular physique that complemented his height beautifully. He had become more disciplined, more skilled and had better control of his power. Before he could only transform his fists but now, his feet, knees, entire arms, and his forehead could be metallized quite easily. His body was fast becoming a weapon. A weapon suitable for use in the academy and for the country.
His thoughts paused at that.
"For the country?" HE asked himself. "Or for the government?"
He blinked and stared at his naked tanned image in the mirror.
"What was the work of the soldier?" HE asked the image in the mirror. It was a question he had asked himself ever since that day, but had not had the time to ruminate on. "Is it merely as a weapon to be used to attack and defend as at when due? Is that really all that there is to being a soldier?"
He thought back to Officer Bridgestone's lectures about unity, defense, attack, terrorists, and collateral damage.
His mind slowly began to wander. Collateral Damage.
His mum was collateral damage, wasn't she? The bastard that killed her. He was initially sure that it was one of those terrorists. According to what he had eavesdropped from his years living in various streets across various cities, powerful people like that tended to either be mindless religious fanatics, or merciless hired killers and mercenaries with huge bounties on their heads. He had come to the conclusion that the killer was either one of them and that was what had pushed him to be a soldier to capture and do justice to them on his mother's and every other victim's behalf.
But now, it seemed like the military in itself was a possible option as well. What were the chances that it was a Special force member that had refused to be considerate?
Ding dong!
His doorbell rang. He looked at the door. He did not even realize the doors had doorbells.
"Why are there doorbells?" He asked his own naked image in the mirror.
It was a good question. It was too bad that there was no way he was going to get an answer.
Ding dong!
The doorbell rang again.
He leisurely walked to the wardrobe and casually put on the white pair of shirt and shorts.
Ding dong!
He walked bare-footed to the door. He was a hundred percent sure that it wasn't some sort of surprise drill. He seriously doubted that the Officer s themselves were aware of the presence of a bell on the doors, and even if they were, they would still rather bang on the door and yell at him from outside, ensuring their voices were heard all the way to the field, instead of politely ringing the bell and waiting patiently for a response.
Definitely! Most assuredly! It was one of his more timid colleagues. Maybe someone like Femi or Richard or one of those quiet ladies whose names he could not recollect.
But what could have brought them to his room to meet him? Could it be Brady seeking to fix their relationship before it went sour? Maybe, it was Bronze. It could be Bronze. Bronze was someone that would probably know where any kind of door bells could be located. Maybe he wanted to re-apologize. Or to check up on him? After all, it was very obvious how quickly he left them behind.
He made a lot of speculations in that short walk to the door.
He placed his palm on the doorknob and the door unlocked with a click. He twisted the knob and pulled it open.
The guest at the door made him gasp. He would never have guessed it to be him.
"Silver?"
"Beautiful evening to you, Wood!" Silver greeted, his smile twisted weirdly.