"Tragic past?!" Mikey spits. "You mean bat-shit insane? They're bat-shit insane!"
"All of what I said is true. And how it currently stands, if the Cards of the King complete their objective then we're doomed. There is not a Slayer alive who can stand up to the Four Horsemen," Nick continues, very seriously. My laughing fit ends.
"Well if this mission is so important, then why is it being given to us?" Jamie asks.
"Well we're not here to fight the Cards of the King," Nick answers. "Plus…we're short staffed as Hell, as you kids see, we're very short on manpower so we need to give you guys a lot more missions. And there has also been a huge spike in demon activity as of late. We need to train the younger generation -you guys- while we can."
"If we're not going to fight them, then what are we going to do?" Grover asks.
"There's close to no information in the world regarding how to summon demons into our world, much less the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and every last bit that there is, is locked up and guarded tightly by the Organization. Truth be told, the Cards of the King aren't that worrisome, so far," Nick explains. "This will be an infiltration mission. We will pretend to be church-goers going to the Cards of the King's Demonism to Church in order to obtain information."
"Well you can count me out" Mikey snaps. "I'd rather die than even pretend to be a demon worshiper!"
"For once, Mikey has a point," Austin adds, earning him a glare from the previously mentioned Mikey. "Why infiltrate and gather information about the church, when we can just defeat the Cards of the King right off the bat?"
"Because we need to avoid a direct confrontation with the cult by any means necessary," Nick answers. "Truth be told, I believe I've already met two members of the cards of the King."
"You did?!" Ella cries.
Nick nods. "Back at the Lincoln Correctional Facility-" Nick begins to say, before pausing and turning to Mikey. "Where we went for the squad's first mission," he explains. "-I had an exchange with Inmate Zero, until a second man teleported into the Facility-" Grover perks up when Nick says "Teleport." "Inmate Zero called the man King, and King called Inmate Zero "Ace." Sounds like a deck of cards, no?" Nick continues. "King's Cursed Power was strong enough to overwhelm my own, plain and simple!"
"That's impossible, someone overpowering the strongest Pro Slayer!" Grover cries.
"But we're the good guys! The bad guys can't be better than the strongest good guy!" Jamie exclaims.
"Two things," Nick interrupts, holding up two fingers. "One, I'm not the strongest good guy. I'm the strongest Pro Slayer, but the Chairman is stronger. Hey may not be a good guy, but he is on our side."
"It's hard to imagine that uncharismatic old man being even stronger than Nick," Austin snorts.
"And two, I wasn't overpowered but King," Nick continues. "Though that may sound snobbish of me to say, I was already weakened form ym fight with Inmate Zero- slash-Ace, and having a stronger Cursed Power doesn't always guarantee victory. I can have a stronger Cursed Ability, more combat training, and more battle intelligence than King."
I feel like my whole world has been opened up, being introduced to two men potentially stronger than even Nick.
I always figured that it was about time for the generic evil organization to appear, now that our squad is complete. A typical anime cliche that gives the protagonists content enemies to fight and surpass, without having to introduce new villains with different ideals every time.
"So when's this mission begin?" Mikey asks.
"One week from today," Nick answers. "Until then, train. Rest up and train. Use your time wisely, you'll need to become far stronger than you are now for this mission and upcoming missions. Even if this mission isn't supposed to involve combat, it doesn't help to be prepared."
"So…how are you guys gonna train?" I ask as I turn to the rest of my squad.
"Well I'm going to the shooting range to work on my aim, and probably the sauna, too, to help my heat resistance. So don't bother me," Mikey answers.
"I'll stay here, I need to work on some new gadgets. My goggles and arm can use some work," Austin replies as he heads up to his room.
His…arm? I know that Austin has those high-tech goggles of his, but what's that about his arm? Austin does keep his right arm bandaged up after all, so…is it also an invention of his?
"I need to hit the gym. I also got to work on some new moves, especially turning my body into both rubber and iron at the same time," Jamie adds, before heading down to our basement gym.
Grover is silent, not answering my question about how he plans to train, which I find unusual for him.
"So where do you go to train, Ella?" I ask as I turn to my squadmate.
"The hospital. I'm an apprentice nurse there. The better I am at healing without my Cursed Ability, the better I will be at healing with it," Ella answers.
"Uh-huh," I reply, too busy thinking about Ella in a nurse uniform.
"Well, I'll see you guys later," Ella then adds, as she follows Mikey out of the dorm house, leaving me alone with Grover and Nick.
"Remember our deal, Nick?" I call to Nick as I turn to face him.
Nick perks up and smirks at me. "What took you so long! I've been bored waiting for you to ask me to train you!" He calls back.
"What about you, kid?" Nick asks as he turns to face Mikey with a smirk. "You're a wild one, I'd love to get my hands on you. I know that I can make you damn strong!"
"Tch," Mikey grunts as his face flushes as red as his clothes. "I don't need any help from you, old man!" Mikey then snaps as he storms out of our dormhouse, slamming the door behind him.
"Old man…?" Nick whimpers.
"Hey, Grover, how were you planning on training?" I ask as I turn to face my squadmate, who's busy staring at the ground in silence. A silence that I'm not used to, from Grover.
"For fourteen years, I trained alone, trying to master my Cursed Ability and Cursed Power. Even with all of my training, all that resulted from it was that I managed to do was use a little bit of Cursed Power Burst during the exams against Slayer Haraki," Grover begins to say, before looking up, a confident scowl on his face, as Grover turns and points to Nick. "And now, I have a master of Cursed Power in front of me, and I won't let this chance slip through my hands!" Grover booms, sounding like the usual Grover that I know. "You, Slayer Hachi, are going to train me!"
Nick smirks. "Well then, Luis, Grover, let's go!"
"Where are we going?" Grover asks.
"To a nearby woods by Slayer Mezame's shop," Nick answers
"Hey, that's the forest where Slayer Mezame brought me when he awakened my Cursed Power!" I say.
"Really?" Nick asks. "Well, that makes sense. This forest is rich with Cursed Power in the atmosphere, afterall. Some areas have more than others."
"What makes an area rich in Cursed Power?" I ask.
"Typically, areas rich in Cursed Power are either A, areas with a lot of demons, or B, areas that are untouched and uncontaminated by pollution and other human created factors and disturbances," Nick answers.
"How will a Cursed Power rich area help with our training?" I ask. Nick opens his mouth to answer, but Grover is too fast.
"If we train in an area rich in Cursed Power...then our own Cursed Power will replenish faster!" Grover smugly answers as he crosses his arms.
Nick nods approvingly at Grover, "Correct, Grover, very good!" He says, causing Grover to giggle with a cheeky grin. "I'll meet you guys at the woods, you two are to run there."
"Wait, but aren't the woods war away?!" I whimper.
"Yup! So get running!" Nick answers.
"Are you running too?" I ask.
"Nope! I'm too old. Driving," Nick answers.
Nope. Driving," Nick answers.
"No fair," I groan.
"YES SIR, MR HACHI SIR!" Grover exclaims as he salutes Nick before tuning back to face me. "Luis, let's go! Hachi Sir is blessing us with his training, and if we need to run, then I'll run until my legs fall off!" Grover shouts before dashing out the door.
"Ah, wrong direction, Grover!" I cry as I jog after my squadmate.
Nick laughs. "He's sure enthusiastic!" He says, before getting in his car.
***
A while later, I collapse to the ground outside of the forest, frantically gasping for breath, as Nick stands at the entrance of the first with his arms crossed, smirking, his back leaning against a tree.
"We're here at last, Nick!" Grover exclaims as he bounces his knees up and down like a human battery.