Leaving the Shaolin monastery of China, we find The Metal and Buck heading deep into the Song mountains nearly three weeks after the incident with Jonathan Graves. Fitted back into their typical dogi and loaded with survival essentials locals were able to spare, the two trekked off to finally get to the training they originally sought.
"I still have no clue how you managed to hustle us a stay at the Shaolin temple."
"No hustling involved, Buck. I'm actually a regular at the Shaolin Summer Boot Camp these past few years. I'm even personal friends with the temple master."
"Of course, you would be. Why do I ever ask? So, how long till we get there?"
"Not much longer from now. Maybe an hour at our pace."
"Oh, that's not bad."
"Not at all. And then we'll be on foot in the most dangerous landscape in the country for three days."
"I knew it! There is always a horrendous catch you. I can never get just good news!"
"Hey, at least we won't be alone. I have an old friend meeting us up here. He spends most of his time in Japan these days for training, but he is also as familiar with this area as I am."
Just as he said, there was a darker man of average height leaning on a sign and waiting for them at the entrance of a trail into the thicket. Much to Buck's surprise, he was wearing a tailored version of the same training uniform he and The Metal always wore. It was different though. Despite being the same ultra-strength material of an onyx tone bearing the calligraphy for Jin, or metal, on the back, it was the only version he saw with the sleeves still attached. The Metal custom-ordered his tops sleeveless and Buck usually just ripped his off, but this guy actually preferred them intact. He rose from his slouched position and greeted them feverously. Mainly, he gave The Metal the hug one gives a childhood friend.
"Metal! It has been so long since we have last seen each other."
"What do you mean? We were both at the boot camp last Summer."
"More than a year is a really long time."
"An Aussie? I was expecting a local when you said he knew this area as well as you did."
"Calm down, Buck, you haven't even been introduced to each other yet. Buck, this is Shadow. Shadow, Buck."
"Ah, yet another person we don't get to exchange real names with because he's been a part of your troublemaking past."
"Come on, you know by now these identities are for the best and more accurately relate to us than our given names."
"Whatever. How do you have the displeasure of knowing The Metal?"
"We used to fight the forces of evil with one 'nother!"
"What?"
"He is a childhood friend of mine from back in school."
"An' we took out the Ring of Fire!"
"I don't even want to know what that is, let's just get going."
"We can't yet."
"Why not?"
"My airdrop doesn't come in for another half hour."
"Airdrop!?"
"Oh trust me, you'll love it. Just um… I don't know, look around or chill until then."
Not being much for mindless socializing, especially with people he had only just met, Buck took The Metal's advice and wandered around the trail entrance while the others caught up. There really wasn't much to explore without diving into the path itself, which was so dense with foliage you wouldn't even think it was the way except for the sign marking it. A sign might be an understatement for what it was. There at the start of the training trek was a ten-foot-tall bulletin that read "那些誰完成了試驗場" and had painted portraits of three people hung on it. The first had to be no less than a millennium old and was of a Chinese man labeled "孫子". The second was maybe a few decades old at most of a caucasian man, likely American, with auburn hair labeled "杰拉爾德蓋恩斯·傳奇". The last was much more recent, within the last few years due to the condition of the paint. It starred the image of a young caucasian woman with long cherry blonde hair who was making a silly face by gripping her cheeks and sticking out her tongue that was labeled "罗斯麥格拉思·寶". Buck studied these images for a bit and then wished to himself that he knew how to speak and read Chinese. He could swear he had seen the girl from the last one somewhere before, but just couldn't place it as hard as he tried.
"Nyan hǎo!!!"
"It's here!"
Far above they spotted a wooden crate coasting to the ground via a parachute but riding it was something neither Buck nor Shadow were prepared for. Descending with the container was a young woman with inhuman features. For the most part, she looked like any other attractive young lady, except for her button nose with whiskers coming out of it, the pointy ears popping out of the top of her head, the short calico patterned hair all over her body, and of course, the tail sprouting out of her skimpy excuse for a traditional Chinese dress.
"Nyeko, Meowt Yo Nyeeds! Customer satisfaction gyaranteed!"
"Hey, Nyancy. How's work?"
"Oh It's foine Meotal, Thyanks for asking," she said while handing him a receipt to sign, "So what did you meorder this toime?"
"Training gear, Nyancy. Training gear. The whole reason we are even out here."
"You're so silly, Meotal. Okay, you all have a geod one. I've gyot a lot meore deliveries today."
She then opened the top of the crate, pulled out a jetpack, and took off. The other two stood stunned at the exchange for a few moments until Buck turned to The Metal angrily.
"Hey, asshole, were you flirting with the catgirl!?"
"What?"
"You two were talking like a bunch of emotionally repressed teenagers in a weeby chat room."
"She talks like that because she's practically a slave who was raised to fulfill her position since she was young. I've told all of them they don't need to do that cutesy crap to keep my patronage but they really can't help it. No need to be a dick about it."
"Yeah, well why did you do it back?"
"I'm still not following."
"Nyancy. You called her Nyancy!"
"That's because that's her name. Pretty much all of them have names like that. The owner of the company thinks that by making everything as cute and sexy as possible they'd get more returning customers. I just like the fact that I can get same-day deliveries across the world and no one asks any questions."
The Metal shattered the rest of the box and released packing peanuts all over the ground. Within the crate was a new set of weighted gear that he spent almost no time waiting to get on. He struggled to move around in them even the slightest and one step in the soft soil left a noticeable dent.
"We waited all this time for that? Seriously!?"
"Oh yeah, just try to pick me up."
"Jesus Christ, Metal," Buck hollered while attempting to get him off the ground, "how much is that!?"
"Roughly, I'd say a ton."
"They look really nice!"
"Don't fucking encourage him, Shadow. You said just surviving in this place would be training enough for anyone and now you can barely move! Why!?"
"To me, a draw is as good as a loss. I don't lose fights, especially in a tournament I invented. Pitaya is probably back home figuring out some way in which he thinks he can easily crush me. That is exactly what I would be doing if I were him, but I'm not gonna let that happen. I've got to be prepared for anything and that means wearing a literal ton of weight in one of the most dangerous training grounds on the planet."
"You're psychotic."
"Yeah, well tell me some real news why don't you."
The journey started rough. Walking through the Chinese mountainscape would be tough enough as it is, but the journey through what is loosely translated as the "Proving Grounds" was sacred to martial artists and must be done without any equipment that would ease the trip. That even included shoes. The ranges of the Henan province were covered from base to nearly the peak in dense trees and shrubbery. This rough terrain didn't bother The Metal's feet since he was barefoot far more often than not as it already stood, but Buck and Shadow felt each and every prick against their pampered heels and toes. After he noticed the strain that climbing up and over many of the rock faces and wading creeks was putting on his cohorts, The Metal started clearing a spot for the night's camp.
"A campground?" Buck spoke in bewilderment.
"Yeah, this trip is going to take a couple days and you guys are looking a bit weary."
"That actually brings up a point. How are you not?"
"I had a big breakfast and pace well."
"No, seriously. You are wearing a literal ton of weight and don't even look winded when you should be exhausted after all the hiking we did."
"If it is any consolation, I'm in intense pain wearing this. But yeah you're right, I'm not tired, haven't been since the night with Hexhunter. I haven't even slept since then."
"Dude, that's not good. You've been up for half a week already. Maybe it's an issue with your adrenal levels spiking after that shot to the head, but we should really get you to a hospital or at least head back to Shaolin."
"Ahahaha haha ha… no."
"Come on, I'm just trying to look out for you. Don't be difficult."
"You could always try to make me go. I wouldn't mind starting this sparring session early."
"Sparring session?"
"Yeah, didn't I tell you already? We've got an hour of sunlight left. I'll give you half of that to catch your breath and then both of you will attack me, together."
"Oh, that sounds fun!"
"Shaddup, Shadow! No, it doesn't! Metal, this ridiculous. You can hardly move in those weights."
"I know, isn't it great? The air is denser here in the mountains and I haven't eaten since breakfast to boot. This is the perfect time to train."
"As much as I would love punching you for all those times you pissed me off, I'm not going to hit a sitting duck."
"What's the matter, Buckhead; you afraid you still couldn't land a shot even with such a hefty advantage? Guess your mom was always right about you. You'd probably just trip and hurt yourself anyw-"
The Metal was soon interrupted by Buck's fist jabbing his torso weights into the cross sections of his abdomen. Buck had a stern angle to his brow that spoke of gratification until his friend stopped wincing and began laughing.
"Oooo, that's nice. I didn't expect you to cave in so fast. I'll admit that actually hurt a little, but not as much as this will."
Buck wasn't sure what was happening, but before he knew it The Metal had seized hold of his collar and tossed him clear across their campsite. Lucky for him, Shadow was already close enough to catch Buck and help him to his feet.
"Bastard. I guess like always I don't really have much say in the matter. Come on, Shadow."
"Yippee!!! This will be fun!"
"Fun… is not necessarily the word I'd use for this."
The two approached him slowly, not taking any chances. Buck has taken hits by moving vehicles before and walked away, but at this point, he was almost positive The Metal could throw one if he really wanted. Getting impatient, the first strike was delivered by Shadow. A kick at head height flew swiftly but was intercepted. In a single spinning motion, The Metal swept out Shadow's other leg and came back around to drop his heel into his chest. A flurry of punches landed in The Metal's back, shifting the momentum of each punch through his training gear. Buck was just hoping it hurt his asshole of a friend as much as it did for him to hit that gear. He turned around and delivered a backhand that sent his stocky friend crashing back. Buck had sparred with The Metal many times before, but a lot had changed between his fights with Pitaya and Jonathan Graves. The strike pulsated through to his core as he plummeted into the dirt. Looking back at The Metal, Buck noticed Shadow already had him in a full nelson.
"Careful, Shadow. I've never seen that hold end well for the person using it, especially against Metal."
"That's okay Buck, I've actually trained with The Metal before. I'm wearing a titanium cup this time."
"Damn, that must be heavy."
"Says the guy wearing a literal ton."
"I'm only holding him hear so you could get some hits in, you know."
"Oh, yeah…"
Sliding in, Buck landed a hefty hook into the groove between The Metal's thigh and pelvis. He then let out yet another flurry of jabs, this time into his friend's facing side. He could feel Buck's fists clenching harder after each strike and even heard his knuckles cracking in a rather unpleasant way. The Metal had obviously planned for his weighted gear to be as much of a training hazard for them as it was for himself.
"I wonder if you guys are going try something effective or just stick to this rush-down strategy that is clearly working."
He lunged both legs into Buck, sending him flying, and then flipped Shadow over him as he planted back into the ground.
"Oh yeah, well what do you expect either of us to do against a freak of nature with an ego the size of this mountain range?"
"Well, for starters, I'd avoid hitting any spot covered by the weights. Sure that gets rid of vital shots to the core, but it's better than breaking your own hands. Second, I'd probably avoid striking the upper arms and thighs as those muscles are tougher to wear out if trained right and will just hurt yourself trying. That basically leaves my neck and face. Well, you could try stomping on my toes, but you know that won't end well."
"How the hell do you expect us to hit your face?"
"We could do it together, Buck. We can do anything if we really try."
"Where do you find these people, Metal? Do you rip them straight out of a Saturday morning special? Whatever. Guess it's worth a shot. Just stay opposite to me and don't let up.
They relentlessly attacked him from both sides. Most attacks were blocked, but many blows indeed landed. They formed an interesting dichotomy with Buck preferring his fists and Shadow throwing out kicks whenever it suited. It was unnerving to Buck for every time they managed to actually hit him The Metal just grinned even more. He finally decided to attack back and sent them soaring yet again.
"Don't get up for a bit."
"Oh, now that we are actually doing something you want us to stop!?"
"No, it's just you ran out of time. Look at the sun. It's nearly out of sight and we still need to finish setting up camp."
"Shit, you're right."
"Okay, take just a minute to recover and get to work. Shadow, you gather some brush for beds. It's gonna be clear the whole time we're out here so we don't need a lean-to."
"Alrighty!"
"Buck, you gather some stones and wood. If you can't start a fire by the time I get back, I'll get it going."
"Get back? Where are you going?"
"Deeper into the brush for food. I'm the only one who can see without any light at all and we need a hearty dinner. Gotta make sure we eat and sleep well tonight, only gets worse from here on in."
"That… is very unsettling."