4

Standing My Ground

"First, you've got to build up your muscle. Look how skinny and fragile you are." Samuel said. My arms and legs are skinny, but isn't that a good thing? "You have to become more buffed. Now give me one hundred push-ups!"

"Wait- wait a minute. Isn't that a little too man-"

"Do it now or I'll hit you!" Samuel yelled.

"Fine, fine." I got down on all fours and began to do push-ups.

"No slacking you rat!" He just did not-

"I'M NOT A RAT!" I yelled. He hit me with his stick.

"Do your work!" Samuel is starting to tick me off, but I resumed doing my push-ups.

After that, he gave me a five-minute break. He told me that he was going to test my reflexes.

"I want you to jump over that brick over there." Samuel commanded.

"Uh, isn't that a little too-"

"Go already you dumb head!" I shrugged and sprinted towards the brick. I jumped, but the floor beneath me retracted and below me was a deep pit.

Instinctively, I grabbed the brick, and apparently it was glued into the ground. I heaved myself over and a wrecking ball swung towards me. I ducked and the ball missed me. I looked up and saw a sign labeled "Meet here." The wrecking ball swung back and I used the momentum to my advantage. I jumped and grabbed onto the chain of the wrecking ball. When it was at its peak, I let go and ricocheted off the ball. I grabbed the sign and fell next to Samuel.

"Ugh, you're slower than a snail!" Samuel insulted me.

"Hey, I managed to get back here without dying." I countered.

"Yes, but you must be faster! Go run 5 miles in 5 minutes!" Samuel demanded.

"What?"

"YOU HEARD ME, RUN, FOOL!" I began to run the perimeter of the room.

I collapsed on the floor, out of breath from all that running.

"You ran 5 miles in 5 minutes and 10 seconds! You're too slow!" Samuel screamed at me. After a few minutes of verbal abuse, I got up and brushed off the dust off of my clothes.

"You know what? I'm starting- *huff* to get tired of all of this- *pant* crap." I panted. "I think I'm gonna go back to- *cough* Toontown Central and fight Team Sack."

"No, that's bad. You'll die out there." Samuel warned me.

"Hey, did your speech pattern change?" I noticed.

"That does not matter!" Samuel shouted. He sounds an awful lot like that Toon with the squinted eyes. I think he's from, uh, The Karate Toon? Yeah, the guy who trains the younger one.

This is no time for movies.

"Anyways, if I'm going to die out there, then I'll die with pride, knowing that I tried to save Toontown." I told him.

"Why die trying when you can live succeeding?" Samuel said.

It was if I was physically punched. I couldn't counter him, as what he said what true.

"If you keep practicing, then you'll become stronger. Strength is key to defeating Team Sack. If you don't have strength, then you don't have the ability." My ears shaded my eyes as I looked down. How could something so obvious go over me?

I guess because of the current state Toontown is in, I wanted to get out of here as soon as I could to redeem and prove myself worthy of being called a hero.

"Don't let yourself down, you dumb-head," Samuel told me, "you are dumb, and I'm pretty sure we both know that, but you can become more brighter!" Talk about grammar.

I sighed. "I know I can become wise and ancient as you are ("Hey!"). I guess I'll go back to training." I usually don't give in that quickly.

"Good. Now, go run ten laps in ten minutes and five seconds." Samuel commanded.

"Ehh…" I sighed as I turned around and ran around the metal room. This is going to hurt.

HELP. ME. PLEASE. I am about to die twice. My face must be as red as a tomato. I have ran nine and three-quarters of a mile. It's been eight minutes. At this rate, I'm going to finish under the allotted time limit.

Throb. Throb. Ugh, my head is starting to- uh oh. Mike warned me about this a few years ago when I did Cross-Country.

If you start to get a headache, stop running. You're going to throw up or possibly pass out if you don't.

If I stop, though, it's going to hurt even more. Maybe if I-

Well, I passed out. I got ten miles in, but I passed out. I slowly woke up in a white room. The bed sheets and comforter were white, and the walls were a very light blue color. The tiles were also white. This room is pretty bright. I still have a bad feeling in my stomach.

Hey, what's on my shir- oh? I have acid on my shirt. Stomach acid. I better get myself cleaned up. I headed towards, well, somewhere. I'm pretty sure I'm going outside…

Ah, here we go. Something about the environment refreshed me. Not only is my twisted stomach problem gone, but there's no more vomit on me. Hooray!

"I see training here isn't really suitable for you. You fell like an idiot." Samuel told me. Whoa, where did he come from?

"A sealed room with no air conditioning; of course." I replied.

"You must adapt to these kind of environments. Team Sack's leader lives in a strange world."

"How do you know all about this, anyways?" I asked him.

"…" He was speechless. "I… I have been part of Team Sack in the past."

Something hit me hard against my head, like a rock.

"R-really?" I asked.

"Yes, and I am ashamed to have been. But that doesn't matter now. I want you to defeat Team Sack." Samuel reassured me. I hesitated.

"I guess I can trust you…" I said quietly.

"Thank you. Now, go back and run one mile in thirty seconds." Samuel pushed me back into the training room.

"Ugh…"