Chapter 4– Change
Two Years Later
It was early in the morning, and a guard was walking Shane's room. Once he was there he began banging on the door.
"It's time to-"He stopped mid-sentence as he saw Shane sitting with his legs crossed in the middle of the room. His cat ears were gone, his hair was shaved.
Once Shane saw him he stood up and walked to the door. "Mr. Coal is coming today." The guard said as Shane reached the door
"I know." Shane said plainly.
Two Hours later
Shane stood in a fighting stance in the center of the training room surrounded by four guards while two guards were on the ground writhing in pain. Coal, Tris, and a guard stood near the entrance of the room watching.
Two guards rushed at Shane, one of them throwing a punch at him while the other did the same a second later.
Shane pushed the first punch away from him and punched the guard in the stomach, making him lose his breathe. Seeing that he stunned the guard he focused on the other. Catching the guard's fist, Shane twisted it backwards, grabbed the guards arm, and threw him the ground. The guard was about to get up, but Shane brought his foot back and kicked him in the face, knocking him out. Focusing on the guard he stunned, Shane was about to punch him, but the guard backhanded him. Knocking him away from him.
The other two guards then rushed at Shane. The first was going to tackle Shane to the ground, but Shane jumped over him. Landing in front of the other guard, Shane punched him in the stomach and started throwing punches at his face, before kneeing him in the face. The knee didn't knock him out though, it just broke his nose and made him fall to the ground grabbing his nose and yelling in pain.
The guard that Shane jumped over then grabbed him from behind, and picked him up. Shane started to try and squirm his way out until the guard turned him towards the other guard. The guard then started to punch him in the face. Shane kicked him in the face knocking him back, and kicked the guard that grabbed him in the nether regions. After the kick, the guard made a loud, pained groan, fell to his knees and let him go.
Turning to face the stunned guard Shane threw a heavy punch at his face. The punch wasn't enough to knock him out though, it just knocked his head back. Shane focused on the guard he kicked in the face. The guard threw a punch at Shane, but he ducked and punched him in the stomach again. The guard bent forward from the punch. Shane uppercut him twice before bringing his fist back and punched his hardest. Knocking the guard to the ground. Turning back to the guard that was on his knees, Shane did a spin kick that hit the guard's face and made him fall backwards to the ground.
Shane looked to see if there were any guards left and saw that there was none. He was panting before he let out a sigh of relief.
Coal chuckled and clapped. "Bravo! Shane! Bravo!" He said happily.
Tris had a grin on her face and clapped as well.
After wiping the sweat off his forehead, Shane put his hands on the back of his head and took slow breathes.
"Take him to his room and get him a bottle of water." Tris said to the guard, who nodded his head.
"Ms. Tris could you accompany me as I go see Dr. Paladin?" Coal said and stared at her.
"Sure." Tris responded and they both walked towards the door.
After they left the room, the guard walked over to Shane and told him to follow him. Shane then followed the guard out of the room.
"I didn't sign up for this shit." A guard groaned after the door shut.
-Moments Later with Tris and Coal-
"His hand to hand combat has gotten way better than before." Coal said. "And he was aware of where the guards were. You have done an excellent job training him."
"Thank you sir." Tris said with a nod.
"How is he doing with his education?"
"He is very focused on learning other things besides fighting. He knows more than a kid his age should."
"That's great to hear." Coal said with a grin. "I wonder how Paladins doing?"
Tris looked a little bothered once he said this. "I think that Dr. Paladin may be slacking with his work."
"What makes you say that?"
"It seems like he doesn't want to figure out how to transfer PS-13 to someone else. Given how much time he has had, he should have at least known what caused Shane to survive it."
"You make it sound like anyone could do it ."
"I'm not trying to make it sound like anyone could do it. I am just saying that he should have more information about it."
"He will, just give him some time."
After their conversation they continued to walk to Dr. Paladin's room. Once they reached the door, they entered the room and saw Paladin sitting in his chair facing his desk.
"Hello Doc." Coal said plainly.
"Hello." Paladin said after he turned to face him.
"So what's new?"
"Nothing so far."
"Oh." Coal said, and soon after Tris gave him a quick glance.
"Well.. what have you been doing?"
"Just the usually, recording Shane's healing speed, trying to figure out how he survived the experiment, and seeing if PS-13 going to change once he gets older."
Coal sighed. "That's good." Tris looked at him confused. "So how are you any closer to figuring out how he survived?"
"A little. It could be because he is a Faunus, the other Faunus subjects lasted longer than the others. Then again the other subjects died six hours after they were given PS-13. I am not quite sure how, I don't specialize in that area. I'm doing my best though."
"I'm sure you'll understand how eventually." Coal said before his alarm on his watch went off. "Looks like I have to go." He said before walking to the door. As he was about to open it he stopped. "Hazel, Nicholas." He said turning around, getting both of their attentions. "How about we have dinner in Capri." Tris, and Paladin both stared at each other for a couple of seconds.
"You mean today?" Paladin asked.
"Yes." Coal replied with a grin.
"I'm not sure if I can. Shane and I still need to train." Tris replied.
"But you have done a lot of work, and so have you Paladin. You two deserve a great dinner, at a great restaurant of course."
"What time would we be leaving?" Paladin asked.
"We could go around seven. I'll send a vehicle back over here."
Paladin hesitated a little. "I guess I could get a break."
"Good." Coal said happily. "Now. How about you Tris?"
"…I guess I could find someone to train Shane while I'm gone."
"Great! I will see you two later." He said before leaving the room.
After a couple of seconds of silence Paladin spoke. "That was a little strange."
"Yes… It was." Tris said. 'That was the first time he called me by my first name since we met.' She thought. "We should get back to work."
"Right." Paladin said and turned back to his desk.
Hours Later
Shane sat on a table in Paladin's room, while Paladin held a scalpel in his right hand, and a timer in his left. Holding his arm out, Shane waited for the doctor to cut it. Paladin made a straight cut down his right arm, and began to start the timer.
Paladin stopped it once the wound healed. '5.48. It's slowly but surely getting faster.' He thought before writing down the time on a paper.
"Have you had any headaches since the last time we met?" Paladin asked.
"No."
"Any rashes or itching?"
"No."
"Have you felt sick since the last time we met?'
"No."
Paladin finished writing down his responses. "So." He said, stopped writing and looked at Shane. "How about your dreams?"
"I had a couple of dreams about my dad."
"What were they about?"
"They were memories… Like when we went to go see a movie… and I had a couple of dreams about my friend."
"Violet?"
"Yeah…"
"How long has it been since you two last saw each other?"
"About two years ago."
"Do you remember the day you last saw her?"
"I do…My dad was working late one day, so I stayed at her house with her mom. I remember that we drew on pieces of paper, played hide and seek" Shane chuckled and grinned a little. "And I remember we helped bake a cake. I tried to pick up a bag of flour and I ended up dropping it."
Shane started to chuckle some more, and Paladin smiled a little.
"It went everywhere, and I remember being afraid because I thought Violet's mom was going to yell at me. Instead she just laughed because I had flour all over my face."
"What happened after that?"
"She helped get the flour off my face, and I tried to get it off my clothes. But there was still some left. Then she helped us bake the cake."
"How was it?"
"It was delicious. Chocolate cake with white frosting, and a glass of milk. I remem-"
Shane stopped once he heard a knocking on the door.
"Well it looks like it's time to go." Paladin said and both he and Shane stood up. "See you next time."
"Bye." Shane said, walked to the door, and opened it to see Tris.
"Hello Shane." She said.
"Hi Ms. Tris." He responded, walked out and closed the door.
Paladin started grab the piece of paper he was writing on. 'It's good to know he's not having nightmares…'
-Moments Later with Tris and Shane—
"So who is going to train me?" Shane asked.
"I asked a guard to train you while I am gone. This is the only time you will be trained by someone else beside me. So listen to what he says."
"Okay." Shane said.
"His name is Rick, so call him that."
"Yes, ma'am.
They continued to walk to the training room and met a guard who was waiting for them. He had black eye that looked like it was almost healed.
"Make sure to train him in hand to hand combat." Tris ordered. "If you want to challenge him there is a staff in there you could use."
"Yes ma'am" The guard responded.
"I'll see you tomorrow Shane." Tris said and walked away.
"Bye." Shane responded.
"Let's get started." The guard said and opened the door. Shane walked inside and the guard followed.
45 minutes later
Coal sat in a limousine and waited for Tris and Paladin. "When will they be here?" He asked the driver after waiting for a couple of minutes.
"They should be here shortly sir." The driver responded.
"They should have been here already." Coal said then saw both of them. He quickly exited the limo. "Nice of you two to finally show up." He said with a grin.
-Back at the facility—
Shane ducked once the staff was swung at him. After getting back up Rick swung the staff downwards towards Shane. Rolling out of the way Shane stood back up, and saw that the staff was being swung again, but this time towards his legs. He jumped up, but Rick quickly maneuvered the staff and hit Shane in the chest knocking him down. Rick brought the staff up and quickly brought it down towards Shane. Holding his arms in front of him, Shane blocked the attack, but the force behind the staff made him grunt in pain. Rick stopped the attacks.
"Get up." He commanded and Shane did.
"Come here. I'll teach you something Tris never will." He said and gestured Shane towards him.
"What is that?" Shane said and got close to him.
Rick then punched Shane hard in the stomach making him fall to the ground. Shane clutched his stomach, and struggled to breath.
"You see when you are in a fight." He said before kicking him, and knocking him backwards. "You can't dodge all of the attacks."
Shane struggled to get up, and left his stomach open for another attack. Rick then kicked Shane his hardest, and it sent him flying a couple of feet.
'How does it feel?' Rick thought to himself. 'She isn't here to stop you from getting hurt.'
"So you will have to get use to-" Rick stopped after Shane grabbed his foot. 'You little shit!' Rick punched Shane in the face stunning him. Then he grabbed Shane and threw him across the room.
"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME!?" He yelled in anger. "You have to get use to being attacked!"
-At a Restaurant in Capri—
The trio sat at a table waiting for their food.
"There is another reason why I wanted to bring you guys to Capri." Coal spoke up.
"What's the reason?" Paladin asked.
"While I'll show you." He said, took out his scroll, typed something in, and handed it to Paladin.
Paladin looked at the scroll and saw a news article. It read. "White Fang Attacks" Paladin's eyes widened after he read the title, and he skimmed through the article.
"How- When did they start doing this?" Paladin asked.
"What?" Tris said, and Paladin gave her the scroll. After reading the title Tris looked at Coal with a worried expression.
"The article is a week old. It was last month when they began to use violence." Coal paused for a couple of seconds. "I would have told you earlier today, but I wanted you to see it." Coal said to Paladin. "Tris told me that you were slacking in your work. I honestly believe that we could have at least known a little bit more about transferring by now, but you haven't been putting in a lot of effort. This is to show you that we need to get it figured out. If you are having trouble that's fine. I'll bring in some more doctors so we could be working on it constantly. We can't afford to waste any more time. Tris, I need you to start training him a little harder. Push him a bit harder. We need to figure it out."
-Back at the Facility—
Shane laid on the ground sobbing. He hadn't thrown a single punch since Rick began attack him. He just curled up in a ball and took the punches and kicks. Rick stood a couple of feet away from him breathing heavily.
There was a knock on the door, before a guard walked in. "Rick." He said and got his attention.
"What."
"We need to bring him back to his room before Tris gets back."
"Alright… just get someone in here to take him." Rick said and made his way out of the room.
Two guards then walked into the room and saw Shane. They both looked at each other before walking over to him and picked him up. By that time any cut or bruise was gone from Shane, but he was still crying. They brought him to his room and shut the door before Tris got back.
-The Next Day—
Rick sat at a table with other guards, eating his food, and telling about what he did to Shane. "You should have seen him. He was crying like a little bitch. He didn't even try to fight back after I-"
"Tris is coming." A guard said and Rick stopped talking.
Tris walked into the room, and everyone became quiet. "Rick I want to talk to you." She said plainly.
The other guards gave a quick glance at him, before he stood up and walked to Tris.
"Just follow me." She said and walked out of the room.
They both walked for a couple of minutes before she stopped and faced him. "Shane told me what happened yesterday." She said making him tense up. "Would you care to explain your actions?"
"I-I-I was just trying to teac-" Was as far as he got before Tris punched him in the face. His head went back and once he looked up at her his nose was bleeding. She then punched him in the stomach knocking the wind out of him. Grabbing his shirt, Tris threw him against the wall. Rick fell to the ground grabbing his nose. Blood gushed from it.
"I'm- I'm sorry!" He pleaded with one of his arms out.
Tris grabbed his arm and twisted it.
*CRUNCH*
"AHHH!" Rick yelled in pain.
Tris then started to punch him in the face until he went unconscious. She stepped back and took deep breathes, calming herself down before walking back into the cafeteria.
"Rick is going to need some help. He had an accident." Tris said the guards before walking out again.
A CHAPTER THAT'S OVER 2K WORDS! YEAH! I was hoping to make it a little longer but I wanted to finish it. So yeah two weeks and a chapter over 2K words. Hope it's enough.