You can see how excited Max is for training with Kiba...

Chapter 6: Amped Up Cub

Later that evening, Samurai makes his way up the steps to the Jade Palace to pick up Max and as he arrived, he saw Tigress, Monkey and Mantis standing outside and he said, "Hey, guys. How's it going?"

"Pretty good, Sam." Monkey replied.

Samurai nodded his head and he said, "Did Logan give you guys the news? About you guys being sponsors for being in this Junior Tournament?"

"Yes, he did. And why would we get picked for something like this?" asked Tigress.

Samurai could tell that Tigress is questioning this opportunity and he said, "It was all Mr. Ping's idea. Besides, you can't question every opportunity that the boss goose gives ya. It's a bigger thing than yourselves. You have to take everything you've learned and instill in in the kids competing. It'll make a huge impact on their lives...maybe grow up to become the next generation of kung-fu masters."

Mantis and Monkey started to take in everything Samurai just said and Mantis said, "Sounds like something Po would want to do."

"But I guess it's for the kids." Monkey added.

"i don't have to do anything ridiculous, don't I?" asked Tigress.

Samurai looked up at Tigress with a look that reads, 'are you serious' and he replied, "Nope. Not unless you wanna be a co-mascot with Po."

The thought of being a mascot completely made Tigress a little uneasy and thought that motivating kids would be a better option and she said, "Max is in the barracks."

"Thanks, Ti." Samurai said, as he makes his way inside the palace.

At the barracks

Max started to do some mini-practicing with Kiba as he punches his paws to get himself ready for training tomorrow and Max asked, "You're not hit, aren't you?"

"No, of course not. It's just a build-up." Kiba replied.

Arizona could tell that Kiba and Max are just having some good old training and he kinda feels like he's a little bit left out and Musaki comes to him and he said, "You all right?"

Arizona turns around and he sees Musaki standing next to him and replied, "Yeah, I'm okay."

Musaki sees Arizona's reaction a little differently and knew something is bothering him and he said, "You sure?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" asked Arizona.

"Normally, you wouldn't be spying on Kiba and Max during their training unless if it's needed. Are you getting jealous again?" asked Musaki, a little suspicious.

Arizona sputters at that question and asked, "Jealous? Me? Nah. I'm not jealous."

Musaki could see it straight through Arizona's eyes and looked deep inside of it and soon enough, the truth says it all. He said, "You're worried that Max likes Kiba more than you, aren't you?"

Arizona didn't want to admit it because he didn't want to damage the brotherhood they have, yet the thought started to sear inside of him and he said, "Every time he spends time with Kiba, it feels like he wants nothing to do with me. Like he's got a new big brother."

"Zona...we've talked about this before when you felt the same way when Max was around the other Hazards. He's always gonna be your brother and no one will replace you." Musaki stated.

Arizona knew Musaki was right, but the other half of himself still wasn't sure about that and he just said, "I hope so."

Just then, Samurai comes in the hallway and he sees Musaki and Arizona standing and he said, "Hey, guys. You ready?"

"Yep, we're just waiting for Max." Musaki answered.

The door opens and Kiba comes out with Max and the little cub comes in behind Arizona and climbs on his back and said, "Hey, big bro."

That made Arizona sigh in relief the minute he heard Max say 'big bro' and he's confident that there's no replacement between him and Max and Kiba said to Max, "We train tomorrow morning, bud."

"All right, see ya tomorrow." Max said, smiling.

Samurai looks up at Kiba and he said, "You training Max for the competition?"

"Yep, I'll teach him everything in order to get himself all ready to kick some major booty." Kiba stated.

Samurai chuckled at that and he said, "Chill, Kiba. It's only a little junior round."

"Right. I gotta remember that. Hey, Zona...you wanna join us in our training session tomorrow?" asked Kiba.

That surprised Arizona the most, but after thinking about it, he quickly said, "Yeah, sure."

That made Max more amped up than ever that two of his wolf friends are gonna train with him in every step of the way. He then exclaimed, "This is awesome! My wolf brother and my wolf best friend training with me...couldn't get any cooler than that!"

"Ease down, Max. Wouldn't want you to drain your excitement away." Musaki stated.

All four of them headed out of the barracks and said their 'bye's to Kiba and left the Jade Palace with Max still excited for training day with Kiba and Arizona chuckled softly at this and said, "Glad you're really happy about this."

"I'm more than happy. I'm so excited I could completely run around China and back." Max stated.

"Yeah, let's put that on the suggestion box." Musaki added.

Well, Arizona has a little bit of jealousy between Max and Kiba's brotherly relationship. We all know that Arizona and Max are the best brothers ever...so on the next chapter, Max eases the situation.