Jessica had booted up the training arenas after hearing her sons' reply. In truth, she expected no less from her own son. She saw the same determination that was in her several years ago. She paused in remembrance of the first time most of the equipment in the training area had been used. That battle against Swackhammer proved to be one of her most terrifying ordeals. During the fight, she acted tough and fearless on the outside but was screaming on the inside. The same was true when the training equipment was being used for the first time. She was highly frightened of that battle against some of the most fearsome people known at the time. Although the battle was victorious, it entered her memory as a terrifying ordeal. Briefly shuddering at the memory, she turned around to look at Daniel. He was standing right next to her looking at all of the training equipment. It was unlike anything he had seen before. Although he did fairly well in gym, he was daunted by what trials might await him. There were now 10 arenas, each one designed to test specific skills. There were also 5 difficulty levels for each training field. They were currently set to very high, the highest level in the system. Jessica quickly changed them to very easy, the lowest level in the system. Daniel instinctively walked over to the first training stage; the Fang dart target range. Jessica walked next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, pausing to look at the range. Back in her old days, she and Zach would use it every day, as well as every other training stage available. This was always the first one that they would go to. It was a test of accuracy more than anything. It consisted of a bulls-eye that would change in size depending on the difficulty level. On the front of the barrier was a tray full of Fang darts, objects that Daniel didn't recognise at first glance. He picked one of them up in his hand and felt it through his fingers.
"Careful, the tips are sharp." Jessica warned. Daniel looked at the tip of the Fang dart. Even though it had been left in storage for all this time, the tip was as sharp as it ever was. Jessica picked up another from the tray and held it gently. Merely holding it brought back many memories. Some good memories but some were bad memories. The Fang darts had helped her and Zach win some decisive battles in her time. They were also key to some make or break moments. Her thoughts were interrupted when Daniel tugged her arm to get her attention.
"Mum, these are darts aren't they?" Jessica looked down at Daniel, smiled and nodded.
"They're called Fang Darts. There main use is to disarm your enemies. They return to you once you've thrown them." Jessica explained. Daniel looked at the end and saw the teleportation disc that returned the Fang dart to the thrower after it had been thrown. Jessica quietly hit a switch that began the training session. This brought up a large target with an averaged sized bulls-eye.
"Ok Daniel, let's see how many bulls-eyes you can get with 10 darts. I've heard good things about you from your dodge ball sessions, so you should be fairly good at this." Daniel simply nosed and threw the dart he was holding. He narrowly missed the bulls-eye. The dart disappeared from the target and returned to the tray where it had been taken from. Taking up another dart, Daniel threw again, and ended up hitting the spot where the first dart had hit. Daniel adjusted his aim a little and threw a third dart, hitting the bulls-eye. He then took up the remaining seven Fag darts and threw them in succession, getting the bulls-eye with each one. Jessica gave a clap of applause after the 10th dart had been thrown, though Daniel looked a little disappointed with his performance.
"Daniel, you look disappointed. You did well for your first time." Jessica said.
"I was trying to get a perfect 10." Daniel replied. Jessica patted him on the shoulder.
"You'll get better. You'll eventually be able to score a perfect 10 on the highest difficulty level. The first time you do that, you will feel great." Daniel smiled at Jessica's little talk before a question came to his mind.
"What is the hardest level on this training stage?" Jessica adjusted a switch in response. The larger board was removed and replaced with a board about the size of a mini disc. Daniel went wide-eyed at the sight of such a small target. Then, for old time's sake, Jessica took a Fang dart and threw it at the target, scoring a perfect bulls-eye.
"Heh, I've still got it." Daniel was a little surprised as to how easily Jessica hit the tiny target, but he eventually realised that she had a great deal more experience then he did. That didn't stop him from feeling a little humiliated though.
"Oh mum, you've shown me up." Jessica simply laughed, as did Daniel after a moment. When Jessica stopped, she put a hand on Daniel's shoulder.
"Daniel, this training will probably take a few days to master the basics. Once you've mastered the basics, you can go after Garry's killers, but not before. I'm not trying to put you off. But I have to warn you that this business is very dangerous. Both I and your father have come close to death while fighting." Jessica paused in the memories that she personally had come close to death, and the moments that she feared that Zach was going to die. They had both pulled through each occasion though, but they all left a small mental scar on her. Besides, she was interrupted by a question from Daniel.
"What basics do I have to cover yet?" Jessica snapped back to reality and looked at her son, but her question was answered by Zach, who was watching the training.
"Daniel, you need to learn how to use all of the vital equipment, you need to learn proper fighting techniques and master the art of stealth." Daniel looked up at his father in response to what Zach said.
"There's an art to fighting?" Zach put a hand around Jessica before answering the question.
"Throwing wild punches may handle some foes, but against strong opponents', you will need to use different techniques and learn how to increase the power of your own attacks. I believe you learn a little about this sort of thing in the super heroics class." Daniel gave the smallest of nods in response.
"We mostly cover using tools and costumes, but we do cover fighting as well." Zach nodded in response to Daniel's reply before continuing.
"So you should have a basic idea of how to fight. However, the level we require is a much higher level than the Looniversity teaches. It will be tough but we do have the training facilities to get you through it." Daniel took hold of another Fang Dart and gripped it tight. He was silently angry about the delay. He wanted to be able to go after Garry's killers now, but that was in no way possible. He threw the Fang Dart he had at the Target that was up in frustration, hitting the edge of the tiny target. Jessica was quick to put a hand on Daniel's shoulder to calm him down.
"Daniel, we'll have one more session of training before we call it a night for now. Don't worry; training tomorrow will get more intense." Jessica said. All Daniel could do was look up and smile, but the smile very quickly turned into a face of determination.
"As long as I can bring Garry's killers to justice soon." Daniel replied.
The next day rolled in quickly, though Daniel had still kept his training in mind. After using the Fang Darts, he had practice with the Fangmerangs. He could now use two of the basic weapons, but he secretly wanted to master them like his parents had. He couldn't wait for the evenings now, since it meant more training. However, he did realise that he still had a lot to learn and that everything was top secret. It was currently lunchtime and he was in the cafeteria having his lunch. There were several other students in the cafeteria at the same time. At the moment, Daniel was on his own, but saw that Arnold, Laura and Brian were all in the queue. Seeing Arnold made him nervous. If anyone could figure out what was going on, it was Arnold. He was hoping that Arnold wouldn't deliberately pry his mind for no reason, not that Arnold would do that. In a sense, Daniel was protected by the fact that Arnold would never use his power without a good reason. How much of that behaviour was down to being taught by his own mother he was uncertain. Daniel very quickly put the thought to the back of his mind and began munching on the carrot sandwich he had gotten for lunch. Soon after though, he was joined by Laura, Brian and Arnold. Laura had a vegetable salad, Arnold had tuna rolls and Brian had Soya beef burgers. Brian was the first to notice that Daniel was much less depressed than he was the previous day. This was particularly easy, since Daniel had looked up at them the moment they sat down. The previous day, all that could be seen in Daniel's face was depression, but today he seemed to be back to his old self. This was the first time they'd seen him today, since they had all been in different classes the entire morning.
"Hi there Daniel. I see that you're no longer locked up in slump house." Brian greeted, earning a playful shove from the rabbit.
"I can't spend the rest of my life locked up there. I just kept on telling myself that Garry's suicide wasn't my fault." Daniel replied, no even daring to tell the truth about Garry's death. It was still being classified as a suicide by the authorities; only he and his family knew that wasn't the case.
"I'll bet. Psychological convincement is an effective mental healing tactic, as is hypnotherapy." Arnold said, half jokingly. He earned himself a playful shove from Daniel as well.
"Arnold, I don't need to go on hypnotherapy courses to heal my own mind. I prefer mental persuasion by myself." Arnold simply chuckled at the comment.
"Well, it's good to see you back to your old self Daniel. Now you can focus on writing that report."
"Daniel, do you know who the other school competing is?" Laura asked. Secretly, Daniel knew, but he hadn't been told by his parents. He only knew from the incident on the first night. He had already prepared a response to this question should it be asked, avoiding his inability to make quick decisions. He chose to not say the truth and shook his head.
"Mum hasn't named the other school involved. I'm not sure she even knows herself." Daniel said. Everyone else nodded in response.
"It could be the rivals of the school when my parents were studying here." Laura suggested.
"Which school was that?" Brian asked.
"It was called Perfecto prep. They used to beat the Looniversity all of the time until my dad became a student. When he joined, the Perfecto's gained a huge loosing streak that lasted until he left."
"Longer Laura. It kept on happening when my parents were at the Looniversity, and that wasn't too long after yours left." Daniel added. Arnold took the cue and continued onto the story.
"If they kept on constantly loosing to us for that long, it's possible that, even now, they are plotting some hideous, terrible, despicable, awful, gruesome, wicked, evil, terrifying, vile, loathsome and downright mean REVENGE!" At the last word, there was a flash of lightning, a boom of thunder and some brief Frankenstein-like music. This all came courtesy of Brian's tape player and a flashlight he had in his hand. All he did was chuckle nervously when he realised that everybody in the cafeteria was giving him a death glare.
"You know, you really need to pick your moments for using that thing." Arnold spoke coldly towards Brian. Brian just shrugged in response to the comment.
"Come on guys, it added good effect to the moment. The people reading this…" Brian was interrupted when Daniel rushed over to him.
"I think you're straying a little close to the fourth wall Brian." Daniel said.
"And you've just crossed it." Laura commented, causing everybody but Daniel to laugh.
"Drat. Mother warned me about not crossing the fourth wall." Daniel thought to himself.