Chapter 12
Zoltar and Jason walked into the training area, the Eagle a step behind the Condor. The Owl, Swan and Swallow were already present and waiting for them.
The Swallow was practically jumping up and down.
"What gives?" Jason asked, pointing his thumb at the excited youth.
"He wants to start, again." Tiny explained. "Since he did so well last time."
The boy came bounding up to Zoltar, his face a mask of eager anticipation.
"Please?" begged the Swallow, tugging at Zoltar's arm. He looked like one of the Spectran children who often begged for candy from their leader during one of his public appearances. Zoltar always made it a point to distribute candy to the children. It gave him a good public image.
Even though he hated their messy, clamoring hands as he did so.
His first inclination was to deny the request, but instead he simply avoided the question.
"I think that yesterday's mission was rather sloppy." he said out loud.
"What?" No one appeared happy with this statement.
"Well, you all got caught by the Death Tentacles," Zoltar pointed out, "and I didn't."
Of course, the only reason the Eagle hadn't been caught was because he hadn't been targeted. Zoltar had wanted to ensure that the Commander would chase after him, so that he could perform his 'procedure'. But the others didn't know that.
Everyone groaned.
"You just got lucky!" the Swan exclaimed.
"I wasn't even there!" Tiny protested.
"Shucks." muttered the Swallow.
"You sack of…" Jason cursed.
Zoltar stopped their whining by holding up his right hand. Damn, it was good to in charge.
"I want to watch you all fight together. You need to work on evasion, rather than offensive strikes." Zoltar ordered.
Even Jason grudgingly had to admit that the Commander had a point.
"You," Zoltar pointed at the Swan, "pair off with Jason." He still didn't know the Swan's or the Swallow's names. He would have to find out, today.
Jason's grin was a mile wide. He winked at Zoltar, and mouthed the words, 'Panty Alert'.
Wait a minute, was there an alert right now, and the Condor was laughing about it? Zoltar was flustered for a moment.
"What about us?" Tiny asked, bringing Zoltar's attention back to the here and now.
"You two practice with each other." Zoltar replied.
"Remember, everyone, evasion."
Zoltar smiled smugly to himself. He thought that had gone rather well. And the best part was, he didn't have to participate. Because after all, while he had the Eagle's body, he didn't have any of his fighting skills, or knowledge of martial arts. Heck, he wasn't even certain how to throw that stupid Sonic Boomerang more than two feet.
As the four G-Force members began to fight, Zoltar surreptitiously looked around the room. There actually wasn't that much to see. It was essentially an empty gymnasium, with mats covering a portion of the floor. There were extremely high ceilings, presumably to allow for flight during their training session. Off to the side, Zoltar could see into another room that had standard workout equipment.
He brought his attention back to the matter at hand. The Condor and the Swan were taking turns attacking and evading. They were doing pretty well, until the Swan landed a perfect drop kick directly underneath the Condor's visor.
"Hey, that hurt!" Jason exclaimed indignantly.
"Then maybe you should keep your eyes where they belong." the Swan replied in a sickly sweet voice. "You can't avoid my attacks if you are distracted."
"She's right, Jason." Zoltar added. "Zoltar is the master of distraction."
And he should know. The 'Eagle' grinned to himself.
"Just pay attention to my more dangerous parts." the Swan mocked the Condor.
"Oh, the place I was looking was definitely dangerous." the Condor grinned.
The Swan leapt into the air, sending a flying kick at the Condor's head. Jason only narrowly managed to avoid it, and fell to the floor in an undignified heap.
Zoltar's eyes narrowed. He had always perceived the Eagle and the Condor as being the greatest threats from the G-Force team. But perhaps it was time to reassess that notion. The Swan certainly appeared to be dangerous as well, and was more than a match for the Condor, in this fight.
He turned and walked over to where the Owl and the Swallow were sparring.
From Zoltar's observation, it was immediately clear that the Owl was having considerable difficulty avoiding the Swallow's attacks. However, despite the number of hits he took, Tiny appeared completely unaffected by the beating he was receiving. The Owl pretty much just stood there and took whatever the Swallow chose to dish out.
Zoltar, who had been the recipient of many a beating from the G-Force members, was impressed at Tiny's ability to ignore such treatment. But he knew that the Commander would surely be used to this resilience of the Owl's.
"Hey, that was pretty good!" Tiny said to the Swallow, patting him on the head in a brotherly fashion.
"You're supposed to be avoiding him." Zoltar pointed out. As soon as the words emerged from his mouth, the Spectran Leader regretted them. He didn't want to draw attention to himself.
Unfortunately, that was exactly what he had done.
"I'm having a little trouble." Tiny admitted sheepishly. "Could you give me some tips, Mark?"
Zoltar's mouth went dry. He had no idea what to say. His head was pounding and he felt nauseous. What could he say to a member of the G-Force team to help them with their fighting technique?
"Uh…" Frankly, Zoltar didn't know much about hand-to-hand fighting. The only thing he was good at was running away. He supposed that could possibly be considered a technique for avoiding attacks.
"Try to stay on the balls of your feet." he suggested, wondering where the words had come from. "That makes it easier to change direction."
Zoltar had also found that this technique also gave him a second's head start on the Eagle, when the Commander was chasing him. More than once, the extra second had prevented his enemy from grabbing ahold of his purple cape.
"Okay…" Tiny replied uncertainly. The Owl attempted to maneuver, and a minute later was performing much better.
"Hey, it worked!" Tiny grinned.
"Don't sound so surprised." Zoltar muttered, as he went back to observe the Swan and the Condor again. The pair appeared to be evenly matched, now that Jason was concentrating appropriately. Zoltar was mesmerized, watching the delicately balanced dance that they performed; attacking and defending, dodging and recovering. Their movements were graceful and beautiful to the eye.
Funny how he had never noticed that, when it was his own troops that were at the receiving end of such techniques.
Unfortunately, as Zoltar approached the pair, the Swan jumped into the air, flying head over heels and giving the Eagle a full-on view of her underwear. Zoltar stood stock still, strangely unable to tear his eyes away from the mesmerizing sight of white underwear underneath a flashing pink skirt.
And so it was completely understandable when the 'Commander' was taken completely off guard as the Condor slammed a boot into his side.
Zoltar fell to the floor, groaning in pain. He was certain that Jason had broken some of his ribs.
"What was that for?" he yelled.
"Your crack earlier, about not being distracted." Jason smirked.
Zoltar's respect for the Commander went up a notch. It must take a very strong leader to keep a man like the Condor under control.
"Are you all right, Mark?" the Swan asked, rushing to his side. She knelt down beside Zoltar, placing her hand comfortingly on his shoulder.
"I'm just fine!" Zoltar snapped angrily, standing up and throwing off the Swan's touch.
"Get away from me!" he ordered harshly. The last thing Zoltar needed just then was to draw attention to his physical weakness.
A frosty cloud immediately formed around the Swan's white uniform.
"If that's the way you want it, Commander." she huffed, stalking off in the direction of the Swallow and the Owl.
"Nice going, Skip." Jason remarked wryly as Zoltar got to his feet. "It's just one mood swing after another with you, isn't it? No wonder she's fed up!"
Zoltar was not in the mood for a lecture, least of all from the arrogant Condor. His head was throbbing and his body still ached with the after effects of the kick Jason had delivered on his unsuspecting ribs.
"Just shut your damn mouth!" he growled menacingly.
Jason did not appear the least discomfited by his Commander's outburst.
"Don't take it out on me, Mark." he drawled with exaggerated casualness. "You're the one who's messing everything up with Princess, not me."
Princess? What did she have to do with this? Was Jason saying that he was after Princess as well? This was hardly the time or place to bring that up. Now Zoltar was really angry. He wasn't used to being spoken to in this manner by anyone but the Great Spirit, and occasionally his sister. The Spectran Leader began seeing red.
Momentarily forgetting where he was, and with whom he was speaking, Zoltar threw himself at Jason, grabbing his waist and attempting to knock him onto the ground.
The Condor casually picked up Zoltar and flipped him over his shoulder, sending the Eagle crashing to the floor.
Zoltar groaned in pain. He had definitely broken something now. The agony took over his mind, and he faded into blackness…
