The next day, T.K. stood outside the gym his girlfriend had gotten him a membership in a similar outfit to the one he'd worn two days previous. He stood next to Ken, who was also in the similar dress from the day before the day before. T.K. faced the doors leading into the workout facility while Ken kept his eyes on the two girls who'd accompanied them to the gym. Said girls glared at one another with a fierceness.

Yeah, you can't even complete the description. It was that intense.

"How did we get here all of a sudden?" T.K. asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"I don't know." Ken answered, wary of Kari and Yolei's hate-laced staring contest. "Time just seemed to jump."

"Yeah, that's the weird part. It seemed like that to me, too."

"Well, do you remember doing anything special yesterday?"

T.K. brought his hand up to his chin in thought. "Well..."


Kari and T.K. stepped out of the burger joint they'd gone to after getting cleaned up. T.K. patted his stomach in satisfaction.

"Now those were good eats!" He exclaimed with a wide smile on his face. "The flavors...the texture...the prices!"

Kari rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You're the Guy Fieri of Japanese fast food. We get it."

T.K. stuck his tongue out at her. "You're just mad because I can pick out awesome food and you can't."

Again, Kari's eyes did their best soccer ball impression. "Whatever you say." With that, the two teens began a short walk down the street. Short because soon after they began, Kari nearly tripped over a small rock. She stumbled forward, crashing into T.K.'s unaware back. The two continued forward for a moment before T.K. finally stopped them with a hard step.

"You okay?" He asked, turning back to see Kari tapping her foot on the ground.

"Yeah, I just tripped over something." Kari looked back herself to see what she had tripped on. A small rock shaped like a pair of overlapping arrows slowly pulsed a soft orange glow. Kari raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What is that, anyway?" Kari walked over to the rock and bent over to pick it up.

"Uh, Kari?" T.K. raised a hand, not so much to try and stop her, but rather to look like he was. "I don't think that's a good idea..."

Kari ignored her boyfriend, something he had gotten rather used to, and picked up the rock. Before either teen knew it, the entire day passed by at a breakneck pace before finally stopping at the current point in time.


"...and then everything kinda tasted purple for a second." T.K. continued to muse. Ken scratched his head in confusion.

"That kinda explains why everything seemed to fly by yesterday. What do you suppose it was?"

"I don't know, but I get the feeling like that kind of thing is only possible when dimensional barriers are broken and vague references are made."

Ken continued to scratch his head. "Why do I get the feeling that this is slowly crossing into 'crack' territory?"

T.K. shrugged. "I don't know. Let's go in before the girls have a 'who-can-bleed-more' contest."

Ken nodded before the two made their way into the gym. Kari and Yolei followed behind, nether one looking away from the other. It would've been smooth, but Yolei ended up running into a section that wasn't a door.

"Ha!" Kari cried, pointing a finger at the fallen girl's misery. "What a stupid bit-ACK!" Kari tripped over a set a dumbbells. Yolei quickly recovered and stood over the fallen teen.

"Now who's the stupid bit-" Hands were quickly clamped over Yolei's mouth.

"Be quiet." Ken hissed into his girlfriend's ear. "You two are causing one hell of a scene."

Yolei wrenched her boyfriend's hands from around her mouth. "Fine. Let's go." With that, Yolei grabbed Ken's hand and blindly led him around the gym. Kari stood up as T.K. approached her.

"So then, are you ready to go? Or do you want to egg Yolei on some more?"

Kari brought a finger up to her chin. "Egg on Yolei sounds pretty good. Maybe it'd peel the ugly off of her."

T.K. rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest already." He turned to address Ken, who had been pulled to the opposite side of the gym. "We should get going, before our coaches decide to make our lives a living hell."

"I wouldn't worry about it." A voice said from behind. T.K. and Kari jumped slightly before turning around to see who was speaking. Kari's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. A man slightly older than T.K. stood before the two. A smirk sat on his face while his chocolate brown eyes shone in amusement. His arms were crossed in front of his chest. He wore a yellow muscle shirt with a small black symbol on the front and pair of brown shorts. Messy brown hair topped off the appearance of the man Kari assumed to be her boyfriend's trainer.

"Glad to see that you're actually here." He mused. "I figured your last session would've been enough to drive you off."

"T.K..." Kari droned slightly. "Why didn't you tell me you had a god for a trainer?"

Said blond rolled his eyes. "Because he's a human, you fool."

The trainer held out a hand to Kari. "My name's Takuya. And what may I call you?"

"Single, now." She airily answered as she took the hand. A mad blush burned her face. T.K. rolled his eyes again.

"Takuya, this is Kari. She's decided to accompany me today."

"Oh, really?" He asked. "Well, maybe we could interest you in a membership?"

Kari's eyes glazed over. "Maybe if I get a few private sessions..."

"Sorry. You may have just broken up with your boyfriend, but I'm perfectly happy with my lady."

"Aw..." T.K. brought his palm up to his face in an act whose name would make this sentence redundant.

"Alright." Takuya said. "If you're ready, then let's get going. We've got a lot of work to do." With that, he led the couple to a set of stairs near the back of the gym. Ken, however, was having a difficult time trying to convince his girlfriend to let him do all the walking.

"Yolei!" He said in exasperation. "You're going to make me late, and I don't want to know what happens when I'm late."

"Oh please!" Yolei snapped, still dragging the navy-haired genius about like a fuming child with a stuffed bear. "Whoever your trainer is can't be nearly as big of a bitch as that damned Pink Ranger!"

"I certainly hope not."

Yolei stopped dead in her tracks at the new voice. Both teens turned to their side to see a young boy, just into his teens by the looks of him, sitting on an empty bench nearby. This boy wore a white T-shirt and brown shorts. His brown hair was hidden underneath a rather large, yellow hat. He brought his hand to his chin in thought.

"At least," he said. "I don't think it'd be possible for me to be a bitch, since I happen to be a guy, and all."

Yolei rolled her eyes. "Aren't you a little young to be in a gym? And do your parents know what kind of mouth you've got?"

Said "kid" looked up in mock-thought. "Not really. I'm old enough to be here. And I'm not quite sure you have a whole lot of room to talk when it comes to language. After all, you were the one who basically called someone a 'damn bitch'."

Yolei clenched a fist in anger. "Why I oughta..."

Ken placed his hand over Yolei's fist. "Settle down, Yolei." He stepped in between the two teens, though off to the side. "Yolei, this is my trainer, Tomoki. Tomoki, this is my girlfriend, Yolei."

Tomoki held up a hand in greeting. "Yo."

Yolei raised an eyebrow. "How did a kid like you get to be a trainer in a gym? Don't you have to go to classes and get certified and stuff?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't take nearly as long as people think. It helps when you're able to skip a few grades and have some personal experience."

Ken nodded. "Now then, I think we should get started with today's session."

"Yeah." Tomoki nodded in agreement. Yolei, feeling left out, nodded for no apparent reason. Tomoki stood from the bench he was sitting on. "So then, you ready?"

Ken nodded again. I'm starting to feel like one of those bobblehead dolls, he thought to himself. Tomoki made his way toward the same stairs the other three had taken. Up two flights of stairs resided a small, unseen barrier that separated this chapter from the next.


Kudos to anyone who can identify the two vague references in this chapter.