Volume 1

Chapter 26

Contest

Part 2


"So, you ready to kick some ass today?"

Lee paused in the middle of a bench press and turned his head to the side, all the better to allow the speaker, Mercury, to see him raise an eyebrow in amusement. "Are you okay?"

The ashen haired teen paused in the middle of a pushup, and raised an equally amused brow. "Why do you ask?"

Lee continued with his bench press. "Oh, no reason," came the response, his tone nonchalant. "Just never thought I'd live to see the day you admit to having faith in my combat abilities."

"Well, it's not like you're capable of kicking my ass. But you do at least make for a good warm up, so I'm sure you're more than a match for most other people."

Much to Lee's frustration, this was 100% true; despite having reached the point where he could consistently defeat Emerald, she could still occasionally get the better of him. What made it even more frustrating, however, was that Neo could beat Mercury, about 8 or 9 times out of 10, while she only had fifty-fifty odds against Lee. So why was it that Lee was more or less a match for Neo, but couldn't beat Mercury? Well, quite simply put, it all came down to the fact that Mercury, despite being slower and less elusive than Neo, could both take and dish hits better than Neo could. In fact, the only two reasons Lee could actually beat Neo were because not only was a single solid hit (or occasionally, 2) enough to put her in the red, but she also didn't hit hard enough to do much damage to him, having the largest Aura in the group after Cinder as well as the sturdiest frame. Neo could literally land a couple dozen clean hits on him, and then promptly lose because Lee managed to land exactly one. It was a very convenient advantage.

He didn't have such an advantage against Mercury. As mentioned, Mercury was both stronger and more durable than Neo. But what truly made him an impossible opponent for Lee was that, despite Mercury being noticeably slower and less skilled than Neo, he still had the edge in both categories over Lee, especially when it came to defensive techniques, which essentially negated the advantage Lee held in raw strength. Lee had lost count of the number of times he'd watched Mercury turn a perfectly placed attack into a glancing blow, or reverse it into a throw or submission hold. The only thing that prevented the situation from driving Lee mad was that he was relatively certain that if they were both allowed to go all out, and if they weren't fighting in a confined space, he would be able to utilize Cloudburst's grappling lines to use a hit and run strategy. Additionally, he'd be able to use Dust for some elemental offense, which Mercury had limited defenses against... But because of what had happened the one time he'd attempted to use fire to fight Neo, it had been decided by Cinder that Lee was not allowed to use Dust indoors. So, frustrated with the state of affairs, and unable to achieve more favorable conditions, Lee resorted to pointing out the only advantage he had:

"Well, at least I'm better looking than you!"

"Does that mean you're going to rock that nurse's outfit in public then?"

Lee pouted in shame, even as the weight he was benching let out a guffaw and began to quiver. "I'm never going to live that one down, am I?" That pout quickly became a frown, as the weight began to quiver even harder. "If you keep that up, I will end up dropping you, and that won't be fun."

Another chuckle escaped it, even as a frustrated Lee grumbled curses not-quite under his breath. Still, a couple seconds of glowing green/blue orbs later and Lee had adjusted, keeping the weight from dropping onto his chest... But just barely, in turn causing the weight balanced on Mercury's back to comment:

"Nice save!"

Lee responded with a sideways grin, recognizing the chance to shift the heat to someone else: "Thanks for noticing, Short Stack. By the way, impressive form."

Predictably, Neo frowned at the hated nickname, but it quickly became a pleased smile as she returned to her yoga. Currently, she was in the Natarajasana pose, navel and thigh creating a perfect 'T' shape… Until she proceeded to arch her back and move her right hand, previously extended forward, to join her left in pulling her ankle even closer to her shoulder blades, creating what Lee would have described as more of a 'Y' now, except that he knew that the 'Y' most fonts used would be too angular, and thus a criminal misrepresentation of the 'U' shape she'd contorted herself into. Lee couldn't help but to pause once more in order to appreciate the near-perfect curve, broken only by the by the bump of her glutes…

Neo winked, and Lee felt himself flush, even as he silently cursed Neo for taking a point in their game... Though, he wasn't quite sure it could still be called a game after the events of earlier. He decided it was best not to think about that just then, however, lest-

"Enjoying the view?"

Shit. Lee thought, even as he turned a slightly more casual gaze to his barbell. Or perhaps bar-belle would be more appropriate, considering it was actually Emerald performing a sideways plank. It was a view that Lee was accustomed to, but that didn't prevent him from enjoying it all the same. Normally, he would have pretended to miss the accusatory tone in Emerald's voice and responded that yes, he did in fact enjoy the view, punctuated with a wink and a trailing glance over her 'assets.' However… something was telling him that wouldn't work this time. Probably the combination of Neo's flirty wink and the events of earlier that morning (again, Lee found himself wondering if he'd have been better off just letting her bite him). So instead, Lee went with the first sarcastic comment that came to mind: "Aren't you?" Lee may have been ogling Neo for a moment, but he didn't need to be looking to know that Emerald hadn't wasted the chance to admire the object of her own desire, and he wasn't referring to himself.

Emerald heaved a frustrated sigh, and Lee could see her mouth beginning to form words. Mercury, equally exasperated, beat her to it: "Neo, if you could refrain from attempting to seduce Lee while using me as a perch, that would be great. Or at the very least wait until I can appreciate the view as well…"

Predictably, Neo ended her pose… But only so that she could perform a quick flip, landing in a handstand. Lee winced; Neo may have only weighed about ninety pounds (at the very most), but he doubted Mercury appreciated that suddenly digging into the space between his shoulder blades. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Teenagers…" came the amused grumble from the gym's fifth occupant, crouched and peddling over a bicycle machine, causing the other four to adopt sheepish expressions (with a certain mint haired thief even flushing). Still, they all knew that Cinder wasn't annoyed, not truly. In fact, Lee would go so far as to say that Cinder found the scene endearing, almost as if she was a big sister watching her younger siblings with pride…

Forgetting that Lee was actually about the same age as Cinder, younger physical body due to as-of-yet-unexplained quantum bullshtak aside, he didn't dare voice that sentiment aloud. He may have earned a chuckle or three from his companions, but Cinder herself would scoff at the notion, true though it might be, and her mood would drop a couple of points, which was a bad idea considering that she was currently in a decent one. Were she in a really good mood, Lee would have chanced it, and were she in a bad one, he would have voiced it in an attempt to distract her from whatever was causing it, but were he to make such a comment now, he'd only succeed in making her scowl, so he refrained.

Better to just focus on being ready for the tournament, Lee thought as he closed his eyes and returned to benching Emerald. I won't win if I'm worrying about anything else.

Several minutes later, all five were back into their normal exercise rhythms (Lee now curling a pair of small dumbbells), going along at a comfortable pace: just enough to break a sweat, but not enough to really tire themselves out. For starters, it was barely noon, and add that Lee was fighting a tournament bout later, it would be a bad idea to go for a more intensive work out session; he didn't want to go into the fight sore and aching. No, the purpose of their current session was simply to keep in shape, unlike the torturous sessions he'd gone through during the beginning of his association with this group.

"You have really come far, haven't you, Caerulean?"

Lee paused, turning a questioning stare on Cinder. "Ma'am?"

The woman's smile turned uncharacteristically warm; in fact, Lee thought with no small amount of surprise, he'd go so far as to say that her expression was one of pride. "You've transformed from a barely competent civilian into a potential contender for the Mistral Region Championship, all in less than a year. It truly is impressive, Lee."

Holy shtak, she's actually expressing pride in me!.. Weird...


That was a big deal; I know that I've already mentioned Cinder having a positive opinion of my combat prowess before, during the planning of the Summer Rose mission, but even then I knew she only did so in order to boost my self-confidence, with the goal being to make sure I'd perform to the full extent of my abilities. I did not and still do not doubt that her praise on that occasion was entirely sincere… But the fact remained that it was not exactly freely given. I suppose that you could argue that this situation was much the same... But you've gotta remember that my competing in the MRCT wasn't exactly a part of Cinder's plans. So for Cinder to just say something like that out of the blue, with nothing to be gained by doing so... Well, it certainly made my "Big Sister Cinder" image seem just a little more appropriate. Had I thought of it at the time, I almost certainly would have quipped such; however, the shock of this phenomenon was rather potent, and thus, my wits failed me…


"I, ahahaha…" Lee chuckled awkwardly, embarrassed, eyes closed, and hand rubbing the back of his head while he grinned like an idiot. "Thanks?" Lee didn't even need to look to see that all four of his friends were amused by his reaction to the compliment. Once upon a time, he would have stammered for a good few moments while his brain attempted to catch up to his mouth, but his Semblance was a wonderful thing, so after only a brief moment of his eyes glowing, he managed to compose himself and give an appropriate response. "I mean, thank you, Cinder. But it wouldn't be fair to give me all the credit; I've had the finest teachers possible, after all."

Cinder acknowledged the counter-praise with a gracious nod. "That is certainly true. But without your own astounding capacity to learn, our lessons would not have been as effective."

"I suppose. Thanks, I guess..."

The ensuing pause could only be described as awkward, with Lee unsure of how else to respond, and Cinder content to watch him squirm, if he was reading her semi-smirk correctly. He decided that he'd just accept the praise for what it seemed to be, and if Cinder wanted to ask him for something, well, it'd be on her to keep the conversation going.

Cinder didn't, so Lee just shrugged and turned back to his weights, intent upon getting back to his routine. At least until he looked at the clock.

"1 o'clock already? Looks like I'd better get ready to go!" As did Neo, both of them getting up to leave the gym and get dressed in their combat gear, while Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury remained; Cinder had other plans that day, plans that required an entourage... But that's a story for a different day. Suffice it to say that it was the type of mission that had Mercury smirking in anticipation, and Neo probably would have been the better choice for the third party member for the same reason. But instead of accompanying Cinder, she chose to watch Lee's fight, leaving Emerald to scowl at the imp as she followed Lee out the door...


I am soooo sorry this took me so long. I actually had 99% of this done for the last... month and a half or so. It just sort of felt 'meh' to me, and no amount of editing was changing that... Until today, that is. My other problem was that I was trying to stick to my currently established format of doing these 'episodes' in four parts... but I think this one is gonna have to be a 5 parter. Anyway, this chapter is done, and I am moving on to the next one! Hopefully I won't keep you guys waiting as long this time.

-CS