Fred's First Day of Training

It was early in the morning. Fred was dressed in his usual uniform. Todd was wearing his new black one. They were both on their way to the training area. "Now remember," Todd told him. "Just do as he says and don't give him no lip! Got it?"

Fred nodded. He didn't want to screw up his first day of training. He stood at attention with a stone face when they got to the obstacle course. Roadblock glared at them with his sternest look. "All right you two!" He shouted. "It's my job to somehow make men out of you! Now we are gonna get to it! Your first task is the obstacle course, go through it! Toad!"

"Sir! Yes Sir!" Todd shouted out loud.

"You go through and show Blob what to do!" Roadblock ordered. He blew a whistle. "Move it!"

Todd ran for his life. He climbed over a wall with ease. Then he hopped through the tires, over barbed wire, past a swinging log and several other obstacles with ease. "Seven minutes flat," Roadblock timed him. "Okay Blob, let's see you beat that! Go!"

Fred let out a yell and charged through the obstacle course. That's right. Through the obstacle course. He ran through the wall, sent the tires flying and anything else that got in his way, leaving behind nothing but destruction. Roadblock stood there in shock. "So how did I do?" Fred asked.

"Well he did go through the obstacles," Todd said.

"That's not what I meant!" Roadblock shouted. He calmed down. "Let's move on to something else shall we? Let's go to the weight room. Why do I have this feeling of doom?" They went inside.

"Huh, this will be a piece of cake," Fred grinned, rubbing his hands.

"You think so?" Roadblock looked at him.

"Bring it on!" Fred crowed. Then he remembered himself. "Oh I mean bring it on Sir!"

"Well let's see what you can do," Roadblock motioned to the heaviest barbells.

"Watch this!" Fred lifted them with one hand over his head. "I can even twirl them around!" He did so. Unfortunately they slipped out of his hands and right into the wall.

"Oops," Fred gulped as he looked at the hole in the wall. "Sorry about that."

"Uh…try the punching back next," Roadblock groaned. Fred did so and knocked it off the stand across the room. It hit a Joe walking into the room right in the face.

"Sorry," Fred gulped.

"I'm okay," Bazooka moaned weakly. "It only hit me in the head."

"Lucky for you," Alpine quipped. He and two other Joes, Gung Ho and Stalker were there as well."

"Hey I remember you," Fred said. "You were the janitor at Bayville!"

"He's talking to you lamebrain!" Alpine groaned when Bazooka didn't respond.

"Oh yeah, I was," Bazooka nodded as Fred helped him up. "Nice to see you again."

"Yeah these guys are also friends of mine," Todd told him. "That's Alpine, Bazooka, Gung Ho and uh…" He looked at Stalker.

"I'm Stalker," He smiled. "I've been on assignments so Toad and I haven't gotten to know each other yet."

"Hi," Todd said. "How are you doin'?"

"Up until now, fine," Bazooka groaned, holding his head.

"We were going to hit the weight room," Stalker said. Then he noticed the hole in the wall. "But I see you guys have already beaten us to it."

"Humph!" Gung Ho inspected it. "Not bad. But I could make a bigger one."

"No you could not!" Alpine said.

"Yes I can!" Gung Ho said.

"No you can't!" Alpine snapped.

"Of course he could," Bazooka said. "All he needs is a little dynamite and…"

"He's talking without dynamite," Alpine snapped. "Prove it!"

"Stand back," Gung Ho flexed his muscles.

"NO GUNG HO!" Roadblock shouted. Too late, Gung Ho used his bare fist and punched a small hole through the wall.

"It's still too small," Bazooka said. "It's not as big as Blob's."

"Yeah but it's still pretty good," Todd said.

"Well I did use weights," Fred said. "Here let me do it without a weight…"

"NOOOOOO!" Roadblock shouted. Again he was too late.

"Wow," Gung Ho looked at the second hole. "That is impressive."

"Now I remember why I keep requesting assignments off base," Stalker sighed.

"Excuse me?" A Joe named Low Light popped his head through the other side of the wall. "Do you mind? I'm trying to take a shower in here!"

"Sorry Low Light," Todd said.

"You're sorry?" Low Light snapped. "Now there's a draft in here! How am I supposed to take a shower without getting pneumonia?"

"Why me?" Roadblock started banging his head against a wall. "Why? Why? Why?"

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"Look at the bright side Freddy," Todd told him. "At least you got through the obstacle course on your first day. I couldn't even do that."

"I don't think Roadblock was too happy about that though," Fred sighed as they went into the dojo. "So now we do ninja training? I don't know if I can do this. I mean I'm kind of big for a ninja." He and Todd were now wearing white training uniforms.

"Just give it a try Blob," Todd told him. "At least you're strong enough to do it."

"It's about time you got here!" Althea waved as they walked in. "What kept you guys?"

"Freddy here had to help clean up the weight room," Todd smirked.

"I didn't mean to make all those holes in the wall," Fred grumbled.

"Don't worry Freddy," Todd said. "Hey you remember my girl, don't you?"

"Um…Hello," Fred said shyly. "Uh…look about what happened before…"

"Forget about it," Althea waved. "It was Magneto controlling you. Besides you had nothing to do with my brother getting kidnapped. And if Todd can forgive you, well so can I."

"Thanks," Fred said sheepishly. They went inside where her sisters were. "So you train here?"

"Usually," Althea nodded.

"I wonder if they're gonna move us for a while when they're training Lance?" Todd wondered. "They did that with me."

"No," She shook her head. "I heard they moved him to another section of the base. Spirit is gonna train with him."

"Oh," Fred looked around the dojo. "Wow…I've never been in a real ninja place before."

"It's called a dojo dodo," Daria said.

"Watch it!" Todd snapped.

"Hey!" Althea elbowed her. "I thought we discussed this! Be nice!"

"Hey you said treat him like family," Daria told her.

"She's got a point," Quinn said.

"That's enough," A black man wearing sunglasses and carrying a cane walked in. He was wearing a white and black ninja uniform. "I see we have a new pupil today."

"Good morning Sensei," They all said in unison and bowed. Except for Fred. Todd elbowed him.

"Oh," Fred caught on and bowed quickly. "Morning Sense-ee."

"Sens-say!" Daria rolled her eyes, pronouncing it. "Not sense-ee!"

"What does that mean?" Fred asked.

"It means 'Teacher' or Master," Brittany said. "I get them confused. Either way he's the boss so show him some respect!"

"You should practice what you preach Brittany," The man grinned. "I am Gabriel Moore. But I am known as the Blind Master."

"Why is…" He caught sight of the glasses and the cane. "Oh. You're blind?"

"Observant isn't he?" Daria snickered.

"I may not see with my eyes," The Blind Master told him. "But I perceive more with my senses than most sighted people do."

"So you're kind of like a mutant?" Fred asked.

"Not really," He shook his head. "All human beings are capable of extraordinary feats if they are trained properly. The majority isn't. My job is to instill that training in both the Joes and the children here."

"So you're the one who teaches us how to pound people?" Fred asked.

"No…no," The Blind Master let out a sigh that indicated he was in for a rather long day. "We teach discipline and how to learn to control our actions. We learn harmony in our minds and bodies and attain oneness."

"Yeah and then we learn how to beat people up," Todd said.

"Okay," The Blind Master groaned. "Why don't we get started shall we? Fred try to do what they do."

Fred tried to copy the movements of Toad and the others, only to fall flat on his behind several times. "Keep trying," The Blind Master told him. "In the long run, it does not matter how many times we fall, but how many times we get up."

"I think I'm gonna be getting up a lot by the looks of it," Fred grumbled.

Todd and the others did several flips and leapt onto and off a balance beam. Fred looked at the Blind Master. "Uh…Maybe you should skip that one," The Blind Master said.

"I don't think I'm ninja material," Fred sighed.

"Maybe you're more of a samurai," The Blind Master told him.

"More like a sumo wrestler," Daria snickered.

"I heard that young lady!" The Blind Master snapped. "Twenty back flips! Now!"

Daria obeyed him. The Blind Master went back to Fred. "In order to truly learn the way of the warrior, you must learn to master yourself. All of you, sit down. I think it's time for a refresher course."

They all sat in a semi circle around him. "Honor and duty are the cornerstone of the way of the warrior," He told them. "Clear your mind of thoughts and meditate on my words. Daria don't say it!" He said. "You must learn to control your emotions. To maintain the balance of honor and justice. To be one with your powers…."

He was startled by the sound of snoring. "To stay awake during meditation…" The Blind Master groaned. Fred had fallen asleep.

"Now deep down didn't we all know that was coming?" Daria said.

A second snore startled him. He realized Todd had fallen asleep as well. "Oh boy," The Blind Master sighed. "This…is going to take a while."

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Much later on in the day, Roadblock was at Shipwreck's house. They had all decided on having dinner there. Roadblock mostly because he needed someone to complain to. "Then after the training was lunchtime. I don't think I need to tell you how that went. BA's still in shock."

"I have a feeling you're gonna see a repeat performance tonight," Shipwreck chuckled. "How'd his schooling go?"

"Oh lord…"Roadblock groaned.

"How bad is he?" Shipwreck asked.

"Let me put it to you this way," Roadblock groaned. "If he studies real hard he'll be able to pass the GED's….In about ten years."

"Ouch," Shipwreck winced.

"I thought Todd was a challenge," Roadblock sighed. "Taking care of one mutant is hard enough, but two at a time is extra rough!"

"Yeah and soon we'll have the other three with us," Shipwreck told him. "Not to mention all my kids."

"Thanks for reminding me," Roadblock sighed. "He's not really so bad. I think deep down he's an okay kid. He's a hard worker. He's never had anyone be nice to him before. To him being a bully was his only defense against people laughing at him because of his size."

"Well nobody said this was going to be an easy job," Shipwreck said. "So you see the plans yet for the new house?"

"They're gonna add on to this one right?" Roadblock said.

"Yeah a few minor alterations," Shipwreck said. "Expand the kitchen a bit, make about a dozen extra rooms here, a secret training area there. A place for things like missiles and stuff. The usual."

"Good," Roadblock said. "Here's what Hawk told me, when the kids are all healed up we're going to take them to another base to train for a while until the house is finished."

"Let me guess, the Slaughterhouse?" Shipwreck raised an eyebrow.

"Well these kids need the discipline," Roadblock said. "Besides, it's isolated and safer for them."

"Cobra's already snooping around aren't they?" Shipwreck asked.

"And I think it's to hide them from the Pentagon" Roadblock sighed. "I think Hawk's working on some kind of deal with General Flagg but I'm not sure of the details yet."

"Think that the Jugglers will get wind of this and try to take the kids?" Shipwreck's tone was serious. "They tried to do that before with Althea…"

"You know Hawk would never let them get their hands on them," Roadblock told him. "Besides, some of them are on our side now. Hawk managed to get the worst ones kicked out and replaced them with some of our friends."

"That doesn't mean that they won't become our enemies," Shipwreck told him. "You know as well as I do how much power corrupts."

"And absolute power corrupts absolutely," Roadblock nodded. "I know. We just have to watch our backs."

"And don't forget that Bragg is out there," Shipwreck said. "He may not be a Juggler, but he's still a threat. Remember what he did at Moreauseau?"

"I don't think any of us could forget that," Roadblock clenched his fists.

"I still say he had some reason for killing them," Shipwreck's eyes narrowed. "And it wasn't simply because of any prejudice. Those mutants must have known something. Or maybe he thought they knew something."

"You believe that he had a hand in that lab don't you?" Roadblock asked.

"I'd bet the seven seas on it," Shipwreck said. "If only we had more evidence! But one man's…." He stopped himself.

"What?" Roadblock asked.

"Nothing," Shipwreck sighed.

"You know something don't you?" Roadblock asked.

"It ain't my place to say," Shipwreck said. "Don't ask me any more."

A loud explosion shook the house. "What the heck?" Roadblock startled. "I wasn't expecting this until we got Lance here!"

"Three guesses who's responsible?" Shipwreck sighed. "GIRLS!"

They ran upstairs. Todd and Althea had come out of her room and were already staring at the Triplet's room in shock. The girls were arguing with each other in the rubble of their lab while Fred was sitting there with a shocked look on his face, covered in soot.

"I told you we put in too much nitroglycerine!" Daria snapped.

"Hey I'm not the one that let the Blob near them!" Quinn snapped.

"This is why we need to take more safety precautions!" Brittany shouted. "But nooooooo. You two…"

"WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE?" Shipwreck shouted. "YOU GIRLS WERE TRYING TO MAKE DYNAMITE AGAIN, WEREN'T YOU?"

"Freddy, yo you okay?" Todd asked.

"I think so," Fred coughed. "At times like this I'm lucky I have invulnerable skin."

"In more ways than one," Shipwreck glared. "Now what happened? I want answers!"

"They told me it was a science project!" Fred pointed.

"Well technically it was," Brittany said.

"I was just trying to do some extra credit," Fred said. "They told me this would do it!"

"Squealer!" Quinn snapped.

"Okay," Shipwreck groaned. "I think I get the picture! All right, Althea, Todd I want the two of you to take all their lab equipment and pack it up in the basement where it is going to stay for the next two weeks!"

"What?" Brittany shouted.

"You can't do that!" Daria shouted.

"Watch me!" Shipwreck growled. "Any more back talk and it will be a month! Understand?"

"Hey at least we weren't experimenting like those two!" Daria pointed to Todd and Althea.

"You little liar!" Althea snapped. "You just want to drag us down with you too!"

"Todd and Althea sitting in a tree…." Quinn mocked.

"SHUT UP!" Althea shouted.

"Shipwreck I swear we weren't doin' nothing like that!" Todd said rapidly. "We were doing homework! Honest!"

"Oh I'll bet," Brittany snickered.

"It's true!" Althea snapped.

"Look!" Todd ran into the other room and came back with some paperwork. "See! Look at our work! We were just minding our own business! Honest! I'd never take advantage of Althea like that!"

"More like the other way around," Brittany snapped.

"Why you little…" Althea made a move to hit her.

"ATTEN-HUT!" Shipwreck shouted with such authority in his voice they all stood at attention. Even Fred. "Now based on the evidence here I believe Todd and Althea. And because of this your lab is now going to stay in storage for a whole month! Hopefully that will teach you not to spread lies!"

"But…" Quinn started.

A withering glare from Shipwreck shut her up. "In addition you three are also going to do all of Althea's chores for this month as well and have KP duty for the same amount of time! That will keep the three of you occupied for a while."

"HA!" Althea said. "Serves you right!"

Shipwreck shot her a look that made her keep her mouth shut. "Now I want the three of you to apologize to Fred, Todd and Althea right now!"

"We're sorry…" Brittany sighed.

"And why are you sorry?" Shipwreck asked.

"Because we got caught," Quinn said.

"THAT'S IT!" Shipwreck shouted. "Downstairs! The two of you are going to stand in the corners until dinner! And no desert for you!"

"What, you wanted us to lie?" Brittany shouted as Roadblock marched them downstairs.

"Now," Shipwreck sighed. "I know you two are telling the truth, but I just want to make sure the two of you remember the deal we made."

"Relax Dad," Althea sighed. "We're not gonna do it until we get older. We promised we'd wait."

"Well personally I'd like you two to wait until you're forty but I'll settle when you two are at the legal age in this state, which is seventeen," Shipwreck sighed.

"Don't worry Shipwreck," Todd said. "I said I'd never take advantage of your daughter."

"Well like Brittany said it's not you I'm worried about," Shipwreck groaned. "You two start boxing this stuff up while I get Fred here cleaned up. Come on kid," He led Fred to the bathroom and helped him wipe off the soot.

"I'm real sorry I wrecked your house Shipwreck," Fred looked like he was about to bawl. "Honest I am!"

"Oh well," Shipwreck sighed. "So what's one or two minor explosions around here? It's not your fault kid. I should have warned you that the triplets might take advantage of you."

"Thanks," Fred sighed as he cleaned himself off. "You know for an adult, you're not so mean."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Shipwreck smirked.

"I'm sorry about…Magneto," Fred said sheepishly.

"You had nothing to do with that," Shipwreck told him. "Forget about it, okay? Come on, why don't you help me in the kitchen?"

Fred followed him. "Now why don't we get back to making some good old fashioned…WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU CRAZY BIRD?" Shipwreck shouted as he saw the parrot gulping down the chili from the pot.

"AWK!" Polly cackled. "Polly loves his chili!"

"I hope you also love the heartburn you are gonna get!" Shipwreck snapped. "How did you get out of my room? I thought I'd locked you up in there?"

"Uh…" Fred fidgeted. "That's my fault. He was crying and sounded so sad so I thought…."

"Oh brother," Shipwreck sighed. "There's feathers all over it! Roadblock, you wanna do me a favor and order us a couple of dozen pizzas?"

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Back in the apartment that evening, Roadblock was taking some much-needed aspirin when there was a knock at the door. He saw Fred standing there in his new pajamas, looking very nervous. "Fred why aren't you in bed?" He asked.

"Are you mad at me?" Fred asked cautiously.

"Well," Roadblock sighed. "Let's just say it's been an interesting day. At least you didn't take a joyride in a tank."

"I didn't mean to wreck the obstacle course," Fred fidgeted. "I just wanted to do good."

"Do well. You wanted to do well."

"That too," Fred said. "I really don't mean to screw things up. I wanna fit in here. Really I do."

"Oh you fit in on this base kid," Roadblock groaned. "Trust me. Fitting in here is the least of your problems."

"It's just that I can't help being dumb," Fred told him.

"You are not…" Roadblock decided to rephrase his words. "As dumb as you think you are. You just have to learn to think before you act. Okay?"

"Okay," Fred shrugged. "I'll work harder tomorrow Roadblock I promise! Good night."

"Oh god we gotta do this again tomorrow," Roadblock groaned. "Lord give me strength!"

Next up, A restless night where several people muse over different things and of course something happens. So what else is new?