Chapter 20: Practice makes perfect
Terry stood in an open field with waving green grass and a peaceful little brook. He had his hands in his pockets and awaited the challenge Hayabusa had set for him. The ninjitsu-practising young man had told Terry to just hold his position on the field and then his training would commence. Terry yawned strikingly as he looked in the direction where his friends sat, close to the border of a forest. "I wonder what will come." Kyo said, looking at the nonchalant Terry. Terry had to wait a couple of minutes before someone or, better said, something, approached him. It walked with a hunchback and was a bit taller than Terry. His arms pulsated as if something underneath his skin was alive. His arms were long and the fingers were replaced with three tentacles. It had a faint yellowish skin and his long teeth hung down from his jawless head. His eyesockets were empty and it had no nose whatsoever. "Kill... me..." he said with a voice which seemed to come out from his stomach. "Jesus..." Terry murmered as he raised his hands out of his pockets. "What the heck is that thing?" Fox said, startled by the horrid creature's appearance. Hayabusa, who stood straight with his arms crossed in front of his chest, said: "One of the many beings you will face. One of the weakest." Zelda swallowed. Link noticed it and pulled her close to him. "That thing is no match for our Terry." he said, not entirely sure about that. Terry wasn't sure what to do at that moment. He preferred normal opponents. Humans. What did he had to do with this abomination? He didn't know. When he was nervous, or scared, he knew bad jokes made him cool down. "You're mother must love you." he said, a nervous grin appearing on his face. Without another warning, the being swiftly shot forward one of his arms, entangling Terry's neck with his tentacles. The creature pulled Terry closer to him and at the same time, a tongue of some sort came out of his mouth. It was long and held a very sharp spike at the end. Terry tried to break free as soon as he noticed that the creature's intentions were less than favorable. He moved his upperbody to the left and right, but to no avail. Link drew his sword and did a step forward. "We have to help him!" he said as he wanted to run to Terry's aid, but Hayabusa firnly said: "No. It is his training. Stay out of it." "What!? That thing is about to kill Terry, I..." "Won't do a thing." Hayabusa said. Something in the ninja's voice made Link step back and sheathe his sword. Terry was now close to being impaled by the creature's dancing tongue and dozens of possibilities to escape raced through his mind. Then he grabbed two of the tentacles which had ensnared him with his hands and gave a short, powerful pull. Now Terry was a strong man, but the adrenaline rush almost dubbled his strength. He ripped off both tentacle-like fingers, leaving the creature squirting dark-red blood about as he let go off Terry and waved his arm in pain. Terry dropped the two tentacles and cleaned his hands with his jeans as a habit. Not very smart, but he realised that too late. Bloodstains were hard to wash out, but that was a problem for later. He made a quick step forward and punched the screaming creature in his face. Or at least, that part of his body what resembled a face the most. He struck him another time and another, cracking open the creature's skull and making him collapse on the ground. Terry was panting from the sudden amount of adrenaline and his fists were covered in the blood of the creature. He chuckled quickly. "You weren't that tough." he said to the dying monster. His friends cheered, but Hayabusa kept his face in a neutral position. Terry walked to Hayabusa and said: "You're making it too easy for me, ninja-boy." "Perhaps, Terry. But can you take on millions of those at the same time?" was Hayabusa's cold response. "M... millions? Yeah, right..." Terry said with and uncomfortable grin on his face. "That's the amount you will face, Terry. And thousends of other different monster, who hunger for your blood." Hayabusa said calmly. Terry looked at Hayabusa for a moment. "Sometimes you scare me more that the worst monster I can imagine, Hayabusa." Terry said, finding the calm face of the ninja disturbing to say the least. "But I think you must know that, no matter what, we won't give up." he said firm. He looked at his friends. "Right, guys?" "I think you speak for all of us." Kyo said. Everyone agreed on that. They wouldn't stop, no matter how hard this training would be. Hayabusa was glad they were all so optimistic. But he wondered how long this optimism would last. The months that followed were hell four the seven Chosen Ones. They had to fight numerous monsters, some of which came straight out of their nightmares and fears. Even when the seven slept or ate, they weren't safe. They had to defend themselves continuesly from waves of enemies. But there was one thing which kept them all going. One thing only. And that was that they did it together. Whether it was Terry's big mouth that gave Fox that extra courage he needed, whether it was Link's touch that helped Zelda go on time after time, whether it was Galford's sense of justice that annoyed Terry so much that he delivered his anger on the enemy... The friends patched each other up, helped each other and supported each other. When one was about to give up, the other six would pull him or her up and helped him or her to regain the fighting spirit. They punched each other through it. Then one day, the monsters stopped appearing. Instead of monsters near the cabin, Hayabusa appeared. He walked towards the Chosen Ones who all stood outside the cabin. They all looked tired and hungry. "My God, the biggest horror of them all... What an ugly..." Terry muttered, loud enough for only Mary, who stood next to him, to hear it. She couldn't surpress a small chuckle. Hayabusa stopped in front of the seven and said: "Congratulations. You get one week to rest before your final test." Having said those mere words, he walked away again and disappeared into the woods. Terry put his hands in his sides. "What an ass. Where's the beer?" he nearly growled. He was a little... short-tempered because of the past few months. "Eh... Could this be it?" Fox said, pointing at the enormous pile of food and drinks which had suddenly appeared. It was all wrapped in plastic. "What a wicked world, dude." Galford murmered. "Whatever, justice-boy. I'm thirsty." Terry said as he walked to the pile and picked up a can of beer. He opened it and emptied it in no-time. He hadn't consumed anything but the natural food which was found in this world ever since he had gotten here. This had been his first beer in months. "Hm. Food which appears out of nowhere, monsters, Hayabusa..." Kyo said with a grin. "What a weird place." "Yeah. Especially Hayabusa freaks me out." Terry said as he grabbed another beer and tossed the empty can in the pile. "If I didn't know better, I'd say we're inside a fairy tale." Mary said with a slight sigh as she looked at Fox who studied a bag of French fries. "Cruel fairy tale." Terry said in a pause between his drinking. "Do you know beer on an empty stomach is bad for you?" Mary asked. "Yeah." Terry replied. He noticed that Link and Zelda had disappeared and sighed. "It looks like the fairy folk are mating again." he said. Now it was Mary's turn to sigh. "You talk like they're animals." "They fuck like they are." "Mind your language, Terry. They're just in love, Terry. A bit more respect, please." Mary said with a slight indignation in her voice. Terry chuckled. "I bet stiff Hayabusa would freak out if he would see a girl in a bra." "Looks of people can sometimes deceive, Terry." Mary said grinning. "Whatever." Terry replied. "I still have this feeling that we're in a story of some goofy writer who's out of inspiration and who just throws in stuff like that pile of food and who gets off on seeing Link and Zelda..." "Excuse me?" Mary said before Terry continued. "Writers are weird." Terry continued. "So you're going to offend writers too?" "Writers are stupid nerds who have no friends and just haven't anything to do all day." "That reminds me of someone..." Mary said, looking at Terry from the corners of her eyes. "Funny." Terry said as he joined Galford, Kyo, Fox and Mary for dinner. Fries and hamburgers were on the menu.
Zelda sat down on the bed, impatiently wating for Link to begin. "Come on, Link. I want to get laid!" Zelda almost immediatly blushed as Link started to laugh. "Oops. Not very princess-like, huh?" Zelda said softly in shame. "Not really, but I don't really mind, babe." Link said, still chuckling a bit. "And above that, I think you deserve some special treatment for killing so many nasties." He crawled up on the bed and to above Zelda. He supported himself with his hands and knees as he pressed his lips against hers, thirsting for that sweet special Zelda-taste. When he moved back, Zelda smiled at him. "Come on, Link. I need you." she said sweetly. That voice made Link nearly rio off Zelda's cotton dress, but instead, he moved his hand underneath the piece of clothing. Zelda's eyes widened and her mouth fell open as she felt his hand at a sensative spot. She quickly started to undress Link. His sheathed sword fell with a heavy thud on the rug. It had slain a lot of enemies and would slay many more. But not now. Now it's owner was relaxing. Although... relaxing? A harmless little princess did that what thousends of monsters had been unable to do: Defeat him. Dead-tired, Link rolled off of Zelda and onto his back. He had managed that what no man in the universe would ever be able to manage. He had satisfied Zelda. But he had never failed her before. Zelda raised herself and looked at her lover, bopyfriend, protector, worshipper, hero, prince and servant with pride in her eyes. That look... Link loved it. That smile, that glorious sparkle in her eyes... He made her proud. She rested her head on his chest. "You make me happy." she said before they both drifted off into sleep.
The week of peace passed away and the seven friends stood one day in front of Hayabusa again. He stood there calm as usual And no sign of Kasumi. As usual. "You all performed very well." Hayabusa started. "Ha! Don't tell me you're surprised?" Terry said, feeling great to have actually outwitted Hayabusa. The ninja was wise enough not to answer that. "This past week has been a week to relax. But also a week to release all of your powers. You seven are now the most powerful beings in the universe. Save for what will come through that portal." "No kidding?" Terry commented, not believing a thing of it. "To test your new powers, you will all get five last opponents." Hayabusa said before turning to Fox. "Young McCloud, you shall begin." "Eh... Okay." Fox said as he stepped forward. Hayabusa snapped with his fingers and the next moment, Fox was gone. No one really was surprised. Except for Terry. "Oh." he said. "He didn't turn in a pink, fluffy rabbit?"
Terry stood in an open field with waving green grass and a peaceful little brook. He had his hands in his pockets and awaited the challenge Hayabusa had set for him. The ninjitsu-practising young man had told Terry to just hold his position on the field and then his training would commence. Terry yawned strikingly as he looked in the direction where his friends sat, close to the border of a forest. "I wonder what will come." Kyo said, looking at the nonchalant Terry. Terry had to wait a couple of minutes before someone or, better said, something, approached him. It walked with a hunchback and was a bit taller than Terry. His arms pulsated as if something underneath his skin was alive. His arms were long and the fingers were replaced with three tentacles. It had a faint yellowish skin and his long teeth hung down from his jawless head. His eyesockets were empty and it had no nose whatsoever. "Kill... me..." he said with a voice which seemed to come out from his stomach. "Jesus..." Terry murmered as he raised his hands out of his pockets. "What the heck is that thing?" Fox said, startled by the horrid creature's appearance. Hayabusa, who stood straight with his arms crossed in front of his chest, said: "One of the many beings you will face. One of the weakest." Zelda swallowed. Link noticed it and pulled her close to him. "That thing is no match for our Terry." he said, not entirely sure about that. Terry wasn't sure what to do at that moment. He preferred normal opponents. Humans. What did he had to do with this abomination? He didn't know. When he was nervous, or scared, he knew bad jokes made him cool down. "You're mother must love you." he said, a nervous grin appearing on his face. Without another warning, the being swiftly shot forward one of his arms, entangling Terry's neck with his tentacles. The creature pulled Terry closer to him and at the same time, a tongue of some sort came out of his mouth. It was long and held a very sharp spike at the end. Terry tried to break free as soon as he noticed that the creature's intentions were less than favorable. He moved his upperbody to the left and right, but to no avail. Link drew his sword and did a step forward. "We have to help him!" he said as he wanted to run to Terry's aid, but Hayabusa firnly said: "No. It is his training. Stay out of it." "What!? That thing is about to kill Terry, I..." "Won't do a thing." Hayabusa said. Something in the ninja's voice made Link step back and sheathe his sword. Terry was now close to being impaled by the creature's dancing tongue and dozens of possibilities to escape raced through his mind. Then he grabbed two of the tentacles which had ensnared him with his hands and gave a short, powerful pull. Now Terry was a strong man, but the adrenaline rush almost dubbled his strength. He ripped off both tentacle-like fingers, leaving the creature squirting dark-red blood about as he let go off Terry and waved his arm in pain. Terry dropped the two tentacles and cleaned his hands with his jeans as a habit. Not very smart, but he realised that too late. Bloodstains were hard to wash out, but that was a problem for later. He made a quick step forward and punched the screaming creature in his face. Or at least, that part of his body what resembled a face the most. He struck him another time and another, cracking open the creature's skull and making him collapse on the ground. Terry was panting from the sudden amount of adrenaline and his fists were covered in the blood of the creature. He chuckled quickly. "You weren't that tough." he said to the dying monster. His friends cheered, but Hayabusa kept his face in a neutral position. Terry walked to Hayabusa and said: "You're making it too easy for me, ninja-boy." "Perhaps, Terry. But can you take on millions of those at the same time?" was Hayabusa's cold response. "M... millions? Yeah, right..." Terry said with and uncomfortable grin on his face. "That's the amount you will face, Terry. And thousends of other different monster, who hunger for your blood." Hayabusa said calmly. Terry looked at Hayabusa for a moment. "Sometimes you scare me more that the worst monster I can imagine, Hayabusa." Terry said, finding the calm face of the ninja disturbing to say the least. "But I think you must know that, no matter what, we won't give up." he said firm. He looked at his friends. "Right, guys?" "I think you speak for all of us." Kyo said. Everyone agreed on that. They wouldn't stop, no matter how hard this training would be. Hayabusa was glad they were all so optimistic. But he wondered how long this optimism would last. The months that followed were hell four the seven Chosen Ones. They had to fight numerous monsters, some of which came straight out of their nightmares and fears. Even when the seven slept or ate, they weren't safe. They had to defend themselves continuesly from waves of enemies. But there was one thing which kept them all going. One thing only. And that was that they did it together. Whether it was Terry's big mouth that gave Fox that extra courage he needed, whether it was Link's touch that helped Zelda go on time after time, whether it was Galford's sense of justice that annoyed Terry so much that he delivered his anger on the enemy... The friends patched each other up, helped each other and supported each other. When one was about to give up, the other six would pull him or her up and helped him or her to regain the fighting spirit. They punched each other through it. Then one day, the monsters stopped appearing. Instead of monsters near the cabin, Hayabusa appeared. He walked towards the Chosen Ones who all stood outside the cabin. They all looked tired and hungry. "My God, the biggest horror of them all... What an ugly..." Terry muttered, loud enough for only Mary, who stood next to him, to hear it. She couldn't surpress a small chuckle. Hayabusa stopped in front of the seven and said: "Congratulations. You get one week to rest before your final test." Having said those mere words, he walked away again and disappeared into the woods. Terry put his hands in his sides. "What an ass. Where's the beer?" he nearly growled. He was a little... short-tempered because of the past few months. "Eh... Could this be it?" Fox said, pointing at the enormous pile of food and drinks which had suddenly appeared. It was all wrapped in plastic. "What a wicked world, dude." Galford murmered. "Whatever, justice-boy. I'm thirsty." Terry said as he walked to the pile and picked up a can of beer. He opened it and emptied it in no-time. He hadn't consumed anything but the natural food which was found in this world ever since he had gotten here. This had been his first beer in months. "Hm. Food which appears out of nowhere, monsters, Hayabusa..." Kyo said with a grin. "What a weird place." "Yeah. Especially Hayabusa freaks me out." Terry said as he grabbed another beer and tossed the empty can in the pile. "If I didn't know better, I'd say we're inside a fairy tale." Mary said with a slight sigh as she looked at Fox who studied a bag of French fries. "Cruel fairy tale." Terry said in a pause between his drinking. "Do you know beer on an empty stomach is bad for you?" Mary asked. "Yeah." Terry replied. He noticed that Link and Zelda had disappeared and sighed. "It looks like the fairy folk are mating again." he said. Now it was Mary's turn to sigh. "You talk like they're animals." "They fuck like they are." "Mind your language, Terry. They're just in love, Terry. A bit more respect, please." Mary said with a slight indignation in her voice. Terry chuckled. "I bet stiff Hayabusa would freak out if he would see a girl in a bra." "Looks of people can sometimes deceive, Terry." Mary said grinning. "Whatever." Terry replied. "I still have this feeling that we're in a story of some goofy writer who's out of inspiration and who just throws in stuff like that pile of food and who gets off on seeing Link and Zelda..." "Excuse me?" Mary said before Terry continued. "Writers are weird." Terry continued. "So you're going to offend writers too?" "Writers are stupid nerds who have no friends and just haven't anything to do all day." "That reminds me of someone..." Mary said, looking at Terry from the corners of her eyes. "Funny." Terry said as he joined Galford, Kyo, Fox and Mary for dinner. Fries and hamburgers were on the menu.
Zelda sat down on the bed, impatiently wating for Link to begin. "Come on, Link. I want to get laid!" Zelda almost immediatly blushed as Link started to laugh. "Oops. Not very princess-like, huh?" Zelda said softly in shame. "Not really, but I don't really mind, babe." Link said, still chuckling a bit. "And above that, I think you deserve some special treatment for killing so many nasties." He crawled up on the bed and to above Zelda. He supported himself with his hands and knees as he pressed his lips against hers, thirsting for that sweet special Zelda-taste. When he moved back, Zelda smiled at him. "Come on, Link. I need you." she said sweetly. That voice made Link nearly rio off Zelda's cotton dress, but instead, he moved his hand underneath the piece of clothing. Zelda's eyes widened and her mouth fell open as she felt his hand at a sensative spot. She quickly started to undress Link. His sheathed sword fell with a heavy thud on the rug. It had slain a lot of enemies and would slay many more. But not now. Now it's owner was relaxing. Although... relaxing? A harmless little princess did that what thousends of monsters had been unable to do: Defeat him. Dead-tired, Link rolled off of Zelda and onto his back. He had managed that what no man in the universe would ever be able to manage. He had satisfied Zelda. But he had never failed her before. Zelda raised herself and looked at her lover, bopyfriend, protector, worshipper, hero, prince and servant with pride in her eyes. That look... Link loved it. That smile, that glorious sparkle in her eyes... He made her proud. She rested her head on his chest. "You make me happy." she said before they both drifted off into sleep.
The week of peace passed away and the seven friends stood one day in front of Hayabusa again. He stood there calm as usual And no sign of Kasumi. As usual. "You all performed very well." Hayabusa started. "Ha! Don't tell me you're surprised?" Terry said, feeling great to have actually outwitted Hayabusa. The ninja was wise enough not to answer that. "This past week has been a week to relax. But also a week to release all of your powers. You seven are now the most powerful beings in the universe. Save for what will come through that portal." "No kidding?" Terry commented, not believing a thing of it. "To test your new powers, you will all get five last opponents." Hayabusa said before turning to Fox. "Young McCloud, you shall begin." "Eh... Okay." Fox said as he stepped forward. Hayabusa snapped with his fingers and the next moment, Fox was gone. No one really was surprised. Except for Terry. "Oh." he said. "He didn't turn in a pink, fluffy rabbit?"