Chapter 16: Training Day
"Here we are!" Mina announced, stepping out of a transporter. They were in a park. Xero and T-65 joined her. She was in her usual purple and white Force gear. The Android was not wearing the armor he usually wore and wasn't nearly as bulky anymore. Mina had instructed him to remove his chest plate, shin guards, shoulder armor, and wrist guards, revealing that his unarmored self had gray metal skin. He was in black pants and shirt, ready for training. Xero, as he often did when going out, dressed in style with orange sunglasses, 200 Meseta sneakers, and a tropical shirt.
"So, where are they?" T-65 asked anxiously.
"I shouldn't even be here," Xero grumbled, checking his platinum watch.
"There they are," Mina said, pointing to a young man and woman of similar age walking up the path. The somewhat short, blue-eyed white-haired man, who had a grim look on his face, was wearing gray slacks and a white athletic shirt, showing off his impressive physique. The red-eyed blonde woman, who was shorter, wore an athletic shirt with a camouflage design and matching pants and cap.
"Haven't seen you in a while," the woman said with a mischievous smile, walking directly to Mina. "You didn't go soft on me, did ya?" She then threw a punch at the FOmarl, who caught it, grabbed the lady's arm, and flipped the attacker onto the ground. T-65 and Xero didn't know what to make of this.
"I hope not, Claire-chan," Mina said, smiling at down at her.
"Ha ha ha!" she laughed, leaping to her feet. "That's the Mina I remember," she said, lifting Mina a tight hug.
"You haven't changed a bit," the man said in a somewhat rough voice with a smirk.
"…I hear that you're the top fencing athlete at school," Mina said hesitantly, as Claire put her back down.
"It's a poor substitute for hunting," he shrugged, "but it beats the hell out of the military academy."
"Whoa!" T-65 said, butting in. "Could somebody explain?" Xero seemed to agree.
"These two are your trainers," Mina said simply. "Meet Clairice Valentine, Claire for short, and Sethiroff Masamune."
"Sephiroth!" Xero exclaimed. "For real?"
"It's Seth-i-roff," the man said, a bit annoyed. "Just call me Seth."
"Now that you've been introduced," Mina began, "I'll just be heading off. Have fun!" Then, she took the teleporter back.
"So, let me get this straight," Xero said, holding his chin in thought. "We're being trained by people that are just like us."
"You're being retrained," Seth corrected, "by hunters who have more experience than you two. Especially you."
"That's right," Claire said thoughtfully. "You're the guy who got his ass handed to him on Ragol. We had to drag you back to the ship."
"Oh, yeah!" Xero said, ignoring the insult.
"Heh heh," T-65 chuckled. "Wasn't that the day you died?"
"Yeah," Xero said a little more sullenly.
"Well, then," Seth began. "We're here to make sure that doesn't happen again."
"Or at least not as often," Claire teased. "Now, what's first on the list?"
"First, we'll need some info," Seth said. "Xero's your name, isn't it? Show me your aura."
"My what?" Xero asked with surprise.
"The thing that Mom showed you," T-65 said, smiling. "You almost wet yourself from that one."
"Shut up!" Xero shouted, before turning back to the trainers. "I don't know how to do that."
"We'll get to that later then," Seth replied. "How long have you two been hunters?"
"A week," Xero replied.
"Three years," T-65 said.
"Dude, you suck!" Xero exclaimed, beginning to laugh. "You've been a hunter that long and your level's only in the teens?"
"That's enough," Seth said sternly. "Normally, it takes years to get that high in level. But, Ragol… its monsters are an extra challenge that forces a hunter to become stronger…or die."
"What level are you?" T-65 asked.
"All ya need to know," Claire said, "is that we're stronger than Mina. We had more free time for training. Next question…"
"Why did you decide to become hunters?" Seth asked. Both of them hesitated to answer. "T-65?"
"…Because my sister Galactica became one," T-65 relented. "That and because it seemed like the thing for me to do. I like fighting, and I like shooting."
"Right on," Claire commented. "Xero?"
"Uh…same reason," Xero said with hesitance. "Besides, hunters kick ass."
"Fair enough," Seth nodded. "Now, you'll be going on a little ride with Claire. Remember to wear your seatbelts."
"Okay," Xero said, noticing the grin on Claire's face.
"Car's this way, boys," Claire said, leading them down the path.
"Nice car," Xero said looking over the craft. It was a somewhat small wedge-shaped star craft with two thrusters on the back and had a red, green, and orange paintjob. "What kind is it?"
"A Dodonna-Blissex '78," Claire said, unlocking it. "It's a top of the line model with twin Nolvadex J-77 Event Horizon engines, built in HV, CD player, scanner, surround sound speakers, and seats 4 adults!"
"How's it handle?" T-65 asked as he got in, noticing that she really liked her car.
"Like a dream," Claire sighed, turning on the machine. "Old D-B turns on a dime, goes from 0 to 200 in 2 seconds, has a top speed of Mach 2 in normal flight, deflector shields, and even has hyperdrive!"
"Damn, that must of cost a lot," Xero said as the craft slowly rose into the air.
"You might wanna' put on your seatbelt," Claire warned in a low voice, gripping the wheel. "Not that we're going to crash or anything."
"Nah, I'm good," Xero said, sitting back comfortably. T-65 decided to strap himself in, catching the hint.
"Here we go!" she said, switching the car into gear. The craft darted off into air, plastering Xero against the seat. The craft made sharp turns around many buildings and dodged the other, slower cars.
"What the hell, man!" Xero exclaimed as he was tossed around back seat.
"She warned you," T-65 said, securely fastened. Soon, he became unnerved as the craft quickly approached to skyscrapers with little space in between. The craft quickly turned sideways, slipping between the structures. Then, it went skyward, only to twist into a downward spiral.
"Loosen up, guys," Claire said with a giggle as the '78 speedily approached the bottom floor, nearing a collision. "How about some music? Some of Sir Meta's Unfinished Symphony #4 oughta do it." she said, turning on the classical music as the car turned to fly parallel to the ground.
"Could you at least turn on the G-diffuser?" Xero exclaimed, not liking the fact that they were now flying upside-down.
Meanwhile, Seth was sitting in the park, eating a snack. He could easily picture what the training hunters were feeling during the ride. He had learned to respect Claire's erratic but stellar driving ability over the years. Then, he noticed a black and orange female Android standing nearby.
"Can I help you?" he asked a little gruffly.
"I'm here for extra hunter training," she said. "Do you know anything regarding that?"
"I'm one of the trainers," he said, standing up. "Are you Galactica?"
"Yes," she responded. "And you?"
"Seth," he replied. "My partner, Claire, is with the others right now, but they'll be back soon."
"I hope I didn't miss too much," she said worriedly.
"We weren't expecting you," Seth said. "Mina only told us about Xero and T-65… So, how long have you been a hunter and why did you become one?"
"I've been a hunter almost since I was built," she responded nostalgically. "As for why… I can't really say. It just feels right…like I was meant to do this line of work."
"Hmm," Seth thought. "Why do you think that you need extra training?"
"I've learned that I need improvement," she said, lowering her head.
"In that case," Seth said, "we'll take you." The others were returning by now.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Claire asked, patting them on their backs.
"…Do you even have a license?" Xero said, still a little dizzy. "… Hey, your sister's here."
"Whoopee," T-65 said sarcastically.
"What happened to them?" Galactica asked, seeing them look a bit disoriented.
"They took a ride with Claire," Seth answered plainly.
"It's what we call an icebreaker," Claire added. "So, how are we gonna' do this, Seth?"
"The logical way," Seth said, looking over the trainees. "I'll focus on Xero, while you focus on the Rangers. The first stop is the public gym. Follow me," he said, leading the trainees.
"Hold it, girl," Claire said, stopping Galactica. "They already took the ride, so we're driving to the gym."
"What's so bad about riding with you?" the Android asked innocently.
"Nothing," Claire said, leading her away. "They just can't handle a little speed. Personally, it's the second most fun thing I do."
"What's the first?" Galactica asked.
"Being a Ranger," Claire smiled.
"Barely anyone's here!" Xero exclaimed, having seen only a few people in the building.
"All the better," Seth said, leading them to a large fitness room, which was full of weights and workout machines. "The only people that are here today are athletes, military trainees, and the occasional hunter. Are we ready to go ladies?"
"What did you just call us?" T-65 asked, insulted. "I ain't no girl."
"Hey, I'm all man," Xero said, smiling. "More of a man than he is."
"Prove it," Seth said stoically. "Xero, carry T-65 from here, to that bench-press on the other side of the room, and back. Let's see how strong you are." They gaped at him and saw that he was serious.
"Here we go," Xero sighed. Then he grunted as he tried to lift the RAcast. After straining for three seconds he broke off and rested. "Just gimme a sec."
"Whenever you're ready," Seth said patiently, folding his arms.
"All right," Xero panted, grabbing T-65 again. He strained even harder, making more noise as he began to slowly lift the Android off the ground. "Heavy…as…shit!" he grunted before falling backward and being crushed by T-65.
"You okay?" he said, getting off of Xero.
"He's fine," Seth answered for him. "I want you to do a handstand."
"Why?" T-65 asked, pulling Xero to his feet.
"Let's see if you can handle your own weight," Seth answered, standing back. "A RAcast should work on his balancing ability as early as possible.
"Sheesh," T-65 complained, crouching. Placing his hands on the floor, he put his feet into the air, quickly flipping over himself with a crash.
"Again," Seth said. The Android made another attempt, with the same results.
"He's shakin' the floor," Xero said, as the Android hit the ground. "How much do you weigh anyway?"
"It's best that you not know," Seth interrupted. "I don't want you to know your limits yet."
"Can you do it?" T-65 asked, getting up.
"Of course," Seth said impassively. "But I'm not the one training right now. Now, both of you, 50 pushups."
"Aw!" they complained dropping to the ground.
"We're here!" Claire announced, walking in with Galactica.
"I see that she made out pretty well," Seth said, noticing the RAcaseal's calm demeanor.
"Actually, I enjoyed it," Galactica smiled, surprising the males.
"I'm impressed," Seth said, showing some interest. "You're the first person I've met who likes her driving."
"What are we doing today?" she asked.
"Basic exercises," Claire said. We'll get to the real training tomorrow. We don't have enough time for anything too serious. I've got a job to get to in a couple of hours."
"A quest?" Galactica guessed.
"Nope," Claire smirked. "I'm a bartender at Last Stand."
"That brings me to lesson number one," Seth interrupted. "Always have some kind of occupation or hobby besides hunting if you can. Quests aren't always so available. What do you two weaklings do?" he asked T-65 and Xero who were still doing pushups.
"I…don't need…to work," Xero panted. "I've…got…a trust fund."
"Just hunting," T-65 replied.
"If that's the case," Seth responded a little coldly, "you'd better become damn good hunters. And you Galactica?"
"I work as a teacher's assistant at Nei School for Newmans."
"Looks like she's already got an edge over both of you," Claire said. "Galactica, you can go to the treadmill."
"Why does she get the easy stuff?" Xero complained, finishing his exercise.
"Both of you are going to do the same thing," Seth said returning to his stoicism. "Five miles should be enough. And, Xero, from now on I'm going to call you Baka."
Notes: Looks like you guys don't have to read a thousand pages this time. Anyway, here's some stuff for you to think about. What is Seth's connection to the others? Why is Mina so nervous around him? Why is Xero bitching so much? Find out…
On the next (hopefully good) episode of PSO: Sidestory: Finally, it's time for some real training. Seth shows Xero how to use a blade, while Claire shows the Rangers the joy of firing a gun. And Mina takes a quest for illegal stimulants known as "sweets." Of course there will be a few run-ins both on ship and on planet, plus, a few secretsin "Bittersweet." I don't own it, but still…Only Toonami!
