David was in the Sporting Fields of the Galaxy King, practicing tennis shots in the wall practice cage.
"Practicing? I had a feeling it would be here." Cheetah said coming in.
"Guess someone told you I'd be down here." David said.
"I suppose this is your way of getting ready for the New World, isn't it?" Cheetah asked.
"In a way. Few people know this, but I apply tennis practices into combat as well. The way I see it, they're practically the same. Maintaining focus, predicting the enemy's movements…" David started. "Not to mention that the Olympics will be held in a few months. I've been looking forward to that for a long time now. I've been dreaming about it ever since I was a kid."
"I can imagine." Cheetah said. "Say, Ishihara…. I've been looking back on the time that we have shared as rivals together."
"You have?" David asked.
"Yes." Cheetah said. "As you know, I was cursed to have this body of mine, and the instincts to hunt down and kill my enemies rest in it. Have we not met, I would have been confined to an eternal cycle of blood and despair. But in my saving grace, you came along. Though, I'm not sure you deserve all the credit. During the Aces tennis tournament, when I thought of nothing but revenge… she taught me humility. That Honey badger beastman girl in the doomsday Legion… Uzaki Hitomi."
"Yeah, I remember that. She seemed pretty keen on keeping you on the ground, though." David said.
"I was beaten within an inch of my life, yes." Cheetah said. "But then you showed me the truth. That began my path to redemption, and finding new strength."
"Which led to that scuffle in Paris. I was not expecting what happened there." David said.
"And here we are now, as rivals, and as allies. Honestly,this outcome is the one i had not expected." Cheetah said. "But in all fairness, I am happy. Happy that it turned out this way for the both of us."
"Yeah. Compared to, well…" David said.
"Ah, yes. My counterpart from your dimension." Cheetah said.
"Yeah. Joker's bomb never went off in our dimension. The detonation was prevented when we got pulled to your dimension for the first time." David said.
"I see. In that case, I'm the only version that was saved?" Cheetah asked.
"Probably. I can't say for sure." David said.
"Perhaps one day, we will find out." Cheetah said. "For now, we continue on our journey. I don't know what sort of plan these "Elders" are plotting. But we will find out soon enough. And, when we do, we will crush it."
"Right. I have a feeling we'll be counting on you for the coming battles." David said.
"I do believe so." Cheetah said as they exchanged a nod.
Go to New World…..