Chapter 21:

I wake up Monday morning felling good about the day. Peter had wanted to spend the las two nights here, but grandma said no, not tell after the wedding. He relented only after a very passionate kiss with grandma. So, now the wedding was set for two Saturdays from now. I guess everyone forgot it was my birthday that Saturday, but no mater, I will share if I have too. Breakfast did not go fast enough. "Slow down Daniel, we have all day to get there," says grandma. She can tell I'm really excited. We finally get underway to the address.

At the address, there is a non descript grey building, four stories high. We can see a sign that says members only. We open the door and are immediate challenged upon entry. "Who are you and what do you want here? We were invited by Mr. Delaront, go away he is much to busy for the likes of you. No, I say, we were invited and we won't leave till we see him." With this he attacks and tries to throw us out. I move as fast as necessary, to avoid him, he then presents himself with an obvious flaw as he attacks, I take advantage of this and flip him like I had done Gab. "Enough", is hollered from the open door. Mr. Delaront come through the open door. "Maurice, how many times have I told you not to over extend yourself?" He gets up and putting fist to palm, bows to Mr. Delaront. "If this child can see it, and use it like he did, do you not think I am right? Yes, Master". Turning to me he asks, "how old are you Daniel? Two in a couple of weeks, Sir. TWO? Wow you are the youngest student here. Come, follow me." As he heads into the building, I can see no windows, but there is lots of light. There are circular ports around the room and some on every floor. Most of the building is open concept. There are two balconies that run three quarters around the room, with a door every 10 feet.

He leads us to the locker rooms and has us change into an outfit called a "Karateka". We come out of the locker rooms, and head for the group of mammals at some mats. We are handed some white belts to hold our uniforms closed. We are told to go to the middle of the mat. "Begin," we are told. Shrugging we begin our routine. When we finish, we fist to palm and bow to the mammals sitting there. Two of the mammals get up and walk towards us, "begin," was all the warning we had before they attacked. I moved and flowed like never before, it was all I could do to stay with him. Vivian lost in about a minute, and I kept going. I was tired but then a strange mood came over me, and I seemed to see what was coming next. Then the second guy attacked as well. I had to move in several different directions at the same time. I tried to get them to tangle themselves, but they seemed to know how to fight as a unit. I did not last long after that before I was brought down on the mat. "Enough," was hollered, and the mammal offered me his paw to get up, I accepted and he pulled me to my feet. I was sweating profusely, but I turned and fist to palm bowed to the masters. There was a heated debate going on, in a language I could not understand. After about ten minutes two mammals came over and untying my white belt tied a brown one around me, Vivian got a purple one. "Who has been your teacher up to now? A snow leopard named Gab. We don't recognize the mammal; does he live around here?" I look at Vivian, she shrugs, and motions me to tell. "No Sir, he lives in a place called the meadow." Several of them get a puzzled look on their face, but others just get a knowing look. Debate then breaks out again in the same language. As they are debating, we are told to walk so we don't stiffen up.

"This snow leopard, how did you meet him? I first met him while I was in the hospital after the car accident. Does he work there? No Sir, I was still unconscious at the time of our first meeting. So, he is in your mind. No Sir, I go to the meadow and meet him there. So, you travel in your mind to this meadow and meet this teacher there. Yes Sir, that is as close as I can explain it. And how did you meet him?" He asks Vivian. "Daniel linked with me and brought me to him as well." Some of the mammals look at me with ahh. Others look at me with disbelief. "I am special Sir, and I can prove it, but it can't leave this building if I show you. Why do you say this? Sir, I have high powered people after me, for what I can do, I was taken from a secret experiment, and I'm sure they want me back." They huddle and talk in low whispers. "Daniel are you sure this is wise? Grandma I need help, and this is a good way to get it." After whispering amongst themselves for a while they agree. All the students are told to leave the building for an hour, once they are gone, the door is locked and the masters sit down and look at me.

I then breath deep, and go to my primal brain. To say they are shocked is an understatement, some got up ready to fight. They can see my slitted eyes, and feel my primal emotions, I am projecting my savageness. "You see gentle mammals I can be vary dangerous in the wrong hands, and yes, I can control it." With this I revert back and fall to the mat exhausted. Everyone is speechless, "projecting takes a lot out of me, but I wanted you to see what I can do". One of the masters gets up and leaves through a small door in the back of the room. No one speaks tell he returns. In his paw he has a small scroll. They unroll it, and start to read it amongst themselves. "Daniel, do you know what you are? No, I reply. According to this scroll, there has been only one other like you in the recoded history of this DOJO, and that was over a thousand years ago. Is he a legend? No, he was just a mammal, but he heralds a new era in our history back then. Some believe that you herald a new era to come. What do you wish from us? Training, is all I wish. Then training you shall have." With this they all shake their heads to the affirmative. "But, be warned we will not accept anything but your best. I accept. Then your training begins now."

By the time we left, we were so tired that we hailed a cab to bring us home. "Grandma, you don't have to go through this with me. Yes, I do, in for a penny, in for a pound, remember?" So now we have a schedule of three days a week of all-day training. The next few weeks fly by, and now it's time for the wedding.

Peter and Vivian decide to have a civil ceremony with a few close friends and family. On Peters side is a few coworkers and on Vivian's side is family and a couple of friends Rita being one of them. After the ceremony we go to Chez Laronge for the reception. Everyone is ohh and ahh over the sight of the city below us. As this is a perfect time, I stand up and propose a toast. "To grandma and grandpa for giving me the best birthday gift I could ever receive." Some get a puzzled look, other get a shocked horror look. "O.M.G. Daniel, we forgot about your birthday. That's ok, you can just give me double the presents next year." This get's a small laugh out of mom and dad, grandma still looks at me with horror, "you can just celebrate this day with your number 1 and number 2 in your life grandma, you don't mind being number2 do you grandpa?" With this everyone starts to laugh.

Grandma and grandpa spent the first night at his apartment, but figured they could break the lease and move him in by the end of the month. I made breakfast for mom and dad before they head out to work. Vivian came in just as I was finishing the dishes. "Did you get breakfast grandma? Ah no, didn't have time. It's in the oven grandma. Thanks Daniel," she says as she kisses the top of my head. This time I feed her apple pancakes with a cinnamon honey glaze. "Daniel, I swear I didn't know where you get your ideas for food, but you would make a great chief. Not interested in being a chief. Well, what do you want to be? I'm going to be a cop like my parents. Is that part of the reason for the training? Part, I agree. Well, I think it's a noble goal in life. Thanks grandma."

As grandma is walking a little stiff, I suggest she take a nice hot soak. She agrees that she will. As she takes a bath I decide to see if I can reach my littermates. I settle on my bed and do some deep breathing exercises, shown to me by my new DOJO masters.

I decide to go slow and see how long It takes to get to my mates. I seem to float out of my body and travel across Zootopia, still thinking of my siblings, I slowly travel across the meadow, through a forest, to a three-storey building in another meadow. I seem to be floating around this building. As I float around, I memorize as much as I can for drawing later. I fell a tug and my mid section and notice a cord from my midsection going back towards Zootopia. The tug gets stronger and more insistent and eventually I am drawn back to my body. I wake up, weak as a new born. I now know what the tugging signifies, I believe this is my energy level, and when I get low, self preservation brings me back, weather I want to or not. It took most of the day to get my energy levels back up. In the mean time, I sat in a corner (without cameras), drawing all that I could remember of the place. Then I put the portfolio away in my cabinet, hiding it behind all the other ones.

At bed time I head for the meadow to talk with Gab. I hug Susan as I arrive, and we stay linked for a few. Not all of us are here, but that's ok. "Daniel, what are you doing? What do you mean? I felt you earlier today but I did not see you. I was scouting around the place, so I can describe it later. Are you thinking of getting us out again? Yes, but I'm definitely not thinking of doing it alone. That place is like fort Knox on the outside. It has both armed guards and security cameras. Well how were you doing it? So, I show her what I had done in separating myself, So, this is what we all do when we come here? I believe so, but be warned it takes a lot of energy to just hang around. Daniel, I will do this, and scope out everything for you, the building and people, and I can give you the images of everything later. This is why I love you; I say as we kiss."

"So, Daniel, Says Gab as he walks over. You appear to be trying something new." So, I explain to Gab what I had done earlier in the day, and ask him, "is there a way to get more energy, or to store more energy, and were does this energy come from? Well you already know one way to get energy, that is to just take it from other individuals. NO, I won't do that. Good, to answer the third question all living thing generate energy, from the lowest blade of grass, to the tallest giraffe, even the movement of the earth generates energy. So, is there any way of tapping into this energy with out stealing it from another? And where does it go? The meadow is the collection point for all excess energies. From here it flows to dreamland, and any not used there flows to the great beyond. There is a way of tapping into this energy, but if not done properly, you could burn up like roman candle by taking to much into yourself. Daniel, please don't do this, says Susan hugging me, I Don't want to lose you. You won't lose me, as I won't try this until I have had full training. So, what about the third option? Is there a storage device? There are some crystals that harmonize with the wearer, and could hold energy given to them by their wearer. But this is a small reserve, and may not be enough for practical applications. Can you teach me Gab? Yes, I can teach you, but what are you going to do for me?" I'm a bit shocked, this is the first time Gab has asked for something in return for teaching. "Is it some thing immoral, harmful or evil, I ask?" Gab falls to the ground laughing. "Oh god, you really do have a wicked sense of humor. No, Daniel, the only thing I ask from you, is that you never seek revenge, or vengeance. Seek justice, but never let yourself be the judge. I believe I can do this Gab. I need to teach you to, Susan. If you are going to help Daniel, you will need more energy too. Me? I'm no hero. Neither is Daniel. But you work well as a team. Will you give me the same promise as Daniel? Yes Gab, I give you my word. Then let us begin."

"Sir, we have tried to find out what happens in the "DOJO" that subject "J" is attending, but it appears to be by invitation only. They have thrown us out at every attempt me have made for entry. Can we get some sort of surveillance in? No Sir, there are no windows, and no outside doors leading in, but the main entrance. Isn't that some sort of code violation? Yes Sir, it is, but as the building was built before modern building codes, they have been grandfathered in. Just how old is this building? All the records we can find, says the building was here before Zootopia was built. Wow, that's old.

So, any luck finding the strengths of the other subjects? Subject" L" Appears to have picked up on finances. Picked up? Yes Sir, we gave him a book on day trading, and if we had invested in the stock market like he said, our money would be up 22%. All right, give him a 1000-dollar bank account, and let him run with it. Anyone else? Yes Sir, subject "M" appears to be a medic, he has picked up all medical is willing to teach him. Mainly basic first aid, and the AED. Why won't they teach him more? Their afraid to give him access to medical equipment and drugs. Fine, I can see their caution, give him more advanced books, just books, and see what else he picks up. Sir, subject "P" appears to have a bend towards the law. "P" wants to be a lawyer? It appears so Sir, well I don't see what use that is to us, but go ahead give "P" all the law books she can handle, and Subject "Q"? hasn't shown a liking for anything we have given them so far, Sir. What about subject "K"? same as "Q" shows no sign in liking any thing.

Has subject" O" come up with anything useful? Yes Sir, I was coming to show you an electrical schematic that he has designed. I can't read those damn things, just give it to me it in a nut shell. He seems to have designed a spy camera jammer. That's nothing new. This design is Sir. Not only can it jam cameras and other recording devices, but it can send its own signal telling the listeners that it is a mechanical malfunction, and the camera just broke, it then gives bits and fragment of video, to the listeners. It can do this from about fifth feet away, so it doesn't have to be in the same room as the camera, or on it. Wow, that could be very handy, is it a feasible device? Yes Sir, we could build this device for about 22.00 dollars a device. Alright build a few devices and see if the would be interested in buying them for about 500 dollars apiece.

So, I assume that that little development has moved in? Yes Sir, Mr. Howler has now moved in with the Wilde's. Can we use this to our advantage some how? I don't see how Sir. Well it was just a thought." (from the files found in the institute).