CHAPTER 1 - Stepping Forward

The sun shined in through the window, giving light , the formerly blackened room. The light showed an empty bed with a black uniform sprawled out on it. The room was neatly cleaned, dresser shelves organized and television dusted along with the Playstation on the second shelf. As the sun slowly crept higher into the sky, the light beamed onto a young man who was sitting on his knees, both eyes closed with his hands on his quadriceps. His breathing was close and deep. As the light reached his eyes they opened, the light exposing the the medium brown in his iris. The young man had caramel colored skin with a muscular definition. He was shirtless which came natural during the hot summer nights. His shoulders were broad and chest bulky. The definition in his abs only showed in four sections. As he stood to his feet, he raised his arms and stretched while releasing a yawn from his lips. He stood to be six feet tall with long limbs. He checked his phone to see he had another hour before his alarm went off so I began to fold his uniform. Today's the day he thought to himself as he picked up his top and read the back. It read "United Taekwondo Academy" as he folded the sleeves inward and folded the top itself down. He folded the pants together then folded it down, stacking the top on the pants. He then pulled out his belt. It was red with a black stripe running through the middle. He turned it look as his wall, there were eight belts hanging with red stripes on the right end and black stripes on the left. He chuckled to himself and ran his hand through his curly hair that he had cut into a mohawk the night before. Rolled his belt into a circle and placed it on top of his uniform and proceeded to the bathroom to shower.

An alarm sounded and within seconds a large, chocolate colored hand reached out to grab the source of the loud buzz. He sat up with a groan and dropped his face into his hands, attempting to rub away the rest of his sleep. Before he could pick up his head, he heard little footsteps coming his way at rapid speed.

"Daddy!" a small child yelled as she charges into the room, jumping up into the bed and crawling her way into her father's arms.

"Yes munchkin?" He said with a smile on his face as he looked at the young girl. Her skin was the color of coffee with light cream. She had her hair in a ponytail and was in Mickey Mouse pajamas.

"Today you get to get a new belt." She said innocently.

"Yes munchkin now let's go get ready. Don't wunna be late," he said as he got up and they made their way to the bathroom. Both men entered their dojo at the same time, they clasped hands and smiled.

"You ready Aj?" The slimmer of the two asked.

"Hell yea Hez," said the bulkier and darker skinned male. He adjusted his glasses as he placed his bag on a bench. He looked to the tattoo on his left forearm that read "Death Before Dishonor" and thought about the events about to occur. He was snapped out when his longtime friend returned no long dressed in cargo shorts and a compression shirt.

"You're up bro," Hez said as he sat down with his bag, rubbing his hands together. His black gi had a blue collar and his belt was red with a black line across. As Hez waited and was noticeably becoming nervous he could hear the voice of Aj coming besides him.

"Good to know I'm not the only one nervous," he said as he reappeared dressed just as Hez.

"Well if it isn't my favorite candidates!" a man called out. As Hez and Aj looked over the saw an Asian man with his hair cut low. His gi was all black with red kanji on the left side of the chest. His belt was black with red writing of Brian Tababa on one end and four red stripes on the other signifying his rank as a fourth degree black belt. "You guys ready for today?"

"They better be," a man with short hair that was combed to the side said. He was a Shade darker than Tababa and wore a grey gi with black trim. His belt was black and outlined in grey with the name Danny Idrovo written on one end and four stripes on the other in grew.

"Of course we're ready," Hez said. "We have spent years preparing for this.

"Then don't disappoint me," A man walked in through the back door and rounded the corner as he spoke. He wore a black shirt that said train hard on the front in white and the back read "suck it up buttercup" also in white. His arms and legs were covered in tribal and Japanese based tattoos. Even the back of his hands and knuckles. His hair was brown and cut short. His face wasn't clean shaved like Danny and Tababa. He had a full beard cut close to his face. His skin was pale and eyes a light brown. He slipped past Danny and Tababa and into the main office and within seconds came back out in a black gi top with seven red stripes on the left sleeve. His belt was black and wore as the material was ripping along the outline from how many times it was tied. Hez and Aj instantly recognized the seventh degree black belt and chief instructor J. Nichols. They bow stood to their feet to fist pound the three.

"Yes sir, we are ready," Aj said full heartedly as he noticed the black matted workout floor was starting to fill with more people in black gis with black belts. There were also spectators sitting outside the observation glass to watch Aj and Hez got through the growling trials of becoming a black belt. They stepped onto the mat for the first time filled with complete anxiety with a mixture of anxious anticipation of the events to come. Their chief instructor stepped onto the floor with Tababa, Danny and a third man with almost the same skin complexion. His hair was faded at the sides and slicked backwards. He pulled his glasses from his eyes and placed them inside his grey gi top with a black trim. His belt read Brian Salamat but his friends called him Salamat to keep him from being confused with Brian Tababa.

"Recite the principals of personal growth!" Mr. Nichols instructed.

"Yes sir!" The two called out in unison.

"I show honor to myself and others!" Mr. Nichols chanted.

"With respect sir!" Aj yelled Hez echoed in response.

"I am honest and trustworthy!"

"With integrity sir!"

"I am committed to overcome challenges and obstacles!"

"With perseverance and determination sir!"

"I choose my words , right course of action!"

"With self control sir!"

"I show others the type of person I am!"

"With confidence and character sir!" There was a brief pause. Mr. Nichols exposed a small grin on the left side of his cheek.

"Train hard!"

"Train for life sir!" The two bowed to their instructors and so began the test of physical ability. It began with a hundred jumping jacks before they were instructed to run the dirty dozen, a circuit which included doing twelve reps of jumping jacks, push ups and sit ups then declining by one rep as they repeat. After almost an hour of non stop physical work it was time perform their katas and self defense. A young man with bright yellow skin and spiky hair stepped onto the mat. His gi top was blue with a red collar and belt read Chris Marica. His face was as round as his body with a thin mustache and light sprinkle of chin hairs. His eyes creased inwards toward the bridge of his nose and were always seemingly squinting.

Behind him were two sisters, both skin pale as snow as one's face held a deadpan while the other was smiling ear to ear. The younger of the two was the straight faced female. Her mocha colored eyes showed her hidden excitement for her friends. She kept her straight, dark brown hair in a ponytail that she quickly adjusted as she stepped onto the mat. Her gi was all black and blue read Donna Balourchi in Yellow with two stripes. Her giggly sister wore her hair curly and highlighted. Her mocha eyes were covered by glasses as she adjusted her gi that matched her sister's. Her belt read Arianna Balourchi in Yellow with one stripe.

Running to the entrance door were two more students, ironically enough two brothers. Both muscular but one's body held much more bulk than the other. The larger of the two also wore a grey gi with black trim and black pants. His hair was slicked sideways at the top and faded at the the sides by unlike Salamat's he didn't have the part. His belt was black with a silver lining running around the edge read Neil Portalanno.

His brother, slightly shorter and much smaller in muscle tone work his hair in a short spiky cut. His lip dawned the sprouting of a mustache. He wore a all black gi. His name written in Yellow on his belt with two lines on one end and the other reading N.C. Portalanno. Hez and Aj sighed heavily, sweat rolling down their faces and they looked on to the growing number of black belt before them. They glanced at one another, silently wishing each other good fortune as they were surrounded and attacked in different ways. Hez was grabbed in a bear hug from behind. He stepped back with his left leg, clearing the attackers leg to open a space for a palm strike the groin. Following the sound of the slap was a shriek of pain. Hez kicked his left leg forward as he fell backwards for sweep his attacker off his feet and land on him, adding pressure to the fall. Neil lunged forward, attempting a double leg takedown on Aj but he pushed down on Neil's shoulders as he kicked his legs backwards to sprawl. Pressing all of his weight on Neil's upper body caused him to flatten out. Aj slide his forearm under Neil's throat and squeezed until he could hear Neil's hand slap the mat repeatedly. Another hour passed of constant attacks.

Aj felt an arm brag his left shoulder. He reached over and grabbed the hand with his right and used his left to reach back and grab the attacker's shoulder and lowered his hips while popping them backwards, launching his attacker over his shoulder and to the ground. Hez was tackled down and pulled into a full mount. He blocked the punches from Chris before sliding his elbows down into Chris' quadriceps. He then popped his hips upward, pushing his knees into Chris' back causing him to lean forward. As Chris put his hands on the mat to stop himself from falling flat onto Hez, he hooked his arm around Chris' and pressed his hips up again as he rotated Chris onto his back and started to attack gaining the full mount.

The two stood before the black belts, their gis pulled out of place from multiple attacks, grabs and slams. They were soaked in sweat as their bodies heaved in attempts to breath before they were dismissed from the floor to put on their sparring gear. They raced down the stairs to the basement to grab their helmet, mouth guard, shin guards and gloves. Aj ran back up while Hez opted to prepare in the basement. He sat on the mat facing the mirror. His right eye had a scratch running from just under his eye down his cheek from a fingernail scratch. To his right, a door opened and a young Asian woman stepped out. She smiled at him and he marveled at her beauty. Her long black hair was braided into two braids. Her deep brown eyes had anticipated look of admiration and proud of his actions of making it this far. Her gi was all black and her belt had red writing with two stripes on the left and her name on the right. Katrina Nyuegnen.

"Ready for the last part?" she asked him, her gentle gaze causing his heart to triple its speed.

"Didn't come this far the cop out now." he replied as she strapped on her helmet.

"Good then get up there and remember, I'm not going easy on you," she said , she slowly climbed the stairs. He stood to his feet and looked in the mirror for a split second as he slid his mouth guard into his mouth. He slammed his fists together and climbed the stairs to face off against the onslaught of black belts.