Note: I've skipped the third episode because Michaela isn't really involved. Everything in that episode still happened, I just don't feel the need to write it all out. This chapter starts the Monday after the first episodes. The Hunted takes place the day after this.

"No homework! How awesome is that?"

"Yeah! We'll actually have time to study for tomorrow's history test!"

"Not where I was going with that, Gabe."

Allie, Gabe, and Ray walked out of San Campion Middle School and toward the street in a crowd of other kids.

Just then they heard a shout from behind them. "Hey!" They turned to see Michaela running up to them. She was wearing a backpack and looked a little out of breath. "Mind if I walk to the dojo with you?"

"Sure," Ray answered.

"Do you go here?" Allie asked

"No, I'm at the high school."

"Then how did you get here so fast?"

"My math teacher lets us out early, and I ran."

"So you're sixteen?" Gabe asked.

"Fifteen. We think."

"You think?" Allie asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Michaela said. "You guys were probably too young to hear about it, but a few years ago I just turned up on the beach near here."

"What happened?" Ray asked quietly.

"No idea. I don't remember anything before that."

"Wow…"

She laughed. "It's really not that impressive. Strange things happen around here all the time, particularly when it comes to missing people." And she started telling them all the strange stories she had heard about. They were very entertaining, and she had them all laughing within minutes.

Afterward, Ray decided to voice something that had been bothering him.

"So, if you've been an acolyte for so long, you must know why Master Brightmore was so against us joining."

Michaela shrugged. "That's just sort of how he is. I mean, he was practically born to be Light Master. The only thing he hates more than not having any rules are the people who break rules. And you guys managed to break just about all of Nigel's favorite rules."

"Nigel?"

"Master Brightmore."

"Why do you call him by his first name?" Ray asked.

Michaela shrugged again. "I don't know, I always have, I guess."

"You didn't do that with any of the other masters," Gabe pointed out.

"Well, Nadia goes by her first name anyway. I can't pronounce Master Kimora's first name, and I have no idea what Jaha's first name is, I doubt anyone but she knows. Heck, Jaha could even be her first name, and none of us would have any idea."

"What about Master Chavez?"

"Everyone calls him Chavez. Even his non-Kaijudo friends do, one of them came into the dojo once while I was up there."

"Why?"

"I guess his last name fits him better than his first."

"What's his first name?" Allie asked.

"Hector."

"Yeah," Allie said. "Chavez is better."

Only a few minutes later they reached the street the temple was on.

"So how long have you been a part of Kaijudo?" Ray asked.

"Pretty much since I showed up. The Masters didn't really have a choice in training me."

"Why not?" Allie asked.

Michaela smiled. "Do you always ask this many questions?"

"When there are this many things that I'm curious about."

Michaela laughed, then checked her watch. "Oh no, we're gonna be late." she said in an unworried voice. Suddenly her eyes widened, she said "Oh crap! See you soon!" and she ran inside.

The kids stood there for a moment, wondering who this girl they had just become friends with was. Then they walked into the dojo.

When they got to the main hall of the temple, they found Master Chavez waiting for them.

"So," said Ray. "What are we doing today?"

"Something a little different." said Chavez.

"Haven't you said than every time we've come here?" Allie pointed out.

Chavez smiled. "Probably. This time, though, you'll be working with the other acolytes. Michaela will be instructing you."

"Michaela teaches?"

"She started a few months ago. Her lessons focus on fighting in adverse conditions."

"Such as?" asked Allie.

"You'll see."

They walked into the arena, where the other acolytes were waiting. Michaela was sitting on the wall separating the seats from the arena floor. When they came in, she jumped down, surprisingly graceful.

"All righty then." she said. "Today we're going to do more with fighting without gauntlets." A bunch of the others groaned. She smiled. "I know, it sucks. But it sucks less in here than it does out there, so you'll have to get over it. Everyone pair up. One person summon a low level creature, the other will try to not get trapped. Wait until I tell you to start."

"What type of creature should it be?" someone asked.

"Let's stick with Nature, for now." She then turned to Allie, Gabe, and Ray. "We're working on being able to face a creature long enough without a gauntlet to either tire it out, wait for help, or escape."

"Why would we need to be able to do that without a gauntlet?" Ray asked.

"There are so many things that can go wrong with a gauntlet. The most common is to run out of mana, which is a problem that can last for ten minutes or ten hours. Gauntlets can also break, and if you can't get yours back to Toji before you face a creature, you'll have to fight without it. Also, if you manage to injure yourself the right way, you can make it so that you can't even power up your gauntlet, let alone fight."

"So what are we doing now?" asked Allie.

"You and Gabe work together, and Ray will work with Master Chavez. Allie, you'll summon… let's go with Steam Star, and try to trap Gabe. Gabe, you're trying not to get stuck. Keep your gauntlet on, but only use it for a shield if you absolutely must. If you can last for five minutes, you win. If Allie can trap you, she wins. Ray, you'll be doing the same thing with Master Chavez."

"Great," he said. "What creature should I use?"

Michaela smiled. "Chavez will be using a Blinder Beetle." She raised her voice to talk to the entire room. "Okay then, everybody ready? Everyone but Allie, Ray, and Gabe is going for ten minutes, starting…now!" Surprisingly, everything went fairly smoothly. Master Chavez and Allie summoned their creatures and started chasing Ray and Gabe around. Ray started by running away from the Blinder Beetle. He turned to see where it was, but when he turned back, he was blinded by a beam of light.

"Arggh!" he yelled.

"You're out, Ray!" Michaela called. She had climbed up to the stands, and was yelling out the names of those who had lost.

As his vision started to clear, Ray turned to see how the others were doing. A lot of people had been trapped. Allie had Gabe running in circles.

"Good job, guys! Michaela called. "If the trap-ee made it, switch. If not, try it again."

And so they did. Gabe proved to be very good at avoiding Steam Star, and even managed to corner it after a few tries. Eventually both he and Allie managed not to get trapped and they went up to join the growing crowd in the stands. Ray had no such luck. He couldn't get away from the thing! No matter what he tried, he couldn't avoid it. Eventually Michaela called a halt and Ray and the one other person who hadn't succeeded went up to join everyone else.

"That was really good, guys. You're doing so well, I think next time we might even be able to add in offensive techniques!" There was a mix of groans and cheers at this, which made everyone laugh. "Off you go guys, go bother someone else for the next hour." Michaela said.

As everyone left to go to the other training areas, no one seemed to notice that not once during the entire lesson had Michaela used her gauntlet.