Skipper sighed furiously and punched the punching bag; it had been nearly a week since he had arrived and by now was fairly used to the routine. He was also used to an emotion that after he had witnessed his family's deaths had been new to him; anger.
"Slower!" Slade demanded walking over to him. Skipper slowed his punches until it looked like he was in slow motion; it made him feel like an idiot and only ticked him off more.
"Are you trying to make me look stupid?" Skipper muttered.
"I know you're angry boy; and anger can make you stronger but it can also distract you and make you lose a battle; you must learn to control your temper" Slade snapped.
"Whack!" Slade's wing slammed into the back of Skipper's head; one of the eagle's many ways to teach respect; or try to anyway.
"Am I doing this right Slade?" Hans called from the obstacle course; Hans had told Skipper that the more he showed his temper the longer he would have to "pretend punch" things such as the punching bag. He was also learning quite swiftly not to mention Deadshot around Slade; whom seemed to want nothing to do with the lemur. Skipper had twice asked him in the first week about why he would have killed Skipper's family and the only response he had gotten was being slapped in the face and a "do I look like I have all the answers?" reply. Skipper glowered at the punching bag and felt sudden energy flood through his veins; like a fire was absorbing him. He wanted to punch something hard; bite it, tear it apart; make it seemingly suffer for his pain and fury at his family's violent end.
"Can I stop now?" Skipper asked Slade. The eagle looked up from where he was helping Hans to do a back flip.
"If you're done with your fury" Slade replied; it was infuriating when he never gave a straight answer.
"Can I try an actual opponent" Skipper asked; hopeful. Maybe the burning fire would leave him alone if he got a chance to use some of it against something that would fight back.
"It's too early in your training; the last thing you need is to break something" Slade muttered.
"I can go easy on him" Hans pointed out; he looked like he was ready to burst with excitement. He just wanted to show he was better at fighting than Skipper; whom hadn't been training as long. Slade glanced at both youngsters and reluctantly agreed.
"Ok; go ahead" Slade moved out of the way and Skipper and Hans circled each other; the first major move of any battle; one of the first things Slade had taught him.
"Scared Skippy?" Hans teased playfully; the puffin never took anything seriously. The nickname Skippy only infuriated him more; his heart began to pound wildly; only his family called him that, and there was no way Hand could ever replace them!
"It's Skipper!" Skipper lunged at the puffin and landed heavily on the ground when the puffin moved out of the way. Hans lunged forward to attack and Skipper flipped onto his back and pushed Hans over him with his feet and the puffin flew forward. Slade seemed slightly interested when Skipper did this. The puffin managed to land on his feet; but the landing was extremely clumsy and it gave Skipper the perfect opportunity to attack. He landed a well-aimed punch on Hans's shoulder. The puffin slipped and started to fall but to Skipper's shock, the puffin as he fell kicked Skipper's legs out from under him and the penguin slammed into the ground. Shock from the blow and move was enough to stun him long enough for Hans to pin him down after swiftly recovering from Skipper's blow.
"Looks like I win" Hans helped Skipper back to his feet.
"That was a cool move; mind showing me sometime?" Skipper asked; he had to admit that had been a pretty awesome move and he was determined to learn everything he could from both his mentor Slade and his new friend Hans.
"Sure no problem; but I have to warn you it's a little tricky to learn; anyway that was a nice move with flipping onto your back to keep me from pinning you" Hans said.
"Thanks" Skipper said; for once pleased with himself; though the fire remained, but not as strong as before.
"How'd we do?" Hans and Skipper asked in chorus.
"Hans you should have landed more gracefully when he flung you; so work on the landing and Skipper got too cocky and wasn't prepared at all for a counter attack; so you both need to work on it" Slade huffed; he didn't seem to be very impressed with what either had done. Skipper felt anger surge through him; couldn't Slade at least praise them a little?
What do you guys think of the little training session? Please comment below.