JADE'D ROSES
CHAPTER FOUR: MAKIN MY WAY DOWN MEMORY LANE
Normal Writing- Present Joe's Narration
Bold Writing- Present Doc's Narration
Italic Writing- Flashback Joe/Doc
"So you were friends before, then?" Ruby asked, referring to Joe and Doc.
"How do you figure that?" Joe asked suspiciously.
"Well, you just tased him and he was completely cool with it. That's some hardcore friendship right there." Yang stated. They shrugged.
"How'd you guys meet anyway?" Ruby asked curiously again.
"That's a long and uninteresting story, are you sure you want to know?" Joe shot back. Ruby shrugged.
"Sure, why not." She agreed.
"I don't think your taking this seriously." Doc broke in. "But, fine. I feel a flashback is in order."
ONE FLASHBACK COMING UP
For as long as I can remember, Doc's just been there. He just showed up one day, and a friendship built on sass was established.
The first memory I have of us when we met in detention.
"So, how'd you get detention?" Joe had asked me as we walkedout of our detention.
"Beat up a kid." I had replied uninterested. Joe nodded.
"For what?" He said, unfazed.
"He stole my cookie." I answered simply. "I got it back. How about you?" I asked back.
"I sassed four teachers." Joe had said. "I regret nothing."
"Why would you do that?" I asked.
"They practically asked for it." Joe defended himself.
"I like your style, kid." I had complimented. Joelooked weirdly at me.
TIME-SKIP! FIRST DAY AT KOMBAT SKOOL
So, we went to our first day of combat school together a couple years after that.
"I can't wait to get there!" Doc had exclaimed.
"Ten bucks says you'll get your ass kicked ten minutes in." I had sassed back.
"Whatever, let's get this over with." Doc had replied.
They opened the doors to a scene of other first year students looking quite excited.
That's when the principle came out. She said something about 'respect' and 'dire consequences' but I wasn't really listening at that point, until she told us to gather round for the team selection.
"I've read over each of your files before you even arrived and your teams have already been selected-" She started, but was cut off.
By me, of course.
"Uh, not sure how I feel about that." Joe had interrupted. She didn't like that too much.
"I'm not sure how I feel about interruptions either but shit, they happen." She said. Joe huffed.
"Well then." Joe replied indignantly, crossing his arms.
"Okay, we'll do this a different way. Perhaps you'd like to face off against the top student accepted this year." She challenged. I had no intentions of doing so, but…
"Uh, actually that's-" Joe had tried to decline.
"Joe will take on anyone you've got!" Doc broke in. "He's not afraid of the likes of you! He'll give 'em the ol' one-two!"
"Buckle your shoe!" Joe finished.
"Three-four!"
"Right to the floor!" Joe pointed to the ground enthusiastically.
"So who's the sorry sap that's gonna lose to my friend!" Doc shouted.
"I don't know him." Joe replied, stepping away from him.
"Me." A voice had said from behind. They turned around to see a girl our age with brown hair in a ponytail wearing a light purple hoodie and jeans. None other than Erin Atkins.
"You're going down!" Doc insisted.
"Stop speaking for me! Or at all, really." Joe replied.
"We'll see about that." Erin said calmly.
The other students formed a circle around the two, Doc stepped back a few feet to stand in the crowd.
"This is gonna be great." He said to the broody kid next to him.
"Hmm." The strange boy grunted. Doc looked at him strangely.
"Who're you?" Doc asked.
"…Alex." He said quietly, looking away. Doc nodded.
"I'm Mike, but my friends call me Doc."
"…hey, Mike." The boy replied. Doc blanched.
"Wow, I've known you for twenty-three seconds and I already hate you." Doc quipped.
"Hmm." The boy said again.
Meanwhile, back in the ring.
Erin back-flipped into a fighting stance, to which Joe backed up and waited for this to be over.
"Ready, begin!" The principle had signaled.
Erin charged at Joe, who just stood there lowered his hands. Erin pounced at him, ready to kick but Joe sidestepped, making no attempt at a counter attack
"Foe Erin used High Jump Kick! But it failed." Joe mocked her.
Erin began to get frustrated and let loose a flurry of punches straight at Joe's face but he once again avoided them all… somehow, and continued to sass her.
"Aww come on, I've seen left-handed people give better right hooks than that." Joe quipped again.
Erin became visibly frustrated at Joe's mockery and disappeared angirly in a bright flash of bright purple light
"Soo… Does this mean I win?" Joe asked, confused.
"Not by a long shot." Erin said, appearing behind him confidently.
'Shit' was the only thought Joe had before Erin let loose a devastating strike to Joe's lower back.
"Ow, my kidney!" Joe grunted. "That's okay I have another one."
Erin teleported again only this time she appeared in front of him and delivered a powerful knee straight to his stomach. Joe fell to his knees immediately after.
"I call witchcraft." He said between coughs.
The principle sighed and decided to take pity on the boy as she called out.
"That's it I've seen enough." She called "Just as impressive as your file said Ms. Atkins." She complimented.
Erin chuckled, looking down at the broken boy in yellow.
"What's the matter no more smartass comments?" Erin said, smiling smugly. Joe was quiet for a beat.
"Plenty, but you'll probably leave me here on the cold hard ground." Joe said while still hunched over in pain.
"You're something else, kid." She said with a roll of her eyes as she helped him to his feet.
"Now that that's settled, will you let me hand out the teams now?" The principle asked. Joe nodded. "But, after… that, I've reconsidered my team formation."
And after her telling us about teams none of us cared about, she finally introduced…
"Team JADE, consisting of…
Joe Wise
Alex Chambers
Mike Doc
-"Dammit!"- Doc screamed from the crowd.
Erin Atkins.
And shall be led by… Joe Wise!" The principle announced.
"Question; WHY THE HELL IS HE THE LEADER?" Doc questioned loudly.
"Despite the asskicking that just took place before us, I believe Mr. Wise has what it takes to lead more than we think." She replied.
"Great! Then I'll lead the way to the cafeteria, let's go team!" Joe said, strutting off with nobody following. Doc sighed.
FLASHBACK TIME OVER
"And thus, team JADE was born." Joe said proudly.
Ruby sat there, stunned.
"That wasn't what I expected at all." Yang said. Erin shrugged.
"It's pretty much what happened." She said.
"Pretty much?" Blake questioned.
"Yeah," Erin started. "Joe didn't do as well."
Well, that's a wrap. This one's for you NatGeo-guy! Thanks for your belief in us NatGeo-guy!