Chapter 9: What once was
A/N: Welcome to the weekend! You guys get two chapters today, so first you get a filler chapter! (Like the last two weren't…) Anyways, I hope you enjoy! If you like the story, check out A Thief's Quarrel: Izzy and A Thief's Quarrel: Dapper Thief. It is a crossover with Izzy and a master thief, and it will contain more action than this story has had so far. Since the entire chapter is a flashback, it won't be italicized. I fixed chapter 8 a little bit, some grammar issues and a rushed intro.
Izzy winced and couldn't help but let out a small groan. His left leg had turned into a shredded mess from the previous obstacle, the cuts so deep that bone was visible in some places. Dragging himself off to the side, he set about channeling his ASL into a concentrated burst, and his skin weaved and stitched itself back together. Testing his leg, he cursed the engineers of the new course. ASL did fix wounds, but didn't make up for lost blood. He had already been injured twice before, and was feeling slightly dizzy.
He checked the device strapped to his arm. He was third out of tenth currently, Lightning and Cyrus were slightly ahead of him, probably unhindered by the barbed wire Izzy had come across.
The light drizzle that had previously accompanied the training session turned into a vicious downpour, soaking the ground and turning the hardly packed dirt into a pool of mud. Taking a deep breath, Izzy dove back into the storm to finish the course.
oo0OO0oo
Izzy fell unto his dorm bed, the usual stiff and rigidness of it feeling like a godsend. He was both physically and mentally exhausted, and small amounts of bile worked it's way up to his sore throat as he gasped for air. His muscles finally relaxed, and Izzy was on his way towards a deep sleep. His eyes began to close slowly, the backdrop of reality fading as sleep overtook his mind.
"ON YOUR FEET CADET IZZY!" A voice loudly interrupted. Izzy instantly snapped to attention and fell to a light battle stance, not entirely sure what the person said due to him being only half conscious. One the words had registered, he changed his stance to a formal salute, recognizing the squad commander Richter. Richter and Cyrus held the position of commander meaning they had authority over all the squads, while Lightning, Simon, and Arc were squad leaders.
"Sir?" Izzy questioned, having not yet broken the formal salute pose.
Richter looked him up and down, before saying "At ease cadet. Tonight at 2400 hours, your ASL will take on defining characteristics, enhancing your natural strengths. Central command requires all units in the squad to arrive at least one hour early for measuring purposes. You know where the usual gathering hall is, so I expect you to be on time and ready for it. Any questions?" Izzy nodded his head, and Richter went to wake up the next unlucky squad mate.
oo0OO0oo
"What do you mean I don't have a defining ASL power!?" Izzy demanded, embarrassed and enraged by the ordeal.
"All the other units in your squad have shown signs of improvement to due ASL capacity. For example, your squad leader Lightning had a remarkable improvement in both agility and speed. You however, have not shown any major signs of growth in any areas. Unfortunately, this means you will be held back while the other squads progress to stage two." The man finished, boredom evident on his voice.
Izzy was devastated, everything he had worked so hard for was thrown out the window because his stupid ASL didn't work right. He was tempted to break the commissioner's nose to see how strong Izzy really was, but luckily for both of them, someone spoke up.
"Sir." Lightning began, having slipped into the room during Izzy's questioning. "Don't you think it is too early to completely erase any chance of cadet Izzy's success? He was administered with the ASL enhancements later than any other unit, and yet he has shown remarkable improvement in all areas despite that. He also had the highest versatility out of the units, being able to be matched up against any other specialist and coming out victorious because of it."
The man squinted, before turning to Lightning. "If you want your credibility on the line, I can move him along with the rest to stage 2. Know that if he does not perform as well as you say he will, loss of your squad leader status will ensue."
Lightning nodded firmly. "It's a risk I'm willing to take."
A/N: Short chapter, I know. But you are getting another (longer) one today, and I felt the need to flesh out part of Izzy's relationship with the characters mentioned in the previous flashbacks. You also got your first taste of ASL having a limit; and don't worry about Mary Sues (power wise). ASL will have many limits to be tested… but limits were meant to be broken, weren't they? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!