I'm back with a new chapter. We'll be continuing on with some more slice of life stuff, while setting things up for future chapters. Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 9: Road to Heroism V

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Taylor stood in her room and did some basic stretches. Alright, so how are we doing this?

'Well, to start, I'll have you do some basic katas. I'll show you them in your mind and I want you to copy me. I'll have you run through them as I give a better explanation of things'

Kiana ran a few basic poses for Taylor to take. They weren't anything complex, just a simple set of forms that flowed into one another. While confused at both the simplicity of the forms and the need to go through them, she did so anyway. It took a bit of correcting from Kiana, that thankfully for Taylor didn't require a fish or a frying pan for her to eventually get it right. After a few tries she was going through the motions without much trouble, though she had to take it slow. So, what's the point of all this?

'It's meant to train your body in the basic movements it needs. In a fight you don't always have time to think and can only act. The goal is for you to eventually have your body know what it needs to do before your mind does.'

This sounds like something out of a cheesy martial arts movie.

'HEY! THOSE MOVIES ARE GREAT! Even if the action tends to be more show martial arts rather than anything practical.'

So you don't deny you got it from martial arts movies. Kiana rolled her eyes.

'Regardless, it still applies here. Now, what I'm having you do is the basics upon which you'll be learning the Kaslana's Gun-kata.'

What the hell is Gun-kata?

'It's a fighting style that involves shooting guns while you punch and kick.'

Why?

'Why not?'

Cause it seems pointless to punch and shoot something at the same time. Kiana waved her off.

'Your thinking too small, trust me you'll need it. Granted you won't be using it against normal people unless you want to shoot them.'

I'm pretty sure the authorities will crack down on me pretty hard if I used lethal force against most villainous capes.

'Right, thankfully we can separate the shooting from the punching and kicking.'

Why do they need to be together in the first place?!

'Hey, you never know when it'll be useful.'

Taylor really wanted to argue the point further, but felt she wouldn't get far.

'By the way, your forms off again.'

"Grrrrrrrrr!" Taylor growled as she corrected her form.

Okay so I'll be learning how to punch with and without guns. How will I be learning Gun-kata when we don't have any guns? Heck I've never even fired a gun before.

'Good point, you should see about going to a firing range at some point. As for your other point, I'm working on that. My ability to mentally wack you has given me some ideas.'

They don't involve me getting hit with a frying pan or fish, do they?

'What? No! How would that even help in this situation?'

I just wanted to be sure. Taylor continued to go through the forms. While most of the time she did them correctly, occasionally Kiana will have to correct her form. As she went through them however, this occurred less and less frequently. After about a half an hour of this, a thought occurred to Taylor. Say, what if I run into a situation where hand to hand is no good, but neither is using guns?

'Hmmm… good point. Maybe we should see about getting some sort of non-lethal firearms. Although, since I'm already teaching Gun-kata, I can teach you the super secret Kaslana family technique.'

Really, that'd be…

'The secret art of the baseball bat.'

Taylor actually stopped mid transition to the next form. She gawked at the claim.

'Stunned speechless I see. I don't blame you, it is quite the family secret.'

Taylor just stood there gawking while Kiana seemed to radiate an aura of pure pride. Taylor was actively trying to figure out if Kiana was being serious or not.

'Of course I am, well kind of. I'm pretty sure I mentioned using a bat once or twice when I told you the story of my life.'

Yeah, but you never called it a secret family technique or whatever. How much can there be to a baseball bat beyond swinging it at someone?

'Hey now, there's a lot that goes into swinging a bat. Besides I doubt you can just pick up a bat and block machine gun fire.'

I'm sorry WHAT?!

'That reminds me, we'll need some way of getting something better than a standard metal bat. I doubt you can use that to block bullets without it getting badly damaged.'

Taylor just stood there, unsure how to respond.

'Hey you might want to get back to your training. You should get in as much as you can before your friend comes.'

Taylor stood there for a bit, before resuming where she left off. Nothing was said for the rest of the session. After a while, the time for Rosemary's arrival drew near. She stopped and changed out of her workout clothes into a nicer outfit. As she was putting her top on, she heard the doorbell ring. Slightly surprised, she checked the time.

"She's early." Taylor muttered.

With her top on, Taylor ran down stairs and opened the door.

"Hey Rose." She greeted her friend.

"Hey Tay." Rose returned cheerfully. "Hope you don't mind if I'm a bit early."

Taylor shook her head no.

"It's fine." She added. "Feel free to come in."

She stepped aside and let Rose inside.

"I had just finished changing out of my workout clothes when you came so you weren't really interrupting anything." Taylor assured her as she closed the door.

"Workout clothes? You're working out?" Rose asked as she hung up her coat.

"Yeah, something to do with my free time since I'm off from school till about February." Taylor answered. "It also had been helping me deal with the whole thing with Winslow. Even with that largely behind me, I've kept at it out of habit."

"That's good to hear." She noted. "I actually do some exercises myself, though it's mainly for kendo practice."

"You do Kendo? That's kind of cool." Taylor noted.

"Thanks," Rose replied as she took a look around the house.

To her it looked fairly well maintained and had a quaint charm to it. Taylor however, was feeling very self conscious about the state of her home.

"Sorry it's not super nice. Didn't really have time to clean up." Taylor expressed.

"Oh no, everything looks fine. I actually kind of like it. Your house is a bit smaller than mine but it's quaint and has a nice charm to it. And, given you don't have a bunch of siblings running around, you actually have a lot more room when compared to my place." She replied.

"You mentioned having brothers and sisters, how many?" Taylor asked.

"Three little brothers and a little sister. I'm the oldest." She explained.

Taylor openly gawked at that. Rose laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah… my parents got a little busy." She noted.

Taylor blushed at that, but quickly shook it off.

"Moving on…" She quickly stated. "What do you want to do? Cause I've got nothing. Haven't done stuff like this in a while."

"I'm fine with just watching T.V. We don't have to do anything special." Rose replied.

"Works for me. Right in here." Taylor directed.

She led Rose into the living room. She grabbed the remote while Rose sat down on the sofa. She joined her soon after and turned on the T.V.

"I think Galactic Girls Z is on, don't know if you…" Taylor began.

"YOU LIKE GGZ TOO?!" Rose exclaimed.

She suddenly grabbed hold of Taylor and violently pulled her face to face. Rose bore into Taylor's eyes with a crazed look. Taylor stared back with wide eyes, taken aback by Rose's sudden outburst.

"Ah… yeah… the story's really good, the action is well done, and the romance between Mamaki and Pipi is really cute." Taylor answered.

"I know right!" Rose exclaimed, letting go of Taylor. "God, I wish I was in Mamaki's shoes. Pipi is sooooooo handsome."

Taylor giggled at that.

"I get what you mean. He's certainly easy on the eyes." She noted.

"I know right! He's such a hunk of man-meat. Oh what won't give to feel his toned abs, glide my hands along his muscular arms, stroke his manly chest, pin him down and…" She stopped, realizing where she was going.

With a beet red face, she slowly and mechanically jerked to look at Taylor. Her friend was staring at her with a wide-eyed look of surprise. She felt her face continue to heat. After what felt like an eternity, she coughed in her hand as though to clear her throat.

"W-w-w-why don't we watch that? It might not be a new episode, but I always enjoy a rerun." She stated.

"Aaaaaaaaah… sure." Taylor replied.

She changed to the correct channel and the two settled in. It wasn't long before the episode started with the opening playing. While Taylor was content to sit back and enjoy the episode, Rose was a much more animated viewer. Despite having already seen the episode, she was enthusiastically going along with everything. She shouted out attack names and acted out the motions to them as well as quoted some memorable lines. Eventually a commercial break came and Rose calmed down.

"You're REALLY a fan of this show aren't you?" Taylor noted with a hint of humor.

Rose's face turned beet red again as she remembered she wasn't in her house.

"Ahahahaha… yeah…" She muttered.

Taylor chuckled.

"Hey, I won't judge. I might not be as enthusiastic about it as you are, but I still really like the show." She assured her friend.

"Thanks, I'm glad you like it. When I brought it up with my old friends they… nearly dumped me because of it." Rose explained.

"Seriously, for liking a show?" Taylor questioned. "I get you get… excited about it, but that's no reason to not be friends with someone."

"Hmph… some uncultured swines still have a stigma about anime." Rose declared, sticking her nose up. "And they let that get in the way of the masterpiece of a show that is GGZ."

Taylor laughed a little at that. Soon the episode started back up, and Rose was back to animatedly following along with it.

Later…

Danny walked up to the door with two large pizza pies in his hands, which he hoped would be enough. While he doubted Taylor realized it, her appetite had been gradually increasing over the past few weeks. It hadn't been fast and he wasn't sure if it was her increased training regiment or her powers causing it. Regardless, two would normally be enough to easily feed three people while leaving leftovers. However, with Taylor's increased appetite, he wasn't so sure.

Resting the boxes on his hip, he opened the door and went inside. The sound of chatter filled the house.

"Are you serious? How can you like Blacc more than Mamaki? Mamaki is the main character, and she's the most loveable ball of sunshine ever!" An unfamiliar voice spoke.

That must be Rosemary. Danny mentally noted.

"I just like Blacc's character development more." His daughter returned. "Seeing her go from badass antagonist to tragic villain to rival and lifelong friend of Mamaki really appealed to me. And her character is so well written."

"Hey, Mamaki's character development is nothing to scoff at either. Her journey from a naive but lovable girl to an experienced and strong woman all while retaining her kindness is so inspiring, especially with all she goes through." The other voice responded.

"I'm not saying Mamaki's a bad character, I'm just saying Blacc is better and I like her more. Her backstory really resonated with me for some reason. Seeing her trying to be a hero but end up slowly falling into villainy was both interesting and made her return to the side of good all the more impactful." His daughter pointed out.

"That's... fair… but I still argue Mamaki is better." The other voice declared. "Though as much as I love Mamaki's and Pipi's as a ship. Blacc's and Tortade's is SOooooo much better."

His daughter giggled.

"Won't argue with that." She relented.

They both giggled, bringing a smile to Danny's face. I have no idea what they're talking about, but they seemed to be having fun at least. He walked towards the living room.

"Sorry to interrupt your riveting discussion, but pizza's here." He stated as the two girls came into view.

Both girls turned to look at him.

"Hey dad." Taylor greeted him with a wave. "This is Rose. Rose, meet dad."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Hebert." Rose greeted him with a slight bow.

"Likewise, and just call me Danny. Mr. Hebert is my father's name." Danny replied.

Rose let out a light laugh, while Taylor just rolled her eyes.

"Then nice to meet you Danny." Rose amended.

"That's better, now come on, this pizza isn't going to eat itself." He declared before making his way into the kitchen.

The two girls entered as well. Taylor went to grab paper plates while Danny placed the pizza on the counter. He set one off to the side before opening the other. He then opened a drawer to pull out the pizza cutter.

"Hopefully we have enough." Danny muttered.

Taylor looked at him with confusion.

"Why wouldn't we have enough?" She asked.

Danny chuckled.

"Oh… I think you'll see." He replied.

Taylor tilted her head to the side, a confused look on her face. The look was mirrored by Rose.

A few moments later…

Rose had a look of surprise on her face as Taylor finished off her sixth slice of pizza. The two had gone back to watching T.V while Danny ate in the kitchen. She herself only had four. A fair amount, especially since she was said to be the biggest eater in her family, though she felt her brothers would surpass her in a few years. The fact that Taylor could eat six without much trouble was impressive, not the most impressive but impressive given what she knew of the girl. Taylor let out a content sigh. Her father's snort drew her attention. He was standing in the entryway to the living room.

"Had enough?" He asked.

Taylor blushed.

"Hmph… I am a growing girl who has been doing some intense workouts. It's only natural that I'd eat a lot." She declared.

'Pretty sure it's the fact that I could eat enough for ten people bleeding into you slowly.'

I know, but I can't exactly say that in front of Rose.

"Even still, six is a lot." Rose pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure some guys from school could eat more." Taylor pointed out.

"Yeah, guys being the key word. Most girls can't pull that off." Rose noted.

Taylor rolled her eyes. Danny chuckled.

"Well, I'll let you girls be. Before I forget though, Rose, will you need a ride home? I doubt your parents would want you wandering the city at night by yourself." He brought up.

"My mom's picking me up on her way home. Thanks though." Rose replied.

"You're welcome." Danny replied before he left the girls to their devices.

He headed upstairs to relax in his bedroom.

"So what should we do now? The GGZ reruns are over and I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of Taruto, too much filler." Rose asked.

"Honestly, I don't watch much anime beyond GGZ." Taylor replied.

"Lame," Rose muttered.

The two racked their brains to come up with something to do, before settling on just talking about various things until Rose's mom showed up. When that time came, Rose and Taylor said their goodbyes and agreed to make plans to hangout again at some point. Waving goodbye as she left the house, Rose got in the passenger side of her mother's minivan.

"Did you have fun?" Her mother asked.

Rose looked at her mother. Mary (Thatcher) Sato was an incredibly beautiful woman with long black hair who looked young for her age to the point that if it weren't for her daughter's asian looks, many would confuse her for Rose's older sister. Despite this, she was actually almost forty. Rose smiled.

"Yeah, I'm glad you told me to try and reach out to her." Rose admitted.

Mary giggled as she shifted the van into drive.

"You know what they say…" She began.

"Mother knows best." Mary and Rose finished.

The two laughed as the four kids in the back seat remained fast asleeped, tired from all the playing they did tonight.

Two days later…

It was Friday night when it happened. Not much had occurred since Taylor hung out with Rosemary. She continued her training like usual, studied as normal, and continued to try and figure out a way to convince her father to let her go scavenging for parts instead of buying them.

'Your still on about that?'

I'm stubborn!

Not much happened beyond that brief conversation in that regard. However, tonight would be the night things would change a bit.

'I think I've got it.'

Was what Kiana declared not long after Taylor finished channeling her honkai energy. Got what?

'You remember that thing I brought up Wednesday. That idea I got from being able to mentally hit you.'

NO MORE TUNA! Taylor covered her head.

'What the… it doesn't involve a tuna! Also I haven't even done anything like that since Wednesday and you can't protect your head from it by covering it.'

Oh yeah… guess I'm already traumatized by it.

'But I haven't even done it that long.'

ANYWAYS! This idea you mentioned.

'Oh right, like I said, I think I'm able to do it. You just need to go to bed and leave the rest to me.'

Alright… Taylor replied skeptically. Deciding to trust Kiana, she relaxed for a bit before preparing herself for bed. Once her teeth were bushed and her pajamas were on, she closed her eyes and went to sleep…

…

…

…

…Taylor slowly opened her eyes to an unfamiliar yet breathtaking sight. Tall lush green mountains like she'd seen in pictures from China rose up to touch the bright blue sky above. Clouds flowed gently through the mountain range. She realized she was standing upon a relatively small plateau area within these mountains.

"Where am I?" Taylor muttered.

"Welcome to Mount Taixuan Taylor-chan." She heard Kiana speak.

Taylor spun around to see her headmate standing before her in the flesh. She was dressed in her White Comet battlesuit with a white jacket that was grey around her shoulder area with orange sleeves, lining, and zipper over top of it.

"I hope you're ready to continue your training." Kiana declared.

And that's a wrap, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Till next time. If you want me to be able to produce more content, please consider supporting me on subscribe star. (search zmanxv and the link is on my deviantart page).