Chapter 7: Training Daze
The planet was within sight… After seven long years he could finally sense them…
Shuggazoom, home to one city… at least, one city that still stood. Its oceans and the wild lands around it, an endless source of danger for its citizens, their city was their refuge…
He chuckled, holding his staff up, gazing into the crystal as the reflection in its facets began to shift.
It wasn't long before he could see him now.
A young boy with dark hair and shining blue eyes. He was sitting with five colorful monkeys outside of the base. talking, laughing… He was content, his posture relaxed as he enjoyed a breeze that blew through the area.
The facets shifted again, revealing a war torn battlefield, another boy, this one blond with orange and black streaks in his hair, running away from a monster, flanked by two tigers.
It flickered again, as a young girl ducked from an attack, a humanoid rabbit landing in front of her to shield her.
A boy surrounded by dragons as he looked around in shock.
Everything was shifting as it did so long ago.
He sneered as he forced it to reveal Chiro's face in particular once more.
"Enjoy your days now, Boy… but our game has to resume. After 50 long years you appear before me now…" The king chuckled, his bony fingers gripping the staff tightly. "You and those like you will soon fall to my reign of darkness."
He looked up at the monitors aboard his ship, waving his hand.
"Let's see… What will I use to test you first…"
The first image he saw was a young man in his twenties, a long blade in hand, dodging enemies left and right. He was agile as he expertly leaped over each one, cutting them down mercilessly, his long hair flying out behind him, green eyes shining with rage…
Before his knees buckled as he fell forward, his sword clattering across the ground.
"Hmm…" He scratched at his chin thoughtfully.
No… Not quite yet.
He'll be punished for that mistake later.
As each monitor revealed part of his massive ship that served as the hub for all of his creations, he soon decided on what he considered a classic.
"I think for the boys first test… Formless shall do…"
It is your move, Boy.
Let's see if you can make it to adulthood this time.
oooooo
No one spoke about the "coffee incident" in the days following.
Mila had returned with Otto and a slew of groceries and had spent the rest of that day throwing out everything expired she found… and the MREs.
"Wait! What are you doing?"
"Goose, Maverick, you two can try to stop me but if you poison my brother, I'll be permanently your problem."
"... Sparx, go get her another garbage bag."
"Sir yes sir!"
Instead, it was time to get the base fully ready and find what "normal" looked like now.
"So, I'll drop out-"
Mila choked on her rice, sputtering as she hit her chest.
"GACK!"
She looked across the table, her gaze narrowed.
"No. You can train with them but you come home after and you're still going to school."
"Gibson said he could teach me way more than school!"
"I'll… talk to him. I still need to process all of this…"
Chiro huffed.
"Fine."
"Don't give me that pout after I had to drink liquid wood chips. I feel like you owe me a little compromise here."
He figured he shouldn't push his luck with the rate he was going. He knew his sister better than anyone…
And he knew she was throwing herself into work and pretending everything was fine to her customers and high profile clients for the sake of keeping things "normal" for his sake.
Instead of rushing home to do homework and work a couple of hours, he was, instead, running home to get his duffle bag and book it across town as fast as he could so he could train.
He grimaced as he trudged down the now familiar path to the base.
His first round hadn't exactly been "fun" for anyone involved.
That was the hardest thing, if you asked him.
The training room was made up of black metallic paneling, an eerie blue glow coming up from between the tiles under their feet.
On the far cover was a control panel Gibson was currently typing a command into.
He and Mila were sitting against the wall, staying close to each other, talking quietly.
"So, what do you think'll happen?" She asked, keeping her voice just above a whisper.
Chiro looked around.
"I'm not sure. I mean… We worked on the punching stuff. I can throw a decent one now."
"I swear, if they break you…"
A set of metallic pillars rose up from the floor.
"Chiro!" Antauri called over to them. "It's time."
Chiro took a deep breath, pushing himself up off the floor, dusting himself off. He looked down at Mila, giving a shrug.
He walked over, getting into a defensive stance.
Antauri's eyes narrowed, flicking his fingers, as the metal shivered to life. shifting and transforming… as two eerie, green claws replaced his hands, made up of solid energy.
Chiro's eyes widened.
Nova looked between them.
"Ready… and… FIGHT!"
Chiro rushed forward, rearing his fist back.
"HYAH-!"
And five minutes later was running for his life as he was trying to dodge every attack sent his way.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"DUCK!" Mila called out.
He dove for the ground as Antauri's claws narrowly missed his head - he was avoiding actually landing any blows for real…
But the heat from the weapons still was present as he fell forward…
SPLAT!
Right onto his face.
"Ow…"
Antauri winced.
"Perhaps we need to go back to the full basics…"
Mila lunged to her feet, starting to storm onto the field until Otto flew in front of her using his rocket pack.
"Let me at him-"
"I got her!"
Chiro grimaced, rubbing his face.
"I guess they really do make it look easy on TV…" He groaned. "Can I try again?"
"NO-"
"Of course."
But that had been two weeks ago. He was making leaps and bounds as far as basic combat went…
Today was going to be a good one too.
They had held off on a proper sparring match until he was used to fighting harmless holograms and dodging punches, zero weapons involved.
As he approached the base, he noticed something was off.
Until now, they had been using the camouflage shield he had encountered the first time… as he approached now, he could see it fully.
The base was massive, at least 3 stories in reality, made to resemble a great tree. The 'bark' was made up of a mix of metal and some kind of material to make it appear realistic. He ran his hand along it, noting it might've been a mixture of both.
He craned his neck upwards. The roof was hidden by lush, thick greenery that, as he squinted… he stifled a laugh.
Whoever designed the thing had a sense of humor, he decided, noting that it did produce fruit…
"Bananas?" He chuckled. "Really?"
Still, the place gave off a welcoming vibe. He couldn't help but be drawn in every time, even on days he was exhausted from the prior day's work out, he was still eager.
He placed his hand on the touchpad, walking in without effort. He threw his backpack in the corner, stretching his arms over his head.
He'd take care of his homework later.
Besides, I gotta see if I can wear Gibson down to help me with it… I bet if I tell him, it might help sway Mila he'll jump on it.
He sighed.
He understood why she was still insisting he stick to some kind of routine, but he had to admit, that was getting old. He didn't want to keep dealing with the same things…
The itchy uniform sweater.
The teachers with their droning voices.
Urban exploring, usually with results like falling into a well or unfinished basement.
The same thing, day in and day out, for years.
It was all so… so…
BORING!
Now, every day was something new… Exciting. Learning a new technique or exploring a section of the base he hadn't' before…
No one had let him even BREATHE near the hangar yet but he was getting there.
"I'm saying, once we know you can hold your own in battle on the GROUND then and only then are we gonna talk about piloting." Sparx said as he polished his weapon - a giant magnet, until it shined, revealing his reflection grinning back at him. "Trust me, I was eager too but you gotta run before you can fly."
"Oh come on…!"
"Take it up with Antauri, not me."
Oh, I'll take it up with Antauri alright.
I'm gonna beat him today and then I'm gonna get into that hangar!
Chiro hurried into the orange elevator.
In seconds, it shot up as he let out a yelp of surprise.
That was STILL on the list of things to fix around here.
As it rushed upwards, he braced himself as it opened up to the main room, lurching on the last few feet as it sent him flying.
"UWAH!"
This time, he was prepared as he reached forward. The moment his hands met the floor, his entire body contorted to follow as Chiro rolled into it on his side. The second he did so, he used the momentum to pop up again, upright.
"YES!" He cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "I DIDN'T GO SPLAT!"
"I see the training has been taking some effect."
Chiro turned around, seeing Antauri was already waiting for him.
"Yeah, a little… by the way, how come mine's the only one still doing that?"
Antauri grimaced, his tail curling up a bit.
"We're still figuring that out, admittedly. Otto plans to work on it again after our sparring match today."
Chiro grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You're… not gonna actually try to beat me up right?"
Antauri's gaze softened as he let out a sigh.
Am I really that intimidating…?
"I will do my best to simulate a real life scenario but I will not actually try to harm you."
Chiro cringed.
He kept shuffling backwards at every attack aimed in his direction. He was doing a fairly good job, he thought of avoiding any punches aimed in his direction…
Until Antauri grabbed his ankle, using his tail to bring Chiro down, slamming him HARD into the training room floor.
THUD!
"OW!"
If that was holding bac, with no claws, what's today gonna look like…?
And that was just with Antauri…
Chiro shuddered.
I thought Nova was gonna break me.
There was no way out. He had to find some kind of diversion.
Nova was hot on his heels and as she lunged for him, she managed to barely get ahold of his shirt as he ducked out of the way.
Spotting a distraction at the control panel.
With a wicked smile, he broke into a sprint…
Right towards Gibson.
He put up his hands, shaking his head.
"NONONO-"
Chiro scooped up the scientist without much effort, swinging around with him in front of his face.
Nova stopped short, her fist inches away as Gibson leaned his head far away from her.
"Oh, that was just dirty." She scoffed. "Clever, but dirty."
Gibson craned his neck, his eyes alit with rage.
"Put. Me. Down. RIGHT NOW."
"You're being too hard on yourself again."
He sighed as he hefted his duffle bag higher up on his shoulder.
"I had to resort to basically using Gibson as a meat shield because Nova was gonna use my face to mop the floor. I think I should be a little harder on myself."
Antauri floated up to his eye level, his gaze stern.
"You're still learning. Nothing came to anyone easily… and you've made good progress. That was in the first few days."
"Says the guy who whooped me yesterday." He chuckled, shrugging.
"I did not "whoop" you as you said, I was merely… being creative." Antauri chuckled.
"Riiiight, being creative," he says. More like "I'm getting even for bringing your crazy sister around this place and making my life harder" am I right?"
"Let's… get to the training room. Go and make yourself presentable." Antauri cleared his throat. "And please, this time, avoid using one of our teammates as a living shield."
"So, I'm right." Chiro called over his shoulder, as he hurried off. "I'll see you upstairs!"
Antauri sighed, shaking his head.
What were they going to do with that boy?
oooooo
"So…" Sparx started as he lined up with the others along the south wall. "Odds of the kid actually lasting more than two minutes?"
"He managed three last week." Otto offered, giving a shrug. "There's hope."
Gibson scoffed, adjusting his scarf.
"Speak for yourself, he only got that third minute because he used me as a shield. I didn't see him gunning for either one of you."
"Cause you won't throw him. You're way too soft on him during matches." Sparx snickered. "You're like, the total opposite of Nova and Antauri. The second he hits the floor, you're all "OH CHIRO, WAS IT AWFUL!?"
"No I'm not!"
Nova covered her mouth, stifling a laugh.
"I thought between you and Mila, you were gonna kill Antauri that first day, Gibson."
Gibson crossed his arms.
"Well, excuse me!"
"You're excused." The other three chorused, all with matching grins.
The orange elevator dinged… as once more, Chiro had to roll into a fall as he went skidding across the floor.
"You NEED to fix that." Sparx grimaced. "You good!?"
"Yeah!" Chiro whirled around, his eyes lighting up with a newfound confidence. "Are you guys ready to see Antauri finally lose?!"
Otto and Sparx busted up laughing instantly at that.
Nova giggled, shaking her head, leaning on Sparx for support.
Gibson rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, a smirk on his face.
Instantly, the boy's face fell into an annoyed look.
"Oh, come on!"
"You've been…" Sparx wheezed. "Saying that for two weeks…"
"I mean, if you use the "Gibson Shield" again… maybe!" Nova giggled.
"Excuse me, he will be doing NO SUCH THING!"
Chiro couldn't help it, as he joined in, shaking his head.
"Pffftahahaha! You guys suck!"
The sound echoed through the room as Chiro's tension melted away with it.
Sparx looked over at the elevators, making sure Antauri hadn't appeared yet.
"Although, quick tip, watch the claws, forget his footwork. You've been focusing a lot on watching where Antauri's moving versus when he's gonna strike."
"I noticed that as well in our sparring sessions." Gibson hummed in thought.
Chiro grimaced.
"Gibson, you never even actually hit me though…"
"I TOLD YOU!" Sparx cackled, elbowing his brother. "You are way too protective!"
Otto scratched his chin.
"I mean, the most I can say is, do your best and don't worry too much about winning, just survive as long as you can. We're still training."
Chiro nodded, taking a deep breath.
"Right."
"And, for the love of all things wonderful in this universe…" Gibson gave the boy a stern glare. "Do NOT even look over here."
Chiro rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously.
"Ahahah… I know, I know… And if I do get the crap beaten out of me…?"
"Don't tell Mila!" Sparx grinned. "Or we're all in the stew!"
The black elevator chimed as Antauri walked out, looking over with an unamused look.
"Do not even remind me of that…" He rolled his eyes.
Chiro whirled around with a grin.
"Hey! Ready to lose?"
Antauri smirked.
"Are you speaking to yourself, Chiro?" He raised an eyebrow.
The boy gave a mock wince, doubling over as if he had actually been hit.
"Oh, that hurts! Ow!"
Sparx winced, stifling a laugh.
"Oh geeze, Antauri, that was brutal. I don't think even Gibson could fix that burn."
Gibson shook his head.
"No, no I can't."
Nova rolled her eyes.
"Ladies, ladies you're all gorgeous!"
Once more, laughter echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls…
That was the best part about all of this. The monkeys couldn't remember the last time any type of training ever resulted in moments like this. There had been a few… but they had been fleeting.
With Chiro, everything had changed so fast, yet they welcomed it at the same time.
Antauri smiled before his gaze turned serious.
"Ready?"
Chiro swallowed hard, giving a nod.
He took a deep breath, to steady himself.
It was all training.
Nothing bad was actually going to happen.
Nova moved from the south wall to the middle of the room.
Antauri and Chiro both dropped into defensive stances, circling around Nova, all mirth fading away from their eyes.
She raised her hand up, her rocket pack firing up.
"And… FIGHT!"
She flew up, dodging as Antauri lunged forward.
His hands quickly transformed into his claws as he flew right at Chiro's face.
Chiro dodged it as Antauri went flying across the floor.
In a moment, he was back up as Chiro started moving backwards, weaving around each slash.
His face was completely calm, a playful smile on his face.
Antauri furrowed his brow.
This was new.
Where did this confidence come from?
He growled, going for his legs instead, moving to sweep them out from under him…
Only for Chiro to backflip over it, propelling himself away from his opponent.
He was so quiet, instead of the usual yelling or running.
Something was different.
The others noticed it as well, watching as Chiro was effortlessly keeping up.
"Something's wrong…" Gibson murmured. "He's never like this."
Otto shivered.
"Why do I feel like I've seen that before?"
Chiro wasn't sure how to explain it but for some reason it wasn't such a hard feat to keep ahead of him this time. It was difficult - the last thing he wanted was to get a taste of those claws across his face… but somehow this was… familiar.
Antauri had never used the same attacks against him twice, so it was hard to prepare for any of their matches… and yet…
"Ah, ah!" He chuckled as he dodged and weaved around the black monkey. "You're being reckless, you're not thinking with your heart, you're thinking with your head… I know what you'll do next."
Antauri growled, lunging up, performing a spinning kick right towards his chest.
Chiro held up an arm blocking it with ease before his fist came around…
CRA-ACK!
Antauri let out a screech as he went flying, barely catching himself.
"WHOA!" Sparx gasped. "Did he just!?"
Nova cheered, pumping a fist in the air.
"He got the first strike!"
Antauri rubbed at his face, narrowing his eyes.
Chiro's eyes were glazed over as if he was in some kind of trance, a cocky grin on his face that hadn't been there before.
The boy's fists came up in a defensive position, holding still.
"Come on. Are you afraid of me now?" He asked, his voice steady.
Not at all how he was the day prior.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH HELP!"
"Chiro, get back here!"
Something's wrong…
"Chiro?"
Chiro chuckled.
"Come on, Antauri…"
His eyes glowed green for a moment, his fists glowing as well.
"Come and fight me for real."
Antauri narrowed his eyes, getting into position.
"Wait! Antauri, somethings up!" Sparx called over. "Maybe you should knock it off eh?"
"No… He wants a fair fight…" He took a deep breath. "He's going to get one."
Chiro and Antauri circled each other, staring the other down.
Chiro was sizing him up.
"Phase and daze!"
Antauri narrowed his eyes, lunging upwards, his claws outstretched.
"PHASE AND DAZE!"
Chiro waited, counting the seconds he had…
Ducking down and grabbing him by the tail as he swung around.
"Sorry!"
"ACK!"
This time, he went flying clean across the room, hitting the wall.
"NGH!"
Chiro panted as he walked to the center of the floor, static kicking up at his feet, his eyes glowing brighter.
"Had enough?"
Antauri panted looking up at him.
The team were all stunned into silence as Chiro looked around him.
No one had been sure what it would look like when his powers would kick in… but it appeared they were kicking in now with a vengeance.
"Come on!" He called out. "I'm not done yet!"
Antauri got to his feet, staggering a bit
That last attack was a surprise but not an unwelcome one.
So, his gifts are waking up.
No one was sure what to do.
Rarely did they cut into each other's matches but Chiro was still upright.
He was also looking at them with that same smile, sizing them up as if HE was the master, not the student.
"Chiro! Snap out of it!" Antauri called over. "You're going to tire yourself out!"
"Nah… I'm just getting started." He craned his neck, his smile going from cocky, to gentle. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
Antauri had to take a step back…
He knew that look.
SHING!
"AUGH!"
His opponent dropped to one knee, holding a hand up to his face. "Ngh, you got me good there…"
"A-Are you alright? I went too-"
He looked up with a gentle smile, pride in his eyes.
"You're doing amazing."
He snapped out of it, shaking his head.
Where had that come from?
Regardless, this session had gone from training to something else being at work.
"Give him what he asked for. Tire him out." Antauri ordered.
Sparx narrowed his eyes.
"Something you wanna share with the rest of us?"
Nova looked up at Chiro, concerned.
"It's starting, isn't it?"
"Yes… And the sooner we wear him down, the sooner OUR Chiro comes back."
Chiro got into a stance as the team stepped forward.
Their hands all transformed into their weapons as they circled him.
The boy's entire body was becoming enveloped in a bright green net of electricity as it crackled in the air around him. His hair was being blown around by it as he sized them up.
Chiro smirked, dropping into an offensive stance, giving the "bring it" motion.
"Come on and fight me!"
