Training Session Pt2

Mao Mao didn't know how to respond. His sister, Minori, had just verbally issued a challenge for him to step into the metaphorical circle with her. His mind was split down the middle over what what to think of this.

One side thought that it was a terrible idea for a number of reasons, one being that he was just cleared to start fighting again. The second being that it was his sister, the legendary hero, Minori, there was no way he could actually win against her.

The other side was ecstatic that Minori invited him to spar with her. As a child, he often asked his sisters if he could spar with them, to which they declined, saying he was "too young", or "not strong enough to compete with them". In fact, the only one of his sisters to take time out of their schedule to train with him was Hinata (and Violet on one occasion).

"Minori!" Violet scolded, raising her voice for once. "Mao Mao is still on the mend, he shouldn't be fighting so early!"

Minori scoffed at Violet, dismissing her claim. "He was cleared to go back into the field this morning, right? So he should get some exercise, workout his muscles, get the blood flowing."

"Yes, but not right off the bat!" Violet exclaimed. "He should work back up to it over time!"

Mao Mao couldn't help but feel slightly irked, he was grateful that they were looking out for his health, but he didn't like that they were talking about him like he didn't have his own way of returning to normal.

Catching sight of Adorabat, Mao Mao could see hope and expectancy in her eyes. A part of her wanted to see Mao Mao go toe-to-toe with one of his sisters.

Heaving a sigh, Mao Mao stepped out onto the floor, pulling Geraldine from her sheath. "Okay, I accept your challenge."

"Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Minori exclaimed with a large grin.

Violet in turn, heaved her own sigh. "Fine," she mumbled, making her way to stand next to Adorabat.

"I'm excited to see what you can do, little brother," Minori said, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet, like a trained boxer.

"I'll give it my all," responded Mao Mao, gripping Geraldine tightly in his hands. It's been a little less than a week since he last picked up his legendary weapon.

After a few moments of circling each other, Minori rushed towards Mao Mao, excited to see how he'd react. Mao Mao jumped to the side, swinging Geraldine in a wide arc to hit Minori in the back of the head as she ran by.

Minori had already been kicked in the back of the head by Violet moments ago, she wasn't going to take a hit from a legendary weapon the same way. Dropping to the floor, the martial artist tucked and rolled sideways towards Mao Mao; as the the weapon passed over her, Minori pulled herself out of the roll, extending her leg, kicking Mao Mao in the sternum.

Mao Mao felt his feet leave the ground for a moment, Minori's kick had enough force to send him over the cliff if the railing hadn't caught him. He was going to have to pull out all the stops for this bout. Mao Mao began to steady his breathing, watching Minori as she pulled herself off the floor, from the way her orange cape fluttered in the wind, to the way her muscles contracted as she moved.

Creeping back into the center of the floor, Mao Mao had a thought, Violet had won her fight won her fight through being creative. Creative enough to cover her weaknesses by changing out her weapons, and creating scenarios that worked to her advantage. Maybe he could do the same, but how?

Minori switched back and forth between which foot she put forward, attempting to throw Mao Mao off. The Sheriff scrounged through his memories of all the times he watched his sisters spar; if he remembered correctly, Minori would use this tactic against Brunhilde a lot, and she almost always followed it with a right front kick.

Sure enough, the moment Minori's right foot was in the back, she planted her left foot. Watching Minori begin to bring her knee straight up, Mao Mao flipped his sword so that the flat of it would catch her foot when she extended it.

Violet raised her brow at the way Mao Mao moved. Something about it, it was fast, crisp, but it seemed that there was more to it than that.

Minori's knee came up to chest level, normally that would've been the moment she extended her foot, continuing it's destined path to meet Mao Mao's sword. However, Minori twist on the ball of her left foot, her right leg twisted sideways from the switch in stance, her foot traveled in an arc, striking him in the shoulder.

Mao Mao jolted from the sudden change in trajectory; he should've known his sister would've had countermeasures against blocks.

Adorabat on the other hand, exclaimed in confusion, "what was that?"

"That, was a Brazilian High Kick," answered Violet. "It feints a front kick, but turns into a roundhouse kick midway through the movement. It's a type of kick you'll see a lot in karate and tae kwon do, I've heard it's like getting hit by a baseball bat."

"Wow, so which one does Minori use?" Adorabat asked, referring to the martial arts.

"Both," answered Violet.

"That's so cool!" Adorabat proclaimed. "How many marshal arts does she know?"

Violet took a moment to count the total in her head. "All of them. I believe there are a few nations that refer to her as, 'Master of Every Martial Art Under the Sun'."

"Wow, she's so amazing!"

Minori couldn't help but overhear as the tiny blue bat sang her praises, leading her to adorn a wide grin. While she was distracted, Mao Mao snuck behind her, flipping his sister's cape over her head and onto her face.

"What the hell?" Minori exclaimed, swinging her arms at empty air.

Mao Mao took advantage of Minori's confused state, striking his sword against her torso. As his sister moved to protect her body, a devilish idea crossed his mind. He held his sword out in one hand, and grabbed her cape again in the other. Throwing back the orange fabric, he gripped his sword slightly harder; almost as if it knew what he wanted to do, Geraldine emanated a bright, brilliant, golden light.

In response, Violet tipped her hat over her eyes, and held out her arm, her loose sleeve protecting Adorabat's eyes. Minori on the other hand, was not so fortunate.

"Gagh! My eyes!" The sudden light forced Minori's pupils to nearly close shut. Minori recoiled, clamping her hands over her eyes.

Digging Geraldine into the floorboards, Mao Mao pushed down on the sword, propelling his body upwards. Mao Mao, while still in the air, kicked out with both legs, sending his sister flying back.

Minori tumbled across the floor, spots dancing across her vision. Everything was blurry, all she could make out were general shapes and colors. As she slowly staggered back onto her feet, a tall purple and black shape with a golden disk on top stepped between her and her brother.

"I believe that's enough of that," stated Violet, her voice cutting through the tension in the air.

"Come on Vi!" Minori declared in protest. " I can keep going!"

"Really?" Violet asked, doubt marked across her face. Holding out her arm, she asked, "then how many fingers am I holding up?"

Squinting, Minori guessed, "three?"

"Not even close," scoffed Violet, moving to assist her sister to the side of the room.

From the side of the dojo, Adorabat couldn't contain her squeals of excitement any longer. "That was awesome! You're so awesome, Mao Mao!" Adorabat hopped off her railing and flew to her teacher's side.

"Nah, I just got lucky," panted Mao Mao, leaning against Geraldine. "No way I could pull that off a second time."

"Well, regardless," said Violet. "I believe we should clean up and call it a day."

"Just give me a sec, I'm starting make out features again," said Minori, raising herself back to her feet. "What the- Mao Mao, when did you get taller?"

"I'm over here," Mao Mao said, holding up a gloved hand.

"You're talking to a punching bag," Violet said. Grabbing Minori by the shoulders, Violet turned her towards the actual Mao Mao.

"Okay," Minori threw up her hands, giving up. "Can someone take me to the couch until I get my sight back?"

The Pure Heart Castle came into view as Badgerclops flew down towards the structure's entrance. Pulling to a stop just outside the castle's doors, Badgerclops hopped off the Aerocycle.

Opening the cartoonishly large doors, Badgerclops saw Snugglemane and Quinten going over the details of the party, that was just eight days away now.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?" Badgerclops asked hesitantly, capturing the attention of the King and his adviser.

"Oh not at all my charming fellow," replied Snugglemane, walking over to Badgerclops and wrapping his arm around the deputy. "We were just finishing the plans for the 'Sheriff Appreciation Party', as I've decided to call it. In a couple days we'll begin organizing the inventory, and then we'll start putting everything together."

"Okay, cool. Then what'd you need me here for, then?"

"Well, as it's been brought to my attention," declared the king, glancing back at Quinten. "I'm not entirely in touch with the denizens of my kingdom."

"Yeah, that's why you joined the Sheriff's Dept for a day... your not joining again, are you?" Badgerclops shuddered at the thought.

"Oh heavens no! Perish the thought!" Snugglemane replied, waving his hand, symbolically pushing thought away. "I mean I'm merely grasping at straws over what my people wish to experience when they attend; that's where you come in. Associating with them everyday, not to mention be the most sociable of your little group, you must know what they like."

"So... you want to know what's popular right know?" Badgerclops summarized, making sure he understood what the king had just asked him.

Snugglemane beamed. "Yes, exactly!"

"Um, yeah, alright. I'll help you out," Badgerclops said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, thank you, my rotund friend!" Without warning, Snugglemane grabbed at Badgerclops' cybernetic arm, tugging him along down the castle's corridors. "Now, come this way, we have a lot of work to do."

Later that night, once everyone had fallen asleep, Minori and Violet sat at the edge of the cliff that looked out over the kingdom, their legs dangling off the edge.

The feeling of the midnight breeze against the Mao sister's jet black fur was nice feeling. It gave them both a feeling of nostalgia, but they weren't here to reminisce.

"How's your sight?"

"It's back for the most part, I should be good by morning." Minor said, looking at her hand as she wiggled her fingers. "So... why'd you ask me to come out here?"

"I wished to know what you think of Mao Mao," stated Violet, taking the brim of her hat and pushing it back, and off of her head completely. The weapon now held in between her hands.

"How he's grown, or his fighting style?" Minori asked, purposely being difficult.

Violet raised her eyebrow in response, silently asking Minori to be genuine.

"Oh, your serious," Minori realized. "Well to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel anymore. He used to be this annoying kid who would constantly bother us, but now... I don't know, it's like he grew up when we weren't looking."

"I agree," Violet looked down at her hat, her reflection in the golden straw staring back at her. "Did you see what he did during your sparring match?"

"Of course I did," exclaimed Minori, as if it were obvious. "He nearly blocked my switch-up kick, Brunhilde can't even do that!"

Violet glanced at Minori out of the corner of her eye. "It might've just been me, but it almost looked like he reacted to your kick before your foot left the ground."

Minori burst out laughing. "Your joking right? It's not like he has Ashaki's contacts."

Violet shook her head. "Maybe I was just imagining it," she mumbled.

"How about you," Minori said, lightly hitting Violet's shoulder with the back of her hand. "What's your opinion of Mao Mao?

"I think..." Violet paused. "That Hinata's right. We're awful sisters."

Minori's face drained of all emotion, remembering when their sister had said that to them ten years ago, and why she said it. "I'm going to make a snack," said Minori, hopping up from her spot on the cliff.

"Goodnight," was all Violet said, putting her hat back on top of her head.

"You too," called back Minori, making her way to the kitchen to prepare another midnight setting for the Sky Pirates.