Chapter 14: A New Day
Standing in an arena surrounded by light, Iris struggles in a match against another student. He was muscular, wore sunglasses, carried a huge huge sword, and had a sharp teeth which are shown by his degrading smile. Iris rises onto her knees, winded by the fight. Remaining in a stationary pause, her opponent becomes impatient.
"Why don't we just stop this? Knowing when to give up is part of being a warrior, right?"
"I would like for you to keep your opinions to yourself, thank you." Iris replies as she stands up and readies her sword.
"You should really stop. Before you really get hurt."
"I said-" As Iris begins her retort, the room becomes illuminated. Iris looks over at the professor, who looked back at her with a disappointed look on her face. "Professor Noire, please! I can still fight!"
"Actually Ms. Rai, your aura level has already dropped to the red zone. Fujin Kahn has won the match. "
"Dammit...!"
"Don't feel too bad, Rai. The fight was mismatched anyway."
Iris looks at Fujin with an angered glare before proceeding to leave the arena.
"Now then would anyone else like to go? How about you Ms. Welsh?"
"Alright! Time to test out my new weapon!"
"Actually, Sapphire, I'll go next." Lock announced.
'Hey! I said I wanted to go!"
"Alright then, Lock. I'll select an opponent for you.......Unless you have someone in mind." Sapphire says with a devious smile.
"Yes. I'd like to fight Fujin"
"I see. Then you shall fight Mr. Kahn. Unless your opponent has a problem with this arrangement."
"No. I accept his challenge."
"Very well. The next match will be Lock Noire versus Fujin Kahn."
Lock leaves his seat and heads towards the locker room. He changes out of his uniform and into his clothes. Now prepared for battle, he walks out of the room and into the arena to face Fujin.
"Just gonna throw this out there, but just because you defeated Faust doesn't mean you're unstoppable. Looking at you now, it just seems to me like you got lucky."
"I won't lie. When I fought Faust, he was already softened up for me by my team. You're right, I did get lucky. But you aren't Faust and to "just throw this out there," you're even weaker than he is.
"Oh yeah?" Fujin says in an angered tone.
"And to prove it, I'll even fight you without using my gun or my ember knives. So come on." Lock says, taunting him with hand gestures.
Fujin, now enraged by Lock's taunting, charges at him with his sword while Lock remains motionless. As Fujin attempts to slash at him at a horizontal angle, Lock's eyes turn yellow. From his perception, Fujin's motion has decelerated and in his current position, Lock has found several gaps in Fujin's attack and thus found a way to completely crush him with little effort. Lock dashes forward and strikes Fujin's left cheek. Fujin staggers and Lock slams his hands into Fujin's ears. Dazed, Fujin attempts another swing with his sword, but Lock ducks and counters with a punch to his stomach area. Fujin drops his sword as a result to Lock's attacks, but counters with a left swing. Unfortunately for him, Lock blocks this attack and counters with an elbow swing to his opponents jaw before proceeding with quick punches to Fujin's body and hitting the other side of his jaw. Finally, Lock dropkicks Fujin in his chest and knocks him onto the floor. Lock stands up after his last attack and deactivates his profiler.
"Hm. I guess I have better control over it now. Cool." Lock says to himself with a smile. He then looks at Fujin, who is dazed on the ground. "So then Fujin. Can you continue?" Lock asks, standing over him.
"You.....You win this round.....Ugh..." Fujin says as he passes out.
"Well then, that's the match. Very skillful, Mr. Noire. I expected nothing less."
"Thanks you, professor."
As the buzzer sounds, the students begin to gather their things.
"That's all for today, class. I hope you've all learned something today. Remember: Whether in victory or defeat, every lesson may prove useful in the field." Sapphire says as the students leave. She then turns her attention to Lock, running over to him and tackling him to the ground with a hug.
"Ah! Sapphire, what are you doing!?
"Hugging you! I still can't believe you're here! And you've gotten SO much better from the last time I saw you! Even your semblance has improved!"
"Oh. So you know."
"Yes. And I'm very proud of you for making it here, Lock" Sapphire says as she gets off the ground. She then proceeds to help Lock up.
"Thanks, sis. I'm glad to be here."
"Well I won't keep you. I'm sure your friends are waiting."
"Right. I'll see you later."
Lock exits the arena and heads outside, where his team is waiting for him. Ken then marches up to him and grabs his collar.
"Hey, you jerk! What's the big idea stealing my turn?!"
"Ken if I'd let you go, then you would have wanted to fight me and then class would have ended. You would have blown my chance to fight Fujin."
"Lock, why did you want to fight Fujin anyway?"
"Yeah. I mean the guy's a jerk. You could have easily destroyed him and it wasn't surprising when you did. So why?"
"He was overconfident in his strength. When he boasted about his victory against Iris, a speed type of fighter like myself, I instinctively wanted to show him that reliance on one advantage is a big mistake."
"I see. So you wanted to teach a lesson through humility. Harsh, but effective."
"Speaking of lessons, I'll fight you next time, Ken. I want to see what you've learned since our last fight."
"You'd better! I've been wanting a rematch for a long time and like I said before, I'll win."
"We'll see, won't we."
"A pretty lively bunch, aren't you?"
As Team BLAK is having their conversation, another team approaches them.
"And you are?"
"I'm Anthony Fenix. The leader of Team FNEX. Nice to meet you." Anthony says as he grabs Lock's hand and starts shaking it.
As Anthony shakes Lock's hand, another member from his team approaches Ken.
"You're Kendra Welsh, right?"
"Uh yeah. Nice to meet ya." Ken says with a smile as she holds out her hand for a handshake.
Instead of shaking her hand, the boy lightly brushes it aside. "I only shake hands with warriors who gain my respect. My name is Eco Angel."
"Angel? Haven't I heard that name from somewhere.....?"
"The Angels are a prestigious family in Mistral. They've been known to be great swordsmen and rumored to be rivaled by one other family. The Welsh Family."
"That's right. Kendra Welsh the fact that we meet here is destiny. One day we will have our battle to see who is the best. Until that day comes, you are a nobody to me." Eco says as he turns and walks away.
"Ah don't mind him. He just likes to be overdramatic. I'm Nyx by the way."
Nyx holds out her hand to Ken with a smile. Ken returns the same smile and shakes her hand.
"And finally, I introduce my sister." Anthony says as he introduces the final member of his team.
"My name's Xatel. I enjoyed watching your fight with Fujin."
"It was nothing really."
"Don't be so modest. You're famous around school. Lock Noire, the new student who defeated Vulcan Faust. After seeing your skills firsthand, I can see the rumors about you being true."
"Obviously Team KAKI has been running their mouths.....Look, despite the fact that I took Faust down, I only got lucky. My teammates are the real heroes. I'm not any more special than anyone else here. Okay?"
"Oh I see. Still, it was very nice to meet you. All of you."
"Same. Nice to meet you too, Xatel."
"Listen, we've gotta go but it was nice meeting you guys. C'mon, Anthony."
"Yeah I hear ya."
"Catch you later, Mr. Noire."
"Cool. Nice meeting you guys."
Nyx and Xatel wave goodbye to Team BLAK and begin to walk away from their new friends. As the girls walk ahead, Anthony wraps his arm around Lock and brings his face closer to his.
"Thanks for talking to my sister. She's a big fan of yours."
"Huh?"
Anthony let's go of Lock and begins to walk away, briefly turning back to smile at him and leaving Lock slightly amused.
"Heh. What a strange team."
"They seem wonderful, well except that Eco guy."
"Yes. Clearly he wants to prove a point to Ken, which is why he challenged her. You can't take him lightly in case you two do engage each other in a fight."
"Yeah, yeah but right now there's something else bugging me." Ken says as she turns angrily towards Lock. "How come you get all the glory? We did more work than you did, yet everyone worships you like a damn diva."
"Ken, it's not like I announce it. I know I didn't do anything. I was pretty much late in that fight and you guys paid for it. I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologize, Lock. I told you to take care of the Dust in that basement while we dealt with Faust. The ones who should feel shame is us, especially me."
"Bianca, you don't have to-"
"No! You had your job and we had ours. You did your job, but we failed. And when we were defeated, you saved us." Bianca places her hand on Lock's shoulder and smiles at him. "You did an excellent job, Lock. You deserve the glory, because it was you who won the fight for us and if one of us wins then we all do. But listen, I will get stronger as a leader and a warrior so then that way, next time I can protect all of you."
"Thank you..." Lock says with his mouth agape from Bianca's declaration.
"Lock, I promise to get stronger too and.....I'm sorry for basically saying you did nothing during our mission."
"Yeah. I mean not only did he save us, but he stopped a terrorist uprising and put away the most dangerous war criminal anyone has ever seen in one night. That's a big feat for anyone."
"Thanks guys. I mean that. I'm glad to have you all with me."
Later on that day, as the bright sky became dark, a truck driving along a road heading to Atlas has suddenly crashed. The Atlas soldiers driving the truck are knocked unconscious from the crash and the truck has been mangled from it flipping over. The truck's back doors are suddenly blown open and Vulcan Faust crawls out of it. Faust is then approached by a woman wearing a biker helmet. She takes off the helmet and reveals her long, red hair.
"You couldn't have just stopped the truck. You just had to make it flip over, didn't you?" Faust says as he stretches and cracks his joints.
"Well yeah. I had to beat my last truck flipping record and guess what, I did. Six hops baby."
"Mary, focus."
"Yeah, yeah. So what's the plan this time?"
"Isn't it obvious? We find a new place and start anew. And I know just the location too."
"Wonderful. What's the catch?"
"We may need to clean house a bit. Why? To much for you?"
"Don't start making jokes, sweetie. That's my job. What about those kids that busted you last time?"
"Don't worry about them. The new place has just the toys we need to take care of it."
"I do like expensive toys. Let's get going."
Faust and Mary hop on Mary's motorcycle and get ready to drive off. Before leaving, Faust shoots a fireball from his hand at the truck, making it catch fire. They then proceed to drive down the the road as the truck explodes.
"Why don't we just stop this? Knowing when to give up is part of being a warrior, right?"
"I would like for you to keep your opinions to yourself, thank you." Iris replies as she stands up and readies her sword.
"You should really stop. Before you really get hurt."
"I said-" As Iris begins her retort, the room becomes illuminated. Iris looks over at the professor, who looked back at her with a disappointed look on her face. "Professor Noire, please! I can still fight!"
"Actually Ms. Rai, your aura level has already dropped to the red zone. Fujin Kahn has won the match. "
"Dammit...!"
"Don't feel too bad, Rai. The fight was mismatched anyway."
Iris looks at Fujin with an angered glare before proceeding to leave the arena.
"Now then would anyone else like to go? How about you Ms. Welsh?"
"Alright! Time to test out my new weapon!"
"Actually, Sapphire, I'll go next." Lock announced.
'Hey! I said I wanted to go!"
"Alright then, Lock. I'll select an opponent for you.......Unless you have someone in mind." Sapphire says with a devious smile.
"Yes. I'd like to fight Fujin"
"I see. Then you shall fight Mr. Kahn. Unless your opponent has a problem with this arrangement."
"No. I accept his challenge."
"Very well. The next match will be Lock Noire versus Fujin Kahn."
Lock leaves his seat and heads towards the locker room. He changes out of his uniform and into his clothes. Now prepared for battle, he walks out of the room and into the arena to face Fujin.
"Just gonna throw this out there, but just because you defeated Faust doesn't mean you're unstoppable. Looking at you now, it just seems to me like you got lucky."
"I won't lie. When I fought Faust, he was already softened up for me by my team. You're right, I did get lucky. But you aren't Faust and to "just throw this out there," you're even weaker than he is.
"Oh yeah?" Fujin says in an angered tone.
"And to prove it, I'll even fight you without using my gun or my ember knives. So come on." Lock says, taunting him with hand gestures.
Fujin, now enraged by Lock's taunting, charges at him with his sword while Lock remains motionless. As Fujin attempts to slash at him at a horizontal angle, Lock's eyes turn yellow. From his perception, Fujin's motion has decelerated and in his current position, Lock has found several gaps in Fujin's attack and thus found a way to completely crush him with little effort. Lock dashes forward and strikes Fujin's left cheek. Fujin staggers and Lock slams his hands into Fujin's ears. Dazed, Fujin attempts another swing with his sword, but Lock ducks and counters with a punch to his stomach area. Fujin drops his sword as a result to Lock's attacks, but counters with a left swing. Unfortunately for him, Lock blocks this attack and counters with an elbow swing to his opponents jaw before proceeding with quick punches to Fujin's body and hitting the other side of his jaw. Finally, Lock dropkicks Fujin in his chest and knocks him onto the floor. Lock stands up after his last attack and deactivates his profiler.
"Hm. I guess I have better control over it now. Cool." Lock says to himself with a smile. He then looks at Fujin, who is dazed on the ground. "So then Fujin. Can you continue?" Lock asks, standing over him.
"You.....You win this round.....Ugh..." Fujin says as he passes out.
"Well then, that's the match. Very skillful, Mr. Noire. I expected nothing less."
"Thanks you, professor."
As the buzzer sounds, the students begin to gather their things.
"That's all for today, class. I hope you've all learned something today. Remember: Whether in victory or defeat, every lesson may prove useful in the field." Sapphire says as the students leave. She then turns her attention to Lock, running over to him and tackling him to the ground with a hug.
"Ah! Sapphire, what are you doing!?
"Hugging you! I still can't believe you're here! And you've gotten SO much better from the last time I saw you! Even your semblance has improved!"
"Oh. So you know."
"Yes. And I'm very proud of you for making it here, Lock" Sapphire says as she gets off the ground. She then proceeds to help Lock up.
"Thanks, sis. I'm glad to be here."
"Well I won't keep you. I'm sure your friends are waiting."
"Right. I'll see you later."
Lock exits the arena and heads outside, where his team is waiting for him. Ken then marches up to him and grabs his collar.
"Hey, you jerk! What's the big idea stealing my turn?!"
"Ken if I'd let you go, then you would have wanted to fight me and then class would have ended. You would have blown my chance to fight Fujin."
"Lock, why did you want to fight Fujin anyway?"
"Yeah. I mean the guy's a jerk. You could have easily destroyed him and it wasn't surprising when you did. So why?"
"He was overconfident in his strength. When he boasted about his victory against Iris, a speed type of fighter like myself, I instinctively wanted to show him that reliance on one advantage is a big mistake."
"I see. So you wanted to teach a lesson through humility. Harsh, but effective."
"Speaking of lessons, I'll fight you next time, Ken. I want to see what you've learned since our last fight."
"You'd better! I've been wanting a rematch for a long time and like I said before, I'll win."
"We'll see, won't we."
"A pretty lively bunch, aren't you?"
As Team BLAK is having their conversation, another team approaches them.
"And you are?"
"I'm Anthony Fenix. The leader of Team FNEX. Nice to meet you." Anthony says as he grabs Lock's hand and starts shaking it.
As Anthony shakes Lock's hand, another member from his team approaches Ken.
"You're Kendra Welsh, right?"
"Uh yeah. Nice to meet ya." Ken says with a smile as she holds out her hand for a handshake.
Instead of shaking her hand, the boy lightly brushes it aside. "I only shake hands with warriors who gain my respect. My name is Eco Angel."
"Angel? Haven't I heard that name from somewhere.....?"
"The Angels are a prestigious family in Mistral. They've been known to be great swordsmen and rumored to be rivaled by one other family. The Welsh Family."
"That's right. Kendra Welsh the fact that we meet here is destiny. One day we will have our battle to see who is the best. Until that day comes, you are a nobody to me." Eco says as he turns and walks away.
"Ah don't mind him. He just likes to be overdramatic. I'm Nyx by the way."
Nyx holds out her hand to Ken with a smile. Ken returns the same smile and shakes her hand.
"And finally, I introduce my sister." Anthony says as he introduces the final member of his team.
"My name's Xatel. I enjoyed watching your fight with Fujin."
"It was nothing really."
"Don't be so modest. You're famous around school. Lock Noire, the new student who defeated Vulcan Faust. After seeing your skills firsthand, I can see the rumors about you being true."
"Obviously Team KAKI has been running their mouths.....Look, despite the fact that I took Faust down, I only got lucky. My teammates are the real heroes. I'm not any more special than anyone else here. Okay?"
"Oh I see. Still, it was very nice to meet you. All of you."
"Same. Nice to meet you too, Xatel."
"Listen, we've gotta go but it was nice meeting you guys. C'mon, Anthony."
"Yeah I hear ya."
"Catch you later, Mr. Noire."
"Cool. Nice meeting you guys."
Nyx and Xatel wave goodbye to Team BLAK and begin to walk away from their new friends. As the girls walk ahead, Anthony wraps his arm around Lock and brings his face closer to his.
"Thanks for talking to my sister. She's a big fan of yours."
"Huh?"
Anthony let's go of Lock and begins to walk away, briefly turning back to smile at him and leaving Lock slightly amused.
"Heh. What a strange team."
"They seem wonderful, well except that Eco guy."
"Yes. Clearly he wants to prove a point to Ken, which is why he challenged her. You can't take him lightly in case you two do engage each other in a fight."
"Yeah, yeah but right now there's something else bugging me." Ken says as she turns angrily towards Lock. "How come you get all the glory? We did more work than you did, yet everyone worships you like a damn diva."
"Ken, it's not like I announce it. I know I didn't do anything. I was pretty much late in that fight and you guys paid for it. I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologize, Lock. I told you to take care of the Dust in that basement while we dealt with Faust. The ones who should feel shame is us, especially me."
"Bianca, you don't have to-"
"No! You had your job and we had ours. You did your job, but we failed. And when we were defeated, you saved us." Bianca places her hand on Lock's shoulder and smiles at him. "You did an excellent job, Lock. You deserve the glory, because it was you who won the fight for us and if one of us wins then we all do. But listen, I will get stronger as a leader and a warrior so then that way, next time I can protect all of you."
"Thank you..." Lock says with his mouth agape from Bianca's declaration.
"Lock, I promise to get stronger too and.....I'm sorry for basically saying you did nothing during our mission."
"Yeah. I mean not only did he save us, but he stopped a terrorist uprising and put away the most dangerous war criminal anyone has ever seen in one night. That's a big feat for anyone."
"Thanks guys. I mean that. I'm glad to have you all with me."
Later on that day, as the bright sky became dark, a truck driving along a road heading to Atlas has suddenly crashed. The Atlas soldiers driving the truck are knocked unconscious from the crash and the truck has been mangled from it flipping over. The truck's back doors are suddenly blown open and Vulcan Faust crawls out of it. Faust is then approached by a woman wearing a biker helmet. She takes off the helmet and reveals her long, red hair.
"You couldn't have just stopped the truck. You just had to make it flip over, didn't you?" Faust says as he stretches and cracks his joints.
"Well yeah. I had to beat my last truck flipping record and guess what, I did. Six hops baby."
"Mary, focus."
"Yeah, yeah. So what's the plan this time?"
"Isn't it obvious? We find a new place and start anew. And I know just the location too."
"Wonderful. What's the catch?"
"We may need to clean house a bit. Why? To much for you?"
"Don't start making jokes, sweetie. That's my job. What about those kids that busted you last time?"
"Don't worry about them. The new place has just the toys we need to take care of it."
"I do like expensive toys. Let's get going."
Faust and Mary hop on Mary's motorcycle and get ready to drive off. Before leaving, Faust shoots a fireball from his hand at the truck, making it catch fire. They then proceed to drive down the the road as the truck explodes.