Remember More

Chapter 39

REMEMBER MORE

CHAPTER 39

"Sir!" Yan stood up where she was. She waved at the incoming pair.

Zhang and John landed near Jonas and Yan and walked the rest of the way up. They greeted one another with smiles.

"So then." Yan searched the face of John and then Zhang. "What happened? Is it over?"

Zhang chuckled. "No, dear. Not yet."

John shook his head. "No, I just wanted to come back and check on you two." He knelt down in front of his son. "How are you feeling?"

Jonas smiled. He nodded. "Much better, Dad. Don't worry." He turned to the side and coughed once. "Just a little tired."

John reached up and brushed his hand along Jonas' face as he stared into it. The younger man was indeed looking somewhat better. His colour had improved. His breathing was more steady. Having remained in the lotus position, it was obvious he was still working with his qi in a self-healing manner. Yan must have fed him another pill while Zhang and John had been busy fighting by the falls.

Jonas flicked his chin over toward Beltzner in the distance, also squat on the ground and meditating, with vapour rising from over his head and shoulders. "He's looking a lot better too, don't you think?"

John flung a peek over to the professor and couldn't believe what he saw. Beltzner was looking remarkably better. His face was nearly back to normal, much more human now. The ridges on his forehead were gone. The scales on his face had all but fallen off. In fact, the new skin that had emerged from beneath was thinner, clear and wrinkle free. Kind of like a newborn baby's. Naturally, his eyes had not grown back. The thin membranes that had covered the front of his orbits were still in place and his ears were still missing. But his face had flattened out and he had a nose again. Over all, the old science researcher that John had come to know and loathe from oh, so many years ago, appeared to be morphing back into his old self and no longer seemed like a huge, deformed lizard-man.

Zhang stepped up to the three. "Well, John, shall we continue?"

John gazed into his son's eyes. The younger man was nodding at him. Pleading.

John nodded back.

He stood and swivelled around to face Zhang. "All right, then. Let's go."

The two took to the air until they were hovering over the middle of the clearing. They began sparring once more.

~~~

This time, out in the open, beneath the clear, blue moonlight, John's special vision was not needed at all. Neither was his super hearing. So, what did Zhang have in mind this time?

Over the next few minutes, John noticed that the master was presenting his strikes faster and faster. He was picking up the pace. Now, he was throwing in his punches at least twice as fast as before. Then it was three times.

John grit his teeth and adjusted for the change. He had to read the attack faster, evade faster, block and then return faster.

On the ground, Jonas was already getting dizzy and feeling nauseated from following the fight. He closed his eyes. He turned his head away. Yan continued to watch on. She was still okay.

Zhang pressed on. A punch to the right. A kick to the left.

He landed a slap on John's cheek. John retreated.

Zhang frowned. "You'll have to move faster than that!" He dove in again.

A hit to John's right. A kick to his middle.