The Secret Society

Training

We were all lined up against one wall.

"One. You and I are going to demonstrate. You all need to pair up. Let's put Three with Ten, Seventeen with Twenty O-"

"Come on, sir. We don't need to pair up the girls. They're not only going to be fighting girls, are they?" One interrupted. He stared at Blade, moved his gaze to me, then back up to Blade.

"Don't contradict me, One. We're starting how I pair people up. It'll switch a few times." One clenched his jaw but nodded, falling out of the line to walk over to Blade. "Thank you."

After about fifteen minutes, we had gone through some warm ups and Blade had started demonstrating some ways to defend. Most everyone looked bored. One leaned over to Blade and muttered something.

"Fine. Twenty-One, Seventeen, and Fifteen. Fall out. Follow One." We nodded and Seventeen walked up to me as we left the room.

"What do you think this is about?"

"I don't kn-"

"I don't want you talking right now," One said. I frowned in annoyance. I think I had an idea. He was mad I hadn't backed down last night. I let out a small laugh. He shot a glare over his shoulder. I smirked at him. Fifteen was a muscular man, he looked a bit nervous as he glanced at One. Guess no one really liked the man. He walked beside me as we walked up the stairs.

"Who's he mad at this time?" He whispered.

"Me, probably." I sprinted up the stairs so I was walking beside One. "What are we doing?"

"Training," He said, his eyes focused in front of him, obviously irritated. "Fifteen, Seventeen, get into the training room. I need to speak with our newest agent for a minute."

"Uhh. Sir, you're not allowed to be alone with other ag-"Seventeen was interrupted by the man beside me.

"Now," He said calmly. Seventeen and Fifteen quickly sprinted off. I crossed my arms with a sigh, leaning against the wall. "Listen here, Twenty One, I'm in charge here. I'm not going to have you undermining me. I'll let last night slip." Something in his eyes told me otherwise. "I know it's hard to get settled in here and you're trying to learn how it works. But I won't put up with it again. Especially in front of other agents. I have the power to get you kicked out of here. Understand?"

I kicked off of the wall. "No, actually, I don't." I kept my arms crossed as I tilted my head. "It certainly looks like Blade is in charge here. I'm not here to get bullied by you. And you won't get me fired. You know why? Because this isn't enough people already for what you want to get done." My voice lowered. "You're already struggling to find people. Blade isn't going to kick me out for telling off a bully."

"I am not a bully. I have a tight schedule. And no one has tried to mess with it until you just show up out of the blue. The first person that Blade didn't ask my opinion before hiring."

I straightened, smiling up at him. "Guess I'm just that good, huh? Or maybe his confidence in you is just fading."

He looked shocked. "Training room. Now," He growled. I smirked and walked away, flipping him off over my shoulder. I heard him follow me but I refused to chicken out and looked behind me, keeping my steps even. I walked in and he closed the door behind us. Seventeen and Fifteen were talking but as soon as we walked in, Seventeen clenched her jaw shut but Fifteen said something else that I couldn't hear. I walked over to them and stood beside Seventeen.

"Are you okay?" She asked quickly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I replied rolling my eyes. I saw One purse his lips, glaring at me. I leaned against the wall calmly.

"You three are the least experienced are were slowing the rest of the agents down, so I need to train you all separately." Fifteen raised his hand as if to ask a question, but at a sharp glare from One, dropped it. "We've already warmed up. We're going to do an assessment. Seventeen, you're with Twenty One, Fifteen, you're with me."

I leaned over and whispered loudly, "He knows he'd lose a fight against either of us." Seventeen looked like she wanted to laugh. One's gaze flickered over me for a second.

"Don't worry, you'll all have time to get your butts kicked." He smirked. "Seventeen, you're going to defend. Twenty One, you attack. Use any moves you know. Fifteen, you'll be attacking. We'll switch after a bit, then we'll switch partners and go again."

"Alright," I said with a small smile. I hadn't done any hands on combat for a while, but I had done it for a few years before my parents had died. If only you had been home. You might have saved them. My face fell and I looked away. I suddenly felt sick in the pit of my stomach.

"Ready?" He didn't even give us time to answer before saying, "Start."

I realized quickly how important that warm up had been. My muscles ached after only a few minutes.

I knocked over Seventeen again, for the second time in fifteen minutes. "Switch. Defense be you attack and attackers defend." We did that for a while, and I easily defended against Seventeen. "Now partner switch. Twenty One, you're with me since you think you'll destroy me."

Oh shoot. I was in a ton of trouble. I had been talking a lot of smack for someone who could barely hold her ground against an amateur. Fifteen walked away, looking bruised and more sore than I was. Seventeen gave me a smile that said "Good luck," and I walked over to One.

"Look. We got off on the wrong foot-"

"I'll go easy on you. Stop whining." My face hardened.

"Look if we're going to work together, we need to actually be able to get along. You're making that kinda difficult if you haven't realized."

He smirked a bit. "Guess you should think about listening when I talk, eh? I have more experience than you would be able to guess, Gaol. You're attacking first." I quickly tried to attack him and was on my back in a few seconds. "Again." I pushed myself up, and he ran a hand through his hair as if disappointed. "Again." I tried to swipe his legs from under him. He seemed a bit surprised at this tactic but stepped away quickly. I went for one of the more advanced moves I knew, a roundhouse kick, but he grabbed my leg quickly while it was in the air. I stared in shock at his reaction speed. I had barely thought of the move before he had reacted to it.

"That-I-" He twisted my leg to knock me over and I fell to the ground, staring up at him. He crouched.

"Again. I want you to try that again, but this time...move faster." He straightened and I pushed myself up. I went for it again but he hit my foot, shoving it back but not knocking me over this time. "Faster, Twenty One. You won't be knocking down anyone with that speed." I did it again, and again, and every time he knocked me away. He let out a sigh. "Better." I went for it again and this time he had to physically dodge. "Now lets go for some defense, yeah?" I sighed, rubbing my face, when a voice blasted through the speaker. I let out a relieved sigh as an automated voice announced it was lunch time.