Time

Chapter 7- Training

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Time: 6:15 PM, Saturday September 12th

"THANK GOD!" Koya yelled in exhaustion as he flopped onto the mats. "Our phones died so it became kind of a struggle, but it all worked out eventually I guess." Rei stated, clearly happy about the outcome. "HAH. 'Kind of' is a bit of an understatement. You realize how dark it is now right?" Koya snarled at her. "Hey woah woah, its all good now, all we need to worry about next is getting rid of these matts, and all we need after that is some lights in here and were good to go." Leon said as he brushed his hands of dust. "M-matts? Why would we get rid of the matts?" Nia questioned. "Eh? To make room for the boxing ring, duh." He stated, making it sound like it should've been obvious. "Wh- ok remind me again why we couldn't just workout at a regular gym?" Koya suddenly shot up. "Well A, it's way more crowded, and it would probly smell a lot worse." They all nodded in agreement. "And B..." He suddenly paused. They all squinted their eyes at him in anticipation. "We need to practice using our other limbs and not just our weapons, as well as our powers." He held up two fingers. "Powers? The only one with powers here is Nia and im pretty sure she's got those on lockdown." Koya reminded him. "Yeah, but so do you dude." Leon pointed at him. "Me? No, I don't."

"Eh? You're joking right?"

"Does this face look like Im joking?"

"Then how were you able to make your hands flame up like that?"

He fell silent for a moment, looking around the room at the girls to see if they shared Leon's opinion. "Heh, what a joker." Koya laughed. "Umm, he isn't kidding dude, you guys were flying, and hitting each other left and right, so fast we could barely see you!" Rei said excitedly. "Thats...not physically possible..." He suddenly became quieter. "Dude, half the crap thats been happening around us shouldn't be physically possible, but they are, so believe it." Leon pointed out. "Yeah that uhh, I thought about that as I was saying it BUT how would I practice something like that anyway? Theres no one around to teach me how to use powers." Koya argued back. Leon then stepped to the side, and sweeped his arms up, pointing them towards Nia. "M-me?!" She said slightly startled. "Yup, since you're the only one here capable of actually using powers properly."

"But im n-not much of a teacher..."

"Well, all you gotta do is tell us how you do it."

"Wait what? 'Us'?" Koya interrupted. "Well I figured if you guys have some weird magic thing goin on, I must too, right?" Leon reasoned. "Fair enough, guess it couldnt hurt to try it out, but not right now."

"Eh? And why the hell not?"

"BECAUSE WE'RE STILL SITTING IN THE DARK." Koya raised his voice, raising his hands, then slamming them on the mats. "We can buy lightbulbs, but I certainly don't think any of us have to money to pay the electricity bill for this place." The group suddenly fell silent, astounded by the sudden outburst. "Speaking of which, with the little money I have, I need to go pick up some food, since I don't have any. So maybe Ill be back, I just wanna do this before I forget." He said as he stood, brushed himself off, and began walking towards the doors. He was suddenly stopped by a hand tightly gripping his wrist, he turned to witness the look of a confused Rei. "Are...you alright?" She suddenly asked. "Huh? Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" He answered half-heartedly. "Well you seem a bit less optimistic than usual." She slightly loosened her grip. "Wait what? Im fine, I promise! I guess I'm just..." He suddenly paused. "Worried?" Nia finished for him. "H-how'd you know?" He stuttered. "You're parents haven't been home for a like, 4 days man, who wouldn't be worried?" Leon jumped in as well. "Guess I'm an easy read huh? Heh."

"Well, for someone we've known for quite a while, we can tell when you aren't you." Rei giggled slightly. "D-don't worry, Im sure they're ok! They'll be back before you know it!" Nia tried cheering him up. "But what if they're in trouble?!"

"Then we go and bail em out." Leon put a hand on his shoulder. He glanced between his smiling friends, and a smirk began to form on his own face. "Thanks guys..." He mumbled. "Eh? Well go on and get your food, then get your ass back here so we can talk more, Im starting to enjoy this talking in the dark thing." Leon joked. "Hah, alright then, ill be back guys." Koya announced as he walked out the doors.

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Time: 6:48 PM, Saturday September 12th

"Damnit, which one..." Koya grumbled to himself as he glanced between the two different flavored bags of chips. "I know I shouldn't get either but...uuugghh." He contemplated to himself. He sighed and glanced over to his left to asses the groaning noise he began hearing. He witnessed an older man with an eyepatch in a wheelchair, attempting to grab a pack of beer from the top shelf of the open fridge. Koya then placed the bags back on the shelf, and proceeded towards the man. "Uhh hey man, need some help there?" Koya approached. "Back off, I'm good." He said with hostility. "Wow, its not wrong to just ask for help man." Koya retaliated with a hint of disappointment in his voice as he reached up and grabbed the pack. The man grabbed it, and raised a brow at the boy. "Um, I guess a 'you're welcome' will do for now." Koya joked after a small unsettling silence. "What's your name kid?" He suddenly asked. "Depends, whose askin?" Koya responded hesitantly. "Names Hayden, your turn."

"Its...its Koya."

They traded stares for a moment before he finally responded "You shouldn't bother strangers kid, it may come back to bite you in the ass someday." He snickered as he wheeled away. Koya stared with a glare of bother as he watched him wheel up to the counter. Suddenly, he heard a loud roar,  forcing him to turn his attention towards the windows. A large familiar beast flew subtly, its enormous wings flapping slowly in the night sky. Koya reached behind him and gripped the air. "Wha?" He questioned as he turned to check his backside. "The he- where's my remote?!" He began to panic as he spun in a frantic search. As the beast approached he shook more and more, until his attention was turned back towards the door. The man wheeled his way out of the store directly towards him out in the street. "You dropped this." He approached, holding the remote out towards Koya. "THANK GOD!" The boy shouted in relief, practically yanking the remote from his hand. "Thank you very much. Now then-" he suddenly paused mid-sentence. He quickly pressed the pause button in the middle of the remote, only to find nothing happening around him. "Its...not working?!" He questioned. "In that case, let me handle it." Hayden suddenly rolled out in front of him. "Wait you...YOU CAN SEE THAT THING?!" Koya shouted in shock. The man then fished in his pocket, and dug out a remote of his own.

*CRUNCH*

He smashed the remote in his bare hand. The pieces suddenly turned blue, and all simultaneously shot towards his legs. They all connected, merging into a virtual pair of robotic legs. "Watch this for me." He said as he stood from his wheelchair, and pushed it towards Koya. It rolled right passed him and fell over as he stared with his jaw dropped at this mysterious character in complete awe.
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You uhh....you know the drill. Hope you're all enjoying so far!