The training grounds are an area near our house where my mom teaches her students her fighting techniques. She sometimes trains here by herself, and occasionally has some sparring matches with others as well. Apparently, out of the many matches she's had here, she's never lost once.
I've seen some of her matches before; they're really exciting. And now that I knew that she use fire powers like me, I couldn't wait to see what she can do with them!
"You're gonna teach me how to use my fire powers now, right?" I asked her, starting to get excited.
"No, not yet. I'm going to teach you some martial arts first."
"B-but... I want to learn some awesome fire techniques!"
"Your powers are still too underdeveloped and unstable; they're not reliable enough right now. So today we'll only be focusing on physical combat training."
"Mrs. Gi! I have a question!" Jemily asked, sitting at the side of the area with Serge.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Isn't your fighting style only for girls to learn?"
"It is. But I can make an exception for Sérgio, since he's my son."
"I'm not really familiar with how it works, but will he okay with your style of fighting?"
"Sure! It was made for girls, but boys can learn it too."
"Why won't you teach it to boys then?" I asked her.
"Because... I just don't want to! That's why!"
I don't really understand, but whatever...
"But I can finally use my fire powers now, mom! Can't you teach me how to use them first?"
"Ah, right. You mentioned before your power got kickstarted by those ovens' flames you absorbed."
"My fire doesn't seem to have changed much, though..." Serge said.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Jemily cut in. "There's something important I have to ask you, Mrs. Gi!"
"What is it, sweetie?"
"Sérgio's body has been changing temperatures recently..." She explained. "Is that a good sign?"
"Hm? Changing temperatures? What do you mean?" My mom inquired. "This is the first I've heard of this..."
"His body was really hot yesterday afternoon, almost like he had a fever. Because of that, I misunderstood and brought him to the nurse's office. But he was fine this morning."
"Then my body got hot again after the oven fire." I continued. "But now, my body's not as hot as before."
"Heh, I see. There's nothing for you to worry about; your body is just adjusting itself to the heat of your flames." Mom told me. "It should regulate itself again after a short time."
"Is there anyway to see how strong my fire is?" I asked my mom. "I really wanna know!"
"Yeah, that actually is pretty important to check... Okay, then." She told me. "Have you tried breathing fire out of your mouth before?"
"My mouth? Well, yeah, but it was pretty gross..." I stuck out my tongue in disgust, remembering what it tasted like. "You're not going to make me do it again, are you?"
"It might not seem too pleasant at first, but it's the best way to release it when you aren't used to it yet. It's a good idea to get used to doing this now, in case you need to use it this way in certain occasions."
"Ugh..."
"You're the one who said you wanted to learn to use your fire powers, didn't you? Well, this is the first step. I had to do it too, and when I was even younger than you are now!"
"Argh, fine!"
"Make sure you aim to in an open area! It'd be bad if it hit someone!"
I know, mom...
I took a deep breath. My body reacted by heating up and sending some of that heat up my throat.
Let's get this over with...
"Blaaargh!" I shot flames out through my mouth up in the air, creating a shower of flames that eventually all reached the ground with a fizzle.
"Wooow! That was kind of pretty, actually!" Jemily stated in awe.
"That's a lot more than I can shoot at once..." Serge uttered in amazement.
"Yuck, that was sooo gross!" I exclaimed. "But that's weird; it looked different than Serge's fire..."
"Just as I thought, your body still hasn't calmed down. You're exhaling way too much."
"Too much?" I questioned.
"You're not strong enough to healthily release that much power. It's not good for you." My mom explained. "Like I already thought, now's not a good time for you to practice your fire abilities, Sérgio."
"Can't you at least teach me how to use my fire another way?" I pleaded. "There was this one time fire appeared in my hand..."
"Oh? Like this?" Fire sprouted from her hand, then turning into a ball.
"Yeah, can you teach me how to do that instead?"
She sighed. "Alright, fine. But we'll only go over it once, okay? I don't want you hurting yourself by releasing too much of your flames."
My mom walked up behind me, and stretched one of my arms out in front of me.
"Now, hold out your hand in front of you, while keeping in a cupped shape. Then focus only on that hand, and try to release your fire again."
"Okay... here goes!"
I did as she told me, and this time, I felt heat traveling through my arm. Fire bursted out of it, which surprised me a little, but the flames eventually calmed down.
"Again, that was too much at once, Sérgio. But it wasn't bad for your first attempt."
"Yeah, I definitely like doing it this way more." I closed my hand, making the fire go away. "I'm gonna be practicing my fire techniques like this from now on!"
"Not today, though." My mom told me. "You'll have to wait for your fire to calm down first. So for now, you'll just be focusing on your kicking training. It's just as important, anyways."
"I know, I know..."
To be honest, I am kind of interested in learning martial arts too, actually...
"But for now..." I raised my fist in the air triumphantly, then making a victory pose. "Alright! I learned Fire Ball!"
"What about your other fire technique?" Jemily asked me.
"Ah, right..." I repeated the same pose. "Alright, I learned Fire Breath! ... Which I'm never gonna use, because it's gross..."
"Alright, now that you've had your fun, let's start your kicking training!" My mom said happily. "You remember how to use 'Spin Kick'?"
"Yeah, I think so... It's something like this, right?"
I held one leg in the air and set it near my other leg's knee, balancing on the other foot. I started to wobble a bit, but... "Tah!" I then kicked with my held up leg, my foot turned sideways.
"Pfft, you almost fell over!" Serge said mockingly.
"But I did it right, didn't I?" I asked my mom.
"Yes, good job. Although that's only a basic technique."
"Does Sérgio watch you train other people, Mrs. Gi?" Jemily inquired. "If so, he should know about the other techniques, right?"
"He would, if he weren't more focused on watching reruns of his favorite show..."
"Jalapeño Man never gets old!" I added proudly.
"Because of that, when I taught him Spin Kick the first time, he thought he had to actually spin around his entire body to perform it!" She chuckled. "He kept falling down, trying to do it that way over and over again until I told him he was doing it wrong."
"T-that's not funny, mom... And you didn't need to tell them about that!" I puffed up my cheeks in anger.
"I wished I could've seen it. Watching you fall all the time would've been so entertaining!" Serge started chuckling himself.
"Stop it!"
"Alright, let's move on to a different technique." My mom said. "This one's called 'Dual Kick'."
She performed Spin Kick again, but then spun around with a regular kick with her other foot. All in just one second!
"T-that was fast!" I shouted in surprise. "Will I be able to do that, too?"
"Of course, if you practice enough!"
"That's great, but... Don't you have anything more interesting?"
She sighed again. "So, you want to see something more 'flashy', huh? Okay; it's not something you'll be able to use yet, but..."
All of a sudden, my mom jumped really high in the air, spinned her body around once, and faced her heel down, while falling back down toward the ground.
"W-whoa!" I exclaimed in amazement.
Her kick left a mark on the ground, but she seemed perfectly fine.
"That was 'Axe Kick'. I'm used to using it enough that I don't need my wings to perform it, but you'll most definitely need yours before you can."
T-that was awesome!
"So for now, just practice Dual Kick, okay? Then we can call it a day."
But compared to Axe Kick, Dual Kick seems so boring... Oh well.
"Oh boy, I might get to watch you fall a lot, after all!" Serge said joyfully.
"I'll get it right in no time, you'll see!" I told him angrily. "And shouldn't you be training, too?!"
"Oh, that's right; I haven't thought of any way to train Serge..." Mom said in realization. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to think of something for next time, 'kay?"
"Oh boy, I can't wait..." Serge replied unenthusiastically.
--
I practiced a lot, until the sky turned orange. I somehow managed to learn Dual Kick, but it was still kind of slow. Unfortunately for Serge, I only fell a few times. Everyone was impressed by how well I was able to do!
It was actually kind of fun, learning another fighting technique. Practicing it took a lot more work than I thought, but I was still pretty excited to learn some more kicking moves! But for now...
"Alright! I finally learned Dual Kick!" I shouted happily, making a victory pose again. "Uh, kind of..."
"What about your fire power skills? Are you going to able to learn both at the same time?" Jemily asked me.
"Of course! I'll learn all the fire and kicking skills I can in no time!"
"But you're not going to do that every time you learn something, are you...?" Serge uttered.
"Heheh, I'm glad to see you so pumped up like this, Sérgio." Mom said. "I should have started training you much sooner!"
"But I think you should call it quits for today; it's getting late. You must be pretty tired too, right?" Jemily asked again.
"Yeah, kinda. I'm a lot more hungry than tired, though..."
"I'll start making dinner, then." My mom told me. "While I'm doing that, you should go take a bath."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because you're all sweaty and stinky from training so much, of course! Actually, Serge's been training too, so bring him with you."
"What?! I don't need a bath!" Serge exclaimed, backing away from us.
"Yeah, you do! You haven't taken a bath since we left the island!"
"Sheesh, no wonder you smell..." Jemily added, covering her nose in disgust.
"I smell?!"
"Let's go and get it over with, Serge." I said to him. "We'll have plenty of time to play after that."
"Jemily, why don't you join them?"
"I-I'm sorry?" Jemily looked at my mom in confusion. "Join them where...?"
"In the bath, of course! Since you'll be staying over, you might as well take one now, so they won't have to wait for you later. And if you all take one together, you won't have to wait for each other to finish." She explained. "I should have dinner ready by the time you're all done. Sound good?"
"I... guess?" I said uneasily, noticing the others weren't too keen on the idea.
"Heck no! Taking a bath is bad enough; I don't want to take one with cootie girl!"
"I-I agree with Serge for once!" Jemily yelled, her face turning red with embarrassment. "I-I can't go in with them, especially not with S-Sérgio! No way, no way, no way!"
"Why not? You used to take baths together all the time when you were little."
"Yeah, when we were little!"
"Um, mom?" I cut in. "I don't think Jemily is comfortable wi-..."
"Heheh, relax, sweetie. I'm only teasing." She said, giggling.
"Mmnph..." Jemily hid her face away from her, clearly upset by the joke.
"But what do you want to do while they're getting cleaned up? They might take a while."
"I could help cook, I guess." Jemily suggested, glad that the subject was changed. "If that's okay with you, Mrs. Gi."
"Oh my, you can cook, sweetie?"
"Yeah, I've started to learn how by my mom recently."
They continued to chat, while walking back home.
"Let's go too, Serge." I lifted him up over my head. "Alley oop!"
"H-hey, put me down, stupid!"
I ignored him and walked back to the house to wash up.
--
"Now, if you multiply 5 x 6, you get 30." Jemily told me. "So, what do you get when you multiply 6 x 7?"
"I dunno, a really high number?"
"Jeez, take this seriously, would you?!"
After we finished our baths and had dinner, she made me work on homework in my room.
"But it's been so long since you stayed over, Jemily! Can't we play or something?"
"I'm staying over to help you with homework, remember? The faster you finish, the sooner we can do something else."
"Can't we at least take a break after I finish my maths?"
Jemily sighed. "Alright, fine. But only for a couple of minutes!"
"Hooray!"
Serge looked at the math sheet I was working on. "I don't get it..."
"You not good at maths either?" I asked him.
"What are those weird shapes you keep drawing on that piece of paper, Sérgio?" He asked back.
"You mean the numbers? Can you not read?"
"Nope."
"Want me to teach you?" Jemily said to him.
"No thanks; sounds boring." Serge jumped onto me bed. "I'm just going to take a nap instead..."
Jemily sighed again. "Sheesh... Boys."
Serge curled up into a ball. Like before, his limbs and face disappeared... somehow.
"That looks really weird..." She uttered.
"I know, right? But forget about him." I continued to work on my homework. "I gotta finish this so we can play!"
"That wasn't what we agreed t-... aw, forget it. At least you're motivated now..."
"Sérgio, your help is needed once again..." A voice said in my head. A voice I've definitely heard before.
Reacting to the voice, I looked out the window, and saw a blue portal in the same place as yesterday.
"Oh, what now?!" Jemily exclaimed.
"Serge, it's Crystana!" I attempted to shake Serge awake, ignoring Jemily. "It's time for an adventure at last!"
"Seriously?!" He exclaimed this time. "Finally; I've been waiting forever for this!"
"Um, what are you two talking about?" Jemily asked.
"None of your business, cootie girl! Let's go, Sérgio!"
"Are you going to do something... dangerous?" She asked again, looking at me worriedly. "Like before with that fire?"
"Uh, not exactly... Well, I actually don't know for sure."
"And you're still going anyways?!"
"Of course! It wouldn't be as much fun if it wasn't a surprise!"
"No, Sérgio... You can't..." She hugged me gently. "Don't go... Stay here, where it's safe..."
"Jemily, I..."
"Jeez... If you're so worried, cootie girl, why not just come with us? You can, like, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid or whatever, right?" Serge said, chuckling. "Of course, I'm sure you're too chicken t-..."
"Good idea! I think I'll take you up on that offer, Serge." She released me and patted him warmly. "Thanks!"
"W-wha!?" He yelled in shock. "N-no way! I didn't think you would take me seriously! And don't touch me!"
"Um, are you sure, Jemily?" I asked her in concern. "I thought you would be scared about this kind of thing..."
"I know that I can't convince you not to go, so the next best thing is to go with you to see what your adventures are like. If you do okay, then I'll feel better about it. And besides..." She closed her eyes and smiled. "You promised to protect me no matter what, right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Uh, at least I think it was something like that...
--
We all went outside to where the portal was.
"U-uh... I m-might be having second thoughts about this..." Jemily stammered.
I gently grabbed one of her hands. "It'll be fine. Trust me, okay?"
"O-okay..."
I guided Jemily through the portal, Serge following close behind.
"Welcome, young hero." Crystana immediately greeted once we entered the blue, shiny area she resided in. "Are you ready for your second test?"
"Of course! But before that..." I gestured toward Jemily. "This is Jemily, one of my friends. Is it alright if she comes with me this time, Crystana?"
"It is no concern of mine. As long as you complete this trial ahead, whoever is with you does not matter."
"Okay then! Thanks!"
"So, what's the next test, shiny lady?" Serge asked.
"I sense some dark creatures occupying a vacant building not far from Joun City."
"D-dark creatures...?" Jemily said in fright.
"What's Joun City?" Serge said in confusion.
"That's the city we live in." I told him.
"Oh..."
"They may be servants of your dark side." Crystana continued. "Before he has a chance to do anything with them, destroy them. All of them, if possible."
Hm, this test seems a lot more serious than last time... It's a good thing I practiced some special skills today!
"There may be some that will try to trick you by acting innocent or pretending they're in danger, but don't be fooled. Understand?" She told me sternly.
"Got it."
"I wish you luck, young hero..." Like last time, Crystana waved her hand and made everything spin. Soon enough, we were in another area...
--
... unlike before though, it was a lot darker this time.
"No matter how you look at it, there's only one thing you could call a place like this, right?" I stated, looking around the "vacant building".
"D-don't say it..."
"What would you call this place, Sérgio?" Serge inquired.
"D-don't say it!"
"A haunted house!"
"Nooo!" Jemily cried, curling up into a ball. "I hate places like this!"
"Why? Didn't you say you don't believe in ghosts?" I said to her. "What did you say, again? They're too 'unscientific' to possibly exist?"
"I've seen a lot of unscientific things today, Sérgio. Ghosts being real too wouldn't surprise me at this point..."
"BWWUUAARRGGHHH!!!"
"AHHH!!!" Jemily jumped up and latched onto my arm, shaking with fear.
"Hahah!" Serge laughed. "That reaction was hilarious!"
"Serge, don't do things like that!" I patted Jemily's back gently. "Sorry about that. You can stay close to me if you want. I'll protect you from the ghosts or whatever, okay?"
She looked at me with a few tears in her eyes. "O-okay..."
"Jeez, why are you always so nice to cootie girl all the time? She's just a 'nuie sahnce'!"
"You mean 'nuisance'? And you're the one that scared me, ball thing!"
"Stop calling me that!"
"Enough, you guys. Let's look around and see what we can find."
I got them both to calm down and help me look through the creepy house. We couldn't split up because Serge was making fire for us to see and Jemily was still holding onto my arm.
"No dark creatures yet..." I uttered.
"I-I kinda hope we don't find any. This is creeping me out..." Jemily added, moving closer to me. "I'm so scared...!"
"Oh, really? Then why are you smiling like an idiot, cootie girl?"I looked at Jemily, her face turning red. "S-shut up... bald thing!"
"Bald thing?!" Serge exclaimed in shock.
"H-help me..." A light cry was heard above us.
"W-what was that?!"
"Maybe a ghost is up on the roof for some reason?" Serge suggested, trying to scare Jemily again.
"Or, y'know, there could be a second floor..." I suggested back.
"The ghost is haunting the second floor, then. Same difference."
I sighed. "Let's just look for the stairs..."
We continued forward, until the cries became louder. The path we took eventually led to a door. As I attempted to open it...
"BWWUUAAHHH!!!" A black, ghostlike creatured popped out, sending us sprawling to the floor in surprise. It disappeared only a second later.
"I-I wasn't expecting that!" I stammered, recovering from the surprise.
"M-maybe we should go back..." Jemily uttered, while I was helping her up.
"Go back where?" Serge asked, jumping up himself. "We were teleported here, remember?"
"I won't go back, anyways. Not while I know there's someone in need of a rescue!"
"B-but do you remember what Crystana said? It might be a trap!"
"I don't care."
"Huh?"
"It might be a trap, but it might also not be one. As a hero in training, I have to take this chance."
"Yeah, let's go! I ain't afraid of any ghosts!"
"Y-you... You both are crazy!"
"If you want to stay here, that's fine with us." Serge told her sternly.
"No way! I'm not staying here by myself!"
"That settles it, then. Let's go."
--
We went through the door and rushed up the stairs to the upper floor, once we heard the cries again. Upon reaching the floor above, we realized the upper level was actually an attic. And in the attic were...
... more of those black ghosts surrounding a purplish-white one.
"H-help me..." The white ghost uttered in fear, shaking and covering its face.
"You... are... different..." One the black ones said.
"... become... one of... us!" Another added.
"Hold it, 'Ghosty Boys'!" Serge yelled, getting their attention. "Leave him alone!"
"Who... are... yoouuu...?" Their red, piercing gazes sended chills up my spine.
"W-wait, Serge! That white one is a ghost, too!" Jemily told him, while hiding behind me. "It's probably a trick!"
Crystana did warn us about a situation like this, but she was mistaken about Rhinore, too. What if it really does need help?!
"I-I'm not a ghost, I'm a CSmon..." It responded. "P-please, help me..."
"A-a CSmon?!" I exclaimed in shock. "You mean, like Serge?"
"In that case, there's definitely no way I'm ignoring this!" Serge cried. "Take this! Roll Attack!" Serge curled up into a ball, began spinning in place, and launched his body at one of the Ghosty Boys. However, he just ended up going through it, not affecting it at all.
"I-it didn't work?!" Serge said.
"B-become... one of... us!" Some of them grabbed and trapped Serge.
"Argh...! Lemme go!"
"Oh no, Serge!" I called out. "I'll give you a taste of my Spin Kick, you stupid ghost thing!"
"Don't, Sérgio! It won't work!" Jemily warned me. "I don't think there affected by physical strikes!"
"What can I do then?!"
"Well, they're ghosts, so..." She paused for a second. "They probably don't like bright lights? But I'm not sure if knowing that will be useful in this situation..."
Bright lights? Maybe I can burn the ghosts! Serge wouldn't be hurt either, because he's unaffec-... wait, no that wouldn't work. My power's still unstable, and might up burning the building, too...
Argh! If I just had some way of kicking them! A kick that created fire, then I could hurt them! But, I don't... I can create fire from my hands, but not my legs...
Think... What would Jalapeño Man do in this situation?!
... Wait, my feet can't create fire, but...
"... I got it! I'll just do the opposite instead!"
"What do you mean?" Jemily questioned.
"I'm gonna beat them all!" I answered, running toward them. "With a kicking technique!"
"Didn't you hear me?! You can't kick them, Sérgio!"
Yeah, not normally...
Upon seeing me, one of the ghosts that were trapping Serge headed in my direction. In response, I readied my Spin Kick.
I can't create fire with my feet...
I shot fire out from my hand onto one of my legs, the flames all surrounding it.
... but that doesn't mean I can't set them on fire another way!
"Combination technique! Fire Kick!" I hit it with my flaming Spin Kick, sending it toward the other two holding Serge. They were all caught on fire and disappeared as a result. Of course, since Serge isn't hurt by fire, he was perfectly fine.
"Nice, Sérgio! Now, let me try!" He began to spin again, heading toward the other three surrounding the white ghost. Noticing this, they left its side and tried to trap him again.
"B-become... one of... us!"
But before they could grab him, Serge set his body on fire and rammed into them all.
"Flame Cycle!"
And with that, all of the Ghosty Boys were defeated!
"T-they did it..." Jemily stated in awe.
"Serge! I was trying to avoid setting the building on fire!" I told him, stomping out the fire he created on the floor.
"Heheh, sorry..."
"Y-you did it! You defeated them!" The white ghost hugged Serge happily. "You saved me; thank you so much! You're my hero!"
"A-ah, it was nothing..." Serge said nervously, surprised by the hug.
"Hey, what about me?! I'm supposed to be the hero, here!" I crossed my arms in frustration. "Hmph!"
Jemily giggled. "It's alright, Sérgio. I think you did a great job."
"Thanks..."
"I know now that you and Serge both are not only strong, but kindhearted as well. I'm sure you'll make a great superhero someday!"
"R-really? You really think so, Jemily?!" I said in excitement.
"You two are superheroes?" The white ghost asked Serge.
"Nah, I'm just Serge, a CSmon who likes to go on adventures. Mr. 'Hero-in-Training' over there is Sérgio, my partner and rival."
"Partner? Rival?" I questioned. "Funny, I've always thought of you more like my sidekick..."
"Sidekick? Excuse me?!" Serge said to me angrily.
"My name is Jemily." She went up to the ghost-like CSmon and patted its head. "Now that I look at you up close, you're actually kind of cute! Unlike a certain ball thing..."
"I heard that, cootie girl!"
"My name is Sprit." He said. "You all seem like good friends. It must be nice..."
"You don't have friends?" I asked him.
"No. Ever since I was born a year ago, I've always lived here, all my myself." He explained. "When those black things came, I thought I finally wouldn't be lonely anymore, but all they did was scare me..."
"But if you didn't think there was anyone here, why did you bother calling for help?" Jemily inquired.
"Because I hoped with all my might, that there was a hero somewhere that would come save me. To be honest, I wasn't expecting one to actually come. Again, thank you so much!"
I wonder... Was the real reason Crystana brought us here actually to save Sprit?
Speaking of Crystana, just then, she had sent a portal there to bring us back.
"I guess this means we completed her test." Serge stated.
"W-what's that thing?" Sprit asked.
"Our ride back home." I answered.
"Y-you're leaving?" He said sadly. "I see..."
That's right... If we leave, he'll be all alone again...
"Sérgio." Serge said to me, simply staring at me afterward.
I simply nodded, understanding without him saying anything else.
"Do you want to go adventures with us, Sprit?" I asked him. "It'll be a lot more fun than being here by yourself."
Sprit simply looked at us, taking in the words I had said. He then began to cry.
"R-really? I-I... Is it really okay for me to go with you? Can I really be your frie-..."
Me and Jemily grabbed each of his hands and brought him through the portal with us.
"Let's go, buddy!"
End of Chapter 5
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Writer's Comments:
Chapter 5 is finally done! Why do I say "finally"? Because I actually planned this one out a month ago, but got lazy and postponed it to this month instead. Because of that, I kind of forgot what to write for this one, and ended up taking a while to write it. That's what happens when I don't write for a while...
This one ended up being kind of longer than I thought, but since this is an introductory chapter for a character, I guess it's fine. That character of course being Sprit, the ghost-like CSmon. I made him all the way back in 2003, so it's about time he makes an appearance!
I'm actually not sure what to put in the next chapter, but when I do, I'll make sure to get on it right away. Or should I say... "write" away! Hahahahah... that wasn't funny.
- CS-Masyet