Chapter 16

The Pupil

“What do you mean you fought Mike for battle data?! Are you crazy Jeff?! Look what happened to Paula when she unleashed his Mental Ascension Fate and felt the effects! A lot worse could have happened to you if he would have unleashed that on you!” Tom was screaming at Jeff with everything he had once Jeff said he had fought Mike for battle data. Tom knew full well they could have killed each other and thought it was a stupid move.

“Look Tom, I know what just happened to me. I’ve recovered after sleeping for about the last day. You know Mike. He has his abilities well under control. What is important though is what we can learn from what Jeff just did. We can analyze this to see his weaknesses and strengths to see how we can work better as a team” Paula firmly said to Tom.

“Tom, I understand your concern for me. Look though, I had never heard of powers like Mike’s and got really curious. I went a little overboard though, so what. I did this to see what we all can learn from this. Everyone of us can learn something from every fight, mistakes and accomplishments both. I want to have everyone look over this fight together in two hours. Maybe some of us will learn a thing or two about what we can do together. Unfortunately, Mike won’t be here but it might be for the best. He said he needed some disc unencrypted, since I couldn’t do it I sent him off to Twoson to see the Apple Kid. He might get in the way of things anyway so let’s just review this later” Jeff explained.

It had been twelve hours since Jeff had arrived in Saturn Valley. He met up with everyone and was questioned on how the tour went and such. When Ness and Paula showed up about eight hours later she explained her ordeal to everyone else. With everyone in one place except Dave and Mike, they went on about what had happened once Mike and Jeff left for Snow Wood. Then Jeff told his story, and mentioned that he got battle data off of Mike.

“I have to see the Saturns to see if got any new broken parts I can use. Remember, three o’ clock sharp” Jeff finished his part of the conversation then got up and left.

“Sorry about the reaction guys, its just I feel that we shouldn’t be fighting ourselves right now, but the four Horsemen of Apocalypse right now, that’s all” said Tom as he apologized.

“It’s okay Tom. I understand completely, but we still have a while though. Not to mention we have to wait until they make the move, not us. Poo, did you have luck finding Dave earlier?” said Ness.

“None what so ever, it’s like he vanished. It is unlikely he would still be on that tour of the valley. I’m sure he will turn up somewhere though” Poo said.

“That’s weird that he would disappear like that though. I know we haven’t known him long but I feel like something is up with him. I haven’t seen him in a day and I am wondering what happened to him all of a sudden. Did he possibly just leave us?” said Casie.

“I don’t think that was it. He will show up sooner or later. If he doesn’t show, then I’ll just try to find him myself after we analyze this data” Ness said.

“I know how Mike fights, so I gonna take my leave as well. I need work on my powers right now. I have two I’ve been trying to master for a while. I feel they might come in handy so I’m going to go somewhere with some solitude right now” Casie explained.

“Are you sure about this Casie? If all four of us are separated, I feel they might try to make a move to catch us off guard” Ness said.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. My ability is that I can use virtually any Psi technique once I see it used once. It’s just I can only use variants for the most part. This includes a teleport variant that I like to call mist, excuse the name. I can only teleport myself with it so I couldn’t use it when you guys needed help.”

“Yeah, I remember how many times you hit that wall trying to master teleport then once Mike mastered light warp you just gave up. Wow, I have never seen so many bruises on someone before in my life” said Tom laughing very hard.

“Shut up, it wasn’t my fault that I was trying to do it in a crowded city now was it. Anyway, that’s why I developed my mist technique, so stuff like that would never happen again. I go up into the clouds vertically with this technique then I use teleport. I’ll be alright though. I’ll contact you guys telepathically if anything happens, alright.”

“I guess so. If anything happens to you though, it’s your own fault just remember that” said Paula.

“Like I said before, I’ll be alright. You boys aren’t the only ones who can fight hand-to-hand well. I can take care of myself. See ya guys, Psi Mist alpha!” With that Casie was gone with a flash.

“When did she see teleport before she met up with us?” said Paula.

“Around when we were three months in, I had just joined the group and had just fought someone who escaped with teleport. Well, Casie got a little over determined to master that technique. I can’t remember how many times she hit the same wall trying to get teleport down. It just got funnier every time. That was pretty much her only failed attempt at mastering a psychic power she had only seen once or twice though. She knows mostly variants but for the most part the powers are much stronger. She does flash slightly differently by using her hands instead of her mind to launch the attack for example. It still has the same effect but the shot is purely linear instead of the usual three sixty blast that everyone else uses though. She got so good at it that she developed the Quantum Flash Fate. It super concentrates all light around her into her hands and then she releases it into a massive linear blast of light. It will take out almost anything because the light is so intense at close range at she just vaporizes anything too close. All of this is to just lay the points down that she can take care of herself. Also, to prove that by variant she only means a slightly different way of doing the technique.”

“That’s pretty good. I hope she will be alright. I don’t want her getting hurt in anyway possible. All four Horsemen of Light have been split up, so I don’t want to see anything happen to them as much as I let anything happen to this cap” said Ness.

“We all understand your concern Ness. I’m with Tom on this one. She looks like she can take care of herself along with the rest of us. I’m going to meditate for the next two hours. Just don’t disturb me okay. You three can exchange stories or whatever you feel like for the next two hours” Poo sternly explained.

“Fine by us, we’ll let you meditate until then” said Ness. When they finally got by themselves, Ness, Paula, and Tom were able to get a lot explained about themselves.

“Tom, Paula read a lot of Mike’s mind when she was trying to find things out. She didn’t get much about you though, would you mine filling in some gaps for us” said Ness.

“Sure thing Ness, unlike the other four of the Destined Ones, I was not a local friend who knew Mike for a long time. I had actually just moved into the area not long ago when I met Mike. It was about a week before everything started to happen to him” Tom started to explain.

“So, you’re not a long time friend of Mike’s. That would explain why he didn’t have much on you” Paula said.

“Nolan, Ryan, Mike, and Casie don’t actually know that much about me. I was born China when my parents were on vacation and lived in England till I was four. My parents saw what they said was ‘incredible potential’ to fight when I was child. Against my wishes I was sent to every martial arts school possible. I was miserable for the most part until I turned ten, about six years later. I never got into the martial arts that much until then. I was good, but never that serious. Then I met a man by the name of Shadow Kasume and trained under him.”

“Hold it! How old are you?” screamed Paula.

“Fourteen, why?” Tom answered.

“There is no way to my knowledge that Shadow Kasume is alive. Poo said Shadow and Star Master were the two pupils of the greatest martial arts master of their day. Poo also said Shadow died ten years ago from cancer. How is it possible then that you trained under him when he died when you were four years old and you said you didn’t start with him until you were ten!” said a shocked Ness.

“So Poo is the Star Master’s student huh, that explains why he knows the Mu discipline and the starstorm psychic attack” Tom said.

“How did you know that? He never told you did he?” Paula questioned.

“Poo never told me that. Like I said I am Shadow Kasume’s student. It is only logical that I would know Poo’s discipline as much as he knows mine. Shadow is still alive and well, actually taught Mike and Nolan some basics. I’m surprised Poo thinks he’s dead though. I’ve seen Star Master and my sensei talk with each other many times. It might be because of the isolation that Mu requires to train under that Poo doesn’t know Shadow is alive. Mu requires isolation and intense concentration. The Shadow Arts require intense exposure to the world. It is the discipline of tapping into nature, somewhat of what some would call a Mana art or dark arts for that matter. I assure you this isn’t a Satanic discipline by any means. It is a very strict moral discipline with an extreme code of conduct. I still have the scars from when I was scolded. Back to the subject now, even if it was the toughest training I had ever endured. I loved it. I had never liked the martial arts beforehand because I felt I was never meant to become a fighter. Sensei taught me much more than just how to fight. I got actual education and learned how to talk to people and socialize. Something I always wanted to do. His art made it so you could function as a true human being to tap into your true power. Mu does the same but in a different way. I’m guessing Mu did the same thing with Poo. He’s probably quite popular with people isn’t he.”

“Yeah he is Tom, why do you care?” said Ness.

“Just to show you that the two disciplines are very similar in their teachings. I have been under his wing for the last four years and have learned so much. I don’t even know how to repay him. I was actually about to return home because I was quite disobedient when he for some reason took me under his wing” Tom explained.

“What made you meet up with Mike then?” asked Paula.

“Well, I was pretty much sent to look after the Destined Ones. They didn’t even know I was watching them until Nolan and that keen eye of his spotted me. He shot a gun right at me and just missed me. After a slight skirmish, they convinced me to join up with them.”

“Talk about a different life style than us. I was a normal kid that kept my powers hidden from everyone until Giygas decided to come down and start his assault on Earth. Paula here has been chased by the media for most of her life since she was a little more open with her powers” said Ness.

“Ness, honey, please don’t remind me of those days. I would spend hours in my room crying because I couldn’t even play with the kids downstairs in the preschool or even go outside without having a reporter come up to me at one point. I have clairvoyance so I at least knew when they were coming. I led a good life until then and still do. The media has started to lighten up on me so it feels good to actually breathe and not have anyone pestering me about it. My family loves me very much and I just love those kids so much. They don’t care if I have powers or not. They just want to have a good time without worrying about anything else. They are the most kindred spirits I have ever met, and I hope they stay that way” said a teary eyed Paula.

“I hope they do too Paula. You have your motivation to help defeat the four Horsemen of Apocalypse then don’t you. I suspect everyone else has their own reasons for joining up originally to defeat Godan or Giygas and wants to see them go away. I’m surprised we haven’t gotten to go get Ryan and Nolan yet though. They have the same motivation as Mike with Godan. They can’t stand to see anyone get hurt. It’s the same with everyone here I guess. We have someone to protect that we all agreed to go through with this. I wish I didn’t have to though. I remember Mike crying while he was under observation after coming out of his coma. He said he didn’t want to fight anymore, but he had to now.”

“I swore my life to defend against evil when I was in Magicant, no matter the cost. I don’t want to fight either. Who knows what pain and destruction we might cause someone if something goes wrong, say if we fail. I’m going to make sure that we don’t fail, no matter the cost. I never want to see the fear in the faces of those people in my town after Giygas invaded ever again. That look of helplessness I saw, I will never forget it. We made an oath at that point. No matter what happens, no matter how much we hate to fight, no matter the problems we go through, we would always stick together and fight against whatever endangered this world; so we would never have to see or let any other person experience that feeling. The pain those people felt is my motivation. Any form a life with the slightest drop of purity in them should never feel that torture of whether they’re next or not. I won’t let them be next!” Ness’s speech was of pure emotion. The acts of cruelty he saw Giygas’s flunkies commit was enough to drive him into a rage beyond even what Mike could experience.

“Ness, are you going to be okay? I mean I’ve never seen tears flow from your eyes like this” said a concerned Paula.

“Yeah I’ll be fine,” said Ness wiping the tears from his eyes. “Those memories always bring back those emotions I felt during our adventure. I never wanted to experience this again, but for those who can’t fight. I must.”

“Well, we can talk later. It’s been about two hours now. Jeff seems really intent on letting us see that data. You two going to come along or should I leave you two love birds alone *wham!*.” said Tom as Paula whacked him over the head with her Holy Fry Pan when he finished his comment.

“That type of sarcasm was not needed at all Tom. I hope you’ll learn from your sensei one day about properly time humor. Come on Ness, let’s go” Paula firmly said while walking off.

“I think Mike’s bad sense of humor rubbed off on her too” whisper Tom to Ness.

“I think so too” Ness whisper backed to Tom.

“I heard that!” yelled a still slightly ticked Paula.

<Yeah, that temper and hearing of his as well> Tom thought to himself.

“Don’t think aloud either Tom, I can’t hear your thoughts too!” yelled a still slightly ticked Paula.

“Man she’s good.”

“That’s why I love her Tom.”

Chapter 17

The Analysis

“Alright Jeff, why are you so anxious to have us see this data?” said Poo.

“Well, as you know I have fought with all of you to figure out how Psi and your other psychic powers work.”

“And your point is Jeff, Mike’s powers aren’t that remarkable by means. I mean Casie would be a little more interesting to study if you want unusual. His powers are just rare in this day and age” explained Tom.

“I would disagree with you about two days ago. I now agree with you though. Still, that doesn’t mean I couldn’t study those rare abilities. After some close analysis, Mike has a fighting style that actually closely resembles yours Poo. I mean a strikingly close resemblance” said Jeff.

“That’s impossible, someone would need some extreme training in the martial arts to come even close to Mu” said a nearly laughing Poo.

<Won’t he be surprised. Not about Mike’s fighting style, or mine for that matter. It’s the fact he doesn’t know Shadow Kasume is even alive. I’ll break the new to him later today> Tom thought to himself.

“I wouldn’t be laughing Poo. I have expected this from the beginning that something like this was going to happen. I’ll show you what I’m talking about” Jeff showed the video to everyone of Mike’s fight with Goliath and how Mike couldn’t even scratch the surface of the giant robot. Then Poo saw the very shocking move that Mike did. He recognized the form of the technique. Yes, it was varied a little bit. It was unmistakable, Mike had learned a variant of the Shadow Movement technique. The only possible way for Mike to even move that fast and have enough force to cut Goliath so cleanly was with a form of Shadow Movement. “See what I mean Poo, Mike has somehow learned a form of Shadow Movement. I don’t understand how he was able to pull a variant off with without the proper training” Jeff explained with Ness and Paula holding back their laughter in the background. Jeff nor Poo heard the laughter because Tom quickly responded.

“Don’t you think he might have learned it on his own” said Tom.

“Absolutely not, only two people as of today know Shadow Movement. Star Master knows it and I know it myself. I have also perfected the second shadow technique, Shadow Mind, with the other technique quite recently. I know Mike didn’t know the proper energy usage for that technique. I’m just wondering how he learned that technique.”

“Well Poo, if you would just listen for a second I could tell you how he learned it. Have you ever heard of a martial arts master known as Shadow Kasume?” asked Tom.

“Yes, I have. He’s been dead for the last ten years though. What’s the point you’re getting to here Tom? A successor that we didn’t know of could have taught Mike how to do that.”

Tom then rolled up his sleeve to show Poo the armband he wore around his bicep. It revealed a symbol that seemed to be the trademark of a school or something. Poo at this point was freaking out. “How did you get that?!” screamed Poo.

“Well, Shadow Kasume is alive Poo and this is proof. Only his students carry this armband. I just happen to be his top student.”

“What! How can you possibly be a student of his when he’s dead?” screamed a now furious Poo.

“The death from cancer thing just a red-herring to get people off his back, he only wanted to train those with great potential but his public status made that too hard. People wanted him to train their students and kids who had no potential whatsoever, and probably would have died in his school from the rigorous training. Look Poo, if you don’t believe me, I’ll take you down to see him one day. I have to return there after this is all over with anyway” Tom explained.

“Well, I’ll take your word for it for now. Jeff is there any point for this meeting at all rather than to watch Mike” Poo complained.

“Yes there is. I want you guys to see how we can take advantage of this tactically. If we don’t work together on this we’ll fall. I was thinking maybe we can plan out a battle strategy based on the data we’ve collected so far. We’ve already barely gotten away from one battle. We almost lost Ness and Paula in the process. Our group for now had the advantage in power. If I’m right though, their rate of growth will let their power surpass even Ness in maybe three days. After that our power means nothing if we don’t use it wisely. We need to figure out where each of us can be most effective when we face off against them again. I have a feeling that all four might stage something next time.”

“You can’t be serious Jeff! If all four of them were to attack us at once we wouldn’t stand a prayer! How do you or Mike for that matter expect us to defeat those four all at once?!” yelled a shocked Ness just now realizing that predicament that all of them were now in. Giygas and Gorin had almost single-handedly taken each of them down. What if they were to face all four at once at even a fraction of their true strength? The four horsemen of light would have been squashed in a moment with no problem. Even with their friends by their side, it would have ended very quickly. What were they to do?

“That’s why I fought Mike, to survey his power and my power simultaneously in battle. I’ve seen that Giygas in our final fight against him that holy based attacks seem to hurt him the most. Paula, that’s where you’ll come in. Use your prayer and maybe we can stand a chance against him. Ness since you seem to do the most damage of all of us, and have the power of the sound stone in you. You would also be able to capitalize on any weaknesses to physical damage that Giygas might have, since we now know Psi is ineffective and it takes quite a bit of energy for him to even counter his energy counters.”

“Alright, Nolan, one of the Destined Ones, might be of some use as well. He seems to be a Heavenly endowed fighter. He might be able to hurt Giygas quite a bit then” Paula explained.

“Next is Gorin, the one who I have the next highest amount of data on is what Mike gave me while I was touring with him. He might be vulnerable to magic and spiritually endowed weapons. Poo, Tom and Dave will have to take him on then. Considering Dave’s ancestry and the similar abilities that you two, Poo and Dave, seem to have I think it would be the perfect set up considering how he was defeated before. Now for the one that Tom might have the highest amount of data on, Godan.”

“Jeff, I know very little about him. All I know is that he is the strongest of the four and Mike beat him by using that Infinity End technique of his. Godan didn’t seem to be vulnerable to much when we fought him.”

“Thanks Tom, with that new piece of information I’m definitely sticking to my original plan of putting Mike and Ness on him at once. Those two are the strongest of each group so it might be best to put our best on their best. That leaves Casie, Ryan, and I for Giegue. Anyone here have any objections to this plan?”

“Since we don’t have any data on Giegue, I think your battle plan might work” said Ness.

“At our current strengths, if we were to face them without some sort of tactic we would fail easily. This might be our best shot” said Tom.

“Just remember that they aren’t at full strength yet and are growing stronger by the second. We need to use this before they hit that level or we’re done for. Remember Giygas and his minions almost defeated all of us. All four might cause some problems if they are together. A plan is better than no plan, right?” said Paula.

“Yeah you’re right Paula. We needed some sort of tactic so I think that this might be our best shot if we face all four at once. Tom, when will you be able to prove to me the Shadow is alive?” remarked Poo.

“As soon as I can find out where he is, he moves about a lot so I don’t where exactly he’s at right now.”

“Thanks Tom.”

“Well guys, I think we should take Casie’s lead and train so we will be ready if we need to put this plan into action. There are no threats right now, but if we learn of one we will go to it immediately” Jeff firmly stated.

As everyone started to leave Poo took out a note the he found in one of the homes in Saturn Valley while trying to find a quiet place to meditate. He opened it when everyone was gone.

“I’m sorry everyone but I have something to do for right now. I’ll explain what ‘that’ is later but I have to go and now.

Your new friend,

Dave Evangale”

<I hope it’s something important Dave. I’ll keep this a secret so you can go about your business alone, whatever it is. Just don’t get yourself killed> Poo thought to himself after rereading the note.

“Hey Poo you coming!” yelled Paula noticing that Poo hadn’t left the Saturn house since everyone else had left.

“Yeah, I’ll be in a second.” Once Poo yelled that to Paula from a nice distance only one thought came to his mind <Now the plot is about to thicken and the stage is set. We now know what we are up against to preserve the human race. Can we succeed like Mike says we can say? Or will we lose like the ancient scriptures have stated. For once, I hope the ancient prophets are wrong and our day of judgment will never come, EVER!!!!>