Gear: New World

Rage

     As I stood there, emotions swelled inside me. How could this man expect me to partake in his army, let alone willingly stay here? Then again as I stood there I could tell by their expressions that I wasn't being given a choice. That's how it's been since I got here though. Tenshi and his group have been giving me a somewhat nice treatment, but behind all their smiles and kind words lay malice and the intent to kill. The only person who didn't seem to be cheering was the man in my dreams who goes by Rage. He stood in front of me as if testing me to see what I would do.

     "Now Rage. Please take Ethan with you to the room."

     Turning away Rage motions to a hallway. I take one last look around us and we set forth. As we walked Rage didn't say much. He explained to me what we would be doing and the rules and regulations of our sessions. Don't touch anything without being told, listen and obey, always be accompanied by him or a helper, etc. The hallway I was in now was the one I took before to originally get to my room. Looking at Rage, his muscular body was lean and fit. I knew he was stronger than me, but all I needed was an opportunity and I would be able to escape. I started to raise my hand and quietly mumbled

      "Gear Shift: Zero" my hands lighting up in response. I raise my hand to attack, but right when I do he turns around, hand around my neck smashing me into the nearby wall. I try to move his hand off me, but he presses down harder on my neck.

     "Try something like that again and I'll make sure to crush your windpipe completely." His right hand is raised, glowing purple.

     I put my hands up in defeat and he lets go as I fall, coughing up a fit, grabbing my throat for air. I look up and for a moment all my senses scream alert. His gaze was so strong I could feel the intent to kill even if I wasn't looking at him. Offering a hand, he pulls me up and we keep walking as I try not to sound like a dying man. Eventually, we make it to our training center, and once again, I'm amazed by the room. Ceramic tiles are laid out as the floor has multiple fighting dummies lined up against the wall. The ceiling reflects what's below like a mirror and the back of the room opens up to an outside backyard. How do they even manage to get all this space? Rage motions me towards the middle of the room. He explains to me what we're going to be doing, how I'm working on a Day 1, Day 2 type schedule. Day 1, starting today is pure combat training, how to defend yourself, and takedowns. Day 2, which starts tomorrow, is solely to train my Gears and get better at using them. From then, we'll alternate between Day 1 and Day 2 so my body conditions properly. He also explains that the moment I step inside the training room, training begins. Just as I was about to ask what he meant, he threw a punch at me, hitting me square in the jaw, sending me to the ground.

     "Man what the hell?!" but right before I could get back up, he grabbed me by the collar and threw me across the room. As I hit the floor with a loud thump, that's when I realized what he meant. It didn't matter if I wasn't ready to fight or not, he was coming after me with the intent to kill. That was his training. No regular sit down and teach, he was going to train me with real hand experience. I slowly get up, Rage already closing the gap between us. I've never really been in a fight before, not like this at least. Most fights that happen are between teenagers who don't know how to fight and instead just throw punches at each other. Not only that, but the fights that I've been in recently have all been using my Gears. Actual hand-to-hand combat is something entirely new to me.

     He throws a right jab at me, but this time I'm able to dodge, sending a left hook aimed towards his side. Blocking it with his forearm, he then sweeps my legs, dropping me to the ground. Groaning I try to get up, but he punches straight down into my chest knocking the air out of me. For a moment, I blink my eyes, spots forming, everything blurring out. The last image I see is Rage standing over me, and with one last punch to the face, I was out.