The Courage To Go On

A Lesson To Be Remembered

A little while after the fight, Oliver and Zane finally returned home. When he opened the door, a patiently waiting Moon went over to the two, shocked at how much of a mess they are.

"Oh my god! What happened! Are you two ok?!" Moon cried as she looked at Oliver's wounds. Oliver tried his best to explain what happened, though he wasn't completely sure about Zane's perspective.

"A fight?! With who?!" Moon said.

"Erm- Some dude named 'Shadow', I think," Oliver said, kind of unsure. Moon then went from worrying to slightly angry.

"Shadow?! That bastard!" Moon said.

Then, Zane woke up, sort of woozy and tired. Oliver asked Zane what happened to him, but Zane couldn't remember. Moon then took Zane to get his nose cleaned and put him to rest. Oliver just sat down on the couch, thinking about what do to. Moon then went to check on Oliver's wounds and patch them up.

"Moon, I think something happened to Zane.." Oliver said.

"What happened?"she said, looking a bit concerned now.

"I think Zane.. Unlocked his Noroi eye.." he said with his head down. This surprised Moon.

"Wait really..?" she asked, only for Oliver to nod his head. The room became silent for a while, before Moon got up and told Oliver to take a shower because he did smell a bit awful.

The next day..

Oliver was in the backyard with Zane, having some father-son bonding time. Zane was unaware of his new power, but Oliver could just tell by the energy he sensed. Then, Oliver decided to maybe give him a few pointers to use his ability. First, he had to tell Zane that he did have his powers already. He did just that, with now an excited Zane wanting to learn how to use his powers.

"So you wanna learn, eh?" Oliver said, trying to control Zane's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Zane said, being all hyper and jumping up and down.

"Alright then! Class starts now!" Oliver said, grabbing an old punching bag he borrowed from T.S. "Now, the first thing is to see what makes you use your powers in the first place."

"I don't know what makes me use my powers though.." Zane said, looking a bit confused.

"That's why we're gonna test what does!" Oliver said. "Now, see this punching bag? I want you to imagine this bag as someone you dislike."

"But I don't hate anyone.. Why would I?" Zane said.

"Just try to. Someone 'outta had made you not like them, just think hard. C'mon!" Oliver said.

Zane thought as hard as he can, but couldn't think of anyone. This kind of stressed him out a little. He looked at Oliver's face, however, and couldn't help but think about his bloody and bruised face during the fight on the mountain.

Then, he looked at the punching bag, and all he saw was Shadow, smiling and laughing at a defeated Oliver. This immediately triggered Zane's eye, turning it into what it looked like during the fight, and made him pounce at the punching bag, scratching and biting it like a rabid animal. Oliver became surprised, and tried to settle Zane down. Zane faced him, and Oliver saw that his eye had mutated. However, Zane became surrounded by the purple aura, and formed the arm-tail with the aura, grabbing Oliver and crushing him.

"Zane, stop it!" Oliver yelled before activating his own eye.

Moon came outside and saw what was happening.

"OH MY GOD- ZANE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she yelled.

Oliver formed his blade and sliced through the arm-tail, and grabbed Zane to hold him in place.

"ZANE! CALM DOWN! WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU?!" he said.

Then, Zane started charging up the energy ball attack he used on Shadow, which scared the hell out of Oliver, made him back up to Moon and form a shield for their protection. Zane, however, suddenly calmed down, making the attack disappear and making Zane tired. Oliver and Moon went to check on him. Oliver now knows what triggered his abilities: Rage. Moon was scared, so was Oliver, so they al went inside and let Zane rest on the couch. The two had a discussion again, leading to the conclusion that just simply teaching Zane how to use his powers are gonna be a huge risk if they don't teach him control over his emotions.

The next day...

Zane was playing outside with his toy dinosaurs. He really liked dinosaurs, so he constantly played with his dino figures. Oliver went outside to see what he was doing, and sat down next to him.

"Hi dad!" Zane said, still playing with his toys.

"Hey son, you mind putting your toys down for a second? I wanna talk to you about something." He said as Zane started to put his toys down and listen.

"Look, so do you remember what happened in the backyard yesterday..?" Oliver asked.

"Sorta... and I'm sorry that-" Zane said before being interrupted.

"It's alright Zane. What did you see that made you angry?" Oliver asked.

"..Seeing Shadow beating you up..." Zane said with his head down. "I just wanted to make sure you were safe- I-"

"I know you want to see me safe. I know. So Shadow makes you angry?" He said as Zane nodded his head.

"Well, let me tell you an important lesson. Eventually, you'll get the hang of your powers. It's pretty much guaranteed. But controlling it will be hard, especially in a moment of distress. Trying to stay calm and controlling your emotions is good way to keep control of that power in that scenario.." Oliver said.

"But what if I can't control my emotions? What if I can't do it..?" Zane asked.

Oliver chucked a little and had a serious expression. "At times, that's alright. Only if you want to protect who you really care about. In that very moment, in order to destroy the inhuman monster that's trying to hurt what you love.."

"You must first be willing to abandon your own humanity.."

Zane's eyes widened a little, before Oliver pats him in the back.

"But that's only if absolutely necessary. I'll teach you how to control your emotions when using your abilities," Oliver said.

"Will I be as strong as you?" Zane asked.

"Heh, maybe even stronger than me! You just gotta work hard and put in all of your effort," Oliver said as he picked up Zane and headed inside.

"Stronger?!" Zane said, surprised.

"Yeah, stronger. But promise me that you'll keep that lesson I told you in mind, alright?" Oliver said.

"Alright!" Zane said happily.

And it did stick in his head. As the sun sets and the moon rised, Zane even remembered the words Oliver told him, word for word. It became a lesson to be remembered for the rest of his life.

End of Zane's Story...