Dark Connection

Chapter Thirty-One

"Matt is in danger on Earth!" Bloom said, cutting straight to the chase. "He'll be safe in here. Oh! One more thing."

"..One more thing?" Jim inquired, not even bothering to hide his distain.

"Aisha did what she could to train him, but we need a little help." Bloom said while Matt looked on innocently.

"You mean I should train Peter Pan's son?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, his eyes sparking lightly with mischief as he approached Matt.

This is going to end well.. Robyn thought, exasperated.

Matt beamed as Jim stopped in front of him, staring him down with a cold glare, then grinned. But the smile didn't reach his eyes as he stepped closer, and knocked Matt over with a swift punch to the chest.

"Hey!" he protested. "Call those manners, do you?!"

"These bad manners will make a warrior out of you." Jim retorted, leaning down to "help" him up.

Jim's enjoying this way too much.. Robyn thought as she stifled a laugh. I guess by "train" Jim meant he'd knock some sense into him.

"I'm testing your reaction time."

"Got it." Matt huffed, grabbing his hand. "From now on, you'll never catch me unprepared-"

With a smirk, Jim dropped him and he tumbled to the floor with a yelp.

"I've told you a thousand times, never drop your guard!" Aisha exclaimed.

"I get it, I get it!" Matt complained, heaving himself to his feet and dusting himself off.

"It's done." Jim decided, holding his hand out for him to shake. "We'll make you a real..."

With a grunt, he swept his feet out from under him, sending Matt flying as he landed in a heap on the ground.

"..Disaster." Jim muttered. "Not even close to looking like his father."

If Jim can't train him, they're screwed!

"We've got no other solution!" Bloom pleaded and Jim shrugged.

"Hm.. we'll try a little bit of teamwork."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Robyn whispered to Jim as Matt faced off against the crocodile man, unable to keep the laughter out of her voice. "He looks like he could just flick him and he'd fall over."

"Worst comes to worst, free entertainment!" Jim replied mischievously as the crocodile man roared.

Matt slumped to the floor, his face drenched in the creature's saliva. Next, Jim had him face off against one of his crew mates. Both held wooden swords, and the pirate went first, aiming for his neck.

"Take it easy, pal!" Matt yelped, barely managing to block the ruthless attacks. "You can hurt me with that, you know."

That's the point. Robyn thought, rolling her eyes. How else will you learn to defend yourself?

The pirate said nothing, and started launching attack after attack while Matt blocked with a cocky smile. He went to strike again, then stopped and Matt looked down to see the ground was now up to his chest. Aisha face-palmed, and next Matt spared with alligator man. The creature stared him down as it slammed its fists against each other. Matt tried to copy him, but ended up pressing them too hard together, and he stopped abruptly with a gasp of pain.

"..."

The alligator man launched himself up into the air, coming down hard on the stream that ran between them. The force of the impact sent a massive title wave flying up. Matt screamed as it engulfed him, leaving him in a heap on the floor. After that, Jim called it quits and the Winx gathered around the Tree of Life. Jim sat down, Robyn settling next to him and the Winx perching on some of the higher branches. Stella chose the ones closer to the ground, while Tecna, Aisha, and Bloom chose to stand.