Worlds Collide

Chapter 8: Destructive lessons

We open in the auditorium, the scoreboards clock reading the time, 8:30 AM, we hear a slow, yet also somehow rapid tapping as we see it was coming from Moto, who sat in a chair and tapped a finger against his prosthetic, an annoyed expression on his face as time slowly ticked by. 'People were faster during the war for God's sake'. He thought as some students walked into the room and sat down in the bleachers, ignoring the man in the chair until he made one sound. "Ahem." This one noise was said in a hushed tone, yet it was somehow near deafening, shaking the room and getting everyone's attention as he walked to the middle of the room. "This is combat training, not sitting on your asses class, you will all line up single file and attack this training dummy here, now." He stated as he pointed to the Phantom dressed mannequin. "Do we have to?" A student asked as a piece of dirt was suddenly lodged into the wall a micrometer from his ear, stunning the students. Taking the hint they all ran down and got in line, each taking a turn to hit the mannequin with all they had...and it wasn't a lot, as the last student delivered an actually good roundhouse to the mannequin they all returned to single file as moto put a hand on the thing. "This is going to be quite difficult, only one of you did a passable job, if this was a true enemy do you know what would have happened?" At that moment the head of thing was burned so thoroughly not even ash remained, leaving the students alarmed. "You will all be broken, physically, emotionally, mentally, then you will be rebuilt in those ways, all to ensure you are all ready for any enemy attack." As Moto went on, a jock in the line prepared a spitball behind his back, as he was about to fire it his eyes widened as we see a towering, lanky demonic silhouette behind him, looking down at the jock as the man spun around with a terrified expression, only to see nothing there as he turned back to the teacher who was finishing his speech. "And on that day may the number of threats to this damn planet finally friggin stop." He finished as we see his face resembled the demons ever so slightly as he turned, face returned to normal. "Any questions?". He asked his class as most were too alert to ask, others were taking in the speech, where as one guy...well, every class has that one cocky twit, who laughed out loud at the entire past few moments. "You seriously think any of us need to listen to some fossil? It's bad enough we got an enemy working staff now we got more fre-." The student was cut off by Moto seemingly teleporting in front of him, making the rest of the class jump back in alarm. "Finish that sentence. I dare you." The tone of Moto's voice formed ice on the ceiling as the cocky student stuttered briefly in alarm. "That's what I thought". Motos tone froze now the walls as he walked a few yards away to the middle of the room, not once facing the students. "Simple instructions: learn how to fight, how to defend, you're not training for the Olympics, you're all training for battle, for self defense, to use whatever you all have to it's full potential, if any of you can't ever see yourselves ever reaching beyond your limits, then leave. Now." He stated fully, his eyes piercing through the students, as if almost daring them to go through with leaving, and after but one moment...a student stepped forth, fists clenched, a slight tremble per step, yet eyes filled with one thing: Determination. "Sir, i won't deny i find you terrifying, i would be a liar if i said i wasn't considering leaving." He said as Moto turned around, dismissively waving a hand before the student continued, now sounding a bit braver. "But i would be the biggest liar alive if i said you must be stupid if you think I'm letting any of that stop me from becoming the greatest version of myself i can be, nothing will stop me...not even YOU." He finished with a growl, eyes blazing with willpower as the rest of the student body stepped up, roused by the speech and eyes burning with similar determination, not willing to let anyone stop them from reaching their full potential. The air grew silent, the ice in the room shined brightly, freshly, Moto stood still, they expected a retaliation, and were willing to take it if it meant they stood their ground, he raised his hands...and slowly applauded, a hidden smile on his face. "Congratulations Class, you all passed the first test, with flying colours at that, Lesson 1: Don't be afraid to stand your ground, even against someone stronger." He said as the ice melted. "Courage is not defined solely by being brave in the face of fear, but rather defined as the quality of being ready and willing to face negative situations involving danger or pain, you are all clearly common in wanting to better yourselves, and you could have left the danger this class will bring you, and yet all of you chose to stay, you are all afraid in one way or another, and you all stayed, with or without fear you all stood your grounds, class dismissed." Moto explained as the bell rang, one by one the students left the auditorium, leaving Moto alone, slowly breathing in and then slowly exhaling, he made his way towards the doctors office of the building, entering with a knock he sat down on a chair as Midiki finished restocking a cabinet. "How has your first day been?" He asked his metal armed friend, who rolled his head. "One was arrogant, i fixed that without physical violence, their collective abilities to attack a training dummy was 99% awful, yet one thing i can positively say: They all managed to pass Lesson 1, this will do them well." Moto responded calmly as he reached into a cooler for some water as Midiki made a noise of impression. "This is indeed good, and on the first day no less, do you believe they will reach your expectations?" He asked without turning as Moto looked at his bottle slowly. "Tempetes mentioned a woman he encountered a few days ago that had a familiar yet threatening aura, if the suspicions he and i share are correct we do not have too much time for them to improve, let alone 400 years to find the right ones if this batch spoils on us." Moto stated as he took a swing of water, steam flowing around him as Midiki slowly exhaled. "I suppose all we will be able to do for now is...  wait." He said as he turned to his friend, who nodded as this chapter comes to its end.