Teen Years

Chapter 15: Finally Fighting Scar

Many days passed, and with each waking second, Black Mist trained and trained until he would pass out from exhaustion. Even then, he wasn't able to even crack the metal.

After the twentieth day, Black Mist was beyond exhausted. He struck his fists to the ground and roared with frustration. Why can't I break it!? he screamed in his mind.

"Calm down," the voice said. "Being angry will not-"

"Shut up!!!" Black Mist once again punched the doll with all his might and kicked it everywhere, yet nothing seemed to break it.

This only made him more mad. For 100 years and a few days, he tried to break that damn doll with everything he had! The worst thing for a 96 to know is that he's weaker than his target. That would make him angry, and an angry 96 was much more dangerous due to the high, almost toxic, levels of Chaos in them.

Black Mist growled in frustration and punched the wall, which started to crack due to his many hissy fits.

"Black Mist, calm yourself. Remember the training with Hope? Keep your anger in so that the solution may be clear."

"I said shut up!" He punched the wall again and almost did it for a third time until he caught himself. "Shit," he mumbled. "Now, I'm gonna have to fix the damn wall!"

"Blame yourself," the voice chastised. "You did not calm down."

"Oh, piss off!" Black Mist grumbled. "I never asked for your opinion."

The voice chuckled. "No, but you get it anyways."

"Yeah, I guess." Black Mist sighed and looked around his home for anything that might be useful for fixing the wall before it crumbled in on itself and revealed his home.

He found some stray wood on the floor that he hadn't gotten the chance to use. It would do if he could only find the nails.

Why do I keep losing all this shit?

Black Mist's house was clear of trash, but he had all his junk that he may have use for scattered around the place, so things as small as nails would easily get lost.

"Shit..." He had to resort to dig through all the stuff on the floor. Eventually, after getting splinters stuck in his skin and pulling them out and many cursing fits, Black Mist found the nails scattered around under a pile of wood, cloth, and unused metal.

I need to organize...Nah. Too lazy.

Black Mist took the nails and brought them to where the wood was. He immediately got to work putting the boards in place of the cracking wall. This reminded him of when he was a kid, and he had to make the entrance hole smaller so that no one could get in. This time was for the same reason: so no one could get in through a crack in the wall.

Knocking again. Black Mist rolled his eyes, knowing who it was. It was most likely Scar considering the force that was being delivered to the poor door. At least it was welded shut when he got there. That way, no one could get in from the front.

"Why do they always get me when I'm busy?" Black Mist mumbled with annoyance. "I have a life besides getting beat up by random people."

"Just remember that you still have your overlay units."

Black Mist nodded and finished hammering the nails to the board. Still, the knocking contiued, and still he ignored it. As long as they didn't make it in, he would be fine.

"Hey, coward!" Scar called. "Come out here!"

"Scar, stop it," Shade's calm voice said with a sigh. "He will come out when-"

"When he stops being a coward!" Scar screamed.

Black Mist rolled his eyes and went downstairs to finally ease Scar's ranting. Geez. This guy is so needy.

As he crawled out of the hole, the yelling of Scar was getting louder. He practically had to cover his ears to keep them from breaking.

"Hey, crybaby!" Black Mist called to Scar. "Try calming down!"

Scar immediately shut up and looked over at Black Mist with a huge grin. "There you are!" he sang. "Have you stopped hiding, Number 96?"

"I was never hiding," Black Mist said with a bored tone. "I was training to battle you."

"Why? You can always just use your damn overlay units!"

"I would prefer not to." Black Mist summoned his overlay units. "I have to use them now, anyways. I have no choice; there's no way I'd be able to defeat you with my strength right now."

Scar chuckled. "Well, I guess if I make sure to keep away from energy-based attacks, you won't hurt me."

"Try." Black Mist centered his weight and cleared his mind to think clearly. He learned this from Hope.

"Heh. I will!" Scar suddenly attacked Black Mist with his fists. They were like lightning bolts flying at the Number.

Black Mist hurriedly dodged every fist that came his way with twitchy and rigid movements. He had never practiced dodging to this extent before, so he made a quick memo to himself to make sure the doll moves so that he could not only fight it, but it would fight him, too. How, though?

He was so distracted, he didn't see Scar's fist fly at him until the very last second. Only then did he drop to the floor hurriedly only to be kicked in the side. Black Mist grunted and rolled across the ground toward Scar, tripping him. He flipped to his feet and leaped on Scar's back.

He heard Gaia chuckle and Shade grunt. He seemed uninterested.

Black Mist remembered his training with Hope and found the pressure point that everyone had, which was on the neck. He stabbed it with two fingers, and Scar fell limp under him.

"That was fast," Shade commented, bored. "He should have known better than to try and pick an attack with a 96." He looked at Black Mist with his penetrating stare. "Just remember us. Remember that we can fight you now that we know how you function."

Black Mist snorted and rubbed his side, where he had been kicked. "Whatever." He waited for them to leave and went in through his hole in the building.

"See? You handled yourself well," the voice pointed out smartly. "A 96 is very powerful on his own, and when he knows where to strike, he will strike there."

Black Mist leaned against a wall and slid to the ground. "I can see that." He sighed and rubbed his side. "Another wound to add to my list." He frowned. "I hope this gets better."