The Elites

Convincing the Unconvincible

It was early that morning when all of the Chief Instructors from all dojos congregated in one place for the first time in a while. All forty-three dojos worldwide came together for an important meeting at headquarters. About a month ago all the Chief Instructors received a cryptic letter from Professor, USSD's founder, and owner, to meet at headquarters in one month. It was required for all dojos to attend.

As I looked amongst them in my perch high above the meeting room, I took notice that all dojos were able to attend. Being dressed in all black has its perks seeing as none of the instructors, masters, or even Hanchi's noticed me.

When Professor entered, the room fell silent. The only sound to be heard was the sound of the chair creaking under his weight as he sat.

"Thank you all for attending. I know some of you flew far and had to take quite a bit of time off for this meeting, but alas, I wouldn't call you all here if not for major importance. With that said let's get down to business," with these few short sentences the atmosphere went from a happy joyous reunion to an ominous awaiting.

Taking a good look around the table, Professor simply stated, "We are at war." And with these few words, all the instructors got extremely serious. Every person in the room knew exactly what Professor meant when he said those words. He didn't the world as a whole was at war, just the corporation. It had been impending for a while, it was just simply a waiting game.

"I know not of the details, nor am I the one who called upon this meeting. That honor goes to Abata Bragyreyr," said Professor as he waved his hand out to his right. Before Professor got his arm extended all the way I was there standing right beside him. Wearing my skin tight, midnight black uniform, adorned with my two whips crossing my chest and shoulders. I wore black boots that were thin and allowed me to move quickly and quietly. Thin leather gauntlets covered my forearms and palms leaving my fingers to be covered by the thin but extremely dexterous fabric. All instructors jumped back at my sudden appearance. Some gasped, but one, in particular, looked me dead in the eyes. And like an old friend who has not been seen for some time this instructor said with disbelief, "Malklot?"

When I heard that voice I turned my attention to none other than my old Chief Instructor Sensei Traian. Looking into his eyes I saw shock, appreciation, and wonder. Wanting nothing more than to catch up with him, I had to turn my attention to the others in the room.

"What Professor says is true. The corporation is at war, and this faction is in danger of taken over by the other two. And I am the only one can stop it," I said as I started walking amongst the instructors. "Most of you don't have a clue who I am, but by the end of this meeting you will know everything that you need to know."

Just then a master shot up in fury and disgust. "Who the hell are you to think that you are better than everybody in this room including Professor? There is no way you can be any better than some kid off the street. Who fucking gave you the right to come in here, knowing nothing about this company or any of karate at all and tell us what to do? Fuck you!" At this, a few of the other instructors stood up and tried to put their hands on me. I didn't even need to think. The first one threw a well-aimed left jab, to which I slipped, caught his arm below the elbow in my right arm, and pressed a left knife-hand into his tricep. Swinging my right leg back in a clockwise rotation, I dropped my weight while keeping my back straight and took him to his face. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Professor would later tell me that he saw the instructors' punch flying towards me, blinked, then the instructor was on the floor. He admitted to me that even he has never seen something that fasts, even from the monks in China. All of the other instructors who were coming after I stopped mid-stride with their jaws on the floor. I looked them straight in the eye and asked, "Anybody else want to give the floor a hug today?" All of them slowly backed away and retook their seats with a soft but firm look to their eyes.

"Now, shall we continue?" I asked plainly. "Getting back to what I was saying, we are at war and I need two people, of your choosing, from each of your dojos to join me in Japan for one year. During this year I am going to provide them with the hardest, most fulfilling, and the widest range yet most specific training that any human has ever received. I will visit your dojo and you will tell me which two people to look at and I will watch them for one day only. If I do not feel that they will be able to pass the training, I will not pick them. Although, if I do see someone else of interest, I will inquire about them.

"The person that you choose should be of at least a green belt rank unless they have a special amount of drive that would get them through their training. It would be preferable if they were either a senior in high school or older, but they must be younger than 40. And I will not budge on the age, I am even reaching a little high allowing 40-year-old into this training session given the possibility that they could die of respiratory complications or a heart condition. Any questions so far?" With that only two hands went up.

The first question was from the instructor that first spoke up earlier. "Are we going to expect these participants of your little training experiment?"

"For about a week before we sent out the letters to you guys, we ironed out all of the details, so that the students and their families wouldn't have to worry about money during this. Professor and I are paying for everything they will need. Pretty much just their flights, and meals. At the training camp, they will earn their own money from the citizens and shopkeepers by doing jobs and providing protection for them."

The next question was from a master who was in the company for some time. "So how will these students rank amongst their comrades when they come back?"

"It depends on how well they do in the training and if they even complete the training. If they do complete the camp like intended and take it seriously, they will be as high as Professor." With that sentence, there was shock and complete silence. To which the loud instructor took an opportunity to vocalize his opinion again.

"There is no way that even you are up to Professors level. You are a phony and a fraud and need to leave before you offend Professor with you outlandish words!"

"Now, now, now, let's all calm down and hear me," Said Professor. "I have personally seen this man takedown twenty-five secret servicemen and woman, fifteen Chinese monks, and thirty-five of the best martial artists in the world all at once and lay them all out in six seconds. I even have the video evidence if you want to see. You are correct, Abata is not even close to my level, he is far past anything that any one of us could've hoped for in our current training system.

"This training is going to produce our top students that have never before in history have been seen. If my opinion means anything to any of you, I implore you to push down your pride and leave the decision up to the students you pick. Don't take away this opportunity from then just because you may not like Abata."

One more instructor asked a question, the final question. "Since you have the title of 'Abata' or Avatar, will the students that complete this training receive a new title?"

"Yes. Their new title will be 'Elites'. They will be endowed with a uniform that they will be required to wear in the dojo and if they attend the tournament. In terms of the tournament, they will not be able to participate in the competitions, for obvious reasons. They will, however, be allowed to judge rings or just walk around and be a bystander. The decision is up to them, however, they will have to clear it with the tournament officials.

"This training camp will benefit all of us. Everybody from the top down will reap the benefits of this next year. You do not have to give me your answer now, just send Professor an email with the names of your pick and he will send you the time that I will be there to view the students. If there are any other questions they can be sent to my email, which will be sent to you when I send you a recap of the meeting. Are there any further comments or pressing matters?"

Nobody raised their hands or spoke up. The meeting as adjourned and we all went to eat at Izakaya Takasei, then all went home for the night. The next few weeks were a lot more hectic and challenging than I was ever expecting.