Blade West: Book 1

Chapter 8: The Truth

     "Ven! Buddy!" Ace said running over to him. Ven had several bags on his arms, and one of them appeared to have food inside of it.

     "Hey man. I see you and Blade had an....uh...encounter." He said eyeing the ripped clothes we had on. I scratched my head and cautiously laughed. "Uh...yeah. Your friend here doesn't know how to hold back." I said to him. Ace rolled his eyes and defended his case. "You out of all people know how strong Blade is. Holding back would've been suicide and you would've been best-friendless. No one should be best friendless." Ven sighed and I walked over to him. "You know Ace," I said, "Now that I'm here, it might be time for Ven to change who his best friend is." Ven looked amused and Ace looked hurt. "Ven wouldn't do something like that..." Ven coughed and looked away. I laughed.

     "Erhm. Anyway. I brought food and a change of clothes for Blade. If I knew you were going to get beat up, I would've brought you something too Ace." He said shaking his head. Ven handed me one of the bags. "These clothes are kinda special; just a few items I was able to snag on my way here. There's a shirt, some pants, and some shoes in there- with other little necessities. Look."

     I looked through the bag and most of this stuff seemed enhanced. They weren't your typical Wal-Mart branded stuff. I placed the bag on the ground and took out the shirt. The shirt was black and long sleeved with white wisps along the sleeves. I took off my crop-top of a shirt and put on the new shirt. It was a little looser than I originally thought but it felt like silk. I took the pants out of the bag and they had a similar design and felt the same.

     I took off the remainder of my jeans and slipped the nice pajama-like-joggers on and these fit better. I slipped the socks and shoes (converse) on and applied the new stick of deodorant that was in the bag. Old Spice huh? I guess some things don't change even in this new world.

     "Thank you so much Ven. I really do appreciate it. Where did you get these clothes from?" I asked him. "I actually got them from the R&D building. They're always working even at this time of night; those clothes have been scientifically modified. Those markings will activate when you use your Talent. Kaiber, our R&D President, just developed these a few days ago, and they're still in the prototype stage. They're meant to help condense power and help control it. They don't taper with the amount of power that's released, but rather they help the wearer focus and control their power."

     "Wow Ven. What did you do to get those from Kaiber?" Ace said crossing his arms. "I told him I had the perfect person to test them on." Ven said laughing. "So, I guess I'm a guinea pig huh?" I said looking at the clothes. In unison, they both said "Yes". I sighed.

     "It's better than nothing. Plus, I'm excited to see what changes I get when I use my power." "Agreed." Ven said. "Maybe that means you'll make even grander explosions!" Ace said sparking up again. Ven cleared his throat and said, "In other news, I also brought food." The other bags were filled with what looked like chips, sandwiches, and other delectables and my stomach spoke before I could. Needless to say, it was time to eat.

     Ven, Ace, and I sat by the waterfall and ate the food Ven brought. I had 3 turkey and cheese sandwiches, 2 platefuls of plain salty potato chips (they tasted like the original Lays), and I downed one of the energy drinks Ven brought for us. Ven made comments about how Ace and I (mainly Ace) destroyed the grass around us and how we should be ashamed of ourselves. Ace smiled the whole time and I actually felt bad about it ha-ha. Ven gave me disappointed father vibes. Ace was the rebellious child, and I suppose I was the good child under Ace's bad influence.

     After a few laughs and eating, Ace finally posed the question that was on my mind this entire time. "Alrighty Ven. What now?" Ven responded with, "Hmmm?" "We've found him, he's activated his talent, and it's the middle of the night. What do we do now? Do we take him back home now?" "Ah." Ven said placing his drink down. "I don't see why we can't. I suppose we can head back then." "Actually," I said interrupting them. "I'd like to go back to my home. I know I won't be able to stay, but I'd like to explain somethings to my mom because I know she's worried about me." Ven and Ace exchanged glances. "Well Blade, the thing is-" "Sure we can go back!" Ace said with a smile. Their glances were important, and I would be sure to bring it up again. But right now, it didn't seem like the appropriate time to do so.