Vortoranii had told us to head down to the lower levels for the battle arena. When we arrived, there were some really bulky suits that were easily three times that of my Super Charge form. There were swords five times the size of my Super Charge form’s blade. X-PO hovered there with a device that had a slot for my belt to fit in. “If you could put me on the projector,” said Vortoranii. I was puzzled, then figured out that the device was the projector she was talking about. I put the belt into the projector and figured out why it was called a projector. It moved to a spot that would have been a belt on a person. It soon made a holographic woman that made it look like she was made of space and stars, like Vortech. I guess she and Vortech were the same species. She wore heavy armor, but, being a hologram, she moved easily. “So,” mused Vortoranii, “you want to learn about the Super Charge form?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Well,” chuckled Vortoranii, “to do so, you’ll need to get used to suits heavier than your own. We’ll be getting you through a rough training regimen, the first test being how high you can climb that cliff.” She pointed to a stiff cliff that, while not high enough to kill someone, would hurt someone if they fell. “You’ll need the suit to reach the top,” instructed Vortoranii. We changed into our suits and immediately felt their weight. We slowly moved to the cliff face. I started climbing but fell after going up twice my height. Some came up shorter and some got up higher, but we never even reached the first marker. “Hoo, boy,” sighed Vortoranii, “we’ve got a long way to go. X-PO! Queue up a montage song!”
“I’ve got the perfect one!” cheered X-PO. The Disney nerds, Haitao, Richard, and Emily, brightened when they heard the familiar drumbeat. We were given a sword and struggled to get it up.
“Man up, ladies and gentlemen!” barked Vortoranii.
Let’s get down to business,
To defeat the Huns!
We managed to get our swords up and signaled we were ready.
Did they send me daughters,
When I asked for sons?
We tried swinging our swords but ended up knocking each other out.
You’re the saddest bunch,
I’ve ever met!
Vortoranii shook her head.
But, you can bet, before we’re through,
Mister, I’ll!
Make a man!
Out of you!
We got ready for target practice. Vortoranii let loose a dozen or so spheres and fired on one with a spare blade. We all tried, X-PO stuck a sphere on mine, making Vortoranii scowl at me. I grinned sheepishly.
Tranquil as a forest,
But on fire within!
We had to dodge several projectiles while balancing a bucket of water on our heads. We all were too clumsy and several of us let the water bucket fall on us.
Once you find your center,
You are sure to win!
We got into a sparring match with each other. Hongo over-powered me easily but got knocked down in one punch by Vortoranii’s hologram.
You’re a spineless, pale,
Pathetic lot!
And you haven’t got a clue!
We started fishing with our hands, like in Mulan. Like the title protagonist of that movie, I ended up grabbing Xiomara’s leg and pulling her under the water. She looked mad!
Somehow I’ll!
Make a man!
Out of you!
We started running around a racetrack but fell down before we finished the 1st lap! A fire arrow then stabbed Batman and Wyldstyle’s butts.
I’m never gonna catch my breath!
Say goodbye to those who knew me!
Hongo, Emily, Gandalf, Lukas, and Xiomara tried to break a board with their heads and ended up rubbing their bruised foreheads.
Boy, was I a fool in school,
For cutting gym!
A bunch of wooden dummies were being operated behind walls and battering us. One of them hit me in my lower region. Did you guys know that the pain down there is worse for a lady than it is a man?
This guy’s got them scared to death!
Hope he doesn’t see right through me!
We had to cross a raging river with a rickety bridge. It was slow going.
Now I really wish that I knew how to swim!
We had to run an obstacle course that went through a river, many of us getting swept downstream, through a tunnel that buffeted us with strong wind and rain, many of us getting tossed around, across a fire path with raging flames, many of us nearly passing out from the heat, and going through a forest without being caught by Elphaba, Rusty, the Brigadier, or X-PO, we all got caught before we reached the finish line.
(Be a man!)
You must be swift as the coursing river!
(Be a man!)
With all the force of great typhoon!
(Be a man!)
With all the strength of a raging fire!
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!
We then had to run carrying five training swords but collapsed.
Time is racing toward us
‘Til the Huns arrive!
X-PO picked them all up and flew off with little to no effort.
Heed my every order,
And you might survive!
Vortoranii showed how disappointed she was in our progress.
You’re unsuited for,
The rage of war,
So, pack up! Go home! You’re through!
She left us to ourselves so we could observe the cliff face.
How could I,
Make a man,
Out of you?
At that point, a surge of grit and determination filled my chest. I then went to climb the cliff face. I started off at a pretty decent pace and kept steady.
(Be a man!)
You must be swift as the coursing river!
(Be a man!)
With all the force of a great typhoon!
(Be a man!)
With all the strength of a raging fire!
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!
I threw my i.d tag to the ground at Rusty’s skirt. Everyone cheered, making Vortoranii reconsider her stance on sending us home.
(Be a man!)
We must be swift as the coursing river!
As we ran across the obstacle course’s raging waters later on in training, we reflected on how we all dodged the projectiles with the water buckets on our heads with nary a drop spilled and how we dodged all the wooden dummies without a scratch.
(Be a man!)
With all the force of a great typhoon!
We ran through the wind tunnel and reflected on how we ran 99 laps before tiring out and letting projectiles hit us and broke 20 boards with our heads.
(Be a man!)
With all the strength of a raging fire!
Running through the flames, we reflected on how we crossed the rickety bridge quickly, ran with 20 training swords with no effort, and excelled in target practice.
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!
As we weaved through the forest and reached the finish line without Rusty, X-PO, Elphaba, and the Brigadier finding us, we thought back on the fish we caught and cooked and beating Vortoranii’s hologram in a sparring match. We crossed the finish line! Our official training was over! “That was intense!” I panted.
“Thank goodness you trained with Hyperbolic Time functions in the room,” mused X-PO.
“Like the Time Chamber in Dragonball Z?” I asked.
“The same,” confirmed Vortoranii. “It may feel like two years passed by, but it’s only been 20 minutes out there.”
“Do you think Vortech and his cronies are doing the same?” asked Emmanuel.
“Well, since Apocalypse is being trained, most likely,” guessed X-PO.
“One can only imagine what kind of horrors are being concocted on Foundation Prime,” I muttered.
We were all stunned. Hiro was pacing, his fiancé, Igura, was leaning against the wall, thinking, the others were in a similar state of worry, and I sat on my throne, thinking. Perhaps I should have let Sauron hit me with his mace. War is the last person I want to fight, but perhaps, we can use this to our advantage. “What are we going to do?” asked Ambassador Hell. “We can’t exactly defeat someone who’s immortal.”
“Let’s face facts,” figured Lex Luthor. “We’re doomed.”
“Would you stop saying that?” I hissed.
“My helicopter works like a clown car,” offered the Joker. “We can use it to escape.”
“Not a chance,” remarked Hiro. “There’s too much at stake.”
“Maybe if we surrender, she won’t hurt us,” gulped Saruman, holding no illusions over War’s power.
“She’s not going to accept it,” I argued, knowing a little more about her.
“It’s a rather big dimension here,” observed Two-Face. “There are plenty of places to hide.”
“No one’s hiding,” snapped Igura, “no one’s escaping, and no one’s surrendering! What’s wrong with you people? Don’t you remember what Hiro did in N-1-N-J-A-G-0?”
“Where he fought Death and War?” I asked.
“And won!” reminded Igura.
“As I recall,” growled Sauron, “they were caught off guard!”
“The point is,” countered Hiro, “I could beat them! If they’ve adapted to my current strength, we need to train so we could ALL overpower them!”
“And there is a way to do so,” I remembered.
“Beating the Four Horsemen?” asked the Joker. He got his grin back. “We’d have to be crazy! Let’s do it for our shared universe! Let’s do it for crazies everywhere!”
“Let’s do it for a full fifty million stud reward!” hissed Saruman.
“It always comes down to profit with you people,” I muttered. “But, I feel generous. Fifty million each as I told Hiro!” My pawns cheered. “Now, we have training to do!” I made a training facility and we all proceeded to make our way inside. I WILL get the Foundation Elements one way or another!
I could not believe how lax the dress code was here at After Academy. Yes, we had uniforms. Yes, girls had skirts and guys had pants, but they were only required for events. Any other day, you could go in civvies if you choose. You could go to certain classes in pj’s! Not that most of us do, anyway. I kept to the uniform today in the colors of my house, black and white with a hint of blue in the petticoats and a blue ascot. I was heading to a private class with Famine, carrying my gym clothes with me in my backpack. I arrived at the classroom. Famine was already there with a grin on her face. “Reminiscing about something, Famine?” I asked. There wasn’t a need to call them by titles, only names. War insisted on it.
“No, just remembered what War told me,” answered Famine as I changed. She told me about how Vortech’s forces had declared, well, war, on us by attacking War. Their mistake. “Ready to learn more about my powers, Ms. Lacey?” asked Famine.
“Let’s do it!” I cheered I have to tell you, I never so much as grinned back in my universe. This turned my life around for the better. I pulled out a belt that had a circle with four symbols relating to the Horsemen, the main teachers and administrators here, and put it on. “Henshin!” I announced as I spun the circle. My rider armor appeared in a cloud of darkness. It was a mix of the Four Horsemen’s armor, with Famine’s head, War’s left leg, Pestilence’s right leg, and Death’s chest and arms. A little added bonus was a hat on top. I got into a defensive stance. Famine then pulled out her belt with an open mouth and an upright bone in the mouth.
“Henshin!” she called. She turned the bone and the mouth chomped down on it.
“Famine!” announced the belt. Her armor appeared with the motif of someone gaunt and starving. She then went on the offensive with a bestial leap. I managed to get out of the way with a side roll.
“Good start,” praised Famine, “but you’re off balance!” She leapt at me from the desk, but I leapt to the light fixture. I then turned my buckle to Famine’s symbol.
“Famine Mouth!” called my belt. A jagged set of jaws appeared and I leapt at Famine, biting into her. She howled in pain and flung me off. I spun the buckle to War’s symbol. “War Crusher!” called my belt. My legs bulked up as I leapt into the air and delivered a flying kick, knocking Famine out of her transformation. I then cancelled my own.
“I thought you said you weren’t gonna hold back?” I hissed.
“I wasn’t,” answered Famine. “Turns out you were too quick for me. Congratulations, you’ve passed my final exam!”
“That’s two out of four,” I replied. “Now, I have to learn Pestilence and Death’s powers.”
“And you’ll do so easily,” lauded Famine, smiling. “I have faith in you. Now then, I believe it’s about time for War’s gym class.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “See you later!” I sped off to the gym, ready for another afternoon here at After Academy.