Next Step

'FWUMP! Fwump!!'

The punches came one after another battering Daniel against the ropes. Despite the mitts softening the blows, Kage's fists still felt like steel bashing on a pillowcase.

Daniel had now entered what Kage referred to as the beginner's stage. Until now they had merely built up his body to withstand such attacks. Here was where Daniel would have to learn to attack.

Daniel could just make out the after image of Kage while he danced across the ring over to his slanted body. Fists raised to just beneath his chin, Daniel spat out some grime before Kage's right fist connected to Daniel's left cheek.

The first lesson he learned was to roll with the hits. Always keeping his face relaxed and when the inevitable punch comes; *go with it*. Therefore, the damage would be minimized. Still, Kage had been the one to teach Daniel this trick, yet, Kage tested him further. When that first right hook found its home a second came milliseconds later. This applied force bounced Daniel's face twice from either side with the pressure colliding center of his nose. Found in this situation, relaxing did not ease the burden. It only amplified the effect his brain experienced when benign rattled in its cage.

He still had not discovered a counter to it.

All the while, Kage maneuvered his feet to the inside of Daniel's, attempting to trip him up with mere foot play.

This was his second lesson: for Daniel to always keep his distance between the opponent. Eyes must stay focused to their shoulders, torso, and feet. Daniel couldn't believe Kage registered all of this within his small peripheral vision. However, he knew it was true.

The two discovered soon into their matches that Daniel was unaware how fast he could move. Due to the slow manifestation of an applicable ability the other aspects to his physique were greater than Kage's.

Daniel felt some relief with this knowledge…

At first.

Then, as each match began and ended Daniel would be lying on the mat shuddering under the immense pressure Kage dealt him each time. The passive expression he showed became one of stone cold concentration once they entered the ring.

A third unspoken lesson popped inside Daniel's mind the first time he saw that face. He could never show an enemy his weakness. Daniel knew that if Kage were to use this same strength against a regular human they would be dead in a single punch.

Each time that bell rang out, Daniel's eyes glazed over with admiration. The pinnacle of training and harsh conditioning in which only years of dedication could muster. He even felt somewhat sad to know that by birth another with no training or effort could take Kage down in a single hit. The only reason he had won each match was due to experience and technique. Otherwise, Daniel believed he would have floored him.

Left jabs quickly thrown to draw attention, the slight slanting of his shoulders, and especially the drawing of breath telegraphed the next move.

'Amateur.'

Kage knew of his disadvantage, this only served to fuel his frustrations even more.

'So much talent wasted on a dog whisperer.'

He sought to teach the boy through repetition of basic movements anyone could commit to memory then instinct. The past weeks saw his teachings bear fruit. Kage's own style had been imitated by the boy. Daniel even learned to notice his weaknesses yet was still unable to assuage them. Lately, he used his speed above all else. Daniel was able to crank out several jabs, hooks, and unders to distract, serving as a vital piece in his arsenal.

Although Kage would never admit to it, he felt excited whenever he entered that ring. All eyes fell upon their figures as they squared off against the other. Attention married by desire eked out of the attendees who watched with bated breath. They wanted to know how far his pupil could progress, they wished for a demonstration of his skills proving to them the excellence of struggle Kage possessed. It was an environment that Kage basked in with delight.

Kage lent the boy old DVDs of not just boxing matches but jujitsu, muay thai, and some other styles to observe. It was an acquisition of knowledge from the greats in order to expand one's repertoire. Fighting was a complex system of death that dealt it while managing the method all the same. Unremarkable gestures could spell disaster for a coming blow unseen because of a lack of knowledge. This was a fault that Daniel needed to remedy.

Despite all of this learning, teaching, and watching, Daniel was still unable to land a single blow on his mentor.

After a month of straight scrimmages followed by practice sparring matches, Kage had called their duels on hold until the end of the week. The process was going slower than he had expected and with the midterms steadily approaching in December their time for training had become limited.

That week, Kage thoroughly planned how he could push Daniel further down the path. On a particular dreary day during the uneventful class of Evolved History and Theoretical Thinking, he got an idea.

The red spiral notebook flung open falling upon a blank page lined with blue horizontal dashes with its edges seared by coffee stains. Tearing it out, Kage scribbled a question onto the page. Soon he had crumpled up the page into a small jagged ball.

'Now, only to get it to Gan.'

He took a gander over his shoulder to see that Gan lay slouched over in his chair carving off the remnants to the butt of his eraser. Bored as per usual without an ounce of patience for the enduring lessons. Although Mr. Hencewikz, the lecturer, spoke in his upturned cadence as he addressed himself on the outdated propagandized history of the birth of Evolved humans. The students on the other hand were slumped in sleep or attracted by their own chatter. Time was nearing to the moment when the teacher soon would give end to his speech then retreat into the confines of his wide-brimmed hat where hibernation wrought his body for a midday slumber.

In the meantime, he continued, "At first, many took advantage of their powers and brought havoc across nations, murdering hundreds of thousands in the process. Then, our brave intellectuals created the Agency of Evolved Protection and Security nearly 40 years ago." Confidence seeping further into his melodic tone, Hencewikz raised a hand high into the air, "Designed to employ and handle Evolved humans, stopping those who run rampant. Licenses were of course imposed, hence why the majority of you are here, allowing those who wish to help and provide aid, age limits and ability checks to rank every evolved human, and a global net to track the latest on each Evolved human. These Evolved humans were thus branded Heroes while ones corrupted by the complexity of their ability as Villains.

Those valiant Heroes are assigned a pay per the number of their activities and overall aid provided to us grateful citizens. A reasonable compensation for their efforts.

While amongst these incredible Heroes, there are those above the rest. The Top Five!" Hencewikz triumphantly announced. "The Top Five are granted unprecedented power and influence. They can personally teach a selected few that stand out making it likely that one of you can even be chosen! Heroes who are sent to the collapsed Europe, suffering from famine and overpopulation as well as remaining pressured by the Asian Alliance, a belt of nations reaching from the fractured country of Russia to the half-submerged Japan, to instill some peace."

A lie. The lies rang hollow with each coming pass that the man spoke. Despite trying his hardest to remain ignorant, Kage felt the blood curdle in him as he saw some of his peers truly believe the fool. A fool paid by the government to imbed such teachings into their brains. Willing participants to the system that will kill them.

"But of course, the United Western States has also been impacted by this phenomena of evolution. In the beginning devastation brought us to the brink forcing several cities to be ceded into the hands of vicious Villains leading gangs of Evolved that bolstered an immense strength worthy enough to take on a state's military resulting in a mass migration of people to the multi-layered complexes nearby. With overpopulation proving a danger to the United Western States a plan to revolutionize cities infrastructure was put into action. Nearly half of all remaining cities that had not been ceded were constructed of several layers for us to graciously inhabit, protected from the dangers of the Villains."

Kage snarled. All these layers protected people from was the sight of the poor. The bottom level constructed of the earth was meant for those in the slums, the place where the fumes smelt the strongest. The farther one went to the sky the more snob a human could be found, until the top was where the government itself watched with an iron fist.

When Mr. Hencewikz had his back turned, Kage passed the wadded up ball of paper to the girl that sat behind him whispering its destination. The girl pinched the paper between painted nails then gave it to the next person with no question for its purpose. The next student gave it to a pudgy kid with pointed ears, finally landing on Gan's desk. Startled, Gan almost fell out of his chair.

Tiredness washed over him since that morning. All night he had been playing the most recent Call to Arms game consequently leaving dark circles beneath his eyes in which the only witness to such crimes was Jacob, now passed out at home without an inkling of attending classes.

With a newly piqued interest, Gan unraveled the ball finding Kage's question: "What should I do about Daniel?" Squinting, pondering, then writing, Gan gave the flattened paper back to the one who had originally passed it to him. The process eventually came back to its sender.

"Bring em trough the ringer then. That sould rous is spirit!" Despite Gan's countless errors and chicken scratch writing, Kage realized how idiotic he had been. For too long he had sheltered Daniel. Kage wrote, "Thanks." in response for his help and held it over his shoulder for the girl to receive once more. All of a sudden the paper was ripped from his hand as another walked to his desk.

"For the love of God, stop passing your notes to Sophie and just get up and do it yourself. The teacher's not even alive by this point." The whole class snickered in agreement with Mr. Hencewikz's disheveled look and curly white hair tangled in a mess while drool leaked from the edge of his mouth. During their communications the man had decided on an early start to his nap.

Kage peered behind him to see the timid girl. Her appearance was fairly simple yet almost forgettable. Brown hair swept just above her eyebrows while the rest encased her face in a picturesque frame done so by two separate braids that fell below her shoulders only an inch or two. Further down, circular glasses mellowed out the blemishes around her au-natural eye sockets. He could not see her torso but predicted that she was not the healthiest of individuals, what with the baggy attire that accompanied a paint-stained sweatshirt. Despite this appearance, Kage was captured by her eyes. So remarkable they were, golden with a hint of aquamarine that speckled like stars beyond the iris. It was a scene that told of another reality, one far yet so close he could reach out and touch it if he so dared. A place that whispered heated desires for Kage to join into them.

To stay, to hear, to obey.

Drawn away from her eyes, Kage spotted the empty seat in the far right corner of the classroom. Her friend must have watched their note passing the entire semester. Apparently, this girl was too intimidated to ever protest against them for having used her for their means.

Opening his mouth Kage motioned to apologize only to have Sophie interrupt him, "It's not a problem!" Her face had turned terribly scarlet while her frame shriveled down into a near fetal position in the chair.

Kage did not know why but he also felt the need to blush. The girl's reaction was too much for him to take in. Gan saw this interaction just out of the corner of his eye.

Smiling to himself, he broke the sheer awkwardness of this exchange, "So…" cutting between Sophie's friend and Kage, "Why don't we calm this tension over some games and ice cream later?"

"It's cold as sh-" Gan's hand glued itself to Kage's lips before he could finish his remark. That cold glare, which screamed out in fear of the dreaded damaged persona, threatened Kage with its full force. He knew better than to mouth off to Gan when he was in such a mood. "Sure. Sounds wonderful." Accompanied by a sarcastic undertone.

Sophie's friend pounced on the opportunity. Her eyes sparkled in their light green hue. It was as if a Hollywood star had just given her the opportunity to accompany him to the premier of his latest film.

'Ever the celebrity, eh?'

"Yeah, yes, yeah! We'll gladly come along once school's out."

This soft voice stopped Kage's thoughts. It was something he never experienced before, yet knew it to be good. A drug possible to become addicted to.

He wanted no part of it.

Classes soon ended with multitudes of stress weighing upon his shoulders. Kage was not one for intense social interaction. The most he experienced with great help was stomping the faces of local gangsters under his heel. A pleasant occurrence he and Gan sometimes took part in. Otherwise, Kage considered himself to be a recluse, loving the time he had alone. So why had he been drawn into this scenario?

Gan and Triss, they had learned her name on the way to their next class, trotted onward after acquiring the ice cream. Kage paid no attention to their choices for he was too preoccupied studying the subject beside him. She was fairly short wearing her beige hood despite there being no rain. Not since the classroom had she spoken, instead while the ones in front frolicked like a pair of pups the two stayed far behind. Kage gave up with conversation midway so reached to his back pocket producing another book, this one titled, "Thirteen Ways of Singularity." As he read, he saw that Sophie was attempting to read the description on the back. However, all she could make out was the cover art that depicted a Robotic humanoid giving a pink lily to a dog.

Her mannerisms were too obvious for him to ignore. She didn't shake but her nerves showed by the twitching of her spectacles and rolling of the braided end of hair between her finger tips. They were very small and smooth, he knew that they would be warm and lovely to hold.

'What?'

Kage turned his attention away until a second later Sophie finally spoke, "Um… what's the book that you're reading about?" With an open mouth Kage began to recite the plot and did so to the exact summary written in its pages.

He thought she would be impressed but found that a scrunched up look stood before him. "You don't usually talk to others about books, do you?"

It was like a flashbang had hit him in the face. A mix of realization abound by perpetual annoyance combined to form his expression. He truly had never told anyone about his obsession with novels foregoing any conversation on the complexity behind such material. Yet, whether by happenstance, he now had a willing audience that wanted to know.

Someone that he must express himself as deeply as possible. Taking a breath Kage closed the book staring deep into Sophie's eyes.

'At least the one interested should know.'

"It's a story about accomplishing the desires that someone holds deep. Death comes to the robot's creator and without a purpose he decides to fulfill his desire to care for the dog of the creator.

The change seems forced and almost pitiful. As if the robot does not know how to live so seeks what he believes living is through the desire of an animal rather than his own."

They walked a bit more in silence, Sophie clearly contemplating the more colorful summary given to her. "But, why is the change pitiful?"

"Come again?"

Sophie eased out of her hood then commented, "What's the difference between that and keeping a promise to a friend? The robot could still find his own desire, just his desire brought him to protect what was left of his creator. The dog. He found a purpose. If anything the robot isn't pitiful for finding his destiny, it's brave to protect something, even when he gave his life in the end."

"You've read this before?' Kage questioned while waving the book in a hand.

Shyly, Sophie seeped into her hood one more. "Yes." She said in a pitch so low that the gentle breeze threatened to wash the noise away.

"Then, why did you ask about it?"

"I wanted to hear you talk about it."

Kage rummaged over their talk for some time.

'Why does she care? Does she have some agenda?'

Finally Kage broke the silence, "Never lie to me again."

"Sorr-

"Don't be sorry. I enjoyed talking about this book with you. Despite everything, you seem to have a keen eye."

Sophie straightened up gazing into Kage's eyes with stars of her own. "Would you like to talk more about it later on."

Wary of her, Kage non committedly answered, "That depends I guess. I do have a lot of-

"Then, I can come to the roof during lunch and speak with you about them!"

"Wait, how do you know that I go to the roof during lunch?" Sophie shrunk down once again making sure her voice was nothing but a whisper. "Ah, well… I sometimes see you head up there while I go to the cafeteria." To Kage she appeared to be on the verge of tears.

Puzzled by the constant shift to her tone, Kage flatly told her, "You can come. Just know that some of the others are quite rowdy. They may even tease or berate you."

Sophie almost jumped with joy but contained herself to a fleeting windmill of her arms. Kage could only think of her as an escaped experiment that was in the prototype phase. Unlike Claire, and most of the girls, she did not care for makeup or even dressing girly. Furthermore, she could not be classed as someone like Sam who was a tomboy through and through. An anomaly was all he could muster to describe her.

An anomaly that he found himself mixed in with. A weird atmosphere paraded her words and gestures, something he never experienced before.

'Possibly a side-effect of her ability.'

The two arrived at the shop just as Gan and Triss walked out. A nod of the head was the only gesture Gan gave Kage. The hint of a joyous smile remained on his face as they continued their walk down the street to some undisclosed location.

Judging eyes followed his walk. They were from Sophie. Everyone knew of Gan's relationship with Claire, but his ability to play around was not unheard of. Almost like daggers he could feel the stare grow deadly with intent. Friendship was deep between the two of them and this outside force had begun to crawl in like the pest he was. A force that would not be deterred.

"Don't think of Gan as some vile person. He knows that Triss' father is the Attorney General and soon to be Mayor. To further his career he must obtain such connections. Despite this, he won't hurt her. I've never seen that man harbor any form of malice to another."

Sophie muttered just under her breath, barely audible, "Coming from you… that means a lot. But, I still don't trust him." Sophie took a breath before resolutely stating, "He must be a good friend if you speak of him that way."

He did not cringe at the word, instead confidently basking in the phrase, "Yes… Yes he is."

Walking forward Kage pulled Sophie along after him. Their orders were soon prepared lapping up the desert at a slow pace reveling in each other's company. They felt no need to follow Gan and Triss anymore; this period stood nearly still as they spoke ever longer. Acquiring the other's number while mentioning interests that ranged in music to the odd film that Kage would be burdened with that his sister watched. Sophie was a child alone, her parents gone to some distant place that she wish not to speak of. Yet, her intense knowledge of the film and video game industry flapped her lips.

Kage felt odd when speaking to Sophie. The burdensome weight of blandness did not persist. The cool air brushed along their faces providing an atmospheric comfort to their brisk conversation.

Her eyes were not unlike Claire's but held more life to them. Dark rings were etched beneath but it only served to emphasize how careless Sophie was with her looks. The baggy clothes were undoubtedly a cover for her self-conscious thoughts on her physique, he did not pry. Yet, most of all was the way she smiled. Heavenly was the word. Kage could not state that it was pure, Sophie had seen the harshest of humans. What with a poor upbringing that ended in her life at an end, but soon saved due to her sudden evolution, it was one that bore hallmarks of a creeping insanity that would forever stain one's mind.

Unlike the others, Kage never asked her about the ability she possessed. For some reason almost unexplainable he couldn't stomach holding such knowledge. Maybe another time.

Evening had grown to night and the weekend had approached unceremoniously. The hum of light paraded the sidewalks. Launch pads for the heroes were locked off. Days had become colder as winter was fastly approaching. The city was stilled into a form of quietness but still bursting with the sound of televisions as well as rowdy neighbors. Dogs chased stray cats down the alleyways which crept into the poorer districts. Homeless had turned in having gone back to their caverns and highway underpasses.

Even so, Kage found himself walking casually with Sophie to the gym. Preparations had to be made for the next step in Daniel's training and he did not mind having another to accompany him to the destination.

"Your hair is quite long. Don't you think you should cut it?" Sophie asked.

Feeling a strand, Kage realized it had gotten considerably so in the past few weeks. "Maybe." He pushed open the door.