Chapter 124- Drake

"Father-in-law! Hahaha." A loud booming voice that shook the whole building could be heard from behind them inside the building. It really put Wilson, Dash and Charlie on edge.

A giant of a man came running, or is it jogging? Wilson could not tell. With a man his size, he could easily be assessed as doing both depending on whose perspective you took. Anyway, the giant arrived in front of them very quickly, bringing with him a devastating gust of wind that threatened to blow poor old father-in-law away. Perhaps, the old ratman might have been blown away if son-in-law hadn't picked him up for a hug.

Dash laughed when he saw how little the old ratman looked in comparison to his giant son-in-law.

"My able son-in-law. How many times have I told you to tune it down?" Edward said as soon as he was dropped. He was massaging his lower back slowly as he said. "And why did you hug me like that? You want my back to fall out? Let me tell you. This old Edward will not be confined to a wheelchair."

"It won't necessarily be a bad idea. You are not much better off at the workshop anyway." Charlie muttered to himself but Edward's ears picked it up. He turned to Charlie and swiped his tail. Charlie dodged deftly by taking a single step backwards.

"Hey, I'm just making a joke. Can't you take a joke?" Charlie quickly said in his defense.

"Not this kind."

"Father-in-law!" Drake, Edward's son-in-law called again still grinning widely.

"What is it?" Edward sounded slightly irritated.

"She's pregnant!"

"Say?"

"Amanda is pregnant. Hahaha." There was pure joy on Drake's face.

Old Edward seemed to take some time to process it. Slowly, his mouth widened in an upward curve. The look in his eyes turned dreamier along. His rat tail swished up and down like a cat's and to cap it all, he clapped and squeaked much like a rat.

Then with boisterous laughter, both son-in-law and father-in-law jumped and hugged each other and began throwing compliments at each other.

"Hahahaha, my able son-in-law. You are truly able."

"No, no, no, I must thank you for having such a wonderful daughter."

"No, no, no. I should be the one thanking you for making sure I will see my grsndchild before I die, haha!"

"No, no, no..."

Wilson looked on not sure what to think, feel or say about the situation. He looked at Dash. Dash seemed to be in the same predicament. Then, he looked at Charlie. Charlie was gone.

"Dash, where's Charlie?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because he was right next to you."

Dash looked at his right.

"Oh!" He shook his head. "He probably left because his eyes can't take this matured childishness. Look at them giving each other compliments."

Wilson listened back to their greetings.

"No, no, no. You should be thanked for being such an energetic, vigorous young man."

"It's really getting out of hand." Dash said.

Wilson agreed with him. "It is a pain to watch."

"Should we leave?" Dash asked.

"Won't that be rude?"

"Maybe."

Wilson took out his phone and texted Charlie. #Where are you?#

#Come upstairs. You need to see this. Come with Dash.# Charlie was quick to reply.

Wilson looked at Dash who was already peeping above his shoulder.

"Let's leave these men to themselves." Wilson said and took rapid steps towards the stairs in the distance.

Step and step after step, until he reached the top of the stairs where Charlie stood, his mohawk reflecting the lights.

"Charlie, I think you have an unnecessarily bold choice of hairstyle." Dash could not help saying. It was left to one's discretion if it was supposed to be an insult, a compliment or just a fact. Charlie didn't think too much of it.

"I like to keep it that way." Was what he said.

"Hurry up. You need to see this." Charlie waved at them to move faster and walked ahead with Dash and Wilson trailing behind him. The stairs led to a wide passage with doors on both sides. After passing by various doors, Charlie stopped at a door, considerably larger than the others.

Charlie stood in front of it, hands in his pocket and said to Wilson.

"Open it."

Wilson stretched his hands and touched the handles. Dash ran to stand behind Charlie. Charlie smiled with understanding. His eyes glinted happily. Wilson pushed the door open slightly.

Instantly, they were bamboozled by the sound of weapons clashing with flesh and the smell of blood and sweat.

Dash immediately took out his knife and bent his knees, poising himself for an abrupt dash in or out of there.

"Open widely!" Charlie said.

Wilson glanced at the relaxed and excited Charlie and then at the battle-ready Dash.

He opened the door wide.

*Clank* *clank* *clank* *bish*

Three wooden strikes and a softened punch to the abdomen.

"No distractions!" The woman who was obviously an instructor yelled at the boy she just hit.

Behind the huge door Wilson just opened, they came across a large dojo occupied by three people. Two on the mat and one girl sitting on the floor, legs crossed, lotus position.

Two out of the three; the beaten one and the sitting one, looked about Dash and Wilson's age range.

"Sorry Sensei, I just wondered if they were part of the team for a split second." The boy said. He clutches his abdomen but still stood straight as if he wasn't really hurt.

"A split second can determine if you will kill or be killed." The girl sitting down said.

The boy grumbled in response. "But it is just a competition."

"And yet the people are real and well-trained." The instructor said. She glanced at the three men standing by the door and said; "Close the door."

Charlie closed the door behind them with a smile.

"I assume you are here for the team training?" She asked as she looked at Wilson and Dash.

Dash looked a little flustered. "Team what?"

"Step up to the mat. I will assess your skills."

"I'm sorry. Am I missing something?" Dash looked around confused.

Charlie was smiling, Instructor was smiling , the boy and girl both sitting on the floor were smiling a little deviously and Wilson was walking towards the instructor with a confident gait. Dash could not see his face but he knew Wilson was definitely smiling. He hadn't known Wilson for long but he could easily tell he was a simple-minded battle junkie.

Still that didn't explain the other people's expressions, especially Charlie 's. Why was he smiling like a fool? That was so uncharacteristic of him, wasn't it?

Wilson stepped on the mat and raised his bare fists. He grinned at the instructor who was wielding a wooden staff. Dash couldn't take the lack of information anymore. It felt like he was in the middle of something and only he didn't have an idea what was going on.

"Hey! What's going on?" He finally yelled and succeeded in getting their attention. "Why is everyone grinning like they are under the influence? What have missed?"

Wilson gave him the you-are-an-idiot look.

"Didn't you read any of the banners and posters outside the building?"

"What posters?"

"What posters? Did your eyes shut down after seeing the name?" Wilson was surprisingly infuriated. Dash glared back at him.

"There's no reason to get mad at me. What did the posters say?"

The instructor smiled and spoke up.

"This is a test to determine if you are worthy of joining our wrestling team."

"Our, sorry, Your wrestling team? Why did that answer only make me even more lost?"

Wilson sighed. He looked at Charlie for help.

Charlie frowned and sighed.

"Look Dash. The short version is, for some reason, Tiger City is finally taking the wrestling competitions seriously as well as some other sports that they never cared about before. The Kingdom's annual wrestling completion is just around the corner. This means that Tiger City is in dire need of a few teams to represent them. Instead of them to gather some well-known local teams to represent them, they have chosen to throw out the opportunity to the general public by throwing your preceding competition; Tiger City's Wrestling Team. This means anyone can join in the tussle to become part of Tiger City's team. A total of twenty or so. But to apply, you have to be part of a team of minimum five, maximum ten. If your team does well in the competition, you might get lucky and be called to join. If you are luckier, your entire team might be called. This basically equates to fame and wealth. The only issue is the severe age limit. You can't be older than twenty or younger than sixteen."

Dash kept quiet as if processing the information. In truth, he already understood the full scope. Money to be won and fame to be earned means that lots of different kinds of people will join.

While Charlie explained, the duel between Wilson and the instructor lady had already begun. And already, Wilson was being whacked, thwacked and tossed around. The two sitting down by the sides were laughing their asses out.

Dash stood closer to Charlie and whispered.

"Okay, I understand, but what's the deal with Wilson though?" Dash asked.

Charlie looked at him in shock and answered, not bothering to lower his voice.

"Wilson's only dream in life is to become a pro wrestler. He has even earned a little reputation for himself in one of the most popular wrestling platforms in the major parts of the city. They call him..."

"Don't you dare!" Wilson suddenly shouted at Charlie, interrupting him from finishing his sentence. In return, Wilson got a straight right to his face. His nose bled but he still conveyed the rest of his sentence to Charlie.

"That piece of information is not important."

Charlie laughed and nodded.

"If you say so." He turned and whispered back to Dash. "Since it's not important, I will tell you the full story later."

The instructor finally had her fill of whacking Wilson and turned to Dash.

"Your turn." She said

"Say what?"

Dash was rattled. He did not say anything about being interested in joining the team. He did not need a beautiful, well-endowed woman whacking his ass all over a mat.

'Wait! Beautiful! Is that why Charlie was smiling so stupidly. No, wait! That's not even important.'

Before Dash could come up with a polite way to say 'no, thank you', Charlie and Wilson dragged him to the mat.

*swoosh* *tang* *thwack* *crack* *pang pang* *ting* *whish* *whoosh* *swoosh* *pak*

Dash, even with his speed ability had his ass handed to him in various tunes and tones, the sound effects further enhanced by his cries of pain.

Wilson and the two others laughed til they cried. Dash cursed them in his mind.

Some time later, the instructor had them sit down and listen to her advices on what they should improve on and how to improve them. She cleverly swung her staff everytime Dash wanted to speak up. It stopped Dash from trying to bail out of the team he had involuntarily joined.

He was the only unwilling one in the team and as it turned out, he was the weakest link. He had no one to vent at in the sparring sessions that followed and neither did he have a person to tell his unspoken woes to.

For the next couple of days, that was how he was, having to live in emotional solitude with no one to complain to, including Edward and Charlie.

When his sister woke up. He felt like he had finally seen his only ray of sunshine. She listened to him and hugged and patted his back while he sighed and complained excessively.

Charlie looked at them and smiled. Dash was actually still a little kid. He had had to mature too fast. Quite like him in that aspect.