by G L Rathweg
“And Tae is the best cook out there. You are in for a treat. Come now, get dressed and meet us at the center of the village. Everything is set up there.” Rick said, then flapped his wings and took off.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty curious.” Blake said.
“You and me both, let’s go!” Lancelot said, then got up following his own advice, his teammates joining him.
I shrugged at my friends and a few minutes later all of us were in the center of the village sitting on makeshift chairs at recently placed bamboo picnic tables. The rest of the Fam was with us and the mood was jovial. Tae came just then followed by a dozen helpers, each carrying trays made of bamboo with giant leaves as platters. On those vibrant green vessels were gemlike morsels of petitely cut shark meat. It glistened by the light of the torches and the setting sun. The colors ran the range of the rainbow and it looked succulent, savory, sweet, and delish. I couldn’t wait to try some.
The platters were laid down on the tables and silence reigned as everyone dug in, even the most squeamish changed their minds and tried the dish. It was a hit and all it took was one bite to hook you, so to speak. The rest of the evening went by in a good cheer and good times. Coconut drink was flowing and there was a soy sauce like dip for the sushi that was amazing. The Fam was ecstatic about the shark-men’s defeat and sang and danced the night away.
Later that evening, after the sun had set, I was leaning on the village wall and staring off into the ocean. The moon was full and bright. It was so large it hung in the sky and dominated the view, taking up a third of the night with its glowing white luminescence. The ocean glittered under the vibrance as the waves slowly cascaded across the violet black almost neon colored water. The night porpoises and whales were out calling their good nights and going on about their way. It was strangely peaceful after the day’s events, but I enjoyed it taking in the brief respite from everything.
“How’s it going?” Anna’s voice asked.
I turned my head and saw her walking up. She leaned against the rail beside me and gave me a raised eyebrow.
“Just enjoying the view and thinking about stuff.” I said.
“Yeah, a lot of things have happened.” She replied.
“How are you doing? I mean, with your dad and…” I said, as my voice trailed off. I didn’t really know what I was asking and wasn’t sure I wanted to help her grieve for the guy. I mean, if he killed my dad and mom and stuff, but then again, he didn’t act like a killer. Things weren’t adding up and not only were my questions not answered, now I had even more questions.
“…earth to Hiro.” Anna said, bumping me on the shoulder.
The gesture shook me from my musing, and I looked at the beautiful girl.
“You zoned out there for a minute are you ok?” She asked, her tone light but her eyes showing concern.
I was about to say I was fine when I looked out and noticed something out in the distance.
“Ahem, I’m not bothering you two, am I?” Maggie asked.
I turned and saw my girlfriend giving Anna and me the raised eyebrow. I coughed and looked from Anna and back to Maggie, when Robin saved the day.
“Friend Hiro, I believe there is a disturbance out in the ocean, and it is heading our way.” The AI said.
I latched on to my lifeline and coughed once into my fist then pointed behind me, getting both the girl’s attention.
“What are those?” Anna asked.
Maggie gave me one last look then turned her attention to what I was pointing to and then her eyes widened.
“Oh no… are those color rays?” She said, softly.
“Color rays?” Anna replied, skeptically. “Those only exist in the Affinity Realm and if they were here there would be a rip in the…”
“Ms. Belmont, I believe you should get the students and the Fam on the ships now.” Robin said, urgency in his voice.
I squinted out and got a better look in the distance and my AR-2 dinged.
COLOR-RAY – Monster of Battle– Level Unknown
AFFINITIES – Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Spirit
These denizens of the Affinity Realm travel through the oceans of the Affinity Realm. They use their Affinity senses to help them move their huge bulk through the water in search of raw Affinity Power. These monsters are attracted to any source of Affinity Magic. Huge sensors on their bodies are used to locate Affinity aura. Huge gaping maws filled with same said sensors, suck the Affinity Magic like whales with krill. Every once in a blue moon they cross into the Real Realm and chaos ensues until they are defeated or return to the Affinity Realm. Color Rays are extremely aggressive and highly dangerous.
“I’d listen to Robyn.” I said, as the girls AR-2s dinged and they both swore as they read the message.
“What the hell is going on? The world is going crazy. Robyn get a message to everyone.” Anna commanded.
“Yes Ms. Belmont, already done.” He replied.
She turned and left shouting orders as she went. Maggie and I shared a look and turned back out to the ocean and the incoming Kaiju monsters.
“We’d better go.” I said.
She nodded and we both turned and hurried after Anna.
“So long home.” Rick said.
“Oh, don’t be such a sack.” Tae said, elbowing her husband. “Home is where the heart is you know that you, old fool.”
The two hugged and watched as the Color Rays destroyed the home we had just vacated. We were on the stern of the LDS and flying away from the Fam’s island. The Fam had been separated between the two ships and all of us were on our way to Isla de la Muerta. It hadn’t been hard to convince Rick and the rest of the Fam to leave with us, once I showed them the Color Ray’s and explained how dangerous they were. Seeing the result for themselves was just proof on the pudding as my Master would say.
Even though Tuki and I had taken a Color Ray out in the Affinity Realm it was mostly luck and the monsters were much stronger in the real world then in the Affinity Realm. Whereas with us it was the opposite, we were stronger in the Affinity Realm. Our only option was to run, even with the Sophomores, the Color Rays were just too strong. We all needed to train and level up first, and fast.
“How long till we get to the island?” I asked the AI, as I left the couple some privacy. It seemed like everyone was losing homes this week.
“We should arrive in two days barring and more interruptions.” Robin responded.
“Do you really think this training will help?” I asked.
“Friend Hiro, I promise it will, I have studied all of you and have made an extremely rigorous training program for each one of you, which I will complete after some more testing. While it will push you all to your utmost limit every single day, it will do the job. Although, I’m almost one hundred percent sure you will all hate me by the end.” Robin replied, with some type of weird glee in his tone, maybe I was imagining it.
“How rigorous?” I asked, concern in my tone.
“Oh, nothing to worry about, you will see. Now, did you want to continue the memory viewing from before?” He asked.
“Yeah, I think so.” I said.
“Just head below decks and back into a sleep pod, I’ve already sent the same message to everyone else.” He replied.
I thanked the AI and headed to the pods and readied myself for the memory.
TRACK 11 – UNBELIEVABLE – KANA-BOON
As soon as the pod closed, I was back in the movie theater, popcorn and soda in hand. The other students were there as well but still our sprites were gone. I put my concern for my sprite on the backburner and focused back on the unfolding story before us.
The view was back in third person bird’s eye and we zoomed in through the clouds into an already darkening landscape. Here I could see all the same students as before, but they were at the bottom of the mountain, each if different places. Some were on white sandy beaches, others rocky ones. Cliff edges and forest were standard starting areas as well. The view zoomed out a
nd I realized they were all spaced equidistant from each other around the island mountain’s base.
Courses became highlighted for each individual from their start position to the tip of the mountain. While all had different starting points all their ends points were the same one. The view soared down and zoomed in on my father’s starting spot, he was on a cliff’s edge hundreds of feet up from the ocean. To further complicate his course was that the cliff was a rocky outcrop of which my father was over a dozen feet from the shoreline. Basically, he was on a rocky island a hundred feet above a wave crashing ocean below. He’d need to jump across a twelve-foot gap to begin his course. I shook my head and saw a timer begin to count down from ten.
I heard my fellow students gasp and talk in wonder about how they had the view of their relative or member of their Clan. The AI must have given each of us our own perspective. My own zoomed in and now I was in my dad’s in a first-person point of view. The timer clicked down to zero and my father sprang into action. It was almost as if I became him, I could tell what he was thinking and going to do. I couldn’t control him. It was more like I was along for the ride. I let myself go and really invested myself into the memory.
RYO
The timer hit zero and I leaped off the rocky outcropping and crossed the gap with ease, I didn’t even have to activate any skills. The ground flew by beneath me as my steps carried me swiftly up the mountainside barely touching the earth. I leaped over rocks, downed tree logs, and dodged around pitfalls and other natural obstacles as I tackled the course.
Being in my father’s mind I realized this was the last challenge all the students needed to face, and the winner would be the top student. This race was what the whole training camp boiled down to and I wasn’t one to finish in second place. If my dad’s and now my own thoughts of first, first, first, first, that ran over and over in my mind were any indication. I ran up the mountain path which wasn’t really a path, I just took the most direct route to the peak. The highlighted trails I had seen earlier had just been for my benefit.
“Oh crap!” My dad and I yelled.
I had just planted my hands on a large boulder in our way and pushed up on it jumping over in a splitting double kick but as I vaulted over a giant spiderlike MOB appeared. My dad’s AR-2 pinged and I read the information.
SPIDER BONOBO – Monsters of Battle – Level 5
CLASS – Rare
WEAPON – Claws x 12, Bite x 1, Tail Strike x 1,
ARMOR – Furry Leathery Hide
AFFINITIES – Earth, Spirit, Death, Life
The Spider Bonobo is a massive combination of the apex ape and a spider, but not just any type of spider, he is a cross with a tarantula which gives the MOB superior strength, agility, speed, and power. The monsters bite is extremely venomous and can paralyze an adult human with its toxicity. It has six-arms and stands on two legs. It can create webbing like a spider and shoot it from its behind from a gland just above its bunghole. It also secretes a venomous poison from its sweat glands that are greenish in color. The poisonous fluid gathers on its fangs and claw tips. These MOBs are extremely strong and aggressive.
The message disappeared with a thought from my dad, but I had already read it and was focused on the monster. It had been hiding behind the massive boulder and reared up in a surprise attack right at the apex of my leap. The six armed, two-legged, fur covered monstrosity had filth encrusted claws and fangs that dripped a greenish putrid smelling venom.
“Flame on!” I yelled, flaring his skill directly to level two and letting the burning blue fire encase me.
The spider bonobo roared again, louder this time, and reached at my father and me with all six limbs, but all it grabbed was air. With a flaring of power, I double jumped in midair. Then, using a burst of fire in the air like a steppingstone I leaped over the MOB. It was twice as tall as my dad, but I sailed over it easily, clearing the ten feet as if it was nothing, and hit the peak of my jump at fifteen feet.
“Reverse Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!” My dad and I called, then we flipped over and our legs flared out spinning like a helicopter.
His AR-2 dinged and I checked the message with a quick glance as we spun downward.
REVERSE TATSUMAKI SENPUKYAKU (Level – 4) – This is an attack that is launched from the air and used the hosts skill and Affinity Power to infuse and raise the attacks power. The spinning motion from the kick though creates the real force of the strike. By kicking both legs out in a full split and rotating like a helicopter blade the centrifugal force created by the spin multiplies the power of the attack by a factor of ten.
I closed the window just as our strike hit and the spider bonobo’s eyes widened in surprise, it was so overexaggerated it was comical, like watching a cartoon. Then, where our foot had hit the Affinity Power exploded off the burning blue aura of my father and onto the MOB’s surprised cheek. The force of the blow launched the monster backward down the boulder and we used his head as a springboard and leaped upward as he went by, continuing our race up the mountainside.
My dad kept his skill flared and his pace at full speed ahead. We bounded ever upward our feet barely touching but where they did, the ground, tree branch, or rock a slight burn was left marking our passage with scorch marks. Our path grew steeper and more difficult with each step, but our speed didn’t fall if anything we went faster. It was thrilling and emotionally satisfying riding inside my father’s head like this as we moved. I had never felt so connected to him and it was almost like I began to know him a little. One thing was for certain we laughed the same and had the same sense of humor.
I noticed this as another spider bonobo, or I should say group of spider bonobos, appeared in our path. Instead of fear though, a grin appeared on our face, I was excited by the challenge and loud boisterous laughter escaped our lips. This confused the half dozen MOBs and they looked at each other perplexed. That was their first and only mistake. My dad capitalized on their momentary misstep and raised our skill level to three.
The blue fire turned to white as the temperature increased and we began to glow like a lightbulb, but our light was superheated concentrated fire. The heat increased as did our power and speed. Two quick steps took us to the center of the group of MOBs and my dad stutter stepped then jumped.
“Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!” He yelled, this time.
My AR-2 dinged again and I ignored the message, already knowing the skill myself, while my dad spun around hitting each of the MOBs with our skill and knocking them out of the way. We spared a glance to the left and right and watched the monsters roll down the mountainside before grinning and continuing the mad dash. He kept his skill level at three and we practically flew up the mountain. The temperature changed and snow covered the ground as we climbed. Steam rose from each of my dad’s footsteps and flakes of the white powder began to fall from the sky right as we hit the peak of the mountain.
With a leaping front flip, we crashed through the last boughs of the snow-covered pine trees and landed in the center of a clearing fifty feet wide that was the top of the mountain. A mental command cut off my father’s Flame Skill as we hit the ground with one knee and hand down in a Terminator pose. At the exact same moment, a face I recognized from the previous memory, Zod, landed inches from my dad and me in the exact same pose, followed by Belmont a moment later completing the tripod. The rest of the young fighters appeared just seconds later in differing degrees of dishevelment.
My dad and Zod though only had eyes for each other, even Belmont was ignored, and he knew he had lost along with the rest of them.
“It’s just me and you now.” Zod said, with a playful grin which my dad mirrored before answering.
“Sorry bro.” My dad said to the third member of their tripod.
Damon shook his head and laughed then looked at his two friends.
“Stupid owl scorpions slowed me down otherwise I’d have beat you both. Have a good fight, may the best goober win.” He said, with a smile.
“Thanks, brotha!”
My dad replied, Zod just grinned and winked at his friend.
“No fair! You guys had shorter pathways!” Yoene jeered, followed by various other versions of the same by the others. A bell chimed and then all their AR-2’s went off.
WE HAVE A TIE. THE TWO STUDENTS, ZOD AND RYO, HAVE REACHED THE MOUNTAIN TOP AT THE SAME TIME. THEY WILL HAVE A SUDDEN DEATH FACEOFF TO DECIDE WHO WINS THE LAST SUMMER CAMP CHALLENGE. THIS MATCH WILL BE WON BY EITHER SURRENDER OR KNOCKOUT. ALL OTHER STUDENTS ARE NOT TO INTERFERE AND ARE TO HEAD TO THE VIEWING AREA…
The rest of the students left with not a little bit of grumbling, while Damon, Zod, and Ryo high-fived and then Belmont joined the others. My dad and his friend faced off now alone in the center of the mountaintop.
"It was always going to be us two.” Zod said, releasing the grip on my dad’s hand and taking a fighting stance.
“Whatever dude, Damon was just a half second shy, plus you already know I’m the best.” My dad replied, with a rakish grin.
FINAL COMBATANTS ARE YOU READY?
Both my dad and Zod nodded their heads.
IPPON!
The pair of fighters both jumped backwards and flared their Affinity Powers while the rest of the students shouted, jeering and cheering the fighters on. They only had eyes for each other. I could tell because my father’s carefree grin was replaced with a tightlipped smile. His whole demeanor had changed, and I could see the same change mirrored in his foe. I used the moment to study the boy, I had seen him in the last memory but hadn’t given him my full attention, it was time to remedy that.
He was shorter than my dad, about three inches from my father’s five feet. His hair was of the purest white, almost like it was new fallen snow and his skin so pale it reminded me of alabaster. His eyes were twin orbs of ice filled with a glowing florescent white around the irises. The whole effect would have been that of an albino but instead it fit the boy. He was ice, snow, and cold. If Jack Frost had been real this boy would be him in the flesh. I could think of him as nothing less than a prince of ice, some type of winter royalty. He was the embodiment of the Affinity of Ice.