2-24

It was later in the night, I was out back teaching the ninjas and Victor when Jacob stepped into the back with one of the police officers that learned at the dojo. Jacob walked over to where I was teaching and patted the guy on the back, “Show her.”

I waved Victor off and he flopped down, his lungs struggling to pull in more air. Turning to Jacob and the guy I gave them a nod, “Show me what?”

He lifted his hands and scrunched his forehead. I watched as eventually his hands started glowing and letting off wisps of chi. I gave a nod and turned to the rest of the sparing class, “Get your blocks of wood. I have to handle this.”

They scurried around and I reached up, setting my hand on the guys shoulder and guided him over into one of the chairs sitting outside. He sat down and I crouched in front of him, “So you have chi now.”

I held up my hands, palms facing each other and about an inch apart, “You need to start doing this.”

A flex of chi and a little golden mote started flipping back and forth, jumping between my palms. He lifted his hands and concentrated. Jacob had followed us after checking on his brother. A small white mote of chi slowly crossed between the guys hands. Jacob nodded as the guy flopped back and panted, “It gets easier with time Jason.”

Jacob lifted his hands and did the exercise. A mote bounced between his palms and didn't look like it was letting off excess chi. I gave a nod at that, “You need to start doing advanced exercises. Spread your hands farther apart, try to get the mote to jump from your finger tips.”

I held my hand up and spread the about a foot apart. A mote of golden chi shot from my index finger over the gap to my other index finger. I quickly started a loop of it jumping to my next finger down the list. Jacob and the guy stared and soon it was like I was holding a string of lights from each of my fingertips, lighting up the back of the dojo.

I stopped the motion and dropped my hands with a sigh. Jacob looked down at his hands and the guy he brought me returned to his exercise. I gave a nod then turned back to teach the rest of the people. Victor, if he tried the exercise, could probably catch up to what I was doing in a month or two. You can only get so skilled at using your chi.

In about ten years I would sit Victor down to start teaching him to refine it. Grinding the motes together, and eventually a refined chi mote would pop out. It can do everything a regular chi mote does, it will just hit so much harder. I continued teaching the class into the night and eventually everyone got to tired to continue. We cleaned up the dojo and people started going home.

I said my goodbyes and started walking home. I pulled out my kiseru and sparked it with chi on the way, enjoying the walk. The city was slowly going to bed around her. Groups of friends were walking home from bars, lights in buildings flicked off as I passed them by. I was happy to be back in Swivel City and not stuck on a ship in space. While that had been fun for awhile it had started to frustrate me at the end. I was stuck on that ship and couldn't just pick a direction and walk.

I stepped around the corner of the street my apartment was on and saw Amanda sitting on the steps. I tapped my kiseru on the bottom of my foot between steps ont he way over, knocking the ash from it. Then I sat down next ot her, “Where is the raccoon?”

She was sitting with her elbows on her knees and her chin cupped in the palm of her hands. She gave a shrug, “Rosco is at the zoo. He is staying there for the night, letting the other raccoons in the enclosure get use to him.”

“Oh.. how long is that going to take?” I asked her.

“I am going to pick him up in the morning. Its going to be a thing over the next few weeks. Eventually he is just going to stay with the raccoons at the zoo. Be a part of their gaze.”

I glanced at her and she looked kind of melancholic. Her ears, normally perked up and standing straight, were slightly flopped down and her tail wasn't twitching or swaying, “are you alright?"

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She waved me off, “This happens every time I help watch an animal. They all have their own personalities and I end up missing them when I have to let them go.”

“Dont you visit them when you head to the zoo?”

She gave a slow nod, “Yea but they have their own little life and it continues when I am not there to see it.”

“I guess that's just something you will have to deal with. I cant see deciding not to help an animal when given the choice.”

She bit her lip and gave me a slow nod, “I will do it again and again.” Amanda stood up and brushed off her pants, "It's not even a question.”

I chuckled and stood up with her. We headed inside and I asked from behind her, “How long until you get another animal to watch over?”

“A few weeks. Maybe more.” She gave a shrug as she approached her apartment, “abandoned animals like Rosco are kind of rare. They normally get picked up by the pack and if not its because there are no other raccoon mothers nursing. I had to bottle feed him when I accepted him.”

She vanished into her apartment and I turned towards mine. I stepped inside and pulled off my coiling dragon staff, my kiseru and my little bag, setting them on the table. Walking past them I headed for my couch and with a spin flopped down on top of it. I sighed and stared at the ceiling. With Amanda being the way she was I expected her to be on her pc all night doing programming work and not come over to visit.

Lifting my hand above and over the arm of the couch I pawed at the remote, it took me a few times but I eventually grabbed it and pulled it into my lap. Spinning it around I pointed it at the tv and pushed the power button. The tv flickered on and the news started showing. The news casters were talking about some company by the name of Erid donating a bunch of stuff.

The news casters started going down the list and I spun the remorse and flipped the channel. A few clicks later and I stopped. Two guys were beating on each other in an octagon. It looked like the average mixed martial arts match until the guy on the right sprouted bone like spikes from places in his body. I started paying attention then and noticed a cut across his brow had healed at an accelerated rate. It went from bleeding to a sealed wound in about thirty seconds of fighting.

I sat up and leaned forward on the couch and really watched the fight. The fight ended with the guy who could harden his knuckles laying out the guy with the spikes. It was a smooth cross and the guy flopped. The fight ended and the commenters chatted for a bit and I realized this channel was doing recaps of fights. It was going to be happening all night, I leaned back and decided this was a good way to spend the night.

I looked outside my window and saw it was light out. A glance at the clock on the wall made me stand up fast. I shut off the tv and scrambled to my staff. I paused then ran back and grabbed the com Owl had given me and stuffed it in my pocket. A little hop and I was outside my apartment and started jogging to the dojo.

It clicked for me then, I had traded my video game addiction for a combat addiction. I had stayed up all night watching people punch each other in the face just as I used to stay up all night playing video games. There was a big difference though, I was the pro looking at all the flaws of the combatants instead of being amazed. I fiddled with the com on the way to the dojo and eventually Owls voice snapped out, “What are you doing?”

“Owl.. can you get me tickets to all the enhanced fights or the MMA championships?”

“Why would I do that?” She asked.

I thought about that for a few seconds then replied, “It will keep me suitably entertained?”

I was almost to the dojo when Owl replied, “Good point. I will set up a list. You might want to set up your own organization for chi users eventually.”

I slowed my jog and thought about that. “Maybe some day.. I think that is eventually going to be needed. It will need medics and doctors on hand. Chi fighting can get pretty bad if you're not careful.”

“Change it into a point system. Make the fighters meet certain requirements before they even step into the ring.”

I slowed to a walk and chewed on my lip as I thought about it. They would need a defensive technique for some kind of staying power otherwise they would get taken out right away. The more I thought about it the better it sounded, “How good are the medics that Doctor Kathor knows?”

“They are very well trained and are some of the best healers on the planet. Are you going to do it?” She asked.

I saw the dojo ahead of me as we continued to talk, “I think the idea has merit and I have a small idea on how to go about doing it. I will need to get ahold of Doctor Kathor though.”

“Well he will probably accept you just showing up. I think he enjoyed the last time you worked together.”

“Thanks for the idea. Now about those tickets?”

“Check your mail in a few days.” She replied.

“Thanks!”

She didn't reply and when I looked down at the com it was dark. I guess that was the equivalent of her hanging up on me? A quick jog took me the rest of the way to the dojo. I pushed open the door and stepped inside, a class was already starting with Anthony and Victor teaching it. I gave them a wave and headed to the back. Jacob was in his office and he nodded to me, “I wasn't sure you were going to show up.”

I pulled off my staff and kiseru and set them in my locker, “I got distracted.”

“With what?” He asked as he set the papers he was reading down.

“I found a tv channel with all the enhanced fighting and martial arts tournaments. They were doing reruns and watchbacks all night and when I looked out my window the sun was up.” I replied.

He leaned back and let out a chuckle, “Well.. that's a pretty good reason to get distracted.”

“I agree. Some of those guys were pretty devious.”

“Do you have a favorite?” He asked.

We chatted for a while about the fights I had seen and he eventually pointed to a tv that was on the wall, “You do know we get all the fights streamed on that right?”

I looked at the tv and frowned, “Well I know where I am spending my lunches from now on.” I turned and looked out into the main dojo, “I will talk to you later. It's time to start working.”