Approaching the door slowly, Apollo rings the doorbell.
"Just a second!" A voice says from inside.
A young mother opens the door.
"Hi, can I-" the woman pauses, "Is that you, little Mittens?"
"Sure is." Apollo responds, handing over the cat, "I Got him back, just like I promised."
"Oh, thank you so much! The children will be so happy! Mia, Noah, I have a surprise for you!"
"Coming, Mom!"
The two children rush to their mother's side.
"Kitty!" shouts Mia, "Kitty is home! Thank you, thank you!" The cat jumps into Mia's open arms. "Kitty! I love you, kitty!"
"Thanks for getting him back, Apollo." says Noah, holding his hand out.
"Oh yeah, no problem." says Apollo, returning the handshake, "It was nothing."
"Are you sure about that?"
"I- uh… yeah. It was…"
Noah frowns. "Then why are your clothes all scratched up?"
"Oh, uh- I just tripped, that's all…"
"Looks like a bad trip…"
"Let me grab my wallet. I'll pay you for your troubles." says the kids' mother.
"Oh no, it's okay! I promise!"
"No, no. I'll be right back." The woman goes to grab her wallet, and Mia follows close behind.
Not wanting the money, Apollo turns to leave. "I've got to get going. Tell your mom I said thanks, Noah."
"Wait!"
Apollo turns around. "Yeah, what's up?"
"Good luck, Mr. Apollo! Thanks again for helping us. Make sure you get stronger so I have someone to look up to, okay?"
"You got it!" Apollo rushes home, still carrying the last cat. Not wanting his parents to know about the incident, he sneaks into his bedroom window.
"Welcome home, little bro." says Austin.
"Where have you been?" asks Alvin, "We have to cover for you. Again."
"Oh, me? I've just been… out?" responds Apollo.
"Out? Out where?" asks Austin, "And why the hell do you have a cat?"
"You didn't steal it, did you?" asks Alvin.
"What? No, of course not!" shouts Apollo, "I'm just watching it for a friend of mine."
"A friend, huh? What friend?"
"Why are some of your clothes ripped? You stole it, didn't you!"
"Shut up, Alvin! I didn't steal the damn cat, okay? I'm watching it for my friend Fabian. He's uh… he's out of town." Apollo puts the cat down.
"I'll only have him for a few days, probably. You two have to promise me you won't tell Mom or Dad, okay?"
"Yeah, whatever…" says Alvin, bending down to pet the cat, "What's its name?"
"Her name's Sona."
"How are you supposed to feed her? And what if it uses the bathroom in here?" asks Austin.
"I'll just clean it up; it's not that big of a deal. And I just take something from the kitchen. It'll be fine, I promise."
"What if Mom or Dad finds it?"
"Our parents never come into our room. But to be sure, I'll take her with me wherever I go."
"Even to the academy?" asks Alvin, "You don't even know if they'll let you bring a cat inside."
"That's why I'll go there tomorrow morning and ask for permission. Guys, relax. I have it all under control." Apollo locks the room door. "All under control."
Two days later, Apollo arrives last to class, carrying Sona in his arms.
"Good morning, Apollo!" says Jackson.
"Oh… good morning." Apollo responds, heading to his seat.
"Oh my god!" shouts Amber, "Is that your cat!"
"Well uh… it's not mine."
"Then who's cat is it?" asks Kian.
"Apollo is watching it for someone right now." Cygil chimes in, "I allowed him to bring it with him, as he currently has no other choice."
"No other choice?" thinks Kye, "What does that mean?"
"That is not important. Today, you all will be working on basic Spiritual Energy control."
"Will it be hard…" whispers Darren.
"It shouldn't be too difficult to grasp. I'm sure you'll all understand it well enough. Everyone follow me to the training yard, and we can get started."
"Sounds like fun!" says Kye.
The class heads outside into the training yard. When they get there, they are greeted by a familiar face.
"Hey, it's Kaito!" says Amber.
"Hello again!" says Kaito, waving cheerfully, "You guys ready to get to work?"
"I am for sure!" says Kye, flexing his arms.
"What muscles are you flexing exactly?" asks Kian.
"I see no difference…" adds Jackson.
"Will you two shut up?" Kye shouts.
"They look like little toothpicks…" whispers Darren.
"Not you too, Darren…"
Apollo sets Mittens down by his feet. "Anyways, what are you doing here, Kaito?"
"I'm here to help train you guys." Kaito says with a slight chuckle, "And I won't go easy on you all."
"Kaito here will transmit his own Spiritual Energy into your bodies." Cygil explains, "You all will then focus on the energy within yourselves and destroy Kaito's from within. In combat, it is important to be able to detect any foreign Spiritual Energy Signatures within yourself or your surrounding area. If you cannot do so, you'd just be a sitting duck out there."
"If someone were to transmit Spiritual Energy inside your body without you knowing…" Kaito puts his hands on his head. "They could control your mind and actions without you being able to do anything about it. Making you a puppet."
Cygil nods in approval. "The stronger your energy control and Spiritual Energy Signature awareness is, the better off you'll be. Understand?"
"Sensing Spiritual Energy Signatures, huh." Kye cracks his knuckles. "This won't be too hard."
"This drill won't be too hard… but it will be vital for you all to practice this in your own time. Stronger Warriors can lower their output of Spiritual Energy to very low amounts, making it extremely hard to track or even detect them, if not impossible."
"Is that true?" asks Amber, "They wouldn't be trackable at all?"
Kaito shakes his head. "Not unless the person tracking them is very good at Spiritual Energy Signature detection. For example, I could easily mask my signature from all of you. But I'd be found easily if I tried to do that against someone like Mr. Cygil or Mr. Cyrus."
"We'll practice detecting Spiritual Energy outside of your body another time." says Cygil, "For now, we'll practice just detecting foreign energies within your bodies."
Kaito holds up his finger. "Randomly, I'll be sending energy into one of you. To detect and remove it, you'll need to rapidly move all the Spiritual Energy inside your body through every body part. When your energy finds mine, you must send enough of your Spiritual Energy into that spot to overwhelm mine."
"This sounds complicated…" whispers Darren.
"It'll be fine." Cygil walks over to Darren and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Kaito won't send very much energy into you all, so you won't have much trouble removing it. If you need help, I or one of your classmates will assist you."
"Yeah, we got your back, Darren!" says Kian.
"Is everyone ready to start?" asks Kaito.
"Before you start, may I have a moment of your time?" Everyone looks over to the entrance of the training yard, where a man with hospital bandages stands waiting.
"Who's that?" whispers Kye.
Kian shrugs. "No clue."
Apollo's eyes grow wide. "Fabian!"
Fabian waves at the group. "Hey there, kid. Good to see you again." Mittens sprints from Apollo's feet into Fabian's bandaged arms. "Good to see you again, Mittens!"
"So you're the one Apollo told me about?" Fabian walks to where everyone else is standing and receives a handshake from Cygil, "My name's Cygil Rozer. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you as well. My name's Fabian Beck. I hope I'm not intruding; the principal let me in."
"Oh no, you aren't intruding. We hadn't gotten started yet."
Fabian sighs. "That's a relief. I just wanted to come and thank Apollo personally."
"Thank Apollo?" asks Allen.
"Oh, you guys don't know what happened?" asks Fabian.
Apollo rubs his head in embarrassment. "Well… I didn't tell anyone besides Mr. Cygil."
"I'll let the cat out of the bag then." Fabian points at Apollo. "This kid… saved my life."
"He what?" Kye shouts.
"Saved your life?" asks Jackson.
"Is that true…" whispers Darren.
Apollo puts his hands up in defense. "Well, I wouldn't go that far… I didn't do much of anything…"
Fabian shakes his head. "That's not true. If not for you, I would've never escaped the alley trap, taken down that guy, or been saved before bleeding out."
"You guys went through all of that…" asks Kian, "Sounds like a lot."
"It's all true." Everyone turns around again to see Principal Ted walking towards them, holding something in his hands. "Apollo was a factor in bringing down a wanted criminal."
"That's amazing, Apollo!" says Amber.
Kaito looks at the item Ted is holding. "Then that must be…"
Ted nods. "That's right, it's an award."
"An award?" asks Apollo, "I don't deserve an award…"
"That isn't true. Regardless, it's an academy tradition." Ted holds out a plaque with Apollo's name written on it. "I, Ted Rozer, present Apollo Young with a Rozer Academy award for completing a mission."
"Congratulations, Apollo." says Cygil.
The students and adults clap and cheer for Apollo as he receives the plaque from Ted.
"Guys, thanks, but really I-" Fabian puts his hand on Apollo's shoulder. "Relax, just enjoy your moment. You earned it."
After the cheering dies down, Kye raises his hand with a question.
"Can I be sent on a mission next!?"
"No." Ted replies, "As of right now, none of you are eligible to be sent out on missions."
"But Apollo just-"
"Apollo wasn't sent out on that mission." says Ted, "He just happened to get caught up in it."
"In order to be sent out on missions, you must pass the Hero Exam." adds Cygil.
"The Hero Exam?" asks Jackson, "What's that?"
"The Hero Exam is a simulated test held in a separate location." replies Kaito, "You are put in a random situation, and you must complete it as an official Warrior would."
"So you had to pass that too, Kaito?" asks Amber.
"Yup, my test was to save people from a burning building within a time limit. The building wasn't actually on fire, though. It was just props."
"Kaito passed the Hero Exam with flying colors, and thus, he is eligible to be sent out on official missions."
Kaito smiles. "I already have fifteen plaques, just like Apollo's."
"Fifteen!" shouts Allen.
"I've heard enough; I'm ready to take the Hero Exam now!" Kye insists.
Ted shakes his head. "Denied. You still have a lot to learn."
"What! No fair…"
Fabian laughs. "I'll be heading out now. It was nice meeting you all. Good luck with all of your training! And thanks to you again, Apollo."
"I'll be going as well." says Ted, "I have some paperwork to handle."
Ted and Fabian wave goodbye and then leave.
"Alright, everyone, time to start." says Kaito, "Prepare yourselves!"
"Right!"
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