The next day after class, Kian, Kye, Kareem, Zachary, Apollo, and Kaito gather in the academy and prepare to head to the old training field.
"Is this everyone?" asks Kaito.
"Yup." Kian responds. "It'll be the six of us."
"Why'd you invite him?" Kye asks, pointing at Zachary.
"What? You got a problem with me coming?"
"You're a walking punching bag right now. What good would it do for me to train against you?"
Zachary steps up to Kye. "Oh yeah? Wanna get this started right now?"
"Will you two relax?" says Apollo, stepping in between the two.
"Just back off, Zachary." Kareem adds. "We don't want to damage the academy… again."
Surprisingly, Zachary listens to Kareem and turns away. "Are we going or what?"
Kian nods. "Yeah, let's go, I'll lead the way."
After a bit of walking, the group arrives at the old training field. The six of them train in light hand-to-hand combat as well as some Spiritual Energy detection. Halfway through one of his sets, Kaito detects the Energy Signature of an old friend.
"D- Dani?" Kaito whispers.
"Huh? Who the hell is Dani?" asks Zachary.
"Shit, he's here…" thinks Kian.
Dani casually walks onto the field, hands in his pockets.
*Dani Ingram is 5 foot 11, has black hair that covers both of his eyes and a scar across the bridge of his nose. Dani is Kaito's former friend and classmate, who was thought to be dead after he disappeared from last year's Warrior Showcase.*
"Sup."
"Sup?" asks Kaito, "It's been a year."
Dani shrugs. "Lost track of time."
"This is the guy Mr. Cygil told us about?" asks Apollo.
"The one who disappeared at the Warrior Showcase?" asks Kye.
"Am I the only one lost here!?" shouts Zachary, "Who the hell is this guy?"
Kareem sighs. "I'm also a little confused.
"We all thought you were dead…" says Kaito.
"Well, surprise, I'm not." Dani responds.
"What do you want?" asks Kye, "We're in the middle of training."
Dani ignores Kye and gets straight to the point. "Look, Kaito, one of us has to die today. There's no other way."
"What are you talking about? Did the year off make you go crazy?"
"I guess you could say that."
"This guy is starting to piss me off…" says Kye.
"I have no business with the rest of you, so just leave and pretend you were never here." Dani orders, "If you don't interfere, you won't get hurt."
"Yeah, I've had it." Kye walks towards Dani. "Sorry, Kaito. I know he's your friend or whatever, but I'm going to teach him a lesson."
"Kye, wait!" Kaito orders, "Let me talk to him."
"Don't try to fight him, Kye!" Kian shouts.
"Don't worry, I got this."
Kye covers his fists in lightning and lunges at Dani, but almost instantly, he gets countered and chopped in the back of his neck, knocking him out.
"Kye!" shouts Kian, who tries to run over but is grabbed by Kaito.
"Relax, he's only knocked out." says Dani, "I didn't hurt him, but I will if the rest of you don't leave."
Zachary activates his Trait, and Apollo summons his bow.
"Hey, Kaito, I don't think he's joking around." says Apollo.
"We're just gonna have to kick his ass!" Zachary declares.
Kaito grunts, not knowing what to do.
"C'mon, Kaito, you don't want your friends to get hurt, do you?"
Zachary sprints towards Dani, and they engage in hand-to-hand combat. Despite his Limit Breaker buff, Zachary stands no chance. No matter what he tries, a punch, a kick, a leg sweep, it doesn't matter; the experience and skill gap between them is too wide.
Zachary backs off. "Shit, nothing's working. You guys gonna join in or what?"
"I'll provide ranged backup." says Apollo, "I got your back."
"Kareem? Kian? Kaito?"
None of the three respond, so Zachary takes matters into his own hands and continues to fight but cannot land a hit. After dodging another punch, Dani reaches into his back pocket, pulls out a pocket knife, glances at Kaito, and, in the blink of an eye, makes Kaito and Zachary switch places.
"Sorry, Kaito..." Dani says solemnly as he swings the knife toward the head of his former teammate.
"Bullseye!" Thinking quickly, Apollo fires an arrow towards Dani, making him dodge and back away.
"What the hell was that!" Zachary yells, "Was that his Trait?"
Kian's body begins moving subconsciously. To everyone's shock, he walks up to Kaito and shouts in his face.
"Snap out of it, or you're going to die! This isn't your old teammate standing in front of us. Forget about the past and fight!"
"Switch…" whispers Kaito, "His Trait is called Switch. He can swap places with someone or make two other people swap with each other. It's very disorienting to fight against."
"So you understand I'm serious now, huh?" asks Dani.
Kaito ignores him. "I'm sorry guys, just give me a little more time…"
"You got it." Kian replies, "Apollo, you watch over Kaito and Kye. Zachary and I will take him on."
"No, not just us." Zachary looks over at Kareem, "I know you aren't a hundred percent, but get your damn head out of your ass! You don't want me to pass you up, do you?"
Kareem slaps himself on the cheeks and steps forward. "You're right, I'm sorry. This isn't like me."
"Don't apologize, let's just kick some ass."
Kareem, Zachary, and Kian now stand together across from Dani.
"How much time do you need?" asks Zachary.
"As much as you can buy." Kaito responds.
"Alright then, if I can't take him down, it'll be your turn." Zachary activates the second form of Limit Breaker, "You two back me up and land hits when you can."
"Are you sure your body will hold out?" asks Kareem.
"I'll make it hold out."
Kian engulfs his hand in flames. "I'll follow your lead."
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