MC had been awake for almost an hour. He sat on the couch in the living room waiting for GM. I guess we never agreed on a specific time, but I figured he’d be up by now. Another hour passed and finally MC went to check on GM. He strolled up to his room and knocked.
“Yeah?” GM said from inside.
“It's MC. I’m sorry if I woke you, but I thought we were going to start training today.”
“Oh, are you ready already? I’ll be out in a minute.” Half an hour went by before GM emerged from his room. “Ok, kid let’s get going. We’re going to head to the training grounds.”
MC was a little annoyed at how long he’d already waited, but was willing to go along with his new trainer’s schedule. GM grabbed his keys off the hook next to the front door and stepped outside. “Holy sheep shit, that’s bright,” he said, shielding his eyes with his hand.
They loaded into the car where GM promptly put on a pair of sunglasses. “Much better.”
GM drove them across the city and finally a little ways into the outskirts to an old junkyard. He stopped the car outside a tall rusting metal gate, unlocked it, and then drove the car through. There were piles of metal scraps of all shapes and sizes along with several deep holes. Some of the holes were as big as Olympic sized swimming pools. They were filled with old cars, dishwashers, and just about any other metal scraps you could think of. The piles seemed to go on for miles. A ways ahead he saw what looked like an old warehouse or some sort of large shack. It was leaning to the side quite a bit and one of the support beams was split in half. It seemed like at one time someone might have lived there to serve as security for the junkyard or something along those lines. “Where are we?” asked MC.
“We’re here. The training grounds,” said GM. MC looked around to see large cranes, dump trucks, and scrap piles the size of small buildings.
“Doesn’t look like any training grounds I’ve ever seen. Let’s not waste any more time though. Can we get started?” he eagerly asked. MC bent over and began stretching his legs.
“There’s that go getter attitude!” said GM. “Now grab that ladder behind you and climb down into that hole with the washing machines. We’ll start there.”
MC picked up a ladder and extended it to climb into the deep hole. Even fully extended to about thirty feet, the ladder barely touched the bottom of the hole. MC carefully climbed down into the pit.
“Go get a look around. We’ll start in a few minutes. I want you to familiarize yourself with what all is down there.”
MC did as he was told. He walked around and checked out different pieces of old and rusted metal. It was all in stacks or piles with trails going in between. The ground was terribly dry causing a light layer of dust to collect on everything down there.
“Ok now come on up out of there” shouted GM.
“Sure, but why did you have me come down here just to get back out?” asked MC, but as soon as he turned around he found the answer. GM had pulled the ladder up out of the hole. “Hey! What’s the big idea here?” asked MC.
“Go ahead and come on up here. You’ve got plenty of materials to make your way up. Just stack up all of those washing machines or car frames. Lunch is waiting for you when you make it back up,” said GM while displaying a submarine sandwich.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” said MC.
“You didn't think this was going to be easy did you?”
Crazy old bastard always has some sort of kooky agenda of his own. I guess he is right. In a way this will give me an opportunity to build my strength. All I need to do is move the metal scraps into a pile until it’s tall enough to climb up. Couldn’t he have just taken me to the gym though?
MC turned and assessed the materials before him. “I suppose I’ll start with this car frame. It will give me a decent amount of height.” He grabbed on with both hands and gave a pull with all his strength. It only slid a few inches. “This is going to take a while.”
The morning sun intensified and shifted in the sky. By the time it was directly overhead MC reached his hand up out of the large hole and grabbed the edge while balancing carefully on a rigorously crafted pile of scraps. He struggled and pulled himself up out of the hole. GM greeted him, “Hey MC! You made it! It only took you about five hours. You’re actually earlier than expected. You’ve got some serious drive.” GM walked to the edge of the hole and looked at the large pile of metal stacked against the wall. It was a combination of washing machines, car parts, televisions, and just about anything else you could imagine.
“So what exactly was the point of that?” asked MC, wiping the sweat off his brow.
“Oh come on MC I know you’re smarter than that. Just some good old fashioned strength building. I like to make training fun ya know. None of that traditional iron pumping and push-ups crap,” said GM with a smirk. “Plus, you’re too naive. It taught you to always watch your back. You should have seen your face when you saw the ladder was missing,” he chuckled.
“Yeah, that sure was fun,” said MC with an eye roll. “I figured it was something like that.”
GM tossed MC the sandwich he displayed earlier. “Here have a seat and eat. You’ve earned it.” He pointed to a couple of lawn chairs that he’d set up.
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MC sat down and ate while observing several cans of beer and a magazines sitting next to GM on the ground.
After they finished lunch, GM announced that they were going to start the next part of his training. “Alright MC, next we’re going to do a little cardio.”
“Oh boy, I can’t wait to hear about your methods for this one,” said MC.
“So you may have noticed that there’s a ten-foot fence around the entirety of the junkyar… I mean training grounds,” said GM.
“Yes, and what of it? It’s probably meant to keep people from coming in and stealing things, right?”
“And that’s where you’re half correct. It’s to prevent theft of course but the other part is to prevent those vicious dogs from getting out,” said GM.
MC looked at him with a confused expression. “What dogs?” He spun in a circle looking around.
GM put his fingers to his lips and whistled loudly. The hairs on MC’s neck stood up as he heard the sound of savage barking and feet patting against the ground at an alarming rate. Three dogs appeared in the distance running at full speed. They skidded in the dirt as they rounded a corner of scrap metal and headed straight toward GM and MC.
“You better start running kid,” said GM.
“Are you serious?” yelled MC. He turned and began to run as fast as he could. The dogs sprinted past GM and focused solely on MC. “This is insane!” MC yelled as he continued to run.
“Looks like you’re off to a great start. I’ll leave you guys alone for a while,” shouted GM. He then sat down in the lawn chair, leaned back, and covered his face with a magazine.
The sky started to turn pink and orange as the sun set. GM stirred in his chair and took the magazine off of his face. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. I must have been out for a while. “Hey MC! Where you at?” he called out. There was no response. “Huh, where did those damn dogs get off to?” He put his fingers to his lips and whistled. Not long after, the dogs appeared in the distance running towards him. When they were close enough, he gave a hand motion with his palms facing down and the three dogs stopped and sat in front of him. “Ok MC it’s safe to come out now,” GM yelled. A few minutes later MC started walking slowly towards GM in the distance. His clothes were shredded. The dogs looked back at MC and growled, but GM hushed them. “How was your first day of training?”
MC didn’t even have the energy left to speak. He collapsed to the ground from pure exhaustion.
This style of training continued the next day and the day after that. At first he was sore beyond belief but he slowly got used to it and became stronger and faster as time went on. He began to fall for less of GM’s tricks and learned to deal with the intense conditions. GM watched the progression of his new team member with happiness and remembered his own training days alongside MC’s father.
They’d just finished training for the day and the sun was setting at the junkyard. MC wished they'd been able to get an earlier start, but like most days GM hadn't woken up until the early afternoon. It had been six months now and a new and improved MC stood in front of GM. His muscles were harder and his hair was longer. He’d hardly done anything besides training and sleeping all that time. There seemed to be a certain maturity about him as well as if he carried his posture differently.
GM walked up and put his hand on MC’s shoulder. “You’ve put in a lot of hard work to be where you are today. How do you feel?”
“I feel tired. I feel like I got hit by a train.”
“Perfect! I’d be shocked if you felt any other way.”
“You know, GM, at first I really wondered if I’d made the right decision joining The Organization, but I think now I can see that this is the only way I’ll become strong enough to get my revenge.” MC clenched his fists. “It’s been so long since my father was murdered. I miss him all the time. He’s my motivation to keep going, to get through the challenges.” MC’s hands began to shake. His gaze focused down at his feet. “You see, there’s a part of me that isn’t quite right and it won't be until I get my revenge. I have to kill that man. He killed my father and left my mother in a shattered state. I’m not giving up until I get my revenge.”
“Sounds like you’re pretty determined, but you’ve still got a ways to go. Come on, hop in the car. I've got some more things to tell you about tonight.”
They left the junkyard and picked up some burgers on the way home. MC was so hungry after his training that he scarfed his food down in seconds. It was quiet most of the way home aside from the car radio spewing nothing but bad news. Nothing new to the chaos that was Strongzinburg city.
They got home to the clubhouse and sat at the table. Sora was nowhere to be seen. “Go ahead and wash up, then we’ll talk,” said GM.
A little while later, MC came out to the dining room table and sat with GM. He continued to dry his hair with a towel.
“So GM, what was it that you wanted to tell me?”
“Let’s start with a question rather than an answer. How do you feel after your training today?”
“Like I said earlier, I’m exhausted. Probably dehydrated too. I managed to stay clear of the dogs for the most part, but they did a number on my clothes. I’ve never ran so much in my life. My hands aren’t even covered in blisters anymore, but they still occasionally get scraped up. They’ve calloused and hardened up.” MC looked down and examined his hands. He’d covered them with bandages and ointment after showering. They were trembling slightly as he attempted to make a fist.
“Do you think you could keep up with training like this?” asked GM.
“I’m going to have to. Right?”
”Right. But I just want to make sure you understand that things will only get harder from here on out. Not just the training either.”
”What do you mean?” asked MC.
“Did you hear that story on the radio while we were coming home from the training grounds today?”
”Yeah, it was some story about people dying and others losing money. This and that.”
“One of the people they mentioned dying was a member of The Organization. They were killed by a Black Diamond member. The kind of people you're wanting to go up against. Not just anybody can waltz up and take out Black Diamonds and members of The Organization. They’re trained to fight. They’re strong. There’s a reason why The Organization and The Black Diamond are such powerful forces in the city.”
GM was more serious than usual as he spoke. MC leaned in and listened intently.
“These people who are team leaders and higher ups aren’t normal people. They’re people who have trained for years or decades to obtain the power they have. People who can virtually dodge bullets. People who can sprint as fast as Olympic gold medalists. People who have unimaginable murderous intent. A lot of those hit men that you were researching are members of one of the two groups. So, now ask yourself this: do you really want to try and go up against someone like that?”
MC’s reply didn't skip a beat. “Yes, I'm sure of it. I’m going to kill Jin and take down the entire Black Diamond if I have to. Now I’ve just got to complete my training and become one of those people capable of terrible things. Not to cause chaos in the city and terrorize civilians, but for my own goal.”