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Gray Heroics: Book 2
Back To School 3 / Olympian Bloodline 1

Back To School 3 / Olympian Bloodline 1

"Hey, just so you know, you can stay and sleep in the room whenever you want. I won't really be able to do it on days besides Friday and Saturday because of school, but don't let that stop you if you ever feel like staying overnight." Galivinth informs Naeth as the two of them arrive at the bridge leading to the temple.

"I'll keep it in mind. I have a responsibility or two of my own, though. By sheer coincidence, I'll be available to come here only just as much as you." The cryonean responds.

"Oh, then I feel a little bad about taking up a room. Seems like there'll be little use for it, even between the two of us." Galivinth muses out loud as he pushes open the double doors leading inside the temple. Once the two adolescents are inside, they come to discover that the building is far livelier than it was the previous day. On the steps ahead, three young men sit and chat amongst themselves. On the floor above, half a dozen more were leaning against the railing - two the right conversing, and four to the left seemingly laughing and cracking jokes. In addition, there's now monks in sapphire blue robes busily walking around. The clatter of plates, the sound of ongoing hissing steam, the rush of water pouring from a faucet, the myriad of footsteps thumping all around high & low, and even the fairly incoherent collective of many voices exchanging words all makes up the atmosphere inside.

"Man, there's a lot of people here today..." Galivinth comments as he proceeds to untie his sneakers and slip them off his feet. Naeth does the same.

"Seems so. I wonder if any of them are seasoned disciples. It would be interesting to see the peak of human capability." Responds while setting his shoes aside. Then the sound of heavy and slow banging on a drum from two floors up begins resonating through the entire building. As if going by cue, a monk steps out and takes the center position on the first floor. All chatter decreases until not one remains to challenge the booming volume of the drum. Then the latter too eventually comes to a stop, allowing the monk to speak clearly.

"What you all just heard was the assembly drum, which means afternoon lessons are about to begin. Remember it! It will always sound every day at 5PM, much like morning training at 10am. So please, if you all would, come down to the first floor and follow me to the gathering room. No pushing and shoving, please." And with that conclusion, the monk begins heading toward the back of the temple via the pathway beside the stairs. Obliging, every student present follows behind him in a messy line. The monk leads them all up to an enormous set of sliding doors, of which he easily parts as far as his arms could extend horizontally, before heading inside. What awaits inside looks like a massive dojo. The size gives the impression it could hold at least 300 people inside. The walls are covered in wide rectangle tile of oakwood, what is visible of the floor under the six large red matts that neatly lay over it looks to bed waxed redwood. 25 feet above, three sets of a pair of rectangle windows can be seen to the left, straight ahead in the middle, and to the right side of the room.

"Good afternoon to you all! As you all can see around you, there's quite a number of students here today. In fact? There's exactly 63 in total. That definitely does seem like a high number, but as time passes, we'll begin to see that number dwindle bit by bit. By the end, I suspect there won't even be twenty of you left. Perhaps even less than sixteen. We don't kick out our students, but life surely does have its ways of parting people from us. I just want each of you to know that no matter if you stay here until the end or quit a week from now, showing up and trying to better yourself wasn't the wrong step. Hopefully, for those that do part ways with us, life will guide you to the true path you need to take." The head monk shares his prediction and wisdom with the students before him. Beside the monk stands three men who, surprisingly, aren't wearing robes like their peers. Of whom he spends the next use of his time introducing to the students.

"Now... With all that said, I'd like you all to meet the masters of this temple. Starting with none other than our very own Joey Dawson!"'

"Hiya, folks! Spent a good portion of my life learning and honing the ways of tai kwon do. If ya fancy some sweet footwork and throwing some of the meanest kicks of your life, then I'm definitely your guy. I'll gladly teach as many of you as I possibly can." Came the enthusiastic words from Joey himself. A man with blonde shaggy hair, fair skin, a height of exactly 6'0, and attire consisting of a loose navy blue gi. The top drapes behind his legs, but upon his torso itself is a white tank top. Both the gi top and pants are held in place on his muscular frame by a tied black belt.

"Then there's our outstanding Sae Lee!" The monk, Saijeme, introduces next as he gestures a hand toward a man with a bowl-like haircut and a gi similar to the one Joey is wearing. He wears his attire in a more traditional fashion, though with a black long-sleeve turtleneck shirt underneath the navy-blue top, and on his feet, he wears a pair of tai chi shoes.

"Good afternoon to you all. I've dedicated my life toward self-improvement, of which martial arts have helped me do for a considerable number of years. I'm known as a master in both Jeet Kune Do and dual wielding, but I feel as if there's always room to improve. Nonetheless, I'm prepared to teach all that I know to as many of you who are interested." Sae informs the students with a modest smile and nod of his head.

"And finally, the great and iron willed Heihachi Takaeme!" Saijime addresses the third and last of the three. The final one is considerably older, perhaps somewhere between the age of 40 and 50. His hair is raven with gray running along his temples and of his slicked back, fairly spiky hair. Two bangs that reach just over his eyes hang from the corners of his hairline. He also wears his gi normally upon his lean physique, save with his sleeves rolled up to his biceps with the added accessory of white hand wraps that resemble bandages on both of his hands. On his feet were traditional karate footwear -- 'socks' without toes or heels to them.

"I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you all, but quite frankly, I don't know anything about a single one of you. In time, I'll decide if meeting you has been a worthwhile pleasure or just an utter waste of both of our time. First impressions need not be everlasting, even if tremendously impactful. Present yourselves with some dignity and prepare for long hard days of training your mind, as well as your body. In addition, I am a master of Tiger-style kung fu and the art of Deflective Palm. In my personal opinion, the best offense is calculating defense capable of denying all that comes your way. If you favor longevity over flashy attacks that'll inevitably drain away at your stamina, then I will teach you what I can." The fairly gruff middle-aged man informs the bunch before him.

"Hey--" Naeth whispers as he gently jabs Galivinth's side with an elbow.

"Do you know which of the three you want to be a disciple under?"

"I think so... Why, did you already decide on one of them?" The teen inquires in turn, mindful to keep his voice down as the monk begins speaking again.

"I have. Long ago, truth be told. I'm even more convinced that me coming here was no mere coincidence. This is undeniably fate at play here." The cryonean answers with a self-assured smirk on his face. A response that makes Galivinth briefly turn his head toward the other with something akin to faint awe, taken aback by his relative's decisiveness.

"...I see." is all Galivinth can find to say.

"--So, with all of that said, please form an orderly line in front of the mentor of your choosing." Mister Saijime instructs the students. A sea of bodies begin moving about as people navigate to align themselves before the mentor of their choosing. By the end of it, Galivinth is the first in line of 11 in total before Mr. Takaeme. Naeth, on the other hand, stands in the middle of a line before Mister Dawson that's made of 27 people. The final line - the one for Sae Lee - holds a count of 25 students. Once all of the students have made their choice, Mr. Takaeme and Sae Lee guide their students out of the room and into separate directions. Galivinth's line makes a right to head toward the room he and Naeth were brought to the other day for a demonstration, while Sae Lee and his disciples make a left where a more spacious room awaits.

Once Galivinth's class enters the room, his instructor makes his way to the other side and peels apart another set of sliding doors, revealing another identical dojo space awaiting on the other side.

"There. This should be plenty of space, though it'll certainly become excessive, I'm sure." He muses out loud, then turns to face his eleven students. There's a total of ten males and one female, a few are full adults, the rest look to be below the age of 18.

"As of this moment, you shall all only refer to me as 'Sensei' and nothing more. I am not your friend or relative; I am your teacher. Your troubles off these grounds will be of no concern to me. I will not demand that you shift your priorities to my teachings. If you don't have the time to come one day, then simply do not come. If you find yourself arriving late, don't dwell on it. Come ready to train and perfect your lessons.

This is all quite fair, no? All I ask is that you do not lie to me or yourself. Wasting your time with mediocre effort will amount to nothing at all, so bear that in mind." He goes on to explain. Afterwards, his arms raise to fold across his torso.

"You should all also be aware that my class is not team centric. I will equally teach you all, but you're an individual here before anything else. And if you need even further reason to focus on yourself - also know that there will only be TWO masters by the end of this journey. One of Tiger-style and the other of Deflective gentle fist. Those two shall be my finest students. The rest? Gone or just adequate enough to defend themselves in a fight. Hopefully. Do you all understand me?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, I hear ya."

"Yessir!"

"I understand."

"Yeah-yeah."

"Yes, I guess." Overlapping answers incoherently come from the bunch before him.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Yes, what? Address me properly." He orders them all with a solemn expression lingering on his face. Then in unity, the class tries again.

"YES, SENSEI."

"Good! Now, line up side by side. The first lessons of today shall be balance and posture."

_______________________

[ Back At The Silver League Headquarters ]

"It's almost unreal how every lead we had and could've had just went up in smoke. Literally." The Crow comments just as he leans back into his seat and crosses his arms.

"It is..." Righteous Lad utters with his elbows resting atop of the table he and the rest of his team are sitting around. His hands held together in front of his mouth as his jade green eyes stare blankly at the surface beneath his arms.

"You should have just shared what you knew sooner. Maybe we could have salvaged something long before that explosion went off." The Crow nonchalantly adds.

"I should have..." The hero in charcoal black and cyan responds in the same low-energy manner, then goes on to speak more.

"Maybe those guys that we took in could've been saved, too. Maybe I should have asked them questions, as well... See if they had any unique information or knew any more significant names amongst their movement."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. I didn't expect any of this, either. They didn't really seem like much of a big deal at first." Alexecute throws in a notion of reassurance.

"That hardly matters. Big or small, we should've been able to take them down fast. Crime doesn't just standby until we all have free time to deal with it. Every second counted, and a day was wasted in vain." The Crow counters.

"Hey, cool it, will ya? It was an honest mistake. For all we know, that place was booby-trapped to go up in flames the second we tripped over a wire or something." Matrix chimes in this time.

"Maybe... But he still has a point. If nothing else, I could have at least investigated the building myself the day before." Righteous Lad calmly admits.

"It's not exactly a great start, but the data they stole from the MOBA company will undoubtedly allow them to make plans for their next move. We can be more precise and quick to decapitate their schemes at the bud. The flash drive I found back in the CEO's computer has not even a single file on it, however I was able to discover it was transmitting to a lot of different places in the US, China, and Russia. I'm not entirely sure what sort of conspiracy it's implying, but they obviously have peers in different places." The Crow informs the group. Righteous Lad looks toward him right after.

"China and Russia?" Tyson repeats.

"That's right. However, there's no solid evidence. We can't go making any sort of baseless assumption. We'll just end up looking like a bunch of paranoid fools." The teen warns.

"What, what? Is there something we should know about China and Russia?" Matrix asks while shifting her focus between the two males of their team.

"Yeah, I think I get it, but I think I might need it elaborated, too." Alexecute adds.

"No, not necessarily. Theories of political intent without evidence is nothing short of promoting partisanship. For the time being, we have nothing solid to go off of. We have to wait and see if anything else they do can give us more crucial information." Righteous Lad explains.

It's then that the building's emergency alert begins going off, drawing the attention of every single samaritan inside, including Righteous Lad and company.

"Should we check it out?" Alexecute asks after a moment of silence between them allows the alarm to whine without interruption.

"Yeah. Yeah, maybe we should go and see what's up." Tyson answers before rising up out of his seat. His teammates do the same and follow him out of the room, down the stairs where the sight of a sea of their peers can be seen heading toward the largest gathering in the facility. The band of four join the rest in heading that way, as well. As a horde they enter a massive circular room with a navy-blue carpet flooring bearing the initials 'S.L.' in bold white letters at the center and an enormous supercomputer that takes up 1/3 of the wall in the room. The screen before them is 30 feet in height and 50 feet in width, allowing every single eye to see what's on display. A radar bearing an identical shape to the structure of the US on the globe, and one with a red ping giving off waves. One of the members of the establishment sits at the chair and hovers his hands over the wide panel in front of their screen, and soon a holographic keyboard presents itself. He uses it to zoom in on the distress signal and answer the call.

"I think I just got through! H-hello? Hello?" The first thing to pop up is the face of a young woman with wavy blonde hair that cascades down the majority of her face and a domino mask with lenses that hide the color of her eyes by presenting them as monochrome pupils.

"We're here. What's going on, Glitter Pop?" The one sitting at the computer asks.

"There's weird guys who came out of nowhere. The local authority told us they just showed up out of nowhere and started causing damage in the middle of traffic." She explains - just before the sound of a flying car smashing into a nearby building rings out, startling the girl enough to cry out with a shriek. A masculine voice in the background then begins speaking.

"I urge you to stop wasting our time, humans! None of you have the mettle to face the likes of us, so lay down your pitiful attempts and just tell us where the young Olympian God who lives among you resides. Come now, the sun will not sit still while you stall!"

"Is he... talking about Captain Righteous?"

"Maybe, but I'm not sure. Judging by how vague he's been this entire time, I don't think they really know either." Glitter Pop answers. The onlookers inside the Silver League begin talking amongst themselves, filling the room with low and incoherent murmurs.

"Look, just send some help, okay? Especially heavy hitters! These guys are strong and flinging us around like dolls." She requests.

"I think... I think they're talking about me... But..." Righteous Lad contemplates outwardly under his breath, soon realizing he's missing just one too many clues to piece it all together. Anxiety and a hope of resolving the conflict peacefully, the young man begins taking his leave. Moving at a speed that renders him but a barely noticeable blur as he exits the building and immediately takes flight. He arrives at the scene in just a blink and a half. So fast, that his voice can be heard on Glitter Pop's live communication feed a moment later.

"Hey!" He calls out to one of the tallest of troublemakers firmly - the very one who pauses midway of chucking a cop car with two officers inside of it. The four beings who stick out like a sore thumb, all shift their sights onto the raven-haired newcomer.

"I'm not 100% sure how close I am, but I think I know whom you're here for. Put down the car and we can talk this out. Clear up the confusion." The hero suggests calmly with a solemn expression. His approach seems to amuse the one holding the vehicle - the male cracks a smug grin. This one has a muscular and lean physique underneath a somewhat revealing attire. His skin is a tanned complexion that's decorated by a few tattoos on his arms. Though his short hair is as white as snow and his eyes a shade of steel silver, he appears to be, at most, 21 years of age. Lastly, he looks to stand at about 6'3 feet tall.

"Heh. Very well. At least one of you pests has some decency." The male of white hair obliges with apparent disdain before casually and outright tossing the car like a football into the air down the street.

"Not like that!" Righteous Lad shouts as he lays witness with disbelief. With another gust of wind, he takes off like a bullet to beat the patrol car where it's bound to land horribly and levitates upward to catch the flipping vehicle between his arms sideways. His right arm hooking underneath while his left over the roof.

"I got you, I got you..." He assures the two inside while carefully lowering to solid ground to set them down.

"You guys okay?" He asks afterwards, now bending down to peer through a window.

"Y-yeah... Oh, man.. Yeah, I think we're good."

"Thanks for the save, Righteous Lad. I thought I could see my life flashing before my eyes for a second there!" The two respond.

"I'll take it from here, okay? You guys did plenty being brave enough to answer when people were in need of help." He smiles softly and gives a nod at the pair before ascending a few feet into the air and floating his way back to the band of troublemakers.

On his way, one of the officers spare a moment to lean out a window and shout words of encouragement.

"Kick some tail, kid!"

Soon, Righteous Lad's boots come to meet the surface of the street again with around six or seven feet of space between him and the arrogant individual from before.

"Amusing display... I suppose worthless bugs could only value other worthless bugs." The male comments, then proceeds to lift and fold his arms across his chest.

"Is that all you see these people as? Not very fair, don't you think?" Righteous Lad responds.

"Fair? The weak are owed no such luxury. Such fragile beings... Blink and they'll age right into dust, as well! I can't even tell humans apart from one another."

"Fragile or not, that doesn't take away their value as living beings. Their lives hold value to me and to others. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. Just because you don't care, doesn't mean someone else caring is less important." Righteous Lad reasons. His words wind up removing the other's grin and replacing it with a look of mild annoyance.

"...What utter and useless drivel. The human species are NOTHING compared to the Olympian Gods." The male responds, now taking his turn in earning a disapproving frown from the hero.

"I grow bored of this pointless debate. You said you could take us to the Olympian God who lives here in this region on Earth. Fulfill your claim or remove yourself from my sight." The tanned male adds and demands firmly. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Righteous Lad lifts a hand and places over the flag symbol adorning his chest.

"You're looking at him..."

"YOU? You're the son of Apollo?" The other questions as if taken aback.

"I am, but look... I would appreciate it if you didn't go back home and spread that little bit of info around. It's kind of a sensitive subject." Righteous Lad requests. Not concerned with the hero's concern, the white-haired male cracks a toothy grin while looking over his shoulder at one of his companions. A tall blonde with long blonde hair, fair skin, and sunny-orange colored eyes.

"Seems as if we found him already,

Asclepius.

How confident are you in this sap's words? I can check to see if he's telling the truth if you'd like." The male offers with mischievous delight. The two exchange looks for a moment before the blonde shuts his eyes and gives a reluctant nod.

And with that, the male with snow-white hair returns his attention to Righteous Lad once more and begins sauntering closer. He rolls his neck in a circle and rotates his shoulders as he walks, stopping until he's standing side by side with the hero and facing the opposite direction.

"Hey..." He calls to Righteous Lad without looking toward him.

"We're taking this very seriously, you know. So I'll ask you one more time... Are you TRULY the bastard son of Apollo?" He proposes the question with a serious scowl upon his handsome features.

The other, the hero in charcoal black and cyan, looks up and to the side where the other stands. Standing his ground, Righteous Lad answers as clearly as possible.

"I am Apollo's biological son with no shred of a doubt about it." Is the answer given.

"I see." The tanned skin male utters before another grin he cannot hope to fight back takes form across his lips again. He lifts a hand and sets it upon the hero's shoulder.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I pry undeniable proof from you..." Choice of words that lead to Righteous Lad arching a brow.

"What do you mean by--" Before the hero can finish that question, the other abruptly grabs hold of him with both hands, takes him for a couple of spins, and then tosses him away with such tremendous force, that the sound barrier is broken upon release. In just a split second, Righteous Lad is crashing through countless buildings, leaving debris of glass, bricks, metal, and stones in his involuntary wake. By the time he slows into tumbling along the street, bouncing off the roof of a few cars as he does, he's far over in Washington D.C. He ends up face down when he finally stops, but not out. In fact, he seems to be in a slight daze than any actual pain when he begins pushing himself up onto his knees. He looks toward the direction he came from and sees a sizable hole in the last building he smashed through, blinking in disbelief as he drinks it in.

However, he isn't given any more time to gather his thoughts. His assailant was closing in and dropping down from above.

"DEFEND YOURSELF, SON OF APOLLO!" The being roars as a psychotic toothy grin takes up his entire mouth.