A single bell was tolling in the distance. People were gathered at a grave. Rain washed away their silent tears. Even though they had an umbrella, no one used it. They were all looking at the grave. On the tombstone was written,

Kami Chan

Beloved Father, Grand Father

And a Great Master

You will always be in our Hearts

One by one the people started to go away. After everyone had left, two hooded figures arrived to pay their respect. They had their hood up as if they were afraid someone would identify them and they did not want that.

One of them was a tall person; about six feet two in height while the other looked very short at five feet five in front of that person. They stood there in silence for some time, looking at the grave. The taller one was fidgeting a bit, as if he was restraining himself. The shorter person looked at him and at the same time the taller person gave a short bark type laugh.

The shorter one said, “What is it?”

The taller one replied, “The last line. I don’t believe it.”

The shorter one read the last line again and said, “If you loved him, he will be in your heart positively, but if you did not like him, he would be in your heart like a poison. Any case, he will still be in your heart.”

The taller one asked slyly, “What if you neither loved him nor disliked him?”

The shorter one gave an exasperated sigh, “Come on, we should get back in. Too much time in the rain is not good for me.”

As they started back towards the training establishment the shorter one said, “Why did we hide Blade? Why did we come last and not when everyone was here?”

The taller one named Blade replied, “As I told you earlier triple T, three of the people present knew me.”

The shorter one named triple T nodded. He wished his friend did not have to live in secrecy. He was concerned. After all, it had been five years now and it was time; time for him to go.

 ***

Jian Chan and Jun Chan were sitting in Jun’s office. There was a knock on the door and Jun said, “Enter.”

Liu Wong entered. It looked as if she had been crying recently. No one could blame her after all. It was their father who had died. The two brothers and the sister sat in silence for some time. Kami’s children looked at each other. They did not know what to say.

Jian said finally, “I thought father had found out a way to be immortal.” The other two stared at him. He said, “Well, he knew almost everything else.” The others nodded. It was true. Kami had been the strongest person alive on earth. The knowledge which he possessed was unparalleled. Even in his old age he had an aura of power. And he had died because of a damned heart attack. It was not fair.

Liu said, “What now? Did father forgive you Jian?”

Jian looked uncomfortable. Jian lived in America. He had run away from home at the age of 23 and had gone to America. He had always been the one who was at the receiving end of his father’s reproach. Liu was the eldest and was the apple of his eye. She was the perfect daughter and had even married Han Wong, who was a businessman chosen by Kami.

Jun was also his father’s favorite. Even though Jun was the youngest and not as powerful as Jian, he was a loyal son and his father liked him more than Jian. Jian was always the rebel. He did not like the dictatorship which his father had established. He had even married an American woman against his father’s wishes. This had been the final stroke and Kami had declared that Jian was dead for him.

Jian said, “Father did try to make amends a couple of years back. I said it was too late. Maybe he had forgiven me. I did not know what was to forgive as I had done nothing wrong.”

Liu sighed, “You always were not afraid of father. Also, you always followed your heart. I used to wish I had your courage.”

Jian smiled at his sister. They talked about their father for some more time. Jian thought about his will. He had divided everything he had between Jun and Liu. The only things which Kami had given to Jian were his swords. Jian was surprised when he had found out. It seemed that his father did want to make amends with him after all. Kami’s swords were his honor and giving them to Jian meant he had definitely forgiven him. Jian smiled at the thought. Even though there were differences, he missed his father.

 *** 

They were in the training grounds; Jian’s daughters Tisane and Forum, Jun’s son Chen, Liu’s sons Shen and Jintao. Chen’s fiancée Mei Lin was also present. There was a friendly one on one fight going on between Chen and Tisane. The others were watching. Blade and triple T came to the training grounds. They still kept their hoods up. Blade took a step back but the others noticed them.

Chen and Tisane stopped fighting and Chen said, “Good to see you Blade and triple T.”

Forum asked, “Triple T?”

Triple T laughed along with Chen and said, “My name is Tsi Tzu Tsen. Hence, triple T.”

Triple T lowered his hood. Blade however did not. He slowly backed away instead and left without saying anything. Triple T and Chen sighed together as he left. The others looked at Chen questioningly.

Chen simply said, “He is a bit shy”, then he said to triple T, “Are you here to fight?”

Triple T shook his head and said, “Blade wanted to meditate a bit and so he came here. I was simply accompanying him. I will however watch you fight if you don’t mind.”

Chen nodded and then he and Tisane resumed their fighting. Tsi Tzu Tsen was watching all of them. Chen, son of Jun Chan and Ming Chan, grandson of Kami, was a very powerful power fighter. He looked at Mei Lin observing them closely. An orphan, she had been in love with him since she was sixteen and had been a friend to him since he was three. Shen Wong was cheering Tisane while Jintao was cheering Chen. They were cheering politely though. Sons of Han and Liu Wong, they did not have the drive or the energy to be power fighters but they are now helping their father to run his business. Finally Tisane and Forum, daughters of Jian Chan and Mary Fisher Chan, born and brought up in America, two very talented power fighters, although not in the league of Chen. Triple T wondered at Fate. Jun was very weak as a power fighter as compared to Jian, even though both the sons were never as strong as their father, but Chen was way stronger than Tisane and Forum. He was in a league of his own. He and Blade, the strongest power fighters Kami had ever trained.

Tsi Tzu Tsen wondered about his friend. He wished Blade would come out in the open.

 ***

It was early next morning when Forum was in one of the closed training grounds of the training establishment. She was going through her warm up exercises when he entered. She did not notice him. He had hesitated on seeing her. He was wondering whether to go to another training ground or not when she noticed him.

Forum said, “Hello there. Who are you?”

He had his hood up again. He wanted to go away without replying like he had done yesterday but a thought came to his mind. He said, “Blade.”

Forum said, “So it is you. I had my doubts but I could not be sure with you being hooded and all. You know that it was rude of you yesterday to go away just like that.”

Blade wanted to say that it was no business of hers what he did, instead he said, “I am sorry but I am not good with strangers.”

Forum said, “Ok, but I don’t see you going away now.”

Blade said, “I was thinking of going away but I had a thought.”

She nodded encouraging him to continue. He said, “I see that you are going to practice your power fighting alone. If you had not been here then I would be practicing alone too. So what do you say we practice together?”

Forum said, “I do not like to show my moves to strangers.”

Blade said, “How about a friendly fight then?”

Forum frowned. She considered his proposal. She said finally, “All right then.”

Blade came up to her and extended his hand forward. She shook it and they both said together, “Fight well.”

They took their positions. Blade had still his hood up. Forum frowned and said, “Are you going to fight with your cloak on?” He nodded. She said, “And I believe you will not lower your hood.” He shook his head. She said, “Then I would just have to pull it down.”

She attacked him with a punch which he simply blocked it by holding her hand. He could feel the power in the punch. One proper hit from such a punch and he would be in trouble. Her kick came from nowhere but he dodged it easily. She hurled blue energy spheres at him which he deflected easily. She was testing him, he knew that. He was not going to attack though. It was not his strategy. After a few more of her attacks he said calmly, “Stop wasting your attacks. I am a defense master. Your attacks would be unsuccessful, especially such weak ones.”

He wanted her to be riled up, make a mistake, but she smiled at him. She struck the ground with force. The ground started shaking as if there was a major earthquake. He managed to maintain his balance though. After the punch in the ground she had thrown spikes at him, which he dodged. She closed the gap between them and threw a punch at him muttering, “Earthen strike.”

He stopped the attack with his palm. Her eyes grew wide in surprise. The reverberations of the attack were felt all around them. It was one heck of an attack. Forum was surprised. She jumped back from him. How the hell had he stopped her attack?

He said, “I told you I was a defense master. It seems that you did not believe me.”

Forum said, “You are no ordinary defense master. My Earthen Strike attack is not at the same level as a normal one. It is at a much higher level. And you stopped the attack without much effort.”

“Well, I did have to use some energy after all to stop the attack.”

Forum laughed, “Yes, you had to. And it was too much wasn’t it?”

Blade smiled which could not be seen by Forum. Forum attacked again. This time she had changed her strategy. It looked like she had gotten serious now. The attacks which she rained on Blade now were at a much higher level than before. Blade had a bit of difficulty blocking or dodging them, but he still managed to do so. Forum had not managed to land a single hit on Blade.

As Blade flew back from her last attack she stopped and said, “Your defense is amazing. But that is all you do. Do you not know how to attack?”

Blade said, “Now, now, now; do you think that I am going to reveal my strategy to you?”

Forum frowned and threw spikes from earth at him. While attacking him with spikes she disappeared behind a boulder. Blade ran up to the boulder and jumped up on it. He looked down to see Forum disappeared. The next moment he was attacked by her from behind and he fell. Forum took the advantage and drove him to the ground. Her attacks were highly powerful as they rained on the falling Blade and then she elbowed him fiercely making him drop in the ground, sinking an inch or so in it. As he stood up her kick caught him in the gut and he was thrown back in another boulder.

Forum threw a high energy attack at him before he collapsed to the ground. “Earth slam”, she said and he was hit by a slab of earth and he fell on the ground. Forum was panting now. That attack should finish him now. She was surprised when he got up. He was hardly panting and there were no signs of him being attacked brutally. He looked calm and had hardly any scratch on him, not even his clothes had become dirty. The hood was still up.

How was this possible? She had put her entire strength behind her attacks and it had no effect on him. Who the hell was this guy? How the hell was she going to defeat him? He seemed to have an amazing amount of power.

He said, “Behold my ultimate defense mastery technique: Divine Shield.”

Forum gaped at him. Divine Shield was a lost technique and this guy had mastered it. Impossible! But the proof was in front of him. How else would he have survived her attacks? They had been fighting for half an hour now and she had not been able to defeat him. Forget defeat, she had not able to damage him a bit even though she had used so much of power. She prided herself in her attack strategy and this guy had humbled her.

He said, “Were you not complaining that I do not attack?”

He attacked. He was quick. Before Forum could react he had closed the distance between them. Forum did not even see his attack. She was hit with many punches and kicks before she reacted. But he was anticipating all her blocks. He swept her off the ground and kicked her in the air. Then he jumped high up to her and gave a strong punch in her gut saying, “Palm Force Strike.”

Forum shot back to the ground and hit it with a force making a hole about a foot deep. She lay panting there, tired, as the remaining energy drained away. She knew she was defeated. She could not fight him with so less energy without going into Angel form and this was a friendly fight after all.

He came in her vision. He helped her up. He said, “You are strong. You fight well. With right guidance you could be much strong.”

“What do you mean?” asked Forum.

Blade said in an extremely serious voice, “You have not yet reached to your full potential. You still have a long way to go”, and saying that, he left her, flabbergasted.

 ***

It was a day after everyone had left. Jun called Blade to his chambers. Chen and Tsi Tzu Tsen were also present. Blade entered the room. He still was wearing the cloak with his hood up.

Jun said, “Lower the god damned hood Marcus. They are all gone now. You don’t have to be Blade anymore.”

Blade who was really Marcus finally lowered his hood. He was grinning.

He said, “What is the matter Master Jun? Do you not like my hood?”

Chen and triple T laughed. Jun managed a small smile. Then he said seriously, “It is time Marcus.”

Marcus’s smile reduced. He sighed and said, “I know. I must go now. Master Kami was the only person holding me back. With him dead, there is nothing for me here.”

Chen coughed deliberately and Marcus smiled at him, “Oh, come on Chen. You know what I mean.”

Chen nodded and said, “Do you really want to go back?”

Marcus said, “Yes Chen, it is my home after all.”

Chen nodded. He was not happy but he knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Marcus was not going to live with them forever. He had to go home, back to America where he came from. Kami’s training establishment in China was not Marcus’s home as it was for Chen.

Chen said, “I am going to miss you.”

“Me too.”

Jun said, “When are you planning on leaving?”

Marcus said, “In a week. I will be saying my goodbyes and complete all the formalities. Then I will be gone.”

Jun nodded. He dismissed them. He knew they would be sticking together till Marcus went back, back to his home, back to Los Angeles, America.

 *** 

Brock looked at his picture. Marcus was smiling at him, his arm was wound around Brock and he was ruffling Brock’s hair. Brock still remembered the day when he had met Marcus. He was ten years old.

“I want to be a power fighter”, Brock had said.

Marcus had frowned, “What is a power fighter?”

“Are you kidding? Don’t you know what a power fighter is?”

Marcus had shaken his head.

“Every living person is made up of energy. Power fighters are people who have more energy than normal people. They train themselves and they fight with other power fighters in a match. They are super cool.”

Marcus had not been impressed by that. He had said, “Are they better than authors?”

Brock had looked at him in surprise, “Authors?”

Marcus had grinned and said, “I want to be an author. I believe they are cool you know.”

They had fallen down laughing. They had been best friends ever since.

He looked at the time. It was 11 o’clock, 22nd of September. It was time. He had to go to the cemetery. It was Marcus’s birthday and he had to go and wish him, at least his grave. The others would be reaching soon. He knew Arya would already have reached. He sighed and started off towards the cemetery.

 *** 

Forum and Evana were walking towards the cemetery together. They were going to wish their friend Marcus. Brock would be on his way too. Arya would have already reached there. As they walked, they remembered how they had met Marcus.

Brock had introduced Marcus to them. They had been eleven at that time.

Brock had said, “This is my best friend Marcus. Marcus, this is Forum and this is Evana.”

Marcus had said hello to them. Forum thought Brock and Marcus were two different people entirely. However, they still were a perfect pair. Forum and Evana both shared passion of becoming power fighters as Brock. Only Marcus was the odd one out. Still he supported them throughout and watched each of the fights they took him to.

He was in a way the soul of their group. It was before the incident. Evana was almost devastated because of it. Forum was not happy either. Today she was feeling more depressed. She had recently gone to her grandfather’s funeral. Now she was visiting her friend’s grave. She had sworn that she would not cry, but she could already feel the tears. She must be strong. She must be strong.

It was then they reached the cemetery. Forum and Evana looked at each other. They nodded as if understanding each other. Then taking a deep breath they stepped forward, to the grave, to the empty grave of their friend, Marcus McKnight.

 ***

Arya looked at her brother’s tombstone. The coffin was empty, she knew it. The inscription on the tombstone read:

Here lies Marcus McKnight

Missing but never forgotten

His brother had disappeared from the face of the world five years ago. He had been sixteen years old. Today he would have been twenty one. She had tried to find him with the help of Thaddeus Coroner but was unsuccessful. They had finally given up after three years and had declared him dead. They had buried an empty coffin. She had been a wreck for a long time after her brother’s disappearance. It was Shane who had saved her, Shane who was now her husband and whom she loved very much.

There was a sound and she saw the baby shuffling in the crib. She smiled at her son Chris. She looked to see if he was uncomfortable in any way. He was not. He had simply shifted in his sleep. He seemed to have fallen asleep without her knowledge.

She heard someone walking behind her and turned to see Brock, Forum and Evana walking towards her, towards the grave. They came and stood beside her. They each had a rose in their hand. Each of them put a rose on the grave. They wished him a happy birthday.

“Instead of wishing my grave, why don’t you wish me?’ said a voice behind them.

They turned to see Marcus standing there. He had a small smile on his face. They were all stunned, not knowing what to do. Marcus was also uncertainly looking at them.

He said, “Hi, I am back.”

Brock was the first to punch him.

 *** 

Tisane, Juran and Wizard were standing in the middle of the ground, their ground. It was their usual meeting and training place. It was an important meeting that they had been holding off for long. It was time though. Master Jian had given them the ultimatum. They had been putting this off as they had felt that they were not ready for it. Now they had no option.

Juran and Tisane were in love with each other. They wanted to marry. Jian had however put a condition that if Juran and Tisane wanted to marry, then they should form a team and compete in the tournament next to next year. They had no problem with it till Jian explained that he did not want them as fighters, but as managers. They were confused. They were only 26 years old, too young to be managers. But that is what Jian wanted. Wizard had somehow gotten dragged along with them. He was after all their best friend. The Trio; that is what they were.

They could have married, Jian would not have mind, neither would have Mary, but they wanted to do it right. They would form their teams, they would be managers and they would enter the tournament. They were going to form three different teams. They had come to discuss about it.

Juran said, “There are going to be teams of five this time.”

Wizard said, “Really? That is interesting. They had teams of three the last time.”

Tisane said, “They had teams of six during our time if you remember.”

Wizard said, “Those were the good times. It’s a shame the others retired. It was too early.”

Juran said, “If you two are done then shall we get down to business?”

The others nodded. Juran said, “We need to form a team of five. Other than that we also need a stastician and a training assistant. A training assistant is optional but a stastician is compulsory. We can also have one more member as an extra fighter.”

Wizard said, “So what are you suggesting Juran?”

Juran said, “I am suggesting that we start researching about the fighters. We will meet in the New Year to discuss our teams to make sure that they do not conflict with each other. Is it ok with you guys?”

They nodded. Juran said, “Good, this meeting is over.”

 *** 

The intercom in the room of Thaddeus Coroner buzzed with vigor. He answered, “Hello.”

It was a security guard notifying him of visitors. Thaddeus said, “Why are you bothering me?”

The security guard replied uncomfortably, “Madam Arya told us to buzz you. She told us to tell you who all had come.”

Thaddeus said irritably, “So, who all have come?”

The security guard told him. Thaddeus started at the last name. He said, “What was the last name?”

The security guard told him. Thaddeus thanked him and hung up. He had heard it right. The security guard had not made a mistake. How could it have been? He had been declared dead and now he was back.

He walked like a ghost out of the room. He heard the bell and he knew that his butler Alfred will open the door. They had a butler, one of the benefits of being filthy rich. He was upstairs and looking down at the door. As Alfred approached it Thaddeus said, “Show them in the library Alfred. Also call Sarah and Jack. I think they are home today. Tell them I will join them shortly.”

Alfred nodded as Thaddeus went back to his room. He went to the wash room and washed his face vigorously. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and sighed. He took deep long breaths to calm himself down. He must not lose it; he must not get angry.

He went down to the library. He could hear people inside. He took a long deep breath again. This was going to be a long meeting. He opened the door.

 *** 

Tisane was walking through the streets of Los Angeles thinking about who she was going to select for her team. She knew that there were two who would say yes to her. But the problem with them was they had to be free for the tournament and training sessions. Archeology takes a considerable amount of your time and both of them were archeologists.

She would also have to decide on three others. She thought of asking her sister. But would she be the right choice? Forum was after all an official power fighter for only a year now. Tisane would need fighters with experience. But if she did not take Forum, then it would be a possibility that Forum would feel disappointed and left out. She would confer with her to find out what she thought.

Then she thought of Leopold, Brock’s brother. Would he agree? No, probably he was going to form a team with his friends. Moreover Master Young would not be happy if Leopold did not do what Master Young thought was best. So he was not an option. Neither was Daniel whom she wanted more than ever.

Tisane had an idea about the team Juran and Wizard would go for. It was a possibility that there would be a conflict between her and Juran regarding one of the team members. She sighed. She did not know what she was going to do. Juran and Wizard were clearer on this aspect. Moreover she also needed a stastician and a training assistant. She decided that she would do without a training assistant, but what about the stastician? Decisions! Decisions!

She sighed again and started back home. She had to get ready for her date with Juran tonight. She wished there would be an easy solution to her problems.

 *** 

Arya, Chris in his cradle, Brock, Evana, Forum and there he was, Marcus McKnight. A silence fell as Thaddeus entered the room. All eyes were looking at him but his eyes were set on one and one person only.

Thaddeus said, “So, you are alive and back.”

Marcus said cautiously, “Yes.”

Thaddeus tried to say something, twice, but failed to do so. Then he said finally, “I will simply sit here. Then you and I, we need to talk.”

Marcus gulped at the look in Thaddeus’s eyes and nodded. Sarah and Jack came in at that time. Jack was saying, “What is it, father? I was busy with…” He stopped as he saw Marcus. Sarah’s eyes widened too.

Marcus said, “Hey. How’s it going on?”

Jack crossed the space between them and punched him. Marcus said, “Ow! What is with you guys? First Brock, then Forum, then Evana, then again Brock and now you. I am not a punching bag.”

Jack said, “Then you should have not disappeared.”

Sarah came up to him and hugged him. She had tears in her eyes. She said, “Why Marcus, why?”

Jack said in a steely tone, “Yes Marcus, tell us where you were all this time.”

Arya said, “Yes Marcus, you said you will tell when everyone was present. Now everyone is present.”

She was talking calmly but her voice shook a bit. Marcus smiled and sat beside Arya holding her hand. Sarah and Jack settled down too.

Marcus started, “I was an Unstable.” As he expected, there were reactions of shock and disbelief across the room. He continued when everyone was quiet again, “Yes, I was an Unstable. I had the power of a power fighter in me and no means to control it. Without training I would have died releasing the unstable energy in the environment causing destruction similar to a nuclear explosion.”

Forum said, “We know what an Unstable is Marcus.”

Brock said, “If you were an Unstable then why did you run away? You could have stayed. There are people who would have helped you bring your power under control.”

Marcus sighed and continued, “I went to Lord Cyberton for help.” Forum blinked. Marcus was referring to her father. Jian Chan was also known as Lord Cyberton. No one knew why. He was given the name as a joke by his friends and it stuck. Now he was known as Lord Cyberton rather than Jian Chan.

Marcus had paused, now he started again, “He conducted few tests on me and said that I was too far gone in the unstable stage and there was nothing anybody could do to help me. I did not believe what I was hearing. I was going to die and there was nothing anybody could do about it. He said that I had only few days before which I would explode.

I knew at that moment what I had to do. If I stayed then I would be put in the containment chamber where I would live till I exploded. I did not want that. I did not believe that I could not be saved. So I did the first thing that came to my mind. I ran.”

Thaddeus said, “That was a stupid thing to do.”

Marcus said, “What would you have done in my place? Would you have simply stayed here till you die?”

Thaddeus simply shook his head and said nothing. Marcus continued his story, “I went up to the coast. There I stole a motorboat. I did not know what I was going to do with it, how far I would go in it, but I took it.

I drove the motorboat till the fuel lasted. Then I used small amounts of my energy to drive the motorboat. I did not care at that point whether I live or die. I know I had done a stupid thing but I wanted to live. I so wanted to live at that time that nothing else mattered.

But then it happened. Two days after I had run away the energy started escaping me; fast. I knew what was happening. I was going to explode.”

Jack interrupted, “How did you survive two days in open sea?”

Marcus looked at Jack as if he had asked a stupid question, “I had taken some supplies with me. I did say that I did not want to die, remember?”

Jack nodded and Marcus said, “Where was I? Yes, I exploded. I blacked out. I thought I was dead, but apparently, I was not. When I came to I found out that I had crashed on a coast. My boat and my back pack containing my supplies were nowhere to be seen. I was feeling extremely exhausted. It was like that some of the fishermen found me. I blacked out again as they carried me.

Next time I woke up, I was in a hospital in a Chinese town. I had somehow reached China. I did not know how. I was supposed to be dead. I had exploded after all. And yet I was alive and now in China.”

Thaddeus said, “Wait; were you the one who caused the explosion in the Pacific five years ago?”

Marcus grinned, “Yes, I found about it later. I did not know what had happened, no one has been able figure it till now. No one knows why I survived, not even me.

But there I was alive and well, in a coastal town in China. An idea came to my mind. I could go and train in Kami’s establishment.”

Forum gave a snort. Marcus looked at her politely and she said, “Foreigners are not trained in grandfather’s establishment. He did not even agree to train Tisane and me when father asked.”

Marcus nodded, “That is true but please let me continue.”

Forum interjected, “Don’t tell me he allowed you to be trained in the establishment!”

Marcus said, “Will you let me finish?”

Forum nodded. Marcus took a deep breath and said, “I decided to go to Kami’s. I had no money, no nothing. So, I took some odd ball jobs in the beginning and paid off for my daily necessities. Then when I felt strong enough, I started my journey. I will not bother you with the details of my journey as it will take too long a time but needless to say I reached Kami’s establishment.

I had help on the way. In a city I passed I met a person named Tsi Tzu Tsen, a former student of Kami’s establishment who had left the establishment and was now living in a bad state. He decided to come with me as he believed that he would be better off in the establishment. We travelled together. It was a good thing I had learnt Cantonese because of my fascination towards it. It proved to be useful during the whole journey.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow, “Last I remember Marcus your Cantonese was not fluent.”

Marcus waved a hand, “I know, but I knew sufficient enough to help me. When we reached the establishment, Master Jun Chan was sympathetic towards my plight. Master Kami Chan was however a different issue. He did not even listen to me. He did not even consider training me and wanted me to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.”

Forum said, “See, I told you grandfather doesn’t train foreigners.” She looked delighted somehow.

Marcus smiled and continued, “Yes, but I was not the one to give up. I tried to convince him, I tried pleading with him and after a week he decided to hear my story. When I told it to him he did not say anything, simply walked out of the room. The next day I was told that Master Kami Chan would personally train me.”

Forum shouted, “What?”

Marcus was grinning now, “I was trained personally by Master Kami Chan along with your cousin, Chen Chan.”

Forum said, “That is impossible.”

Marcus said, “I assure you, it is the truth.”

Arya said, “So you were in China this whole time, training under Kami Chan. Then why did you not contact me, or any of us for that matter.”

Marcus said, “One of the conditions Master Chan put in order to train me. He said I would have no ties with people outside of the establishment, at least no ties with people outside the establishment which he did not approve. He did not allow me to call you, any of you.”

Forum said, “Wait a minute. I was at my grandfather’s funeral recently. You were not there. Were you in hiding?”

Marcus said, “Why Forum, don’t you remember meeting me? I was there in plain sight. You fought me after all.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Forum stood up now, “Why you… you… bastard… Blade!”

Marcus grinned, “Spot on. And before you ask, I did not reveal myself because I was honoring Kami. That man had saved my life. Even though I had not died after the explosion, I was still an Unstable and he had trained me. So, I did not reveal myself to you or Tisane or Lord Cyberton for that matter.”

Arya said, “And now you are back.”

“For good”, said Marcus.

Thaddeus stood up suddenly. He went up to the door and opened it. As he was exiting he turned to Marcus and said, “Whenever you are free Marcus, as I said before, we need to talk.” He left.

Brock said, “So what now Marcus? Where are you staying now? Do you need a place to stay?”

Arya said angrily, “He is staying with me. Get your stuff from wherever you have hidden it. You are staying with me Marcus McKnight.”

Marcus said, “You heard the lady.”

Then they were silent for some time. Marcus asked, “So… What’s new?”

 ***

Trevor Hastings looked at his customers. It was 7 p.m. Juran, Wizard and Tisane were on one of the tables. They were his usual. Three other tables were filled too. Strangers; was what he decided, they were strangers. Three tables joined together gleamed under the reserved sign. They would be filled soon. Trevor knew who would come.

Trevor Hastings had been running the café Musings for twenty years now. He was in his mid-fifties now and people called him Pops fondly. He looked around to see his son in the kitchen, learning the ropes. Trevor was in a way glad that his son was going to inherit Musings. He had great expectation for him but he wanted to be a chef just like his father.

The door opened and they all came in. They always came together. No one was late and no one was early. He saw them, Daniel Redd leading the group with his girlfriend Emma Crowe. With Emma were the rest of her friends: Kristen Frost, Hilary Dowson and Hayden Parker. Then entered the boys: Mark Strong, Robert Strong, Mike Comrie, Milo Corson and Tom Hardy. Finally, there came Brock Young with his girlfriend Flora Stewart, then Forum Chan and Evana Rain.

They were the group of strongest power fighters in the whole of L.A. They were an amazing group. There were four groups amongst them still they were all united as one whole group. They all came together because of one person, one stastician, Flora Stewart.

As they settled, Trevor noticed one more person enter. That person came up to the counter and sat down at his usual place, that person who everyone had believed to be dead, that person who was grinning at him right now and waving, that person who said, “Hey Pops, long time no see?” Marcus McKnight was back.

 ***

Daniel said, “Hey Brock who is that guy?”

Brock looked in the direction Daniel was gesturing. He said, “That’s Marcus McKnight.”

Emma said, “Your lost friend?”

Brock, Forum and Evana nodded together. Everyone’s attention was now shifted to Marcus who was happily chatting away with Pops. Daniel coughed then and brought them back from obvious staring. Some looked a bit embarrassed. Kristen was blushing fiercely.

Daniel announced, “The teams are starting to get formed for the world tournament which is going to be held next to next year.”

Mark said, “Yes, there are teams of five this time aren’t there?”

Some of them including Daniel nodded. They already knew all about the tournament.

Daniel said, “So have you all decided whether you are going to take part in the tournament or not?”

Evana said dreamily, “Don’t you have a team already Daniel?”

Daniel said, “Yes I do. However, I wish that all of you form teams and participate in the tournament. That is why I asked whether you are thinking of forming teams or not.”

Mark said excitedly, “We have already formed a team. There is me, Robert, Mike, Milo and Tom. It was perfect this five-people team thingy.”

Hilary said, “The Angels would be together.” Hilary, Emma, Kristen and Hayden called themselves the Angels. Hayden said, “We don’t have a fifth member though.”

Now everyone looked at Brock, Forum and Evana.

Forum said, “Me and Evana have decided to go in two separate teams. We want to fight each other in the tournament if possible.” Evana nodded at Forum’s statement.

Brock said, “I dunno. I have not really thought about entering the tournament. If some manager asks me then I will consider, else, I really dunno.”

Everyone was now staring at him. He said a bit loudly, “Oh come on, give me a break. What would happen if I really do not participate in the tournament?”

The others did not reply anything. Some of them shook their head. Flora said suddenly, “Forming teams is okay, but you also need managers and stasticians. Training assistants are optional. What are you going to do about them?” She looked at all of them pointedly.

Daniel said, “Pikes is already the manager of my team. We don’t have a training assistant and Carla Boon is our stastician.”

Flora said, “What about the others?”

The others shifted uncomfortably. Mark said slowly, “We were thinking that you could be our stastician Flora.”

Emma said hurriedly, “Us too.”

Flora nodded and said, “I could be the stastician for two teams. That is the limit, but what about managers? You will need managers who would approve of your team. Also, the manager needs to approve me as a stastician too. You will not be able to participate without them.”

All of them looked clearly uncomfortable now; well, all except Daniel who already had everything ready and Flora who was glaring them down and Milo who looked unconcerned, but he always looked detached and unconcerned.

Flora got up saying, “Think about what I have said. Now I need to be going. I have to meet my apprentice.”

She got up, kissed Brock and left. Tom whispered to Brock as she left, “You have got a dangerous girlfriend Brock.”

Brock nodded absently. His attention was on Juran, Wizard and Tisane, all of who had been looking at them till now, straining to listen and trying to appear inconspicuous. What the hell did they want?

 *** 

“You are a prick Marcus”, said Shane Coroner, husband of Arya.

Marcus said, “Why thank you Shane.”

They were sitting in the dining room and having dinner. Chris seemed to have woken up and Arya had gone to check up on him when she heard his voice on the baby monitor.

Shane said, “You go on disappearing for five years and then you come back expecting everything to be normal?”

Marcus said seriously, “I do not expect anything to be normal.”

“You are behaving like that though.”

“What do you mean? How am I behaving?”

“Like you never disappeared, like you were here the whole time and you were living comfortably with your sister.”

“How do you want me to behave?”

“A little more responsibly perhaps?”

“I am acting responsibly. I am offended by your statement Shane Coroner.”

Shane laughed and said, “The day you start acting responsibly Marcus will be the day I will wear a frock and parade around the streets of L.A.”

Marcus said, “Careful what you say Shane. It might just come true.”

Just then Arya entered the dining room with Chris and they forgot about their argument immediately. Marcus was doting on Chris whenever he was awake. The dinner went on peacefully.

After dinner they were all in the living room. Arya was questioning Marcus all about China. Shane was listening politely but Marcus could tell that he was interested too.

Arya asked, “So what all did you do besides training?”

Marcus simply said, “Train more.”

“No extra-curricular activities?”

“Extra-curricular activities Arya?”

“Yeah, did you even get out of the establishment?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you do then?”

“Wherever I went, it was all part of my training.”

“So, you really did nothing, except train?”

“Yes”, sighed Marcus.

“What about girlfriends?”

“I did not have any.”

“Seriously?”

“Why would I joke about it Arya?”

Arya shook her head. She said, “You had a really depressing time Marcus.”

Marcus shrugged and said, “I dunno. I enjoyed myself though. Even though I was training I managed to have some fun. I made good friends too. There was Chen Chan and Tsi Tzu Tsen. Mei Lin, then Chen’s girlfriend, now his fiancée, also used to hang around with us. All in all, it was not as bad as you think.”

“Then tell me what all did you do. What all fun did you have? I want to know.”

Marcus sighed and then smiled. He started telling her about all the adventures he had, well those which were not scary and he knew that could be shared. If he told her everything then she would be scared, really scared. Marcus McKnight had done things which could be the source of nightmares for her sister. He wanted to spare her from that. He wished it all to be a dream.

 ***

Tisane pressed the bell at the gate. There were no security guards. The doors were automated. The security camera swerved towards her. The door then opened automatically and she walked through the driveway up to the mansion front door. It was the largest mansion in all of L.A. It also had acres of green land as its backyard.

The door was opened the butler Jensen. Tisane said, “Hello Jensen.”

Jensen said, “Good afternoon Miss Chan. It is good to see you. Mistress is in the library. Mrs. Coroner is also here too with her brother.”

Tisane said, “Thank you Jensen. I know the way.”

Jensen nodded and left her. Tisane went up to the library. She knocked at the door and entered. Arya and Lara looked up at her. They were sitting with each other on a sofa. Alistair was on the computer. Alpha, Marcus and Zip were standing behind Alistair and looking at the computer screen. Chris was in the pram besides Arya.

Alpha Angel and Lara Angel; archeologists and two very powerful power fighters in their spare time. The mansion belonged to Lara. It was left to her by her father Richard Johnson. Her mother had died when she was very small. She had married Alpha Angel, a fellow archeologist. Lara had been a team member with Tisane when they had participated in the tournament.

Zip Mclean and Alistair Roberts were Lara and Alpha’s assistants. Zip was their tech expert while Alistair was a wannabe archeologist. He was an apprentice under them. They both lived with Alpha and Lara.

Arya said as Tisane entered, “Hello Tisane.”

Tisane smiled and nodded back. Lara simply said, “As you might have noticed Tisane, the runt is back.”

Tisane said, “I know. I heard from Forum.” She looked at Marcus.

Marcus said angrily, “I am not a runt.”

Lara said, “Apparently the runt can hear us now.”

Arya said, “Stop it Lara.”

Lara said, “I will not Arya. You have made him a spoilt brat. How can you forgive him after what he has done to you?”

Arya said, “You do not understand Lara.”

Lara said, “Damn right I don’t.”

Marcus said, “I am not a spoilt brat either.”

Alpha said, “Don’t start fighting again you two. Honey, please calm down.”

Lara took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Arya asked Tisane to join them. Tisane sat down beside them. They were having tea. Jensen came in at that time bringing a cup of tea for Tisane and a kettle as a refill for others. He also brought pastries.

Marcus muttered, “Now who is a spoilt brat? At least I don’t have people serving me.”

“Nothing on you Jensen”, whispered Marcus to Jensen.

Arya stood up angrily and shouted, “That’s it Marcus. You and me. A fight. Now. Let’s see how much you remember about your training in China when I beat the pulp outta you.”

Arya said, “Sit down Lara and stop behaving like a child. And you Marcus keep your mouth shut too.”

They both sulked. They were however fuming at each other. Tisane had business with Alpha and Lara. She waited till everyone was gone and she was alone with Alpha and Lara.

Lara said, “You came to talk to me about something. You had said on the phone that you wanted to discuss something important.”

Tisane said, “I want you and you and AA on my team.” Alpha was also known as AA.

Lara was frowning. Alpha said, “I am in. I was interested to take part in the oncoming tournament.”

Lara said, “I want to help you Tisane but I cannot guarantee my full participation. You could keep me as a spare member though.”

Tisane nodded. She had hoped that Lara would be fully available but it was not to be so. But she had one member fixed and one spare. She needed four others.

 She said, “Fine but you have to help me find other team members.”

Lara said, “I have no problem with that.”

Alpha looked excited. He said, “So when do we start?”

Tisane said, “Now.”

 ***

October came. Early in the morning Juran was pacing. He was at their training and meeting ground. He was waiting for them. He looked nervous. It was an hour after breakfast. He stopped and looked up as he heard an engine. They had arrived in a car, all of them together. Emma, Kristen, Hilary, Hayden and Evana walked up to him.

He said, “Well so what is your answer?”

They looked at each other. Then Emma said, “We don’t have any problems. We will be your team. But we have a condition. We want the team name to be The Angels.”

Evana rolled her eyes at that. Juran smiled and said, “Deal.” They all smiled. Juran had a team.

Wizard was sitting in Musings. They were sitting in front of him eating even though they had had breakfast. Mark, Mike, Robert, Tom and Milo agreed. Wizard smiled. He had a team.

Tisane left her sister’s room with a smile. There was an even bigger smile on Forum when she left her. Tisane had consulted extensively with Lara and Alpha and they had reached a decision. Forum was going to be on Tisane’s team. Three more to go.

 ***

Shane, Marcus and Arya were having breakfast. Well, Shane and Marcus were, Arya was feeding Chris. Marcus was thinking how he was going to tell them what he wanted to tell them. He knew that Shane would be happy but Arya would not be pleased. Actually, she would be downright angry. But he had to tell them. He had reached a decision and he was going to stick to it.

He cleared his throat. That got their attention. He said, “Shane, Arya, I have something to tell you.”

They were now looking politely at him. Marcus fidgeted before he said, “I need a place of my own.”

Shane smiled a bit but Arya said, “What’s wrong with our place?”

Marcus said, “Nothing’s wrong, but it is not mine, it’s yours.”

Arya said, “So are you saying that you do not want to stay with me anymore? You go away for five years and then you come back and you can’t even live a month with your sister?”

Marcus was now feeling extremely uncomfortable. Shane looked as if he was enjoying the whole thing. Marcus said, “It is not like that Arya. I love you and I would love to spent time with you, don’t get me wrong. There are however… certain… umm… privacy issues.”

Arya said, “We give you sufficient privacy, don’t we Shane?” Shane made a serious expression when his wife looked at him and nodded. Arya looked triumphantly at Marcus as if she had made the best point to counter Marcus’s argument.

Marcus was now very, very uncomfortable. He said, “It’s not about my privacy. It’s about… well it’s… I don’t know how… let’s just say that the walls are not sound proof as they should be. You could hear very well what’s going on in the other room… you see?”

They understood. Both Arya and Shane looked away from each other pointedly. Arya was blushing. Marcus focused back on the cereals which he was eating. After some moments of silence Arya said, “I will help you look for a new place of your own Marcus.”

 ***

Brock and Flora were out on a date. Brock had taken Flora to a Chinese restaurant. Flora could see that Brock was troubled with something. He was trying to act normally but was failing to do so. Finally Flora could not take it anymore. She said, “What’s wrong with you Brock?”

Brock started. He stared at Flora for some time. Then he sighed and said, “Am I too transparent?”

He shifted in his seat and said, “I want to move out of the house.”

Flora said, “Then do so.”

“But father…”

“Oh! To hell with your father.”

“Flora…”

“Come on Brock, you need to stand up to your father. He is your father after all. He would understand. How long are you going to keep on staying with him? You are twenty one, you have a job, you can provide for yourself easily. Why does your father insist on you guys still keep on living with him?”

Brock smiled and touched Flora’s cheeks. He said, “He is too protective of us, especially after mother’s death. You know that.”

Flora said exasperatedly, “Yes, but he has to let go sooner or later. You have to talk with him. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I could die”, mumbled Brock.

“Ha, ha, ha, very funny. Talk with your father. You will have to do it if you want to move out.”

“But…”

“No buts. If you are going to do this then you do this properly, else you should not have brought this topic up for discussion.”

Brock sighed and leaned back in his chair. Flora said, “Ask your friend Marcus to help.”

Brock frowned at her, “What do you mean?”

Flora said, “I have a feeling that he would not be living with his sister for a long time now. He would like a place of his own. You two could be flat mates. I am telling you, it is good to have someone with you whom you can rely on.”

Brock thought about it. Flora was making sense. He said, “Well I have to first talk to my father about moving out and you are already setting me up with flat mates.”

Flora rolled her eyes and said, “Dummy, Marcus could also help you talk with your father.”

Brock nodded. It was true. Brock raised his glass and toasted, “To freedom.”

Flora laughed raising her glass as well and said, “To freedom indeed.”

 ***

Marcus did not start looking for a house that day, nor the next day for that matter. The next day he went to the stadium to watch Brock’s fight. Brock had invited Marcus to one of his fights. He had said that Marcus should see how a good power fight looks like. Marcus shook his head. If Brock knew the power fights Marcus had gotten into… he did not know what Brock’s reaction would be.

He reached the stadium and stopped to look at it, admiring its beauty. It housed more than 50000 people and had 10 private booths. Outside, surrounding the wall were various shops, food stalls and betting booths. Betting was a high revenue generator for the power fighters. All of these stalls were under the shadow of the stadium which formed a roof like structure on the outside.

Before he could go any further two African Americans blocked his way. “Come with us”, said one of them. Curious Marcus followed them. They led them to a private booth. One of them knocked on the door. They were given the permission to enter. Marcus entered an elaborately decorated room. He recognized immediately whose private booth it could be. There was only one person and that person was walking towards Marcus with his arms wide and a grin on his face, “Marcus McKnight.”

“Big D”, said Marcus and hugged him. Big D was a huge African American who owned the majority of the power fighting betting business in L.A.

Big D said, “It is good to see you my man.”

Marcus said, “That’s a first. All the others have been punching me and then saying that.”

They both laughed. They went up to the huge window from where they could see the fighting field and settled on the sofas in front of the window. Food and drinks were served and put in front of them. Marcus took some of the food. You were in the house of Big D. You do not refuse food in the house of Big D.

Big D laughed and said, “I see that you still remember traditions.”

Marcus laughed and replied, “I can never forget.”

Big D became serious all of a sudden. He said, “Where you been for all these years Marcus?”

Marcus told Big D his story; in short. After he had finished Big D said, “What about your dream of being an author.”

Marcus said, “Just because I have undergone training doesn’t mean that I will become a full time power fighter. I still want to be an author. I have written a few books of short stories. They have become a hit in China.”

Big D raised an eyebrow. Marcus said, “Oh! I wrote them under the name of my friend, Tsi Tzu Tsen. I let him take the credit. He gave me all the money.”

Big D’s eyebrow went further up, “He gave you all the money!”

Marcus shrugged, “He is not interested in money.”

“Weird guy.”

Marcus nodded. Big D said, “So will you or will you not register yourself to be a power fighter?”

Marcus said, “I dunno; maybe as a part time fighter. I have a book ready, am giving it finishing touches; it will be complete in a month or two. I want to have it published. That comes as a priority to me. I am still thinking of being a power fighter though.”

Big D nodded. They were silent now. At that time Brock’s fight was announced. Marcus shifted his attention to the field. The fight he had actually come to watch was going to start.

 ***

Brock heard his name being announced. He walked out in the stadium. There was a polite applause from the crowd. He looked at the seats. Not many people had arrived but you don’t expect a full stadium all the time every day.

His eyes fell on the rectangular fighting field in the center of the circular stadium. The field was at a distance from the spectators from all the sides. This was for the protection of the spectators. A force field would also be put up around the field. He could see the shield raisers waiting for him at the edge of the field. The field was made up of stone, cement and granite. In short, it was hard. If you fell, it would hurt badly.

His opponent was waiting for him. As he climbed up the referee asked them to come together. He told them to have a clean fight and stated what was illegal. He had to; it was his job after all. Then the referee stepped down from the field. He simply had to ensure that the fight was fair and if it was not then his job was to call the instant reaction team which would stop the fight.

Brock faced his opponent. The force field was raised up. The referee blew the whistle. The fight started.

 *** 

“You fight well but you hold back a lot”, said Marcus to Brock after his fight had finished. Brock had won after 10 minutes of fighting.

Brock laughed and said, “You need to hold back here Marcus. You need to fight with only that much power which is needed to defeat your opponent and not go all out. No one should know your limit till you fight a stronger opponent.”

Marcus said, “So the other guy’s limit was only this much?”

Brock shrugged, “Maybe or maybe not. You never know.”

Marcus shook his head. Then he asked, “Who is said to be the strongest in L.A.?”

“Daniel Redd is said to be the strongest in L.A.”

“He is the one from your group, isn’t he?”

Brock nodded. Then Marcus said, “What did you want to talk to me about. You said that we should talk after the fight.”

Brock said, “I am looking for my own place to live.”

“Me too.”

“Wanna be flat mates?”

“You are on.”

“Have you seen any houses?”

“No. You?”

“Nope. Nothing. So when are you going to start searching for them?”

“From tomorrow most probably.”

Brock raised his eyebrows, “Oh! Really?”

Marcus said, “Yeah! By the way what’s the deal with your girlfriend?”

“You mean Flora?”

“You have others?”

Marcus received a punch on the shoulder from Brock. Brock said, “Why do you ask?”

Marcus replied, “She has asked me to meet her at a restaurant tonight.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I asked you. Maybe you would know.”

Brock shook his head. Then he said, “You will know tonight. Don’t worry about it too much. Come, let’s grab a bite. I am hungry.”

 ***

Brock had decided to tell his father that he was going to move out. He had decided that he would inform him about his decision this evening. Before he could muster up the courage to go and talk to his father, his father called him in his study. Brock wondered what his father wanted.

As he entered he saw his father poring over some letters. He still got handwritten letters. Brock always wondered who sent them. They were silent for some time. Then Doug, Brock’s father said, “I heard you are thinking of moving out.”

Damn it. How did he know? Brock calmed himself down. How his father could have known. Did he read minds? Brock had really once thought that his father could read minds but then dismissed that thought completely. Right now he was not quite sure.

Brock said, “Yes, I am thinking of moving out. How did you find out?”

Doug did not answer Brock’s question. Then he asked, “When were you going to tell me?”

Brock said, “I am telling you now.”

“Will you be living alone?”

“I will be living with Marcus.”

Doug looked surprised at that. He said, “I thought you would be moving with Flora.”

Brock started. He said hurriedly, “We are not at that stage of your relationship.”

Doug smiled at his son. He said nothing and so Brock said, “Are you okay with me moving out?”

Doug spoke as if he was choosing his words carefully. He said, “Ever since your mother died I have been overprotective of Leopold and you. I love you two too much to let you go. That is why I am not comfortable with you two living away from me. Call me selfish but I simply can’t let you go. That is why I am not comfortable with you leaving.”

Brock was feeling angry now. He started to say something but Doug raised a hand to stop him. He said, “Lately I have been thinking though. My behavior has been selfish. I should not have clung on to Leopold and you like this. You have your own lives to live after all. So I have decided that if you wish to move out, then I will not stop you. So tell me son, do you really want to move out?”

Brock chose his words carefully. He said, “I love you father, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t live with you for my entire life. I want to be something on my own, have my own name recognized than being referred to as Doug’s son. Leopold has a name of his own. I am either known as Doug’s son or Leopold’s brother and I am starting to dislike it. I must get out of this comfort zone which you have provided me. I need to be on my own.”

Doug nodded. Brock said, “Hey, it’s not like I am moving to another country. I will be in L.A. I will be in touch.”

Doug said, “I understand and I respect your decision. So you and Marcus will be living together?”

“Yes.”

“Have you decided on a house?”

“We have not even started searching for it.”

“Do you need my help?”

“I would welcome any help I get.”

Doug laughed and said, “Don’t go on saying that around. Then everyone will start giving you advice. People tend to dish out free advice even though the person may not want it.”

Brock laughed with him. He then asked, “Did you talk with Leopold about this?”

Doug nodded. Brock asked carefully, “What did he say?”

Doug said, “Leopold said he would move out after the tournament.”

Brock nodded. So his father had had a temporary defeat in case of Leopold. He was lucky. He would be moving out. He would need a place though and fast, else his father might trap him again. He sighed. This was proving to be more of a bother than it should.

 ***

Marcus was looking at the house. It almost looked like a mansion. It was for sale. A house agent was just showing it to a lovely couple. It was surrounded by a garden which looked as if it needed care. Marcus went up to the door and put his hand on the door knob to open it but then, he hesitated. It was not right for him to go in while the others were there. He went back and a voice called from behind him, “Marcus, what are you doing here?”

He turned to see Lara looking at him out of a window. What was she doing here? Marcus said, “I could ask you the same question.”

Lara said, “I own this house. I have put it up for sale but I come here from time to time to see that it has not fallen apart.”

Marcus gestured around and said, “Yes I can see that.”

Lara waved him away saying, “I am not concerned about the garden. I am concerned more about the house.”

Marcus said, “If you are so concerned then why are you selling it?”

Lara said, “Because I have no use for it. I already have a house and I do not wish to give this for rent. It would be too expensive for the people who rent it and the people who could afford to rent this would want to buy it. So, I am selling it.”

Marcus shook his head. Then he said, “I know an agent is showing the house to a couple but can I have a look?”

Lara invited him in. Marcus fell in love with the house as soon as he saw it. It had a huge living room with the kitchen on the right. There were stairs on the opposite side of the entrance leading to two bedrooms on the upper floor. There were two rooms below the two bedrooms on the upper floor. There was a French window on the left of the stairs.

Lara gave Marcus the tour of the house. Roof access was from outside only. Everything was covered in sheets. It gave the house a haunting feeling. Apparently Lara had not moved the furniture out of the house. Marcus wondered why Lara was showing off the house like this.

They went through the whole house. He also went to the roof and examined the view. After they had finished Lara asked, “So, what do you think?”

Marcus said, “It is a lovely house to live in. It does look like it needs some work though, especially the garden. But all in all, it’s a nice house.”

Lara said, “So the runt thinks this house is nice.”

Marcus groaned and said, “I was wondering till how long you were going to keep up with the good girl attitude.”

Lara said, “I forgot myself for a moment.”

Marcus sighed and said, “What is the selling price?”

Lara told him a figure. He whistled. “That much!” he exclaimed.

Lara nodded. Then he said good bye to her getting an insulting farewell in return. As he walked, Marcus was thinking the whole way.

 ***

“You are late”, said Flora as Marcus sat down in front of her. They were at a Mexican restaurant. Flora had already arrived about fifteen minutes before and had been waiting for Marcus who had been now late.

Marcus said, “I am sorry. I got tied up with something.”

Flora waited for Marcus to explain what that something was but it seemed that no explanation was forthcoming and so she let it go.

Marcus asked, “Why have you called me here?”

Flora simply said, “I like Mexican.”

Marcus smiled and said, “Not the restaurant, I meant the reason for you wanting to meet me.”

A waiter came at that time and they gave their order. Flora complimented Marcus on his selection. After the waiter had left Flora asked, “Do you like Mexican food too?”

Marcus said, “I have tasted delicacies of many of the countries of the world.”

That told her nothing. Marcus said, “So, why did you call me here?”

Flora took some time answering the question. She said slowly, “I heard that you trained under Kami.”

It was not a question. Marcus sighed and said, “Brock told you.”

Flora nodded. Marcus said, “Yes I trained under Kami, so what of it?”

Flora said, “Are you going to register yourself as a power fighter?”

Marcus leaned forward, “Why are you so concerned?”

“If you are registering yourself as a power fighter, I need your help.”

Marcus was now surprised and curious. He said, “Why do you need my help?”

Flora said, “First tell me whether you are going to register as a power fighter or not.”

“Yes I am.”

“You do know that you need a stastician after you become a power fighter.”

“Yes, I am aware of the rule. It says that if you do not have a stastician in a week after you qualify as a power fighter, your power fighting license is cancelled.”

Flora nodded and said, “You are correct. That is why most of the people try to finalize a stastician before the test so that they would simply draw the contract for their stastician after they have been given their license.”

Marcus asked, “Are you offering yourself to be my stastician?”

“No, I am not. I have an apprentice although.”

“And you want your apprentice to be my stastician.”

“You got that right.”

“Why me?”

“Because she asked for you personally.”

“What do you mean?”

The waiter brought their order at that moment. Flora thanked the waiter as he left. She took a bite and gave a moan of satisfaction.

“What do you mean?” repeated Marcus.

Flora said irritably, “She wants to be your stastician.”

“Why?”

“Oh don’t fret Marcus. Before you she interviewed 10 power fighters and rejected all of them. She did not like any of them. With you… I have never seen her excited like this before. It’s as if she has already decided that you are going to be her power fighter.”

“That is odd. She has not even met me.”

Flora gave a smile, a smile which told Marcus that she had not told everything.

Marcus caught up on that, “What aren’t you telling me?”

Flora said, “To become a full time stastician my apprentice will need to successfully be the stastician of at least one power fighter. I want you to consider that when you meet her tomorrow.”

Marcus spluttered, “Meet her? Tomorrow!”

Flora said, “Yes, didn’t I tell you. You have an interview tomorrow with my apprentice and me for considering her as your stastician. I have already promised her that I have arranged everything and you will come.”

“Have I got no say in this?”

Flora said in a desperate voice, “Marcus, I understand that this is too sudden. But I request you to bear with me. Please come tomorrow and take her interview. She is a very good kid and she does need a really good power fighter. I am not forcing you to be her power fighter. I am simply saying come, take the interview and consider her for the post of your stastician. I really do want the best for her and I believe you are one of the best.”

Marcus sighed and said, “You are too much Flora. Okay, I will come tomorrow and take her interview. When and where though? I believe you would have already decided that too.”

“4 o’ clock, at Musings.”

Marcus said, “I will let it go this time, but if you do this again Flora, you will be really sorry. I don’t like this at all.”

Flora raised her eyebrows. She said, “I am sorry Marcus. I know what I have done is wrong but please bear with me this time.”

Marcus nodded. Then he said, “What is her name though, your apprentice?”

Flora grinned and said, “That is a surprise.”

 ***

When Marcus went home that night he called Brock to know what Flora’s deal was. He explained to Brock what all had happened and Brock simply laughed. Marcus even tried to get the name of Flora’s apprentice out of Brock but even he refused saying that it would be better if it was a surprise.

Marcus cursed Brock who just laughed. Then he asked Brock to come after breakfast the next day. They needed to start searching for houses and Marcus had one or two ideas. Brock said he was okay and he had a few ideas too.

When Marcus hung up the phone he was feeling tired. As he went to bed he thought that tomorrow was going to be a long day and getting a house would be much tougher than he had anticipated.

 *** 

It was the next day after breakfast that Marcus was waiting for Brock. He was playing with Chris. Chris was chortling in delight. The doorbell rang and Arya went to the door. She returned with Brock.

Brock said, “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Marcus said, “I have found an amazing place to live.”

Brock said, “You went house hunting without me?”

Marcus said, “No, I simply chanced upon this house when I was going for dinner last night.”

Brock said, “Dude, we haven’t decided whether we are going to rent or buy the house. I was thinking of renting as buying would get complicated.”

Marcus said, “How bout I buy the house and you stay on rent there?”

Brock said, “It doesn’t seem right.”

Marcus said, “But I really want that house. It’s perfect.”

Brock sighed and said, “Okay, I’ll go with you on this one but only if I like the house. If there is anything I find wrong we are going to look for a place to rent. No more of this buying stuff.”

Marcus raised his hand and said, “Scout’s honor.”

Brock said, “You were never a scout Marcus.”

Marcus grinned at him. Brock said, “What’s the address. I will go and have a look.”

Marcus gave him the address. Brock then said, “And what’s the catch. There is always one.”

Marcus said, “The house belongs to Lara.”

Arya suddenly gave a start. She said, “Do you mean The Hunter’s End?”

Marcus nodded and Arya continued, “Yes, it belongs to Lara and she is selling it. That is why I wondered the address sounded so familiar.”

Brock said, “Now I see what might be the problem. I will have a look at the house. Then we will go and see Lara. We will all go. Arya, could you come too? It might help.”

Arya nodded. Marcus sighed. This was going to be awesome.

 ***

They were late. It was now 4:30. Marcus had been waiting for them for half an hour now. This was really rude. He was already at Musings, thinking about what to do with Lara and the house. He did not notice them come in. They looked at him and waved which obviously he did not notice. He was too lost in thought now.

They came up to him. He was not aware of their presence until Flora snapped her fingers under his nose and said, “Earth to Marcus.”

Marcus started. He blinked and looked at them in a confusing daze. He saw Flora and started to smile. Then he saw her apprentice and the smile stopped. He simply kept staring. Flora’s apprentice was grinning at him. She was, “Hello Marcus McKnight”, said Selena Stone in a falsetto cheery voice.

“Selena Stone”, breathed Marcus.

Selena said, “Oh, so you remember me.”

Marcus blushed and said, “I doubt I could forget.”

He had gotten up. He said, “Shall we sit down.”

Selena said, “Oh, before I forget”, and she slapped him, hard. Then she said, “Now we can sit.”

Marcus was grinning and massaging his cheek gingerly as he sat down. Flora was hiding a smile, Marcus was sure of it. Selena looked smugly satisfied as they all sat down.

Marcus said, “That was quite a slap. You are powerful.”

He saw her reaction change. There was panic in her eyes, but she said haughtily, “Oh, don’t lie Marcus. You would have hardly felt it.”

Marcus said, “You undermine your strength. I wonder why.”

He had said that to tease her but he could clearly see it now. Even though she tried not to show it she was panicked. So Selena wanted people not to know of her strength. And why was that, he wondered.

Flora said, “So how are you Marcus?”

Marcus shifted his attention from Selena to Flora and said, “I am fine.” He snapped back to Selena. Flora wanted to smile. She knew Selena and Marcus’s history. Selena had told her all about it.

Marcus said to Selena, “Why are you a stastician Selena?”

Selena said, “How do you mean?”

“Last I remember you wanted to become a singer. You even released two of your solo albums which were considerable hits. It was said that you were going to be the next big thing in music and then you suddenly decided to quit. I did not know what you had in mind at that time and now I see you want to become a stastician. Why is that?”

Selena simply said, “My reason is my own Marcus. I do not wish to share it with you. And what about you? You wanted to be an author and now you are trying to be a power fighter.”

Marcus did not reply to that but looked at Flora who avoided his gaze. So Flora knew the reason for Selena deciding to be a stastician but she was not going to tell Marcus. He frowned. He said, “So you want to be my stastician. Flora told me you were excited.”

Selena frowned and looked at Flora saying, “Funny, she told me the same thing, that you were excited to be my power fighter.”

They both were now looking at Flora. Flora said, “I lied to both of you. So sue me. I lied because I was desperate to get Selena a power fighter and she did seem interested in you Marcus.”

Marcus looked at Selena who said, “I don’t trust you.”

Marcus said, “It has been five years and I can explain why I ran away.”

Selena said, “You could have told me. You could have contacted me.”

Marcus said angrily, “I did not tell anybody. I did not contact anyone for five years. Do you think these five years have been easy for me? You don’t understand the hell I have gone through.”

Selena said, “What hell Marcus? You cry if you get a little scratch. Your hell would be a bruise.”

Marcus started to laugh. He said, “It is true that I do not like pain. It irritates me. But I assure you, these last five years I have suffered more than I have enjoyed.”

Selena said, “I have heard rumors that you trained under Kami.”

Flora interjected before Marcus said anything, “It is true. He did train under Kami.”

They were however ignoring her. Marcus said as if Flora had not even spoken, “It is not a rumor. I did indeed train under Kami.”

Selena said, “Kami doesn’t train anyone outside his family let alone a stranger. Why did he train you?”

Marcus smiled and said, “Tell me the truth, the whole truth about why you decided to become a stastician and I will tell you.”

Selena’s eyes narrowed but she did not say anything. Marcus leaned back and grinned. Flora was getting irritated now. These two were completely ignoring her. She said, “You guys do realize that I am here too.”

They now looked at her. Marcus was still grinning and Selena looked a bit disgruntled. Flora said, “The reason why we are meeting here is that we want to know whether Marcus would be comfortable with Selena as his stastician and will Selena be comfortable with Marcus as her power fighter? Instead, you two are going on about your past. If you have some issues, sort them out. I will go chat with Pops. I will give you an hour or so. I think that would be sufficient, don’t you think so?”

They nodded and Flora left. Marcus told Selena all about him being an Unstable and his training in China. Selena was silent for some time. He could read some emotion in her eyes but he was not able to decipher what it was.

Selena said, “I fell in love with you Marcus McKnight. And then you disappeared on me. You have no idea how bad I felt.”

Marcus said, “I hurt a lot of people when I ran away. But if I had not run away I would have not survived. I would have either exploded or would have been put down by the unstable reaction team.”

Selena nodded. She said, “I understand Marcus but it’s still hard.”

Flora came at that time. It seemed that their hour was up. She said, “So what have you guys decided?”

Marcus said, “I have no problems with Selena being my stastician.”

Flora looked at Selena who simply nodded. Selena said, “I will have my conditions though.”

Marcus said, “Me too.”

Flora said, “That is after you become a licensed power fighter Marcus.”

Marcus nodded. The meeting was over. He had a stastician now.

 ***

They were waiting for Jensen to open the door. Marcus, Brock, Arya and Chris. Apparently Arya took Chris everywhere which was understandable as he was only a year old. They had come to talk with Lara about the house. Marcus was not feeling optimistic. He knew that Lara did not like him and she would definitely not sell the house to him. It was a difficult prospect for her.

Jensen opened the door and led him to the study. Fifteen minutes later Marcus rushed out of the study slamming the door behind him in fury.

When he was gone Brock said, “What the hell is your problem Lara?”

Lara said to Arya, “I know he is your brother Arya and your best friend Brock that is why you seem to have forgiven him easily. But I can’t forgive him that easily. He was not here for five years, I was. I saw you suffer Arya, I saw your pain and I can never forgive him for what he did to you.”

Arya said, “I understand Lara but give him a chance. You know of the circumstances. I did explain everything to you, didn’t I?”

Lara said, “Still he cannot be excused.”

“I have a proposition for you”, Marcus had come back.

“I don’t want to hear any of your propositions runt”, said Lara.

“Oh but this one you will like.”

“And why is that runt?”

“I am proposing a fight.”

“What did you say?”

“You heard me right. I want to fight you. I believe you wanted to beat the crap out of me the moment I came back. I am giving you the chance. If I win, you sell me the house and if I lose, I will do anything you say.”

“Anything runt?”

“Anything.”

Lara grinned and said, “You are on runt. Come on then. Let’s go.”

Marcus said, “You have a private field I presume.”

Lara nodded and left the room with Marcus following her. Brock and Arya sat there stunned. It took them some time to register what had happened.

Arya said finally, “What just happened?”

Brock grinned and said, “I believe we just got the house.”

 ***

Tisane was watching a match in the stadium. She had still not been able to decide whom to select as her last three team members. Juran and Wizard already had a team and she was three members short. Juran and Wizard also had their stastician finalized. Flora was going to be the stastician for both of their teams. A stastician can take care of two teams in the tournament but not more than that. Tisane would also need to find a good stastician.

She sighed. The match was boring. All the matches today had been boring. None of the fighters had the potential she was looking for. She left after the match was over. She had too much for the day. She wandered aimlessly for some time. She was in no mood for watching any more crappy matches.

She thought that she would go and see Lara, check out what she is doing. She went up to her mansion and was buzzed in. She was informed by Jensen upon arrival that Lara was in her private field battling Marcus. This was interesting. She thanked Jensen and went with him to Lara’s private power fighting field. It was in the open. It was in the huge grounds which formed the backyard of Lara’s mansion.

Brock, Arya, Alpha, Zip and Alistair were also there. Marcus and Lara were standing in the field. Arya had Chris with her. Brock and AA were putting up the force field. They asked Tisane to help and she complied. Then she went and sat beside Arya while Brock and AA maintained the force field.

Arya said, “I am worried.”

Tisane asked, “About Marcus?”

Arya shook her head, “No, about Lara.”

“Why?”

“You will see.”

They focused on the match. It was beginning.

 ***

Marcus looked at Lara and she glared back. Marcus grinned and said, “Shall we begin?”

Lara nodded and they both took their stance. No one attacked. They simply stood looking at each other. Then Marcus said, “You are a defense master.”

Lara said, “How can you tell?”

Marcus said, “Because I am a defense master too. I am doing the same thing as you, waiting for you to attack.”

Lara did not say anything to that. Marcus said, “Here I come then.”

He started running towards Lara. Lara shifted a bit waiting for a projectile attack which never came. Marcus came close to her and kicked her. She jumped back dodging the attack. Marcus closed the gap the next second and rained punches and kicks on her. She blocked most of them but he still got a few through. Finally Marcus got an opening and he kicked her in the gut. She was thrown back and she landed hard. She rolled and stood up quite quickly.

Marcus said, “Don’t hold back. Else you won’t be able to defeat me.”

Lara gritted her teeth. She raised her palms and small bullet type shots fired from her hand. It was her bullet stream attack. Marcus dodged them but some of them hit him and he was thrown back. He swore. It was good that his divine shield was on else he would have been hurt really bad. This was one powerful attack and it did not even require much of energy.

As Marcus steadied himself he saw Lara running towards him. He readied himself for the attack. As she neared she clapped her hands and a very loud thunder clap sounded. Marcus had to cover his ears with his hands. Lara took this opportunity to punch Marcus in the gut. She could see her hand approaching his gut with extreme force. The next moment it was stopped. Marcus’s hands were still on his ears. He had stopped the attack with his leg. He grinned and gave a spinning kick hitting her straight on the face.

She felt the kick; the power, it was too much. She crashed hard into the barrier this time. Marcus winced as she crashed.

Arya said, “Marcus does not like this.”

Tisane said, “I can see that.”

Lara stood up and wiped her mouth. Marcus said, “As I said before, take this match seriously. If you keep on holding back you won’t be able to touch me.”

Lara powered up. Marcus could feel the shift in the power. He gulped. She had power all right. It was not good news for him. She again let out the bullet stream attack which Marcus blocked with his divine shield.

She rushed near him and kicked him in the face which he failed to dodge. He flew in the air. She jumped up and hit him hard with both her hands. He crashed into the ground. As he stood up, she was near him immediately with an energy ball ready. She hit him with it on close quarters. He was thrown back and now he crashed into the barrier.

Lara was panting now. Marcus stood up and smiled. He said, “Now that is what I am talking about.”

Lara gasped. There was not a single scratch on him. How was this possible? He said, “I can see that you are a bit confused. My divine shield makes it very difficult to beat me.”

Lara asked, “How difficult?”

Marcus said, “Let’s just say that it is impenetrable.”

Lara said, “Impossible, no shield is impenetrable except… wait… it can’t be.”

“But it is. Let me present to you the legendary divine shield”, and he showed her the shield. It was the dome, a faint bluish dome which surrounded him. It was normally invisible but Marcus made it especially visible so that she could see it.

“But I thought the divine shield was dome shaped. How could it have stopped the energy attack earlier?”

Marcus simply smiled. The next moment the dome changed shaped and the shield enveloped his entire body. He said, “I modified it a bit.”

Lara gasped. Who was this guy? It was not the same Marcus McKnight who had run away five years ago. He was different. He was strong and she was fighting him. She felt scared now. But she would not give up. Not now, not ever.

She powered up and attacked again. She put everything behind her punch. Marcus stopped it with one hand. He said, “Have you not realized by now who I am?”

Lara spitted, “Blade!”

Marcus smiled, it was a sad smile. He said, “So you realized it at last.”

Lara said nothing. She stepped back. Then she walked to the edge of the field and said to Brock and AA, “Lower the field. This match is over.”

Brock wanted to ask who won but looking at the expression on Lara’s face he stopped. Alpha’s reaction was different. He was alternating glances between his wife and Marcus. Apparently he knew Blade too and what he had done for them. He looked at Lara with concern.

They lowered the field and Lara stepped down. As she passed Alpha she said to him without even looking at him, “Sell the runt the house.”

She started walking away. Marcus shouted, “Thank you.”

Lara stopped. She half glanced back. Then she started walking again. There was a faint smile on her face. Maybe she could forgive Marcus after all. Maybe. It will take time, a long time and Marcus would have to work really hard to earn her forgiveness.

Marcus was the only one who was smiling amongst the stunned crowd. He shook his head. He had a house now.

 ***

Marcus and Brock’s house warming party was a blast. It had taken a week to clear all the formalities and another week or two to furnish the house. Then Marcus and Brock had shifted into The Hunter’s End.

They had taken the two bedrooms on the top floor as their rooms. Marcus had taken the left room while Brock had taken the right one. The lower right room was converted into a guest room. The lower left room was converted into a media room. It contained a home theatre system and a PlayStation.

Marcus had not let Brock buy anything except the things in Brock’s room. Brock had not been happy but he had conceded. He did not believe this arrangement was bad but he was still a bit uncomfortable. He was now feeling very happy. Maybe this would work out after all.

They had put four sofas in the shape of a square in the living room. They had also put a 40 inch screen in the living room. The kitchen was state of the art. Marcus has spared no expense. He had confided in Brock that he had indeed earned a lot of money by selling the books in China and he had spent most of the money he had saved. Brock had been worried but Marcus had assured him that he was going to publish a book soon and it would be a super hit. Brock always wondered about his friend’s naivety and optimism.

Lara was impressed with what Marcus and Brock had done with her house. It was their house now. She looked out. The garden was still in ruins. She had a feeling that Marcus would take care of it soon enough. She smiled. Whether she liked or not, Marcus McKnight was here to stay.