-Sept 1st, Thursday, East Lion Hill High 7:40 am-

Jake rummaged through his locker, searching for the right books. Once he found them, he closed the locker door. As he turned around, a smile spread across his face at the sight of Amy approaching with a spark of excitement in her eyes, waving a pair of tickets enthusiastically.

"I got the tickets to the J-Pop group, Hamster Wheel! 80 dollars in total!"

"That's awesome! How did you convince your parents?"

"A mix of selling my crafted leather wallets to my parents' coworkers and some of Nanna's money she recently gifted me, and asking parents for money."

"There was no issue in selling your leather projects? Aren't they sentimental?"

"I made a lot of wallets and bracelets." She shrugged. "They would be collecting dust. I also threw in a few collars."

"For dogs, right?"

"Yes, what else would they be used for?" She stared at him, confused.

"People wear collars, too, especially goths."

"Well, I don't make them for goths." She folded her arms. "I don't mind, but I had dogs in mind for the collars. The collars aren't exceptionally crafted, that's why the price was cheap to reflect the craft."

"I think they are made well enough, I don't think you should think they aren't good."

She beamed at him. "Thank you."

"But I don't believe I ever asked you. How long have you been leather crafting?

"When we visited Italy three years ago, Nanna taught me the basics. I made my first small pouch with her." She smiled fondly at the memory. "She advised me to never craft with half a heart, always with the heart of a full moon."

"What does a full moon mean?"

"Sorry, she meant completion. It sounds enlightening, right?"

"It sounds like a bad proverb from a fortune cookie." He raised his hands in defense when she sent him a pointed look with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry."

She folded her arms. "I value it, Jake. It may sound like it came from a cheap cookie, but that is important to me. Please don't mock it."

The boy nodded, feeling bad he insulted her. "Sorry."

She sighed. "It's okay. Some people find it weird that I have this hobby like it's not for me."

"It's not weird, it's neat. People may not have the patience for it like you do. I don't think I have the patience for it."

The girl stepped forward and playfully nudged him. "You never know unless you try, and if leather work is not for you, maybe we can find something that fits you. You like soccer, right? You had the patience to get better."

He snickered. "Heh, I did get frustrated, but thanks to the coach and dad, I kept going. All I did was improve my body and skills while you create something from raw materials like an alchemist."

"An alchemist? Is that the same thing as a magician?"

"I think alchemists are more science than magic. Both create out of nothing."

"I think you are giving me more credit than I deserve, but thank you."

He nodded. "Yep, oh, and before I forget. I'll be stopping by the Hub to train since I forgot last night. Do you want to join me?"

"Christina and I were there last night, maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He nodded with a smile. "Tomorrow."

The two perked up at the sound of the bell.

"See you later, Jake!" she happily waved while leaving.

"Bye." Jake replied before walking away. "Who should I ask?"

----------------------------------------

-Training Room, 8 pm-

Blaze breathed out slowly, eyes closed, intensely concentrating on the mana within his body while ignoring his element. He raised his arms while both hands ignited on fire. He opened his eyes, determination etched on his features. The fire on his hand shrunk until it was gone, replaced by a tiny ball of red mana, slowly growing into the size of a marble. Shaking his head, he concentrated more until it melted on his hand, beginning to spread all over until it covered his hand completely. He turned around to thrust his arm forward, then threw a few jabs with his hand before delivering an uppercut. He lowered his fist to gaze at the glowing red fist. A moment later, fire erupted around his hand.

"At least it lasted longer." He muttered before powering off his fire.

"Better progress than me."

The Fire Radiant's attention shifted to Bolt, shrinking the lightning in his hand until it was gone, quickly replaced by a small yellow mana orb. The orb then broke apart into lightning. The electric teen grimaced while canceling his attack.

"That barrier we made was easier than this. How come?"

"You were there when they explained." The Fire Radiant's sounded tired. "They said the barrier we made was a hard light construct stretched thin in front of us where it will only take so much until it breaks. We're focusing our power at one location so that it will have more impact."

"Cool, cool." Bolt glanced at Blaze with a mellow expression. "The journey to Master Class is a long one. We're not totally newbs anymore; are we intermediate level?"

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"I still think we have a lot to learn." The Fire Radiant stretched his arms. "Plus, I don't know what qualifies me to be at the intermediate level. Hearing about Reinstar's fight made me think we can't just prolong a battle against an opponent that relies on speed."

"She relied on the environment." The excited lightning warrior picked up a tree branch, sounding giddy. "Brought down the mountain on top of it and then released an army of clones." He swung the branch while making swishing sounds. "I believe if it weren't for the piper, she would've continued the fight."

"Maybe, I don't know." The warrior in red scratched his head. "That's why Pilot always says 'Knowledge is Power." The fire warrior jabbed his thumb on his head. "So, let's keep going with our body and mind, the old martial arts saying."

"Being one with body and mind or something?" The warrior in yellow nodded. "If that, then cool." He frowned. "Don't you wish life had a 'Training Montage' event?"

"Real life would get complicated if we suddenly just skip everything."

"Okay, maybe real life does need to add a 'Training Montage' event to the server." He smirked. "Maybe a glitch to get infinite nachos… could go for some right now with four kinds of cheese."

"Yep, so do we train some more? I want to work on breathing fire." Blaze formed a big grin

"Sweet, but how?"

"I asked Christina about her Bubble Snap adroit; she gave me a tip after saying she wants to improve to the point where she does not need to rely on her fuel source."

"What's her tip?"

He dryly replied. "Saliva."

"..." Bolt stared blankly before he felt the tickle bug stirring inside him to laugh. "So..." A big smile formed on his face. "Those bubble bombs are spit?"

"And mana."

"But..." He chuckled. "I... that makes sense. It's still funny. She literally drooled her enemies to oblivion. Salivating her way to victory."

"Ah... now I see why she told me not to tell you."

"I'm done," The warrior in yellow chuckled as he raised his fist in the air. "Alright, let's spar. Warriors progress through their fists!" He moved into a battle stance.

The warrior in red smirked before moving into a karate stance. "Then let's communicate."

----------------------------------------

-Living Quarters-

Luka and Reinstar sat at a table, having tea and conversing. Leaving the Training Room, Frost walked out and approached the duo at the table. "Reinstar."

The duo gazed at the warrior in white with interest. "Yes?" the shinobi responded casually.

"It's about your ability to produce clones of yourselves."

"Mineral Mirror Vision." She hummed while folding her arms against herself. "I can't teach you, shinobi secret. Although, unless you join my shinobi sect, then you might have it. But, the rules would have to be adjusted and your mana or blood type would have to fit the criteria."

"I can or can't?"

"The law would have to be adjusted and I can't do that without a vote. You can't join the shinobi sect unless you go through shinobi classes. Even if you do join, you are an outsider, so you can't inherit it. If you marry a shinobi member, your child may inherit it, but your child might not have the criteria to inherit Mineral Mirror Vision."

Frost clasped her face. "You're terrible; just say no."

"Oh, you love me! Luka loves me!"

"You are an acquired taste." The bird woman calmly sipped her tea. "But yes, I do love you."

"See? Best of friends!"

"I might loathe you." mumbled the ice girl. "Even without the eye adroit, would it be possible for me to create ice copies?"

"That all depends on how much effort you put into creating the clones. Even with my ability, it took time to create my first rock clone. Making them look like me took more time, and fighting alongside me took time. Are you willing to make that time?"

"Of course!" Frost brushed aside her hair, then placed her hand on her right, "I will be dutiful in my ambition!"

"And what is that ambition?" asked the shinobi

"To protect my friends and family."

Reinstar nodded. "And to not trick that Gonzales girl with many you's."

Frost opened her mouth, then closed it. She scratched her cheek, holding a guilty appearance. "I will not deny it crossed my mind, and I won't do it."

"Good, because I will sit you down and stare at you. You WILL be very uncomfortable with me staring you down. Luka will join me in being very disappointed in you."

The bird woman set the tea down and looked at her with a look of disapproval. "Please don't, Tanya."

"Reminds me of daddy giving me that look." Tanya sighed. "As long as you don't give me the look, I won't play tricks."

"Great, come by tomorrow evening. I can give you pointers."

----------------------------------------

-Sept 2, Friday, East Lion Hill High, Study Hall, 1:20 pm-

Sam, Christina, Lance, Kyle, and Rei sat together in Study Hall.

Checking his phone under his desk, Lance sighed while scrolling through a message board. "Strangely, there has been no activity about the Death Melody. Any leads, Kyle?"

Kyle shook his head, not finding anything of note.

"Maybe another week."

"Or maybe it's done for." Rei said while writing what appeared to be lyrics on a sheet of paper. "You spoke to everyone there; maybe some played the right pitch to knock someone out. What do you think, Christina?"

"I think you all need to stop worrying about it and quit messing around with strange things." The raven-haired girl was working on geometry. "I get it; it's for your podcast. The Death Melody, if true, nearly harmed everyone in Petalburg Park, including Kite and Tina."

"Speaking of Tina." Rei spoke. "She was not among the victims." She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Probably not affected." said Sam, who was looking through his literature book. "Wasn't it one out of four? Perhaps sister was not affected because she was the lucky one."

Lance furrowed his eyebrows. "But everybody in the park collapsed, and she was not among the people gathered. Jake did say she was with him."

"Brother," Sam looked at him, trying to change his mind. "Maybe she's lucky?"

The podcaster shrugged. "Whatever, I'll wait another week, and then I will drop it. Tina does not want to talk about it, so I am leaving her alone. Kyle scratched her name off."

The silent boy took out a pen and notebook, flipped it open, and drew a line on Tina's name.

The violet-eyed girl shook her head at the notebook. "If you lose that, somebody will think it is a hit list."

The quiet boy waved his hand at her.

"Sam, tomorrow night during the collab, we are talking about." He grinned. "The Sentai 9."

"The what?" The girls were confused.

The young boxer had an interested expression. "The Sentai 9... reminds me of Super Sentai or their American counterparts, the Power Rangers."

"Yes, that is exactly why I called them that." Lance leaned back in his seat. "Starting months ago, there have been strange people in colorful clothing running around the world."

Kyle nodded while Rei sighed. "Completely weird, right Christina?"

Sam blinked for a moment before his eyes widened. "Wait... people in colorful clothing." He tapped Christina on the shoulder, snapping her out of her focus. "What colors are their clothing? And why do you think there are nine?"

"Kyle." The lead podcaster snapped his fingers. The silent boy took out a folder from his backpack and placed it on the table. He opened it, revealing blurred photos of the Radiant. One picture showed the six of them engaging a beast at the recycling plant, another picture showed Flora and Terra leaping across buildings, and the final photo showed Shadow crouching on a lamp post. "The Sentai 9. Strange beings with superpowers. If I don't hear a drop about Death Melody." He slammed his hand on the table. "Then these... visitors may have stopped it or concluded their experiment."

Christina grimaced. "Maybe they stopped it?"

"True, many on the internet think they are a hoax, and others think they are part of some conspiracy. Heck, these photos may have been doctored. The point is... are they real? J.K.L. and Guyverman team up for a super episode of 'Unknown to Us'. Sam, have you picked out a game?"

"Yep, but what do you have in mind about these strange people?"

"The usual, talk about mysteries of the world, then talk a little about the Death Melody, then we will dive into these people and compare them to many heroes and villains in pop culture while playing a game. I need your input, Sam."

"Do you mind if I come over too?" asked the raven-haired girl with a feigned interest. "I want to offer a viewpoint that is not too biased."

"The more the merrier," Lance smirked. "Tomorrow afternoon at Sam's house."

The violet-eyed girl nodded, "Great."

Underneath the table, Christina texted to the other.

"Lance has us, the Sentai 9, for the next episode. He found photos of us on the internet. I'm going with Sam tomorrow to help with Guyverman x J.K.L collab."