Chapter 13: Alliances and Rivalries Part III [GRIT]
Same afternoon
Amaku pushed his way through the tightly huddled cadets in an attempt to make it through to the center.
“Astrid! Astrid! Astrid! Astrid!” They chanted.
When Amaku managed to make it to the center of the crowd, he found two individuals arm wrestling at a makeshift table made from a large metal weapons crate. One was an American girl whose height appeared to be around 5’11. She had long, lustrous blond hair cascading down her back in two meticulously braided strands, piercing blue eyes that cut like diamonds, and a fairly athletic and curvy build. The other was one of the two brothers Amaku had encountered earlier, Krush.
The two were locked in an intense stalemate as they strained against one another’s strength, their hands gripped tightly together. To Amaku’s surprise, the girl was holding her own quite well against Krush, holding him back at the dead center of the table.
“<C’mon, Krush! Finish her!>” yelled Stitch, who was standing right behind him, acting as his hype man. Upon hearing these words, Krush grit his teeth and grunted loudly as he exuded more force against the girl, pushing her hand back towards the right side of the table. For a moment, the girl now appeared to be struggling against Krush, her face twisted with agony as her hand was forced further and further back. However, right when her hand was about to touch the table, it stopped dead in its tracks. Krush looked at the hand in confusion as he kept trying to push against it, but it refused to budge.
“<Krush, what’re you doin’, man!?! You’re right there!>” Stitch yelled in confusion.
Suddenly, the girl’s expression shifted, and she adorned a confident, almost sadistic smile as she looked Krush in the eye.
“He he he he…” she chuckled confidently, staring at Krush with a determined glee. “<Finish me…?>”
As she said this, the blue in her eyes appeared to illuminate, and suddenly, she was pushing back against Kursh, driving their clash back to the center of the table. Krush grunted loudly in an effort to drive her back, but it was no use.
She continued to drive him to the other side of the table.
“<Not in a million years, big boy!>” she said.
And with one last show of force, she slammed his hand down on the table, ending the match. The cadets cheered and screamed in celebration, praising Astrid. She rose from her seat, showboating and throwing her hands up to declare superiority.
“Astrid! Astrid! Astrid! Astrid! Astrid!” The cadets chanted in unison once again. Amaku, however, was not chanting. He simply stood there, staring at this obnoxious girl, whose vanity was so abhorrent that he couldn’t have cared less about her strength.
“<C’mon, who’s next, huh?!?>” Astrid taunted. She looked around, scanning the crowd for her next opponent, until her eyes fell upon Amaku.
“<Well, well, well,>” she said, eyeing Amaku with a sinister smile on her face. “<If it isn’t the mighty golden boy who took on Hawks.>”
Amaku could feel the gazes of the crowd turning to him. Much like back on the air strip, many looked to him in reverence while others gave him looks of resentment.
“<I’d just like to say that what you did there was pretty damn impressive,>” she said, gesturing a hand out towards Amaku.
Amaku was thrown off by this. He was expecting some sort of demeaning joke or insult to come out of her mouth.
“Uhm…Thank you,” Amaku replied. “I was-”
“<Of course I'm not a liar, so I'll just go ahead and say that was an embarrassing and clumsy display,>” she interrupted. Many of the cadets laughed at this insult, while others remained silent and watched on as this happened, Aizo among them.
“I…I beg your pardon?” Amaku said, taken back by this.
“<You think struggling to even match that bird brain is gonna impress me like it did everyone else here?>” Astrid taunted, gesturing to the rest of the cadets. “<News flash, crew cut: it doesn’t. If anything, I’m disappointed.>”
Once again, numerous ooooo ’s and snickers came from the other cadets. Amaku’s eyes darted back and forth as he attempted to maintain his composure. However, with his continuously growing dislike for this girl, that task was becoming more and more difficult.
“< Ooohhh, you landed two clean shots because he was toying with you and then barely managed to touch him the rest of the time!! Sooooo impressive!>” Astrid said sarcastically, waving her fingers for effect. “<Oh, gimme a break! You landed a half decent shot by pulling off a mediocre trick, had your ass handed to you when he started trying, and you only turned the tables by throwing a tantrum like some oversized man-child.>”
This last bit struck a nerve with Amaku, his festering frustration towards this girl nearly boiling over. He hid his tightly clenched right fist behind his back and closed his eyes to hide the glowing red underneath.
“<If it were me in there, I woulda shown that feather-weight pansy how it’s really done without breaking a sweat! Now that would’ve been a show right there, am I right, people?!>” Astrid boasted, raising her arms and gesturing for the crowd to back her up. The cadets clapped and cheered and whistled in worship of her, showering her with praise and adoration. Meanwhile, Amaku took a deep breath in and underneath his eyelids, his irises returned to their natural brown color. Upon opening them, he glared at Astrid with a stare of pity.
“Spoken like somebody who’s never been told ‘no’, let alone had to struggle for anything in her life,” Amaku retorted, crossing his arms. Upon hearing this, the smugness on Astrid’s face slowly disappeared and the rest of the cadet’s fell silent.
“<… What the hell did you just say to me?>” she said, her tone reflecting a mix of slight surprise and restrained anger.
“Every word you speak reeks of arrogance and entitlement,” Amaku continued. “Arrogance produces pride, and pride infects one’s technique, making them sloppy and predictable. With that mindset, you’d be lucky to have lasted five seconds against Hawks, let alone go toe to toe with him.”
The cadets once again let out a mix of ooooooo’s, looking toward Astrid for her response.
“<Spoken like a self righteous Mama’s boy who’s had a stick up his ass since day one,>” Astrid retorted cockily. “<I’ve had to put up with people like you all my life! White knights who talk a big game, but that’s all it was, talk! You’re just another long winded moron to add to the list.>”
Once again, the cadets let out a wave of oooooo’s and chuckles in response to Astrid’s retort. The crowd then turned to Amaku, looking for his response.
“Better a stick than a silver spoon,” Amaku coldly replied. “Every word that comes out of your filthy mouth paints a picture, one of a spoiled, self entitled brat who's had it all handed to her on a silver platter. You’ve had everything go your way thanks to Daddy’s wallet. But here, that entitlement will earn you nothing but pain and failure.”
Yet another wave of mixed reactions came from the cadets. Who now looked to Astrid to retort. For a moment, her face became twisted with hate and shock. However, right when she appeared to be ready to snap and yell at Amaku, her sneer of resentment shifted to a devilish grin of superiority.
“<Wanna bet?>” she asked. “<You think you’re so superior, crew-cut? Then come prove it,>” she said, gesturing to the crates that were used for the arm wrestle. The cadets cheered in excitement, demanding that Amaku take the challenge. His gaze shifted between the crates and Astrid, though he still maintained his cold, unfazed appearance. He remained in this stoic silence for a short time as the demand from the cadets grew louder and louder.
Eventually, Amaku realized that he could no longer remain neutral on this. After unfolding his arms, he silently walked over to the crates and took a seat, silently accepting the challenge. The cadets cheered in excitement once more, huddling around the table to watch. Astrid sat down across Amaku, still looking at him with a devilish, determined grin which only further fueled his dislike for her. Meanwhile, within the crowd, Aizo made his way to the front to get a better look at what was about to unfold. Even Alyxio had come over to see what was about to happen, standing right next to Aizo.
“ Eh bien,” said Alyxio. “This hardly seems fair, doesn’t it?”
Aizo turned to Alyxio, a bit surprised to see him here.
“You’d be surprised,” said Aizo, turning back to the table. “That girl’s been going at it for like the past hour and a half and she hasn’t lost once. She's a brat, to be sure, but she’s a strong one.”
“Perhaps,” shrugged Alyxio. “But our un ami plutôt grand is certainly no slouch in that department. If what we saw in his initiation is anything to go by, he won’t be going down without a fight.”
Meanwhile, Amaku and Astrid sat at the table, staring one another down. Amaku had a steely gaze of determination whileAstrid still had that determined cocky grin. She then placed her arm down on the table, showing her rather well toned muscles. Amaku, in turn, laid his arm down on the table, displaying his bulky heavily built muscles. The two then locked hands, still not taking their eyes off one another.
“<Countdown, people,>” Astrid demanded. The audience then obliged.
“THREE…TWO…ONE…GO!!!!!”
Immediately, both competitors were locked into a contest of strength as each struggled to overcome the other. The two of them glared at each other, Astrid displaying visible struggle while Amaku’s expression remained cold and unfazed as he looked into Astrid’s eyes. The crowd cheered on in excitement as they didn’t dare avert their gaze from the competition.
As Aizo and Alyxio observed the competition, they both looked each other in the eyes with knowing stares. Not a moment later, Aizo felt a hand on the back of his shoulder and turned to see that it was Kira, accompanied by the short individual with the cloak and mask.
“<What’s going on?>” asked Kira.
Aizo then gestured over to the table. Kira looked towards Amaku and Astrid with a look of surprise on her face.
“<He’s…he’s messing with her, right?>” said Kira in a confused tone.
“I doubt it,” said Aizo, showing Kira his right hand. Her eyes widened slightly upon observing it.
“<Jesus,>” Kira said, slightly disturbed. “<She… did that?>”
“Yup,” said Aizo. “And now, she’s trying to turn Amaku into a testament to her strength.”
“<Uh huh…well, looks like both are on par in terms of raw strength.>”
“<That’s the thing though, mon cher… neither of them are going all out,>” said Alyxio. A look of confusion appeared on Kira’s face when she heard this. She and the hooded individual then turned their gazes towards Amaku and Astrid.
Meanwhile at the table, though the clash may have seemed intense from the outside, Amaku was not putting his all into it. He was simply not allowing his arm to budge from her efforts in an attempt to force her to use up the stamina in her arm. However, despite the supposed struggle that was displayed on her face, he could tell that Astrid was doing the same. With the two of them using the same passive tactic, they were effectively locked not in a physical stalemate, but a mental one. Then, as this was happening, Amaku recalled something from his fight with Hawks.
“That counter based style also leaves your enemies with plenty of time to think and plan for themselves ,” Hawks’ words rang in Amaku’s head. “Sometimes, you’ll have to be the one who engages. ”
At that moment, Amaku realized what he had to do. He then started applying more strength against Astrid, slowly forcing her arm down. The crowd observed in intrigue as Amaku further pushed his advantage, not daring to avert their eyes for even a second. Kira, Aizo and Alyxio all cheered for Amaku, encouraging him to end it here. However, much like her match with Krush, her hand stopped just before it could touch the table. Amaku looked to Astrid, who looked at him with that same devilish grin that he despised.
“<You really thought it would be that easy?>” she said cockily.
Suddenly, her irises once again illuminated a bright blue and she started pushing back against Amaku, turning the tide of the struggle. Much like with Krush, she slowly pushed Amaku’s hand back in the other direction. While the smugness on Astrid’s face grew as she pushed Amaku back further and further, his expression remained cold and focused on her. The crowd’s excitement grew as Astrid continued making progress.
“Astrid! Astrid! Astrid! Astrid! Astrid!” they chanted once more.
Aizo, Kira, and Alyxio watched on with mixed reactions. While Kira had an expression of concern on her face, Alyxio and Aizo remained observant and focused on the contest. Much like the two boys, the masked individual silently observed this contest of strength.
Much like with her last opponent, Astrid had turned the tide of the competition in her favor, forcing Amaku’s hand to hover about an inch above his side of the table.
“<Game over, crew cut,>” said Astrid.
With that, Astrid put one last push against Amaku for the finishing effort, and…
Surprisingly, to not just Astrid but the other cadets who were cheering for her, Amaku’s hand refused to budge. She tried once again to push the hand down to the table, yet it still would not budge. She grimaced her teeth as she attempted this final push three more times, still to no avail. Out of confusion, she turned to face Amaku, who’d had his head and his eyes closed as she struggled.
“Not…quite…yet,” he said, slowly lifting his head up to look at her and opening his eyes to reveal their intense red glow.
The other cadets looked amongst themselves, muttering and mumbling in confusion at this prolonged struggle. Alyxio and Aizo, however, looked at each other with small, smug grins as they realized what was coming.
“Here we go~,” said Aizo.
Kira noticed this exchange, looking at the two of them in confusion. She then shifted her attention back to the match to see that Amaku was once again turning the tides, forcing Astrid’s arm in the opposite direction. She grimaced and grunted out of frustration and strain as she tried to gain back her momentum, but could not do so before they were brought back to the center of the table. As their momentum reached the center of the table, it was halted as Astrid’s arm was engulfed in some sort of blue and yellow aura. Before the struggle could go in Astrid’s favor, Amaku activated his own red and black aura and focused the energy into his arm. The resulting boost in strength allowed him to keep the momentum right in the center of the table.
As the match went on, the two continued to push against one another, each putting more and more strength into their arms as time went on. Their free hands tightly gripped the sides of the table for extra force, and yet they still remained evenly matched. In the background, oddly enough, a few of the cadets had even begun to side with Amaku as the match went on. The crowd grew in excitement, cheering for both competitors.
“Astrid! Astrid! Astrid! Astrid!” Half the crowd chanted.
“Brokuma! Brokuma! Brokuma! Brokuma!” Kira, Alyxio, and Aizo led the other half who chanted. Though the masked remained silent, they stared intently at Amaku while remaining by Kira’s side.
Meanwhile, the intensity and ferocity between Amaku and Astrid grew. As did the intensity and emanation of their auras, with the red and black of Amaku’s energy raging in tandem with Astrid’s blue and yellow. As they looked each other in the eye, Astrid’s face showed an expression of anger and frustration, grunting and grimacing her teeth. Meanwhile, Amaku’s cool and collected facade was beginning to crumble as he focused more of his anger into power, growling in a low baritone voice while grimacing his teeth ever so slightly. As the two continued to struggle, their strength grew to the point where not only were their free hands digging into the sides of the metal crate, but their elbows were starting to dent into the top side of it. Neither would buckle, neither was willing to give up any ground, and neither was willing to let the other walk away victorious.
“Hey! You two!” the pilot abruptly yelled over the intercoms. The crowd halted their constant chanting, and Amaku and Astrid ceased their competition out of shock.
“I’m all for a good old fashioned arm wrestle, but I draw the line at damaging military property for the sake of whipping out your junk. And I’m talking mostly to you, girl.”
A round of oooooooooo’s came from the crowd of cadets in response to the insult, which only infuriated Astrid further.
“But seriously, all cadets return to your seats and buckle up. We’re on the final approach to our destination.”
With this instruction, all the other cadets disappointedly whined and groaned back to their seats. Amaku and Astrid looked at each other before she released her grip and yanked her hand away from him.
“This isn’t over, crew cut,” she seethed, rubbing her hand.
“On that we could not agree more, blondie,” replied Amaku, staring her down with a focussed, rageful stare. And with that, the two parted ways.
Amaku made his way back to his seat in between Kira and Aizo. He aggressively sat down with a grunt and crossed his arms, rage still lingering within him towards Astrid. Kira took note of this and turned to look at him.
“<Hey, don’t be so grumpy, big guy,>” she said, cheerfully nudging him on the shoulder. “<If that had gone on just a bit longer, you would’ve won for sure.>”
Amaku turned his head to her, not knowing that his lingering anger was keeping his eyes aglow.
“Would I have?” said Amaku, questioning his own capability. Kira’s head cautiously shifted back slightly after seeing his burning red eyes nearly stare through her. Amaku looked down at his shaking hand in deep contemplation.
“If that… game had gone any longer…I’m not so sure what would’ve happened…” Amaku was silent for a short moment after saying this.
“<Uhm…Amaku…are you ok>?” Kira asked cautiously. “<Your eyes…they’re still, uh…>”
Amaku briefly looked at Kira in confusion after hearing this. He then pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at himself in the screen’s reflection, surprised to see that his eyes were still glowing red. After realizing this, he closed them, breathing in deeply to temper himself. Upon opening them again, they’d returned to their natural brown color.
“I’m sorry, Kira,” Amaku said apologetically. “Seems that I’m allowing her to get to me rather easily.”
Kira turned her head in curiosity at Amaku when she saw this.
“<So you’ve got a tick?>” She asked.
Amaku looked at her in confusion.
“Tick?…where?” he asked, looking all over his body. Kira giggled playfully at this.
“<No, no, not like that,>” she said. “<I mean like a weird habit you have because of your quirk. It's a pretty common thing for heteromorphs like me. For example, my tail sort of waves when I’m excited, like it did earlier. I also do…another slightly more private thing,>” she said, slightly embarrassed as she glanced off to the side.
Amaku raised an eyebrow in confusion at this, but did not persist.
“<But anyway,>” she continued. “<That thing with your eyes whenever your quirk activates, it’s kinda the same.>”
“…Hmm,” Amaku grunted. He then recalled Kira talking with the masked individual earlier and how they appeared to be talking about him, or at least he presumed as much because of his earbuds.
“So, what were you discussing with the hooded one?” Amaku inquired, gesturing his head down towards where the individual in question was sitting. Kira followed his gaze to look at the individual.
“<Oh, her?>” she said, quickly turning her head back to Amaku, who was internally somewhat surprised to learn the individual was a female. “<Not much, really. She was just sitting alone in the corner seat there and I felt kinda bad. That, and something about her kinda just…caught my eye, I guess.>”
“Well I mean, with such a peculiar getup, who wouldn’t be curious?” said Amaku. “Did she ever explain that, by the way?”
“<Not really. She was actually trying pretty hard to avoid it.>”
“Hmm,” Amaku grunted. “So…were you two… saying…something about me?”
Kira opened her mouth to answer, but was quickly interrupted before she could say anything.
“Attention, all Cadets!” Came the pilot’s voice over the intercom. “We’re approaching our destination and will be landing shortly. So please, stow all personal belongings away in your baggage and be sure to tightly fasten your seatbelts. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”
Many of the cadets were confused by this remark, the trio among them. Regardless, they stowed anything on their person in their bags and fastened their seatbelts as instructed. Amaku was sure to securely place his phone and ear buds into his bag. Out of sheer curiosity, he looked over towards Jackson to see him fasten his seatbelt to find that he was properly accommodated for as he fastened giant straps over his chest.
“And now,” the pilot continued. “Behold…the voice of God!” he said dramatically.
The next thing they knew, the lights of the cargo bay dimmed and a device deployed from the ceiling. From said device, a blue solid hologram of the head of Agent Tex appeared before them.
“Good Afternoon, Cadets,” the hologram said. “As Maverick has no doubt told you by now, you are currently approaching your next trial. Many of you are no doubt wondering by now what exactly your next trial will be. Allow me to explain.”
The hologram of Texas then transformed into the image of what appeared to be some sort of circular tropical island.
“This is your destination: Armageddon Island,” Tex continued. “The island itself is relatively eight kilometers in diameter. Each of you will be placed on random spots of the island. From there, you will make it here, to the center of the island,” the hologram then zoomed in on the center section of the island, which revealed an open ruinous area and in the middle of it all, a huge pyramid-looking structure. “Once you reach the center area, you will come across these ruins and this structure. Your goal will be to reach the top of this structure and grab the red flag at the top.”
Amaku was somewhat confused by this premise. While yes, the island was quite large, many of the cadets appeared to be quite physically fit and capable of handling themselves. There had to be more to this. And well enough, his question was answered.
“Of course, to ensure that this will not simply be a literal walk on a sunny beach, there will be two major obstacles for you to contend with,” Continued Tex, as if she’d read Amaku’s mind. “The first of them will be these.”
The hologram then transformed into an image displaying three different types of robots. The first of them was Labeled victory. It appeared to be some sort of lightweight single-wheeler with twin gatling guns for arms, most likely a high mobility attack unit of sorts. The next was labeled imperial, a larger quadruped looking robot resembling a scorpion which possessed a large metal tail coming out of the back. This one appeared to be more heavily armored, but did not appear to have any long ranged weaponry of any kind. The third and final robot was labeled venator. It resembled a massive tank with two large missile launchers on its shoulders and two large, bulky arms coming out of the sides. No doubt that this was to act as a heavily armored artillery unit.
“For those of you who are seeing the firearms on these robots with concern, worry not,” Tex resumed. “The ammunition fired by the victory units are similar to rubber bullets. While non lethal, they are still quite painful and can cause significant injury. As for the venators, the rockets fired are not incendiary based, but are instead loaded with contents which result in a massive pink smoke screen and still pack plenty of force upon detonation. You will face multiple of these robots as you make your way through the center of the island. You may choose to engage them in combat or avoid them, however, it should be noted that they will not be your only form of opposition. Can anyone guess the final obstacle?”
The cadets all muttered and looked amongst each other in confusion. Meanwhile, Amaku, Aizo, Kira, and Alyxio had already put it together in their minds.
“I’ll give you a hint,” said Tex. “Notice how there’s only one flag…and there are thirty of you participating in this trial…”
It was then that everyone on board came to the same realization as the other four, looking amongst each other silently with expressions of worry and distrust written on their faces. This was no longer a simple race, but a battle royale.
“We will be accepting thirteen candidates by the end of this trial. The first to claim the flag is a guaranteed pass, while the others will be selected based on individual performance…Good luck,” said Tex before the hologram disappeared and the lights turned back on.
For a brief moment, all the cadets were left amongst each other, now reminded of the fact that surrounding them on all sides was competition. Meanwhile, Amaku looked not toward his competition, as his main enemies among the people here were obvious. Instead, he looked to the people whom he deemed his potential allies. Among them were the two most obvious ones, Aizo and Kira, Jackson was neutral towards him at most thanks to his kind deed, and Alyxio was more than likely an ally to him, though Amaku was still apprehensive about it. As he was taking all of these things into account, the voice of Maverick once again came in over the intercom.
“Good afternoon, Ladies and Germs,” he said in his showman-like tone. “This is your captain speaking. Our current altitude is about ten thousand feet and It’s looking like a beautiful, sunny day here at Armageddon Island . Temperature is looking like a lovely 37 degrees Celsius, 98 Fahrenheit for our western friends, and you will be reaching ground soon enough…sooner than you think.”
This last comment raised much confusion among the cadets.
“Though you may have had no choice whatsoever, we thank you for choosing Wolf Airlines. We hope you enjoyed your flight…and we hope you enjoy the fall!”
Before the cadets could even react, the floor beneath them opened to the view of the island right below them and the seats they were all so tightly strapped to were released from the walls, dropping them out of the plane with them all screaming as they fell towards the Earth.
Meanwhile, in the pilot’s cockpit, Maverick took a large huff of his cigar as he closed up the plane.
“Aaaahhhh…I love my job!”
