The Contest

It was a good hour later when they had reached the fourth and final island of Japan, Kyushu, when Zeke finally spoke again.
"We're almost there. Time to wake Mike and Charise up,"
Mike groaned as Zeke poked him in the shoulder. Rachael set her hand gently on Charise's shoulder and immediately had a hand at her throat. Charise was standing now with one hand at Rachael's throat and the other searching her side for her staff. Before anyone could protest, Charise let go and sat back down.
"What was that?"
"Sorry, you startled me."
"No, I've never seen anyone move so fast."
"It was weird, after I jumped up. Things seemed to slow down, even me. It was like I was watching a slow motion world from inside my head."
They felt the monorail stop smoothly in the station.
"Wow, Rachael, that gene was cooler than you thought."
"What gene?" Charise eyed Zeke quizzically.
"When Rachael was working on metamorphing you, she found a dormant gene, and so she turned it on."
Charise exploded, "So you just went inside and started messing with my DNA? The stuff that makes me different from everyone else?"
"Well, yes, but Charise, you had something no one else has, but it was locked. I just unlocked it for you."
"Well…yeah, I guess you're right. And it is kind of cool."
"Well I'm glad that worked out quick. Anyways, I don't know about you guys, but if we don't go now, I'll be seeing you two the next time the train stops here."
Slightly irritated, the girls grabbed their bags and shuffled out. Zeke made sure Mike had everything, as he was still groggy, and followed them.
Once the train left the four alone on the road, Zeke started down the road.
"Zeke? Aren't we going to call a cab or something?"
"Nope. No taxies around here for miles. Too small of a town for that."
Charise looked skeptically at him.
"Well sorry, did you want me to type up a step-by-step itinerary?"
Rachael giggled as Charise shook her head, exasperated. Mike was still totally oblivious.
The trek took quite a while, and by the time they were done, everyone but Zeke was a little cranky.
"Come on, guys, its good exercise!"
"Zeke, I can exercise just by thinking about it."
"Mike and Charise can't, but if you can, then this should be easy."
"Yeah, yeah."
The road ended in a metal gate. The gate was attached to a stone wall surrounding a small complex of seven buildings. A class of martial arts students was practicing in one of the grassy courtyards. The group stepped up to the guard window.
"Hello, do you have an appointment?"
"I'm sorry, no."
"Then you'll have to wait as I call for the secretary."
"Well, uh, actually, I'm a member."
"Oh? Can I see your card, please?"
Zeke reached in his pocket and pulled out a metal card, which he extended to the guard. He reached out and touched it, and they didn't move for a few seconds, then both withdrew.
"Welcome back, Zeke. The sensei will have to meet your friends before you can resume training. You can wait in the commons, I'll notify him."
"Thank you, and don't worry, my friends are very unique too. I think he'll find them to be right at home here."
The gate silently slid open, and Zeke led the way to one of the buildings. The inside was very comfortable. Couches and lounge chairs filled up the room. The walls were lined with bookcases, all filled with books and trinkets. Tables bore chess sets, cards, large stacks of papers, and a plethora of other things. A large clock in the corner chimed noon.
"Wow, this is like a dorm room."
"It kind of is. This is where everyone hangs out. It's also the only place on campus that's allowed to be messy."
"What?"
"Every other building and the grounds must be kept in perfect order." Zeke explained. The other three glanced at each other. "It's not that bad." he added.
A semi-short man with neat hair walked in. The three guessed that he was in his twenties. Zeke jumped up and bowed. The other man returned the bow as Zeke whispered urgently, "Guys, bow! It's a sign of respect." Awkwardly, they did so.
The man began to speak. "Zeke, I'm surprised that you would bring in outsiders. Do they know?"
"Yes, sensei, but they're in the same boat…"
"Hah, I will hear no more!" And with that, he turned and left.
"Zeke, was that the sensei?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, what were you expecting?"
"I don't know, a short, old, bald man with a long beard?"
"You will find that people don't really fit into stereotypes here."
"Zeke, was that something we should be worried about?" Rachael asked.
"Not really, I think he's a little miffed that I brought you guys here. I just need to show him what you guys can do, and then he'll be alright."
"Oh, alright. So what do we do now?"
As Zeke glanced at a chess set, it floated off the shelf and onto a nearby table. "Try and play Charise. She's good. Oh, be careful, the pieces are heavy. Mike's going to come with me and show the sensei his power."
"Why Mike?"
"Because his power is a lot more visual."
"Be careful where you go with that, I could accidentally alter the way your nose is and leave it that way. How's that for a visual?"
Zeke and Mike ran out as Rachael threatened to do so. They didn't stop until they reached the sensei's office. Zeke noticed a dried out bonsai tree in the trash can. He gently pulled it out and inspected it. "Mike, do you suppose you could fix it?"
Mike reached out and ran his fingers over the bark and dried leaves. "I think so."
"Good!" Zeke pushed the door open and stepped in.
"Yes?"
"Sensei, is this you're prized weeping fig bonsai?"
Without glancing up, he answered, "I mixed some bad peat into the soil. There's no saving it now."
"Mike thinks he can help."
The sensei looked up in protest, but lost his voice when he saw the leaves fill out and return to a vibrant shade of green. "I would get it in a good mix soon. I don't know how long it will stay that way."
The sensei looked from his revived tree to Mike. "You did that?"
Mike nodded and reached into his pocket. He withdrew an acorn and held it in his hand. It cracked open and 2 tiny leaves poked out. They grew upwards as roots began to sprout. When Mike was done, he had a fully grown oak tree in his hand that was reduced to about a foot tall. He offered to the sensei, who received it. He turned it over and examined it.
"Remarkable…" he muttered.
"I told you my friends were in the same boat. If they reveal my secret, I reveal theirs."
"I apologize for my rudeness earlier. A situation like this has never arisen before."
"So you've never seen anything like this before?"
The sensei shook his head. "No, I'm sorry."
"Sorry, Mike, looks like we still don’t know anything about your powers."
"And what about you're other friends?"
"Rachael is a metamorph. She can manipulate her DNA and change the way she looks. She threatened to permanently alter our faces not too long ago. Anyways, Charise has this staff thing our government is after her for. She's the only one that can use it and she's got really fast reflexes."
"Well, lots of students here have fast reflexes."
"You don't know the meaning of the word until you see what she can do. She can solve puzzles almost instantly."
"I see. So you want them to train as well?"
"Yeah. Charise is kinda clumsy with her staff, and martial arts training would help immensely. If she could learn alchemy too, that'd be cool. I don't know what we could do with Mike and Rachael, but anything we choose would be up to you. Anything would be great."
"Alright. I'll put Charise in the martial arts section. What weapon proficiency?"
"Primarily staff and bow, I think. Maybe swords. It'd be more like broadsword and katana, second. After that, hand-to-hand and anything else we have time for."
"You're only here for a week, correct? Do you think she can learn that much in a week?"
"She learned fluent Japanese on the plane ride here."
"Really."
"Yeah. So about my training."
"I assume you've been practicing?"
"Correct."
"Then we'll send you through the contest."
"Agreed."
"Zeke, I don't mean to interrupt, but you crossed over into Japanese."
"Really? Sorry. Sensei, with your leave?" Zeke and Mike bowed.
"Granted." He returned the bow.
The two left and returned to the commons. As they entered, Charise and Rachael broke out into laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"Charise just dropped a piece on my foot."
"Be careful with those!" The piece zapped over and began to rotate in front of Zeke's face. It was a queen. The crown was an intricate maze of wires, some of which were a little bent out of place. They turned to liquid and corrected their position. "This set was crafted by one of the best students this school has ever seen. You ought to be more careful."
"Sorry."
"It's alright now. Besides, I just smoothed things over with the sensei. He's agreed to train us. Charise, you're in for a lot of work."
"Oh boy."
"You're going to be going through a whole martial arts class in a week."
"Whoa."
"Yeah. Rachael, you and Mike are going to work with the sensei, as your power is still a bit… unfamiliar."
"I'll tolerate the use of that phrase. And what about you?"
"I have to go through a contest-like thing to determine my rank and skill."
"When's that?"
"As soon as I get there. We might want to go now, so I don't keep them waiting."
Zeke turned to leave, and the other three followed quickly.

~~~~

The other students had already assembled for the test. They sat in the bleachers as the sensei drew a ring in the dirt. A block of dinuclecium was placed in the center. Zeke stood idly nearby, waiting for the sensei to give the word. Mike, Charise and Rachael sat in the front row, as to be closest to their friend.
The sensei turned to Zeke. "Zeke, please melt this block." He raised his hand and it did as it was bid. The sensei nodded.
"I figured as such." The sensei formed two small orbs from the di and presented one to Zeke and one to another student. Zeke used the small amount to silver, and most of the curious liquid went to his head while a single twin stream running down the inside of his arm. It branched out onto his finger and became an intricate web of design on his fingertips. The other student fixed the di as wires connected poles protruding from his head. The sensei formed the rest of the block into a large flat circle. He placed it vertically between the two students.
"What are they doing?" Rachael asked.
One of the students behind her explained. "They both have to try and bend both ends of the disc 90 degrees away from them, so it's bent over into a circle facing their opponent. Once the two ends touch, the person who was on the other side of the gap is the winner. It's a common way to see who's stronger in their alchemy."
The sensei called out, "Begin!" With hardly any effort at all, Zeke bent the disc into a sphere facing his opponent.
"Very impressive, Zeke. He's one of our best students here. This will be his second full year. You've improved greatly."
"Thank you, master."
"Miss Koji, I believe he is ready to face you."
A girl stepped forward now, seemingly very annoyed that she would have to be involved in such a trivial matter. The sensei reformed the di back into a flat disc. When Koji was ready, the sensei called out, "Begin!"
Koji was caught off guard by the force that Zeke was exerting. He had, in a few seconds, bent the disc about halfway. She was not worried, however. She thought that he would not be able to keep up the level of force. Within the next few seconds, however, she realized her fault. Zeke soon had the disc bent far enough, and the sensei called Zeke the victor. Koji returned to the stands, completely shocked.
The sensei then stepped forward, and a small murmur escaped the crowd.
"What is it?" Rachael asked again.
"Your friend is going up against the sensei. He has never had to battle against anyone before. At least, not that I know of."
The sensei pulled the di from the ground where Koji had let it drop. It spread into a web over his head and down his arm into an intricate design on his hands, very similar to Zeke's design.
"Zeke, your knowledge of the metaphysical properties of dinuclecium has increased greatly."
"Thanks, it helps having a metamorph as a friend."
Rachael beamed in the stands, as her hearing was often better than everyone else's.
One of the students stepped forward and raised the disk. He made sure the two were ready, and then called out, "Begin!"
Zeke and the sensei pushed, tensing every muscle in their body. The disc did not move. For five minutes straight the disc and the two contestants did not move, though an occasional ripple would shoot out from the center of the disc.
Suddenly the sensei relaxed, and stood straight. The only muscle that showed any tension now was the one holding up his arm. Zeke felt an immense force building up in the di, and he braced for it. The sensei flicked his wrist, and the impact nearly sent Zeke flying. Amazingly, he somehow kept the disc from closing too much.
"Oh my gosh, Mike, look at him!" Charise sat astounded.
Rachael sat shaking her head, awed but concerned. "He's never done alchemy this long with this much pressure before. He's not going to last much longer."
"What are you talking about?"
At that moment, Zeke swayed where he stood. The disc bent a little further, and then his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and collapsed.
"Zeke!" The three made to run to him, but the sensei gave them a look that stopped them. They watched as the sensei incorporated the disc onto Zeke and focused on him. Zeke gently lifted up off the ground.
"Is he going to be alright?"
The sensei continued to float Zeke away. The same student behind them began to explain. "He'll be fine. It's a defense mechanism for your body. Alchemy really drains your energy and your body will relinquish itself into a coma before any damage is sustained."
"So…?"
"He'll be out for a day or so. He should be fine tomorrow afternoon."
"He'd better be."
The three headed back to the commons. When they arrived, Mike flopped down onto a couch and was out within seconds. Rachael and Charise were far too excited to sleep, so they looked around. Most of the books were in Japanese, and many of the ones that were in English were ones that they had never heard of. Their eyes were then drawn to the chess set. Its intricate pieces almost glowed, the way to light reflected off of them. They sat down without saying a word.
Rachael made the first move, then Charise, then Rachael, then Charise. Rachael had moved again and looked up at Charise. She had a placid look on her face.
"Charise?" she called.
Charise didn't respond. She was about to call her again when Charise blinked and shook her head.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I think so. How long was I like that?"
"5 or 6 seconds. Why?"
Charise rubbed her head and didn't respond.
"I called you, but you didn't say anything."
"I heard something, but it sounded like it was super slow and underwater. It was really strange… it was like it was playing into the room on speakers."
"What room?"
"After I looked at the chess set, I was thinking about what moves you could make, and suddenly I was in a huge white room. On the wall in front of me was a large window or TV-screen thing, and it was what I was seeing. It was like I was in a room in my head. I walked over to the screen thing and got up real close. It looked like it was open, like I could stick my head of it. So I tried. I was back in my body, but everything was slow. I couldn’t move. I thought it was like time froze or something, but then I saw you blink, but 50 times slower than normal. I tried moving again, and it worked, but I was moving so slow, like I was trying to go through cement. Even my eyes moved slowly. So I just kind of pulled back into the room in my head, and there's a chess set sitting there, set up like the one here. So I moved a piece and the board split into a whole bunch of other ones, and on each one a different piece was moved to a different spot. Every time I moved a piece, the board would split again. Then I hear the strange sound. I didn't really pay much attention to it, it didn't sound like anything. So I keep splitting chess board for a while until this room is completely filled with chess boards, and then I realize that I hadn't told you what I was doing, so I just closed my eyes and I was back to how things should be."
"Wow, that gene must have been more powerful than we thought."
"Yeah." She moved. "Your turn."
Rachael did so and Charise's face went blank for a second, then smiled. "This is better than when I played Zeke. All the chess boards that didn't have you make that move disappeared."
"Well, aren't you lucky."
In a few moves, Rachael could see why Charise was so excited. It was like she could read her mind. Rachael knocked her king over.
"I give up."
"Oh, come on!"
"No, you're going to beat me."
At that moment, a student walked in. "I beg your forgiveness if I am interrupting."
"We just finished, so it's no problem."
"I was wondering if you wanted me to show you to your quarters."
"Oh, yeah, that might be good. I'll be right there."
Charise grabbed her stuff and followed the student as Rachael shook Mike violently as to wake him up enough for him to understand what was going on.

~~~~

The three set their bags down and looked around. The room had bunk beds and dressers, but other than that, there wasn't much else.
"Your clothes and belongings are to be neatly packed in the dressers. If your suitcases won't fit in there, you may store them under the beds. The rooms are to be in neat order and cleaned every day."
"That seems a little strict."
"The common room can be messy, but keeping strict organization is part of the training."
"I see. Alright, well thank you."
The student left, and Rachael turned to find Mike and Charise already asleep on the bottom bunks. Rachael climbed up on the bed over Charise and lay, staring at the ceiling, pondering Zeke's fate and the mysterious pagoda boat.