Burnt House Hill (RainbowCaliber GX Story #0)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Episode 3: The Training Arc

Jake

Jake started untying his shoes.

"Wait, keep them on," Miley said, stopping him.

"Well, why are your shoes off, then?" Jake asked, retying them.

"The ground is slippery, so you'll have an advantage," Miley explained, putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh, that makes sense," Jake said, "So what are we training first?"

Miley turned toward him and folded her arms.

"Hit me," she casually said.

Jake raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Wh-what?"

"I wanna see how you can fight so far. Go ahead, don't be scared," Miley gently encouraged him.

Jake slowly stepped forward as Miley stood still. He looked at his fist, then back at her.

"Come on," Miley said.

Jake sighed, then swung at her.

She caught the punch and crouched, sweeping his legs and tripping him, all within what seemed like a nanosecond. Jake grunted as he landed on his back, staring up at the sky before he saw Miley peering down at him from above.

"You threw your punch wrong. Don't tuck your thumb inside your fist because you could break your hand that way. Instead..." Miley bent down and gently grabbed his hand, tucking his fingers into a fist and moving his thumb below his knuckles.

"Try doing that instead," she finished, before helping Jake back up.

Jake stood back up to his full height and tried swinging again. Miley casually dodged, leaning back and ducking multiple times as Jake tried hitting her.

As Jake swung again, he saw Miley raise her leg and kick straight, blocking his punch with the sole of her foot and bringing his fist to a dead stop. She then swung her foot at his chest, knocking the air out of him and sending him back about ten feet.

"Okay. We have a lot to learn," Miley said, kneeling by Jake, "You okay?"

"I'll live," Jake answered, rubbing his back, "What'd I do wrong?"

Miley thought as her hands began glowing turquoise. She placed her hand on the left side of Jake's ribs before speaking.

"You telegraphed your punches a lot, for starters," Miley explained.

"What's that mean?" Jake asked.

"It means I could predict what you were going to do based on what you did before the attack," Miley explained further.

"Another superpower of yours?" Jake asked, looking at her.

"Nope, I watched how you moved," Miley answered casually.
"Oh, so I'm that bad at fighting," Jake thought, before speaking.

"Huh, how so?"

"You loaded up on your punches, your shoulder movement was a little bit jumpy, the way your torso moved, some small things like that," Miley said as the turquoise glow on her hands faded away.

"So how do I not do that?" Jake asked.

"Try to keep your body still in your stance, but we can work on that later. Now we gotta stretch. After that, we're gonna run, and after that, you get to pick your fighting style," Miley said, smiling at him.