AvA: Resurrection

Ch. 18 - The Chosen Blade

At first, Chosen thought Second had returned. Then, he remembered what Second had said mere seconds ago. This couldn't be Second.

Chosen smacked fake Second into the air, and fake Second immediately turned back into his- or more like its- original form, which was identical to its ViraBot counterpart.

"You're going down, Morphy!" Chosen snarled as the ViraMorph got into a defensive position.

Chosen attacked, summoning energy balls and fire as he went.

To his surprise, the ViraMorph dodged his attacks with ease before leaping at him, summoning a ViraSpike. Chosen caught the hilt and tried to pull the Spike away, but it remained in the ViraMorph's grasp. The Bot hissed, then punched Chosen across the cheek with its sharp-fingered fist. Chosen landed on the ground, and reached up to check how badly hurt he was.

His hand came away wet and red.

He heard the Bot clicking and squeaking- perhaps calling their Bot friends to come and join the fun. As the ViraMorphs closed in, he shut his eyes, waiting for death.

All of a sudden, through his eyelids, he saw flashes of blue. Opening his eyes, he saw Deserved standing there, his wristbands on, his eyes, gleaming blue, and his blade flickering by his side.

Chosen looked around for more ViraMorphs. "You killed them all?"

"No. Several fled, but they'll be back."

Deserved helped Chosen up. "You okay?"

"I guess. Thanks for saving me."

"That's what friends are for, right?"

Deserved retracted his blade. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a glowing yellow wristband.

Chosen's eyes lit up. "You finished it?"

"Yup. Try them on."

Chosen took the band from Deserved. Stretching it to its maximum length, he snapped it onto his wrist. At once, he felt immense power coursing into him.

"You'll need to train if you want to use your bends in the war," Deserved suggested.

"Yeah, I guess. When do we start?"

"In the morning; it's late."

"Second's outside."

"What? Why?"

"He was going to be lookout."

"I'm going to go tell him to come in. You, go to Doctor Blue, then go to bed."

"Sure."

Three months passed, and Chosen was to have his last day of training. After breakfast, he went downstairs and out the backdoor, where there was a large flat area, suitable for training.

Deserved was waiting for him, absentmindedly tossing a yellow energy ball between his hands.

"Alright," he said, catching sight of Chosen, "What have you learned these past few months?"

"How to summon lightning," Chosen said, counting on his fingers, "how to summon a blade, how to construct a shield wall, and how to conduct lightning."

"Good. Now, show me that you can do all of that."

Chosen snapped his fingers, then pointed them at a spot on the ground. The sky rumbled, and a bolt of lightning shot down out of the sky, frying the earth.

Deserved nodded. "Next?"

Chosen touched the arc of lightning. Electricity sparked up his arm, down the other, and burst out of his fingers. Deserved caught the electricity, then shot it skywards.

"Good," he said. "Next?"

Chosen thrust his hands into the air, then put his wrists together and pushed forward, palms-first. A transparent yellow wall appeared in front of him.

Deserved nodded. "The last one?"

Chosen put his right hand in the air and swung his arm downward. Lightning flashed, and suddenly, he was holding a blade. The blade was mostly invisible, with a glowing yellow outline.

Deserved clapped. "You've passed the test, Chosen. Congratulations!"

"All thanks to you." Chosen replied gratefully as he retracted his blade.

They heard someone else clapping. Someone... above them.

"Bravo, Chosen," the intruder said, "You've finished your test just in time to initiate the war."