The Tale of The Dragon and The Tiger

Chapter Fifteen: Tommy

I didn't end up going to school, it wasn't on the agenda of most needed things of mine at the moment. Right now, I was fighting a tree, training with my new short sword Rita had made me. Bark flew off the trunk like shrapnel, nailing me in the face sides and arms. I had almost cut through the tree when Rita showed up.
"I thought I told you you needed to learn what the rangers were planning," she spit, her words filled with poison. "To find you hacking away at a tree, it was a little more shocking but an obvious move after you mauled your step father."
"I'm not related to him in any way," I coughed through my exertion. My arm fell limp to my side as my sword returned to its Rolex state.
"That is not how you swing a sword." She hissed.
"How would you know!" I yelled. "You fight with a magic staff! And even then you got bitch slapped into the atmosphere by I giant robot!"
She threw her jagged staff head between my legs and knocked me over. As I scrambled to get off the ground, she reached around and grabbed my neck with her clawed finger tips. My feet dangled off the ground as she held me just about it's solid surface.
"I have given you everything! I gave you the power to kill your step father! I gave you the power to destroy the rangers and take you brother back! And how do you repay me? With insults and words twisted with venom!" She tossed me to the ground coughing. I grabbed my neck, my hand slick with blood as I pulled it away. Turns out her claws are real. "What do you have to say?" She cooed in a softer voice.
"I-I'm sorry," I grabbed a towel and started to clean up my blood.
"Good, now I hope that shall not happen again." She turned to me and stabbed her staff in the ground. "Now Zordon is training the rangers against holograms of my beautiful putty in order to be able to defeat me later, very flawed attempt at my down fall I know, I will let you train against the real thing, and I will spare with you. This will give you the ability to be one step ahead of those rangers." She tapped her fingers against her staff.
"What if someone sees me training?" I asked looking around. We were in a well wooded area but anyone could just walk up here and spy us.
She tapped the end of their golden rod on the ground and, after the subsequent shock, rock walls started to circle the trees, they rose almost twenty feet I to the air and curved in. It reminded me of the roman coliseum. It was even topped with a throne decked in gold. I could only guess who it was for.
"That's better," she breathed with delight. "Now, we will begin."

Rita had taken all of my things, saying that, for every duel I won out of my armor, the more of my belongings I would win back. I thought it would be easy, fight of one or two rock monsters, but it turned to be around five to ten. And it got increasingly more difficult. I had blood running from my nose after the first three wins. Luckily, Rita gave me my towel after my second. After round five, I got my sword, which made it easier, but also made the number to putty I had to face double. When Rita finally said it was time to quit, blood stained my green t-shirt. My arms and legs were covered in gashes, lacerations and bruises. I had to pop a finger back into place after I mistakingly punched one of the putty.
"Very good, but we will need to improve." She tossed me a blanket. "Till tomorrow."
When she disappeared, I dropped to my hands and knees. I spit up blood with each exaggerated cough. I ripped off my shirt and tore it to pieces, trying to make bandages to wrap around the worst cuts. When I was finally done, the sun was still high in the sky, my eyes closed from my tiring battles. I didn't even get a chance to drape the blanket over me as sleep wrapped itself around my damaged body and finally some comfort graced me with its warm, yet dark presence.