Chapter 4: Old Faces

“RAAAAAH!!!” Zuri roared as she attempted to strike Ferral. He weaved to the side, while Sannvanah appeared from behind with a spin kick that Ferral easily ducked. Loni slid between his legs and right under his face and launched her right foot directly at him, yet he lifted his head to dodge that attack. As the three tried with all their strength to land even one solid blow, but to no avail, Ferral continued to evade each attempt. Hardly even focused on their sparring session, mainly writing in his journal. “I don’t know how I let you knuckleheads talk me into this poor excuse for sparring.” Ferral remarked, a slight smug smirk on his face. The three lionesses jumped back, surrounding Ferral, each out of breath. “It would be more interesting if you’d actually fought back.” Zuri huffed. “If I did, that’d be the equivalent to infants fighting a live bomb.” He chuckled.

“Then….at least….transform…” Loni gasped for air. “Even if you are stronger, it’s much more of an insult to our pride that you’re holding back.” Savannah added, crouching down and springing at Ferral. She cocked back her left arm to deliver a powerful punch, Ferral rolled his eyes, spinning around his pen. He stopped her punch with the bottom of his pen, his fingers were transformed. Savannah gritted her teeth with anger as she continued her assault, jumping back and lunged again to launch a series of punches and kicks. Ferral cocked his head while he smirked on, flicking his pen into the air and transforming his entire hand. He blocked each one of Savannah’s attacks, then side-stepping to grab her right wrist and throw her on the ground. He lifted his hand into the air as it detransformed, grabbing and catching his pen as it fell back down. “I never understood the pride thing. Sure, we’ve all got it, but in a real fight opponents usually don’t care.” He closed his eyes and shrugged, “But maybe I’ve just lost my touch with battle etiquette, it has been a while.” His eyes shot open as he felt a wind brush behind him, he slowly moved his eyes to peer behind him and in a split second caught a punch with his prosthetic hand, dropping his journal. He looked back to see Venus was the one who attacked him.

“You know I can’t be fooled twice.” He said. “I’m more surprised at the fact your arm didn’t crumble like it did the last time.” She remarked. “I added stronger shock absorbers and a little bit of extra padding inside my glove.” “Even when it’s not an actual part of you, you still find a way to evolve your body. Nothing short of impressive.” The other three stared at Ferral and Veunus, annoyed their sparring was interrupted. “Hey! You two wanna make out, DO IT ON YOUR OWN TIME.” Loni jeered. “I’d rather eat a brick.” “As intriguing as an idea that would be, I actually came to tell you guys your time in the Sparring Room is over.” They groaned and grumbled. “Look, we might work here but that doesn’t give us special benefits,” Venus lectured, “We’ve got paying members who need to use this room too.” “Totally unfair,” Yuri protested, “Then why can’t we use Leona’s training room upstairs?” “Because she’s the owner of this place,” Ferral interjected, “All this was because of her.” “Says the guy that CAN use it.” Loni commented. “I’m the one who keeps this place from going down the toilet from debt and the reason you lot get your paychecks.” They continued to groan but didn’t argue further and they all left the room back to the main workout area where all sorts of experiments gathered. Some don’t even come to work out, but simply to have a place to come to and socialize.

The four lionesses split up, either to help someone or work the front desk. It was a small community, most won’t think much of it, but this was a safe haven for a lot of people. And there were very few of those. Ferral simply lay against the front desk and worked in his journal. As he worked, he heard the sound of the automatic doors open. “AL OLD BUDDY!” Ferral looked up to see Hyde the hyena experiment standing over him. He smiled, “Hey Hyde, haven’t seen you a while,” He got up and the two bumped fists, “Was starting to think you kicked the bucket, old man.” Hyde laughed, “Nah, I just had to go out of town for a few days to help an old friend move. So what’s been new with you, Al? Gonna assume not much seeing as you still got your head crammed in that little book.” “A future scientist’s work is never done.” Hyde chuckled and patted Ferral’s shoulders, “Never change, kid. See you around.” He nodded, “Yeah.” After Hyde left, Ferral slid back down and went back to his journal. Yuri came out from behind the desk and sat next to Ferral. “He’s made a good point, Ferral,” He turned to look at her, “We need to find you another hobby. That or a girlfriend.” “I could fill that part.” Venus replied, looking down at the two with her cheek on her hand. “Not in a million years,” Ferral said, “And look, I’ve got tons of other hobbies, this one just takes up more of my attention.” “He’s said for the last six months,” Yuri stated, “I’m starting to think you don’t know what having other hobbies is, Ferral.” He scoffed, “Whatever.” Closing his journal, Ferral got up and walked off. Heading to the very back of the building, he opened the door, hopped on his bike, and rode off.

After about two hours of riding through the city, Ferral finally reached his destination. An abandoned school right in front of a large forest. As he wandered through the forest and got deeper, he could hear the familiar sound of a woman singing. So he began to quietly sneak toward the sound, getting closer and closer. As he got closer, he could see the woman, singing while picking apples from the trees. He grinned mischievously and as he got closer, the woman stopped singing, causing Ferral to stop. “You might as well come out, Ferral.” She called out. He popped up from behind the bushes, “How’d you know?” She looked at him, unamused, “You’ve pulled this little prank a few times too many. I would be disappointed in myself if I COULDN’T see you coming.” He chuckled embarassedly, “You got me, Ms. Avery.” “It’s been quite some time, Ferral. A whole year and a half of memory serves me right. What brings you out here?” “I’ve been super busy with school and just adult stuff, you know.” She smiled, “Oh yes, I know all about that dare adult stuff.” The two laughed. “Hey, is Mr. Bose around?” “Yes, but if this is about training, I should warn you he hasn’t been feeling well for a few months.” Hearing that concerned Ferral, “Well, we don’t have to train, I mostly just wanted to see how you guys were doing. Like you said, it’s been a long time since I’ve visited.” She nodded, “That’s right, let’s go then.” As the two walked even deeper into the forest, Ferral told about all the stuff he’d been doing since his last visit, keeping out the stuff about his research. It wasn’t something he was ready to share with too many people.

Once they got to Avery and Bose’s house, the two saw Mr. Bose on top of a large long red pillar that was in the training area he and Ferral would use. “HONEY! FERRAL CAME TO VISIT!” Ms. Avery called out. “FERRAL?” He asked, jumping down and landing with a bit of a stumble. Ms. Avery was about to help him, but he stopped her, regaining himself. “Hello, Ferral. It’s been so long, my boy.” Ferral smiled, “Hey, Mr. Bose.” The two reached for a handshake, but Bose stopped to pull away, then turned to start coffing loudly. Ms. Avery went over to comfort him, and once he stopped, he turned back around, holding a white handkerchief. Ferral gasped a little when he noticed the splotches of blood it had. “Mr. Bose….are you okay?” He asked, reaching out his hand concerned. “Yes yes, I’m fine. Just been under the weather a little, nothing serious.” Ferral knew it was something more, but he knew they wouldn’t want him to worry. He told himself he’d come back with a medicine kit for his next visit. “Well, I’m going to go inside to make us some lunch,” Ms. Avery said, “Ferral, care to join us?” He was still distracted for a moment before snapping back and answering. “Y-Yeah.” He replied, putting on a fake smile to mask his concern. As Avery cooked them lunch, Ferral had offered to help, but she politely declined his offer. “So Ferral, How’ve you been?” Mr. Bose asked. “Fine, busy with school. Nothing too exciting.” “I’m sure that tournament you were in five years ago was enough excitement to last you a while, huh?” He joked. Ferral chuckled, “Something like that.” Once Ms. Avery was finished cooking, the three sat around the table and dug in. Ferral tried to enjoy himself, but he couldn’t stop what happened to Mr. Bose from eating at the back of his mind.

After lunch, he told them it was time for him to go back to the city. So the three walked outside, and Ms. Avery hugged Ferral. “It was so nice to see you again, Ferral.” “Yeah.” The two smiled at each other, then Ferral turned to Mr. Bose who stuck out his hand again for a handshake, but Ferral hugged him instead. The two held each other tightly, “Please get better soon, Mr. Bose.” Ferral said. “Don’t worry, my boy, I will.” The two separated, then Ferral turned and ran off to grab his back and head back into the city. He looked back and waved them goodbye, and they did the same. “Come back again soon, Ferral!” Ms. Avery shouted. “I will!” He replied. He had to. He knew he had to.