Workshop - Desecration Arc

Kage sent Wisteria, Hiroshi and Tomokazu up to continue running the track. They hit the ground running so hard, the arena groaned in distress, struggling to keep up with the sheer force they were generating from speed alone. 

The mentor smirked to himself. He had used this same contraption to reach the speed of light when he was still trying to get stronger, as well as the Gods themselves. That was fifteen years ago. Now, here it was, helping to train three young people to kill those same Gods that had lost their way.

Kage thought it was poetry.

He looked down at Bibi, who had her eyes fixed on the arena, glowing brightly.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kage asked his student, curious as to what was on the girl's mind. Bibi shook her head, and gave a shallow laugh, almost as if it was sad or sarcastic.

"I'm never going to get to that level, am I?"

"I wouldn't say that. Hold onto my arm, I have something to show you," Kage smiled, reaching his hand down to her. Bibi hesitated, unsure of what the plan was. However, she eventually put out her hand, allowing Kage to take it. 

He gave her a small smile.

"You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Bibi muttered, and within the blink of an eye, Kage used his teleportation magic to transport them away from the arena.

Bibi closed her eyes. She was scared. The woman had no idea where her mentor was taking her, and why her training was different. She felt the wind flying by on her face, and it was calming. Soothing. Almost too calm.

"Well, what do you think, Bibi?" Kage asked, letting go of Bibi's arm. The woman took a second to get her bearings. She slowly opened her eyes, looking around the room that she had just been teleported to.

Her jaw dropped to the floor as she looked around. She felt like she had be teleported to paradise. Kage had taken her to a workshop. It was messy as anything, with cute, oak tables dotted all around, along with the junk that lined them. A few workers occupied the workshop, if you could call it that, and they went about their business, looking at different pieces of metal and examining them.

"You told me before that you and your father were inventors. I know this isn't exactly a laboratory...but it was the best I could find," Kage said, putting a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "So, do you like it?"

"K-Kage! I love it! Thank you!" The girl couldn't contain her excitement as she flung herself into Kage's arms, and kicked her feet back like crazy. Kage hugged her back, liking the warm embrace a lot more than he realized.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. You still need to work extra hard to get as fast as the others," Kage laughed softly, while Bibi blushed the color of a tomato.

"Y-you shouldn't talk to your students like that!"

"You're right. I talk to my friends like that."

Bibi froze for a second, looking deeply into the war veteran's eyes. Despite being in his early forties, the man's eyes were filled of despair, regret, suffering.

Trauma.

"I hadn't talked to anybody since the war was stalled. I lost...so many people. My friends. My family. My love interest," he sighed. "I thought that I could never open up to anyone ever again. That I couldn't form an attachment anymore. You four...you four are different."

"You make me think that the world has a bright future, with flowers, suns and rainbows. That children will grow up, laughing and smiling, without ever feeling a hint of sadness, because the Gods will be no more," he continued, reminiscing about the old days, and thinking about the future to come.

"We will do everything in our power to eliminate them all, Kage!" Bibi exclaimed, putting more light on the situation.

"I know you will," Kage stated with a warm smile. It was if he was talking to the daughter he never had. "I will give you all the information I have on my abilities, so that you can go so fast, you can teleport."

"So, I need to learn teleportation?" Bibi asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Yes. You can try to find a way to run the speed of light, but even then, teleporting somewhere will always be faster. Not to mention, since your attacks are all explosion based, you fly into the air a lot. You won't be running anywhere, unless you had manna."

Bibi looked down, slightly disappointed. However, that quickly turned to excitement.

"I have an idea! Please, tell me all there is to know about your power, Kage!" She begged him.

"Calm down! I was going to anyway!" Kage chuckled, gestering his hand to one of the many messy benches. "Sit down and listen up. I'll tell you everything I know, and my capabilities with this power."

For the next six months, the four students, including Kage himself, trained really hard. They wanted to reach the status of 'God', to be able to go the speed of light, and finally begin hunting them down. Wisteria, Hiroshi and Tomokazu ran like wild horses, and Bibi studied until she felt her eyes popping out of her head.

The fruits of their labour was finally about to be shown, at the second edition of the Great Encounter Battle Tournament.

It was the present day, and Hiroshi had stopped a light-speed attack. His clone looked at him, confused. He wasn't told about this in his report. Nevertheless, Number One took a powerful stance, planning to take his foe head on, no holding back.

"Go on then! Come get me!" He hissed, trying to provoke Hiroshi, who just smiled in pity.

"Oh, I will, don't you worry. Besides...there's some new abilities I want to test out."