Ch 39: Training Finale - Just Smile
Quick Summary: A rough start in teaching heroes how to fight like the humans from their world, but it works out. Something upsets the MTT, so Nightmare fixes the issue.
WARNINGS: Headcanons, The skellies get PTSD, except for Cross... And there's more tickles.😊
This chapter is LLOOOOOOOOOONNNGG!!!
______________________________________________
Nightmare had decided he'd train the New Gods himself since he's already fought them before... And knows how to get their souls to react to certain situations.
So he had the JLA members line up in order to get a better understanding on how they work, since he's never actually had a fair fight with any of them.
"Welcome... So now that ALL of you are present..." Aquaman, the King of Atlantis, and Hal Jordan, another Green Lantern, had joined in on the training. "I'm going to figure out which of my subordinates you'll each train under."
Nightmare examined each of their souls carefully... he honestly had trouble at first since there's some form of determination in each of them, but it wasn't their soul trait. How confusing.
Eventually, he figured them out.
"Alright... I'm sure you know us by name, so here's the verdict..." He summoned the other skellies (except for Blue and Dream). "Horror... You train Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman... You remember who they are, right?"
Horror grinned happily. "The Lady, the Blue one, and... The Fish Whisperer..."
"Mhm... Killer, you train Batman and Cyborg... I'm sure you know why.~"
"Oh, yeah... Heheheh.~" His sinister smile sent a chill up Cyborg's spine.
The hooded skeleton looked up at his Boss.
"You'll be having fun with the Green Lanterns and the Martian."
"Hell yeah." He looked at them, his eye lights glowing past his darkened face as a smile crept its way on his face. The sight alone made both John and Hal nervous. J'on wasn't afraid... Yet.~
"Which leaves Cross here to handle the speedsters."
"I understand, Nightmare." Cross knew that the only reason he was training them is because his ultra instincts will help him predict their movements.
Superspeed or not, they knew he'd be difficult to handle... Which is why they have to train for that.
"Now, as you know, Dream and Blue are doing something else in order to try and stall Shattered... It's Top Secret, so I won't discuss this any further." And neither will I, no spoilers.~😈
"Well, I'm off... have fun!~" Nightmare became a puddle of goop as he slowly slithered away.
______________________________________________
Hmm... I wonder... "Hey, Fish Guy."
He turned towards me. "Yes?"
"Can you do anything besides speak to sea creatures and swim really fast...?"
"I have super strength... However, I fight better underwater."
"Hm... What weapons do you use?"
"My hook hand and my trident."
". . . I might have to train you separately."
After having a hard time thinking, I FINALLY figured out what to do! They might have super strength, but I've fought against Brainiac with my bare hands...! Ok, so it might've been inside my head, but it still counts...! Anyways, what was I doing...? Oh yeah! "Alrighty... Come with me!"
I led them to the Bug World... hopefully that thing is still there.
"So, what are we doing here?" Superman spoke up, slightly worried about the people living down here.
"Listen, Buddy, I'm trying to find a spot in the ground that's thick and hollow... so let me do my thing."
They shrugged in confusion.
Finally, there was a spot in the ground that was harder than the natural soil surrounding us. This was it. "Alright, feel this."
Each of them felt it, not sure what this metallic thing is on the ground.
"I don't know how big this thing in the ground is... but we're gonna figure that out." I lied, I've been in there before.
"Aren't we supposed to be training based on our soul traits?" Wonder Woman was dumbfounded. So were the others.
"You are... haven't you been paying attention...? Well, regardless, I'm not recapping... So you'll have to figure it out on your own... Anyways...! We are gonna dig through this metal...! And by 'we' I mean you guys."
______________________________________________
"Where are we going?" This guy... has been asking me where we're going... for the hundredth time!
"PATIENCE...! At least TRY and do what the Bat's doing!" He was silently following without making a fuss... perfect.~ "We're here now, HAPPY!?"
"Good... now, here's what we're doing... Cyborg here is gonna shoot his most powerful weapon at Bats and-"
"SHHHHHHH...! I'm not finished...~"
"It's fine, Vic... I'll be fine." Batman gave him some reassurance.
". . ." Man this guy's soft AF!
"As I was saying... Bats here is gonna move out the way at the very... last... second... k?~"
They complied, which made me oh so VERY happy.~
"If you fail, I'll protect you from the blast... But remember... Life only gives you ONE chance... And Cyborg will have to recharge between every blast...~"
I put them in position. "You ready...?~"
Cyborg nodded, but he's clearly fearful for the well-being of his college.
Batman, as good as he was in hiding it, was also afraid... Good... Fear is what gets the job done best.~
______________________________________________
Why is he still staring at us? "Um... Hello...?" John seems a little nervous around me... Heh... Funny.
"He's not gonna budge, is he?" Hal is a bit overconfident... Nothing I can't fix.
The Alien looks like he's trying to read my mind... is that true, Martian?
"Apologies, I was just making sure you weren't planning on killing us."
"That's not in my job description, sadly, so you're off the hook... And can you two stop staring...? You're embarrassing yourselves."
They looked away quickly.
"Much better... K, I know what to do now... Don't freak out." I trapped the Martian with blue attacks.
He tried moving... idiot.
"I said not to freak out... it hurts more if you move... hold still please."
He listened this time. He was surprised when the pain stopped.
"Now stay there... I'm going to fight these two now... each of you will take turns being captured as I fight the next two... understand?"
They nodded in agreement.
"Good... I won't hold back, either... so good luck."
Let the mind games begin.
______________________________________________
"So... all we have to do is... land a hit?" Barry Allen, the more mature of these two speedsters, was confused somehow.
"Yep... simple... and it has to deal a SIGNIFICANT amount of damage... you know how to do that, right?"
"You betcha." And Wally is the cocky one.
"Ok... whatever means necessary... Think you can handle it?"
"Oh yeah, we got this, right Barry?"
"Never underestimate your opponent, Wally, you never know what someone is capable of... I'd rather not let it be too late in most scenarios."
Welp... a team is only as strong as its weakest link... this'll take a while. "Ok then, let's start."
In no time, the speedsters zoomed around me, creating a tornado to try and lift me into the air.
I used my gravity magic to hold my soul in place, then waited until one of them broke formation in order to try and land a hit on me.
Wally zipped towards me, but just before the punch landed, I dispelled my magic and teleported out of the tornado. I used bone magic to make them stumble off their feet, which made them fall flat on their faces.
I held them down with gravity magic, walked towards them, bent down, and whispered to taunt them. "Too slow... Pick up the pace, humans.~"
______________________________________________
They hardly did anything... You think by now they'd have figured out what to do. "Sigh... Hey."
"You're obviously not doing it right... maybe you need to have a little... PATIENCE."
The only one who was able to understand what I meant was Superman. "Everyone stop moving!"
They stopped while he used his super hearing. He heard a faint beeping noise coming from underground. He followed the sound until it was right below him. "There's something under here, but I don't know what it is."
I spoke up after the other two caught up. "Now that you're here, Ma'am, what are your thoughts...? Be honest with yourself and go with your gut... I mean that's what INTEGRITY is all about, right?"
I remember now. She flew into the air and kicked straight down onto the area where the beeping noise was located. A small explosion occurred and the floor collapsed as we fell. Superman grabbed Aquaman and Wonder Woman grabbed me before we slowly continued our descent.
Once we were at the bottom, odd creatures appeared, startling the humans.
I walked towards them. "Be BRAVE and keep moving... no matter how afraid you are."
They followed, but as the creatures came closer, they were about to start attacking.
I spoke up. "No attacking... Just. Keep. Moving." They kept going and each creature phased through us. "See...? Sometimes you just gotta be BRAVE."
They seemed to question how I knew exactly what to do if I've never been down here before... Little do they know, I just have very good intuition... And maybe I actually HAVE been here before... They'll probably ask me later, though.
Eventually, we made our way to a drop off. I looked to the left and found a small, narrow path that led down to the bottom. I knew something was up, so before those two started flying down, I stopped them.
Superman looked back at me. "Why?"
"Let me try something." I grabbed a boulder and threw it into the pit. It hadn't even made it that far down, and flames suddenly began spewing from the pit, but some sort of spell prevented the fire from touching the narrow path. "Heh... hope none of you are afraid of heights... we'll still be able to fall, but the fire can't hurt us there... k?"
They understood what they had to do.
We shimmied to the left for a while until the fire shot upward again. To prevent anyone from falling, I reminded them about the more important thing to worry about... NOT falling.
"Focus on the task at hand...! Don't get distracted...! Have some PERSEVERANCE and willpower!"
It got hotter and hotter until it suddenly became as cold as ice. The fire stopped and a sudden blizzard smacked us in the face. We eventually made it to the bottom and noticed something moving in the distance. Superman squinted before saying it was some sort of metal circle that said 'break me' on it.
It would've been easy if it wasn't miles away from us... And if there wasn't a giant dropoff into an abyss between us and the target.
"I don't have a long range weapon..." Wonder Woman seemed disappointed in herself for not being more prepared.
"Neither do I." So did Superman.
"I don't think my hook can go that far." Aquaman began to doubt himself.
"Really...? You want to give up NOW after coming so far...?"
We're not prepared to handle this! We're trapped forever! There's no way!
They were being too loud. I stayed silent until I heard one of them say something stupid... It's not fair!
"Not fair...? NOT FAIR!?" I punched a hole in the wall closest to me. "Let me tell you what's NOT FAIR...! Not fair is someone you thought you could trust killing your king! Not fair is a close friend, who grew up with you, tearing out your skull and eye, using it as a power source for a machine that keeps everyone alive! Not fair is watching your brother resort to eating humans because there's no fucking food left! Not fair is having to starve yourself for years because you refuse to eat humans but you can't fucking control yourself! Not fair is being able to eat and learn to cook and bring food back to everyone but they still can't LEAVE...!" I lost my breath, greedily inhaling and exhaling the air. I sobbed, but hid my face before they noticed the tears.
Silence. I didn't hear anything. No voices, no footsteps... just silence... until one of them spoke up. "I, myself, am a king... Of course you probably don't care... Nor will you care for what I'm about to say to you... I have a brother as well... But he... Murdered my mother and blamed it on the humans living on the surface... We stopped him and he's behind bars now... But I still love and care for my brother... Do what you want with that information, I don't care... Why am I telling you this, I don't know... Just know that... I was listening to you the whole time... And I apologize for acting so childish... I'm ready to figure out how to leave now... And ready to keep listening to you... Sir."
I looked in their direction... that was the fish guy, right? ". . . Do you two... Feel the same?"
I took a deep breath and continued to teach. "Well... this'll probably only work if Superman does it."
"Can your heat vision reach?"
"I think... but it won't destroy the target."
"Nevermind then- Oh, actually...! One moment, I'll be right back." Since it was close, I teleported to the icy area we were in and grabbed a long, thick icicle shard. I brought it back and handed it to Aquaman. "Can you sculpt this into an arrowhead?"
"Please... call me Diana."
". . . Diana, there's some foliage by the door... is it strong enough to make a bow and arrow?"
She checks the strength of the roots, vines, and branches that were scattered around the door. "Yes, they are really strong."
"That's good... Superman, may I speak to you for a second until they finish?"
"Take a good LONG look at your target... how DETERMINED are you to hit it?"
"NO... how DETERMINED are you to escape?"
"Prove it... by hitting that sign...! But first, keep examining it."
Aquaman had finished sculpting the arrowhead, Diana had finished crafting the bow and attached the arrowhead to the rest of the arrow.
"Now listen closely... I know Diana can use a bow and arrow, so she'll shoot at it with that. Superman can shoot it with his heat vision... I can use my axe... Aquaman... I'm going to throw you, but be careful... We have to hit it at about the same time... Got it?"
They each agreed and got in position. "When I say go, I'll throw him... Diana will shoot it and, at the same time, I'll throw my axe... then, after 30 seconds pass, Superman will use his heat vision... Okay...?"
"Okay!" For the first time today, we were a team... I can't believe they trusted me enough to lead them... even though it was forced upon us.
"GO!" It all happened so fast, but... it worked! We made it out. We were DETERMINED enough to escape...!
So we'd be damned if we weren't DETERMINED enough to defeat Shattered!
We made our way back to the floating city.
"My training is done...! You all can go and get some rest... Soon we'll finally begin the plan... goodnight."
Diana smiled. "Goodnight, Horror... before you go... We have something to show you."
"Hm...?" I stepped closer. "What is it?"
They slowly grabbed me and gave me a hug. "This."
"Oh... um... thanks... this is... nice..." I yawned. "Oof, I'm bone-tired... I should really get to bed... g'night!"
They waved as I walked towards the room me and the other's are sharing.
______________________________________________
I honestly don't think this is gonna work... Guess we gotta change the plan because this robot is being dumb. "Cyborg... We need to talk."
He's breathing heavily... I guess maybe he deserves a break. "Coming..."
"Bats can listen if he wants."
They walked towards me... then I used blue attacks.
"What the-!?" Wow, they both said that in sync.
"Relax... as long as you don't move... it won't hurt."
They both did what I said.
"We're gonna switch things up a bit... And you have to LISTEN to me... k?"
They nodded in agreement.
"Okeydoke..." I summoned a gaster blaster. "I won't resort to this yet... but at some point, I'll use it without saying anything... listen for the sound, then avoid the blast... if the blast is blue, don't move, it won't hurt... if the blast is orange, keep moving, you can't stand still..." I made it disappear. "Any questions...?"
Bats spoke up. "Will it start after you've gotten rid of these attacks?"
"Yep... now let's do this!"
They were more successful... now HOPEFULLY I can teach Cyborg how to use these kinds of blasts.
"Hey, Cyborg...! I know what you can do!~" If the first tactic doesn't work, Nightmare gave me another option to try.
"Please, call me Killer... anyways... I'm going to teach you how to use blue and orange attacks."
"And what should I be doing...?" Bats, right... Totally didn't forget about you.
"Um... Give me a minute... You don't like using guns, right?"
"Hm... Well, I have somewhat of an idea... But... Hm..." Oh, there's a tree in the distance. "See that tree back there...?"
"How far can you throw your bat-a-rang?"
"About 20 feet." Srsly, I'm not capping...! Look it up.
Cap...? What...? Whatever. "Alright."
That... was definitely about 20 feet... We sure dodged a bullet when we took over the Watch Tower, huh? "Hoooolllllyyyyyyy shhhhhhiiiiiiitttttt..."
"Killer?" Cyborg snapped me out of my trance.
"Sorry... Bats, work on increasing the speed of your throws."
"Hush...! Just trust me, okay...?~"
"Okay... keep throwing until I'm done training Cyborg."
"Great... remember to stay DETERMINED!" I made my way back to Cyborg. "Okay buddy... I am gonna summon a wall of bones and you are gonna shoot at it... That's it."
Both of them kept going for about half the day.
I surprised them here and there with a blaster and forced Cyborg to dodge them while still firing his weapon. Bats was freakishly flexible, so he was dodging while throwing the bat-a-rangs... jeez... I don't wanna meet whoever trained him.
Now it was magic time.~ "Hey Bats...!~ I have some Words Of Wisdom for ya...!~"
He quickly glanced at me before looking right back at the tree.
"Imagine the tree is the one that killed your parents...!~ Bring them to JUSTICE...!~"
All of a sudden, he stopped and glared at me.
I teleported closer so I could stop yelling. "What...?~ Don't think for a second that Shattered isn't gonna try pulling out the 'dead parents' card on ya.~"
Cyborg overheard what I said and walked towards us. "Oh yeah!? What makes you say that, huh!?"
"Because I know how he works...~ He held me prisoner once back in our universe...~ I had to teach myself how to ignore him.~" My soul is acting weird right now.
"Yeah, well, maybe you should actually try to care."
"... I can't...~ Care I mean...~"
Bats spoke up. "What does that mean?"
"I don't have emotions...~ My soul changes a lot...~ And I have a split personality...~ Or so I've been told.~" My soul morphed from the target shape into and upside down heart. "As you just witnessed."
"Hm, now I'm curious... what else are you capable of with this odd soul of yours?" That statement made my I twitch.
HMHMHMHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
"KILLER!" I instinctively pulled my knife out and almost stabbed Cyborg before Bats took it out of my hand.
"Hey! Calm down!" I took deep breaths before realizing that I had another panic attack.
"Oh... heh... whoopsies... my bad... just... don't start trying shit with my soul, k...? Brings back... bad memories..."
"... Alright, I won't." I didn't expect him to actually back off. "Shall we keep training...?"
"Yeah... and if it means anything... then I'm sorry for bringing up your parents... just don't want ya to fold once Shattered starts messing with ya... you understand, right?"
"Mhm... he's on Qward of all places, so yes... I understand."
"Great... you keep doing your thing while I go back over here with Cyborg."
Meanwhile with Cyborg, I have some Words of Wisdom for him too. "The only things you need to work on are PATIENCE and BRAVERY... Start with the one that seems to be compatible with you, as a person, first, then do the other one."
"I see... I think I get it... and Killer?"
"Yes.~" My soul went back to a target... odd... it's not supposed to do that, yet.
"I appreciate the training you're providing... I just hope it's enough."
"It'll be enough... don't worry.~"
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because it has to be enough.~"
"Let's get started before Bats finishes before you.~"
Welp... they did it... Bats can throw his bat-a-rangs much farther and faster than before... Cyborg can pretty much use a Gaster Blaster, but he's gonna need to make smaller ones too... And finally... I can go to sleep.
But before I did, I made sure to congratulate them. "Nice work, guys... now since we did all of this in one day, tomorrow you can get some more rest... or you can keep practicing, that's your choice, not mine."
They both thanked me, in their own way, and left... guess I'm going back to the pad.
______________________________________________
Noises of Gaster Blasters and guns being fired could be heard for miles... At least, that's how loud it sounded to me, anyways.
I kept this up until I needed a break... Hey, I'm the one that had to keep fighting... They each had their breaks being trapped in blue attacks.
"You're kinda ruthless, aren't you?" John was slightly out of breath.
"Yeah you... don't show any mercy... Oof." Hal was completely out of breath.
"Wasn't too bad..." J'on wasn't tired at all.
"Hm... You aren't tired at all, huh...?" I don't know why, but hearing that made me feel insulted.
"Not at all." Not for long, Martian.~
"You two spar against each other for about a few hours after you've caught your breath... I'm going to keep fighting Manhunter."
They left the two of us alone to continue sparring... But first.~
"I wanna say something real quick."
"What is it?" J'on was being cautious.
"Do you know what sound an alien with PTSD makes?~"
Now he began to sweat. "No...?"
Liar. I teleported behind him. "Then let me DEMONSTRATE!" I summoned a blaster and immediately shot it at him.
He dodged then shape shifted into a creature made of water.
He zigzagged, dodging every single blast until he caught up to me, trapping me in his constrictive grasp. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"
I didn't respond. Instead I laughed maniacally and summoned sharp bones underneath him, causing him to scream in pain and drop me.
Now free, I teleported away and summoned a large amount of blasters at once and fired them at him.
He quickly shifted into a dragon and breathed fire in order to overwhelm the blasters.
Since he was so focused on the blasters, he didn't realize that I had teleported behind him. I deactivated the blasters and trapped him in blue attacks.
"Where did you come from!?"
"Shhhh, relax... you tired, yet...?~"
"Oh...? So you don't give up?"
"Yeah...? Just like on Mars...?"
He was pissed now... took him long enough. "Don't you DARE bring that up!"
"There he is...~ Now that you know who you're dealing with... are you ready to ACTUALLY fight...?" I leaned closer and whispered. "Or are you just gonna let someone die again?~"
And, as I predicted, a large amount of DETERMINATION exploded from his soul.
Still in his dragon form, he roared as he grew more heads, becoming a Hydra, and fire spewed from every inch of his body.
I teleported away, still holding him down with my blue magic. However, something unexpected happened. He grabbed me from behind and held me down with all... six... of his arms and his legs. I tried using my magic to teleport out, but he held my arms behind my back and pinned my legs down with his. "Not so fast! I remember how vulnerable you are when restricted like this! Now then... do YOU give up?"
No...! Get away...! I won't let you hurt anyone else...! I'll make you quit...! I'LL KILL YOU...!
"Dust, calm down... relax... it's me, J'on, remember?"
"Huh...? Wha...? Oh... right... I'm not... there anymore..." I calmed down and he let me go. I stood up and took a deep breath. "I apologize for my behavior... Just wanted you to stop holding back from me... Y'know, since pushing past your limits is kinda the whole point of all this training, anyways."
"Yes, I understand... and I'm sorry for causing you to have a mental breakdown... I was also having a few flashbacks."
"No, don't apologize... you were doing what you thought would be best for me... if anything, it opened my eyes more on how to face someone, or something, like you... a formidable adversary."
"Thanks... you're quite formidable yourself..." I paused. "J'on."
He stared at me. He said my name this time... does he respect me, now? He smiled. "Is there anything else you wish to teach me?"
"Nope... just wanted to see your full potential... in case you end up having to join unexpected battles. You're mainly the sneaky one that'll phase through walls and stay out of sight, etc... you understand, right?"
"Oh, I understand... so you're saying that if I'm spotted by Shattered, I'll have to do what I did with you to stall him for as long as I possibly can, correct?"
I told J'on to rest after making small talk then teleported to the Green Lanterns afterwards. Only to find them standing there... Slackers.
I walked towards them... only to hear a new voice. It was emitting from a large lantern Hal was holding. The voice was screaming in agony, crying for help... A distress call. The sounds of screams and flesh being torn open could be heard... Then, after a long silence, I heard a voice I haven't heard in a long time. "Hal Jordan... John Stewart... You are the only Green Lanterns left in the entire universe... Come and avenge your fellow Lanterns if you dare... Or be cowards... Your choice... See you reeeaaal sooooonn~ MwuahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAAA-!" The message ended.
I trapped them both in blue attacks. "Don't you even THINK for a SECOND about trying to fight him on your own!"
"But we have to avenge them!"
"And you will...! But you won't be able to if you're DEAD...! Just THINK for a minute, damnit!"
"We have a plan... a plan that WILL work... But only if you stay and help..."
"What if there's survivors?" John was extremely loyal.
"Then they'll have to keep surviving until this is all over."
Hal looked like he was about to pass out.
"I'm alright John... It's just... Unexpected."
I spoke up. "I expected this to happen at some point... just happened sooner than I thought."
"What I meant was that I expected Shattered to retaliate, but never expected it to happen so soon... Or that every Green Lantern in existence would be his first target."
John just nodded in response.
"So... want to keep training now, or...?"
"Good... let's wrap this up."
Eventually the training was over and I went back to our home, also finding the others there.
Wonder what they did today.
______________________________________________
This went on for about 30 minutes before I realized that I needed to try a different approach. "Okay, guys... How about you take a break and come up with a plan?"
"Would that work, Barry?"
"Yes, and I was hoping we'd have time to think of one until you ran ahead and made that first tornado."
"My bad." Wally crossed his arms.
I interrupted them before their conversation escalated any further. "I'll be over there if you need me."
I teleported to a tree in the distance.
The silence reminded me of the anti-void... It was peaceful... Until Ink ruined the moment... Wonder why I even trusted him in the first place... Oh well.
"Are you two ready, yet!?"
"Finally!" I teleported back to them. "Start whenever you'd like."
They glanced at each other and began to create another tornado.
I couldn't help but notice how the energy in the air felt... charged...?
Suddenly, lightning struck continuously, almost hitting me. Are they TRYING to kill me...!? No, they weren't... Their plan was brilliant... Because I lost focus.
One of them charged towards me, but this time it was Barry. I thought they were just going to keep repeating their mistakes by doing this, mainly because I was disoriented by the lightning and thunder, but I was wrong.
As if he were a ghost, he phased through me, causing me to instinctively teleport out of the tornado out of fear.
After escaping, I looked at the tornado, watching both of them run around. I used my blue attacks to repeat the process, but they never stopped, and... Well... By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late.
They tackled me from behind, pinning me to the ground... then they hit my back pretty hard, but not enough to knock me out.
However, it was hard enough to take a good chunk off of my HP... That was it.
"Heh... well played... you had a plan this whole time, didn't you two?"
Barry chuckled. "We wanted you to get used to defeating us so that way your instincts could be outsmarted."
"So you discussed a plan once you were assigned to me?"
Wally's eyes darted back and forth. "Well... no... um... Barry?"
"Ah, I see... so you basically have an area between time and space were you can talk and do things for as long as you want, and it only would've happened within... milliseconds?"
"Way faster than that, but essentially, yes." Barry thought that correcting me would be a smart idea at that moment.
"Whatever, nerd... welp, that's all Boss wanted me to get you to do... so... I'll just be going... now-"
"Wait! Cross, um... there's something I wanted to discuss with you... in private." He looked at Wally and the speedster took off, leaving just the two of us alone.
"How did you get your... speed?"
"Um... I was born with it...? Kinda?"
"Well, the thing with monsters is that you can gain speed with a good amount of training and I was apart of a royal guard, which required you to be fast and-"
"But you're as fast as a speedster."
"It's complicated, I know... but we monsters are made out of magic... and if our magic is stronger, then the magic in our bodies make us physically stronger and faster than what a normal human can do..."
"Hm... may I ask another question?"
". . . What's Nightmare ACTUALLY planning to do with us?"
"It's not my place to say, but if you listen to him, then nothing bad will happen... No one needs to die."
"Nothing, sorry... just worried."
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried too... but I trust Nightmare... with my life."
"I can see that..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "So there's really nothing else we need to learn?"
"Can the Yellow Lanterns use the Speed Force?"
"Then yes, you've learned everything you need to know."
"I just feel... under prepared."
"Yes, it doesn't seem like much, but when you fight a monster, there's certain things you are and aren't able to do... It's kinda like going into a completely different dimension when you initiate a battle, and vise versa."
"Okay... I think I get it."
"Don't worry, we'll win this war against Shattered... we just have to remain calm."
"Well... it was nice speaking with you, Cross."
"You too, Barry... have a good day."
We went our separate ways.
However, when I came back to the living quarters, I saw something wholesome.
______________________________________________
Each of them had a bad day.
Cross is still out training the speedsters, even though it was late, but they know he is having a better time then they were.
Horror wanted to speak up, but was afraid he'd start tearing up again, so he decided not to. The same could be said about Dust and Killer, especially after their Genocide Loop Flashbacks.
So they sat in their beds for a while...
______________________________________________
Those New Gods didn't need much training. Most of them already know what to do when we had our first battle. Dust and Horror had already fully prepared the weaker ones, so there wasn't much left to teach. I'm free for whoever has questions for me.
Oh, now what's this I'm sensing...? My MTT is down in the dumps...? Well... I am feeling a little... mischievous... why don't I pay them a visit?~
______________________________________________
There was a knock on the door.
Killer was the one to get up and open it and, to their surprise, it was Nightmare.
"Oh, hi Boss! Training done for the day!?"
"I've completely finished their training... Thankfully they're fast learners."
Horror spoke up next. "You seem to be in a really good mood, Boss."
Nightmare grinned happily, masking his true intentions. "Oh, you know me..." He walked towards the middle of the room so the each skeleton was right next to him. "Sometimes something amusing happens." He began to smirk mischievously, alarming the trio. "Something like, I don't know... This!"
Nightmare quickly grabbed each of them with a tentacle and, before any of them could process what had just happened, he immediately began to tickle their ribs.
"AAAHHHHHH! NOHOOHOHOHO! BAHAHAHAHAOOOOSS! YOUHU ALREADY GOHOHOT ME REHEHEHEHEECEEENTLEHEHEHEYYY!!!!!" Killer started kicking his legs, desperately trying to escape.
"WAIT- AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! BOHOSS PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEAASSE!!! ITHIHIHIT'S TOOHOOHOOHOO MUUUUCH!!! AHHHAHAHAHA!" Poor Dust was flailing around like a ragdoll and, as if it wasn't already embarrassing enough, he was already tearing up from the intensity.
"Hmhmhmhmhmhm, b-b-bohohohohohossssss!" Horror tried holding it in, but Nightmare wasn't going to let him.
"Oh, so you think you can just hold out on me like you're in charge?~ Think again.~" Nightmare began to tickle Horror's hip bones near the spine, and Horror screeched, unable to hold back any longer.
"EEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEEEKK!!!! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAT THEEEHEHEHEHHEEHRE!!!! HOHOHOHOHOHOHOLY SHHHHIIIHIHIHIHIIIIIT!!!" Horror didn't really like the sound of his high-pitched, squeaky laughter. Not to mention those embarrassing squeals Nightmare somehow got out of him.
But... He did enjoy being surrounded by the ones that care about him the most... He feels a lot better now. So did the other two.
After a few extra tickles, including a raspberry for each of them, he stopped to let them breathe.
Dust passed out immediately after he stopped.
Horror was well on his way to sleep soon after.
Killer wanted payback, but decided it'd be better to get it tomorrow when Nightmare least expects it... and he wants the others to join him as well, including Cross. That's a reference to something, and if you get it, then you earn a cookie 🍪😊!
Nightmare was also tired, so he rearranged the room so they could sleep together. He made a makeshift fort/giant sleeping bag.
Just as he was about to drift off, Cross slowly opened the door. "Oh wow... that looks comfy."
"You're free to join since your boyfriend is busy with Blue right now."
"Right... yeah." He blushed.
Nightmare smiled as he made room for one more.
Cross removed his weapons and his big coat before carefully laying down with them.
They each slept peacefully... even though it could be one of their last moments together.
______________________________________________
All done! I had a hard time writing the tickle part of the fic, but I finally did it!
This is the final episode of the Training Arc, so now we'll get to the Final Arc...
