The P.R.I.D.E.F.U.L.

Chapter 1: "Potential" "You have potential!" Those three words were what would change April's life forever. In the future, she would look back to realize that the moment she first heard that voice was when her journey of growth began. The exclamation surprised her to the point where she physically jumped. She whipped around to see the person who had snuck up on her while she spent her lunch break on the school roof. Gentle waves of wind rolled over both her and the stranger causing their hair to fly off to the side. He was a rather normal looking boy. His black hair was so long that his bangs still covered his eyes even as the breeze brushed against his locks. Despite the growing warmth of the spring weather, he wore an extremely baggy hoody which was so long that it rolled down to his upper thigh. Even though he stood on the sloped entrance door to the roof so that he could stand dramatically over her, she could tell that he was about a head taller than her. He pointed his right index finger at her. The shining conviction of what little she could see in the dark eyes behind his bangs intimidated her enough to force her to take a step back. "What?" April raised a hand to sweep her long, brown hair out of her bright blue eyes. Her lightly freckled button nose wrinkled in concern as the stranger jumped down from his perch. She suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. The cool wind rushing up the light blue sundress which covered her petite form reminded her of how vulnerable she was with no one else around to help her. "I said that you have potential!" the strange boy gave a huge smile that threatened to split his face into two. He pulled a card out of his pocket as he stepped up next to her. "Here!" April slowly reached out to take the business card, "Ancient Arts Dojo? Is this a karate thing?" "Kind of!" the boy was extremely loud. "Grampa teaches a wide range of stuff based on the person training. You should join." "Err, no thank you," April shook her head. The stranger deflated up hearing her refusal, "Oh. Well, that's okay then. I was just checking. Shel told me that I should be bold when I recruit people." "You know stalking might be a bit too bold," April muttered. "It's creepy that you followed me up here." "Huh?" the boy tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean? You came up here after me. I set up a picnic about five minutes ago. See?" She followed where he was pointing to see that there was in fact a picnic blanket set out. Her face immediately lit up with a blush as she realized that she technically followed him. There was no way that he could have set that up in the few seconds that it took her to walk from the door to the edge of the roof, "Err, sorry." "No need to be sorry," he smiled again. "I'm Caesar by the way. You want to eat with me and my friends? They're running a bit late, but they should be here soon. It's so nice out today that we had to get a good spot to enjoy the weather." "Caesar?" April shook her head. It wasn't her place to judge names. "Never mind. You know that it's against school rules to be on the roof, right?" He blinked behind his long bangs, "But you're up here too, right?" "I…" April turned to look back to look through the fence surrounding roof. The exterior grounds of the school were mostly empty except for a few custodians moving to their next job. "I guess I am. I just wanted to be alone." "Oops. Sorry about that," Caesar chuckled. "Do you want to be alone together?" She had no way to properly react to such a weird yet meaningful statement, "Err, no. I'll just leave." April quickly brushed by him to head back towards the exit. He joyfully waved at her retreating form, "Okay! Bye! See you in class!" Half-heartedly waving back over her shoulder at the weirdo, April rushed through the exit. Once the roof door slammed shut behind her, she immediately slumped in frustration. Sniffling for a few brief seconds, the girl trudged down the stairs. With each step, she felt the weight of the long day pressed down harder on her shoulders. As she made her way back to her classroom, she silently thanked the fact that the strange boy didn't notice that she didn't bring any lunch with her to the roof. Once the bell rang to signal the beginning of the afternoon classes, April transitioned from her 'impatiently waiting for lunch' phase to 'watching the clock tick away towards the end of the day' mood. She didn't even hate school. Sure, it was boring, but most things were. Nothing was too hard. It was more of a time waster than anything else. Most things seemed like a waste of her attention though. No, what made her desperately watch the clock was what came after the monotony had ended. As soon as the class ended and the teacher dismissed them, April grabbed her bag to try to make a break for the door of the classroom. Like always, she had already tucked her things away in advance to give her a clean sprint. To her dismay, she only managed to jump out of her chair before an arm wrapped around her shoulder to hold her in place. She immediately flinched under the familiar grip. "Hey there," the feminine voice drifted into her ear. "Where you heading in a hurry, Ape?" "Um, you know," April slowly turned her head to look at the young woman with a hold on her. "School sucks so much that I couldn't wait to get out of here, Fiona." Fiona released a bark of laughter. She reeled her head back so that April could get a clear view of her face from under her crimson baseball cap. Her black lipstick and eyeshadow stood in a stark contrast with her pale complexion. A few tiny scars on her chin and cheeks gave her a rougher look. The overly large leather jacket across her shoulders only further enhanced her punk appearance. One of the legs of her torn jeans was removed to show a toned leg trained for hard kicks with which April was all too familiar, "Fair point! But don't run out here too quick, ya know? Your friends might miss you. I mean, I didn't see you at lunch." "I-I wasn't feeling well," April muttered. "I was in the bathroom the whole time." "Ah. That's too bad," Fiona tightened her grip on April's slender shoulders. The thinner girl cringed in pain. "You're feeling better now, right?" April lowered her head, "Y-Yeah." "Good. Let's—" "Hey!" Both girls jumped at the new voice. Even Fiona flinched at the fiery tone of the new person. A girl with stunning sun-kissed skin strode towards them. Her long hair was tied into a tight pony tail without a single strand out of place. The mane was an odd crimson color which didn't seem to match her darker skin tone, but the color of her eyebrows hinted that the red was natural. Unlike the other girls, the newcomer was dressed for success. A loose white blouse accompanied black dress pants. Shining jewelry covered her wrists, neck, and ears. Fiona loosened her grip on April. Shelby Northwest was not a person to take lightly. Her family was highly rumored to be powerful, rich influences on the community. Some suspected that they had ties to the mafia. Shelby's burning intensity and no nonsense attitude only furthered the speculation. Very few were brave enough to confront her. Even fewer showed up to school again after getting on her bad side. "Why are you being so slow?" Shelby seemed to look by them. "Right after school. That's what you said." "Sorry, Shel!" the familiar voice of the boy from the roof made April's eyes widened. "I got distractedtedted." "Talk correctly," Shelby stated out of instinct but lacked venom in her words. April turned to see Caesar sitting at the desk behind her. He had yet to pack his bags. His eyes stared at her with a bright joy, "W-What are doing? Are you following me?" Caesar blinked, "No. I've sat behind you in last period since you transferred." He did? April quickly thought back to when she first transferred to Goodwill Central High. She had been so nervous that she hadn't really looked around at other people. Then her problems started quickly enough that she didn't even try to make friends. Her habit of watching the clock during last period was built so fast that she probably didn't notice such a normal looking guy sitting behind her. Shelby's sharp coal black eyes snapped to April as if she only recently noticed the other girls in between her and her target, "You know her?" "Yeah," Caesar nodded. "We met during lunch. She ran into me when rushing to the bathroom. Luckily, I didn't spill any of the picnic." Giving a sharp inhale, April's eyes grew wide as the boy expertly lied. She had expected him to call her out on the lie that she told to Fiona, but he proved to be surprisingly quick to back up her story. If she didn't know what really happened, she would have thought that he was telling the truth by the way his expression remained in a bright smile. Fiona slightly relaxed as the fake reality settled into her mind as truth. "Oh. She's the girl you tried to recruit? Really?" Shelby looked her up and down before scoffing. April shift uncomfortably. That's how it always was. When someone judged her, they always found her wanting. "Well, it was a start. I guess. Come on. I want our rematch." "Okay dokey!" Caesar roughly dumped his stuff in his bag before jumping to his feet. He moved up next to the girls in front of him. "Excuse me! Pardon me! Coming through!" The strange guy pushed himself in between April and Fiona. Anger flashed within Fiona's beady eyes. She looked ready to shove him but paused when she felt like she was trying to move a boulder. April squeaked when he gently grabbed her arm. Compared to Fiona's harsh grip from before, Caesar's grasp was that of kind guidance. Wanting the excuse to leave her harasser behind, April did not fight as the weirdo directed her out of the classroom. Rolling her eyes, Shelby followed after them, leaving a seething Fiona behind to contemplate what just happened. When they were outside the dull classroom to enter the buzzing hallway, Caesar released April. Now free, she glanced down at her wrist before moving her gaze to look at the rough hands which had somehow not hurt her despite the mighty power within them. His palm was covered in calluses and scars, as if they had been rubbed by sandpaper every day of his life. For a brief moment, she thought that she saw the black ink of a tattoo on the back of his right hand but quickly dismissed the curiosity as his sleeves hid everything but his fingertips. "She'll leave you alone for a bit," Caesar turned to look at her. She could feel him gazing into her soul. "But we won't be with you all the time. You sure that you don't want to take a self-defense class or two?" "N-No thank you," April fidgeted under his intense gaze. "I don't want to hurt people." "Neither do I, but you don't learn to fight so that you can hurt people," Caesar reached into his hoodie pocket to pull out a sandwich in a tiny baggy. "You learn to fight so that no one has to get hurt. After all, learning about violence teaches you the best way to avoid it. Just look at what happened back there." April reached out to take the sandwich, "What's this?" "I saved you some food!" Caesar smiled. "You looked hungry during lunch, but you didn't have any food." "I…" April's eyebrows rose. This guy was surprisingly perceptive. "Thanks. I need to go." Not wanting to stick around for Fiona to recover, April turned so that she could rush to her locker. As she moved, the voices of those that she left behind slowly began to fade, but she could make out most of their conversation. "What was that about?" Shelby questioned. "Nothing. Just being nice," Caesar shrugged. "Uh huh," Shelby grabbed him by the arm. "Whatever. Come on. I want that rematch." Caesar chuckled, "Okay!" April moved with the flowing crowd of students towards the exit of the school. She kept her head down in order to blend in with the others. As she stepped out of the large, brick school building, the sea of people began to part into several different sections. A large chunk of the people moved down the sidewalk to get to the buses which were along the parking lot. Some of the people went in the opposite direction to move further into the bustling city which surrounded them on all sides. April moved with the flow of students moving towards the buses but refused to board any of the crowded yellow vehicles. Instead, she continued past the school rides to seamlessly blending into crowds of people rushing through the busy streets of the city. Not ready to go to an empty home but also not willing to risk running into Fiona again, April moved through the busy roads to get to a coffee shop which was located close to a police department. Everywhere she stepped, she had to be careful not to knock into the seemingly uncountable number of people around her. She felt so tiny and insignificant in the shadow of the towering glass buildings around her. The rushing people below the boxed in walls of businesses reminded her of ants ignorantly working within the cramped ant farm. Once she got to her coffee shop, she ordered a muffin and sat at an outside table to watch the world continue to move without her. Cars sluggishly rolled along the packed pavement roads. Dozens of honking noises drowned out the loud curses of the drivers. The area was filled with police officers coming and going from their base, so despite their rudeness, none of the drivers were dumb enough to break the law. For their part, the tired cops seemed to ignore most people as long as they weren't a danger to the people around them. Feeling mostly safe in the area, April decided get through her homework. She finished her work rather swiftly. Sighing at the lack of time that she managed to burn through, she eventually decided to people watch. Numbly sitting on the outside of the coffee shop, she slowly nipped at her food while trying to find anything that could keep her attention. The monotony of the city eventually forced her eyes to watch a large screen on a building down the street which was advertising pro-wrestling matches and a street fight martial art tournament. She couldn't hold back her laughter at seeing some weird meathead with spikey blonde hair yelling about he was the greatest to ever live or something equally as stupid. Eventually, she was forced to leave when she finished her food as she lacked the funds to buy anything else from the shop. With nowhere else to go, April decided to head home. Throwing her bag over her shoulders, she moved down the sidewalks once more. The rush of the city had died down a bit to give her enough room that she didn't have to constantly avoid running into other people. After several minutes of walking, she moved from the towering steel of the business section of the city to a more subdued residential area. Almost all the homes looked exactly the same. Dull boxes set in a boring neighborhood. Only a few building stood out as different, and she assumed that they were old designs that had yet to be refurbished. April slowed her walk to leisurely drag her feet as she moved. The closer that she got to her home, the more that she continued to lower her pace until she was standing still. Head lowered, she sniffled a few times before glancing to the side to see a tree. Releasing a huff, she swung her leg around to kick the lumber. Feeling a bit better upon receiving a loud thud for her efforts, she repeated a process a few times. "You should put your hips into it more." The sudden voice made her jump. Whipping around, she saw Caesar for the third time that day, "Are you following me?!" Caesar once again appeared confused. Unlike at school, he was covered in sweat. His clothing was as baggy as usual but was now covered by weights latched to his body, "Huh? What do you mean? You're the one kicking the sacred tree outside of my dojo." Her eyes followed to where he pointed. Just like he said, the building had a sign which read 'Ancient Arts Dojo' over the entrance. While the second floor of the old structure was hidden from view, dozens of windows on the first floor allowed her to see the inside mat spread out along the ground. Several heavy bags were spread out over the cushioned flooring. A tall fence surrounded the building from the sides to the back. The gate was slightly cracked open from where Caesar popped up behind her. "O-Oh," April rubbed the back of her neck. She eyed the large wooden building in wonder. "I never noticed it was around here." "You can blame me. Family curse," Caesar shrugged. "I heard from Grampa that almost everyone overlooked my dad until he spoke up more. Even Mom." April slowly nodded, "I see." Caesar sighed, "I guess you're not here to train then?" "No," April coughed in embarrassment. "I was just heading home." "And you decided to kick our tree?" Caesar looked at the lumber. "Err, sorry." "Don't worry. If I haven't knocked it over, then you won't with kicks like those," Caesar's leg snapped up in a blur. His foot circled around until it almost hit the tree. Unlike her wild swing, he had complete control over his body as he moved. "Put your whole body into it. Especially your hips. That's how you get power." Her hand moved uncomfortably down to pull at the bottom of her dress, "Um…" "Oh right!" Caesar paused for a split second. "Hey! I'm not some sort of perv trying to get a peak up your dress! Geeze." "I…" April deflated under his intense outburst. "I'm sorry." "Hey," the annoyance faded from his eyes. "You don't have to apologize. If you want—" "Fool!" Caesar's hand snapped up to catch a wooden staff being swung at his head. He slowly turned his head, "Hey. I'm talking here." "No. You're wasting time," the owner of the staff stepped out from his hidden position behind the gate. He was an incredibly tall man with a lanky build. His loose workout closes showed his defined muscles. Dark blonde hair was slicked back to reveal his glasses covered face. "I want to get my new move down, so stop flirting." "I wasn't flirting, Ricky!" Caesar protested. "I was trying to recruit—Hey where you going?!" "I-I need to go home!" April rushed away without looking back. "Hmm," Ricky adjusted his glasses to reveal his squinted eyes. "What a rude girl." "Naw, she's not rude," Caesar frowned. "She just seems really stressed out." Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The next day started off uneventful for April. Fiona left her alone throughout the school day, and she didn't have a strange meeting with Caesar outside of her last period class. Instead of spending her last half-an-hour focusing completely on the clock, she divided her time by glancing back at the strange boy behind her. Like he said yesterday, he did actually sit right behind her for the final class. No one seemed a bit surprised by his presence in that seat, so April decided that she didn't normally pay much attention to what was behind her. That was something that she really needed to fix. Caesar was an odd student. He seemed to rapidly writing notes in his binder. His face was twisted in complete concentration. Tiny beads of sweat began to form on his brow. April had to wonder if he was an extremely studios person or if he was desperately trying to catch up from slacking. Realizing what she was doing, the girl whipped her head back around to avoid getting caught staring. When the final bell rang, April shoved all of her books into her bag and rushed out the door before Fiona could sneak up on her. As she moved, she felt Caesar's intense gaze watch her. April wasted no time in exiting the school. She was one of the first people out of the building. Before she could move pass the busses, Fiona jumped out from behind one of the large vehicles. The punk girl threw an arm around April to pull her close, "Hey there. Where you going in such a hurry?" "Err…" April squirmed in the uncomfortable hold. "N-Nowhere. How did you get out here so quick?" "Skipped last period," Fiona began to guide her down the sidewalk. "Come on. Let's go hang out." "I-I would prefer—" "Funny," Fiona gripped April's arm so hard that the weaker girl cringed in pain. "I don't remember asking for your input. Come on. I got some friends that want to meet you." Tears began to leak out of the corner of April's eyes. She contemplated fighting but decided against. If she tried to draw attention from the bus drivers, then Fiona would make her suffer more later. Instead, she lowered her head to allow her bully to lead her away from the school. Neither of them notice a pair of intense black eyes watching them from behind the window of April's last period classroom. Fifteen minutes later, April was huddling into herself while sitting on a crate at the back end of a warehouse. After the discomfort of yesterday, she made sure to wear loose fitting jeans and a plaid shirt to give her more room to move. Thus she didn't have to be concerned with sitting perfectly on the box. Dozens of other people were spread out through the crate filled building. They were all covered with torn clothing. Many of them had tattoos and a knife symbol buzzed into the side of their hair. "So this is your new pet?" a deep grumble made April flinch. He was a giant of a man who stood taller than anyone she had ever seen. Every millimeter of him was hardened muscle. His head was completely shaved. April shifted uncomfortably as the hard features of his face looked down to her. "She'll break quick trying to keep up with you. "Yes, but it will be fun, Stan," Fiona giggled while latching herself to his massive arm. She looked tiny compared to the gigantic man. "Doesn't plucking the petals off the wallflower sound interesting?" Stan grunted, "I'm not interested in destroying the weak, love." Fiona pouted, "You're no fun." "Not like I'm going to stop you," Stan shrugged. "You can do what you want." "Don't mind if I do," Fiona released the man. She skipped over April to violently grab the weaker girl by the hair. Screaming in pain, April followed along with her harasser's pull. Smirking wickedly, Fiona pulled her up to look across the warehouse, "Welcome to the Knife Edge's holy ground where all the punks and troublemakers come to pay their respects. This is going to be your new home for a while." April's eyes widened. Despite her recent move to the city, she had heard of the Knife Edge gang. They were one of the largest groups in the city. For the most part, they didn't stir up a lot of trouble but were known to violently finish any fight they were put into, "W-Why did you bring me here?" "We're planning on expanding," Fiona explained. "But we need more than fighters. I've been planning on breaking some weaker people to act as little civilian puppets that can move in the background without being noticed. You're meek enough to blend in but pretty enough to make most men lose some of their brain functions. Pretty perfect, right? Now all I have to do is train you." "N-No," April swung her arm up uselessly. Fiona stopped the attack by shoving April's head down, "Don't worry. By the time that I'm done, you're going to be a lot tougher." "Hey! She said no!" Caesar's familiar voice made April's eyes widened. Fiona released her hold on the weaker girl to look towards the entrance of the warehouse. The strange boy stood beneath the rolling metal door which could be dropped to close the building off from the outside. He was accompanied either side by Shelby and Ricky. They looked into the warehouse without an ounce of fear. Stan frowned at the newcomers, "Who are you?" "Ah?" Shelby craned her neck to the side until it popped. "Look everyone. It's an i***t. Stanley Bludvin leader of the Knife Edge is asking who we are. Us. What? Has he been living under a rock?" Ricky adjusted his glasses with the hand not holding onto a staff, "To be fair, he's only two-thirds a fool. Very few know Caesar outside our circle." Caesar ignored them in favor of pointing into the building, "Sorry! This time I actually did follow you, April, because you looked upset! I heard what you've been doing, jerks! I don't care if people make the choice to do stupid things, but forcing others into it is wrong!" "Look, weaklings," Stan dismissed them with a wave. "We don't need some brats coming in here and annoying us. I don't like hurting nobodies, but if you don't leave, then I'll have to sick my boys on you." The group of Knife Edge gangsters grinned at the prospect. Some of them teasingly began metal pipes around to show their danger. Shelby was not impressed, "Oooooooh? Weaklings? Well, that settles it. I'm wrecking all of you wannabe tough guys." Before she could take a step forward, Caesar held his arm out, "Wait. We can still avoid fighting. Release April, promise to leave civilians out of it, and we'll leave." "You kidding me?" Stan scoffed. "Whatever. Get them ready for the hospital boys!" Grinning, a few of the gangsters moved forward to attack them. Sighing, Caesar lowered his arm. Now free to move forward, Shelby steadily moved towards the men. As soon as the first guy was in arm's length, he tried to punch at her. Faster than he could see, Shelby ducked under the hit so that she could rush in close to the man. He was flipped over her hip so that he landed right on his head. After crashing with a sickening thud, the gangster did not get up after his tumble. Everyone in the warehouse grew wide eyes. The frontline men were so shocked that they didn't notice Ricky moving forward with his staff until the second man was unconscious on the ground after being bashed across the temple. Just as the other gangsters began to recover, Shelby and Ricky attacked once more. While Ricky easily dispatched foes with his staff, Shelby focused more on latching onto her opponents so she could manipulate their bodies. Eventually, one of the men lunged at Ricky in an attempt to hit the man while his staff was at the end of its swing. Not able to block with the long ranged weapon, Ricky stepped to the side to avoid the punch. Before the tattooed gangster could recover, Shelby slid under his arm with her back pressed against his chest. She grabbed at his wrist so that she could bring his arm down over her shoulder. A sickening pop rang out as the man's arm was yanked out of its socket. He screamed while tumbling uselessly to the ground. Roaring in rage, two other men lunged to tackle her from behind. Ricky stopped them by pinning them to the floor with his bō so that Shelby could stomp on their faces. Seemingly content to let his friends take care of the enemy without his help, Caesar waved for April to run over to him. Without hesitation, the untrained girl tried to sneak around to get to safety. She was stopped when Fiona jumped in front of her, "Where you going, little girl?" Fear thumped in April's heart. She stumbled back while placing her hands over her mouth to smother her scream. While not exactly proficient in fighting, she could tell that Fiona was a lot tougher than her. She would likely get beaten to a pulp before help could arrive. Caesar seemed to be ready to run to her aid but stopped, "Hey! Remember! Put your full body into it!" Flashes of what she was taught yesterday rushed through her mind. As Fiona stepped up to grab her, April raised her leg. She did exactly as Caesar told her. Her foot swung around in a perfect arc. She turned her hips and twisted her foot with all of her might. Shouting in defiance, April landed a perfect round kick on the side of Fiona's skull. A loud smack echoed across the across the warehouse before the punk girl unceremoniously fell onto the hard concrete floor. "Woah," Shelby muttered after kicking the last goon's knee out from under him so that she could do a wishbone break on his fingers. Ricky adjusted his glasses, "Caesar's always had a good eye." Laughing joyfully, Caesar rushed over to her while ignoring the broken bodies on the floor, "You did great! See! I knew it! You have a lot of potential!" His companions shared looks of surprise at his statement. April was focused on her rapidly beating heart threatening to burst. She stared down sadly at Fiona, "I-I can't believe I did that. I didn't want to hurt anyone." "Yeah. I don't either, but sometimes people won't give you the choice. It's better to be ready when the time comes," Caesar noted. April shook her head, "I thought that you said that learning to fight can prevent it." "It can. If you show your confidence, people are less likely to—" Caesar was interrupted by the sound of metal crashing onto concrete. Most of the light faded except from some spotlights from the windows above them. Everyone turned to see Stan standing at the entrance. He had snuck around during the fighting and shut the door to keep them from fleeing, "Alright. You're better than I thought. Guess you're not weaklings." "Oh. Perfect timing," Caesar smiled at her. "Watch." Humming happily, he stepped back across the field of broken bodies. Seeing him approach, Shelby and Ricky moved out of his way. Stan met him in the middle of the warehouse. As carefree as ever, Caesar rolled up his sleeves to reveal the most defined forearms that April had ever seen. While Stan appeared to be made of rock, Caesar was smelted from steel. "Are you kidding me?" Stan scoffed. He towered over the much smaller man by almost double Caesar's height. "The one guy that didn't fight? You're all so tiny. You should all rush me at once, not send the wimpiest of you." Caesar laughed, "Is that what you think? I can see why. Not helping Shel and Rick might seem pretty weak, but they would have been mad if I stole their fight." "So you're the strongest?" Stan shook his head. "Even so, you're no match for me, pipsqueak. Strength is about size. None of your fancy moves can overcome it. The biggest win. It's basic…evolution…" Stan's voice got caught in his throat. A menacing presence weighed down over him. His mind's eye briefly showed him the reality that existed before him. Instead at being half of his size, Caesar now stood at the height of a skyscraper. The titan's blurry form existed in front of Stan like a static signal of death. He wasn't even as tall as one of this monster's toes. An evil smiling face stared at him before flinging a fist down at his tiny form. Before the pain began, Stan instinctually knew that he was an insignificant ant in comparison to his foe's unfathomable strength. To everyone else, Stan randomly froze up when Caesar threw a punch at his gut. The fist rammed into his stomach at full force. Stan flew through the air with a small sonic boom. He rammed back first into the metal door. Upon impact, the barrier groaned and crumbled before Caesar's might. The door collapsed to allow light to shine back in through the entrance. Like his followers spread throughout the warehouse, Stan lay motionless amongst the crumbled steel. Caesar slowly pulled his fist back. With the new light coming into the building, April could easily see the large tattoo of a capital 'R' on the back of his right hand. The strange mark almost seemed to glow in power. She muttered in shock at his superhuman show of strength, "H-How?" Shelby scoffed, "Show off." Ricky shrugged, "What can you do?" Laughing, Caesar rolled his sleeves back down, "You see!? He froze up because he sensed my confidence. A lot of pointless fights can be avoided if people feel like they can't beat you." April's face gained a pink flush. Her eyes shined in wonder. She could almost feel the confidence rolling off of these people. No one would mess with them. A want that she never knew before burned in her chest, "Hey! I don't want to be afraid anymore! You said that I have potential, right? Could I still take some of those self-defense classes?" The three fighters shared a look which signaled a silent conversation. Shelby rolled her eyes. Ricky shrugged. Caesar jumped in delight, "Of course! Let's all train together!"