The New Recruit

"Uhhggg... I feel like they're putting way too much on my plate. Now I have to train some newbies." (Toby)

"We're not newbies." (Jack)

Jack stood out from the line. His face fierce and determined. Toby looked at him with a tried sigh.

"Your the crazy one right? Jack? The one that switches in and out of personality?" (Toby)

"No, I don't-" (Jack)

Toby stepped forward menecingly.

"Yes, you do. It's in your record. Two times to count." (Toby)

He turned to Vlad on the other end of the line.

"Am I right Vlad?" (Toby)

Vlad nodded.

Toby began walking up and down the line. he looked at everyone's faces. Yaku's, Emma's, Jack's, Vlad's, he stopped at the end of the line. He looked down.

"Who's this?" (Toby)

He looked down at a fifteen-year-old girl who stood in a slightly oversized Magic Force Black Uniform.

"Who's the little girl?" (Toby)

"She's our new recruit." (Emma)

"She's with me." (Jack)

Toby slowly marched back over to Jack. He looked straight into his green eyes. Their faces inches apart, almost touching.

Everyone was silent as they stared at eachother.

"Fine... If she proves useful in battle then you can keep her. But you all must train her. That is your punishment for today. Thirty laps around the base, and two hundred push-ups when you get back." (Toby)

"All of us?" (Vlad)

Toby turned around with a fierce gaze.

"Yes, all of you. Including the new recruit." (Toby)

All of Squad 0 left the HQ building. They ran around and around the block, over and over again. The scorching warm summer heat burning against their overly dressed black uniforms as they ran, as they sweat.

Meanwhile, Toby laid back in the AC-controlled lounge room. His eyes shut as he fell back on a couch.

"That training will give me about half an hour of rest. That girl might give me an extra hour. I hate this job..." (Toby)

The bags under his eyes dropping even further. He fell asleep.

---

"You think he's still sleeping?" (Jack)

"If we let him be he we might be able to get out of training." (Vlad)

"We... We should wake him up." (Emma)

Yaku stood off to the side, watching the scene unfold as the three Sorcerers approached sleeping, Toby. He looked down to his side, a little girl five years younger than him, her face round and adorable, she looked up at Yaku with confusion.

"What is it?" (Yaku)

He spoke to her. She spoke back.

"Nothing... You just look. A bit annoyed." (Chil)

Yaku looked away. He looked at the group joking around, talking to eachother.

"I'm just wondering..." (Yaku)

He looked down at the girl again. Her face staring back at him.

"Nevermind." (Yaku)

"Don't hold out on me! I promise I won't tell anyone!" (Chil)

He slowly walked away.

"You promise?" (Yaku)

"Pinky promise... Cause... I haven't found a partner to share my feelings with either..." (Chil)

"A partner to share your feelings with?" (Yaku)

He sat down at a table. Chil sat across from him, her knees held up high, she leaned hard on the table.

"I mean like a... A friend... I know Jack and Emma are cool... But... I don't think they understand me. I think they just pity me... And that's fine, but..." (Chil)

Her eyes turned purple.

Yaku looked with suspicion, as her voice began to turn more mature, darker, lost in a wilderness of memories and thoughts.

She pointed at his face.

"When I look at you, all I see is revenge... But I also see another side. A thoughtful side. A side filled with feelings you don't know how to deal with... I feel the same way. I want to kill all the monsters. I want to find all the secrets to magic. But I... I also don't want to. I want to... I want to have friends..." (Chil)

Her eyes turned back to normal. She looked down sad. Lost in a world of self-pity and resentment.

"I know Jack is like me, but I don't see anything in him anymore. He's mostly gotten rid of his hatred..." (Chil)

Yaku leaned closer.

"Yeah, that's basically him. He's always so straightforward. So weird. Like sometimes he doesn't even know who he is. And I understand how you feel, but like with Jack... I think the best option is to disregard your feelings." (Yaku)

"Disregard, but...?" (Chil)

"There will come a time when you need to choose which way to go... I was struggling with that for a while. I thought I made up my mind, and I thought that I was right. I wanted to quit and go with her, but I also wanted to kill monsters, make my memories of that day go away." (Yaku)

He looked at his three friends. Jack, Vlad, and Emma.

"We're all like that here. We all have a past, have memories that we want to make go away. Jack, he may look like he's bottled up his past, gotten rid of his hatred, but... Back five months ago, he was as clueless as you. Walking around all willy nilly, following everyone around, not knowing what to do next. He basically joined the Magic Force on a whim. And now... I'd say..." (Yaku)

He looked at only Jack. At only his face. His presences. His Yin and Yang.

"I'd say he's the leader now. He's really shaped up. And I think you should follow him... He's a good-" (Yaku)

She suddenly got up and started walking toward Jack.

Yaku sat there smiling. His face lost in his own faults and regrets.

"Ono... I think... I've made up my mind now... I think it's time..." (Yaku)

---

Ten minutes later.

"Ok, now it's time for your magic exercises." (Toby)

Everyone looked with confusion.

"We're gonna go on a bit of a field trip. To a gym in upstate New York. A gym specifically made for Magic training." (Toby)