The Sector 6 wasteland was a sun-baked expanse of twisted metal and crushed concrete. It was where Shinra dumped the things too broken to fix.
It was also Ryu's favorite playground.
"Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight..."
Ryu was upside down. He was doing handstand pushups. On his right index finger. Balanced on top of a rusted, precarious I-beam.
"Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine..."
He wasn't sweating. He was bored. The gravity on Gaia was standard. Normal. It didn't push back against his Saiyan cells the way he wanted it to.
"Ten thousand!"
Ryu flipped backward, launching himself thirty feet into the air. He landed lightly on the hood of a scrapped Shinra transport truck. The metal groaned but didn't buckle.
"Whew. Good warm-up." He stretched his arms, his tail swishing lazily.
"Are you... out of your mind?!"
Ryu turned. Trudging through the piles of junk, covered in dust and panting like a dehydrated hound, was Zack Fair. He carried his standard-issue broadsword on his back, but his usual endless energy looked entirely depleted just from the hike out of Midgar's city limits.
"Zack!" Ryu grinned, waving a hand. "You made it! Did you bring the snacks?"
"I brought... water," Zack wheezed, collapsing against the side of the truck. "Ryu, why are we out here? The SOLDIER training rooms are air-conditioned. They have juice bars!"
"The air is too clean in there," Ryu said dismissively. "Plus, Scarlet put cameras in every single vent. She watches me when I do squats. It's weird."
Zack shuddered. Everyone in Shinra Headquarters knew about the Executive Director's terrifying obsession with her "little brother." You didn't look at Ryu wrong, or Scarlet would have you transferred to the Deepground latrine duty.
"Anyway," Zack pushed himself up, slapping his cheeks with both hands to wake himself up. The puppy-dog enthusiasm returned to his blue eyes. "I got promoted to SOLDIER Third Class! Angeal said I'm making progress! So, you owe me that spar!"
Zack drew his sword. The heavy steel scraped against the scabbard. He dropped into a wide, aggressive stance.
Ryu jumped down from the truck. He looked at Zack. He didn't take a stance.
"You're too slow," Ryu stated bluntly.
Zack's confident smile shatters like glass. An imaginary arrow pierces his chest. Critical Hit!
"Hey! I've been doing double the squats!" Zack protested.
"Your legs are fine. Your energy is lazy," Ryu explained, walking over to a large duffel bag he'd dragged out from the city. "You rely on the sword. You rely on the Mako. If someone takes your sword and you run out of MP, you're dead. A martial artist is never unarmed."
Ryu unzipped the duffel bag. Inside were piles of thick, dark blue fabric.
"Here." Ryu tossed a shirt to Zack.
Zack caught it with one hand.
Or, he tried to.
The moment the dark blue fabric hit Zack's palm, the SOLDIER's arm plummeted. The shirt dragged Zack's hand straight down into the dirt with a heavy, sickening thud.
"Ow! What the—?!" Zack yelped, trying to pull his arm free. The shirt didn't budge. It was like trying to lift an anvil.
"Turtle School weighted clothing," Ryu grinned proudly, crossing his arms. "I had Shinra's metallurgy department weave high-density tungsten and depleted uranium fibers into the cotton. That undershirt weighs exactly two hundred pounds."
Zack stared at the shirt in absolute horror. "Two... hundred...?"
"The boots are a hundred each. The wristbands are fifty." Ryu tapped his own chest. Under his black gi, the dark blue collar of his own weighted shirt was visible. "I wear about five hundred pounds normally. You're gonna start with the shirt."
"I am not wearing that!" Zack argued, struggling to pry the shirt off the ground with both hands. "My spine will snap!"
"If you want to fight me, you put on the shirt," Ryu crossed his arms. "And then we run."
"Run where?!"
Before Ryu could answer, a sharp, whistling sound cut through the hot air.
Ryu didn't look up. He casually leaned his head two inches to the left. A massive, four-pointed steel shuriken buried itself halfway into the truck's engine block directly behind him.
"Not again," Ryu sighed.
"I have found you, Shinra demon!"
Standing on top of a towering pile of rusted pipes was a very dusty, very angry nine-year-old girl. Yuffie Kisaragi. She had a green bandana tied around her head and was pointing a dramatic finger at Ryu.
"You!" Zack gaped. "The kid from Wutai! How did you get to Midgar?!"
"A great ninja reveals no secrets!" Yuffie declared proudly.
"She totally stowed away in a cargo crate," Ryu whispered to Zack.
"I lived on nothing but dry crackers and rainwater for three days!" Yuffie shrieked, her stomach giving a loud, embarrassing rumble that echoed across the wasteland. She blushed furiously but held her ground. "I came for the Laser Materia! Give it to me, and I will spare your lives!"
Ryu chuckled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crushed, slightly warm bean bun. He tossed it up to the pipes.
Yuffie caught it instinctively. She stared at it. She looked at Ryu. She looked at the bun.
She devoured it in three seconds.
"Okay, I'll spare you for five minutes," Yuffie mumbled, her cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk. She leaped down from the pipes, landing nimbly on the dirt. "But seriously, give me the Materia. My country is losing the war. I need that power."
"I told you before," Ryu said, his tone softening just a fraction. "It's not Materia. It's Ki. My own life force."
Yuffie frowned. "Life force? Like the Lifestream?"
"No. Like you." Ryu poked her in the center of the chest. Yuffie squeaked and stepped back. "Everyone has it. You, me, Zack. But on this planet, everyone is so obsessed with sucking energy out of the ground that they forgot how to use the energy inside themselves."
Yuffie stared at him, her large brown eyes blinking. "Can... can anyone learn it?"
"Sure," Ryu smiled, his pure, infectious optimism radiating. "But it's hard work. If you want, I'll teach you."
Yuffie's face lit up. "Really?! You'll teach me the laser?!"
"Step one." Ryu reached into the duffel bag and pulled out two dark blue wristbands. He tossed them to Yuffie.
Yuffie caught them.
Smack.
Yuffie hit the dirt face-first. Her arms were pinned to the ground by the fifty-pound wristbands.
"I changed my mind!" Yuffie wailed into the dust. "This is torture! You're a Shinra torturer!"
Zack watches Yuffie flail on the ground like a pinned bug. He looks at the 200-pound shirt at his own feet. I am going to die out here.
Two Hours Later
"Pick up the pace!" Ryu yelled cheerfully, jogging backward.
Behind him, a tragic scene was unfolding.
Zack was crawling. He was wearing the two-hundred-pound shirt. Every muscle in his body was shaking, his veins popping against his skin. He was sweating so much he was creating a small mud trail in the dust.
A few feet behind Zack, Yuffie was walking like a zombie. The fifty-pound wristbands dragged her arms down so hard her knuckles were literally scraping the dirt.
"I hate you," Yuffie rasped, her tongue hanging out. "I hate you, I hate Midgar, I hate gravity."
"Come on, guys!" Ryu clapped his hands. "We only ran ten miles! Goku and Krillin delivered milk across a whole mountain range before breakfast!"
"Who the heck is Krillin?!" Zack yelled, his voice cracking. "And why didn't he use a truck?!"
"Less complaining, more breathing," Ryu instructed. He stopped jogging and pointed to a massive, flat concrete slab in the center of the junkyard. "Alright, break time. Sit down."
Zack and Yuffie collapsed onto the concrete like dropped rocks. They didn't even try to take the weights off; they simply didn't have the strength.
Ryu sat cross-legged in front of them. He closed his eyes.
"Now that your bodies are exhausted, your minds are quiet," Ryu said, his voice losing its playful edge and taking on the tone of a true martial arts master. "Close your eyes. Don't look at the Mako reactors. Don't listen to the city. Listen to your heartbeat."
Zack and Yuffie, too tired to argue, closed their eyes.
"Mako is external," Ryu explained softly. "It gives you a rush, but it's not yours. Ki is internal. Feel the heat in your muscles. Feel the blood moving. That heat... that's your power. Gather it in your stomach."
Zack frowned, concentrating. He was used to the cold, buzzing sensation of Mako enhancement. But as he focused, he felt something else. A warm, steady ember buried deep in his core. It wasn't loud, but it felt... solid.
Yuffie felt it too. As a ninja, she had trained in meditation, but she had never looked inward like this. She felt a tiny, flickering spark, like a firefly in her chest.
"Hold it," Ryu commanded. "Now, push it to your hands."
Zack strained. He visualized the ember moving up his chest, down his arms. His right hand began to tingle. It felt like static electricity, but warm.
He opened his eyes. A very faint, nearly invisible white glow wrapped around his fingers.
"Whoa," Zack breathed, his fatigue vanishing for a split second. "I feel it. It's... heavy, but sharp."
Yuffie opened her eyes too. Her fingertips were glowing with a soft, pale light. "It doesn't feel like magic. It feels like... me."
"Exactly!" Ryu beamed, opening his eyes. "That's Ki! Right now, you guys only have a power level of like, five. But if you keep training, you won't need Materia to cast fire. You can just blow things up with your own energy!"
"I'm gonna be a Shinra-destroying ninja machine!" Yuffie cackled, holding up her faintly glowing hands.
Her celebration was cut short.
The ground beneath the concrete slab began to vibrate.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
"Uh, Ryu?" Zack looked over his shoulder.
Smashing through a wall of rusted cars was a massive machine. It was a Shinra Sweeper, but not a standard model. This one was painted black and red, bristling with heavy vulcan cannons and a massive wrecking ball for a right arm. The Shinra logo on its chassis was scratched out.
"A rogue automated defender," Zack groaned, trying to stand up, but the weighted shirt pulled him right back down. "Usually discarded because their targeting systems go feral. It thinks we're intruders."
The machine's optical sensor flared an angry crimson. It locked onto the three kids. It raised its wrecking ball arm.
TARGET ACQUIRED. EXTERMINATE.
Ryu stood up, dusting off his gi. He didn't power up. He simply walked backward, sitting on top of a nearby rusted pipe.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of potato chips.
"Alright, lesson two," Ryu announced, popping a chip into his mouth. "Combat application."
"What?!" Zack and Yuffie screamed in unison.
"I'm not fighting that thing," Ryu shrugged. "I fought the Wutai giants. It's your turn. Beat the robot, and I'll buy you both lunch at Wall Market."
"We are wearing an entire armory of heavy metal!" Yuffie shrieked, scrambling backward like a crab as the Sweeper stomped toward them.
"Then take it off," Ryu smirked.
Zack's eyes widened. He grabbed the hem of the dark blue shirt. He strained, his muscles bulging, pulling the heavy fabric over his head. With a massive heave, he threw the shirt aside.
CRASH.
The shirt hit the dirt, creating a small crater and throwing up a cloud of dust.
Yuffie ripped the wristbands off. Thud. Thud. Zack stood up. He blinked.
He looked at his hands. He jumped.
He didn't just jump. He launched himself fifteen feet into the air with zero effort. He felt like he was made of helium. The gravity that had been crushing him for two hours was gone, replaced by an explosive, terrifying lightness.
"Holy..." Zack gasped, landing smoothly. "I feel amazing!"
Yuffie shadow-boxed the air. Her fists moved so fast they blurred. "I'm the wind! I'm the hurricane! I am the Great Ninja Yuffie!"
"Don't get cocky! Dodge!" Ryu yelled around a mouthful of chips.
The Sweeper fired its vulcan cannons. A hail of bullets tore up the concrete.
Zack didn't block. He stepped sideways. The world seemed to move in slow motion. He saw the trajectory of the bullets and simply wasn't there when they arrived. He drew his broadsword. It felt like a feather.
"My turn!" Zack roared.
He pushed his newly discovered Ki into his legs. He vanished, leaving a small shockwave behind. He reappeared directly above the Sweeper, bringing the broadsword down in a massive, two-handed arc.
CLANG.
The blade bit deep into the Sweeper's shoulder armor, sparking wildly.
The machine violently spun, swinging its wrecking ball at Zack's ribs.
"Incoming!" Yuffie yelled.
She sprinted up the Sweeper's back, her speed leaving afterimages. She channeled her tiny spark of Ki into her palm and slammed it into the joint of the wrecking ball arm.
Kiai!
It wasn't much, just a small burst of pressure, but it was enough to knock the arm off balance. The wrecking ball swung wide, missing Zack by inches.
Zack landed, pivoting on his heel. "Let's finish this! Yuffie, get clear!"
Yuffie backflipped off the machine.
Zack gripped his sword. He squeezed his core, focusing the warm ember in his stomach. He visualized the energy flowing into the steel of his blade. The sword began to hum, a faint white aura wrapping around the edge.
"SOLDIER Honor!" Zack yelled, though he had no idea what to call the move.
He swung the sword horizontally. A crescent-shaped wave of pure, white kinetic energy detached from the blade and slammed into the Sweeper's chassis.
BOOOOOOM.
The energy wave cut clean through the thick armor plating. The Sweeper froze, its red eye flickering out. Then, with a massive groan of yielding metal, the top half of the machine slid off its treads and crashed into the dirt.
Silence fell over the wasteland, save for the crackling of severed wires.
Zack stood there, chest heaving, staring at his sword.
Yuffie landed next to him, her jaw hanging open. "Did... did you just shoot a laser from a sword?"
"I think I did," Zack laughed, the sheer adrenaline making him giddy.
"Not bad," Ryu said, hopping off his pipe and tossing the empty chip bag into a nearby incinerator chute. "You used too much energy on the swing, and your footing was sloppy, but it got the job done. Seven out of ten."
"Seven?!" Zack protested. "I cut a tank in half!"
"I cut a mountain in half when I was seven," Ryu lied cheerfully. (He hadn't, but Goku probably could have, and he needed to keep them motivated.)
Before the celebration could continue, the sound of chopping rotor blades filled the sky.
A sleek, heavily armed Shinra executive helicopter descended rapidly, kicking up a massive dust storm. The side door slid open before the skids even touched the ground.
Scarlet stepped out.
She was wearing a pristine white suit, which was immediately ruined by the dust. She didn't care. Her eyes were locked onto Ryu. They were wide, frantic, and burning with a terrifying, protective fury.
Behind her stepped two Turks, Reno and Rude, looking incredibly stressed out.
"Ryu!" Scarlet screamed over the rotors.
She ran forward, ignoring Zack and Yuffie completely. She grabbed Ryu by the shoulders, her perfectly manicured nails digging into his gi. She frantically checked his face, his arms, his tail for any sign of injury.
"Are you hurt? Did that machine touch you?" Scarlet's voice trembled. She spun around, glaring at Zack with a look that could melt steel. "You! SOLDIER trash! You brought him out here? To this filth? I will have you court-martialed and executed!"
Zack snapped to attention, completely terrified. "Ma'am! No, ma'am! We were just training—!"
"Training?" Scarlet hissed, stepping toward Zack, her hand reaching for the concealed pistol at her hip. "He is Shinra's most valuable asset! He doesn't train in the garbage with grunts and..." She looked down at Yuffie. "And Wutai sewer rats!"
"Hey!" Yuffie yelled, brandishing her fists. "I am a ninja princess!"
Rude stepped forward, preparing to neutralize the loud child, but Ryu moved first.
Ryu stepped between Scarlet and his new students. He didn't look angry. He just looked hungry.
"Scarlet, chill out," Ryu said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her hand away from her gun. He gave her that pure, innocent smile that completely short-circuited her brain every time. "They're my friends. We were just playing. And I'm starving. You promised me Wagyu."
Scarlet froze. The murderous rage in her eyes evaporated, replaced instantly by a flushed, obsessive warmth. She looked at Ryu's hand holding hers.
"I... yes. Of course, Ryu," Scarlet breathed, her tone shifting entirely. She reached out, gently stroking his spiky hair. "Only the best for you. Let's go home. You need a bath."
She turned back to the helicopter, dragging Ryu with her. She shot one last, venomous look over her shoulder at Zack and Yuffie. Stay away from him, her eyes screamed.
Ryu climbed into the chopper, waving out the door. "Keep the weights, guys! Put 'em back on tomorrow! We run twenty miles next time!"
Zack and Yuffie stood in the dust, watching the helicopter vanish into the Midgar skyline.
Zack looked at the two-hundred-pound shirt lying in the crater.
"I'm gonna be the strongest SOLDIER ever," Zack muttered, his eyes burning with new determination.
"I'm gonna be the strongest ninja," Yuffie added, cracking her knuckles.
They both looked at the heavy clothing. They looked at each other.
"You lift it first," Yuffie said.
"No, you," Zack replied.
The training had just begun.
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