Porter struggled to stay awake through Mr. Toriyama's lectures. He found he was much sleepier since the battle at Easley and yet he somehow didn't seem to care. Something about tapping into so much power made him wonder if training was really necessary anymore. Only Mr. Shotuku's classes required he pay attention, and only so that he missed being hit by flying footwear.

It wasn't that he was suddenly a slacker student. Porter had always sort of never thought about school quite enough, mostly because he was always late and didn't think he had a hope in the world. Now he had a bit of an excuse not to care and to pay more attention to looking after the White Storm, who was still in for repairs, and focusing on his chi and, more importantly, figuring out how to talk to Riya.

He was watching her now, envisioning the two of them running through the fields outside Easley and frolicking for a lifetime. He shook his head. That felt like a weird dream, almost like it wasn't his but somebody else's.

With class dismissed Porter scooted out of the room before Nami could tackle him and let out a long breath of relief when he felt safe enough away. Beside him a garbage can rattled around a little, shaking in the spot, and he stared at it queerly. Tentatively he took a step towards it then stopped, remembering that whole episode with the crazy Space Wolf everyone tried to tell him about (since he had slept through the whole thing).

The lid on the garbage can exploded off and out popped Nami with streams of confetti on either side. She jumped onto Porter and took him down to the ground, wrapping him up in an enormous hug. "Oh my goodness Porter, I never got to thank you for saving us down there! You're my hero."

"You smell terrible Nami, get off me." The bewildered Porter pushed the stalker girl aside and brushed himself off as he got up. She was still beaming at him non-stop and it was starting to creep him out. "I thought we discussed the whole no following thing."

"Yes but I thought that changed after...you know...that time...in the dark."

Porter's face went beet red and he stood dumbstruck for a bit in the hallway, his brain making a little sizzling sound as it tried to come up with a possible reason to explain away what happened. "Now look Nami, it isn't that you aren't a great girl and all and I'm sure you'll...umm...you'll make somebody very happy." She giggled a little at his words. "But what happened in the dark was just that. Something in the dark! I didn't know it was you. I mean if I had I wouldn't have because I...I....well I just don't like you that way Nami. I'm sorry."

Nami's eyes went glassy as they filled with tears but she held them back with a sniffle. "Fine then, if that's how you want it to be. I can play this game too you know!" Porter backed away from the distraught teenager and ran down the hallway as fast as he could towards the hangar. Maybe he would be safe from her within his Goliath.

Nami watched her boy run away from her and wiped away her tears. Well, she thought, if he is going to be that way then I'll just have to step up my approach a little bit! But I'm going to have to use the ultimate female trump card...the jealousy move! Time to find me a decoy. She skipped back down the hall to begin her quest for a boy with which to make Porter jealous.

* * * * *

Raul sat with his arms folded in the cafeteria. He was sitting at one of the table looking down at Chase and Ardwen, who were sitting across from each other, and shaking his head at them. Ardwen slammed down a sheet of paper in front of Chase and grinned. "Ninety-nine percent on my test there Chase. How do you like that?"

"What happened to the other one percent?" Chase pulled out his own test with a one hundred written across the top.

"B-b-but you...you don't...your grades aren't that high!" A flabbergasted Ardwen snatched the two tests off the table and compared them.

"Well I mean I might have gotten a little help from a cheat sheet or two but the results are what matter right?" Chase could see Ardwen's eyebrow twitching just above the papers.

"Argh you can't cheat on a test Chase! What if this happens in real life? What if you don't know the answer in a combat situation?!" Ardwen tried to leap the table and Raul sprung up with lightning speed to get between the two as a wrestling match ensued between Raul and the boys.

Nami poked her head into the room to stare at the group fight happening and sighed. She was about to walk down the hall when a thought struck her. Porter and Chase were rivals weren't they? Equally dumb, equally brash, equally lazy. Yes, Chase would fit into her plans quite nicely. "Hello boys," she announced as she stood in the doorway.

The quarrelling pair froze up in mid-punch and stared at the little girl with the cat-like eyes. "What's with the loli?" Chase asked.

"Don't know, she must be looking for Porter," Ardwen answered, and then the two resumed beating each other up. Nami's face shattered and was replaced with a look of frozen shock. She teetered for a moment before falling over in a faint. The boys couldn't hear it over the sound of their war.

* * * * *

Porter was strolling down the hall, feeling a bit confident with himself for finally shaking off Nami. Yes, she was potentially the only friend he had at this moment but he was in a squad now. Ardwen seemed to like him for saving their butts, and Raul appeared neutral towards him, which was good for Raul. It was within this dreamlike state of happiness that Porter was yanked aside into a small room.

"Hey what the-?!" He lashed out in the darkness and thought he caught something, maybe clipping some fabric but he couldn't seem to hit anything concrete. However he must have gotten somebody because he was immediately met with a hard object smacking him across the face repeatedly until he was too dazed to resist.

A small glow-orb was lit, its luminous glass body casting an eerie light around the small room akin to an ancient candle. The newly-revealed Mr. Shotuku released Porter from his grip and sat down on a small pillow, motioning for Porter to do the same.

Unsure if he was really complying or if the trauma to his head was just too much for him to bear standing up, Porter folded his legs on the cushion and tried to focus on his teacher (and the two other, fuzzier teachers who floated around the first). Each word Mr. Shotuku spoke sounded as though the both of them were underwater. "Porter, you have a great gift you have awoken within yourself. But I fear you will not contain it properly, nor channel it. The raw energy you produced in combat was fierce but without anything to guide it, it will be next to useless against any stronger foe. I have seen to it that you will have a reduced class load for the rest of the year, while you will be taking private training with me. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Porter mumbled.

"Very good. The training will begin tomorrow during lunch. You are to report to this room for meditation." The elderly teacher opened the door for Porter. As the student was leaving he slipped in a final warning. "Porter, make sure you aren't late. I know your track record for that sort of thing. You will be in for a far more painful greeting than today's if you are." Porter gulped in recognition of the aches and bruises across his face and stumbled back out into the hallway.

Sure he was shaken and yes he may have just stupidly agreed to a psycho conditioning program set by a madman but at least he had gotten rid of stalker Nami for a while. And maybe he could finally beat up Chase after his super training regimen. This wasn't so bad after all.

* * * * *

Riya sat in the cafeteria and stared at the boys fighting in the centre. Nami's body had been carted over to the side where she still lay in her shock-coma. Riya shook her head at the young girl. Nami was so boisterous around the school. She really hadn't been hit with all of life's burdens yet.

There was a little tremor in the air around Riya and she got a strange feeling of being watched. For a moment she heard a little buzzing in her ear, but with a rub of the lobe it cleared and she shook her head. She was obviously still in a bit of recoil from the battle. Getting into her Goliath was so tough on her. If only those admirers knew the cost of driving that thing.

She had the sense that she was being watched once more, but it seemed different than the last. Whereas the other time had been a little chilling, the frightening paranoid feeling creeping up her spine, this time it seemed as though she were being observed for a different, less sinister reason. As though it was for entertainment or exploitation, to pass the time or to fill a void in someone's life story. Maybe someone just couldn't think of anything better to do than just shift their focus onto her. She almost hated it as much as the creepy feeling. She wasn't used to being the centre of attention but she had a nagging suspicion she was going to be a part of it soon...

A/N: Nami has decided on Plan B in the getting Porter scheme while Porter finds himself trapped in a horrific training program! And can Chase and Ardwen stop fighting for just one minute?!

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