Time to Climb! (Korin tower)

[Charles Poe]

Introduction

5 hours ago

Charles opened his eyes, finding himself in a bedroom he did not recognize. He looked around the ceiling, to see if anything could give him a hint. He stopped looking for hints, after seeing the giant Capsule Corporation symbol above him. Charles rose up from his bed and looked out the window, seeing the sun setting in the distance. He rose his hand up and rubbed his forehead, as he tried to recall what happened to him.

"You're awake, I see."

Charles looked to his right, seeing Master Xin standing in the door way, with the silverware they acquired, along with a few other ones, full of food. He placed the bags in his left hand on the ground softly and divided up the bags in his other. He told Charles, "Get dressed and grab something to eat. We're dropping this stuff off at home, then we're going to engage your next training exercise."

The apprentice nodded and looked around for his clothes. He found them on a chair next to the bed, folded neatly and cleaned. As he did so, his memory from yesterday came back to him, causing him to freeze up. What on earth was happening to him?

"Charles, now's not the time to be like this. Get dressed now and we'll grab something in town."

He complied with his master's command and continued to get dressed. What has happened has happened, but Charles was feeling worried about it. Was Charles starting to lose control of his sanity?

Present: Night

Charles and his master were travelling deep in the forest. His master had told him that he would be performing a series of training exercises under the guidance of a different master called Korin. That was all that Xin told Charles, which made Charles curious. Whoever this person was must be very skilled if Master Xin was actually having Charles train under his guidance during this time.

As they approached their destination, Charles caught a glimpse of a massive pillar, stretching high up into the endless sky. The pillar, itself, seemed to not end. Charles asked, continuing to move and observe it, "Master, is that where we'll be going to?"

His master replied, "Correct. You will be climbing that structure all the way to the top, where Korin lives."

"Wait, what?! Master Korin lives at the top of this thing?! How many years has he lived here?!"

"That's a good question, my boy. I never bothered asking him about it," Xin replied, laughing as he did. Charles stared dumbfounded at his master's reaction, then back at the tower.

They stopped at the base of the tower and looked up it. Charles found himself bending backwards, to try and see if he could see the top. However, the clouds seemed to have been blocking sight of it.

Master Xin turned to Charles, floating up slowly from the ground. He stopped, to give Charles the rules of this exercise.

"This shall be your training, my boy. You will climb this tower with nothing but your arms and legs. You can not fly up to the top, or else I will force you back to the ground. The same goes for using any air borne vehicles and lifts. This exercise is to test your endurance and strength. No asking questions or backing out are allowed... I will see you at the top with Master Korin, Chuck."

Upon finishing, Xin burst up into the sky at an incredible rate to the top of the tower. Charles couldn't get anything in to say. This was going to be an irritatingly painful experience for Charles. He reached into his front, knee pocket and pulled out his healing pills. Charles opened it and tapped it a few times for a pill to come out. He popped it in his mouth and swallowed, not requiring water to make sure it went down.

"That bastard...! I should have took advantage of that and kick the hell out of him," the dementia immediately echoed in Charles's mind. It was angry once more.

Charles shook his head, whispering to himself, "Shut up, damn it! I need to focus!"

The Training

He walked over to the tower, hearing the dementia complain once more, before it was overpowered by the voice of the mania. Charles repeated the same words, directing the command at both of them. He placed his hands on a groove above him and placed his feet on another and pushed upwards, beginning climb upwards.

"Left hand, right foot, right hand, left foot, and repeat... Remember your training. Don't look down or you'll be discouraged, Charles" the ex-Marine told himself, as he climbed higher and higher. He looked to his side, seeing himself level with the trees in this forest. He wasn't high up on this monstrosity, but he was working on it.

He grabbed at another groove and pushed himself up. As he climbed, a slightly strong gust of wind came by, trying to knock him off. He remained still, holding tightly to his current position. He closed his eyelids tightly as he held on tightly. When the wind stopped, he continued to move up the beam. He looked up at the sky to his left, seeing the sun rising up over the distant mountains, along with dark clouds rolling to his location.

"Ah shit... Those better not be what I think they are," Charles spoke out loud, holding on his spot as another gust blew in. Once it finished, he continued once more, quickening his pace. Every now and again, he would pause, to hold on tight when a gust shot at him.

A lot of time seemed to have passed since he started to climbing. The clouds, it turned out, were nothing more than smoke signals coming from some where in the forest. He had to stop every now and again, to rest his fingers and crack them, to make sure the blood continued to flood through them. His muscles were aching all over, but thanks to the adrenaline developing in him, he felt full of energy, though it was actually the opposite.

His mentally seemed to have been remaining intact, too. It was as if the mania and dementia knew that if they talked in his head or took over for a brief moment, Charles would slip and have to start all the way from the beginning, though it made the mania laugh every now and again in amusement. That, it knew, would make Charles take anger to a new extreme.

The sun had finally risen up brightly, with Charles still climbing it. The tower was starting to feel hot, causing Charles to shimmy to the shade. He found himself slowly circling the tower as night approached once more. Charles then came to a realization, causing him to momentarily stop climbing.

"My body's aching to death and I still can't seem to find the top of this blasted thing! How far up have I climbed, anyway," Charles complained, looking down the tower at the forest. The dark forest looked more like an abysmal pit with nothing but a couple of fires at 2 different spots on it. He cursed and looked up the tower once more. The top didn't seem to be in sight still!

Cursing a bit, Charles continued to climb. His mania finally spoke, sounding supportive and motivating.

"Ah, cheer up me! We'll probably find the top of this thing some time tomorrow!"

Charles replied, verbally, "I know that, but this is fucking ridiculous."

"See what I mean?! He's just torturing us to death," the dementia, too finally speaking, assumed.

To the statement, Charles told the dementia, "This is how you get stronger! You deal with pain and exert your limits higher and higher! Now shut u- Shit!"

He was interrupted by himself losing grip of the tower with his left hand and his feet sleeping, forcing him to hang by his right hand. Charles dangled on the tower slightly, as he tried to recover his footing. He reach up with his left hand, missing the groove the right hand was on.

"Damn it... Come on! Not now!"

He tried again, this time finding himself latching on with it. He rose his feet and put them in the markings on the tower. He let out a relieved sigh and continued to climb, not bothering to try and catch some sleep. The weather wouldn't allow him any.

The sun was slowly rising to Charles's left again. He looked over at it quickly, then to the right. He was able to see the moon still setting above him. The scenery was beautiful in the unity of the light and darkness, with both large orbs floating above in the sky. Charles looked up, a wide grin forming.

Above him, a section of the tower that looked different than the beam came in his sights. It looked liked a dome-like structure was mounted on the top. Charles felt his energy come back to him, as he quickened his pace once more, to reach the top. The apprentice was finally near the top of this blasted structure!

Charles found himself right beneath this dome section. He looked around, wondering if there were any groove he could grab on to. Nothing seemed to be in his sight. Charles decided to circle around, to see if he could find something on the other side. To his surprise, something that looked like a ladder was built in this structure, as if it was designed specifically for those seeking Korin could use. It didn't allow the use of feet, though, so that would mean Charles would have to use only his arms.

He grabbed hold of the first bar and started climb, his body dangling beneath him. This task was very difficult, for he had to keep his body up without slipping off the bars. They seemed slippery, but it was due to sweat that Charles developed. However, he made sure to quickly get up before he could slip again.

Charles climbed up on top of the platform and rolled away from the edge, heaving in and out hot air. He laughed as he did, feeling that he accomplished something that no one else could accomplish.

"Finally, boy... What took you so long? Master Korin has been waiting for you."

Charles sat up and looked in the direction of where the voice came from. Master Xin had a smile on his face. There seemed to be some staff next to him being held up by nothing.

"So... You're Charles Poe. Master Xin told me a lot about you."

The voice sounded much older than master Xin's and seemed higher pitched. Charles's gaze went down to the ground, to see a chubby white cat, holding up the piece of wood. Charles turned his body towards the cat and Xin, crossing his legs as he did so. The cat spoke, introducing itself in a raspy, but happy voice.

"How you doing, kid? I'm Master Korin."

[Charles Poe]

Part 2

Silence hung in the atmosphere. Charles's expression remained awestruck, as he observed the chubby white cat holding the staff. He blank his eyes a few times, trying to comprehend what he was looking at. Even the mania and the dementia's thoughts were confused at what they were looking at. The mania's voice sounded happy, though it was confused like the body and the dementia.

"Uh... Y-you're... Master... Korin...?! I'm sorry, but... I'm calling zombie bull shit!"

You didn't mishear him... Though it was the dementia, it was still confusing to who really said it. Charles, himself, was actually going to say that as well. The thought of THIS cat being Master Korin... Well, Charles couldn't really take this so badly. He had gone around the world and seen some odd things, but this nearly topped it all.

"Hm... I see what you mean, Xin. Quite the blabber mouth, he has," Master Korin stated, as walked up to Charles, to get a better look at him. His eyes seemed to remain close as he examined Charles, which kind of freaked out Charles. His eyes twitched, as the cat came up into his face, examining it greatly.

Charles muttered, "Uh...."

"Alright, I'll you up. You seem decent enough, though you'll have to learn to keep control of those two more properly," Korin stated, bonking Charles on the head a few times. This irritated Charles a bit. He glared at him a bit reached out to try and snatch him, only for his hand to be stepped on and then his head, hopping away before Charles could lay a hand on him.

"Get back here yo-"

Korin interrupted Charles once again, stating, "Here's your new objective, kiddo. Try to catch me as you are right now. No resting, boy."

Charles growled, as he got off his feet and lunged at the cat.

"Oh, you still got energy after that climb, I see! This should be interesting," Korin curiously stated, as he quickly hopped away from Charles. Charles collapsed on the floor, but quickly staggered to his feet. He was acting out of annoyance right now. He lunged again and again, missing the cat each time.

Master Xin floated outside of Korin's home, observing Charles struggle to catch Master Korin. He had a cup of tea in his hands, which he blew at to cool it a bit before sipping it. He let out a satisfied breath, lowering the cup to his lap. He was sitting cross legged, so he could rest more easily as he floated there, watching his apprentice fail to capture Master Korin.

Charles stopped for a moment, heavily breathing out with small bursts of anger. His throat felt hoarse from the lack of water, but that didn't bother him that much. He wanted to capture this damn cat and give it a nasty noogie. He thought in his mind, as he watched the patient cat, "Damn cat... How should I catch him?"

The apprentice began to ponder this a moment, as he watched the cat. Korin walked up to him and looked up to him. He spoke to Charles, pointing his staff at Charles as he suggested, "Listen, kid. Let me give you a hint. You're really pissed off right now... That's all I'm telling you."

Charles stared at the cat, his right eye twitching as he did so. A vein started to bulge on his head, as he angrily exclaimed, "You don't... Really think I don't know this?!"

The lunging thus continued, along with many failures of capturing Master Korin. He tried to sprint at the cat with full speed, but unfortunately, he placed his left foot down wrong and twisted his foot awkwardly to the right as he tripped. He fell to the ground immediately and started to curse repeatedly as the pain shot through him. Master Korin sighed, muttering to himself, "This is going to take longer than I thought... Poor kid."

Charles rolled on the ground for a bit, but stopped to rub his ankle to try and ease the pain. It began to swell up a bit and had a nasty looking bruise on him. The apprentice cursed one more time, before standing up and forcing himself to deal with the pain, as he put wait on it. He cringed a bit, as pain shocked him from his ankle to his brain. He had his foot barely lifted up above ground, balancing mainly on the other.

"... You ready to continue kid? I don't like having to wait," Korin asked, he licked his paw and rub it on his ear before bringing his gaze back onto Charles.

"Quiet... This'll be over in a little bit," Charles retaliated, his expression remaining unchanged.

Korin raised his eyebrows, rhetorically asking, "Oh, is it really?"

Charles didn't respond to the statement with words, but rather, action. Despite his condition, he could still move quickly. He moved rapidly out of sight, only leaving behind an after image of himself. Korin's cat lips became a frown, stunned at the speed Charles was pulling off with one foot. He was barely able to keep track of the real one, jumping barely out of the human's grasp.

"Almost had you that time, kitty... Lets try that again!"

Charles lunged forward with his left hand only at the cat. Korin used his staff and pushed against the ground, to get him out of Charles's reach. However, Charles sped out of sight again, leaving only an image behind to phase through the cat. Korin muttered out loud, "Oh crap!"

He landed on the ground and found two arms going around his pudgy body. Charles clasped the cat tightly into his arms and gave him a strong bear hug, as he smiled deviously! Charles called out, "Finally got you, ya damn cat... Man, you're heavy!"

Charles squeezed tighter on Master Korin, who shouted out as he frantically tried to get out, "Gah! Alright, alright! You got me kid! Let me go before you suffocate me to death!"

The apprentice complied, as he loosened his grip and lowered the cat to the ground. Korin breathed heavily from the lack of air. He exhausting stated, "Gah... Well that... Well that was interesting... Looks like you're already set for the next part... Gah... Did you have to squeeze so hard?!"

Charles lazily laughed, as he fell backwards, unfortunately causing him to groan in pain from his still swelling ankle. However, he still managed to laugh out in his dementia's manner, "Heh... Heh heh... Bring it... I'm ready...!"

[Charles Poe]

(Just gonna go ahead and start the last part now.)

Korin recovered his breath eventually, coughing to clear his throat. He started to walk away from Charles, yet again confusing the man. Charles asked the cat, "So... What is it that I've got to deal with now?"

Korin didn't respond immediately. He went inside a little room and started rummaging around for something. He shouted from the room, saying, "You're going to need all your strength for this last bit of training... Now where did I put those?"

"Hmm? What do you..."

Charles stopped himself, hearing the cat state something about finding what he was looking for. Master Korin walked out, holding a small bag made of a rough material and a elegantly designed bottle. He walked towards a table and placed the bottle on it. He then turned to Charles and opened the bag. Korin dug into the bag and pulled out a green Lima bean.

"Here. Eat this bean," Korin told Charles, as he tossed the bean at Charles's face. Charles quickly rose his right hand up and grabbed the bean. He looked down at it, confused to why Korin only gave him one.

Charles looked up and asked the cat, "Uh... Shouldn't I get more than 1 of these things? A lot more? It's just an ordinary Lima bean."

"Kid, just eat the bean. I'll explain afterwards... Man, the people these days," Korin commanded, annoyed by the constant questioning.

Charles looked at the bean and sighed. He tossed the bean into his mouth and started to mash it to bits. He swallowed the bean, ignoring the odd taste it had. A few seconds passed, in which Korin counted down from 5. Charles was about to ask why, when he felt an enormous burst of energy shoot through him. His muscles immediately tensed up, as his exhaustion evaporated from his body instantly! What did Charles just eat?!

"Woah...! I feel great...! Really great! What was that bean," Charles asked energetically. He hopped to his feet with ease and looked at his hands, opening and closing them quickly. This was incredible! He felt like he could do a lot more than what he usually could do!

Master Korin nodded in approval and began to explain, "What you just ate there was a Senzu Bean. It's a magic bean that completely revitalizes the consumer and rapidly increases healing for a split moment. It also fills the consumer's stomach right up, as you can see..."

Korin paused and closed the bag up. He put it on the table and grabbed the elegant bottle. The cat walked casually up to Charles and stopped right in front of him. He continued to speak, focusing on the bottle he had in his hand.

"Alright, kid. Here's the final phase of your training. This bottle here contains a drink I call Ultra Divine Water. The challenge is to keep this drink down and bare the pain that comes with it... Think you can handle it, Chucky?"

Charles grinned widely, telling the cat, "Oh, hell yeah...! Hand it over, kitty."

"Alright, kid... You've been warned."

Korin held the bottle up to Charles, who took it arrogantly. He pulled the cap off and took a large gulp from the drink. He wiped his lips and closed the bottle, placing the bottle on the ground in front of him and Korin. Like before, nothing seemed to have happened. However, Charles went immediately from feeling like he could do anything to feeling like his body would fall apart immediately!

"Gah...! What the- AAAAAHHHH!"

Charles placed both hands on his abdomen and walked backwards. What the hell was up with this drink?! Was the cat trying to kill him or something?! It was making Charles's body go crazy! His dementia and mania started to fluctuate at an incomprehensible amount. Charles couldn't keep his mentality intact!

"I'll kill you! Lets have some fun! God damn it!"

His mental control was uncontrolled! This had never happened ever to Charles before! His dementia and mania couldn't be stopped! His body ached extraordinarily and couldn't seem to stop! He had to manage through this?! It was insane! The water he drank started to boil up his esophagus.

"No... Get the fuck down! I want you to stay," Charles command, swallowing the water back down, so it would blast out of him like a fire hydrant. He was going to manage through this! He wouldn't hear the end of it from the damn cat or Master Xin if he couldn't hold it down. He punched the floor, cracking several of the tiles around him.