When we got home, I went to my room to change into some basketball shorts. I had training with my godfathers today, and I knew that I'd get hot. Better to be comfortable while sparring than getting overheated. After I was done, I went into the backyard where my godfathers were waiting. Nigel taught about blades, Nixis taught Muay Thai, Umbra taught Krav Maga and Mixed Martial Arts, and Donatello was a doctor in case anything happened.
Today, I was being taught by Umbra and after a warm-up, we started the training. He had me throw elbow strikes, kicks, and punches at the training dummy before we started sparring against one another. We started off simple, with him throwing a few kicks and punches at me, like the typical jabs and leg sweeps. However, this isn't my first time learning this style, and I was able to counter them. What I wasn't expecting was for him to knock me down and pull the Calf Slicer Technique on my left leg. It's a technique that's not very well known, but it's extremely painful. The Calf Slicer targets the opponent's calf muscle while the attacker presses it towards the shin bone. It can damage the calf muscle as well as the knee joint.
Umbra is highly skilled, so he made sure not to go too far with the move, but it still had me submitting in defeat. As I tapped the ground three times, Donny came over to take a look. Just because Umbra didn't damage my knee joint doesn't mean that there was no damage to the muscle itself. This was my first time seeing or experiencing this move, and I wanted to learn it. However, Donny crushed those dreams for the day before I could say anything.
"There seems to be a minor tear to the calf muscle, so I'm gonna call it enough for the day. It should be healed by tomorrow, but no more strenuous activities for the day. Okay, Andrew?" Donny directed the last part towards me directly. I had a habit of continuing to do something, like training, when I've been told not to. As he helped me up, I told him that I would listen to his instructions as I limped inside to take a hot shower. Today's training was short, at only 45 minutes, so I spent the rest of my day in my room.
Taking out my drawing supplies, I sat on my bed with my leg propped up on a pillow with an ice pack on it. Thinking about what to draw, I thought about my beasts. Using that as my idea, I drew a forest scene with Magnis and Nightmare curled around a campfire with a person sitting between them. As I drew, my mom came in to check on me.
"Hey, sweetie. Donatello told me about the training session. You okay?" She asked as she sat beside me, looking at my picture.
"Yeah. I just wished that I could have learned that technique today. That, and I'm dreading school starting next week. It doesn't feel like it's already been two months, and that summer vacation is already over." School always felt like my own personal hell, and I always dreaded it. Because of my 'special' features, I never fit in, and the other students have spread rumors about me for as long as I could remember. They would call me 'freak', 'monster', or 'the school's residential bad boy' since I had anger issues.
"I know, honey. Just know that your brothers will be in all of your classes and that the faculty there have already been informed of your special situation. Do not hesitate to ask for help when you need it. Promise me, okay?" As my mother spoke, she gave me a side hug and a kiss on my temple as I told her that I would ask for help if I needed it.
Around 30 minutes later, dinner was ready, so I slowly made my way downstairs. My leg was still sore, but not as bad as earlier, so it didn't pose much of an issue. Dinner was steak with mashed potatoes and a salad, but when I reached the dining room, I stopped short. There were three extra people sitting at the table, one of them I knew and the other two were unfamiliar to me.
The man that I recognized was Mr. Deus, the Chief of Police and my dad's friend. Next to him was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-forties and beside her was a teenage boy around my age. Sitting beside my brother Josh, I waited to see how this night was going to go.
"Ah! It's so good to see you Andrew. How have you been doing?" Mr. Deus asked after I sat down. "I would also like you to meet my wife Veronica and my son, Michael."
After I greeted them, I turned back to Mr. Deus to answer his question. "I've been okay, I guess. Started therapy today and I will start school again next week."
"Not going to get into any more fights this year I hope." He gave me a quizzical look.
"The fight last year wasn't one that I started, it was purely self-defense. You know that, since you were the one who was given the case." I squinted my eyes at him, not liking where this conversation could go.
"You know better than I do, that you are a loose cannon. Trauma set aside, your anger issues have started becoming an issue. We can't keep covering your ass." That was a response that none of my family was expecting.
"While I appreciate you rescuing me every time that I had gotten kidnapped, you know that I have never asked you to 'cover my ass' as you so eloquently put it." I was struggling to keep my breathing even and my rising anger in check. Nightmare and Magnis have been restless lately so their temperaments have been higher, and this conversation was making them angry just like me.
"So you were the one that my father has rescued all those times. I remember that he would talk to my mom about how worried he was about you. Glad I can finally put a face to the name. It's nice to meet you." Michael seemed oblivious to the tension that was around the table right now.
"It's nice to meet you as well. I just wish it was under better conditions, and not when your father is accusing me of impulsive violence." My voice had taken on a slightly gravely quality. Pushing my chair back I left the table with my plate left untouched.
"I'll follow him and make sure nothing happens." Adam, one of my other brothers, told my parents as he followed me into the home gym. Josh, Adam, Damian, and Dominic weren't biologically related to me and Alex, but were adopted by our parents. They came from three different families, but their parents were friends with ours. When they passed away during a vampire attack that was dealt with by the police and military, my parents adopted them since they had no other family left.
In the home gym, I shifted into a smaller form of Nightmare as I paced the room. Mr. Deus had never talked to us like that before and I could hear dad arguing with him about it. I might train like I'm preparing for a fight, but I'm not a violent person. The only time that I fight back is when I'm being attacked first.
"Come on, man. Calm down. Don't let Mr. Deus get to you like this. It's not worth it." Adam tried to be the calming voice of reason.
"It's not just Mr. Deus. Nightmare and Magnis have been cooped up for too long. I need to ask our godfathers when we can go on a hunting trip, but I need to wait until tomorrow to do that." I telepathically communicated to Adam. When I was doing pacing, I shifted into a small version of Magnis and flew out of the door up to the rafters. It's one thing that I loved about this house. The rafters were a perfect place for Magnis to perch and relax, since no one really looks up anyway.
Using the rafter beams to make my way back to the dining room, I looked down and cooed at my mom. Looking up, she sighed and motioned for me to come down. Opening my wings, I quietly glided down onto the floor. Michael was mesmerized since this was his first time seeing a Dragon in person.
"Andrew, can you please shift back into a human?" My mom calmly asked as she gently rubbed my scaly head. Shaking my head, I grumbled in discontent. I didn't want to shift back, so I slinked under the table and laid down by Alex's feet. Her scent has always been calming for me, and I needed that calm now. Mr. Deus was the last thing that was needed to cause me to cave and shift despite knowing that it might not be the best idea.
"I know that you might not respond to me, and I respect that. However, I do want to apologize to you. What I said and how I said it were uncalled for, and I'm sorry if it angered you. I'm just worried about you, Andrew. There's only so much that we can do for you and those are quickly becoming useless."
Making it so that everyone could hear me, I responded. "I understand that, Mr. Deus. With everything that you have already done for me, I can never repay that kind of kindness. It's just that you know that my situation isn't that simple. Like you said, my anger is a big issue, and part of that is due to the fact that my beasts have been cooped up for far too long. It's not normal or healthy and it tends to backlash on their human counterpart. You know that as well as I do."
"I actually saw something that might help you, then. It's a secluded area that's been declared off limits due to the highly toxic plants in the area. With your ability to gain immunity to poisons, it might be an area you'd like to check out. It has plenty of wildlife so you could hunt, and since it's 'off limits' you wouldn't have to worry about people seeing you." Mr. Deus's suggestion sounded amazing. Peaking my head out from under the table, I looked at my parents.
"I guess we could let your godfathers take you. We know that we can't keep you from shifting, so we'll just have to be as safe as possible about it, right?" Hearing this, I gave happy chirps that had everyone laughing. My parents then placed my plate on the floor since they knew that I wouldn't be shifting back anytime soon.
Michael and Veronica seemed fascinated by me, so my parents told them about our family situation and how important it was to keep this secret, well, a secret. They swore they wouldn't tell anyone about it and after dinner, we all went outside. I glided around the backyard, staying close to the ground, and collected sticks for a fire. Taking them back to our fire pit, I threw them in before lighting it. When that was done, I proceeded to play with my brothers and sister until I was exhausted and turned in for the night.