The Next Generation

Blade took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, gazing down at the ground and nodding. "Yeah, right, I'll do my best. But I don't use my telepathy when learning something new, you know. Makes things too... easy, when sparring or whatever, so I don't learn whatever I'm being taught as well as I could. The telepathy is a great tool, but it seriously puts a damper on my skill if I depend too much on it. I'd rather have my skill be top notch and my mind juts make it that much better."

Sunfire walked over to Blade and gave her a brief kiss, then put a hand on her shoulder. "You go and train. My mother will be wondering where I am by now... I promised to help out on surveillance duty this afternoon. I will see you later tonight?"

Blade looked back at her and smiled, returning the kiss. "Yeah, definitely."

"Sounds like a good idea, you can't depend on something too much or you'll lose what you could possibly learn. It's a smart idea," Neal said with a nod as Blade explained that she wouldn't be using it for her training. She wasn't just a fighter but a thinker, and Neal liked that.

He watched as the two kissed before Sunfire excused herself. "We will see you another time Sunfire, tell your mother that I owe her a few favors will you?" Neal asked with a nod before allowing Starfire to leave the tent. Now that it was just the two of them, they could get started on this training.

"Alright, based on what I saw earlier I'm guessing that you mostly use your swords for fighting correct?" he asked as he turned back to Blade.

Blade nodded. "Yeah, swords mostly. Better than my fists, though I'm an expert with those, too. Tried guns once, but I didn't like them... didn't make me feel right. I mean, they'd help in a firefight, but I'm not usually involved in anything like that. I mostly go on covert ops, stealth missions, you know. And I'm damn good at it, too." She held her head high, looking every bit as confident as she felt. "But I can still get better. So yeah, I'll learn whatever you can teach me."

"I figured as much, if that's what you mainly use than I'm going to improve your skills with them. I have to admit that I don't use two swords at once, but I'm sure that I can still teach you a few things," Neal said as he reached into his pack and pulled out his sword handle. He pressed the button and caused the weapon to extend out. He didn't apply any heat since this was going to just be a training session.

"First let's see what you can do, try to hit me"

Blade didn't hesitate when he told her to try and hit him. She immediately crouched, drew both swords in the blink of an eye, and lunged at him in a whirl of sharp steel. She let out a combative cry, slashing with one sword while thrusting with the other; her attacks were aimed at non lethal points, so even if she did manage to hit him, she wouldn't come anywhere close to killing him. This might be practice, but she wasn't going to hold back. If she didn't give it her all, she'd never get anywhere.

Neal had to admit that the ferocity with which Blade began the training caught him slightly off guard. Thankfully his training kicked in and he was able to defend in no time. He quickly slashed with his sword to knock the thrust off in a different direction before bringing his sword up to meet and block the slash from fully connecting. Once Neal was certain that he had blocked the swords he lifted up his leg and sent a kick in to Blade's stomach to knock her back and away from him.

Blade was actually surprised when Neal managed to deflect both her attacks; she'd yet to meet anyone she couldn't take down in the first couple swings. Well, no one at street level anyway. Hell, even once Batman had been done training her, he could barely keep up. Granted, he was getting pretty old nowadays, but still. Of course, people with more powerful super powers like super strength or invulnerability, they were a lot trickier... but she still had her ways of dealing with them.

The kick hit her chest, pushing her back a step, but she held firm, dropping her swords and catching his foot. She used it to lift herself up and sweep her leg towards his face, then letting go and catching her swords by the handles before they hit the ground, and falling forward in a somersault while thrusting back with them at his thighs.

Blade was good there was no denying that, but Neal still felt like he was the better swordsman in this case. After all, he had a few years on Blade and it was a lot easier for him to put his strength into deflecting her attacks when she had only one sword in each hand. Not to mention that Neal had his ass kicked on multiple occasions by Talia until he could learn how to block several sword techniques. It was coming in handy now and hopefully Blade would begin to pick up on it.

Neal watched as the girl caught his foot, using it to balance herself before entering an extremely complicated maneuver in an attempt to stab at his legs. It wasn't going to be that easy though. As she performed her move Neal quickly leaned his head back to avoid the blow, her legs weren't long enough to fully reach him when he did this. When Blade acquired her swords again Neal quickly jumped up and performed a back flip to create more distance between them, the swords wouldn't make contact.

"A swordsman needs to learn how to close the gap faster, stop your opponent from having any sort of reaction time. Do too many things at once, and you allow them to come up with a simple solution to a complicated problem," he said as he held his ground. He wanted to see if she would take the advice or just be annoyed with it.

"You mean close a gap faster like this?" she said, growling as she lunged forward at nearly her top speed, reducing the distance between them very quickly. She slashed once, twice, spun with her blades around to continue the motion while remaining on the offensive, leading into another series of stabs and cuts. He was good, too, she'd give him that. She hadn't had to work this hard to land a single blow in a very long time. He might be more experienced, but she was faster, so it was only a matter of time before she hit him. If he claimed to know things that she didn't, and wanted to teach her, then he was going to have to prove it!

Neal had to admit that he didn't believe that Blade would act upon his advice that quickly, not that he was complaining. "That's more like it!" Neal shouted as he moved his sword as fast as he could. That was the disadvantage of having only one sword against two, it was harder to block every attack that came your way. Neal wasn't going to submit so easily though. Blade was correct in knowing that she was faster, but Neal knew that as well.

When she launched out a particular slash he reached out with his hand and grabbed her wrist, stopping her from moving her arm or turning her blade. With his other hand he used his sword to block Blade's free arm. "You almost had me there, question is what do you do when your opponent has you in a grip like this?"

Blade needed only a small moment to process her predicament. Sure, he had her blocked and locked up, but she wasn't the only one with tricks up her sleeve. "Simple, I do this," she said, twisting her arms and dropping her swords again, this time grabbing both his wrists. When she had her iron grip firmly locked around him, she lurched backwards and fell towards the floor in a reverse somersault, raising her legs up against his chest. Using the rapid falling momentum, she bent her legs and then pushed them hard forward to launch him into the air.

Neal was surprised at the quick movement that Blade was able to pull off. Neal was almost convinced that she had been in that predicament before, she had certainly come up with a way to get out of it quickly! With the way his arms were locked up he couldn't help but be kicked away from her like she planned. He was sent through the air, dropping his sword halfway between himself and Blade. He pushed himself up and looked towards his sword, seeing that it was just out of reach. He quickly pushed himself up, trying to see if he could get to the sword before Blade could.

Blade quickly flipped herself back up to her feet, grabbing both her swords in mid motion on her way up. turning around, she quickly twirled the blades around into a better grip and sprinted forward as Neal hurried to his fallen sword. When in range, she leaped forward through the air with a shout, bringing the points of both weapons down in a vicious arcing motion, aimed at both of his shoulders. He'd be at a severe disadvantage if he couldn't get back to his weapon, and she was going to make sure that she kept him from it.

Neal seemed to stop dead as Blade leaped forward and attempted to bring her blades down upon Neal. It looked like victory was assured for her, but that was when the game changed. Neal suddenly vanished in her vision, which in actuality was an illusion that he had sent and placed into her mind. It was meant to really throw her off, having your opponent vanish and all. As soon as he vanished Neal moved to the side in order to avoid the blades before suddenly launching a quick kick into Blade's back. After making contact he reached down and picked up his sword once again.

He didn't say anything at first, he wanted to see how she reacted to what happened. Neal dismissed the illusion and allowed himself to appear again.

"What the-!" Blade shouted, as she came down and Neal suddenly vanished into thin air. She still brought her swords down hard, but they lodged into the cold earth, effectively missing their target. She glanced around quickly, frantically. "Oh, come on! I thought this was going to be skill only? What, afraid your daughter might beat you? Show yourself and fight like a- gah!" She stumbled forward as the kick struck her backside, forcing her to one knee. She recovered in less than a second, spinning around with a sweeping attack, but again hitting nothing. When he finally reappeared again, she glowered at him. "Go ahead, try that again. I'll mind melt your brain."

Neal only smiled as he saw that his attack had succeeded in tricking Blade's vision. He kicked her, grabbed his sword, and once again took a defensive stance as he got ready to continue the fight. It was what she said next that caused him to raise an eyebrow. "Mind melt my brain? Is that an actual threat or any empty one?" he asked curiously.

"And don't worry, you have my word that I won't do that again. However, I needed to show you the error of your thinking. You left yourself far too exposed in that last attack. You jumped right into the air and left yourself open to attack. Had I been equipped with my weapon I could have struck you down easily...........you must never assume that victory is yours. Always play it safe, especially against a swordsman," Neal said as he stared at his daughter. "It only takes one good attack to take away someone's life"

"Yes, but you didn't have your weapon..." Blade pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Obviously, she never would have made such an open leap like that against someone who still had their sword at the ready, that would be an invitation for death. "Had you not vanished, I would have struck you down, or had I been using my telepathy, I would have known you would vanish and adjusted my attack to compensate. I might not be the best, but I'm better than you think I am." Flipping her swords around again, she shifted her stance.

"As for my threat... you be the judge." She stared at him, sending out a short burst of brainwaves to assault his mind. It wasn't anything severe, just a sudden shock to the system that would leave him momentarily dizzy. Without missing a beat, she then sprinted forward with another precision attack.

Neal could see Blade's point, but he also felt like he needed to make his own. Blade thought that victory was hers and so she made move that she normally wouldn't have used, and Neal wanted to make sure that she never did that in the future. Getting arrogant was a very easy way to get killed in this business. He had no idea how Blade saw herself, but he wanted to make sure that she stayed alive for as long as possible. "Very well, no more dirty tricks on my end. All skill from here on out," he said.

He felt himself suddenly becoming dizzy, staggering for a moment as he felt himself losing his balance. Thankfully it didn't last long though and he was able to bring up his sword to block the next incoming attack.

---

About an hour later, they both stood on opposite sides of the tent and breathing heavily. "You definitely learned how to pick up a sword I'll give you that much. Very few people can make me as tired as you did," Neal said openly. It had taken her a while but she had eventually landed several blows on Neal. He was thoroughly impressed with her skill and speed.

"For what it's worth, I have a higher opinion of you than I think I do"

Blade sat on the ground, legs bent at the knees as she leaned back on her hands, taking in deep breaths. "Yeah, well, I'm good at what I do," she said, with a shrug. "Don't know what else to say about it. I've been training since I was old enough to throw a punch; was breaking boards by five, cinder blocks by eight, using swords since ten. So yeah, I've been around the block a couple of times, as far as combat goes. Never got a chance to slow down, either, not once all this happened."

When Neal made his last comment, she glanced down a the ground, shrugging. "Well that's nice, I guess." She was quiet for a few moments after, sighing heavily. "Look, I'm just... I'm not used to having a dad, alright? I was always told that my dad was dead, which, I mean you were for the most part, until showing back up now... That, and my mother abandoned me, didn't even try to raise me herself. Whatever, you know? Guess she just didn't want me." She shrugged again. "So you'll understand if I'm not really... into the fact that I have a dad all of a sudden. Especially... when you look like that. I mean, I really wish you could look older... it's really creeping me out."

"Well that much is obvious, no rookie or weakling could do what you did today. It would be way beyond their level of understanding or skill," Neal pointed out. "I guess that the Titans got you working hard ever since you could move, guess there wasn't much else that they could teach you and they certainly wouldn't have sent you to a foster home or orphanage, they cared too much about you," Neal said to himself quietly. The Titans, even after Neal's death and Rose's disappearance were willing to watch over their daughter, now that was friendship.

As Blade continued to speak, Neal let a small smile cover his face. He could completely understand where Blade was coming from, but he wanted her to know that it didn't have to be like this. He moved over and sat down just a few feet away from her. "Blade, I can't even begin to imagine what you're feeling right now. I don't know what you've been through because I wasn't there and I'm sorry for that," he said sincerely. "But I'm here now, and I don't seem like that big of an asshole do I?" he asked with a weak chuckle. "I don't need you calling me daddy or telling me that you love me or anything..........but can't we at least try to make this work? For all I know, this is my new home,"

"Also, if my appearance really does creep you out I could make myself look older if you wish," Neal said before his appearance suddenly began to alter. He made himself slightly taller and changed his facial structure to make him look like he was in his mid forties. "This any better?"

"Well... I suppose you could be worse," Blade admitted, with a tiny shrug. She still didn't want to openly admit that he was a not so bad kind of guy, or anything like that. "I mean, I have met worse... back when I was sixteen, there was this one kid that kept trying to hit on me... man, I forget his name, but he was a total sleeze. I mean, here we are trying to fight against our corrupt government and take the country back, and he's trying to get in my pants! Can you believe that? Of course, he pretty much left me alone after he caught me and Lori making out behind the storage tent... but still, he was a dick."

She let out a small sighing chuckle and then leaned forward. "I don't know... maybe I can give you a chance, or something. But if you start giving me cute nicknames, I swear I will nail your feet to the ground." She glared at him; she was quite serious. As he began to change his appearance, though, she gave him a curious look and tilted her head to the side. "Actually... yeah, that is a little better... It's a start, anyway."

Neal listened as Blade said that he wasn't so bad. It wasn't exactly a compliment, but he could accept it for now. It was the start to a relationship at least, and that was all that he wanted. If Neal was stuck in this future with Blade and the other than he at least wanted a relationship with his daughter. He couldn't live here knowing that his own daughter would rather he have stayed dead. It was a heavy thing to here. "Yeah, dude definitely sounds like an ass," Neal said as he listened to Blade's story.

"I can accept a start, it's better that what we had two hours ago," Neal said as he stood up. "It's late and we're both fairly tired, I should probably go try to find a tent and get some rest," he said as he minimized his sword and placed it in his pack. "We can continue your training whenever you wish, just let me know when you want to continue," Neal said as he stood up. "Rest well Blade," Neal said before making his way to the flap in her tent.

"Yeah, right... I should probably hit the showers, too. I totally wreak," she muttered, standing up and glancing down at herself. She could feel her body sweating something awful beneath her armor. It sure offered plenty of protection, but she'd be damned if it wasn't basically her own personal heat box. "And I should be meeting up with Lori again, soon. So... yeah, I'll see you later..." She paused awkwardly, shifting her weight and moving her gaze off to the side. "...Dad." She gave him a little wave, and then hurried off in a different direction.

Before Neal got too far, a familiar face would be there to greet him. Joey immediately started to fire off a rapid series of hand signs when he approached. Neal! Can you believe what's going on? We're in the future! This is... Have you met Loriand'r yet? She's all grown up! And apparently, I have a niece... your daughter. How is she?

"You and I both, these outfits provide protection but something I wonder if I'm only in such good shape because I sweat off all the fat," Neal said jokingly as he began to make his way to the flap. "Have fun with Lori, tell her I said hello again," he said before beginning to move out the flap. He only stopped and glanced back for a moment as she actually called him dad. Neal had never even been called that before, and it was strange to hear Blade admit it so suddenly. "I'll see you soon," Neal said with a simple smile before fully exiting the tent.

Neal had only gotten about twenty or thirty feet away before Joey suddenly showed up with a ton of question. God, Neal completely forgot to check in with Joey to see if he was okay! Well, at least he was moving around and seemed okay. "Yeah, I have a hard time believing it considering that more than anything else we should be dead," Neal admitted as he crossed his arms. "And yeah, I've seen Lori and Lillian too, although I get the feeling that she prefers Blade," Neal remarked as he glanced back in the direction that she came.

"I think that I'm starting to fix things with her, but I think it'll take a lot for her to ever actually care for me, and I don't think she'll ever really see me as her father. How can she after all? She's already all grown up, I didn't raise her at all"

Lillian... Joey signed. That is a beautiful name. And Blade... a tough name. Tough like her mother. He smiled again and continued signing. I'm sure she will warm up to you... she just needs some time. She didn't have a dad yesterday, but she has one now today. Even if she never quite sees you like that, at the very least you can be her friend. She's still a part of you, and she always will be. I would be proud of the woman she's become either way. On another note, I met Wylde as well... he very much reminds me of his mother. I do believe the only thing he got from his father is his hairstyle, and a slightly sarcastic attitude.