"Good," Franklin says. "Now do it again."

I twist back and release another punch into Franklin's pad. He alternates the pad between left and right, forcing me to switch my punches in the same rhythm. It's hard to tell, but he's getting faster.

Then he strikes to my left. Blocking the hit, I retaliate with another hit to his pad.

[ Through repeated actions you have unlocked the skill: Block(Minimum, Active) ]

[ Block — Allows the user to tank physical hits with less damage and a higher rate of success. ]

I disregard the message as another steel fist flies towards my face. Fists flow in a cycle—a loop of punching and blocking with minor randomization. Punch. Punch. Block. Punch. Block. Etcetera, etcetera.

[ Through repeated actions skill: Block(Minimum, Active) has ranked up to Block(Minor, Active) ]

[ Through repeated actions skill: Punch(Minimum, Active) has ranked up to Punch(Minor, Active) ]

My mind's focus starts to fade as I fall into the motions. I can feel my thoughts drifting to faraway places, like what I want for dinner. Maybe I can see if Thomas has any ideas.

Then Danger Sense acts up.

A blade nearly slices my face open. I can feel the nonexistent smirk of Franklin, but it's times like this when I'm reminded that I am capable of something that most machines cannot.

Expressing my emotions. Yes, what a shocker.

"What the FUCK, Franklin? You could've killed me!" I yell in 'anger.'

"It's a lesson in situational awareness," he says like he's some wise master.

"It's a lesson in hand-to-hand combat. Not a lesson in knife-to-face combat!"

"It's an important lesson nonetheless."

He closes his eyes for a second, replicating enlightenment. So, just like how a good portion of philosophers were treated, I sent a swing with all my Power into his jaw.

[ Through repeated actions skill: Punch(Minor, Active) has ranked up to Punch(Medium, Active) ]

I…might have underestimated how much force is in a Punch with a lot of Power. What is it? One percent increase? Not much, but it would add up. Anyway, Franklin's sparking. I may or may not have dented his jaw and sent a rod into some random circuit.

"E-Eh. Er-Eor. Error. Threat detected. Engaging with lethal force," he stutters. Well fuck.

I leap back out of his range. In a desperate attempt to attack me, he throws his padded beam at me; however, I easily parry that to the side.

Franklin looks around, swiveling on his podium. Deeming me a big enough threat, he rips HIMSELF OUT OF THE GROUND and begins crawling towards me. He's a shower of sparks, especially where the stub is.

"I-Intr-r-uder d-d-d-detec-c-cted."

The withering form of Franklin pounces at me, so I send a punch into his chest cavity. It's starting to hurt my hands now, but, y'know, I don't want to die. For a good reason: I enjoy living.

Franklin crashes into the weights, and he begins grabbing them. Projectiles now, huh?

I dodge the weights being tossed in my general direction with ease. Seems like Franklin is already on his last legs.

Oop.

[ Through repeated actions skill: Block(Minor, Active) has ranked up to Block(Medium, Active) ]

Franklin, tearing himself apart at this point, franticly seeks for another way to attack me. Limbs falling off, it's easy for me to walk up to him.

"ERGH!!" I rip off Franklin's head.

[ You have killed a level 20 "Withering Modified Archimedes Archipelago Defense Heavy Defense Robot" x 1. 700 experience points gained. ]

[ Through repeated actions skill: Fisticuff Proficiency(Minimum, Passive) has ranked up to Fisticuff Proficiency(Minor, Passive) ]

"What the fuck is going on in here?" Thomas chooses the opportune moment to walk in on me holding Franklin's disembodied, still screeching, head.

"E-E-E-E-E—" It keeps crying with the same intonations over and over and over again.

I drop the head and say, "Franklin had a glitch."

He leans all his weight on his right leg and puts his hands on his waist. "I can see that. It appears to be from a percussive user source."

"Eh…sorry. I punched him, and he treated me like a threat."

He waves me off. "Don't worry. I can just rebuild him…again. It's not like I'm hurting for parts or anything. On an entirely different note, want to watch me launch a soul across the multiverse?"

"Yes."

————————————————————————————————————

It's not what I thought it would be.

I expected a giant runic circle with spinning symbols. Ancient languages adapted through many techniques to modern times. Powers of the universe rent towards the will of insignificant sapient creatures.

Perhaps it could be some technological marvel. A metallic gateway surrounded by pulsing energies of a mad scientist playing god with the physics and rules confined within the sandbox of life.

Either of those shockingly similar images would've fit within my expectations.

I was not expecting the toaster.

"The fuck is this?" I ask in clear exasperation.

"It's- Well, it's- Uh… It's from a time period in my life where I made random objects into various dangerous things."

"Why?"

"Some people broke into my house."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Robber has a gun. You have a lamp that can increase arson charges by 500%."

"Do you keep these things in your penthouse, you know, near a child?!"

"No… At least, I think so."

That's worrying. Reminder: don't touch anything without consulting a member of their family first.

"Anyway… let's get rid of this thing," Thomas says while putting an everything bagel in the toaster.

Soon, two minutes later, the bagel begins to glow, slightly fulfilling my earlier expectations. The magical, glowing bagel hovers out of the toaster. Looking closely, the bagel is spinning really, really fast.

The spinning bagel expands to be about a yard in diameter. The hole within has become pitch black, only illuminated by faint, sky-blue particles flowing off of the bagel into the abyss.

"Don't stare at the mana too long. It'll draw you in and I ain't stopping that train-wreck." Thomas pulls me back. When had I gotten so close to the portal?

Yeah, let's let Thomas do his thing.

He pulls out the blue soul gem, mystic fog glows inside, and he lines up like he's about to pitch it. Then, just tosses it into the portal.

It shoots off like a bullet.

"It's out of my hands now. Literally."

————————————————————————————————————

Hiro wakes up in a hospital room, sunlight pouring in. His leg is in a cast, his right arm in a sling, his head is bandaged and his left wrist is covered in gauze.

As he blinks his eyes, a friendly-looking doctor enters the room looking over his file.

"Afternoon," the doctor greets.

"Oh…hi…" Hiro croaks back.

"Pretty brave thing you did…"

"What?"

"Stepping in front of the truck… pretty brave. Kind of stupid. But pretty brave."

"Oh. Yeah…" Hiro attempts to shift his body. "Ouch. Is uh… Is that boy okay?"

"Just fine. Scratched up is all."

"Good. Am I okay?"

"Well, you're not dead. On the other hand," the doctor pauses to look at the file. "Looks like you cracked your head, broke three bones in your leg and foot, suffered four broken ribs, fractured your right arm… and you severed an artery in your left arm, which should've killed you in minutes, but amazingly a shard of metal from your watch became lodged in the artery, keeping the loss of blood down enough to keep you alive… which is pretty cool."

"Wow… Something- Something doesn't feel right in- in my chest though," Hiro stammers. "I also feel really angry, for some reason, too."

"Ah, well, with some therapy and a few months of rest, you should be fine."