Path to Battle 3 (Patreon)

It was two days after Taylor and I agreed on a partnership, and I was flat on the ground with my face on the floor for the fifth time in ten minutes. Not in a fun way either, but because Taylor was extremely insistent on making sure I was trained up in fighting. I knew a little bit of Taekwondo, but I hadn't had any proper lessons since I was in fourth grade.

"Come on, Jed," Taylor said. "You need to get up, we have to keep going."

I grunted, but I pushed myself back up.

"You're holding back," I said.

"Of course I am," she replied. "If I wasn't, you'd be dead or seriously injured by now. It's the first rule of fighting, you have to know your limits, and fight accordingly."

"Okay," I said, stretching.

"Good, then let's get back to it," Taylor replied. "Try and hit me."

I lunged, throwing a punch at her face. She dodged, and her hand shot out, striking me in the solar plexus. The air left my lungs, and I stumbled back, gasping for air.

"You're leaving yourself open," she scolded. "You need to protect your vital points."

"I'm trying," I wheezed.

"Try harder," Taylor retorted. I let out a frustrated growl, but I nodded.

"Alright, again," she said. "Don't let me hit you."

I circled around her, looking for an opening. She was watching me, her eyes tracking my movements. I feinted, and when she moved to block, I lunged forward, throwing a punch at her stomach. She dodged, but my fist grazed her side, and she winced.

"Better," she said, grinning. "But you're still leaving yourself open."

I groaned, and she chuckled.

"You're doing good," she reassured me. "You're not giving up, and you're learning. That's what's important."

"I guess," I muttered.

"Alright, let's try again," she said. "I won't go as easy on you this time."

I took a deep breath, and nodded.

"Come on, let's go," Taylor said, a smirk on her face. "Let's see what you've got."

We squared off, and I watched her carefully. She was watching me too, her eyes narrowed.

I charged, throwing a punch at her head. She blocked it, and countered with a kick to the stomach. I grunted, but I didn't let up, throwing another punch. This one caught her on the shoulder, and she hissed in pain.  As my punch landed, I did something that I hadn't in the two days of training that we'd been doing. I utilized my Ki to create a duplicate, managing to manifest it behind her. My clone caught Taylor off guard, hooking his arms under hers and putting her into a full nelson.

"Nicely done," Taylor congratulated, but she quickly broke out of the hold. "But you have a long way to go."

I let out a sigh, and she grinned.

"Don't worry, we'll get there," she assured me.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Because we have a good team," she replied. "You have a lot of potential, and you're willing to put in the work. That's more than most people can say. All we have to do is keep training, and you'll get better. Trust me."

"Okay," I agreed. "Let's do it."

Taylor nodded, and we continued sparring. I was improving, but it was slow. I wasn't used to fighting like this, and it was hard. But I knew that I had to learn, and the best way to learn was to keep trying.

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The next two days were focused on training my flight and ability to produce clones. Which meant that Taylor was having me fly, create clones, and spar with her and the creatures she had tamed with her own Ki gift at the same time. It was exhausting, but each time I recovered my Ki and started again, I was noticing gains. When fleeing from Lung, my flight was only about my own running speed and I'd tired out about as quickly. Now, as I all but poured myself into a chair, every muscle in my body sore and screaming in protest, I could hold my flight for about fifteen minutes and had almost doubled my max speed.

Still, it was high time I came clean with Taylor about something...just as soon as breathing stopped hurting...ow...right, new plan. I was just going to put my head down on the table and wait for death, it would hurt less.

"Stop being a wuss," Taylor teased as she sat across from me at the table, setting down a pair of plates as she did so. I lifted my head, seeing a plate in front of me with what looked like lasagna in front of me. "It's my mother's recipe."

Pain can wait, food now. I grabbed my fork, and was about to dig in when I saw a flash of something in Taylor's eyes.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Sorry, it's nothing," she apologized. "Just...it's weird, thinking that it's been five years since Mom's been gone. It's still so...raw, sometimes. And it's not just her either. My dad died in a fight between the Sects earlier this year. I don't have anything else."

I put my fork down, and reached across the table, taking her hand in mine. She smiled, and we sat there, enjoying the moment.

"Thanks," she said, wiping her eyes. "It's nice, having someone here with me. Someone who understands."

"I know," I replied, giving her hand a squeeze.

"I should let you eat before it gets cold," Taylor said.

"It can wait," I assured her.

She smiled, and we sat there, enjoying the moment.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."

"Any time," I replied, a gentle smile on my face.

We sat there, enjoying the moment, and the closeness. Eventually, we turned our focus back to the food, and I considered how to tell her. Eventually, I decided to just say it.

"There's something you should know," I said, halfway through the lasagna, getting Taylor's attention. Seeing that I had it, I continued, "I grew up on a different Earth."

"How do you know?" Taylor asked, her eyebrows furrowed. "Why do you think that?"

"Ki and the Sects," I told her. "The first time I heard of them was the fight with Lung where we met. I don't even know how I arrived on this Earth, one minute I was walking down the street of my hometown, the next I was running away from a guy who shoots fireballs from his eyes."

"That's not what Lung...no, not important," she muttered, shaking her head, before refocusing on me. "You're sure you're from another universe and somehow ended up here?"

"Pretty damn sure," I replied.

Taylor leaned back in her chair, tapping her chin in thought. "Okay, assuming you're right and you're from another universe, how did you get here? How do you intend to go back?"

"I honestly don't know," I admitted. "But to be perfectly honest, I'm not even sure I want to go back. I don't really have anything waiting for me there. Plus, I already promised to help you."

"You can't just stay because of that," Taylor said.

"It's not just because of that," I told her. "I care about you, Taylor. You've become important to me, and I can't just leave you alone."

She was silent for a few moments, and then, slowly, she nodded.

"Alright," she said. "If you're sure this is what you want, then I won't stop you."

"I am," I replied. "But focusing on that, at some point we're going to have to get more allies, there's only so much that the two of us can do."

Taylor was silent for a few moments, and then she nodded.

"You're right," she agreed. "And I think I have a few ideas about who to approach first."

"Who do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Well, there's three independents I think we should talk to," she began. "Cheshire, Toph, and a woman named Sakura. All three live in Dragon Flame Sect territory, but have enough strength that if Lung were to forcibly recruit them, it would leave the sect vulnerable to Purity of Iron or Merchants of Ecstacy. They would probably be more interested in a deal than a fight."

"Sakura?" I asked, feeling a strange sense of Deja vu at the name.

"She's a healer," Taylor explained. "But she's also strong enough to throw some of the wrecked ships in the bay like they're bath toys. She ah..."

Taylor blushed and looked away, before saying in a slight rush, "She's also the person I went to when my penis formed, since she was the only person I knew who had received the psol virus."

I blinked several times, "The what virus?"

"Psol, it's not contagious, not by the time the penis forms anyway. It was made by an insane woman named Lustrum, and was supposed to kill men and give women cocks, but she was killed before it was finished. It still got loose, but doesn't do anything to men and there's less than a fifty percent chance of affecting women," Taylor explained, before giving me an odd look. "You didn't think a girl having a dick was normal, did you?"

"People can't fly, make clones of themselves, or shoot fire from their hands on my home Earth," I defended myself. "For all I knew it was just one other difference between our Earths."

"Oh, well, yeah, not really," she replied. "So, uh, we'll probably want to go see her. After, ah, you're feeling better."

I sighed, and nodded.

"So, how exactly are we going to approach these people?" I asked.

"Sakura will be the easiest, since I'm a former patient of hers," Taylor said, tapping the bottom of her fork against her chin. "I'm not quite sure how to approach Toph or Cheshire yet. Or even where to find them. We can visit her tomorrow, just ah..."

I noticed that Taylor was hesitant to look at me, and I had a suspicion that caused a certain muscle to clench. Just for clarification, I asked, "She's going to want to stick her dick in my ass, isn't she?"

"Most likely," Taylor said. "But she won't force you, and if she tries anything, I'll be right there."

"I'm holding you to that," I said.

"I would expect nothing less," she replied, a teasing smile on her face.

"Well, then," I said, a grin on my face. "We've got a busy day ahead of us. Better get some rest."

"Oh, really?" she asked, her smile turning into a smirk. "And just what are you proposing we do?"

"I was thinking that a nice soak in the hot tub would be a good idea," I said, leaning forward. "What were you thinking?"

"I think that we can come to an agreement," she replied, a wicked grin on her face.

"Lead the way," I said.

Her grin widened, and she stood, holding her hand out to me. I took it, and she led me down to the hot tub, where we enjoyed a long, relaxing soak. It wasn't a real hot tub, just a big tub that we filled with water and heated with Ki, but it worked just as well. We soaked, and talked, and enjoyed each other's company. And when we were done, we went to bed, falling asleep in each other's arms.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

The next day, Taylor and I were flying to meet Sakura. It was a little awkward, given that Taylor had a firm grip on my hips, and had me bent over so my ass was pressing against her groin. If not for the fact that she was obviously doing it because she was nervous about falling off, I'd be very embarrassed. As it was, we were making decent time.

"Alright, we're getting close," Taylor said.

"Okay, what's the plan?" I asked.

"Land near the lighthouse, and walk the rest of the way," she replied. "It should be simple enough."

"Alright, then let's get to it," I said.

Taylor nodded, and we flew toward the lighthouse. It didn't take long for us to get there, and we landed without incident. Taylor released me, and we made our way toward the lighthouse.

"So, what do we need to know about her?" I asked, as we walked.

"Sakura's a healer," Taylor explained. "She's also pretty laid back, and she's always willing to help someone out."

"That's good," I replied. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"She's a bit...eccentric," Taylor said. "But she's also a good person. If we can convince her to join us, she'll be a great asset."

I nodded, coming to a stop outside the lighthouse door. Reaching up, I knocked on the door, and waited. And waited. After a minute, I heard what sounded like very faint footsteps on metal stairs. Sending a glance Taylor's way, I decided to kill the silence and asked, "So, did you hear about the guy who invented the door knocker?"

Taylor sent a confused look my way, "What does that-"

I cut her off, delivering the punchline, "They gave him the No Bell Prize."

The door opened just in time for the occupant to see Taylor facepalming. I blinked upon seeing the woman who opened the door, shock running through me. In retrospect, a woman named Sakura with healing powers and super strength made it obvious, but I still wasn't expecting to see the pink haired form of Sakura Haruno in what had seemed like a modern world.