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"So, Jason, you ready for your demonstration?" The Charmander asked, leaning against the concrete pedestal and watching Jason intently.

The Charmander, donned in his uniform bullet proof vest and with a red bandana strapped around his left arm, was rather curious about his new partner. Not too long ago, the Riolu had asked that he train him with ranged fire attacks. The Riolu's promised Charlie that he'd give him a demonstration, and that's what led them here to the firing range.

"Right..." Jason said, balling his fists and lighting them ablaze, bright orange fire engulfing the Riolu's hands.

Jason, although he was the one who wanted to demonstrate his powers, was a bit nervous about the demonstration. He had the strongest urge to start tugging against his hoodie, a habit of his whenever he gets nervous, because he's not even sure if what he learns in his dream would be applicable in reality. And his bulletproof vest didn't help much since it gave him the feeling of being constricted. Nevertheless, he still had to try.

He tried forming a ball of fire in his hands. He opened his fists and tried to concentrate the flames, a feat he hasn't tried yet. He managed to do it, a ball of fire formed in his hands, one which he then tried throwing towards the target. He pulled his arm back to hurl the ball of fire but it quickly dissipated, leaving Jason to swing his arm forward with nothing to show for.

The Charmander did his best to supress his irritation. Rather than laughing at Jason's failure, like what he'd normally do if Jason would fuck up, he felt irritated. He had such high hopes for Jason's fire affinity... a bit too high actually that he was genuinely upset that Jason failed. "Okay, can I ask how you thought that you can use ranged fire attacks?" the Charmander asked, unable to hide the tone of anger in his voice.

"Look, I know I suck at this but you don't have to be so pissed about it." Jason grumbled, starting to tug his Jacket.

"Just answer the question, Alexander." The Charmander sternly commanded.

"Well..." Jason mumbled, unable to stop himself from tugging against the cuffs of his jacket. "I was able to do it in a dream..."

"In a dream, huh?" The Charmander was less than convinced of the Riolu's story. "Dude, I can dream that I can use white hot flames. You don't see me being able to do that."

Jason let out a sigh and closed his eyes. The fact that even he doesn't know how it happens means that there's no way in hell that he'd be able to convince the Charmander with his words. And as for a demonstration, that didn't turn out well. He stared at his hands, wondering how he'd convince the Charmander that he isn't crazy. Ironically, the solution he's come up with is sheer evidence of his lack of sanity. Before the Charmander could even react, he pulled out his gun, pressed it against his hand and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Time seemed to slow down for the Charmander as he watched his own friend blast a hole through his own hand. He watched in horror as tiny chunks of flesh slowly fell to the ground, as droplets and streaks of blood poured down to the earth.

The Charmander stared, wide-eyed in shock, almost jumping in surprise and Jason's gun fired a flame bullet straight through the Riolu's hand. "Dude, what the fuck!?" he exclaimed as he rushed over to examine the Riolu's injury. He grabbed Jason's wrist, watching in horror as the blood dripped steadily out of the wound. Then to his shock, steam started bubbling out of the hole in Jason's hand. He let go of the Riolu's hand and took a step back, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Amidst all that happened, the Riolu was oddly calm about it all, staring at the Charmander as though nothing particularly interesting was happening. "Here's another trick that I picked up in my dream: regeneration."

The Charmander's panic quickly faded into a sigh of relief, though still a bit shaky. "God damn Jason... you scared me there." He said. "Okay, fine... you can pick up abilities from your dreams. So why don't you try recreating how you managed to... shoot flames?"

"Hm..." Jason hummed, holstering his pistol before staring at his hands once more. "I... don't remember actually... I was actually hoping that I'd at least be able to do it right on my first try." Jason flipped his hand, looking at both sides alternatingly and spoke in a rather casual tone. "Speaking of which, why do we even use guns?" he asked as he spun the pistol around his index finger.

The Charmander was baffled at the Riolu's rather impromptu and off-topic question. "You blasted a hole in your hand, you proved that your dreams are magical and now you're asking why we have guns?" he asked with a sigh.

"Well, I doubt I was present when you guys were taught, trained and given the guns." Jason sarcastically answered.

"That's what you get for being absent for a week." The Charmander softly cooed, returning to his leaning against the pedestal.

"Just answer the question."

"Right, right, I know." The Charmander let out a soft chuckle before walking over to the Riolu and plucked the pistol from Jason's hand. "See, the reason is that we, even with our strong skills and abilities, do have our limits in terms of stamina, energy or whatever you want to call it. When we reach those limits and can no longer use any of our skills, that is when we turn to the use of our firearms." He then turns to his side and points the gun at the target.

"Now, if you remember those bandits that attacked us yesterday with SMG's, you'd notice that they used the 'dinosaur-standard' guns that fire a metallic bullet: be it copper, lead or whatever. OUR guns..." The Charmander let out a rather cocky grin, a bright excited gleam in his eyes. He's never really fired a gun in front of a rookie; this was his first time being able to show off. He pulled the trigger and a bright ball of searing light shot out of the barrel at intense speeds and blasted a hole through the steel target. "Our guns fire bullets made of pure, concentrated energy."

As much as Charlie had hoped to see the look of surprise: the wide eyes, mouth agape and held breath; on the Riolu's face, Jason bore only his casual look. In fact, Jason bore a rather nonchalant expression. "Interesting... may I ask why guns aren't famously used in our warfare?"

The Charmander tossed back to the Riolu his pistol, which Jason snatches from the air and holds it in both his hands, studying it intently. "There are several reasons why it isn't famously used in our warfare. The first being that they were just recently developed, and the last war we were taught was Avalon's civil war about twenty years ago, which had a massive embargo so they all fought with only their own strengths.

"Another reason why we don't use guns often is because we usually end the fight before we tire." That, the Charmander said with a rather prideful chuckle. "Guess we're too _efficient_to even use the equipment given to us huh?"

"Right..." Jason mumbled after examining the gun. "And what of reloading it? It looks identical to the _dinosaur-standard_guns but it doesn't have a magazine or anything that looks movable other than the trigger."

"These pistols that we have," The Charmander said as he pulled out his own gun. "are fuelled by the energy we put into them. So to answer your question, it reloads when you feed it energy."

"I thought you said that we used these when we're OUT of energy."

"You'd be surprised at how little energy this needs to unload enough rounds to rain hell on your enemies." The Charmander answered. "Besides, with the devastating concentrated blast that this gun can shoot, it is literally for last resort purposes only. So as long as you keep it fully loaded before every mission, and as long as you're a good shot, you should do well."

"And if the guns are used against us?" The Riolu asked. "Any training to defend against something like that?"

"Well, according to them, the Blood of Avalon's physical bonuses include the reflexes to anticipate things such as gunfire. I guess having to deal with those shots would depend on you."

The Riolu took in his newfound lesson and ended it with a slight nod. "M'kay, that's enough on that for now. Shall we return to teaching me how to use ranged fire attacks?"

"Right..." The Charmander tilted his head with his hand pressed against his chin. "Well... you're constantly releasing flamed for your fire punch and blaze kick right? Maybe you could try forcing out a concentrated beam?" The Charmander then walked over to the Riolu's side and prepared himself. "Here, I'll show you."

The Charmander, though seldom used, performed fire punch as his fists were set ablaze. He extended one arm forward, pointing it towards the target and concentrated. The flame began morphing in shape, soon centered on the Charmander's palm, before shooting out a stream of intense flames, burning the steel target and almost melting it entirely.

Jason stared in awe as he watched the glowing target, the intense flames leaving it sagging slightly. "Wow..." was the only word that his mouth can muster.

"Well..." The Charmander couldn't help but look a bit embarrassed, his hand scratching the back of his head. "Looks like I busted your target." He managed a small chuckled as he hoisted up one of the two extras that Jason got. "Um, you mind helping me replace it?"

"Right, c'mon." Jason huffed as he and the Charmander lifted up one of the targets and proceeded towards the smouldering remains of the first target. About halfway through, Jason and Charlie decided to just hold the target by the feet and leave the head area dragging across the ground.

"This dream of yours..." The Charmander muttered. "Do you remember what happened in it?" he asked, remembering how Jason's room was burned badly and the image of Jason's golden eyes as the Riolu almost killed him.

Jason shook his head in reply. "You know how when you wake up you feel as though you've only slept for minutes? I don't remember much about what happened in that dream."

"But, you knew that you were able to shoot flames and regenerate?"

Jason closed his eyes and tried his best to remember. The two stopped for a moment once they reached the spot. They stared at the still glowing and melting target, the Charmander volunteering to be the one to pull it out of the ground and make way for the replacement. The two then planted the replacement firmly on the ground before walking back towards their post.

"Well, to answer your question, those are practically the only parts I remember." Jason said. "And they aren't even that vivid. That's why I hoped that you would be able to teach me."

"And the regeneration?" The Charmander asked. "You said they weren't so vivid yet you seemed rather sure when you blasted a hole through your hand."

Jason stared at the hand he shot and saw little to no trace of its wound. "Well, my mom patched up injuries worse than that so..."

The Charmander let out a snicker. "Right, and your mom's sure gonna be proud that her son shot a hole through his hand." He said sarcastically.

"I'm sure she will..." the Riolu cooed, following suit.

The two took their positions once more as Jason lit his fists ablaze, preparing himself for his next attempt.

"Alright, Jason, try doing what I showed you." The Charmander returned to his spot, leaning against the pedestal and crossing his arms. "I'll try to keep my cool this time, don't worry."

Jason chuckled a bit and tried to mimic what the Charmander did. He stretched out his arm and opened his fist, trying his best to concentrate the flames to his palm. For a moment, he could feel the energy surging, he thought that he was finally going to be successful... until it blew up at his face... literally.

The flames around his right hand flickered wildly, not changing much in size but Jason just kept feeding it power. All that until the unstable energy collapsed on itself, causing a fiery explosion unexpectedly strong enough to knock both the recruits off their feet and thrown several meters from where they stood.

Before the accident, the Charmander already guessed that Jason would cause his flames to go off. In fact, his initial intention was to just brave the flames. He knew he was resistant enough to feel little from it. Instead, a powerful shockwave knocked him backwards, crashing painfully through the concrete pedestals and crashing into the ground. "Uhh..." The Charmander groaned and he slowly sat up. "Holy crap dude... what was that?"

No response

The Charmander didn't even realize that Jason didn't give him a response, he just assumed that the painful ringing in his head blocked out the Riolu's voice. Charlie grunted and winced in pain as he tried to get up, waves of pain stinging every part of his body, centered mainly around his dislocated right shoulder. He knit his brows and grit his teeth as he held back the scream that he wanted to let out. "Guh... Jason, you okay?"

Still no response

That was the time that Charlie noticed Jason's lack of audible responses. Worry began to stir inside the Charmander and he stood up on his feet and gazed the direction where the Riolu once was. Only to stare in horror at what he sees. From where Jason once stood lay only a patch of crimson blood. And further behind he could see the limp body of a Riolu with a bloodied shard of the steel target buried beside him, chopping off his entire left arm. "Jason!" The Charmander exclaimed as he endured the pain and hastily made his way towards the badly wounded Jason.

As the Charmander made his way towards Jason, he noticed Jason's right hand move towards the steel shard. All of a sudden, a golden aura engulfed the entirety of Jason right arm forming a large golden hand which gripped around the metal shard, pulled it out of the ground and tossed it aside. Once the shard was out, the golden aura faded away. At the time, Charlie was able to limp his way towards the injured Riolu and kneel by his side. He stretched out his good arm to help the Riolu up. "Jason, are you..."

"Don't touch me!" An alien, echoing voice barked out from the Riolu's mouth. A furious expression on Jason's face and his once red irises now shone a beauteous golden light. It was unlike the eyes he saw earlier that morning. Back then, all of Jason's eyes shone with gold, as if his very eyeballs were carved out of pure liquid gold. Now, however, only the Riolu's irises were colored gold. But the eerie presence was the same. There was a being inside Jason, and whoever... or whatever it is, it clearly wasn't happy.

"Jason..." he spoke in a shaky tone. "are you in there?"

The Riolu didn't give him a response. Rather, he focused on his heavily bleeding injury. His hand moved towards the stump of his shoulder which was all that was left of his left arm. His eyes darted to the side and saw where his left arm was, a few feet away. He let out a grunt in disgust as he return his attention to his shoulder. His hand glowed a soft light as he placed it above the wound.

The wound was covered by a similar golden aura, which extended further forming the shape of Jason's left arm. The aura then shown brighter and brighter, the light hurting the Charmander's eyes forcing him to shield them with his good arm. As the light slowly dimmed, Charlie noticed that Jason entire left arm had somehow fully regenerated. The Charmander was silent, staring in awe as Jason's stern expression slowly softened as well as his eyes slowly closing. Soon, a groan of discomfort was heard from the Riolu as his eyes slowly opened, revealing the normal, red irises.

"Jason!" The Charmander exclaimed almost in sheer joy that his friend had returned. "Are you alright?"

"Ugh... not really..." the Riolu groaned as he sat up and moved his left arm. "My arm feels weird and my body is aching... but I'll live." He glanced towards the Charmander and let out a gasp as he saw the severity of his injuries. "Dude, your arm!"

The Charmander couldn't help but chuckle. "You should've seen YOUR arm..."

"Dude, my arms are fine!" Jason scrambled over to his knees and grabbed the Charmander by the elbow. "You have a metal barb sticking out of yours!"

Only then did Charlie actually take notice of the steel pole, probably the one inside the concrete pedestal, sticking out of his bicep and bleeding profusely. The effects of the loss of blood began taking its toll as the Charmander's vision began blurring and soon he was barely holding on to consciousness as he slumped over into Jason's arms.

"Charlie, hold on, stay awake, Charlie!" Jason cried out as he wrapped his arms around the Charmander. His left hand griped the steel shaft as the right was held above the wound, glowing with a soft blue light as his aura began healing it. At this point, Jason was barely even thinking. He hadn't even noticed that he was healing someone else using his aura, a skill he has zero knowledge in. Slowly, he began pulling out the rod until it was out. It was not long before his healing had properly stopped the bleeding and closed the wound.

Panting, the Riolu rested his head on the Charmander's, holding him tighter in his arms completely forgetting how sensitive Charlie was with the male-to-male contact. "*huff* *huff* ... You're gonna be just fine..." he hummed as he rocked the Charmander slowly.

"Ngh..." The Charmander moaned as his eyes slowly opened. With his consciousness returning, he slowly let out a pained groan as he struggled out of the Riolu's hold. "Dude... let... go of me..."

"Sorry..." Jason said as he slowly laid the Charmander on the ground. "Just... don't move too much... or tire yourself... you lost a lot of blood there." He said panting for breath as he raised his head.

"You... you healed me..." Charlie pointed out in disbelief, he too panting. "I didn't... know... that you could... heal others..." Jason paid him no attention staring in shock at whatever he was looking at. The Charmander noticed the Riolu's expression and followed his gaze. "What are you... oh my god..."

The two stared in shock and horror at the desolate wasteland before them. It was as though the firing range was already barren, but now the ground was scorched and reshaped by the immense explosion that emanated from further away.

"Jason," The Charmander cried out quite loudly, desperation raw in his voice. "Jason, we have to do something!" he struggled on to his feet with the Riolu's support.

"Are you sure?" The Riolu asked with concern as he lifted his comrade. "You lost a lot of blood with that wound of yours."

"You patched it up enough, I'll be fine." He grunted as he fought back the dizziness that gripped him mind. He grit his teeth in frustration and forced himself to get a grip. "Now c'mon, whatever happened, we have to do something!"