The Return of the Titans (19 page)

There were sword, maces, long coils of
chain, daggers and many types of clubs. There was also armor,
pieces of it hanging here and there between the weapons. The floor
was covered with what looked like canvas mats. A path led between
the mats from the doors a long way to the front of the room.

Waiting for them there was a tiny woman
wearing a long, silk gown. It was covered in odd markings and
symbols and was a vibrant yellow. Justin was startled to see that
she was in a wheelchair. She was the first person he had seen here
with any physical problems. The woman looked fairly old. He guessed
that she was in her sixties, at least. He relaxed a bit. Compared
to some of the other adults, this lady looked more like someone's
grandmother,

The boys made their way across the room and
stood scattered in front of the woman. Once they had stopped
shuffling and had settled down a bit, the lady cleared her
throat.

“My name is Jennifer
Takomo. You may called me Miss Takomo or Miss. By the time we
become better acquainted, some of you may want to call me Sir, or
assorted other names.” She scanned the faces in front of her. She
wasn't smiling. “Don't.” She clasped her hands on her lap, “I am
your martial arts teacher.”

There was a whisper of noise as the boys
absorbed this fact and then the room became quiet. “Now, when I say
martial arts, I mean the art of combat, not necessarily specific
types of fighting like Karate or Kung Fu. For those of you who wish
to learn,” she emphasized these last words, “I can teach you to
defend yourself against one attacker or a dozen. I can teach you to
protect your friends. And I can and will teach you to kill.”

Justin swallowed noisily. Kill? He looked
around at the other boys. Aaron looked at him and his face was as
pale as Justin felt his own was.

One of the larger boys spoke up. “Kill,
Miss? But, we're just kids. Why should we...”

Miss Takomo interrupted. “You know quite
well why, Mister Sanders. Yes, I know all your names.” She looked
over the class and seemed to catch everyone's eye, including
Justin's. “All of you must know by now that you have enemies.
Enemies who will use every means they can to eliminate you.” Her
eyes softened for a moment as she looked at them. “I am sorry to be
so blunt, but you must understand. This is not a game. I know some
of you have already lost friends or family to these...monsters. The
rest of you may end up in the same boat.” Now she was frowning
again. “How would you feel if a loved one was attacked and you
could do nothing? How much worse would you feel knowing that you
might have been able to help, if you had taken the time and made
the effort to learn how? Hmm?”

Justin felt a stab of pain and regret. If
only he had been able to fight. Maybe Wilson would still be alive.
He looked at Aaron. What if someone attacked my new friend?

He felt a rush of determination flood though
him. Not again, he thought. I won't stand by again and see someone
I care for get hurt. He looked back at Miss Takomo and found that
she was staring at him. She didn't say anything but somehow she
seemed to know what he was thinking and nodded once. Then she
looked at the group and Justin saw that small nod repeated again
and again.

“Yes, I see you begin to understand. Good.
Now, please have a seat on the floor and get comfortable. I want to
discuss both your weaknesses and your strengths.”

The group sat down on the mats and watched
her intently. “Now,” Miss Takomo said, “I have no doubt that each
of you knows by now that you can not be easily hurt physically,
yes?”

Most of the group nodded. “Yes. So, having
learned that and being young,” she smiled slightly, “may have
engendered a certain, shall we say, feeling of invincibility. Don't
let it.” She looked sharply as one of the teens chuckled.

“Yes, Mr. Ryson? Something is funny?'

“Um, no Miss. It's just
that, well, I fell out a second story window a few months ago and
didn't get a scratch.”

Her look was scornful. “Yes, yes, very
impressive, I'm sure. Perhaps you should leave us and go and train
for a career in falling out of buildings.”

Ryson blushed and ducked his head.

“I don't want to sound too
harsh. But I don't want you to have an over-inflated belief in your
own safety or invincibility.” She looked them over critically.
“According to my research, which I believe is credible, when you
reach your twenties and beyond, you will be much, much tougher than
you are now. And at the same time, more vulnerable.”

Justin was puzzled and it must have shown on
his face, because the teacher looked at him sharply.

“Mr. McLeod, how much do
you weigh?”

Justin was caught off guard by the question.
“Um, I think I was around one twenty a couple of months ago,
Miss.”

She nodded. “At your height, about five-five
or so? Yes, well that is an average weight. If you stay at your
present height, Mr. McLeod, by the time you are twenty or so, you
will weigh around five hundred pounds.”

Justin stared at her in shock. He was going
to get fat? He tried to picture himself that big and just had an
image of a beach ball with his head sticking out the top. Several
others in the class laughed. Benson was almost howling.

“What is funny, Mr.
Benson?” Miss Takomo asked coldly.

He shut up at once. “Er, well, I just
thought...”

“And you are about
five-ten, yes? At twenty you will weight in at about six hundred
and fifty pounds.”

Others in the class laughed now as Benson's
mouth dropped open.

“No way!” he said loudly.
“I'll never get that fat!”

Miss Takomo looked puzzled. “Who said you
would be fat?”

Justin spoke up. “But Miss, you said...”

“I told you what you would
weigh, Mr. McLeod. Physically you will look very much the way you
do now.” Most of the class still looked confused and the woman
snorted with exasperation. “Didn't any of you listen when Mr.
Fitzgerald explained what Titans are and how they are different?
Your bodies are denser, your molecules more tightly packed. Not so
much now, in early adolescence but it will develop slowly
throughout your teenage years. You will get the occasional growth
spurt as well. You'll recognize these by the fact that you will be
hungry all the time.” Some of the boys laughed and she smiled
briefly. “Hungrier then. But that is why you will be so heavy. A
dense body is a heavy body. That is what makes it so hard for you
to be hurt by physical damage.”

Miss Takomo moved her wheelchair slightly.
“So that is the benefit of a dense structure. Now, who can think of
a danger in being so heavy?”

Justin looked at Aaron, who shrugged. Gerry
looked as puzzled as Justin felt but when he looked at Norm, he
could see his lips moving silently as he tried to work it out.
Suddenly, his eyes widened and he raised his hand.

“Yes, Mr.
Holden?”

“Water,” he said and Miss
Takomo nodded with a smile.

“Excellent, Mr. Holden.
That is one of the biggest dangers. Water.”

Justin looked at Norm, then at the teacher.
He was completely mystified as to what they were talking about.
When he looked at the others, he could tell that they seemed to be
as well. Miss Takomo noticed their expressions and shook her
head.

“You don't understand, do
you?” There was no reply. “Think about it, gentlemen. If you
weighed six hundred pounds, what would happen if you fell into deep
water?”

Justin stared. Of course, he thought. You
would sink like a stone.

“Yes, I see you begin to
understand,” Miss Takomo said. “A Titan's greatest vulnerability is
water. Or I should say, a lack of oxygen. The method used in
ancient times to kill your ancestors was very often drowning. It is
not a concern right now, but never, never allow yourself to be
caught by an enemy near deep water. And any other method of
asphyxiation is a danger as well.”

She rolled her chair toward the nearest
wall, where several of the bronze weapons were hanging. “However,
that is not the only weakness that Titans have.” She indicated the
weapons on the wall. “I'm sure you've all noticed my collection by
now.” She spun her chair to face them. “What do you think of
them?”

“Aren't they just for
display purposes?” Benson said doubtfully. “I mean, they're not
much use, are they?”

“And why do you say that?”
Miss Takomo asked.

“Well, bronze is a fairly
soft metal, I think. Can't last very long, can it, if you were
fighting with it.”

Now the teacher looked puzzled. “Bronze?
What makes you think this is bronze, Mr. Benson?”

“Well, the color. Like the
Sentries. I suppose it's pretty but kind of useless.” He sounded
disdainful.

“Ah, I see your confusion.
Yes, bronze would be of limited use, I suppose. Although
historically bronze was used in weapons for centuries. However,
these weapons, like the Sentries, are not made of
bronze.”

She reached up and lifted a short sword from
the wall. She held it across her lap and stroked it for a moment.
Almost like you would stroke a pet, Justin thought.

“I'm sure some of you have
heard of a metal called titanium? Yes. Well, whoever first created
titanium probably used the word titan in the name to give it a
sense of power and strength. But this,” she held the sword point
up, “is real titanium. It is a metal created by the original
Titans.” Miss Takomo rolled her chair back to the front of the
room. Then she turned the sword so that it pointed straight down,
leaned forward and with very little effort, thrust the sword
several inches into the stone floor. She let go of the hilt and the
sword stood there, quivering slightly.

Justin stared at the sword in amazement. He
glanced at Aaron and saw that he looking wide-eyed at the sword.
Many of the other boys had gasped and were now talking excitedly
amongst themselves.

Miss Takomo cleared her throat loudly and
the class quieted down and looked at her. “This metal is stronger
than steel, harder than diamond and lighter than almost any metal
known to the human race. You there.” she pointed to the nearest
boy, who happened to be Norm, “come and pull this out for me
please.”

Justin watched as Norm blushed and slowly
walked forward. He glanced at Miss Takomo, who nodded
encouragingly, then he reached down, grabbed the sword hilt and
pulled up sharply.

Norm staggered back as the sword slipped
easily out of the rock. Several of the boys laughed as Norm blushed
even redder, but he was staring at the sword. He lifted it and
waggled it around a few times.

“Wow. It doesn't weigh
anything!” he said in awe.

“Exactly, Mr. Holden. Now,
hand it to the class and let everyone get a feel for
it.”

Norm reluctantly passed the sword to Gerry,
who also stared at it in disbelief as he accepted it. As each teen
took the sword in turn, Miss Takomo continued speaking.

“Please handle the sword
carefully. Titanium is one of the few metals that will harm a Titan
if used as a weapon.”

Benson, who had been brandishing the sword
and showing off to his friends, suddenly became a lot more careful
and handed it off to the closest person as if it had turned into a
hand grenade.

“Wise, Mr. Benson. Now
that I've mentioned some of your weaknesses, allow me to expand on
your strengths.” Miss Takomo turned her chair and moved to the
blackboard. She shoved the bottom of the board and it flipped over
to reveal several lines of writing.

“As you can see, I have
listed what I consider to be the edge that Titans have over regular
humans. First, some of you may have noticed that you haven't gotten
sick lately with a cold or the flu, yes?” There were several nods.
“Well, as you mature, this immunity will expand. As adults, you
will be impervious to disease as well as poison. Again, this is
because of a Titan's dense structure. And, although it is difficult
to harm a Titan with mundane weapons, you can still be hurt by such
things as edged and piercing weapons used with extreme force, such
as high-powered, armor-piercing bullets.” She smiled grimly. “You
are not super men, so please bear that in mind at all
times.”

As she turned back to the board, Aaron
leaned over to Justin. “We may not be Superman,” he whispered, “but
it sounds pretty darned close!” He and Justin exchanged grins.

“Now, this next bit of
information will not really matter yet, but one day when you are
out in the world, it might save your lives.” Miss Takomo turned
from the blackboard and looked out over the group. “If you are
indeed injured, you will heal quickly. Very quickly. An injury that
might take days or weeks to heal in a normal human will only take a
few hours for you. But,” she held up a finger imperiously, “never
allow yourself to be taken to a hospital. Never let a doctor
examine you. Never allow yourselves to be x-rayed or give a blood
sample.”

“But why, Miss?” Gerry
asked.

“Well, for one thing, an
x-ray will come back blank. A needle used to take a blood sample
will break. A doctor examining you will no doubt notice your
extraordinary body size to weight ratio. In other words, you will
be exposed as different. And different can mean dangerous to some
people. They might call in the authorities and that could lead to
your capture. And I don't need to tell you what would result from
that.”

Justin guessed that the resulting silence
meant that, like him, the other guys were remembering Mr.
Fitzgerald's warnings. Apparently Miss Takomo thought so too.