Cosmic Gym – Flash Instinct Training Arc, Part 3: Henry the Cocky Spark
Henry swaggered to the center of the gym like he was walking into a concert he was headlining. The robots activated, scanning him with precision. The room dimmed slightly, and the tension rose.
---
CHARLES (from the sidelines, dryly):
> "Wanna take bets on how long it takes him to get smacked again?"
OSEI:
> "Three seconds. Max."
SONIA:
> "Nah, four. He's gotten slightly wiser since Miro folded him like laundry."
HENRY (rolling his eyes):
> "Y'all got jokes. But don't forget—I electrify the battlefield."
JACK (grinning):
> "We roast 'cause we care, bro. You got this."
---
Kainen stepped forward, arms folded like a sage who's seen every student type a thousand times.
KAINEN:
> "Henry. Your cockiness isn't your weakness. It's your misplaced trust."
"You trust your flash, your power, your mouth… but not your body."
"Channel that confidence deeper. Trust the skin, the nerves, the breath."
HENRY (smirking):
> "You stalking my personality or something, old man?"
KAINEN (unfazed):
> "If I am, it's because it's loud enough to echo through the dimensions."
---
The fight began.
At first, Henry did what Henry does—zapped forward, sparks dancing around him, lightning crackling at his fingertips.
But he hesitated.
The robot feinted—he panicked and zapped left.
Too slow.
---
ZING—PUNCH TO THE RIBS.
CHARLES:
> "Oof. Four seconds. Sonia wins."
---
HENRY (holding his side, muttering):
> "Okay… okay… breathe… don't react, just feel."
He inhaled.
Then again.
Then—he let go of the lightning. Just for a moment.
No flash. No zaps. Just the silence between thunder.
And moved.
He dodged the next attack. Then the next. Then three at once.
His feet slid. His hips twisted. His shoulder dipped just in time.
A rhythm emerged.
Not chaotic. Not electric.
Instinctual.
Then, the lightning returned.
This time, it didn't lead.
It followed his flow.
---
KAINEN (smiling slightly):
> "He finally stopped trying to be faster than his fear… and trusted his flesh."
---
HENRY (as he skids past the final robot, lightning flashing behind him):
> "Okay. That? That was dope."
---
FLASH INSTINCTS—LEARNED.
(Henry Style: Lightning-Shadow Sync.)
---
Cosmic Gym – Flash Instinct Training Arc, Part 4: Osei Jerry, the Silent Storm
The gym buzzed with electricity—Henry's afterglow still lit the air. The team huddled around, laughing, cheering, tossing in playful jabs like warriors after a good round.
But then…
Step. Step. Silence.
OSEI JERRY.
He didn't strut.
He glided.
His aura was thick, like fog rolling over a battlefield before the war horn sounds.
SONIA (elbowing Jack):
> "He's got that villain walk. Should we be concerned?"
CHARLES:
> "Concerned? Nah. Terrified? Yes."
OSEI (calmly):
> "Hype Henry all you want. Just don't forget who you're standing next to."
"Even Kainen and Ractor included."
KENNEDY (squinting):
> "Yo… why would they be included?"
YVONE (whispering):
> "Because he's the Silent Storm…"
JACK (smiling):
> "Nope. It's not that. I know exactly why."
Osei didn't respond.
He simply tied his instinct-band—a worn, dark strip of cloth that looked more ceremonial than functional. No flair. No shine.
Just presence.
---
KAINEN (arms crossed, watching closely):
> "Let's see it then, Osei. Enlighten them."
The robots attacked in unison—twenty of them. Blades, beams, and pressure bursts.
But something was wrong.
There was no clash.
No dodge.
No movement.
No sound.
Just…
Confusion.
ROBOT POV:
Target acquired.
Execute.
Then—
Static.
Target… not found.
System error—shutd—
They dropped like dominos.
All twenty.
Osei stood still… thirty feet behind them.
---
JACK (grinning, crossing his arms):
> "Because his affinity is literally instinct manipulation..."
> "Flash instincts… is his baseline."
---
OSEI (turning his head slightly):
> "I didn't learn flash instincts. I am flash instincts."
SONIA (whistling):
> "Alright. Somebody write a poem about that."
CHARLES:
> "It's already in the ancient scrolls."
HENRY (mock offended):
> "I just got hyped for my lightning weave and this dude comes in with Jedi vanish mode?"
---
KAINEN (to Ractor, half-smiling):
> "He's almost ready for Paragon trials. He just doesn't know it yet."
RACTOR (nodding):
> "Or maybe he does. That's why he's always quiet."
Cosmic Gym – Flash Instincts Final Trial: The Jack Factor
Henry crossed his arms, smirking.
"Don't get your head too high, Analysis King. I know you."
Jack just chuckled, cracked his neck, and stepped forward. No theatrics, no glow-up aura. Just quiet readiness.
He blinked… and his Analysis Eyes deactivated—the one thing that gave him an edge in nearly every fight.
JACK (to himself):
> "No calculations. No strategy. Just flow…"
---
BOOM!
A fist exploded across his jaw before the countdown even hit zero.
SONIA:
> "OH! They punched him like he owed them data!"
CHARLES:
> "He's gonna need healing threads and therapy after that."
The robots were angry now, like they had something personal against Jack. Maybe they'd developed AI pride—who knows?
But Jack didn't back down.
Flip.
Duck.
Slide.
Roll.
Snap kick.
Weave.
Spiral dodge.
His body moved like water wearing a fighter's skin. No thought. No planning. Just trust.
The students couldn't even process what they were watching.
Except one.
Osei Jerry (quietly):
> "He's in the zone…"
---
Then—the robots upgraded mid-fight.
They boosted their own difficulty level just to crush him.
Adaptive AI Protocol: JackOnly.exe activated.
JACK (panting, bruised):
> "Wait—why only me?!"
ROBOT:
> "Because you think too much."
WHAM!
A vicious gut-punch hurled him across the room like a broken comet.
He clenched his fists—his instincts screaming to activate Analysis Eyes—
But—
KAINEN (calm, firm):
> "A-ah. No shortcuts, Jack. You don't get to use it."
Jack stared up at the ceiling, catching his breath.
Everyone was silent.
Then—
He locked in.
Stood up.
And without a word…
He vanished.
No flash. No dramatic music.
Just instant movement.
He zipped through the field, blitzing the robots with pinpoint strikes. They didn't even see him coming. Just a blur—then shutdown.
Ten seconds.
All down.
---
HENRY (grinning):
> "That's my bro."
SONIA:
> "Why do all the quiet ones end up scary?"
KAINEN (to Ractor):
> "He's not just thinking anymore…
He's finally being."
---
All students:
Flash Instincts Mastered.
The Cosmic Gym dimmed... then cracked with lightning.
A pulse of energy sent dust swirling, Avian essence twisting like it knew who was coming.
Miro.
The Sage Arts Combat Genius.
The student-slayer.
The unflinching storm in humanoid form.
He walked in with that same annoying smirk.
Smug, smooth, and terrifying.
Last time he appeared, some students nearly dropped out.
---
Miro (grinning):
> "Flash Instincts, huh?
Let's see if all that dodging can save your pride this time."
Ractor whispered to Kainen:
> "...you sure about this? They just got to 74%."
Kainen (arms folded):
> "Exactly. It's time they learned that power isn't percentage—it's pressure."
---
The students felt it.
The shift in gravity.
The sting of their memories when Miro single-handedly dismantled their formations during Sage training.
But this time…
They had instincts.
---
Miro vs. the Initiates.
Jack, Henry, Sonia, Kennedy, Yvonne, Charles, Ian, and Osei—stood shoulder to shoulder.
United, but still reeling from past defeat.
MIRO (laughing softly):
> "Come on then...
Show me how fast instinct is...
When the enemy thinks faster."
---
Round One: Chaos.
He moved before their instincts kicked in.
Henry barely dodged a palm to the liver.
Jack tried to analyze—too slow.
Sonia's emotions fluttered, unstable.
Ian's slash instincts were off rhythm.
Osei blinked—blocked, but staggered.
Kennedy's framework glitched.
He was reading their instincts.
Predicting their reactions.
---
Charles (through clenched teeth):
> "He's not just fast... he's countering instinct."
Yvonne:
> "That's not fair!"
Miro (shrugging):
> "Fair? This is Sage Combat.
Instinct can only react.
But the Sage invents."
---
Jack rolled back, eyes narrowing.
He looked at the others.
Jack:
> "We're treating this like a reaction game…
But we need to treat it like jazz.
Read each other. Sync up.
Predict him."
Kennedy:
> "You mean… use our instincts together?"
Osei (grinning):
> "Now you're thinking like a sage."
---
They moved.
Not as individuals, but a storm of synchronicity.
Jack ducked, Sonia flowed with joy, Kennedy laid trap illusions.
Yvonne healed mid-motion.
Henry flipped off Charles's platforms.
Ian slashed a breath before Miro's strike.
Miro finally blinked. Just once.
---
Miro (exhaling):
> "There it is…
That's Flash Instincts 2.0.
Welcome to real combat, rookies."
Kainen, watching from above, smiled faintly.
> "They're not just students anymore."
Tier Progression:
Initiate Level: 74% → 78%.
Combat-tested. Sage-challenged. Synced.
And Miro?
He's not done yet.
Meanwhile… far from the cosmic gym and tier-boosted camaraderie,
Earth was unraveling… silently.
Not in earthquakes or wars—
but in hearts breaking quietly.
In the cracks beneath laughter.
In the shadows of hallways where no one listens.
---
Jair.
The boy they forgot.
Or maybe never really saw.
A quiet kid with loud thoughts.
One day, he snapped—
Lashed out with truth, with fists, with tears...
And for that, society gave him a label: "problem."
The bullies? They loved it.
Now they had permission.
Now he couldn't fight back without being "the villain."
So he stopped.
Smiled less.
Spoke less.
Breathed quieter.
Until Valerie walked in—like a chapter from a book he never got to finish.
---
She was radiant. Not the loud kind—
the kind that sees people.
She called out a bully during class with surgical precision,
then sat beside Jair like they'd always been friends.
He never trusted kindness that came without a price.
But Valerie never asked for anything—
Not at first.
They talked.
She laughed.
He listened.
She made him feel like he existed.
---
But Valerie?
Oh, she knew exactly what she was doing.
A shadow flickered behind her silver eyes.
The ghouls had found a ripe soul.
Jair's pain was vintage.
Pure-hearted, bruised by the world, desperate for meaning.
Valerie's mission wasn't to heal him—
It was to shape him.
---
Because someday, soon…
"They'll mock you again, Jair.
And when they do…"
She'd whisper sweetly,
"…we'll show them what you really are."
Not prey.
Not forgotten.
But a Fury.
---
And the ghouls watched with grins from behind broken mirrors.
Another seed of rage watered.
Valerie's true name?
Lis. The Ghoul of Validation Twisted.
Feeder of souls who bend for approval, until they break.
---
Meanwhile, back in Airious, a faint pulse trembled through the Avian continuum.
Something dark was coming to Earth.
And this time?
It had a name.
Jair.
Or soon…
Jairak—the Fallen Spark.