Once Old Now New 3A/?
On Friday Santana and Puck dragged Kurt to his car and hauled him into the front seat.
“Nice to see you too,” he said, “where are you guys taking me?”
Santana got into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut, “We’re going to that field to practice,” she growled, “we haven’t been able to practice yet and the competition is tomorrow.”
Kurt turned his head to look at Puck who was lying down on the back seat. He winked at Kurt.
“Are we waiting for Finn?”
“No.” His Dad and Finn were going to redecorate the guest room to fit his future step brother’s needs. Puck waved his hand at him.
“Well then let’s go.”
Scoffing Kurt turned back and drove out of the parking lot. He sent a message to his Dad telling him that he would be hanging out with a couple of his ‘friends’ and that he’d be back late. Then he sent a message to Finn telling him that he was going to train with Puck and Santana.
“What are we going to be practicing?”
Santana poked his waist hard.
“You need to learn about formations and shit.”
Kurt wriggled around in his seat.
“Formations?”
“We’ll teach you when we get there.”
When they arrived at the field Santana and Puck walked to the middle of it. Santana raised an area of the field a little and made a couple of steps for Kurt to climb up.
“OK,” Santana took off her shoes and threw them to the side, “you remember those pro bending tournaments they had years ago?”
“I remember what the teacher said about them.” Kurt said.
“This is different,” Santana continued, “there’s basically only one rule; when someone falls you can’t attack them. If they don’t get up within 10 seconds the team is out.”
Kurt blinked, “That’s it? That’s the only rule?”
“Pretty much,” Puck was forming ice spikes, “everything else is fair game.”
Kurt gulped but nodded. Santana grabbed his elbow and dragged him towards the middle.
“Here’s how every competition starts,” she takes five steps to the side. Puck moves three steps away, “Earthbenders to the left, firebenders in the middle, water benders on the right,” she put her feet and hands together and bowed, “you bow to your competitors before going into your stance,” both her and Puck demonstrated, “and then-“ Santana hit the ground with her foot. Three rocks burst out of the ground before flying forward, “you just let go.”
“It’s not going to be earthbender against earthbender,” Puck said, “it’s going to be team 1 against team 2.” Puck let lose his ice spikes.
“Why don’t you play the part of our competition,” Santana said, “just so you can see how we work together.”
Puck and Santana moved as a unit. Sometimes one was on defense and the other on offense. Sometimes both defended or both attacked. Thirty minutes later Santana switched with Kurt. It took a while for Kurt and Puck to establish a rhythm. Kurt wasn’t used to working with a bender and Puck wasn’t used to working with a competent firebender. It took them nearly an hour to get a good pace established. When they did Santana switched with Puck. It wasn’t as hard to work with Santana but it still took a while before Santana declared that it was as good as it was going to get.
“We’ll be up against the “Titans” this week,” she snorted, “they’re ok but I’m sure we can take them.”
“And that’ll put us one step closer towards the finals.”
“Am I going to be able to meet the Warblers?”
Puck grinned but Santana winced, “Yea man. Wait till you see them. Fucking beasts.”
“They always go last,” Santana said, twirling some rocks above her head, “save the best for last and all that jazz. The crowd loves them.”
“Puck said they won last year.”
“Nobody has been able to defeat them,” Santana grumbled, “nobody even knows who they are. They wear these weird ass masks under their helmets,” she snapped her fingers, “which reminds me-every competitor has to wear this special armor suit and motorcycle helmet.”
“Where am I-“
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.”
Kurt sighed, “Ok.” He looked at his watch. It was nearly six, “I don’t know about you guys but I need to be heading home.”
Puck shrugged, “Fine.”
Santana nodded, “I have plans with Britt anyways,” Puck opened his mouth, “don’t you dare say anything Puckerman!”
Kurt went ahead and listened to them fight. A small part of him was terrified. In a few hours he was going to be competition against total strangers. He would be putting his firebending to the test and while yes, he had indeed “won” against his old Master this was going to be different. This was going to be more real. This was going to be a real fight. However, there was a bigger part of Kurt that couldn’t wait to compete. Fighting against another team would be scary but exciting. Being able to bend for the fun of will be great. By the time Kurt dropped off Santana and Puck he’s managed to put his nerves aside.
“Remember lady,” Santana pointed a finger at him, “1am in the parking lot of the school. So help you if you’re even a second late.” That said she got out of the car.
“Bring water and food,” Puck said, “oh and maybe a first aid kit. We might need it.”
()()()
Kurt arrived at his house at seven. His family had just finished dinner.
“Hey kid,” his Dad called out to him, “how are you doing?”
“Ok,” Kurt looked at Finn who was still shoveling food into his mouth, “a little tired. I think I’m going to go lay down.”
His Dad nodded, “Don’t forget,” he said when Kurt was halfway down the stairs, “An is coming tomorrow. She’ll be here at around three.”
“Ok Dad!”
Kurt shut the door to his room and leaned against it for a second. Shivering he took off his shirt and changed into sweatpants before burrowing into his bed. He set the alarm on his phone to ring at midnight. Before he could fall asleep Finn came tumbling down the stairs.
“Kurt?” his step brother looked at him, “are we still you know,” he was bouncing in excitement, “going to go to that thing?”
“Of course,” Kurt said, “I set my alarm for midnight. You should probably do the same,” he frowned, “and you should probably try and get some sleep too.”
“Cool, cool,” Finn started going backwards, “ok I’ll see you later,” he went up the stairs, “this is going to be awesome!”
()()()()()
As soon as the alarm went off Kurt woke up. He silenced his phone and took a breath. He needed to get ready. He threw on some old jeans and a t-shirt that he normally wouldn’t be caught dead with. After putting on his shoes he went up the stairs and into the dark kitchen. He turned on the lights just as Finn entered.
“How you feeling, bro?”
“Excited,” Kurt said as he rummaged through the fridge, trying to find Carole’s spaghetti, “but kind of nervous too.”
“Dude you’ll be awesome,” Finn eyed the food in Kurt’s hands, “share?”
“Heat up half of it,” Kurt took out some ham and cheese, “I’m going to make a few sandwiches.”
“Why?”
“Snacks,” Kurt replied, “apparently we have to provide our own food and drinks.”
Finn and Kurt ate in silence. After they finished eating, they finished making the sandwiches. Kurt put them in a plastic container and stuffed it into a duffel bag, along with six bottles of soda. At a quarter to one, they snuck out of the house.
“Dude how are we going to get to the school? If we take your car our parents will wake up.”
Kurt smirked before looking around. He got into a stance before gently lifting the ground underneath the road. His car rolled about half a block before Kurt let the ground go. Finn opened and closed his mouth.
“Whoa…”
“Come on,” Kurt grabbed Finn’s arm and dragged him to the car, “let’s go before we get caught.”
Santana and Puck were already waiting for him.
“You’re late.”
Kurt looked at the time, “No we’re not. It’s 12:55. We’re five minutes early.”
Santana glared at him, “Whatever,” she opened the backdoor and jumped in. Puck followed, carrying two duffel bags that were full to bursting.
“Where am I going, exactly?”
“Head in the direction of that field,” Santana said, “just keep going straight until I tell you to turn.”
“As you wish, your majesty.”
Kurt mumbled under his breath. Finn and Puck talked back and forth during the ride but Santana had plugged hears ears up with her headphones. She looked stress. Kurt was starting to wonder how much Santana was invested in the tournament. Puck seemed to like competing for the sake of winning and the only reason Kurt was competing was because he thought it might be a fun way to practice what he learned. About forty minutes into the trip Santana yanked out her headphones and bent forward.
“In about a mile there’s going to be a fork in the road. On the left, you’re going to see a sign that’s says “Private Property-No Trespassers”. Ignore the sign and take that left turn.”
Nodding Kurt did as he was told.
“Ok,” Santana looked out the window, “next you’ll see a sign that has the earth symbol printed on it. When you see it turn right. After that, you’ll see a sign with the water symbol. You’ll turn left for that one. The last sign will be the fire one. When you see that one, turn right again.”
Kurt followed Santana’s directions. The closer they got to their destination the more aware Kurt became of his surroundings. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There was no houses, no roads, no nothing. It was all just dirt and trees. A minute after seeing the fire symbol Santana grabbed Kurt’s seat.
“We’re coming up at the lot.”
A second later Kurt started seeing cars parked on the right side. Santana pointed him to a spot and he parked. He looked outside his window but he couldn’t see anything. There was no building or arena.
“Um…”
“Come on,” Santana opened the door, “Puck grab the bags.”
“Kurt I don’t see anything,” Finn was also looking around, a panicked look in his eyes, “oh God…what if Santana and Puck were possessed by evil spirits to trick us and lead us to our deaths?”
“Finn,” Kurt sighed, “just grab the duffel bag and follow me.”
Santana is waiting for them a few feet away from the car. She took Kurt’s arm.
“Watch this.”
She made a series of taps on the ground. It almost sounded like a song. A moment later, the ground started to split and light pooled out of it.
“Boys,” Puck said, “Welcome to the Pro Bending Tournament.”
()()()()
Kurt had no words. There were dozens of tunnels leading to practice rooms, changing rooms and the arena. The walls were decorated with glowing white crystals. At the very front was a small window where people were shouting and waving money.
“I’ll give you the grand tour later,” Santana pushed them, “right now we need to get to our room.”
There were a few plaques placed on the walls but no doors. Kurt figured that the only way to get in was with an earthbender.
“Here we are,” Santana stopped, “our room.”
The plaque above them read “Dragons.”
“Really?” Kurt asked, “Wasn’t your firebender really weak?”
“Shut up,” Santana opened the wall of rock, “we got enough shit from the other benders. We don’t need it from you too.”
“Wow,” Finn dropped the duffel bag and looked around the room. Instead of white crystals, there were blue crystals. There were three benches and a deep pit filled with water. Santana opened one of the duffel bags and threw something at Kurt.
“That’s your outfit,” she said, “go change. You’ll need to get used to moving in it before we go out and fight.” She opened a wall. Inside was a small changing room with a few crystals.
“Hurry up.”
()()()()
The outfit was hideous. It was pale yellow and red with blue and white stripes around his wrists and ankles. It was also very form fitting. Kurt could move easily in it but it felt a little odd. He fastened his boots tight.
“Are you done in there lady?”
“Yes!”
The wall opened. Santana was wearing the same outfit; except hers was in different shades of brown and greens. Puck’s was varying degrees of blue. They also had what looked to be customized motorcycle helmets.
“Finn is holding yours,” Santana pointed to the taller boy.
“Here you go bro,” he tossed it to Kurt. It was dark red and had the fire symbol in the front. He put it on. It was weird but not unbearable. It wasn’t heavy which was good too.
“Alright,” Santana was cracking her joints, “we need to loosen up.”
Puck was already bending the water out of the fountain.
“We don’t have a lot of room here for you and I to bend,” Santana said, “but we need to run through our stances.”
Kurt practiced his moves without the fire. He stumbled at first, not used to the suit or the helmet but he eventually got the hang of it. Kurt kept looking at his teammates. Puck was pretty laid back and was keeping Finn entertained but Santana looked as if she was about to go to battle. Kurt didn’t know how to feel about that. He didn’t know how long they were in the room before Santana told them to stop.
“Alright,” she bounced a little, “it’s time to head towards the death room.”
Kurt stumbled and almost fell.
“D-death room?” Finn stuttered, “Why-what?”
“Calm down chubs,” Santana said, “nobody’s died yet.” She picked up a first aid kit and threw it at Finn, “if anybody asks, you’re our “medic”.” She opened the wall leading out of the room, “let’s go.”
()()()()()
The room was big and had benches coming out from the walls. Several of the teams were already there, chatting. Santana led them to a bench in the middle of the room.
“Dude,” Finn whispered in Kurt’s ears, “some of these guys look like, they’ve been to jail or something,” he shivered.
“Don’t worry about it Finn.”
Kurt could hear the faint sounds of a huge crowd through the thick walls. He wondered how many people were there to watch them compete. Ten minutes before three and all of the teams were in the death room. All but one. The last team arrived two minutes before three. As soon as they entered the room, people stopped talking.
“Those are the Warblers.” Puck whispered.
Licking his lips Kurt bent forward a little to get a better look and his eyes widen. Puck and Santana weren’t exaggerating when they said that the Warblers wore unusual masks. The earthbenders mask was light brown and was twisted in the form of an angry demon. He walked with confidence and strength. The firebenders mask was a bright red but the expression of the mask was calm and almost happy looking. The waterbenders mask was dark blue and was carved to look like a happy old man. The masks looked beautiful and of good quality. When the Warblers passed by them the earthbender turned. Kurt’s breath caught in his throat. The man stared at him with an intensity that made him want to crawl into a hole.
“Oh my God he looked at you,” Santana said, “you better not have show fear!”
All Kurt could do was nod. A minute later a booming voice startled him.
“Hello and Welcome to the pro bending tournament!”
There was a roar of cheers and applause.
“Are you ready to see some bending?”
Kurt thought his ears might bursts from the noise.
“Then let’s get started!”
()()()()
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