Chapter Text

SSMB Heroes Academy: Resurgence - Episode 48: Dungeons & Dragons & Also Some Despair Too!

DAILY LIFE: Training & Teaching

Club Penguin - Dance Club

"Hyah! Ha! Atcha!"

Sayaka Miki, already up and at 'em, was training atop the Dance Club roof. A group of Java Bean bags flew above the swordswoman, all held up by balloons in traditional Club Penguin fashion. She was throwing her swords at the bags as target practice, without even turning to see the bags themselves. After a flurry of attacks, only a few bags remained.

"Damn. So close," Sayaka grumbled, gritting her teeth at the number of misses.

Unbeknownst to her, trainee Skylander Daniel was close by, and noticed the out of place balloons floating above the roof. "Is it someone's birthday?" he thought out loud. His voice of doubt - ripped from his subconscious, manifested in his DEUS wristwatch, and named Dave - sarcastically provided an answer.

"Trillions of lifeforms within trillions of dimensions... it's bound to be the anniversary of one of them today." The comment fell on deaf ears, as Daniel wandered over to have a closer look. As he did, more balloons appeared to replace the fallen, and after a second attempt, Sayaka successfully popped all of them. Satisfied, the Magical Girl hopped off the roof and landed in the snow, the high fall not even fazing her. The noise was something of a shock to Daniel, who was just about to enter the Dance Club.

"Two tries. New record, I suppose." She dusted herself off before reverting from her Magical Girl attire back to her standard casual outfit. Her back was turned to Daniel, who was now very anxious. He wanted to talk to her, he could try doing so now, but he was very hesitant.

Several feet away, Aspen noticed Sayaka landing to the left of him. As usual, the teenage romantic mandrake was interested in striking up a conversation with a girl... but he'd been told by his sister that his advances and pick-up lines were un-gentlemanly and only served to spook girls rather than interest them. After thinking on it, he figured that Ashlyn was right. But he still had the desire to strike up a conversation. Straightening out the pompador-like leaves on his head, he approached Sayaka with a grin. Daniel was left feeling jealous - he was making talking to her look so easy...

"Hey, Sayaka! I had a feeling you came from heaven, because- uh..." Shit shit shit... I'm flirting. Shiiiiiiit, he mentally panicked. He needed a save, and fast. "Uh. I mean. Erm. You know... You have cool powers and you had to have gotten them from a strong being? Heh heh." Phew. Nice one, Aspen! He mentally patted himself on the back, unaware that his save was incredibly awkward.

Sayaka was somewhat taken aback by Aspen's comments. "Like, yeah, I came from some kind of heaven, but uh..."

Daniel could only just hear what was being said, and his emotions were running wild. The anger, the pain, the sorrow... he was quietly struggling to maintain them all so suddenly. Dave knew exactly what was going on in his head, and had no problem voicing that.

"Are you serious? So you like her all of a sudden? Haven't you read the memo? She's died once before, I don't have to remind you what it was like to lose those you care about to death, do I? And check out the plant boy, he seems to be a natural at this talking thing... kind of. You're nothing compared to the competition, only doom awaits you by going down this road!"

For all his sarcasm, condescension and general cynicism, he sounded serious this time. His words hit harder than any blow from a super villain ever could, so Daniel chose to shuffle away quietly before he was noticed.

Meanwhile, Aspen stood around awkwardly, trying to figure out what else to say. He looked around to see bags of coffee laying around. "I see you're training your sword skills," he observed. "Not a big fan of coffee?"

"Yeah, I've been training," Sayaka explained. "They have a bunch of bags that penguins usually use for a ton of junk, so I might as well use them." Abruptly, a scream of horror sounded out behind the pair.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Sayaka turned to the sound of the scream, and exclaimed, "W-What the hell?!" She ran off, Aspen following close behind.

**********

Before long, Sayaka caught up to Dan - his attempt to leave quietly had gone horribly wrong, and he was beside a body laying in the snow. It was white, and as such blended in well with it. "Hey, what's going on?" Sayaka asked, confused at the situation.

"...Well, I...wah!" While he had calmed down, Daniel was visibly shaken a second time when he noticed Sayaka joining him on checking the body. His face turned completely red, and he couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. The body, meanwhile, twitched and gradually stood back up, Dan's scream bringing them around. It soon turned out to be White Bomberman.

"Err...huh? Wha?" Bomberman groaned. He gradually got back up, but his movements seemed erratic. "Energy levels at... critical..." While he was able to get back to his feet, the screen that usually displayed his eyes was only showing static. Aspen was surprised to see Bomberman laying in the snow like that, and he couldn't help but wonder what happened to him.

Daniel, despite his anxiety, tried to tell Sayaka what he found. "Erm...I-I just found Bomberman laying in the s-snow. I-It was a nasty shock, I...I think maybe he's been overworking, he doesn't seem to be acting normal." Proving Daniel's point, Bomberman stumbled backwards and fell into a seated position in the snow, showing no sign of recovering. Daniel recalled that Bomberman had earlier explained how he uses items to maintain his health, but hadn't seen any since joining up with the Skylanders.

Giving the white robot a look-over, Sayaka said, "I could heal him... I think. I've never healed someone like him before." Closing her eyes and holding her arms out, she attempted her healing spell. Watching her work, Daniel was once more smitten with her, and began uttering to himself obliviously.

"Aww, she's so amazing a-and cute and reliable and kind and..."

"Good grief," Dave sighed. While the healing process was slow, it appeared to have some effect. As Bomberman's eyes returned to normal, he seemed to be aware what was going on, but was unable to speak.

"...." Bomberman tried to express his gratitude, but with his voice box still loading, and no real face to show any emotions, it was tricky.

Sayaka merely sighed in relief at Bomberman's semi-recovery. "At least I got one success today."

While Bomberman took a moment to recover, Daniel approached Sayaka in concern. Gently tapping her shoulder, he asked, "H-Have you had a b-bad day? I'm h-here if you w-want to talk..."

"It's fine. Training just didn't go well."

Aspen was similarly relieved to see his ally working again, and as soon as Bomberman's eyes opened, he kneeled down to the robot and smirked. "Yo, buddy! Nice to see you're back with us in the land of the living!" he chuckled. "Nah, but seriously pal, you okay? What happened?"

"Ugh..." Bomberman managed to mutter a sound as a reply to Aspen while he regained his bearings. "I... I fear I may have been overexerting myself... without proper recovery time, my power supply diminished to such a state that I... passed out. I'm simply not used to working in this environment before... I usually have items on hand to keep my energy levels at optimal capacity."

Sayaka's healing powers seemed to give White Bomber a recharge that gave him the strength to recover for now. "As long as I take things easy, my power should recover on it's own now. You have my thanks for assisting me," he addressed Sayaka, not really aware of the footprints on his back when Daniel accidentally walked on him.

"It's no problem," Sayaka replied with a smile. "Glad to help."

Bomberman seemed satisfied and sat down on the snow covered ground to recover some more. The cold temperature having no effect on him meant he was reasonably comfortable. Daniel, on the other hand, had just thought of a wild idea and blurted it out before thinking it over.

"So you're a perfectionist?" he asked Sayaka. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, you carry a heavy burden. I know! Perhaps you could train me? I'll call you sensei and I could help you out will your jobs, I don't mind....I-in fact I rather l-like the idea of... staying by your side..." Realising what he'd said, his fidgeting only grew worse.

Aspen lifted an eyebrow at Dan's question. Did he have a crush on Sayaka? This was news to him... Smirking once again, he walked next to Dan and patted him on the back, having an idea for how he could help him win Sayaka over.

"Hey, sounds like a good idea to me! You have some pretty good skills, it wouldn't hurt to pass it on to others!" Aspen chuckled, "What do you think, Sayaka?"

"Training? Well... I'm not really a teacher," Sayaka replied, scratching her head. "Honestly, I'm still kind of a student. Sonic's the expert, here! Eheh..." she laughed sheepishly. She then looked down, an unsure look in her eyes. It was clear that Sayaka had never done anything like this before. This left Daniel feeling guilty; he wanted to ease her burdens, not add to them. Every fibre of his being was telling him to flee, his anxiety was at a pretty high level now.

"Gee... I-I'm terribly sorry...w-what was I thinking? Heh... heh... y-you must have better things to do and I'd just be in your way... n-never mind, I'll find some other way to help you without being a burden, I-I-I promise..." He slowly backed away from Sayaka and Aspen in an attempt to retreat, but had forgotten about Bomberman - whom he managed to trip over before he could make a clean getaway.

"Gah!" Dan exclaimed before falling face first into the snow. "Crap...why can't I do anything right....?"

"Swing and a miss!" His DEUS finally chose to chime in, but Dan didn't react. He just remained lying down in the snow... which was rapidly melting from the heat generated from his embarrassed face.

"Hey, hey, heeey! I didn't say I said no!" Sayaka said to Dan. "I mean, I need to learn how to train others if I am to be a good Disciples leader someday and all." With that, she shrugged. "Guess we could give this a try."

"Huh? R-Really??" Having heard Sayaka's reply, Daniel staggered back to his feet with a goofy smile across his face. "I-I promise I won't let you down!" he enthusiastically declared.

Sayaka nodded, although inside she started to feel uneasy. She never trained anyone before, so this is something that might just fail. Clicking her tongue, she pushed those thoughts aside. This is no time to act like that, she thought.

**********

Credits:

Roleplay created by: Failinhearts and Crow the BOOLET

Adapted by: SpinAttaxx

Episode written by: Polkadi~♪

@Failinhearts: Sayaka Miki (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

@DanJ86: Daniel, Dave (original), White Bomberman (Bomberman)

@Emperor Robrainiac: Aspen (original)

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