Nothin to say here.

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Now around a week later, Daggerspite had been doing perfectly on his mission. He was gaining the trust of Medkit and those surrounding him well. With this pace, he could complete it within a few months easily! Now with his wounds fully healed, Dagger was about to go spar with Sword so Medkit could see if he was ready for phights or not. Although Dagger was lying about nearly everything around his father, it was true whenever Subspace had denied him entry to phights. His father always said they were dangerous and a waste of time, they were only good for testing out battle-related things.

Daggerspite's outfit was close to his uniform in Blackrock, the only major change being the lack of the Blackrock logo and he had two long sleeves in a compressed shirt instead of one long sleeve with a layered piece like Subspace's. Dagger had liked copying his dad's outfit.

Stretching his limbs, Medkit looked at the younger demon. "Sword will go easy on you, but don't worry about his health, he's a lot stronger than he looks." Medkit advises. "He's quick with a hefty blow, but also heavy, use that to your advantage."

"Of course!" Sweets smiles. "I know I can take him. He might have the advantage of strength and size, but I've been waiting for this moment for years. I know what I'm doing, Meds!" Dagger gave another smile to the doctor before summoning his gear, wrapping the string around his body in a specific manor. He walks to the middle of the dirt arena where Sword and the deity Venomshank were standing.

"Ready?" Sword asks, smiling at the teen. "Yep!" Dagger smiled back. He was a bit nervous to have a whole deity watching him, but he forced them to ease. Venomshank was Sword's father, why wouldn't he come watch him spar with a teen!

Both stepping a few feet back, Venomshank blew a whistle signalling their spar to a start. Sword instantly rushed at Sweets who quickly stepped away, throwing three daggers at the slower demon. They slashed Sword's arm with ease as Sweets pulled them back by the string, jumping away from Sword's lashing blade.

Dodging blow after blow, Sword started to grow irritated at not being able to get a hit on the teen, starting to up his difficulty and swing faster. Dagger remained calm, focusing on his foot placement to not fall. He remained stepping backwards and to the side to dodge around Sword's attacks.

Noticing the bigger demon grow restless, Sweets seen his chance and took it. Rushing against Sword, Dagger punched the red demon in the shoulder. He was stronger than what his small frame gave. The punch shouldn't have done any real damage, but due to Sword's restless rushing, it threw off his balance, sending him staggaring to the side. During the stagger, Sweets got a few more slices with his gear before throwing them towards Sword, having them wrap around his foot and trip him.

Sword now fallen to the ground and panting, Dagger stood over him. "I win!" He chimes happily.

"How?! How did you do that so fast?!" Sword gasps for air, confused on how he lost.

Medkit and Venomshank approached as the spar ended. "Your tempo was unsteady. If you grow restless and impatient, your attacks become messier." Daggerspite explains. "Once your attacks are messier, your footing is also more rushed, causing you to be off balanced easily. One punch and you went staggering, by then it was over." Daggerspite shrugged, offering a hand to help Sword up. Sword took it happily.

"There's a lot you can learn from this child, Sword." Venomshank speaks, his tone harsh. "I didn't expect you to be beaten so easily, I thought I trained you better."

"Sorry dad, I just didn't expect him to be so quick!" Sword sighs, scratching the back of his neck. The poison then seemed to kick in. "Ow! Damn this burns!" Sword growls, scratching at one of his cuts before Sweets grabs his hand to stop him.

"Don't scratch them, running them under cool water helps best. Make sure you clean them well too, if you leave them untreated they'll rot." He tells the older demon.

"If you say so, poison expert." He looked at the deity. "Mind getting me some water, dad?"

"You can get it yourself." Venomshank scoffs.

"Aw." Sword pouts. "Good spar, you're actually really tough!" He turns back to Sweets. "I think you'd do really well in a phight, I just hope I'm on your team!" He smiles.

"I agree, you did good. Your tactic is smart." Medkit nods in agreement. "Although phights are usually more intense than this. I'll see if I can get you into a practice phight before a real one."

"Fine with me!" Daggerspite smiles. "And you did good as well, Sword! You have a lot of stamina, if you kept your balance I wouldn't have been able to win. I can only dodge for so long!"

"Thanks for the advice, I'll have to work on that! Also a tip for you, during phights you can't always focus on dodging. If you could attack while dodging, that would do a lot on your enemy! You'll almost always have two phighters on you at once at some point in a phight, while it works for one opponent, I don't think your tatics will work for multiple." Sword offers his advice.

"Thanks, I'll see about being more open to attacking while dodging!" Sweets thanks the older demon for advice. He liked this, no aggression despite Sword losing, both taking each other's advice with gratitude. It was much better than Subspace pushing him until he beat Biograft every day.

Sweets turned to Medkit as Sword complained to Venomshank while walking away to go shower his wounds. "Do you think there's anywhere open I could train in daily without anyone else?" He asks. "I want to get back on my old schedule, my skills did become rather lazy without daily use."

"Of course, I'll find a place for you. There's multiple in Lost Temple, but I don't know how often they're used." Medkit nods. "This one is private, it belongs to Venomshank. I might can rent out one for you as well if the public ones are too busy."

"I can rent it out myself, no need to pay for something I suggested." Sweets quickly cuts in. "I have money. I know I'm only 16, but I have money."

"If you insist, but it won't be cheap. Nothing in Lost Temple is." Medkit shrugs. "If you want to spar with someone, I know more phighters who will be open to."

"I'd like to spar with someone a bit closer to my own skills, someone with speed and range. I was never able to practice against someone with range except for Hyperlaser, and he's not really the best training partner." Sweets blinked hopefully.

"Yeah, I can ask Shuriken if he'd spar with you. He's one of Theive's Den's best ninjas. He's quick, stealthy, and uses throwing stars. He's similar enough to your style." Medkit nods.

"Thank you!" Daggerspite smiles happily, a newfound bounce in his step. "I kind of wish I still had a Biograft to train with. They kept my senses sharp."

"How often did you train with them?"

"Every weekday morning from 6:30 to 9." Sweets replies happily. "Unless I had a job that day of course, but most of my jobs were later in the day."

"Why did Blackrock employ you at such a young age? What kind of jobs did you even do? Asides from assassinations." Medkit asks, intrigued.

"I guess since Subspace was my legal parent, he could pull a few strings to get me the job. I did a lot of things. Some were running simple errands, helping some of the engineers with tinkering, testing out new weapons.." Sweets trailed off, trying to remember the various tasks he did. "Sometimes even some of the higher ups would call me in for my opinion! I was valued a lot at Blackrock, I kind of miss it." He sighs.

"I miss that feeling of importance as well, kid. You'll get used to it eventually, just think of the bad that Blackrock had done to you. You can find good somewhere else." Medkit lightly patted his back. Sweets offered a half-hearted smile, internally rolling his eyes. Medkit acted as if he knew what Daggerspite went through! How annoying.

Dagger's tail twitched with impatience to get his mission over with. Every day he wanted to go home more and more. He missed his dad the most. Dagger sighed. "I wish I could go back to get my stuff at least." He mumbles.

Medkit doesn't reply for a moment. "If.." He hesitates. "If we're very careful, we might can go get some of your valued belongings. It's risky, but if you're stealthy enough to be an assassin, we could try to go." He offers slowly.

Dagger's eyes light up. "Really?! When?! Can we go tonight?!" His tail began to wag.

"No! Of course not tonight! We won't be able to for at least a month, let their security die down. Guards would be expecting you to return for your stuff this early. Be patient, Sweets." Medkit sighs. "Once they lower their guard, we can go, but we can't take everything."

"That's alright with me! I just miss a few sentimental items mostly." Sweets smiles. "Thank you though!" He hugs the medic who returns the embrace with a pat on the back. "It means a lot to me that you're willing to help me with this."

"Of course, kid. You've made my life more lively, I owe it to you." The doctor smiles as they continue their walk back to the house.

--♡--

Almost as soon as they get home, Sweets had basically ran to his room, quickly grabbing his phone to text his father.

>DAD!!
>DAD GUESS WHAT
>This mission is going to be a LOT easier than I thought!!
>The target said he'd help me "get some items from Blackrock"!!!!!
>Isnt this amazing!
>I don't have to do anything except wait now
>He walked into it on his own!!
>He said it'll be around a month tho cause Blackrock will be "expecting my return for my items" LOL

He happily kicked his feet while sitting on the bed, waiting for the reply that came a few minutes later.

>>That's good, son!
>>You've done very well so far, I'm proud of you
>>Blackrock will celebrate your success once you return home
>Thank you, dad!!
>Also I hope you wont be mad but....
>>But?
>I may or may not have convinced him to let me phight

There's no reply from Subspace for a few minutes.

>Dad? I'm sorry, they just seem so fun and I've been training for so long, I thought I could just give it a try
>>I'm not mad, son
>>I guess you should be able to try a phight out, you're 16 already
>>Please tell me you're going into a practice phight first?
>Yeah, I am! Medkit said if I do good then he'll get me a spot in an actual phight. I'll tell you when so you don't book the same one as me!! I don't want to face you in a phight, I'll have to act all scared and traumatized and fake a panic attack again
>>Of course, I'll be sure not to book any in advance
>>Just make sure you stay safe. As much as I dislike the demon, try to have Medkit on your team
>>He's a good healer, if you get hurt he can help you out
>Alright dad!
>Also I just finished sparring with one of the demons I met here!!
>>Who?
>The red one, Sword
>I beat him dad!!!
>>Oh, really? Sword is a tough enemy. How'd you do it?
>I used my dodge tactic, kept dodging until he grew impatient and BAM, knocked him off balance!!
>>Your daggers aren't lethally tipped, are they?
>Nope! They have the weaker poison on them, I told him how to properly treat his wounds too, I don't want to permanately hurt him
>>Good, I'm proud of you son
>Thank you! I better go now, bye dad I love you!!
>>Alright Sweets. I love you too, stay safe.

With the text conversation coming to a close, Daggerspite put his phone down and bounced into the main room where Medkit sat. "I'm bored!" The younger demon blurts out, laying on the floor.

"Of course you are." Medkit sighs, closing the book he was reading. "What hobbies do you have? I dont think I ever asked."

"Oh, uh.. I like drawing and singing!" Sweets chirps.

"Singing? That's an uncommon one. Can you sing well?"

"I was told I can, but I don't really know myself." The pink demon shrugs. "I've made quick bux while singing on the side of the street in Blackrock before, but I don't know if that was because I was good, or because I'm popular."

"I know a demon who's obsessed with music. I could ask if he wants to meet you, but he's one of the most annoying people you'd ever meet. Maybe you can keep each other entertained while I finish my book." Medkit offers.

"Sure! I'm down for meeting new people!" Sweets smiles, sitting up. "What's his name?"

"Boombox."

"I've heard of him! Subspace always complained about him being a pain in the ass during phights!" Daggerspite chirps.

"I have to agree with that. He's a pain in the ass in and out of phights." Medkit takes out his phone, texting who Dagger assumes to be Boombox. He waits for a few moments before speaking again. "He said he has no plans and will meet us at Crossroads. You want to go right now or later?"

"Right now if possible!"

"You sure are active. Alright, come on." Medkit texts one more thing before putting his phone up and taking his book.

Leaving the house they just entered no more than 30 minutes ago, Sweets happily skipped alongside the older demon. Daggerspite has always had a lot of energy, much to the medic's dismay. Medkit was going to have to get used to going out until Sweets made friends willing to go out with him. He didn't quite trust the pink demon to leave the house alone with the bounty on his head.

"You're going to be the death of me, kid." Medkit sighs, having to increase his pace to stay caught up to the younger demon.

"How so?" Sweets smiled.

"Well to put it simply, I prefer to leave the house only when needed."

"It's good to get out of the house some!" Sweets replied cheerfully. "At Blackrock, I went out every day, even if was just for a walk!"

"You've gone out here every day as well." Medkit reminded him.

"Can't break old habits!"

Soon reaching Crossroads, Medkit looked around. He soon spotted the neon green phighter with his boombox, causing a racket. Two other demons sat with him on a railing who Medkit knew to be Slingshot and Skateboard. He sighed aloud to himself.

"Meds, hi!" Boombox got up and greeted the doctor happily, pulling him into a hug.

"Yes, hi." Medkit lightly pushed the shorter phighter off. He nodded towards the pink demon behind him. "This is Sweets, he claims he's a singer."

"Hi!" Sweets greeted, his tail flicking happily.

"Hello! My names Boombox, it's nice to meet you!" Boombox outstretched his hand, Sweets happily took it to shake.

"Did you go to my cafe a few days ago?" The blue cat-like phighter what was previously sitting with Boombox asks, approaching the pink demon.

"I'm not sure!" Sweets smiles. "I don't even know your name!"

"Oh, right! My names Slingshot, I run a cafe in the Theive's Den sectoral." The blue demon smiles.

"I think I did, there was a green demon working there." Sweets recalls his visit to the cafe.

"Shuriken told me he seen someone new with Medkit, nice to put a face to his claims!" Slingshot smiled. His smile was short lived as him and Boombox both got pushed out of the way by a red demon.

"You two are so rude, let me introduce myself too!" He scoffs at the other two. "Hey, my names Skateboard! I'm basically the coolest guy you'll ever meet!" He boasts, causing Slingshot to push him back.

"He's lying! He's nothing but a dumb skater!" Slingshot corrects his friend.

Sweets giggles as their play fighting continues. He then looks at Medkit who already seems annoyed. "Why don't you go sit somewhere and read, Med?" He suggets. "I'll be fine here." He motions to a nearby bench.

"Sure. Just yell if something happens." Medkit nods, patting the teen's shoulder before walking off to sit on the bench and finally read his book.

Sweets turns back to the three new phighters he just met. "So.. What do you guys like to do?" He asks a bit awkwardly.

"Street preform!" Boombox shouts quickly. "I was about to before Meds texted me a bit ago. He said you're a singer, wanna preform with me?"

"Oh uh.." Sweets fidgets with his hands. "I don't know, I've only preformed in my faction before. There's a lot of people here."

"It'll be fun!" Boombox promises. "If something goes wrong with your voice or whatever, I'll just increase my music's volume so no one can hear!" His digital eye visor winks at the pink demon. "How old are ya by the way?"

"I'm 16." Sweets answers, popping his knuckles.

"So young!" Slingshot comments, looking over Boombox's shoulder at the pink demon. "Sing! I wanna hear it!"

"Yeah come on, it'll be fun!" Skateboard joins in on the urging, all three beginning to chant; "Sing! Sing! Sing!"

Sweets sighs. "Fine! Fine." He growls, the three older demons bursting out with claps and 'WOOO's. Sweets silently regrets having come here. Maybe he'd have been better staying at home. Glancing towards where Medkit was seated, the teal demon had looked up from his book at their noise. He gives Dagger a thumbs up for silent reassurance, looking back at his book.

"What songs do you know?" Boombox asks, looking at the teen. He has his phone out, scrolling through a music app for Sweets to sing along to.

"Uhm.." Sweets nervously stalls. "I don't know if this is a good idea." He voices his fears.

"I think it's a great idea!" Skateboard chirps, grabbing his nearby board and starting to skate in circles around the small group.

"I agree, I agree." Slingshot nods encouragingly.

"Pick a song, Sweets!" Boombox urges happily.

"I really rather not." Sweets' tail flicks uncomfortably. "I haven't sang in a while and I'm not really comfortable with my voice yet." He mumbles.

Boombox decides to finally give up his peer pressure, "fine! That's okay, you don't have to." He shrugs.

"Thank you." Sweets smiles. He glances towards Medkit. "I'll be right back!" He rushes over to the older demon, sitting beside him, "I regret this."

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