Chapter 5

I talked to Harris that night, and he agreed to start looking for a new place to move the dojo to. I told him what I needed, and he said he knew of a few places that might meet my needs. And they were rather simple.

Tall enough inside so that I could move around without having to crawl or bend over. And hopefully in a location that I could put an apartment in the back, as it would likely be easier to simply modify a single location than try to modify both a home and a place of business.

Also, this time it might be best if I got a stand-alone location. So I could set up parking in the back. He looked at me, and I laughed. “Dude, I gotta do something about wheels. It ain’t like I can use my Honda anymore. In fact, I can’t use any vehicle without some really major modification. So in the back, I am going to have to set up like a garage, so I can do that.”

“Have you put any thought to that? Maybe a truck.”

“Nope, too many problems. Just maybe if I ripped off the side and front seat, I could find a way to crawl inside and sit in the back. But then the problem will be the suspension. All my weight on one side, handling it would be a royal bitch. Turn sluggish on one way, want to flip if I turn it the other. No, actually I am thinking of a trike.”

“A trike?”

“Sure, either a standard with one wheel in the front or a reverse, with the single wheel in the back. My weight will all be in the center, so that will not be an issue. But it is going to take a lot of work, I am thinking something like a big block V-8. Maybe even a V-12. Someday, I would like to actually make something else, but that will be a start at least.”

In the morning, I had all of my assistants that still wanted to work for me (two of the four had quit) in the parking lot. We set up a door on a pair of sawhorses, and my log as a chair. They had used my computer to make up the forms I had wanted, and there were about a dozen people already there.

Now some of them were obvious mutants, others looked like anybody else. The chick with the green hair was obviously one, and one of the first I talked to. She admitted she knew of no other powers other than her hair, and I just nodded.

“That’s fine, you are welcome to join us anyways. All I ask is that when the registration starts, you register as a Paladin, or at least try to. We are going to be the good guys, I will not train those who I might later have to fight.” She nodded her agreement, and I had her join a few others I had join us behind the table.

And for over an hour it went on. I must have talked to around 50 people. Over half, I sent away, as they were not even mutants. But I did invite them to join me for my other sessions. And towards the end was one chick I had actually been watching out of the corner of my eye.

She was, to put it bluntly, hot as hell. Asian, and tall. Like, over six foot tall. Black hair that went to the middle of her back. And she was either of Chinese or Japanese descent, I was not sure. But her face was lovely, and even though she was in loose blue sweats, it was obvious she had the figure of a Norse goddess.

When she came up, I asked her for her powers. I was trying to not look at her, as she was, to say the least distracting. And after over 50 of these interviews, I had grown bored. I half expected her to say basketball or something like that. But I sat up when she said she was a Chameleon. “But I am afraid that is all I know, really.”

At that, I sat upright and really took notice. After weeks of trying to revert back, I had a suspicion this was one of the rare chameleons like me, who did not just change hair and skin colors, but actual bodies. But I had to be sure and asked if she was in front of me as her host or guest form.

She looked confused, and I had to explain to her that if she actually changed bodies, then the host was her original form, and the body she changed into was the guest form. “Oh! OK, I get it. No, this is my guest form. I do not let others see my host form. And yes, I am registering as soon as they open up, but as an anonymous Paladin.”

Finally! This was the first one to show up that might actually be a Paladin! The two dozen I had segregated were all identifiable as mutants, but this was the first that would qualify as a Paladin. At least, if she gained any abilities other than just changing how she looked. I had her join the others, and after giving them a talk went into the dojo.

I then told them what I expected. That I hoped we could become a core of a crime-fighting group, but only one with similar training and not a formal organization.

“So, not like the Super Friends?” one of them asked. And we all laughed, as many took the first grouping to do so like half of a joke.

“No, nothing like that. No, say if I was fighting somebody, and needed some help. If one of you was really fast, you could run and help. Or if one could fly, go to the air and let us know what is going on. No, the Justice League is jumping way ahead, nothing like that. Just a bunch that can train together, and maybe work together if needed. But mostly, I can provide training. Mental, physical, and martial.” I asked if they had any questions, and after explaining my background I asked them all to wait outside. The one I had remain was the only other one that claimed to have Paladin class powers. He was a speedster, at least he claimed he was. So I spent 15 minutes testing him.

But, I thanked him for his time and asked him to leave. He was fast, but not mutant fast. But he said he had seen the flash of light, and I nodded. “When registration opens up, report in. They are going to have ways to test mutants, so maybe they can help you find out what your power is. After that, come back and show me your mutant card, and you will be back in. Even if your ability is so slight we can not verify it now, with that card you can come back.”

But for some reason, I had a feeling he had just been trying to bullshit me. But he did ask the next candidate to come inside, the foxy Asian chick. She introduced herself as “Dire Wolf”, and I admit that surprised me. It was actually about the least likely superhero name I could have thought of for her. I figured it would be something exotic, like “Jade Dragon”, or something like that.

I again asked what her powers were, and she admitted she had none. “Well, you may discover them in time. To give an idea, mine, of course, is this new form I have, with this lovely coat. Also, I have confirmed strength, agility, a slight speed boost, as well as resistance to heat and cold, as well as some kind of armor in my skin. I crawled into the freezer in the back and felt fine after over an hour. I cranked the heat in here to over 100 and did not even break a sweat as I was doing push-ups. I may discover more, and you likely will also.” She nodded and looked thoughtful.

I then told her that I would like to see her host form, and she looked reluctant. But she nodded as if she had made up her mind and I watched. And it was stunning! She shrank well over a foot in height and lost at least half of her mass. Her hair got shorter, and I was looking at her face. Were those, scars? She then opened her eyes, and I would have been rocked back on my heels if I was standing.

One eye was milky white and had a scar running through it. And she was turned slightly to the side, and looking roughly over my shoulder. I softly said her name and asked if she could come closer. And she took a very precise six steps forward, now facing me squarely. And I could indeed now see the scars on her face. Old, faint scars, but they were there. I gasped and actually wiped away a tear. Dire Wolf seemed to be maybe 28, but the girl in front of me could have passed for 16 or 26. She was petite, almost like a doll. But, no. She was not a broken doll, only damaged.

“Dire Wolf, that is breathtaking. Are you... ?”

“Yes, Mister Lee. I am blind. I was not born that way, I was in an accident when I was a little girl. That is why I came here as Dire Wolf. I did not think you would want to have taught a blind girl.”

“Dire Wolf, I would teach anybody, at any time. Remember, I was badly wounded myself in the Army. I barely kept my arm and leg, and much of this was to help rehabilitate myself. I got back into the arts as a way to recover, and still hold special sessions for veterans like myself. If you had come here blind, I would have done all I could to train you. But it seems you already have what training I could have given you in that way. Poise, confidence, the ability to adapt and overcome your losses.”

I looked at her and was as impressed with her body in this form as I was with the other. She was slender and appeared to be in excellent condition. I asked her if she went to the gym a lot, or did martial arts. She laughed, a soft sound like silver bells.

“No, Mister Lee. I am a dancer. Mostly my own variants of traditional Chinese dances, but also ballroom.” That explained it, such can keep people in good shape all by themselves. I asked her to change back to her form. I chuckled when I realized she was unclasping her bra and was once again Dire Wolf.

I asked her if she had danced all her life, and she smiled. “I danced from around the age of 6 until I was 10. I stopped for over 8 years and picked it up again in college. I started with ballroom dancing, then I was reintroduced to my old dance troop, and I started doing exhibitions of my own variants of Chinese dance after that.”

And I remembered something as she said that. “Wait, several years ago, right? I remember from the news, could you show me?” She nodded, and after looking thoughtful, she said she had never done it in this form, so if she could return it would be easier. She asked if I had something smaller to wear, so I told her to grab one of the gi’s I had stacked along the back wall.

I watched her look through several and picked one of the smaller ones off of the stack. She looked around, and then just shrugged and changed. I sat silently and breathless, as she removed her sweats and put her bra and sweats on the counter. Her breasts looked amazing, and I almost wished one of my abilities was improved sight. She was just in her panties when she slipped into the gi.

She then extended her cane and took up a position that was part of a kendo kata, where the sword would be grounded. And it was obvious, that this dance routine was almost using her cane like it was a sword. No swings or flourishes, but movements that could be blocks, and they indeed showed she was flexible and limber.

And I watched as she performed a drop leg thrust, with her cane perfectly angled. If it was a sword, it would take her adversary in the chest I was sure. She then moved back to her starting position, and I softly applauded. I then watched as she returned to the back, and removed the gi, and once again I saw her in her panties as she changed again, then put her bra and sweats back on.

“Dire Wolf, that was amazing. In fact, from seeing that, I think you are going to be a formidable fighter. You may not know this, but over half of those movements were actually sword drills. Yes, I want to train you, I want you to tap into everything you can do.” I then told her the schedule of training, and she grinned. “Mister Lee, I am looking forward to it, to be honest.”

“Can I ask you for your real name? I promise, I will write it down nowhere, it will only be between us. But now, if I wanted to I could look it up if I took the effort.”

She shrugged and said it was Dianne Wong. “But please, call me Di.”

“Dianne Wong, Dire Wolf. Dianne, Di, Dire, it all makes a lot of sense. Let me guess, the name just came to you, with no real thought behind it.” She confirmed that was true, she had been watching a TV show that involved dire wolves, and it just struck her. She then told me that she had a partner, and would probably use the training as well.

Partner. Well, it was too much to hope for somebody like her to be single. I asked if it was a husband or boyfriend, and she grinned a bit and shook her head. Well, I asked if it was a girlfriend, such was not unheard of and it was a new millennium. But she giggled and shook her head again.

“No, none of the above. You see, my partner is not even human. Prior to that night, he was my guide dog. And like me, he also changes. When I am Dianne, he is a German Sheppard named Mister Jingle Jangles. But when I am Dire Wolf, he actually transforms into a real dire wolf who I call Fang. I left him at home, as there was no way I could take him onto the bus to get here.”

I nodded and told her this was something I wanted to see. I told her that Fang was more than welcome to the training sessions. I had her send in the next candidate, and a little over an hour later 12 rejoined me inside the dojo. I had them go through some basic stretching and strength drills, then said they should return Monday evening.

Well, this was a good start at least. Only one was for sure a Paladin, but all could use my help. Especially as half of them were also Chameleons who had little control over their powers. And I had hopes that more would join me, once they realized this offer was the real deal. And that night after they all left, Harris took me to several locations. And I even laughed when he pulled up in an open bed truck. Turns out it belonged to one of the guys from the VFW who owned a construction company.

He took me to four buildings, and 3 of them were just not quite right. One was much larger than I needed, the second was smaller than I wanted. We checked out two more, and the last was also a no. It had been vacant for a long time. It was once long ago a supermarket, then one of those big box electronic stores that had gone bankrupt years before. And the decade had not been good to the building, as we could see evidence that at least part of the roof had caved in.