The Game Cafe in Marvel and DC

79 – Training commences

Looking upon the four before him, Joshua examined each of them individually, his lifetime of constant strife and struggles in the Wasteland guiding his threat ratings of the four before him. 

“You, what is your name?” Joshua asked, pointing to the man with the username ‘Bloody Fist.’

“You can call me Volkov,” the large man with visible scars said in a monotone tone and with a stoic expression. 

“Go into the locker room and change clothes—that goes for all of you. Once you are done, meet back here,” Joshua ordered, his grave voice pleasant but threatening to their ears.

Volkov grunted but conceded, turning and walking towards the visible male locker room from the sparring area. The others did the same, and Joshua observed them all.

Joshua noticed that Volkov was unusually calm, showing he was not surprised by Joshua’s words; the redhead was the same. Those two were clearly in some way accustomed to fighting, how much, Joshua did not know. 

The last two were clearly nervous and looked lost. If they were anything like the Frumintari, then they could be skilled assassins, however unlucky they were in this peaceful world. However, if any of them felt like a Frumentari, it had to be the woman with red hair. She walked with purpose, and while her clothes hid much of her features, it was clear that she was fit and battle-ready. 

Joshua reevaluated his future students when they returned in their gym clothes, a loose shirt, and pants. The man who called himself Volkov was covered in scars and was fit enough to rival the Centurians of Caeser’s army. The Red-haired woman was the same; though her scars were few, she still showed signs of being physically fit. The last two, however, are frail and pale, clearly having faced little struggle with life and its hardships. Joshua realized he’d have much work ahead if he wanted to make the frail two competent in battle and ready for what lay ahead.

Gesturing for Volkov to come up to the ring, the others gathered around to watch.

"I want you to go all out. Strike with the intent to kill, or you will not be moving much for the rest of the day," Joshua warned as Volkov climbed to the stage.

As the two stood across from one another, Joshua gestured for Volkov to attack, and he did, lunging forward and sending a punch directly toward Joshua's face.

Only tilting his head to the right, Joshua stepped forward, and with a simple push, as he put his leg behind his, Volkov was sent to the ground beneath him.

"Again," Joshua stated, stepping back.

Joshua repeatedly sent Volkov to the floor. Each time, Volkov's anger grew, and eventually, he tried to play a dirty trick, using brass knuckles; unluckily for him, of course, it did not work, as to effectively use it, he'd have to be able to touch Joshua in the first place. Putting Volkov into a restrictive armlock, Volkov fruitlessly squirmed against Joshua's surprisingly greater strength and, without being able to resist, lost consciousness.

"What were his mistakes?" Joshua asked, rolling Volkov over and off of himself and climbing to his feet.

Of the three that were left, only one answered, the red-haired woman.

"He was too aggressive and left far too many openings that you could exploit," The woman explained.

"Correct. In battle, being aggressive will only prove to be a hindrance if you do not have the skills to back your aggressive approach, especially when fighting someone with more experience," Joshua explained easily, climbing off the sparing stage before walking over to a bag and grabbing a stimpack. Climbing back up to Volkov, he injected the stimpack's contents right into Volkov's chest.

"He'll walk in a few minutes," Joshua stated before kicking Volkov's body off the stage without any care, causing the man to land with a loud 'thunk.'

"You, you're next," Joshua pointed to the woman who climbed up to the sparring stage without hesitation.

Joshua noted her confident stride. She was not afraid. 

She was definitely skilled. How skilled he did not know. Either way, she was definitely more dangerous than the man who acted more like a raider than a soldier or mercenary he fought earlier. Gesturing for her to attack, he was briefly surprised when she wasted no time in lunging for him from ten feet away. He was surprised by how fast she was, and when she reached him, he immediately tried sweeping her feet from under her, but she quite literally leaped onto him, grappling his body as she tried to put him into a hold.

As she wrapped herself around his arm, attempting to incapacitate him, Joshua raised his arm high, then, with all his strength, slammed his arm and the woman onto the ground, briefly knocking the air out of her. From there, he was able to pry her off, and she quickly backed away before Joshua could get his hands on her.

“Good. Next, you two,” Joshua commented before pointing to the last two, who showed a few signs of fear.  

The last two proved incapable and complete novices, those two Joshua would need to focus on and test to see if they'd make it through his training. The first two, 'Lucky' and 'Bloody Fist,' may need only a bit of training and some practical experience, and Joshua believes they'd be ready. However, there was still more to teach both of them, especially Bloody Fist. Lucky was already nearing Joshua's close combat skills, but he still needed to test her marksmanship and many other skills. There was always something that someone as trained as Lucky that they had little experience or talent with. Joshua's weakness was close-quarters combat; he was much better with a gun than with any melee weapon that most of the others in Caeser's Legion used.

Once they were all up and moving again, Joshua led the group into the simulator, passing through the Cafe, where one of the Zeref clones gave a thumbs-up in support as the group stepped into the simulator.

"Alright. Welcome to the simulator. I will be acting as a spectator during this simulation; your assignment is merely to survive and work together against your enemy. You are free to use any means necessary to survive." Not giving the others any time to react, Joshua finished the settings on the simulation and started the simulation.

[Simulation Location: New Vegas and Freeside]

[Simulation Type: Wave-based Survival]

[Simulation Attackers: Caeser's Legion, New Californian Republic, Brotherhood of Steel, Enclave Remnants, Powder Gangers, and Mojave Wasteland Creatures]

[Simulation Starter Gear: 4x .45 1911s, twnety twenty-round magazines, and four stimpacks]

"Welcome to New Vegas, the shining beacon in the Wastes," Joshua stated before disappearing with a flash, finding himself high in the air as the group was left alone in the barren streets of New Vegas.

[Wave 1: Feral Ghouls x15]

Immediately, the small group of Ghousl appeared within the sewers of Freeside and rushed, sprinting unordinary fast for irradiated humans driven mad from their brains rotting, essentially making them irradiated zombies, which the appearance of their bodies supported, as skin hung tightly to bones as they looked starved.

Despite their sickly appearance, Joshua has seen many a man be taken down by their vicious attacks as they ripped apart their victims with teeth, nails, and their bare hands. They literally ripped apart everything and everyone that came near them, everyone but normal Ghouls. Not all Ghouls become feral after being severely irradiated.

Joshua has met many Ghouls, Feral and not, some of whom have lived even before the Great War hundreds of years ago, as becoming a Ghoul not only made them resistant to radiation, greatly enhancing their chances of survival after the Great War, but also increased their life span. They were lucky there was no Glowing One that assisted the horde, as Glowing Ones were filled with so much radiation that they could endlessly revive deceased Feral Ghouls around them with blasts of radiation. It made them terrifying to fight, especially to those unprepared. 

Unluckily for them, there was a decent horde coming towards them, and only one of them was reliable enough to take them, according to Joshua's examinations, as if the large raider man tried to fight them with his fists as he tried with Joshua, he would be torn apart.