by Drew Hayes
“I can still neutralize anything you throw,” Terrance said nervously.
“I don’t know about anything,” Mary replied. Terrance felt a firm force take hold of his coat and pants, jerking him several feet into the air. “I’m pretty sure you can’t shrink the ground when it’s racing toward you.”
“This, this is lethal force!” Terrance yelled.
“No, no, you’re only one story up. You’ll survive with at most a broken ankle or leg. As long as you land on your feet, anyway.”
“You could have done this all along,” Terrance realized. “Why didn’t you?”
“It’s been brought to my attention recently that I need to improve my level of control. Fighting you is pretty good practice at that. We should spar sometime when this is all over,” Mary offered cordially.
The grip on Terrance’s clothes vanished and he found himself tumbling rapidly toward the ground. No question about it, this was going to smart.
43.
“What the hell are you doing?” Hector asked as Camille’s coat wafted gently to the ground. She paid him no attention, seizing her pants by the waistband and undoing a series of concealed buckles on the interior of each side. She jerked outward, separating the snaps that ran down the legs and tossed her now-halved slacks to the grass. She stood before them in a pair of biker shorts and a sports bra. She felt a flush creeping over her as they stared; she was all-too aware of how little clothing now covered her. She took a deep draw of air and felt the elastic of the bra dig into her chest. Her breasts were larger than her frame would indicate, and the pressure pushing down on them made every breath just a touch more ragged.
“This took an interesting turn,” Allen said.
“Our uniforms don’t have zippers and snaps. Did you customize yours just to be able to strip it off?” Hector questioned.
Camille addressed neither, instead she began running toward Vince as fast as she could. If she made a dash for one of her two opponents they would suspect something. Forcing them to block her, however, would ensure at least one of them got in range.
Sure enough, Hector stretched his arms outward, cutting off any path she might have to her fallen ally. Camille never hesitated, she kept running until she careened into his right arm, his long elastic fingers encircling her bare torso as he pulled her away from Vince.
“Nice distraction, but did you really think we’d let you-GAAAHHH!” Hector’s words were cut off by a tortured scream that was ripped from his throat. Allen could only watch as his partner released the girl and collapsed to the ground. Something was wrong. Hector was bleeding and his arms and legs were twisted in awkward directions. Generally, Hector could move his appendages without regard to joint limitations, but it was always a smooth appearance, like stretched taffy. This looked like someone had ripped that same taffy apart and haphazardly slapped it back together at all the wrong angles.
“What... what did you do?” Allen said slowly. “You’re a healer, you can’t hurt Hector like that.”
Camille remained silent. The only response she gave was to step away from Hector’s mercifully unconscious body and begin to approach Allen. She took three tentative steps then charged. Allen hurled a series of green bolts at her feet, but Camille deftly sidestepped them with grace he never would have expected. Gone was the slow-moving girl with the gentle demeanor; in her place was a relentless stampede of skin and flowing hair. She threw a hand out, as if to grab him, and Allen rolled to the side on instinct. She shouldn’t be able to hurt him, but shouldn’t didn’t mean a damn thing when Hector’s sundered body was less than twenty feet away.
Allen reoriented himself as he stood, barely getting a chance to leap away as Camille spun on her heels and came rushing back at him. He tried to send a bolt at her, but now he was playing defense and aiming came second to dodging. She whirled around and came at him again. This time Allen took an extra second to line up his shot before moving. That second cost him everything. A bolt of relatively-weak energy exploded against Camille’s shoulder and Allen slid to the side. He barely registered the small fingers that brushed his neck, but he definitely noticed what immediately followed. His left ankle bone exploded within the skin, dropping him to the ground in pain and hobbling his movements quite efficiently.
He looked up to see the girl pressing her hand to the burn mark on her shoulder. A gentle light came over it as the singed skin became pink and healthy once more. If he’d used a stronger blast, he could have ripped that shoulder clean from its socket; however, that would have constituted lethal force. As his ankle throbbed again, part of Allen wished he’d done it anyway.
“You’re a damn healer,” Allen cursed at her. “You aren’t supposed to be able to injure people.”
“I’m not a healer,” Camille said as she walked briskly toward him. She had no inclination to give him time to focus and fight back. The pain would mar his concentration for now, but sooner or later he’d work through it. “I’m an absorber. I hold injury the same way Vince holds energy, and healing people all last year has given me quite a supply to work with.”
“That’s why you stripped. You need to touch us skin to skin. Hector couldn’t grab you without touching some part of you,” Allen said as comprehension finally dawned. “And that’s why no one knows this about you. You spent all last year under the radar just so you could build up a backlog of damage.”
“I do apologize,” Camille said as she closed what remained of the gap between them. She hunkered down and cupped his face gently in her hand. “I’ll heal you as soon as our match is over. I don’t want anyone to suffer unnecessarily.”
“Kiss my ass if you think I’m letting you heal me. You’re not getting this damage back; I’ll use someone else. And I’m telling everyone about this so your little trick won’t work anymore,” Allen threatened. It wasn’t much, but he couldn’t go out without saying something. This defeat was already embarrassing enough; his pride refused to let him be silent.
“Do what you please,” Camille said softly. “Tell people what you want. Just make sure you understand, I have plenty of damage left to give, and I will do whatever it takes to protect my V-, teammates.”
Allen might have asked about that verbal slip had his world not dissolved into a cacophony of thunderous pain.
* * *
Alex felt Allen’s conciseness slip away from his position back at the flag. He glanced at his watch nervously. Alex knew Camille had been victorious, somehow, so she’d heal Vince and the two would be returning shortly. The problem was that there were two more presences coming toward him, and more importantly, toward the flag. They were using the same thorough, time-consuming pattern as the previous two, but they’d get here eventually. Alex wasn’t sure that Vince and Camille would have time to return and go scout in a roundabout enough way to conceal their direction before the enemies were close enough to find the flag. He weighed his options carefully before settling on a choice.
Alex would go meet the new people head on. Even if he failed to stop them, it would at least give Vince and Camille enough time to return. Plus, if Alex could take at least one of them down then a lone fighter would be no match for Vince. It was the logical choice and it adhered to the strategy. Now he just had to hope it was the right one.
44.
“You think you might have gone a little overboard back there?” Alice asked as she and Roy trudged along.
“What do you mean? He changed back so I kept my word. I only broke one leg.”
“Yeah, I think ‘break’ sort of fails as an accurate descriptor there. ‘Shattered,’ ‘decimated,’ annihilated,’ these are words I might apply to what you did.”
“You’re being overdramatic. All I did was grab his leg and squeeze,” Roy defended. “There’s no room for squeamish stomachs in these competitions.”
“I suppose so,” Alice said reluctantly. “Makes me a little glad I’m not responsible for handling those situations.”
“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried
it.”
“I think it’d take a pretty miraculous set of circumstances for me to try it,” Alice pointed out.
“I guess so. Man, we haven’t run into anyone since Adam. Where the hell is everyone else? I’m going to be really pissed if that’s the only action I get all day.”
“They’re less combat-oriented than us. We didn’t expect them to come charging out in a full force attack.”
“I know; a man can still hope.”
“I’ll just stick to hoping we find the flag soon. The less people we see, the more I worry about them closing in on our base.”
“Nothing we can do about that,” Roy said with a shrug. “We’ve got our job and the others have theirs. We’ll just have to hope they’re as good at it as we are.”
“On that note, I’m going to fly up and take a look,” Alice said, rising off the ground. She moved carefully, cresting the tree line slowly and scanning the world below for any signs of movement. Nothing caught her eye, but when your opponent’s captain could become invisible that didn’t mean much. Alice lowered back to the earth after only a few seconds.
“No people visible around us, but there’s a clearing a ways ahead I want to check out. It looks similar to how the one around our base was set up.”
“Lead on, then,” Roy said cheerfully. The closer they got to the enemy’s flag, the better chance he’d get another fight. That thought made him perfectly happy to comply.
* * *
“You’re heavier than you look, anyone ever tell you that?” Mary asked as Nick leaned against her shoulders.
“Thanks, Mary, now on top of bruises and taser burn marks I’ve got a weight complex,” Nick shot back. “When we’re done here I’m going to have to purge and it’s all your fault.”
“You’re hilarious. Seriously, I get the feeling that narrow frame is hiding more muscle than a person would guess.”
“That is sexual harassment and I’m telling Hershel.”
“You know, I don’t have to let you lean on me.”
“No one is perfect; I guess I can let it slide this once,” Nick backtracked quickly. “How is everyone doing, anyway?”
“Roy and Alice are making good progress, Camille is about to heal Vince back from unconsciousness but they won their fight, and Alex is on his way to intercept Michael and Britney before they get close to base.”
“Vince got knocked out, huh? I’m curious how Camille managed to pull it out of the fire. Vince must have left them barely standing.”
“Actually, it seems Vince was taken out before the fight even began,” Mary told him. “We’re going to need to have a talk with Camille about holding back on us.”
“How bad?”
“Let’s just say you’ll be giving her a new card.”
“Huh. It’s always the quiet ones. Think we’re getting close to their flag?”
“No idea, but if Alex manages to bring down the last two then we’ve got all the time in the world to hunt,” Mary pointed out.
“Alex versus Britney and Michael. Maybe we should hurry,” Nick suggested.
Mary didn’t bother replying. Instead she quickened her pace and wondered if Nick’s uniform was sturdy enough for her to drag him along with her substantial brain instead of her meager brawn.
* * *
Vince moaned groggily as he came back into the world of the waking. He found himself with his head in Camille’s lap, staring up at her as his vision cleared. She’d taken the time to change back and move him away from the battered bodies of their opponents, so as his brain began to come together, only a single thought pierced his mind.
“Are you okay?” Vince asked immediately.
“Pretty sure that’s supposed to be my line,” Camille said with a gentle grin. “I’m fine. How are you?”
“I feel good,” Vince replied hurriedly. “Should I be laying here like this? What about our enemies?”
“They’re taken care of,” Camille assured him. “We can go back whenever you feel ready to walk.”
Vince slowly pulled himself to a sitting position and found the last of his head fog had already dissipated. “What do you mean, taken care of?”
“I mean they aren’t a problem anymore. You saved me, and I was able to handle the fight.”
“You were? I mean, I don’t want to say that you couldn’t, but-”
“I did tell you I’d been doing martial arts for years,” Camille pointed out.
“I guess you did. Who did you fight?”
“Allen and Hector. Allen is the one who threw the explosion at you. How did you know it was coming anyway?”
“It’s hard to explain. Mostly just that when you deal with energy as much as I do you learn the little signs it gives off when impending,” Vince said.
“Well, I’m glad you noticed it. Thank you for pushing me out of the way, but you shouldn’t have put yourself in danger like that.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Vince said as he moved his body all the way to standing. He looked back at the kneeling girl and offered her a hand up. “I’m the combat side of our team. It’s my job to keep you out of harm’s way. I’m going to protect you, no matter what. Next time I’ll just try to be better at it and stay conscious.”
Camille looked at him, towering over her as he smiled reassuringly. All these years, and here they were in the same position. It made her heart ache, just a bit, at how much he still looked the same as that day. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself vertical. Vince would do anything to protect her, which just meant she had to get even stronger so he’d never have to. She wouldn’t let him get hurt anymore. Not for her.
“Let’s get back to Alex,” Camille suggested softly.
45.
Alex walked for about fifteen minutes before he began to draw near to his opponents. In truth, the travel time should have been roughly half of that, however, he’d stuck to protocol and looped around as instructed. He could feel Vince and Camille heading back toward the flag, which relaxed him a little. He hated leaving the place undefended. The closer he got to the interception point, the more he hoped they wouldn’t have to do anything. If Vince and a healer could take down two, then Alex might be able to as well. At the very least, he would defeat one and hobble the other.
Alex moved silently as he drew near the enemies. He didn’t have much practice with skulking, especially not through forests; however, he did have the advantage of knowing the others were there. That would hopefully enable him to get the drop on whoever these people were. It was easier to recognize the minds of people he spent a lot of time with, but when it was just fellow classmates, all he got were hints. One of the minds was incredibly focused, straining to hear every rustle and snap in the woods around it. The other was cavalier, uncaring save for a burning, violent desire emanating deep with its reaches. Alex knew if he wanted to utilize his advantage properly, he had to prioritize which opponent to take out first. The focused one seemed the more dangerous of the two, so Alex levitated a hefty log to his side and prepared to strike.
He burst through the woods to find not two enemies staring at him, but one. Michael blinked in surprise as Alex and a floating log came vaulting from the tree line. For the barest of moments, Alex forgot that Britney could become invisible and was confused by the absence of someone he’d sensed. He let his eyes sweep across the area, trying to find the missing presence. The mistake lasted less than a full second; however, even that was too much.
The first blue blast struck him square in the chest, the cold creeping through his bones and making every breath difficult as his torso refused to expand. The next one took him in the left leg, sealing him in place before he could move. Alex whipped the log toward Michael while he still had his concentration, but the poor piece of wood splintered against the armor of ice now encircling Michael’s body.
Michael froze the other leg next, just for good measure, though as Alex’s teeth began to chatter it was clear fighting off the chill seeping through him would sap a healthy amount of
his mental resources.
“Nice effort, weirdo,” Michael said as he closed the gap between them. Alex tried to fight through the sensation of numbness and grab hold of Michael with his power. Before he got a chance, Michael’s ice encased fist slammed violently into Alex’s face. There was an audible crack in Alex’s head as he felt something in his cheek give way. He might have come back with a witty, if not slightly slurred, retort, had Michael not followed with two more blows to his head. His brain felt like it was filling with mercury and his entire face burned with pain. Even if there were anything to throw, Alex could barely focus on the image in front him, let alone on fighting back. It occurred to him, fleetingly, that this was why Coach George had them fight so much last year without their powers. He wanted them to get accustomed to working through the fog of pain. Alex wished he’d learned that lesson better.
“Take it easy,” Britney’s voice cautioned from somewhere over his shoulder.
“Fuck that; this kid can break through ice with his mind if I just freeze him. I have to make sure that brain of his is too scrambled to get back in the game.” Michael punctuated this statement with a solid left hook directly into Alex’s ear. Had he not been frozen into a standing position, Alex’s body would have tumbled to the ground as he passed out. Instead his head merely plopped softly against his chest.
“Look, he’s out, you’re done,” Britney said, this time less a request than an order.
“I’ll decide when I’m done,” Michael said, rearing back again. An invisible hand wrapped around his elbow, pulling it back.
“We have a deal, Michael. You want to win? That means you can’t get us disqualified. Keep pounding on his brain like this and I guarantee we get taken out of the competition.”
“I call getting tossed out for being too strong a win,” Michael spat back, not relaxing his arm one bit.