Super Powereds: Year 3

by Drew Hayes

  “Ah, you mean a pre-emptive psychological attack meant to undermine my confidence and hinder my performance,” Chad said. “Cunning. In that case, I intend to defeat you in less time than it takes me to mix a drink.”

  “Not great, but at least you’re trying,” Angela complimented. “I’m going to make you cry like a five-year-old girl who got knocked off her bike on the day her mother left the family.”

  “Extensive,” Chad said. “Why the specification of girl, though? Wouldn’t a male cry just as hard in that situation?”

  “Just how these things work,” Angela explained. “Calling a dude a girl is emasculating, meant to make him feel weak and inferior.”

  “I know far too many strong women for that to be an effective tactic,” Chad replied.

  “Well, aren’t you a good one,” Angela said. “Fine, I’m going to beat you like a toddler in a wolverine fight.”

  “You will feel more distress than if you were trapped on an airplane during its landing approach and suddenly suffered an unstoppable bowel movement.”

  “Explain,” Angela demanded.

  “During a landing approach, one is not allowed to leave their seat for any reason. Not even sudden bowel movements that won’t be stopped.”

  Angela had to admit, that scenario probably would fill her with a noticeable amount of distress. “Going for the poop joke, huh? I’m not surprised. After all, you do suck assholes. Competitively.”

  Before Chad could grope around for a reply, the hidden speakers crackled to life.

  “Students, prepare yourselves. The match will begin in ten seconds.”

  “Did I succeed in undermining your confidence?” Chad asked, lowering his stance slightly and shifting his foot back.

  “Not even a little bit,” Angela replied, sliding her own body counterclockwise, so that only her side was facing him. She knew Chad was fast; giving him as little target area as possible was going to be key.

  “I am glad to hear that,” Chad said. “Fighting anything less than your best effort is a loathsome idea to me.”

  “Then boy howdy, are you in for a treat,” Angela shot back, accompanying her statement with a wink. Her eye had barely reopened before the crackle of the speaker filled the room once more.

  “Students, begin your match!”

  38.

  Chad was fast, to the surprise of exactly zero people in or around that room. As soon as the signal was given, he leapt forward, pushing off on the toes of his right foot and surging toward his opponent with fluid grace. Only Sasha could have matched his reaction speed, and she would have fallen woefully short of copying his technique. He didn’t go for anything fancy, no showy maneuvers meant to dazzle the eye. Chad knew he had the barest of windows to end this fight quickly, so he put his efforts into the quickest punch there was: a simple jab. Angela was powerful, but her physical body was as frail as a human’s. If he could land the blow, if he could just be quick enough, then he could win this fight. It was all a matter of speed, and Chad was fast.

  Just not quite fast enough.

  Less than two feet away from her, he suddenly lost sight of Angela as a golden shield materialized inches in front of him. A lesser Super would have careened into it head first; however, Chad kept running, dashing up the golden surface and executing a backflip with his built-up momentum. He was back on his feet and able to reorient only seconds after the shield had appeared, but seconds was too much time to give someone like Angela.

  The shield floated to the side, revealing that, where Angela once stood, there was now a figure covered head to toe in golden armor, positioned in the same stance Angela had been moments before. Golden weapons began manifesting around the figure, each floating in the air well within reach, and each giving off a soft glow from the entire surface. Swords, flails, maces, polearms, daggers, all popping into the air, and then appearing to wait.

  “You almost got me before I armored up,” Angela said, her voice echoing from the armor’s helm.

  “Still too slow, unfortunately,” Chad replied, his eyes steady as he surveyed the entire field.

  “Don’t worry, I know just the exercise to sharpen your speed.”

  At those words, a short sword sliced into the ground where Chad’s foot had been an instant before, a golden trail following its nearly imperceptible movement. Only Chad’s exceptional reactions and speed had allowed him to dodge the attack, and even then, he had no time to revel in the victory. Next was a mace coming for his head, then another sword going after his arm. Internally, he knocked up his perception speed another notch. The remainder of the weapons were already flying at him as Angela began her full attack in earnest.

  * * *

  “What the hell is that?” Violet wondered, face now actually pressed to the glass, instead of just hovering near it as she watched Chad move with mercury’s grace around the barrage of golden weaponry doing its damndest to tear him apart. “Does she produce internal energy like you, Thomas?”

  “It seems similar,” Thomas agreed. “But my energy must remain connected to me. Hers seems to function independently.”

  “That’s because it isn’t just energy,” said a new voice, stepping into their little group. Shane DeSoto looked down at his sister and best friend’s battle with a somewhat unsettling smile. “My sister can create what she refers to as Sunlight Steel, though the name is a misnomer. She can condense any light into physical objects, ones of incredible strength and durability. And, as if that weren’t enough, she can also control their movements. Her limit used to be moving three at a time, but as you can see, her time at Lander has definitely improved her skills.”

  “That’s incredible,” whispered Alex, eyes transfixed by the glowing spectacle of a battle before him. “Although, I think I’ve seen something like it before.”

  “Almost seems unfair,” Will noted. “An ability with such tremendous versatility, presenting a powerful defense and offense, leaves very few openings. I don’t see any way for Chad to overcome these obstacles.”

  Shane opened his mouth to correct Will’s observation, but someone else beat him to it.

  “Don’t underestimate Chad,” Vince said. “He’s a lot stronger than you think. We never see his full power, because he doesn’t try to flaunt it or intimidate us with it. I think, pretty soon, this fight will be a lot less one-sided.”

  * * *

  It had taken a few moments longer than it probably needed to, but Chad was a man of precision. This was not, as some might conjecture, a byproduct of his ability. His precision was, in fact, a necessary trait he’d needed to develop in order to use his ability. Other people could make errors here and there, be inexact when using their powers, and the consequences were minimal. His power was his body, and that meant anything he did wrong would physically impact him immediately. It could be fixed, of course; however, battle didn’t always provide time for such readjustments. Better to do it once and right, which was why he’d kept jumping through Angela’s attack even after he’d figured out her general pattern.

  She was skilled enough to vary her attacks in general, but no one could mentally keep track of so many objects without falling into some semblance of a pattern. Chad knew that he would have a span of about three seconds in which to act after the next polearm spun toward his torso. When the blade affixed to a long shaft sank into the wall where he’d been standing seconds ago, Chad seized the opportunity. He’d practiced this technique in secret many times since his first bout with Angela, focusing on speed as well as precision. Even with his skill and practice, he still barely completed the augmentation in time to dodge the next dagger coming for him. But he didn’t dodge, even though he had the time.

  Instead, he blocked, and the attack halted as Angela took in his new form.

  “How’d you pull that off?” Angela asked from across the room.

  “I eat a tremendous amount of minerals and supplements daily, so much so that it would be toxic if I let them interact with my organs. It is a pain, but the ups
ide is that it means I have enough raw materials to do remodeling, when called for,” Chad replied. His speech was slightly garbled, due to the protrusions of bone wrapped around his cheek.

  All along his body, an armor of his own had sprouted. Unlike Angela’s, it did not cover him fully; however, it did run along each limb, and it covered much of his head, neck, and torso. It was white as bone, because that was exactly what it was: an armor of bones that had grown out from his skin in seconds, sprouting from countless holes so that it was sectioned enough to allow for his usual graceful movement. On his left forearm, a golden dagger was wedged less than half an inch deep into the boneguard he’d blocked it with.

  “Tough as my skin and muscles are, your weaponry can still pierce them. Bones allow for much greater concentrations of carbon, though. They won’t cut so easily.”

  “You’ve gotten better,” Angela complimented.

  “Just wait.” Chad drew back his foot, the concrete scraping away as the armor on his sole tore across it, and prepared for his counterattack.

  39.

  Flecks of concrete showered the nearby wall as Chad vaulted forward, the force of his push-off and the sharpness of his new armor combining to tear deep grooves in the floor. He’d gotten no more than a few steps before Angela’s assault renewed, golden weapons arcing toward him from every conceivable angle. They slowed his charge, but they were nowhere near strong enough to halt it. When it had just been a game of evasion, Chad had been forced to follow the flow of the battle. Now, things were different. Now, he didn’t just have to leap out of the way, he also had the option to block. That made a world of difference.

  Weapons were sent careening as he continued his charge, casualties of the powerful blows he delivered from his armored appendages. True, the weaponry was still powerful enough to nick even his ultra-resilient bones; however, he was able to patch those minor scratches as he moved. He reached his opponent in a matter of seconds, taking just long enough for her to direct the seven-foot tall shield into his path.

  This time, there was no fancy jumping maneuver to redirect his momentum. Instead, he used it as extra force behind a bone-covered punch, meeting the shield with an audible crunch and sending it flying into a nearby wall. Before he could move closer to his opponent, another shield appeared in front of him. Chad readied another blow; however, the shield surprised him by surging forward and striking his chest. It wouldn’t have been enough to topple him, except some unseen object struck him in the back of his knees. The combined forces overcame even his exceptional balance and sent him to the floor with an audible thud. Chad rolled as soon as he struck, the sharp edges of his armor leaving long gouges in the concrete. Within moments, he was back on his feet and surveying the scene.

  The object that had taken him in the knees was another shield, this one sized small enough that a person might actually be able to wield it. The two tower-sized ones were flanking Angela on either side, while the smaller one hovered directly in front of her. He needed to break through them before he’d have a shot at taking her on.

  An unsettling crunching sound filled the air as the bones of Chad’s armor shifted. The edges grew sharper; protrusions jutted out from his knees, knuckles, feet, and shoulders. Each one was conical, shrinking into points so sharp it was hard to tell where they actually ended. From his forearms came long, curved bone blades, each roughly the length and shape of a wakizashi. Their edges looked as though they could cut through the very light of the sun. Which was, in an odd way, not too far off from what Chad was planning on trying.

  He met the first shield with a raised knee, sinking its sharp protrusion into the golden surface and using it for leverage to steady himself. In an instant, he twisted his torso and arm, bringing the bone blade around and slicing through the light construct with an audible grunt of effort. Strong as Angela’s creations were, Chad was stronger. The two shield halves made a tinkling noise as they clattered to the ground, then vanished in a soft white glow. He immediately jumped left as his feet touched the ground, dodging the blow from the second shield. This left the item tilted downward and directly in front of him. Chad cleaved the second tower shield in two with far less effort than the first. He had readied himself to finally engage his target when a large object crashed into his side, sending him sprawling to the ground.

  It was a tower shield. As Chad pulled himself from the floor, he watched another replacement form next to Angela. The ricocheted weapons had finally been recovered as well, circling her head like golden vultures, waiting to tear him apart when next he was vulnerable.

  “As monstrously powerful as you are, there are two flaws in your fighting tactics,” said Angela’s voice from the glowing armor. “And right now, one of them is all too clear. You lack the ability to fight at a range.”

  Chad smiled, a wicked expression due to the segments of bones jutting out from his face. He’d been wondering if it would come to this, and not only had it, but she’d been so kind as to offer him a perfect lead-in. He’d have to be careful: this technique still gave him some trouble, and it was incredibly dangerous. For the first time in years, Chad felt the rush of true battle surge through him, a feeling he in no way allowed his emotional control to dampen. This was what it meant to fight, to grow, to learn, to push oneself, and to risk it all. This was what no classroom would ever be able to duplicate.

  A segment of skin opened on each of his forearms, areas the bone armor had purposely left uncovered. Beneath the open skin, blood flowed over muscle, clear as day to anyone looking through the holes. Then, the blood began to deviate, flowing upward and then down again, as if an invisible hill had manifested in the muscle. This magical hill grew upward, thinning out as the blood was pushed outward, and then pulled back in until it appeared that a long, red tendril was stretching out of each of Chad’s arms.

  “I only saw a video of my father doing this once,” Chad said, his voice haggard as his concentration focused on maintaining the flow. “He didn’t develop the technique until a year before his death, so it took me a long time to put it together.”

  “Really creepy blood flow?” Though her words were flippant, the tone of Angela’s voice made it clear that she was definitely not feeling certain in what to expect.

  “Not at all. Did you know that with my power, I don’t actually need my heart to beat? I can just will the blood along, moving it at whatever speed suits me best. That means the speed is entirely at my discretion, and lucky me, I have enough spare resources to rapidly create extra blood on the fly. One last thing: are you familiar with the concept of a water saw?”

  It was all about visualizing points, Chad had realized. When the blood hit the air, it immediately accelerated, firing across its course in a fraction of the time it should take. Equally important, however, was the rerouting point on the other end of the arm, turning the blood back around in a loop vein he’d just constructed so it wouldn’t interfere with his normal circulation. A joint vein just before the opening ensured he could add more blood as needed, lengthening the tendril on command. Of course, it was still ridiculously dangerous for anyone, even him, to attempt. That was why he’d decided only to use it on a worthwhile opponent.

  40.

  The first tendril arced forward, a curiously soothing hum emanating from the impossibly fast speed of the blood. It was met by several weapons, all of which were sliced in half as soon as they made contact. The cleanly-cut pieces fell to the ground, some dissipating before they even made landfall.

  The second tendril was slightly slower in its approach and was met by one of the tower shields. Unlike the weapons, this golden defense didn’t cleave instantly; however, it only took a few seconds of contact before the blood-saw shredded through it, and a pair of uneven shield halves fell to the ground.

  A surprise attack like that might have overcome a lesser opponent, but Angela was not at the top of her class because she was easily rattled. The armored figure backed away quickly, placing the second shield between herself and the nearest
tendril, then directing the entirety of her armory at Chad. For a moment, Chad pressed his attack, striking at the shield clutched in her armored hands. A surge of effort tore a deep groove in the golden surface and knocked both the shield and its bearer to the ground. Always a warrior, Angela fell with the shield on top of her to provide one last bulwark of defense. At that point, however, her own offense was able to turn Chad’s focus onto keeping himself safe. With his blood-saws out, he was unable to move, so he was forced to use them as defense, chopping up the weapons before they could land blows on him. True, his bone armor offered him some defense, but the need to move freely had forced him to leave much of his body uncovered.

  By the time he’d destroyed enough of the attacking weapons to refocus, the golden-armored warrior had emerged. Rather than picking up the battered shield, Angela summoned ten more, each tower sized, then grabbed the smaller one with her left gauntlet. A golden sword appeared and deposited itself in her right hand. There was no more witty banter; it was clear that now was the moment these fighters would finally clash. Both knew there was likely to be only one such confrontation.

  Angela charged, the ten tower shields circling her in various directions as she ran. Chad responded quickly, lengthening the blood-tendrils so he could strike several shields at once. The blows rang out, and the song of blood slicing through constructed light filled the room. He was fast, he was focused, and he was good, but as Angela neared striking distance, she still had two tower shields remaining. His options were limited: he could try to take out the shields, but Angela would definitely close the gap, and he was far more vulnerable when using this skill. He could drop the tendrils, but then the encounter would play out like his first try, only this time, Angela would be waiting with her blade when he went down.