by Hayes, Drew
Unfortunately, Conrad was apparently doing more than just hanging around up there. The surface of the pit had sealed completely shut before Chad could reach it, not that he planned on letting such an inconvenience slow him down. With a powerful punch, Chad fractured the stone ceiling, only to watch in horror as the cracks instantly repaired themselves. Conrad had some kind of rock-manipulation ability, it was the only thing that explained this, and he was healing the pit as Chad damaged it. A good idea, true, but it assumed Chad couldn’t break through in one blow. That was a mistake. Rearing back, Chad allowed a set of bone spikes to form at the end of his knuckles and threw a punch he’d have never risked on a human.
It worked, in that his arm tore through the ceiling, revealing the light of the cell once more. It was substantially less successful in the sense that no sooner had Chad punched through than the rest of the ceiling reformed around his arm, locking him in place. Although he wouldn’t have heard it with normal ears, Chad could just make out Conrad saying two words as the ceiling sealed around his arm.
“Caught you.”
All around Chad, the walls closed in, encasing his whole body. Bone blades were pushed further and he struggled against the shifting stone, but with his arm momentarily caught and the attack coming from all sides, it was impossible to pull away or dodge properly. It only took seconds for Chad to become almost entirely encased, the lone exception being his head, which began to see light once more. He was rising, the very ground that had trapped him pushing him to the surface, only now with his entire body encased and a large slab directly in front of his face, blocking his sight.
“You’ll have to forgive the face-plate. It’s probably overkill, but after hearing a rumor that you were the top of Lander’s class, I can’t risk you revealing some sort of eye-blast or spitting technique. I’m never one to take pointless chances. That’s how I’ve stayed at the top of Sizemore all these years.”
Chad strained with all he had, pushing his muscles to the limit. Flecks of rock fell away as he cracked his tomb, but the progress was healed within seconds. He needed to break through all of it at once if he wanted his freedom. The problem was, Chad was starting to wonder if he had enough pure strength to pull it off. Roy could have done it, without a doubt, but his raw power was much higher. Still, Chad had faith in his body. He’d spent a lifetime working on and fine-tuning it; if he put everything he had into an escape effort, he was sure he could burst free.
More struggling, more reforming cracks that instantly sealed, yet Chad didn’t despair. He felt like he was making progress, getting better and cracking through, just a little more strength in the right places and-
“Three minutes have elapsed, and Chad Taylor remains bound. That means Conrad Booker of Sizemore has won this match!”
Even as Victor’s words rang out, Chad continued to fight. That couldn’t be real. There was… there had to still be time. It was only the second match of Intramurals, it was impossible that he was already out. The faceplate fell away revealing Conrad still standing in the same place he had at the start of the match, not so much as a single step taken.
“I know from experience that guys like you hate losing to traps, but take it as a sign of respect. Your reputation is something fierce, so I didn’t want to deal with you in close range.” Conrad seemed to notice that Chad was still fighting to get free, and slowly took a step away. “Don’t take this poorly, but I think I’ll have that break apart once I’m out of the cell. You look like you need a minute.”
With that, Conrad turned and walked away. Chad paid him little attention, fighting to get free until he finally felt the stone tomb crumble and give way. Once he was out, he took two giant steps forward, shaking off the dust and rubble. There was nothing to do, though. No one to fight. Much as he hadn’t wanted to accept it, the match was already done.
His fists balled up so tightly that his fingers were turning white; Chad lowered his head and walked toward the exit. There was nothing else for him to do here.
270.
Shane was expecting to walk out to a round of congratulations and pats on the back for his victory, maybe a double celebration if Chad had already secured another victory for Lander. But the minute he stepped into the viewing room after his post-match exam, Shane knew something was wrong. Sizemore was cheering, a generous clue if ever there was one, and Vince, the only competing Lander student who had spare time to watch the match, was pale. Nick stood nearby, close enough to hear but still giving them space to talk.
Vince turned to Shane, blue eyes wide in visible shock. “Chad… lost.”
It was aggravating, disappointing, and worrying news, but it wasn’t quite the same blow to Shane as it clearly had been to Vince. While Chad seemed an insurmountable obstacle to them, Shane had more perspective on the Hero world than most. He understood that there were gaps in power that skill couldn’t overcome, and while Chad had done incredibly well at Lander, it didn’t mean there weren’t Supers out there who would be able to best him. Chad losing had always been a very real risk for Shane, and while he was disappointed they wouldn’t be able to have a match, Shane’s first concerns were for his friend and his school.
“Was he hurt?”
“No.” Vince shook his head slowly, like the motion took concentrated effort. “There wasn’t a single punch thrown. Conrad, the guy from Sizemore, apparently has some sort of ground-powers. He made the floor open up into a pit when Chad was in mid-step, sending him tumbling in, and when Chad came out he was wrapped in rock. He fought as hard as he could to get free, to the very end, but it wasn’t enough.”
“That makes sense,” Shane said.
“It does?”
Shane stepped closer, ensuring their conversation would stay as private as possible. “It does. Environmental powers are extremely hard for most physically-based Supers to deal with. I’m sure Chad has some ideas for how to fight with Alice since he’s seen her fight often enough, but a totally new power would be tough for him to overcome, especially if he was taken by surprise. The bigger issue is what this means about Conrad. We both watched his first fight, we saw him shrug off damage and throw a hell of a jab. So, for him to have both strongman-level endurance and the power to manipulate rock, what does that make the most likely explanation of his power?”
For a minute, he thought Vince wouldn’t get it, but apparently years under their Close Combat instructor was enough for him to connect the dots. “He’s like Professor Fletcher, isn’t he? Only with rocks instead of electricity.”
“Thus far we only know he can control and take on characteristics of his element, full-transformation has yet to be confirmed. But even if it’s only as much as we’ve seen, that’s still plenty.” Shane looked over to the Sizemore crew, who were eagerly awaiting the return of their conquering warrior. “Round two is when people start pulling out the real tricks, it seems, and I doubt this is going to be the only one. Watch everything from here as carefully as you can, Vince. Victory will hinge on it.”
* * *
After Professor Pendleton spoke, his own words hesitant as if he was waiting for someone over the communicator to correct him, the gym fell silent. They’d all known this was possible, in the backs of their minds. Every one of them had understood that the other schools would be sending in their best students, some of whom might be able to defeat even someone as tough as Chad. But knowing it could happen and believing it were two very different things.
In the end, it was Hershel who broke the stunned quiet. Rising from his seat, he walked to an empty spot on the floor and began to do push-ups. The keen-eyed noticed from the chalk board that Hershel didn’t have any wagers riding on this match, but it was Violet herself who called him out on it.
“What are you doing? You didn’t bet anything on Chad’s fight.”
“I know. That’s not what this is about,” Hershel replied.
Violet nodded. “I get it. Feeling frustrated and you want to burn off some excess energy.”
The pus
h-ups paused, momentarily, as Hershel looked over to her, making sure he caught the eyes of others along the way. “No. I’m training. We just heard that Chad, our Chad, lost a match in the second round. That scares me on a lot of levels. It’s a reminder of how many powerful people are out there waiting for us. That any of us can fall short. More than anything, though, we know Chad pretty well by now. This is going to knock him for a loop, no question, but what do you think he’ll do once he’s recovered?”
It was Thomas who answered this one, even as he was lowering his body to the ground and assuming the push-up position. “He’ll train until his bones crack, then heal them and keep going.”
“Exactly. It took Roy and me this long to catch up to Chad, we’re not letting him get ahead of us again.” Done speaking, Hershel resumed his exercise.
Within five minutes, almost the entire class had joined him.
* * *
Chad was taking his time getting to the healers, hands only now finally relaxing. He didn’t need any healing, and they would know it. There hadn’t been a single injury, so much as a scratch on either student. Losing was bad, but knowing he’d gone down without putting up a real fight made it all the worse.
“Where are you going?”
Chad turned, unsurprised to find Dean Blaine standing in the hall. “To the healers.”
“They’ve been made aware that you need a few minutes to compose yourself. Don’t worry, you’re not the first. Come on.” Without waiting, Dean Blaine headed down another hall, expecting Chad to follow. To his credit, Dean Blaine was right, as Chad fell in line behind him without objection. They traveled a short way, until Dean Blaine opened the door to a small room, designed like a combat cell yet only a quarter of the size.
“Am I about to get a lecture?” Chad asked, only half joking. Lander was a school, first and foremost, and there was sure to be a lot to learn from his defeat.
“If you need one, but we’ll see about that when the moment comes.” Dean Blaine shut the door firmly, making sure it stuck. “The real reason I brought you here in that I thought you might want some privacy, and some walls you could hit without getting in trouble.”
Looking over the room again, Chad did notice that there was a bit of damage distributed throughout, probably from others who’d lost their early fights. “I’m fine. You know that.”
“I know that you are controlling your emotions and making yourself seem fine, for the sake of the school and your friends who are out there still fighting. But I’ve also been here, you know. I understand what it’s like to lose on the big stage of Intramurals. And I know you need to feel this, Chad. It’s going to be unpleasant, and painful, and you’ll hate me for making you. But in the end this needs to happen. Moments like this are part of your education too. Our losses define us as much as our victories, and if you don’t fully feel yours then you are robbing yourself of important self-reflection.”
Tentatively, Chad slightly released his grip on his brain’s chemistry, allowing more variance in mood and emotion. Almost immediately he was overcome. The feeling was so raw it had nearly broken through on its own; when given a path it surged forward. Chad forced it back, retaking control of his brain and shaking his head. “I don’t think there’s anything good there.”
“Not now, no. One day, there will be, though. One day, you can look back on this as a time where your resolve was tested; where you tasted real failure and either choked on it, or came out the other side stronger. Defeat is part of the job too, Chad. You won’t win every engagement. You won’t save every person. There are losses ahead of you that will hurt much worse than this one. You owe it to yourself to fight through this one now, otherwise the ones ahead will be all the harder. Eventually you’ll slip, let your guard down for a moment, and all of that pain will come bursting forth and drown you. I’m here if you need to talk, and the wall is there if you need to punch. Cope however you like, just make sure you actually deal with what happened.”
“Don’t the others need you?” Chad asked.
Dean Blaine shook his head. “Deans can’t give advice or assistance; we aren’t here to help on the battlefield. We come to Intramurals for moments exactly like this one. And even if that weren’t the case, I would still be in this room. While I can’t show favoritism as the dean of Lander, you know I will always be here for you in one capacity or another.”
It was true. Dean Blaine had been there back even when Chad just knew him as Blaine, the friend of the family. Blaine had educated Chad, taught him, trained him, made sure he was getting the most out of his abilities at all times. There weren’t many people Chad trusted completely, but if Blaine said this was necessary, then there was no reason to doubt him. The only thing holding Chad back was fear, and the moment he realized that, it was no longer a tolerable obstacle. Steeling himself as best he could, Chad let his control fall away and emotions wash over him.
As it turned out, he went with punching the wall first, although talking would follow soon enough.
271.
Not a field this time, which was a good first sign. Instead Alice walked into an urban environment, different from where Vince had fought but not by much. The layout had shifted, the buildings distinct and varied. She was still in a city, though, and once more with a ceiling that couldn’t quite be seen from the ground. Ideally she’d be able to keep up the ruse of telekinesis, but Alice was prepared to play her full hand in this fight if needed. Presumably, Chad had already won his match, meaning he would be her opponent in the semi-finals, and Chad already knew what she could really do. There was an outside chance Chad had lost, though, so Alice needed to keep making the smart calls and playing it careful. However, a kept secret wasn’t worth a loss. Better to be outed as a gravity wielder than let this be her last bout.
Alice’s new enemy was in sight as Victor called for introduction, and the woman didn’t waste a second in responding. “Bette Riggs, Ranged Combat major. You can call me Barrage.”
“Alice Adair, Subtlety major. I’ll go by Legacy.”
Bette smiled, showing something dangerous in that grin. “Let’s have a good match.”
Victor’s voice crackled once more. “Students, begin!”
The smile had put Alice on guard, and that was a very good thing. Victor had barely spoken before Bette stuck out her right hand and fired off a glowing beam on a direct path for Alice’s torso. Alice leapt to the side, taking cover behind a post box as the blast of energy shattered a window into countless shards.
“Don’t worry, I can control the magnitude of these things and they’re all set to ‘stun.’ It won’t even hurt. I do have other settings, though.”
Something struck the bottom of the postbox and sent it sailing up into the sky. Was Bette… was she angling these shots? Alice was already running, narrowly dodging a follow-up bolt as she hurled herself through a doorway and hid behind a wall.
“Poor advanced minds. That telekinesis doesn’t help much against energy attacks, does it?” Bette’s voice was still in the street, not that it put Alice’s mind at ease. The woman was an excellent shot with those beams, only Alice’s readiness and reactions had saved her. Bette was defining the engagement, making Alice fight on her enemy’s terms, and that was the first thing Alice needed to change if she hoped to turn this match around.
Floating Bette up right now was too risky; she could still shoot while airborne, possibly even curving her beams to hit from other angles. Alice was going to need to get Bette distracted, if not injured, to weaken her concentration. Popping a joint would do the job, but getting line of sight on Bette long enough to create the gravity pulls might pose a problem. The minute Alice stuck her head out she’d be a target as well. Her only shot was to sneak around, and for that, Alice was going to have to start showing her real power.
Creeping along the wall, staying hidden from anyone peering through the windows, Alice quietly slipped out the back door of the shop where she’d taken cover. All that training on how to tail someone was com
ing in handy as Alice kept out of sight and stuck to the shadows, tracking Bette only by the sound of her footsteps. Silently, Alice lifted off the ground, keeping hidden behind the nearby buildings as she circled around. This would be a surprise once – at most. Afterwards, Bette would start scanning the sky as well as the streets. Alice had to take her time, make the most of the opportunity. If she was going to show her power, then she owed it to herself to make the most of it.
Finally poking her head out from behind the chimney of a brick townhome, Alice could see Bette’s back. Her enemy scanned the road, obviously aware Alice had left her initial cover position. She was expecting a sneak attack, and rightly so, just not from the correct direction.
Tempting as it was to strike fast, Alice held her position and lined up her shot. One surprise attack; she had to make it count. The arms were viable targets, since losing them would hinder Bette’s ability to shoot, but Alice had no way of knowing if Bette actually needed to fire through her arms or not. No, better to take out her legs instead. Not only would it hurt like hell, it would also cripple Bette’s mobility. All the beam-attacks in the world didn’t matter if she couldn’t follow Alice and get a clear shot.
Letting out a slow breath, Alice focused on Bette’s knees, carefully creating opposite gravity points that would be strong enough to pull everything out of socket without accidentally tearing the woman’s shins off. While it might be survivable, Alice could be disqualified for using that level of brutality on a fellow student, and she would understand the decision.
Biding her time, Alice waited until she was sure of the amount of force and Bette was standing with her knees close together. Only then did Alice strike, and Bette’s scream was a testament to the attack’s effectiveness. Bette collapsed to the ground, face twisted in pain as she looked down at her suddenly busted knees. “Fuck! Goddamnit, that hurts. Are you kidding me with this?”