Jesus guffaws, genuinely amused by Dan’s statement. “Dan. Bro. Come on. You are number 64. You don’t stand a chance. Just take the licks quietly and let’s put this behind us.”
“Fuck dat shit. Y’all gonna stop thinkin’ me a fool.”
Jesus sighs, brimming with confidence. “You should have stayed in the desert then. I fucking hate using sand.”
The time between the trembling of the earth and the emergence of the stone from the ground had practically vanished as Dan took heavy blows from Jesus’ opening attack. From the look on his face, it was clear Jesus saw the exchange as little more than child’s play. Despite being caught off guard, Dan had always been good at taking a hit, and the paper armor under his clothing was exceptional at absorbing shock.
Regaining his footing, Dan now understood he had much less time to react to the eruptions from the ground. He was still caught by one occasionally, but it had become so infrequent, Jesus became visibly frustrated. Terrakinesis was easily the worst elemental skill when it came to agile opponents. Its speed and versatility were sacrificed for how incredibly robust its defensive capabilities were. Finding his attacks losing efficacy by the second, he changed tactics.
If Dan’s movement was a problem, though if it was not even close to some of the tougher opponents he had faced, he would just have to disable it. Dan’s feet sunk into the ground, and before he knew it, he found himself trapped. Smirking at how easy it had been to trap Dan, Jesus impaled his feet with dozens of spikes to seal the deal, but was confused when Dan seemed unaffected by the pain.
Quickly fumbling with his shoes, Dan manages to scramble out of them, leaving them stuck in the dirt. With a quick response, Jesus moved to lock Dan down again, but could not believe his eyes when Dan shot into the air. He knew that Dan had no physical enhancements outside of his resilience, so there was no reason he should be able to jump so high. It was when Dan did not return to the ground that he realized his mistake.
Being held aloft by a fierce looking bird made of paper, Dan hovered a few meters from the ground, well out of Jesus’s reach. “When the fuck did you learn to fly?!”
Dan smiles smugly back at Jesus. “We cain’t stay shit foreva can we?”
Dan swooped around with the bird as his vehicle, his movements jerky at times, but still more than enough to give him the advantage. Though it was not his preferred method of fighting, Jesus ripped numerous stones and mounds of earth from the ground, hurtling them at Dan. He knew there were people with the ability of Flight, but they were not exactly common, and none existed at the school. As such, his practice with airborne opponents was nonexistent.
He found controlling particles of earth along the vertical axis that exceeded his own height became exponentially more difficult every couple of inches. With Dan so high above him, his accuracy had become horrendous. Taking a moment to think carefully about the situation, he realized that Dan was extremely passive given someone with such an extreme range advantage. It then occurred to him that either Dan was not the best at long range combat himself, or it was taking everything he had to keep the bird holding him in flight.
Thankful that he had been keeping up with his firearms training and brought a pistol along, Jesus took out his gun and began firing. His shots missed Dan, but managed to hit the bird. He was unclear about the effect as some shots caused paper to shake loose from the bird, while others caused the bullets to ricochet. In a last ditch effort to lure Dan in, Jesus turned to run away.
Recognizing his opportunity, Dan took off after Jesus, what looked to be a jousting spear formulating in his hand. His preparations ready, in a hard stop, Jesus did a quick about face and he waited for Dan to reach the attack zone. Thrusting with the long spear, Dan begins celebrating his victory, only to have it stopped by a slab of rock preventing him from hitting his mark. The range on the javelin was deceptive, leaving Dan slightly outside of the zone of Jesus’ trap. As Jesus worked on shifting the area of his trap, the large construct began to spin like a drill, penetrating the defensive slab.
With no time left, Jesus reinforced the slab as the countless spires sprouted behind Dan to crush him. His reflexes lacking, Dan was caught and immediately felt the immense pressure of the oppressive earth. The drilling stopped, signaling eminent victory for Jesus. Holding the slab steady while attacking Dan had proved a taxing feat, but with the drilling stopped, he could pour more energy into finishing the fight.
As the spires threatened to squeeze Dan to death, the spear burst into pieces, catching Jesus off guard as the individual sheets of paper viciously assaulted him. One attack caught him in the neck, slicing him deep, causing him to lose control of everything under his influence. As he staggered to the ground, clutching his neck, Dan was released from his prison, falling to the ground with a thump. Able to breathe once again, he realized his final attack did much more damage than he had realized, but Jesus had done an admirable job holding out.
A portal nearby opened with sour faced woman and a man emerging.
“Finally! Something fucking normal. Jake, take care of this guy quick before he bleeds out.”
A ravaged Dan looked at the man with puppy eyes. “What about me?”
“Are you forfeiting the rest of the Melee?”
Dan looked at the man in confusion. “No. Why?”
“Because we can’t assist you if you are continuing. Don’t you know the rules?”
Dan slumps face forward into the dirt as his aching body pulsed. “Maaaann…”
As he stabilizes, Jesus can be heard weakly moaning in despair. “Fuck my life… How did I end up losing to you? Now Stef will never want to go out with me.”
Dan scrambles over to Jesus’s side with noticeable effort. “Dat’s what ya ass get for talkin’ all dat shit. You tryin’ go afta Stef?”
“Who wouldn’t be going after her. She is gorgeous, and like a fucking popstar. You are stupid if you are not going after her.”
“I got a girlfriend though…”
“I’m pretty sure you are the girlfriend in that relationship dude.”
Dan squints angrily at Jesus as he stands in defiance despite the pain. “Now I for real ain’t buyin’ yo ass no beer.”
Jesus can only manage a weak chuckle as he continues his treatment. Dan collects his usable paper and begins slowly lumbering from the scene. The longer he walked, the better he felt, which he thought might only be due to him becoming used to the pain. He thought about his last encounter with a Terrakinetic in a Melee and how it was clear there was a large gap in their abilities.
Outside of the more common Titans and Juggernauts, it was rare to have many opportunities to fight again opponents with the same abilities, but different skill levels. Dan took note of the experience and made a promise to find ways to expand his exposure to such things. His pace slightly quickening, he made for what he hoped would be the path to the City.
◆◆◆
At this point, the words of Orion seemed to have a much greater truth to them than Maggie initially imagined. Never had she thought she would be yearning for someone to fight. Part of her felt it was due to the additional pain she would never get to inflict upon Corey Tott. Though she had won against him in the previous Melee, she had been training with every fiber of her being so that their next encounter she could decisively end it with ease in the most humiliating way possible. Thanks to Anaar and his ever-growing host of surprises, he managed to castrate a person with Invulnerability, causing irreparable damage not only physically, but emotionally.
Few people knew the true story of what happened to Corey, and why he chose to drop out of Sophangence the moment he was released from the hospital. There were rumors that he could not handle being completely trounced twice in a row, but Maggie knew better. Even without this information, the reputation of her and Anaar’s relationship was so threatening, people really were going out of their way to avoid her. With no sensory abilities like Anaar, she was relegated to searching in a manner than was showcasing its
futility.
She had begun to move as stealthily as possible, not because she was afraid of ambush, but instead because she figured it would increase her chances of encountering someone before they ran away. She remembered the embarrassment she felt in her previous Melee due to the extremely tight bodysuit she wore that left little to the imagination. She was shocked to find just how much noise her normal clothes made when she was trying to move quietly. More comfortable with her body now, she made a note to seriously reconsider it for her next Melee.
To her delight, the painstaking crawl in which she was moving in order to reduce detection had paid off. She came across a group of people, four in total, who seemed to not be antagonistic toward one another. In fact, it appeared they were having some sort of strategy meeting. At first she found a group of four people absurd and counterintuitive to what the Melee was trying to accomplish, but then she realized that if she were able to meet up with her friends, they would also be a group of four.
Placing her thoughts about whether or not such a large group was appropriate out of her head, she began to create her own strategy. Something about such a large group both frightened and excited her. Had it been a year ago, she would have likely chosen to not engage them, fearing that their numbers would easily overpower her. Now with her increased skillset, she believed she might have the tools for success.
Thinking back on what Anaar had been teaching her, she had lost some confidence in the power of her fan, simply because she realized just how little control she truly had. In a team setting, a gust alone would be more than enough to engage them, as she would have teammates to take advantage of their stunned state. Since she was alone, she had to account for keeping enough of them incapacitated while she took out the others.
The only tool she had in her kit that fit the bill with some degree of certainty was the localized tornados she could make. Something occurred to her however that she never had to consider. During her practice and combat use, she was always in an open area. The swampy mire she currently occupied was not as dense as the Forest zone, but still filled with more obstacles than which she was accustomed. This gave her doubts as to her ability to properly utilize the skill under such conditions.
Unfortunately for her, the window of opportunity to flee had passed. With their strategy session over, it seemed one of the women picked up her presence. She was not sure how it was possible, but there was nothing left to prevent a fight. She ripped the fan from her back, heaving it in two broad strokes. To her delight, the cyclonic disaster came to life and did exactly what it was supposed to do. The bodies of the four people spun around, the screams abounding as they were powerless to escape its wrath. Taking their chance while she was occupied, the real cause of detection rushed Maggie.
Dodging within a hair’s breadth, Maggie tumbled off balance, placing a small amount of distance between herself and the woman before her. She held two curved knives in a crouched stance that indicated she knew how to use them. In a flurry of quick strikes, the woman pressured Maggie until her back was against one of the larger trees in the area. Maggie found her footing precarious, which made her gamble on the woman’s balance to be as poor as hers due to the terrain.
The whipping winds behind them made it even more difficult to move about properly, but it was that difficulty which gave Maggie her idea. She waited for the woman to charge her once more, kicking off the tree behind her with all her might. Soaring through the air, she turned her body as she shot past the woman, her hammer emerging from her back. Even though she lacked the leverage of being planted firmly on the ground and the extended handle, she was able to successfully launch the woman toward the weakening, but still churning cyclone.
Being airborne, the woman had no means by which to extricate herself from the ravenous grasp of the storm system, it sucking her into the jumble of other bodies. Maggie rose from the muck, unhappy with how disgusting she had become, but immediately aware of another problem. Even though the storm was waning in intensity, it did not appear to be stopping any time soon, and she was unsure what she could do to finish off her opponents.
Once again it became clear just how many weaknesses her fighting style had when she was alone. Unsure of their state of being whilst inside the tornado, Maggie became worried that she would not be credited for defeating them if they were able to recover once the storm died down. Her concerns were soon answered when a large response team appeared though a portal behind her. A tall man greeted her with an odd expression on his face as he jabbed a thumb in the direction of group of other students.
“Don’t you think they have had enough?”
Maggie looks at the man with curiosity. “What do you mean?”
“They have been knocking against each other for about three minutes now. Only one is still conscious. Don’t you think it is time to take them out of the spin cycle?”
Maggie looks at the response crew with utter embarrassment as they peer at her expectantly. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Not for them, but for you! I would love to help you, but… I don’t know how to stop that. I think you will just have to wait.”
“What kind of Aerokinetic can make a tornado, but can’t stop one. Isn’t stopping stuff the first thing you learn to do?”
Maggie’s eyes bulge in shock. “Is it?! I’ll have to ask about that then… It may be, but I’m not an Aerokinetic.”
The man’s face becomes clearly disturbed by Maggie’s response. “What?! Then how did you…? Nevermind. I swear you kids get more irresponsible every year. Are you positive there is nothing you can do to stop that?”
“Utterly.”
The man sighs as he looks back to the collective groans of the response team. Looking back at one of the Medics, “Find out if there are any Aerokinetics available. If not, see if we can get a Telekinetic that can pull them from that clusterfuck. If not, we might be here for a while.”
Maggie awkwardly waves to the man after she stores her weapons. “Can I like… go?”
Turning to face her angrily, “Can you do something to fix this?!”
“Umm… I don’t think so. Oh! Maybe I can blow them out of the storm with another gust!”
The man massages his temples irritably. “Just go…”
Maggie prepares to leave, but then turns back to the man. “I get points for taking them down, right?”
“That is what you are seriously worried about right now?!”
“Well of course. That’s like five people, and we are just past the halfway mark. That would be a huge loss and waste if I didn’t.”
“I don’t have an answer to that!” the man barks, causing Maggie to jump slightly and turn to take her leave.
“Fine… but if I don’t get my points, I’m making an official appeal or something.”
The man looks at the departing woman in disbelief as she makes sure to steer clear of the disaster she created. After finally finding people to fight, she was happy it went well, though it left her with much to think about concerning the gaps in her abilities. A win was a win however, so the primary concern on her mind was whether or not she would properly get her credit for defeating those opponents. She searched her Vizer to see if she could find any sort of literature that would serve as a rulebook for the Melee, but found it was not available. With a sigh, she decided to forego her stealthy travel, instead moving away from the area as quickly as possible.
16
The tension felt during the Melee was such an excruciating experience. Trying to remain calm whilst contending with the threat of eminent attack around every corner was debilitating. This was only compounded when the stakes of the Melee were added into the equation. The Melee was by far the heaviest weight in determining the Class Ranking.
Class Ranking set the standard for a person’s status and prestige on campus. Freshmen were able to start their time at Sophangence unfettered by the chains of their ranking. This was perhaps why there was far more comingling before the Freshman Melee than after. Once the rankings had been det
ermined, past friendships became harder and harder to continue if there were great disparities in the rankings amongst friends.
As she continued her trek, Stefani began to wonder why Anaar and Maggie had not abandoned her and Dan. It was clear the two of them had been working together from the start, and as such, both made it to the end. She and Dan were left to fend for themselves. There was a possibility that Maggie would have still kept Dan simply because they had the same mentor, but as she saw the realities of what had to be done to obtain a good ranking, she could not understand what was seen in her that was enough to keep her around.
Between her pondering and the relative calm she had been afforded since her meeting with Zenia, Stefani had grown lax in scanning of the area. She would pay dearly for her lack of vigilance as she took a bullet to the leg from a distance in which she could not hear the shot. As she fell to the ground, she managed to keep her wits about her, scrambling behind a tree for cover.
She drew her gun, but her trembling hands were making it difficult to be of any use. She had been shot many times before, something she was not boastful about, but did afford her a familiarity with sensation. In her case, she was extremely lucky the bullet was so powerful that it completely passed through her leg. If it had been lodged inside her, it would have been impossible to heal it with her powers without removing it first. It would take much longer to heal, but as long as she could stall the situation, she had an advantage her unknown assailant may not be aware.
Her mind was a jumble as she was trying to decide whether to return fire, or wait patiently for the shooter to expose themselves. Though firing would give away her location, it was a risk worth taking. If the shooter had a vantage point in which they could get a clean shot on her from the beginning, it stood to reason they were aware of where she had taken refuge. She was the one with the massive disadvantage in the situation. Returning fire might be enough to cause a reflex that would expose their position.
Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4) Page 27