by David Bruno
“Well, I told you my dad didn’t take my brother and me to church, right? But we knew many of the lessons and stories from just talking to people. One of my favorites is the story of David and Goliath. I always loved how David was able to beat the giant even though he was much smaller and weaker. He stayed calm, kept his distance, and used his skill with a sling to take down Goliath just like he did with the lion and bear. He didn’t have amplified strength like you used against Giganto. I’m not sure you noticed, but I had my sling ready to go in case he hurt you. I would have launched steel shot right between his eyes.” She grinned with pride.
“It’s nice to know you had my back. My protector. My Aegis.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you.”
Vanessa sighed. “I don’t love that my powers are purely defensive. All I have is a shield I can put out in front of me or from my arms. It would be nice to be able to even just protect myself on all sides.”
“You mean like a bubble? Maybe you can do it and just haven’t figured out how yet. Let’s finish up and go outside to train.”
Vanessa clapped her hands in excitement. “Yes!”
*****
The pair walked to a distant area away from other RVs and people, not wanting to attract any attention to their training. Benny figured he would try to teach Vanessa rudimentary defensive skills. He knew she wouldn’t be an expert—he wasn’t either. But if she could learn some skills, she might be more confident when she needed to be.
“Get one thing straight,” Benny commanded. “You will not be a black belt in a day. At best, I can share a couple skills to help you defend yourself and attack only if the situation warrants. I prefer you attack from a distance with your weapons, just like David. It’s safer for you—and far less safe for them, from what I’ve seen.” Benny patted his chest where Vanessa had previously shot him with her slingshot.
Vanessa was a bit disappointed at learning more defensive moves. She already had a significant defensive ability with her shields. But Benny was right. These skills took years to master, and she knew not to expect to be proficient in just a few days.
Benny continued. “Let’s figure out your ready stance. I noticed you’re right-handed, so I assume your right leg is dominant. Place your left leg in front with your toes pointed straight ahead. Your back foot should be at about a forty-five- to ninety-degree angle. Bend your knees slightly. Bend a little at the hips and lean forward.” Benny placed his hands on her hips to position them correctly. “Okay, good. Elbows down but slightly out from your sides. Raise your forearms about parallel to the ground and open your palms to a relaxed state. Look directly ahead at your opponent. This is your ready stance. Practice and remember it.”
“Okay. This seems complicated,” she admitted as she awkwardly assumed her stance and nearly lost her balance.
“That’s why we practice. You’ll begin with this stance. Your legs are stronger than your arms, and we’ll learn how to use them to kick. If the situation calls for it, you can throw some jabs. Be careful though. These can be blocked and may not have the leverage of other maneuvers. First, we work on defense. What’s your first defense in a real fight?”
“I guess kick him where it counts,” she blurted with a snicker.
“Wrong. That will get you killed.” Benny saw no humor in her response. He feared the Agency and wanted to instill a proper level of fear in Vanessa as well. Vanessa’s smile turned to a frown, as if she was a child being reprimanded. But she quickly realized that Benny was serious about this and about her survival.
Benny went on to explain the theory of defense suitable for her. “Listen. Don’t stand face-to-face in arm’s reach and try to trade punches. You will lose.” He stood in front of her and placed her hands on his shoulders. They stared eye to eye before Benny continued. Her doe eyes hung on his every word. “You need to back off to make space and get to a better place to attack. Figure five to six feet at least for you. Ninety-nine percent of attacks are avoidable. When you’re at a safe distance, that’s when you’ll use your slingshot. If the situation calls for it, you can get right up against your opponent like you’re hugging him. It’s hard for him to attack with any leverage with you that close. You may get hit, but it won’t be a kill shot. Close range like this may not work, though, if we have multiple attackers. In that case, get some space and shoot.”
“That makes sense,” she agreed.
“Protect your face. It’s vulnerable and way too pretty to damage. Besides, you can get knocked out.” Vanessa smirked. Aww, he’s sweet. “When you leave your stance and have to get close, raise your arms in front of your face as you move in. When you get close enough to ‘hug’ him, wrap your arms tightly just above his hips, lift as hard as you can to get him off-balance, and fold to the side to topple him on the ground. Here, like this.” Benny grabbed Vanessa around her waist, quickly and easily picked her up, and—in a gentle motion mimicking the new skill—placed her on her back on the ground, softly holding her head to protect it.
“EEEKKK!” she squealed. Her heart raced as he placed her on the ground. My God, he’s strong.
“Sorry. I can get carried away.” His skin tingled as he saw how trusting she was lying on her back. Her big, soft eyes stared at him as her long hair flowed onto the ground. Quickly regaining his composure, he continued. “Um, when he’s on his back, you mount him by sitting on his stomach. Like this. It’s hard for him to get a good hit on you like that.” Benny mimicked this position and straddled Vanessa as she was on the ground. She smells like vanilla. How can I let her put herself in danger? It should be me.
“Not a good position for a lady,” she quipped.
Oblivious that he might have overstepped his bounds, Benny dismounted and helped Vanessa to her feet. “Maybe, but it could save you. Put him on the defensive. It’s your turn now. I’m going to lie on the ground. Pretend you already knocked me down. Get on top and do what I say.”
“Bossy much?” she giggled.
“Sit on my stomach. Get low on my chest and hook your legs around mine to help keep me from rolling over and out from under you. Force your hips down.” She did as he instructed. Best training ever!
“What kind of girl do you think I am? Am I supposed to be hurting the bad guy or playing with him?” Best training ever!
“Do you want to learn or not?” Benny snapped. “Anchor your arm around my head. It’s not about body weight. You’re light and need to connect solidly to your opponent. If not, he’ll throw you off like Giganto did. If you can control your opponent in this way, you’ll control their mind as well and be able to dominate them.”
Benny easily lifted Vanessa from his stomach. They stood up again and he continued. “If you lose the dominant position and get on the bottom, your opponent will try to punch you in the head. Instead, lean up to grab him and wrap your legs around him like a tight embrace. Take one arm and wrap it around his head. Try to wrap the bad guy’s arms tightly so he can’t move them. If he frees one of his arms, you immediately swing your arm around to bind him again. Watch your opponent. If he moves an arm to punch, fill the space with a leg. Do it over and over as necessary. He will tire from this and get frustrated at not being able to land a solid hit.”
“Wrap my arm, fill my leg,” Vanessa quipped and absurdly tried to model the motions Benny had taught her.
“If he sits up to punch, pop your knees up to add distance. You may have leverage to push him away, and then you can add even more distance. If he’s down and you can do this, lock your one leg around his head, keep the other straight on the other side of his head, grab your foot and squeeze. Cut off his air and blood supply. When he’s incapacitated, you either run away or beat the tar out of him.”
“How am I supposed to remember all of this, especially in a fight?” That’s it, I’m gonna die.
“We’re going to practice. Take your stance,” he commanded. Vanessa snapped to her stance. Benny was impressed. Her form was good, very good to his eye, and she stoo
d straight on to him.
“Nice.” Benny took his stance in front of her, about six feet away.
“Okay, Vanessa. I’ll be the aggressor and try to come after you. You can back away until you can no longer maintain distance. Then approach me and grab me around my waist.”
Benny stepped toward Vanessa. She backed up with each stride. Then she darted toward Benny. Her arms were not up in front of her face, and Benny noticed. He immediately held up his right arm, grabbed her neck, and mimicked the facial beating she would get if she did this in a real fight.
“Ugh, you missed the defensive posture on the approach. Do it again,” Benny said. Vanessa breathed deeply and reset her position. She was happy to be practicing something useful.
This time, Vanessa approached with her arms in front of her face. Benny mimicked punches to her sides, but her stance protected her. A split second later, Vanessa grabbed Benny by the waist, lifted, and folded to the right. She pivoted on her leg and took Benny down flat on his back. She properly sat on his stomach and called for time.
“What? What’s wrong? You’re doing great, Vanessa.”
She leaned forward and kissed him. Pulling back, she grinned mischievously. “Okay, game on,” she said. Immediately she locked her legs around his and locked his head and right arm. Benny had little leverage with his left arm. She was a quick study.
“Nice work, girl.” Benny then fished his arm around hers, turned to the side, and rolled Vanessa onto her back. “Time!”
“What now?” she asked. Benny leaned forward to kiss her in return. After flashing a quick smile, he backed up and pretended to punch her. Vanessa freed her legs to execute a choke hold around Benny’s head. She grabbed her foot and squeezed—hard. Benny’s airway was blocked and he was unable to speak. He gagged and tapped on her thigh, hoping she would release him. She did not. Instead, Benny’s face turned red and moments later he grayed out. Vanessa was shocked at how easily he became incapacitated and released the choke hold. This was indeed a powerful tool for her to remember.
“Oh, my God. Sorry, sorry, sorry, Benny.” Vanessa couldn’t help but laugh a little. She quickly stopped herself, realizing he might not share her pleasure. “You okay?”
Benny quickly recovered as the blood once again began to properly flow to his brain. “Whoa,” he said, rubbing his neck. “I pity the guy you go up against. Let’s do that a few more times. This time, when I tap, release me.” He smiled proudly at his new protégé.
“You got it, sweetie.” Vanessa beamed back.
The pair rehearsed the skills over and over until they were exhausted. Each time, Vanessa grew more fluid in her motions. Benny varied his countermoves. Usually, he was able to work out of Vanessa’s lock. But an unskilled adversary might not be able to free himself quite as easily. Benny was proud of her.
Benny stepped back to catch his breath. “Let’s take five and come back to do some kicking. Some non-contact kicking, please. No sense in powering me up in broad daylight out in the open.”
Vanessa agreed. The pair sat down for a bit of rest and rehydration and toweled off the perspiration.
A few minutes later, Vanessa offered another suggestion. “I want to practice my slingshot a little.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Vanessa found a few scrap pallets and decomposing sheets of plywood that had been abandoned in the open field nearby. Using them, she set up a rudimentary backstop. Benny watched as she counted paces. She placed stone markers at five, ten, and twenty paces. Vanessa quietly practiced shooting steel shot from her wrist-mounted slingshot. Shot after shot, her accuracy and speed were astonishing. She then pulled five short arrows from her bag and strapped them to her leg. With unfathomable speed, she grabbed and shot the arrows from her slingshot to the backstop. To Benny, her skills seemed impossible, perhaps an extension of her other superpowers. That girl never misses. She moves so fast.
“Whadaya think, Benny?” she asked as she observed the precision and accuracy of her skills. She then turned to him. “Can I really use these fighting skills you’re teaching me to defend myself, or are they just going to give me false hope?” Over the course of the training, Vanessa’s easygoing attitude had sharpened into something more serious. She was concerned whether all of this was an exercise in futility. If she became overconfident and tried to use those skills, would she put herself at more risk than she otherwise would? Time would tell.
“What did I tell you from the start? Ninety-nine percent of fights are avoidable. If you find yourself in that one-percent situation, you need to do something. Do what I showed you and you might have a chance. Without really knowing what we’re up against, I can’t give you odds. If I were to guess, the Agency will try to overwhelm us. We’ll be going after their home base. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think there will be a lot of guards. Some or all may have superpowers. If that’s the case, try to keep your distance so you don’t need to test these skills.”
“Why should we go there if we’re just going to get killed?” I was so confident this morning. Now, I’m scared.
Benny sighed. “I’m wondering the same thing. Maybe we should just call the cops and let them take care of it.”
“If my dad’s right and what we heard is true, the government, or at least some of it, is in on it. Probably the cops too.”
“Either way, I guess it can’t hurt to train. The fate of the world seems to rest on our shoulders. No problem, right?” Benny tried to project a confident outward appearance. But his gut told a different story.
“Benny, do you think we can work on my shield? There has to be more to it than I know.” She glared at Benny. He knew she needed this. The Agency would throw everything they had at the pair. No matter how skilled she was with the slingshot, she needed more.
Benny went to Vanessa and placed his hands on her shoulders from behind. “Sure, let’s do it. Let’s try to make a bubble. I was thinking we should work on making it big enough to hold at least one other person. Me, for instance. I might need your protection someday.” He brushed her hair aside and gently nuzzled her neck.
Vanessa shut her eyes and purred. Snapping back to the task at hand, she said, “Um, yeah, that’s good. But I really want to learn how to use it offensively.”
The first test was to see if it was possible to create a bubble.
“Vanessa, think about how your shield comes on. You said it comes on at the speed of thought. What if it can come on in any manner you want at the speed of thought?”
“What’re you trying to say, that I can just will the shield to be the shape I want it to be at any time? I tried that when I was younger but it didn’t work.”
“You have me now. I’ll again act like an adversary, trying to attack you in all directions. I’ll be fast. You defend yourself. Basically, just try to keep me from slapping you.”
“Slapping me?” she asked.
“Yup. We’re going full contact now.” He had surmised that the reason she couldn’t form a bubble was because she’d never needed to. There was no motivation.
Benny began to take his stance and bobbed and weaved around Vanessa, delicately slapping her cheeks and arms. Each time, Vanessa formed a shield from her hands and forearms and tried to block him. But he was too quick. Benny then ducked and quickly moved around her back and pushed her shoulder blades. Vanessa fell forward.
“It’s no use. Maybe I really don’t have that ability,” she said as she placed her hands on her hips and huffed.
This isn’t good enough. She knows subconsciously that she’s in no real danger. Time to turn it up a notch. She may hate me if this doesn’t work but we have to try. “Okay. We’re going into full-on attack mode. No more slapping. If you don’t do it, you might get hurt.”
“You wouldn’t hurt me, Benny.” She knew Benny liked her and wouldn’t take a chance on hurting her. Would he?
Benny stepped back a few paces and looked upward in thought. His expression soured—a deep scowl formed on his face. It seemed l
ike an eternity to Vanessa, who was wondering if something was going to happen. She looked downward momentarily and lost focus. Benny picked up on this cue and rushed her. He ran toward her, snarling like a madman. Vanessa gasped at his sudden change and what he might actually do. Her heart raced and her stomach sank as she closed her eyes and snapped on her shield. He’s really going to hurt me!
Instead of the typical shield from her arms, she had enveloped herself fully in a bubble. As Benny approached, he reached back with his fist to strike. He noticed the blue bubble, but it was too late. He had committed to the punch, taking in a rush of air in wonder. As he struck the bubble, the energy ricocheted back to him and he was blasted backward, away from Vanessa.
Benny rested motionless on his back with his eyes closed. He had not been armored up when he hit Vanessa but he was afterward—at least his arm was. This was something totally new to him. He had never been partly armored and didn’t know it was possible. His arm twitched and his nerves burned as they tried to come to grips with the energy he absorbed. The circular expending and reabsorbing the same energy tested his powers. The pain was excruciating. It was a bold move for Benny, and he could be seriously hurt from such stunts. Had he been like the rats in the early experiments without armor abilities, his own power could have resulted in his body exploding.
“Benny!” she shouted. “Are you okay? Benny!” She ran over to him and knelt at his side.
Benny groaned and shuddered. “Ahh! My hand! It hurts. Like punching a tree. You did it though. I’m proud of you.” Benny looked at his hand and opened and closed it several times. It was bloody and throbbed but didn’t seem broken. He punched the ground several times to release his stored energy, digging a small hole in the soil. The pain faded as his flesh returned to normal.
“It’s not good, though, if you’re hurt. Looks like you can bleed in this way too. We’re not ready for this. Let’s just cancel it and try our luck with the police,” she said.
“Don’t worry about me. We’re not backing down now. We win together or die together, got that? I’ll be okay.” Benny slowly began to regain his strength and stood back up with a hand from Vanessa. “That was exciting. Do you know what you did to make the bubble? And can you do it on command without trying that experiment again?”