The wind whipped past his head. It buffeted against his body, the ear-breaking sound held at bay by the head gear. His eyes opened wide, the clouds were getting closer, he could see them just ahead. His body accelerated, faster, faster, he could go just a little faster. Just to the edge of ‘launch’. Just before ‘stage one’. The air started to compress in front of his face, a ripple forming at the edge of the bubble of air that was taking shape around his body. Heat that should have been scorching his skin was dispersed into his surroundings. The clouds were right here. A wall that seemed so very solid.
Impact.
A rumbling.
Whiteness.
An endless sea of pure blue greeted him on the other side.
“WOOO HOOO!” Val shouted into the mouth guard, throwing his fists into the air and stabilizing as he came to a rapid stop. Something in the gear attached to his body shifted with the abrupt halt and he felt it spread the force across his body, counterbalancing before releasing it as a blast of air in all directions. Explosive force continued to rush out of the base of his feet as he stood in place, above the clouds, above the world, above everything for just a few moments. He tilted his head back and soaked it all in. He wished he could feel the sun, but it was a small price to pay.
A faint buzz sounded in his ear and a voice came in over the headgear, “That’s seven thousand feet, Val, how’d it feel flying through a cloud?” Dr. Carter asked.
Val spun around and looked across the sea of blue and white, “That was fucking amazing!” He laughed and did a flip once in the air, nearly losing balance and stabilizing himself. “Woah.”
A second voice chimed in with a laugh, “That’s wonderful! Just try not to go overboard with the crazy stuff until you do some more practice closer to the ground, mm?” Miss Chernovna chimed in.
He chuckled, “R-right, got it,” He snickered and glanced up above his head towards another set of clouds, “My max altitude is eight thousand right now, right?” He asked.
“Best I could do,” Dr. Carter said, “Even then it's a bit fuzzy, you’re best staying there. Push it too hard and the headgear might crack. You’ll lose consciousness really quickly after that.”
Val clenched his fists, “What about landing? How much can it take?” He asked.
There was a pause, “I wouldn’t suggest a full speed landing right now,” Miss Chernovna said, “As amusing as that sounds. Come in slow.”
Val clicked his tongue, “I got a better idea,” He said and angled his body down and felt the openings in his limbs begin to heat up again. The heat spread out, not burning his skin but instead being absorbed by the gear set up around each spot. The rocket booster-like funnels started to glow just a little as the pressure built, he took a deep breath and with one last grunt he pushed, Launch! He ordered his ability, starting the cycle of his power over again. The opening in his back flared, palms, elbows, feet, ankles, they all screamed to life as he turned into a bullet heading straight for the ground.
“Oh jeez,” Amos muttered into his ear, “Really?”
“Why not?” Val laughed, “Gotta put it through its paces somehow!”
“Just don’t end up a smear, you punk, that gear took a lot of work to make!” Amos grumbled.
Val passed through the clouds again, coming out the other end and looking over the wide green grassland dotted with gray buildings that was the Green Bank location. He could see the remains of the old telescope dish and the simulated battlefields. It looked like Axel was teaching another rescue course. He spotted a few duels going on at the conditioning fields, they were being observed by Madame Rouge if he had to guess, since Black Lotus was suspended. More instructors were showing up every day now, the first month of Orientation was over. It’s time for the real shit, Val thought before clenching his armored fist, Just in time.
He hurtled towards the ground, closer and closer to the designated red mark that had been left out for him as a landing spot.
“You’re pushing it,” Amos warned, “The compensator I put in there can only take so much.”
“It handled my stop going up!” Val challenged.
“Yeah but now you have gravity to contend with,” Amos pointed out, “Slow down a bit.”
Val clicked his tongue but ultimately agreed, “Alright,” He grunted and altered his trajectory to less a direct descent and more a corkscrew, coming down at a looping angle as he threw his hands out to counter the force released by his feet. He was still coming in really fast, but it would slowly reduce until- he whipped his body around mid flight and shoved his feet out, putting a bit more force out through the openings there. He felt the shift in his gear again as the compensator endured most of the force generated by the abrupt stop. He hung there as the force was released as another compressed blast of air before finally landing on the ground.
A series of whoops and shouts sounded out from nearby. He turned and reached up to pull the visor out of the way of his eyes, red hair sticking to his face a bit. He turned and grinned as his friends practically charged him, then his eyes went wide as they picked up speed. “Oh shi-”
Lillian, Greg, and Alex bowled him over without an ounce of hesitation, tackling him to the ground.
John, Snow, and Ollie walked up behind them. John shoved his hands in his pockets as Val looked his way and nodded, his placid straight-lined expression curving upwards a full three millimeters. He let out a laugh and fell back onto his back as the others badgered him with questions.
“That was so cool!” Lillian laughed, beaming down at him.
“Dude, what was it like?” Alex pressed, “All the way up there, going through a fuckin’ cloud! Shit that was amazing!”
“You feel better, bud?” Greg added, pulling off of him.
Val just lay flat on his back and stared up at the sky for a moment before looking down at his friends again, “It was better than I could ever describe. Up there, in the clouds, was so… freeing,” He said and clenched his fist in front of his face before opening it to look at the dark hole that had been disguised by the gloves to look like a rocket booster, “Makes it all worth it.”
The three aggressors looked at one another and grinned before hopping up and pulling him to his feet. He gasped as Alex and Greg picked him up before they helped Lillian throw him onto her shoulders. “All hail the rocket man!” Alex shouted.
“His first launch and return! Complete success.” Greg laughed.
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“Eat your heart out, Husk!” Lillian chimed in as she paraded him around.
<”You guys are idiots,”> Snow said through that text window thing of hers. Val had a hard time reading it because the others kept jostling him around.
“I think it’s sweet,” Ollie said with a big smile, “It’s good to see you happy, Val.”
“Mm,” John grunted with a nod, his voice sounding a tiny bit shaky. Everyone looked at him again and he cleared his throat, “What?” He asked, his expression going utterly deadpan again.
“Could have gone easier,” A voice called out and Val looked over with everyone else to see Amos walking over, scratching at his messy brown hair. He had one hand in the pocket of his labcoat and was grinning despite his words, “Not bad, Val, good flying.”
Next to Amos, Sonya walked over in a delicate looking sundress and wide-brimmed hat. She smiled at them all before looking up at Val, “How are you feeling?” She asked.
Val looked at her face for a moment, setting his jaw a bit. He pat Lillian’s shoulder and she picked him up before setting him down. He landed heavily and marveled for a heartbeat at how strong Lillian was getting. He took a few steps forward before clapping his hands to his sides and bowing fully at the waist, “I cannot thank you both enough!” He shouted at the ground, “Thank you so much for making this dream of mine come true! I’ll use it well!”
Amos snorted, “C’mon man, it’s just a prototype.”
“Amos, be nice,” Sonya chided him before Val heard a few light steps walk over to him. He felt a small hand land on his armored shoulder and looked up, Sonya looked down at him with a brilliant smile, “Just become a good hero for me, then, work hard.”
He stood up straight and cleared his throat, “Right!” He barked before clenching his fists and looking down at them, “Man, I can do all the stuff I’ve been practicing outside now!” He laughed and bounced back a few feet. “You guys thought my tricks during the spar were crazy, just you wait!” He kicked off the ground with a short rocket boost and flipped backwards. One hand released a shot of force and he was facing the opposite direction. In an instant he was facing away from where he was and coming down with a rocket propelled kick from above. He hit the ground and grass, dirt, and dust flew up before he stood and marveled at the tiny crater he’d made. He punched his palm and looked over his shoulder at everyone, “You’ve got yourselves a high mobility striker.”
Sonya cupped her cheek and chuckled, “I imagine an excellent rescue specialist too.” She tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment before glancing at John, “Oh, John, about what we talked about, I spoke with Blue-”
A crack of thunder shattered the sky, the earth shook, and everyone turned to face it.
–
Sonya moved fast, putting herself between the sound and the aspirants while Amos reached up to grab his wrist. She looked up at the sky where a dark cloud had formed in the midst of the nearly clear sky above a spot deep in the woods. From it, a stream of lightning was pouring down relentlessly over a single spot. She blinked and frowned before dialing out mentally.
<”Yo! Wassup boss?”> Kera’s voice came through.
<”Kera dear, where are you right now?”> Sonya asked.
<”Eatin’ sausage.”> Kera quipped back, <”Wassup?”>
Sonya made a deadpan face, <”I didn’t ask for the gory details, I asked where you are.”>
<”Hey! You’re the dirty one, we’re still in Germany!”> Kera chimed back.
Sonya rolled her eyes and stood up straight, <”Right, of course, nevermind.”> Sonya grunted and hung up. I wouldn’t have assumed if that wasn’t half of what you talked about, Kera. She thought with a shake of her head before crossing her arms and glancing at Amos, shaking her head a little bit. He nodded and tapped his temple twice. A moment later a small stream of metal objects swarmed into the air as the Aspirants began to calm down behind them.
“It’s just coming down,” Lillian breathed.
“Woah, it’s like rain,” Alex murmured, “The hell is that? Some kind of weird monster?”
“That would mean a dungeon break is coming soon and I doubt the instructors would allow the dungeon they’re maintaining here to get that bad,” Ollie pointed out.
Amos narrowed his eyes, “It looks like…” He frowned, “...Black Lotus?” He blurted and stood up straight, “She’s just sitting there getting hit by it.”
Sonya blinked and raised her eyebrows, “Pull your drones back and leave it be,” She said and glanced back at the Aspirants, more of them were starting to gather as well as a few instructors who stopped to watch the show with them. Another crack of thunder sounded and the lightning intensified, there were a few shouts of confusion, Sonya raised her voice, “It’s fine!” Sonya called, “Hero Black Lotus is undergoing a special personal training right now, she’s working hard, so you all go back and work hard as well!” She urged them before shooting Amos a glance.
<”Call Marta and have her go stand guard near Chunhua, she can’t defend herself in that state,”> She said through their technopathic connection.
<”On it,”> Amos acknowledged.
Sonya turned back when a single voice chimed in, “A heavenly tribulation,” Ollie said aloud, “Is that what that is?”
Sonya glanced his way, Little smarty pants, She opened her mouth to give an indecisive answer but closed it, glancing back at the lightning. She’d only seen it once during her past life but she knew it all too well. This one wasn’t as intense as the one she saw back then, though. Second breakthrough? She raised her eyebrow a little, Does that mean she fought me as Ishtar with only her first breakthrough? She smirked, That cheeky little…
“What does that mean?” Lillian asked behind Sonya..
Sonya resisted the urge to flinch. Oh great. I hope it doesn’t scare her, that boy talks a little too much sometimes.
Ollie cleared his throat while most of the aspirants dispersed, fortunately they were satisfied enough with Sonya’s response. “I’ve had a theory for a while that Miss Black Lotus’ abilities are based on popular cultivation stories, a lot of abilities out there seem to be grounded in myths, legends, and well known tales,” Ollie said and straightened his glasses, “A heavenly tribulation happens when one of those individuals has a break-through in their powers and achieved another level of enlightenment. Heaven challenges them, or something to that effect, and they have to endure until the end of the tribulation.”
Sonya looked back to watch Lillian and felt her mouth drop open a bit, the girl looked elated!
Lillian bounced on the balls of her feet, “She did it? That’s great!” Lillian barked, overjoyed. She turned and looked at the seemingly unending rain of lightning on that point in the forest and clenched her fists, “So I will too-” She mumbled and squeezed her hands tight, “It’s amazing! It’s like the world is responding to her. Like-” She blinked, standing up a bit straighter and frowning a little, “Huh.”
Sonya narrowed her eyes, “Everything okay, Lillian?”
Lillian scratched her head as her friends looked at her with concern. The girl blinked a few times and looked at the ground and then up at the sky, “I uh…” She scratched her head again and furrowed her brow before clearing her throat and spinning around abruptly to look at Val, “N-not gonna let some lightning steal your thunder, buddy!” She laughed and clapped him on the shoulders. Val tilted his head at her, a little confused.
“You kidding? Why would I give a shit?” He asked her.
She barked out a laugh as Sonya watched her carefully, “Right! Right! Hey, guys? I gotta go um… sit for a minute. I’ll be back soon,” Lillian said hurriedly. Snow gave her a look and Lillian broke into a wide smile, “I’m fine, promise!” She laughed before darting away at full speed. Sonya didn’t miss the serious expression that washed over Lillian's face. She watched her go and crossed her arms.
What on earth did that girl just realize? She glanced at the lightning where Chunhua was. She saw the streak of light that was Marta heading towards it. What do you both know that’s so profound?
She shook her head ruefully and turned to look at the remaining aspirants, “Well! Lillian ran off before I could make my announcement!” She said with a laugh and the others turned to her with grins on their faces, “First, congratulations on your new suit, Mister Kinton.”
Val shot her a thumbs up.
“Next,” She threw her arms out, “I made a special deal with the PC for a little down time for a day with you all!” She announced before slipping into a dramatic pause. She grinned impishly at them, looking at their faces before bouncing into an excited pose.
“We’re going to the beach in a few days!”