“Come on, Zeke! He’s not made of metal! Hit him!” Wyland was swinging at the air like a loon as he cheered Ezekiel on, telling him to be more aggressive. The big kid wasn’t listening, though. They sent a couple of cautious jabs out sometimes, sure, but the way he was fighting was not indicative of their size. At all. The kid acted like he was made of glass, as if a single hit by Liam would cause him to break every bone in his body. It wasn’t like Liam didn’t understand why he was acting like that, they had only just gotten that body a couple of days ago, and Liam had also not gotten used to his own power yet…
But it still made what he was going to do feel a bit malicious.
They needed to learn, though. Wyland had been too meek on the kid, and hadn’t wanted to hit someone who didn’t want to hit back. Liam didn’t care about that, he just wanted to see results. He turned midair, using the torque of his body as he charged at the kid to send a flying kick into their side. Ezekiel had probably thought he’d just be sending jabs their way like he had been doing the past couple of minutes.
He’d been hoping for that.
The kick was sent with all his force, sending poor Ezekiel flying with a panicked yelp, and making him slam into the ground with a groan. “Ah, hell… Damn it, Liam!” He heard Wyland yell angrily as they ran towards Ezekiel on the floor. Liam almost became worried until the kid stood back up and dusted themself off, not much worse for wear. It seemed the groan had been of fear and shock, not of pain. “H-how did he do that!? And why is he so fast?! How am I supposed to hit someone like that!?” Wyland groaned, looking at his student like he was an idiot. “Just… hell, kid. Why can’t you just-”
“Keep yourself low to the ground.”
Ezekiel and Wyland turned to Liam in shock, who just shrugged. “Your legs were straight, and because you’re so tall it makes it harder to hit something smaller than you without your hits brushing off. Try punching down instead of straight. Grabbing me or kicking me to make me fall would work, too. I’m weaker and smaller than you, so getting on top of me is an instant win unless I have a knife or a, uh… Nevermind.” The two gawked at him, but Liam just brushed it off, unsure of why he was even trying to speak. Maybe he still felt guilty over what he had done to the kid.
“I can’t do anything to you when you’re on top of me. None of my hits are doing any damage so… try being more aggressive, got that?” Another moment of silence between the two, and Ezekiel finally took a step forward, his eyes a bit more determined. “O-ok. How do I… How do I get lower?” He crouched, his knees together as he brought his arms up in a poor attempt at a boxing stance.
Liam wanted to laugh and groan at the same time.
“Heh… urgh, erm… Close. Just spread your legs, knees apart. I… Not like that.”
He almost spat blood when the kid just opened his knees, looking like he was going to sumo wrestle. This was going to be a living hell.
…Well, at least they learned fast, Liam thought.
About half an hour passed and Ezekiel was fighting more like a thug now, basically falling forward onto him to reach for an arm or leg they could find purchase on. It was still pretty bad but it was leagues above what the kid had been doing before. They had gained confidence in their indestructibility thanks to Liam, who’d been violently striking the kid in vital places he thought would throw them off balance. On normal people, those strikes would have killed, and he knew Ezekiel understood that. Slowly, they started to understand they couldn’t be killed. At least, not normally.
Liam slammed his foot into their neck, earning a gargled shout from Ezekiel as the force threw them to the ground. It didn’t even keep them down for a second, Liam having to dodge their next angry charge at him. It came to the point where Ezekiel was almost always on all fours, lunging at Liam like a wild beast more times than not…
It was… quite nostalgic.
He wondered how his mom was doing right now. She would have turned this kid to paste if he had come to her for training, though that would have probably been for the best… His fond thoughts were interrupted by a loud growl. The kid sent an open-handed swipe at him, and he used their wide-open swing to kick one of their feet to the left and push them back. They stumbled for a second but regained their posture by slamming their palms onto the ground, ready to go again. It was intimidating, which was good. Being scary was half the battle.
“Good, at least you’re no longer hitting the ground! Once you’re on your back you're dead, remember that! You’ve died how many times already? Better kill me at least once to make up for that, right!?” Liam shouted, feeling good about how this kid was taking it.
Ezekiel’s face no longer held any hesitation, just complete determination to bring Liam down. Liam’s face was completely different, a malicious grin on his face that appeared every time he was actually having fun in a fight…
Usually whenever he was hopped up on skimmer.
This was different, though. What he felt was more pride towards their growth than anything like a rush. “Come on, Ezekiel! There are loads more bastards faster than me, the least you could do is show me a good time!” He laughed as the kid growled and lunged at him, only for Liam to sidestep and slam his shoulder into their side. He still had their arm as he slammed them into the ground, face first.
“That was pathetic!! Come on kid, you’re no longer a midget, so stop acting like one!” Ezekiel roared at that, loud enough for the rest of the sparring hall to hear. It was a deep, guttural cry, something more primal than human.
Liam was ecstatic.
He slammed his foot down onto their head as hard as he could, not noticing that his fangs and claws were extending out to the max. The muscles under his black arms were coiling up, with much more strength than before. “You’re better than that, right!? Right, Ezekiel?!” The kid jumped, jumped out of his grasp sending him forward with stumble as Ezekiel landed a few feet in front of him, teeth bared like an animal. His chest was heaving up and down as his breath released literal smoke in the air. Finally, this kid looked like a here.
It was cool as hell to Liam.
“Haha! Fucking awesome! Come on man! Let’s go! One more time!”
The kid charged, and they started exchanging blows again. This time the kid had kept his swings a lot tighter, aiming for a grab instead of dealing damage. It was way more than he thought Ezekiel was capable of. Liam had expected this kid to curl up into a ball after he tossed the first couple of taunts at him, but that had only made them more determined to take him down. Was this that drive in utopia that made heroes? He doubted it. This kid was definitely special.
Especially since they’d finally managed to grab his leg.
“Graugh!!”
He barely realized what happened when he found himself soaring through the air. He tried reorienting himself in the weightlessness but the wall met him too soon for that, and he slammed face-first into it. He stuck there for a few seconds until he fell to the ground, seeing stars circling above him. Despite the pain, he was grinning. The air was out of his lungs, and his leg felt like it had just been run over, but something else came out from his heart… Something that numbed everything else.
Excitement.
At least, until the idiot came up to him with a look like someone had just kicked his dog.
“Y-you ok!? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to… to…” Their hands reached out to pick him up, but Liam slapped it away, standing up on his own. His leg still hurt, but he was regenerating far faster than he expected. Already he could put some weight on it. “Good job, Ezekiel. I didn’t expect that out of you!” He slapped the big guy on the arm, a big grin on his face. It had been the first time in a while that he had sparred with anyone aside from his mom, and it was such a breath of fresh air that he could barely help himself.
“You got into my blind spot, you know! Didn’t even think you would know where that was… You’re a fucking natural at fighting, huh? I swear, grapplers are a different breed. Always hated fighting them.” The kid seemed shocked at how nonchalantly Liam was taking it, and became flustered at how many compliments they were getting. “I… I don’t think I did all that well… heh. I really hesitated a lot and… and I could’ve…” Liam scoffed, not caring for the self-pity fest. “Don’t worry about that shit. It’ll all get better as long as you keep getting your ass beat. That’s what mom always told me.”
The kid seemed flustered as hell, probably because Liam was talking so much to him for the first time. It was hard not to, though. He’d really come to respect Ezekiel as someone with strength. “Do you really think I can get better? I was just… doing whatever I wanted. That wasn’t actual fighting, right?” Liam scowled. Who the hell would call what just happened not a fight? “Don’t sell yourself short, bastard. It makes me look bad after I got thrown like that…”
The kid flinched, and Liam groaned at the sign of fear. They had just crumpled his leg like an empty tin can, and they were still scared of Liam? He had to get that fixed, somehow.
“It’ll be hard as hell to find someone to kick your ass. Do all Utopians have this kinda talent? Fuck…” The kid brightened up at the compliment, though he immediately went back into a look of self-consciousness. “I can take hits but I don’t really have any, uh… ” Liam stood up shakily, before realizing that was a bad idea and falling back down to the floor. Ezekiel looked ready to act like an idiot again when he saw that so Liam knew he had to get rid of them.
“Ok, yeah whatever. Go mess with Wyland now. Give me a second to heal up and maybe we can go at it again. I’m way too tired to go again after that…” He groaned in pain now that the adrenaline wore off, sitting back down against the wall.
Ezekiel seemed to pale at that, which just annoyed Liam.
“Are you sure you’re-”
“Yeah! Come on, get out of here! And tell Wyland not to take it easy on you.” He waved Ezekiel away and finally, the kid took the hint. It gave him enough time to figure out what the hell had been done to his body. His arms and chest were relatively undamaged compared to the rest of him, but his right leg had taken quite a bit of damage after being grabbed like that, and he was sure it was broken. Luckily, he’d already known how long it took to fix. Yesterday it had only taken half an hour to heal the bones broken by his mother, less if he had a protein snack bar shoved down his throat…
So that was a good reference to what he had to do now.
Eat.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
That was, until he realized where he was. He doubted any of these people brought a snack into a training ground where half the kids were on their own. And shit… lunch wasn’t for at least a good few hours, huh… He wondered if he really had to spend a half-hour sitting, until he remembered about the healing girl…
Lidia’s sidekick, …Elina. No, Aileen…
Hm… Maybe he got hit a bit harder on the head than he thought.
He stood up, limping towards the room the three of his classmates walked into. He didn’t know why he felt like being alone with someone who could throw balls of flames and another that could look at him and make him explode, but…
Man, his leg really hurt.
Maybe it wasn’t worth it, though. He spent a few minutes stopped outside the door, and looked at the clone that was still being experimented on by the teacher. He almost went to switch places until he realized the woman had shaved its head. Well, shaved was a nice way of putting it. Patches of hair were cut off as close as a blade could get to the head, which meant the hair looked wholly uneven and completely horrific. The rest of the students still in the sparring hall were watching on with weird looks as she placed the hair in small plastic bags, looking oddly serious despite the ridiculous circumstance.
That was… not an option anymore.
His hair was his pride, and he’d take a broken leg any day compared to looking like someone who had been publicly shamed on the streets. That meant he was left with the sidekick girl to save him now. He took a deep breath, and opened the door.
What he saw was terrifying.
_____________________________________________________________
“Ugh… my head… Emily! Help!” Lidia groaned as she continued straining her head as the targets exploded in front of her. They were giant red circles that appeared at odd times, all from the same range so people had to compete to break them first. The room was set up like a firing range, only instead of each person getting their own target, it was a free for all. She grinned as she looked at the score on the side. Her score was on top, but it wouldn’t stay there unless she was healed.
Her friend came up from behind her and held her head, luckily enough. A green glow appeared from her hands and suddenly her thoughts became clearer. She took a deep breath and found herself blowing up targets with speed again, narrowly keeping her score above the other competitors there.
The sore loser next to them seemed to have some words.
“Wha, hey!?? That ain’t fair!! Tell your friend to keep her hands to herself!” Damon shouted with a snarl. He pulled his sweaty hair back with one hand as he hurled another ball of fire at the targets with the other. The fireball missed, but the terrifying explosion was enough to blow up three targets in one go. She grinned as Damon shouted a warcry in a final attempt to win, even though the timer only had thirty seconds.
From the rest of the students taking part in the competition, he had been the only one who’d been able to use his ranged powers at the same level as Lidia, and it was mostly due to his explosive strength. The others simply couldn’t compete with her accuracy. All she had to do was look at the target, after all. Damon had been the only one giving her a run for her money, but…
He was getting tired.
The timer hit zero, and a red buzzer sounded out, glazing the room in a warm, red glow, before returning to normal…
Lidia and Emily cheered, earning a glaring look from Damon, and a couple of other kids in the room. Damon groaned, walking back to one of the benches to rest up. He was breathing heavily, and was so covered in sweat that his shirt was damp against his chest. His exhaustion still didn’t seem to be enough to snuff away the passion in his eyes, though. “I… Next round, I’m getting you, even if you cheat. Just a… a matter of time.”
Lidia responded by sticking her tongue out at him, and Emily seemed to follow suit. Damon had been completely useless at throwing his fireballs at the beginning, so she had won round after round, but halfway through he had gotten better at throwing, and his fireballs actually seemed to have gotten stronger…
Still wasn’t enough to beat her, though.
With her friend alongside her, she felt she could even take on the world! Emily leaned forward, sticking her tongue out at the rude boy as well. “You can’t win against teamwork! I’ll always have Lidia’s back!” She shouted, earning a small laugh from Lidia. The two were giggling together while the boy did his best to catch his breath.
There were only ten-minute breaks in between each competition, and he hadn’t missed out on a single one since the three of them came here. Lidia had done the same, but she had had an unfair advantage in the shape of a sass filled hell-girl…
He wanted to ask for the healing as well, but that would probably be too much to ask considering the situation he was in. He decided to close his eyes for the moment instead, resting his eyes and body for what would come next-
“Eek!?”
Lidia’s scared yelp had him up again, and he instinctively pulled a fireball out of the air until he saw the person who had bumped into her. The flame in his hand went up in smoke almost as quick as it came.
Why was the demon of noon high here?
__________________________________________________________________
“You won, nice…”
“Eek!??”
…This was what he got for trying to be nice. The scene would have almost been comical, if Liam didn’t feel like the butt of the joke. Lidia had leaped a good four feet when she saw him, her hair standing on all ends like a stray cat… Hah. Was she going to be that jumpy around him forever? Could he even consider what she had done as only ‘A bit jumpy’? “Hey…” He said, unsure about what else he could say to mitigate the situation. At least the girl responded sanely this time. “U-um… do you… n-need anything!?” She half shouted, looking a bit paler.
Ok, maybe not too sane.
He wanted to apologize, but remembered that he hadn’t been in the wrong, and that he wasn’t here to talk to her. Just being here was already giving him a massive headache. If he was forced to stay here then he might as well have taken the bald clone. He’d seen how horrific she had been while using her power, standing completely still as anything she looked at exploded into flames. He did not want to be at the wrong end of that. He turned to Emily, no longer worried about the state the girl was in.
“Emily, right? I was looking for you. You said you owe me one for saving her.” He pointed at the scaredy cat girl behind him with some derision, even when he hadn’t meant it. The girl’s eyes widened as she found herself to be his main focus. She probably hadn’t thought he would have been here for her, huh? He flinched when she smiled casually, the gesture not kind nor mean in any way. It wasn’t something he had seen from the rest of them.
“Why do you need my help? I thought you’d be here to talk to Lidia.” She said. Her hands were behind her in a suspicious way, and he had to remind himself that these people weren’t the type to group up on him. “Uh… no. I just needed you to fix up my leg.” The girl looked at him, then at Lidia. Something was up.
“Your leg?”
A small explanation later, and he was sitting next to Emily, holding an arm out at her as she held her strange, glowing hands out. While this was happening the rest of the students had gone back to their competition, blowing up the firing range with a terrifying vigor. The show made the situation he was in a bit less awkward.
Her hands were hovering around his Ego-mutated arm, nervous around touching it. It wasn’t for the reason he expected, though. “Are you sure you won’t let me touch your leg?” The girl asked. “No. I’m not something fun to look at. Please just… finish up.” He sighed as the girl looked intensely at his arms, and he caught her leaning over a couple times to check the horn on his elbow. It was too much curiosity for someone who had just been scared of him a moment ago.
…Maybe she just adapted quick?
The girl reached out to touch him, and he flinched, pulling back away from the glowing feeling. The warm, buzzing feeling inside him left, and he found himself in a bad mood again. “Ah! Sorry… I just noticed some cuts and it would have been a lot easier to, uh…” The girl blushed, making his headache worse. He couldn’t even fault her for being curious, or else he’d just be a hypocrite.
Why was he so dead set on not letting this girl feel him up when he had so readily let the teacher make him her plaything? Even Ezekiel hadn’t worried him to this level. Maybe it was because she had a power? But the super intelligence of Mrs. Deus and the strength enhancement from Ezekiel also played a huge part in all this…
Didn’t they?
“Um, Liam?”
He flinched, finding himself back in the firing range, with the girl next to him looking worried. Her hand was on his shoulder, and it took some effort on his part not to shake her off. Instead he carefully pulled her hand away, unable to look away. Her eyes never left him, but she seemed to understand his need for distance, scooting a foot away. “I’m sorry… I guess it is a bit weird for me to act all worried all of a sudden when, uh… nevermind.”
Her words struck a cord with him. He took a deep breath, and raised an arm to her again. “What does that mean?” She looked at him with pitiable eyes, grabbing onto the arm this time with slow, methodical movements. One hand on his wrist, another right above his elbow. This time he didn’t pull away. “I can heal you faster like this. It’ll still be slower than if I healed directly from the broken part, but… this will be easier for you.” She murmured, more focused on her power now. The glowing green energy filled him much stronger this time, making him feel a bit calmer about the whole situation.
A stranger was pumping him full of strange energy, but he was calm.
…He was calm.
Damnit.
“You didn’t explain. Why are… are you worried?” He muttered. His eyes felt heavy but he didn’t feel tired, exactly. He just felt comfortable, like the moments before he actually woke up on his bed. It was one of those moments he wished would last forever, but just like those moments, something had to go and ruin it.
“Leonard… he told us that you wanted to get along with the class…. That you weren’t as bad as you seemed. I thought he was insane until you came here and talked to us. You looked sad…” The words struck him like a bag of bricks.
What? Why was it now that he was getting pity from all these people? Because of the super smartass? Goddamn tech-head was smart enough to know what Liam was thinking but too stupid to keep his mouth shut. That was only half of it, too. Was that why Ezekiel had gone to spar with him? Why Bag girl was walking on eggshells around him? He looked over to her, realizing she was holding her head in pain while the flamer seemed to be laughing at her agony.
It was something fun, some competition between the two of them that mean they were close enough to fight. He didn’t have that, not in this district… So was this girl trying to make that connection out of pity? Just because she thought he wanted it?
Who the hell…
“-are you to talk to me like that?” Liam muttered. The girl looked at him with an eyebrow raised. He had been way too quiet for her to actually hear it, but actions spoke better than words anyway. He pulled his arm out of her grasp, earning a shocked gasp from her as he stood up. For a second he thanked his new growth in height that came from the Ego shift, it had taken a while to get used to it but now that he had he could bask in the benefits.
The girl looked ever so slightly smaller from where she sat. And he felt just a bit bigger.
A bit more menacing.
“Don’t do that again. Leonard’s wrong about all that. Bastard thinks he’s so smart…” She went to stand but he was already walking out the door. “Wait, Liam! I didn’t mean that you were lonely, I just…” Liam tuned her out, instead focusing on the state of his body. He had to admit, the healing she did worked wonders. They’d only been at it for a few minutes but his leg was already good enough to barely need to limp. Five more minutes alone and he’d be fixed up good enough to spar with Ezekiel again… Ah, wait.
That kid probably also felt pity for him, huh?
Fucking Leonard…
Damnit, that genius was gonna be an interesting super he had wanted to play around with, but that curiosity had been tossed along with his care for the kid. Did they think he was helpless without their assistance? That he was a lost cause if they didn’t step in? Maybe if he was some punk-ass Utopian but he was from District 3! He was different!! He was stronger than that!
“...where the hell is that bastard.”