[Day 17]
Left jab. Right cross. Roundhouse kick.
Too telegraphed.
Feint. Hook. Spinning back kick.
Better, but still reading her like a book.
Vicky threw her strikes in patterns Lance had already memorized in the first ten minutes of their match. They circled each other on the black mats of the Titan's Den group exercise room, where the cheap LED panels turned skin tones an unflattering bluish-white. Even without her powers activated, Lance could see the focus in her eyes - she never took these practice rounds lightly.
Duck. Weave. Sidestep.
She's favoring her right side again.
"You're thinking too much," Lance said, easily slipping past another combination. "Your body's already moving before your brain catches up."
"Says the guy who turns everything into a coding problem," Vicky shot back, frustration evident in her next flurry of attacks.
His Energy Cycling ability had changed everything about how he saw combat. Or rather, how he sensed it. He couldn't actually see Vicky's arma, but he could feel it somehow, like catching someone's movement in your peripheral vision. It had first happened during Preston's attack in that abandoned warehouse, that strange awareness of energy building up before each strike. Now he could sense the flow through Vicky's muscles, the subtle shift in her weight that betrayed her next move. Could trace the surge of power in her right shoulder seconds before she threw a punch. But he kept that to himself. No need to reveal just how much these abilities were evolving.
Jab. Cross. Hook. Uppercut.
Classic boxing progression. Time to show her why that won't work.
Lance waited for the uppercut, then moved inside her guard with preternatural speed. One quick sweep and Vicky hit the mat, the impact echoing through the empty gym.
"Nice!" Diego whooped from the sidelines.
Lance studied her.
[Human Elementalist (1st Evolution)]
From what he'd seen, Vicky could only generate heat from her palms. But elementalists were supposed to be able to control their element completely - manipulate existing fire, create it from nothing. At least, that's what the arma theorists claimed online in their endless debates about power progression.
The more he thought about it... maybe he should teach them Energy Cycling. It didn't feel like the other abilities he'd stolen - there was something more fundamental about it, more natural. Like it wasn't really part of his Appropriation suite at all, but something any arma user should be able to do with enough practice. The way the energy moved through the body, following those invisible pathways - it was too... organic to be an acquired power.
Hopefully, it would help her unlock those deeper abilities that seemed just out of reach.
"That's three falls," Lance said, offering his hand. "Want to know what you're doing wrong?"
"Enlighten me, oh wise one," Vicky grumbled, accepting his help up while shooting him a glare that could melt steel.
Lance circled Vicky on the mat, gesturing at her stance. "The principle you're missing is economy of movement. Every motion needs to serve a purpose - no wasted energy."
"Right, keep your strikes tight and direct."
"Yeah, and stay balanced. Each attack should flow into your defense." Lance demonstrated a compact combination. "See how I'm never overextending?"
Diego nodded from his spot against the wall. "That's what Marcus kept drilling into me last week. Said I was throwing haymakers like a drunk at closing time."
"Exactly. In Krav Maga, you want to be efficient, not flashy."
Vicky wiped sweat from her forehead. "What's with the sudden interest in teaching us anyway? You've been extra pushy about this training."
Lance's shoulders tensed. "Because we need to be ready. This killer isn't going to stop."
"I can't believe you got Elena to cancel support group," Diego said.
"It had to be done."
"So you're serious about this? They're one hundred percent hunting down arma wielders?" Vicky asked.
"Has to be. The pattern's too clear - Rony, that guy at the warehouse, someone named Thad, probably others we don't know about yet."
Vicky’s eyebrows rise. “Thad’s dead too? The skinny dude from the support group?”
“That might be him,” Lance said. “You knew him?”
“Not really. Only saw him once.”
Diego pushed off from the wall. "He's right. We can't just sit around waiting to be next."
"Ugh, fine." Vicky dropped onto the mat. "But I still think this is overkill."
"Thanks, Vicky. By the way, find anything interesting online, Diego?"
"Nah man, ended up in reels hell for like three hours. Though I did see this one guy who could cut down trees with his voice..." Diego trailed off. "The death count's at 400 million worldwide now. That's... that's why I quit social media. Couldn't take seeing those numbers anymore."
"Jesus." Lance's face went slack. "That's..."
"Yeah."
Vicky pulled her knees to her chest. "Heard they've treated more than two billion people though."
"That's something at least. Maybe we're turning a corner." Lance said, looking up.
"They're saying half of businesses might reopen by next year," Diego added. "Things could start feeling normal again."
"Normal." Vicky's voice went soft. "All those kids who won't have Christmas this year..."
"My niece asked Santa to bring her dad back." Diego stared at his hands. "How do you even respond to that? The NARS treatments aren't even making it past the border yet. Not to places like where my family lives."
"You can't." Lance sank down beside them. "You just... be there."
"Some Christmas miracle we turned out to be." Vicky's laugh came out hollow. "All these powers and we can't fix what matters."
"But maybe we can." Lance's voice hardened. "We can stop whoever's doing this."
"Fine." Vicky threw her hands up. "I guess we're catching a killer now."
A hint of approval crossed Lance's face. "Did you talk to Wren?"
"Wren?"
Vicky stared past Lance, her face blank for a moment too long.
"Yeah… about anything suspicious she might have noticed."
Lance and Diego exchanged looks. Until:
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"She wouldn't talk to me. To be honest, she was acting weird this morning. Left the hotel before I did."
“Is that strange—”
Heavy footsteps approached from the hallway. Marcus appeared in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at the trio sprawled on his mats.
"Damn, you're early today."
"Morning Marcus. Just getting some training in," Lance said. "Things are getting dangerous out there."
Marcus crossed his arms. "You in some kind of trouble?"
"Not me specifically. But someone's targeting arma users."
Marcus's expression darkened. "Say no more. You’re all free to use this room as much as you need."
"Mind doing a group session today?"
"Aight." Marcus cracked his knuckles. "Let's see what y'all need help with."
Perfect - now he could work on what he really came here for. Lance took a stance in the center of the mat. “Diego, Vicky, I want you both to attack me at once.”
"Pfft. Showoff," Vicky muttered, rolling her shoulders back.
Diego let out a low whistle.
"And don't hold back on the powers. Use everything you've got."
“Are you sure about this?” Marcus asked.
Lance ran the numbers in his head: 99.7% chance he could handle them both. It wasn't that he was a juggernaut - he and Vicky were both technically at First Evolution. But every power he appropriated seemed to make him jump a level. Sparring with Vicky was like playing against someone from a rec league when you'd just made the school team - the gap was subtle but undeniable. And that was just comparing base stats, before factoring in Core abilities or Energy Masteries.
His calculations over the past few days had proven something interesting: with proper technique, he could still edge out someone with a 0.1 advantage in raw strength. But 0.5? That was an insurmountable wall. No amount of technical knowledge could bridge that gap - not in a million years.
Numbers were nice, but practice was better. He nodded to Marcus.
"Aight, show us." The older man stepped to the sidelines.
Diego circled right, Vicky left. Fair play.
Lance tracked both movements.
Diego struck first. His legs, a propelling force that surpassed any ‘unawakened’ human. Lance sidestepped, narrowly avoiding a roundhouse kick that whistled past his ear. He pivoted, only to find Vicky closing in, her hands glowing an angry red.
Damn.
Lance ducked under her swing. The warmth singed his hair.
He pivoted, using Diego's momentum against him. A quick shove sent the bigger man stumbling.
With a breath that positioned him on Diego’s flank, energy cycling kicked in. He felt the flow, like electricity arcing through his limbs.
Diego recovered. Another kick. This time, Lance saw it coming.
He grabbed Diego's ankle, redirecting the force. The Beast hit the mat. Hard.
Without proper redirection, those kicks could shatter bones. If Lance was forced to block with Solidify, Diego's leg would snap against the morphoplasm like hitting concrete. The thought made his stomach turn. No. Control. Always control.
Vicky pressed his distraction. A flurry of heated strikes.
Lance weaved through them. Her hands warped the air like summer heat off asphalt.
He reached for Dark Resonance. Nothing. Just a vague awareness of their arma signatures.
Disappointment.
Diego was up again. Both opponents closed in.
Vicky's heat-charged fist grazed his shoulder. Lance hissed, the skin instantly blistering. He spun away, using the momentum to dodge Diego's follow-up attack. His energy cycling punched into overdrive, redirecting power to his legs for a quick retreat.
"Come on, Lance!" Marcus called from the sidelines. “You can clearly finish the fight. Remember the principles of the art.”
Calculations. Probabilities. Angles of attack. He processed it all.
Then he let instinct take over, if only to see how that would work out. Messages peppered his vision, but he was a veteran at looking past them.
A series of quick jabs kept Vicky at bay. A low sweep disrupted Diego's footing.
But they were unstoppable. Excellent.
Diego's leg shot out, impossibly fast. It caught Lance in the ribs.
Pain.
Activate Pain Nullification? Y/N
The message blinked. Lance accepted.
No pain.
Another hot palm graced His shoulder. It struck morphoplasm instead of flesh. The black mass writhed, then hardened.
Lance twisted the solidified piece of skin against Vicky's palm, forcing her back right when Diego's kick descended.
The Beast could jump like a pro athlete - higher than Lance could manage - but there was no time to dwell on it.
Think.
He centered himself. Let the energy flow.
Time seemed to slow.
Lance saw the patterns. The ebb and flow of their movements. It lasted less than a second, but he was able to see the arma radiating from Vicky’s punch. Hot. Red. Angry.
He moved.
A perfectly timed dodge. Diego's kick sailed past.
Lance grabbed Vicky's wrist. Redirected her heated strike towards Diego.
They collided.
Tangled.
Fell.
Diego was done. Vicky was not.
Lance focused on her footwork. There—a slight hesitation before she stepped forward. He waited, patient, until she committed to her next attack.
When Vicky lunged, Lance was ready. He sidestepped her punch, grabbing her extended arm and using her momentum to flip her over his hip. She hit the mat with a satisfying thud.
Lance stood over them, breathing hard. Victory.
Vicky slammed her fist against the floor. She made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a growl. “One more.”
“No!” Marcus called out, stepping onto the mat. "That's a wrap, folks."
Lance doubled over, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. His chest throbbed where Vicky had struck him, but a grin spread across his face despite the pain.
It was progress. He'd done it. For a brief moment, he'd tapped into Dark Resonance. It wasn't much, but it was a start. As Marcus approached with an ice pack and a concerned expression, Lance straightened up, his mind already mapping out possibilities.
Marcus leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Your technique's solid, but you're all still too rigid. Gotta learn to flow with the hits, especially you, Diego."
"Man, my whole body feels like jello after that beatdown."
Lance watched his friend stretch his arms overhead, wincing.
"And Vicky, you're showing your—"
Diego's body jerked. His eyes went wide.
"Whoa whoa whoa what the—" Diego stumbled forward, catching himself on the wall. "Okay that was weird, like my whole body just went bzzt for a second there and now everything feels like... you know when you're playing a video game and you get that power-up that makes everything slow down but also speed up at the same time? It's like that but also not like that at all and—"
"Breathe." Vicky steadied his shoulder.
"I'm good, I'm good, just... trippy. Like my skin is too tight but also not? And then there's this weird buzzing in my—"
Lance knew that feeling. He focused, scanning Diego.
[Human Enhancer (1st Evolution)]
A smile tugged at Lance's lips. Just a moment ago, his power had barely registered as nascent.
"I felt something like that before," Vicky said quietly. "Right before I started generating heat."
"Wait, what? That's what this is? Man, it feels like getting tased by Pop Rocks!"
Lance nodded. "Your body just crossed some kind of threshold. This is good, Diego."
"Is this more of that arma business?" Marcus frowned. "Whatever this is, not near the mirrors."
"Relax, Marc, are you kidding? I feel amazing! Like I could run a marathon or bench press a car or—" Diego took a step and wobbled. "Okay, maybe sitting down for a minute isn't the worst idea."
"I'll get you some water." Vicky said, steering him toward the bench.
Lance watched them, that familiar warmth of pride spreading in his chest. They were growing stronger. Together.
"How's the leg pain now?"
"Actually, not too bad? Like, Dr. Patel sent me these exercises - have I mentioned Dr. Patel to you, Marc? Because wow, she's literally the perfect doctor - anyway, did the stretches she recommended and it helped a bit. Still hurts today, though."
Lance studied Diego's legs, sensing the subtle currents of arma within them. The energy pooled above his knees, struggling to flow downward like water hitting a dam. No wonder the physical therapy only helped so much - the problem wasn't just muscular. If energy cycling was as fundamental as Lance suspected, it might help clear those blockages, restore the natural flow. At the very least, it couldn't make things worse.
"Good to hear. Keep doing them. I think they'll help more than you expect."
"Aye aye, captain! Though if Dr. Patel told me to do backflips, I'd probably try those too."
“Listen.” Lance rolled his shoulders back. "I was thinking we should bring in the others. Get everyone training together."
"Makes sense. Safety in numbers with that killer out there,” Vicky said as she passed Diego the cup of water.
"Yeah. Maybe Rick could—"
"Absolutely not Frank," Diego interrupted.
"Wasn't going to suggest him. Although, I do feel sorry for Zack..."
"Hermano, you never know which one you're gonna get."
“Aight.” Marcus pushed off the wall. "Gotta check the front desk. Doubt anyone's coming in, but..." He gestured vaguely at the mats. "When I get back, let's see if you can lose those limbs properly this time."
Lance waved. "Thanks Marcus."
"I want to bring Wren. She's... she's having a rough time," Vicky said.
"Of course."
Diego gulped down his water, jumped to his feet, and bounced to the center of the mats, staggering as a single step launched him five feet closer. He caught himself at the last second, face-to-face with Lance.
"Think I got the hang of this." Diego bounced on his toes. "Another round?"
Lance's smile had an edge to it. "Not yet, there's something I want to teach you both."