Jam happily trained in the simulation room from morning to night. Kid Mighty stopped by to assist in his first week of intensive training.
{Powers}
Time Until Powers Cycle: 10:46:19
{Current Powers:
Adhesive Grip
Enhanced Leap +6 (Jump Lvl 9)
Enhanced Vision +4 (Telescopic Vision) }
"Alright, how about a game of tag?" Kid Mighty challenged him. "That should work well with your current power set."
"Interesting, what are the stakes?" Jam asked interested.
"Loser has to strip for the winner." Kid Mighty said quickly and excitedly.
"Never mind." Jam dismissed
"Oh come on, I was kidding. Mostly." Kid Mighty said a cheeky smile across her face. "How about, if you can beat me I'll put in a verification form for you. Warren has a stamp that he uses for official documents. I can use that and sign it as him."
"You'd incur the wrath of your boyfriend for a game of tag?"
Kid Mighty's mouth twisted in a frown though the rest of her features were hidden behind her cowl. "I'm not dating Warren. Besides." She started then her lips turned up in a wicked grin. "I don't have to worry about it because you're not going to win." She said stoking Jam's competitive fire.
"And what exactly do you get if you win?"
Jam didn't think it could, but her mischevious grin got even wider. "You have to wear this for a whole week." She said pulling a shirt from her utility belt. She held it up in all of its glory, the shirt read: 'I GOT MY ASS KICKED BY KID MIGHTY AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY SHIRT'. It also had a picture of Kid Mighty with her thumbs up on the front and the shirt was bubblegum pink.
Jam couldn't fight the smile that broke across his face. "You're ridiculous."
"Is that a deal?"
"Deal, you're on."
[ Skill Used: Analyze+ Lvl 10 - Successful ]
{ Character Type: Watcher
Real Name: Camilla
Alias: Kid Mighty (II)
Race: Mixed (Human)
Country of Origin: Honduras
Alignment: Good
Level: 28
Exp: 15%
HP: 550/550
MP: N/A
SP: 315/315 }
{ Current Powers:
Prime Condition
Enhanced Senses
Minor Restoration
Tech Prowess
Danger Sense }
Shit. She added my danger sense power? Should have scanned her before I agreed to this.
"So you do get power lock tokens. And you went up a level."
"I did. The headaches still come some times but not nearly as much or as strong thankfully."
"I'm glad to hear it." Jam said with a smile and a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't think that means I'll go easy on you though. I'm taking you down." She said returning the smile and tapping on the tablet.
The white room of the simulation room changed to a city. It was a series of warehouses, old and abandoned. There were more broken windows than intact ones. A breeze wafted through heavy with the smells of oil, rust and faint seawater. Grass and weeds had grown unabashed in every crack and crevice that could be found.
"We're all alone here. No need to worry about civillians. We can go all out. I'll put half an hour on the clock, whoever is it at the end is the loser." Kid Mighty explained.
"Alright. You ready to decide?" Jam asked his enthusiasm almost palpable.
They both pulled their hands back and said in unison. "Rock, paper, scissors. . . Shoot!" Before they both threw out scissors. Then again, and they both threw out paper. Four games straight they both threw out the same sign, at first annoyed now they could barely contain a laugh.
"You can't be serious. Alright last game, if we throw out the same thing again I'm having the room decide." Kid Mighty chuckled.
They went for it again. "Rock, paper, scissors . . " they chanted simaltaneously. Jam scanned over Kid Mighty one more time and held back a moment longer than she did, when she threw Rock, he slid his fingers open to produce paper.
[ Skill Level Up: Body Language Analysis Lvl 4 has become Body Language Analysis Lvl 5 ]
"Yes!" he celebrated throwing his hands in the air.
"Fine, you win. I'll count to 20 then I'm coming for you."
Kid Mighty began to count and Jam disappeared. He used his new jumping power to leap 3/4 of the way up the three story building, latching onto the side of it with his adhesive grip. He then began to scale the rest of the way and climb to the roof. The roof had large holes in it but still had enough solid space for him to get a running start before leaping over to the next building. He bounded from building to building putting as much distance between him and Kid Mighty as he could.
"20!" He heard her shout in the distance.
Kid Mighty pulled up the map on her phone. Of course Jam wasn't aware of the tracker she'd put on him. She knew it was risk with the A.I. in his head usually on top of things like that, but she decided to take the risk anyway. It was currently paying off as Jam continued to bounce from one building to another gaining distance from her. 'This should teach you to cheat at rock, paper, scissors.' She thought to herself. Under the outside staircase of the nearby warehouse there sat a tarp covered item. Kid Mighty pulled the tarp away to reveal a customized motorcycle that she affectionally called "The Mightcycle". Her predecessor never strayed very far from Might Guy who would fly him around but she prefered to find her own way around. Kid Mighty ran her hand over the beautiful piece of machinery before climbing onto it and starting the ignition. The Mightcycle was powerful, quick and agile, but quiet, which made it perfect for stealth missions. Popping on her helmet, that she had synced with her phone, she zipped onto the street and began following Jam.
Jam knew it'd be a bad idea to just keep running. He wanted to win but he also had to prove himself that he could hold his own. What was the best play though? Hide and wait until the half an hour was over or let her get close but stay out of her reach.
I'm pretty far already, she might not be able to reach me if I keep going.
He continued to run but had to slide to a stop when the roof he was on was the last one before the land gave way to a reservoir.
Shit. That's why she chose this area. Can only get so far.
He turned around and jumped back but instead of landing on the opposite roof he jumped through the open window. The warehouse was dusty and had macinery covered in plastic tarps. The smell of fuel was strong but it didn't quite smell like gasoline. There was an office in the far corner with two easily defensible doors and only one small window. Jam went inside to find a stereotypical office setting, desk, table and chairs all wrecked beyond repair. He sat underneath the window that wasn't in the eyeline of the doors.
Everything was quiet, he couldn't hear any movement; he couldn't even hear the wind blowing anymore. All he could hear was his own breath.
"Calm down, your heart rate is skyrocketing. It's just a game." Audrey said to him.
Before he could reprimand her something punched through the window, and before he realized what was happening there was an explosion of light from a flash bang.
Shit, she took out my enhanced vision first.
His vision was blurry but with his enhanced vision he could still vaguely see everything; it would have to do. Jam got up and dived through the open door; climbing onto the railing, he jumped to the hole in the ceiling sticking to the edges of the hole. What he wasn't expecting was to see Kid Mighty's smiling face at the edge of the hole.
"Tag. You're it." She said tapping his hand.
Damn it!
Five minutes had passed and Jam had already been tagged. He would have to rally and get his mind right if he was going to win the game. Jam pulled himself up to the roof but Kid Mighty was already gone.
Shit!
He took a deep breath in through his nose and blew it out through his mouth. He shook his head to get rid of any lingering effects of the flash bang and his ears finally stopped ringing.
"Run a scan Audrey. Find her." Jam commanded.
"On it."
After turning in a circle again, a red line popped up speeding away from him.
"Boost!" Jam chanted a faint white glow forming around his body as all of his stats were increased.
Running forward and jumping, Jam overshot the roof completely and found himself falling through another window; this one wasn't broken. He rolled to break his fall and continued, leaping up through the ceiling again and getting to the roof. He decided to zig zag from roof to roof on opposite sides of the street instead. He pushed himself moving faster and jumping harder, his muscles burned but he fought to catch up to the speeding motorcycle he could just barely see in the distance. Nearly closing the distance, he was only two roofs away when he slid to a stop.
"There's no one on that motorcycle Audrey."
"It's called the Mightcycle." Kid Mighty shouted from inside one of the warehouses below him.
Jam looked down to find her standing in the archway of one of the warehouse doors waving up at him. Moving to jump toward her caused her to slither further into the darkened warehouse. Instead of a direct route, he dropped 10 refinement points into adhesive grip. He clung to the wall before crawling into the building through a broken window. Stopping to put 10 refinement points into enhanced vision gave the power new facets. He could now see in the extremely low light though not with as much distance as usual. Peering down he could just barely make out Kid Mighty's form crouched in a darkened corner watching the door.
[ Skill Developed: Low Light Vision Lvl 1 ]
[ Skill Type: Passive ]
Sweet, might not need to keep enhanced vision then. Let's take her down.
Jam crawled across the wall moving closer to Kid Mighty to flank her. He had to be careful, he danger sense would definitely clue her in, he had to jump at her before she could react. However, when he moved in closer he lost his grip on the wall and went loudly tumbling down onto the catwalk; the wall had been liberally coated with oil. Kid Mighty skipped out from her hiding spot, and out the door, laughing as she went, Jam had fallen into her trap. Kid Mighty called the Mightcycle back to her and rode off before Jam could even get to his feet, slipping in the oil that coated him.
[ Status Ailment: Clumsy - You've been covered in oil, accuracy and balance are reduced by 75% ]
"She's good." Audrey said.
"She's been trained by the best, and she's always been smart. But, she's just been rendering my powers useless. I still have tricks." Jam answered before reaching the railing to get to his feet. "Purify." He chanted, the oil disappearing under the green light that encased his body.
[ Status Ailment Alleviated - Clumsy ]
Hopping over the railing, Jam hit the ground to head for the door. However, when he went to move toward the door he was jerked in the opposite direction. He hit the ground hard before finding himself hanging from the ceiling 20 feet from the ground, slowly spinning in a circle. Kid Mighty was prepared, putting traps on the ground as well.
"Damn it!" He shouted, aggravation growing.
He swung his body up to grab the rope and climbed up the ceiling. Sitting on the bar that the rope was hanging from, he relieved the stress on the rope and loosened it from his ankle. Instead of going back to the floor, he jumped out of the window he came in from.
I've still got 20 minutes. Game on.
Jam climbed to the roof. He looked down the street and found Kid Mighty standing on top of a roof playfully waving at him.
[ Skill Used: Telescopic Vision Lvl 3 - Successful ]
[ Skill Level Up: Telescopic Vision Lvl 3 has become Telescopic Vision Lvl 4 ]
"Blink" Jam chanted and in an instant he was right behind Kid Mighty, who had already broken into a sprint down the edge of the roof having been alerted to his incoming by her danger sense. Jam gave chase. "You can't outrun me forever Might Girl" he taunted.
His MP was too low to use Blink again or Boost. Leaping to the opposite building he continued to chase Kid Mighty.
"Audrey, give me a point of contact. I want to hit her with an airshot."
"Give me a minute." She answered scanning the most logical direction Kid Mighty would take.
Jam continued running as an outline of Kid Mighty took shape on the building three roofs ahead of where she currently was.
"That's going to be your best chance if she continues her current course."
"Good. Air Shot!" He chanted forming the ball of air in his hand. He held it for a few seconds as it charged, his speed never dropping. The MP bar in the corner of his vision dropped quickly. The ball of condensed air blew from his hand quickly as Kid Mighty approached the location outlined in Jam's display. It smacked into the railing moments before Kid Mighty's foot was going to come down, completely destroying that area of the roof. Kid Mighty, unable to break her stride, was tripped up and began to fall from the roof.
"Shit! I've got you!" Jam exclaimed before jumping headlong in Kid Mighty's direction.
It was as if time had slowed down to a crawl and Jam was outside of his body watching himself trying to intercept Kid Mighty before she hit the ground. He couldn't see her eyes through the cowl but he imagined she was panicking at the moment. He reached his hands out to grab onto her, his fingers traced the lining of her cape but couldn't grab ahold of it.
"Blink!" He chanted again.
[ Spell Failure - Blink ]
[ Failure Condition: Insufficient MP ]
After smacking into the wall of the warehouse, Jam looked back to find Kid Mighty had pulled her grappeling gun and swung away. She rolled onto a cat walk two buildings away.
"That was sweet of you to try to catch me. I was tempted to let you." She flirted.
"I was just trying to tag you." He answered
"Whatever you say!" She mused hopping off of the cat walk onto the Mightcycle and speeding off.
Jam scaled the wall and got onto the roof.
Think Jam, think. She's two steps ahead. How do I get her?
[ Skill Used: Meditate Lvl 4 - Successful ]
He sat down and meditated, it wasted five minutes but he got 20 MP back and relaxed his mind a bit.
[ Skill Level Up: Meditate Lvl 4 has become Meditate Lvl 5 ]
"Do I have any oil Audrey?" Jam asked
"Check your pouch 4 o'clock." She answered.
He pulled a four small containers of oil out.
I hope this is enough.
He checked the clock, only 10 minutes left. Bounding from building to building, he found the Mightcycle sitting outside of a building that looked relatively newers, fewer broken windows and less weather beaten than the others. He decided to search the perimeter, scanning the windows to see what he could find. There were a number of traps littered through out the building from caltrops to snares. He imagined some of the walls had to be coated in oil again as well but he couldn't see it from that distance. What he couldn't see, was Kid Mighty's location, but there was what looked like three office spaces. One was pretty wrecked with one of the walls missing, but the others were still intact. None of them had outside windows, only one of them having a small window looking out on the warehouse floor with it's blinds closed. It was a good place to trap her if she was in there. Taking a combat knife, Jam stabbed into one of the containers of oil holding it out as to not get any on him and threw it at the doorway coating it in oil. He did the same to the backdoor.
Time to try out that dual casting.
"Fire fist!" He chanted, his fist igniting. "Air Shot" He followed, air condensing in his hand before it ignited as well, taking the form of a small fireball. When he released it, it flew hitting the door; the door exploded inward as flames leaked out and set the oil aflame. He did the same thing with the front door.
[ Skill Level Up: Art of Magic Lvl 8 has become Art of Magic Lvl 9 ]
[ Skill Notice: +5 MP ]
"What are you doing?" Audrey asked.
"Smoking her out. No windows on that side of the building, if she wants to get out she'll have to come to me."
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The walls that Jam figured were probably coated in oil, did quickly catch fire as well. Soon the whole building leaked smoke and flames danced through out. Minutes passed and Jam still didn't see anyone.
"Run a scan, see if she's in there." Jam commanded.
"Can't."
"What?"
"You blocked every scan I have. There's no visual thanks to the smoke, there's no sound thanks to the roaring fire and I can't see any thermals also because of the fire. If she's in there I have no way of telling. You should try running the scan before you set the place on fire." She explained in mild annoyance.
"You don't have an x-ray scan or something? How did you find the hostages in that first simulation?"
"No I don't have x-ray scans, and they were digital constructs. I pinged a signal off of them."
"It's not really a training simulation if you're cheating Audrey." Jam complained.
"You sure you want to talk about this right now?"
"Yeah, yeah you're right." He conceded, taking off his shirt to wrap around his face in hopes of staving off the effects of the smoke.
Jumping from the roof, Jam bowled into the room through a window with the least amount of fire around it. His body immediately gave complaint as the heavy smoke in the room assaulted his lungs even through the shirt. Clinging to the catwalk railing, Jam moved forward on all fours. Luckily, Kid Mighty hadn't covered them in oil as well. The first office clearly had no one in it, with two of the walls missing and it had kindled quickly. The second one office was wrecked, all the furniture moved against the door that Jam had to throw his shoulder into to unblock.
[ Status Ailment: Oxygen Deprived - Time Limit N/A - Your body is not getting enough oxygen. Drain: 1 SP per second ]
The air in the building got more sparse, quickly replacing with smoke. The mixture of burning oil and plastic caused a bad smell that coated Jam's throat. Jam's lungs were heavy and his head was getting woozy from oxygen deprivation; he could see his SP draining quickly.
"You have to get out of here Jam." Audrey said.
"Not if she might still be trapped in here."
One final leap carried him to the last office; he had to reserve his strength to escape. The door was locked from the inside; she had to be in there. Throwing his shoulder into the door, he met with little resistance. The room was filled with smoke but the fire hadn't touched it, then he fell, hitting the ground hard. His chest burned and his muscles ached. Looking up one last time he found Kid Mighty sitting at a desk, her feet up, lounging back in the office chair, wearing a breather. Then everything went dark.
"You lost." Jam heard Kid Mighty say when he regained consciousness. She was sitting in the same office chair, slowly rotating, her legs pulled in.
"Yeah. I figured." Jam responded groggily sitting up. He looked down at the pink shirt he was wearing. "Did you dress me?"
A grin played across her face. "I did. Losers don't get to complain."
"Valid point." He conceded moving to sit cross legged on the ground.
"So, would you like to know why you lost?"
"Are you going to tell me even if I say no?"
"Yep."
"Then sure."
"Well, I'll start with the good." She started leaning back in the chair. "You're smart, resourceful, your intuitions are good. You plan well, and you remember your skills really well. Not once did you forget any of your abilities, switching between powers and magic effortlessly. Just as good as I remember you to be."
"Thanks. And the bad?"
Kid Mighty shifted, putting her feet up against the head of the chair and her head toward the bottom continued to slowly rotate. "You didn't know your enemy and you didn't take this seriously. I've watched you for years and I know the way you think. You didn't come up with a plan against me because you didn't think you had to. I've been training for years now. I'm experienced with my powers and you just got yours today. Like I said, your instincts are good though, you can make great plans with your powers. If it was against anyone besides me, you may have had a chance. To you, a couple of weeks ago, you were one of the strongest villains on the planet but now you're just a level 10 hero. You have to remember that. You are no longer invulnerable and you have to think like a hero. The first plan against me you actually made was exactly the kind of thing a villain would do. What if a homeless person was in the warehouse you just burned down? Who would pay the bill for the warehouse anyway? What happens if the neighboring buildings caught on fire and it moved further into the city? Yeah, it was just a simulation but it was a simulated version of a real section of the city where real villains could have been.
"You're right. I guess I'm not ready."
"Of course you're ready. No plan survives first contact and no amount of trainig will prepare you for what's out there. Maybe you can't go toe to toe with Thorn or Tigerstripe but there's a lot of crime out there. You just need to remember that you can't make mistakes once you're out there or it's game over for real. Trust yourself."
"So you'll approve my form?"
"Of course not. That was never actually on the table. You were never actually going to win, you just needed some practice against an actual person."
"Why not?"
"You still need to practice some. Get used to switching between powers. Learn from some of the others here. if after a couple of weeks you're not verified then I'll force him to. All right?"
Jam took her at her word, agreeing to continue training. One day, in the middle of his second week of training, Cyprus Bleak decided to assist him.
{ Current Powers:
Momentum Negation
Psychic Shield +4 (Intelligence Attribute)
Vibration Manipulation }
"I like this set, could be fun. Too bad you can't keep all three." Kid Mighty lamented.
"Momentum negation feels kind of weird. Let's see what it can do." Jam suggested.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Mind riding the Mightcycle?"
"I see that going terribly wrong." Audrey predicted.
"It'll be fine." Kid Mighty dismissed. "Let's do it."
Kid Mighty clicked a button on the tablet and the room simulated the Mightcycle. Kid Mighty straddled the bike and put her helmet on, while Jam put 5 refinement points into all three powers.
Man, I need to get more refinement points soon. I hate the odd numbers.
"How are we doing this?" Kid Mighty yelled as she rode the bike away from Jam.
"Drive at me!" He shouted back.
Kid Mighty pulled to a hard stop a few hundred yards away. "Are you nuts? You want to play chicken?"
"Yeah! Let's go."
"I'm starting to agree with Audrey, this might be a bad idea."
"Listen to the woman." Audrey insisted.
"Just do it!" Jam demanded.
With a groan, Kid Mighty pulled her helmet visor down and revved her engine. Jam opened and closed his hands, concentrating on his powers. A yellow aura started to undulate around his hands. Kid Mighty peeled off closing the distance between her and Jam quickly. He exhaled slowly before thrusting his hand out, a beam of yellow light firing from his hand and hitting the Mightcycle. As if it had never been moving in the first place the bike stopped completely, not moving at all, even to fall down. Kid Mighty did not stop, continuing her forward momentum, she was sent flying through the air toward Jam.
Shit!
With the other hand he shot out another beam of light and as though gravity didn't exist, she stopped in mid air.
"I can't move!" She complained, her voice muffled from the helmet. "This feels so weird!"
Jam ran up to her and touch her, she dropped quickly into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck,
'You're such an asshole. What just happened?" She grumbled taking off her helmet.
"Newton's law. An object at rest stays at rest."
"That doesn't sound right."
"You planning on getting down?"
"Nope." She answered squeezing him tighter.
He chuckled and walked her over to the Mightcycle before setting her down on the bike.
"I'm hungry, wanna get some dinner?" Kid Mighty asked.
"I'm gonna keep practicing. I want to use psychic shield."
"Oh I know someone who could help with that." Kid Mighty perked up. A tap to the side of her cowl produced a small mic and then a few more taps on her phone. "Hey, are you busy? (. . .) Yeah, I just need you to come to the simulation room. (. . .) I'll explain when you get here. (. . .) Great thanks."
Soon after, Cyprus Bleak came in. He wore a black hood that hid his face in a shrowd of darkness. The only thing that could be seen was the shining metal half mask in the shape of a skull that covered his face, brow to lip and the grey eyes under them.
"Nice shirt." Cyprus quipped, gesturing at the bubblegum pink shirt Jam was wearing.
"Thanks." Jam chuckled. "Like the new look."
"You were right, a skull was the way to go." He responded pulling the hood off with a smile.
"Thanks for coming, Cy." Kid Mighty greeted with a chaste hug. "Jam was hoping for some help with a skill he was working with. It's a psychic shield, but he hasn't been able to trigger it. Who better to figure that out than you?"
"No problem, happy to help."
"Why?" Jam interrogated.
"Why what?" Cyprus asked back.
"Why would you want to help me? Shouldn't you hate me like Might Guy? Unlike Arcturian, Voodoo Priestess and Universa, you and I have fought against each other many different times. The last time you were surprisingly close to putting me in a body bag. I'm a lot weaker now. Nothing to stop you from cracking my coconut." Jam taunted.
Audrey's orb popped off the back of his head.
"Ow!" He barked.
{ HP: 148/150 }
"How about not antagonizing the skull faced psychic." Audrey chided.
Cyprus chuckled lighthly before breaking into a hardy laugh. After a minute he composed himself. "I know, this whole situation is strange. I get it. It's weird for me too sometimes. I've been in the hero business for over a decade now. I've seen heroes turn to villains and I've seen villains try to become heroes. From what Arcturian has said, you didn't know we were real people. I've fought, I've hurt, and I've killed people. I knew they were real people. In my line of work, you learn not to hold grudges when the world is at stake. As long as you're trying to be a hero, I've no ill will toward you." Cyprus explained, extending a hand to Jam.
"Thank you." Jam replied taking his hand.
"Well, I guess I can leave, now that you're not about to kill each other." Kid Mighty deadpanned waving behind her as she walked out.
"You seem to really like living dangerously." Cyprus joked.
"Unfortunately." Audrey deadpanned.
"I believe in living in the reality of any situation." Jam clarified. "I'd rather be shot in the face than stabbed in the back. I refuse to be surrounded by fake people anymore so I want to clear the bullshit out of the way first and see what's left afterward."
"I can respect that. You must love Might Guy then, really puts his feelings on the table." Cyprus chuckled.
"At least he's honest."
"Well, that aside. Let's check out this psychic shield. You don't kn ow how to trigger it?"
"Not really, I can feel it sometimes but I've never done anything with psionics. I wouldn't know where to start."
"Well, all powers are affected by emotions. You'd obviously hit harder with anger behind your punch than you would with happiness. Psionics are affected more strongly and directly by emotions. My powers of telepathy work with fear; I believe one of everyone's fears is not being able to tell what another person is thinking. When I feel joy, I can lift things." Closing his eyes and channeling his energy, Cyprus began to levitate from the ground. "If it's strong enough I can lift myself." Cyprus flew around the room at a quick pace before touching back down in front of Jam. Cyprus then held his open hand up toward Jam, his face draining of emotion. Jam felt a familiar itch at the back of his neck. "And when I get angry." A purple aura of power exploded from Cyprus' hand and slammed into Jam sending him flying back. "When I get angry, I can attack with waves of psychic energy."
Jam flew through the air rolling onto the ground. Bouncing back up, instincts kicked in and sent him into a brisk run toward Cyprus. Cyprus swung his hand in a wide arc and purple energy flew out hitting Jam hard again. This time Jam was sent rolling back and was laid out in a slump. Pain rang through his body.
He's trying to kill me.
Cyprus reeled back, and threw his hand forward like he was throwing a fastball. In a moment of panic, Jam threw his hand up to try to decrease the damage and the purple energy smashed against a crackling blue wall.
"As you can see, your psychic shield relies on fear. Your emotions have to be so strong and intense that they form in the psychic world. Not an easy thing to do at all."
"Couldn't just tell me that?" Jam grumbled.
"I find demonstrations to be a much better teaching method; it's how I train my team." Cyprus held out a hand, helping Jam to his feet. "And maybe I'm still a little salty about you knocking me out the last time we fought."
Jam shook his head with a chuckle. "What was that about not holding grudges?"
"Well, we should probably keep practicing. Are you keeping this power? It seems like your powers come and go from what I've seen."
When it became apparent that Jam wouldn't answer he continued. "Yeah, you can keep your secrets. But if my suspicions are correct, you'll probably need to know how to use psionics eventually. How about a sparring session and we can see how well you can use it in a fight."
"Sure."
The two of them fought, Cyprus proceeded to toss fly around the room tossing psychic blasts at Jam. Fear was something that Jam was well acquainted with but harnessing it was harder than Jam imagined. A good number of times Jam missed the timing and was thrown hard. Every day he spent training he tend to go to bed in pain but that day was especially bad. Jam didn't mind though because he was doing the one thing all gamers knew how to do. He was grinding.
Things took a turn during the third week.
{ Current Powers:
Vertigo Inducement
Levitation
Enhanced Accuracy +6 (Deadeye Lvl 10) }
His current skills that he could actively upgrade had been maxed and he wasn't developing new ones. Deciding to take a break from the simulation room, he instead went to the Hall's weight room. Of course, he just happened to chance upon Camilla and Might Guy working out. Outside the door, he overheard them talking.
[ Skill Used: Acute Hearing Lvl 10 - Successful ]
Camilla was running on the treadmill and, though she had clearly been in there for a little while, she hadn't even begun to break a sweat. She wore a brown sports bra that showed off generous amounts of her toned stomach, but it wasn't overly muscular. Jam thought that she must have the same type of gamer character's body he did. Might Guy was benching half a ton easily, still wearing those sunglasses.
"It's been almost three weeks Warren. You took me out on my first patrol after a week and I was nowhere near as skilled as he is and you know it." Camilla accused.
"I don't trust him. I get the two of you have some kind of past; I've been very understanding of the whole situation, but don't forget, I am the field leader. I'll decide when and if he gets to go out or not." Might Guy
"You're undermining the rest of the group keeping him on lockdown. We voted to summon him here. . ."
"I voted against it." Might Guy interrupted.
"And you were outvoted. He is here now; it's done. We have no clue what the Lunar King is planning; he's been quiet for weeks now. Jam wants to help and who knows how the Lunar King thinks better than him. Give him a chance."
Might Guy dropped the bar loudly in the holster. Sitting up he stared intently at Camilla. "Why don't you tell why you're really so invested. You want to be his hero so you can get with him. Ever since he got here, you've been growing more and more distant from me. I'm not blind, I see how you are with him." Might Guy floated over to behind and put his hands on her hips. Camilla stiffened at his touch and might have fallen off but he held her up easily. "You look at him just like you used to look at me." He conveyed solemnly. "What happened to us Kid?" He implored.
"I don't want to talk about this again Warren." Camilla admonished. "I owe you a lot; I thank you for helping me when I had no one else. I'm your sidekick, but that's it."
"It's him. Like he hasn't taken enough from me." Might Guy growled.
Camilla hit the stop button on the treadmill and turned to Might Guy, placing a hand on his bare chest. "Warren, you know we talked about this before Jam got here. He isn't responsible for the things that happened in the past and he's not responsible for us not being a thing." She cradled his face in her hand and he leaned into the touch. "You're a good guy, don't ruin that by drowning in hatred. You're Might Guy, you are always going to be one of the greatest heroes Arcturus has ever known. Let Jam go, let him be a hero and fix his mistakes. Be the bigger person."
Might Guy grabbed her hand in his pulling it from his face. "Some mistakes can't be fixed."
Interrupting the scene a loud alarm blared, the lights dimming as a red light flashed.
"Hero in danger, any healers on site please report to the med lab."
Might Guy and Camilla quickly sprinted into action when the alarm first started. Might Guy flew through the door, nearly toppling Jam over in the process. Camilla only spared Jam a passing glance as she followed Might Guy. Jam decided to follow them.
Minutes later, Jam entered the med lab to find Arcturian and a couple of other heroes he hadn't seen before crowded around a hospital bed blocking his view.
"Where are the healers?" Arcturian urged.
"We don't have any on site right now. >tch< They're all out on missions with their teams. >tch< Voodoo Priestess and Universa are nowhere to be found. >tch<" The man told Arcturian, making a sound that sounded like a typewriter reseting itself after every sentence.
[ Skill Used: Analyze+ Lvl 10 - Successful ]
{ Character Type: NPC
Name: Rex
Alias: GearFreak
Race Umparan (Cyborg)
Alignment: Good
HP: 600/750
MP: N/A
SP: 550/600
Powers:
Cybernetic Enhancement
Technopathy }
"Don't you have any machines that can heal him?"
"No. >tch< I can't identify the problem. >tch< The machines won't heal him fast enough. >tch< That was the whole point of having healers. >tch<."
Jam moved closer to see what they were talking about. When he could get through, he saw LionHead laid on the table, his chest rising and falling quickly. He was covered in scratches and scars, his grey costume, that resembled a military combat uniform, was nearly shredded. The HP bar over his head was dropping quickly as well. Above the HP bar was a small purple box with green lines in it.
Hmm.
[ Skill Used: Analyze+ Lvl 10 - Successful ]
{ Character Type: NPC
Name: Malachi
Alias: LionHead
Race: Lion Beast
Alignment: Good
HP: 150/4000
MP: N/A
SP: 100/6000
Status Effect: Poisoned. -1 HP per Minute
Poison Type: Quickfang. }
Quickfang, that's Tigerstripe's poison. He doesn't have long.
"I may be able to help." Jam pushed through to the bed but before he could get to LionHead, Might Guy grabbed him by the throat again and pushed him against the wall.
"Don't touch him." Might Guy hissed, a red glow appearing behind the sunglasses.
Not this shit again.
Jam's hands were grabbing the hand around his throat.
[ Skill Used: Calming Touch Lvl 10 - Failure ]
"Warren, stop." Camilla ordered.
"Might, let him go." Arcturian requested.
"I don't trust him."
"Are you (. .) really willing to let LionHead die (. . .) over a grudge?" Jam managed to squeak out in between gasps.
"You've had no problem with letting people die in the past. What do you care?"
Fuck this.
Jam took a hand off of Might Guy's arm and put it toward his chin.
"Air shot: rapid fire!" He casted, and shot after shot of condensed air blew from his hand. The attack knocked directly into Might Guy's face over and over again. The attack, that at first just an annoyance, began to do more damage over time as Jam used his vertigo inducement to throw him off. It knocked Might Guy's head to the side, knocking his sunglasses off and dazing him for a moment. While Might Guy was off balance, Jam then, using the wall as an anchor, pushed all of his weight into planting both feet into Might Guy's chest. The force of the attack push Might Guy off far enough that Jam dropped to the ground. When Might Guy turned back to look at him, Jam could see that his eyes were bloodshot, his pupils were so constricted they barely looked there, and his pupils had gone from blue to a yellowish color. Might Guy's attempt to stalk back up to Jam was thwarted when Arcturian and Camilla stepped between them.
"Move." Might growled.
"Calm down Might." Arcturian urged.
"Move." He repeated nearly shouting.
"We have no one else here to help. Either you can leave or you can explain to the rest of the HoD why you let LionHead die." Camilla said.
Might Guy looked down at her and then to the bed LionHead was in, clearly in pain. He turned and flew out of the room. Arcturian and Camilla breathed a sigh of relief in unison. GearFreak hesitantly moved toward Jam to help him up.
"If you don't mind. >tch< He could use the help. >tch<" GearFreak pleaded.
"I'll go talk to him." Camilla sighed.
"Thank you." Arcturian said to her retreating form.
Jam made his way back to the bed. If LionHead didn't have such high HP, he'd be dead already.
"Purify" He casted.
[ Status Alleviated: Poisoned - You have cured LionHead of the Quickfang poison ]
Jam looked at the HP bar again but it was still dropping and the poison status had returned.
Think Jam think.
"Help me move him. I need to check his fur." Jam commanded.
Without complaint, the others in the room lifted LionHead and laid him on his side.
"Run a scan, see if you see anything that could be poisoning him."
"Got it." Audrey answered.
A small blue circle appeared on LionHead's back. Jam ran his fingers through the fur there and came across a hard object. LionHead's body twitched when he touched it.
Safe to pull out or will he bleed out?
Jam inhaled deep and then breathed out before snatching the object out of LionHead's back. Blood began to leak out quickly but it wasn't a heavy flow. The object appeared to be one of the iron claws that Tigerstripe wears over her claws. Jam stuck a finger into the wound to see if there were any particles left.
"Purify!" Jam casted again.
[ Status Alleviated: Poisoned - You have cured LionHead of the Quickfang poison ]
This time the poison status didn't return. Jam put his hands around the still bleeding wound.
[ Skill Used: Heal Lvl 10 - Successful ]
The wound slowly began to close and the HP went up a fraction. Jam could only do 200 points of HP with Heal Lvl 10 which was only 5% of LionHead's total HP. Still the wound closed and a couple of the scratches closed and fresher scars disappeared.
"Wow." Arcturian remarked.
"He should be ok now, but he'll need rest. His HP is still really low."
"HP? >tch<" GearFreak inquired.
"Health points. It's hard to explain, basically how much life energy you have left."
"Is that how you healed his scars as well?" Arcturian asked.
"Not exactly. I don't think scars drop your HP. I know in most games, if you heal naturally, then you'll get scars. This is the first time I've seen heal also repair scars."
"Can you do it again?"
"Not for another 15 minutes. It has an 18 minute cooldown time." Jam explained.
"Interesting. What about that magic spell?"
"It takes a lot of mana, so I can't do it too much either, but most weaker poisons and burns I can fix with it."
"I've never heard of anyone casting with a single word. I don't know that much about magic but I've seen my fair sure of casters."
"It's a specialty thing. I can't really explain."
"I understand. I don't mean to interrogate, just quite interested."
"I get it big guy. No worries."
After 15 minutes had passed Jam healed LionHead again. The rest of the scratches healed but the older scars remained. His SP rose some as well, then it continued to rise but more slowly.
"He's out of the woods now. With time he should be fine."
"Good. >tch< We can't thank you enough. >tch<"
"He fought Tigerstripe again." Jam stated.
"He does this a lot. >tch< Disappears for weeks on end, hunting her. >tch< Every time he comes back beaten up but this is the first time in a long time he was in such dire straits. >tch<"
"We'd have lost him without you." Arcturian thanked him.
"Just glad I could be of service."
Level Up
Congratulations! You've reached Level 11.
+1 Heroism Point Rewarded
All attributes recieved +2 points.
All currently known skils gain one level per level up until maxed out at current player level.
"I leveled up? Why?" Jam sent Audrey.
"You helped someone. You saved an actual person's life. You get exp for that. You'll get even more in the future if your alignment changes and you save heroes. Remember support class heroes had to level up as well." Audrey explained.
"Oh, right. I've never played a support class but that makes sense."
Moments later, LionHead's eyes eased opened. Then he popped up, his fangs bared, ready to fight. Jam's hand quickly returned to LionHead, grabbing his shoulder.
[ Skill Used: Calming Touch Lvl 11 - Successful ]
LionHead breathed an exhale as his eyes closed. He calmed and laid back against the bed, but only momentarily. He seemed to get agitated as he let out small growls and roars.
GearFreak's brow furrowed. "What's wrong Kai? >tch<"
LionHead tapped the side of his head and GearFreak checked the fur there.
GearFreak gasped. "His implant; it's been ripped out. >tch< The healing closed the wound as well. >tch< He can't speak."