Powers Ch. 04

Hello, welcome to Powers 4. Like always I want to thank my editor Valphund. He's the reason this is readable. I'm a chronic re-writer though so this version you're about to see isn't the same version he worked on.

Vocabulary section:

Powers: Ability to turn emotion into energy, also used to refer to this stories "magicians".

Battery: Can give/steal energy to/from others.

Manipulator: Can turn energy into mass.

Shield: All around protection against forces trying to hurt you.

Glove: A tougher shield around your hands.

Popp: Crushing a shield.

Hope you enjoy it.

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Em turned off the TV, turned to me and prepared to say something. Oh, fudge! She was looking for words. Oh, fudgeifudge! Something was wrong. Had I been abusing her kindness?

"What wrong? Just out with it!"

"I was just thinking, we've got a spot left open for the first years survival trip."

"And?" What was she trying to say? Wait -- What happened to the person that filled my spot? They've been fighting, so they must have found someone. I should have a better grasp of what happens around me. Fudge. It's true, I'm too self centered.

"Maybe you would want to join us for the trip? With all of us together we're sure to win, and I promise Jenny will behave herself. You won't have to spend much time with her, at all."

Was that it? No, there had to be more. What is she trying to say?

"Of course I would love to join you. I'm over Jenny. It's been three months. I'm good."

Em sighed and cuddled in closer.

"This is going to be so easy. We'll crush the record and be home in a week, tops. No one can stand in front of our might."

We talked about nothing, and everything, until the middle of the night. For the first time in a long while I felt okay. This was going to be good. I had lost my Rank, but I trusted Em and she said I would get it back. She knew these kind of things.

***

It was like the universe heard me and it said, 'No! You don't get to be happy, you don't get to fulfill your goals.' It felt like ¨the universe¨ was against me. It was more 'one angry principal' but the hate came from everywhere, so it was ¨the universe¨.

The next day there was a special announcement.

"Since Malgaverius Hansson abused the system the administration has decided to implement a new rule. You may no longer team up with anyone with a hundred less rating than you in a duo and there may not be more than two hundred rating difference between teammates in the team event."

In the split of a second I went from a decently liked guy to the most hated on campus. The rule didn't hit the top teams very much, at the top even the Batteries had to fight, but almost all the other teams lost their Batteries and half the duos were now illegal.

When I got out of class there were already a thousand hate messages on Bookface. I read a couple and then closed my account. What really hurt were the several half accusing texts from acquaintances. My information must have leaked on the internet since a couple of minutes later there came in rage filled texts from random numbers.

Hateful eyes followed me everywhere I went. No one said anything to my face. I was one of the 10-20 best fighters here and, as a Red, people were scared I would snap or expecting it. There was nothing I could do but turn off my phone and go home.

I did sit-ups in front of my TV, working away the nervous energy, and my routine kept me going. At lunch time I made my chicken with pasta and then packed a bag and went to the gym.

None of my pupils were there when I arrived to our room so I warmed up on the bags.

No one showed up in the next ten minutes and the dread reared its ugly head, they weren't coming. I was poison. I took a seat to gather my breath. I had finally found a place where I fit, a role I was comfortable with, and people I cared about. Now I was alone again and it stung.

The motion sensor clicked off and the dark enveloped me. It fit my mood.

Two and a half hours later the lights flicked on, followed by a shocked gasp. Same five girls, a totally different reason to gasp. I rubbed the tears out of my eyes and got up. The camera sound hit me as several phones snapped pictures. I took my stuff and got out of there.

***

Em was sitting outside my door, it's always Em, the only person I really wanted to see. She looked up from her phone as I walked down the hall. There was a sign of relief on her face. She jumped up and then barreled into my chest.

"You made me worry!" She yelled as she hugged me tight. I held her close and the sweet smell of her shampoo hit my face. Always Em, my rock. I let go of the mask, my perceived strength. I was safe with my rock and not hated for something I had no control over.

So many slurs had been slung in my face on the way home. Some of them were comical, faggot and the n word? I was white as a ghost and straight as an arrow, I could laugh those off. The others hurt a little, newbie, idiot, American loser. What really was a searing pike of pain was the cheater comments. I had fought fair and square for every rating I got. My ¨abuse¨ had even cost me rating since I gained nothing from winning against people so far below me and lost a lot when the team lost.

Em took my keys and led me to bed. We cuddled up with ice cream and watched a movie. My heart wasn't in the film, but it was nice to have someone there.

This was all deliberate. I had pissed someone powerful off and this was their revenge. Who the fudge was the person in the suit?

"Mom says strength rules supreme, they can talk all they want but you'll shut them up in the ring. Don't let them know they can hurt you and they'll stop. Take the pain, the suffering, and you let it fuel your anger, don't let it paralyze you, keep moving forward."

"Your mom never says more than three words." I paused for a bit. "I was planning on training to fight multiple opponents this month. That won't be possible anymore."

"So make a new plan. Whatever you need I'm here for you."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"So if I said I needed a blow job right now?"

"I would smack you and call mom. She would love some practice time with you."

"How about a quick glance at your sexy boobs? That should last me a while." Her eyes flared up in that half amused half angry stage.

"And here I was worried about you."

I hugged her close and held her tight. "Thank you so much, you're my rock." I took her arms and held her at an arm's reach. She looked devastated, her eyes were filled with tears threatening to spill over. "There's something you could help me with, training wise. I need a guinea pig for my Battery training."

She sniffled, dried her eyes and said, "Of course."

***

The next day I went exploring. People crossed the street as they saw me coming. Most let me be, but there still was anger bubbling under the surface.

In the afternoon I found what I was looking for. In the third basement of the old training hall there was a room. A small dusty room with only a single bag, but it was good enough for me, and no one ever came down here, so I cleaned it up and I trained.

That night I tried for hours to power up Em. It was really hard for me to let go of my control over my energy. I was much better at stealing her energy.

Over the course of that month it got easier though, and I could power her up about 25%, which was decent for a newbie Battery but not good enough to be a Battery for a real team.

The real progress was my increased speed at stealing energy and I could probably use it in fights. Since my rank dropped after losing to an 1800 team last week I didn't get the maximum of free wins and needed to win seven fights to make the cut off.

***

My first five games were pretty standard. Then there was time for the octagon, and when I walked into it the whole audience booed as one.

The man in the suit waited for me. My anger ignited and everything slowed down. He checked his nails and flicked a finger at me.

"You haven't learnt your lesson?"

"Listen to them and you can see why I'm a bit pissed of. You made a stupid rule and blamed me. I followed the fucking rules and didn't abuse anything."

"You farmed Popps and you didn't care how it hurt others. That's abuse. You might be too stupid to care but I'm not. Now, why are you still here?"

"I haven't lost yet, I'm fighting until that happens."

"No, why are you still in school? You train by yourself and you fight by yourself. Listen to the audience. No one wants you here. Thus, why are you still here?"

Em's smile flashed before my eyes.

"I like winning."

"It's all you can do. A year trained by the best of the best and you're a thug that can't control his feelings. A Normal will mention your family, you'll break their jaw and the Rebels will take care of you." He walked off the stage before turning around, "You're a waste of resources."

***

There were wild cheers as team Asian chick three, Mai, walked up on the stage. Her black hair was set up in a pony tail. I got an urge to grab her by it and pull her around the stage.

As soon as she walked up to her mark I charged in. We met in the middle. Her Power was strong and she lifted me, even though I was twice her weight. My upper body was behind her back and my arms went down around her waist. I used my full weight to push her down but she won't budge. Fudge she was strong.

I steal her energy and she tried to grip my legs, but I kept them away from her. In desperation she tried to throw me. Butterflies went through stomach as she lifted me up and tried to throw me on the ground, but my arms held on strong. Finally she dropped us both down on the mat. She ended up taking the brunt of the force though, and with the power I had stolen from her we were about equal in Power, meaning I had the advantage.

She tried to get a lock on me, but this was what I spent the last half year of high school training for. So we struggled on. She was also highly trained and slippery as a well oiled pig. Her face got redder and redder. She was struggling to breathe.

There were loud boos as I finally got up in mount position and could start raining down blows on top of her.

She kept her guard up and several times she almost caught me for a great reversal, but eventually her shield broke and I had her.

I gave back her energy as the doc came up to check on her. She was fine and eager for set two.

Set one hadn't cost me anything and she was run ragged. Stealing energy was a great way to fight many opponents in a row.

I took my mark and, when the clock rang, we both shot towards the middle again. This time she went even lower, so I couldn't hit her but she could drive into my legs.

I jumped up and rolled over her and she tackled air. I was faster on the turn since my momentum was eaten by the roll. She kept running all the way to the wall and I was hunting her. Then she did a move so fancy I stopped for a second in complete shock. She kept running, up the fence.

She ran two segments of the octagon without touching the ground. She did a flip and her smile said it all as she landed. She had been in a bad position, but that was just crazy.

With that move I was the one backed up against a wall. This was bad. She quickly closed in and I tried to find a solution. Then she charged and habit kicked in. She received the knee to the face with her arm guard and my back hit the wall hard. The air shot out of my lungs.

'You have to breathe to fight.' Abigail scolded me so many times.

I didn't go down, and all of a sudden we were back where we started. Her arms around my waist and mine around hers. I desperately sucked in air as I reached out and stole her energy.

She lifted me up over her head again. I tried to knee her in the face but there was no strength behind it so she shrugged it off.

This time I landed below her and her elbow to the stomach hurt. I got my guard up and she pounded down on me. I kept stealing her energy and her shield popped before mine. A quick wave with my foot was enough to set off her protective suit and I was the winner.

I wasn't in shape to fight my next match. I had taken several heavy hits from one of the most powerful fighters in school.

That night there was history in the making though. Me and Em laid in my bed eating ice cream as all of top ten were challenged by their team mates and conceded, leaving everything in an uproar.

The new rule had screwed the fights more than my ¨abuse¨. Fuck the suit.

***

Early the next morning there was a loud banging on my door. I shambled my way out of bed and swung open the door. Then I got back into bed, that's how sure I was it was Em. It was quite the shock when another girl cleared her throat. Asia chick number two, also known as their main Battery, was staring at me.

The embarrassment hit. I slept in my boxers, but boy was there a tent. My morning boner was showing itself off.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else." I pulled my cover over me and covered up my happy fellow. There was only silence as she stared at where my erection was under the covers. "What do you want?"

"I need you for the duo." Her voice was cold snobby and her accent was English posh.

"Have one of your teammates help you."

"Can't, I'm only at a 2k rating and they are all 2.2k after last night." I just looked at her. "If I don't fight we will be more than two hundred points apart and won't be able to take back our team spot." I just kept looking at her. She wanted my help so she could beat up the brothers?

"Why would I help you?"

"I can help you. Mai said you fought like a Battery and I can teach you. I'm the best."

"Except for Grace and Trixy, both could teach me if I wanted to."

She snorted at me and then went, "They don't fight, they hide while others fight for them. I fight all the time and win. Kai and I are the best duo, or were until your stupid rule."

"Hey, don't put that rule on me. I just teamed up with some of my pupils to show them how to fight. The principal made the rule all on his own."

"Still your fault, take responsibility."

She was so cute with her eyebrows curled up in a frown and her hands gesturing wildly. Either my morning boner was lasting longer than normal or this was working for me.

"I don't think training is enough of a carrot for me, sorry." There was rage on her face. The heavy silence spread, I wasn't going to say anything. Then she switched to sadness, finally resignation.

"What do you want?"

"I don't know, what are you willing to give?"

"I'll blow you right now."

My erection liked the sound of that. I liked it, then my moral compass slammed into place and I was horrified with myself.

"No, no, no." She looked so hurt. Fuck. I had done it now. "Don't get me wrong, I would love a blowjob from you, but not as compensation. That would make you a whore, and I would hate myself for the rest of my life for hurting someone so beautiful."

I took a deep breath before I continued.

"I would love to fight with you, no matter what. I was curious to see what you would say. I'm rambling aren't I? You're very pretty, and it's an very enticing offer, but, no. Training with you would be great, but I'm going on the first years survival trip Monday and we have no idea what happens after that. I would love a date after I come back."

"If we get Ranked in duo you have a date." She walked up to me and we shook hands, then she reached forward, kissed me on the cheek and whispered, "All my dates end with a blowjob."

My happy fella liked the sound of that and bounced up as I was imagining her down on her knees in front of me. It was exciting.

Then she walked out. "What are you waiting for? We need to train." She popped in her head and winked at me, "Unless you need to take care of your hard problem, in that case I can wait."

***

I took a cold shower, and when I came back she was laying on my bed, her t-shirt scrunched up and the lower part of her bra was showing. She was teasing me and it was working, I needed another cold shower but we also needed to train.

I cleared my throat. "Could you turn around, please."

She held her hands over her eyes and I could see her peeking. Fine, if that was the way she wanted to play. I dropped my towel and she giggled. That's totally 100% great for the self esteem. A girl giggling at your erection. Oh well. It hasn't been my year.

I put on my comfy boxers, training gear and packed my bag.

***

It felt good to be back in the big training hall. People stared and whispered but no one was dumb enough to disturb team Asia, one of the kings of this school.

On the way over to the gym I looked up my teammate. Her name was Jeong Tae-Yeon. It sounded better in Korean, but damn, her parents hadn't thought about the English version of her name.

Her rating was 97 points below mine and I was the highest rated person she could team up with. All of a sudden the question: why me? Was answered. Together that would probably mean close to the maximum amount of free wins, and if we lost it would probably be against someone higher rated and that wouldn't cost her much.

We fought Kai, the Karateka, he was paired up with Mai, team Asia chick three. It was weird to fight with a Battery and trying to be a Battery myself. If we held hands the energy could flow between us to whoever needed it most. It was highly impractical since we had to touch, but it was fun to practice.

When lunch rolled around I was exhausted and hungry enough to eat a horse. Fighting a bag was a poor replacement of real sparring.

We walked to an Asian place for lunch. Kai rattled off something and in came five dishes. I tested the first one and there was fire in my mouth. They laughed their asses off as I was sweating bullets. I was dumb enough to believe when they said the second dish would help. I was even dumber when I trusted them and they said, "No, for real, the third dish will help." By the fourth dish I had wizened up.

Eventually Jeong took pity on me and ordered in a bowl of ice cream for me to get the hotness out of my mouth. Then came a very mild noodle dish and I ate until they had to roll me home.

Jeong then started my Battery training. She went through all the theory with me and I was actually happy we didn't have enough time. My head was exploding.

We got the eight free wins and only had seven matches to the cut off, since the amount of duos were drastically cut down, with one third sitting out this month's duo competition.

The first four matches Jeong powered me up and I went to town, feeding my feeling of invincibility. Then came the break for the octagon set up. I got my customary bananas.

If the crowd had been angry yesterday, then today they were furious as I walked up on stage. The boos were so loud it was hard to think. Thankfully our opponents walked in and the protections went up. It was a special feeling to stand surrounded by four thousand people that hated my guts.

My jaw hit the ground, Jarred and Grace stood on the other side. This was going to be easy.

The clock started and I sent my energy into Jeong. Then I slung her out towards Grace as Jarred charged for me.

He protected his face but that meant I could roll out. He closed in and I jabbed and kicked to keep him away. Then he charged again and I rolled but he predicted my roll and caught my leg. I kicked hard but he just laughed it off.

Jeong had dealt with Grace and ran back.

I kicked Jarred's knee and he lost his balance for a second. Jeong was good enough to capitalize and he went down while holding onto my foot, dragging me over the floor.

Jeong was on Jarred, but she wasn't used to ground fighting. Her punches hit the mat more than Jarred. So I pulled her off and stole back my energy. Then she charged me up and I finished Jarred before he could get up with a drop knee to the face.