THE NEW GODS | developing

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE

NOELLE felt a mangled combination of both pride and discomfort as she manoevered her way through the Bluebird Academy battle arena in her brand new kevlar super-suit, or as the non-supers would call it; costume.

Her order had come in this morning just in time for their next team mission, and she couldn't have been more psyched to try it on the moment she saw the black stretch material lined with purple leather just as she requested hung up in her closet.

Alas, she hadn't dared to imagine how uncomfortably sticky the leather parts of the suit would be to her skin, especially after hours and hours of moving and hoping around in her other combat classes.

It wasn't exactly the most ideal situation, but Noelle just shrugged it off. She figured she'd get used to it over time.

You know what they say about pain and beauty, she thought to herself when she finally reached the hydration station, where a table topped with water and other refreshments was situated.

With a long, deep sigh, she shrugged her mask off of her face.

There wasn't much to it. It was just a black band that traced around her eyes for protection and that was it.

It was now drenched in sweat, of course, but Noelle was gleeful nevertheless.

There was nothing that could take away from this moment, from the sensation of the wind whipping her hair as she did all sorts of flips, tricks and kicks in the air.

She felt like a real superhero, this was her greatest wish since she was a child and she could not believe that she was so close to bringing it to fruition.

Nothing in that moment could bring her down.

"Looking good, Ashcroft... real good." Except maybe the grating tones of Felix Khan's ever so unpleasant voice.

She rolled her eyes, grinding her teeth in the process as she swirled around to face the menace himself.

As much as she wouldn't admit it, Felix had knocked it out the park on his costume, which was navy blue in colour and littered in several sparkling stars like the night sky, they weren't too bright or obvious and if you weren't inspecting it hard enough, you wouldn't have noticed the subtle yet shockingly majestic detail.

It fit his body perfectly, Noelle noticed as she continued to inspect him. Her eyes poured over his close-set brown eyes all the way up to his unruly, thick jet black hair.

"Where's your friend?" Noelle asked, flashing back to the stern talking to she'd given Seth Grayson about participating in team events yesterday.

"Don't start frothing at the mouth just yet, I'm right here." Noelle leapt at the sound of Seth's smoky yet disembodied voice, her heart beating against her chest as she worked to calm herself down.

Seth was behind her, attempting to hold back a satisfied smirk at her reaction to him. "Thought you weren't afraid of me."

Something about the smugness of his tone made Noelle want to wring his neck and wipe it off, but she shoved that thought to the back of her mind as she focused her attention back on him.