certified insanity // henry creel x reader

COMBAT

TW: violence and gore 

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"In this exercise we will be practicing hand to hand combat," Brenner stands in front of everyone, hands behind his back. He paces down the line of subjects, making direct eye contact with each and every one of us. "To make this even more challenging for all of you—you will be blind-folded so you cannot see your opponent." 

A couple of whispers break out from the higher end of the line. Eleven glances at me, and it is most obvious she is scared. She does not say a word, as usual, but puts on her most determined face, turning her attention to Brenner again. 

"The person who surrenders first, or is rendered unable to continue will lose. At any point you feel it is too difficult to continue you may press the red button on your wristband." One of the nurses begins to hand out wristbands down the line. "This exercise is meant to test your strength, endurance, and durability." Brenner inhales deeply. "Now. Any volunteers?" 

Two steps forward almost immediately. He is blindfolded, and sent to the middle of the room, where one of the nurses steps into the center in front of him. The male nurse who stands in front of Two is much bigger than him, but he bears no weapons. And as far as I know, he doesn't have powers. 

"Begin." 

It's like watching an animated fight scene from a movie. Two moves firsts, lashing out in front of him to try and find his opponent. The nurse sidesteps, sweeping his unbalanced feet in an easy motion. Two lands hard on his ass, wincing, but standing up. He looks angry. 

Eleven and I exchange glances. 

Two sends out bolts of his powers randomly into the room, sending waves of energy around the small room. They bounce of the walls, and a gust of wind blows my hair back. The nurse advances in front of him, throwing punches that land with dead accuracy. Two struggles to keep up, managing to land one hit with his powers. The nurse is blown backwards, and Two finally seems to become aware of his surroundings. He tosses the nurse in the air, lifting his head and then dropping him on the ground where he moves no more. 

This—as I expected, is one of the only successful matches. Three wins against one of the smaller male nurses. Four loses to the female nurse I encountered in the hallway. Five loses as well to the nurse who was friends with Nolan. Six wins. Seven loses. I have never met Eight, so I assume they either died, or simply ceased to exist, just like Number One. Nine loses. Ten loses. 

Eleven steps forward to meet her opponent. Her breathing sound shallow and her head turns quickly at every sound. The blindfold is tied tightly around her head. One of the smaller female nurses stands to meet her. 

"Begin." 

Brenner stands on the side, coldly watching with light dismay, clipboard in hand. Eleven holds her hands out in front of her like a feeble shield. She stumbles back as the nurse lands a blow on her stomach. El squeezes her fists together, making the nurse slide back a couple of spots. The fight does not last long. Though El has potential, she has not quite mastered her powers like some of the others have. 

There is a long line of subjects standing by the door, looking either injured and defeated, or unharmed and victorious. 

"Twelve," Brenner orders. A nurse steps behind me to do my blindfold. "I believe your match will be the most interesting so far." His eyes glint, and that is the last thing I see before my face is covered in darkness. They didn't bother to put my sunglasses on for this. 

I can only hear the breathing of the subjects behind me, walking towards the center of the room. 

"Begin." 

Someone else is standing in front of me, but I can only see their outline. They walk towards me, seemingly hesitating. Either that or they're just lazy. 

"Begin." Brenner's sharp tone says. 

I cannot find any emotion to use; this is one of the many moments when I wish I had telekinesis. The person reaches out to grab my shoulder and I slide behind them, lifting my leg to kick them in the side. 

Unfortunately, I am swept to the floor, unbalanced on one leg. The floor hits my back with exceeding force and I catch the outline of them hovering over me. A glimmer of emotion seeps into my mind. It's...hard to place. I focus on it, tearing it out of whoever is in front of me. 

Then the person gasps. I know who it is. 

"Of course he would do this," I scoff under my breath. I send the emotion flying back at the person in the form of energy, but they do not even move. Fear from the other subjects allows me to gain a tiny bit more power but it doesn't seem like it would be enough. 

I land on the ground again, the breath knocked out of me. Whoever it is--though I think I know because I'm not stupid---hovers over me, whispering something. "Are you trying to lose on purpose?" 

I grit my teeth as his fingers trail over the side of my face. Mocking me. I toss him backwards using the emotion from the subjects standing by the door. Peter skids to a stop on the cold floor, and I can hear his shoes walking back towards me. I pull whatever emotion I can find in his hollow chest, twisting it around my finger like cotton candy. 

"Sorry," I mutter as he kneels on the ground in front of me. On his knees, where he belongs. 

"Stop." Brenner orders. "Good." 

The lesson is over. I pull my blindfold off, to see Peter smirking up at me. "Testing is over. You may now go to the Rainbow Room. Twelve, you and Peter have another session starting now. Room 1 is free for your usage." 

"How was that, Peter?" I ask when everyone leaves the room. "Enjoy being on your knees?" 

He smirks, wiping a stray drop of blood off of my cheek. "I enjoyed it better when you called me by my real name."