Powered Individuals

Chapter 8 - We Dont Get Along

I hate telekinetics.

I entered the training room for our afternoon session and was met with a crate flying at my face. I ducked just in time and looked over to see Tristan and another guy with messy brown hair arguing while Ruby sharpened a knife.

Every so often another object in the room would start to levitate and either explode against a wall or explode in its spot. I quickly made my way over to Tristan and the instigator just in time to stop the other guy from flinging a dangerous array of weapons at Tristan.

"What are you, children?" I yelled at them. Ruby raised her head once to acknowledge me but then she went back to her knife. "Either get your shit together or leave. I'm not working with two testosterone-ridden boys that won't stop attacking each other."

Tristan still glared at the boy but he backed down. I then assumed that the other boy was Sebastian, Tristan's somewhat rival. I turned to him and held out a hand for him to shake.

"Zoe Watts, the unfortunate person who has to work with these two numbskulls," I introduced. He took my hand and gave it a firm shake, brown eyes glinting behind his glasses.

"Sebastian Stout, nice to meet you."

I nodded and ordered him to get to work. Sebastian cleared his throat and began the session.

"Alright. Welcome to Training Room M, otherwise known as Training Room Mentis. That's me, if you didn't already know. I specialize in telekinesis and mind tricks. Now, in order to have a proper training session, I expect you all to be on your very best behavior and show me some respect," Sebastian aimed the last sentence at Tristan and I saw him clench his fist. Before anything got out of hand, Sebastian continued.

"Okay, so we'll be starting with reflexes. In the field, you have to be on your feet at all times. This makes you a better strategist and also very good at staying attentive toward your opponent." Sebastian abruptly flung a small plank of wood at us. Poor Tristan wasn't paying enough attention and got smacked in the face.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Tristan roared. Sebastian shrugged.

"You weren't fast enough. Looks like you'll have to pay more attention, Blanchard."

Tristan was about to run at him but obviously thought better. This other kid had telekinetic powers and could easily outdo him. It was like a measly droid going up against Darth Vader. It wasn't gonna end well.

"Exhibit A," Seb nodded at Tristan who was still holding his cheek where he had gotten hit. "That could have been a knife. Or maybe even a bullet. You could be dead. Now, as I was saying, the key is to think on your feet and open up all of your senses."

Because I was looking at Sebastian allowed me to see the next attack incoming, but for those of us who were not... Well, they wouldn't have been too lucky. Silently, Sebastian raised two knives from the weapon stash behind us as he was talking and aimed them toward Ruby. In a second they were whizzing through the air. Of all things, I think the knives were more caught off guard than their target.

In a flash, Ruby was up and deflecting the knives. I watched as she batted them out of the air with her own knife, catching one of the airborne ones and zipping forward with such grace and lightness I thought she had flown. She ended up with one knife at Sebastian's neck and the other pointed at the base of his spine. She was so fast that there was a second to spare before the other flying knife stuck itself into the padded floor of the training room. Everything was silent except for Ruby's calm breathing as she kept menacing eye contact with an unflinching Sebastian.

"Do that again and you won't live to fling another crate," Ruby said harshly. Sebastian just raised an eyebrow and she backed off.

We carried on with the beginning lecture, and then it was our turn. Sebastian elected Tristan to go first in the evasiveness challenge. I was more than happy to go second because I would rather have Tristan make a fool of himself first.