A City of Secrets and Masks

-Twenty Two- Training

Three weeks passed much faster than anyone would have assumed. It didn't help that everyone was very busy- time flies when you've got things to do. 

Training started on the first day everyone was back and rested. Tommy desperately wanted to teach, but Phil sidelined him.

"Oh, come on!! I know how to fight without powers!!!" Tommy complained.

Phil just gave a small smile. "Techno's going to be the instructor for this combat class, Tommy."

Tommy paused. Phil could almost see the calculations going on in his head. "...Then what will you be doing, Phil?"

"I will be teaching the power-based combat lessons."

"...But everyone else knows how to fight with powers?"

Phil laughed. "Tommy. Everyone else does. But you don't!"

"Oh. OH!!!" Tommy laughed. "I get my formal training now, big man?"

Phil just nodded. "You're so excited over it, mate. Did you forget about how Tubbo's training went?"

Tommy may have forgotten how Tubbo's training went, but Phil was intent on jogging his memory. The training was harsher than it looked. Phil basically destroyed all of his old habits, which he didn't even realize were habits. Tommy and Phil worked together to figure out what habits Tommy had that were restricting his power and then tearing through them.

Using a power felt different than Tommy thought it would, too. It felt like a tug, directly in his chest. The feeling after use felt odd too. His hands felt tingly and oddly warm after he used them to channel his powers. It was odd, but not unpleasant.

He also didn't expect the exhaustion. The first night he'd used his powers, he'd passed out pretty soon after being put in his cell. This time, he had to put up with the exhaustion all day. He was worn down to the bone. Food made it a bit better, but other than that, it was just... there.

Powers were a lot harder than the others made them look.

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Tommy and Tubbo spent a lot of their free time sparring- no powers. It helped them both improve on their hand to hand combat. It started with just combat in their apartment, but soon Phil took notice of what they were doing and offered them the keys to the training space at the Hub.

They started with powers, but there was an incident. Tubbo's bees were told not to sting Tommy, just to annoy him.

The first fight went alright- both boys held back quite a bit.

In the second fight, Tommy tried out his powers. He sent out a bit of his power towards Tubbo. It was much harder to do in combat, but he managed to get it to work.

Tubbo froze and held a hand to his head. All of the bees paused, as well.

"Tommy... Tommy, I can't hear them!" Tubbo said, panicked. "I can't hear my bees!"

The bees had lost contact with their leader, but his panic spread through them. They swarmed together and finally decided Tommy was the best target.

Tommy panicked a bit at this and released his power. Tubbo looked up and gasped as he regained the ability to understand the bees.

"STOP!" he called out, just in time. The bees paused again and returned to him. They all fluttered around him and nuzzled his arms and legs, seemingly worried.

Both boys were out of breath. From panic or just from the effort, it was unclear "y'kay?" Tommy asked.

"m'fine. Break?" Tubbo responded.