What's A Way To Just Be Competent?

Earlier that morning:

The door closed behind the girls as they walked into the middle of the gymnasium.

“You gonna be alright, Akilah?” Jason turned towards the girl. She was still covered in sweat.

“Yeah. Amora and Vida wanted to train, too. We’ve gotta get ready for the mission coming up.” Akilah nodded.

Jason chuckled, “I like the enthusiasm!” He chugged the rest of his water, crumpling the bottle with one hand.

“So, what should we do?” Vida asked. She had rushed in on the excitement of training without thinking of what she should practice.

“I’ll continue with Akilah. I’d like it if you could help Amora get that ability down, the one she used on Chase during their sparring match. I’m sure you can help, Vida. You’ve grown a lot.” Jason nodded.

Vida’s eyes lit up.

“I’ve grown?! Wait, I have!” Vida thought. Her confidence grew tenfold in the moment.

Amora, on the other hand, grew nervous. She had tried to forget about that ability entirely, ever since her failed attempt during their last mission.

“The last time I tried it… It almost cost Slim’s life.” Amora thought. She hated how it had affected her boyfriend as well, and so her stomach twisted at the thought of trying it again.

Jason noticed Amora’s expression. He swung his wooden sword onto his shoulder as he began to talk.

“Right now, your abilities might be tied to how you’re feeling at the moment. That’s alright, for a beginner. But real users are able to control those emotions. They can get their anger, their fear, their worry, and channel it. That’s what I’d like for you.” Jason pointed at Amora.

Jason’s words didn’t comfort Amora, but they did allow her to understand. She nodded, a little less weak than before.

“Alright, you two on that side of the gym. Me and Akilah will spar here.” Jason twirled his sword around in one hand.

Amora and Vida jogged over to the other side of the gymnasium.

“So, how are we gonna do this?” Amora asked nervously.

Vida thought to herself, trying to remember how she practiced a new ability.

“Well, I usually try to remember how I felt before I first used the ability. Do you remember any kind of feeling? Something that felt special or different?” Vida asked.

Amora looked off into the distance as her thoughts consumed her.

“I do remember. I remember feeling useless. I remember spiraling.” Amora thought. Instead of saying that out loud, she nodded.

Vida noticed her friend’s apprehension, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s… That time I used that ability. I wasn’t feeling that good. I don’t know if I can do that again.” Amora hung her head low.

Suddenly, she felt Vida’s hand on her shoulder.

“It’ll be alright. That’s what Jason was trying to tell you. We can make sure you learn that ability without those feelings.” Vida smiled.

Amora nodded, this time a little stronger than before. Her eyes were more focused than before, with less of that far off look.

“Alright, then do you remember how it felt the moment it happened? Physically.” Vida sat down on the floor of the gym, fixing her long floral skirt.

“Well, it felt like something was building up. And then, it was all released.” Amora explained. Vida listened carefully.

“Okay, then let’s try starting with that-” Vida was interrupted by a noise from behind.

“Again!” Akilah exclaimed. She held her sword in front of her, an intense look on her face.

“Always hold it firmly, remember?” Jason pointed his wooden sword at her.

Akilah charged again, this time taking in every small gesture Jason took.

A step right.

Akilah swung from the left.

Jason dodged the attack, retaliating with his own. He swung his wooden sword at Akilah’s neck, stopping right before it touched her.

“Good! You predicted my movement. Let’s try again.” Jason stepped back.

Akilah took slow steps towards her opponent. She activated her Mode, something she hadn’t thought to do yet. She’d been too scared of holding the sword to focus on her Mode at the same time, but now she was comfortable enough to try it.

“She got the idea. Her Mode is useful in close combat.” Jason thought. “But can she put it to good use?”

Jason channeled his Spirit into his left shoulder. Akilah immediately noticed, swinging from the right to catch him off guard.

“Gotcha-” Akilah felt her feet wisp off the floor.

Jason had caught her with a leg sweep. The girl caught herself before she slammed into the wooden floor of the gymnasium.

“Don’t get caught in tunnel vision. Remember, Spirit-users adapt easily. Once they find out you can track Spirit, they’ll change their gameplan.” Jason explained.

“Again!” Akilah stood up, grasping her sword in front of her.

“If he’s trying to bluff, then I’ll just focus my Spirit into my prefrontal cortex. He won’t be able to trick me, then.” Akilah reasoned. Her eyes glowed purple through her glasses as she activated her Mode.

“Woah, Akilah’s really serious about this, huh?” Amora asked.

The two girls had been staring at the sword sparring happening from across the gymnasium.

“We should get serious too!” Vida seemed to have gotten inspiration while watching Akilah and Jason.

Amora nodded, Vida’s energy hyping her up as well.

“So, just close your eyes, focus your Spirit into your hands, and remember how it felt to release that ability.” Vida closed her eyes as well.

The both of them now sat in a meditative position, facing each other as they focused Spirit into their hands.

Amora focused her whole being into releasing that moment. The tightening of her chest, how her teeth gritted, the wave of Spirit she felt rushing through her body, she tried to recall it all.

After about two minutes of silent meditation, Vida opened her eyes. Amora was still as focused as she was at the start.

Amora could feel her Spirit rushing through her. It scared her.

“Alright, now you put all of those feelings together and try to activate it.” Vida’s words made Amora open her eyes and nod.

“Three, two, one, go!” Vida exclaimed.

A flash of red light shot from Amora, spreading out in all directions. She could see broken shards of glass in the burst of light, a red tint of the shards of glass in Amora’s healing light.

“Nice-” Vida passed out in an instant, slumping forward.

“Vida?” Amora caught her. She tried not to panic, this had happened before, after all.

Vida opened her eyes. She was in the middle of a street. The moon loomed over her like a watchful eye.

“Where am I?” Vida rubbed her eyes. She felt something hot land on her neck, startling her. She turned around to see a house consumed by flames. The girl stepped back, filled with horror.

“It’s… It’s the Frewins' house.” Vida muttered under her breath.

The Frewin’s residence collapsed into burning rubble. The building she had called home for twelve years of her life, gone in an instant.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Officer 1060 get into his car and drive off, the red and blue lights of his cruiser cutting through the dark silence of the night.

She could feel a pit growing in her chest. The sadness, fear, and anger of the moments after losing the Frewins rushed back to her.

“What’s going on?!” Vida looked around for a sign, a sign of something real. This had to be a dream.

“Vida… Vida, are you okay?” Amora’s voice echoed from a distance.

Suddenly, she was back in the gymnasium. Amora kneeled over her, shaking her awake. It was obvious Amora was holding back tears, trying to stay calm.

“Was… Was that your ability?” Vida asked weakly. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes as they got used to the bright light of the gymnasium.

She noticed something dripping down her lip. Vida put her finger to it, touching the blood running from her nose. The taste of iron woke her up faster than the gym lights.

“Y- yeah. I’m sorry.” Amora held her head low, ashamed. She held out a handkerchief for Vida to use.

Vida wiped her nose clean before seeing Amora’s ashamed look.

“What? No! We got it! We got your ability down!” Vida’s excitement had returned. She rushed in to hug Amora, her arms wrapping around the quiet girl.

Quickly, Vida’s excitement rubbed off on Amora.

“Yay!” Amora exclaimed, returning the hug.

Even though Vida was excited, a feeling of confusion crept in from the back of her mind.

“Why… Why that moment? Why use my own memories?” Vida asked herself. The nature of Amora’s ability was just as confusing as the first time she used it.

“Looks like they’ve got it down. Good for them.” Jason thought. He looked back at his opponent, her eyes glowing purple through her glasses.

Akilah charged, keeping her sword low. She began to see the strong images of Jason’s next move. She smirked to herself with a renewed confidence.

The girl dodged Jason’s first attack, jumping back to avoid the low swing.

Jason recovered quickly, going for a jab to the midsection.

Akilah stepped to the side with ample time to react.

She lifted her sword up, ready to bring it down on Jason. She hesitated, noticing he was going to block it.

Akilah brought it down around his block, curving it towards Jason’s midsection.

It landed.

Jason jumped back. He chuckled at the realization, “Oh my god, you did it!”

Akilah froze for a second. She stood in disbelief.

“I did it?” Akilah pointed to herself.

After a moment of silence, she grinned, “I did it!”

“I thought a week was going to be a time crunch, but this girl managed to get it done in a day. She’s even better than I thought she was.” Jason thought.

Boom.

A low rumbling sound echoed through the building. The gymnasium went silent as they tried to reason what that could be.

“Did that come from the second building?” Jason asked himself.

“Let me go check that out. I’ll be right back.” Jason dropped his wooden sword, making his way out of the gym.

His face was riddled with confusion and worry.