Training Begins, Part II

Posted on Sat Sep 9th, 2023 @ 5:21pm by First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison & Private Mattias Tonelly & General Dyami Bentley (Tribal : Bent Leaf)

Mission: HYDRA: Another Head Rises
Location: Shaman's Cabin
Timeline: Present Day

A dark shadow passed over the trio as a storm cloud slipped by high in the atmosphere. The temperature dropped a bit as more of the sky was covered by clouds, a welcome relief in the Oklahoma sun, where even in the fall it could be quite hot during the day.

“That’s always been the rule, since you can break bones and act like you didn’t realize you were swinging that hard,” Bethany said, arching an eyebrow as her nano simply began to materialize, covering her light clothing, almost seeming to consume it. Within a few seconds she was Fractal, in her form-fitting sleek black armor, her mouth and nose covered. Her eyes weren’t swirling with rainbow light, as her actual powers weren’t active. “Now, this does kind of breach the no powers rule a little bit. It’s far more than a standard set of armor.”

“True, but you are far more than a standard human. Right?” Talon responded now fully dressed in his Crow feather war armor. “Let's make this interesting. You can ramp yourself up as much as you like and I will match you. Just no light speed stuff, he will not be able to follow. Oh! And do not burn down my forest.” Talon stretched his muscles and joints preparing for the brawl. Walking some distance away from Mattias into the clearing he beckoned Beth to follow. “Just say when.”

“I haven’t been a standard human for a few years now,” Bethany agreed, moving over to Matty and helping him to roll across the stones to sit outside of the training area. “There are a few levels of nano, the first set being not much more than street level riot gear. Meant for teams that help to handle street level incidents. There are five tiers of the standard nano. This is the tier six bonded nano. It is very much a part of me.” She then made her way over towards Dyami, giving a good stretch of her arms as she went.

Mattias smiled when he saw Bethany activate her armor. He then gave Dyami an approving look upon seeing his armor. He then let Bethany move his chair to the appropriate location. "What level armor would I get?" He asked, hopeful excitement in his voice.

“I don’t know what level that they’ll decide that you need,” Bethany said, stopping a bit shy of Dyami. “I tend to blow giant, irradiated craters into the earth if I get too near death. The bonded nano comes with a failsafe that stops that from happening accidentally.”

She went silent for a few moments, eyeing Dyami in his armor. Most of his body, face included, was covered and nearly impossible to read. She knew the man better than most could claim, but he always proved to be wiley and quick.

Why do we let him do this to us? Julius quipped, his voice unheard by the others as the AI directly accessed her auditory system. Even my scans are useless against him.

When Matty saw they were both ready, he chuckled softly as he mimicked the voice from one of his favorite video games. "Round one, FIGHT!"

“I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment,” Fractal answered with a shrug, and then she was rushing towards Dyami far more quickly than even the fastest runners, though nowhere near the speeds that she was actually capable of.

As Fractal approached him Talon knew he could show off a little but wanted to make this a fair fight. He was never one to go back on his word, he had promised to match the young brawlers fighting abilities. And that is what he was going to do.

Talon darted forward, the blue-eyed shaman meeting the green-eyed brawler in hand to hand combat. First, he countered her darting jab with one of his own, two fists meetings in mid stride, creating a resounding thump as well as a small pressure wave as the force of the blows was perfectly negated on both sides.

As the two fists impacted one another, the quickly darkening sky was briefly backlit by heat lightning. The wind picked up a bit and flashes of electrical heat and light crossed the sky deep within the clouds. and a low rumble of thunder followed.

Mattias looked around at the sky, feeling the hairs on his arms start to stand up. Deep inside his core, something stirred, awakened by the energy that was beginning to crash around him.

With their fists interlocked at the knuckles, Talon slid to a lower stance and attacked the young woman's rib cage with a quick attack, knowing she would dodge or block, he needed to gauge the frame of mind she was in, this way he could predict how she would fight.

At first, the young woman seemed content with the rapid exchange of blows, dodges, and blocks. She even took a couple of body blows to allow her to get within the Indian man’s longer reach to land a couple of nice shots on her own. Then the speed started increasing.

She held true to not using any powers other than bolstering her speed and agility, both of those greatly assisted by Julius’ ability to rapidly run the necessary calculations for moving at higher speeds. Spinning away from what would have been another round of heavy, body rocking punches, and around Dyami, she landed a solid kick across her mentor’s lower back.

“Well done!” Talon exclaimed after he scrambled, putting a few feet of distance between them, “You have learned a few new moves. I am very proud of you.” The Indian shaman stretched his back and assumed another style of fighting stance. “I see that Julius is learning as well. He is getting the hang of your faster movements.”

“Thanks. And he got the hang of it a long time ago,” Bethany said, her breathing only somewhat quickened with the activity, pacing as she watched Dyami crouch and sway, waiting for him to launch an attack. She wasn’t exactly one that switched between fighting styles. Being a brawler, her movements were meant to cause as much damage as possible in order to end a fight quickly, not showcase different stances. “Now it’s a matter of refinement.”

When Bethany scored a perfect hit, Mattias pumped his fist in front of him in celebration. "Yes!" He hissed softly.

The sky was quite dark now as heavily water laden clouds passed overhead. This did not slow the bout below, even when a bolt of lightning creased its way crackling nearly halfway across the afternoon sky, followed by a peal of thunder that echoed its low rumble across the distant hills. The air was positively charged with energy and the wind blew tiny whirls of dust about the training field.

Talon crouched down low to the ground in a three point stance. Swaying back and forth slowly he looked very feline in his mannerisms. Darting forward with preternatural speed he quickly planted one of his hands on the ground and using his momentum he pivoted around quickly striking out with his left leg, catching Fractal on the calf sweeping both of her feet out from under her, sending her spinning heels over head. Following through with his spinning kick he spun completely around raising his leg up slightly and struck at her torso.

Her eyes were swirling with color, but there were no flashy light shows. It was a minor use of her powers to enhance her speed and agility, and after years of training with Dyami, this was a relatively minor sparring match. Otherwise, Matty would just be watching a couple of blurs and learning absolutely nothing.

“Damn it,” Fractal muttered as she found herself flipped casually upside down. In the fraction of a second that she hung there, she gave an unseen grin behind the mask. As Dyami’s leg flew towards her, she reached for the assaulting appendage. Rather than try to regain momentum by flinging him around, she pushed off of it, performing a quick flip. She landed right above the shaman’s head, bringing one foot down hard enough to crack the ground and spray stone and dirt into his face, while the other made a rapid arc aimed at the back of his head.

Having his momentum slowed was annoying to say the least, but Talon was nothing if not adaptable in a fight. Spinning quickly to face the woman's oncoming punt of a kick he used her own trick against her.

Grabbing her heel he stood with a blur of motion raising the brawler's foot faster than she could have expected, causing her to have to hop with the other foot to retain some semblance of balance. As soon as her other foot left the ground he pushed against the foot he held, driving her back into the ground with a tremendous dull thud. He then gave her a quick kick in the ribs before bouncing away a dozen or so feet to allow her to get up.

Fractal grunted as she landed on her back, then gave another one when she was kicked in the ribs. While they were pulling punches, each of their blows would likely break a normal person. She wasted no time in getting herself out of the sudden supine position, and in a graceful motion she rolled back and kicked back up to her feet, the gymnastic feat displaying just how well-honed her body actually was.

There was no anger involved. She had long had the ego beaten out of her when it came to such things, starting in childhood. It simply became a move to be analyzed for future reference. Or use.

“You’re still quick for an old man, I have to give you that,” Fractal teased, grinning at the shaman underneath her mask as she stretched and brushed the dust off of her nano-sleeves. Part of these matches tended to be goading one another on, and as she fell into the comfortable familiarity of the match, that came much more easily. As a result, there was relatively little that someone could say to her during combat that would achieve any effect.

Talon laughed loudly, “Only as fast as you, I am holding back, remember?” The two fighters circled one another slowly, each looking for an opening in the other's defenses.

As Dyami’s back was to Mattias, Fractal could see the glow of the Indian’s shamanic powers in his eyes. He was obviously the source of the sudden storm. He mouthed a few words in Tsalagi indicating she was to hit him hard and then back off so he could let the other Talon out.

A few large bloated drops of rain fell across the field as the warriors circled one another. The air itself felt wet and thick with moisture as a mist quickly passed over the combatants, reducing visibility on the field.

The young light-bearer sighed a bit, fighting off the shudder that tried to work its way up her spine. What she did next was a bit of a cheat, but for what was coming, she thought he deserved a slap. She still held a bit of a grudge over this bit of the training, even after all the years in between.

While she technically didn’t reach light speed, she had moved a lot quicker than the normal eye could perceive properly. It looked like she had taken a step towards the shaman, then was directly in front of him. Using the built up momentum from her speed, she struck Dyami in the chest, creating a shockwave that rippled across his body, picked him up off of his feet, and tossed him into a tree that shattered on impact, all the way up to the top.

“Oops,” Fractal said, wincing slightly, and reaching up to scratch at the back of her head as she stood up. “Sorry about the tree, but to be fair, you’ve put me through a few, too.”

Mattias cried out in a brief cheer, not even caring that powers were starting to be used. It was still very cool to see Bethany…Fractal…do her thing.

The impact on Talon was hard. Very hard. As the young brawler's fist connected and all the energy was imparted to his body he felt most of the ribs in his chest not just break but something closer to powderizing. It was one of the worst things he had felt in a long time.

With his chest caved in at an odd angle, he sailed through the air and impacted the tree. The sheer force of the collision made the tree explode into wood chips from base to top, showering the area in a fine mulch. The angle of his flight also drove him several feet into the ground tearing out and building up a berm of dirt and stones.

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TBC

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Bethany Harrison
Fractal
Mutant Underground

Dyami Bentley
Talon
Mutant Underground

Mattias Tonelly
(Recruit)
Mutant Underground