Fighting as a hero, both powered and less than, requires a great deal of skill to be considered anything but an amateur. Repetition, practice, control. If you are strong enough to crack concrete, you are strong enough to crack some idiot’s spine. Whether you meant to or not. So you need to spend time learning how to use that strength, so that in time you learn how to hold it back. Thus the trainees set about learning to use all that they had gained.

  For the two and a half weeks, they were drilled through a battery of proper fighting techniques. Synchronized drills and movement tutoring to start things off. Most knew well enough how to throw a punch or kick, but they were going to need a style all their own by the end. And that meant the basics had to be beaten into them. Thankfully not physically.

  For the rest of them anyway.

  Most days started with literal sand pounding, building calluses and muscle memory for the resistance an actual hit will have. The sand getting harder and courser as the month went on. Next came striking dummies of varying types. One day it was a simple punching bag, the next it had a full swinging actuator assembly that came at you as much as you hit it, then came the wooden pillars with pegs sticking out of them. Nothing was ever regular, always changing up and back to keep the ideas fresh and the basics always in mind. They even had actual training bots, not just simulated ones, that provided shadow boxing courses and more realistic dummies to contend with.

  Though, while everyone else was given free time after all this training, Seth and Kaz were forced through that remedial course. This mostly devolving into near endless sparring with Aegis and everything that entailed. Usually at least a few ribs or a tibia bruising. Kaz was in his element at least, able to keep up even when she went all out. Sword moving almost too fast to see at times as the flat and dull sides fleshed up to block everything she threw. This was just standard training for him. Seth could hold his for the most part, but he had to pull power to get anywhere when she decided to push things. So at least he was getting used to restraining that whisper.

  In between lessons Para continued with his ‘motivation’ tests, mostly focusing on lesser events that could have impacted the trainees’ lives. Though most of it devolved into more personal admissions than anything like the first lesson.

  Zeleny apparently just couldn’t fit in at home, but really wanted to go back one day as a real hero. With or without finding her mom if it came to it, though that admission seemed harder than just accepting defeat.

  Marco’s dad was a little too heavy on the push for him to be famous, but he understood what that kind of expectation had behind it. Some politics from the feel of it, Seth didn’t really understand it all.

  Razor had just gotten lucky or something. It sounded like he wasn’t too well off before coming here and had friends that got rejected prior, but Seth was too busy getting a few more ribs broken to attend that lesson so only got it second hand.

  Everyone else just seemed to be here for obvious reasons. Kabar, Jacob, and Tabby all had family ties. Alex fit a niche the League needed and wanted to be in it. And Cleo and Ohm were… Cleo and Ohm. Here because they wanted to be and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Though Cleo was more artistically ambitious than Ohm’s regular hubris. Though the comments about his dad colored just what that all meant in Seth’s mind. He had ties deeper than just money and the brother working down stairs. But there wasn’t much to it all, nothing like the first day anyway.

  Going into week two, less emphasis was placed on drilling and simple fighting. Instead the trainees were put through more substantial course work, which tied in to increasingly demanding hardlight crafted scenarios so the lessons were rendered practical. Learning proper procedures for bank robberies and villain attacks. Disaster protocols and triage. A few alien invasion contingencies. Even a meteor shower.

  ‘That one… really hurt. Punching space rocks hurts.’

  Para retained the classroom and literally tested the recruits through old fashioned handbooks and write-ups, while Aegis lead the physical trials and allowed only some official power usage. Just so everyone could begin to incorporate their fighting styles into the respective power types. Though Para had over tuned the lesson plans for the previous classes, the current split progressed things slow and steady. Though it was clear that she was working up to letting everyone loose on their power earlier than the last month of training. At least that’s what it felt like, she never said why when Seth asked.

  ‘I feel scared for some reason.’

  The beginning stuff was easy at least. Apparently robbing banks was a very difficult thing to pull off in this city. The infrastructure designed to literally close off entire areas with bollards hidden in the streets and alleys. So the training and procedures usually revolved around hostage rescue, police coordination, and damage mitigation. Because anyone brave enough to try with all this laid against them was going to pack the heavy ordinance.

  The villain attacks though were over a lot of the trainees’ heads.

  One started as a full on trek through a European forest in the middle of autumn, modeled after some punitive expedition during the golden age. But what they didn’t bother telling anyone was that this was the home turf for the villain called Tango Delta. But everyone found out fast as, without even a damn sound, trainees started dropping like flies. Shots striking foreheads and knocking them off their feet. If not unconscious then in a lot of pain. They were just rubber bullets, but they hit near enough to the real thing. Seth hadn’t ever actually been shot at, even when testing military grade armors, but getting beaned in between the eyes several times in a row because he tried to tough out getting headshot certainly made a firm case for what it was like.

  ‘Why… why are the trees laughing in German!?’

  Tango had been the premier sniper and strategist for the Terror Matrix, was technically the one who would have pulled the trigger on the Tombstone. But apparently he at least had some morals and held off till Gold Breaker made his move. That didn’t stop him from terrorizing hero teams across the globe long after. Nor trainees to this day. Seth could swear he caught sight of him before one last shot finally knocked him out. A spackled and camouflaged silhouette glaring through the foliage. Physically and reflectively glaring.

  ‘The fucker isn’t even using a scope! His damn eyes are crosshairs!!’

  The fact he was a hardlight copy just made the whole ordeal all the worse. Because the only emotion that came through that glare was monotone blank. Which in turn just made the smile on its face terrifying in its own right.

  Next came Ms. Malfeasance, which was far easier to identify since the second Seth opened his eyes to the scenario his head hurt. It was just like that piece in the foyer except it was everywhere you looked. Colors splotched and stained and celled and stamped into brand name products. Kabar actually threw up as he took it all in. As did David. And Razor. And… near enough everybody. Seth kept his eyes closed as the utter travesty to sensible design started cackling ahead of them. They at least didn’t have to get through the Malevolent Mind Maze.

  ‘No one should ever have to go through the Malevolent Mind Maze.’

  Her powers were kind of akin to how Zeleny’s were, warping colors into memetic attacks that at least didn’t permanently alter people’s bodies anymore. But anyone hit by a sudden jagged splash of stained glass had a few new hardlight additions to lug around. Seeing Tabby suddenly become an expressionist fluffy blob was actually kind of funny till Seth got tagged in the hand.

  “Get it off! Get it off!! Cell shading borders aren’t meant to be chartreuse!!”

  Thankfully it was actually easy to beat the ever living shit out of her hardlight copy. They couldn’t replicate all the effects her lair had, so no one was left wobbling between their repressed desires, the sudden inexorable need to blank the last few hours out of their minds, or have a metaphysical commentary on capitalism’s twisting of beauty standards burned into their frontal lobes. The damn thing even tried to play her speech as the trainees were kicking her abstract and blocky corpse into the floor. But when you’ve been subjected to this in person you kinda just-

  'You know what!! I don’t care about your damn legacy!! I hope you’re burning in hell!!'

  The last simulated villain they doled out made up for the easy win. It began as a stark concrete battlefield, like the top of some tower. Then it got very cold as the simulation hit its peak. And then just where they were hit like a million pounds of gold bricks. They were on top of the Tombstone’s main fire control tower… and were opposite Gold Breaker.

  For all of the three seconds it took for him to be slamming into them.

  The hits were toned down. The damage was managed. But fucking hell-

  “WHY IS HE SO STRONG!!?!”

  He slammed into their lineup, namely into Ohm like he knew each of the trainees’ net worths. Because he immediately turned all three hundred pounds of muscle and gold laden features on Seth as Ohm was sent into the false Greenland sky. Bringing down a fist heavy enough to crush the greed right out of you. Meeting open palmed rebuttals as he settled in to literally crush Seth flat. Never letting him get a pleading word in edge wise to say-

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  ‘I don’t have stocks anymore damnit!!!’

  The whole simulated tower shook as Seth nearly got his arms torn off just holding him back. The other trainees hitting him as he was distracted. But proving just as ineffective. Because his skin was literally lined with gold! Seth ended up with his legs buried in the concrete before he ever relented. Before he reeled back and decked him in the head. He wasn’t knocked out, but he wasn’t getting back up. Everyone else was just going to have to handle this on their own.

  ‘I…I guess if you want to break an economy of greed you need to be… unacceptably strong…’

  The rest of the scenarios and training exercises paled in comparison. Mostly because they had to rerun them till they could defeat them. The two they didn’t get through at least. For Tango they ended up splitting wide and drawing fire away from Zeleny, and Alex copying her, as they reconned for his position. After that, it was Maya and Cleo up as blockers till they got close enough to actually attack. They still ended up getting hit a lot. While Seth didn’t know if it was possible for real, this Tango was apparently pretty good at bouncing bullets off trees. Beating him down was less a lesson in fighting and more a lesson on competing with another’s strengths.

  ‘And it also felt more like hazing ritual than a real test. There’s no way that guy’s eye could shine like that.’

  For Gold Breaker it was a similar lesson, just with more direct combat. It was decided that, since it was clear someone had programmed him to target the ‘rich kids’, Seth and Ohm were going to have to act as bait. Though how the rest of them were going to handle someone who can shatter entire buildings with a flick of his damn finger was anyone’s guess! They tried freezing him in a bubble of water, it just shattered and got Jacob backhanded into simulated Greenland as well. They tried tripping him up with Cleo’s straps and Kabar’s lines, which just got them dragged along as Seth ran for his life. They even tried a full on assault with everyone just bum rushing him as Ohm and Seth held him off together. Didn’t work the first time so of course it wouldn’t then.

  What finally won it for them was Alex stepping up and suggesting they just lead him off the edge. Full on switcheroo with her copying both Ohm and Seth to confuse the program. David and Kabar worked out a plan to fill the air with steam to cloud its vision, and Jacob would get some revenge and turn the arena slick at the edges. The rest offered both support and rescue when the angle was finally had, whoever was targeted getting either pulled by a strap or blown clear by a wind gust. Or just straight tackled out of the way.

  Seth was left worrying a little bit, but knew better than to voice his reasons. He just had to hope Alex’s copy was just based off of what he’d shown off. And that it worked. And it did. The three of them running the hulking mass of muscle and gold right off the side of the tower, even if it was just all simulated. Alex getting tackled by Razor at the last minute, which at least was good for him. He needed to prove something in one of these tests.

  Everything after was simple by comparison. Even the alien contingency. It made the Garkah laugh a little at the absurdity of the models, but it was informative. Diplomacy preferred above all else… unless it was clear that was impossible. Dodging laser fire and biological horrors beyond your comprehension just couldn’t compete with the real deal. Or the shit they had to deal with already.

  The disaster stuff just became stress testing. Rescuing injured people and moving them to set areas. Having to learn to prioritize in the face of a lot of blood. But not so much first aid and actual medical training. They saved that for the more dedicated or healing inclined. This course was just to see if they could handle what was in front of them from a more psychological angle, not whether they could do everything on their own. They wouldn’t be sent to combat situations without support like that, nor would they be left without the basics eventually. That was all just post-graduation once they proved they could even be on the roster.

  By the end of week three the trainees were looking prepared to fight the world, if maybe not someone from the damn golden age again. Most had at least found time to come up with their own unique styles during the more simple scenarios, and were allowed to train them up more specifically as the week progressed.

  David, admittedly the weakest physically, used his water powers to add propulsion to his attacks and surprise his foes with splashy but straight forward punches and kicks. A little like Ohm but with less smug edge and property damage.

  Maya and Marco teamed up to learn advanced martial arts. Maya focusing on the slow, stable, and hard hitting forms that Marco had. While he focused on learning swift and lighter ones. She also kept up on the strength training, though that just seemed necessary given her heavy power set.

  Jacob took up some rudimentary boxing as a backup for his main holdout, a one-handed fire axe. He would use his axe as a focus for his powers or add ice to his punches when needed. Though he was fairly proficient with the axe already.

  Razor maintained his knife fighting prowess, so learned to throw his knives instead as an augment.

  ‘Razor knives are pretty good throwables apparently.’

  And he was actually pretty okay with them when he was able to let loose. The alien squid thing lost a lot of tentacles when it tried to grab him during its scenario. He was a wreak afterward but he was still able to kill it.

  Kaz maintained his extremely fast sword skills, but one day he came in with a smaller blade alongside his usual one. Seth couldn’t remember the proper name for it, but it was meant to add more concise attacks to Kaz’s arsenal, or increase his defense as a quick parry blade. And it was apparently a gift from his dad.

  Zeleny was tutored by Aegis on how to use her flight as an augment to her fighting style. Hovering kicks, sweeping punches, she could set up a strike from any angle if given space. And add more than terminal velocity to her strikes from on high. She just needed to toughen up to deal with the stress of landing attack like that. And keep up with Aegis’ insane aerial control.

  Tabby took up kick boxing, though her style included a lot of swiping strikes and deep kicks. She did learn to grapple effectively though. Hopefully using less teeth but that was just the territory she was in.

  Alex honed in on her copying to mimic her opponent’s style better, but seemed to spend more of her time watching the others as they trained. Seth didn’t catch much of it, but he was sure she was writing stuff down occasionally.

  Kabar learned proper whip techniques, but added in knife fighting as an augment. He and Razor sparred a little, but Kabar didn’t seem as enthused.

  Cleo took up mixed boxing, mostly so she could still use those leather gloves. She even let Razor have a go at the armor as reparations for throwing him around. The sound it made as it was cut just made the whole thing worse. But she was smiling by the end of it… which was even worse!

  Ohm preferred to practice at his high speed and frantic style. And took constructive criticism poorly. Only ever altering his move sets when it was necessary. Probably still wanted to hide things… or was still stuck up his own ass. But his reaction speed was improving, so something was getting through.

  Lastly of course was Seth. He maintained his weighty, unpredictable, and grapple heavy fighting style. But kept pace with everyone else in terms of speed and precision. Sparring with Aegis very much required that, but he still had to hold back.

  Aegis had said he was in some high category of reaction times, a separate designation from the letter graded teams. It wasn’t a universal sign of a high tier hero, but it was something that helped. Though it explained a few things he didn’t want to dwell on. Perception of the world was almost a fluid thing for supers like him, so she decided to focus on that for his training. Which meant he was stuck dodging more rubber bullets. And sandbags. And bricks. And whatever else she got her hands on, if not just her fists. It at least gave Seth a chance to test keeping the whisper restrained, focusing it in his muscles and senses and not letting it pool and strain. But it only got so far, never as slow as it had been when things had been at their worst. Or when he almost let go.

  But all this training had an end point, and the final week of the month was it. The weekend going by without even a fuss, everyone in high spirits and ready to see whatever was next. If they were getting more procedure to try out or another villain to compete against. Though that hope was tempered. They still lined up on Monday as usual, Aegis and Para waiting together. But for some reason Aegis had that concerned look on her face again. And wasn’t holding up her enthusiasm.

  “Today… we start individual combat tests. Not to discount any solo achievements you’ve managed, but we need to see if you understand just what it’s like to fight alone. No back up, no advantages, nothing but you and your abilities. Powers are accepted, you’ll need to start really learning to use them in conjunction with your chosen fighting styles anyway. But… But these tests are going to require them. Just like the scenarios. To say they will challenge you is…”

  Aegis looked down, this was way more than a normal challenge. Para stepped up, even more hardassed than before.

  “Is a disservice. These challenges are meant to weed out those who are truly not ready to be heroes. Who aren’t ready for what real combat is like. Defeating Gold Breaker as a team like you did was admirable, but if it was really him there wouldn’t have even been a battlefield to fight on. We will be turning off some of the limiters the H.E.S.T.I.A. has for its simulations. Expect to get hurt, but learn to fight through the pain. Mediknight will be overseeing, so you’re not about to die on my watch, but somethings need to be made clear. This isn’t a game. You will each be given a time slot for your test during the week. They are personalized to a degree, but once you’re through keep your mouth shut about what your test involved. These need to be true tests, not something studied for. Those waiting or finished are free to use their time as they see fit. I expect you to train. For now head back to your rooms, your terminals will have the schedule by now.”

  The trainees mirrored the concern on Aegis’ face and filed back out again, but Para stepped forward. And stopped Seth before he could leave the line.

  “Grab your suit, you’re up first.”

  Seth lit up, but nodded and quickly headed off. He was finally going to get to have an edge and the giddiness was getting the better of him. Finally he could stop holding back so much it hurt. But in the back of his mind there were still doubts. What the hell was he walking into that they would actually allow him to wear it? He could only guess, but there is no way anything that arena could make would really stand a chance. Even that Gold Breaker would have end up a push over-

  ‘Shit… Don’t get overconfident. Expect the unexpected, so doubly expect the worst.’

  Seth stepped into his room, still unable to keep his giddiness truly at bay. Changing out of his trainers and back into the connector suit he’d left for all too long. His suit still stood against the bare wall, unused and wanting just as much as he was. Snapping and zipping up, he walked back over and pulled the release latch to open it up, had to make sure it was still all set. The quiet of his room affording him the Garkah’s insight on this test as he scoured the suit for any degradation. Speaker seeming to hold up those buried doubts.

  “If even the trainers are reluctant, then this challenge is more than just that. It is personal, something of deep concern that even they are afraid of facing. I… please… be prepared for that worst.”

  Threat seemed stifled, he wanted to say what he thought to but couldn’t. His unease came through loud and clear though.

  “Whatever happens… don’t lose yourself. This is likely to get ugly fast, and might require more of that power than you’ve used before. Be ready to resist. Don’t let it consume you.”

  Seth cleared the last check on his suit and closed it up. A blank stare meeting him as he looked into his suit’s eyes. Those doubts staring back as the realities sank in and took hold of that giddiness. He snapped back to this world as a chime from his terminal alerted him to his timeslot. He took a breath, let those doubts wash away.

  ‘I’m ready for this. I am ready for this, and whatever else they throw at me.’

  He reached around and hoisted the collar handle about onto his shoulder. Walking back out to the arena.

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