Influx (Book Four)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Click grabs my shirt and I throw an elbow; it collides with metal and even through the padding I can feel it. Tripping her up she stumbles and tries to pull me down with her. Putting an arm across her throat, she has her one foot in my ribs ready to push me off. She gives me a nudge and I know she is going to try and flip me. Preparing myself, I go straight over her head and land on the other side of the mat. Pulling myself back to my feet, I fix the padded gloves and we continue to spar and let her train turning her skin to metal.

"Woah!" A hear a voice says surprised and I see the three Metac kids in the doorway of the training center in Caspian. Looking down at Click, I have her in a nasty headlock. Cranking it tighter, she buries her chin in the crook of my elbow and rips my fingers apart, and pulls me into an armbar before letting go. We are both drenched in sweat. Adjusting my mask, I tug it away from my face for a moment trying to get some airflow.

"Is something wrong?" I question winded and Faith shakes her head. Trying to make the high pitch ringing in my ear go away, I realize that isn't coming from me. Making eye contact with Faith, she tilts her head to the side, and it dawns on me that I have no clue what her ability is.

"We just weren't expecting to find you about to kill each other," Orion says uncomfortably, and I burst out laughing.

"I promise, she's fine," I muse, and Click grins. She lunges for me and I step forward and kick my foot back and she trips. Gripping her arm hard, I keep her from face planting, and she cracks up.

"You win," she says as I pull her back to her feet with ease.

"Do you mind if we spare on the other mat?" Orion asks and I glance at Click.

"We're done here anyway," she says sweetly, and I can see she's looking at Cabe.

"Oh, okay," Cabe says surprised and I rip the ultra-thin pads I have off and toss them in the bag. Rolling out my wrists, I can feel a few bruises forming.

"I can see your elbow bruising from here," Click comments as the other metas in the room warm up.

"Yeah, that one really hurt," I say with a wince and she tosses me the cold water she brought. I hold it against my skin for a few moments and Click grabs my bag and we wave to the other metahumans before heading upstairs.

When we get upstairs, I rip off my mask and chug almost an entire canteen's worth of water before grabbing one of the ice packs that Velcro's out of the freezer and wrap it around my arm. Sitting on the counter, I hear Click going to take a shower. Something shifts in the room and I dart and grab my mask and hold it over my face as Aviva appears.

"Aviva?" I question confused and she gives me a baffled look.

"This isn't the fourth floor," she says tiredly, and I give her a confused look.

"Are you okay?" I ask her concerned, she just missed by a lot and she sighs in response.

"Nine saves in the last three days plus a ton of meetings, this week has left me drained beyond belief," she says walking over to the island and leaning against it. I slowly lower my mask and put it on the counter next to me. She isn't wearing her glasses and probably can't see my face properly. With frames that thick, her vision must be terrible.

"Are you looking for the Metac trio?" I ask her still confused about how she missed by twenty floors.

"Yes," she says, and I can see the exhaustion in her eyes.