Gifted

Chapter 2: The Test

"Let me guess, Mom and Dad sent you out here to get me again, right?" asked Landen.
Small droplets of sweat raced down his olive brown skin as he turned his attention away from his practice dummies set up in the family's backyard to face his sister, Kenzie.
Sighing as she rolled her eyes, Kenzie returned her brother's gaze, and with it, she saw his bright hazel eyes meeting hers.
"Don't act surprised to see me. You basically live out here considering how much you train with these dummies. Your buddy Dez is going to need a new best friend soon at this rate," she said.
"How much do you want to bet he isn't training right now just like me? Besides, I have to stay on top of my game if I plan to get away from New Vega and actually join the Black Starlight Gifted Armed Force. Plus, I bet you wish you could do this."
Landen turned his attention away from his sister and back on the practice dummies in front of him before he raised his hand out. His eyes locked on to one of his inanimate targets as it reacted to his power's call. The dummy levitated into the air before it became still, suspended in the sky.
"Cool, you can lift things with your powers and you're a show-off practicing at seven in the morning. What else is new? Either way, Mom and Dad told me to tell you to come inside for breakfast."
Landen crossed both of his arms together.
"I'm not a show-off, I'm just proud of how far I've come with my abilities. Are you ok? You're usually annoying, but not this annoying."
Kenzie silently stared at Landen for a few moments before breaking eye contact with him, looking down at the ground then back into his eyes.
"No. Nothing's wrong. I'm fine. I just wish you wouldn't train so much."
"Kenzie, you know I have to train. Today is a big day for me. Tell Mom and Dad that I'll be inside in a second. Thank you."
Sighing, Kenzie turned away from her brother, sliding both her hands into her jean pockets as she slowly walked back toward their house.
"Yeah. You're welcome. See you inside," she said.
Landen watched his sister go back inside of their house. He could sense that something was wrong with her with each step of her way there. Her very walk was masked with pain. Landen knew Kenzie couldn't hide this from him.
While one of the abilities Landen's powers granted him through a strong bond he shared with his sister was sensing her emotions, he couldn't trace what was the cause of her negative feelings. A part of him figured that it was because he trained so much out in the family's backyard. It kept him away from them much of the time.
Landen glanced over at the several other dummies set up in the backyard that were filled with hay. He noted the various amounts of force and damage he inflicted on them through his powers. Some of the dummies were widely burst open from their torso with straw falling out of them while others had their limbs severed from their body.
When Landen entered the kitchen, Giovanni, his father, greeted him. He was sitting nearest to Landen at the square kitchen table with the family's robot, JAX, beside him. Sitting nearby him on the right side was his wife, Kora, and sitting across from Giovanni on the other end of the table was Kenzie.
"Well look who made it to the breakfast table this morning," he said.
"Yeah, Kenzie told me you guys wanted me to come inside for breakfast."
"Correct. Your sister was our messenger. Even though your mother and I don't mind you out there in the backyard training, your attendance at school and spending time with your family is important too."
"Well, I'm training to be the best Gifted in my Advancement School. That's what Mom and you want, right, Dad?"
"Your mother and I want you to be the best Gifted son we can be proud of, yes. That doesn't mean we want you to overdo yourself and neglect to spend time with us. Now come sit down. We have an open spot for you."
"Yes, sir."
As Landen joined his family, he noticed the nearby table covered with a variety of different breakfast foods. There was a plate of stacked pancakes, a plate of stacked waffles, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, muffins and boxes of several types of cereal he enjoyed.
"What's with all the food lined up on the table? Mom and JAX don't usually make so much. What's the special occasion?"
"They put in the extra effort to make sure you were ready. Can't have our boy starving on his big day, can we? After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
Landen smirked.
"You're so corny, Dad. Is this about the Advancement School training test?"
"Of course," Giovanni replied with a proud grin. "Your mother and me know that if you keep up those high scores in your sparring matches, your results on the test could be given to the Black Starlight Gifted Armed Force. You know as well as we do that they're the highest branch in Earth's military. Serving you breakfast might not be much, but we want to help you succeed any way that we can."
"I didn't think you guys remembered what today was."
"Of course we did," Kora chimed in. "You're following in my footsteps. Here's to hoping you can survive boot camp on Kreilov."
"You have a chance to get away and do good for the world," Giovanni said. "I can see you becoming respected and not having to worry about the larger possibility of you getting hurt—or worse—because people on Earth think you're some kind of menace to society like all Gifted supposedly are. Much less, the rest of the galactic community."
"How often have you been keeping up with your training as we've talked about?" asked Kora.
"Nearly every day. I've been doing what Dad and you have been telling me to do. Meditate, focus on the target and attack. You've reminded me plenty, Mom," answered Landen.
"Good job, son. Your mother and I are proud. Even if your targets have just been the practice dummies we've set up in the backyard."
"Just don't let Dez find that out, Dad. You know he thinks he's just as strong as Landen," said Kenzie before leaning over to take a bite of her cereal. Before she could, her spoon quickly flung away from her hand and into Landen's hand, splashing the white liquid and bits of cereal on her clothing.
Kenzie's face lit up bright red, appearing as though she'd pop at any moment. She breathed in heavily, her bright hazel eyes began to well. Landen smirked at Kenzie as his eyes met hers.
"Hey! You know I hate it when you do that! You're so stupid, Landen!" she cried out.
"That's enough you two. Landen, stop teasing your sister. JAX and your mother prepared all this just for you, and all you've done is steal your sister's spoon and make a mess."
"Sorry, Dad."
"And to who else?" asked Giovanni sternly, raising his eyebrow as he glared at Landen.
Sighing, Landen turned back toward his sister.
"I'm sorry, Kenzie."
"Whatever," said Kenzie coldly, focusing her attention on the black stains on her unbuttoned checkered flannel shirt.
"Master Landen," said JAX, his bright yellow metallic eyes meeting Landen's eyes as he moved over toward him with a loud, cranky walk. "I hope you slept well last night and that you're eager for your day at the Advancement School! We're all looking forward to hearing nothing but great things from you."
"JAX, you know I'm not going to disappoint you. You've been around since my sister and I were kids. You've seen what I can do," said Landen as he started in on his own breakfast.
"So, what is this training test about exactly?" Kenzie asked. "I know today is special, but what exactly makes it so special compared to all the other times you've been training, Landen?"
"Since we're graduating this year from our Advancement School, the Black Starlight Gifted want to know who would be a good fit to join them. Mr. Riley, the history teacher and training coach, is supposed to test each student's performance in their matches against each other. The results go to the Black Starlight Gifted. If they think the scores are impressive, they send the student a holo letter in the mail inviting them to join their branch after graduation."
"Well that shouldn't be a problem for you then, should it? All you do is train. I'm surprised you haven't made the dummies Dad set up for you outside in our backyard explode."
"Part of being a Gifted, Kenzie, is learning to control your powers. Which is why you should be lucky and thanking me that I haven't used my powers to mush that big brain of yours, or use them on the guys at school you flirt with."
Kenzie's cheeks brightly lit up in a pink tinge as she sat stunned by her brother's remark.
"Take it back! Mom!" she cried out.
Softly laughing underneath her breath with a smile, Kora looked over at Landen and Kenzie.
"Hey, that's enough you two. Landen, what did your father just say to you about teasing your sister? Now hurry and finish your breakfast before you're late for school."
Landen didn't know what was going to happen after today, but he did know he wanted to be a part of it. He couldn't show he was nervous. He thought about since the first Advancement Schools opened up in 2029, every Gifted student around the country was required to take the test before graduation. He would be no different.
"You're my boy, a Washington," said Giovanni. "You'll do just fine with your test. Like we've always talked about, believe in yourself and your power. Seeing you crush those dummies outside in our backyard is impressive. You're even stronger than your mother was at your age with your abilities."
"Thanks, Dad."
Smirking, Kora looked over at her husband as he returned her gaze.
"Oh, so are you trying to say I was a weak Gifted growing up, Gio?"
"Not at all. In fact, I think I misspoke. I don't think I give you enough credit, honey. For instance, this breakfast JAX and you made is delicious."
"Smooth save, Dad," said Kenzie sarcastically before Kora and her began laughing.
"All I'm saying is that it'd be nice to see you stick it to the Quayletiv people. Ever since the Galactic Migration happened, and the first human joined the Seat, humanity has been in a constant rivalry with other races from the galactic community. We can't slow down now."
"Gio, you're too competitive and deep in that galactic manifest destiny crap. You'd love to see Landen "stick it" to any race that isn't human. He will do just fine. He's worked hard all of his life to get to this day. Now hush, you're going to make him nervous!"
"I just want to see our son do well, Kora. I want him to be safe and respected. Humans are looked down on enough. Not just on Earth, but also in the galactic community too. Everyone in the galaxy thinks we're too powerful of a people only second to the Seat themselves."
After Landen finished eating, he said goodbye to his family and set out in his Hyper X car for school. While driving, he couldn't stop thinking about how excited he was to impress his training instructor and teacher, Mr. Riley, who had beaten the rest of the competition at his school in his day, and join the Black Starlight Gifted after graduation.
Earth had changed a lot since 2019, including how vehicular travel operated on present-day Earth. As Landen passed by other hovercar vehicles flying along the skyline on his way to school, many buildings stood as tall as skyscrapers in the hustling and bustling city of New Vega. A lot of New Vega's buildings were massive.
There were many buildings designed as skyscrapers containing many different floors and levels that housed some of the most intricate, cleverly built elevators and transits for speed trains. Some buildings were smaller, and rectangular in shape, reaching half the size and length of their bigger counterparts.
Once Landen saw the nearing image of his school come into the distance of his vision, he disembarked from his hover car. He parked his Hyper X in a nearby parking space before he set out to enter into his Advancement School.
Leading up to the premises, there was a flight of steps with railing on both sides of it. The structure was painted white and red, with the upper middle section of the main building having wide glass windows that the morning sun's rays bounced off of. At the main entrance of the school was a pair of sliding doors serving as the primary entrance to the facility. Other nearby edifices resting on the site that made up the school were connected to the main building. They, too, had a section of their design possessing glass windows with sliding door entrances.
"Landen!" a voice cried out from behind as Landen entered his school.
When Landen turned around, he saw his best friend and rival, Dez, trying to meet up with him. Dez was slim, had fair skin, medium length brown straight hair, and green eyes.
"Hey man," said Landen warmly, fist bumping Dez.
"You're looking extra ready for today I see."
"You do know what today is, don't you, Dez?"
"Yeah, I do."
"You actually remembered. I stand here amazed."
Entertained by Landen's witty reply, Dez formed a broad, amused grin on his face.
"Yeah, yeah. So between the both of us, you're the comedian now, huh? I thought that was my job."
As the two boys walked through the crowded school hall together, Landen remembered vividly how much of a jokester Dez was growing up. He remembered how quirky and spontaneous he could be with cracking a joke no matter what the situation was. This was a defining trait of Dez that Landen loved about him. While Landen was normally the more serious of the two, Dez was the comedian and reminded Landen not to be so serious all the time, that it was okay to be a teenager.
"Sorry man, you were an easy target there, and you know you don't normally pay attention to most things unless you're interested."
"Well, I definitely know what today is. Just like you, Landen, I've been waiting for this day."
"Yeah, man. I want to prove myself, and be able to join the Black Starlight Gifted so I can get out of our town and help people. Gifted like the ones in the Black Starlight Gifted Armed Force get respect. No one is afraid of them like they are with regular Gifted here where we live. Much less, the galaxy," said Landen with reverence ringing from his voice.
"We're not all so bad here in this town, are we? I mean, yeah, a lot of people in our city can't stand Gifted. People with unusual powers they don't understand tend to scare them, but there are people here too who don't mind Gifted, Landen. Even far out in the galaxy. They're worth protecting and not forgetting."
"You're right. I'm sorry. I've just been so eager to show Mr. Riley and everyone else just what I can do. Plus, I get so tired of hearing that non-humans in the galactic community hate humans, especially the Gifted ones."
"You know they only hate us because we managed to get the Seat's attention and join their rank before the rest of them did, right? I wouldn't sweat it, Landen."
"Yeah. I try not to, Dez. You know though that joining the Black Starlight Gifted is my ticket to changing things around here."
"I remember. Trust me. I remember you talking about them. I even remember you talking about how you wanted to change things."
"And I still do. You know not many people here score as high as I do on the normal training sessions we have."
"I do. I score just as high as you. We've been best friends since we were five years old, just enrolling in Advancement School together. We didn't even know if we had powers. You know my family comes from a military background too. You also know I'm just as strong, if not stronger than you."
Landen smirked.
"Oh? Is that so? I guess then we'll have to see once we fight in the training room. Unless you know you can't beat me and finally will admit I'm stronger than you?" he asked.
"You may be the talk of the school here, and you may be my best friend, and you may even be the most powerful Gifted here second to me, but you're not stronger than me Landen."
"Landen! Dez!" a loud voice suddenly called out from a short distance away from the two boys, instantly grabbing their attention.
Turning around over their shoulders, both Landen and Dez saw that the voice was from their training and history teacher, Mr. Riley. Mr. Riley was slim, had short white hair, a white mustache, fair skinned, brown eyes, wore a checkered grey suit with a red tie and wore black dress shoes.
"Good morning to you two, Mr. Washington and Mr. Brock. Are you both ready for today's sparring match?"
"Yeah, we're both ready, Mr. Riley," answered Landen confidently for both himself and Dez.
"Good, because I've talked to both of your parents in our parent-teacher conferences about how well you boys have been doing. Landen, your father specifically holds you and your sister in high regard. He's told me about how you dream of joining the Gifted military after graduation."
"Yeah, my dad has dreamed of me going into the military just like my mom did. I remember him constantly telling her and my sister how I'm going to make him the proudest father."
A beam of satisfaction formed across Mr. Riley's face.
"Well, I can definitely see why he has so much faith in you. You're exactly the material the Gifted military is looking for. Dez, I've heard good things about you too from your parents. Your dad I hear was in the Gifted military himself."
"Yeah, he was. He fought in the Battle of Verkoven, you know, Mr. Riley. Only the toughest Gifted survived that war," said Dez proudly.
"The Battle of Verkoven, eh? Hm, I see. Well to become as great as your father, Mr. Brock, you'll need to continue keeping up with your training. Very well, boys. I'll see you both in the training room soon." 
Mr. Riley gave both Landen and Dez a smile before turning away from them, walking off into another direction.
"I guess I'll see you in the training room, Dez," Landen said.
"Yeah, I'll catch up with you in a little bit. I'm going to go grab a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria to help me prepare for our fight."
"Just don't be late, man. I know how you can sometimes be. You talk to a lot of people and you barely make it to class on time by yourself without me."
"I'm not going to be late," answered Dez firmly. "Relax, Landen. Knowing you, if any of my fire attacks touched any of the dreadlocks on your head, you'd be over with."
"I could say the same about you with my powers slamming you against the walls too hard, bruising that precious fair skin of yours."
"Great comeback. Anyway, I'll see you man," said Dez before turning around.
Before he could go too far, Dez was stopped by a taller boy with short blonde hair and menacing green eyes walking up toward him with a group of other boys.
"Why look who it is. It's the Losers, Landen and Dez. What are you two losers doing in our halls?" the blonde haired boy leading the group asked.
"These aren't your halls, Logan. What do you want?" asked Landen, staring Logan and his group directly in their eyes.
"Kid, these have been our halls for years. You're weak. All tough talk for a little guy. Where's your little girlfriend at? Unless you traded her for Flameboy here?"
Landen turned his attention over at Dez, watching his best friend's face turn red, alight with fury as he stared at Logan and the other boys standing behind him. Landen noted how Dez gritted his teeth continuously against each other as his body was flooded with adrenaline.
"What did you say, asshole? At least I can actually use my powers unlike you. I'm not a defect," said Dez.
"You heard me, Flameboy. What are you going to do? Nothing? Oh, right, you don't want me to shame you in front of everyone watching, right? Fight me like a real man, Dez. No powers, just our fists."
"Leave him alone, Logan," said Landen before turning his attention toward Dez. "Dez, don't give him what he wants. Logan is just mad that his powers only work when they want to. He can't control them; they control him."
"I know, Landen. It runs in his family. Like father, like son."
Logan scoffed at Dez's remark, unphased by his words. "I don't know why the kids in this school like you losers so much, you're both weak. You two are actually really lucky today. I promised Zach that I'd only leave a message."
"Yeah? And what message is that? We don't want any trouble," said Landen.
"Oh, you both are going to be in trouble when Zach is done with you," said Logan, his face turning red showing his bulging veins protruding from his forehead. "The message Zach wanted me to leave you two is that he wants you both to leave school today and not go to the training room for the testing. Zach knows you're both trash Gifted and would never make it in the Black Starlight Gifted. You need more than power there; you need strength."
Gritting their teeth as their bodies tensed up in quiet anger, Landen and Dez could only listen to Logan's words, refusing to fight him and risk suspension that'd give him and Zach what they wanted.
"You're just mad Zach's dad and your dad never made it far into the Gifted military, Logan. You both won't either," said Landen.
"I'd suggest you stop running your big mouth before I change my mind about leaving just a message. Remember, Zach is watching, and this is your only warning," Logan said. "If you both know what's good for you, you'll do what Zach says. If not, well, you losers will see what happens."
Before leaving, Logan and his friends behind him shot Landen and Dez one final glare before proceeding to walk off in another direction, disappearing into the school's crowded hallway. After Logan and his friends left, Landen and Dez shook their heads at each other in disbelief.
"He's such an ass. There's no way we're running off from our chance to do what we've wanted to do," Dez said, quickly balling up a tight fist in his hand. "Right, Landen?"
"You already know. Zach is always making threats. Logan and him have been butt buddies doing messing with us for years. I'm not afraid of any of them, Dez. We can take them if it comes down to it."
"Yeah. We can. Zach is after you the most because he knows your reputation here, and what this means to you. They're both jealous that we can use our powers to go far in the military and they can't. We aren't going to let them win," Dez said before fist bumping Landen's knuckled hand.
"Thanks, man, I appreciate it. Well, I'm headed off to the training room. I'll see you there."
"See you there, man," answered Dez before both boys started journeying in opposite directions.