Supernatural

07

DECEMBER — "THE LAB" — 2:30 PM

T2832 whipped the weight easily around her, spinning in a loop as air whipped her hair at every possible angle. She added another large weight, adding to the small headache she had from the amount of energy she was using. She got four smaller ones and swung them up into the tornado-like formation. The strain on her mind wasn't too bad, but as she kept putting more and more in, it was difficult to control them all.

Around and around they spun, as if they weighed nothing. They were going so fast she could only spot the black paint coating them. Thirty weights now. A splitting migraine made its way in, and she made a face of discomfort, but continued to push myself. If she stopped now, the spectators wouldn't be happy.

She took out five more. It felt like someone was hammering down at her brain, and as she forced a couple more in, it was just about unbearable. But she made it to forty. Then, T2832 gladly dropped all of them, making the floor shake at the impact.

Sweat slithered down her face and she used her sleeve to wipe it dry. She began to load the weights she had used back on to their shelves, one at a time to give her mind a break.

One of the scientists tsked, writing something down. "You had thirty-five last time. You should have gone up by at least ten, not five."

Well, I've only had a day between, she thought, but didn't dare say aloud. She might have been different to how she used to be, and she might comply with them more than before, but it didn't mean she liked them. T2832 hated them, more than anything. She just didn't act on it.

The next part of training was combat, excluding her abilities. Her teacher was a large muscular man, more than six feet tall. When she first met him, she was intimidated as any person would be, especially with the scowl permanently plastered to his face.

T2832 began to calm her heartbeat, and wiped the sweat from her face. She was tired from all the work of lifting the weights and straining her mind, but she also knew they would never give her a break with a juicebox. It was one thing, then the other. No wasting time.

Her fighting teacher, Dominick, was already prepared in the ring. She stepped underneath the red ropes and stuck to her corner as she waited. She never struck first. Not because it was her technique but because the round began when he made the first move. If she did, it'd be considered an early start and cheating, and she'd be punished. It made no sense, but it was The Lab's logic and nobody was allowed to question it.

Dominick threw his large fist forward but she dodged to the side. She grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back in a feeble attempt to restrain him, but as per usual, it was useless. He flipped her over him and onto her back, causing an enormous pain to sprout where she hit the ground. 2832 opened her eyes just in time to see a bulging, bruised fist beginning to travel quickly closer to her face, so she rolled out of the way.

She got up and tried to go on the offensive by kicking him in the chest but it turned out to be an utter failure. He caught her foot and twisted, making her spin and drop to the floor again. She managed to catch herself before she fell with her hands, and looked back to trip him as well. Once he fell, she threw himself onto him and hit him directly in the nose, making it go at an odd angle. It filled her with satisfaction, even though her hand was hurt after it.

Blood squirted out of his nose, dribbling down his mouth, her hand covered in it. She punched again, and again but he forced her off and they both scramble to standing positions. Using up her energy, she delivered a roundhouse kick which she hoped would be the one to finish it. She hit his neck, sending him crashing to the ground as she landed the jump poorly, stumbling. She would get in trouble for it.

T2832 thought he was down. She thought she had successfully knocked him out. So, she stupidly let her guard down. She turned her back to him and went to see if she could get some water, but before she could, she was thrown to the ground. She fell forward, the extra weight crushing her ribs. She yelped, the air blown out of her lungs as punch after punch was sent to her face specifically after he flipped her over. He sat on her hips, pure anger on his face and she couldn't do anything. She could have thrown Dominick off of her with her powers, but if she did, what happened after would be much worse than what was currently happening.

2832 struggled to escape his grip as her energy was drained. Her jaw was definitely broken, along with her nose. She guessed a busted lip, black eye and every kind of facial injury out there. The pounds began to slow though, and he got up off of her. She was too weak to get up and continue the fight. He kicked her side twice, then went out of the ring.

Everything hurt. She knew she had more than a couple broken bones, but she was proud to say she had hurt him as well. A man came in and picked her up as she flickered in and out of consciousness on their way to the medical centre.

The medical centre was far from some homey hospital. It had less than a handful of doctors, all of which hated the supernaturals. They didn't even do much. They just cleaned the hurt area of any blood or dirt. Then, they were left on the hospital bed for a certain amount of time depending on our injuries. Another good addition to being a supernatural was their superior healing, ten times the speed of the average human. They just the supernaturals do the work instead of doing it themselves.

They didn't even need to be doctors to 'take care' of them.

All the times were the average. So if your bone wasn't completely fixed, it didn't matter. You had to get up anyway. Bruises and black eyes were an hour. Sprains and previously dislocated areas were an hour and forty five minutes. Broken bones were two hours and fifteen minutes, but if it was a rib or an open fracture, they added half an hour. Missing limbs and teeth were the big problem, and that took about a day.

The man dropped her on the bed and she cringed at the pain radiating through her back. A doctor came over, dipping a cloth in water, then wrung it out. He brought an empty bucket close to her mouth, and she spat blood into it. He wiped her lip, then nose. He cleaned the top of her head, a cut she didn't realize she had. Then, he cleaned her fists which were covered in both her blood and the training instructor's. All his wiping was harder than necessary, but she was used to it.

T2832 dropped her head back, feeling a slight tingling feeling on her black eye and bruises as they began to slowly fade. She had two hours and forty-five minutes, with all her broken bones and ribs, as well as the bruises.

She had done so horribly this one around. If they wanted her to be a fighting machine, it'd just have to take a little longer.

She was around more supernaturals now. She saw kids holding weights that bodybuilders would have shaken when they lifted them. Yet these young adults were lifting them, one hand, with ease. Others ran on treadmills so fast they became blurs. And she saw some saying what others were reading in their head on a hidden piece of paper, reading their minds.

All kids, and adults, wished they had superpowers. She did, too. All the time. To be able to swim underwater without needing to come up for air, or to be the strongest kid alive, or be able to simply imagine an object floating towards you, or control the weather. But if she had known the cost would be her life? She would have never wanted it. She wondered if everyone at the lab thought that, too.

She let out a puff of air and closed her eyes. Two hours and forty minutes to go.