"Now, we'll go in the order I announce it. So that means…" Jason squinted at the piece of paper. "Amora and Chase, you're up!"
The gymnasium was large, just large enough to consider it bigger than the one in D.C.
There were two basketball courts on either side, but in the middle was a large soft mat. The kids had never seen anything like it before.
In the middle of the mat was a large red circle that had just enough of the mat outside its outline for someone to take two or three steps.
"Let me explain the sparring rules we go by here in Tokyo." Jason stood in the middle of the red circle as Chase and Amora slowly walked up to the sides of the mat.
"There are only three ways for a sparring match to stop. Number one, an opponent touches the ground outside of this red circle. Number two, an opponent forfeits. Number three, I stop the match. I could stop it to avoid y'all getting too hurt or just because it's getting too wild. You ready?" Jason looked to either side of him, giving a thumbs up to Chase and Amora.
Chase gave a thumbs up before trying to look around Jason to see Amora's state.
Amora grabbed her chest as she tried to slow her breath. She bit her bottom lip and looked up at the ceiling.
The way she clutched her chest made Chase's stomach twist.
"This'll be over in no time!" Chase exclaimed, trying to calm Amora without bringing attention to her anxiety.
She took one more deep breath before opening her eyes, looking straight at Chase.
Chase began to smile. He got excited at the thought of showing his girlfriend what he's been training for, and even more excited at seeing how his girlfriend's training has paid off.
"And, start!" Jason jumped off of the mat.
Amora ran towards Chase, who could still see some mixed emotions in her eyes.
Chase went on defensive, purposely abstaining from making any offensive attacks.
She threw punches wildly. It seemed that she didn't have any plan, nor any Mode she could rely on.
"Babe, are you ok?" Chase whispered as he dodged her untrained attacks. This only made Amora grit her teeth even more.
"Shut up. You're supposed to be my opponent right now. Why are you worried about me during a sparring match? Am I that useless?!" Her head began to race. Her thoughts had never spiraled so fast.
Uselessness, incompetence, even thoughts that she'd be better off dead spun through Amora's mind.
"Ain't all of them Spirit users? Why isn't she using her Mode?" Biggie whispered to Slim, who shrugged in response.
Amora began to tear up. She had never felt so many emotions mixed together, and there was no time to tell Chase about it.
At first, she felt like her heart was about to explode. But now, it felt like her whole being was about to explode. She felt something rising underneath her skin, like a twisted version of her healing light.
"Babe, I'll get this over with." Chase whispered as he stared at her tears running down her chin.
He grabbed her arm, beginning to spin her towards the edge of the circle.
As she was being thrown through the air, Amora's chest felt like it was exploding, right as she was about to hit the ground.
Before she even realized something had changed, her vision turned red. The sound of breaking glass filled the room.
A bright red version of her healing light shot about a foot from her body in every direction. The pieces of broken glass that usually reflected every color under the rainbow were now concentrated with red.
The crowd's eyes furrowed, trying to see what the red light could mean. The curiosity turned into urgency as Chase went limp, falling face first into the mat with too much momentum for comfort.
"Woah! That's enough!" Jason yelled from the bleachers, quickly running to Chase.
Chase's senses had completely turned off. He didn't see, hear, or feel the touch of anything, but he felt emotions.
"This feeling. These feelings. I'm right back there." Chase thought to himself.
Even though he couldn't see anything, the emotions running through his heart created a vivid image.
A state funded orphanage. Neglectful caretakers. He remembered it all like it happened yesterday.
"Who were my parents? Why didn't they want me? Why won't anyone here pay attention to me?" Chase remembers asking himself those questions when he was around the age of six.
His vision slowly restored, seeing a crying Amora knelt over him.
"I didn't mean to. What did I do?" Were some of the only words Chase could make understand through Amora's incoherent sobbing.
It didn't take more than a second for Chase to come to his senses.
"Ew, babe. You're crying on my face." Chase wiped his face down as he sat up. Amora hugged Chase, who smiled and hugged back.
"Oh, thank god you're alright. Alright, Amora wins that one." Jason pointed to Amora, who was more focused on Chase. "That deserves a break. Take ten, y'all. Go get something to eat… Geez, this'll be a long day." Jason stretched his back as he walked towards the bleachers.
"These are definitely the weirdest motherfuckers I've met." Biggie fixed his beanie.
"The only other rebels we've met were from the London compound, so I wouldn't say you have a lot to go off of." Slim laughed.
"Still, I don't know if I should call them strong or weak as shit." Biggie got up from his seat and helped Slim up
"Maybe you should start by not cussing." Slim got up as well.
The kids all gathered in the cafeteria, with Slim and Biggie going to their own table.
The group was quiet for a couple seconds before Vida broke the silence.
"So, what was that?" Vida asked Amora.
"Um, I don't know. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to hurt Chase." Amora looked down at her spaghetti. She couldn't shake the fear that raced over her when Chase collapsed.
Chase slid his apple juice over to Amora, who looked up at him.
"I'm fine. You gotta find out what you did right there, though. Because that was sick." Chase smiled at his girlfriend, who cheered up slightly.
"Take a page out of Vida's book. Try remembering the feeling that triggered the red light, then-" Akilah was interrupted.
"I'll find a way to do it without feeling that way. I don't want to feel like that." Amora clutched at the inside of her sleeves, which were hiding her hands.
The rest of the group went back into silence. Chase put his hand on Amora's back.
"I'm sure you'll find a way. We can do it together." Chase nodded as Amora smiled.
"Still, what was that feeling…" Chase wondered. It felt like he was back in the orphanage he and Amora had run away from before finding the Frewins. The one where all of his fears originated.
"Hendrix!" Molly appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Hendrix's shoulders from behind.
Hendrix looked upwards as his eyes met Molly's. Her jet black hair draped over both of their faces.
Vida stabbed her Spaghetti aggressively, but no one noticed the sound.
"Has your match passed yet?" Molly asked, hyper as always.
"No, I'm last." Hendrix tried to get her hair out of his eyes.
"Awesome! I heard you're fighting Biggie, you'll win for sure and I'll be there to cheer you on!" Molly smiled through her hair before running off with an "Okay, see you then!".
"Hendrix, do you like her?" Amora tried to whisper at a volume that Vida wouldn't hear.
"She seems nice." Hendrix didn't seem to understand the question, sending Amora's eyes into a frustrated roll.
"Akilah, isn't your match next?" Kai asked with a mouth full of noodles.
"Oh. You're right." Akilah glanced a concerned look at Taro, who snickered.
"I'll go easy on you, does that make you feel better?" Taro smirked.
"Actually, I was concerned for YOUR sake!" Akilah grew annoyed.
"Hey, Taro, don't be mean to your future sister-in-law!" Kai pointed at Akilah.
"Will you shut up!" Akilah covered her eyes with her hands.
In reality, no one at that table had a clue about how this match would go. Taro had been training extensively on his martial arts before the infiltration. He wanted his Mode-strengthened attacks to be more precise and planned.
On the other hand, Akilah had mentioned finding a new ability within her Mode during the infiltration, but no one was able to understand her explanation since it was 'too wordy' according to Chase.
The clock struck eleven A.M, the bell going off to signify the hour change. The group got up, throwing their trash away and making their way to the gym.
Vida began to fidget with one of her dreadlocks to try forgetting the left over annoyance of witnessing the interaction between Hendrix and Molly.
"Hey." Hendrix caught up to Vida, who didn't respond with a 'hey' of her own.
"You've been quiet this last week, or you okay?" Hendrix seemed earnestly concerned, making Vida's annoyed look slip up for a second.
"I'm fine." Vida sped up her walking pace, leaving Hendrix in the dust.
As the kids regrouped in the gym, Jason began to center himself on the sparring mat.
"Alright! Next we got Akilah and Taro. Are y'all ready?" Jason threw a thumbs up to Akilah and Taro, who were now standing on either side of the mat.
"Ready, set, Go!" Jason jumped off the mat as both teens rushed towards each other.