Inspiration often struck in the strangest of ways.

Although for me, the first day of training wasn't so productive. Roxy and I subtlely covered our walk of shame with some brief violence. As I was an expert in reading emotions, I decreed that everyone bought it and were none the wiser. After skirting any potential questions, we both vanished into the prefab to shower.

Once freshened up, we brought food out to the other wary trainees. Not because of any shame or guilt - we were just excellent hosts.

Clara stretched out, a slice of toast held in her mouth, and turned her laptop to face me. I leaned over to take a look at what she was showing me.

It was a camera view of the Meteor. Angled to the side so that it had a view of the left flank of the vehicle. There was a circular target on it, with a couple of scorch marks in the fabric near the center.

[Ren was hitting that? A mile out, you said?]

"Mile and a half at the moment," Ren interjected, stepping over to us. "We are going to try further away, and Clara has suggested I use a targeting eyepiece."

I nodded and glanced back at the screen. Perhaps getting her to speed up her attacks wasn't the correct route. Most of our exploits had required her to be within mid-range of any enemy target, but if my memory was correct, then the League had her stationed primarily on reconnaissance duty in team missions.

The techie removed the toast from her mouth. "I have such a rangefinder in one of my cases. Not cutting-edge technology, but will suffice for this singular purpose."

It turned out that all the boxes Ren had brought over in the helicopter were actually ours from the storage truck. I had just assumed the elf used the same storage make as Clara did, but reality made a little more sense. With a raised eyebrow, I looked over at her.

[You're not opposed to this tech usage?]

"Sometimes compromises have to be made." She crossed her arms, a slight scowl over her eyes. "The jury is out on whether it will be effective."

Having her switch to a sniper role rather than a skirmisher opened up some opportunities. With the ability to ride the bow like a hovercraft, she had little issue getting to advantageous points. Being able to strike targets from this distance could change the way we approached our problems. It was almost criminal we hadn't explored this avenue previously.

I glanced at Clara, and by the smirk on her face, it seemed she had already read my mind.

"Don't worry, Gunquake. Some of us out here are actually working."

"I'm trying my best," Roy complained, clearly in the dark. He came over to our small gathering, cool drink of water in his hand. "It turns out that you can't force a breakthrough like this."

[I could beat you to near-death if that would help?]

He pulled a face. "I'm pretty sure that only works with you, Dubs."

"Maybe some combat would be beneficial." Clara waved her food at us. "It's been a while since you've all fought each other."

Ren wrinkled up her nose. "We aren't exactly on equal footing there." Her bright blue eyes glanced at Roxy briefly.

Although she was extremely correct, I also saw the merit in a little friendly sparring. When going against mutants, villains, or the forces of the World Government, they didn't really care about being fair to their power level. A high-stakes environment was different, but having options was beneficial. The Natural Disasters had a good spread of abilities.

[I'll fight anyone. Even two on one if you want to make it fair.]

Roy immediately scoffed and took the bait. "Really? You don't even have any ammunition, Dubs. Unlike before, I reckon I could run rings around you now."

[Be my guest then.]

I gestured out to the open desert.

"You're on." He grinned and stretched out his arms.

We walked away from the prefab, and I could hear Roxy and Belle asking the other two what was going on. It probably seemed like I was trying to help the Captain get his breakthrough. No. I just wanted to fight a speedster. In fact, I wanted him to become the fastest speedster, so that I could fight him and win. My team couldn't accept anything less.

"What's the rules, then?" He stood fifteen feet away, still limbering up.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

[No killing, disfigurement, or serious maiming.]

Roy paused in place and grimaced. "That… goes without saying, right? This isn't that serious. How about nothing that Belle can't heal, and a five-count tap out if one of us is on the floor. Like boxing?"

[Acceptable. I'd say make the first move, but that's not really my choice, is it?]

The cocky smile returned to his face, and he hopped lightly between his feet. Both fists raised. Eyes locked on me.

As soon as I sensed any movement, Reflex shot down my synapses. I open-palmed my metal arm out to the right side, catching the speedster in the chest. He stumbled wildly away, almost tumbling over.

"What the fuck?" He scowled at me as he adjusted his position. "Premeditation?"

[You always lead your opening combo from the same side. Predictable.]

Roy tutted. "I won't make that mistake again, so now you're at a disadvantage."

[Really? Do you know what I'm going to do next?]

"Doesn't matter."

Perhaps I had been a little too eager to gripe about the lack of inspiration today. In fact, there was a second reason Roxy's hollow volcano lingered in the back of my mind. We needed to lean into our designated casting within the Disasters - me included.

Captain Snaps was without his lightning gauntlets, so was unlucky in this matchup. Even though I was without most of my gun capabilities, there was an element of quake that I was about to test out. Roy's tell before he attacked was a brief downward turn of his brow. That minute show of focus.

My leg V-Force drives fired up with a brief Overcharge before immediately venting before they reached max potential. As soon as the energy had dissipated, I repeated the process immediately.

In effect, a manual version of Quake Shot - with a few downsides.

Roy punched me in the chest, but nearly all the strength had been stolen from the attack as the surrounding area hummed with V-Force energy. He dodged the grab of my left hand and tried to back away from outside my debilitating circle.

A smart move, as by the sixth pulse of energy my synapses were on fire and the effect lessened dramatically. He saw the opportunity and was in as soon as I stopped my assault.

With my connectors shot, Reflex wasn't an option. I turned and swung, blocking one out of every three attacks… slowing to one of every four, then five. They weren't the most damaging strikes, but it was like being tenderized to death.

My grapple shot out, striking the ground thirty feet off. I slid away from his attacks at speed - but he was faster. The speedster appeared at the end of the line with a flash, causing a cloud of dust to follow him. I rolled across the ground to avoid his haymaker, but received a kick to the back before I could even stand.

He wanted to keep me down while I was most of the way there. A second kick swept out my left hand, and I slumped further. A stomp came down on my metal arm to do the same, but it held steady. This was more like it.

I had to admit there was some truth to my power level spiking every time I almost died. It was what made you stronger, after all. There was something about having my nose in the dirt that made me want to climb back up the mountain. I just couldn't accept anything less.

The stim pack in my neck clicked, dispensing a flood of energizing chemicals through my body. Any pain numbed. My synapses extinguished briefly. Adrenaline spiked. I pushed myself up off of the ground despite the constant blows.

Reflex once again lit my insides, and I boxed the Captain. For five long seconds we traded blows. Mostly blocks and dodges. He had trained in this, but so had I… many years before my rebirth. As my higher reaction time wore off, I fired an empty barrel of V-Force into the punch he blocked.

Roy stumbled back away again, still managing to stay on his feet. He shook his fists off and glared, even though he was grinning. "Gotta have good balance as a speedster."

[Shame.]

I weighed up my chances of using Arcane Overload. It would probably kill one of us. But did he know that?

[Let's be honest. I'm on borrowed time now. Should I just surrender, hmm?]

"Balls to that." He spat on the ground. "I want you in the dirt, beaten fair and square."

[We both know you're too weak, Roy. Why do you think you're the baby of the group despite being a grown man? Nobody takes you seriously. You're a joke.]

The speedster raised his fists again. Although his expression darkened, there wasn't any anger in it. "Nice goading, Dubs. I heard much worse while serving, from assholes who really meant it. Shut up and get ready to eat sand."

Roy had always had a bit of a carefree attitude. A little too cocksure and casual about his abilities. He had let the brainwashing of the League numb him, and he had spiraled into the seedy underground once they didn't give him the structure he craved. Our first meeting had shown that he was angry and raw. Forgotten by the system, his powers not respected. While his temper had calmed, the only times I had seen stoic seriousness from him were when he mentioned the old days, of when he served.

Also right now.

I didn't catch his tell, and lashed out to my right. Empty air. He had circled to my left, and delivered a jab to my open ribs. I turned to block and received a kidney punch. Disturbed dust swirled around me as he delivered punches that were both more accurate and more forceful.

[Not enough.]

With a growl, I Overcharged and ejected every V-Force drive in my body, creating a shockwave that blasted dirt a dozen feet away. Roy slid back, arms crossed in front of him. I leaped toward his position, and he rolled away. My metal arm screamed as I spun around in a wild arc behind me. The speedster dodged this as well, stepping expertly inches away from my reach.

I rolled to the ground, avoiding a kick by chance. Grabbed a chunk of the rocky terrain between my fingers. As soon as I was in a crouch, I fired out of my wrist barrel, blowing the stone into powder. Not quite a smoke cloud, but it should reduce-

Roy kicked me in the side of the head. My ears rang as I staggered to the side, almost dropping to the floor. He went for a follow-up. A mistake - too predictable. A partial Reflex helped me catch his ankle with my left hand.

He hopped closer to level punches at my head and shoulder to get me to drop him. Useless. Even if he knocked me out now, there was no stopping this death grip. While I tuned out the repeated attacks, I raised my metal palm to him.

I started charging Arcane Overload.

The punches slowed. "Dubs, that's going too far."

[Tap out then.]

"I'm not going to… you're bluffing." He raised a fist, but didn't hit me. "Stop."

I looked up at him. Most of my torso felt bruised. The left side of my head was numb, and either I was bleeding or sweating a lot.

[The team is better off without you. How many years since you peaked? All for what?]

Roy seethed, teeth clenched. "I regret nothing."

[Decent final words.]

I fired.

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