Chapter 16 (redone)

My moment of triumph doesn’t last long. A powerful blow connects with my back.

Another one of Madara’s mutant gummy bears attacks me with a wooden stick. It used to be a spear, but the point got knocked off. I attempt to dodge another incoming strike, but I am so exhausted that I only succeed in falling at the gummy bear’s feet. I tried to erect my forcefield, but I don’t have enough power. You would think that I‘d figure out something sensible to do after that move with the fireball, but it really took a lot out of me. I‘m so tired that I can barely think. The constant awareness of my entire Team doesn‘t help my state of mind. I try to block them out, but something‘s holding me back.

Well, it’s come to it then. I cover my head with my hands and hope that the large red candy soldier isn’t allowed to kill students for real.

Out of nowhere, Madara yells at us, army-general style. “ATTENNNNNNTION!!!” I sit up tentatively. I am shocked to see Ikah contemplating the slowly disappearing mess of a disintegrated gummy bear.

Did you?… I ask her, unsure of the circumstances.

She nods coldly. Unfortunately, you’re still a part of my Team. I may hate you, but I would never let you die, she retorts.

Meanwhile, everyone scrambles back to the middle of the room. Looking around, I see no gummy bear corpses and figure that they disappeared like mine did.

Madara surveys us, covered in cuts and bruises as we are. We look pretty pitiful. I sense that it’s time for evaluations. I hate evaluations.

“Eyrad,” she addresses the twitchy youth emotionlessly. “You did well. I am pleased to see more creativity from you. Good job. But try to be a little faster in the future. I see that your defense wasn’t the strongest,” she observes, indicating his swollen eyes and bloody nose. “Tell your teammates how you dealt with the enemy.”

Eyrad shuffles his feet, embarrassed at having been singled out. “I made their centers of gravity increase so much that they were pulverized into jelly,” he mumbles.

Wow.

Madara nods, and moves on to Wynn. “I saw you looking out for your Team the whole time. Very good display of true leadership skills.” Wynn nods, his expression unreadable.

Madara continues. “Tell your Team how you dealt with the gummy bears.”

Wynn took a deep breath. “There are a lot of complicated calculations that I’ll skip over, but the end result was that they killed themselves.”

The instructor nods approvingly. “Quick and efficient.” Next, she moves on to me.
I’m so nervous. Have I ever mentioned that I hate evaluations?

“Krystal.” She says it like a statement. “That was really good. For once in my life, I actually can’t think of anything to say. So…good job,” she finishes, leaving an awkward silence.

Lorik contacts me again. That was pretty damn impressive, he says. I think I can sense just the tiniest, most miniscule bit of pride in that statement. I beam, unable to contain my excitement. Then Madara ruins my moment. “But remember to watch your back in the future.” My shoulders visibly drop, and I roll my eyes as smugness radiates from Ikah.

It takes about half an hour for Madara to get to all of us. We all get good feedback and a little bit of advice. Finally, she dismisses us.

At lunch, I am the star of the day. Wynn congratulates me in that non-congratulatory way he has. I think that deep down, he‘s a lovable, great guy, but he‘s just too serious.

Surprise of suprises, Ikah’s being nicer to me than usual. Well, not exactly “nice”, but there’s something more positive emanating from her. Grudging respect, I guess. The day she’s actually nice to me will be the day I voluntarily wear a dress.

Kyle is obviously proud of me. He keeps introducing people from other Teams to me, bragging that he’s known me since we were in diapers.

After about 20 minutes of embarrassing back-slapping, congratulations, and other forms of praise, I get a chance my Teammates how their battles went. There were so many different approaches that my Teammates had taken that I can’t remember all of them.

Kelta’s approach was sensible. She’d made lightning fry one of her opponents to a crisp, while using a miniature rainstorm to help the electricity conduct. Then she used wind to blow the ashes away.

Aiyamar had blinded her opponents, and then stole the sword from one of their fallen comrades. She hacked off the hands of her opponents that held their weapons, and then their heads.

Llare (whose IP is the manipulation of hot and cold, as Kyle so thoughtfully informs me)
had melted his opponents, and then froze the puddles of goop that they made so that they couldn‘t regenerate themselves
.
Ya’asa had used her shape shifting abilities to turn into a large tiger, and ate her enemies. When she tells the rest of us, we burst out laughing. It’s kind of pitiful that no one else thought of eating the bears.

…

I lay in my bed, watching Aiyamar’s light show playing against the wall. When we’re not in control of our emotions and consciousnesses, our Powers just kind of…hang out. Do whatever they feel like. It’s funny, so long as it’s not happening to you. I can see shapes in the light and shadows above Aiyamar’s bed. She’s dreaming about two people in love. How cute.

I adjust my pillow for the umpteenth time tonight. I’m wide-awake. It’s hard to sleep in an unfamiliar place.

Oh, who am I kidding? I always have trouble sleeping. Ever since I can remember. And on top of that, I have the next worst condition: thinking at night. So many times I’ve thought myself into tears. It’s a bad habit. Don’t do it.

Tonight, my thoughts are about my family. I use the term “family” loosely. I have a biological mother, and a non-biological father (also known as a “step-father,” for those of you who come from normal homes).

Neither are very good parents. For starters, my stepfather beats my mother and me. My mom doesn’t handle the stress of our financial difficulties well, so she takes it out on me in various ways. So, most times, I just avoid home. It doesn’t even really feel like home; just a place to keep all my stuff.

I guess I should be feeling bad about leaving my parents without telling them, but then again I didn’t exactly leave. More like abducted. Either way, I’m gone and they don’t know where I am. The worst part is that I don’t even miss them. And I’d never admit it to Kyle (at least, not yet), but I think I like the School. Yeah, the teachers still yell, but at least they’re actually trying to help us. And they don’t curse at us, which is a big plus. There’re no bullies, no evil lunch ladies, and no pedophile janitor. Granted, I’ve only been here a day, but so far it’s one of the best days of my life.

I start to tear up a little, realizing how pitiful I sound. Tiny purple sparks race across my fingers, a sign that I’m slipping out of awareness. I readjust my pillow again, and turn my face to the wall. Slowly, very slowly, I relax my body and fall asleep.