The moment the whistle sounded, I felt a sensation across my whole body. Was that feeling goosebumps? Or was something latching onto me, figuratively or literally? I ignore it and let it escape me as I make the first move and rush forward, as Bayani isn't moving.
He seems to have a similar bait-and-counter style to what I've tried to adopt. I won't play some pointless waiting game.
I take a swing with my left fist. As it approaches him, I notice a twitch in Bayani's hands. I feel an invisible force pull me slightly away from him, so I miss my attack.
Bayani counterattacks and kicks my side with his right leg. I see another twitch in his hands, and I feel myself gravitate towards his attack. It hits me harder than it normally would due to the increased force of my body being pushed into it.
I stagger back. It really sucks that, as Parker, I can't use my entire kit. If I could use Ironhide's iron body coating, or Miss Claire's shadow manipulation. This fight would be far easier.
However, this can easily be turned into an opportunity. Maybe being Parker will allow me to become a more competent fighter since I can only fight with Mr. Eun-ji's power.
I jump to the side, and I notice another twitch in his hands, and I trip over and land on my back on the floor.
What is he doing with his hands?!
It must be related to his power. But what is it? I can't tell. I look up at Bayani, and he looks down at me with a small smile.
"There's no shame in this struggle. I would call myself a direct counter to your type." He says, trying to be consoling as he reaches out his hand.
I smack his hand away and stand back up. "Quit talking and fight," I tell him as I attempt to hit him with a right hook. It's the same tell, a twitch of the hands, and my attack misses.
It's a repeated cycle over and over again, the definition of insanity. Attack, get moved in some way, miss. Attack, get moved, miss. Attack, moved, miss. Attack, moved, miss.
Attack, moved, miss.
I feel myself tiring out, leaning down a bit. Panting. He hasn't even hit back once after that initial kick. He tired me out just by moving. I couldn't find out what his power even is. I step forward anyway, hellbent on at least figuring out his power.
I pull my right fist back and swing forward. Bayani's hand twitches, and I get moved the same distance that I typically have been moved.
Gotcha.
That tells me that it's him manually controlling the pull; it is not automatic. If it were automatic, he would've been able to avoid this.
WHAM!
My swing was more of an overhead swing. A wider swing than prior. He misjudged the distance that he needed to pull me, and I hit him square in the nose, and I see him recoil as his hand reaches up, as his nose is now gushing blood.
Oh. So he isn't all that durable. He sure hits hard, though, and he's damn hard to hit. I understand why he's a tough opponent. But he's easy once I pinpoint a weakness in his moves. I don't need to know his power to win.
Bayani stumbles back and yanks his arms back, causing me to spin to the point of nausea. When I stop, I immediately feel a blow to my stomach.
He's finally fighting back.
I feel myself being yanked in all different directions as repeated blows go to various parts of my body. This kind of jump in effort can only mean one thing. One more hit spells my victory. There's a reason he's so hard to hit. He's not built to take as much as he can deal out.
When there's a slight reprieve in my forced movement, I close the distance. I don't think he can push me away. This entire fight, I've only been pulled. I swing at him with a one-two punch combo, the second one being a wider swing than the first.
However, he reads it perfectly and pulls me the right amount to force me to miss both. It seems as though the same trick won't work on him twice.
Out of the corner of my enhanced vision, I see Kara finish her popcorn and toss the bag behind her. She then reaches her hand out, and an iron needle stabs down to the right of Bayani and me. It doesn't make contact with anything, however, with the light refracting from the needle I see…
Strings?…
Of course! Strings between Bayani and me. That's his power. In retrospect, it's obvious. I think I was too focused on methods of fighting back rather than figuring out his power.
Bayani turns his head, "Kara! What was that for?" He shouts, his eyes widened, while his eyebrows are furrowed.
"What? I can't hear you!" Kara shouts back. Making a vain motion of leaning forward with her hand cupped behind her ear.
"Hey, turn back towards me," I demand.
The moment he turns his head back, I lift my leg and hook it onto the strings. I flip myself over them, using that momentum to make Bayani fall. The moment he hits the ground, I kick him in the side, and Elaine blows the whistle as the kick connects.
Bayani hurriedly stands up and darts over towards Elaine. "Why didn't you blow the whistle and deem it a tie when Kara interfered?" He says, his hands shaking as he rests them on his hips.
"It wouldn't have changed the result either way. It was obvious that Parker had you figured out in everything aside from what specifically was pulling him. You would've lost because you can't adapt well enough once people figure you out. All Kara did was speed up the fight, not change the result." Elaine says matter-of-factly.
I think she's wrong. I don't appreciate Kara's interference either. But I suppose what happened happened.
Bayani doesn't respond and inhales sharply, the look of frustration slowly melting into a forced smile, "Alright then." He succinctly states before he walks over to me.
"Good spar, Parker." He says as he reaches his hand out.
I pause for a moment before raising my hand and accepting his handshake. "Good spar, Bayani."
Bayani turns away, but I notice his face returning to that frustrated scowl when he thinks that no one can see it. I only noticed due to Mr. Eun-ji's power.
He's leaving?…
Oh. Right. He probably only had this spar scheduled for today. Kara and I still have that extra training with Elaine as "punishment".
I notice Kara trying to slip away as well, but Elaine snaps her fingers and points to the spot right next to me, "Kara."
Kara zips over to the spot Elaine pointed to. "Wasn't trying to get away. Just… throwing away my popcorn bag," she says unconvincingly. She is a terrible liar.
Elaine sighs and points at me. "You have good creativity and solid close-quarters combat foundations. But you get in your own head too much, and sometimes focus on entirely unnecessary things. You could have ended that fight much quicker if you focused on figuring out what was pulling you instead of finding random ways to attempt to counteract it."
I nod at her as she turns her attention towards Kara, "You are too carefree. You don't take fights seriously because you're so self-assured. You have minimal real combat experience. An attitude like that in a real fight will get you killed."
Elaine points at me, "Parker, I'll explain my plans for you first. I'll be teaching you different moves from different martial arts. Better technique will be your foundation for improvement; your power requires you to be a close-quarters fighter."
That isn't bad for me. I know how to throw a punch and a few different kicks, but for other moves, I've been making everything up. There's gonna be benefits for being Parker after all.
Elaine then turns to Kara and begins to speak, "Kara. Honestly, it's hard to teach you like I can Bayani and now Parker. You don't adhere to logic and analytical thinking like those two do. The only way those types of people improve is just to keep fighting."
I speak up, "A different kind of fighter?"
"Well, yeah. Most people can be put into two categories: those who rely on analysis and logic to fight, and those who don't adhere to logic and can more efficiently improve through general physical training and real combat experience. Those types typically don't benefit from the type of training I'm about to give you. You, Bayani, and I are in the former category. Elizabeth, Kara, and Paragon are in the latter category." She explains.
Oh. I see what she means. I think I'd put Mr. Eun-ji in the former category, and Miss Claire in the latter category.
"But Kara, you can't leave the building as per you and Parker's punishment, so your real experience will be against me," Elaine says, cracking her knuckles, making Kara shudder a little.
"Parker, if you go to the right and out that door over there, there's a room with punching bags. Have at it until I'm done." She commands. I don't even question it. I don't want whatever Kara's getting.
I turn away and walk into the room that Elaine described. I need to step up the moment I enter, as the entire room is covered in traditional wrestling mats instead of flooring. It is lined with punching bags of different varieties in one section, weights in another, and then some other miscellaneous exercise equipment that doesn't fit the other two categories in the last, more disorganized section.
I am immediately greeted with the sight of Bayani pounding away at the punching bags. He's sweaty, his eyes are wide and red as if he hadn't blinked once the entire time due to deep focus, and he doesn't seem to notice me. The hits are intense, and I hear the loud, thunderous sounds ringing out.
I slowly approach and lean on a nearby punching bag. Bayani is swinging like a man possessed.
Damn. That spar really pissed him off.
I watch as he hits the bag with a spinning elbow. He then goes stagnant, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then re-opens them, finally noticing me.
He recoils and stammers a bit, "Ah! Parker! How long were you standing there?"
"You look angry," I remark.
"Well… A little bit. Mainly just frustration, not anger," he replies, running a hand through his hair.
"At Kara, or me?..." I ask.
"No. Not you, Parker. Not Kara either, and not even Elaine. I'm most frustrated with me." He replies, looking down and clenching his fists.
"And wh-" I begin before he cuts me off, "Because I'm still weak. Elaine is right. I have no adaptability. I have one trick, and it's what I did to you. I have decent hand-to-hand technique, but I'm not built to take hits." He explains.
I honestly don't know what to say. I look at him and gently nod my head, just to show that I'm following along at the very least.
"I mean, seriously, I may be stronger than most kids our age, but that isn't an achievement. My only true competition is Kara… And now you as well." He grimaces before following up with, "Every spar I have with Kara, she cuts my strings with her power and knocks me flat. She's the strongest person I know. But at the same time, that idiot is more fragile than me."
"How so? She can take a hit more than you." I tell him.
"That… isn't what I meant. She just is, alright?" He says with a solemn look.
He then forces himself to lighten up, his posture loosening and a smile returning to his face. "But, this frustration… It's the foundation for improvement." He says with a vain sense of optimism that I'm not too sure if he even believes. But I don't think the statement is wrong.
I feel a swell in my chest, I tense up, and the words spill out of my mouth before I can even process why I'm saying them: "I will kill the old me over and over again and be reborn a better fighter. As many times as it takes."
Bayani pauses slightly, taking a step forward, reaching out his hand. I can't read his expression.
Without warning, he grabs my shoulder and lights up, genuinely this time it seems. I recoil at the sensation. "Parker! Adaptability!" He shouts.
"W-What are you talking about?!" I stutter out, feeling my face turn a bit red.
"You have what I lack! Can you teach me?!" He says, practically bouncing.
"How do I even teach that?! 'Sides, can we have this conversation later? Elaine will probably be here soon!" I tell him.
"Nah, her work period with us is almost over, and she's too occupied with Kara." He says, pointing at a digital clock on the wall which reads: "11:45 AM".
"Then how is there 'extra training' for Kara and me as 'punishment'?" I ask, throwing up air quotes as I speak.
"No idea, but if we wanna train more, it's more self-guided. Ironhide used to give Kara and me a routine or personal one-on-one training. But… Yeah." He says, tapering off into painful silence near the end of his sentence.
I feel that similar swell from earlier, I'm unsure what feeling that is. More words spill out in a similar fashion as last time, "If you teach me hand-to-hand technique. I'll… help with what I can for your 'adaptability issue' or whatever you call it." I tell him, tapering off into a similar silence near the end of his sentence.
"I'd like that. But I want to relax and maybe eat first." He replies.
"Sounds good. Wanna meet back here?" I ask.
"Yeah, see ya, Parker." He says, waving goodbye as he walks out of the room.
I pause for a bit before walking out soon after. The place is empty, just like Bayani said. It seems Elaine's time with us for the day is over. I walk over to the elevator and enter it. I press what I believe is the button for floor sixty-eight. I can't be entirely in it; I am still too focused on that feeling that compelled me to get so involved with Bayani.
I don't want to complicate things for myself too much. I shouldn't involve myself with the people here, so why am I?
The elevator comes to a whirring stop at floor…
Seventy?...
I pressed the wrong button, but I haven't been here, but I stepped out regardless, my curiosity taking over. I step out and am immediately greeted with a singular narrow hallway with five large rooms, each labeled "Office" with a nameplate I can't read without getting closer. One at the very end of the hallway, and the other four along the way, with the entrances to them spaced out.
I hear some clicking coming from the office on the far right. I see that each office has a door and two windows near it.. And I slowly approach it, when I get close enough, I read the nameplate as: "WWSHA Planner, Number Two Hero: Elementalist".
I decide to start backing away, but as I do, I hear a soft voice ring out from inside the room: "Do you need something, Parker? You may come in."
Great. Now it'll be too awkward if I don't go in.