Elaine:
I feel as though I just escaped a brush with death, my breathing is slowed as if I'm squeezing each one out of my lungs, and my head is spinning with different thoughts of all the what-ifs.
Why was I so careless to forget about the punishment and let Dad catch me with Parker not at my side?
I'm too lucky that I thought of a lie so quickly, so I got off with a warning.
I glance over to my side, and I see Bayani there, carefully examining me, his face etched with pursed lips, his eyebrows furrowed, and his blinking has slowed immensely.
I snap my fingers and point over to Parker and Kara, who are currently locked in an intense sparring match that I can't say I'm entirely paying attention to. "Hey. Watch the match, not me. You're up next." I command.
Bayani snaps out of his trance and nods, now watching them. I start to do the same. Kara repeatedly targets his neck with her needles. And Parker anticipates them and dodges them before they fully appear.
Parker looks as though he has far more battle experience than Kara does. While Kara always dodges back and takes hits just for the fun of countering with her own, he always dodges closer, past her fists. He doesn't seem to ever take any unnecessary risks. However, Kara's form and skills are far more refined. It looks almost as though Parker is uncomfortable fighting with his own power.
Even though he's a kid, someone who fights with the mannerisms of a battle-hardened warrior should have more mastery over his power to the point where he shouldn't need direct training on basic parts of it, like his enhanced hearing.
Perhaps he was sheltered? After his mom adopted him, maybe he just never used his powers much until he met Sonar? But that doesn't make sense to me either.
A loud crash breaks me out of that train of thought, my head snaps up, and I see Kara standing over Parker, with the floor around them shattered.
"You lose!" She declares, holding her hand out to help him back up, before taking it away the moment he reaches out. Parker hops up and shouts at her with an embarrassed blush covering his face, while Kara is howling with laughter as if it were the funniest thing in the world.
"So, since you lost, you stay and spar with Bayani," Kara says, already walking over to the bleachers.
"How is that fair at all? Shouldn't the winner stay?" Parker protests.
Kara ignores him, and Bayani stands up rather awkwardly and walks over to Parker. "Let's have a fair fight." He says, reaching his hand out for a handshake. Parker begrudgingly accepts.
Kara plops into the seat next to me, turning to me and saying, "Elaine, you should get in on this too." With a bright smile that almost hurts my eyes.
"I'd rather not hurt you three. So I'll refrain." I reply, not looking at her, but not looking at the fight either. My gaze is between the two, but tuning both out of my sight.
"Darn. I was gonna have you fight Parker." She tells me with an overly-exaggerated sigh while her shoulders slump forward dramatically as she leans back.
"You're a little sadist. You know that?" I reply, punching her arm lightly, still not really focused.
Jarring me out of my trance, Bayani shouts, holding out his hands. "Okay, okay. I surrender. I still have to fight Kara, and I want to have enough energy to walk after this!"
"Seriously?" Parker replied. His arms crossed, as his gaze looked over Bayani's current form.
"I don't feel like engaging in a losing endurance contest with you. I see the results already. And I'm done." Bayani tells him as he starts to usher Parker to the bleachers.
"That's not a good mindset to have. You can always turn things around as long as you fight." Parker replies in a surprisingly calm tone despite what his current mood seems to be. Maybe the brat does have some maturity in him.
Kara stands up and pats Parker's back as she approaches Bayani and drags him back to the arena. Parker takes a seat next to me. He looks over at me. His hands crossed in his lap, as his eyes were darting in every direction around me.
Just how my penguin would look at me when he was too nervous to ask me to spend time with him.
I feel a sense of sorrow wash over me and swell in my chest. My words get lost in my throat. Part of me wants to snap at him and tell him to pay attention to the fight. But another part of my subconscious hears Elizabeth's words, telling me to try to mentor Parker.
I let out a shuddering sigh and spoke up. "You don't have to be so nervous about looking at me."
Parker jolts at that, and I can visibly see on his throat the gulp he makes. "Alright." He says quietly, his eyes finally focusing on me.
"I'm sorry." I blurt out.
"For what?" He says with a slight quiver.
"For comparing you to my penguin. He's gone, and you're not him… You didn't deserve that treatment from me because you two have an uncanny resemblance," I explain.
"Can we start over?" I ask him.
"Sure. And I apologize for causing you nothing but problems since coming here with my rash actions. I promise to try to think things through before I do them. But I can't promise that I won't cause trouble. I will keep doing what I think is right." He explains, as I see a slight spark appear in his heterochromic eyes.
"Still gonna be a brat, huh?" I remark, a chuckle escaping from my mouth. "It's alright. I understand. Everyone of your type is like that."
"What does that mean?" He asks, standing up slightly.
I gently ruffle his hair and push down on his head to seat him back down. "You're eight. Don't worry about it.
"Nine." He corrects.
"You're still a kid, squirt." I laugh.
He has the same mentality as those whom I've seen climb to the top. Including me to an extent. I think I'm starting to see what others see in him.
I glance back over at the spar between Kara and Bayani, and I see that Kara's arm is bleeding.
"New move, huh?" She shouts as she rushes back toward him.
"Lacarate," Bayani replies, panting a little.
"Hey! You didn't use that on me! You were holding back!" Parker complains.
"It's unrefined. You would've dodged it and knocked me flat." Bayani says.
I sigh and cover Parker's mouth. "Keep the spar going."
Parker turns his head towards me. Great. Now he's giving me puppy-dog eyes.
I let him go and flick his forehead, to which he recoils and looks up at me with a pout.
"Don't look at me like that. Keep it down," I reprimand.
"M'kay." He responds softly, looking back at Kara and Bayani's spar.
Watching Kara and Bayani. I notice that Bayani has started taking a more offensive approach. Likely due to my "specialized training" with him today. Sonar wanted me to be a living punching bag. Like a training mode from a fighting game. Bayani needs something more self-guided, so I do agree with the idea. Someone with his power needs creativity to fight.
Strings. Called by many a useless power for a hero. But Bayani has managed to reach a status of being one of the strongest in his age group. That boy truly is the hardest worker I've ever met.
Kara finally gets the upperhand though, and manages to knock Bayani down. She helps him up right after. No tricks, which makes Parker grumble.
The pair makes their way over and sits on the other side of me. All three kids now look at me as if I'm the deciding factor on what they do…
Actually, I am. I stand up and go down a row, and I then turn around to face them. "You three wanna go to the strip shopping center up by the northern docks?"
Bayani lightly taps Parker's shoulder, "Hey, that's where we first met. When I warned you about the heroes in the docks. Well, before Chameleon wiped them out."
"I suppose it is," Parker replies, now seeming deep in thought.
Kara, ignoring their sidebar, seems to be practically bouncing, "Can we go to the Thai food place for lunch and the taco truck for dinner?!"
"Sure," I reply, turning around and motioning them to follow.
I hear a surprised "Hey!" From Bayani, and a yelp from Parker, as in the next second, I see the three kids next to me, with Kara grabbing their shoulders, and the two boys next to her scrambling to get on their feet.
I shake my head with a sigh and a smile. We go down the elevator to the lobby and exit the building.
A nice, calm outing to get away from my dad. And it makes the kids happy.
All I need right now.