"Nice work." Alex started to clap as Bloom smiled and started clapping as well.
"Put me down!" Kai struggled as Hendrix dropped him and brought his last string back into his forearms.
The five kids stood frozen in surprise as Hendrix turned to them. Hendrix scratched his head in nervousness as he noticed their gazes.
"What the hell, dude! You've been holding out on us?!" Chase threw his arms up as he yelled from the side of the court.
"Um.." Hendrix didn't know how to answer. Hendrix threw himself down on his behind as he let out a sigh of exhaustion.
Alex noticed this as she raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, you three. Come with me." Alex pointed to Hendrix, Taro, and Kai.
The three turned to each other in surprise.
"We're done with sparring?" Taro asked.
"I have something better to show you guys." Alex said as she started to walk out of the gymnasium
Hendrix got up as he followed Kai and Taro behind Alex.
Vida stared at Hendrix as she tried to answer her own questions. Hendrix was on a whole different level than just a week before.
Hendrix noticed her stare, let out his small smile, and waved goodbye as he walked out the gymnasium door. Vida shook her head to get out of her own head.
"I can't slip up like that anymore. I don't know what this power is either." Hendrix thought to himself
"You guys wanna get back to our training?" Bloom smiled as the four kids nodded.
"Alright, then! I want everyone to talk to each other about their Modes while I talk with Chase." Bloom brought Chase to the side as the three girls sat down on the bleachers.
Akilah pulled out her notebook as she started to write down her ideas
"I already know mine, but I don't know how I did it." Amora stared at her hands, chuckling in disappointment.
"That's probably how Hendrix felt, and look at him." Vida stared off into space as she continued to think about him. Akilah noticed as she looked up from her notebook.
"What about your Mode, Vida?" Akilah pushed her glasses up.
"I don't even know where to start with mine. What about yours?" Vida twirled one of her dreads around her finger.
"I think I have an idea." Akilah continued to write in her notebook.
"You always have an idea." Amora laughed.
Akilah thought back to the conversation she overheard in the mall. It gave her an idea.
"How are you guys doing over here? Chase, let me know if you don't understand anything." Bloom smiled as Chase plopped himself down directly next to Amora.
"I have a question." Akilah raised her pen in the air.
"Oh, and what is it?" Bloom turned her attention to Akilah.
"If I can channel Spirit into my hands, like we already did. Then can I channel Spirit into other parts of my body." Akilah scratched her short hair.
"Yep! If you'll remember the fight a week ago, Alex blocked the bullets from the officer that pulled us over using that technique. We call it Spirit localization." Bloom raised her hand as her green glow shifted from her hand down her arm to her shoulder. Akilah's eyebrows raised as she vigorously wrote in her notebook.
"Would you guys like to learn it?" Bloom asked the group.
Amora and Vida nodded as Chase yelled in excitement as Akilah got up out of her seat.
"Alright, what you first want to do is repeat the first step of training. Channel your Spirit into your hands, like this." Bloom's hands began to glow with her light green Spirit.
The kids followed as Vida's hands glowed white, Akilah's purple, and Amora's pink. It took Chase a couple more seconds, but his hands began to glow their light blue.
"Now, I want you to imagine that spot of light moving up your arm, even if it's just a little." Bloom's spot of Spirit moved up her arm, just like before.
The four teens focused as they tried to follow Bloom's example.
Akilah had the most success with it. She was able to move the purple spot of Spirit up and down her arm with ease as she smiled in excitement.
"What?! You were the second to last person to get past the first part of training and now you're the best?!" Chase frowned. Bloom wagged her finger.
"There are no bests when it comes to you guys. Spirit users all have strengths and weaknesses. Some can manifest their Modes easily but can't localize Spirit at all." Bloom clapped as Akilah moved the spot of Spirit around her body.
"Eventually, you'll be able to channel Spirit into any spot on your body in an instant." Jessica walked over with her clipboard.
"If I can do this…" Akilah thought to herself. It was time to test out the idea she had from the beginning.
Akilah tried to channel her Spirit into her brain. At first, the Spirit localized around her head, but she didn't want that. Jessica and Bloom watched on with wonder as Akilah's purple spot of Spirit zoned into her head.
Akilah closed her eyes as she imagined her Spirit surrounding her brain. Bloom smiled a proud smile as Akilah's eyes began to glow purple.
Akilah was taken back by the feeling of the Spirit surrounding her brain. She thought that channeling her Spirit into her brain would cause her thought processes to increase in speed. What she got instead was even more exciting in her opinion.
Akilah was able to see and hear everything within about five feet from her in a 360 degree radius.
"You kids surprise me everyday!" Bloom's smile grew wider.
"What did you just do, Akilah?" Amora asked.
"She just combined the new skill you guys learned with her Mode." Jessica wrote on her clipboard while she continued. "Her Mode is intelligence, so she channeled her energy to her brain which was her way of manifesting intelligence. Well done," Jessica made a face that said 'not bad'.
"I can see it all." Akilah awed as she seemed to stare in one direction with her glowing purple eyes.
Her eyes and ears started to strain. Her senses were overloaded with every sight and sound imaginable. She could see each dust particle move. She could hear each breath any of her friends took. She powered through the pain.
"I don't believe it." Chase shook his head of blue hair. He put his hand behind Akilah's head as he raised two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?" Chase smiled like he just caught Akilah's bluff.
"Two." Akilah made a surprised face at her own ability.
"What?" Chase began to rapidly change the number of fingers in frustration.
"Three, five, four, two, one, two." Akilah smiled a victorious win as she saw Chase throw up his hands in defeat as he walked back to the bleachers to sit down.
"How many now?" Chase threw up three fingers from the bleachers where he sat. Akilah stayed silent as she pondered on why she couldn't see Chase anymore. It seemed he was out of Akilah's area of vision.
"Yes!" Chase cheered himself on.
"Your senses only go about five feet from you, correct?" Jessica put her pencil behind her ear.
"Damn it. It's useless." Akilah took her glasses off her face and rubbed her eyes while her eyes dimmed their light. The pain disappeared with the light. She didn't think she would make it any longer under that Spirit-induced state due to the surging pain.
"Don't worry, Akilah. Each unique Mode has their own set of challenges to overcome. Just because you can only see a couple feet from you doesn't mean that's how it will always be." Bloom placed a hand on Akilah's shoulder and smiled.
Bloom's words inspired Akilah, like a light bulb going off in her head. Akilah's red, strained eyes widened as her face lit up with inspiration.
"Thank you for the idea." Akilah smiled as she walked out of the gymnasium.
"I knew you would get it." Bloom smiled.
"Wait, where are you going?" Amora asked in confusion.
"I'm gonna stop by Milo's room, then go to the courtyard. You guys wanna come?" Akilah paused at the gymnasium doors.
The other three looked at each other for a second before silently agreeing.
"Let's go." Bloom said as she led the way. "I'll make it part of our training."
"I don't even know what's going on anymore." Jessica groaned as she reluctantly followed Bloom.
The group made their way down the hall as they approached Milo's room.
Bloom knocked and opened the door before anyone inside the room had a chance to say 'come in'.
Milo jolted in surprise, sending the papers he was working on flying into the air.
"Sorry!" Bloom made an apologetic smile.
"What do you want?" Milo brushed his hair back with his fingers while he got up and collected his papers off the floor.
"Can I ask you something about Modes?" Akilah came forward as she asked the question. Milo groaned.
"You come into my room, make me trip and fall over my work, and all for a waste of time?" Milo put his hand over his face and dragged it downwards.
"It'll be quick." Akilah helped pick up the papers. "How did you improve your Mode when you were first starting out?" Akilah thought that their Modes were similar enough to get some advice from him.
"Such a simple question, too." Milo groaned. "If you had the same problem I had, then just get in tune with your senses. The more you're aware of what is going on around you naturally, the more you'll be able to sense when you channel Spirit into your Mode. I was only able to scan over a couple circuits on a board at first, but now I can scan any device for whatever I'm looking for."
"Thanks!" Akilah put the papers she had collected into a neat stack on Milo's desk as she made her way out of his room.
"See you later, Milo!" Bloom began to shut the door.
"The papers aren't even in the right order-!" Bloom shut the door so she didn't have to suffer through more of Milo's complaining.
"What did you get from that?" Vida asked Akilah.
"I know how to train now. I know how to make my Mode even better." Akilah walked onward towards the courtyard.
Vida thought about whether she could apply that to herself.
"Could I? Maybe not. I don't know anymore." Vida thought. She began to spiral into defeat.
"Can I go to the greenhouse?" Vida asked Bloom.
"Are you alright?" Bloom grew concerned for a second.
"Yeah, just need a minute to think." Vida played with one of her dreadlocks as she traveled deep into thought.
Bloom saw this and her concern for her stayed.
"Alright. Let me know if anything is wrong. I'll be there to check on you once we're done." Bloom gave a reassuring smile as Vida smiled back. Vida split off from the group, making her way to the greenhouse.
She sat down on a wooden stool in the middle of the greenhouse as she looked at the plants around her.
"Everyone's so amazing." Vida thought to herself. She thought about how genius Akilah's approach to her mode was. How she got revived by Amora. How Hendrix basically doubled in power in only a week. How Chase still made a difference in the fight a week ago even though he didn't have any control of his Spirit. Then she thought about herself.
"All I did was get hurt." Vida mumbled to herself. She felt useless at that moment. She never wanted to feel useless again. She wanted to protect her friends.
She channeled her Spirit into hands and thought to herself. She looked around the greenhouse for any ideas.
"How can I make plants useful?" Vida thought out loud.
Tears began to well up in her eyes as she remembered Hendrix's cuts and lashes from going out of control a week ago.
"Why am I crying?" Vida wiped her eyes.
She pulled at her dreads in frustration.
Vida put her foot down as she prepared to get out of her seat. Her foot crushed something under her foot. She looked down to see a family of mushrooms that had grown from some through one of the grass patches.
"You're new, aren't you little buddies." Vida said. She thought about how Hendrix always laughed at the way she would talk to mushrooms like they were people.
The mushrooms also made her think of another conversation that her and Hendrix had. Vida's eyes furrowed as the conversation flooded back to her.
Four years ago:
The five children, only 12 at the time, played outside as Mr. and Mrs. Frewin cooked together in the kitchen inside. Akilah, Amora, and Chase played their usual games of knights and dragons. Hendrix and Vida hunched over an area of grass next to the Frewin's garden.
The two kids sat in awe at a cluster of mushrooms that had seemed to grow overnight.
"You're new, aren't you little buddies." Vida smiled at the mushrooms.
"Why do you talk to them like their babies?" Hendrix laughed.
"They are alive, aren't they?" Vida turned the pages of her book to find the exact species of mushroom.
"You're right. That's fun." Hendrix smiled.
"A-ha! Found it!" Vida pointed to the drawing of the mushroom in her book. "This is Agaricus Campestris!" Vida put a finger in the air, proud of her pronunciation.
"English please!" Hendrix laughed.
"Also called the meadow mushroom." Vida's face lit up as she remembered something. Vida flipped another page in her book. "That reminds me of a fun fact! Did you know that some fungi release spores into the air that can be dangerous! Some make you sick, but the crazy part is that others can make you hallucinate!" Vida read the fun fact off of the book's fungus section.
"Woah, that's like a superpower." Hendrix peaked at the book as well.
"That would be a lame superpower." Vida shook her head.
"No way! You could basically make anyone think anything! Then you could control the bad guy just by what he breathes." Hendrix put his hand to his chin as he thought further.
"Woah! That's so cool!" Vida got up and struck a superhero pose. "I'm mushroomgirl!" She laughed as Hendrix laughed with her.
Back to present day:
Vida thought about the fun fact she shared with Hendrix back then. She also thought about what Hendrix said to her when she shared the fun fact.
Vida's face lit up as a light bulb turned on in her head.
"I have to train." Vida mumbled to herself.
Vida got up and made her way to rejoin Bloom and the others in the courtyard.
As Bloom and the remaining trainees got to the courtyard, they were met by an odd sight.
Alex stood like a victorious fighter as she wiped off her hands. Kai, Hendrix, and Taro laid exhausted on the floor around her.
"C'mon guys. That can't be all you got. If this is all you have, you'll never survive what's coming." Alex said.