Chapter 5

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***

- I apologise, Starlight. I should have asked them to behave with more restraint. - I hummed, entering the training room. One of six, and that's just in Vaught Tower.

There were mannequins and everything for physical training. Not that superhumans needed it, but it was good enough for a demonstration. There were targets made of metal plates, even the floor was metal, along with the ceiling and walls. Though I had no idea what metal or alloys were used, and neither did Homelander. But it seemed to be extremely secure for the safety of the rest of the floor.

The whole room belonged to Seven, and as you could tell by the completely intact items, they didn't come here very often. Unless it was for cleaning. Vaught must have expected to be used for combat training. But she hadn't taken into account the ego of the supers.

- Wow," Starlight exhaled, looking around the empty room. - This is where you train?

- We have five more of these so we can use the spare ones during repairs. These rooms don't last very long.

And that was the truth. Homelander personally destroyed two at once with a laser from his eyes. Other members of the team had more modest successes, but very quickly such training rooms became irrelevant. It was all due to the obvious fact that supers don't lose strength without training. Black Noir or Depth doesn't get any less strong or fast without it. So the bottom line is legitimate.

- Where do we start? - Starlight asked excitedly, realising that there was no need to be afraid of breaking something.

- What can you do? Besides superpowers.

- Taekwondo. I'm a red belt. - The girl answered proudly, which made me sceptical about her words.

- Can you show me what you can do? I swear I'll only defend myself. - I smiled, raising my hand as if I were swearing on the Bible. Considering I was an agnostic.

- But it's clear I'm weaker than you. - Starlight objected hesitantly.

- И? Your goal is to show your abilities, not to win. And this isn't an exam. - He grinned and stepped up to the most ordinary-looking ring.

Here everything looked more classic, except that instead of simple ropes, the ring was surrounded by iron ones. The floor of the ring also consisted of iron plates. A couple of sparring matches at half strength they would definitely withstand, and replacement would not be difficult.

- Okay. - The blonde sighed and joined me.

- We don't need a referee. Start, - I commanded and immediately shifted to the right, dodging a sharp kick. - Not bad.

Her kicks were very good, but if a normal person at her speed could be literally impaled by her feet, her techniques had no effect against me. What to say, if my speed and reaction is comparable to speedsters. Train-A is certainly faster, but my speed is not much less.

So every punch the girl threw to me looked like a five year old's punch, predictable and ridiculous. I grinned when she almost hit my head with her foot, grabbed her and knocked her to the floor, tripping her up.

- Get up," I smiled, looking down at her. - Or is that all you're capable of?

The girl's eyes lit up with a yellow light and she jerked up off the floor. This time she was much more fierce, using her fists as well. But the result didn't change, she only started to make more mistakes and became inattentive, eventually opening herself up to attack.

A moment, and my hands easily lift her up, grabbing her hips and rolling her to the floor. Immediately, I hover over the blonde and grab her by the wrists of her hands, keeping her from moving. Starlight is breathing heavily and her eyes glow even brighter as the lights of the lamps begin to flicker restlessly.

- You swore you would only defend yourself. - The girl exhaled, yet there was no indignation in her voice.

- Offence is the best form of defence. - I smirked, sensing the ceased attempts to break free of my grip.

My heartbeat quickened, and the girl's gaze became too intense. My gaze shifted to the seductively open lips.....

- You know how to attack. - The ironic words came from a little further away.

- Maeve. - I pulled a smile onto my face, feeling annoyed at the interruption at such an interesting moment.

He looked up at the heroine, who was watching us with interest. Starlight hurriedly stood up as well, smoothing her skirt. She was definitely feeling at least a little awkward.

- In person," Maeve snorted, glancing at both of us. - You want to relive your youth?

- I was checking out what Starlight was capable of... combat-wise.

- How was that? - She arched an eyebrow.

- Pretty good, great. - I assured the redhead.

- Really? You don't seem objective in this case," she grinned, glancing at Starlight again. - It would be much fairer if the sparring was with me. Don't you think so?

- I have no objections. - He smiled, watching as she easily jumped over the ropes and landed in the ring.

- That's great.

- Well, please come to the centre, - I decided to take the role of a kind of referee. The girls did not object and now stood opposite each other. - I hope you both realise that this is just a friendly fight. So please don't gesture.

- We understand. - Maeve grinned, glancing at me.

- Begin. - I stepped back, giving them room to fight.

It was no miracle, and the fight was almost identical to the last one. In the beginning, Starlight gave it her best shot, trying to get to Maeve. She didn't even let herself be touched, and a minute later, having seen everything she needed, she simply laid the girl on the floor of the ring. Expected.

- Really good," Maeve said, holding out her hand to the girl who was on the floor again. - Depth would have torn you apart. Good job.

- Thank you. - The blonde didn't refuse the help, getting to her feet.

- Well, I'm off. I've got work to do. - The red-haired heroine grinned, and with a glance at me, jumped over the ropes and headed for the exit.

- What's gotten into her? - Mumbled, not understanding her behaviour.

- Between you two...

- Oh, no. We're just friends," I refuted her assumption. - It's more like... she was just having a little fun.

Homelander's relationship with Maeve was far from normal. While they'd had a torrid affair at the beginning of their acquaintance, they'd broken up and gotten back together many times since. It was only about six years ago that they finally decided to remain just friends, initiated by Maeve herself. That made Homelander angry, but not me.

- I see." Annie said uncertainly.

- Now it's time to test the power of your ability," I decided to change the subject. - By the way, what is it?

- Well, it's kind of like a laser, but slower. It can repel, and in case of prolonged contact it can incinerate. - Starlight began to explain.

- And you get your energy from electrical appliances. - I nodded as I came down from the ring.

- Did you read my file?

- No, I just assumed. Noticed how the lights flickered when your eyes lit up," I lied easily, remembering every nuance of her abilities. - I only have a general idea of your powers. So what is it?

- Yes, it is. It's how I store energy. I'm at my strongest in an urban setting.

- How long do you keep it inside?

- A couple of days. If you keep it in for too long, it gets uncomfortable. - The girl grimaced, clearly remembering the discomfort.

- I see. Shoot the target as hard as you can. - Asked, to which she raised her palm and accumulating energy in it, fired in less than a second.

The results were acceptable. An even, round-shaped hole appeared in the target, or rather in the iron plate. There was just one thing.

- Do you release this energy from your hands only or from your whole body?

- Whole body.

- Then why the hands?

- Is it convenient? - The girl answered uncertainly, as she didn't seem to have thought about it at all.

- Your eyes emit light. During stressful situations they are the first to glow, so they are the easiest to conduct your energy. - I replied, watching the girl's dazed face.

- Я... wait. - The girl concentrated again, only this time she lowered her hands.

Her eyes began to glow, growing more and more intense until they shot out a beam of light. This left another hole on the second target, only half the size of the first.

- We did it! - Starlight shouted happily, almost jumping on the spot. She wasn't in any discomfort at all.

- Yes, it worked. - Nodded, looking at her happy face with interest.

I wonder how many other supers there are that haven't even tried to understand their powers. Wout didn't seem to have any training in controlling her powers, which suggests that they don't really need professionals in their field. The same can be said for tactics, hand-to-hand combat, and technique control.

The same Homelander doesn't even know how to drive a car, let alone an aeroplane or helicopter. In many ways, he's completely incompetent. Even his first mission completely failed because he decided to fire a laser at a machine gun. The logical outcome was incompatible with life injuries that both hostages and intruders received. This is definitely something to think about.

We spent another two hours in the training room testing Starlight's strength. Eventually, she was getting pretty good at letting the beams out of her eyes. And they were much safer than my lasers, only repelling rather than burning through.

Once I was back in my apartment, I flew outside again, starting to pick up incredible speed. I certainly couldn't get bored with this, at least not for weeks to come. The feeling was too intoxicating, it wasn't just alcohol, drugs didn't even count.

And it was in that state that I landed on the balcony again, smoothing my damp hair. Who knew flying through the clouds would make you wet?Snorting at the ridiculous thought, I walked to the fridge and took milk from there, pouring it into a glass. The refreshing liquid disappeared from the glass very quickly, travelling to my empty stomach. I should order something, I thought, wiping the marks on my lips.

- What brings you here, Madeline? - I asked, not turning to the woman watching me from the couch.

Looks like tonight I'm gonna find out what's been kept from the Homelander. And I was sure it wasn't just Stillwell's initiative. Stan Edgar was definitely involved.

- We need to talk.

- I'm all ears. - I smiled, turning to face the woman.

*** 

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