The Many Faces of Tully
Combative Training

After I practiced with Gunther and all of them I am thrown into training. Rozen was impressed with me and wants to morph me into an ultimate weapon. I have to train with everyone to strengthen all of my powers.

“Wait, I have to train physically too? Why?” I look at Jace in disbelief.

“Well, what if it becomes a physical fight? What if you have to run and dodge attacks?” He is stretching out right now in sweats and a plain cotton shirt.

I stand straight, with my arms folded, looking down at him. “I have a shield. That should protect me,” I try to argue with him.

“You’re not getting out of this. Nash has to train too, even though he’s indestructible.”

“Yeah, Tuls. Besides, it’s fun. You get to hit things and shoot things. You won’t even feel like you’re training, especially if you have Gunther and Jace helping you out. And I can be your target practice too!” Nash is his usual bubbly self, sitting next to Jace not bothering with stretching. “You can hit me as hard as you want and you can shoot me-”

“Gah!” I exclaim. “I don’t want to shoot you!”

Both Jace and Nash raise their eyebrows at me, and even Gunther looks up at me from his weapons.

“It won’t hurt me.” “It won’t hurt him.” Jace and Nash say at the same time.

“So?” They’re still looking at me in confusion. “I just don’t think I could shoot my friend, okay? Even if it won’t hurt him.” I drop my eyes to the floor, embarrassed by their incredulous looks. Then I hear Jace start laughing, which makes me feel worse.

“You really are gentle. Okay, we won’t make you shoot Nash.” And he chuckles again.

Still looking at my feet I mumble, “I don’t really want to hit him either.”

“That’s okay. I sort of expected that. We still have the dummies that we used before Nash showed up.” And then he laughs once again. “That’s a first, huh Nash? Normally people want to shoot you.” They laugh together.

“Maybe it’s a boy thing,” Nash says, and I can picture him shrugging. I sigh heavily and sit down next to them and start stretching out too.

Turns out that Nash was right. It actually is really fun, and I am taken by surprise at how good Jace is at fighting. The only person who can beat him is Gunther, and that’s only because his power helps him. Jace can pin anyone down, including Zazu who is several inches taller than him. Jace always lasts the longest against Gunther too, and those fights are always the best to watch, even though it isn’t too often. I asked Jace once at how he was so good, and he just said that he had a lot of time on his hands and he used a lot of it to practice anything he could to distract himself. Whenever he says things like that gives me a painful reminder at how long he has been here. It reminds me of how long he waited for me, which makes me think how incredibly disappointing I must be. So I train as hard as I can.

I am very basic in the beginning, unable to do much at all, but they start me off slow. First I would stretch and work out. I did push-ups, sit-ups, squats, planks, burpees and a lot more exercises that I didn’t know the names of. Then I would get a short break after that, where I could drink some water and catch my breath. I steadily got stronger so I felt less winded every time. But when it started getting easier, they upped my sets. So I had to do more at a time. They were relentless, but instead of standing above me and watching me work out, they worked out with me. They did as many push-ups as I did, right next to me. It made me feel better.

Then, after our work out and short break, they actually started to train me how to fight. Gunther led most the lessons, generally using Nash as a visual so I can actually understand the effects of a certain move. They managed to convince me to practice on Nash a little bit, so I could get the feel of the move, whether it was getting him in a headlock or flipping him over my shoulder, and I have to admit, it was kind of nice. I mean it wasn’t nice seeing Nash in these positions or putting him in them, even though he smiled through the whole thing, but it was nice knowing that I could actually do that. To know that I am capable of actually fighting someone without my powers.

During this training, I got this crazy idea in my head, that maybe, since I’m learning to fight without my powers, I might not have to use them anymore. I start relying less and less on my powers. I don’t use telekinesis for any simple tasks anymore, and unsurprisingly, Jace notices.

“You seem to be in a really good mood lately, and I can’t help but to think that it’s not all because of me.” He stares across the table at me.

I place my coffee mug down slowly. “How do you mean?” My stomach clenches up nervously. How does he catch on to things like this?

“Well, you seemed to be in a good mood after we got together, which was flattering but somewhat expected. New relationships tend to make people happier. I know I’m happier.” He smirks slightly but his eyes never waver from mine. “But, lately, you seem to be even happier. You’re talking more with the other guys. You’re lingering in the hallways and sharing jokes with them. And I’m wondering what’s up with the change. I mean, I don’t mind it at all and actually I am enjoying seeing you feel more comfortable around people, but I am curious.”

I drop my eyes to my mug and start tracing the rim of it with my fingertip. “When aren’t you curious?” I mumble.

“Huh.” His tone makes me look up at him. He’s looking at me with concern and deep concentration, and not for the first time I feel as if he is looking at me like I am a complicated problem. “You’re being defensive. Why are you being defensive? Is it a bad thing that you’re socializing more?”

“Umm. I have a feeling you won’t like the reasoning behind it…” My eyes flicker from my mug to his eyes and back again.

“I don’t know how?” His eyebrows furrow. “Would you care to explain?”

I sigh heavily. “I feel like I don’t need to use my powers. I feel if I keep learning how to fight, I can stop using my powers. I’m using them less and less, so I guess that’s why I’m feeling more comfortable around the other guys. I’m feeling safer and less dangerous…” My eyes don’t leave my mug as I tell him this.

He doesn’t say anything for a long time so I finally peek up at him. His lips are pursed and he’s tapping them with his finger. I feel self-conscious as he scrutinizes me.

“Tully,” he says slowly, authority ringing in his voice. “We need your powers. Your powers are incredible and the most important piece to our battle. I need you to have your powers so I know you will be safe. I need to know that you will not be hurt in this battle. We only train physically because being stronger strengthens our powers, and if for some reason they can block our powers, we can still fight. Do you understand that?”

I feel like a child being lectured by an adult. But he’s right. It does make perfect sense, so I nod. After that I start using my powers more and Jace starts making me practice with the other guys more. I do nothing but train now.