The Beginning of the Age of Heroes

Chapter 13

Everything was still going well with the training as the heroes kept getting better at all the skills that they needed to be the heroes of their city when they finally were able to get home. It was now time for the group to have a little bit of fun. It had been a few months since Laurel had issued her challenge to Slade and it was now time for the team to see if Laurel could really beat Slade in a fight.

"Are you sure you want to do this Laurel? It could cause you to get hurt." Slade said, trying to give Laurel an out.

"I am ready for this and I think everyone else is too." Laurel said with a confident smile on her face.

The smile on her face was really making Slade mad. Who did this girl think she was to think that she could beat him? He would just have to show her how good he was and if that meant that she got hurt so be it.

"I will make sure that smile doesn't stay on your face for long Laurel." Slade said as they started their challenge and he had to say that he was impressed by what Laurel was showing him so far. She hadn't shown any of this in their training together. "I have to say I am impressed. You have been holding back in your training haven't you?"

"Well, I couldn't show you everything. If I had done that, you would have beat me too easily." Laurel said as they continued to fight.

"Luckily I haven't shown you everything that I know either." Slade said as he showed her something new and was surprised when Laurel blocked that attack without too much trouble as well.

"I just can't seem to get the upper hand on you today for some reason." Slade said.

"I guess your training is really paying off. Come on. Show me what else you have." Laurel said as she smirked at the man.

This was really starting to piss Slade off, because this should have been an easy fight that should have lasted only for several minutes, but was now going on ten minutes. If this keeps going the way that it was, then the other students would think that they were better than him as well, so he did as Laurel said and gave it his all.

"That's better. Now that you are not holding back on me, we can see how good each of us really are." Laurel said as she continued to block Slade's attack.

"How is this possible? You shouldn't be able to stop me like this. You are simply not that good." Slade said.

"I guess I am better than you thought I was." Laurel said.

"I doubt that. I think this is just luck." Slade said.

Little did Slade know that he was right about it being luck because Laurel was using her powers to make herself quicker, which was giving her the speed to be able to block all of Slade's attacks. Laurel didn't want to hurt the man's pride too much so she decided to let him finally win, making him think that she had been worn down by him.

"I knew you couldn't last for much longer. You simply don't have the endurance yet. You did put up a good fight though. Better than what I was expecting anyways." Slade said.

"Thanks. I will have to work on my endurance then." Laurel said.

"Ok, Laurel has done enough for the day. The rest of you, back to training." Slade said and the other heroes got back to their training.

. . .

That night Oliver and Laurel were in their tent that they had taken from Fyer's camp talking about the day. Oliver had to admit that he was impressed with how well Laurel did against Slade in the challenge.

"You did good against Slade today. I don't think I could do that good against him yet." Oliver said.

"I just wanted to knock him down a few notches. He is too full of himself." Laurel said.

"I will give you that. I know you used your powers though, not that I am blaming you." Oliver said.

"I knew that I would never stand a chance if I didn't use them. It was fun though. It was good to see how these powers could really help in a fight if they are ever really needed." Laurel said.

"That is true. I am glad we know that it is possible to use the powers without anyone knowing about them if we ever really have to. That will come in handy at some point, I am sure." Oliver said.

"You know, as much as I hate this island, I do like the fact that we get to have alone time like we do right now. We would never have that if we were at home." Laurel said with a smile.

"I think I know where you are going with that thought, and I have to say that I agree with you. So, how about we use this alone time to our advantage." Oliver said as he kissed Laurel and things progressed from there.

. . .

The next morning the group was together eating and Sara turned to her sister with a knowing look on her face. This caused Laurel to blush because she knows that her sister knows what she and Oliver did the night before.

"So, you look like you had fun last night." Sara said.

"I did, but that is none of your business. How did you know about that anyways?" Laurel asked.

"I happened to be on a walk in the woods and I had to pass your tent on the way to mine. I could hear clearly what was going on when I passed." Sara said.

"I guess we will have to start keeping the noise down then." Laurel said.

"That might be a good idea. I mean what if it was Speedy who was walking by?" Sara asked.

"Good point. We will work on that. So, what about you and Shado?" Laurel asked.

"Everything is going fine for now. I guess we will see where it goes." Sara said.

"Good. I am glad that you have someone. Now let's get done eating so we can get our training done for the day." Laurel said as both of the sisters ate and then went to begin their training with the rest of their friends.