Two Strands of Fortune

Season 2 Episode 30 - Back To The Drawing Board (Part 2)

[ERIC'S POV]

Miss Jacobs decided to come down to the base to give us a hand with our powers, using Combo Abilities. Ms Jacobs taught Alya and Ivan the Sandstorm, taught Dylan and Margot the Smokescreen, taught Ivan and Alec the Rootspurt, and then taught Dylan and Ivan the Magma Trap. She then turned to Oliver, Margot and myself.
"Now," Ms Jacobs began, "What we need to do is get a little more creative in the use of your powers."
"Creative?" Margot muttered, "I don't think we have time for that in the heat battle."
"Well, then. Margot, you're up first." She pointed at her with her cane.
Margot stepped forward, hesitantly.
"Now, your problem is that you've become too reliant on your energy beams and orbs. You need to find different ways of using Magic."
"Like what?" She asked.
"You can mould Magic into different shapes and forms, right?" Ms Jacobs proposed, "How about you try doing something different with it?"
Margot put her right hand out in front of her and summoned a small orb in front of her. She twiddled her fingers carefully and formed a solid throwing star from the orb. The throwing star dropped into her hand with a soft plopping sound. She twitched her hand and channelled some more energy into the throwing star. The little object lit up and twirled around her fingertips. After a few revolutions around her hand, the throwing star faded away into little sparks.
I was up next. "Eric, I see the same problem with you, you've only used Shadow Spikes so far, but you can definitely take it up a notch."
Ms Jacobs walked out of the room and came back with a large set lamp. It looked like one of those that you would find on a movie-set. She switched it on and signalled for me to stand in the light. "Your specialty is Shadow. So try and make something from the shadows."
I heaved a heavy sigh and reached out to the shadow cast out by my body in the spotlight. I carefully manoeuvred my fingers in the darkness, and caused my shadow to twist and contort. The shadow began to take solid form, reaching up and stretching in front of me. The solid branch extended into appendages that formed a hand. Curiously, I reached out to the dark purple mass in front of me. When my fingers touched the hand, It lit up from the place where I made contact with a bright lavender glow. Moments afterward, shadowy mass dissipated suddenly, causing me to jump back.
Oliver was last. "Your specialty is Light," Ms Jacobs began, "How about you find other alternatives to using Light to your advantage?"
Oliver stepped forward into the spotlight that I'd just stepped away from. He stuck hands out into the spotlight and twisted his wrists accordingly. The light bended around his hands like a blanket. Curiously, he took his right hand and found it towards the wall. When he flailed his hand outwards, the now gelatinous light flung itself out and stuck to the wall. When Oliver released his grip, the residue returned to its original form in the spotlight.
"You guys need to go to the press conference at the Town Hall. Everyone's freaking out right now, and with good reason." Ms Jabos explained.
"So, it's down to us to put the people at ease?" I asked.
Ms Jacobs nodded wistfully. "The President has already declared a State of Emergency. The rest of the world has their eyes on South Africa, right now. If we can't get the Anti-Elementals under control, they'll start to expand their attacks to the rest of the world. That means that more people will be Absorbed, and they will be more powerful and they'll become the biggest problem of all time."
"Okay, okay, we understand the urgency." Ivan sighed.
"What time does it start?" Martha enquired.
"8 a.m. Sharp." Agnes chirped.