The Innates (Book #1)

Chapter 18

I wonder why Mr. André hasn't shown me my results after he took my DNA sample. I know I'm simply just a Passer, but this has been haunting me since last month like an earworm. My life is going great. I have great and loyal friends, everyone still loves me, Mr. André told me I was his favorite student. I learned hand-to-hand combat, archery, gun-shooting, Judo/ Krav Maga/ Jiu-Jitsu/ Tae Kwon Do training, and passed all my recent tests.
                     My first few weeks felt like my brain was going to explode due to the few anxieties left inside me, besides that, I can't imagine what will happen if I didn't meet Jackson. I owe up to him for saving me, not just my life, my everything. Being diabetic leaves you with a slow healing factor in wounds and bruises. But I think that's a good thing. It shows how much I've experienced and learned from. Many things have happened so abruptly, but there has to be a reason to anything that happens in this universe.

They made us wear a not-so-thick chest, arm, forehead and leg padding.
"Get into the same three groups as last month's!" Zach commanded, mimicking Mr. André, who recently just entered the room.
"Zach, don't start with me. Now step away!" He said. Zach flinched and ran in surprise as he turns around seeing the furious instructor. All my classmates laugh. We can't control ourselves, but the adults here are teaching us to harness something else... our powers.
"Okay, let's get serious now, shall we? Jess! Clare! In the ring. You two will square off." As I heard my name, I knew this was gonna be bad. Especially hearing a girl's name. I take off my shoes. Clare has an unusual ability that wasn't on the list; she can summon blades from all over her body. I'm afraid that she's gonna injure me. But the point is, fear is actually a side-effect of trying not to think while trying to overcome something. Deep down, there's fear. That's what makes us imperfect but normal. I still don't understand why normal humans can't accept us even though they can't accept themselves. Humans and Innates are basically the same, we both have the power to do things, we're sometimes afraid of ourselves, we didn't ask to be born this way, and most importantly, we are not perfect.
I stepped above the octagonal podium, standing infront of Clare a few feet away. It can probably hold at least twelve people inside.
"These weapons I'm placing at the center of the ring are fake, the knife's dull blade can slip inside the handle and the gun's bullets are magnets that will stick to the thin metal plates on your protective pads. You two will fight for these weapons and see who gets hit in the sensitive areas. Remember, no quitting and no powers. The fight has to end when someone loses."
My group surrounds the ring with the ten other students in-training.
"Don't ruin this, Jess." Alice said.
"You can do this, Jess. Whoo!" Sarra seemed excited about the fact that my butt was going to be kicked by a girl.
"Attack!" Mr. André commanded us after I took one step forward, closer to the fake weapons.
Clare glares at me with her green seaweed eyes. Her shiny nose piercing and her golden hair shimmered directly on my glasses.

"This is all about strategy, not offense."
She throws her first punch with her right arm. I took a step back and shielded myself with a high black with my forearm. Next, I throw my punch directly at her waist. It wasn't hard enough, Jess! It doesn't matter if she's a girl, she's an imperfection, like you.
She backs away from me and prepared for another punch, in which I stomped my right leg forward and punched her right above her left eye, I could feel my knuckles hit her skull. She groaned in pain, but she's furious, judging the straight look in her eye. In some angles, she looks like a striking viper, since she always ties her hair back and she has bony features on her face that makes her look like a lunging corpse. Now I feel bad about punching her skull.
After those few thoughts and regrets, I quickly sprinted towards the gun. But she pushes her leg out, twisting my balance and resulting my hard fall. She sits on top of my back, crossed my arms behind me and pressed her hand against my wrists. My ear was pressed against the dusty podium. She trapped me! But not for long.
"What are you gonna do now?"
"Dettach myself." I said.
It was a long struggle, trying to rip off my taper. A few pieces of the first layers of my skin got ripped off, but it was worth it.
"No fair!" She gasped.
I flipped my legs forward, forcing her to somersault and release my prosthetic hand. I didn't detach myself so that I could hit her with my stump, I used it as a distraction. She would have known that it was too short to hit her and it was obscured by the padding. Like what Mr. André said, "expect the unexpected." It's a good thing I learned a little gymnastics from Sarra and a few aggression tricks from Alice. Girls are strong no matter what, which was my second reason why I punched Clare.
As she laid on her back, still shocked about what I did, I held the gun on my right hand and focused on targeting her torso. She looked at me like an infant puppy. Shoot! I was distracted for a second, I wasn't alert.
She raised her legs and stretched them out on my face. I landed on my back while she picks up the gun and aims it on my forehead padding.
"Say goodbye, Jess." She said.
"Hello." I said. I take off my glasses and directed them to the light's trajectory. Clare shields her eyes as the green from her left eye glinted. She backed up a bit. I stood up and snatched the gun from her hand and hit her head again with its rear, the pad's metal plate fell off.
"Quit targeting my head!" She yelled.
I did a roundhouse kick on her waist but she blocked it with the hand she scratched her eye with. She quickly recovered and kicked my abdomen three times as she jumped high in the air and landed perfectly on the same spot. I almost toppled over the podium, but I kept my balance.
"This is getting a little boring, kids, come on! Move, move, move! Come on, go! Never stop attacking!" I glanced at Mr. André, not noticing the oblivious serpent jumping towards my bent knees and swiping my neck with her leg and knocking me down. My head was trapped between her two legs as she held on to my right arm.
"What are you gonna do with your stump, Jess?"
"Reattach it." I said. I've known her for not noticing things, that's why it was easy for me to try and reattach my arm that was just an inch away from my limb.
"Okay, okay... shake it off, shake it off. Release your opponent, Clare."
"Yes, sir." Clare lightens up and picks up my fake limb. "Here you go." She said. I attached the taper to my stump and smiled. We faced each other again, panting. Get yourself together, Jess, I think to myself.
"Again!" Said Mr. André. Clare tries to sprint towards the knife after she extends her arm out, but I did a sidekick on her forearm and it completely bounced off. But, she uses her other arm to snatch my extended leg. Before she could do anything that can cause me to fall, I hopped forward, squished her hand with my other foot and swung myself down, causing her to fall and roll over the podium. She tries to stand up, but I was as sly as a fox. I twisted myself and kicked her with my heel on her chest padding, she tries to block, but I never stopped attacking the defender with my feet. I may not be resourceful with my hands, but my feet are lethal.
I am a bullet that tries to hit something bulletproof. But I believe that I can create fragments on something unbreakable. I rotated for the last time and whipped her torso with my right leg. She falls down, coughing.
"You okay?" I walked closer to her. But her viper eyes glared at me for the finale. The ravenous Clare leaped towards my upper body and hooked herself to me. She stayed there like a leech, sucking out my strength. She punches different areas of my face. My eyes felt damp, my nose felt numb and my right cheek is throbbing after six or seven punches. She wasn't even hitting the protective pads. I tried shaking and pulling her away from me but she was half-monkey, half-serpent and half-leech. But I had a slight advantage of squeezing her neck and make her pass out. My opportunity was not missed, so I plunged my fingers into her vein and let go immediately as she stops the punching. She falls down and hits the back of her head with her eyes close to shutting tight. I grabbed the gun behind me without looking back, no one knows what her motives are. I aim towards her forehead padding with a trembling arm, she's already in so much pain and so am I, feeling that magnet hit your forehead must be pretty painful. And yet, what Mr. André has been teaching us is how to tolerate pain even at the worst times. So, I lower the gun and pointed to her waist. The gun seems heavier this time, I'm just tired, that's it. I pulled the trigger after I looked away with my eyes tightly shut. A loud gunshot can be heard throughout the hallways. I opened my eyes and looked at the exhausted Clare. I gasp horrifyingly after seeing her side oozing with red pus.