Toss Up (Danny Rand)

Thinking with Portals

Sweat drips down my forehead as I fight to keep my concentration, a small shadow portal about the size of an apple shifting and expanding between my hands. "I can't do this..." I bite out, arms shaking.

"Yes you can, focus. Picture it in your mind, picture the portal growing bigger." Klee says, standing in front of me, and I blink away the sweat that tries to get into my eyes.

My arms shake even more as I try to make the damn thing grow, thinking back to what it felt like when I saved that boy from the billboard. I try to connect with that strange yet familiar darkness inside me, using it to get somewhere with this stupid training.

Embrace that energy. Don't push it away. I can see the portal being to grow, slowly but surely, and I let out a shaky laugh.

"Keep going, don't think about anything else." I nod at his words, my eyes stinging a bit. I try to channel my anger, pulling up the memory of Loki and his smug face as he wrecked the city—hurting all those innocent people. I grit my teeth, feeling my anger bubble up inside me, and suddenly the memory of hurting Simone flashes in my mind.

I gasp, my concentration breaking and the portal fizzles away—the shadows flying up behind me as I my tails form again. I bow my head, my hands on my knees as I try to catch my breath. "Damn it..." I grip my hands, the fabric of my sweatpants bunching, and I hear Klee let out a disappointed sigh.

"This is the fifth time you've broken your concentration, Ari. You have to learn how to keep your mind on track or—"

"I know!" I snap, bringing a hand up to my forehead. "We've been at this for hours already, and you yelling at me isn't going to help me get any better!" it's well past dinnertime, and we've been at this since I got back from school! He's been breathing down my neck since he got back from wherever the hell it is he goes to, and this whole boot camp training is wearing on my nerves.

All it's been this past two weeks since my birthday is school, training, then sleep. I haven't hung out with Harry or MJ and I've been missing patrols because of this—I want to see my friends, damn it!

He lets out a sigh as I look up to him, massaging the bridge of his nose before he runs a hand through his hair. "I'm not yelling at you—"

"Right."

"—I'm being hard on you because learning this technique is going to help build a foundation for more complicated ones. You can't just rely on luck to shadow-port again." He says, looking a little worn himself.

The Shadow Tamer's tome mentions how these powers mess with your sleep. Since our powers rely more on darkness and shadows, we're wired to be more night owls (Especially the man who had owl-like powers) than early risers.

I guess that explains why I'm not a morning person.

"Can we just pick this up tomorrow? I still have school and I can't be late again. I'm not getting enough sleep as it is."

His brow furrows slightly as he walks a little closer, dipping down to balance on the balls of his feet. "It'll get better in time, Ari. You'll get better in time." He reaches a hand up to ruffle my hair, and I'm not sure if he's talking about my powers or what happened back in the IVY hospital. "It's going to get even more difficult from here on out, but I know you can do it. I'm here to help you, something I wish I had when I got my powers." He offers me a tiny smirk, standing up to disappear through the doors that slide open for him.

I look down to the ground, rubbing the back of my neck, a bit embarrassed. I'm still not used to having my dad back in my life, and part of me still resents him—old habits die hard—but getting to know him bit by bit is nice. I hated when my mom would tell me I was so much like him growing up, but now I have to begrudgingly admit she was right.