The Air Out Of [Wattys2018 shortlist]

16

JESS WAS PRETTY HAPPY THEY'D PREPARED FOR THE SIMULATION IN ADVANCE because now that she was familiar with a few tactics she could use, it was so much easier. The simulation took place somewhere on the bare outskirts of Covia. It started normally, allowing the heroines to adjust to their setting and possible things they can use to fight.

Then out of nowhere, Avinians seem to pop up endlessly. Aspyn throws everyone a rifle and gives a two-second example on how to use it. "Use what you've learned. But don't waste all your energy."

Jess uses the water to catch the rifle being thrown to her midair and controls it so that the water pushes the trigger at the opponents. "Sector five!" She yells at Ellie, who stands at sector five and is being approached by a mass amount of warriors.

With the water using up her rifle, Jess puts her physical skills to the test, punching left and right. She's not as good as the others, but with the gun pointed to the warriors in the air, she is doing just fine.

Scar uses a similar strategy to hers by lifting himself way high up in the air. He's participating in a swift special attack to wipe the warriors out in one motion. His gun is stationed far away from Jess', but still in the air so that both couldn't be taken down in one hit.

Aspyn and Brea are something else altogether. Talk about all-powerful relatives. Aspyn is shooting light attacks from the palm of her hands, and Brea can slash five warriors at once with her quick reflexes and flexibility. She dodges each attack, and instead mirrors their force onto them, effectively putting a plunge on the warriors.

Jess, who finds herself surrounded, decides to enlist help from a struggling Louis, who can't seem to use the gun. Using one arm to ward off fellow Avinians, and using her mind to constantly hold the rifle up while shooting precisely at her targets, she uses her free hand to control Louis' gun. Flipping the locks in the correct way, she configures the settings on his gun using the water and shoots the warriors. She nods at him to begin shooting. "Thanks!" He yells over the simulation, before moving to Sector Seven.

One problem. She's still surrounded. There's an overwhelming amount of warriors at her section, sector two at the moment. Oh, and one of them has got her rifle in their arms. Shoot, she internally groans.

Patience is my friend.

But still, her brain is blank. But yet, she feels powerful, some sort of unstoppable energy force coming to life inside her. A fire inciting its' flame inside her body. Her mind is on fire. She can feel it, the power rising to her hands, the electricity burning at her fingertips. Her silver iris' shining brightly.

She can't breathe right, but it feels amazing. The necklace is gleaming. At the moment, everything seems possible, there might still be a plausible chance to beat the simulation. The light only brightens seemingly like a vibrance meter being drawn upwards. She continues the pattern.

The light still remains bearably bright, and although she knows that she can push it further, she remembers Aspyn's words, but don't waste all your energy. She uses it at its' current state, wondering what might happen. "Go, Jess!" Leo cheers.

Now, she instructs the necklace. It sends a blast, just the size she needed to supersede all the warriors around her, wounding them, including the one who took her rifle. Aspyn has made a shield against all her 'allies' to prevent them from taking the collateral damage of her blast.

She picks up her rifle, prepared for what was to come, and although some part of energy has been drained from her body, she can still fight. The simulation ends promptly.

"I'm proud of you." Aspyn congratulates her, once the simulation fully fades out and people are no longer gasping for air. "How'd it feel like."

"Like I took a pill in a hospital. Way to giddy filled me to the brim with adrenaline. I don't even know what happened." Jess said, honestly.