The elevator door closed, and instantly, they shot upwards. As soon as the elevator door unlocked, Selena gently grabbed Steven by his hand, playfully saying,
“I do hope you impress me more than you already have, Little Brother.”
Steven’s heart skipped a beat, and he imagined taking her right then and there; solely because of her words. Solely because of the way she had spoken them.
Shaking off the feeling of lust, Steven nodded with a smirk, saying,
“I’ll go all out.”
“Delighted to hear it.”
Sending his gaze all over, Steven was pleasantly surprised by the training area. ‘Twas a clear and beautiful mechanical landscape that seemed to be without end. Above, red lines ran across the mechanical ceiling, creating a magnific constellation-esque scenery. Its light continuously bathed the room in its glow and hue.
“Steven.”
“Oh. Sorry, I-”
He didn’t expect to see her holding a pen and clipboard all of a sudden.
“You’re taking notes?”
Tilting her head above, Selena heaved an exasperated sigh.
Steven grinned, laughing while defensively raising both hands.
“I’m joking, I’m joking!”
She rolled her eyes.
“In any case. Our first thing would be deciphering which abilities you do and don’t have.”
Steven cracked his knuckles, appearing serious.
“Alright. Sounds awesome.”
She nodded, making a note.
“Now, let’s begin with a more common secondary unique ability. Try attempting to fly. Don’t try too hard. Just go with the flow. It is akin to swimming, after all.”
Steven sent his gaze to the ceiling.
“Akin to swimming? Okay.”
‘Flying is so cool – I need it. Please, some deity or whatever the fuck’s out there, please make it so I can fly.’
Steven brought both hands overhead and flashed them, bringing them down to his sides. Immediately, he launched ten meters into the air, flaring up gusts of wind.
“Holy shit! Holy shit! I’m flying! I’m fucking flying, Sis!”
His sister watched him with a shit-eating grin, giving him a thumbs up. Expression unchanged, she jotted down notes.
“Come down, Steven.”
With some difficulty in maneuvering, Steven touched down.
“It gets easier, Little Brother,” Selena informed him, smiling all the while.
Euphoria coursing through his veins, Steven said,
“I know. What’s next?”
Suddenly, Steven felt blood rolling down the side of his cheek. He put a hand to it, and looked at it, then at his sister.
“Selena, wha-?”
“Well, anything above Grade One healing factor is out of the equation.”
She threw him a stoppered vial of yellow before jotting down notes. By the time she finished, Steven had drunk the contents of the vial and was presently discarding it.
“Now then, onto a test of enhanced senses.”
She stuck her forefinger onward.
“Can you see the wall over there?”
“What? Fuck no. Do I look like I’m wearing glasses made by Christina Vale?”
Selena frowned, taking notes.
“Moving on.”
A sonic boom ensued, and she was at so far a distance that he could only barely see her lips moving.
“What? What?! I can’t hear you, Sis! I can barely see you, too!”
He squinted, seeing her blurry form writing something again.
Instantly, his sister was before him.
“You don’t possess enhanced senses, but that’s fine. Neither do I, as you know.”
Steven’s brows creased, and his eyes narrowed.
“Huh. So, what exactly is my primary unique ability? How do I even figure that out, Sis?”
Tilting her head above, Selena heaved an exasperated sigh.
Steven grinned, laughing while defensively raising both hands.
“I’m joking, I’m joking! The last question was a joke, Sis!”
Rolling her eyes, she made clear,
“I’ll have you figure that out after I’ve got a grasp on your physicality.”
She projected her voice when saying,
“Operative Selena Price requesting authority over the domain.”
“SCANNING VOICE,” an AI female voice spoke out, its voice reverberating all ’bout.
“VOICE RECOGNIZED BY SYSTEM. REQUEST GRANTED, OPERATIVE MS. SELENA PRICE.”
“To my left, summon a brick wall.”
A brick wall spawned there immediately.
“Woah,” Steven drawled, mystified.
“That’s an actual wall. The tech here is… fucking crazy, Selena.”
“Courtesy of Christina Vale, Little Brother. Now, go ahea-”
Steven didn’t let her finish. Roaring, he spun into a taekwondo sidekick and slammed his foot into the wall. It shattered and was reduced to dust.
Selena impassively took notes.
“That’s Grade One superhuman strength,” she muttered.
Staring down at his right shoe with a somewhat nervous smile, he whispered,
“I really hope this isn’t my best. Can’t be… the hero I’ve always dreamed of being with just Grade One super strength.”
Placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, Selena cocked her head to the side and smiled.
“Don’t give up hope just yet, Little Brother.”
He returned her smile.
“I’m not, Sis. Thanks a bunch.”
“My pleasure. Always.”
Steven pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes widened, though momentarily, she reciprocated his show of affection.
Ending the kiss, Steven stayed close to Selena’s face, telling her,
“And I really appreciate you for that, Big Sis.”
Backpedaling – profusely blushing and clearing her throat, Selena said,
“O-Others are waiting on me as we speak. We should stay focused, Steven.”
Steven chuckled.
“Totally agree.”
She nodded, head moving a tad too fast.
“Go-Good. In… In the same area as you’d put the prior object, summon a wall of reinforced concrete.”
In an instant, a wall of reinforced concrete spawned. War-crying, Steven brought his leg high, speedily performing a crescent motion before bringing his heel down atop the wall. It broke apart and crumbled, and the man smiled.
“Alright, Grade Two super strength – not bad.”
“Your taekwondo skills are exemplary as always.”
Though Selena said that, she did not smile. In fact, she had her lips pursed in some measure of frustration.
As soon as she finished jotting down notes, she closed her clipboard and said,
“This is… unfortunately the limit of your superhuman strength.”
Steven didn’t look angry, merely confused.
“Huh?”
“It’s also the limit of your durability, as durability correlate-”
“I graduated high school, Selena – but that’s beside the point. What do you mean this is my limit? Bring out the next structure or whatever.”
“The next structure would be a small building, Steven.”
He paled.
“Seeing you kick the first two times, giving it your all whilst having no training on inhibiting your destructive prowess, I-”
“I’m not gifted in the physical department, basically.”
Dejectedly, he sighed.
“Hey, Steven.”
He perked up, surprised at her completely stern tone.
“Chin up. You could be a speedster, for all we know.”
As if a light bulb materialized above Steven’s head, his face shone bright with glee.
“That’s right!”
He got down into a runner’s stance.
“Don’t take off just yet, Little Brother. Summon a champion racehorse to the left of the candidate.”
Instantaneously, a stunning white racehorse touched down exactly where Selena had requested.
“On the count of three,” she said.
“One.”
Steven bared his teeth, glancing at the racehorse.
“Two.”
‘Please, some fucking thing, just make me faster than cars – Grade Three at least.’
“Three.”
Taking off with perfect form, Steven swung his arms back and forth. Throwing a cursive glance to his left, he saw that he and the racehorse were neck and neck.
“Fuck no!”
Pushing himself, he ran fast enough–sixty miles per hour–to leave it a couple feet behind.
“Not three bad, Steven. That’s Grade Two.”
Steven gasped and decelerated for a moment. He saw his sister jogging on his right, giving him a thumbs-up, holding her clipboard with the other hand, and smiling.
Steven stopped running altogether.
“Fuck,” he voiced, raking a hand through his hair.
Beaming, his sister told him,
“You’re not breathing heavily in the slightest, even after running as hard as you did. Your stamina’s certainly Grade Three. Possibly higher.”
Steven felt comforted by his sister; found her smile infectious. And so warmly, he too smiled.
“It’s time to decipher your unique ability, Steven, so I’ll be trying to kill you.”
“Say what now?”
Scowling, Selena commanded,
“Create a mountain some ways behind the candidate.”
And thus a true mountain came into existence behind Steven.
Thoroughly perplexed, Steven threw his head back, then forward to gawk at his sister.