Chapter 373 - 373. In Circles

With the influence of coach Winter's the group had managed to get to the gym even though the school was closed. This was more of a boon than they knew. Since the school was closed the staff was all home and no others would be able to bother them while they trained to their heart's content. That being said. The group made their way to the school to find that there was a note left for them at the front gate.

"It says that we have to go to the gym and begin the task at hand when we get there. What does that even mean?" Laura was annoyed that there were no more details. She felt that everything she knew and would have to do just kept getting harder The thought mostly stemmed from the fact that she was proving to speed through all academic material and studied the academic app threw at her. 

"We just go to the gym. It's whatever, we are going to train like hell anyways." Art had been the first to accept that they would end up hurt and beaten by the training. He knew how bad his muscles felt the next day after a hard work out. But this was going to be much worse. He had the feeling that even thinking about getting out of bed would hurt. 

"Everyone stretched and brought a ton of water? Laura, you brought those vitamin packs for everyone?" For some reason, Asher had taken full mom mode for everyone. He had called and confirmed that everyone was wearing their best gym clothes. This was partly because he had the fear of coach Winter's training and also because he knew that even without her pushing them they would be pushing each other. 

"You have checked everything over and over. Don't worry and let's get to it. We are going to get stronger." Jane had her eyes in the direction of the gym. Tio her, this was the start of the groups' next bit goal. They had already completed one and now were heading for the next. There was only future strength to look forward to. 

"I know that we will get stronger from this, but I'm worried too. I don't think we can get further by only training some work outs. We need to go against real opponents and be in real situations that make us think." This thought was mostly from the fact that Jackson already had a body that put him higher than most people. If he worried too much about physical strength he would find himself mentally lacking. That would put him far from the goals of being a hero and hold his friend back. 

"No more waiting time. We have Garnet waiting for us too. You all know they are rivals. The longer they wait the more they will argue and the worse the work out will be." Cara made an excellent point which pushed them all in to a jog toward the gym. 

Louis opened the doors first and was nearly tackled to the ground with a sudden stop. "What is all of this?" His voice wasn't just asking a question. It was a genuine shock. 

"Welcome to the worst training you will ever have! Get inside and get ready. Wave one starts now!" The voice of coach Winters echoed through the gym. However, it was not the gym they had been used to. 

Every student knew that the gym was extremely high tech. It was set up to be able to change in to many variations for not only sports but many other situations such as tests and exams. The f gym was currently made in to a real life maze. The floor panels had risen to seven foot tall walls stopping them from seeing over them. They were about to enter when they heard a mechanical sound ahead. 

"And we put some enemies for you in there too. Good luck we will be watching." Garnet sounded evil as she told the group the set up for their training. 

The entire group was speechless as they heard the automatic lock on the door click closed. They were locked in with whatever mechanical monstrosity had been hidden in the gym maze. "They can't be serious about this…" Not a single one of them had an answer for Sammy. "I'm going to look over. Jackson, catch me." Sammy went to jump and use the wind to push her a little higher. Unfortunately for her, the wall raised and she was not able to even look over an inch of the wall. 

"And they can stop us from trying to hop the wall. Jackson, they gave you what you wanted. We have a puzzle and some weird villains to beat." Everyone looked at Jackson as he cursed himself. He knew that he had jinxed things for all of them. 

"No, this is what we need. Come on. The best method is to always stay to the left and we will eventually get to the end. I want everyone to rely on footwork and dodging. The maze is tight spaces but we can focus and get through it." Asher led the way. His energy was brimming with this new training that he knew the group needed. Everyone fed off of his energy as they liked up behind him. 

The walls of the maze were close enough together that three of them was the most that could just stand shoulder to shoulder. Therefore, they chose to stay single file so that they would have more room to maneuver if worse came to worse. 

The only problem with their plan was the fact that none of them had ejected the walls to move again. They began to shift constantly and before the group could do anything, the walls had moved in between each of them separating them. "By the way, you will all need to make it to the middle and reunite to win." The additional rule was like a kick to the gut. Now the group was individual. They needed to rely on themselves to get to the center of the maze instead of searching for an exit. 

Asher focused on his strategy. He put one hand on the left side wall and started to move as fast as he could while being aware of his surroundings. The metallic clicks and shifting was enough for him to know that the maze was changing and that there were multiple enemies within it. Each movement nearby made him want to move differently and try to escape. However, when he turned the next corner he was greeted with a mannequin. 

This would not be a fearful situation if it was not something he recognized from the senior student's combat classes. There was the same optional combat course for every senior student, especially those that were going toward heroic or law enforcement careers. The reason fear was inspired was because Asher knew that they were able to move and copy combat techniques that were downloaded in to them. 

The stance it currently held was one that Art often used. It was a mix of the others' styles enough to challenge anyone, but even more, because Art had slowly learned how to counter each of them with his bulkier muscles. Asher knew that the match was not going to be simple and if he wanted to make it through her was going to have to evade the attacks and somehow lose the mannequin. 

"What the-" Jane found herself in a similar situation. However, she was facing an incredibly fast mannequin that copied a lot of the movements that Laura made. It was significantly slower than Laura but not enough that she would be able to run. The main problem was that this was not a living thing. Jane's eyes couldn't stop it in place. She needed to rely on her own power to get through this. 

"Oh yeah, creepy mannequinnes seem like a great idea." Laos felt that his lightning would be able to deal with this no problem. Although, he could not risk using it. The chance that someone else was close by and would get zapped was too high. He would need to land small hits with just enough control over the lightning that it would short out the mannequins but not send electrical currents anywhere else. 

The others were lucky enough not to encounter anything. Yet, as Jackson seemed to run he noticed he had passed the same scuff mark four times already. He was rushing around in circles without any idea how to stop it. He was totally lost for ideas since he has nothing else to do than press forward. After the sixth time, a thought occurred to him. He had read some fairytale as a child and remembered a dark maze that a hero was trapped in. The only way to get out was to go backward. With his first step, he heard the shifting walls slow and stop. He was planning to be the first one to make it out of this maze and to the center.. The same thought was starting to blossom in everyone's minds.