Chapter 307 - 307. Be Ready

After the three had thoroughly wandered the large garden finding some fountains and even a koi fish pond Art convinced them to go back and finish studying. Art asking them to go and study was strange until they realized that a car had just pulled in to the driveway and it was most likely Art's brother. They weren't there for more answers just yet and they did not want to risk fighting and throwing themselves in to turmoil before finals. 

The three had decided it was best to get their own rest early before the finals the next day and went to do so. The academics were the only classes held so that the students could fully focus on the hour and a half test periods with breaks in betweenn. This also led to them having an early day and being given the rest of the day before the tournaments happened. 

"Alright, I know you all want to go home and do final prep for the tournaments to show off. But I wanted to make sure we touched base. Especially since this is your guys first time with the tournaments and having super powers." Cara had taken the lead and called everyone together. Most of them were feeling like they had brains made of mush from the harsh tests but surprisingly they had all found the questions easy. 

"You all have signed up for the combat tournament since you want to be heroes. That means we have to actually demonstrate that we can control our super powers. We can use them to safely take down an opponent. And we can act with critical thinking. The engineering students get to show off their minds and same with the other academic course. There are even the athletics tournaments where the student get put in to makeshift teams to compete or solo matches in wrestling or martial arts." Cara was making sure they all understood the major differences. 

The other tournaments required specific skill sets and were changed to display those skill sets and their quality of them. The tournament that was created for those who wished to pursue law enforcement often became confused with those that were made to show off laws and such since both dealt with laws. But a legal tournament revolved around how laws work and often took the form of a mock trial. 

The future agent and hero tournament was a mix of many things mostly related to capturing the villain which was the opponent. The school had once used a rescue scenario but found that it encroached on the university education too much. Now the students were too young and just needed control of their super power and proof that they had the mind to use them well.

"You can win the battle and incapacitate your opponent but if you just punch them and hurt them a lot then the judges can fail you and let your opponent move on which lowers your score. The best method is safely and skillfully beating your opponent. The judges will rate you higher." Cara had seen many recorded matches where someone would run and punch their opponent a few times to win but end up being names the loser. It was all about how someone battled. 

"So If I rush in with my speed and kick my opponent I could lose? That's so lame." Laura was not the most excited to what that her major speed advantage would not come to use here. 

"Laura, you have been practicing the control of your speed and body. The judges will want to see you do that. Confuse your opponent with speed then surprise attack and cuff them before they can use their own super powers."Louis caught on instantly. "It's the same reason why I can't just release all my lightning and zap everything. They want to see me use it safely and in a controlled manner."

"Louis has it right. If we saw a hero rush in and just pummel someone, would you idolize them?" Jane chimed causing everyone to think of any time they had possibly seen a hero do this. Not a single one of them came to a conclusion where it had happened. "Then I should absolutely use my super power and stop my opponent in their tracks. I would be able to avoid shifting and remain ready for any other attacks." Jane also posed her own question. 

"No wait, if you did you would be occupied with one person. If you shift you could slow multiple down for a team to rush in and deal with." Sammy was grasping the ideas and moved in with her ideas. "It's the same with how I should use my wind to knock my opponent off balance and then fly in instead of just attacking while in the air. I can't just be predictable." Sammy was already patting herself on her shoulder. 

"I think that puts me at a loss for the tournament. How am I going to demonstrate anything good if my power is all physical?" Jackson felt the most at a loss. So what if he was strong? If he hurt his opponent he would lose. So what if he could jump high? If he did he would lose mobility. So what if he was big and intimidating? He would scare any citizens around.

"That's all about how you look while using your powers and knowledge. If you manage to pull off a strong protector vibe then you will be safe. There's that hero with a shifter to a shark that looks completely terrifying. But he made that annoying shark son and dances t it for little kids. They love him and he educates people with swimming safety facts while fighting. Super weird at first but very smart and informative for everyone. It makes his public image skyrocket." Art showed the video causing everyone to cringe and try to ignore the music. 

"I see, I could do the rugged mountain man look and show off my survival knowledge too. I would rather do that than be a brutal fighter." Jackson was surprisingly in to it and was already thinking about investing in more flannel to pull off the look.

"Hmm, my ragdoll style, my luck, and whatever randomness comes from the bad luck aspect. Yeah, I will figure it out." Asher was just willing to wing it. None of them were happy to see this as Asher's answer but he just went with it and they couldn't break it to him that he would have to switch things up sometimes. However, before anyone said it they realized that he was always unpredictable and would take down an opponent no matter what. 

"I can just bend the metal or manipulate the handcuffs to capture my opponent. That will be best." Art just went with that plan. He could best restrain people due to his ability to manipulate metal. 

"Yeah, you kind of have a cheat. I used my super power to deafen people the last time but I only deafened my opponent. The reason I didn't get first overall was the fact that it was seen as inhumane to deafen people even though it could be healed. So now I will confuse them with sound and throw my voice. Throw off their balance. And potentially make sound waves that cause the air to heat up and cause miniature air explosions to push people back." Jane just smiled as she said all this. 

"Wait, that last one sounds kind of...evil," Louis spoke slowly with a little worry that Cara was developing some super messed up secret moves,

"Naa, I can't actually do it yet. I can't hit the proper frequencies in moving air yet. It will be great when I can though. How many super villains do you think will be able to survive a weak punch from me? I don't have a physical super power so I need to have other means of attacks when my body is too weak." Cara was thinking about these things and basing it off of studies with sonic booms and other experiments. It would work one day but she had a great deal of training to do.

"I guess you're right. But maybe make it sound a little less destructive if you do figure it out." Sammy made a small pleading gesture toward Cara and the group all nodded too. Cara just shrugged and nodded to so make sure that they knew she was going to make it sound better. 

"Is everyone else as ready as I am? I feel like I know everything I need to now." Art stood up from their sitting circle and started to stretch. He was ready to go for the tournament in the morning. 

"Actually...What do we do if we face each other in the tournament?" Cara didn't need to worry about Jacksons' question. The rest of them did though. 

"Well that's easy, we go all out and show off our skills after stating that we are training partners and will form a hero group." Asher knew this might not be the answer the judges would want but they wouldn't be able to fault them since it was the true case. They couldn't take points of they were using the situation for the ideal training.