A Teacher of War

Jake listened. She did. She really, really did. After-all. This was important. How it worked, why it shouldn't be used with with their transformations. Huh, he guessed his FBR was kinda like Pyrrha's ascension. Didn't matter.

What mattered, was keeping his insides from exploding while Madeline talked. The girl couldn't even say anything about the fact that this coat was Thalia's, and that it wouldn't fit him if, when he shifted back to his male form, however that was going to work. Couldn't make a comment about Madeline's warning, despite how seriously he took it. Because when they both left, and he was sure they were gone, gone.

He lost the power to keep on his knees. The girl fell to the ground, barely keeping herself on her hands and knees as her arms and legs shook, blood pooled around her as a large gash opened up around her stomach, as if the body was truly cracking apart, and while it was healing, it wasn't fast enough. "I failed." Jake said, voice full of pain and annoyance.

"I didn't... I didn't achieve the technique. This... This is... Something I shouldn'-" Jake found himself unable to talk as he vomited out blood. His red eyes staring at the burning flames that coated his small hands, unlike the thin line of red that coated the rest of him, his clothes, hair and skin.

Angry and pained, Jake did the one thing he thought might make him happy.. No, not happy, but he hoped it'd at least distract him from the pain. He rose his fist. "What is wrong with me!" She almost screamed as she brought the fist down to the ground.

And watched as the building exploded. The entire floor of the warehouse shattered and shook, the earth rumbling as a force traveled though it. The walls shuddered and broke apart as the force traveled around the center point with a pure force that pushed and broke everything in it's way. The roof heaved and began to collapse as everything about it's supports crumbled under it. And the young girl that was Jake collapsed as the red lines that had surrounded her vanished. Leaving her to fall into the shattering and collapsing rubble that was the warehouse.

Outside looked close to the same. Road and cement walkways shattered and broken, buildings near and off to the distance looked cracked and crumbly.

Was that blood? More importantly, was that Jake’s blood? Pyrrha’s eye’s widened as a pool of blood began to form around the girl’s knees. “W-whoa there are you-” Before the young alien could finish her sentence, Jake broke down. Pyrrha wasn’t quite sure what she had mean by ‘failed’ From the looks of it Jake had done the same exact thing Pyrrha had. So why did the boy turned girl believe she had failed. Before Pyrrha could even question what was going on, she’d have to address the amount of blood the girl was losing.

The young Aeteran slowly approached the girl, not sure how to pick her up or if it was even safe to pick her up. Lashing out in anger at her failure, Jake would slam a closed fist into the ground. The resulting aftermath was quite the spectacle. The whole building around them started to collapse and implode. It all seemed to happen in slow motion for Pyrrha. She could see the small fissures in the ground grow and race away from the point of impact. The steel support beams that held the warehouse up warped and bent.

It wasn’t safe. Pyrrha didn’t have time to figure out how to carry Jake, she just knew she had to get them both out of there. As a mater of fact she didn’t even have time to think at all. It was as if her body had acted faster than her mind could process what was going on. In literally an instant, the red fire-like aura around Pyrrha had flared up and the next thing she knew, she was floating in the air, Jake in her arms. The warehouse and resulting destruction concluding just as Pyrrha turned to look at where they once stood. *How did we get here? Did get us out?* Pyrrha said.

The young alien’s eyes would shift down to the girl in her arms. The gash in her abdomen still bleeding. “Hey umm Jake! You still with me? Please tell me you are! What do I do?” she said worrying about the girls condition and how to prevent it from getting worse.

Jake didn't feel...Correct. He felt as if his organs were mush. His entire inside felt like mush. It wasn't fun, nor right. Not right at all. One should not consider their own organs to be mush.

Or for the entirety of their stomach to feel warm with a liquid sense of blood.  Jake was no stranger to that, but the strange mix of everything feeling broken and mushy just... Got to him. Her. Jake didn't even know anymore. Why did that clown make him a girl all that time ago. A joke? Was it?

He had to stop thinking. Opening her eyes, the girl looked up at Pyrrha, who's voice silently called to them. A echo of what should have been. She was asking something... But... Jake felt like sleeping. Which he also knew wasn't good. Not good at all...

Her eyes snapped open along with a grunt as Jake's body grew slightly warm with power, her skin shading to a red as her FBR turned on, only to simmer out back to the pale that was her skin as she seemed more awake now. Eyes looked to the city below them. She couldn't go to a hospital. No money. No trust. She wasn't even sure if Pyrrha knew what a hospital looked like. But..

Maybe there was one place... One... Person. Reaching a tired hand up to Pyrrha's arm, Jake held onto it tight, her flaming hands giving a stronger grip then the one Pyrrha would be use too from the boy/girl. "Flower... Flower shop... That way... Anna... I'll... Let go... When.. Whe.... Get there." The girl mumbled out. She just needed time... She'd heal. She always did. But... She'd feel better if Anna was there.

She always did. And if she had to stay awake till they got there... She would. She hoped she would.

Pyrrha took Jake’s hardened grip as a sign. The boy….girl? She’d have to ask him about that later. Whatever Jake identified as right now…it didn’t mater. They were not doing well, not at all. Pyrrha was slightly confused as to why Jake wanted to go to a flower shop though. Shaking her head, Pyrrha simply heeded Jake’s request. She had to be quick, problem was, she was still in that form the queen taught her. She was told not to go into ascended mode, but that was her fastest form.

Then it dawned on her. The queen said the form was an energy multiplier. Taking a deep breath, Pyrrha thought about how much power she needed. Just how fast she needed to go. And just like that, the aura around her flared to life. Gripping on to Jake tightly, Pyrrha pointed herself in the direction that the girl had pointed in and made an attempt to move. There was a loud bang as the Aeteran exploded with a force she was not quite ready to handle. Worried she might have gone to far, she attempted to stop. There was another boom as the air and everything around them seemed to catch up.

This technique the queen had taught them. Just what the hell was it? Taking a quick moment to get her baring, Pyrrha double checked with Jake once more. It was rather hard to tell what any of the shops were from this high up. Taking a few calming breaths, Pyrrha attempted to lower herself a bit. She was gaining control over this new found power little by little.

The frantic little alien looked about for this flower shop Jake had spoke of. When none were in sight, Pyrrha rocketed off in the direction she was already facing. Hoping that She’d be able to identify their stop while moving so fast.

The high speeds were not doing anything to help Jake. Wind, noise. It all did it's part in keeping the girl awake. She wanted to sleep. So yes. It wasn't doing anything good for them.

Which was good. They couldn't go to sleep now, or Pyrrha would just fly and fly, never stopping in an endless search for the flower shop. A hospital was sounding so... So nice right now. A hand gripping on the open gash, Jake rolled her head downwards, staring at the city from above.

What should be blurs to most at high speeds, were not to Jake. His sight could make out the small details, even as he was. The simple want to see fast beings, training and dealing with such people, his eye sight had adapted. Helped he was... Use, to moving at speeds like this. Eventually, he was able too... Recognize. The neighborhood at which Anna worked. Call him a stalker, but it was where he spent most of his time. Letting go of the grip he had on Pyrrha, he hoped it told the young woman to stop, but even still, he wanted to tell.

So he focused his energy, though the blood loss and pain, the girl focused her energy back into a FBR, her skin brimming red as she struggled in the woman's grip. Rolling side to side. Too tired to talk. Hopefully it'd be enough... To tell her to stop. Her skin fading back to normal once more.

Pyrrha knew traveling as fast as she was, was not good for the girl she cradled in her arms, but she was extremely concerned for her well being. As she zipped through the sky, Jake began to wiggle around in her arms. She had even relinquished her death grip on Pyrrha’s arm. They must have been in the right area. Coming to an abrupt stop once more caused there to be a loud boom followed by several windows shattering. One of which happened to be a window to one quaint clothing boutique. The sudden shattering of the window caused all of the people within the shop to jump in fight.

All except one. A stoic ashen haired girl stood tall in the center of the shop. Several articles of clothing rested in her arms as she was in the midst of placing them back on the racks. “Why the fuck does this sort of shit happen around me!” she growled before throwing the clothes on top of the rack before hastily rushing out the front door. Her turquoise eyes had little time finding the culprit of the broken window. A girl slowly floated down towards the ground, she was bathed in a glowing red aura and had strange markings on her body, which upon further inspection, Johanna realized weren’t markings at all, but were scales.

Approaching the two girls as everyone in the streets just seemed to gawk, Johanna found herself questioning her own motives. Why did she feel the need to investigate. “Just who the hell do you think you are! Going around and smashing people windows like that! You know you’re going to have to pay for it right?” the angry teen demanded. Pyrrha would eventually turn around to see where the voice was coming from. A single person had bothered to approach Pyrrha. A girl with white hair, who seemed incredibly angry. “I’m so terribly sorry! But, Well, I need help!” Pyrrha cried while hoisting Jake up a bit.

It took Johanna a moment to realize, but once she got a good look at the girl that was being cradled, her eyes went wide. She swore for a second she felt her heart even stop. The girl, the one in the strange one’s arms. It wasn’t just any girl, it was Jake! And he, she was gravely injured. “W-What happened! Why did you bring him here and not to a hospital!” Johanna said, rushing up to the strange looking girl and taking Jake from her arms.

She immediately fell to her knees and held the girl tight. While she was usually one to hide her emotions, she somehow couldn’t hold them back in this moment. “Hey! Open your eyes! Stay with me!”

When they had slowed down, Jake stopped moving. In fact, she kinda felt like sleeping now. Really sleeping, the kinda sleep you went too with the intent to never wake up. That'd be nice.. Not having to wake up again. Peaceful. Quiet. Boring. He knew someone who'd find the aspect so incredibly boring. But...

His eyes snapped open at the voice of Ann, who was in the midst of giving Pyrrha a verbal beating. He wasn't sure why, besides a loud booming sound, he was sure they hadn't crashed into any windows yet...

Jake let out a grumbled groan when she was suddenly in someone else's arms. The young girl would open her eyes and as she looked up to see the aqua of Anna's eyes, an aqua he was use too, an aqua he liked. "I like your eyes." Jake mumbled, resting her head into the arms carrying her. He felt alright now. Much, much better. That reminded him. The reason he wanted to be here. Letting out a breath, Jake focused the energy inside them one more time, their skin shading to a light red, only this time, it kept, and soon enough, the large gashes bleeding would begin to slow down. Eventually, it'd stop completely.

"I'm sorry Ann... I just.. Wanted to be near you... I feel calm.. With you.. Compared to your mom. Have I told you she sucks? Cause she sucks. Just ask Pyrrha... I don't have a shirt." The girl seemed to ramble on, confusedly at the end before her head rolled and she fell asleep. Quite happy to do so now. Quite.. Quite happy.


Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, a red headed woman stared at the damage that had befallen her property. "What the actual fuck. I... I don't even... How? Who? Why? Fuck... It doesn't matter. Oh Anita, why did you put a bubble around your warehouse, who's going to destroy that? Fuck you Anthony. Fucken New York." The woman complained, tapping the ground in a rather long rhythm before turning to walk away. "Bloody, Jake better have an explanation for this shit. I am not his or that girls repair toy. Stupid kids and their stupid powers."