Blackjack

It was a good day.

It wasn’t too hot, and the occasional cloud overhead provided a nice bit of shade. There was a faint breeze in the air, and it carried the scent of a nearby food cart, something sweet was getting fried giving one’s tongue the faintest taste of whatever it was they were making. There were families out and about, enjoying their day, although a few had stopped, sat, and watched the event that was unfolding before them.

In the center of the park, a flat and open field, two heroes trained against each other. One was familiar by name and appearance, a fame about them that earned them the admiration of other. The other was less so. A few had known him, mainly through association with the heroine, but his popularity was lacking only for the fact that he wasn’t as showy as the woman. Regardless, they were both putting on a good show, people watching them like they watched a boxing match or a fight at a hockey match. The favors, obviously, were in favor of the well-known heroine Rabbit Punch who was hopping around the shadowy man who only a few knew the name of.

As she hopped about, Rabbit Punch, or as the shadow covered man knew her, Melody, would occasionally dive in, attempting to strike at him and it was his job to try and open a portal in time to deflect the hit. The problem was the speed, to him she was like a bullet, and he strained to keep up with her.
His head darted around as she dived to and fro, attempting to open a portal here and there around him as he hoped for the best. He had managed to catch her a few times…though “a few” was a bit over an overstatement. It had been, as they both knew, dumb luck that he opened it. He had to get on purpose, to mean it, otherwise in real situation he would find his ass on the ground or…worse. Melody had really stressed the worse part when she explained it to him.
As dived in once more, Sam was sure he could catch it this time! Her movements were obvious, the direction she was going in…he could predict where she was going and-

As he opened a portal to redirect her kick, she had landed short, just a bit before him and then hopped to the side. He soon found her leg sweeping low and sending him down onto his ass with a hard thump, a pain rising from his bottom. He grumbled a bit before looking up and seeing her look down upon him. He offered her a helpless smile as she offered him her hand up.

“You’ve improved a lot in the year or so I’ve known ya-” Melody started.

“A year and eight months.” Sam chimed in.

“Damn, already? Wait, no, don’t distract me.” She shook her head, “You’ve improved a lot, but if you’re gonna keep up with me and tackle bigger villains then ya gotta be faster. Stronger too, but we’ll work on that a different day, first we gotta make sure you can survive out there.”

She smirked a bit as she watched him brush himself off. He didn’t offput by her words. His face scrunched a bit and his brow lowered, but this wasn’t done out of spite. No, this was the face he made when he was thinking, really thinking. He was close to it, she knew it, but he just had to grab that last thread and pull. She wasn’t sure what would happen when he did pull that thread and found his answer, but she was excited for it. He was too good of a hero in the mental aspect to be held back by the technical and physical aspects of being a hero.

When he looked back to her there was something new in his eyes, a spark that hadn’t been there. He gave her a nod, “Alright, again.”
Melody backed up and punched a fist into an open palm, orange sparks covering her arms. She returned the nod and once more began to move. She hopped with a greater speed, but this time as she moved Sam wasn’t following those movements. His head didn’t turn as it did before, and it made Melody wonder what exactly he was going to try.

Though, once more she dove in and attempted to give him a hard kick in the back. A portal, this time, opened in front of him and he nearly fell through, though at the last moment he caught himself on the outering of the dark hole in the space in front of him. He pushed himself out of it and shook his head, rubbing his back with a free hand.

“Owwwww, dang…” He grunted out, then turned to look at his teacher, “Almost…I think…” He was smiling now, but for a reason Melody didn’t get. To her, he didn’t seem close at all, it was actually pretty far from close.

“Mmm…” She replied, giving a small nod of her head. Maybe that last kick had been too much. “Well, I’ll trust ya in what you’re thinking, but still got another hit on ya, so, ya still need some work.”

“I know, but! I think I am really close to something, I can’t…I can’t explain, but…” Something on his expression changed, it was a mixture of determination and…confusion? As if he wasn’t understanding what was happening, but he was feeling something good. “It’s something in my gut, I know I can get it. Just a few times and I’ll have it.”

She gave another nod and rubbed the back of her head, though still not getting it. She tapped her foot against the ground, trying to think of what she could offer up to help. “Hmmm…well, if you got a gut feeling you should just…give into it? Follow it through and stop thinking so much about it. Stop trying to force it, I guess is what I am trying to say, just let it come? Whatever it is?” She gave him a half-smile, though seemed lost in it, not able to offer more.

Sam gave another nod at this and before they began again that thoughtful look returned to his expression. He rubbed his chin, face scrunched up, trying to work out exactly what this strange feeling in his gut was. Somewhere…somewhere dark in him he could hear what almost sounded like a voice. At first, he was sure this was just his conscious talking to him, that little voice that would sometimes answer those internal questions. But it wasn’t.

He had just blinked and when his eyes opened, he was no longer in the park and in the sun. Melody was not there, just him, though he couldn’t even be sure of that. It was dark…so very dark. A pitch-black color, just like his skin. He was surrounded by it. He tried to move, but in this endless void, even if he was, it didn’t feel as though he was moving. And there was that sound, that voice again. It was speaking to him, but not in words he understood. They were distant, mangled, muffled, and echoed through this place. It was like listening to someone speak underwater, but still that feeling in his gut told him what it meant.

He opened his mouth to reply, but white bubbles spewed up from his mouth, no words following. He wasn’t underwater though, he could breath and there was no current or flow or resistance. This entire place was strange and new, but still it felt familiar. He remembered the day he had first gotten his power or the day they developed and…was he here then? At the carnival when had almost fallen from the tightrope? Was this where he learned to open portals?

He couldn’t remember, it was all so vague and this place…it felt wrong. He felt close the answers he was after, but there was something else. There was his gut feeling and a new, sudden churning as if he was looking at something disgusting. He felt like he’d throw up and he wanted to get out. He wanted to swim from this place despite there being no water. And then he felt it. He felt something cold and firm on his shoulder. It was a hand. He couldn’t see it cause everything here except for those bubbles was black.

He could feel his hands clenching, balling into fists. He was ready to leave and get away from this place, but that hand held him down. It held him in place and that feeling of dread only further surfaced. It felt like he was drowning, though still there was no water. He couldn’t breath and as he opened his mouth to get a breath of air, more white bubbles left. He needed to get out and then…and then it happened. In front of him a portal opened up. It was unlike any he had seen before though. The portal in front of him was a pure white color, it seemed bright and he could feel himself being pulled towards it.

The hand on his shoulder tried to keep him and he could feel those fingers digging in, nearly breaking the flesh. But the portal…it was stronger and it tugged and tugged at him until…until…

He opened his eyes. He was in the park again, standing there with Melody looking at him, her head lopsided and a curious look in her eyes. She wore a grin, though the expression seemed to be asking ‘are you okay? The heck happened, dude?’. She was good at that sort of face.

He gave a silent answer, a smile and a nod to tell her that everything was alright. He chuckled a bit nervously, “Ha, uh…just zoned out, got lost in thought there. Sorry, I am good. Very good actually. I uh…followed my gut.”

She nodded at that, straightening and beaming wide with pride. “Ha! See! I bet ya feel better now.” She pounded her fist back into an open palm, now seeming determined, “Alrighty, ya ready then?”

Sam gave a nod and grinned back. It hid the uneasiness behind it and matched that determined look she gave him. He honestly wasn’t quite sure how to feel. He felt like he had found his answer, but he also felt like something was wrong or that he had done something he shouldn’t have. It was all muddled in his head, but for now he’d follow through and see where it would take him, especially if that meant he could be a better hero. There would be time to work this all out later.

In the meantime, Melody was at it again. She began bounce and hop all around him, moving at irregular patterns. As she sped by occasionally she would move in close and give him a slap on the back of the head, sending him forward a step or two, throwing him off his balance. This time, though, she didn’t stop when she hit him, she kept going, hitting him every few seconds, making it hard to keep up with his balance getting knocked around.

As each hit came, though, Sam felt himself moving with it. He didn’t try and keep up with her movements, instead he just tried to…breath. That feeling in his gut grew stronger and stronger, growing and growing until he felt like it’d burst from him. He kept his eyes shut, but he looked the furthest from distressed or hurt. He was concentrating, focusing…

And then he opened his eyes, and when he did the whites that made up them in their entirety burst into a flaming visage of what they once were. After a moment, the flames from his eyes settled and now it was just the edges of them, searing upward against his cheeks. It felt strange, but he felt…not stronger, but a new sense of power to him.

It was at this moment that Melody was moving in for another hit, this time from behind. Without looking or even moving, a portal opened up behind him and Melody’s leg went through, the second portal opening up in front of him, her leg coming out away from him. Before tripping, though, she quickly pulled her leg out and hopped back. In the next moment she was at his side and she threw a fist forward, this time aiming to take his cheek, but once more, with only a shift of his head, a portal opened and caught her fist before she could strike him.

She was smiling now. Whatever that gut feeling he followed, he found his answer. For good measure, she hopped back again and this increased her speed, moving faster and faster! This time, as she moved in again for an attack, she did so from above, bringing down a power leg, attempting to strike his head. But, as before, a portal opened, this time over his head, and caught her, sending her flying to his right.

As she skidded from being flying, she managed to catch herself and straighten. It was now that Sam felt the burning his eyes and it began to sting, hurt and with a few blinks the fire around his eyes was extinguished. He heaved out a few breaths, that entire process seeming to have taken a lot from him and before he knew it, was sitting on the ground, arms resting on his knees. He felt tired, as if he had just been opening portals for a few hours straight. This wasn’t normal for him, but again…this was something new, and this meant he could keep up for a change.

Melody walked over and fell down next to him, sitting and wrapping her arm around his far shoulder. It was a friendly sort of one armed hug, but Sam, more than Melody would know, enjoyed her embrace. She was laughing, more so with pride than with humor!

“See?!” She exclaimed, still laughing a bit, “I knew you would find it! That was incredible! You didn’t even have to look at me!”

He laughed a bit too, nodding, but still slightly out of breath. “Ha…yeah…yeah, I did it…I think this is good. I think this is the next step in my heroing career.”

“I’d say so! Does that mean you also figured out…?” She blinked at him, expectingly.

Sam grinned back at her, giving a small nod. “Yeah, I think so. I think I know what I want to settle on for sure this time.” He waited for a moment, taking some time to make sure this was really what he wanted, what he really decided on. “I think my new hero name is gonna be…Blackjack.”

“I like it. A new power, new name, a new chapter for you.” She slowly stood up and held out a hand to him. “Alright then, Blackjack, you ready to go again?”

Blackjack reached up and took her hand, pulling himself up. “Yeah, I wanna see how long I keep it up for it.”

“Perfect, cause I am gonna stop holding back now.”

It really was…a good day.

New Power:
Reactive Portal: For fifteen second intervals, Blackjack’s portals will open reactively, without Blackjack controlling them, upon attacks flung at him! They will redirect attacks and act almost as shields, making it nearly impossible for people to inflict harm onto Blackjack while this active. If the attack came from within fifteen feet, the reactive portals will attempt to redirect the attack back at the source.

Weaknesses: After using Reactive Portals for fifteen seconds, Blackjack will need to rest his eyes for a minute before using them again. Using Reactive Portals drains his stamina quicker than just using portals normally! Even further than that, ever since unlocking reactive portals, Blackjack has lost the increased strength that had once come with his powers, though Silhouette still acts a small bit of protection as it did before.

Butts.