The Center: Tester - Part 7

By Blackout

Editor: Zip

Give Zip a thank you for all his help with editing!

I am proud to present chapter 7 of The Center: Tester. This is a special chapter.
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She was grinning looking at me with the eyes of a killer. I had absolutely no idea what I had done to her and yet she was angry at me and was out for my blood. Well maybe not to kill, but she definitely wanted to hurt me. The activity was a simple sparing match we were not to go too serious at each other, but we were supposed to watch each other’s moves and point out mistakes. What we could have done better. It was a time for us to get creative and actually blow of some steam using our powers. Jeff Trait had a stun gun in case things went bad which eased my worries about her killing me. But at the same time I did not want to be brutally burned.

Luckily Mr. Trait had to watch so we went in order, which means I did not have to fight right away. While I was waiting the trembling inside me started to grow. I was at a huge disadvantage. If I could not get my hand in physical contact with her I could not use any real powers. By now word of my powers had went around so she probably knew to keep her distance. My turn got close and closer until finally it was my turn.

Calm yourself, Rachael I told myself. A clear head leads to a clear body able to react to any situation.

“Ok Jasmine, Rachael, you girls are up” said Mr. Trait.

Still not used to being a girl, I thought. I mean it’s only been about two days.

“Ready for some fun you superficial freak?” asked Jasmine.

I need to quickly come up with a witty response. I needed to play Jasmine, to get her angry. I understood now why she did not like me. For some reason she had got it in her head that I was prettier than her, that’s why she called me superficial just now or freak so many times. I was pretty good about understanding human emotions, and this read off as jealousy and hate. Geez why was being a girl so complicated. Boys never were jealous of each other’s looks. I knew what to say, it was not the perfect line but it would piss her off. I was happy that we were allowed to insult and instigate each other. This was because in a real battle if you get angry and lose a clear head, the results can be fatal. So this would help us control our emotions.

“Well I’m prettier then you. So if I’m a freak what does that makes you?”

“Let’s see how long you can say that with a burnt face.”

Her hands created a fire ball which she threw at me; she kept throwing more and more. I had kept my distance for this so they were generally easy to dodge. Unfortunately I could not dodge them forever I needed to get her angrier.

“Are you sure you were ever a guy? It seems like you have always thrown like a girl.”

“SHUT UP FREAK! You are so ugly!”

“Oh that’s interesting. Someone who vandalized my room wrote FREAK on my bed. If they had that little self confidence in their image to take it out on others they must have been some real freak of nature.”

“Grrrrrrrrrr! I am going to freaking kill you.”

She really was. This was what I had been waiting for. Now Mr. Trait could stun her and I would not have to fight her. But the stun never came. Shit! It seems I would have to handle this myself. Why was he not stopping her, she actually wanted to hurt me.

Clearing my head of fear, I went through all the possible options and came to the best one. Her running in at me with a flaming fist was actually a good thing it occurred to me. Before, she stayed distant so I could not use my powers on her but her anger got the best of her and now she had thrown reason to the winds and was charging in at me.

“This is perfect” I muttered to myself.

As she got closer I removed my gloves keeping one hand behind my back. If she saw me remove my gloves she would remember I could copy her powers. She got closer and closer with a flaming fist ready to punch me.

“Take this you FREAK!” Jasmine Screamed.

Her fist was coming at me. I kept a clear head and put my hand right on her face. There came that cold feeling again I kept on as long as I could. I was hoping to knock her out. But no such luck. She realized her mistake and pulled back quickly. She looked a little drain but really pisses.

“You tricked me!” she snarled.

“I did no such thing. You ran at me like a wild bull, I never made you run at me.”

“Grrrr! Does not matter I know how to use my powers better and you don’t. Burn FREAK!”

She had aimed fire at my head and was using a long stream of fire she was forcing out quite inelegantly. The strain from her attack was obvious. Geez I felt her power, I knew how to use it but Jasmine was using her power all wrong.

“You're way too forceful with your power Jasmine, and you’re not using your power well which will just wear you out.”

“Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She was still shooting fire at me but now it was extremely easy to dodge she was so bad at using her powers. Her movements were stiff and she did not let the fire flow out of her and overwhelm her enemies and surround them. Instead she was focusing on finishing her opponent directly with one shot. I decided I would show her up.

“Watch this is how you use your power Jasmine.”

“I said SHUT UP YOU FREAK!”

I kept dodging and the fire was getting less and less. Then I threw some fire at her this time. I used small balls of fire not large ones like her. This was part of my plan the tennis ball sized fire balls were distraction so I could get in closer. It worked she raised a fire wall to block my mini assault. She was way too stationary and she had openings all over. Now was my big moment.

“Are you watching Jasmine? This is how you use your powers correctly.”

I went in at her. She tried to get me with fire but now I used the massive amount of fire I had saved. Her attack was swallowed in my fire. Running around her I created a giant fire wall all around her. She understood what I did now. She was trapped in with the heat. IT was down to a battle of who had more energy and power now to manipulate the flame circle around her. Even if she won she would only be more worn out. But this was my finisher idea and I had a whole lot more power than she did at this point. I was smart and used what power I had more effectively.

She tried manipulating the flames away from her but she could not. I held firm and even pushed the flame circle closer. It was exhausting but I had just begun to use what energy I had and she was fresh out. She was going to lose. I even saw the fear and frustration in her eyes. It was the look of a wild beast who would not give in, even if it meant death.

“I will never give up. Go on kill me.”

She was crying now she had obviously lost but her pride would not let her admit defeat. I decided it was enough and pulled back the fire. She was so surprised and she could not stop crying.

“I lost!” Jasmine cried.

It was sad to see her like this. I decided I needed to comfort her not even Jasmine could keep from crying. She was just as human as me even though she was being really mean.

“Hey stop crying Jasmine; this is not your loss. We will call this a tie. You could have easily beaten me if you had kept a clear head. If you get rattled by insults in battle it can be deadly. You need to think on your feet, which means keep a clear head and move around.”

“But” she spoke.

“But nothing. You were way too stationary during the battle except the one time you let your anger take over, and you made a fatal error. You also did not use your powers efficiently and sent as strong attacks as you could, trying to hit me. You were also way too forceful with your power, you need to let the fire flow easily and smoothly from yourself. There was also no plan to your attack at all. When attacking your opponent the one that thinks ahead and remains calm and cool is usually the winner. We'll do this again sometime and see who the winner is then. You did a great job out there and you certainly are really powerful.”

She was crying now more than ever but now she was smiling. She looked so much prettier when she smiled and a lot more likable then when she was glaring or yelling insults at people.

“Thanks.” She said.

“What are you thanking me for?”

“Not rubbing your victory in my face. But instead you called it a tie. You even told me what I did wrong which no one seemed to do. They all just ran away from me. You’re the first one to approach me in battle and not just throw the match.”

“I told you it was a tie, we’ll decide the winner later.”

She smiled at me. We then shook hands. She then leaned in and promised to confess to ransacking my room. She even said sorry. I smiled maybe she was not so bad after all.

I started to hear clapping! I looked around and all the observers were looking at us. They must have liked what they seen. Then this man came forward with Mr. Trait. I had no idea why though.

“Rachael this is Mr. Lions the head of ability training and testing.”

Oh shit I thought I was probably going to get in trouble for abusive use of powers. Did I push things too far with my circle of fire. Well either way I would find out.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Lions.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Rachael. Please come with me to my office.”

We then went to his office it was a room filled with cabinets all locked with heavy duty locks. He saw me looking at them.

“These are the files and results we obtain through ability testing and training.”

“Should you be telling me that?”

“Honestly no. But I have a proposition for you. I was extremely impressed with your performance today. You keep a cool head in all situations and know how to manipulate emotions on the battlefield. You also plan ahead and effectively worked on your feet. All things you said yourself are important concepts to training and testing ones power. In addition your ability as a mimic makes you interesting because you can try all sorts of other powers temporarily, and you seem to be able to use those powers pretty well as well.”

“Where are you going with this?” I asked.

“Getting down to the point, I would like you to work with us in Ability Testing and Training. You would have access to test results and you would be our student in charge of helping me run the Testing and Training program here. You would work with me to help train yours and others power. The Ability Testing and Training department is a huge part of The Center. You would be my first mate here when it comes to training and testing the powers and ability of our unique and talented students. So what do you say?”

I was not sure what to say. It was only my second day here, but what he said did make sense. My powers made me an interesting candidate for the job and I was always someone who thought everything through. I was not sure why he decided to spring this on me now though. I realized something though, something he was not telling me.

“Wait a minute, you were watching our fight, and you purposely set me up with Jasmine so as to see if I was a good candidate.”

Mr. Lions smiled; it probably meant I had guessed it right on.

“You’re pretty smart. That was just the final test though, I chose you not just because of your powers or this little test with Jasmine. Which by the way, I was ready to step in at any time, to save either one of you. The other test was the one you took with Ms. Tipp’s. It was well thought out and your ability handle different situation is astounding, you could probably push the limit of people’s powers. “

“That’s flattering but are you sure I am the right choice.”

“Yeah I am sure after seeing your fight with Jasmine. The way you handled the situation with her was astounding. You are also good and passionate at athletics I see from your previous life which will make you a very good trainer.”

“Ok but why now, shouldn’t you have waited a bit longer.”

“To be honest yes, but we don’t have time to wait, especially when we were pretty sure on our choice anyway. See The Center needs a student to help lead ability training it’s a big part of the school, the reason student are here is because they have these amazing abilities. We are getting more and more students and we need an emergent who can train other emergent. Who can understand other emergent powers and help them to develop their own. With what your power is and what you showed me with Jasmine just now I am sure that you are the right choice.”

“Alright, fine… I will help in power testing; I will be your power tester. But I want to know what’s in this for me.”

“Most of it’s for you. You need to use and stretch the abilities of your powers like everyone else, so you need to work with all sorts of different emergents. That is how you will grow in your power and stretch your abilities. Also, since you would be working with us you would be officially recognized as a trainer by this school. And you could wear what you wanted to wear to power training since you will be in charge.”

“Wait! So you mean I can go without the uniform?” I really wanted to get out of the skirt and heels.

“No only the training uniform, you would still be required to wear the school uniform at school. You would only be a superior when it comes to training the emergents that come in.”

I was not too happy about still having to wear the school uniform, but I guess it was better than nothing to be able to get out of the training uniform. They still had the girls train in skirts just skirts less likely to fly up and allow people to see our panties, they also allowed for more movement. But a skirt was still a skirt. I was already getting annoyed with them. I had to watch the way I sat and the way I went upstairs even the way I walked so that no one would see my panties. I hated the fact that I even wore panties now. I was obviously getting angry now so I took a deep breath to calm down.

“Ok where do I sign?”

“Sign here, here, and here. This will give you permission to look at the testing files of the students and create your own. You will need the files to properly test and train students. Also, you are not allowed to reveal data to any unauthorized person. Doing so will result in a lifetime sentence, and I like you so don’t.”

I took the pen from his hands and signed my new name where I needed to. “Rachael Ann Hawkins”.

“Don’t worry I won’t reveal the data to unauthorized people. You can trust meet that I will take this job seriously. I honestly think I will enjoy working with the students on training. It will also give me something to take my mind off the people I lost, like my girlfriend Mattie. So I think this will be beneficial to both of us. I also believe from what I saw in the cafeteria that the students will be supportive of me.”

He smiled at me. “Rachael I know for a fact that I made the right choice in choosing you now. I will see you later have a good day.”

“Yeah you have a good day also.”

I left the room then. Not knowing what to say. This was exciting, amazing news; I was pumped to start being working with other emergents. It seemed like it would be a great experience. Tomorrow I would begin working as a Power Tester.