Chapter 1.1.25 — Getting Ahead (of Yourself)

It had only been a week since Emmett had gotten his new body and powers, and it was only getting harder to pay attention in his classes.

He spent most of engineering and machine design classes doodling in the margins of his notebooks: Mostly mod ideas for his arm.

Venture had said that eventually Emmett could swap things out on the fly, but the more he brainstormed, the more he realized he wanted all of these things: Smoke pellets, caltrops, the lock-picking kit (even if he didn’t know how to use it), and those were just the beginning.

What about the Impact Shield, concealable pistol, or plastic explosive, a sonic weapon, taser, or cutting torch? Then there were med kits, homing tags, remote controlled drones, miniature EMP devices, heat-vision or night-vision goggles.

Even things that appeared situational at first might have multiple uses:

Flashlights — Seeing in the dark. A high-powered light could also be used to blind an attacker

Portable Oxygen — Underwater diving. Also useful against airborne toxins

Even his whip was the same way—useful for climbing and grabbing items out of normal reach. Possibly useful for combat and grappling. Eventually, if he got fine enough control of the whip, it could be an extra hand.

Emmett had been so engrossed in his doodles that he’d nearly gotten caught by Professor Quinn. He hadn’t seen her move from behind her comically oversized desk. It was only when she was a few steps behind him that he registered her footsteps.

“I hope you’re concentrating on your studies, Mr. Laraway,” she muttered as she passed.

The close call helped him focus—

For a little while.

In machine design class, Emmett started thinking of ideas for his super alias.

And came up blank.

Thinking of a name was so much harder than thinking of random ideas for mods!

He planned on having a bunch of different mods with him or at least be able to swap out a bunch at a moment’s notice.

Arsenal would’ve been an awesome name, but of course, that was already taken.

Emmett perused the forums, looking for inspiration for names while his machine design professor droned on.

Funnily enough, there had been several capes and masks named Arsenal over the years (even one villain), but most people only remembered one.

Even similar names like Ammo, Battery, Barrage and Ordinance were all taken by power armor-wearing supers. Then there were variations on the ‘arsenal’ theme, like Captain Dakka, Shock and Awe, and Lead Debt.

Even gadget-themed names were taken: Gadget Jim, Gismo, The Wondrous Inventor, and Token Surprise.

There already seemed to be an overabundance of Mutant-centered ideas. Armor and Mecha themes were dried up. Futuristic names were everywhere, and robot names were overdone.

The professor announced the end of class and startled Emmett back to reality.

Emmett had assumed thinking of a name would be easy. But it was just one more assumption about supers that he was wrong about.

~

Clara laughed heartily as Emmett and her robot ran across the faux rooftops of the Gray Room.

“You’re going about it all wrong,” she said.

Emmett leapt across an alley and slung his whip upward to reach the next roof. “What do you mean?”

“It’s like picking a nickname. You don’t get to pick your own nickname. Well, maybe you could, but that’s not how it should be done.”

Emmett hauled himself upward and met Clara on the roof.

“What’s your name?”

“Arsenal.”

Emmett scoffed and waited for Clara to say that it was a joke. “...No shit?”

“No shit.”

Well, that was one more Arsenal that he’d heard of. Now Emmett definitely couldn’t take that name.

“Do me a favor?” Emmett asked.

Clara’s robot leaned uneasily on its feet. “What did you have in mind?”

“Help me think of a name.”

Clara laughed. “Sure thing.”

A moment later, Venture’s voice came through the intercom, “Coming up with a name should be the last thing on your mind.”

Moments later, a second blue robot hopped up to a nearby rooftop and landed with an ominous clang. Venture spoke through it. “You’ve done well with movement training, so today we’ll focus on combat training, lesson one.”

Emmett tilted his head in confusion. “I’m already on lesson two, though.”

“We skipped that,” Venture replied, “but now it’s time you learned the most important lesson that a new hero can learn.”

TINA’s voice echoed through the room. “Loading combat training, lesson two.”

It might’ve been Emmett’s imagination, but he swore he heard a subtle hum coming from inside both robots. The bright blue color of both robots morphed into blood red.

Venture continued, “The most important lesson is learning how to survive against a more powerful super.”

“Don’t you mean fight?” Emmett laughed nervously.

Clara’s robot shook her head. “No. No, he doesn’t.”

Venture said, “Lesson one is running away.”

Emmett grumbled to himself. That definitely wasn’t the lesson he’d been psyching himself up for.

Venture added, “You can start running now.”

The robot sprinted toward him.

Emmett froze, watching as it leapt across the alley and landed beside him—moving eerily like a person.

Venture’s robot swung at Emmett, a blocky red fist coming toward his face.

Emmett ducked and felt a breeze pass over his head.

He swung back with his left—punching the robot in its torso. A clang echoed through the Gray Room and his arm shook with impact. Emmett winced at the pain in his knuckles.

But the robot didn’t budge, and it already swung again, punching down at him.

Emmett lurched backward, dodging it easily. Then he lunged forward and swung with his prosthetic right arm.

This time the clang of metal on metal was so loud Emmett gasped and recoiled.

Again, the robot didn’t so much as stumble or tremble—it didn’t seem phased at all.

Now it reached toward Emmett with both hands and seized him around the torso. Emmett was lifted off the ground, squirming to get away but unable to free himself.

Emmett’s heart beat faster, and he pummeled the robot’s spherical helmet. Clangs echoed through the room, but nothing phased the robot.

Venture’s voice came from the robot again. “I said you can start running now.”

Then the robot hurled Emmett across the block.

Emmett crashed into the side of a building, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. Dazed and disoriented, Emmett fell toward the alley—fingertips scraping for window ledges or anything to stop his fall.

On a whim, he hurled his whip upward and managed to snag the edge of the roof—swinging instead of crashing to the tiles below.

Emmett barely had a moment to catch his breath. Both red robots leapt off the roof and landed behind him with loud clangs.

Emmett ran, and the robots ran after him.

Clang, clang, clang. Clang, clang.

Within moments, Emmett could hear them catching up, so he turned the nearest corner and started weaving his way through back alleys, hoping they would lose sight of him.

It almost worked.

As soon as he got one turn ahead of them, Emmett slipped around a corner, pressed his back against the gray wall and tried to breathe as quietly as he could.

One of the robots turned the wrong way and continued running, its clangs growing distant.

Then he heard Clara’s voice above him on the rooftop. “Over here!”

She leapt off the roof, meaning to land directly on top of him.

Emmett’s eyes went wide and he stepped out of the way.

But the robots were split up—this was his chance to do something.

Emmett reached out with his whip, and instead of grabbing onto a ledge, he aimed for the robot’s leg. The whip wrapped around its ankle and Emmett yanked on it.

He pulled the feet out from under Clara’s robot, and it landed on its back with a crash.

Laughter echoed from Clara’s robot. “Not bad—”

Emmett kept hold of her ankle, spun, and hurled Clara’s robot as hard as he could. She careened down the alley, soaring a full block before she hit the ground and tumbled even farther.

Clangs sounded from behind Emmett as Venture’s robot turned the corner. It didn’t pause.

“I thought I told you to run,” Venture said as the robot barreled toward Emmett.

“I don’t like running.”

Emmett lashed out with his whip, and Venture’s robot blocked, expecting the whip to hit him in the chest.

But Emmett grabbed his ankle and pulled.

For the second time in roughly six seconds, Emmett spun and hurled a robot down the alley—cackling like a madman as he did.

Venture’s robot didn’t smack into the other one, but Clara had to leap out of the way to avoid it.

Emmett turned and ran.

Again, he weaved through alleys to put as much distance as he could between them.

Even if Emmett couldn’t fight them, he wasn’t powerless. He still had modifications that they didn’t have—

Well, one.

Instead of stopping around a random corner, Emmett kept running until he found a two story building, then leapt up the side and grabbed the roof with his whip. He pulled himself up until he was right below the edge of the roof and stayed there.

Emmett wasn’t sure if he should curl up in a ball or flatten out against the wall—either way, hopefully Venture and Clara would be looking for him on the ground.

Sure enough, one red robot ran through the alleys, missing him completely.

Emmett smiled, still trying to be as quiet as possible as he hung in the air.

Maybe this lesson wouldn’t be so bad after all…

Emmett listened, but couldn’t hear anything else moving, save for the one robot running away from him. So he resolved to lower himself to the ground and keep running.

Emmett extended his whip as far as he could and then released the ledge—

But he didn’t fall.

He looked up and saw a red robot holding the end of his whip.

Clara’s voice came through the robot. “My turn.”

If Emmett knew how to detach his whip, he might have. But he didn’t.

The world became a blur of gray as Clara hurled Emmett across the Gray Room. He was in the air so long his stomach turned and he nearly wretched.

Then he skipped across the roofs like a stone before crashing to a halt. He lay in a heap and seconds later, he heard the clang of robots running toward him. Fast.

But they sounded distant. Felt distant.

Where was he? Was he on the roofs of the Gray Room… Or was he on the street again?

No—the tiles beneath him were gray. This wasn’t the street. He was training. He was safe… kind of.

Emmett groaned and pushed himself up.

But the robots were already on top of him.

Thankfully, they didn’t attack.

Venture said, “You have a very different definition of running than I do.”

Emmett chuckled awkwardly and rolled his shoulders, trying not to wince. He definitely felt that throw.

Clara added, “Hiding wasn’t a bad idea. You were just unlucky that I found you.”

Venture said, “Fighting wasn’t a bad idea, but it’s a gamble each time you fight someone more powerful than you. But now that’s out of the way…

“Again.”

~ ~ ~