Alex squared his shoulders and stepped into the center of the training mat, the soles of his shoes squeaking slightly against the polished surface. His palms were sweaty, his heart thundered in his ears, but he kept his eyes locked on Bob.
The others stepped back instinctively, forming a loose circle around them. The air felt heavier now—charged with anticipation.
"Come at me," Bob said, his arms relaxed at his sides. "Let's see what instinct gives you."
Alex hesitated… then dashed forward with an awkward shout, swinging his fist in a wide arc. Bob barely shifted, sidestepping with a pivot that left Alex stumbling forward past him.
"Too slow," Bob said simply, turning to face him again. "Think, don't just flail."
"I am thinking!" Alex shouted, spinning around, frustration bleeding into his voice. "I am thinking that I don't know what I'm doing!"
"Yes, you do," Bob said, voice low but firm. "Deep down, you know. It's not about control right now. It's about letting go."
Alex clenched his fists again, his breathing growing faster, ragged. His hands trembled—and then… the air around them shimmered.
Selena's eyes widened. Beth lowered her phone. Axel took a step forward.
Tiny cracks formed along the floor beneath Alex's feet, like something was distorting reality itself around him.
"I can feel it," Alex whispered, almost to himself. "It's... buzzing."
"Good," Bob said, this time with something closer to encouragement. "Let it come. Don't force it. Let it flow."
Alex's gaze snapped up, locking eyes with Bob again—and this time, he moved. Faster.
Reality bent ever so slightly around him as he dashed forward. Bob's eyes narrowed. The punch Alex threw wasn't clean—it was wild, desperate, but for the briefest instant, it cut through the air like a knife through silk. Bob had to actually move, stepping back quickly to avoid it.
Everyone in the room gasped.
Alex's foot slid across the mat, and he dropped to one knee, panting. "Did I… Did I do something?"
Bob stood in front of him, looking at the faint ripple in the air where the punch had passed. Then he looked down at Alex and nodded.
"You bent the edge of reality, kid. Even if only a little."
Alex looked up at him, wide-eyed.
"You're dangerous," Bob said quietly, then offered a hand to help him up. "And we've got a lot of work to do. From now on you'll be training with the others."
…
The training room had finally emptied out. The adrenaline was gone, replaced by sore muscles and heavy silence. The group scattered to the common area—a wide lounge space with mismatched couches, an old pool table, and a fridge stocked with more soda than actual food.
Alex flopped down on the couch with a grunt. "My arms feel like jelly."
"You got further than any of us on day one," Beth said, sitting beside him with a bag of chips she'd somehow already claimed from the kitchen. "That reality-bending thing? Freaky."
"Yeah, it was… weird," Alex muttered, staring down at his hands.
On the other side of the room, Ryan was trying to shoot pool, badly. He hit the cue ball too hard, sending it flying off the table and nearly taking out a lamp.
"Dude," Selena said from a nearby beanbag chair, "you are trying to piss Bob off, aren't you?"
Ryan shrugged. "If he wants respect, he should show us what he can actually do. So far all he's done is dodge and throw people around. Besides, he reminds me of someone I don't like."
"He threw me across the room," Selena said, rubbing her neck with a smirk. "And I liked it."
"Gross," Beth muttered.
Axel sat by himself near the corner, calmly polishing a pocketknife. He hadn't said much since the session ended, but his eyes were always moving, watching everyone. Always sizing up.
Bob entered the lounge with a towel slung over his shoulders and a cup of black coffee in hand. He looked exhausted, but alert.
"Don't wreck the place," he said as he passed by Ryan and the pool table. "You break it, you fix it."
Ryan muttered something under his breath but set the cue down.
Bob made his way over to the couch where Alex sat and dropped into the armchair across from him. "Feeling okay?"
Alex nodded, rubbing his palms against his pants. "My arms hurt like hell, I didn't know I could even do that."
"You didn't," Bob said. "But now you do. That's the point."
"You still haven't told us your power," Ryan called out, leaning on the pool table now.
Bob didn't even look at him. "And I won't. Until one of you beats me."
"Pretty sure I'm getting closer," Ryan said with a cocky grin.
"You're about as close as the cue ball is to being on the table," Beth deadpanned.
Selena laughed. "She got you there, hotshot."
The tension in the room had shifted—still competitive, still edgy, but lighter now. There was something bonding about shared bruises and bruised egos. A strange camaraderie starting to form.
Bob sipped his coffee. "Get some rest, all of you. Tomorrow, we train again. And I'm not going easy just because we're on better terms."
"I think I liked you better when you were silent and mysterious, you were way hotter," Selena said.