Chapter 117: The Hellions Situation
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If I get to learn Chi from this girl here, things will get much easier. Maybe I wouldn't even have to visit China, although I doubted that. She wasn't an Iron Fist.
"The problem with Westerners learning Chi," she said, and there was gentle teasing in the words, "is you think too much. Chi isn't about thinking. It's about being."
"Very zen."
She raised an eyebrow. "Very practical. Close your eyes."
I did, immediately aware of how vulnerable that made me. In a room with a psychic assassin I'd just met, in Emma Frost's academy where everyone had an agenda, closing my eyes should have been stupid.
But something about Kwannon felt honest. Maybe it was the way she'd been training alone, no audience to impress. Or maybe I was just a sucker for dangerous women who could kill me in interesting ways.
"Breathe normally first," her voice came soft but commanding. "Don't try to do anything special. Just breathe and notice. What do you feel?"
"Air going in and out. My chest rising."
"Deeper than that. What does your body feel?"
I focused, really focused. "Heartbeat. Blood pumping. Little tensions in my shoulders from sitting. The air is cooler going in than coming out… Is that good?"
"Good. Now, instead of trying to pull energy from outside, notice the energy already within. Your heart creates an electrical field. Your brain generates measurable waves. Every cell in your body produces heat. You're already a collection of energies. Chi is just teaching them to dance together."
That was different from what the manual described. Less about drawing power from the environment, more about organizing what was already there. Maybe she learned from a different path.
"On your next inhale, don't pull. Invite. Try to… seduce. Like opening a door rather than dragging someone through it."
I breathed in, trying to shift my mental approach. Instead of grabbing for power, I imagined creating space for it. The difference was subtle but immediate. That warm static feeling I'd been chasing suddenly bloomed in my chest, gentle but undeniable.
"Holy shit," I muttered, eyes snapping open.
Kwannon was smiling, and although I hadn't known her for long, it looked rare. "You felt it so fast? You might have talent for this."
"It felt like a warm battery in my chest."
"That's your middle dantian. With practice, you'll learn to move that energy through meridians, store it, amplify it. But for now, just maintaining awareness of it is enough."
She stood in one smooth motion, and I scrambled to follow, still buzzing from the breakthrough. "This is huge. I've been banging my head against this wall for hours."
"You were trying to break through the wall instead of finding the door, so naturally it was more difficult." She moved to a weapons rack, running her fingers along various practice swords. "Would you like to try something? Moving meditation might help solidify the feeling."
"You're offering to teach me?"
"I'm curious," she admitted, selecting two wooden practice swords. "Someone who can fight Sentinels but struggles with basic Chi. You're either very interesting or very dangerous."
"Hey, why not both?" I asked even as I wondered how much she knew about me, and how much at all.
She tossed me one of the swords, and I caught it without thinking. I loved this werewolf-enhanced body. The weight was good, balanced, though nothing compared to holding a crystal blade as Diamondhead.
"First form is simple. Mirror me."
She moved through a basic kata, and I followed, trying to maintain that awareness of the warm energy in my chest. Every movement seemed to shift it slightly, like water sloshing in a container. When I stepped forward, it flowed toward my hands. When I pulled back, it settled in my core.
I was surprised I could feel it at all, but I still tried to use it.
"You're overthinking again," Kwannon observed, not even looking at me. "Stop trying to control it. Be the riverbed, not the dam."
We continued for maybe ten minutes, and I started to find the rhythm. The Chi wasn't something to be commanded but something to work with, a partner in the dance rather than a servant. At least so far.
That's when the door slammed open.
"Psy- hmm…? What the hell is this?"
The voice cracked with adolescent outrage and barely contained power. A tall young man stood in the doorway, and he wasn't alone. Four other teenagers flanked him, all wearing variations of the Academy uniform that they'd somehow made look threatening.
I wouldn't have recognized him anywhere else, but given this was Emma's school, the name clicked. Julian Keller. Hellion.
Julian himself was exactly what you'd expect from someone codenamed Hellion. Tall for his age, conventionally handsome in that entitled prep school way, with perfectly styled brown hair that probably cost more to maintain than most people's rent. His green eyes blazed with indignation as they fixed on me.
"Kwannon," he said, and the possessiveness in his voice made my teeth itch. "Why is there a tourist in our dojo?"
"Julian." Kwannon's voice could have frozen fire. "This is a shared facility."
"For Academy members." He stepped forward, and I felt the telekinetic energy rolling off him in waves. Strong, undisciplined, like a fire hose with no one holding it steady. "Not for Emma's boy toys."
Boy toy? That was new. It bothered me how he talked about Emma despite being her student. Though I guess from his perspective, unknown guy shows up on Emma's private jet, gets the VIP treatment, and immediately starts hanging around with their Vice Leader. I could see how that looked.
Usually I'd back off and relax, but perhaps it was all the worshipping I received lately; my head was pretty big. I didn't want to let this go.
"You talk like that about your Principal? Crazy. Careful, Keller," I said, setting the practice sword aside. "Your insecurity is showing."
His face flushed red. "You don't even know who I am."
"Julian Keller, codename Hellion. Telekinetic, probably omega-level potential if you ever learn control. Leader of the Hellions, which is adorable wordplay, by the way. Didn't Emma name the team after you? You must feel special, so are desperate to prove yourself to Emma. You probably have complicated feelings about authority figures. How'd I do?"
The temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees. Not literally, though with mutants you could never be sure.
The other Hellions spread out, unconsciously taking tactical positions. I recognized maybe one or two from half-remembered wiki entries, but the specifics didn't matter. They were a team. I was one guy with an alien watch.
The Omnitrix hummed on my wrist.
"You think you're funny?" Julian stepped closer, and the objects around the room began to tremble. "Coming here, using Emma's name like it means something?"
"I think I was having a nice conversation about Chi manipulation before you decided to measure your metaphorical dick against mine."
Kwannon stepped between us, purple energy flickering around her hands. "Enough. Julian, take the team and go."
"He's the one who should go." Julian's eyes never left mine. "This is our space. We train here. You're our vice leader, not his tour guide."
"Actually," I said, knowing I was poking the bear but unable to help myself, "she was teaching me. Doing a pretty good job too. Maybe if you asked nicely, she'd help you with your control issues. That telekinetic field you're projecting is about as subtle as a foghorn."
The practice sword in Julian's vicinity snapped in half without anyone touching it.
"You want to see control?" His voice dropped to something dangerous. "How about we spar? See what Emma's new pet can do."
The smart play was to de-escalate. Walk away, let the kid cool down, avoid the confrontation entirely. But the Chi was still warm in my chest, and something about his attitude reminded me of every bully who'd thought power meant permission.
Plus, a part of me was curious. Obviously, the Chi control I had currently wasn't enough to match against an Omega Level Telekinetic, but… what if I managed to infuse my aliens with it?
I reckon I had a form that could control Chi where I failed.
I let out a long sigh, then shrugged. "Sure."
The challenge was accepted, and I saw Kwannon's eyes narrow slightly. She was calculating odds, probably wondering if she'd have to intervene when things went south.
Julian's grin was all teeth and no humor. "Perfect."
Well, I thought as the Hellions spread out to give us room, this should be interesting.
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