03-26-2010, 03:05 AM
When you’re desperately holding onto a flying object going at an incredible speed, it’s easy to forget that you yourself can actually do the same thing. Sophia had learned what seemed like so long ago to manipulate her ki so that she could fly through the air like this glider that she was trying to cradle, but in the face of impending danger, every technique and skill that she had ever learned, flight or not, immediately flew out of her head as she sped through the city. She found, somehow, that if she turned her arms with as much strength as she could muster, the vehicle moved with it, though at the slightest of angles. The little maneuverability that this provided did nothing to soothe her troubled soul, and all she could do was scream in the face of an oncoming building.
Sophia flexed the muscles in the arm, attempting to bend the glider just enough to make it actually change directions. If she had realized that she was pushing just as much left as she was right, she might have actually gone somewhere, but as it stood, she flew right through a window, ducking behind the wall of steel that she held onto. Somehow, by some stroke of luck or the sudden appearance of positive karma in her life, she had flown into what looked like an abandoned office building. Just a sheet of gray concrete floored the level, with a few pillars and an accumulation of window on the other side meeting her sight. The collision, though it shattered the glass, caused the nose of her machine to take a dive towards the floor and skid to a screeching stop.
The healer let go of her death grip on the glider and allowed her body to roll to a stop, holding her head as pain filled her senses, a likely result of her collision with the hard ground. Rubbing the fresh scrape on her elbow, she stood up, her body shaking in anger. Why was this stupid machine so hard to conquer when she had overcome so many obstacles to get to this point? Valuable seconds were ticking off of the imaginary clock that she kept in her head, but she made a point to inspect the glider more closely. There had to be some catch to using the thing—she found it hard to believe that she was supposed to cling on for dear life and scream at the top of her lungs until she accidentally crossed the finish line.
Kneeling down, she felt along the smooth exterior of the vehicle. There were a few creases where the metal came together, but little in the way of buttons or hatches on the top. Wrapping her touch around to towards the sides, her fingertips brushed against the outline of a small compartment that had previously escaped her notice, though from the looks of it, it was too big to skip over. Frowning, she leaned her head over in order to see it more clearly—there was an indent in the panel which she was supposed to pull on to open. Doing so, she reached inside to feel around and decide what sort of item was stored inside.
“What the…” Sophia breathed as she pulled something out of the compartment, examining it as she dangled it a few inches away from her face. “What is…it’s a glove?”
Gamer didn’t strike the healer as the type of person who would be into fashion. After all, there was a name for that kind of kid among the more liberal tenants in her childhood temple, but Sophia couldn’t say it. What was odd about the glove, however, wasn’t it’s placement within the glider, but the technology that seemed to be integrated into it. Wires wrapped around the fingers and connected to small pads on the finger-tips, with a larger pad on the palm of the accessory. It took a bit, but the wheels within the woman’s head began to turn, generating the light bulb of thought as she made the connection.
She smirked. She had been going about it all wrong.
Sophia slowly stepped onto the glider once more, and turned it on. The lights on the glove matched the ones she had seen on the machine earlier, and touching her fingertips together and moving her hand left, right, and forward gave her much more mobility and maneuverability than she had access to previously. She began to cackle devilishly, imagining the look on everyone’s face—his face in particular—as they found her to be the victor. Her eyes lit up with newfound vigor, she whipped her hand forward, prompting her “ride” to vault forward towards her imminent victory.
Unfortunately, her feet failed to follow.
The glider zoomed ahead, but pushed Sophia backward as she was unable to match the momentum with any sort of solidarity. As the machine crashed through the glass on the other side of the floor and rocketed towards an adjacent building, a smoke trail the only thing allowing Sophia’s eyes to follow it on its path of destruction. As it exploded into a giant plume of smoke, the blonde woman sank to her knees. “No! No, no, no! What the heck happened! Ahhh!”
Her scream wasn’t as loud as it was intense, a sort of guttural sound that escaped her mouth as she let her frustration take over. She pounded the concrete floor as hard as she could with her fist, providing a large crack that protruded around the area of contact. Her hopes of finishing the race fell as the glider fell further within the depths of the flames, completely consumed by heat and any aspiration of victory that Sophia went with it.
“My, my. This is a pretty pathetic sight,” a voice filled the air. The nasally pitch gave Gamer away, it seemed. “The other racers seem to be doing fine, and you, my good woman, are off the race track entirely. Why is that?”
“It’s impossible to fly that thing!” Sophia argued, looking up towards the sky. “I can’t stay on it even for a second. You’re just a…you’re just a…big meanie!”
“Words cut deep,” Keith chuckled. “For one thing, you can fly, remember? You should be able to keep your balance just fine. Secondly, there are feet straps on the damn thing. Did you not look at the glider at all?”
“What does it matter now?” the healer sighed. “My…thingy’s wrecked.”
“That’s what he said,” Gamer responded curtly.
…why would anybody say that about themselves? Sophia thought with a frown.
“Anyway,” the mastermind continued. “I suppose I could just be a nice guy and give you something new.”
“R-really?” Sophia’s countenance improved instantly. Instead of responding verbally, a glider spawned from the ceiling, apparently, and floated towards the ground. Nodding to herself in resolve, Sophia leapt onto the machine and bent over to strap her feet in. Gamer was right in that she could have used her ki to maintain balance, but…well, she didn’t quite trust herself, not when there was a perfectly acceptable countermeasure already in place. Taking a deep breath, she forced her hand forward again, and the glider made its way through the opening in the window with Sophia as its capable guide.
Three drivers had rounded the bend and had made their way down the street in front of her, but her little mishap didn’t seem to put her out of the race permanently. She sped towards her competitors, trying desperately to close the gap.
Sophia flexed the muscles in the arm, attempting to bend the glider just enough to make it actually change directions. If she had realized that she was pushing just as much left as she was right, she might have actually gone somewhere, but as it stood, she flew right through a window, ducking behind the wall of steel that she held onto. Somehow, by some stroke of luck or the sudden appearance of positive karma in her life, she had flown into what looked like an abandoned office building. Just a sheet of gray concrete floored the level, with a few pillars and an accumulation of window on the other side meeting her sight. The collision, though it shattered the glass, caused the nose of her machine to take a dive towards the floor and skid to a screeching stop.
The healer let go of her death grip on the glider and allowed her body to roll to a stop, holding her head as pain filled her senses, a likely result of her collision with the hard ground. Rubbing the fresh scrape on her elbow, she stood up, her body shaking in anger. Why was this stupid machine so hard to conquer when she had overcome so many obstacles to get to this point? Valuable seconds were ticking off of the imaginary clock that she kept in her head, but she made a point to inspect the glider more closely. There had to be some catch to using the thing—she found it hard to believe that she was supposed to cling on for dear life and scream at the top of her lungs until she accidentally crossed the finish line.
Kneeling down, she felt along the smooth exterior of the vehicle. There were a few creases where the metal came together, but little in the way of buttons or hatches on the top. Wrapping her touch around to towards the sides, her fingertips brushed against the outline of a small compartment that had previously escaped her notice, though from the looks of it, it was too big to skip over. Frowning, she leaned her head over in order to see it more clearly—there was an indent in the panel which she was supposed to pull on to open. Doing so, she reached inside to feel around and decide what sort of item was stored inside.
“What the…” Sophia breathed as she pulled something out of the compartment, examining it as she dangled it a few inches away from her face. “What is…it’s a glove?”
Gamer didn’t strike the healer as the type of person who would be into fashion. After all, there was a name for that kind of kid among the more liberal tenants in her childhood temple, but Sophia couldn’t say it. What was odd about the glove, however, wasn’t it’s placement within the glider, but the technology that seemed to be integrated into it. Wires wrapped around the fingers and connected to small pads on the finger-tips, with a larger pad on the palm of the accessory. It took a bit, but the wheels within the woman’s head began to turn, generating the light bulb of thought as she made the connection.
She smirked. She had been going about it all wrong.
Sophia slowly stepped onto the glider once more, and turned it on. The lights on the glove matched the ones she had seen on the machine earlier, and touching her fingertips together and moving her hand left, right, and forward gave her much more mobility and maneuverability than she had access to previously. She began to cackle devilishly, imagining the look on everyone’s face—his face in particular—as they found her to be the victor. Her eyes lit up with newfound vigor, she whipped her hand forward, prompting her “ride” to vault forward towards her imminent victory.
Unfortunately, her feet failed to follow.
The glider zoomed ahead, but pushed Sophia backward as she was unable to match the momentum with any sort of solidarity. As the machine crashed through the glass on the other side of the floor and rocketed towards an adjacent building, a smoke trail the only thing allowing Sophia’s eyes to follow it on its path of destruction. As it exploded into a giant plume of smoke, the blonde woman sank to her knees. “No! No, no, no! What the heck happened! Ahhh!”
Her scream wasn’t as loud as it was intense, a sort of guttural sound that escaped her mouth as she let her frustration take over. She pounded the concrete floor as hard as she could with her fist, providing a large crack that protruded around the area of contact. Her hopes of finishing the race fell as the glider fell further within the depths of the flames, completely consumed by heat and any aspiration of victory that Sophia went with it.
“My, my. This is a pretty pathetic sight,” a voice filled the air. The nasally pitch gave Gamer away, it seemed. “The other racers seem to be doing fine, and you, my good woman, are off the race track entirely. Why is that?”
“It’s impossible to fly that thing!” Sophia argued, looking up towards the sky. “I can’t stay on it even for a second. You’re just a…you’re just a…big meanie!”
“Words cut deep,” Keith chuckled. “For one thing, you can fly, remember? You should be able to keep your balance just fine. Secondly, there are feet straps on the damn thing. Did you not look at the glider at all?”
“What does it matter now?” the healer sighed. “My…thingy’s wrecked.”
“That’s what he said,” Gamer responded curtly.
…why would anybody say that about themselves? Sophia thought with a frown.
“Anyway,” the mastermind continued. “I suppose I could just be a nice guy and give you something new.”
“R-really?” Sophia’s countenance improved instantly. Instead of responding verbally, a glider spawned from the ceiling, apparently, and floated towards the ground. Nodding to herself in resolve, Sophia leapt onto the machine and bent over to strap her feet in. Gamer was right in that she could have used her ki to maintain balance, but…well, she didn’t quite trust herself, not when there was a perfectly acceptable countermeasure already in place. Taking a deep breath, she forced her hand forward again, and the glider made its way through the opening in the window with Sophia as its capable guide.
Three drivers had rounded the bend and had made their way down the street in front of her, but her little mishap didn’t seem to put her out of the race permanently. She sped towards her competitors, trying desperately to close the gap.