A few days after the sniper incident the students of Class A were back in class as they were nearing the end of yet another one of Jack’s lectures.
“...Okay…now does anyone have any questions about the relationship between stamina and superpowers?”
Fang raises his hand and Jack nods his head as he waits for the jester to ask his question.
“...So, what you're saying is that when we use our superpowers this also drains our physical stamina, right?”
“...Yes, that is correct…” Jack says as he turns around to write a diagram on the black board that helps visually explain the point he was trying to make. “The more physical endurance you have, the longer you are theoretically able to use your superpowers…Of course there are also a myriad of other factors that could affect these things as well and needs to be considered on a person to person basis…”
Jack stops to yawn before he continues to answer Love’s question.
“...Another thing you need to factor in is what your power specifically is…Maka and Ash both have more projectile based powers and Candi and Violet’s are a lot more physical…In this specific comparison Maka and Ash hypothetically should be able to use their powers for longer because they are less physically straining…On the other hand, Candi and Violet’s powers are a lot more physically taxing so their stamina probably drains about twice as quickly when compared to you other two…”
Love raises her hand as Jack nods his head again.
“...What about…Calder?” Love stutters as she talks. Since thinking about him was painful to her she tried not to think about him when she didn’t have to, but she was too curious about something so she decided to ask about it anyways. “...Why did he have so much stamina when he was fighting all of us?”
“Wait? Who’s Calder?” Fang asks as cocks his head to the side as if he were a confused dog.
“Oh, he was just some homophobic asshole with ice powers who tried to fight everyone in the entire school when we called him out on his bullshit.” Maka explains as she rolls her eyes in annoyance at the memory of him.
“...Oh, I actually think I read about that when it happened a couple months ago…I forgot that it was here…” Fang responds.
“Him being expelled is actually why you’re in our class now Fang!” Candi excitedly follows. “You are a WAY better person than he was!”
“...I’ll take that as a compliment…” Fang responds with a shrug.
“I was actually curious about that too.” Violet says as she gets the conversation back on track. “How did Calder have enough stamina to fight all of us at the same time?”
“...Oh…he probably just awakened his powers…” Jack said nonchalantly as if this statement didn’t need further explanation.
“...What are awakened powers?” Love asks.
“...Wait, have I not explained this yet? I could have sworn I told you all about this last semester.” Jack says as he rubs the back of his neck.
All six of his students shake their heads no in unison.
“...Oh…huh…I should probably explain that then…” Jack says as he erases everything on the black board to make himself room to write more.
Jack clears his throat.
“...I’m honestly not surprised that you guys don’t know about awakened powers because of how rare they are, but it would still be a good thing for you to know…” Jack stops to think for a moment as he considers how to explain this. “So…to explain this as simply as I can…awakened powers are basically when a person with superpowers enters such an emotionally heightened state that they get a temporary boost to their powers…With that being said, even though the exact boost this gives you varies from person to person, this power boost on average could multiply the strength of someone’s powers from ten to twenty times their of what they usually can if not more…I’ve only met maybe a dozen people throughout my entire life who have done this, but that is just because I am a superhero myself and know a lot of other powerful people…”
‘...Wait a second…’ Love thinks to herself as she raises her hand again.
“...Yes, Love…”
“...Do you think…that I am able to awaken my powers?” Love asks as she stares down at her own hands. “Is that what my red mood ring arrows are?”
Jack places a hand on his chin as he considers this.
“...Well, even though awakening is incredibly rare, technically speaking, anyone can do it…So, it might be…” Jack shrugs. “...I mean, your powers are emotion based and awakened powers are the same…Maybe your powers being based on emotions is why you might be able to awaken easier than other people…”
“...So, is that a yes?” Love asks for clarification.
“...Not exactly…I’d say that it’s more of a maybe…”
“...Is there a way to measure my power to tell if they are awakened or not?”
“...Unfortunately no, we don’t…It would be useful if we had some sort of futuristic goggles that could just tell us what other people’s power levels are, but as far as I know that’s just a thing of science fiction…”
“Wait, how do you know when people awaken their powers then?” Violet asks.
“...You’ll know it when you see it…”
“Do you think Calder was able to awaken his powers?” Violet follows up her previous question.
“...Yes…that was definitely an awakening…”
“...Does that mean Calder would still be dangerous?” Love says a worry starts to cover her face.
“...The thing about awakened powers is that it isn’t a permanent upgrade…The only way to re-enter an awakened state is to feel emotions that strong again…”
For the rest of class Love was too lost in thought to pay attention to the rest of Jack’s lecture. Soon after that the bell rang and the students left the classroom.
“...Wow…that Calder kid sounds like he was…”
Fang is quickly cut off as Candi finishes his sentence for him.
“An irredeemable asshole? Yes, he was!”
“I’m glad I got here when I did then.” Fang says with a small yet awkward chuckle.
Love was still lost in thought as they were all walking back to their dorms.
“...Hey Love, are you alright?” Maka asks with a look of concern on her face.
“...I…I’m not sure…” Love answers honestly.
Love turns her attention towards her shark-themed girlfriend.
“...What if the next time I awaken my powers…I lose control…and hurt you guys like Calder did?”
“You are nothing like Calder, Love!” Maka wraps an arm around her shy girlfriend’s shoulders as she tries to cheer her up. “He was an asshole way before his powers awakened!”
“...Are any of you afraid of me when my powers awaken?” Love says with a look of worry as she glances over towards the rest of her friends.
“No! Of course not!” Candi almost immediately responds before she has any time to think about it.
The rest of her friends say similarly affirming things to her.
“...What about the first time I awakened?” Love asks as she looks over at Violet specifically. “...Weren’t you afraid that I’d hurt Ori?”
“...Well, this is Ori we're talking about.” Violet dodges the question. “She turned evil after that anyways!”
“...We didn’t know that at the time though…” Love retorts. “...Give me your honest answers…please…”
“While it may be true that I…was sort of afraid of you when you were fighting Ori, you have also learned to control your powers since then. You have a much better handle on them now than you did all the way back then. I don’t think it’s fair for us to compare how you acted back then to how much you’ve progressed since.”
“I don’t think you were any scarier than Maka was back then to be honest.” Ash says with a shrug.
“Damn right!” Maka said with a grin that proudly displayed her sharp teeth. “If anyone here is the scary one it has to be me!”
Love forces a small smile that her friends all buy as real.
“...Thank…thank you guys…”
“There is no need to thank us, Love!” Candi says as she gives her girlfriend a big hug. “This is what friends do for each other!”
Candi kisses love on the cheek.
“Or girlfriend in our case!” Candi says with a small blush and a smile.
“Yeah! You’re too cute to be scary to me!” Maka continues the compliments as she kisses Love’s other cheek.
Love nods as her and her girlfriends wave to the others as they walk back to their own dorms.
“Since there is still a massive hole in your dorm that needs to be fixed I insist that you stay with me tonight!” Candi says with an excited giggle. “You can also stay the night if you want, Maka! Let’s make this a girlfriend sleepover!”
“That sounds awesome!” Maka shares Candi's excitement as the two of them share a brief kiss.
After the three girlfriends spent a couple hours watching more anime, playing video games, and making out, they eventually decide to call it a night and go to sleep.
The three of them decide to all share Candi’s bed and Maka quickly falls asleep first. Love and Candi spend a bit of time talking before Candi eventually also falls asleep.
…That left Love…who was now alone with her thoughts…
‘Violet’s right. I have learned to control my powers. I shouldn’t be worried about this, or should I be?’
‘It was almost like I turned into a different person the first couple times I awakened.’
Eventually Love becomes so exhausted that she manages to fall asleep.
“What the hell is going on?!” Mr. Hart shouts as he drops his belt to the floor.
A much younger Love with glowing red eyes was pointing an arrow at her parents, her face completely devoid of emotions.
“...Now you listen to me…young man…” Mr. Hart continues to scold his daughter even though he started to become afraid in this unfamiliar situation.
Love shoots an arrow between the two of her parents and quickly generates another, her gaze never breaking away from her terrified parents. The arrow easily flew through the wall, leaving a hole in its wake, as it continued to fly into the sky before exploding into an almost firework-like display of red light.
Mr. Hart slowly leans over to his wife and whispers into her ear.
“...Call 911…” He says as she nods and slowly leaves the room.
“...It’s just that…a man shouldn’t be seen wearing such things…” Mr. Hart says as sweat drips down his brow as another arrow whizzed past his head and through the wall behind him.
Love quickly knocks another arrow.
“...Look…I’m…I’m just concerned about your safety…” Mr. Hart lies through his teeth. “...How do you think others would react to seeing something like…this…”
Love begins to falter after hearing this.
“...Me and your mother just want what's best for you…That’s all…”
Love's eyes start to turn back to normal.
Mrs. Hart walks back into the room while covering the speaker on her phone.
“...The police are on the line…” She whispers so her daughter doesn’t hear her. “...What should I say?”
The father makes a quick gesture to his wife that says without words that it was a false alarm and to cut the call. She nods before leaving the room again.
Love’s shoulders slump as tears start to fill her eyes again.
“...Hey buddy…” Mr. Hart says as he wraps his arms around Love’s shoulders. “...Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out together…”
Love gives a small nod in response.
“...Just…take that off and head to bed, okay champ?” Mr. Hart says as he pats his daughter on the shoulders.
“...Yes…yes dad…”
“...Alright…good talk…”
Love did as she was told and removed the dress and put on her pajamas before going to bed.
As she was lying there she heard her parents talking in the hallway.
“...What the hell are we going to do with him?” Mrs. Hart asks with a shaky voice.
“...I don’t know…I just don’t want our son to turn into one of those…freaks…” Mr. Hart responds as he tries to contain his rage.
“...I just…I don’t know what we did wrong…” Mrs. Hart says as she starts to sob.
“...There, there…We’ll figure this out…” Mr. Hart consoles his wife.
Tears return to Love’s eyes as she cries herself to sleep.
