This scene was all too familiar.
It was the next morning. Hendrix, Chase, and Taro stood on one side of the gymnasium, facing Kai and Alex on the other side.
"You good now?" Hendrix whispered to Chase, who nodded in response as he loaded his dual pistols with magazines full of rubber bullets.
"And you?" Hendrix turned to Taro.
"Yeah." Taro's fists began to glow as his Spirit channeled into them.
"Now!" Alex exclaimed as Kai turned into a blur, speeding towards his three opponents.
"Shit. We were so focused on Chase's mood that we forgot to think of a plan." Taro thought. He jumped in front of his two teammates, putting his fists up as his brother ran towards him.
The two brothers met, exchanging punch after punch, all of them being blocked.
"I can't let up. He'll use that electric attack the first chance he gets." Taro thought, swinging another left hook at his brother's shoulder.
Kai blocked it, sliding back a few feet as his sneakers squeaked against the court floor.
"Chase!" Taro turned back towards his teammate.
"Gotcha." Chase squinted as he crossed his pistols over each other, both of them locked on Kai at a forty-five degree angle.
Kai's eyes widened as his mind flashed back to the pain he felt from the last rubber bullet he was shot with.
He sped back to the other side of the court as Chase took a deep breath out.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Chase hammered the pistols' triggers, sending a barrage of speeding rubber at his opponent.
"Agh!" Kai exclaimed as hid behind one of the bleacher stands, holding his arm. Chase let out a smirk as he dropped the empty magazines with a click.
"Don't get too happy!" Alex clotheslined the blue-haired boy, sending him across the gymnasium and into the white brick wall.
Hendrix shot his strings out from his forearms on instinct, missing Alex's left fist by a hair.
Alex reacted quickly, grabbing the strings and pulling the bundle of steel towards her.
Hendrix flew through the air, flailing his limbs nonsensically as he tried to get his sense of balance back.
Bam
Suddenly, the pink-haired boy felt a sharp pain in his cheek.
Alex hit Hendrix's face with a jab mid-air, sending him spinning onto the ground as he reeled in pain.
"We've gotta regroup-" Taro's thought was interrupted when he felt Kai's electric shock course through his body.
Kai grinned as he watched his brother fall to the ground.
Hendrix, Chase, and Taro looked at each other as they all laid battered and bruised on the gymnasium floor.
It might've been the same situation as yesterday, but something about it felt different.
"We'll get through it this time. We're in it together today." Chase thought as he got back up to his feet.
"C'mon, Kai. Let's give 'em some space to regroup. They don't got anything on us." Alex chuckled as she stretched her arms up into the air.
"Yeah! That's what you get for… Yeah!" Kai exclaimed as he finished his attempt at an insult.
"You've gotta get better at trash talking." Alex roughed up her teammate's hair as they both laughed.
On the other side of the gym, the three boys had gotten to their feet, dragging themselves into the middle of their court as they thought silently.
"Chase should be in the back. You're long ranged, so it would be a waste to have you front and center." Taro said.
"Then… Taro should be front and center?" Chase put up a finger like it was a fun fact. His two teammates nodded in agreement, surprised at how fast Chase had caught on, though they kept it in their minds so his feelings wouldn't get hurt.
Hendrix looked around the room, trying to find a spark of inspiration to set their plan into action.
He looked up, his eyes locking onto a thick steel beam that crossed the ceiling.
"Alright, so here's what we got. Me and Taro will both take someone, whoever goes up to us first. Then, Chase'll watch and see who needs help. You'll jump whenever we need it, you'll be like the real hero here." Hendrix explained as Chase's eyes lit up.
"Me? Hero?!" Chase thought as he dawned that mischievous smirk.
"Looks like it's working. Vida's advice was really spot on." Hendrix thought as his mind flashed through memories of his date last night.
"Alright, let's go sidekicks!" Chase put a hand into the middle of the group. A big smile crossed his face.
Taro rolled his eyes, turning to Hendrix, who had a look that said "Just go along with it."
The three of them put their hands into the middle.
They threw their hands into the air as Chase screamed "Chase and friends, assemble!"
The three boys could hear Alex and Kai burst into laughter, Taro's face turning red as he faced his opponents.
"Are you guys ready, Chase and friends?" Kai chuckled.
"Yes, we are! Go!" Chase announced.
Hendrix shot his steel strings upwards, grappling onto the steel beam he was eyeing earlier.
The pink-haired boy swung forward, shooting feet first towards Kai.
"This won't be like our match in D.C!" Kai exclaimed as he dodged Hendrix's boots.
Hendrix landed a few feet from his opponent, twisting around to meet him face to face.
Kai kept his distance, beginning to charge up his electric attack.
"That attack's gonna be problematic." Hendrix thought as he jumped at his opponent.
Kai raised his fist, now covered in a ball of lightning.
Hendrix wrapped his front in his steel strings as he pushed forward towards Kai.
Kai grinned as he slammed his ball of lightning into Hendrix's steel shield.
To Hendrix's surprise, he felt electricity surge through his shield and into his body, making him jolt as he collapsed onto the ground.
"Right. Steel's a conductor." Hendrix thought as he caught his breath on the ground. "God dammit. Why didn't I think of that?!"
His fists tightened as he tried to push through the pain and get back onto his feet.
"My sidekick needs my help!" Chase thought as he pointed his pistols at Kai.
Bang. Bang.
Chase's barrage of rubber flew towards Kai, who immediately began to swerve into a blur of a silhouette, snaking his way towards the gunslinger.
Chase began to back up slowly, keeping his trigger firing at Kai.
"God dammit!" Kai slowed for a second before speeding back up. He was now holding the same arm he had held before.
Chase smirked, despite his opponent growing closer.
On the other side of the gym, Taro had just met Alex.
"This won't be easy. She'll beat me to a pulp if I'm not on the defensive." Taro thought. He put his hands up as Alex rolled up her sleeves.
Alex reeled her fist back as it began to glow, much brighter than Taro's.
Taro put his arms up, ready to block the punch.
Boom
Taro flew back, tumbling over himself before jumping onto his feet, still in motion.
"That still hurts like hell, no matter how much Spirit I channel. I can't take a lot of those." Taro thought as he shook his arms.
Taro reengaged, moving up while he watched out for his opponent's next attack.
Alex reeled her fist back once more.
Whoosh
This time, Taro was able to predict it, moving to the side before the fist made contact.
"You caught on!" Alex smiled while Taro kept a straight face, fully focused on dodging the next attack.
He was right to not get distracted. Alex had already swung her foot back, channeling her Spirit into it as she got ready to kick Taro's legs from under him.
He was just mimicking what he saw, but Taro focused Spirit into his legs as he activated his Mode, hoping to clear the leg sweep with ease.
"If I don't clear this, it'll be painful. She looks like she's not holding back that much." Taro thought, his mind beginning to race.
Swoosh
Taro flew into the air, stopping about twenty feet above the ground he was just standing on.
"Woah!" Alex looked up as she laughed in amazement. "Every time I tried to do that at your age, my feet just dug into the ground!"
Taro flailed his limbs around, frantically trying to keep his feet below him.
"Too bad you're not good at it yet!" Alex chuckled as Taro neared the ground.
She swung her leg back, awaiting the perfect moment to shoot it forward.
Bam
Alex hit Taro's midsection right before he would've met the ground, sending him flying towards Chase.
"Gotcha!" Hendrix sent his strings towards his flying friend, wrapping three of them around his midsection as they eased him to a stop.
Taro tried to catch the wind that was knocked out of his lungs as Hendrix let him down towards the ground.
"Over here, guys!" Chase exclaimed as Kai got into melee range of his opponent.
Chase jumped backwards as Kai raised his lightning covered hand, ready to slam it down onto the blue-haired boy.