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Description
Chapter 2

"Are you ready for this Jiao?" Ling whispered as we stood at attention awaiting the arrival of the Equalist scouts.
"I think the real question is whether you are ready." I said, annoyance in my voice. I had no idea why this man was so adamant about always talking to me. Ever since I had joined the Equalists Ling had been clinging to my side like a insect. Like an annoying, buzzing insect. I wouldn't have minded it if he had been higher up on the totem pole, but he was as low if not lower than me. He wouldn't help me at all in my acquisition of the dark secrets the Equalists keep hidden. Plus, he was probably the worst fighter I had ever seen in my life.
"I think I'm more than ready." he said, puffing out his chest ridiculously. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him, just hoping he would leave me alone.
"The Equalists scouts approach!" our instructor said. "Stand at the ready and salute when they enter."
"Sure, whatever," I muttered under my breath just as the doors to the gym opened with a sudden slam. My eyes darted over to the doorway to watch as the Equalist scouts entered. To my surprise, the Lieutenant was leading a pack of four other equalists into the gym and over to the front of the room where they would watch us spar. All of them were decked out in their gear, even though they really had no need to be. Even the Lieutenant had his two electrified kali sticks, one positioned on each shoulder blade. It made me wonder why they felt the need to protect themselves from us.
"You will demonstrate your skills in front of us and we shall decide where each of you go from here," the Lieutenant said, addressing us from the front of the room. "Each of you will use your newly learned chi-blocking exercises to take down one of our skilled Equalist fighters." He motioned to the side of the room where Equalists, also suited in their gear, minus the face masks, stood waiting.
"Send the first fighter forward!" he yelled.
"Ling!" our instructor yelled. " You're first."
"Wish me luck, but I don't think I'll need it." he said coolly, walking off towards the small ring set up for the fights. I could only snort sarcastically as I watched his retreating back.
Ling positioned himself directly across from a fairly buff male Equalist who was easily stronger and more experienced than Ling. When Ling looked over at me and gave me a small wink I nearly gagged in disgust.
"Fighters ready?!" our instructor yelled. Ling and the Equalist both nodded in response.
"Go!"
I could tell Ling didn't have a chance even before he made his first move. Ling's mind never moved at the same speed as his feet and because of that he left his right shoulder open to the male Equalist to disable before he could strike his first punch. Ling swung his shoulder away from his attacker and tried to deliver a few quick punches to his opponent's retreating left arm. But his punches fell on empty air as the man had already moved out of range. Before he could try to retaliate on the first punch the man disabled his other arm with three quick jabs to the shoulder and arm.
With both of his arms now useless Ling was forced to resort to his legs for kicking. With a side kick he was able to finally land his first blow to the back of his opponent's knee. The man took a quick fall to his knees but was able to recover, rolling on his shoulder to get back to his feet. Now placed directly behind Ling the man gave six more jabs, three to each leg, and that was finally enough to knock Ling to the ground. The man got to his feet and stood over Ling as we counted down from five to see if he would get back up. Obviously completely limp and useless Ling didn't get back up. The bell tolled and the male Equalist was named the victor.
As the man helped Ling to his feet and over to a bench nearby I looked over to the group of scouts to gauge their reaction. I wasn't surprised when I saw a look of  disdain on their faces. I sighed, part of me felt bad for Ling, but I would never let it show let alone say it out aloud.
"This had better not be the best you have," I heard the Lieutenant sneer to our instructor.
"Trust me it isn't," he replied dryly.
As the fights progressed so did the quality of the fighters in training. It took three trials before the first of us were finally able to best one of the fully trained Equalists. I still, however, couldn't help myself when I started to mentally pick apart their fights. An easily covered arm left out in the open or an unstable stance was easily picked out by me and the Equalists we were fighting. It made it that much easier to dispose of them.
Time passed slowly as each trial was conducted and the fate of the fighter decided upon by the scouts. I was almost half asleep when our instructor finally called my name.
"Jiao!" he said. "You're up!"
"Finally," I said, waltzing up to the ring with an icy countenance. "I thought you've never call me."
"Just show them your stuff Jiao." he said gruffly.
"With pleasure," I literally purred.
Walking across the threshold of the ring I eyed up my opponent. I was glad to see a well muscled male Equalist across from me in the ring instead of another female like all of the other women had been given. It showed that I was a better fighter than them all, with our instructor pairing me with such a formidable opponent. Also, it was fun to show those big, bad guys that a little girl could easily get the upper hand on them.
"Fighters ready?!" our instructor yelled. We both nodded, both of our eyes locked on each other. I could see my opponent's fierceness in the intensity that his eyes shone back at me. I just stared through him like he wasn't even there, and I could see that was unnerving him somewhat. Just what I wanted.
"Go!" he yelled.
As expected by me, the man came running with guns blazing, typical for a male fighter. He was going to try to get the first punch, but I wasn't going to let that happen. The man tried to target my right arm first with a couple well placed jabs but I was much too quick for him. I easily slide behind him and delivered a barrage of jabs across his back and arms. I had caught him off guard with the swift movement and he almost fell to the floor but somehow he regained his balance. When he locked eyes with me I could tell he was pissed off. Perfect, I thought to myself slyly.
With his back numb from my attack he tried to swing at me using his waist instead as his turning point. I just smirked and came in to finish him off, placing a knife hand strike across the side of his neck, making him fall like a tree to the ground. I turned away from him, smiling triumphantly as I listened to the people around me count down. That had been easy.
Just as I was almost to step away a hand grasped my ankle and brought me down to the ground. I turned my head to see the male Equalist grasping my foot tightly and pulling me towards him. Everyone had stopped counting down and were now watching us, spellbound. As long as we were both on the ground the fight was still going on. I growled as he pulled me closer, staring at his face which was contorted into a fit of rage. I knew what I had to do.
Once I was close enough to him the man gave disabling jabs to my leg. I felt my leg go limp in response. He gave an evil grin as he gave one last yank on my leg to bring me over to him. That's the moment when I fired up my device and delivered a debilitating electrical shock to his chest. I couldn't help but feel empowered when I saw the shocked, pained look on his face and heard the sound of his scream piercing the air.  His body pulsed with the electricity then went completely dead as he was knocked unconscious.
Huffing at him lying on the ground lifeless I drug myself up onto one leg and steadied before shooting a confident look at our instructor, the Lieutenant and the rest of the scouts. They all looked shocked, except for the Lieutenant, who was gazing at me with pinned eyes and a disapproving scowl. I gave a small bow before trying to exit.  Instead of limping out of ring like I wanted to do I decided to drag my dead leg behind me to at least somewhat help support me. Before I made it to the edge however I heard the Lieutenant's voice call out.
"You have some nerve electrocuting a fellow Equalist, especially in a scouting session," he said. "You will be punished for that." I turned myself to face his unpleasant glare.
"I don't see the problem." I said airily. "I was only showing off my skills for your judgement."
"By using equipment that is not yet designated for your use!" he hissed back. "Especially when it is used on another Equalist."
"Alls fair in love and war." I replied back, batting my eyelashes at him.
"I think you need your arrogance cut down a notch." he said, advancing towards the ring with a deeper scowl etched onto his face.
"Bring it on mustache-boy." I countered, shaking the last of the numbness from my leg and placing a tentative amount of weight on it. Thank the Spirits that it took the weight easily.
The Lieutenant entered the ring taking the spot right across from me. I took my position and waited for our instructor to give the signal. I shot the Lieutenant a playful smirk which only caused his eyes to narrow into thinner slits.
"Fighters ready?!" our instructor yelled. He looked over at me in slight distress, urging me with his eyes to reconsider. I looked away pretending I hadn't seen him and nodded. The Lieutenant also nodded, brandishing his two kali sticks with the crackle of electricity.
"Go!"
I decided that in this round I was going to make the first move. I knew the Lieutenant was most likely better than me at this point, I was going to have to take him now before he got the chance to bring me down. I tried to go for any exposed piece of his body left open but with his two kali sticks it was hard to get close enough to him to strike. With his sticks he could easily electrocute me from a couple feet away while I had to be right on top of him in order to have a shot at disabling him. I swiftly leap to his left side and tried to place a couple jabs on the upper part of his back, but it was only until the last second I remembered that there was a generator strapped there that powered his sticks and it was blocking the way. My fingers connected with the metal, hard. I almost yelped but I was able to shove it down my throat before it came out.
The Lieutenant took the opportunity to swing his electrified sticks towards me, almost catching me on the chin if I had not but tipped my head back a couple inches. He took a backswing immediately afterwards which I was able to avoid by doing a quick back handspring. I had to think fast because he was coming after me again with those sticks. I dove to his right and tried yet again to place some punches to no avail. His sticks covered a larger area around him than I had with just my hands and the modified glove. If I was to take him down I was going to have to get him with my glove.
Dodging more swings I worked him into a stance that would allow easy access to the back of his legs. It was the only place where he didn't have the best range of motion to get me with his sticks. There! He was open for my glove. Diving for the kill I made for the back of his left leg. I could feel my fingers just beginning to close around his calf when I felt my body go into spasms as his kali stick connected with a small of my back. I had never been electrocuted before, and I can easily say I don't want it to ever happen again. My body fell limp to the ground as he removed his stick and held them at the ready above me should I decide to try and get up.
Mustering up the last of my strength I looked up at him defiantly.
"You...cheated," I said breathlessly, staring up at his satisfied grin. "Your sticks... gave you a better range... for attack!"
"I find that no different from what you did earlier to that unsuspecting man," he retorted. "This will stand as a lesson to you, to all of you!" he said, looking up at the crowd around him. "Equalists either learn to stick together or they are disposed of. With benders everywhere we have to act as one. And not one," he looked down at me with a scowl. "person will break that up."
"We are done here," he said replacing his kali sticks. He motions to the other scouts before departing the room with a swish of the doors.
"Are you crazy?" Ling said, rushing over to me to help me up. "You could have been killed!" I let him help me up reluctantly and then proceeded to slap his hands away once I was upright.
"It doesn't matter," I said, glancing at the door the Lieutenant had just walked out of with a small smirk. "I made the right impression."

Description
Chapter 2

"Are you ready for this Jiao?" Ling whispered as we stood at attention awaiting the arrival of the Equalist scouts.
"I think the real question is whether you are ready." I said, annoyance in my voice. I had no idea why this man was so adamant about always talking to me. Ever since I had joined the Equalists Ling had been clinging to my side like a insect. Like an annoying, buzzing insect. I wouldn't have minded it if he had been higher up on the totem pole, but he was as low if not lower than me. He wouldn't help me at all in my acquisition of the dark secrets the Equalists keep hidden. Plus, he was probably the worst fighter I had ever seen in my life.
"I think I'm more than ready." he said, puffing out his chest ridiculously. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him, just hoping he would leave me alone.
"The Equalists scouts approach!" our instructor said. "Stand at the ready and salute when they enter."
"Sure, whatever," I muttered under my breath just as the doors to the gym opened with a sudden slam. My eyes darted over to the doorway to watch as the Equalist scouts entered. To my surprise, the Lieutenant was leading a pack of four other equalists into the gym and over to the front of the room where they would watch us spar. All of them were decked out in their gear, even though they really had no need to be. Even the Lieutenant had his two electrified kali sticks, one positioned on each shoulder blade. It made me wonder why they felt the need to protect themselves from us.
"You will demonstrate your skills in front of us and we shall decide where each of you go from here," the Lieutenant said, addressing us from the front of the room. "Each of you will use your newly learned chi-blocking exercises to take down one of our skilled Equalist fighters." He motioned to the side of the room where Equalists, also suited in their gear, minus the face masks, stood waiting.
"Send the first fighter forward!" he yelled.
"Ling!" our instructor yelled. " You're first."
"Wish me luck, but I don't think I'll need it." he said coolly, walking off towards the small ring set up for the fights. I could only snort sarcastically as I watched his retreating back.
Ling positioned himself directly across from a fairly buff male Equalist who was easily stronger and more experienced than Ling. When Ling looked over at me and gave me a small wink I nearly gagged in disgust.
"Fighters ready?!" our instructor yelled. Ling and the Equalist both nodded in response.
"Go!"
I could tell Ling didn't have a chance even before he made his first move. Ling's mind never moved at the same speed as his feet and because of that he left his right shoulder open to the male Equalist to disable before he could strike his first punch. Ling swung his shoulder away from his attacker and tried to deliver a few quick punches to his opponent's retreating left arm. But his punches fell on empty air as the man had already moved out of range. Before he could try to retaliate on the first punch the man disabled his other arm with three quick jabs to the shoulder and arm.
With both of his arms now useless Ling was forced to resort to his legs for kicking. With a side kick he was able to finally land his first blow to the back of his opponent's knee. The man took a quick fall to his knees but was able to recover, rolling on his shoulder to get back to his feet. Now placed directly behind Ling the man gave six more jabs, three to each leg, and that was finally enough to knock Ling to the ground. The man got to his feet and stood over Ling as we counted down from five to see if he would get back up. Obviously completely limp and useless Ling didn't get back up. The bell tolled and the male Equalist was named the victor.
As the man helped Ling to his feet and over to a bench nearby I looked over to the group of scouts to gauge their reaction. I wasn't surprised when I saw a look of  disdain on their faces. I sighed, part of me felt bad for Ling, but I would never let it show let alone say it out aloud.
"This had better not be the best you have," I heard the Lieutenant sneer to our instructor.
"Trust me it isn't," he replied dryly.
As the fights progressed so did the quality of the fighters in training. It took three trials before the first of us were finally able to best one of the fully trained Equalists. I still, however, couldn't help myself when I started to mentally pick apart their fights. An easily covered arm left out in the open or an unstable stance was easily picked out by me and the Equalists we were fighting. It made it that much easier to dispose of them.
Time passed slowly as each trial was conducted and the fate of the fighter decided upon by the scouts. I was almost half asleep when our instructor finally called my name.
"Jiao!" he said. "You're up!"
"Finally," I said, waltzing up to the ring with an icy countenance. "I thought you've never call me."
"Just show them your stuff Jiao." he said gruffly.
"With pleasure," I literally purred.
Walking across the threshold of the ring I eyed up my opponent. I was glad to see a well muscled male Equalist across from me in the ring instead of another female like all of the other women had been given. It showed that I was a better fighter than them all, with our instructor pairing me with such a formidable opponent. Also, it was fun to show those big, bad guys that a little girl could easily get the upper hand on them.
"Fighters ready?!" our instructor yelled. We both nodded, both of our eyes locked on each other. I could see my opponent's fierceness in the intensity that his eyes shone back at me. I just stared through him like he wasn't even there, and I could see that was unnerving him somewhat. Just what I wanted.
"Go!" he yelled.
As expected by me, the man came running with guns blazing, typical for a male fighter. He was going to try to get the first punch, but I wasn't going to let that happen. The man tried to target my right arm first with a couple well placed jabs but I was much too quick for him. I easily slide behind him and delivered a barrage of jabs across his back and arms. I had caught him off guard with the swift movement and he almost fell to the floor but somehow he regained his balance. When he locked eyes with me I could tell he was pissed off. Perfect, I thought to myself slyly.
With his back numb from my attack he tried to swing at me using his waist instead as his turning point. I just smirked and came in to finish him off, placing a knife hand strike across the side of his neck, making him fall like a tree to the ground. I turned away from him, smiling triumphantly as I listened to the people around me count down. That had been easy.
Just as I was almost to step away a hand grasped my ankle and brought me down to the ground. I turned my head to see the male Equalist grasping my foot tightly and pulling me towards him. Everyone had stopped counting down and were now watching us, spellbound. As long as we were both on the ground the fight was still going on. I growled as he pulled me closer, staring at his face which was contorted into a fit of rage. I knew what I had to do.
Once I was close enough to him the man gave disabling jabs to my leg. I felt my leg go limp in response. He gave an evil grin as he gave one last yank on my leg to bring me over to him. That's the moment when I fired up my device and delivered a debilitating electrical shock to his chest. I couldn't help but feel empowered when I saw the shocked, pained look on his face and heard the sound of his scream piercing the air.  His body pulsed with the electricity then went completely dead as he was knocked unconscious.
Huffing at him lying on the ground lifeless I drug myself up onto one leg and steadied before shooting a confident look at our instructor, the Lieutenant and the rest of the scouts. They all looked shocked, except for the Lieutenant, who was gazing at me with pinned eyes and a disapproving scowl. I gave a small bow before trying to exit.  Instead of limping out of ring like I wanted to do I decided to drag my dead leg behind me to at least somewhat help support me. Before I made it to the edge however I heard the Lieutenant's voice call out.
"You have some nerve electrocuting a fellow Equalist, especially in a scouting session," he said. "You will be punished for that." I turned myself to face his unpleasant glare.
"I don't see the problem." I said airily. "I was only showing off my skills for your judgement."
"By using equipment that is not yet designated for your use!" he hissed back. "Especially when it is used on another Equalist."
"Alls fair in love and war." I replied back, batting my eyelashes at him.
"I think you need your arrogance cut down a notch." he said, advancing towards the ring with a deeper scowl etched onto his face.
"Bring it on mustache-boy." I countered, shaking the last of the numbness from my leg and placing a tentative amount of weight on it. Thank the Spirits that it took the weight easily.
The Lieutenant entered the ring taking the spot right across from me. I took my position and waited for our instructor to give the signal. I shot the Lieutenant a playful smirk which only caused his eyes to narrow into thinner slits.
"Fighters ready?!" our instructor yelled. He looked over at me in slight distress, urging me with his eyes to reconsider. I looked away pretending I hadn't seen him and nodded. The Lieutenant also nodded, brandishing his two kali sticks with the crackle of electricity.
"Go!"
I decided that in this round I was going to make the first move. I knew the Lieutenant was most likely better than me at this point, I was going to have to take him now before he got the chance to bring me down. I tried to go for any exposed piece of his body left open but with his two kali sticks it was hard to get close enough to him to strike. With his sticks he could easily electrocute me from a couple feet away while I had to be right on top of him in order to have a shot at disabling him. I swiftly leap to his left side and tried to place a couple jabs on the upper part of his back, but it was only until the last second I remembered that there was a generator strapped there that powered his sticks and it was blocking the way. My fingers connected with the metal, hard. I almost yelped but I was able to shove it down my throat before it came out.
The Lieutenant took the opportunity to swing his electrified sticks towards me, almost catching me on the chin if I had not but tipped my head back a couple inches. He took a backswing immediately afterwards which I was able to avoid by doing a quick back handspring. I had to think fast because he was coming after me again with those sticks. I dove to his right and tried yet again to place some punches to no avail. His sticks covered a larger area around him than I had with just my hands and the modified glove. If I was to take him down I was going to have to get him with my glove.
Dodging more swings I worked him into a stance that would allow easy access to the back of his legs. It was the only place where he didn't have the best range of motion to get me with his sticks. There! He was open for my glove. Diving for the kill I made for the back of his left leg. I could feel my fingers just beginning to close around his calf when I felt my body go into spasms as his kali stick connected with a small of my back. I had never been electrocuted before, and I can easily say I don't want it to ever happen again. My body fell limp to the ground as he removed his stick and held them at the ready above me should I decide to try and get up.
Mustering up the last of my strength I looked up at him defiantly.
"You...cheated," I said breathlessly, staring up at his satisfied grin. "Your sticks... gave you a better range... for attack!"
"I find that no different from what you did earlier to that unsuspecting man," he retorted. "This will stand as a lesson to you, to all of you!" he said, looking up at the crowd around him. "Equalists either learn to stick together or they are disposed of. With benders everywhere we have to act as one. And not one," he looked down at me with a scowl. "person will break that up."
"We are done here," he said replacing his kali sticks. He motions to the other scouts before departing the room with a swish of the doors.
"Are you crazy?" Ling said, rushing over to me to help me up. "You could have been killed!" I let him help me up reluctantly and then proceeded to slap his hands away once I was upright.
"It doesn't matter," I said, glancing at the door the Lieutenant had just walked out of with a small smirk. "I made the right impression."