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Chapter 24

TJ

The only thing I was focused on was the heavy punching bag in front of me. I leapt into the air and spun around slamming my leg in a roundhouse kick against the bag. The slam of my hit reverberated around the large room and shook the floor. I landed and began a barrage of quick punches against the leathery hide. Leon had reinforced the bag with chains made of a special metal alloy that allowed it to stay in place. There were also cement blocks along with the sand inside that gave it more resistance. I'm not sure how the bag didn't fall through the floor or pull the ceiling down it was attached to, it weighed nearly six hundred pounds.

As I kicked and punched and elbowed I stopped suddenly when I heard a faint scream drift in my ears. I turned around to the entrance doors and saw Leon standing in front of them with his arms folded across his chest. His usual stance. But something seemed different. He was standing by the doors, but he seemed to be blocking them for some reason.

"What was that noise? Where's my sister?" I asked nervously moving forward slightly. I could feel his body heat and pressure radiate calmly through the room, hitting my face and muscles.

He said nothing but sighed. I heard the faint scream again. Then I realized it was Natalie. She was far away, but with my enhanced focused hearing I could tell she was suffering. Something was happening to her.

"Where is she?! What have you done to her!?" I yelled now clinching my fist together. My face grew hot and my body tense.

Leon chuckled and said "She's undergoing her individualized training right now. She'll be fine. I'll go check on her in a few hours or days…if she's still alive that is."

I didn't think. I rushed the doors before Leon could finish his sentence. The room flashed behind me and I nearly reached the entrance before Leon's large palms found my chest and thrust me backward. My body felt like it had been hit by brick wall as I flew backward in the air. The wind had been knocked out of my lungs and I felt the hard wooden floor slam into my back. I coughed and gasped for air as I stood to my feet. Before I could fully stand Leon was standing in front of me. I jumped and my knees went weak slightly.

"You're not leaving. Your lessons begin now." Leon said sternly as he glared at me.

"I'm not—-

But his large fist thrusted into my stomach knocking me upward. My eyes bulged out of their sockets and I choked on my saliva. I thought my spine would shatter through my back from the impact. I couldn't help but fall to my knees as the room became blurry through my watery eyes. I gripped my stomach with my arms, clawing at the sides of my sweaty shirt.

"You're wasting my time with your unwillingness to kill." Leon said still standing in front of me. I looked upward and saw only his tall legs clad in the black sweats he usually wore.

"You think these DGD people are playing nice do you? You think they're going to be kind to you? They are controlling the city, taking people everyday from their homes, and you think mercy will suffice? You fool."

I clawed the wooden floor with my hand, scratching the smooth and shiny wooden surface. I felt my fingers ache with anger and fury and hatred. The feeling poured over my body like a heavy rainfall. Each drop becoming bigger and hotter than the next.

"Shut…up…" I growled through my teeth.

Leon chuckled and bounced on his feet. "Your anger is still so laughable I wonder if you really have ever let yourself feel it at all. Even an ant wouldn't fear your footsteps."

"I said….shut up!" I leapt up and twisted high in the air to slam my foot directly into Leon's chest. But he caught my foot and flipped me backward. Then I felt his heavy kick slam into my side. My body flew and tumbled in the air as I slammed into the wall near the weapons rack. The room shook violently and I slid to the floor pathetically. I glared at Leon weakly as the anger surged through my veins. If I could set fire to him, I would.

"Set fire to yourself, TJ. That's the only way you'll survive." Leon said as he folded his arms behind his back.

"Shut up!" I yelled again as I rushed him.

I threw punch after punch after kick at him. I felt my body become lighter and deadly as I kept moving. Leon grabbed my arms and thrust them downward and laughed "You're doing a good job of hitting the air!"

I sent an elbow into his chest but he flipped high in the air away from me. I didn't give him a chance to land and get his footing before I started my assault again. But nothing would connect. As I punched near his face, he waved my fist away and sent his fingertips into my shoulder. I yelled in pain as immense pressure surged through my nerves. I leapt away gripping my right arm with my left hand. My shirt was dripping with sweat now so was my entire body. It clung to me and with a quick motion I ripped it off.

Leon's eyes widened and laughed again. He seemed to be in stitches at the sight of me. It just made my veins flood with more flames.

I could feel the air around my body grow heavier. The pressure of it crushed my shoulders together and my skin felt tight. My lungs felt like lead weights pressed against them, knocking the air out of me. Was this Leon?

No. It was my own. It was my own pressure. It was my anger. It clung to me like an invisible shroud and draped over my shirtless body. My arms and legs felt like they would sink through the floor. I didn't understand.

"You need to release it. Project it outward." Leon's stern voice cut into my ears. I didn't listen though. I hated him. I didn't care what he had to say anymore.

"You holding yourself back will be your downfall. The weight of your abilities will crush you where you stand." He said holding his fists up. I looked at him feeling the fire furrow in my brow. My vision seemed to get blurry and I couldn't stand it anymore.

I fell to the floor on my knees, my palms outstretched and shaking to keep me partly upright. I couldn't breathe. I was so angry. About everything.

My parents.

The DGD.

Andrew.

The city.

And now my sister being held and tortured by Leon who was supposed to be helping us.

"Free it!" Leon shouted sharply.

I scraped at the smooth wooden floor. My fingernails dug deep into the waxed surface and scraped long grooves as my hand moved back into a fist. My body now seemed to be getting lighter. The flames inside my body and under my skin seemed to stretched out from the center of my chest now. I felt lighter, but stronger. Something was burning across my back. It was painful like needles tracing across my skin.

Leon gasped. I looked down at my left hand and arm. Then down at my chest. Dark black flames were inking themselves across my skin. It looked like something was infecting me. The dark marks of fire seemed to be living and breathing on my flesh. They burned against it. Like hot coals.

"I don't believe it." Leon chuckled in disbelief. I jerked my head up toward him. The room looked red now. The anger was here now. It was free.

"Stop…laughing at me!" I shouted.

Intense hot wind and pressure flew around the space as I stood up. Leon covered his face slightly and squinted his eyes. He stepped back a few feet.

I looked down at my body again. The flames still seemed to be alive, but had settled across my shoulder, arm, neck, and halfway down my chest.

What am I?

"So this is your power?" Leon said still bracing himself from my pressure I was giving off. "Faction power."

I looked at him as the world still looked painted in a red hue. His mouth and tongue were moving, but all I wanted to do was rip it out of his head.

Before I knew it I was in front of him. He jumped a little, but I sent my right fist flying into his stomach. The room shook violently from the impact as Leon flew upward into the air. He blocked it, but not completely.

He landed on his feet and I was there before he could even think of what to do. I tried kicking him in the knee cap to shatter it, but he threw me back.

"You've free it TJ, now control it!"

I didn't care. He needed to feel pain. As much pain as possible. Even if that meant his life had to end.

I jumped high into the air and yelled wildly as I thrusted my leg downward. Leon jumped back a millisecond before I hit the floor and created a crater where I stood. I didn't give him a break. I punched and punched. Some he blocked, some he didn't. I could feel his body tremble and shake.

"You're not so great are you!?" I found myself screaming madly as I sent a punch toward his jaw. I missed, but the impact and pressure behind my blow still hit him. He flew back across the room and slid back on his heels.

"TJ!" He yelled.

He would pay. They would all pay.

I rushed him. The jugular. Two well aimed fingers and it would be over.

"TJ!" a voice reverberated through the air. It wasn't Leon.

I stopped inches in front of him. My knuckles were split and bleeding now. Blood was dripping on the floor where we stood. Sweat drenched my entire body. The world started going back to normal colors now. Leon looked frozen in front of me after I almost killed him.

The dark flames that traced my body started to recede and disappear behind me toward my back. I felt my limbs tremble and feel weak. I stepped back away from Leon and lowered my arm. I stopped however when I saw his right hand extended inches away from my stomach. His fingers were pointed and seemed to be glowing red hot.

I didn't almost kill him, he almost killed me.

"What—-what was that?" I asked softly. I was scared to know the answer, but even more disturbed by the fact that I wanted to know.

"Your ability." Leon said curling his hand back. The red hot glow disappeared from his fingertips and he crossed his arms.

"What is my ability? To kill without thinking?" I asked shaking my head.

Leon shook his head "No. It's not. You have an anger problem, you know?"

I looked at him and felt my face go hot again. " I do not! You provoked me! You're holding my sister and torturing her! How dare you—

But I stopped and listened to myself. Leon smirked sadly at me.

"Your abilities are tied to your emotional responses. But more in depth than that. Those tattoos on your back. They seem to be mediums for how your ability works. Those flames…Dauntless."

"Dauntless? But what—what does that have to do with anything?" I asked confused.

Leon shrugged and said "I have no idea. But it's clear that you and your sister are unlike any of our kind I've ever seen before."

He walked toward the doors and I shouted after him "Wait—what do you mean by that?!"

Leon stopped and paused near the stairs leading out. "I've only experienced a few interactions with Resurgents. But I do know that none of them, not one, are able to do the things you and your sister can do. In fact, I would say that you both may be something completely different. As it is, you need to both learn control. Focus yourselves. Control those abilities."

"How when I don't even know what they are? When I don't know what I am?" I felt hot tears gather in my eyes and I looked down so Leon wouldn't see.

"You must answer that for yourself, TJ. But something is clear now. Something I must tell Amar about immediately."

"What's that?" I asked hoarsely, my throat tight and heavy.

"That the DGD will do whatever than can to retrieve you both and also they have no idea what you both are capable of. That's what scares them most."

next two chapters are the final chapters!