Learning to Breathe

Disclaimer: April showers bring May flowers, but what does an April blizzard bring?

A/N: No joke, that actually happened where I live this year. Had to work that night too… it wasn't pretty. Anyway, Thunderbird gets a crash coarse in how to fly. Literally.

Chapter Twenty-three: Flight School

It was Tuesday. Supposedly, It was Chaos's turn for individual training. Thunderbird's flight from the vending machine the day before, however, required some attention. That was why Zartan called Chaos and Vampira in that morning to teach the Thunderbird how to fly.

"I do not even know how I did it." The Bangladesh native protested.

"It's not hard, Neal." Bryan said. "Just jump up and think light."

"I don't know." The dark haired boy whimpered.

"Just lift off." Vampira said, floating effortlessly into the air. "Come on! Give it a try."

Neal jumped, hovered for thirty seconds, and fell.

"You're too worried." Zartan said.

"But what if I fall down?" Thunderbird asked.

"And what if a comet from Jupiter wipes out the planet?" Kristen scoffed. "You can't hide behind what ifs, Sharra!"

"But if I fall it will hurt." The dark skinned boy whined.

"So?" Chaos folded his arms. "You get back up and try again. Greatness doesn't happen overnight."

"It's not that hard." Kristen said. "Just jump off of the table!"

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Meanwhile, the rest of the team was watching the class antics through the windows lining the exercise room.

"How long before they just shove him off?" Golem asked.

"Dunno." Andi said. "That's a tough one."

"I vote Zartan just gets fed up with it and scares Neal into flying." Regan offered.

"That could happen." Andi shrugged. "Too bad we left the camera at the main base."

"Wow, they're gonna push him off the table." Mitch said. "I win!"

"And he's off." Regan started.

"And down again." Andi winced. "Must have spooked."

Inside the room…

"Ouch!" Neal moaned as he pushed himself off the floor.

"Why did you panic, Birdie?" Kristen demanded.

"You pushed me off!" The brown eyed teen shouted.

"And we'll do it again if you don't start following our lead!" Bryan demanded, rising into the air. "Get up here and fly, or we will pull you up and drop you from twenty feet in the air!"

"Fine!" The plasma-generator exclaimed. "I'll try."

"Do or do not; there is no try." Bryan replied.

"It's not hard." Kristen said, floating above the dark skinned boy's head. "Just think light and jump."

"Okay." Neal gulped. Timidly, he focused his thoughts on floating above the ground. Not far, just a few inches. When he opened his eyes, he was half a foot above the metal- tiled floor. "Whoa!"

"Good, you're in the air." Kristen nodded. "Now lean right."

Neal complied and performed a wonderful impersonation of someone trying to flap like a bird.

"Go up and turn!" Bryan ordered. Neal rose higher, but didn't stop flapping.

"Do this with your hands." Kristen said, demonstrating the Superman pose. "It helps you stabelize." Neal copied the onyx-haired bloodsucker's motion and found balancing twice as easy.

"Hey, It works!"

"Duh!" The red-eyed vamp rolled her eyes. "Why else would I have brought it up? Now, pretend you're pushing off from the side of a swimming pool and head towards that wall."

"Okay." Thunderbird nodded. He gathered his legs underneath him and took off like a rocket: one that had no brakes.

"Pull up!" Bryan shouted. "Or turn, or fall! Just do something before you hit…"

BAM!!!

"The wall." The brown haired boy winced as the plasma weilder collided with the metal-lined wall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That's gonna leave a mark." Mitch winced as the other half of the team watched from the other side of the glass.

"On him and the wall." Andi quipped.

"Well, he's getting back up now." Regan commented. "That's good, right?"

"Yeah." Andi nodded. "It means he won't have a concussion."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After five more minutes of practice, Zartan finally decided that the team had had enough practice for one day.

"Okay, kids, that's good enough."

"At least we got you in the air." Bryan shrugged.

"But I hit a wall." Neal commented.

"Everyone runs into stuff their first days." Kristen said. "Don't sweat it."

"Yeah." Bryan commented. "I hit a pole my first day."

"At any rate, it's enough practice today." Zartan broke in. "I still have to get to your other three teammates this week."

"Good luck with Andi." Kris snickered. "She can be a pain to work with."

"I'm well aware of that." Zartan sighed. "But at least I have three days to prepare for her."

"We'll see how well that works." Bryan grinned.