Chương 66: R&R2 Ch. 5 — All's Fair in Boredom

Jasmine was still annoyed as she got into her super suit. Was it silly for this to still be hanging over her after a day and a half since it passed? Yes, yes, it was, but Jasmine didn't care. And that was going to be everyone's problem. It was actually going to be nobody's problem because she was fine and everything was fine and she was not taking her rage out on everything else going on because the monsters didn't deserve it.

"Still wound up about it?" Nicholas asked gently, having finished putting on his super suit already.

"No!" Jasmine snapped, which wasn't that effective to say that she was over it; both her words and their bond would tell him that. While it was fine for her to block it up the past day and a half because she was fuming, it wasn't okay when they were in the field. Every edge they could get they would use and the communication from telepathy and their bond was something they both valued.

Nicholas didn't say anything, just staring at her with an expression she couldn't read because he was already wearing his mask, but she knew it was probably concern.

"Fine, yes, I'm still annoyed, but we don't have to talk about it," Jasmine said, shoving her helmet on.

"What, you don't want me to go big scary boyfriend on him for asking you out?" Nicholas joked, laughing to himself. It wasn't funny. Okay, it was funny because Nicholas was the smaller and scrawnier of them, even if he had put on a little bit of muscle since becoming a super. And he didn't seem to care that much one way or the other if she actually said yes or not. But she had said no.

Even if she and Nicholas hadn't yet been able to go on a date they were dating, and she didn't want to even think about dates with other people. Yeah, she knew it was common enough for people to date around until a relationship progressed, but that wasn't her. And while she was happy to date anyone, it wouldn't be all at once, and that hadn't been the part that made her mad. She had been asked out before, several times, actually. And asked plenty of people out, many of whom said no.

What had made her mad was Constellation's treatment of Nicholas. Nicholas hadn't even acted surprised about it.

"Do you want me to help?" Nicholas asked quietly.

"I don't know if you can. Mostly I'm fine, but it gets caught and I just start to spin out." Jasmine grumbled. Nicholas pressed against their bond and she let him transmit the sensations.

"I didn't know this was your plan," Jasmine said, feeling much more measured as she let Nicholas's emotions wash over her.

"You don't need to be concerned about how someone else feels about me. I can't care less. Besides, we'll be done here before long. So no harm, no foul, right?" Nicholas said, helping her put on her armor. She was going to miss this in two ranks when she could just will it onto herself. There was something fun about the two of them working together to put it on. Though sometimes Jasmine wondered why he didn't just use the playroom command for it.

It would be easier than helping her put on all the pieces, even if it was going to take some of his power back in the previous ranks that had been a good excuse. Now? It was still valid; it just wasn't a noticeable amount anymore. If the amount of power needed to help put on her armor was going to be the difference in a fight at their level? Well, that was going to be a horrifying problem to be facing, but if he hadn't decided that himself, there was probably a reason.

"I thought about using a command to help you feel better, but I figured this was easier." Nicholas said once she was fully in her armor. He had also stopped transmitting his emotions in a river. Their bond was back to normal. And she felt good. Yes, she was still annoyed at Constellation, but it was farther away, and there was this mild sense of amusement.

"Why am I amused about Constellation now?" Jasmine asked suspiciously as they boarded the flying swords and took off.

"Because I find it amusing." Nicholas responded. Jasmine was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing, but she wasn't going to judge him too harshly for that.

"What's the play today?" Jasmine asked, they were now on the clock and had to fight monsters, so her being a grump could wait.

"Same as usual, can't use playroom, so we're going to have to use other tactics." Nicholas said. It had been a splash of cold water that their main tactic wasn't one that worked right now. Playroom needed to remain in a set location and the train was moving just fast enough that Nicholas would have to constantly reset it. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

The range would be a lot bigger now that they were E-rank and he could just make a bigger one and set it off farther in front of them, but it still wasn't worth it. There were other words he could use. And it was better not to be set in their ways. And yes, Jasmine was painfully aware of the irony, considering she was just in her normal armor, hammer slung across her shoulders as she searched for a target. But unlike Nicholas, she hadn't gotten the chance to play yet.

"Ready?" Nicholas asked. They both let their bodies draw from the power that made them superhuman, and the world slowed down. It was exhilarating, and boy, was she glad the flying swords could already handle the new speed. Otherwise, this would have been awful.

"Going to try and take down those fliers."" Maximize" A brief swell of power filled Jasmine as she swung her hammer. With the force of a tiny but still angry god, gravity crushed the fliers, bringing them to the ground in a vicious crunch. She couldn't be stopped. Well, lots of things could stop her, but right now she felt unstoppable at their level.

"Sorry," Nicholas apologized, not feeling that sorry at all, and she couldn't blame him entirely. Buffs were intoxicating when they let her do crazy stunts, and while they were officially there to make sure nothing bad happened to the train, they weren't taking it that seriously. They wouldn't get to a more dangerous part of the train to defend until next week, so they were doing what they had done before, and it hadn't been a struggle for them before they got their new abilities.

Really, they were just going to goof off and have fun, pushing themselves to their limits. Jasmine spent the next hour getting the measure of her new abilities, and it was more or less what she expected for this load-out. With the removal of the physical enhancements from her armor, she had to rely on her own physical ability to keep up with the pace she had been using before, which she could do at E rank. And with all of that free space, she had made her armor and weapons even stronger.

Almost all of it had been for just expanding the existing power structures. She had added a small new one, but that was more of a surprise ace than any actual trump card, and none of the opponents here were good to test it. With their new strength, this was just boring once they had finished calibrating their new abilities. This hadn't been a challenge last week, though it had required at least a level of focus. Now she could do it with her eyes closed.

Jasmine was bored, and they would be on shift for several more hours, which meant if things were going to be interesting it was going to fall on her to spice things up.

"Want to make it a game?" Jasmine asked, stepping off the flying sword and trusting her own ability to fly.

"What kind of game?" Nicholas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A challenge. You can only use words you haven't made yet, and I will play the role of a ground-bound bruiser launching projectiles instead of gravity crushing things. Whoever gets the most confirmed kills from up top wins?" Jasmine asked, stepping onto the train. Nicholas thought about it for a second, glaring at her. They both knew the deck was stacked in her favor. New words were always a struggle for him, especially when he hadn't even considered making their cards yet.

Jasmine, on the other hand, was a fair hand at just throwing projectiles with her force and gravity build. Couple that with the train solving most of her mobility and it was a crap deal.

"So what do I get if I win?" Nicholas asked. Jasmine internally gloated since she certainly had him now, which meant he knew she was internally gloating, but that wasn't a problem. Even if he knew what was going on, he wouldn't be able to resist; that was the point.

"You'll get a to be determined prize of your choosing, sound like a plan?" Jasmine asked, grinning wickedly. She knew Nicholas wanted it. Enough that he would risk playing against a stacked deck to get it.

"And if you win?"

"A day where you won't hide from me or anyone else if I decide we're hanging out with folks," Jasmine said with a shrug. Her prize wasn't great; it was one she could probably get just by asking nicely, but this was mostly for her to win a competition, so she needed to get him to play, not for her prize to be good. Besides, she had stacked the deck in her favor, no reason to stack her prize as well. Nicholas considered before nodding.

"Go!" Jasmine called, hammer already spinning as the projectiles the train provided for melee bruisers glowed with emerald energy, already pushing them through the air." Pause" Jasmine certainly hadn't heard that word before, and it was effectively pausing everything in an area, including the projectiles she had been launching." Plummet" Jasmine wondered if Nicholas was cheating somehow, just using words that he almost had done or copying words he already made. Really pause and plummet?

Those sounded like hesitate and down to her." Combo" Everything that had just fallen to the ground reacted as if they were struck three times, many of them falling dead from the triple combination attack. Maybe the deck wasn't as stacked in her favor as possible. Nicholas was far from the rookie who couldn't control his power with new words and needed time to set up basic workings. His will was way stronger. He could probably manage it easily enough by brute-forcing it. Jasmine grinned.

Power spun around her, a little galaxy of energy, as she ran to the next projectile printer. This was going to be fun. Commands that warped the world flew alongside bullets propelled by gravity and force as the two duelled to see who would come out on top of their little competition.

"Hate to interrupt your play, Retort and Retribution, but we have a D-rank breaking through the barrier near your location. Can we trust you two to handle it?" Coordinate asked, almost making Jasmine miss her target. She would have if she couldn't change the direction of things with her powers, but nobody needed to know. She had intended to curve the shot.

"On it," Nicholas said, flying to her.

"Game's up?" Jasmine asked with a sigh as she flew into the air.

"Like you're complaining, this is going to be more interesting, something that can actually keep up." Nicholas said. Jasmine's response was cut off as a roar of absolute hatred ripped through the sky.