Survival

“Admittedly, it's a compromise,” the ring chuckles, “but villainy would happen with or without the Codes. There's always going to be people who want things, and there's always going to be a portion of those who don't really see a problem with using theft, extortion, murder, etc. to get what they want. When those people have super powers… well, it could get nasty… used to, and will again eventually. The Codes keep the deaths down, and civilians mostly out of the line of fire. The constant battles also keep both sides exercised and practicing tactics, which was important when…” he pauses, “...oh, wait, that hasn't happened yet.”

You do, however, have enough dots to connect, “At some point, heroes and villains will band together for survival against a mutual threat.”

“Ah… yes…” the dragon admits, “...eventually. Don't really worry about it, just… remember to comport yourself with honor and treat *everyone* with respect and dignity, whether they deserve it or not. It's a lot easier to work with people who view you as an honorable opponent than it is those who see you as a hateful enemy.”

“I'll keep that in mind…” you finish your meal and turn to your mother… Mark. “So: Do we have a plan for today?”

“I'm going to use up my sick leave looking for a job…” he pauses, “...references are going to be a problem.”

“Your health insurance has another six months until renewal,” your body guest pipes up in your head, “Mark's boss won't get a pro-rated refund when he's officially let go, so we're still good for therapy. Which reminds me… we need to get your super therapy in sooner rather than later. We're starting after breakfast.”

“Ah, hero training…” you smile as you finish the delicious breakfast, and then help your mother… Mark, you need to remember that… clean up. When you're ready, you ask your trainer, “So what are we doing today?”

“Heading to some hills in the middle of nowhere to practice throwing,” the dragon chuckles darkly, “And you can't neglect your body: You need to run there… at speed, of course.”

You start to reach for the watch, then pause, and try to recapture that feeling of wonder from yesterday when the bank paid you more money than you'd ever held at once. The world goes silent, you pull a penny out of your pocket, carefully drop it, and watch it lazily fall.

You smile as the dragon on your hand begins, “Good. Now run. Out the front of the complex, and take a left…”

The ten speed you're managing isn't so bad. The jog puts you ahead of residential traffic, and your therapist directs you out of town. You're running in the forest soon enough, laughing.

The dragon directs you down an old logging road, and soon he calls a halt. “Here we are… all right, now pick up some rocks and target that bullseye…” one appears in your vision, backed by a hill.

You grab a rock off the ground and throw it… and it goes well over the target, not curving nearly as much as it should, hitting the hill behind and making quite a splash . It takes several shots to account for it, but eventually you get to where you can hit the target reliably… and watch the rock sail through like the target isn't there, causing quite the dirt plume where it hits the hill.

“Great,” the dragon approves, “Now that you have that down for the moment, let's turn it up to the next stage. Faster.”

You consider, take off your clothes, and then lean into the feeling… and the world goes from ‘everything is moving through molasses’ to ‘still’.

“Good…” the ring sounds pleased. “Now try that shot again.”

Considering how your ten speed shots went over, you throw the rock a little under the target, and watch as it sails just over… and the impact site on the hill craters like you'd set off a stick of dynamite at the impact point… in slow motion. You watch as the dirt and rocks lazily spread out, along with a cloud of dust and sand.

“Now what do you think that would do to a civilian?” The ring inquires as you watch.

“Clean hole,” you answer instantly, “the earlier notch was basically an oversized bullet. This may as well be a tank shell.”

“Not as clean as you'd like…” the dragon chuckles, “but essentially correct. Also: How are you feeling?”

“I'm doing fine,” you consider, “Ah… just how inefficient is that watch?” You take a moment to look at it.

“Very,” your teacher chuckles, “and you're not using it right now, which is a good thing. It's still going to drain you when you're not at speed to handle the precognition and storage for emergencies, but you could keep this speed up for quite a while. Now keep going until you can hit the target reliably.”

You grab another rock and keep at it:

It doesn't take too long until you can reliably hit the target… and that poor, poor hill behind it is a wreck. Still, eventually you adapt to the change in time, and start hitting the target reliably.

“Great…” the slavedriver seems happy, “...now go faster.”

You push that feeling some more, until you feel like you're struggling, “How's this?” You cringe.

“Not quite the third notch… but it'll do.” Your taskmaster cackles, “Throw some more rocks.”

You find you hit on the first try this time, but when you start to feel light-headed (which doesn't take long…) the ring stops you, “Okay, that's enough, back it down to the ten mark.”

Not that you're using the bracelet, but you comply, “Okay, how much longer is this going to be?”

“Oh, counting the run out here, we're not even to the halfway point.” The dragon cackles, “It's measured in real time. Take a bit to catch your breath, then we'll practice switching between speeds to make sure you can adjust your aim accordingly….”

He never lets you drop below ten speed. It’s difficult to measure exactly, but you're pretty sure he tortures you like that for a couple of days your time….