Taboo Online

Red Hound swept Luke’s legs out from under him.

One moment, Luke was charging forward with the spear held across his body. The next, Red Hound hooked a foot behind his ankle and sent him crashing onto the padded testing floor.

The impact drove the air from Luke’s lungs. Pain spread through his shoulder and back, but the humiliation stung almost as badly. He had not even understood what Red Hound had done until he found himself staring at the bright lights hanging from the gymnasium ceiling.

Around the reinforced floor, Bureau officials, medical staff, and the three remaining pairs of awakened candidates watched in silence. A few looked impressed. The others appeared more nervous than before, probably because they knew Red Hound would be testing them next.

Luke barely noticed them. He could only think about how easily the hero had taken him down.

Reinforce had made his body stronger than ever. He could run faster, strike harder, and withstand impacts that would have left his old self unable to move. None of it had helped against Red Hound, who had stepped around his spear and dropped him like an inexperienced kid swinging a stick.

Worse, Luke had left Lauren completely exposed behind him.

He turned his head and found her several yards away with her eyes still closed. The adhesive sensor near her temple blinked with a soft green light, and her long black hair fell over her shoulders and down her back. She looked calm from a distance, but the tension in her posture told him otherwise.

An unpleasant tightness formed in Luke’s stomach. Had Red Hound been a real villain, he could have moved past Luke and attacked her before Luke even returned to his feet.

Lauren could see fragments of the future, but she had no practical combat training. Oracle’s Glimpse required concentration, and every use placed more strain on her mind. If an enemy reached her while Luke lay helpless on the ground, she might have no way to defend herself.

Any experienced villain would notice that weakness. Luke hated the thought of someone reaching her while he could do nothing to stop it.

His mistake had exposed both of them. No amount of strength would matter if every failed attack left Lauren unprotected.

Red Hound had chosen not to exploit the opening. He stood several steps away with his hands loose at his sides, waiting for Luke to recover while a digital timer beside the testing floor continued counting down.

01:46.

Less than two minutes remained.

Red Hound glanced toward the display. "You can spend the rest of the test admiring the ceiling if you want."

Luke pushed himself onto one elbow.

Lauren’s visions gave him an advantage most fighters could only dream of. Whenever she showed him what was about to happen, he could move before his opponent finished acting. That should have made fighting easier, but seeing the future did not automatically tell him how to respond.

A vision might show Red Hound stepping to the left, but Luke still needed to adjust his footing, control the spear, and decide what to do if the attack failed. He lacked experience, proper instruction, and even the basics of real spearmanship.

Reinforce strengthened his body. It did not teach him how to fight.

Then I’ll learn. I still have to try.

Luke tightened his fist against the textured padding, rolled onto one knee, and forced himself upright. Red Hound watched him rise without offering a hand.

"Still conscious?" the hero asked.

Luke rubbed his aching shoulder. "You didn’t hit me that hard."

One of the middle-aged men near the edge of the floor laughed. A faint sneer appeared on Red Hound’s face.

"Then I must be getting soft."

Ignoring him, Luke hurried toward Lauren. She turned in his direction as soon as she heard his footsteps.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

"I’m fine."

"You hit the floor rather loudly."

"It sounded worse than it was."

Lauren tilted her head. Even with her eyes closed, Luke recognized the look.

She did not believe him.

The timer reached 01:21.

Luke stepped closer and lowered his voice.

"I have an idea. You showed me what Red Hound was going to do."

"Yes."

"Can you show him too?"

Lauren hesitated. "I don’t know."

"You shared visions with me inside Powerforge, and you pushed one into my mind just now."

"That was different. We already share some kind of connection, probably through our partner resonance. Red Hound isn’t part of it."

"Could you force the connection?"

The sensor beside her temple blinked faster while she considered the question.

"Possibly, but I don’t know what it would do to either of us."

Luke glanced over his shoulder. Red Hound remained in the middle of the marked floor, openly watching them plan against him.

"He can probably handle it."

"That is not very reassuring."

"He threw me onto the floor."

"That does not give us permission to damage his brain."

"Can Oracle’s Glimpse do that?"

"I don’t think so."

"Then he’ll survive."

A hint of a smile touched Lauren’s lips before her expression became serious again.

"What exactly are you planning?"

"Show him the same future you show me. If his mind follows it, he’ll expect the attack he saw. I’ll change direction at the last second."

"You’ll have to remember the vision, watch what he actually does, and react before he recovers."

"I can do it."

His confidence clearly did not reassure her.

The timer reached forty-eight seconds.

Red Hound looked toward it. "You might want to finish deciding how you plan to lose."

Luke rested his hand briefly over Lauren’s. "Trust me."

She remained still for another second before giving him a firm nod.

"I do."

They separated and returned to their positions.

Red Hound rolled one shoulder. "Thirty-seven seconds."

Luke raised the training spear. Its shaft and blunt blade had been reinforced to withstand the strength of awakened fighters, although he doubted it could survive a direct hit from Red Hound if the hero stopped holding back.

Sweat made the grip slick beneath his palms.

"You look nervous," Red Hound said.

"I’m thinking."

"That would be a nice change."

Luke tightened his jaw as Red Hound raised one hand and curled his fingers toward himself.

"Come on, then."

Lowering his stance, Luke glanced toward Lauren. Her eyes remained closed as she faced Red Hound, and the hand near her chest slowly curled into a fist. The green light on her sensor began pulsing faster.

After drawing one steady breath, Luke rushed forward.

This time, he kept the spear close to his body. He refused to repeat the wide, reckless thrust that had allowed Red Hound to step inside his reach.

Five steps remained between them, then four, then three.

Lauren’s power touched Luke’s mind, and the testing floor disappeared.

For a fraction of a second, he saw the future with impossible clarity. He watched himself take another step and drive the spear toward Red Hound’s chest. The hero shifted backward, raised his left arm, and knocked the spearhead aside. Luke twisted the shaft and attacked from the opposite direction, only for Red Hound to catch the second strike.

The vision ended, and reality rushed back around him.

Luke’s foot landed exactly where he had seen it land. Across from him, Red Hound froze, his eyes widening slightly as his attention turned inward.

Lauren had reached him.

For the first time since the spar began, Red Hound looked defenseless. Luke dropped lower instead of thrusting toward his chest, changed the spear’s direction, and drove it toward the hero’s side.

Red Hound neither stepped backward nor raised his arm to deflect the expected attack. Luke’s altered strike slipped beneath his guard.

Excitement rushed through him.

I got him.