"Okay, whenever you're ready." Ms. Brigham's voice rang out over the speakers; she was watching from the control booth that overlooked the testing chamber.
Emily Hubbard -- Jade, while she was using her powers -- squared off against Cat Montoya, who went by Nightfall.
It didn't look like an entirely fair match: while each was athletic in her own way, Jade stood at six-foot-two, towering over Nightfall's five feet of height. Nightfall didn't seem bothered, even as Jade let creamy green energies spill forth to form a longsword in her hands and then wrap her in armor. Nightfall settled her weight and extended her hands as well, then said: "Huh. That's interesting. It was working last night." She looked around the brightly-lit room, then glanced at the clock on the wall. "I might need to make it a little dim in here."
"Go ahead," said Jade. "As long as I can still see..."
The lights seemed to dim, and shadows gathered in the corners. Nightfall nodded to herself as a smoky black tendril extended from her hands and solidified into a matching broadsword. She looked at Jade's armor for a long moment, then more of the smoky darkness flowed out to surround her body. It wasn't solid the way Jade's armor was, but it covered her outline and made her harder to see.
"Okay, first test!" Nightfall called, and slapped the side of her blade against Jade's.
Jade's blade pulsed with a burst of green light, then settled; the blades were pressing against each other, each solid to the other. Nightfall called, "Contact! And no unexpected reactions!"
"Speak for yourself!" Jade called back, raising her voice for Ms. Brigham's benefit. "I think you surprised my power."
"Oh," said Nightfall. "That's... that can happen?"
"Apparently so," said Jade. "Testing defenses?"
Nightfall nodded, and Jade raised her blade out of the way as Nightfall slapped her in the side with the flat of her shadow-blade. It struck her armor and stopped. "Okay, good," said Nightfall. "So I can't hurt you while we're practicing."
Jade nodded. "I felt the impact, but no damage."
"Okay," said Nightfall, and drew a breath. "Now try me-- gently."
Jade slapped her lightly on the side, and Nightfall grunted, then stopped and held up a hand. "Okay, so apparently I can't manage armor yet."
"No, but that blurring effect is distracting as hell," Jade acknowledged.
"Well... good. Okay, you ready to try some light sparring? Very light, I just joined the class a couple of months ago."
Jade considered that. "Let's start with a couple of drills before we try sparring, then."
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