“But-!” Kara opened her mouth to object, but closed it quickly after, keeping her head down poutily as Artemis re-explained their upcoming routine. Growing tired of aimless antics, she rolled her eyes and got back into her proper stance, hands out front and legs spread far. Determined to come out on top this time, she analyzed every move and was quick to react, throwing in a dodge every so often to appeal to Artemis’ former critiques. Every time she felt she was getting the hang of it, her trainer would throw a wrench her way and surprise her with a fake call-out. Kara was quick to correct and sometimes even caught her in the act, but most of the time suffered harmless blows against her body or legs with every swipe Artemis took.
She grunted angrily as she took a step back from the action, dipping right back in after and trying to keep pace with her. More than ever fueled to prove herself, Kara was light on her feet, becoming more accurate with her dodges and blocks every time until she reached a near perfect record… all the way up until a new command was called out. Briefly confused by an unrecognized order, Kara blinked and followed along blindly, only to find a foot wedged underneath her shoe which sent her stumbling over to the side and out of their ring. With plenty of time to react, yet her powers still too limited to allow her to do so, Supergirl had to watch in practical slow motion as she reconnected with the ground for what must have been the tenth time that session.
With her face planted in the dirt, Kara laid still on the ground, running what had just happened through her head a couple thousand times or so. There was a pattern. There were clear cut instructions. Everything was set up for her success… until Artemis took advantage of her, and used an unpredictable cheap shot to throw her off again. At this point, it hardly felt like training, and more like mockery. Having thought she was doing so well up until that point, Kara felt a surge of emotions run through her body as red sparks ignited in her eyes. It was hard to feel powerful when she was laying face-first in the dirt. Simmering down, the red vanished before anyone could see them, and Supergirl pushed herself up and off the ground again.
Kara kept her back turned to Artemis, running her hands along her face as she breathed in and out. Turning around, she stared through her trainer, with a quizzical look that tried to deduce what she was even doing. “Okay…” She huffed, keeping her temper within limits. “One more time.”
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