James felt a little bad for snapping at the girls, but he was still angry and embarrassed. He was being nice and civil, even inviting them to watch, and they had to go and make fun of him. It was just like them, he thought, getting pissed, letting the anger fuel his creativity. He took a deep breath, his eyes blinking, detaching his thought processes, his anger, his frustration, his everything from his body, letting reflexes and training take over. It was a legitimate technique that his Capoeira coach taught him, the 'State of Elsewhere', or something like that. The translation was a bit dim for him, but the concept remained. His mind wasn't on the race itself, while it required a bit of concentration to keep himself going. His reflexes were allowed free rein of his body. He stretched and rolled his neck, watching the girl that was supposed to let them at it. His body relaxed, knowing that the initial reaction to the beginning of something like this was a time-costly tensing up. One of the few places where reflex got nudged down, and training took over. James rolled his neck again, adrenaline spiking, heart racing, face cold as an antarctic breeze, before the girl lowered her hands.<br/><br/>Both racers were off like lightning bolts, hurdling, and climbing over the first few obstacles. It was obvious from the start that both runners were in top form, and very very good. World class, even. James snapped up to a ledge, and jumped, gripping a bar that spanned over a large, 20-foot-deep ditch, and swung himself over. What he had said to Helen was true. Gymnastics was all good. but the moves were all practiced, nothing unexpected happened, unless one did it his or herself. He never could have settled for anything like that. Surprise came from the landscape for him, and the fun was reacting with lightning-fast reflexes, gliding over rough terrain like he had been born to do so. His adrenaline spiked at the feeling that his next move would have him dealing with another world of problems, and dealing with them perfectly enough to have him streaking across the finish line just had his mouth watering.<br/><br/>His breathing came in short spurts now, sweat starting to show on his face, while his eyes seemed to be dull and blank, taking everything in his hands working almost as much as his legs, his body giving off that delicious burning sensation, the one where you knew you were pushing your body to the limits, and loving it. His body kept going until he reached that ledge that he had noticed earlier.<br/><br/>"Let's see that gymnast try this one on for size," He thought.<br/><br/>He reached it, a mere half-second before the Al did. He took a deep breath, preparing for what was to follow, letting his control over the power that he had loosen and relax, enough fr him to feel the powered air resistance around his hands. He took two running steps toward the ledge, and jumped. He was about three yards away, a short enough distance to allow him to use the inertia of his jump to pull his feet up to the step. That was the traditional move anyway, since it was about as high as his neck. Instead, he closed his fists , and opened it at the precise instant before it touched the concrete, trapping his bolt before it had sufficient inertia to travel off and turn the concrete to powder. He landed, his arm flexing powerfully as he lifted himself upside down. His body bent, working through it's own speed to be able to travel off again. At first sight, he wasn't going to make it.<br/><br/>That was when the laws of physics kicked in.<br/><br/>A loud slap, louder than what his palms should have sounded like when strike the concrete, and a sudden speed and power was added to his leap and, apparently only using his arms he lifted and pushed over the second obstacle. It was, luckily, perfect. He felt a sense of exhilaration as his body arced in an agile fashion, up and over, and he landed, knees loose, and toes pointing downward. He rolled over his shoulder, and was brought to his feet just in time to keep from falling into another ditch. He wavered, teetering over the edge, before managing to balance himself. Al hadn't reached the first ledge yet. He smiled, and bean to run again.<br/><br/>At the first step, he knew that his landing hadn't been quite as perfect as he had hoped. His shoulder ached, and each step made white hot bolts of pain to shoot up from his ankle. He winced, but didn't even consider slowing down. He was too close to the finish to let a twisted ankle stop him. Plus, after getting a move like that<em>almost </em>right, he deserved to win. He vaulted over another obstacle, gritting his teeth, and finally crossing the finish line.<br/><br/>He tumbled to the ground as soon as the race was won, and his teammates were instantly there to pull him back up and help him over to somewhere to sit. They had seen his face, and how he favored his right leg, so his shoe was quickly taken off, and Mark, a late-comer, and the guy that had the stuff for injuries like this, which were common, quickly wrapped his foot up, and put the shoes back on. James winced and growled through the ordeal. He would need to get to the hospital ASAP. He watched as Al crossed the finish line as well, and he looked at James with wonder. James realized that just about everyone else was doing the same. The use of his power had gone unnoticed, and he was getting compliments for the awesome move left and right. Al even walked over to shake his hand, which was bruised and blistering a bit.<br/><br/>James turned to Helen with a triumphant look on his face. She could try making that move, he was thinking. But his arrogant thoughts were quickly deflated as he saw how her eyes were red, and he face was a bit stained with the sign of recent tears. James suddenly felt about as small as an ant just then. He even hated himself a bit, and he started to limp in the girl's direction.<br/><br/>"That was an awesome race, there," Came a voice behind him. He spun around and saw... Jennifer, was it?"Awesome move there too."<br/><br/>James blushed a bit," Yeah, but it did have consequences. I botched the landing a bit. I think my ankle is twisted, and my shoulder seems to not have liked it either," He chuckled a bit," I am headed to teh hospital in a bit."<br/><br/>She nodded, ad he could immedately tell that she had ignored what he said," Yeah, so, what do you think about us getting together sometime?"<br/><br/>James nodded," Sure. When and where?"<br/><br/>She named a regular haunt for the named 'goodie' teenagers in the area, one where all the richer kids hung out. He had never really felt a part of that crowd, even though his parents were rather well-to-do. He knew Jennifer, of course. Her Parents incorporated the term 'filthy rich', and she was a brat. A hot brat, but a brat nonetheless. He smiled, and said he would be there, not sure if he would, and Jennifer walked away. He thought for good, but she in fact stopped and looked to see where he was going.<br/><br/>He limped over to Helen and sat down beside her and Madelyn," Hey," He said with a grim tone," I am sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean it. I was... I just," He face flushed, adn he looked down," I just hate getting laughed at is all. I was a total jerk," He looked over to the both of them," What do you say to us, maybe, getting together sometime, and exchanging some trade secrets?" He said with a small smile at the small joke.