Chapter 13: Natural Flight

And so, after once again freeing Sketch from the two girls, Jamal gave Donna the powers of the Inferno and Iris the powers of the Glacier. Jamal decided that it might be best to train the girls to use their powers for the rest of the workday. Sketch agreed, and he decided to work on the rest of the jetpack assembly. Jamal escorted the girls to an open area behind the factory.

"Okay, girls," said Jamal. "I can see that both of you are good at flying with jetpacks. Now you'll have to learn how to fly with wings."

Iris suddenly grew wings on her back. Donna jumped back in surprise.

"Iris!" Donna said nervously. "What happened?"

"I don't know," said Iris. "I just imagine how a Tengu took flight, and there they were."

Jamal scratched his head. "Yes, to make your wings expand, you must think the command 'Tengu flight.'" His wings appeared.

"Uh…okay…" Donna cleared her throat. "Tengu flight!" Her wings appeared, and she fell over.

"Are you okay?" asked Iris.

"Geez, these wings add weight!" Donna answered, slowly standing back up.

Jamal nodded. "Okay. Now that you have your wings, you will need to learn about how to use them. First you…"

Iris was starting to lift herself off of the ground. Flapping her wings, he slowly gained altitude. Then she set her wings into a gliding position, drifting down to earth gracefully. She tilted back and landed with one foot, posing in front of the others.

Jamal was surprised. "Um…yeah." He turned to Donna. "Donna?"

"How do you get these wings to flap?" she asked.

Jamal sighed. "You need to tighten the muscles in your back to get your wings to flap."

"Oh, like this? GAA!" Donna's wings flapped, and she fell over.

Jamal adjusted his cap. "You remind me of Sketch when he was learning how to fly. Now get up and try again."

Iris began to flap her wings again, and she swiftly flew up into the sky. After showing off a few fancy tricks, she swooped down and hovered in front of Donna.

"Look what I've got, Donna!" said Iris coyly. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a small pouch.

"HEY!" Donna shouted. "That's my lunch!"

"Catch me if you can!" Iris flew away, laughing evilly.

Donna growled. "I'll get you, Iris!" With that, she took off quickly and pursued Iris. Iris did many aerial tricks while Donna tried to catch up. During all this, Jamal just stared in amazement.

"Well…I…guess they didn't…need lessons…"

Donna had finally caught up with Iris, and after taking back her pouch she smacked Iris in the head with her hand. They both flew back to where Jamal stood, and they landed not too far away from him.

"Okay…" Jamal took off his cap and rubbed his forehead. "I guess the next thing you need to do is learn how to use your abilities. Try to concentrate and…"

Jamal suddenly noticed that it was beginning to snow. He and Donna looked to Iris, who had apparently gained a white aura around her body. She was making the weather colder, creating a small blizzard, and as Donna touched Iris's shoulder she froze into an icicle.

"Oh, my…" Jamal stared at Iris in wonder. "I see you…found your source of power…"

Donna, still frozen in her icy encasing, suddenly glowed with a red aura. The ice started to melt, and the temperature was getting warmer. The blizzard disappeared, and the sun seemed much brighter. The grass was starting to turn brown.

"Ugh!" Iris wiped her forehead. "It's too hot!" She turned to Donna, who sighed with relief as she finally melted her way out. "Donna! Turn off the heat!"

"Huh? Oh!" Donna took a deep breath, and the weather was once again cool and calm. "Sorry."

Jamal was stunned. "Amazing…"

The girls looked at Jamal with curiosity. "What's wrong?"

"Iris!" Jamal approached Iris. "How did you know how to fly and use your abilities so quickly?"

Iris shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just kinda figured it out along the way. It didn't seem very hard to me. Besides, I love snow greatly, and I pretty much knew where I'd find that power. And after that jetpack ride I figured out the physics of flight."

Jamal put his cap back on. "I…see." He looked at Donna. "You seemed to pick up on these lessons very fast! You hardly needed to know how to fly yourself!"

"Well, back when I was in Texas I was taught by a friend how to hang-glide. I guess the whole concept stuck!"

"By the way," asked Iris, "how do you hide these wings anyway?"

Jamal cleared his throat. "Tengu cover." His wings suddenly disappeared.

"I see." Iris and Donna hid their wings.

"Yes," Jamal said, nodding. "I still suggest to try to practice your abilities and teach yourselves new methods of using them."

"We will!" said Donna.

Jamal looked at his watch. "Well, it looks like quitting time's already here."

"You're kidding! Really?" Iris rubbed the back of her neck. "Gosh, that seemed rather fast!"

"We began training about fifteen minutes before quitting time anyway," said Jamal. "You'd better get your stuff and go home. Get some rest tonight; you need to gain your strength."

"You don't have to tell me twice," said Donna. "I'm exhausted!"

"Ditto here," said Iris.

"Okay, girls," said Jamal. "I hope to see you tomorrow!"

As they went back into the factory Jamal kept a close eye on Iris.

There's something strange about her, he thought. I've never known anyone in the world that could pick up those concepts that fast! Sure, I'll buy those reasons she gave me, but why do I have the feeling that something else about her had a part in it all?

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