Chapter 11: 02 One-Sided [Ache]

“Okay,” Danny said, “let’s see how well you fight hand-to-hand.” They floated in the air, and he raised his fists.

Chelsea tilted her head. “Why? We have powers.” She made her hand glow to illustrate. “I can just zap someone from afar.”

“You never know when your powers will be out of commission,” Danny said. “There are all kinds of things that can remove ghost powers, so you better be able to defend yourself when they do. Plus, enemies sometimes get in close.”

“Oh, I didn’t know,” Chelsea said. She nervously mimicked Danny’s position.

“That’s why I told you,” Danny said. “Ready?”

Chelsea nodded and Danny immediately jabbed her shoulder.

“Ow!” Chelsea whined and backed away.

Danny shrugged. “You said you were ready.”

“You don’t have to hit so hard,” Chelsea said.

“Sorry. I’ll let you get in a hit this time.”

He waited for her to come back and hit him. When she did, it was weak and timid.

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“Hoh boy,” Danny breathed out. “Looks like this is going to take a while.”

“What?” Chelsea asked.

“You’re not petting your opponent,” Danny said. “You’re hitting them. Put some muscle into it! Make me hurt!”

“But I don’t want to make you hurt,” Chelsea said.

“Trust me, you won’t hurt me any worse than I’ve been hurt before,” Danny said, crossing his arms. “Now hit me, really hit me!”

Chelsea tried again. It was still weak and timid, but this time she put some effort into it.

…Danny didn’t even budge.

Chelsea groaned. “I’m never going to be able to fight.”

“Not with that attitude you’re not,” Danny said. “We all gotta start somewhere, including me. I’ll help you shape up.”

“Including you?” Chelsea wondered. “You mean you were weak like me?”

“Well… um… yes, there was a time… when I couldn’t climb the rope in gym class,” Danny admitted.

“How’d you, um, ‘shape up’?”

“I got hit with a shrink-ray that put my powers on the fritz. I had to run and climb for my life. Having your life threatened is a good motivator for training.”

Chelsea’s eyes went wide. “You’re not going to do that to me, are you?”

“The shrink-ray was destroyed, otherwise I might,” Danny teased. “For now, I’ll just give you exercises to practice.”