chapter 2 || training day

                                    

                                          
it was 8 am in the morning when the ear-grating alarms came through in the speakers and gabriel's half asleep voice could be heard. "rise and shine newbies! we got a big day ahead of ourselves so be ready in 15 minutes!"
the cowboy rose to wash his face and change into his new gear. genji did the same after he was finished, and found it quite uncomfortable and tacky. though, none of them exchanged any words to each other, only sharing brief glares after last night. his dormmate was still upset with him, genji could tell, but he guessed that it would come to pass. loud types usually didn't hold grudges, which was one advantage to having a nuisance to live with.
they walked downstairs in silence side by side, annoyed yet mirroring each other in tandem. moira and gabe were already there waiting for the two, along with the rest of the recruits, who genji didn't recognize.
"you guys are 3 minutes late! don't tell me you aren't getting along?" gabriel chuckled as he grabbed a sheet of papers and a ball point pen. "alright, first things first, we need to see your skills and put them to the test. i need to first see cassidy's infamous gunslinging, after that..." he trailed off into listing names and numbers, in the order in which the recruits would display their skills genji caught his name somewhere around the end. "once i get a good idea of how we all fight individually, we can train side by side."
cassidy, genji now learned that what his name was, followed gabriel outside to the training grounds. the area set up for him held many long distance targets for him to aim at. cassidy procured his gun from the holster on his belt and held onto his flashbang as if someone were to ambush him from behind. gabriel headed towards a wall and pressed a yellow button. additional training dummies popped up from the ground as gabriel readied his pen and sone sort of device on his clipboard, ready to start the training. genji stood on a ledge, next to a few recruits, to observe cassidy and his fighting style, just to get an idea of who he was working with. 
"so are you testin' me on how well i aim? you should know that they call me the slickest shot in the west," genji heard cassidy say. he couldn't catch his expression due to the hat covering most of his head, but he did hear the slightest smile and even a bit of excitement in cassidy's voice.
"oh, no, i know exactly how precise you are," gabriel responded, not looking up from his clipboard. "i'm checking you on how fast you shoot."
"so you're timin' me?" cassidy laughed, almost bellowing. it made him seem a lot friendlier than how he came off in private—at least with genji. "well, as they say: there's always better ways to get things done 'round here."
"you gonna start or not?"
"alright, alright—" and without letting himself properly finish, he began shooting. genji could only flick his eyes in the vague direction of a target or dummy, only to be met with them exploding into shrapnel far away. cassidy was not kidding; he wasn't a force to be reckoned with.
almost as fast as they had begun, the gunshots had stopped. had time been going that fast, genji wondered? "that's all of 'em," cassidy congratulated himself. "how'd i do?"
"twenty-five targets in just twelve seconds. that's pretty amazing, averaging out to around two targets per second. but..."
"but?" genji bent his back forward to get a better look and caught cassidy raising an eyebrow.
"you'll be fighting way more people on our missions. so you'll be surrounded, almost constantly. so to simulate that, i'd say we need to double the targets. and if we use your same rate, you'd take fifty people down in twenty-five seconds."
"you lost me. are you tellin' me i did good, or that i got stuff to work on?"
"we need you to be faster is all i'm saying."
cassidy put a hand on his hip and reholstered his gun, almost offended by what gabriel had remarked. "so i ought to redo all that—?"
gabriel waved him away with a dismissive hand. "later. these are diagnostic trials. we're seeing what you already do so we can make it better. moira, you're next," he called out. she made her way to where cassidy was earlier, exchanging spots with the gunslinger, once again not even bothering to speak or look at genji.
"so, do you need to see my healing skills or how i fight?" she asked.
"both. let's see how fast you can heal and defend your team by giving you assistant dummies who will need healing very quickly. you can start when you're ready."
moira then faded into a dark shadow for a short period of time, as the enemy dummies began to shoot at her and her team. by going from behind, she placed a dark, ominous purple orb which seemed to be sucking the life out of the enemy team. going back to her team, she let out her biotic arm to heal the allies in front of her. then fading out again, used her right hand, her second biotic arm to continue sucking the life out of the enemies, the cycle repeating once more until the enemies were fully defeated.
"hey, good multitasking there moira!" gabriel exclaimed as he began to scribble a few things on the papers he held, with a big smile on his face. 
"hey, that ain't fair! i was multitaskin' too!" cassidy grumbled loud enough for gabriel to hear and crossed his arms from frustration. 
"cole, tell me, are you going back and forth to assist your teammates, healing them, and also forwarding damage to your enemies almost at the same time?"
"hmph! anyone can do that though." he scoffed, looking away. "you ain't even time her." 
"no need to, she's a support role. alright, genji, you're next!"
blackwatch, it seemed, had chosen their candidates accordingly, by their skill and unique fighting tactics. it was all thanks to jack morrison and gabriel reyes.
 genji walked towards where his crew stander earlier to prepare. gabriel didn't bother to give him a warning when he started the trial. luckily, genji was very focused on his surroundings at the moment and quickly caught up with the pace of his training. throwing three shurikens when the enemy was in front of him, using his blade to slice through their bodies, all in a matter of time, he completed his training much faster than cassidy and moira. his quick reflexes by his cybernetic body helped him achieve speed very well. 
gabriel's jaw dropped. he could not believe how ruthless and fast someone could be to kill off a bunch of training dummy's so quick. he nodded excessively writing on the papers once more. moira seemed amused by the little show genji had done. even cassidy was impressed. his eyes widened, and though he was still angry at him, he had gained a small amount of respect for him when it came to fighting in battle.
"thank you all for your patience," gabriel tried to reach for some of his papers but they fell to the floor. nervously chuckling, he continued: "feel free to take a break after working yourself out. we'll all meet back here at around 3:30 pm to continue working together as a team." 
genji stormed out immediately, not knowing where he would be going, but definitely somewhere far from the cowboy.