Had it been anyone else boasting, Izkry would have returned a wisecrack of his own.  For Oscar he remained silent.  But when Kaneda suggested meeting up during their free time, he readily agreed.  "I will be there.  And so will Bel -- even if I must drag her."  He grinned at his sister's glower, refusing to let her discourage him.  The mention of breaking the captain's record got a huff of breath that was just this side of a snort.  None of them had anything like super speed or endurance.  There was no way -- certainly not without /really/ cheating.  And in the end, the run was about building up their bodies.

And then Anton was off, without even waiting to be dismissed.  Kaneda followed with a holler, and Izkry's eyebrows nearly vanished under his hat.  Maybe someone would break that crazy record after all.  His smile widened, and he actually laughed, slapping Johnathan on the shoulder as he broke into a jog himself.  The captain hadn't dismissed them, no, but he'd come pretty close, and he wasn't objecting.  Belasý figured the same, and she quickly fell into a steady rhythm, counting her footfalls and breathing in time with them.  One of her favorite songs had the perfect tempo for a long run, and she sang the tune in her head.

The siblings started off together, more or less with the others for the moment.  Zhanna's farewell made Izkry chuckle.  He didn't speak Russian but he could recognize a word or two from hearing Bel practice.  "Goodbye?  [i]Нет[/i], not goodbye yet!"

Belasý could see the coward already using his power to make things easier.  She didn't approve at all.  This was about strength and stamina, pushing themselves so they improved.  Taking the easy way out was...well, it was cheating.  The Japanese man -- only half, he'd said, but he looked like someone from the far east -- was using his power too, but there was actually half a chance of him beating the captain's incredible record.  She wasn't certain how she felt about that.  On the one hand, it defeated the purpose of the run.  On the other, they had been challenged, and /maybe/ that was worth it -- but only if it would really make a difference.  And then there were those who just lacked any sort of speed or endurance.  Maria was one of them.  Johnathan she wasn't sure about, but given his disposition she suspected he did it partly to help those in trouble.

Despite their training, she was not sure how confident she was in their skills as a team.  Not everyone even wanted to be there.  She knew there were countries where military service was not required, and that sometimes they changed that if there was a war, but this was beyond even what she would expect of someone who had been drafted.  And of course the Spaniard had turned tail and fled leaving his team to perish once already.  If she'd had any say in the matter, he wouldn't even have been considered for this one.

In-two-three out-two, in-two-three out-two.  Focusing on her rhythm and the old melody Belasý put aside other thoughts for the moment and concentrated on the climb.