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Jackson had a variety of ideas as to what Arthur's gift could be. Keys to his own underground lair, his own cool-looking golden trident. But when his baby blue eyes took in the truth, not even a million dollars in unmarked bills could compare to the joy he felt at receiving his own costume.
 
"No way!" He exclaimed, turning his head 90 degrees to face Arthur. His mentor only nodded with his own joyous expression, confirmed that his eyes were truly not deceiving him. The young hero returned to his prize and pulled it out from the chest into the sunlight.
 
The costume was designed like a diving suit, with an orange upper body and everything below the torso colored black. Two vertical streaks of black ran from his waist up to his armpits, perfectly framing the costume's center piece, a golden A-shaped symbol located at the middle of his waist. The same one that served as Arthur's belt buckle.
 
Arthur crossed his arms. "If you're gonna be out in the field, I figured you would need some better than shorts and a tank top."
 
Jackson's delight was joined by surprise. "I'm gonna be out in the field?"
 
"Of course, we'll start off small. I have minor assignments here and there to wet your toes before we go into the deep end." Arthur seemed to pick up on the doubt in Jackson's mind. Reaching out, a reassuring hand gave his student's shoulder a squeeze. "I wouldn't take this step unless I knew for certain you were ready. I've taught you a lot, and I feel like what you still need to brush up on requires real-world experience."
Jackson looked down to the sandy ground, then into Arthur's eyes. They were blue like a cascading waterfall, and lacked any signs of doubt. There was a moment of deja vu, and it took a moment for the younger man to recognize the feeling. A year ago, the roles were reversed. It was Jackson, rising up like a geyser from the dining table to meet Arthur face to face and ask him to train him. To teach him how to properly use the abilities he had been gifted for good. Just like the first hero who set the standard for everybody else when he bravely fought back against the Reach and saved the Earth. And Arthur, picking up on that fire within him, had faith and took him on as a student.

Returning to the present, raw emotion began to swirl within his body. Like an overflowing dam, confidence swelled within Jackson.

Now, it was time for to have faith in him. And himself.

"Alright, yeah," He began, nodding. His head movement became more and more animated as the reservation exited his body. Soon, the excited young adult had returned in full form. "Taking the next steps, let's do it! Gotta make a name for myself eventually, huh?"

As Jackson brimmed with confidence, the overflow spread to Arthur. "You're going to do great, I know it." Giving Jackson a playful slap on the shoulder, he began backing away towards the water while pointing at him. "Get that on and meet me in the water. Time for some real exercise!"

...

Traversing through water with your hands and feet alone is slow. Swimming with flippers to increase the amount of force and propulsion your feet produce is fast. Crusing in a motor-propelled boat is faster. Riding on a jet-propelled jet-ski is much faster. 

Swimming like Arthur blew every single one of those options out of the water.

Jackson's vision was a slideshow of the ocean floor going at x3 speed. His body was in streamline position, both arms straight in front of him as he cut through the water. Down below, sea life and scenery zoomed past in an array of colors. The young man directed himself downwards, setting himself on a collision course with the surface below before zipping back up. To be fair, Arthur's mode of aquatic transportation wasn't as much swimming as it was using hydrokinesis to its maximum efficiency. As he felt himself beginning to ever so slightly slow down, Jackson curled his body inwards. His shoulders bend and reared back and his knees bent into his chest. At that point, he focused his ability to control water on his feet, condensing the water beneath them before pushing off with all of his strength. At the same time, he willed the water around his upper body to give way. The result was a human torpedo rocketing through the depths of the sea, cheering with glee all the way.

With the velocity of a shooting star, Jackson blasted past a school of shimmering silver fish. Up ahead, Arthur was maintaining a strong lead. The way he executed the technique required far fewer boosts that launched him much farther. His protégé narrowed his eyes in determination. Directing himself upwards, he began mentally noting how long it took for his body to decelerate. And as soon as it hit, he made sure he was in position to boost again. From an outsider's point of view, Jackson was propelling himself in a zig-zag pattern, shooting up near the surface, then rocketing himself back down towards the bottom of the ocean. With his new rhythm, his upward rise put him neck to neck with Arthur. His mentor turned his head and was greeted with his ward swimming alongside him, wiggling his fingers in greeting.

"I was waiting for you to get the hang of it!" Arthur declared, congratulating him. "Alright, pop quiz! Let's try coming to a complete stop and going up to the surface!"

To Arthur, this came as easy as righting himself, raising his palms and commanding the water to act as normal. For the novice Jackson, a sudden stop was still something he needed to improve on. Jackson swore he could hear Arthur laughing like a madman as he blew past him, palms out and feet curled up like a cartoon character skidding on the ground while trying to come to a stop. When he finally came to a halt, the hero in training swam like a normal human back to the surface, his dreaded head emerging from the water next to Arthur's. He scratched the back of his head as he was treated to his mentor's light chuckling.

"Look, I'm still working on the brakes, okay?" He said sheepishly. In response, Arthur gave him a smile.

"We all start somewhere, Jackson. You're making good progress," He chimed. "If I remember correctly, we should be near the spot. There's a minor trench around here with enough debris at the bottom to serve as an obstacle cours--"

Arthur stopped mid-sentence as both men picked up on a sharp whistling sound. Turning around, they were met with the bright blue afternoon sky being painted by a red streak of smoke, a shining crimson beacon at its head. And at the base, sitting on the water, was a fishing boat Arthur and Jackson looked back at each other, keenly aware of what was happening.

With a more sober tone, Jackson spoke up first. "That was a--"

"Signal flare," Arthur finished. "Something's going on. There are people out there in trouble."

Jackson lightly gulped, his throat tightening a little. A call for help, on the first day out? Nontheless, he paddle a little ahead of Arthur. This, is what we signed up for. Nobody picks their first conflict. "Then let's get them out of it."

Arthur nodded his head and swam next to Jackson. And together, they dived back into the water, beginning the journey into uncertainty.