//------------------------------//
// Prelude: Training 
// Story: InFamous: The Unusual Conduits 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Adagio, Aria, and Sonata spent the next four days helping Trish out in her apartment building, when they were needed, or headed to the nearby apartment building that Zeke lived in, one that he was apparently taking over since most of the people that had lived there were either dead or had run away. From what the sisters could tell Zeke used pieces of wood and metal to barricade most of the entrances that the building had, save for the front one, and kept the door locked at all times while he was away, keeping his stash of food and other stuff safe from looters. He also started rigging up some sort of fence like barricade on the roof, telling the sisters that it would keep him safe if he wanted to watch his television on the roof, and he outfitted the entire area to look like an enlarged living room of sorts. Of course the sisters helped him with some of the 'chores' that he wanted to get done, as that was what he called his efforts to protect himself, but while they wondered where he was getting all the items he poured into the building they decided not to question it, since the abandoned rooms could be used by them if they so desired... which felt wrong the majority of the time, since they had no idea if the original owners were still alive or not.

Despite how Adagio and Aria felt about the situation Sonata actually made the rooms and areas they slept in were neat and tidy, something she didn't really do when they were back on their version of Earth, for whenever the original occupants of the building returned, if they returned, before joining her sisters as they went about their days.

Trish, on the other hand, really only ever sent them out to get her some supplies that she needed while she tended to Cole, so for the most part the sisters did their best to adapt to the situation and figure out how they could benefit the people who were willing to help them. Since they weren't being sent out all that much, since they really couldn't do much against the gang that had taken over the Neon, the Reapers as they were called, the sisters spent what free time they had trying to understand Zeke's fascination with fighting shows while trying to come up with a way to get them all safely out of the city before something worse happened. Of course before they could even reach an agreement on an escape plan the government put a quarantine on the city, trapping them all inside with the monsters that had risen to power since the Blast struck Empire City and had sent the cops fleeing for their lives. Even with their limited experience with this world, which they said nothing about, the sisters could tell that the situation outside the apartment was getting worse as the days went by and wondered if there was even a way to turn things around.

All that changed on the eighth day, as that was when Cole finally snapped his eyes open and came out of the coma he had been in since he collapsed on the bridge, scaring both Zeke and Trish in the process, since when he first woke up his heart seemed to have stopped... and that wasn't counting the electricity that was coming from his hands.

"Wh... what the hell?" Cole asked, as he was staring at his hands in shock as the electricity danced from his right hand to his left hand and then returned to the hand it had come from, before it eventually faded away and he huffed for a few seconds, as if he had silently willed the electricity to stop.

"Cole... are you alright?" Trish inquired, while at the same time she noticed that the machine tracking his heart rate seemed to have stopped working, which was understandable considering that the power he had been holding might have damaged the machine.

"Hell no I'm not alright!" Cole replied, though his gaze was locked on his hands at the moment, indicating that he had no idea what he had been doing and was scared of what happened to him, "All I remember is trying to deliver a package, a bright light engulfed me, and then I wake up in a world of pain and find myself inside a large crater, only for Adagio, Aria, and Sonata to help he escape the Historic District. After that... after that I don't know what happened next, save for the fact that I just woke up and suddenly I have electricity dancing around my hands."

"Well, you were in a coma for about seven whole days and the majority of the eighth," Adagio spoke up, causing Cole to look at her and her sisters for a moment, as they were all standing by the doorway that lead to the room that Aria and Sonata had been in when they first woke up, "but I'm glad that you're okay, as our my sisters... even though Trish did all the work to make sure you came back to her."

"Trish..." Cole started to say, though before he could say too much Trish wrapped her arms around him and embraced him for a few seconds, causing Zeke to smile and caused the sisters to nod their heads, as they were glad to see that Trish, who had been depressed over the last few days, was happy once more, "Hey there, it's okay. I'll figure out what happened to me and I'll overcome it... just as soon as I figure out why they have hooves, tails, and pony ears."

"We're sure that the Blast, the event that you were caught in, caused their mutation," Trish spoke up, though at the same time Adagio and her sisters mentally sighed, as they had no idea what the would have done if they had to spill the beans already, before Trish pulled away from Cole, "Amy... she wasn't so lucky. She got caught in the Blast, though whether it was from the falling buildings, the flames that raged after the initial Blast, or the actual Blast itself I'm not sure, but I'm positive that she's been taken from me."

"Trish, I'm sorry to hear that," Cole said, as he had known that Trish and her younger sister were close, which told him everything he needed to know as he raised his arms and pulled his girlfriend into his embrace, knowing that she needed it more than he did at the moment.

Adagio nudged her sisters slightly and they excused themselves, knowing that this wasn't something they should be apart of, especially since Cole, Zeke, and Trish barely knew them, but that didn't stop them from heading outside the room so they could wait and see what happened next. Not even an hour later they were allowed back inside the area that Cole had been sleeping in, while Trish tended to him, and listened to Zeke as he explained what had happened to the city since the Blast occurred. Most of it they already knew, as they could see if whenever they headed outside either of the apartment buildings they were spending the majority of their time inside, but there were some pieces of information that Zeke talked about that revealed his grand plan to them. Since Cole had power, over electricity by the looks of it, Zeke believed that he, along with the sisters, could turn the tide against the Reapers and secure the Neon, so they could figure out what to do next without having to worry about people trying to kill them.

At first Cole seemed shocked by what Zeke was suggesting, as he had no idea how to control the power that was now coursing through his veins, but after some time he decided that he must have been given this power for a very specific reason and climbed out of the bed... where the group discovered that eight days in bed had done nothing to him, as he was able to walk just fine, which really made Trish worry about him.

What the sisters discovered was that the area on the roof of Zeke's apartment building, that they had helped him set up over the last couple of days, seemed to be the perfect place for Cole to practice using his new powers, though before they did anything Trish insisted on making sure that he was alright before he changed and went off with Zeke. One thing that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata discovered was that Cole had spares of his own clothing, which he had been wearing when the Blast happened, and made sure to change into an undamaged set before he headed out with Zeke. The sisters went along with them, mostly since Trish didn't need them around the building now that Cole was up and about, and listened to Zeke as he explained exactly how Cole was going to practice with his new powers, while at the same time coming up with ways that they could use his power over electricity to survive longer in the Neon. The first thing that Cole did, instead of heading up to Zeke's roof, was to find the dumpster outside that building, were he stared at it for a few minutes as he focused his mind, where the sisters noticed that, despite the fact that he had seen the electricity earlier, he was still having a hard time believing that he had powers.

Moments later, when he raised his right hand and blasted the dumpster with a bolt of electricity, he stared at his hand for a few seconds and glanced at the dumpster several times, where the observers could tell that he was already starting to accept what had happened... though Adagio noted that Cole fell into the category of people who needed to see something happen before he believed that it actually existed.

"Okay, I have the power to use electricity," Cole commented, to which he flexed his fingers for a few moments, seeing the electricity flicker between his fingers as he did so, before he turned to look at Zeke and noticed a familiar look appear on his face, "Zeke, what are you planning?"

"I was just thinking that we might be able to use your power to recharge batteries," Zeke replied, as he had a few in his apartment building that were already dead, so he might be able to recharge them and, if this worked and the batteries didn't explode, they might be able to trade them for items they needed, "and other things. For now, we should see what sort of powers Adagio and her sisters gained."

"Right. You mentioned that earlier," Cole said, where he turned towards the sisters, who were currently standing near a wall of a different building and were watching the duo with some interest, "So apparently you three also have powers and abilities as well. Do you have any idea what those are?"

"No. All I know is that some sort of aura appeared around us when we were following you out of the Historic District the day the Blast happened." Adagio answered, though at the same time she glanced at her hand for a moment, where she wondered if she might be able to call that power back to the surface, like Cole had done, "Aria, Sonata, and I haven't even attempted to see if that was a fluke or if we might actually have something like you do... despite the fact that Zeke thinks we do."

"Hey, don't look at me. I was just voicing an opinion on what I saw," Zeke stated, though at the same time he held his hands up, as if he was surrendering or something, while he glanced over at Cole for a moment, "Why don't you just try whatever Cole did and see if you can channel whatever power you unlocked? The worst that can happen is that the auras was a one time thing and that you didn't get anything besides your new bodies."

Adagio had half a mind to tell Zeke that these 'new' bodies were a mixture of their human forms and the ponies of their home world, but at the same time she remembered what Zeke had said about the girl that had been watching that one show, with a world that sounded similar to Equus, and decided against that. Instead she faced the dumpster that Cole had struck and sighed as she raised her right hand towards it, though as she did that Aria stepped up to her right and Sonata did the same on her left, where they both raised their right hands up and locked onto the dumpster. Adagio let out a sigh as she focused on reaching into the depths of her being, as she knew that the aura she and her sisters unlocked had to mean something, and after a few seconds she felt something react to her touch. Something enveloped her and she snapped open her eyes, where she found that the white aura from earlier had returned and had enveloped her body, though as she noticed that she also realized that the same had happened to her sisters, who were surprised by what they were seeing... and, when she glanced over at Cole and Zeke, she noticed that they were shocked by what the three of them were doing at the moment.

That brought a small smile to Adagio's face, as this confirmed that they had a new type of power to replace what they had lost, before all three of them focused on their hands as they wondered what they could do now... which resulted in small spheres of energy forming in front of their hands that, when they let them go, slammed into the dumpster and impacted it, leaving a smoking dent that didn't tear through the metal, but that wasn't the point of what they did.

"No way," Zeke said, staring at the area of the dumpster that the sisters had struck with the power they had called upon, before turning towards them and looked at their auras with a new light, as if he understood something that none of them knew at the moment, "those blasts... those auras... your powers are identical to those on Dragon Ball Z!"

"Zeke, don't be absurd," Cole replied, to which he raised his palm to his face for a few seconds, as he couldn't believe that his friend thought the powers that the sisters had used were from a television show, when they seemed to be more energy based than anything else, "Dragon Ball Z is a television show, there's no way their powers are even remotely related to it. Maybe they're drawing upon some sort of energy in the area around them and used it to create these auras and those blasts that struck the dumpster."

"Really? And this is coming from the guy who has electric powers?" Zeke inquired, to which the sisters raised their eyebrows as they stared at the duo, as it appeared that they were going to get into an argument over where their powers came from, even though the sisters had a better understanding of what they had just done, "Come on man, you need to expand your mind and see that the world is changing, and if you can get electric powers, then I'm pretty sure that they can get powers that are identical to the ki used in one of my favorite shows."

"Truthfully, I'm glad you aren't talking about the other shows you like," Cole commented, informing the sisters that there was another type of show that Zeke watched, ones that they didn't want to know about, but at the same time he sighed as he looked at his friend, "Look, I'm not in the mood to argue with you, especially after I just got out of the coma I was in for the last eight days. I'd like to make sure my body hasn't suffered since the Blast happened... and that means I need to do some parkour and climb some walls."

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata raised their eyebrows, as they had heard of parkour when they were in the world that they had been banished to and had actually done it a few times, as they had been forced to run from the cops several times in the past before they found themselves in Canterlot City. During their time running from the cops they had done what people called parkour, at least a little bit of it so they could lose their pursuers, but at the same time the three of them stood back and watched as Cole explored the area around them. That involved him climbing up the walls of the various buildings, using gaps and ledges that the sisters hadn't noticed before hand, and using the small obstacle course that Zeke set up around them, which was him jumping over some trash cans and whatever else was in the area. Zeke encouraged him while he was running and climbing through the area, though when Cole finally stopped he decided that it was time for the sisters to join him in his training. The sisters were surprised that Cole wanted them to do what he had been doing, since they had no idea about climbing buildings like he did, but Sonata was more than eager to see what she could do, causing Adagio and Aria to sigh as they joined their sister.

It was during that time, where the sisters followed Cole's instructions on where to run and where to climb, that Zeke brought the dead batteries that he had been collecting and had Cole power a few of them... though that turned out to be a bad idea, as he then proceeded to trade one to a lady on the street, who had something that he knew they needed and saw what Cole was doing to the rest of the batteries. From that point a riot happened nearby, though whether it was because of the fact that someone had seen Cole's powers or because of something else entirely they didn't know, but Zeke sighed and declared that his apartment building was going to be the headquarters for all of them. At that point the five of them headed into the building and Zeke got to work finishing up the roof, as he added barbed wire to the fences, so that way no one could hurt them or even think about climbing up here, and he made sure to have a supply of mannequins at the ready, giving Adagio, Aria, Sonata, and Cole a place to practice before they made their next move.

The sisters had no idea what Zeke was talking about, but at the moment they pushed that thought to the back of their minds as they practiced on the mannequins that were around them, where they used their 'ki' as they pretended that the mannequins were enemies. The only reason they referred to their magical power, as that was what it truly was, as 'ki' was because that was what Zeke called it and they didn't want to raise any questions if they suddenly said that they were using magic, but even as they did that Sonata wasn't totally convinced that this was magic. Sure, it felt like the power they had used in the past, but at the same time it was coming from within their bodies, just like Zeke said when he described what ki was, but she was sure that it would be some time before they understood what the true nature of their power was. At the same time her sisters were just happy to have some sort of power again, especially after they had lost their necklaces and their voice related abilities.

At the end of their first day of training all three of them felt tired, as it had been a really long time since they ever felt the need to practice their skills and the combination of Cole's climbing and parkour lessons, with Zeke's insistence that they throw 'ki blasts' around, had worn them out. Cole, of course, was also tired from his ordeals, though they had also found out that he could absorb the energy from something, like a generator or a car, and get some energy out of it, but he felt that it was best to save that for when he really needed it. Zeke, on the other hand, managed to set up some battery stations around the roof, meaning that he could watch his television and read his comics while he was up there, indicating that he felt incredibly safe with how the building was fortified. The only downside to that arrangement was that if he used the television, and nothing else, the battery stations would be sucked dry of their power in a few hours and he'd be left with two choices, either replace them or ask for Cole to fix them. Trish also stopped by before she went out to help the injured citizens in the Neon District, as she was worried about Cole, but she was happy to see that he was okay and went about her business.

When Sonata saw them interact for a few seconds, and remembered that Trish had lost her sister in the Blast, she wrapped her arms around Adagio and Aria for a few moments, revealing that she was happy that none of them had been taken from her when they came to this world. Fortunately neither Cole or Zeke were around to here that piece of information, as they already knew that the duo would have questions regarding the sisters if they learned they were actually from another world, so they kept their mouths shut for now.

As the days slowly went by the sisters found that not only were they slowly getting stronger, as after their training on the ninth day they discovered that their energy reserves were slightly larger than they had been before hand, indicating that there was some benefit to all the training they were doing. Cole was also able to increase his own abilities, which was limited to him firing a 'lightning bolt', as he called it, at whoever or whatever he was targeting, while at the same time still possessing the power to drain the electricity from a source of power. Zeke didn't find it odd that Cole could drain electricity and the sisters couldn't drain anything from the surrounding area, but even as he started to explain why he felt that way Cole realized he was just going to keep talking about his fighting show and continued his training... where Adagio, Aria, and Sonata listened in every now and then, as they figured that his knowledge might be useful, but so far they hadn't been able to put it to use.

Adagio was frustrated that they were limited to firing 'ki blasts' around, and her sisters could tell that she was that way when they glanced at her, but oddly enough Sonata was the one that said there might be a way for them to unlock more powers as they continued training, and that required they help Cole, Zeke, and Trish out. Sonata believed that, by aiding the group that had aided them, back when they left the Historic District, they might be able to gain new powers that would help them in their quest, whatever that quest happened to be. Adagio and Aria really hated to admit that Sonata might have a point, especially since it was her fault that they were in Empire City to begin with, but at the same time they sighed and decided to go with it, for now anyway. They were sure that, when the opportunity presented itself, they would find a way to break away from Cole and go their own way, whether or not Sonata was willing to come with them.

On the fourteenth day of the quarantine, six days after Cole had recovered from his coma and started training with the sisters, was when the situation they were in changed... and their entire group was forced to adapt to the rapidly changing reality they were in.