View source for Morgan's Combat Training at the Themysciran Arts Center Arena

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2021/12/17
|Location=Themysciran Arts Center Arena
|Synopsis=Morgan Finn's combat training is taken up a notch as Diana orders the boy to be put to the test to see what he's made of.
|Thanks=Diana Prince
|Cast of Characters=3618
}}
Galatea. An Amazon warrior of great prowess, economical of energy and action, bold, and fearless stood alone in her battle armor in the center of the arena. Young Morgan Finn, ward of Diana Prince, son of Esclepius, and demigod entered for his daily morning combat training. He even had the unmitigated audacity to pat himself on the back a bit for the progress he had been making.

“Good morning, Gala,” the teen demigod said as he approached the trainer, who currently was wearing an inscrutable expression, grimmer than usual, more businesslike.

“Suit up,” she said. Her armor clanked a bit in the quiet morning air as she approached the weapons rack. She drew a sharpened battle blade from the rack instead of the usual dull practice blade. Morgan’s sharp eyes caught that fact.

Within a few minutes the two were squared off, wearing armor, wielding sharpened swords. Morgan couldn’t put his finger on it. The air was somehow thicker, more tense. Gala watched him with the mien of someone about to undertake an unpleasant task.

The two combatants tested each other: strike, block, counter. Metal clanging in the morning air. Morgan had dramatically improved over the past few weeks. The fledgling demigod was an empathic healer: someone who heals by taking the wounds and illnesses of those he heals into his own body, which was capable of extreme, accelerated regeneration. He literally has felt the pain of others, and getting him to attack at all took several sessions in the arena. Now he was taking Gala to task, unabashedly leaping into the fray.

“You’re being too sloppy,” Gala said, emphasizing the last word as she brought her blade down to cut deep into Morgan’s sword arm, leaving a nasty wound that on any normal human would certainly require surgery. As his sword dropped to the arena ground Gala kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backward. He landed on his back with a thud. Already the wound was knitting itself, repairing the tissue damage.

Morgan grunted and got back to his feet. If he tried to milk this he knew Gala would only come at him harder. If he only he knew the full truth of today’s lesson. Galatea stepped back several paces so Morgan could retrieve his weapon. By the time he picked it up, only dried blood remained to tell the tale of the deep laceration.

“Good shot. You got me,” the youthful demigod said. This only seemed to make Gala more irritated.

“I got you because you’re being lazy,” the Amazon warrior growled. She slashed Morgan’s blade quickly to the side then barreled into him, smashing her shoulder into chest and sending him crashing to the ground again.

“You take hits because you rely on your healing to save you,” she grunted as she leaped onto Morgan’s supine form. “But your healing isn’t a strength, it’s a weakness! It makes you soft!” Gala thrust her blade down and pierced Morgan’s abdomen. About a half inch of the steel pushed into Morgan’s abdomen. He grit his teeth again the pain, staring boldly at Gala.

“Your powers make it possible for you to suffer endlessly at the hands of an enemy!” With those words, Gala twisted the blade, which made the minor wound slightly bigger. This time the teen let out a muffled yell. The blade had barely pierced him, but still it was quite painful.

“You want to rely on your healing powers, Morgan? I can show you how they can be used against you!” Again, Gala twisted the blade another small turn. The wound was not much, especially for one capable of rapid healing. It was designed to cause discomfort with minimal damage, to make a point. “I can do this all day and you won’t die!”

In an observation tower, Diana Prince watched the session. Galatea had reported to her that she felt like Morgan was leaning too much on his ability to recover from nearly any wound. Diana asked her to show the demigod the error of his ways. She knew it would be hard to watch such a gentle spirit as Morgan in pain, but she didn’t realize how hard it would be. With a clenched jaw, she turned and went back inside.