Always Around - 5

5

The water rose, leaving a large empty space beneath itself.

Prince and I walked along, watching the water flow over us, though a few drops landed on our heads.

From the inside, our improvised ring certainly looked like something out of a science fiction movie. However, it occurred to me that it was still lacking something in terms of safety for those around us.

Twen: Why don't we make a dome instead? I have an idea.

Prince: Oh, ok.

The river warped again, this time surrounding us in all directions and trapping us inside an air bubble. It became a water dome.

Additionally, I manipulated the wind outside so that the water walls swirled as if there were a whirlpool at the top. This was not just for aesthetics, obviously, but also for functionality.

To test it, I picked up a stone from the ground and threw it hard toward the water wall. It went through and out of my sight, but a few seconds later it re-entered the dome, retaining a fraction of its speed.

Prince: Ah, what a good idea!

The guy with the brown gloves also grabbed a stone and threw it at the wall, getting surprised when he saw it return.

I moved on to the next thing. If we were going to be moving around so much, it was best to warm up and stretch a bit before starting, so I mimicked my usual training routine, and Prince mimicked me.

In fact, he not only did what I was doing next to him, but he also showed me some of his own warm-ups, for example, for coordination. That way, it really felt like we were training partners.

Once we felt ready, we moved to opposite ends of the dome, and Prince transformed his leather gloves into a version more suitable for mixed martial arts.

Prince: You don't actually need to wear gloves like these. After all, with powers we could throw fire or use swords, and a pair of gloves wouldn't help with that… So this is nothing but an accessory.

It was not hard to understand his point. I looked at my still-bare hands, and beneath them, dangling from my wrists, were the silver bracelets Lani and Zena had given me.

I thought they might come in handy, and it also made sense to use them right then… So, my bracelets warped and popped onto my fingers, forming a pair of silver brass knuckles on my hands.

Twen: This should do, right?

Prince: That looks cool…

Twen: I think so too. Silver goes well with black and white. But what about its usefulness?

Prince: Oh, yeah, it should be fine.

With that confirmed, there was not much else to prepare. A brief wave of nerves coursed through my body, the hairs on my arm stood on end, but I had to ignore it because there was no turning back (and it was not like I wanted to back out anyway).

I looked at the guy with the gloves and asked him the most important question at that moment.

Twen: Are you ready?

Prince: Yes! A little nervous, but yes!

Twen: You too? Well, now there are two of us, but that feeling will disappear once we start.

He smiled, saying he felt something similar to me, and then shook his hands before getting into position. I extended my fingers and then curled them back to firmly grip my brass knuckles, and then we both started walking forward.

Twen: Well, let's go.

Prince: Let's go!

When we were close enough, we both extended our left hands and bumped them… And that was it!

The fight between two OV wielders had begun!

…

There were many things I could have tried for my first move, though I did not want to go too crazy. However, I soon realized that the first thing I had to do was defend myself.

Prince's left hand (which had just bumped mine) moved down to his right arm, which had lowered without my noticing.

With that hand, he was mimicking the shape of a gun, holding a small stone between two fingers. I knew it, Prince lowered his thumb like a fake trigger, and his fake bullet flew straight toward my face.

Out of pure reflexes, one of my hands moved even before the gears of my head, preventing the stone from hitting my mask, but it was very close.

Prince: Wow! Great reflexes!

I did not respond with words, but I know he saw my mask shaking on place. He smiled and emitted a white light from his gloves.

Quickly, we both raised our fists again to get into position… But I was already realizing that this sparring match was not going to be so calm, and I had to be alert.

My mask transformed to reflect my concentration, creating a bluish circle in the center of my forehead, which apparently caught Prince's attention. He probably thought something was going to come out of it.

I took advantage of this confusion to kick his supporting foot, and it was clearly a good idea. Prince lost his balance, and I moved forward to use this slight advantage.

However, he managed block my punches with his arms while remaining standing. Then he threw a few punches back, which I dodged or blocked.

After a few exchanges, which had gradually pushed us all across the dome, we both took a step back.

Prince seemed to be enjoying himself, and not just because of his smile, but also because his gloves were adorned with the bright design of a white star.

I barely had time to catch my breath before one of his fingers pointed upward, and then a large drop of water fell on my head.

I simply thought it was a distraction technique and that I should not lose sight of my opponent, and I am glad I thought so, because I immediately saw a bright fist flying in my direction.

I managed to deflect the punch to the side, but I had to duck my head immediately to dodge the next one, and then I stepped back to avoid a kick to the side.

Prince was not just having fun; he was incredibly excited. His supposed training was turning into a bloody battle where the average human would have died at least three times over by now.

If I kept up with him, the fight would likely spiral out of control, and I could not even imagine the consequences of a serious confrontation with him.

After a flurry of punches, Prince landed a powerful front kick that I managed to block with both arms, but I could not avoid being pushed back a considerable distance.

Then I saw his gloves glow with a white light, and he threw a punch that, from my point of view, seemed to be aimed at thin air.

Because of the distance, there was no way the punch would connect with me… But it did anyway, right on my cheek. The white light escaped from his gloves and struck the side of my mask.

Twen: Damn, I didn't expect that-

Before I could even say a word, Prince's gloves glowed again and he tried to strike me in the ribs with the same technique as before.

My body lurched backward before my brain could even process it, and I nearly crashed into the dome walls.

Obviously, it did not stop there, and that white light continued attacking exactly where Prince wanted to hit.

Luckily, it was a pretty predictable strategy, and all I had to do was defend myself as if there were no distance between us. It was a simple way to stay in the fight… But Prince didn't seem to like it.

Prince: Hey, what is going on…?

As he said that, the speed of his attack suddenly slowed down. He stared at me for a few seconds before throwing his next punch, but this time he did it with very little emotion. It was too easy to block.

Then he waited a few more seconds and attempted an uppercut, for which I lowered my head and let the bluish circle on my forehead absorb the light from his gloves.

Prince: No, no, no. This is wrong. What happened to you? Does your tummy hurt?

Twen: My tummy? Not at all, I feel-

Prince: Then why?!

His gloves glowed with an orange light this time, then vanished completely, leaving behind a pile of bandages and plasters covering his hands entirely.

He also abandoned his fighting stance, lowering his arms in disbelief.

Prince: Why are you so unenthusiastic? You were doing much better at the beginning!

Twen: I… I think you're forgetting the fact that we have to be careful with our powers.

Prince: You… Don't tell me you're scared of them too… Really?! Then what's the point of even wearing that mask?!

As he spoke, a stream of water hit my head, and this time I tried to ignore it so I could focus on what Prince might do.

However, the stream of water did not stop, and instead grew larger and stronger, forcing me to move.

With Prince in the center, I circled the dome close to the walls as I moved away from the jet of water that was following me. Furthermore, Prince did not let up with his attacks, this time using an orange light instead of white.

The situation was getting complicated… And my patience was not endless, especially with him.

Prince: I was so happy because I thought I had found someone like me, but now I think we have a problem… Didn't you say you'd thought about this too? That you want to use the powers you have?

Twen: That is true, but-

Prince: Well, let it out! Why are you holding back?

Twen: Because neither you nor I know what could happen if we get too carried away.

Prince: Didn't we build this dome to keep the outside safe?

Twen: They are just walls of water anyways, made from the river that runs through the whole city... If we're not careful, it could end up like those movies where the superheroes save the city but leave a large part of it in ruins.

Prince: As if you know what it means to be a hero…

Although that was the phrase he said in the quietest voice, it was clearly the one he said with the most anger. We had clearly entered into a difficult subject.

Prince: Not even we can keep everyone safe, there will always be someone in trouble… And why do you think that is? Because the world around us is too fragile.

Twen: Fragile?

Prince: The world, and all the people in it, weren't made for people like us to exist. There are too many of us. We're a menace… Ever since we bonded with our objects, we have done nothing but think about what we cannot do, right?

Twen: Right…

Prince: That's a problem! The reason we can't be better than everyone else at everything, all the time, is that the world won't accept it… But the world doesn't revolve around anyone.

At this point, Prince no longer sounded angry, but rather disappointed.

Prince: We have the right to use our powers; we have them for a reason. But we're held back by these fragile people, who are afraid of losing their position, their pride, their dignity… They're afraid of us even though we don't want to hurt anyone!

Twen: So… That's what you think of Lani, isn't it? That she's fragile.

Prince: Lani… Well, you must have seen it with your own eyes, right?!

Saying this, Prince struck me in the chest with that orange light, and this time I simply took the blow. I stood still and let the stream of water that had been chasing me fall upon me.

Finally, I brought up the subject, and my suspicions were confirmed.

Prince, the man standing before me, was the same one who had made Lani lose faith in herself years before.

Prince: Lani is the perfect example of someone who can't be saved.

Twen: All she needed was a push to get rid of all that shit you put in her head!

Prince: She never wanted to understand that I have powers!

Twen: Maybe there was nothing to understand!

The water stopped falling on my head, and all the moisture on my body turned to steam as my eyes remained fixed on Prince.

My mask not only fluttered, but transformed into that red design with horns, and my silver brass knuckles escaped from my fingers, wrapping around my hands and becoming long steel chains that hung to the ground.

I approached Prince spinning my chains, ready to crush his head.

He could think of nothing better than resorting to the same orange light as before, but I was so angry that I simply ignored it.

Twen: The world may seem fragile at times, but it's actually full of people much stronger than you think! People who are experienced with losing their position, their dignity, their comfort, their rewards, their joy… But they never stop fighting to get it back!

I launched attack after attack with my chains, and Prince, instead of blocking them, chose to dodge them completely.

Twen: We had a problem and we overcame it, and just like that we got everything. A life handed to us! But other people overcome one problem only to immediately fall into another, in an endless cycle. And they never stop fighting… Those fragile people, even if they break, they don’t cease to exist!

I managed to land a direct hit with the chains and sent Prince flying against the wall of water. He went through and out of my sight. However, I still hadn't forgotten what happened to what came out of the dome.

I turned around, expecting to find Prince, but… I could not do it. My body did not move. My feet were planted firmly on the ground.

So, before I could move, I received a hard blow to the back of my head.

Prince had re-entered the dome, kicking me in the process, and then fell in front of me. I quickly lifted my head, but Prince already had both hands together, and as he squeezed them, a thin stream of water shot toward my face.

Prince: I think we should calm down now… You're right.

Watching him silently, after he told me to calm down with such a sober expression on his face, even though he was the one who had gone too far from the beginning… I did, indeed, calm down.

Although the anger did not disappear immediately, I took a deep breath and managed to return my mask to its original design (and my silver bracelets too).

Prince: Twen… I'm sorry. I think I did say something strange that made me sound like a villain, and what you're saying makes sense.

Twen: Really…? Just like that?

Prince: Don't get me wrong. I still think it's a bother to have to limit ourselves so much and not be able to use what we have… But I really feel bad saying that everyone in the world is fragile, especially when they keep trying after falling so many times.

From the way he spoke, it seemed that Prince was not convinced by his own words, neither the ones he was saying nor the ones he had said before. However, his intention to change that fact was evident.

Twen: I… I also can't believe I got so angry. Finally meeting you means so many things, and I guess I need some time to thin it through.

Prince: Yes, I understand.

It is obvious that I, too, wanted to set aside some worries to use my powers without limitations, but I could not blame people who do the best they can with what they have and what they earn.

The masked man and the carrier of the gloves, two people unlike almost everyone else in the world, were gathered inside a water dome in the middle of Novadía’s River.

But, at this point, we were not doing much anymore. We looked at each other, confused and dejected, and realized there were certain points we agreed on.

Prince: I think we're ready here, aren't we?

I responded by giving him a thumbs-up, and then Prince extended his hands toward the walls of the dome.

The interior began to shrink, and the watery ceiling above our heads began to drip. When he looked back at me with a smile on his face, I understood what was coming next, so I acted quickly.

We both ran through the walls of the dome and swam across the river to reach the shore before we got crushed.

…

Once we were safely back on solid ground, Prince approached me and extended a hand, expecting a handshake, which I took the way I was supposed to.

Prince: You know, I think this whole thing was a bit impulsive, again… But it was fun.

Twen: You're not wrong.

Prince: It's hard to find your place in the world once you get these powers, isn't it?

Twen: I'd say our place is clear, the hard part is fulfilling a role.

With a whistle, Prince let me know he liked my comment.

Prince: Well, Twen, it was a rather strange experience, but it was a pleasure meeting you.

Twen: The pleasure was all mine, Prince.

Prince: Now it's time for me to go home and lie down in bed for a while. I’ve been wandering around ever since I came back to Novadía…

Twen: Sounds good. I'd do the same, but I still have to go to Andre's celebration... Though, before I go, I hope you know we still have a lot to talk about.

Prince: Oh, of course I know. We'll meet again, carrier of the mask.

Twen: Good. We'll meet again, carrier of the gloves.

And so, after a bittersweet experience, I met a very important person.

A key figure in understanding and helping Lani.

An opportunity to use my powers like never before.

A second OV carrier.