What Truly Matters

The clink of ice melting in a drink never sounded so loud before. It tore through the silence of the bar.

“You’re not going to say anything, partner?” Jiro asked.

Lau briefly glanced over to Jiro. His matted hair hid his eyes, but the way he held his drink spoke of impatience. He was good at hiding his emotions, but when he wanted someone to know, it was clear even without the words just now.

“What is even a good place to start? My abilities? That guy? Or maybe, the fact that this place isn’t as real as I’ve made you to believe?”

Lau knocked back his drink and slammed it down. Claude’s words had cut right through him. To think that he would go so far to trouble an old man…

Jiro sighed as he placed his glass down gently, asking for answers.

“How about the truth for starters?”

“That you’re just some robot programmed with the soul of my deceased old friend? Maybe I should start there as I doubt none of this will make a lick of sense in comparison!”

Jiro’s eyes widened before he casually took another drink. Like he was mulling over a response, his eyes moved side to side. Finally, he lifted his glass.

“A robot that can enjoy the pleasures of a hard drink? My, my, how technology has come so far without my realization.”

“Technically, you’re an android, half and half. I haven’t figured out how they can pump out an all flesh and blood body like this place has done for me. Understanding gizmos has never been my thing.”

Jiro laughed. Knocking back the rest of his drink, he eyed the other people in the room.

“Them too?”

“All of them, except for me. Because I’m ‘special’,” Lau said, before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“That you are, my friend. You are my one and only partner.”

“But that-”

“Because you made it out to be that way? Sure, sure. Maybe our initial meeting was planned, but you know what? I can do something like this.”

Jiro reared back and socked Lau in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. Immediately, the bar patrons stopped and stared at the two of them. Jiro got up from his chair and walked over to Lau, waving at the others to tell them to mind their own business. He extended a hand to his friend.

“Tell me, partner. Did you program me to do that too? Or what about the room’s reaction? And all of our cases together? Did they come together perfectly like you had expected them to?”

“Tch, it wouldn’t be any fun if I knew I’d always win beforehand.” Lau took the hand and was helped to his feet, shrugging off the pain in his cheek.

“You suck at being tactical, so I can’t imagine you having all this planned. The Lau I know takes risks, is foolhardy, plays off seriousness, and is an all-around pain in the ass to be with sometimes… but I’d have you at my side more than anyone else in the world.”

“Even if this all isn’t real?” Lau stared into Jiro’s eyes, looking for any hint of rejection. But Jiro refused to give him any. He took his fist and lightly knocked it against Lau’s chest before drumming on his own with the other.

“You feel real to me, and so does this pain from punching you. I’m not sure what’s out there beyond this, but I’ll roll with it. You know me.”

Lau sighed. He shoulders drooped as he returned to his seat in the bar. Signaling the barkeep for another round, he smacked the chair beside him and looked toward Jiro.

“Sit your ass down. It’s going to take a while to cover everything. We have to be ready for when Cl-, I mean, Jokester strikes next.”

“Affirmative.” Jiro smiled and slid into his seat.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another calling card came a few days later. This one spoke of stealing the ‘Jewel of Hong Kong’. On the surface, it connected to the Jade and Diamond Expo that was occurring. The city was well known for its lavish riches.

However, Lau and Jiro knew better. The card merely spoke of a venue. The real prize was the heart of this site, the resident Electi that set up the parameters to recreate a place meant for him.

Jokester was standing right in the middle of the parking lot, the entire police force surrounding him. Lau chuckled. He knew that it was all a show. Lau charged right through the squads and yelled out to everyone.

“All right, get your asses out of the way! He’s mi-”

A hand pulled him back and casually flipped his body into the air. Lau tumbled to the ground while staring at Jiro in surprise.

“Let me take a crack at him first, partner. You sit back and take notes.”

Jiro walked forward and got into a battle stance while the police pulled back in a circle to create a wide arena of sorts. Extending his arms above his head, it gave off a sense for his opponent to “bring it on!”

Before Lau could object, Jokester zipped forward, delivering a series of strikes than instantly pushed Jiro back. Ever the cautious one, Jiro’s style relied on reading his opponent, so it was obvious from the last encounter that he had to make distance from his opponent’s speed and strength.

After several exchanges, Jiro bounced away, like a ball kicked around, before he did a flip in the air to land on his feet. Jokester was toying with him, but he didn’t mind. He was gathering the intel he needed.

The next flurry of attacks came. Jiro whipped around his opponent this time, sending a carefully aimed straight at an open back. But Jokester caught it without even turning around. A roundhouse kick slammed into Jiro’s side right after.

Lau gritted his teeth and looked away. He had felt the strength of Jokester’s blows. Something had happened in the time they had perished. The boy had changed tremendously. Perhaps, he donned a different mantle to show it off. He wanted to fight again. He wanted to know what it was that made him strong enough to fight back against a god.

“Heh… I managed to catch it without too much damage…”

Lau’s gaze shot back towards the combatants. Jiro had crossed his arms and was now emitting a purple aura. It formed a thick cowl of protection in response to the counterblow. Lau looked down, noticing that his body had become inflamed by the same glow. He had seen wisps of it before from Jiro but disregarded it. Wishful thinking, he passed it off. But now, anyone could see the energy that kindled from Jiro as it grew stronger and stronger.

A flash of memories came to Lau’s mind.

“We are intimately connected to our summoned beings. Over time, the flow of mana continuously links us summoners to our Electi and dyes our very essence. In the process, our own mana flows back, carrying our strongest thoughts and feelings. Through this connection, our power grows along with theirs, and our wills slowly become aligned. That is what it means to be a Master/Electi pair.”

The statement that Lady Kaguya spoke of a while back, when she had revealed the connection between Electi and their Masters.

The purple flame that Jiro had as he continued fighting grew at the same rate as the one engulfing Lau. He had been subconsciously afraid of it, the thing that turned Jiro into a Demon. And even after learning that such power was now pure, old beliefs died hard. He didn’t want to rely on it. He wanted to push it away and be a ‘normal’ person.

But Jiro was now embracing it. More than that, it showed they still held a connection even though their bodies were crafted artificially in this place. Jiro’s movements became swifter and more controlled. Blows slid off his body, allowing him to counterattack. Pretty soon, Jokester was starting to have trouble. He ramped up his attack, and Jiro did likewise. All during this time, Lau watched with a hunger in his stomach.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zhang was a naturally competitive man. He loved to show off, attract crowds, and feel a sense of pride at prevailing. And that extended all the way to his adult years, when he had risen in the ranks of the police force.

He was eager to arrive on the scene, tackle the problems firsthand, and steal the day. It earned him recognition among his peers… but it also painted a giant target on his back.

Officer Zhang – eager to prove himself, but often forgetting those close to him.

And when he came home one day after a particularly high-profile case, he discovered the door to his place had been broken down. His home was raided. Furniture torn up and tossed around, the signs of a huge struggle had taken place here. In a panic, he pulled out his phone and discovered several missed calls and voicemails. Playing through the first message, his body felt chills as the voice of someone unknown called out to him as sounds of struggling happened in the background.

“You have one hour to give up on the case, or you know what’s going to happen…”

The message came to him three hours ago.

“Really, no word at all… what a despicable husband. Oh well, on to the next one. We’ll wait another hour.”

The muffled cries of a single young boy’s voice cut in between each word. That was two hours ago.

“Poor, poor Zhang. Too focused to even call back. Guess we know what your priorities are. Unfortunate that we couldn’t strike a deal.”

The receiver clicked dead.

Zhang opened the door to the bedroom, the only closed door in the house. And after turning on the light, he froze, backed away and made a dash for the elevator. Minutes later, he was on the roof, a vacant expression on his face. With robotic movements, he climbed over the railing and leapt off.

He had fought for the wrong thing this entire time, ignoring all else that was important. His short-sightedness had made him inflexible and blind. He wanted to make it up to someone, anyone, but he had no idea how. The whoosh of wind around his ears were the only thing he could hear. A bright white light enveloped his vision. Perhaps, he would get another chance to prove himself the right way…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lau’s aura exploded as he charged forward at Jiro and Jokester. He reared back and punched the latter. A sound like thunder split everyone’s ears. After a moment, Jokester looked back at Lau, merely spitting out some blood but looking unharmed otherwise.

“There, I paid you back for the punch last time! Now, tell me one thing… are the others waiting for me back home?”

“Yeah… the rest of the world is safe for now. There’s still a place for you. No reason to go avoiding them just because you died once.”

“What will Kanade think when she sees me? How different I look now.”

“How about, ‘it’s good to see you alive still’? It doesn’t matter what form you take. The feelings that you’ve had will always be there. As long as you don’t give up on them. I know it’s easy to when you feel like you’ve pushed it all away and told yourself it’s meant to be.”

With that, Lau’s aura cooled down, as did Jiro’s. Lau turned around and pulled out his badge, chucking it on the ground.

“Sorry, boys. I’m quitting the force. It was fun while it lasted. There’s more out there for me than this tiny city.”

Jokester nodded and brought out a device, shooting a round portal that opened out to someplace familiar. Lau shot a cheeky grin as he passed through it, while Jiro stared at the thing in wonder.

“Mesmerizing… some sort of gateway to another dimension, perhaps? I reckon that this is the place that my partner is meant to be.”

“Do you want to go too?” Jokester asked.

“I would gladly follow even if not prompted! He is my partner after all. Adventures together are a must! But first…”

Jiro took out his badge and turned to the police force as well, about to mimic the same resignation that Lau did, but then Jokester interrupted.