Chapter 35: The Looming match

After the intense training session finally came to an end as they took a well-deserved break, Valerie packed up her gear and left the base. Exhausted, their muscles aching from the grueling workout on the mats, Neiry and Kaleb quietly locked up the facility and headed home under the cover of the night sky, desperate to get a few hours of sleep to get ready for school the next day.

The next morning, the heavy smell of Astoria's smog hung in the air as the high school buzzed with the usual morning chaos. The entire friend group had gathered by the row of green lockers before the first bell, the loud chatter of the hallway forcing them to lean in close to hear one another.

"I am telling you, the track times this semester are going to be brutal," Aaliyah was saying, leaning against a locker door while adjusting her backpack strap.

"Oh, please, you say that every single year and then you end up breaking your own records by the third week," Destiny joked, waving her hand dismissively before shifting her attention as Mia walked up to the huddle.

Before Mia could even greet them, Marjory squeezed through the crowd, her eyes wide with a mix of excitement and sudden realization. She grabbed Mia gently by the arm. "Mia! Oh my gosh, I literally just found out last night—how did you completely forget to tell me that you are cousins with this guy named Walter?"

Mia blinked, caught entirely off guard as she tried to smooth over her expression. "Wait, Walter? Oh, uh, yeah! It just... it doesn't really come up much in casual conversation, I guess."

Just then, Kaleb and Neiry approached the group from the end of the hallway. Kaleb was moving a little stiffly, his shoulders tense from the physical tiredness of practicing his Tidlebreaker gauntlets. His glasses kept sliding down his nose. Next to him, Neiry walked with his usual rigid, detached posture, though his eyes looked slightly darker and heavier than usual from the lack of sleep.

Destiny caught sight of them first and crossed her arms, a mischievous smirk spreading across her face. She looked at the two of them, then turned to nudge Mia with her elbow, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm.

"Wow, look who finally decided to show up," Destiny teased loudly, making sure the boys could hear her over the hallway noise. "Neiry and Kaleb look absolutely dead on their feet. Seriously, Mia, they look completely exhausted—they must've left you out of whatever crazy midnight gaming marathon they were running last night."

Kaleb immediately let out a nervous, awkward cough, shifting his backpack away from his sore shoulder, while Neiry simply offered Destiny a cool glare that completely looked like teenage amusement.

Mia smoothly covered for them, offering a quick laugh. "Yeah, well, you know how they get when they start hyper-focusing on... games. They lose track of time."

Aaliyah rolled her eyes playfully, swinging her locker shut with a sharp click. "Typical. You two need to learn how to manage your sleep schedules better if we're all going to survive this mid-semester exam push."

"I assure you, I am completely focused and wide awake totally entirely operational, Aaliyah," Neiry replied smoothly, though he subtly leaned his weight back against the adjacent wall to take the pressure off his damp, aching muscles.

Marjory laughed, turning her focus back to Mia. "Anyway, back to Walter! Seriously, Mia, he was talking about how your family does those massive summer cookouts. You absolutely have to invite the whole group next time. I can't believe you kept a cool cousin like him a secret."

"Oh, I guess but yeah, definitely! Next time for sure," Mia said, offering a slightly strained smile as she shot Kaleb a desperate, pleading look over Marjory's shoulder.

Kaleb caught the cue instantly. Eager to steer the conversation away from anything that might accidentally dig into Marjory admitting a crush—or their secret —he quickly pushed his way in and chiming. "Speaking of losing track of time, the first bell is about to ring in like two minutes. If we don't get to the physics lab, Mr. Harrison is going to lock the doors on us again."

"Oh, shoot, you're right," Destiny said, her teasing demeanor shifting into a sudden panic as she checked her phone. "I haven't even grabbed my notebook for pre-calc yet!"

The group instantly fractured into a flurry of motion, everyone grabbing their binders and textbooks from their lockers. As Destiny, Aaliyah, and Marjory started walking down the crowded corridor toward the math wing, Mia lagged behind for a brief second, falling into step right between Kaleb and Neiry.

"Thank you, Kaleb. Nice save, I don't want her telling me she likes him or something." Mia whispered under her breath, glancing sideways at Kaleb. Then she looked over at Neiry, her eyes narrowing slightly as she took in his slightly rigid posture. "So how did the rest of the training session go after I left? You guys look like you got run over by a truck."

"It was a lot but definitely helpful," Neiry murmured back, his voice low enough to blend into the sea of student chatter around them. "Kaleb has successfully figured out how to use and access his powers, it seems like the blueprint is set."

Kaleb offered a small, confident grin despite the ache in his shoulders. "Let's just say Valerie knows exactly how to teach a brawler. I'll tell you all about it at lunch."

The warning bell echoed sharply through the PA speakers, and the three of them quickened their pace, blending perfectly into the throng of ordinary teenagers as they headed toward their morning classes, carrying the weight of the underground base silently between them.

As they dodged a group of freshmen rushing toward the stairwell, Mia leaned closer to Kaleb, her brow furrowing slightly as she picked up on the unfamiliar name. "Wait a second," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the slamming locker doors. "Who is Valerie?"

Kaleb choked on his breath for a split second, nearly tripping over his own sneakers as they approached the door to the physics lab. He looked down at Mia, realizing they hadn't actually briefed her on the details of his late-night breakthrough.

"Oh, right," Kaleb muttered quickly, adjusting his glasses to cover his slight embarrassment. "Valerie is Volt. That's her real name. She told us that we didn't need to keep using her hero handle, especially now that she knows who we are and we're friends."

Mia's eyes widened slightly in surprise, a small, knowing smile breaking across her face. "Wow. Valerie. It sounds so... normal compared to all the lightning and static. And she actually got you to stop over-thinking on the mat?"

"She did, I had to call her in because Kaleb's powers don't really work like hours and aren't mana based." Neiry intervened smoothly from Mia's other side, his voice dropping into a low, detached murmur as he reached out to pull open the heavy classroom door. "In my opinion she possesses a rare level of competence regarding teaching and training. She was able to explain the physical grounding of a superpower far better than a standard framework."

"See? Even Neiry is a fan," Kaleb teased quietly, slipping into the classroom just ahead of them.

Mia let out a soft laugh, her shoulders relaxing as she followed them inside. "Good. Because if she can get you to stop treating a fistfight like an assignment, she's definitely earned my respect. You'll have to tell me everything at lunch."

They quickly split up to find their respective desks just as Mr. Harrison cleared his throat at the front of the room, the secret world of Infinity locking away once more behind the safe, mundane routine of high school text books.

The morning dragged on in a blur of chemical equations, historical timelines, and algebraic formulas, but Kaleb's mind was stuck entirely on a loop in the subterranean training bay. Every time Mr. Harrison turned his back to write on the dry-erase board, Kaleb's fingers would twitch against his desk. He wasn't thinking about velocity or mass anymore; he was feeling the memory of the heavy, high-velocity liquid power anchoring tightly to Valerie's forearm.

By the time the third bell rang, signaling the start of the lunch period, Kaleb practically flew out of his seat. He met Mia and Neiry by the crowded vending machines just outside the cafeteria, his previous exhaustion completely overwritten by a hyperactive burst of energy.

"I'm telling you, Mia, you missed the entire thing," Kaleb whispered eagerly, leaning in close as they walked toward their usual table in the courtyard. "Valerie had me doing reaction drills—just pure, human instinct. No formula. And then, right when she thought she had me cornered, I just completely let go. I didn't even think about fluid dynamics."

Mia carried her lunch tray with an amused smile, shifting her gaze to him. "So you actually stopped acting like it's so easy doing what we do?"

"Completely," Kaleb boasted, his hands gesturing widely in the air, mimicking the physical motions from the night before. "I threw my arm forward, unflexed my fingers, and the entire high-velocity stream just uncoiled like a blast. It wrapped straight around her stomach. I called it a Water Bullet—or a Riptide, depending on how I compress the tensile strength. I pulled her clean out of her defensive stance, dragged her straight into my space, and landed a perfect left hook right on her guard. The kinetic impact sent a massive, pressurized thud through the entire room."

From a few steps ahead, Neiry walked with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his sharp ears catching every single word of Kaleb's animated play-by-play. The prince didn't turn around, but his brow furrowed slightly at the sheer volume of Kaleb's boasting in a public school hallway.

"Wow," Mia said, her voice a mix of genuine pride and slight exasperation as they sat down at the concrete courtyard table. "A literal water bullet. I guess Valerie really is a miracle worker if she got you to fight like a brawler."

"It's all about physical grounding," Kaleb continued, entirely unprompted, as he unwrapped his sandwich. "Neiry explained to me that since my traits are superpowers rather than a standard magical reservoir, I have to treat the current like an actual muscle group. Once I loosened my shoulders, the shivering surface tension completely smoothed out into a dense, beautifully uniform layer. I sustained the Tidlebreaker gauntlets perfectly."

"Hey! What are you guys talking about without us?" Destiny's voice interrupted loudly as she, Aaliyah, and Marjory dropped their bags onto the benches, sliding into the seats across from them.

Kaleb instantly shut his mouth, coughing subtly to clear his throat as he picked up his sandwich. "Uh, yeah. Just... mapping out a strategy for this test. I'm trying to figure out how to cheat."

Aaliyah rolled her eyes, opening a container of fruit. "You guys are literal nerds. Anyway, Marjory was just telling us about the weekend plans. Since Walter is coming back into town, we are definitely doing a massive group hangout by the boardwalk."

"Oh, absolutely," Marjory chimed in, leaning forward enthusiastically. "Walter said he can get us a discount at the arcade near the pier. Mia, you seriously have to make sure these two actually show up and don't just stay locked in their rooms doing whatever weird midnight marathons they've been running lately."

"Don't worry I will personally ensure their attendance," Mia promised, flashing a quick, warning glance at Kaleb, who was currently taking an incredibly large bite of his food to avoid speaking.

"Good," Destiny said, turning her sharp gaze toward Neiry, who was calmly staring at an apple as if analyzing its structural integrity. "Because Neiry looks like he's always bored and nothing seems to entertain him. Seriously, Neiry, are you even capable of enjoying a boardwalk arcade, or is the concept of a claw machine too boring for you, no offense.?"

Neiry lifted his eyes, his unblinking dark gaze locking onto Destiny with a profound level of detachment. "The mechanics of a claw machine are intentionally engineered to make sure you lose to ensure financial loss for the user I'm just saying. It is, by definition, a waste of money but hey I'll go but I will also beat you guys at everything."

Destiny blinked, turning to Aaliyah. "See no fun? I told you. And no, I bet you won't beat me."

The rest of the lunch period dissolved into the familiar, comforting rhythm of teenage banter, with Aaliyah arguing about track times, Marjory coordinating the boardwalk schedule, and Destiny playfully teasing Kaleb about his terrible posture. But throughout it all, every single time the girls shifted their attention, Kaleb would lean right back toward Mia, his voice dropping into an eager whisper.

"And the best part? When I landed the punch, the dense fluid absorbed the entire physical shockwave," Kaleb boasted again, his eyes bright behind his glasses. "Valerie said most rookies would have broken their own wrist structure trying a pull-and-strike maneuver at that velocity. I'm telling you, the Tidlebreaker is flawless now."

By the fifth time Kaleb recounted the exact physical torque of his left hook, Mia's smile was growing distinctly tight. Her brow furrowed with a mounting level of irritation. She was incredibly happy that Kaleb had finally made progress, but the non-stop play-by-play was starting to wear on her nerves—especially since she had spent her own afternoon melting drywall and getting scolded by Neiry.

As the final bell rang to dismiss them from lunch, the friend group began to scatter back toward the main building. Mia purposely lingered behind, her footsteps heavy as she grabbed Kaleb by the strap of his backpack. Neiry stepped into the space beside them, his sharp features cast in a cold, calculating movement.

"Alright, that's enough," Mia muttered, her voice laced with sharp irritation as she pulled Kaleb into a quieter corner of the brick alcove, out of sight from the departing students. "Kaleb, if I hear the phrase liquid bullet one more time today, I am going to use a burst to dry out your lunchbox. We get it. You landed a punch."

Kaleb blinked, his boasting instantly melting into a defensive stammer. "I'm just saying, the I'm getting pretty goo—"

"Don't finish it you're lousy," Neiry interrupted flatly, his gravelly voice dropping into a low, authoritative resonance that commanded immediate attention. His eyes flicked between the two of them. "Mia is correct. Your pride is outstripping your execution, Kaleb. You have figured out a single instinctual reflex under the guidance of an ally. You have not survived a true battlefield."

Neiry leaned back against the brick wall, crossing his arms over his chest as his brilliant mind calculated their current trajectory. "I was originally planning on waiting until the end of the year to schedule our next operational assessment. I wanted to give your body time to recover from the strain. However, comfort breeds complacent, and your current mindset is annoying."

Neiry's eyes locked onto Kaleb, then shifted squarely to Mia. "The situation have changed. We are not waiting. I was thinking a full-unit sparring match will take place tomorrow morning. Since there is no school, you will report to the training base at dawn. You will face each other on the mats—pure output, no restraints."

Mia's irritation instantly vanished, replaced by a sudden surge of competitive energy. She straightened her posture, a spark of excitement faintly reflecting deep within her eyes. "Tomorrow? Perfect. Let's see how that Tidlebreaker handles solar energy when there's an actual target moving against it."

Kaleb swallowed hard, the final remnants of his morning boastfulness completely evaporating as the weight of an actual match settled into his stomach. "Tomorrow. Right. I'll be ready."

Later that evening, after returning to his quiet room, Neiry sat at his desk, the dark mask resting beside his notebooks. He pulled out his phone, his fingers typing rapidly across the screen as he pulled up Valerie's priority signal.

Neiry: Hey I need you to come by and help with a combat trial. A full-unit sparring match tomorrow morning at dawn. I want you to monitor Kaleb's growth and to show Mia how a hero moves.

A few minutes passed before the device buzzed, the text flashing green on the display.

Volt: Are you crazy I'm tired? And it's a Friday night, man. I just finished a full shift tracking corporate trucks. My legs are dead and I am absolutely not waking up that early on a weekend to watch teenagers throw water balloons at each other. Find another hero.

Neiry sighed. A faint, knowing smirk touched his sharp features as he prepared his counter-strategy. He knew exactly how to appeal to the electric hero's competitive nature.

Neiry: Hmm well okay I guess but you might regret that. I am structuring the whole thing as an elimination tournament kind. Whoever demonstrates the highest level of ability and wins each match will earn a definitive reward.

Volt: Yeah? And what's the reward? A gold star from Dark? Don' t forget I don't work for you like those two.

Neiry: How about in your case whoever wins the match gets the privilege of fighting me and from the last time when you lost I'm assuming you'd want that rematch.

The response was almost instantaneous this time, the text practically flying across the screen.

Volt: ...Oh you think you won?, you've got to be kidding me. You're offering yourself up as a boss fight ay?

Neiry: I do not make empty offers, Valerie. You said it yourself you wanted to see me stop holding back. Let's see if you can even handle me at my full power.

There was a long pause, the typing indicator flickering repeatedly before the final confirmation came through.

Volt: Fine. You absolute jerk. I'll be there. And you know those kids will lose, I just wanna get the shot at taking down that smug annoying attitude of yours. Don't complain when you lose you asked for this.