Chapter 24

It has been a long while since Johnathan had fought. Though he had been spending time perfecting his martial arts, he had had little reason to practice using his ability for combat. Being able to push and pull things from himself, as well as push and pull himself from things, was handy, and certainly had its uses in a fight, but there were better, and stronger, abilities than his. Like Beodulf's fireball, or Elek's electricity, or Wren's, who was to be his dueling partner now. Wren was smiling, his long black hair was tied into a ponytail behind him. He was probably feeling excited to test himself against Lady's Ada's recently appointed Royal Knight. Johnathan had to admit he was kind of excited himself. 

Elek was to be the referee. The short man was standing far back, eating a sandwich with one hand, watching the two. He waved when Johnathan looked at him.

The rules of this duel were simple. Johnathan and Wren would fight in two stages. First, hand to hand combat, then, using their abilities. Like in boxing, they would try to land blows on each other, each one awarding a point. Whoever lands twelve points total, wins. During the first stage, whomever receives five hits, they would enter stage two, allowing the use of abilities. That's when the real fight began.

They were in a large junk yard area called the Junk Heap,in the Lowtown district. The place was filled with trash; Broken vehicles amongst them. A perfect place to fight unabated, without fear of property damage. Many Royals had fought here, they still do, mostly to test and practice their abilities against each other. Today, however, they had the place to themselves.

"Ready?" Wren said.

Johnathan nodded. He ignited his Aura, feeling the familiar warmth and power course through his body. The energy sharpened his senses.

Wren charged first, with Aura enhanced speed, well beyond human limit, and opened with a combo of fast punches and kicks. Johnathan hasn't been in a fight in a long while, but his hand to hand combat was still superior to Wren's. He blocked and dodged Wren's blows easily enough, each blow that was blocked sending a small pulse of energy out. Johnathan countered, scoring the first hit: A punch to Wren's ribs. An Aura enhanced blow would easily break a man's bone, if not protected by Aura themself.

"Not bad." Wren said, still smiling. His Aura would've already healed the damage. "You were always good at hand to hand. Pains me to admit it, but you're probably better than me."

"Probably?" Johnathan echoed, smiling himself. He hasn't felt the rush of adrenaline in too long. "What are you talking about, I am better." He proved it by charging and landing a second blow, a kick to the abdomen. As they fought, Johnathan felt both the weight and strength of Wren's blows, enhanced by Aura, as well as the power behind his own. On an occasion, Wren jumped, then kicked downward, hard. Johnathan managed to dodge backwards in time, Wren's kick missing him by inches and hitting the ground with a loud thump. The ground beneath his feet cracked a little under its weight.

Johnathan was first to land five hits, signaling Wren's phase two. Meaning he'll be using his ability from now on. He did it immediately, conjuring two golden panthers made of Aura. Johnathan knew of Wren's ability, an ability perfectly suited for battle. If any of those panthers touched him, the ensuing explosion will undoubtedly hurt. Johnathan still needed to receive more blows to enter his second stage. Knowing this, Johnathan charged, dodging an leaping panther, and aiming to hit Wren before the second panther gets to him. He succeeded, punching Wren in the shoulder before the panther tackled him. Johnathan braced for the explosion, feeling the intense heat before the pain that followed. The pain lasted for a couple of seconds, his Aura healing his wounds, depleting in the process. He could feel its fire burning within him, feel the reservoir, how much he had left. It was something that Ability Users could inherently do. Like one feels when they're tired, and how tired they were, one could feel their Aura's energy and how much they had left in their system. It was intuitive.

"Six to four!" Called Elek from afar, clearly enjoying the spectacle. "In favor of our newbie, Johnathan."

Johnathan kept his eye on the remaining panther, keeping his distance from Wren, calculating how he was going to land another hit without using his ability. He was one hit away from stage two, he needed to make it count. An exchange, like the last. He felt something small touch his shoulder, a bird. BOOM! The explosion left him disoriented for a few seconds, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Damn, Wren." He said, getting him, feeling his Aura deplete faster as it healed the damage. "You don't hold back do you?"

"Do you want me to?" Wren said, his panther rounding him. Two small golden birds were also flying above him. "A fight is coming, John. A big one. You know this. Spectre will be making their final move soon, and we'll be fighting Royals. Royals that'll consider us traitors and won't hold back."

Johnathan did know. Lady Ada had said as much, that they'll be fighting on the rebel's side. "Yeah, yeah. I know." He activated his ability. "Let's continue, then." He said as he charged.

Wren sent his panther first, the beast leaped ready to explode upon contact. Johnathan used his ability, pushing it away, repelling it like a magnet, then engaged Wren in hand to hand combat again. Wren tried to send his birds, but Johnathan pushed them away with his ability. He landed four blows and received three, each blow distorting the air around them upon contact.

Using his ability, Johnathan pushed on the ground, sending himself flying upwards like a rocket, dodging the panther and birds trying to get at him. One of the birds flew fast at him. Johnathan was going to wait for it to get a little closer to push it away, but it blew up before it even touched him. The explosion sent him spiraling through the air, across the yard. He landed on his back.

It took a little longer for his wounds to heal this time, the Aura losing it's potency the longer the fight lasted. "I thought they exploded when they touched you." He said, getting up, shaking the dust off of him.

"No." Wren said, running his hand through his panther. "I mean I can make them explode on contact. But I can detonate them on command if I so choose." He smiled. "Anyways, that's one point for me."

"Right then." Wren said. "Let's continue."

To no one's surprise, and even though he had been losing, Wren won in the end. Johnathan couldn't land another hit, Wren had conjured more of his Aura animals, creating a chain explosion that left Johnathan without much room to dodge. 

Afterwards, Johnathan dueled Elek. Unlike Wren, Elek's ability itself held little damaging power, but it did give him lightning speed. Johnathan lost to Elek as well. He really was rusty. 

***

"It's been awhile since you've fought, hasn't it, John?" Elek said, after they had finished their sparrings at the Junk Heap. They were now resting on a bench nearby, the Junk Heap behind them. "You're slower." Elek continued. "Your hand to hand is still far better than ours though." He gestured at Wren and himself.

"Just a bit rusty." Johnathan said, feeling exhausted. He had just finished texting Elsa to come pick him up, though he would much prefer to travel using his ability. But right now, his Aura was also exhausted.

"John." Wren said. "Earlier, when I mentioned Spectre and their final assault on Imperium. You seem doubtful. Do you doubt Spectre will succeed?"

Johnathan sighed. At first he had doubted it, yes. Now, not so much. Many rebel groups, larger and with members more powerful than Spectre's had fought the Lord Ruler's Royal Knights. They had all failed. Some of those rebels had even joined the Royals and had been given high ranked positions. But Spectre had something that no other rebel group had. The Copycat Superhero. The Commoners are even calling him the Vigilante Lord now. A rival to the Lord Ruler's ability. Maybe.

"I think they have a reasonable chance." Johnathan said. "Especially since their aim is not to overthrow the Lord Ruler." He looked up at the sky, at the dome over the city. The dome was barely visible to the naked eye, but if one knew how to look, you could almost see the distortion in the sky. Like one would see a glass wall. Johnathan wasn't really doubting Spectre's success, so much as doubting whether he should be helping them or not. He didn't want to lose his ability. That was the only reason he had moved to New Miami and became a Royal. He enjoyed the benefits it brought him. Having the freedom to live how he wanted, and do most of the things he wanted without little consequences. That was a dream to most. He also knew the corruption of the Royal Hierarchy System, knew that many would abuse the power it brought over others, and knew that fixing it would be next to impossible at this point. But Johnathan enjoyed his current life. Once the dome falls… 

He felt a hand on his shoulders. It was Wren's. "I can see it in your eyes, John." He said. "Make up your mind. It won't be long before the dome's weakness is revealed to Spectre and they make their move. If I'd hazard a guess, I'd say maybe a week or so. That's how long it'll probably take that Arlong fellow to fully search all of Imperium's top floors for any information on it. So make up your mind before then."

Johnathan looked at his friend. "Make up my mind about what?"

"I'm- we're your friends, John." Wren said, "But that dome will be destroyed. The Royals will be no more. 'We' will be no more. This," He touched the golden bracelet round his wrist. "Will lose its meaning."

Johnathan knew where Wren was getting at. It didn't take a genius to figure out that if Johnathan was having doubts about his willingness to lose his ability, it meant that he'd try to defend Imperium. Defend the person he hated; the Lord Ruler. Johnathan was betraying Lady Ada's trust in him. She had revealed many of her secrets to him, and had even shared her plans with him. And now… now he… "Aren't you afraid to lose your ability?" He said, mostly to confirm that that was what was bothering him.

Wren was quiet for a moment, then spoke. "The Lord Ruler holds a key, John. The key to progress. Research into fully understanding Aura and its connection to our abilities, is being performed around the world. With the creation of the dome, the Lord Ruler had clearly discovered something. Something that could help scientists advance their understanding. But the Lord Ruler refuses to share his findings, keeping it as his secret. His secret, that once revealed to the world, will bring about a new understanding of Aura." He looked up at the sky. Johnathan followed his gaze to Lunam. The source of all Aura. The golden moon, much smaller than Earth's, was considered a wonder of the world. Revered as a god to newly risen religions, though no proof of it being sentient were ever found. The only clue was the introduction of Aura itself. Johnathan had contemplated on those thoughts ample times before. What 'was' Lunam? Was it really a god, or just a force of nature? A celestial phenomenon? The scientist researching Aura were hoping to find connection that would lead them to an answer to any of those questions.

"But for any of that to happen," Wren continued. "The Lord Ruler must be brought down. This dome must be removed, and his power stripped. Only then, can the rest of the world come and learn from his mistakes. Who knows, maybe a new dome will be created. One without its current flaws."

By flaw, Wren meant the prevention of Aura awakening. Inside the dome, Aura Awakening is impossible. That's why the Lord Ruler had started Project Eden. A new district outside the city to raise children until their Aura awakens. But the biggest flaw was the loss of ability if you left the dome. Meaning you had to remain inside it to maintain your ability. You were basically stuck in New Miami, at least if what you wanted was to keep your ability. Like Johnathan wanted. 

"So you must choose." Wren added, looking at Johnathan. "Which side you'll take. What is it that you'll soon be fighting for."

"I… I'm not…"

"Relax," Elek said, placing a hand on Johnathan's shoulder. "If you do decide to betray us, the worse that'll happen is you'll be fighting us during Spectre's attack. We won't tell Lady Ada, if that's what you're worried about. We all have our secret's Johnny boy."

"I… I'm not-" Johnathan's cell phone rang then, interrupting him. It was a text from Elsa, that she was waiting for him at the nearby parking lot. He looked to Elek, then Wren. "You're right that I don't want to lose my ability. But I swore allegiance to Lady Ada. I won't be betraying her, you have my word. And my words mean something, you know this."

Wren nodded. "I do."

Johnathan returned the gesture. "I have to go, Elsa's here."