Chapter 86

Exchanging Volleys

"Darcy," Stephen said, not taking his eye off the ball above us. "Can you not move either?"

"You too? What's going on?" I tried to lift my legs with my arms, then tried to use my mental powers. No dice.

"Here's the next step of the training," Kenzo said. "You're going to play a game of volleyball. But with some special rules. Darcy and Stephen, you are forbidden from moving. To hit the ball you have to use your powers. Netta and Bowser, you have no restrictions. Just don't go easy on them."

Dowser and Netta shared a look and then the former broke into a wide grin.

"You know I won't," he said as he pounded his fists together. "Gimme the ball, Teach!"

Without even waiting to fully and properly start the game, the ball darted to Dowser's side of the court where he leapt up and slammed his head into it. The ball sailed over to our side and my energy rushed to the surface, spinning out of my arm in a pink flurry. The blast hit the ball and sent it right back to Dowser, just as fast if not faster.

He'd barely landed back on the ground, his eyes wide but unable to do anything to hit it back. It nailed him in the stomach and bounced off toward the net. Right as it was about to hit a cluster of ice sprang up, knocking it back up and further toward their side of the net, straight into Netta's fist as she bopped it back.

"I got it!" Stephen yelled.

His yellow energy swelled out, taking the form of a hand, making me nostalgic for the battle royale days. But just as he was about to whack it, another pillar of ice appeared above the ball and slammed it down. The ball touched down right between Stephen’s feet.

“Hey, whoa, that has to be cheating,” I said, looking toward Kenzo for confirmation.

He scratched his chin. “I’ll allow it.”

Netta cheered and Stephen groaned. “Come on, that isn’t fair,” he grumbled.

“In a game of volleyball, sure. But this is training. And anything goes.” He winked.

“When are things ever going to be stacked this high against us?” Stephen asked. “We can’t move but the enemy can hammer us from all sides?”

“Have you forgotten what Darcy is facing?” Kenzo said and that seemed to get to Stephen. “The User Killers will not give her an inch. So neither will we here. We must prepare her for the worst most insurmountable odds. And with these handicaps, her powers will develop even further.”

Stephen quieted then and said, “Alright, I get you. In that case, I’m not holding back either.”

“Why were you in the first place?” I asked as I picked up the ball, put intention in my fist, and slammed it over the net.

Netta went for it, jumping up, hands reaching. But Stephen’s energy formed a wall at her hands and cut off her path toward the ball. Her wrist bent unnaturally and she fell back down with a shout.

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The ball hit Stephen’s mental wall and flew even farther over the court where it would land out of bounds.

Like I would let that happen. I held my hand out, my mind leaping ahead toward the ball and with a flick of my hand my mind batted it down, guiding it around Dowser’s swipe and to the sand below.

Kenzo clapped a normal celebratory one this time. “I believe the game is afoot now! Let’s see what else you all’ve got.”

The game continued like that, escalating in scale until eventually not even Dowser or Netta moved all that much with their feet. The game became a battle of projectiles and mentally redirecting the ball. Dowser might have been out of his element without any powers of his own, but his arm's length was just so massive that that alone kept him in the game. And Netta did such a good job filling in his weaknesses with her ice. Between the two of them Stephen and I really had a run for our money.

I would like to tell you that we kept track of the score, that we played multiple games and there was an overall winner, but Kenzo was adamant of both not worrying about such things and also not stopping.

We played for hours. Literally nonstop until I ran out of mental juice. Way before Stephen did, I might add. That frustrated me a little.

Okay, a lot.

As we took our first break, collapsing into beach chairs, each one of us a sweaty mess, I brought it up to Stephen.

“You’ve surpassed me it seems like,” I said, trying to sound casual.

He had his eyes closed, and his limbs sprayed across the arms of the chair, looking more dead than alive. But he just shook his head. “Nah. Maybe in my mental mana pool, but that’s it. You’re still the undisputed badass.”

“Badass, huh? It’s funny that either one of us could be something like that. Do you ever think about how far we’ve come?”

I’d been staring at him even though his eyes were closed. He opened them. “All the time. You are definitely not a loser anymore.”

I laughed. “I’m not but you still are? In what universe.”

But he got serious. “In this one. The one where everything I’ve gotten came from your badassery. I’m still a loser because I’m unproven.”

“Stop it,” I said. “I couldn’t have made it this far without you. I mean, yeah, I did a lot of stuff solo. But so did you it seems like.”

“All my solo stuff was cut down in that mansion. You saved my ass, yet again. And even now, you are going to be the one who really saves Sam. Me? I haven’t won anything.”

I was quiet. I didn’t really look at it that way. I could understand why he felt like that but…

“You’re not a loser,” I said with as much seriousness as I could muster.

He waved me off. “It’s okay, I’m not demoralized over it. It’s motivating me. I still have to prove that I’m worth something. That I’m good enough to stand beside you as an equal. Right now, I’m a sidekick. A failed one at that, that took all the credit for stuff you helped me do. I’ve got a lot to prove.”

“Do you wish you were in my place instead?” I asked.

He nodded.

“You would face the User Killers just to prove yourself?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Well let’s see what we can do about having you switch places with me, then, hell yeah!”

That got him laughing. “I just… want to do something great. Like you do, all the time, so effortlessly,”

I scoffed. “Effortlessly? Nothing I do is without effort. I just sort of stumble my way to sort of kind of success. And you do the same, I know you do. You gotta stop beating yourself up over stealing my thunder. There will be tons of opportunities for you to prove yourself. The tournament hasn’t even fully started, man. I imagine most things during the full show will be a solo affair. Then that’s all on you. I couldn’t save your ass even if I wanted to.”

“Oh, I know. I’m counting on it.” He sat up in his chair, looking much more lively.

“So you’re really training hard, huh?” I brought the conversation back around to its beginning.

“I have. Both mentally and physically. I’ll be ready.”

I held out my fist. “Me, too. Once I survive this and save Sam, the tournament is next.”

He pumped my fist. “Hell yeah.” He smiled during the fist bump but then it vanished. “You know… what are we gonna do if we ever have to face each other?”

I thought about it. “Cry,” I finally said.

We both died laughing. But I knew, in the back of our heads, we both were seriously worried about that. And not just between us but what if we had to face Dowser or Netta? How could we possibly fight against each other?