With her pride intact, she rose to her feet and met his gaze. Even though he appeared mysterious, she was determined not to let it sway her.
"Where's your boat?"
"Boat?"
"Don't," she pointed her trembling finger at him. "I saw you riding on one. Before I…"
"Manya," he said. She had the desire to speak, but her emotions had sealed her mouth shut. "Calm down."
"…" Her gaze fixated on the horizon, where another wave of warships had emerged. "We have to move!"
"I agree."
With a swift movement, he pulled his hands between their faces. Then he snapped his fingers. An immediate sensation of weightlessness engulfed her, forced her to doubt her feet on the platform. Time seemed to slow as she struggled to understand the unexpected shift.
The platform she stood on descended along with her and—the ocean floor—holding the incoming hostilities. The laws of nature had disappeared. A massive square bowl developed in the ocean, with warships and turret boats acting as seasonings. The gunshots and missiles were converging with the ocean roar.
From his "Kada (Iron bangle)", a blue glittery smoke arose and transformed into a sphere around the size of a marble. When their eyes locked, a chill ran down her back. He had a deceitful gaze. The small, captivating blue marble floated nearer to her lips and broke apart. A projection of her own face appeared before her. Her lips were adorned with a complex blue layer resembling a lipstick wax.
'Pulse Nullifier equipped,' a male voice announced. 'Speak the command clearly.'
"What command?" she said.
'Command to deactivate the desired target.'
The man gestured towards the helicopters and now ariots in the sky. "Deactivate the helicopters and ariots," she said. Within a second, the deafening roar of helicopter blades ceased, followed by the sudden fall of ariots. A grin spread across her face. With a violent clash, the hostile forces submerged into the unforgiving depths of the ocean.
A sudden jolt of electricity struck her body, collapsing her muscles. She stumbled backwards until her legs gave away, collapsing on the platform. Confusion filled her as she tried to make sense of what had just occurred. Struggling, she looked towards the man beside her, occupied with typing on his device. Even though he was glad to notice her breathing, he continued to avoid touching her. "You won't die," he said. "The last version sent a user into a coma. Don't worry, I have written a review. They'll look into it."
Kill him please, someone, just tear this man apart!!
He took a brief look at the wreckage he had brought about. "Can't play with nature for long, can we?" he snapped his fingers again. The force of the ocean floor pushed her relentlessly. Even with his deception and her physical pain, her heart raced with excitement. The events unfolding felt surreal, surpassing even her wildest imagination. Every possible hostile machinery got swallowed by the ocean.
The floor levelled again, but the surprising part was that the platform beneath her was still rising.
"We are going to fall!" she said.
His eyes softened with sympathy. To her astonishment, the platform beneath her started undergoing a transformation in the very next moment. It rippled and shifted until it resembled a sleek speed boat. With a splash, it descended and settled gracefully onto the ocean floor.
"Most people pass out after experiencing it firsthand," he said.
She took a step back. "Who-Who are you?"
He smiled. "A loner."
"Name? Wait—it was you. The only solo unranked," she said. "Your name… Yes, Happy."
His eyes alight with admiration. "You're not as foolish as I thought."
"Foolish?"
"Yeah, only a fool would fly through waterspouts without a baaz."
"I am not a fool. It was all I had to work with!"
"Then please care to shower your esteemed wisdom on this lowly being about your skilled intellect?"
He speaks like them! But. "Are you an angel? Or do you work for them?" Like he'll tell the truth if he is. She doubted that the barrier surrounding her would work against him.
Disgust spread across his face. He pushed the barrier partition towards her; trapping her in the corner. His intense gaze bore into her, piercing and firm.
"What are you doing here alone?" he said.
She recounted every detail of her experiences since joining the team of Sevians. Her words filled with a tinge of regret and frustration for trusting a stranger with her truth. From the moment they met, he emanated an unsettling presence, wavering her emotions.
He giggled. "So, our little princess here got betrayed by her own teammates." His laughter echoed through the horizon.
Like Yash, he also laughed at her and at their first meeting. And his smile vibrating through the oceanic winds; she ended up laughing along with him. The tension encircling her heart diminished as mist in the sun. He swayed his palm and the debris of ships and boats vanished, leaving behind a peaceful ocean mirroring the endless sky.
***
Her heart skipped a beat over a storage space that emerged from the middle of the boat. Inside, a mouthwatering display of food. Happy grabbed a packet that looked like salt chips and leaned against the boat's edge, savouring each bite.
Manya, with drool dripping down, slyly grabbed the tempting chocolate bar when he wasn't looking. Yet, the instant she laid her hands on it, the space unexpectedly moved downwards, taking her by surprise.
He chuckled.
"Stop laughing! Help!" Manya said. He kept exploring every aspect of his delicious cuisine. "Please! Help."
"Could have asked. Politely," he said.
"But," she said.
He moved closer. "But asking isn't fun like stealing, right?" he said.
Warmth spread across her cheeks as she nodded. The space moved back up a second later. Startled by sudden movement, she looked away just in time to feel a light thud on her head; and a chocolate bar falling beside her next second. With a sheepish smile, she tore open the bar and devoured it. While eating, she stole a look at him, feeling grateful for his help.
"Thank you," she mumbled through a mouth full of food. "Why aren't we moving?"
"Nice question. Any guesses?" he said.
"Maybe because this shapeshifting thing is low on fuel?"
A short giggle escaped him before he composed himself, reverting to his serious look.
"We aren't moving, because we are not a team."
"Oh… I know, and I wanted to ask you, why did you, saved me?"
"What say, I am a kind soul," he half-smiled.
"But not even a kind soul would cause such a chaos for a stranger."
"I was also thinking the same. I think I am kinder." He checked himself out of admiration.
She smiled. "Can I offer you a deal?"
"A deal." He pointed at her, "You. Offer." He pointed at himself. "To me?" He laughed like a kid. "Its easy being foolish, isn't it?" He moved closer. "Humour me."
Before continuing, she took a moment to adjust her posture and moved forward. "We both are solo, so… You know, we can become a…" Her eyes flickered. "Team?"
Hoping for a laugh, she received an unamused expression on his face.
"A team? Ok," he said. He extended his arm, offering a handshake, but stopped halfway. "Everyone knows about my worth, even those." He glanced at the ocean. "But what's your worth?"
It felt like a sudden blow to her, leaving her taken aback. At that moment, all the warmth and friendliness she had experienced disappeared. The person she had considered trustworthy since the beginning now seemed no better than others who desired her, only for their own advantage. If she had known how to use the weapons on her forearms, she wouldn't have to even talk to him. It wasn't the matter of worthiness. What hindered her progress was her inexperience in this unfamiliar world.
Faced with a choice, she found herself at a crossroads—hold on to false pride or confront her vulnerabilities in front of a stranger who knowingly annoys her with his chewing. Unsure of his motives, whether they were kind or malicious, she acknowledged he possessed the key to her growth and a way out. Until she achieved a position where she could rely on herself.
"What do I have to do? To become worthy," she said.
His smile held a touch of surprise. "One can change." The boat's engine roared to life, propelling it forward across the ocean.
"What's the meaning of this? Are we a team, now?" she said.
"Don't raise your hopes. You have received a chance to prove your worth. Show me your mission detail."
***
After all her futile efforts to summon the details, she faced him. "Could you, like, tell me, how to?" In a split second, her mission details appeared before her. She didn't even press or said anything? Her astonishment peaked as he reached out and grabbed the holographic screen, turning it towards himself. After reading its content, he burst into a fit of giggles.
"Amazing," he said. "It's not been a week for you, and someone already wants you dead."
"Dead?" she said. "Why? and who wants me dead?"
"One should know how to prioritise things as per situations," he said. A series of gunfire hit the boat's edge. It was blurry, but a huge island peaked through a dense fog, "Your question should be how should I handle that," he pointed at the island, "Which you have to deal," He throws a stone like object towards the island and gazed back at her. "Alone."