I Miss You, My Princess.

"I think I need a drink," I replied, truly parched.

"Sir," Nadia responded, handing me a bottle from her backpack.

"Thank you," I said, quickly opening the bottle to drink, trying to calm my racing heart. Shortly after, Lee and his members disappeared, leaving Nadia and me alone. I exhaled deeply and leaned back, glancing at Nadia. With my dark sunglasses on, I'd bet she couldn't tell if I was sleeping or staring at her.

I missed her.

"Sir, are you also a 'receive'?" she asked. I swallowed hard. I had no understanding of "receive", "dominant", or "tyrant". Did they learn all this in their BtP school and training? I hadn't even read about it in superhuman books. I didn't respond, feigning another sip from my drink instead. Nadia remained silent, perhaps seeing me, who had spoken to Team Leader Lee, as her senior or holding a more important position than hers.

Thankfully so.

"Sir."

"Hmm..." I replied.

"Perhaps this isn't the right time, but I am a 'copier'," Nadia said hesitantly. "Could you provide some insight about 'dominant'? No one in BtP Luminescia has mastery over 'dominant'." My head spun. If no one in BtP Luminescia knew 'dominant', surely I wouldn't! Especially since they called me "dominant" and, unfortunately, were convinced I could do it. I felt sweat forming.

What mess have I stepped into?

"Ehmm.." I started, trying to clear my throat, "Tell me what you know about 'dominant' first, perhaps I can help."

I'm doomed. I have absolutely no idea what "dominant" is. It's actually me who wants to know.

Nadia's face lit up with a smile as she looked at me, "Dominant is a superhuman ability that can dominate its opponents to use their power, essentially forcing them under our influence."

"Can you give an example?" I asked, pretending to be the knowledgeable one when in reality, I was clueless. Nadia paused to think and then explained, "I have the power to become invisible, and I can dominate my clothes and equipment to become invisible with me since they are inanimate objects. It's different for living beings that have their own powers; I cannot channel my strength to them and make them disappear with me unless I have the power to dominate them, or they have the 'receive' power to accept my strength. As for you, who can exert power to dominate many people at once, you would be considered a 'Tyrant'."

Sweat trickled down my forehead. This was the first time I'd heard of this. I was used to channeling my energy into inanimate objects, but never on humans. I wasn't aware that my power couldn't envelop humans who already possessed their own energy. No wonder Chief Lee asked earlier if I needed equipment to transport them, but I arrogantly claimed I could lift them all at once.

Tyrant? Damn, I don't even know 'dominant'.

About three minutes had passed, and I needed to try something before I attempted to carry the group of 20 people. "Give me your hand," I said, extending my palm. Nadia looked slightly embarrassed but placed her hand on mine. Her soft hand warmed my blood and stirred emotions within me. A familiar and beautiful sensation flowed through me, one I had longed for so long.

Damn it, this isn't the time.

I needed to see if I could dominate or not, so I channeled energy from my heart to envelop her. Instantly, I felt my energy wrap around her, but not entirely, only on the surface. It enveloped her clothes, but it seemed like it couldn't penetrate her body. Nadia's body had its own energy resisting mine. In other words, my energy merely enveloped her, meaning she couldn't fly. Turns out, when I was lifting the bus, I used the bus as a medium to carry the people inside. It's different when applied directly to humans.

"I need to do something or I will fail to deliver them all and face embarrassment. I become restless and force my energy to enter the inner body of Nadia. However, it remains unsuccessful, and I even lose the sensation of my energy.

Maybe I should run now and leave everything, including the bus, below. I've saved them; I owe them nothing, and they can find their own way out. I stare at the sky above and can fly anytime; they can't possibly chase me, after all, they don't know me. Rather than facing humiliation and revealing my disguise here.

"Sir," Nadia suddenly said, drawing my attention back to her hand in mine. Damn, I need to be more calm, using my heart, energy, and feelings, not my head. I'll try again, take a deep breath and close my eyes; the calmer I feel, the smoother my energy seems to flow. Noises start to fade, and then the subtle energy surrounding Nadia seems to find gaps around her body to enter and soon it has pervaded her entire inner self.

"Wow," Nadia said, slightly gasping from a light feeling. When I open my eyes, I see that we are hovering a few centimeters above the floor, feeling a unity of energy with Nadia's body.

Did I succeed?

I'm probably the most surprised, my eyes widening.

"This is the first time someone has dominated their power over me," Nadia smiled, "It feels good."

I smiled, caught up in Nadia's joy, "Want to try doing it to me?" I asked, feeling I could guide her after succeeding. I release my power, and we sit back on the floor. Nadia smiles sweetly, then her body starts to fade from my view, but I still feel the warmth of her hand. I close my eyes, concentrating on sensing her energy, and after a while, I feel an energy, distinctly hers, creeping over me. It feels different from the flying energy that's light and warm, the energy from Nadia's hand feels neutral, neither warm nor cold, more like a sensation of emptiness or void.

It wraps around me but feels slightly rougher than my energy, so it can't penetrate. Gently, I intend from my heart to let my energy open up and allow hers to flow freely within me. Accepting her energy and also herself, Nadia. A moment later, I already feel Nadia's light energy flowing freely inside me, and I feel like I'm disappearing. When I open my eyes, I see that I have disappeared."

"Receive," Nadia said, laughing joyfully, "You let my power flow into you, I didn't dominate at all." Honestly, I was overjoyed hearing her beautiful laughter and also because we were energetically connected. It felt so united, so perfect and harmonious.

"Sir, I apologize," Nadia suddenly said, "Chief Lee has called us to gather."

It ruins the mood, I thought, still reveling in her energy flowing within me. I looked at Chief Lee and several of his fully-armed subordinates, probably about twenty people gathered in the middle of the building.

"We'll fly there," I said.

I began to channel my flying energy from the center of my chest, my heart, a subtle sensation began to flow through, but I didn't like it because it was pushing and dominating Nadia's disappearing energy out of my chest. It was Nadia's energy and I didn't want to dominate it.

I want a harmony.

I closed my eyes again and felt my flying energy weave between the gaps of the disappearing energy, mixing with every existence of her energy and harmoniously combining into a new kind of energy, light and warm energy that also felt very light and void, a blend of disappearing and flying energy. With that, I managed to channel all that energy towards Nadia and myself, then I opened my eyes and we hovered slightly above the floor heading towards Chief Lee. Upon reaching in front of Chief Lee, who couldn't see us, I released my energy and so did Nadia, making us instantly appear before him.

Chief Lee looked surprised, "I didn't hear your footsteps."

"We flew," Nadia replied, sounding a bit nervous and excited.

"Synchronization!" whispered some members there, and Chief Lee looked at me, this time truly startled.

"Alpha, you never cease to amaze me," Chief Lee smiled.

I had no idea what he was so surprised about.

***

Nadia looked at her still clasped hand, her chest pounding heavily. Ever since she touched Alpha's hand, she felt a sensation that she recognized that hand, a familiarity, warmth, and the emotions brought by it. She tried to peek at Alpha's face but saw nothing that could make her recognize him more clearly. The broad sunglasses, the tightly worn hat, and the face smeared with smoke and specks of blood gave her no hint. However, the chin of the masked man and the man called Alpha were identical.

Nadia just remained silent. She knew Alpha wasn't the man's real name, but it seemed Chief Lee didn't inquire further after their coded conversation. Certainly, this man wasn't just anyone; he said he could carry 20 people at once, perform dominance, receive, tyrant, and even synchronize energy.

Only the elite of the elites from the international BtP might be capable of such feats. And, of course, he would easily be able to defeat Jess and Daniel. But a sudden thought stung Nadia, "Does Alpha recognize her?" After all, wasn't she also wearing a mask then? Contemplating that, Nadia grew anxious. In the end, she could only ask him directly.

***

"How will you transport us?" Lee asked. I observed that there were 20 of them, each with a fairly large bag and complete with their weapons.