André got up with some difficulty, supporting himself on his closed fists. The injuries hadn't healed yet; he couldn't open his hands and didn't even know if he would ever regain movement in his fingers. From what Felipe had said, he was lucky he didn't need to have his hands amputated.
Zita was standing next to André; facing the two were Lucas and Léo. Felipe watched the four exchange glances while keeping a few meters' distance. The crowd of relatives surrounded them; they all felt that this was not the time for a fight.
As André was still getting to his feet, Léo extended his hand in a friendly gesture, flashing his typical smile. As soon as their eyes were at the same level, their fists touched, since they couldn't shake hands. Zita's smile became radiant and the people present applauded; it was certainly a moving scene, the long-awaited reunion.
What a pity that things weren't quite like that...
Before they could start any dialogue that might lead to a third world war, Felipe interfered, indicating to the three newcomers the direction they should follow after catching up with their families, and explaining the schedule to be met in a long agenda of meetings, interviews, and document analyses.
When he finished, André had already returned to his quarters—or to the kitchen, which was a place frequently visited by the last hero to return. Felipe went back to say goodbye to his family and went ahead to the lower floor of the underground building, where the heroes' quarters and the command center were located.
Felipe found Kawã waiting for him in his personal office, and there they discussed matters regarding their respective facilities, until Lídia arrived notifying them that the other three heroes had also arrived.
Arriving at the reception room, Felipe and Kawã found a sea of people surrounding the last three heroes. André and the other heroes had also been informed of the arrival of the last three and went to meet them.
"We finally arrived!" said the first person to disentangle herself from the photographers and greet the family.
It was a girl, a little shorter than Zita. She had short black hair, wore a moss-green tank top, ripped jeans, leather ankle boots with a small heel, and a brown jacket tied around her waist, with Ray-Ban glasses hanging from the neckline of her tank top and leather gloves that didn't cover her fingertips.
"Anne!" Zita gave a little squeal of happiness. "You really came..."
"Zita!" Anne shouted back.
While Anne and Zita hugged, satisfying their longing, another person came out of the crowd.
"Don't forget me, I like hugs too..." said another person entering right behind.
This time it was a man, with long wavy black hair coming out from under the cap hiding his eyes. He wore a loose long-sleeved shirt, baggy pants, and flip-flops.
"I can't believe Eduardo came too; it must have been hard work for you to manage to bring him!" exclaimed Lucas as he went to greet them.
"I forced him to come; either he came, or no Netflix," said the third person to enter.
This one was a bit chubby, had narrowed eyes and hair combed to the side. He wore a striped polo shirt, jeans, and white shoes.
"Welcome, Jonas!" said Léo, reaching out his hand to greet him.
The following moment was filled with hugs and warm greetings, where the heroes caught up with one another.
After the reception, Anne explained that the reason for the delay was Eduardo, who forgot to wake up at the right time, causing the three to miss the plane, so they had to wait for the next flight from France to Brazil.
In the midst of all the commotion over the arrival of the three, only André had remained where he was since entering, but no one found it strange; that was his way. Thus, everyone proceeded to the location determined for the meeting.
Foreseeing a possible disagreement, Felipe requested that the meeting be held in the training room. It was a place more suitable for people accustomed to resolving things with their powers. Now that everyone was at the location, the meeting had to begin; the first agenda item had already been defined.
"Léo requested a power hearing with André!" explained Felipe. "By the rules we always maintained, I see no reason to refuse, so it depends on André accepting."
"And why would we do that?" asked André.
"It is just a friendly fight to prove that you have no power left at all. Since warriors with powers adapt to using their power during fights instinctively, you just have to go to the end without demonstrating any trace of mystical energy and we will believe you..."
"I accept!" exclaimed André.
"Great..." Felipe was visibly nervous. "Since we don't have an arena, let's use the central circle of this room as boundaries. But just to avoid problems, let's go over the rules:
If you leave the circle, you lose. If you fall, or get knocked out, you lose. You can give up. You cannot kill. And since André is without powers, Léo also cannot use his; if he uses them, he loses."
A murmur formed for a few moments; how was it possible that André had lost his powers? Felipe raised his right arm, pointing to the center of the circle; everyone fell silent. André and Léo entered.
Zita approached the line of the circle saying:
"If Léo breaks the rule about using his powers, or if André lied about having lost his, I will be the only one allowed to stop the fight."
Everyone present agreed.
Felipe lowered his arm; at the same instant, absolute silence took over the environment—one could hear hearts beating. Léo made a movement as if he were going to walk and vanished, appearing behind André, ready to punch with all his strength...