Chapter 20: The Storm which Heralded Change.

Having finally arrived on their destination, the resistance still need to investigate, and they'll find more then they could have imagined.

As their mobile base broke the surface for the trip's final leg, they could finally lay eyes on the island, which rose like a smudge of emerald from the endless sweep of restless slate gray of the choppy waters. It looked tranquil, or at least, as much as it could in current conditions. White sands curved in perfect crescents, palm trees dotting the coastline, leaning lazily over the shore, with what appeared to be mangroves off to the south.

It looked like a great vacation spot, if not for angry gray waves that rolled in harder than normal, breaking against those beaches with hard, hollow crashes. With the rain finally letting up, Zero could stand out on deck, viewing things with a pair of binoculars, the wind carried the harsh scent of salt as it tugged at his cape, whishing it back and fourth with enough force both Sirenoid and Elfin had decided against their typical spot on his shoulders and instead hid in his cape's folds.

Above, the sky remained swollen with low, bruised clouds, and only occasionally did the bright afternoon light pierce the gloom, only to be swallowed up by the clouds yet again.

"We should be on dry…ish land in about 10 minutes," Mira said, having stepped onto the deck herself. Gazing up at the dark skies, she added with a frown. “Let’s hope we can set things up before another storm rolls in.”

"The island appears larger than expected. Perhaps we can find a spot to hide the base while we conduct the search," Zero replied, lowering his binoculars. Mira let out a snort as she came to stand at his side, looking out at the speak of land growing in the distance as they approached.

“What? You were expecting something smaller? Perhaps a tiny piece of sand and a palm tree?” Mira asked, referencing a line Ace had used not too long ago, which got a chuckle out of the masked man.

"Perhaps I was expecting three palm trees, plenty of space for us to relax out of the sun," Zero joked. But it's certainly a large land mass. We might be able to break out our bikes to scout the place while Ace and Baron handle things with the base."

"Yeah, they'll never let us forget if we leave it all to them. Sorry, Zero, but you'll be helping with that." Mira replied, to which Zero looked her way. While she couldn't see it, she figured he had raised an eyebrow.

"I believe you misspoke. You meant to say we'll be helping with that." He corrected, but she shook her head.

"No, I meant it. I'll leave that to you; the weight of leadership means I'll need to focus my attention elsewhere." Mira let out a dejected sigh as fake as Britannian generosity. Zero knowing for a fact, she was just avoiding the boring and tiring manual labour.

But he had done similar things in the past with the Black Knights, so this had to be some sort of cosmic justice for all the times he had frustrated his soldiers. Lord knew Tamaki complained about that enough times, so as much as he disliked it, he couldn't refuse.

He ignored how Elfin was giggling in his cape.

Mira’s smile didn’t fade, but there was a shift in her eyes as she looked at him and then out towards the island, leaning against the guard rails. “Mind telling me what we’re after here in the first place? This spot is pretty out of the way of anything.”

It was an innocent question, even expected, as he hadn't given a clear reason when he proposed this. After fighting their way through a multi-day storm, it was only logical that Mira, and no doubt the rest, would be curious. Still, how much could he give?

Elfin stuck out of his cape, looking at him in a way that Zero got, and she gave him an encouraging smile. “It’s fine, Zero. It’s about time she heard this.” Elfin spoke, though she didn’t sound as confident as she typically did, but more vulnerable and scared.

Sirenoid seemed to be in agreement, and stepping in for Elfin, the two explained things to Mira. They didn't mention what she didn't need to know, so the truth of his origin, geass, and Wavern was kept to themselves. Instead, they framed their knowledge of this as being from a trusted informant with whom Zero had irregular contact.

When it was all said and done, Mira’s smile had faded into a contemplative smile—not just at this news but at the feeling in her gut that the two weren't giving her everything, but she didn't push them on it. She had her secrets, and she didn't mind if others had them as well—so long as they didn't interfere with their mission.

Speaking of the mission, she had never thought they would get another chance like this. “Preyas…I would have never guessed he was here.” Her quiet musings were almost lost in the winds, as they had been unable to secure any of the remaining Legendary Bakugan. She had thought about hunting down the rest to ensure they didn't fall into Vexos hands, but ultimately decided to liberate the Bakugan as a whole.

Elfin spoke up once more, unsure and worried. "We…think he's here. Our source was reliable, but he could have moved by now, so we didn't want to get your hopes up since…you know."

Mira nodded, knowing the feeling Elfin was going through well, and thus she tried to keep her spirits up. "Don't worry about us. It'll be a bummer if this turns out to be a bad lead, but we should try to stay optimistic, right?"

‘That’s not the only thing on my mind…’ Zero knew she wasn’t speaking to him, but he couldn’t help but linger on that, recalling how his evening had gone.

Mira drew his attention again, giving him an odd look. "Hey, you can come to me if you need to talk. I'm good at keeping people's secrets."

“I…” Zero didn't need to rely on others for such; he was a symbol, larger than any single person. “Might take you up on that, one of these days…” But Lelouch was mortal, with all the weaknesses and flaws that it entailed. Maybe he wouldn't like this, maybe he would still refuse, but he was involved in an entirely new conflict with beasts out of fiction and myth on an alien world, in another dimension to boot.

He would need to adapt if he was going to keep his sanity.

His answer seemed to please Mira as she stood up and patted his shoulder. "Come on, let's go back up inside. We need to get onto land and find a spot to park, and I really don't want to get caught in the rain in this outfit." She glanced at her outfit, her eyes moving to her legs, which were as curvy as they were toned. She looked great in those pants and boots of hers.

"Perhaps you should weatherproof it, " he commented, to which she rolled her eyes and made her way to the door. Mask or not, she knew he was checking her out, and for some reason, she didn't mind it as much. In fact, it was nice to see that even the mysterious masked man wasn't made of stone.

“Word of advice, my dear masked brawler, when a lady brings up her outfit, you either compliment or keep your piece. You’ll never get a girlfriend otherwise.” She teased him, to which Lelouch frowned, recalling how things with Shirley had ended and how popular he was with girls in general.

“As if I need help with that,” he muttered, as if he didn't care what Rivalz said. It was exhausting to be that desirable and counterproductive, as the last thing he needed was some spoiled heiress trying to force his hand and learn something she shouldn't have.

“You say something?” Mira asked, already at the door, having opened it but not stepped back in yet.

Zero turned on his heel to follow her. “I said I would assume women respect honest input from others they trust.”

Line Break

Waking up, a certain Aquos Bakugan opened up, letting out a yawn as they stretched the best they could in their weak ball form. As they gained their senses, they noticed that it was quiet. There was no pelting rain, howling winds, or lightning that seemed dead set on roasting him alive. Crawling out from their small hole in a tree, they sighed when they saw things had calmed.

"Oh boy, has it finally stopped with the rain and the noise? I love a good dance in the rain as much as the next Bakugan, but that was too much." The Aquos member of the 6 Legendary Bakugan, Preyas, sighed in relief. Still, it didn't last as he thought about his plans since arriving.

It had taken a ridiculous amount of effort, his charming charisma, self-proclaimed elite skills, and a healthy pinch of luck to make it this far. If he weren't stuck in this…ball shape, it would have been easy, barely inconvenient. But that wasn't the case thanks to a certain group of invaders. He had gotten a few days ago, but had only gotten the barest search in before the rains came in, which forced him to take shelter the entire time.

"Now, I've only been here a day without the risk of getting washed back the way I came, so I still need to search the place. Ahem…" He coughed, and to make up for lost time, he yelled as loud as he could. “Hey, anyone there! Imma looking for some ole friends!”

He waited…and waited…and waited some more, but all he got was the chirps of some annoyed birds, not even the one he was looking for, as she would never 'chirp', no matter how often he begged.

Sighing, he had to admit his first plan was a bust. "Oh man, Drago hated it when I yelled and always would respond…maybe he's deeper into the place." He might not be on the island, but Preyas couldn't let himself fall into those depressing thoughts. Things had been sad enough as is. He was the funny one, the guy with the wisecrack and an exceptional, if he did say so himself, comedy routine. However, he did have a friend who was his peer in that, which might have already surpassed him if she could work on her act.

Again, he sighed, much deeper than before, as if he had shoulders, they'll be slumped right about now. “Ha…Elfin would love this place. We can stash all the Bakugan here, no Vestal bozos to snatch us up and all the fun time we could have.” He loved those days with the frog girl. He loved his friends, he really did, but they were all so serious so often…well, not Tigrerra. She tried, but dang was she bad at it.

Elfin was different; she was just a chill gal, as extroverted and fun-loving as he was, and when he was feeling down in the dumps, she made him laugh-him! He could already see it now, almost hear her voice as they managed things here, away from danger, from harm as they just rode things out. “Just us…”

No, he couldn't think like that. What sort of yellow-bellowed scaredy cat would just want to hide? Not him. He was made of tougher stuff than that. It was why he made the hard choice to leave without telling her. Knowing his Elfin, she would have tried to convince him to join him and probably succeeded, as he wasn't brave enough to say no to his friends.

"Snap out of it, main man Preyas! You can't let the doom and gloom get to you; we've got a mission of the impossible variety.  She'll be mighty super ticked off, but she'll see you didn't rush to get milk…" Then he recalled for all her cheer, when she got mad….

“Or she smacks up so many times I start losing colour and can audition for Haos Preyas.” Yeah, maybe he would need to work on his apology and a present before returning, but first, he would need to find his friends.

Waddling out, he started looking for signs of a Bakugan roughing it up here. But as he did so, he couldn't shake this feeling in his gut, which had formed during the storm as his home wasn't a tropical paradise but something about…“Still, is my tummy just upset, or did that crazy storm have something…off to it?” He asked, but had to just turn and continue with his search. "All the more reason to get started with the search and fast. Drago would know about that, and it would be even better if it were Tigrerra. They were a lot better at this mystical stuff.”

Line Break

New Vestroia wasn't like any other planet, certainly not like those Wavern had seen within the mind of her champion. Even before it formed into what it was now, her home dimension would break most of the laws of physics that Lelouch had come to learn or understand.

For that reason, at the core of the planet wasn't some metal so hot it could remain liquified for hundreds of millions of years, but instead lay the hidden second dimension of New Vestroia, a realm without shape, without solids, liquids, or gasses, and where concepts like space and physical forms dissolved into nothingness. Here, nothing weighed, fractioned, and all moved in rhythm and out of SNYC at the same time.

Oh sure, she could make out the shape she once had, but she knew it was an illusion, a product of her mind to help keep her sane after she gave her everything for her fellow Bakugan, to stop her brother in his endless and destructive drive for power, for more…

She should have known that just because he had been absorbed by the Silent core, his insatiable drive wouldn't fade away any more than her own core beliefs and personality hadn't waned or faded despite the eons she had been less of a Bakugan and more of a concept, a rule of nature.

'I was preoccupied with those Vestals and their invasion, I was foolish.' She thought, her head lowered in shame. This dance, this endless battle where they could not speak or even see each other, took most of her focus most days to keep her brother in check. But when she reached out to the human, she showed her brother it could be done. And he hadn't forgotten. She knew he didn't do it, if only because his methods would have been much more destructive, but she just knew with every fibre of her being that he had something to do with it.

She had no idea who he reached out to. She could only suspect it was something similar to her champion, a geass user, but her knowledge of it was sadly limited. She only gleamed through her champion’s mind, and outside the dead Mao and the immortal C.C., she had no further candidates.

Still, that earlier attempt contained clues. As when she had done so, even with as much care and gentleness as she could muster, she still left some…marks on both worlds, and needed to use that mysterious gate to do so.

Naga would need to use that as well, but she doubted it was the same one, if it was for no other reason than that it was on a deserted island. Also, if they were connected enough to make such a brutal attempt, it spoke to resources and knowledge, not just whatever her brother could feed them.

But what worried her more was the fact that she knew her brother. She knew the sort of monster he was and the types of Bakugan he had once drawn to his orbit, so she could only fear. Much like she chose someone who, despite his flaws, was still a champion for good, Naga would have selected a truly horrible, vile individual, made some sort of promise and power, and was about to unleash that on their world.

Lelouch's world was chaotic and tragic, with no shortage of power, either born as such or shaped into it by loss, destruction, and greed.

If she had strength, she would have reached out to Lelouch and warned him, but as it was, it was taxing enough to maintain her typical duties and handle the damage her brother's ego had already done. Now she feared she would need to prepare for future attempts.

"Be safe, Lelouch, Sirenoid, Elfin…trust each other and your comrades. For the crisis I fear will be one unlike any other." She mused, before letting the surface levels of her mind fade, returning her to the void where she would continue to exist as the living infinity core.

Line Break

Making landfall, the resistance moved their base deeper into the forest, or perhaps it would be closer to call it a jungle. It was dense, noisy, and humid despite the lack of real sunlight and winds that howled as they passed through branches and vines.

But it also meant cover, as the canopy was tall and dense enough to ensure they wouldn't see them if anyone had decided to fly over for whatever reason. It did mean Zero and Baron had to spend an hour covering up their clear and deep tracks left on the beach from the ocean into the forest. By the time they finished, they had to head out to help the others set him up before he and Mira could take off on their bikes to explore the place.

Unlike when he ran into Elfin, Zero had no luck despite the hours they spent looking. Still, even as time passed and they returned to have lunch, there was…something in the air. None of them could put their finger on it, but it felt like something wasn't right with this place. Zero felt this…twitch in his mind, right next to the mental switch he had gotten his geass. A twitch which, as the day went on, became something of a persistent buzz, seemingly to match the weather, which throughout the day seemed to grow worse, and yet, not a drop of rain fell.

Sirenoid, Elfin, and Juggernoid also felt it, which seemed to suggest that this was related to his strange night pains and perhaps to forces comparable to his patron.

But then Baron brought up a strange feeling as well, which the others agreed with, voicing similar concerns and feelings. He was able to steer the conversation to it being linked to the presence of Preyas and perhaps another of the 6 Legendary, though he couldn't explain why.

Line break

In a cave housing some ruins, Drago sat in silence. His mind was on many things, as it often was these days. He had journeyed here for a reason, only to find it was for naught, and yet…this place, so unfamiliar and yet dread and disgust enduring, called to him. He had worried that it was…him returning, or some other work of his, but he had found no such evidence.

Still, he couldn’t leave, not when he didn’t know, not when he could still learn if he-

Without warning, the sickening feeling he was experiencing faded, and in its place was a warm, kind, and inspiring spark. One that he had felt in the past, a long time ago. A feeling which he could never forget. “Wavern…is this your doing? Now of all times?” Was this her? It had to be.

“Dragoo!” That was not Wavern’s voice.

“What?” He asked himself, turning around to face the entrance, where he saw a Bakugan waddle in with all the grace of a ball with 2 left feet.

"Oh, Drago, buddy! It's me, you know you know me! Come out, I wanna talk, catch up, and play some games of charades!" Preyas called out, looking around the giant cave for his buddy. Sure, the place gave him the creeps and was similar to memories he would rather not think about, but if he knew that dragonoid, he would have shown up to investigate.

“Of course it’s him…” Drago sighed, though he couldn't keep the hint of fondness out of his voice as he stepped into view.

"Can't I have a moment of peace, Preyas?" he called out, his friend turning with a gasp and excitedly rushing towards him. He had a feeling that if Preyas could, he would crush him in a hug right now.

"Oh, Drago, you've had plenty of moments of boredom, but never fear, for I am here, the life of the party!" Preyas introduced himself with a twirl, which he felt the Aqous Bakugan had spent far too much time practicing.

"Same as ever I see," Drago noted.

"Why change perfection, ole buddy?" Preyas shot back but toned it back just a little, instead fusing his voice with a genuine tone of relief and barely holding back tears. "It's good to see you. I was starting to think I had gotten to the wrong island."

Draco wouldn't lie and say he wasn't emotional either; he just didn't bother hiding it, and if he could, he would be shedding tears as well. “It is good to see you as well, old friend. Though I had hoped our reunion would be under better times…”

Preyas wiggled back and forth. "Believe me, this ain't a cake day for me either. Also, why did you decide to come here of all places?" Preyas didn't gesture to the cave, or the creepy-looking door towards the back, but to the island in general. Unless his 6th sense was really bad, there was no way Draco could have felt this bad mojo approaching the island, never mind from the mainland.

“I had hoped to locate Tigrerra here after coming across some rumours, but I've been searching for the better part of a month now; no such luck." Draco replied, though he couldn't keep the sorrow out of his words at his failure to find their friend. He already knew for a fact that Hydranoid and Golem had fallen and had no word on Skyress, but he was sure that, along with Preyas, Tigrerra was still free.

"Well, I came looking because I heard either you or her would be here. It's a shame I didn't find the lovely feline first." Preyas joked, though he was just as relieved to have found anyone.

"I'm sorry for disappointing you," Draco's retort was dry. The skies outside flashed with lightning, and a blast of thunder passed moments later as it started to rain once more. “This weather.”

"You feel it, don't you?" Preyas didn't joke. His tone was as serious as the sick feeling both were getting from this place. "This isn't normal, and I know our normal has been not normal for a while now, but well, this is really not normal."

"Could be related to what occurred when I first arrived. A storm hit for around a day, but came out of nowhere. I had thought it was Naga, but it wasn't nearly as destructive." Draco replied, to which Preyas agreed.

“No kidding, his handiwork always leaves a giant mess to clean up, but why would Waven do this? She’s way too nice!” He asked for a follow-up, as it wasn't like many forces could do this.

“Perhaps she had good cause…”  Draco mused, but couldn't give a straight answer. When another bolt of lightning flashed through the already dark skies and the rain picked up, he made another suggestion. "Either way, we should get to shelter. I heard the voices of some Vestals close by, and I would not like to become their pet."

“You and me both, ole buddy. Lead the way.” Preyas moved to follow Draco deeper into the cave before they could be seen.

Line Break

The sun had set, but even without its light, the lightning flashes made it easier to see the rain through the darkness. "Looks like the weather's finally turned against us," Ace noted as he and the rest sat inside their base. They had returned from their last search in time to avoid getting soaked. Now they had their dinner.

“I was so looking forward to having dinner outside!” Baron complained.

"Baron, we can have dinner outside tomorrow," Mira told him, not having any issue with their arrangements. Besides, with Zero's cooking, it was still a great meal.

"We said that yesterday, and look how that went." Baron reminded her.

“Should we call off the night search? It would be hard to navigate through a downpour like this.” Ace asked, as they had gear for this, a must when they spent most of their time away from the cities, but it seemed like a bad idea to him.

“I wouldn’t advise such.” They turned to Zero, who sat next to Baron, his plate half empty, while the latch at the bottom of his mask, which allowed him to eat, remained open.

“Not all of us have cloaks and full head helmets.” Ace dryly reminded him, as Baron’s typical clothing didn’t even have sleeves.

Zero didn't immediately answer; instead, he took another bite of his food, silently chewed, and swallowed before glancing Ace's way. “Forgive me, but I didn’t realise our dear Darkus Brawler had an aversion to the rain.”

"More likely to get struck by lightning." A lightning strike hit a nearby tree, blasting its top to pieces as if to prove his point.

"The trees would grant us ample protection against such, but you can't seriously tell me you can sleep when we all have that feeling. I can barely think about how much it's getting to me." Zero admitted, as he…was not used to this. He was always the master of his mind; he had to be when he was never the fastest or strongest, but this…this got on his nerves in ways nothing else had.

"It would be dangerous to go in the groups we went in before. Better we move as a group." Baron suggested.

“We’ll cover less ground through.” Nemus reminded them.

"There is an area I wanted to search," Elfin said, the group turning to the Bakugan, who jumped onto the table to speak. “Zero and I would have if we had time, but we had to pull back earlier. Something about…it seemed off."

“Define ‘off’.” Wilda, who was already at the table, asked.

"Like that sinking feeling in my gut got worse. Listen, I know it's basically common sense to avoid stuff like that, but we're not what I would call a common group." Elfin made her case, which got them thinking, as both she and Zero were right about this place, as it wasn't normal by any means, and they couldn't act like they could ignore it. More so if there was a possible lead.

“I mean, it would be smart to see the cause of it, if we can. And if we’re together, we can take whatever challenge it might be.” Baron was on board.

“It doesn’t sound smart,” Ace sighed, but relented. "But on the other hand, we don't have much room for smart right now. Not like I have any ideas outside of searching randomly."

“Zero?” Mira asked, noting that the masked man had remained silent momentarily.

“I trust Elfin’s judgement on this.” Zero nodded towards his Bakugan, who called him a ladies’ man.

“Really? Nothing else to add?” Ace joked, to which Zero let out a soft groan.

"Just because I wear a mask doesn't mean I always have something mysterious or profound to state; it would get quite tiring if that were the case." Zero told him, to which Ace’s smirk only grew.

“So he’s self-aware.” He faux-whispered.

“I imagine anyone would grow tired of speaking in such a fashion. But we're getting off topic. We should hurry up with our meal. The weather doesn't seem to change anytime soon, and if we take too long, it can worsen."  Zero stated that, even if his attire was weatherproof, that didn't mean he would be in the mood to fight what seemed to be a storm trying to rip the island apart when it got serious.

Mira let out a quiet moan, looking at her legs and how they were clothed in gear for weather like this. “Great…”

Line Break

As Zero had predicted, the weather did get worse. The rain and wind hit them like a speeding car. It was so loud that they could hardly hear each other unless they shouted. For safety reasons, they had tied ropes to each other, with the point man, who was the masked man, holding one of their more powerful torches to help guide them through the dark.

“Zero, what was up at dinner?” Elfin spoke up, snuggled close to his neck as he had pulled up a hood to further protect him and his Bakugan from the elements.

“You felt it, same as us. Why keep silent?” Sirenoid was next to speak up, needing to raise her voice to be heard over the screaming wings and punishing thunderstorm.

"I thought it best if you convinced them. Besides…something about this feeling makes me want to avoid it." Zero replied, speaking just loud enough for them to hear, not Mira, who was directly behind him.

“It can spark such a feeling in you?” Sirenoid asked, surprised by that.

“It does, a rarity these days.” Lelouch wouldn't call himself fearless; he doubted anyone with brains was. But when you survived as many things as he had, the bar of what you found scary rose sharply. "But as we draw closer, it's only growing stronger, but…also, there is a rot to it. I can't describe it, but it's seeking something festering."

“Like a scent of death and ruin, not just a single Bakugan but…it’s like the Doom Dimension.” Sirenoid shivered at the mention of the place, with Elfin following suit.

"No wonder it's giving me the willies," Elfin noted.

“Doom Dimension?” Zero had never heard of such a place, but it didn’t sound like it was one he would just stumble into.

Both seemed hesitant to respond, but ultimately chose to do so. “It’s not a place we Bakugan like to discuss, it’s…it’s not an afterlife in how you would imagine it, but it’s a realm that once you’re sent to it, you can never return.”

"Preyas brought it up several times, but it always had a frown. He saw plenty of good Bakugan sent there when-!" Elfin paused, as it finally connected in her head, and she instantly felt her stomach drop. “Oh no.”

“What is it, child?” Sirenoid asked, as that wasn’t typical behaviour from Elfin, it was concerning.

“Elfin, are you all right?” Zero asked, as she seemed to realise something, something very bad.

“It’s Naga, this has to be him!” Elfin shouted, loud enough that the entire group could hear it.

“She say something?” Ace, who was at the back of the line, yelled back.

“We need to be ready to fight for our butts or get the heck out of there when we find out what this is! Because this reminds me way too much of how Preyas described the doom dimension’s effects.” Elfin's warning meant little to the Vestals, who, like Zero, had never heard of such a place till now, but for their Bakugan-

“That wretched place?” Percival asked.

“Are you sure?” Nemus asked, sounding concerned and terrified.

“Maybe we should investigate during the day.” Wilda immediately advised against continuing.

“Why are you-Zero?!” Mira's question was derailed as that unnerving feeling she was getting flared. Still, it seemed to hit Zero a lot harder as the man stumbled and fell to a knee, holding his head as if he was in serious pain.

She had no clue just how right she was, as it was like someone was driving a nail through his eye, his geass flaring up, almost as a pain response to some primal sense of…danger, of wrongness with this place. “What…is this…?”

“Zero, are you okay? What is happening?” Mira was at his side, kneeling to try and help him up.

"We… need to go there, right now." Fighting through the pain, he pointed ahead to what looked like a small outcrop of rock. A flash of lightning streaking overhead revealed a cave entrance. “Whatever is happening…isn't going to wait, and I don't think we'll like it if we sit it out."

Line Break

And we're here with the second chapter of the month, which will kind of serve two purposes this time around. The first, well, it's the result of those last couple of chapters' build-up, but it also is the third last chapter before I go on break for this story while I work on it. As I must admit, I didn't think I'd get this far, and I'm happy that I did, but I can't just half-ass it.

However, have no fear—I won't just be handling the one CG story after this. Not only is work on the other WIP progressing nicely, but I am open to commission once again. I already have one cooking, but with this story going on break, I was thinking that because I have more than one person at that tier, I'll try to take two separate ones, which will give us three CG stories.

Line Break

Hmm, I was hoping to add something with Spectra, but the word count was turning into an issue that I couldn't ignore. On the plus side, in the next chapter, we'll finally have the two masked brawlers meet, and it will be an interesting encounter, to be sure.