After recreating the obliterated block and resetting the timeline, the group walked beside Zack—though through different layers of reality—unwilling to waste another one of Solgrave's power orbs on undoing their family drama. New grudges, unfounded hate, and untold secrets simmered beneath the surface as Zack found them a perfect target to unleash everything upon.
"Four hundred miles that way." Zack pointed at a wall. "It hasn't noticed us yet, so don't scrutinize it too hard."
Proper reconnaissance involved dipping an ethereal hand into the stream of knowledge, a standard procedure. Well… usual for Broken-Souls, who completed recon for overthrowing a kingdom in a second. Smaller-scale operations required a more delicate touch—perhaps involving one of those so-called Gifted to predict the best time to strike.
Broken-Souls had always sought power to expand their Sub-Space, but after Division X's last encounter, the norm had been broken, and Souls began hiding their true power instead of flaunting it.
"Undercover Souls!?" Solgrave mocked. But a Broken-Soul's plans never made sense until the grand reveal, so the group bided their time, waiting for the day they could rub Solgrave's face in the abnormal, and probably die soon after. Because no matter the Restriction, Slot, or luck, a higher-tier Soul was still ten times stronger.
"I'd better not die before we prove our sponsor wrong," Psycho warned Zack.
Zack catches the curse as if it were a live snake, twists it into a knot, and throws it back at Psycho. "It's as in front of you as it is for me. Judge for yourself before you engage."
"After last time, we aren't taking any risks." Lux activated his artifact. "Circle, now."
"Lock!" Psycho threw a physical lock into the metaphysical realm. "Four hours, to be safe."
His own command debuffed him. "Please," he corrected, gritting his teeth, finally getting validation. Their recent grudges and hostility sealed away with an audible click, a timer forming in place of the keyhole.
"Recon?" Zack looked around. "I would, if I could," he reminded them.
DJ shattered his power orb, using Solgrave's power to bypass any barrier their Prey might have used to obscure the truth within the stream.
"None," he reported, instantly flattening into a 2D being.
"Or it's stronger than our little sponsor," Pinky chirped.
"Nice to have a negative voice," Bazuka muttered. "Keeps us alive."
Zack teleported to the tallest building he could find, as his flickering body scanned for safe zones, while divining the Prey's past and future.
"It's adopted some kind of routine," he shared. "I'm sending the vision to all of you with added subtitles. Ignore them if you want."
"Why didn't we ever think of this?" Lux scowled.
"Because we can learn any language in a second?" Psycho deflected, never answering the real point.
"New soul, new ways?" Bazuka shrugged alongside DJ and Pinky.
The group adjusted their vision, seeing the world through multiple perspectives, with two added subtitles: Pinky and Zack.
"Pinky!" Bazuka snapped.
Pinky flinched. "Don't use my name like that!"
"Then don't put pointless thoughts. What does '#@əø' even mean?"
"It's a curse word from another species, translated into English."
"Be normal and just use the 'F' word."
"Which part of 'broken' did you miss, missy?!"
While Bazuka and Pinky argued, Psycho and Lux mirrored them.
"I don't see any subtitles from you, old fart."
"Keep watch. I'll add them when I have something worth sharing."
"And waste mind power? No thanks."
"So no one's going to explain the 'aliens' part?" Zack asked DJ, the only one paying attention.
"Oh, right! Don't worry about them. Soul King separated our universes long ago. Myths and universal peace don't mix." DJ sang off-key.
"Stress from work," Zack guessed, getting an energy-infused shrug. "Thought you'd be used to it."
"Time heals mortal wounds. It only cracks a Broken Soul," DJ murmured.
"Umm, guys… I might have broken DJ."
"Right before battle!?" Psycho yelled. "Are you dumb?"
After the unfolding fiasco, they retreated and returned the next day, hoping, yet arguing even worse than before.
"What is it doing?" Psycho asked.
"It's between two mental institutions, drawing out some blackish goo from the patients," Zack's subtitles read, yet his voice played out in everyone's head. "My best guess: feeding on their trauma."
"Aren't we all sunshine and rainbows?" Pinky scoffed.
"I didn't know subtitles could show sarcasm," Zack said, then made a private link to Lux.
"No time. Two questions. Myth hunters—why did Soul King block the info?"
"They were given a choice during the separation. The pesky self-proclaimed 'gifted' are one reason knowledge is harmful."
"I get supporting Sani, but separating universes to keep weaker forces out is a tinsy bit extreme, don't you think?"
"Separate? No. King made another universe for them." Lux said with the most omnipotent shrug ever.
"Of course he did," Zack muttered. For a second, he isolated himself entirely—erasing his presence from existence. His accomplishment of making a clone while existing in three realms seemed insignificant now.
Lux panicked. Even his artifact couldn't reach Zack, blocked by a wall of pure energy. "What—"
"He—Shit—it's moving!" Zack shouted, leaping off the skyscraper.
"Move, gramps!" Pinky tugged Lux's core along while his physical form remained frozen.
Lux created another link, wasting more energy. "Pinky, I'm sorry, but this is urgent."
"Better be more than your life."
"I figured out something massive about Zack's—"
"—Keep it to yourself," Pinky cut him off sharply. "Artifacts are tricky. Their owners must learn their application on their own."
She erased her memory before he could stop her. "Why are you wasting Sub-Space before a fight, old man?" she pouted.
"We're facing a fledgling Flicker. We'll be fine," Lux lied, closing the link.
Zack marked a location in the energy realm, and half the group scattered to clear the mortals.
"School time," Pinky compelled parents to hurry their children out.
"Work your ass off—for something that'll never make you happy," Psycho forced adults to rush to work.
"Green, red, green," Pinky manipulated traffic lights to create a perimeter encapsulated by negative energy.
"I crave something sweet, spicy, different!" Bazuka enticed stragglers to leave.
"Hush, my baby…" DJ lulled the remaining into deep sleep.
"Safe zone ready," Pinky confirmed.
"Ready?" Zack asked Lux, who struggled to stay conscious.
"Take the lead," Lux lied. "I'll protect us while you attack."
Their Prey drifted through the energy realm, drooling and feeding on the patients' deepest fears. A sudden energy ripple alerted it across all realms, and it hid its core instantly, searching for the cause.
"Never thought someone found negativity tasty," Zack said from the energy crater he'd created within the sixth layer.
"Superhero landing? Seriously?" the Prey said in a sweet, girly voice.
He… she… it!? Zack tried to categorize its voice; Anywhere from the 1930s to the present—a veteran, comfortable with its dysfunction.
"Gender-ist!" Pinky's subtitles complained.
"Not even close," Zack said as their Prey transformed into a sexy nurse.
'That's what I meant,' his subtitles clarified.
"Maybe we can come to an arrangement?" The Nurse said, trying to charm him.
Zack switched off his emotions. "How much do you know about the law?"
"Mortal? None. Soul law? Etched into my very being by someone called King of Souls."
The memory makes her form shudder and transform into a cloud of negative energy.
"Good," Zack smirked. "Let's take this fight to the safe zone. Unless you want the Soul King to descend again."
Needless to quote Zack's diary; his first fight was anticlimactic. He used the Soul King's name to shatter the Prey's psyche before the battle even began. Followed its negative emotions straight to its core, trapping it and leaving the punishment to Solgrave and his prison.
"None of its points shook you?" Lux asked from the shadows. "It did have solid arguments."
"One must grow out of negativity, not wallow in it—or sneak around it," Zack replied.
"Curating wisdom from the stream is great in battle," Pinky said. "But become wise without relying on it—" She paused, her face falling in shock at her own insight. "Damn, you're smart. It took me eons to reach that level. How did you do it in a minute—while fighting!?"
———<>||<>———End of Chapter Twenty-Five———<>||<>———