Chapter Summary #2

The Twilighter Council, a circle of eleven Twilighter demons and an Infect (an intelligent robotic master), continues its search for the elusive Creation’s Weapons and their ultimate. Turning their attention to the homeworlds of their rival, the Spectrum Wanderers, things do not seem to be going easy for our heroes. Their intent is to “divide and conquer” – two journey across one world, Rebdok makes his way deeper into the Yoshi Sanctuary of Yamauchi, Fanah finds the soldiers of Dragon’s Haven, Sixtyfourhundred’s hometown, no resistance, Nictem pummels the military of the city of Kazi, Globeston, on Parallel Earth while Nero and Cydak find the Mushrooms of Yamauchi a walk in the park.

If the Twilighter Council is not enough, Grand Admiral Richter Sprint invades the planet Yoshin, sister world of Yamauchi, in search of another Creation’s Weapon, and captures his loathed, adopted brother, Vector Sprint. Through interrogative torture, Richter learns that Naaro is in possession of the Halcyon and turns his attention towards him. Will Vector escape from his torturer, or will he lose hope?

On the surface of Yoshin, the mysterious Meister Strager battles through Richter’s troops in his J-Vector mobile suits, whilst Naaro Karukylis, Sixtyfourhundred and Sapphire Yoshi speed towards Yoshitopia, where Naaro accidentally left the Halcyon. They find that a volcano-shaped mountain has appeared. While Sixtyfourhundred and Sapphire fly off to join the battles against Richter’s forces in StarDragon, Naaro leaves Horus to investigate the cause of the “volcano”. He journeys inside it, to find that the Halcyon has reacted in such a way to scientific experiments performed on it during Naaro’s absence, accompanied by the encasement of the military base there in obsidian and the transformation of the scientists bodies into obsidian coffins filled with highly poisonous gas. With a hasty retreat with the Halcyon, Naaro receives a message from his wife, Rynn, and flies off in Horus to meet her. Her suit, Aquilus, comes under heavy attack as Naaro arrives, and tells her to return to Drakonia.

Meanwhile, the Yoshi couple are alerted to Fanah’s arrival at Sixtyfourhundred’s Crystal Fortress by ALICE (Advanced Logistics and Inconsequence Cognizing Equipment Mark II). She transfers from the StarDragon back to the Fortress, and traps the female Twilighter as she steps in, seeking to destroy the control centre. ALICE tells her that she has free reign of the fortress, as long as she can avoid the defence mechanisms. She directs the Twilighter on the way to the control centre. After dodging her way through a room of bullets and pinballing through another, Fanah arrives at a small table where she must play poker against ALICE. Surprised by the last defence relying purely on chance, Fanah begins to play, only to have ALICE win. Frustrated, she makes a break for the last room, only to be engulfed in a forcefield that absorbs any sort of energy – even kinetic – and transform it into a feedback or to strengthen itself by it. Gritting her teeth, Fanah makes her way to the switch to deactivate it, and makes it into the final room only to find – nothing. Absolutely frustrated, Fanah leaves Yamauchi, and ALICE transfers back to StarDragon. Meanwhile, Rebdok meets YoshiGeno in the Sanctuary, and the two fight. With his holy energy, Geno has the upper hand in the battle, and the Twilighter retreats as he is pummeled by Geno’s incredible powers.

Sixtyfourhundred and Sapphire arrive at South Yoshin, to be greeted by a force of Vipers. After making their way through the first wave, they are greeted by a black suit – one of Sixtyfourhundred’s designs – accompanied by some Yo’shars with Vipers surrounding them. The black suit single-handedly downs some Vipers until a squadron of Auroras fly over. The pilot requests for help, identifying herself as Kuroihoshi (an old acquaintance and a Shadowmancer), and the suit as Shadow Mage. StarDragon responds, and the two suits fight off the wave of attackers, before weaving their way through the densely packed streets to destroy the last three Viper suits. Sixtyfourhundred and Sapphire bring Kuroi up to date with events before she decides to come along as she has a score to settle with Havering.

Naaro receives a message from Zargon, the Xymander defect of now considerable rank in the Yoshinian Army, to lead the Yoshi Assault Corps suits targeting the GODS Satellite, activate it and destroy the two battleships, Pentastar and Ragnarok, whilst Zargon protects the group with a heavily fortified Djinn Gundam. They fight through the blockade of the battlefleet, Richter picking up a transmission that Naaro is among them and ordering his capture. His group of suits sent out to capture him is destroyed. The Ragnarok moves to allow itself room for its hyperlaser attack, letting the Corps through to the satellite. She fires, killing Zargon, yet does not destroy GODS. The satellite opens fire on the Corps as they approach, killing all but Naaro and another pilot, who enter the satellite and make their way to the control room. Ragnarok attacks Yoshira Del Sol, but before it can hit Karmalia, GODS fires a “Death Wave” and shatters the battleship to pieces, its explosion severely damaging the surrounding fleet. Richter retreats, and Yoshin rejoices.

In Montevideo, on First Earth, a fight brews between Vole and Jadea, and Kyanosa, Kaye, Mazzic and Josh in the restaurant where they had run into each other. Unwittingly, at the Twilighters retreat, Jadea throws the nearest thing she can find, which happens to be The Spoon of Dullness, With Not Even a Slightly Sharp Edge. The strange Creation’s Weapon seems to be part of something bigger…

While the Protoss Praetor Artanis retreats to his Scout from the voracious Pandoran Media of Fa’diel, Demenoz, the keeper of the Spiritual Nexus and originator of the Creation’s Weapons, is overheard talking to a certain Red Archon by Dimatrioch and Gezriach, the “parents” of Markior. They realise that he is the key to a Creation Weapon, and, as a result, his death is not the end of his destiny. Gezriach attempts to make contact with Lich, Markior’s friend…

On the Spectrum, Jaded realises that C.R., the Rip Watcher and somewhat “leader” of the Spectrum Wanderers, is actually a Twilighter himself. Omega detects a being with a reading much like the other parts of Kurayami’s Nightmare Obsidian, and the group still on Nimbus leaves to pursue it – C.R. leaving a rather conspicuous note for Rainstorm telling their actions.

Rainstorm, in the meantime, reaches the tower housing the swords Guardian and Slayer. After a battle with monsters and working out how to climb the stairs of the tower, Rainstorm reaches some rooms where his worthiness must be trialled – the first manipulating his reflection to open a door, the second a race through tall hedges defeating difficult monsters, and the third a battle with a copy of himself. After completing the trials, he finds himself on the roof only to discover Malachai and Orson had reached the dual swords before him. In the ensuing battle, Rainstorm gains the upper hand by casting the spell of Celestial Light he learnt when he broke the curse that was placed on him. He gains the swords, but the spell saps his strength, and he lies unconscious in the ruins of the tower, a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, on Parallel Earth, Nictem comes across the old Eternalist headquarters, and revives none other than Sir Pseudo Havering himself, but he can only be partly revived, and exists as a ghostly image yet containing much of his old power. Havering is angered by his part-revival, and beats up the Scribe before departing. Elsewhere, a professor, accompanied by an Infect (minus its power Jewel), comes across the IGS, otherwise known as the Infect Generation System…

Back on First Earth, the motley crew are faced again with Vole and Jadea in the alley beside the restaurant. After the Twilighters are knocked out, they leave for a pier at a nearby lake, with Vole and Jadea soon reappearing behind them. Another fight erupts, climaxing when the Spoon suddenly flies into the lake, and a pink and purple flower stem-bearing cat Gundam jumps out of the water and lands on the pier. Of course, with the oddities that happen around Kyanosa, this is usual, particularly as he had just said a Japanese warcry that translates as “The kitty cat eats the pretty flower.” Vole and Jadea retreat (again) as Kyanosa, Kaye, Josh and Mazzic board the mobile suit (henceforth referred to as Gundam Noname).

The Council revels in its victories and recovers from its losses and Nictem reveals that he revived Havering through the rings on his fingers – another Creation’s Weapon. The decision is made to destroy the remaining weapons not in their possession and absorb the power from them.

Havering, knowing his weakened state, seeks out a way to survive, so he finds a suitable member of the Wanderers to possess – unfortunately, this happens to be Rynn, sheltering in a cave. He informs her as he takes her over that any rejection of her would tear her soul to shreds.

Naaro arrives to find her bearing down on him with a sword, and then gets blasted by a number of her spells. With a sword at each other’s throats, Havering introduces himself and tells Naaro that he has nothing to gain by killing her except his beloved’s death. Naaro bargains with Havering that he can keep Rynn as long as he keeps her out of harm’s way and does not harm any of the other Wanderers. Convinced by the fact that it would be better to keep her than search through the entire Multiverse for another suitable candidate (which would take a lot of time), he agrees, and adds that Naaro must also protect Rynn from the Wanderers, or the deal is cancelled. Rynn and Havering disappear, Naaro consumed by grief.

C.R., Scilas, Ian, and Jaded, with Rainy over his shoulder, return to the town the Spectrum is parked in. C.R. realises that Havering has been quasi-revived, and makes the point that the Council would realise their weaknesses. Havering reappears in a village, and allows Rynn to have her free will and self-consciousness again, but retreats to her shadow. Meanwhile, a shady figure appears…

The Council arranges to have a bout with the Wanderers on a lava planet called Medghelica, with the turf to their advantage...Malachai tells a lone C.R., in a room of an inn on Nimbus, who seems to actually be an old student of his, to meet them there to duke it out between the two groups. Malachai knows that the Wanderers are hiding something…after the head of the Council disappears, Ian realises that they want him. C.R. sends out a message to all the Wanderers to return.

A red-jacketed hockey-stick-wielding youth makes his way through a Mayan temple of First Earth, fighting off animate skeletons, until he reaches the central chamber where he meets Inferno, a seven-foot tall being of fire, the “soul and will” of Soul Edge, a half-flesh half-metal sword. Using a combination of martial arts, the hockey stick, telekinesis and ice magic, he defeats the fire creature, and then absorbs the sword into a mirror. He suddenly appears next to CR and commands the mirror to give up the sword, which lands at the Rip Watcher’s feet. He then disappears, leaving all bemused…

…and appears next to Naaro, interrupting his bout with a generated copy of himself. Introducing himself as Rody, the youth offers to give Naaro training, and on his completion, giving him the paired-tonfers Might and Light. Naaro agrees, his grief forgotten for now.

Back on Nimbus, C.R. discovers (through his seventh or eighth sense) that D’Nel Albright and his robotic companion, Ray Noh, the interdimensional treasure-hunter/thief duo, are in the room of the inn next to them. He requests that in return for their joyriding of the Rip, that they volunteer themselves to help the Wanderers out. After a quick reposte with Ian, they notice his quick comeback. Boarding the Spectrum (with Prism and Omega still inside), Jaded places Rainy on a bed, while D’Nel realises that Scilas stole his jacket from a time earlier in Kazi, and after a scuffle, C.R. tells the assassin to give it back to D’Nel and work together. He then drops walkman-like devices through ripholes to the various destinations of the other Wanderers. Kenzo appears almost instantly, while a second person appears, none other than…

Yes, you guessed it. Havering, in opaque form, describes the current situation. His revival was made possible by the Creation’s Weapons and his ability to stay revived is due to their power. With their destruction, he would be sent back to the Mid-Dimension, and although seen as a good thing, the Council members would absorb their power and grow even stronger. However, the “Forces-That-Be” that created the Weapons placed a curse on them, that anyone who destroyed one forfeits their soul, yet the Council is willing to do so to achieve the power and eternal life. The mission becomes simple: keep as many of the Weapons as possible out of harm and destroy the Council, and report to the Demon’s and Magi Council on Caelum, the Twilighter homeworld. As Havering is the only one out of them who is part of it, due to his once being the Twilighter Ambassador, and as only he knows the passwords and Ancient Rhenzin used there, the Time Bender has to be placed in charge of the Spectrum and the Wanderers, or “no go”. C.R. reluctantly agrees.

On Fa’Diel, while Dyluck von Kippo (“Lich”) recovers from his Heratu’s attack after being teleported from the Mana Tree to the Light Palace, Lumina, the Light Elemental, explains to Ark about the jewels they seek to regain the Mana Sword. All eight of them were used as the power source for the Mana Fortress, with an opposing pair in each of the four generators. The countering of them produces a tremendous amount of Mana fluctuations, and with all of them together, the force exceeds that of the Mana Sword as long as it remains off Fa’Diel. Just as Lumina begins to tell Ark how to use them to counter the Sword (putting them together), Lich wakes up. Lumina compels him to “refine”, and Lich agrees, but with Ark’s presence, he becomes very uneasy and tells him to go to the Palace of Darkness to train while he undergoes “refinement”. Ark refuses to go, stating that he has trained enough, and that he wants to know why he is always sent away. Lumina sides with Ark, but warns him that he “won’t necessarily like it”.

They go to the basement floors of the Palace (Lumina repeating the explanation about the jewels to Lich), and enter the room where Lich trains. The elder Yoshi seems to have a complete change of personality as he enters, becoming fearful and morose. Ark picks up on this, and as they stop at a pedestal (with an etching of the Boomerang on top), Lich has an outburst of anger and tells him to sit on a nearby bed, away from him. Shero, the Guardian of the Light Palace, arrives, and after what appeared to Ark as a ritual consolation, Lich requests additions to the Boomerang’s powers, including capabilities of nuclear radiation attacks and healing through the use of a light converter. Lich then places the Boomerang on the pedestal, then his hands before it, cuff-locks rising and locking them on. The pedestal then warms up before it bursts out light, which sends Lich into a fit of painful screaming, before it subsides, and the “merging” process is complete. Ark gathers that the pain is caused by Lich actually feeling the parts insert themselves into the Cyan Arc.

Shero then informs Lich that for the light converter to be operational, “the system” must be recalibrated, and the terms “cerebral unit” and “bone reinforcements” are thrown around, sparking Ark’s curiosity. Lich then begins to undergo a surgical operation, and Ark sees that his brother’s leg-bones are encased in a metal structure. He then sees that his right arm, which he uses to throw the Boomerang, is actually a collection of cybernetic parts. Ark is highly sickened by the sight, and becomes extremely frightened of his cyborg brother. He runs away, and in a desperate dash, he travels across Fa’Diel using the Cannon Travel Network to Kippo, but instead of going to his parents’ inn, he leaps into the cave system he spent most of his youth in, where the evil sorcerer and Dyluck’s namesake, the Dark Lich, greets him.

Naaro begins the first day of his training, practicing with a wooden pair of tonfers. He spars with Rody and takes a beating from it, before walking over lava and dodging near-light-speed boulders, then fighting stone golems. Rody then takes him to a stalactite-ceilinged room where he must jump from one candle flame to another, bursting bubbles above them, without falling or putting the candles out. Twelve hours pass without him succeeding, until a strange voice through telepathy tells him to dance in a pattern on the flames. He succeeds, discovers that it was a test of what was yet to come, and falls asleep.

Rainy awakes and is filled in with how he got back to the train, and that he has Guardian and Slayer still with him, before returning to sleep. The Spectrum approaches Medghelica, and the asteroids around it are manipulated by Orson to crash into the train, picking up “a strange life signature” on board. Cydak and Nictem also fail to recognise it. Fanah arrives, and notices that the planet has an unstable Magik field, which would make spells behave strangely unless the caster had great power. As the Spectrum lands, Nero reports that he intercepted messages sent by C.R. and the train’s transmitter. Malachi realises that the Wanderers are scattered and are trying to regroup, and decides to strike before they do so.

Meanwhile, in the lava-filled Underworld, Lord Belphagor, chief demon, sends Grimace Death back to the world of the living (he hates pretending to be human). The demon arrives on First Earth, 350 years after his last appearance, and is confronted with new technology. As he crosses a road, a car crashes, and he steals the soul of the dead driver. He then goes to a diner, and realises that he has returned to cause the Apocalypse after seeing a news report on television. He is then asked to pay for the scrambled eggs that he had ordered, but having no money, he kills the waitress and steals her soul. He goes outside and destroys the diner, before seeing a battle in the sky above him, and returns to Hell to report what he saw to Belphagor. He grows interested in the power Grimace Death tells him, and after interrogating some lawyers, Belphagor finds out that he witnessed a Mobile Suit battle. He then calls for mechanics to begin making one…

Kurayami, remaining on Nimbus, discovers that the Fear Nightmare is nearby, and after a quick pursuit, he bumps into a holographic projection of Omega (there to keep track of Fear) just as he is about to make his capture. Kurayami takes up pursuit again, but upon reaching the end of the trail he was following, he finds nothing, and is interrupted by Holo-Omega again. Fear then appears, eliminates Holo-Omega and taunts Kurayami, before leaping into a portal. Kurayami, with his Shadow-Dimension powers, tracks the portal’s path to the Spectrum, and discovers Havering’s presence on board.

Lich wakes up, and Shero tells him that Ark ran off. Meanwhile, Dark looks into Ark’s mind and sees that Lich is a cyborg, and picks up Ark’s emotions and begins to work them so as to make Ark think once more that Lich betrayed him. Dark reveals that during their time on Zolott he teleported Lich to be captured by the Tullabanarigans so that Ark could kill him, though on Havering’s orders. He also reveals that he would have killed Lich himself, but Markior protected him. Ark asks why he didn’t kill him, and is reprimanded, Dark telling him that Ark protected Lich with his dark powers. The powers are shown to be what unlocked parts of Lich’s memory from Zolott, and that Dark kept a mental link with him, using the memories to feed him nightmares, and make him even more afraid of the sorcerer. He then hypnotises Ark and feeds a mantra into his head: “Your brother has betrayed you twice. You did not kill him for the first time. But you will this time. You will approach him out of love, and kill him when he least expects it.” Then he teleports Ark back to the Spectrum.

Back at the Light Palace, Lich receives one of the devices C.R. sent out earlier, and a letter saying that Ark was at the back of the train, huddled in a corner and not wanting to talk to anyone. Lich presses the button on the device and waits for the Spectrum to arrive as his body recovers from the calibration.

Mazzic, Kyanosa, Josh and Kaye set off in the Gundam Noname for the Spectrum, with Kyanosa revealing that the kitty-cat Mecha is a result of his wanting to have one after there being hardly, if any, cat Mechas on television, and that he likes flowers, hence the form. Mazzic realizes that if he had activated the Spoon, he probably would have ended up with a “giant, sleek, silver, fast, hand-to-hand fighting machine”.

The battle begins on Medghelica. Jadea, Vole, Nictem and Nero take on C.R., Ian, Ratch, Jaded, Scilas and Omega, but Omega receives the call from Lich and sends the train off to Fa’Diel to pick him up, ploughing the train through the second wave of Twilighters, namely Fanah, Cydak, Rebdok and Orson.

Rebdok is stuck by the train as it leaves, arriving very quickly on Fa’Diel, blasting its horn (which half the planet could probably hear) and sticking to the ocean around Gold Island as the Mana Field would overload its systems. Lich is awoken by the horn, and feeling unable to walk, he is teleported outside to a nearby beach, and taken on board as the train passes. Still woozy and gradually losing consciousness, Kurayami introduces himself to Lich, who tries to back off and faints.

As they arrive once more on Medghelica, Omega notices that Malachai’s constant spell blasting is turning the battle in the Council’s favour. He takes up with Rebdok, while Kenzo tells him that Vole’s down, but Malachai is boosting the Council’s abilities.

Suddenly, Malachai traps everyone in a fiery cube, save Ian, who becomes the target for a fireball from Nictem. C.R. yells, “TONY, for God’s sakes, end it!!” and dodges the ball at the last minute. Havering then appears next to Ian, and the Council members fall on one knee, save Nictem who raises his eyebrows, and NecronimusII. Pseudo grows angry at the Infect for changing sides. Realising that Malachai told him that Havering was as powerful as most of the weapons combined, Nictem proposes to the Council leader that they absorb the power from all the weapons to become even more powerful than Havering, and also to capture him and absorb his power. Pseudo grows even angrier as he sees the insurrection unfold, and tells Ian that his current form is too weak for the battle, so he transforms…

The Twilighter form of Multehx appears in Ian’s place, holding the Rhyjulian, surprising the Council. Pseudo and Multehx take the council on.

Just as they are about to charge, the Gundam Noname appears, and on C.R.’s request, begins to distract the Twilighters. Kyanosa tells Mazzic what to do, which involves firing the cannon. To his disbelief, Mazzic yells into the transmitter, “Pretty Kitty Mega Petal Flower Cannon”, and the Noname fires a stream of petals at Multehx.

Multehx dodges the petals at the last moment, and Havering receives the full force of pink energy and cherry blossom leaves. He then turns to the Mecha and begins to telekinetically smash it on the ground to the bemusement of the Council until Multehx reminds him of the task at hand. The Twilighters charge towards each other.

A brawl erupts among the Twilighters, with the Council taking the most hits due to everyone basically hitting anyone they could. Eventually, Havering steps out, takes the flower cannon off the Mecha, and bats it towards the brawl. The Noname rolls along the ground, hits a rock and sails over the group. Rainy wakes up, and sees what’s going on, before heading out of the Spectrum, while the crew of the Gundam Noname return it to the Spoon, and the five of them take on Cydak, Mel, and Orson.

Sixtyfourhundred and Sapphire make contact with Omega through the StarDragon, who tells them of the situation on Medghelica, and also to bring a bottle of red wine. With Kuroi, they teleport to the Crystal Fortress and ALICE informs them of Fanah’s time there and Geno’s battle with Rebdok. Sapphire gets some of her capsules she uses for healing magic, while Sixtyfourhundred gets some Holy Silver Bullets, a gift from Multehx, some with “H.E.A.T.” on them (short for Holy Explosive Anti-Twilighter) that the Warrior God refined. They teleport using a handheld device to the Spectrum, and begin to attack the Twilighters. Nero is knocked out by a flying brick, before Rebdok is pummelled by Sixtyfourhundred. Kuroihoshi takes on NecronimusII, taking them to the other side of the planet before slicing off his arms and legs with small portals to the Shadow Dimension. She then spots Havering, and threatens to “un-summon” him. It is revealed that Havering killed Kuroi’s teacher, Kuren, for his knowledge of dark powers, and that Kuroi knows a few of Havering’s moves. The two make a truce, and the battle continues.

As Kyanosa takes on Orson, and Rainy and Josh seem to knock Mel unconscious by magic, Mazzic and Cydak continue to brawl, until Cydak charges up with the power of “Noh Vah” (remember Cynoyoshi, anyone?), Mazzic lights up in gold, and the two charge towards another, resulting in an explosion. Havering and Multehx take Malachai and Nictem each, neither seeming to gain the upper hand over each other. After attacking each other like the wind, Mazzic confuses Cydak before laying into him, but Cydak counters and rams him into the ground. Orson sends a purple dragon of energy after Kyanosa, who then flies away on his Archangel power, letting it follow him. Due to the strange fluxes of the planet, Mel appears behind Rainstorm, but after a quick defence on the part of Josh, Kyanosa flies over and Mel is hit by the dragon as it passes, conveying her dislike for Orson. Malachai and Havering continue to battle as Kyanosa flies over them, but Nictem ends up cold at the Agent’s feet. Nero puts Kaye into a choke hold as she watches Mazzic scream towards the ground. He gets out of the death dive quickly, before finding a copy of The Necrotelenomicon, First Edition, in Vole’s pocket. He uses it as a shield against Cydak’s punch, who rips it to shreds by it. Vole awakens and lays into Cydak. Kyanosa gets the dragon to crash into Orson, before retrieving a black and red marble from the prone Twilighter. As C.R. defeats everyone at a game of chess in the firewall, Mazzic gambles with Nero to free Kaye, winning by exploding one of the dice as it rolls and knocking Nero out in his confusion. Havering overcomes Malachai, and the firewall winks out, before Fanah sends all of the non-Twilighters (save Multehx) out of the area.

During this time, Naaro completes his second day of training and receives Might and Light for it from Rody, who teleports him to Medghelica. Unnoticed, he detaches Might and throws it at Cydak’s head, scoring a direct hit, before re-attaching it mid-jump and landing before the blue-skinned Twilighter. Naaro is pummelled before twisting Cydak’s leg, breaking it, then sending him flying with a kick. Cydak limps back towards Naaro, and after trying to beat him with his fists, a swing of the Karmali’s tonfers sees his jaw broken. With him distracted by the pain, Naaro charges up the tonfers with holy power, and sinks them deep into Cydak, killing him.

After the shock of their colleague’s death, Nictem repels Multehx, and Havering takes his place after smashing Vole with a head-butt thanks to his semi-transparency. After the Council Scribe greets the Time Bender with a multicoloured blast, Havering replies with a blazing wave of fire. Deciding that enough is enough, and thanks to his rings, Nictem casts the forbidden spell, Soul Corrosion, which even Havering was made to forget. Ghoulish apparitions sail for Havering, and after the ensuing explosion, he strains to sit up in a gigantic crater. Malachai is amazed by the display, but judges that with Nictem worn out by the spell and with the other (living) members of the Council battered and bruised, the best option is to retreat, which they do. However, before they go, Malachai destroys the planet, the Wanderers making a last-minute escape in the Spectrum, Multehx returning to the human form of Ian. Surprisingly, none of the other members really notice that Multehx was there.

Rynn, now free of Havering, returns to her mother, Emeraldas’ house and re-unites with Kai, before returning to the Aquilus and waiting for a reply from the Spectrum, in particular, Naaro. Meanwhile, C.R. sets course for Liawe, where Adrian, an Auran native to the once-planet Zolott, has just finished having a four-year-long cybernetic upgrade, losing her powers of transformation into a gryphon in the process. After she is farewelled by her good human friend Riley (which comes as a surprise considering she used to hate humans), she meets with Kaye (an old acquaintance), and tells her that she gave herself the cybernetic implants so that she could help C.R. in return for him saving her life. Kyanosa recognises her, and dives behind Mazzic in regard to “the sword thing”. The clone declares Vole as his archenemy as he meditates, then as he finishes, Ria claims to have cut Kyanosa in half earlier. Havering notices Ria and greets her, before summoning a “beast of great ferocity” to show off his powers to C.R., who overhears the Council (thanks to his omnipresence) talk about targeting the Nightmare Obsidian. Havering’s beast happens to be Kyanosa. Outraged by the insult, Havering finds Ian and bullies him. Ian tells Havering that if “he” appears, a domino effect of people seeking power would occur, and the Wanderers would fall. Havering lays a hand on Ian’s shoulder, and power momentarily sparks between them. Each feels each other’s powers for a second. Havering leaves Ian, and decides to have a second go at the summoning, and opens a time-door. Sheko, a werewolf, appears out of it.

Kyanosa sits on his bed and has a mental discussion with himself. Two voices inhabit his mind: Brick and Tuesday. Brick seems to be a newcomer in the young man’s head, and Tuesday discusses the events of the Zolott Affair with him. The “sword thing” is due to Ria’s sword cutting him in half back then, but the sword used was her sword that can only touch the undead and not hurt the living. The new marble is revealed as Crash, which is like a near-suicidal amount of sudden power. Brick tries to work out a way to come back if they die, so Tuesday gets an idea, and Kyanosa flies off in the Gundam Noname.

While this is happening, Naaro is infomed of Rynn’s call from her suit by Kenzo. He leaves to pick her up in a cruiser. Unfortunately, he finds that Yoshin is being invaded (again) by the Yautja, for the purposes of turning it into another sacred hunting ground. Naaro makes his way through the fleet surrounding the planet, tailed by three interceptors, while three Yautja arrive at Rynn’s cave. She notices them and tries to hide, but they camouflage themselves and go after her. As one tries to kill her with his rifle, the other two reveal themselves, and she moves with fright, dodging the plasma blast. The two kill the third Yautja for failing to kill Rynn and Kai, then are about to kill them themselves when Naaro strikes them down with Might and Light, having successfully destroyed the interceptors and landing. He comforts Rynn and Kai, and tells them to go back to the ship while he searches through the Yautja’s craft for a powerful item he detected in its collated junk. He finds a golden bottle, and is confronted by a red fire imp known as the “Great and Powerful Bottle Imp of Malakharaba, Jewel of the Senolian Sands and Capitol of Planet Harganya”. It reveals itself as a Creation’s Weapon, and comes along when Naaro tells it of the Council’s plans to absorb its power. Naaro does not try and save Yoshin due to the Council’s doing, and puts trust in that someone will save it as they leave.

Over the course of a week, the Council reaches some of the magical weapons. Vole destroys a broadsword and a spear found in a shack, absorbing the power, while Nero gambles for the title deed to a storehouse with some more weapons inside them. Drakon and Mel argue with a broker, and confiscate family heirlooms. Other members find other weapons, or turn up empty handed. Either way, their power increases manyfold.

Back in the Underworld, the plans for the suit are made; however, they do not have the proper parts. Before Belphagor can completely lose his temper, a small demon by the name of Gachnar reports a tremendous amount of energy coming from space, particularly with the destruction of a planet (i.e., Medghelica). The Spectrum is identified as the source of the power, and Grimace Death suggests that he boards it to try and take over its power. Belphagor agrees, and the demon arrives on board.

The Council members start to create their own lairs, while Necronimus tells Malachai that he believes that Multehx is travelling with the Wanderers. Nictem sends a message to Kyanosa for them to meet. A strange message arrives on the ship intercom that only Havering seems to know…

Meanwhile, Sapphire and Sixtyfourhundred get a psychic message from a rather unsure tall green Yoshi that they know, by the name of Timber Hyren Yoshi (or T.H.Y. for short) claiming that he has a Creation’s Weapon. He arrives on board brandishing a book, and C.R. verifies it as a Creation’s Weapon. He is given a place on board thanks to his powers over nature and his “Dream Creatures”; creatures that he can summon.