Tori's expression froze into one of pure panic.
"W-Wait, wait, wait!" Tori stammered. "N-Neither of them fought you yesterday—"
Nexus zipped into Zora's chest, cutting Tori off mid-sentence. The choice had been made.
"Fine… FINE," Tori groaned.
She trudged into the center of the arena beside Zora, her breath becoming more erratic with each step.
"Same rules as yesterday," Zora said evenly. "We go until one concedes—"
Before she could finish, Tori vanished, ricocheting off the mountain walls, the air itself, and even the ground—blurring into a zig-zagging streak. Kinetic energy built with every bounce.
Zora sighed, hand on her hip. "I didn't even say 'go' yet…"
A heartbeat later, something hit her chest with the force of a freight train.
Zora was flung across the arena, crashing into the mountain wall and carving a crater into the stone. Her back hit hard. She gasped, vision spinning.
Dust and shattered rock clouded her vision.
"God... that... hurts," she wheezed.
A familiar voice echoed through the hole in the wall.
"This is why you start with me!" Ricochet floated in, pulsing with disapproval.
"Not... now," Zora groaned, waving him off.
"Yeah! It's my turn!" Nexus chimed from inside her chest, eager and electric.
Outside, Zora could hear the steady boom-boom-boom of Tori ricocheting around again, charging for a second strike.
Zora forced herself to her feet. One shaky step.
"Spark…" she called, her voice ragged.
He zipped down, followed by Nexus.
Zora thrust out her right hand.
Gravity surged tenfold across the entire arena.
Silence.
Then:
"Ugh."
Zora emerged from the shattered wall and found Tori flat on her back, pinned to the ground, twitching and struggling to move.
"That wasn't very nice," Zora said between slow, ragged breaths.
Tori grunted and strained, trying to rise—but the weight of the gravity field was too much.
Zora took a breath. Her left hand glowed orange.
"Learn from this," she said softly. "Don't wake me up like that again."
A fireball swelled in her palm, growing to the size of a boulder and bathing the arena in molten orange light.
Tori's face twisted in panic. She struggled harder.
But just as Zora lifted her hand to throw—
She felt it.
The euphoria.
It hit like a wave. Her heart thudded. Her vision buzzed. The fireball flickered in her hand—then dissolved.
The gravity released.
Both Nexus and Spark burst out of her, their lights flickering nervously.
Zora closed her eyes, holding still as the chemical high passed through her like lightning.
A few seconds later, she exhaled.
Tori was still on the ground, breathing hard, sweat pooling at her brow.
Zora didn't gloat. She didn't speak.
She just stood there, collecting herself—letting the victory hang in the air.
"Just watch your mouth from now on, okay?" Zora said, her tone firm but not cruel.
She turned to Ivory and Lena. "You two get a free pass. You won't get another."
Tori, still on the ground, groaned. "That's bull—"
Zora snapped her gaze back to her, eyes sharp.
"We can continue if you'd like."
Tori sat up immediately, back straight. "That won't be necessary," she said, voice suddenly formal and respectful.
Zora smirked. "Good."
With a wave of her hand, the arena dissolved. The mountainous battlefield melted away, replaced by the cozy interior of their beach house.
"Everyone—shower, get dressed," Zora called out. "Breakfast will be on the table. We're going through the folders twenty minutes."
Without another word, they all scrambled into their rooms like scolded schoolchildren, leaving Zora alone in the hallway.
"Well, that was… fun," Nexus muttered with a sigh, her voice tinged with disappointment.
Zora didn't reply. Her thoughts drifted.
Images flickered behind her eyes—Tariq in that field, flames swirling around him, as he cut through enemies like paper. Bodies fell. Screams echoed. The fire never stopped.
Her jaw clenched.
"I can't keep losing it like that," she whispered to herself.
She walked to the meeting room and sat at the long table, then waved her hand.
A buffet-style continental breakfast shimmered into existence against the wall—plates of fluffy scrambled eggs, thick-cut bacon, golden hash browns, flaky croissants, fresh fruit, and steaming carafes of coffee. The scent rolled through the room like a warm breeze.
Paul's door slammed open. He stomped out, fully dressed, eyes locked on the food like a man on a mission.
He stopped mid-stride and looked at Zora.
"You look rough."
Zora leaned back in her chair and groaned. "Tell me about it."
A loose curl fell over Zora's eye. She swiped it back and stood up.
"Don't eat it all," she called to Paul as she made her way to her room.
Inside the bathroom, she grabbed her toothbrush, quickly running through the motions as she stared at her reflection. Her hair had grown longer over the past year—now just brushing past her shoulders.
She sighed, spat, and rinsed.
Back in her room, she tossed her hair into a bun and glanced at the glowing red digits of her bedside clock.
6:48.
Zora narrowed her eyes. Seriously? They couldn't have waited until at least seven?
With a low groan, she stepped out and returned to the meeting room—mildly surprised, and slightly impressed, to find everyone already awake and eating breakfast.
Conversations buzzed around the room, punctuated by the occasional laugh or clatter of cutlery.
"Well... since everyone's here, let's go ahead and start," Zora said, moving to the food spread. She grabbed a bagel and slathered it in cream cheese before plopping down at the head of the table.
"God, I miss skincare routines," Lena sighed.
"If only our fearless leader cared enough to give us one," Ivory added with mock bitterness.
"Yeah, actually—why'd you get to wear an oversized shirt?" Tori chimed in, raising a brow. "We had to sleep in our Type Threes."
Zora rolled her eyes. "Give me a list of what you want and I'll see what I can do," she said between bites.
Then she nodded toward the stack of files waiting on the table.
"But only after we go through these."