A black car pulled into the parking lot outside the tournament stadium parking at the far end away from the crowding. A familiar red-headed woman stepped out to breathe in the air of the venue. Sad to say, she wasn’t impressed, but the tempting smell of food coming from inside was inviting to her. Though, there wasn’t a shred of delightful sweets catching her senses. Several foundation members adorned in black business suits each one with a shoulder mark symbolized by the letter “E.” The letter itself was cryptic with some enigmatic properties about it, the members all bowed to the woman.

“Lady Abigail, the final match is progressing as we speak; by our calculations, a victor will occur in 30 minutes at best.”

Abigail reached into her pocket, taking out a wrapped lollipop. Her stomach happened to be bigger than usual, as if expecting a child in the coming months. Crimson eyes locked onto the stadium, then glancing back at the member that spoke up.

“Yes. Do you have a favorite?”

“I-I’m sorry, Milady?” They weren’t expecting such a question but had to read up on the current tournament in Idaho. For a moment, this member looked at the others around them who were also a bit unnerved.

“Ah! Yes, Gabriel Harper is the one I'd consider a favorite at least among this tournament, Madam.”

“Is that so?” Abigail took that into consideration. Although if this was going anywhere like the butterfly incident in Japan, the favor would be in the other fighter. At least to her calculations, for now, her attention turned to Campbell approaching.

“Madam Abby~! It’s so good to see you again!” Campbell approached with open arms, his movement hesitant, however, when coming closer only to stop inches away from them.

“Giles. I see you’re in a spirited mood. Has your little project had a breakthrough? Or have you simply come to try and win favor?” Abigail seemed skeptical around Campbell’s little display despite their encounter.

Campbell sadly had to give up this little act and adjusted himself properly bowing in the process. His demeanor took on a more respectable position and a hint of hesitation still present, perhaps out of fear?

“No, I apologize. I just so happened to notice you arriving. None of us here were informed you’ve been paying a visit to the state.”

“I prefer to keep things on the low. After all, I have business here, just not with you. And before you ask, no, you may not inquire what I am here for.”

“N-No. I wasn’t going to pry. I have no intentions, but whatever it is you’re here for. Idaho welcomes you.”

“Indeed. If you’ll excuse us then.” With that said and done, Abigail and the foundation members walked towards the stadium. Campbell could only feel dread upon them, for a typical human encounter with that woman felt like a death sentence.

“Hoo boy~. She even brought the enigma detachment.” Not appearing to be worried anymore on the enigma branch being around, once more bringing out his datapad jotting information down. Campbell went about his business as usual, though with Abigail around the other members on staff might be on edge.

Upon entering the building, Abigail and the enigma members were met with the voice of Joel echoing through the halls. The halls mostly empty due to everyone being inside or in viewing rooms only a few stragglers out and about.

Pearl watched the fighting continue, only seeing Alexia getting knocked around and sent through ruined buildings until a cold chill was sent down her spine. Moving her hands slightly, Pearl felt time from her perspective, slow down to a crawl. Familiar energy in the air that she’s recalled quite a few times. Pearl had to take a moment to slow her breathing after her body unconsciously began to shake.

Gabby paused their attack feeling the cold shiver; her instincts forcing her to turn around out of fear. On the other hand, Alexia did not receive such a feeling. Taking advantage of Gabby’s distraction and knocking them into a nearby building. The fight throughout was tense, but then Alexia felt the familiar chill recalling it a month prior.

Shaking the feeling off, Alexia raised her right hand upward, gathering the nearby flames that still lingered into a ball. The fire started accelerating rapidly, before their energy conjoined into a star.

Wincing in pain, Alexia threw the star with all her might upon releasing the sound barrier visible around it. The force knocking her back through the ruined building — Gabby braced herself for the attack on short notice, instinctively aiming her blade towards it. When the star hit the edge, it expanded outward, wrapping heat around Gabby, its expansion soon covering the entire block.

The flames reaching upward past the skyscrapers, the heat scorching the nearby pavements tearing through the concrete — nearby cars in a parking lot catching on fire. The heat seeping out of the blast created a fallout of hot plasma ripping through buildings and sinking into the ground.

This attack took a good bit of energy out of Alexia. Her breath was hard to catch due to the vast amounts of smoke in the air. Winds swept through the city kicking up a heatwave — with the clouds above discharging an electrical current caused by the star’s radiation.

“Ha...Ah...Cr-” Alexia stood up only to be clotheslined once more, by Gabby. The wind that gathered swept around them — Gabby’s body emitting steam clearly damaged from the blast. Burn marks creeping around her body, picking Alexia up and throwing her near the railroads once more.

The sound of footsteps enchantingly approaching the press box alerted Pearl to turn around. Time once more slowed down to a crawl, it felt like an eternity to Pearl listening to the footsteps, until they stopped at the door to the room. For about 15 seconds, no sound occurred, until the steps started walking away.

Time resumed to normal as the cheers of the crowd interrupted Pearl’s focus. Her attention turned back to the audience in the stands only to notice Abigail watching the match in the crowd. Pearl, still shaken by what was occurring, would only lower her head slightly at the woman in what seemed to be a bow of respect.

Lyn, on the other hand, felt time slow to crawl, then everything froze in place. As they stood next to the stairs leading up to the singularity machine, Abigail sat down next to them. Instinctively, Lyn bowed to Abigail. Only then, when she glanced back up, time had flowed once more, and Abigail was nowhere in sight.

Lyn could only imagine why she were here. Was it because of Saint Mary or East Bridge? Then, her focus turned back to the match. Despite Alexia now losing the match being rag-dolled by the more experienced fighter, they could feel her power growing even now as time passed.

Within Starlight’s room, the team seemed skeptical about Alexia winning, specifically Heidi, Roy, and Deveron.

“I’m not sure how she’s gonna make it out of this… If I was fighting in her place, I'd have given up already.” At this point, Roy still had faith, but watching a poor girl getting beaten up and bloodied in the process, especially one on his team, didn't fill him with confidence.

“So much for making it to the nationals.” Deveron annoyingly kicked his feet up onto the table.

The owl, glimmering in its spiritual presence, tapped the table attempting to get Deveron’s feet off it. Unfortunately, he could not see it, Cheveyo merely peering at it, watching it closely. The owl pecked at Deveron’s feet this time around. He only felt a tickle.

Eventually, it stopped and turned its head entirely around, gazing upon Cheveyo. Only for words to come out of its beak.

“The mother approaches.”

“Mother?” Cheveyo pondered what the spirit was claiming until it suddenly vanished in a puff of green smoke. Time slowed down around him — Feeling as if he was about to blackout again being sucked into the white void with all the spirits. Yet, it never came. Only the sound of footsteps approaching from down the hall, when he gazed around the room, nothing appeared out of the ordinary until he saw Abigail standing in front of Reynolds. Their eyes fixated on each other — Reynolds froze in time along with Roy, Deveron, and Heidi. Abigail brushed her hands gently against his rugged face only to realize her power had not worked on Cheveyo.

“Oh my… You’re a neat one.” Without even turning to look at Cheveyo, Abigail continued to move her hands around Reynold's face. Fear struck Cheveyo immediately just looking at the red-headed woman, how did she even get in? The door never opened, he couldn’t even detect her! To make matters worse, time being frozen didn’t sit well with him.

“...Gah…...Ur..” Words trying to escape his voice, but to no avail. One of Abigail's eyes diverted, gazing upon Cheveyo only to immediately redirect back at Reynolds.

“There...There… I’m here now. Hehehe...Haha..” A slow cackle started to come from Abigail. Moving her hand away from Reynolds and rubbing her stomach, all she could do was smile, until her full attention finally came upon Cheveyo.

“To think he’d find a gem like you…. All those spirits tangled into a single body. Poor fools.” Abigail then looked to Deveron, recognizing him, then the other two who she didn’t seem to care much for. “Quite the team… Hehe.”

“Tell me, Child.” Abigail stood in front of him; the longer he looked, he could swear she kept getting taller until eventually, they stooped down to his level. Eyes locking — Powers in sync.

“Do these spirits harbor evil intentions?”

“...” He could say nothing, the fact that this was the first person that could potentially see all the spirits in him. As Cheveyo prepared to speak once more, Abigail raised a finger over her mouth.

“Shhh… Time has run out. It was nice knowing another on this team can potentially withstand the flow of time.” With that, Abigail pointed towards the T.V. screen and with the snap of her fingers. Time resumed.

“Ah! Gah…!” Cheveyo quickly gasped for air, clenching his eyes shut.

“Chev you okay!? Breath!” Heidi quickly went to smack him on the back, which didn’t help.

“Ga...Ha...I’m...Fine, just forgot to breathe for a moment.” Abigail was nowhere to be seen when he looked up, no trace left behind, indicating they were around. His attention turned to the match once more.

Gabby phased through one of Alexia’s punches, her fist going straight through the body. Alexia couldn’t quite adapt to that phasing power. Still, Gabby appeared to be hurting after each use, their movements becoming slower in the process.

Wham! Gabby’s fist colliding into Alexia’s gut sending the poor girl tossed down the broken street.

“Ha….You’re….Quite the wild card…. Ha.” Gabby catching their breath started to at least praise Alexia for the moment, despite the match now going past the 30-minute mark her energy was still there and ready for more. Gabriel was used to long-winded fights at this point, but using her main singularity took a toll on the body. They had used it approximately 60 times, 40 of which in succession from moving through buildings to strike. Merely moving a limb would cause their body to ache in pain and a few bones popping on their own. Noticing their rapier had been badly burned from the previous attack causing the printed symbol of singularity to burn away. Gabby dropped the weapon upon hitting the ground. It dematerialized being forced back into reality for Lyn to grab.

Alexia, on the other hand, still had energy. Even the constant beatdown without any rest took a toll on their own body. Unlike Gabby, they were still fragile, whose body was well-trained at this point, clearly capable of enduring blows. Alexia had a bloody nose, a broken right arm, and felt her legs giving out.

Heat swept the area, flames spreading across the city, Alexia couldn’t move, trying her best to get up with her left arm. To no avail, her body seriously injured from repeated blows, she had to think of something quick to get out of this situation.

Gabriel’s foot stopped inches away from her body only to kick it over, having Alexia face upward. Without her weapon, she couldn’t entirely end it in a single strike now. Sweat constantly dripped off her body steam beginning to lift upward — The city was like an oven continually getting hotter and hotter. Gabby concluded the main reason was due to the fire now engulfing half the city. But, this heat only continued to increase. It started to remind her of the match yesterday between Alexia and Mary. With a curious glare, Gabby looked down at Alexia, who reached her hand up towards her.

“Hehe… This was a fun match.” Gabriel lifted her own hand up, balling it into a fist as a harsh wind proceeded to circulate around it. “But, you made it farther than most!” A searing heat hit Gabby’s back, forcing her to jolt in a bit of pain.

“...It’s done… [PULSAR FLASH!]” Alexia gripped her hand. A spike in energy alerted Gabby, causing her to instinctively look upward. The smokey clouds cleared in an instant blowing away to the edges of the city, revealing the night sky. In the starry sky, a neutron star about the size of a golf ball came crashing down towards the city at Mach speeds.

Was this the energy she spread up into the air at the start? How’d it go unnoticed? Questions immediately buzzed through Gabby’s head only for her to quickly snap out of it.

Gabby wasted no time for it to quickly make an impact, sending their fist immediately at Alexia to end the match. The star made impact, initially sucking the wind into its core, pulling in the rubble. A tremendous force of energy blasted from the impact zone forcing an unholy amount of heat to engulf the city streets. Another dose expanded upward, creating a deadly ray of light that engulfed the entire city in a manner of seconds.

The crowd was left in awe at the progress of the match, causing such devastation in a matter of seconds. For ten seconds, as the ray of light continued to engulf the city, the singularity machine began to chug until eventually, Gabriel was forced out first, then followed by Alexia. Gabriel collided with the stairs leading up the device, while Alexia hit the grass next to Lyn.

“W...in...ner….” The machine continued chugging until electricity poured in from the panels discharging every few seconds — The medics had to rush to get Gabby away from the device. At the same time, it muttered the final words. “...Star...Li...ght.” The machine went kaput its engine was no longer churning.

Lyn wasted no time lifting a battered Alexia’s hand into the sky, pushing them up off the ground as medics rushed to heal both combatants' injuries. For a moment, the crowd didn’t utter a word until cheering slowly crept up. Unfortunately, specific comments began to arise from the crowd.

“Did we just see that, right?”

“Yeah, East Bridge scuffed it in the end. What a disappointment.”

“The system clearly malfunctioned.”

“Who is this girl?”

A few questions were raised among the audience, but the majority had a hard time believing what they saw was real. Even the reporters couldn’t quite believe it. Still, in the end, they were excited nonetheless for the new champions of Idaho.

Pearl, having experienced a feeling she didn’t like, felt better upon seeing Starlight's victory. “O’ Starlight wins once more...Mother’s smiles upon your fate.” Letting out a small sigh of relief for them deep down.

Upon Alexia and Gabby being healed, Lyn moved the two together for one final confrontation. Gabby wasn’t infuriated at her loss, losing had been something she expected here and there. Especially in this type of tournament, the possibility was there.

“Say… Just between you and me. That was a clever trick, but how did you mask it throughout the entire fight?”

Alexia, still dazed from being flung out of the machine, could only rub her head, thinking on the question. “I didn’t mask it. It was very weak at the start, I had to fling it to the highest point of the field.”

“Huh. Just like Clark…” Gabby muttered to themselves only to quickly brush the thought past her extending an arm out. “Well, regardless. You kicked my ass hard at the end. Never thought, I’d say I've been burned alive in a ray of light.”

Alexia extended her own as the two shook hands. “No. Really, I was the one getting kicked around.” As embarrassing as it was, this was a fact. Compared to someone who’s ranked 8th on the national roster, she barely had any real experience.

“Hehe! Don’t be like that, I'm not that strong, truth be told. If you were nervous about fighting me due to my ranking. I’m only high up because I accumulated the most points last year. Pretty easy to knock everyone out with a singularity like mine, ya know?”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“Good luck in the nationals. You’re probably gonna need it.” Gabby, however, quickly wrapped her arms around Alexia, turning both of them to face Lyn. “But, Hey! how about you and me take on Lyn, I'm sure with that power of yours and mine we can take her!”

“No.” Lyn quickly removed Gabby from around Alexia.

“Don’t be like that! I’m positive we can win.”

Alexia glanced towards Lyn clearly; they weren’t in the league or anywhere close to the adults' realm, but the thought of challenging someone unknown like Lyn fascinated her. “I don’t mind. Taking her on alone.” A smirk rose to Alexia’s face, a showcase of confidence this time around, a mystical hue of blue energy manifesting itself around her. Lyn turned to face Alexia, her more stoic expression slightly changing almost as if they were about to smile.

“That overconfidence in you both is going to land you into trouble. You.” Pointing towards Gabby. “Off with you back to your team, and you.” Now aiming at Alexia. “Smile for the camera.” Upon saying individuals from the foundation approached Alexia with a trophy. The energy making its presence around her vanished instantly upon further realization that camera crews were also approaching.

“N-No way!” Roy rose from his seat at the climatic end of the match. “WE’RE GOING TO NATIONALS BABY!!!” Jumping up with Heidi, the two began to do a celebratory victory dance together, jumping in circles.

Cheveyo looked relieved that the spirit didn’t curse Alexia; though it was clear now, it was a curse for whatever he had seen when time froze. Speaking about it would get him nowhere since no one else experienced it. Now he kept to himself only showing gratitude for his team heading to the nationals.

Deveron, on the other hand, was quite surprised by this, expecting a defeat only to have a victory. “I judged her wrong, Chev was right once more.” He could only chuckle to himself for doubting Alexia. Though, she still lacked when it came to fighting the more experienced fighters. Something he had struggled with himself starting out.

With a rub of his face, Reynolds also breathed a sigh of relief. What a hectic last round even though he didn’t expect the turn out to be like this. Recruiting Alexia was the right choice, and this was just the start of their career despite graduating soon. Only three months until the nationals in December, in the grand scheme, a short time, but it would be a long wait for them. In his mind, he’d already begun thinking up ways to improve everyone on the team. At the level they are now, they’d be blown away before even hitting the semi-finals.

Idaho’s state tournament ended in a victory for Starlight — Strings loomed over its orchestrators.