Julie and Francis find themselves face-to-face with Mayor Pete, the former leader of South Bend, Indiana who is somehow in the Warring Core out of nowhere.

There’s no U.S. military presence, so what is he even doing here?

And why did he dye his hair pink and also get pink contact—OH.

“Holy shit, you’re North Spiran!” Francis exclaims. “I knew something was up with you when you got so popular out of nowhere in the 2020 primaries!”

“Yeah, it’s me, and you’re exactly right,” Pete says. “But I’m not here for you, Francis Bacall. I’m here for the lady. So I’d prefer you shut up and let us two system users do the talking.”

“Dude, I voted for you... The total disrespect...”

Pete completely ignores him and begins to pace towards the Warring Core, there radiating its soothing magical energy.

“President Biden sent me here to prepare for our eventual invasion,” he explains. “I’m here as an advisor to the three factions, trying to manipulate things behind the scenes and destabilize their tenuous governmental system. It’s definitely not hard, because they’re in a constant state of cold war at all times except for the times they’re in hot war That’s how the U.S. loves to do it.”

“You’re a crony,” Julie says.

“I was. Now, though, things have changed a little bit. Plans, I mean.”

Pete touches the Warring Core. Its white hue flashes to blue. Then to red. Then to yellow.

“I realized something in my research,” he continues. “This Warring Core is incredibly powerful, beyond anything our scouts reported. The people in the mega-city don’t even realize the full extent of its powers, or the... fragility of the balance it brings.”

“What are you planning?” Julie asks. “And what’s it going to take for you to give it up before I make you?”

Laughter is his only response.

“I can and will kill you.”

“Can, maybe. Will, I think not really,” Pete says. “Really, though. Just hear me out. The Warring Core has three different magical modes, and each one acts as a DIRECT counter to the powers of the Destiny Deck System. The Goddess must have created it specifically in case of emergencies such as multiversal invasions.”

“She templated it.”

Pete continues as if he doesn’t understand the meaning. To be fair, knowing the creator of your universe copypasted the design from an open source repository does strange things to a person.

“Each mode works so well as a counter. Blue magic can drain Life Points rapidly, faster than even the most specialized users can regenerate them. Red magic is a great support system that enhances the powers of others, and can reduce the strength of powers used against it. And Yellow magic creates defensive abilities that can outlast almost any attack a Destiny Deck user can dish out.

“With the Warring Core, I can siphon the magic out of the sphere and grant power to anyone I want. Suddenly, the invasion doesn’t look so unstoppable anymore, does it?”

“...Are you on our side?” Julie asks.

He shakes his head. “I’m on my own side. At least until you join me, that is.”

“I’d rather die.”

“President Biden is weak. Mentally, I mean. Emotionally. He’s an old man obsessed with leaving a legacy. He doesn’t care about the long-term impacts, as long as he’s in the history books as one of the good ones.

“We need a new generation of leadership, and that’s why I’m proposing we take this Warring Core and use it to power up an entire generation of teens and young adults across the world back on Earth. They’ll have counter powers to the military, who’ve all put their eggs in the same system basket, and then the youth really will have the greatest power in the world.

“I’ve been advising Biden all this time to create his current fiasco. He’s embarked on a thinly spread, wasteful, immoral invasion, and he’s leading himself directly to his own doom. Once that inevitably happens, I won’t be Mayor Pete anymore. It’ll be President Pete. Together, we can overthrow Biden and rule the multiverse together. Without all the war and conquest and all that.”

“Why the fuck would I help you?” Julie growls.

“So you really do have full amnesia from your past life,” he says. “Strange. Most of us gain a few memories here and there. You’d have figured it out already if you had any, I’m sure of it.”

“What?”

“Julie, I wish you’d remember,” Mayor Pete says. “I’m your twin brother.”