As Chopchop and Rabbafat readied themselves for the battle, Diamond cast out two orbs of light; one blue and one cream. Before the masked man, emerged a Panchi and a Sunny.

  “Let’s see how you handle this winning combination,” said Diamond, stretching out his arms. “You’re not going to believe how strong I am, yeah?”

  “Likewise,” said Aurin, giving Luna a nod, which she returned.

  Panchi stood stoically as Chopchop ran and Rabbafat bounded. The blue-skinned combatant’s purple hair flowed backwards and his green trousers ruffled in the evening wind. The creature was a picture of calmness as he slowly moved his arms backwards.

  “Split!” ordered Aurin, and Chopchop immediately pivoted.

  Panchi was suddenly alert as Chopchop charged for the floating Sunny, which bore a more neutral expression than Aurin’s jovial Sunny.

  Chopchop swung his bladed arms out and then brought them swiftly together, aiming to cleave the Sunny in two. The little healer, however, reacted quickly and coated itself in a barrier. As the blades struck the translucent shield, they rebounded and Chopchop was knocked off balance. The armoured insect was then thrown to the ground by a swift headbutt from Sunny.

  As her comrade tumbled across the cobblestones, Rabbafat engaged in a fistfight with the Panchi. It toyed with her, easily deflecting her blows. His returned punches, however, were met with thick mounds of fat that he could not punch through with his meagre jabs. Luna sensed that Diamond’s Minakai was deliberately holding back. She felt uneasy as she watched, trying to decipher his plan. If it was truly a battle for the sake of victory against tough opponents, this was a strange way to go about it. She was more confident than ever that there was an angle here that she had yet to figure out.

  Chopchop was back on his head and gunned for the Sunny, infusing his blades with metal energy. He struck once more and managed to shatter the barrier, but the nimble little cloud-like Minakai puffed into the air, creating some distance between itself and the ant swordsman.

  “Distance means nothing to us,” scoffed Aurin. “Metal wave!”

  Chopchop swung his arms and razor-like waves of elemental energy erupted from his blades. It soared through the air, but the Sunny had expected this. It frowned as it concentrated, mustering up enough energy to dash to the side. Aurin’s own Sunny was quick, but this Sunny had moved a dozen yards in the blink of an eye. He had to file that technique away for replication later.

  “Impressed?” asked Diamond with a chuckle. “Some say I’m a rather unassuming fellow, but you can see that I’m no slouch, Aurin”

  “Who are you?” demanded Aurin as the four Minakai continued to fight. “You talk like you know me. Drop the charade and stop hiding behind a mask, you coward.”

  “Oh, I am no coward,” said Diamond, his voice warbling with laughter. “I am anything but a coward. I am one of the truest forces to be reckoned with, and holding back my power kills me. As I am now, I can give you a real show!”

  Reacting to their master’s words, Panchi’s punches increased with speed. Not only that, but he coated his fists in water, soaking Rabbafat with each strike. The water splashed out on impact, blinding her and allowing Panchi to deliver a flurry of mighty strikes to her face. She was thrown backwards and rolled over, only to be helped back to her feet by Chopchop.

  Sunny had gone on the offensive and was using psychic blasts of energy to try and down Chopchop, but even a well-trained member of the species was a far cry from being a formidable combatant. Chopchop weathered a few of the blasts and threw himself at the Panchi, blades first. As Chopchop struck, Sunny’s barriers helped guard Panchi.

  Aurin and his Minakai both knew that if they were to take down the Panchi, eliminating Sunny first would give them the best odds of success. The problem was that Sunny typically served in a support role, giving the species a generous pool of energy from which to draw from. If it was too focused on defending a comrade, however, it may burn itself out and leave itself too distracted to defend itself.

  Rabbafat joined in the battle against Panchi and the two of ant and rabbit fought against the watery brawler. Panchi took several hits, finding himself unable to dodge the rapid strikes from both of his opponents at once, but Chopchop and Rabbafat’s attacks did little thanks to Sunny’s protective magic.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Just a little more,” muttered Aurin, shooting a sideways glance at Luna.

  She knew the plan without a word being spoken. Rather than saying anything, she gave him a smile and a wink.

  “Now!” Aurin called.

  As Rabbafat threw a hefty punch at Panchi, Chopchop held his blades to the side, preparing to cut across his foe. Sunny’s barrier formed, and Chopchop swung. His blades grazed Panchi, doing nothing, but he followed through and his arms arced into the air. From the sharp metal, emerged two waves of energy that soared towards Sunny. With its concentration on maintaining Panchi’s barrier, Sunny cut deeply by the elemental energy and fluttered to the ground in a daze.

  Chopchop began brawling with Panchi as Rabbafat bounced up high. Sunny was beginning to heal its injuries when the rotund rabbit slammed its buttocks against it, crushing it. It was an attack it couldn’t have hoped to prepare itself for.

  “Impressive,” said Diamond, nodding.

  “You haven’t seen anything yet,” said Aurin. “Spinning slice!”

  Chopchop held its arms out at an angle, forming two propellers. They span rapidly and Panchi looked alarmed as it conjured a thick bubble to shield itself from the blow. With ease, the blades popped the bubble and cut into Panchi’s water-coated arms. Panchi yelped in pain as it opened up a watery vortex in the ground. It plummeted inside and reappeared halfway across the battlefield, panting heavily.

  “There’s no escaping this!” called Luna.

  Chopchop ran up behind Rabbafat and kicked her in the back. She tucked herself into a ball and rolled towards Panchi. As the brawler drew back its fist to punch his incoming foe off course, he realised too late that he was too tired to muster up the needed strength. He was swiftly knocked aside like a bowling pin, and sent tumbling into the barrier.

  Diamond sighed, shook his head, and then shrugged. “Oh well,” he said nonchalantly. “I gave it a good try, didn’t I?”

  “Stop him!” Aurin ordered, and Chopchop sprinted towards the masked man.

  “See you both later,” he said with a salute.

  An explosion of smoke later and he was gone.

  “You were right,” said Luna, looking at the clearing smoke bitterly. “They are slippery.”

  “Annoyingly so,” said Aurin, his brow furrowed and fists clenched. “I’m getting a little sick of their nonsense, to be honest.”

  Luna looked pensive for several seconds as she bit her lip. “He knew us. He didn’t outright say it, but there was something familiar about him. I can’t place my finger on it.”

  “Likewise. There’s no doubt in my mind that we know most of The Blackjacks. And what’s more concerning is how they always talk a good game, but never seem to care all that much when they lose.”

  “He was stalling during the battle. You noticed that, right? You don’t bring Sunny into a doubles battle against other tamers unless your primary fighter is a real powerhouse. While his Panchi was fast and strong, it was nothing we haven’t seen before.”

  “Then why stall?” asked Aurin. “What exactly are they looking for?”

  “That may be the key to this whole mystery,” said Luna. “It must have something to do with the rift magic. I think we’ll need to hit the books tomorrow and see what we can find out.”

  “Great,” said Aurin. “And we can be jumped on the way to the library.”

  *

  “And then there was one,” said Alfred Ashmore, staring with delight as Adriana held up the Ace of Spades card. “Thank you, my dear.”

  Adriana smiled and bowed her head slightly before returning to her monitor. The master’s fascination with cards was something she did not understand, but it made him happy. She would not complain.

  “There’s excess data again,” said Dr Holmes, examining the monitor. “Diamond says it came from that Luna girl. We discarded the last batch of useless information for obvious reasons, sir, but this may prove useful.”

  “While little Luna may have played a part in my father’s disappearance,” sighed Alfred, “she is not the primary focus. We will utilise Aurin’s data and Aurin’s data alone. He is the one most at fault and, thus, will pay the greatest price.”

  “Yes, Master Ashmore,” said Dr Holmes, highlighting a large section of the information on his screen and pressing a thick finger on the delete key. “It is done.”

  “Good,” snarled Alfred. “If Aurin had simple given up his Breminia, none of this would have had to happen. My father’s chosen method was too reckless. And to rely more on magic over technology was the folly that led to his defeat. We will not let that happen to us. Will we, Dr Holmes?”

  “No sir, we will not.”

  Alfred brought the Ace of Spades up to his face and his mouth formed a sneering grin. He looked at the hand-drawn card and gentle brushed his thumb over the ink. It sat so smoothly on the card that it appeared printed, but Alfred had drawn the entire deck himself. It was a true work of art, and the only deck of cards in the world fitting of his grand plan.

  His father had often said his fascination with the theatrical was a childish notion that he had never grown out of, but Alfred knew otherwise. It was those little elements of whimsy that held him together in the darkest of times. Once he had avenged his father, he would have proven himself as more than an overgrown boy. He would prove that he was truly worthy of heading up his father’s empire and the name of The Collector.

  Alfred reached into his jacket and pulled out a phone. Dialling a number, he struggled to contain his laughter.

  “Yes, boss,” came a voice through the speaker. The phone rang twice before being answered.

  “It is time,” said Alfred, his mouth twitching as he spoke. “Your time has come, Spade. Don your combat suit tomorrow and deploy.”

  “With pleasure, Master Ashmore,” said Spade.

  Alfred ended the call and added the lone card back into the deck. He flicked the cards effortlessly between his hands, smiling as he looked at the vat. The time was going closer for Project Virtugil to be unleashed. It would be a moment of pure ecstasy, and the subsequent crushing of Aurin would see the dawn of his dreams coming true.

  right here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: