Nova stands in a tree on a big branch, snipper in hand. Looking through the leaves, she takes aim at a humanoid nightmare.

  "Where are you, little human?"

  A sound comes out of the device inside Nova's ear. The nightmare's head snaps in her direction.

  "There you are!"

  The monster jumps in her direction, clawed left hand stretched out to grab her. Nova evades the attack by using a flash step and moves to another tree. Confused, the nightmare looks around trying to spot her again. Meanwhile, Nova takes aim again and fires. The bullet speeds through the air before getting caught by the nightmare without it even looking.

  "What?! How did it react? I accelerated that bullet to 99.99% lightspeed."

  The nightmare glances at her with a smirk before letting the bullet fall to the ground and quickly moving towards her. Nova wastes no time and starts running and jumping from tree to tree in a zigzag.

  "I need to get a better view. One more shot and the barrel breaks."

  She jumps into a small forest clearing and turns around, looking in the nightmare's direction. It barges through the trees towards and swings. Nova ducks backwards, and the nightmare's momentum pushes it past her. In one swift motion Nova spins around and aims at the nightmare's head.

  "1.5 times lightspeed should be enough!"

  After the trigger is pulled, the barrel lights up from the heat of the shot bullet and bursts. The shockwave of the bullet's speed destroys surrounding trees and pierces through the back of the nightmare's head without resistance and kills it on the spot. As it dissolves into black sand, Nova moves her slightly shaking hand from the handle of the broken sniper to the device in her ear.

  "What?! Who is there?!"

  "Hey, how is my favorite sister?"

  "Ragnar, you stupid bastard. Because of you a nightmare caused more collateral damage than necessary!"

  "Whatever. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am that you became so strong."

  Nova fumes inside at the words of her older brother and his indifference towards the damage her fight caused.

  "GO TO HELL!!!"

  She takes the finger from the device and puts her broken rifle on her back. The same moment the device beeps again.

  "What?!"

  "Lucius here. Did you eliminate the nightmare?"

  "Oh... y...yeah. But it was much faster than the other 5.

  "So it was right. The nightmare will only get stronger."

  Nova stands in the clearing without moving as Lucius pauses for a moment.

  "Get back to the HQ, Nova."

  "Yes, sir."

  Nova's hand sinks down from her ear, and she flies off.

  Moments later back at the HQ, the six recruits are back together in their old room. Watching world news on Teon's laptop. The moderator of the show speaks about Nova while pictures of her and the locations of her recent fights are in the background. Then the clearing and its destroyed surroundings are shown.

  "This was the 6th nightmare elimination worldwidein the last few weeks, operated by the Souls-Corps number one, nicknamed Speedweaver. Never were there any operations of this extreme in such a short amount of time.

  The question the public asks themself is, "Why are there suddenly so many strong nightmares all around the world, and how dangerous will they continue to become?"

  Teon closes his laptop and looks at his friends. Kaia is the first to speak.

  "I didn't know Nova was the number 1."

  Max smirks and looks at Kai and Teon.

  "Which place are you two from?"

  "Dunno, never asked. But at least we should be above Cole."

  Kai speaks first. Lloyd's eyes move between Kai and Teon.

  "Who is stronger between the two of you? Because Dane stated that in terms of raw power, Teon has more."

  Smirking, Teon glances over at the pouting Kai.

  Nova enters the control room, the broken sniper still slung over her back.

  "Here I am, Lucius."

  "Thank you for taking care of another."

  "It's my job after all. But I expect a good pay raise."

  Lucius chuckles at Nova's words and nods. Behind Nova a silhouette approaches and taps her on the shoulder. Instinctively she turns around and delivers a gut punch. Ragnar coughs up and holds his stomach.

  "What was that for?"

  "For sneaking up on me, for annoying me on my mission, and for being you."

  While talking, Nova counts with her fingers. Ragnar just smirks while looking at his little sister before straightening up again.

  "You haven't changed at all, sis."

  As he ruffles through her hair, Nova slaps his hand away and turns back to Lucius.

  "Please leave, Ragnar."

  Lucius looks at Ragnar and nods. The man sighs as a glimmer of hurt and sadness spreads over his face. But it quickly fades again, and Ragnar. After the door closes again, Nova takes a deep breath.

  "God. I can't stand him."

  "You should be more understanding towards him. You're his only blood relative left."

  "And whose fault is that?!"

  Lucius remains calm at Nova's harsh words and takes a water bottle from a nearby desk.

  "I know. Calm down. Drink."

  He hands her the bottle.

  "Let's change the subject and talk about your mission."

  Later that night inside the six's bedroom, everyone with the exception of Kai is asleep. Kai sits hidden under his blanket once more, and every now and then something lights up.

  "Yes, it finally worked!"

  Kai winces at the loud tone of his own voice and glances out from under the blanket.

  "Shit, that was loud. Hopefully no one woke up."

  He looks around and winces as he sees Kaia kneeling next to his bed.

  "Why are you awake, Kaia?"

  "Why are you?"

  "No fair, I asked first."

  Kaia gifts him a small smile.

  "Let's not talk about it. But you should be happy that you didn't wake up Max."

  She stands up.

  "But whatever, congratulations on whatever you were trying to achieve."

  "Thank you."

  "No need to. Just go to sleep. If you continue this every night, it will take longer until you're able to train and fight again."

  Kai yawns and nods before turning around in bed.

  "Goodnight, Kaia."

  "Goodnight."

  She walks back to her bed and sits down on the edge, eyes closed. In front of her inner eye, she sees the first speaking nightmare they fought. Then the molten buildings and the same nightmare of screaming in pain as he slowly burns to death. Memories that just recently returned, memories that seemed to not be hers.

  Shaking her head, she scoots to the middle of the mattress and pulls her legs against her chest before wrapping her arms around them. Face buried between her legs, she starts sobbing.

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  The day after, Kai walks down a hall towards the control room, with Teon closely behind.

  "Kai That's not a good idea. You're just able to train again. You can't fight on his level so early."

  "I can and I will!"

  Kai stomps into the control room. Lucius turns around surprised.

  "What are you two doing here?"

  "I want to..."

  "Please tell him he's not allowed to."

  Teon interrupts Kai before he finishes his sentence, confusing Lucius even more.

  "What? Not allowed to do what?"

  "I want to spar with Nova on a competitive level. No holding back!"

  Lucius looks at him surprised. He turns away from the boys and scratches the back of his head.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes!"

  "No! Lucius, you can't allow that."

  "I can't really stop him either."

  Lucius turns back to the boys.

  "The persons who decide that are Kai and Nova."

  Teon looks at him dumbfounded.

  "You're joking, right?"

  "I'm not. As long as Nova says yes, I'm not in place to say no."

  Kai grins, satisfied.

  "Perfect, where can I find her?"

  After Lucius tells Kai where to find Nova, the boys march out of the room. Teon just stares at Lucius.

  "With all respect... are you stupid?! He is going to be hospitalized for days, again."

  Without waiting for an answer from his teacher, Teon storms out, following after Kai again.

  The two find Nova on the training field, chatting with Dane, while Fenrir naps near them.

  "Nova!"

  Kai calls out, drawing the attention of the two adults to him and Teon. Danes smirk at their sight.

  "Ahh, the Pagewalker."

  The two boys look at the Hyper-Lethal in confusion, causing him to laugh.

  "That's the nickname the public gave you. Based on your power."

  He grins wide.

  "You're one of the few Souls-Corp members who got a title."

  "Shut up, Dane! What do you want, Kai?"

  "I want to fight you and hold nothing back."

  Nova looks surprised and then sighs.

  "Why?"

  Kai points at Dane.

  "Because he told me that he would only fight me at his best if I beat you at yours."

  Annoyed Nova turns to Dane and punches him on the arm.

  "Why do you have to make such conditions? You train with three of them daily."

  Dane just shrugs his shoulders.

  "Are you going to fight me or not?"

  "Yeah, yeah. Dane, get your overgrown puppy off the field!"

  While Dane wakes up Fenrir and guides the half-sleeping dog out of the way as Nova and Kai get ready. Not happy with the outcome of the situation, Teon plops down next to Dane and leans against the wolf behind them.

  "No holding back."

  "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

  Dane pats Teon's shoulder and whispers.

  "I bet she only needs 3 to 4 shots."

  Nova pulls a pistol out of its holster on her side and sighs.

  "I just got these."

  She loads in a magazine.

  "Sharp munition. Ready?"

  "Only one? Then I'll use just one power as well."

  "Do whatever you want."

  "Rumi told him that his best strength is his versatility, and he only wants to use one power?"

  Nova thinks to himself while taking aim.

  Kai takes a step forward, and Nova fires a shot in response. The boy dodges, and with the use of a flash step, he gets right in front of her. Grabbing the gun with his left, Kai forces it to point at the ground. Nova tries to pull her hands upwards again but fails. A surprised look spreads across her face.

  "I can't point upwards. Did I underestimate him? NO, he just surprised me."

  She uses all her strength to raise the gun again. But just as she is about to fire, Kai uses his right to slap the side of the gun, and the mag falls out. He grabs it out of the air and moves back while grinning at his confused opponent.

  "How good are you in hand-to-hand combat?"

  Probably not as good as you. But I don't need to be."

  She reaches behind her back and pulls out another magazine.

  "Did you really think I'd run around with only one?"

  Quickly she loads her gun and fires two shots at Kai. Around his hands appear green flickering balls of pure energy. He directly reaches for the bullets, which crumble to dust as they touch the energy.

  "This is maybe one of the most powerful abilities in my arsenal."

  Kai uses another flash-step to force Nova into close combat. She at the same time tries to get as much distance between them as possible. The two speed over the field in a blur of gunshots and green energy.

  "It's hard to keep up with all their movements. The most I can see are green blurs."

  Teon thinks while squinting his eyes slightly.

  "This boy is full of surprises. I wonder if he could win against Fenrir on equal footing. Or even her..."

  In front of Dane's inner eye, a massive black silhouette appears. Then he shakes his head.

  "No, there is no way. Even Rumis would have trouble fighting her."

  One of Nova's shots strikes Kai's leg, and he yelps out and jumps backwards. Glaring at her, the boy points with both hands at her before green energy beams shoot out. Nova dodges them a few times before using a flash-step to get behind Kai and holds her gun point-blank against the back of his head.

  "You should give up."

  "Maybe."

  Suddenly Kai rotates once around himself in place, and a tornado the size of his body appears around him, shining in the same green light as his energy attacks from before.

  He slams into Nova, sending her flying. She manages to stop midair and fires a few bullets at Kai. All bounces off of the tornado.

  "I thought you only wanted to use a single power!"

  The tornado stops, and Kai looks up at her.

  "Yes, I did. That was no power. In the show that it originates from, it's a martial art."

  Nova rolls her eyes, annoyed, and lands in front of Kai. Putting the gun pack in its holster, she goes into a stance, her flat hand outstretched.

  Smiling Kai mimics her stance, placing the back of his hand against hers. The next moment the two engage in heated hand-to-hand combat. Then suddenly Nova pulls out a karambit knife and slashes Kai's cheeks slightly. The boy stumbles, surprised. Nova uses the moment to place her foot behind his, causing him to fall on his back. As the boy lies there on the ground, Nova holds the curved blade against his throat.

  "What did you say to Cole again? Ahh, I remember. I win!"

  She straightens up, puts the knife away, and leaves the field. Kai rubs his throat before wiping a trail of blood from his cheek.

  Dane smirks at Teon.

  "I guess I lost the bet. She shot more than 4 times."

  He stands up and follows Nova. Fenrir nudges Teon's cheek before closing the distance between him and Dane.

  Teon walks up to Kai and holds out his hand to help his friend back to his feet.

  "I told you you would lose."

  "Shut it."