“Ah, Mark! I was starting to wonder where you were.”

“Sorry about that,” Mark replied sheepishly as he took a seat next to Luke. As he settled in, he looked up at his surroundings; he and Luke currently sat within a large open-air theater atop one of the taller buildings in Ilia’s city center. While “taller” in this case only meant ten stories tall, it was enough to provide an entirely unobstructed view of the deep blue skies that stretched from horizon to horizon, dotted with slow-moving puffy white clouds that basked in the golden sunlight of late afternoon. The Gateport Mountain towered in the distance, standing directly behind the theater stage from the perspective of the audience, while the Centerpiece Tree and the rock columns in its surrounding forest filled the horizon to the east.

Not to be outdone by the natural beauty of its surroundings, the theater itself was decorated all over with colorful blue and yellow drapery and banners, similar in style to the flower- and sun-themed street decorations below. Lively chatter filled the air as the next act of Ilia’s Brightest Day Talent Show prepared themselves; it was amongst this energetic summertime atmosphere that Mark, Conrad, and Kestrel finally joined Luke, Spike, and Sky in the theater stands.

“We miss anything?” Conrad questioned, leaning forward to look past Mark at Luke, Spike, and Sky.

“We only just got here, really,” Luke responded. “The last act was some kind of poetry reading. It sounded nice, but I feel like some things were lost in translation…”

“I suppose you can’t expect real-time translation to be perfect,” Mark commented.

“It was still pretty cool, though!” Sky exclaimed, only for her face to scrunch up in frustration as she scanned the crowds. “But the actual Chaotic stuff is about to start… where’s sis and Austin?!”

“You know how they don’t like crowds. Maybe they’re skippin’,” Spike suggested.

“Awww, c’mon, that’s no fun!” Sky pouted. “Damn it, sis, Austin, y’all better be making some real progress right now…!”

“Real progress with what?”

“Ah!” Sky’s eyes lit up as she whirled around, spotting Twy approaching through the stands from the opposite direction of Mark. “You’re here! Finally! You almost missed the good stuff!”

“Alone, huh?” Conrad questioned as he passed Twy a nod. Sure enough, she had approached the group all by herself.

“Where’s Austin?” Luke asked.

“He had an upset stomach, so he went back to the hotel,” Twy replied as she took a seat next to her sister. “He’ll come when he can.”

“What? And you didn’t go back with him?!” Sky exclaimed.

Twy passed her an incredulous look. “Why would I? He just needs to use the bathroom…”

“But this was a perfect opportunity to be alone with him!”

“While he’s using the bathroom?”

“No, you dumbass! Afterwards! When you would’ve been walking here, together! Or, hell, I know how you both hate crowds, you could’ve used that as a pretense for skipping the talent show entirely to spend time with him!”

“O-oh…” Twy looked down sheepishly, only then to awkwardly stutter out, “…I-I mean, w-why would I want that?!”

Sky loudly facepalmed. “Oh come on, sis—!”

“Leave her alone, Sky,” Spike interjected, to which Sky responded with an annoyed pout. “Still, it’s a shame Austin’s missin’ out on this.”

“Well, we might still see him, yet,” Luke replied. He then glanced over at Conrad and Kestrel, who had both settled into their seats next to Mark. “What about Pierce and Phoenix? They haven’t gotten into any trouble, have they?”

“Not the last we saw of them, at least,” Mark said.

“We left ‘em behind at one of the stalls,” Conrad candidly declared. “I’m sure they’ll be up soon enough.”

“Just to ruin everything with their bickering, I’m sure,” Sky retorted.

“Now now, let’s not talk shit about people behind their back,” Luke reprimanded with a sheepish smile. He then gestured toward the theater stage, where a handful of individuals — all dressed in the green with black trim that was the NSD uniform — had begun to gather. “Looks like the next act is about to start.”

“NSD uniforms, huh?” Mark observed. “Are these the Chaotics, then?”

“The first of the two groups, aye,” Luke affirmed. “Now let’s be quiet and see what they’ve got.”

The noise of the crowd in the rooftop theater began dying down as the Chaotics on the stage stood silently at attention, as if waiting for all eyes to fall on them. Before long, the ambient noise had dropped down to a few occasional whispers, allowing the soft summertime breeze to dominate the soundscape. Then, slowly, the winds began to pick up, rustling loose clothing and hair as one of the Chaotics on the stage stepped forward. They reached their right hand skyward, as if attempting to grasp the clouds themselves — and then, with a snap of their fingers, the theater was plunged into complete darkness.

“What the—!” Sky yelped, a reaction echoed by many others in the audience as crowd chatter quickly rose. “What just happened? Did I go blind?!”

“No… something is off. Look west,” Twy pointed out; sure enough, Sikalia’s sun could still be seen, its late afternoon rays of light seeming to pierce the veil of absolute darkness, yet not actually reaching anything inside.

Luke whistled in admiration. “A Solartechnic, then, I’d assume. This is impressive… but it’s only the start, I’m sure.”

As if on cue, the moment after Luke’s words left his mouth, a small flame appeared within the darkness. Its dim light paled in comparison to the sun it stood against, yet in a field of black where absolutely nothing else could be seen, the flame still managed to stand strong.

The winds picked up again, this time blowing inwards toward the single flame. For a second, it nearly seemed to blow out, only for the fire to explode in a vertical column and then race to the left and right, quickly tracing out the outlines of the stage and revealing that a massive mound of stone now occupied the space, strongly reminiscent in shape to Gateport Mountain. A second later, a humanoid silhouette appeared in the air over the model mountain, wreathed in bright yellow sparks. For a brief moment, the sparks flared in brightness, giving the impression of a sun — even if only for a second. And immediately after that one second, the top of the mountain exploded off in a plume of fire, appearing not wholly unlike a volcanic eruption.

“Is that… actual lava?!” Spike questioned incredulously.

“Actual lava would be too hot for a space like this, so I can only assume not,” Twy replied. “Still… that it looks so similar—“

“Is really fucking cool!! WOO!” Sky thrust her arms into the air as she released an exhilarated whoop.

Amidst cheers from the crowd in response to the explosive show, the spark-wreathed silhouette continued to hover in the air over the plumes of flames. Streaks of lightning arced from the silhouette down to the model mountain, almost seeming to excite the flames further, causing the plumes to reach higher and higher still — and eventually licking away at the silhouette of lightning. Before the flames actually reached the sparks, however, a shimmering water bubble appeared around the silhouette, extinguishing the sparks and subsequently triggering a massive steam explosion that masked the flames and again plunged the theater into darkness.

Surprised gasps spread through the audience as even the real sun disappeared from sight, leaving behind true darkness. Within that darkness, the winds picked up once again, swirling all around the venue; then, as if invisible clouds were parting, a series of small, levitating orbs came into view over the stage. A ball of flame hovered in the center, while balls of rock of varying sizes slowly rotated around it — a clear representation of a solar system. That view continued for several moments, allowing the watching crowds to look upon it in awe, before the ball of flame began to grow in size, at first gradually, and then more rapidly as it swallowed up the model planets that orbited it. Just as the ball of flame grew so large that it seemed it might engulf the audience, it fizzled out… leaving behind a massive spiral of sparkling lights in the sky above.

“…Our galaxy, huh?” Conrad remarked, staring upward at the mass of lights that dominated the artificially darkened space, taking on the four-armed spiral shape of the Milky Way.

“That is pretty cool…” Mark muttered in awe, his attention shifting left and right as he realized that he could now see everyone around him, lit solely by the flames and dots of light that emulated the stars of the galaxy. “This level of control over their powers and their environment, too… this all must require a great deal of skill.”

“And knowledge,” Luke added, pointing upwards at a small protrusion from one of the galactic arms. “Look, they even have the offshoot of the Sagittarius Arm that has our solar system. This model of the galaxy is amazingly accurate.”

“Man…” Spike slowly swept his gaze from the west to the east; the spiraling lights above were arranged such that they seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon, while also appearing so far away that looking up was almost indistinguishable from looking upon a true night sky — albeit from a position above the galaxy, instead of within it. “…Never really thought of doin’ somethin’ like this with Chaotic abilities, huh,” he eventually commented.

“Ha ha, yeah,” Conrad chuckled. “Everyone always just talks about fighting all the time. This, though… not very practical, is it?”

“Nothing says that everything you do at all times has to be practical,” Luke refuted, and then glanced down as the model galaxy disappeared and the true blackness slowly faded, revealing the blue skies and setting sun of Sikalia once more. “Oh… looks like it’s done.”

“Awww, c’mon, that was so short!” Sky complained. “I wanna see more of that! Agh, I guess I’ll just have to figure out how to do that myself!”

“You gonna try to show off at a talent show?” Spike replied with an amused smirk.

“I don’t see why not! This Brightest Day thing happens on every Nimalian planet, right? That means we’ll eventually see one on Nimalia! We have to be ready for it!”

“I see you’ve gotten all fired up…” Twy observed.

“It’s certainly good to have something to work toward,” Mark pointed out, and then glanced to the side as Phoenix silently approached and sunk into the seat next to Kestrel. “Ah, you found us. I was a little worried…”

Phoenix grunted, her arms crossed as she glared forward.

“Someone’s in a bad mood,” Conrad remarked. “Something wrong? Where’s your boy—?”

He stopped himself mid-word as Phoenix snapped her glare to him, shutting him up with a single look. An uneasy chuckle escaped Conrad’s mouth in response.

“Well, at least you’re in time for the next performance,” Luke commented, his attention directed downward as a new group of individuals took to the stage, dressed in the same NSD uniforms as the prior group. As opposed to the first group — who had arrived empty-handed — the second group was each carrying some sort of musical instrument.

“Music, huh…?” Spike mused.

“Those instruments look weird… but also kinda familiar,” Sky remarked. “Like a weird guitar, and that trumpet-looking thing with the extra loop…”

“Sound waves work the same wherever you go,” Twy pointed out. “There’s bound to be some level of convergent evolution when it comes to instruments. You can even see that among the cultures on Earth.”

“Well, duh, I knew that,” Sky retorted, and then snapped her attention to the stage as the performer with the guitar-like instrument stepped forward and strummed once. “Oh, they’re starting. Hush!”

Behind the guitarist were four other performers: one on drums, two on some manner of brass-like instrument, and one off to the side standing behind a large speaker. As the crowd noise in the theater died down, the guitarist slowly strummed their instrument again, generating a low, twangy echo from the speaker that sounded similar to an electric guitar. The woman behind the speaker then held up two fingers toward the guitarist, who nodded back before turning toward the crowd.

What followed was a moment of silence, the crowd now quiet as they awaited the start of the next performance. The performers, in turn, stood quietly, as if awaiting a signal themselves — apart from the drummer, who held a drumstick high. Another second passed, and then two, the sound of a soft breeze being the only thing to fill the venue… until the drummer slammed their stick down onto their drums, setting a steady, yet rapid string of beats across the entire drum set.

Within a second, the guitarist had joined the rhythm, energetically bobbing their head with the high tempo as their fingers practically flew up and down the strings of their instrument. The two brass players soon joined the chorus, crafting a subtle jazz line to complement the fast-paced rock style of the drums and guitar. For the next four minutes, the performers jammed out to their hearts’ content, almost seeming to forget the audience before them as they ceded the floor to each others’ solos and then picked up the beat again without missing a single note. And then, just as quickly as it had all begun, the music reached its end, with one final energetic drum riff signaling the finale.

“…WOO!” Sky jumped to her feet and whooped, joining the loud and eager response of the crowds. “I don’t know what I expected, but that was great!!”

“Weird tune, but yeah, I guess it was pretty cool, huh,” Conrad replied.

“And they performed so well, too!!” Sky exclaimed, turning to grin excitedly at the rest of the group. “I mean, I don’t think I quite have the hang of this particular musical style, but it didn’t sound like they missed a single note, despite how fast they were playing. That’s impressive!”

Kestrel nodded in agreement. “Some improv, too.”

“You know, I kinda thought there was some improv in there, but I wasn’t sure if that was just the jazz-like sound getting to me. If you caught it, too, though, then it was definitely there. Ooooh…!” A squeal escaped Sky’s throat as she stomped on the ground. “Damn it, this has me so fired up! Now I wanna make some music!”

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha!” Spike laughed uproariously in response to his girlfriend’s energy. “That’s great, Sky! I feel like I ain’t seen you this worked up in a while!”

“Yeah, but let’s not make too much noise, now…” Twy quickly spoke, casting an uneasy glance toward some nearby audience members. “There’s still the next act.”

“Nah, there’s a 10-minute interlude, now,” Luke pointed out, holding up a paper itinerary as he did. “That was it for the Chaotic performances.”

“Oh, that last group was a bunch of Chaotics, weren’t they…” Mark mused.

“Never would’ve guessed, if not for the uniforms,” Conrad declared. “Huh, did they even do anything with their powers during that performance?”

“I don’t think they did…” Phoenix replied. “That was just a regular band performance. A good one, but nothing about it was special to Chaotics.”

“Which I think is even better!” Sky declared as she pounded her chest and then pumped her fist. “That first performance, the light show, was pretty cool — but the band was way better in every way!”

“I agree,” Twy said. “Especially if you look at it from a symbolic perspective. The light show demonstrated that Chaotics don’t have to be fighting to do cool things with their powers… but the band showed that Chaotics don’t have to use their powers at all to do something cool.”

“And honestly, I think I needed that reminder…” Sky admitted with a sheepish smile.

Conrad shrugged. “Sounds to me like you’re looking into this way too deeply.”

Kestrel shook her head. “Twy’s right.”

“Oh?… Huh.” Conrad glanced up at Kestrel, and then sighed. “Well, if you say so, I guess.”

“I’m glad everyone’s havin’ a good time, at least,” Luke remarked. “And Twy did make a good point, there. I guess it could be pretty useful if y’all all had some kind of hobby or something outside of your powers, huh?”

“Kaoné actually said something similar a few weeks ago…” Twy replied.

“True, but I don’t know if any of us actually listened,” Phoenix said. She then glanced over at Sky as a tired smile crossed her face. “But, actually seeing it in action, and seeing Sky’s enthusiasm… I think I want to do something, too!”

“Great!” Sky exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air as she grinned down at Phoenix. “Maybe we can even work together on something!”

“Well, I can’t say no to that,” Phoenix replied in kind, and then planted her hand on Kestrel’s shoulder. “If you’re doing something musical, then maybe Kestrel can help out, too. She’s always had a mind for composition.”

“Just a hobby…” Kestrel countered quietly. “…I’m not that good.”

“Oh c’mon, we’ll all just hobbyists right now,” Sky insisted. “Besides, creators are always the hardest on themselves. Shit, you should see sis complain about her art all the time, despite making some of the best stuff I’ve ever seen!”

“Y-you don’t need to flatter me…” Twy muttered bashfully.

“But that’s my point! It’s not flattery!” Sky shook her head in disbelief before turning to face Kestrel. “Look, if you’re into musical compositions, then I wanna see what you can do and judge for myself if you’re any good! If you aren’t, well, I know a thing or two, so I could teach you! But, honestly, I’d bet you’re even better at it than I am, ah ha ha!”

“Kinds feels like you ain’t takin’ your own advice,” Spike pointed out.

“Ah, whatever.” Sky simply waved him off. “But Phoenix, Kestrel, if y’all really want to do something together, then I’m all for it! Let’s talk when we get back to Nimalia!”

“Heh… sounds like a plan,” Phoenix responded with a smile.

“…Maybe,” Kestrel replied quietly.

“Wow, that’s actually an impressive level of commitment, coming from Kestrel,” Conrad remarked cheekily.

“Still good to hear,” Mark commented. “Although… I guess it’s a shame that not everyone got to see the show.”

“Oh, that’s right…” Luke looked left, and then right. “…Austin still isn’t here? Twy, you sure he’s okay?”

“He sounded okay when I last saw him…” Twy replied warily.

“Oh, now that you mention it…” Conrad passed Phoenix a glance. “Where’s Pierce? We left him with you.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Phoenix retorted sarcastically, and then sighed. “I don’t know where he went — I left him at the stall. If he isn’t here, then maybe he went out for a run, or back to his room, or something. Hell if I know.”

“The two of you split up? Oof…” Conrad grimaced. “Didn’t think it would get that bad…”

“Yeah, well… it is what it is.”

“That would mean that you and Pierce are still tied, right?” Mark mused. “I’m almost surprised he let you just walk off.”

“It was a stupid contest to begin with,” Phoenix muttered. “Ah, I can’t believe I let myself get swept up in it… well, I don’t care anymore. He can take that contest and shove it up his ass, for all I care.”

“What a guy,” Sky deadpanned, and then elbowed Spike cheekily. “Hey, maybe Pierce and Austin will run into each other, and Austin’ll finally get a chance to shut Pierce up, just like he wanted a couple days ago!”

“Wait…” Twy snapped her attention to Sky, and then Phoenix, her eyes wide with realization. “That’s…!”

“Shit…” Phoenix scowled as she locked eyes with Twy. “I didn’t think of that…”

“H-hey… it was just a joke,” Sky quickly backpedaled, glancing uneasily between Twy and Phoenix. “I mean… what’s the worst than can happen, right? Austin might be dense, and Pierce might be an asshole, but they aren’t, like, stupid, right? Right…?”

---

*

“Urgh…”

With a grimace, Austin finally trudged into the hallway just outside of his hotel room. He paused for a moment to hold a hand to his stomach; after feeling no reaction from his bowels, he took a deep sigh of relief. Fuck… I guess the spiciness in Nimalian food is caused by the same chemical or something as in Earth food, huh? That sucks.

He then cast his gaze to his left, through one of the windows that adorned the hallway. The crowds and decorations of Ilia’s Brightest Day celebrations met his eyes, backed by the distant mountains and fluffy clouds above, bathed as they were in late afternoon light. “How long was I in there…?” Austin muttered to himself, “shit, I’ve probably missed the Chaotic talent stuff, haven’t I? Ugh…”

With that thought, Austin shook his head forlornly and began trudging down the hallway to the elevator. As much as he disliked crowds and large festivals, his friends were still out there, and he wasn’t about to just sit around while they had all the fun. If nothing else, he could sit on the sidelines with Twy and poke fun at Sky and Spike’s antics.

All things considered, this has actually been a decently fun day, he mused to himself as he arrived at the elevator and waited for the doors to open. Even with the circumstances of the trip, and us being on Nimalia in the first place… tch. Why do I keep thinking of that stuff? Why can’t I just accept a silver lining when I find it? Damn it, Austin, keep this attitude up and this day will be ruined before you know it. He lightly slapped himself on his cheeks in an effort to shake himself out of his negative thoughts, and then glanced over at the elevator as a light came on above the door. As the doors slid open, Austin sighed again, and then straightened up his posture before taking a step into the elevator.

“What the…?”

At the sound of another person’s voice, Austin’s attention snapped to the side — only to freeze as a certain dirty blond-framed visage met his gaze. A scowl quickly formed on Austin’s face. “…Pierce.”

“Fancy running into you here, dweeb,” Pierce retorted, his arms crossed while he turned up his chin at Austin. “Though I guess I should’ve expected to find a shut-in like you at our hotel, huh?”

“You’re here, too,” Austin shot back, watching as Pierce joined him just outside of the elevator. “What do you even want with me? Why are you bullyin’ me all the time?”

“Bullying?” Pierce echoed incredulously, at which point his prior haughty smirk transformed into a spiteful smile. “Your evil twin is what got us all into this mess.”

“Wha—! But I don’t have anythin’ to do with EA!” Austin protested. “I don’t even know where he came from!”

“But he’s still basically you. And don’t say that he isn’t,” Pierce preempted Austin’s retort, “I saw how you tried to defend the designs of EA’s mechs. Some move.”

“That doesn’t mean I agree with everythin’ he’s done!”

“Maybe. But you sure as shit haven’t done much against him.”

“Bullshit, I helped destroy his Bug Crawler in Plano, and I helped fight his War Wasp, too!”

Pierce paused for a moment as he passed Austin an incredulous stare. By this point, the elevator doors had closed and the elevator had departed, but neither of them had noticed. “…Are you serious?” Pierce eventually questioned, “you remember the names of his mechs?”

“S-so what?” Austin diverted his gaze uneasily, only to soon return it to Pierce and furrow his brow. “That doesn’t change the fact that I have fought EA!”

“Barely. I’ve seen the footage of that fight in Texas, and you barely helped at all. Your friends did all of the legwork,” Pierce countered. “And then when you guys ‘rescued’ us on EA’s ship, again, you did barely anything. Meanwhile, I’ve singlehandedly fought and destroyed dozens of that bastard’s robots, and even fought off an attempted attack on my hometown — without destroying a neighborhood.”

“Wha-what? W-wait, we didn’t destroy a whole neighborhood, it was just a block! A-and that was EA, anyways, not us! Why are you tryin’ to blame me for stuff that EA’s done, anyways?”

“Hmph…” Pierce glanced away for a moment, his lips pursed in thought. After a second, he turned back to face Austin, his expression further souring into a scowl. “You might be right that I shouldn’t hold all of that against you. But you know what I really don’t like? Losers. Whiners. Complainers. People who can’t accept reality.”

Austin stared at Pierce in disbelief. “Are you listenin’ to yourself? I’ve known you for barely a month, and I can still tell how sore of a loser you can be!”

“We’re not talking about me,” Pierce snapped. “At least I’m willing to work to improve myself, to getting ever better, so that I don’t have to repeat my losses. But you? I’ve only known you for barely a month, but it’s still easy to see how you just run from everything. Every time conscription is brought up, you complain. Every time you get a chance to train or improve, you complain!”

“But, that’s not…”

“Hmph…” Pierce snorted derisively. “…A month ago, when that Pallan guy showed us that we could summon unique weapons, and then started calling us ‘Keys’ or some shit… I could tell that he was trying to put me and you on the same level. Do you know how insulting that is, though? To be put on the same level as a weakling like you?”

“I’m not weak,” Austin shot back.

“And yet everyone around you is doing better than you,” Pierce countered. “Even your evil fucking twin is more accomplished than you! And yet, while he’s on the loose, and you have here the perfect opportunity to train up and kick his ass… you refuse! Every time we train, you either give it only a token effort, or come up with some excuse as to why you’re lagging behind everyone else. That’s what really pisses me off about you. You never fucking try!”

“What…?” Austin drew back, startled by Pierce’s accusation. “I— I do try! B-besides, you’ve barely known me for a month, what the fuck do you even know? For all you know, I could beat you in a fight!”

“Oh?” A dangerous grin spread across Pierce’s face. “Is that a challenge?”

Shit! Austin swore internally, his thoughts racing through his mind. I didn’t mean to—! Ah, damn it, if I back down now this will all just get worse! I mean, I probably CAN beat him, right? I can copy his speed, and then also have my Imperator powers on top of that, so it’s like I’m a strictly better version of him. If I can just show him that, then maybe I can shut him up…!

“…Figures you’d back down,” Pierce eventually muttered after several moments of silence. “I knew you wouldn’t have the balls to—“

“Let’s do it,” Austin interjected, staring down Pierce with his hands balled into fists.

“…Heh.” A bitter chuckle escaped Pierce’s throat as he uncrossed his arms and turned toward Austin directly. “Well, isn’t this a surprise? The dweeb actually wants to fight.”

“If beatin’ you will shut you up, then I’ll do it,” Austin retorted, and then mirrored Pierce’s spiteful grin. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna back down?”

“And miss a chance to show you just how much you’re lacking? Wouldn’t miss that for anything, dweeb,” Pierce countered, at which point he reached toward the elevator and pressed the button to call it. “With all the festivities in the city, I’m sure there’s no one at the Preservation Park. We can start on that one stone pillar we both took pictures from… the perfect way to put you in your place.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, asshole,” Austin shot back, barely giving the elevator a glance as the doors opened up and he and Pierce stepped through. “By the end of tonight, I’ll show you that I ain’t the weak little ‘dweeb’ that you think I am!”