As the Rave Hunters looked out the window, Astrid opened the book she recently bought while the taxi driver stopped temporarily at the red stoplight.

———

Echo Of The Empire

A subject that resonates throughout the ages, from ancient times to the present date there has been designated a leader, a symbol of authority to establish order and stability to maintain the power that has been obtained through hardship, ambition, and sacrifice.

History has proven itself time and time again that sacrifices had to be made in order to conquer, control the opposition that waits to usurp the authority like a hungry vulture, or to fulfill the needs of many that depend on one decision which could keep them safe—or cause a calamity.

Nevertheless, there are those who still refuse to accept that the reign which had been bestowed upon them is merely borrowed—not owned. No matter how influential, efficient, wealthy, strong or clever any leader has been in any time or place from whence they acquired said reputation. It has an end, no matter how they began their empire.

Legacy is the hubris of humanity, and the humility is the gem that has been robbed from the noble at heart.

———

The necromancer stepped back when he sensed an energy increasing at a quick space. It repelled him, as if the powers that came from the room protected them, like an invisible, fortified barrier amplified in density as the divine force threatened to consume Nulekai's dark presence. Jecamiah's prayer was like a beacon that radiated a pure light as it intensified the closer he approached while Nulekai's darkness was an engrossed candlewax on the verge of melting away. He glared derisively at Jecamiah before he made a tactical retreat which was short lived when he spotted Ryo brandish his massive sword.

Claw and Saw stealthily followed the armed man while he pointed the gun at Natalie as they walked down the hallway, adjacent to where the sorceror and Ryo were.

“You're my ticket out of this joint. I want my 2 million pounds to be converted into cosmic crystals and a portal opened to planet Cepha, in the Apocrypha Dimension.” The armed man put the host's right arm against her back to ensure she didn't make any sudden moves to disarm him.

“The portals are opened, what's stopping you?” She asked while the bicephalic dragon came closer.

“Your dragon, I can smell the stench of sulphur from here.” Claw was about to spit a fireball before the armed man turned to use Natalie as a human shield.

“Don't you dare hurt her!” Saw barked while Claw's nostrils flared—mostly because she missed her chance to fry him.

“Then scram!” The armed man ordered.

They were reluctant at first before the host nodded. Claw and Saw backed away slowly before the armed man lowered his weapon for a couple of inches.

Saw uttered a spell while they backed away slowly. The host waited for him to turn her around to face him.

“Now move it.” The armed man ordered before he shoved her to the side, she found an opening to disarm him. Saw successfully casted a spell to slow the armed man down though he had to keep his concentration on his target. When the armed man pointed the gun at the host, he realized that his movements slowed.

Claw instinctively dodged a blast that struck down like lightning, the stray blast struck between them and the eye-searing magic blinded Saw. The spell that the armed man was under disappeared by the time Natalie grabbed the gun.

“So you finally gained the courage to face me.” Nulekai responded as the elf glared daggers at his sworn adversary.

“It's about time you paid for your crimes.” Ryo held a firm grip on the handle of the longsword before he parried towards the scar-faced sorceror.

“You witch!” He growled as he held onto the weapon. The host struggled as she used both hands to move the gun.

Nulekai dodged the attack by an inch, though it didn't prepare him for the next swing of Ryo's Spellblade. The host and the armed man used his arm to turn the gun before one of their fingers pressed the trigger.

Nulekai shielded himself in his weakened state, though he didn't expect the loud bang  nor blood to sprinkle his dark robe. The nigh-deafening sound of the gunshot made the host release the firearm and cover her ears. The same loud bang that left the host with an ear-splitting headache was the same one that startled Alma awake with the verge of a panic attack.

Ryo felt a sharp pain in his chest before he looked down, the elf turned pale at the sight of his own blood staining his tunic before he dropped his Spellblade, staggered and fell next to Nulekai.

“Did you guys hear that?” Geoffrey was referring to the sound of the gunshot that got fired.

“Yes, we all heard it!” Vilma affirmed it with slight annoyance.

The armed man didn't hesitate to cock the gun and point it at Natalie while the host felt her eardrums buzz and her head throbbed. As she squeezed her eyes shut from the aftereffects of the gunshot, the armed man took advantage to point the gun at her. His index finger closed in on the trigger only to feel the stinger of a black scorpion. The armed man yelped from the sting as the arachnid fell on the carpet.

The host walked away enduring the buzz from the decibels from the gunshot did to her eardrums, the disorientation and the noise from the skirmish was of no help either.

“We have to get outta here!” Alma urged, she had a bad premonition and she couldn't do anything while being tied up.

The armed man was more focused on the scorpion that crawled away and the painful sting. Irate, he went to step on the scorpion but it disappeared before he could stomp on it. He fumed, but the smoke came from behind him, courtesy of Claw Delbwöare.

When he spun to face the bicephalic dragon, Saw uttered a spell to teleport him out of the stadium in order to prevent Claw from burning him into a crisp.

“Why should we trust you?” Samoht interrogated Alma.

“I don't have time to explain, can someone untie me from this chair?!” The elf tried to move while she tried to pull her arms back from the armrests of the desk chair.

Grim merely took a left turn from the hallway near the infirmary and found Scale talking to a young woman which he assumed to be the intergalactic investigator who Scale was gushing about earlier.

“It seems that he's the only suspect found so far.” Stella insinuated given to how Scale described how the Shadow Soldiers behaved and how the attack their targets. Not to mention the estranged relationship Grim had with his own species according to what Blade told him.

“So you must be the alien cop I've been hearing so much about.” Grim commented as he leaned his robed elbow on the wall, feigning curiosity.

“Grim.” Scale groaned, then exhaled in annoyance.

“Oh, so you're Grim.” Stella turned to look at the aforementioned prime suspect. Dark cloak, shrouded face, tipped oceanic blue wings which could've been mistaken as part of his cloak given how transparent they were.

“Who? Me?” Grim feigned ignorance as he put his hand on his chest.

“Is there another Grim Bootleg around here?” Stella humored the Shadow Soldier, trying to withhold the sarcasm while Scale shot a don't-you-dare-ruin-this for me glare at Grim.

“Guilty as charged.” Grim replied cynically before batting his eyelashes at Scale, the aggravated expression on Reptilian's face was priceless. “I can't help being tall, dark and gruesome.”

Stella was thrown off by Grim's approach. Either his reply was a deliberate pun intended or he was flatly admitting that he was the mastermind behind the Shadow Soldier Revolution, and by extension, the assassination of Scale's allies in that realm.

She was about to interrogate him before her phone rang, Stella fished out her phone from her pocket before she saw that it was Micah who called her over the phone.

“What is it? I'm in the middle of something?” Stella said, then casted a conspicuous glance at Grim while the Shadow Soldier posed like a model only to make Scale squirm from second hand embarrassment.

“I found compelling evidence of an usurper supplanting its next victim.” Micah replied.

“For real?” Stella asked.

“I wouldn't be calling you, wouldn't I?” Stella rolled her eyes at Micah's sarcastic remark. “Here is the footage of the impostor using my image and likeness to commit a crime. I should consider suing that fraud.”

Stella received the link of the video, just when she played it. The footage showed the usurper streaking before the victim appeared, the impostor feigned embarrassment and asked for help. The victim was a brunette with fair skin, brown eyes, wore an ultramarine blazer and knee length skirt, a white buttoned up blouse, short heels and a wedding ring. The victim removed her blazer to help cover the usurper's small body before the victim brought the impostor elsewhere.

“If you're gonna snitch on the space cop about the contract we signed, you'll also get arrested. Think about it.” Grim whispered at the Reptilian while the intergalactic investigator was distracted watching the footage.

“I rather get locked up in order to save everyone from the Revolution than to let you enslave them.” Scale whispered back.

“So you're gonna let that grey-skinned alien wear you like a purse than let me get my own realm.” Grim deadpanned.

“That's right.”

The following video showed the two entering the storage room before the door closed. The usurper came out of the storage room four minutes later, at first glance, it seemed that the receptionist came out casually to resume her job, but the difference was subtle yet palpable. The victim had a lovely updo, the usurper's updo was lowered and rushed with some strands jutting out, and there was no wedding ring in sight.

“Have you found the usurper yet?” Stella asked.

“Not yet, idiot. I'm searching as we speak. Find the victim while you're at it.” Micah stated before hanging up. Stella went out to search for the victim without knowing that she was nearby.

“Does our rivalry mean anything to you?” He pointedly accused him, a boney finger merely inches away from Scale's scaly face.

“I signed up to prevent you from taking their realm. You want to rob them of what little peace they have left!” Scale slapped Grim's hand away, “Do you think I want to live like this!? You just want to have dominion over everyone around you because you don't have control over your own life!”

Grim just stared at him in disbelief while Scale's nostrils flared. “That's low, even for you Scale.”

“Like you're one to talk.” Scale scoffed.  “You've actually killed one of your closest allies in one of your crusades.”

“When I smell a rat, I kill it.” The Shadow Soldier had suspected that Rodney Rodent was a hireling to one of the Thesspins who had a hand in sabotaging the ship, and destroying Achemed, that one was personal.

“You've tried to kill Melon multiple times.”

“She's not a harmless dove, she's more cunning than she looks.” He wasn't fond of the goddess that bewitched her twin brother with her good looks and charm.

“You were close from ruining Blade and Melon's wedding.” Scale recalled, Grim went through great lengths to separate them, false witnesses, extorsion, he went through all the trouble to get Melon's estranged ex to get back together with her in vain. When Grim realized that Melon genuinely loved Blade and how happy she made him, much to his chagrin, he accepted his nemesis-in-law.

“I stopped for Blade's sake and you know it.”

“And what about Mathdias?” Scale asked before he felt a hand clasp around his neck as he felt the oxygen slipping away.

“Don't ask if you know what's good for you.” Grim released the Reptilian before he teleported out in a puff of smoke. It was bad enough that the pressure of saving an entire realm was thrusted upon his shoulders, now he had to worry about what Grim might do to Stella. Scale coughed had to regain his breath, his infrared vision snagged of what appeared to be a body laying on the ground.

As he reached in to get closer, he hit himself against the wall before he used his natural eyesight and saw the wall in front of him. Scale looked around for the door, if his foresight wasn't playing mind tricks on him, the body was not around the infirmary, yet it remained close by. He turned around and found a door that was partly closed.

Scale opened the door of the storage room, as he entered, he used his infrared vision to find the body. The Reptilian went further and he could identify some areas, medical supplies, kits and other paraphernalia. Behind him there was a poorly folded, disproportionate bedsheet laying next to a gondola. As he turned around, there was the same body he spotted earlier. When he unraveled it, he found the body of a woman.

Vilma took out a switchblade knife and went to cut off the plastic bands from the desk chair. While doing so, Goung asked Alma: “What's the last thing you remember?”

“I was drinking my Cröstnack before I blacked out.” Alma admitted, Vilma cut off the plastic band from Alma's left ankle.

“You acted like an angry drunkard at a bar fight!” Geoffrey admonished, sounding like an angry mother hen.

“I don't remember!” Alma shouted, “I was fine sipping on Cröstnack and the next thing I know I woke up by the sound of a gunshot!” Vilma cut off another plastic band from Alma's right ankle.

“So let me get this straight,” Akane started, “You don't recall attacking us, but you do remember drinking that Monster drink knock-off?” Alma graoned at the absurdity of her question while Vilma was almost done cutting the plastic band from Alma's right wrist. “That crap must've been spiked.”

“I didn't relapse this time, you idiot!” Alma squalled just when Vilma was almost done cutting the last plastic band before the elf pulled her hand out of the plastic band and stood from the desk chair.

Sam stood in front of her to block Alma from leaving the reception. “Then what is it!? Quit beating around the bush and tell us!”

“Someone could be on the brink of death! We don't have time to waste!” Alma warned.

“Where's Jane though?” Akane asked before the rest of her coworkers turned pale, “Did I say that out loud?”

Scale found Jane Doe as he awkwardly wrapped up the bedsheet to cover her genitalia, the only thing that she had on was her wedding ring. “What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?” Scale's mind raced as he tried to think of something, do something to help the woman he just found. He ran out the door and looked around to seek help.

———

One of the many tactics that has been used to conquer enemy territory is espionage. The main objective in infiltration is to gain intel as much as possible to uncover enough information to exploit the weaknesses of your adversaries.

Discretion is key to success in tearing down defenses and formulating counterattacks. A tactical retreat is also necessary for self preservation in the midst of confusion.

When the opposition is large in number, is best to cause a diversion to cover up tracks long enough to make an escape. Time is of the essence when it comes to strike at the precise moment.

———

The copycat straightened the blazer she stole from her victim and circumvented, avoiding one of the many perpetrators partaking in the dischord. She also spotted one of the talking dinosaurs gallivanting, mostly snuffing out the ghast that supposedly roamed within the halls towards the stairway which lead to the underground floor. The usurper ignored the Spinosaurus and went to seek the Venusian, if she could find him. She could formulate a plan to steal the gem in his possession, that was until she recalled the electromagnetic gem that was embedded in one of the trophies when she approached the broken glass windows and the vandalism of random strangers stealing one of the stadium's accolades.

Alma and Vilma fought off a hooded man while some of the security guards that were present tasered two or three more delinquents. The faux Jane Doe nonchalantly walked passed them before Akane and Geoffrey called out to her but she ignored them. When the usurper turned to reach the exit nearby the hallway annexed the restricted area, she recognized Stella's silhouette from afar and paused.

“Jane! Jane! Jane!” Carina turned around to find Sam, Goung and Geoffrey walk up to her.

“Are you deaf?” Vilma hollered angrily before Akane caught up to the impostor and hugged her, which caught Carina by surprise.

“You're ok!” Akane rejoiced. The usurper had to act natural if she wanted to get out of this predicament scott free.

“Are you feeling alright? You don't look so good.” Sam stated.

Of course not, you idiot. I was this close from getting caught! Carina thought glaring daggers at him.

“I'm fine.” Carina lied before Akane broke the embrace. “Despite that I got assaulted.”

“No kidding, I still suspect that there is dark magic involved.” Alma stated.

Nulekai glanced at the body of the elf that he'd been seeking, and the best part of it all, not is only Ryo on the brink of death, he also had the perfect opportunity to take Ryo's mana and sap the magical properties of Ryo's Spellblade and there was no one that could stop him.

“At long last, it's all mine.”