The Death Spiral Base

Shauna stood before the Spiral Mark, holding a scroll in her hand.

"There is exactly one month left until the day when the Nullifiers will liberate our world" she declared.

The group of Spiral members reacted enthusiastically to her words.

"Today, you will witness the appearance of the Red Comet in the sky!" she laughed maniacally.

***

It was morning, around eleven o'clock. Den sat in his math class, pretending to understand anything of it. Propping his chin with his hand, he copied another example from the board. Suddenly, there was an explosion outside. Fears glanced out the window. What he saw in the courtyard made him think he was still dreaming. He rubbed his eyes. Nothing had changed. Quickly, he discreetly took out his phone from his pocket and informed Lok in writing about the situation. Math seemed completely irrelevant to him now. He packed his things and headed for the exit.

"Fears! Where are you going?!" the teacher asked, grabbing his wrist.

The boy broke free from the grip and, without a word of explanation, quickly left the classroom.

"Fears! I promise you won't get off with this!" he heard the math teacher's voice echoing through the corridor.

The teenager braced himself for the future consequences. He went towards his brother's class. He knocked and immediately opened the door.

"Come here, Harrison. I'll take him for a moment, professor" he said.

Fears, without waiting for any reaction from the teacher, went out to his brother.

"What's going on?" the younger one asked.

"The Spiral is in school. They probably came for us" he replied.

It stunned him. Initially, he thought it had to be some kind of joke. On the other hand, Den wouldn't have left during class on his own.

"Malia! She has classes in the other building now" Harrison reminded himself.

"So that's the tactic they've chosen" the other boy concluded.

The brothers rushed outside. They looked around. Indeed, Fears wasn't mistaken. The entrance doors had been smashed to pieces. They entered the building. They noticed their friend struggling with two Spiral members.

Den used Augerfrost on one, and Harrison used Raypulse on the other opponent. The girl ran towards them.

"Thanks. I was starting to doubt you heard how they broke in so loudly" Malia said, massaging her shoulder.

"You were lucky. I had math class. I saw them running inside" the older Fears said.

Lok, Sophie, and Cathy joined the others.

"Looks like the situation is under control" the leader said.

"Not really. It seems the Spiral is planning something" Den replied.

"Let's find out" Sophie said, then approached one of the unconscious Spiral members.

She tapped him on the face a few times until he woke up. Casterwill immediately used Oathmaker.

"Why did you come here?" she asked.

"I have no reason to answer your questions, Casterwill girl."

"I'm asking again: Why did you come here?"

He remained silent. Lyssa approached and used a yellow spell of Boostspell on her friend.

"Now you'll answer, you sneak" the medic said.

Casterwill once again used her powers and asked the same question. The Spiral member was paralyzed with fear. He bit his tongue, but the spell compelled him to speak involuntarily: "Our lady wanted to abduct these three from the school."

"Who is your lady?" Sophie asked next question.

"Arnetta. A beautiful woman."

"That suspicious woman again. Where is she now?"

"She went to attend to her affairs" he replied.

Listening to the conversation, Cathy felt uneasy. Finally, the pieces started to come together.

"We need to split up. Dante's house could be in ruins" the girl said.

"What? What are you talking about?" Lok asked.

"I'll explain later. You have to trust me!"

"Cathy, Den, and I will go check. You stay here."

Lok summoned Kipperin and immediately headed in the right direction. Den and Cathy were far behind, but they quickly caught up by moving across the rooftops. When Lambert flew to the mansion, he noticed a woman accompanied by two titans. They were trying to break through the barrier of the house.

"Good thing we never turn it off" he muttered to himself.

The leader descended, and with Kipperin's wings, he cut off the legs of the whole trio.

"Surprise" he said, with his arms crossed.

"You stupid brat!" she yelled, pushing her hair back with her hand.

She sent her two titans towards Lambert. In the air, the boy dodged the spinning fan blades of the Fan Dancer. He summoned Baselaird. The titan charged at the other opponent, who resembled a vampire. He swung his sword to strike her, but her fluid dodges made it difficult. He kept slicing through the air. Lambert moved towards the woman. He attacked her. They fiercely exchanged blows.

"Where is Dante? I want to talk to him! I know he's there!" she shouted, then kicked towards her opponent.

"Spiral thugs hunting down people from the Foundation? That's a novelty" he replied.

Sensing the right moment, he accurately aimed a powerful blow to the woman's abdomen.

"Now!" she commanded.

The titan with the fans hurled both weapons towards the boy. Unexpectedly, the Cursed Archer came to his aid. He shot the fans out of the air with his flexible, orange arrows. On the low wall separating the courtyard from the street, two seekers landed.

"Looks like you were right" Den said to Cathy.

"Back off. You don't stand a chance" Lok directed his words to the opponent.

"If you tell me where Dante is" the woman retorted.

"I heard someone desperately looking for me" a voice came from behind the Spiral member.

"Dante?!" Lambert exclaimed.

The woman seized the moment and jumped onto the wall.

"Sorry for arrived unannounced" he said to his friend.

"No worries. But you better tell me why she's looking for you."

"I'll tell you later."

"Oh, you didn't tell your friends who I am? You broke my heart, Dantie."

Vale frowned and looked at the woman. The use of his nickname stirred memories within him. Simultaneously, it caused a pang in his heart.

"Get out of here and don't bother my friends" he said gruffly.

"Did you find a new little family and don't want anything to happen to them? How sweet. Finally, you can play the big brother like Karl or Boris" she replied, running her fingers through her chestnut hair.

Vale clenched his fists. "You have no right to speak their names!"

Dante lunged at his opponent. During his Hyperstride, he aimed Touchram at her. The woman landed on the facade of the adjacent building and moments later flopped onto the ground. He approached her. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a trio of Spiral members heading his way. He grabbed the opponent by the coattails and threw her at the feet of her allies.

"If you don't leave quickly, I'll have you arrested. Try showing up here again" he said, turning towards his friends.

The flustered Spiral members lifted their leader. Woman with orange hair briefly glanced at the man. The individuals in white and black robes fled in an unknown direction. Moments later, the remaining trio of seekers from Lok's team appeared in the same alley.

"Dante? What are you doing here?" Sophie asked, surprised.

"I'll explain everything soon. Let's go back" the man replied before using Hyperstride.

Unexpectedly, all the seekers' gazes turned to the familiar glowing point in the sky.

"The Red Comet?" Sophie whispered in disbelief.

***

Dante held a cup of coffee in his hands. The others listened to his story about the mysterious woman.

"Arnetta has a twisted mind" Den remarked.

"I'm sorry, Dante" Sophie said.

Vale shook his head.

"She reopened old wounds. Zhalia found out she was trying to persuade me to switch sides. If I didn't agree, she was ready to blow up our family home. Someone like her can't be my sister. For so many years, I hoped she might come back to the right path. And it turned out totally the opposite" he said, wiping his face with his hand.

"That would explain why you made an unannounced visit" Lok commented.

"And shouldn't you be in class?" the councilor looked at Fears brothers and Malia.

The mentioned trio glanced at each other before bursting into laughter.

"There's no point in going back" Den replied, leaning back in his chair.

"Spiral wrecked my physics class and half the school in the process. It'll probably take them a good week to cart all the debris away" Lyssa explained.

***

The next day was Malia's exam day. She waited at the entrance of the room where she always had sessions with her mentor named Elizabeth. The teenager was calm. Most people would be stressed if they were her. She felt that the course of the long-awaited exam would be just a formality. The only thing that could stress her out was the presence of the head of the medical unit, who was also responsible for examining future medics. Among the working medics, he was considered a composed person who demanded a lot. The man approached the girl.

"Hello, Malia. How are you doing?" he asked as he stood before the door.

"Hi. How am I doing? I don't know" she scratched her head.

They entered the room. The girl's heart raced faster. The facade of calmness she tried to maintain was crushed by two tons of panic, stress, and the disposition to leave the room immediately.

"Transfer the poison from this dummy onto yourself" the man gave the command.

Lyssa nodded. Before her, she had the sight of when she used it on Sophie. It met with little success. She gritted her teeth. She took a deep breath and started to act. The color of the dummy changed from purple to white. This meant that the task was successful. Internally, she rejoiced in it. However, the next task was to rid herself of this poison. She had a few, if not several, seconds for that. She placed her hands on her chest.

"Purification" she said. Her body was enveloped in a white glow. To the future medic, it seemed like this moment lasted forever. She had to maintain the spell even longer. After a while, the effect subsided, and the man wrote something on a piece of paper supported by a black rectangular pad.

"Okay. Stand up" the man moved to the next workstation.

She followed him. She saw a cookie with an umbrella pattern on the table.

"Now, try to cut out the center without crumbling the cookie" he requested.

The girl took the cookie in her hand. With her other hand, she joined her middle and index fingers. After a moment, they glowed blue. Malia began to carve along the lines of the pattern. Against all appearances, it might seem easy. This task was meant to test whether the examined seeker would not cause harm due to their lack of control over their powers. Unexpectedly, in the room filled with silence, the man turned on the radio. It didn't faze the examinee in the slightest.

"Did you think that would knock me for a loop?" she asked confidently, continuing to carve the shape.

"I was hoping it wouldn't" he replied.

"And you were right" she said, handing the cookie umbrella to him.

The man instructed her to move to the next station with two dummies. In the meantime, he was jotting something down again.

"Transfer all the power from one to the other" he commanded.

Malia grabbed both dolls by the hands. In her mind, she envisioned the stream of power she should begin to transmit. After a moment, Lyssa's hands glowed orange. Once again, she experienced the sensation of being a conduit. She felt the energy flowing evenly from one dummy to the other through her hands, arms, and shoulders.

"Tomato!" the examiner suddenly shouted.

The girl glanced at the man.

"Don't like them either?" she asked.

If it weren't for the fact that she had to respond to him in some way, she would have remained silent. Unfortunately, being a medical seeker was a tough profession. The examiner also had to somehow draw attention to himself. Her teacher warned her that whatever Mr. Kotto said during the task, she had to verbally react to it somehow.

Lyssa saw that the energy bar of the first machine had already dropped below a quarter. On one hand, she was glad about it. On the other hand, it meant that she still had to endure a little longer. In the meantime, she heard the sound of a pen writing. She was so focused that she heard all the sounds as if she were standing right next to the source of the sound emission.

"Enough" he said, adjusting his glasses.

She looked in his direction.

"Should I stop?" she asked, surprised.

He nodded. The girl completed the task.

"Now it's time for combat task."

The man instructed them to move everything to the walls. They had to make room for the next challenge.

"Now you fight against me, and you have to save him" he pointed to the doll lying behind him.

Malia frowned.

"Alright" she replied.

***

The girl waited outside the classroom door. At that moment, a consultation with other medics regarding her case was taking place. The emotions after the exam had already subsided. Lyssa sat sideways on the windowsill, gazing out at the world through the window. Autumn in Italy didn't look the same as it did in her native Sweden. It wasn't as cold. The fact that the leaves were falling seemed rather consistent for every corner of the world. She noticed a young family. The child tossed a pile of leaves into the air. After a moment its parents did the same. They began to playfully throw them around and started laughing.

The sight inspired Malia to think about her own family. Essentially, only about her mother. She hadn't seen her for so long. Sometimes she dropped to her uncle, but she didn't feel particularly close to him. She grabbed her braid and looked at her brown hair.

"I wonder where I would be now if all of this never happened" she sighed quietly.

Suddenly, the classroom door swung open. The girl immediately stepped down from the windowsill and sprang to attention.

"Come in" Mr. Kotto said.

Once again, they were both in the room. The others had gone in a different direction. The girl was afraid to ask about the verdict. She was prepared for anything. Although, in her modest opinion, she had done well. Although she wasn't pleased with the last part where she had to face the man.

"Congratulations. You passed" said the unit chief, extending his hand towards her.

Malia looked towards the unit chief. Her lips involuntarily formed the letter "O." The girl shook his hand.

"You're starting from tomorrow" he added.

"But some time ago, I was assigned to Lok Lambert's team. Have you discussed this with the Huntik Council?" she asked.

"Indeed. I forgot" he said, rubbing his hand over his head.

"Let me step in for her, Frans" unexpectedly, someone entered the room.

The pair looked towards the entrance. Lyssa rubbed her eyes. She was absolutely convinced that this was some kind of dream. The woman had blond hair tied in a braid. Her blue eyes had regained their brightness lost a few years ago.

"Klara?!"

"Mom?!"

They said at the same time. The girl without hesitation threw herself at her mother. She was moved. She shed a few tears. "I missed you so much."

"You've grown, sweetheart. I'm proud of you. Adam would be proud too" the woman stroked her head.

"When were you released?" Kotto asked.

"About a week ago. I managed to find out from Erik that Malia was taking the exam. And... I decided to wait. I knew she will pass it" she laughed and wiped a tear of emotion.

"Talented like her parents" he smiled at the girl.

"Please stop with the compliments" Lyssa said, a little blushed.

The two adults laughed.

"Anyway. Welcome back, Klara. I'll talk to the Huntik Council about you, Malia. I'll let you know what happens next" Frans said.

Malia nodded. Now she had to make up for those lost five years with her mother. She wanted to talk to her even if just for a few minutes. She had so much to tell her.

In their home training room, the Fears brothers faced off against each other. After school, they often trained together. The siblings exchanged precise punches and kicks. They didn't impose a fighting pace on each other. The atmosphere was calm. After all, they didn't want to kill each other, just simply practice. Unexpectedly, Harrison took a hit to his face and ended up on the ground.

"Gee, I thought you'd dodge that. Are you okay?" Den asked, concerned.

"Yeah" he replied, massaging his forehead.

"I can see you're not focused. What's wrong?"

Den could tell something was bothering his younger brother. The worst part was, he didn't know what. Or who.

"I'm worried about her."

"About Malia?"

He nodded.

"I'm sure she's doing fine. If you want, we can go and congratulate her" Den suggested.

"How are you so sure she passed that exam?"

"People like her, who are nervous because they think they don't know anything, always do well" he replied with his arms crossed.

"Den's right. You should have more faith in her abilities" Cathy entered the room with Cherit on her shoulder.

"You? Against me?" the boy looked at the pair.

"Just admit you miss her" the older Fears nudged his brother with his shoulder.

Cathy covered her mouth with her hand to suppress a laugh.

"Since we got back from Nepal, we've only seen her at school. And after classes, she'd run off to study more. Don't tell me I'm the only one" the boy turned his gaze to the wall, his cheeks turning slightly red.

Cathy shook her head.

"I know how much becoming a medical seeker means to her. She's been working hard all this time. Really hard. I just hope the stress doesn't eat her up. All we can do is mentally support her" she stated.

"Let's continue" Harrison said to his brother.

The boys positioned themselves in the middle of the room, facing each other. Cathy and Cherit watched the course of the brotherly duel from the side. During the casual skirmish, unexpectedly, Death Spiral seekers burst into the room through the windows. The boys and Lambert girl cast Armorbrand to protect themselves from being hit by glass fragments.