History repeated itself. Momotaro, once again, took refuge in his training routine. Trouble after trouble kept piling up, building a tower too tall for him to dismantle. He could hit the base, but the avalanche that would follow might be devastating. So, there he was, hitting the same boxing bag to ease his mind.

Next to him, laying on the floor, Titan observed his owner's movements. The dog had been in that position for about twenty minutes, in the beginning, he jumped around Momo at the rhythm of his punches; after running out of energy he let himself fall to the ground.

An unexpected loud bark startled Momotaro to the point where he gave a little jump.

"What do you want, buddy?" He asked, earning a whine as a response.

After two years of sharing his life with Titan, Momo gained the talent to interpret the Pit Bull's expressions; so he didn't have to talk with him to understand that the dog was bored.

"Ok, I'll stop. Let's go see Stella," his gaze traveled to his toned body, he was drenched in sweat. The boy took a deep breath, and immediately he scrunched his nose. "After I take shower. God, I stink."

Some of the most important decisions in life are made in the shower. Maybe the pleasant sensation of the falling water attracts inspiration, or perhaps the mind works better in the particular calm one can find there. Either way, Momotaro, thanks to the inexplicable power of the shower, made up his mind.

As he promised, he accompanied Titan to visit Stella. The woman received them at the infirmary with a radiant smile and open arms for the dog to jump to them.

"Could you take care of him for a while?" He asked in a hurry. "Something came up and he wants to play."

"I would never say no to my baby," said Stella before giving a few kisses to Titan.

With a clear mind, knowing that his friend was being taken care of, he continued on his way. A single goal guided his steps: to locate Stefan.

Momotaro encountered the leader in the least expected place: Flora's garden. In the time he had been part of the resistance, he had never seen the man taking a break outside his office. He looked almost relaxed sitting on the bench between the flowers with his gaze on the welcoming sky.

"I guess my peaceful rest is over?" asked the oldest, feeling the other's presence.

He patted Stefan on the back.

"I enjoy ruining your peace, it's my revenge for introducing me to this circus."

"What are you going to torture me with, then?" Even when he tried to maintain the serious mask, a laugh escaped at the end.

"I want to ask your permission to get information from the Bearers of Salvation, I'll be taking Casimir with me." All the playfulness was already gone from his voice.

"I thought you didn't like him."

"I don't, but my likes or dislikes can't get in the middle of the Protectors' priorities."

For an instant, Momo could see a proud smile present on Stefan's face. It had been a long time since he saw that smile, he knew that his wish was about to be granted.

"Don't use too much violence, remember we are facing humans."

"That's the reason why I need Casimir," he assured him. "With him I won't have to resort to violence to make them talk."

Stefan nodded and with his hand he signaled the youngest to go away. Without saying anything, Momotaro left the leader alone, after all the man needed some rest.

To ask for Casimir's help was easier in his imagination. The blond boy would have said yes without so much effort from Momotaro, the real problem resided in the aversion he had for him.

Momo lost count of the turns he kept taking in a futile attempt to delay the encounter. Curious gazes followed him through the hallways, he needed to act before his fellow members baptized him as the crazy of the group.

Breath in and breathe out, breath in and breathe out. The relaxation exercise helped a little, enough for him to face Casimir.

"You're coming with me, we got work to do." The words came out in a harsh tone, contrasting with his awkward smile.

"Yeah, give me a second to grab my stuff," answered the boy, taken back by the abrupt order.  He ran away after noticing the other's nod, his steps shakier than usual.

Five minutes and a mental motivational talk later they were driving to the beach. The target for the mission remained a mystery for Casimir.

As they arrived at their destination the blue-eyed boy asked the questions that seemed to be bothering him for so long.

"Why am I here?"

After unfastening his seat belt Momotaro signaled towards a man, five or six meters from their position.

"Do you see that man over there?" He asked, waiting for some type of confirmation. After getting an affirmative answer he continued talking. "He's part of Mr. Peters' Cult, the dude likes to brag about it all the time. According to my sources, he spends between three to four hours alone on the beach every day. That gives us at least two hours to talk to him. Are you following me?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it."

"At the beginning, I thought it would be nice to scare him a little bit, you know I don't appreciate what they did to our people. But Stefan would go nuts if I even tried it. Anyways, that's when you get into the picture, we need to make him talk without raising suspicions, and your power is perfect for that. So now we're saying hello to our new friend, and you make sure that he spills all the secrets. Was I clear enough? cause I don't want any errors."

Casimir gulped, suddenly his body decided it was a great moment to start sweating. He wasn't stupid, Momo's words consist not only of an explanation, but Momotaro was also letting him understand that if he made even a minimal mistake he would be in trouble.

"More than clear."

"Great!" He exclaimed, patting his companion on the head. "Let 's go."

Soon both boys reached the man sitting on the wet sand, near the shore. From there the strongest waves would wet their feet.  The oldest didn't have the chance to react, as his eyes made contact with Casimir's gaze the member of the resistance whispered the order.

"You're going to answer all his questions with the truth."

The man's pupils dilated, he fell into the trap.

"It always gives me chills when you control them," confessed Momotaro, not an apex of regret detected in his voice. "Hello my friend, what's your name?"

"I'm Robert," he said with excitement, signaling the space beside him as an invitation.

"Rough week with the Bearers of Salvation? I heard your leader made a brilliant deal with the demons," continued Momo, fake sweetness dripping through his words.

"Mr. Peters says is the best for our souls, I can't understand how obeying Borbala would be good for us,"

"Borbala?" Asked Casimir, interrupting the conversation.

"You know, that female demon. Cadoc is supposed to be their leader but she's scarier. I think she's the one that actually makes the decisions. She wanted us to make a deal with those Protectors, they denied our offer, I'm sure she won't like it, that people are doomed."

The members of the resistance looked at each other, their expressions transmitted a mix of nervousness and anxiety. It was official now, the leaders of the demons wanted to reach them. Whatever they wanted it could be good.

"Do you know of any plans to attack the protectors?" Momotaro resumed the questioning.

Robert shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea, Mr. Peters doesn't tell us anything,"

"He's smart, to cover as much as possible is a great move. This is the best we can get," Casimir voiced his opinion.

Momo stood up. Like on autopilot he brought his right hand to his head, messing with his hair. His feet moved one way to another, and his eyes were focused on the sand.

"You're right, he doesn't know much," He gave up. "Erase his memory, I'll be waiting inside the car."

The information they gathered didn't reach the level Momotaro expected, yet it was better than nothing. He needed to tell Stefan about Borbala, the new threat rounding on times of weakness from the Protectors.

The situation began to escape from the resistance limit, they were getting into deep and unknown territory. Every step could mean a catastrophe.

Angry Momo is on, what do you think about his actions?