Justin eyed the three arrivals carefully. In the center was Sierra 7, a former Aura Guardian and royal pain in the ass whenever they had conflicting interests, which was unfortunately often. To one side was a rather familiar Protoss Dark Templar by the name of Zeratul. And to the other side was… someone entirely unfamiliar to the ShadowLight Alpha trio. He looked like an ordinary Pokémon trainer from Sinnoh, but Psych quickly divulged, via his memories, that he was well over three, or even four centuries old (which Psych called bullshit on. No human could live that long, and he was born human if his earliest intact memories had anything to say about it. Though there were a few safelocked tidbits…). Justin put on his best poker face.

Sierra 7 spoke. "Justin Shade, commander of the ShadowLight mercenaries. We meet again, but for the first peaceful time." Justin couldn't believe his luck, and he let his face know.

He responded with, "Well, well, yes we do, Sierra. Do you secret-squirrel types mind telling me why you're here? It can't be out on a whim." He apparently chose the wrong set of words, as his two friends to the sides began preparing themselves for combat. Sierra's group, however, did not.

Fortunately, the Sinnoh trainer popped in to break the ice. "Guys and gal, let's just get these intros out of the way, niceties and alliances established, and just leave each other alone. We are only here for some fun and hopefully not to kill anyone. We saw what happened last time we were in the same place."

Justin took notice of the diffusal attempt and couldn't help but chuckle, then laugh. Not only did he annoy Psych, but he was either brave or stupid enough to try to calm Emily down. Justin proceeded to finish the job. "Oh, kid, I like you. You've got some real skills to pull off something like that. Alright," he gestured to his left, "This is my friend Emily. Well, two of 'em, anyhow. Sierra, you might know what I'm talking about." He indicated to his right, "And this here is Psych, our resident super-psychic." He gave a little nod toward Sierra, pointing out that it was his turn.

He accepted. "I assume you already know Zeratul, what from your escapades. However, you have yet to meet Lucas Pearl, the Blessed One of Palkia, and our multiverse library." After giving them a few seconds to let that sink in, he asked "So, Mr. Shade, shall we take the tour?"

The tour was long, yet quite informative for the Sierra assassins, mainly because of how varied the relatively small world was, along with the fact that it could change form at seemingly random intervals, which apparently gave Lucas a headache. Even crazier was the fact that it duplicated and extracted parts of other worlds, which put an old Protoss citadel right smack between a Chozo settlement and 2Fort. Despite the sheer hilarity and randomness that this caused, it was kept in check, not by a god or supreme deity, but the Universe itself, a sentient, thinking being that teleported parts of itself around before they could cause too much trouble (like scratching an itch). Which inevitably meant that you could be having a conversation with someone at one moment, and talking at air the next. It was a miracle that no one had been cut in half by this.

After the three-hour walk, everyone was surprised when Psych started the conversation. "Sierra Seven, forgive me if I'm wrong, but if you are not here to slay and pillage, then what point is there?"

The former aura guardian easily admitted, "Actually, there is not much point in that regard. However, to protect timelines, the Author requires me by his Covenant to rest every ten years. A vacation, if you will." Psych didn't like it, but there was honesty behind that statement.

Eventually, the six (technically eight) beings dispersed, with Zeratul finding some old friends, Justin and Psych thinking of ways to mildly prank Sierra without him getting TOO pissed off, Emily walking upside-down on the cave ceiling (looking for something she buried there not too long ago), and Sierra Seven and Lucas visiting a slice of home, a transplanted mountain from Unova.

Then, they felt it. A distortion in the air, shake of the ground. Space was tearing. As they rushed out of the cave, they saw that Sierra and Lucas had beat them to the punch, opening a portal and summoning forth a slew of beings. Then, it clicked : They were making a base. Probes, Bonesingers, and some generic workers from some other race poured out of the portal. "SIERRA! What are you doing?! I thought this was a vacation, for crying out loud!" Justin yelled, furious at the soon-to-be waste of a labor force. What were they THINKING?

Then came the battle-cry of one of the few forces that were capable of lasting a decent amount of time in head-to-head combat with ShadowLight Alpha:

"FOR THE ASCENDED!"