Shen Mi hummed as she held the dress up in front of the mirror. "I don't know. Maybe if it was in a different shade. What do you think?" she asked, turning over towards her teammate.

Heath scowled as he leaned against one of the shelves. "I think you need to hurry it up. I don't have all day," he said. He couldn't believe he had gotten dragged along by her again. Why did she always need him to tag along for this crap?

The redhead narrowed her eyes. "You know, we'd get out of here a lot quicker if you stopped whining and just go along with it."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, the red one."

"Are you saying that because you mean it, or because you want to get out of here?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Or for god's sake! What do you want me to say woman?!"

"I want you to give me an honest opinion you beck toothed nerd!"

"What do you give a shit about my opinion?!"

The two glared at one another before Shen Mi huffed and turned away. "Whatever. You're stupid." She went back over to the clothes rack and began grabbing something else. "Hey, how much is this?" she asked, holding up a skirt. The lady cowering behind the desk jumped when she was addressed.

Heath rolled his eyes. "You're not even paying for it."

"So what? I don't want to steal anything cheap," Shen Mi said. "I have standards."

"Pretty low ones from the looks of it..." Both teens turned around and saw Astro and Micah standing in the doorway.

Shen Mi scoffed while Heath smirked. "Hell yeah, finally something worth leaving the base for," he said as his arms began to light up. "I've been waiting to test these new upgrades out for weeks."

"Figures you losers would come and ruin my day shopping," Shen Mi said holding her hand out threateningly. "I'm so not in the mood to deal with you, so get out of here before I decide to blink you out of existence or something."

Astro cracked his neck. "I can deal with Shen Mi. Can you guys handle Heath?" he asked.

"We got this," Micah said, getting ready.

Before Heath could ask just what they were talking about, Ryu burst from the back door and held his hand out before slamming them together. "Typhoon Boom!" A burst of wind shot out, knocking both Heath and Shen Mi sliding back.

Ryu rushed at them from one side, while Micah sped forward from the other. They both attacked Heath, who lifted his arm and blocked both of them. "Two on one? Not very fair for you guys is it?" Heath asked, chuckling.

Shen Mi lifted her hand and aimed at them. "It really is kind of a shame. Almost all the cute guys in your little group are here, and I have to wipe them all out."

Right before she was about to attack however, a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. She looked up and saw Astro looming over her. "Your fights with me brat," he said, narrowing his eyes.

She scowled. "Didn't you mother ever teach you not to put your hands on a lady?"

"Lady?" Astro asked, chuckling. "You look like you just got out of diapers."

"You little-!" Astro tossed her before she had a chance to attack, but she managed to stop herself before crashing into the wall. She looked up and saw Astro was already rushing her. She flew back trying to get some distance, but he wasn't planning on giving her any room to work with. "Back off you loser!"

"Not a chance! You may be good with magic, but I know you're no good at close combat!" Astro shouted, sending a wave of ice at her. She managed to avoid it, but before she could fire back at him she heard a growl behind her.

Sear shot a blast of fire towards her, which she swung at and swept away. "Hey! Bringing your stupid pet isn't fair!" Shen Mi whined.

Astro smirked. "Evil doers don't get to whine about doing things fair." He and Sear both rushed at her.

"Fine, if that's how you want to play it! ANNA!" Just as Sear was about to reach her, a purple ball of fur suddenly came shooting off from under one of the racks and slammed into his side. Experiment 628, otherwise known as Anna, laughed as she knocked Sear into a nearby shelf. "Good girl!" Shen Mi said.

Anna ran after Sear and Astro scowled. He grabbed his sword and went to go help his companion, but Shen Mi blasted him back. "Pay attention prince! You still got a date with me!" she laughed.

Astro growled as his eyes began turning black. "Fine then. If that's the way you..." Astro's gaze drifted away from her as he noticed something outside. It was... Cressida! "Shit!" What was she doing here?!

The girl smiled before bringing her arm back, and taking aim. "Hey, what are you staring at loser?" Shen Mi said scowling. Pay attention, or else this isn't going to be any- Hey!"

Astro had run off as Cressida threw whatever item she was holding. She had aimed it towards Ryu. "Lookout! Move!" he shouted. Ryu was currently dodging an attack from Heath, and had moved right in the way of whatever was being hurled. He was too into the fight to notice it coming towards him.

Astro growled before pushing him out of the way. He tried making a wall of ice to stop the item, but was just a second too late. It hit him square in the chest, and suddenly dispersed into a cloud of dust.

The prince coughed and quickly covered his mouth. Was this some kind of poison?

Back outside, Cressida had jumped back onto the building across the street. She frowned as she stood next to her brother. "Good work little sister. Seems like even you can complete a task as simple as throwing something," Umbriel said chuckling.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I still don't know why we couldn't just get rid of him. He's a nuisance..."

"You've always been a bad judge of character, little sister. The boy is stronger than you realize. And he'll make a good test for our dear cousin. Now shut up and watch. The real fun is just about to begin," he said smirking.

Astro kept coughing as he stumbled towards the door. He didn't know what this stuff was, but he felt strange. "Dude, are you okay?!" Micah yelled as he blasted towards Heath.

Astro rubbed his head and growled as Shen Mi floated towards him. "Okay... no idea what that was, but if you're done can we get back to fighting please? You interrupted my shopping and I have some aggression to take out."

The prince growled once more, but this time it was a much lower and animal like. He opened his eyes, which were now glowing a bright yellow. Shen Mi looked at him confused. Did the room start feeling... hotter?

"Holy shit..."

"Yep, still Nia."

"I didn't even get a slice!"

Vera watched as Nia finished the last slice of pizza they ordered. She definitely had the same massive appetite as Nia, though at least she seemed to remember her table manners. She wiped her mouth off with a napkin, which is the first time Vera had ever seen her use one without being told by her brother, and smiled. "Is there anymore?" she asked.

Ezra held his hands up. "I didn't! Get! ANY!"

"I don't see how that's my problem," she said bluntly. "Just order some more."

Cayenne raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to pay for it?"

"Of course not... Astro will."

"Huh... sounds good to me," Cayenne said, smirking. It's not like it would hurt his wallet, but it'd probably piss him off.

Titania hummed, now looking bored. She could feel her brother and Shen Mi's magical power. They were clashing. And... her brother's seemed to be spiking. Something interesting was happening and she was missing it. But she had made a deal, and she was bound to keep it. Even if it was someone as small as Astro.

She wondered where AJ was. He hadn't shown up today, and he had been acting weird when he left yesterday. Was it because he wanted Nia back? She still didn't get it. She was stronger and better anyway. So why was he so worried about her?

"Evening everyone."

The others turned towards the door where Alexander was making his way inside. Titania narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Just came here to check up on you. I sensed a large surge of magical power in town and was sure you'd go running," he said before looking over towards the empty pizza boxes. "Ah, that explains it."

Titania huffed. "I don't need anyone checking up on me. I'm free to do whatever I want whenever I want, regardless of what anyone else thinks or does," she said.

"Of course you are," Alexander said, patting her head. She scowled and swatted his hand away. "I also came to discuss the upcoming event with Kingsley, or whoever I'll be working with. Everything on my end is prepared, there's just some details we need hammered out."

Cayenne nodded towards Titania. "It was supposed to be her..."

"Oh... well, that complicates things..." Titania was about to speak up again, but then stopped. Both she and Alexander looked off towards the window. "Did you feel that?"

"Of course I felt it..." Titania said, insulted.

Cayenne scowled. She knew this was a magic thing, but it sort of pissed her off that they seemed to always know what was going on lately. "What's going on? Do we need to send backup for Mikey and prince ass-hat?"

"I doubt that," Alexander said, looking more than a little concerned. "He's the one that might need to be dealt with."

"What do you mean?"

Titania smiled. "He means something fun is about to happen."

Micah coughed as he wiped away the smoke from his face. Everything had happened so fast he barely had time to react. There was suddenly just fire everyone, and then...

"You okay?"

He looked up towards Ryu who was crouched down next to him. He'd managed to whip up a barrier of wind around them, knocking the flames away. He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for the save," he said before looking around. The store was... no longer a store. There was barely anything left of the building left. "What the hell Astro...?" he muttered.

Outside, the fight had continued on. And things were not looking good for the two preteens. "Shit, shit, shit! C'mon! Wake up!" Heath said, holding Shen Mi in his arms. "C'mon you elf! This isn't funny! You can't expect me to believe that clown actually knocked you out!"

The redhead had been the closest towards that freak when he sent off all those flames, and while it looked like she managed to get a shield up, she'd been knocked back all the way across the street. He'd rushed over towards her, only to find her slumped over on the ground. "Damn it! Wake up!" he said, shaking her.

"Gods, I don't know what that was, but I haven't felt this alive in years..." Heath looked up and saw Astro making his way towards them. He wore a downright evil smile on his face as he walked towards them.

Heath grit his teeth and glared at him. "You asshole..."

Astro hummed and looked down at him. "Hmm? Aw c'mon, don't tell me she's done already. I was literally warming up," he said lifting his hand up. Heath could see more black flames forming around him. He clutched Shen Mi close and raised his other hand, getting ready to blast back at him.

Before either of them could fire though, a hand grabbed Astro's wrist. He looked over and saw Micah frowning at him. "Dude, you can't just fire off blasts like that. You could have-"

Astro pulled his hand away and then glared. "Who cares?"

Micah frowned. "...okay, I don't know what's going on, but we need to-"

"The only thing I need is to finish these two off. Get out of my way."

"No," Micah said, narrowing his eyes.

Astro glared back at him. "You getting in my way then...?" Before Micah could even answer, Astro's tail whipped into him, knocking him back. He went crashing into Ryu as Astro chuckled. "That was a warning shot, friend. Take the hint." He turned back to Heath and Shen Mi. "Now, as for you and little miss..."

He stopped and then looked off into the distance. "What the...? Oh, I see. Fine then. It's about time I put you back in your place anyway," he said as he turned and began running off.

Sear watched him go, having hung back when he sensed the very foul smelling magic come off his rider. The dragon had easily sensed that something was wrong, and instincts had for once overpowered loyalty. He then ran over to check on Micah and Ryu. The former rubbed his head and groaned. "Are you okay?" Ryu asked worriedly.

"I'm good. Little dizzy, but good. What the hell is wrong with him?" he asked frowning.

Ryu looked after him. "I... I think I saw something hit him back in the store. It looked like some kind of powder. He pushed me out of the way of it," he said. "Should we follow him?"

"Yeah, I just... need a minute," he said getting up. "Where's he headed?"

"I think... I think he's headed towards the base?"

"Why would he go back to the base?"

"Titania, stop this right now!"

The princess ignored her cousin's order as she continued to pour out as much magical energy as she could. She wore an excited smile on her face as she waited with her arms crossed. "What the hell is she doing?!" Cayenne asked. She wasn't in the know about all this magic stuff, but even she could feel the power the kid was pouring off.

Alexander frowned. "I have no idea! If she keeps this up Astro is bound to sense it and make his way here!"

Titania laughed. "Exactly!" she said. "I may have promised I wouldn't leave the base, but if he comes back here then there shouldn't be any problems, right?" she asked, turning back. "It should only be a matter of time before he gets here."

"The fuck is happening?!" Cayenne said, holding her hands up. "Why would Astro be coming back-?!"

Something crashed down in front of Titania, and the others all stumbled back. When the dust cleared, they all looked back and saw Astro standing over his sister. "What the...?" Amber looked at the prince and could immediately tell something was wrong. "This isn't good."

"No shit," Cayenne said, frowning and headed towards him. "Hey ass-hat! Where are Mikey and Ryu?!"

Alexander put his hand in front of her. "Don't. He's not in control of himself right now," he warned. "I don't know what happened, but Cressida appeared for a moment and his power suddenly spiked. He must be... I don't know, under some spell."

"You're shitting me," Cayenne said, narrowing her eyes.

Astro chuckled and looked towards them. "Out of control? I don't know what you're talking about. I've never felt more controlled in my life," he said rolling his shoulders back. "So, who's going to play with me first? You Cayenne?"

Cayenne pulled her sleeve up. "Look, whatever. I don't need much of a reason to beat Astro's ass," she said.

Titania held her hand up. "No. I'll be the one dealing with him."

"Dealing with me?" Astro asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. "Of course!" she said smiling. "Why do you think I lured you here? This is a golden opportunity. for me. The clash of the Butterflies, brother vs sister! I finally get to prove just how much stronger I am than you!"

Astro just stared at her for a moment, then burst out in laughter. "HA! You, stronger than me? You're joking, aren't you?" he asked, wiping a tear away.

Titania floated up so she was face to face with him. "The only joke here is you thinking I would be afraid of someone so much weaker than I am..."