Silver and Blaze had spent hours travelling across wind warped sand dunes that seemingly stretched onward without end. It was a region generally referred to as New Babylon, although they were far from any of the populated cities that stood in the more scenic and livable areas. Their great progress was made thanks to the procurement of some cutting edge technology in the form of a hoverboard.

It was called extreme gear. The machine was shaped like a metal board with two rounded hovering mechanisms on the underside. Along with having its own internal power source, a rider could pour their own soul wavelength into the machine to boost its performance further. Extreme gear was exceptionally fast, and allowed a rider to traverse a wide range of terrain with ease, so it was well suited for crossing the sprawling desert.

Blaze had familiarized herself with similar vehicles while growing up in the Sol Kingdom, though this was her first time using something this efficient. Silver had been carried in weapon form for the duration of the journey. While proceeding further into the desert, Blaze floated off of a hill, then did a front flip.

"You're getting pretty good," Silver said.

"Well, we've been travelling for a whole day. I was used to the increased speed after the first hour," Blaze navigated over a slope. She gained a bit of air, then spun sideways once before landing. "It's mostly just dull at this point,"

Off in the distance, a large vortex was becoming visible. It was muddy and dark compared to the rest of the area. Violent currents of wind brimming with energy formed an enormous cylindrical veil that stretched up into the clouds. Intermittent bursts of sparks shot out of the dust. Silver looked out from his weapon form with bewilderment.

"Let me guess, we're headed for that awful looking storm?"

Blaze nodded. "It's a scientific anomaly. Since it's positioned outside of the DWMA and Sol's jurisdiction, there's a lot of mystery surrounding its origin. It's been around for a while, but Sol only began investigating it over the last decade,"

"If it's already been studied, then why are we here?"

"The others never got very far. The intensity of the vortex made it lethal to anyone who enters after just a few minutes,"

"Just send in a robot!" Silver chastised.

"Robots fared even worse. Their sensors get scrambled, then they just go in circles until they break. Robots also didn't last much longer than people inside the vortex, and there's a wide area to investigate. Any technology used needs manual operation. It seems that having a soul wavelength is an advantage, so our best bet is to go in ourselves now that it's weakened,"

"Weakened?"

"By the kishin's power spreading across the world,"

"How could the kishin's chaos wavelength make a giant, deadly vortex less deadly?" Silver wondered with disbelief.

"Think of it like two cyclones colliding. The opposing directions of the air currents weaken each other. This scenario is similar, or at least that's what I was told,"

"When we enter, how long do we have before..."

"We have half an hour," Blaze replied. She reached into her pocket and retrieved a small rounded disk with a numbered dial. "This simple timer will keep us from staying inside too long. This extreme gear is durable enough to last well beyond thirty minutes in there,"

"Then let's get going,"

Drawing near the vortex revealed a raised stone structure perched on the very edge of the swirling cloud. A steep cliffside sat beneath the anomaly, with the attached structure serving as an access point.

Silver reverted from his weapon form. Blaze picked up her board, then the two traversed the staircase of the structure to reach the flattened top. Once there, they noticed a group of three individuals wearing beige cloaks. One of the stranger's builds made him much more imposing than the other two, who were sized similarly to Silver and Blaze.

"It's dangerous here," Blaze advised.

"You're one to talk; running around wearing a suit in a place like this." One of the strangers replied. She pulled back her hood to reveal the face of an avian woman. More specifically, a swallow with purple feathers. She was holding a modified screen with a compact console and keyboard attached. She sat on her own piece of hovering extreme gear. Her hair was long, composed of two grouped strands of plumage.

"I can handle the heat," Blaze stated.

"I can't," Silver groaned. Being out of his weapon form, and out of resonance with Blaze, made the climate much more obnoxious.

The swallow turned from her screen. She removed her glasses, positioning them over her forehead. "You say it's dangerous here, but it's less dangerous than usual,"

"How did you know that?" Silver asked.

The stranger held up her device. "There's plenty of scanners around here for me to tap into. Shady organizations always come and go, leaving their crap behind. That's how you two were tipped off, right?"

Silver's demeanor became lightheartedly inquisitive. "If that were the reason, do you really think it's a good idea to admit to tampering with the devices left here? I might be working for one of those 'shady organizations' you mentioned,"

The stranger shrugged. "If you are, so what? You gonna arrest me?"

Blaze's eyes narrowed. "Who are you people, exactly? What are you up to?"

Another one of the strangers stepped forward. With his hood now removed, his green feathers were revealed. He was a hawk with his hair-feathers forming a considerably sized and fittingly named mohawk. He wore goggles on his head, white gloves and thin, lightweight clothing suitable for traversing the desert.

Each of his companions were dressed similarly beneath their cloaks, although the large man behind him opted out of wearing a shirt. His gray feathers and muscular physique were on display for the whole desert to see. The majority of his chest sported a thick tuft of white plumage as well. He wore a necklace touting three metal plates. His gloves and boots were much bulkier than his companions'.

"I'm Jet. That's Wave, and Storm. You're not gonna put us on some list, are you?" Jet pointed at himself, the woman, and the large man with each respective mention.

"Not if you behave,"

Jet sighed. "Guess I'm getting put on another list," The hawk examined the murky exterior of the swirling vortex. "Think there might be good loot in there?" He asked casually.

"It's a giant, deadly storm," Blaze cited incredulously.

Jet stepped near his large companion, then began running his hands through Storm's white chest feathers to ruffle them.

"This guy's a giant, deadly Storm, but he's not so bad,"

Storm let out a bashful groan, then crossed his arms to keep Jet at bay.

"It's doubtful that you'll find any salvageable 'loot' in there," Blaze stressed.

"Then why are you here?" Jet asked with a smirk.

"I'm here to conduct an investigation on behalf of-"

"Yeah yeah, I'll bet you have all the right reasons to poke around," The hawk interjected. "Us plebs better stay in line in the meantime, right? Or…"

Jet took an extreme gear board from Storm. He placed it so it would float on the ground. Jet hopped on, then the large albatross man behind him began glowing. Storm became a sizable fan weapon composed of many chrome colored feathers that sprouted from the handle.

"We can go on an 'investigation' of our own!"

"Any items found inside the vortex could be crucial to our mission!" Blaze protested.

Jet grinned. "Then you better beat us to the loot!"

Jet shot into the vortex after his extreme gear released a burst of energy. He was followed immediately by Wave, who had mounted her own board. Blaze growled and did the same.

She couldn't see much inside the dust cloud at first. Everything was about as dark and dusty as the outside of the vortex. After a few seconds, the air cleared. Then, the world became brighter.