A/N: Long one today! But there are some important things I gotta get out of the way before Gloria's battle with Melony, and I do not want to put this gym battle off for even more than I already have!

In what could only be described as impeccable timing on our part, the second the sun finally began to be eclipsed by the now staggeringly tall mountains in the distance, casting us in long shadows, we reached the peak of a small mountain of our own and were rewarded with the sight of a small glow nestled between two jagged peaks: Circhester. Our sighs of relief at the end of our journey were only matched by the rumbling of Hop's stomach.

"Oh, man, even the food in a Pokémon Center cafeteria would be like a feast for kings!" Hop cried jubilantly, shaking his fists in the air with excitement.

"Did you not just eat every last bit of food in our pack?" Sonia accused.

"And I would've eaten more if it weren't for Gloria's new friend," Hop jabbed back.

"Be nice," I said, sticking my tongue out at him. "You're worse than Morpeko when she gets hungry."

"We need to talk about these friends you're making," Hop snickered. "Starting to think they're a bad influence on you."

"Okay, Mum," I jeered, "but I've also been hanging around with this git who still sleeps with his Wooloo like he did when he was five."

"Dubwool," Hop corrected, with his best pseudo-scandalized voice. "And you best watch it, Dixon, because that Dubwool is going to roll over your grave."

"Babies, stop crying," Sonia groaned. "I'll be happy once we get to the Pokémon Center just so you two will can it. Besides, Vic's battle is in an hour and a half, and you'd be surprised how packed the Pokémon Center can get in Circhester."

"Well, good thing we won't be staying there," I replied with a grin.

"What do you mean?" Sonia asked. "Where the hell else would we be staying?"

"Hey, we only have an hour and a half, we best get moving!" I continued smugly. "Crack on, then!" And I started to jog back down the path and towards Circhester, Cinderace bounding behind me playfully.

"You're shitting me," Sonia said, mouth agape as we stood in the entryway of the Hotel Ionia, the most expensive hotel in the city. "You are actually full of shit right now."

"Well, if you're going to be rude, Hop and I will just take both rooms like I told Oleana we would," I shrugged. "But I figured you'd want one last way to stick it to Macro Cosmos, since they fired you an' all, and what better way to do that than stay as long as you need at a fancy hotel on their dime?"

"Remind me to never get on your bad side, mate," Hop said with a laugh.

"Keep shit-talking Sneasel and you'll see how I get," I shot back. "Anyway, I told her to book me one with two beds for when Victor comes to meet up with us after his gym battle, and she gave us a whole week no questions asked. That includes room service, which I hear is some of the best in Galar."

"Where did you hear that?" Hop asked.

"I searched it on the web after Oleana told me she'd book the rooms. Anyway, Sonia, I'm sure you can find something to order that could put a dent in Rose's bank account."

"Bloody brilliant, you are," Sonia snickered. "Although we do have to stop at Bob's Your Uncle at least once. Best chips in the region, I swear."

"Fine, but we can do that tomorrow, after we spend the day at the Hero's Baths."

"You got us a spa day, too?!" Sonia screamed.

"I didn't have to ask for that one," I admitted. "Oleana said they're free with the rooms, so I should rest up and look good for the big battle, and who was I to say no? That's all-access too, by the way. You could go for more than one day."

"All this for me?" Sonia said, her grin so wide her lips were almost touching her ears.

I shrugged. "I felt bad about you getting fired, you've been super helpful this whole journey, you're a good friend, you deserve it, do you want me to keep listing reasons, or do you want to check out that room service menu?"

Sonia blinked back a couple tears. "I…I have to make a call. Gloria, you're one in a billion!" she rushed off down the street excitedly.

"Tell me something I don't know," I called after her. "I'll bring you your room key once we're checked in!"

"And Victor and Kabu have taken the pitch!" the announcer buzzed with notable excitement. The roar of the audience was palpable, even though the small speakers of the TV in the hotel suite where Hop and I were staying. Hop and I were crowded together on one of the beds with Cinderace and Thwackey, each of us ready to cheer for Victor and Intelleon. Between us were the remains of what had been a mountain of Taurus sliders and chips and a pile of used napkins. Sonia was too excited to sit and was instead pacing left and right in the small section of carpeted floor between the beds.

"And look at that confidence, Paula!" the color commentator added. "It wasn't too long ago that he walked out last time, and it's almost like he's a whole new trainer!" And sure enough, Victor was walking with a confidence I had never seen before. He was amicably waving to the crowd, as if he were just meeting Hop and me for lunch or something. Next to him walked Kabu, looking stern and stoic as usual.

"So, what do you think?" I asked Hop. "He leads with Intelleon, and sweeps?"

"Nah," Hop replied, waving a hand in dismissal. "He's not you, Gloria. He always goes a safe route. Catch him tossing out Butterfree and a Sleep Powder. Same as Milo."

"Safe?" I chortled. "By tossing a bug into a battle with Kabu? Hop, you're mental."

On the screen, Victor and Kabu shook hands and took their positions on opposite ends of the pitch. Both raised their first Pokéball and, with the go-ahead from the ref, they tossed them out and the battle begun. Once again, Kabu led with his Ninetales, while Victor, above all other logic seemingly led with Shiftry.

"I'm mental?" Hop yelped. "He's mental! Shiftry's going to burn up in half a second!"

"A Shiftry?!" The announcer gasped.

"It's certainly a bold strategy," the color commentator added. "Especially as that light from the lights seems so much brighter and hotter with Ninetales on the field!" And sure enough, the light was radiating onto the pitch now. "That's Ninetales' Drought ability, for sure!" he explained. "Kabu really is bringing the heat this time. He had to have been prepared for Victor's Intelleon.

The battlers gave their initial orders. Ninetales howled and the familiar violet fireballs appeared and shot toward Shiftry with alarming speed, only in the blink of an eye, Shiftry had vanished underground.

"Shiftry used Dig!" Hop and the announcer shouted in unison.

"How on earth did it move that fast?" Sonia gasped. Meanwhile, Kabu barked a second order at Ninetales. Three more violet flames appeared near its head and Ninetales waited to ambush Shiftry when it resurfaced, all while Ninetales pranced about, hoping to not get a direct hit against it.

Ninetales did not get its wish, and the moment it landed one of its dainty hops, Shiftry broke through the ground directly beneath it, launching Ninetales high into the air. The Ninetales managed to send the wisps flying into Shiftry, but the moment it landed back on the ground, Shiftry had zipped right to it and slashed with a Leaf Blade attack. Ninetales skidded to the ground, knocked out.

"Incredible! What a surprise!" The announcer yelled into the microphone, while Hop, Sonia and I cheered. "Victor using the speed of a grass type in the sunlight and a brilliant Dig attack to get Kabu's first Pokémon out of the way in just a couple hits! And a Leaf Blade move, too? That's a technique that very few trainers can master so early on!"

"It's a big advantage he's created, but Kabu does will not take this lying down!" And sure enough, Kabu had already thrown out his second Pokémon: a sleek black lizard with violent, gleaming eyes.

"And Kabu's second Pokémon is Salazzle!" The announcer said. "Salazzle are notably quick; even Shiftry might not be fast enough to get by with that trick again!" And sure enough, Salazzle skittered toward Shiftry, who was only just able to dig underground again in time. While Salazzle was still underground, Salazzle finally made its attack. But instead of attacking Shiftry, or rather, where Shiftry had been, it brought its head straight up and belched a wave of murky purple sludge all over itself and the ground around it. With a crashing noise, Shiftry popped out of the ground, crashing into Salazzle and sending it skidding to the side just like it had with Ninetales, and just like Ninetales, it did not get up.

"And Victor manages to pull the trick off twice—hold on, what's this?" The announcer stopped in shock. As Shiftry landed on the ground, he had landed awkwardly on the remaining sludge, slipping and tumbling with a harsh thud. It picked itself up weakly, but it didn't look like it would be able to take much more.

"Incredible," the color commentator said. "Kabu, knowing that Shiftry would be faster, chose to feint and go with a super-effective Sludge Wave attack, meaning no matter what happened, Shiftry would get a lot of poison damage! Really clever play by Kabu here; let's see if he can keep that momentum up!"

Once again, the commentator had barely gotten the sentence out when Kabu had sent out his third Pokémon. I gulped – this one Hop and I were all too familiar with. Kabu's fans in the stadium screamed with pleasure. Of course, they would; Kabu's Arcanine was one of the most beloved and powerful Pokémon in the entire league. Shiftry took a battle stance, but before it could execute whatever move Victor called out, Arcanine had already rushed him, knocking him out with one hit.

Hop and I cringed. That hit looked like it would have really done a number on Shiftry regardless of how well it had been feeling before. "And with an incredible Extreme Speed attack, Arcanine has gotten rid of that shifty Shiftry!" The announcer said excitedly.

"But look how cool, calm, and collected Victor is!" The commentator inserted. Sure enough, Victor was…smiling? The screen zoomed in on his face, and he didn't even to be sweating from the heat of the lights. Instead, he knocked a second Pokéball against his wrist – where he had fastened Sonia's old wishing star in a makeshift Dynamax Bracelet of his own – and tossed out a quickly expanding Pokéball.

"And here comes the Gigantamax Butter—no, it's Intelleon!" The announcer called.

"A bit early, don't you think?" Hop asked.

I leaned forward and smiled wide. "No, remember battling Nessa's Dreadnaw?" Hop's eyes widened, and before we could say anything, the two Pokémon launched into their first attacks. Arcanine managed to crash into Intelleon with its blinding speed, but Intelleon, being nearly ten times its size, shook it off easily and blasted the dog with a power burst of water that seemed to come right out of its own hand. As it did, clouds spiraled above Intelleon until they blocked out most of the light from above entirely. As the water blasted Arcanine, droplets of water began to fall until the two were locked in an intense downpour.

"Smart move on his part," the color commentator said. "Getting rid of that excess heat is one great way to nullify Kabu's firepower, not to mention he'll have to try a whole new strategy now that he's out of the sun."

Arcanine was still up and rearing to go, but Intelleon managed to land another powerful Max Geyser attack, knocking him out entirely. The video feed cut to a close-up of Kabu, and I could tell that his brave face was faltering; he was down to his last Pokémon and facing a tremendous disadvantage. Even Arcanine was having trouble matching Intelleon's speed, what good would any of his other Pokémon do?

Still, he persevered, and he quickly Dynamaxed his final Pokémon – another one intimately familiar to Hop and me. Centiskorch reared its head and legs up ferociously, but Intelleon was faster and had the rain to his advantage. It couldn't even get a hit in before it was caught up in the deluge.

"And just like that, Kabu is snuffed out like a candle!" the announcer roared with glee. The audience roared with him, and Hop, Sonia and I all screamed in excitement in the hotel room. Victor had totally outplayed Kabu almost right from the start, and now had his fifth badge, and happy as I was for him, I felt a little string of worry. Kabu had given my fledgling team so much trouble only a few weeks ago. Victor was really coming into his own as a battler. I didn't think I'd have to worry about him quite as much. But still, I was ecstatic, and after celebrating in the hotel for a bit, I gave him a ring and put him on speaker.

"Victor, that was incredible!" I cried the moment he picked up, while Hop and Sonia shouted their agreements.

"Thanks," he laughed. "Kabu actually told me he hasn't been blindsided with a grass-type in a long time, much less losing two Pokémon to it!"

"Mate, that Shiftry is seriously strong," Hop congratulated. "Way to go. You going to come up for Gloria's battle?"

"Yeah, she mentioned the room situation before you two left with Sonia," he explained. "I'm sticking around Hammerlocke tonight, but I've got enough saved to call a Corviknight up, so I'll be there to watch you live, Gloria! Don't let me down!"

The next morning, everyone in the city was still buzzing about Victor's gym battle. As Hop, Sonia, and I had a quick breakfast and left the hotel, almost everyone who knew who we were were asking about Victor, and if I had seen the battle, and if I was feeling any more pressure to win my battle as well. It was quite refreshing to not have all the attention on me this time around, to be honest.

There weren't that many people out on the streets just yet, so the three of us had a nice leisurely walk through the cold streets of Circhester. Despite the cold temperatures, the city seemed strangely warm, almost like a holiday card, with soft-lit windows glowing, glazed over with a morning frost. Plenty of ice type Pokémon milled about with their trainers, just starting their days by rolling around in small snowdrifts that dotted the streets and rested against ancient brick and limestone buildings.

The city itself was built into the slope of one of the two mountains it nestled beneath, so as we walked to the bathhouse was walking up a gradual slope that wove its way like silk through buildings that looked older and older the higher we climbed. Eventually, the streets widened out and we found ourselves in front of a truly impressive structure that was older than nearly every other building there. Its roof was partially caved in, but what remained stood tall and sturdy, made of pale brown terracotta and held aloft by ornately carved marble pillars. A cracked but brilliantly polished marble floor led into the building at large, and we could just make out the inside; a large public bath with a few people and Pokémon scattered inside, enjoying themselves in steaming water. The steam seeped up through the cracks and holes in the ceiling and dissipated in the morning sun.

"Here we go!" Sonia cried, and as I looked at her, I could see the stars in her eyes. She opened up her phone and dialed a number. "Go on in, you too, I'm, er, I'm meeting someone." Hop and I grinned and jogged up the wide marble stairs and passed through the pillars.

The minute we made it inside, we were hit with a powerful wave of humid air, thick with the steam of the baths. It was so hot that Hop and I immediately removed our coats, looking around for some place to put them.

"There's a locker room for each of you over to your left," came the voice of an older woman behind us.

"Thanks, I apprecia—oh," Hop said, turning around and blushing. I turned as well and saw us face to face with a woman just a hair taller than the two of us. She had clearly just come from the locker room and stood before us in a brilliant white but otherwise modest bikini, stretching tightly around a slightly plump body. Draped lazily over her arm was a white towel to match both her bikini and her hair, which positively glowed in voluminous layers of platinum and silver. Almost every part of her was brilliant white, even down to her porcelain skin. Only her eyes seemed to have much color, and they glimmered warmly despite their icy blue hue. In her hand she held an Ultra Ball.

"You must be Hop Nambarek?" she asked in an airy, slightly amused tone. "You and your brother are nearly identical. He looked just like you when we had our first gym battle all those years ago." She turned to me, and her eyes lit up even more. "And you must be Gloria Dixon herself. I thought I heard rumblings of you coming in last night. I'm so delighted to finally meet you. Melony." She held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you," I said quietly, taking her hand in mine. Much like the rest of her, her hand was radiating warmth despite looking so cold.

"This your first time at the baths?" she asked.

"First time in Circhester," I admitted.

"Tell you what, you two go change and I'll give you the full tour. I come here all the time with my Lapras," she explained, wiggling the Ultra Ball in her hand.

"Thanks!" I said and Hop and I wandered off to the locker rooms to change.

"Lee told me Melony had a distracting…aura," Hop said quietly, almost as if he didn't want me to hear him.

I snickered. "Blimey, Hop, and I thought Sonia was too old for Victor." He blushed and glared at me. "But, believe me, I get it," I said quickly, feeling my cheeks get a little pink as well. "Oh man, do I get it."

"Should I tell Marn—"

"Zip. It."

Hop and I met up again outside the locker rooms in bathing suits a bit less sleek and stylish as Melony and we headed back to find her amicably chatting with Sonia. With her was another familiar face.

"Nessa?" I said loudly.

She turned and waved. "Gloria! Hi! I was wondering if I'd get to see you before the big battle tomorrow! I mean, apparently, we're just staying next door, but I didn't want to disturb any pre-battle rituals or whatever you needed." She and Sonia exchanged a glance, and it may have been all the steamy air getting to her while she was still in her sweater and overcoat, but I swear I saw Sonia blush a little.

"I didn't know you were coming, but it's good to see you too!" I said, flashing a glance at Sonia. Her eyes were wide, and she smiled with a little embarrassment. I held back a chuckle and looked back at Nessa. "Didn't you have a gym battle or anything?"

"Pretty light week outside of the one Oleana planned out for me," Nessa shrugged. "Milo and I split the first night with our gym battles, so of course when an opportunity for a couple days off, I had to jump for it."

"You want us to wait for you before heading off?" Melony asked Nessa. "I already promised the grand tour to these two over here."

"We've been here loads of times, so we'll skip the tour, but we'll catch up with you in a bit!" Nessa said, and she and Sonia headed off to the locker room themselves.

"I see what's goin' on here," I muttered slyly as Sonia walked past.

"Gloria, whatever would you mean?" Sonia asked just as slyly, but the smile she gave as she looked back to Nessa answered that question much better than I ever could. I smirked and she gave me a playful shove before following her date.

"What was that all about?" Hop asked.

"Tell you when you're older," I said. "Let's do the tour!"

Melony let out a chuckle herself and beckoned us to follow. "Well, come on then. There isn't much to see, but it is a wonderful place. Over here is the main Pokémon bath. I hope you brought a partner or two; this is a great way to get them to relax a bit before the big day."

"I do!" Hop said, pulling out a couple Pokéballs. I held the four that I was considering bringing into the gym battle in my hand as well.

"Excellent!" Melony said.

Melony was right; the tour was on the shorter side. The bathhouse itself was just as much a museum as a public space. In each of its rooms there were a plentiful number of artifacts that dated all over Galar's history, from installations from the past decade or so to vases and decorative pieces from hundreds of years ago. On each wall in the building was a relief etched into the terracotta. These were much older, Melony explained. All dated back to around the time of the Darkest Day, but most told stories from centuries before even that.

"We should have waited for Victor before you gave us this tour," I commented as the three of us examined a shockingly realistic rendition of a hunter chasing after a Rapidash with his Boltund partner. "He's all about this history stuff."

"Oh, I saw his battle last night; Kabu really had a poor showing, didn't he?" Melony noted. "I do hope I get to battle him soon."

"He'll probably battle you right after me," Hop said cheerily.

"That's quite a daunting battle gauntlet," Melony laughed. "Let's hope my Pokémon are up to the task."

"You and me both," Hop muttered, only loud enough for me to hear.

"Well at any rate, the bathhouses are cheap enough and I don't think there are many more trainers I'll need to face this season anyway; I'd be delighted to play tour guide for him again," Melony continued, not even aware that Hop had spoken at all. "Now come on, I've saved the best for last; the main bath!"

She turned a corner and led us down a short hallway that opened up back into the main bathhouse that I had seen when we first walked in. The steam was still rising up from the water, but now that I was in the room itself, I could see it with much more clarity. It had filled up just a bit, with more people relaxing in the hot water. I saw Nessa and Sonia at the other end of the pool, sitting very closely and chatting. Sonia perked up almost immediately upon seeing us and waved excitedly. I waved back and made to move towards the two when Sonia suddenly changed the movement of her arms. Now, instead of waiting, she was pointing directly behind her, at the back wall of the entire bathhouse. I had not seen it before, but now I could see the relief etched into the wall here. This wall was not made of marble or terracotta or even limestone, but it seemed to be etched into the mountain itself. And it was big; bigger than any other wall in the building, and it stretched out to where the wall met the remains of the roof. My jaw dropped.

Melony smiled and laughed to herself. "Yeah, I saved the best for last. How do you like this one?"

"It's the Darkest Day," Hop said breathily. And it was. All along the wall was a relief I had previously only seen in the strange dreams that had plagued me over the past few weeks. At the center was a five-pointed star, jutting out like fingers reaching out to five figures below. Directly underneath the hand was the Galarian Hero of legend, with his shield and his sword firm in hand, pointing bravely back at the Black Hand above. To his immediate left and right were Zacian and Zamazenta, though Zamazenta did not have their brilliant shield-like mane, nor was Zacian armed with her longsword. Still, it was unmistakably them. The Hero and legendary wolves were flanked by two other creatures: ones I recognized easily as the bear and the humanoid figure from their statues at Stow-on-Side. Though their features were stylized, they looked almost too familiar. The humanoid figure to the right was hunched forward, covered in a thick fur, with long and spindly arms spreading wide, as if aiming to trap the Black Hand all by itself. And to the right, the Bear stood firmly, like a martial arts master. The patterns of its fur even reminded me of a martial artist's Gi. But its stance looked eerily familiar, almost like I had seen in in…

"Kubfu," I gasped. I glanced over at Hop, but he was too transfixed in the relief to hear me.

"Yeah, it's pretty breathtaking," Melony laughed, watching us gape at the wall. "But you want to know the coolest part? Take a closer look at the Hero."

I took a couple steps forward in confusion until I could see it a bit more clearly. It was only then that I realized that the Hero was not even part of the actual relief at all, but an entirely separate statue standing alone a few feet closer to us. Furthermore, I noticed that the marble that he was made of was a completely different color than his weapon and armor, almost as if…

"That's right," Melony said. "It's said that that sword and shield were the ones used to smite the great beasts on the Darkest Day. After the Hero saved the region, he and his team of Pokémon came to a natural hot spring to rest and clean their wounds. There he set down his sword and shield, saying he would not need it in the peace and prosperity to come. And so, he left it at that hot spring, and that hot spring turned into this bathhouse, which in turn turned into Circhester. Fascinating story, huh?"

It's wrong.

The hair prickled on the back of my neck, and I whirled around. Zacian? But how? Her voice was so clear, but she was still nowhere to be seen.

"What's wrong?" Hop asked, looking around as well.

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong?'" Melony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you not hear—did you not hear that man talking? It was clear as crystal!" Hop replied, looking at us with confusion. I stared intently at him. Zacian certainly didn't speak with the voice of the woman. Unless—

Hop's eyes grew wide; he realized the exact moment I did. We locked eyes and I watched him exhale shakily.

"Are you two alright?" Melony interjected. "You lot look like you've seen a ghost."

"N-no," Hop answered shakily. "Just—just remembered something, that's all."

"Well, I'll leave you two to it, I suppose. Cheers! And I'll see you tomorrow night, sweetie," Melony said warmly, brushing my shoulder with lingering fingers before walking towards an open spot in the pool.

I looked back over at Hop, who was still clearly shaken. "Was…did I just hear…"

"Don't tell me you're no hero now, you're on whether you like it or not," I grinned, knocking him on the shoulder. "You think it was Zamazenta then?"

"Had to be," he sighed. "But what did he mean by 'it's wrong?"

I shrugged, and the two of us walked towards the statue of the hero. As we got closer, it was evident that Melony had been right about something: the sword and shield in the statue's hands were set into the rock but only able to be moved at a moment's notice, but it was very clear they had not been moved in years. They were caked in rust. The blade of the sword had been whittled down to probably half its length, and there were deep cracks in the shield. The materials that made up the hilt and arm straps were withered away if there was even anything left of them to begin with. If I hadn't known any better, I would have just assumed they were junk.

"Why would they be in such rubbish condition?" Hop wondered aloud as we circled the statue.

"Any ideas, Zacian?" I asked aloud. The two of us waited, glancing around for a sign of life, but her voice did not return to me. "Well, worth a shot," I sighed.

"I take it these two are always this bloody cryptic?" Hop asked with a nervous laugh.

"You know it," I confirmed. "Ah, she always tells me I'll know when the time comes or something like that. We should actually relax, right? It's what we came here to do."

"Right!" Hop beamed. "C'mon, Sonia's been waiting this whole time!"

"Actually, let's give her a little space," I chuckled, sending Sonia a knowing wink from across the pool and dragging Hop away before he could see her slightly flustered and slightly relieved expression.

After a few hours, the lot of us reconvened and made our way back to the hotel.

"You want to all watch the matches tonight?" I asked Sonia and Nessa. "Two for one, with Opal and Bea both having their matches! Should be loads of fun!"

"We'll stop by for a bit," Nessa said, not so subtly intertwining her fingers with Sonia. "Don't want to party too hard before Gloria's big match tomorrow.

"You like the walls on here, right?" Sonia asked. "Totally forgot about these baths and was so focused on the ruins of old Hammerlo-OW!" She and Nessa both staggered to the side as a large man in a black uniform plowed towards the four of us.

"Move aside," he said in a deep velvet voice.

"A please would suffice!" I growled, but he did not even look at me. Instead, he and a group of other black-clad men created a thick barrier of flesh and muscle as two men in flashy suits of crimson and navy strutted forward into the baths. Edward and Herbert did not seem to be the types to go to a public bath, but it seemed like they and their men were going to see to it that the baths would not be open to the public for too much longer tonight.

"Please do not roughhouse the commoners too badly," Edward said lazily, "We're not cretins, we're—oh, well isn't this just darling? Hello, young trainers."

"Hi," I mumbled.

"Don't you just have a knack for following my brother and me around," Herbert crooned in a sickeningly sweet voice. "I had no idea that being in the paparazzi was such a goal of yours." He and Edward chuckled. Sonia simmered but held her tongue.

"Actually, I'm here because I'm battling Melony in a high-profile gym battle because I've actually earned my fame." I shot back icily. "We were just on our way out because I knew I wouldn't be able to breathe with that obnoxious cologne you're wearing."

A fire lit up in Herbert's eyes. "I'll have you know that—Miss Dixie, or whatever, I do enjoy a little verbal sparring as much as the rest of them, but we have other matters to attend to, so if you truly are leaving…"

"Yeah, enjoy bullying people out of public spaces with your hired goons!" I said coolly and turned to leave, not once looking back as they sputtered to try and get in the last word.

"Damn, Gloria," Nessa said, as the three caught up to me. "Sonia was telling me that you're feisty but that was something else. Color me impressed."

"Treason!" I could hear one of them faintly yelling as we turned the corner.

"They'd used to hang you for that, mate," Hop snickered.

"Those gits couldn't even figure out where to find a rope, let alone tie it into a noose," I said simply. "And they can't arrest me for treason because I said mean words. Come on, we have a pair of battles to watch!" And the four of us walked back to the hotel in the fading daylight, well-rested and more than ready to fight in a gym battle of our own.

A/N: So just to wrap up, I don't know the ship name for Sonia and Nessa but yeah I'm going there, M(ilf)elony, Hop finally heard Zamazenta's voice, we found THE sword and shield, Herbert and Edward are still here and still awful, and I think that's it? Am I missing something? Maybe. Next week we're battling, though.

NEXT WEEK: COLD AS ICE