RECAP:

In a stroke of good fortune, the separated groups gradually reunited. Larry and Iggy rescued Goombella and Kooper, who had been cornered by Shy Guys. Junior and Peach relayed the details of their encounter with Tatanga, along with the revelation that Contemno has an elite inner circle. Roy and Daisy arrived just in time to save the others from a hoard of Frost Piranhas.

With everyone safely accounted for, the team set its sights on confronting Midbus – the self-imposed ruler of the ice palace. To their surprise however, Midbus was a pig of very few words. He slowly revealed his entire purpose for taking occupation of Sarasaland was that he was waiting for a rematch against Bowser; allegedly foretold to him by Contemno.

Enraged by Midbus's stubbornness, an inevitable clash erupted soon after. Using their combined efforts, the team managed to overpower Midbus. That is, until the monster unleashed a storm of magic thunderbolts and froze the majority of the combatants solid in the blink of an eye

As an undetected Tatanga spectated from above, Junior was left to face Midbus alone.

Junior staggered to his feet and nursed his chest under his arm. His hoarse breathing formed a small, persistent cloud in front of his face; made visible by the freezing air around him.

"What wrong?" Midbus asked. "Bowser son not as strong as Bowser?"

Gritting his teeth, Junior raced forward and swung his brush at Midbus with all his might. The attack was deflected however, by Midbus's frozen Koopa trophy. A shockwave slithered its way through Junior's entire body. While locked in this stunned state, Junior took the full brunt of a swing of the trophy by Midbus.

He soared across the throne room, crashed, tumbled, and slid for what felt like an eternity before something broke his momentum. Junior struggled, but managed to force himself to sit up with his arms.

This wasn't getting him anywhere.

In terms of raw physical strength, Junior just couldn't hope to match Midbus. Especially not on his own. At least when he had the others backing him up, their repeated attacks could put some pressure on this guy.

Junior glanced behind and saw it had been the tall block of ice containing Roy which had stopped him. He brought himself to admit it.

He sure could use some back-up right now. Things weren't looking good for him on his own. Any fiery passion or confidence he might've felt going into this one-on-one duel was quickly freezing over.

"Pathetic. You no worth Midbus time," Midbus declared as he settled back into the throne chair.

"Then why don't…you just…f-finish me off…already…?" Junior asked as he failed to steady his breath or contain his shivers for that matter.

"No need. No worth effort. Small turtle wait there. Midbus wait for Bowser. If lucky, dad come save you." Junior scratched the ice with his claws. That comment seemed to fire him up ever so slightly.

He wasn't even worth killing? That was unacceptable.

He couldn't give up again. Never again.

He had to be stronger. Much stronger. He had already made that vow to himself. So it was unthinkable to back down now when the pressure was put on him. Junior had to dig for something deeper inside himself.

Junior's initial instinct was to rush over and try to wail on Midbus yet again for what he just said. But perhaps it was his fatigue that ultimately kept him sitting there on the floor; doing nothing else but glaring at Midbus.

The reality was that Junior hadn't fully recovered from the day's other trials and tribulations. All of the Shy Guy encounters and fighting Tatanga on top of that. These battles seemed to be catching up to him now. As much as his heart was screaming at him to keep fighting back, Junior's mind was occupied with other thoughts.

He couldn't be reckless. That wouldn't win the day here. He was alone, exhausted, freezing, and deeply riled. A new approach was desperately needed in order for the Koopa Prince to survive, much less win.

From his throne, Midbus observed with mild interest as Bowser's son sat up, crossed his legs, cupped his hands together, and shut his eyes. He sat extremely still as infrequent breaths escaped his nostrils.

What was this kid doing now?

Ultimately, Midbus was too allured by the idea of Bowser's imminent arrival to give it much thought.

This kid was wrong. They all were. Bowser was surely coming here. Especially now that Midbus could use his child as a hostage. It was just as the masked man said. Midbus would finally get the rematch he had waited so many years for. It wouldn't be long now.

Meanwhile, Junior allowed the darkness of his absent vision to consume him.

There was a path to victory; a way for him to still win and take the next step towards his ambition. He already had what he needed in order to triumph. It was simply time to draw it out.

The truth is, I'm exhausted and my mind is thinking about a million things at once, Junior thought to himself. I'm frustrated and distracted on top of that. This Midbus guy might not be as bright as Contemno or any of his other followers. But he's not as stupid as he looks either. He knows what he wants, and he's ready to stand by his desire no matter who questions it.

Junior's heart rate slowed and his breathing followed it into synchronization.

He wants to fight Dad. I don't know why, but maybe I don't need to. Maybe I already have what I need in order to beat him.

The Koopa Prince's entire body grew numb to the cold. It was no longer painful or even bothersome to him. He hadn't accepted his frozen fate. Not yet.

He found a fire deep within him. It was small, but it was ignited; growing. Heat was swelling and stirring inside. It encompassed his entire inner core until sweat began to run down Junior's arms and chest.

Yeah, that'll work, Junior said confidently to himself.

He opened his eyes and slowly climbed to his feet. Midbus took notice of this, but the only part of him that moved in response was a raised eyebrow.

Midbus still didn't know what this kid was up to, but it didn't matter. It couldn't matter.

Junior stretched and exhaled deeply. Steady streams of smoke emanated from his nostrils. The cold couldn't hope to faze him now. He climbed to his feet and took another deep breath.

Midbus's pupils vibrated with slight intrigue as he watched Junior tie some sort of cloth over his eyes; blinding himself. How foolish.

"I get it now. I see the truth," Junior declared as he stared Midbus down. The latter didn't respond. Junior took his first step towards his opponent from the opposite side of the throne room. He slipped slightly on the ice, but not enough for Midbus to have noticed.

I can't lose if he can't touch me, Junior told himself.

Adjusting to the dark would take time. He could only hope he would manage to adjust in time.

"I know why you're doing it this way."

Did this child have some sort of plan by approaching him blindfolded, or was he just really that stupid?

"No. Not possible," Midbus responded at last; utterly dismissive.

"Sure it is," Junior retorted. "I don't need a psych degree to figure you out. Not when it's so obvious."

"What obvious?"

"The reason you want to fight my dad. The real reason; the reason why no one else – not even his son – will do."

"Bowser worthy opponent. You not. Simple."

"Yeah, you sure like to tell yourself that a lot, don't you?" Midbus was taken aback by this comment slightly, but not enough for his body or face to utter a reaction.

"It's so unbelievably easy for us to lie to ourselves, you know," Junior went on; continuing to take blind, yet seemingly methodical steps towards Midbus. "When the truth hurts too much, we refuse to face it. So we convince ourselves that what we want to be true, is true; even when it has no chance of being."

"That why small turtle wear blindfold? Afraid to see truth?" Junior chortled at this.

"Buddy, I don't need to use my eyes to see the truth about you. Even in pitch black darkness, I can still just as easily read the massive lie that's written all over your face."

"No lie. Only truth," Midbus denied.

"Well now I'm just plain positive of it," Junior countered with a chuckle, taking another step.

"What?"

"This grudge you have against my dad; it's not at all what you say it is. I may not know the exact details of the battle that went down between you two. I wasn't there. But at this point, that doesn't matter."

Another step.

"Tiny turtle know nothing."

"Is that right? Do I actually know nothing? Or do I know something just as well as you, but you can't bring yourself to accept it as the truth?"

Another step.

"No make sense. Small turtle delusional." Junior shook his head dismissively.

"There you go again. Making judgments and hurling insults at me just to keep us at a distance. But it won't work. You can try to separate yourself from the truth all you want, but it'll always catch up to you. It does for everyone. You're no exception, Midbus."

Another step closer. Midbus gritted his teeth

"What mean!?" he roared.

There it was. That was the reaction Junior had been looking for. The scales had shifted. He just needed to keep applying the pressure. Just a little more.

"I don't need to know about your battle with Bowser to understand what drives you because I know my dad. He treated you the same way he treats everyone," Junior stated.

"No! Midbus exception! Midbus equal to Bowser!" Midbus exclaimed. Junior simply shook his head again.

Another step.

"You want so badly for that to be true, but it's not. Since you can't bring yourself to face the truth, allow me to do the honors by spelling it out for you."

Midbus didn't respond this time. He hesitated. He had no idea what this kid was up to, and that terrified him.

He needed to know; to be in control again. He had to bide his time and wait until he understood. Meanwhile, Junior took another step. By now, the disorientation had faded. Junior had full control over his balance and could sense his position relative to the room around him. But this was only the first phase.

The real challenge was about to begin.

Outside on the roof above, Tatanga was practically frozen himself. He gritted his sharp teeth and clenched his fists. The suspense was murder. He was trying desperately to process what was happening, but to no avail. Junior was up to something. But what?

He had to have some sort of plan. If Tatanga hadn't fought Junior himself already, he might've believed that the kid put on a blind fold and was talking trash simply because he had a death wish and wanted a swift end. But that was impossible.

The brat had some sort of trick up his sleeve. But if Tatanga couldn't figure it out, Midbus didn't have a chance in hell of catching on before it was too late.

Just what are you up to, kid? Tatanga thought.

"You fought him, but you lost, and you couldn't accept that. You wanted so badly to beat him and prove yourself as the superior fighter. But you just couldn't. You didn't have what it took to bring my dad down," Junior explained.

Smoke erupted from Midbus's nostrils and he tightly gripped the arm rests of the throne. Another step.

"Bowser. Get. Lucky," Midbus firmly deflected.

"Luck had nothing to do with it. He was just better than you. He knew it, and so do you. But there's something else about the whole thing that hurts you more than simply losing a fight ever could."

"No. Nothing else."

"Bowser didn't even consider you a challenge. He didn't acknowledge you. He doesn't respect you," the Koopa Prince elaborated.

By this point, he was close enough. So Junior stopped walking.

"SHUT MOUTH!" Midbus roared.

"You keep telling yourself that you're equal to my dad, and that because of that, he'll drop everything to come fight you again."

"HE WILL!"

"He won't," Junior rejected calmly. "My dad probably forgot about you the minute your fight with him ended. There was nothing memorable about you. He likely hasn't thought about you in years. So he sure as hell wouldn't remember to come fight you now; assuming he even had any way of knowing how you felt all this time."

"YOU QUIET. BOWSER COME. MIDBUS KNOW IT."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"MASKED MAN SAY SO! THAT WHY MASK MAN UNFREEZE MIDBUS!"

"Really? Just because Contemno said that? And you really believe him?"

"YES!"

"That's a dangerous game you're playing, pal. How much do you really know about Contemno? What has he done to earn your trust aside from thawing you out?"

"MASKED MAN PROMISE BOWSER COME HERE AND FIGHT MIDBUS! ALL MIDBUS NEED DO FIRST IS TAKE OVER A KINGDOM! MIDBUS DO THAT! SO NOW BOWSER COME AND FIGHT MIDBUS!"

"So, you chose to trust this complete stranger simply because he told you what you wanted to hear? Again, that's a dangerous game if you didn't take the time to think about who Contemno might be or what he might get out of it," Junior reasoned. "You think the facts I'm spitting at you hurt now? Just wait until Contemno comes back around to stab you in the back. He's only out for himself. You're just a pawn in his game like the rest of us."

"NO HAPPEN. MIDBUS ONLY CARE ABOUT FIGHTING BOWSER. MIDBUS NO CARE WHAT MASK MAN WANT OR DO WITH KINGDOM. AS LONG AS MIDBUS GET FIGHT BOWSER, THAT ALL THAT MATTER!" Midbus argued.

"Now you're just asking for Contemno to kill you, idiot. No doubt that's what he'll do if you betray him like that."

"NO BETRAYAL BECAUSE MIDBUS NO LOYAL TO MASK MAN. MIDBUS ONLY WANT FIGHT BOWSER. THAT ALL. NOTHING ELSE MATTER!"

Hold on…'not loyal'? Junior pondered. So, Midbus isn't actually involved with Contemno at all? Seriously? He really just wants to fight Bowser, even if Contemno is planning to come back and kill him at some point when he's not useful anymore? Man, this guy is even dumber than I thought…

It was at this point Junior realized he had learned all he believed he could from Midbus about Contemno. What more could the guy actually know if all he wanted was to fight Bowser? The Koopa Prince decided Midbus had served his purpose. It was time to put him out of his misery.

"You keep telling yourself that, and you'll be waiting for Bowser forever. Like I said, he doesn't remember you. So there's no way he'll know you're back or that you're waiting for him," said Junior.

"MASKED MAN PROMISE TELL BOWSER!" Midbus screamed; utterly infuriated now.

"Did he actually promise you that, or is that just another part of this little fantasy you fabricated and you're forcing yourself to believe just because it comforts you?"

"THAT IT!" Midbus leaped out of his chair and pounced towards Junior. The Koopa Prince jumped back, but the tremor that resulted from Midbus's landing sent Junior off-balance slightly.

Midbus threw a punch. Time slowed to a crawl and silence loomed. It started faintly, but grew. In the dark void, Junior hear the distorted echoes of a force in motion. It grew louder as it picked up speed.

This was just like before, but it would be different this time. The sound was identical, familiar. Luckily, he deciphered it in time.

It was the pendulum's swinging blade drawing closer…closer…

The Koopa Prince's heart raced; his arms trembled; sweat ran down his chest; his tongue dried up. All the same symptomatic sensations were coursing through his body once again. But Junior had clarity this time. The moment to change the outcome was seconds away.

The "woosh" of the blade grew louder. Junior waited until it was at its peak; when the veil of similarity was shed, reality set in once more. It wasn't the blade coming towards him, but the principle was the same.

Junior heard the motion of Midbus swinging his arm and dodged it.

Another fist rocketed towards him, but Junior again listened for its approach and dodged at the last second. He had done it.

He achieved the zen state needed to capitalize on Nimbelai.

Junior had backed down against the blades in Merlon's training. That fact could not be changed. But now he had the momentum he needed in order to act in the moment of truth. The danger was imminent, but so too would be the results of his training.

The pig monster proceeded to slam his fists down in front of him. Junior hopped out of the way as sharp icicles protruded out of the ground from the impact.

That's it, big guy, Junior thought. Just a bit more.

"What's wrong, Midbus? I thought I wasn't worth the effort," Junior reminded him smugly.

Midbus snarled and charged at him. The Koopa Prince skated along the ice to dodge and stopped himself with the wall; far away from Midbus now. "I thought Bowser was the only one you wanted to fight."

"HE IS!" Midbus bellowed. He fired a beam at Junior from his hand, but the Koopa Prince proceeded to duck under it.

"Then what do you call all this?" Junior asked. "Seems to me that not only am I worth the effort, I might be too much effort for ya."

Midbus charged at Junior on all fours. He reached for his frozen Koopa weapon and began swinging it madly at Junior. But the Koopa Prince skipped and hopped backwards to maintain a safe distance; dodging and weaving as the baton was swung madly in front of him.

"NO! YOU NOTHING!" Midbus retorted. Junior jumped aside as the ice statue collided with the wall.

"Keep telling yourself that. As long as the truth is too much for you to handle, you'll keep living in your little fantasy world where Bowser cares about you as an equal and is on his way here right now for a rematch. But you'll be waiting for all eternity," said Junior.

"NOT TRUE!" Midbus retorted with the slightest hint of desperation in his tone.

"You're so fixated on fighting my dad because he's the only one you ever came close to beating."

Midbus launched another punch, but Junior twirled around in avoidance. Now the two combatants were standing with their backs to one another. "You had a taste of victory once all those years ago, and you convinced yourself that you could somehow win this time. Then my friends and I came along, and you panicked."

"NO!" Midbus swung his arm behind him, but Junior ducked under the arc, then slid back.

Midbus then blew a large gust of wind at Junior, but he jumped directly over Midbus's head, grabbed hold of the monster's horns, and - while channeling as much physical magic into his arms as possible – managed to use the momentum to flip Midbus over onto his back.

"You didn't know anything about us. So you didn't know if you could beat us, and that terrified you," Junior continued.

"SHUT UP!" Midbus spun and swung his tail – which was coated in sharp icicles – as he got up. But Junior hopped over the counterattack.

"You put my friends out of commission and singled me out because you thought I was the weakest."

"YOU! ARE! WEAK!" Midbus waved his arms and a barrage of icicles flew straight at Junior. He felt around and retrieved his paint brush from the floor. The Koopa Prince twirled it like a propeller. The ice shards shattered as they made contact with his impenetrable maneuver.

"You thought you had an easy win on your hands against me. But now you're starting to figure it out, aren't you?" Midbus was short of breath now. But he thrusted his arms desperately; nowhere close to touching Junior.

"Figure…out…what?" Midbus asked, gasping for air.

"That trying to pick a fight with me alone was a mistake. One you might never live down at this rate," Junior threatened ominously.

"You…crazy? You…no throw single attack. You….just dodging," Midbus pointed out. Junior smiled.

"You're right. But look who's out of breath," he countered.

"No…you coward. You too…scared to fight. You…just as scared as Midbus…hehe…," the pig monster surmised. Junior propped his brush against his shoulder, turned, and walked away.

"Scared has nothing to do with it. I know who my targets are. You're not one of the ones I need to kill. Hell, you're not even worth my time."

Midbus roared, lined his palms next to one another, and fired another ice beam that was twice the size of the previous ones. Junior stopped, stood still, and waited. Focusing his senses, he waited until the beam was inches away from grazing his top-knot.

In the blink of an eye, the Koopa Prince withdrew into his shell, twirled and made a sharp U-turn as he sped past Midbus to the monster's backside.

Before Midbus could process what had just happened, Junior hopped up onto his back and forced him back down onto his belly. When Midbus's mind finally caught up, he found himself with the blade of Junior's scythe under his chin. Junior removed the blindfold and stared with satisfaction at his triumph.

"Like I said. Not worth it," Junior declared. Midbus grumbled, but was too exhausted to utter an audible response. "This isn't a request. It's a demand. Let my friends out of the ice, turn Sarasaland back the way it was, and never show your sorry mug around these parts ever again."

Midbus didn't respond. Instead, Junior simply heard a subtle gurgling sound emanating from the monster's slightly opened mouth. It morphed into a bubbling and boiling sensation as it grew in volume. Suddenly, veins popped up and slithered in all directions across Midbus's body as they expanded.

The pig monster's entire body changed from blue to a menacing red color. Junior retreated as Midbus's entire body began jerking and thrashing about in sporadic spasms. The Koopa Prince watched in horror as Midbus broke out into a violent seizure; foam pouring out from his mouth.

What on earth was happening to him?

"Heh…never would've pegged this kid for being the detective sort," Tatanga commented as he looked on enthusiastically from above. "Still, Midbus ain't the brightest and he's got a nasty temper. That much is obvious to anyone. He's much too wild for Contemno to ever seriously consider admitting into our elite ranks. Even I don't know why exactly Contemno went out of his way to recruit this guy. I'm sure you're just as curious, Junior."

Tatanga nursed his chest wound as another surge of pain coursed throughout his body. He watched Midbus undergo a horrific physical transformation. He knew right away what the red color symbolized, and he could only hope his ride would get here in time. This was about to get ugly.

"To think, all the big lard had to do was secure a single kingdom and keep it that way until I showed up to relieve him of his post," Tatanga rambled on aloud. "Yet, it seems he couldn't even do that much without having to resort to his trump card in the end; one he wouldn't even have if it hadn't been for Contemno. Pathetic."

A loud humming filled the air, and Tatanga felt himself being engulfed by a chilling breeze. He looked up and spotted a black space craft descending slowly from above. The ship touched down on the palace roof with no fanfare, and the engine quickly died. A glass casing above the cockpit rose with a loud hiss, and a figure hopped out.

"Nice timing," said Tatanga.

"Captain! Thank goodness you're still alive!" the figure exclaimed.

He stood at about half Tatanga's height, yet was dressed in a similar black military uniform. He lacked the prestigious medals and state-of-the-art utility belt his superior dawned. But he still managed to distinguish himself with twin golden buckles on his chest, a green cap atop his head, and a mask obscuring his identity around his eyes.

"Of course I am! I wouldn't be in my rank if I went down so easily. Contemno put me in charge of my squad for a reason, y'know."

"O-Of course, sir! I didn't mean any disrespect. I just-"

"At ease, soldier. In all seriousness, I am relieved you made it when you did, L," Tatanga said, genuinely.

"Why's that? Is your injury really that serious?" L inquired.

"I'm managing. But we should get out of here sooner rather than later. It's a shame I won't be able to stick around for the main event, but it can't be helped."

"What are you talking about, sir?" L probed.

"I've been doing some reconnaissance before you showed up," Tatanga answered.

"Reconnaissance? I thought you were here to relieve Lord Midbus of his position."

"Cut the 'Lord' crap, L. He ain't worth that title."

"But I thought he was-" L started.

"A worthless pawn with an expendable purpose," Taganga finished.

"What do you mean, sir?" Tatanga scratched his chin.

"Oh, right. I forgot you joined later than the others. You weren't around for the initial meeting." Tatanga turned back and observed the throne room again from the window; motioning for L to do the same. L was taken aback slightly by Midbus's pseudo exorcism, so he quickly darted his attention elsewhere.

The figure standing over Midbus was slightly familiar, but L couldn't decipher why that was. He couldn't shake the feeling he'd seen this guy somewhere before, but a name or memory of their meeting escaped him.

"At the beginning of the Expansion Phase, Contemno recruited Midbus for a purpose he didn't initially reveal to any of us," Tatanga explained. "In fact, I didn't find out what this guy was here for until Contemno tasked me with coming to Sarasaland to take over his post."

"So Contemno revived Midbus to take over Sarasaland? For what purpose?" L asked.

"To support the occupation, of course. Contemno couldn't leave a single kingdom untouched. Especially not one belonging to a member of the Kingdom Council. So, conquering it made sense." L looked around and surveyed the frozen wasteland around them. He adjusted his green ascot to protect more of his neck from the cold.

"Sarasaland used to be a desert kingdom, right? By the looks of things, I'd say Midbus has this place under pretty tight grip. So what happens to him now?" Tatanga shrugged.

"Well, the plan was for me to kill him," L turned to him, horrified.

"K-kill him?!" L repeated. "But why?! I thought he was one of us!"

"Make no mistake, L. He may have served a purpose for Contemno, but he was never meant to be one of us," Tatanga elaborated.

"But he was still doing Contemno's bidding, just like all of us. How could Contemno just betray him like that?"

"Simple. Midbus lacks loyalty, discipline, and intelligence above all else," Tatanga explained. "If he had an iota of a brain cell in that freezer he calls a mind, there would be the danger of him eventually turning against us if he were to ever find out the truth behind his recruitment. But as it stands now, he's just an idiot meathead with a one-track mind."

"I'm still not following, sir. What do you mean?" L asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"From what I understand, Midbus has a serious beef with Bowser. I guess the two went at it years back, and Bowser won. I don't know all the details because I was still out of commission myself at the time. Anyway. Fighting Bowser is about the only remarkable thing this pig has ever done. And it ain't even all that impressive considering he lost."

"I see…," said L.

"Apparently, he never actually died like the rest of us. His ice powers overtook him and left him in a state of suspended animation for decades. So all this time, he has had nothing to do while trapped in that block of ice except harbor an immense hatred for Bowser and a lust for revenge."

"I can't even imagine what that feels like…"

"Contemno did his research before thawing the guy out, of course. So he knew exactly how to speak his language. Midbus couldn't care less what Contemno wanted in return for freeing him from the ice. As long as he got another shot at fighting Bowser, nothing else mattered to Midbus."

"Well, that's some pretty intense devotion, I'd say," L commented. "And isn't Bowser one of our enemies? Why wouldn't Contemno want to capitalize on that?"

"Your head's in the right place. But ya gotta think bigger if you ever wanna have my job someday, soldier," said Tatanga. "Bowser is an enemy, yes. But he's far too valuable to just kill off. He'd be much more valuable to us if we could recruit him somehow. Of course, doing that requires breaking him down and rebuilding him from the ground up. Same goes for Mario. That's what Contemno himself has been working on recently."

"Mario…?"

"If you're lucky, you'll never have to fight him," Tatanga continued. "Anyway, Midbus is a one-trick pony. Even if he were to somehow get the chance to fight Bowser again, if he were to actually win that fight, he wouldn't be useful to us anymore because that's his entire life's mission. So if he were to achieve that, all of his drive and anger would instantly vanish. He would have no reason to go on, and would lean all-in on just being the fat, lazy pig that he is."

"So Contemno was just…manipulating Midbus to take control of Sarasaland. And now that that's done, you were sent here to kill him?"

"Bingo," Tatanga affirmed. "At least I was, until this kid showed up. I had a run-in with him myself, which is how I ended up in such bad shape."

"I've seen photos of him. That's Bowser Jr., right? Isn't he an enemy too? Do you want me to take him out while we're here?" L asked.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, soldier. But there's no need," Tatanga replied. "Junior and Midbus have been going at it for a while until you showed up just now. Surprisingly, the kid has pushed him enough that Midbus now feels the need to call upon the power Contemno gave him." L examined his gloved hand.

"You mean, the power that connects all of us?" Tatanga nodded.

"Just as dangerous too. Trust me, we should go now. We don't want to be caught in the cross-fire of Midbus's version of Essence."

"Understood. Let's get going then," L acquiesced. He assisted Tatanga in reaching the passenger seat and the ship took off a minute later.

Just before the entire ice palace began to tremor.