𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 ~ 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀

~ Chapter Eighty Three ~

"Okay, how do we start?" Viktor asked as the rest of the gang watched him, Lila, Christopher, and Sloane surround the glowing orange ball. "Have you ever moved a nest of bees? You can't just pick it up, you have to keep the nest calm while you build a box around it, and then you trap it," the gravity girl explained. Christopher chattered something, most likely discussing the plan on how the trapping would work.

Sloane started levitating off the ground, white balls of energy forming in her hands as she hovered above it. "One of those black holes inside is vibrating at a different rate. Whatever happens, don't let them speed up or change," Fei instructed. Gotta say, these Sparrows really know how to come up with plans. Well... most of them anyway. Dusk glanced over at Dahlia, who leaned against the brick wall with her arms crossed. The more she looked at her, the more she saw something different. Before, her blonde hair had been curled, but now it had been straightened, with just a hint of green chunkiness at the ends.

"Did you pull anything on Icy?" the raven whispered to Victoria. "I may or may not have poured some green smoothie on her head," Victoria chuckled. "You should've seen how fast she ran off!" The thought of watching Dahlia get some karma made Dusk wish she had been there to witness it. Then, her and Five's conversation came to mind. The redhead still hated him and probably would till she took her last breath. But the phoenix couldn't help but wonder what would happen when her best friend learned Dusk was his blood sister.

Surely, things could be tense mentioning the topic, but she didn't want Victoria to hate her all because of something she had no control over. Or maybe she would pay it no mind. There hadn't been any bad blood between them since she apologized for the things she said back in '63. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow coming into the basement, along with the sounds of clacking heels.

"You didn't tell me you were building a prison for God," Grace echoed. Her figure soon became visible to all of them, she was angry. " You have no right to do that!" She remarked. "We're a little busy here, Grace!" Luther responded. But instead of turning around and walking back upstairs, she started murmuring something. It started low, but it grew louder and louder.

"The day of vengeance was in my heart and my year of redemption hath come!" She chanted, pulling out a blowtorch, her finger on the trigger. With widened eyes, the Sparrows and Umbrellas ducked for cover as Grace moved the torch around, attempting to burn anyone in her sight. What the hell is wrong with her? Dusk wondered as she glanced out of the corner for a moment before hiding behind the wall again.

"Mom, stop! Please, it's Diego, don't make us hurt you," Diego pleaded. But Grace continued to chant, her voice becoming more and more robotic. As Grace continued to send ropes of fire around the basement. Dusk gathered her strength and came out of her corner, hoping her flames would incapacitate Grace long enough for the kugelblitz to be shrunken by Sloane, Viktor, and the others. Fire escaped her hands, and the moment the flamethrower's fire made contact with the phoenix's, the surrounding area became hotter than a 120-degree day.

"What are you doing, idiot?!" Dahlia shouted. "Fighting fire with fire, what does it look like?" Dusk replied. Over the orange and yellow flames, Dusk didn't notice that Five had spacial jumped behind Grace, teleporting her to another part of the house. And the moment the raven noticed she was gone, her fire diminished. "Where did Grace go? And where the heck is Five?" she questioned.

The siblings looked at her with a shrug, but it soon became clear he teleported the threat away from them all. Nice going, bro. They all came out of their hiding places and walked back to the kugelblitz, surprised to see it was getting smaller and smaller. Christopher had broken himself into pieces, surrounding the ball, waiting for Sloane's command.