"Ugh!" Sol groaned, stretching his back as they settled near the river. The waterfall roared nearby, mist catching the fading light. If their tent wasn't literally an energy ship, they could've passed for regular campers.

Angelo and Neiva copied him, working out their own aches.

"You know what?" Neiva rolled her shoulders. "Gaming chairs. We should've ripped some apart and installed them as seats. Then we wouldn't feel like we got hit by a truck every day."

"Brilliant idea." Angelo's tone could freeze water. "Why didn't I think to raid Ms. Dealer's house for old gaming chairs and tear them apart for our field trip?"

"Right..." Neiva scratched her cheek, sheepish.

"She's not even legally my mother." Angelo kept stretching. "You realize that, yeah?"

"Alright, alright. Point taken." Neiva waved him off.

Sol yawned wide enough to crack his jaw. "I'm calling it early. Stayed up way too late yesterday, woke up stupid early this morning..." He trailed off, the implication clear.

"Same." Angelo popped his knuckles. "But I can't crash yet."

Neiva bounced on her toes. "Me neither! I want to nail the aura-switching thing!"

Her aura flared to life immediately. She stared at her feet as the color shifted—yellow to blue, back and forth. Not quite seizure-inducing, but getting there.

"Mm." Angelo grunted.

Sol chuckled, turning to Angelo. "And you? What's keeping you awake?"

Angelo considered for a moment. "Something new." Sol and Neiva's attention snapped to him. "Didn't get to mention it yet, but Albert called..."

Sol and Neiva exchanged looks as Angelo started explaining the professor's call. Then Blue couldn't contain himself anymore and emerged, launching into detailed explanations about Trinergy potencies. Sol and Neiva cycled through several expressions as he spoke.

Nothing prepared them for Energy Fusion.

"ONE THOUSAND PERCENT!" Neiva's shout echoed off the cliff walls. "That's not even a buff—it's a damn cheat code!"

Red materialized with a predatory grin. "Hell yeah! Master this baby and we'll hit a billion times harder than normal!" He shrugged. "How hard can it be?"

"Won't know until we try." Angelo's aura ignited immediately.

The answer: Very hard. Extremely hard, one might say.

"Come ONNNN, you stubborn piece of shit!" Red's face twisted with effort. Angelo mirrored him silently. "FUSE!" They created small spheres of their respective energies, pushing them together. The spheres squashed against each other, sliding around like stubborn magnetic liquids.

Then it looked like it was working. The spheres pushed at exactly the right angle to occupy the same space.

"Hey, it's work—"

BOOM

Both went flying. Red shot straight into the river. Angelo got lucky—stayed dry, just winded. For Red it didn't matter anyway.

Angelo jumped up, brushing himself off. "This thing's no joke."

Blue analyzed everything with fascination. "Remarkable. Such a minuscule quantity, yet sufficient force to launch you both several meters."

Red emerged from the water, sputtering. "Dammit! This isn't working! And I don't even have Steve to comfort me!" He dropped to one knee with theatrical despair, head shaking like a wounded warrior.

"The hell is Steve?" Angelo couldn't stop himself from asking.

Blue's sigh could've been felt by Sol cooking fish by the campfire. "The shark he bonded with during Trinergy training."

"Right..." Angelo looked even less amused.

"Hey!" Sol called them over. Neiva already sat on the log they used as a bench. "Dinner's ready! Can't make breakthroughs on empty stomachs!"

The smell of grilled fish made Angelo's stomach growl audibly. "Fine. Break time."

"Breaks are for the weak!" Red called from behind Angelo.

"Bet you wouldn't say that if we had pizza." Angelo didn't even glance back.

Red and Blue approached together. Red shrugged at Angelo's comment. "Well duh. You're comparing food of the gods to some fish. You mere mortal."

They didn't know someone watched from the trees at the clearing's edge. Even with 360-degree vision from Trinergy, they couldn't see through solid objects.

"You got visual?" A masculine voice asked the man lying prone.

"Yeah... But it's getting dark fast." The prone figure adjusted his position, eye pressed to the scope.

The standing man turned to his other companions. "At best, we take out one initially. After that, battle begins. Remember—the Angel of Death is mine."

"Yes, master." Both replied.

"On your shot, Lavvy. Then we engage." Dray of the Black Flames commanded.

"Yes, my liege..." Lavvy peered through the sights, sniper rifle aimed at Angelo's group. Twilight faded fast—mere minutes before darkness made the shot impossible.

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The crosshairs found Neiva's head. His finger on the trigger. Pressing slowly. Slowly. And—

"Wait." Lavvy's thought stopped him cold. Memories flashed—kidnapping her, watching her become an Auron, feeling her hand around his throat. "She could've killed me easily back then... Did she spare me?"

He pivoted hesitantly. The scope found Sol's head now. His finger tightened around the trigger. Then—

"Wait!" Lavvy stopped again. More memories—himself on Sol's back, piggyback ride, the tsunami. "He tried saving me... I can't repay him like this..."

He squeezed his eyes shut. Decision needed. Minutes ticking away. He couldn't do it.

Then something occurred to him. "It's Angelo's fault for being too stubborn! If he'd just died already, I wouldn't be in this mess!"

His sight drifted slowly to Angelo's head. The target ate fish without a care in the world. "If I do this... my liege will be furious. For weeks. Months. Years!" His finger kept tightening. "But... perhaps... this is..." Eyes squeezed shut again. "COME ON, LAVVY! DECIDE!"

"Something wrong, Lavvy?" Dray's voice cut through his spiral.

Lavvy felt his heart spike. "N-not at all, my liege. They keep moving, is all..."

Dray nodded, his permanent frown mysterious as ever. But he waited patiently.

Back at the CampShip, Red's head snapped up like a guard dog catching a scent. He started pacing around Sol and Neiva in tight circles, getting closer with each pass.

Everyone froze mid-bite, watching his increasingly weird behavior. The silence grew awkward until Red's face hovered inches from Sol's.

"Personal space exists, you know." Sol pushed him back with one hand.

Angelo and Blue both shook their heads. "Just ignore him." Blue's voice carried the exhaustion of a long-suffering parent. "He's having one of his moments."

"The hell's gotten into you now?" Angelo didn't even try to hide his irritation.

"You asking me?" Red whipped around to face him. "Someone's pumping out serious anxiety vibes. Trying to figure out who."

"That's your detective method?!" Neiva threw her hands up. "Getting in people's faces IS what makes them anxious!"

Then, Blue's entire body went rigid. His head swiveled toward the forest. His aura burst to life like an alarm.

"Ah, FUCK!" Lavvy's panic made his finger jerk.

BANG

Birds exploded from the trees in every direction.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Neiva's scream cut through the chaos as Blue's energy tethers yanked them all skyward.

"Positions! Move!" Angelo's aura ignited as the order ripped from his throat.

Sol's playful expression died instantly. His silver aura erupted like a bomb going off, lightning already crackling toward the shot's origin.

BOOM

Neiva's blue aura flared. Metal armor snapped into place around her body, scythe materializing in her grip. No hood this time.

Three figures landed in the clearing after dodging Sol's attack. Angelo's eyes went wide for half a heartbeat before his expression hardened to stone.

"Dray." He spat the name like it tasted rotten.

Dray stepped forward, black flames and darker aura bleeding together until you couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. Ashly appeared behind him, orange aura pulsing. Nova stood beside her, surrounded by brown aura—the exact same shade as Bill's. The same type as Jill's.

Angelo's jaw clenched so hard his teeth should've cracked.

"Here we are again, Angel of Death." Dray's voice stayed maddeningly calm. "Did you really think I'd stop? That I'd let you walk away after what you did?"

Angelo's hood snapped up over his head. The halo materialized above him like a crown of light. "Got it backwards. I already sentenced you to death. You showing up here just means I don't have to waste time tracking you down."

"Big talk from someone who needed an army last time." Dray's flames spread wider across his shoulders. "No backup now. No town full of fighters. Just you and your little friends." His cape of black fire flared like wings. "This is where it ends."

A smirk—rare and dangerous—crept across Angelo's face. "Don't need backup anymore." His confidence cut through the night air like a blade. "I'm not the same person you fought before."

Red's grin stretched so wide it looked painful. His eyes practically glowed with anticipation.

Neiva moved to Angelo's side. Her expression shifted—all warmth draining away, replaced by something cold and focused. "Orders?"

Angelo glanced at her once, then back at their enemies. "Sol handles the wind Auron. Dray's mine. Nobody interferes." He paused, and Neiva's heart stuttered in her chest. "You get the metal one."

Neiva's pulse hammered against her ribs. She needed to know. Had to be certain. "You passed judgment on them before. All three. Death sentence. Right?"

Angelo said nothing. She looked at him, found him nodding once.

"Am I cleared to execute?" The words barely made it past her lips. Sol's eyes cut toward her, but he kept his mouth shut. This wasn't the time.

Angelo stayed silent. But he didn't say no.

"Works for me." Dray's arms crossed over his chest. "Ashly. Nova. Take your positions."

"Red. Blue." Angelo spoke through their shared mental link. Both turned their attention to him immediately."I fight him solo. You two feed me Trinergy. That's it." His focus shifted specifically to Red. "You got a problem with that?"

"Heheheh! I can still fuck with them from here anyway!" Red's laugh had edges."Do your thing, Angie!"

Ashley and Sol squared off, dropping into their stances. Her eye twitched when realization hit—he'd evolved. Gotten stronger since their last fight. But she swallowed the fear, refused to show anything that might disappoint Dray.

"Finally grew a spine, huh?" Nova's voice dripped scorn. "Thought you'd hide behind your friends forever, you pathetic coward!" Twin swords burst into existence in her hands, followed by full metal armor coating her body. "Time for you to learn who the REAL metal Auron is around here!"

Neiva's fingers tightened around her scythe until her knuckles went white. Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Bring it."

"YEAH! GO SUGAR-TITS! KICK METAL-TITS' ASS AND SHOW HER WHO'S GOT THE BETTER TITS!" Red's encouragement managed to disgust literally everyone present.

"Oh my GOD, what is WRONG with you?!" Nova looked like she might vomit.

"Absolutely vile." Ashley's face twisted with revulsion.

"How remarkably disgusting." Dray's eyes narrowed to dangerous points, like Red might've just moved up his kill list.

Deep in the forest, Lavvy repeatedly slammed his forehead against his rifle, cursing every deity he could name for how spectacularly he'd blown their ambush.

Angelo, Sol, Neiva, and Blue all looked like they wanted to crawl into holes and die from secondhand embarrassment. Only Red stood there grinning like an absolute maniac, completely immune to the disgust radiating from every direction. His thumbs-up and encouraging nod toward Neiva persisted with stubborn determination.

Angelo released a long, suffering sigh. Then his eyes blazed beneath his hood with renewed intensity. When he spoke, Red and Blue both snapped to full attention instantly: "Trinergy Armor. Now."

Red and Blue's focus shifted as one. Within heartbeats, silver material began crystallizing over Angelo's body—spreading from his core outward across his limbs. Colored energy veins shot through the Trinergy like lightning frozen mid-strike, pulsing with power.

Dray's eyes narrowed. "That silver material..." His hand drifted to his shoulder, touching an old scar. "The weapon that marked me before was silver too. But this..." His gaze sharpened. "This is something else entirely."

Angelo sank into his combat stance. "Smart man."

Dray's black flames exploded outward, wrapping around his head, his arms, his torso—forming the shape of a dragon. A tail of living tar-fire grew from his back, whipping behind him. Dray the Hellflame Dragon stood fully formed.

The Angel of Death versus the Black Flame Dragon. One on one. No Hugo to save him this time.

"So this is it, huh?" Sol's smirk never wavered even as strange lightning started dancing across his skin. "Our final dance. You and me." He raised his fists into boxer position.

"One can only hope." Ashley's stance looked solid, but something uncertain flickered in the way she moved—a hesitation that hadn't been there before.

"I'm gonna carve you into PIECES!" Nova's scream split the air.

Neiva lifted her scythe, choosing each word with deliberate care. Angelo was listening. He was always listening. "Judgment's coming for you."

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