As they rode out of Moulding, Lexie, Xena, and Lars kept glancing back to ensure the boys weren't giving chase. Despite what they said, Lexie wouldn't put it past them. Maybe their backing off was a trap to lure Lexie and co. into a false sense of security, while they went to get more men to rob the car. The same thing was probably running through Xena and Lars's mind and so none of them could relax until they'd crossed the bridge and entered Arcadia proper.

Once they saw there was still no sign of the boys, Lexie began to relax against the seat.

But the tension in the air didn't dissipate.

And Xena didn't stop apologizing.

"I'm sorry," she said in a very sober, un-Xena-like voice. "I'm really sorry I put the three of you through that. I can't believe I was so stupid..."

"Stop," Lexie said tiredly. "ADM rules says we can only apologize to each other once a day, and that each of us is allowed at least one screw up a month. So it's cool. You just used yours and you can stop apologizing now." The Association of Dead Mothers–more specifically Xena, and Lexie–had actually implemented the 'no-apologizing' rule for Dewie, who still had a tendency to apologize a bazillion times for every minor mistake he made. Once, he'd done it so much that Xena had snapped at him to stop, which made him apologize even more and then it nearly devolved into an argument between Xena who was demanding Dewie have more self-respect, and Dewie apologizing for not having it, and it got more and more out of control, until Lexie finally suggested they add the rule to their unofficial ADM rulebook.

It had helped reduce the amount of apologies Dewie gave.

But she never thought she would have to use the rule against Xena too.

"Besides you didn't force us to come," Dewie volunteered quietly. "We came because we wanted to."

"You came because you're great friends and you were worried about me," Xena said. "For good reason."

Her eyes traveled to Lexie. "You were right and I was wrong. You can rub it in now. And don't be nice about it."

Lexie shrugged. "I'll give you the 'I told you so' later. Right now, I just wanna get home."

Xena opened her mouth to say something else but decided against it, and nodded. They continued in even more silence until Xena finally asked Lars, "How did you know we were in trouble? Did you see through the reflective shield?"

He shook his head. "I heard noises. And Master Dewie saw something strange in the air..."

"It was like a crow," he said. "Or a blackbird. It felt like something weird was happening."

"So you don't just see the future," Lexie wondered aloud. "You see stuff as it happens too."

"Sometimes. I'm not sure how it works yet."

"Hmmm." Lexie was even more determined to figure it out and make him a deck to help translate his visions. They could be very useful.

"That technology they used," Lars said. "It's very advanced. How did a group of street rats get their hands on that?"

Lexie shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe from kidnapping rich kids and demanding ransoms?"

It was meant as a dark joke but no one laughed.

Lars's expression tightened. "I will not be bringing you back here." His voice was lower than normal, his words strangely formal. "I will not tell your parents if you don't want me to, but you three will not come back here at all. Understood?"

Lexie shared a look with Xena and they both nodded to Lars. Lexie crossed her fingers behind her back when she did.

Even though a huge part of her really really didn't want to have to come back here, she knew deep down she would. Apart from Xena's sidequest, now that she knew there was a way to possibly obtain backdoor communications to other dimensions, she wasn't about to let it go.

On the other hand, maybe she was also being stupid for trusting Isaac to help her, when he may or may not have triggered the ambush back there. She didn't know if he was behind the kidnapping scheme, but if he was then what was the point of giving them the token? And why did he wait till they left? Why not just have his boys ambush them in the shop where it would be harder to escape?

Yeah, that didn't make sense.

Inherently, Lexie didn't think it was Isaac who ambushed them. She thought he might have even been the one to help them in the end. But if he was the mysterious person who called in the favor, why did he wait so long to do it?

She didn't know. But she would have to do a lot more research before she went back there. And a lot more experimentation with cards, so she would know how to handle a situation like that if it cropped up again.

Also she needed to figure a way around the whole system call jamming thing. How did it work? The same way a cell phone jammer did?

How did it manage to block off communication from the system without blocking off access to the whole system itself? She could still access her inventory and activate her cards which told her that the system was intact, but her calls and texts didn't go through. It was interesting and she had a feeling that information like that wouldn't be readily available on the NET.

Maybe she could ask Isaac about it the next time she saw him.

"I don't think they're following us," Xena finally said, being the last one to relax into the seat.

"Who's 'they'?" Dewie asked. Apparently, he hadn't seen most of what had happened because of the illusion shield, and he was just going off their body language and his crow vision to know that something had gone down.

Xena turned to him as though just realizing. "So this whole time, you didn't know why on earth we were running?"

Dewie shrugged. "It's a spooky neighborhood. I just assumed that you wanted to get out as fast as possible. Wait, someone was following you?"

"They don't seem to be anymore," Lexie said, not wanting to worry him. "So it's fine." Or at least she would be fine. Her heart was still racing from how close they got to not being fine.

They were lucky. It was a close call. Too close a call. And it was all thanks to Lexie's stupidity and overblown confidence in her own skills.

She shouldn't have gone in there without an adult. It was short-sighted and foolish. Living in Hovelton had apparently tricked her into forgetting that not every low income neighborhood was safe.

But now she'd learned her lesson.

If she ever went back to Isaac, she would go with more firepower. She would go with her Uncle Max, no matter what Xena said.

She'd find a way to convince him to go along with it. He still owed her that favor after all.

When they finally reached the Arcadian train station, Lexie was exhausted. Lars dropped Lexie and Xena off there because Dewie's mom ordered him to pick her up from the mall immediately. Xena and Lexie took a silent train back to Hovelton.

Silent until Xena took a deep breath.

"Lexie, I really am-"

"Xena, if you say it again I swear on everything I'm gonna smack you." Annoyance leaked into her tone this time. She was already busy dealing with her own guilt and feelings of failure, she didn't have time to handle Xena's too.

Xena gave her a weak smile and Lexie gave her a similar one back.

At Hovelton, they separated as Xena went to the hospital to meet Emma for lunch and Lexie went home too to work on her cards. She didn't give herself time to emotionally sort through everything that happened today, because if did, she would spend hours overanalyzing and hyperfixating on every single detail. It would leave her panicked and shaky for God knows how long and that simply would not be productive.

Instead, what she needed to do was figure out how she would prevent it from happening next time.

Starting from the magnet-repulsion effect. Was there a way of extending the effect to include other people?

Probably. She could see if she could edit the card that way.

She traced the functions of the different nodes in <Easy Clean Up> and <Shut Up and Dance> trying to see which node could be tweaked to allow for another person. She wasn't finding an obvious solution and she wondered if she could add a third card to the combo just for the grouping effect, or if that would be overkill.

A few hours later though, she was distracted by Xena crawling through her window again.

Lexie rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Do you have a climbing hobby now? Aiden's not even home."

"You called him Aiden again," Xena mentioned. "What's up with that? It's been a year since your accident and yet sometimes you call him Dad and sometimes you call him by his first name."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Lexie didn't know either. Most times, it was far too easy to get into the role of Lexie Sparrowfoot and view Aiden as her dad. Other times, she would randomly feel the disconnect of living in someone else's body and feel like everything that happened was happening outside of her. She was an actress in a role, and everything in this world, including her relationship with Aiden, was only a part of the play she had to act out. She would dissociate and then he would be Aiden again.

She didn't know how to fix it, so she was just ignoring it for now.

But she couldn't reveal that to Xena. She vaguely wondered how Xena would react if she found out that the Lexie Sparrowfoot she knew now wasn't the original, but rather someone from a different dimension. Based on how Xena had reacted to discovering her own real identity, she wouldn't react well to discovering Lexie's. She would probably freak out and call Lexie a body snatcher and it would be proving every single fear she'd had about other planets and dimensions to be true.

And Aiden…Lexie could only imagine how devastating it would be for him to find out that it wasn't his real daughter's soul in this body, and that the real Lexie Sparrowfoot was on Earth 9 or possibly dead. It would be a blow he would never recover from. He may also start to resent the person who was currently occupying his daughter's body and may think she was somehow involved in planning this.

Lexie wouldn't know how to deal with that. It would be heartbreaking.

Knowing this was probably what made Lexie dissociate sometimes, the imposter syndrome overwhelming her. Sometimes, she even thought of leaving home or distancing herself from Aiden. Even though it would hurt, she thought it might be the right thing to do, or at least the only thing she could do to rectify the egregious situation that fate had put them both in.

But she could only imagine what Aiden would do if his daughter went missing. She didn't want to put him through that.

Plus as selfish as it was, Lexie wasn't prepared to lose that fatherly affection she was showered with, as well as the warmth and comfort.

So she stayed and kept her mouth shut.

"Did you see what I sent you?" Xena said, distracting Lexie from her increasingly depressing thoughts. Xena had pulled herself through the window and plopped right on the bed. "On the group chat."

Lexie shook her head and Xena rolled her eyes. "Why do you never check the group chat?"

"I was busy," Lexie responded a tad defensively. "What was it?"

Instead of answering, Xena shook her head. A second later, a prompt appeared:

XENA COLE WANTS TO SHARE HER SCREEN WITH YOU. [YES] [NO]?

Lexie accepted the share and then stared at the poster that Xena had sent. It was announcing a new AFC Match. On one side of it was Top Dog, and on the other side was a black outline of a boy, and the words 'a new contender faces the champ.'

"New contender?" Lexie asked. "Since when do new opponents get to face the number 1?"

"Since their name is Torin Firebringer."

That got Lexie's attention. She banished her system screen to stare at Xena incredulously. "A Firebringer is competing in the fighter's circuit?"

"Right?"

It was shocking news for several reasons. First of all, it felt...wrong. While [Heroes] were not explicitly forbidden from joining the circuit, it was largely seen as an imposition. This was because the fighter's tournament had initially been created to give Fighters a chance to earn a living without having to do dangerous work as [Heroes] or [Knights]. It gave some mundanes a chance to attain fame and fortune too, even though mundanes rarely made it far in the competition, except Kane.

Most of all, it provided people something outside of the already recognized roles and classes the system gave them. A place where a powered person with [Hero] parents didn't have to be a hero, and a less-powered person didn't have to be a sidekick. They could each face each other equally as opponents and the best, most skilled fighter, or most prepared fighter would win.

Over the years, one or two [Heroes] had attempted to compete here and there in exhibition matches, but they were often booed the whole time because people saw it as unfair. The AFC had listened and stopped putting those on.

So why were they letting it happen now?

Maybe because Torin Firebringer was a hero student and not a [Hero] yet? But Lexie had heard of him. Like his brother, Torin was famous not just by virtue of his heritage, but also because he was extremely skilled. He'd gone viral for being a young fire prodigy after someone had posted a video of him winning a spar against his trainer at the Victoire. For the following weeks, more pictures of him surfaced on other student's social media, but Torin never looked like he was a willing participant in those pictures. He also didn't have a social media of his own even though he was probably one of the most searched young people in Orinia.

Lexie had thought that meant he disliked spectacle.

Which was why it was extra shocking that he of all people was taking part in this.

"Apparently he wiped the floor with everyone in the preliminaries," Xena added. "They couldn't air the footage because the losses were too embarrassing and would have destroyed those fighters' careers for life."

"Well, he's an S Rank Firebringer." According to the rumors anyway. "What did they expect?"

Xena shrugged. "I guess. It's just weird how lately more and more [Heroes] are trying to be a part of the circuit. I mean, [Hero] academies have battle training so don't they have an unfair advantage? Plus they're going to be [Heroes] anyway, and not AFC fighters so it doesn't matter if they win or lose."

Lexie nodded, but at the same time, she had a hunch she knew why this was happening. It was based on something her father had told her, about how the hero's association was concerned that heroes were losing prestige, which could affect their sponsorships and investments. Lexie supposed this was one way to regain that prestige.

The AFC was the hot new thing and it was only growing in popularity. Apparently, creatures from other planets even tuned it to watch sometimes. Lexie had dug into the analytics a little in her free time and discovered that while viewership on [Hero] interviews, ads and other related activities was dwindling, views on videos concerning fighters were increasing.

Now, it wasn't just top-ranked fighters like Top Dog who made millions from various sponsorships and ads. Top Dog's entire squad and a few other standouts like Conrad Grace and MediKate and heck Kane the Mundane made bank. And the mid-range fighters still earned a comfortable income as well.

The AFC's popularity was booming especially amongst young people and heroism wasn't something a lot of them aspired to anymore.

So seeing the trend and needing to get ahead of it, what would be the response of the association?

Simple. Get their people into the games to prove their superiority over every other fighter there is.

And putting their best foot forward with Torin Firebringer, a powerful hero student, was one way to do it. If Torin managed to beat the number one in the league with little effort, then it would hurt the reputation of the fighters and the games, cementing [Heroes] as forever superior. It also wouldn't be long before the AFC was overtaken by [Heroes] and regular fighters couldn't compete.

Which again begged the question, why would the AFC chairman agree to this?

Lexie was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even realize that Xena had been silent for a quick minute. And then when Xena finally spoke it was to say, "Do you think Dewie would agree to lend me a thousand credits if I asked?"

Lexie's eyebrows went all the way up. This was an uncomfortable topic for her and she could tell Xena hated it even more. The two of them, especially Xena, never asked Dewie for money, not because they thought he wouldn't give it to them, but precisely because he would. But they didn't want him to think that to be the basis of their friendship.

"I think if you asked Dewie for the moon, he would try his darndest to give it to you," Lexie answered carefully.

Xena's face contorted like she felt sick. "Great. That makes it even worse." She mulled over it for a second and sighed. "I really don't want to do it though."

Lexie nodded. "And you don't have to. Xena, I seriously think you're overreacting here about this Lightlark thing. Maybe it's a system error." She tried to look gentle. "Did you even figure out who your parents are?"'

She shook her head. "I system-mailed the orphanage but they haven't gotten back to me. But something is telling me not to dig too deep. What if I lead 'them' back to me by asking too many questions?"

"There's no evidence there is a 'them' and there's zero evidence you're in any danger."

"By the time there is evidence it might be too late."

Knowing it was pointless to argue, Lexie shrugged. "Fine. Then just call Dewie and ask."

It was a dare, one that Xena didn't like one bit. Nevertheless, she put on a brave face.

"Yeah. That's what I'll do." She said it like she was giving herself a pep talk. "I'll ask him for money and we'll sign a contract saying that I will pay him back in full."

"That's the spirit," Lexie said wryly. "Now let's call him."

Xena pressed her lips together and nodded firmly.

But, as Lexie predicted, the second Dewie picked up, Xena totally chickened out. Not one word about the money left her mouth.

Instead, Dewie talked about his day shopping with his mom and then added, "Oh, by the way, she's hosting a dinner for me and Veronica tomorrow, to celebrate our awakening. She invited you guys."

"Your mom did?" Xena said doubtfully.

"Yup. She said I could invite anyone I wanted."

Xena and Lexie shared a look.

"This is the same mom that let you sleep in a tiny, drafty pantry that one time?" Xena asked.

"That wasn't her fault. I wanted to sleep there."

Xena raised an eyebrow. "What about the time she went to Ronan-Fae Ambassadorial Island for two weeks and completely forgot about your birthday? That mom?"

"She apologized for that. And made it up to me the next week."

"Okay, fair, but I still don't think she wants us in her house. Every time I'm there, she sneers at me like I'm a bug."

"Yeah, plus the last time I was at your house, she said I looked and dressed like a dwarven maid she knew once." Lexie pointed out. "And then she tossed me a rag and asked me if I could be a dear and wipe the suds off the window'."

"Ah." Dewie snorted. "So that's why you were cleaning when I came out of the pantry."

"You actually cleaned it?" Xena frowned at Lexie.

"It was just a few suds," Lexie said defensively.

"Dewie, your mom is a little..." Xena said. "Actually, to be honest, I think your whole family, except you, kinda suck. I'd rather dig till I'm at sea than be around them."

"Oh come on," Dewie said. "It won't be bad. The food will be good and my cousins will be there."

Xena's eyes widened. "Which cousin? The Firebringers?"

"Yup, including my cousin Theo and Aunt Stella. They're always a lot of fun."

"Right."

Lexie wasn't in any hurry to meet the Firebringers again, but at the same time she was curious about her history with them. According to her father, Stella was best friends with her mother but they'd had a falling out before the latter died. Lexie was curious to know what the falling out was about. And what was the thing that Aiden had supposedly done to them, that Mouse had harped on that one time?

Also, she wouldn't mind chatting with Theo again about his powers.

Xena looked unsure.

As Dewie's expression began to change, falling, she finally said, "Alright, we'll be there."

His face brightened. "Great. I'll tell her then. Bye."

He hung up and then Xena's shoulders sagged. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Why not?"

"Because...it's the Firebringers. They're like buddy-buddy with the Fae. They probably know what happened to the Lightlarks too. What if they use their elemental mojo to detect the Lightlark blood in me?"

Lexie smirked. "Are you even hearing yourself?"

Xena sighed. "Yeah, that did sound pretty crazy."

"It did. Listen, just relax. There's no evidence so far that anyone is being forced to go to Planet Fae and I doubt that the Firebringers have anything to detect that you're a Lightlark." She shrugged. "But if you really don't want to go, you can call Dewie and cancel. Just know that not going would be breaking Dewie's heart and he's going to overthink it and come to the conclusion that you hate him."

Xena narrowed her eyes on Lexie. "That was evil emotional blackmail."

Lexie smiled unapologetically. "It's what I do best."

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