Vespera glared at the Slenderman Vice Principal.

  "Your fiance is in Cradlefoot Youth Rehabilitation Facility," Graves revealed.

  "So you gated a soul-bonded, contractually enforced partner of a Prima Heiress to a juvenile detention facility without proper documentation or due process?" Attorney Thornheart's voice demanded through the phone with barely contained outrage. "Vice Principal Graves, do you have any idea of the legal ramifications of such an action?"

  Vespera struggled to keep her eyes open, exhaustion from the delve weighing heavily on her. The electrical field around her flickered dangerously as her concentration wavered.

  "The facility is under Stratos jurisdiction," Graves explained. "Scrutimancer Satosh assured me-"

  "Scrutimancer Satosh has no authority to override Prima-bond protocols," Thornheart interrupted sharply. "Miss Simmi, shall I proceed with filing charges against both Skyfall Academy and the Stratos Clan?"

  "Ye," Vespera clicked.

  The air beside her vibrated and three figures emerged from the shadows. Vespera turned and watched through half-lidded eyes as Cinder and Katherine dragged a battered-looking Emerald into Vice Principal Graves' office.

  "Thornheart," Vespera handed her phone to Cinder. "This is my... partner, Cassiopeia Nova, please handle the rest with her aid. I'ma rest now." She collapsed into the nearest armchair, closing her eyes.

  "Why are you...?" Graves looked down at the trio of students.

  "Emerald has something to confess about," Katherine growled. "Go on, dragon-princess."

  "I..." Emerald let out. "I made it all up. The assault charges. The human accusations. Everything."

  "What?!" Graves asked.

  "Explain," Attorney Thornheart stared at Emerald through the phone.

  "I... I was the one who attacked Alexander Glock first," Emerald admitted. "He only defended himself. The Genesis Pool incident - I rushed him first. Same for delving class. He just... managed to turn it all around on me."

  "And why did you fabricate these charges?" Thornheart pressed.

  "Emerald has been bullying mixed blood students since grade nine with encouragement from Instructor Zalimar," Cinder said. "Alexander Glock became my friend. Emerald wanted him out of Skyfall, even though Alexander saved her from permanent death."

  "She paid her Scrutimancer to get rid of Glock," Katherine nodded.

  "Did you really?" Graves asked.

  "Instructor Zalimar pushed me into it!" Emerald tried to roll Zalimar under the bus. "He wanted me to rid Skyfall of weakling nullborns!"

  "In lieu of this new evidence," Attorney Thornheart said. "Vice Principal Graves, I expect Mr. Glock to be released immediately."

  "I merely facilitated the transfer based on rather compelling evidence provided to me by Scrutimancer Satosh," Graves admitted. "I cannot bring him back. Only Cradlefoot Youth Rehabilitation Facility employees are permitted to gate into or from San Clemente Island."

  "Then I suggest you contact whoever can authorize it," Thornheart stated firmly. "Before this situation escalates further."

  "I'll..." Graves' void-like face rippled with static interference.

  The door to the office burst open once again.

  Lord Ceter Kalik Simmi entered the office flanked by four SimmiTech security officers in pristine white uniforms behind him.

  "Prima-daughter!" Vespera's father's voice boomed, his Thunderbird wings spreading wide.

  “Eh?” Vespera cracked one eye open at her father's voice.

  “There you are!” Ceter boomed.

  "Sleeping," she muttered. "Handle it, Ci."

  "Lord Simmi," Cinder stepped forward, wings flaring protectively. "Your daughter is exhausted from an extended delve. We-"

  "Be silent, girl," Lord Simmi barked. "This is a family matter. Vespera, you will come with me at once!"

  "No," Vespera clicked without opening her eyes. "Busy. Come back next week."

  "This is not a request," Lord Simmi's voice hardened. "Your great-grandfather ordered your immediate return to SimmiTech Compound!"

  "No," Vespera muttered.

  "This nonsense ends now. Guards, secure my daughter!" Lord Simmi barked.

  The SimmiTech security officers moved forward but Katherine stepped between them and Vespera, her emerald eyes glowing with otherworldly menace. Waves of pure dread rolled off her form as she began to sink into the deep.

  "Touch her," Katherine growled, "and I'll show you what true terror feels like."

  "How dare you threaten-" Lord Simmi began.

  "Attorney Thornheart," Cinder spoke into the phone. "Lord Simmi is attempting to forcibly remove his daughter from school grounds! Please advise."

  "Y..." Thornheart began.

  "ENOUGH!" Ceter barked. An electric pulse rolled off him like a sphere of sparks. The phone held by Cinder detonated, screen flickering dark.

  Cinder, Katherine, Emerald fell where they stood.

  Lord Simmi marched to Vespera and picked her up.

  "I'm taking my daughter home for the weekend," he said to Graves who simply stood there, dark tentacles flickering.

  "Very well," the Vice Principal answered.

  Ceter vanished through the door, his guards following him.

  In another few minutes, Vice Principal exhaled and snapped his fingers, sending waves of static rolling over the passed-out students.

  "Ughhh, shit," Cinder got off the floor, wings flashing with dark grays and blacks. "Did we just..."

  "Get knocked out?" Katherine said. "Yes, we did."

  "Where's Vespera?" Cinder blinked at the empty chair and looked around frantically.

  "Lord Simmi took her," Graves said calmly. "She'll return on Monday."

  "WHAT?!" Cinder's wings flared with angry colors. "You just let him take her?!"

  "He's her father," Graves stated. "He has every right to-"

  "She's soul-bonded to..." Cinder howled, wings flashing brilliant red.

  "Sound bonds are irrelevant in this matter, Miss Nova," Graves replied, silencing the noisy Quetzi-girl with a hum of deep static. "Please cease yelling in my office unless you wish to extend your detention. Now, as for you, Miss Startos. I do not appreciate being lied to. You will serve detention cleaning the Auditorium along with Miss Nova on Monday after class."

  "Are you serious?!" Cinder howled. "You're only giving her detention for this?!"

  "Miss Nova, please-" Graves began.

  Katherine grabbed Cinder's arm. "Come on," she said, pulling the enraged Quetzalcoatl and meek-looking Emerald towards the door. "We need to regroup and think."

  "But-" Cinder protested.

  "Now," Katherine insisted firmly, dragging the pair out of the office past the very annoyed looking Kitsune secretary.

  Stolen story; please report.

  As soon as they were in the hallway, Katherine spoke in a low voice. "Alex told us not to rescue him, remember? He's planning something. And Vespera..." She paused. "She's tough. She'll be okay for the weekend."

  "Are you... sure?" Cinder demanded. "What if her father overwrites her mind while she's asleep?!"

  "That... might be a problem." Katherine frowned.

  "Can I go now?" Emerald mewled.

  "No!" Both girls barked at her.

  "You're coming with us," Katherine growled.

  "T-to where?" Emerald asked. "I-I'd like to go home now. I told Graves about the thing, like you wanted me to! He gave me detention and everything!”

  "What, so you can cry to your parents, make up more shit about Alex?" Cinder hissed. "Yeah, I don't think so. I'm Alex's Hearth Shield and you're our Clan's Sixie."

  "That... that was a pledge made under duress!" Emerald protested.

  "A pledge is a pledge," Cinder growled. "We saved your beerch ass from an execution! And you're going to help us fix this mess you created."

  "How?" Emerald asked with a resigned face.

  "I don't effing know," Cinder said.

  "You can't keep me bloody collared forever," the dragon-girl pointed out. "My parents will want to know where I am..."

  "Emmy," Katherine snarled, looming over the shorter dragon girl in her dark leather and beast core dress. "I'm about five seconds away from dropping you into the deep. Nobody will find you there."

  "Okay, okay!" Emerald raised her hands in surrender. "I'll bloody help, you savage! What do you want me to do?"

  "First," Katherine said, her emerald eyes glowing dangerously, "you're going to tell us everything you know about Cradlefoot Youth Rehabilitation Facility."

  "I don't know much," Emerald admitted. "It's on San Clemente Island. High security. Serious wards. My family owns it."

  "Any weaknesses?" Cinder demanded.

  "I don't freaking know! I haven't been there! Do I look like a criminal or a warden?!" Emerald whined.

  "Not a criminal YET," Katherine growled. "But you sure acted like one, getting Alex imprisoned."

  "Look, I said I was sorry!" Emerald protested. "What more do you want from me?"

  "Information," Cinder said. "Everything you know about the Stratos Clan's involvement with the facility."

  "I really don't know much," Emerald insisted. "Just that my family uses it sometimes to... deal with problems."

  "What kind of problems?" Katherine pressed.

  "People who..." Emerald hesitated. "Who need to disappear."

  Cinder's wings flared with angry colors. "So it's not just a rehabilitation facility. It's a private prison."

  "More like a disposal site," Katherine's emerald eyes narrowed. "Where inconvenient people vanish."

  "We should... call Alex," Cinder let out. "He'll know what to do. Alex always knows what to do."

  . . .

  The therapy room went silent. The inmates stared at the glowing beast core nestled between Magdaline's razor-sharp teeth as she slowly closed her mouth.

  The Mapinguari's eyes widened. "Is that...?"

  "It is," Mags nodded. "Wouldn't be chewing it otherwise."

  "Miss Satoshi. May I remind you that no food is allowed during therapy sessions," the Unicorn commented. "Mr, Fox, we're here to talk about your feelings, not to trade cafeteria snacks for favors."

  "My feeling is that this is delicious," Magdaline said, crunching loudly and sending radiant sparks flying from her mouth. The prisoners stared at her snack, salivating.

  "Please talk about something more meaningful and personal such as trauma that pushed you in the wrong direction, not food," the Black Unicorn sighed, not even bothering to look at Magdaline. "Our goal is to figure out what sets you off and how to cope without violence or self-destructive behavior. Also, introduce yourselves to Mister…”

  “Fox,” I repeated.

  “Mr. Fox… hrmm? Why aren’t you on my list?” the therapist asked. I glanced at her name tag.

  “I dunno, Therapist Juskerr,” I shrugged. “I just got here. I’m just tugging along with my new shark bestie. Maybe your system didn't update, you know how it is.”

  “Right, whatever,” the Unicorn sighed. “Go on then. Resume in the circle, going right, starting from Mister Lissthoric.”

  The Yara-ma-yha-who straightened up, his glistening red skin covered in white stripes gleaming under the fluorescent lights. "Tate here. Got caught trying to drain some Primo's kid at a fancy mall. Not my fault really - been living in the vents for months, surviving on rats and pigeons after parents kicked me out. One sniff of Primo blood and... well, couldn't help myself."

  The Mapinguari cleared his throat, massive claws clicking against his chair. "Renmar. Used to be a chef at Omnimart's food court until I... lost control during rush hour. Something about the crowds, the noise, the endless demands... snapped inside me. Went berserk, tore through three registers, plowed through the crowd, ate a bunch of people. The damage was extensive."

  The muscular Bies spoke next, his scarred face twisting into a grimace. "Viktor. Ex-security at Hexamesh Ferronite Industries. Had a perfect record until I caught some executives torturing mixed-blood employees in the basement labs. Lost it completely. Ripped through seventeen floors. Killed twelve Pure-bloods before they took me down. Don't regret it one bit. Would do it again."

  The moss-covered Catoblepas shifted uncomfortably. "Izzy Jones. Was a gardener at Skyfall. Started growing... illegal plants. When security came to investigate, I panicked, trying to save my babies. Didn't go well."

  The dark, lanky Erlking leaned forward, antlers casting intricate shadows. "Ash. Former intern of Xenobotany at Leviathan University. Helped professor Leiko weave military-grade pacifier touch-kill weapons. When funding got cut, I... refused to terminate our work. Took the pacifiers home. Got caught. Laid waste to many before I was captured."

  The curvy Lamashtu flicked her serpentine tail, black wings fluttering. "Lilith Moongriss. Ex-dancer at the Crystal Spire. Was forced to perform for increasingly depraved audiences until I couldn't take it anymore. Infested the audince with memetic nightmares. Did the same to the cheerleader squad at Skyfall." She snifed the air with her dark wolfhead, golden eyes boring into me.

  The tentacled Scylla shifted in her chair, her multiple dark green tentacle limbs weaving slightly. "Mariana Darkwater. Ward tech and researcher at Uxashh's deep-sea lab. Developed a way to communicate with abyssal creatures. The Uxashh Omnicorp wanted to weaponize them. I... refused. Released all our subjects instead. They ate the entire research team. Got caught trying to sink the facility using the ward control."

  The massive Grootslang shifted on his small chair. "Uliuss Yolt. Former clerk at Agronite Bank. One of my administrators was taking bribes. Tried to expose him. They framed me for theft. I... didn't take it well. Collapsed three vaults before security contained me.

  The winged Camazotz cleared his throat, his jet-black fur rippling. "Royaul Niss. Used to intern at sonic research at Resonance Labs. We were developing ways to manipulate emotions through sound waves. Found out they were testing on homeless humans from Scab Row. The frequencies... They were designed to induce psychosis. I quit. Since nobody else would hire me afterward, I sort of gradually lost my mind trying to make ends meet. Can’t even remember what I did.”

  “Magdaline Satoshi,” Magdaline said on my left. “I ate three annoying knobs at Skyfall.”

  “It sounds to me like each of you got screwed unfairly by Omnithornia. I feel that this facility isn't living up to its rehabilitation potential," I said. "Take Magdaline here. Instead of helping her manage her predatory instincts with proper magic beast nutrition and beast cores, she's been isolated and used as a disposal for unwanted elements of society."

  The therapist finally looked up from her tablet, frowning. "Please don't make up stories, Mr. Fox We follow very strict rehabilitation protocols here."

  "Really?" I leaned forward. "Then why does cell twenty-five smell of forty-one dead humans? Why does Scrutimancer Satosh bring bleeding victims here during lunch? Why does his daughter's room have an incinerator chute specifically designed to destroy evidence?"

  The therapist's horn flickered with dark energy, making my head throb. "Perhaps you should focus on your own rehabilitation journey, Mr. Fox?”

  "Oh, I am," I smiled. "Step one is exposing systemic corruption. Step two is offering alternatives. For instance, did you know that beast cores can help manage predatory impulses? Much better than isolation and psychiatry.”

  "Beast cores are expensive," the therapist stated flatly. "This is a state-funded facility."

  "Who's dissatisfied with their situation?" I asked. "Who's tired of therapy and just wants beast cores? Raise your hands."

  Every hand in the room shot up, except for the therapist's.

  "See?" I gestured. "Your inmates want actual help, not just talk therapy."

  The therapist's horn flickered again with a dark flare. "Mr. Fox, I’d prefer if you stuck to the rehabilitation program. Also, I’m sure that the other inmates would appreciate hearing your real story instead of jokes.”

  The orange-suited Omnids didn’t look like they wanted to appreciate anything of the sort.

  “That was my real story!” I protested. “Okay fine. I punched Emerald Stratos in the noggin, so she sent me here.”

  My Quartermaster tag vibrated.

  “One moment,” I said, accepting the call.

  "Alex!" Cinder's holographic image appeared above my tag. "Are you okay? Are you alive? Has anyone tried to eat you?"

  "I'm fine," I replied cheerfully. "Just attending group therapy with my new friends."

  The therapy room inmates stared at the holographic projection with varying degrees of surprise.

  “What?” The therapist blinked. “That… that’s a Voicecast device. You shouldn't have that!”

  “Whoever knocks out the Unicorn first, gets a beast core,” I opened my pocket.

  “You… how… what?” The Black Unicorn sputtered, staring at my pocket filled with magic cores.

  The room erupted into chaos. The Mapinguari lunged forward first, followed closely by the Lamashtu.

  The therapist's horn blasted the nearest attacking inmate with black waves, but she was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of inmates rushing her. The Mapinguari's massive furry form slammed into her first, followed by the Lamashtu.

  I tossed beast cores to the winners as promised, watching them shove the pearlescent balls with desperate enthusiasm into their mouths.

  The other inmates turned to me. Cinder stared at me from the holo.

  "So, who wants to join my Clan?" I asked with a grin. "I really do have Sixie positions open for talented individuals!”

  The Yara-ma-yha-who stared at me. "Why shouldn't we just knock ya out and take ya cores, bud?"

  "If you stop me you’ll only get the cores from this pocket and you'll still be stuck in this place. I can pay you as many cores as you need to feel satisfied, forever. Plus, you'd have to go through her," I pointed my finger at Mags who rose to her full Megalodon height, claws out. "Also, I have a gun."

  I pulled a compact, self-reloading magitek arbalest from my pocket that I bought as a gift for Justice Nova in Shandria for about a thousand gold.

  "That's not a gun, that's an arba..." the Yara-ma-yha-who began.

  I pressed the trigger and the magisteel bolt went through the wall and then the ridiculously overpriced void core tied to it detonated, obliterating the entire hexcrete wall with a whoosh of sucked in energy, pulverizing the small lounge behind it, showering the Omnids in hexcrete chunks.

  The inmates stared at me in shock.

  Whistling the Twisted Nerve tune that I picked up from Vespera’s habit, I walked to the knocked out Unicorn and grabbed her hat and put it on my head. "I'm the therapist now. Now, who wants to be fully rehabilitated from this facility?”