—Northwest District, Dotun City; Lanima Region
After Alex left Stacia, Rea and Wey went to her side, Rea will teleport Stacia back to the headquarters.
Rea created a portal to the East District. "You're not allowed to do any other work after this, Stacia, is that clear?" She said, asking her.
*chuckle* Stacia chuckled. "Yes, mother," she said, agreeing with Rea's words.
"Go, I'll go after wherever he will go. Stacia, Ayer told us you know where he's going, where is he going?" Wey said, asking her where Alex will go.
"Right! Why are you following me? Why are you after, Alex? Are you after Alex as well?" Stacia asked them.
"I guess you left at the right time. After we heard Ayer's mission for us, he announced the group, and put a bounty on Alex's head, for a seat next to us, he's taking in a normal Reign user by our side," Rea said.
"What?" Stacia asked.
"I don't know how long he's been planning this but I do not doubt him because I believe this Alex is a threat after defeating you without any Reign, I saw it myself, now, tell me where he's going, Stacia," Wey said, eager to know where Alex is.
"I guess at this state, I can't defy their requests, and Rea can just use her Reign to get what she needs from me, she's the Token Ayer have but far stronger, also, I don't want to die here at the hands of my colleagues, you're on your own, Alex," Stacia thought.
"He's going to his house, he wanted to see if his house is still up or not," Stacia said, answering Wey's question.
"Where?" Wey asked as he was eager to leave.
"I hope Alex can handle this man, I barely handled him before but I don't know if I can now since I taught him how to fight," Stacia thought, worried for Alex.
"To Sand Street, you'll probably spot him since it's a small street, and it doesn't expand between two streets," Stacia said, answering Wey's question.
Wey then dashed out, leaving the two of them to go for Alex.
"He's gonna beat the living hell out of that man, he's like the time we first meet him. But this time, he has a reason to be angry, he should've just joined us. I'll follow him after, in case he fails," Rea thought.
"Let's go," Rea said, lifting Stacia.
Stacia grabbed onto Rea. "Are you angry I lost, Rea?" She asked Rea before they leave.
"No, I just pity that man. He's going to feel his rage because Wey treats you as his best friend, you know? And he saw you get beaten up by him," Rea said to Stacia.
"I guess I really did shut him down all the time, I'm so cold to everyone, and it made it worse when I became friendly around Alex, I'm the worst…" Stacia thought, remembering her previous actions towards other Reigners trying to befriend her.
They then walked to the portal to teleport to the East District.
—East District, Dotun City; Lanima Region
Ayer was in his office, he was scouring some information about Alex's past, where he lives, and where he came from.
"So Stacia was his officemate before, hence their friendship. I wouldn't be surprised if they were married or something," Ayer thought, swiping through the web pages on his tablet.
He still has access to Scope information, at least, the barebones of them, downloaded them all in his 1 terabyte storage, all information from S-2 to A-19 branches, and luckily, Alex was in the S-12 branch so he is able to get his information before his account got terminated by Mr. Scope.
"I'm pretty fortunate to have some S-12 branch employees on the group, Stacia is one of them. But I highly doubt she will tell more than what she had already told us," Ayer thought.
Ayer then called one of the S-12 branch employees to his office to talk to him about Alex.
"Sir Oighear, I heard you called for me?"
"Come, sit down," Ayer said to him.
"What do you need me for, Sir?"
"Do you know the name of the man I put a bounty on earlier?" Ayer asked him.
"Alexander Hugo,"
"Yes, I need to know your thoughts on him since you are under the same branch as him 3 years ago, is that alright? No pressure," Ayer asked him.
"I don't have anything to lose so I can just let loose about him, he's not my boss anymore,"
"I have something to tell you, Sir Oighear, about Alex,"
"Oh, go on," Ayer said, intrigued by his words.
"Anything, just to know about this threat," Ayer thought.
"He's… not like that 3 years ago, his body is thinner but he's well shaped, he's not malnourish but he's not this buff before, do you know what happened to him before this chaos happened, Sir Oighear?"
"He exploded and was comatose for 3 years, he just appeared now, Stacia is friends with him, I know that much," Ayer said.
"Yes, and now, he's way bigger than he was 3 years ago, the doctors or scientists, or whoever that helped him might've done something on Alex's body, before, I saw him fight like 3 thugs before, he's well trained but it might be different now that he's that big,"
"Really? And the fact that he has multiple Reign and a cyborg body proves means he's a bigger threat than we thought, if he wants to be a hero of this city then he will face off against us eventually, and he can destroy us.
There's a high chance he has the Super Soldier serum I heard of before but I know it's just a myth," Ayer thoroughly thought.
He then felt Rea enter the headquarters.
"Is that Rea?" Ayer thought, he can feel Rea's powers after witnessing it over and over.
"Thank you for giving me your insight, you can go now," Ayer said, standing up from his chair.
"Anytime, Sir,"
The Reigner he talked to left the office with Ayer. He then heads to wherever he sensed Rea, to the right of his office, exactly where Stacia's room is.
"Why is she in Stacia's room?" Ayer thought, paranoid.
*knock*
Ayer knocked on her door just to make sure, though he's already feeling Rea's presence.
"Rea? Stacia?" Ayer called, asking whoever was inside the room.
"I'm with Rea, come in," Stacia said, answering Ayer.
He enters the room. He then saw Stacia injured on her bed while Rea is healing her with her Reign.
Rea can manipulate her Reign to help one's cells to move quickly and efficiently to not just heal others but also remove any anomaly in their bodies like paralysis or stun.
"What happened? Did Alex do this?" Ayer asked him.
"Of course, you did send one of the skilled combatants of this group to kill him, he's just strolling around, you know? He's not sending out bounty like you, Ayer, he's a kind person," Stacia said, defending Alex.
"I saw it, he fought back after she charged at him, he beat her up without using any Reign, something even I have a hard time doing with my Reign," Rea said trying to help Stacia.
"She's not telling everything about Alex just to protect him. But he didn't even need her protection, he's probably filled with serums we don't know, Super Soldier or not since that's what the Reigner told me," Ayer thought.
Stacia then sat down on her bed after Rea was done healing her.
"Stacia, why didn't you tell me, tell us, about Alex's buffing? My sources say that he's not that big before, what more are you hiding about him?" Ayer asked Stacia.
Rea changed her look at Stacia, glaring at her after hearing Ayer's words. "Is this true?" She asked him.
"This is an unnecessary intimidation, you two," Stacia said, standing up from her bed, alerted.
"But those are necessary information, Stacia, we always look for a way to defeat our enemies, whatever means necessary, and Alex is our enemy now!" Ayer shouted.
"Break the Token first, Ayer, before I tell you everything I know about Alex," Stacia said, demanding him.
"Oh, perhaps I won't, Stacia since that might be our only way to get anything from you!" Ayer shouted, he then took out the Token and was about to activate it.
"NO!" Stacia thought, she lifted her arms up towards Ayer.
Rea was about to stop Stacia from activating her Reign but when Stacia activated her Reign, the two of them stopped moving.
"What?!? I can't move!" Ayer shouted, asking why he can't move.
Rea noticed their body glows light blue—Stacia's Reign color. "Stacia's Reign?" She asked as she was surprised.
"I know shields and barriers can be given to others but why can't I move because Stacia put her Reign at us?" Rea thought, asking herself.
"What's happening? Is this my Reign?" Stacia thought, asking herself.
She then heads to Ayer…
"Don't you dare take that Token, Stacia!!" Ayer shouted.
Stacia took the Token from Ayer's grasp just as he was about to activate it. She then breaks it in half, deactivating the Token.
"I'm sorry, Ayer, Alex is my friend, I'd do everything. But not hurt him any further, then again, you can't hurt him anyway, his Reign, his new self, is something you will never comprehend," Stacia said.
"We can! Together, Stacia! What do you even see in him?! Why are you helping him!?" Rea shouted, asking her as she feels heartbroken.
"Rea…" Ayer thought, saddened to see Rea like this because it reminds him of the first time he met her.
One of the reasons Ayer made sure the Masters of Reigns group was this powerful is to make sure to not see the people around him feel the way they were when the chaos occurred, giving everyone a home they can feel relaxed.
"I'm sorry, Rea, it's not about you or Alex, it's me, I value our friendship more because he changed my life. Goodbye, Masters of Reigns," Stacia said, she then heads out of the room.
"You will pay for this, Stacia! Thiwang!" Ayer shouted as he slowly freezes the room's floor out of anger.
She didn't deactivate her Reign until she left the headquarters, the other Reigners are confused why her Reign is still activated even though she's inside the headquarters.
When she left, Ayer and Rea are free.
"Her Reign, it's not a barrier," Ayer said.
"If not, then what is it? How did she stop us with it?" Rea asked, saddened as she kneeled on the ground after Stacia left.
"I couldn't even use my Reign!" Rea thought.
"I'm not sure. She even held that long just to leave the headquarters. Rea, did she say where Alex is going?" Ayer said, asking Rea.
"She did but how does that connect to what just happened, Ayer?" Rea asked him back after she answers him, confused about his question—and everything that just happened.
"Because she might go and find him, that's the only plausible thing she will be doing after this, Rea. Get up, we will find Alex and Stacia, killing them is our only way to advance on our plans without any hitches, stand up, we need to regroup," Ayer said, answering her question.
—Northwest District, Dotun City; Lanima Region
Going back to Alex, while he's on his way to where his house is, he's analyzing Stacia's Reign.
"Her Reign is Space Manipulation!? What kind of Space can she manipulate? Molecules? Atoms? The space itself? Is this like Telekinesis power? If so, this is definitely a superpower," Alex thought, shocked while checking Stacia's Reign.
He stopped in his tracks to try her Reign, he used it on a big boulder that fell from an abandoned building.
*eerie*
*rumble*
Alex was able to lift the boulder up from the ground. "Amazing, it is like telekinesis," he said.
"I wonder what the limit of her Reign?" Alex thought, asking himself.
He then put the boulder down.
"I know this is amazing but there's a reason why I'm here, I have to get back home," Alex said to himself.
He continues his journey back home. He then arrived at the Sand Streets after a few minutes of running.
From afar, Wey was following him, when he saw him arrive on the streets…
"So this is where you live, Alexander Hugo, you will have to pay with what you did to Stacia… with your life and this place you call home," Wey said angrily.
"It's been a while since I'm this angry, when was it? 2 years ago?" Wey thought, asking himself.
He then went over to Alex.