Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, Headquarters

Aurelia felt time slow to a crawl as golden light swallowed her vision and her skin erupted in heat. Then, just as suddenly, everything snapped back to normal.

A tall silhouette stood before her and Luna. The Field Marshal, she’d used her mastery of space with the time drag from Corey’s Bolas Supernova to conjure a black hole and swallow it whole. But as the three miniature suns collided and detonated inside it, the black hole swelled like a pufferfish, straining against the force packed within.

The Field Marshal didn’t hesitate. She reversed the black hole, spitting the supernova back out as a focused beam, aimed straight at Corey, who barely had time to melt into the void using her void silk and vanish. The supernova’s volume was immense, too much to expel in a single burst, and so the beam kept coming, continuous and relentless.

But before it could reach the array barrier, the Field Marshal was already there. She’d moved faster than the beam itself, appearing ahead of it and tearing open a spatial rift into the void, redirecting the focused beam straight back at Corey, who stood in the void trying to wrap her head around how the Field Marshal had just turned her own sure-fire ace against her.

If not for Lil’ Baem’s warning, she wouldn’t have made it out in one piece, she’d have been cooked well before she ever made it back to the Card World.

She didn’t even get a chance to exhale. The Field Marshal was already in front of her, and a strong slap landed on her right cheek before Corey could register the movement.

"What in the heck is wrong with you?"

"It was meant to be a prank, just to scare her! I had it under control until you piggybacked off the time drag to summon a black hole!" Corey snapped, then wound up and swung back, eyes blazing. "How dare you slap me!"

*Slap*

The crack echoed like a thunderclap. Corey’s swing had found nothing but air, the Field Marshal had slipped it without even looking, and in the same motion, caught Corey clean across the left cheek.

Corey didn’t give up. She kept swinging — and the Field Marshal kept making her look foolish, slipping every attempt with casual ease and paying her back with interest each time until Corey’s cheek was burning and her pride was in tatters.

"How the hell are you doing that?!" she finally burst out, frustration boiling over. "I am clearly stronger than you!"

"You and Wyatt have the same problem," the Field Marshal said, straightening up without so much as a hair out of place. "Neither of you have completely mastered your borrowed power. You’re like children swinging swords around — all power, no mastery. Inefficient and ineffective. At least Wyatt has some understanding of his borrowed prowess. You, on the other hand, still have a long way to go."

*Slap*

"What was that for?!" Corey yelped, genuinely aggrieved, still not quite grasping that her little prank had gone several steps too far.

*Slap*

"Stop it!" Corey wailed, spinning around trying to figure out which direction the next slap would come from.

"Wyatt and Susan have spoiled you rotten," the Field Marshal said flatly, still not done with the matter.

*Slap*

"I’m sorry, okay!" Corey finally cried out, throwing her hands up and retrieving Lil Baem’s summon armament form. "I mean it!"

The Field Marshal’s figure finally solidified before her hand withdrew. She regarded Corey’s aggrieved expression with cold indifference until Lil’ Baem stepped between them.

"See, Grandma?" Luna skipped over, eyes bright, not missing her window for a second. "You’d make a far better teacher than a secretary."

"Corey, dude, what the hell?" Aurelia looked like she very much wanted to throw hands, while the Field Marshal was still here, and the only thing holding her back was the little white snake still coiled nearby.

"It was a prank! How was I supposed to know she’d react like that?"

"From where I was standing," Aurelia said, pressing a hand to her chest, "it didn’t feel like a prank. I genuinely thought I was about to go meet my ancestors."

"Makes you wonder who enforces the enforcer," Luna mused out loud, watching Henricks arrive with City Lord Tess and Saintess Catherine in tow. She didn’t miss a beat. "Maybe I should bring it up at the next assembly."

"You all should," City Lord Tess agreed, her eyes landing squarely on Corey. "I’ve already filed an appeal with Wyatt."

Corey felt the walls closing in. The only thing keeping her front from crumbling entirely was Lil’ Baem.

"It was a prank!"

"Stop repeating that like a parrot," Luna snapped. "The fact that you think something like that qualifies as a prank only makes it worse."

Corey had no allies left in the group.

Meanwhile, Henricks stood to the side, caught in a predicament of his own — two of them, actually.

The first was that Ned had asked him to befriend Corey, but from the looks of things, Luna had torched every bridge in sight before he’d even had a chance to cross one.

The second was more technical: watching the Field Marshal work, he now understood how to defend against Corey’s Bolas Supernova — but he couldn’t replicate it. His mastery of the time rule wasn’t refined enough to exploit the attack’s time drag the same way. He was quietly turning over whether there was another way to arrive at the same result.

"Fuck you guys!"

Corey crossed her arms. "Did I take the prank a little too far —"

"Yes," Aurelia cut in.

"— that’s debatable." Corey pushed on. "But do I deserve this kind of reaction from all of you?"

"Yes," Aurelia cut in again.

"That’s it. There’s no point talking to any of you." Corey threw her hands up. "I’m going to find Wyatt and let him decide."