The Flying Broom is hovering high in the sky alongside another airship called the Coal Machine. The Coal Machine is smaller than the Flying Broom and is entirely black with large engines.

Rivna and Gidget are on the deck of the Flying Broom. Gidget is holding Rivna’s diamond shaped mechanical device.

Gidget: I finally figured out what this funny little device is. It’s a mod.

Rivna: A mod?

Gidget: That’s right. Here take a look at this—

Gidget pulls off a small flat cellphone-sized device from his belt.

Gidget: You see this here is a mod or M.O.D. It means Matter Optimization Device. It allows someone to materialize and store most non-organic items within it.

Gidget materializes a wrench and tosses it upward. It dematerializes just before it falls back into his hand. Rivna looks impressed.

Rivna: That’s, that’s fascinating.

Gidget: Oh that’s just the tip of the iceberg, honey. The technology of the mod itself belonged to an ancient race of people, so it’s extremely hard to reverse engineer and replicate. Only a handful of factions today have them. But what’s most interesting about them is the fact that they all require a tiny particle of vyrkracite to operate.

Rivna: What is vyrkracite?

Gidget scratches his head as he looks at her quizzically.

Gidget: Are you from a different planet or something?

Gidget materializes a small palm sized silver crystal.

Gidget: Vyrkracite is what powers everything in the world today. And it’s also that crystal you have on your chest. But perhaps what’s most important about vyrkracite is the fact that the steam it produces allows us to use our vyrkra with it.

Gidget puffs out steam from his wristwatch. He holds his palm out and a small yellow orb of light forms from the steam and hovers over his hand.

Steam emits from Rivna’s vyrkracite and she forms a blue orb over her hand from it.

Rivna: (It’s so bizarre. Before my slumber I could use my vyrkra externally just fine, but now I require steam to achieve the same result. Is this truly the same realm I was born in?)

Gidget: Steam is crucial to our everyday lives, and even more so during combat. If you run out of steam during a fight your goose is pretty much cooked. So always try to keep that in mind.

Rivna: Will do.

Gidget: Oh by the way, I recall you saying that using the vyrkracite on your chest can be draining so I made an alternative for you—

Gidget materializes a large five foot long golden steampunk sword and eagerly gives it to Rivna. Rivna examines it with fascination.

Gidget: This is my latest and greatest invention! I call it the Steam Sword! It’s an armament capable of producing a lot of steam very quickly, making it ideal for quick and powerful counter attacks. It can’t hold that much vyrkracite at the moment so it’s only good for one highly explosive attack or two small attacks.

Rivna swings the sword. She looks delighted.

Rivna: Thank you Gidget! I will treasure it for the rest of my days.

Gidget blushes.

Gidget: Aw it’s no big deal. I’m just helping out a fellow crewmate. But don’t forget to bring it back to me whenever you use up all its steam so I can replace the vyrkracite in it. And it’s just a prototype so it won’t be long before I make improvements to it.

Gidget takes Rivna’s M.O.D. and holds it up to the Steam Sword. A blue hologram light scans the sword and it dematerializes. Rivna looks perplexed. Gidget hands Rivna her M.O.D.

Gidget: If you wanna see your sword again just envision it in your hands.

Rivna pauses as she holds out her hands. The Steam Sword materializes again. Rivna looks delighted. She materializes and dematerializes the sword several times in a childlike manner. Gidget chuckles.

Gidget: It looks like you got the hang of it.

In the Flying Broom’s bridge Loc is sitting in the captain’s chair. Present is Tamar, Gideon, Seth, and Phoebe. Seth is a tall young Arcane man with long dreadlocks and Phoebe is a pretty young Vyrkian woman with several ear piercings. Vyrkians have green hair and eyes; Hispanic ethnicity.

Loc leans back in his chair and facepalms. He’s holding his bounty poster in his hand.

Loc: You've got to be kidding me!

Seth: Man that’s not even the half of it. Word is Princess Hannah is after you as well.

Loc: Little Hannah is after me too?

Gideon sighs.

Gideon: Well you can kiss our recent plans of insurrection goodbye for now.

Tamar: Maybe it’s for the best. We need to lay low for a while; stay out of the sun. At least until the queen finds something else to be mad about.

Gideon: I’m afraid this ain’t gonna fizzle out like the other times Tamar. The Witch Tier is a major game changer now.

Seth: So what are you gonna do then Loc? You know my crew has your back no matter what, but there’s a whole lot of other bounty hunters that you’ve pissed off over the years. It’s only a matter of time before they make their move.

Loc: The hunters are now the hunted huh? Figures.

There is a pause as Loc sighs.

Loc: I’m still moving forward with my plans.

Everyone but Gideon let’s out a puzzled grunt.

On the deck of the Coal Machine slowly walks an eight foot tall man with bulky white and gold armor that covers his body entirely. On his back is a large bazooka that doubles as a Gatling gun. The man in the armor aims his gun at the Flying Broom.

A short and skimpy Arcane man by the name of Specs enters the deck and spots the man in armor.

Specs: Hey! Who the hell are you?!

The man looks at him. Specs lifts up his goggles, he looks terrified.

Specs: Oh shit it’s the White Golem!

Specs frantically scampers back inside the ship.

Back inside the Flying Broom’s bridge—

Loc: Now more than ever do we need to make our move. The Will has given me a sword, and I intend to use it.

Tamar: But you need to know when to use it.

Loc: And I do. The last thing the Queen of Queens would expect is for us to take the offensive. Turning tail and hiding is precisely what she and everyone else predicts. We’ll use this opportunity to vanquish Queen Bethel and retake Massadah. A decisive victory would embolden the other nations, which in turn would loosen her chokehold on the world.

Gideon smiles.

Seth: But what are you gonna do about Hannah? Queen Bethel is already a handful but Princess Hannah too? I don’t know Loc. This Witch Tier of yours must be one mighty miracle if you’re confident about fighting those two off.

Phoebe: Not to mention the other bounty hunters. But I guess when you really look at it you’ve got no other choice but to go on the offensive.

Gideon: (This kid must have known things would come to this long before he acquired the Witch Tier. He really is shaping up to be a mastermind like his old man.)

Loc: For now we can—

An explosion sounds, rattling the room. Everyone darts out.

Steam emits from the White Golem’s bazooka. Vents open on his armor and steam emits from it. A gust surrounds him as he makes a fantastic leap onto the deck of the Flying Broom. Gidget and Rivna freeze upon seeing him.

The White Golem’s vents close and he fires his gatling gun at them. Steam quickly emits from Rivna’s chest and she puts up a shield of ice that protects them, however the bullets quickly crack the ice.

Loc and the others enter the deck.

Loc: The White Golem?!

An engine on the ship explodes, sending the vessel diving down straight towards the ocean. The White Golem’s vents open and he takes off into the sky leaving everyone else on the falling ship.

Chapter End