A… Meteorite?! It seemed to be an object of some sort that was ignited on fire, and it was coming straight to crash at us!

“I don’t know what that is, but it’s coming at us! WE GOTTA RUN!” Dennis and I ran away to hide behind a corner, and as we looked around we didn’t notice Natalie.

“Where’s Natalie?” Blinking and gulping, I said, “Is she frozen in place? Crap, we gotta get her!”

When I stood up to go and get her, I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed with my very own eyes.

Natalie was holding Crystal in mid-air by using magic, while Crystal was covered in ashes.”

“What the… Hell? Crystal? How in the world did you end up in that situation? Uhh… Thanks, Natalie.” Crystal looked at me. “Ohi Matty-boy! Well one thing led to another and I lost complete control of my wings… That emptiness thing is serious business!” Natalie gently placed Crystal on the ground by her feet. “Maybe she wasn’t the best for the job, Matt.”... “Well enough about that, are you alright Crystal? Does it hurt anywhere?” Crystal shook herself up like a dog, removing the ashes from her body. “Nah, I’m fine, don't worry. I’m pretty thirsty though…” …How efficient, Mrs. dragon.

Dennis offered her a plastic cup with water. “Then here you go.”, “Thanks little Dennis!” Crystal drank the water almost instantly. Making sure to eat the plastic cup too. …Eugh. “Alright so, Crystal…” I looked at her while feeling worried for her, hoping she was fine. “What exactly happened up there?”... “Oh right! Well…” Crystal sat down on the ground. “Sit down with me! It’s story time!”. “...What?” I raised my eyebrow at her. “Why do we need to do that?” Natalie and Dennis sat down, with Natalie talking to me. “Come on Matt, let’s just get this over with.”

“...Fine.” I sat down with them, while Arthur watched us from a short distance. Crystal pulled out a flashlight out of nowhere and turned it on, aiming it below her chin to childishly give atmosphere to the story. “Alright, I didn’t get to see much, but I did maybe a bit of important info… The Emptiness… The Pred Squad is fighting it, but there’s also some scientists carefully capturing it. It’s a shame, they didn’t invite me!” …?! “Capturing it?” I couldn’t help but gulp unsure where that would go. The hell would containing such eldritch beasts ever achieve? We’re barely fighting back, how could we even find something to do with them?! Ugh… “I wouldn’t dare get to that point, but I suppose it has to be done.” R-right…

Arthur stressed, went on to say more than I had asked for. “Well, it took a lot of experimentation, research and work to get such a sturdy and resistant robot model like mine. I’m not surprised people would go to the extent of researching Emptiness that close.” Natalie, of course, visibly pondered and answered more responsibly. “Crystal, maybe you should get in contact with those scientists? See if you can help them out or find something to stop it?”... “Hm, I would, but aren’t we focused on building houses right now?”

“Yeah, but I’m starting to think we should split again, if we keep doing this the other shielders will do stuff on their own without telling us anything. Maybe you and Dennis could go find out more about this while Arthur, Matt and I stay here.” Dennis replied, a little bit nervous. “Oh? Me and Crystal again?” Crystal giggled like a little girl. “Yeah! We make a really good team, right?”... “Uhh… Sure. Sure.” Dennis blushed  a bit, stepped back slightly and poked his index fingers together.

Crystal and Dennis walked away from us, off to Silver T. Big I presume. Best of luck, you pair of weirdos.