It was like something out of the most low budget of horror movies. A reality dating show (or a void recreation of one) interrupted by one of the participants floating up, eyes glowing as though some demonic entity had possessed them. And maybe they had, I had no clue as Charmaine rocketed toward us.

Anastasia, Sai, and the Althea sisters stepped in front, blocking Charmaine as she flew toward us, shielding us with shadows. Charmaine spun around as she tried to get through the barrier protecting us, looking like gravity had shut off for her. The devils shifted the energy, making it more like a fire blanket that they wrapped around Charmaine. The Altheas grabbed her in midair, slamming her down with the blanket still wrapped around her.

"Char! The hell!" Myles said as Charmaine thrashed around.

"What's going on with her?" Ash asked.

I strained to remember if we were taught about anything like this in our void training classes. There was one class with Caya that came to mind where she discussed ailments that Cani could experience in unknown void nodes, but nothing was like this.

Anastasia helped the Altheas by stomping down on Charmaine, adding a bit more pressure keeping their friend in place.

"What even is this?" Anastasia asked. "She never did this before, did she?"

"Never," Ash said.

"KJ, was she acting strange at all when you talked to her?" I asked.

KJ held onto Amara and Rain. "I...we just talked like normal, but she did seem kind of weird...like what she was saying didn't really make sense the more I thought about it. Then she got all creepy."

"I'm thinking out loud, but..." I started. "The last imp we encountered made pacts with Penteldtam and that other boy. Is it possible Charmaine did the same?"

"No way," Myles said, struggling to keep Charmaine down. "I mean, I can't see her doing that, can you?"

"I can't," Ash said. "She's smart, she wouldn't...uh."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Did you think of a time Charmaine would take a pact like that?" Tay asked.

"The only one here that I can see doing that is you," Anastasia said. Tay withered at her glare.

"No, it's not that!" Ash said. She pointed down.

The shadowy energy was still at the same level and in the same shape, but Charmaine's head wasn't poking out from it anymore. Peering down, it was empty.

"She's...gone..." Ash said.

We all went silent, slowly turning around the room. We were able to contain her once, but could we again? Where did she go?

We got our answer with a shriek, Charmaine now flying around above us. Amara stepped forward this time, conjuring lasers from her fingertips. It was a direct hit...or so it seemed.

"It went right through..." Amara said.

"Is that her power?" I asked. "Going out of control because of whatever this is?"

"I've never seen her use any power like that," Ash said.

The rest of us with elemental powers attempted to use them on Charmaine, but they just passed through her as though she were completely intangible.

"What do we do now?" Sai asked.

"Can we just burst a hole in a wall and leave?" Anastasia asked.

"We can't leave her like this..." Ash said.

KJ and Rain yelped in unison when the door to the kitchen swung open, Thadley returning with a cart full of pizzas and burgers.

"Okeydoke, the robot waiter wasn't here so I got the, the food, and, huh?" Thadley said, freezing when he saw Charmaine above us.

"Hey, jackass!" Anastasia yelled. "Is this part of the show to have someone get haunted?"

"Yeah, that's like," Thadley said, mental gears turning slowly. "No."

Thadley pushed the cart a bit closer to us. Anastasia kicked the cart head on, knocking it into Thadley, sending the surfer and his cart flying into the wall, pizza and burgers falling to the ground.

"Ana, the hell?" Sai said.

"I warned him I'd do that whenever I had an opening," Anastasia said.

"OK, fair," Sai said. "You did say that."

Anastasia tapped her wristband, sighing when it didn't send out a scanning ping.

"Still nothing?" Anastasia said.

Whatever was keeping us penned in was interfering with our wristband communicators as well. We weren't going to get any outside help.

Thadley looked to be knocked out. Anastasia pointed at him, generating a menacing ball of energy.

"I told him I'd end him!" Anastasia said before anyone could question it.

I grabbed her arm, pulling it away before she fired her blast. We couldn't be sure if this was the real person or some void creation, I couldn't let her attack.

"The hell? Don't you dare touch me," Anastasia snarled.

"We can't just hurt whoever we want, we don't know if he's even a void creation or not!" I said. "We need to strategize, not barrel forward."

"Because strategizing has worked so well for you so far!" Anastasia said.

"I think Lillia's right," Sai said.

"You're taking her side?" Anastasia's anger faded quickly for a desperate pout more fitting of her younger sister Zeta than herself. It was almost absurd seeing how instantaneously pathetic she looked, her powerful voice now meek.

Sai crossed their arms. "I am, and if you want me to still count this day as you trying to be there for us, you're going to settle down and listen to Lillia."

Now Anastasia went through another shift in demeanor from pathetically pleading to bashful embarrassment, a puppy that got caught digging through a bag of food when she shouldn't have.

"Sorry." Anastasia said tersely, composing herself. "Lillia...what do you think we should do, then?"

Charmaine was still zipping around above us, we didn't have time to waste on an already defeated Thadley. As the love trio and the Altheas continued to try and hit Charmaine, their attacks still passing through her, I wracked my brain for an answer. Surely there was something we could do to stop this, right? Some way to get her back to normal.

I tried to think about any time I'd seen an enemy impervious to attacks. Any time I'd seen anything in my Cani life like that.

My eyes went wide. I had heard of something like this. And had seen another firsthand.

"Everyone stop attacking!" I said.