Nicron.
A planet that had served Airious for generations.
For years, its cities had been a symbol of cooperation between worlds. Its people had devoted themselves to Airious, to its ideals, to the philosophy of Avia that had shaped their civilization for centuries.
From space, Nicron had once been unmistakable.
Its cities radiated a vibrant light blue glow, bright enough to be seen from beyond the atmosphere. Towers of crystalline architecture pierced the skyline, while enormous streams of energy flowed through the planet's infrastructure like luminous rivers.
It had been beautiful.
Now...
It was dim.
A thick fog covered the planet.
Not ordinary fog.
It wasn't merely water vapor suspended in the atmosphere. It felt almost alive, flowing between buildings, wrapping itself around towers, drifting through streets that had once been filled with people.
The lights of Nicron struggled beneath it.
Some flickered.
Others had gone completely dark.
The planet looked as though someone had taken a beautiful painting and dragged their fingers across it.
The first Champion to step into the fog was Aminator.
His golden-plated body immediately disappeared partially into the haze.
He stopped.
Something about the atmosphere felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Not exactly.
Just...wrong.
The other Champions descended behind him.
Vericane looked around, his icy expression unusually serious.
Victoria's eyes narrowed.
Ronda knelt slightly, placing a hand against the ground.
Kate simply stared at the surrounding fog with an almost fascinated grin.
Even Jake Shwazz, normally incapable of standing still without performing some ridiculous flourish with his guns, remained quiet for several seconds.
Cration said nothing.
Elitor hovered above them, his gaze sweeping across the ruined city.
Then Vericane finally broke the silence.
"The cold feels wrong."
He looked toward the fog.
"And I'm not talking about ice."
His voice became quieter.
"Something else caused this..."
He paused.
"...Too late."
Victoria looked toward the distant skyline.
"I've seen many empires fall."
Her expression hardened.
"But never like this."
Ronda slowly stood.
She had felt something beneath the surface.
Something deeper than the physical destruction.
"The bonds the people have..."
She looked down at the ground.
"...They're severed."
A silence followed.
Kate's ears twitched.
Then she smiled.
"So Devia did this, huh?"
She casually flicked her tail behind her.
"Now I'm jealous. Coming from the resident mischief fox, that's saying something."
Victoria glanced at her.
"This isn't the time for jokes, Kate."
"I know."
Kate's grin remained.
"That's why I'm making one."
Jake snorted.
Aminator didn't react.
His attention remained fixed on the fog.
"What if it was severed by force?"
Everyone looked at him.
Aminator continued.
"What if..."
His gaze moved across the empty streets.
"...the people themselves were the ones who severed it?"
Silence.
This time, no one had a joke.
Victoria's expression changed.
Vericane narrowed his eyes.
Ronda looked increasingly concerned.
Kate's grin widened.
"Of course."
Victoria turned toward her.
"You actually believe that?"
Kate shrugged.
"Wouldn't be the first time."
Cration finally spoke.
His voice was quieter than usual.
"Perhaps..."
He looked toward the abandoned city.
"...you were right, Kate."
Kate raised an eyebrow.
"About what?"
"They were never loyal to us."
Aminator looked toward him.
But before he could respond, Elitor descended slightly.
The Living Force looked over the city.
"Or..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...they were loyal to us."
Everyone looked up at him.
Elitor continued.
"But they weren't loyal to themselves."
That sentence hung in the air.
Aminator's expression shifted.
"Hmmm."
Victoria crossed her arms.
"We need to investigate further."
She looked at Aminator.
"Use your awareness."
Aminator nodded.
"Got it."
He stepped forward.
Then placed his hand against the ground.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
WHOOM.
Golden streaks of light erupted from beneath his feet.
They spread across the ground.
Through the streets.
Between buildings.
Across mountains.
Through the fog.
The golden network expanded with impossible speed, spreading across the entire planet almost instantaneously.
Aminator's eyes began glowing.
His Infinite Awareness technique activated.
Every movement.
Every heartbeat.
Every lingering presence.
Every emotional fluctuation.
Every fragment of life still remaining on Nicron became part of his perception.
His expression changed.
"Some are still here."
Victoria stepped closer.
"And?"
Aminator hesitated.
"They feel..."
He searched for the right word.
"...regretful."
Ronda's eyes widened.
"Regretful?"
Aminator nodded.
"Yes."
Kate immediately leaned forward.
"Regretful that they didn't go with them?"
Aminator looked toward her.
"Apparently."
Kate shrugged.
"That's cruel."
Jake gave her a look.
"Hey, that's cruel, man."
Kate smiled.
"Just saying."
Jake twirled his gun.
"People make choices."
Ronda frowned.
"But regret means they're still divided."
Cration looked around.
"So some accepted Devia..."
He glanced toward the fog.
"...while others remained with Avia."
Aminator nodded.
"Apparently."
Victoria's expression softened slightly.
She looked toward the distant lights.
"Then that's all we need."
The Champions turned toward her.
Victoria continued.
"If there are still people here who chose Avia..."
She looked at the others.
"...then Nicron isn't lost."
The fog drifted between them.
But for the first time since they arrived, the planet didn't feel completely dead.
Somewhere within the darkness, people were still holding onto what they believed.
Some had left.
Some had stayed.
And some...
Were wondering whether they had made the wrong choice.
Aminator slowly withdrew his hand from the ground.
The golden network faded.
"We've confirmed something else."
Victoria looked at him.
"What?"
Aminator stared into the fog.
"The people who left weren't all forced."
His voice became solemn.
"They chose."
Nobody answered.
Because somehow...
That made the situation worse.
Devia hadn't conquered Nicron.
It had convinced it.
And that meant Airious couldn't simply fight the enemy.
It would have to ask a much more uncomfortable question.
Why were its own people willing to leave in the first place?
The fog continued to move.
Quietly.
Patiently.
As if Nicron itself was waiting for someone to find the answer.
They met the people who didn't leave.
Not many.
The streets of Nicron were quieter now, the familiar glow of the planet reduced to a dim blue haze beneath the fog. Buildings still stood. Lights still flickered in distant windows. People still walked through the streets.
But something had changed.
The Champions could feel it.
Some of the remaining Nicronians looked furious.
Others looked ashamed.
And a few simply looked...empty.
Victoria approached the first group.
"Why did you stay?"
One of the Nicronians immediately scoffed.
"Stay?"
His voice trembled.
"You call this staying?"
Another Nicronian beside him looked down.
"I should've left."
A woman standing nearby snapped back.
"Then leave!"
He turned toward her.
"Maybe I will!"
"Good!"
"Fine!"
They stared at each other for a moment before both looked away.
The Champions exchanged glances.
This wasn't loyalty.
Not entirely.
This was regret.
And some of them weren't regretting leaving.
They were regretting not leaving.
Another group stood further down the street, noticeably calmer.
A father held his daughter's hand.
His wife stood beside him.
They weren't angry.
They weren't frightened.
They simply looked...at peace.
Victoria noticed.
"And you?"
The father looked at her.
"We're fine."
Victoria blinked.
"Fine?"
He nodded.
"Our family stayed."
His daughter leaned against his side.
"My parents are here. My brother is here."
He smiled faintly.
"That's enough for me."
Victoria's expression softened.
Not everyone who stayed was trapped.
Some genuinely wanted to remain.
Some still believed in Avia.
Some simply loved the people around them more than they cared about which philosophy ruled the planet.
And then Victoria asked the question that immediately changed the atmosphere.
"Is there any Nicronian elder left?"
Silence.
The father shook his head.
"No."
Kate immediately burst out laughing.
"I bet they were the ones who left first."
Jake rubbed his temple.
"Come on, don't be crass."
Kate shrugged.
"What? I'm probably right."
"We're supposed to be investigating."
"I am investigating."
"You're mocking them."
"Multitasking."
Jake sighed.
But the father suddenly spoke again.
"They didn't believe in her..."
The Champions looked back at him.
His eyes drifted toward the fog.
"...until she came with it."
His wife immediately elbowed him in the stomach.
Hard.
He doubled over.
"Ow!"
She stared at him.
A very clear message in her eyes.
Stop talking.
The Champions noticed.
Every single one of them.
Aminator's expression sharpened.
Victoria stepped closer.
"Who is 'her'?"
The wife immediately looked away.
The father hesitated.
Behind them, one of the regretful Nicronians laughed bitterly.
"They ain't gonna do shit if you tell them."
Everyone turned.
The man stepped forward.
His face was full of resentment.
Not fear.
Resentment.
"I'll tell them."
He looked directly at the Champions.
"See what happens."
Jake's hand instinctively moved closer to his gun.
Victoria narrowed her eyes.
The man continued.
"It's her."
He pointed toward the distant horizon.
"Androsha."
The name hung in the air.
Aminator's eyes widened slightly.
"Androsha?"
"Yeah."
The man laughed bitterly.
"She came here after years of telling us the truth."
He looked around at the city.
"Years."
His voice cracked.
"And we didn't believe her."
Ronda stepped forward.
"Then why do you hate us so much?"
The man's expression hardened.
"Because you want us to cling to blind faith."
That sentence landed differently.
Victoria frowned.
"Blind faith?"
The Nicronian shook his head.
"That's what Airious gave us."
He pointed toward the sky.
"Believe in Avia. Trust the system. Trust the elders. Trust the people above you."
His voice grew louder.
"And what did Androsha do?"
He laughed.
"She came with results."
Victoria's expression immediately changed.
"Results...?"
There was something almost offensive in the way she said it.
As if the word itself challenged everything she represented.
But before she could continue, Aminator raised a hand.
"Victoria."
She stopped.
Aminator looked at the Nicronian.
Then he asked the question nobody expected.
"Then why didn't you go?"
Silence.
The Nicronian froze.
His mouth opened slightly.
Nothing came out.
For the first time since the Champions arrived, the anger disappeared from his face.
Not completely.
But enough.
His eyes lowered.
The question had reached somewhere deeper than his hatred.
The fog seemed to grow quieter around them.
"...That's part of why I'm angry."
Aminator said nothing.
The Nicronian clenched his fists.
"Because she was right."
He swallowed.
"And I knew she was right."
His voice became quieter.
"But I stayed."
Ronda looked at him carefully.
"Why?"
He looked at the people around him.
His family.
His friends.
The buildings he had lived in.
The planet he had spent his entire life calling home.
"Because believing something is true..."
He paused.
"...and being willing to change your entire life because it's true..."
His eyes closed.
"Those aren't the same thing."
Nobody spoke.
Even Kate stopped laughing.
The Nicronian looked at the Champions again.
"You keep asking why they left."
He pointed toward the sky.
"Maybe you should ask why it was so easy for them to convince us."
Aminator's golden eyes remained fixed on him.
And for once...
He had no immediate answer.