"...Why would you ask me? You’re the smart one, Beatrice."

"Thank fuck! That’s what I fucking said!"

As soon as they were out of the Leak, Beatrice and the others quickly shared all the information they gathered with Adam, with Beatrice also sending the findings to the IBAA for them to spread.

Beatrice had just asked Adam what their next course of action was, leaving Adam confused as to why she was asking him at all. After all, Adam was well aware of his own capabilities—he wasn’t that smart.

Beatrice went quiet for a long moment, her eyes snapping back at the Leak before turning to Carmen, and then Harvey.

"Because I need another input coming from a more level-headed person," she said.

Harvey just shrugged at that, but Carmen’s face was already slowly becoming twisted.

"The fuck does that fucking mean, nerd?" She crossed her arms, her cheeks puffing as she stood on her toes to seem taller. "You think I’m not level-headed?!"

"No."

"Excuse me?! The nerve of this nerd!"

"Your moniker is the Berserk Fairy, Ms. Carmen." Beatrice sighed, shaking her head. "You make rash decisions or not at all."

"Y—"

"But you are stronger than Harvey and me; we all have our own strengths."

"That... good thing you know. Hmph!" Carmen scoffed, the left side of her upper lip rising before she suddenly glared at Adam. "That still doesn’t change the fact that the midget’s also not level-headed! He literally ate the aliens!"

"He did that to scare them away." Beatrice sighed, stepping closer to Adam. "And we’re running out of time arguing like this. What do you suggest, Adam?"

"We go with your original plan," Adam said. "But it will be the three of you destroying the Crystal."

"But we need a distraction."

"I’ll be your distraction." Adam nodded.

"But... you can’t go inside. You already tried. It is physically impossible for you to—"

"That’s why I’ll be distracting them here."

Those words completely sealed Beatrice’s mouth shut. Even Carmen’s twisted eyebrows relaxed, her crossed arms untangling themselves as she looked at the others, trying to make sure she heard him right.

But judging from how Harvey was also looking at them for answers, that meant Adam meant what he meant.

"You’re not fucking serious, right...?" A gasp almost escaped Carmen’s lips, her eyes still darting back and forth between Beatrice and Harvey. "The point of the plan is to literally not let a single alien set foot into the city. You want to let them in?!"

"Yes," Adam answered without any hesitation, his eyes also moving as he scanned the surrounding area. "Keep out of sight until they start entering the Leak."

"Talk some fucking sense into the guy." Carmen gestured to Beatrice, only for her to turn around and walk back to the portal.

"Understood," Beatrice said, and Harvey quickly followed behind her.

"What the fuck..." Carmen’s eye started twitching. She stood there, not knowing what to do at all. She looked at Adam, then at the backs of the two, then at Adam again. And very slowly, a smile started to creep on her face.

"You guys are fucking loco," she muttered under her breath. "I fucking like it. I like it a lot! Ha... Haha!"

And with a cackle growling from her throat, she jogged to follow Beatrice and Harvey. Once again, Adam watched them step into the void. His eyes, almost glistening as a heavy, stuttered breath escaped him.

He approached the Leak and then halted right beside the alien Hero corpses still left behind. He stared down for a moment and then knelt beside them.

"This..." He closed his eyes, placing a hand on their armor. "It didn’t have to be this way. We could’ve all been... friends. I don’t know if it was a lack of communication or if all we’re truly capable of is violence. My people, your people. It’s... sad, really."

Adam opened his eyes, lightly sniffling as he rubbed his nose. He looked up, scoffing at the invisible gods watching them from wherever.

He wanted to say something to them, but ended up only shaking his head and turning his focus back on the dead.

"I’m sorry that you had to die..." Adam gently placed his hand on the alien’s face, brushing his fingers along their smooth head. "But I need to survive, so..."

Tears slowly rolled from his eyes, but quickly trailed down along his cheeks as he looked at nowhere in particular.

"...Forgive me for the things I’m about to do to your people. Because I will never be able to forgive myself."

***

"They’ve reached the portal."

"...Where do you keep pulling these fucking gadgets?"

Beatrice, Carmen, and Harvey were high up in the sky of the colorful alien world. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, there was no wind blasting off Carmen’s face at all. Her twin tails, completely still. Beatrice, on the other hand, had each strand of her bountiful hair blowing everywhere, even though she tightly tied them into a pigtail.

As for Harvey, well... he was still bald. Hanging from Carmen’s wrist

Beatrice was busy looking through a pair of binoculars, observing and mapping out the position of each of the army of more than ten thousand aliens.

"I think we’ll be here for a while," Beatrice muttered, her voice carrying even through the harsh winds bombarding her. "They’re setting up a perimeter around the Leak."

"...They’re smart enough to do that but not smart enough to fucking not fight with us?"

"They fail to see Mount Tai."

"Heh. Tell me about it, these pink motherfuckers are stupider than you Americans."

"Can’t you fucking breathe without fucking insulting and cursing someone?"

"I don’t know. Can you grow hair, motherfucker?"

"For your information, I have alopecia, motherfucker."

"Fuck... I’m sorry. I... didn’t know."

"What the... why are you suddenly so mellow?"

"Stop it, fuck. Man, I didn’t even know Heroes could get cancer. Fuck. I need to cut on my queso."

"What?! I don’t have fucking cancer!"

"You said you have alopecia!"

"That’s not cancer!"

"The fuck you think I am? A doctor?! How would I know the fucking difference if you’re all bald!"

"How would you even..."

And while the conversation of the two was turning into... something, Beatrice was still intensely focused on the army gathered around the Leak. She completely ignored anything that was coming out of Carmen and Harvey’s mouths, even their breath.

The three stayed like that for hours, until finally—

"They’ve started marching!" Beatrice raised her voice. Carmen and Harvey quickly shut their mouths, turning their focus back to the alien army.

True enough, they were marching in fours, stepping into the portal. Judging from the sizes of the aliens they were sending first, they were sending—

"They’re sending... normal people?" Beatrice lowered her binoculars and then pressed them to her face again. "They have no halos. They’re normal people."

"Fuck..." Harvey balled his hands into fists. "Adam. Fuck. Fuck, I’m sorry, man. B, we need to fucking clear this bitch fast."

"Not... yet."

"What the fuck are we waitin—"

Before Harvey could finish, they heard a loud rumble reverberate from the Leak. They turned their focus back to it, only to see a huge chunk of debris flying out of the Leak, taking out dozens of aliens through its path, their soft flesh being crushed inside their flimsy armor like watermelon.

"What... is going on out there?"

"It doesn’t matter." Beatrice dove down, the wind spiraling around her as her eyes gleamed from the clear Crystal below.

"Let’s go, go!"

***

A few moments earlier, a minute before the army started marching into the Leak, Adam was sitting on top of a building... or perhaps on its side. Or, perhaps, both.

He was sitting on a toppled building, completely tilted to the side. And that wasn’t the only building that was like that, no. Not at all.

Around him, the buildings that used to surround the street were all turned and demolished, making a perfect perimeter around the Leak that closed it from the rest of the city. There was only one building left standing that was close to the Leak, but even that too, looked like it was about to collapse.

As for Adam, he was completely covered in dust, chalked from the dried blood sticking to him. He... almost didn’t look human at all. He looked like stone, sitting there with his eyes closed, waiting.

Waiting, and then... footsteps.

He opened his eyes, the green almost glowing under the haze that surrounded him. And then, he watched.

He watched as dozens of aliens marched out from the Leak. He didn’t move, he didn’t even breathe. He noticed that the aliens didn’t have halos hovering above their heads, and briefly closed his eyes again.

But as the army continued to gather its numbers, when there were more than a hundred of them, Adam finally stood up.

He hopped from the toppled building, causing the army to draw their weapons at him.

But Adam, however... Adam didn’t rush at them, nor did he attack them at all.

Instead, he ran toward the only remaining building that was standing... and then rammed his entire body through its walls.

The walls were like cardboard to him, shattering with each of his punches with ease.

And then, as Adam slipped out from the other end of the building...

...the entire structure began to groan.