There wasn’t enough evidence to say for certain that Sol was reporting to someone about what had been happening with Nova and the others. But what Vera had found had been close enough.

He had been talking to a ’girl’ named ’Phaedra’ and sending her messages that were sweet nothings at first glance. However, when looking deeper, there was no such girl that existed that Sol could point them to.

That was proof enough for them.

"We should leave Sol," Fred said. "If he’s only going to betray us, he will be more harm than help."

Nova was seething with anger and could barely contain herself. "No," she said. "We’re taking him."

"But he’s—"

"No, we’re taking him as a hostage," she clarified herself. "If nothing he will become a shield for us so my brother doesn’t attack the two of you immediately."

However, she eyes Stanley, wondering if he even needed help. She shook away that thought. He needed help. Nova, he may be, he was still young. And given the information she had on him, there wasn’t much to say that he had acquired a lot of souls for himself.

After hearing what her brother was capable of, she had no doubt he needed help.

"I’ll go and try to hack into the—"

"There’s no point," Nova said. "Right?" She looked to Stanley for confirmation.

Stanley nodded. "Yes," he said. "They already know we’re coming."

"Still, won’t it be better to check if there really is something?" the woman asked. "It should be better to know what their numbers are and such."

"There’s no point," Stanley said. "There is no security near the plaza. It’s all open."

"How do you know this?" Fred asked. "You have to tell us what is—"

"I’m sorry," Stanley said. "This is my secret. Just as your powers have been your secret until now."

"Still," Vera spoke from the side. "It is better to try it right?"

Nova’s eyes passed through the four, of which Sol sat quietly, doing nothing. She sighed. "Vera, go ahead and do what you want to do," she said.

"But Nova—"

She stopped Stanley from speaking. "They don’t know the truth, so let them handle it how they do."

She then turned to Fred.

"I won’t tell you what is going on right now. If John wants to tell you, he will," Nova said. "For now, trust in your team."

Fred looked around and slowly nodded.

Nova shook her head. "I feel drained. I’m gonna get order some food. You guys want some."

Stanley let them know everything he could remember, which unfortunately wasn’t a whole lot. He remembered the main bits but the remaining information wasn’t with him. Still, he gave what he could so they could prepare themselves.

"Net Guns don’t work?" Nova asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Stanley said. "And neither does he get hurt. Not with what we throw at him at least. I don’t know the extent, but guns and such won’t help us."

"What about your sword?" Nova asked.

"I don’t think I can hit him with it," Stanley said before pausing. "Actually, maybe..."

A thought came to Stanley.

"When do we leave?" he asked.

"You said he makes an announcement around 1?" Nova asked.

"He said so himself," Stanley said.

"And his men leave him?" she confirmed.

Stanley nodded.

"Then we leave right in between those times," Nova said. "I will go and talk with him, keep him contained and you can come in to attack. Makes sense?"

Stanley nodded. "That works perfectly for me."

At 12:45, they left the hotel, making their way toward the plaza. Nova was ready for everything to go wrong and all of Stanley’s words to be false. However, as she walked through the gate, no sensor checking her, she was forced to believe his words.

"Go left to the kitchen through there," Stanley told them. "Your brother was there the last time, so he may still be here this time too. If not, we can find him during the speech in 15 minutes."

Nova nodded. Fred nodded as well. "Save our asses if it comes to that, okay?" he said.

Stanley saw Fred’s burnt body flash in front of his eyes. "You bet," he said with a smile. And they left.

Stanley walked into the party with 12 minutes left before it was time for Garren’s speech. He wanted to see if he was here. He was not.

He waited for 10 more minutes, watching the party get more and more full as people continued to arrive.

With 2 minutes remaining, he left the room with his guitar case, making his way to the kitchen where he had met Garren before. He remembered the hallway from his dream of the future, remembering everything so very clearly.

He couldn’t figure out why the future he saw had so much information with so much clarity and experience as if he had lived it. As he arrived, he slowed down time took the sword from his case, and took a deep breath.

Then, he ran.

He appeared in the kitchen, seeing Garren grab onto a mesh of metal wires that Nova had put around herself and Fred. They were both standing away from the wires as Garren could electrocute them with just a thought.

Stanley wasted no time. He arrived next to the man and swung his sword right through the man’s neck, severing it so very easily.

The head flew out with the body being thrown off in the slowed time as well. Stanley let the time flow.

The suddenness of the situation caught both the two people off guard, even though they knew he would be coming very soon.

"Are you guys okay?" Stanley asked. "I’m sorry if I was late." He didn’t let his eyes move away from the Nova.

"John!" Fred cried out. "He... he... he said... he said..." The man was hyperventilating.

Stanley turned around, confused. "What’s wrong?" he asked.

"He—"

Stanley saw a future where something hit him in an instant. He turned around quickly to find nothing there one moment. Then the very next moment, his mind went blank.