NOCHE'S CHALLENGE.

1777, APRIL 03rd, SUNDAY 10:03 pm.

Fluffy white clouds floated in a massive blue room about a mile in all directions. The floor was covered in an inch of mirror-like water which gave the entire habitat the sensation of being in the clouds.

Hovering above the water were giant, smooth cubes of pure white. They were about fifteen feet in all dimensions, were tilted diagonally, and floated about six inches above the liquid. Dove laid on one of the cubes with her eyes shut as Raven approached her.

"Where is he?"

Dove sighed and opened her eyes.

"If I help you with this, do you promise to take Falcon out on a date?"

Raven took a step back and his hands rose a little.

"T-This isn't the time for games."

"It's not," Dove gave him a blank look. "She keeps pestering me for tips on how to win you over."

Raven groaned.

"My sentiments exactly," Dove sat up. "I know you're still infatuated with your first love. But it's not going to work."

"Fine! Whatever!"

Dove smiled.

"He's located on a small island to the north. Specifically in the fishing village Edward burned to the ground when he kidnapped Professor Grim."

"He's hiding at Noche's old home!"

Dove nodded.

"He's alive. Comatose, but alive. Surrounded by a doctor and a team of nurses."

Raven's shoulders sagged as he let out a held breath.

"He's ok. He's still ok," a chuckle in his voice. "When I heard the Grave brothers had killed him, I... I!"

"You can relax. He's... Safe."

Raven paused.

"Why, umm. Why the pause?"

Dove didn't say anything.

"He is safe. Right? The twins aren't a threat to him?"

A frown escaped Dove's lips.

"Dooooove?"

"Well... There are a few possible futures ahead of us right now," she said meekly. "If Noche fails to defeat the Grave brothers, there's a chance he will die later."

Raven was silent for a long time.

"I see," he finally said.

"Raven – don't do anything drastic."

"I won't," he said. "Just going to tidy up some loose ends."

Dove jumped off the cube and stood at her full height. Which wasn't much considering she was four foot eight inches and Raven was six foot seven inches. The top of her head barely reached his rib cage.

"Raven no! Your friend is fine now," she snapped. "They didn't torture him like—"

Dove's eyes widened and she clamped her mouth shut. Raven loomed over her and for once the height difference was a little intimidating.

"Like... What?"

"Never mind."

"Dove. Tell me."

She looked away, shut her eyes, and grit her teeth. Then she sighed and opened her eyes to face him.

"Like Noche. The Grave brothers tortured Noche."

Raven was silent for a long, long time.

"How badly?"

Dove's frown deepened.

"Very badly. Edward level badly."

Raven's hands tightened into fists. So much so that Dove winced when his knuckles cracked.

"All the more reason for me to visit them."

"Fuck," Dove whispered under her breath.

Raven turned to leave.

"Swap!"

A white cube appeared in his path as Dove swapped timelines. An explosion of corruption destroyed it in under a second. The short girl flinched at the sight – Raven had always been extremely cautious to never use corruption unless absolutely necessary. She didn't need her omniscience to know he was royally pissed.

"Raven! This is a bad idea! There's no point in doing this!"

"I take it the Grave brothers are at the asylum?"

Dove didn't respond at first.

"I see... This is now unavoidable in every timeline," she sighed. "I fucked up. God damn it Raven, you're a prick, you know that. Yes, they're at the asylum."

He walked towards the exit.

"I'm serious Raven – go on a date with Falcon."

He raised his hand and waved without turning around to face her.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Buy her a large bag of popcorn with extra butter!" She shouted. "It'll win you more points!"

The strongest bird of death left the room and Dove sat back down on her cube. She rubbed both her temples in small circles.

"Me and my big mouth," she sighed. "I need some stress relief. Maybe I should go on a date too. Find myself a cute..."

Dove paused, sensing a presence. She turned toward the reader.

"Y-You!" She shouted as her face turned tomato red. "G-Get out of here!"

Noche's hair and clothing whipped in hurricane winds as she stood off against the Grave brothers. It was a standstill as the three gauged each other – Noche dashed towards Red. Before she made it even ten feet he appeared before her in a flash and slammed his skull into hers. As she was bent over he raised his knee into her solar plexus. She was sent flying up, but he grabbed her leg and slammed her back into the ground.

"You're a joke, Noche," he grinned. "There's four generals trying to capture us, do you know why? Cause we've been the wardens of this asylum for years."

The blonde struggled to her feet as Red loomed over her.

"Who else gets to stay in this asylum for long periods of time and leave at will," he continued. "We two are probably the strongest people on the planet."

"I don't give a damn how strong you are! Everyone bleeds and shit. By the time I'm done with you, you'll do both!"

Red's grin widened. He took out a drive metal shovel and swung the blade at her arm. Noche dodged but she wasn't fast enough – the blunt edge dug a few inches into her bicep. Blood gushed out of the wound as Noche summoned her left arm.

Even the Grave brothers were wary of corruption. The moment it appeared both went from toying with her to high alert. Red vanished in a blur as he rejoined his brother. Both stayed on the defensive as Noche charged at them with her glowing white arm.

Unfortunately, despite all her skill and speed, she needed to touch them. Something they were very good at preventing. Their game of cat and mouse went on for five minutes before they counterattacked.

While Noche was focused on chasing after Red, Blue came from behind her. He threw a kick that she managed to block, but the impact snapped her forearm. After she tumbled on the ground she stood up to bone sticking out of her flesh.

The blonde locked her eye on Blue, which allowed Red to sneak up on her and stab a metal spike into Noche's left calf. He jumped back as Noche lunged at him – her left arm missing him by inches. Blue impaled her through the lower right of Noche's back. She swiped at him and in the opening Red jabbed a third spike into the left side of Noche's hip.

Her vision blurred a bit from the pain. They were still toying with her, she wasn't strong enough. The ground turned to sand that absorbed her pooling blood. Noche's eye went bloodshot as the nothingness was encroaching on her. If this kept up, she was going to fail.