Here's a cute little Perler Bead Juliana I made!

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Why do you fight for them? Is it the love you still secretly harbor for their Queen? The fickle Queen who would choose a weak Heir over a capable warrior whose only fault is the lack of a noble title?

Adrian knew what Ambassador Nelson was doing- using the Alpha Box to put thoughts in his brain. He was looking for a mental weakness, an opening to Jack, and Adrian wasn't about to give him one. He knew what it felt like to be Jacked- to become a slave within his own body. To be imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit without so much as a voice to defend himself. He knew what it felt like to have his most basic autonomy snatched from him, and he'd die before he let it happen again. Blocking the intrusive thoughts out of his mind, Adrian raised his mace and brought it down on Felix's chest, watching with cold eyes as the Red Knight staggered backward from the force of his blow. 

"You should've just made him a High General, man," Felix groaned as he jumped back to his feet with surprising agility. Yet, his voice sounded more apprehensive than threatening- like he, too, was afraid of Nelson's retaliation. He swung his fist out, his red knuckles smoking like hot coals, and his punch landed squarely in the middle of Adrian's chest. Adrian looked down in horror to see that the metal of his breastplate had been dented by the heat and the force of the impact. Any more of this, and it would melt into his skin. 

The Alpha Box can't put new thoughts into your brain- it can only magnify ones that are already there. Maybe we've got it all wrong. Maybe Jacking doesn't destroy your true self... maybe it reveals it. 

"How dare you wear his armor, you petty imposter!?" Adrian felt a pair of arms tightening around his neck. How had Ravenna managed to sneak up behind him? The hallway was so small that there was barely any space behind him at all! Yet, he already knew the answer to that question. He felt the same disorientation he'd felt during the first time he was Jacked- the same feeling of having been lost in his own thoughts for far longer than he thought he had been. The same feeling of slowly slipping away from reality until he could no longer return to it. 

He would not let it happen again. He remembered the haunting look of betrayal on Juliana's face as he was dragged off to prison, the concern in her eyes as she pulled Commander Chu aside during his first probability therapy session, asking her if his mental state could ever return to normal. He remembered Chu telling Juliana that he had been lucky- that he'd only been a Jacked for a couple of months, and most of the probability pathways in his brain could be recovered. He could not afford to test his luck like that again. No, he was going to defend his mind with everything he had. 

Adrian tried to reach for his mace, but he was beginning to see stars and his grip was nowhere near strong enough to lift the heavy weapon. Taking advantage of the narrow hallway, he stepped backward, repeatedly slamming Ravenna into the wall. Yet, even this did little to loosen her vicelike grip. Was the maniac even capable of feeling pain? Adrian wondered, turning around and dropping to his knees to avoid a burst of fire from Felix's hands. He felt his back heat up and was finally able to toss a screaming Ravenna away from him as he clutched his bruised throat. Ravenna rolled on the floor, writhing madly in an effort to put out the flames that licked at the leather of her suit. 

Before Adrian could even finish standing up, he was knocked over once again by a wave of scalding air. It was hot inside the huge, clunky Obsidian Hunter suit even without Red Knights present, and Adrian felt like a pea slowly boiling in its pod. He was trained to fight in extreme climates, but it was never anything like this. He knew how to keep himself alive in a desert- this was a sauna. His own sweat was filling his eyes, blinding him. The stench of his own uncomfortably warm body was almost enough to incapacitate him. One wrong move, and the flames would make it through his battered suit and spread over his skin. He spun his mace through the air- sometimes it hit its target, sometimes it didn't- but the flames always found theirs. Just as Adrian was coming to terms with the reality that no matter how badly he beat up Felix, the fire would eventually eat its way through his suit, the flames stopped. 

Wondering if it was some kind of sick trick, he stayed put for a few moments, but a quick glance at Felix showed that he was just as confused as Adrian was. Adrian put down his mace and unscrewed his helmet, pulling it off his head and sighing with relief as the sweet, cool air hit his face. 

"What... how." Felix stared down at his hands, which were covered by a thin layer of frost. Adrian could tell he was trying to produce fire, but he barely managed to melt some of the ice, causing little drops of water to fall from his fingers. 

"I hate fire," Astrid Winterbird spat. She stood at the end of the hallway, a few feet away from Felix and Adrian. She twisted her hand into a fist, watching as the frost crept further up Felix's arm. "You're wondering how I got here, aren't you? Your uncle had me nice and occupied in his office doing background research for my next case in Egypt... how could I possibly have known what he was planning to do here today?" 

"My uncle has been nothing but kind to you, Astrid. We don't want anyone to get hurt. We just want to restore our family's honor." 

"You don't want anyone to get hurt," Astrid approached menacingly, her hands still curled into fists. With her power neutralizing his, Felix was forced to stand by and listen. "Your uncle, however, is a different story. Ever since he approached me about collaborating with Project PROB, I knew something was off about him. Most politicians care about getting reelected, but he didn't break a sweat when he lost his seat in the Senate over that Thornton arms dealing scandal. It was obvious from the beginning that he had different goals... dangerous goals. I haven't been working for him- I've been spying on him. And when he started shipping all those Thornton weapons over... that's when I knew something was about to go down. And I was right, wasn't I?"

"We have no quarrel with you. All we want is to get back what we lost so many years ago. Please just stay out of the w-"

"Oh, shut your naive little mouth. Fools like you are the reason people like your uncle win." 

Before Astrid could attack Felix, Adrian spotted a flash of red darting through the lobby and a smile made its way across his face. Juliana had made it out! He made eye contact with Astrid and, guided by silent cooperation, the two simultaneously took off in a mad sprint to the door. Ravenna moved to follow them, but Felix held her back. "They won't make it past ten feet of the building," he said confidently. 

"I want to kill them myself. I don't trust machines," Ravenna huffed. 

"Technically, you are part-machine." 

"Yeah, that's why." 

Felix knew that she'd stab him if he did, but he wanted to hug her anyway.