https://youtu.be/4aKFdpJ4_bo

Orange eyes met green, as the red-clad man stared down at the short woman dressed in blue. Like always, his expression was a frown, but there was a certain undercurrent to it - like he was more frustrated and angry than usual. And given what Inigo had done, Azurine couldn't blame him. Feeling all that raw malice pointing in her direction, Azurine felt a little scared, but she remained courageous nonetheless, putting her hand on her hip as she pointed at him.

"Galileo!" she exclaimed. "In the name of the Spectrums, I pronounce you 'about to get your ass pulverised'!"

"You step aside!" Grant demanded, crushing a white flame in his palm. "I don't know who you are, but I know exactly what you are!"

"The one who's going to bring you to justice?"

"A distraction! A pawn of the Red Joker!" Grant snarled. "You think I don't see what's going on here? You're here to make sure I don't catch that rat!"

"I'm here to put a stop to your designs! If that means letting him go free, then that's all the better!" Azurine declared boldly. "So, come on!"

"Tch, if not over, under or around, then through." Grant shook his head, snapping his fingers as a small flame appeared in his hand. "You really think you can take me on alone, child? Or are you just a cover for your little friends? Because if so, I've got news for you."

"So what if I am?" Azurine asked, posing defiantly. "As long as I do it right!"

"But you seem to have failed to account for the fact that I have more friends than you!" Grant smirked widely. "They're out there, hunting for him. And when they find him, your pesky little diversion will be pointless!"

"Then I'll just have to put my faith in them...and in myself! Because my contributions will never be in vain!" Azurine exclaimed, summoning to hand her rifle and aiming it at Grant. "So, let's get this show on the road!"

As she said that, blue electricity began to crackle around her body before she charged up the stairs, firing bullets up the whole way. Grant braced himself for combat, wreathing his body with white flames. As explosive magic met an explosive spirit, the clash was truly something to behold...

.........

Meanwhile, the other two Spectrums on the scene got to work. Having used his earth magic to vault himself over the garden wall, Silas helped Jude over, and as the pair landed outside, they ran away from the house, looking around to see whether or not anyone was around. They had been given their task, after all, and with Azurine holding Galileo off, they had time to go and do it.

But it seemed like this wasn't a busy day. Given what time of day it was, that didn't seem out of the ordinary. But spreading the word would be inconvenient like this. Silas glanced at Jude as the pair stepped in front of the house again, humming quietly.

"So, uh, Jude...you recognise that you're the brains of this duo, right?" he said sheepishly, while Jude raised an eyebrow. "Got any ideas on how to do this? If we just knock on the doors, then..."

"...then we'll be laughed out of town." Jude sighed, looking at the front door. "I do have an idea, but the opportunity isn't something we can make. It'll have to present itself to us."

"What's the plan, then?"

"There was no way he was going to do this alone." Jude replied calmly, keeping a close eye on the front door - he couldn't hear inside the house, after all. "But maybe that can be spun to our advantage."

Not too long later, the door burst open, with Galileo's army of Libera soldiers in suits swarming out. As they left the front yard, they came face to face with Silas and Jude, drawing their weapons en masse. "Intruders!"

"Jude, I think that's your opportunity." Silas nudged him gently. The priest nodded, clearing his throat before making a grand gesture.

"You dare use such a low, pitifully common term to describe me?" he yelled at the top of his lungs, spreading his arms out widely. "I am Jude, chosen of Spero! The architect of your collective failures!"

"Dude, what are you doing?"

"Making some noise." Jude said simply before summoning to hand his weapon - a long, blue wizard's staff, with a large, teardrop-shaped crystal at the end of it. "Now, come! You'll never make it past us!"

"Uh, what's the point of this again?"

"More noise, more attention. Help me out."

"Oh, right." Silas nodded, summoning his great-axe to hand and holding it out defensively. "Then get ready, 'cause we're gonna tear through each and every one of you!"

"Hah, a pair of blowhards. This'll be easy." one person smugly remarked. Some of them held up their guns, firing instantly, but with a loud cry, Silas punched the ground, forming a half-dome of rock to protect them from all the bullets. Jude peered his head around the other side, seeing three of them rushing towards the shield - one holding a sledgehammer, one a mace, and one a pair of metal gloves - and turned his head to alert Silas.

"Three of them are engaging in melee."

"Hahaha! You think attacking me physically is going to hurt me?" Silas exclaimed in a swaggering manner, clenching his fist as it set on fire. "Get ready, 'cause I'm gonna rock your worlds!"

He punched the shield with all his might, and it began to form giant, glowing cracks before shattering, a barrage of flaming shards launching forth and blowing the triad away. In the meantime, Jude was crouched down, charging up and firing a sparkling ray of light at one man before digging a white crystal out of his pocket and tossing it at the soldier formation. It exploded into a burst of light, almost like a flashbang, and at once, he tugged on Silas' jacket, beginning to run towards more of the houses.

"This way!"

"Right!" Silas nodded, running alongside his friend as they drew nearer to the other houses in Favilla Avenue. As they ran, Silas looked over at him with a smile. "Good thinking with that crystal!"

"I went shopping at Crystal Kingdom before I came here." Jude explained calmly. "You can thank me by not telling Inigo."

They made it to the centre of the road before Silas felt a bullet hit his back and turned around, seeing the enemies charging towards them once again. He held his axe firmly, clenching his teeth. "They've recovered!"

Jude turned around, twirling his staff as its tip began to glow. Silas stood in front of him, using his body and spinning his axe to defend him from the ensuing storm of bullets. With the splendour of a stage magician, Jude waved his staff left and right. "Then let's give our brave heroes a splendiferous light show!"

"Dude, you're a natural at this!"

"It comes with being Iago's closest friend."

He channelled his Natura through the staff, and in a burst of light, a set of fireworks and flashing lights began to fill the area, dazzling all who stood before Jude - save for Silas, of course, who raised his axe to the sky before slamming it into the road.

"Then it's time to rock n' roll!"

Once his axe hit the ground, a valley of tall, jagged rocks raised from the ground in a straight line in front of him, spreading out into three different trails that infiltrated their formation. This forced them to spread out, the gunners continuing to take aim away from the rocks.

As the battle raged on, Silas providing cover for Jude to snipe at the villains with his magic, while the two of them went about it in the most melodramatic way thinkable, Jude began to notice that their fight had garnered something of an audience. Though very few people had actually left their houses, he saw a few faces pressed against windows - some of whom he recognised. They were being watched - and now it was time for them to buy time.

"It's all going as planned." he smiled proudly. "Spero, Luctus...please, smile upon Azurine."

.........

https://youtu.be/7kd_62Lq72c

With a burst of flames, Azurine was sent tumbling down the stairs for the umpteenth time, but still she refused to let up. With every blast, she would get up, rush back up the stairs, and get blown into the front door once again. She stood up once more, watching him and noticing that he seemed to grow angrier with every attack. By now, contemptuous annoyance had given way to snarling rage, and in his hands was not a flame, but a set of crackling sparks.

"Trying the same thing over and over again, hoping that this will be the one that works?" he said, giving her a mocking smirk while slowly stepping down the stairs. "Tell me, blue one, isn't that the definition of insanity?"

"I'll defeat you, just watch me!" Azurine smiled. "I won't waste this opportunity that Inigo created!"

She shrouded her body in electricity again but did not move, seemingly watching Grant to find the best opening. He let out a loud laugh in response, shaking his head before jumping down, grabbing her by the neck and pinning her against the door. "Then you're every bit the unimportant bit character that you look." he taunted, and Azurine began to feel a fierce heat rising from his palm. She squirmed in his grip, but he tightened his hold on her, shaking his head. "Ah, ah, ah. No unnecessary movements in class. Now, why don't you take a moment to reflect on your actions?"

Azurine took a deep breath before slumping over, seeming to give up all resistance as the heat rose, and she felt like her neck was about to be scorched. "If you hit me here...aren't you worried about the door?"

"This is the best way to ensure you don't escape." Grant shook his head slowly, his hand glowing with a bright white light. "I hope that opportunity you mentioned was worth it, because one third of it is about to go up in flames! It's really nothing personal, I assure you..."

And then, he grabbed onto his arm with his other hand, Natura flooding into it as he felt a scorching pain fill his arm. But he ignored it, focusing on the enemy in front of him. "...but a cat in gloves catches no MICE!"

Azurine braced herself, not that it helped. From Grant's hand erupted a burst of explosive force, its heat almost unbearable and its strength like that of the mightiest wind known to man. Azurine's shield barely held on, but the door she was against did not survive the impact. It crumbled against the force of Grant's white flame explosion, and she landed far in front of the house, groaning in pain.

She looked up to see Grant storming out of the house, fire in hand, only for him to stop once he saw just what the surrounding area was like. His men were fighting Jude and the yellow one, with some of them beginning to leave Favilla and go elsewhere as ordered, but that didn't matter, because the flame in his hand went out once he saw someone who seemed to be uninvolved in the conflict, standing there and watching in shock, staring straight at Grant's house. He'd seen the explosion. And as he looked around and saw people gazing through their windows, so had many others in this street.

Once he realised, he looked at Azurine, who petulantly stuck her tongue out at him, and he knew beyond a shadow of any doubt that he'd been had. He clenched his teeth tightly, tightening his fist as the sparks of a flame scattered from his hand. "...so that was the opportunity you meant..."

Jude chuckled a little, watching the dumbfounded look on Galileo's face before nudging Silas, who surrounded him in a protective wall of rock as he turned around to face the civilians on the other side of the road. "To all you in the audience, know that that was no farce!" he declared, basking in everyone's reactions. "The white-flame menace - the Libera representative plaguing our town with fear - is none other than Grant Monarich!"

"Oh, that dastardly-" Grant began, hearing some light chatter but choosing to ignore it, shaking his head. "This is all that Joker's fault! When I get my hands on him..."

He stepped forward, looking down at Azurine with a glare that pierced through her very soul, and she felt somewhat shaken up, intimidated. "You! Tell me where the Red Joker is hiding!"

"We...don't know..." Azurine murmured, shaking her head slowly as she began to rise to her feet. Grant snarled in anger, clenching his fist.

"So he sent you here without telling you where he'd be?"

"He...could be anywhere, for all I know..."

Grant shook his head, stepping forward to kick her in the stomach before he left her alone, clearing his throat. "Men!" he announced, grabbing their attention. "The cat's out of the bag! Leave these fodder and search for the Joker!"

The ones who heard him obeyed; the rest remained preoccupied with Silas and Jude's attacks while Azurine retreated into the house for both cover and recovery, opening a window and shooting while she was unseen.

.........

https://youtu.be/I0Su9mIpSwE

Once the few stragglers were dealt with, Silas and Jude exchanged a fist-bump before Azurine walked out of the house, approaching them with a smile. "Alright, guys, Operation Owl is officially underway!" she exclaimed.

"Mhm. I'm sure everyone in Ruben knows by now that he's the menace." Jude nodded.

"And now comes the next part: Operation Stop-An-Angry-Bomber-From-Tearing-The-Town-Upside-Down!" Silas added, crossing his arms. "So, what's the plan?"

"He's sure to expose himself to a few others, too." Jude mused. "Sadly, that means hurting them. So we need to bring him down."

"But can the three of us even stop him?" Azurine frowned. "My shield's pretty banged up because of him..."

"Well, the three of us probably stand a chance. Whether that chance is high is another issue." Jude murmured. "See, he fled when Iago and I intervened in a scuffle between himself and Inigo - which tells me that he probably couldn't handle the three of us."

"Yeah, but Iago's, like, OP." Silas scowled. "Then again, Inigo isn't that strong..."

"Where we lack in brawn, surely we can make up for in brains." Jude smiled. "Our brains have gotten us this far, after all."

"Yeah, we'll think of something." Azurine nodded. "But for now, we need to go after him!"

"If you say so..." Silas murmured, pointing in one direction. "He went that way!"

So they ran towards the direction Silas had pointed in, pursuing Galileo as quickly as they could, with Jude rejecting the urge to tell everyone to like and subscribe. Determination coursed through their veins as they gave chase, holding their weapons tightly. An entire town was potentially at stake, and they were the ones who could save it.

.........

As Inigo walked out of the toilet of the Java Hole, he felt his phone vibrating once again and looked at it, seeing another message from Jude. Thankfully, he was still alive. He smiled slightly as he read it, eager to be updated on the situation.

"Galileo is looking for you, and he's angry enough that he might just hurt people in his search. Therefore, I'm messaging you in hopes of learning how we might defeat him."

He looked up, seeing Scarlett fiddling with her bracelet while waiting for him, and decided to give him a few pointers, typing up a response on his phone.

"Let's see."

"He uses a lot of wide-ranged attacks. You'll want to engage him in a relatively open area so you have more room to dodge."

"He's also not a big fan of dirt or water. He'll get pissed off, and by now I think you know what happens when he gets pissed off."

"He endangers lives."

"But more importantly, he's reckless about it. If he lets his emotions rule him, he leaves himself open."

"I think that'll be your key to victory."

"Thank you. One more thing, though; this whole 'letting his emotions rule him' thing. Was that part of your plan?"

"It was the main principle the plan relied on."

"And it seems you executed it without a hitch."

"Tell Silas and Azurine I'm proud of you all."

At that, he put his phone away, rejoining his table with Scarlett, who smiled up at him as he sat down. And he smiled back, both happy to see her again and satisfied that everything was going well. Now, here was hoping Iago would pull through.