With the crucial dots in hand of Roselle and Risebelle, Sadie o Runebelle and prepared to leave the room.

  “Rosebelle is here. I o find her,” Sadie decred. “Whether she knows who she really is or if Shadowcroft pns to use her, we o get to her before they do.”

  Runebelle noted, “Those dots belong to Shadowcroft, right?”

  Sadie fshed a fident grin. “Not anymore. Criminals like to live by ‘finders keepers,’ but they fet the st part of it: ‘loser’s weepers.’”

  Sadie and Runebelle were led back to the other officers. Mother Ruill lying on the ground, unattended. Sadie immediately got mad and shouted, “Why hasn’t anyone helped my Mom? What’s going on?”

  The officer offered smile and expined, “All the other officers have pulled off. They said they’ve got it from here.”

  Sadie was taken aback. “But why would they do that?”

  The officer’s face beamed with pride as he answered, “They’ve taken care of Shadowcroft. The mission was a huge success. They won’t be causing harm to anyone anymore.”

  Sadie’s for her mother remained. “I’m grateful that they’ve dealt with Shadowcroft, but why is my mom still on the floor? Shouldn’t we make sure she’s okay?”

  The officer, looking a bit perplexed, stammered, “W-well, we assumed she’d be fier Shadowcroft’s downfall. We didn’t realize she needed immediate medical attentio me call for a medic!”

  Sadie’s frustration boiled over. She ched her fists and shouted in anger. “Are you kidding me?! You’re tellihat despite everything, no ohered to chey mother’s dition?!”

  The officer’s face flushed with embarrassment. He struggled to find the right words. “I-I’m really sorry, Sadie. We should have acted sooner. It was a chaotic situation, a caught up with other priorities.”

  Sadie shook her head with her hands now pced at her side and movement right into the officer’s face. “Chaotic or not, it doesn’t excuse ign someone who’s clearly in need. You’re making me look like a fool for trusting that you’d ha!”

  The officer quickly fumbled with his s device, urgently calling for medical assistance. Sadie k beside her mother. “I’m so sorry, Mom,” Sadie murmured. “We’re going to get you the help you need. Just hang in there.”

  Sadie’s eyes narrowed as she pohe situation. Why were the officers ag this way? It was supposed to be a well-coordinated, high-stakes operation. She g the officers milling around. Their as were increasingly suspect. “This doesn’t add up,” she thought to herself. ‘How did things go s despite the victory over Shadowcroft? We should be in trol,’ Sadie thought to herself, trying to retrace their steps and identify any potential fws.

  Then, it hit her. Acc to polifo, Kazeburo had a habit of sending out a particur individual, ‘Bossman.’ He was spicuously absent from the entire operation, which was unusual. That’s when she realized that something was amiss.

  The police officers drew their ons and the pieces fell into pce. Panic surged through her, but she quickly grabbed Runebelle’s arm and shouted, “Get down!”

  Runebelle and Sadie attempted to move, but it was too te. In an instant, darkness enveloped them, and the world faded away after the ominous sound of a gunshot.

  When they regained sciousness, they found themselves fined within translut tubes, fag each other with their mother Rune in aube nearby.

  Standing before their tubes was Bossman, a tall and imposing figure with spiky blue hair. He cpped slowly with a form of cold amusement and said, “That was very impressive, I must say. I give you a 9/10. Sadie, you almost got away with killing off Shadowcroft.”

  Runebelle and Sadie turheir heads to the side, and there they saw Kazeburo, rubbing his head, clearly disoriented by the ret turn of events.

  Bossman wasted no time in bming Kazeburo for what had transpired. “You were sleeping on the job, Kazeburo,” he accused with irritation.

  Kazeburo gred at Bossman with frustration, “Hey! I’m your boss here! I won’t... let my workers... talk down to me...?”

  But Bossman’s intimidating gre silenced Kazeburo’s protests, “Y-You’re the boss, Bossman, not me. I... I apologize for my inpetence. We lost a lot of manpower because of me.”

  Bossman nodded with a satisfied grily,” he affirmed. “I’m gd you’re taking atability for your failure, Kazeburo.”

  He then turned his attention to Runebelle and Sadie, who were trapped in their respective tubes.

  “Now, you two tell me why it was only a 9/10 and not a perfect 10?”

  Sadie and Runebelle exged nervous gnces. Sadie spoke first. “Maybe… maybe it’s because you weren’t distracted enough. If we had gotten you to answer repeated phone calls from his wife, he would’ve been too busy to notice us sneaking around.”

  Sadie then raised one finger. “Or perhaps it was because we didn’t keep him occupied with more distras. If Bossman had been flooded with phone calls, he wouldn’t have been able to focus on us.”

  Bossman’s face hardened, and his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

  Kazeburo, who had been quietly fuming in the background, shrugged and muttered, “Well, they’ve got a point.”

  Bossman turned his gaze sharply toward Kazeburo. “Is that so?”Kazeburo shrank bader Bossman’s pierg stare.

  Bossman shifted his focus back to Sadie and Runebelle. “Now is not the time for jokes,” he said with disdain. “You see, it’s quite simple. The police relied on camoufge tactics, and it was effective against Shadowcroft. They used our own tactics against us aed our forces. I’ll cede that point. But the police left on their own accord, not giving it a sed thought thanks to my quag thinking of incorporating doppelgangers within their ranks. They must have been tired sihey didn’t even realize their forces were two times bigger. it’s actually 3 AM right now. You see, it’s all about timing.”

  Bossman raised one hand into the air.” Time, you see, be an ally or an enemy, depending on how one uses it. In our case, timing was reatest oicipated their movements, waited for the opportune moment, and then struck.”

  He paused for a moment before cluding, “You must uand that the police may have defeated us tonight, but they didn’t outwit us. They were bound by time, while we trolled it. Now, I think it’s time we discussed your fate.”

  Bossman, with a wicked griured to the timer that had bee. “We’ve restarted the process, and in just a few hours, the three of you will bee ohe perfect fusion of Rune, Runebelle, and Sadie. A new, powerful being.”

  Sadie protested, “The police will stop you! They’ll e back, and you’ll never get away with this!”

  However, Bossman’s smile only widened. “Oh, Sadie, you’re he police won’t be returning. They left in the belief that they had dealt with us. They think Shadowcroft has beeed and eliminated food. They won’t be ing to your rescue.”

  With those words, Bossman made it clear that Runebelle, Sadie, and their mother were trapped in a nightmarish tdown with no oo save them.

  Wheimer reached 50% and the purple substanveloped their tubes, Runebelle’s face dispyed a deep sadness. She whispered, “It feels like things like this always end up happening to me....why… why was I even…”

  Sadie, in a simirly promised state, replied, “I’ve felt that way too sometimes. But I o tell you something about my ability. It’s not just about hag. It’s also about insight. I’ve seen glimpses of your experiences, your emotions. I uand what you’ve been through.”

  Runebelle looked at Sadie curiosity, despite her weakening dition. “Insight? What do you mean?”

  Sadie took a deep breath. She was weakened as well. “I mean I’ve seen the moments when you were hurt, betrayed, and alone. I’ve felt your sadness, your longing for something more. We share that e, Runebelle, and even if we ’t ge the past, we face the future together.”

  The timer reached 75%. Runebelle and Sadie khat the moment of fusion was rapidly approag, and with it, the uain fate that Shadowcroft had pnned for them.

  Runebelle quivered with ay while speaking, “I don’t want this, Sadie. I want to talk to you, to know what you’ve been through, for us to be there for each other, like you said. I’m…. so scared.”

  Sadie managed a weak smile despite the encroag dread. “Hey, Runebelle, you’re the older sister here,” she said softly. “You should be brave.”

  Runebelle’s face remaiched with fear. The smile on Sadie’s lips faltered, and she took a deep breath. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared to, but we’ve done everything we could. There’s no escape from this.”

  Sadie’s eyes darted around. “The odds of breaking out are zero this time,” she said. “All we do is face whatever es with whatever ce we have left.”

  Sadie and Runebelle both turheir gazes toward the nearby tube, where their mother, Rune, was beginning to stir. Rune’s eyes fluttered open, and she looked around disoriented momentarily. When she saw Sadie’s face, her eyes widened in shock.

  “Sadie?” Rune whispered.

  “Mom! It’s me, Sadie. I’m here,” Sadie said. “Just hold on a little longer.”

  Rune’s eyes filled with tears. “Sadie… but how? Why are you here? Th-This wasn’t supposed to happen!”

  Sadie responded, “It’s a long story, Mom. We don’t have much time. But I need you to stay strong.

  The climax of the fusion process had arrived, and with it, an explosion of power came which rocked the room. Bossman acted swiftly to shield himself and protect Kazeburo from the surging energy.

  The explosion was like a tempest of magical and teological forces g. The energy would be tained withinthe massive tank in the room.

  Kazeburo, thrown to safety just in time, watched in awe and terror. This was something beyond anything he could have imagined.

  When the smoke and energy began to settle, the room bore the marks of the fusion’s immense release of power. Bossman y unscious on the floor. Kazeburo, oher hand, dangled upside down against a wall.

  Then, from the remnants of the massive tank, emerged a figure unlike anything that had been seen before. It was the culmination of Runebelle, Rune, and Sadie. This being bore Sadie’s likeness in being a tall teenage girl with puffball hair, but there rofound sadness etched across their face.

  They wore only a torn up long shirt and nothing else. Kazeburo, still dangling from the wall, watched in stunned disbelief. The being began to make its way towards the exit.

  Kazeburo, mustering his remaining strength, called out with strain, “Wait! What are you doing? Where are you going?”

  The fused being turheir gaze toward him with a chilling iy. Without a word, the being’s gaze seemed to exert a force of its own. Kazeburo was thrown violently against the wall. His body slumped in unsciousness from the sheer force.

  Uurbed, the being turheir attention back to the exit. When they reached the doorway, the being paused, looking bace more at the chaos left behind before leaving the se.

  Within the plex, interected realm of their fused sciousness, Runebelle, Rune, and Sadie found themselves engaged in a peculiar internal versation.

  Rune’s gentle and loving tone was the first to break through the collective thought. “My dear Rune belle,” she said, “you are the heart that has kept us all together.”

  Following Rune’s words, Sadie chimed in, “Yeah, Runebelle, you’re the one who has the most impa the physical world. You’re the one people will see and know.”

  Being the primary sciousness, Runebelle felt a sense of unity and agreement among her stituent parts. “I uand,” she said to her internal panions, “I am Runebelle, and I will embrace all that I am, representing the innoce, prote, insight, fidend freedom that we have bee.”