MARCH 3, 2022

"Sabrina, you're going to get us all killed!" Jake said, speaking English. "If Lock Tannis comes to Earth, even more good Soynites will get killed, including me and you."

Sabrina and Jake stood in the hall neighboring the one where Don Ascend remained unconscious. That traitorous moron needed to do a favor for Sabrina. She needed to fight Lock Tannis. Jake acted like he would kill her if she fought him, but she would survive her future encounter with the Freeman leader.

"No, Jake," Sabrina said. "I'm going to save all the good Soynites, and I'll do that by killing Lock. That traitor in that hall over there is going to lose his leader. And don't forget that we're his leaders, too. Me, you, and our co-rulers. Don should've kneeled for us. We deserved to see him kneeling for us. We still deserve it."

Jake looked at his Soynite laser pistol. "And I deserved to see Don die. You should've killed him."

"I need him alive. After he does that favor for me, I'm going to kill him. You're going to see him die, Jake. Eventually."

"Not when I want to, though. And that's if you actually manage to kill him."

Holding her Freeman pistol in one hand, Sabrina put her free one on Jake's shoulder. Someday he would see her dispose of Don.

"I'm going to give that traitor what he deserves," Sabrina said. "It just won't be today. I want Don to die, too. But I need him to live, because he has to do that favor for me. You want Lock Tannis to die, don't you?"

Jake nodded. "Of course I do. But we're not ready to fight him, Sabrina."

If Sabrina wanted to, she could become intangible and pass through the gray wall behind her. Lock had more powers than she did, but that didn't mean he would kill her. She had slain Freemans before. She could take their leader's life and gain the Red Throne. Inside that Freeman spaceship, Sabrina had put her butt on a bed, not a throne. She would get two thrones. A red one and a blue one.

"Yes, we are," Sabrina told Jake. "Lock got our parents killed. And if we don't stop him, more good people are going to die because of him. We need to be ready to fight that awful Freeman."

Jake leaned against the wall. "And we won't be. Lock is too dangerous. If we were fighting him right now, we wouldn't survive."

"Yes, we would."

"Why do you think that we will survive a fight against Lock?" Jake said. He sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to get mad at you. I just want you to think. Think about the fact that Lock is too dangerous for us to fight right now. Plus, he has a strife sword. You know what strife does. When I killed that Freeman who was taking you to the prison wing, where was your power?"

When the strife handcuffs around Don's wrists were around Sabrina's, her power had been absent, like Lovely's love for her. But she could kill Lock without her Save.

"My Save was gone because of those strife handcuffs," Sabrina told Jake. "I know that. But I'm going to kill Lock, with or without my power. I can do that. In order to do that, I need to meet Lock. And that's why that traitor is still alive. Soon he won't be."

Sabrina ran her fingers through her hair.

"A red crown is going to be on my head, Jake," she said. "You'll see."

"You deserve to be the leader of the Freemans," Jake said. "I'm sorry that you're not. If the Freemans were on your side, things would be better for both of us."

"They're going to be on my side. It's going to be awkward when I'm their leader, considering the fact that they've been my enemies for so long. But I'll get used to having them around me. And I'll use them to my advantage. I'm pretty sure I'll love them, too. I'll love my Freemans like I love you."

Jake nodded. "I don't know if I'll ever see Peter again, but at least I have you."

Sabrina and Jake had met for the first time eleven years ago. They had stood next to each other while Soynite government employees guarded them and Theo Majestic, protecting their to-be Highs and their Supreme High. Strife could take away Theo's powers. During the Invasion, if a piece of strife had gotten too close to Theo, he would've lost his powers, including his invincibility.

Don Ascend had lost his Saves. Now he didn't have the power of immortality. Nor could he create force fields. When he got far enough from the strife handcuffs, his powers would return to him. He needed to speak to Lock for Sabrina. After Don did what she wanted him to do, she would have no use for him.

Sabrina knew she would never try murdering Jake. "You're like a brother to me. And you always will be."

"I know," Jake said. "Me and you were away from each other for too long, but we're together now. I just wish that Peter was here, too. And Maggie. I hope they made it out of this place alive. They don't deserve to get killed inside this Freeman base. They don't deserve to get killed at all."

"Neither do we. Just stay close to me. Don't leave me like you left Peter and Maggie. We're going to make it out of here alive, Jake. Then we'll go to California and save Kevin. He's been helping me for a long time, and I need to help him. I'm not going to let a pale moron kill my Watcher. The Freemans took me away from him, but I'm not going to stay separated from him forever. I'll see him again. So will you."

Jake focused on the arrow on the floor. It pointed at the prison wing's ruined entrance. Jake had killed the Freeman who had planned on taking Sabrina to the prison wing, and she had armed herself with the dead enemy's gun. She could use it to get rid of his comrades.

"I really want to see Kevin again," Jake told Sabrina. "He was good to me. He wasn't like Lovely. I won't be surprised if we see her again and find out she's still a horrible person."

"If she's still like that, it's a good thing that she's blind," Sabrina said. "She probably wishes that she could hurt us. But her being blind will make it hard for her to do that."

Lovely couldn't see anyone, including people she hated. She used to insult Sabrina and Jake. Had Lovely become crueler since the last time Sabrina had seen her?

"I don't know what she's like right now," Sabrina said. "But if she's a worse person than she was when she was five, that's bad."

"She's definitely worse than she was before," Jake said. "That girl is never going to like us, and we're never going to like her."

"You don't know that."

"I do, though. And Lovely is probably a second Lock Tannis by now. She might be an evil ruler who makes good people miserable. Can you tell me I'm wrong?"

"I can't," Sabrina said. "And that's because I haven't seen Lovely in years. I don't know what she's like."

Jake scoffed. "She's definitely not like Theo Majestic. He's great. He's the only former High who didn't join Lock."

"And Reed," Sabrina said. "If he's still alive, that is."

"Theo didn't join Lock, but most of the other former Highs did. Highs can be horrible people. When Don was one, he sided with Lock. I won't be surprised if Lovely does the same. She might kneel for him one day."

"There's a chance that Lovely is still a terrible moron, but she won't ever kneel for Lock. She will never want to kneel for anyone."

Sabrina would never kneel for the Freeman leader. She would never make the horrible decision Don had made. If she started serving Lock, that would be awful, like if Kevin died. He supported Sabrina more than anyone else did. They were blond-haired and blue-eyed, and they shared other physical traits. If Sabrina found out Kevin was her father, she might hug him.

"But will she ever kneel for the future Supreme High?" Jake said. "One day all of the Highs will have to get together and decide which one of us should be the Supreme High. I'm pretty sure that person won't be Lovely. And if she doesn't get the position, she will get angry. She won't ever kneel for the Supreme High."

"Maybe she'll surprise you by becoming the Supreme High," Sabrina said. Jake shook his head. "It's not impossible for Lovely to become the leader of the Highs someday, Jake."

"I don't want that to happen, and neither do you. Lovely is never going to be the type of person we wish she was. She's never going to care about us. She's never going to see us as her friends. Marina knows what it's like to be loved by her, but we never will."

Sabrina looked around, but she didn't spot any Freemans. Her enemies had separated her from Kevin. Yet she had found her best friend, and he could help her reunite with her Watcher.

If Sabrina got locked inside a Freeman base, Kevin would want to free her. But he hadn't slain the Freeman who had planned on taking her to the prison wing. Jake had killed him. He could kill more Freemans in California.

"Maybe we will," Sabrina said. "Lovely loves her Watcher, and she might end up loving us, too. There must be something we can do to make her care about us. If she's still alive, of course."

If Lovely hadn't died yet, maybe she still couldn't see.

"I wonder how she ended up blind," Sabrina said.

"At least she's the only High who is," Jake said. "The rest of us aren't. Hopefully, Aris and the others are still alive. Those are Highs I actually want to see again. I don't know where Lovely is, but I'm so glad that she's not with us. Tormenting me and you was one of the things she loved to do. She can't do that to us anymore."

Lovely couldn't stand in this hall and direct insults at Sabrina or Jake. Yet they would have to be at the same place as Lovely.

Jake looked at his arm. "I would rather get shot again than be around her."

"I can tell you hate Lovely even more than I do," Sabrina said. "But I really wish you didn't hate her so much. She was horrible to us, but we need to be friends with her. We can't hate her forever."

"I wish that she never treated us the way that she did."

When Sabrina and Lovely were younger, they had lived together for a few months. Sabrina had spent weeks living with Lovely, who used to disrespect her and Jake. Lovely couldn't be with them. And if she had been near Sabrina and Jake when they hugged, she wouldn't have seen them do it. Unlike that blind girl, Sabrina could see. She would see Lock. Soon, on March sixth, she would end his life. The Red Throne would be hers. Bowie and Prim would never live again, but their daughter would become Free's next leader.

"And I wish that my parents were still alive," Sabrina said. Holding her Freeman pistol, she put her free hand on Jake's arm. "Regardless, we can't keep wishing that things turned out differently. We can't change the past. But we can try our best to make a great future for ourselves."

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"What if there isn't a great future for ourselves?" Jake asked.

In the future, Sabrina would reunite with Kevin. Eleven years ago, he had managed to avoid being killed by Soy. No Freeman had ended his life there. Nor would a Freeman kill him on this planet. When Sabrina turned Lock into smoke, Kevin would still be alive.

"Our future is a great one," Sabrina told Jake. He placed his hand on the wall. "You need to believe that. We're going to go to California and help Kevin. Don is going to do what I want him to do. Lock is going to come to Earth, and then I'll kill him. The Freemans will kneel for me. We'll find the Soy Maker and use it to revive Soy. All of that will happen."

Jake ran his fingers through his hair. "Why do you have to be like this, Sabrina?"

"Why do I have to be like what?"

"You act like it's guaranteed that everything will go well for you. Lock might kill you. And someone else might become the next leader of the Freemans. And you probably won't reunite with Kevin. How do you know that he's not dead?"

If a Freeman had killed Kevin, Sabrina would never be able to speak with him again. Neither would Jake. Kevin used to have polite conversations with him. They would talk to each other later.

"When I see Kevin again, he's going to be alive," Sabrina said. "He isn't dead. I need you to believe that. My Watcher is still alive, and I'm going to be with him again. I'm going to hug him. And I'll talk to him, too. So will you. We just have to find Kevin first. And we're lucky, because we know where he is. He should be at that Freeman base me and him attacked together. The Freemans won't take him to a different base. After all, they're not expecting me to go back there. They don't even know that I'm free."

Jake had moved those strife handcuffs away from Sabrina, and she had been able to use her Save again. Her best friend had helped her. Jake had run away from his friends Peter and Maggie, but he wasn't horrible like Don or Lock. Hugging Jake earlier had been a pleasure.

"I'm free because of you," Sabrina said. "You killed that Freeman who was planning on locking me up, then you got those strife handcuffs away from me. You gave me another reason to appreciate you."

Jake didn't smile, but he nodded. "I'm glad I found you. I used to think about what our reunion would be like. I never expected that it would happen inside of a Freeman base, but I'm glad it did. I missed you. I missed you for eleven years. I wonder if we'll reunite with the other Highs."

In a desert in Nevada, Sabrina had moved away from Jake and the other Highs. In this Freeman base in a forest in Washington, Sabrina had reunited with Jake. They had co-rulers they needed to be in a room with again.

"They need to be alive," Sabrina told Jake. "Six Highs have to rule Soy and its people, not five. And not any number less than that. That means me, you, and our co-rulers need to live. That includes Lovely. I don't love that blind moron, but I know that we need her. Whether we like it or not, she's still a High. She's one of us."

"And if she dies, she will have to be replaced," Jake said. "Dead Highs will need replacements. One of us, or some of us, might get killed. If that happens, the Supreme High needs to be around, to make a new High. Or new Highs."

When the spaceship carrying Sabrina landed on Earth, the six Highs had been alive. And they would be alive when Sabrina killed Lock.

"We're going to survive," she said. "All of us. Me, you, Lovely, and the others. We're going to survive this war. I really want that to happen, and it will. Something else is going to happen, too. I'm going to get rid of Lock, then a Freeman is going to put a red crown on my head. The Red Throne will be mine, Jake. So will planet Free and its people. After I kill Lock, we won't have to worry about the Freemans anymore."

"Hopefully, you'll get what you want," Jake said. "I want Lock to die just as badly as you do."

"But you don't believe I can kill him."

"You're not ready to kill him. You're not going to turn Lock into smoke in a few days. I wish that wasn't the truth, but it is. Lock has powers, and he has a strife sword. You won't be able to turn intangible around him. Lock is cautious. He's not going to fight Soynites without a strife weapon. And if you and him were having a fight with strife swords, he would still be deadlier than you. Killing the Freemans' leader in a fair fight is the best way to earn their respect and love. But you won't be able to kill Lock in a fair fight, Sabrina. Neither will I. I'm sure that Lock is a better swordsman than both of us."

Sabrina shook her head. "Don't be so sure, because I might be a better swordsman than he is. And we already know that I'm a better person than that awful Freeman. I deserve to win a fight against him. I have to kill him, Jake. Too many great Soynites died because of him. And if I don't kill that pale moron soon, more great Soynites will die because of him. I have to do it. I have to turn Lock into smoke. Vice Reaper lost his fight against him, but he isn't going to kill me too. I'm not going to let him. In a few days, I will be the girl who killed Lock Tannis."

Lock's white-as-snow lips would turn into smoke. Sabrina would make that happen. As a reward for ending Lock's life, she would earn the Red Throne. With Kevin's help, she had survived the Invasion. Lock wouldn't survive his future fight with her. With or without her Save, she would end him and his reign. Free's next ruler wouldn't be a Freeman man who wanted Soy to stay dead. The next Great Leader would be a Soynite girl who loved that planet.

"You have to be skilled enough to kill him," Jake said. "And you're not. Please don't try to kill Lock. Not now, at least. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I appreciate your concern," Sabrina said. "I really do. But you don't have to worry about me, because Lock isn't going to kill me. Back in California, I killed a bunch of his warriors at that Freeman base. I'm going to do the same to him. The people we're fighting are going to be my people, and they will call me Great Leader."

Footsteps.

It sounded like multiple people ran through a neighboring hall, the one where Don didn't lay unconscious. Sabrina and Jake turned. Soon she would be able to kill some of Lock's people.

"Freemans," she said. Then she smiled.

Jake held a gun in his right hand. So did Sabrina. She turned intangible before moving her laser pistol from her right hand to her left one. She grabbed Jake's left hand and turned him intangible.

"We're intangible now," Sabrina said.

Hush Warden rushed into the hall, along with four more Freemans. Sabrina and Jake opened fire. Blue lasers launched from his gun. Red ones came from hers. She would use the weapon to kill members of the race that had manufactured it.

A red laser blasted into Hush's forehead. Another one passed through Sabrina's intangible heart. If she had been too close to strife, that laser would've killed her. Hush collapsed, dropping onto the floor. Sabrina disposed of two more Freemans. Jake killed the remaining two. Hush's lifeless body changed into smoke. Sabrina had killed the pale moron who had frustrated her inside that Freeman spaceship. She smiled as if Lock had died too.

"I got him, Jake!" Sabrina said. She pointed at the rising smoke. "I killed Hush Warden. He's the Freeman who just turned into smoke."

Sabrina heard footsteps, but they didn't sound like they belonged to a seven-foot-tall Freeman.

"Someone's coming," Jake said.

"They don't sound like a Freeman," Sabrina replied. "Be ready to fight anyway. Just in case."

A thin, blonde-haired girl stepped into the hall. A Soynite. She seemed to be eleven years old. She wore a gray shirt with short sleeves, black jeans, black shoes, and a blue backpack. She didn't wear a pendant. The girl was as beautiful as a sunrise, and she looked at Sabrina with her blue eyes. Lilly Majestic was beautiful, too. The girl wielded a Soynite laser pistol. But she didn't aim it at Sabrina or Jake.

The dead Freemans lay on the floor like discarded trash, and the girl walked past their corpses. The lifeless bodies changed into smoke.

"It's nice to see another Soynite here," Sabrina told the girl. She stopped holding Jake's hand. "I'm Sabrina. Sabrina Sam. This is my friend Jake Wayne. He's my best friend, actually."

The girl stopped walking. She stood across from Sabrina.

"My name is Anne Majestic," she said, speaking English with a Soynite accent. "I'm the youngest child of Theo Majestic and his wife, Lilly."

Sabrina hadn't looked at that note Jake had read. It mentioned Theo's children, and Anne might be living proof Lilly had given birth at least once. Maybe Anne would tell Sabrina where she could find Theo, the most powerful Soynite.

Sabrina put a hand on Jake's arm. "You were right. Theo really does have children."

Lilly was a mother. Someday Sabrina would be one. Would she have a baby with blond hair and blue eyes? Did Anne's siblings have those traits?

Sabrina had found Theo's daughter inside a Freeman base. Anne had met two Highs, a girl and a boy who needed to reunite with their co-rulers one day. Anne's father had made those six children into leaders.

"Anne," Sabrina said. "Me and Jake are Highs."

Anne removed her backpack before facing the wall closest to her. She kneeled.

"And I'm a girl who has a job to do," she said, unzipping her backpack.

Sabrina and Jake moved closer to Anne. She pulled a sheet of paper from the backpack, then placed it on the floor. The paper showed a black double triangle. A sentence was written below it. It was made of black paint, and so was the double triangle.

Jake grabbed the paper. "He is always with us. Who is he?"

"I think we should ask her about Theo," Sabrina said. "Anne, do you know where your father is?"

"I'll tell you what I know when Jake puts that paper back on the floor," Anne replied. Jake put the paper on the floor. Anne clapped. "Congratulations, Sabrina. I'm going to answer your question."

Anne removed a syringe from her backpack before placing it on the paper. Purple liquid sat in the syringe's transparent container.

"I don't know where Theo is," Anne said.

She zipped her backpack, put it on, then stood. Her syringe lay on the paper. Sabrina had used Vamp to render Don unconscious. His powers were gone.

"Do you have any Saves?" Sabrina asked Anne.

She nodded. "I have laser vision."

"That's great. I have a Save, too. It's not laser vision, though."

"Do you have any more questions for me?" Anne said.

"Where are your siblings?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know where your mother is?" Sabrina asked.

"No," Anne said. She put a hand on Sabrina's arm. "I don't know where Theo and Lilly are, but I do know that he is always with us."

Jake looked at the paper on the floor. "You made that pretty clear. Can you tell us who he is?"

Sabrina heard footsteps. She turned intangible, then she and Jake aimed their laser pistols. She grabbed his hand before turning him intangible. Anne, who could fire lasers from her eyes, didn't aim her gun.

"Anne, get behind me, then put your hands on my back," Sabrina said. "I'll make you intangible."

A man walked into the hall, armed with a Freeman laser pistol. The light touched his blond hair, and his blue eyes focused on Sabrina. Unlike Anne, he wore a Soynite pendant, one Sabrina had seen many times before. She and Jake lowered their guns.

"Kevin!" Sabrina said. Kevin took quick steps toward her. "Jake, hold my gun for me. I have to hug my Watcher."

Sabrina gave her gun to Jake. She ran toward Kevin. He placed his Freeman gun on the floor. When they were close enough, they hugged. Her vision blurred as she embraced the man who had spent years protecting her on Earth.

"I'm so happy you're okay!" Sabrina said, crying. "I missed you so much."

"It's okay, baby," Kevin said. "I'm here."

A short moment later, the hug was over. Kevin kissed Sabrina's cheek. In this horrible Freeman base, she had reunited with her Watcher. After leaving the building, she wouldn't have to rescue him at a different enemy base. They would go home.

Jake and Anne came closer to Sabrina and Kevin. Jake held her Freeman gun in one hand, and he wielded his Soynite laser pistol in his other one. Sabrina could take her weapon back, but she needed to speak with Kevin. He had gotten away from the Freemans in California. Somehow.

"How are you here?" Sabrina said. "How did you get here?"

"When I was in my prison cell at that Freeman base, some Freemans came," Kevin said. "I guess they wanted to take me to a different part of the base. I killed them, then made my way to a spaceship hangar in the building. A Freeman was there, and I forced him to use a Freeman spaceship to take me here. I knew the Freemans took you to this base."

Sabrina smiled before embracing Kevin. He hugged her back.

"I love you, Kevin," she said. "Thanks for coming here."

"I love you, too, my High," Kevin told her. The hug ended. He glanced at Jake, then looked at Anne. "Hey."

Sabrina gestured to Jake. "Kevin, that's Jake. Jake Wayne. He's our friend Cape. And this is Anne Majestic. She's the daughter of Theo and Lilly. Anne, Kevin is Ken Herman. He's your—"

"Anne!" Kevin said.

Anne put her laser pistol on the floor. Kevin embraced her, and she hugged him back. After they stopped hugging, he caressed her long hair.

"Theo and Lilly have children," Jake said. "They have one son and three daughters."

"Yeah, I know," Kevin said. "I've known that for a long time. And I met all of Lilly's children. I've known about Anne and her siblings for years."

Jake stepped closer to Kevin. "Why didn't you tell us about them years ago?"

Kevin looked at the discarded combat uniform Hush had worn. If Sabrina could kill him again, she would have.

"If the Soynite public had known about those kids, the Freemans probably would've found out about them," Kevin said. "Theo didn't want his children to become targets. He loved them. He still does. And I love them, too."

Anne smiled. She didn't know where she could find her parents, and neither did Sabrina. Regardless, Theo loved his children. Anne knew that.

By the time Sabrina sat on the Red Throne, the Freemans would love her. Hush would never kneel for her, but his people would.

"The Freemans know about Theo and Lilly's children," Jake said. "I found a note in a conference room here. Theo's children were mentioned in it. The Freemans know about Anne and her siblings, Kevin."

Kevin sighed. "That's unfortunate. Listen, it's time for me to tell a secret. I just hope that Theo will forgive me. Sabrina, we need to talk. I have to tell you something. Those Freemans could've killed us today. And if they had, I would've lost the chance to tell you what I have to tell you. Obviously, I can't keep this secret anymore. I have to tell you the truth."

Sabrina's heart pounded. What did Kevin plan on telling her?

"Okay," she said.

Jake and Anne had their attention on Kevin too. Hase Majestic's two descendants would learn Kevin's secret. So would Sabrina.

"Me and you are related," Kevin confessed.

He had loved Sabrina for years. When she reunited with her Watcher, she had reunited with her father. She smiled before embracing Kevin. He hugged her back.

"I knew you were my dad," Sabrina told him, shutting her eyes. "It makes so much sense. We look similar to each other. We both have blond hair and blue eyes. And we look like each other in other ways, too. You're my dad."

"No, Sabrina." Kevin said.