Lainey woke up in Sapphire's arms. Still as good as the last time she did it. It didn't progress past sleeping in the same bed, but the sleep did her good. All she needed was a coffee and she'd be ready for the fight, disregarding any emotional turmoil. She was hoping that the building had coffee machines, assuming they did as Kenyan coffee beans are pretty common. Turns out this building had a coffee machine with pods, which was pretty good. She checked the room for any pods she could use, finding one in a cabinet. She inserted it into the machine and pressed the button a couple times until it finally started whirring. She leaned against the wall, adjusting her hair. The pink was definitely fading, something to fix when she got back to New York. She checked her phone, sending a quick text to Maya.

'Gon B back in a few hours. Pick up some hair dye plz.'

She didn't know what time it was in the Big Apple, so she just put her phone in her pocket not expecting a reply.

And the Big Apple was what she missed when the coffee passed her lips. Dear god, this was horrible. But still, she needed the caffeine, so she forced it down. And as she was doing that, she saw Gene walk in through the corner of her eye.

Gene stood in the doorway for a few seconds, before squeaking out a small "Hi."

"Yo." Lainey replied.

"Should we be talking to each other? We…we are enemies."

"Only for a couple more hours." Lainey shrugged. "So, who you fighting?"

"Ulrich?" Gene replied calmly.

"Pretty sure he's gonna be fighting Vivian."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense." He said, giving off a sigh with a hint of relief within it. "And you would be fighting?"

"Sapphire."

"Sapphire, huh?" Gene replied, making a sound between a sigh and a cough. "I know I shouldn't be saying this, but good luck."

"And I assume that Dominic will be fighting Bart. So that leaves you with Ayana."

"The Japanese girl? She nice?"

"She's fine." Lainey replied, finishing her mediocre coffee. She put the mug in the sink, about to walk off to check on Sapphire and Oni.

And that's when he showed up. Halford, in all his messy glory.

"Ah…you." Halford said, trying to avert his eyes towards Gene.

"Hey." Lainey replied coldly.

"So, I take it you've prepared for the battle?" He asked calmly.

"Extremely." Lainey replied, trying to hit him with an air of confidence. Whether it worked was up to God.

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"Good to hear." Halford nodded. "May the forces out of our reach guide you."

He stepped aside, allowing Lainey to pass back into Sapphire's room. While there, she put her jacket back on, checking for her knife, e-cigarette, granola bars, everything she'd need. Sapphire was still asleep, so she slowly shook her awake. Sapphire made some kind of grunting noise, sitting up.

"Get up, we're killing each other in a couple hours."

"Ugh, yeah." Sapphire groaned. "You know what I really want to do right now?"

"There isn't a lock on the door." Lainey sighed. "And Zeb could teleport in at any time."

"We could take her." Sapphire groaned.

"In what way?"

"Yeah."

"But anyway, we're going to New York after all this, right? Tonight sound good?" Lainey asked.

"You know it."

Promises made, Sapphire got dressed, stepping out towards Zeb.

"You're looking cool today." She said calmly.

"Thank you." Zeb replied, giving an approving nod.

"You have any plans after losing?" She asked, confident.

"Well, should I lose, I have to retreat. Find another timeline to take."

"Well, before you do that, Lainey and I are going on a date in New York. And you seem cool enough to…"

"Yeah, I can't do that to my enemy." Zeb replied, but Sapphire could see the flustered skin tone change, even in purple skin.

"Is Lainey your enemy?"

"I have to gather everyone who isn't. I'll see you later."

She strode off with an air of authority down the hall into the living room. Minus when she tripped on the way, that gave off significantly less authority.

Ulrich was standing in front of the window, at the streets being obstructed by bushes, with Dominic and Ayana remaining asleep, Dominic mumbling something about 'The true Viking way.'

"Oh, you're up."

Ulrich turned around to see Zeb standing in the doorway.

"Need me to wake up the others?"

After about half an hour of everyone getting ready, the eight mortals were sat in the kitchen. Some avoiding the eyes of others, some drinking coffee. None really talking, minus Dominic and Ayana whispering to each other and snickering at whatever it was.

All eight of them were staring at the door, waiting for Zeb or Halford to appear. A white light blinded all of them, and Halford stepped out.

"The eight of you will be pleased to know that we have found a suitable battleground. Now please, come with me."

The eight silently stepped into the portal, and the light shone around them again. When Ulrich's eyes stopped burning and he could actually see, they were in the middle of nowhere. He looked around, and as far as he could see, there was nothing. No buildings, no animals, not even a cactus. Just a lot of sand, alongside the heat of the sun behind him.

"Vivian, if you may?" Halford started.

Vivian slowly walked up to Ulrich, black gemstone in hand. Without thinking, he reached out to take it, and Vivian used her free hand to slap him away.

"Get your gem. Then we switch." She barked coldly. Kind of unneeded, considering what he was going to need to avoid in five minutes.

Dominic ran over to Ulrich, handing him the white gemstone. He slowly put it in Vivian's hand, and she responded by giving Ulrich the black gem, leaving it in his hand as she walked back to Halford. Ulrich handed Zeb the black gem, and she absorbed it, while he saw Halford do the same out of the corner of his eye.

Ulrich slowly faced Vivian, who's faced remained unchanged, glancing over at Gene, who shone Ayana his sword. Ayana casually flashed her knife at him, and she scowled.

Dominic stood before Bartholomew, cracking his knuckles with his eyes closed, silently chuckling to himself. He opened his eyes, undid his shirt cape, elegantly threw it on the ground, and flipped him off. Bartholomew rolled his eyes, allowed his hands to flare with white energy, before the energy trailed off as it formed around his hand.

Lainey adjusted her guitar, checked her pockets for the granola, and shook her hands and legs an attempt to do…something. She wasn't sure what. Sapphire on the other hand, was bouncing around, stretching a little, before stopping to crack her knuckles. Lainey tried, and she still couldn't.

"Now then." Halford whispered quietly. "Shall we begin?"