In a way, Lantern City was lucky. The city has a healthy number of villains and a good number of people in The Game. The city’s underworld was also controlled by three main villains, so they were able to move with some resemblance of order. Even with the combine might of the city’s heroes and villains, the city was almost overrun.
Over two hundred Gaps were recorded within the city over a twenty-four hour period, and the Alliance of Champions was on standby to offer aid if needed. The news and internet were filled with videos of heroes and villains of Lantern City fighting the monsters, and that was just within the city. Like most Named cities, Lantern City was the central hub for its region. It oversaw security for the region, but the city was under too much pressure for its heroes to help. The larger towns around the city had their own local heroes, but most of the smaller towns do not. The people there were on their own.
After the Gaps within the city were closed, there was a mad rush to close the Gaps that appeared within the region. According to Owlgirl, it took the heroes and villains over five days to close all the Gaps in Lantern City and the monsters had used that time to spread out across the region. The heroes and villains were still chasing down the monsters around Lantern City and the news are speculating if this was a one-off or could more Gaps appear around Nexus.
“You think the Gaps could appear in Velocity City? Have you heard something?” Victor asked.
“The State of Magic believes this may be the start of a natural incursion,” Victor took a deep breath upon hearing that, but Bar continued, “and the Big Three are mobilising as a result. The Captains of Justice have recalled Waveman from below the seas and both Alliance of Champions and The Fraternity of Heroes have recalled their cosmic heroes. They will not do that if they think this is a one-off.”
Victor could not help but feel fearful. Waveman was widely considered the most powerful hero on Nexus, and cosmic heroes were stationed outside the planet to prevent any interstellar forces from reaching Nexus. They would not be recalled without reason.
The world of Nexus was spilt among three major supergroups; The Alliance of Champions, The Fraternity of Heroes, and the Captains of Justice. These three may rule most of Nexus but there were other major organizations groups out there. The State of Magic was one of them. The organization of magic-users counted both heroes and villains among its members and they were considered the premier authority on magic on the planet. If they believed there would be more Gaps appearing, then that was almost a certainty.
“I haven’t heard anything about this being an incursion. Are you about the information?”
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“The Big Three are keeping thing quiet for the moment.” Bar replied with a shake of the head. “I think they are hoping the State of Magic are wrong. They don’t want to believe this could be the start of an incursion.”
At least that was something Victor could understand. Incursions occurred when two dimensions physically overlap with each other. When that happen, parts of the two overlapping worlds would disappear and move to the other dimension. Sometime the parts of the world that disappeared do not come back. The Ten Thousand Isles was once a big continent before an incursion moved most of the continent to another plane. Of course, the opposite is also true. There are sights, landmarks, and people on the planet that weren’t originally part of Nexus. Canon Lake was one such example. Another was the people Waveman came from. The Mermen species weren’t originally from Nexus. They came over when most of the landmass of the Ten Thousand Isles disappeared. Victor wondered if his Qi Island could be considered an incursion as well.
“How did you hear about this?” Victor asked.
“They are keeping things very quiet, but the State of Magic has been consulting with almost every master magic-users out there. Magical messages may not leave electronic trails, but people still talk.”
Another reason why Victor needed an information executive. Owlgirl’s group mostly consist of hackers.
“If this is the start of a natural incursion, things are about to get hot. Any word on how long it was last?”
“No, but the State of Magic must have some sort of plan. This isn’t the first time we had a natural incursion. The question is how much damage the incursion will do before the magic-users get their act together.”
Victor thought about it and realized that Bar was right. The State of Magic must have some sort of operating procedure for a natural incursion. No one wanted another Ten Thousand Isles incident. Unfortunately, Victor had no way of knowing what the magic-users would, or could, do about the incursion. Victor wasn’t a magic-user and even if there was a magic-user in this crew, they would not be powerful enough to be let in on the plan. In fact, the only magic-user he knew personally was his grandson, Zachery. There was no way the boy would know anything.
“So,” Bar asked after a pause, “is that information good enough for the job?”
Victor chuckled. “This lair is good enough for the job. I am just wondering how in the Gap you managed to keep this place a secret for so long. We may be friends but if I had known about this place, I would have taken it from you in a heartbeat.”
“Glad we could come to an agreement then.”
The two old friends laughed as Victor’s wrist communicator began vibrating.
Victor hit the "accept" button and a hologram projection sprang up. A woman in a waitress uniform was projected, and the villain immediately recognized his daughter. She did not look happy.
“Jennifer, is there a problem?”
“Oh, you can say that. There is a woman looking for you at the diner. Do you know a Koyuki Niwa?” Victor’s eyes widened at mention of the name. His daughter sighed at his silence and continued. “You need to get over here. She says she’s not leaving till she meets you.”
“Did she say why?”
Jennifer laughed. “Oh yes. She says she need your help. She says she is the mother of your son, and he is in big trouble. Just how many siblings do I have out there?”