Zinnia lead Coco out of the courthouse, where Sonar was waiting for them. After talking the mare out of her initial panic, Zinnia managed to convince her to climb onto Sonar’s back so that they could give her a ride home. Coco directed the massive drake towards one of the lower districts of Canterlot, populated by one-story homes and the occasional corner shop. Sonar touched down in front of a small house, discernible from the others by all but the painting of a purple fedora on the mailbox. Coco thank them both before hopping off of Sonar’s back and moving to the door. Zinnia watched her until she disappeared inside before sighing, tapping Sonar’s neck lightly to show she was ready. With three beats of his powerful wings, the Noivern had them in the air, rocketing skywards until they broke past the thin layer of clouds. He straightened out, gliding as Zinnia looked around.

"It’s beautiful," she said, leaning back and taking a deep breath.

"Indeed it is," Sonar replied, shifting slightly so that they banked to the left, leaving the sun directly behind them. "But I did not bring you here for the scenery. Something has been troubling you."

"How could you tell?" Zinnia asked with a sigh, running her hands absently through his thick, white, scarf-like fur.

"You have been quiet. You are not a quiet person." The drake paused as he sniffed at the air, climbing slightly. "What is wrong?"

Zinnia hesitated for a moment before answering. "You remember Jason?" she asked, waiting for the drake to nod before continuing. "Well… Long story short, his Grandma wanted him to try and have a kid with me."

"This is wondrous news!" Sonar boomed.

"Well, it was fun." Zinnia gave a half-hearted chuckle, placing a hand on her stomach. "But afterwards, we… we found something out…" She trailed off, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. Sonar noticed this and frowned, staring straight ahead.

"What did you find out?" he asked, struggling to control his emotions. He was angry, confused, and upset. But above all else, he was concerned.

"I…" she paused, choking on the words. "Sonar… I can’t have my own kids."

"W-what!?"

"I can give birth, b-but…" At this point she just let go, unable to hold back the tears anymore. "Th-they’d never l-l-last more… More than a week!" She screamed the last part, burying her face into Sonar’s back as she wept. The drake said nothing, silently changing coarse and descending.

When he landed, the drake leaned back and gently nudged Zinnia with his snout. The woman had almost cried herself to sleep, but she fought off her grogginess as she clambered off of Sonar’s back, turning to find herself staring at the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

A massive, crystal-clear lake spread out before her, an ethereal glow emanating from the centre. Hordes of Bug-Types flittered about, some seemingly dancing whilst others drank from the water. Small crystals littered the lakebed, with Water-Types swimming in and out and around each and every one.

"What is this place?" Zinnia whispered, afraid to disturb anything. She crouched down as a couple of curious Catterpie crawled over to her, reaching her hand out. One of them sniffed her briefly before nuzzling her, chirping happily.

"This is Paradise Lake." Sonar explained, leaning down for a drink himself. "The home of Emotion and the second of the Lakes of Existence."

"Emotion?" Zinnia echoed, a puzzled look on her face. "Second of… Sonar, did you bring me to Mesprit’s lake?!"

"Yes. I was born here, raised by an incredibly generous Beautifly after my mother passed during childbirth." He paused, looking across the lake before sighing. "Sadly, none from my childhood are here anymore, as my lifespan is much more than that of a Bug-Type."

"Oh Sonar, I’m so sorry!"

"It is quite alright. I came to terms with my loss many, many years ago." Sonar smiled, looking to the centre of the lake. "There is still one from my childhood, though she sleeps at the moment."

"...You’re talking about Mesprit, aren’t you?"

"Yes. When I was a child, Lady Mesprit would often walk among those who lived here, making sure each family had what they needed." His smile dropped for but a moment. "She was there when I was born, she visited me on each and every one of my birthdays. She comforted me when Mama B passed…" The drake wiped away a tear before turning to Zinnia, smiling sadly. "Would you like to meet her?"

"...yes…"

Sonar turned back to the lake before plunging his head under the water, letting out a roar. Zinnia could almost see the sound waves as they travelled towards a cave in the centre of the lake before the light faded. A moment later, a small, powder-blue pixie rose out of the water, shaking out her pink hair. Two long, thin tails hung below her, the red jewels that matched the one in her forehead shining in the sunlight. She looked around briefly before she spotted them, floating over with a smile on her face.

"Sonar, you’re back!" She spoke through their minds, her voice surprisingly reminiscent of P!NK. "How long has it been? Three, four hundred years?"

"Four hundred and twenty three." Sonar chuckled before gesturing to the awestruck woman beside him. "Lady Mesprit, this is Zinnia. She has recently gone through quite the emotional ordeal, and I thought you might be able to help."

"M-ma’am." Zinnia stuttered, bowing slightly.

"Firstly, it’s nice to meet you Zinnia." Mesprit began before rounding on Sonar, slapping him slightly with her tail. "Secondly, how many fucking times have I told you to drop the formalities! I helped to fucking raise you, ya twit!"

To say Zinnia was shocked would be an understatement. The first that ran through her mind after the display went along the lines of ‘jaw, meet floor’.

"So, what’s up with you, huh?" Mesprit asked, turning to Zinnia. The woman snapped out of her shock and explained what had been keeping her spirits down lately, the pixie just floated there, listening, nodding at random intervals. At one point her eyes drifted to Zinnia’s stomach, lingering for just a moment before shooting back up the her face. After about fifteen minutes of ranting - which included small parts of crying, shouting, cursing, and vowing revenge - Zinnia finished.

"And that’s pretty much it," she said, taking a deep breath. Mesprit remained quiet for a moment before nodding, her eyes glowing blue for a few minutes. When the glow subsided, she looked to Zinnia, a knowing grin on her face.

"Tell you what," the pixie began, patting Zinnia on the head. "Wait for your little hybrid there to pop out, then come back to me and tell me if you can’t have a kid."

"W-what!" Zinnia shrieked, causing Sonar to flinch. "B-but… Jason and… and Hodge, they…"

"Were wrong? Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me." Mesprit giggled, sitting on Sonar’s head. "Sounds to me like this Jason was looking for brain waves in an embryo that had just been fertilised - and yes, four days is enough for me to tell." The pixie shot Zinnia a look. "If you don’t believe me I’ll get a test for you to piss on. Anyway, Hodgepodge is clearly a Draconequus, and they’re not really reliable for a direct answer. Reality likes to fuck them over in response to their blatant disrespect for it’s rules."

"Oh, thank Arceus," Zinnia sighed, placing a hand against her forehead. "At least I don’t have to worry about that disease…"

"Oh no, that’s real." Mesprit said, her matter-of-fact shattering Zinnia’s hope. "But this kid’ll be fine. Uxie says her the combination of her parent’s blood gave her enough strength to survive it."

A moment passed. Then another. On the third moment, a deafening shriek of pure joy rang out across the lake, each and every Pokemon there recognising it as the cry of a joyful mother.

"I’m gonna have a little girl!" Zinnia shouted, jumping around Sonar with unrestrained joy. "I’m gonna have a little girl! I’m gonna have a little girl!"

"Zinnia, stop." Sonar laughed, placing his wing in the woman’s path and laughing again when she smacked into it. "I am happy for you, yes, but I think we should go now. It is clear that you are much happier, and I am sure Whiplash and Stryker would like to hear the good news."

And so, with a quick goodbye to Mesprit, Zinnia and Sonar took to the skies once more. They flew in silence, Zinnia just smiling serenely, until a voice rang out from seemingly nowhere.

"Delta Guardian! Zinnia?"

A portal opened in front of the two, and Zinnia grinned.

"Why not?" she asked herself, and Sonar put on a burst of speed. "I’m in a good mood. See you later, Sonar."

And with that, Zinnia tugged harshly on the Noivern’s fur, causing him to pull up sharply. She then dived over his shoulder, flying head-first into the portal.

A portal opened in the ceiling, a swirling black void of energy from which a tall, olive-skinned woman with short black hair fell, head first. The woman landed with a roll, stopping on her knees. She wore a pair of black skinny-jeans, a low-cut white tank top with floral-lace patterns, a black leather jacket with a fur-lined collar and a pair of black leather biker boots with a studded strap across the front of her calves. An identical copy of the draconic corkscrew was wound around her ankle. The woman stood, looking around before her eyes fell on Lance and Hiro.

"Hey guys!" she called, waving happily. "‘Name’s Zinnia. Who’re you?"

"Gunvolt." Lance said almost immediately, holding his hand out. "But you can call me Lance."

"Hiro Hamada."

"Nice to meet you guys." Zinnia said, shaking their hands. "So what’s… hey, that’s a Combusken!" she added, distracting herself when she saw the chicken-like Pokemon. "Awesome! Kinda wish I’d brought Sonar with me now so I could show off."

"Sonar?"

"My Noivern friend. Helps me take care of my Bagon son."

The room fell silent for a moment.

"What? He’s adopted!" Zinnia asked, crossing her arms defensively.

"Oh… right…" Lance sighed, seeing Zinnia pout a little to herself. "Well, on the subject, maybe you can help me out. Kai here, or you may know as my Combusken, is currently my only partner. Since Hiro is working on a way to modify my equipment, maybe you can help me out with training Kai."

"Sure, no problem." Zinnia replied, already stretching out her arms. "What’d you have in mind?"

"Well, I thought that if Kai were a Blaziken and knew Mega Evolution, that he would be a good partner in the field. Of course, my Breezie companion Lumen is really good, but it’s good to have someone on your side that can fight."

"I heard that!!" Lumen shouted from atop BAYMAX’s head.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." The Adept sighed. They heard BAYMAX analyse Lumen’s behaviour and hypothesize that the reason for her "mood swings" was because of puberty. This however, did nothing to solve the problem as Lumen just got more enraged. During this moment, Lance and Zinnia asked Hiro if there was a place that they could train without the craziness. He nodded, giving the two of them instructions to the Gym that was down the hall and to the left. Kai followed the two Displaced as they entered the room.

"Is… Is this a Pokemon Gym?" the woman asked, looking around in confusion. "How’d they manage that?"

"Yeah, I do see it’s similarities." Lance sighed. "Now, how should we get started, Ms. Zinnia?" The Adept thought that speaking to her politely would be the best for her in the long run since he did not know how she was like personality wise.

"First off," Zinnia began, holding up a finger. "Drop the Miss. Zinnia’s fine, or even Zoey, since that was my name before all this." She walked out into the centre of the battlefield, shrugging off her jacket and throwing it to the side lines. "Second, to answer your question, I’m gonna fight him. Best way to learn something is by doing it, after all." Zinnia rolled her shoulders, loosening up in preparation before she began punching at the air.

"You… fight Kai? Aren’t you going to get yourself hurt?"

"What, ‘cuz I’m a girl?" Zinnia crossed her arms, glaring at the Adept. "I’ll have you know I held my own against a genocidal lizard monster."

"O… kay, don’t say I didn’t warn you though." The Adept said as the Combusken looked at him. "Kai…… Sick ‘em."

The Combusken immediately nodded as it charged in, performing a Double Kick in order to catch Zinnia off guard. Zinnia, however, just smirked, crossing her arms in front of her, causing a green bubble of energy to expand, bouncing the Combusken back with her Protect. She followed this up by leaping forward, the barrier shattering before he as a purple energy surrounded her hand, forming a Dragon Claw hat she raked over the Pokémon's chest, knocking him back.

"Not bad." she commented, leaping back to her original spot. "Fast and powerful. But you need to work on technique. I saw you coming before you were coming. Observe."

Zinnia lunged forwards, going for a punch and causing the Combusken to step back. However, instead of following through, she fell forwards, using her momentum to roll forwards before kicking out, catching the Fire-Type in the abdomen. She flipped to her feet, cracking her knuckles as Kai pulled himself up before rushing at her, his body coated in swirling flames. The move he was pulling off was Flame Charge, a fire based attack that also increased the Pokémon's speed. Zinnia’s reflexes weren’t prepared for when the Pokemon used the attack to get behind her and strike her cloak using it’s third ability, Slash.

Zinnia wasn’t hurt, though. She’d just received a small tear in her clothes, but she didn’t let it slow her down. A few more quick strikes had Kai work on his speed as he dodged side to side, but a jab-kick to the chest sent him flying backwards a few feet as he was working to get up off the ground.

"This is getting boring. I'm starting to think fighting you would be better, Lancey-boy." Zinnia said, yawning slightly.

"I don’t think you would want to fight me, Zinnia." The Adept replied, sighing to himself.

"And why not, exactly?"

"I have more abilities than just my Septima or what you see as my lightning… Say… are you familiar with Dragon Ball Z?"

Zinnia was about to reply, but Lance cut her off by performing an Instant Transmission and showing up behind her, catching her by surprise. "Yeah, I know some Ki based abilities and have been practicing on some others. I even taught myself how to perform the Kamehameha."

"Care to demonstrate? Or is it a bit crowded in here?"

"Maybe later," Lance began, smirking as he looked over Zinnia's shoulder. "You're busy right now."

"I am?" Zinnia kicked out behind her, not even looking as she caught Kai across the beak. "I'm not really feeling challenged."

A frustrated growl came from behind the girl, who turned around, staring slack-jawed with Lance as Kai began glowing a bright white, blue energy swirling around him. His form grew taller, long hair flowing down his back and talon-like claws replacing his wing-hands. His feet flattened out, he fur extending to act as a pair of pseudo-trousers. The glow burst, leaving the scarlet chook stood there in all his Blaziken glory. Zinnia smirked, turning back to Kai as flames surrounded his legs. She braced herself as Kai rushed in, delivering a powerful Blaze Kick to her side and sending her flying back. Zinnia hit the wall, sliding to the floor.

"Zinnia!" Lance shouted, before rounding on Kai. "Kai, what were-" he stopped, a light chuckling filling the room. Lance and Kai turned to see Zinnia’s shoulders shaking, her head hanging limp until she glanced up at them, a deranged look in her eyes.

"Hehe… Hehe..." she growled, now looking like a battle crazed fighter. "Now this is more like it!!"

"Kai…… Are you sure you can handle this?"

The Blaziken turned to face Lance, only slightly nodding. He showed another motion, pointing at Lance’s Coat pocket and cuffing his wrist before turning to face Zinnia again, dodging the incoming Dragon Claws that surged from her hands. As the Adept moved out of the way, he felt something in the same coat pocket that Kai was pointing at moments ago. While Zinnia had her back turned and was dodging the series of attacks that was being thrown at her, the Azure Striker found a cobalt bracer that contained a glowing gem. Quickly and unknown to the Delta Guardian, he placed it on his wrist, but became concerned for his partner when Zinnia struck Kai across the chest with a Shadow Claw that knocked the Blaziken backwards. That concern faded away, however, when Kai hopped back on his feet and brushed the dust off of his shoulders.

"You can drop the tough guy act, you know," Zinnia stated, blocking one of Kai’s jabs and retaliating with a right hook to his beak. "You don’t have to impress me.

All the Blaziken did was smile, but as he opened his jaw, the Delta Guardian noticed something in his beak. A stone of sorts. In a moment of realization, she looked down at her Mega Anklet and then at Lance’s wrist, which now bore a Mega Bracer that matched his colour scheme.

"Oh, come on!"

"Let’s go, Kai!!" Lance said, placing his open palm on the Keystone embedded into his Bracer, pink energy swirling around the Blaziken in a sphere. After a moment, Kai burst out, now looking like he’d just stepped out of a side-scrolling beat-’em-up game. The twin horns atop his mask-like head had merged into a single horn, curved backwards in the centre of his forehead, framed on both sides by the cream fur that swept back like wings. More fur adorned his torso in what seemed to be a homage to a torn muscle shirt, charcoal-coloured feathers lying beneath the fur and down his thighs. Ribbons of flame danced from the Mega Blaziken’s wrists, and his powerful legs just looked all the more muscular as he fell into a ‘Crane Kick’ stance.

"Fine then, tough guy!" Zinnia growled, before Roaring at the Mega Blaziken with all of her might, the sheer power of her voice pushing him back. "Bring it! Mess me up! I bet you I couldn’t even trust you to tap me, let alone punch me!"

Kai took this as a challenge, stomping his foot on the ground and causing smoke to rise everywhere, obscuring Zinnia’s vision. In her confusion, Kai managed to get behind her and struck her in the back with a Sky Uppercut - this time actually hitting her, and hard. She gasped in pain and coughed up a little blood as she tried to regain her balance, dropping to her hands and knees. Lance, however, could see something else, and called out just as Kai began charging again.

"Kai, stop!!"

The Blaziken actually listened to its trainer this time, watching his opponent carefully as the smoke cleared. Zinnia just looked at the boy in confusion. "W-why did you stop?"

"Kai’s strike did more than hurt you I think…… You have wings now."

"I-I have what?" Zinnia asked, peering over her shoulder as she did so. Sure enough, two large, draconic wings had sprouted on her back, with black, bone-like armour along their spines. The leathery skin was a deep, royal purple, and it folded perfectly when she rested her wings against her back. "Well, this is… new," she said, unfolding and folding them to get used to her new limbs and muscles. She even practiced folding the wings in front of her like she was trying to defend herself. "Okay, I have to admit. This is pretty fucking cool! Now… to test them out…" She said with an evil grin, looking at Lance.

"Remember when you said that you would demonstrate your powers later, Sparky? Well, now is later." Lance was going to argue, but decided not too. He was working with just small portions of his Ki, so he had no intentions to harm her. Shrugging, he put both hands in front of him and then put them behind the Adept, charging up a sapphire like energy.

"Kame… Hame… HA!!"

The Small Ki Blast was powerful, but when Zinnia folded her wings, the outer surface caused the attack to reflect, bursting through a window. She staggered a bit due to the Electric tingle that she felt through her entire body because of the blast, but could tell that it wasn’t an attack at full power given how she was able to easily block it.

"Well… That’s quite interesting." Lance said as he straightened himself up.

"Y-yeah," Zinnia hissed, clenching her teeth. She could still feel the sparks dancing across her winds, surprised at how durable they were despite being so sensitive. "I guess I’m weak to Electric attacks…"

"Wait… did I hurt you?"

"A little, kinda like a pinch. Unpleasant, and it hurts at the moment, but overall harmless." The Azure Striker sighed a little, relieved as he soon noticed that Hiro was walking in.

"Hey, Lance. I was going to check on you and- HOLY-!!!" The teenager said in reaction to seeing Zinnia’s wings. "W-what the Heck is THAT!?!"

Zinnia looked around before turning back to Hiro and pointing to herself. When Hiro merely nodded, the Delta Guardian sighed, pulling herself to her feet and folding her wings.

"It’s me, jackass. Zinnia," she said, glaring at the young Sun Fransokyo native.

"Seriously!? You’re half dragon? That’s AWESOME!!!" Hiro said as BAYMAX soon came into the room, directing his gaze at Zinnia. "Hello, I am BAYMAX. Your personal healthcare companion… You seem to be in pain. Let me scan you now."

Zinnia was about to protest, but after a moment, she decided to just let BAYMAX do his thing. "Scan complete. Subject seems to be young for a dragon her age, but is in the first few stages of……" He spoke, raising a hoof upward. "Pregnancy."

That, caught Lance off guard. "What the F-? You’re Pregnant!?"

"Yeah, and?" Zinnia huffed, crossing her arms. "And I’m thirty years old, I can make decisions for myself."

"Well… I honestly didn’t know about either of those things." Lance replied. "Sorry for my outburst."

"It’s fine. I’d have probably done the same," Zinnia said, sighing. The Adept nodded, looking at Hiro. "So Hiro, care to explain the reason why you came here?"

"Well, I was going to tell you that I completed the changes you asked me to make and, with some field tests, your weapons are ready for action." The young boy replied, handing both weapons to him. They felt good in the Adept’s hands - comfortable, but not too heavy. Lance took a moment to switch the clips in both weapons to Dullahan and fired one shot from each of his guns, both of them striking the wall with a lot more power than before.

"Oh this feels good. Matter of fact, better than good. Thanks man!"

"No problem. Oh, and I found this in the stockroom. Not sure how it got there, but I thought that you would want to have a look at it." Hiro flipped a gold coin to Lance as both he and BAYMAX left the room. As the Adept looked at the coin, he noticed an Emblem in the shape of a monkey and a voice talking to him.

"What's up? I'm Sun Wukong, The Stray Faunus. Just simply shoot the coin to call upon me for anything you might need help with."

To Lance, the voice seemed… familiar. Like a family member he knew.

"What is it?" Zinnia asked, peering at the coin in Lance’s hands. "A token?"

"Yeah. For someone named Sun Wukong. However, that guys voice… somehow reminds me of my cousin Sean. Mind if I keep this, or do you think that there's a way where you can have-."

Before Lance could finish his sentence, another coin dropped from the ceiling and bounced off of Zinnia’s shoulder, falling to the ground with a soft *clink*

"-one."

"Huh," Zinnia said, bending down to grab the coin and hearing the message for herself. "Neat."

"Any idea who this Sun Wukong guy might be?" Lance asked.

"Isn’t he some kind of ancient Chinese story?"

"Maybe… But then again, one name can be multiple things. I know of Wukong, the champion in League of Legends. But something told me that this might be different." Lance explained. "After all, they said to shoot the coin, which means that this guy is probably familiar with firearms or something."

"It doesn’t have to be firearms though, you can shoot arrows from a bow." Zinnia reminded the Adept. "And you technically shoot magic attacks at people."

"Right… I’ll have to try it out when I have the time." Lance said. "So… anything else we need to do before I send you back?"

"Does Kai know Flamethrower yet? Because I think I can teach him." The Blaziken shook his head, pointing at the fire around one of his feet, his closed fist, and his claws. "Oh, so you know Blaze Kick, Sky Uppercut and Slash?"

"Wait… You can talk to Pokemon?" The Adept asked, a little bit surprised.

"I can outright talk to Dragon Types, but most have a sort of sign language."

"I see." he replied. thinking to himself a little. "Hang on… a Fighting types weakness is Psychic right… and Blaziken can know Shadow Claw… Do you think you can teach him that so Kai can have a backup plan when he’s put up against his weakness?"

"Sure, no problem," Zinnia said, walking over to the Blaziken - who by now had reverted to his regular form. She held up her hand, curling it into a vaguely clawed shape. "Focus on your negative feelings. Command the shadows themselves to become your weapon." She paused, watching Kai do as instructed. His shadow twitched slightly, and Zinnia smirked at his quick progress. "Now, pull them into your hand. Wrap them around your claws. Sharpen them until they can slice through the air itself."

Lance watched in awe as Kai’s shadow was seemingly sucked into his feet before his talon was coated in darkness, a faint purple outline creating a black claw. He began to clap as he walked over. "Great job, Zinnia!"

"Thanks, it was nothing. I just told him what I do." Zinnia replied, rubbing the back of her head as a light blush coated her cheeks. "I gotta say, teaching’s actually kinda fun."

"Depends on who you are teaching." Lance sighed a little. "Or the teacher. Majin Buu taught me my Ki abilities."

"Majin Buu? There’s a Majin Buu?" Zinnia began vibrating with excitement. "Oh, I’ve gotta meet him! What’s hiss token? Does he even have a token? Did he come here or did you go to him? Wait, what’s he like? Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Did he use the Chocolate Beam!?"

"He’s a good guy, but I don’t know all the details. His token looks like this." Lance told her, holding up an orb with the Majin M on it that almost resembled a jawbreaker. "Oh and apparently, he refers to himself as Gum that can destroy planets."

"Nice, I’ll have to keep an eye out for him."

"When you do see him, tell him I said Hi!" Lance said as Lumen flew over and landed on his shoulder. He handed her his token, a hairpin with a pair of open wings like the one he wore on the end of his braid. "Alright, Zinnia. Our contract is complete."

"Cool. See you around, dude!" She said, just before the spectral head of a Rayquaza shot out of the ground, closing its jaws around her before exploding in a shower of stardust.

Zinnia came out of the portal in the exact spot as where she left, freefalling for a moment before she spread her new wings, catching the air and beginning to glide. She saw Sonar in the distance and flew over to him, smirking at his reaction when he saw her new appendages. As they flew home, Zinnia filled the drake in with all that had happened, smiling wider with each of his reactions. After a time, Canterlot came into view, and Zinnia prepared to put on a boost of speed when a bout of dizziness overcame her. Sonar caught her before she could fall, holding her gently in his claws as she vomited. Sonar cringed, waiting for the woman to finish before moving to land in the same hangar he had arrived in.

As soon as he placed Zinnia down, she sprinted down the hallway, turning into the bathroom and dropping to her knees in front of the toilet. Whiplash rushed in, cringing when the sound hit her ears before kneeling beside Zinnia, running her hand up and down the woman’s back.

“You okay?” the Pegasus asked once Zinnia’s retching had died down. She smiled at Stryker, who had brought in a small glass of water for his mother, a worried look on his face.

“Y-yeah…” Zinnia shuddered, accepting the drink and gulping it down greedily. “Th-this is good.”

“How is being sick good?” Stryker asked, head tilted to the left in confusion.

“Oh, Stryker.” Zinnia smiled. “Sweet little Stryker.”

“You’re gonna be a brother.” Next Chapter: The Darkness Rises Again Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 28 Minutes