Viper gets a text message from Chandra stating:
Chandra - Hey Viper, mind if we meet somewhere? I have some news to share with you about Nova. Things are uh. Getting more intense as time goes on. I am currently no longer affiliated with them.
Viper perks up mid sip of a can of Monster energy as she checks her phone and reads it, then raises an eyebrow as she responds,
Viper - I wouldn't mind at all, should I bring anything with me?
Chandra - You shouldn't need anything, but it's up to you. Meet me at Chipper Roasters in the city. I'll be there shortly.
Viper - Alright, I’ll be there soon.
After finishing her Monster and throwing the can away, she grabs her concealed carry holster and the Dagger of the Avatars, then gets into her truck to get to Chipper Roasters.
Over in the city, the once highly-popular coffee shop Chipper Roasters now stands nearly abandoned and lifeless. The place still looks as familiar as before with its darker wooden interiors, rather bountiful boardgame selection, and small but tasty menu. What's different is the crowd or lack thereof. Out at the porch patio outside sits Chandra not wearing his iconic suit, slacks, and tie, and instead a plain black hoodie and sweats. His face looks heavily injured with more scarring than before and now a bandage covering his left eye. He sits outside waiting for Viper to arrive sipping something from his coffee mug. When Viper arrives, she steps out of her truck wearing a baggy pair of pants and a hoodie pulled over her head to make it harder for people to figure out who she is. She then approaches Chandra and asks, “what’s up?”
Chandra looks up with a frown. "It's a mess and it's all my fault. Allow me to start from the beginning." He takes another sip from his coffee. Viper smells something strong coming from it, like an alcohol of some kind. "So since the last time we spoke, Spark was completely silent and stopped speaking to me. It was shortly after that fight I had with him where I was nearly killed. Not a lot happened past that, like his plan was paused, but then fast forward to last week.” He pauses and looks to the sky with a wistful look on his face. "Spark and I fought one last time last week, but I couldn't do anything to him. I was able to land some blows to his face, but it wasn't worth much. I am also no longer co-leader. I am banished from Nova Heart and lucky to be alive.”
Viper listens as she nods along and sighs, "That...puts a wrench in my plan but I can still try to stop him. I have a couple new tools in my arsenal. Granted they need to be sharpened up, but they are tools none the less. I would say this would make it easier for you to amend your relationship with Luna but I doubt it, any ideas on how I can slow his plan? Disrupt things a little more?"
Chandra nods and opens his phone, then speaks while reading it, "Well, I wanted to speak with you in person because I’ve found a weakpoint in his plan, and it was all because of you. Simply put, mana, as you've probably learned, is a very strange concept. Mana doesn't always have to come from inside you. Sometimes, it can come from other sources. I've learned why he wanted to have control over the city. To make a long and genuinely confusing story short, his Mana Source comes from having control over others. He's basically feeding from the mana from our citizens, which connects directly to his current strength. If we could find a way to release this control over others, we’ll weaken him to be able to stop him.”
Viper nods along as he talks then thinks for a moment and answers, "So you want me to basically sever his control over people so that I can basically one shot him?” After a pause to think it over, Viper then asks, “How would I even begin to do that? Is there some special way or is it just a matter of convincing the people in the city that he's bad news?"
Chandra shakes his head, "Even if his control is fully severed, he's still a powerful Wizard. Not to mention, he has two more pieces on his side. The first piece is my replacement, January Solaire, former LEADER of Solaire Enterprises. The second piece is his daughter and LUNA 3.0 model Elara, codenamed Hypernova. To reach Spark, you will need to get past these two which have basically formed a defensive barrier against him. Furthermore, his control doesn't just extend to the citizens but also many of the Creatures of Legend that he's captured. Ironically, I believe that's his biggest weakpoint right now."
Viper thinks for a moment after listening and asks "How would I get the Creatures of Legend out of his control? If I can do that, I can only hope that it'll snowball into getting his two side pieces to fall away."
For the first time all evening, Viper notices Chandra smile. He pulls out a set of blueprints that he no doubt snatched before leaving Nova and points out the plan while explaining, "I'm glad you've asked. The Creatures of Legend are being held at Nova Heart, basement level B6. Find your way to the elevator without getting caught, get down to B6, and you'll find them all. All of them will be sleeping soundly, so you shouldn't run into any issues. They'll also be locked up in glass cages. Find a way to release them and you'll remove a big chunk of his mana. I would also suggest not going alone, unless you are sure you can handle yourself."
Viper nods, "I'm likely gonna need help but that would either be someone that can teleport or someone that's on the inside with me. Like someone who could disable the cameras and lock the doors to prevent people from seeing what I'm doing."
Chandra thinks for a few moments then smiles gently, "I can assist with the camera disabling, but I will need to hide away. Last thing I need is to get caught. Failing that, you could ask your coworkers back in Nova. Leonidas and Artemis may be willing to help. Not to mention, their role there is basically done. Doesn't help the AAA's Peacekeeping Unit is looking for them for their roles in the Flesh Pile Murders. That said, whatever I’m able to help with, I want to. Just say the word and I will be there. Safety be damned!”
Viper nods as she sighs, "Right...I might have to get my hands dirty if I'm getting them involved, I don't like forcing people to do stuff for me but I can't risk them ratting me out for brownie points with Spark." She raps her hands on the table.
Chandra nods in agreement, "right, I do want to apologize to you as well. I'm sorry for getting you caught up in this, but at the same time, thank you for working with me. I know my relationship with my sister will likely never be fixed, but I want to try and help where I can. At least... until I'm laid to rest once more. If you have questions, please ask away. I will tell you all I know."
Viper nods then she shakes her head as she snickers, "No no, I got myself into this on purpose. This is my job after all. I don't think I've ever explained this to anyone but...I'm apart of CGI's disruption branch. It’s designed to disrupt businesses or companies if they draw too close to getting bigger than CGI." She grabs a small wallet from her pocket and slides it to Chandra, "I know just how much shit I'm in, and honestly? This is the most fun I've had in a while, not including all the time I spend with Luna and Hinata.”
Chandra inspects the wallet with a look of genuine curiosity on his face. "Disruption branch? I cannot say I've ever heard of such a thing. Gods Above, I really did hit the jackpot here didn't I? And I am glad you're enjoying yourself. Mom always said that if you're enjoying your job, you'll never work a day in your life." Like brother to sister albeit adopted, Viper notices a similar air of curiosity to Luna from Chandra. The wallet holds a small green and black badge with a gold outline around it that has the phrase "CGI DISRUPTION BRANCH" embroidered on it.
Viper nods with a smile on her face, "Granted, I don't have any legal power, but people see a badge like that in one of those wallets and they tend to believe you have legal power. I'm supposed to disclose that I don’t, but I haven't gotten in trouble yet so.." she shrugs with the same smile on her face.
Chandra chuckles, "Interesting, super interesting even. So right, uhm. I'm sure you'll do fine with this task. Is there anything, anything at all, I can do to assist you? Like, I want to help as much as you do." Viper starts to notice how much more casual-sounding he's becoming. Perhaps he's finally feeling comfortable, again another parallel between adopted brother and sister. "Oh and if I never shared my real name, it's Alexander, even if Mom doesn't typically accept my name or gender choice.”
Viper rolls her eyes at the mention of mothers and lowers her head slightly, "If it's any help, my mother hated the idea that I was gonna go down the route of chemistry. She wanted me to go into the medical field, or… I think it was something like a nuclear engineer? I don't remember after all these years honestly."
Chandra’s head hangs realizing he hit on a touchy subject, "E-Erm, sorry for bringing that up. Really what matters most is we do what makes us happiest. But um.. yeah, I think that's all I had to tell you." He goes back to his phone to make sure everything he needed to bring up was brought up, "actually no, there's one more thing. Did you receive a text message from Spark in the past few days?"
Viper waves her hand dismissively, "Eh, it's fine, mothers are gonna mother." She takes the wallet back and slips it into her pocket. Then after a couple moments to think, Viper replies, "Now that I think about it, I don't think I have. Granted, he mentioned something about me, Artemis, and Leonidas having time off a while ago because we did such a good job."
Chandra nods in understanding, "Yes, that was my idea. I wasn't aware of his exact plan with the Stardust at that point, so I figured giving you three some time away from Nova would be for the best. I didn't realize it would lead to the enslavement of my city and the capturing of nearly all Legends. Before I took my chance and tried to end Spark myself (despite failing miserably), I was told of a final staff meeting happening in the next few days, and that all ADMINs are required to attend. I’m guessing you weren't informed?" Chandra asks though rubbing his arm in the process. You notice he has some heavy bandaging on that arm.
Viper raises an eyebrow as she folds her arms, "Is his plan to not tell me about the meeting in order to fire me or something? I mean it would've worked if you hadn't told me. Uh should I text him and ask if there's a meeting I should be attending soon?"
Chandra looks up at the sky in thought, then responds, "Honestly? Probably. Spark is a massively immature fool with magical power beyond belief. Despite his strength, he is completely unfit to run a company much less a footrace. If you wish to keep your credentials, i.e. your access to my World, I would recommend texting him. You know, so we can continue to fight undeterred."
Viper nods as she pulls her phone out and navigates to Spark's contact and texts:
Viper - Hey, just checking in am I needed for anything? Meetings or otherwise? I'd hate to lose my place in this wonderful company.
Less than a minute later, Viper gets the following response
Spark - Ah Rasalhague! Yeah. The final staff meeting is happening on Monday and I would like it if you attended. It would be *truly awful* if you missed out on it. I attempted to contact you, but for some reason, I could not reach you.
Chandra is still looking up at the sky with a relieved smile.
Viper smirks.
Viper - I'm more than available to attend that meeting on monday. It’s weird that you couldn't reach me, but I'm sure it's not your fault at all.
She then turns the phone to show Chandra as she rolls her eyes, "That's what his fuckass plan was."
Still looking up into the nearly moonless sky, Chandra shakes his head, "I had a strong feeling. I hate that I'm no longer part of Nova, unable to continue to spy and find ways to defeat him, but at the same time, I am glad to be away from him and the evergrowing moon back home."
Viper nods as she puts her phone away, "Don't worry, I can more than handle myself, I just have to be far more careful.”
Chandra nods. "Right, thank you for all of the help. Just keep in touch with me okay? I'm gonna be hanging out in Fairview for the time being. With what Spark's doing to the moon, I cannot be there in Capital City unless I'm absolutely needed. Makes me feel too sick otherwise."
Viper nods as she gets ready to stand up "I'll make sure to keep you alert of everything that's happening, don't worry"
"Thank you. I'll be staying with mom for the time being. If you need me for anything, anything at all, you have my number." Chandra stands up and focuses himself with a deep breath. Then with an overexaggerated clap, he disappears.
Viper huffs as she turns back around and gets into her truck to head back home.