The Girls on Tour jet landed in North Diessen, at the airport closest to the newly-opened Artabanos Canal. Before deboarding her lovely pink jet, the Archbishop examined herself in a full-body length mirror, eyeing every seam of her blue gown. The Artabanos Canal project was very expensive, and so the Archbishop made sure to look equally as expensive as the project itself. Mikaela thought that her colour choice for her gown was rather clever, with blue resembling the colour of water.

As the Archbishop approached the door to descend and exit from the jet, she noticed that Captain Jimin was standing ready to bid her a warm farewell as he always does.

"Thanks for yet another safe flight, Captain Jimin. Smooth as butter as always," Mikaela smiled.

"Not to worry, it's my pleasure, Your Holiness."

"By the way, I'm also so sad to hear about the permanent disbandment of your band, BTS. Just know that you will always have a position as my pilot, for as long as you'd like!"

"Thank you! Well... actually, that's just thing. We actually disbanded because of that," Captain Jimin stated rather meekly.

"Oh?"

"Yes, I mean, you pay me way better as pilot than Mr. Bang ever did as a member of BTS! I also much prefer flying to singing, to be honest. I'm much more passionate about the work I do for you, and I'd like to do it all the time! I will fly you wherever you need to go."

"Aww, Captain Jimin, you are too sweet. It's my pleasure. I knew that paying you a 18.5 million Inquisto salary per year was a good investment, despite what my personal accountant Rhonda had to say," Mikaela answered proudly.

"A great investment, that's for sure! We gotta fire Rhonda," Silas stated, suddenly appearing from behind Mikaela. "Have you seen what people are saying on Twitter? It's amazing!"

Mikaela looked puzzled. "No, what?"

"Literally every teenage girl on this planet is attacking you right now. I've never seen so many death threats!" Silas explained in amusement. "You're single-handedly being blamed for the disbandment of BTS. #KligenbergIsToBlame #KligenbergEndedBTS #MikaelaKligenbergIsAWitch are all trending on Twitter!"

"That's horrible!" Mikaela responded in bewilderment, grabbing Silas' phone to scroll through Twitter comments. "How could you say it's amazing!?"

"Well, 16-year olds can't vote..."

"So, and?"

"... but adults can. Take a look at our latest polling numbers. They're all up, across the board! Your approval rating has never been higher. Every demographic above the age of 18 almost universally approve of the BTS disbandment. Our largest demographic support base, the Himbos, are especially approving of the fact you ended BTS. Re-election in next year's elections is all but certain for us!" Silas gleamed in excitement.

"Aww, but I feel horrible now! I don't want to break the hearts of all these girls," Mikaela sighed.

"It's really fine, Your Holiness. Don't blame yourself. I really want to move forward with this career, with you, forever," Captain Jimin assured, patting the Archbishop on the back.

"I can't believe this is the second time I've done this, after I convinced Chris Kirkpatrick to go solo from NSYNC," the Archbishop pouted.

"Who?" Captain Jimin and Silas asked in unison.

"Well, not my best moment. Who knew that Justin Timberlake would be the one to break out from the group?"

"I mean..." Silas began.

"Don't worry Captain Jimin, we will take good care you, especially after such a sacrifice," Mikaela said, turning back towards Captain Jimin, and giving him a steady smile. Captain Jimin simply nodded in return.

"Anyway, let's go. We're gonna be late," Silas announced, prodding Mikaela forward.

The Archbishop and Bishop Secretary quickly descended from the aircraft and to their limousine, which then promptly drove them towards the canal opening party. The road to the party location followed along the canal, and the Archbishop and Bishop Secretary admired the water as they drove along. Silas grinned every time the limousine passed a billboard that advertised its opening.

Silas had recently invested significantly into a consortium of Inimican and Diessenar shipping and transportation companies, all of which were looking to greatly profit from the opening of the canal. Silas thought it best to see the opening of the canal himself, and to meet with some of his billionaire 'friends' who would likely be in attendance as well.

"I hope nobody minds me crashing the party, I didn't RSVP to the invitation," Silas wondered.

"That's fine, but you should have told me you were coming. If we have table, there might not be a seat for you."

"Perfectly alright, someone can just sit on my lap and use me as a seat instead," Silas retorted, looking pleased with himself.

The Archbishop visibly shuddered and instead just looked out of her window. "You know, I flew right over the canal not long ago and it wasn't even close to being done, but now it is! Isn't it funny how time works soooooo fast in our world sometimes?"

"Just tell that to the cyclists in Angleter," Silas murmured. "Say, don't you think we should have traveled here by yacht? We could have pulled up straight to the party."

Mikaela's eyes widened the moment Silas suggested that they travel by yacht. The Archbishop was overcome with PTSD as she remembered crashing a yacht into an Inimican port.

"We could have stopped by in Spain and picked up President Aguilar. I hear the Spanish are great seafearers," Silas added.

The Archbishop nervously laughed as her face turned red with embarrassment. "Oh? Really? Good to know!" Mikaela replied while gritting her teeth.

"Look at the canal! Isn't it so beautiful?" Mikaela stated, quickly changing the subject. "Well, obvi it is, because is named after Artabanos himself, who is so handsome! It makes so much sense to name something so beautiful it after someone like him!"

"But what does that say about you, then? The only thing named after you is some shitty school in the middle of nowhere in Czech Slavia that teaches kids to shovel dirt for a living," Silas replied with confusion.

"Hey, Si! The children are our future."

"Is that why you're collecting them like Pokémon cards? You've got like, what, three now?"

"Si! You're talking about your niece and nephews!" Mikaela responded rather angrily, then turning her body away from Silas and falling silent. It was rather rare for the Archbishop to get upset, but Silas managed to strike a nerve.

The Inquistans sat in silence until finally arriving at the party. Silas got out first and walked around the limousine to the other side of the vehicle, and opened the door for Mikaela, who Silas then helped out.

"We're probably the last to arrive," Silas remarked. The Archbishop didn't respond. "True to its meaning, we're fashionably late, because you look so great, and so glamorous in your dress. Easily the best dressed here tonight," Silas added.

"Alright, I forgive you!" Mikaela let out in exacerbation, as if she was holding her breath. "I can never hold a grudge against you!"

"That must have been the hardest five minutes of your life," Silas laughed.

The Bishop Secretary offered his arm to the Archbishop, ready to escort her into the party. The Archbishop smiled and wrapped her arm around his.

"I need something to drink," Mikaela suggested.

Silas nodded approvingly. "Now you're speaking my language. Let's beeline."

The duo headed straight to the drinks. The Archbishop grabbed herself a glass, while the Bishop Secretary took glasses in both of his hands. "Cheers!" they toasted in perfect synchronisation.

Madrid, Spain
21st June 2022

It was another sunny day in Madrid, with temperatures decreasing as summer was due to arrive in a couple of hours that morning, around 11:15 Spanish time. Madrid woke up with more police officers than it had when the madrileños went to sleep, and it could be seen that the city was preparing itself for the big event of the year: the Telum Treaty summit. On June 24th, Spain would suspend any and all free travel agreements for matters of national security, to avoid the arrival of anti-Telum group and controlling who and what entered the country. Of course, this would cause severe disruptions for anybody trying to spend some days on a Mediterranean beach in Andalusia, or to eat some tapas at Nueva Antequera, but security on the most important summit Spain would have ever held was the first Government's priority.

That morning, the Spanish President Jesús Aguilar had a really busy agenda: he had woken up at 6 in the morning and prepared breakfast for his whole family, before taking them to work or school, as his wife's car had broken down the previous day, so that day he exceptionally delayed the Extraordinary Cabinet Meeting to 10 in the morning so he could take every single member of his family to their correspondent place on time. In the end, he was not nicknamed as the ‘Papacito’ for doing anything, but rather being a caring, worried and compromised father, even if his work never allowed him to enjoy as much time as he would love to spend with his family.

After the Consejo de Ministros meeting ended, which only agreed to take to the Congreso de los Diputados the Electoral law reform, and in which Jesús Aguilar announced his Ministers the intentions Ciudadanos had and what the answer of the Partido Popular was going to be like, the whole Cabinet had lunch together before every single Minister departed the Palacio de la Moncloa. Everyone, except Alfonso Dastis, who during the half an hour both had before receiving the Elthics gave the Spanish President enough information about what Jesús Aguilar could expect that afternoon. It was always thankful to have an expert like Alfonso next to you in those situations.

Half an hour later, and very punctual, the motorcade carrying Aguilar's Elthic guests made its appearance in the Palacio de la Moncloa, stopping two minutes later in front of the Consejo de Ministros' building, where Jesús Aguilar not only had met with his cabinet that morning, but also where he worked and received his international guests. A member of the Spanish Secret Service who was the driver of the motorcade of Aguilar's guests opened the door, and Aguilar smiled, before the Elthic President walked up the little steps and both shook hands. "Mr. Grimwald, welcome to Spain! Nice to see you again."

Tobias was not expecting anyone besides Oscar to hear him, so the opposite happening was so embarrassing that he had to excuse himself to the bathroom. Meanwhile, the rest had arrived at Grimwald's office, who noticed that Tobias was gone the moment he sat at his seat.

"That's awkward... Oscar, where's Toby?"

"He had a... minor inconvenience, let's say," Oscar replied, trying to cover the thing, which Grimwald wasn't aware of. "Well, anyway, is there anything our guests want?" Oscar was eager to change the subject.

"You can excuse yourself, Oscar. I'll call Jan. Ladies, gentlemen, would you like a beverage? Hot? Cold? We recently got some of that Leagioan desert tea. I haven't tried it but my wife likes it, so there. We have some sweets, too, if you'd rather have that."

After taking everyone's order, Grimwald did not wait for them to arrive and started talking.

"Well, welcome once again. I'm glad that we're having this summit. We have a lot to talk about so I'll not waste our time. So, as you probably know, we, the Elthics, don't like getting into conflicts with other countries. We'd like to avoid them as much as possible. We try to keep our relations good and let the free market win, by that I mean set up free trade agreements, have more foreign companies enter into Elthize, more investment and jobs, et cetera, et cetera... And because of this, we don't want to pick sides. For example, we don't want to join either ECON or Telum. They're not our enemies, not really, but I really don't want anyone side-eyeing me or my country. So, neutrality it is. And here's my question: Would Yosai support a possible Elthic neutrality motion in the future? Now, we can still be neutral without a motion, sure, but we also wanna legitimize our efforts. I think a motion approved by the European Council would help with that."

Right as he finished speaking, the door knocked and the page started serving the room their orders.

"Oh yes indeed", replied Emperor Artabanos, "I can completely imagine having these photographer vultures hunting you and your daughter is anything but pleasant. In Inimicus, we have certain.... measures... aimed at preventing that sort of thing. But I won't digress, they've had their moment and they'll have to be satisfied with it. How is the family, by the way? Come to speak of them."

Artabanos had, of course, heard about the Scottish Guards the Spanish King had inspected that very morning. He had, specifically, heard of their grandour, their prowess, their stature, their immensely attractive facial hair. "You see", Artabanos said after the inspection was complete, "The Inimician Imperial Guard used to be just all ceremony. But, well, that's immensely boring, so I have steadily increased their duties, their powers, and indeed their number, up until the point where we now have three -- well, four, but openly, only three -- divisions of the Imperial Guard: the Investigation Unit, the Anti-Terror Command, and My Personal Protection Division, which is who you saw parading around here. Don't tell anyone, but the Imperial Guard Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Division is the fourth branch, but that's real hush hush."

The monarchs sat down in Artabanos's study, which had been decorated for the occasion in yellow and red details and trimmings. The King and Queen's requests for drinks satisfied, Artabanos began: "Yes, John Peter Key was here recently, you're quite right. As a matter of fact, he sat right where you are now, Letizia, but don't let that put you off! Of course, these meetings are more or less bound to secrecy, but it will come as no surprise to you that he requested concessions and assurances regarding the Canal, which you will yourself observe shortly. There were some other minor points of interest which I was happy to agree to, but I couldn't give him anything regarding the Canal. Of coure, I didn't just tell him I was having none of it -- one always has to cloak this in more, shall we say, diplomatic terms, doesn't one? So it wasn't just Me who didn't want to regulate the Canal, it was the Board of Trustees. Which, of course, is Me, but don't let Peter Key know..."

"Apart from the whole Canal business, which is naturally very exciting, things are prospering in Inimicus, it must be said. Not that we're achieving Yosai-esque growth levels, no, but then again we never have. No, the Inimician is content to have his home, job, and security -- which is far more than he had before 2011, of course, and far more than he would have if he said certain things in this day---- eh, if he eh, if he moved across the border, that is. Excuse me." Artabanos swigged a large gulp of His drink before continuing. "Anyway, what keeps your Kingdom busy these days? I apologise for already mentioning the thorn in your side, those folks in Yosai, and I apologise even more for attempting a rapproachment. I'm sure your people and politicians will understand, however."

Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.

It would be a great honour to accept the invitation as requested by Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain & Ireland. I will make my way to London as soon as possible.

Yours Sincerely

Junichi Watanabe, General Secretary of the Federal Republic of Yosai.

Nation/organisation: Clan Democracy of Strathae
Number of Attendees: 2
Name(s) of Attendee(s): Moira Dubhshlin MacPheadair(High Chieftain) and Blánaid Ní Macháin Peine(Ambassador)
Mode of arrival to North Diessen: Plane

Dietary requirements (if any): Vegetarian
Requested Apéritif(s):-

Aguilar listened to the proposals of the Caribbean nations, taking notes and acknowledging their concerns and ideas to improve their region and the quality of their citizens' lives. Spain was the main partner and probably the only country that cared about the Caribbean, the link that was used by many people from both countries to connect with their European brothers and sisters. Furthermore, that link was quite a few years old, as it went back to centuries ago. Nofoaga, Gadalland and Spain had always been friends, and that would keep going for the years to come.

"As you both know, and especially you Lula, one of the principles of the Spanish Armed Forces is helping people when in need, make them feel safe in whatever situation they find theirselves into. The volcanic eruption your country suffered taught us many things, and civil protection training courses are a great idea to prepare people for the worse of the situations. The Spanish Army is willing to give those courses, and I would like to propose the creation of a Civil protection unit formed by unemloyed trainees that are willing to serve Nofoaga. The Spanish Government will be willing to assume the cost of their salary if needed, without generating any debt to Nofoaga or Gadalland, if Guthrun wants to join the programme as well.

Concerning the Caribbean Transatlantic Fund that you have proposed, Guthrun, I must confess I feel honoured for such offering. Spain is willing to contribute to the fund, again, without causing any debt to your economy or the Nofoagan economy; as my Government feels that somehow we need to contribute for using land that is owned by Nofoaga for the protection of both countries and their interests. If both of you are willing to accept that, I can give you my word that the first contribution to said fund will be done on August 1st, 2022; without any delay. I am also glad about hearing that you accept Mr. Brown's offer, here you have his phone number. You already have it, right Lula?" Aguilar then gave a little white card to Guthrun Wond, in which the phone number of General Brown was written.

"Moving on, I would like to speak about the upcoming challenges for your countries. How many of them do you expect to face during the next months? In my case, I have been following with interest the integration process that both of you have been going through the last months, which is truly admirable. When it comes to Spain, after we have finally been able to sort out all the crisis we had, I now face several difficulties within the boundaries of my country, trying to complete the "autonomization" of my coun try. Despite the effort made by many of my predecessors, a wide number of 'autonomies' have not yet completed the process to become proper autonomies, but they are rather pre-autonomic states."

"Yikes." simply answered Reiserová after hearing MacPheadair's words about the arrests. She in fact hasn't understand her counterpart at all.

"Oh yes, trade! The Democratic Republic would certainly be interested in Strathae becoming our main source of natural gas since we are, you know in such a proximity. And we are also ready to remove tariffs on any non-agricultural goods. Education anf Reaserch Exchange I'll have to consider." she responded and smiled at MacPheadair.

"Well I don't know how to play nine mens morris, but if you, you know, want to show me, go ahead." as she finished speaking she signalled to the High Chieftain, that she is ready to follow her.

The PM responded "Of course as long as such regulations don't specifically target the other countries companies that would be fine as its simply meeting national legislation and requirements and is also required of the domestic companies to keep the playing field even , after all trade to be fair must make sure the playing field is level. This wouldn't for instance stop you from requiring public funds be spent with your own companies for instance or local companies to the public spending. I am sure we can agree on this.The only other major thing would be details of the visa free agreement I am suggesting it be 90 days for citizens of our nations between our nations and your citizens get to use our priority lines in airports, ports and stations in return for Duchians using your priority lines"

Jorge was a driver for the Spanish secret service, the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia. He did not know that the person he would be driving today, would once again be his worst nightmare. He was told to drive to Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport, where a special guest he would have to take to the Palacio de la Moncloa would arrive. During his first journey, he started to think about who that important guest could be: - maybe Ms. Kligenberg? Emperor Artabanos? Nah, he hasn't exited Inimicus for a while now. Simon, the baddie, Bridges? He is coming soon, why would he land in Madrid? - He was reflexive, trying to guess...

Niinisto's plane arrived from the north, and when Saulli entered the car, Jorge could not believe: "Welcome dear guest, I hope you have a nice journey-", he said before realising who his guest was. "Oh, Mr. Niinisto, nice to see you again! I have been told you liked this armoured Mercedes S Class, so I have chosen this on purpose! I hope our journey is great". The motorcade made its way towards the Presidential residence, where the Spanish President was waiting for his guest. He came out of the Consejo de Ministros building, and stood over the 4 steps that led to the little porch of the building. The motorcade came to a stop, and both leaders shook hands. Jesús smiled, and welcomed Saulli: "Mr. Niinisto, welcome to Spain! Have you had a pleasant journey?", he asked.

Both entered the Palace, and after some pictures were taking by the press that was covering the event, they were left alone. "Well, here we are once again! Would you like something to drink?", he asked to start the summit in a good way.

General Secretary Watanabe sighed in a mixture of relief and exhaustion. "Well I can't argue the reasoning behind that Mr Artabanos. I can't stand in the way of reconciliation. I suppose now what we need to discuss is moving forward, seeing as you lifted your restrictions we can remove ours, and let relations evolve organically on their own. Normalisation I believe is what its called. So my question to you Mr Artabanos is what does that look like for your country?"

"Osaka...Hmm ok, the food capitol of Yosai facing the Red Strait and above and if you keep going it goes to California. Ok I can allow it. Just out of curiosity Prime Minister can I ask why Osaka in particular?"

The Chancellor saw the Spanish delegation arrive and he went outside.

"Hello, Senor Presidente," said Chancellor Albanese. "Bienvenidos a California."

The two went inside.

The businessman then smiled in agreement "Fair enough Madame President. Before we conclude and sign an agreement so that I have a good things to report back to Tokyo is there further questions you have for me President Mouri-Kudo?"

With nothing to further add or discuss, it seemed that the summit was reaching its natural conclusion.

“Alrighty, are we ready to sign on everything we’ve agreed to today?” the Archbishop asked, prompting both the Bishop Secretaries to stand up from the sofa and straighten themselves out.

Silas, who was rather bored and disappointed with the Head of State’s refusal of his offers, excused himself by simply giving an acknowledging nod to his compatriots and his guest, before then leaving the room without even saying goodbye.

“I’ll return with the agreement, which will be ready to sign,” Antoni announced, following Silas out of the room.

The Archbishop made casual chit-chat with the Head of State as they waited for Antoni to return with the agreement. Mikaela had been presented with troubling and peculiar news while Silas maintained an audience with Rikkalek. Mikaela felt compelled to share the information that had been thrusted upon her, but she ultimately decided against it, instead opting for lighter and breezier conversation.

Mikaela was very glad that she was able to spend quality time relaxing with Rikkalek, sharing in gossip, and now even including him in a group chat. Despite this, Rikkalek still seemed more like a friendly acquaintance rather than a true friend. Nonetheless, this small step in their relationship was a victory as far as the Archbishop was concerned.

After some time, Antoni returned with the agreement, which was typed on an official document that included the coat of arms and seals of the Inquistan and Istkalenic states. The Bishop Secretary presented the treaty in a leather binder alongside two platinum-plated fountain pens. The fountain pens had the names and titles of the Archbishop and Head of State engraved into them.

The Archbishop got up from her seat and handed the Bishop Secretary her phone, while then taking the agreement and politely seating herself beside the Head of State. Mikaela gently instructed Antoni to livestream her signing the agreement on Instagram Live, so that the whole world could bear witness to the occasion.

The agreement read:

The Saint Dominico Accord of 2022

Inquista and Istkalen shall hereby agree to:

I. Eliminate all existing custom duties and tariffs, except for those applied to agricultural products and other foodstuffs, between their respective states.
II. Permit Inquistans to contract industrial and service collectives, as well as individual workers, from Istkalen.
III. Institute visa-free travels between their respective states.

The Archbishop signed the treaty with great enthusiasm before then passing it on to the Head of State, who then signed it next. Once the agreement was made official, the Archbishop posed for several photos with the Head of State, which the Bishop Secretary captured with artistic passion, until it was time to say goodbye.

alt text

Antoni handed Mikaela her phone back, shook hands with Rikkalek one more time, and then jokingly declared, “Well, looks like my visit here was a success in the end. I look forward to being on the same page,” mimicking what Firoux had said earlier. Antoni smiled and then walked out, while Mikaela laughed.

The Archbishop escorted the Head of State through the palace back to the main entrance. There, a security team stood ready to walk Rikkalek back to his limousine at the other end of Saint Dominico’s Square.

“Normally, this would just be the beginning of our fun time together, but I know that you’re a very busy man and there are a lot of people that want your country’s attention!” Mikaela began. “I would show you around Saint Dominico, but maybe at another time when you’re more free. Anyway, thank you so much for coming! You’ve been great company. Take care Rikky! Don’t be a stranger, ok?”

The Archbishop gave the Head of State a kiss on both of his cheeks, surprising the poor Istkalener with the Inquistan custom of greeting and bidding farewell. Mikaela then waved Rikkalek goodbye as the security detail led him outside and toward his vehicle.

The Archbishop hastily made her way to the library room where Chief Secretary Firoux and Bishop Secretary JennaMarelle Johnson eagerly stood waiting for the Archbishop’s arrival. Firoux looked rather pleased with himself, knowing that that Silas’ arms agreement, which he had attempted to filibuster earlier in the drawing room, did not come to fruition. Somehow Firoux always maintained a habit of being victorious in the end. The Chief Secretary had tremendous newfound respect for the Istkalenic Head of State, who he thought had a rather commendable moral compass.

“Where is the Head of State?” Firoux asked, turning his smile to a frown.

“He’s a busy guy,” Mikaela deflected with a shake of her head.

“Too busy to save the world? Ah well, its best we keep this matter under complete secrecy anyway.”

“To the Glitter Room!” Mikaela championed with a sense of purpose, grabbing JennaMarelle by her hand.

The Archbishop walked towards a bookshelf that stood squarely in the middle between several other shelves on the left-hand side of the room. Mikaela studied the bookshelf intently, before then pulling a shiny silver book by its spine. The bookshelf suddenly came forwards and then moved sideways, revealing a secret door. Mikaela, Firoux and JennaMarelle quickly rushed inside.

<Tense undercover music starts playing>

The secret door led to an inner sanctum. A small electronic podium stood in the centre, where an electronic pad awaited a handprint. Mikaela walked over to the pad and placed her hand over it. The pad scanned the Archbishop’s hand, and after a few seconds, a door to a large and swirly slide opened. The slide spiralled into every direction below, and appeared to continue on until nothing but darkness could be seen.

“Remember you guys, keep your arms close to your chest. It’s time to go down,” Mikaela reminded her partners, before then quickly propelling herself down the slide.

Once reaching the bottom of the slide, Mikaela waited for Firoux and JennaMarelle to land behind her. A red button stood before them.

“Are we ready?” Mikaela asked.

“Yes,” Firoux and JennaMarelle answered in unison, with steel and grit in their voices.

The Archbishop pressed the button, and the trio were instantly swallowed by trap doors under their feet that plunged them into an unknown and seemingly infinite abyss below. Firoux shouted for his life and grabbed JennaMarelle by her hand midair. JennaMarelle yelled in terror. “Keep yo damn hands close to yo chest!”

After falling quite a few storeys, the three landed on a massive trampoline that broke their fall. With their acrobatic skills leveled up, the trio managed to get back on their feet once the trampoline came to a standstill. The Archbishop scrambled around the small trampoline room until she managed to find a button attached to one of the walls. The Archbishop pressed the button and a small crawl space opened up below her knees.

Mikaela got down on her stomach and then began to crawl through the crawl space. “You guys, through here!"

The crawl space ended up being a very long but narrow tunnel. After worming their way through, the trio collected themselves at what seemed to be some sort of landing. A really strange and bizarre stench wafted through the air. The three Inquistans gazed from atop their landing to the pit below, where a float of six or seven crocodiles were eagerly waiting. They then gazed to the other end of the room, where another landing stood some 20 to 25 metres away.

“What are those?” Firoux asked, staring blankly at the crocodiles beneath them.

“They are my crocs,” Mikaela answered, sounding both scared but also proud.

“You’re keeping them in here? Mikaela, this is cruel! These poor crocodiles deserve to be free from captivity, not kept as a defence system!” Firoux soap-boxed.

“Hey, it was Craticus who put them here! Besides, crocodile skin is also soooo in season right now! If crocodile shoes are the thing, then why not crocodile defence systems? It’s so chic, so current, so timeless…” Mikaela continued on.

“Ok, but how do we get to the other side?” JennaMarelle interrupted.

“We have to tightrope across,” Mikaela smiled.

“Oh, duh, of course,” Firoux laughed with tremendous nervousness.

The Archbishop began to slowly tightrope across the crocodile pit. Mikaela slowly inched her way forward, strutting carefully across the very thin tightrope that connected the two landings. After a nerve-wracking minute, the Archbishop successfully made her way across, with JennaMarelle and Firoux following shortly behind. At the other end of the landing was a large red button, which the Archbishop then pressed. The nearby wall split into two, and revealed the entrance to the Glitter Room. The group walked triumphantly inside.

<Craticus' Secret Lair music starts playing>

“Yikes, what’s with this music?” Firoux questioned.

“Oh sorry, I haven’t had time to change it yet, it’s what Craticus left on.”

The Glitter Room was once Archbishop Craticus’ secret lair, which had now been refitted and redecorated as Archbishop Kligenberg’s own secret base of operations. The once evil and ominous-looking hideout was now an immensely sparkly room, with a futuristic and shiny interior where everything sparkled with pastel-coloured glitter. The outskirts of the room was lined with sophisticated and cutting-edge equipment and gadgets, and television screens were plastered across all the walls of the room, which livestreamed recordings of various undisclosed locations across Europe, from Prague, to Madrid, and to Dairghazburo, and so on.

A large meeting table was centred in the middle of the room, crowded with uncomfortable metal chairs. Someone was already seated at the table, patiently waiting for the arriving party. The trio hurriedly decided to seat themselves at the table with their patient guest. Upon closer inspection of the waiting visitor, Mikaela was taken by surprise. “Tulsi Gabbard? I thought you had been killed!”

“H-H-H-H-Hello. I-I-I-I am Mecha Tulsi,” Mecha Tulsi introduced herself. Mecha Tulsi spun around in her chair and revealed herself to be holding a baby crocodile, which she gently caressed.

A control panel on the table then began to beep with the HEATHERS signal.

<HEATHERS signal>

The Archbishop pressed a button on the table, and then holographic projections of Air Marshal Harriet Copala and General Juan-Bernardo Fernandez-Velasquez appeared in seats on the opposite of the table.

“What’s the stitch?” Mikaela wondered.

“Hello everyone. I hope you’ve gotten acquainted with Mecha Tulsi,” Copala began. “Mecha Tulsi is an advanced AI-mech that has been programmed to reflect and act as the late General Tulsi Gabbard of Icholasen. Apparently, she’s even been imprinted with General Gabbard’s memories.”

“T-T-T-T-That is right,” Mecha Tulsi followed up.

“The last Android system update appears to have thrown her through a loop,” Copala stated with some sorrow. “This is why iOS is so much better. Apple in general, really…”

“Well, most androids have much better specs like cameras, processors and batteries for their price point,” Firoux rebuked.

“I soooo used to swear by Apple, but then I dropped my phone once and it broke. I totally learned my lesson!” Mikaela interjected.

“N-N-N-N-Not to worry. I-I-I-I am just fine,” Mecha Tulsi clarified.

“Mecha Tulsi has been in deep undercover on behalf of Free Nicoleizian Intelligence, and has brought us vital intel. This is a matter of not just national security, but international security. I dare say that the entire world is at risk,” Copala warned with a rather grim voice.

“The criminal organisation known as the Secret Iron Mastermind Pirate Society, commonly dubbed as the SIMPS, are acting out in one last desperate attempt to save themselves. After the Archbishop and Spanish President infiltrated and busted the main SIMPS warehouse, and ransacked all of their stolen goods, the SIMPS have been very severely weakened. In the last weeks, Inquistan police and intelligence services have also been able to arrest and apprehend most SIMPS, leaving the organisation fighting for its life while on the brink of total collapse.

The SIMPS have now become more desperate than ever. Mecha Tulsi has collected intelligence that leads us to believe that the SIMPS have begun working for a much, much more dangerous enemy. The SIMPS are working with a secretive organisation, which we do not yet know the name of, but appears to be an Asian supremacist network that intends to asianize all of Europe. The organisation hopes to unleash Asianization across all our borders, and hopes to begin this process by kidnapping European leaders, such as the Archbishop, the Czech and Spanish Presidents, Emperor Artabanos, among others, and then asianizing them. The Archbishop is believed to be the first target, and the SIMPS are being asked to kidnap her.”

Mikaela gasped. “O-M-G! I don’t want any surgery!”

“This evil organisation doesn’t intend to asianize Europe through surgery. In fact, they have developed a far more dangerous and advanced method…” Copala started to explain before turning to El General.

“Si. Ay dios mio, this organización has created a type of sustancia that is injected into the human body, which will then slowly asiáticotiza them.”

Mikaela, Firoux and JennaMarelle were in utter shock.

“Indeed, this technology is very troubling. Mecha Tulsi bore witness to the first two victims of this dangerous substance, who were two SIMPS that were tested on as guinea pigs,” Copala added.

“Y-Y-Yes. The victims were injected with this unknown substance, which did not do m-m-m-much at first, only turning them colour blind. A-A-A-A-After approximately 48 hours, the victims slowly began to asianize, and their colour blindness did not wear o-o-o-off.”

“Colour blind? So we won’t be able to see any colour anymore, either?” Mikaela questioned in disbelief.

Copala nodded in disbelief. “Exactly. This organization aspires to create a completely colour blind and fully Asianized world. They must be stoppd.”

“So, what’s the plan, then?” JennaMarelle asked, chiming in.

“The Archbishop will do what she does best, and will infiltrates the SIMPS one last time, in the process destroying them, and will find out more about this secret organisation.”

“And how will she do that?” JennaMarelle further questioned.

Copala smiled. “Easy. She will allow them to capture her.”

"Oh, I could've bought it my- Alright, whatever. Thanks a lot for the gift." Grimwald was not expecting the gesture at all, though, by this point, he was too tired to counter. Still, he was pleased.

"Now, if you excuse me, I'll call Tobias. He's waiting outside." Grimwald then pulled out his old yet handy phone to call him.

"Yes, we're done here. I'll be outside in a moment... We can do that, yes. We'll talk about that in detail. Alright." Grimwald then hung up the phone and got up to shake his colleague's hand.

"Mrs. Mouri-Kudo, thank you for taking your time for this meeting. This will greatly improve the already impressive relations between Leagio and Elthize. In this new era of Elthize where we are a member of the European Union, we are glad to ensure that our relationship with our allies are strong as ever. Alas, thank you, once again."

John Peter Key responded "Indeed we believe free trade and having priority on the points system for residency and free movement on short term travel is essential. We would also definitely support education exchange programmes always good to have extra options for students so we can help universities and schools set that up and perhaps we can have pen pal schemes between our educational institutions also with a meet up for pen pals to be arranged between shools?"

"Gosh, they're not that verbose, are they?", Emperor Artabanos thought as the summit formally began. "Trade! Yes, the most exciting of topics.... I must admit, Theresa, I'm all for it, but I'm also completely bored by it. Inimicus would gladly agree a complete elimination of tariffs on trade with the United Kingdom, if that is agreeable to you? Just so we can swiftly move onto other things..."

The Emperor took another swig of His drink and looked outside, watching the British delegation making confused notes. "Visa-free travel is something we can also agree to, to some extent. Inimicus prefers not to sign free movement or residency type agreements, just because no one likes foreigners, you know? Except Me, of course. I love foreigners, especially if they're handsome. But we could agree to a limited period of visa-free stay, perhaps 90 days or so? In a 365-day period?"

"I will say", Artabanos continued, lowering His voice somewhat and leaning in to the UK delegation, "I've heard some interesting reports about your meeting with those rascals, Simon Bridges and his Reitzmic government. I'd be so very interested to hear what he had to say for himself."