[Connection established…]

Summer, 13:45;
Location: Theo’s Villa.

Cut… tak…tak…

“Tsk, when will Leo come? It’s nearly 2, I am starving…”, Theo grumbled.

“Keep stirring, it’s going to get burned,” Victor added some water to the pot. A moment later, he glanced up from his phone. “I just received a message. He said public transport is limited because it’s the weekend.”

“Uh… yeah, there’s that too…”

“Say, Victor, do you think that once the energy in the air gets more concentrated, will ‘gates’ open, like the ones in webtoons and animes?”

“Nah, everything is not a webtoon… but I hope so, maybe animals will mutate to become—” Victor looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Suddenly, his nose twitched.

“Oi, it’s burning.”

“Shit…”

Ping…

“Hmm… I got a message… Leo is here, but he seems to have lost the way to the villa…” Theo laughed out loud.

“I’m surprised someone with enhanced senses can get lost...” Victor was speechless.

“Okay… the curry is ready. Let’s close the lid and let it simmer…” Theo said, closing the lid.

“Hyah… Now all that’s left is the rice… well, Leo will cook that”, Victor groaned, stretching a little.

“Hmm… it seems Leo finally came…” Theo glanced at his mobile.

Click… tak… tak…

“Yo! Guys”, Leo entered with the same cheerful expression as ever.

“Well… at last you came…”

“This place is damn messy… It's like a scattered forest… I saw some foxes, even jackals and whatnot… how the hell do you even live here?” Leo’s voice was filled with exasperation.

Victor shot him a withering look. “You… I am speechless… you circled two villas before coming… just go and make the rice… let’s eat…”

“Oh yeah, I am hungry too…” Leo mumbled. “I just have to cook the rice, right?”

“Yes!”

***

“So, how is it going? Victor, I heard you came on Thursday?” Leo asked as he put a glass on the table. “By the way, the chicken curry was good…”

“Ah! Well, they did a mass bunk on theory classes, and I just felt three days didn’t matter.” Victor said, slouching on the couch. “Even after your work, there were a lot of configurations that needed to be done, so I just came.”

“Hmm… Leo, let me ask you the same question I asked Victor earlier.”

“Oh… ask away,” Leo replied as he looked at Theo curiously.

“You know about the energy in the air, right? Now, when the energy concentration increases, what do you think will happen? Will ‘gates’ pop out or animals mutate into monsters?” Theo asked Leo with a mischievous expression on his face.

“Uh…” Leo trailed off. “I don’t know what ‘gates’ thingy you are talking about, but animals mutating to become monsters can happen… our furball princess is a living example after all.” He looked at Noir, who was eating an apple peeled by Victor.

As if noticing a gaze, Noir looked at Leo with a nasty look and shook her tail to provoke him. “Meow (wanna go?).”

“Uh… I will be the bigger person this time and will forget this junior.” Leo said, retracting his eyes.

Theo took an apple from the coffee table and passed one to Leo. “Last night, I was thinking deeply about our future, and I realised we need a lot of money; the current income we have is not enough, especially if there is an apocalypse in the future.”

“If there is an apocalypse, what are we gonna do with money anyway?” Leo replied as he took a bite from the apple. “Why is this sour like lemon?”

“We need money to prepare for the apocalypse… guys, look at the projector…” Leo suddenly thought of something and brought a projector.

“Here we go again!” Both Leo and Victor looked at each other in exasperation.

“I have made a plan for the apocalypse,” Theo declared. “We’ll buy most of the land in this area… it will be cheaper… then we are going to move our families here. We’ll divide this land into two zones: residential and industrial… In the industrial zone, we are going to build some facilities for ourselves, like farms, gyms, labs, and most importantly, a powerplant.”

After explaining the plan, Theo looked at them with a proud expression.

“Wow, that’s some great and obvious plans you have there…” Victor was the first to break the silence. “But you are calling it an industrial area, which means farms are not the main focus and facilities… if I think from your standards, it’s going to be expensive.”

“I somehow get your plan, but yeah, from what I know about you, it’s going to be super expensive.” Leo looked at Theo with a serious expression.

“Sigh…That’s the problem… I don’t think our parents are gonna give, so ultimately, we have to do something on our own.” Theo sighed.

“Ugh, let’s leave this topic… tell me, last time you told AI-Chan to collect some news, right? Is there anything notable?” Victor changed the topic.

“Yes! Ai-chan, any news?” Theo asked.

AI-chan’s cold but weirdly cute voice filled the room: “Information collected in this whole week: 1. Africa is in a state of lockdown due to a terrorist incident. 2. There are several missing cases in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, Oceania. 3. The frequency of natural disasters has increased by 25%. And lastly, the highlight will be several serial murder cases in Hong Kong. It is said all the bodies of the victims are in a melted state; it is suspected to be a new kind of acid.”

“Wow, looks like things are starting to kick off...” Victor said in amazement.

“As expected... we can exclude the other cases, but the increase in natural disasters…”

“We should get ready too… Ai Chan, are our current reports ready?” Theo asked as he went to wash his hands.

“Yes!”

“Guys, let’s stretch ourselves, shall we…” Victor let out a sigh.

***

Summer, 2:30;
Location: Theo’s villa

“Okay, it's already late. This will be the last one, AI-Chan.” Theo stretched his back.

"Ugh... Do we have to do this even more? I think we have already reached our limits. It’s been 2 days already, and I still haven’t felt any improvements.”

“Yeah... Victor is right, a week of our precious summer vacation has already passed, and we are still doing this, even though I have stopped improving from yesterday."

“I can understand you guys, I also have hit my limit, but I still want to try and see if I can manipulate the energy... okay, how about this, this match will be the last one for today, we will still try tomorrow, and if it doesn’t work, I will think of another way,” Theo relented.

“So you will still not give up, huh!”

Victor and Leo looked at each other and sighed.

“Okay, let’s do it, but I want to include Furball too!” Leo suddenly said.

“Huh... you always try not to get Noir included… don’t tell me you got addicted to her tail slaps,” Victor blinked.

“The hell are you saying? Do I look like that? I want to include her this time because I don’t think I will be the one defending.” Leo flashed a refreshing smile.

“Leo guessed correctly... this last match, I’ll be the one defending… but including Noir, aren’t you being too petty?” Theo nodded to indicate his agreement.

“Well, I am…speechless, let’s call Noir—” Victor sighed and was about to call Noir when he saw her already entering the ring.

“Meow…”

“Uh… it seems she is ready for action… so let’s get this over with…” Victor saw Noir look at him and instantly hid in Leo’s shadows.

“Ai-Chan, start the countdown.”

“Initiating countdown... 3.2... 1”

As soon as the countdown hit zero, Victor took the lead with a long step forward and performed a double spinning kick, which caught Theo off guard, but he easily blocked it with his hand.

“Hehe, you guys need to work—” Theo, having blocked the unexpected move, was going to taunt the two, but his pupil contracted when he heard a sound of wind splitting on his back.

Theo tried to pivot, but he was still clipped by Leo, who threw a heavy punch from his blind spot and was almost knocked out of the ring.

“Oya… Why are you dodging?” Leo smirked as he saw Theo regain his balance.

Theo didn’t say anything, but his surprised expression told everything. He looked at Victor and Leo once again and noticed that Victor was already on the move.

“Let’s end this quickly,” Victor said to Leo. He then took a short step forward and launched into a front flip kick, which once again surprised Theo.

Theo looked at the kick coming and immediately dodged sideways, only to be ambushed by Leo once more.

“Don't be a wimp, take some hits, what can happen, at most some deep bruises.” Leo again performed a strong punch which connected, but Theo, as if prepared, immediately rolled to offset the force.

“Whoa… I was almost knocked out, but tsk tsk tsk… You guys gotta try harder…” Theo mocked as he stood up.

“tsk… I want to sleep, but this is getting on my nerves…” Leo grumbled.

“I want to sleep too… let’s finish this in one go.” Victor looked at Leo and positioned himself as he saw Leo nodding at him.

“Okay! Here I go!”

With a shout, both Victor and Leo dashed at Theo. Victor went for a leg sweep, but as usual, Theo dodged it by jumping and countered with a kick. Leo, however, stepped in between them and blocked Theo's kick with a high knee-up.

"Ugh"

Sensing his disadvantage, Theo immediately backflipped, using Leo's force to propel himself and escape. In midair, his mind raced as he planned his next move. A whooshing sound interrupted his thoughts. He looked up just in time to see Noir's tail sweeping toward him.

Noir's tail sweep, almost as powerful as one of Leo's casual punches, hit Theo's face and disrupted his balance. At the last moment, he somehow managed to twist his body and prevent himself from getting the ring out.

"Let's end this match!"

With a shout, Leo dashed at Theo and delivered a forward jump kick, while Victor kept an appropriate distance and entered a basic stance in case Theo managed to evade the kick and slip away.

Meanwhile, Theo was in a dilemma. He knew a direct hit would take him out. Blocking it was suicide, but dodging it would only put him in Victor’s path, with Noir waiting unpredictably.

Theo knew if he failed to get a result in this match, his friends' lazy nature meant he might not get a second opportunity. So took the risk and refused to back down; either way, he was going to lose, so why not take the risk?

"Hyap!"

With a sharp shout, Theo abandoned all caution. He instantly adopted a straight punch stance and channeled all the concentration he could muster in an instant.

Bang!

“Huh... What the…”

The expected pain didn't come as Theo felt his fist collide with Leo's. Everyone in the room was dumbfounded, and even Noir, who was ready with her claws stretched, stopped what they were doing and looked at Theo.

“What the... Theo, you’re glowing!” Victor's eyes were wide open.

“Shit... Run, I think he is going to burst,” Leo immediately distanced himself.

“I am not!" Theo said, breathing heavily as the glow slowly faded.

“Guys! I can control the energy… The experiment is a success! It’s very unstable, and the slightest lapse in concentration messes everything up. Nonetheless, it’s a huge leap!” Theo shouted excitedly.

“So… uh… just now you physically boosted yourself, right?” Victor asked with curiosity and picked up Noir, who was going to give Theo another smack.

“MEOW!!”

“…”

“Yes, you can say that… It’s not permanent and even exhausted me more than fighting the whole day.” Theo replied as he looked at Noir and rubbed his face.

“So… congrats… I guess you were right when you said the energy can be controlled. I guess I also have to try and see if I can do it too. The last punch hurt my knuckles a bit.” Leo looked at his slightly red palm.

“Whoa… it hurt you… I guess the boost was quite good, huh?” Victor looked at Theo with an amazed expression.

“You guys don’t get it… I feel like I can force the energy out of my body, too.” Theo said with a chuckle.

“I guess I am not even surprised at this point… Okay, let's call it a day, look, even Noir is feeling sleepy”. Victor looked at Noir.

“MEOOW!!”

“…”

I guess not…

***

Summer, 7:45;
Location: Theo's Villa,

“Ahh... I really don't understand how you did it?" Leo grumbled as he looked at the outside.

Purrrr~

“Yeah, I guess it's impossible for us... You can even separate the energy from your body, but we can’t even feel it.” Victor spoke as he brushed Noir’s fur and looked at Leo and Theo, who were sitting on the couch beside him.

Purrr~

“Well... I can separate, but it's already replenished... so my situation is not much different from you guys…” Theo gave a helpless sigh.

“Then what did you do in your lab in these four days? Did you make any progress?” Victor asked with a sigh.

“Yeah… if you have any experiments, I am willing to do it… these days I am feeling too uncomfortable and today is the worst.” Leo looked at the ceiling with a listless expression.

“Well, you are not the only one… even Noir had stopped eating since yesterday. Honestly, I have many experiments lined up for both of you, but I am not in the mood today at all.” Theo looked at Leo with pity. “And in these four days, I was trying to extract the energy, but it requires a lot of focus; my head started hurting in a few minutes of extracting, but worry not… I have collected 3 tubes of energy. So… small win.”

“Good enough, I will also help you… yawn… I really hate this feeling of being lethargic and energetic at the same time…” Victor said with a sigh as he looked at Noir, who was sleeping beside him.

Huh… she fell asleep… she didn’t even have breakfast today…

“Furball fell asleep, huh?” Leo patted Noir, “All she does is nap and snack—and yet she could break bones.” It was the only way he could touch her.

“Theo, will this uncomfortable feeling vanish, or will we have to endure it like the thirst?” Leo looked again at the ceiling.

“I guess it will vanish, this feeling is somewhat similar to what we felt at the beginning, and that one vanished… huh… Theo, oi, did you fall asleep too?” Victor looked at Theo, who was sleeping beside him.

“Huh… I am feeling sleepy too…” Leo looked at Victor in confusion.

Sleepy? I am feeling sleepy too…

“Shit!... This is what happened at the beginning, too… AI-chan, alert mode!” Victor looked at Leo, who was sleeping too, and felt his body abnormally heavy every second as his eyelids threatened to close. He looked at the watch to see the time, but all he saw was darkness as a familiar screen flashed, which he had seen in many anime.

[Connection established...]

“Fuc—”

These were the last words before Victor fell into a deep sleep.

As the three people and a ‘cute’ cat fell into a deep sleep, peace returned in the rowdy villa, but if one looks at the window, one can see the world is not at peace at all.