Forty-six
 Not good. Intrepid thought. At least the hole in Unverse didnât seem to be growing. Maybe it wasnât damaged beyond repair, and hopefully it would close up, since a giant hole leading into oblivion wasnât a safe thing to have, Intrepid didnât really think.
 Passing through the infected Unverse had also accelerated his infection, and now a sickly purple mist emanated from his entire left side. He felt a coldness in his Creative Spark. He could apply more bandages to at least hide the misty effects, but he really needed a disinfection. He could get that back at Avant Gardens, which meant more Unverse travel.
 Intrepid shook his head. Everything had gotten worse. His team was captured, Red was missing, many friends were unaccounted for, and the Polyverse was falling apart. This invasion needed to end but he had no idea how to stop it, until his eyes fell on the Unverse Hole again and that gave him an ideaâ¦.
â¦
 A low boom like distant thunder passed over the plains and Kateâs eyes snapped open. It was dark where she was, lying blanketed on a hard cot of sorts. She raised a hand to touch the wall, it was rough like metal. She heard the soft pattering of rain and focused on that until, in the corner of her eyes, she saw colored light flickering.
 Kate threw off the blanket and swung over the edge to bump into her backpack. She was in what looked like a shipping container, with the lights off and alone, meaning her teammates had to be outside. She hadnât been removed of her Samurai gear, she noted, which was a good thing, since the colored lights, coming from behind a heavy fabric divider that swayed slightly from wind, looked like weapons fire.
 The last thing she remembered was pulling up a literal Nexusâs worth of Imagination to rebuild Luke. Sheâd blacked out just as they were about to escape. Now, she picked up her katana and bow from the bedside and headed for the exit. If there was still a fight going on, she ought to help out. Without knocking myself out, she thought. She was no use in a battle incapacitated, but if another of her teammates was felled, she wasnât sure she could hold herself back from overextending herself to save them.
 Iâd do it again, Kate thought.
 Resolved, Kate swung the tent-flap to the side and burst into battle.
<ac_metadata title="Song of the Swans - Chapter 46 part 1"> </ac_metadata>