“Have you heard,” Impel whispered excitedly to Mamydona and Genny, ”Marzzzz zeroed the illustrator of Evelyne's book on the MD!”

  Mamydona was startled. “For heaven's sake! What was the reason? There's bound to be complications now...”

  Genny rolled his eyes. “A jealousy drama!” she then said in a meaningful voice, ”but the very best. The illustrator, Gladyus, must have drawn a few pictures that Marzzzz didn't like...”

  “Tell me!” Mamydona asked curiously, ”What kind of pictures? Nude pictures of Evelyne? I could understand why he didn't like that!”

  “No, nothing like that!” Genny fought back, ”Gladyus is a decent guy. We used to be in a town together, so I know him well. No, he's painted a few couple's pictures of himself and Evelyne. Because the two of them sometimes go to the front together, she writes down everything that happens and he paints the pictures. But there's nothing going on between the two of them, they just work together. But the couple pictures were probably leaked to Marzzzz and he didn't like it at all. Then Gladyus painted a kind of warning picture for Marzzzz. In case he doesn't behave nicely towards Evelyne. Then Gladyus will go for his throat for it. “Because U hurt her feelings” is the title of the picture. Somehow Marzzzz got his hands on it. And then he zeroed the illustrator.”

  “Men!” sighed Impel, ”that's so typical again!”

  “Classic alpha wolf behavior,” nodded Genny, ”they're always busy making it clear to each other who's boss. Although it was clear here, the illustrator is tiny compared to Marzzzz. And he's also an artist! That was a pretty unfair fight, I'm afraid.”

  “And how did the illustrator take it?” Mamydona wanted to know, ”Will he still be drawing the pictures for Evelyne's book in the future?”

  “Oh, he's a pretty cool and chilled guy, luckily. He can handle that sort of thing. Otherwise our lady wouldn't have taken him on as an illustrator,” Genny reassured the others, ”so he's still painting. He just let it be known that Marzzzz will have to expect him to draw him with a lot of warts on his face in the future!”

  ____________________________________

  The mood at the Church of Synergy was not good. In fact, the mood was on the verge of exploding.

  Stabby had summoned all the members of the family and they had met in the large cathedral, where there was room for everyone.

  Stabby took the chair at the front and cleared her throat. “Dear friends, who are all very dear to my heart, as you know, we are having great difficulty holding our own in the war against the city of 652. We have restructured...”

  A member of SyX spoke up. Stabby frowned unwillingly. “Yes?”

  “Why doesn't SyX have a bank anymore?” the member asked.

  Stabby growled, “That doesn't matter now, we...”

  Another member spoke up.

  “Hell yeah!”

  “Why were our strongest players just incorporated into Sy0 and we were left all alone?”

  “Because we're a family, dammit! We have to stick together!” roared Stabby.

  “But now that contradicts what was just presented here as criticism,” said another member of SyX, matter-of-factly.

  “Leave Stabby alone!” pleaded Stormy quietly, ”she's already got enough to put up with here.”

  “And why didn't Kir Bear attend the last MD again?” the same member asked again, even more matter-of-factly.

  Stabby closed her eyes and tried to control herself.

  “You can't always take part in everything, okay?” she said as calmly as possible.

  “But you can't never participate when the place is on fire either,” said the no-nonsense member, still very matter-of-fact.

  “Just shut the fuck up!” roared Stabby, ”you don't even have the talking animal and you're talking at me all the time. We're going to take a measure today anyway that will protect us from unnecessary trouble in the future.”

  The members in the room fell silent.

  Stabby continued a little more calmly: “We're going to take a vow of silence together today. As a family. For our cohesion. You will not talk to anyone from RxW from now on. Not to anyone, do you hear me? They're deliberately stirring up trouble here and trying to divide us. And that damn GW book is nothing but nonsense and the worst propaganda I've ever read. Ignore it. Don't talk to anyone. The enemies only want to separate you. We will prevent that.”

  “Even among ourselves,” said Kir Bear, who had just entered the cathedral, her voice like a melodic sing-song, “we want to remain silent in the future. We don't want you to talk to each other anymore. It only makes you insecure and you drive each other unnecessarily crazy. A true family understands each other without words.” She smiled.

  The no-nonsense member of SyX spoke up again.

  “You don't have the talking animal and therefore no right to speak!” shouted Stabby.

  “I'd like to point out something though,” said the no-nonsense member very matter-of-factly, ”what if some of us don't want to abide by it and still talk amongst ourselves or to people from outside?”

  “Then they have not realized the value of true friendship, and I will burn and kill them all to make them understand!” roared Stabby.

  The first member spoke up again, not paying the slightest attention to a present or absent talking animal: “Well, that sounds pretty dictatorial, doesn't it?”

  “This isn't a dictatorship!” shouted Stabby, ”this is a family!”

  “Bearstrike, when he was still called Bearstrike, said that the worst are the ones who always pretend it's about family and friendship and feelings. They're the ones who cut your throat behind your back.”

  “Are you begging to be burned first, yes? All you have to do is say it!”

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  The no-nonsense member cleared his throat, “That lady's first GW book says it's about competence when it comes to a dictator. If he's incompetent, you're allowed to break his allegiance.”

  “Are you saying I'm incompetent?” roared Stabby.

  “Are you saying that you're actually a dictator?” asked the no-nonsense member matter-of-factly.

  Stabby was on the verge of doing the same to Lil Arrow and fainting.

  Kir Bear came to her aid and took over.

  “We're going to take a vow of silence together now,” she said in a sing-song voice, ”that will immediately eliminate all the problems we have here right now. We simply won't talk about it any more. The vow of silence will help us all to refocus on our essential strengths and find our inner center again. Silence puts an end to quarrels and discord that others want to sow here. So please repeat our common oath to me now...”

  ________________________________

  But - let's be fair here - RxW also had a row. The only difference is that no one thought to shut the other person up. The bickering was carried out openly and the sparks flew in the kitchen.

  “You could just slow down!” scolded Capt'n Zaxpool, who was sitting at the table and looking angrily over at Lady Evelyne at the stove. ChampagneMami, Ivy and Genny were leaning next to each other against the wall, watching the exchange of blows with the greatest interest.

  “Why should I slow down?” Lady Evelyne scolded back.

  “Because your behavior is totally unfriendly! You're putting everyone here under pressure, don't you realize that?”

  “I'm not putting anyone under pressure here! I'm just a normal member, do you realize that? And yes, of course I'm trying to learn something new! I don't want to be the mentally deficient one who keeps pressing the wrong buttons and messing everything up!”

  “As if you've ever been that, Miss Upper Perfect! But your speed is crazy! Two weeks ago, a sixth star suddenly appeared on your house. Where did it come from? Did it fall from the sky or what?”

  Evelyne pulled the baking tray out of the oven and placed the cake tin with the batter on it. “Well, it was just there...”

  “Yes, of course! It was just there! Just like with the star-money! You know, that's exactly what pisses me off. You're like the nerds at school. They used to say: “Oh, I haven't studied at all and I'm sure I'll get an F!” And then, of course, they got an A and acted totally surprised.” Zax hit the table angrily with the flat of his hand. “And you have to go to class all the time! You have no time for me at all! You're always running off because you have to go to some class or other! How many classes do you attend anyway?”

  The lady avoided Zax's gaze. “Well, I'm in three classes. And then I have private lessons...”

  “Private lessons! Yes, of course. Madame has time for that. But not for me.”

  “It was just important to me that I get the credit card with at least one sharp edge early...”

  Zax gasped: “Wait, wait, you've already got the first sharpened edge on the credit card? When the hell did you take the certificate for that? I didn't notice that at all!”

  “Uh... so that was last night at 2:00 am...”

  Zax felt like he couldn't breathe at all. “You take the certificate for the first sharp edge at 2:00 a.m.?”

  “Yeah, well, I scheduled my classes that way... I chose instructors from three different time zones so I could attend anywhere...”

  “See!” Zax roared, ”that's exactly what I mean. That's complete overachievement! And it's so mean to everyone else! Because they're measured in comparison to you! I think you're the height of unfriendliness!”

  “Are you trying to slow me down? What's this nonsense?” Lady Evelyne was now outraged.

  “Do you know how shitty it is when you want to join the raid and then it's first six stars, then five stars, then four stars... and you're standing there with your two or three stars and you feel completely sidelined?” Zax raged. “It's all because of people like you!”

  “Then let me tell you something,” Evelyne shouted back, ”it's no different to the T4! How many times have I been told to make room for the T4, "go out there with your T3"! And? Did I whine about it? No, I made room! Because it made the most sense for the faction! Or when building or burning down the base. How often does someone write to me: “hey, I've got an active buff, yours is older, get out of there, let me in!” - and then what happens? I do it and go out! If these same people are now whining and offended because they're only allowed to enter after me because of the stars, that's double standards. Prioritization is only great if you're in front, otherwise it's bad and unfriendly? - No, that's not how it works! First and foremost, toughness means being tough on yourself. Only then can you allow yourself to show toughness towards others. Being offended won't get you anywhere. The same applies to discipline, which also starts with yourself. Be disciplined yourself first, then you can think about disciplining others. Feeling sorry for yourself because the demands are increasing and you feel sooo pushed aside is the opposite of that!”

  “You know what?” roared Zax, ”That's exactly why I've got the fourth star now. And I'll get the fifth and sixth too. Your behavior really forces me to do it. But I hate you. I hate you for being right, and I hate you anyway because you've become such a stupid cow!”

  “That doesn't sound quite logical...” Ivy interjected cautiously from the sidelines.

  “We don't care!” Zax and Evelyne shouted at the same time.

  “Hate needs no logic!” growled the Captain.

  “Right!” said Evelyne, throwing the tea towel next to the sink.

  “I always thought you were such close friends,” muttered ChampagneMami.

  “Oh, we still are!” said the Captain, smirking a little, ”We just throw the necessary truths at each other. Sometimes that's important.” He winked at Evelyne. “Otherwise, Miss Nerd-in-Chief here will think she can get away with anything.”

  “Real friends aren't the ones who talk you down and back you up in everything,” Evelyne added with a smile from the sink, ”but the ones who elbow you in the side and tell you a few truths when necessary.”

  “But I think I need to go again...” grumbled Zax, ”the first sharp edge on the credit card at this point, that's - cheeky. Naughty. Discriminatory. Really. That's not proper!”

  ____________________________________

  Mr. Trump sat in the Oval Office and thought out loud. As always, cCc Alican had to stand next to him and take notes.

  “I think I did very well last week!” Mr. Trump just said, ”TTH burned, cAS burned. Burned everything you could burn.”

  “You didn't burn RxW,” interjected E Musk, who was leaning against the wall.

  “Well, RxW doesn't matter. They don't need to be burned, no, that's not a good idea right now. I'll make a deal, a good deal, a deal that will make 642 great again. And then you can impose tariffs.”

  “From RxW?” asked E Musk in surprise.

  “Well, why not? If we have a deal? - You have to agree with me, my friend, that's a brilliant idea. I came up with it myself. It will make 642 economically great and take us to the top! - Make a note of that!” he turned to Alican. “And then we'll close the borders. Nobody gets in here anymore.”

  “So far it hasn't been the case that a closed border would have stopped RxW, boss,” E Musk objected cautiously.

  “Well, once we've closed the checkpoints, things will be different,” said Mr. Trump with satisfaction, ”I have great ideas for the future, really great! - Where is MightGuySensei? I need him urgently and I've been looking for him in vain!”

  “MightGuySensei has been active in the Don War,” E Musk said carefully, ”and he was brave. Really, really, really brave. Lazy Tiger said he showed big balls. Really big balls. He attacked Thundy.”

  “That's my boy!” said Mr. Trump with satisfaction, ”see? Everything's going wonderfully.”

  “Well, he wrote to me to say that he had misunderstood Don War and that's why...”

  “Hogwash, it's the result that's important! So, he attacked Thundy. And now?”

  “Now he's in Thundy's prison.”

  _____________________________________

  While Thundy and various Suicide Squads were having the time of their lives on the Don map, others were already back to doing their duty work. DmenAce had several RXD members helping him tear down his wall.

  “What on earth are you doing, bro?” asked Jellyyyy in surprise, looking at the onslaught of countless cars in disbelief.

  “The wall has to go!” jeered DmenAce, ”I want to use the wall accelerators on speed-up day, and nobody's attacking me!”

  “And we're all helping out!” laughed ShadowSpirit, ”It's so damn funny here, I never want to leave. They always told us at the church that the 652 is a dictatorship with tight chains of command, and that's why everything here is terrible. The first is true. But it's not true that it's terrible! I've never had such an active, cheerful and helpful crew around me!”

  “Yes, isn't it?” grinned JiMM, ”no family, no friendship, but everyone is there and having fun!”

  “And how!” confirmed Shadowspirit, ”As soon as RXD comes under fire at the arsenal, RxW is there immediately. Only when you attacked us, I promptly pissed myself again!”

  The Thunder brothers roared with laughter as DmenAce's wall fell piece by piece.

  “Seriously!” roared ShadowSpirit against the noise, ”I've bought myself a stack of adult diapers now!”

  “Dressed too?” asked JiMM with interest.

  “Yes, of course!”

  “Well, let's test the quality then...”