Sage races? Now that was a term Jack had never heard before. Yet he paid great attention to it, not only because she called the Primal a member of the Sage races, or at least insinuated it, but Lex had recently created a new alias for himself by the name of Obsidian Sage. What were the chances that he had, unknowingly, turned that alias into a bigshot with some hidden background lore even he himself didn’t know about? Turns out, the chances were pretty high.

Grimshaw grimaced at Oroo’s words.

"Come now, Oroo, don’t be like that," Grimshaw said, trying to be persuasive. "The Primal race has been the universe’s peacekeepers for a long time. They are trustworthy."

Oroo sneered.

"Don’t act familiar with me, Grimshaw. If the Primals are peacekeepers, then tell me why there’s no peace anywhere in the universe? Sounds like they’re doing a bad job to me."

"Ladies and gentlemen, that, in mundane colloquialism, is called a savage burn," announced Bob, interrupting the rather serious scene.

Everyone turned to look at Bob just in time to see Tiny-Sparkles stuffing a chicken wing into the Drama-cats mouth. Tiny-Sparkles gave all the bigshots a weak smile, and suppressed his urge to strangle Bob.

The member of the Artica race who had appeared finally seemed unable to ignore the situation anymore, and approached the trio of Oroo, Grimshaw and the Primal.

"Dear guests, while the Artica race is normally very accommodating within the limits of their established boundaries, there is

a limit to our accommodation," the bird said angrily. "What the hell is going on here? I have just been informed that this entire region was entirely unsupervised. That is a serious breach of protocol, and I do not believe it happened by accident."

Grimshaw started to feel even more nervous as the Artica race member talked, mostly because he was the one responsible for that lack of supervision.

He used one of multiple limbs to wipe the sweat off his tail, which was not located where one might expect.

"Quite the convenient excuse," Oroo said, looking at the Artica member with hostility in her eyes. "The Humanoid Alliance has been accosted. I believe there was a conspiracy in place to separate one of our members from the child in his possession to stage a kidnapping - something the Artica race is perfectly capable of orchestrating since they have complete control over the realm. If you want to ingratiate yourself to a Sage race, do not try to be so pathetic while you do it."

The Artica member was about to respond, just as infuriated by the accusation as he was upon finding out that a child was harmed under their watch, but the Primal spread a bit of its aura.

Much to the Artica race members surprise, the aura suppressed even it, causing it to want to listen to what he had to say. The effect was the same for all those around him. Jack, too, felt the aura, though instead of suppressed he was shocked. The effects of the Primals aura felt similar to how Grimshaw’s presence affected Jack.

"Miss Oroo, I can assure you that despite being from a Sage race myself, it is not my intention to be biased towards anyone. My sole purpose is to de-escalate this situation. Please allow me to do so, and I will assure you that all your grievances will be addressed in an appropriate fashion."

Oroo crossed her arms and frowned. Such audacity was rare in the universe, and spoke of just how influential the Humanoid Alliance was, and especially how strong the Celestial race was as a collective. Who else would dare to face off a Sage so openly?

"Fine, but under a condition. The final consequence for the perpetrator must satisfy Jack," she said at last, bargaining with the Primal.

Jack, despite all the knowledge he had attained, felt like he did not quite understand the full scope of what was happening, so within Abaddon, Lex asked Mary a question.

"Hey Mary, have you ever heard about the Sage races?"

"Yeah, of course I have," she said. "You know how the Elder races are the top 100 races in the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the Sages are the top 10 races in the spectrum. Most don’t even know the names of all 10 of those races, or anything about them - just that they should absolutely not be messed with."

Lex was too stunned to respond. More importantly, Jack suddenly understood why his entire existence was being suppressed within Grimshaw’s presence. If he was from one of the top ten races... well, Jack couldn’t even imagine what kind of power backed him up.

He suddenly looked back up at Oroo with an expression of deep respect. To stand up against two Sages... it must not be easy.

"Such a condition is acceptable as long as the final punishment is proportional to the crime committed. Now, let us take this somewhere more private, so that we are not on display in front of the public."

Jack heard the sound of hands clapping, and his surroundings suddenly changed. He was sitting at a round table, the little alligator on his right, and Oroo on his left. Alongside them, on the table, were the Primal, the Artica, Grimshaw and the Jagged Stallion.

"Before we can begin to resolve the situation, it’s important we first understand the full scope of what happened. It is very important that all involved parties answer truthfully, so I will have to request you all to answer my questions honestly ."

The Primals words had an unseen power. Though he simply made a straightforward request, Jack felt, even through the protection of the green pentagons around his body, that he did not want to lie, or even exaggerate, about the whole situation from start to finish - not that the situation was too long or complicated from his point of view.

Even so, the power of a simple request was unbelievable.

"Now, who would like to begin?"