I knew this would be a small affair, as the neighbors saw us as midgets, the ruby and jade-categories, so we couldn't invite them. I decided to call Team R54 while Aryav prepared the castle.

***

Doom was coming back from a contract. Whew, that was tiring, he thought. These new gold-category contracts were nothing to be laughed at. They'd reached gold at around the same time as Bob.

He felt a tug, like Arjun had used to speak to them.

He turned to his team. "Felt that?"

"Yes."

They landed in a courtyard of Doom's castle. They accepted.

"Hi, Arjun here. I've come back from Earth. I'm holding a party in Ipigal."

"What," Doom roared. "Ipigal! That's halfway across the planet!"

"Yeah, it was an accident. Just ask your grandfather, I remember him running across Africa in a few seconds. I'm sure he can come close, but warping space doesn't work near Ipigal-but it would still only take half an hour."

"How do you know about that?" Doom asked. This was interesting. Almost no gold-categories knew.

"Wopoimcl tried but couldn't."

Wopoimcl? The one from Nijhu? How was he uncovering secrets only five or six Glassfay gold-categories knew? He'd have to ask at the party.

He turned to his team. "Arjun was talking about secrets very few gold-categories knew. Me, him, and a few scions of great empires. The only other one you know is Bob. It is people like Hwaser Hweesh that know. So don't bother yourself about it. I'll tell you at diamond-category."

They went to the society, got their reward, and went to the palace.

Doom walked to the center. He passed the throne room, throwing a glance at his throne, knowing it would be replaced.

He finally arrived at his grandfather's chambers.

"Hello, Doom."

The gargantuan doom missile's voice made Doom shake, but even though he looked like a ten-foot tall bodybuilder of Doom's race, he was warm and inviting.

Doom remembered the last time he'd been in here, getting his family badge upgraded to gold. This was different, though.

"I need help. Do you remember my disciple? The one who killed the gold-category dragon at iron-category?"

"Yes."

"He went to another planet, but when he came back, he ended up in Ipigal. We need help reaching Ipigal. Apparently, Bob Gokfur is also going to Ipigal."

"Okay."

The team climbed on his back. He flew up, and with one flap, they were over the Glassfay equivalent of the Middle East, with the next, they were near Ipigal.

***

I started preparing the house after the call, which still needed work. I could do it faster with my template.

Wopoimcl, of course, was doing as much as I was, being a jade-category.

We were barely done when the ten-foot-tall doom missile arrived."