Pahrak Model ZX

Chapter 17 Pat shot a blast of lightning that lanced through an entire line of Acid copies. There weren’t many enemies left, but the situation felt hectic as ever now that they were tearing away at the Real Wave shield keeping WAZA safe. Rey intercepted one clone and hurled it into another. As he sliced them both apart, another copy floated into place and renewed the assault on the wall, so Pat ran over to obliterate it before it could do much damage. “Wish we knew how much longer this’ll hold,” Pat said as he backed up against Rey. “The way things are it’s impossible to know what our margin for error is.” Rey fired off a rocket punch. “Don’t worry about that: just keep taking ‘em out! We’re almost done, and then it won’t—“ A shout from Tia distracted them. One of the copies swept in and swung its claw, knocking them both off their feet. It prepared to follow-up, but before it could, Geo blinked into existence behind it, running it through with a Long Sword and making its body go limp. “Geo!” Pat said, sitting up and smiling. “I’m so glad you’re back!” A very confused look was what he got in return. Geo looked from him to Rey, saying, “Pat, Rey…are you…what’s happening?” “Take it easy,” Rey said. “We’re both fine, and we’re both still on your side.” Pat got to his feet. “Sorry, I guess this must be a shock. We just…we wanted to help out, and when Ace showed us where Gemini was being held—“ “Ace did what?!” Geo asked. “If you’ll forgive the intrusion,” Gemini said, “your foes haven’t quite given up yet.” Geo spun and blasted away several copies. As Pat and Rey resumed their own efforts, he called, “Gemini, you better not even think about hurting them!” Gemini laughed. “Oh, you seem a tad less fragile than the last time I saw you. I suppose if something would befall these boys, I’d have to answer to you?” Geo turned towards an Acid copy that was charging Pat. In a flash, Mega materialized and swung his claw, ripping the clone to shreds instantly, and then he glared forward with his fangs bared. “Nah. You’ll answer to me.” A small opening appeared in the barrier. Ace dashed through it, narrowly avoiding a swipe from an Acid clone. “Where’s Acid?” “Get back, idiot!” Rey shouted, creating a mace to bash the copy aside. “Acid!” Ace called, scanning the field. “Acid, hurry up!” A beam swept through a group of clones, and then two figures rushed through their remains: Ophiuca, holding something tightly against her chest, and the real Acid. The FM-ian made a beeline for the opening in the barrier—it sealed behind her—while Acid went to Ace’s side as the Satella Officer drew his Hunter. “I apologize that we could not get here sooner, Ace,” the Wizard said. “Don’t worry, pal. Let’s just make up for lost time!” Ace held out his Hunter, but Acid made no move. “Ace…are you certain?” With a frown, Ace said, “Of course! I’m not just going to sit by when Dealer’s at our door!” Acid glanced at Tia. “…You are entirely certain?” “I am,” Ace answered without hesitation. With a final nod, Acid disappeared into Ace’s Hunter, and Ace made his way across the crater. While all this was going on, Sonia and Tia continued to stare at each other to see who was going to make the first move. Sonia had yet to launch another attack, but with the way she was glaring at Tia, it was obvious to all that she wanted to. Eventually, Tia tilted her staff. “Look out!” Amy shouted. The rain attack came down on Sonia, catching her off-guard. Hyde touched the ground: several shadowy hands sprouted all around Tia, trying to fence her in, and Amy made a leap. It was exactly what Tia expected. She called down another wall of light, smiting the hands and repelling Amy, and then she slowly moved forward with one eye on Sonia. “Fine then,” Sonia grunted. She played a series of notes, but the projections she produced just hung in the air. She jumped down to the ground and brandished her guitar. “Kyahahaha, I’ve been waiting for this!” Virgo said. “I finally get to kill the great Harp Note! Though I gotta say, you’re way more intense than I was expecting—the FM King made you out to be such a nice little girl!” “You caught me on a bad day,” Sonia said, rearing back. “Kyahaha, fine with me! It’ll be more fun this way!” Sonia hurled the instrument. It bounced off the barrier, incurring a blast of water in response, so she rolled aside and reeled her guitar back in. When Tia moved to call down more rain, Sonia flicked a dial, and the notes above came crashing down on Tia before she could move out of the way. Seeing the opportunity, Hyde tossed his hat at Tia’s hand. Her staff was pushed back, but she managed to hold onto it, and also endured the snowballs Amy hurled at her. Sonia unleashed a sound pulse, but the attack was just slow enough that Tia got her shield back in time to block it. Sonia huffed. “What a waste of time! Even if it takes a while, you aren’t going to win, so just get out of here! We’ve got more important things to take care of!” Tia stared at her. A moment later, however, she turned, and Sonia tentatively glanced over her shoulder. Ace stopped next to her. “Tia,” he said. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Eventually, Tia replied, “That’s because of you.” Ace smiled. “Man, I can’t believe you were at Echo Ridge this whole time! We must’ve just kept missing each other—how crazy is that? Well, at least now we have a chance to clear the air.” Sonia cocked her head. “You know her?” Tia looked between the two of them. “Hm. I was wondering how many people knew.” “For what it’s worth, I knew,” Hyde said. Everyone looked at him. “…For what it’s worth…” “Knew what?” Sonia asked. Virgo laughed. “Oh, this is so good! You don’t have a clue about Ace’s history, do you? Surprise, girlie: your friend there has spent almost his whole life as one of Dealer’s top operatives!” Sonia gaped. She glanced at Ace: his expression had dulled quickly, and that was enough to let her know Virgo wasn’t lying. I guess that explains how WAZA knows so much about Dealer… “I gave up that life,” Ace said. “I have no intentions of going back, so it doesn’t really matter.” “Kyahaha, are you sure? How do you feel, Harp Note? Still think you can trust him?” Sonia stepped forward. “If Mr. Boreal still trusts Ace, then that’s good enough for me.” “Oh? You don’t mind they’ve been hiding something this big from you for so long?” “Shut up!” Sonia said, preparing to throw her guitar again. Ace held out a hand. “Wait a minute.” Shooting a glare at him, she said, “What?!” He met her gaze. “I need to talk to her. Please.” Sonia wanted to scream. Reluctantly, she lowered her weapon and took a slow step backwards. “Thank you,” Ace said. Locking eyes on Tia, he said, “Tia…I’m sorry.” Tia inclined her head. “What?” “I don’t regret leaving Dealer, but still, it didn’t really go the way I wanted. What I really wanted was to take you and Jack with me.” Tia continued to stare at him. “But…I couldn’t. I left you with King, and you’ve had to keep suffering under him all this time. So for that, I’m sorry.” He clenched his fist and raised it. “But Tia, things are different now! You don’t have to keep working with that scumbag: you can stand down, come with us, and we’ll keep you safe from him! Then we’ll get Jack, and finally put an end to all the terrible things King is doing! We’ll all finally be safe, Tia! Isn’t that what you always wanted?” After a few long moments, Tia’s lips parted to reveal clenched teeth. “All of us…?” she said in a voice like ice. “You’re saying we can all be safe? It’s far, far too late for you to start saying that, Ace.” Ace gulped. “…I made a lot of mistakes. I know that now.” “Good,” Tia said, lifting her staff. “I wanted you to know just how much you’ve done wrong…I want you to agonize over that guilt as you draw your last breath. I’m not going back with you, Ace. I still have one thing left to live for.” Ace shuddered. Raising his other hand, the one with his Hunter in it, he said, “I’m going to save you and Jack. I promise you, Tia.” He grabbed his Hunter with both hands. “Transcode 001!” He transformed in a bright flash, gaining a small amount of white and grey armor over his Satella Police uniform. The main bulk of his protection was in a boxy shape over his chest, with rounded shoulders that spawned four long, wing-shaped plates. White armor with sharp fins was on his feet and forearms, and a narrow helmet with three fins covered his head and eyes, a thin band of silver coming down over his chin as if to strap it into place. “Hyde, Amy, you’ve done enough,” Ace said, readying the small black blaster that he now carried. “You should go rest—I’ll send word if we end up needing back-up.” Amy shook her head. “I can still fight!” “Amy,” Yeti said, “I really think we should pull back with how much damage we’ve taken. Just let Sonia and Ace handle things!” “I’m afraid I must concur,” Hyde said. “We’ll only be a detriment if we collapse and they have to remove us from the battlefield. Let’s hold off until we are needed.” Amy turned to Sonia. Trying not to sound as frustrated as she felt, Sonia said, “We can handle this.” Hesitantly, Amy cast one last look at Tia before turning and heading back towards HQ, Hyde not far behind her. Tia’s staff moved. Luckily, Hyde was prepared: he gave Amy a small push before gliding away from the rain himself, and the two then quickened their pace considerably. Sonia played furiously, sending a volley of blasts at Tia’s shield. She held her ground when the water came rushing at her. “That’s not going to work,” Ace said. Looking up, she snapped, “At least I’m doing something!” A roar signaled the creation of a new water dragon. Sonia prepared a sound pulse, but before she got the chance, Ace pointed his gun and launched a spinning, bladed wheel from it; the weapon shot forward a short distance before turning sharply, intercepting the dragon and destroying it. Deciding to try something else, Sonia lowered the head of her guitar and fired her strings as Tia called a shower down on Ace. They managed to slip through the veil of water and wrap around Tia’s midsection. Eagerly, Sonia sent a pulse down the wire, stunning her opponent and bringing the shield down. “Nicely done!” Ace said. “Target locked, and…” He held out his blaster: a small, flat blade made of energy extended from the tip. In a second he was in front of Tia, swiping at her twice before she knocked him flat with her scepter. Sonia tried another pulse, but Tia snapped the strings, pointed her staff at Sonia, and sent out a water dragon that bowled over her. Ace leapt up and aimed his gun. Tia raised her shield as a series of small electric blasts came from the barrel, and then forced Ace back with her staff. The two of them stared each other down for a moment. “I never wanted anyone to get hurt,” Ace said. “Why should your intentions matter?” Tia asked. “Tia, I was just a kid, and all I knew was what King was telling us! How was I supposed to—“ Another water dragon spawned from the barrier, carrying Ace away before he could finish. Sonia was back on her feet now, launching more strings, but Tia predicted this and floated out of the way. She was quick to call down more rain, and as Sonia was dodging, a flash of blue could be seen darting towards her. Geo’s blade didn’t even leave a dent in the barrier. “Darn,” he said as he teleported a short distance back. “…Ms. Tia, I—“ “Ugh, don’t even start!” Virgo said. “All of you keep saying the same thing, and I’m so tired of it! Let’s just get back to killing each other!” “With pleasure,” Mega growled. “Though I have to say, I’d much rather take out you and that rotten crow together!” “Don’t be hasty, Mega dear,” Lyra said. “Ophiuca and I would very much like to have a word with Virgo. Don’t go eliminating her just yet.” Geo turned slightly. “What’s with you two?! We’re not killing anyone, right Sonia?” “Of course not!” Sonia said. “We aren’t going to stoop to these monsters’ level!” “Kyahaha, this is fun, this is fun!” Virgo laughed. “Come on, Tia, don’t stop! Let’s see how many we can kill at once!” Taking a slow step forward, Tia rapped one knuckle against the interior of her barrier. The exterior spawned a shockwave that nearly hit Sonia and Geo; not long after they dodged, however, they heard an impact and something shuddering behind them, and they quickly realized what it was. Tia struck her barrier several more times as she walked forward—Sonia and Geo blocked what they could, but most of the water blasts went right past them, pounding away at the Real Wave shield. Deciding to change tactics, Sonia shot her strings again. Tia let them wrap around her arm, wincing a bit as she endured a sound pulse, but continued to move forward, now using the end of her scepter to spawn the shockwaves. “Dang it!” Sonia shouted, playing as fast as she could to try to wear Tia down. “Sonia, calm down!” Lyra said. “I can’t! Nothing’s working—she’s not stopping—and if we can’t stop her, she’s going to wreck everything, and Luna…” She paused. Seeing this, Tia whipped up another water dragon and sent it forth, tearing her free of the strings in the process. Sonia and Geo occupied themselves with destroying this projection, but out of the corner of their eye they saw two beams of energy lance into Tia from the side. Ace followed up his surprise attack with a series of rapid shots, an assault which Sonia eagerly added to. Geo took a moment to angle his buster, and then launched an arrow from it that arced high before striking Tia in the abdomen, prompting her to stumble and fall to her knees. Ace stopped firing. A few seconds later, Geo touched Sonia’s arm, and she stopped too. “Please just surrender, Tia,” Ace said. “There’s no need for anyone else to get hurt here.” Tia didn’t even look at him as she straightened herself. “Stand down, Tia! Acid’s been running analyses on you this whole time—with the data he has now, this fight is already over!” “Is that so?” Tia muttered. Water began to appear around her. “Then stop talking and do what you do best, Ace. Pull the trigger.” Ace stared at her for a moment. Then, he lowered his weapon. A second later, the armor plates on his back shifted, and a loud whirring noise could be heard. Red energy blasted out from behind Ace’s shoulders, fanning out to create projections that resembled wings. “I think this one needs to be more personal,” he said. Ace leaned forward…and then the energy faded. His body spasmed, and he fell to one knee, clutching his arm. “No, not now…! Acid!” “Limiter is activating,” Acid stated. “There’s nothing more I can do, Ace.” Tia’s eyes glinted. A water dragon rushed straight at Ace as his Wave Change evaporated. Sonia started forward, but Geo quickly overtook her, using his Mega Attack to get in front of Ace just as the attack connected. The water clung to them both, wrapping around them in the shape of a bubble; Sonia tried to play a note as she ran, but Tia sent out a shockwave while she wasn’t looking, knocking her feet out from under her. She hit the ground face-first, hearing a loud crack as an intense jolt of pain dulled her senses. “No,” Sonia said, groggily picking herself up. Her vision was blurred, and her visor was covered in a web of fractures. She tried aiming, but another shockwave sent her back down. “Sonia,” Lyra groaned. “I’m sorry, but…we’re about to run out of power…I don’t know how much more of this we can take!” “Kyahahaha!” Virgo laughed. “What a stupid girl! And what stupid boys! Hurry up, Tia—we’re finally going to kill them, kyahaha!” Sonia screamed in fury, shooting blindly in the hopes that she would hit her mark. She couldn’t give up, but she didn’t know what to do, and though the rage was undoubtedly the loudest voice in her mind, there was another thought that still came through perfectly clear. Am I really going to lose them? Another shockwave rolled her backwards. I don’t know how to save them! If I don’t do something, I’m going to lose Geo! I’m going to lose Bud, and Amy, and Pat, and Zack, and Mr. Boreal, and… She could feel rain battering away at her, the downpour not letting up for even a second. Luna…I’ll really…lose…Luna… Sonia’s thoughts suddenly shifted. The idea grew strong enough to overpower the rage, and all her thoughts snapped into focus around it. Tia was preparing one more attack—she couldn’t see it, but she knew. NO! She raised one hand as she felt water rush over her, pushing against the current with all the strength she had left. It was agony, feeling the rapids break over her, doing their best to tear her apart, but she still forced herself to stand. When it finally ended, she stayed where she was—she trembled violently, but she stayed standing, and readied her guitar. She could see clearly again. “What the heck is that?” Virgo asked. “Oh, right, I think you were saying something about this, weren’t you, Tia?” Tia took a moment to reassess her foe. Sonia’s dress was now a pale shade of green, covered by an angular black breastplate and with the outer part of her sleeve dyed purple, a pink scarf coiled around her neck. Purple had also found its way into her gloves, as well as her helmet, the nodes on which were now silvery spikes, and her greaves were green on their outer sides with a vertical purple stripe down their centers. The body of her guitar had a design on it reminiscent of the hood of a cobra, while the head sported a snake-like ornament. Tia hummed quietly, waiting to see what she would do. Sonia looked herself over as well, but only for a second. Lifting her guitar, she aimed the head at the bubble holding Ace and Geo and played, firing off a pink beam of energy that pierced through the orb and freed them. Immediately, she set her sights on Tia. “When…did you have time to access the Noise Server?” Lyra asked. “I didn’t,” Sonia said. “What? But then…” Sonia bit her lip. “…Are you saying it’s okay, Luna? I didn’t want to, but…if you really think this is the only way…then…” Seeing that she was distracted, Tia walked forward, closing in rapidly on the Real Wave shield. Sonia played a short song, and Tia paused mid-step: the ground before her was suddenly covered in a blanket of snakes, all closely watching her. Sparing a glance at Sonia, Tia raised her staff and began to form another water dragon. As this was happening, Geo was helping Ace into a sitting position, asking, “Are you okay?” “Yeah,” Ace said, stopping to hack and cough for a few seconds. “Yeah, guess so…” “Get over to the Wave Liner stop—you and Solo should be able to hide back in there until this is over.” “Did you say Solo?” Ace asked, turning towards the stop. Sure enough, he could just barely see the boy slumped against the wall of the entryway, watching the battle with a weary focus. “It’s a long story,” Geo said. He started to get up, but Ace grabbed his arm. “Hang on! Her barrier…it’s weaker when she’s attacking. If you’re trying to break it, that’s your best bet!” Geo nodded. “Alright. Thank you.” “And, Geo…I’m sorry about Pat.” After a moment, Geo turned away and said, “We’ll talk later.” Back at the shield, Tia was sending out shockwave after shockwave to repel the oncoming snakes. Sonia fired another laser, but her opponent floated out of the way, and she dodged a counterattack—only to immediately regret leaving the Real Wave barrier unprotected. “…Sonia,” Lyra said. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but…while this form is certainly giving us more to work with…” “It doesn’t really have a good way to stop her,” Sonia said. “I know. But, I don’t have time to switch forms. We’re just going to have to do the best we can with these abilities…unless…” Tia called down more pillars of light, letting them sweep away the snakes as she walked forward. Sonia waited for an opening in the lights and aimed at Tia’s feet: she hoped her laser could create enough stone to shackle her to the ground, but the barrier just absorbed the shot, and she had to use her guitar to block the retaliation shockwave. Tia was only a few steps away from her now. Sonia wondered if it was better to take the hit or let the shield take more damage, but as a water dragon began to take shape, Geo appeared behind Tia. Making a fist, he threw an electrified jab that punched right through Tia’s veil and hit her in the back of the head, releasing a shock that stunned her and caused her shield to instantly vanish. “We have to stop her now!” Geo said, readying another Battle Card. Nodding, Sonia pointed the head of her guitar at Tia and fired, pushing her back and nearly making her fall over. Geo spun into a small whirlwind, keeping Tia too dizzy to attack, and then Sonia struck her with a sound pulse. As Geo unloaded a series of rapid shots, Tia gripped her staff tightly. Sonia fired one quick sound blast before the shield came back up. Geo reluctantly prepared to defend, but no attack came. Tia turned slowly. She knew her foes must be close, but she couldn’t be sure where, since Sonia’s last attack had temporarily blinded her. “Lyra,” Sonia whispered, jumping a few feet back. “Is it possible to access two Noise Changes at once?” Lyra thought about it briefly, ultimately replying, “Let’s find out.” Tia blinked as her vision started to return. Geo said, “Ms. Tia…I don’t want to fight you, but I’m not going to let you destroy WAZA.” “Shut up already!” Virgo shouted. “Ugh, you stupid brats just don’t know when to quit! I’m getting real fed up with this, Tia: let’s kill someone already!” Tia raised her staff and locked eyes on Geo as he slowly circled around her. Then, she turned to look at Sonia. She saw the girl pull one hand in front of herself, and moved to fire off a water dragon, but all she did was give Geo the opportunity he needed to ram a drill through her shield. Sonia’s armor flashed briefly before changing to a darker shade of green complimented by gold, her guitar transforming to the shape belonging to Crown Noise. While Geo jumped up and unloaded a ferocious series of blasts, Sonia began to play, calling up three tiny skulls coated in electricity that trailed behind them like the bodies of snakes. The small creatures darted over to Tia and flung themselves up at her, leaving her too confused to reform her shield, and Sonia pointed her guitar as Geo charged his buster. Neither said a word as they fired. One massive blast came from Geo’s side, while Sonia fired a beam made of focused electricity; caught in the middle of both, Tia felt a sharp, stinging pain, and then her knees buckled and gave out, her staff rolling away as she hit the ground. “Are you…kidding me?!” Virgo screamed. “No way is this happening! No way, no way, no way, no waaaaaay!” Geo picked up the staff, keeping his buster armed. Sonia approached quickly, saying, “Give it up already. It’s over.” Tia looked up at her, her expression still blank. “…No. There’s still Jack. It isn’t over yet…” “Sure, whatever,” Mega said. “Why don’t the two of you separate and we can have a nice long chat?” “Get real!” Virgo said. “Like I’d really let you idiots capture me!” In the next second, Tia’s Wave Change was undone, and Virgo floated in the air above her. “Huh?” Mega said. “Hey, wait a sec!” The FM-ian turned and bolted across the sky, her decision too sudden for anyone to do anything about it. “Why that…!” Tia looked up after her for a moment. Then, she looked down at the ground, and sat perfectly still. “Her cowardice is truly astounding,” Lyra said. “Well…at least we’ve secured one of them.” Ace approached then. He stared at Tia for a moment, and then reached into his uniform to pull out a pair of handcuffs. “Queen Tia…you are hereby under arrest.” *** The main computer room of WAZA HQ was unnervingly quiet, the only sounds being those made by Vega and Goodall as they made the final adjustments for the reconstruction process. Boreal sat at a table with his hands over his face. Sonia stood nearby, eyes on the two doctors, while Amy and Zack tended to Bud on the other side of the room, and Geo and Pat sat a few steps away. Copper was along the other wall glaring at Ace, who either hadn’t noticed or didn’t have anything to say. Hyde was next to the machinery, ready in case Vega needed anything, and Solo just stood in the midst of the room periodically glancing around at everyone. “So Chief,” Ace finally said, rubbing his shoulder. “Any news from the other branches?” Boreal lowered his hands enough that his eyes were visible. “NetFrica HQ managed to repel the invasion, but their facilities suffered immense damage in the process. They’re crippled. And as for everyone else…” Ace crossed his arms. “Then it looks like we’re on our own.” “For some reason hearing you say that makes me nervous,” Copper grumbled. “Like you’re going to use it as justification for another one of your hare-brained schemes.” “Don’t be like that, detective,” he said, smiling. “Everything worked out in the end.” Copper stepped forward. “Everything…? The Satella Police are in shambles after that battle! All of our officers, humans and Wizards, are out of commission, and that’s not even getting started on how banged up our Wave Change users are! And despite all that, we have only one untalkative captive to show for it! I’d hardly say this all worked out, Ace!” “I didn’t know you were so worried about us. Don’t sweat it, I’ll be fine.” “I’m more worried about…” He sighed. Bud raised his fist, saying, “No, I’ll be okay too! I’m just a little sore is all. Ow!” “Just relax, Bud,” Amy said. “Yeah, I know.” She paused a moment. “Bud…are you doing okay?” He let out a breath. “I really wish I coulda put up more of a fight against her. It sucks that I wasn’t able to contribute at all to that fight.” Amy set a hand on his arm, and he grinned at her. “So I’ll just have to do better next time! I’m gonna get back on my feet, and I’m gonna train until I’m stronger than ever, no matter how long it takes me! Wait and see: I’ll get so strong I’ll even be able to take on that Joker guy!” A relieved smile came over Amy’s face. “Alright. And I’ll be training with you! Now that the cat’s out of the bag there’s no sense in going back to the sidelines!” “I knew you were going to say that,” Yeti said. “Well, if that’s what you want, then I’ll help you out. I may not be able to stop you from fighting, but I’ll definitely keep you safe, Amy.” As Amy thanked him, Sonia turned to look at Boreal. “Apparently Joker was in Alohaha to fight Solo,” she said. “I don’t think I got a chance to tell you that.” Boreal nodded and looked over at Solo. “…So. You’re fighting with Dealer as well?” “I am,” Solo said. Boreal waited a moment, and then asked, “Can you tell us why?” Solo took a moment to organize his thoughts, finally saying, “I’ve reason to believe they have something they should not.” When it became apparent that was all he was offering, Boreal leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He used to work for you, correct?” “…That’s right. And he must have taken Acid’s blueprints when he left—that’s the only way I can explain how Dealer would be able to make so many copies. I’m just glad they went for quantity over quality, or else we could have been in real trouble.” Mega scoffed. “Right, cause Acid’s so tough. He didn’t even last long in that fight—we did the real heavy lifting!” “Our contributions were reduced only due to my built-in restrictions,” Acid stated. “Had we continued fighting any longer, the damage done to Ace’s body would have far exceeded the damage we would have caused to Queen Tia.” “Why is that?” Geo asked. “Is there something wrong with your Wave Change?” “I wouldn’t say ‘wrong’, but…” Ace began, ultimately trailing off. He drew his Hunter, and Acid materialized next to him. “Well, you’ve probably noticed that man-made Wizards look a bit more ‘solid’ than FM-ians and the like, right? Natural EM beings usually look like clouds of energy with bits of armor, but the ones we make are pretty much all armor.” “While we can now create our own EM beings,” Boreal picked up, “the process is not perfected by any stretch of the imagination. Keeping an amorphous being’s body together is a very, very tricky process, and we just haven’t figured it out. So with current Wizards, in order to keep the entity’s waves from drifting too far apart and dissipating, their bodies are compressed to an incredibly high degree, which is why they look…’solid’. And, unfortunately, that also applies to the Wave Changes produced using these Wizards.” Ace nodded. “Such high-level compression puts a lot more stress on my body than a normal Wave Change. Acid’s constantly monitoring my vitals, and if they ever reach a certain threshold, our Wave Change automatically deactivates. I keep telling them it’s set too high—I can take more stress than they give me credit for.” “So that’s why you haven’t experimented with more Wave Change-capable Wizards,” Sonia said. After a pause, she asked, “I’ve been wondering about Transcode 002. When we encountered Solo, I thought maybe it was him, but he doesn’t have a Hunter so I don’t see how he’d be connected to the network that registers them.” She paused again. “It’s Joker, isn’t it?” “…Yes and no,” Ace answered. “Joker was originally planned to be a part of Wave Change Wizard testing, so 002 was registered as a placeholder he would eventually assume. He never actually took it, but it’s still sort of his.” Sonia nodded slowly. “Something else. When I met him, he said we were drawing power from a ‘Meteor Server’.” She faced Boreal, but he wouldn’t look her in the eye. A long, uncomfortable silence followed. With a powerful sigh, Boreal said, “It wasn’t on a course for Earth, so we thought saying anything would create a problem where there wasn’t one, but…yes. The Noise Server is actually what we would classify as a meteor, officially dubbed ‘Meteor G’.” “And what does the ‘G’ stand for, exactly?” Lyra asked. “No one could really agree,” Ace said. “Giant, Grand, Grave…a lot of possibilities got tossed out, we just kind of settled on ‘G’ in the end.” “Since Dealer’s so focused on Noise,” Sonia said, “I’m guessing the meteor has something to do with their goals?” “That’s right,” Ace said. “Dealer’s ultimate goal is to take control of Meteor G, and use its powerful Noise to take control of the world.” “And now Joker’s with them, and he has a program than can access it. That sounds pretty bad.” “Hard to say exactly how bad, but…Meteor G does appear to be getting closer to Earth, so…” Everyone looked up. “It’s headed for Earth?” Geo asked. “It’s moving very slowly—we still have plenty of time to deal with it,” Boreal assured. “How are we going to deal with it?” “Until we know exactly what Dealer is doing to it, it’s difficult to say for sure. But defeating them is going to be essential.” “So we just keep at it,” Sonia mumbled, “and hope that when we do stop Dealer, the way to stop the meteor is obvious.” No one else said a word until the doctors stopped their work. Approaching them, Goodall said, “Conditions are as ideal as they’ll ever be. If we’re going to do this, we’ve got to do it now.” Sonia swallowed hard. As she came forward, Goodall, Vega, and a few other scientists took up stations all along the machinery, and at the flick of a switch a low hum filled the air. Ophiuca emerged from the corner she had been hiding in and approached as well. In her hands she held a large ball of light, and at the prompting of Goodall, she inserted it into an opening and reluctantly moved back. “Let’s begin,” Goodall said, her face frozen as she stared directly at the screen in front of her. “100% of Luna Platz’s data accounted for. Now activating reconstruction program…” Sonia fixed her eyes on the machinery in front of her. She was vaguely aware of the others around her—she thought Geo might be saying something—but nothing else felt real, none of it registered. The only thing she could think about was this last chance to save Luna. At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Every few seconds one of the scientists would make some observation, and Goodall would respond, at the same time carefully watching her own screen while her fingers darted over the buttons laid out for them. The first thing that indicated a reason to be concerned was Vega flinching slightly. “…Reconstruction speed has slowed,” she reported. “Correction, is slowing.” “Increase support functions to compensate,” Goodall replied. “Compensating…negative. It’s not having any effect.” “Dr. Goodall,” said another scientist, “if we push those functions any further it’s likely to lock up the entire system.” One of the others glanced back at the spectators before saying, “Data is beginning to degrade.” Sonia started shaking. “Deactivate auto-support and switch to manual input, at my station,” Goodall ordered. Her colleagues all looked at her, one of them saying, “Manual? Doctor, stabilizing this process with manual input is just impossible!” Goodall didn’t look up. “That’s no reason to give up. Switch to manual input.” “…Switching to manual input…” The speed of Goodall’s fingers increased. Vega said, “Reconstruction speed stabilizing…degradation has ceased. Analysis shows no corruption—I think we’re back on track.” “Prepare to engage the rematerialization process, at one-third default settings,” Goodall said. “We need to get the timing precisely right.” “Standing ready,” came the reply. Someone next to her was saying something, Sonia was sure. She couldn’t make out what it was. “Now!” Goodall said. More and more lights flashed down the length of the machines. The hum grew louder. Goodall typed away, never stopping for a split second, and all anyone else could do was watch. After about a minute of silence, one of the lights flashed red. “Reconstruction is slowing immensely!” Vega said. “Rematerialization process as well…data integrity is…oh no…” Goodall shouted her orders, but suddenly Sonia couldn’t make those out either. It was as if her senses just ceased to function altogether, as if she had just stepped away from reality and it was going on without her. A chaotic jumble of thoughts and emotions filled her head, and for what seemed like forever, she was lost in it, having no clue what was going on or what she was feeling. A hand on her shoulder and it became crystal clear all at once. “Sonia…” Geo said. Tears erupted from her eyes. More and more lights were turning red. “Luna,” Sonia said. “Luna…don’t leave me…” She took a step forward. Geo tried to gently keep her back, but she kept moving. “Please, don’t go! I need you! I can’t do this without you, Luna!” “Sonia!” Geo said, moving forward and wrapping his arms around her. “Sonia, we need to stay back!” She leaned forward, struggling against him as she continued to cry out. “Don’t leave me! I did everything I could—I did my best to save you! You’re supposed to be okay now! Come back, Luna! I’m not ready to lose you!” Vega pounded furiously at her terminal. “I’m doing everything I can to keep the data intact, but I need more power! Somebody reroute energy from all non-essential functions!” “In progress,” someone said, “but if we don’t get the process realigned soon the data will corrupt!” “It’s not over,” Goodall said. Try as she might to stay calm, a hint of desperation was creeping into her voice. “Just stay focused, and…” “I can’t lose you!” Sonia sobbed, sinking to her knees. “Don’t do this to me, Luna! Don’t give up, not when we’re this close! You have to make it! You just…have to…” “Corruption inevitable,” someone said. “Dr. Goodall…I don’t see how we can stop this.” “Just keep trying!” Goodall said. “There has to be some way!” Vega clenched her teeth. “…It’s slowing too much…she…she’s…” Geo tightened his hold on Sonia. She hung her head, trying one last time to pull away, and said, “Please, Luna…I love you so much…please, don’t leave me…I need you…” The hum began to dim. Sonia’s heart plummeted. Staring wide-eyed at her screen, Vega said, “…It’s…stabilizing…” Unsure of what she had heard, Sonia turned to look at her. “D-Data is retaining integrity! Reconstruction sequence is stabilizing—no, it’s actually picking up! Modifying rematerialization program to match!” Sonia looked up at the machine. “…Luna…?” “This is incredible!” one of the scientists said. “It’s some kind of miracle!” Goodall continued to type away, and a small smile came to her face. “Don’t act so surprised, dear. Miracles happen all the time.” The lights along the machinery all returned to normal, and soon a hissing sound could be heard from the tall, cylindrical chamber attached to it. Sonia held her breath as she stared at it. One be one, the scientists all turned away from their stations to watch the chamber, Goodall being the last. Slowly, the glass wall of the chamber pulled aside, revealing an off-balance, confused-looking, but very much alive Luna. “Oooh,” she groaned, taking a few shaky steps out of the chamber. “What happened…?” Sonia got to her feet—Geo had finally let go of her. “Luna…? Is that really you?” Luna faced her. “Huh? What do you mean—of course it’s me! What kind of…” She paused, taking a good look around. “…Are we at WAZA? What’s going on?” “Luna!” Sonia shouted, rushing over and nearly tackling her to the ground. “Y-You’re okay! You’re really okay! Hahaha! Luna’s okay!” “H-Hey, easy! I’m not…feeling well, for some reason…wait, why are you so upset? Sonia?” Sonia kissed her, saying, “I’m so glad you’re okay…I love you, Luna.” Luna blushed a little. “Y-Yeah, I know…I love you too.” Sonia held Luna tight, the other girl glancing around in confusion for another moment before returning the embrace. “Sonia…what happened?” (Review)

Krekka: "Ah, one of Metru Nui's famous street mimes! Look, she's trapped in a box!"

Sounds like Takanuva's really embraced the villain role. Interested in seeing where this goes!

"LOT OF 3 LEGO EXO-TOA, AUCTION ENDING IN 1:39" Tahnok Kal: "I've been waiting 16 years to own one of these, you're not going to outbid me!" Gahlok Kal: "I need these for a MoC and can snipe at a range of 32 milliseconds, your dreams mean nothing."

I don’t think I ever said anything about the early demo, but it was something I picked up as soon as I got my Switch. I had already watched someone play through it as one of the available characters, but even if I hadn’t, I probably would’ve gone for this right away—a free demo of a JRPG with gorgeous pixel art from a big name like Square? Yeah, doubt I’d miss that. Anyway, I don’t think that original demo is available now that the new one has gone live, but it really grabbed my attention. Not just because it had an interesting, engaging battle system, but because after completing your chosen character’s story, not only can you keep playing, not only can you recruit the other character to start getting a feel for how they work together, but there’s also a hidden dungeon you can only access after “beating” the demo. A free demo with a post-game dungeon. That impressed me. Anyway, I’ve also picked up the new Prologue demo: on the plus side you can choose from any of the eight characters, the game has some nice improvements since its original showing, and the save data will transfer to the full game once you get it! On the down side, there’s only one save file, and once its time reaches 3 hours you won’t be able to play any more. You can just keep doing New Games with the other characters and just not save (or rely on the separate autosave file), but still, I feel like that time limit is a bit unfortunate. (I mean, if you wanted to do the full 3 hours with all 8 characters, that’s still 24 hours of gameplay, but…anyway.) Now that I’ve checked everyone out, here are my thoughts. -Ophilia: Seeing as she’s a Cleric, and even has an action for bringing NPCs along with her to aid her in battle, I wasn’t expecting Ophilia to dish out much damage, but she really surprised me. Granted her first dungeon is catered specifically to her, but I was shocked by how much damage her light magic does. And on the healing side of things, she starts out with an AoE heal, and can immediately learn an AoE revival skill if you so choose, so, yeah, she’s pretty good on that front. She’s an endearingly sweet character, though I could see someone saying she’s about what you’d expect for a Cleric—a matter of opinion, I guess. But either way, she gets top marks for starting off as one very good healer. Also her starting town is the most gorgeous place in the game thus far. -Cyrus: After trying everyone out, this is the character I’m starting with. He’s smart, he’s likeable, he’s got just a dash of arrogance, and he firmly believes that knowledge is meant to be shared and that keeping it to oneself is a terrible crime. In short, just an all-around delight. Really, the main reason I want him in the party is because he’s very practical: he begins with AoE fire and ice magic and can immediately learn thunder, and can also learn multi-hit AoE spells of those same elements (very useful for the way the battle system works). More than that, upon entering battle he will automatically uncover one weakness of every enemy on the field, which really sets you up for success without the risk of trial-and-error you usually go through, plus his ability to scrutinize NPCs turns up all sorts of useful bonuses. Definitely recommend giving him a try. -Tressa: Going into this, I didn’t have much of an interest in Tressa. I’ve developed an appreciation for her now, but honestly, she’s not really in the running for “favorite” status, and since her goal is so vague I’m not really sure what to expect. Her field action lets her buy items from NPCs, sometimes giving you access to better things than you can find in the shop, and that can be handy. She’s the only character who learns wind magic, and can collect money from enemies in battle—not to mention occasionally finding money on the ground as you travel. (For some reason I find that a little funny, maybe because it’s phrased as being “left behind by some unfortunate soul”.) What’s really nice is that she gets a skill that restores her HP and SP at no cost other than using your turn, so she’s very efficient. She left a positive impression…if not necessarily the strongest one. -Olberic: One of the characters available in the original demo, Olberic is an all-around solid choice by virtue of being a knight. Knights are always good in a JRPG. Plus he starts with two weapon types and possesses a physical AoE skill, and his unique field action allows him to challenge NPCs to a duel, allowing you to gain EXP, money, and items at a much faster rate if you’re thorough. One could argue he’s a bit vanilla, but it’s worth trying him out. -Primrose: The other character from the original demo. Her story is incredibly dark, not sure I can really go into it here, but if you want a JRPG with serious and mature themes in its narrative she’s the woman you want to go to. She’s the only character who learns shadow magic, and she also learns a variety of buff skills, but the real focus is on using her field action to charm an NPC into following you, and them summoning them in battle as a temporary extra party member. A very neat character, looking forward to seeing where her story goes. -Alfyn: Okay, so…Alfyn’s the character of this bunch that just doesn’t really excite me. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with him, and he has a noble goal and all, but…I dunno, he just doesn’t seem as interesting for some reason. Of course, the one time I used his Concoct skill it did nothing, so that certainly didn’t help matters. And he has only a single-target ice spell, and a single-target heal spell, which doesn’t compete well with Cyrus and Ophilia respectively. (He and Cyrus also have more or less the same field action.) He learned a nice support skill that restores a little SP with every attack made, and a status-healing move that also makes you immune to status for a short time, but…eh. Currently my least favorite of the eight. -Therion: An edgy thief, yes…but he pulls it off very well. He’s far more entertaining than obnoxious. Stealing NPCs blind is ridiculously fun, and gets you a lot of nice stuff (supplemented by the loot in special treasure chests only Therion can open), making it very easy to prepare yourself for the enemies in this chapter. Plus, he learns powerful double-hit skills that restore his HP or SP by a certain amount of the damage done, making him a very efficient character after only a few upgrades. Quite a tempting choice actually. -H’aanit: Kind of a mixed bag. She’s a neat character, to be sure, but it’s difficult to take her seriously when her and her people use Old English to the point that it isn’t even funny. She’s basically a revamp of the classic Beastmaster job from Final Fantasy: she can catch monsters and then release them in later battles to unleash attacks on enemies, but she can store several monsters this way and they each have multiple uses before disappearing. (She also has a snow leopard named Linde who is always with her, so you’re never totally without an animal friend to call on.) Since these monsters all have different attacks that hit a variety of attributes, H’aanit is the most versatile character when it comes to targeting weaknesses—assuming you’re catching plenty of monsters and seeing what they can all do, that is. And the game does encourage you to do this by giving her a field action similar to Olberic, where she can challenge NPCs, but can only use the animals she has with her, none of her other skills. H’aanit is truly a devastating hunter and seemed a little OP at first…but the thing is, she does her best work fighting single foes. You can’t aim any of her animal friends, hampering the versatility they offer, and the only skills she learns that can potentially hit multiple targets are random as well. I like H’aanit, and definitely enjoyed her opening story, but as I gathered party members with her and faced more and more groups of enemies, I found myself using her unique abilities far less. Hopefully this is just down to my inexperience with the Beastmaster job, but I can’t help but wonder. A criticism I have is that there’s no interaction between the characters. They’ve said there will be at least some in the full game, but right now, you just run to the other characters’ starting areas, meet up with them, and then watch their cutscenes play out without anything changing. Really feels like a missed opportunity, but I guess this is to motivate you to buy the full game. Also I was bummed we couldn’t mess around with the jobs in the demo. They’ve already shown that in addition to a character’s main job, they can equip another character’s job as a secondary job, plus now we know that characters earn support skills they can equip no matter what jobs they have equipped, and you know I love me some job-mixing! Can’t believe I have to wait a whole month to make Cyrus a Scholar/Dancer… But anyway, I’m really looking forward to Octopath Traveler even if there are a few things I’m hoping are done better in the full package. If you have a Switch and this game sounds like it’d be up your alley, I’d highly recommend downloading the demo and giving it a shot!

Krana: "Come a little bit closer..."

Thanks! Chapter 16 is up now, and Queen Virgo takes to the field! Next chapter is on track for July 3rd!

Chapter 16 Sonia summoned her speakers and brought her hand down on her guitar, sending out a trio of sound pulses that swept away all the viruses she could see. The Wizard Two endured the attack, and instantly more viruses came from the warp, attacking as soon as they did and forcing Sonia to evade. Their numbers were quickly replenished. Geo floated around the edge of the gray tiles and pointed his buster, sending out a blast that struck one virus and unleashed a shockwave all around it; Two was caught in the blast, but he shook it off, dashed forward, and threw out a whip made of electricity. Geo narrowly avoided the attack and backed off a bit. Sonia wrapped the Wizard in strings and tried to drag him out of his territory, but a sword-wielding virus snapped the bindings before he was close enough, and Sonia was on the run again while Geo unloaded a rapid series of shots. This is taking way too long! Ophiuca and Acid were doing what they could: the FM-ian would distract foes with her snakes before stunning them with her Gorgon Eye, giving Acid a chance to finish them off, and they were having some success. She had seen Solo fighting off viruses when things had first started, but she had very quickly lost sight of him. If that worried her at all, she was too frustrated to notice. “What is it that you want?!” she shouted at Two. “What are you going to accomplish by keeping us here?” With a smirk, Two said, “Longer you’re here, more damage gets done to WAZA, and then I get to claim a share of credit in that. That’s all there is to it.” “So you’re just some attention-hungry jerk? Sounds pretty pathetic!” Geo glanced at her in surprise, leaving himself open to a minor attack. “Whatever you say, Harp Note,” Two said as he readied another whip. “I’m having a grand time!” As he reared back, Geo dispatched the virus he was facing and held his hand forward. A high-pitched whistle came from his Hunter arm, and suddenly Two’s body went stiff, and he was pulled through the air by some invisible force until he was right at the edge of the distorted panels. Geo shifted his stance—a large, fan-shaped weapon appeared in his hand, and when he swung it Two was launched backwards by a damaging gust of wind, sliding to a stop on the far edge of his territory. “Heh…not bad, but not smart either,” Two said as he got up. “You shoulda tried harder to keep me there, dumb—“ In a flash, Solo appeared behind him. He grabbed the Wizard by the head, yanked him off the altered portion of the Wave Road, and slammed him down with all his might. Two turned enough to look at Solo: the boy was glaring fiercely at him, silently warning him not to try anything. “Thanks, Solo!” Geo shouted. “We’ll cover you!” Sonia set her guitar for quick blasts, unleashing a flurry of shots on the herd of viruses. Ophiuca and Acid grouped the strays together, and Geo teleported into their midst, spinning around and whipping up a sharp air current that demolished them. Once they were sure no more viruses were nearby, the Wizards went to guard the link while Geo stooped and loaded a Battle Card to restore the Wave Road to normal. “The other viruses will come even if I don’t signal for them,” Two said. “Then we’ll just handle them,” Sonia huffed, stalking forward. Joining Solo, Geo asked, “What are we going to do with him?” Sonia stopped and faced them. She tried to consider what her options were, but she couldn’t focus her thoughts on the matter. “He may possess valuable information,” Acid stated. “If we have some way to bind him, then it may be worth taking him with us.” Solo turned slightly, raising his free hand. The second he did, Two smirked, and he quickly reached for something. “Solo!” Geo shouted. The Wizard pulled out a Noise Card, took aim at Sonia, and then shouted in pain as Solo snapped his arm clean off. After discarding the appendage, he asked, “What is that? Should we keep it?” Geo paused a moment, and then went to pick up the card. “Uh…yeah. We’ll explain later.” Solo nodded. Raising his free hand again, he pulled one finger through the air, creating a line of light as he did—in this way he drew a symbol in the air, and when he then pointed down, chains shot from the glyph to wrap around Two. With the Wizard secured, Solo stood and dragged him over to the link. “Yikes,” Two grumbled, “guess I bit off more than I could chew…” “Looks like you’ve got some new tricks too,” Mega commented. “Shame we couldn’t see more of ‘em in action, it might’ve helped.” Solo grunted. “If you can’t tell, I’m not exactly in good condition right now. Fighting those viruses head-on would’ve been suicidal without Laplace’s barrier.” Geo nodded. “Okay, that makes sense, but…why is it that you can’t use Laplace’s powers?” “We need to get moving!” Sonia interrupted. “He can tell us on the way—let’s go!” “Sonia,” Lyra said. “We can expect a swarm of viruses beyond this link, and charging in headfirst would be foolhardy. We need a strategy, and if there are currently limits on how Solo can contribute, we need to know what they are.” Sonia looked at her guitar for a few moments. She then sighed, turned back to Solo, and said, “I’m sorry.” Solo didn’t give much of a reaction. Turning back to Geo, he said, “I fought an agent of Dealer in Alohaha. I heard the environmental Wizard was going out of control and figured it was them, so I came to get the jump on them. But, it seems they were expecting my arrival…” He grabbed the spaulder adorning his left shoulder. “That man…shattered Laplace’s barrier in a single punch.” Geo shuddered. Sonia’s eyes widened slightly, and she said, “Wait a second…what was this guy like?” “He was extremely tall, in a red coat. Somehow, he was able to fight me without even Wave Changing…I believe he said his name was—“ “Joker.” Solo inclined his head. “Ah. So you’ve met him too.” Sonia’s teeth and fists clenched, and she said, “He’s the one who…he’s the reason we need to get back to WAZA right now. It’s because of him that Luna’s life is in danger.” She looked up. “…And he beat you?” “He surprised me. Destroying Laplace’s barrier so easily left me bewildered, and he took advantage of that. Not only that, his weapon is unlike anything I’ve seen before.” He gestured to his scars. “My Wave Form was damaged. He seemed to think it should’ve been destroyed. I thought that would allow me to surprise him, but…when I attacked him with the Laplace Blade…” Solo gripped the piece of armor more tightly. Geo said, “I think I get it. I’m sorry to hear that, Solo. Will…will Laplace be okay?” “He will regenerate, like any PM-ian. But I don’t know how long it will take. This…has never happened before.” A thick silence enveloped the party. Acid eventually broke it, saying, “Taking this into consideration, I believe I have a plan of attack. We shall proceed as soon as everyone is ready.” Sonia stepped forward. “I’m ready. Let’s get back to WAZA as soon as we can.” *** It was hard to say for sure if the tide was turning. The Acid copies continued their relentless march, and had managed to delete several more Battle Wizards and wound a number of human Satella Officers, but the line had held and the Wave Change users were still fighting. Tia glanced at Bud, who kept fighting despite his clear exhaustion, and then to Hyde, who was now beginning to show signs of fatigue as well. As for Amy, Pat, and Rey, they certainly had more stamina remaining, but it was very apparent that they were novices to this sort of fighting. She finally looked to the screen floating next to her. The last few Acid copies were just now being sent out. “Let’s go,” she said, dismissing the interface. Virgo leapt up. “Really?! It’s finally time?! Yay! I’ve been waiting for this!” The FM-ian disappeared into Tia’s pendant, and a second later they were fused. Heavy armor shaped like a dress encased Tia, its interior alternating bands of blue and white while the outer plates were a dark, dull shade of reddish-pink sporting golden accents. Her angular sleeves and tall headgear with the same shade, and the hair trailing behind her now bent upward into sharp points. In one hand she carried a tall, silver-plated scepter, its tip sporting a wide dish with a small spike atop it. Tia made a short jump forward and gently floated down into the crater, landing in the midst of the final Acid copies. Amy was the first to notice her. She tapped Bud on the shoulder, and he turned around, flinching instantly. “M…Ms. Tia? Is that really you?” She didn’t say a word, simply planting her staff in the ground. A translucent veil of water rose to encircle her, and then she locked eyes on Bud, raised her weapon, and tilted it slightly. Instinct allowed Bud to strafe clear of a small burst of rain overhead. “Ms. Tia, we don’t have to fight!” he said, trying to think of what Sonia would say. “Why are you working for Dealer? There’s gotta be some way to solve this without—“ More water fell from above, forcing him to run. Amy hurled a snowball at Tia, but it shattered against her barrier; a second later, a focused blast of water shot out from the shield right at Amy, who barely stumbled out of the way. “…Alright, can’t say I didn’t try,” Bud mumbled. “Be careful, Bud,” Taurus warned. “With all the damage we’ve taken, an opponent like this is really risky for us.” “I know, but we’re going to have to break that shield to even have a chance. I’m gonna put everything I have into it! Are you with me?” “Mrrrgh…ah, sure, might as well give it a shot!” Bud dodged more rain as his armor started to glow red-hot again. He turned to Amy and shouted, “Get ready, Amy! I’m gonna make an opening for you!” “Huh?” Amy said. “Wait, Bud, I don’t think that’s such a good—“ He was already charging horns-first. Tia just gave him a dull stare. “Kyahahaha!” Virgo laughed. “What an absolute moron!” Bud rammed into the barrier with all his might…and it didn’t budge an inch. The fact had barely processed when water burst out of it, flinging him back at high speed. His head hit the ground, and with a groan from both him and Taurus, they passed out, their Wave Change vanishing instantly. “Bud!” Amy shouted, bounding towards him. “It’s been waaaaay too long since I last got to kill a moron!” Virgo said, practically shrieking with glee. Amy reached over Bud, doing her best to shield him from another burst of rain. The attack stung, but she kept moving, trying to get Bud on his feet and keep an eye on Tia at the same time. Tia’s expression still hadn’t changed. Amy dragged Bud a step forward, but it seemed to take forever, and Virgo cackled as she watched them slowly lurch away. “This is great, this is great! Let’s torture her some more and then kill them both at the same time—it’ll be so much fun! Kyahaha, I can barely wait!” Tia moved, and Amy tried to shift without dropping Bud. To her surprise, a shadow moved over them, and she didn’t feel a thing—looking up, she saw a large hand made of darkness spread out above her, and it slowly retracted into the ground from whence it came. “Huh?” Virgo said. “Who’s the spoilsport?!” “Beg pardon, fair patron,” called a voice, “but that would be me.” Tia looked over her shoulder. Hyde stood there, bowing with his hat in his hand, and he soon flashed a satisfied grin at her. “It seems our star is a bit under the weather, so for tonight’s performance the understudy shall be taking center stage. I assure you this will in no way diminish your entertainment of the performance…or at least, it shan’t diminish mine, heh, heh, heh.” Tia turned back to Bud and Amy, noticing that Pat and Rey had come out to help them. She beat her staff against the ground: her shield swirled and grew, a piece of it soon breaking off and molding into a massive, spinning torrent of water shaped like a dragon. The elemental swept along the ground towards the children, but Hyde suddenly appeared in its path and thrust his electrified cane directly into the dragon’s face. Its entire body burst into droplets. “Please, miss,” he said as he adjusted his hat. “We ask that you not distract the rest of the audience. Eyes. On. Me.” “Ugh, you are sooo frustrating!” Virgo said. “Let’s just kill him first, then we can get back to the brats! Come on, Tia!” Without a sound, Tia faced Hyde and raised her staff. He effortlessly avoided her rain attack, musing, “Seems your offensive ability is somewhat lacking, my dear—but those defenses of yours will prove quite the trick. Ah, such wonderful balance, a perfectly matched countermeasure! Truly, I admire it! Yet at the same time, all I need do is breach said defenses, and—“ “Do you ever shut up?!” Virgo shouted. “No,” Phantom replied, “not even when his life depends on it.” Hyde shrugged. “Too dialogue-heavy for your taste? Oh, very well, I suppose I can simply cut to the action scene. I’ve bought more time than I really needed anyway.” Tia narrowed her eyes a bit. She called down another burst of rain, this one striking Hyde before he could move. But, for some reason, it passed right through him. She paused, and he smiled arrogantly at her. “W…what the heck?!” Virgo cried. “We hit you, you’re supposed to get hurt! You better play by the rules so I can kill you, or else I’m gonna make it extra painful!” “My word,” Phantom said, “you’re almost as bad as he is, you simpleton.” “Simpleton?!” Tia looked around. It seemed to be getting darker suddenly, save for the areas directly around her and Hyde. As the darkness grew thicker, spotlights could be seen around the two combatants, and Tia didn’t move an inch as she worked out what was going on. “An illusion,” she stated. Hyde clapped. “Bravo! Aren’t you clever! It takes some time to prepare the stage, but now that the scene has begun, there’s nothing you can do to escape. So just sit back and enjoy, fair patron…though eventually, the script will call for your role to end, heh, heh, heh.” Virgo continued shouting, but Tia ignored her and swung her staff around. A wide swath of rain blanketed the area in front of her, and she hoped Hyde would be caught in it somewhere, but all she heard was a laugh from the illusion in the spotlight as he rested both hands on his cane. Deciding to try a different approach, she struck the ground again. “Oh, go ahead,” Hyde said as the water dragon passed right through him. “You won’t hit me, you won’t hit anyone. I wonder, are you even actually using that attack, or is it simply stage magic? Heh, heh, heh.” Tia considered this for a moment. “No. If your powers of illusion were truly that strong, you would not have waited this long to unleash them.” Hyde pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes. “Heh, heh…an interesting theory. Care to try it out?” Tia raised her staff high. She floated a few inches off the ground as pieces of her dress began to shine with light, but before she could do anything more, a terrible pain sprang from her back to lance through her entire body, stopping her cold. The illusory Hyde laughed, and she was able to turn just enough to see the real one behind her. Pointing up, he said, “Your defense lacks a certain verticality, miss.” He spun rapidly, whipping up a shockwave that cut into Tia several times as the stunning effect of the earlier attack wore off. Hyde electrified his cane once again, but she moved more quickly than he anticipated: she rammed the head of her staff into him, spawning a water dragon from it as she did, and the creature swept him away to be driven directly into the wall of rock. Tia straightened herself as the illusion around her quickly faded away. Amy, Pat, and Rey were fighting off Acid copies not far away. Most of the clones were behind them, however, clawing away at the remainder of the Satella Police forces; Tia assumed this meant their intention was to leave the horde to the officials while they came to assist Hyde. “Oh, you came back!” Virgo said. “Wait, did you dump the other one already? Awww…well, I guess that’s something to look forward to killing later. I’ll just have to enjoy the three of you right now, kyahahaha!” Amy jumped on top of an Acid clone and then bounced off of it, aiming for Tia as she raised a new barrier. She managed to aim herself towards the open area above her enemy, but Tia saw this and leapt to the side, meaning Amy landed on nothing but solid rock. A quick downpour nearly pushed her into it face-first. “Urgh,” she grunted, “hard to believe raindrops hurt so much…” “Kyahahaha, never heard of acid rain?” Virgo taunted. “Not that it matters, I guess. What’s important is that you suffer! Kyahahaha!” Amy threw a snowball as she retreated, not accomplishing much of anything. The Gemini Sparks were running in now, Pat curling lightning bolts into a ball while Rey readied his sword, but Tia just beat the ground and summoned another dragon. Pat and Rey scattered, while Amy jumped out and stomped on its head. Tia didn’t flinch as the electric orb was hurled at her barrier, nor when Rey slashed at it from the other side. A rocket punch hit from a third angle a moment later, but despite all their efforts, the twins couldn’t create a single dent in the barrier. “Darn,” Rey hissed as he dodged a water blast. “I thought if we split her focus we might get somewhere…” “Nice try!” Virgo said. “My defenses can’t be beaten that easily, kyahahaha!” “She’s right,” Gemini said. “Disappointing as she turned out, there’s a reason Virgo was considered one of the elite.” “Huh? You know me too? I guess this Wave Change looks sorta familiar…” Gemini chuckled. “Can you remember nothing but how best to kill, Virgo? While I applaud your devotion, you always did seem a bit too single-minded to me.” “Aw, who cares! Let’s just get back to me killing you!” “No, I think not.” Pat and Rey continued to circle around Tia, attacking her barrier in an attempt to find some weakness to it. Amy glanced at Hyde, currently peeling himself off the wall, and tentatively formed a snowball in one hand and took a step forward. “Amy, what’s the plan?” Yeti asked. “She can block anything we throw at her from the front, and she’ll see us coming if we try to attack from above. Unless we can manage to get her really distracted, I think we’re kind of stuck.” “There’s got to be something we can do,” Amy mumbled. Hyde had joined in the attack now, but Tia just stood there and watched their futile efforts. Amy opened her hand, preparing to create another snowball, but stopped to think better of it. “You can’t hold us off forever!” Hyde said, attempting to leap over the barrier. “You’re vastly outnumbered, you—oof!” Tia smacked him away with her staff head before he could finish. Rey charged the barrier with a drill, but he was repelled instantly. Pat raised one hand and shot a bolt of lightning into the sky—a second later, it came back down and struck Tia, and he smiled. Amy took this opportunity to lob her snowball. To her dismay, the barrier was back before it hit its target. “Shoot!” Amy said. “If only we could…” She paused to look at her hands. “What are you thinking?” Yeti asked. Amy grinned. “Of course!” She rushed forward, both palms open. Tia spotted her but didn’t make a move to interfere. Amy skidded to a halt and stuck both hands out, and once they met the barrier, she unleashed an intense wave of cold that froze one section of the shield into solid ice. Tia’s eyes widened. Amy reared back one fist and prepared to punch through. “Got you n—“ Tia’s staff came through the ice instead, jabbing her in the gut and sending her toppling over. At the very least, this provided Hyde an opportunity to stun her, which allowed Pat and Rey to get in some more hits. Before long, however, Tia’s dress began to glow again, and she raised her staff high. Beams of light shot down from the sky and rapidly encircled her, sweeping away all three of her attackers and giving her plenty of time to raise a new barrier. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Amy growled as she rolled onto her side. “Even when we find something that works, it’s still not enough?” “She must have a lot of combat experience to respond so quickly,” Yeti said. “Our chances don’t look great, but…we just need to keep her busy, until Sonia gets here, right?” Amy clenched her teeth. “Is that all we can do?” She started to get up, but one of the Satella Officers shouted at her. She looked, and then immediately pressed herself against the ground, yelling at Pat, Rey, and Hyde to do the same. They complied, and Tia turned to see what the officers were up to. That was when she realized they all had their anti-Z Wave weapons pointed directly at her, and all at once, they fired. As the blast soared over Amy, she felt a sensation like pins and needles along her back, and she dared not look up until she heard an impact. She saw that Tia’s barrier had warped horribly…only to snap right back into shape and unleash a water blast even more massive than one of her dragons. Amy rolled enough that it only grazed her. The Satella Officers and Battle Wizards were slammed into the Real Wave shield they were protecting, and when the furious torrent finally stopped, none of them got back up. “Oh no…” There weren’t many Acid copies left, but those that did remain quickly realized their opportunity. They advanced over the defeated Satella forces and began clawing at the shield. “No!” Amy prepared to rush them. A burst of rain prevented her from doing so. To her relief, Pat and Rey ran past either side of her, and they immediately began picking off the invaders as quickly as they could. The downside, Amy knew, was that it now fell to her to continue distracting Tia. Finally standing, she faced the woman with an exhausted scowl on her face. She only received that same blank stare in return. “Kyahahaha!” Virgo laughed. “This is so much fun! Do you think they’re dead? I hope at least some of them are dead. Oh what does it matter, I can slice them all apart later just to be sure, kyahahaha!” “You’re despicable!” Amy said. “And you, you’re really okay with this? What’s worth this? What’s so important that you’re ready to kill for it?” A spark of something flashed behind Tia’s eyes. What is was, Amy couldn’t be sure, but it was enough to surprise her. Still, she didn’t have time to be shocked: Tia was forming another dragon above her head, and though Hyde came to regroup with her, he was looking extremely worse for wear. Amy opened her hands and generated as much cold as she could. Tia swung her staff forward and the dragon dashed. Hyde called a hand from the earth to swat the creature, but it barely proved a distraction. When it was almost upon them, Amy thrust her palms out to freeze the monster, its forward momentum enough to shatter its newly-fragile body, but she still felt herself being pushed back. As she caught her breath, however, she noticed something shooting through the air. It was a small object, something that looked like a box, and though she couldn’t tell where it had come from, it was headed straight towards Tia. “What is…” As the box moved over Tia, strings shot out from its face. They reached through the opening atop the barrier and entangled Tia, catching her totally by surprise, and then the box was quickly reeled in closer to her. Amy looked up at the Wave Road. “…Is that…?!” Devastating sound waves exploded from the speaker, enough to make Tia shout in pain. She too looked up, seeing someone standing on the Wave Road, and then threw away the object that had attacked her. “Here at last,” Hyde breathed. “I was beginning to think you’d missed your cue, dear heroine.” Sonia didn’t pay him any mind. Her eyes were fixed squarely on Tia, and as the Dealer operative called up another water veil, Sonia adjusted the settings on her guitar. “You only get one warning,” Sonia yelled. “Leave. Now.” (Review)

Glad to hear it! Section VII is up now--sorry it took a bit, but hopefully it'll be worth the wait, and I'll do my best to get VIII out soon as well. I'd also like to take this time to thank the staff for Featuring this story! It's truly an honor!

(Yeah, that title is definitely gonna grab attention, heheheheh…) A new update for Right of Law is up, but before I get to that: in the time since the last update, this story was actually featured on the home page! This really floored me—it’s a huge honor to know that someone on the staff read this story I’ve been working so hard on and thought it was worth letting other people know about it! I’ll continue doing my best to make this story a good read, and hopefully I won’t drag my feet about it since this is looking so, so much longer than I was originally planning… Which brings us to Section VII! The drones finally reach Bitil’s outpost, and the battle to defend it begins! I wanted to do this all in one chapter, but it’s already decently-sized and there’s a good amount more I want to do, and combining that with how long it’s been since Section VI went live, I think I’m going to go ahead and post what I have right now. With any luck, this means Section VIII is not far away!

SECTION VII The drones trudged onward, sand whipping violently around them. One of many squads currently searching the areas around Nynrah, this particular unit had already combed over several sectors without finding a single sign of their targets, and so were expanding their search eastward while their allies had gone either up or down the coastline. It would take more than a sudden sandstorm to turn them away, but the automata had engaged a somewhat cautious protocol. While such storms certainly weren’t uncommon in the Great Desert, the data provided on their targets made note of weather-altering abilities, meaning there was at least a chance that they were closing in on their mark. One drone looked up. Several of the others turned as it transmitted its observation to them: for a moment, it had seemed that something was going against the wind just above the squad, but it had been quick enough that none of the units could fully register what it was. This was taken as an increase in the probability of battle, prompting the drones to pre-emptively arm their weaponry. One drone pulled ahead of the rest—according to their navigational data, a settlement was just ahead, and it would need to deliver a statement of intention upon arrival. The statement was compiled in a matter of seconds. An instant afterward, the leader went offline and collapsed. The army stopped in their tracks. Analysis of the slain leader revealed a protosteel-tipped arrow lodged in its cranial unit, having fatally punctured the drone’s processor. The threat was deemed severe, and as the drones took another step forward, their weapon locks were disabled. A signal from the back caused them to halt again: something had attacked several of the rear units from behind before retreating, though drones in visual range had not registered anything visible. Before sense could be made of the event, a loud thunderclap came from nearby, and a bolt of lightning struck one of the forward units, frying it and those closest to it. Another drone was struck down with an arrow. It was apparent that combat had begun, and so one of the remaining drones assumed command. The horde was split into two groups, one of which continued to march forward as the other made an about-face and opened fire. The sandstorm quieted with unnatural swiftness, and a large wall came into view not far ahead: dozens of Rahkshi could be seen perched atop it, and roughly a hundred stood before its sealed gate. Aiming at the nearest guards, many of the drones fired. One Rahkshi stepped forward, hands outstretched—a distortion filled the air in front of her, and the blasts suddenly froze as they entered it, being sealed in stasis until the Rahkshi reached up to redirect them into the sky. A large Rahkshi with an even larger shield came next. Not a single blast could get through his guard, and several actually ricocheted and struck down drones instead. The lead drone moved to rush at him. Another arrow smote it before it had the chance. The stasis Rahkshi moved to catch more blasts, but more curious to the drones, they registered a steep increase in temperature in their immediate vicinity. The wave of heat quickly focused upon three drones in particular, causing them to burst into flames. Four Rahkshi were coming out to meet them now, each carrying different weapons but all with aquamarine coloration in their armor; the drones readied to engage, just as the heat began to rise again. The rear squad was not faring much better. Their blind shots had yet to strike their imperceptible foe, yet their forces continued to be picked off one or two at a time by their devastating blows. As they looked about for any indication of where the next attack might come from, two Rahkshi suddenly appeared at their flank: one with blue and green armor, the other clad in red and orange. The latter had four long eyestalks that each twitched in different directions, and a moment later, each spawned a laser beam that carved deeply into the drones’ ranks, and they were gone before a counterattack could be made. Another physical blow demolished drones not far away—but at the same time, a drone in the back had its head sliced clean off. The Laser Vision Rahkshi reappeared in the space between the two squads, attacking both, while at the rear of the invading force there now appeared a Cyclone Rahkshi with a second Rahkshi of Teleportation. A large chunk of the squad was soon scattered through the air. Up front, the drones had managed to beat back the few melee fighters who had approached them, but as they retreated a new presence made itself known. As arrows and lightning continued to fly and more drones succumbed to the heat, a massive Rahkshi the size of a small building could be seen moving through the gate of the outpost, the treads on its feet groaning as they pulled the behemoth forward. Many of the drones focused their fire on this newcomer. The Rahkshi with the shield got in front of him, keeping careful watch so he could move and jump to block all shots aimed at his brother. The armored giant, a Rahkshi of Plasma from the look of it, sluggishly raised his arms—they ended in cannons the size of an average Rahkshi, and a faint orange glow soon came from their barrels. A deep hiss came from his mouth. The shield-bearer signaled when it was safe to reach forward, and then two intense blasts of raw energy collided with the enemy ranks, annihilating all caught in their wake and kicking up a huge cloud of sand afterward. One shot grazed the Plasma Rahkshi’s cannon. He recoiled, hugging the injured limb close, but was relieved to see the wound was not severe. Energy started to build up again, and he prepared himself to make another shot as soon as he could. Antroz stood in a small guardhouse just above the gate, mere steps away from the Accuracy Rahkshi firing arrows. She turned to the others and said, “Their forces are in disarray. We have yet to suffer any casualties.” Bitil nodded, though he continued to grind his fingers into his palm. “As expected, the attack from the rear has led to the drones separating into two forces. The teleporters and chameleons are carrying out things on their end.” Zaekura hummed. She glanced down the wall at a Rahkshi of Heat Vision with a rounded protrusion atop their head that glowed bright orange. “Should we have Serk quit so we can send in more melee fighters than just the Heat Resistance Rahkshi?” “I think it’s too soon for that,” Antroz said. “While things are going smoothly at the moment, we are still outnumbered. We should have the main forces wait until their numbers have been reduced further.” A bright flash signaled another attack from the giant Plasma Rahkshi. Krika rubbed his chin, saying, “Shouldn’t be too much longer with Artil tearing them apart like that. I must say, Bitil, it’s scary to think you’ve had such a destructive creature so close this whole time.” “Have some respect,” Bitil snapped. “Artil’s down there risking his life while you sit safely up here! You don’t exactly have good standing to jest, Krika.” “I meant it as a compliment. Besides, I’ve done my part: the effects of my Prosperity powers are holding strong, and I’m alert and ready to top off any who need it.” Bitil grunted. Stepping forward, Charla said, “Please, Lord Bitil, we must remain calm. The others will be fine. You did your best to equip us for the day we would march in battle, and I am certain it will be enough.” Antroz turned sharply. Bitil asked, “What is it?” “It would seem one of them has injured Azin.” “What? How?!” “It was a lucky shot. He’s being brought in now.” A Rahkshi of Teleportation appeared just long enough to deposit a cloaked red and gold Rahkshi, two daggers at his belt as he clutched a wound on his arm. Bitil knelt and grabbed him by the shoulder, saying, “Azin! Are you alright?” The Rahkshi turned his head, making a short hiss. “This doesn’t look like something you should brush off so casually! Where’s Surja?” A black and brown Rahkshi came rushing over. Once she was at Azin’s side, she gripped his arm with both hands and stared at the wound intently, and slowly it began to mend. She hissed something, and Bitil stood and sighed. “She says he’ll be fine,” he muttered. “He’ll be fine…” Krika glanced at Zaekura. The Glatorian had her arms crossed, one finger tapping incessantly. Looking back at the battle, he commented, “It’s really going quite well.” Zaekura’s finger froze. Turning her back, she grumbled, “Don’t patronize me.” “No, I’m being genuine. I’d already lost several Rahkshi this far into the battle when I went against these machines. You’ve put together an excellent strategy, Zaekura—it’s only a matter of time until victory is ours.” Zaekura turned around, but stopped when she saw Charla. The Rahkshi was staring forward blankly in a way that seemed vaguely nervous, and that made her nervous too. “What’s up?” Charla jumped a bit. “Oh, forgive me, I was just…” She hesitated. “Is something wrong, Charla?” Bitil asked. “I don’t know that I’d say that. I’m just sensing something unusual.” Antroz cocked her head. “What do you mean?” It took a few moments for Charla to reply. “The drones are emitting some type of energy. It’s not psychic energy, but it’s…similar, somehow. Makuta Antroz, do you sense it as well?” Reaching out again, Antroz picked one specific drone to focus on as she tried to feel what Charla was describing. Slowly, she became aware of a very strange feeling that spawned from the being every few seconds, always passing very quickly but continually returning without fail. “…Curious,” Antroz said. “It’s so faint I hadn’t noticed it at first. I’m afraid I can’t identify it—I’ve never encountered this particular sort of energy before.” “Is it dangerous?” Bitil asked. “Calm down,” Krika said. “If this energy becomes a concern, we shall deal with it then. Right now we’ve nothing to worry about.” “Easy for you to say…” Zaekura walked up next to the archer, peeking over the wall at the forces below. “Maybe…we should speed things up, just to be safe.” “Acting with haste can often make things more dangerous,” Antroz advised. “I’m not saying we get sloppy. I just think we can send the heavy hitters without it causing any problems.” She turned to Bitil. “Yes? No? What do you think?” Bitil surveyed the battle himself, looking very uncertain. “…Perhaps sending one to the rear would be beneficial…I just don’t like the idea of sending them out front right now. The ranged assault is working, and it’s far safer for them all—let’s keep that going as long as we possibly can.” “Alright, who do we send?” Suddenly, a look of shock swept over Antroz’s face. Charla shivered as well, saying, “What is that…?” Bitil whirled. “What? What is what?” “Oh no,” Antroz said. “What do you mean? What’s going on, Antroz?!” Charla closed her eyes. “I’ve never felt a mind like this…where did it come from? It’s so foreign, it’s…indescribable…” Bitil’s eyes widened. He slowly turned to Antroz. She nodded once, and he felt his antidermis thin. “That,” Antroz said solemnly, “is the mind of a Great Being.” Krika was on his feet. “Where?” “Somewhere down there,” Antroz said, making a sweeping gesture. “I can’t determine exactly, but it’s somewhere in that flock of drones; it just appeared a second ago.” Thinking quickly, Krika said, “That energy you were sensing…it must be some kind of beacon, linked back to the Maze. And Velika, I’m sure he’s keeping a close eye on those signals: if many of them start dropping at once, he can guess that we’re demolishing more of his prized inventions. Of course that slippery eel would outfit them all to receive a remote consciousness upload. After I broke the first batch, he wanted to be able to see my demise personally.” Zaekura looked about frantically. “Not to complain, but uh, why isn’t he just blasting down the doors already?” “These are all just standard drone bodies,” Krika said as he gently pulled her back from the wall, “probably not as strong as the special one I found in Ga-Koro. He’s just as vulnerable as any of them right now…but knowing Velika, it won’t stay that way for long.” Antroz leapt onto the side of the wall. “We must act. Eradicating all drones before Velika can make a plan to turn this in his favor is our only hope.” “I’m afraid I agree,” Krika said. He waved one hand out. “After you.” Antroz grunted as she took off, shooting through the air over the assembled drones. Bitil turned and shouted, “Charla, find Kameter and call him back—our snipers here are going to need all the advantages they can get! Advise everyone to be extremely careful, and to see if they can break up the forces any further! If any drone is acting unusual, it becomes top priority to dismantle it immediately!” Charla went to work at once. Zaekura watched as Antroz reached out both hands, sending beams of white light down to pulverize the unfortunate drones below. Krika jumped over the wall and landed on Artil’s back. He glared at the approaching drones, exerting his gravity powers to slow them down, and with a laugh, Artil destroyed them easily. The Rahkshi all seemed to double their efforts, and the number of drones only continued to dwindle. For some reason, despite all of this, the sense of dread Zaekura was feeling just kept growing. “So…those heavy hitters…” Bitil nodded. “I’ll have them form up at once. Serk, focus your power on the south flank! We’re about to fully engage!” Serk hissed in affirmation. Bitil used his powers of teleportation to make a quick exit, and Zaekura turned back to the fight, hoping there was a way they could still win this battle. Krika turned his fingers on one hand into spikes, extending them and impaling a line of drones from the safety of his perch. He pulled them to the side, sweeping several still-functioning units off by themselves, and then used his Stasis powers to keep them isolated as he shook his hand clean. Artil spared one blast to eradicate them. With that done, Krika leapt forward and activated his Chameleon powers, becoming undetectable as he rushed into the enemy ranks. He looked up: Antroz was still mowing them down with her light powers. However, in a few seconds a number of drones suddenly looked up and began firing straight at her, only a quick application of her Dodge ability allowing her to evade. The blasts all seemed to come from the same area, so Krika headed there as Antroz continued maneuver. He took a moment to just observe when he was close enough. Aside from changing their targets, nothing seemed particularly out of place about these drones, so he lunged past them and swept both hands, rending them into shreds with his claw spikes. Above him, Antroz leveled out and scanned the area with her mind. Krika had yet to receive any retaliation for his interference, so she guessed Velika wasn’t actually in proximity to the drones he had sent after her—turning sharply, she made for the opposite flank, using only a spray of light bolts as she went to make it easier to sense incoming attacks. She reached her destination with no further trouble, but still, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “Where are you…?” she mumbled. Her mind swept over the battlefield once again. This time, as she passed over a particularly dense cluster of drones, she realized that they weren’t firing wildly like the others were. Rather, they would wait until one of Bitil’s Rahkshi appeared and then react to it. Antroz focused upon them and discovered why: one drone was in the middle of the unit, hunched over a deactivated automaton and busily working on something with a set of spindly, claw-like arms that had extended from openings in its torso. “There!” Antroz created a ball of dense light energy in her hand, taking aim at the cluster of drones. She threw the attack with all her might, and it soared through the air like a bullet—the drones took notice and raised their arms to block, while the one in the center grabbed something and scuttled away. The blast detonated, wiping out those that blocked it and producing a shockwave that reached out to the one that fled. While its limbs twisted to prevent in from falling down, it slowed enough that Antroz could teleport directly to its side, and she reached out to try to grab hold of her target. Her claws just nicked its armor. “Lord Velika!” she said. “Stand down at once!” A scoff came from the drone. Adjusting the bundle of parts it carried in its hands, it said, “You’ve no right to order me, Makuta. I remember your place even if you no longer do.” Antroz grabbed the hilt of her sword. “I shall give you one last chance. Call off your army, and leave this place. Otherwise, I will be forced to defend myself.” “Leave? I only just arrived. And it is here I plan to stay, until I’ve eradicated you traitors and seized that wretched girl! It is you who should stand aside, ignorant fool…or shall I show you the level of intellect you are dealing with?” Antroz shook her head. She slowly drew her sword from its sheath, the pure white blade gleaming in the sunlight, shining as brightly as if it were brand new. Antroz gripped the weapon with both hands, held it in front of herself, and bared her fangs. “You were warned.” The drone tumbled to the side. Antroz had teleported behind it before she was even finished speaking, swinging the blade and just narrowly missing. She teleported again before it completed its arc. The drone hopped back to avoid a cut and pointed one cannon, firing a counter blast, but Antroz was gone before it hit. She came from above next, forcing the drone to roll away on its cannons—as soon as it was upright, it was immediately manipulating the mess of parts in its hands. “Come now,” Velika laughed, “you really think you can best a Great Being? And here I had hoped the Makuta had rid themselves of their arrogance.” Antroz rapidly teleported in a circle around the drone, executing seven feints before thrusting her sword at its torso. It crouched and prepared to fire, but then realized the blade was glowing orange, and scampered away as plasma burst outward from it. The attack singed the machine, missing all vital components. As he continued to work, Velika said, “We are inherently your betters! No matter what competition you engage us in, you are bound by fact to fail every time! Yet you think you can challenge a device of my own making, one that I have assumed direct control over, and somehow overcome this total manifestation of my brilliance?” Not saying a word, Antroz simply exerted her powers of magnetism. The drone was pulled through the air towards her, pushing off the ground just as she swung to tumble over her head; she flexed her wing, sending it spinning, and then whirled to make another slash. Her sword was blocked by a well-placed cannon. She opened her mouth and let out a power scream, flinging the machine away, and then teleported forward. Unfortunately, Velika had anticipated where she would reappear, and a blast grazed her leg, disrupting her balance. He laughed as the drone readied another attack. That was when Krika, in the shape of a giant snake, leapt up and wrapped himself around the drone, restraining its movements and slowly crushing it. “Pardon me,” Krika said. “It dawned on me that I’d yet to properly greet you, my lord. Allow me to rectify that offense.” The drone turned, Velika murmuring, “You insolent…” As its body began to break, the drone held forth the device it was working on. Antroz moved to claim it, but withdrew immediately—a blast came from behind her, and before she could move to counter, another drone rushed forward, snatched the device, and hurled it through the air. “You truly don’t comprehend, do you?” Velika said as Krika tackled this new drone to the ground, overloading its circuits with electricity. Antroz teleported in an attempt to intercept the device. Searing pain was all that met her, as yet another drone blasted her away to catch the small machine. “All of these drones are equipped to receive me!” Velika said, ripping a few extra pieces out of a fallen drone. “I am here, and it here I shall stay. For here…I can be everywhere!” Krika threw a punch, implementing his Elasticity and Accuracy powers—his fist chased Velika’s drone as it danced away, and though Antroz tried to aid him, another blast was soon sent towards her. She pressed herself against the ground and cursed silently. When she looked up, she saw that Krika had grabbed the drone by the neck, and hoped for one moment…but then another drone shot Krika’s arm, forcing him to retract it on reflex. The new drone approached the old and gave the device a once-over. “Yes, flawless at last,” Velika mused. “This is the end of your little rebellion, Makuta. But not your lives—no, net yet. I’ll be taking you to Karzahni myself, so that I can personally oversee your suffering…though I’m afraid I don’t know how many eons it will take to accumulate all that you have earned.” The drone squeezed the device, and it lit up with bright light. A familiar, terrible feeling washed over Antroz and Krika, and they both sank into the sand. Velika laughed as his drone approached Krika. “I may not have had time to install flight capabilities, but your suggestion of disarmament was easy to take into consideration. It’s really a very simple mechanism, if you have the parts…and I thought incorporating suitable components into my drones would be a reasonable back-up plan. One can never be too careful. Now then…” The drone turned to face the walls of the outpost. As it walked forward, the other drones parted to make way for it, save those that threw themselves forward to block any attacks aimed at Velika. He looked up at the wall and spotted Zaekura standing there. Handing the device off to another drone, he switched his weapon to stun and raised the barrel. Zaekura just stared down at him, an uneasy defiance in her eyes. “Heremus was insistent I show mercy,” Velika muttered. “Although…I wonder if his definition is accurate?” A loud roar was all he heard in the next second. A massive wave of plasma washed over him and many of the other drones, severing his link to his current body. When he arrived in another, he looked to see the source: it was Antroz, on her feet with her blade in one hand, while Krika was just starting to unleash a volley of light blasts on the rear unit. Velika ran a quick check to ensure the drone’s sensors were functioning properly. “How…can they be standing?” he asked. “The disarmament mechanism worked perfectly—I built it! And it can’t be the same as when they fooled Angonce, otherwise…” It struck him then. Glaring back at the wall, he continued, “The lure…transmitted back the data it received…and that vile Glatorian…!” His current body suddenly went stiff. Antroz appeared behind it to run it through, and as Krika released his magnetic hold he said, “If it’s any consolation, the experience is still nauseating. I’d be quite ill right now if I had a stomach.” Jumping to another body, Velika whirled back and fired at Zaekura. Unfortunately, she was gone by the time he turned around, and Velika groaned as he was forced to switch bodies once again. “So what now, milord?” Krika said, readying more light blasts. “Your current body isn’t quite up to the task of taking on two Makuta. And we’re not the only things you need to worry about.” He allowed Velika to look to the outpost gate. Emerging through it were a line of figures almost as large as Artil, each armored in a rainbow of hues and looking unusual even by Bitil’s standards. Velika growled in anger. Deformed as they were, he still knew how to recognize a Rahkshi Kaita. “We shall give you one last chance to surrender,” Antroz said. “Normally I’d disagree, but I suppose we can’t stop your mind from fleeing as easily as we could your body,” Krika said. “You should take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.” The drone just stood there, watching the Kaita as they advanced on the drones. One of them transformed into a living cyclone, blasts bouncing off its form like they were pebbles as it ravaged the invaders; another simply stared down a group of enemies, and when they tried to fire their weapons, the mechanisms locked and backfired, destroying their wielders. Velika watched this unfold…and began to laugh. “You are due some credit, I suppose,” Velika said as his drone turned back to the Makuta. “You cretins have managed to outdo my expectations. But do you think that’s all it will take for you to claim victory?” Antroz pointed her sword. “Whatever else you plan to do, we will stop you.” “Let us see if you can, Makuta. I’m almost grateful: for the first time in quite a while…I’m actually curious.” The drone raised both weapons. Krika froze it in stasis before it could fire, and then Antroz sliced it in two. They both looked around to see which drone Velika had taken now, but no other machines were particularly close to them, and even the closest seemed occupied with other matters. “I suppose we’ll have to hunt him down again,” Krika sighed. “I believe we should stick together,” Antroz said. “We must make it as difficult as possible for him to surprise us.” Krika shook his head and began to walk away. “Just call if you need me. I’m a bit too impatient to do this your way.” With a huff, Antroz took to the skies again. Bitil could see her from the wall, but he quickly returned to the crowd below, searching frantically for Zaekura. “Can’t you sense her?” he asked. “I am trying, my lord,” Charla said, hands to the sides of her head. “The thoughts have become extremely chaotic down there, and the minds of the Kaita are the only ones that manage to stand out.” Bitil glanced at the fusions as she said this. Then he stopped suddenly, looking back and gripping the wall: one Kaita in particular stood in the scorched wake of Antroz’s surprise plasma attack, resembling a very large humanoid with six arms clad in blue, black, green, and gray armor. A shimmering veil surrounded them, but now that Bitil took a closer look, he could make out another form next to him. “Lady Zaekura!” he said, teleporting down next to the barrier. “What do you think you’re doing?” Zaekura leapt to her feet. “Yeesh, don’t scare me like that! I was just checking something out is all.” She raised her hand: in it was the disarmament device Velika had constructed. Bitil paused a moment, and then asked, “Why do you want that thing?” Before she could answer, the Rahkshi Kaita moved their hand suddenly. The veil slid open and they took a lumbering step towards Bitil; immediately, the veil closed, now around all three of them, and Bitil heard a blast fizzle against it. “Thank you, Ramier,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder. “Look, I’ve got an idea,” Zaekura said. “Charla told me what’s going on with Velika, and—“ “Then you should know it isn’t safe to simply rush out onto the battlefield!” Bitil interrupted. “Ramier, take us back at once!” They nodded, and in the blink of an eye the three of them were back on the wall. Ramier departed immediately, leaving Zaekura to look around in bewilderment, before sighing and turning back to Bitil. “Was that entirely necessary?” she asked. “Because my best guess would put it at about 10% necessary.” Bitil locked eyes with her. “You are their target. If any one of them catch you, this battle is lost! How can you chide Antroz for her impulsivity only to make the same mistakes yourself?!” “I didn’t just charge out there on my own! Some Rahkshi helped me get over to Ramier, and then I asked him to get me over to where this thing was!” “But putting yourself in such great risk—“ “You were just talking about how your Rahkshi are risking their lives for us! I decide to do the same to help them, and you’re still complaining?” Bitil clenched his teeth, unsure what to say. He averted his gaze, but before he could think of a retort, something caught his eye. Several drones appeared to be running away from the fight. There were at least a dozen of them, all by themselves, all headed in different directions. “What is Velika doing now?” he said as he stepped forward. “Concentrate fire on those runners!” As the Rahkshi adjusted targets, Zaekura said, “Don’t suppose there’s much chance he’s actually taking the opportunity to surrender, do you?” Bitil turned back to Zaekura. He stared hard at her for a long moment, before finally closing his eyes and crossing his arms. “…Tell me. What is this idea of yours?” ADDENDUM: -Sorry to split this battle. I’ll do my best to get Section VIII out before too long. -“Serk” is a corruption of “circle”. The protrusion on his head is actually his eye, and it gives him a 360 degree field of vision that allows him to set anything around him on fire without moving. He does have to narrow his focus quite a bit to cause real damage, however. But, just in case, Bitil thought it seemed like a good idea to send only Heat Resistance Rahkshi out to meet the drones while he was focusing on their front line. -“Artil” is derived from “artillery”. I don’t know that there was a specific thought process for this guy, I’m pretty sure I just thought “A Rahkshi that’s basically a giant living tank would be super cool” and then went through with it. I’m quite satisfied with the results. -Krika implies this, but to clarify: there are certain powers that a Makuta cannot use on themselves, and this extends to their Rahkshi (they can’t use them on Rahkshi they’ve made, their Rahkshi can’t use them on them, and their Rahkshi can’t use them on each other). Prosperity is the big one, since it has the potential to be a bit broken if a Makuta were to spawn ten Vorahk and have them all stack major luck buffs on them, and the Great Beings thought it best to avoid that. So here, Krika has used his Prosperity to boost Bitil’s Rahkshi, and Antroz may have given them a second application as well. Courage, Creation, Faith, and Peace also have this stipulation, but for now I think that’s all. The Great Beings probably would have limited Kameter’s time-quickening powers as well, but Bitil discovered those through his Slow powers, and the GBs didn’t see a reason to prevent a Makuta from using Slow on themselves. Why would they do that in the first place? -“Azin” is derived from “assassin”. I figured it would make sense for someone as stealthy as a Chameleon Rahkshi to try to emulate the classic rogue look. -“Surja” comes from “surgeon”; she’s a Rahkshi of Quick Healing with an internal focal point for her power, making it strong enough that if she focuses she can actually share it with someone she’s in physical contact with. While she can use this on anyone, it is most effective on Bitil and her siblings due to them all being offshoots of the same being. -Velika is incredibly vain, proud of anything and everything he does, content to believe himself better than all others, and cruel in his petty revenge on those he believes have wronged him. Sure would suck to be led by a tyrant like that, right? -Since the projection lure has such a strong link to the headset used to control it, I figured it made sense that it had registered some data on the disarmament device Angonce had used and transmitted it back, and that by analyzing those recordings, Zaekura could find a way to jam the signal and keep the Makuta on their feet. It still requires some fine-tuning, but this will prevent the GBs from being able to keep Makuta out of every fight. -The Rahkshi Kaita are a bit of a tease here due to where the chapter ends, sorry about that. I’m sure you recognize the Kaita Za and its random living tornado powers—I don’t know where those come from, but I figured I might as well leave them intact. I did, however, change up the Kaita Vo: it’s the one that causes drones’ weapons to misfire. When I was coming up with the effects of Prosperity, it occurred to me that the Mask of Possibilities’ powers were somewhat close (Prosperity is a luck buff, but the Mask of Possibilities lets the wearer alter probability to cause one very specific thing to happen), and since Kaita Vo’s original energy ray power was an extension of Vorahk’s Hunger abilities, I thought this would make a suitable replacement. And rounding out the Kaita we see here, “Ramier” is a mix of “rampart” and “barrier”; they are made of Rahkshi of Invincibility, Teleportation, and Stasis Field. Their gestalt ability allows them to create an impervious shield in a small radius around themselves, one that cannot be teleported through. -That about rounds out this Section. Next time we’ll find out what Velika’s up to, and bring this fight to a close one way or another! -Reviews to be submitted here

Story Mode or Bust

(you do you, cuz you is rad and we believe in you) (but if you’re taking constructive criticism get some sleep, proper rem is essential to good health)

Well I’ve yet to find a particularly good way of coping with that, but for what it’s worth your content is always a delight to read and I sincerely hope you feel better.

More or less. Are you okay?

Kapura: “Sigh, alright, which Final Fantasy reference are we—“ Kopeke: “Leg cramp!” Macku: “HA HA HA HA!” Taipu: “Open your eyes! Phoenix Down! Elixir! Anything!” Muaka: “I, the Muaka, shall knock you all down!” Tamaru: “DA-NA-NA-NA, DA DA DA-DUH-DAAAAH!”

Thank you! 15 is up, and WAZA pulls out a few surprises to buy the time needed for Sonia to get back. Also pleased to say that chapter 16 is on-track for a June 19th release!

Chapter 15 The structure of the Astro Wave was almost exactly the way Sonia remembered the Sky Wave, with the only monumental difference being the obvious one: rather than hanging just above the clouds, it formed a loose net in the empty space around all of planet Earth. The purple and gold platforms looked more or less the same, linking to each other via identical warps, though luckily there seemed to be fewer viruses overall. It provided a fantastic view of the planet, the moon, and hundreds of stars, but Sonia wasn’t interested in any of that right now. Geo was unable to keep his eyes forward, constantly looking about at something new he spotted out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t let it slow him down. Solo just seemed vaguely uncomfortable, though no one was sure if it was due to where he was or why he was there. The party travelled in silence until Acid suddenly materialized in their path. “What now?!” Sonia snapped. “I am detecting a large group of viruses heading this way,” Acid said. “There is no way to circumvent them—we will have to fight to clear a path.” “You’ve got to be kidding…” Sonia unlimbered her guitar while Geo activated a Noise Change: his armor became teal and white, with two large wing-shaped protrusions on his shoulders and a long beak-like extension on his helmet. Solo stared at him for a moment, and then turned to Sonia. “So you’ve let someone else take the transformations this time?” he asked. Averting her gaze, Sonia said, “I have the same power. Just not using it.” “Why not?” She shook her head. “It’s complicated. I’ll be fine. What about you: aren’t you going to call out Laplace?” Solo gritted his teeth. “…I can’t.” Sonia turned towards him. “Huh? Why not?” Before Solo could answer, a warp ahead lit up, and a Wizard with spiky purple armor appeared out of it. He floated a few steps forward before noticing the party, and jumped in shock. “What the…what are you doing here?!” “I thought you said you detected viruses?” Sonia asked Acid. “You what?” the new Wizard asked. “Well, no big deal I guess, I’ll just…hey, wait. You’re Harp Note!” Sonia’s patience was growing thin. Stepping forward, she said, “If you’ve got anything to do with those viruses, call them off. We don’t have time for distractions.” The Wizard smirked. “Distractions, y’say? That sounds perfect! I was ordered to meet up with Three and attack Alohaha, but if I keep you distracted I bet I’ll get way more credit!” He gave a short wave. “The name’s Two! On behalf of Dealer, I’ll be harassing you today!” With an angry grunt, Sonia rushed forward. Two touched a hand against the Wave Road, and a large swath of it suddenly changed to an odd shade of gray; when Sonia reached the edge of the patch, she received a powerful jolt, making her stumble back. The warp lit up again, and this time viruses began to pour out of it. “Oh great!” Sonia said as she took aim. “We don’t have time for this! Move!” She hurled her guitar in flail form. Two strafed to avoid the initial attack and ducked when she swung it around, letting it knock aside several of his viruses as he lobbed a small explosive. Sonia was struck head-on, and when she recoiled, several viruses moved in on her at once. Acid swooped in just in time to knock them away. “I believe it wiser to fight from a distance,” Acid stated. “Stay focused, Sonia. The others will hold out until we arrive.” “Alright,” Sonia muttered as she got up. She played as she backed away, sending a flurry of notes into the oncoming horde. “I hope they will.” *** The courtyard was in total chaos. Those who had not evacuated WAZA had gathered in the main computer room, watching a feed of the battle on a large monitor, and their sense of security was in steady decline. On their own, the Acid copies didn’t seem especially powerful—each took only a few blows to be deleted, and they had only displayed very light projectile weaponry in addition to their physical attacks—but they kept coming, and coming, and coming, and coming, and coming. The Battle Wizards were keeping their formation strong to avoid being flanked while the human Satella Officers fired over their heads with anti-Z Wave artillery, managing to steadily chip away at the enemy ranks and give their front line some degree of relief. But when one copy fell, it seemed like three more sprang up its place, and it was apparent that the Satella Wizards were in danger of being overwhelmed. Out in the thick of it was Bud, swinging wildly and sending one Acid clone after another flying off into the distance. He was able to shrug off their attacks for the most part, and when they became too much, he was able to create some room to breathe using a wide fire attack, but then the cycle would start again. He didn’t seem to have much of a plan, and his swings seemed to focus more on repelling the clones that outright destroying them. It wasn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but while some of the clones he flung away bowled over others, at least as many got right back up and marched on the line of Battle Wizards, only worsening their already poor situation. At this point, some of the viewers couldn’t help but feel Bud was causing more harm than good. Come on, Bud! Amy thought, wringing her hands together. I know you can do better than this! Quit holding back! On the other hand, much to everyone’s surprise, Hyde was proving quite valuable with his hit-and-run tactics. His new Wave Change form was visible for only seconds at a time: the spikes that had once decorated his elbows were gone, his crumpled shoots of hair stuck out at smaller angles, and instead of a cape, his armor was now covered with a well-trimmed longcoat not too dissimilar from his everyday clothes. He made his way from one side of the crater to the other, appearing only long enough to smack an Acid copy with his electrified cane and stun it, forcing the others to detour around their prone companions. Then he would throw his hat into the ring—literally—and watch it slice through a few dozen enemies before a shadowy hand would rise from the ground to catch it, swipe away a few more enemies, and hurl it right back across the field and into Hyde’s hand. Then, he made another pass, occasionally stopping to execute a spinning attack just for variety’s sake. A few Acid clones got in lucky shots, but none of them lasted long enough to make a second. Remarkable as it was, despite all his success, he could not put a large enough dent in the swarm to lessen the burden on the Satella Police, and this left him looking a bit less pleased than Vega expected he would. “He can’t keep this up forever,” Vega said, and then turned back to what she was doing. “He’ll be fine, Veggie,” Goodall said. “Let Jekyll have his fun, and once Sonia and the others arrive, he can come take a breather while we wrap up our own work.” “Of course…” Copper stared intently at the screen, arms crossed, tapping his foot as well as his fingers. He started when he felt something nudge him, and looked down to see Plesio. “Is it going badly?” the PM-ian asked. “…It’s more of a stalemate, really,” Copper answered. “You’re nervous.” Copper sighed. “I just wish there was more I could do to help. I’d be of at least some use down there, I’m certain.” “We need you here, detective,” Ace said. “You’re the all-important eye in the sky—just keep watch and tell our comrades what to expect.” “They know exactly what to expect!” Copper said, gesturing to the screen. “I can’t see anything helpful, just an everlasting flood of enemies! At this point, the only thing I can think of that could potentially change the situation would be entering a new combatant…that, or figuring a way to get Bud more motivated.” Ace nodded, thought for a moment, and then turned to Amy. “What do you say?” She jumped. “Huh? W-Well, I already talked to Bud—I don’t know that there’s anything more I can say to him, and if I called I’d just be distracting him…even more….” “Okay. Then what about entering the fight?” Copper squinted. “Ace, what are you doing?” “Well, her Wizard is a PM-ian. She could really help out here.” From Amy’s Hunter, Yeti replied, “Yeah, but we don’t Wave Change! I’d be happy to go fight these things, though.” Amy looked to her screen. “Hang on! You’re not properly equipped for something like this, especially since you won’t be able to use your full power! Look at how rough those Battle Wizards have it—you don’t have armor like theirs to keep you safe!” “Maybe…I could attack from a distance?” “But what if they spot you and counterattack?” Ace nodded. “She’s right: it isn’t safe for a non-equipped Wizard out there, even an elite PM-ian like yourself. But you’d be in much better shape if you Wave Changed.” “Like I said,” Yeti insisted, “we’ve never—“ “Yeti. I know.” Yeti paused. Fidgeting, Amy said, “…You know…what?” “Come on, you know. I’ve got access to the Transcode registry, so of course I noticed when 010 was added.” Zack pushed his way over to where they were, looking up and asking, “Wait, is that true? You two have Wave Changed?” “We didn’t fight anything, though!” Yeti said. “At the last skiing event, there was an avalanche—someone got trapped in the woods, and Amy wanted to go help them. She couldn’t get her footing, and we were near the edge, so…we Wave Changed, just so I could help her get to safety. But that’s it!” Turning to Zack, Amy said, “I’m sorry for hiding it. Yeti just didn’t want to talk about it.” “Then, you can help Bud!” Zack said. “We’re not going to Wave Change to fight,” Yeti said. “What?! But you can help him!” “I want to, but if I did that, I’d be putting Amy in danger too! I…” He hesitated. “I can’t do that. Not after all she’s done for me: she took me in and gave me a place to belong, even after the terrible things I did. I can’t accept all that and ask her to put herself in danger! I won’t Wave Change!” Amy furrowed her brow. “Yeti, I…I appreciate that you don’t want me to get hurt. That’s why I haven’t pushed the issue, especially because there was no need to.” She gripped her Hunter more tightly, leaning in. “But, please…Bud’s in trouble! We’re all in trouble! If I can do anything to contribute, then I want to be useful, even if it’s a little dangerous!” “Amy, I don’t know if I can keep you safe! If you were to get hurt, it’d be my fault again! I don’t…” A shout from the main screen caught their attention. Looking up, they saw Bud down on one knee, breathing flames to keep away the Acid copies but unable to fight off those that were clawing at his back. Eventually, he was able to buck backwards and smash them against the crater wall, but in seconds more were coming. He just stood there, unsure of what to do. “Bud!” Zack shouted. “Do something!” Amy turned back to Yeti, who still didn’t say anything. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Pat. “Yeti,” he said. “I know you want to keep Amy safe, but you also need to think about how she feels. Someone she cares about is out there fighting for her, getting hurt to protect her, and she just wants to try to help protect him in return. Are you really going to deny her that chance?” The PM-ian covered his face with his hand. “That’s easy to say, but…” Amy faced Pat and said, “I guess…you feel that way too?” Pat smiled a little, but it didn’t last long. “…Yeah. But at least you have a way to help.” “So do you,” Ace broke in. Before Pat could ask, Copper and Vega both started towards him. The former grabbed his shoulder and stated, “That’s enough!” “Don’t you dare, Ace!” Vega shouted. “I won’t let you!” “You just find somewhere quiet to wait until Acid gets back,” Copper said. “I think you’ve said more than enough.” “We need help if we’re going to last until Acid gets here,” Ace argued. “These two are the only ones who can give us that help.” “At what cost?!” Vega replied. “You have no idea what you’re asking! Just stand down!” “Doctor, if we lose this battle there might not be another. We’ve got to protect everyone here, as well as the equipment needed to save Luna. If Taurus Fire is defeated, and if Harp Note loses her will to fight, then there’s no way we’ll ever beat Dealer!” “And that’s all that matters to you, isn’t it? You’ll do anything to destroy them, even if it means throwing more children into harm’s way! You really are just like him!” Something dark flashed over Ace’s face. Recovering quickly, he calmly said, “I’m not throwing anyone. It’ll be their choice. I just want them to know what choices they have.” Before Vega could say anything more, Pat stepped forward and said, “Stop it! What are you talking about? How can I help?” “Just ignore him, Pat,” Copper said. “What he’s proposing is a terrible idea, and you—“ “I want to…” Pat interrupted, quickly growing quiet before trying again. “I want to make that decision myself. If there’s…if there’s really a way for me to help here, then I want to know what it is. People keep getting hurt trying to protect me, and I…” He faced Ace. “Please, tell me.” Ace and Copper locked eyes for a minute. Eventually, Copper released his hold. “No!” Vega said. “You can’t do this, Ace!” “Vega!” Goodall said. The other scientist turned. “…If he wants to know, let him know. It’ll be his decision in the end.” Still looking furious, Vega glared back at Ace, but didn’t say anything more as he led Pat out into the hall. They made their way around several corners and down a flight of stairs before coming to a metal door with a keypad, and after Ace punched in a string of numbers, he pulled it open to reveal a small room that was empty except for a pedestal at the center, and the Transer that sat on it. Pat cautiously entered the room and examined the terminal. “I don’t get it,” he said. “It’s just a Transer.” Ace shook his head. “This was Chief Boreal’s Transer. He had it stored here as soon as he took over NAZA, because he didn’t want any risk of what he sealed inside it getting out.” “Sealed…?” Pat repeated. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “It’s been three years now. I’m told you were there, when the FM-ians made their final push to destroy the Earth, and Chief used a special program to trap one of them who couldn’t be reasoned w—“ The boy whirled and punched him. Pointing a malicious glare, he said, “What the are you thinking?! You want us to let that monster out? He’ll just find a way to get us killed faster! I’m not just gonna let you put my brother through that!” Ace rubbed his face. “Nice to meet you too, Rey.” He started forward, but stopped suddenly. Putting a hand to his head, Pat said, “No, wait…just wait a minute…” Rey clenched his teeth. “Are you joking?! You can’t actually be considering this, Pat!” Pat took a deep breath. To Ace, he said, “Can you…give us a minute?” Ace nodded and stepped outside, pulling the door around but not enough that it would lock. Pat took another step towards the Transer. “That jerk really has no idea what he’s talkin’ about. What’s more, they shoulda destroyed this thing the second Sonia wasn’t looking!” “Rey…” “We can’t trust him, Pat!” Rey paused, and sighed. “Look, I know I’ve said that too much before, but with this guy I’m sure of it, and you know exactly why!” “I’m not saying we trust him. But if there’s a way to use his power, then we’d actually be able to help our friends.” “Close enough! He’ll still be able to hurt you, and you know he’ll take that chance! Just leave it to the others—Geo will be here soon!” “And then Geo will get hurt! Is that what you want?” “…Not really, but—“ “He’s always doing whatever he can to keep us safe, and he keeps getting hurt because of it.” He shuddered. “Rey, I’m…I’m so scared that something’s going to happen to him, and that it’s going to be my fault. I want to fight to keep him safe! I know it’ll have risks, I know I’ll probably get hurt in the process.” “Then don’t do it!” Pat breathed deeply. “Rey…I know you want to protect me, and I’ll always be grateful for that. But I’m stronger now. I don’t want to keep running away from the pain: I want to face it, and show that I can handle it! Maybe this won’t work out, but I want to see if it can. Please, Rey, I need your help to do this.” It took a long time for Rey to reply. “Pat…are you really sure that you’re ready for this?” “I am. Everyone’s always protecting me…after so long, I’m finally ready to protect someone else for a change. It isn’t fair if things stay a one-way street forever, you know?” “But if that’s what you need…” Rey sighed. “I don’t like this. But if this is really what you want to do…then I’ll support you however I can.” Pat smiled. “Thank you, Rey.” After taking another deep breath, Pat called Ace back into the room. He paused once more, and then he reached out, flipped open the Transer, and stared at the screen. It took a moment for the device to activate. When it did, an image of an EM being appeared on the screen: a yellow cloud of energy with two masks sitting atop his form. He regarded Pat for a moment, and then chuckled. “Well well,” Gemini mused. “I must say I’m surprised to see you again.” Pat felt his muscles tense. On instinct, he prepared to retreat, to let Rey take over, but he stopped himself and stayed right where he was. “Hello, Gemini.” The FM-ian glanced at Ace, saying, “Ah, it’s you again. Still trying to convince me to join in your precious cause? I told you, I have no interest in the dealings of humans.” “Come on, Gemini,” Ace said. “Aren’t you at least interested in finally getting out of your cell?” “I will admit I’ve grown a bit tired of this cramped terminal. But, the mere ability to leave is not motivation enough to bend to your terms.” “Listen,” Pat said. “WAZA is under attack, and we need to defend it.” Gemini turned aside. “Isn’t that what you have Harp Note for? The girl destroyed Andromeda, I imagine she’s capable of repelling a few troops.” “She’s not here right now.” Gemini perked up. “Oh?” “We’re going to get overwhelmed if we don’t do something. But…” He bit his lip. “…But if you and I were to Wave Change…” A low, chilling laugh came from Gemini. “Now that’s an interesting offer…” “There’d be conditions, of course,” Ace said. “You’ll be put in Pat’s Hunter and granted a Real Wave body, but a modified one with built-in restrictions to prevent you from running wild. We’ll also be able to remotely terminate your Wave Change if you try to take control of Pat. So long as you don’t cause any harm to our side, we’ll keep you out of this room.” “And when this is all over? What would become of me then?” “That all depends on you.” “Hah…a very strategic answer.” Gemini faced away from the screen. “I’m afraid that’s just not enticing enough. There’s no promise of anything to be gained, only a short reprieve to see how useful I am to your efforts. Perhaps whoever overruns this facility will grant me a more appealing offer.” Stepping forward, Pat said, “You’d really rather sit here trapped? Just on the chance that Dealer won’t smash this Transer when they overwhelm us? How is that a better option to you?” “To be frank, being on a human’s leash sounds equally appealing as death. And since I hold more of a grudge against you lot, I’d rather take my chances elsewhere.” Pat gritted his teeth. “You…” Gemini laughed. “But I thank you for coming here! Getting to see you so distraught really reminds me of the good times, and it will—“ His body lurched suddenly, and then began to waver, and he gave a pained moan. Pat gave a confused look to Ace, who smirked. “Seems the Noise is getting to you after all,” Ace said. “Yeah, all the equipment in this building produces quite a bit, so I’m actually really surprised you’ve avoided corruption this long.” “Hmph,” Gemini scoffed, his form solidifying again. “As if I would allow myself to be harmed by some ambient static.” “Whether you allow it or not, the Noise is only going to keep building up inside of you, and if left unchecked you will be corrupted. You’ll probably go feral and mutate into some hideous virus.” Gemini faced him. “Silence! Such a thing could never befall—“ He was cut off by another spasm. Ace waited until it was done, and then said, “We have invented something to protect EM beings from the effects of Noise, you know.” Gemini waited. “Of course, it’s only compatible with Real Wave bodies.” “Of course,” the FM-ian sneered. “So if I don’t cooperate with you, you’ll just allow me to be corrupted, is that it? How noble. Clearly you humans have retained the moral high ground Harp Note loved so much.” Leaning forward, Ace said, “Like we just told you, Sonia isn’t here right now. So what’s it going to be, Gemini? You say working with us is as bad as death…but how does corruption compare?” As Gemini considered this, Pat said, “Ace, if it’s something he needs, shouldn’t we give it to him regardless of whether he’s on our side or not?” “That’s a matter of opinion.” Pat shifted uncomfortably. “…I think it’s more a matter of ethics…I don’t want to threaten him into helping.” “It’s not threatening, per se.” “I disagree.” “If I could have your attention,” Gemini interrupted. Pat and Ace both looked at him. “…Deplorable as it may be, I will agree to work alongside you for the time being. Though I’ll hate every second of it, at least with my faculties intact, I’ll know that I’m hating it.” “Then we have a deal,” Ace said. “Pat, hand me your Hunter: I’ll install the data for the specialized Real Wave body and then transfer Gemini.” Pat took out his terminal and stared at it. He glanced at Gemini for a moment, and then hesitantly handed the device over to Ace. As the Satella Officer got to work, Pat said, “To be honest, Gemini, I wish we didn’t have to do this. But, thanks for your help, I guess.” “Keep your thanks,” Gemini said. “Just try not to waste my power this time, otherwise you’ll get us both killed. Or rather, all three of us.” Rey glared at him, saying, “Keep yer trap shut, or my finger might slip and I’ll delete ya.” “Heheh, there you are, partner. I was wondering how long it would take for us to be reunited.” Before Rey could say anything else, Ace declared, “Okay, ready to transfer. Sit tight for a second, Gemini.” A thin beam of light linked the Hunter and Transer for roughly a minute. Gemini disappeared from the Transer screen, and when it was over, Ace handed the Hunter back to Pat, who could now see the FM-ian on his device. “I’ve already registered your Transcodes,” Ace said. “Go on and give it a whirl!” Pat clutched his Hunter tightly. Breathing deeply once more, he brought up the registration card, and then held the terminal out and said, “Transcode 012!” Rey pulled the Hunter around next, saying, “Transcode 013!” Ace shielded his eyes as a bright flash engulfed the boy. *** From the edge of the crater WAZA HQ sat in, Queen Tia watched the battle with her usual uninterested expression. She would occasionally glance at a screen floating next to her to keep track of how many Acid copies she had left. Nearby, Virgo floated around in circles, wringing her staff like she was trying to choke the life out of it. “Awwwwww, come oooooon!” she whined finally, jumping up and down. “When do we get to kill ‘em?! I’m sick of waiting, Tia! Just let me kill one—I promise I’ll stop at just one! Well…for a little bit…” Tia shook her head. “It is not yet time for us to act. For now, these disposables are sufficient.” Unconsciously, her hand twitched when she said that. She quickly directed her thoughts elsewhere, scanning over the mob until she spotted Bud backed into a corner. “Ugh, come on, that one’s already about to die!” Virgo said, pointing her staff at him. “What’s the harm in letting me jump in and finish him off? Please?!” Down below, Bud continued swinging his fists, but the Acid copies were unrelenting. Between gasps, he said, “This…isn’t going…so well…” “Mrrgh!” Taurus grunted. “We can’t give up, Bud! Everyone’s counting on us!” Bud punched through another copy. “I know, but…I think I’m…at my…” A blast hit him, sending him stumbling back into the wall. The copies moved in, but Bud unleashed his fire breath, incinerating several dozen. He righted himself only to see more coming. “This is…too much…” “Mrrgh, that’s quitter’s talk! Come on, Bud: I know you can do better than this!” “No…I can’t…this is…” One of the copies slashed with its claws, hurling him back into the wall again. He raised his arms to shield himself, but suddenly, a shadow moved over him, and he looked up. Something plummeted through the air, landing on top of the nearest Acid clone and smashing it to bits. “Who…? Wait a minute…” It didn’t take him long to recognize the form, even if it did have a few changes. Yeti Blizzard was somewhat smaller than he remembered, with longer, slightly narrower feet, and the purple hair atop the creature’s head was pulled up into something like a ponytail that spilled down into the same shaggy mess as before. “Yeti? Amy?!” She spun, extending her arms to knock away a few copies as she did. “What do you think you’re doing, Bud?!” “H-Hey, that’s what I was gonna say!” Amy faced the horde again, creating a large snowball in her hands. She rolled it forward, letting it scoop up Acid copies as it bowled over them, and then lashed out at another with a flying kick before bouncing off of it and crushing another one. “You’re not giving it your all! You’re holding yourself back, fighting like you’re not expecting to win, and if you keep it up you’re going to get hurt—or worse!” She threw one Acid copy into another before turning and staring hard at him. “If you’re not going to fight like you mean it, then I will! We can’t afford to lose!” A projectile from one of the copies struck her in the shoulder, making her flinch. She turned back and started to create snowballs in her hands, rapidly hurling them at her foes. “But…” Bud shook his head. “Yeti, what are you doing? I thought you didn’t want to Wave Change so Amy wouldn’t get hurt?” “I didn’t have much of a choice,” Yeti said. “Her mind’s made up! She didn’t want to keep watching you get hurt, Bud.” Bud hung his head. “So it’s my fault…if I was stronger, than Amy wouldn’t have to—“ “Cut that out!” Amy snapped. Bud looked up. “What?” “I know you’re taking your loss hard, but you can’t just give up! Even if you might not be as strong as you want to be, you’re still a lot stronger than you’ve been acting! So cut it out already!” Amy struck the ground with both fists. A fast-moving avalanche rolled over the edge of the crater and to either side of her and Bud, sweeping away huge swaths of Acid copies. She turned to face him, out of breath but still looking determined. “Losing doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough! Someone else being better than you doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough! It’s just an opportunity, Bud—a chance to keep working, something to keep striving for! So get up! And charge straight at that wall, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many tries it takes! Be as thick-skulled as you need to be until you shatter it completely!” He stared up at her for a moment. “…Amy…” She turned and blocked a swing from an Acid copy. She managed to push it back, but before she could finish it off, a flaming fist shot past her and into the enemy, carrying it off into the distance before exploding. Amy grinned. “…Thanks, Amy,” Bud said, walking up and setting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry I was being so lame. To make up for it, I’ll buy you a whole plate of burgers when this is all over!” “I’m looking forward to it!” Amy said. “Now, what do you say we take out these posers?” Bud reared back. “You got it!” He smashed his fist into the ground, cracking the stone beneath them. Countless flame towers erupted all over the crater, wiping out several Acid clones and confusing the remainder. Letting out a roar, Bud lowered his horns and charged at them, his armor starting to glow red-hot as he did. Amy started forward as well: a thin layer of snow and ice formed just a few inches ahead of her, reaching out along the path she planned to take, and she used the large feet of her Wave Change as makeshift skis to slide across the slick surface, reaching out to punch numerous Acid clones as she went. Bud eventually hit the wall, and it took him a moment to free his horns. The copies tried to attack him in this opening, but as soon as they touched him, their arms burned to a crisp. Seconds later, Bud lashed out and finished the job. “Mrrrrrgh!” he shouted, his aura of heat growing stronger. “Come on, show me what you’ve got! I’ll reduce you all to cinders!” He, Amy, and Hyde continued to work on the mob, but at the front gates of WAZA, the Satella Wizards were starting to falter. Three Acid copies focused their fire on one of them, and then a fourth moved in to swipe at it. The Wizard cried out, and disappeared in a burst of light. “The line has been breached!” one of the human officers shouted. “Fall back and tighten formation—all units focus fire on the opening!” The humans aimed their weapons at the oncoming Acid copies, but before they could fire, someone behind them shouted, “Make way!” They took one look and parted. Once the way was clear, a massive blast of electricity shot out through the gap in the line, ripping a huge chunk of Acid copies to shreds. When it was over, two boys walked through the opening and took up stances in front of the Battle Wizards. “I can pick them off from afar,” Pat said. “Can you take care of any that get in close?” “You got it, bro,” Rey said. “They won’t lay a finger on you!” The new Gemini Sparks sported longer torso armor, which had a golden coating on its rim that was also found on their greaves and their non-weaponized arms. The golden arms they used to fight, meanwhile, were now no larger than their regular arms, making the armored coating look far sleeker. Rey extended a blade from his golden arm and shouted back, “What’re you waiting for? Get back to firing!” Hastily, the Satella Officers complied, and Rey turned to effortlessly cut down a trio of Acid copies. Pat held both hands out: electricity was generated from his golden arm before moving along his entire body, and then it began to shoot out in focused bolts, each of which lanced through three or four Acid clones before disappearing. One enemy rushed him, but Rey transformed his hand into a drill and impaled it, ultimately using a rocket punch to slam it back into its fellows. From above, Virgo turned excitedly to Tia. “How about now?! They’re doing better now, and we’re starting to run low on copies, right? Can we start killing them now?!” Tia just watched the battle unfold, her expression frozen in place. (Review)

(Link if, like me, you somehow missed the announcement.) >.> <.< !!! (...at least that would be the case if I could MoC hahaha)

Lewa: "Hello ancient mural!" Mural: "Hello Lewa." Lewa: O__O

Timeskip! When this is adapted for TV will this part be labelled Good Makuta, Bad Toa Z? Also dying to see a performance where one of the audience members actually does stand up and threaten Makuta, curious to see what would happen

Well hey, if that Star Force costume turns out to be part of a larger set, and they grant special abilities, maybe we'll get an X costume that does give you the wall kick!