Zteel

It was growing dark as Doran, Maverick and the cadets gathered forces to the northern forest hills preserve of the region with an entourage of Lunanova police.

Once reached, Doran instructed Maverick and the entourage to remain at the bottom of the hill and surround the perimeter as he and the cadets would travel into the woods to locate the bunker.

"Are you sure?" Maverick asked. "I'm not exactly the type to sit back and watch."

Doran nodded his head. "This shouldn't take long. Don't send backup unless I call for it, no matter what's heard or seen." Signaling the cadets to follow, he prepared to continue into the forest.

Overhearing his given instructions, Kilo grew visibly confused.

Sage looked at him. "It's a challenge."

"It's exactly what we need." Nyota added, nodding to the brothers and following behind Doran along with Idalia, Tatius and Enki.

Sage looked at Kilo before carrying on. "Well? This is what we're here for, isn't it? Don't trail behind."

Kilo caught up to them. "I'm just saying, you do see this, right? I don't have night vision." He gestured toward the depths of the preserve. "I'm not scared or anything, but the sun's setting and we're probably going to be in there for hours and—"

"We'll be alright," Idalia assured him. "As long as we stick together, we should be fine. Each of us have MO now, and we've only seen some of what Doran is capable of."

Eventually, after roughly half an hour of searching, Doran and the cadets located the bunker, surrounded by four watchtowers on each corner of the entrance's perimeter that appeared to be unmanned.

"Stay behind me," Doran signaled with a whisper. "We need to ensure no one is on the outside, clear it, then breach into the interior."

They snuck to the bunker's entrance. Tugging at the heavy metal door, it opened with ease.

"That's odd." Doran commented. "Not even a lock?"

Nyota and Sage looked at each other. "Something seems off already," Nyota mentioned.

Continuing into the bunker and immediately down a flight of concrete steps within, the group traveled down a staircase followed by a tight tunnel lit by small overhead lights spread out every few meters.

At the end of it, they entered a large room littered with stacks and cases of cash and bars of gold with no alternative exit. There was an exit from the room, but it was securely jammed closed with a lock.

Additionally, there was no sign of Drew, Quade, Ford or Ivy.

Doran crouched down, analyzing the collection of capital. "No, no, no…" He quickly stood up.

"Let's go! Maverick, this is Doran! Send back up. Do you copy?" He started to run back through the corridor to the entrance. The cadets quickly followed after.

"Maverick, do you copy?" He called again, but there was still no response.

They realized they were set in a trap.

"The signal's jammed down here."

"Well, great." Sage spoke. "That's just great, isn't it?"

"Yeah, brace yourself." Nyota responded.

"It's good news, though, right?" Idalia tried to brighten the situation. "We get an opportunity to fight now."

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than our four little friends." Tatius responded. "Don't be fooled. They're likely going to have an entourage of their own."

Once they returned outside, they were met with blinding lights, armed men fully dressed in black aimed lasers and crosshairs at the bunker's entrance.

The watchtowers that were seemingly empty before were now manned by many soldiers in each tower. A helicopter shined a bright light down onto the scene as it hovered above the trees with armed mafia personnel aboard.

"Like so."

Beyond the blinding lights from the helicopter and the vehicles, Doran and the cadets could make out silhouettes of four people standing beyond the arrangement.

"Welcome!" Drew shouted on a megaphone beyond the whirring of the helicopter's rotor blades. He had a pair of goggles resting on his forehead before placing them over his eyes.

"It's about time. We've been awaiting your arrival. Namely you, Doran Bakar. I've heard great things.

Anyway, I would love to keep this party going, but I'm afraid there isn't much room left for those who only plot to crash it."

Drew raised a single hand into the air, then flicked his wrist toward Doran and the cadets, prompting the mafia escort to shoot and attack the group.

Doran gave the order. "Scatter!"

Idalia quickly put up a long and tall wall of crystals, shielding them from the bullets and plasma beams of the wide-scaled attack.

"I'm already heavily annoyed." Enki growled.

"Oh yeah?" Doran responded. "Well, then do something about it."

Enki encased his arms in rock before he and Doran leaped over the massive crystal wall onto the parked vehicles of the enemy, causing them to explode on impact, leaving surrounding soldiers disoriented.

Despite heavy fire, Nyota charged up, then propelled a round kick at a clutter of soldiers positioned in front of another vehicle. "Blue Lightning MO: Thunderbolt Drive."

The soldiers barely moved out of his line of attack, causing him to lunge into the vehicle, which, in turn, led to its explosion.

"Right behind you, Nyota!" Kilo followed through, lunging in the direction of soldiers Nyota had attacked. His hands were engulfed in flames as he pulled his arm back and extended it.

An explosion emitted from his palm, engulfing surrounding soldiers and their gear in flames, sending them into a panic.

"Red Flames Modus, I can really get used to this!" Kilo clenched a fist and smiled.

Directing his attention to another group, he repeated the same sequence, pulling his inflamed hand back, then extending it. "Red Flames MO: Ruptured Chamber!"

Again, Kilo sent the group of soldiers diverging in panic.

"Boss, it isn't looking too good…"

Ivy, Quade and Ford watched with Drew as their forces were seamlessly being conquered.

Aggravated, Drew gave the next order. "Don't just stand there, take care of them! This is your chance for redemption."

Reluctantly, Quade, Ford and Ivy prepared their gear and weapons to fight.

Quade stretched his arms and cracked his neck. "Man, if he don't shut—"

"Quade," Ivy stopped him. "Let's just get this over with."

"I'm just saying, don't look surprised if I go out there and don't try."

Tatius teleported in front of a few of the soldiers that tried to flee from combat, stopping them in their tracks.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" He waved his hands in front of them. "Slow down. And where, exactly, do you think you're going?"

One of the soldiers attempted to strike Tatius with his weapon, so he reappeared behind him and kicked him in his back.

Another soldier retaliated, but Tatius blocked his attack, punched him in his stomach and kicked him over.

While he was distracted, a final soldier managed to get a clear shot of him and took it.

"Wind Generation MO: Hollow Airfoil."

As the bullet approached him, he held his hand out in its direction as a whirlwind formed from his hand.

Developing into a miniature tornado, it simultaneously suspended the bullet's velocity while sending the soldier meters backward, rolling into the foliage.

Idalia recalled the crystal wall. Her and Sage stood alone against Quade, Ford and Ivy.

"Suppose it's time we get more involved." Sage looked at Idalia with a smirk.

Grabbing her staff from its casing, she nodded back. "After you."

"Look," Quade sighed. "Let's not make this more difficult than it needs to be."

"Likewise," Sage retorted. His hands engulfed themselves in blue fire. "Give up now, and nobody else needs to get hurt."

"Man, I hate kids." Quade adjusted his earpiece. Immediately, he and Sage collided with one another.

Idalia followed close behind before Ford and Ivy intercepted her helpful efforts. "Not so fast."

She clenched onto her staff, crystallizing it. "Just letting you know, this could hurt."

Idalia swung her staff at the two as they attacked her at once. Strike after strike, Ford and Ivy took turns attacking her, but she blocked every hit.

Ford drew a pistol, although the combat was close. With no real intention of firing it, he used it to shield himself from Idalia's crystal staff.

With every swing, he blocked with his handgun, the friction of iron rubbing against rugged crystal causing sparks to fly with every blow.

Ivy stuck her arm out in Idalia's direction, successfully using her magnetic gloves to snatch her staff from her grasp.

Because she was no longer armed, Ford created space between Idalia and himself to find a clear gunshot to take.

He used his gloves to vacuum a large log, then reversed the effect to fire it at Idalia's direction.

She blocked it effortlessly with a crystal wall, passively giving a patronizing look to Ford. "That's it?"

Without a reaction, Ford started to fire his automatic weapon.

In the face of rapid fire, Idalia placed up another wall to shield herself, but was still berated by close quarter attacks from Ivy behind them.

Barely shielding herself from them, Ford reappeared and attacked, finally knocking Idalia down.

Ivy met with Ford as they both stood over Idalia. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, is it?" She asked smugly.

"Idalia!" Sage called, still trading blows with Quade.

"Uh-uh, don't worry about her," Quade gestured. "It's between you and me right now."

He threw a final punch into Sage's abdomen with a booming sound, launching him backward with a hyper quaking sensation rippling through his body.

"Ahk—!"

"You felt that, huh?" Quade laughed. "That's 'Ultrasonic' for you."

He stood over Sage, who sat on the sediment, slumped over. "You hear it, and you feel it. Now it's time to finish the job."

"What could the others possibly be doing?!" Sage thought to himself. "We're outmatched right now."

Exhausted, Sage generated one last flame ball in his hand as a final effort to resist Quade.

Alas, with the click of a button, Quade activated his earpiece with deliberate limited range, disturbing Sage's hearing and stopping him from withstanding with an attack of his own.

Quade pulled out his handgun and pointed it down at Sage. "I have slight respect for you, kid. You're honestly not half bad. I'll see you in another life, maybe."

Towering over Idalia, Ford and Ivy did the same. "Any last words?"

Sage and Idalia looked at each other and smiled, then returned their gazes.

Exhausted, Sage lifted a finger and pointed behind Quade, Ford and Ivy, leading to their growing confusion.

"What?" They asked as they turned their heads.

"RUPTURED… CHAMBER!!"

Kilo reappeared, delivering a blow into Quade's back.

"Thunderbolt Drive!" Simultaneously, Nyota delivered a charged round kick into the rears of both Ford and Ivy.

The three of them tumbled meters into foliage, injuring them and damaging their gadgets as they were slow to get up.

Kilo held out his hand. "I can't believe it! Don't tell me you were gonna go out sad like that! We're just getting started with this whole 'Lunanova police' thing."

Nyota helped Idalia stand. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Idalia nodded with a smile, dusted herself off and retrieved her staff, recalling its crystallization and placing it back in its casing. "Just fine, thanks."

Sage continued. "It was all according to plan."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Don't give me that crap. Just remember I saved you. You owe me big time."

"Oh yeah?" Sage chuckled.

Kilo nodded. "Just be ready. Any one of these days, I'll be telling you to make me a full-course meal. I've been craving home-cooked meals for a minute."

"Well, that's going to have to wait a while."

Reorienting themselves, Quade, Ford and Ivy watched as all six of the cadets, including Tatius and Enki, surrounded them.

"What now?" Quade asked. "You're gonna kill us?"

Tatius laughed aloud. "Kill you? Please, what kind of devils do you think we are?"

Drew watched as his subordinates were defeated. "Damn! I give them powers and they barely use them. Useless!"

He backpedaled into the dark depths of the woods before fully turning and running into them.

Doran briefly appeared in front of the bunch before quickly giving chase to Drew. "Good job. Now, round them up."

Kilo pointed in Doran's direction. "Where… where was he?"

The cadets did as they were told.

"Chief Walker, can you copy?" Sage tried to signal Maverick through his earpiece. "Chief Walker, come in."

He finally responded. "I hear you Sage, what's your status?"

"Three of four persons have been detained. I repeat, three of four prime targets have been detained, over."

"Copy that, Cadet. We'll be up there in a moment. Over."

"Well Ivy, I hope you're happy." Quade started as they were being handcuffed. "We stayed with him, now we're going right back into the system."

"I never said you were wrong. I just…" she sighed. "You were always right. We were disposable. Now I get the grand pleasure of staying in a cell for the rest of my life."

"Honestly, this is better than continuing to work for that idiot."

"Would you look at that," Ford contemplated aloud. "This whole time, the makeshift champion of the spiritually poor never cared about his following. Not even his loyal disciples."

"Whatever y'all do to that man," Quade concluded. "Make sure he pays."

Nyota listened to their dialogue and began to feel remorseful.

The others watched him as he hustled behind Doran with haste without a word to spare.

"No MO, no powers," he thought to himself. "Just people with good intentions but ironically bad methods.

They had no hope and were sold a dream. It's a shame."

Meanwhile, Drew ran into a part of the forest riddled with tall trees. Stopping, he turned around and met with Doran walking out of the darkness.

"For someone who talks a bunch, I'd expect you'd never run from a fight. You know what they say, everyone talks tough when they're up."

Drew smiled reticently. "Please, I was merely preparing a space for us to be alone."

Doran shook his head. Without another second spared, he darted at Drew.

The two collided, exchanging blows. To Doran's surprise, Drew was keeping up.

Catching him off guard, Drew's specs released lasers, burning Doran's chest.

Doran winced and retreated from Drew, but his lasers relentlessly followed close behind.

Unbeknownst to Drew, Doran strategically continued to run from his lasers, using a path that got him within closer range to him.

"What's this? You're running now!" Drew laughed hysterically. "Isn't this hilarious?!"

Just in the nick of time, Nyota caught up to the action and watched from a distance as Drew's lasers burned and cut through everything in sight except Doran himself.

"Sound Manipulation Modus: Reverberance."

Doran slammed his palms together, arms stretched out ahead of him, sending shock waves of persistent ringing throughout the towering trees within the smaller area.

Nyota covered his ears for a short while until he adjusted them to withstand the sound frequency. Because he was just outside of the short radius, the sound effects weren't too much for him.

Ceasing his lasers, Drew covered his ears and squinted his eyes to regulate the pain.

Delivering one final blow, Doran delivered a flying kick to the side of Drew's face, sending him rolling into piles of leaves and sediment.

Doran walked over to him. "It's over now. Time to come with me, no more terrorizing the innocent for monetary gain."

Drew chuckled in agony. "This is it, huh? You know, I enjoyed being king for as long as I was. Started off with no Modus, no strength. No will to live."

Doran rolled his eyes and pinched in between his eyebrows.

"No guidance. I was abandoned! I worked my way up the ladder of evil, made a name, and gained followers! I restored a will to live and a sense of purpose and countless others like me!" He struggled to speak.

"I know they'll never believe it, but I truly did regard them as family, my family. I just… I just let power get the better of me. I'm no better than you powerful freaks, no better than Noriko, either."

Considering the conversation between Quade, Ford and Ivy earlier, the sentiment behind Drew's words also touched Nyota as well.

He briefly questioned whether or not he was on the wrong side. But what stood out most was the mentioning of Noriko again, the woman he knew and hadn't known at the same time.

Nonetheless, he snapped out of ponder and noticed the trees caving in from Drew's destruction.

Drew continued. "Anyway, let your death be a testament to the mark I'll leave on this empire. Since I'm going, I'll just take you with me!"

"What?" Doran responded, confusedly.

"Doran!" Nyota called. "Get out of there!"

Doran looked around, many trees had fallen, but many others were still on their way down.

"No! I need you alive, dammit!" He grabbed onto Drew's shirt.

"Doran! You've got to leave, now!"

"Damn!" Reluctantly, he let go of Drew and ran.

He and Nyota escaped as the last of the trees collapsed, burying Drew in a heap of timber, never to be seen again.