"I should have expected nothing less, I suppose," a voice came from behind Zeff. "Old Zander's protege, the wind god, Zephyr. Oh, or are you Kai right now?"
Kai abruptly turned around, finally sensing the man behind him. Leo revealed his presence intentionally, trying to get Kai's attention.
A figure emerged out of the darkness.
A six-foot-tall, bald-headed man in his forties showed himself. The eye patch covering his left eye, a scar he preferred to hide, a glint in his eyes contradicted the smile on his face.
"It's been some time since we last saw each other, huh," Leo said, removing his eyepatch. "Ah, I still remember you like yesterday. I'm sure you do too."
"I was told you went to the military after the incident with Master," Kai said, pointing Napalm at Leo. "Why now, of all times, would you come to me? Now I know you restarted the Sylphie project to lure me here."
"Do you, now?" Leo scoffed, pointing his finger at his left eye. "What? Did you think I would forgive this so easily? Just because that coot placed you inside a jail, I would forget what you did to me over time?"
Leo clenched his jaw, gripping his fist tight, taking his fighting stance slowly. Surrounded by absolute silence and an unyielding enemy, fixated on the past he could not change, Kai braced himself for impact.
"If you want another duel, please count me out. I don't want to fight you."
As much as Kai pleaded, Leo wanted the fight all the more. Reminiscing, he wanted to pay back for all the things he had been put through after their last skirmish and how he had been looking for this man ever since.
"Hmph. There was no way I would have found you by myself. But I knew the perfect bait even you would be tempted to take. The information from that processor. I never had any use for it anyway. All the other functions are defective. But you didn't know that. After all, there is someone you're looking for, right? Enough to risk your life."
Hearing the word 'defective,' Kai's eyes narrowed. It meant a problem, but nothing new for him. However, what he wanted to avoid the most was returning empty-handed.
"I'll take that as a yes. But I won't stop you. Just humor this old man like old times. The game we used to play."
'He wants to kill me.' There was no way Leo could mask his oozing killing intent in his eye, no matter how much he smiled.
'Hypocrite,' with that thought, Kai fired.
Boom!
The ground trembled. The shot coming out of the barrel was packing no less power than an artillery cannon. It shook the entire armory, scattering the dust everywhere as they turned to ashes.
Part of the metallic wall was damaged, cracks forming all over the place, and a man in the center of the impact took a defensive stance with his arms crossed in an X shape.
The gauntlet in his arms glowed red from the friction of the hit from the previous attack, his clothes half torn, but the man stood uninjured. Invincible as he seemed, he didn't even try to dodge. The gauntlets returned to a cold state as their original color returned. Black.
"No mercy as always," Leo said. "Can't say I hate that."
Leo made the next move. This time, not holding back, he took a step forward.
And as soon as he did, an afterimage followed him, making him vanish from that place immediately and launching his lightning-fast attack.
Cracks of lightning distorted the space around Leo's fist as it came flying toward Kai's direction at an absurd speed.
Instincts took over Kai's mind as they subconsciously ordered him to summon his Trump card.
Seodt Shield.
A black shield appeared in front of the attack as he tried to dodge. But it was impossible to dodge.
It was too much for his already used and exhausted 'Seodt' ability. Which Kai used twice before getting here. He was hoping to avoid this confrontation this whole time as he sneaked inside the base. Without Zeff, Kai would die in this situation.
'No..' as Kai thought, an orange blur appeared in his vision and, in a flash, Kai was pushed sideways, sparing him from death at the last possible moment.
Bam!
Kai clashed with the nearby LSV military Car as he felt a push over his being.
In the opposite direction of his push, which saved him, stood an orange-furred fox with two tails and white eyes. It glared in Leo's direction, its sharp teeth making ugly sounds keeping its claws ready to attack.
Kai saw this and immediately realized who had come to his rescue. It was Daksha.
Endorphins rushed over his body, glad that he was still alive.
Leo closed his eyes as he commented, "I must be growing risky with my age. You shouldn't be able to dodge like that," then looking in the direction of the fox, "You still keep disgusting things as pets? As I thought, you didn't change at all," he said, a sigh following his words.
Leo looked at Kai as if he was looking at an incompetent kid, no change was apparent since his previous meeting, disappointing him.
"I never liked that dog," he said.
Then the fight continued all out, something Kai had to overcome on his own.
Leo brought his fists together, causing a magical disturbance at the collision, he said, "I will make this place to be your grave, Kai, even if it's the last thing I do."
A metallic clang resounded as Leo prepared his fighting stance once more.
Daksha, realizing their odds at such an opponent, ran towards Kai as its body transformed.
Kai was still lying on the floor, recovering from the last attack, feeling the aftereffects of using too much of his Seodt. Unimaginable pain coursed all over his body.
"Keugh..!" coughing up a lump of blood, Kai's body relaxed, his muscles loosening the contraction.
Kai got up on his knees, helpless, the light in his eyes fading, his mind removed from the touch of reality. The pain built up each moment, becoming more unbearable. His certainty about his chances grew slim.
He couldn't muster the strength to stand up.
'Is this how I'm gonna die?' Kai thought, coughing once more.
However, he was proven wrong immediately as his mind was pulled back deep into his consciousness, to a place he was glad to be in, where he didn't feel as much of his bodily pain as before.
The dark room with a mirror.
On the other side, this time, was what looked like a humanoid creature with white hair, red eyes, half naked in his muscular physique. It was Zeff.
"Missed me yet?" he said, frowning as he smiled, looking at Kai. "Pathetic like always."
The nerves on his forehead tightened, as Kai's face turned red in anger. He said, "Where were you?"
***
At the same time, in another dark room, somewhere in the same base, two men were seated across each other, one unconscious. Another, furious.
The unconscious man was tied down from head to toe in the reinforced metallic chain as the other man in front of him wore a military badge, uniform, and a stoic expression as he examined his captive.
"Are you sure?" he inquired to a device in his hand, a voice in the communicator answering him in a hurry.
"Yes, sir. The infiltrator we've assumed to have under our custody seems to be a fake. The real Zeff is spotted going inside the armory. The cadets are in a position to fire, sir. What are your orders, Lieutenant?"
Bucky clenched his jaw when he heard that.
Fake? The man in front of him, the criminal he captured was fake?
'What about my sister?'
Bucky could not express his swirling emotions in mere words. However, there was no mistake that there was killing intent hiding inside him, like a wolf among the sheep.
Bucky captured Zeff when he was seen in Area 3 again after the incident in the trap room, exhausted and vulnerable. Despite his wits, Bucky knew Zeff wouldn't let himself be caught like that.
"Then what about you?" he asked the chained man, having the same face as Zeff, opening his eyes.
"..erb…" he muttered something as he saw Bucky.
Bucky narrowed his eyes, 'Is this man one of us? Someone Zeff morphed his face into and used him as a distraction,' he wondered.
Thinking back on all the strange abilities Zeff used, coupled with his track record of escape, the possibility seemed plausible.
'That bastard!' he cursed inwardly, 'using others as a shield?"
Just the idea of such made his skin crawl, furious with rage. The worry for his sister, reaching its limit, became an obsession at this point.
She was still missing. Bucky was made to realize he couldn't fight a level 5 criminal using ordinary means.
"What do you want us to do with this, lieutenant?" a soldier beside him asked.
Ever since they captured 'Zeff,' Bucky was guarding this place, waiting for him to open his eyes so Bucky could ask about his sister.
"Zeff came here alone. At least, based on what we know, he always acts alone. This must be one of us soldiers turned into his scapegoat. Inquire about his station when he wakes up," Bucky ordered as he started to leave the container, dejected that Zeff escaped his clutch once more.
But just before going out, Bucky stopped. He just heard a mumbling coming from behind him. A familiar voice he recognized.
That voice echoed throughout the whole room.
"...Brother?"
***
If you find any mistakes in the chapter, please comment below so I can fix them as soon as possible.