At the south side of Umego, inside the shopping district, Raylon watched as Kai, Obara, Mina, and the Vice-Generals squirmed on the ground.
"Pathetic. All that conquering and this is all you can do?"
Kai clutched his face, groaning in pain. "Dude! His beams are so hot!"
Obara struggled to get to his feet. "The probability that we die if we don't get out of here is 99%!"
Mina tried to slowly crawl away. "What is there we can do? He's too strong!"
Raylon continued to watch them with an unimpressed look, before raising his hand to attack.
"Forget it. Just drop dead."
As he tried to blast them, he heard someone clear their throat behind him. As soon as he turned around, he saw a bunch of sword-sized keys hovering in the air, pointing at him.
"Ahem. As Director of Security, it's MY job to make sure any threats are thoroughly neutralized."
Director Azura held out her hand, and the keys all shot forward, heading for Raylon, but he disappeared and they missed.
Mashimo sat up, taking in the Security Director. "Ms. Azura?"
She turned to face the soldiers with a hand on her hip. "Of course. You didn't think we'd just watch them attack our city and do nothing, did you?"
Mashimo ran a hand through his hair. "Of course not! Any sign of the other Directors?"
She shook her head, just as a blast of light nearly struck her. She turned around to find Raylon nonchalantly sitting at one of the tables by a booth.
"What's with this guy? It's like he doesn't even care!" she noted.
Mashimo and Oyakawa stood next to her. "Even more reason to put him down!"
Raylon looked them up and down with a disinterested look, right before unleashing a powerful explosion of light that nearly blinded all three of them.
Oyakawa stepped back. "We can't get close if he can keep unleashing blinding attacks like that! Any new ideas?"
Azura clenched her fists. "He's an Elemental. Nothing less than destroying his heart will be enough to kill him."
And with that, she summoned a box and a key, and with a snap of her fingers, the key opened the box.
"I'll give you an opening!"
The box tilted forward, shooting out a long chain that wrapped around Raylon, trapping him. At the front of the chain was a keyhole, and Azura put the key in the box.
"That should buy you time, Azura said, tightening the chain. "Now go!"
Mashimo and Oyakawa wasted no time getting close to Raylon, and Mashimo used a metal fist to try and punch him, while Oyakawa touched himself, boosting his speed.
"Take this!"
But just as their fists came close, Raylon got up and broke out of the chains. He raised a glowing hand.
"Oyakawa, look out!" Mashimo cried, pushing him out of the way.
The blast hit Mashimo in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground in pain. "Ugh…it burns…!"
Oyakawa stopped in his tracks. "Mashimo!"
Raylon appeared behind him, kicking him into a wall. "Now the rest of you."
Azura placed herself in front of Kai and the others. "Rookies, can you move?"
Kai, still holding his face, stood up. "I think so, yeah!"
Just as Raylon raised his hands, she created more keys to fire at him. "Good! Then stay at a distance and give this bastard everything you've got!"
Raylon dodged the keys she created, but Obara threw a metal ball at his head.
"Probability: 98%!"
Raylon caught it and threw it back with twice the speed, forcing Azura to block it with a key.
"Damn, it's not enough!" Obara lamented. He turned toward Mina. "What's your magic?"
"Slime-based," she responded, nervous. "Not sure how that will help us, though!"
Obara tapped his chin, thinking. "Maybe we can trap him?"
Just then, another blast of light soared over their heads, making them all duck.
"Any ideas on how to do that?" Kai asked.
Azura fired more keys at Raylon, but he easily evaded them and used a powerful beam of light to knock her away.
As he refocused his attention on the kids, Obara looked around for anything of use.
"If we can get to the rooftops, maybe we have a chance to get the drop on him!" Obara stated.
Kai grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Yeah, that's a nice plan, just HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THAT?" he asked, pointing at Raylon, who just watched them with a nonchalant expression.
"We'll need to be smart with this! Probability says if we can pull this off, we have a 90% chance of victory!"
Raylon fired a beam at them, making them run.
"So what do we do?" Mina asked. "It's not like we can just jump up there on our own!"
Obara looked around the area, spotting a ladder. "There! That should work!"
Raylon just walked behind them, no urgency in his steps.
"What are those kids doing?" he wondered. "All their superiors are on the ground, what plans could they possibly have?"
With another blast of light, he knocked the ladder to the ground. Obara quickly picked it up.
"Kai! Keep him busy! Mina and I will handle the rest!"
Kai immediately rounded on him. "Me? What the hell do you mean me?"
Before he could protest further, Obara took the ladder and ran, Mina on his heels.
"Hey, dude! C'mon!"
As Raylon stood right behind him, Kai turned back, gulping and falling to the ground.
"Heh…can we talk about this?"
Raylon held up a glowing hand. "There's nothing to speak about. For your many crimes, you shall die."
Kai began to back away. "What crimes? I don't remember doing any bad deeds at all!"
"You're lying."
Kai stood up, hands raised. "No, I'm not! I'm just a regular kid, that's all!"
Raylon tilted his head, unamused. "Interesting."
Obara and Mina used the ladder to sneak up to a nearby rooftop and began to crawl toward Kai and Raylon's location.
"Good job Kai, just keep him talking," Obara whispered.
Kai jumped out of the way just as Raylon shot a blast of light at him. "Woah, man! Relax!"
Raylon turned and fired another blast of light, hitting Kai in the leg.
"You're a tyrant, just like the rest of them. You must be put down like one."
Kai grabbed his leg, groaning in pain. "What…have we ever done to you?"
Raylon paused, a wave of memories coming back to him. "Centuries of torment. You all must atone for that."
Kai weakly stood up, confused. "Centuries? Me and my friends have only been alive for fifteen years!"
Raylon remained quiet for a long time, before finally speaking.
"I see."
Then his body began to glow, and Kai didn't have the strength to run. "Oh no! Guys!"
"Now, Mina!"
A giant ball of slime came from the rooftop, and just as Raylon turned to look, he found himself trapped up to his neck in the slime.
"Oh."
As he struggled to move, Obara called out to Kai. "Kai! Catch this and use your magic!"
Obara tossed him a small metal ball, but this time, it had a small button on the top.
Kai held it in his hands for a moment, but just as Raylon burst an arm free, he worked up his courage.
"Okay!"
He pressed the button and used his magic to increase its size before throwing it at Raylon's head. Right before impact, giant metal spikes came out of each side, surprising Kai.
Raylon just watched as it grew and spiraled towards his head, and then it knocked it clean off.
"Did we get him?" Mina asked.
Obara shook his head. "I don't think so, the Director said we'd have to destroy his—-"
"My heart."
Obara and Mina stumbled back as they saw Raylon behind them, his head fully regenerated.
"How can you recover so fast? That defies logic!" Obara exclaimed.
Raylon shrugged. "I guess so."
And then he knocked them both off the roof, sending them flying towards the ground.
Kai tried to stand under them. "Guys, I'll catch you—-!"
But someone got to them first, safely catching them out of the air and landing on the ground.
"Vice-General?" Obara noticed.
Oyakawa laughed. "That idiot might have thought he got the best of me, but I'd never go down so easily!"
Up on the roof, Raylon heard someone heavy land next to him. "Metal man."
Mashimo immediately head-butted Raylon in the stomach, making him fall off the roof. He jumped after him and tried to hit him with a haymaker, but Raylon was too quick.
Mashimo stood next to Kai, giving him a pat on the back. "That was some bravery out of you rooks! I like it!"
Oyakawa nodded. "The Generals would be proud!"
They locked their eyes on Raylon, who was now a few feet away. Mashimo began to walk forward.
"It's now or never. Let's beat this guy."
Raylon narrowed his eyes at them, more memories and voices coming to light.
"Evil…creatures…tyrannical…monsters…"
But before he could figure out where the voices were coming from, Mashimo punched him, snapping him back to reality.
"Oyakawa! Now!"
Oyakawa leaped into action and used his magic to increase his speed, rapidly punching Raylon in the chest numerous times.
"It's not enough! We need more force!"
Mashimo tried to punch him alongside Oyakawa, but Raylon caught both of their fists at the same time, and they couldn't free themselves of his grip.
Raylon stared them directly in the eyes, his expression unchanged.
Obara ran up, chucking a metal ball at Raylon. "Hold on, Vice-Generals!"
But to his surprise, Raylon simply caught the ball in his mouth and spit it right back out. Mashimo punched him with his free arm.
"Let…go!"
But his grip was still firm, and his entire body began to glow. Kai, Mina, and Obara watched in shock, unable to think.
"Obara! What now? He'll kill them!" Mina cried.
Obara gripped his head. "I don't know! I don't have a probability for a successful outcome!"
Kai shook him by the shoulders. "You're the smart one, man! We need you!"
While Obara continued to hold his head, thinking, Raylon prepared to unleash a massive explosion of light.
"Goodbye, everyone."
But right before he did, a giant box entrapped him…
…and he blew up right inside of it.
Mashimo and Oyakawa fell to the ground, dazed. Azura knelt in between them, putting a hand on each of their heads.
"Are you two hurt?"
They both shook their heads. Azura stood up. "Good."
The box unlocked to reveal Raylon standing upright, slightly burned. "Ow."
With a wave of her hand, a massive key slammed into him, pushing him back. "All of you, attack him at once!"
Mashimo tried to punch Raylon, and Oyakawa rushed at him, but he leaped into the air and evaded them.
"He moves too fast! We've got to pin him down!" Oyakawa remarked.
Azura focused her hands out, eyes determined. "I know just the trick!"
She looked toward Obara and the others, nodding. "Rookies, I'll need your help!"
They all stared at her, confused. She motioned for Kai to come over. "Kai! You're with me! Obara and Mina, use your powers to keep him still!"
And with that, she pointed one finger at Raylon.
"LOCKDOWN."
Chains summoned from nearby buildings and trapped him in place, and he watched as Obara and Mina approached.
"Probability…probability…! What the hell is the probability?" Obara wondered.
Mina launched slime at Raylon, trapping him even more. "Obara, do you have anything else we can use?"
Obara refocused his attention, looking around. "Nothing in the vicinity! Use more slime!"
She clasped her hands together and shot out more slime, reaching up to his chin.
Azura chuckled. "Perfect."
She summoned a key in her hand, holding it out for Kai to touch it. "Here. Use your magic."
Kai tapped the key, and it grew to the size of a war hammer. Azura held it up, smiling.
"This will do nicely."
Raylon looked down at her, curious. "They're planning something again. I wonder what."
And then Azura closed her fist.
"Confine."
Immediately, a heavy box trapped Raylon, and Azura prepared to throw the key.
"This is for my CITY!"
She launched it with all her force, and it partially impaled the box. "It's not far enough, damn it!"
But Mashimo ran past her, leaping into the air. "If it's one thing General Morino taught me, it's that we're ALWAYS ENOUGH!"
He punched the key, and it pierced through the entire box. Mashimo landed next to the others, and everyone watched the box in silence.
Azura opened the box, and they all saw Raylon still inside, with the key stabbing directly through his heart.
"Congratulations. You've won."
—-