Vapron began to shake and disappear, but he watched as Nakada stood before him, smirking triumphantly.
"How's that for being done in?"
Vapron turned his entire body toward her, with a malevolent smirk on his face.
"Due time, Nakada. Due time."
She appeared taken aback, and he laughed and began to explode in a puff of black smoke.
Morino stood beside her, and she turned toward him. "Any clue what happened to him?"
"No, but at least the fight is over, for now."
He whirled around to face Dachii and Nishiyama, and he gave them both a pat on the shoulder. "You've both done well! I'm very impressed."
Nishiyama scoffed. "It was nothing."
Dachii scratched his head. "Yeah, can we go home now?"
Morino nodded. "Yes, I think it's about time. Fujii won't be happy, though."
Nakada gasped. "I forgot about Kenshi!"
She pulled up her watch, and she saw she had multiple missed calls from Fujii. "Yikes, he's going to give me a stern talking to when we get home."
Dachii began to walk towards the front of Umego. "Yes, can we please LEAVE? I need to get in a bed!"
As Nakada chuckled, she remembered something. "Oh, Sir! We still need to receive the items from Kojiro and the other Directors!"
Morino sighed. "Right. Where could he possibly—-"
He looked behind Nakada and immediately, his eyes widened. "—-be?"
Nakada turned around, and she nearly jumped back as she saw Kojiro standing right behind her, with an awkward look on his face.
"Kojiro!"
He nervously laughed. "Yes, yes! It's me, Kojiro! And you, Nakada…you just kicked some major ass!"
She put her hands on her hips. "Were you watching this whole time?"
"Maybe…?"
She angrily grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and shook him back and forth. "Really, Kojiro? We could have died!"
"Yeah, I know! But…things occurred, so I just figured I'd wait!"
Nishiyama nudged Dachii. "Why is he so nervous?"
"He likes her," Dachii replied. "I can't blame him, Nakada is SO COOL!"
Nishiyama rolled her eyes. "Boys."
Morino had to basically break them up, and soon after, Kojiro straightened up. "Well, there's still some amazing technology in the vaults I can dig up for you, since you did save our people from powerful threats."
"I appreciate it," Nakada said.
Kojiro fiddled with his thumbs before he spoke again. "Also…would it be too much to ask for your number? You know, for business inquiries?"
Nakada smiled. "Sure, why not?"
As he pulled up his watch to put it in, Dachii also began to walk forward. "Yeah, me too—-!"
Morino lifted an eyebrow. "Dachii."
"What? It's for business!"
Morino slapped his head, and Kojiro began to lead Nakada away. "This way! I know the place."
Nakada looked back. "I'll meet up with you guys soon, don't leave without me, old man!"
Morino shook his head. "Maybe I SHOULD leave her here."
A few minutes later, Morino, Dachii, and Nishiyama met up with Atomu and the others near the entrance, and Dachii saw Kia standing up again.
"Mom, you're okay!" Dachii exclaimed.
As soon as she saw them, Kia wrapped her arms around Morino and Dachii. "Thank goodness! Are you two hurt? I swear, if there's a single SCRATCH—-!"
Morino put an arm around her. "It's okay, sweetheart. We're fine."
Kia relaxed a bit, but she still stared at the Voltians around her with a wary look. "Okay."
Atomu walked up to Dachii and Nishiyama. "So, how'd the fight with Vapron go? We were all worried to death!"
"Well, we almost died, and Nishiyama became all BADASS and held him off until the Generals showed up. Crazy, right?"
Morino nodded. "It's true."
Atomu and the others appeared surprised. "Really?"
Nishiyama turned away, face becoming red. "Yeah, I know, I'm awesome."
Atomu patted her arm. "Nice job, Nishiyama. I knew you could do it."
She stared at him for a little bit, and then she smiled and walked towards the exit, but not before bumping Tomoko on her way out.
"Haha!"
She looked at the missing bridge and sighed. "Oh, right. Does anyone have a boat?"
Luca walked forward, jumping into the water. "Just climb on."
He shifted into a Hydra, making Kia jump back. "Lucas! What is that?"
Yuri shrugged and got on his back. "Whatever gets me out of here, I don't care."
After much hesitation from Kia, they eventually all made it back to the mainland, where Kai, Obara, Mina, and the rest of the squads were waiting and evacuated citizens were waiting.
"Woah, you guys made it out alive?" Kai asked.
"Of course they did. To weak opponents like the ones we've faced, it's only a 3.7% chance of death," Obara remarked.
Mina bear-hugged Yuri and Nishiyama. "Girls, we've got to resume that shopping trip! It got cut so short!"
"Sure, I'm down," Yuri said.
"Yeah…whenever," Nishiyama added.
Mina looked her up and down. "You seem…different!"
Nishiyama looked away. "Nope! Not different at all! Still the same old Nishi!"
Mina looked her over. "Nope! Something's off! Is it the hair?"
Both of the Vice-Generals approached the group, giving Morino a polite bow.
"Sir," Oyakawa greeted. "Is Nakada with you?"
"She's on her way," Morino replied. "How'd you guys get here before us anyway?"
"They had spare boats," Mashimo answered. "You guys didn't know?"
Kia angrily rounded on Morino. "Yes, Father! Why didn't we take a boat?"
"I didn't see the boats!"
Soon after, all of the Directors and Nakada arrived on a boat, and Nakada's hands were full of crates.
The Directors lined up, and Governor Shōtarō addressed the crowd.
"My people, a grave attack came to us this day, one that has no doubt cost us numerous lives!"
As people stayed silent, he continued. "But these brave soldiers have saved us and stopped the threat, and it's thanks to them our island still stands!"
The crowd began to cheer, and as Dachii began to wave to them, Marachii tapped him.
"Are they cheering for us specifically, or…?"
Dachii chuckled. "Doesn't matter."
Azura stepped forward. "As a token of our appreciation, we've decided to help them in their battle against these mysterious forces and lend them our full support as they protect what we believe to be the target of these attacks: Dachii Jones."
As she pointed toward Dachii, he gulped. "Oh, yeah…"
"Don't you guys worry," Kojiro said. "This island will be even better defended by the next time someone wants to attack it!"
Akira came forth, and Dachii saw he had something in his hands.
"Is that the dog?"
"Right you are, my dear Dachii!" he said. "I'm giving you guys Fido as a token of our appreciation! Don't kill him, now!"
Marachii's eyes lit up. "YES!"
Kia stepped between them. "Wait, who's housing this dog?
"Fujii can," Luca pointed out. "Though I don't know how he'd feel about it."
"He kept Saori!" Marachii exclaimed. "He can keep Fido too!"
As dawn began to break, the squads began to load up in their vehicles. As Dachii began to get in Nakada's, Shu stopped him.
"Dachii, Akira wanted me to leave you a message. He asks that you come back to visit his upcoming invention, the Technodome, in the coming months."
"Okay?" Dachii said, a bit puzzled. "I'd…have to run that decision by people."
Shu laughed and stepped back, waving as the group pulled off back toward Voltiana. Akira walked up to him.
"What'd he say?"
As Shu watched the cars disappear, he turned away. "I'm sure he'll be there, sir."
Meanwhile, inside Umego…
Sir Triune stood up, having fully regenerated. He looked around at his fallen monsters, and he knelt down.
"I'm sorry, brethren, for I have failed you."
A cloud of black smoke appeared before him, and a half-formed Vapron emerged from it.
"Sir Triune!"
Sir Triune immediately turned his attention toward him. "Vapron! You survived?"
"I don't have much time right now, but just know, Ionix has a big plan for you! You'll avenge your fellow monsters, don't you worry!"
Sir Triune's eyes lit up. "What do you mean? What opportunity?"
But before he could get an answer, Vapron disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
Sir Triune looked at the black powder that remained, touching it. "Ionix…?"
Meanwhile, in an unknown castle…
Ionix was sitting in his bedroom when he heard a knock at his door.
"Come in!"
The door opened and revealed a girl with skin just like Ionix, and flowing green hair and eyes.
"Ionix, Vapron and the others have lost. We're dwindling down, man by man."
Ionix slammed his hand into the ground, growling. "We have to do something! If we can't match the Elites, we'll never get the recognition we deserve from them!"
The girl stepped into the room. "Well, maybe we could send Fernyx and Polarix?"
Ionix shook his head. "No. We can't risk any more of them or take any more chances now."
He got up, electricity dancing off of him. "I'll do it myself!"
The girl stopped him as he tried to leave. "Wait, don't be so rash!"
He put an arm on her shoulder. "Venire, we don't have a choice. I either capture the Holder now, or we wait for Master to send the Elites to do the job we weren't able to."
She stepped in front of him. "Fine, I'm coming with you."
"But—-!"
She stared him right in the eyes. "No buts! Just like old times, you and me, we'll get this done!"
He relented, hugging her. "Fine, we'll do it together. But we're gonna follow my plan, because we can't lose this time."
She nodded. "Do whatever you need to do."
He walked past her, heading into the hallway. "We'll move out soon, but there's one stop I need to make first."
He walked down the hall, glancing past various rooms. As he walked up a flight of stairs, he brushed past more rooms, which were more spaced out.
"Great, just great," he wondered.
As he walked past them, water, fire, dirt, and gusts of wind emitted from various doors. He ignored them and continued to the last door down the hall, which was far away from all the others.
He knocked on it, and a deep voice rang out.
"Come in…"
The shadowy door dissipated, revealing a large room glowing with floating purple lights. There were various weapons scattered across the walls, and in the middle was a floor with an eye symbol drawn on it, which was glowing purple as well.
There was a figure in a black robe, which covered his entire face, in the middle, and Ionix slowly approached the man.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, Akuma. I just wanted your help with a task."
Akuma had a weapon of sorts in his hand. A long crimson scythe, with a metal shaft.
"What do you need?"
Ionix stopped a few feet behind him. "I'm sure you know by now that the Holder we seek is Dachii Jones. I was wondering if you knew any ways or tips we could use to capture him."
Akuma waited a long moment before answering. "Any tips…?"
The glowing eye on the floor began to glow even brighter, and training dummies made of shadow began to appear out of the ground, advancing on Akuma.
Ionix took a step back, and Akuma gripped his weapon. "Hmm…"
In the blink of an eye, all the dummies were slashed to pieces, and Akuma stood in the middle of the room, unmoving.
"Exploit his lack of focus, his love for women, and his desire for normalcy. Dachii is a child of simplicity."
Akuma turned toward Ionix, and despite the hood he wore, Ionix could catch a glimpse of the lower part of his face, and he saw his cheek was missing its flesh.
"And lastly, exploit his love for his family. No matter what…he will defend them."
Akuma sat back down, seemingly in his own thoughts. "Best of luck."
Ionix thanked him and left the room, and Venire was waiting for him in the hallway.
"How did your chat go?" she asked.
"Good," he replied, moving with a purpose. "I know JUST WHAT TO DO. Prepare yourself, Venire. We're going to Raijin Arena."
—-