Awkward time passed as the fortress was slowly devoured by the last act of Kaiser Greedy.

"...he's not coming back, is he?" Ristar asked.

"Don't give up yet," Hugo replied. "Matt's got a way out of these things."

"You can't escape a black hole!" Ristar suddenly snapped, fighting back tears. "No one can! He's gone, admit it!"

Hugo just looked ahead, out of the main viewscreen of the cruiser.

"I know you don't want to lose anyone else today," the Mettaur answered. "But you gotta trust me...Matt's gonna make it."

As Hugo said this, there was a flash, and as the black hole suddenly increased in size, turning into the most brilliant light against the cosmos, he calmly watched.

R.D. jetted the ship forward as fast as he could, finally escaping the reach of the black hole's grasp.

"Hugo?" he asked, having a question for the Mettaur.

"Yeah?"

"How much do you want to bet Matt's already beaten us to Flora?" R.D. asked.

"Probably did it to piss me off..." Hugo muttered.

As the light faded, seemingly from that which devours it, a red blaze surged high, and then toward the ship.

Ristar, drying his face, leaned closer to look at the blaze. "What's that?"

"I guess he didn't go ahead of us after all," Hugo muttered.

The mighty fury of Dragon Drive Beta surrounding him, Matt flew by the cruiser, giving a quick salute with his Variable Arm, and spiralling up, he shot toward Flora once more.

The Mettaur humphed. "Damn showoff."

"He's okay!" Ristar leapt up, raising a fist in triumph.

"See?" Hugo said. "Told ya he knows what he's doing...surprisingly."

R.D. shook his head in exasperation and punched the engine, hearing Alasea giggling.

"Come on, guys," he said, "I want to get his gloating out of the way and done with."

And with that, they made their way to Flora.

The cruiser landed in Vinh to the cheers of the remaining villagers-short, green folk with simple, yet fine clothing. Near the back of the group was Riho and Matt.

"You smug bastard!" Hugo growled at Matt from inside the ship. "Almost made us have a heart attack!"

R.D. was leaning on the side of the ship, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. "Going to pull this shit often?" he asked Matt.

"Hey, man, I wasn't lyin' when I said it could swallow the whole galaxy," Matt explained. "Took me a bit to shut it."

"In any case," interrupted Riho, "Kaiser Greedy is no more." He spread his arms serenely. "The war is over!"

This was met by another jubilant cheer from the villagers.

"Come!" Riho gestured. "We will prepare a feast!"

"Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!" Matt whooped. "I need food to remain AWESOME!"

"Just don't blow up our dinner," R.D. said as they followed Riho. Alasea started laughing.

"That was purely by accident!"

"Chefs, prepare the best feast from what we have avaliable," Riho ordered. "I will return shortly."

Hugo caught a glance of the village leader floating over to Ristar-by the consoling expression on Riho's face, he could at least tell that it would be best to leave them alone for a bit.

===Later That Night===

Alasea looked up at the night sky just outside of the village. She was sitting on the grass of an open meadow. All of the constellations were alien to her, driving in the fact that she was millions of miles away from her former home. She knew she was in a different dimension, but these foreign stars seemed to prove it.

She heard footsteps behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see who it was.

"Something wrong, Alli?" R.D. asked as he approached.

Pink tinted her cheeks as she turned her gaze back to the stars. "No, I'm fine. Just thinking."

R.D. nodded and sat down behind her. "About what?" he asked.

"This adventure of ours. About Aisha telling me I'm this Daughter of Dawn."

The amnesiac teen chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Homesick?"

"... yeah, a little. You?"

"Not really. Kind of hard when you don't know what home is."

Matt was reading from the only book he had packed when Helena entered the room of the cottage they were staying in. He glanced up. "Hey, kiddo."

"Hey." She looked around. "Where's Hugo?"

"He's with Ristar. He's like Ristar's teacher now or some bullshit, the way he acts."

"I think it's 'cause Ristar's a bit smaller than him."

Matt laughed. "Yeah, that's probably it. He's finally taller than someone." His face lost its humor as quick as it came. "I gotta question to ask you."

Having sat down, Helena looked at Matt. "Yeah?"

"Why'd you, uh..." Matt sat up straighter, as if giving the words an easier path to flow in. "Well, it's like, before, when we were startin' out, you helped me a lot, and then for a while I couldn't hear you and you wouldn't help me or nothin'. Is there, like, a reason for that or somethin'?"

"...oh." She folded her hands on her lap, her posture reserved. "Well...for a time, I could feel a lot of anger within you, during some of the battles with those shadow creatures. I was told by the man in the hood that, because of the power you possessed...you can be a very dangerous person."

She didn't look straight at Matt when she said this, something that instinctively made him feel awful. "Well...I mean, I get pissed off like normal people do," he explained, "but I've always believed that I've gotta use the Core for good stuff. I don't like being a dick to people."

"I know..." She looked straight at him now. "I know you're better than that."

"But hey." Matt raised his hands, and then pointed at Helena with both fingers, in his trademark style of gesture. "Legitamate concern."

She cracked a faint smile. "I'm going to go to bed now. Good night, Matt."

"Night."

===The Next Morning===

R.D. yawned for what had to be the third time since waking up. He was currently wondering how in the world he and Alasea could've fallen asleep in the meadow outside of the village, but it didn't really matter. He and Alasea were patiently waiting for Matt, Hugo, and Helena to get ready so they could start searching for the Gateway.

"...well, that's convienent," Matt said. He stood before the Gateway, smack dab in the middle of his room. "At least we don't gotta go look for it."

"That's always been a pain in the ass," Hugo muttered. He looked around. "Let me go get everyone."

Walking outside, the Mettaur shouted, "HEY! EVERYBODY! WE FOUND IT!"

"I could've done that," Matt muttered.

R.D. blinked and looked at Alasea, who shrugged.

The two of them made their way to Matt's cottage and looked inside at the Gateway.

Meta looked at Namonai in confusion, not knowing what he had just done. She raised an eyebrow. "Now, what is supposed to happen?" She asked, feeling a little... icky.

Meta felt uneasy. Why was Namonai staring at her that way with those creepy eyes of his? Something must be going on. She thought. Something I don't know of. And I hate it if there is something I don't know of, especially if it concerns me. She noticed she was breathing a little heavy, and decided to calm herself, by starting to control her breath more.
After a few moments, she looked next to her, at Shujou, with a gaze that nearly said: "Do you know what is going on?"

"What is it?!" Meta shouted at Namonai, getting irritated by the nasty feeling and Namonai's silence. "Why is it that you do not wish to join me? Just because I am related in some way to Xastra? Wake up! We share a common cause: Xastra's demise! Why won't you cooperate?!" She said loudly, her panting not being noticed by herself.

Meta sank to her knees and her right hand shot to her left breast. What... IS THIS?! She thought frustrated. She cocked her head upwards to look Namonai in the eyes. "You could have at least waited until after Xastra was destroyed." She uttered. Her voice seemed to be fading away from her. She hung her head. What is going on? Why do I feel so strange? She thought, still not having a clue about it. "Could you..." She whispered softly, "at least tell me, why?"

Meta coughed, and splatters of green fell onto the ground. "Then why me?" She uttered softly. Suddenly, she fell forward, to the ground. She extended her left arm to dig her fingers into the ground and stop her face-first fall, but it failed. Face in the dirt, she turned her head to look up. "Xastra doesn't care what happens to me, as long as it is bad things. You're only helping him now..."

It was strange. It felt as if she was suddenly lifted up to a higher place, a place of calmness, yet incredible power. She felt better than before her encounter with Namonai. Meta slowly rose from the ground and looked around, watching the Guardians. "What has just happened?" She wondered. "Who are you?"

Meta shook her head. "Evil guys, can't believe 'em." She uttered. She turned towards the Guardians. "And may I inquire why you are here?" She asked them.