"Do we really want to dive into something we know nothing about?" Hyuuma said, "Remember how eager those guys in the U.N. wanted to develop Jupiter? For all we know, this... thing... could be as dangerous as The Power."

Taiga frowned, folding his arms. "Hmmmm. You have a good point."

"Agreed." Liger nodded. "We can't take any serious risks with this. Still, I think that we should at least use what it holds to try and find a way to return to Earth. Whether we can or can't, we can stop there."

Matt almost went "whew!" in relief. Good, they wouldn't use the shard more than they need to. Thanks, fate. He owed it one.

Renais looked over at her father, cocking her head to the side. "So how do you plan on getting the information we need out of it?" she asked, "You did say that the thing blew up your computer system."

"Well, we have our backup data to persue, for one," Liger replied. He rubbed his beard. "But then again, that may not be enough..."

Matt looked back the shard of the Omega Core. Even as it floated, it seemed to momentarily glisten in the light. He remembered the deep connection he once shared with the artifact, and from what he could tell, a bit of that connection still lingered. Now so close to the shard, he could-faintly-still feel the energy resonating from it. Did he re-establish a link to it through touching it again?

If he could respond to it again...

"Let me try to use it," he suggested.

Everyone looked at Matt once more, eyes contemplating whether or not the armored boy was insane. Renais was the first one to speak. "Do you want to get burned again, kid?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "We can't fix you up if you get hurt. And you can't heal yourself, either. You're not an Evoulder like Utsugi."

"When I touched that thing, I saw images," Matt answered. "Images of people and places and things I've seen. I bet that if I concentrate hard enough, I could bring up something else."

"But that could happen to anyone who touches the shard," Guy said.

Matt jabbed a claw at Liger. "That shard and I share the same energy readings, right? There's a good chance that we're connected like that. If we're supposed to work together, why shouldn't I be able to get something out of it?"

"It's still too dangerous!" Liger shot back. "We don't know all the risks!"

Matt smacked his hand on the table. "You guys have courage, right? Well, I've got it too! And this may not be as exciting and important as what you've done, but if we don't take a chance, we might be missing out! I'm willing to take that chance!"

His bold words clearly impacted Taiga. The chief could feel the determination within them. Matt hadn't been with them long, but it seemed like he had taken their ideal of bravery to heart.

"...all right." Taiga nodded. "I will leave this to you."

Hyuuma looked at Matt strangely. Like with the others, his words moved him. But that wasn't the reason for his look. The reason was because that little speech sounded awfully familiar. But from where?

"Well then," he said, filing away the curiosity for later, "What do we call that thing?"

From the darkness engulfing R.D., light began to pour forth in bright, powerful streams. Malvettix backed away from the brillian light, shielding his eyes. So...he wasn't that helpless after all...

***

Liger pursed his lips. "Well...it must've fell from the sky along with Matt...how about the Sky Shard?"

"Excellent!" Taiga folded his arms with his traditional air of a commander in chief. "From here on out, this will be classified as the Sky Shard!"

Well, it wasn't terribly creative, but it got the job done. Matt extended a hand, palm up. "All right. Let me see what I can do."

With careful precision, Liger released the zero-gravity field around the Sky Shard, and lifted the framed chamber about it. The Sky Shard floated back down to rest upon the stand that emitted the zero-gravity waves. "Be careful," the doctor warned.

Okay, Matt. You can do this. Never mind the fact that it burned like hell when you touched it the first time. He tenatively reached out for it, claws dangling in the air in front of the stand.

3...2...1...now!

He grabbed the Sky Shard and set his mind ablaze.

A giant, dripping creature-

A man removing his hood-

The back of a woman in a white dress-

Engulfed in snakes-!

Have to think-have to-focus-on-

"GggggggggaaaaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

By sheer force of will, Matt threw aside the Sky Shard-it skittered along the floor as he fell on his side, heavy wings clanking as he gripped his arm in sheer agony.

A strong pair of arms caught Matt before he could hit the floor completely. Surprisingly, the arms belonged to Renais, and Matt was lucky that the armor he wore protected him from the intense heat Renais' cybernetic body produced. Papillon was soon by his side, and Hyuuma was yelling for medics through his transceiver.

"Well," Renais said, "No offense, kid, but that was pretty dumb. You okay?"

"-a portal!" Matt spat out.

"What did you say?" Guy asked.

"A portal." Matt took a deep breath. "A distance away from the Kushinada."

Taiga swiveled to look at Matt. "Right now?"

"-I dunno...maybe now...maybe later. Maybe in the future. A trans-dimensional portal..."

Taiga pointed at Guy with a bold pose. "Get out there and check with GunGlue! Tell me if you see anything!"

"Yes, chief!" The Evoulder ran for the door.

"Is that all you saw?" Liger asked Matt, as Renais propped him up.

"...no. I saw some other stuff." But what could they be?

Using the same special equipment used to bring the Sky Shard to the Kushinada, Entouji retrieved the fallen shard and returned it to the display pedestal. Meanwhile, as they waited for the medics to arrive, Hyuuma asked of Matt, "Well, what else did you see?"

"...a man. A bunch of snakes..." Matt glanced down. "A girl."

Damn it, it still hurt inside.

"Hmmm." Liger was stroking his beard again. "If what Matt said about the portal is true-if it does appear-perhaps it was a vision of the future."

"We could probably find out more if we let Noir and Utsugi take a look at him," Hyuuma said, crossing his arms, "Between Noir's Sensing Mind and Utsugi's Evoulder abilities, I'm sure they can figure some of it out."

There was a commotion at the doorway as the medics finally arrived, carrying scanning gear to detect damage beneath Matt's armor.

"Nothin's broken, guys," Matt muttered. "It's just some backlash."

"I'll check and see if Mikoto's well enough," Taiga said. "Take him to my room for now."

"You don't gotta do that, Chief," Matt said, but Taiga was already moving toward the door. "I don't wanna chase ya out."

Taiga smiled at him. "It's all right." Before Matt could protest, the chief left the room.

Hyuuma followed Taiga out the door, intending to speak to him about something. "Oi, Kotarou," Hyuuma said as he caught up to the GGG Chief. "I've a question."

Papillon approached Matt as he fended off the medic's actions. "Please, follow me," she said in a soft voice, motioning for him to follow her.

"What is it, Hyuuma?" Taiga asked.

"Did anything Matt say back there remind you of something?" Hyuuma asked, folding his arms as he walked beside his long-time friend, "Something's bugging me. What he said sounded familiar for some reason, but I can't put my finger on exactly what."

"Hmmm. Now that you mention it..." There WAS something familiar about Matt's words. Not so much as his words, but how they were said.

Could it be...?

After a couple of minutes of thinking, Hyuuma gave up. There was just too much on his mind--between overseeing supply gathering, and with all of the commotion involving the Sky Shard, there was too much to think of. "I'll figure it out later," he said, "Let's just talk to Utsugi. We're already there, anyway."

Taiga rapped on the door to Mikoto's room with the back of his knuckles. "Mikoto?"

"Come in."

The two stepped inside as the door slid by. Mikoto Utsugi sat up in her bed, placing down her book. "Hello."

"How are you feeling, Mikoto?" Taiga asked, cutting to the chase.

"Just a bit tired," she replied, "but I've been feeling a lot better these days."

"Good." Taiga glanced at Hyuuma. "If you're up to it, we need your help."

Mikoto blinked. "My help? With what?"

"Did Guy tell you about that shard he and Matt found a couple days ago, out in C-8?" Hyuuma asked the young woman. "The one that burned Matt?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Apparently it holds enough information in it to rival the International Database. Matt tried to use it to find something that could get us off this rock and back to Earth. He managed to learn some things before the shard burned him again."

Planting thick hands on his hips, Hyuuma said, "One of the things he found out was a portal that's supposed to be somewhere near the Kushinada. We think he might know other things from the shard, and that maybe you and Noir could find out some of it."

"You want me to help probe his mind?" Mikoto frowned. "Are you sure that's all right?"

"Well, I'm sure Matt will agree to it," Taiga said. "He wants to help out, so I'm sure he won't mind."

"All right." The young woman slid her legs over the side of the bed, and carefully stood. "Just let me get dressed first."

Hyuuma quickly vacated the room, waving a hand back at Taiga. "I better get back outside," he said as he left, "There's no knowing what those numbskulls have been doing since I got in here."

"All right." Taiga left the room as well. "When you're finished, Mikoto, we'll go to my room. That's where I let him lie down at."

"All right."

Meanwhile, as Taiga and Hyuuma entered the infirmary, a door slid open to allow Papillon and Matt access to Taiga's darkened quarters. Flipping on the lights, Papillon stepped aside to allow Matt into the room. "It shouldn't be long before they return," she said, "I believe Mikoto is feeling well enough for this procedure."

Matt sat down on the bed-he didn't feel overly hurt anymore, just fatigued. "So Mikoto's an Evoulder too, huh? Does she have crazy mind powers like you got?"

"In a manner of speaking," Papillon said, sitting down on a chair opposite of Matt. "Mikoto's abilities as an Evoulder differ from Guy's in a number of ways. Where Guy retained much of his superhuman strength from his days as a cyborg, and the ability to detect energy patterns and link himself to machinery, Mikoto gained an array of psychic powers, and a regenerative ability so powerful it essentially makes her an invincible lifeform."

That last ability caught Matt's attention. "She's invincible?" He gestured to indicate the size of something large. "So if someone dropped, like, an atom bomb on her, it wouldn't work?"