When Matt came down for breakfast, he was greeted with a mostly empty house-seems the robots were at work, save for Roll. He was up earlier than normal, so she went ahead and fried him some bacon, which made him feel guilty, but when it was set before him, he figured he might as well eat it.

"Does Hugo work today?" Matt asked her.

"He's due to leave in about an hour," Roll said. "Why? Do you want to talk to him?"

"I need to talk with him, yeah."

She frowned as she slid the egg carton back in the fridge. "I understand."

"You do?"

"If you're going to ask him what I think you're going to ask him," Roll said, "then I can't stop you. And any decision he makes will be his. I don't want to stop him."

As R.D. woke up, he looked around, but saw the room was devoid of any other people in it--Matt must've gotten up and gone down already. That's a first, R.D. noted wryly. He got up and got dressed, making sure everything they needed was still in the satchel. Upon making sure that his extra clothing, the silver gem, the four Chaos Emeralds, and the Great Serpent's Scale was still inside, he nodded in satisfaction and packed it all up, and slung it back over his shoulder. He exited the room, and made his way over to Ileyna's room.

Upon waking the girl up, he exited to give her some privacy, and made his way downstairs, catching the tail end of the conversation between Matt and Roll.

"'morning," he said, coming out into the kitchen, waving to both Matt and the robot girl.

===NationStates General===

Aram nodded, and placed his helmet on his head, obscuring his face entirely, except for the horizontal slot for him to see through.

"Find a way to get yourselves out of here," he said. "I'll go see if we can hold them off."

Gearing his mind for battle, Aram made his way through the house and strode outside, drawing the King's Sword of the Heaven's from the back sheathe and going to stand next to Fass, ready for battle.

He eyed the four of them warily, and raised his sword up to his side, holding his shield out before him. The blade gleamed in the moonlight.

Tracer growled at the both of them, "Where is he?"

"Good morning, R.D.," Roll said with a smile.

"Here's the skinny," Matt said. "Hugo's leaving in an hour. Now's the time to speak to him about the pressing matter at hand."

"Well, what're you sitting around here for?" R.D. said, raising an eyebrow at him. "I said I'd help, but this is between you and him. You need to start it off."

Behind them, Ileyna made her way down the stairs, fully dressed and ready for breakfast. "Good morning!" she said cheerily to those present, flashing them with a smile.

===NationStates General===

"He is elsewhere," Aram said, his voice flat and hard. "Away from the likes of you."

Tracer smirked. "So it's a hunt, eh? All right. Move out!" Tracer ran towards the house as the rest of his men jumped into the air.

"Fass, I'm here!" Yelled a familiar troll as he ran to the scene. He glanced at Aram. "Guess we'll see if that new shield works for you."

Fass got to the door first. "You're staying right here."

"Sorry, but I'd hate to interrupt you. You've already got an opponent."

"What are you t--" Fass suddenly fell forward, and the hooded man stood in his place. Tracer smirked and darted inside the house.

"Asshole," Fass muttered as he got to his feet. Facing his opponent he drew his sword.

The silver-haired man landed in front of the Troll. "Hiya," he smiled, "ready to die?"

The bald man bowed to Aram.

Edited by Mega X.exe on October 19, 2008 at 1:40:21.

"I was waiting for YOUR support," Matt remarked, before noticing Ileyna enter the kitchen. "Hey." A short wave and he was up, handing his dish to Roll. "Right. Let's get this party on the road."

"What would you like to eat, Ileyna?" Roll asked. The housekeeping robot barely looked older than Ileyna but she had that air of maturity. Matt imagined her grim-faced at the back door, with a shotgun pointing at a cougar that tried to enter the kitchen and scared Ice Man.

"Get the hell out of my kitchen," Roll said, and fired-BANG BANG BANG!

Matt would pay to see that.

"Scrambled eggs, please," Ileyna said politely, sitting at the table. R.D. noted that once she got over her shyness, the girl was quite amiable.

"So, you know where Hugo is at the moment?" R.D. asked as he stepped out of the kitchen with Matt.

===NationStates General===

Caught off-guard by the bald man's respectful gesture, Aram hesitantly and warily returned it. He almost immediately regretted it, as the man, more nimble than his frame belied, leaped into the air quite gracefully and spun, drawing out a bastard sword and swinging down with it at Aram's neck. Cursing, the knight exited the bow and brought his shield up, and steel clashed against enchanted metal.

With a cry, Aram retaliated, swinging his sword out at the man. He hopped back and parried the blow, locking blades with Aram, face emotionless. Aram threw his weight into his sword and shoved him backwards, pressing on the offensive.

"Right here."

There, standing in front of them, his form outlined by the light of the kitchen, was Hugo himself. He was definitely bulkier than normal-perhaps a side effects of his new tools.

"What do you want from me, then?" he asked. "I know you're not here just to say hello."

"...we've got a reason," Matt said. "Tell him, R.D.."

R.D. sighed and placed his hands on his hips, thinking about how to go about this. Once he was ready, he looked down at Hugo. "Back at the Eternal Sanctuary, when Helena was killed and Matt became Dragon Drive FINAL... Matt was in full control. He was angry, but he had entire control of the armor and the power that came with it," R.D. said, looking grim. "So, Core Genesis fell at Matt's hands. However, when Matt was done with his vengeance, the armor and the power took control of Matt's body and became something entirely different."

R.D. recounted that fateful battle, where the two of them clashed across the broken crystalline islands floating in the prismatic sky, and how Dragon Drive FINAL drove him to the brink of destruction. "During the last part, when Dragon Drive FINAL was using Hell and Heaven against me... when our gauntlets touched, Matt was able to use the last of his power and open up a telepathic link to me," he explained. "Matt told me that he cut the connection, he was going to rein in Dragon Drive FINAL's defenses, and that I had to use that chance to put an end to it. Matt asked me to kill him, Hugo."

"X, oh X," Tracer cooed inside the house. "Come out come out wherever you--"

"The hell, that actually what you're saying? Guess you don't have an original bone in your body, do ya"?

eX stood there smiling wickedly, his sword in hand.

"X," Tracer asked in surprise, "you seem... different somehow..."

"Yeah, you met my other half earlier. Ain't he a sweetie? Now stupid screwing around. You came to get me and I ain't going. So let's get to the me killing you part already."

"Not on your life!" Tracer yelled as he charged.

~~~~
The Troll pulled a giant Axe and stared his opponent down. "I'm Andaras, who're you?"

The silver-haired man grinned, "Wedo. Nice to meet you. You like fighting?"

Andaras couldn't help but grin. "S'my favorite thing to do."

Wedo's smile somehow managed to grow even larger, "I'm gonna love this!"
~~~~

"So, what's yer name, asshole?" Fass asked.

"..."

Wedo called from across the way, "Don't be rude, Dear!"

"Go die," The hooded man replied.

Fass blinked. "Your name is Dear?"

"Dearg-due" the Hooded man replied. "He thinks it's funny."

"And...?" Fass asked.

"It isn't."

Hugo didn't reply right away. He was always a literal blank mask, save for the eyes, and all Matt could figure was that the Mettaur was absorbing the story so tightly that he forgot to do something with his eyes. "How did you survive?" he suddenly asked when Matt was about to bring up something else.

"I dunno," Matt said. "But I was sent to another world. Some sort of alternate Earth. There was a whole spaceship crew stuck there too, so I stayed with them while I was sorting everything out. Also I found some fragments of the Omega Core and-"

"Wait wait WAIT," Hugo said. "You have fragments of the Omega Core? Where?"

"Hold up, let me explain," Matt said. He went through the rest. You don't need to know it if you were following along, dear reader. If not, it's not too far back, go check it out.

"And then I came here," Matt finished.

"Why haven't you got rid of those damn things yet?" Hugo asked. "Less we have to do with the Core, the better."

Matt glanced at R.D.. "Actually, there's a reason for that."

"Well, it turns out that me and Matt screwed up royally when we had our battle at the Eternal Sanctuary," R.D. said, avoiding Matt's gaze by looking off to the side. "Whatever we did tore open some dimensional prison and released some nutcase named Magister."

R.D. shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground. "This Magister guy used to be a servant of the Omega Core, it seems, until the Chronomancer locked him away," he continued. "Now Magister's gunning for the Omega Essence. If he gets the majority of Omega Essence, he'll end up getting control of the Core."

He looked up at Hugo. "Once the Chronomancer told Matt this, Matt got his stuff ready and the Chronomancer sent him to my world to pick up me and Ileyna. She's apparently got the ability to extract the Omega Essence from anything that's absorbed it; she took out a piece from a creature called the Flux, and she pulled out one of two pieces that were in Matt.

"After that, the Chronomancer appeared and gave us a scale from some giant snake. The scale opened up a portal, and here we are," he said, shrugging.

===NationStates General===

Steel rang against steel as Aram and the nameless man exchanged blows, sword against shield, sword against sword. Aram's left arm flashed out in an arc, swinging the entire shield in a backhand, knocking the bald man backwards and leaving him open. Aram raised his sword overhead and slashed downwards, only for the attack to be parried deftly by his opponent. Cursing, Aram found himself going on the defensive, using both sword and shield to defend against quick, serpentine attacks.

As the man raised his sword for yet another slash, Aram swung his weapon, catching his downward slash prematurely and knocking it away. The knight made a quick thrust, but the bald man's stray hand struck his gauntleted wrist, deflecting the blow. Aram raised up his shield his shield and caught the incoming counterattack.

This battle was going nowhere. Pushing the blade off of his shield, Aram muttered a quick incantation and aimed the blade of his sword at his opponent as magical lightning trailed up his form, erupting from the sword's tip as a single tine of lightning. The bolt caught the bald man squarely in the chest, picking him up and throwing him backwards for a good twenty feet. Raising his sword up once more, Aram uttered a battlecry and charged.

"So that's what we're doin'," Matt said. "I'm gettin' back together the crew, because our job's not done yet. If we don't stop this guy, it's all over. It's the end of the world as we know it, but it won't feel fine. That's why I wanted to see if you'd help me again, Hugo. I mean...you were a big asset to me the first time around. You kept me straight and focused, and with something big like this, I'm gonna need all the help I can get." Matt held out his hand. "I know you've been through a lot...and I might be asking you a lot. But I'd like it if you'd suit up for the good fight with me again."

Hugo probably didn't know how to reply to that. Hell, how could Matt even reply to that? The Mettaur didn't say anything, and the pause became near tangible in the span of a few seconds.

Edited by The Helldragon on October 18, 2008 at 23:33:56.

"We... don't want to force you into anything you don't want to do, Hugo. We know you've done a lot and you deserve some peace," R.D. said after a few tense moments. "We could really use your help though. You saved our asses quite a few times back in our last adventure. You'd be even more of an asset this time, seeing how Matt only has a piece of the Core inside of him, and Lumiya in me's been damaged."

Still nothing.

"At least think about it," Matt urged. "Just think about it today. When you come back and give us your answer, we'll swing with whatever you pick. Is that good?"

"...yeah." The Mettaur walked toward the door. "I'm going to work. Tell Roll I said goodbye."

"Will do," R.D. said, watching him go. A few minutes after Hugo had left, R.D. turned to Matt and sighed. "Well, that could've gone better," he said. "So, now what do we do?"

"Might as well enjoy ourselves," Matt said. "It's our last day here at any rate, so let's do something fun."

"Would you like to see the city?" Roll asked. "I can drive you around if you'd like."

"...you're allowed to drive?"

She smiled. "I'm only supposed to look ten years old, Matt."

"Right, I forgot." Matt held up a finger. "Very well! We can make a day of it."

"I can take you once Dr. Light's waken up and had his breakfast," Roll said.

"Right! Then we need to make some contigency plans for how we're going to do this upcoming five-year mission of ours, R.D.."

Edited by The Helldragon on October 19, 2008 at 20:36:48.

"Beats me," R.D. said, shrugging. "Unless we can find a way of getting Tamaran off-world or getting Lumiya repaired right away, we might be stuck recruiting others to go with us."

"Well, let's take this elsewhere with tools and such," Matt said. "Though we need to make sure Ileyna's got something to do..." He pointed at her. "What do you usually like to do in your free time?"

Ileyna looked up from her food, and swallowed the bit of scrambled egg she'd been eating. "Um... I'd go exploring around the city with some of the other orphans," she said, thinking back to her time under Colleen and Jordan's care.

"Hope you like to read, then," Matt muttered, "because that's a no-go on this adventure."

"I can watch her for a while, Matt," Roll suggested.

Matt peered over his glasses. "You sure that's okay?"

"It's no problem. I can have Elec Man take over once he decides to come out of his room."

A dry laugh from Matt. "Oh, yeah, he'll love that." He clapped his hands together lightly. "Right, let's get on with it."

"After you," R.D. said, gesturing to Matt.

Soon time winded down until Hugo was due to arrive home. After their tour of the city (still as nice as when Matt had left it, though they had unfortunately shut down that awesome pizza parlor near the library), they returned home.

Elec Man glanced up at them as they entered the kitchen. "Welcome back."

"Hello, Elec Man," Roll said, closing the door, since she was the last one to enter.

"So did you ask him yet?" the electric robot suddenly remarked.

Matt's expression sank. "Ask him what?"

"Did you ask Hugo if he wants to come with you or not?" Elec Man pressed.

"We have, and we told him to think about it," R.D. said, as Ileyna walked past him. "We'll hear his answer when he comes home."

"Are you going to tell anyone else about this?" Elec Man's tone sharpened. "We care about him too, you know."

"No, because I didn't want to create a big hooplah," Matt said. Exactly like Elec Man was fixing to do.

Elec Man approached Matt and pressed his finger into the boy's chest, leering over him. "He's already messed up because of you and you're going to make it worse if he joins up with you again!"

R.D.'s hand shot over and grabbed Elec Man's wrist--while no longer as physically strong as he used to be he, was still able to match a robot's strength, at the least, and he managed to remove Elec Man's hand from Matt's body.

"If you two are going to fight, take it outside," R.D. said sharply, not looking at either of them. "I don't think Dr. Light would appreciate it if you blew up his house."

R.D. released the robot's hand and looked right at Elec Man. "We told Hugo it was his choice, and that we'd go with whatever his choice is," he said. "If he chooses to go, he goes. In the end, its Hugo's decision and he's the one who will tell everyone else what he plans to do. No one else gets to decide that for him."

Elec Man looked like he was trying to glare a hole clean through Roll's head. "Don't you have anything to say about this?"

"I agree with R.D.," she said.

"What?" Elec Man said. "Don't you care what could happen to him?"

"We've never been able to make him change his mind once he sets it, Elec Man. You know that."

"And that's the problem! This time it's gone too far! If we don't step in...who knows what'll happen to him!"

"You think he's gonna let you just hold him back if he decides to go?" Matt remarked. "He may not be as strong as you, but he'll find a way. He's a clever little jerk. That's why I wanted him to come along. He's pulled me out of trouble more than I can count."

Elec Man growled-a dragged, scratchy hiss-behind clenched teeth and threw up his hands. "Whatever. I don't have time for this."

"Elec Man, wait!" Roll said as the electric robot walked away, and she went after him.

Ileyna bit her lip, looking back and forth between Matt and Elec Man during the entire exchange, up until Elec Man stormed off.

R.D. turned to his friend and looked at him, placing his hands on his hips. "Have you two ever gotten along?" he asked.

Matt studied the doorway that Elec Man had left from. "Nope." He turned toward the fridge and swung it open to see if there was anything besides juice inside. "But I'll live."