"When does something NOT do a number of me?" R.D. said exasperatedly, though not at Matt. He rolled his eyes. "I seem to have bad luck against giant monsters."

He started walking to the car. "Come on, we need to stop that Zonder and the fragment out of its Core," he said, ignoring the pain he felt with each step he made.

Edited by RisingDragon on March 3, 2009 at 22:01:47.

Alasea yelped as Awai appeared in front her, clutching her heart. Awai's appearance had startled her beyond belief, but she quickly recovered. "U-uh, over there, in the living room," she said, pointing to the room where Maya and Mercy were at. "What's going on?"

Alasea slowly nodded, not quite understanding what's going on, but figuring it was important anyway. The talk of a disrupted balance disturbed her greatly, but she filed it away for later. "Alright then. Be careful then, Awai," she said. "Don't fall into a trap."

"Actually, I don't think so," Alasea said. "They went outside somewhere after R.D. left the first time, and I haven't seen them since. Its been a couple days, too..."

What had happened to them? R.D. said they were on Juno's side, against NightShade, but still... they were extremely dangerous people. What trouble could they be getting into?

Alasea nodded, just moments before Awai and Mercy disappeared, going to this Nexus he mentioned. Then she opened her senses, to find this incoming darkness. Slowly, she began to pale, as one after another, wards went off, notifying her of hundreds of monsters headed this way.

Spinning around, she ran outside, the Megami Tsurugi in her hand. She began to weave furiously, bringing up a barrier around the place just as Reckoning and Dokuro came within range. The barrier separated the two former minions of Kuro from Legion. It'd take a bit of work for Legion to press through, and she needed all of the precious time to ready herself. Traps began to weave through the land and air, as bolts of lightning would come down from the sky while the land was torn asunder by fierce explosions, should Legion come within range of the weaves after breaking through the barrier.

"Oh, God," Helena said as soon as Matt walked into view, supporting a heavily injured R.D.. She tore out of the car. "R.D.! Are you okay?"

"He's had worse," Matt remarked, but didn't complain when Helena slung R.D.'s arm over her shoulders.

"I hope you can heal him, Matt," Helena said.

"No problem."

"Come on, R.D.. Lie down in the backseat."

R.D. shrugged them off as they got him to the car. "Don't worry about me, I'll recover," he said. "We need to get the fragment out of that Zonder."

"The Zonder doesn't have the fragment," Ileyna said, biting her lip. "The Core has the fragment."

"That true?" R.D. asked, looking at Hyuuma.

"'fraid so," he said. "We've got to get Mamoru."

"Dammit," R.D. swore.

They gunned back to the airport. Repair crews had already been dispatched to the scene, and as HyoRyu and EnRyu were occupied with helping out, Mamoru stood patiently by Volfogg.

"Well, this is just wonderful," Matt remarked, when they had parked. "Where'd GaoGaiGar go?"

"He's trying to prevent the Zonder from doing any more damage," Mamoru told him. "We need to find the Core, and fast."

"Gotcha." Matt looked at Volfogg. "You tagging along?"

"Negative," Volfogg stated. "I will be needed to hold off the Zonder while the Core is located."

"Great," R.D. said, shaking his head. He sat down, and medics rushed over to him. He allowed them to treat his wounds, without fuss. "Ileyna, can you feel where the fragment is?"

Ileyna jumped at being addressed, looking abashed. She hadn't thought of trying to figure out where it was. "Let me see."

She opened herself to the power in front of Mamoru, allowing the light of her aura shine over all of them. Her eyes were closed, and she began to float slightly. After several minutes, she nodded slowly. "I think... its underground. Moving. Or being moved. I'm not sure."

She looked over at Mamoru. "Can't you feel the Core?" she asked.

"Yes," Mamoru said. "It's just like you said. I also think it's being moved underground."

"Hold on," Hugo said. "I thought Zonders had to keep their core inside them."

Matt watched crewmen toss aside large chunks of rubble onto a waiting truck. "Maybe that's how the fragment's giving it power. Because if you can't purify the Zonder Core, then you've got an invincible Zonder." To Mamoru-"How fast is it moving?"

"It's moving pretty slowly. You should be able to catch up with it, but we'll probably have to head into the sewers."

"Fair enough." Matt tossed himself into the driver's seat and kicked the Firebird to life. "All right, kids! Let's roll!"

"Wait, what're you kids think you're doing?" Hyuuma demanded to know.

"Easy," R.D. said, standing up, now bandaged up and feeling better. "We're gonna go and find the Core ourselves."

"Its too dangerous!" Hyuuma said. "Zonder Cores aren't defenseless!"

R.D. rolled his eyes. "Neither are we."

"What're you gonna do about Hugo, then?" Hyuuma said, folding his arms. "Any mechanoid that doesn't have a G-Stone can be absorbed by a Zonder."

"Ah, shit," Matt said. "You're right."

"How long does it take to install one, then?" Hugo asked, with a lazy swing of his pickaxe. "Guy's got one, doesn't he? I'll just take a copy of what he's got."

"You'd have to ask Professor Leo," Hyuuma said. "He'll need to analyze your structure to find any compatibility."

"Fine," R.D. decided, digging into his satchel to get one of his five Chaos Emeralds. "We'll go see the Professor and get one installed in Hugo."

Hyuuma could see there was no talking them out of it, and turned on the communicator. "Professor," he said into the handheld. "The kids want to have you install a G-Stone onto Hugo. Is that possible?"

Alasea nodded, her shoulders slumping. This was too much for one day. Kara, Awai, Carnax and Legion... this was getting dangerous. "Why is Carnax here?" she asked, looking over at Reckoning. "Last I checked, he was busy dealing with Ziatoch's forces in North America."

"That... wouldn't surprise me in the least, really," Alasea said, looking to the side. "But that wouldn't make sense with what Gouki's been doing. He's laid siege to Shayol Ghul."

She gave the dark, floating island that was all that was left of Australia a brief glance before shivering slightly. She shook her head. "At any rate, you two need to go. Awai came by to pick up Mercy," she said, turning back to the two of them. "He said that he wanted you two to... return to the S.S. CalmWaters, I think he called it. He wants you to keep watch over Kouken there."

"No, he didn't," Alasea said, shaking her head. "But it shouldn't be too hard to find. Hold on a second."

She quickly contacted Tomoko, whose control over water would easily allow her to find it. Moments later, Alasea looked at Reckoning and told him where the cruise liner was at.

"A G-Stone?" Professor Leo asked, incredulous. "What in the world does he want a G-Stone for?"

"These guys have it in their heads that they can go after the Zonder's core," Hyuuma explained, sounding exasperated. "They want to install a G-Stone in Hugo so there's no danger of him being absorbed by the Core. I can't convince them not to go."

"If we take Mamoru with us, we can get the Core purified down there while we're at," R.D. piped up, speaking loud enough to be heard through the communicator.

===Pillar of Dawn, Japan===

Alasea nodded, waving to Reckoning and Dokuro as they flew away. Who'd have thought someone with sacred powers like her own could get along with two people so obviously mired in the profane?

She shook her head. "I can't be distracted," she muttered, turning back to the house and entering it. She propped her sword up against the wall next to the door, unsheathed, and went to the living room. "Maya?" she called, quickly spotting the girl. "Maya, listen to me. I need you to come with me for a moment."

"Don't be stupid!" Leo snapped, banging the counter. "Who knows what traps the enemy has laid to protect the Core? This isn't a matter for children to handle by themselves!"

"EXCUSE me, sir," Matt remarked, shouting more than simply talking loud, "but last time I checked, we've got the power and the experience to take care of ourselves, and if GaoGaiGar and the Brave Robots all need to fight the Zonder, then how else are you going to get that Core taken care of?"

Leo pursed his lips, leaned back with arms folded, quiet for a few moments before he looked to Taiga. "What do you think, Chief?"

"They speak with confidence," Taiga said. "I'm sure they're up to it."

"G-Stone installation takes a while," Leo said. "And I don't know anything about Hugo's systems."

"Hugo can walk you through them," Matt said, leaning toward Hyuuma's communicator. "Maybe that way you can speed it up as much as possible."

"All right!" Taiga said. "Hurry back quickly-there's no time to lose!"

"Looks like you got the go-ahead," Hyuuma said, turning back to Matt and the group. "How can you get there quickly, though?"

As he laid eyes on them, the blue Chaos Emerald was already being tossed into the air. "Chaos..."

It rolled end over end as it fell, only for R.D. to snatch it out of the air, thrusting it out before him. "Control!"

Rings of energy were being sucked into the gemstone at a rapid pace, green light flaring out from the depths of the Chaos Emerald. Energy arced out in tines of electricity, and there was a crack of thunder as the light flared briefly. When it was gone, Matt, R.D., Hugo, Helena, and Ileyna were gone.

"Whoa," Hyuuma said, blinking to disperse the afterimages from his vision.

Back at GGG Headquarters, light flared and exploded, depositing the group, now fully prepared for the effects of the time-space altering warp. Moments after the light cleared, the Chaos Emerald fell down to the metal floor and bounced a bit, as R.D. fell down to one knee, gripping his wrist and hand, which was smoking.

"Dammit," R.D. growled, his eyes clenched shut. That hadn't been pleasant. He felt disoriented, and his hand felt like it was on fire. Lumiya pulsed uneasily in him--he was using too much energy too quickly, while it wasn't ready for such capacity yet.

"Shit." Matt dropped to R.D.'s level. "You okay? Don't push yourself too hard, you're still pretty beat up."

"My injuries," R.D. grunted as he shook his hand, hoping futilely to disperse the pain, "Aren't the issue here."

Ileyna picked up the gemstone off of the ground and handed it to R.D.. "Here you go," she said, looking concerned.

"Thanks." He took the stone from the girl and put it in his satchel, then stood up. "Come on," he said. "Let's get Hugo to the Professor."