Helena smiled-a thin one, without flashing any teeth. "Hi." She took Alasea's hand and shook. "I'm Helena Hiroshi."

Well, this was extremely awkward, Matt figured. He had an idea that Hugo felt the same.

Time passed. The smoke from the house had cleared, but no one stepped foot into it except Alasea, who didn't stay long. Instead, they had gathered around a circle, a fire burning to ward off the early night, its own chaotic, flickering light contrasting to the steady, warm pulses of light coming from the Pillar of Dawn at the cliff's edge.

The tension was high. There was still more awkwardness between Alasea and Helena, who only had a few, aborted attempts at conversation. It was worse for Alasea, who still had Malvettix's attack on her mind.

"So... what are you going to do now?" R.D. finally asked, looking at their old friend. "If Malvettix comes after you again..."

"I know," she said, looking down, using a stick to stir the embers in the fire a bit. "Awai said it was too dangerous for me to stay here. Aisha's been telling me the same thing. She said she arranged for someone else to protect my charge in the meantime."

R.D. nodded. "You probably would be better off staying with us for a while. At least until Malvettix is neutralized."

"Why would he come after me, though?" she asked, looking back up. "He's after Matt. That's all he's ever cared about."

"Who is Malvettix, anyway?" Helena asked.

"My evil clone," Matt said casually, taking a drink from his fresh can of soda.

"An evil clone."

"Yep!" Another good, long pull before Matt crushed the empty can. "He's kind of a douche."

"You sound like you're over him," Hugo said. "What happened?"

"I've seen worse." And that was enough to satisfy Hugo.

"Matt might be over him, but we'll be in trouble if he comes after us," R.D. said after a moment. "Me and Matt aren't as strong as we used to be. We might not be able to handle him in combat."

"What about your robot, R.D.?" Ileyna asked. "Won't he be able to stop him?"

"Hey, yeah, you might be right," R.D. said after a moment of thought. "If he comes after us on this world, I can just call Tamaran. KishouDoragon might make him pause."

"He'd better," Matt said. "It's a giant fucking robot."

Helena was about to bite into her sandwich when she heard this. "You have a giant robot?"

"Oh, yeah," R.D. said with a nod. "Its something the Dragons of this world created, a mecha dragon named Tamaran. With him I was able to combine into KishouDoragon. As KishouDoragon, I was able to defeat the Dragon Tribes' greatest enemy, once and for all."

"R.D. wasn't able to bring Tamaran with him on the journey solely because he was too big to fit into the Gateway," Alasea said, remembering the Chronomancer's statement and the size of the Gateway that had been generated by the Scale. "It kinda bummed the guys out."

"Granted, there's only been one world we've been to so far that it'd have made any difference on," R.D. said as an afterthought, "But it still would make retrieving the Omega Essence easier."

"How many pieces have you retrieved, anyway?" Alasea asked, looking at the two boys in the group.

Ileyna counted off on her fingers. "One from that goop monster, one Matt had me take out of him, one from Geese, two from Prometheus and Pandora, one from Meta-Ridley, and one from the Zonder," Ileyna said, thinking a bit. "Matt still has one piece, I have one, and Helena has one. So, um... ten pieces altogether."

Surprised, Alasea looked at Helena. "You have a piece too? Like Matt?"

"Yeah. I don't really know how I got it, unless I got it when I...you know. Came back." She bit into the side of her meaty sub.

"So it's one big Essence party, really," Matt said.

"If we were brought here, then there has to be another piece of Omega Essence nearby," Hugo said. "Have you sensed anything like that, Alasea?"

"Not really. I've had my hands full keeping things together here," Alasea said, shaking her head. "Back when you guys had left for Africa and Juno's army, I had come across some sort of zombie massing, and I had to seal them away... one of Ziatoch's minions released them. And then there was Malvettix's attack."

"What about you, Ileyna?" R.D. asked, looking at the little girl.

Almost immediately, Ileyna shook her head. "I haven't felt anything."

"That's not too surprising," R.D. said. "We might have to scour the entire planet, the way our luck runs when we're here."

"Ok, sounds good. If you can, let her know we'll be around." Bryant said then turned to his family, "Ready?" He asked, they nodded. He turned back to Tomoko. "Thanks, we'll see you later." They stood to leave BlueBobmer's Cafe. When they would, it would be off to the ship.

"Good luck," Tomoko said, waving them off as they departed to leave Kattelox Island. She sat back on her chair and ran a finger along the rim of her mug.

"You're definitely gonna need it," she murmured.

===The Main Gate, Kattelox Island===

Seril backed away from the Divinity Unit, and with a growl, reverted back to her human form when the Ancient prototype was shut down.

"What in the world caused it to go berserk?" the dragon woman asked, looking over at Gatz.

"I am NOT jaunting across this entire planet to find Omega Essence," Matt said, jabbing a finger at R.D.. "That's gonna take too long."

Hold on. "Alasea," he said. "Would it be possible to use the Pillars to lock on the energy signature of a piece of Essence and track it over the network?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure," Alasea said, thinking about it. "It should be possible, in theory."

"Let's try it then," R.D. said. "The sooner we find the Essence, the better. Its frightening as to how powerful something can get with the Essence."

Alasea nodded and stood up. "Wait here," she said, turning and walking towards the sacred totem. Once she stood on the slightly upraised portion of the hill before the Pillar of Dawn, the girl knelt down and closed her eyes, expanding her consciousness to the Pillar as she opened herself to the power that came with her union to the totem. She willed the Pillar of Dawn to resonate with the others scattered about the world, causing the totem's pulses of light to change. Instead of traveling upwards in the dark, translucent surfaces in the four sides, the entire Pillar's depths glowed in steady, bright pulses.

Carefully, Alasea attuned the resonance to that of the Omega Essence, recalling the signature she had felt when the one piece had overloaded Lumiya when R.D. touched it. It was many long minutes before something finally resonated in a region that wasn't where one of the Pillars were.

She walked back. "I've found a resonance from one of those shards, but its faint. Almost like something is masking it," she explained. "I couldn't make out its exact position."

===The Main Gate, Kattelox Island===

"With Eden, NightShade could hijack the Carbon Reinitialization Program, could he not?" Seril asked, as she picked up the discarded pieces of her broken Dragonblade.

"Do you have a vague position, then?" Matt asked.

"In the ocean somewhere off the coast of North America," Alasea said. "Probably on an island somewhere."

"Great," R.D. said. "So we'll need to use AquaDraken."

===The Main Gate, Kattelox Island===

"Alright. Perhaps Sera will be able to find out the command list Juno used," Seril replied.

Edited by RisingDragon on November 27, 2009 at 13:16:41.

Maya looked from Awai to the newly arrived Riul and back again. Training? She wasn't sure what the man meant by that, and she had never seen this other person before. She bent her head a little closer to Mercy and held a hand near her mouth as she whispered to him. "Awai-san actuari looks different from daddy's concept art. His hair isn't so spikey." She took away her hand and looked at Awai. "Why isn't your hair spikey?" The girl asked aloud.


~ Die Ziet der Dunkelheit ~

Meta shrugged. "Alright, I'll be good then I guess." She said, despite not knowing what a PA system was but she could figure that out later. I'll be good in the sense of being okay, at any rate. She thought to herself. She gave Serenade an assuring nod. "I suppose I'll talk to you later again then."

Edited by Morphman on April 10, 2009 at 11:34:05.

Slowly, Seril nodded. "Let's hope that is the case," she said.

"That's one part of abovementioned giant robot," Matt pointed out to Helena.

"Oh." Another absent-minded bite. Normally she'd be all over meat.

"Naturally, you've got to come with us," Matt said to Alasea. "Nothin' like gettin' the crew back together, eh?"

The Daughter of Dawn gave Matt a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, I guess so," she said. "Let me get some things ready."

"Right," R.D. said with a nod. "Don't take too long."

She didn't. After a few minutes inside her ruined house, Alasea emerged with a small purse, her face now devoid of soot, and her black jacket and gloves back on. Strapped to her hip again was the Megami Tsurugi, whose golden hilt contrasted sharply to the black and red clothing she wore.

"There's a port city not too far from here," Alasea said once she returned to the group. "It'll take most of the night to get there, probably, but it'll be safer to depart from there than it will from the wilderness."

"Right," Matt said. "Let's hit the road!"

Soon they were off, driving away from the ruined house towards the port city. The backseat got a little cramped with the extra passenger, but hopefully Alasea didn't mind getting a little squished.

'Course, this meant that she was right next to Helena, and Helena was taking extra precaution to check out the scenery passing by.

It was soon early morning when they reached the city Alasea had spoke of. Like nearly all of the cities Matt and R.D. had been to during their journey, it too was a wreck. And one mostly devoid of life. Ignoring the Japanese kanji that marked the buildings, they searched about for supplies to take on their trip.

It was getting close to midday by the time they finished.

At the docks, in the widest part of sea that R.D. could find, he readied himself to call on one of the Dragon Spirits. "Wait till you guys see this thing," he said, looking back at the group.

"Actually, I rather would prefer it if you did wait," a soft voice said from behind the entire group.

R.D. spun around as he heard the familiar, but not that well-liked voice, one that sounded like it belonged to a young child. Sitting on a pile of rubble behind the group was a young, thin boy, who looked no younger than Ileyna, dressed in rag-like clothing. A hood was pulled over his head, covering most of his features in shadow, but somehow his eyes stood out, visible to all.

If they could be called that, with the way they looked like swirling tidal pools of grey and black that spun opposite one another. Eyes never blinked.

"Oh, great, what are you doing here?" R.D. said blandly, relaxing his stance.

Edited by RisingDragon on April 10, 2009 at 16:05:44.

"Who's this kid?" Hugo asked, pickaxe drawn on reflex.

"I am a Principality of Observation, one who--"

The boy was cut off as R.D. spoke. "He's from the Isle, like Ondal."

The boy nodded, showing no irritation at the rude interruption. "Though it is only my purpose to watch and observe the events that take place in this dimension, I have been granted emergency powers due to the escalating situation."

"Because of Ziatoch," R.D. said. The Child nodded.

"Primarily, my concern at the moment is with the two of you," stated the Child. He was looking at R.D. and Matt.

"And why should you be concerned with us?"

"Anyone would be concerned, when an Avatar of Destruction is set loose upon the Multiverse," he said simply.

And suddenly, all around them, the world went black.

"As such, I have to make sure that Matt will not act so irresponsible should he release the power of the Avatar of Destruction again."

"What the hell's going on~?" Matt asked, in sing-song.

Avatar of Destruction? Helena looked about as darkness overtook reality. What was that?

"What the hell is an Avatar of Destruction?!" R.D. demanded, as Ileyna whimpered and hid behind Helena, looking around as the world disappeared in darkness.

"An aberration. A weapon. An entity who seeks only to destroy," the Child said, who was no longer present, but whose voice seemed to speak to them from all around them at once. "These are the beings who awaken at the end of an Age, the ones who tear down that which is an obstacle.

"A wise woman once said that destruction is the hope of a new start from zero. That it is the challenge that infinite possibility brings. However, sometimes, destruction brings nothing but a zero world, in which nothing else can exist. Where only nothingness reigns supreme."

And suddenly, there was a rushing sensation, almost as if they were bringing pulled out the blackness, and they saw light tickling at the edges of their vision. And suddenly, the rushing increased, and the darkness became a gaping hole in a prismatic sky. R.D. swallowed as he recognized the swirling colors, the black vortex swallowing it--and the armored monstrosity, hulking and winged, whose back was turned to them as it raised up emerald claws that beckoned the darkness to grow wider.

"An Avatar of Destruction brings about the possibility of an end to all things. They are, if nothing else, a harbinger of despair," the Child's voice continued, as the scenery around them began to close in, as if they were in a gigantic movie screen. As they were rushed forward, Dragon Drive FINAL turned, and accusing red eyes seemed to consume them.

Alasea had flung up her arms as if to ward off the evil gaze of the Avatar of Destruction, and that glaring red light, but suddenly the darkness was back. Looking back, her eyes caught sight of the looks on R.D. and Matt's faces.

Unmindful of the trivial emotions of mortals, the Principality of Observation's voice carried on.

"This time, the Avatar of Destruction nearly brought an end to all things."

"What he's talking about, Matt?" Helena snapped. "What's an Avatar of Destruction? What does this have to do with us?"

Matt didn't turn to face her. "It doesn't mean anything, Helena. It's none of our concern anymore."

"Damn it, Matt!" She stomped over to him and grabbed his shoulder, flinging him around to face her. "What are you hiding from me now?!"

"We're not hiding anything," R.D. said, licking his lips once. "That... we told you about Dragon Drive FINAL."

Dragon Drive FINAL? Alasea thought, suddenly realizing. That thing we saw... that was Dragon Drive FINAL?

"On the contrary, Matt," the Child said, suddenly standing off in a different part of the darkness. "Dragon Drive FINAL has everything to do with this."

R.D. fell silent. Looking back and forth between R.D. and Matt, Ileyna wrung her hands, biting her lip to keep silent.

"You are responsible for claiming the power of an Avatar of Destruction, forging it into that which R.D. and Hugo call the highest, most complete state of Dragon Drive," he explained. "While the Avatar did indeed take control of you in reverse, you are still the one responsible for its birth."

"We had no idea that Dragon Drive FINAL was... was this Avatar of Destruction," R.D. spoke up, trying to defend Matt. "We did what we could to stop it!"

"Do you think your ignorance makes the two of you any less responsible for what happened?" the Child said, his voice turning ice cold. "Yes, you did stop Dragon Drive FINAL. This time. But what if Matt calls upon its power once more? What then?"

"He can't," R.D. said, his voice unsure. "There's no way he can."

"Do not delude yourself, Dragon," the Child said. "The Avatar of Destruction Matt created was no product of the Omega Core. Its creation was his doing, and his doing alone. You saw what he did to Geese."

Once more, R.D. was struck silent. R.D. and Matt both knew what the Child spoke off--that time when the energies of life and death swirled about in a great emerald vortex, as Matt brought two emerald claws together to attack the criminal with the ultimate offense and defense, Hell and Heaven.

"I am here to make sure both of you will be more responsible should such a tragedy occur again," the Child said, turning back to Matt. "The Multiverse cannot sustain that kind of damage again."