Komodo rolled away from R.D.'s kick and scrambled back up. His axe glowed and he smashed the ground, unleashing a torrent of rock right in R.D.'s face. Komodo then leapt back and, as the axe blade charged again, he flung it right at Matt, where it spun towards him like a buzzsaw.

R.D. spun around, gathering plasma into his hand, and thrust it forward, firing a wave of red energy sheathed in azure. "Look out, Matt!" he shouted as the blast cut through the air, zooming forward to intercept the blade of the axe and knock it off-course.

R.D.'s energy blast, rather than knocking away the spinning axe, simply burst apart in two directions, somehow dissipated by the weapon's field. Matt's eyes widened and he practically crashed into the dirt as the axe tore past him above. "Shit!" He made a desperate roll to the side as the axe came around and turned vertically, stampeding through the earth until it arced back into the air.

"Come on back now!" Komodo said to his axe, which neatly landed in his claws. "There you go." He looked back at R.D. and hefted the axe above his head. "Now, let's get back to business."

R.D.'s eyes went wide with shock as the axe parted his plasma beam down the middle, dispersing the energy every which way but where he wanted it.

He pivoted around on one foot, blade held by his side. Particles of blue light were filling the air. "Alright, you want to get serious?" he said flatly, narrowing his eyes as they flashed gold. "Let's go."

The particles flared as they crashed down on R.D.'s body, forming the Dragon King Armor. More materialized into the cross-emblazoned shield on his left arm, and the thrusters ignited behind him, propelling him forward with a downward slash at Komodo's ridiculous hat.

Komodo swung his axe down into R.D.'s blade and the force of the block sank the commander briefly into the earth. Komodo grit his teeth as the weapons struggled to overcome the other. "LACKEY!" he snapped. "Get over here and help me out!"

On that cue, a row of Lackeys leapt towards Komodo and R.D., twirling their bladed spears. Before they could land, though, a "Blitz Ball!" rang out and a fireball rammed into their formation and exploded, scattering them. "I'm a comin', R.D.!" Matt shouted from behind.

He'd have to come quick - four more warriors blurred into view near Komodo, and they thrust their weapons at R.D..

R.D.'s other hand shot up, holding his Guardian-issue rifle in it, aimed at Komodo's face.

"Hi there."

Before he could pull the trigger, four of Lackey's clones smashed into him with their weapons, knocking him aside. The thrusters kept him aloft enough to twist himself around, firing pinpoint bursts from his rifle at them. "Get lost!" he shouted.

"Throw them in the corner!" Alasea shouted over to them, even as she wrapped an arm around one Lackey that went to punch, and flung him into the stasis trap.

The Lackeys fell back and tumbled at the rifle blasts, but now Komodo took his chance. "You're MINE, you varmit!" He reared back, charging his axe and preparing to throw it.

However, just as he lurched forward again, Matt's armored hand caught the axe by the handle, just underneath the blade. "Hey, can I copy this?" he asked as his armor glowed bright. "You're a doll."

"What're you doing?!" Komodo snapped, but the light quickly overcame him, and the force of the copy knocked him away. Matt strode out of the field of light before it could completely fade - his right arm was now protected by bulky crimson plating, hefting a monstorous axe twice as big and wide as him, with a devilishly curved pair of blades.

"Genesis Arm - Heavy Boss!" Matt took another step, and the sheer weight and power of the axe forced his foot to sink into the earth. "Now let's party!"

R.D.'s arm snapped up, the orange pistons and energy ring on the gauntlet signifying the arm cannon being activated. His fist was glowing with energy as he trained it on Komodo, and fired--the pistons slammed down all at once, forcing another beam of plasma to erupt through the air at Komodo.

Komodo's axe charged again and he swung his weapon through the beam, dissipating it like before. "Son, you should pay attention more!" Komodo said. "Your little energy tricks aren't worth cow droppings to me!"

a massive yell from Matt drew Komodo's attention. So did the hundred-pound axe screaming through the air at his face in a giant swing. Komodo hit the earth to avoid the attack, already moving into the massive opening Matt created and hitting him with the end of his axe. However, the same force that knocked R.D. away with such power only pushed Matt back a small distance as he was stumbling to recover.

Now even more Lackeys leapt in to challenge R.D., quickly followed by the Samurai Pizza Cats who warded them off. "Hey, you're hogging all the fun!" Speedy said to R.D., slinging a punch into a Lackey's face. "You're such a fun hog."

"Mind if we help you take out the garbage?" Guido asked.

R.D. planted his feet into a ready stance and activated his armor's matter converter. Large chunks of debris disappeared with sudden sounds, evaporating into prismatic mists that swirled around towards his shoulders, back, and hips, forming four long cannons folded alongside his legs and against his back.

"Be my guest," He said, looking up and locking on. The Nova Reactor activated, expelling blue-green particles of light as the back- and hip-mounted cannons swung up into position.

Another heavy swing crushed the earth, releasing tetonic force. Komodo saw it coming easily, but still fell down at the great shockwave that resulted. He countered with one of his own as soon as he got up, forcing Matt to stumble. A quick glance behind him spotted the Pizza Cats homing in. "LACKEYS!" he barked. "Cover me!"

En masse the Lackeys flowed towards their leader, shielding him and brandishing their weapons. Guido snorted. "This is worse than Black Friday. Polly, maybe you should scare them off with your face or something."

"If they haven't run away from YOUR face, then they've already got tons of willpower!" Polly skidded in front of the Lackeys and curled her hands, bringing them near her face. "But I think a little tender love and care should handle this! Come here, boys, I've got a little present for you!"

As she rolled her fists, something strange happened - a group of the Lackeys found themselves being pulled towards Polly to their utter shock. No matter what, the group couldn't escape, despite their best efforts.

"I give you all love and peace!" Polly chimed when they were arms-length from her hands. "Or, in your case..."

She uncurled her fingers, which suddenly sprouted claws. "Love and pieces!" In a flash her claws rained across this single group of Lackeys, scratching clean through their helmets and making them all fall in pain.

"There's your hole!" Guido called at R.D., pointing at the gap which the other Lackeys were quickly filling. "Shoot for the core, as the kids like to say!"

"Alright!" R.D. shouted, charging up Lumiya's vast reserves. "Fire in the hole!"

The HUD of his visor system locked into various spots in Komodo's body, marking his axe, a shoulder, one leg, the chest, and the head for destruction. Pushing off into the air, energy gathered through the barrels of the cannons, and he fired.

Twin red-cored beams sheathed in azure erupted from the shoulder cannons, followed by two golden blasts from the hip cannons. A fifth beam lanced out of his right arm cannon, cutting through the space in the middle of the other four beams as it went for the hat.

The Lackeys cried out and leapt right into the beam cluster. As the force passed them by, they dissolved into black particles that quickly vanished. As they tried to block the beam, two other clones swooped in and grabbed Komodo, pulling him away with a leap.

"No, my HAT!" Komodo shouted as his hat flew off his head with the sudden movement, right into the path of the beam. It was quickly ashed.

When the Lackeys brought Komodo back down to earth, the grip around his axe tightened. "You...you destroyed my hat. I LOVED that hat." Komodo glared at R.D. with tears streaming from his eyes. "Do you hear me?! THAT HAT WAS MY BROTHEEEEEEEEEER!"

"Wait, how does that work?" Matt asked.

But Komodo was already roaring, and as he brought his charged axe up, he smashed it into the ground so hard that it released a great shockwave in a huge area. The ground cracked into many sections and collapsed, and all present tumbled into the resulting deep crater.

"What the?!" R.D. shouted, looking around as the area cratered beneath him and Ileyna, who were still aloft with their powers activated. He folded the cannons back into their standby positions and readied his sword. "Ileyna, get ready!"

Down below, Alasea pulled herself up with a groan. "Everyone still alive?" she called out, standing up fully and pulling the Megami Tsurugi out of the ground.

"Yeah!" Matt called, pushing himself up with his axe. He looked up at Komodo, perched atop a nearby set of rubble.

"Take care of the others, Lackeys!" Komodo ordered. He brought his own axe before him, focusing on Matt. "As for you, you are I are gonna have a little talk." As Komodo yelled and leapt towards Matt, the Lackeys flooded in down the crater and towards the others, while the fallen Lackeys rose and stormed ahead.

"Oh, damn, here they come!" Alasea shouted as the horde fell into the crater, stampeding down on them.

Rays of energy slammed down into the crowd from up ahead, causing Alasea to look up. R.D and Ileyna were still airborne, pounding away at the Lackeys as they rushed into the crater.

The battle resumed full-force in that crater, and easily the most explosive fighters involved were Matt and Komodo, their axes clashing with incredible impacts.

"When I'm done with you, I'm gonna string you up and leave you to dry!" Komodo shouted.

"Oh, yeah?" Matt said. "Well, I've got NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS!" Their axes locked in a deadly struggle of sparks and strength.

"Ileyna!" R.D. shouted over the air as he targeted another group of Lackeys to fire upon.

"What??" she called out, having just blasted one before it could attack Guido from behind.

"Try and single out the real Lackey and take him down with Mass Effect!" R.D. ordered, firing down on the target. "You're probably the only one who can find him in this mess!"

She nodded. "I'll try!"

Finally Komodo won through - as his axe parted ways with Matt's, he hit his opponent with a fierce shockwave, sending him crashing into the crater wall with a great explosion.

"You're good, son, but you're not good enough to beat me!" Komodo called as jagged rubble rained down. "And you can just forget about taking my Essence." The commander strode in Matt's direction as the boy's body slid down. "Matter of fact, think I'll add yours to my little collection!"

"Don't you know collecting trinkets makes you a nerd?" Speedy's voice rang out, and a row of kunai launched through the air at Komodo. The commander swung his axe to deflect the weapons, glaring at Speedy as he rushed into the fight with his sword high.

"You're starting to irritate me!" Komodo hefted his axe. "I'm gonna send you flying like a BB shooting through a tin can!"

"This guy really IS a hick!" Guido shouted.

As Commander Komodo powered through Matt's offensive, R.D. killed his thrusters and the propulsion device of his Nova Reactor, and landed in the small crater created by his last shot.

He stabbed his weapon into the dirt and curved his right arm up over until he rested in front of his left shoulder, the gauntlet now swathed in bluish-white energy and golden lightning. "I got that ridiculous hat, now let's ice the rest of ya!" R.D. shouted, sweeping the hand out at Komodo and firing. "Tenrai HADOUKEN!"

Gold lightning arced around him in a cage as an electric blue wave of energy exploded out of R.D.'s hand, surrounded by dozens of white fireballs that raged around it. The Tenrai Hadouken cut through the air, straight at southern-accented lizard.

Komodo glanced up at the shout, his eyes widening as he took in the massive fireball streaking towards him. "Holy...!" His axe glowed and he chopped down just as the fireball came in - again it burst into nothingness, but the result was enough to send Komodo flying back into the crater wall.

"Nice one!" Matt shouted, now fully recovered. "I'll clean it up from here!" He stomped towards Komodo, who eyed him and also stood back up, charging as well. The southern commander yelled and unloaded a mighty swing, but Matt was ready, swinging his own weapon up. The superior reach knocked Komodo's axe out towards the fighting Lackeys, and with the swing, Matt was carried up into the air.

"Heavy..." As he landed, he brought Heavy Boss down with full force. "Buster Wave!"

The resulting point-blank shockwave slammed into Komodo head-on, rocking everyone's world as it pushed him into the crater wall and through it, carving a brand new crevice into the earth stretching for what seemed like a mile. The full sound hit not too long after, a sonic boom that disrupted the rubble where it stood.

Having seen the strike from up above, Ileyna knew she had a chance to purify Komodo of the Omega Essence.

"Get going, Ileyna!" Alasea shouted as she, Hugo, and Helena held off the rest of the Lackeys. "We'll take care of this!"

"Right!" Ileyna exclaimed, taking off at high speeds to find Commander Komodo.

Commander Komodo lay at the end of the newly forged crevice, his eyes unable to focus and his moments loopy. "Well, hello there, little doggie!" he mumbled as Ileyna flew up. "Go get the frisbee, it's been a long day at work." His eyes rolled up and his head fell back as he unmercifully slipped into unconciousness.

"That was way too loud," Guido said to Matt as he approached, dismissing Heavy Boss. "But I'll forgive you for it."

Matt shielded his eyes, focusing at the massive amount of Lackey clones. "Okay, this is ridiculous. How in the world are we going to beat all these guys?"

"Don't worry!" Speedy said. "I'm sure some kind of deus ex machina will come out and help us fix this. I'm looking forward to it - all this fighting's making me tired. Didn't catch enough sleep last night."

Ileyna set down on the wrecked ground in front of Commander Komodo and sighed. "Jeez, what a mess," she complained before readying her power.

"Recro! Singulus... restituo... animus... substantia!"

Like usual, the air warped and wavered around Komodo as energy was drawn from him into a point, which flashed with light before becoming a shard of Omega Essence. Ileyna snatched it out of the air and took off back towards the others.

Meanwhile, R.D. had jumped and landed back into the crater, where the others were. Alasea spoke up. "I could try another round of Reckless Fire," she said. "But I can't guarantee it won't kill the real Lackey if I use it."

Helena threw a Lackey clone away from her. "R.D., that attack you used earlier disentigrated some of them. Can you do it again, more than once?"

"Not extensively," R.D. said, grabbing another one by the throat and tossing it away before gunning down others with his rifle. "Its hard to aim and it uses up too much energy for me. I can try, though."

"I'll send out as much fire as I can," Helena said. "If we all concentrate on the same area, we'll destroy enough of them so Ileyna has a chance to find the Essence."

"Sounds like a plan!" Hugo said. "Let's do it!"

R.D. nodded, and leaped up into the air. The Nova Reactor activated once more, holding him aloft in the air as its power began to sweep through his armor's systems. He locked onto a series of targets and opened up his cannons, firing once more into the crowd of Lackeys.

So it raged on, with the heroes pouring all of their massive moves on the Lackey clones, whittling them down to manageable numbers.

"This is taking way too long!" Polly complained at one point. "At this rate, we'll be done in time for the dinner rush!"

"Of next week!" Guido added.

"Of next - no, wait, never mind. That's what I was thinking too," Speedy said.

But soon they won out, and the Lackeys were dwindled enough for Matt to see their opening. "There, Ileyna! That should be enough, go for it!"

To those that watched, the few Lackeys in the way seemed to be thrown into the air by nothing at all. Mass Effect flung the enemies out the way with no effort at all, and Ileyna quickly shot through the gap, firing off a single beam into the real Lackey's face, now that she could feel the subtle differences in the Essence signatures.