The official chapter three is finally out, sorry again guys. Hit a writing block plus my new job took me some serious readjustment. Here's the new Chapter and thank you all for the support!

Xenoblade Chronicles belongs to Monolith Studios and Pokémon belongs to Gamefreak. I own and profit nothing from this!

-Chapter starts-

Many emotions passed through Ash's mind as he walked with his companions. They passed under a bridge before the captain shouted something to the group, getting their attention. Frang and his group came up from the other side, surprising them since they were focused on the group in front of them.

Could I possibly kill one of them? Ash thought staring at the two humans, the gravity of the situation hitting him. He never once killed but now was expected to. That alone made his stomach twist slightly, he could honestly puke at the thought of that possibility. He really hoped that they surrendered, for everyone attending sakes.

Wait a minute… Ash stared at the faces of the two people and was really confused. These two didn't look like the terrorists at all!

The male looked way too young, his features soft and retaining some minor baby fat, and his hair seemed too light to match the posters. The girl was Gormotti with grey hair and three yellowish tattoos on her face. She wore a strange yellow and white jumpsuit with a cloak, having a hood attached to it with protrusions so her ears can fit.

"Huh Captain?" Ash turned his head to look at the man with the tall hat. This seemed like a really weird mistake, these guy's didn't fit the posters at all. Maybe he was just mistaken.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm trying to arrest a terrorist and a unlicensed driver?" the captain asked, sounding quite annoyed. He didn't appreciate the interruption much.

"Huh which one's the terrorist? I don't recognize either of them from the posters I saw right. Right Zenobia?" Ash turned to his blade, hoping to get a response out of her. Instead he was meet with a strange look of focus on his blades face, she was staring at the group intensely. More specifically a single person.

Ash follow her line of sight and looked at the concerned eyes of blade. She had red hair with a strange red outfit, like all rare blades seem to share, with green lines criss crossing around her clothes. What was odd was the crystal around her neck. Zenobia had one too, with her collar making it look like a choker, but this blades crystal was different. Her's was an emerald green colour and shaped like a cross, while Zenobia's was blue and lighting bolt shaped. It also seemed to be missing a section in the middle.

"Huh?" Zenobia looked around in a light daze, seemed his voice knocked her out of whatever trance she was in. She looked towards him before refocusing on the group in front of her, her possible opponents. "The girl. She's the tiger faced person from the posters." she told him crossing her arms chuckling, oh that poster didn't do her justice.

Ash eyes comically enlarged as he stared at the women, who looked quite mad at Zenobia laughing at her expense. As he looked at her closer he did notice some familiar features now. The hair style and the upper half of her outfit matched the posters, quite bizarre at how they got those things right but not her face. He looked towards the white tiger blade and everything clicked together.

Ash's cheeks expanded as he tried his best efforts to stop the brewing laughter, even covering his mouth with his hands. He couldn't though. He removed his hands and a booming laughter ringed throughout the back road. "They combined your face with your blade's in the poster!!!" he shouted holding his stomach, oh Arceus this was too good! Who do you blame for this?! The artist or the witness? He almost felt bad for her, that's not a face you want people connecting to you.

"Oh shut It!!! It ain't that funny!!!" she hissed at him, body ready to pounce on him in any second. She's already having a bad day with that poster now circulating across the world now. She didn't need this random driver mocking her about it, she already as to deal with people thinking the poster looked identical to her. She didn't even look at all like that accursed poster!

"It is though! Maybe it's because of that pose, you got that feline pose and grace!!!" Ash joked wiping away a tear, oh he hasn't laughed like this in awhile. The girl looked like a cat ready to pounce on her prey, probably him. She seemed to act like a human cat, none of the others Gormotti acted like that. Maybe she weird.

"To be fair Nia… you kinda do act a lot like a cat," her male companion said chuckling softly, seemed he at least got Ash's point. His laughter was silenced when she hissed at him, she didn't seem to appreciate the joke. Well she was the butt of it to be fair.

"How about you focus on our current situation Rex! We do have several people pointing guns at us! Stop making friends with the enemy!" Nia shouted annoyed, she didn't like people making jokes about her in a time like this.

Rex gave her a sheepish look before focusing on the soldiers in front of him, a serious look on his face. "I won't let you arrest Nia! No matter how much that poster looks like her!" the brunette shouted gripping his sword, and unintentionally upsetting his ally. She hissed at him again and getting another round of laughter out of Ash.

Ash wiped a forming tear from his left eye, he hasn't laughed like that in awhile. Best get serious. The others are getting kinda annoyed… he noted the captain staring at him, probably in frustration at grinding everything to a halt. "Look. Just come with us and we can see if we can sort this out. You guys don't seem like a bad bunch," he offered giving them a smile. They didn't seem like bad people to him, he felt it in his gut. He was usually good at reading people's character's, except team rocket when they disguised themselves.

The two, supposed, criminal started whispering among themselves. What they were saying Ash didn't know, hopefully considering his offer. If they chose to fight, they couldn't escape without fighting, than he'd have no choice but to attack them. He gripped his axe tightly feeling the atmosphere get tense. "They're gonna fight aren't they?" He asked his blade, they were taking way to long.

"Probably. They ain't got no reason to trust your word, no offense," Zenobia responded, eying the strangers as they nodded to each other. She noted their bodies getting tense, not something you'd do if your surrendering to someone. "I prefer it this way. This is the fun way," the woman grinned crossing her arms, she was dying for some action.

Suddenly, the brunette, Rex if he remembered, charged forward towards Ash and the captain. Nia charged the opposite direction, headed towards the soldiers blocking the other side of the road. Their respective blades followed behind them, the red haired girl with Rex and the white tiger with Nia.

Ash charged forward to meet Rex head on, he couldn't let him reach his non-driver companions. The two swung at each other, their weapons clashing stopping each other momentum. "You know this ain't gonna help your case right?!" He shouted at Rex, pumping small amounts of aura into his arm. The aura fortified his muscles allowing him to push against Rex's blade with more force, pushing the fellow teen back.

Rex was surprised as his boots grinded against the dirt. How is he overpowering me?! We were even just before! The brunette thought jumping back, causing Ash's axe to smash into the ground. "Like hell we'll surrender! Nia didn't do nothing wrong, she helped save people!" He shouted back readying his blade, no way was he going to let these guys arrest him or Nia.

Ash sighed, well there goes diplomacy out the window. What Rex said did catch his interest though, was that true? Did she help people, like the ones Torna were gonna kill? "Even if she did, I can't help you now!" He shouted back, they attacked them now. What they could say didn't matter at this point, he had to take them down.

Ash charged forward Zenobia right behind him, a wild grin on her face. Ash raised his axe over his head while wind gathered around It, time to test out his new art! "Crushing Swing!!!" he shouted, bringing the axe down towards Rex, who raised his flaming sword to block the attack.

The axe slammed into the sword with great force, the ground beneath Rex's feet cracking under the force. Damn It! The brunette thought with a pained expression, his fingers felt like they might break from the force. He angled his sword's blade enough causing Ash's weapon to slide off and get caught in the ground, exposing him. "Eat this!" he shouted, swinging his flaming blade at Ash's chest.

Crap! Ash thought panicked, his blade was now stuck in the ground and he couldn't pry it out to block the attack. Unless… he grabbed the hilt of his axe and pushed it forward, causing it to now be in front of the incoming swing. The flaming sword slammed into the hilt, surprising his brunette opponent. The moment of surprise allowed him to kick Rex in the gut with an aura infused foot, pushing him back a few feet.

With the extra breathing room, Ash pulled the axe out of the ground and looked at his opponent. The guy was holding his gut while his blade rushed towards him, checking on him. "Your good… I kinda wished you were on my side, would've made a great sparring partner." He compliment his breath laboured, this battle was intense. He felt a grin appear on his face, he kinda understood why Zenobia loved this. He wanted to continue this fight.

"You ain't bad yourself... you pack a lot more punch than I expected." Rex compliment back, reassuring his blade that he was alright. "Time for me to try a different approach…" he mumbled to himself, gripping his sword tightly in his hands. Taking him on head to head ain't working, I need to hit with something from a distance. He thought to himself, it was obvious his enemy was stronger in melee. "Ready Pyra?" he asked her, he was gonna need more of her power for this.

"I am." Pyra reassured him giving Rex an encouraging smile before glancing at her opponents. Something isn't normal with that driver. It's like he's giving off energy… she thought to herself, no human should be producing energy.

"Alright! Try this!" Rex raised his sword high, the flames around the blade growing, before bringing it down in a swiping motion. A blade of flames shot out and speed towards Ash quickly, it only would take a few seconds for it to reach him.

Switching to range attacks? I have my own! Ash thought grinning, he's been practicing on how to use Zenobia's power to its fullest and figured out a useful range option. He mimicked Rex's gesture, raising his axe over his head, before bringing the mighty axe down. The swing produced a air blade which rushed forward towards his enemy's attack.

The two attacks meet each other in the midway point between the two of them. Shockingly to Ash, Rex's attack overwhelmed his near instantly, there wasn't even a power struggle.

Crap!!! Ash thought rolling to the right side while Zenobia floated to the left to dodge the incoming attack. The attack sailed past them but did hit someone.

The captain was taking aim at Nia, who was currently fighting his subordinates, and planned to take her down with a single shot. Or he would, if he wasn't hit by Rex's stray attack. "Gahhhh!!!" the captain yelled in agony, flying through the air his body smoking. His body hit the floor roughly and he moaned in pain, his uniform was charred and smoking from the attack.

Ash's flinched slightly at the sight, he didn't mean for that to happen. Before he could shout an apology to his superior, he was forced to leap back to dodge a fire ball courtesy of Rex. His opponent began firing a flurry of fire balls forcing Ash and Zenobia on the back foot, the duo had to dodge the attacks or potentially get roasted like the captain.

This is going south fast! Ash thought annoyed, swiping away a fireball with his axe but having to twist his body to narrowly dodge another. He felt the heat as the attack just grazed his shoulder, he was lucky that his hair didn't catch on fire from how close that was. I need to close the gap between us and take him out before that Nia person joins in. The battle in general waa going awfully for them.

Ash scanned the area while dodging projectiles. Over half the party of the patrol was still standing, that Nia girl was making quick work of his fellow regular soldiers. At this rate it will be two against one, technically four against two if blades are included, and he didn't like those odds at all. He was struggling with just one.

Think Ash think. How do you close the gap without draining your aura like mad? He thought continuing to maneuvering around the attack, trying to get closer to Rex by evading between the attacks. He could just rush forward surrounded by aura, acting like armor, but that would be murder on his aura reserves. He wasn't confident he could take out Rex in a single blow which would leave his aura reserves drained and facing two drivers at once. A worse situation than he was currently in.

Ash leaped back again dodging another fireball, seemed his opponent notice him getting closer. The fireball exploded on the ground and kicked up a quite bit of dust, obscuring his vision slightly. That's it! He grinned as a plan formulated in his head, it could work if they timed it right and hit hard. He rushed towards his blade, ducking and dodging Rex's unrelenting ranged assault, stopping beside her continuing the same song and dance of dodging.

"Zenobia," Ash whispered loudly, loud enough for her to hear but not their enemies. "I got plan, do you have one them blade specials built up?" he asked her swatting away another fireball, he was getting real tired of this song and dance.

She taught him what 'blade specials' were during his training, well parts of it anyway. She said there were certain extra tidbits about them that he didn't need to know yet, something about requirements and more blades. She didn't seem to keen on going in-depth.The short story was; driver arts build up energy in blades after their used and blades can release that energy in super attacks. Each blade had four specials but stronger specials needed more energy built up to use, greater cost for a greater payout.

Zenobia raised her left hand, putting up a yellow coloured barrier stopping another fireball. She shared her drivers annoyance with their current problem. "Yeah I do. What's the plan?" she asked eyebrow raised, hopefully whatever it was it can end this stalemate. Real warriors fought each other face to face, not at a distance like cowards. This Rex guy was really pissing her off.

Ash nodded and leaped behind her to use her barrier as cover, dodging and talking at the same time was needlessly difficult. "I need you to fire a gust of wind at them, like what you did when we meet. I'll hand the axe to you when I'm ready." He explained his plan, he might not have explain certain details but he couldn't waste time. Only them and two soldiers are left standing, she just needed to trust him on this.

Zenobia craned her neck slightly so she could see him, a look of obvious confusion on her face at his plan. "Didn't I tell you those bursts of wind can't do anything in a real fight? Why do you want me to use them?" she questioned dumbfounded, did he forget what she told him? The sound of glass cracking caused her to focus on her barrier, her barrier couldn't take this punishment for too much longer.

Crap!!! Why is she so much stronger than me?! Zenobia hated to admit, she really hated to admit it, but that redhead blade was just stronger than her. She was pumping out more power than her and this current situation was caused by that difference of power. I need to trust him. Like he's trusted me. She thought to herself, a healthy driver and blade relationship was based on trust and understanding. He's trusted her with his training and rarely complained, she as to trust his plan now. "Alright. Ready when you are."

Ash smiled and nodded, hopefully this will work. He couldn't guarantee anything, this was a gamble. He ran past Zenobia, axe in hand, and rushed towards Rex, he first needed to remove the pressure on his blade. As he expected, when his opponent noticed him trying to close the gap, he refocused his attacks on him to keep him back. The attacks hit the floor kicking up plenty of dust. Perfect. "Zenobia now!" He shouted, swatting another fireball into the ground.

"Got it!" Zenobia shouted, dropping her barrier as wind began to gather around her, swirling around her violently as it kicked up even more dust. She thrusted her arms forward causing a powerful gust of wind to rush forward. The wind slammed into everyone, stumbling Nia and the remaining soldiers, but didn't knock anyone down. What it did do was kick up a giant dust cloud and pushed it towards Rex's direction, consuming everyone but Ash and her.

"What the bloody hell is this!" Nia shouted out, in between coughing and rubbing her eyes. The dust was getting everywhere, in her eyes and up her nose. It was really messing up her senses.

"My lady, watch out!!!" Dromarch shouted in panic, slamming into her and knocking her onto the group. A mere second later a bayonet whizzed past where her head used to be, possible lethal attack. "Their driver seems to have created this dust, hampering us. The same can't be said for our opposition. I, unfortunately, lack the means to dispel it," he commented, leaping in front of her and preparing a barrier just as two gunshots were heard.

That clever dastard! She thought hissing, pulling her cloak over her mouth to stop any dust from getting in. She didn't expect a stunt like this, she honestly thought Rex had him under control. Those helmets must give them the advantage. Those metal buckets they wear protect them from all this dust, explains why they can still shot at her.

What the hell? Rex thought, squinting his eyes trying to locate hid opponent. He really wanted to put his diving helmet on so he shouldn't deal with dust in his eyes. Too bad with Gramps using it as a makeshift perch it be too tight a fit for the both of them. "Pyra! You can see them?!" he shouted out, hopefully blade eyes were better than human ones. He couldn't see anything.

Pyra tried her best to scan for anything, possibility her opponent trying to rush given their situation. She could make out some shadowy figures through the dust but nothing else. "I think I see them Rex! But they don't seem to trying to rush us!" she shouted back to her driver, slightly confused. They set this up so it's surprising that they aren't trying to press their advantage.

Ash grinned victoriously, he couldn't be happier that it worked out just the way he hoped. His grin faded to a more serious look as he gripped his axe tightly in both hands, now wasn't the time to gloat over a small victory. Time for phase two. "Zenobia, your up!!!" he yelled, throwing the massive weapon towards his blade, the axe spinning rapidly towards her.

The blade grinned widely, she wasn't expecting her driver to use her power in such a way. He's creative she'll give him that. She grabbed the weapon with practiced ease by the hilt, like she's done this for years instead of just a day. "With pleasure!!!" she yelled back, green ether radiating out of her. Time to see if their opponents will like having the shoe on the other foot. "Storm of blades!!!"

Suddenly, Zenobia began swiping her axe in front of her from several angles, vertically, horizontally, diagonally and every angle in between. Each swipe creating a wind blade that headed towards her enemies. With her wind powers, she could swing her axe over a dozen times in a few seconds. Meaning a near endless stream of projectiles headed towards their currently blind opponents.

"Rex!!!" Pyra shouted out in fear, noticing a number of shadows heading towards them. Hearing their opponents shouting at each other, she knew that a blade special was heading towards them. She rushed towards her driver, surprising him since he didn't know what was happening, and put up a barrier in front of them. Just in time as well.

The first air blade slammed and exploded harshly against her barrier, the barrier shaking at the impact. Soon enough, the rest of the pack arrived, hitting the barrier with equal force from the first, each exploding . Each impact pushed them back and causing tiny cracks to form on the barrier, a sign that the protection won't last indefinitely. The wind blades did at least clear up the dust, the wind blades opening up the dust clouds and the explosions they caused on impact dispersing the dust cloud further.

"Hahaha!!!" Zenobia laughed boastfully, loud enough for everyone to here. She felt such satisfaction turning the tables on them, if they weren't going to face them like real warriors than they will receive the same treatment. Sadly, the ether around her was starting to vanish, she couldn't keep up the special much longer. We're gonna need to finish this soon. her lips puckered in thought, she wasn't sure the barrier will drop before her special ran dry.

"Zenobia!!!" Ash yelled, catching her off guard but she refocused on him while keeping her attack going. Her driver was running towards the brown haired teen and his blade, no longer obstructed by a flurry of flames. He was only a few meters away from them, easily within striking range. "Pass it over here!!!" he ordered, hand raised waving not sure if she was paying attention to him.

Zenobia raised an eyebrow at his action, but nodded finally understanding, this was just another part of his plan. He's closed the gap, now they have to fight our way. she grinned seeing the whole plan finally, they took control of the flow of battle. As the ether around her finally disappeared and the last air blade was fire, she threw axe towards the ground near his feet. She wasn't confident he could catch it like how she did, she didn't need her driver to lose a finger or two… or a whole arm.

The axe slammed into the ground, cracking it heavily, just near where Ash was standing within grasping distance. He grabbed the axe eagerly and rushed towards the still defending duo, the air blades still hammering them for the moment. He maneuvered the weapon to his side, he wanted to use one of his other driver arts. Just as he neared them, he twisted his entire body and pumped as much aura he could into his arms. So much so wisps of aura escaping from them.

"Cyclone Swings!!!" he yelled, swinging the axe horizontally into the barrier Rex and Pyra were defending themselves with. Between the assault from Zenobia and now the powerful, aura infused, driver art, the barrier shattered entirely. However, that wasn't the end of the driver art. Using the momentum of the first swing and twisting his entire body, he was able to swing again in one fluent movement.

The axe was rushing towards Pyra, wide eyed that an attack was heading directly at her. "Pyra!!!" Rex shouted, pushing her out of the way of the attack, unintentionally placing himself in its way instead. He raised his sword and intercepted the attack, if he didn't he could gravely wounded if the attack hit him straight on.

The power of the axe swing was so great, due to the heavy aura usage, it actually lifted Rex off his feet. "Gahhhh!!!" the brown haired teen shouted in pain, his finger crying out at the pressure placed on them. The attack sent him flying towards Nia, who was able to dodge due to the clear up dust. He lost air and his body ragged doll onto the ground harshly, the pebbles and derby cutting into his exposed sections of his arm. After traveling a good six meters, his momentum finally stopped and his body came to a halt, his body not moving.

Did I over do it? Ash thought to himself, a look of concern and regret appearing on his face. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Pyra scream out in pain. He turned to look at her and noticed a number of cuts on her arms, even a few on her face. What's going on with her?! he never hit her once during this battle, so where did these injuries come from?

"This isn't over yet…" someone spoke, catching Ash off guard. The raven haired teen turn his head to see Rex getting up, stabbing his sword into the ground to help himself get up. His arms had several cuts, a few deep enough to draw blood, some bruising and few noticeable ones on his face. Pyra's eye lit up with relief that her driver was alright. She ran quickly to his side ignoring Ash's presence entirely.

Relief filled Ash seeing brunette get back up, he wasn't sure his conscious could take killing another human being. "Let's just stop this. I don't want to harm or kill anyone. Just surrender and we can end this." he pleaded, the excitement and joy he got from fighting them fading. He had one more reason for trying to end the fight, a more tactical reason.

He's burned through roughly half his aura since the fight started. He used it not only augment his attacks but also his speed to move, he was fast but not fast enough to dodge dozens of fireballs. Soon enough, that Nia girl is gonna finish off the last of patrol mates, no way he could beat both of them at once. He probably couldn't with a full tank of aura.

"Thanks for the offer. Your a real gentleman for offering," an accented voice spoke out, sarcasm obvious in its voice. Two silhouette appeared in the remnants of the dust cloud he made, one human and one distinctly animalistic. The individuals walked through the dust and reveal themselves to be Nia and her white tiger blade, causing Ash to curse mentally.

Ash looked around seeing the sprawled bodies of his allies, they didn't seem too injured to run the risk of death. He closed his eyes and used his aura to feel out to theirs, if they were dead they wouldn't have any aura.

He used this move a few times since he got here and found some strange results. The soldiers, captain, and a large number of most people he's met had very little aura, compared to humans from back home at least. All the drivers he meet have aura on average to folks back home, which could be the reason they can resonate with blades. Blades were purely made out of an unknown energy with some aura thrown in. Would explain why only certain people could resonate with blades and the consequences of them.

Ash let out a sigh, none of their aura was gone or had any risk of fading. Seems these guys are good people. He thought a smile on his face, looks like he was right. These guys had no reason to spare the soldiers, they were enemies and the soldiers probably weren't giving the same treatment. But they did anyway, he doubted a truly evil person would show mercy like that.

"What are you smiling about?" Nia asked arms crossed, guy was facing two drivers and he was smiling right now. Was he one of those battle hungry maniacs?

"It's nothing. Just remembered something is all, nothing of importance," he told her dismissively, even if he did tell her why she'd just call him nuts. Only Brock, May, and Max actually know about him being an aura guardian. He raised the axe and placed the upper hilt comfortable on his shoulder, Zenobia floated closer to him eying her opponents. "I'm guessing that's a no to my offer?" He asked craning his neck, seems he'll be forced to fight after all.

"A definite no," Nia said eyebrow raised, well it doesn't matter why he was smiling. He seemed like a weird guy anyway, comparatively. She's meet really weird people,including all of Torna and her current company. She raised her one of her weapon and began twirling around her hand, Rex was hurt so it's best to heal him. She'd rather not deal with this guy one on one, she's tired after having to fight so many soldiers.

Ash raised his own eyebrow seeing her spin her weapon, a chakram if he remembered correctly, around her hand. A strange thing to do during a fight. Suddenly, a green shimmer started to radiate off the weapon. Soon, the shimmer turned into waves of green energy that spread out and washed over Rex, his wounds glowing. The injuries started to fade until they were completely gone, like the guy didn't even just tossed harshly on the floor a minute ago.

That ain't fair!!! Ash thought in despair, his eyes widening at the sight of the healed teen, who was rolling his shoulders making sure he was alright. He knew certain blades could heal, Zenobia told him the basics, but he didn't know which. This changes everything, he definitely couldn't really beat them now. Nia is just gonna heal them whenever they get hurt and Rex will definitely not let him take out Nia. "This is troublesome. Real troublesome…" he mumbled to himself, noting that Pyra's injuries disappeared as well.

Zenobia nodded her head in agreement, this was definitely not a good position for them. "Honestly seven trained soldiers can't beat a single driver? You guys really are just fodder," she said coldly, a look of disappointment on her face as she scanned the fallen soldiers. A few moaned out, the captain and single other soldier slowly getting up, but no one dared to refute her claim. "Seems we have to clean up this lots mess," she said arms cross and a grin on her face, she was always ready for a challenge.

Ash nodded, not bothering to chastise her for her rude comments of their allies, too focus on the fight to scold her. His mind was running a mile a minute to figure out a strategy to actually win, coming up with only blanks. "I ain't gotta a clever plan for this partner, I doubt the dust trick will work a second time…" he mumbled to his blade, fool me once shame on you and all that.

"Yeah. I don't think their stupid enough for it, probably anyway," she joked, trying to lighten the mood of her driver. She knew that this wasn't a good situation. "I say we rush them and show them what we got," she suggested, if they were gonna lose than they'll go out fighting and hopefully beat one of them.

"Fortune favours the bold right..?" though, Ash wasn't sure if this was boldness or desperation. Probably a combination of both. "Let's go!!!" He yelled charging forward towards the two drivers, no point in delaying the inevitable. Zenobia floated right behind, her near ever ending grin plastered on her face.

"Seems like he's run out of clever plans for us," Nia said out loud, noting her last standing opponent simply charging towards them. She looked down at her blade Dromarch eyebrow raised, asking her blade an unspoken question. The white tiger merely nodded his head in confirmation to her nonverbal request. She craned her neck to Rex, who appeared perfectly fine from the earlier scuffle. "Let's end this with a blade combo?" she asked her new comrade, she didn't want to prolong this fight anymore than necessary.

Rex held his blade up high and hummed in thought before nodding. "Yeah let's. This guy seems like the stubborn type, reminds me of myself honestly. We'll need to hit him with something heavy to knock him out for good," he spoke, agreeing with her plan of dealing with their enemy. They've been wasting too much time here.

"Start us off than," Nia told him, readying herself for her part in the combo. She needed Rex to start the chain.

"Got it! Let's go Pyra!" Rex shouted looking at Pyra from the corner of his eye, his blade raised high ready to use her special. All he needed was for her to grasp it with him.

"Of course! I'm with you Rex!" she shouted back, but she seemed to lack the conviction and enthusiasm as her driver. She stared at the raven haired teen that was charging towards them, roughly ten meters separating them. Sorry about this. You're a good person, just following orders. She thought to herself with minor regret, she didn't wish to harm him. Whatever energy he was radiating off his body felt warm and inviting, no malicious intent at all despite them fighting. It felt the complete opposite of Malos.

She grasped the hilt of the sword, her hand just above Rex's, causing her and him to glow gold with ether. They both shouted in unison, "Burning Sword!!!" causing a large blade of flame to shoot out of the sword several meters high, causing Ash to stop to stare at the sight. They brought both of their arms down bring the massive pillar flame crashing down towards the raven haired teen, too shock at the attack to dodge.

Zenobia stopped right in front of driver and threw up another barrier in front of them, this one surrounding them entirely instead of just in front. The attack crashed into the barrier, causing cracks to form, and flames surrounded the two on all sides, trapping them in place. "Now's not the time to space out Ash!!!" she yelled at him, not turning her head to look at him too busy trying to keep up the barrier.

"Sorry!!!" he yelled back, looking around trying to find a way out of their current predicament. We're trapped indefinitely. We'll be fried if we try and get out of the barrier. Even with the protection of the barrier, Ash was starting to sweat profusely. He'd hate to be outside of the barrier if he was already frying on the inside. "We can only weather this storm Zenobia…" the only possible way out was going below the ground, an ability they sadly don't have.

"Yeah I figured…" Zenobia grumbled, keeping barrier up as sweat start roll down her body. More cracks appeared on her barrier and existing cracks grew larger, her barrier couldn't take too much more of a beating.

"Nia your up!!!" Rex shouted, his attack starting to die down slowly. They couldn't give him even a second of an opening, he'll pounce at any opening they gave him. They couldn't give him even a second to recuperate.

"Got it! Dromarch end this!!!" Nia yelled, throwing her to rings towards her partner. The rings stopped just in front of his head and he let out a deafening roar, the rings acting like amplifiers increasing the volume.

"Wild roar!!!" Dromarch roared out, causing a physical wave of sound and water to head Ash's way.

The flames about died down but before Ash and his blade could make a break for it, the wave slammed into the barrier stopping them in place. "So loud!!!" he yelled out, covering his ears with his hands trying to block out the sound. It felt like his eardrums were gonna burst if he didn't block out the sound.

All around them steam started to rise and it felt like it was getting hotter, it was like being inside a kettle on the stove. The steam keep getting worse, it was almost like it was going to exploded. Given how the barrier was going to crack any moment this seemed like the end…

No! I won't accept this, we're stronger than this!!! Ash thought teeth clenched, he wasn't going to accept this, not after all the training he did, he won't go down without a fight. His aura flared up around him, unnoticed by all due to the mist and Zenobia focusing on the barrier. Unknown to him, his aura was synthing into his axe and into the stream of ether, turning it a bright blue, connected to Zenobia's core crystal.

What's going on? What's this warmth and power I'm feeling? Zenobia thought confused, feeling her body rejuvenate with renewed strength, she never felt better! I don't know what's going on but I do know what's going to happen! She pushed the new power she felt into her barrier, she could win this.

The cracks on the barrier started to fade, has if they were being repair, and the barrier changed from a yellow to a bright blue colour. The new barrier withstood the wild roar and even better insulated them from the harsh temperature outside, much to the relieve of Ash.

Soon, a massive explosion of steam rocked the barrier causing cracks to appear on the reinforced barrier, even allowing some steam to enter. However, the barrier didn't shower and the two remained untouched outside of some minor burns. "We did it…" Ash whispered, his cloak of aura disappearing, ending the unintentional flow of aura to Zenobia.

"ASH!!!" the captain shouted slowly getting up, seeing one of his best recruits get caught in a steam bomb. The shockwave caused by the attack knocked him back onto the ground while shattering nearby windows and warping the wooden walls. The damage all around was severe and the town's folk now know something was happening after such an attack, this was a disaster. "I'm so sorry lad…" the captain whispered to himself, feeling guilt for possibly ending the live of a young man.

"Don't you think we let a little overboard? He could be dead!" Pyra shouted out, she didn't want this! She limited the power she used on her attack, she wanted to knock him out! Not outright kill him!

"I believe my wild roar utilized too much energy. I apologize my lady," Dromarch spoke up, slight guilt at his tone for not controlling his powers to the best of his ability.

Nia felt a knot in her stomach, she didn't mean to kill anyone. She hated killing people for needless reasons, like back when she first meet Rex. "We… We can't do anything about it now… let's just get out of here…" she told her blade and companions, eyes closed unable to see the mist slowly disappear.

"No way!!!" Rex shouted pointing towards the dissipating mist, seeing two shadowy figures standing in the middle of the mist. They couldn't have taken that and still be standing.

Ash swung his axe creating a gust of wind causing the remaining steam to disappear, revealing himself and Zenobia to all. The two appear mostly unharmed, if not a little toasty, except for himself was now breathing heavily but didn't know why. My aura reserves took a hit. But why? He asked himself, unaware what transpired a few moments ago.

"He survived that… he doesn't even look hurt at all…" Nia spoke out loud, echoing the thoughts of everyone there. It shouldn't be possible someone for someone to be standing after that, let alone unharmed. What is this kid?

"You know… two against one ain't fair…" Ash told them with a look of annoyance mixed with exhaustion, he was seriously gonna eat a horse after this. He readied himself for another go, his two opponents doing the same after the shock wore off, but a voice cut off any further action.

"I concur with that statement," a female voice cut through the tense atmosphere. Suddenly, a wall of blue flame erupted out of the ground behind Rex and Nia cutting everyone off guard. The sound of heels clicking on the floor caught everyone's attention causing all to look towards the entrance to the back road.

A woman wearing a blue dress with blue hair walked towards the combatants, two rapiers in her hands. The woman was obviously a blade, she had two buns of hair that were ablaze with blue fire and her limbs were made of strange blue crystals with glowing tattoos over her eyes. The strangest thing was the fact her eyes were closed, not opening in the slightest. She seemed more ready for a ballroom dance than a fight, but Ash was sure she's not just a pretty face.

"Lady Brighid!" the captain shouted out surprised and bowing, seems she was important if the captain was acting like this.

"Captain… You seem ill equipped for capturing such deviants. I suggest your men prepare anti driver measures while I keep our troublemakers… company, until you return," the blade, that Ash knows now as Brighid, ordered the captain with tone reeking of authority. The blade didn't even wait for a response and kept walking forward, her heels clicking behind her while the captain grabbed whoever was able of standing and ran off the way they came.

Brighid stopped right beside him and gave him an appeasing look, he thought anyway. Hard to tell without seeing her eyes. "I'd like to join you in fighting these criminals, if that's fine by you? I know pride is quite important to some," she asked her rapiers burning with blue flames, he wasn't sure if she was trying to persuade with the display of power.

"Not at all, I welcome the help. Thank you lady Brighid," Ash responded, making sure to use her title. He wasn't sure if he'd get in trouble if he didn't, best be on the side of caution.

"Excellent, they will pay for ruining my little vacation and disturbing the peace," she said, her tone holding quite a bit of coldness, enough to send a chill down his spine. This fight sure has taken an interesting twist.

-Chapter ends-

Well that ends this chapter folks, thank you kindly for all of your suggestion and I'll keep them in mind. Next chapter will be out whenever I can get up, so sorry for the wait.

Anyway, I have a list of blades I'm considering for Ash which I'll show here going by element.

Fire

None

Water

Praxis

Ice

Perun, Godfrey, and Theory(if Praxis is chosen)

Lighting

Vess, Kora, and Electra

Earth

Nim and Wulfric

Light

KOS-MOS

Darkness

Kasandra and Azumi(she's more of a joke choice)

Now to answer a question I've been ask: will I give Ash Pyra/Mythra to him.

I don't know, the only way he could get them would be Rex to die or I shoehorn something, like them splitting up. It's not off the table but it's gonna be weird working it in.

also, i know thats not Zenobia's first blade art. i made it up based on her awakening animation, couldnt remember the real one.