Chapter 7: Settling Dust

Subaru wasn't sure what he'd expected when he'd made the probably really dumb decision to agree to partner with an alien and become the second (third?) real-life superhero of the city. When the fighting abruptly stopped with a terrible sound that still scratched at his ears even now, the brunet had expected things would move pretty quick from there. Obviously, Zero Blade would want to talk to him, take him under his wing and teach him the ropes and explain everything to him. At least, Subaru hoped he'd get a better explanation than War-Rock's "People are in danger, go help", or else he'd probably lose his mind.

He hadn't expected for Zero Blade to ignore him and take off in a completely different direction. And then just disappear across the street.

A good ten minutes had passed since then, and Subaru wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing. Was something big going on that roof he'd seen Zero Blade jump to? But there wasn't a big commotion, so maybe he was going up there for other hero reasons Subaru didn't get? Should he go and help, or would he just get in the way? And what if there really was a fight he just couldn't see going on, what if he got caught up in that?

Whatever War-Rock had been doing to keep him calm must have worn off, because Subaru could feel his anxiety slowly creeping out from the pits of his stomach to crawl up and sit heavy in his throat. He tried to swallow it, but his mouth was too dry. Just what was he doing here?

"War-Rock… right?" Subaru said slowly, not sure what he was supposed to do.

Apparently War-Rock did. "Look, I know you've got a lot of questions kid, but it'd be best to wait when Zero's there to help me explain this mess. I'm not good with words, ok?"

Obviously, "Can you at least tell me if you were telling the truth back there? About the world getting…?"

"Blown up? Sucks, but yeah," War-Rock grumbled, and Subaru nearly screamed as he felt his arm move by itself again. He was going to have to get used to that… And talk to War-Rock about the limits of human flexibility as the alien awkwardly pulled his arm to try and face him better. "The short answer is that our former king's an utter idiot and, uh, jumped the gun as you'd say, and decided to destroy you humans for no reason. Don't know why, don't really care why, I just thought it was a load of crap so I decided to try and stop it. It turns out I wasn't the only one."

Subaru still didn't know what to think about… all of that, even after hearing it a second time. It was wild, an impossibly fictional thought, and yet here he was, living it. With part of it attached to him like a particularly terrifying hand puppet. War-Rock just continued to grumble to him(?)self, looking more annoyed than worried.

Finally, he had enough, and, while yanking Subaru along, said, "What the heck's taking Zero? Come on!"

Subaru let himself be pulled along until he realized War-Rock was going to tug him right off the edge of the roof. "W-wait! I can't just jump!"

"You jumped up here, right? So same thing, but in reverse. And even less effort since gravity will do all the work. Just don't fall on your face."

"No, it's not the same!"

"You'll be fine, you can take it! You've seen Zero Blade do it, and I'm tougher than him!" Subaru looked wholly unconvinced and War-Rock said something in his weird-static voice that was probably pretty rude. "Look, you'll barely even feel it; you're a lot tougher now and a little fall isn't going to hurt you one bit."

"O… Ok." Subaru relented, if only because he wasn't going to get out of this. At least he could have some control if he went along with it. Besides, the alien was right about Zero Blade, and if he was the same now, then he should be fine, right? But what if he was wrong…?

"Look, if it helps, just pretend you're taking a big step and let yourself fall, alright?" War-Rock seemed to think for a second as Subaru readied himself, "Don't do anything stupid like closing your eyes, though. You still want to land on your feet."

Subaru nodded and, before he could overthink what he was doing, stepped forward and into the air. He couldn't stop the little yelp as he plummeted down, down, down to the unforgiving concrete below, but managed to, likely with help, stay calm. Forced calm or not, he still felt his heart lodge itself in his throat when he saw the ground, dangerously close, and, against War-Rocks orders, closed his eyes and braced for the feeling of his legs shattering. He'd only ever cracked his arm before; he couldn't imagine how much both his legs would hurt, and-

"What part of 'don't close your eyes' do you not get? I can't believe you managed to land blind and not fall on your face like I warned!"

-and he was already on the ground. It'd barely felt like he'd taken more than, well, a step forward. Nothing hurt, nothing even ached, and his legs hadn't become a jigsaw puzzle of bone.

War-Rocks voice was dry and frustrated, "Your faith in me is utterly flattering. Really. No need to trust me so much."

"I jumped, didn't I?"

"And you look amazed you're still alive. I can't believe you would jump off a building if you didn't trust me."

"I did trust what you said!" About Zero Blade at least, and mostly because Subaru had seen it himself. And, "It's just, trying to jump…" Went against every survival instinct he had, and he couldn't help but imagine himself dying when plummeting through the sky, "It's just…"

The brunet boy trailed off, unable to scrape together the words he needed to express himself. How could he make an alien understand his very human worries about things like gravity?

"Whatever. Let's go."

Subaru simply realized he couldn't do that, so he ignored the bitter feeling and walked on. Or at least tried to, until he heard someone shouting.
"Hey, hey you! Yes, you in the blue!"

Subaru turned, blinking at the sight of a man in a trench coat walked storming over to him. Well, he looked like he was in a storming mood, except he was limping just a little bit.

War-Rock wasn't pleased, "Not this idiot…"

"You know him?"

"He tried to arrest Zero Blade. For some stupid made-up reason, since it's not like we've done anything wrong."

Goyoda was less than surprised when he'd seen what had to be at least the third kid in spandex walking around. The fifth of these new superhumans overall, since he was personally counting the two more animal-like ones as at least being vaguely in the same category as Zero Blade until proven otherwise. What he wasn't expected was how young this one was. Even counting the kid's gravity-defying hair, he didn't come up to Goyoda's chest… God, how old was this one? Zero Blade was very clearly in the throes of puberty and all the sass and need to prove oneself that came with it, probably fourteen or fifteen even if he looked a little older. But the blue-clad boy before him was a grade-schooler at best. How old was this kid? Ten? Eleven?

Goyoda knew he wasn't the smartest man out there, far from it, but he'd had plenty of experience on the field and knew exactly what had almost happened here. A setup, plain and simple, where Zero Blade was ambushed and then overpowered by numbers, raw strength, even hostages, whatever it took to pin the blond. The crazy conspiracy part of himself was screaming that the entire train accident was a setup to lure him into position, though he pushed away the thought until he had actual proof. Even if it was a crazy coincidence, it made the idea of such a young boy getting anyway involved with this new mess even more horrifying. These people were ruthless and cunning and weren't going to hold back just because they were facing kids. Heck, even Zero Blade had no business messing with…whoever those two had been, because Goyoda knew what he'd almost seen here.

A murder.

He didn't want to know what would have happened if that other kid hadn't shown up when he had and rescued the hostage. Because if he hadn't, Goyoda knew there'd have been at least one child going home in a body bag.

And now some kid probably not even out of elementary school wanted to go against people who'd do that?

The detective had thought he was just imagining things when he'd seen the hand puppet on the kid's hand actually look at him, but quickly realized it was alive when it nearly snapped off his fingers as he reached for the boy.

"Back off." It growled. Actually growled, and he knew that deep voice wasn't coming from a prepubescent kid with a knack for ventriloquism.

"What are you doing, you can't just try and bite people!" The brunet hissed, doing his best to physically blocked the creatures from attacking again.

The strange creature scoffed but didn't make another move. For now. "He's here to arrest you, which he can't do anyway. You haven't done anything."

"Actually," Goyoda coughed, trying to regain control over his racing heart, "I'm not going to let some kid get wrapped in whatever this mess is."

Once more, the creature that resided as the boy's left hand growled, seeming to curse his luck. It seemed to grow more increasingly annoyed by Goyoda's words, perhaps it seemed to be able to comprehend what the detective was saying. "Like you get any say in what he gets to do! You don't even know what's happening, you stupid human!""Human", and said like the… creature attached to the boy's arm didn't even consider itself even symbolically close to one. Not that the detective had ever thought it was. "I don't care what you are, you can't just drag some kid into this mess! I may not know exactly what sort of new-age gang war this is, but I do know that birdman and human-bulldozer were trying to kill-"

"Shut up! Do you think I really wanted-"

A sliding door slammed open and Zero Blade strutted out with a small girl in his arms who did her best to hide, "Oh hey, the new kid is already harassing the police. I'm so proud."

Subaru floundered. He didn't want Zero Blade to see him like this when he wasn't ready! "I'm not-"

The detective angrily shoved past Subaru, eyes locked on the obviously scared girl, "You! What do you think you're doing, drag-"

"Looking for a school bag, actually. It's mostly pink, with white polka dots." The girl in Zero Blade's arms looked up just enough to whisper something him, "Oh, and there's a… keychain clipped onto one of the zippers. Wait, make that three, I guess someone is starting a collection…"

The sight stopped the detective short, because it was ridiculously normal, and was that a hint of fondness he heard? "… What are you doing?"

"Your job."

"My job? What are you-"

War-Rock snapped rather quickly, "This isn't important!"

The red knight didn't miss a beat, "It is to her."

"Who cares?! We've got-"

"Hey!" The blond snapped, sounding sharp and even a bit dangerous, "Watch what you say."

War-Rock recoiled as if struck and Subaru did his best to not get dragged around like an afterthought for once, "Who do you think you are, talking to-?"

"Forget it." A new voice, deeper and commanding, suddenly intruded. Except there was no one but Zero Blade, who clearly wasn't the one talking, "It'll be easier to let him do what he wants."

War-Rock grumbled, but seemed cowed all the same, "Pah, look at you, letting yourself get bossed around by some human brat."

"You'd do best to remember that we're reliant on these 'human brats'."

The new voice that Subaru was fairly sure was coming from Zero Blade still sounded almost completely deadpan even when his words seemed like they were annoyed. Emotionless and practically robotic, and if it weren't for the completely natural inflection he would have thought it exactly that. Quite honestly, it creeped Subaru out, and the brunet was glad when Zero Blade walked away without another word, taking the weird voice with him. He didn't notice the detective jump and look around in confusion, but he did notice War-Rock repeatedly pulling his arm to follow, "Come on, kid. The sooner we get this crap done, the sooner I can explain things to you."

"All…Alright…"

Or maybe not, since the detective snapped out of whatever had freaked him out and started shouting, indignant, "Wait! What part of 'I can't let you drag a kid into this mess' do you not understand? I'm not going to let you take some grade-schooler off to wherever!"

The FM growled, "The kid can do whatever he wants. And he already agreed to help me, so piss off!"

"I…I have to do this, sir. If what he said is right," And here Subaru vaguely gestured to War-Rock, "then I have to help."

"No, no you don't." "the detective countered, and, seeming to perhaps see Subaru's own hesitation, began to elaborate, "Look, let's say that there's actually something really big going on. Why can't your… alien?" A somewhat hesitant nod, "Alien, right, ask the government for help? Or at least an adult."

There was a scoff and War-Rock looked disgusted, "Humans like you don't understand a thing! I can't just pick whoever I want, so this kid right here is my partner. And together we're, uh… Rockman, so it's too late to back down. We've made a deal, we've got a name, so it's all already finished."

The newly minted Rockman blinked, wavered, and disappeared from the detective's sight just as Zero Blade had.

He knew it was useless to try and follow, so the detective let his hands drop and sighed in defeat. His injuries flared angrily, and so the detective slowly limped back to his squad, troubled by all he'd heard.

It might have taken some time, but Zero Blade kept his word and they eventually found the girl's backpack.

It was an awkward affair, with Subaru feeling more and more like an afterthought the longer they trudged through the streets. He hung back, both feeling nervous and to prevent another fight from breaking out, but there was a nagging thought in the back of his mind that he would have been ignored either way. Zero Blade was chatting away with the little girl about, well, Subaru wasn't sure, but it must have had something to do with his hair. She was doing her best to braid some of it, but the strands kept slipping through her fingers like water.

Even after they'd found the backpack, abandoned on the side of the road but no worse for the wear, it hadn't ended; Zero Blade insisted on walking all the way back. Back through the alleyway, back to the gathered police, making sure the recently arrived paramedics saw her. He refused to say exactly what they should look for besides "head trauma" and practically dragged Subaru away from the curious bystanders.

Standing fearlessly on what Subaru would later learn were called 'Wave Roads', Zero Blade finally seemed satisfied with himself, "Ok, now that that's over…" What, the part where the supposed hero ignored him, or the part where he dragged Subaru around like a doll? "…we should go back to my house. It'll be a lot more comfortable and Zero and I will explain everything."

War-Rock grumbled, "And what, do I just not matter anymore?"

"And the hand puppet will add his oh-so-witty two-cents whenever he feels like it."

"Hey, I only had a few seconds to try and figure-"

"Um, excuse me?" Subaru managed to interrupt, glad when the two stopped arguing to look at him. He really wasn't sure he could have talked over them if they got any louder, "Zero Blade? Isn't that your name?"

"Nope, I'm just borrowing it. Kind of like how you're borrowing the 'Rock' in War-Rock's name. Which, by the way, Rockman isn't a very good name." The blond explained, though the last bit was clearly directed at War-Rock with a shaming finger-wag, "What's your real name, kid?"

"Um, Subaru-"

War-Rock was seething, "What, and pick one that makes no sense like your name? You have practically an unlimited number of blades!"

"It's called an oxymoron." The word was stretched out obnoxiously; as if the alien were particularly slow, "Not that you'd understand."

"Whatever. And what's wrong with the name I picked, huh? Isn't it a human tradition to stick 'man' after a random noun or adjective and call that a superhero name? If anything, you should have stuck to that, Zeroman."

"Ew. But Rockman? Really?"

"Hey, it's not like 'Warman' sounds very friendly, and that's the opposite of what we want!"

"Still dumb. And I didn't know you cared about public-"

"If you two are done bickering," The commanding but dead voice spoke, effortlessly cutting through their words and silencing everyone. "We should proceed back as planned."
The sudden absence of conversation, even if had been arguing, was jarring and awkward. But the will to continue had clearly been drained from both War-Rock and Zero Blade completely. The FM scoffed but didn't attempt to continue, and the teenage awkwardly looked around for a moment before sighing.

"Yeah, yeah. Oh, that was Zero by the way. He's in my headset or something." A beat where the teen seemed to realize something. "You've never traveled on the Wave Roads, right? Well, just let War-Rock do all the work. And don't struggle. There's not exactly any guard rails up here, so you will fall."

Subaru, already being led away by a firm hand on his shoulder, only had time to ask one thing:

"What?"

Once again, Subaru was being ignored. Ignored after the most terrifying two minutes of his life, zipping at apparently slow speeds on the Wave Roads, his body thrown left and right on hairpin turns hundreds of feet above the streets. Then they'd stopped approximately ten minutes away from Tamotsu's home (as the teen had offhandedly introduced himself as) and had barely said a dozen words as Subaru struggled to keep up with the teen's fast pace.

When they had finally arrived, Tamotsu has immediately left Subaru stranded at the door and gotten food. It would have been fine if he simply wanted a snack, but no, instead he'd prepared an elaborate sandwich that he was incredibly particular about. The turkey had to be heated up, there had to be the exact amount of sauce- not too much, not too little- and the seasoning had to be perfect.

Subaru wanted to scream, giving Tamotsu a dirty look as he ate maddeningly slow.

Feeling the heated glare, the blond swallowed and shrugged, "I'm a teenager, I eat a lot. You'll understand one day."

"That isn't the problem here." It came out with a lot more heat than intended, but Subaru couldn't even feel a bit sorry.

"Whoa, what's your problem? Look, if you're hungry, you can help yourself. We just went to the store, so-"

"You just keep ignoring me, and you're-"

"It is actually very important that he listen to his bodily demands and eat as much as he feels he needs to." The voice, Zero, spoke up once more, this time from Tamotsu's Transer, effortlessly cutting off the budding argument, "Before we were ambushed we had been training for several hours without a chance to eat since this morning."
"Yeah, I'm about to starve!" Tamotsu agreed with glee, before digging into his food once more, "Listen to our alien overlords, or whatever."

Subaru frowned, mostly at the lack of manners as the blond spoke shamelessly around a mouthful of food, but relented. It wasn't worth it, not when he was just going to be dismissed time and time again. Besides, "Alright, but I want to know what's going on!"

War-Rock's voice suddenly resounded from Subaru's Transer, "Our crazy king wants to blow up your backwater rock, but you already knew that." And that was it.
Seeing that, for some reason, War-Rock didn't feel the need to go into detail, Zero picked up where his fellow FM had left off, "Your species, by pure accident and even worse luck, located our home world, Planet FM. Cepheus, the current king, is known for his paranoia and ruthlessness and decided to destroy your world with a powerful machine known as Andromeda. Which is fully capable of doing such a thing, as it was used to destroy our sister planet, AM, some time ago."

How anyone could so calmly say something so… horrifying was beyond Subaru. It made sense why War-Rock didn't want to talk about it, but Zero was just so… emotionless it was scary. As if it all meant nothing to him, and the coldness was shocking to see.

Seeing the boy's downcast expression, War-Rock spoke up with forced cheer, "Hey, don't look at us like that, it's not all bad! I didn't agree with what was going to happen, so I made sure to get on the strike team and stole the key to control Andromeda. Zero here has been a declared traitor before I was even alive, so he's willing to help us do whatever it takes to get his own bit of revenge."

"Correct." Zero confirmed, and Subaru realized he'd have to quickly get used to disembodied voices talking to him, "Furthermore, we have several advantages. The distance from your planet to ours makes it difficult to send troops, and War-Rock has assured me that Cygnus'- the flying one we fought today -pride will prevent him from asking for immediate backup. All we have to do is defend, and our Wave Changes will be fundamentally stronger than theirs."

"Wave Change…That's what I did with War-Rock, right?" Subaru recalled slowly, remembering the raw rush of sensation and the sheer power he'd suddenly held. They were powerful, Tamotsu, as much as Subaru was growing to dislike him, proved that, but something was nagging him. 'Our Wave Changes?' That made it sound like… "But why are we- no wait! If we were Wave Changed, doesn't that mean that the people you all were fighting today were also Wave Changed? Why would anyone agree to help if they just want to blow up the world!"

Tamotsu nearly choked on his food, "Whoa, whoa, wait what? I was fighting a person today?"

"Not really."

"In a sense."

The two FMs denied simultaneously in what Subaru knew had to be rare agreement.

The blond wasn't too shocked to not be annoyed by a vague answer, "Uh, please explain?"

Surprisingly, it was War-Rock who began, "Well, to put it simply, Zero and I didn't have to get your permission to Wave Change with you two, but it makes things a lot easier in the long run. There are two types of Wave Changes actually: the one where we ask nicely, and then the one Cygnus used and basically body-snatched a human."
"The two forms can be broadly classified as either a partnership or a possession." Zero continued, "Partnerships are always stronger, as the FM life form and the human work together, splitting the burden of fighting between them. The FM usually controls all frequency changes, pain suppression, and regulating stress responses to limit panic so the human can focus entirely on moving and fighting. Possessions have a greater short-term benefit, as there would be no need to teach a human how to fight, but they place the entire burden on the FM. Furthermore, they have to spend some effort in suppressing a human's natural resistance, which, if a human were to have a strong enough will, could theoretically destabilize the Wave Change and place both parties in immense danger."

"Danger?"

"Certain death of both if the FM life form cannot regain control and also refuses to release the merge. And before you ask, there are many complications that can occur if a merge is released while there is this sort of corruption. Normally once a Wave Form has been established, it is impossible to safely change its type, but the rapid fluctuations and the human's will encroaching onto the FM's own can force the change."

That was a lot to really digest, but Subaru didn't care about the complexities. Instead, "But why me?"

"Why did War-Rock choose you is simple: you are by far the most compatible with him in this entire city."

"Compatible?"

The FM in question spoke up, "Finding a compatible person is usually pretty hard, but your city seems to be infested with them. Heck, humans, in general, have a freakishly high affinity for Wave Changing when compared to the other species we've interacted. It made things for Zero and I convenient, but that means it'll be just as easy for our enemies."

"It'll be hard to root them out- someone who's possessed shouldn't remember anything if it's done correctly. If an FM is skilled enough, they could even influence their host's behavior, which means we have to be careful." Zero paused, "Anyone could be our enemy now. No matter what, no one can know you are working with War-Rock and I. They are willing to destroy your entire species, do not think they won't go after those you love."

Tamotsu frowned, the sudden tension nearly choking him with thoughts he didn't wish to even consider. Instead, he pushed boldly ahead, "So, this is a bit random, but I have to know. What do you make of this 'Axl Trigger' who's just shown up out of nowhere? Cygnus Wing sure as heck wasn't expecting him, and I think he's on our side. But I still gotta know. Zero, do you have any exile-buddies you haven't been telling us about?"

"I have absolutely no idea who he is. His lack of family crest makes any attempts to identify him impossible."

"What's that?"

"A family crest is a form of identifying an FM's heritage. It is not unlike a human's last name, but with the permanence of your fingerprints. They may be slightly altered to an FM's personal taste with aspects such as color and exact shape, but otherwise are kept mostly the same. Even a first-generation such as War-Rock has created his own family crest. Traitors rarely rid themselves of their crest- I still bear mine."

"So, a complete wildcard, huh?" Tamotsu mused but decided it wasn't something worth thinking about currently, "Well, not much we can do unless we happen to run into him.

Hey, uh, sorry, what's your name again? Subaro? Subaru? I didn't hear the last part before your killer hand puppet started shouting at me."

"Hey!"

"Subaru." The boy in question answered, slightly taken aback that such a disrespectful person had actually bothered to learn his name.

"Right, Subaru. Alright, well, give me your Transer number so we can stay in contact. If you ever get into a fight or think you've found someone who's possessed, don't hesitate to call me, ok? I'm frontline, you're backline, and together we'll overwhelm them, got it? No lone wolf crap, just call your new big brother for help, k?"

Subaru ignored Tamotsu's rambling, "You're not my big brother or anything weird like that… So we're going to try and find out who's possessed? How?"

"I have no idea, but you never know when you'll get lucky, right? Or unlucky and get attacked."

Zero spoke, "It is possible to sense nearby FMs who are not masking their presence with your technology. However, it is likely we will have to wait until our enemies make their move before we can act. Until then, you will begin training."

"Training?" Subaru frowned.

"A Wave Form's strength is based on a human's strength and increases your physical aspects exponentially," Zero explained.

"Basically," War-Rock began at Subaru's confused look, "if you can lift twenty pounds, in your Wave Form you can lift two thousand. If you can lift thirty, then that's three thousand. Those aren't the exact numbers, but whatever, you get the idea. Even doing just a little will have major effects, especially since I've always been good at sheer brute strength. But, uh, you can focus on Battle Cards if you want to, since you don't want to be a front-line fighter."

Tamotsu perked up, "Oh, so you actually figured that out? You and Zero weren't really sure how you were going to make the cards usable, or whatever."

"I didn't have much time to think about it, so I just went with the first thing that came to mind and consumed them directly."

The blond laughed, "Consume? Like, you eat them? Seriously!? That's why you've turned into a glorified hand puppet? Ha!"

"It worked, didn't it?!"

"Just keep telling yourself it was worth it."

"Well, it will be once you give your Battle Cards to Subaru! The kid barely has any, so there wasn't much we could do back there."

Tamotsu whirling on Subaru, who had been doing his best to stay out of the conversation, and looked at him with disbelief, "You don't collect Battle Cards? What kind of kid are you?"

"They just seem pretty useless to me, some basic antivirus software does the same thing, and I don't own… Uh, what are you doing?"

Tamotsu made a vague gesture and trotted up the stairs. Distantly, Subaru could hear things being moved around upstairs. He looked around the house awkwardly, trying to busy himself as the sound of something heavy falling shook the house and he winced at the swears. A minute later, Tamotsu could be heard coming back down the steps.
"Excuses, excuses, I won't hear any of it! Here."

Tamotsu dropped the thick binder on the table with an ominous thud.

"Take your pick."

"This… this is a lot of Battle Cards." It was hundreds, all neatly organized into a custom binder. A quick flip through and Subaru realized that they were organized alphabetically and then further by rarity.

Tamotsu just looked proud of himself, ignoring the odd look Subaru was giving him, "I know right? It took a while to organize them too, you know. But that'll make it easier for you to find what you want."

High above the Earth, thousands of satellites crisscrossed over the planet's atmosphere, skimming the very edge of the abyss and connecting the planet with tens of thousands of invisible ties. An ever-increasing number of these machines had been retired to graveyard orbit, so many that there had been plenty of talks of salvaging operations before issues could arise. But it was still too impractical and expensive, and so the net of junk debris grew larger and larger, the issue pushed farther and farther down the line.

Cygnus Wing found such lazy behavior to be disgusting, but he could hardly complain when it worked so well in his favor. There were literally thousands of abandoned satellites he could use as a base, with just as many active ones below him. If the humans wished to surround themselves with kinetic bombardment ammo, he wouldn't be the one to correct their poor choices. Yes, he would likely play that hand someday with how… troublesome this mission was being.

As if to prove Cygnus Wing's thoughts, Ox, free from his human shell, groaned and shifted restlessly. His normally vibrant marigold energy had dimmed to a burnt orange, and the FM life form struggled to not let his body physically shrink to preserve his strength out of a stubborn pride. Harp, a deceptively small FM covered almost entirely in blue armor that let only wisps of rose-tinted energy escape, tended to the comparatively massive Ox. It was a simple task for her to poke and prod his energy into following her lead and push away the aftereffects of his Overdrive, but there was still only so much she could do.

Harp pulled away, her work done, "Ox will need a day or two of rest before it is safe for me to force another Overdrive. His human will probably need more than that, though." She looked over to Cygnus Wing tall and distinctly human form, "How is your human recovering?"

"Well enough, considering he would have died normally from that attack." Cygnus Wing said clinically, brushing his tender abdomen lightly. "It would seem Zero's Overdrive is just as powerful as we feared."

"Just what grade was the armor on your wings again?" Harp hummed in thought.

"Less than yours and Ox's, but I would advise against assuming that will protect you."

"Of course. But what should we do? Will I have to fight as well? My bond with my human is tedious at best."

Cygnus Wing shook his head, "No, continue to avoid any fights. If you are injured or killed then we're stranded with no easy backup. If even a fifth of the stories about Zero are correct, then I have no doubt he'll target you first."

"Well it only makes sense to target the enemy's communications, but Zero will get a nasty surprise if he thinks I'm useless like other Wavecasters. But I'm sure Rocky will tell him just how tough I am."

"If he touches you, I'll kill him," Ox grumbled, but his obvious exhaustion drained most of the bite from his threat.

"I'm sure you will."

The silence was long before Cygnus Wing finally brought up their final opponent, "Harp. I will have to admit I have no idea who Axl Trigger could be. He should be easy to identify since exiles aren't very common, and yet his abilities only confuse me more."

"What sort of abilities do you mean?"

"He has true invisibility."

Shock ripped through his two comrades, and Ox even jerked up to stare at him in disbelief. Cygnus Wing could see Harp mentally going over every family she'd ever been forced to memorize, trying to come up with another option, another answer, but he knew she'd never find it. They all already knew the answer, the only answer, to who the FM by all logic had to be.

"That wasn't Phantom," Harp stated calmly, for such a thing was an undeniable fact.

"No, it wasn't. Phantom would sooner destroy his own core than betray King Cepheus, just as any of the Four Generals would. And yet, only his family line, a family line with only one member mind you, has invisibility that can fool even an FM's eyes." A truly horrifying assassination power, so, of course, it was monopolized by the King, "So, how can there possibly be another?"

"A spontaneous mutant?" Harp offered, but it sounded weak to even her. The odds for an FM of any family line to mutate such a rare ability were astronomical at best, and there would be no way they wouldn't have heard the news.

"Perhaps. Regardless, such a dangerous ability cannot be in the hands of anyone but our King, and the human partner is troublesome too," Cygnus Wing huffed, "He's already too skilled with it."

"So, uh… what do we do?"

"We will dispose of the human bonded to this Axl Trigger just as the others, and, if possible, bring the rogue FM back with us, or kill him outright."

"I see…"

"Is something wrong, Harp?"

"No, no. I was just thinking about how many surprises this planet has had for us." Harp giggled at a stray thought she had. "I wouldn't be surprised if another FM or two showed up to stop us."

Cygnus Wing would have scoffed at the idea if they hadn't met their second unexpected enemy just a few hours prior, "I doubt that but you are right, and it never hurts to be prepared. In fact, I welcome it. Let the traitors to our King congregate here: we'll destroy them all."

Subaru had finally left, taking only a few Battle Cards despite Tamotsu's insistence. He would have pressed the issue, but he could feel his frayed edges getting thinner and thinner. So, when Subaru wanted to leave, he didn't do much to stop him. If anything, he was glad that War-Rock was gone so he could be alone.
Well, not really alone, but Zero was so quiet sometimes he might as well be.

Yeah, Tamotsu thought distantly as he huddled like a child under his covers, it was a good thing that War-Rock was gone.

'I almost died, I almost died…I almost let someone die'

And if he cried a little bit, overwhelmed with feelings and fears, well, it wasn't as if Zero was going to tell anyone.