Dust Dancing Earth King

(Onechanbara ZII Chaos- Seek the Treasure)

The group was trekking through the desert as some of them were exhausted by the heat a bit."It's hotter in the desert than I ever imagined it would be." Saaya said wiping her forehead. "And the sandstorms are just awf- Aah! Sand in my eye!" She was unable to finish before she screamed rubbing her eye.

"Why would they show up in a hellish wasteland like this, anyway? The undead have terrible taste!" Saki complained because of undead spirits roaming in the desert.

"Probably because some kind of Undead Mutant is here and is controlling them." Ace said walking up to the two as he handed them water bottles and they thanked him.

"*sigh* This sand's got my hair all dry and crackly… And I'm so thirsty…I just want to get this over with...and take a SHOWER!" Aya whined before she was handed a water bottle by Ace. "Thank you."

"Heh. Even without any water, I can just hydrate myself with blood. So do your worst desert!" Kagura said confidently. "You with me, Aya?" She asked the Baneful Cowgirl.

"Keep talking big like that and I'll run you through just to shut you up." Aya said threateningly as Saki cracked her knuckles.

"Ooh! Scary!" Kagura said sarcastically as she walked away.

"You want to borrow Stoj's frying pan when we're done here?" Ace asked Aya.

"By all means yes. And thanks for the water." Aya said as she was given Stoj's frying pan and followed Kagura.

"My intel says this whole area is prone to regular sandstorms. If you get too close to one, you'll be sucked in, so stay timing your movements so you can slip by when the wind dies down." Anna advised the group as they trudged through the desert.

"Roger that! Out here, I guess even nature itself can be your enemy." Saaya said.

"No worries, Saaya. Whatever happens, happens! It's all in the attitude." Kagura reassured her sister.

"Dumbass. This is serious. We're in a place with no landmarks." Saki reprimanded Kagura before Ace tapped her shoulder and turned to him as he pointed to a few pyramids with an are-you-serious look. "Oh."

"Being in the desert reminds me of the time where I first met and fought Zero." Fefnir said as he dashed through the sand.

The group hurried on through the desert and and manage to weave through the sandstorms as they came across a huge crater. As soon as they jumped in a huge humanoid mutant appeared before them. He had the legs of a scorpion, the body of a human with a hat that had a ponytail on it, and held twin scimitars. Ace analyzed it and saw its name was Abdul and found out he used to be a member of the Baneful Bloodline, and was able to survive the harsh desert climate due to his strong body.

"A scorpion? That's just great. It's hard enough to find our footing as it is." Aya said annoyed.

"Heh. Thing's got a weird fashion sense. Weeeeeird stuff…" Kagura said.

"Well it is the appropriate clothing for this country so it would make sense if any of us find it weird." Ace said throwing Judgement Bolt at it stunning it.

Harpuia took advantage as Abdul tried to attack him as he blocked his swords with his own and knocked him back as he flew towards him and cut his front legs clean off but the creature was still able to move using his swords as crutches.

"Alright that's it you're going down!" Fefnir shouted as he fired a barrage of buster shots at it stunning it again giving Fefnir, Ace and the other three guardians a chance to finish it off.

"One for the money…"Fefnir started as he punched Abdul in the face.

"Two for the show…" Leviathan said stabbing one of its eyes.

"Three to get ready…" Phantom said pinning it's remaining legs as Harpuia cut them off.

"And here we go!" Ace said as his eyes glowed Twilight as a silhouette of Bahamut appeared and turned into a BFG. It was a gunblade with a laser installed. Ace took aim fired a huge laser composed of magic energy at Abdul finishing it off.

The group returned to the Plane as Anna immediately contacted them.

"I just received a report that Vlan Castle, which should be in ruins, has been spotted fully intact." Anna said shocking the four girls.

"Intact?! But, we leveled that place! How?!" Aya demanded shocked.

"I'm not sure, but it's probably safe to assume it's related in some way to the undead spirit situation." Anna said.

"Then I bet that's where we'll find the one behind all this." Ace theorized as he walked away to contact the others.

"Tch… They're just fucking with our heads now." Kagura cursed annoyed.

Meanwhile, Ace was attempting to contact one of the others on the info he picked up.

"Ace Neptune here, I have some important info to share." Ace said through the communicator.

"I'm reading you Ace, this is Fiora, go ahead." Fiora answered.

"We finally located the mastermind behind these attacks." Ace said. "It's good to hear from you Fiora."

"Oh. Well, if you want to tell someone properly, I'm not one for info like that. But if you'd give me who it is, i can probably call someone else over familiar with someone like him or her." Fiora said.

"Well that's the thing, we don't even know the person's gender or name but we know their location." Ace said.

"So it's a mystery person, huh? I think I might know who's a good fit for this conversation. Zelos, I have Ace for you. You spied on someone, right?" Fiora said. "You could probably give Ace a little advice for dealing with unknown people."

"Sorry. Out of my area of expertise. However… Maybe someone who works from the shadows could be more help." Zelos said passing it to Maki.

"Maki here." Maki said.

"Hello Maki, this is Ace Neptune. Since you we're made an assassin, do you have any clues from your fabricated memories that dealt with the undead?" Ace asked.

"I don't think fabricated memories work like that." Maki said. "But… Assassins hardly trust people that don't show their face. They value trust above all else. So, it's best you utilize stealth and not make any sudden movements until you're absolutely sure you have your target."

"Right, thanks Maki." Ace said as a crimson red appeared on his pendant. "Hmm… Let's see if I can find out who the person is." He said as he activated his power from the bond he made with Futaba and pulled up a holoscreen of Vlan Castle as cybernetic linings appeared on his arms.

He hacked through and managed to find a heat signature and found it was a female but couldn't get anymore data on it.

"Damn! At least we know the mastermind is female." Ace said before he contacted Fiora again. "Fiora? You there?"

"Yeah?" Fiora asked. "Something you wanted to talk to me about Ace?"

"I was able to figure out the target's gender and location in the castle." Ace said.

"That's perfect. I'm glad you did, what gender is it?" Fiora asked.

"A woman. She's behind all this chaos." Ace said.

"And the location?" Fiora asked.

"She's in the throne room sitting there probably waiting for us." Ace said.

"Then you have to take action now. I didn't wait with Shulk back when we were fighting the Mechons. We took it right to them, and action is more versatile than patience." Fiora said.

"Right." Ace said before hearing the plane slow down. "We have arrived wish me luck and give everyone my regards." Ace said as he readied his gear before heading out.