"Ho-Wh-...what?" Silver baffled

"Ah, new friends." Bolt said smiling

"Hello" Loden said waving

"Wait I know that face and hair." Cerise said looking Bolt over and circling him

"This is Bolt." Ghost said "Team CLSH meet Bolt, Bolt meet Team CLSH."

"Bolt!" Cerise exclaimed "As in Bolt Rai, the man feared by Atlas! The one who beat most of their army when he was twelve! The one they call Dragon Slayer because he took out a prototype warship!"

"Great more people that know me because of Atlas." Bolt said sadly

"Wow you know more about him than I do, Cerise." Silver said

"Sorry," Cerise said "It's just, sense one of the strongest Kingdoms fear one person, then that person must be strong and I think that's cool." Cerise said innocently

"It's ok," Bolt said rubbing her shoulder "Let's just focus on the enemy then maybe later we can talk more about it"

"Ok" Cerise said with big smile and a sparkle in her eyes that reminded him of a certain someone

Loden jumped into the air then landed on the ground with a weapon called World Splitter piercing it into the ground. The weapon created a shockwave that caused the earth surrounding her to erupt and topple many hounds. Behind her was a muscular elite member of Greyhound, this one sported massive brass knuckles that looked like they could punch a hole in anything and everything. The man in the hood dashed to Loden in her blindspot and aimed for the back of her head, but the weapon was met by her polearm as she defended herself without looking in the direction of the attack.

"How the hell?" the man was very confused at first then continued his attack with a barrage of punches which was met with failure.

"Quit blocking brat" the man was get furious that this young girl could predict his every move, it was like she had eye in the back of her head. Thanks to her semblance, Panorama, it was basically like that, there was nothing he could do that would get past her semblance.

Seeing that the man was letting emotions fight for him Loden sighed.

"I'm bored with you" she said

Loden turned and called out "Sapphire!"

Suddenly, metal cables wrapped around the man's torso and he was flung across the battlefield. While he was still airborne, the man was hit by several laser blasts from Hazel's wasp drones. She ordered them to surround and protect her from any incoming threats because she wasn't fond of close-quarter fights, even being in the middle of a battlefield made her anxious, but with her friends, along with Silver, Ghost, and Bolt with her, she felt safe and more determined to help them. She stayed inside the cathedral and sent her drones to attack as many hounds as possible and with the enemy too preoccupied with the force on the ground, they weren't focusing on her Hive drones but she did have to be mindful of stray bullets.

With the fodder members, equipped with assault rifles and firing on them, Loden had to create multiple walls of earth to provide themselves more cover. Silver and Cerise used these walls well to their advantage, they ran around the battlefield along these shields to protect themselves and to confuse the enemy about their location. She threw her Runaways, making great explosions and freezing enemies while Silver shot as many hounds before ducking out and running to a new location. When the two converge to one another they work together with Cerise throwing an ice dust cherry bomb above the enemy and Silver detonating it by shooting it and causing icicle spears to fall from the sky or doing the same thing, but with a flash bomb to blind the hounds. Bolt used his semblance to run to some fodder hounds and dismantle their guns while Silver and Cerise to beat them down and even knocking some down himself.

While Silver continued to fight, he looked out for Madam Slate's whereabouts. This large battle will end in three ways, if they defeat every member of Greyhound which was now likely, thanks to a certain speedster. The second way was if they captured Slate and forced her to surrender, and the third option was if they all died, a possibility he didn't want to come to true. Silver fired upon more hounds and before he ducked to avoid their retaliation, in the corner of his eye, he saw Slate. She was retreating with Bianca and another elite hounds protecting her backside. He wanted to go after them, but the other members of Greyhound were pressuring them with sheer numbers, even with a speedster.

Sapphire was having a blast in the ensuing chaos as she whip-lashed everyone in her area knocking them away from her. The cables from one of her hands were snagged by a flail with a spiked ball at the end. The man smirked, but she smirked right back as she activated the lightning dust in her gauntlets as it ran through the cables then the flail and electrocuted the man, but he kept on his feet. Behind her was the other elite with the laser cannon ready to fire. He aimed for her backside.

"Firing mai-" he was interrupted by Ghost phasing through the ground below him.

Ghost used his weapon, Purgatory's claw to deal a surprise uppercut then pressed his palm on the hound's stomach and unleashed a burst of fire dust which blasted him away. Then he aimed his gauntlet at the other member holding down Sapphire and let loose a bolt of lightning dust that both shocked and pushed him back. "Hmph, some elites."

Sapphire looked at her savior who instantly berated her. "Next time, think before you act, going around half-cocked without a battle plan will get you killed." After his lecture, Ghost moved to another group of fodder that he engaged in battle all while she watched.

'That was really hot,' Sapphire thought impressed with Ghost abilities then moved to fight alongside him.

As the battle continued, Silver and his group were starting to feel the strain of facing so many opponents. Bolt was the only one that seems to be fine, which everyone was jealous about. Loden kept creating barriers, but they were decimated by lasers, forcing her to fall back, Hazel's drones were being shot out of the sky one by one until she had none left, so she stayed in the cathedral. Cerise didn't have enough Runaways or firepower to keep up her attacks, same with Sapphire whose arms were hurting from swinging her arms and Ghost stayed with the girls to back them up. Silver conceded and fell back as well, Bolt decided to fall to support the rest of the group.

'We took out around forty of them, but we can't do another round. Okay now this is really it, a man could only dodge death so many times,' he thought as he regrouped with everyone else at the hole in the cathedral with the remaining hounds bearing down on them.

The elite member with the laser cannon commanded the others to cease and steer clear so could set his weapon to maximum power. He aimed it at the group and Cerise activated her Shields to create a two layer force field dome but it didn't look like it would hold up since she was reaching her limit. "Firing main cannon."

Expecting to be hit, everyone closed their eyes. They did hear the laser land, but not on them. In front of them were the Wings of Icarus, but it was facing them instead of the laser as it blasted the other side. 'Did Ghost do some last minute save again?' Silver thought, but the surprised look on his friend's face said otherwise.

After the laser dispersed, the shield was lifted, revealing their savior to be the weapon's rightful owner, Zelts Allister with his eyes glowing gold from his semblance, Conversion. He split the shield into wingblades unleashed a powerful gale that hit all sixty of the remaining Greyhound members then looked back at the ragtag group.

"Hey" he said in a quiet tone, he always carries a serious when he was charged up by his semblance.

Silver fell to his knees staring at his friend alive. "You're alive," his voice was breaking slightly.

Zelts confirmed this with a nod at Silver making him happier but it disappeared when he asked "The others. Are they-" his question was cut short when Remus teleported in front of him.

"Hey Silver," he said cheery like it was a normal day.

In the cathedral they could hear footsteps. Everyone turned to see Violet with a serious look on her face as she walked until she was a few feet away from Silver. She didn't do anything but stare at him in silence and no one dared to say anything either.

"Silver." She was a bit cold, but Silver didn't mind, he was too overwhelmed to know that his friends are alive.

"But I saw you board the ship, how did you make it out?" He really wanted to know.

"You can thank us for that" Bolt said turning Silver's attention to his and Ghost

I told you I was against our plan from the start," Ghost said drawing Silver's attention. "The day you told me you met with a member of Greyhound and was a part of Greyhound, I punched you in the eye. We talked about it and I got over it, but I was not happy with your little suicide plan because I doubted Greyhound would let you do as you pleased and I was right. I told you about the layout of the underground passageways and you told me to place explosives all around them, but I wasn't going to do that. Instead, Bolt and I kept ours eyes on you until you made contact with the leader. Bolt went to get ready for his part of the plan while I stayed out of sight and spied on them while you were away and like I thought, they placed their own explosives onto the airship before you came back.

2 hours ago

Setting: Desert

While Silver was talking to Slate, Ghost used Spectre a to phase through the sand to the ship and Bolt used his semblance to speed undetected to the ship. There was no pilot so it was on autopilot with a fixed destination meaning no crew members to deal with. They made it to the passenger area where Violet, Remus, and Zelts were being held hostage with the high-tech handcuffs keeping them in place. His presence surprised everyone.

Ghost? What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're in on this too, you hate Greyhound more than anyone! And who is this?" Violet was confused as he used Purgatory's lightning dust to short circuit the handcuffs.

"We're here to free you guys, covertly and this is a friend of Clair's, Bolt Rai," he said making sure his voice was low so no one could hear, but with the roaring of the engine, he could speak in a normal tone without fear of exposure.

"Hi" Bolt said freeing Zelts

"Hello I'm Violet Tulipe, This is Zelts Allister and Remus Cobalt" Violet said introducing her team

"Hello" Zelts said shaking Bolt's hand

"I'm gonna kill Silver," she said in anger.

"Don't, it's not his fault, if anything he wanted to keep you guys safe and away from his past sins. Which is why he planned to send you guys to Anima to start a new life without him. Not the best plan, but that's what he came up with," Ghost said on his friend's behalf.

If that was his plan, then why are you against it?" Zelts asked still perplexed by the situation.

"He was so focused on protecting you guys he never expected Greyhound to pull a fast one and kill you guys anyway, luckily for you and him, I didn't trust them and I was right not to, they rigged this thing to blow so were leaving," Ghost answered freeing Remus.
"So this isn't the surprise?" Remus asked still believing in Silver's lie. Ghost didn't want or have time to explain this to him as he set his priorities on escaping.

"Grab on."

Zelts and Violet put a hand on both his shoulders and Remus placed his hand on Zelts and Bolt put his hand on Violet. Ghost activated Spectre and all five of them became Ghostly as they phased through the airship and through the sand until they were a good distance away from being detected. He ended his semblance while Violet used hers to make them all invisible as they laid in the sand watching the events transpire.

She was still angry with Silver and was determined to get back at him regardless of his desire to protect them. He was the double agent that blew up their home and hurt her friends. Okay, she can admit she was the one who destroyed the base, but she was still furious. As the airship exploded, Violet observed Silver's behavior and was astonished by his emotions and actions, everyone was. This was the first time any of them saw him cry and it was strange for them. Remus felt bad for his friend, he thought this was an awful surprise, Zelts was angry, but not as angry as Violet, but it disappeared when he saw how distraught Silver was, and Violet's anger lessened greatly, but she still wanted him to pay in some fashion. As Greyhound marched to the outskirts, VRSZ and Ghost beat them there using Remus's Checkpoint, but the multiple uses to reach Fortuna left him drained so they walked the rest of the way to their next destination, Ceres.

"I'm going to go get ready for my part of Silver's Ghost, be ready with yours." Bolt said using his semblance to run fulfill his part of the plan as the others went to destination.

'Superspeed huh?' Violet questioned

"From what Clair told me, he could probably beat us all but she said not to worry about him he would betray us" Ghost said

"I think it's best if we don't tell them the whole story, they're more likely to give it their all if they think they're helping a friend," Ghost told Violet before she knocked on the door. She looked to Zelts for his opinion and he nodded in agreement. She knew it was late at night, but Team CLSH was more than eager to join VRSZ in battle.

Setting: Cathedral

On the roof of the cathedral, everyone watched the unraveling of Silver's plan.

"You didn't set the charges did you?" Violet asked Ghost.

"Nope," he answered as they watched Silver jump to the second floor balcony and Bolt run following.

"Uh, shouldn't we help him now?" Cerise asked as she and the other girls were getting worried for Silver's safety.

Violet was still a little upset and thought leaving him to suffer at the last minute was fitting. "Not yet," she said calmly.

When Silver and Bolt was being pressured behind a column, Violet decided to make a move. "Ghost, you go. Don't let him know we're here."

He put his hand on Zelts' shoulder to get his attention. "Can I get some help on with this?" he asked referring to the shield.

"Sure," Zelts answered as he stood over the roof. He aimed his shield at just the right angle and threw it hard enough to break through the roof and Ghost followed.

With the trio holding their own, Violet decided it was CLSH's turn to join the fray. "Remus, use your semblance to take CLSH to the cathedral's front door, it's their turn."

Really? We can finally help?" Hazel asked relieved.

"Yes, but this is also a chance to show VRSZ how well you function in real combat," Violet said and the juniors were more than happy to prove their worth. Remus teleported the girls down to ground level so they could help Silver, Ghost, and Bolt.

Violet and Zelts were alone on the roof so he finally asked. "What are you going to do with him afterwards?" he asked curiously. In the beginning of VRSZ time together, Violet asked Zelts if it was worth keeping Silver on the team and he said to do what she feels is right and they would follow her. She chose to keep him and it brought Greyhound, something that comes with the cost of her choices and now Zelts wanted to know what her choice is about Silver's future standing.

"I've already decided, I'll let him know what it is when I have the chance." she said and it was hard for him to get a read on what she meant by that. Remus returned and they continued to watch the fight from above.

"CLSH is very good, they're utilizing what we taught them well," Zelts complimented and Violet nodded in agreement, however, they both knew CLSH would need help soon because they are too young and inexperienced to win this fight.

'This Bolt guy is good as well, but he hasn't used any weapons. Not the sword or the guns. I hope Clair is right about him' Violet thought

"I'm so bored. Where is the surprise in watching," Remus whined and Violet grinned at her young friend's plight.

"Okay Remus, it's our turn," she said and it got him out of his funk in an instant.

"Really?"

"Let's go," she said as he teleported them into the cathedral so Zelts could grab his shield, then teleported him in front of the green laser leaving Violet in the building to walk to the battle.

Current Time

Silver was dumbfounded at the events that his friends described. 'So all this time, Ghost and Bolt were pretending they were still dead, just for fun,' he thought then brought his attention to Violet watching her draw a Vorpal Sword from her bag.

Everyone expected her to hurt him, but she threw it past him and it landed on a stray hound that was coming for them, it hit and electrocuted the hound till he was incapacitated. "What are you waiting for?" she said to Silver who looked at her baffled, actually everyone had the same expression he had.

"Uh?" Silver didn't know what to say.

"Get up and fight already. I really want this day to end."

'She's helping me?' he thought like it was the weirdest thing in the world.

He looked around as everyone was preparing to fight at his side. 'They're all..helping me.' Silver never felt so confused and happy at the same time.

"Guess it's time to get serious then" Bolt said pulling out his guns, Rosé, twin pistols with Cerise fangirling about them

"I just have one question Silver," Violet said and he was a little worried what it could be. "Whose side are you on?"

Usually Silver's answer would've been 'the winning team,' but he didn't need to say that ever again, he had a new answer.

"My family," he answered completely sure of himself. Violet seemed satisfied with that answer based on her small grin before facing the enemy with a fierce look.

"The battle truly begins no-"

"Silver," Remus whispered interrupting his inner monologue.

"Yeah?"

"I've been waiting a long time to say this." Remus said and Silver thought he was going get berated by Remus of all people so he braced for it. "Is this the surprise? I'm a little tired of waiting?"

Silver was amazed he still believed this was all a surprise and that he didn't believe Silver betray him. Impressed with his friend's belief in him, he satisfied his curiosity. "Yes, this is the surprise. Bianca brought her friends so we can have a...battle party, our team against hers," Silver lied to his friend, probably for the last time.

You game?" he said enticing his friend who smiled a little too enthusiastically then dashed into the fray.

"VRSZ is back," he thought with a smile of his own.

Coming up: Chapter 10: Lighting Strikes in Vacuo