FELLOWSHIP

Main author: Guile Mustang

Co-authors: Legendary Biologist, DarkHorse26

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except the OCs.

ooo

CHAPTER 11: The Master Explains It All

Cardboards and wires filled this rather silent rectangular room. Only the rumbling sounds of a CPU were audible in this warehouse-like chamber.

Right now, Hachiro was sitting still on the chair in front of his computer desk. With a hand on his chin, he was wondering about an unbelievable issue.

I just can't believe it… Yoshino is being mean to Guile?

If it were not his son telling him about this, he would not have believed it. First of all, Yoshino's father, Jirou Kobayashi, was a huge fan of Guile.

But that was not the biggest problem. Jirou was a compassionate doctor, and it was probably his kind heart that made him empathize with Guile. But why was Yoshino far so different from him?

Thinking of this gave Hachiro a headache. In a fit of rage, he slammed his fists to the plastic desk. "I have to snap Yoshino out of this! Besides, if she remains like this in her life, she can never be a good doctor like her father!"

Beep!

Hearing this, Hachiro instantly looked at the monitor. There was a new inbox message. He clicked on it and read it for a moment.

"So, two out of three beings are now capable of evolving. I bet they are all doing well with the kids."

Hachiro gasped at the message. Yes, Draggy and Starky were fine, but Guile appeared to have a serious problem.

However, Hachiro would rather speak the truth, although it would not sound nice for Luccia. Who knew that she could help giving a solution to solve Guile's problem?

He mashed the keys on the keyboard rapidly.

"Draggy and Starky are fine, but Guile is not. I heard from my son that his partner was very mean towards him."

After that, he clicked on the 'send' button.

For a few minutes, Hachiro sat idly on his chair, waiting for Luccia to reply the message.

Beep!

Hachiro clicked on the message and read it.

"That doesn't sound good. If I may know, does the gadget which belongs to Guile's partner shatter? If it does, this means that they are no longer together."

Hachiro let out a 'huh'. He did not know anything about it, but maybe he could ask Chikara and Starky about this, although he was certain that they also knew nothing.

Or perhaps they knew. Starky's words seemed to imply this kind of incident.

"Yeah, but Guile is now free from that meanie!"

But Hachiro would not tell something he doubted. He stood up and turned around, walking towards the exit door of his computer room.

As he opened the door, he saw Chikara standing still with his hand raised and balled slightly.

Smirking, Chikara said, "Eh, sorry, Dad! I didn't mean anything! I was just about to knock the door and tell you to have dinner together with us."

"Never mind," Hachiro replied. "Tell Mom and Haruko that I'll join later."

"Okay." With that, Chikara turned around.

However, before he could walk away, Hachiro said, "Wait a minute, Chikara."

Chikara looked at Hachiro. "Yes?"

"I have a question," Hachiro calmly spoke. "By any chance you know about the condition of Yoshino's gadget?"

"Huh?" Chikara blinked. "It's odd, but it shattered. I couldn't understand why such thing happened."

"I see," Hachiro muttered. "Okay, don't worry about it for now."

"Yes," Chikara responded, before turning around. "I'll go to have dinner first, Dad. Don't forget to have yours too."

Hachiro nodded, before reentering his room. He then closed the door gently and walked towards his computer desk.

Sitting down, he began typing a message.

"Yes, the gadget shattered. I wonder if it can reform again."

After that, he clicked on the 'send' button.

Upon doing so, Hachiro held his head. Just what had Yoshino done to the point her gadget had to shatter?

"Guile, if things don't go well for you, I'm very sorry," Hachiro muttered. "I should've chosen someone else for you."

At this, Hachiro closed his eyes as he recalled the content of Luccia's message about Guile.

"I am writing this under Lady Riddel's request. Now that you have received the Chrono Cross element and known its effect, we want you to do a favor.

Find someone whom you think as a kind person in a loving family. If the person has something you call 'Battle Board' and the character is Guile, give him/her the element.

Lady Riddel requests this because as you know, Guile is an unhappy person in his heart. Three years ago, he lost to Lady Riddel in the finals of El Nido Wizard Tournament at Magic Guild, but I was impressed that he deliberately did it for an odd yet honorable reason.

When the match was over, his mother was upset at his performance and yelled at him for holding back in the fight. But Guile insisted that dueling would risk Lady Riddel's well-being, while her father, Lord Viper, had helped him many times when he was young.

Unfortunately, things did not go well. His mother said that Guile was no different from his real father, whose similar acts led to his death. After that, she cast a self-destruct spell in an attempt to kill everybody. It turned the island where Magic Guild once was into a deserted place, while Lady Riddel barely saved us and Guile with her magic.

When Guile realized that his mother had killed herself in front of him, he lost his sanity. He screamed all day and smashed the objects at Viper Manor with his fists, injuring himself as well. It took Sir Glenn, Sir Karsh, Sir Zoah, Miss Marcy, and a few Acacia Dragoons to hold him so that I could inject tranquilizer on him. Due to our fear, we even had to strap him to a bed.

When he woke up, he remained creepily silent and kept giving out empty glares. It took about a day to snap him out of it, but by the time we did, he asked us to release him. We were confused, but he said that he only wanted to return to where he came from. Then we decided that he probably needed some time to be alone, so we let him leave.

Since then, he had never visited us, but we believed that he probably had been less stressful.

So, please find a loving family for Guile. Hopefully, with them, he would be more emotionally stable and grow stronger as well.

Don't worry; I'm sure that he's ready for this. I've sent him an anonymous letter and told him to follow the directions. If he does, everything should go well for him unless…he is unlucky."

Hachiro opened his eyes and stood up, walking towards a cardboard beside his desk. Crouching, he shuffled through the tattered documents. After a minute of digging, he picked up a few sheets of ragged, yellowish paper.

Looking at the contents, he muttered, "I think this is my fault too. I should've modified the script when I programmed Guile." He gripped the papers tightly, scrunching them. "A normal person of course, can't stand losing his family over and over again!"

Beep!

Hachiro stood up and returned to his seat. As he sat on his chair, he placed the papers on the desk before clicking on the new message.

"It can, only if Guile and his partner decide to be together again. The gadget itself is never destroyed because it represents the bond between the human partner and the being. When two people have befriended each other and they suddenly break up, in their hearts, they can still think about each other. The broken bond is just like the gadget; it still exists even when it has shattered."

Hachiro smiled at the message. That was indeed, good news.

So, tomorrow I'll only need to talk to Yoshino… I guess I have another phone to call before having dinner.

Looking at the ragged papers, Hachiro spoke silently, "For a good measure, I'll bring these in case my words fail to reach Yoshino tomorrow."

ooo

Yoshino was standing, looking through the window of her bedroom.

Looking at the tree where she first saw Guile, she muttered, "Guile, I was very cruel to you, wasn't I?"

Silence.

With tears brimming in her eyes, she continued quietly, "I truly wish that you hear me now. I…" She paused momentarily, before sobbing. "I wonder if you'll forgive me. I just think that my acts are terrible."

All of a sudden, she heard a woman's voice calling her name loudly.

In response, Yoshino turned and rushed towards the exit door of her room. Was there anything wrong happening?

As she stepped out of her bedroom, she found her grandma hanging up a phone and looking at her.

"You've finally heard my voice, eh?" Nana asked. "Really, sonny, you're just getting increasingly weird."

Yoshino bowed down.

"Anyway, the phone call was from Hachiro Jikan," Nana said. "I guess you know him, huh?"

Yoshino nodded slightly. She did not know the name Hachiro, but the surname, Jikan, was the same with Chikara's, her junior.

"We talked a lot about you and that game character," Nana spoke calmly. "He said that he learnt many things from his son."

There was a pause as Yoshino tried to interpret what her grandma was talking about. Son? Could Hachiro be Chikara's father?

"By the way, his son's name is Chikara," Nana added.

Yoshino gasped at the remark. She had not been nice towards Chikara either.

"I…I was being so ill-mannered, right?" she stammered.

"Correct," Nana answered. "However, Hachiro wants to help you."

Yoshino raised her head. "Help me?"

"Yep, he hopes that with his help, you can get along well with that character," Nana replied. "He wants to meet you at Shinjuku Park tomorrow."

A weak smile crept to Yoshino's face as tears trickled down her cheeks. "I'm glad… Thank you so much."

"However, there's no guarantee that his plan will work, okay?" Nana said mockingly. "You've been outrageously cruel, and if the game character doesn't forgive you even after you've had Hachiro's help, it's legitimate."

Yoshino nodded. Without saying anything, she turned and walked towards her bedroom.

Judging from her grandma's voice, it appeared that apologizing would be useless… No, not yet! She had not even tried talking to Guile about it.

In short, she believed that he might forgive her.

Whatever it takes, I'll show Guile that I'm no longer the cruel person I used to be!

ooo

It was Sunday.

The morning breeze blew, sending dust flying across a bus stop. There was nobody around, except one.

Sitting on a bench with a leather rucksack resting beside him, Ari looked at the empty streets blankly.

Scratching his head, Ari wondered out loud, "I'm pretty sure that it's 8.30 now, but isn't it strange? No bus. There aren't many cars even."

He waited and waited, but soon, he yawned. Sitting still for fifteen minutes was just boring.

As his head dropped down, a familiar voice snapped him out of his drowsiness. "Hey, buddy! Don't fall asleep!"

Looking at his left side, he saw a spiky-haired boy in black t-shirt and breeches walking towards him with a bulky leather sling bag.

"Akira! Aren't you going to have a soccer game with your friends?" Ari asked.

Akira stopped and sat beside Ari. "Nobody has the guts to come out."

"Huh?"

"Many people at West Shinjuku felt a tremor last night," Akira said. "Some claimed that it was just feeling, but most of them were scared."

A tremor… Shinjuku Park was at West Shinjuku… An overgrown dragon was there…

Ari gulped. "It c-can't be! Draggy!"

Akira blinked.

"Draggy is a huge dragon, and it's more than possible for him to cause something like that!" Ari shouted.

"Hey, think positive!" Akira waved his hands, smiling. "Things ain't really clear yet, right?"

Silence.

Akira rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe it's not Draggy. People are just crazy."

Ari raised an eyebrow. His friend sounded confident and relaxed.

"Sometimes you shouldn't worry too much," Akira added. "It's bad for health, y'know! It'll only make ya stressful!"

Ari nodded slightly. Akira was speaking the right thing.

"Anyway, I'm heading to Shinjuku Park too," Akira spoke. Patting the sling bag beside him, he added, "I also bring medicines, swabs, bandages, etc. Who knows that those characters will get into a bloody fight again? A tube of ointment won't help much if such thing happens."

Ari smiled at Akira's remark. His statement was true; if he had brought those things yesterday, Guile should have received a better treatment for his injuries. However, it would still be wise to bring those items today. Ari believed that Guile might not have recovered so fast.

As Akira stopped talking, the area became quiet again. Only the howling sound of the wind was audible, followed with a few rustles when the breeze blew some plastic bags and leaves across the streets.

All of a sudden, a continuous roar from an engine broke the silence. The area around the bus stop was growing hotter as the stench of exhaust gas was palpable.

Soon, a large white bus stopped in front of Ari and Akira.

"Ha! Finally!" Akira shouted, standing up as the doors of the bus opened.

"Okay, let's go!" Ari said, standing up and following Akira into the bus.

ooo

Once they were inside the bus, the environment was different. Unlike outside, it was cool and free from dust. The air inside was so cold that the windowpanes of the bus were steamy.

The only similarity with outside was that the bus was desolate. The only passengers in the bus seemed to be Ari and Akira…until they heard a familiar boy's voice calling out Ari's name from Ari's right side.

Looking at the source of the voice, Ari saw Chikara hugging a bulky rucksack and sitting beside a grey-haired man with a briefcase on his lap. The two people looked alike due to their sharp noses and apple-shaped chin, except that the older man was wearing a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.

Ari walked towards them and asked, "Chikara and um…mister, er…"

"This is my dad," Chikara said, smiling. "He phoned you yesterday."

Ari let out an 'ah' and nodded.

"Why don't you have a seat first?" Chikara's dad, Hachiro, asked.

"It's easier to talk by standing like this," Akira simply replied.

Hachiro smirked. "That's not the main problem."

"Wha-"

As the bus doors slammed shut, a loud roar of an engine reverberated. The bus accelerated, and at this, Ari and Akira swayed momentarily.

Hachiro covered his mouth with a hand and giggled. "You understand what I mean?"

Akira grabbed the edge of Chikara's seat to regain composure. Meanwhile, Ari's way of keeping his balance was holding Akira's shoulders as if he were playing trains.

"You'd better have a seat until we arrive at Shinjuku Park," Hachiro calmly said. "Besides, it won't be a good idea to discuss that topic here."

Ari nodded, releasing Akira's shoulders before walking towards the leather seats slowly like a drunken old man. He sat down, looked to his left side, and sighed. Akira was still standing beside Chikara and Hachiro.

"Have a seat, unless you think your legs are strong enough to support you until we arrive at Shinjuku Park," Hachiro said jokingly.

Akira grinned. "I do sports almost every day, so I have strong legs!"

"But Akira, what if the bus is suddenly taking a sharp turn or stopping?" Ari asked.

"I can still stand," Akira replied.

SCREECH!

The bus stopped in front of a traffic light abruptly.

But that was not what Ari was interested in. He preferred seeing how Akira would react at this.

It was a rather funny sight to behold. For a moment, Akira was like a swaying piece of cloth, teetering from side to side.

Suddenly, Akira turned and released his grip on the edge of the seat. "Fine. I give up."

Ari giggled as he watched Akira walking towards him with a sulky face.

"Nothing's funny, buddy," Akira mumbled, sitting on the seat beside Ari.

ooo

Streaks of sunlight peeked into the shed through the iron prison-like door, bringing warmth with them.

But for a sleeping Draggy, it was already warm. There was something smooth and comfy covering his body, leaving only his head uncovered.

Hey, there was a blanket? Draggy was pretty sure that there was no such thing when he fell asleep after running around with Pip for hours!

Snapping his eyes open, Draggy pushed away the smooth blanket and stood up. Apparently, it was a white silk coat, which had been a comfy cover for him.

But whose coat was that?

"You're awake, Draggy?" a gentle voice asked.

Draggy turned and saw a shirtless Guile walking towards him with a sleeping Pip cradled in his arms.

"Um, this is Guile's coat?" Draggy asked.

Guile nodded and gave out a gentle smile; the type of smile that a father would show to a child.

"Eh? How can Guile's coat be here?" Draggy questioned again.

"It was a bit cold last night, so I let you use it as a blanket," Guile answered. "The chilling weather was also why I held Pip close to me. I was afraid that he might catch a cold."

"Cold?" Draggy blinked momentarily, before adding, "If it were cold, why Guile didn't wear the coat?"

"Your well-being is the most important," Guile replied. "Besides, I can withstand cold weather without my coat."

"But Guile mustn't get sick too!" Draggy argued.

"It is…fine for me." Guile sat on the concrete floor, his legs crossed. "I just don't like seeing good children like you and Pip suffering."

Silence.

"Just forget about it, Draggy," Guile muttered. "I'm glad as long as you and Pip are healthy."

All of a sudden, a shrill shriek reverberated, prompting Guile to stand up and turn.

"Guile?" Draggy stood up as well. "What's wrong?"

"There is something outside," Guile replied, leaping into the air.

"Guile is going out? Draggy will follow!" Draggy said, spreading his wings.

There was a pause before Guile responded with a 'fine'. With that, he flew out of the shed quickly.

Looking at this, Draggy jumped and flapped his wings rapidly to catch up with Guile.

In less than five seconds, they made it out of the shed. Outside, they saw a child kneeling on the scorched ground with his head bowed and both of his hands placed on the floor.

"T-that's…" Guile stuttered, before gliding towards the child at frightening speed. "Ari!"

Draggy blinked. "Ari? That's Ari?" Soon, he also followed Guile. "Draggy is coming to Ari!"

Guile stopped and landed steadily in front of the child. However, Draggy flew past Guile and rammed the child lightly on the head.

"Ari! Draggy is here!" Draggy shouted, landing on the ground with both of his feet.

"Draggy? Is that you, Draggy?" Ari asked, raising his head and revealing his teary eyes.

Draggy nodded. "Why is Ari crying?"

"I…" Suddenly, Ari got up and hugged Draggy. "I was so worried about you! When I saw the mess here, I thought you were-"

Draggy returned the hug. "Draggy is okay. There's Guile."

"But he's still hurt!" Ari screamed.

Draggy released Ari and said, "Not anymore. Guile ate Skelly's bones and got well!"

"Eh?" Ari blinked. "Ate…Skelly's…bones?"

Two questions popped up in Ari's mind. First, bones were inedible, and how could Guile eat them? Second, if there were Skelly's bones, perhaps there had been a fight?

In short, Draggy's remark only made Ari's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Draggy poorly worded what happened yesterday." Guile smiled, walking towards Ari. "I crushed Skelly's bones and absorbed the remnants. I was healed thanks to that." He paused momentarily. "Skelly is still alive, but he can't do anything only with his skull."

Silence.

Ari thought it was too silly to believe in it, but a careful look at Guile's body convinced him that it was not a lie. There was no single wound on Guile's chiseled torso.

"Don't worry too much, Ari," Guile said. "I won't let anything hurt Draggy." He looked at the sleeping Pip in his hands. "I won't let any harm happen to Pip as well."

"But…" Ari muttered, before saying aloud, "That must have been rough for you!" He rushed towards Guile and wrapped his arms around the latter's narrow waist. Crying, he yelled, "You didn't even walk right when we left you yesterday!"

"That's…fine for me," Guile replied, looking at Ari and smiling tearfully. "Such injuries won't stop me from taking care of Draggy and Pip."

Ari spent a moment crying softly into Guile's flat yet toned abdomen and hugging him tightly.

Suddenly, a childlike voice broke the silence. "Huh? Why is everybody crying?"

Hearing that, Ari leaned back and let go of Guile. He looked at the source of the voice and saw that Pip had woken up.

"Everybody is crying!" Pip added.

"I cried because I was so worried!" Ari bawled.

"Why is Guile crying too?" Pip asked.

Guile blushed and almost dropped Pip from his hands. "Er, eh…" He chuckled. "No, er… The wind has just, uh, blown dust and sand into my eyes."

"Really?" Pip asked again.

"You talked a bit strangely, Guile," Ari commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Guile cried when Ari said something," Draggy added.

Guile closed his eyes and smiled. "I think I can't tell a lie, so I'll speak the truth." He then opened his eyes gently. "When someone shows genuine kindness to me, I am touched. I just…like it."

"Oh." Ari nodded. It was weird to know that Guile liked being loved, but right now, Ari believed that he might make Guile cry if he asked the reason.

All of a sudden, a couple of shouts echoed across the park.

Ari turned and saw Akira, Hachiro, and Chikara running towards him, Draggy, and Guile.

"Sorry for being late, Ari," Hachiro said. "We observed the surroundings, and it seemed to be a real mess."

"Yeah, this must be related to the tremor here yesterday," Akira added.

"Um, don't you notice something?" Chikara asked. "Draggy has shrunk."

"What?" Ari gasped and turned his attention to Draggy. Yes, Draggy had shrunk.

Chikara snickered. "I bet you were so panicked that you didn't notice it."

Akira walked towards Draggy and patted the dragon's back. "Really, Ari. You shouldn't be such a nervous wreck. You see? Things don't always go as bad as you think!" He looked at Draggy. "Right, Draggy?"

Draggy nodded.

"B-but…" Ari stammered. "How could Draggy shrink?"

"Actually, Draggy was starving yesterday. I was too late to return with food." Guile frowned slightly. "I felt sorry for leaving Draggy like that, but it appeared to be a fortune in disguise."

"Ah." Hachiro nodded and stroked his chin. "My guess is right."

Ari let out a 'huh' and blinked.

"An evolved character will shrink when his body has lost too much energy," Hachiro said. "There are several things that can cause the loss: injury, hunger, and exhaustion."

"But isn't it terrible to let an evolved character shrink like that?" Ari asked. "Isn't there another way?"

"There is," Hachiro answered. "I've developed a program to make the evolved character shrink without having to suffer." He sat on the floor and placed his briefcase beside him. "All of you have a seat too. This will be very long, and I understand if you fall asleep in process."

Watching Hachiro taking a laptop out of his briefcase, Akira sneered. "Oh, mister. Is it really that long and boring?"

Hachiro placed his laptop on the ground. "We'll wait and see."

"Talking about boring, I'd better take Starky out of my bag now," Chikara said, sitting on the ground and holding his bulky rucksack in front of him. As he unzipped the bag, he gawked with his eyes on the verge of popping out.

"Chikara?" Ari asked.

"STARKY!" Chikara yelled at Starky, who was sleeping inside his bag with a pile of candy and chocolate wraps as a cushion.

Starky opened his eyes. "It's so boring inside, so I thought that eating these candies and chocolates would make me less bored."

Chikara picked Starky up by his body and yelled, "I brought those for everybody, not just you!"

"I didn't eat too much. Just check your bag," Starky said nonchalantly.

Chikara grumbled and looked into his rucksack. Sure, there were just loads of plastic wraps in it, but surrounding the rubbish, there were many intact bags of candies, chocolates, and cookies.

"What do you think?" Starky asked.

"Uh, okay then." Chikara sighed. "But next time, don't eat my stuff without my permission!"

"Chikara," Hachiro called.

Chikara looked at his dad, whose laptop had a red gadget plugged on its left side.

"Don't worry about food right now," Hachiro said calmly. "After this, Starky will have to use much energy."

"Why?" Chikara asked.

Hachiro looked at Ari, who was sitting on the ground with Akira, Draggy, Guile, and Pip beside him.

"Oh, yeah. While you're busy talking to Starky about your candies and chocolates, mister wants our characters to spar," Ari said.

"Sparring? You mean Draggy and Starky will fight each other?" Chikara asked.

Hachiro nodded. "Sparring is beneficial. Your characters can be stronger and more skillful that way."

"At first, I was really against this because this would hurt both Draggy and Starky, but…" Ari paused for a while. "…mister said that when a character was injured, they would grow tougher after recovering. There's also a solution for healing them."

"It's subtle anyway," Hachiro said. "Unless the character is gravely wounded, his endurance will only improve a bit."

"Gravely…wounded?" Guile questioned.

Everybody looked at Guile, speechless at his reaction towards Hachiro's remark.

Suddenly, Akira managed to comment, "Guile was seriously injured yesterday, but he had recovered. I think he must be very tough now."

"How serious?" Hachiro asked.

"Lotsa bruises with broken ribs," Akira answered.

"And at night, Skelly came. Guile tried to protect Draggy and Pip, but Skelly beat Guile up and made Draggy's fireball hit Guile," Draggy added. He then spoke cheerfully, "Luckily Guile thought of a very cool attack and broke Skelly's bones with it!"

"And then, Guile's foot was bleeding because he gave his blood to Draggy," Pip continued. "He didn't want Draggy to be hungry."

"What the hell!" Ari screamed as tears were visible in his eyes. Looking at Guile, he yelled, "You did all that just for Draggy? And you even gave him your blood?"

Guile bowed slightly. "Not just for Draggy, but also for you. You've been very kind to me, and I truly appreciate that."

Ari snapped at Guile, "You don't have to go that far! Don't you know that you're risking your life that way?"

"It's…an instinct," Guile replied silently, bowing to the point his sight was only at his crossed legs.

"That's really stupid, you know!" Ari yelled. "Why are you going so far like that?"

"Ari, stop that!" Hachiro roared. "There are many things Guile can't easily let out, so…calm down!"

"Listen to my dad, Ari," Chikara suggested.

"There is something I want to tell you about Guile, but I don't think Guile is ready to listen about it," Hachiro said. "I'll elaborate it when he has found something he longs for."

"Don't mention anything about it even if you know it, sir," Guile mumbled.

"Looks like we can't talk a lot right now, but let's forget about it," Hachiro said. "Uh, where are we now?"

"About sparring and growing tougher," Chikara replied.

"Hmm, I remember now," Hachiro uttered. "Talking about Guile's injuries, they should have made him much tougher than yesterday because he seemed to have recovered."

"And he said something about absorbing Skelly's bones," Ari added. "His recovery has something in common with it?"

Hachiro nodded. "Absorbing data is like having a meal. It's also good for healing injuries."

"Oh, that makes sense!" Ari exclaimed.

"And I thought I heard Draggy saying Guile attacking Skelly with a cool move," Akira remarked. "I wonder what move it is."

"Hmm…?" Guile raised his head, revealing his droopy face.

Looking at Guile, Ari said, "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, Guile. I just went too far earlier, because I was also worried about you."

Hearing that, Guile smiled slightly. "It's…fine. Thank you for your concern, but please don't worry too much about me next time."

"That's right," Hachiro said. "Guile has survived such serious wounds and recovered. You can imagine how resilient he is now."

"Basically, Guile is already very tough," Chikara said. "He even shrugged off Starky's Raydiation. Then, he survived Starky's thrashings."

"Hey, guys! Don't forget about me!" Akira complained. "I'm really curious about the cool move Draggy mentioned!"

Guile clenched his right hand and raised his fist. "The name is Tremor Fist. It's similar to casting an earth spell that involves breaking the ground."

"Then what makes it different from an earth spell?" Akira asked.

"An earth spell often involves a punch that creates invisible shockwaves with the capability of destroying any solid objects nearby," Guile answered. "As for this Tremor Fist, instead of hitting the ground, I strike the foe with my fist."

"And the foe 'breaks' like the earth because of the shockwaves! Oh, wow! That sounds awesome!" Akira cheered.

"That is a devastating move," Chikara said. "Even if it doesn't manage to kill the foe, it's powerful enough to paralyze the enemy. Imagine having all the bones in your body broken!" He suddenly added, "Oh, invisible shockwaves, right? Your punch is still dangerous if your foe barely dodges it. The shockwave can still shake and damage the bones nearby."

"But there is the drawback," Guile added, pointing at his elbow with his other hand. "After punching, my elbow hurts so much that I can't even move my arm."

"Your elbow hurts?" Akira questioned.

Guile nodded.

"Can you show me how you punch?" Akira asked.

Guile raised an eyebrow. "Why? That is dangerous! I might hurt you!"

"I just suspect that the way you punch is related to your elbow injury," Akira answered.

"But-"

Akira interrupted, "You just need to show the way you punch! It won't be dangerous, really!"

"Guile, trust Akira," Ari assured. "He's very experienced in sports. I'm sure that he can help you refine your attack."

"Do sports include fisticuffs?" Guile asked. "This move will probably go well with some experience in fistfights."

"Fisticuffs?" Akira scratched his head and looked at the sky. "It's not a kind of sport and can't really be taught. It's more like an instinctual ability, and you have to fight a lot with your fists to be more experienced in it." He returned his attention to Guile. "But I can give you some tips in punching techniques if you want."

"You can? I'd like to learn from you," Guile replied, smiling. "Thank you."

Standing up, Akira told Guile, "Anyway, let's head to the forest to train. There are lots of trees for us to use as training dummies!"

Guile nodded and stood up. He walked all his way into the forest area of the park with Akira.

As Guile and Akira began to disappear into the palisade of trees, Pip hopped quickly to follow them. However, Hachiro stopped him.

"Pip, stay here. We need you," Hachiro said.

"Why? I want to stay with Guile," Pip replied.

"Without you, Draggy and Starky can't evolve," Hachiro remarked. "Please understand."

"Besides, Guile has said that his training might be dangerous," Chikara added.

"D-dangerous?" Pip questioned. "Okay, I'll stay here." With that, he galloped towards Draggy, who soon wrapped his scaly arms around the white squirrel.

"As for you, kids, wait a minute," Hachiro said, pulling out Ari's gadget from his laptop and handing it to Ari. "Why don't you have a chat with everyone for a moment while I install the Growth Reversal Program at Chikara's gadget?"

"Um, okay," Ari said. Looking at Chikara handing his white gadget to Hachiro, he began, "About the tremor yesterday, do you think Guile is related to it?"

"I think he is," Chikara replied. "His new move is called 'Tremor Fist', and it's more than possible that he caused the tremor."

"This means that…" Ari turned to Draggy, who was laughing while tossing a laughing Pip into the air and catching him afterwards. "…Draggy didn't do anything bad while I was away!"

"Eh?" Draggy turned his attention to Ari, which resulted in Pip falling to the ground with a soft thud. "Guile said that Draggy and Pip were 'good children'. Guile also said that Ari might be proud of Draggy."

"I think Guile really keeps his promise of taking care of Draggy," Chikara commented, smiling. "Draggy seems to have matured emotionally."

"I'm glad!" Ari cheered. "I really don't know how to thank Guile for everything."

"Fine, all is set," Hachiro suddenly said, handing a white gadget to Chikara. "Now, point your gadget at your characters with the monitor facing them. After that, command your characters to evolve."

"We can evolve that way?" Starky asked.

"I'll give it a try." Chikara stood up and brought his gadget facing Starky. "Evolve, Starky!"

As he said that, Chikara's white gadget shone and shot a web of glowing white threads at Starky. The strings of light surrounded the alien, revolved, and merged, forming a glowing orb that encased him afterwards.

"Starky evolves!"

The orb grew from the size of a soccer ball into the size of something that would encase a healthy adult without a problem.

Soon, the sphere shattered, sending luminescent shards flying in all directions. They veered and merged into a pearl-like object, before hovering away and merging with Chikara's gadget.

"It's a success! Starky has evolved!" Chikara exclaimed, looking ahead at the humanoid alien with an oversized single-barreled rifle and bayonet in his hands.

The evolved Starky stood still and nodded. "Don't worry; I'm as tame as a domestic cat."

"It's your turn, Ari," Hachiro said.

Ari stood up and brought his gadget facing Draggy. "Evolve, Draggy!"

As the command left Ari's mouth, Ari's red gadget emitted crimson radiance and released a web of fiery threads towards Draggy. The blazing strings revolved around the dragon before merging and forming a fireball that encased him.

"Draggy evolves!"

The fireball bloated abruptly into a giant sphere of flame.

Within a split-second, the orb exploded and sent jets of flame rocketing in all directions. But before they could hit any objects, they veered and flew towards Ari's gadget, merging with it afterwards.

With the fireball's disappearance, Draggy was now visible in his evolved form. He was now a hulking dragon with a pair of large leathery wings.

"Good job, you all," Hachiro praised, shutting his laptop. "Now, let them spar for a while and after that, I'll teach you how to activate the Growth Reversal Program."

"Oh, before that, I'll tell you something, Ari," Chikara said. "I'm sure you've known about 'Element Swipe', right?"

"I saw you doing that a while back," Ari replied. "It's to activate support elements, right?"

Chikara nodded. "Yes, that's right. Do you know how to perform it?"

"I've never tried it," Ari answered.

"Give it a try then," Chikara encouraged, smiling.

Silence. At this, Ari had just remembered that he did not bring any element chips with him. Due to the loss of his Battle Board, he had completely forgotten about them.

"What's wrong?" Chikara asked, slightly worried.

"I don't bring any element chips," Ari muttered. "Can I borrow yours?"

"Sure!" Chikara took a black chip out of the pocket on his trousers and showed it to Ari. "This is 'Diminish'. Try swiping it, and let's start the spar."

Ari smiled at the element chip. "This is good. With magic power reduced, the characters can avoid serious injuries!"

"Well, just like I suspected, you might still a bit unwilling about the sparring, right?" Hachiro smiled, putting his laptop inside his briefcase.

"If it has to involve hurting these characters badly, I feel uneasy," Ari replied, taking the element from Chikara's hand. "I guess Draggy and Starky won't grow much tougher, but they can be more skillful."

Hachiro sneered. "That's exactly what I'm thinking!"

Giving out a friendly smile, Chikara shouted, "Swipe it, Ari!"

Ari brought the black chip sliding along the long slim slot on his gadget. "Element Swipe! Diminish!"

Transparent rings rose from the ground, emitting black aura as they flew into the sky before vanishing.

"It works!" Ari exclaimed.

"Begin the spar!" Hachiro shouted, standing up with his briefcase in his hand. "As for us, we'd better find a safe place to stand."

Ari nodded as he joined Chikara and Hachiro walking to a tree. Unbeknownst to them, a glowing Pip was following them.

Starky jumped into the air and raised his rifle, ready to smack Draggy with its barrel.

Seeing this, Draggy swung his left arm and knocked Starky down like swatting a fly.

"It isn't over yet!" Starky got up and brought the muzzle of his rifle facing Draggy. Cyan threads of light swirled in front of the gun, merging into a huge orb of light.

"Be careful, Draggy!" Ari shouted.

"Big Breath!" Draggy breathed out fully before entirely inhaling the air around him. The crackling of an uncontrollable fire is widely audible across the park as flames shot up from between his fangs.

"Show him all you've got, Starky!" Chikara encouraged.

"Plasma Cannonball!" Starky pulled the trigger of his rifle, sending the glowing ball flying towards Draggy.

At the same time, a massive torrent of flames spewed forth from Draggy's gaping maw.

Starky's cyan orb of light collided with Draggy's stream of blaze. On impact, the glowing sphere diffused the fire into tiny sparks of flame.

"Draggy!" Ari called out as the light ball hit Draggy's snout and detonated.

Draggy simply patted his charred snout with a paw. "Draggy is okay." His thick scales had protected him from Starky's attack almost entirely.

After that, Draggy attempted to whip Starky with his tail by spinning in a loop. However, he was too slow; Starky easily dodged it with a high jump.

"I'm smaller, so I'm faster, pal!" Starky said, swinging his rifle as he was less than half a meter away from Draggy's mouth.

The barrel of Starky's rifle hit Draggy on his snout. However, the blow was no different from a piece of wood hitting a slab of rock. It did not hurt Draggy even a bit.

As Starky was falling to the ground, Draggy swung his enormous paw. His palm landed on Starky's chest, knocking him down.

"Draggy is bigger, so Draggy is stronger!" Draggy smiled at Starky, who was lying on the ground and coughing.

"Hey, Starky! Try finding Draggy's weakness!" Chikara shouted from behind a tree. "Don't hit the scaly area!"

Still lying on the ground, Starky pointed at Draggy with his rifle.

As the tip of the barrel glowed with white light, Starky grinned. "I'm sure you're familiar with this attack."

Draggy blinked. A familiar attack? What was Starky talking about?

Suddenly, an answer came from Ari. "Whatever it is, Draggy, be careful!"

White sparks of pure energy crackled along the barrel of Starky's rifle. Within a split-second, Starky moved his gun a bit to his left side and pulled the trigger. "Maximal Raydiation!"

A streaming blast of light hurtled towards Draggy's right eye. Instinctively, Draggy tilted his head to the left. He managed to avoid the energy beam from damaging his eye; however, his right wing-like ear took the hit instead. The burst of light exploded on impact, scorching Draggy's right ear and leaving threads of smoke escaping from the burns.

Reacting to the searing pain, Draggy shook his head. Fortunately, the pain was mild; it was not too different from having a glass of moderately hot water poured on an exposed skin.

"Thanks to Diminish, Draggy is just suffering mild burns," Hachiro said. "I think they've fought enough, so…let's call it a day."

Tapping his injured ear lightly with a paw, Draggy let out a 'yay'.

Starky responded Hachiro's remark with a chuckle. "It's fun! We should do this often!"

"I'm against that, Starky," Chikara said. "I'm a bit worried about you too in this fight. You've taken some heavy blows to your body."

"Um, anyway mister…" Ari muttered. "How can Draggy and Starky shrink?"

"The way is just the same with how you make them evolve," Hachiro answered. "However, you command them to revert instead of evolving."

"I'll try." Ari brought his gadget facing Draggy. "Revert, Draggy!"

At this, Draggy glowed and as he shrank, his shining body released a cloud of golden molecules. They flew towards Ari's gadget and merged with it afterwards.

Draggy was just a wee reptile now. He immediately ran towards Ari and smiled. "Draggy has shrunk!"

"Yeah, I'm really glad!" Ari replied.

"It's my turn." Chikara brought his gadget facing Starky. "Revert, Starky!"

The command prompted Starky to glow. Soon, he shrank and as he did, his glowing body released a cluster of molecules. They made their way through the air to Chikara's gadget and merged with it afterwards.

"Now, I'll tell you something about healing," Hachiro said. "You can swipe a healing element to heal the characters. The way it works is just the same with other support elements."

"I don't bring any elements," Ari muttered.

"You can use mine, Ari," Chikara responded, taking out a green chip from the pocket on his trousers. "A 'Heal' should work."

"Thanks, Chikara." Ari took the element chip from Chikara's hand. Swiping the element along the long slim slot of his gadget, he shouted, "Element Swipe! Heal!"

As green light engulfed him, Draggy felt like there was a cool hand stroking his injured ear gently. It only took a few seconds until the burning pain faded entirely from his ear.

"Also, you have to remember. Like support elements, healing elements need some time to cool down," Hachiro remarked. "Depending on the element, it can take up to a day until it is usable again."

"It sounds a bit impractical," Ari commented. "Is there another way to heal a character?"

Hachiro nodded. "There is. Eating good food can also help a character's wound regeneration." Looking at Ari, he continued, "I hope you bring some food."

"Yeah, I bring a lot!" Ari replied cheerfully.

"I bring some snacks too," Chikara added.

"Food and snacks?" Draggy asked silently, before clapping his hands happily. "Yay!"

"Okay then, let's eat!" Ari said, taking off his rucksack.

"Can I have some too?" a childlike voice asked from behind.

From behind? The only children around were Draggy and Starky, and they were all standing in front of everybody.

Wait, it was probably Pip!

Right. Everybody turned to see Pip rubbing his paws and looking at them with puppy eyes.

"Pleeaaaase?" Pip asked.

"Of course!" Ari quickly replied.

ooo