The racers were charging through the halls of the lab battling with things such as robots and parasites.
"You get outta the way, weaklings!" Bowser roared at the minions.
"Guess you're playing the good guy again, Bowser!" Rainbow said.
"Don't remind me. It's not often i do." Bowser said. "And it feels weird."
"Can't argue with that pally!" Pete said rolling a bomb at the minions before it exploded.
"Man, these parasites are ugly!" USApyon said rapidly firing his blaster on them. "I keep filling them with laser holes, but they're resilient too."
"You need to either remove their head or destroy the heart of their human host." Adam said.
Rainbow sliced one in half and gave another a crushing boot to the face. "So, David. How easy is it to do an Arte?"
"You're asking me this now?" David asked.
"Now is not the time! We're fighting for our lives!" Gemina said.
David sighed at this. "Just watch Lloyd and the others. They're masters of this kind of stuff." David said as he charged a spell. "O frozen blades, fly sharply across the heavens... Freeze Lancer!" David chanted, shooting crystals at the enemies. He pierced right through them with ease.
"Okay. David, Hope, Eric. If you want to free the children, head to the right! That's where they're being kept." Falcon said as a robot got close. "Falcon...PUNCH!" he shouted shattering it.
"You heard him. Onward!" David said.
The three of them moved to the right leaving the others to fight the minions. As they approached the room, they saw hundreds to tubes stacked in rows.
"Numbers add up. 999." Eric said. "I'll let you…"
Before they could do anything, they heard footsteps approaching. The three of them hid as a scientist in a white lab coat and black goggles entered.
"Astro…" Eric growled.
"It seems things are becoming quite troublesome." Astro said to himself as he approached the console. "Contact Cindrey." he said as the screen flickered before showing the young girl herself.
"Astro...what is it you wish to talk to me about?" Cindrey asked.
"Unfortunate news, my lady. It appears the law has located my hidden lab. They're laying waste to my soldiers right now." Astro said.
"And the Enhanced Army?" Cindrey asked pointing to the children.
"Yes. And such a wonderful army they are. Making them was a great achievement of mine. Using powers from Devil Fruits, Magic and Quirks and infusing them into their very DNA. Such an amazing group of kids, and none of them even dies like the first time I tried this. Regardless, with what is happening, I'll have no choice but to destroy the brats and start a new batch from scratch." Astro said.
"It must be done." Cindrey said before her eyes open wide. "You have guests. One of them being...my pathetic pain in the neck brother."
Hope flipped the research table and came out of hiding.
"Cindrey…" Hope said. "I'm back."
"I know. I've known since the day you killed Harlequin. I honestly didn't think you had it in you to take a life." Cindrey said.
"I didn't kill anyone, Spade did." Hope said. "And as for you, I'm taking you down. You're letting all your psychic power go to your head by issuing total dominance of our family, MY family. We're not about to let you -" Hope said before his own arm began choking him.
"See that? I can do it just by looking at you. My power far exceeds that of the people I gained it from. Hope, listen to me well. You will not succeed. This is no longer your family. You abandoned it of your own choice. This family is mine. And I will not surrender it like that." Cindrey said.
"If that's what you think, then tell me…" David said. "How much do you really know your father?"
"I know he cares for this pathetic turncoat even after he ran away, though as much as I ponder, I cannot fathom why he would care for a son that left the family to pursue their own selfish goals." Cindrey said.
"I see. Because what we discovered back in Hyrule may surprise you." David said. "Too bad you'll never know...because I have no intention of telling you."
"You think...that means anything to me? I will succeed our father. He will die and I will take over. Now, as satisfying as it would to do away with Hope here, I would hate to deny Astro a chance." Cindrey said.
"It would be an honor." Astro said as the monitor turned off. "This is a chance to get rid of a little flea who doesn't know when to keep out."
"Hey, don't blame me for the old days when I kept nosing in on your experiments." Hope said.
"Ah...but I doubt you've seen this one." Astro smiled.
Eve reacted quickly. "Get away from him now!" she said as his body grew multiple blades and tentacles, all except for his head.
"Astro, what have you done to yourself?!" Hope said.
"My parasite research, wasn't the first. I learned of a powerful parasite known as Gotoh who was made up of 5 different parasites. My body...contains 10 of them!" Astro said.
"Youre nothing but a messed up madman now." Hope said. "Now, like all those times before… you'll let me ruin this experiment."
"Astro… Those notes you're using aren't even yours to begin with. You don't even know what the Artificial Enhanced are capable of." David said as he got ready. "But I have no intention of finding out. This ends now!"
"Don't think I don't know about you, David Ishihara." Astro said. "You and your little group made a name of yourselves in Elympios and Rieze Maxia. And that was before you aligned yourself with that glory-hog standing next to you. Since then, you not only lead the charge against Shadaloo, killed Vlad, but you managed to beat Vincent to a bloody mess. I don't know how you managed to find the strength to do either of those things, but it's of no consequence to me."
"So, you've done your homework." David said. "Not that it makes any difference. We're still gonna clobber you for what you've done."
"I highly doubt it." Astro said with a blade charging at David before Eric blocked it.
"Don't bother wasting words on him, both of you. This man has completely lost his mind. There's nothing but a monster in there now." Eric said. "He's the reason I came here so please...let me end all of this."
"Good call. We'd probably end up setting something off." David said.
"But while I am doing all of this, get my family out of here. I don't want any of them getting hurt in the combat." Eric said as both his claws and Astro's blades were clashing in midair.
"No use standing around here, Hope. Let's get going." David said.
"Yeah! Saving some kids!" Hope said as the two of them got to work as Eric was fighting Astro.
"Eric, even though you have a righteous spirit, your percentage of winning against this being is very low." Adam said.
"I know. But...if they get to live, I don't care what happens to me!" Eric shouted as he sliced off one of Astro's limbs and held it until it shriveled up.
"That one is dead, but the other nine are still running rampant." Eve said.
"I have to figure out a way to disrupt the harmony he has with those parasites." Eric thought.
"Oh. Eric lead Astro out of the room. The room across is a junk pile." Adam said.
"A junk pile? Well, if that's what you think is best." Eric said dashing past Astro as the scientist chased after. David ran into a room with a pile of junk as Astro cornered him.
"There is nowhere to run, child. It pains me to see such a wonderful experiment meet his end, but alas, this is how it must be." Astro said.
"You know, you might be a genius, but you're absolutely clueless when it comes to the human heart." Eric said.
"Oh? And pray tell, what are you babbling on about?" Astro asked.
"I can hear their voices. The thoughts of my family. They're calling out for my help. No way...am I going to let them down." Eric said grabbing a pipe from the junk pile.
"You will die here and no one shall mourn you!" Astro said as a tentacle went at Eric as Eric charged with the pipe. He stabbed Astro in the stomach as he slammed Eric back into the lab where the children, David and Hope were.
"Ug…." Eric groaned as he got up as Astro returned.
"What a fool. You thought you could defeat me with a piece of trash?" Astro laughed as he removed the pipe. "Now, let's see about killing all of you here and now. You can all die as a family."
"This is bad… If we don't do something, they'll all die!" David said before thinking. He hadn't used Urbosa's Rage all that much, but it could still work. "Hope, can you trust me on this?"
"Trust you, what are you trying to do?" Hope asked.
"Our impression of Sectonia's Indignation spell. Sure, it might not be as powerful as hers, especially since we haven't used Urbosa's Rage all that much, but it should be enough to take him down with how weak Eric made him." David said.
"You are planning to shock me? Ahahaha! What an idiot! Lightning will not work on….huh?" Astro said before one of his tentacles was shaking before more. "You idiots! Get back in formation! Listen to me!" he shouted as his tentacles were going haywire.
"Ah, it seems its already kicking in." Adam said.
"What's going on?" David asked.
"A revolt. The pipe might appear not to have done damage, but it delivered something more devastating. On it was burnt waste, while mildly harmful to humans is effective with poisoning the minds of these parasites. In short, their minds have been poisoned and have lost their sense of unity." Adam said.
"I see… Since the parasite is acting against him, we have a slight window of opportunity." David said.
"No….I do." Eric said getting up. "It's time to end all of this!"
He lunged right at Astro carving something out as Astro was gasping. He slowly turned to see Eric glaring at him as he held something in his claw. Astro looked in terror to see it was his own heart.
"Give...give it...back…" Astro gasped.
"How ironic. You implanted parasites inside of your body in order to eliminate your humanity. However, you still have a human body system. One brain and one heart." Adam said crushing the heart as Astro took a final breath before he fell dead on the floor.
"It's over." David said. "I didn't get a chance to try it, but there will be other opportunities." David said.
Hope then walked up to the mangled mess of Astro.
"It didn't have to be like this. Maybe if you hadn't become a uber-parasite, you'd have remembered our times when i was your friend…." Hope said.
Flashback…
"Yo, Astro! Burning Oil in here as always, huh?" Hope asked. "You spend way too much time in here, get out and get some exercise."
"Go away brat. I'm busy with a new scientific wonder." Astro said.
"Please come out!" Hope said before bumping into a button as an explosion went off.
End Flashback.
"I know I caused you a lot of strife, but I felt like you were my friend." Hope said.
"It's useless to weep for someone like him. He was not now nor never going to be the friend you knew." Eric said. "Just a monster who hated his own humanity."
"Indeed. His mind was poisoned by the desire to become more powerful than an average human as well as wishing to live forever. As I have read, such pursuits always end in tragedy for the person." Adam said.
"If you wanna hate me for killing him, go right ahead. I will hold nothing against you." Eric said.
"Nah. He was already long gone by the time he mutated." Hope said. "I'm sorry, Astro."
"Well, i bet the Race is pretty much canceled because we're all no-shows now." Rainbow said.
"The race was never real to begin with." GyroMan said. "It was just a way to locate Astro's lab."
"So, my family...what's going to happen to them?" Eric asked.
"Since Astro altered their DNA, they're all now Artificial Enhanced. So they'll be taken to the Universal Police. If they are deemed safe, we'll allow them to go to the Cosmic Circus where the ringmaster has offered to train them to use their abilities." Falcon said. "After that, they can resume their lives."
"Then I want to go with them." Eric said.
"I figured you might say that." GyroMan said. "Although...before that. Maybe create a memory for them." he said pointing to the portal. "Even though the race was false, you could make a great memory for them by crossing the finish line."
Eric smiled at that idea and marched towards the portal. He walked through as he entered back into the stadium as he walked towards the finish line.
"What's this? A racer has appeared! Its Eric aka Mr. E. He appears to be marching to the finish line." Dedenne said.
Eric stretched out an arm and tore down the finish line.
"He's done it! The winner of Furious Racing is….Eric!" Dedenne said as the audience cheered.
The other racers followed with the children that were freed as they saw Eric do this.
"Oh...that's so beautiful." Bowser said with tears going down his face.
"Dude, are you crying?" Gemina asked.
"No. I just got something in my eye." Bowser said hiding his eyes.
"Come on, don't bother denying it." David said.
"This is so great." Hope said.
The children were running past them as they surrounded Eric and enveloped him.
"Whoa. Easy, kids. I just finished a race." Eric laughed with the kids.
Hope smiled before seeing the Azran tablet he had glow. He pulled it out as one of the five blank slots were quickly filled with Eric and his family.
Group 11: War Orphans led by Eric.
"Looks like we're getting closer." Genis said.
"But...what about Ferric's deal?" Colette asked.
"Come to think of it, where is Ferric? I don't think I've seen him since he crossed over." USApyon said.
David held his hands and his pockets and discovered a note of some kind. He opened the note and read its contents.
"Kid, since this race was not legit, neither was our deal. So you're off the hook. I'm gone. Keep the bike. Ferric." it read.
David chuckled. "He just couldn't resist, could he?"
"I suppose its time for all of us to get going. I need to get to a concert anyway." Noise said walking off.
"Yeah. And I gotta figure out how much a tux and wedding dress cost." Bowser said walking away.
"Ah, planning on marrying Peach at last?" Hope asked.
"Maybe, maybe not." Bowser said walking off.
"So, Zexi, where you heading?" Tails asked.
"Well, before this, we were headed for a world called Glenwood." Zexi said.
"Glenwood? Ah. I get it. You wanted to search for Seraphim weren't you?" Aria asked.
"I had a feeling...about meeting my next member there." Zexi said.
"If that's the case, mind if we come along?" David asked.
"You might as well. Because this idiot traded our train tickets for that rowboat." Gemina said pointing to Zexi.
"Yeah. We're broke." Zexi said laughing.
"It's not funny!" the three girls shouted.
"Hey, Zexi. What are these seraphim?" Hope asked.
"Well, if you wanna put it in simple terms. Beings that can control fire, water, earth and air. But in a more fun term...I think of them as fairies." Zexi said.
"And the thing about them is that they can't normally be seen by humans." David said. "Only by those with a high spirit resonance."
"True. But apparently they can also be seen by those who come from other worlds." Tulip said.
Hope smiled. "Zexi, you were planning to make them join you right?" Hope asked.
"Nah. I just wanted to see one. Besides, I don't make anyone join." Zexi said. "If they want to come along, they can come along."
"That's the way you do things, isn't it?" Hope said.
"Come to think of it, we could use some practice with this Arte Stuff. And if we're lucky and get seraphim for all four elements, it COULD help me switch up some stuff on my bending." Korra said.
"So...we should all go together!" Zexi said. "It'll be like back on New Vestroia!"
"Not quite, since we're here." David said.
"Hey, that's right. David and his team weren't with us back then." Kazuichi said.
"No big deal. It just means a larger group of pals to travel with!" Zexi said.
"No complaints here." Zelos said.
"Then it's settled!" David said. "Everyone, prep your ships. We're off to Glenwood!"
To be continued...