"Ai, what's your status?"

"Uhhhh! C-CLONES! EVERYWHERE! GAAAH!"

"God dammit... Seth, what's your ETA?"

"We're coming as fast as possible, but we're getting hit from all sides! Ai's trying to carve a path to us! You guys are on your own for the time being!"

Heidern cursed aloud upon hearing that final report. He tried to get up... but he couldn't muster the strength to even keep his legs upright after the last attack. It didn't take long before the blows had started to weigh heavily on his more aged body: his breathing began to slow, his limbs more sluggish... eventually, he was forced to collapse.

"Urgh... cough cough cough! Damn... I'm too old for this."

With a defeated sigh, Heidern rested against the wall and watched helplessly as Amakusa continued to battle Ralf and Adelheid.

Ralf went airborne, extending his fist... and he rained down on Amakusa like a fighter jet. His fist impacted so tremendously, the ground around him actually exploded. Unfortunately, Amakusa was far out of reach. Since going purple, he had gotten even faster, stronger... and his crystal ball was more annoying than ever. The color had changed from bright blue to a dark blood red... a sign that his power had grown to something even more sinister.

Amakusa sent the orb flying at Adelheid; the blonde activated his reflect barrier and knocked it aside with a wave of his hand. Now achieving the momentum he desired, he sprinted towards Amakusa and let him have it with a flying kick. Amakusa phase-shifted through his attack and appeared from behind, but Adelheid was wise to it and immediately dropped low with a wide sweep kick. Amakusa floated out of his range for now, and focused on Ralf; he was definitely sending Adelheid was the bigger threat of the two.

Ralf, sadly, didn't have the speed or discipline to stand toe-to-toe with Amakusa. He barreled in with an aggressive flurry of punches, each whiffing badly, and he tried to mix things up by shooting for a double leg... but Amakusa let him have it.

"What the... ugh! I can't.. ungh! Move...!"

Ralf was suspended in mid-air by an unholy black circle containing a red pentagram, courtesy of the satanic magic Amakusa possessed. But the terror didn't end there: another pentagram appeared to Ralf's left, another to his right, and finally... one right above his head.

In an instant... Ralf was utterly devastated from all four sides as the crystal ball started ping-ponging through the portals, assaulting his body from every angle. A demonic red trail of evil energy could be seen swirling left, right, up, down... Ralf's body nearly non-visible within it's hellish light.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHH!"

Ralf's scream was never ending; it was all he COULD do as his body underwent the most devastating barrage and he was unable to do a thing about it. No bone, no nerve, no body part was spared from the crystal ball's wrath.

His only saving grace was Adelheid.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" he roared as he unleashed his Grosse Kreis, his personalized version of his father's Genocide Cutter. Amakusa was forced to break his focus and retreat, lest Adelheid's slashing aura cleave through him.

Finally... Ralf was granted mercy and allowed to drop to the floor. Getting up was no chance... his tender muscles weighed him down as the pain wrought him from head to toe.

"Agh.. aaauuugh... C-Commander... Heidern..." Ralf wheezed out his leader's name as he attempted to crawl. He only made it a few inches... before going flat.

"Urgh, just stay down Ralf. Don't draw attention to him..." Heidern called out.

Adelheid was officially the last man standing. His face intensified as he stood before Amakusa, his mind plagued with burden: support was cut off, his allies laying wounded before him... he was the only one who could dig them all out. Now, he had no choice; there was nobody else to take up the reigns if he failed. He HAD to succeed.

Adelheid closed his eyes and took a deep breath... relaxing his muscles... and he let out a soft, slow exhale before opening his eyes once again.

"Alright, you demonic bastard." he cursed. "You've had your fill. Now, prepare to be sent to your fate! I'm not going to lose this time! I REFUSE TO LOSE!"

Adelheid's eyes grew wide with fury as he rushed forward. He could feel his muscles tensing up again... burning with heat! He felt powerful at that moment: like any strike he threw couldn't be measured up to.

Amakusa met his aggression head-on. The malevolent clone extended his hand, sending the crystal ball out with intent to kill...

"RRRRAGH! ENOUGH!" Adelheid screeched as he leaped up and threw his fastest, most volatile Genocide Cutter: one that could rival, even surpass that of his father.

SLASH!

His foot sailed through the orb-like weapon, shattering it into useless particles. Adelheid's feet touched the ground... and he didn't stop for a second.

His battle cry sent fear into Amakusa's heart as he closed distance and lit him up with a flurry of kicks. His footwork was impeccable, each pivot of his hip masterful as his kicks swung with the grace of a gentle breeze and the force of a hurricane.

Amakusa phase-shifted through a left. Adelheid planted his foot and spun around 360 with a reverse right; Amakusa dodged that one as well. Adel's momentum didn't stop; he leaped high and came down atop Amakusa's head with a smashing heel strike.

Amakusa managed to shift backwards at the last second... but Adelheid had him right where he wanted. The kid threw his most agile, precise kick yet; he appeared to be kicking dust, but he allowed his foot to gently graze along the floor and go upwards... until his leg was at a right angle. This motion allowed him to produce a sliding projectile along the ground, similar to that of a Reppuken or Power Wave. It glowed like a burning white fire... with the slightest hint of violet: a throwback to his father, perhaps?

The projectile soared fast and true, taking Amakusa out at the legs before the clone could settle. When Adelheid sensed the opening, he drew both arms back, thrust them forward... and unleashed his fury.

A wave of pure energy: bigger, grander, more powerful than any before it. It could only rival his father's or Krauser's Kaiser Wave in its brilliance. Amakusa took the full force of it; strong as he was, even he failed to stand up to the crushing power of Adelheid's vengeful chi, and it blew him backwards into the nearest wall. When the smoke cleared... he was but a weak, lumbering shell of his former self.

...But even then, his eyes had no emotion. Even then, he continued to walk forward, to fulfill his fate, the only purpose he was put on this planet. He would fight and kill... until he was no more.

Luckily, Amakusa would be free of this fate very soon.

"Hnnnnnnnnghhhh... HRRRRRRRNGHHHHHHHHH...!"

Adelheid's hand began to glow red, the energy cascading in all directions... eerily similar-looking to a hand bathed in blood.

"HRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Adelheid's murderous bellow was reflected in the power of this final attack, as he rushed in with his blood-red hand and delivered unto Amakusa a blow of dreadfully malignant proportions.

Amakusa's body was lost, swallowed whole by a pulsing red pillar of pure energy, so hellish in appearance that the faint outline of a skull could be seen burning within it: an appropriate symbol as this attack guaranteed the clone's death.

The intense energy faded into thin air upon completion... and the body of Amakusa went with it, erased from existence. Nothing, not even a strand of hair could be recovered.

When it was all said and done... the lad could only collapse to his knees from exhaustion. It was no unknown fact that Adelheid wasn't healthy coming into this, and he had just unleashed more energy than he probably knew he had.

...But damn if it didn't feel good. Redemption was sweet... so very sweet. It was the only thing that could make him stand tall again.

"Heidern, Ralf! Are you two able to stand?" Adelheid quickly forgot his pride to focus on helping his friends in need. Thankfully, he had enough strength to support Heidern and Ralf, at least until they were back to their feet.

"That was an excellent battle. You fought with unyielding ferocity and passion." Heidern complimented.

"Thank you, sir. I just... couldn't afford to fail. Not again."

"Indeed... and that's how you found the power." Heidern nodded. With a smile and a nod, the commander quickly focused his attention to receiving a status update.

"Seth, Ai, talk to me."

"This is Seth! My squad finally hooked up with Ai and the samurai. We managed to carve a path and we're on our way to provide support. Can you hold out?"

Heidern gave a smug grin. "No need. We just finished up here. Why don't you guys take a break? We're moving on to locate the leader."

"I... how did you...? Y-yes sir. I m-mean! Grrr. We'll be there in a second! Shit..."

"Heh heh heh. I think we hurt the big man's pride a little, sir." Ralf joked, but quickly broke out into a horrid marathon of coughs afterwards. They wrought him so intensely, he nearly was back on the floor like before.

"Try not to talk, Ralf. Focus on staying upright." Heidern commanded, putting an arm around his man to help support him.

"Yes sir, COUGH COUGH! Sorry sir."

At the labored pace the three weary warriors were traveling, Seth and Ai ended up linking up with them in the hallways. Unfortunately, they brought with them a large swarm of unpleasant company. This mattered little, however; Heidern was just happy to have the team back together, so they could be relieved.

"Ungh...Seth, tend to Ralf. And me." Heidern grunted as he stumbled forward and embarrassingly collapsed against the large man's bicep. Seth took it well, gently lowering Heidern to the floor and then helping Ralf down as well.

"Mary, Ramon, secure the perimeter!" Seth ordered.

"I'll back them up! Cmon, Haohmaru!" Ai requested to the samurai. Haohmaru put one hand on his hilt and followed behind.

"What happened back there?" Seth addressed the wounded men.

"Cough cough... we had to fight a powerful one." Heidern groaned. "We were just... trying to hold out until you arrived. If Adelheid weren't here, we'd be dead now."

The blonde kid in question looked away, slightly blushing at the receival of all this praise.

"Forgive me Heidern. We got held up... as you can see." Seth pointed behind them: the clone army had already caught up.

Three of them rushed Haohmaru at the same time; with a deep lunge, he swiftly unsheathed his blade and lopped off all three heads at once. He brought both hands to grip his katana, spun around and continued the onslaught with a horizontal slash that decapitated two more. He dipped the blade downward... then came upwards with a slash that severed a clone from stomach to scalp. Finally, he spun around 360 and separated several torsos from the legs they were attached to.

Ai had been completely surrounded: like something out of a zombie apocalypse. She was on her knees, turtling up, her crystal blue forcefield the only thing protecting her from a ravenous horde of violent clones out of one's worst nightmare. They relentlessly, mindlessly pounded against the solid structure, doing more harm to themselves, really... but obviously they were too devoid of humanity to even notice.

"CAN SOMEONE PLEASE CLEAR MY... EVERYTHING?!" Ai squealed.

Feeling heroic, Ramon answered the call. "I gotcha, senorita!"

Mary actually had to stop fighting just to see what the crazy man had actually done; abandoning all common sense, Ramon ran towards the ridiculous swarm around Ai... and DIVED at them like a rockstar on stage.

"RAMON, ARE YOU CRAZY!" Mary yelled.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ramon's body weight toppled the clones like bowling pins, achieving a domino effect since they were all so closely gathered. The hallway became an absolute cluttered mess: bodies laying around, all tangled up in each other, struggling to get back to their feet but failing due to a lack of space... and Ramon was somewhere buried in the middle of it.

"Oh Jesus, Ramon..." Mary could only assume the worst as she ran down there and started digging through flailing bodies. The clones all tried to violently protest... but Mary put up with none of their bullshit as she tossed them aside.

Finally, as if the lone needle was sticking up in the sea of hay... she found Ramon's gloved hand and snatched him out of the fire.

"Heh heh... hehehehehehehe. That... was... awesome." Ramon grinned upon rescue.

Mary's response was a smack to the forehead. "You're a dumbass."

"MARY! RAMON! AI! THIS WAY!"

Now granted a temporary retreat, as the clones were all still trying to get back up, they followed the voice of Seth, who had Heidern and Ralf scooped up on each shoulder. Since this essentially made Seth incapable of defending himself, they would have to cling to his 6 while Adelheid took point.

...But one man had plans of his own. Plans of greatness.

"...You guys go on ahead."

The voice of the samurai stopped them all in their tracks. As they turned around to see... Haohmaru was far behind the others. He wasn't moving. With both hands gripping his katana... he stood his ground with a grin.

"Go, and capture the leader. I'll stay behind and hold them off."

"Haohmaru-sama, there's too many!" Ai squealed, getting misty-eyed just from the melodrama.

"Dude... could you please not be that cliche guy in the movie that has to win everyone's hearts by staying behind and sacrificing himself?" Mary said with an eyeroll.

Haohmaru laughed. "You misunderstand me. I have no intentions of giving my life! I still have yet to receive my payment after all. When this is over... I want to eat rice until I'm sick."

Ai was straight up leaking from the eyes, nostrils... she looked a pathetic sight. "YOU'LL GET YOUR RICE, HAOHMARU-SAMA! I SWEAR IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

"The man has spoken." Seth assured them. "Let's take advantage of it and head towards the command room. Mary, Ramon, watch my 6."

"Rigtho! Good luck, samurai dude!" Ramon flashed a thumbs up.

"Ugh. Whatever." Mary rolled her eyes.

While everyone else had already ran onwards... Ai was still caught up in the melodrama of this cinematic moment. Before she walked onward, she had to turn around one last time, with tearful eyes... and call out to him.

"I'll never forget you, Haohmaru-sama! COME BACK TO ME!"

With those last words, Ai disappeared from view... and Haohmaru was left alone with the insatiable horde of single-minded clones. Brandishing his sword, Haohmaru had a few choice last words:

"Heh... to call me awesome would be an understatement."

The sounds of battle had long drowned out in the distance. Now was only silence... a cold, eerie silence, like something wasn't quite right up ahead.

This was the feeling in the guts of all seven of them as they slowly approached a new door: one with much more distinguished features and a sign that read exactly what they hoped for:

MAIN CONTROL ROOM

"This is it: the whole base is running from this room." Heidern analyzed. "The leader must be here as well."

"Unless he bugged out already." Ramon shook things up with some pessimism.

"Shut up, Ramon." Seth shot him down. "Alright, let's breach."

Ramon and Mary got on both sides of the door, giving each other a nod as Mary held her finger up and counted down from 3...2...1... until she dropped her closed fist.

The two kicked the door open; Adelheid and Ai took point, storming the room... and Ai gasped in horror at the sight before her. Even Adelheid felt himself growing slightly queasy as he looked upon it.

They littered the floor of the control room: a circle of corpses, all with white labcoats, their heads gaping as blood stained the ground around them.

...All but one.

The lone figure in the room: the only one still breathing, that is, was not dressed like a scientist. She had a much more personalized look: indigo bob cut, blue crop top, short shorts... weird fur thing. Her frosty blue eyes looked up and saw them enter... but her face didn't change in the slightest. Was she already resigned to her fate? No... maybe she had a plan of escape, just like always. She was the one who always got away...

"You..." Adelheid's lips spat repulsively, as if the thought of even speaking words to that woman disgusted him. "You're a part of this?"

"Part of it?" Botan replied, her face still static. "I built all of this."

"You're that damned puppetmaster..." Heidern recognized. "The one who served Sai-"

"Don't even say his name." Botan sharply cut into Heidern's words mid-talk. "You don't deserve to speak of him. Only I do."

"Surround her! Block the exit!" Seth commanded. Ramon and Mary nodded, quickly running over to get on the left and right sides of her respectively. Ai stayed close to the door, while Adelheid... stood right in front of her. The way he looked, he didn't want to be anywhere else.

"Explain your actions." Heidern ordered, his voice managing to sound authoritative despite his fatigue.

Botan's eyes narrowed as she folded her arms. "There's not much to it, really. I'm just bored. Bored... and lonely."

"Lonely?" Seth repeated.

Botan's face actually started to scowl a little. "Saiki was all I had... Those From the Past were my family! And that damned Ash Crimson RUINED EVERYTHING! He betrayed us, destroyed us! All of our plans, all of the sacrifices... for NOTHING!"

In the throes of fury, Botan angrily swung her arm and turned her back to them. "With nobody to follow, no purpose in my life... what else could I do? So I FOUND a purpose... I decided I could use my powers to right every wrong. Everyone who destroyed what I had could die. No... EVERYONE could die. This world sucks anyway."

Her monologue continued as she turned back around. "And so, I started taking people over. The people I needed, to be exact: NESTS people, WAREZ people. The ones who could create clones, turn them into killing machines, ultimate weapons of death. It wasn't that hard, really; just a flick of my fingers, and they were dancing on my strings."

"My god... you really DID create all of this." Heidern's voice couldn't hide his shock.

Botan just shrugged. "It's pretty impressive to you, I guess. I do take a little pride in what I made. I can only imagine how far I could have taken it... maybe I could have conquered the whole world. I dunno. All I really wanted was to kill you all... and the tournament in Italy was the perfect stage for it."

She looked down, letting out a sigh before continuing. "Unfortunately... my haste proved to be my downfall. I made them rush production, start putting them out before they were truly ready. I wanted to see Ash die so badly... I even went out there personally to witness it with my own eyes. But alas, the clones I sent to kill him weren't even close to being finalized, and he ran through them with ease. And then..."

Her words seemed to get a much sharper tone to them... as if she was cursing herself.

"Tch... and then I went and screwed up. When Ash launched a fireball at me, I temporarily lost focus. That allowed your girl there to capture one of the personnel and interrogate him before I had a chance to re-establish control and kill him. Damn... I could have kept going. This could have grown even bigger, more grand than you can imagine. But it's all over now..."

"You're right about that." Adelheid spat. "This IS over. And you're about to pay dearly."

Adelheid started to approach fast... in a non-friendly manner. Heidern, Seth, all of them could see he had lethal intent in his mind.

"Adelheid, stand down!" Heidern shouted. "We need her in custody!"

"She screwed with my SISTER." Adelheid's voice rose dramatically on that last word. "She took over Rose, toyed with her like a plaything! I've been waiting for this moment!"

"Adel, don't do it!" Ai squealed.

...But any pleas fell on deaf ears. Adelheid charged at her relentlessly, a battle cry growing louder and louder with each passing second. Botan shockingly didn't look surprised: she made no effort to get out of the way or retreat in light of his impending attack.

"FOR MY SIST-oooouf...!"

The cause of her calm demeanor was revealed seconds later; just as Adelheid was about to pounce, a black shadow whizzed out of nowhere and blasted Adelheid off trajectory. The blonde kid was knocked into the wall, going unconscious upon hitting the ground.

"ADELHEID!" Heidern cried. "Seth, secure him!"

Seth quickly ran over there to grab his unconscious body, as Mary and Ramon backed away in order to reinforce the front. They, along with Ai, slowly approached the new figure... and stopped when he rose to his feet and turned to face them.

"I know you..." Ai gasped. "I've read so many reports about you it's ridiculous."

"Same here, sister." Mary agreed. "Same here. This guy is BAD. NEWS."

The man before them needed no introduction: his infamy had already been well-spoken off. Dressed in all black, save for the ornate red patterns hanging on the edges. His short black hair was offset by his pale, almost necrotic white skin. A black mask obscured his lower half, revealing only those eyes...

...Those dreadful, DREADFUL eyes. Easily his most disturbing feature. They were void, abyssal... save for a piercing red pupil in the right eye.

He was the seeker of the Dragon Spirit. The man who betrayed his own clan. The man hated by his own flesh and blood.

"Ron." Heidern spoke that name with no pleasantries.

Ron flicked his cloak and slowly sauntered backwards until he was level with Botan. He kept his palms raised warily, ready to ward off any attempt to harm the woman.

"Say hello to the boss of this operation." Botan laughed. "Heh, if you can even call him that. He's more of a placeholder than anything: a faux figure put into place to maintain order."

"So you've got him under your control as well?" Seth asked.

...Upon those words, the usually inexpressive Ron actually laughed.

"Hahahaha... you think me weak-minded enough to be subjugated by a puppetmaster? You mock me."

That new revelation sparked new questions from Heidern. "Then what's YOUR role in this? I thought you were after something different: that hidden power you claim resides in those boys."

Ron put a calculating hand to his chin. "I've stepped away from my pursuit of the Dragon Spirit for the time being, since that kid Kensou seems to have grown weaker. Right now... I have a much more important goal to achieve."

Ron turned and looked at the blue-haired woman. "This woman, this... puppetmaster... is helping serve my new cause. Since severing ties with my clan, I've been unable to seek out new followers. I allied myself with NESTS, even Those From the Past for a while... only to see those go up in smoke as well. That's where this woman... and her cloning operation... came into play."

Ron raised his fingers, curling them menacingly. "In exchange for posing as the head of this facility while she controlled things from the shadows, this woman promised to make me a NEW Hizoku: a clan of loyal assassins who would obey my every command and kill without question. With no spirit, no will to call their own... they would be the ultimate vassals."

Seth scowled. "So did you get your wish?"

Ron scoffed. "Unfortunately, no; this stupid woman got caught up in her revenge fantasy and failed to fulfill her end of the bargain before getting compromised. Hmph. I have a right mind to kill her where she stands."

Botan took the slightest of steps back upon hearing that indirect threat; she could feel things slipping out of her hands, and that was usually a good time to split.

"There won't be anymore killing tonight." Heidern growled. "You're under arrest: BOTH of you."

Ron got into stance. "I think not."

Seth charged, flanked by Ramon and Mary. "You two cover me. I'm gonna take him."

...The outcome was much less than what Seth would have expected. As the large man stepped in to put the bulk of his power into a knockout punch... the next thing he saw was a flutter of Ron's cloak and a sharp, jarring pain slam into his stomach.

"Auhh...aggghh...ghhkk..."

In less than a second, Ron had removed his palm from Seth's stomach and the big man toppled like a tree.

Ramon was slightly taken aback by the man's uncanny speed, but he remained on target and closed distance. He stepped in and threw a wide lariat, only to strike nothing but the black of Ron's cloak. He tried to spin around with a clothesline... but again he failed to even pinpoint the ex-Hizoku leader. He was a looming, skulking shadow... his movements like a phantom, impossible to predict.

Discouraged but still game, Ramon threw a deep knee... but the Hizoku leader was almost serpent-like in his ability to contort through the strike and end up behind the luchador instead.

Ramon's eye bulged as he felt two sharp fingers sink into both of his sides... like a cobra's fangs. All at once, he felt his body go numb; as Ron removed his fingers, Ramon stumbled forward uncontrollably, his legs exuding the last of their strength... before he shut down completely.

Mary tried to shoot for his waist; Ron's dark garb fluttered in her face as he eluded her advance easily. By the time her eyesight was restored, Ron was completely to the LEFT of her and she was grabbing at air.

Slightly cursing herself for looking like an idiot, Mary spun around and threw a high kick towards Ron's face; the man was the epitome of indifference as he caught her ankle, pulled her close... and finished the job with three swift jabs: left kidney, right kidney... straight palm to her throat.

"GUUUGHHHHHKKKKKKK!" her guttural, choked gasp spilled out as she was reduced to a coughing mess on the floor, slumping at Ron's feet while he stared down at her.. eyes sub zero with their lack of compassion.

Ai was the last one standing... not to mention the least competent martial artist. As she stood there, meekly checking out the dark figure in all his looming, imposing glory... her knees were wobbling. Ron, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less; he kept his eyes fixated on her scared ones, not even bothering to put his hands up. He kept them resting at his sides, as if the notion of her approaching posed zero threat.

...Sadly, that couldn't have been more true.

"HIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

As boisterous as her battle cry was, it measured up to very little. As Ai ran over to attempt to lay into the seasoned assassin, he merely threw a jolting leg kick that knocked her off her feet with one swoop. She bravely got back up, only for him to kick her leg out once again, easier than a wooden stool. Finally, after one more fruitless attempt to get up and mount some offense... Ron blasted her lights out with a double palm to her face, his strike faster than the crack of a whip as it smashed into her.

The Hizoku ex-leader looked around: all of them were out of commission, five being knocked out and two unable to properly fight. He took one more minute to scan the entire room... it seemed Botan had taken advantage of the chaos and slipped out.

"Hah. She escapes again... how predictable." Ron laughed. He then turned to face Heidern, leaning down slightly.

"...Hopefully for you, we won't meet again. Say hi to my foolish son for me."

With that last humiliating jab, Heidern watched helplessly as Ron walked out of the room... perhaps the last time he would ever be found again.

Although the failure to capture them was slightly upsetting, Heidern was still not feeling defeated; the mission, after all, was STILL a success regardless of whether anyone answered for it at the end of the day. All that mattered was that no more clones would be produced to cause potential harm to humanity. With that in mind... walking away with some bruises wasn't the worst thing ever.

Straightening his headset, Heidern cleared his throat and proceeded onwards with the final phase of the mission:

"This is Heidern. We're done here. Requesting immediate air support. Come get us... and flatten this place."

"Man, we really suck." Ramon groaned as he limped down the hallway, still feeling the after-effects of Ron's brutal attack.

"Oh speak for yourself, Ramon. We did fine." Mary snarked at him, a little irritated herself in the midst of recovery.

"Mary's right." Seth seconded. "We let a couple guys get away, but it's not the end of the world. The mission was still successful, right Heidern?"

Heidern, only half-listening to the conversation behind him, merely nodded in Seth's general direction as he kept walking forward, hands folded behind his back.

"I can't wait to get back to Italy. I want my cozy hotel room back!" Ralf whined. "I'm sure you'll be happy to see Leona again, eh sir?"

"Yes, yes." Heidern annoyedly answered back.

The seven of them walked hand-in-hand, the weaker ones leaning on the stronger ones for support as they were ALL nursing some aches and pains. The battle had been long, tiring, painful... but they all made it through. Even-

"HAOHMARUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Ai squealed with glee as she ran through a hallway painted red with blood, littered with corpses as far as the eye could see. Severed limbs, rolling heads... at the center of it all was Haohmaru, cleaning the spatter off his blade.

"EEEEEK YOUMADEITYOUMADEITYOUMADEIT!" she gushed as she dived into Haohmaru's arms, hanging off his muscles like a monkey dangling from a tree.

"Heh. Of course I made it." Haohmaru grinned. "What did you think, I was going to give my life or something? Hah!"

"I never doubted you for a second, Haohmaru-sama~" Ai swooned as she spoke his name.

"Nicely done, samurai dude." Ralf flashed a thumbs up. "You wanna come back with us to Italy?"

That one set Ai off even further. "OH MY GOSH... PLEEEEEASE COME WITH US TO ITALY?"

Haohmaru closed his eyes as he chuckled. "Fine, fine. But don't forget my reward."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I can't wait to show you to Yuki~!"

"Will you hurry it up already?!" Heidern growled. "I told you, air support is coming to bomb the shit out of this place. If you don't want to be buried in rubble, I suggest you be on the chopper when it arrives."

When they finally did make it outside, Adelheid was the first to board. He hadn't spoken since what happened with Botan; as good as he felt for saving the day against Amakusa, he had to admit he was feeling some negative emotions right now. Notably embarassment, for getting ambushed... as well as that starving lack of closure for letting Botan escape his grasp. It would probably hurt his pride for just a little while... but once he held Rose in his arms again and had a nice sleep in his own bed, he'd probably feel 100% better about himself again.

Mary, Ramon, Seth were all no worse for wear. As far as Seth was concerned, he was happy he lived to see his wife and kids again. The mission was a success; the cloning facility would be destroyed, the power to create armies wiped away... and at the end of the day, two people escaped, but they no longer possessed the potential for causing a worldwide threat. Sure, there was the possibility either one stir up some mischief some time in the distant future... but that was just a job for another day.

Mary would be happy to see Terry again. Ramon would be overjoyed to see Vanessa again.

Ralf was eager to see Clark again and tell him he was avenged.

As for Ai... she could barely contain her eagerness to tell Yuki the story of how she found Haohmaru walking around in a forest and together they hacked n' slashed mindless clones together. It would be a story Yuki would have to endure several hundred times in his lifetime.

As the chopper sped off, Heidern looked out the window one last time: just in time to see the cloning facility go up in smoke, courtesy of a rocket barrage from a couple of AH-64 Apache helicopters. Upon seeing the orange glow of flaming wreckage light up the night sky... Heidern allowed his body to relax against his seat, his eye closing as a huge breath expelled from his lungs.

"Survived another one..."

Whew... and THAT. IS. THAT. I take a bow. Yes, I managed to sneak a plot into this fun little tourney fic. I managed to bring back some characters in dire need of purpose. And most importantly... I didn't make it take OVER the tournament at the last minute with some "fight for the fate of the world" bullshit hehe. The plot was foiled. The bad guys lost. The tournament is safe. Now... we're free to move on without any obstacles.

NEXT CHAPTER: The final day of the tournament is here! Tune in for all kinds of fun, from an open call, to the conclusion of the tournament itself, to the bitchin' after-party! Let's get back to good stuff, eh? No more dumb clone killing. Until next time, this is jojoDO signing off!