Storm clouds gathered overhead, black and terrible. The thunder exploded across the land like haunted roars of angry souls crying for revenge. Lightning struck and in the terrible flash, the truth was revealed. A black dragon with red tinge towered twenty feet tall and forty-five feet long stood in the center of the Capitol's main room with Talpa's form hovering above the mighty beast.

Talpa chanted a spell which caused a strong wind to barrel through the halls into the main room and tore off the entire roof of the Capitol. There was fear in the wind, the whiff of death was felt through the souls of the remaining fighters from the resistance. Rain poured down in sheets, soaking everyone to the bone. Another strike of lightning shot across the sky giving Talpa and his night dragon more than enough light to see for a moment where their adversaries stood. "I congratulate all of you who made it this far in the fight. But know this, it will be the last time you will all be together in this world. Don't worry though, there might be a possibility you'll be reunited in the world hereafter."

"You're crazy Talpa! You are the one whose time is up! We are going to be the ones walking away from this fight!" Ming shouted up towards him with his eyes blazing and fists clenched.

"Senator, you can declare false hope as much as you like during the last hours of your lives if it gives you comfort. But know this, my power has increased even more since the last war. Though I'd have to admit, I'm surprised on how many of you survived up to this point against all odds. No matter what I threw at you, somehow you survived. But this time will be different. I will have the pleasure of taking your lives, prepare yourselves for this is your last battle."

'This is insane, Talpa summoned his night dragon. The fight was going to be hard enough with Talpa as he was on his own, but with his beast, we're going to need everything we have just to stay alive.' Ryo thought to himself as he glanced at the other Ronins who he believed were thinking the same thing. The red Ronin glanced over to the other side and saw White Blaze. He gave a small smile when his tiger stood alongside his friends instead of against them. Then another thought came to mind, what about Captain Yamato? Was he on their side too since now Badamon was defeated? He glanced over and saw the captain off to the side knelt down on the ground securing his head. To him, it looked like the captain was trying to fight his own internal battle.

Kento caught sight of the captain as well and studied him. He knew his friend in arms had a strong will and would do whatever it took to fight anyone or anything which got in his way to help those in need. He had to believe the humanity within the beast was still present. Kento needed to have Yamato on his side, he didn't want to fight against him, not like the last time in the arena. Another caught his attention, Talon, the assassin stood in a fighting stance on the sideline watching and waiting for his chance to strike. But this time he also noticed the assassin seemed to be wounded, there was blood staining his clothes. 'Seems like Talon got some damage. Good, serves him right. But he still looks like he can still be a problem. He needs to be taken out, the sooner the better.'

Cye connected with the other Ronins, 'Guys, what are we going to do? There's not enough room for us to a full summons of our dragons.'

'Then we'll have to do a partial summons and pull from their abilities it's the main thing we can do at the moment.' Sage reasoned as he glanced at the night dragon towering over them.

'I agree with Sage. The four of us can channel our dragons' abilities while Ryo can upgrade to the Inferno along with White Blaze.'

'Fine plan for us, but what about Kaye and the Senators? Since Kaye's father is gone, she can't channel his power, and the Senators can just fight hand to hand.' Kento interjected when he glanced to the other side.

'They'll have to do the best they can Kento. Besides, Kaye can teleport them away if necessary.' Ryo suggested to him.

'Then let's stop wasting time and get this started. The sooner we send Talpa and his dragon packing the better.' Kento replied as he closed his eyes and started channeling his dragon.

Cye, Rowen, and Sage followed Kento's lead and closed their eyes as well as they were channeling their dragons too.

Ryo, on the other hand, called upon his Inferno Armor and at the same time, White Blaze changed as well.

Senator Maxon smirked a bit when the armored tiger stood by him. He glanced at the others with him. "Looks like they're starting without us."

"It was nice of them to let us know what they had in mind." Senator Pax replied in slight annoyance, "But I guess we should have known they would step it up without telling us anyway."

"Where would be the fun in telling us, Pax? Let's get set ourselves, we are all going to have to give it all we got in order to come out of this alive."

Senator Cyna shook her head in amusement, "Ming, you are something else. No wonder you favor Rei Faun so much, he takes after you when you were his age."

"Hey! Now, wait a minute..."

"Mind if we take this debate on another time. We have other pressing matters to attend." Senator Aquine pointed out as she moved into fighting position along with the others.

Kaye glanced at the Senators one by one. She could see they were still going to fight alongside one another in this battle. Each one had their own reasons for wanting or even not wanting to fight but in the end, the main choice left was to fight. Their future depended on this moment. All of those who sacrificed their lives rode with them the last line of defense. 'Father, please, lend me your strength, I know you are with me. I need you now more than ever. I won't allow your sacrifice or the sacrifice of the others who fought alongside us in vain. We will win this battle, and Talpa will pay for everything he has done.' Kaye's kanji of determination shined bright upon her forehead as well as her other markings on her body and stood ready alongside the Senators.

Captain Yamato lowered his hands when he sensed the power increase from them and looked up towards them. He could see they were different, they were more determined than ever to take the fight to Talpa. When he saw them something inside of him recharged his sense of humanity. The memories of his life, his training, all of it came back. Yamato was still a mutated creature on the outside, but on the inside, it was a different story. He stood and looked straight at Senator Ming as he gave a salute and then shifted into a fighting stance as he joined along with them.

Another shot of lighting passed as it lit up the sky. Then right after the roar of the night dragon echoed the thunder which followed, the fight commenced. The night dragon's head snapped towards the Ronins and fired a fire blast right in their path.

In a blink of an eye, the Ronins dodged in different directions to dodge the fire blast. Black Blaze charged towards Ryo with the Swords of Ferver. He made it to Ryo's side just before the dragon sent the second shot of fire towards them. Ryo saw the fire blast coming and drew out the swords and blocked the blast. Ryo braced himself the best he could, but he felt a small shove backward from the blast. The red Ronin was not going to stop blocking the fire blasts. He had to hold them off as long as possible, Ryo had to give the others time to finish gathering their dragons' abilities before they could enter the fight.

The other Ronins were almost there, they just needed a little more time.

Talpa saw this and growled a bit when he looked over and saw a piece of a broken wall and levitated from the pile and sent it towards them.

Kaye saw what Talpa just did, there was no time to warn them. Her eyes shifted to silver, her markings lit up more as she concentrated on the flying piece of the broken wall. She dug deep and concentrated, once she got a lock, it disappeared mere moments from striking the four Ronins and she made it reappear behind Talpa coming at him instead.

Talpa whipped around and growled when he sent an energy pulse towards the oncoming slab and shattered it into tiny pieces. He looked down and glared at her with flaring red eyes. "Dreamwalker! You dare!"

Kaye glared at Talpa, "Yes! I dare! You have taken so much from too many people for too long! You took my father away from me twice! Once in the first war, you turned him into a tiger and this one, you took his life! Your time has come, and you will pay for what you have done. People will live in peace and they will rebuild what you destroyed."

A familiar voice reached her ears, "Kaye! Don't give into your hate for him. He feeds off of it, and the hate you have for Talpa helps him become stronger."

"Ken. Kento?" She looked over towards him and sensed he and the other Ronins were stronger than they were before, the channeling of their dragons was complete. Kaye turned her attention back towards Talpa. Now she could see and understand what Kento meant in what he said. The power Talpa emitted was intense and in a short instance, it increased when she saw Kento spoke the truth.

"Let us deal with Talpa and his night dragon. It's our destiny to finish them not yours. Kaye, you've fulfilled your destiny by bringing people together and encouraging them to fight for themselves and others. To take a stand for their freedom, and more importantly to have them believe by coming together they can have a future." Kento reasoned with her.

Kaye locked her gaze into Kento's eyes, and gave a small nod, "Fine, but once this battle is over, we need to talk."

Kento smirked and gave a small nod back, but before he could reply Talpa sent an attack towards their direction. It hit the space between the two and blowing them away from one another. The orange Ronin groaned a bit as he shook his head free of the cobwebs. Once he got his bearings he started to stand.

"Hey, Kento are you..?" Cye asked as he made it to Kento's side.

"I'm fine, just got caught by surprise is all," Kento replied and then glanced over as he saw Kaye was making her way to her feet as well. He felt relieved she was ok, a low growl emitted from his throat as his fists clenched. Kento's eyes narrowed a bit as he turned his attention back to Talpa. "Low blow doing a sneak attack!"

Talpa laughed, "Whoever said I fight fair? Now then, shall we get on with this?"

"Oh, it's on!" Kento shot back as he shifted into a fighting stance.

Ryo flipped backward towards his friends, holding his swords ready. "Alright, everyone ready for this?"

"Ready as well ever be Ryo," Rowen replied as he brought his bow and arrow up and set to fire.

"Kento!" Ryo called out as he glanced over at him.

"Got it!" Kento shouted back as he willed the power of the Asian Lung dragon and leaped up into the air, brought his fights back and slammed them down into the ground upon landing and rocked the ground where the night dragon stood.

The night dragon roared as it felt the ground shake from Kento's attack and fell through the floor. The beast stopped in mid-fall by Talpa's help as he levitated the dragon from the gigantic hole.

"Rowen!"

The blue archer merged with his European dragon's spirit, it increased Rowen's sight even more as it helped him focus more upon a shot with the arrow towards Talpa's hands. He centralized the energy into his arrow and let it fly. It was a direct hit! Talpa fell to the ground in front of the dragon.

"Cye!"

He lifted his spear and took aim directly towards the night dragon's mouth. Cye's attack collided with the night dragon's fire and the two attacks canceled one another out. He glanced over at Ryo, "I might be able to hold him off, but I don't know for how much longer!"

Ryo gave a nod as he kept his eyes upon both the night dragon and Talpa. "Looks like Talpa's not going to stay down."

Sage narrowed his eyes as he drew upon his dragon's strength, "Then we'll strike him down until he's not able to stand anymore!" He raised his nodatchi high as he leaped into the air at the same time. "Thunder. Bolt. Cut!"

Talpa saw Sage's attack coming straight at him. He dodged to the side and sent a counter-attack in the green Ronin's path.

Sage was still in the air when Talpa's attack made contact. There was no way to dodge it, he yelled at the top of his lungs from the intense pain as he dropped to the floor.

"Sage!" The four Ronins yelled at once as Ryo and Kento rushed to his side while Cye and Rowen provided cover.

"Hey, Sage, open your eyes!"

The green Ronin frowned deeply when he heard someone speaking to him. He started to regain his focus. "Ryo. Kento."

"Can you stand?" Kento asked when he and Ryo helped to steady him.

"Yes, I can stand. Just give me a minute." Sage replied as he used his nodachi as a crutch and pushed himself up to his feet. "Never figured his power was going to be this intense. If we don't figure something out and soon, I don't want to think about the outcome."

"Ronins! You are powerless to stop me, even with the channeling of your dragons! Accept defeat, you're deaths will be quick and painless once you accept this." Talpa exclaimed as he had his night dragon stop his attack.

The beast obeyed its master staying vigilant but also a bit restless almost like it started to think for itself. The night dragon glanced at Talpa and noticed the gem which controlled the beast was cracked from Sage's lightning bolt attack. The gem cracked deeper and deeper, it seemed Talpa didn't notice the damage to the gem.

"Talpa! Why don't you face us without your dragon backing you up? Or are you too chicken to face us without it?" Kento taunted as he shifted into an attack position as the other four followed suit.

Kaye frowned as she watched them, she studied the night dragon and realized something was different. The dragon's eyes changed from red to black, 'It isn't controlled by Talpa any more, the gem which controls the night dragon, it's damaged. Is this why Kento was taunting him? They know.'

"You are a fool Hardrock!"

"I don't think so. Why don't you take a look at your gem, or at least what's left of it." Kento replied with a slight smirk.

Talpa growled but took the gem in his hand and stared at it. He noticed the deep crack inside the gem. His eyes flared just as the gem shattered into tiny shards in his hand. He looked back at the night dragon and put up a magical shield just as the beast came down on him with his raised claw and pinned Talpa to the ground as it roared in his face.

"Everyone! Take cover!" Ryo called out as he and the other Ronins and Black Blaze protected themselves behind fallen debris.

The Senators ran to the nearest open doorway and took cover behind it.

Talon found a hatch and dove underneath into a tunnel to wait out the battle, and then once it was finished, he would come out and take out the victor. Which would leave him the sole survivor of the greatest battle in the history of the Districts?

Kaye slid behind a fallen pile of bricks. She felt someone slide in behind her. Kaye glanced back and saw it was Captain Yamato. She realized he was using his body to shield her. Kaye glanced back towards him, "Captain..."

"We have one chance. Once the night dragon takes out Talpa, can you teleport me at the beast and keep moving me fast enough in and out before it strikes at me?"

"Wait a minute, you're taking it on alone? Are you out of your mind?" Kaye asked as she turned her full attention towards him.

"Can you do it or not?"

Kaye turned her attention towards the night dragon and then back at Yamato. "Yes."

Captain Yamato gave a nod as he watched for his opening.

"What do you think you're doing? You are under my control!" Talpa yelled at the night dragon as he kept trying to get free.

"No. I am free. For the first time in centuries, I can think for myself. I am done taking orders from you! Now you die!" The night dragon growled. The beast roared and then gripped Talpa in its claw and threw him into the air. The dragon opened its mouth and swallowed Talpa whole.

The Ronins looked at one another in shock. The night dragon actually ate Talpa. It was crazy but they saw it with their own eyes.

Captain Yamato stood ready, he glanced at Kaye as he saw she was on her feet. "Now!"

Kaye's eyes, as well as the markings on her body, phased silver. The aura increased the harder she concentrated.

Yamato saw a silver light surrounding him. In one moment he stayed by Kaye's side and the next he was in full force attack upon the night dragon. He clawed at the beast's eye and then vanished as he appeared on the other side of the dragon's face and clawed the other eye.

The night dragon roared angrily when the best felt its eyes in extreme pain. Its tail whipped back and forth in a violent fashion as it smashed into the half-destroyed wall behind it. The best tried to swipe at the Captain but he was teleported to the neck and felt teeth sinking inside trying to rip it open.

"Yamato!" Kento exclaimed as he stood from his spot.

Cye grabbed Kento by the arm before he could race towards them. "Kento wait. Look." He nodded over to where Kaye's silver aura intensified as she dug deeper in order to help Yamato teleport in and out faster.

Kento looked over towards her and noticed she was putting up as much of a fight as they were. She wasn't going to back down no matter what he said. 'Stubborn. She's going to exhaust herself and run out of power, then she'll...' The orange Ronin shook his head from the thought he wasn't going to dare complete. "Guys, we need to get in there!"

Cye let go of Kento's arm and he and the others stood in formation.

Ryo looked down at his tiger, "Blaze, once we start our attacks, go to Kaye and stay with her. Do you understand?"

Black Blaze looked up towards Ryo and gave a low rumble deep in his throat.

"Good boy." Ryo glanced at the others, "Alright, once we see an opening let's give this dragon everything we got!"

The Ronins stood by and watched as Yamato continued his attack on the night dragon.

A few times Yamato came too close to being chomped on by the beast. The main reason was that the teleporting was starting to take its toll on the Dreamwalker. A few times, he felt swipes from the dragon's claws barely striking his back. On the next pass, he noticed the night dragon was starting to slow down itself a bit. But it wasn't enough to stop the dragon. He knew it would be a matter of time before his life was over. Yamato was proud to have helped out in this battle, even though he wasn't entirely human. This form was better for fighting anyway. On the next pass, he saw the silver aura starting to fade from him.

Kaye started to stumble a bit from the strain of the continuous teleporting. Her vision was beginning to blur, but she knew she had to hang on as long as she could. She dropped to one knee. She winced a bit. Her breathing labored a little, but she refused to give up. She didn't have enough time to regain her strength from the last time she teleported herself and the Senators to this location. But it didn't matter now, she wasn't going to cave. Her kanji lit upon her forehead once again to dig as deep as she could to lend as much power as possible to help Yamato.

Rowen raised his bow and took aim. He waited until he saw the right opportunity. 'Just a little more, hang in there Captain Yamato.' The blue archer held on until he saw the mutated captain vanish from in front of the night dragon's chest, "Arrow. Shock. Wave!" and released his arrow. Rowen's attack was right on target, straight for the night dragon's chest where Yamato wounded it.

Right after Rowen's attack, Sage delivered his lightning bolt strike towards the same location.

At Captain Yamato's next pass the night dragon picked up the pattern and interpreted where he was going to appear. The beast swiped him down to the ground and pinned him under his claw.

"No!" Kento yelled out as he immediately sent his attack after he saw the captain being pinned. "Iron. Rock. Crusher!" The orange Ronin's attack was going straight for the dragon's arm.

Kaye saw the attacks going for the beast as well as the captain pinned to the ground. With one more try, she teleported the captain from under the dragon's claw barely in time of when all three attacks collided into the beast blowing it back into the farthest wall. Kaye saw Yamato reappear laying on his back a few feet from where he fought with the beast. The silver aura around the captain faded all the way. Kaye collapsed the rest of the way to the ground from overusing her teleportation ability. Her silver aura faded from her markings as well.

Blaze roared and raced over towards Kaye's side. He nudged her a little and waited for a response. He could see she was breathing, the tiger looked towards Ryo and gave a nod, his way of telling him she was alright.

Ryo gave a nod back and then saw Kento racing towards Yamato. "Come on." He and the others raced after Kento. Once they made it to him they could see Yamato wasn't in good condition.

Kento looked over at the green Ronin, "Sage..."

Sage was about to kneel down by the captain's side but stopped when he saw him decline. "I'm too far gone for you to heal me. I know I'm not going to make it."

"Don't you dare even speak those words captain! You are going to pull through! Do you understand me!"

Yamato turned his attention to him, "Commander, thank you. You have done more for me than anyone. I appreciate you taking me under your wing and teaching me what it means to protect." The captain winced when he felt the pain radiate from his chest. He opened his eyes. "I'm starting to feel numb, my body, my mind, everything. I..I can't think straight."

Kento reached down and took a hold of his clawed hand and squeezed. "You fought well captain. You did your district proudly." He squeezed it harder, "You won't die alone. I'm right here by your side."

"Commander, promise me something."

Kento had a deep frown play upon his face, "Of course."

"Promise me. You won't let her go. No matter what."

"I promise. Yamato." Kento replied in a quiet manner when he watched his captain close his eyes for the final time. He felt the captain's hand become loose and let go as he stood.

From behind Cye put a comforting hand upon his friend's shoulder. "Kento..."

The orange Ronin looked around at his friends and gave a nod. He felt Cye's hand lift from his shoulder as he turned around and faced the fallen night dragon.

"As long as it's still here it hasn't been beaten until it disappears from our realm." Rowen brought up as he broke up the somber mood.

"Then we better make quick work of it before the beast is all the way restored." Sage pointed out as they moved away from the body of the mutated captain.