Tales of The Symphonic Abyss: Dawn of The Second Descendent

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Chapter 4: Michael Vs. Luke! The Trek To Akzeriuth Begins!

Fists collided, creating shock waves that were felt by even those on the ground. Michael and Luke broke away from each other, a bit exhausted from their exchange.

Michael – "Hey Luke. What say we skip the warmup?"

Luke – "Sounds like a plan to me."

They both went Super Fonian 2 (SFJ2), causing their hair to change from their respective black and red to gold, their eyes from brown and green to teal, along with streaks of electricity running along their bodies. The duo then started trading punches again.

Luke – "Stop holding back on me Michael. You know very well that I want us to do this spar with no restrictions."

Michael – "Alright then."

Michael went Super Fonian 3 (SFJ3), the only difference this time with his hair being past his waist. They exchanged punches and kicks for a third time.

Michael – "Now what say we give the others a show?"

Luke – "No problem."

Luke flew into the air before charging up an attack. Michael decided to do the same.

Luke – "Galick…"

Michael – "Kaaa… Meee…"

Luke – "…Gun…"

Michael – "…Haaa… Meee…"

Like – "…FIRE!"

Michael – "…HAAAAA!"

The two attacks collided, making the battle a stalemate for a few moments. The two Fonians then started putting out even more power, causing the center point of the beam struggle to explode. The shockwave was so great, everyone struggled to brace against it. Not only that, but Michael and Luke had used so much energy during the beam struggle, they had reverted back to their base forms.

Michael – "One last hurrah?"

Luke – "Why not."

The duo gave one final exchange of punches and kicks. Their final punch hit the other in the jaw, knocking them both out in the process. Once they were fully healed, Luke wanted to tell Michael something privately.

Michael – "What is it?"

Luke – "I talked with Van earlier."

Michael – "What about?"

Luke – "He said something along the lines of Kimlasca using me as a weapon of war, as well as how my hyperresonance could make me a hero."

Michael took a moment to process what Luke had just told him.

Michael – "Did you believe him?"

Luke – "No. I'm still making sure to keep up the 'Blind Idiot' facade in front of him though."

Michael – "Good. Here's what I have in mind. Arietta, Sync, Dist, and I are gonna move on ahead and try to slow down Mohs's forces. Meanwhile, Niko's gonna stay with you guys. Just keep going with whatever plan you guys have in place, unless something drastic happens. If it comes to that, either you or Niko contact me and explain the current situation. You don't have any problems with that, do you?"

Luke – "Not at all. Now let's get some sleep. We're gonna need all of our energy for tomorrow."

Michael – "Right. Night Luke."

Luke – "You too Michael."

The following morning, Michael and his part of the party went on ahead to Chesedonia. Meanwhile, Luke told Jade about Michael's part of the plan when Van, who would go on the ship to Chesedonia as a decoy, was out of earshot. Luke's group would instead go to Chesedonia by land through the Zao Desert. Along the way to the city's entrance, they came across Anise, who was strangely without Ion.

Niko – "Where's Ion?"

Anise – "He wasn't in his bed when I woke up. Some of the citizens said that they saw someone similar to Ion leaving the city with some circus performers."

Guy – "'Circus performers.' Don't tell me…"

Jade – "I was afraid that something like this would happen. It must be the Dark Wings."

Luke – "Weren't they talking to Oracle Knights earlier? They MUST be working together."

Guy – "Then let's go get them!"

Anise – "You can't! Some guy by the name of Khan is blocking the entrance!"

Niko – "Khan?! Michael!"

Michael – "I heard everything."

Luke – "Michel, is Khan-"

Michael – "-One of Rensho's allies. Yeah."

Jade – "At least this proves that Mohs and Rensho have different objectives."

Anise – "That's right. Mohs was mad."

Jade – "Though whenever Mohs is trying to start a war or not is a different matter altogether."

Luke – "Are you sure about that?"

Jade – "We don't have enough information to guess right now. The only thing we can do for the time being is escape the city."

Anise – "Then take me with you on your way! If I can get out of the city, I can look for Ion."

Tear – "Well colonel?"

Jade – "…I suppose we can't refuse her. We still have to find a way out of here though."

Anise – "Huh? You're not going to Akzeriuth by ship?"

Luke – "No, that's a decoy. Damnit! There has to be another way out."

Guy suddenly thought of one.

Guy – "How about the abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. We can get there by air car."

Luke – "Sounds like a plan. Not much else we can do anyway."

Michael – "The four of us will head for the oasis in the middle of the Zao Desert and rendezvous with you guys there."

Niko – "Copy that."

Michael ended the transmission.

Michael – "Let's get moving then!"

Arietta/Sync/Dist – "Right!"

Luke and his group also got to the abandoned factory WITHOUT getting caught by Khan. They quickly made their way through the factory. Tear and Natalia ALMOST got caught by a sludge monster, but were saved at the last second by Niko.

Natalia – "Thanks Niko!"

Tear – "Yeah, thanks!"

Niko – "Happy to help. Now what say we get rid of this monster?"

Natalia/Tear – "Agreed!"

They made quick work of the monster. Niko even got to use some of her family's infamous three-sword style techniques. Guy admitted to wanting to see some of the techniques made famous by Niko's family.

Natalia – "You need a lot of strength to be able to pull off those kinds of attacks."

Anise – "No doubt."

Niko – "It's no problem for me anyway. Besides, I am the first one in my family in five generations to master these techniques."

Niko waited a few seconds to let that bit of info sink in.

Luke – "F-Five generations?!"

Tear – "No wonder you're as strong as you look."

Jade – "Even I'll admit that is quite the accomplishment."

Niko – "Thanks!"

They exited the factory on top of a cliff. They saw Ion being escorted onto the Oracle Knights ship. Luke was the first to confront their opponents, crossing swords with someone that looked EXACTLY like him.

Khan – "That's enough Asch. Ion takes priority."

Asch – "Right."

Asch stared at Luke, then walked onto the ship. Luke and the others watched as it sailed away.

Jade – "We've been spotted by the remaining God-Generals. The decoy's a failure."

Natalia – "And we can't head back to the port either."

Luke – "Uncle would've sealed it off once the decoy ship left out of fear of an invasion, right?"

Natalia – "Yes."

Jade – "By the way, they took Ion and left."

Niko – "No shit Sherlock."

Anise – "No! I let them get away!"

Jade – "You're the leader Luke. So what do we do now?"

Luke looked at the options in front of him. They could either: A) Return to Baticul and take a ship to Chesedonia. However, doing so would not only cause King Ingobert to unseal the port, but it would also make the group feel like they were giving up on themselves and Ion. So he decided to go with option B.

Luke – "Let's keep moving along the land. And save Ion too. He's our friend after all."

Anise – "Thank you Luke."

Jade – "The ship was going east from here."

Guy – "The Oasis is that way as well."

Niko then quickly got a transmission on her phone from Michael.

Niko – "Did you get all that Michael?"

Michael – "I did. Tell Luke and the others that Sync and Dist will meet up with you all at the Oasis."

Niko – "What about you and Arietta?"

Michael – "The two of us will head into Chesedonia and try to figure out what Khan and Asch are gonna do with Ion. Once we do, we'll return to the Oasis and inform you all."

Niko – "Sounds like a plan to me. You two take care."

Michael – "Same goes to you all. Bye."

Niko – "Bye."

Niko hung up and informed the others on what Michael and Arietta planned to do in Chesedonia.

Jade – "At least that saves us the trouble of having to go to Chesedonia ourselves."

Luke – "That's true."

Luke and his group then started to make their way to the Oasis.