Heroic New Era: Fantasies of Heroism
Chapter 2: The First Alteration
Astra Shelter HT501
"There. You feel better after getting cleaned up?" A woman in a red and black uniform asked as a young woman with a short black jacket, black sports bra, blue pants with yellow stripes on the sides and white shoes, having one red eye and one blue eyes, and red hair that gradually turned to black looked at herself in the mirror.
"It feels great." The traveler said. "...Also I think I remember my name now. Brazera."
"Brazera… that's a nice name!" A young girl full of energy smiled as she finally heard the name of the young woman. "Anyways, now that you've gotten cleaned up, I can show you around some more!" Shirli smiled.
"Very well, lead the way." Brazera nodded, as she began to follow Shirli around.
Meanwhile, the group of four from Hykros began approaching the base's front entrance, with a couple of guards stationed near the front. They noticed the approaching group and prepared their weapons.
"Who are you?" The guards asked with guns raised.
"At ease. We're Executors from Hykros." Siege answered.
"Executors? Why would Hykros send for them here?" One of the guards asked.
"We're here to deal with some troubles that we caught wind of." Mokou answered back. "Don't worry, we should have this handled.
"More specifically, we believe that there is an Executor of Hykros here, that we lost contact with. We've tried the other regions of Aesperia, so our search led us here." Sam added on.
"Oh, very well then. I don't know if you'll find them here but good luck." The guard on the right said, letting the four of them through.
"Oh, and by the way, would you happen to know the whereabouts of Shirli? Hykros tasked us with keeping… a special eye on her." Siege added.
"She's leading a person we found on the outskirts of the base around. Last we saw her was with Celine up in the main base area." The guard answered, pointing to the remains of a crashed ship turned into a base.
"Much appreciated." Sam nodded, giving the guard a friendly wink as the squad walked into the base, before seeing the young blonde girl leading Brazera away from the base to somewhere on the outskirts.
"There she is." Siege mentioned to Richard and Mokou. "The young girl, I mean. Whatever we do, we have to keep her safe."
"Yeah, I already got this bad feeling about her…" Richard stated, before Siege gave Richard a sharp look. "I don't mean it like that! I mean that she's got a bad omen centered around her, like she's going to end up in tragedy. I'll keep a close eye on her."
Richard then immediately gave a quick check through one of his sukimas, seeing that so far, the girl was fairly fine for the moment, although he kept the sukima active, to keep an eye, even shifting it subtly to keep on her.
"Alright, while I have eyes on her… let's deal with the matter at hand." Richard stated.
"The matter at hand is we familiarize ourselves with the world. Shit doesn't hit the fan until that girl is in danger. Mokou, let's head down there and introduce ourselves. Richard, keep an eye on Shirli at all times. Sam… you hang out with Richard." Siege commanded.
"You got it boss." Sam said with a smile as he stretched a bit. He did need a small break after all the things that went wrong last time.
Speaking of Shirli and Brazera…
Shirli was introducing Brazera to Franz, who was working on a device to reveal hidden objects behind projections, however, Franz knew Zeke wouldn't take too kindly to Shirli being this far from the base, and was running back to tell Zeke, as Shirli huffed.
"Stay put… well, we're gonna help out Franz, don't you think?" Shirli asked Brazera.
"Won't that get you in trouble?" Brazera asked.
"I won't be going anywhere! I think I can fix this machine, at least on the outside layer, but it needs a new power supply. There's a repair bot on top of the Omnium Tower over there." Shirli said, pointing to a large tower with a circular construction on top. "That smart servant should have a spare energy supply laying around. We can use that to power this machine."
"We'll retrieve it." A new voice spoke up as Shirli and Brazera turned to see Siege and Mokou approach.
"Oh! Are… you two from the shelter? I've never seen you two before." Shirli said in slight shock.
"Because we're not exactly commonly seen here." Mokou stated. "Don't sweat it, we're Executors."
"Executors? From Hykros?" Shirli asked. "Why would Hykros send you…?"
"Looking for a fellow Executor around these parts." Mokou merely responded back. "Why? Something wrong?"
"No, it's just… for the longest time we thought Hykros abandoned us. I'm glad to see they're still carrying out missions down here." Shirli said with a smile. "Anyways, I don't know about another Executor, but I'm more than happy to introduce my new friend Brazera here!"
"Hey." Brazera waved to Mokou and Siege.
"A pleasure." Siege nodded. "Now then. You mentioned something about a spare power supply?"
"Yeah! I was gonna send Brazera here to get it." Shirli smiled.
"We can help retrieve it. You said it's at the Omnium Tower?" Siege asked.
"Yeah! Talk to Scrapper, the smart servant. He'll have it." Shirli smiled.
"Roger that." Siege nodded, looking to Brazera. "Come on, let's get up there."
Brazera nodded, as the trio made a short but slightly tedious journey up to the top of the Tower, mainly impeded by bad guys in jackets and mohawks getting in their way.
"Hyenas. Lowly bunch of scum." Siege growled. "Take what they want and only care about surviving for themselves, no matter how they do it. They've taken the most advantage of the Cataclysm this world underwent." Siege explained to Mokou as they were taking out a batch of them.
"Tch… A constant in every place we go, I suppose." Mokou remarked, before she then immolated a group of Hyenas with a swipe of her arm.
It didn't take much longer for the group to arrive at the Omnium Tower, riding a platform up as not only did they meet the smart servant, but the smart servant even gave them each a topographic map of Astra.
"That's convenient." Siege mused.
"Here is your spare energy supply." The smart servant said, handing over a power core, before his alarms suddenly blared. "Alert! Alert! Astra Research Center under attack! Must defend Astra Research Center!" The bot exclaimed as it began gliding off to a research center just outside the base.
"Research Center?" Brazera asked curiously.
"Yeah. Research Center. Astra has one that is apart from their base for multiple reasons. If it's under attack. That spells bad news for her. Let's go!" Siege exclaimed, as the trio took off for the Research Center, and upon arriving, found a group of average sized humans roaming the place. "Tch… Ravagers. No different from the Hyenas except their tech. You're authorized to kill at your discretion, Mokou." Siege informed.
The Ravagers took note of the arrival of Siege, Brazera, and Mokou, as they charged with blades ready, as two fliers aimed their guns at the trio!
Mokou merely snapped his fingers, before a barrage of fire-balls were shot towards both fliers, as they were sent crashing into the ground burning in smoking wrecks. Siege, meanwhile, quickly dispatched of the ground units alongside Brazera, before a mechanized canine-like creature awoke, and roared as Siege growled.
"A treasure guardian. Specialized bots created to guard the loot of the Ravagers and Hyenas. Well guess what, mutt? You're about to go into obedience training, this loot AIN'T yours!" Siege exclaimed.
The Treasure Guardian roared as it curled up a bit, looking to be charging.
"Don't rush in, it's going for an area shock!" Siege exclaimed.
"Okay!" Brazera exclaimed as the Guardian shocked, hitting none of the trio as Brazera moved in to strike rapidly with her Combat Blades.
"Mokou, let's sync up with her!" Siege ordered. "This thing's tough so we need to give it hell between its attack patterns!"
"Got it." Mokou stated.
"Take the right flank, I'll strike up top!" Siege said as he began to gain higher ground, as Mokou skidded across the area, firing off bursts of fire that hit the Treasure Guardian, keeping it flinching for Brazera to continue her assault, until she reached the right flank.
She then immediately launched a powerful flying kick that knocked the Treasure Guardian askew, staggering it greatly, as it tried to recover its balance.
Too little too late, as Siege leapt up, Ragnell-Yato in hand as he drove it through the beast, impaling its central core, causing it to spark, fritz, and die out, as the Research Center was secured. As Brazera was introduced to the uses of Simulacra, Siege walked up to Mokou with arms folded.
"Senses keen at all times now. We're about to hit the phase where shit takes a big turn. Be ready for anything at all times." Siege explained.
"Always the case." Mokou snorted back, although her tone was fairly understanding. "Let's head back, and see what's happening."
The trio ran back to see Shirli being confronted by Franz and Zeke, with Zeke looking very pissed off.
"Shirli, I told you never to leave the shelter on your own! You could have been-" Zeke was about to scold when Siege stepped in.
"With all due respect, she was never alone. We were within 100 meters of this location, with our other members keeping a sharp eye on Shirli. Should you doubt my claim, you can speak to my teammate Richard within the base." Siege explained.
"And you are?" Zeke sternly asked.
"Executors from Hykros. Is there any issue with that?" Siege asked.
"There is. Very much so. Get out. I want no part of you here." Zeke growled before Siege got up in his face.
"Let me make something very, very clear to you. It is our job to do the will of the Archon of District 9, sure, but he also knows our power and has given us distinct jurisdictions for our capabilities, one of those being the fact I can arrest you on the charge of defying Hykros by wanting us gone for merely being present. Now I would like you to know that I'm not your enemy here. All we're here for is to find an Executor said to be within this very base, and then we'll take our leave. But while we are here we are devoted to making sure every personnel on this base stays alive and well! Am I clear!?" Siege growled at Zeke, the authority behind his tone and power causing Zeke to back up a bit before he sighed.
"Sorry I… just get overprotective of Shirli… but if you guys are devoted to keeping those of this base safe while you're here, I guess you're not too bad." Zeke huffed. "So what was Shirli doing?"
"I was fixing this projection device! Speaking of which, can I have that power supply?" Shirli asked sweetly, as Siege motioned Mokou to give it to Shirli.
"Here you go." Mokou stated, handing the power supply device to the young girl.
Shirli installed it in the machine, and it whirred to life before revealing a ruinous area, hidden by a projection of rocks!
"Huzzah! We did it!" Shirli cheered.
"Wow. They actually did my job for me. I feel robbed." Franz said in dry humor.
"Mm… I'm sorry Shirli, I shouldn't be so protective of you. From now on, I promise to give you more freedom to do your own thing." Zeke said.
"Aww, it's okay Zeke." Shirli smiled before Siege's comms went off.
"Yeah, what's up?" Siege would ask over comms.
"Ehhhh, boss… you might wanna get back here… we have a bunch of Ravagers storming the base, on your 3!" Sam yelled.
On that cue, Siege looked to the east, and found a horde of Ravager soldiers and mechs flying for the Astra base.
"Make it or break it time crew, Mokou, double time, the base is under attack!" Siege yelled, catching Zeke, Franz, and Shirli off guard before they saw what Siege was referring to.
"Ravagers…! We have to get back there, fast!" Zeke exclaimed.
"Richard, a sukima would come in real handy about now!" Siege yelled into comms.
"Don't need to ask again!" Richard declared, before he then entered the fray, with Sam close behind, as the two of them saw the situation, hundreds upon hundreds of Ravagers storming the Astra base.
"Sheesh. That's what I call a proper army!" Sam said, katana ready to slice down anyone who dare came close to the Astra base, with Siege, Mokou, Shirli, Brazera, Franz, and Zeke returning with the sukima Richard made for them.
"I think we underestimated things here. Mokou, put in a call to Hykros, we need more Executor backup!" Siege exclaimed, which was essentially the cue for those they brought along in Hykros to join the fray.
"Right." Mokou stated, before she immediately activated her comms. "Hey, we're going to need some help here from Hykros! Got a real big swarm of Ravagers about to turn Astra Base into ruins here!"
"Your plea is heard!" The archon's voice came through before Mokou was patched to Lucia.
"Executor Lucia reporting. Transmitting to Astra with Executors Heiwa and Popol." Lucia declared.
"Awww yeah! Get ready to feel the thunderous might of the Great Executor, Popol!" Popol's booming voice came through comms.
"Many thanks, Archon. Sending them the coordinates!" Siege would say, sending the coordinates to Lucia, Heiwa and Popol. "More Executors are on their way, until then, defend the base! Sam, take Shirli and get her away from the action, all non-combatants, leave this to us! The rest of you, hold your ground! These Ravagers aren't breaching our defenses on my watch!" Siege heroically declared.
"Affirmative!" Sam said, taking Shirli and heaving her onto his shoulders. "Come on. Let's move somewhere with a lot less gunfire." Sam would say.
"Okay, I won't complain!" Shirli said as they retreated deeper into the base, as the first wave of Ravagers descended down to attack.
"Alright, which one of you wants to get vaporized first?" Richard remarked, as magic crackled from his hands, as the Ravagers growled as one. "Alright then, I'll just do it first come, first serve!"
Richard then proceeded to blast the Ravagers back, before then creating a beam of lightning that managed to shock one of the Ravagers to a crisp, before Mokou used her pyrokinesis to immolate a pair of them right on the spot.
Brazera and Zeke slashed down any Ravagers who engaged them on the ground, as Siege took to the skies and struck multiple Ravagers midair, before exploding in a fiery radius that sent them all flying.
However, the main trouble wasn't the Ravagers themselves… rather, certain individuals in familiar black suits that Siege caught in the back of the Ravager ranks… which he recognized from word of mouth accounts from others during Onigashima.
"...What the hell…. Is that… World Government Agents!? What the hell are they doing here!?" Siege exclaimed.
"I take those tidied up men in the back you know?" Zeke asked.
"Yeah but they ain't friendly! I thought Magina wiped our slates clean!?" Siege exclaimed.
Richard could only bite his lip, before he then sent a group of the agents flying.
"Cipher Pol… But how could they have found their way here…" Richard muttered under his breath. "...This defies all logic… they shouldn't have a way to get around here."
"Richard. Do you know anything about this!?" Siege exclaimed.
"...Siege, I promise you… when we're done here, you'll have your answers." Richard answered back with a clipped tone, as he immediately pulverized a group of them with a pillar of earth, as there was a cold look in his eyes, aimed directly at the WG agents.
"Tch… I'll chalk this up as something Magina didn't want me to know about." Siege huffed before he raised his sword high. "All the more reason to end this QUICKLY!" Siege launched up high in the air, infernal energy gathering around him. "HELLRAZE IGNIS!" Siege yelled, smashing into the ground and carving down nearly all the Ravager force, and eliminating roughly half the World Government Agents. "Damnit! That's the thing about those WG asshats, they're all tough motherfuckers!"
"Then we'll hit them twice as hard. Everyone here at the base! Listen up! The Ravagers are weakening but we've got new issues! Fire at the men wearing the suits and bowler hats!" Zeke ordered as fire was swapped from the Ravagers to the WG Agents.
"Richard… what the hell did you do?" Mokou stated, as she then streaked across the skies, as she rained down a salvo of flames right into the enemy formation, only to get no answer from Richard, who was in the midst of freezing an entire cluster of WG agents into ice statues.
"It seems we picked our timing too soon…" An Agent wearing slightly different clothes, a cane gun in his hand as he looked at the field of battle.
"Then we should cut our losses, right?" A woman WG Agent asked next to him as the man looked up, seeing Sam defending Shirli as the male shook his head.
"We capitalize on the weak points." The man said, taking aim towards the building Shirli was at, directly at Sam's head, as Shirli saw it.
"Sam, look out!" Shirli exclaimed as she rushed forward and opened up her shield, taking the shot in her shield, as Ravagers from out of nowhere appeared, all guns pointed at Shirli as Siege looked back with widened eyes.
"No… RICHARD, DO A 180, SOLDIER, GET A SUKIMA UP THERE AND SAVE SHIRLI!" Siege pointed out, as Richard would see that the Ravagers all prepared to fire on the defenseless Shirli with her shield up.
"NO!" Richard exclaimed, before he then leapt right into a sukima, as he had a spell-card prepared. "Declare Spell Card! Fire Sign 'Ifrit's Wrath'!"
As a rain of fire-balls began to pelter the entire surrounding group of Ravagers, as well as any nearby WG agents, Sam and Shirli only watched, as the entire area around them was cleansed in flames by Richard's relentless attack.
Shirli felt some of the fireballs hitting her shield, as Sam looked down, seeing Shirli's suppressor starting to malfunction as he grit his teeth. "RICHARD YOU IDIOT! YOUR ATTACK IS HITTING HER SHIELDS, SHIFT THE ATTACK DIRECTION!" Sam yelled.
"Damnit why'd you use Ifrit's Wrath!?" Siege said as he was dodging fireballs himself to avoid taking too much damage. "Way too aggressive, Richard! Way too aggressive!"
"I'm not giving these bastards a chance to cause-" Richard stated, before he then realized what was going on. "...Fuck…!"
Richard then immediately wrenched the entire formation of magic, as the fireball rain began to move around slowly, although doing so was straining Richard's own magic reserves from the alterations needed to do so.
Thankfully, he managed to shift the attack just before Shirli's suppressor was ready to give out, as Shirli huffed and collapsed in Sam's arms, as Sam got her into the medical area to quickly recharge her suppressor and give it quick repairs, meanwhile, the two Elite Agents frowned seeing Richard's efforts.
"It seems they countered your last ditch effort." The female agent said.
"So they did. No matter. The Seraphim prototypes will give them more than enough trouble." The agent said as he stood up. "Let's leave, Irelia. We have better places to be."
"Yes sir." Irelia answered as the WG Agents retreated, leaving a scorched battlefield with slight damage to the base on account of Richard's attack, but Siege took a deep breath, almost a sigh of relief, as he smiled softly.
"Good… first alteration avoided…" Siege said, before glaring at the slightly drained Richard before storming up to him and grabbing him by the collar. "You got some MOTHERFUCKING explaining to do. Why in the HELL is the World Government on our ass YET AGAIN!?"
Richard looked at Siege with a resigned look, before he then lowered his eyes, and took a deep breath.
"...I should have never sent that bloody letter to begin with…" Richard muttered under his breath.
"...And what was in that message?" Siege growled, as his grip around Richard's collar grew.
"...A message to the Gorosei that they will fuck off with trying to screw with the Hero Alliance, and for a certain he-who-must-not-be-named to be careful on what he tries." Richard answered back, as his voice was completely drained, and not just in the physical sense. "A message to the World Government, telling them that they're no longer the strong ones, and that they would be smart to leave matters be… if only for the more unfortunate worlds over on the other side."
"...So you went and pissed them all the fuck off." Siege growled as he searched the coats of one of the dead Agents.
Surely enough. He found two prominent posters. Singed, but still legible.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Richard Liu Zhao
Reward: 3,500,000,000
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Siege Sukui
Reward: 500,000,000
"...MOTHERFUCK!" Siege yelled, his anger burning both posters to ash as he glared back at Richard. "YOU UNDID EVERYTHING MAGINA TRIED DOING TO STOP THOSE FUCKS! NOW THEY LEGALLY CAN HEADHUNT US ALL! YOU MAD MAN!"
"...Siege, before I continue. I'm going to offer you something." Richard stated, as he was still nursing his throat from being nearly choked by Siege. "...Do you want the pure unadulterated truth, or do you want me to lay you down gently… Well, as gently as I can? Because I'm offering this on my own conscience, and I will not lie otherwise."
"Hrmph. Give me the full brunt of it. Not like you haven't pissed me off enough as it is, now knowing we have the World Government breathing down our goddamn necks." Siege huffed in anger.
"I fucked up." Richard remarked, raising to his feet. "I fucked up, and I never realised it, until the moment that Magina's words actually made sense. I was doing this for a justifiable reason… To make sure that the World Government would be intimidated into not daring to peek their heads into the other matters that the other reality will go through… and even if they did, they would be far too focused on a grudge to care about anyone else but us. A fairly thought-out plan… if only that were the truth."
Richard then staggered over, before collapsing against a stack of crates. "...The real truth? I was selfish. I was selfish because I was being self-righteous. Because I was too emotional, too 'heroic'." He answered back. "I should have just beaten Ryoguku and left it there. That alone was enough to push the envelope to the door. But no, because I cared too much for the people on the other side, I placed my own peace of mind and the safety of all of us, as well as anyone else who would have been affected by the WG's fuckery… below those of the other world. Who am I kidding? Magina was right, everything could have been fine if I let it be, but I knew… and she knew, I had a far too great of a grudge against the World Government to let things be."
Richard then slowly staggered up, before a bitter expression crossed Richard's face. "Look at the actions of the World Government after their millenia of existence, Siege, and tell me, would you not have intended to wipe them out for everything they have done? They created the Celestial Dragons, who are the reason the world of One Piece never finds peace, they created the Empty Throne and the man who sits upon it, watching over everything and looming like a fist of titanium. They created the Marines as they are now, with people to the likes of Akainu and now, Ryoguku, and all the other Marines who are a disgrace to their cause." He hissed. "And you want to know the kicker, Siege? You want to know what makes them far more deplorable than the other evils that we have faced, who have done equal things, if not worse? There is no-one who can make them responsible. Not even all the pirates in the world, not even Kaido, not even the other Four Emperors, and the only one who could have done anything to that, has long passed into history with the spark that created the Age of Piracy. They are above all consequences, after everything they have done. So many lives, Siege, so many lives, so many dreams, so many hopes… crushed under the foot for a World Government that doesn't care about past, present or future. They care about nothing but themselves, and they don't care about leaving a legacy. They only live in the now. They are the truest villains that I have ever known."
"Richard…" Mokou stated, as she was being left stunned at what she was hearing.
"Hrm." Zeke huffed as he heard every word thus far.
"So yes, I did all of this for one reason, Siege." Richard growled back. "I fucked up all of this, because I couldn't accept the fact that if walking away means that they'll create another Wano, another Ohara. I wanted to make them understand that there are consequences, and no amount of power or influence will make it go away. I wanted to be their boogeyman, to make them fear the fact that retribution will descend upon their necks, should they step out of line. I will be their demon king, because that is what the countless people who have suffered by their hands have wished for. I know this is selfish, and I will not lie otherwise. The other me would have let them stew in their suffering, but I refuse to let more suffer. To me, this is the best scenario… We have the power to fight them back, and we have the power to fix everything they might do. With them out of this reality… they cannot do any more harm to the people who suffered centuries upon centuries of suffering. And now, I'm finally done speaking."
Richard then collapsed onto the ground, with a hand to his eye, silently grieving.
Siege huffed as he heard Richard's words and took them all in with a deep breath. He looked at Richard first with a stern voice. "Well, I'm pissed now. But not for what you said. Zeke's been here the whole time and you basically blew any and all cover we had for this world. So now we gotta come clean-"
"I get it. You guys are from a different world. But what you did for us has more than earned my trust in you." Zeke answered.
"Fair do." Siege said. "And secondly, and most importantly… well…"
Siege sighed and knelt beside Richard before sitting next to him, solemnly laughing, and slapping Richard's shoulder and grabbing it. "You and I are so much alike. If I was in your shoes, knowing what you know and now I know about the World Government, I too would have acted like a selfish idiot and put us all in danger." Siege chuckled before he sighed again. "I am a little upset that you put us in this predicament… but you know what, I forgive you, Richard… because I can't condemn you when I would have done the same damn thing." Siege laughed.
"I didn't intend to be forgiven that easily… But that is nice to hear." Richard answered back, as he brushed himself off, as his tone recovered its luster. "Since we're already in all of this together… we might as well see it through. Besides, I don't think that even now, they have the manpower to come down on us. They're basically just a side-piece to everyone else… and god knows if they'll end up pissing some other ancient evil who would be far less benevolent than either of us."
"Hah! I couldn't have said it better myself. Ya know what? Fuck the World Government. Let them come. We have all the tech, power, and means to stop them dead in their tracks and remind them just who we fucking are!" Siege smirked as he used his Spell Card to heal up Richard before helping Richard to his feet. "Now come on. Let's go see how our first successful alteration plays out. Sam should be with Shirli and she should be okay now."
"Yeah, I owe her an apology for almost accidentally… well…" Richard remarked, as he winced slightly. "You know what, let's just go to her right now."
"I'll bring you to her. This way." Zeke said, as the group met up with Shirli.
Meanwhile, Lucia, Heiwa, and Popol arrived to see the remains of the battlefield.
"...It seems they didn't require our assistance at all? There's no signs of life from the enemy force here." Lucia said. Suddenly, she saw three posters laying on the ground. "Hm?" She picked them up and examined them.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Lucia "Crimson Death"
Reward: 10,000,000,000
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Heiwa "Kitsune Freak"
Reward: 950,000,000
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Popol "Mounted Monster"
Reward: 2,500,000,000
"Bounty posters!? Issued by the World Government!?" Popol asked in shock.
"They have a funny way of names too…" Lucia mused. "It also seems they value Heiwa as the least of the threats."
"Hmph!" Heiwa remarked, before clawing the poster apart. "Well, they'll regret that immensely, when I get my hands on who is responsible for this insult."
"Let's go see Richard and the others for answers…" Lucia suggested.
Back in the base…
"Hey guys. I… pretty much heard everything from up here. You guys weren't exactly quiet." Shirli would say. "And Richard, don't feel too bad. Your attack just caught me in the crossfire a couple licks, that's all. I'm okay, honest."
"Still, it's my fault for being hot-headed." Richard answered back. "Rest assured, this won't happen again."
"As I said, don't worry about it." Shirli smiled sweetly.
"I can't thank you all enough for helping protect our home. You may be from another world, but you're friends here to all of us." Zeke said with a warm nod.
"Thank you. Sorry we kind of fibbed to try and blend in." Siege apologized.
"Nothing to worry about." Franz said with a smile.
Lucia, Popol, and Heiwa suddenly arrived to see the scene.
"Seems we arrived a little too late." Lucia stated.
"Yep. And no need to keep up the Hykros act. They know we're from another world now." Siege explained. "As for the World Government goons you saw along the way, all you need to know is Richard messed up and turned their attention to all of us."
"Yeah, so far, things are manageable… but I doubt that they'll be so lenient the next time we cross." Mokou crossed her arms.
"Who is this 'World Government' anyways? I'm just curious." Zeke would ask with a hand to his chin.
"A problem that should have stayed where it was." Richard stated, before Mokou glared at Richard, forcing him to sigh. "All of that bad talk about them, yeah, that is basically the World Government in a nutshell, a corrupt global government that aggravates the problems it caused in the first place, a upholder of a unfair society where a select few are considered gods among men, and the others not even dirt on their shoe, and they basically have a private army dedicated to ruining the lives of anyone who thinks otherwise. It's basically your typical dystopian government."
"They do sound really bad… and now they're gonna be harrassing us here?" Shirli asked.
"Unfortunately. Because this is our fault, we'll remain here until we know for certain they won't send anyone else to this area. Now then-" Siege was about to say, suggesting some relaxation time, until he turned to see the Astra Omnium tower whirring, before it came alive, shooting a beam upwards to a central tower, as Siege saw multiple beams shooting up towards the central tower. "Uhm…. Should that be happening?"
"Last I checked it wasn't time for Hykros to do that…" Franz said. "Usually they turn on the Omnium Towers periodically to recharge the Tower of Fantasy to provide us with ample energy around Aesperia… but it wasn't time to begin that cycle yet."
"So I gotta ask: Is it possible for the Tower of Fantasy to overload with Omnium?" Sam asked.
"You better believe it. If that Tower of Fantasy overloads with Omnium… it will blow up, to put it extremely mildly." Franz said.
"Holy shit…" Siege paled.
"In other words, we need to stop the Omnium Towers before they overload the Tower of Fantasy." Franz declared. "I suggest you guys that came from Hykros, take Brazera with you, and gather whoever else you brought. We're gonna need all boots on the ground to stop this mess."
"Uh huh." Heiwa stated, as she gestured towards Brazera. "Come on, we got some nasty towers to shut down. Hopefully, you won't end up getting pulverized by the situation. Things will be even harder without support outside."
"L-Let me come with you!" Shirli declared, as Zeke looked her way.
"Shirli… I know I said you were free to do as you wanted… but this journey they're taking, it's dangerous." Zeke warned.
"I know that, brother. But maybe if I go to Hykros, I can maybe learn how to better defend myself, and even help out in many different ways." Shirli suggested.
"Zeke, on my honor as a warrior and a friend… Shirli is safe in our hands." Siege said with a firm tone, as Zeke sighed, before he looked to Shirli and smiled.
"Well… I won't stop you. But if there's ever any trouble… call me, and I won't hesitate to come find you." Zeke offered.
"Of course brother." Shirli smiled sweetly as she looked to the group. "Well, what are we waiting for? To Hykros!"
"Have fun with that. I'll shut down the Tower with this Astrum I've got, and I'll meet you guys when you get back." Franz smiled.
"Right. Richard, let's bypass the trip to the tower and sukima to Hykros, shall we?" Siege suggested.
"Done and done." Richard answered back, as he snapped his fingers, as a direct sukima right to the center of Hykros appeared. "Express portal to Hykros. Please come in with your arms tucked, and your legs lifted."
Heiwa merely offered a light chuckle, before she then headed through the sukima, with Popol, Shirli, and Brazera not far behind. Lucia, Sam, and Siege would hop through as well, steeling themselves for the rough journey ahead.