Rebecca and Homura were facing off against an android who usurped control of the planet Iceberg and its factory from an unknowing skeleton army. The android's name was Waltz and his heinous actions irritated the two women of the Eden's Zero. "Come now, you two. It's as the tradition says, ladies first!" Waltz beckoned Homura and Rebecca to engage him first, looking down on them with a smirk as the factory around them was partially in flames thanks to him and his sword.

"I will strike first!" Homura said while sprinting forward with a single blade in hand. She jumped into the air, swinging her sword down on Waltz, but he blocked it easily. The Valkyrie of the Eden's Zero landed and immediately pushed forward again, aiming a few more swings at her foe. Waltz stayed on his toes, perfectly matching all of Homura's attacks. Their swords clashed, sparks flying from the collision of blades. "His strikes perfectly match mine! This level of swordsmanship is dangerous…!" If she were on her own, this would prove to be a troublesome foe, but she wasn't alone. Homura brought her sword forward to force a stalemate with Waltz, who grinned.

"Not too bad. But you won't beat me with simple movements like that." Waltz spoke to Homura. "Besides, you look like you're sweating a little. Is the heat too much for you?"

"Bellholy Slash!" Rebecca used the time Homura bought to kick her boots off and flank Waltz's left. With her leg extended, she intended to kick him across the face, but to her surprise…he used his free hand to grab her ankle and stop her cold. "What…!?" Her eyes widened in shock. Even with her speed, Waltz was still able to see her coming.

"Cute tricks, but it'll take more than diversion tactics to best me!" Waltz's upperbody spun around. Since he was an android he was capable of this. With the speed he picked up in mere seconds, he was able to overpower Homura and send her flying into a few boxes, while he tossed Rebecca into a support beam. Both of then let out yelps of pain upon impact. Waltz then focused on Rebecca, his sword igniting in flames as he leapt towards her. "Hell Sword!"

Rebecca was a little dizzy from that impact, but she was able to shake it off in time. She jumped to the side, just narrowly avoiding the Hell Sword technique. What caught her by surprise was a potent explosion of fire, so while she wasn't hit directly, the explosion did throw her off balance. So she didn't escape without a few bruises. "Gah!?" She tumbled along the ground before coming to a halt in a crouched position. She quickly picked herself up, using her Happy Blasters to shoot at Waltz while running around.

The bullets Rebecca released were enough of a threat that Waltz had to deflect them while encroaching upon the B-cuber. Before he got too far, he turned and blocked Homura's attempt at cutting his leg. "Too slow!"

"His reaction time is incredible!" Homura spoke her inner thoughts aloud, but it was the truth. So far, he was keeping on top of their attacks even when he couldn't see them. Waltz was a threat.

"It's one of my many tricks!" Waltz said while turning to slash at Homura, but she flipped over his sword.

"I happen to have many tricks of my own as well!" Homura spoke with a slight smirk. When she was finished flipping, she pointed her hand forward, numerous crimson blades appearing in front of her. "Enjoy a dance of blades…!"

"And bullets!" Rebecca winked. They had Waltz pinched. The crimson swords flew towards Waltz from the front, while Rebecca shot at him from the back. Over the last two years, the crew of the Eden's Zero were training hard to fight efficiently as a team, and now that training was finally paying off!

Waltz was pinched between bullets and swords. The swords took more priority and he parried them, grunting as Rebecca's bullets were a nonstop force against his back. The annoying force was eventually going to build up to something painful if he allowed this to continue. But this only made him smirk. "Impressive, ladies! But let's see how you handle this!" His sword burned brighter, the heat expanding outward at an alarming rate. This made Homura grimace pant from exhaustion, while Rebecca covered her eyes from the brightness of it all. Waltz stabbed his sword into the ground, a searing circle expanding outward until the scorched land caught Rebecca and Homura within its grasp. "Explosive Ring!" He then pulled his sword out, an explosion of fire occurring on the spot.

"KYAAAH!"

"AAAAH!"

Rebecca and Homura screamed as they were consumed by the sudden burst of flames. This only set the factory ablaze more. The flames raged on, even stronger than before. The two women were covered in burn marks and they struggled to get up. "Ngh…" Rebecca winched. She was able to pick herself up, making sure Happy wasn't damaged in his gun form.

"…" Homura was struggling. This heat was starting to get to her. Her vision was blurry and she was having a hard time standing up. That didn't look good as Waltz slowly walked in her direction.

"…!" Rebecca suddenly realized how this was for Homura. Even now, the swordswoman couldn't stand the heat. Being surrounded by fire was probably doing nothing for her either. So Rebecca only had a single option. The symbols on her leg shone brightly and…

[Rewind.]

Rebecca brought herself back to the point where her and Homura's joint assault made Waltz smirk. With the knowledge of knowing what his next attack had in store, Rebecca knew she had to warn Homura. "Homura, watch out! He's going to attack!" Rebecca shouted as Waltz lit up his sword.

"…!" Homura naturally had no knowledge of the rewind. From her point of view, Rebecca was warning her about something that had yet to come, so she could only imagine that something bad was about to happen, so she jumped to the side.

And when she jumped to the side, Rebecca used Cat Leaper to intercept Waltz's attack. She jumped over him and aimed a few shots, which were blocked by his blazing sword. She then circled around him a few times, before aiming another kick at him…which was stopped by his burning sword. "Agh…!? How…!?" Rebecca's bare foot hit a flaming sword, so she naturally recoiled from the shock.

Rebecca did change the timeline, but that change wasn't exactly a good one. Waltz pulled his sword back, before thrusting it forward multiple times. "Searing Flash!" Rebecca was trying her best to evade, but she only had one good leg. So she was caught by multiple thrusts, numerous burn marks appearing on her body and skin. The final attack was a horizontal slash that slammed Rebecca into a wall nearby.

"Ngh…" Rebecca was still conscious. She could take a few hits, but she was still confused how she wasn't able to get the jump on Waltz. She just needed a second to recover.

"REBECCA!" Homura jumped forward, using two swords now to protect Rebecca from Waltz's attacks. She had to fight hard to keep it a stalemate, for it was clear that Waltz was growing serious.

"I'm sure your friend is confused why her speed doesn't work on me." Waltz said with a grin. "I can detect changes in the Ether around me. The moment she speeds up, I can track her movements like it's nothing. The same goes for when you swing your sword. As long as Ether is active, I know where's coming from, no matter what!"

"Then you should see this coming!" Homura slipped past Waltz's frame, using her twin blades to slash at him in rapid succession. "Warrior Maid Dual Blade Attack: Leopard Frenzy!" She jumped twice, to and fro, to attack him numerous times while returning in front of Rebecca.

"Ack…!" Waltz grunted as numerous parts of his body were now covered in slash marks. Black fluid spurted from his body as a response to the damage he sustained. And despite that…he grinned. "Very nice, VERY NICE! Come now, is that not the best you can do!?" Waltz slammed his sword against the ground, causing the temperature in the factory to rise considerably.

Homura almost immediately stumbled back. "Ngh…" She was dizzy. It was hot. Her vision was a little unfocused with all the fire and it was a bit hard to breathe. All of these conditions made focusing the ether to use her Overdrive difficult. But Rebecca was behind her, so she could endure this heat to protect her friend. "Rebecca…if what he says is true, do not use your power unless it is dire." She mumbled loud enough for Rebecca to hear. "Worry not, for I shall protect you like a knight would for their princess!"

Homura's words were really reassuring for Rebecca in these moments. "Right…" Even if Waltz didn't know about Cat Leaper, this just meant that she wouldn't be able to get the drop on him in any meaningful way. Rebecca grit her teeth, standing behind Homura. "He knows we can hit fast…but he doesn't know how hard we can really hit." If the conventional methods were off the table, they were going to have to find another way to emerge victorious.

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Shiki was facing off against the Sentry Alpha bot. A large, towering humanoid android standing guard in front of Iceberg's core. All Shiki needed to do was take this thing down and Iceberg would be liberated. That was more than enough motivation for him to do this. "Bring it on!"

"You might be the Demon King's grandson, but you are an enemy, and all enemies will be destroyed!" Sentry Alpha responded, clenching its robotic hand into a fist while pulling it backwards. It then brought its fist down towards Shiki with the intention of crushing him under it.

"Hup!" Shiki leapt into the air and with the aid of his gravity, he easily avoided a punch that created a crater in the snowy ground. The demon king then flew forward with his fist reared back, gravity appearing around it. "Magimech Attack; Gravity Fist!" Shiki slammed his fist into the chest of Sentry Alpha, causing it to stagger back from the sheer power of it.

"Damage sustained. Counter attack initiated: Missile Barrage." Sentry Alpha's chest opened up, revealing several holes lined up in a row. From these holes, numerous missiles exploded outward by the dozens, all of them seeking to converge and explode on Shiki.

Shiki landed on the ground, slamming it with his fist. This generated a gravitational field that expanded outward, capturing the incoming missiles within. The gravity was extremely heavy and crushing and the missiles were unable to withstand it. As such, they were crushed and exploded before they could even reach the captain of the Eden's Zero. "Gravity Field!"

Sentry Alpha grit its teeth and attempted to stomp on Shiki instead. It lifted its foot and brought it down on Shiki, and there was some form of contact made as a rumbling occurred. But it didn't feel like it actually managed to do any damage. "Huh?"

Shiki had his palm flat against Sentry Alpha's foot, using his gravity to make it lighter. Not just lighter… "Anti-Gravity!" Shiki used his gravity to push Sentry Alpha away, causing it to float off into the sky.

"What!? No…!" Sentry Alpha was trying to ground itself, but with no sense of gravity it was completely unable to do this.

Shiki grinned and leapt high into the air once again, but higher than Sentry Alpha. "Sorry, but I really don't have time to waste. This planet's freedom begins right now!" Shiki enhanced his feet with gravity and dropped down like a boulder. "Magimech Attack: Gravity Comet!" He landed onto the Sentry Alpha, crushing it into the ground with the momentum and force of gravity at his disposal. It was a quick finish and he landed on the ground shortly after. "There we go." With that, he hurried to the core and began to work on connecting to it. "Hermit, do you read me? This is Shiki. The second core has stopped."

"Nice work, Shiki! With this, the planet will be liberated!" Hermit said from the com. "I'll contact everyone and you can return to the sh…" And suddenly, Hermit just cut out.

"Huh?" Shiki blinked a few times. "Hermit…? Hermit!" The communication cut out…!?

.

.

"Good timing, if I do say so myself!" Ano grinned to himself. He managed to find a way to interrupt the Eden's Zero's network. In the network, there was a snake binding the communication line. "I didn't want to disturb their mission, so it's a good thing they finished before things got dicey if they encountered the Captain."

.

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Back on the Eden's Zero, those still on the ship could see that their coms went out with no explanation. "Hey, what's wrong?" Ivry leaned over Hermit's shoulder.

"I don't know!" Hermit said, looking through the network for any possibilities. "Something's blocking our communications with the others. I was in the middle of telling them to come back…! Don't worry, I'll figure this out in a few minutes."

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Rebecca and Homura were unaware of the communication situation. They were busy trying to get one up on Waltz in the midst of a blazing factory. Waltz brought his sword down on Homura, who managed to block it with her own, but he knees buckled. "What's the matter? You're slowing down!"

"Ngh…" Homura was really having trouble in the fire and flames. Her legs buckled and she was losing ground. She would never be able to land a decisive blow like this! She tried to strike, but her response was slow and this resulted in her cutting slashed across the chest, making her cry out. "AGH!" Before she could respond, Waltz kicked her in the stomach to knock her away.

"Haaaah!" Rebecca began shooting at Waltz once again. The bullets were slowly racking up damage on the android, and she used Cat Leaper to zip around. She stayed at a distance, and while Waltz could defend against her bullets…

"She's staying away from my sword's range…very well!" Waltz increased the fire power within his sword and slashed at the air in front of him. "Hell Sword!"

"There!" Rebecca saw her opening. She sped forward as Waltz brought his sword down. In one motion, she avoided the slash and the wave of fire it created, while aiming a kick at his face, but he stopped it with his free hand.

"When will you learn? Humans will bash their head against a brick wall 100 times and still fail to realize it's unbreakable!" Waltz sighed.

Rebecca just wore a cocky smirk on her lips. "Heh, I know that I can't get the drop on you with a surprise attack. That's why the direct approach is the best idea. You can follow my movements, but can you stop this!" Rebecca's leg incurred another surge of Cat Leaper. She used this jump to create momentum from nothing, which broke through Waltz's grip, surprising him as she landed not one, but two kicks to his face. "Twin Slash!"

"Gah!" Waltz staggered backwards from Rebecca's clever ploy. He then noticed all of the flames were starting to funnel into something. "What?" He turned around, spotting Homura with twin blades merged together, using the force of wind to draw them closer to her.

"Warrior Maid Dual Blade Attack: Towering Crane Gust!" Homura exclaimed as there was a vortex of fire behind her. This was a much better alternative to being surrounded by flames. She felt much better already.

"Hm?" Waltz picked up another ether reading from behind him. Rebecca was clearly trying to shoot him again. "How many times…!" A singular blast came his way, and he cut it down with his sword. But the shooter surprised him. "What…!?"

It was just Happy. "Happy, Solo Cannon!" Happy had a cannon on his back and he grinned towards Waltz. "It's just me!"

"But then…where's…!?" Waltz quickly turned around, spotting Rebecca now standing next to Homura.

Homura jumped up and Rebecca grabbed onto her leg, her appearance changing. Whiskers, cat ears, and a tail appeared on Rebecca's body and her outfit changed as she entered her Overdrive for an extra boost in power and speed. "Homura, finish him off!" Rebecca yelled while throwing Homura and her blazing swords forward.

"Understood!" Homura shouted, merging those two swords into a singular, blazing great sword. As she neared Waltz, she raised that sword up, kitsune ears appearing on the top of her head, while her hair turned white. She too entered Overdrive to land a decisive blow. "Warrior Maid Single Sword Attack Revision! INFERNO DRAGON SLASH!" Homura sped past Waltz while slashing her sword down at him, the image of a flaming dragon accompanying the motion of her swing. She cut downward across his chest for a fierce attack while landing on the ground, sliding past the android.

"GAAAAAAAH!" Waltz cried out and his body started to tip backwards.

"Nice!" Happy grinned.

"We got him!" Rebecca exclaimed happily.

As Waltz was about to fall over completely, he stabbed his sword into the ground. "I refuse…!" He grunted, panting heavily from the injuries sustained.

"No way…!" Homura gasped.

"That wasn't enough!?" Rebecca's jaw dropped.

Waltz's sword burned bright, incinerating the ground in a circle around him that rapidly expanded. The scorched ground soon reached Rebecca, Happy, and Homura. "Explosive Ring!" He then drew his sword from the ground and an explosion occurred that captured Rebecca, Happy and Homura in its grasp. Even though the flames were just cleared from the factory, this single attack reignited them. The trio was thrown back after crying out in pain.

"Ngh…" Rebecca was on her stomach, wincing. She saw Homura still standing, but she was dizzy and barely conscious. "Homura…!" Somehow, this was the same situation as last time…! Rebecca was about to rewind, but then…a pipe from the ceiling fell and slammed on the back of her neck. It happened so fast she had no time to react. She instantly fell unconscious and reverted back to normal.

"Oh no, Rebecca!" Happy quickly made his way over to Rebecca.

"Still standing? Impressive." Waltz pointed his sword at a woozy Homura.

"As long as my friends are in danger…I shall not yield. That is my oath as the Sword of Eden's." Homura said while panting heavily.

"Well, I have no interest in your friends. You and your sword on the other hand…that is precisely something my friends will find worth selling." Waltz showed no interest in Rebecca or Happy. If he knew the truth behind Cat Leaper, that would be a different story…but Homura interested him more. So he swung his blazing sword and created a vortex of fire around the woman. "I have to pay you back for this injury on my chest."

"This is…!?" Homura tried to slice through the flames, but it didn't work. This vortex of fire didn't damage her physically, but entrapping her within this sort of heat was extremely effective way of sapping all her strength. Homura could not fight in these conditions and collapsed from heatstroke, turning back to normal. "Ngh…."

The vortex of flames faded. Waltz slowly walked towards Homura to lift the barely conscious woman over his shoulder. He winced in the process due to his injury… "I even reinforced my chest at the last second, and she still did considerably damage. Eden's Zero…are fearsome foes indeed…"

Happy watched helplessly as Waltz walked off with Homura. He would've shot at him, but the factory suffered too much damage and was ablaze. He had to get Rebecca out of here first. "Come on…" Luckily they weren't too far away from the exit and he could drag Rebecca. By the time he got outside, Waltz was already long gone. Not even any footprints were left behind…. "This is bad! I have to contact the others…!" But he couldn't because coms were down…

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Weisz was riding that vehicle for a little longer than he would've liked. But he was able to forcefully eject the android driver once the cores were shut down. The vehicle stopped after a while and Weisz opened up the back. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah…" A woman spoke slowly.

"Good. If you know the way back, go on ahead. Everything should be back to normal by now." Weisz stated. The humans hurried out of the truck and prepared to make their way back home. Weisz was about to go as well, but something strange caught the corner of his eye. There was a small crater with no snow around it. "Huh…?" His curiosity got the best of him and he decided to check things out. When he got to the edge of the crater, he saw a pointed black shape about the size of a basketball in the center of the crater, radiating some strange energy. "What the…?" Deciding to be safe, Weisz summoned part of his Arsenal armor to surround his arm and pick up the strange fragment. "What is this thing…?"

"I'd put that down if I were you." The unfamiliar voice caused Weisz to stiffen up and immediately turn around. That voice belonged to Casey Aster. The red haired male stared at Weisz. "You don't have any need for that object. I'll take it off your hands."

Weisz scowled. He didn't like the vibes coming from this guy. Instead of complying, he sealed the fragment in a bubble and set it down, pulling out his assault rifle and pointed it at Casey. "Who're you. Something tells me you're not here to help with liberating this planet."

"I wouldn't worry about that." Casey said while staring at Weisz, undaunted by the gun pointed at him. "Now…put the gun down before someone gets hurt. I just want that fragment."

"Considering the power I just felt from this thing, I think it's better if I hang onto it. What do you plan to use it for, huh?" Weisz asked. "Your answer better be a good one."

"That's on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know." Casey responded calmly. Since Weisz wasn't going to comply, Casey decided to take action. He quickly drew a pistol and fired. Weisz, realizing this, also fired his assault rifle, but he wasn't able to get more than one shot off. Casey's aim was frighteningly accurate, shooting the rifle out of Weisz's hands. In turn, Weisz also managed to shoot Casey's pistol out of his hand."Tch…"

"Alright, you asked for it!" Words weren't going to work here, but force was. Weisz fully donned his Arsenal armor and lunged towards Casey. He was fast and he threw his palm forward, but Casey stopped this by grabbing Weisz's armored wrist. This just made the mechanical engineer smirk under the helmet. "Mortal Crash!" From the robotic palm, an explosion of fire took place, completely consuming Casey and making him release Weisz's wrist. As the smoke surrounded Casey, Weisz stood up straight. "Now, foul villain! Are you going to divulge your intentions with this fragment, or are we going to have to continue this the hard way! Either way is fine with me!" As the smoke cleared, Weisz's eyes widened at the sight waiting for him… "W-what…!?"

He couldn't tell if Casey was damaged or not, but that didn't matter. For what stood in front of Weisz was a man donning an exact replica…no, not even a replica, an exact, down to the wire, copy of his Arsenal Armor. "Hm…so you created this? I see. I can use this for now." Casey said as the helmet appeared to cover his face. "I did ask that you hand things over before somebody gets hurt, but you didn't listen. So now? Somebody has to get hurt."