Weisz panted after the situation passed. He managed to defeat Blair, but as he did, Jigan attempted to ditch them in space. If it were not for Rebecca, Weisz, Blair, and Pino would be dead right now. That was a little hard to swallow. "Damn…Jigan hasn't changed at all."

"Weisz! Pino!" Rebecca, Mosco, and Sister all approached the two after the conflict ended. "Are you okay?" Rebecca asked, looking over Weisz and Pino's injuries. Weisz had it the worst.

"I've been better." Weisz groaned while sitting up.

"Damage minimal." Pino reported. "I was kicked, but I'm okay."

"You look like shit." Sister said while looking Weisz over. "Get over and rest in the infirmary. I'll make sure to fix you both up."

"Moscoy!" Mosco pointed to the unconscious Blair. The only reason she was on the Eden's Zero was because it wasn't right to leave her to die. "What do we do about her?"

"That's a good question." Rebecca looked over Blair. Weisz managed to knock her out and fill her with a number of tranquilizer darts. That woman wasn't going to wake up for a while. "She doesn't use Ether Gear, but that arm of hers is freaky. I don't know how we're going to restrain her if she wakes up…"

Sister just wore a menacing smile. "Oh, Rebecca. Don't you know who I am? I can take care of that." She licked her lips before pulling out some rope. "An arm is still an arm, so all you have to is restrain it the right way, and…" Sister's dominatrix tendencies came into play, as she tied up Blair in a way that was both appealing to the eye, and ensured she wouldn't be able to move her left arm too much. Sister stepped back to admire her handiwork…having a maid tied up like this? Damn. "…Maybe I should get the crop rider, too."

"I-I think you don't need to go that far!" Rebecca said. "She's still an enemy after all."

"Agh…" Sister deflated.

"What about the others in the enemy ship?" Happy asked.

"Don't worry, we'll be able to make our own bridge." Hermit responded from the intercom. "I just need a little time to get it working. We're not going to leave the others stranded."

"C-Come on, Weisz. I'll take you to the infirmary. Moscoy, can you take uh…this girl?" Rebecca forgot Blair's name.

"Moscoy!" Mosco nodded, picking Blair up into his arms and over his shoulder. He and Rebecca walked back together.

Sister was about to follow, but she stopped for a moment. Something didn't feel right… "…Hm."

"Is something wrong?" Pino asked Sister.

Sister nodded in response. "Yeah. I think we have an unwelcomed guest on the ship. Don't worry, I'll take care of it and be right back. Tell Rebecca to catch up in the lower deck." With that, the Life of Eden's started to walk off in the opposite direction, scowling all the while.

.

.

Kleene and Hanabi were locked in combat. Hanabi fired her pistol towards Kleene, but the bullets were constantly absorbed into Kleene's wind. "You won't defeat me like that. My wind absorbs everything." Kleene stated. She then brought her left arm down in a vertical manner, a sharp blade of wind following her movements to cut her opponent. "Wind Blade!"

Hanabi saw this coming and rolled to the side, watching as the blade of wind cut into the ship's floor. "You seem to be quite strong. If my information is correct, you used to be a part of Drakken Joe's Elemental Four, is that right?"

"Huh…?" Kleene was surprised that Hanabi knew about that. "How do you…"

"I have my ways." Hanabi winked. "And it seems that you've only grown stronger since then. I'm not surprised; it appears that Drakken had his ways of holding people back." Hanabi said while firing a few more bullets at Kleene. They were all ether based, at least at the moment.

"If this is your attempt to rile me up, it will not work. I have perfect control of my emotions now, as I do the wind." As Kleene said this, she flicked her wrist, catching the ether bullets within her wind. "Wind Reflect!" With numerous bullets at her disposal, she reflected all of them back towards Hanabi. They all hit and Hanabi gasped before falling back…and disappearing. Kleene's eyes widened. "It was a duplicate…!?"

The real Hanabi appeared behind Kleene. By the time she noticed, Hanabi's heel already slammed into her chest, causing her to gasp from the impact. As Kleene staggered back, a duplicate emerged from Hanabi's body, pushing off the momentum the real one had. That duplicate kicked Kleene in the face, and a third duplicate emerged from that one, finishing the combo off with an axe kick to her opponent's skull. "Triple Strike!" The final blow landed and sent Kleene tumbling across the ground.

"Agh…" Kleene groaned, shaking her head before picking herself up. "They're all the same…I didn't even notice the one I was dealing with was a clone…"

Hanabi wore a smirk at Kleene's confused expression. "Don't feel bad. You're not the first person that's gotten confused when fighting me." Hanabi and her duplicates all aimed their guns at Kleene and opened fired, numerous rounds flying towards Kleene.

Kleene spread her arms apart, before crossing them in front of her. This prompted numerous blades of wind to shoot in front of her, slicing through the ether bullets while striking Hanabi and her clones. "Air Thrust!" The wind blowing against the blonde was so fierce, she couldn't move. Kleene could tell which Hanabi was real due to the fact the duplicates vanished after sustaining a certain amount of damage. With this knowledge, the Rutherford leapt forward, pushing herself forward with her wind. "Sky Arrow!" With speed and wind on her side, she soared across the room and her foot slammed into Hanabi's cheek for a clean hit.

Hanabi let out a cry of pain while she tumbled along the ground. She was able to catch herself, sliding to a halt in a crouched position. "Not bad…" She could feel the bruise on her cheek, along with the cuts to her skin from the previous attack. Kleene wasn't relenting, moving in for yet another attack, but she was stopped by a duplicate spawning behind her. "But don't forget where I can spawn my duplicates! Anywhere!"

"…!" Kleene turned around, using her wind to block some bullets. Another duplicate appeared behind her in that moment and shot at her. The ether bullets collided against Kleene's back and she cried out in pain. "It's so hard to keep up with her when she can be everywhere at once!" Kleene grit her teeth. She knew what she had to do. She spread her arms apart, creating two helix of wind in her palms. The wind in the area kicked up considerably, dragging Hanabi and her duplicates into it.

"W-What is this?!" Hanabi was panicking, shooting a few bullets at Kleene, but they were just dragged into the helix of wind.

"You may have surprised me, but this matchup isn't yours to wind. Now you sit tight in my Wind Cage until we've recused Homuran." Kleene said. Hanabi was unable to stop herself from being dragged into the Wind Cage along with her duplicates. Kleene then merged the two helix of wind together, now holding a singular one in the palm of her hand. A sigh of relief escaped her. "She had the numbers, but so long as her primary attacks consisted of projectiles…she had no chance of winning." She started to walk off in the direction Jinn and the others went. "Now, I should catch up to my brother and the others…"

BANG!

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the hall. Kleene was able to turn just in time, only to feel an ether bullet strike her arm. "…!" She gasped, but still held onto the Wind Cage, just barely. A duplicate of Hanabi was standing in front of her. "She can still make duplicates, even while captured…!?" That wasn't the most surprising part. Another gunshot rang out, and a searing sensation of a bullet tearing through flesh burned through her arm. A real bullet hit her. "AAAH!" Kleene screamed and dropped the Wind Cage, releasing Hanabi in the process.

"That was unpleasant." Hanabi said while shaking off the unpleasant feeling of being trapped.

Kleene felt blood drip down her arm. She gripped the injury while glaring at Hanabi. "How…how did you escape my Wind Cage from the inside!? That should be impossible!"

Hanabi nodded in agreement. "If it were anyone else, they would be done for. My duplicate distracted you, and while I was trapped, I decided to switch my bullet chamber. It's about time I revealed to you my trump card." Hanabi took aim at Kleene and fired a single bullet. This one was real. Kleene tried to use her wind as usual, but unlike before, this bullet ripped through the wind and struck her in the thigh.

"Ngh…!" Kleene yelped and collapsed to a knee from the pain. "But…that's…"

"My pistol is special. It can shift between ether bullets and real bullets. The only difference is that with real bullets, I usually have to reload." Hanabi held her pistol up. "But how can I beat your wind, you must be asking? Simple. Elemental bullets. Real bullets infused with elemental to give them an extra kick. In this case, a real bullet's momentum alone wouldn't break through your wind, but a real bullet infused with wind ether carries the power to punch right through it." Hanabi then used her duplication on her pistol, now dual wielding guns. "Try this one for size!" She then began clicking the triggers, firing wind piercing bullets at Kleene.

"I see…" Kleene understood. She was surprised, but not fazed. "Then you should know that I can control the quality of my wind!" Once again, Kleene used her wind to create a barrier in front of her. This time, however, the wind's color changed. The quality of it increased by one level, which outpaced the bullets coming her direction. As a result, these bullets were successfully blocked.

"Crap." Hanabi gulped. Kleene's abilities were more impressive than she initially expected.

Kleene drew a single hand back, compacting air within her palm. "Vacuum Wave!" A compressed wave of air shot forward, shooting across the hallway before slamming into Hanabi's chest. It was a direct hit and a very forceful one.

Hanabi coughed as she was pushed backwards, wheezing as that attack quite literally stole the air from her lungs. Another hit like that, and she'd probably pass out from lack of oxygen. Clever Kleene… "T-That's a neat trick. I guess I should show you mine in return."

"Your bullets won't affect me anymore." Kleene said confidently. She was already winding up for another attack; certain this would be the finishing blow.

"Are you sure about that?" Hanabi said confidently. "I have one more trick I've been hiding from you…although, considering my powers, I wonder if you've picked up on it."

Kleene instinctively looked behind her, expecting to see another duplicate, but that wasn't the case. "…?"

"Heh." Hanabi clicked the trigger of both pistols, and two wind infused bullets flew out. Kleene could see them clearly, which is precisely what Hanabi wanted. Once they were halfway to Kleene, the member of the Fiertia whispered a single word. "Requiem." In that moment, the bullets began to multiply by the dozens. "Let's see how you handle this!"

Kleene's eyes went wide as the bullet hell she was suddenly introduced to. She switched to defense, her wind amping up to protect herself from these bullets. It did hold strong, but the bullets were never ending. In fact, they were even multiplying while inside of Kleene's wind, slowly tearing holes through her defenses. The bullets pierced her defensive wall, and ultimately, she was overpowered as numerous bullets hit her. "AAAAAAAAH!" Kleene let out a scream as her eyes rolled back…and she fell to the ground on her stomach slowly. She was riddled with bullet wounds.

.

.

Jinn felt a strong disturbance as he, Laguna, and Shiki entered the bridge of the Fiertia. Nobody was present. "…I think Kleene's in danger. I have to go back." As he turned around, a wall of fire suddenly blocked him off from going back. "What!?"

"Oh, you won't be going anywhere." That voice belonged to Waltz. The gaudy android appeared from the ceiling, landing in front of Shiki, Laguna, and Jinn.

"This must be the one that kidnapped Homura." Laguna surmised.

"I was hoping we'd run into this one." Shiki said while clenching his hand into a fist. Without wasting any time, he lunged towards Waltz, his Ether Gear activating. "Magi-mech attack…Gravity Fist!" Waltz was unmoving while Shiki charged at him. At the last second, Shiki felt something coming his way, and shifted his gravity to fall onto the ceiling. From below, a sharp stalagmite emerged where his was on the floor. If he was a second slower, that stalagmite would have run straight through his chest. "What the…another one!?"

Tobias then appeared, using his hand to tug at his scarf. "He's fast. That would've killed most anyone else." Although the result was disappointing, Shiki's reactions were impressive. "Truly befitting of someone with the moniker Demon King, and Ocracion Seis Galatica."

"If you're trying to flatter me, I don't want to hear it." Shiki replied to Tobias with a roll of his eyes.

"So we're dealing with two here." Jinn grit his teeth, glancing back at the wall of fire. He knew that he or Laguna could easily get rid of it, but they had two opponents to deal with first. No way they would allow backtracking.

"I don't advice trying to go back. I won't let you." Waltz said while looking Jinn over. A malicious smile appeared on his lips. "Oh, what's this? You appear to be mostly O-tech. I wonder if you have something I can salvage and make use of…"

"Not on your life." Jinn scoffed. This android gave him terrible vibes, and the last thing he needed was for any part of him to be dismembered again. He wouldn't allow it.

"Shiki, we can take care of these two. The captain's quarters must be ahead. Homura is waiting." Laguna said.

"Right. You two be careful!" Shiki nodded and used his gravity to fall to the door leading deeper into the ship. This was much faster than running, and he wasn't wasting any time trying to hunt Jigan down and find Homura. "Hang on, Homura! I'm on my way!"

"Looks like we have to deal with these two clowns first." Jinn said to Laguna.

"Don't worry. We'll make this quick." Tobias said with a menacing grin of his own.

.

.

Hanabi exhaled softly. "That girl was tough. Now, let's see what happened to Blair…" She checked her phone, tilting her head curiously. "Hm? How did she get on the Eden's Zero…unless. Oh no…" She wasn't allowed to go very far with this thought, for she felt an ominous breeze. "Huh?" When she turned around, her eyes widened. The sight before her was completely unbelievable. "How…!?"

Kleene was standing back up. Not only that, but the ether in her body surged to the point her appearance changed. She entered her Overdrive state, panting heavily due to the injuries she sustained. "I'm not…finished yet."

"You're riddled in bullet wounds! You should be unconscious!" Hanabi exclaimed. Unconscious, dead, either worked. That's what Hanabi expected Kleene to be after an attack like that…but the Winds of Eden's defied all expectations.

"I used my wind to divert the trajectory of your bullets." Kleene explained. "Most of them just grazed me…and while a few did hit me, I made sure that they avoided anywhere vital. It still hurts, though." She admitted, but the wind she was conjuring was extremely powerful. Powerful enough to make Hanabi take a step back in terror. "The Wind of Eden's doesn't die down that easily. I'm not finished yet!"

.

.

Sister quietly walked down the halls of the Eden's Zero. She then came to a halt, looked around, and nodded to herself. "This is a good place." With no warning at all, she threw off her clothes and her palms began to glow. "Dispel Driver!" A surge of her healing ether washed over the ship. A strange action, but it proved useful. There was a spark and suddenly, a hooded man was exposed just a few feet away from her. "There you are."

"What the…?" Weavel looked surprised. "How were you able to find me…?"

"I know when we have unwelcomed guests here." Sister said with a smirk. "Not to mention…if you were cloaking yourself, that you're disrupting the flow of ether. I doubt anyone else would have been able to find you, but I'm quite good at rooting out abnormalities."

"I see…the crew of the Eden's Zero is as fearsome as they say." Weavel admitted. He didn't expect to be found, especially not so quickly.

"Now, do you wanna explain what you're doing in our ship?" As Sister asked this, another glow appeared around her body. In a flash of light, she suddenly appeared in her Battle Dress. It had been far too long since she had the chance to battle someone herself, and that got her metaphorical blood pumping. "Or am I going to have to force that information out of you?"

Weavel said nothing. His face was hidden due to his cloak, but there was an unmistakable glow from his face. The glow that spoke of Ether Gear. "…."

"I see." Sister licked her lips. She was hungry for a reaction. "I'm going to enjoy making you scream, then."