Shiki stood in his Overdrive within the bridge of the Fiertia. A single punch of his managed to nearly wind Jigan, who was still experiencing a boost in power from the Black Moon Star shard. Everyone present stared with mixed reactions; Kleene, Homura, Jinn, and Laguna, while still paralyzed from Jigan's attack, were grinning at this turn of events. The members of the Fiertia present: Hanabi, Waltz, and Tobias were looking on in shocked awe at Shiki's power.
Jigan growled and panted heavily. A single blow from Shiki did enough damage to make him spit up blood, yet he was dominating the battle up until that point! "This battle isn't over yet!" Jigan said while swinging his electric hammer around. He knew his Ether Gear worked on Shiki, so if he repeated the process, this transformation wouldn't mean anything! He then slammed his hammer down, sending multiple shockwaves of lightning towards Shiki. "Mjolnir's Strike!"
The bolts of lightning ravaged the bridge as they traveled towards Shiki. He held his hand out, creating a field of gravity that surrounded him. Unlike last time, where the lightning completely broke through this field, the electricity struggled for a bit before ultimately fizzling out. "…."
"He blocked that so easily….!?" Tobias gasped.
"Whoa…" Hanabi's eyes were wide.
"….." Waltz had no words. Shiki's true strength was something even this arrogant android couldn't hope to measure to yet, and he knew it.
Jigan's eyes widened in horror. Even with this new power, Shiki just blocked his strongest attack with ease! Gritting his teeth, the leader of the Fiertia refused to be made a mockery of like this! "Don't get so full of yourself, you punk brat!" Black lightning surged around Jigan's fist and he lunged towards Shiki with all the muscle he could muster. "Lightning Knuckle!" He threw his fist towards Shiki's face, but it was stopped cold. Shiki did slide back somewhat from the impact, but only a few inches. "No…!"
The tide of battle completely turned in a heartbeat. The members of the Fiertia watching had never seen Jigan overpowered like this and it showed on their shocked expressions. Shiki had yet to say a word, but he was slowly bending Jigan's wrist backwards. "When I look at Homura, I can see just how much you did to her, and how little you did for her." Shiki was relentless, his strength causing Jigan to fall to a knee as he tried to pry Shiki's wrist off of him. "You thought you could hurt one of our friends and get away with it?"
"Gh! You're just a kid compared to me!" Jigan said while scowling towards Shiki. "You don't know a damn thing about this cosmo-" Before Jigan could finish that thought; Shiki used his gravity to hoist Jigan into the air, before harshly throwing him back into the wall. "GAAAAH!"
"I've seen plenty in the last few years." Shiki said while clenching one hand into a fist, a sphere of gravity emerging from his knuckles. "Magimech Attack: Gravity Bullet!" Shiki took his am and thrust his arm forward, sending this compressed sphere of gravity right at Jigan.
"Gah!" Jigan tried to dodge, but it was already too late. This compressed bullet of gravity hit him square in the chest, causing his eyes to widen and he fell to a knee, gasping for air. "T-this can't be happening!" He wasn't giving up yet! He punched the ground in his rage, but this also sent a bolt of lightning through it.
Shiki noticed it too late. The bolt of lightning erupted from the ground and shocked Shiki, causing his body to seize up from the voltage. "Gah…!"
"This is my opening!" Jigan grinned at the hit he managed to land. Once again, his hammer raised and he slammed it down, sending another Mjolnir's Strike. The waves of lightning converged on the paralyzed Shiki and exploded on him, sending the Demon King into the wall. "Now I win!" The voltage from his Mjolnir's strike disabled Ether Gear, after all. Jigan waited eagerly to see Shiki powerless, but…Shiki was still standing, still in his Overdrive. This made Jigan drop his hammer in horror. "N-No…how!? It worked last time!? I'm using the power of the Black Moon, I should be stronger than him!"
"You're a fool." Laguna said. "Ether techniques that manipulate one's body or ether are only effective on people who are weaker than you. Shiki is clearly leagues above you right now."
"And it's like you forgot this is only a small piece." Kleene added. "Even if the power is great, it's miniscule in the grand scheme of things!" The real Black Moon was clearly far more dangerous, based on Jigan's increase in power. But his power only came from but a mere fragment, it was by no means equal to the real thing.
Jigan, however, didn't want to hear this. His expression was full of fury from the peanut gallery. "You think I'm WEAKER than this brat?! Not right now! I'll kill you just to prove it!" Jigan leapt into the air, preparing to smite the Eden's Zero members on his ship. The moment he was in the air, his movement was completely stopped. "NGH?!"
"And you're still trying to hurt my friends, even when the fight's between you and I." Shiki was displeased by this. His right arm was swirling with potent gravity and he drew it backwards, while using an opposing force of gravity to pull Jigan towards him. "I'm going to make sure that you don't mess with the Eden's Zero again! Magimech Attack: METEOR BREAKER!" The moment Jigan was within range, Shiki swung his fist forward with all his might. With impact that rivaled a meteor, his fist slammed into Jigan's chest with incredible force.
"GURK-!" Jigan's eyes widened from this impact. He was pulled towards Shiki, only to be knocked away and through several walls of his own ship from that finishing blow. It happened in slow motion: the Black Moon Star shard that he was using was knocked from his body and he returned to normal, KO'ed on the ground.
"…Holy shit." Tobias gulped. The paralysis on Jinn, Laguna, Kleene, and Homura wore off and they were able to stand up now as well.
"Anyone else want some?" Shiki asked the members of the Fiertia. They all shook their heads.
"…We're done." Hanabi walked from around the corner and held her hands up. "You guys beat us…nah, more like you demolished us. You beat our captain and got your friend back, this is our loss."
"Hey, don't speak for us!" Waltz said. "We still have Weavel and Blair-!"
"They lost on the Eden's Zero." Hanabi reported. "Well…I actually don't know how Blair ended up on the Eden's Zero, but we'd know if Weavel made any progress."
"So this battle is truly over?" Homura rubbed her arm.
"Yeah. You're free to go. It's not like we can stop you." Hanabi shrugged.
"…You're oddly calm about this." Laguna pointed out.
"Nnn…" Homura finally passed out. It was sudden and she just tipped over, but Shiki caught her and returned to normal himself.
"Homura…!" Kleene exclaimed.
"She's okay." Shiki said. "I think the exhaustion just finally caught up to her…"
"I'm not…done…" Jigan slowly crawled his way back to the bridge.
"Seriously!?" Jinn grunted. He then realized the Black Moon Star shard was within reach, and quickly made use of another capsule to seal it and take it.
"It's probably time you exit stage left." Hanabi said. That's when numerous alarms started to blare. "Huh?"
Hermit appeared on the screen in the bridge. She could see Shiki and the others with what was basically a completed mission. "Shiki! We have to get out of here! Justice is coming, and he's brought back up!"
"WHAT!?"
"The government's here!?" Jigan had to shake off his injuries and went to the captain's chair. "Shit! How'd they find out our location!?"
"They sure got here fast, too…!" Hanabi said while taking her seat.
"We've made a bridge between the ships, so hurry up and get back here!" Hermit said.
"We're going!" Shiki hoisted the unconscious Homura onto his back and started to run off, with Jinn, Kleene, and Laguna following him. As they made their way out, they passed Weavel, who was kicked off the Eden's Zero by Sister herself as he was returning to his ship.
Weavel grimaced and stopped at the bridge. "Blair's still on that ship."
"Forget her. She wasn't supposed to make it out of this conflict alive anyway." Jigan said with a scowl. "We have more important things to worry about."
"….Blair…." Hanabi frowned.
"I see." Weavel turned to Jigan. "Well, I suppose this works out for us. The Eden's Zero will be buying us some time, whether they want to or not."
"Utter defeat…" Waltz grumbled. There was no time to register that bitter feeling of loss. If they didn't get out of here now, they'd be arrested!
"I can confirm they've just left our ship." Tobias said.
"Good. That's what I like to hear." The only reason Jigan waited for Shiki and his crew to leave, is because they absolutely did not want that group on their ship. "All hands, prepare evasive maneuvers! We're leaving the Aoi Cosmos immediately!"
.
.
Justice was in his starship, rapidly approaching the two joined ships. He took note of how they broke off, beginning to move in separate directions. "I see. So it looks like their fight just finished. We have time to capture them both if we move quickly."
"Aren't you moving a little too fast, Justice?" Victory was here as well, within one of the ships.
"If we don't, we won't catch them." Justice replied. "I can take the Eden's Zero. The rest of you corner the Fiertia. While Jigan King and his crew are all wanted criminals, they are less of a threat than the Demon King."
"Alright, got it." Victory wasn't going to argue. At the end of the day, they could catch two birds with one stone.
"Meteor!" Justice used his Ether Gear to increase his speed. There was still considerable distance, but he could reach the Eden's Zero within a few minutes to begin firing upon them. There was one clear advantage he had, despite being in such a small ship compared to the Eden's Zero: they wouldn't dare attack him and he knew it.
.
.
"Are you sure you don't want to go back?" Rebecca asked Blair. It was a little too late considering the bridges between the ships was already broken. Rebecca helped Blair walked to the main bridge of the ship, where the others were gathering to prepare to leave the Aoi Cosmos.
Blair was still tied up, but she was at least given the use of her legs. Her arms were still tied behind her back in an awkward way. "Trust me; I'd 'love' to give that asshole Jigan a piece of my mind." Blair said. "But considering the situation, it's either: get arrested now…or, get arrested later."
"Nobody's getting arrested! We're getting the hell out of here!" Weisz said.
Shiki arrived on the bridge with Homura, Jinn, Kleene, and Laguna. "We're getting out of here!"
"I thought you'd never say anything!" Sister said with a grin. As tense as the situation was, she was absolutely living for the thrill. "We've got some extra baggage, but she shouldn't be any trouble. If she is, I'll get the crop rider."
"The what!?" Blair stared at Sister in annoyed shock.
"We've got more important things to worry about right now!" Hermit said. "We're leaving right now!"
Shiki placed Homura down in Rebecca's care. Once Shiki sat down, the engines revved to full power and started to carry the Eden's Zero in the opposite direction of the Fiertia. "It's just Justice coming after us, isn't it?"
"Aye…!" Happy said.
"It's a smaller fleet than it looks." Couchpo said. "Did he rush to get here?"
"It's just one dude." Blair said, offering her very unnecessary opinion. "With a ship like this, you could easily shoot him down."
"We're not doing that!" Shiki told Blair.
"What!?" Blair stared at Shiki in disbelief. "Why the hell not!? It would save everyone here a lot of trouble! He's your enemy for crying out loud."
"Just because we're his enemy, doesn't mean he's our enemy." Shiki replied, looking back at Blair with a serious expression. "We're not out to kill people. We'll also deal with you later. We've got more important things right now."
"I already set up the engines for a jump the moment I noticed them." Hermit said with a nod. "As fast as Justice is…by the time he reaches us, he'll be eating our dust." She even grinned at the end. The Mind of Eden's was thinking ahead.
"So your plan is to just outmaneuver him?" Blair just slumped over. It wasn't the most exciting or clever plan, but as long as it worked, she didn't care.
"Hey, how's Homura?" Weisz asked, looking over at Rebecca.
"She's out cold, but she's alive and breathing." Rebecca said.
"And I've secured the Black Moon Star we have." Jinn reported. Everything was looking up.
"I can fix all of you up once we're out of this mess. Try not to die from the excitement!" Sister said.
"What is wrong with that android…" Blair thought to herself.
"He's getting closer…" Mosco said.
"Doesn't matter!" Hermit said while raising her finger. "We'll be out of here in 3…2…1!" She pressed the button for the ship to speed off, and the engines roared before…the opposite happened. The Eden's Zero actually started to slow down. "What!?"
"What's going on!?" Rebecca gasped.
Just as the Eden's Zero began to slow down to a crawl, Justice finally caught up with them and went on the offensive. He was right not to worry. "Grand Chariot!" Numerous beams of light shot out from his ship and struck the Eden's Zero, causing the ship to tremble. "This is your final chance to concede, Demon King!"
The group staggered from the ship's vibrations. "Damage report!" Shiki asked Sister.
"Not terrible, but I don't like the idea of sitting around and taking hits like that all day." Sister replied, clenching a hand into a fist. If Witch were here….
"What's going on with the engine?" Shiki then turned to Hermit.
"I don't know!" Hermit had to bring up a diagnostic report. "It's like something is siphoning the engine's power, but…!" Before she could finish, Justice made a roundtrip, pelting the Eden's Zero with another Grand Chariot. The ship was durable, but Justice was no slouch. If this continued, things would be bad for all of them. "Gah…!"
"The engine room…?" Blair mumbled. "…..Shit. Did a red haired guy come on this ship?"
"Yeah, but I kicked his ass, so I don't see what that has to do with anything." Sister told Blair.
"I knew it…" Blair glanced back at the ropes on her arms….and then her left arm suddenly transformed. Sister told her that if she tried, her right arm would twist and dislocate, and it sure did. The growl of pain that escaped her lips caught everyone's attention, but she broke free from her binds.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Sister was shocked.
Blair didn't answer. She slammed her shoulder on the nearest corner to pop her arm back into place, and then started to run. "Should be around here…" Considering how heavy her body felt, it wasn't an easy task. So she crouched and felt around, placing her Therion arm on the ground before punching straight down, creating a hole that she fell through.
"I'm going after her!" Weisz said, immediately taking his assault rifle with him. Blair couldn't be trusted right now.
"Me too!" Rebecca carefully handed Homura over to Kleene, and chased Blair down with Weisz. They found the hole Blair created and jumped down. Blair managed to find the Engine Room and was standing right in front of it.
.
.
The Fiertia was outpacing Victory's ship and the small fleet that followed. Even though the crew was a mess from their defeat from the Eden's Zero, their ship performance was stellar. "Hah, what's the matter? Can't keep up!" Jigan mocked Victory.
"Slippery, aren't you?" Victory questioned. "You've gotten this far, so I'm not surprised." "We might lose them at this rate…"
"Wanna explain how you found us so quickly?" Jigan asked.
"Two illegal ships duking it out in the middle of space? It'd be hard not to notice. Someone clearly did." Victory responded. It was a vague answer.
"Tobias! Weavel! Hanabi! Open Fire!" Jigan demanded. Displeased with that answer, he decided it was time to just shoot at the government to distract and get them off their backs.
"Yes, sir!" Hanabi and Tobias responded. Tobias activated his ether gear, firing off gigantic boulders from the Fiertia's back cannon. Hanabi managed to recover a little Ether, so she used her duplication to multiply the boulders Tobias fired, causing them to crash into numerous ships.
"Agh…I'm still tapped out." Hanabi grunted. "That fight took everything I had."
"I'll take care of the rest." Weavel said. His Ether Gear caused secondary cannons to release needles towards Victory's ship.
"Return fire!" Victory exclaimed. They didn't have any choice but to begin this fire fight. Explosions occurred in space as the two ships duked it out, but the Fiertia was solely intent on escaping. It was clear as the smaller ship was gaining more and more distance.
"Looks like the Eden's Zero is starting to slow down." Waltz reported.
"Good." Jigan laughed. "Once we're out of here, the government can go pick them up! Punch it!" ….No response. Right. That was Blair's job. Well, it was a minor thing, and not something he couldn't do himself. He grabbed the lever and pulled. The Fiertia's engine roared to life and the ship started to speed away faster than Victory's could keep up with.
"He's getting away…!" Jessie exclaimed.
"He sure is." Victory couldn't really do anything about it either. The Fiertia managed to damage a number of their ships, and his concern went there above all else. Still….the Eden's Zero was still present.
.
.
"Stop right there!" Weisz said while pointing his gun at Blair's back.
"What are you trying to do?" Rebecca asked. The ship rumbled again, which meant Justice was still attacking them.
"You can shoot me if you want…" Blair said, not turning to face the two of them. "But if you do, we'll all get arrested by that guy shooting at us."
"Gh…" Weisz wasn't sure what to do. They didn't exactly have a lot of time…wait, time! Weisz glanced at Rebecca. "Let me know if she does anything."
"Right." Rebecca nodded. If Blair tried anything funny, she would be the first to know. "Do what you plan on doing, then."
Blair nodded and her left arm grabbed the Engine. It was a tense situation, but they didn't have many options. Blair started to suck something from the engine. A purple barrier appeared around the engine, riddled with needles. "There it is…"
"What the…?" Rebecca's eyes widened. "What is that stuff!?"
"That wasn't there before…" Weisz said. His gun wasn't lowered yet though.
"This was Weavel's doing." Blair explained, sucking the barrier and the needles away with her arm. "There's no easy way to get to a ship's engine room easily…but Weavel and his needles can slip through doors and strike objects."
"But Sister beat him…!" Rebecca said.
"Yeah, she did." Blair said, grumbling as the ship rumbled again. "Damn, that Justice guy is relentless, isn't he? Anyway…I don't have time to go into the details of Weavel's trick now, but just know if the government didn't show up, the situation would be a lot different right now." Blair then pulled her Therion arm back and the Eden's Zero engine roared to life once again.
"She really did it?" Weisz glanced at Rebecca. If anything happened, she was the one to ask. But Rebecca shook her head…Blair fixed the engine.
"Shiki! We should be okay now!" Rebecca shouted at the top of her lungs.
She was right. Just in time, too, because Justice was about to release another flurry of light towards the Eden's Zero. He was being relentless about this. "Finally! I'm not gonna ask what happened yet, but we're ready to go!" Hermit pressed the button again. The Eden's Zero gave off a bright light before speeding off into the distance, away from the Aoi Cosmos.
"Come back here!" Justice exclaimed…but it was too late. The Eden's Zero managed to escape in a flash of light, just before his next attack connected. He was so close! That would have been one less problem to deal with! But of course things wouldn't work out that way… "They escaped. Victory, how did things go on your end?"
"Same." Victory reported with a sigh. "We were just a little too late. If we showed up a few minutes earlier, we would've gotten them both."
"…" Justice remained silent for a moment. "That tip we received said they would be here. They were right about the location, but the time seemed off…" Maybe he was reading into it too much, but something about the situation felt off. It didn't matter now. This attack was ultimately a failure. "We'll retreat and regroup. Enjoy your freedom for now, Eden's Zero."