As Takumi mourned the loss of his friend, while Littlefoot and the others looked on sadly, Kusaka watched from the distance. It wasn't an easy thing for him to see. Mihara was a close acquaintance of his from when he first joined the academy. Even though they grew apart very slowly, Kusaka never thought that he could ever actually bring himself to kill Mihara.
He shook his head again. "You poor misguided fellow; you threw it all away, great power, a future of glory and fame that would have been heaped upon you, and for what? These damned animals, which were all of a sudden so important to you?"
He fully packed the Kaixa gear as he got onto his bike, looking back one last time. "I truly hope that no other Paxerian has to die here. Takumi…let's hope to the creator that you aren't as foolish as Mihara was."
He then revved up his bike, and drove off to plan his next offensive.
Time passed, and everyone was in the valley again, as Takumi went off and landed his ship closer to the entrance, having wrapped mihara's body in the sheets from his bunk on the ship, and placed him into the cryonic unit to keep his body preserved. Takumi wanted to be sure that his body was in good enough shape for a traditional burial shroud at home.
As this went on, Bron and some other adults, as well as Littlefoot's friends, listened on sympathetically as Takumi explained what happened to the ally they barely knew.
"I knew it!" Shorty stomped the ground angrily. "I knew that guy couldn't be trusted!"
Bron tried to calm him down as Ali just looked at Takumi sullenly. "Why, Takumi? Why did you ever think there was anything decent still left in this guy?"
Littlefoot looked at them both. "Calm down you two. Takumi may not be like us, but even his kind can make mistakes like we can." He sighed "What happened was really sad, we all know that. It hurts to lose someone close to you. I know all about that, so I can imagine what you're going through now, Takumi."
Takumi nodded gently. "Thanks, Littlefoot. That means a lot to me." He looked at the others too. "And I can promise you all that as long as I'm here, I'm going to make sure that what happened to Mihara doesn't happen to any of you. If Kusaka ever shows his face around here again, you'll be damn sure that I'll be ready."
Shorty slowly stepped up to him. "Correction, Tak…" he said, remembering Mihara's nickname for him. "…We'll be ready."
Ali nodded as she stepped up too, and Littlefoot stood next to her. Takumi smiled and nodded back to all three of the adolescent warriors.
"Ok then…" he replied as he held up a patch from a familiar uniform. "For Mihara…"
Littlefoot looked to the patch, and back at Takumi as he responded. "For Mihara…"
Back on the Ship of the Neo-Organism, Logia left Lucia, who was busy practicing with one of her weapons in the room below, to go check on things in the main room. He discovered that the computer screens were buzzing with activity, as Doras looked on at each one, apparently supervising something as Logia looked to the center of the room again.
"And just what are you up to this time?" Logia asked the green screen as the form of the Neo-Organism rose from it again, taking shape.
"Since you have been unable to dispose of our enemies and take back the suits thus far." It spoke "I am currently divising new ways in which to assist you. If things are allowed to continue as they have been, I don't think even Doras will be able to stop it." Doras simply growled as he looked on.
Logia simply walked around the room, not paying attention to what this delusional computer was telling him. He knew that taking out any powerful enemy was going to take a certain amount of time, and wasn't about to let this impatient computer push him into anything.
"I understand your concerns" Logia simply responded as he walked back to the middle. "But I find that when I face a difficult opponent, it's best to take some time to get to now the enemy, see what makes them tick basically."
The Neo-Organism just looked at him. "Oh? And how exactly are you going to do that? I don't think these creatures are simply going to invite you over for a meal."
Logia chuckled just a little as he headed out of the room once more. "Oh don't worry about. I have other methods by which I can achieve these means." He opened the door and left, heading back to where Lucia was practicing.
"Now what could that Impactor be up to this time?" The Neo Organism asked himself as the computers continued to click and buzz in their never-ending research mode. "Doras…keep an eye on them both. Make sure they're not plotting anything too…risky."
Doras growled in response as he turned and headed off in Logia's direction, opening the door and walking into the passage as the Neo-Organism slowly sank back into the green screen below, vanishing as it continued the research. On a monitor nearby was a status screen, showing the conditions of the Agito, Gillis, and Chalice suits. Next to them were three other blank screens, which read: "Location unknown…"
Cera walked up to Littlefoot as his other friends followed behind.
"Hey Littlefoot. How're you holding up?"
Littlefoot looked to Cera and simply smiled as best he could. "Oh…about as good as I can, considering the situation."
Ducky nodded slowly as she sat near him. "I know what you mean. I mean, all of a sudden, these two guys come from out of nowhere, trying to help us, we find out there's a third who's not so good, and now one of them is gone."
Petrie sighed a bit as he perched himself on a rock. "I don't even want to think about it sometimes. It just makes my head hurt."
Spike chuckled. "That's not too surprising, seeing as how you have such a tiny head." The others laughed a bit as Petrie let out a little "Shut up…" before laughing some himself.
"But I've got to say, we're all proud of you, especially me." Cera grinned as she tried to cheer up her friend. "It must feel great, being able to transform like that and fight for everyone, saving the valley from all those creatures that come in."
Littlefoot chuckled a bit. "What are you talking about Cera. It's not like we as a group haven't done anything to help everyone in this valley before."
Cera grinned as she nodded in response. "I know, I know…but this is different. I feel like you're fighting for something that's…bigger than all of us put together, something beyond the Valley now. And I wish that I could be a part of that, and help you."
Littlefoot smiled "Well, that's certainly nice to hear Cera. And I guess I can give you the one consolation in letting you know that every time I go out there to fight, I have you all in my head, and my desire to protect you and everyone in my heart, and that gives me the will to fight. So, in a way, you're already helping me."
Cera looked to him happily as Ducky smiled as well. "You have no idea how glad we are to hear that." Spike and Petrie nodded as they agreed with her too.
Meanwhile, Ali was off all alone, contemplating certain things in her head. So much had been happening to her over the past few days. The awakening of her powers, the devastation of her herd, and now the death of one of her new friends.
She looked over as she heard footsteps, and saw Shorty walking right towards her.
"Hey…wanna talk for a minute?" Shorty asked as he approached her.
"What makes you think I'm in the mood for talking?" Ali asked him suspiciously, and curiously.
Shorty shrugged as he walked closer. "Call it a guess. Whenever I have a lot of things on my mind, I tend to go off someplace by myself to ponder all of them at once. I figure anyone else with so much stuff on their mind would probably start doing the same thing."
"I guess I do have a lot of things on my mind." Ali smiled a little as she looked to the ground, and then to Shorty. "Can you blame me though, with everything that's been going on?"
Shorty chuckled a little as he sat next to her. "Nope…No I guess I can't can I."
Ali sighed a bit as she looked at the ground again. "Do you know what it's like?…living in uncertainty all the time?"
Shorty scoffed a bit. "Uncertainty? Are you kidding? That was the only thing I lived in for a long time, until Littlefoot and everyone else came into my life."
Ali just looked at him again. "But what do you think of all this? What do you think of these powers we got that we didn't ask for? What do you think now that there's somebody else out there who wants to kill us in addition to our enemies? What do you think-"
"That's just it…" Shorty cut her off, looking back at her. "That's one thing separating you and me right now…I don't think."
Ali looked at him strangely. "You don't?…"
Shorty shook his head "Nope…at least not about things that I can't go back and change. Oh sure I was a little perplexed at first when my powers first woke up, but time's gone by, I've gotten used to it, and I just accept it as a part of me. I don't think over it all the time….I just act."
"You just act, huh?" Ali asked as she chuckled a bit and shook her head. "I'm not so sure I can do it as simply as you can."
"Of course you can." Shorty grinned as he rolled in the grass a bit. "All you have to do is take all that regret, all that uncertainty, and shove it down into the pit of stomach so you can make room in your head for all the stuff that matters."
"Like what?" Ali asked him, out of curiosity.
"Well, stuff like love, and caring, and that sense of justice deep down inside of you, the part of you that drives you to do things you never thought you could do before, all in the name of the things you hold dear, like your family, or your herd for instance."
Ali smiled a bit as she looked at Shorty laying care-free in the grass. "Well…I guess that sounds easy enough. I'll have to see if that works for me though."
"Well, you know what they say" Shorty responded. "The first time's usually the hardest."
Ali giggled a bit as she nodded, already trying to put the troubling thoughts in the back of her mind as she rolled in the grass with Shorty a bit.
Time passed, and Takumi still had the door of his ship opened as he spent his time looking through some old pictures of himself and Mihara on a computer screen. He was still trying to come to terms with the fact that his friend was gone, and hadn't been talking much since he told the others of Mihara's death.
So he didn't notice the curious Ducky coming onto the ship by herself, looking around to see if she could find Takumi and ask how he was doing. Once she was onboard, her eyes were wide open with amazement and even more curiosity at the sight of all the otherworldly objects and gadgets on board.
She looked over and saw something laying on a table nearby. It was Mihara's discarded Delta gear, the belt stretched out it's entire length as the "henshin" device lay nearby.
She walked over with a look of absolute wonder in her eyes as she picked up the device, looking it over in her hands as she examined the strange symbols, the numbers on the pad, and the Delta symbol on the corner.
"Hey…I wouldn't play with that" She heard a voice call out as she looked up and saw Takumi looking at her. "That's a very dangerous piece of equipment that only guys like me should use."
"I'm sorry" Ducky blushed sheepishly as she put the device back onto the table "I just wanted to take a look."
Takumi smiled a bit as he remembered that someone like Ducky had never been in a ship like this, and was only naturally curious about everything he did. He decided to indulge her, just as a way to forget about Mihara for a while, and walked over next to the adolescent duckbill, picking up the device and showing it to her in more detail.
"Ok, so this is what allows someone to transform into Delta in the first place. All the power for the photon streams is located in the cells of this thing, which is activated by this number pad." He showed Ducky the pad as she nodded and watched in amazement.
"Wow…so that little thing controls everything in the suit?"
Takumi nodded and chuckled. "Yeah., pretty much. But first you need the access code in order to start the thing up." He demonstrated by pressing "3…3…3" on the pad, then letting her watch as he hit the enter key. The device then said "Standing by…" and made a pulsing noise while it waited. "Then all you have to do is say 'Henshin' into the little microphone here, and slide it into the slot on the side of this belt." He then smiled as he pressed the cancel button, and the device powered down and shut itself off.
"Wow" said Ducky as she marveled at the device and everything that Takumi was telling him. "Wait a minute…I heard about this before… Isn't this Delta gear the one that anyone can use?" she asked, her eyes showing a glimmer of excitement.
Takumi sighed as he picked up the device and the belt, putting them away. "Now don't YOU go getting ideas about trying to help us. This has been a very dangerous situation we've gotten ourselves into, and we already lost one of our friends for getting involved in it. I don't want to put you or anyone else at risk. Understand?"
"Yes" Ducky simply responded, looking at the floor.
"Good…now go home and get some rest. It's getting late."
Ducky nodded slowly as she walked off the ship, and Takumi sat back down at the console. He looked through some more pictures, remembering old times as he suddenly heard a beeping on one of the other screens. He turned to it to see a signal heading towards the valley…an all too familiar signal…
Everyone was asleep now, as night had fallen over the valley. Not a creature was stirring, except for the one in silver and black armor, with yellow stripes, very slowly walking into the valley, from the mountains above having parked his bike earlier.
Kusaka quietly leapt from rock to rock in his Kaixa gear, his night vision in his helmet helping him look for the specific dinosaurs with the suits.
"I should've done this earlier, and saved myself a lot of trouble" he thought to himself as he looked around. "Just find them all while they're sleeping, take them out, get the suits back, and take them back to Paxeria where they belong…"
He looked left and right as he approached the edge of the mountains, looking far down below for any evidence of the dinosaurs he saw earlier. He looked to his right as he saw something suddenly flying towards him…it was a laser blast!
Kaixa had no time to react as the blast clipped him right on the shoulder, causing him to tumble back onto the mountains as Takumi quickly leapt up to his level on the mountains, fully clad in his Faiz gear, his pistol aimed at him.
"I was wondering where you'd run off to…" Kaixa said as he slowly got back onto his feet.
"You should know me well enough to know I'd never run, you sorry son of a bitch!" Faiz yelled, putting away his pistol.
"So what now?" Kaixa asked. "Aren't your animal friends going to come and help you?"
Faiz slowly shook his head. "No Kusaka…this is between you, and me…You sent Mihara to heaven prematurely…so I'm gonna balance things out today, and send you to hell prematurely!"
"Strong words, Takumi…" Kaixa responded as he readied his blaygun. "Are you sure you're ready to come and back them up?"
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." Takumi said as he reached and pulled out the sword from his bike, which he had tied to his back.
The two faced each other down before Takumi yelled out "MIHARA!" and charged towards Kaixa with his sword at the ready. Kaxia then extended his sword part of his Blaygun, and met Faiz with swing of the blade, the two swords catching as the two struggled against each other. Kaixa then kicked Faiz away as he tumbled down the mountains a bit, while Kaixa moved in for the kill, swing his blade diagonally as Faiz dodged and blocked each swing, countering with swings of his own as a beautiful, but deadly display of swordsmanship went on along the out skirts of the valley.
Kaixa then grunted in frustration as he cocked, and fired a machine gun spray of bullets from his blaygun, which pelted Faiz repeatedly along the chest, as he yelled out in pain and fell onto his knee for a moment, recovering from the intense heat and pain as Kaixa made a swipe for his head. Faiz soon blocked the attack just in time with his sword, before pulling out his gun at the same time, and shooting Kaixa right in the helmet!
Kaixa shouted out in agony as sparks flew from the helmet, falling back and grunting in pain as Faiz yelled and raised his sword, yelling "KUSAKA!" trying many times to fell Kaixa in one blow, but finding Kaixa still able to block and dodge his attacks. The tide suddenly turned as Kaixa found an opening, and grabbed Faiz's arm, throwing him off and sending him to the ground as he readied his blaygun for a fatal spray of bullets.
"This ends now!" Kaixa yelled, as he prepared to let Faiz have it…
But just as Faiz was preparing for the worst, something suddenly came out from nowhere, throwing off the aimed blaygun, and knocking Kaixa off to the side with a shoulder tackle!
Faiz looked up to see a warrior standing over him, but it wasn't Agito…or Gillis…or even Chalice…This warrior was much more muscular looking, wearing dark green armor with gold plated parts along the chest and mask, with two big purple eyes along the helmet. He held a large heavy staff, with a tri-bladed tip made of circular blades that resembled the club symbol on a deck of cards.
Faiz looked on in amazement as Kaixa got up and stared at the warrior, getting his blaygun. "What?…another one?…another animal?"
The warrior said nothing, and simply got into a fighting stance with the staff.
"Fine" Kaixa scoffed. "Just more fun to be had by me!"
He then fired off a spray of bullets from his blaygun, which the warrior blocked expertly with his staff as he swung it around. Kaixa fired and fired until he became frustrated and ran in with the blade extended on his blaygun, yelling "DIE!"
But he was met with another shock as the Warrior simply swung his staff, and knocked away the blaygun again with ease, then letting him have it with a barrage of swings and slices from his bladed staff, before finally kicking Kaixa away from him. He then leapt into the air and grunted as he brought down the back end of his staff with a loud thud against the ground, causing a small earthquake in the immediate area, which shook Kaixa around.
Faiz watched as Kaixa got back onto his feet, and pressed a button to summon his bike, which drove over to him. "Don't think you've won!" he yelled to Faiz and the warrior, as he quickly retreated from the scene.
Faiz scoffed. "A coward as always" he said as he got back onto his feet, and turned to see the warrior walking away.
"Hey wait!" he yelled. "Who in the world are you?"
The warrior didn't respond as he simply got onto his parked bike and drove off to nowhere in particular.
Faiz stood there for what seemed like an eternity, before taking out his device and hitting the cancel button, changing back.
"Was that another suit?…" he asked himself as he walked back to the valley. "I'd better tell the others…"