Unmei Force Shattered Heroes: Creative Power

Prologue: Boki, Meet Heiwa and Popol


In the GFS Ryujin, not long after the recounting of Richard's moments…

After she was done telling the group that had just returned from the most recent mission about the dire situation at hand, Yukari immediately used a sukima to transfer herself into a certain room, Heiwa's room, as she was resting on her bed, with her arms around her knees, with a depressed expression on her face.

"...Little Heiwa…" Yukari stated, as Heiwa slowly raised her eyes, as they were sunken and filled with sadness. "...I know that this isn't the proper option for someone like me… But my concern for you is far too strong for me to see you in such a state. Please, you need to cheer up… Your brother wouldn't want you-"

"...Is it my fault that Brother is like this?" Heiwa asked with a low voice, which caused Yukari to stiffen with fear that Heiwa has been mentally scarred about what happened.

"...What could have possibly led to such a thought?" Yukari asked back, determined to find out what was ailing Heiwa's heart.

"...I was thinking about it… I'm sure that Brother managed to at least help someone be happy once again…" Heiwa responded back, as she turned away, with a gentle sniffle. "But brother didn't deserve this… He was a good person who tried to do something good. Why did something this terrible happen to him?"

Heiwa then turned back to Yukari. "...It's because of what happened to me before… that brother is still terribly hurt inside. He wants to do good things to make him feel better." She continued. "...But you told me that it would be bad if it was like that. So if I was there to help him… could I have prevented this?'

Yukari took in Heiwa's opinion on the matter, as she walked over, and gently placed a hand on Heiwa's shoulder, with a genuinely concerned expression, one that a mother would give to a sad child.

"Little one… your kindness would have moved many a heart… and perhaps you might be right." Yukari answered back with a sad tone."...However, if you were there… I fear what happened before… the terrible incident that broke him… would happen again, from the dangers that would be wrought upon you. If he were to go through it again… It would permanently change him. And as his master who taught him better… it's my responsibility to shield him from such an event happening again."

"...Will my brother come back from this?" Heiwa asked back with a fearful tone.

"...Richard has been known to come back from bad situations. So long as we all have his back… he will never die easily, as his will to protect the future of all of you… is stronger than the grip of death in most cases." Yukari assured Heiwa with a warm smile. "As long as you think of him… as long as the others pray for his safety and return… there will be success."

"...I miss him so much…" Heiwa admitted, before she then laid onto Yukari's chest gently, as she teared up. "...I miss my brother… so, so much…"

"...And I, as well." Yukari answered, closing her eyes, and stroking Heiwa's head gently with a hand, using the other to hold Heiwa close to her chest, as the young kitsune teared up, and let out miserable whimpers, as Yukari gently consoled her, until she fell asleep.


Not long after Gus's departure…

Heiwa immediately walked down the hallways, as she was equipped with her large combat brush, as she seemed to be in far better spirits than in a few days ago, as Yukari's comfort was effective on her.

After being told that there was something that Heiwa could do to help bring back her brother, she jumped at the opportunity. Despite the fact that Yukari warned her that it might be dangerous, Heiwa refused to relent, unwilling to sit by and let her brother suffer any moment longer, to which the godly sage relented, but not without allowing someone to accompany her.

Heiwa began to think back to what Yukari told her about the world she found the part of Richard upon. A world where a machine race known as the Cybers have been clashing against the residents of the solar system known as Zoincailla, which consist of a mix of anthropomorphic races. However, it was not the physical world that the fragment was located, but inside a digital world, created by the VR program, Flux, which was a simulation for military purposes.

Heiwa found the simulated environment to be fairly familiar, due to the fact that Richard was insistent that her adopted sister would be put through the rings to ensure that she would eventually be able to match some of his more prominent members in the Unmei Force organisation. She wondered if she would eventually be able to meet any new friends. Yukari showed her a few of the races that resided in Zoincallia, and they seemed to be fairly adorable, not too different to the many fairies and younger youkai that she had befriended.

Eventually, on her way to the teleporter room, she managed to bump into someone, as she retreated back.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Heiwa started, before she then noticed who it was. "Wait.. Popol!?"

Popol was right before her, as he was without Kupa, although he was in his tribal gear, as he gave Heiwa a wide grin. "Heiwa! Did you know that Miss Yukari told me to come and help you?" He asked back.

"N-no…" Heiwa admitted, as she seemed to be flustered. "I… well… Aunt Yukari said that someone would have to accompany, but… I never thought that it would be you."

"I'm sure that she was thinking about you when she picked me." Popol responded back. "After all, we would be enough for whatever bad things are down there, right? I'm sure that your brother would be proud of you right now."

Heiwa fell silent, as there was sadness on her face, being reminded about what happened to Richard, as Popol noticed it, with the smile fading from his face.

"What's wrong? Is… Is there something wrong?" Popol asked Heiwa with concern.

"...I'm fine." Heiwa answered back with a slightly distant tone. "Don't worry about me, I'll be able to handle myself, even though-"

"...what happened to your brother, right?" Popol asked back, as Heiwa was shocked, before seeing the sad expression on Popol's face. "...I know about it, and it hurts me about what happened to him."

"How did you…" Heiwa asked with shock.

"...Siege told me… He suggested that I help you." Popol explained. "When he heard about what happened to Richard, he swore that he would make sure that this 'X-Gaster' person would pay for what happened. But something else caught his attention. He left fairly soon, and took a large group of people… I think that something else happened elsewhere, and it was just as bad."

"...I didn't come to see you, and I'm sorry for that." Heiwa stated, as she felt guilt for letting her grief consume her so strongly, that she refused to leave her room for a fairly long time.

"It's alright. I thought that something bad happened to you, but I didn't want to be rude and intrude on you when you could have been so hurt." Popol responded back. "And I'm glad that I was right to keep my distance until you felt a bit better. I wasn't going to wait long, if you're worried… I'd be worried as well. You're the one who I like the most, and your own feelings matter to me."

Heiwa was silent, as she looked away for a moment, before taking a deep breath. "Popol…?" She whispered gently.

"...Yes?" Popol asked, before Heiwa then threw herself upon him, giving him a tight embrace, that briefly surprised him. "Ah! Heiwa, are you-"

"...Thank you. Thank you for showing me such care." Heiwa answered back. "I'll do my best to not let all of this drag me… After all, this doesn't compare to what brother has to deal with. So I should show that brother was right to put his trust in me to be a proper hero like him. So, Popol, let's go together. When we're done saving him, brother will definitely be most proud for the both of us."

"You're right. Onto to adventure, then, Heiwa!" Popol exclaimed.

The two of them entered the teleportation room, which was tailored by Erika and Nitori, to ensure that they would be properly transported into the digital realm where Richard's fragment would be located. With the proper procedures done, they disappeared from the GFS Ryujin in two flashes of blue light.


With the same two flashes of blue lights, they found themselves in a digital realm, with green floors, as the entire area seemed to be filled with obstacles, platforms and pathways, much like a standard platformer stage. All that made up the realm seemed to look fairly digitised, with coloured glowing circuit marks along the floor, walls, ceilings and even the background.

"Woah… so pretty…" Popol remarked with shock at the environment around them.

"So this is what Aunt Yukari told me about this place… it's… fairly dazzling to see." Heiwa admitted.

Suddenly, they heard the digitised sounds of objects being spawned in, as they saw that they were various small digitised creatures that looked fairly adorable.

"Aw, look at them, they're fairly cute-" Heiwa remarked, before one of them, a small blue orb-like robot with white spikes on the bottom bumped into Heiwa with ramming force, knocking her down. "Ack!"

"Hey, stay away from her!" Popol exclaimed, as he lashed out with his spear, connecting with the robot, as it exploded, leaving behind a glowing white symbol that looked like intercrossing lightning bolts. "...Huh, what's this?"

Popol touched it, before he felt a surge in his body, as it channeled into his spear, as the tip of it turned white. He immediately twirled it around, and thrust it forward, as it fired off a sizable arrow-shaped projectile that surged forward.

"Cool…" Popol remarked, before he then used it to attack the other enemies, leaving behind more symbols, some like the one that he picked up earlier, and new ones, like the red explosive one, and the blue one with blobs connected to rings. "Hey, Heiwa! You should try some of these! They seem to give us special powers!"

Heiwa then picked up one of the explosive ones, as the tip of her brush turned red-orange. When she used it, she swung down on one of the bouncing drones, as her brush launched a massive exploding strike that obliterated the drone, as Heiwa's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Cool!" Heiwa exclaimed, before she then picked up some of the explosive symbols, as well the blobby symbols, as her brush added a blue hue to it, just below the red-orange one. Instead of giving her an explosive strike, a swing of her brush fired off a set of bouncing fire-balls that exploded on contact with the enemy. "And they combine!?"

"...Maybe we can have some fun here! But we won't forget to save the part of your brother here!" Popol exclaimed, before they were suddenly transported across to another room, as they lost their powers. "...Boo, it seems that we lose our powers when we move rooms…"

"Over there!" Heiwa exclaimed, gesturing in the distance, as there was the sound of fighting, as well as the mewling sounds of a feline creature. The two young heroes immediately stepped onto a vantage point, as they saw that there was someone else fighting the robotic creatures as well: A anthropomorphic female cat with short yellow hair and shining emerald eyes, yellow fur and ears, as well as yellow crystalline feet, and a long tail that had some yellow crystals on them. She was also dressed in a white shirt with purple collar, sleeves and bottom edge. She seemed to be using lightning, from the lightning symbols she was collecting. Her opponents seem to be small battery-like robots and large blue flying drones that were dropping bombs from above.

"Should we help her?" Popol asked, before he then saw the serious look in Heiwa's eyes as a response. "...Of course you wouldn't, neither would I!"

Popol and Heiwa leapt down, as they cut through several of the battery drones, as it gave them lightning powers from the yellow lightning-symbolled power-ups they picked up, a sparkling yellow spear tip and yellow on the tip of the brush for Popol and Heiwa respectively, as Popol's strike launched chain-bolts that sought enemies ahead of him, and Heiwa was firing showers of lightning sparks from her brush. The two of them destroyed the dron, as the cat-girl turned to face them, as she acquired some explosive power-ups from the flying drones, although her attire did not change at all.

"W-Who are you?" She asked with some fear in her voice. "You don't look like Zoincallians! Are you Constructs, or worse yet, Cybers!?"

"Wait, we're not here to hurt you! I don't know what a Zoincallian, Cyber, or Construct is…" Popol hastily explained, before patting his torso with an arm. "But we're definitely not machines, if that's what you mean by a construct. Neither is Heiwa."

"Hei… wa?" The cat-girl asked back, before she was then seized by the hands from the eager kitsune, as it caused her to let out a startled cry, before she then felt the organic warmth from her hands, which calmed the anthropomorphic creature down slightly. "...You're not… a machine, so that means that you aren't a Construct or a Cyber."

"That's right! I'm sure that we can be good friends!" Heiwa declared, excited at the prospect of a new friend. "My name is Heiwa, Heiwa Liu, and this here is my close friend, Popol! What's your name? I want to know you better, since you're so adorable."

"R-Really, meow?" The cat-girl answered back with a slight blush to her cheeks, as she gave back a shaky smile. "I… I never thought that someone like you would call me that… Oh right, my name's Boki… Boki Lamira."

"Boki? That's a cool name!" Popol gushed. "I'm sure that by the name alone, you could have been someone from my tribe! And I bet that you would be a very strong hunter!"

"You're not kidding, meow!?" Boki lit up, as the compliment raised her spirits, her timid expression lighting up with energy. "What kind of tribe is it?"

"...It's been so long since I saw them, I can't remember much…" Popol responded back with some longing in his voice, before turning back into a determined expression. "But I'm sure that they're doing so well! After all, Siege told me that they've been thriving quite well, ever since I left."

"I would be interested to hear more about it, I'm sure that you might have some good tales to share." Boki agreed with a nod, before examining both Heiwa and Popol again. "By the way, if you're not Zoincallian, then what are you both?"

"I'm a kitsune!" Heiwa declared proudly. "So far, I managed to get myself three-tails, which is pretty strong for my age. When I get some more, I'm going to be the best younger sister for my brother!"

"I'm human." Popol answered back. "But I'm also a super good hunter! I can fight off so many bad guys, and protect so many people with just my trusty spear and my best buddy Kupa. Too bad he isn't here, but you might like him, he's fairly amicable to animalistic people like you!"

"Human… Kitsune…" Boki remarked, as she was surprised at what she was experiencing. "Wow… Uncle Savant is going to be so shocked when he hears that there are unknown species in here, who are willing to be civil with us… Not to mention that you're both… strong and heroic as well."

"Of course! I got a lot of people to protect!" Heiwa exclaimed. "And my brother and Popol are just two of my most precious ones!"

Popol sputtered a little, as there was a gentle blush on his cheeks, feeling embarrassed in having the norm being turned against him. Boki seemed to be impressed by Heiwa's display.

"Woah… this is cool!" Boki exclaimed. "...Too bad that I don't have some super-powers like you, meow."

"What do you mean?" Popol asked back with concern. "You did pretty well, throwing all that thunder around with skill."

"Yeah… But it's not from me alone, I just simply copied the powers from enemies." Boki answered back, as she sighed. "...It's just not the same. I want to have some awesome power that can take care of all of the bad guys."

"But your power is great!" Heiwa exclaimed, as Boki turned to her with disbelief. "If you can use your power-ups like we have, and act so naturally with them, in the real world, you would be more powerful than us!"

"But how…?" Boki asked back.

"Simple, I'm sure that you're here to get stronger through here as well! How about we work together to get past all of the stages!" Popol offered. "I'm sure that when we go through it all, you're definitely going to be the better of us three."

"...I'm not sure, but I'll try… Please, let me thank you for your help." Boki answered back, as her confidence grew a little, with a gentle smile.

"You don't need to thank us, this is what we two have been doing a lot of!" Heiwa laughed heartily.

Boki immediately blew a path through the destructible wall ahead of her, as she fired off spreads of arcing ball-like bombs with yellow sparkling auras, as they detonated through the wall, and hit the drones behind it, destroying the last of them and completing the stage.

Suddenly the entire room melted into green code, as it began to reform around them, into a new stage.

"Hm, that's odd." A suave male voice was heard through the entire area, as Heiwa and Popol looked around for the source. "I was sure that there were no bugs or hidden surprises in store here. To think that it would take the form of such beings… How intriguing."

"Uncle Savant!" Boki cried with joy. "I've met them, and they're really kind and nice! They're also heroes as well! They're-"

"Slow down there, Boki." Savant's voice answered back. "As for you two, don't look around, I'm outside the simulation. Now then, I have a few questions for you two, if you don't mind me asking."

"Did… Did we do anything bad?" Heiwa asked back with some guilt in her voice.

"To be honest, you two were fairly disruptive in your walk-through in the first stage. I'm surprised that you were able to use the same copying powers that Boki was using… But I suppose that's because of the simulation parameters." Savant admitted. "I'm interested in how you two took to the idea quite well."

"Of course, it looks pretty fun!" Popol responded back with confidence.

"I definitely know that there must have been someone who brought you two here." Savant asked. "Could you tell me who it is?"

"Well, Aunt Yukari did say that we were going to this kind of place." Heiwa answered the question."She did say that this wasn't much different to the simulators that I used to train and play in."

"Wait, you train in simulators before this!?" Boki exclaimed with surprise.

"...Did you say the name 'Yukari', if I heard clearly?" Savant asked, with shock evident in his tone, as Heiwa nodded. "...Well, this is interesting. That is a name that I have rarely heard about in this era… But she was indeed a crucial part of the history of entanma users… She was responsible for almost obliterating the Cybers army single-handedly and causing them a decades-long period of silence."

"Wait, you mean that their companion is the one who ushered the 'Great Peace'!?" Boki remarked, her shock growing further.

"Single-handedly even. She personally asked to be struck off records, due to her duties elsewhere. But many of us who personally witnessed her might, never forgot her name or her feats." Savant stated. "When it comes to entanma levels, she is an outlier… Every power known, she can bring it forth, and a counter to it… Truly terrifying when you would think of her hypothetically as an enemy. A level beyond the known, that's where her theorised level of power is."

Boki was left dazzled at the fact that she met a pair of young creatures who knew what seemed to be one of the greatest heroes in Zoincallian history. Savant immediately snapped her out of it by harshly clearing his throat.

"So, what purpose do you have here?" Savant asked back.

"A part of brother is in this place, I know it… So please, let us help Boki get to the end, so that we can find brother's fragment as well." Heiwa explained.

"...That explains the other data anomaly. It's far more stubborn than you two. Nothing works to purge it out of the system." Savant groaned. "If that's the only possible way I can see it out, I'll gladly oblige."

"Thank you!" Popol gratefully answered back.

"Now then, Boki? Are you getting used to fighting in the simulation yet?" Savant asked Boki.

"Yeah… I guess. This is still the easy stuff though, right?" Boki answered back, before she then slammed a clawed foot on the floor. "I need to get better with my powers already. Hurry up and let me blast some tougher robots!"

"You'll get your wish soon." Savant answered back, as the stage finished loading, as they found themselves in a narrow passage-way, with multiple versions of the Exchikkes, which were the small spherical drones that Heiwa and Popol initially fought.

Boki started out with her crystals and hair silver, as she fired off arrow-like projectles not too different to the ones that Popol was using before, as they destroyed the drones, dropping some more white power-ups, as well as flaming symbols, that Heiwa and Boki picked up, as Boki's hair and crystals flashed orange repeatedly, while Heiwa's brush ignited.

"So this is how we get the power of fire?" Heiwa remarked, before she then fired some arrows, which had a flaming enhancement to each of them, as they hit the drones ahead, igniting them.

Popol immediately picked up a dark-blue symbol that had two round circles and a chevron, as the colour merged with the white, leaving a swirling mix of the two colours in Popol's weapon. He thrust her spear forward, as each thrust launched a series of wavering energy spears of light-blue colour that passed through the wall, and from the sound of explosions, hit the enemies.

Boki leapt onto the next floor of the room, dodging the mini cyclones thrown by her by the green Exchikkes, and collecting their power-up, which were green cyclone-symbols.

"Alright, now that I have some good powers…" Boki stated, as she rushed into a large room filled with enemies. "...It's time to unleash them together with awesome force!"

She then began to throw large blue cyclones, even doing rising upper-cuts motions each time she launched one, as they surged around the room, firing a spray of blue arrow projectiles that went through the walls, and obliterated the entire room of enemies, clearing the stage.

"That was great!" Heiwa exclaimed, clapping in applause.

"...Well, I did combine the right powers to make it this great, meow…" Boki sheepishly stated, as they all started on the next stage, on the floor, with a large destructible wall ahead of them, as there was the image of large ivory bricks from over the wall.

"Hm, what's over there?" Popol asked, before he then jumped up, and was met by a large golem creature, with one hand equipped with large claws, and the other with finger-cannons, as there was moss around its spherical frame, and its inked red eye was closed. "Woah, that's a big robot…"

Heiwa took the chance to break the enemy drone behind them, as it dropped one of the dark-blue power-ups. Boki looked at it, before Heiwa then gestured for her to take it. She was slightly astonished by this, pointing at herself, as Heiwa merely nodded back with a faint smile.

Boki took the power-up, as her hair and crystals took the same hue, just in time for Popol to jump down to talk with the two of them.

"There's a big robot ahead of us… And I don't think we can't get out until we beat it." Popol stated, gesturing at the large green digital wall blocking their way out of the room. "But at least it's not active… I think it will only attack once provoked."

"Then this power should do the trick." Boki answered back, as she began to fire dark-blue arrow projectiles that phased through the destructible walls harmlessly, as they hit the golem, as it roared awake with a loud hum, as the closed eye turned open, as it stomped towards the group, with claw and cannons at the ready.

Popol and Heiwa immediately intercepted the golem, as they attacked it with fire and spear, as the attacks did affect the golem, although they were forced to dodge its energy cannon shots from its finger cannons, as well as the nasty clawed arm that tried to slice them into ribbons. However, with Boki's ranged help, they managed to defeat the golem, as its body broke apart, revealing a red crystalline core inside, as it fell silent.

"We can use this, meow!" Boki exclaimed, as she leapt into where the core was, as the core suddenly turned green, and the body of the golem reconstructed itself, as its eye momentarily flashed green, before turning red again, although it moved on Boki's will, making heavy footsteps towards the rest of the stage.

Heiwa and Popol could only watch as Boki made use of the golem's arsenal, as its weight alone could crush any drones under it, and she was firing both finger-cannons as well as large orbs of light that scorched any enemy that touched with a moment's charge, as well as slashing any drone that got close. In the end, against another of the golems, Boki emerged victorious with her aggressive yet skilled piloting, Boki then broke out of the golem, as it returned to its static position.

Suddenly, with a shift of code, and the background flipping around, a floating creature that didn't look too different to an anthropomorphic ant with purple skin and yellow eyes, dressed in a fancy green suit with a similarly-coloured top-hat.

"Boki, you may not think much of your abilities, but you are an entanma like me."The ant told Boki. "We both have supernatural powers that most other people do not. With enough practice, you can do great things."

"Great things? Like what, driving a robot around? Come on, you don't even need magic powers to do that, meow." Boki frowned back.

"The Virs is not a vehicle. You didn't even realise it, but when you used it, it was your power to copy its control crystal that allowed you to pilot it." The floating ant chuckled lightly. "I look forward to seeing what other elegant solutions you come up with later."

He then turned to Heiwa and Popol, both of them staring at him the entire time. "Ah, right, I assume that I should introduce myself to you." The floating creature responded back, tipping his hat slightly. "Savant, at your service."

"You're so handsome, yet cute at the same time…" Heiwa admitted.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to see me. Glad to hear that I'm handsome, but cute… Well, perhaps that's your interpretation of me." Savant responded back. "I must take my leave though. The other stages await."

Savant then teleported out with the same motions he came in with, as the stage changed around them again. They found themselves in a tall room with a sole robot that looked like a red pawn on a uniwheel, with a lightning horn and a green eye behind a triangle visor, wielding a sword of lightning.

It tried to attack the group, although there was a gap before them, as it swung its blade short on the edge. Unamused, Boki shot it from the distance, until it threw its blade up, stunned, before said blade came down and bisected it, as it fell into pieces, dropping the white-starred power-up, as Boki collected it, giving her a white hue. They then headed down, and fought two similar robots, which dropped yellow lightning power-ups, as Boki collected them.

Boki then decided to test her new combination, as she created a large blade made of yellow crystals with a lightning spark to them, which astonished Heiwa and Popol.

"Wow, this blade is cool!" Boki exclaimed, before she then saw the target on the other side of the impeding wall. "If I can just…"

Boki then slashed her blade at the wall, as the crystal strike passed through it, destroying it and opening the way ahead. As the trio dropped down, Boki sliced some of the drones with her new blade, as she collected a green wind power-up, upgrading her blade into a whirling cyclone of death that diced enemies around her. Eventually, the stage was cleared, as Boki returned to normal.

"Sorry, been hogging the powers lately." Boki apologised. "Do you think that I should ease up, meow?"

"Of course not!" Popol exclaimed back. "This is training for you utmost. If we were interfering in your learning, your uncle wouldn't be happy, and it would be rude and mean of us to do that."

"We'll get our own powers. Just tell us what you need, and we'll ensure that you have it." Heiwa suggested.

"...I guess that'll work. Thanks for the generosity." Boki smiled back, as the next stage loaded in.

They found themselves in a big arena, as it was filled with various kinds of enemies, even enemies that spawned the Exchikkes, looking like miniature UFOs with a toothy smile and a red eye, with a smoking top to spit out more Exchikkes.

The three of them immediately went their separate ways, scrambling to obtain new powers. Boki managed to get a combination of Quick, the white star power-up, Explode, the red explosive power-up, and Force, the white lightning power-up, to give her a massive stream of explosive stars that sought nearby enemies. Heiwa got a combination of Lightning, the yellow lightning power-up, Plasma, the pink power-up, and Explode, to give her brush a three-hue tone of the colours, as each swing of her brush created massive balls of fire-balls that shot off at fast-speed with a large explosive radius. Popol took Cyclone, the green wind power-up, Lightning and Quick to give him the same spinning attack that Boki pulled off in the previous stages, as he whirled through the stage at fast speeds, piercing through anything that was in his path. With the three's powers, the stage easily came to an end.

"We rock!" Popol exclaimed with joy.

"This is really fun!" Heiwa added as well, as both of them were laughing.

"I guess you really like this. Say, is there any chance that we can be-" Boki remarked.

"OF COURSE!" Both shouted with passion, which took Boki aback.

"Once we introduce you to our other friends, I'm sure that you'll be considered a really great hero." Popol declared.

Boki was left unable to respond due to the shock earlier, but she did manage to smile back, before the next stage loaded in.

The arena they found themselves in was smaller, but also more open, as there were numerous enemies around them, consisting of the various Exchikkes and their spawners. However, before they could act, a large robot that seemed like a perfect half-split of a rotating gear and a metallic face warped in, as the world around them fluctuated, as the enemies all turned white, being sucked into the gear construct as the focus, melting inside of it, before it then exploded into a mass of pixels, revealing a far larger Exchikke, with a spawner head.

The First Challenge

Magna Exchikke

"Woah, so they can combine as well!?" Popol exclaimed, before the combined machine turned towards them, and moved into ramming speed. "Uh-oh!"

The three of them dodged the ram, although the robot also let its head erupt, launching a mass of destroyed Exchikke bodies, and also some active ones, which assisted their creator in fighting the group.

Knowing that they wouldn't be able to fight the large creature without some powers of their own, they focused their attention to getting some power-ups to even the odds from destroying the small Exchikkes, as Boki managed to obtain wavering arrow projectiles with a wave-like moving pattern from the combination of Wave, the dark-blue arrowed power-up, Force and Explode, while Heiwa and Popol went simple, using Force and Explode, Force and Wave respectively, as homing fire-balls and blue homing ethereal spears sought the large creature.

Eventually, it took enough damage that it dropped some large power-up, which looked like a round reticle. Boki picked it up, as her hair turned purple, before she then jumped into the air and did a homing spin-attack that smashed the large robot, staggering it. Boki began to chain her slams, as it stopped the enemy robot from retaliating, with Heiwa and Popol picking off its minions. Boki then finished it off, as it attempted to try and ram Boki, only for the two attacks to connect with each other, as a large explosion resulted. When it faded away, Boki landed on the ground, as there was nothing but pixels left of the large creature.

"Yes!" Boki declared, as she back-flipped into the air, and raised her hand in pride. "I did it, meow! I… won!"

"With some minor help. But still, very good, Boki!" Savant applauded her, appearing on the stage. "You handled your first major encounter quite well!"

"Meow, I totally smashed that boss! Can I get something tougher?" Boki declared with a determined tone.

"Remember, any victory you achieve here, you are perfectly capable of accomplishing against the same enemies in real life, too." Savant responded back. "I'm surprised that you didn't take any damage from this encounter. A Magna Exchikke is no easy foe."

"It was quite easy prey, in fact, I know several monsters that I often hunt that are stronger than this!" Popol boasted.

"Well then, it's about time we started tackling some of the more life-like scenarios this simulation has to offer." Savant answered back, before he snapped his fingers, as the environment changed with a bright flash that temporarily blinded the group, into a forest setting with grass, trees, flowers, vines and more. "Your next mission is in this forest. I'll give you a more detailed briefing in the next area."

The trio were then transported into a new area, as they heard Savant's voice. "Now that you've learned the basics. I'd like you all to treat the rest of the training in this simulation as real." He declared. "Your first objective is still rather simple: Many Constructs have been emerging in this forest and causing trouble. Find where they're coming from, and put a stop to it!"

"So I just have to destroy all the enemies like before, right?" Boki asked back.

"Not exactly." Savant answered. "Defeating the Constructs in this area is the first step, but the source of the problem will be much further ahead. Good luck!"