Part II: Cyberdark Impact


January 4th

Year 19 4AOS - Year of the Prince- 152 Days until Prince Yuri's Return


Kara Kestrel sighed heavily when she heard the door to her cell open. She did not see who it was coming in, on the count of the blindfold over her eyes, but she could tell that who it was that stomped in. No doubt to try and coax her to 'aid' him in his endeavors again.

She heard heavy footsteps surround her. Then they stopped. All was silent for a moment.

Whoosh!

Her blindfold was ripped off. She saw the cold, gray, stone walls of the small room. They were dripping with moisture coming from cracks on the ceiling. The vent above the chilled room hummed ominously and one lone lightbulb illuminated the darkness. Kara couldn't help but chuckle when she saw the grizzled face of the leader of the New Aeons. She rolled her eyes every time she remembered the name. It was so unoriginal and cliche. But these guys thought it brought them power and were pretentious enough to believe it cool. But, as comic-booky as these guys were, she did not wish to test them and further. She lost two fingernails and was slapped across the face with a belt for making fun of them earlier.

The leader, named Gunder, leaned forward, going face to face with her. He used his jaw to flick a toothpick to the right and clamped it down with his molars, grinning like a Dark Rabbit. "So, my pet, have you thought about it yet?"

Kara looked away. Gunder placed his fingers on her chin and turned her head slowly back to his gaze. "Don't be like that, my dear. You want to go home, don't you? Of course, you do. And you will. All you have to do is build me a suit. You know. Just like the one you made for him. Your...buddy."

Kara growled. "Tell me. Who told you about Zane? How did you find out it was him?"

Gunder leaned back with a look of shock expanding his face. He looked around at his men, who also seemed to be overtaken by what Kara just said.

"Zane Truesdale? So he's the Cyber Knight?"

Kara started to babble uncontrollably. "Wh-what? You mean you didn't know?"

Gunder and his men laughed. He tapped his temple. "I didn't. I just heard from a little birdie that it was you who was building suits for the Cyber Knight. And adding upgrades to his dragons as well."

"Who told you about that?"

"That doesn't matter, girly. What matters is you're here and you just spilled the beans. I told you, little one. Don't mess with me.I'm smarter than you know."

He snapped his fingers. A skinny, tattooed, maniac wheeled in a cart covered with a white sheet. He stopped it right by Kara and cackled as he yanked the sheet off to reveal all sorts of nasty tools for ripping skin, pulling teeth, and breaking bones.

Kara clenched her teeth and wriggled around in fright.

"Terrible aren't they?" he asked, picking up a small blowtorch, which he used to light a cigar from a pocket in his tactical vest. "It doesn't have to be like this, you know. All you have to do is build me a suit. And maybe my own Cyber Dragon."

"It's going to be a cheap dragon and a cheap suit," Kara said with a scoff and looked away. "You don't have the money for such a thing. Nor the resources. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."

Gunder blew a cloud of smoke at her face. Kara coughed and squinted her eyes.

"You think money and resources are going to be a problem?"

"You'd have to rob every bank in Eredas in order for me to make a decent upgrade for a suit, boy-o. You guys are way out of your league. I can't help you."

"Well, if you can't build me a suit, I'll make sure you don't build him anymore either."

The maniac grabbed Kara's hand and slammed it on the table. Gunder picked up a bone saw and activated it in front of Kara's face as he laughed. "For every day you go without building me that suit. You lose a piece of yourself. How about...your thumb."

"No...no!" Kara closed her eyes and braced herself for the agony.

Suddenly, the walls behind one of Gunder's men collapsed. Two fists of silver-steel trimmed with blue neon reached out of the dust cloud and grabbed the Aeon, yanking him back to get smashed in the face with a powerful punch. The Aeons backed away from the collapsed wall and cowered at the end of the room. Those who had guns raised them, while the mages readied their spells.

They gasped in horror as a knight stomped into the room. The icy blue neon decorating his armor flooded the room with its eerie light. The large visor on his helmet was glowing blue with cerulean hexagon-shaped tiles decorating the glass.

"SHOOT! SHOOT!" shouted Gunder.

His men fired the contraband rifles they bought from Earth, hoping their armor-piercing rounds - which cost them a fortune to purchase - would do considerable damage to their foe. The knight went down on one knee, and smashed his fist on the ground, activating iridescent wings spanning 50 feet. The wings folded, forming a shield to guard the knight against the bullets. The mages jumped forward - one of them felt cocky enough to perform a flip over the table - and unleashed a barrage of fireballs. The knight's wings dispersed as he stood up at once and held out his hand, forming an arcane barrier that absorbed the magic spells. The flames turned cyber blue and were then shot back at the mages, ending them with one hit.

"Don't step any further!" shouted Gunder. He grabbed Kara by the hair and pulled her back. He shoved the barrel of his gold-plated pistol under her chin. "I'll blow her brains out, boy! I'll do it! Just turn back and get the hell out of here."

"Let go of my friend and I will," The Cyber Knight responded. "We can forget this all happened."

"She stays with me!" Gunder yelled, holding Kara close. He sniffed her hair. "You have no idea what I went through to get her. How many men I sacrificed."

"You really think I give a damn?"

"If she goes with you, she leaves with a bullet in her brain!"

The Cyber Knight shook his head. "Really poor choice you made there."

Two launchers rose out of the knight's shoulders. Then, dozens of micro missiles burst out and hit Gunder and his men, killing them instantly. Kara freed herself from the dead man's grip and picked up an SMG from the cold fingers of an Aeon.

"You're a little late."

"I was held up. Sorry about that."

Kara peeked out the hole in the wall Zane made. "Really? Held up? What? Was there traffic in the atmosphere or something?"

"Very funny," said Zane. "No, it's something far worse than that."

Kara scanned the halls for enemies. "What?"

"There's nobody here," said Zane, walking out into the hallway calmly. "Kara. The gig is up. Somebody knows I'm the Cyber Knight."

Kara felt as though someone turned her body off. She felt cold and numb. Her stomach chilled like a lake in winter. "That's impossible! Who? Why? Was it these guys?"

"I was hoping they were the ones but it turns out that they work for someone far more powerful than some gang of street thugs. No, Kara. Whoever found out about me is someone with deep connections. Someone with eyes all over this city. And they're forcing me against the wall. I'm afraid I had to fess up. The government was all over my ass earlier."

"Oh, shit! Can't Nel-E just..."

"Nel-E's systems were fried when she tried to dig into any info on the leaker. She's fine, she's fine, but she's not going to touch that matter again anytime soon. I assure you. She can't help us anymore."

Kara dropped the weapon and slammed her back against the wall. "What's going to happen now?"

"I have to appear before the Royal Eredian Army Committee to stand trial. Albert Smitt is going to be my judge. Knowing that pencil-necked jerk-off, he's going to want me to surrender the dragons over to the military."

"Shit."

Zane placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "I won't make it easy for him. I'll take you home. Take a shower, order some food, and relax. I have some business to take care of in the throne room."

"Busy night, Zane?"

"Very."


Prince Michael


"When will tonight end?" thought Prince Michelangelo Octavius Dalton, crown prince of Eredas. He straightened his black hair while standing beside his father King Eldon Vasserius Dalton XIII, who sat on the throne wearing gold plate over his kingly attire, an extravagant black suit and tie with faint silvery filigree that shined when in the right lighting. Zane was pacing back and forth behind him, also eager for the meeting to end.

"Going Aeon hunting again?" Zane asked discretely as the parliament was having another vote on resources.

"Ever since you built those Cyber Dragons, all you've ever wanted was to go Aeon hunting. You're not going to find him, Zane. Aldric is long gone from here. And he knows your dragons outpower his jewel a million to one. Especially if he has only half of it."

"He doesn't know that."

"Let's hope it stays that way. Even with his HEROES, Jaden can't stand up to him alone. What about the big reveal you made earlier? The Committee called me in to testify against you, you know that?"

Zane shrugged. "Well, I didn't expect it to be a secret for long. You can't exactly have powerful, mechanical dragons and not have anyone know about them, eh? Don't worry, I'll figure something out."

His mother, Queen Nanna Vlinorman Dalton, a young elf-woman, hushed them both. She sat on another regal throne beside her king in a small black dress and stilettos. Her queen's jewels were shining brightly on her neck and pointed ears.

Michael had inherited those ears, but they were not as pointed as his mother's. He was a Half-Elf prince, and proud of it despite the many priests and practitioners of the Yeyu faith who harassed him on the streets, though they scarcely did that anymore thanks to some new 'acquaintances' he made. Michael is a Summoner, and a damn good one, who inherited the powers of the Kings of Pandemonium, a dimension of the Shadow Realm, another reason why he was so feared and hated by the Church.

Michael's beasts were known as Archfiends; warmongering, bloodthirsty fiends who chose him as their master because of his claim to three very special monsters; Fiends themselves who are said to rival the God Cards.

The Sacred Beasts.

But those cards were still locked away in a vault, thousands of feet below the streets of Domino City, and even if he became King of Eredas, he would possibly never acquire the beasts.

Nevertheless, the Archfiends proved very capable companions when dealing with Mage gangs who caused trouble in the streets. But even though Michael had the upper hand against the magical thugs of Domino, the gangs always come back stronger and more determined to take him down.

He was given the name The Archfiend Prince since his favorite monsters to summon were Terrorking Archfiend and his beloved wife Infernalqueen Archfiend. He longed to use them again tonight after this droll meeting.

Unfortunately for him, Nanna was not pleased that her son stalked the streets looking for that gang, even if it was they who almost started a coup against her husband. She could see the lust for battle burning in his eyes, and Zane's. Those boys have been friends since birth, and she knew that when they shared the same look, it meant they were going to search for trouble. The queen grabbed her son's forearm and rubbed the back of his hand.

"You are not thinking of going back to the streets, are you?" she whispered, so as not to disturb the representative from Kaiba Corp below their towering pedestal.

"I only wish to play cards tonight, mother," said Michael. "Still, someone has to take care of them."

"Not you!" she said, trying to keep her voice down. "You were recently invited to join Prince Daveed in a royal alliance, my love. If something were to happen to you..."

"They won't let anything happen to me," Michael said coldly.

Nanna swallowed and made a rather upset expression when she realized who the 'They' he was talking about were. She patted his hand affectionately. "You are my boy, not theirs!"

"I know that mother, but you're a fool if you think that they are the ones who control me."

"You haven't been the same since they found you," she implored him to listen. "Michael, please. Just, forget your friends this night."

"I cannot," said Michael. "I promised Crow I'd trade with her."

Zane stepped forward. "My Queen. If I may..."

"No! No, you may not, Zane!" snapped Nanna. "You're in enough trouble as it is helping my son fight those thugs with those...beasts you've made in your lab. Believe me, we're going to talk about that later." She looked at her son. "Michael. Somehow I don't think you're going all the way to that tacky part of town just to play and trade cards."

King Eldon turned after showing a palm to the Kaiba Corp representative as a gesture to hold. "Michael is twenty years now, love. He is free to make his own decisions. And quite frankly, I believe our son and his companions do a far better job at taking care of those delinquents from the Domino City PD. Trudge has let me down for the last time after those poor school girls from my academy were deflowered under his watch. Michael, if those thugs cause any trouble while you're in town, I want you to deal with them as you see fit. Make this fight an example of what happens when they threaten our citizens. Zane, I say the same to you. Those mechanical beasts of yours are hungry, I can feel it."

"Yes, Your Highness," Zane said with a nod.

"But, Michael has been chosen by Master Yu-Gi-Oh for the Alliance!" pleaded Nanna.

"Yes," agreed King Eldon, "because my son is a man of action. If Michael sat around and did nothing like those pompous princes of the West, he would not have been selected to sit with future High King Yuri as a Knight of the Royal Termnnian Table. Michael, heed not the worry of your mother and take care of those bunglers. I command it! As your father and as your king!"

Nanna swallowed to keep herself from weeping. "But dearest!"

"Our son must atone for missing the meeting with Master Yu-Gi-Oh. And cleaning up this city is the way."

Michael scoffed. "You could have texted me, you know."

Eldon frowned. "We sent you hundreds of messages to come home! You never did. Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was? You shamed us that night, Michelangelo."

"Father, I didn't mean to. It was a Friday. I was at the Nexus. I told Yugi it was a bad time."

"Address him properly!" snapped Eldon. "He is your master. You would have never acquired the skills you have if it weren't for him. The Nexus. I am not surprised you did not pay heed to our messages."

Nanna nodded in agreement. "Possibly hanging out with that wretched girl. I told you she was going to be trouble."

"She's not…"

"Not another word," said Eldon. "Go. Go take care of those hoodlums running around my city. When you clean the streets, you will invite Master Yu-Gi-Oh back to our house and attend his meeting properly."

"Yes, father," said Michael at once.

The king turned to Zane. "Take care of my son, Zane."

"I shall, Your Grace." Zane bowed.

Nanna sighed in defeat and kissed the back of Michael's hand. "Do be careful out there, Michael Dalton."

"I will mama," said Michael. He hugged her and bowed to everyone to excuse himself from the court. "I love you."

"I love you, too. And try not to cause any more trouble," she added, as Michael walked out of the throne room.

The two young men excused themselves from the court and exited the throne room. Michael almost leaped with joy when the doors shut behind them. "I thought that was never going to end."

Zane chuckled. "Yeah. Well, I'll head to my room and gear up."

"Try not to use Twin Dragon this time, Zane. You take away all the fun."

"HA!" Zane laughed and then went to the western hallway.

Once in his room, Michael dressed out of his princely suit and into attire suitable for the streets. He placed a black beanie on his head with the emblem of the royal family embroidered in white on the front. He went into an elevator and down to the garage where he picked one of his fifty sports cars and drove into the night. He attached as USB cable from his phone to the radio of his car and played his favorite song. He looked to the sky and saw Zane soaring overhead in his brand new suit. His three Cyber Dragons were not too far behind.

"Kara to Chubby Checkers. Kara to Chubby Checkers. Over."

Michael answered. "Kara, call me that again and I swear, I'll have Mist Archfiend haunt you in the night."

"Sheesh, have a sense of humor, will ya? I did build you your own suit. Have you given it a try yet?"

"No, not yet," Michael answered. He held out his hand. The sleeve of his leather jacket extended, covering his forearm and hand. Then, it turned into a gauntlet of black armor with neon purple lights. "Interesting," he said examining the gauntlet. "So this is Kara's nanotechnology."

"Ekross evenatari frovost?" asked Terrorking Archfiend in his fell language from inside Michael's ring.

Michael grinned. "Hell yeah," he said, steering his vehicle out of the garage and into the streets of Domino. He held out his right palm and conjured a ball of blue flames. "Feeling frisky tonight fellas?"

He zoomed downtown over a long steel bridge with a unique wave design and blue LED lights that lit up the night. A group of Elvish girls celebrating their leader's eighteenth birthday was standing out of the sunroof of their armored SUV limousine.

They saw the exotic car beside them and cheered when they recognized Prince Michael inside. They began exposing themselves for his attention, and blew kisses his way, hoping he would join them on their night of depravity. He merely smirked at them, activated his nitrous, and sped off into the night.

"Michael Ye'kron krist sem'freth elyo vreen," snarled Terrorking Archfiend.

"I'll have fun when the city is clean, old friend," said Michael. "You really want me to get laid, don't you?"

The Terrorking Archfiend laughed in response.

"Zane," said Michael. "You scout ahead for those Aeons. I'm going to pick up Crow and the crew."

"All right, don't leave me alone for too long. There might not be anything left."

"Pfft," scoffed Michael. "Asshole."

Michael then drove to a card shop in the port of the downtown King's District. He parked his car in a space reserved for him and slid up the door to his car. He got out and got used to the scenery. Rundown buildings, homeless people stalking the night screaming in madness, and drug addicts shooting themselves with Murk.

A drastic change from the friendly folk of the King's District and the Dragon Gardens District, home to those with pockets of gold. Michael was well-armed with a pistol enchanted with lightning magic. The magical bullet could chain bolts of lightning to nearby foes.

"Michael!" said a girl leaning against the window of the card shop.

"Crow," Michael said hugging her. Without warning, he buried his mouth in hers and slammed her against the wall. Crow shrieked but wrapped his arms around him. She felt him lift her skirt, exposing her black stockings. She removed her lips from his and gave a mischievous laugh as she placed a finger to his hungry lips.

"Is that your Archfiends taking over? Or are you just happy to see me?" she said with an uncontrollable giggle. "You've never done that to me before."

"Well," Michael said, sliding his hand up her thigh. He examined her from head to toe with a ravenous look on his face. "Can you blame me? After that one night we had, I can't help but feel like this around you. Not to mention Master Yu-Gi-Oh has chosen me to join the Alliance of Prince Yuri. Once he's crowned king, I'm going to be a Knight of the Royal Termnnian Table. I think I deserve a treat for this occasion."

He leaned forward to kiss her, but Crow turned her head so the kiss turned out to be nothing more than a peck on the cheek.

Crown sniggered through her nose. She gently pushed Michael back to give herself some space. "Easy there, Your Highness. We got some trading to do." She fixed her side ponytail and kissed him one last time. "Let's take care of some business here first, okay? These guys got some good loot. Once I get the card I need, we'll head for the clubs, have a few drinks, grind on the dance floor, and then you can take me back to your place."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "You know Mother doesn't like you in the castle."

He heard Terror King Archfiend mutter something awful in his heart. Michael looked into the night and shouted: "Shut up!" To which Crow crossed her arms and shook her head.

"What did he say?" she asked.

Michael looked around checking every dark corner of the streets around him. "He called me a mama's boy."

Crow laughed.

"Hey, stop that," Michael said sulking against the wall.

Crow sniggered, trying to suppress her laughter. She found his paranormal relationship with Terrorking Archfiend rather adorable. "Here's your card," she said. "Master King Archfiend. A LINK monster. I'm sure he'll serve you well...mama's boy."

Michael swiped the card from her grip and paid her with coins.

"Thank you, Michael, it was good doing business with you," Crow said, putting the coins into a pouch attached to her belt, giving Michael a good view of her waist. Crow noticed this and giggled. "Stop that. You're making me blush."

"You're so awesome," said Michael.

"Don't you forget it, sweet prince," Crow said with a wink. She puckered her lips and made a kissing gesture. "So, I have to ask. What's going on with your friend in Akuuda? I heard King Forrest sent additional forty-thousand men to their lands."

Michael sighed. "I don't know anything. Marcel hasn't answered my texts. Something bad must have happened to him."

Crow patted his hand. "I'm sure he'll be okay. But what about the hearing? I saw you on the news earlier." She straightened herself up and placed an arm behind her back as she mocked Zane during the press conference. "People of Eredas. I am the Cyber Knight."

Michael shrugged then reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. "That's his problem. Somehow, someone leaked the info about him for all to see. Now everyone in Termnnia knows he's been doing vigilante work late at night like a comic book hero. But they don't care about what he's been doing. He had to do what he had to do. But Goddesses know the Committee isn't calling him out for the security of the city. It's his Cyber Dragons that they want." He breathed air out the corner of his mouth, puffing his devil lock into the air. "This is all so frustrating."

Michael turned around and saw his companions standing outside the window beckoning them to get out and join them on the hunt for Aeon gang members. Michael nodded his head. He looked back at Crow. "Well, let's blow off some steam doing what we do best. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be, big guy," said Crow. "Let's send King a message."

Michael and Crow got up from their table and left the card shop to join their companions into the dark depths of the slums of Domino City. The sky had turned a pale shade of green, a side effect from so much magic being used by the Aeons, a ruthless gang of mages who started off small, but they began operations into the heart of Domino.

Their fire mages burned the parks and their water mages busted the sewer systems leaving Domino without clean water for many days. They got bolder, with some cells moving farther and farther into Domino. Recently a group began hunting and harassing girls from the all-female dueling academia in the Dragon Garden District.

"They call out to us every night from outside the walls," said Crow, a student herself from the academia. "They especially love to pester us during finals. They launch charms that then burst into an endless fireworks show and keep us up all night."

Michael could see the rage inside her as she walked. She had every reason to be mad, for the girls who were despoiled earlier that week were her two closest friends. As they neared a corner, another group of companions awaited them, ready for battle. Michael greeted the leader of the group, who was angered when he heard the news about the students. His sister attends that school, and he feared for her safety. He led Michael to a basketball court where more mages eager to fight the Aeons awaited.

Soon, Michael was leading an army of street mages through the slums. They paraded to the ports where the Aeons were said to reside. Sure enough, there they were in their little hangouts having a merry time.

Then, without rhyme or reason, thirteen extravagant swords appeared before Michael and danced around him in circles. Another appeared in the grip of his right hand. He used his left to create a ball of blue flames to which he enchanted the blade engulfing it in the flames.

The Thirteen Blades of the Kings of Eredas. Soon, when Michael would claim the crown, they would become a hundred. When a royal of House Dalton is born, they are given a blade that was forged on the eve of their birth.

Those swords would be given to the decedents, and so on and so on. Until stories were told of the Kings of Eredas going into battle with countless divine blades dancing into battle. All princes were allowed to have thirteen of those blades. The one Michael wielded now, was used by his grandfather who had departed for the Gardens two years ago.

Just as quickly as the blades appeared, they flew into the night and began impaling Aeons. Then fireballs and lightning bolts shot out of the darkness and struck the base. Aeons came running out, some holding guns. These individuals Michael ordered to be eliminated immediately. A squad of Sunborne mages ran out at his command and used telekinesis to create missiles of junk infused with fire magic that exploded when it impacted its target.

Zane soared overhead in his new armor. His Cyber Dragons hovered behind him, forcing many of the weaker Aeons to flee. Zane commanded them to attack. The dragons hissed and roared as they soared into the ruined apartment complexes to flush out the marksmen of the gang.

Fireballs hissed through the night, followed by the blinding flash of lightning magic. Michael with his thirteen blades was like a blur of black. The swords infused him with increased speed and strength. Trying to catch Michael, was like trying to grab smoke with their bare hands. The blades danced all around him, glowing in a brilliant white light with glittering sparks.

Crow sprinted for the waterfront where Michael was; for she wanted to fight with him and show him her new power. After many years as a devoted follower to Elsia the Winter Goddess, her faith was rewarded with a faithful servant. "Michael!" she called. "More Aeons are coming from the bay by boats!"

Michael's new suit covered him from head to toe in cyber armor and ran up a wall and jumped, landing on top of a building. His suit was sleek and black with a red visored helmet, giving him a stealthy assassin look. The nanobots formed two twin katanas at the command of his thoughts. "Nice." Michael unsheathed one of the katanas. It was black just like he imagined and glowing red at the edge of the blade.

"The nanobots will form anything you can think of," said Zane. "You can customize your suit however you want."

"Zane, you make the neatest toys!" Michael jeered, swinging his new blade around.

"Hey! Those were made by MY genius!" snapped Kara.

"All right, all right," said Michael. "I'll be sure to add some Kaiba Coins to your account."

"Kara seriously?" groaned Zane. "You're using Kaiba Corp's new cryptocurrency?"

"Get Kaiba Coin, Peasant!" Kara laughed from her computer. She was in a tank top and black shorts, her feet on her desk. The three monitors in front of her displayed the footage from their helmet cams, while a fourth largest monitor served for her to play her games on. She was playing a first-person battle royale video game as she monitored Zane and Michael's combat zone.

"Kara? Come in, Kara!" said Michael. "Are you playing games?"

Kara picked up a slice of pizza and held it over her mouth. She stuck her tongue out to catch the stringy cheese hanging from the tip and munched her way to the top of the pizza, bitting it off and chewing noisily. "Now, where would you get an idea like that?"

Her monitor started beeping. Kara set her legs down and scooted her RGB gaming chair forward. She typed commands to her newest creation, Cyber Dragon Nachster, who mostly served for reconnaissance. She spoke to her friends with her mouth full of pizza. "Michael. I've got Cyber Dragon Nachster in the air. I see a group of unknowns gathering in the streets below. Arcane Sensors are picking up a huge spike in magical activity. Either The Fantastical Francesca is in town or we've got Neo Aeons —Pfft— sorry, they've got such a stupid name."

"I get the picture," said Micahel. "Zane, you got eyes on?"

"On my way!" Zane said soaring out of the clouds with only one Cyber Dragon following him.

Michael ran to get a better vantage point of the bay and saw a fleet of six small boats with fresh mage punks, howling and cheering. They slammed the sides of their boats with baseball bats, chains, crowbars, anything they could find to break bones and draw blood.

An Aeon with a trench coat put one foot on the front of the boat like a conquering hero. He opened his palm and formed a purple arcane circle, which shot a ball of purple light. The light hovered next to a warehouse and formed into a rock monster with two cannons on its shoulders. A Barrel Rock.

The stone creature smashed the ground with its massive foot, sending out a shockwave that tossed Michael's mages like matchsticks. They flipped and smacked against the walls and ground. Michael could hear them groaning and crying out in agony, and his ears could pick up the arrogant cheering of the Aeons as they docked on the pier and ran for Michael's mages to do battle. Barrel Rock aimed its cannons at the Cyber Dragons and fired.

"Can I use Cyber Twin now?" Zane asked, peppering the eidolon with his new photon cannons mounted on his wrist.

Michael laughed. "No way. That will make this too easy."

"Still, this changes things," Crow said, from behind Michael. "What are we going to do? Our mages are still beginners and apprentices. There's no way they can take on that thing and the new wave of Aeons."

Michael sniggered and looked back at her. "No problem," he said. "Leave that monster to me." He opened his palm and from it, a swarm of bats flew out into the night by the thousands. They merged together to form the beast he was calling. Michael's mages cheered when they realized he had summoned his Terrorking Archfiend. The foul creature raised his blade of flesh and iron, then charged for Barrel Rock, slicing him in half and reducing him to rubble without effort.

Michael winced in agony, feeling his body getting drained of mana and energy. Terrorking Archfiend smashed his forearm against his sword and lumbered off to find more Aeons to slay. Michael breathed heavily and fell to his knees.

"Hey!" Crow called.

Michael turned. Crow tossed him a packet of rations and an energy drink to maintain his blood sugar.

"You summon the big guy too much, you know," Crow said. "Calling on Eidolons for a long period of time can kill you."

"Don't worry," Michael said. His helmet digitized away. He bit into a graham cracker from the pack. "I'm okay. You take our best fighters and attack the Aeons. By the way, you said you had something to show me?"

Crow smiled and nodded. She unbuttoned her shirt to reveal a pendant of platinum in the form of a snowflake. "You're gonna love me for this, My Prince," she said. Her hands were coated with frost. The air around her grew cold. So cold, Michael could start to see his own breath. A loud roar thundered from behind her.

"Impressive," said Michael, seeing the ice and snow that flew around Crow form into a beast summoned from a frozen dimension. "Whoa," he said, once the creature came into full form.

Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier. Wasting no time, Crow climbed on top of the Tiger King and kicked it into a spring toward the streets below to save her companions from the Aeons, who were coming in at full force.

Upon seeing Dewloren, many started to flee. Those brave enough tried to fight it back but to no avail. They could not cast their magic as fast as the monster could sprint. Crow leaped off Dewloren's back and cast a powerful blast of magic at the ground that crusted the ground with a thick layer of ice, trapping the Aeons by their ankles.

Dewloren roared, summoning a blizzard that locked the delinquent mages in coffins of ice. He roared again, sending out a great shockwave that shattered the frozen mages into a thousand pieces. Crow looked at her new monster in wonder. "I love you," she said.

Feeling confident with the monster's Michael and Crow summoned, the rest of the mages ran out of hiding and engaged the rest of the gang. I would like to call this fight a battle, but, in truth, it was a massacre. News aircraft hovered over the battlefield. The reporter elbowed her cameraman feverishly, commanding him to get every shot.

"This is Summer Haile reporting live from the Domino City Docks, where the Cyber Knight and Prince Michael, who appears to be donning a new suit, are battling a large gang of — OH GODDESSES DID YOU SEE THAT! — Once again Domino City PD has failed to contain the surge of crime going down here. But it looks like Prince Michael and the Cyber Knight have things taken care of."

Bandit Keith, a disgraced warlord from the West was working on his own mechanical monstrosity from his garage. He chuckled, watching Zane's Cyber Dragons striking down the gang members. "Cyber Knight, huh?" he said. He took a long gulp of his beer. "Let's see how you handle my mechanical dragons. BANG!"

He reared his head up and laughed.