The students and Hitotaba reached the entrance of the Photon Mine and looked around. Hitotaba noticed that something was wrong.

"Where's the other school bus and students? They went here before us and should already be here," he said.

The students stopped and turned toward the institutor and also noticed it.

"Maybe they got the wrong exit and continued forward," Noboru tried.

"It can be possible. They were following the bus in the lead," Hitotaba replied, clearly uncertain.

"They are going to miss the visit then," Kiri said, walking inside with Joker by his side.

"Wait!" Gao yelled running after him.

The other's followed them inside and looked around.

"There's no one here," Drum noticed. Him and Tenbu sniffed the air, "But there was some people not long ago."

"My instinct is telling me that something-" Tenbu was cut by an explosion at the corner of their location.

"What was that?" Baku yelled.

Gao and Drum dashed forward and took a peek. They saw a machine in pieces and another one landing near them.

Drum looked in the air and grunted, "Cerberus!"

Chapter 49: Kiri And Joker Stand

The other's joined Gao who raised his hand, "Stay back. Drum and I will take care of him," Gao took out his deck.

"Let's-" Before Drum could finish his sentence, a boy with silver hair and wearing a black mask grabbed Drum and threw him in the air.

"Get him!" the boy yelled.

Cerberus turned toward the mini dragon and violently tackled Drum. The dragon crashed on the ground and bounced in the air and before ending against a wall.

"Drum!" Gao yelled dashing toward him.

Hitotaba ordered, "Stay back!"

They obeyed the old man and took a few steps back.

Gao grabbed his buddy and lightly lifted him, "Hey! Are you alright?"

"Ah... I...-" Drum could say anything as he painfully grunted when his left arm moved.

Tenbu flew closed to him and saw his twisted arm, "His left arm is broken."

Gao turned toward the masked boy and yelled, "You! I don't know who you are and why you are with Cerberus!" he let Tenbu grabbing Drum. He whispered, "Take care of him," He took out his card and lightly healed Drum.

Rouga, behind the mask looked at Gao confused about why he didn't recognised him, Idiot. Can't recognise me behind that mask. He thought.

Gao continued, "But I won't let you get away with this!" he took another spellcard and called his sword.

He charged toward Rouga who accepted the challenged and fought with his spear.

Meanwhile, Cerberus destroyed any green robot security coming at him with ease.

Baku and Kurugu sighed when Gao didn't recognised Rouga, but said nothing about it. They focused on Drum.

Baku stood up and said, "We should bring him to the bus an-"

Tenbu yelled, "No! Moving can aggravate his wound!" He pat the hairs of Drum and made sure the younger dragon wasn't in pain.

"I'll get the medic kit then," Baku said returning to the bus.

"I know where it is," Hitotaba followed Baku.

Kiri turned toward Kuguru and said, "Kuguru! Gao needs help. If Cerberus decided to attack Gao, he's dead!"

"I can't. They are still-" Kuguru said nothing.

"What happened?" Joker asked.

Kuguru sighed, "They are probably still trapped in a big ball of wool. Please don't ask how it happens."

Everyone were silent with their jaw on the ground, Even Cerberus was silent with his sensible ears hearing them, until he was hit by a robot beam and refocused on the fight.

"I would laugh right now if the situation wasn't melting me," Joker commented.

"We are here with the kit," Baku said while Hitotaba opened the box.

"We can only do few until the ambulance and police are here," Hitotaba said.

"I know how to treat a broken arm," Tenbu said before grabbing the bandages and started treating the wound with care and precision.

"How?" Hitotaba asked.

"Don't ask," Tenbu replied.

Baku asked Tenbu, "You have to fight Cerberus Tenbu!"

Tenbu looked at Cerberus, he was about to say yes when a voice echoed in his mind: You promise to stay out of my way. He realised it was a plan from Azi and couldn't do or say anything about it. He said a partial lie, "I can't. I need to make sure Drum is fine. Also, my power could destroy the entire mountain and us with it."

Kuguru looked at Kiri and Joker, "Then you have to do something. Joker is the only one who can fight him."

"But I don't know how to use the spellcard well," Kiri replied.

Kuguru smiled and took out her deck case, "I cannot ask for my buddies help, but I can still use spellcards."

"You just have to hang in here. Tasuku is coming with his buddy," Baku added.

Kiri gulped, but nodded. He grabbed his deck case while Joker flew in the air.

Gao sword clashed with Rouga's spear and they tried pushing each other's off. Rouga smiled and started overpowering Gao.

Gao noticed a black aura lightly emitting from the masked boy.

Rouga threw the sword out of Gao's grasp and kicked the boy away.

Gao rolled on the ground and stood up. He was ready to strike back when he saw a spellcard shining. The light moved on the spear.

"Die. Crimson Slash!" Rouga yelled.

Noburu dashed and yelled, "Look out!" He pushed Gao away from the spell. He rolled on the ground and grabbed the sword, "Like I'm going to let you kill Gao!"

"Then you are going to fight me?" Rouga asked with a grin.

Noboru body lightly shook at the thought. He knew he wasn't a good sword fighter like Gao, "Better than doing nothing!"

He charged and tried to hit Rouga, but he was blocked. Rouga was about to strike back when he deflected an arrow coming from Kuguru.

"They are not alone!" she yelled.

Rouga frowned for a few seconds before chuckling, "Let's see what you can do together."

Joker flew toward Cerberus and waited for the three-headed wolf to notice him. Cerberus blew up the last robot and turned toward Joker.

"You made a mistake to wait for us to notice you," Cerberus grunted.

Joker chuckled and replied, "I didn't want to start which could freeze your fur," he fractionated his blade and charged, "You'll pay for hurting the buddy of Kiri's friend!"

He slashed the three-headed wolf, but missed it. Cerberus tried to bite the ice monster, but his wings allowed him to fly out of his way.

Joker yep when Cerberus bit his tail, "Ouch! Not the tail! Not the tail!" He slashed the fur around the heads of Cerberus and gave them the cube cut.

Cerberus released the tail and saw his reflection, "Gaaah! What did you do to us?"

Joker chuckled nervously, "Honestly. I don't even know what I did to you."

Cerberus pointed his drill toward Joker, but the ice monster let himself fall on the ground. He raised his head and jumped backward, just before the three headed wolf drilled the ground.

Joker frowned and knew it was time to be serious. He readied himself and dashed. He slashed, but Cerberus jumped backward and blocked the next one with his drill. Cerberus ran in the air and the Joker pursuit him.

"Ice Cross!" Joker yelled. He crossed his arms and threw an ice blade with the shape of a cross. It hit the chest of Cerberus, but the wolf stopped a part of the attack, leaving only a minor wound.

"It will take more than that to defeat me," Cerberus grinned after saying that.

Tasuku and Jackknife watched the road, lightly bored. They finished talking with Takihara and Card Burn. It was boring to be in a car compare to flying when they heard through the radio.

"-This is Commander I. Respond now Takihara,-"

"This is Takihara. What situation do we have?"

"-There is an assault at the Photon Mine by a masked boy and his buddy Cerberus. Gao and his buddy are there, but Drum is injured and cannot fight,-" Commander I replied.

Tasuku and Jackknife knew they had to reach their destination fast.

"We are on it Commander," Tasuku replied. He took out the safety belt and said, "I'll go there first with Jack. It will be faster by the air. Join us as soon as you can."

"-Agree. This situation is urgent,-"

"I'll be there as fast as I can," Takihara said as he activated the siren, "Let's hope I'll have my share in this."

Jackknife replied, "But it's best we end this fast."

"Then beat them fast," Takihara replied.

Tasuku opened the window and used his buddy skill to fly outside. Jackknife did the same and turned in his real form once he was far enough of any cars. They then flew toward the mine as fast as they could while the police car accelerated.

Noburu dodged a spear coming at him and blocked with the sword another strike. He was kicked away from Rouga and dropped the sword. Kuguru fired with her bow while Noboru recovered.

Gao dashed toward the sword and slashed toward Rouga. Rouga blocked at ease the sword and replied, "You are too slow Gao."

He ducked and countered with a kick at the boy chest. Gao landed on his feet and painfully panted.

"Gao!" Noboru yelled.

Gao released the handle of the sword and Noboru took it back. Noboru charged toward Rouga and yelled, giving him some courage before he stuck the blade on the ground. Rouga wasn't expecting it and was at the middle of his attack when Noburu jumped over him. Noburu grabbed Rouga's hair and pulled him on the ground. He then punched Rouga's jaw, before he was pushed away.

"Nice one, but not good enough," Rouga replied with a grin. He heard the sound of an arrow and dodged it.

Gao grunted and asked, How can he be so fast? This guy fights like Rouga, but he's much faster and stronger. Maybe it's this black aura. He was stronger when it appeared.

Rouga grabbed Noboru and threw him toward Gao. Gao grabbed Noboru, but lost his balance and felt on the ground.

Kuguru fired with her bow, but Rouga took out a spell card and used Crimson Slash again. Kuguru was about to be hit when,

"Holy Grail!" Kiri yelled.

He shielded Kuguru and asked, "You're alright?"

"Y-yeah," Kuguru said.

She saw Rouga coming and blocked the spear with her bow, but was thrown away and landed against Baku.

Gao took back his sword and charged at Rouga, "Enough!"

Rouga blocked the blade and chuckled. He pushed the blade away and aimed toward Gao's heart.

Kiri gasped and took out another card without thinking: "Ice Deity Shield Svalinn!"

Rouga spear hit the shield. Rouga grunted painfully when he hit the shield with all his strength. He dropped the spear for a second. Gao took that chance and threw Rouga on the ground. He then fought to maintain him on the ground. Kiri ran and grabbed the spear and threw it as far away as he could, out of Rouga's hand.

"Nice one!" Kuguru said as she stood up with Baku.

"I need help here," Gao grunted.

Noboru and Baku ran and helped maintaining Rouga on the ground.

Meanwhile, the battle between Joker and Cerberus slowly leaded them higher in the sky and out of their buddies reach. Joker flew higher toward the sky and checked behind him, grinning with his eyes as he saw Cerberus coming closer to him. He suddenly turned around and readied his blade.

"This should be good enough," Joker said.

Cerberus grunted as he realised his buddy couldn't help him with a spell card if he needed one, "You're buddy must be inexperienced if you think fighting me alone will grant you victory."

"Maybe, but I will be victorious if your buddy is busy down here," Joker replied before charging toward Cerberus.

His blades collided with Cerberus weaponry. He tried to pierce the defense of the three-headed wolf, but couldn't. The metallic pincher tried to grab Joker, but he flew higher in the air and turned toward the wolf. He grinned when he saw Cerberus coming to him. He slid on the drill of Cerberus and slashed Cerberus at his neck, but a pincher grabbed his blade.

Cerberus grinned as he spun around himself and threw him toward the ground. He then charged toward Joker and tackled his chest. Joker felt his body getting hotter as he landed closer toward the ground.

Joker chuckled in his mind, I've gotten rusty. How can I protect Kiri if I'm weaker?

A loud explosion resonated as Joker crashed on the ground. Joker grunted painfully and tried to move, but the blade of his arms felt on the ground.

"I'm unharmed," Joker managed to say.

Cerberus chuckled and opened his mouth, "Time to finish you!"

"Blue Dragon Shield!" Kuguru yelled.

A blue shield protected Joker from a finishing strike. Cerberus continued hitting it until the shield disappeared. He then saw something at the corner of his eyes and jumped out of the way. Jackknife stood in front of Joker and pointed his blade toward Cerberus.

"Enough!" Jackknife grunted.

Cerberus charged at the three boys restraining Rouga. Gao, Noboru and Baku saw him coming and jumped out of the way while Rouga stood up and jumped away from them, grabbing back his spear.

"You won't go anywhere!" a voice said behind him.

Tasuku stood there with his sword pointing at Rouga while he put back his cellphone in his pocket. An energy field suddenly surrounded the Photon Mine, "Surrender now! You are outnumbered and you cannot escape as long as this field is on!"

Rouga chuckled and replied, "Maybe, but..." he took out a spell card and activated it.

Kuguru pushed Kiri away when the ground rose behind them with an energy spear near them. The spear disappeared.

"I can still fight," Rouga replied. She is sure taking her time.

Tasuku and Rouga pointed their weapon at each other's. Rouga slowly rose in the air and flew in front of Tasuku. Jackknife joined Tasuku side just as Cerberus did.

"Jack. Let's get serious," Tasuku said.

His buddy nodded and they charged at their adversary.

Meanwhile, a girl with silver hair, wearing a black costume and black mask walked in the Photon laboratory near the mine. She had a suitcase attached on her back. She lightly frowned in frustration, "Is the Buddy Police Force already here?"

She stopped when she saw a few lasers line in front of her. She knew it was sensors and if she touched one of them, an alarm would rang and alert the Police force that there was someone else inside.

She saw at the other side her target near an opened door. The Photon metal was there. She passed the sensors without any difficulty and once at the other side. She opened her suitcase and started to steal the metal. She forced when she grabbed one and sighed, "Those are heavier than they seemed. It's going to take more time than expected," she grumbled, "Should have accepted Gallows help."

AC: This is the end of chapter 49.

Chapter 50: Result.