Gao, Hanako and their buddies were returning home after school day. Tenbu was watching the news on Gao cellphone, without the boy realising it, and sighed at Tenchi propaganda with the event linked with the Thunder Knights and the probability that the situation will worsen if the frontier toward Earth isn't close.

"Hearing all of this is getting tiresome. I visit Earth long ago and it was way before humans existed," Tenbu said.

"Really and-" Gao realised something, "You got my phone!"

"I was curious about the news," Tenbu replied with an innocent grin on his face before giving back the phone.

"That old dragon sure is sneaky... Thankfully not with girls and women because that would be really weird," Drum commented.

"He would have been the oldest being to end up in prison... Anywhere," Halberd added.

Tenbu grumbled and played with his moustache, but lightly smiled. The buddies ignored superbly any glare from those who dislikes the monsters for other worlds. Tenbu proudly smiled when he saw Drum ignoring the glares or some comments said on their back, which their dragon ears picked up without trouble. Gao face was lightly red when he heard a few said toward the dragons, but contained himself.

A voice coming from above then suddenly said, "There you are."

"That voice," Drum and Halberd said.

They raised their head and saw a tall dragon landing in front of them. They recognised The Punisher without any problem.

"Punisher!" The four, except Tenbu yelled surprised.

The tall dragon lightly smiled, "Hello everyone. It's been a long time since I've seen any of you. It's good to come back," he grunted, cutting anything else they might want to say, "I don't want to look like I'm lost, but I kinda forgot where you lived. Can I come with you to your home? I need to discuss an important matter."

"Sure," Gao said.

Getting The Punisher home was more complex than anyone would have expected. Because of his size, many citizens commented on his violation of the law since he didn't seem like he was in his mini form, while it was the case. Gao, Drum, Halberd and Punisher had to explain it many times until they finally reached home.

Chapter 88: The Punisher Visit

The Punisher saw in the dojo and was eating some rice given by Gao's grandmother. He ate is patiently and draw a bottle of wine before saying, "Thank you. I was getting a little hungry Miss."

She nodded and returned to the kitchen.

The Punisher commented, "It was the first time I walked in the street instead of hiding around and everyone was watching me with some weird glare and suspicion. I was expecting it, but not that much."

"A few things happened recently and tension between humans who hates us and our kind are getting worst," Halberd briefly resumed.

The tall dragon nodded, "I am not surprised that tension would be that high. Some old dragons commented when we entered in contact with Magic World, things like that also happened."

Drum grumbled as he tried to think if he knew about it, but raised his shoulders.

Tenbu chuckled and replied, "I remember that. It was difficult to calm everyone down."

The Punisher carefully gazed at Tenbu for a few seconds before asking, "Excuse me but,... Who are you? I never saw you before in Dragon World."

"I am Tenbu, an old dragon and one of the last dragons of the first generation of Original Dragon. I think... Or the last one. I'm not sure," he said as he played with his moustache, thoughtfully.

"An Original Dragon. I wonder why you are here, but that's not important right now. I came here for an important reason and I need your help," The Punisher said.

"We are ready to help you in anything," Gao said with a smile.

"I need to find two missing Thunder Knights. They left their post and I suspect they came here for you Halberd," The Punisher said. He watched them and heard nothing. He added, "I should have been here sooner, but I wasn't aware until recently and I didn't warn Fang Slade Terrestrial The XIII yet."

Halberd scratched the back of his head and looked at the others. No one else said anything, letting the ex-Thunder Knight to answer the question, "We encountered them Punisher. He hurts many people and are the... the source of the recent increase tension."

The tall dragon frowned and veins appeared on his muscular arms, "I guess we have to make amend to the situation caused by them. I will speak with the Buddy Police Force and try to minimize the damage later. I will speak with them and give them the proper punishment," he said as his eyes shined brightly.

Drum gulped loudly while Halberd was nervous. Drum remembered the way his eyes shined and thought, I don't want to think about it. Forget about the dragon training boot camp. Forget it!

"Poor them," Halberd thought.

"Of course. I have to let them live the punishment of the humans first. If I took it, they won't take it well right?" The Punisher asked.

"They don't know about the Dragon Boot Camp," Drum whispered.

The Punisher nodded as he heard Drum, but the humans didn't, "Now that this problem is already solved, I guess I have time for something else. Though that surprised me."

"What is the other thing?" Halberd asked surprised about this comment.

"I recently learned something that got me excited. Since I was coming here, I thought I could do both if possible," The Punisher replied with a smile.

"Learn recently?" everyone asked except Tenbu who was mostly wondering what the Dragon Boot Camp was.

"I've heard that one of my old enemies is on Earth," The Punisher thoughtfully said.

"Old enemy?" Halberd asked.

The Punisher nodded.

"You have many enemies?" Gao curiously asked.

The Punisher nodded. When he saw the humans surprised, he chuckled, "I have many of them from other worlds. As for Dragon World, I have a rival and it's your father Drum. Although that rivalry has been settle when he defeated me. As for my old enemy, we had a long battle long ago when our two worlds were at war. Sadly, we never reached a conclusion on this fight. Now might be the opportunity to conclude it, even if we are not at war anymore," he finished as he showed a spellcard.

They looked at it and saw the image of an arena in it.

"You are serious about it," Halberd concluded.

"So. Who was the dragon you fought?" Hanako curiously asked.

The Punisher scratched his chin as he thought back, "It was long ago. I fought him during one of the many wars between Dragon World and Darkness Dragon world. I think it was the fourth war if I remember correctly."

"There were five wars against the Darkness Dragon," Drum said, remembering what his father thought him.

"It's the Fifth one then," The Punisher concluded. He turned toward them and continued, "It was during one of the final battle. During this war, they managed to infiltrate an important location of Dragon World. There was a lot of water produced there and it would have caused many dragons to die if we lost. Our troops went there and confronted them in one massive battle. The objective was to hold on until Fang Slade Terrestrial the XIII arrived with reinforcements. The battle was long, fierce and violent. I defeated many of their soldiers when he arrived," he had a large and excited smile as he said that. There were some obvious good memories and showing another aspect the humans didn't see before, but the dragons knew it was the excitement of an epic fight, "As we faced each other's, we battle and battle until your father came Drum. The darkness dragon had no choice, but to retreat before we could end it."

"So. Who was it?" Hanako asked again.

The Punisher gently chuckled and replied, "Silly me. I didn't answer that. It was the recent leader of the Darkness Dragon. Azi Dahaka."

They gasped when they heard the name.

"He is definitely here," Drum replied. He lightly frowned when he thought, That bastard who tried something on Gao! Something I cannot talk about!

Tenbu turned toward the young orange dragon and quietly asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Of course," Drum replied with a smile.

The Punisher asked, "Do you know where I can find Azi Dahaka? I want to settle our fight once and for all and maybe he's also eager to finish such a great fight."

They raised their shoulders, not knowing where Kyoya lived or his phone number to call him.

Gao thought about it when it flashed in his mind, Maybe he knows, "I think I know someone who can find him," He was then uncertain of one thing, "But, what types of battle do you want to finish?"

"It will not be a battle to the death. There is no motivation to reach that anymore," The Punisher replied.

That reassure Gao and said, "I'll go ask him," he said when he walked outside the house.

Drum followed him, "Wait up Gao!"

The others remained in the dojo.

Tenbu gazed at The Punisher and commented, "You are asking a lot for them you know. This is something personal after all."

The Punisher closed his eyes and replied, "Yes. It is a battle that I wanted to finish long ago. I took pride in my battles and this postpone one remained in my mind."

Gao and Drum walked in the street of the city.

"So Gao. Who do you think will-" Drum stopped his question when he already guessed.

It wasn't long before they heard someone playing music. Drum knew there was only one dragon that could be playing music, Troubadour. Of course he knows about it.

When they found him, they stopped when they weren't expecting what they saw. Troubadour was playing with his instrument as usual, but there was fewer humans surrounding him and some of them felt it was awkward. One reason was that the tension was more present and the other... Demios Sword Dragon was standing behind him, with a pissed off gaze at the smaller dark dragon, in his real form.

Drum wasn't feeling comfortable with two Darkness Dragons, but restrained it for Gao sake. Even so, he thought, He knows what Azi Dahaka is planning, but he won't say anything and I cannot ask him anything in front of Gao. I bet he's going to laugh it up anyway.

Troubadour eventually concluded his music and said, "Thank you everyone. I'm glad you enjoy my music, but alas... There are fewer of you."

"This is what you do most of the time outside," Demios asked.

"You are saying it as if it was a waste of time, but it is for my heart delight. You are a poor audience Demios," Troubadour replied.

Demios glared at his subordinate insolence and felt the urge to discipline him right now, but noticed Gao and Drum. He didn't lose a second to notice that the Disaster Core was gone, as his lord told him.

"Hello there," Gao said.

Troubadour smiled and said, "Hello again Gao. We didn't have time to talk when you left the hospital to see your friend leaving."

"That's right," Gao scratched the back of his head as he felt awkward that he had to meet him not just for the sake of meeting a friend.

Troubadour didn't mind and asked, "I don't mind the reason you came here Gao."

Gao explained why he came to see him. As he explained it, Demios gave his entire attention to what the boy said.

"The Punisher hum? I remember he wounded many of the Purgatory Knights in the battle field. I broke the jaw of my father when he was a Purgatory Knight, but I don't hold a grudge," Troubadour chuckled.

Demios crossed his arms and thought about it. He looked at Gao and said, "We will speak to Azi Dahaka about it. I'm sure he'll be interested. He will not say no to a fight, especially if he had a difficult one."

"Thank you," Gao replied.

"You can wait here. I'll search for him right now," Demios said before flying away.

Drum commented, "That was easy."

"Finally he's gone. Demios can be a pain on the tail. Always watching me with the trouble I caused," Troubadour chuckled.

He helped us and got punished..., Drum thought, "Is it that bad?"

"No. I think it also annoy him to listen to my music again and again," Troubadour replied. He started playing with his instrument again, "I should entertain you while we wait for my lord answer."

They nodded while the darkness dragon played his music.

Azi in the living room with Kyoya as they spoke of their plan, "For now, everything is going accordingly to plan, even if we still don't know of Tenchi plan."

"I've tried to obtain information, but no one can obtain anything," Kyoya replied with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"The real challenge is coming soon. Is everyone ready for it?" he asked with one of his head turned toward him.

"Yes. The Party is ready and the leader is preparing everything as we planned," the boy said with his eyes frowning lightly.

"He might be an adult Kyoya, but he is thinking a similar way to you about the world," Azi told him.

"I know, but-" Kyoya was cut when Demios entered in the room.

The dragon bowed to Azi and said, "My king. I came to deliver you a message."

That got Azi curious as he didn't have message that way on Earth, "What is it?"

"To make it short, a dragon challenges you into a battle to end what you started long ago," Demios briefly resumed.

Azi chuckled, "We have no time for such trivia battle. We have bigger things to so in this city than fighting a dragon who dear challenges me."

"His name is The Punisher from Dragon World," Demios precise.

Azi stopped chuckling and slowly turned toward Demios. He asked with interest, "The Punisher?" Demios nodded positively. The three-headed dragon grinned as he thought; This is going to be an interesting fight. The Punisher is one of the most powerful dragons of Dragon World. "We'll accept his challenge. Guide us to him."

Kyoya smiled and said, "I'll come with you. I'm curious to see how you fight when you are going serious."

Azi turned his heads toward him, "You won't be disappointed."

They walked outside the manor. The other purgatory knights heard about it and decided to watch their rulers in action. There was nothing interesting going on for now and they wouldn't say no to an entertainment.

AC: This is the end of this chapter. It's a setup for the duel between Azi Dahaka and The Punisher.

Next chapter: Azi Dahaka vs The Punisher.

After this: The Ordinary Day of Shido and Gallows