After their encounter with Lord Miracle, the duo headed back to their nest to train. If the Dark Matter had to guess, his brother was going to teach him how to use a sword now. He honestly couldn't wait to use the sword his brother grabbed from his last mission.

Of course, the Dark Matter tried to stay hidden in his Brother's cloak, as a few siblings gave the duo their usual bitter looks. Some even threw a few comments at Brother as he floated by them.

"Oh, and there's the defect!"

"And he has the smaller one with him, too!"

"Hey, why don't you give me the other defect so I can put him out of his misery?"

The Dark Matter began to feel tense, though his brother hugged him back in response.

"Don't worry about them, they're just words." Brother said calmly, though the Dark Matter could tell that his brother didn't like these comments, either. Regardless, it was just something that he had to get used to.

Of course, it didn't take long until a sibling decided to tackle Brother from behind. He held on even tighter to the Dark Matter before he met his sibling with a blank expression.

"Honestly, you can't possibly think that defect is worth protecting!" the sibling said harshly.

"Well...I think its worth giving him SOME kindness." Brother said coldly.

"And that kindness will bite you one way or another!" The sibling argued.

"...Well...Lord Miracle has always been kind, and nothing has happened to him. So it shouldn't be a problem for me to be kind, either," Brother responded. As he left, the Dark Matter peaked out of the cloak for a moment and saw the sibling look back in disgust.

Like the Dark Matter, Brother could never connect to his siblings. They all seemed to hate him, so of course he'd want to keep his distance from them.

Every once in a while, the Dark Matter wondered what it would be like to be "connected"? Maybe it was like sharing one big brain? Or maybe it was more like sharing nerves? If one sibling felt pain, the others would feel it too...right?

Either way, the Dark Matter wasn't sure. He never felt any actual pain when his brother got hurt, but he knew it was there. Additionally, neither him nor his brother felt any pain when any of their siblings got hurt.

Regardless, this was something the Dark Matter would never truly figure out. He and his brother were defective, so he could never truly be one like the rest.

As the duo made it back to their nest, the Dark Matter was gently placed on the ground. He looked at his brother as a sword manifested beside him.

"Here," Brother said as he handed his sword over to the Dark Matter. "I know it will be a very long time until you gain a Blade form, but I still think I should still teach you the basics."

The Dark Matter grabbed the sword, though it was a little heavy. Regardless, he watched as his brother grabbed the wooden sword.

"This one should be simple, I need you to hit me with that thing."

Did he hear that correctly? The Dark Matter needed to HIT his brother? But why?

"I know you're worried, but I promise I can endure a few cuts."

...If this was what Brother wanted, then he may as well give it a shot. The Dark Matter had trouble lifting the sword, but he tried to hit his brother as hard as he could. Of course, Brother protected himself using the wooden sword.

"That was good, but can you do it again?"

The Dark Matter nodded as he tried to hit his brother again. He did it a few more times, and each time his brother defended himself.

"You're doing great," Brother said in an encouraging voice. "This time, however I need you to counter my attacks."

The Dark Matter gave his brother a confused look, what did he mean? He wasn't attacking right now.

"You see...Unlike me, an enemy will show you no mercy." Brother said as he tapped the Dark Matter in the head with the wooden sword. "If I really WAS your enemy, you would've gotten seriously injured. However, once you dodge my attack I'll be completely exposed. THAT'S when you strike back, got it?"

The Dark Matter nodded, he just needed to hit Brother at the right time...Though he needed to wait for the chance to strike first. With that in mind, the Dark Matter released his fins and began to hover.

Counterattacking was easier said than done, though as Brother kept tapping him with the sword. It was difficult to even lift Brother's sword, but the Dark Matter wasn't going to give up. Once his brother messed up with one of his "attacks", the Dark Matter struck him as quickly as he could.

Both siblings stood there in complete shock, Brother was bleeding from a wound that the Dark Matter had given him across his stomach. It didn't take long until the Dark Matter started panicking.

"Uh...Maybe we should stop for now," Brother said as if nothing had happened. The Dark Matter could hear the pain in his voice, however. He dropped the sword and looked around to see if there was anything to patch up the wound.

"I'm fine, Brother. Really," the Dark Matter's brother reassured him. "It's...I promise it's not as deep as it looks."

The Dark Matter continued to give him a worried look. He'd still given his brother a big wound, and he wasn't sure how to fix it. Nonetheless, his brother placed a part of his cloak on top of the Dark Matter as a way to "pet" him.

"The next time we do this, we'll do this a little differently. That way we don't have as many injuries to worry about, does that sound good?"

The Dark Matter nodded. Although he still felt bad for hurting him, he was sure that Brother was going to be OK.

It was finally night time, both brothers had settled in their nest. At night, the sky was less red and more blue. However, it was just as dark now as it was during the day. Part of that was because of the dark clouds that covered this world.

If the Dark Matter remembered correctly, these dark clouds were what Lord Zero would absorb in order to create more siblings. A Dark Matter can look more cloud-like in between forms, but when it dies for good, they become part of the sky once again. At that point, Lord Zero absorbs them and they start their life all over again.

The Dark Matter couldn't help but wonder what his past life was like. Maybe he was less defective and got along with everyone? Maybe he died from a fatal brain injury and that's why he couldn't connect to anyone? Either way, he knew that he would become a dark cloud himself should he die.

"You know...a lot of the planets I've been to would let you see the stars at night," Brother told the Dark Matter. "I sincerely wish that I could show you some of these planets, one day."

It seemed like Brother was having one of those thoughts again, he would sometimes get these thoughts where he would explore the world far from Lord Zero's influence...But then again, he always looked forward to talking to the Dark Matter every time he came home.

"...Of course, it would probably take a while until you're used to the light outside of this world." Brother explained. "I used to get pretty sick during my first few missions, but I promise that you get used to it."

The Dark Matter grumbled bitterly, he'd hoped that the light outside wasn't as bad as his brother insisted it was. Besides, once Lord Zero decided that he was ready, he'd finally be able to see the worlds his brother had explored as well.

He couldn't wait to grow up and be just like his brother.