"How can this be?" Axel said. "You were supposed to be dead!"

"True," replied Beowulf. "But, I have returned from the dead once more,"

"Where are the Sol Emeralds?" Blaze then asked Beowulf. "Return them now!"

"As you wish," Beowulf raised his hand and conjured the emeralds. He then threw them down to the ground in front of the Mobians' group. As Blaze went to pick them up, she discovered much to her shock that the emeralds had lost their radiant colors.

"No, this can't be!" Blaze exclaimed as she examined the emeralds. "Why have the emeralds lost their color?" Seeing this, Amy shouted at Beowulf.

"Hey, you! What did you do to the emeralds?"

"I absorbed their powers and made them my own," Hearing Beowulf's reply, the Mobians became shocked.

"What?!" Blaze shouted.

"Absorbed the powers of the emeralds you say!?" Knuckles said.

"You were supposed to have perished a long time ago," Alfimi then spoke to Beowulf. "Yet, why are you here?"

"Do you really want to know?" Beowulf replied. After a short pause, he added, "Very well. I'll explain. At the time I was destroyed, my body perished. But, my consciousness survived and wandered around various worlds. As I wandered, I came across one thing which fascinated me,"

"The Sol Emeralds," Sanger said.

"Correct. And such beauty they had! The moment I approached them, I felt a strong resonance within me. At that moment, I realized if I were to return to my former glory, I must take the emeralds and harness their power,"

"As I returned to the rift between worlds, I waited there for a long time in order to regain my physical form. The moment I regained my physical body, I went back to the Sol Emeralds and fought against the Mobians guarding them,"

"What the fools didn't realize," Beowulf smirked. "was that while they were fully concentrated on me, my minions took the emeralds away,"

"And then when you took the emeralds, you absorbed their powers," Sally said. "And would I be correct to assume that you were the one responsible for sending the Einsts to attack the city square?"

"Quite right," Beowulf replied.

"In that case, let me ask you-Why are you attacking this kingdom?" Elias asked. "What is your aim in doing so?"

"My aim? That…" Beowulf put on an evil grin. "…would be to destroy everything,"

"Destroy everything?" Axel asked.

"First, I shall destroy this kingdom," stated Beowulf. "Then, I shall slowly destroy other places in this world until everything in it is completely obliterated. Once I am done with this world, I shall travel to other worlds and lay destruction on them,"

"Why did you pick Riksent as your first target then?" Nicole asked.

"Why?" Grinning wickedly, Beowulf replied, "Because it's thrilling,"

"What?" Axel said while looking slightly surprised.

"The moment I attained the Sol Emeralds' powers, I felt magnificent. And what better way to express that feeling than to trample over everything in front of me! This kingdom is the perfect place to test the extent of my powers! The moment I and my minions attacked Riksent, the humans panicked as they witnessed their beloved kingdom crumbling into ashes! And that is truly a wonderful sight for me to behold!"

"Are you saying that you're doing all this because it is fun?" Sanger asked.

"Well, you could say that," Beowulf gave an evil smile.

"Are you insane?" Honey was bewildered by Beowulf's words. "How can you call this fun? Attacking innocent people? Destroying worlds? Those are just wrong!"

"Insane?" said Beowulf. "I'm far from that. It's only natural for those with power to exert it however they please. Even if it means destroying everything around them,"

"Unforgivable," Blaze lit one of her hands with fire. "Not only have you stolen the emeralds but, you took their powers as well. Give them back!" Blaze launched a fireball towards Beowulf. Much to her surprise, Beowulf transformed into his alien form and blocked the fireball with one hand.

"Do not rush things," Beowulf lifted his hand down. "We don't need to fight now,"

"What do you mean?" asked Rotor.

"Tomorrow, I shall return to this kingdom and bring my kind to lay waste on it once more. When that time comes, you may fight me to your heart's content,"

"You bastard," Axel was angered at Beowulf's words. "Are you planning on turning Riksent into a warzone?! Don't screw with us!"

"Beowulf," Sally looked at Beowulf seriously. "I don't know why you find destroying things to be fun. But, I know one thing-As a princess myself, I will not stand to see this kingdom be destroyed by you and your kind. You will not get away with this!"

"Such bold words," Beowulf smirked. "Very well. I'll take my leave. Be prepared to be decimated by my hand tomorrow," With that, Beowulf began to teleport away.

"Wait!" Blaze ran forward. She stopped a short distance away from the group as soon as Beowulf fled. Seeing that Beowulf was gone, Blaze grunted softly.

"Curse that monster! First, he took the emeralds and now he took their powers as well!" Blaze clenched her fist. "I am definitely going to make him pay for this!"

Sally walked towards Blaze and placed a hand on the latter's shoulder. "I understand how you feel. But, first, we must come up with a plan to deal with this situation,"

"Sally's right. Standing here brooding over the emeralds won't solve a thing," Sonic said. Blaze paused for a moment.

"Do as you wish," Blaze said with a serious look on her face.

(scene change)

The night had become late. The Mobians and their human friends are having an emergency meeting in the Sky Patrol's war room, discussing their current situation. As everyone spoke, Blaze looked distraught.

"Beowulf is alive you say?!" Kyosuke said in surprise.

"Yes, he has returned," replied Axel who looked serious.

"But, how could this be!?" Katina exclaimed. "We defeated him during the Einsts' invasion long ago!"

"Apparently, he revived on his own. And not only that, Beowulf absorbed the powers of the emeralds and made them his own," The humans became surprised at Axel's words.

"Doesn't that mean that the Mobians can't return to their home?" asked Mai.

"Unfortunately, yes,"

"The situation has become worse," Ridal stated. "Not only have the Einsts attacked this kingdom twice, but, they will return here and repeat their actions. We must evacuate the citizens at once,"

"But, if we do that the people of Riksent may not like it," said Sally. "Even if they are safe from our upcoming fight with the Einsts, they won't want their home to be turned into a battleground for us to fight in,"

"How about sending the people into the shelters?" Ryusei suggested.

"A good idea but, it does not change the fact that Riksent will still be in danger," said Raidese.

"Then, what're we going to do?" Ryusei became worried. "We can't just let the people get involved in the fight!"

"I can see that everyone is tense because of our current predicament," Nicole stated. "But, before we continue discussing this matter…" Nicole looked at Axel. "It appears that you and your friends have previously known Beowulf. How is that so?" There was a moment of silence. Axel closed his eyes.

"To explain that, I will have to tell a story of the past," Axel opened his eyes. "To tell you the truth," he then said. "I came from another world. A world similar to Earth,"

"In that world, I was once a member of an organization called Shadow Mirror. Shadow Mirror was founded on the belief that through chaos, order will be maintained. At one point, Shadow Mirror came to this world in order to instill chaos into it and achieve it's goals,"

"However, as I was about to enter this world, I fought a man who stood in my way. This man was my former friend who fell under the Einsts' influence. His name was Beowulf. Beowulf, however, was only his codename. His real name is Kyosuke Nanbu," The Freedom Fighters looked at Kyosuke.

"Hang on a second," Rotor said. "Kyosuke was with us the whole time. How could he possibly be our enemy?"

"I can understand your confusion," Lamia said to Rotor. "In actuality, Axel is referring to another version of Kyosuke who came from his world,"

"In other words, an alternate version of Kyosuke Nanbu from a parallel world, correct?" inquired Nicole.

"You're correct," Axel said to Nicole.

"Zat explains why Beowulf looks like Monsieur Kyosuke," said Antoine.

"Kinda reminds you of Scourge and his pals, right?" Sonic whispered to Sally. He was referring to Scourge the Hedgehog, an enemy the Freedom Fighters fought back in the pre-Super Genesis Wave timeline and who looked like Sonic.

"Kind of," Sally whispered back.

"I defeated Beowulf in my world before entering this one," Axel continued. "However, at one point in this world, he came back even stronger. At that time, I allied with the Earth Federation to take down Beowulf and he was defeated for good. At least, that's what I had thought that time…"

"How come the Shadow Mirror didn't help you fight Beowulf back then?" asked Tails.

"Because before Beowulf appeared in this world, Shadow Mirror was defeated and crumbled. Axel left the organization when that happened," said Tetsuya.

"Okay, so basically, we're fighting an evil twin of Kyosuke's who has come back from the dead. Not once but, a few times," Sonic said to Axel. Axel kept quiet for a moment.

"As a matter of fact, yes,"

"You said Beowulf was once your friend," Amy said. "So, why did he end up becoming evil?" Axel began to narrow his eyes.

"Beowulf was once involved in a shuttle accident triggered by the Einsts. The Einsts imbued him with their powers enabling him to survive the accident. At first, he lived out his life normally and we worked together. However, over time, we had a difference in ideals. On top of that, Beowulf began to act abnormally due to his powers,"

"What do you mean?" asked Elias.

"Beowulf obtained a demonic power which enabled him to perform highly extraordinary feats. But, in turn, that power drove him insane. He devolved into babbling nothing but recreating the universe. He killed anyone who got into his way, murdering friend and foe alike," All the Mobians except Storm, Lightning and Blaze became horrified. Storm's eyes were covered by her hat's shadow. Blaze looked even more distraught.

"Sacrebleu…" Antoine spoke softly.

"A man who has become consumed by power and turned into a monster," Lightning spoke with a serious tone. "This is something that cannot be ignored," Cream looked at Blaze and moved next to her.

"Miss Blaze, are you alright? You don't look so good," Cream asked Blaze with concern.

"Chao…" Cheese looked concerned.

"Yes… I'm fine, Cream," Blaze spoke, the look of distraught on her face disappearing. Sonic then looked at Blaze.

"Blaze, we know you're worried about the emeralds. Don't worry. We'll do everything we can to restore the emeralds' powers," Sonic assured her.

"I agree with Sonic," Geoffrey said with a serious look on his face. "This situation is more serious than I've thought. However, we must think about this from a positive perspective,"

"A positive perspective?" Sally said as she and her teammates looked at Geoffrey curiously.

"Precisely," replied Geoffrey, still looking serious. "For instance…" Geoffrey suddenly put on a smile and added, "…once we protect Riksent from Beowulf, all of the kingdom's fine women shall praise and revere me as their savior," The Freedom Fighters, Blaze, Knuckles and Elias gave Geoffrey a deadpan look. Storm's eyes were covered by her hat's shadow and Lightning raised his eyebrows.

"What kind of statement is that?" said a surprised Elias. "We're in the middle of a serious situation and you have time to talk about women?!"

"Now, now," replied Geoffrey. "Yes, we are indeed in the middle of a serious situation. But, we have to loosen up a little. Don't you agree, luv?" Geoffrey placed an arm around Honey's waist.

"Yes! At times like this, we got to stay positive!" Honey replied cheerfully.

"How can you be so cheerful at a time like this?" Tails asked Honey. Honey then began to look serious.

"Guys, I know the severity of the situation. In fact, deep down, I'm disturbed about what's going on right now," Honey then reverted to her cheerful demeanor and said, "But, on the plus side, all that we will be going through may give me inspiration for my fashion designs!"

"Unbelievable…" Sally said as she and her teammates along with Blaze, Knuckles and Elias sweatdropped. The humans stared at Geoffrey and Honey with some of them having deadpan looks on their faces.

"She's quite the cheerful person, isn't she?" Joshua spoke to Cliana with raised eyebrows.

"She is…" replied a slightly dumbfounded Cliana.

"Anyway, we must find a way to deal with Beowulf's next attack and protect Riksent from any harm at the same time," said Tetsuya.

"For that, we will have to determine which part of Riksent he would strike next," commented Elzam.

"I think that is not the case," stated Nicole.

"What do you mean?" asked Elzam.

"This is only a theory but, Beowulf may not attack one part of Riksent like how he did previously. We will have to assume the worst case scenario,"

"What is this scenario?" asked Lefina.

"It may be possible that Beowulf will attack all parts of Riksent simultaneously tomorrow. In other words, he will aim to wipe out this kingdom in one fell swoop," Nicole's statement made everyone in the room slightly surprised.

"Why would you say that?" Sean asked. Nicole paused for a moment and began to look serious.

. "It is because Beowulf appears to be one who misuses his power and toys with the lives of innocent people. Not only that, his destructive powers as well as his desire for destruction makes him highly dangerous. There is no telling what atrocities he would commit next. That is why we must assume that he will perform something extremely merciless,"

"And that would be attacking the whole of Riksent?" asked Sanger.

"Precisely,"

"If what Nicole says is true, then, we will have to make another assumption," said Ariel. "Beowulf could not only bring Einsts that are of human size alone here. He could even end up bringing those that are the size of Personal Troopers,"

"If that's the case, perhaps the best way to protect Riksent is to move the fight with the Einsts away from the kingdom," said Tsugumi.

"But, how are we going to do that?" asked Ibis.

"It appears that all of you are discussing a serious matter," Everyone turned towards the room's door. Much to some of the humans' surprise, standing in front of it was a man with purple medium long hair and a small blue bird perched atop his shoulder. This man was none other than Shu Shirakawa, pilot of the Granzon. The bird on his shoulder is his familiar, Chika.

"It has been a long time, gentlemen," Shu said with his usual smile.