With Nina Roulette captured and defeated, Feather's first priority was to detain her in her ship for a successful arrest. Nina was already reported arrested, so the next part came in actually bringing Nina there. "I'm lucky she has such a gambler's spirit. That confrontation would've gone terribly otherwise..." Feather told herself. Nina was too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. "Anyway, we must bring her back to the ship as quickly as possible. There are still other members of the Galactic Fleet that must be arrested as well."
"Yes, ma'am!" Feather's men saluted while carrying Nina off.
Julia Roulette was watching this go down from a nearby rooftop, sucking her teeth in annoyance. She wasn't supposed to be down here, but her sister was in danger. She couldn't allow Nina to get captured again! "Come on..." Julia tapped her temple with her index finger, grumbling as she could see the wheels spinning in front of her. "I just need one good thing..." She bit her lip anxiously, but the wheel landed on a staff, which she grabbed and grinned at. "Yes! The sleep staff! I needed this...today really is a lucky day."
"Do you think we'll truly be able to capture and arrest all of the wanted criminals? One of Feather's men asked her.
"It is our duty to." Feather replied. "We have Justice here as well, and I know he will provide sufficient support when he has captured the troublemaker known as Vanessa Viscard. Alexei will be a completely different beast, however. Maybe we should have had one more of the Interstellar join us...but we are pressed for time as is..." Having Cure, Eraser, or Holy present would've increased their chances, but they were capable of making due with what they had already.
"... Uh..." The man carrying Nina suddenly slumped over onto the ground, unconscious.
"What?!" Feather immediately snapped to attention. More and more of her men began to fall to the ground, asleep. "A sleeping agent!?" She covered her mouth but it was already too late. By the time she realized it was in the air, she already inhaled some of it. "Ngh..."
"Sorry...but I can't let you take my sister." Julia said while watching Feather struggle to stay conscious. She hoisted Nina over her shoulder.
"Must...report..." Feather was trying to report the issue, but it was too late. She fell asleep on the ground along with the rest of her squadron. She blacked out, looking up as Julia carried Nina away to safety.
.
.
Gowen and Hyoga were in shock at Marshall's instant recovery. "That...that can't be possible. That attack should have killed him!" Gowen exclaimed. He was a doctor, he knew a fatal injury when he saw one. But there was Marshall, standing back on his feet as if nothing happened. Even the injuries that Hyoga left on him with his flames were gone.
"How did he recover so fast...!? What are you!?" Hyoga grit his teeth. They were standing in the presence of a monster and were only just realizing that fact.
"Tell me. Do you know what the seven sins are?" Hubert asked while adjusting his glasses. "Marshall here is the embodiment of all of them. Gluttony, Envy, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Greed, and Wrath. All of them have different effects...Gluttony allows Marshall to eat anything and recover from any injury. And the one you should be focused on right now, is his Wrathful state."
Marshall's red aura grew larger and larger and he drew his sword. He raised it up before swinging it down, his rage taking physical form as a gigantic shockwave cut through a large section of the city. Hyoga and Gowen were able to dodge the direct hit, but the intensity of the shockwave still caught them and they were sent flying, crashing into a nearby building. "You two have really pissed me off now..." Marshall exhaled, nostrils flaring.
"I won't even need to do anything." Hubert said while crossing his arms and stepping back. While this was a fight that concerned the two of them, he knew Marshall's rage would carry the rest of this fight.
"You cocky bastard..." Hyoga rushed Marshall with gigantic flames surrounding his fist. "Blazing Impact!" He swung his blazing fist right for Marshall's face, but Marshall was able to stop this attack by grabbing Hyoga's arm. Wrath increased his strength proportionally to the anger he was feeling, so he was able to squeeze Hyoga's arm tightly before throwing him into a building. "Gah!"
"Damn...this is going south..." Gowen realized that the battle was slipping out of their control. Was a victory possible? He wasn't sure now. Marshall's power was rising and rising with his anger, and soon it would reach Elsie's level or even before. "He needs to cool off!" Gowen said while releasing multiple, large icicles towards Marshall to pierce and skewer him a second time. But the moment these icicles were fired out, they stopped midair. "What!?"
"As long as it isn't sentient, I can control any object." Hubert said while snapping his fingers. The icicles then transformed into frozen soldiers and began to attack Gowen with icy bullets. Gowen defended himself but several of these bullets did strike him. "There is nothing that can escape my command."
"Gah...!" Gowen coughed up some blood from the injuries he sustained. These two...they were monsters. They were just commanders! They weren't the big bad, but it sure felt like they could be.
"You shouldn't have pissed me off...but I'm gonna take it all out on you two!" Marshall slammed his sword on the ground, all of his Wrath contained within his blade. A powerful explosion boomed outward, catching Hyoga and Gowen within it while obliterating the city block. There was nothing but ruin left, while Hyoga and Gowen were sprawled on the ground, defeated. The red in Marshall's eyes faded and Pride took back over. "...Wrath went overboard again."
"It was worth it." Hubert shrugged. Gowen and Hyoga were nothing more than annoying thorns that needed to be removed.
"So, should we kill them?" Marshall asked.
"Hardly." Hubert shook his head. "Leave them be. Elsie will be spending more time allowing her trusted companions to recover. If we kill them, she'll undoubtedly come after us. That is not exactly something we can afford to deal with at present."
"Tch...fair enough." Marshall understood. "How strange, though...I fought an Ice user when we went to Mildan, and here I am beating another one..."
"...Yes, I did notice that as well..." Hubert glanced at Gowen and Hyoga. "Did that Xiaomei predict we would be in this conflict? Was she...preparing us for specific encounters?"
"I know she wanted to prepare you for something..." Marshall snickered. Hubert rolled his eyes.
"Enough wasting time." Hubert then attempted to reach out to X. "X. What is your progress? Have you found Noah yet?"
.
.
Victory slammed down on the ground, causing a shockwave that forced Tobias and X to jump in separate directions. X slid along the ground in a crouched position, snarling that Victory and Tobias were in her way. Because of them, someone else managed to snatch the Black Moon Shard from her! She just now got Hubert's transmission. This was annoying. "Shit! There's another group here after the same thing! They swiped it from me and now I'm tied up with the government."
"What...?" Hubert on the other line was actually shocked. The Galactic Fleet was only focused on the government. Elsie's crew was unexpected but they could deal with it. A fourth party, however!?
"Can't talk! They went north from me!" X said while leaping into the air to avoid an attack from Tobias. But as she did that, she saw that Victory was also in the air with her. Her eyes widened as his gigantic fist slammed into her stomach. He then used this contact to pull his arm back and slam X right into the ground with a mighty impact. "AGH!" She was crushed under the weight of Victory and his titan form, which meant that hurt a lot.
"Oof...!" Tobias winced. "Better her than me!"
"You're next." Victory said while turning his attention to Tobias. He charged at the man with his size, planning to crush him as well.
"Oh...!" Tobias held his hands out before stomping on the ground. This prompted numerous sharp stones to appear from the ground, shooting upwards to stab Victory. "Stone Edge!"
"Ngh..."! Victory brought an arm up, using his size to defend against the numerous rocks. He could feel his right arm really taking a beating. Tobias was fairly strong, but as an enforcer of the law, Victory was going to be stronger. He swatted away the stones and raised his left arm, clenching his hand into a fist. "Victory IMPACT!" Victory swung his fist down at Tobias, who created a dome of Earth Ether to try and soften the impact. It did last for a few seconds, but not long enough. Victory was easily able to break through Tobias's defenses and the man was sent flying back, landing on his side with a groan.
"Ugh..." Tobias winced. "This guy is crazy strong and durable...is this the real power of the Interstellar Union Army...?"
"You haven't seen anything yet." Victory said with a small huff. X and Tobias were both strong. A hectic free for all like this, he had to manage them both so they wouldn't cause any trouble. Luckily for him, they weren't on the same side either. He then turned to where X was, only to see her standing up, much to his surprise. "Huh?" The fact she was able to stand after being crushed with all his weight shocked him.
"...You really pissed me off." X said, covered in cuts and bruises. She was panting heavily from that attack, but she was more pissed off than she was injured.
"Pissed you off?" Victory scoffed. "You're a criminal who needs to be arrested. You shouldn't be so angry that the law has finally caught up to you."
"A criminal? Don't make me laugh." X spat, yellow eyes showing a burning anger. "Good and bad? They're just labels. The only thing that matters in life is yourself. And I'll cut down anyone who interferes on my way of life." As she said this, a fiery sword appeared within her grasp, the flames raging as strongly as her anger. "Purgatory: Inferinus!" The temperature in the area began to skyrocket considerably when this sword was drawn.
"W-Why the hell did it get so hot...?" Tobias said while sweating.
X dragged her blazing sword along the ground and brought it back up in a circular motion. She pulled back before swinging forward, a gigantic ring of flame shooting out from the blade and towards her two annoying opponents. "BLAZING DEMON!" The ring of flames rushed towards Tobias and Victory, who tried to defend against it. When it neared them, the entire area erupted in a violent blaze.
Noah, who was still nearby in the rubble of the building, had to bring his arms up to cover his eyes from the intense wind that kicked up. "Such power..." Witnessing the strength of the Galactic Fleet firsthand...Noah already knew that this would be trouble for Rebecca and her friends when they crossed paths. Victory and Tobias were on their hands and knees. They managed to withstand the attack, but it was hard to move from the damage they took.
"D-Damn..." Victory took a few heavy breaths before standing back up, towering over X. He attempted to punch her again, but this time she was able to dodge it swiftly, to his surprise. "She got faster...?"
"You got slower." X spat while landing on Victory's arm. "And you gigantic types are predictable..." She...had a brief flashback. She fought a large man back in Mildan when they were fighting for Xaoimet's amusement. Could that...? Nah, she wasn't going to think about it. Victory tried to shake X off, but she flipped over and slammed her heel into the back of Victory's head, causing him to topple over and revert to normal size. He was the biggest threat in many ways. "Ugh...look what you did." She glared at the weakened Tobias.
"You can glare at me all you want...but it won't get you the Black Moon Shard back." Tobias said with a cough. He did try to attack X, having a stalagmite rise from the ground, but she evaded it and kicked Tobias in the head as well, knocking him out cold. X was the victor of this battle, but damn did Victory and Tobias make her work for it...only for her to come out empty handed as well! "Damn it." Noah was still nearby, so she approached, knowing full well he couldn't fight. "You. Tell me where that guy went."
Noah really had no choice, but he didn't seem to mind either. "The other crew that you dealt with belong to the Fiertia, run by captain Jigan King." Noah explained. "The man who ran off is named Weavel...he is heading in the direction of their captain, but he won't make it."
"What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" X snarled.
"He is going to be cornered by the Government and he will lose the shard." Noah was predicting the future, only because he really did know exactly what was about to happen next. He could see it all, and Weavel's location was not a good one.
.
.
Weavel was making his way through the city and quickly. With the Black Moon Star shard in hand, victory for the crew of the Fiertia was all but assured! He just had to get it to Jigan... "We've accomplished what we set out to do. All we need to do is..."
"Weavel...!" Hanabi shouted out to him upon spotting him. Weavel immediately came to a halt and approached. "Whoa...you have the shard...!"
"That's correct." Weavel nodded. "I must get this to Jigan as soon as possible, and then we can depart. I do not know where Waltz is, but I know he will catch up." He paused, remembering Tobias' cryptic warning. Watch out for Hanabi...
"Is something wrong?" Hanabi tilted her her head. "We need to get going. The government is gonna be on us, you know? You're in the hot seat right now."
"Yes, I am aware. But so are you." Weavel could sense something was off. "Tell me...where have you been?"
"I got swiped by a government chick." Hanabi frowned. "I was able to escape, but man she was persistent! I sent a few duplicates out to get an eye on the situation."
"Okay. Tell me something only you know." Weavel had to test something.
"I know that you like eat pizza with a fork." Hanabi said with a deadpan. That was far to specific a fact for it to be anyone else.
"...Okay, you pass." Weavel let out a sigh. Tobias had him worrying for nothing! "I apologize. Tobias was under the impression that you were suspicious. Given the situation, he could only hand me the shard without a proper explanation."
"Oh, Tobias said that?" Hanabi tilted her head. "Can't imagine why. But...I am sorry about all this."
"Sorry...?" Weavel narrowed his eyes. "But you haven't..." Before he could utter a word, a bullet hit him in the back of the head. Weavel was caught completely by surprise, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he collapsed to the ground and dropped the shard.
Amira took the shot from a fair distance with her sniper rifle. With the confirmed shot, she approached and proceeded to handcuff Weavel so he would be restrained and unable to use his Ether Gear. "Wow...you're right. He is sharp. If I tried to fool him, I think he would've innately saw through me, even though I can imitate anyone I turn into perfectly..."
"That's just Weavel. If I didn't approach him, he would've noticed." Hanabi sighed while picking up the Back Moon Star Shard.
"...Don't tell me you're feeling bad now. You knew this is how things would turn out." Amira said while tilting her head.
"No, I knew. Weavel was just one of the few nice ones. But that doesn't change what I have to do." Hanabi said while looking ahead. "One year ago, I boarded the Fiertia under the guise of a crewmate for one goal and one goal only...to capture Jigan King, a space pirate of growing infamy. Now, my time waiting has paid off. This is our chance to arrest him once and for all. I, Hanabi Watson, member of the Interstellar Union Army...will see this mission through until the very end."
"Atta girl." Amira said with a sly grin. "It's a good thing you contacted us when you did, otherwise we would've been behind. You've grown so quickly!"
"Heh..." Hanabi smiled sheepishly. "Don't praise me just yet. We still have to complete our mission first."
.
.
Justice landed right in front of Vanessa. Thanks to Noah's guidance from earlier, he was able to pinpoint exactly where the illusionist woman was. "I finally found you. You won't be hiding from me."
"Oh!" Vanessa blinked in surprise. It wasn't everyday that someone was able to find her so fast. But she then smiled and tapped her foot on the ground. "Did you really want to see me so badly, Justice?"
"I don't have time to play games with you, Vanessa." Justice said while narrowing his eyes. "You have a lot to answer for, and I'm going to be the one who makes sure that you do."
With a snicker, Vanessa crossed her arms and stared at Justice with an amused expression. "By all means...you're more than welcome to try~."