Pain surged through Ethan's head as he returned to the realm of the living. He slowly moved his head from side to side, checking to see where he was. He was a little surprised to see that he was back in the infirmary. After waiting a few more seconds to let the pain fade away, he slowly sat up straight. When he was up, he looked around the room, surprised to see that it was empty.

He got out of the bed and tried to remember what had happened before he blacked out.

"What the hell happened? Last thing I remember was rushing into the forest to help out Yukari… did I get into a fight?" he thought. He winced as he tried to remember what had happened, as if the memory had been repressed. He sighed and went back over to the bed, only to stop his guitar case where he had left it.

"Damn, I should be more careful with that thing." Ethan said to himself. He went to the case and unzipped it. He opened the case to see the staff still there. He smiled at his luck, knowing that he couldn't risk losing the object. After hearing what Yukari said about the seal, he didn't want to risk unleashing the power it could've held… or what someone might do with it if given the opportunity.

He zipped the bag back up and turned towards the bed, deciding to have an extra rest while he had the chance. However, before he could, he heard some knocking on the door. He sighed as he laid on the bed, trying to relax.

"Come in." he said.

As soon as he said it, the door slid open, revealing Tsukune and the girls. He was surprised at first, mainly because he saw the little witch standing by his side. Tsukune must've forgiven her if she was with them. He then let himself relax and motioned them to come in with his head. They all rushed over to him, suddenly barraging him with a great number of questions.

"Ethan, are you okay?" Moka asked.

"You're not too badly hurt, are you?" Kurumu asked.

"Hope you're not too worn out after what happened." Tsukune said.

Ethan then raised a hand into the air, telling them to stop. "Thanks for the concern, but barraging me with questions isn't going to help. To be honest, I'm more worried about you guys."

The group couldn't help but feel a bit of gratitude for his concern. Moka was the first to speak. "Thank you, Ethan." She said with a smile. She then began to look slightly serious as she spoke again. "Still… we're all worried about you, especially after what you did in the forest."

Ethan looked at her in confusion. "What? What do you mean?"

Yukari spoke up. "You know, when you breathed fire on the class representative and his goons."

Ethan was silent for a moment, before he burst out in a fit of laughter. He stopped when he saw the serious looks on their faces. "Hang on… you're serious?"

They all nodded.

Ethan was silent for another moment before grinning slightly.

"Cool." He simply said.

"I never knew you could do that, Ethan, it was amazing." Kurumu said.

"As far as I know, you haven't known them for every long, so how could you know?" Yukari pointed out.

"Shut up, little girl." Kurumu said to her plainly. As soon as she said that, a water basin appeared over her head, soon slamming down right on top of it.

"You shut up!" Yukari shouted back.

When she finished talking, she immediately turned to Ethan with a large smile on her face. "By the way, Ethan, I have something to say, and I'd like you to bear witness."

Ethan immediately felt a bit uneasy, afraid of what she might say. Not having it in him to refuse, he nodded in agreement. Yukari cleared her throat for a moment and turned to Tsukune before speaking.

"Tsukune Aono, I'm sorry for everything I did to you. I just assumed you weren't a good person because of what I knew about you, and that was wrong of me." Her head was starting to point down. "I treated you horribly… and yet… you were still willing to rescue me. I hope you will forgive me."

Tsukune smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, forget about it. We're all friends now, right?" he said.

Yukari seemed full of glee from what he said. She then continued to speak. "You're such a good person, Tsukune… and that's why I've fallen for you."

There was an uncomfortable silence for what felt like an eternity, but was actually a few seconds in reality.

"Beg pardon?" Tsukune asked.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm still in love with Moka, but now all three of us can be together!" she said excitedly as she latched herself onto Tsukune with a strong hug. Kurumu was furious, yelling at Yukari, saying that Tsukune belonged to her. Ethan looked behind them and saw Moka, who looked like she was trying to hold back her anger. After another moment, she decided against it and rocketed towards the group. Seeing this, Ethan jumped out of the bed, narrowly avoiding Tsukune as he was fired onto the bed.

"TSUKUNE BELONGS TO JUST ME!" she yelled as she began to drink his blood again.

Tsukune screamed as he felt the fangs sink in. He yelled for Ethan's help, but Ethan was having trouble registering what was going on at the moment. He shook his head slightly.

"Oh my god." Ethan said.

Unknown to any of them, the figure who had taken care of the class representative had been sitting on a tree, observing what was going on with a maniacal smile on his face.

"This will be a lot more interesting." He said to himself.

…..

After the event in the infirmary, Tsukune made his way back into his room. Ethan wasn't too far behind him. He expected Ethan to crack jokes about his situation, but he remained silent. This surprised Tsukune, but he stayed quiet about it for the time being.

They made their way back to their respective rooms. When Ethan arrived at his, he threw the guitar case into his closet and threw himself onto the ground. He couldn't help but laugh at the situation Tsukune was in. While having multiple women falling for you at once would be every man's dream, it seemed to be more of a train wreck for Tsukune as they were either playing tug of war with his body, trying to suffocate him with their "assets", or draining him dry of blood.

"Good luck to you, you eejit." He said to himself.

He got himself back onto his feet and made his way over to the door. He opened it and found Tsukune making his way out of the building. He seemed to be carrying a bag of rubbish.

"Hey, lover boy! You doing okay?" Ethan said.

Tsukune froze and turned towards Ethan, with a solemn look on his face. "I knew you were going to bring that up." He said sadly.

"Ah, come on. It'd be every fella's dream to have a load of women going after them. Why's that got you down?" he asked.

"That's… not what's bothering me." He said.

Ethan's grin slowly changed to a look of concern. "Oh… well, what's up? You know you can talk to me, right?"

Tsukune made a slight grin. "Yeah. Despite your jokes, you're great when it comes to helping me out." He said, starting to look solemn again. "But… not now, okay?"

Ethan frowned, not liking to be left in the dark when his friend is upset about something. But he knew pushing it could cause more problems, so he nodded in agreement.

"Thanks. Say, do you want to get something in the cafeteria later?" Tsukune asked.

"Sorry, can't. I've got some studying to catch up on. I swear that math teacher looks like she's out to get us or something." Ethan said as he went back inside his room.

Tsukune chuckled at his joke slightly, elevating his mood slightly as he continued on his way to deposit the waste.

….

Ethan sat down on his desk, opening one of the drawers and lifting out an old tome. He blew off some dust that had gathered on top of it before reading the title.

"Monster Encyclopaedia, huh?" he said to himself.

He opened the tome and scanned through the book for anything of interest. After the last few near-fatal encounters, he decided it would be best to do some research on the different kinds of monsters out there. He decided to start off with the vampires.

"Hmm… let's see… woah, that's unexpected." He said to himself.

He read through the transcript, making mental notes on the things he saw, such as how they were creatures who were strong enough to take on armies by themselves, previously drank from humans as frequently as possible before they decided to stop and live in seclusion. They were capable of converting their aura into strength, which is how they were able to fight so well.

What surprised him the most was that they were vulnerable to water, not just holy water either. Because of its purifying properties, it saps a vampire's strength and causes them physical harm.

"That's important to know." Ethan thought.

He was about to close the book when a thought suddenly occurred to him. He looked through the index to see if he could find something related to monsters using fire. After hearing what the group told him, he's now one step closer to knowing exactly what he is.

The closest thing he could find was something called a fox demon, a creature who could freely manipulate flame, once revered as gods to some humans. However, there was nothing about them breathing fire, so that was out the window. He knew he couldn't be a dragon since they would live a particularly… harsh life style based on what he heard, so he'd know for sure. In the end, he closed the book and decided to go outside and have a walk around.

He changed out of his uniform and changed into more comfortable attire. Since it was the weekend now, there was nothing to stop him from being out of uniform. Sporting denim jeans, grey hiking boots and a charcoal jacket over a black sports shirt.

He looked at himself in the mirror for a moment. After pondering on an idea for a moment, he held his right hand up to his face and imagined it being covered in flame. He took long, deep breaths as he did so, hoping it would help him focus. However, after a few minutes, there was no result. He lowered his hand and continued on out of his room and out the dorm.

"Better luck next time… I guess." Ethan thought to himself.

When he was outside the dorm, however, he heard the sound of someone yelling out in pain. Concerned, he followed the sound towards the source. It didn't take long for him to find the source. Unfortunately, he found that it was Tsukune being beat up by three male teens in pink shirts with… small traffic cones.

"Seriously, is this guy so weak?" said one of them, who was surprisingly tall and wore a pair of spectacles.

"I guess the rumours weren't true after all." Said the second, a short boy who was clearly over weight.

"In this case, we will have no problem in serving this criminal justice for what he has done." Said the third, who was of average height and had brown hair, seemingly the person in charge of the trio.

Hearing the third say that Tsukune committed a crime, Ethan froze, afraid that they were found out. Allowing instinct to take over, he rushed over to the group with impressive speed. When he was close enough, he jumped into the air and brought up his knee up into the air, striking the leader in the chin with full force and sending him flying backwards. He landed flat on his back while Ethan landed with a roll. He turned back to the other two, who were frozen in fear from what they saw.

Tsukune raised his head to see his friend, smiling with relief. "Ethan, you're here!" he said.

"Can't go a day without some sort of drama, can we?" Ethan asked humorously with a smile. However, his look became more serious again as he looked at the remaining two teens, pointing at the leader behind him.

"Why are you after my friend?"

The obese one managed to speak. "Oh no, I think that's Ethan Drake." He said.

The spectacle wearing teen followed up with a wavering voice. "They guy who bet up everyone who tried to take over the school so far? Aono's friends with him!?"

The leader sat up quickly and yelled with a panicked voice "QUICK, WE MUST RETREAT! WE CAN'T SAVE OUR GODDESSES LIKE THIS!"

With that, the other two ran past Ethan two their leader, helped him up and they all ran for the hills. Ethan turned to Tsukune and jogged over to him, pulling him back onto his feet.

"You alright, Tsukune?" Ethan asked.

Tsukune gave him a weak nod. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for the save… I guess."

Ethan raised an eyebrow at him, noticing that there was some level of dissatisfaction in his voice. "Would you've rather I didn't save you?" he asked, genuinely.

Before Tsukune answered, they both heard screaming coming from behind them. They looked to see the girls running their way.

"TSUKUNE!" Kurumu cried, crashing into Tsukune and hugging his head into her chest. "Are you okay? Please tell me you weren't hurt!" Moka and Yukari both seemed angered by her actions.

Ethan shook his head in annoyance before easily yanking Kurumu away from Tsukune. "If he was hurt, it wouldn't be the best idea to suffocate him at the same time, would it?" he asked.

This caused the succubus to blush with embarrassment, realising that her actions weren't the best choice of action. Ethan released her while he helped Tsukune to get up again. Moka and Yukari rushed to either side of him.

"What was going on? We saw you getting hit by those guys. But why would they want to hurt you?" Moka asked with concern.

Tsukune was thankful for his friends' concern for him. He took in a deep breath before speaking. "Well, uh, they're actually wanting to get rid of me to get to you guys. They're members of some kind of club, what was it called… the 'Love Love Alliance'?" he explained.

Ethan's eyes widened. After a second, he palmed his own face, his hand down slowly, revealing a face of disbelief and shock. The rest of the group saw this and were slightly amazed, as this was a bit different compared to his usual behaviour.

"You have… GOT… to be kidding me…" Ethan said.

"Ethan? Are you okay?" Yukari asked.

"No, Yukari, I am not. The Love Love Alliance is a group of three fanatics, each one the president of a specific fan club."

"Huh? What fan clubs?" Moka asked.

Ethan looked at the girls with a cringed look, as if what he was about to say was too painful to say.

"The leader of the group is the leader of the "Moka Akashiya Fan Club", four-eyes is the leader of the "Yukari Sendo Fan Club", while living boulder of a boy is the leader of the "Kurumu Kurono Fan Club"." Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose and held his head down before speaking again. "These guys are the definition of depraved."

"Wait, Ethan, how do you know about these guys?" Tsukune asked.

"Heard about them from people around the school, all of them saying they're a bunch of weirdos. And after today, those claims are… justified." Ethan answered.

"Oh my…" Moka said, now a little more self-conscious now that she knew that she had that kind of person after her.

"Why are they after Tsukune?" Kurumu asked, folding her arms under her chest.

"More than likely because you've all fallen for him, so they all see him as a threat. Which means they won't stop until he's out of the picture, even if it means…" Ethan paused for a moment to draw a line on his throat along his throat, indicating what they might do to him.

"ETHAN, DON'T MESS AROUND!" Moka shouted, clearly upset from what Ethan did.

"I'm not messing around, Moka. Our friend is in danger and we need to keep him safe from these wackos. Now, you in or out?" Ethan wore a fearfully serious expression, showing he was no longer in a laughing mood at the moment.

"Of course we're in!" Yukari yelled. She turned to Tsukune and hugged him with as much force as she could muster. "We'll make sure those creeps don't hurt you!" she said.

Kurumu and Moka agreed, each holding one of Tsukune's hands.

While Ethan was happy to see that the girls were in board. However, he still couldn't help but notice Tsukune's mood seemed to darken. After seeing this, he decided enough was enough.

"Girls, I need you to check out the boy's dorms and see if the loony brigade are hiding outside somewhere. If any of the guys there try to hit on you, tell them I sent you, they'll back off quickly enough."

Moka was about to protest, but Ethan sent her a quick glance, signalling her that he wanted to speak with him alone. The vampiress nodded in agreement. She motioned for the rest of the group to follow her, the other two having no complaints on the matter.

"Might be fun to see what the boys do when no one's looking." Kurumu said with a cheeky smile.

"Oooh, that would be so FUN!" Yukari said as a follow up.

"Oh, come on guys." Moka said, not liking the sound of their idea. The made their way to the dorms, leaving the two males on their own. Ethan gave his friend a serious look.

"Alright, mate. What's been going on with you lately. Why are you so, well, not you?" Ethan asked.

"What do you mean?" Tsukune asked in genuine confusion.

"You know what I mean. You've been acting depressed, as if something's been weighing you down. Will you just tell me what's up with you?"

Tsukune stayed silent for a moment before he was able to speak.

"I hate that I'm so weak." He said.

Ethan raised his brow from hearing this. "What?"

"Every time we've had to face something, I'm always the one who has to be protected. I always sit on the side-lines while you and the girls face off against the bad guys. I just… I just feel like I'm nothing but a dead weight to you guys." Tsukune let out.

Ethan remained silent as his friend spoke, absorbing each word he said. When Tsukune finished, Ethan brushed his hair back as he thought about what to say next. Before he could say anything, though, Tsukune walked past him.

"I'm sorry, Ethan. I don't want to talk anymore. I'm heading back into my room." He said. As he walked off, Ethan stayed where he was.

Ethan let his head roll back, frustration filling up inside of him. He then quickly raised a fist into the air and slammed it down into the ground, causing a crack to form where he hit it. He stood back up straight and looked back in the direction he saw Tsukune walk off to.

"Damn it, Tsukune." he said.

He was about to follow him when he felt something strike him in the back of his head, knocking him out cold. As he laid unconscious, a pair of hands appeared and dragged him by the feet to a different location.

…..

After Tsukune returned to the dorm, he found that the girls were just leaving. They told him that there was nothing suspicious going on there at the moment, so they decided to call it quits and head back. Although Kurumu took her time, taking in the stares of the boys peaking in through the windows. Yukari gave Tsukune a big hug before heading off, leaving Moka to stand in the one spot as she looked at her friend with concern.

"Tsukune… are you really okay?" she asked.

Tsukune stayed silent for a moment before answering. "No. Moka… do you know what its like to not being able to protect someone? To be forced to sit on the side lines and not being able to do anything?" he asked.

Moka was surprised by this. "Where is this coming from?" she asked.

"It's coming from the fact that I'm too weak to protect anyone. It's either you or Ethan who have to pick up the slack when we're in trouble. I can never do anything to help, when I should be the one protecting you." He said.

Tsukune tried hard to contain his anger as his fists began to shake. "Because I'm human, I can never do anything. Why can't I be more like you guys."

Moka's expression was completely blank for a moment. Then to Tsukune's surprise, she chuckled.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"What makes you think you're weak? You done more than enough in protecting us all." She said.

Tsukune looked at her in confusion for a moment. Seeing the confusion, she continued to speak. "When we were attacked by Saizou, you pushed me out of the way and kept me from getting hurt. You stopped Ethan from killing Kurumu. You protected Yukari from the lizard men and showed her she isn't alone anymore." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "And let's not forget Ethan. From what you guys told me, you were the only one you cared about him and helped him when he was trapped in the dark. It's because of you he's with us today."

Tsukune wasn't able to speak. He never realised that he had indeed put that much effort into helping his friends. He was about to speak when Moka pulled him into an embrace. They stayed like that for a few more seconds before Tsukune spoke again.

"Moka… thank you." He said.

"You're welcome… Tsukune." She replied.

"GUYS" yelled Kurumu.

Hearing her coming in their direction, Tsukune and Moka quickly parted, trying to act like nothing was going on. When Kurumu arrived, with Yukari hanging off her neck, she didn't notice as she seemed frantic and worried.

"Kurumu, what's wrong?" Tsukune asked.

Yukari spoke first. "Ethan was right! Those guys are serious!"

Kurumu pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Tsukune. "We found it on the ground in some kind of crater in the ground. It says they've got Ethan!"

Tsukune's eyes widened with worry and straightened out the page, reading the note carefully.

Tsukune Aono

We've got your friend, Drake. Right now, he's hidden where you'll never find him. If you don't go to the bus stop as soon as you've read this note, you'll never see him again.

Love Love Alliance.

P.S.

Come alone.

"Oh no." Tsukune said weakly.

"How could they?" Moka asked, clearly terrified for Ethan's sake.

Yukari hopped off of Kurumu and pulled out her wand. "Don't worry! I think I can find a way to deal with these guys and save Ethan at the same time!"

"How!?" Kurumu asked.

"I… don't know yet. But I've got an idea where to start!" Yukari answered.

"Well, that's something. I'll head to the bus stop." Tsukune said. Before he could move, though, he felt something tug on his jacket. He turned to see Moka with her hands on the sleeve of his jacket, giving him a silent look as if to say 'Don't go'. Tsukune gave her a reassuring look.

"Don't worry. So long as we think those guys are in charge, they won't suspect we're going to beat them. I'll be fine, I promise."

Moka still didn't look convinced, but she still nodded in agreement before releasing Tsukune. He then walked off towards the direction of the stop. He turned back slightly while walking and waved at them, giving them an encouraging smile.

"And come on. Its Ethan. There's no way he'd let guys like those get away with kidnapping him." He said, getting a laugh from the girls. When he was facing forward again, though, he started to cringe.

"Actually… I'm starting to feel sorry for those guys." Tsukune thought.

….

Waking up with a sore head, Ethan rose his head, blinking his eyes as he tried to readjust his vision. He looked around and saw that he was in a dark room with a single light shining from the centre of the ceiling.

He tried to move, only to feel something restraining him. He looked back down to see a long length of rope tied around him, as well as the back of the chair he was sitting on. He tried to move again, but to no avail. Deciding to take a break, he looked around the room. He hoped he could find some means to escape, but the light didn't go far enough around the room.

His eyes widened when an idea popped into his head. Cursing himself as he didn't think of it sooner, he focused and tried to summon his strength. As he did so, his eyes began to glow.

"A little… overkill, don't you think?" came a voice in the darkness.

Ethan's concentration broke, causing his eyes to revert to their normal colour. He turned his head from side to side slightly, narrowing his eyes as he did so.

"Who are you?" Ethan asked.

As soon as he asked, the figure that had been observing them in the forest stepped out of the shadows from behind Ethan, briskly walking in front of him. When he faced him, he raised his hands into the air and smiled at him.

"What's with all the hostility here? I just want to talk." The figure said.

"You always tie people up when you talk to them?" Ethan asked darkly as he tried to move again.

The figure craned his neck to one side as he pondered on what to say. "Well… no… but considering what you're like, I thought that you'd react the wrong way when I told you about the class rep."

"What? The scaly cunt? What about him?" Ethan asked.

The figure paused again before speaking again. "The guy's dead. Took the liberty of slicing him up a bit." The figure noticed that Ethan started to tense. "What? He was going to try and kill you again! It was better to take him out of the equation."

"You think that gives you the right to take a life?" Ethan was prepared to summon his strength again.

"I think… it gives me the right to protect the two humans of this academy." The figure stated firmly, becoming much more serious.

Ethan froze. The nut in the hood admitted to knowing his and Tsukune's secret. At that moment, he wasn't sure what to do.

"Relax. I'm not planning on saying anything. Like I said, it's my job to keep you guys safe. If you think I'd be stupid enough to expose you two?"

Ethan stayed silent. If he didn't trust the hooded figure now, he certainly didn't trust him now. "Why should I trust you?" he asked.

As if to answer his question, the figure raised his right hand, left his index and middele fingers in the end. He slowly pressed the fingers onto Ethan's forehead. After a second, there was a spark of light, causing a flame to ignite around Ethan. He started to panic when he saw that he was on fire, but calmed down a few seconds later when he noticed that the flames weren't hurting him.

"What the… hell?"

The figure smiled. "I decided to help you unlock the hidden potential inside of you. I have to admit, I never saw a guy who had that much… 'Fire power.'" He said.

The flames may not have burned Ethan, or his clothes, but they were able to incinerate the ropes that were binding him. Ethan was surprised. He stood up and observed his arms, continuing to let the flames dance across his body. After taking a deep breath, he clicked his fingers and, much to his relief, the flames extinguished in an instant.

"Nice control." The figure said.

Ethan just simply gave the figure a glare of steel and ice.

"Oookay. I guess you want to get out of here. Very well." The figure clicked his fingers and a door opened. "The pink shirted loonies probably have a head start. Better start running."

Ethan was halfway out the door when he stopped. He turned back slightly to the hooded figure. "If I'm human… then why do I have these powers?" he asked.

The figure shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Can't help but be curious myself, though." The figure admitted.

Ethan then shot out of the rest of the door, leaving the figure by himself. He smiled and summoned his scythe, leaving it to rest on his shoulders.

"Well, well, well… looks like you were a success after all."

….

Tsukune reached the bus stop. He looked around curious as to where the stalkers could be. He sighed and let his shoulders drop.

"Don't tell me they were kidding." He said to himself.

"Tsukune Aono!" came a voice behind him.

Tsukune turned and saw the fan club standing with their arms folded. He remained alert as they gave him affirmative stares. Tsukune couldn't help but shake his head. "Alright, where's Ethan? I came here like you asked."

"You're going to have to wait. The guy that got him should be here soon." The leader said.

Tsukune looked at them in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The fattest of the trio spoke up. "A guy came to us and said he'd kidnap Drake so that we could deal with you personally."

"And it'll be even easier, now that we're outside the school grounds." The boy with glasses said.

Tsukune's eyes widened with realisation after hearing him say that. "Oh boy." Tsukune said with worry.

The fan club then morphed into their monster forms. The leader pulled out one of his cones and placed it on his head. It expanded and consumed his torso, turning him into a large cone with a single eye in the centre and a mouth directly underneath, with a pair of legs to keep him upright. He obese one's body began to gain more fat, turning him into a living blob, while the last teen allowed his neck to expand, giving him the form of a snake with a human body.

Tsukune looked at them with confusion. "Those are… your monster forms?" he asked.

"What! Are you trying to make fun of us?" the leader yelled.

"Wouldn't blame you if you were. We're a laughing stock compared to all the other guys with THEIR cool monster forms." The living blob said.

"That's why we hate guys who don't have to put in any effort into getting the girls!" the serpent-headed member said.

The leader lowered the top of his cone, allowing it to open like an umbrella and let it spin. "That's why we're not going to let YOU get in the way of acquiring our goddesses!" he yelled. There was enough force in the rotation of the cone exterior to send a strong gust of wind Tsukune's way.

"Oh man, what do I d-AAAGH!" before he could properly finish the sentence, he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and was thrown into the air. As he spun, he managed to catch a glimpse of someone standing where he was. He gasped as he realised who it was.

"ETHAN!" he yelled.

Ethan didn't hear him as the tornado struck him with full force. However, he didn't seem affected by it. Rather, it was more like a small gust of wind to him. When it ceased, he yawned with boredom.

The Love Love Alliance looked at him with shock.

"HOW! I THOUGHT THE GUY IN THE HOOD KIDNAPPED YOU!" the leader said.

Ethan smirked before replying. "He was just wanting to talk. You idiots seemed like the best patsies." He said. He paused for a moment before asking them a question.

"What are your names again?"

The leader spoke first. "My name is Kouzou Kasahara."

The chubby teen was next. "I'm Gouzobura Taira."

The serpent necked teen was the last to speak. "The name's Kubisaku Naga. Why are you asking us this now?"

Ethan raised a hand into the air and caught Tsukune just as he was about to hit the ground. He released him and started to walk towards the fan club, eyes glowing and smoke rising from his hands.

"I need to write on your headstones." Ethan said grimly.

The group immediately froze with fear. Kouzou was the first to recover, however, and tried to charge forward. Ethan rushed towards him and grabbed him by the top of the cone and swung him back to the group.

Gouzobura was next, trying to roll towards him like a boulder. Ethan countered by slamming a fist into the ground and pulled out a large chunk of rock, which he threw at the living blob, causing him to fly back as well.

Kubisaku quickly extended his neck and tried to wrap himself around Ethan, only for the stronger teen to grab a part of the neck with two hands and squeeze as hard as he could, constricting the enemy's oxygen flow. After more than ten seconds, he passed out, causing him to revert to his human form. Ethan picked up the teen and threw him back to the rest of the pink-shirts.

He turned back to Tsukune, who looked surprised. "You okay?" he asked.

Tsukune nodded his head slowly. "I'm fine, but… are YOU okay? You were kidnapped and now you're using your power. Shouldn't you be tired out?"

Ethan shook his head in response. "I'm alright. The guy who took me helped me out a little bit in the end." He said.

"How?" Tsukune asked.

Ethan was about to respond, but he was interrupted when he heard the sound of Moka screaming their names.

"TSUKUNE! ETHAN!"

They turned to see the girls flying in the air, with Kurumu acting as their mode of transport. A second later, she lowered her passengers before reverting to her human form.

Yukari and Kurumu rushed to Tsukune, giving him incredibly strong hugs. Moka wrapped her arms around Ethan, surprising him slightly, before she let go and rushed over to Tsukune, doing the same thing.

"I'm glad you two are okay." She said.

"How did you escape, Ethan?" Yukari asked.

"Honestly… the kidnapper let me go."

That piece of information surprised the girls, leading Kurumu to ask why.

"He was actually wanting to talk, but decided to make a drama out of it. Got something good from it, though."

Tsukune gave him a curious look. "What did he give you?"

Before Ethan could answer, a bright light shun from behind him. He waited until the light had fully faded before turning around. When he did, he saw a massive creature, seemingly it was a larger version of Gouzobura's blob like body with the cone body of Kouzou spread out like a shell on its back. There was an eye in the centre of body with a mouth directly underneath.

"Woah… that's ugly." Ethan said.

"That's disgusting!" Kurumu said.

"Behold, our true power when we are combined. This is the power we shall use to crush Aono and all who are friends with him, so we may free our Goddesses from his corruption!" the creature said in a voice that sounded like an amalgamation of the three.

"Can't we get a break?" Tsukune asked out loud. He quickly turned to Moka. "Quick, let me take off the rosary!" he said.

"Okay, hur-" before Moka could finish, Ethan held out a hand between the two, surprising them both.

"Save your energy. I got this." He said. He walked over to the hulking mass of fat, which chuckled at Ethan as he came closer.

"Do you seriously think you stand a chance against us? Nothing will stop us from achieving our goals." The creature yelled as it ran towards Ethan.

Ethan smirked as he held out a hand and ball of flame was conjured in his hand. He allowed the flame to expand into a massive sphere and shot it at the mass. In that instant, the impact created a blinding light and a blast of energy to blow everything around it back, except for Ethan.

The blob stumbled back. When it looked up again, Ethan ran towards them, using his strength to jump into the air. Having his fists now covered in flames, he pulled them both back as he readied to strike down the creature. With a smile, he landed his hits, sending the beast back even further, scorching its skin and clothes.

Ethan landed with a roll. He stood up straight and smiled. As a finisher, he clicked his fingers and summoned a pillar of flame that struck the creature from underneath, causing it to scream in pain. When the pillar faded, the creature separated into the three individuals again. Surprisingly, despite the damage done to their combined form, they were uninjured.

They all looked at Ethan, who had covered himself in so much flames that it looked like some kind of aura. Giving them all terrifying glares, he spoke.

"If you guys ever go neat the girls of Tsukune again… I promise that I will burn you all alive." His voice taking on a similar dark tone to how he spoke to Kurumu in the forest.

With that, they all screamed and ran off. When Ethan was sure they were gone, he turned back to the group, all of whom were gob-smacked by what they had seen. He simply gave them a smile in response.

"To answer your question Tsukune… That's what the guy did."

…

About a couple of days after the incident with the Love Love alliance, everything began to go back to normal. Tsukune and the girls were pestering him about how he was able to use fire so easily, but he simply told them that he couldn't say, as it would break the rules. When he and Tsukune were alone, he told Tsukune that he wasn't sure about how he got his powers.

"If I had to guess to had something to do with the accident when I was younger." Ethan said.

"Really? How come?" Tsukune asked.

"I never told you this… but when I was there, I got hit with a lot of the flames. I should've been covered in burns, but I was perfectly fine when I woke up after the accident." Ethan explained.

"Woah. That sounds terrifying." Tsukune commented.

"It's scarier to live it." Ethan said. He looked at his hands and thought about how he was able to use the flames. "I wonder what else I can do?" he said to himself.

"No clue, but I can't wait to find out." Tsukune answered, despite the question not being asked to him. He then looked at his watch, which Ethan noticed.

"You know, if you want you can call home now. Don't let me stop you." Ethan said. Yesterday, it was announced that phones connected to the human world, which caught both Ethan and Tsukune's interest. It would be very useful to stay in touch with the rest of the Aono family, who would no doubt love to hear about how they both are doing.

Tsukune shook his head. "I can call them later. We've got to meet up with the girls now, right?" he said.

Ethan nodded. With that, they both headed towards where the girls would be. Ethan walked at a slower pace as his muttered "Thanks for the boost."

Unknown to Tsukune, the hooded figure had been hiding in the trees above them, observing how they were getting on. He smiled as he heard what Ethan said.

"No problem." He said quietly. He adjusted how he was sitting as he lost himself in thought.

"So, that's phase one down. Looks like "Project: Hellfire" is going as planned." He thought with a menacing smile. With that, he vanished, leaving nothing but empty space in his place.

[And there we go. Another chapter has been finished. I finally decided that it would be a good time to reveal some more of Ethan's abilities. And yes, as many suspected, there is fire manipulation involved. In case anyone is curious about the whole "Project: Hellfire" thing, I promise that it will be explained in future chapters, but I will tell you it won't be good news for the gang. Well, that's all from me, hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did or didn't don't be afraid to leave a review to give your thoughts. See you all later.]

Matt: I managed to fix as much of the grammar and spelling as much as I could, though there might be some words that might still be different compared to what you see, as some words in English are spelled differently compared to the European English and American English. If there's anything specific you don't like, don't be afraid to point it out.

Andromeda: Got the review, for some reason I can't see it when I check the review section, but I got it all the same. Thanks for the compliments, and I'll think about the pairing idea.