Jigan King and his crew of the Fiertia were the first to arrive on Blue Garden, specifically in the city of Eternal. The one to witness this arrival was Labilla, who immediately hid behind one of the stopped cars. "What the…who are these guys!?"

Jigan cracked his knuckles, lightning sparking around his body. He was excited and he could see the numerous people getting out of their cars and fleeing. He didn't have a friendly face and the malicious intent he carried was clear. "Hello, Blue Garden! You have something that belongs to me, and I intend to get it back."

"Then we should act fast, Boss." Hanabi said while pointing at the guild building in the distance. "You said it was over there, right? That's…the Guild building."

"I believe the guild is run by a man named Noah." Tobias said while tugging on his scarf. "I don't think there's anything he can do to stop us. So if we charge right in, we should be able to overwhelm him and take the Shard with no problem."

"Then we have a plan!" Jigan slammed his fists together excitedly. "We're knocking down the front door! But first…" He pointed his fingers forward, using his electricity to take out a few cameras that didn't notice them yet. He shorted them out to avoid detection.

"I prefer the quiet approach, but I suppose our options are limited due to time." Weavel said.

"Whatever, let's just make it quick." Waltz brandished his sword, looking at all the people either fleeing or just nervously frozen and watching them.

"Yeah…" Hanabi nodded slowly, also glancing around. There were a lot of pe…wait…she saw someone…!

"No. Way." Labilla, only somewhat nervous from the sudden arrival, had her phone out. That's right, she was going to record this situation. This was exactly the kind of thing she needed to record with her channel taking a slow dive. "It's me, Labilla Christy, here on Blue Garden where a sudden group has appeared?!"

"What the!?" Jigan was startled by Labilla pointing the camera at them. "Hey! No cameras!" He pointed his finger forward, releasing a small, but quick bolt of lightning at Labilla's phone to short it out and knock it out of her hand.

"Wait wait wait!" Hanabi said as she created a clone of herself, using it to whisk Labilla out of the way, much to everyone's surprise. "Jigan! Don't you know who this is!?"

"Uh. No?" Jigan shook his head. "Do you think I keep up with that B-Tuber stuff?"

"B-Cuber." Tobias corrected.

"Shut up, Tobias!" Jigan barked and Tobias backed off.

"Uh…." Labilla was sweating.

"This is THE LABILLA CHRISTY!" Hanabi was fangirling. "She's one of the biggest B-Cubers out there!"

"You're…overselling me a little bit." Labilla would've gladly taken credit for this two years ago. But she couldn't even pretend that she was as huge a content creator that she used to be. "But it's nice to meet a fan." It felt like she was running out of those.

"I watch you all the time!" Hanabi said.

"I thought you watched the Aoneko Channel and Couchpo a lot…" Weavel tilted his head.

"Well, I made Blair watch Labilla, too. But she's not exactly here right now…she's with the Eden's Zero…." Hanabi thought about it and sighed.

"Eden's Zero…you…you've encountered Rebecca?" Labilla's expression turned to an uncertain one as she looked at Hanabi.

"Well…kinda." Hanabi rubbed the back of her neck. "Our crew fought theirs. We got crushed. We were in the Aoi Cosmos, but I have no idea where they are now."

"Why are you telling her everything? We don't have time for this." Jigan scoffed and started to walk off. "We're here on a job, you know!"

"Wait! But…this is the perfect chance for us!" Hanabi suddenly said. "Jigan, don't you want the cosmos to know your name? Having a semi-popular B-Cuber broadcast your triumph in Blue Garden? This way, everyone can learn the name Jigan King!"

"Eh?!" Labilla's eyes went wide. She was being drafted!?

"….Hm…." Jigan crossed his arms.

"Don't tell me you're actually considering this." Waltz rolled his eyes.

"No, hold on…this is good." Jigan nodded. "Maybe I should be into this B-Tuber stuff. A channel dedicated to my growing power! Yeah, yeah! This will work. You're coming with us." He pointed at Labilla, whose jaw dropped from the shock. "Keep that camera rolling!"

"Um…okay?" Labilla did not have any say in the matter. Two years ago she'd at least have bodyguards who tried to prevent something like this from happening. Now, she had no choice but to go along with it. Was this for the best? That had yet to be seen.

"Great. Now that we have that out of the way, can we get moving?" Tobias pinched the bridge of his nose. They got sidetracked by Hanabi's fangirling…

"Right, right!" Jigan motioned for everyone to follow him. "I don't know why we didn't land closer to that building, but this is for the best. Things turned out way better than I could've thought!"

"The notion of fame sidetracked you." Waltz shook his head. "This took more time than it should've. Let's go!"

"What did I get dragged into…" Labilla wondered. Her luck was the worst. But there was no complaining about it now…

.

.

Most people weren't aware of the commotion outside in Blue Garden, not just yet. Clarisse Layer, the receptionist, was simply watching the people pass by the building. As far as she knew, it was just an ordinary day. That was, of course, until the doors were practically blasted down by Waltz and his flaming sword. "G-G-Gah…?!" Naturally, she was startled by this.

"Huh!?" People in the guild were also surprised by this sudden and rude entry.

Jigan walked forward into the building. "Alright, everyone. Stay out of my way. I'm the mighty Jigan King, the man who's going to become the strongest man in the entire cosmos!"

"Now that's an entrance!" Hanabi was acting as Jigan's hype man, while Labilla kept the camera on Jigan.

"They're really into this…" Tobias couldn't believe this. He looked around, only to see that Weavel went missing sometime during their approach. Oh well, he was probably scoping out the area, Tobias thought.

"You!" Jigan approached Clarisse, who was shaking in her boots. She was already prone to breaking down at the slightest provocation, so the tears were already welling up as this intimidating man approached her.

"Y-Yes?" Clarisse asked, barely holding herself together.

"Where's Noah Glenfield?" Jigan demanded to know. "I have an appointment with him, and he has something that belongs to me. I'm here to get it back."

"O-Oh! Y-You're the one he was waiting for!" Clarissa swallowed hard. "He….told me to bring two of you two him…"

"Two?" Waltz questioned.

"H-He said he was willing to meet two of you! He wanted to speak to you, and um…that one." Clarisse weakly pointed at Hanabi, who pointed at herself. "I'm just the messenger!"

"Guess we're popular, huh?" Hanabi looked at Jigan, who shrugged.

"So he knows what I'm after. Saves me the trouble." Jigan nodded. "Take us to him. Now. The rest of you, stay back and make sure we don't get jumped." Waltz and Tobias nodded.

"O-Of course!" Clarisse nodded and scurried off with Jigan and Hanabi following her.

"Er…okay." Labilla was an accessory to everything that was happening. Hopefully everyone looking at her didn't think she was a part of this. She didn't really like the looks she was getting…. "I'm not a part of this willingly!"

"She'll really do anything to save her dying channel…"

"I wonder if she's up to this…"

"Ugh…" This wasn't helping her at all Labilla was lowering her head and the camera.

.

Clarisse led Hanabi and Jigan to Noah's office. Jigan walked fully into the office while Hanabi and Clarisse stood by the door. "Alright, Noah! I know it's here, so hand it over!" Although, upon closer inspection, the room was…empty. Noah wasn't here. "Huh? Hey! What gives? I thought you said he was here!"

"Um…!" Hanabi's voice was suddenly filled with distressed.

"Unfortunately, it seems that Master Noah has stepped out for a bit." As for the distress in Clarisse's voice, it was completely gone. This got Jigan to turn around and the sight he saw shocked him. The woman who looked like she was one second away from a breakdown had an arm wrapped around Hanabi, with a gun pressed to her temple.

"It's always the quiet ones….!" Hanabi knew not to move, but she was stressed all the same. Plus, Clarisse bound her wrists, preventing her from using any Ether Gear.

"What the hell? How'd you let this chick get the better of you?" Jigan scoffed at Hanabi's blunder.

"Oh, I wouldn't blame her." Clarisse said with a sly grin. "Nobody could've seen me coming. The real deal was practically breaking down when I told her the plan."

"The…real deal…?" Jigan wasn't sure what she was referring to.

Clarisse waved a hand in front of her face, causing it to disperse slightly. The woman that was holding Hanabi was not Clarisse Layer, the receptionist of the Shooting Star guild. It was Amira of the Interstellar Union Army. "It's a good thing I was already on this planet. It allowed me to set things up perfectly."

"You were a completely different person!?" Hanabi gasped.

"That's right!" Amira said with a wink. "And it worked perfectly. The two of you waltz right into my little trap. I'm sorry, but Guild Master Noah will not be seeing you today. But I have a few friends of my own that would love to put you behind bars, Jigan King."

"Hah!" Jigan laughed at Amira's reveal, lightning crackling around his body. "That's a clever little trick, police lapdog. But do you really think you alone can contain me, Jigan King!?"

"You don't want me to injure your crewmate, don't you?" Amira asked. "I really wouldn't want to either, because it'd get blood over this cat suit. But it would be wise for you to not to move."

"I've seen this before." Jigan said while narrowing his eyes. "I think you're stalling for time. Your backup probably isn't here yet. But even if they were, do you really think you're in a winning situation? My boys are outside as we speak; they'll pick up on this and immediately understand what happened. You think holding Hanabi hostage is gonna stop me from walking out that door? I'll carry on without her. Just as I have all the others who's come and gone on my ship."

"Wow, you really are a heartless man." Amira said with an exasperated sigh. She wasn't surprised to hear this. "The Eden's Zero is a much more pleasant ship to be on…"

"Gah!" Jigan flicked his finger forward in a fit of rage, sending a bolt of lightning at Hanabi and Amira. Amira was prepared to avoid this, but it was still fast. So, she had to push Hanabi down and dive down to the floor. "I'll crush the Eden's Zero when I'm done here! I won't let that brat get the better of me again!"

"You almost hit me!" Hanabi grunted, not that Jigan cared. He just said he didn't, but it still irritated her all the same.

In response to this attack, Amira shot at Jigan with intent to incapacitate him. She aimed for his leg, but he was able to avoid the bullet, much to her surprise. "Oh! You're faster than I thought…" That was no ordinary bullet either.

Even Jigan was a little surprised at this. He might've had some trouble avoiding such a bullet in an enclosed space before…but now? He felt lighter. "Huh…maybe I did absorb some of the Black Moon Star's power after all." He said with a malicious grin. Not that he took Amira seriously as a combatant, but she made a good test for what he was capable of.

Before anything could truly get started, there was a loud rumbling sound that shook the Shooting Star building. "What now!?" Hanabi was just trying to get her bearings straight.

"Huh?" Amira's eyes went wide. She went to try and communicate with someone, but the line was completely dead. "Oh no…this is bad…" Suddenly, she lost her tempo. She was meant to buy time until Justice and Feather arrived, but that wasn't the case. They weren't the ones who arrived… "I thought we had more time!"

"We?" Jigan narrowed his eyes. The confident law enforcer suddenly looked distraught. "Somebody else is here, huh? Probably for the same thing we are."

"Tch…I have to cut and run. But you're coming with me!" Amira copied Hanabi's appearance and suddenly left the room, leaving Hanabi a shouting mess in the process.

"Hey! Tch." Jigan shook his head. It looked like Hanabi just got arrested, or maybe she'd break out at some point. Either way, he didn't care. All he knew is that there was another party on Blue Garden that intended to take the Black Moon Star, and that was something he couldn't let happen. So he activated his communicator, which was on its own line and not that of Blue Garden's. "Hey! Weavel! Waltz! Tobias! We got company! And it's not just the government either!"

.

.

"So this is Blue Garden…" Alexei said while taking a look around. "I haven't been here in quite some time. But it's changed."

"Feeling nostalgic, are we?" Vanessa teased. Alexei shook his head.

"Such feelings have no place in my heart." Alexei replied, arms folded behind his back. He looked to his squad for this mission: X, Marshall, Vanessa, Hubert, and Nina. "You know what your roles are. Hunt Noah Glenfield down. Do whatever it takes."

"I hate search missions. I bet that guy went hiding…" X rolled her eyes. Searching for someone was so much work…

"I do not doubt it." Hubert said while adjusting his glasses. "He must have known we were coming ahead of time. But he is not a man who can hide forever. We can draw him out of hiding rather easily. He knows full well what may happen to this planet otherwise."

"So we can flush him out? Good!" Nina said while slamming her fists together. "But I was kinda hoping for a fight."

"Me too!" Marshall grinned. "We beat the government here, so we might not be leaving empty handed!"

"We most definitely won't. We are not alone." Hubert said. "I am detecting several high ether powers on this planet as well. They stand out compared to the rabble. I suspect they are after the same thing we are."

"A race, is it?! Now we're talking!" Marshall loved this.

"Finally, some excitement!" Nina beamed.

"Just make sure not to lose." Vanessa waved her hand. "Now, I believe we should be splitting up. Standing here in a group is…"

"Exactly what I wanted." That voice came from Feather of the Oracion Seis Interstellar. She and her squadron were already surrounding Alexei and his group. "I knew you'd be here, Alexei Alexandrite."

"An Interstellar…but how did she catch us!? We should've gotten here first!" X snarled.

"My ship is very fast." Feather said proudly, her Eye of Venus active. "When I learned that you were going to be here, I made way here as fast as possible. Naturally, it meant that you had no hope of beating me to this planet, even with your head start."

"I suppose it wouldn't be that easy." Alexei was unfazed. They already got away with completely destroying the Midi Orbital Gate. It would be too easy if they could get away with Blue Garden as well.

"I'd love to give her a nice haircut." X said with a sinister snicker.

"I have you surrounded. Not only that, but Justice is on the way as well. Alexei Alexandrite, your crimes will be exposed…along with the rest of your crew. Marshall Izumi, wanted on multiple crimes, not excluding murder; Hubert Ozwell, wanted for attempting to take over the galactic military; Vanessa Viscard for illegal experimentation, X also wanted for mass murder…" The list could've gone on, but Alexei held his hand up to stop her. "It would be in your best interest to surrender immediately."

"So this is the part where our crimes are supposed to catch up to us?" Nina asked while scratching her head.

"No, it would be in your best interest that I surrender. But I refuse to meet your demands." Alexei said while shaking his head calmly. "I have grand plans for the cosmos, and I cannot afford to be slowed down by those weighed by emotion."

"Did you think we came here with no plan? I'm insulted." Vanessa scoffed.

"Nina. Will you handle her?" Alexei asked.

"What? Why not me, Danchou!?" Marshall said while looking Feather over. "I can take her…you know I can."

"Because you have an important role. If she still pursues you, it cannot be helped. But we will not break from the plan when we have just arrived. This is barely a minor inconvenience." Alexei responded, talking as if Feather were no more than a bump in the road.

"Don't worry, Boss! Leave her to me!" Nina said with a thumbs up.

"What should we do, ma'am?!" One of Feather's subordinates asked her.

"We cannot stop them from splitting up." Feather knew their plan, she could see what Alexei was about to do. In fact, he was in the middle of it. With a snap of his fingers, he used his Ether Gear, Ruler of Space, to teleport everyone aside from Nina elsewhere within the city of Eternal. "So we will take them one by one, starting with this one here."

"Understood!" Feather's Squadron said in unison, tightening their formation around Nina.

Nina cracked her knuckles, grinning widely at the challenge in front of her. "So, are you feeling lucky today, Feather?"

"Lucky?" Feather tilted her head at the phrasing. "I do not require luck. Not when I can see your every move." As she said this, Nina stepped forward to throw a quick punch, but Feather effortlessly evaded this. With her Eye of Venus, she could see it all. She then used her Ether Link, allowing her squadron to share in this power. Their bodies began to glow as they also had the power of Eye of Venus. "I have connected my power to my men. This means they can also see everything you are about to do. Your chances of victory are impossible. Give up now, Nina Roulette."

"Impossible, huh?" Nina said while shaking her hand. Red eyes were gleaming in excitement. "I'm a betting woman. I like those odds."

"Huh…?" Feather was confused at Nina's eagerness.

Nina's eyes were covered in red lines. Nobody could see what was happening, but her Ether Gear was activating in a place nobody could see it: her mind. There were slots rolling in her head and her smile widened. "You said my odds were impossible, right? Maybe that's what it looks like to you, but…how lucky do you feel? Can your Eye of Venus keep up with the wildest variable of all? Random Chance."